Chinese civil society advocates dialogue for shaping just, inclusive future

Xinhua) 09:19, May 10, 2024

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Realizing a better future for the next generation is possible once the global community embarks on mutual dialogue, respect for individual rights and diversity, Chinese civil society officials said on Thursday.

Speaking at a side event during the UN Civil Society Conference underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital, the leaders from Chinese non-governmental organizations (NGO) emphasized the need to shape a just, inclusive and resilient future for children and youth.

Ji Wei, deputy director-general of the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, said that humanity should strive for unity to secure a peaceful, just and prosperous future for the next generation.

Leveraging science, technology and cultural exchanges is key to helping communities realize sustainable development amid multiple global challenges including climate change, poverty, inequality and conflicts, Ji said.

Convened by a coalition of Chinese civil society groups, the forum on the sidelines of the UN civil society conference was attended by representatives from Asia, Africa, Europe and Latin America to share insight on the protection of rights for the next generation while reaffirming commitment to a better future for mankind.

Wang Xiangyi, vice chairperson and executive director of China Association for NGO Cooperation, said that civil society organizations have a pivotal role to play in shaping a climate-resilient and inclusive future for future generations.

While acknowledging that climate emergencies have taken a toll on communities in the global south, Wang called for active engagement of non-governmental organizations in the implementation of mitigation and adaptation measures.

Wang Songtao, deputy director-general of China Vocational Education Association, said the reskilling of youth in the Global South, which is among the key objectives of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative, will be key to preparing them for jobs of the future.

He stressed the need to improve the digital skills of the youth and enhance their understanding and application of new technologies that have disrupted societies and workplaces, including artificial intelligence, big data and cloud computing.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
China's Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday that it will work with French authorities to promote trade and economic cooperation between the two countries.

The MOC and the French foreign ministry recently signed a memorandum of understanding concerning the strengthening of cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises, with the aim of creating a better business environment for cooperation between such firms, MOC spokesperson He Yadong told a briefing.

The sixth meeting of the China-France Business Council was successfully held recently, with companies signing 15 cooperation deals in the fields of finance, nuclear energy, aviation, manufacturing and new energy, He added.

Over the past 60 years since China and France established diplomatic relations, their bilateral trade volume has seen a nearly 800-fold increase, reaching 78.9 billion U.S. dollars in 2023, He said.

Total two-way investment has exceeded 26 billion U.S. dollars over the past six decades while more than 2,000 French companies are currently conducting business in China, He noted.
Fire on Monday razed down a section of the Bridgehead Market, Onitsha, destroying goods valued at millions of Naira.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the fire gutted heaps of yam tubers, wooden doors, chairs, mattresses, saw machines, crates of soft drinks, amongst other items in the market.

It was learnt that the fire, which lasted for about an hour, burnt down over 40 shops before it was put off by traders, using fire extinguishers.

However, no life was lost and nobody sustained any injury.

A victim, Mr Jude Nwufo, who lost wooden doors and chairs, said that the fire started from his section of the market and later spread to other sections.

We suddenly realised there was fire without any sign. We were able to put it off with water and fire extinguishers, he said.

The affected traders put the worth of the goods destroyed by the fire at several millions of Naira.

However, the President-General of Bridgehead Markets Traders Union, Mr Sunday Obinze, told newsmen that they suspected that the fire could have resulted from electrical fault.

Obinze said the executive of the market would review some of its safety measures to avert future occurrence.

He further said that the union would ban the use of naked fire by restaurant operators and smokers inside the market, with effect from January 1, 2020.

This will be part of measures to avoid a similar mishap in future, he said.

Also, the Managing Director of the State Fire Service, Mr Martin Agbili, and the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr Haruna Mohammed, said the fire incident was not reported to them for action.

I have called my men at Okpoko Fire Station, which is close to the market, but they said they did not get any alert.

Nobody reported the matter to us, so I dont have any record of the fire, Agbili told NAN on phone.

Nobody has reported the alleged fire incident to the police, Mohammed also stated in his comment via a text message.

Share this:
The suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, may face two fresh trials on alleged huge deposits on his accounts.

There were indications that Onnoghen might be tried for alleged several breaches of the criminal and anti-corruption laws, including money laundering, bribery and tax evasion.

The latest cases also border on alleged strange deposits in his accounts and cash gifts from some Senior Advocates of Nigeria( SANs).

It was learnt that the Federal Government has delayed the arraignment of the CJN in deference to the constitutional provisions on the National Judicial Council (NJC).

The constitution stipulates that such allegations against a judicial officer should first be presented to the NJC.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has submitted a petition and a comprehensive report on Onnoghens accounts to the NJC.

A top government official, who spoke in confidence with select newsmen, said there are three dimensions to the allegations against Onnoghen.

He said apart from the trial of Onnoghen at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), there might be two other cases against him.

The source said the suspended CJN might be arraigned before a High Court of Justice very soon.

The source said:

When President Muhammadu Buhari decided to suspend Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen on the 25th of January, 2019, it was in response to serious allegations of irregularities, illegalities and criminal conduct contained in petitions submitted against the top judicial officer, and indeed some findings of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), which not only substantiated those petitions but threw up even more damning facts. Since then, there have been several public revelations and judicial proceedings which are sometimes confusing to members of the general public. For clarity, there are two different cases currently ongoing before constituted panels and a separate ethical issue in the public domain, The first point of focus has been the failure of the Chief Judge to declare his assets immediately after taking office and every four years thereafter, as required by the 1999 Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land, and the Code of Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act. This particular illegality has been admitted in writing by the Chief Justice himself and is a matter for criminal prosecution now before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). But we must note that because of its specialised nature, CCT has a narrow jurisdiction and the case before it is confined to the issues of asset declaration, failure to declare assets as required by law and false declaration of assets. That is what the CCT had been hearing since charges were first filed against the CJN on the 10th of January, 2019. The prosecution recently closed its case and lawyers to the suspended CJN are now to open the defence or make a no case submission. Just for clarity, it is worth emphasizing that the CCT will only treat issues relating assets declaration.

The source gave insights into the new cases against the suspended CJN. He added:

The more interesting aspect of the suspended CJNs dilemma involves allegations of several breaches of the criminal and anti-corruption laws, including money laundering, bribery and tax evasion. It is alleged, for instance, that the suspended CJN is the owner of some domiciliary accounts primarily funded through US dollar cash deposits made by himself. More disturbing is the pattern of deposits which, according to EFCC, were made in a manner inconsistent with financial transparency and the code of conduct for public officials. These include instances of repeated cash deposits of 10,000 US dollars each, totaling close to two million dollars. These serious allegations would ordinarily have gone to the High Court for prosecution, but for a case precedent which stipulates that such allegations against a judicial officer should first be presented to the National Judicial Council, more or less an internal disciplinary panel for erring judicial officers, before being prosecuted in a criminal court. The allegations of unexplained wealth, huge cash deposits being made into the suspended CJs Naira, dollar and pound sterling accounts directly from the court and well beyond his estacode and other allowances; unexplained payments into the suspended CJNs account by lawyers who at the same time were appearing before him for adjudication, etc, are currently being handled by the NJC and would be filed in court after the NJC has made its decision on them.

Responding to a question, the top source said: We must not miss the point that EFCC is also a petitioner against the suspended CJN.
The Federal High Court sitting in Owerri has ordered that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday not issue a Certificate of Return to Rochas Okorocha as a senator-elect for Imo West.

The court, in a suit filed by Hon. Jones Onyeriri, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Senatorial candidate for Imo West, ordered that the status quo be maintained until the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice The presiding judge, Justice E.F. Njemanze, adjourned the case till June 5, 2019, for hearing.

INEC had declined to issue Certificate of Return to Okorocha who was the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), after the returning officer alleged that he was forced to declare him winner under duress.
A major, two captains (officers) and eleven men of the 6 Division, Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, are facing court-martial for kidnapping, murder, attempted murder, desertion and other offences, and they are to have maximum punishment upon conviction.

Family members of the accused soldiers and lawyers were allowed yesterday morning at the Python Officers Mess of 6 Division to witness the inauguration of the seven-man panel, headed by Brig.-Gen. Bassey Etuk, and the brief inaugural sitting, before the sitting was adjourned till June 24 this year.

The court martial is the second of its kind in the history of 6 division, while the accused, besides the major and two captains, also had eleven men, made up of two staff sergeants, one sergeant and others.

The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham, who is also the Land Component Commander of Operation Delta Safe, while inaugurating the General Court Martial (GCM), upon getting to the mess at 10:09 a.m., declared that the Nigerian army would not condone indiscipline.



Maj.-Gen. Sarham said: The Nigerian Army is a creation of the Nigerian Constitution to carry out specific tasks to support the governments efforts in providing security for the Nigerian nation. To achieve this, a disciplined and professional Armed Force is imperative and this in line with the vision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, which is to have a professionally-responsive Nigerian Army in the discharge of its constitutional roles. There is no gainsaying that unless such a body of professionals is disciplined, achieving victory in battle and other specified assignments would not be easy.

Section 131 of the Armed Forces Act confers on me the power to convene this General Court Martial and by so doing to try the accused persons, who have allegedly violated some codes guiding our professional conduct. The offences for which the accused persons are being tried range from murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, desertion, offences in relation to public and services property, disobedience to standing orders and conducts to the prejudice to service discipline, all punishable under the Armed Forces Act CAP A20 Law of the Federation of Nigeria 2004.

The Court Martial in only one of the apparatus put in place by the Armed Forces of Nigeria to discipline its errant personnel. The establishment of Court Martial is predicated on the fact that the Armed Forces of Nigeria holds its personnel in high esteem. Hence, its resolve to ensure that a thorough investigation must be conducted before any suspect can be put on trial, as it is in the instant case.

The GOC also assured that justice would not only be done on the entire trial, but be seen to have been done, while disclosing that the case against each of the accused persons was thoroughly investigated to ensure that an innocent person was not wrongly tried and punished.

He said: The headquarters, 6 Division, has painstakingly selected credible officers as members of the Court Martial to ensure fair hearing and justice. In addition to that, due regard was accorded to these officers, having in-depth knowledge of military law and outstanding experience of military duties. I urge the members (of the panel) to be just and fair in the conduct of the trial, to ensure that each accused person is given a fair trial.

Trial is not only aimed at seeing that offenders are punished, but to serve as a deterrent to others, so as to prevent future occurrence. In this light, justice therefore, is 3-way traffic: justice for the accused, justice for the victim and justice for the state. I must state clearly that the accused persons are presumed innocent of the offences charged against them, until proven guilty by this court.

Maj.-Gen. Sarham also urged the seven-member panel to live up to expectations, in order to sanitise the Nigerian army, particularly 6 division.

President of the general court martial, Brig.-Gen. Bassey Etuk, in his remarks, assured that he and six other members of the panel would do justice and they would not betray the confidence reposed in them.
Senator Ike Ekweremadu

An Igbo socio-cultural organization, Igbo Bu Igbo (IBI), has condemned in strong terms the recent attack on the immediate past Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, by some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in Nuremberg, Germany.

cThe group described the attack on Ekweremadu as a callous act of ingratitude onsidering that he was the same person who rallied other leaders to save Nnamdi Kanu from languishing in jail, saying that, In Igboland, the hen does not raise its beak against the one who gave it shelter during the rainfall!

In a statement signed by the groups Chancellor, Dr Law Mefor; the Secretary-General, Mazi Chidi Omeje, which was made available to DAILY POST on Tuesday, IBI lamented how the unfortunate, unprovoked and crass attack on the Senator has created the wrong notion that the Igbo cannot conduct themselves in decent manners. We reject such a notion as that is not who we are.

No matter what the grievances of these misguided IPOB members could be against Senator Ike Ekweremadu, resorting to bestial tendencies to settle scores is not part of our culture.

IBI, which said the attack was unnecessary and was tantamount to descending to the arena of jungle justice which should have no place among civilized people, called on IPOB to desist from such actions that can be used to justify the terrorist tag it has already been labeled with by the federal government.

The orchestrated physical attack on Ekweremadu should not be seen as democratic protest, and if not condemned by good spirited Nigerians will be extended even to the ordinary citizens in due course.

We cannot applaud barbarity under whatever guise. What is condemnable is condemnable and we condemn that mob action in Germany in the strongest terms possible.

With the threats subsequently issued against Igbo leaders across board by IPOB, they are creating a recipe for disaster. Ndigbo must not fall for the antics of misguided leaders and members of the group to turn us against one another.

We must stand firm in our resolve to pursue the growth and development of Igbo land without dragging it into a state of rancour, chaos, anarchy and doom.

We urge IPOB to convert such energy and take advantage of its reach to bring about its desired good governance in Igbo land by actively participating in politics of the region and the country if it so desires.

While we admit that the political space is still fraught with gross imperfections, it is our belief that IPOB can use its numerous strengths to prevent being shortchanged in the political processes and enthrone, through the ballot box, candidates of their choice through whom they can effectively pursue their goals.

While we must hold our leaders accountable and scrutinize them at all times, we must also come together to vehemently reject the warped philosophy where a group purporting to be pursuing the interest of Ndigbo arrogates to itself the power to pronounce life and death on others. IPOB should not push its luck too far, the statement added.
China strongly opposes the recent U.S. sanctions applied to 20 Chinese companies for allegedly supporting Russia's military-industrial and energy development, the Ministry of Commerce said Thursday.

China always opposes unilateral sanctions that lack the basis of international law and the authorization of the United Nations Security Council, the ministry spokesperson He Yadong told a briefing.

It is "a typical act of bullying and economic coercion" that the U.S. side has imposed sanctions on Chinese firms for so-called Russian involvement while at the same time maintaining trade with Moscow in Washington's own interests, he said.

The U.S. side should immediately stop its unreasonable suppression of Chinese companies, He said, adding that China will take necessary measures to unswervingly safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese enterprises.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) says it arrested Babalele Abdullahi, son-in-law of PDP presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar over alleged money laundering.

Abdullahi is also the finance director of Atikus group of companies.

Tony Orilade, acting spokesman of EFCC, told NAN that Abdullahi is in the commissions custody.

We are investigating a case of money laundering against Abdullahi. We shall speak at the appropriate time, Orilade said. He declined to disclose the figure involved in the laundering allegation against Abdullahi, but NAN said its investigation revealed that it was about 150 million Euros.

A few days ago, Atiku raised the alarm over the arrest of Abdullahi.

In a statement by Paul Ibe, his media aide, Atiku said EFCC operatives invaded Abdullahis residence in a desperate move to make him concede and congratulate President Muhammadu Buhari, whom he lost the election to.

The EFCC agents numbering about two dozen came in two regular vehicles, an 18-seater Toyota bus with registration number Abuja CS 522 RSH and a Hilux van, the statement read.

They came with a warrant to search the house and office of Abdullahi and found nothing incriminating. They then proceeded to his office at Oakland Centre in Maitama and found nothing incriminating there.

However, they took away some documents of landed property. Not done, the EFCC officials stormed his Wuse residence where they again found nothing incriminating after searching. Afterwards, Abdullahi was taken away to the EFCC office in Wuse to make a statement.

Invest & Get 20% In Just 90 Days

Click HERE >>



To Buy Cheap MTN & GLO Data

Click HERE >>

A Quick Loan Without Collateral

Click HERE >>
We need technology in every classroom and in every student and teachers hand, because it is the pen and paper of our time, and it is the lens through which we experience much of our world. David Warlick

I can recall where I was when I realized that education as we knew it was going to change forever. I was in my office listening to my colleagues and exchanging banter with them. Occasionally, the guests who came to discuss their ideas joined us or briefly interrupted our talk. Then I felt the ceaseless vibration on my wrist that indicated an incoming call on my phone and I looked at my phones screen.

It was my sons Principal. Just a week ago, their school had dismissed them midweek due to the growing unease surrounding the global pandemic by COVID-19; otherwise known as corona virus. I stepped out of the room and his Principal greeted me. Then he told me that they were going to launch teaching the students online using one platform. I was speechless for a couple of minutes because I could hardly believe what I was hearing. For over 4 years, I had been trying to train the teachers at their school for free around the 21st century skills and infusing technology. Yet, due to a situation beyond anyones control- necessity gave birth to innovation.

The school sent out a bulk SMS message stating that school would resume at 7:30 am that Wednesday (I received a phone call from the Principal on Tuesday- the day before.) It was a good move by the Principal, reaching out to assuage parents; especially ones that were heavily engaged with the school. The school went online less than 24 hours later and it was a learning curve for everyone- students, teachers and their parents.

A week later, the school is still online, ahead of the lockdown order that was issued by the President of Nigeria Sunday March 29th, 2020. Students share ideas via audio and video calls on the online teaching platform that they use. They read notes posted, share their ideas and confer with their teachers when necessary.

As a scientist and an ardent researcher, I cant help but see that we are part of the worlds biggest edtech experiment that has ever been implemented by mankind in history. Over 1 billion students across the work are out of school, millions of students going on board to online school. It will redefine what schooling looks like, what education involves and learning entails. The Corona virus is leading teachers, students, parents and the community at large to use critical thinking, be creative, communicate and utilize collaboration.

This is the moment that we have been waiting for in the education reform movement. Students taking ownership for their learning, sifting through the material- finding out what they life, deciphering how they learn and what help they need from their teachers & parents. Their learning becomes more personalized and now that this transformation has begun, there is no turning back.to how things used to be.

Yet, with all of these positives, this crisis has highlighted the digital divide that exists between people who have access to the internet due to either their inability to get devices, data or their lack of digital literacy skills.

I realize that it is transformational for both teachers and their students; recent events and our hope is that education doesnt revert back to business as usual afterwards as the world as our students know will be forever changed by this pandemic. There will be rising unemployment and a global recession- situations that would require dramatic changes in education and their futures.

Today on day 2 of the lockdown edict in Lagos, Nigeria- I am contemplating the mental effects of the lockdown on our students and how returning back to the classrooms would be tough on both the educators and their students. This will be the subject for contemplation for another article.

Adetola Salau; Global Educator / International Speaker / Author/ Social Entrepreneur/ Innovative Thinker/Future Readiness Advocate/ STEM Certified Trainer

She is an Advocate of STEM Education and is Passionate about Education reform. She is an innovative thinker and strives for our society & continent as a whole to reclaim its greatness.

E-mail-:[email protected]

twitter-: @Stemproft

Website-: http://adetolasalau.com

PV: 0
Border communities between Lagos and Ogun were backed to the wall most of the weekend, and their youth had to push back against hordes of cultists and common criminals that invaded the localities.

Youths at Dalemo, Ijoko, Ilepa, Joju and other small settlements that line the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway went out armed with cutlasses, axes, clubs, knives, rods, and other crude weapons to confront the criminals who raped and robbed the communities during what the police described as the latest modus operandi.

Some of the cultists were mobbed and bloodied during the Saturday confrontation that lasted a while before the police from Sango intervened in the pockets of skirmishes in the Ifo LGA of Ogun.

According to a resident who spoke with the National Daily, the siege had been on-going for four days, and the communities had to organize vigilante groups that mounted surveillance at junctions and entrances to the neighbourhood.

With the way the communities are battle-ready now, it is very likely the bandits wont show up againfor now, said Toyin Fatukasi, a resident of Sango.

According to her, the criminals rode in on motorcycles, but with the combined effort of the community youths and the police, no fewer than 150 of them have been arrested.

Others would later flee to Sango, Abule-Egba, Alakuko where they were arrested. There were separate instances of cult rivalry in Apapa, Ajah, and Ikotun in Lagos, too

While the Ifo LGA residents said the invasion was motivated by hunger as a result of the on-going lockdown in Lagos and Ogun, the police insisted it was a new method of criminality.

They will step out in the name of supremacy fight, just to create confusion and draw people from their houses and start stealing from them and snatching phones, said Lagos Police PRO Bala Elkanah.

The police has, however, asked the communities to save their energy, especially during day, for security agents to handle the situationthat the vigilante groups can monitor the neighbourhoods at night.

PV: 0
NORMAL  As Illinois State University students begin to move out ahead of graduation, the Office of Sustainability is collecting donated furniture and other items during the process.

"What we try to communicate regardless of financial means is shopping secondhand," said Elisabeth Reed, director of the Office of Sustainability. "Buying something that's already been used or gently used is one of the most sustainable things you can do and it can be free."

Bins and box trucks have been placed outside of residence halls on campus this week as part of the Pass It On initiative, which collects gently-used items and gives them to students who need them.

Pass It On started on campus more than 30 years ago after a group of social work students and their professors noticed the growing number of items being thrown away during move-out and decided to start collecting and donating the items to local community organizations, Reed said.

The Office of Sustainability then partnered with the university's housing services to collect items in recent years and have been sorting through and storing them over the summer, she added.

The items accepted must be gently-used and unstained, including from furniture, clothing, hangers, appliances, electronics, bedding material, toiletries, cleaning products, non-perishable foods, books and other school supplies.

The office then hosts a large Free Cycle event during Welcome Week every fall that allows for incoming students to shop for whatever they might need for free.

"It's a big undertaking, but it's really frustrating to see so many of those things end up in a landfill," Reed said. "We want to be an example to the community as well as the university. We see the different apartment complexes that have dumpsters out front, and we want to try to do better than that."

Reed said more than 2,000 students benefitted from the Free Cycle event last year. The Office of Sustainability is now starting to implement other avenues of support, too, including the Share Shop located in the office at 305 N. School St. in Normal.

The Share Shop allows for students to shop through a variety of gently-used items such as clothing, shoes, accessories, small household items, textbooks and more, Reed said. It is open throughout the school year for students to access and community members to donate, but this year will be the first time it is open over the summer time.

"We're going to take some of the things that we got from move-out and put those into the Share Shop," Reed said. "It'll have more of a focus for the residence halls with bedding and decorative items, as well as mini fridges and things so that students coming in for summer preview can have an opportunity to come in before they start buying all their stuff."

Reed said sustainability office also works with the student navigator program through the Dean of Students Office to connect with students who were recently involved in a fire or some event that has put them in situation where they are without personal items and have little or no money.

They also work with the Multicultural Center to help international students who may have arrived on campus with just a suitcase and help other students who are questioning or transitioning genders to try on different clothes or explore other looks with their gender affirmation station, Reed said.

Reed said with donations coming in every year, the office is constantly looking for more community volunteers to help load the trucks and store the items.

To learn more about volunteering or donating to Pass it On, visit sustainability.illinoisstate.edu/engage/pass-it-on.

Photos: Bloomington baseball at Normal Community. 1 Owen Cavanaugh 2 050324.JPG Carter Jackson 1 050324.JPG Carter Jackson 2 050324.JPG Dexter Niekamp 1 050324.JPG Ethan Eberle 1 050324.JPG Kaileb Hackman 1 050324.JPG Liam Taylor 1 050324.JPG Owen Cavanaugh 1 050324.JPG Owen Cavanaugh 3 050324.JPG Zach Spidle 1 050324.JPG
The murder trial of Safina Adizatu Mohammed, the lady accused of killing Canadian-based Ghanaian, Frank Kofi Osei has been scheduled to begin in the next legal year which starts from October.



The decision according to the presiding judge, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, is due to circumstances beyond the court's control.



Despite the court's earlier arrangement to call the first Prosecution witness, that did not happen following the new development.



Safina, a 23-year-old university student is alleged to have killed Frank Kofi Osei, a Ghanaian resident in Canada with other accomplices when he visited her at Ashaley Botwe a suburb of Accra while he was on vacation in Ghana.



Justice Lydia Osei Marfo while adjourning the case indicated that, the court will will have a pre trial on May 22.



"Due to circumstances beyond the courts control and though we have completed the pre trial with all the parties taking date and time for trial within this month and next month, we have been unable to use any of those dates. That means before the end of the this legal year we cannot start.



"However, we can come on the next legal year. Therefore, the case will be adjourned to May 22 for another pre trial," she noted.



Meanwhile, an uncle of the deceased, Bismark Sakyi said, they are satisfied with the decision of the court.









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
China and members of the Digital Economy Partnership Agreement (DEPA) have held multiple rounds of consultations and achieved "positive progress," the Ministry of Commerce (MOC) said Thursday.

China filed a formal application to join the DEPA in November 2021 and a working group was set up in August 2022 for negotiations on China's accession to the pact.

The fifth meeting of chief negotiators of the working group took place in Auckland, New Zealand, on Tuesday, during which China exchanged in-depth views with Chile, New Zealand, Singapore and the Republic of Korea on the progress of the talks and related topics, MOC spokesperson He Yadong told a press briefing.

China will make joint efforts with DEPA members in a bid to achieve new progress in the negotiations, He added.
We must think outside the box for solutions to the many problems facing the citizenry, the Senior Presidential Advisor, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, has said.



He said the worsening unemployment situation in the country posed a security threat and, therefore, stressed that any public sector reform must consider "outside the box" strategies to resolve the challenges.



Mr Osafo-Maafo was speaking at a national stakeholder dialogue series in Cape Coast in the Central Region yesterday. The three-day meeting which was on the theme: "Taking stock and identifying emerging issues to shape Ghana's new public sector reform strategy, 2025-2030," formed phase one of the series.



Participants will take stock of progress made from the last strategy, identify the bottlenecks that impeded its achievements and provide suggestions for a new strategy.



Mr Osafo-Maafo also called for practical steps to enhance the agricultural sector by implementing strategies that would make it attractive and profitable for the youth. He said that there must be a change in direction in the over-reliance of certain commodities, while encouraging the cultivation of vegetables and flowers, and the creation of land banks.



Tackling unemployment



On unemployment, Mr Osafo-Maafo called for a stronger public-private sector interface to promote jobs and growth in the economy. He said it was obvious that various strategies towards reforms in the public sector by successive governments had not achieved the needed results, particularly in leveraging the potential of the private sector to create jobs through efficient service delivery.



Mr Osafo-Maafo said this might be because such reforms had not been able to align with key sectors of the economy. "Successive governments have, over the years, undertaken reforms to improve public sector performance.



These reforms have provided an opportunity for the assessment of the relevance of the ideas, visions and commitments needed to leverage the public sector as a catalyst for growth and development.



"However, modest reforms in the public sector have not led to improvement in job creation and wealth maximisation, he said. The Senior Presidential Advisor also urged residents to be active participants in local governance in their respective communities.



Commitment



The Head of Civil Service, Dr Evans Aggrey-Darkoh, said his outfit was committed to institutionalising reforms as a conscious effort to improving quality of service. He said the service was also strengthening its regulatory frameworks, including the modernisation and improvement of working conditions to promote quality and efficiency.



For his part, the Head of Local Government Service, Dr Nana Ato Arthur, said the service was working on a rewards and sanctions system to enhance quality service delivery at the local government level.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
There is a hidden feature in users' Google accounts that lets the tech giant quietly record their voices that it stores for other uses.



Google saves the audio recordings from web and app activity, along with verbal interactions with Search, Assistant and Maps, which it uses 'to develop and improve its audio recognition technologies.'



However, A tech expert recently shared a 'cheat code' that he claimed will stop Google from recording your smartphone activity.



Users need to manage their Google account and unselect options in 'Data and Privacy,' which a digital expert has claimed will block the tech company from accessing your microphone and camera.



Tech entrepreneur Jeffrey Castillo posted a video on Instagram, explaining that users can turn off this function by going to the Google app and clicking on 'Manage your Google account.'



From there, select the 'Data and Privacy' tab and scroll down to 'History setting' and select the 'Web and App activity' section, which you'll see has a blue checkmark.



Once you click in and scroll down, you should notice that the voice and audio activity setting has a blue checkmark- uncheck that to put a stop to Google listening in.



The way Google continues to pick up on conversations is a verbal version of a search engine, and each time it receives a 'Hey Google' command, it's creates the same effect as opening a browser window.



'When this voice and audio activity setting is off, audio recordings from voice interactions with Google Search, Assistant, and Maps won't be saved to your Google Account on Google servers, even if you're signed in,' Google has shared.



'If you turn this voice and audio activity setting off, previously saved audio is not deleted.



'You can delete your audio recordings at any time.'



Google has claimed it only listens in to snippets of conversations to pick up 'wake words' that it was programmed to recognize, allowing it to respond to voice commands.



Although Google and other companies like Amazon and Apple argue that their assistant devices including Alexa and Siri only listen for commands and marketing efforts, the reality is that it still poses a major privacy concern.



If cybercriminals access your account or tap in to your smart devices, they could listen to phone recordings and steal information from Google's stored data.



Other steps you can take to protect yourself include verifying the apps you download to make sure they are from official stores rather than third-parties that could contain malware and review app permissions to turn off access to your phone's microphone.



Norton, a cybersecurity application, suggested that people delete their voice request history to there isn't a memory bank of your conversations, use a VPN to encrypt your information so it can't be accessed by third parties and keep your software up-to-date.

Source: dailymail









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Yaw Adomako Baafi, a member of the National Communications Team for the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) has urged all party supporters not to be conceited nor be complacent, thinking that the December polls is a done deal for the party.



Adomako Baafi opined that, although the NPP has so many success stories, the party cannot decide to relent on hard work and hope that the electorates will vote for them come December 7, 2024.



He made this call during a radio interview with Kwame Nkrumah Tikese on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' morning show on Thursday, May 9, 2024.



If we all see the numerous projects undertaken and completed by the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia-led government, you will be amazed. If you consider the massive road construction projects the government has implemented you will be completely shocked. All these projects are visible by everyone.



All regions have received a fair share of their developmental projects and it is testament of the good works of the NPP government led by Akufo-Addo and Bawumia. Realising all these wonderful works done by our government does not mean we should be complacent thinking that we have arrived. There are a lot more we can do for the country Ghana and the people there in, he stressed.



Speaking further, Mr. Baafi mentioned that, the opposition party is not an option Ghanaians must consider because, there were so many projects the Kufuor administration started but could not complete with the assurance that when the NDC comes to power, all the projects will be completed since governance is continuous according to our democracy. According to him, the NDC government left most of the projects unattended to.



The NPP government had to return to power to execute all the stalled projects under the leadership of Akufo-Addo and Bawumia. We left projects like the Legon Stadium, Kumawu hospital, some regional and district hospitals have all been completed by the Akufo-Addo administration.



These are the good news we need to propagate to the ordinary Ghanaian. If we sit and think that Ghanaians already know of the things we have done, we will be mistaking, he concluded.



Watch Video Below





Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former NDC Member of Parliament for Tamale Central, Alhaji Inusah Fuseini has described the ongoing impasse between the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), and the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP), as a sign of a dysfunctional system.



According to the former lawmaker, the system responsible for investigating and prosecuting corruption and corruption related offences is broken down.



If we are investigating an allegation of crime, it is imperative for the state institutions to collaborate, but if you take a good look at what is happening now, it is a clear indication that they are engaged in a turf war. Everybody is fighting for his turf, he said.



He further stated that in fighting crime, there is no need to use turf war because it defeats the purpose of the investigation.



The question remains unanswered of where Cecelia Dapaah got her money from. We are not interested in the issue of her keeping money in her bedroom. What every Ghanaian is interested in has got to do with the source of her money and not where she kept the money."



The Special Prosecutor was investigating into the matter but his mandate centres on corruption and corruption related offences, and breach of the procurement act, he explained.



Alhaji Fuseinis comment comes on the heels of the return of the docket of alleged money laundering case presented to EOCO by the OSP.



The OSP transferred the investigations of the alleged money laundering to EOCO.



EOCO, upon advice from the Attorney-General, decided not to continue with the case because, there is no available evidence to that effect.



Speaking on Okay FMs 'Ade Akye Abia' with Kwame Nkrumah Tikese on Thursday, May 9, Inusah Fuseini stated that

the moment the OSP decided to transfer the docket to EOCO to investigate the case of money laundering, I knew the case was over. There was no way Attorney-General will allow EOCO to investigate Madam Cecelia Dapaah because the President had already stated in his letter to the former Sanitation Minister that she will be vindicated.



We dont know the grounds on which Attorney-General said EOCO cannot investigate the case of money laundering all because OSP did not attach the evidence or documents to the docket.



Watch Video Below







Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Political Activist, Bernard Mornah, has declared his intentions of contesting for the position of the highest political office in the land.



The former National Chairman for the Peoples National Convention (PNC) and the lead convener of AriseGhana, stated that, the current state of Ghanas economy demands that Ghanaians give him the opportunity to lead and transform the economy.



According to him, the plethora of experience he has gathered over the years has groomed him to become well-suited to be Ghanas next president.



In an interview with Umaru Sanda Amadu on Citi FM's Eyewitness News monitored by Peacefmonline.com, Bernard Mornah credits his desire to be President to his ability to address the greed of some government officials which the current administration is afraid to tackle and knead in the bud.



Speaking further, Bernard Mornah revealed that the greed that has ensnared the countrys leadership and his courage to implement policies to deal with it is what would advance the country forward.



"I have insisted that probably I am not good enough to be an MP for a constituency, but I am more than good enough to be the President of the nation.



There are many reasons because I see that first and foremost the greed of our leadership has collapsed our economy and actually blurred the future of our nation.



I have also seen that because of lack of courage, our leaders have acquiesced to policies and programmes from Western and Breton Wood institutions that tend to undermine our forward growth as a nation. Thirdly I also see that it appears that sometimes we went [go] to school, and we only learn not to come and apply what we have learnt within the confines of our environment, he said.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Hon. Dr. Clement Apaak, Member of Parliament for Builsa South Constituency and a member of the Public Accounts Committee of Ghanas parliament has provided several trips of gravels at a cost of Ghc11, 200.00 to fill the large potholes on the Fumbisi Senior High School Road and Town Wiesi Road.



These portholes, according to the Deputy Communications officer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Builsa South Constituency, was created through the recklessness of governments refusal to pay the contractor, MYTURN LTD to fix the deplorable situation on the Fumbisi Senior High School Road and Town Wiesi Road.



The Builsa South Constituency chairman Mr. Caesar Akinkang together with the Assemblyman for the electoral Area, Mr. Henry Ayeng on Wednesday, joined the youth to fill the dangerous and life-threatening potholes.



Addressing the youth after the activity, Chairman Akinkang thanked the youth for making time to contribute to the development of the area and admonished them to continue to lend their support to the MP anytime there are such communal activities.



Chairman Akinkang reiterated how the MP wished all roads in the Constituency were constructed, adding that the MP himself is frustrated with the manner in which the Akuffo Addo government has failed the people of Builsa South after he had promised them roads in two months during the 2020 campaign season.



Chairman Caesar has, however, assured the electorates of Builsa South that the roads will be constructed should John Mahama win the upcoming December 7 elections.



Akogtu Daniel



Deputy Communication Officer



Builsa South

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
In the ever-evolving landscape of the music industry, there are tales that resonate beyond the beats and melodies, stories that inspire and captivate.



One such narrative is that of Charles Akrofi, a name that once graced the screens of television sets and radio as a journalist, but now reverberates through speakers as the Afrobeat sensation known as XROVA.



Breaking away from the confines of traditional journalism, Akrofi has embarked on a new journey, one fueled by passion, creativity, and an unwavering belief in the power of music.



Under the showbiz moniker XROVA, an acronym for Xceeding Reach, Overcoming Vision Always, he has unleashed his maiden single titled "Watch Nobody," a pulsating anthem that urges listeners to pursue their dreams despite the presence of detractors.



From his early days as a news anchor to his role as a parliamentary affairs correspondent with notable media houses in Ghana, Akrofi's transition from journalism to music marks a significant chapter in his life.



Yet, his journalistic roots continue to shape his artistry, infusing his lyrics with depth, insight, and a keen awareness of the world around him.



In "Watch Nobody," XROVA delivers a message that resonates with authenticity and sincerity. The track speaks to the universal experience of facing obstacles and naysayers on the path to success, urging individuals to stay true to themselves and their aspirations regardless of external pressures.



Beyond the confines of the studio, XROVA's presence in the Afrobeat scene is already making waves.



His unique blend of vibrant sounds and thought-provoking lyrics has garnered attention from music enthusiasts across Ghana and beyond, positioning him as a promising talent on the rise.



As he continues to navigate the intricacies of the music industry, XROVA remains grounded in his journalistic ethos, using his platform to shed light on social issues and champion causes close to his heart.



With his debut single, he not only showcases his musical prowess but also offers a glimpse into the depth of his artistry and the breadth of his vision.



In a world filled with noise and distractions, XROVA's voice cuts through the clutter, offering a message of hope, resilience, and unwavering determination.



As he paves his own path in the Afrobeat scene, Charles Akrofi, AKA XROVA, stands as a testament to the transformative power of following one's passion and embracing the journey, wherever it may lead.











Source: Daniel Obeng









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Artist's impression of this research. Credit: NAOJ

Astronomers have proposed a new theory to explain the origin of phosphorus, one of the elements important for life on Earth. The theory suggests a type of stellar explosion known as "ONe novae" as a major source of phosphorus.

After the Big Bang, almost all of the matter in the universe was comprised of hydrogen. Other elements were formed later, by nuclear reactions inside stars or when stars exploded in events known as novae or supernovae. But there are a variety of stars and a variety of ways they can explode. Astronomers are still trying to figure out which processes were important in creating the abundances of elements we see in the universe.

In this study, Kenji Bekki, at The University of Western Australia, and Takuji Tsujimoto, at the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, proposed a new model based on oxygen-neon novae, denoted as "ONe novae," to explain the abundance of phosphorus. The study has been published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters.

A ONe nova occurs when matter builds up on the surface of an oxygen-neon-magnesium rich white dwarf star and is heated to the point to ignite explosive run-away nuclear fusion.

The model predicts that a large amount of phosphorus will be released in a ONe nova and that the number of novae will depend on the chemical composition, specifically the iron content, of the stars. The researchers estimate that the rate of ONe novae peaked around 8 billion years ago, meaning that phosphorus would have been readily available when the solar system started to form around 4.6 billion years ago.

The model predicts that ONe novae will produce a chlorine enhancement similar to the phosphorus enhancement. There is not yet enough observational data for chlorine to confirm this and it provides a testable hypothesis to check the validity of the ONe novae model. Future observations of stars in the outer part of the Milky Way galaxy will provide the data needed to see if the predicted iron dependency and chlorine enhancement match reality, or if a rethink is needed.

More information: Kenji Bekki et al, Phosphorus Enrichment by ONe Novae in the Galaxy, The Astrophysical Journal Letters (2024). DOI: 10.3847/2041-8213/ad3fb6 Journal information: Astrophysical Journal Letters
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Enhancement of the anomalous Nernst effect by microstructure engineering in nanoscale. Credit: Hossein Sepehri-Amin National Institute for Materials Science, Ken-ichi Uchida National Institute for Materials Science, Hosei Nagano Nagoya University

A research team from NIMS and Nagoya University has demonstrated that an iron-based amorphous alloy, widely used as a soft magnetic material in transformers and motors, can be transformed into a "transverse" thermoelectric conversion material that converts electric and thermal currents in orthogonal directions, with just a short period of heat treatment. The study is published online in the journal Nature Communications

This is the first example that highlights the importance of microstructure engineering in the development of transverse thermoelectric conversion materials and provides new design guidelines for materials development to realize environmentally friendly power generation and thermal management technologies using magnetic materials.

The use of transverse thermoelectric effects in magnetic materials is expected to simplify the structure of thermoelectric conversion devices compared to the longitudinal thermoelectric effects, where electric and thermal currents are converted in parallel directions. This simplification can lead to enhanced versatility and durability of the devices, as well as cost reduction

The main focus of the development of magnetic materials for transverse thermoelectric conversion has been the exploration of new alloys based on electronic structure, with no research on the microstructure within the materials.

The team has now demonstrated that a simple three-minute heat treatment of an iron-based amorphous alloy, without changing the average composition of the material, significantly improves the performance of the anomalous Nernst effectone of the transverse thermoelectric effects.

The anomalous Nernst coefficient, obtained at the optimal heat treatment temperature, showed the highest value known among magnetic amorphous alloys, and the improvement was found to be significantly influenced by nano-sized copper precipitates within the alloy. This result suggests that not only the electronic structure and composition of the material but also the design and control of the microstructure are important for enhancing the anomalous Nernst coefficient.

The developed magnetic material can be easily mass-produced and scaled up, and it is also flexible. By further developing magnetic materials with even higher anomalous Nernst coefficients through microstructure control, the team aims to apply this technology to energy conversions in electronic devices and to thermal sensing technologies.

More information: Ravi Gautam et al, Creation of flexible spin-caloritronic material with giant transverse thermoelectric conversion by nanostructure engineering, Nature Communications (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41467-024-46475-6 Journal information: Nature Communications
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:

As the climate warms, the terrestrial tundra food web of Yamal has transformed. The red fox (right), seen here near a research station in Erkuta in southern Yamal, is increasingly invading the domain of the Arctic fox (left). Credit: Aleksandr Sokolov

The Arctic is undergoing rapid changes that affect its natural environment, its people, and its role in global-scale natural processes. The interplay of climate change, industrialization, and other stressors makes the Arctic an intriguing subject for convergence sciencean approach characterized by communication and integration across disciplines to address specifically defined problems.

The aim of convergence science is to generate new paradigms and ways of viewing problems that reach beyond any single discipline. Despite the rising popularity of this concept over the past decade, few publications have addressed the practical specifics of how to put it into practiceand none have focused on the Arctic.

Now, a new paper in Earth's Future, by Ivanov and others, aims to do just that. In 2020, a team of Earth system scientists, ecologists, anthropologists, and engineers, representing a range of countries and cultural identities, organized a series of workshops to explore how to apply convergence science to the changing Arctic. In particular, they focused on how climate change and industrialization are driving change in the Yamal Peninsula.

Located in northwest Siberia, the Yamal Peninsula of Russia extends more than 700 kilometers north into the Arctic Ocean. It is home to Indigenous Nenets residents living in small villages or leading nomadic lifestyles as fishers and reindeer herders. It also holds vast natural gas reserves, leading to the development of industrial infrastructure and new towns over the past 50 years.

Workshop participants started out in their disciplinary comfort zones and then gradually integrated disciplines by identifying links between different natural, social, and industrial elements of the Yamal Peninsula.

This approach enabled the participants to develop a shared language of communication, ultimately leading to the formulation of several top-level science questions, such as "How do warmer winters and seasonal shifts transform human and reindeer lives in the tundra?" Additional questions emerged from each top-level question, such as "How does human activity modify top-down control of trophic interactions in tundra food webs?"

In addition to sparking new research questions, this paper could serve as a blueprint for how to apply convergence science to studying Arctic change.

More information: Valeriy Y. Ivanov et al, A Convergence Science Approach to Understanding the Changing Arctic, Earth's Future (2024). DOI: 10.1029/2023EF004157 Journal information: Earth's Future

Provided by Eos

This story is republished courtesy of Eos, hosted by the American Geophysical Union. Read the original storyhere.
Sun Yuanliang, a former senior political advisor of northeast China's Liaoning Province, was sentenced to death, with a two-year reprieve, for bribery on Thursday.

The Intermediate People's Court of Chengde in north China's Hebei Province found that Sun, formerly vice chairman of the Liaoning Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, abused his power in various positions he held between 1997 and 2022 to assist individuals and organizations on matters related to the requisition of land, bank loans and personnel promotion.

In return, Sun extorted and accepted money and valuables worth 159 million yuan (about 22.39 million U.S. dollars).

The court also found that between 2018 and 2022, Sun had used his influence to seek undue benefits for others in business operations and civil litigation, and took money and gifts worth 28.16 million yuan in return.

Sun will be deprived of his political rights for life, and all his personal assets will be confiscated, the court ruled.

Given that Sun confessed his criminal acts and showed remorse, he was granted a lenient sentence, the court said.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Artists impression of Mars during the Noachian Era. Credit: Ittiz/Wikipedia Commons

Astrobiology is the field of science that studies the origins, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. In practice, this means sending robotic missions beyond Earth to analyze the atmospheres, surfaces, and chemistry of extraterrestrial worlds.

At present, all of our astrobiology missions are focused on Mars, as it is considered the most Earth-like environment beyond our planet. While several missions will be destined for the outer solar system to investigate "Ocean Worlds" for evidence of life (Europa, Ganymede, Titan, and Enceladus), our efforts to find life beyond Earth will remain predominantly on Mars.

If and when these efforts succeed, it will have drastic implications for future missions to Mars. Not only will great care need to be taken to protect Martian life from contamination by Earth organisms, but precautions must be taken to prevent the same from happening to Earth (aka Planetary Protection).

In a recent study, a team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) in Sydney, Australia, recommends that legal or normative frameworks be adopted now to ensure that future missions do not threaten sites where evidence of life (past or present) might be found.

The study was led by Clare Fletcher, a Ph.D. student with the Australian Center for Astrobiology (ACA) and Earth and Sustainability Science Research Center at UNSW. She was joined by Professor Martin Van Kranendonk, a researcher with the ACA and the head of the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences at Curtin University, and Professor Carol Oliver of the School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences at UNSW.

Their research paper, "Exogeoconservation of Mars," was published on April 21 in Space Policy.

The search for life on Mars can be traced to the late 19th and early 20th centuries when Percival Lowell made extensive observations from his observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona. Inspired by Schiaparelli's illustrations of the Martian surface (which featured linear features he called "canali"), Lowell recorded what he also believed were canals and spent many years searching for other indications of infrastructure and an advanced civilization. During the ensuing decades, observatories worldwide observed Mars closely, looking for indications of life and similarities with Earth.

However, it was not until the Space Age that the first robotic probes flew past Mars, gathering data directly from its atmosphere and taking close-up images of the surface. These revealed a planet with a thin atmosphere composed predominantly of carbon dioxide and a frigid surface that did not appear hospitable to life.

However, it was the Viking 1 and 2 missions, which landed on Mars in 1976, that forever dispelled the myth of a Martian civilization. But as Fletcher told Universe Today via email, the possibility of extant life has not been completely abandoned:

"It's my personal belief that it is unlikely we will find evidence of extant (current) life on Mars, as opposed to evidence of past life on Mars. If we were to find extant life on Mars that could be proven to be endemic to Mars and not contamination from Earth, some think it might be found underground in lava tubes, for example, and some think the ice caps or any possible source of liquid water might be suitable places."

Ironically, it was the same missions that discredited the notion of there being life on Mars that revealed evidence that water once flowed on its surface. Thanks to the many orbiter, lander, and rover missions sent to Mars since the turn of the century, scientists theorize that this period coincided with the Noachian Era (ca. 4.13.7 billion years ago).

According to the most recent fossilized evidence, it was also during this period that life first appeared on Earth (in the form of single-celled bacteria).

Our current astrobiology efforts on behalf of NASA and other space agencies are focused on Mars precisely for this reason: to determine if life emerged on Mars billions of years ago and whether or not it co-evolved with life on Earth.

This includes the proposed Mars Sample Return (MSR) mission that will retrieve the drill samples obtained by the Perseverance rover in the Jezero Crater and return them to Earth for analysis. In addition, NASA and China plan to send crewed missions to Mars by 2040 and 2033 (respectively), including astrobiology studies.

These activities could threaten the very abodes where evidence of past life could be found or (worse) still exists. "Human activities might threaten sites like this in part due to possible microbial contamination," said Fletcher.

"Evidence of life (past and extant) also has greater scientific value when in its paleoenvironmental context, so any human activities that might damage the evidence of life and/or its surrounding environmental context pose a risk. This could be something innocuous, like debris falling in the wrong spot, or something more serious, like driving over possibly significant outcrops with a rover."

Conservation measures must be developed and implemented before additional missions are sent to Mars. Given humanity's impact on Earth's natural environment and our attempts to mitigate this through conservation efforts.

In particular, there have been numerous cases where scientific studies were conducted without regard for the heritage value of the site and where damage was done because of a lack of proper measures. These lessons, says Fletcher, could inform future scientific efforts on Mars:

"It's important that we learn from what has been considered 'damaging' on Earth and take this into consideration when exploring Mars. If a site is damaged beyond being able to be studied in the future, then we limit what can actually be learned from a site.

"When considering Mars missions cost billions of dollars and are to meet specific scientific goals, limiting the information being learned from a site is incredibly detrimental.

"My recommendations are that of my paper: interdisciplinary cooperation, drawing on experience and knowledge from Earth, creating norms and a code of practice (part of my Ph.D. work), and working towards creating legislation for these issues."

The need for exogeoconservation is paramount at this juncture. In addition to Mars, multiple astrobiology missions will travel to the outer solar system this decade to search for evidence of life on icy moons like Europa, Ganymede, Titan, and Enceladus.

This includes the ESA's JUpiter ICy moons Explorer (JUICE) mission, currently en route to Ganymede, and NASA's Europa Clipper and Dragonfly missions that will launch for Europa and Titan in October 2024 and 2028 (respectively).

Therefore, the ability to search for extant or past life without damaging its natural environment is an ethical and scientific necessity.

"I hope this paper is very much a starting point for anyone working in Mars science and exploration, as well as anyone thinking about space policy and exogeoconservation," said Fletcher. "My goal was to start drawing attention to these issues, and that way start a generation of researchers and practitioners focused on exogeoconservation of Mars."

More information: Clare Fletcher et al, Exogeoconservation of Mars, Space Policy (2024). DOI: 10.1016/j.spacepol.2024.101627
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

A recent study published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts presents a significant advancement in the bioprocessing of Artocarpus altilis (breadfruit) into bioethanol, offering a sustainable and efficient alternative to traditional fuel sources. Credit: Eriola Betiku: Department of Biological Sciences, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University, Tallahassee, 32307, U.S.

In a bid to address the growing demand for renewable energy, a team of scientists has turned to an unlikely sourcethe humble breadfruit. A recent study published in the Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts has shed light on the bioprocessing of Artocarpus altilis fruit into bioethanol, a sustainable fuel alternative. The research focused on optimizing fermentation conditions to enhance the conversion of breadfruit starch into bioethanol using Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a type of yeast.

The study's background highlights the challenges of commercial bioethanol production, including the need for rich, inexpensive, and readily available starch sources. The researchers aimed to identify and utilize underutilized starch sources, setting their sights on breadfruit, which is not only abundant but also underused in many regions.

The methodology involved the extraction of breadfruit starch and its subsequent hydrolysis using microwave-assisted acid hydrolysis. The hydrolysate, rich in fermentable sugars, served as a substrate for the yeast fermentation process. The fermentation conditions, including time, substrate concentration, pH, and inoculum size, were meticulously optimized to maximize bioethanol production.

Results from the study indicated that under the optimized conditions of a starch concentration of 122 g/L, microwave output of 720 W, and an incubation time of 6 minutes, a breadfruit starch hydrolysate (BSH) concentration of 108.9 g/L was achieved. The fermentation of BSH reached a maximum bioethanol production of 4.99% (v/v) under a BSH concentration of 80 g/L, a medium pH of 4.7, an inoculum size of 2% (v/v), and a fermentation time of 20.41 hours.

The study concluded that breadfruit starch could be effectively hydrolyzed using acid hydrolysis and microwave irradiation in a relatively short time, making it a viable candidate for bioethanol production. The research not only offers a sustainable solution to the energy sector but also presents an opportunity for the utilization of underutilized agricultural resources.

The innovative aspect of this study lies in its approach to optimizing the fermentation process, which is crucial for the economic feasibility of bioethanol production. The use of response surface methodology (RSM) to evaluate the interactive effects of fermentation parameters provides a comprehensive understanding of the process, leading to the identification of optimal conditions for maximum bioethanol yield.

The research's significance extends beyond the scientific community, offering implications for policy makers, agriculturists, and the renewable energy industry. By presenting a viable alternative to traditional fuel sources, this study contributes to the global effort towards sustainable energy production and environmental conservation.

More information: Eriola Betiku et al, Bioprocessing of underutilized Artocarpus altilis fruit to bioethanol by Saccharomyces cerevisiae: A fermentation condition improvement study, Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts (2023). DOI: 10.1016/j.jobab.2023.03.002

Provided by Journal of Bioresources and Bioproducts
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

There are 62.5 million internally displaced persons worldwide, according to 2022 data by the UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. These individuals were forced to leave their homes but remain in the same country.

Prior research has shown that internally displaced persons often experience prejudice and discrimination, as residents in their new locale fear that the migrants may be insurgents or criminals, or compete for jobs.

Now, a new Dartmouth study involving Afghanistan indicates that changing such attitudes is an uphill battle. Given the decades of fighting there, Afghanistan has had one of the largest populations of internally displaced persons, with some 6.6 million internally displaced Afghans in 2022, according to the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre.

The new study, published in the American Journal of Political Science, found that locals' attitudes toward migrants did not change after prolonged contact through a vocational training program in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

"Many NGOs are trying optimistically to reduce prejudice through contact-based programs, but our work shows that these programs alone cannot be successful unless structural changes are also implemented," says lead author Yang-Yang Zhou, an assistant professor of government at Dartmouth.

Independent of the study, locals often viewed migrants in Kandahar as threats who may be potential Taliban informants or fighters, who would serve as competitors for jobs, housing, and other community resources.

To examine locals' attitudes about migrants, the researchers teamed up with the global humanitarian nongovernmental organization Mercy Corps in late-2015 to 2016, which was administering a vocational training program called INVEST for over 2,500 locals and migrants in Kandahar.

The study was randomized so that there was a treatment group of participants who received the training, and a control group who were put on a waiting list and would receive the training at a later date.

Courses in tailoring, plumbing, carpentry, and computer software skills were offered at four vocational training centers. Participants were provided bus services from their homes to the center to help keep them safe. Both men and women participated in the training, although the classes were separated by gender. Importantly for this study, classes included a mix of both locals and migrants.

They met five days a week, six hours a day for either three or six months and received cash transfers in exchange for their participation.

Within the classes, the students worked as a team, as there were no reports of self-segregation or negative traumatic experiences within the class. And if there was any violence happening near a center, the program was paused.

There was no curriculum for the study, as the researchers wanted to determine if locals' prejudice against migrants could be reduced through interpersonal contact in the vocational training program. They were testing if psychologist Gordon Allport's "contact theory" would hold true in this context.

The locals were surveyed three timesbefore the program started, after the program ended, and again eight months lateron how often they interact with migrants, and whether they thought migrants were good for the community, more likely to support violence than locals, likely to take away jobs from native residents, and if they would become a burden on government resources.

At baseline, half of the locals had never interacted with migrants before they had participated in INVEST.

The survey results showed that people really enjoyed the program and wished that it had run longer. Yet, the results from the end of the program, and eight months later showed that locals did not change their attitudes toward migrants even after prolonged contact.

"Our study participants spent up to six months with each other making it one of the longest, if not the longest contact intervention, that has ever been studied," says co-author Jason Lyall, the James Wright Chair in Transnational Studies, director of the Political Violence FieldLab at the Dickey Center for International Understanding, and an associate professor of government at Dartmouth. "The data shows how very difficult it is to change peoples' attitudes, especially during a wartime setting."

Contact-based programs by NGOs can help promote peace, tolerance, and understanding. But in war zones, the researchers say that establishing resettlement patterns for migrants that no longer geographically segregates them from the rest of the community in refugee camps or settlements, and other structural changes, may be the key to reducing locals' prejudice and fears of migrants.

"Opportunities need to be created for migrants and locals to have direct and meaningful contact with each other in their everyday environment rather than isolating migrants from other residents," says Zhou.

More information: YangYang Zhou et al, Prolonged contact does not reshape locals' attitudes toward migrants in wartime settings, American Journal of Political Science (2024). DOI: 10.1111/ajps.12862 Journal information: American Journal of Political Science
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

Floods caused by unusually heavy rains in eastern Congo caused hardship for more than 470,000 people, the World Food Program said Wednesday.

Heavy rains late last year caused rivers and lakes in the South Kivu and Tanganyika provinces to overflow, destroying crops, blocking roads and forcing villagers to seek refuge in temporary shelters. The World Food Program attributed the heavy rains to climate change.

One farmer told WFP that he was struggling to feed his family of six after losing his crops to floods, and was living in a temporary shelter with other families displaced by the inundation.

The WFP report said the people impacted by the floods are also vulnerable to diseases, often having no option but to wash clothes and kitchen utensils in cholera contaminated water. In some areas, farmers are sheltering with their cattle, further increasing the risk of disease.

WFP also said that it lacked the resources needed to respond to the needs of people in areas impacted by the floods.

Africa has been hard hit by extreme weather in recent days. In Kenya, 257 were killed by flooding and landslides caused by heavy rains and 55,000 were displaced according a government announcement Wednesday.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Photos of victims are displayed under white crosses at a memorial for the August 2023 wildfire victims, above the Lahaina Bypass highway, Dec. 6, 2023, in Lahaina, Hawaii. Hawaii health officials say test results show no evidence of widespread lead exposure from last summer's Maui wildfires. Blood samples were taken from more than 500 people to screen for lead after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century fire ripped through the town of Lahaina, killing 101 people. Credit: AP Photo/Lindsey Wasson, File

Lead screening conducted on west Maui residents after last summer's devastating wildfires showed no widespread exposure to the toxic metal, Hawaii health officials said Thursday.

Blood samples were taken from 557 people after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the town of Lahaina, killing 101 people.

Just 27 people's screening results came out positive, and subsequent testing showed 15 of them did not have elevated blood lead levels and were determined to have had a false positive, the state health department said.

"While the effects of the August 8 wildfires on the community have been devastating, it's reassuring to know that people in the community are not showing elevated blood lead levels," state Health Director Dr. Kenneth Fink said in a statement. "On the basis of these results with lead as an indicator of exposure, we do not expect to find health impacts caused by toxins in the wildfire ash."

Lead is one of the heavy metals of concern found in significant concentrations in ash from the fires, the health department said.

A general view shows the aftermath of a devastating wildfire in Lahaina, Hawaii, Tuesday, Aug. 22, 2023. Hawaii health officials say test results show no evidence of widespread lead exposure from last summer's Maui wildfires. Blood samples were taken from more than 500 people to screen for lead after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century fire ripped through the town of Lahaina, killing 101 people. Credit: AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Forest fires raged in Boca do Acre in 2023. Credit: Debora Dutra/CEMADEN

Although the rate of deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon fell in 2023, the region is faced with another challenge in the shape of fire affecting the native vegetation that has so far been spared destruction. An article published in the journal Global Change Biology warns that wildfires in old-growth forests rose 152% last year compared with 2022, despite a drop of 16% in the total number of fires throughout the Amazon and a 22% drop in deforestation.

In an analysis of satellite images, the authors detected a rise in forest wildfires from 13,477 in 2022 to 34,012 in 2023. The main cause was drought. The region has been experiencing longer and more frequent dry periods. There were prolonged droughts in 2010 and 2015-16, which left the forest more prone to fire and led to fragmentation of the plant cover. Another severe drought began last year and is still in progress, making the situation still worse.

According to surveys by the National Space Research Institute (INPE), the number of fires throughout the Amazon in the first three months of 2023 was 7,861, more than in any of the previous eight years and more than half the Brazilian total (followed by the Cerrado, with 25%). Until then, the highest first-quarter number recorded had been 8,240 (in 2016).

"It's important to understand the geographic pattern of these fires. Each of the areas concerned requires a different response. Our analysis pointed to more fires in old-growth forest areas than in previous years, which is alarming not just because of the loss of vegetation, which is invariably followed by deforestation, but also because the carbon stored by the forest becomes carbon emissions when it burns," said Guilherme Augusto Verola Mataveli, corresponding author of the article and a remote sensing specialist with INPE's Earth Observation and Geoinformatics Division.

Last year, some members of the research group published another article showing that wildfires increased along an emerging deforestation frontier in the area of Boca do Acre in the southwest of Amazonas state, North Brazil, between 2003 and 2019.

"Old-growth forest stores larger amounts of carbon, which becomes greenhouse gas emissions when it burns, contributing to climate change. Another negative effect relates to public health problems. In October 2023, Manaus [the capital of Amazonas state] had the worst air quality of any city in the world bar one," Mataveli said.

Burnings also increased in other states, including Para, where the number of old-growth forest fires reached 13,804 in 2023, up from 4,217 in 2022.

The situation in Roraima is one of the worst in the region: Over half the fires detected in the Amazon in 2024 have occurred in this state, which has the fifth-largest Indigenous population in Brazil (97,320) and saw 14 of its 15 municipalities declare a state of emergency in March because of fire. Schools were closed because of the smoke, and severe drought left Indigenous communities without access to food and exposed to respiratory disorders, among other problems.

In response to Agencia FAPESP, the National Center for Forest Fire Fighting and Prevention (PREVFOGO), an arm of IBAMA, the main federal environmental agency, said it has been working with other institutions since November 2023 to combat and prevent forest fires in Roraima. More than 300 firefighters and four aircraft have been involved in this campaign since January.

"Climate change is a key driver of the increase in forest fires, and El Nino has also added risk owing to its links with the prolonged drought in the region. We stress the importance of the firefighting efforts of state and municipal environmental authorities in collaboration with federal agencies. This partnership is fundamental to assure strategic and effective prevention of forest fires," the IBAMA/PREVFOGO statement said.

The Ministry of Environment and Climate Change (MMA) responded to a request for a statement by reinforcing the above points.

Forest resilience

Tree mortality due to fire in primary forest areas often exceeds 50% of the above-ground biomass, so wildfires can greatly reduce the volume of carbon stored in the Amazon in the long term.

In February, carbon emissions due to fire in Brazil were the highest for 20 years, reaching 4.1 megatons, with Roraima in the lead, according to the Copernicus Atmospheric Monitoring Service. Copernicus is the Earth observation component of the European Union's space program.

Forest resilience is also weakened by wildfires, affecting the forest's capacity to create a humid microclimate below the canopy that contains and recycles moisture within the ecosystem.

Another point made by the researchers in the article is that the increase in invasive wildfires due to heightened forest flammability poses a significant challenge to traditional subsistence farmers who normally use controlled fire as a land management strategy.

According to Luiz Aragao, leader of the research group and last author of the article, "The Amazon is becoming more vulnerable environmentally, socially and economically as time passes without effective solutions to the fire problem." Although deforestation rates have fallen lately, the area affected continues to expand.

"We predicted this in an article by our group published in 2010 in the journal Science," Aragao said. "Both deforested areas and areas where the forest is now being destroyed are active sources of fire ignition by humans. Deforestation fragments the landscape, creating more boundaries between forest areas and open areas and making old-growth forest areas more permeable to fire."

"The aggregate impact of extreme droughts like the current one, alongside landscape fragmentation, continuous use of fire, more areas of fire-degraded forest, illegal logging and edge effects will make the forest increasingly flammable. Urgent measures are needed to mitigate fires and maintain the Amazon as Brazil's greatest asset to achieve sustainable national development."

The article also advocates more command-and-control operations, more numerous and better-equipped fire brigades, and constant improvement of monitoring systems.

"With the use of artificial intelligence, we can try to develop systems that not only show where fires are occurring but also predict where they're most likely to break out in future so that we can focus preventive action on specific areas," Mataveli added.

More information: Guilherme Mataveli et al, Deforestation falls but rise of wildfires continues degrading Brazilian Amazon forests, Global Change Biology (2024). DOI: 10.1111/gcb.17202 Journal information: Global Change Biology , Science

Provided by FAPESP
The Hyde Collection announced the return of the 33rd Annual High School Juried Show taking place through June 2. The High School Juried Show is one of the nations longest-running events of its kind, spotlighting the works of dozens of regional artists, the Hyde said in a press release.

The High School Juried Show serves as a transformative opportunity for area high school students to delve into the intricacies of the art world, gaining invaluable experience and knowledge along the way, a Hyde Collection press release stated.

Over 580 artworks have been submitted from 261 students representing 14 regional schools.

One hundred pieces of artwork were selected for exhibition by judges.

The jurors are Rebecca Pelchar, Director of Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY Adirondack, Jade Miner, Youth Program +Workshop Coordinator at Salem Art Works, and Aili Lopez, Program Director at C.R.E.A.T.E Community Studios.

The exhibitions winners: Best in Show, Bianca Babcock, Saratoga Springs High School, Bedroom; Curators Award, Elliana Jeppesen, Queensbury High School, Color Pencil Jars; Curators Award, Nathan Reed, Queensbury High School, Wrenching; Jurors Award: Ava Gonroff, Queensbury High School, Winters Coming; Jurors Award, Sophia Verdu, Saratoga Springs High School, Omens; Jurors Award, Audrey Cook, Ticonderoga Central School, Boys A Liar; Jurors Award, Rahe Lulla, Cambridge Central School, Monochromos; Jurors Award: Leah Bell, Saratoga Springs High School, Vogue Goes Pink; Jurors Award, Taylor Gross, Whitehall Jr Sr High School, A Little Fruity; North Country Arts Award, Evangeline Landry, Argyle Central School, Saturns Ice Rink; North Country Arts Award, Lilly Wright, Glens Falls High School, Butterfly; North Country Arts Award, Maya Rosko, Saratoga Springs High School, Apple; North Country Arts Award, Drake Belrose, Schroon Lake Central School, Lumos; North Country Arts Award, Brandy Boyce, South Glens Falls High School, Bee Portrait.

The Visitors Choice Award will be awarded at the conclusion of the exhibition. Winners will receive one of the following: scholarships for art classes at SUNY Adirondack, gift certificates for summer programs at Salem Art Works, or a gift of membership at North Country Arts.

The Hyde Collection is open Thursday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
BRIGANTINE  The island has seen its fair share of businesses come and go, but the city and the local Chamber of Commerce are taking steps to try to bolster local merchants year-round.

Over the past decade, the city has worked with the Brigantine Chamber of Commerce to grow the islands local economy and help its small business owners succeed, Mayor Vince Sera said.

The city has invested more than $2.7 million in revamping its business district streetscapes, in addition to sponsoring/co-sponsoring events with the chamber to help attract businesses.

We knew that if the city committed to making substantial improvements and investments, that the business owners would do the same. We are now seeing many owners making big investments to improve and beautify their own businesses, said Sera. As a result of the efforts from both the city and the chamber, we are seeing a steady growth in the number of new businesses that have opened on the island over the last few years.

The city does not have a single way to track its businesses, said Ryan Hurst, the deputy city manager.

Our Chamber of Commerce plays a pivotal role in connecting businesses, advocating for their interests and promoting collaboration. Through networking events, educational workshops and advocacy initiatives, we strive to empower our members and facilitate their success. We maintain ongoing communication with local and state groups to champion business advocacy, actively participating in those pertinent discussions, said Maria Sacco Handle, president of the chamber.

The chamber has 168 members.

There seems to be an overall rejuvenation of the existing business in town. Many have updated their storefronts by adding awnings, landscaping, outdoor seating areas and more. Several businesses have grown so much over the last few years that they moved to a larger location or added additions, said Barbara Rote, the chambers secretary. For the first time in years, we have more business owners looking for rental space than available properties.

In the past few months, the island has seen several new stores open up, Rote said.

Some include Sandy Jacks Deli, which offers English and Irish specialty products; Brigantine Pet Supply; Ola Kai Functional Fitness, one of the islands two gyms; and The Teal Tail, which just had its grand reopening in April at its new 1001 W. Brigantine Ave. location.

Business has been amazing so far, said Andie Gay, the social media manager for Brigantine Pet Supply. Because we are such a new business, we dont quite know the challenges specific to operating a business in a beach town just yet. We hope that because of the population on the island and the communitys sense of supporting local businesses that we will see sustained support and business throughout the year, as well as a bump in the summer season.

Gay said her parents, Dawn and Andy Gay, were inspired to open a pet store in Brigantine because there wasnt a place on the island where people could buy pet food or supplies.

We are still seeing lots of new faces every day, which is super fun, but we also even have a few regulars already who we are so grateful for and have loved getting to know. We love to see our customers bringing their dogs into the store so we can meet them and watch them pick out toys and treats, Gay said.

Since Ola Kai opened last July, Christina Perry, the owner alongside her husband, Jimmy, said business has been great. The business has 85 full-time members, a number that is expected to increase during the summer.

We actually exceeded our goals for the first year, and now were gearing up for summer, said Perry. Growing up here on the island, where my dad had a business, its exciting to see the commercial side of the island really coming to life. With the islands summer and winter populations all growing, we thought it was a nice time to open a business, and that the island could handle two gyms.

Sera said the city has aggressively pursued grant money to help pay for investments and redevelopment in three of its main business districts  the Central Business District, the Lighthouse District and the area where the Acme Plaza is off Brigantine Boulevard.

The Central Business District was the first district to receive a $758,448 streetscape grant in 2015 for decorative lighting, crosswalks, planter boxes, benches, bike lanes and bike racks, Sera said. That work was completed in 2016.

The city then invested $814,000 in the area along West Brigantine Avenue between 31st and 34th streets, which was completed in 2022.

With $1.2 million in grant funding awarded by the New Jersey Department of Transportation and the Federal Highway Administration to promote alternative transportation methods, the city is wrapping up its Lighthouse District streetscape project to beautify and encourage walkability in the area.

Weve made major investments in all of our business districts and have worked very closely with the Brigantine Chamber of Commerce to build our shoulder season, Sera said.

He also noted the Economic Development Committee, chaired by Councilman Mike Riordan, works hard to develop new and exciting ideas to boost the local economy.

We remain committed to fostering a business-friendly environment that encourages innovation, growth and sustainability, the chambers Sacco Handle said. Together, we are shaping Brigantines future as a vibrant hub of commerce and opportunity.

GALLERY: Business development in downtown Brigantine
A Pennsylvania woman was sentenced Friday to life in prison for murdering her father and his girlfriend at their Surf City home, the Ocean County Prosecutors Office said.

Sherry Lee Heffernan, 57, of Landenberg, was found guilty March 1 following a nearly four-week jury trial.

This is an appropriate sentence, and we are hopeful that this brings some measure of closure to the family and friends of John and Francoise, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said in a news release.

Heffernan was arrested Oct. 4, 2021, after her father, John Enders, 87, and his girlfriend, Francoise Pitoy, 75, were found stabbed to death Oct. 3 in Enders home overlooking Barnegat Bay.

Surf City police conducted a welfare check on Enders and Pitoy at 1:54 p.m. Oct. 3, 2021. Pitoys daughter, Valerie Lewis-Evans, had alerted police after not hearing from her mother for more than a week.

While approaching the back of the house in the 300 block of North Seventh Street, officers saw through the window what appeared to be a dead man sitting in a recliner. When they entered through the front of the house, they found a dead woman on the landing of the stairs, according to court documents.

Pennsylvania woman found guilty of murdering her father and his girlfriend on Long Beach Island A Pennsylvania woman was found guilty Friday of murdering her father and his girlfriend at their Surf City home, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office said.

Detectives found blood on the front railing, blood spatter upstairs and downstairs, and more blood on several drawers, cabinets, a closet door handle and door knobs leading in and out of the back of the house.

Both Enders and Pitoy suffered massive stab wounds and loss of blood, according to court documents. Investigators also observed additional injuries consistent with possible blunt force trauma.

Through a search of motor vehicle records, police found Heffernan drove a 2003 Ford Winnebago. Footage from surveillance cameras showed a white RV heading east on the bridge onto Long Beach Island at 4:48 a.m. Sept. 29, 2021.

At 4:58 a.m., a doorbell camera captured the RV approaching Enders home, and at 5:49 a.m., the vehicle was seen driving east on Seventh Street with its headlights off, according to a court affidavit.

At 6:42 a.m., another camera captured an individual, holding what appeared to be an orange garment or bag, in the backyard of Enders home. The individual jumped over the fence, walked between the two houses and cut through the property toward Sixth Street.

Pennsylvania State Police later searched Heffernans Winnebago, finding red stains on the carpet appearing to be consistent with blood, according to court documents.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a local company in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

Chinese Premier Li Qiang has stressed that Xinjiang should work to improve people's wellbeing and promote long-term stability while striving for high-quality development.

Li made the remarks during his inspection tour in Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region from Tuesday to Thursday.

Noting that Xinjiang is promoting the construction of the core area of the Silk Road Economic Belt, Li said it should better link inland regions with countries along the route, and build itself into a bridgehead for opening up to the west.

After being told that the number of overseas visitors to Xinjiang has increased significantly following the implementation of the visa-free policy, the premier said that international exchanges should be strengthened in the fields of trade, education, medical care, culture and tourism.

When visiting local companies, Li said Xinjiang should support the development of competitive industries that take advantage of local strengths such as energy, farm produce processing and equipment manufacturing.

He asked local authorities to boost people's employment and incomes, and promote unity among all ethnic groups.

Li also urged Xinjiang to push all work to a higher level and make greater contributions to the overall development of the country.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, visits a local company in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, May 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]
WILDWOOD  The big crowds expected in town Saturday for the Donald Trump rally on the beach and for other events will pay more for parking.

The most expensive areas of town close to the Boardwalk will now cost $5 an hour. That would mean 100 quarters for a five-hour day at the beach, although those parking on the street can also pay for parking on their phones.

This week, the citys Board of Commissioners approved two resolutions related to parking, one to increase parking rates throughout town, another to turn the meters on before the busy weekend, almost a week earlier than usual.

Most years, the requirement to pay for parking begins May 15.

The new rates will remain in effect from now on, but the early requirement to pay for parking will just be for this year. The resolution approving the change cited the crowds due in Wildwood this weekend.

The city has a number of special events scheduled to take place prior to the May 15 date set fourth in the city code and expects a significant influx of visitors and vehicle traffic, the resolution reads.

There was little discussion of the change at the Wednesday meeting at which it was approved, in which residents and officials spent far more time discussing the perennial issues related to juveniles on the Boardwalk and rowdy young people.

Attempts to contact each of the three commissioners, Mayor Ernie Troiano, Krista McConnell and Steve Mikulski, were unsuccessful Friday. None immediately responded to phone messages.

A statement from the city indicated the parking rates need to increase to offset tax rate increases, to alleviate parking deficiencies and to reduce congestion in high traffic areas. The city statement also cites the health, safety and welfare of the community.

The city last increased meter rates in 2013.

Parking fees are required every day from 8 a.m. to 3 a.m. through Oct. 31.

The new rates are $3 an hour on New Jersey Avenue from 26th Avenue to Cresse Avenue, and on adjacent side streets, $4 an hour on Pacific Avenue and its side streets, and $5 an hour on Atlantic Avenue.

A notice about the rate increases posted to Facebook by the city drew multiple angry responses, and several questions. One commenter accused the city of price gouging, and another said, Ive been coming there for over 40 years and you keep making it easier and easier to go somewhere else!

Wildwood made $1.3 million from parking meters last year, according to the municipal budget approved Wednesday. Thats about what the budget anticipates for this year.

The $45.6 million budget for this year includes a tax rate of $1.61 and 2/10th of a cent for every $100 of assessed property value, an increase of 1.9 cents over last year. That means the owner of a house assessed at $300,000 will owe $4,836 in taxes to Wildwood, in addition to school and county taxes.

In addition to the Trump rally on the beach Saturday, Wildwood also has a cheer event at the Wildwoods Convention Center and a hot rod and muscle car show as well as a Spring Fling downtown at Byrne Plaza, 3400 Pacific Ave. In nearby North Wildwood, there is an event marking the 150th anniversary of the Hereford Inlet lighthouse.
Muscatine police believe a report of gunshots in the area of Franklin Elementary School Friday morning was fireworks, a press release said.

According to the release at about 10 a.m. Franklin Elementary School staff members and students at morning recess reported hearing what they thought were gunshots in the neighborhood around Franklin. All students and staff were brought inside the building, and the Muscatine Police Department was immediately notified.

Within minutes, Muscatine Police and Muscatine County Sheriffs Office personnel were on the scene and began patrolling the neighborhood and checking in with staff at Franklin.

As of Friday afternoon, police suspect the incident was fireworks being set off in the neighborhood and will continue investigating.

In the release, the school district thanked Franklin Elementary School staff members for taking action to get their students safely into their school building. The district is also grateful for the immediate response and continued partnership with the Muscatine Police Department and the Muscatine County Sheriffs Office.
The Sanford Underground Research Facility in Lead is home to a range of scientific disciplines, from world-leading physics research to biology, geology, engineering and much more.

South Dakota Mines is hosting the fifth Conference on Science at the Sanford Underground Research Facility, which will cover all aspects of research at SURF. The conference will take place May 14 through 16 in the Classroom Building on campus at Mines.

SURF has been operating for 17 years as an international facility dedicated to advancing compelling multidisciplinary underground scientific research. This is a particularly exciting time for this conference  a number of results from SURF experiments are making headlines and planning for next-generation projects is gaining momentum following recent strategic planning in the nuclear and particle physics communities, says Jaret Heise, Ph.D., science director at SURF. The Conference on Science at SURF provides a wonderful opportunity to survey progress on current and future efforts, and we're thrilled to see the conference series continuing.

The conference, generally held every two years, brings together researchers from around the world who are focusing on the array of science happening in the underground lab. This year, about 100 researchers and students are expected to attend.

"The upcoming conference is truly unique as it covers the full scope of the research at SURF while fostering interdisciplinary collaboration between different fields of science, says Jingbo Wang, Ph.D., assistant professor of physics at South Dakota Mines and the 2024 conference chair.

This Conference on Science at SURF also serves to educate and inspire the next generation of researchers, and both graduate and undergraduate students will be in attendance.

The conference provides remarkable opportunities for our students, both to learn from world experts on underground science, and to experience sharing their own research with such experts, says Richard Schnee, Ph.D., head of the Department of Physics at South Dakota Mines. This year we are hosting the PIRE-GEMARDARC summer school, with students using conference presentations to complement their interactive learning sessions."

South Dakota Mines faculty and students are involved in every aspect of SURF, from the massive Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment and the study of extremophile bacteria found in the depths of the underground laboratory, to the multidisciplinary effort to tap geothermal potential deep underground as a new energy source, and the hunt for dark matter with the LZ dark matter experiment. Mines students and faculty are also part of the effort to grow the worlds purest copper for LEGEND-200 and other experiments, to the MJD Ta-180m which is searching for the decay of natures rarest isotope and probing the stellar interior with the CASPAR experiment and more.

This year we are also placing emphasis on the SURF User Association, which was established a few years ago. We're dedicating a special session to facilitate open dialogue, allowing SURF users to articulate their current requirements and future needs. Our aim is to foster a thriving underground research community by actively incorporating their insights and feedback, says Dr. Frank Strieder, associate professor at South Dakota Mines and chair of the SURF User Association Executive Committee.

We're looking forward to timely and in-depth discussions among participants, focusing on the latest advancements in underground physics and other fields. These conversations are crucial as they will help chart new courses towards groundbreaking discoveries at SURF. This is an exciting time for underground science, and we are eager to see the innovative ideas that will emerge from this gathering, Wang added.
You are here: China

China issued a blue alert for mountain torrents on Thursday evening.

From 8 p.m. Thursday to 8 p.m. Friday, mountain torrents are likely to occur in parts of Guizhou and Qinghai, according to the alert, which was issued by the Ministry of Water Resources and the China Meteorological Administration.

Mountain torrents could also be triggered by heavy downpours in other areas, the alert warned.

Local authorities are advised to strengthen real-time monitoring and flood-warning procedures amid measures to prepare for evacuation.

China has a four-tier weather-warning system, with red representing the most severe warning, followed by orange, yellow and blue.
Virginia Commonwealth University and its health system are planning a significant reimagining of the health campus in downtown Richmond, a preliminary plan that could take more than 15 years to implement and seemingly cost north of $1 billion.

The vision includes a new dental school, an expansion to the inpatient hospital, more space for research, and removal of the 83-year-old West Hospital.

With few formal plans made, the vision is considered a roadmap, and its possible not all projects will come to life, said Meredith Weiss, VCUs vice president for administration and interim chief financial officer. She presented the plan to VCUs board of visitors on Thursday.

VCU and VCU Health, which are separate, overlapping entities controlled by the state, will spend the summer listening to public feedback and will move forward in the fall.

The reason for the redevelopment is the significant demand for VCU Healths services, Weiss said. The inpatient hospital, which has more than 600 adult inpatient beds, frequently operates at near capacity, which VCU Health aims to increase. Its unclear how many beds the medical center would add after all the additions are made.

The health system wants to eliminate semiprivate rooms in the main hospital and increase parking at a patients point of care.

From an academic perspective, the university has experienced significant growth in its health science programs, including nursing and health professions  which includes physical therapy, anesthesia and radiation sciences  and those departments are expected to keep growing.

The universitys research enterprise, which has a large health component, also needs more space. VCU cracked the top 50 public colleges for research funding, and many of its labs are beyond their useful life, Weiss said.

Now, as the university and health system grow, an improved campus can make an impact with students and recruit the best staff, Weiss said.

Were at an inflection point as an institution, she added.

Funding would come from the state, the university and the health system. The state generally pays for academic buildings, such as the dentistry school. For research buildings, the state might cover half, with the university footing the bill on the other half. The health system would cover the cost of patient-focused buildings.

The universitys board of visitors would have to approve buildings with academic components, and the health systems board of directors would green-light medical buildings.

The plans do not show an expansion of the campus. Instead, they give a glimpse of a significant redevelopment of health system parcels. Not mentioned is the plot of the Public Safety Building, which VCU Health failed to redevelop and which the health system is currently paying for the buildings demolition. Last month, VCU President Michael Rao said the parcel would always be a plot of interest because of its proximity to the health system.

Tearing down the West Hospital has been a point of discussion for years. The 17-story, art deco building opened in 1941 and has become outdated, needing $150 million in deferred maintenance, Weiss said.

A university master plan in 2004 called for its demolition, but preservationists objected. In 2017, it was again slated for removal, but it got a reprieve. At the site of the West Hospital, the Virginia convention ratified the U.S. Constitution on June 25, 1788.

It is not located in one of Richmonds Old and Historic Districts, meaning it is not protected from demolition. And the state does not consider it a landmark.

But it is architecturally significant to some, Weiss said, and VCU Health will ask the state for approval before removing the building.

There are two top priorities for construction: a dentistry school for the university and an inpatient expansion for the health system. Lower priorities could be realized in the next three to 15 years, Weiss said. Priorities at the bottom of the list would take even longer.

 Dentistry school: The university's top priority, VCU plans to build a new dentistry school as part of the Larrick Student Center on Turpin Street, overlooking Interstate 95. The new construction could go on the back side of the current building, where the pool and gym are.

The General Assembly indicated it would provide funds for VCU to begin designing the facility, but the directive awaits final approval from Gov. Glenn Youngkin as part of the entire state budget.

 Inpatient expansion: The health system wants to expand the inpatient hospital at North 11th and East Marshall streets at the sites of the current Ambulatory Care Center and Nelson Clinic. Much of the patient care that occurred here was moved to the Adult Outpatient Pavilion. Preplanning has begun. The remaining priorities are considered potential near term and beyond.

 Student housing: VCU wants to create more housing at the site of the vacant Cabaniss Hall at North Eighth and Jackson streets. VCU could replace or renovate the building, depending on which is more affordable, and the building could house undergraduate or graduate students.

 Interdisciplinary building: At the site of the current dental school on East Leigh Street, between North 11th and North 12th streets, VCU Health would build a multiuse facility. The schematic shows a building of roughly 15 stories.

 Logistics center: VCU Health would erect a logistics center with a mixed-use building above it on East Leigh Street between North 12th Street and the Duval Street Connector. Currently, there are the Strauss Research Laboratory, the visitor parking deck and the health system library. The mixed-use building could house numerous health system activities, Weiss said.

 Second inpatient expansion: VCU Health would add more inpatient beds at North 11th and East Clay streets at the site of the pharmacy school, which could relocate into the interdisciplinary building or another facility.

 Research, classroom and office building: VCU would build new space for research and other needs on East Broad Street at the site of the current West Hospital at 1200 E. Broad St.

 Another inpatient expansion: VCU Health could add more inpatient beds at the site of the North Hospital at 1300 E. Marshall St., a project that would not be realized for several years.

 Additional inpatient expansion: VCU could replace Sanger Hall at 1101 E. Marshall St. These plans are in preliminary stages, and the final two inpatient expansion plans ultimately might not occur, Weiss said.

Top five weekend events: Mile of Music, Kurt Vile, Mother's Day events Church Hill Spring Fest Kurt Vile Summer Moon Music Festival Richmond Symphony Mile of Music Mother's Day events
This aerial photo taken on May 27, 2023 shows the construction site of Qingchi grand bridge in Jinsha County of Bijie City, southwest China's Guizhou Province. [Photo/Xinhua]

China has invested 11.5 billion yuan (about 1.62 billion U.S. dollars) this year to support programs that provide employment to people in need as a form of relief, the National Development and Reform Commission said Thursday.



The investment, which was jointly issued with the Ministry of Finance, has been used to support more than 2,700 work-relief programs and generated 250,000 jobs for rural residents.

The work-relief programs are aimed at people in need of employment, especially rural residents who have been lifted out of poverty, vulnerable individuals prone to return to poverty, and migrant workers returning to their hometowns. The programs are designed to help them find work at their locales.

The commission urged local governments to speed up the initiation process of the work-relief programs in order to boost employment and increase incomes for local people.
Gang member suspect wanted for three Chetumal murders captured in Campeche

Chetumal, Q.R.  A gang member suspect wanted for murder and attempted murder in Chetumal has been captured in Campeche. The detainee, identified as the leader of a drug dealer network that was recently dismantled with the arrest of 11 of its members, are believed involved in several homicides in the south of Quintana Roo.

In a statement Friday afternoon, the State Attorney General (FGE) reported on the Thursday night capture of Joaquin Ramon N. He was arrested in collaboration with the FGE of Campeche on an outstanding arrest warrant.

Joaquin Ramon N is being investigated for his alleged participation in at least three homicides and one attempted homicide in the state capital, the FGE (Fiscalia General Del Estado) said.

Joaquin Ramon N is believed responsible for the April 26 attack against agents of the Investigative Police which culminated in the arrest of three people in possession of firearms.

The FGE said his capture was the result of investigations related to high-impact criminal events that occurred in April of this year in the states southern region.

The capture of this subject, who is identified as the leader of a criminal group that generates violence in the municipality of Othon P. Blanco, is the result of coordinated work with the institutions of the three levels of government in order to guarantee peace and the safety of Quintana Roo families and their visitors.

With this arrest, the dismantling of the criminal gang commanded by Joaquin Ramon N is achieved.

Joaquin Ramon N was wanted for three murders and one attempted murder in Chetumal. Photo: FGE May 9, 2024.

On April 24 and 26 of this year, 11 people were arrested in the city of Chetumal in possession of firearms, mobile equipment, various doses of narcotics, vehicles, useful cartridges, uniforms and tactical equipment, among other items, the agency reported.

The field and office investigations indicates that those investigated would be related to at least three homicides and one attempted homicide in the state capital. One registered in the Flamingos subdivision where a teenager lost his life and a person identified as an element of the Municipal Police was injured.

A second event occurred in the Las Americas II subdivision where two men lost their lives, and a third criminal event occurred in the Proterritorio neighborhood where a man was killed after being shot several times.

Joaquin Ramon N has been returned to the states capital city of Chetumal to face charges. Photos: FGE May 10, 2024.

After Joaquin Ramon N was captured in the neighboring state of Campeche, elements of the Investigative Police transferred him to the city of Chetumal where he will face charges.
Sea turtle nesting season well under way on Playa del Carmen beaches

Playa del Carmen, Q.R.  Four sea turtle nests have been recorded in six days along Playa del Carmen beaches. Lucelly Ramos Montejo, Director of Environmental Management and Climate Change at Solidaridad, reported monitoring started at the end of April.

Within the first days of May, the municipality had already recorded four nests. Ramos says full monitoring is currently underway along more than 24 kilometers of beach that is home to four of the seven sea turtle species known across Mexico.

In Solidaridad we receive four of the species of sea turtles that arrive in Mexico, so we are privileged. These species are the green (or white), hawksbill, loggerhead and leatherback, she said.

During sea turtle nesting season, beach front hotels are asked to remove tables, chairs and loungers from the sand by 6:00 p.m. to accommodate any arriving turtles during the night.

From 5:00 to 6:00 in the afternoon they must remove everything that is movable, beds, lounge chairs, everything they have in the beach area that could be harmful to sea turtles, she said.

Photo: Zofemat May 2024

Constant surveillance to protect the nests and prevent egg theft is carried out in coordination with the Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection (Profepa) and the Secretary of the Navy (Semar).

Photo: Zofemat May 2024.

Ramos says stealing sea turtle eggs is a federal office that can result in up to nine years in jail along with a fine in excess of 20,000 pesos.
BLACKSBURG  Thousands of students threw their grad caps into the air on Friday morning, as the familiar sound of Enter Sandman echoed over Lane Stadium.

The ceremony is the largest of Virginia Techs graduation weekend, kicking off three days of ceremonies where students walk across the stage.

Mehul Sanghani, a university alumnus and the founder of Octo, gave this years commencement address, where he discussed not only his experience going to Virginia Tech, but being raised in Blacksburg, by parents who had immigrated from India.

My parents pursuit of something better for me and my family eventually led them to start their own business, Sanghani said. They borrowed money from friends and ended up buying a small motel in Blacksburg, only a stones throw from where we are today, called the Red Carpet Inn.

Much of Sanghanis speech focused on advice to graduates, and during that portion of his remarks, he alluded to ongoing protests on college campuses throughout the U.S. and Canada against the current Israeli war effort.

Ive made it this far in the speech without mentioning it, but its absolutely no secret that the last few weeks have brought tons of demonstrations on college campuses across our country, Sanghani said. Protests that highlight the conflicts that are raging all over our planet right now. These are historical conflicts that highlight differences in religion and ideology that will be challenging and put into question our collective views and values.

The speech comes two weeks after a protest encampment at Virginia Tech was cleared by police, and was the only explicitly stated reminder of recent local protests. While the local chapter of Students for Peace and Justice in Palestine (SPJP) posted on social media asking students to wear their Keffiyehs to graduation, no attempt was made at protesting the event, and the group posted a congratulatory message for graduates following the ceremony.

Sanghani noted that, for several of the students being honored at commencement, it would be their first official graduation ceremony, as many had graduated from high school at the height of the pandemic.

Several people were also awarded honors during the ceremony. Gladys West was awarded the University Distinguished Achievement for 2024. A Hidden Figure, and the second African American woman ever hired at the Naval Proving Ground in Dahlgren, Virginia, Her work was instrumental in the creation of GPS technology, and she earned a doctorate from Virginia Tech in 2000, at the age of 70.

Sanghani closed his speech by offering a gift of a free slice of pizza at Benny Marzanos, a popular spot for Virginia Tech students.

Youll have to wear your cap and gown there to claim it, Sanghani said.

In total, 7,951 students are expected to earn their degrees this weekend, both undergraduates and graduate students.

Photos: Virginia Tech graduation
National security agencies have issued a warning about marine espionage devices, the Ministry of State Security said in an article posted on its WeChat account on Thursday.

It said foreign intelligence agencies have intensified their reconnaissance and surveillance of China's waters through a series of intelligence gathering and technological espionage activities.

Through vigilant efforts and public reports, China's national security agencies have continuously identified different types of marine espionage devices concealed in the country's territorial waters. The devices, designed to spy on China's maritime data, pose significant threats to national security, it said.

A special exhibition broadcast recently by national security agencies highlighted a case where a Chinese fisherman caught an espionage device.

The article said the devices vary in functionality and purpose. Some remain on the seabed, covertly collecting hydrographic information and data on ship movements to prepare for battlefield scenarios. Others drift with currents to monitor real-time sea conditions, while some serve as underwater "lighthouses", directing foreign submarines into China's waters and helping them to conceal their movements.

The espionage devices are meticulously developed and manufactured, often incorporating the latest scientific and technological advancements. Some can operate autonomously for extended periods, others can be remotely controlled, and some are capable of both individual and networked operations, allowing for covert and efficient completion of diverse marine detection tasks.

They can sense and collect sensitive data and store, analyze and transmit it. Most devices also have a self-destruct feature that is activated after they complete their tasks according to preset programs, it said.

Despite their compact size, the devices achieve high-level integration of multiple functional units through precise design. That allows for ease of use while adapting to the complex and harsh marine environment, ensuring both stability and durability.

National security agencies have advised members of the public to report any discovered espionage equipment immediately by contacting the national security hotline 12339 or its online version.

They recommend salvaging and securely handling such devices under the guidance of national security agencies to ensure personal safety.

Once back in port, the equipment should be promptly turned over to the national security authorities.
Email Thomas Elias at tdelias@aol.com. His book, "The Burzynski Breakthrough, The Most Promising Cancer Treatment and the Governments Campaign to Squelch It" is now available in a soft cover fourth edition. For more Elias columns, visit www.californiafocus.net
Armenians take to the streets asking PM Pashinyan to resign over border dispute

Armenians take to the streets asking PM Pashinyan to resign over border dispute

Thousands of people took to the streets of the Armenian capital, Yerevan, on Thursday, demanding Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan's resignation over his government's decision to hand over control of border villages to Armenia's long-time rival Azerbaijan.

That decision came after Azerbaijan in September waged a lightning military campaign in Nagorno-Karabakh, a majority-ethnic Armenian region inside Azerbaijan.

That caused tens of thousands of people to stream into Armenia, sparking demonstrations as protesters called for the prime minister to be ousted.

Protesters led by a senior cleric in Armenia's church walked a distance of around 160 kilometres from villages near the border with Azerbaijan to Yerevan, where they gathered Thursday in Republic Square.

Videos shared on social media showed thousands of people waving Armenian flags. A senior Armenian cleric said a prayer and told the protesters he gave Pashinyan one hour to resign, blaming him for the loss of Armenian territory.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanyan told protesters they should engage in peaceful acts of disobedience, if Pashinyan did not listen to their demands.

Pashinyan visited Moscow Wednesday and held talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin amid spiralling tensions between the estranged allies. The meeting took place a day after Putin began his fifth term at a glittering Kremlin inauguration, which the Armenian leader did not attend.

Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was quoted Thursday by Russian state news agency Tass as saying the two leaders had agreed to the removal of Russian forces from some Armenian regions.

In brief remarks at the start of the talks, Putin said that bilateral trade was growing but acknowledged some issues concerning security in the region.

Pashinyan, who last visited Moscow in December, said that certain issues have piled up since then.

While Pashinyan was visiting Moscow, Armenias foreign ministry announced that the country would stop paying fees to the CSTO, a Russia-dominated security pact.

Armenia has previously suspended its participation in the grouping as Pashinyan has sought to bolster ties with the European Union and NATO.
NORTH SIOUX CITY  Grace Powell may not look like a 19th century poet who was persevering despite suffering from tuberculosis, but the soon-to-be Dakota Valley High School graduate can identify with his pain.

After all, Powell's recitation of William Ernest Henley's "Invictus" -- and two other poems -- wowed judges at the National Poetry Out Loud competition, held in Washington D.C. on May 2.

Representing the state of South Dakota, the 17-year-old took home a ninth place against competitors from all 50 states as well as every U.S. territory.

This is the best Poetry Out Loud showing for any Siouxland student, Powell said.

Apparently, the third time was a charm.

"I went as far as the South Dakota Poetry Out Loud contest during my sophomore year," Powell said. "I went to Nationals as a junior but didn't get very far."

However, Powell's recitation of "Invictus," Laura Hershey's "The Gamble" and Bob Hicok's "After Working Sixty Hours Again for Any Reason," struck a nerve.

"I felt really confident this time around," she said. "I internalize all of the poems and, this year, everything felt comfortable."

Actually, any time that Powell is near a stage gives her a sense of comfort.

Active in both music and theater, she's appeared in 13 Lamb Arts Regional Theatre productions, including "Tracy Jones," a comedy which opens at Klinger Neal Theatre on Friday.

Still, reciting a poem is very different than acting out a scene.

For instance, an actor can use motion to convey an appropriate sentiment to an audience. A person reciting a poem can't act out a scene with her body. She must rely on vocal reflection and the emotions registered on her face.

In other words, acting is showing and telling. Poetry recitations require more telling than showing.

Or in Powell's case, it also requires more understanding.

"I research both the poem and the poet to get a better appreciation," Powell said, noting she had to research 19th century England while preparing for "Invictus."

"Because of Poetry Out Loud, I have a better appreciation for poems," she said.

That's a good thing since Poetry Out Loud -- a collaboration between the National Endowment for the Arts and the Poetry Foundation -- is designed to help high school students master public speaking skills, build self-confidence, increase literary history while fostering an understanding of poems

"There a lot of kids who think poetry is complicated or boring," Powell acknowledged. "But poems can be dramatic and funny as well."

With her high school graduation slated for Saturday, Powell is already excited about the future, which will include studying television production at Chapman University, in Orange, California, in the fall.

"I'll be located close to Hollywood and very close to Disneyland, which puts me where a lot of television is taking place," she said.

While television production requires working behind the scenes, Powell will always be ready for her close-up.

"I think things like Poetry Out Loud has given me confidence to take on any challenge," she said.
WALL LAKE, Iowa  While delivering the eulogy Friday morning for David Schultz, The Rev. Donald Peterson III repeatedly imparted a piece of wisdom to the hundreds of grieving attendees.

"You do not mourn alone," Peterson emphasized during the memorial service at Peace Lutheran Church for Schultz, a trucker whose months-long disappearance attracted worldwide attention.

The service came 16 days after Schultz's body was found near the vicinity of the intersection of Union Avenue and 190th Street in rural Sac County April 24, not far from where his red Peterbilt semi-tractor trailer loaded with hogs was discovered abandoned the afternoon of Nov. 21, 2023.

Attendees came from Milford, Okoboji, Sioux Rapids and beyond for the funeral in Wall Lake, where David and Sarah Schultz lived and raised their twin sons, Joseph and Isaack. A blue Peterbilt semi, intended to carry David's casket to the cemetery, was parked on the concrete walkway leading to the church.

The wood-finished casket sat in the narthex. Perched on top were a modest green floral arrangement and a black cowboy hat, the personal effect of a man who grew up up riding a pony named Sparky on and around an acreage north of Sac City. To the left of the casket, an enlarged photo of David that has been seen not just locally but internationally: The father of two and stepfather of two more in a creamy yellow hoodie with a camouflage ballcap pulled up, a slight grin on his face.

Who David Schultz was and what might have happened

David John Schultz was born Sept. 25, 1970, at Loring Hospital in Sac City, Iowa, to parents Elmer and Janet (Craft) Schultz, according to his obituary on the website for the Farber and Otteman Funeral Homes group, which helped conduct the service and livestreamed it. His older siblings, Steven and Susan, grew up with him on the family acreage in rural Sac City. David was baptized at Emanuel St. John Lutheran Church in Lytton, Iowa, and confirmed at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Sac City.

David graduated from Sac City High School in 1989 and then continued living and working odd jobs in Sac County until he was able to purchase his first truck.

He met Sarah Bogue at a mutual friend's birthday and within a week they were smitten enough that Sarah introduced David to her family. They married on Nov. 17, 2012, at the First Congregational United Church of Christ in Lake View, Iowa. Less than a year later, they had twins, Joseph and Isaack. In summer 2023, the twins accompanied David in his truck for the first time as he hauled hogs around Northwest Iowa. Sarah previously said he taught the boys how to load and unload the livestock and reminded them to open doors for women and say "please" and "thank you."

""He wants to make sure they go to Sunday school, they go to church and they're respectful," Sarah told The Journal in December.

Though David's disappearance still has not been definitively explained, preliminary autopsy results from the state medical examiner's office, which were announced by the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, show no signs of trauma or serious injury. However, further findings are pending. Jake Rowley, who works with the United Cajun Navy, which helped comb through more than 100,000 acres in and around Sac County in an attempt to find David, has alleged, based off of conversations he had with Sarah, that foul play was involved and there are plans for a second autopsy of David's body once the full state results are released.

'When this flesh and heart shall fail'

In his sermon, Peterson told mourners that although much is still unclear about David's death it is clear where he went (to be with family members, gone before him, in heaven). Common attire for trucker friends of David who came out was jeans and dress shirts of darker blue or black. Sarah was in red and black while the Schultz sons were in matching blue suit jackets. She was at the head of the procession of family members at the church and almost immediately began to weep when stopping behind David's casket. One funeral service official quickly told another to get more facial tissues.

As more people filed in, attendants began offering peppermints. "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" was one of the first songs to be played on the church organ and was followed by other hymns that are cornerstones of Christian funerals: "How Great Thou Art" and "Amazing Grace," which contains a verse about the power of grace to relieve one's fears. Numerous funeralgoers dabbed their eyes as the latter song played as they did for the former which accompanied David's casket out of the sanctuary. His body exited with the words, "But when I think that God, His Son not sparing, Sent Him to die, I scarce can take it in."

Graveside services continued at the Wall Lake Cemetery. Once concluded, Sarah spoke with numerous family members and thanked Rowley, who helped marshal hundreds to look for David in the days and weeks following his disappearance.

"I was getting so many messages and it didn't seem real at first," Sarah said.

As one last show of support for David, the Driver Advocacy Network of Iowa helped sponsor "Convoy for Truth: A David Schultz memorial," which ran a continuous, multi-hour loop of semis on U.S. Highway 20 from Early, Iowa, to Rockwell City, Iowa, the same stretch of road that Schultz drove his own semi on the night he disappeared.

"Remember Safety First! Be Courteous! Forget Your Ego!" read the message from Mitchel Riesgraf, the Iowa chairman for D.A.N.

How things now stand

Through March, a reward fund established to help locate David Schultz stood at $28,400; which includes $25,000 of American Rescue Plan funds Sac County voted to earmark for the case. Sac County Attorney Ben Smith previously told The Journal that no one has inquired about the reward.

Besides his immediate family, survivors include his parents, Elmer and Janet Schultz of Sac City, Iowa; Sabrina Koopman (Jack Benisvy) of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and Connor Morris of Lake View, Iowa; grandson Niko Benisvy; siblings Steven (Tammi) Schultz of Sac City, and Susan (Steve) Shears of Macon, Missouri; parents-in-law Gary (Mary Jo) Bogue of Lake View; brother-in-law Bill (Emily) Bogue of Lake View; nieces and nephews Kyle Ellis, Ashley Ellis, Amanda Thies (fiance Matt Hawkins), and Walter Bogue; uncle Reed (Joan) Craft of Waterloo, Iowa; aunts Evelyn Schultz of Hawkeye, Iowa, Olette Schultz of Fayette, Iowa, and Gloria Craft of Newton, Iowa; many other extended family members and friends.

Schultz was preceded in death by his uncles, Kenneth (Marjorie) Schultz, Donald Schultz, and Ivan Craft; and grandparents Herman and Dorothy Schultz and John and Muriel Craft.

To the right of the entrance into the sanctuary of Peace Lutheran was a table draped in black and adorned with several different picture frames filled with key moments in David Schultz's life. Class photos, family photos one would get at a department store such as Sears, photos of family dogs, a picture of a rainbow and a photo of David and Sarah Schultz on their wedding day, caught in a kiss. Next to that photographic testament to their love: A circular stone with poem etched on it that speaks about a family chain being broken in this life but coming back together in the next.
WASHINGTON  The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law but wartime conditions prevented U.S. officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.

The finding of reasonable evidence to conclude that the U.S. ally had breached international law in its conduct of the war in Gaza was released in a summary of a report being delivered to Congress on Friday. It is the strongest statement that the Biden administration has made yet.

But the caveat that the U.S. was unable immediately to link specific U.S. weapons to individual strikes by Israeli forces in Gaza could give the administration leeway in any future decision on whether to restrict provisions of offensive weapons to Israel.

The first-of-its-kind assessment, which was compelled by President Joe Bidens fellow Democrats in Congress, comes after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid restrictions that have claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

While U.S. officials were unable to gather all the information they needed on specific strikes, the report said given Israel's significant reliance on U.S.-made weapons, it was reasonable to assess that they had been used by Israel's security forces in instances inconsistent with its obligations under international humanitarian law or with best practices for mitigating civilian harm.

Israel's military has the experience, technology and know-how to minimize harm to civilians, but the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases," the report said.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Maryland Democrat who led the push in Congress, told reporters that even even though the administration had reached a general finding, theyre ducking a determination on the hard cases, politically inconvenient cases.

Biden has tried to walk an ever-finer line in his support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus war against Hamas. He has faced growing rancor at home and abroad over the soaring Palestinian death toll and the onset of famine, caused in large part by Israeli restrictions on the movement of food and aid into Gaza. Tensions have been heightened further in recent weeks by Netanyahus pledge to expand the Israeli militarys offensive in the crowded southern city of Rafah, despite Biden's adamant opposition.

Biden is in the closing months of a tough reelection campaign against Donald Trump. He faces demands from many Democrats that he cut the flow of offensive weapons to Israel and denunciation from Republicans who accuse him of wavering on support for Israel at its time of need.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the review was unnecessary and only contributes to politically motivated anti-Israel sentiment.

Now is the time to stand with our ally Israel and ensure they have the tools they need," he said in a statement.

The Democratic administration took one of the first steps toward conditioning military aid to Israel in recent days when it paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs out of concern over Israels threatened offensive on Rafah, a southern city crowded with more than a million Palestinians, a senior administration official said.

The presidential directive, agreed to in February, obligated the Defense and State departments to conduct an assessment of any credible reports or allegations that such defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services, have been used in a manner not consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law.

Nothing in the presidential directive would have triggered any cutoff of arms if the administration had more definitively ruled that Israels conduct had violated international law.

The agreement also obligated them to tell Congress whether they deemed that Israel has acted to arbitrarily to deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly, delivery of any U.S.-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza for starving civilians there.

On this question, the report cited deep concerns that Israel played a significant role in preventing adequate aid from reaching starving Palestinians. However, it said Israel had recently taken some positive steps, although still inadequate, and the U.S. government did not currently find Israel restricting aid deliveries in a way that violated U.S. law governing foreign militaries that receive U.S. military aid.

Van Hollen accused the administration of glossing over what he said were clear Israeli blocks on food and aid deliveries during much of the war. Thats why we have hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that have nothing to do with Hamas on the verge of starvation, he said.

Lawmakers and others who advocated for the review said Biden and previous American leaders have followed a double standard when enforcing U.S. laws governing how foreign militaries use U.S. support, an accusation the Biden administration denies. They had urged the administration to make a straightforward legal determination of whether there was credible evidence that specific Israeli airstrikes on schools, crowded neighborhoods, medical workers, aid convoys and other targets, and restrictions on aid shipments into Gaza, violated the laws of war and human rights.

Their opponents argued that a U.S. finding against Israel would weaken it at a time it is battling Hamas and other Iran-backed groups. Any sharply critical findings on Israel are sure to add to pressure on Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to Israels military and further heighten tensions with Netanyahus hard-right government over its conduct of the war against Hamas.

Any finding against Israel also could endanger Bidens support in this year's presidential elections from some voters who keenly support Israel.

At the time the White House agreed to the review, it was working to head off moves from Democratic lawmakers and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to start restricting shipments of weapons to Israel.

Israel launched its offensive after an Oct. 7 assault into Israel, led by Hamas, killed about 1,200 people. Two-thirds of the Palestinians killed since then have been women and children, according to local health officials. U.S. and U.N. officials say Israeli restrictions on food shipments since Oct. 7 have brought on full-fledged famine in northern Gaza.

Human rights groups long have accused Israeli security forces of committing abuses against Palestinians and have accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account. In January, in a case brought by South Africa, the top U.N. court ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.

Israel says it is following all U.S. and international law, that it investigates allegations of abuse by its security forces and that its campaign in Gaza is proportional to the existential threat it says is posed by Hamas.

Biden in December said indiscriminate bombing was costing Israel international backing. After Israeli forces targeted and killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in April, the Biden administration for the first time signaled it might cut military aid to Israel if it didnt change its handling of the war and humanitarian aid.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, in the 1980s and early 1990s, were the last presidents to openly hold back weapons or military financing to try to push Israel to change its actions in the region or toward Palestinians.

A report to the Biden administration by an unofficial, self-formed panel including military experts, academics and former State Department officials detailed Israeli strikes on aid convoys, journalists, hospitals, schools and refugee centers and other sites. They argued that the civilian death toll in those strikes  such as an Oct. 31 strike on an apartment building reported to have killed 106 civilians  was disproportionate to the blow against any military target.

Read the full report:

Your browser does not support the iframe HTML tag. Try viewing this in a modern browser like Chrome, Safari, Firefox or Internet Explorer 9 or later.

Photos: Israeli-Palestinian conflict eight months long
LINCOLN  After the secretary of state approved the language, petitions began circulating in Nebraska Wednesday to force a vote on scrapping part of a new law that spends $10 million per year in state money to support private school scholarships.

The petition by Support Our Schools Nebraska proposes to repeal the first section of Legislative Bill 1402, which narrowly passed the Nebraska Legislature earlier this year. The same group ran a successful petition drive last year that aimed to repeal a similar law, LB 753, by putting it on the November ballot.

But LB 1402 gets around that potential outcome by repealing LB 753 before the vote and providing state support for private scholarships in a different way.

LB 1402 calls for spending $10 million a year on scholarship funds for K-12 private and faith-based schools in each of the next three years. LB 753 allocated $25 million annually in tax credits for private donations to the same scholarship funds.

By seeking to repeal just the first section of LB 1402, the new petition  if it qualifies for the ballot and passes  would eliminate only the program establishing the $10 million per year for the scholarships. It would leave the rest of the legislation untouched, including the Legislatures repeal of LB 753. It remains unclear whether the former referendum to repeal LB 753 will remain on the ballot.

Petition organizers have roughly 70 days remaining to collect signatures, with a mid-July deadline. The exact date has not yet been confirmed by the Secretary of States Office. The petition supporters must collect around 61,000 verified signatures, including about 5% of registered statewide voters and 5% of registered voters in at least 38 Nebraska counties, in order to qualify for the ballot.

So far, petition organizers have claimed strong support for their effort.

Half my signers yesterday didnt sign last time and were fired up, Support Our Schools member Brian Mikkelsen said on social media Thursday. Many of them approached me because of the shirt.

Public school educators and other critics have contended that state funding for private school scholarships, whether direct or indirect, risks depleting funding for public education. Opponents of LB 1402 further argue the measure was a deliberate attempt to thwart the Nebraska citizens who signed last years petition.

State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of the Omaha area, who introduced both LB 1402 and LB 753, previously acknowledged that LB 1402 was an end run to get around the referendum. She described last years petition drive as a mischievous, unfortunate, dishonest campaign.

Less than a week after Gov. Jim Pillen signed LB 753, Support Our Schools launched a petition drive to force a vote on repealing the measure. The three-month drive gathered more than 117,000 signatures, with roughly 91,000 of those signatures verified.

Though Support Our Schools has less time this year to gather signatures, they may not face the same opposition as last year. A rival group called Keep Kids First discouraged people from signing the petition and sometimes urged those who had already signed to remove their names. Linehan was affiliated with that group.

This year, Linehan said, many of the people who were involved in Keep Kids First are now busy working on organizing the scholarships that LB 753 allowed, and are preparing for LB 1402 to take effect. Because of this, Linehan expressed doubt that the group would be as involved with the current petition drive.

Linehan said she believes Support Our Schools has enough manpower and funding to gather enough signatures to qualify for the ballot again. But she said the referendum will eventually be challenged because appropriations bills are not subject to referendum under the state constitution.

Linehan said she will decide how to challenge the referendum once the signatures are gathered.

Im still trying to figure out what to do, Linehan said.

Best private high schools in Nebraska Best private high schools in Nebraska #30. Heartland Lutheran High School #29. Norfolk Catholic School #28. Sacred Heart School #27. Lutheran High School Northeast #26. Scotus Central Catholic High School #25. Archbishop Bergan Catholic School #24. St. Patrick Junior/Senior High School #23. Cornerstone Christian School #22. St. Cecilia High School #21. Pope John XXIII Central Catholic High School #20. Kearney Catholic High School #19. Lourdes Central Catholic School #18. Concordia Junior/Senior High School #17. Lincoln Lutheran Middle/High School #16. Quest Forward High School Omaha #15. Parkview Christian Schools #14. Lincoln Christian School #13. Roncalli Catholic High School #12. V.J. & Angela Skutt Catholic High School #11. Gross Catholic High School #10. Nebraska Christian Schools #9. Grand Island Central Catholic School #8. Pius X High School #7. Creighton Preparatory School #6. Mercy High School #5. Duchesne Academy of the Sacred Heart #4. Nebraska Evangelical Lutheran High School #3. Marian High School #2. Mount Michael Benedictine High School #1. Brownell Talbot College Preparatory School
The fallout from Netflixs hit miniseries Baby Reindeer has already been, as my colleague Imogen West-Knights wrote last week, considerable: Internet sleuths quickly ascertained the identity of the woman they believed to be the basis for the shows stalker character, and she then claimed in an interview that it was actually the shows creator who was stalking her. Then, the journalist who conducted said interview turned around and revealed that the real-life Martha was now stalking him.

Well, somehow, things have gotten even messier. On Thursday, the semi-disgraced British television anchor Piers Morgan invited the woman at the center of it all on to his YouTube show to tell her side of the storyyes, the same woman who was just days ago accused of stalking a Daily Mail journalist, on top of the alleged stalking that inspired Baby Reindeer in the first place. Her name is Fiona Harvey, and the interview with Morgan now exists as a kind of grotesque bonus feature for morbidly curious Baby Reindeer watchers.

Harvey denied stalking Richard Gadd, the creator and star of Baby Reindeer, and said she is looking into taking legal action against Gadd, Netflix, and the Daily Mail. She said that she did meet Gadd when he was working as a bartender in London, as depicted in the show (which she claimed not to have watched), and that she shared certain similarities with Martha, but that she did not send him more than 40,000 emails, assault him, get charged for or convicted of any crimes, or do any of the other concerning things that Martha does in the show.

Advertisement

Far from exonerating her, Harveys denials will only serve to make many viewers queasier than ever. In the show, Martha is depicted, not unsympathetically, as mentally unwell. If were inclined to believe that shes based on Harvey, we can take her word for it that Harvey did nothing wrong and its all a bunch of lies  or we can consider the possibility that Harvey, like Martha, might be grappling with some mental health issues that are influencing her public statements. Whatever happened with the Daily Mail suggests that Harvey might not be in the best headspace, and in Morgan, she seems to have found a bigger media platform that is even more willing to exploit her. In a just world, no one would be watching what may well be an unstable person publicly spinning her wheels. But since thats not the world we live in, I know that many people will tune in to Harveys interview to look for signs of the character Martha in the real Martha, and I expect that a lot of them will come away with the uncanny feeling that Baby Reindeer captured Harveys essence to an eerie degree.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Harvey and Martha sound alike, with their Scottish accents, and the actress who plays Martha, Jessica Gunning, bears a physical resemblance to Harveyboth are plump, with round, open faces. They seem to share mannerisms too. The way Harvey drank water throughout the interview reminded me of Martha. Many of the things she said and the way she said them struck me as things the character might also say, though its hard to know how much of that is just confirmation bias.

Some of Harveys denials came off as preoccupied with the wrong things or beside the pointearly in the interview, she seemed more focused on asserting that she did in fact pay for her drink the first time she met Gadd than she did on categorically refuting the accusation that she is a disturbed stalker. At another point, Morgan played a clip of Gadd and Gunning promoting the show, and Harvey scoffed that Gunning didnt sound Scottish in the clipdidnt she understand the concept of acting? Harvey claimed that she only ever sent Gadd a handful of emails and no voicemails, but in other breaths seemed to want to leave open the possibility that there could be thousands of emails or hundreds of voicemails. Why would you qualify that? a suspicious Morgan asked during one of these exchanges.

Advertisement

Morgan also appeared distrustful of Harveys admission that she used to have six (or maybe four) email addresses she used for different purposesanother thing that sounded like something the Martha character would say. Morgan seemed eager to catch Harvey being inconsistent; in discussing law school, she claimed to have a photographic memory but, shortly after, was apparently unable to remember what kinds of grades she got, despite Morgans repeated questions. Again, maybe these are all the things that a nervous woman who is simply trying to defend her reputation would say, but, well, maybe not.

As West-Knights wrote, its not entirely clear what, if anything, Gadd and Netflix could have done to avoid this mess, especially given the difficulty of reining in internet detectives. Morgan, however, has no such excuse. When the host asked if Harvey had anything to say to Gadd, she answered, Leave me alone, please. Get a life. Get a proper job. I would sooner direct that message at Morgan himself.
Is 4/30 the new 4/20?

On April 30, the Justice Department announced that it is recommending a new status for marijuana under federal law. The attorney generals sign-off all but ensures that the drug will be moved in the coming months from Schedule 1 of the Controlled Substances Act, which imposes a complete criminal ban, to the less restrictive Schedule 3. The U.S. government is at last beginning to retreat from an antimarijuana ideology that has contributed to the incarceration and immiseration of millions of Americans.

As I detail in a new book, drug warriors have blocked this move at every turn for decades. Yet although the announcement marks a historic step forward, as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer observed, it comes as too little, too late for those who seek a sensible national drug policy.

Marijuana never belonged in Schedule 1, which is reserved for drugs with no currently accepted medical use and high potential for abuse. It was placed there on what was said to be a provisional basis when the CSA was enacted, in 1970, until President Richard Nixons National Commission on Marihuana and Drug Abuse had a chance to study the issue. The commission called for decriminalization two years later in its final report, Nixon flipped out, and Congress let him renege on the deal.

Advertisement

Reformers then turned to the courts. Numerous judges in the 1970s followed the 2nd Circuit in acknowledging that there is little or no basis for concluding that marihuana is as dangerous a substance as some of the other drugs included in Schedule I. But the judiciary ultimately settled on a standard of review so deferential that no challenger could hope to meet it. Drug classifications may be overinclusive, underinclusive, illogical, and unscientific, one judge pointed out in 2015, and yet pass constitutional muster.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Reformers accordingly petitioned the Drug Enforcement Administration to reschedule marijuana. They might as well have asked the flat-earth society to sell them a globe. In 1989, when the head of the DEA finally got around to rejecting the first such petition, 17 years after it had originally been filed, he overruled the agencys own chief administrative law judge and refused to credit any of the pro-marijuana testimony submitted by doctors and patients.

Advertisement

The federal government continues to ignore key considerations in deciding how to classify drugs. In other areas of public health regulation, agencies are told to weigh all relevant costs and benefits before choosing a course of action. The DOJ, however, doesnt even estimate the massive fiscal, social, or autonomy costs of punitive drug policies, which skews its decisionmaking in the direction of Schedule 1.

The government also declines to place any value on the nonmedical rewards that controlled substances may offer. When the Department of Health and Human Services advised in 2015 that marijuana use is pleasurable to many humans who show no signs of addiction, this was cited not as a point in marijuanas favor but rather as evidence of marijuanas abuse potentialand hence its suitability for criminal prohibition.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The pursuit of pleasure hasnt just been trivialized in this regulatory calculus. It has been pathologized, converted by fiat from a benefit into a cost.

Against this backdrop, it counts as real progress for the DEA to endorse marijuanas move to Schedule 3. The agency has never granted a rescheduling petition not submitted by a pharmaceutical company. Softening its stance on marijuana took decades of scientific research and grassroots advocacy, along with some not-so-subtle pressure from the sitting president.

This change will have concrete payoffs. Of particular note, Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code bars companies that traffic in Schedule 1 or 2 drugs from deducting ordinary business expenses. Thousands of marijuana companies will be spared this tax burden once the drug is rescheduled. In addition, some of the seldom-enforced criminal penalties that attach to marijuana offenses under the CSA will be reduced.

Advertisement

Advertisement

Beyond that, however, rescheduling marijuana may accomplish remarkably little. Schedule 3 substances, unlike Schedule 1 substances, can be dispensed with a prescription, but only if they are first approved by the Food and Drug Administration. And the FDA has not approved marijuana. Nor is it likely to do so anytime soon, given (among other things) the fundamental tension between its approval processs focus on testing discrete chemical compounds and the entourage effect theory of how medical marijuana works.

Advertisement

Advertisement

State-licensed medical marijuana companies would find it arduous and expensive to satisfy all the CSAs requirements for producers and distributors of Schedule 3 drugs. But why bother? Marijuanas lack of FDA approval means that even in the event that they manage to comply with the CSA, these companies would still be violating another federal law, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, if they sell marijuana items across state lines or use components that come from out of state.

Advertisement

The upshot, as legal scholar Robert Mikos documents in a new paper, is that rescheduling may amount to no more than a tax cut for even the most scrupulously law-abiding marijuana suppliers.

All businesses that deal in marijuana will continue to operate in the shadow of criminal sanction, with limited access to banking services (and increased exposure to theft) as well as limited trademark protection, contract enforcement, and other corporate-law privileges. All recreational marijuana activities will continue to be illegal at the federal level. And federal and state laws will continue to pull in different directions. Well be moving from one incoherent regulatory regime to another.

Related From Slate Biden Is Taking a Step Toward Legalizing Pot Read More

Meanwhile, the public health concerns raised by state legalization will remain just as pressing. Marijuana may be significantly safer than Schedule 1 drugs like heroin, not to mention Schedule 2 drugs like fentanyl and unscheduled drugs like alcohol and tobacco. But no psychoactive substance is risk-free. Regulators in legal jurisdictions have to worry about adolescent use, unlicensed products, accidental and excessive ingestion, and myriad other potential dangers.

Advertisement

Advertisement

The federal government could take a variety of measures to mitigate these risks, from funding pilot programs and research studies to setting labeling and potency standards to assisting states in their efforts to shut down illegal dispensaries and grow sites. At the same time, the government could curb industry consolidation by encouraging state licensing bodies to prioritize local marijuana outfits, while helping minority entrepreneurs access the capital needed to break into a notoriously nondiverse industry or pursuing more ambitious forms of reefer reparations.

None of these ideas is novel; many are already reflected in various marijuana bills before Congress. What they require is not a new CSA classification but bold new legislation, ideally eliminating federal criminal penalties while strengthening state administrative capacity. To advance public health and social justice goals while enabling the industry to grow, nothing else is sufficient.

So, lets give the Justice Department two cheers for finally allowing marijuana to leave Schedule 1, recalling the words of a Connecticut judge who warned in 1976 that such an irrational classification would undermine a fundamental respect for the law while imposing staggering costs on individuals and society. Then lets demand that Congress take the next historic step toward reefer sanity.
Not much is known about the origins of those living in the north east of Slovakia.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

This 1950s postcard of the town Svidnik may not seem interesting at first glance, but it captures a barely noticeable, yet significant detail: the house in the bottom left corner of the photo bears a sign with Cyrillic text. This is not so surprising, though, as Svidnik lies in the north east of Slovakia, in an area densely populated by Ruthenians.

Not much is known about the Ruthenians origins. What we do know is that some time in the 14th and 17th centuries, a relatively compact Ruthenian settlement existed along the Polish-Ukrainian border. What differentiated Ruthenians from Slovaks was their language and religious practices. While Slovaks represented western Slavs with their language and Roman Catholic religion, Ruthenian language and Orthodox practices aligned them with the eastern Slavs.

As the Eastern Orthodox Church was barely tolerated in the Hungarian Kingdom, its priests had inferior social status compared to those in the Roman Catholic clergy. The Habsburgs allies, the Drugeth family, invited Orthodox priests from eastern Slovakia and Transcarpathian Ukraine to their castle in Uzhgorod. There, on the day of St George (April 24, 1646), they announced the creation of a union with Rome, signifying the unification of Eastern Orthodox belief with the Roman Catholic Church, called the Union of Uzhgorod.

In 1949, Soviet authorities "revoked" the Union, creating the Orthodox Eparchy of Mukachiv-Uzhhorod, under the Patriarch of Moscow. In the late 1980s the Ruthenian Greek Catholic Church was re-established in Transcarpathia, following the easing of Soviet religious persecution.

https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d1331832.2012606931!2d20.252001692090435!3d49.30983750612872!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x473c2763e708d89f%3A0x400f7d1c6976730!2s089%2001%20Svidn%C3%ADk!5e0!3m2!1sen!2ssk!4v1715329749062!5m2!1sen!2ssk

This article was originally published by The Slovak Spectator on July 14, 2014. It has been updated to be relevant today.
A selection of short feel-good stories from Slovakia.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

Every week The Slovak Spectator brings you a selection of three short stories from across Slovakia from which pessimism and negativity are absent.

17-year-old Slovak's work featured on Vogue website

The dress designed by Viktoria Valihora (Source: Reprophotography Vogue.com)

Even though she is just 17 years old, she can boast several successes.

The work of Viktoria Valihora, daughter of drummer and percussionist Martin Valihora and TV presenter Alexandra Orviska, recently appeared on the website of the prestigious lifestyle magazine Vogue.

Her dress, which was painted by hand and took six days to finish, captured the attention of a Vogue reporter. He published the picture in his report from the Youth America Grand Prix, the Diva.sk website reported.

And then after days of not sleeping and painting, a miracle like this happens, Valihora wrote on Instagram. The universe knows how to keep me working, working, working.

Valihora, who was born in the US and thus has American citizenship, studies at the prestigious LaGuardia High School of Music & Performing Arts in New York City. She already sells T-shirts with her own designs.

A Catholic priest from India? Yes, in a small village in southern Slovakia

The spiritual needs of a parish in southern Slovakia are being ministered to by a priest from an unusual location, at least by Slovak standards.

Martin Madassery was born into a Christian family in India. He came to Slovakia 15 years ago as a missionary, and studied theology here. He learned the language, and for the past two years has led the parish in the village of Zbrojniky, Nitra Region.

The believers admire his kindness, enthusiasm and humour. Still, they were surprised when they first met him.

Everyone is curious and wants to know why I am here, what I am like, where I came from, Madassery said, as quoted by the TVnoviny.sk website. But when I learned to speak Slovak well, they didnt have any problem accepting me.

After arriving in Slovakia, he admitted he was surprised the most by snow, cars stuck in snow drifts, and the fact there were very few people everywhere. Among the things that Madassery misses are homemade Indian food and the big groups of people who used to visit his church back in India.

As there are just a few believers who regularly attend his church, his biggest priority is to attract more young people, TVnoviny.sk reported.

The singing fountain is back

The iconic Singing Fountain in Kosice, which is the oldest musical fountain in Slovakia, was put into operation in late April, after extensive reconstruction.

The reconstruction took place at the eleventh hour, said Kosice Mayor Jaroslav Polacek, as quoted by the TASR newswire. Without it, the fountain would no longer function this year and would not be able to delight its visitors. It is the most modern fountain in Europe and the only one with artificial intelligence.

It now has 260 LED lights. There are 43 pumps and 750 nozzles of various diameters in total, with the central one spraying water to a height of 24 metres. It also includes rotating pirouettes.

The reconstruction included also the replacement of cabling, which now totals 16 kilometres in length. The sound system and musical selection were also renewed.

The renovated fountain now has several new smart technologies, which will enable the transmission of performances at the National Theatre Kosice and other cultural events directly to the fountains water mist in visual and audio form. The new software also enables basic control and remote supervision, TASR reported.

Five feel-good stories published by The Slovak Spectator for you to read:

Noema Gajdos Kmecova is a cat-behaviour researcher from the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Kosice and author of Mackast, the first Slovak podcast about cats. In an interview, she talks about the many things we still dont know about cats, and about the nature of cat research.

25 years after our reviewer Mark Taylor first ate there, Restaurant Shanghai is still in the same location, and is still doing good business. Mark decided to revisit the restaurant on a recent trip to Bratislava, to see how its food compares with so many newer venues around the country.

Among the men who raised the US flag on Iwo Jima, as captured in the iconic battle photograph from World War II, was Sergeant Michael Strank, a native of northeastern Slovakia. The Slovak background of one of the men in the scene was not recognised until 2008.

Bratislava has always been a multicultural city. Representatives of every nation have left permanent traces on the Slovak capital, and it is possible to trace these various eras at numerous sites in the city.

The Financial Times has listed Slovakias largest power producer, Slovenske Elektrarne (SE), as Europes Climate Leader 2024, alongside top companies from all over Europe that protect the climate and reduce carbon emissions.

Political meme of the week

(Source: SME/Rosie Naive Art)

Caption: Thats really something!

In this meme, artist Rosie Babicova, whose works can be found on the internet and social networks under the name Rosie Naive Art, reacts to recent comments by Lukas Machala, a government official whose name has been mentioned among possible candidates to lead the planned new government-controlled state broadcaster, Slovak Television and Radio (STVR). Answering a question about whether people who believe that the Earth is flat should be given a platform on the current public broadcaster, RTVS, Machala, who has himself spread several conspiracy theories, said they should  and went on to ponder whether it has really been proved that the Earth is round.

You can send me your tips on good news stories about Slovakia or funny memes at: radka.minarechova@spectator.sk. Thank you!
Slovakia will kick off the Ice Hockey World Championship in Czechia on Friday afternoon.

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

Good evening. Here is the Thursday, May 9 edition of Today in Slovakia - the main news of the day in less than five minutes.

Actor to get told off by minister over alleged line

Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (l), actor Lubos Kostelny (c), Slovak National Theatre Director Matej Drlicka. (Source: TASR)

She was not there, but Culture Minister Martina Simkovicova (SNS nom.) was told that actor Lubos Kostelny had reportedly yelled I hate Martina Simkovicu during a performance at the national theatre.

In a May 6 interview with Infovojna, a disinformation channel, she also noted that the actor portrays a gay man in the play, and she is going to find out if his alleged line is indeed part of the dialogues of the play. The minister, who cannot be described as an ally of LGBT people, declined to attend the premiere of the play earlier this year.

I will ask the director and this particular actor, since he is paid with state money because he is employed in a state institution and plays there, whether this is in line with democracy, the minister said.

Simkovicova, who herself runs a pro-Russian and disinformation TV channel on social media, described Kostelnys alleged claim as political activism and bullying.

The actor declined to comment, the theatre has said that it is not aware of any incident concerning the minister. However, several actors from the national theatre have called on the minister to leave the post due to the way she has been running the ministry.

Related: Actors are not your subordinates and you cannot summon them for their acting. You may not have noticed, but for 35 years we have not lived under a regime that controlled and banned artistic performances that did not please the communist leadership of the state, ex-prime minister Ludovit Odor reminded Simkovicova on Facebook.

MORE STORIES FROM THE SLOVAK SPECTATOR WEBSITE

Sport: The ice-hockey world championship kicks off in Czechia on Friday. See where you can watch Slovakia games.

The ice-hockey world championship kicks off in Czechia on Friday. See where you can watch Slovakia games. Politics: The story of how Vladimir Putin and his Russia also helped Fico win the Slovak parliamentary election held on September 30, 2023.

The story of how Vladimir Putin and his Russia also helped Fico win the Slovak parliamentary election held on September 30, 2023. EU: Trust in the EU is higher than in Slovak governments, according to an April 2024 survey.

Trust in the EU is higher than in Slovak governments, according to an April 2024 survey. Opinion: To better serve its citizens, it is time to transform the EU, writes Lucia Klestincova.

To better serve its citizens, it is time to transform the EU, writes Lucia Klestincova. Travel: The most beautiful cycling route is said to be in the south of Slovakia. What do you think?

If you like what we are doing and want to support good journalism, buy our online subscription with no ads and a print copy of The Slovak Spectator sent to your home in Slovakia. Thank you.

FEATURE STORY FOR THURSDAY

At Slavin memorial, Bratislava photographer feels like in Johannesburg

Photographer Andrej Duricek. (Source: SME - Kristina Kudelova)

In an interview with the Sme daily, photographer and journalist Andrej Duricek talks about his hometown, Bratislava. What bothers him about the city, if there are any impressive things to see, but also if Bratislava is beautiful are among the questions he is confronted with.

BRATISLAVA EVENTS

3 things to do in Bratislava for free

Yoga. (Source: Pixabay)

If you are an early bird, you can try a morning yoga session in the city centre of Bratislava. It is suitable for beginners, it is free, and it is conducted in English. If this is not something you would like, we have two more suggestions for you.

IN OTHER NEWS

A special parliamentary session on Health Minister Zuzana Dolinkova (Hlas) began on Thursday. The opposition has blamed the minister for not addressing the most urgent matters in health care, for favouring financial groups over others, and for not standing up against the spreaders of disinformation. Before midnight, the minister finally spoke out in the debating chamber, calling the reasons for her removal absurd. A no-confidence vote should take place on Tuesday.

The opposition SaS party claims that PM Robert Fico (Smer) transferred 20,000 from his PMs reserve to the Association of Slovak Writers. SNS MP Roman Michelko is a member of the associations board. It also publishes a pro-SNS magazine about literature, Literarny Tyzdennik (Literature Weekly), which is considered to be of low quality. SaS has accused Fico of attempting to purchase the loyalty of the SNS party.

Slovakia will not support the current version of the new pandemic agreement or the proposal to amend the International Health Regulations , said the representative of the Slovak government for the review of the process of managing and managing resources during the Covid-19 pandemic and MP Peter Kotlar (SNS). The lawmaker, a notorious anti-vaxxer and hoaxer, participated in the negotiations on the treaty in Geneva, Switzerland. Kotlar is not the person that will decide on the agreement, said the health minister.

Several weeks before the European elections, Smer discovered a 15-year-old article written by the opposition leader Michal Simecka (PS) and published in the CEU Political Science Journal. A text about how activists in Ukraine and Georgia in the 2000s were inspired by Serbia and Slovakia is interpreted by Smer MPs as a manual for revolution, which it is not. (Dennik N)

Europe Day in the Old Market Hall in Bratislava on May 9, 2024. (Source: TASR - Pavol Zachar)

Waste from nine European countries (Austria, Belarus, Hungary, Germany, Czech Republic, Switzerland, Poland, Slovenia and Italy) was imported to Slovakia last year. Most waste came from Italy. The Environment Ministry authorised the import of 624,780 tons of waste. Most waste is used as fuel. (TASR)

The March numbers of foreign trade disappointed analysts. The volume of the active balance of foreign trade was 577.4 million. EUR. In the year-on-year comparison, according to the Statistics Office, it fell by 119.4 million. Almost 80 percent of exports went to EU member states. The total volume of exports to the EU decreased by 12.9 percent year-on-year. Imports decreased year-on-year by 16.3 percent.

WEATHER FOR FRIDAY: Clear skies on Friday. The highest daytime temperature will rise to 24C. Fog and frost are expected in the morning in some places. (SHMU)

MAY 10 NAME DAY IN SLOVAKIA: Viktoria.

Thank you for subscribing and reading. It means a lot to us.

P.S. If you have suggestions on how our news overview can be improved, you can reach us at editorial@spectator.sk.

Follow The Slovak Spectator on Facebook and Instagram (@slovakspectator).
Now work contracts are required for positions without educational qualifications.

Foreign job applicants from non-EU countries will now have to supply more documentation. (Source: Pixabay)

Font size: A - | A + Comments disabled Share

The Slovak government has clarified the visa conditions applying to prospective foreign employees from non-EU countries (sometime referred to as 'third countries'). From now on, applicants for work visas must, when applying for jobs where no proof of education is required, attach a work contract or, in the case of skilled professions, also proof of education, the TASR newswire reported, citing the Government Office.

At a recent meeting, the government clarified the scope of documents required for individual occupations with an amendment to the regulation.

"It is proposed to specify the range of documents that a third-country national attaches to an application for a national visa in accordance with the subject and purpose of this government regulation," stated the Labour Ministry in the explanatory report accompanying the material.

A work contract will be required for jobs that do not require proof of an attained level of education or professional qualification. This includes occupations such as cleaners, chambermaids and assistant workers.

A work contract and a copy of the education document required for the job or a copy of the professional qualification document necessary for the job will now be required. This obligation applies, for example, to specialists in plant production, specialists in animal production, poultry processors, bakers, dairy processors and tractor drivers.
 Flash

Israeli armored vehicles are deployed near Kibbutz Reim in southern Israel, on May 9, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

The Israeli army will continue its operation in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah "as planned," after the talks on the Israel-Hamas truce held in Egypt's Cairo collapsed on Thursday, an Israeli official told Xinhua.

Meanwhile, a Xinhua correspondent covering the developments reported mass Israeli troops stationed on the border with Rafah.

The unnamed Israeli official confirmed that the Israeli delegation has left Cairo after talks with Hamas, the United States, Egyptian, and Qatari negotiators on a deal to end the hostilities and secure the release of hostages in Gaza.

The official did not elaborate on whether Israel will expand the offensive to more areas in Rafah at the southern end of Gaza, where about 1.2 million internally displaced Palestinians were taking refuge.

According to Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, the talks were halted due to Israel's ongoing ground assault on Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's wartime cabinet was scheduled to meet later on Thursday to discuss the continuation of the Rafah operation.

Commenting on U.S. President Joe Biden's decision to pause some shipments of weapons to Israel if it deepens its assault on Rafah city, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has enough weapons to continue operations in Gaza.

"The IDF has armaments for the operations it is planning, also for the operation in Rafah," IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement. "We have what we need," he stressed.

"The U.S. has so far provided security assistance to Israel and the IDF in an unprecedented manner," Hagari added, noting that "even when there are disagreements between us -- we resolve them in closed rooms."
Sacramento, CA, May 9th, 2024  The esteemed board of directors of Pachamama Coffee Farmers, the leading farmer owned coffee brand in North America, is set to gather in California for its annual meeting from May 14-17, 2024. The board meeting is led by three of its key members, who are also coffee farmers themselves: Co-Founder and Board President, Merling Preza Ramos from Nicaragua, and her two colleagues, Carlos Reynoso from Guatemala, and Vladimir Vivanco from Peru.

The meeting schedule coincides with the inaugural Terra Madre Americas event in Sacramento, organized by Slow Food and hosted by Visit Sacramento. The event features various workshops by the Slow Food Coffee Coalition, that aim to create connections and improve the relationship between producers and consumers. As experts from coffee growing regions near the equator, Pachamama Coffees board members invite consumers to engage with them in the conversation of how value is created by smallholder coffee farmers around the world.

Pachamama Coffee is wholly owned and governed by thousands of smallholder coffee farmers from Nicaragua, Guatemala, Peru, Mexico, and Ethiopia. Leading the way with its unique business model, Pachamama Coffee has a vertically integrated supply chain from the global South to the North and has set a best-in-class standard for sustainability. Pachamama farmers not only own their land and green bean processing facilities, but they also own the Pachamama brand and infrastructure in the United States. This includes two roasteries in northern California and five specialty coffee shops in the greater Sacramento area, giving them full control over the entire supply chain from seed to cup.

At Pachamama, the farmers own the company, says Thaleon Tremain, Co-founder and CEO. As the only shareholders, they govern the boardroom and make key decisions regarding capital investments, brand marketing and annual budgets. We are proud to host the directors of Pachamama Coffee in Sacramento, a community that truly loves great coffee.

As the board of directors convenes in Sacramento, they reaffirm that value and quality in the cup originates on the farm, where highly skilled, artisanal coffee growers input more than 90% of the labor required to produce a cup of coffee. Throughout the week, Pachamama directors will visit and tour their facilities and engage with industry experts, customers and employees.

About Pachamama Coffee Farmers

Pachamama Coffee is a global cooperative and the leading farmer owned coffee brand in North America. Based in Sacramento, California, Pachamama was founded in 2006 by thousands of smallholder coffee farmers in Peru, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Mexico and Ethiopia. Pachamama owns two roasteries and five cafes in northern California, maintains a successful farmer-to-consumer subscription service and a national wholesale operation. Winner of the 2021 Specialty Coffee Associations Sustainability Award for Business Model. Learn more at pachamamacoffee.com.
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240509/us-specifically-paused-weapons-shipment-to-israel-including-2000-pound-bombs---ryder-1118368355.html

US Specifically Paused Weapons Shipment to Israel Including 2000-Pound Bombs - Ryder

US Specifically Paused Weapons Shipment to Israel Including 2000-Pound Bombs - Ryder

Sputnik International

The US specifically paused a weapons shipment to Israel, including eighteen hundred 2000-pound bombs and seventeen hundred 500-pound bombs, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said.

2024-05-09T23:20+0000

2024-05-09T23:20+0000

2024-05-09T23:20+0000

world

us

israel

gaza strip

pentagon

col. patrick ryder

benjamin netanyahu

joe biden

israeli-palestinian conflict

israel-gaza conflict

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/03/1d/1117646096_0:216:2000:1341_1920x0_80_0_0_f1fceb84d605cce44415a7bb1d8768d1.jpg

"Specifically, we [the US] paused one shipment of weapons consisting of 1800 2000-pound bombs, and 1700 500-pound bombs," Ryder said during a press briefing. On Wednesday, Biden said in an interview that the United States will go as far as to stop the flow of weapons to Israel should the Netanyahu war cabinet decide on a major military operation in the Gaza Strip.US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday that the US has paused one shipment of "high payload munitions" to Israel and is "reviewing near-term" shipments amid Israels heightened offensive in Rafah. It remains unclear whether the suspension of weapons deliveries to Israel will make any difference and cause Israel to call off its Rafah operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that his country stands ready to proceed with its military plans no matter what Washington or any other country says or does. On Monday, Israel started a military operation in the eastern parts of Rafah and took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Hamas said that it had agreed to the provisions of the ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar mediators, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the truce deal unacceptable. Over a million people are believed to be sheltering in the city.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240508/us-senators-issue-mafia-style-threat-as-israeli-military-enters-rafah-1118328980.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240507/did-netanyahu-trash-ceasefire-deal-agreed-by-hamas-to-continue-war-1118316128.html

israel

gaza strip

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

us arms for israel, israel rafah operation, does us support israel in gaza strip, us rafah operation reaction, weapons shipment to israel
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/boeing-of-germanys-lufthansa-bound-to-chicago-turns-around-due-to-air-emergency---reports-1118370114.html

Boeing of Germany's Lufthansa Bound to Chicago Turns Around Due to Air Emergency - Reports

Boeing of Germany's Lufthansa Bound to Chicago Turns Around Due to Air Emergency - Reports

Sputnik International

A Boeing 747-8 of Lufthansa flying from Frankfurt am Main to Chicago had to turn around over the Atlantic Ocean due to a strange smell in the flight deck, German daily Bild reported.

2024-05-10T01:41+0000

2024-05-10T01:41+0000

2024-05-10T01:41+0000

world

lufthansa

boeing

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e6/05/0d/1095479245_0:286:3133:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_ebe7574818e2e11d0795bfffe1f35bd6.jpg

"Lufthansa flight LH430 from Frankfurt to Chicago returned to Frankfurt today as a precautionary measure. The reason for this was an unidentifiable smell of electrics in the cockpit. The Boeing 747-8 landed normally in Frankfurt, and all 320 passengers and 19 crew members exited the plane normally. The plane is currently being examined by technicians, the cause of the smell is still unclear," a Lufthansa spokesperson told the newspaper.The report added that donated bone marrow for a US patient was aboard the plane, and it is not yet clear whether it has been secured.It is the fourth incident involving Boeing airplanes in two days.Earlier on Thursday, Turkish authorities said 190 people had been evacuated from a Boeing-738 bound for Turkiye's Gazipasa from Germany's Cologne after an emergency landing as the plane's landing gear wheel tire burst. Authorities said no one was injured in the incident. A Boeing 737 bound for Mali's capital, Bamako, rolled off the runway on Thursday at Dakar's Blaise Diagne International Airport, with 11 people suffering injuries in the incident. A similar incident occurred on Wednesday when a FedEx Boeing-767 en route from Paris to Istanbul made an emergency landing at Istanbul New Airport and dipped its nose on the runway as its front landing gear failed to open.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240502/strange-coincidence-another-boeing-whistleblower-dies-after-sudden-illness-1118221422.html

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

boeing lufthansa, boeing latest emergency, boeing issues, boeing 747-8, strange smell in boeing
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/bolivia-condemns-israel-for-blocking-its-humanitarian-aid-sent-to-gaza-strip-1118371290.html

Bolivia Condemns Israel for Blocking Its Humanitarian Aid Sent to Gaza Strip

Bolivia Condemns Israel for Blocking Its Humanitarian Aid Sent to Gaza Strip

Sputnik International

The Bolivian government, which has sent 90 tonnes of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, condemns its blockade by Israel, Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa Lunda said.

2024-05-10T04:59+0000

2024-05-10T04:59+0000

2024-05-10T04:59+0000

world

israeli-palestinian conflict

israel-gaza conflict

palestine-israel conflict

israel

hamas

bolivia

middle east

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/05/1118266444_0:0:3072:1728_1920x0_80_0_0_04cb4ebbfc144044919ec9d1ed74a99a.jpg

The cargo sent by Bolivia is still on the border with Rafah, under the protection of the occupation authorities, which the Bolivian authorities have urged to allow its passage. On October 7, 2023, Palestinian movement 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 34,700 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240508/israel-doesnt-want-a-ceasefire-truce-talks-take-back-seat-as-rafah-attack-surges-1118323895.html

israel

bolivia

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

palestine-israel conflict, israel-palestine conflict, israel-gaza conflict, israel, gaza violence, hamas, gaza genocide
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/europe-might-see-nuclear-reactor-breakdowns-after-sanctioning-russian-fuel-1118377467.html

Europe Might See Nuclear Reactor Breakdowns After Sanctioning Russian Fuel

Europe Might See Nuclear Reactor Breakdowns After Sanctioning Russian Fuel

Sputnik International

The EU imposed sanctions on Russias state corporation Rosatom, which runs the countrys atomic power stations, soon after the start of the special military operation in February, 2022.

2024-05-10T18:42+0000

2024-05-10T18:42+0000

2024-05-10T18:42+0000

world

russia

germany

rosatom

european union (eu)

united kingdom (uk)

nuclear plant

nuclear power plant

nuclear power

nuclear energy

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/07/0f/1111892125_0:140:3143:1908_1920x0_80_0_0_47a2c1b533f504c92cbfad869deb8ef5.jpg

One of the elements of this dangerous decoupling from Moscow is the refusal to buy Russian nuclear fuel, replacing it with Western-made alternatives. In recent weeks, two dangers stemming from this policy of the West became apparent.First, feeding non-Russian fuel to Russian-made nuclear reactors in Eastern Europe could be dangerous. In 2019, when Ukrainian nuclear power stations started using fuel produced by the American company Westinghouse for political reasons, Rosatoms CEO Alexey Likhachev explained that Russian reactors require fuel produced according to Russian standards. Adapting Russian reactors to fuel from Westinghouse is possible, but it requires cooperation, which was not welcomed by the Western side.The second danger: the EU simply does not have the capacity to replace Russian fuel. If cooperation with Russia stops, Europeans will have to shut down more energy-producing nuclear reactors. After Germanys exit from the atom in 2022 and a slump in generation in France and the UK, further shutdowns may lead to the deepest energy crisis in Europe in decades.Both the Russian state corporation Rosatom and internationally known experts have recently been warning about the risks of the Western policy aimed at replacing Russian fuel and technology with less reliable Western alternatives.However, on May 8, the UK unveiled another project, obviously aimed at making the use of Russian nuclear fuels irrelevant.London announced that it was going to spend almost 196 million ($251 million) on building a plant that will produce high-assay, low-enriched uranium (HALEU) in north-west England. The project is supposed to boost the ailing nuclear energy sectors of the UK and France, making HALEU the nuclear fuel of the future.The British were open about their project being aimed at removing competition from Russia.This sounds laughable in the context of a steep decline in British nuclear energy output and the recent fine of 12.9 billion that the French electricity giant EDF had to pay because of construction delays and power outages in Britain and other Western countries. (Compare this to the modest investment of 228 million made in the plant in Cheshire.)Why the decline? First, it is a consequence of the dearth of Russian nuclear fuel after sanctions were imposed. Second, the exit of Chinese investors because of the European sanctions and delays also had a negative impact.For the EU and Britain, the decision to impose sanctions on Rosatom after February 22 could not come at a worse time. In Germany, the last nuclear power station was shut down on April 15, 2023, adding to the energy crisis. Minister of Economy Robert Habeck (a representative of Germanys Green party with hawkish views on Russia and great enthusiasm for renewables) is now accused of not informing the public about the perils of Germanys exit from the atom. Several German media outlets published Habecks papers, showing that he knowingly aggravated the energy crisis that hit Germany in 2022-2023.The British nuclear sector is in decline, too. Former PM Boris Johnsons promise to make one-quarter of the nations energy output nuclear by 2050 is already dead. This became apparent when Hinckley Point C, a major nuclear power station project, announced a four-year delay in its construction  meaning it might only become operational in 2031.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240326/us-possible-ban-of-russian-uranium-imports-in-contrast-to-practical-needs---rosatom-head-1117562630.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240429/first-us-nuclear-power-plant-in-over-30-years-goes-fully-on-line---georgia-power-1118183144.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240325/hungary-interested-in-continuing-nuclear-energy-cooperation-with-russia-1117540103.html

russia

germany

united kingdom (uk)

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Dmitry Babich https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0e/1116778495_0:120:720:840_100x100_80_0_0_9bf47040bc46073fb920d272be7bc29d.jpg

Dmitry Babich https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0e/1116778495_0:120:720:840_100x100_80_0_0_9bf47040bc46073fb920d272be7bc29d.jpg

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Dmitry Babich https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/02/0e/1116778495_0:120:720:840_100x100_80_0_0_9bf47040bc46073fb920d272be7bc29d.jpg

russian nuclear energy, sanctions on rosatom, who builds nuclear reactors, russian nuclear power plants in other countires, where does russia build nuclear plants, is europe against nuclear energy
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/israel-will-fight-with-fingernails-amid-possible-halt-in-us-arms-supplies---netanyahu-1118371118.html

Israel 'Will Fight With Fingernails' Amid Possible Halt in US Arms Supplies - Netanyahu

Israel 'Will Fight With Fingernails' Amid Possible Halt in US Arms Supplies - Netanyahu

Sputnik International

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the Jewish state has enough power to fight alone in the event of a possible cutoff of military aid from the United States.

2024-05-10T04:54+0000

2024-05-10T04:54+0000

2024-05-10T04:54+0000

world

israeli-palestinian conflict

palestine-israel conflict

benjamin netanyahu

joe biden

hamas

gaza strip

israel-gaza conflict

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/01/07/1116035190_0:320:3072:2048_1920x0_80_0_0_ee658cf5eb68c38e759e20ad789c7e85.jpg

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said Washington would restrict the supply of weapons to Israel if the Jewish state launches a major military incursion into Rafah. US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday that the US had paused one shipment of "high payload munitions" to Israel and was "reviewing near-term" shipments amid Israels heightened offensive in Rafah. Earlier on Thursday, Netanyahu's adviser, Dmitry Gendelman, said Israel regrets not receiving support on weapons deliveries from their "closest ally," the United States, amid the ongoing Israeli operation in the city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. Earlier on Thursday, White House National Security Communications Advisor John Kirby said the Biden administration hopes it will not have to make decisions about weapons shipments to Israel, but will have to do so if Israel enters Rafah. On Monday, Israel started a military operation in the eastern parts of Rafah and took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The decision came despite Palestinian movement Hamas agreeing to the terms of a ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar. Netanyahu called the deal unacceptable. Over a million people are believed to be sheltering in Rafah. 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 34,900 people have been killed so far by Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, according to local authorities. More than 100 hostages are still believed to be held by Hamas in Gaza.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240505/is-power-sharing-deal-on-postwar-gaza-between-israel-and-arab-states-feasible-1118265728.html

gaza strip

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

israel-gaza conflict, palestine-israel conflict, israel-palestine conflict, netanyahu, gaza violence, gaza genocide
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/spain-declines-to-confirm-may-21-as-date-for-spains-recognition-of-palestinian-state-1118370825.html

Spain Declines to Confirm May 21 as Date for Spain's Recognition of Palestinian State

Spain Declines to Confirm May 21 as Date for Spain's Recognition of Palestinian State

Sputnik International

Spanish FM Jose Manuel Albares stopped short of confirming May 21 as a date when Spain will recognize Palestine as an independent state, while saying that such decision has already been made.

2024-05-10T04:07+0000

2024-05-10T04:07+0000

2024-05-10T04:07+0000

world

european union (eu)

palestine

spain

pedro sanchez

josep borrell

rte

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/04/07/1117802359_0:160:3072:1888_1920x0_80_0_0_2e8df8cbe316942d6c9408679c6b36ec.jpg

On Wednesday, Irish broadcaster RTE reported that Ireland, Spain and several other EU member states were considering recognizing Palestinian statehood on May 21. In late March, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said that Madrid had reached an agreement with Ireland, Slovenia and Malta to take the first steps toward recognizing the State of Palestine to promote the peace process. The nations later issued a joint statement, in which they expressed their readiness to recognize the State of Palestine under the "right circumstances." The State of Palestine is currently recognized by nine EU member states. Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia took this step in 1988, before joining the EU, while Sweden recognized the State of Palestine in 2014.The UN General Assembly voted in 1947 to divide UK-governed Palestine into Arab and Jewish states, with Jerusalem placed under a special international regime. The partitioning was planned to take place in May 1948, when the British mandate was due to end, but only the state of Israel was established. Palestinians seek diplomatic recognition of their independent state in the territories of the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is partially occupied by Israel, and the Gaza Strip. The Israeli government refuses to recognize Palestine as an independent political and diplomatic entity and builds settlements in the occupied areas despite objections from the United Nations.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240503/pictures-pro-palestine-protests-in-full-swing-across-us-colleges-1118239723.html

palestine

spain

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

spanish fm jose manuel albares, what countries recognize palestine state, state of palestine what countries eu recognize, when spain will recognize palestine as an independent state
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/ukraine-loses-some-3300-troops-in-fights-with-2-russian-groupings-of-forces-1118374587.html

Ukraine Loses Some 3,300 Troops in Fights With 2 Russian Groupings of Forces

Ukraine Loses Some 3,300 Troops in Fights With 2 Russian Groupings of Forces

Sputnik International

The Ukrainian military has lost approximately 3,300 soldiers in fights with Russias western and central groupings of forces in the past week, the Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday.

2024-05-10T10:56+0000

2024-05-10T10:56+0000

2024-05-10T10:56+0000

russia's special operation in ukraine

russian armed forces

russian army

russian defense ministry

ukraine

ukrainian crisis

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/01/1118204463_0:227:2838:1823_1920x0_80_0_0_a913af74060a86ed582fd2ad45975492.jpg

Over the past seven days, the western grouping of forces took control of Kyselevka and Kotlyarovka settlements in the Khrakov region and repelled 14 Ukrainian counterattacks, according to the ministry. The Ukrainian forces lost up to 1,015 servicepeople in battles, the ministry added. The central grouping of forces took control of the Novokalynovoe settlement in the Donetsk Peoples Republic and repelled 48 Ukrainian attacks, according to the ministry. The total of 13 Ukrainian soldiers surrendered in the past week, the ministry said.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240506/signal-to-nato-powers-playing-war-in-ukraine-why-russia-is-drilling-its-tactical-nuclear-forces-1118288990.html

ukraine

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russia's special military operation, ukrainian crisis, leopard russia, abrams russia, ukraine deathtoll, kharkov russia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/us-firms-push-to-continue-purchasing-russian-uranium-predictable---expert--1118374732.html

US Firms' Push to Continue Purchasing Russian Uranium Predictable - Expert

US Firms' Push to Continue Purchasing Russian Uranium Predictable - Expert

Sputnik International

The decision of the American Centrus corporation to ask for special treatment and to continue purchasing enriched uranium from Russia in the interests of the US nuclear industry is absolutely expected, editor-in-chief of the nuclear energy portal AtomInfo.ru Alexander Uvarov told Sputnik.

2024-05-10T12:07+0000

2024-05-10T12:07+0000

2024-05-10T12:07+0000

economy

russian economy under sanctions

rosatom

nuclear

nuclear energy

uranium enrichment

uranium

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e7/07/0f/1111892125_0:140:3143:1908_1920x0_80_0_0_47a2c1b533f504c92cbfad869deb8ef5.jpg

Leading US nuclear fuel company Centrus has said it will seek an exemption from the recently passed bill banning the import of enriched Russian uranium. Centrus claims that the exemption is needed to continue supplying this strategic material to its customers and to ensure the interests of the entire American nuclear industry.Company spokeswoman Lindsay Geisler said in an interview with Axios that quickly eliminating the ban on imports of Russian uranium was critical for Centrus, as well as for the entire US nuclear industry.Centrus (previously known as USEC Inc. before going through a managed bankruptcy procedure) is the largest dealer in the United States that resells enriched uranium to energy companies.its push to seek an exemption from the restrictions was to be expected, experts told Sputnik.The United States, unlike some other Western countries, does not like to shoot itself in the foot, and if it has to do so, it chooses a water pistol, he emphasized.The US Senate on April 30 passed a bill to ban the import of Russian uranium (HR 1042), which prohibits the import of uranium from Russia and comes into force 90 days after adoption. The bill, previously passed by the US House of Representatives, was presented to US President Joe Biden for signature. At the same time, the legislation includes a provision that allows for exceptions to the ban until 2027, including if such an exception is in the national interests.In December 2023, the US House of Representatives approved a similar bill to introduce a ban on the import of low-enriched uranium of Russian origin, which will remain in effect until 2040. At the same time, the initiative authorizes the US secretary of energy, in agreement with the secretary of state and the head of the Department of Commerce, to lift this ban if other sources of uranium supply are unavailable or if the import of Russian fuel is in the national interests.Currently, nuclear energy makes up 20% of US energy generation, while uranium supplies from Russia account for about 20% of this. Russian state nuclear firm Rosatom supplies enriched uranium, used as fuel feedstock, to more than 90 commercial reactors in the United States, making it the United States' number one foreign supplier, according to the US Department of Energy.The restrictions on importing nuclear material, including uranium, will first of all deal a serious blow to the cost of the US' own nuclear projects, but will not restrain Rosatom, which is increasing trade with friendly countries, General Director of the Russian state corporation Alexey Likhachev previously said.At the same time, the world uranium market was shaken by US statements about abandoning Russian uranium, Likhachev said. Prices on the world uranium market have risen sharply after the US announced its intentions.Rosatom has repeatedly emphasized that it fully fulfills all obligations to foreign customers and that the political situation should not destabilize the operation of the nuclear fuel market.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240407/russia-advances-space-exploration-with-rosatoms-plasma-rocket-engine-1117799217.html

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Sputnik International

russian economy under sacntions, russian uranium, uranium enriched, us buys russian uranium, uranium from russia
https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/xis-european-tour-china-offers-eu-way-out-of-economic-decline-1118378453.html

Xi's European Tour: China Offers EU Way Out of Economic Decline

Xi's European Tour: China Offers EU Way Out of Economic Decline

Sputnik International

Chinese Chairman Xi Jinping has concluded his European tour. While the Western press accuses him of seeking to drive a wedge within the EU, what were his primary objectives?

2024-05-10T18:18+0000

2024-05-10T18:18+0000

2024-05-10T18:18+0000

europe

viktor orban

emmanuel macron

european commission

european union (eu)

hungary

serbia

china

aleksandar vucic

world

https://cdn1.img.sputnikglobe.com/img/07e8/05/06/1118279880_0:67:3072:1795_1920x0_80_0_0_6064b686ee256a6c291a2af74db8e748.jpg

Chairman Xi Jinping visited France, Serbia, and Hungary during his five-day tour of Europe, with a focus on trade, investments, and promoting a new multipolar vision of global politics.Xi's meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen coincided with a looming trade war between the EU and China, as well as the bloc's attempts to force Beijing to exert pressure on Russia over its special military operation in Ukraine.The Chinese leader hasn't shifted his stance towards Moscow, whereas the EU has continued to accuse the People's Republic of what it calls "unfair trade practices". Nonetheless, China and France agreed to enhance cooperation in agri-food, finance, aviation, civil nuclear energy and other fields, as well as reiterate their commitment to a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.The Serbian capital of Belgrade was the next leg of Xi's trip. The Chinese leader met with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on May 8 in his second visit to the country in eight years.In 2016, China and Serbia signed a joint statement on the Establishment of a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, whereas eight years later, the two agreed to build a "community with a shared future" that was called "an upgrade" of relations between Belgrade and Beijing by the Chinese press. Serbia is the first European country  and an EU membership candidate  to ink an agreement on a "shared future" with China.In addition, Xi announced that a Free Trade Agreement with Serbia will come into force on July 1 with China expanding imports of agricultural products from the Balkan state. The two countries agreed to increase mutual settlements in local currencies with their central banks embarking on inking a clearing agreement in yuan to bolster bilateral cooperation. Belgrade also signaled that it is interested in keeping part of its foreign reserves in yuan.The Western press was quick to criticize Serbia for "cozying-up" with China and "joining" Beijing's effort to "build a coalition that challenges the US-led world order."Xi's decision to conclude his European tour in Hungary and meet with Prime Minister Viktor Orban stirred even greater annoyance in the mainstream media."Despite governing a country that has been a member of the European Union for 20 years, Hungarian PM Viktor Orban identifies more closely with Xi than with his peers in the bloc," argued Politico.Orban and Xi had much to talk about, given that China is seeking to make Hungary a new electronic vehicle (EV) production hub. Major Chinese car manufacturer Great Wall Motor (GWM) is due to build its first European plant near the Hungarian city of Pecs. Another Chinese industrial giant, BYD, is going to open its first European electric car factory in Szeged, Hungary, to produce an estimated 200,000 electric cars and plug-in hybrids a year. Szeged Televisions news claimed earlier this year that production could start in the second half of 2025. Remarkably, Szeged is located close to the Hungarian border with Serbia.Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), a Chinese battery manufacturer and technology company, likewise invested over 7 billion ($7.5 billion) in a 100-gigawatt battery plant in Debrecen, the capital of Hungarys Northern Great Plain region.Orban announced that China was investing 6,400 billion forints (16.5 billion) in Hungary during a joint press conference with Xi on May 9.By making Hungary an EV hub within Europe, China would get access to the bloc's market amid the European Commission's efforts to slap huge tariffs on Chinese EVs. Politico admitted, however, that the proposed tariffs that range from 15 to 30 percent, are unlikely to render Chinese carmakers uncompetitive, given their cost-effective production methods and strong supply chains.While Hungary's upcoming presidency of the EU won't give Hungary much power to make other European states change their policies towards China, the increasingly visible decline of the US and Western European powers might prompt the European bloc to improve ties with Beijing, according to the expert.Xi's European tour offered an alternative path for the EU to boost its growth by strengthening economic development agreements with Beijing and reopening trans-Eurasian trade corridors, the expert pointed out.

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240508/serbia-china-to-develop-belt-and-road-initiative---joint-statement-1118342578.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/xi-orban-talks-what-did-china-and-hungarys-leaders-agree-1118374910.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240510/us-poised-to-levy-new-tariffs-on-chinas-green-tech-1118378296.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240507/china-working-to-mitigate-us-impact-on-trade-exchanges-with-russia---envoy-1118316417.html

https://sputnikglobe.com/20240509/calling-the-bluff-aging-us-fleet-and-drained-stockpiles-no-match-for-china-and-russia-1118362489.html

hungary

serbia

china

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

2024

Ekaterina Blinova

Ekaterina Blinova

News

en_EN

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

1920 1080 true

1920 1440 true

1920 1920 true

Sputnik International feedback@sputniknews.com +74956456601 MIA Rossiya Segodnya 252 60

Ekaterina Blinova

xi jinping's european tour, xi's meeting with macron, eu's looming trade war with china, china and serbia signed new agreement on shared future, china to invest in hungary, china is hungary's number one investor, hungary is slated to become a eu electric vehicles hub, hungary becoming a eu industrial hub with china's backing
President Xi's special bond with Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school

09:37, May 10, 2024 By Peng Jing ( People's Daily Online

On May 8, 2024, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Budapest, capital of Hungary, for a state visit to the country at the invitation of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

The Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest enjoys a special bond with Xi. Founded in 2004, it is the first full-time public school in Central and Eastern Europe that uses Chinese as well as the local language for instruction.

Second-grade students take a Chinese language class at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest, Hungary. (People's Daily/Yi Lin)

Today, a group photo of Xi and the school's students and teachers, as well as Xi's reply letter to the students in early 2023 still hangs on the wall in the school's hallway.

In October 2009, Xi, then Chinese vice president, visited the school during his visit to Hungary. Xi encouraged the school to focus on the future, lay a solid foundation, and cultivate more successors for the cause of the China-Hungary friendship.

Varga Bonita (1st R) and Imre Tamara (2nd R), two Hungarian students whose Chinese names are Hu Lingyue and Song Zhixiao, receive gifts from the Chinese Embassy in Hungary at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest, Hungary, Feb. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

In early 2023, President Xi replied to a letter from the students of the school, in which he encouraged them to study in Chinese universities after graduation from high school. He expressed the hope that more and more Hungarian youths would love and study the Chinese language, learn more about today's China as well as its history and culture, and strive to become envoys to carry forward and develop the China-Hungary friendship.

For nearly two decades, the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school has built a bridge of friendship between China and Hungary. It has nurtured batches of students who are familiar with and love Chinese culture, many of whom have been admitted to Chinese colleges and universities.

Students practice martial arts at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest, Hungary, Feb. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

A Chinese teacher instructs students on Chinese calligraphy at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school in Budapest, Hungary, Feb. 24, 2023. (Xinhua/Lian Yi)

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)
The Canam Banker posted a new lifetime mark in the swiftest mile of the evening in one of three $18,000 conditioned trot classes at Woodbine Mohawk Park on Thursday, May 9.

Tyler Borth and the Victor Puddy student were caught on the outside in third through an opening panel in :28.3, set by a parked out Alexander (Todd Ratchford). Alexander was the first to find position along the pylons, but The Canam Banker followed quickly to take over before the :57.1 half. Borth and The Canam Banker reached the three-quarters in 1:25.2, opening up by 5-1/2 lengths. Jack N Abs (Sylvain Filion), the bettors' choice in the mile, gave heavy chase through the final turn and into the stretch, but The Canam Banker had enough of a lead to win by 2-1/4 lengths in 1:54.4. Jack N Abs finished second and Alexander took third.

The sophomore gelded son of The Bank and the Muscle Mass mare Fiery Ash is owned by Michael Marocco and Victor Puddy. He earned his first win of the year and second win in 13 career starts. The Canam Banker returned $9.60 to his backers at 4-1 odds.

To view Thursday's harness racing results, click the following link: Thursday Results - Woodbine Mohawk Park.

(Standardbred Canada)
Longtime harness racing industry participant Terry Davidson of Meaford, Ont., passed away on Thursday, May 9, 2024 in his 81st year.

Terrys love for his family and his passion for horses were his life. His son Kevin followed in his footsteps. In 1989, Terry achieved the Trainer Award and Kevin achieved the Driver Award at Hanover Raceway. Terry worked for more than 20 years at Amerock as Supervisor of the paint shop.

Mr. Davidson is survived by his wife Shirley Davidson (nee Cowper). He will be missed by his son Kevin and partner Carla, and his daughter Teryl. He was the proud grandfather of Calli, Caitlin and Cassandra, and great grandfather of Ziya.

He will be remembered fondly by his sister Myrna Fulford and her husband Merv, and his sister-in-law Jean Davidson.

A private family gathering will take place.

As your expression of sympathy, donations to the Ontario Standardbred Adoption Society for retired horses, Meaford Hospital Foundation or the Owen Sound Hospital Rehabilitation Unit would be appreciated and may be made through the Ferguson Funeral Home, 48 Boucher St. E., Meaford, ON N4L 1B9 to whom arrangements have been entrusted.

Please join Standardbred Canada in offering condolences to the family and friends of Terry Davidson.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

A new approach to transport ticketing offers a step towards an integrated, transparent system that works efficiently for both ticket providers and passengers across all modes of transport.

Traditional ticketing systems are based on solutions that are vulnerable to issues, including a lack of transferability across multi-modal transport networks and an inability to adapt to policy changes and new technologies.

Experts at the University of Birmingham have outlined a system that offers a new foundation for all ticketing providers. In a new paper published in IET Blockchain, STUB (System for Ticketing Ubiquity within Blockchains) brings together the capabilities of two versatile technologiesblockchain and ontology.

A blockchain is a distributed ledger that records transactions in a way that ensures security, transparency, and immutability. An ontology is a formal representation of knowledge within a domain and the relationships between those concepts used to model and manage complex information systems.

The researchers showed how both technologies could be combined to create a robust, transparent, and interconnected data framework that ensures consistent and reliable shared knowledge.

Utilizing these data structures, ticket providers can sell and validate tokenized tickets on the blockchain, ensuring universal accessibility across all providers. The integration of ontology allows providers to capture and share contextual information about the transport network, enabling providers to offer comprehensive data about routes, schedules, and availability, thereby streamlining the ticketing process.

Lead author Dr. Joe Preece said, "Transport systems around the world are becoming increasingly interconnected. Ticketing systems are key to this, and there is a growing interest in the use of smarter transport ticketing that harnesses emerging technologies to overcome the limitations of traditional systems. The system we have devised enables ticket providers to operate in a more transparent, flexible environment, that will ultimately offer passengers a more user-friendly experience.

"STUB's approach is not to be a single central data platform with transport policy baked-in, but instead to be a policy-agnostic approach that empowers existing ticket providers and technologies to share core ticketing data and to build new solutions on top of. In essence, this may provide a modernized approach to the Rail Settlement Plan that enables multi-modal ticketing, automated revenue and refund allocation, and dynamic fare pricing while retaining the technologies in the sector that already work well."

The next step for the team will be to set up a pilot scheme for the technology in a regional transport network to demonstrate its efficacy and to get feedback from ticket operators and passengers.

"A big challenge to implementation will be the integration with existing ticketing infrastructure to work alongside the current standardized approaches while we scale up the technology. Setting up a successful pilot will be key to breaking down these barriers," added Dr. Preece.

More information: Joseph D. Preece et al, Leveraging ontochains for distributed public transit ticketing: An investigation with the system for ticketing ubiquity with blockchains, IET Blockchain (2024). DOI: 10.1049/blc2.12071
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

The nation is in the middle of a contentious transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

It's a change either hailed by environmentalists for addressing climate change and public health or loathed by the oil and gas industry for killing jobs and being less reliable, efficient and affordable. And what the increase in renewables will mean for consumers' pocketbooks is still unclear.

The latest battle played out before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, which every four years has to approve Peco's energy procurement, or default service plan, where the utility explains how it intends to buy electricity.

Peco's current DSP is set to expire next May.

PUC hearings

In February, Peco filed its 1,235-page purchase plan with the regulators, essentially promising to do what it has been doing: obtaining the least expensive electric supply and purchasing 8% of its power from renewable sources, including 0.5% of solar energy generated within the state.

"Peco is proposing no change to its procurement process used in its prior default service program," according to the company's filing. It's a move that the company said guards against price volatility.

The PUC held two days of hearings on Peco's DSP at the end of April. About 80 people testified, including members of the Energy Justice Advocates (EJA), a group that includes POWER Interfaith, Vote Solar, Clean Air Council, Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and PennEnvironment.

"In my opinion, these criteria are insufficient and outdated. No less important but missing in PECO's list of criteria are the safety and health of Pennsylvanians, as well as the urgent need to address our climate crisis," testified Howard Sherman, a Peco customer from Lansdowne.

"For every hundred dollars that PECO spends on energy, it plans to spend 50 cents on solar."

"For every hundred dollars that Peco spends on energy, it plans to spend 50 cents on solar," Wendy Greenspan, a co-convener of POWER Interfaith's People's Energy Plan Campaign Group, said when she testified at the hearing.

"That's what Peco did in its last DSP four years ago. That's what it plans to do in this DSP for the next four years."

Dueling points of view

According to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Climate Action Plan, the energy used in residential buildings in the Philadelphia area for everyday usesheating, cooling, cooking, and electricityaccounts for about 19% of greenhouse gas emissions. The plan warned that "significant action is needed in the residential building sector to implement energy efficiency, electrification, and clean energy measures."

The EJA contends that it wants Peco to play more of a leadership role in encouraging renewables, starting with the energy supply mix Peco plans to purchase, which is generated almost entirely by burning fossil fuel.

"Why isn't Peco transitioning to more renewable energy?" Greenspan asked. "Many utilities across the country are. Why is Peco digging in its heels and resisting the use of renewable energy?"

In response, a Peco spokesperson said, "Our filing is designed to comply with Pennsylvania law and regulations, which require us to procure electricity at the least cost over time, through a prudent mix of energy purchases to ensure adequate and reliable service, as well as price stability. These rules and regulations are designed to protect customers, including our low- and moderate-income customers, from paying above-market prices for their energy use."

"If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden Administration to reverse this decision."

Oil and gas industry experts counter that the state is retiring fossil fuel generation too quickly, before the capacity to replace it is available, forcing job losses and threatening grid resilience and reliability as demand for electricity is rising.

When the Biden administration temporarily paused new approvals of liquefied natural gas exports, both of the state's Democratic U.S. senators, Bob Casey and John Fetterman, issued a joint statement: "If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden administration to reverse this decision."

Solar rising

Pennsylvania, a fossil fuel powerhouse, trails other states in terms of new renewable energy. Over the last decade, no state's has grown more slowly, according to PennEnvironment Research & Policy Center's report "Renewables on the Rise 2023."

"Pennsylvania ranks a lowly 50th in the nation for percent growth in total solar, wind and geothermal generation since 2013," stated the report. It further explained, "In the last decade, Pennsylvania has tripled solar productionmost of this growth coming since 2019. Yet in contrast, the U.S. saw a 12-fold growth in solar power and the leading state, Texas, built out a whopping 90 times as much renewable power as Pennsylvania."

"Texas built out a whopping 90 times as much renewable power as Pennsylvania."

Renewables on the rise 2023

However, the move to solar is growing, especially amid large users.

The city, which owns about 600 buildings, recently announced a contract to buy solar-generated electricity from Energix Renewables, which will supply about a quarter of its need.

Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges and the University of Pennsylvania also announced that they will be purchasing all the electricity produced from solar facilities.

"Peco has presented the commission and its customers with its preference for four more years of wasted opportunities," testified Karl R. Rabago of Colorabo-based Rabago Energy LLC. Rabago accused Peco of short-sightedness and looking at lowest price generation over addressing the long-term impact of climate change.

POWER Interfaith continues to sponsor public events, such as a trivia contest, outside City Hall on Wednesday, April 8, to educate the public while awaiting the PUC's final decision on Peco's plan by October.

2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The North Korean threat actor tracked as Kimsuky has been observed deploying a previously undocumented Golang-based malware dubbed Durian as part of highly-targeted cyber attacks aimed at two South Korean cryptocurrency firms.

"Durian boasts comprehensive backdoor functionality, enabling the execution of delivered commands, additional file downloads, and exfiltration of files," Kaspersky said in its APT trends report for Q1 2024.

The attacks, which occurred in August and November 2023, entailed the use of legitimate software exclusive to South Korea as an infection pathway, although the precise mechanism used to manipulate the program is currently unclear.

What's known is that the software establishes a connection to the attacker's server, leading to the retrieval of a malicious payload that kicks off the infection sequence.

The first-stage serves as an installer for additional malware and a means to establish persistence on the host. It also paves the way for a loader malware that eventually executes Durian.

Durian, for its part, is employed to introduce more malware, including AppleSeed, Kimsuky's staple backdoor of choice, a custom proxy tool known as LazyLoad, as well as other legitimate tools like ngrok and Chrome Remote Desktop.

"Ultimately, the actor implanted the malware to pilfer browser-stored data including cookies and login credentials," Kaspersky said.

A notable aspect of the attack is the use of LazyLoad, which has been previously put to use by Andariel, a sub-cluster within the Lazarus Group, raising the possibility of a potential collaboration or a tactical overlap between the two threat actors.

The Kimsuky group is known to be active since at least 2012, with its malicious cyber activities also monitored under the names APT43, Black Banshee, Emerald Sleet (formerly Thallium), Springtail, TA427, and Velvet Chollima.

It is assessed to be a subordinate element to the 63rd Research Center, a department within the Reconnaissance General Bureau (RGB), the hermit kingdom's premier military intelligence organization.

"Kimsuky actors' primary mission is to provide stolen data and valuable geopolitical insight to the North Korean regime by compromising policy analysts and other experts," the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the National Security Agency (NSA) said in an alert earlier this month.

"Successful compromises further enable Kimsuky actors to craft more credible and effective spear-phishing emails, which can then be leveraged against more sensitive, higher-value targets."

The nation-state adversary has also been linked to spear-phishing campaigns that deliver a C#-based remote access trojan and information stealer called TutorialRAT (aka TutRAT) that utilizes Dropbox as a "base for their attacks to evade threat monitoring," Broadcom-owned Symantec said.

"This campaign appears to be an extension of APT43's BabyShark threat campaign and employs typical spear-phishing techniques, including the use of shortcut (LNK) files," it added.

The development comes as the AhnLab Security Intelligence Center (ASEC) detailed a campaign orchestrated by another North Korean state-sponsored hacking group called ScarCruft that's targeting South Korean users with Windows shortcut (LNK) files that culminate in the deployment of RokRAT.

The adversarial collective, also known as APT37, InkySquid, RedEyes, Ricochet Chollima, and Ruby Sleet, is said to be aligned with North Korea's Ministry of State Security (MSS) and tasked with covert intelligence gathering in support of the nation's strategic military, political, and economic interests.

"The recently confirmed shortcut files (*.LNK) are found to be targeting South Korean users, particularly those related to North Korea," ASEC said.
Calvary Lutheran Church will host a Red Cross blood drive from noon to 6 p.m. Friday, May 17, at 13th and Custer streets.

Blood units are always in demand. One donation can save three lives. The donation process takes less than one hour of time.

To make an appointment, go online at redcrossblood.org or call Ileane McCoy at 308-384-1720.
Marilyn Fischer takes care of people. And has most of her life.

I was determined at age of 4 or 5 and nobody was going to change my mind, she said. And they didnt.

Fischer worked as a nurse after college in the 1950s and after a break to raise her three children returned to the field, ending that portion of her career in home health hospice care. Since then, shes volunteered at the Third City Community Clinic since its founding 30 years ago, while spending 23 years working in a different part of the end-of-life field: at All Faiths Funeral Home in Grand Island.

I like to keep busy. You need to keep your mind busy, your body busy, the spry 92-year-old said.

Fischer was born and raised near Phillips in Hamilton County and went to nursing school at the West Nebraska Methodist Hospital in Scottsbluff, graduating in 1952. A Hawkeye, she later attended the University of Iowa for her bachelors degree in nursing.

She married a special man shortly thereafter, Donald Fischer, also a Hamilton County native. After Donalds time in the Air Force ended, Marilyn Fischer helped put him through the University of Nebraska. Donald died 16 years ago.

While in Lincoln, Marilyn Fischer was a visiting nurse for the Elgin Watch Company in Lincoln.

Donald worked in the water business (pumps and such, she said) and they moved to York, where Marilyn worked on raising the kids. They moved to Grand Island in 1959.

Soon thereafter, with her kids old enough to go to school, she started working at St. Francis, becoming the director of home health for the hospital in 1979. Home health later took on home hospice care as well, in 1982. At the time it was the the fourth such program in the state of Nebraska.

Wonderful staff. We were in 13 counties, we touched a lot of lot of lives, Fischer said. In their homes. Able to keep them home, keep them together. Its wonderful what you can do.

Fischer said hospice care requires special training. She recalled intense training for the work, which included training by a minister who came in from Scottsbluff.

That hospice work informed Fischers next career move. After Fischer retired from St. Francis, Dan Naranjo of All Faiths approached her about joining their team. Fischer works at visitations, meets with families, greets families.

I dont ask the questions, if they have any questions and they want to talk I will listen. But youre not giving instructions, she said. Its a hard time.

Fischer still works at All Faiths, has for 23 years. Shell be there Sunday, May 5 to help a family. Fischer had told Naranjo all those years ago shed give it a try, she recounted, chuckling.

And on Mondays you can still find her at Third City.

Fischer helps patients, taking assessments, checking medications, helping with refills and taking vitals. All the nursing prep work before a patient sees the volunteer physician at the clinic. She noted shes thrilled the clinic has added an interpreter.

Along with three children, Fischer has three grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. Some of the family was recently in town, which brought her much joy.

Fischer also enjoys working in her yard and with flowers, and spending time with her friends and neighbors.

When I get to work, the girls just laugh and ask What all have you done today? she said. The answers usually a lot.

The person who nominated Fischer for the honor called her a not-retired nurse.

Over the years in her various roles, Fischers thankful shes been able to help with family and very good friends as theyve faced end-of-life situations. She said she loves the saying, We are at our best when we serve others.
For Shayla Holliday, nursing is all about the people  both patients and coworkers.

I grew up in the foster care system and a ward of the state, Holliday said. And for my high school and college years the patients I cared for became like family for me. That has continued for me throughout the years  building relationships with providers, and coworkers.

She loves listening to her patients life stories, jobs and history, she added, including once learning about soda shops her patient used to visit, just to have a pop made for them.

I also enjoy learning about my patients cultures and how I can be supportive of their culture while caring for them, Holliday said. I have learned some Spanish to help communicate with my Spanish-speaking patients. I truly enjoy helping others.

Now working at Grand Island Regional as a Med-Surg floor nurse and living in Grand Island with her husband (of 17 years), Matt, and her two children, Blake and Morgan, she hails originally from the small town of Ruskin.

I am a Grand Island Central Community College alumni, she noted. I got my first certified nursing assistant job at the age of 16 in 2002 and completed my Associates of Nursing degree in 2013.

Part of the Med-Surg department at Grand Island Regional for the last two years, Holliday explained that her department is filled with great teamwork and a supportive staff.

...From the providers, fellow nurses, the wonderful patient care techs, housekeeping, lab, kitchen staff and beyond, she mentioned.

In the fast-paced career that is nursing, challenge and stress is never far away, especially as evidence-based practice continues to evolve.

Hollidays advice? Recognize the reward.

Its such a rewarding career, from being there for the family while they say goodbye to their loved ones to being there for the celebration of new life coming into the world, the possibilities are endless within nursing, she said.
New Initiative Working with Ed Tech Vendors to Address Key Cybersecurity Challenges for Schools and Districts

A new collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley Center for Long-Term Cybersecurity (CLTC) and the U.S. Department of Education (ED), dubbed the Partnership for Advancing Cybersecurity in Education (PACE), is bringing education technology vendors and cybersecurity experts together to "improve the defensibility and resilience of K-12 digital infrastructure," according to a news announcement. In alignment with the White House 2023 National Cybersecurity Strategy , the initiative will focus on how ed tech tools manage private and confidential information, such as student health, contact, financial, and disciplinary records.

The project will convene cybersecurity experts, ed tech vendors, and ed tech stakeholders for an October 2024 PACE EdTech Summit, to discuss "the cybersecurity of ed tech products, the benefits of secure-by-design principles, and chart a path forward for addressing product vulnerabilities that will improve the security of America's K-12 digital infrastructure."

"By uniting the expertise of cybersecurity professionals with the innovation of key edtech vendors, we can help proactively address cyber vulnerabilities before they lead to ransomware attacks that disrupt students' learning, school operations, and compromise sensitive student data," said U.S. Deputy Secretary of Education Cindy Marten, in a statement. "This partnership will develop actionable insights to enhance the resilience of the ed tech sector, ensuring that our educational tools are not only effective but secure. By focusing on securing the edtech products that all school districts need for their operations, PACE can help to drive cybersecurity benefits at scale for the 14,000 school districts and the millions of students they serve across the U.S."

"We are proud to lead this critical partnership between UC Berkeley CLTC and the Department of Education. No student or parent should have to worry about their sensitive information being leaked online," commented Sarah Powazek, program director of public interest cybersecurity at CLTC. "This partnership will help protect U.S. schools by strengthening the technology products they most depend on. By collaborating with a few upstream vendors, we have the potential to help K-12 institutions better defend against ransomware attacks that disrupt school operations and compromise sensitive student data."

UC Berkeley's CLTC is a research and collaboration hub dedicated to helping individuals and organizations address information security challenges. For more information, visit the CLTC site. To express interest in attending the PACE EdTech Summit, contact [email protected].
Elroy Boucher heads the Public Service Union for another term, 2024-2026.

Elroy Boucher was returned unopposed as President of the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Public Service Union (SVG PSU) after three days (April 23  25) of polling.





He will head a nine-member executive that will serve for the period 2024  2026.





The executive includes six females: First Vice President - Gweneth Baptiste Stoddard; Second Vice President - Desrita Gilkes Boucher; General Secretary - Shelly-Ann Alexander Ross; Assistant Secretary - Lanique Findlay Providence; Womens Committee Chair - Anastasia Wickham Caesar; Young Workers Chair - Nyorkia Cupid.

The other members are: Treasurer - Gary Lewis, and Grievance Officer - Dougal Allen.





According to a PSU release, the only positions that were challenged were: General Secretary, Assistant Secretary and Grievance Officer.





Boucher was first thrown into the leadership seat of the PSU when he was elected to head an Interim Committee at a Special Meeting of the Union, held on September 10, 2013.





That meeting disbanded the Cools Vanloo-led executive and mandated the Interim Committee to run the affairs of the Union for the period up to March 2014, when the term of Vanloos executive ended.





It was also mandated to hold a general meeting within one month to elect a new executive for the two-year term 2014-2016.





Boucher was duly elected and has been returned to the Presidency of the Union at all subsequent elections.




Senior Magistrate Colin John (left) and former President of CFPWA addressed the opening ceremony.

Brenton Smith is a former President of the Caribbean Federation of Police Welfare Associations (CFPWA). He is also the Secretary of the New Democratic Party (NDP), the parliamentary opposition.





Smith did not disguise his party loyalty last Wednesday May 8 when addressing the opening ceremony of the 12th Annual Meeting of the regional body. He expressed disgust with "politicians who refuse to discuss matters that affect police officers.





He also chided police officers who leak information for political gains. Smith acknowledged Opposition Leader Dr. Godwin Friday and predicts that assistance from the Welfare Association when Friday becomes Prime Minister.





Smith pointed to discrimination police faced because they refused the Covid, e.g. their benefits are being denied, and referred to the Appeal heard May 2.





Former Commissioner of Police Colin John, now Senior Magistrate, advised members of the Welfare Associations to "avoid being adversarial, and be "disciplined.





John all but condemned police officers who engage in nefarious activities and urged members to be "dedicated to serving people.





Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Sejilla McDowall outlined her analysis of the security network. For those seeking peace, the Police is a welcomed visitor, for the law breaker a "rude intruder; friend in one instance, foe on the same mission, McDowall pointed out.





Police, she emphasized, "are humans, defined by blood sweat and tears, and not carriers of batons, guns, or wearing boots.





For McDowall, Police is a "poor student, yet breed more and more scholars.





She added, "Police is a cool drink in a scorching sun, and must keep cool in response to scorching tongues.

Not done with her analysis, she continued: They are a "blessing in disguise, and also a "dime a dozen; chief, yet cook and bottle washer; appearing as one, but standing as a thousand strong.





Corporal Germano Douglas, Intermediate Chairman of the local Welfare Association, recounted the history of the regional body.





He noted risks faced by security personnel and outlined that "despite these challenges, they remain steadfast in their dedication to upholding the rule of law, and ensuring public safety, in the face of "inadequate living conditions, insufficient salaries, lack of essential resources and support.





Opposition Leader Dr Godwin Friday, in his address, expressed the belief that gun crimes undermine security.

He promised support for the police at Stations, and tools, along with use of modern methods of investigation, as means to reduce the number of murders which reached record levels two years consecutively.





Friday points to guns from outside the region as contributing to the killings, and decried a trend by persons of robbing and stealing.





"We cannot allow this to be the new norm, the Opposition leader stated.





The AGM, which closes today, will also see the election of a new executive and selection of a venue for the next meeting.




Officer-In-Charge of The UWI Global Campus, Camille Lakhram (Left) meeting with Connor DeMerchant who has been researching his Vincentian roots.

Twenty-seven-year-old Canadian born Connor DeMerchant has been exploring his Vincentian roots, and will share some of these findings in a presentation at The University of The West Indies, (UWI) Global Campus from 7 p.m on Thursday, May 16, 2024.





DeMerchant, who is pursuing a PhD in History at the University of New Brunswick, is from a predominantly Caucasian lineage from the neighbouring island of Barbados and the local Dorsetshire Hill community.





DeMerchant will deliver his presentation under the theme, Making Whiteness, Remaking Empire: The Poor Whites of Dorsetshire Hill, St. Vincent 1834  1940.





He described the findings from his research as "insightful and rewarding.





He noted that his ancestors in St. Vincent and the Grenadines were stereotyped and the public perceptions of them was that they were underprivileged "whites, and were referred to as "Dorsetshire Hill Bajans or "Poor Whites, but many of them have thrown off the stigma and have done well for themselves.





The young man shared that his Great Grandmothers family migrated to Canada in 1908 and he has always been curious about his Caribbean ancestry.





The PhD student expressed elation with the opportunity to present his research at The UWI Global Campus, and expressed the view that this would be a "cathartic experience for many in attendance.





Officer-In-Charge of The UWI Global Campus, Camille Lakhram, who met and had a brief chat with DeMerchant when he visited the campus, was of the view that his presentation on this Thursday May 16th, will give local persons of Caucasian descent, particularly from the Dorsetshire Hill community - the opportunity to learn about their heritage.





Lakhram also suggested that findings from DeMerchants research may also be useful in the compilation of the Vincentian history currently being chronicled by four local historians, under the auspices of the government.
Passage of legislation, among other things, is expected to give more clout to the state with respect to how to address the problem of stray dogs.

A Bill which, among other things, is expected to address the problem of stray dogs and improper care/ownership of dogs should have had its first reading and then put to the select committee stage, when Parliament met on May 9.





Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves speaking on radio on May 8, said that there was a serious problem with dogs in the country and that a lot of people were getting dogs, but not keeping them.





"And they are roaming all about, and they are killing animals, he said, adding, ". we have to deal with it.

There were also some dogs that warranted special consideration, he said.





"Fellas walking these huge dogs, some of them because of their owners, could be problematic, the prime minister suggested.





Dr. Gonsalves explained that the Bill dealt with dogs, however owners of dogs were also included because dogs were not recognised to be as dangerous by nature compared to other wild animals.





"It is the problem of owners, how they deal with their dogs; how they control them; what they encourage them (dogs) to do and not to do; how they train them. So, we have to address that, Dr. Gonsalves said.





The problem of stray dogs was recently highlighted when classes at both the Thomas Saunders Secondary School and the Girls High School had to be temporarily halted because of an infestation of fleas on the schools premises, which are located at the site of the runway of the decommissioned E.T. Joshua Airport at Arnos Vale.





Curtis King, Education Minister, in addressing the issue said that it was not the first time that the said locations had become infested with fleas and he also attributed this to the prevalence of dogs in the area.





But despite efforts to deal with the issue, including appeals to dog owners to tie their animals and the erection of a fence, challenges remained.
Funeral processions have become jump-up like parades accompanied by live percussion/steelband and even Hi-Fi music.

Anyone who has a Class 3 Liquor Licence and whose place of business is situated outside a cemetery gate or across the road from the cemetery, will not be disallowed from selling strong liquor under the proposed amendment to the Public Order Act.





The proposed amendment deals with the consumption of alcohol during funeral processions and at cemeteries which, according to Prime Minister Dr. Ralph Gonsalves while speaking on the issue on radio on May 8, "has become quite terrible,





The amendment is expected to focus on a central problem, i.e. "people drinking rum and beer and getting drunk and behaving quite badly, the Prime Minister said.





The only issue however, with the section of the Bill dealing with the sale and consumption of alcohol in cemeteries, Dr. Gonsalves explained, was that although cemeteries have boundaries by law, they usually are not marked.





"If you are going to make a law in that regard, you have to make sure to help persons to know at which point they can do what, he added.





explained.





Given that this could be problematic, the issue has already been raised with those persons drafting the amendment.





But Dr. Gonsalves reminded the public that the focus was also on the procession.





"I hear some people say that we want to control peoples behaviour at a funeral, but the law controls and regulates peoples behaviour otherwise, he said.





He acknowledged that St Vincent and the Grenadines enjoyed a unique tradition.





"In America, in New York City for example, you do not see funerals blocking the street  you do not see it in other major cities around the world either.





"But we have that tradition and people, motorists and other users of the road are satisfied that they will go along with the inconvenience and wait a while, Gonsalves continued.





And to stamp home the point of the need for control, the prime Minister said, "This drinking of alcohol in the procession, and the icebox behind the hearse, people selling 3 for $10, surely, in our civilization I think you go down the road and 8 or 9 of every 10 persons will tell you that is wrong.





It was unfortunate that government had to regulate something like this, he said, especially where good sense should have prevailed.





Proposed Amendment

The amendment to the Public Order Act will provide for a ban on the possession or consumption of strong liquor by anyone who is part of a funeral procession that traverses along a public road, or anyone who is part of a burial service in a public cemetery.





The amendment will also provide for banning the sale or free serving of strong liquor in the precincts of a public cemetery, to be read to mean within or immediately outside a cemetery. This clearly addresses the sale of liquor by ice box vendors who set up their operations outside the gate of the Kingstown Cemetery.





And as far as power of the police is concerned, the amendment will give the police the right to seize any strong liquor they may find in the possession of a person or persons attending a funeral procession and/or burial service.





A person(s) found to be guilty of the above could be arrested without warrant especially in cases where the police deems the person(s) to be acting in a manner that threatens the safety of any other person(s).
Roxanne Joseph, Vincy NYPD detective specialist, tells harrowing story of battle with colon cancer at a Colon Cancer Awareness Forum by the NYPDs Patrol Borough Brooklyn South Community Affairs Section. (Photo Source: NYPD Community Affairs)

As March was commemorated as Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, a Vincentian-born New York Police Department (NYPD) detective specialist has been telling the harrowing story of her battle with surviving colon cancer.





Brooklyn, New York resident Roxanne Joseph, 43, who hails from the southern St. Vincent Grenadine island of Union Island, recently appeared on ABC TVs Good Morning America (GMA) in discussing her journey.





She was also featured last July by New Yorks Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) Cancer Center in its summer magazine.





Recently, Joseph was the keynote speaker at a Colon Cancer Awareness Forum by the NYPDs Patrol Borough Brooklyn South Community Affairs Section, at Top Civic Center on Utica Avenue, between Beverly and Clarendon Roads, in East Flatbush, Brooklyn.





Joseph  who, in July, will serve 19 years as a cop  did not hesitate to tell THE VINCENTIAN her story.

"March 2022: I went to the bathroom and noticed there was a little blood in my stool, she said. "I decided to call up my gastro doctor (gastroenterologist), who informed me to come in.





"I went in to do a colonoscopy, she added. "It was during that time [that] they found a tumor, she added. "The tumor was biopsied; the biopsy came back that it was colon cancer.





Joseph said the NYPDs Medical Division then referred her to MSK, where she started treatment.





She said her treatment plan comprised chemotherapy and surgery.





"I had the best team at MSK  Dr. Rona Yeager, who was my oncologist, and Dr. Philip Paty, she said, adding, though, that chemotherapy was "extremely rough on her.





"But, by the grace of God, I pushed through and am here today to tell my story, continued Joseph, stating that April will represent a year since shes been cancer-free.





The discovery





Since her life has returned to "a sense of normalcy, Joseph said she has been on an awareness campaign, especially in the African American community, which includes the Caribbean community, "trying to educate our people on the importance of getting screened.





Joseph told the forum: "For 1  years, while I was gone (from her NYPD job), I was on the battlefield.

"I was fighting a disease that was so rough; I was fighting a silent disease, she said. "2022 started good for me. I was good, working out (at the gym).





But, one morning, she said she saw blood in her stool, and that completely changed her life.





She recalled that, a year before, one of her uncles was diagnosed with colon cancer.





"I came to work, I didnt tell a soul, said Joseph about her diagnosis. "I went to the gym. The NYPD was so good to me.





"This disease is silent and deadly, she added. "I want everyone to get screened.





"I thank God for his saving grace, Joseph continued. "I can testify that theres a God. When I was diagnosed, I prayed so much.





Blacks and colorectal cancer





According to MSK, Black patients are 40 percent more likely to die from colorectal cancer than other ethnic groups.





Recent work at MSK has shown that, even among patients with colorectal cancer who were treated at the same institution, those of African ancestry dont live as long after diagnosis as those of European or East or South Asian ancestry.





"MSK researchers are discovering that one reason for this disparity in outcomes could be due to the differences in the molecular profiles of tumors between patients of different ancestries, said MSK in its Summer 2023 magazine. "Fewer patients with African ancestry have tumors that are likely to respond to newer treatments (like immunotherapy and targeted therapy).





Josephs journey





Joseph was born on Jun. 25,1980 on Union Island. At 14, she migrated to Brooklyn, to join her mother, Marva, who had begun paving the way for a better life for her family.





She graduated from Fort Hamilton High School in Brooklyn and went on to New York City Technical College, where she majored in the human services, and later transferred to John Jay College of Criminal Justice, where she earned a Bachelor of Science (Hons.) in criminal justice.





Subsequent to her appointment to the NYPD, Joseph often spoke proudly of her aunt, Sergeant Ilene Maloney, who dedicated over 30 years of service to the Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force as supervisor of the Central Investigation Division.





Her aunts "passion and dedication in helping others inspired her to pursue a career in law enforcement, Joseph said.





After she was sworn in the NYPD, on Jul.11, 2005, and after graduating from the Police Academy, she was assigned to Brooklyns 67th Precincts Impact Unit, the daily patrol squad.





Joseph was also a member of the precincts Conditions Team and the Community Policing Unit.





Focus on Caribbean culture





Joseph said her expression of love for her Caribbean culture and passion to keep the Caribbean community safe and empowered earned her the position of Community Affairs Officer.





During her tenure in the 67th Precinct, Joseph said she "consistently advocated for the educating of new police officers. assigned to the precinct, on the West Indian culture.





She said that understanding Caribbean culture and traditions is "essential to a successful relationship between police and Community.





Joseph said shes also an advocate for guiding young women to be successful and productive, and to become independent women in society.





After eight years in the position of Community Affairs Officer, and gaining the trust, respect and love of the entire community, Joseph said she was promoted to the rank of Detective Specialist.





She said her continued work and dedication to the Caribbean community quickly became noticed by NYPDs hierarchy. This merited her a position in the Police Commissioners Office as the West Indian liaison to the Police Commissioner.





In her current position, Joseph serves as the West Indian liaison to Patrol Borough Brooklyn South.
Prime Minister Philip Pierre is on record as saying that once Antigua and Barbuda proposes a share structure for LIAT 2020, his government will give it consideration.

The government of St. Lucia is keeping a close watch on developments as they relate to LIAT 2020, a new airline\s spearheaded by the Antigua and Barbuda government.





LIAT 2020 is being positioned to replace the collapsed LIAT (1974) Ltd., the only true regional airline when it was at the peak of its operations.





LIAT (1974) Ltd. went under for reasons inclusive of being strapped for cash. Antigua and Barbuda, a major shareholder in that airline and the headquarters of the airline, recognised that it had perhaps the most to lose as a result of the collapse, sought to devise a plan to retain its place as a player in regional air services.





LIAT 2020 is reportedly a 30/70 partnership between the government of Antigua and Barbuda and Air Peace, a Nigerian airline that has committed to invest up to USD80 million into the venture that is intended to boost flagging regional connectivity, already burdened with exorbitant airfares.





While the new airline is yet to receive its Air Operators Certificate (AOC), to be issued by the Eastern Caribbean Civil Aviation Authority (ECCAA), it has taken possession of two Embraer E-145 jets (ERJ 145 jets) as part of Air Peaces commitment to provide three such aircraft, to complement the ATR Fleet that is expected to be purchased from the Caribbean Development Bank.





LIAT 2020, spearheaded by the Gaston Browne-led government of Antigua and Barbuda, has not escaped the attention of Prime Minister Philip Pierre of Saint Lucia, who admitted that he was closely monitoring these developments with a keen interest to get involved.





"Saint Lucia has not got involved in terms of putting any finances. We are monitoring and talking to Antigua, Pierre said.





And with that in mind, Prime Minister Pierre disclosed that once a share structure is established, Saint Lucia will begin official discussions with Antigua.





"Very soon, when things are ready, when the share structure is organised, Saint Lucia will look at it and its feasibility. We need to improve air travel in this country so well see what we can do, Pierre said.

Prime Minister Browne, while not on record as making any direct response to Prime Minister Pierres intimation, would be pleased, according to a source, with the interest shown by a fellow OECS country.





This, the Antiguan source said, is Prime Minister Brownes intention that other OECS and Caricom countries would find it fit to invest in the new entity.





As it stands in most cases, air fare for travel outside of the region is cheaper than regional travel. Whether LIAT 2020 can effect a turnaround in this regard is left to be seen. (Sources: Online St. Lucia, Loop News)




(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.
You have reached a premium content area of Transitions. To read this entire article please login if you are already a Transitions subscriber.



Not a subscriber?



Subscribe today for access to:

Full access to the website, including premium articles videos, country reports and searchable archives (containing over 25,000 articles).


BUFFALO  Gone are the days when the only question soon-to-be high school graduates are asked is where they are going to college.

Johnson County School District No. 1 curriculum and learning director Steve Miller said there has been this pervasive idea that the only valid option for students after high school involves a four-year degree from a prestigious university.

Were trying to tear that down, said Miller, Johnson County School District No. 1s curriculum and learning director.

That mindset change has influenced district curriculum and course offerings, but it isnt just the Johnson County school district that has shifted. The Wyoming Department of Education has also focused on increasing career and technical education offerings through statewide initiatives and funding opportunities for districts. The department recently proposed a $150,000 increase to a formerly $200,000 grant opportunity for districts to use in their career and technical education programs. The WDE is accepting public comment on the proposed increase until May 31 through a survey available on its website.

The WDE also released its profile of a graduate last year, which identified what all high school graduates should know, with an eye on the reality that not every student is planning to attend college.

Miller said this shift has happened, in part, because so many students in recent years have found themselves thousands of dollars in debt once they graduate college and unable to find a job in their field of study. That issue is paired with an increasing demand for skilled labor, he said.

While there has been more funding and focus over the past couple of years toward career and technical education, the change has been part of a much longer process.

Kaycee School Principal Jake Evans, who is also the purpose coordinator for career and technical education districtwide, said the shift really started with the Hathaway Scholarship. From 2009 to 2012, educators from fine arts to agriculture lobbied for the scholarship to include more than just core classes as part of its requirements, Evans said. Those efforts proved successful.

Now, when you look at the Hathaway Success Program, it values career and technical education, he said.

To earn the highest scholarship, students must take at least two years of a language, fine or performing arts or career and technical education.

Evans said that philosophies about the value of career and technical education over longer periods of time have often followed a pendulum swing.

The pendulum has swung back to where career tech ed leads to viable careers, he said.

The demand in the trades has led to better benefits and pay. More people are exiting than entering the trades, Evans said, partly because a majority of current professionals are older.

Miller said the districts ideal goal is to provide a balance in course offerings so students can see they have options, explore those options and be prepared for what feels like the next step for them.

Miller said the district offers different areas of course specializations through electives, mainly in high school, in what are called pathways. Pathways are a series of courses that follow a specific area of focus or career tract, such as agriculture or business.

Guidance counselors play an important role in guiding students course selections to fit a pathway that makes sense for them. Buffalo High School counselor Michelle Dahlberg said the district has started to use Naviance, a college, career and life readiness software platform, so that students can find a pathway that matches their interests and skills. The platform offers students self-discovery tools that provide them with assessments to determine their strengths and career interests, a career planning tool and college application tools.

The platform also helps counselors track students classes to make sure they meet their requirements and their courses align with their interests.

While increasing the variety of course offerings is important, Miller said, its also important to maintain a balance between elective classes such as welding and core classes such as biology.

For students uninterested in their schools career and technical education offerings, Miller said, the district has tried to expand its offerings in dual and concurrent enrollment with Sheridan College and provide advanced placement classes.

But core classes and electives are never so far apart from each other.

What students are learning in core classes as theory, they can practically apply in their technical and career specific classes, Miller said. For example, geometry is easily applicable in a construction class.

The district works hard to keep its curricula in line with what industry professionals are saying that students need to know, Miller said. Most industries are constantly evolving, he said.

While schools are adapting to the career opportunities available for students and what they need for success once they graduate, Evans said, industries are also being more proactive in finding employees and reaching out to schools.

For example, Black Hills Bentonite visited with Kaycee students, fed them cinnamon rolls and shared what kind of career opportunities they could have with their company and others like theirs.

Thats huge, Evans said. Thats a major shift from what we saw 15 years ago.
First Citizens has announced its continued sponsorship of the National Secondary Schools Entrepreneurship Competition (NSSEC).

It is an initiative aimed at fostering innovation, leadership, and business acumen among young students outside the traditional school system, the bank said in a media release yesterday.
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.
Hasely Crawford and Keshorn Walcott are among the household names in Trinidad and Tobago who made an impact through success at elite-level sport.

To date, Crawford and Walcott are the countrys only individual Olympic gold medallists. They serve as examples for young T&T athletes with big ambitions.

Some will become world-beaters; others will not. And thats the reality of sport. Many participate, but a relative few reach the elite level. Even fewer get to the top of the podium in global competition.
NOGALES, Arizona  U.S. and Sonoran officials are asking for the publics help in tracking down 10 criminal targets, including five U.S. citizens, who are fugitives in Mexico associated with binational criminal groups.

This is a collaborative effort, combining input from the public along with the hard work and dedication of many in law enforcement, John Modlin, chief of the Border Patrols Tucson sector, said at the Thursday event, held at the Mariposa port of entry. Together, promoting public awareness and removing these violent and dangerous individuals from the community will ultimately increase public safety in our region.

The fugitives  believed to be in northern Mexico, but not necessarily in the Nogales area  have been charged with crimes including homicide, human and narcotics trafficking, kidnapping and distribution of child pornography, said Francisco Burrola, special agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Arizona.

As you can see, these people pose a significant risk or threat to our communities, both here in the United States and in Mexico, Burrola said. With the media and the publics help, lets find these fugitives and bring them to justice.

The 10 wanted individuals are the latest set of criminal targets in CBP and its partners ongoing public awareness campaign, dubbed Se Busca Informacion, or Seeking Information.

Posters and billboards depicting the 10 men will be on display in high-visibility areas in the border region, Modlin said. In southern Arizona, expect to see posters at Border Patrol stations, checkpoints and at ports of entry.

Members of the public can share tips anonymously with law enforcement by calling, texting or sending a WhatsApp message to 520-310-5914, or emailing SeBuscaTips@cbp.dhs.gov, officials said.

Were putting a lot of effort into this, and we are because we know its worked before, Modlin said after the press event.

Burrola highlighted the case of U.S. citizen Miguel Antonio Urbalejo, arrested in 2021 in Nogales, Arizona for attempting to smuggle 5 pounds of cocaine into Arizona, concealed in his vehicles oil pan. He didnt immediately have details on how Urbalejo escaped prosecution after his arrest, but speculated he was released with a court date and failed to show up to his trial.

Sonoran security officials crossed the border for Thursdays press event, where they praised the bi-national collaboration and emphasized the commitment of Sonoran state leaders, including Gov. Alfonso Durazo, to working with U.S. counterparts to reduce crime.

In 2020, Durazo left his role as Mexicos security secretary to launch his successful bid for governor.

Im a faithful believer that research and intelligence are the basic tools that will lead to solving the problems that were facing, Victor Hugo Enriquez Garcia, Sonoran secretary of public safety, said in Spanish at the event. But not only that, we also need the collaboration of society and private initiatives. I believe that we can all contribute and we can all be part of the solution to the problem.

Cross-border collaboration is now a necessity to combat trafficking, said Sonoran Attorney General Gustavo Salas at Thursdays event.

Today, the fight against traffickers requires greater efforts and strategies, but fundamentally the support, collaboration and mutual trust between the agencies responsible for enforcing the law, Salas said in Spanish. The show of force presented here is a demonstration of the interest and responsibility that exists on the border of Sonora and Arizona. ... We are with you, in everything we can do to help.

Historically criminals have exploited a lack of communication between U.S. and Mexican law enforcement, fleeing across the border  either to Mexico, or to the U.S.  to escape justice, but thats changing, said Manuel Padilla, senior advisor to CBP Commissioner Troy Miller.

Criminal organizations used the border in order to operate with impunity, he said. That is no longer the case. There is a very close relationship with our Mexican partners, both at the state and the federal level, and thats what makes us a lot stronger in going after these common criminals.

10 criminal targets The 10 criminal targets in U.S. Customs and Border Protection's latest "Se Busca Informacion" public-awareness campaign are as follows: Juan Carlos Morales Duarte, "El Lupillo," premeditated homicide; Antonio Castro Valenzuela, "El Castro/El Rabano," homicide; Salud Francisco Hernandez, "El Ponchis," homicide; German Hiram Robles Matas, "El Hiram/El Gallero," premeditated homicide; Luis Osvaldo Wakamatzu, "El Waka," kidnapping; Miguel Antonio Urbalejo, narcotics trafficking (U.S. citizen); Luis Alberto Lopez, child pornography (U.S. citizen); Jesus Julian Acuna Escobedo, narcotics trafficking (U.S. citizen); Gabriel Garcia, narcotics trafficking (U.S. citizen); Omar Alejandro Sanchez, narcotics trafficking (U.S. citizen).

Anonymous tip line If you have information related to any of the 10 fugitives targeted by the "Se Busca Informacion" initiative: Call or send a WhatsApp message to 520-310-5914

Email SeBuscaTips@cbp.dhs.gov
The parents of an 8-year-old boy who died at a Tucson hospital in 2022 were indicted this week on suspicion of murder and child abuse in his death, authorities say.

The unidentified boy died at a hospital here in August 2022. Deputies "noted suspicious circumstances," launching an investigation that lasted for months, the Pima County Sheriff's Department said Thursday in a news release.

Over the past several months, "numerous interviews were conducted, search warrants were executed, and medical records scrutinized" the release said.

The investigation eventually determined the boy died of blunt force trauma, the release said.

In May, the boy's parents  Joshua Butcher, 32, and Mercedes Caho, 29  were indicted on charges of first-degree murder, and four counts of felony child abuse, the release said.

The investigation continues.

In a similar arrest in a separate case earlier this week, a Tucson mother and her boyfriend were arrested on suspicion of child abuse and murder after investigators determined the death of her 11-year-old son in November was the result of neglect, authorities say.
Jaguar Rising event

Images of wild animals will be projected on the border wall in Nogales Saturday night during Jaguar Rising 2024, an event highlighting the importance of wildlife movement and biodiversity in the borderlands.

There will also be music, poetry, masks and other art and a panel discussion on the impacts of border barriers on wildlife and the environment.

Some 22 different groups and nonprofits are sponsoring the event, which costs $12 per person to attend and begins at 5 p.m. at the Wittner Museum at 204 N. Morley Ave. in Nogales.

There will be a procession to the border wall to view the animal projections, followed by a reception at La Linea Art Studio at 32 N. Morley Ave.
Curtis Killman Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Curtis Killman 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

Related content Leader of multistate retail theft ring pleads guilty to 214 counts

A woman who ran a multistate retail theft ring that employed family and friends to steal items for her to resell has been sentenced to federal prison.

U.S. District Judge Gregory Frizzell on Thursday ordered Linda Powell, 51, to serve five years and four months in prison after she pleaded guilty earlier to all charges in a 214-count indictment.

Powell, whose last name was Been when she was charged, admitted in July 2022 to conspiracy, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and other crimes.

Prosecutors say Powells crime ring was responsible for retail theft totaling $9 million between January 2018 and November 2021, when she was indicted.

Powell admitted to hiring so-called boosters to shoplift items for her at stores that included Akins Natural Foods, CVS, Costco, GNC, Reasors, Sams Club, Sprouts, Target, Walgreens and Walmart stores in Tulsa, Oklahoma City, Norman, Edmond, Moore, Owasso, Claremore and Jenks as well as in surrounding states, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Powell would tell boosters, some of whom were addicted to drugs, what items she wanted stolen and how much she would pay for them.

Powell usually targeted over-the-counter drugs and supplements for resale, according to court records.

She sobbed during the sentencing hearing in Tulsa federal court as she apologized to the court and the retail stores she targeted for theft.

I made a huge mistake, Powell said.

Frizzell asked Powell whether she understood that retail businesses pass along their theft in the form of higher prices for paying customers.

I understand that now, Powell replied.

A grand jury indictment named Powell and 22 others as participants in the theft ring.

One of the other participants was Powells boyfriend at the time, co-defendant Billy Don Osborne, who is serving a four-year, three-month federal prison term after pleading guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering.

Powells attorney, Marna Franklin, asked the court to sentence her to no more prison time than Osborne received, calling their actions a mutual type of criminal conduct.

But Assistant U.S. Attorney Reagan Reininger told the court that the retail theft idea was initiated by Powell before she met Osborne.

She was the head of the operation and the decision maker, Reininger said.

Dubbed Operation Booster Buster by authorities, the investigation began in 2019 after an organized crime investigator for CVS noticed a trend of bulk thefts of specific items from Tulsa-area stores, according to court records.

The investigator contacted Tulsa police after using open-source records and sales on eBay to link Powell and others to several boosters.

Tulsa police, who were already investigating Powell, then requested help from the Oklahoma Attorney Generals Office.

This led to the discovery that linked Powell to thefts in other states, which in turn prompted investigations by Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorneys Office.

Prosecutors said Powell first began selling items on eBay in 2016.

But as her supply of stolen products grew, she switched to selling to national fencing operations, which would sell the items for profit, according to prosecutors.

Powell stored the stolen items prior to sale at her mobile home park residences in west Tulsa and Cleveland, Oklahoma, and at a Sand Springs warehouse, according to court records.

Powell and others used the money from the sale of shoplifted items to purchase an RV, a boat, $70,000 in real estate and a $27,000 motorcycle and to pay for everyday living expenses, according to authorities.

After Powell is released from prison, she will be supervised for three years. In addition to the prison time, Frizzell ordered her to pay $43,197 in restitution.

Frizzell permitted Powell, who has been out of custody since her arrest, to self-report to prison.

The Tulsa World is where your story lives
Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Lenzy Krehbiel-Burton 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

Tabitha Duty is hustling.

Set to graduate May 17 from Pawhuska High School, the Shawnee and Delaware senior started adding beadwork to her mortarboard about two weeks ago, both around the edge in a rainbow pattern and in a traditional Delaware design on the top.

With a week to go until the ceremony, she is still sewing.

I wanted to represent my culture, she said. This was the best way for me to do it.

With five Tulsa-area high school graduation ceremonies scheduled for Thursday and Friday, this week marks the start of the first graduation season since the adoption of Senate Bill 429.

Enacted in 2023 thanks to a veto override by the Oklahoma Legislature, the measure explicitly allows Indigenous students attending a public school, charter school or publicly funded post-secondary institution to wear traditional attire at their graduation ceremony. Along with beadwork, shoes, jewelry and clothing, the provisions include eagle feathers and eagle plumes.

Oklahoma is one of 11 states nationwide to have codified protections for Indigenous students such as Duty who want to wear beadwork and other forms of regalia at graduation, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

About 130,000 Indigenous students attend public schools across Oklahoma.

A representative for one of the organizations that helped advocate for the measure, ACLU Oklahoma, said Wednesday that the organization has not been contacted by anyone this year about being barred from wearing regalia at graduation.

By comparison, litigation was filed against the states sixth largest school district, Broken Arrow, in May 2023 by an Osage and Otoe-Missouria graduate who said she was confronted at commencement in 2022 by district employees for wearing an eagle plume attached to her mortarboard. According to court documents, the case is still pending in Tulsa County District Court.

Within the last decade, similar complaints and lawsuits have been lodged by Indigenous families at other school districts across Oklahoma, including Caney Valley, Elgin, Moore, Sapulpa and Vian.

Prior to the new laws adoption, each individual district and charter school was left to decide whether to allow students to wear regalia at graduation ceremonies. Several Tulsa-area districts, including Broken Arrow, Owasso, Sand Springs, Tulsa and Union, already had policies in place to allow students to incorporate beadwork, eagle feathers, moccasins, stoles and other culturally significant items.

For example, both Broken Arrow and Union ask students to fill out a form in advance if they intend to add something to the standard cap and gown.

A spokesman for Union said Wednesday afternoon that even with the new law in place, the number of forms received for the high schools May 18 ceremony is comparable to recent years.

As of Wednesday afternoon, about 100 seniors have completed Broken Arrows form, including 40 Indigenous students who plan to wear regalia to Tuesdays graduation ceremony.

Efforts to get the word out about the new provisions to school districts in advance of graduation season have come from multiple sources, including tribal leaders and educators.

In a letter dated May 1 and sent to more than 100 school superintendents across the tribes reservation, Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin urged districts to comply with the new law both out of respect for their Indigenous students and under the terms of the tribes car tag revenue distribution program.

This school year, we contributed a record-breaking $7.9 million to public school districts from our car tag revenue, Hoskin wrote. The Cherokee Nation law that authorizes these contributions requires my office to ensure that schools receiving funds are honoring the rights of Cherokee students to engage in protected cultural activities and, if not, to determine whether funds should be conditioned on compliance. I am hopeful that your school district will continue to protect Native American cultural and religious rights without additional involvement from the Cherokee Nation.

Ro Werito is the president-elect of the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education, a professional organization for Indian education resource advisers and Indigenous educators. The organization was also among those that advocated for the measures adoption in 2023, and many of its members have spent the current school year trying to educate teachers, principals and administrators about the new law.

Although a handful of questions have been raised about whether the law extends to beadwork on mortarboards, like the ACLU, Werito said her board members have not received any complaints so far this spring about school districts prohibiting their Indigenous seniors from wearing regalia at graduation.

We are so excited to see more people celebrate Native graduates, the Muscogee and Navajo woman said. Even middle school students are wanting to do their caps and wear their regalia for their eighth grade ceremonies. Its having that sense of pride and cultural identity while walking in two worlds.

Why was it a struggle all along? Its not a headache to want and to have these things.



The Tulsa World is where your story lives
Randy Krehbiel Tulsa World Staff Writer Follow Randy Krehbiel 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

Attorney General Gentner Drummond fired an outside attorney hired by State Treasurer Todd Russ and removed Russ from any decision-making authority in the lawsuit defending Oklahomas anti-ESG (environmental, social and governance) law, he said Thursday.

This week Oklahoma County District Judge Sheila Stinson issued a temporary injunction halting enforcement of the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Act, which bars state and local governments from doing business with financial firms judged hostile to fossil fuels.

Such firms generally have what are known as environment, social and governance  or ESG  policies.

Russ said Thursday evening that he hired the lawyer, Cheryl Plaxico, after Drummond declined Russ request for the Attorney Generals Office to defend the Treasurers Office in the case.

I was left with no other choice but to choose who I was most comfortable representing me, Russ said in a written statement. My constitutional office as the state treasurer makes me party to the lawsuit, and therefore I dont believe my decision-making authority can be removed.

Certainly, I am disappointed with the outcome but have several facts for appeal. I had hoped to have the attorney general as my defender all along, Russ said.

Thursdays move, announced in an evening press release, is the latest in a series of actions intended to reinforce Drummonds claim to being the states chief legal officer.

Drummond previously took over and dismissed a lawsuit by the Oklahoma State Department of Education that Drummond said was filed without merit against a vendor, ClassWallet, and he went to federal court to dismiss a case filed by Gov. Kevin Stitt regarding tribal compacts.

That case hinges on a question pending before the Oklahoma Supreme Court as to whether the attorney general or the governor is the primary legal representative of the state.

In Thursdays announcement, Drummond said Russ hired private attorney Cheryl Plaxico over Drummonds recommendation. Plaxico was also the attorney of record in the Department of Educations lawsuit against ClassWallet and has represented the Oklahoma State Department of Education in several other matters, including its attempt to intervene in the creation of a state-funded virtual Catholic school.

Stinsons decision came in a suit brought by Tulsan Don Keenan, a former Oklahoma Public Employees Association president who claims that the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Act harms the states retirement system.

The law allows exceptions to the bans if they are deemed financially detrimental, but Russ has tried to prevent state pension systems from invoking those provisions.

It is extremely disappointing that the counsel hired by Treasurer Russ was unable to secure a favorable ruling in defense of Oklahomas anti-ESG law, Drummond said in the press release. Because of this failure, the law is now on hold and at risk of being struck down entirely.

Treasurer Russ was insistent that he be allowed to choose his own counsel to defend the lawsuit, and I acquiesced, said Drummond. No longer will I allow professional courtesy to influence my decisions on this matter. Effective immediately, I have terminated Treasurer Russs hand-picked counsel and removed the treasurer from any decision-making role in the lawsuit. My office will handle all elements of the case moving forward.

Several subplots are entwined with the case, especially Drummonds sometimes prickly relationship with Stitt and some other state executives, all of them fellow Republicans.

Plaxico is the ex-wife of former Attorney General Mike Hunter, who also clashed with Stitt.

Judge Stinsons husband, Preston Stinson, is a Republican state representative. Preston Stinson did not vote on the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Act when it passed through the Legislature in 2022.

The Tulsa World is where your story lives
Chinese agricultural technologies attract visitors at Africa fertilizer expo

Xinhua) 09:46, May 10, 2024

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Benedict Russo, a farmer in his late 40s, was among the hundreds of visitors who attended the Africa Fertilizer and Soil Health Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, to explore the latest agricultural technology products on display.

During an interview with Xinhua on Wednesday, Russo expressed his delight at discovering the stand by DJI, a Chinese technology company that manufactures drones, as he sought the latest agricultural solutions to boost his farm yields.

The father of three, who owns a cotton farm in the southeastern Kenyan county of Kitui, said he is interested in acquiring a drone to monitor the health of cash crops on his expansive farm. "The agricultural drones will enable me to detect early signs of disease without the use of many laborers at the farm," Russo explained, hoping that by purchasing the drones, he would reduce his operating costs and boost profits.

Steven Dai, a sales executive at DJI, said that their drones are equipped with the latest technology for efficient aerial surveying of large parcels of land at minimal cost.

DJI drones, with high-resolution cameras, facilitate precise spraying of pesticides for better results compared to manual back-carried sprayers, he added.

The three-day fertilizer summit, themed "Listen to the Land," began Tuesday and drew over 2,000 attendees, including foreign donors, scientists and agriculture officials. Convened by the African Union (AU), the Kenyan government and multilateral partners, the summit is expected to adopt a new roadmap for revitalizing soil health in Africa.

Kenyan President William Ruto called on African leaders to adopt strategies to make fertilizer affordable and accessible to farmers.

"Our focus should not only be on increasing fertilizer usage but also on ensuring its judicious application to revitalize responsive soils and rehabilitate degraded ones," he noted.

Wilberforce Khaminwa, a 39-year-old wheat farmer from Narok County, said that participating in the summit enabled him to interact with the latest Chinese agricultural products.

"I prefer Chinese machinery because their spare parts and after-sales support are more readily available in Kenya," he added.

Paul Ronoh, principal secretary for the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock Development, said that the summit also aimed to showcase the latest products to enhance the productivity of Kenya's agricultural sector.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The Vietnam Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development, better known as Agribank, has said it will give priority to those who are the family members of its current employees in the coming recruitment campaign.

>> An audio version of the story is available here

According to an official announcement of Agribank on its website, the biggest Vietnamese lender in assets will add 30 points out of an overall score of 100 for the family members of its employees when they take tests to get recruited by the lender.

Those family members include the sons, daughters, sons-in-law, daughters-in-law or adopted children of Agribank staff who have had no such family members ever working for the Vietnamese lender, according to the announcement.

In case of more than two family members applying for a job, the privilege will be applied to one only, the bank noted in the announcement.

The coming recruitment, which will be held in four main regions across the country, will add qualified personnel to many positions including credit management, marketing, bank card management, accounting, international payment, legal affairs and information technology, the bank elaborated.

Agribank also clarified that the contestants have only three days to apply for admission tests.

General Director Tiet Van Thanh told news website VnExpress the privileges are offered for the coming recruitment to supplement a recent decrease in the number of employees in branches.

The bank has not hired any new personnel in the last three years as it has been undergoing a national banking restructure, Thanh said.

But the number of employees who resigned has risen fast recently, so the lender needs to make up for the vacancies, he added.

Previously, Agribank had a policy to directly recruit family members of its employees who have at least 20 years of experience without testing, Thanh said.

As Vietnams central bank has asked Agribank to stop implementing such policies, the privileges have been introduced as a kind of support for them, he added.

But they still have to meet all the conditions to prove that they are qualified, he added.

State-run Agribank is currently the largest lender of Vietnam in terms of assets with over VND800 trillion (US$36 billion), with working capital hitting VND742 trillion ($33.39 billion) as of August 2015.

With a total outstanding loan of VND607 trillion ($27.31 billion) by the end of July, the bank, of which the registered capital stands at $1.33 billion, has the largest number of employees in the local banking system with nearly 40,000, almost double that in other partly private lenders like Vietcombank, Vietinbank, BIDV, according to VnExpress.

Meanwhile, it also has the biggest network with nearly 2,300 branches and transaction offices in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
South Korean conglomerate Samsung Electronics expects to invest an additional US$1 billion into Vietnam each year in the coming time, the groups Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Park Hark Kyu said at a meeting with Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh in Hanoi on Thursday.

At the meeting, PM Chinh shared appreciation for Samsungs efforts and determination in developing its operations in Vietnam, as well as the groups business results over the past several years.

He expressed his support for the groups plan to continue operating in Vietnam.

Park told PM Chinh that Samsung plans to make additional investments of around $1 billion into Vietnam annually in years to come.

Samsung has so far invested a total of $22.4 billion in the Southeast Asian nation, the Vietnam News Agency cited Park as saying.

In addition to research, development, manufacturing, and export of electronic and hi-tech products, Samsung has invested in supporting industries and human resource training for Vietnamese enterprises.

The group has also been assisting local businesses in joining its production and supply chains, he said.

The number of Vietnamese businesses that have joined Samsungs supply chain has increased more than 12 times over the past ten years, from 25 in 2014 to 309 currently, Park said, adding that the figure is expected to keep rising in the coming time.

Park also expressed his hope and belief that Vietnam will continue to improve its business environment.

PM Chinh assured his guest that Vietnam attaches importance to improving the investment environment, reforming administrative procedures, and speeding up the breakthroughs in institution and policy improvement, infrastructure development, and high-quality human resource training.

He pledged to facilitate the long-term operations of foreign enterprises in Vietnam in general and the projects of Samsung in Vietnam in particular in the spirit of harmonizing interests and sharing risks.

The Vietnamese leader called for further assistance from Samsung in enhancing the capabilities of local enterprises in order to help them better engage in the groups supply chain.

He suggested that Samsung continue considering Vietnam as a strategic base for the group to manufacture and export key products to global markets.

Samsung is currently the largest foreign direct investor in Vietnam, with several large projects in Bac Ninh and Thai Nguyen Provinces, as well as in Ho Chi Minh City, according to the Vietnam Government Portal.

The groups mobile phone production operation in Vietnam accounts for over 50 percent of its global output.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Vietnamese mobile retail giant Mobile World Investment Corporation (MWG), or The Gioi Di Dong, has announced the dissolution of two subsidiaries as it seeks to optimize its operations.

Nguyen Duc Tai, chairman of MWGs board of directors, signed a resolution on behalf of the board to dissolve the two subsidiaries, including Fully Trusted Logistics Joint Stock Company in Ho Chi Minh City and 4KFarm Joint Stock Company in Ba Ria - Vung Tau Province.

Established in 2021, Fully Trusted Logistics JSC provided warehouse and logistics services, and goods for supermarket chains under the The Gioi Di Dong retail system; Bach Hoa Xanh, a local minimart chain under MWG; and pharmaceutical retailer An Khang.

Meanwhile, 4KFarm was established in 2020 as part of an effort to foster tech-based farming.

The firm operated under a model which featured no pesticides, no genetically modified foods, no gibberellins, and no preservatives.

4KFarm ceased operations in late 2023 after its business performance fell short of expectations, according to a recent report by The Gioi Di Dong.

The dissolution lowered the number of subsidiaries owned by the Vietnamese retail giant to nine.

MWG consistently works to streamline its operations. During the third quarter of 2023, the retailer shut down some 200 unprofitable stores.

In addition, MWG also said that it had sold a five-percent stake in Bach Hoa Xanh Technology and Investment JSC to Chinas CDH Investment.

According to MWGs recent financial report, the firm made nearly VND31.7 trillion (US$1.2 billion) in revenue in the first quarter of 2024, up 16 percent year on year.

It earned VND903 billion ($35.5 million) in after-tax profit during the period.

As of the end of the first quarter of this year, MWGs total asset had reached over VND63.5 trillion ($2.5 billion), while its debt amounted to more than VND37.5 trillion ($1.4 billion).

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
The administration in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City has kicked off a pilot project to rent out part of the sidewalks on 11 streets for trade and service activities.

District authorities on Thursday held a conference to launch the pilot project and announced the first 11 streets involved in the pilot project, including Hoang Sa, Mac Dinh Chi, Hai Trieu, Chu Manh Trinh, Le Thanh Ton, Phan Boi Chau, Phan Chu Trinh, Ham Nghi, Tran Hung Dao, Co Bac, and Vo Van Kiet.

The pilot phase of the project will last until the end of September this year and District 1 is the first one in the southern metropolis to be involved in the initiative.

According to Nguyen Thanh Phat, head of the District 1 urban management division, the pilot plan was aimed at improving the management of sidewalks in a public and transparent manner using digital transformation to assist residents and enterprises.

Following the pilot period, the district will assess the efficiency of the project before expanding the model to the entire district.

Residents can register to lease sidewalk sections using an app.

Authorities in Ho Chi Minh City make a symbolic gesture to activate the app for the registration of the temporary use sidewalks in District 1. Photo: T.T.D. / Tuoi Tre

Revenue from the sidewalk rental will be submitted directly to the state budget, with non-cash payment methods receiving a priority.

Tran Huy Hoang, the owner of a business on Hai Trieu Street in District 1, said he was excited that the rental process could be done digitally.

Chairman of the District 1 Peoples Committee Le Duc Thanh stressed that the district would tighten the use and management of sidewalks to ensure space for pedestrians and prevent street encroachment.

He tasked ward leaders in the district with introducing the sidewalk leasing registration app to local households and businesses.

Le Thi Khuyen (L), a drink vendor on Hai Trieu Street in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, says she plans to register the use of part of the sidewalk on the street. Photo: T.T.D. / Tuoi Tre

Approvals to use part of the sidewalks will be granted for the organization of cultural activities, such as sport events, parades, and festivals, and parking services for these activities, as well as business and service activities.

In December last year, the municipal Department of Transport released a list of nearly 900 streets that have sidewalks wider than three meters each, eligible to be leased for commercial use.

A minimum of 1.5 meters of sidewalk must be reserved for pedestrian use.

Officials of the urban management division in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City instruct the owner of a coffee shop on Le Anh Xuan Street to install an app to register the temporary use of sidewalks in the district. Photo: T.T.D. / Tuoi Tre

The municipal Peoples Council has also approved a resolution on the fees to use sidewalks for business.

In particular, the parking fee ranges from VND50,000 (US$2) to VND350,000 ($13.7) per square meter per month, depending on the area.

Other activities will be charged VND20,000-100,000 ($0.8-3.9) per square meter per month.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A fruit trading and processing facility in Cao Lanh District, Dong Thap Province, southern Vietnam was found to have furtively discharged wastewater into a canal, leaving a negative impact on the daily and farming activities of local inhabitants.

The Sau Thuoc fruit trading and processing facility, owned by Nguyen Thanh Nha, began operations in 2015.

During its operations, the household business has discharged foul-smelling wastewater and mango kernels into the environment, thereby contaminating the water that the locales use for farming purposes.

Nguyen Ngoc Doan, who has lived in Cao Lanhs My Hiep Commune for nearly 30 years, said that his family had utilized water in the canal for bathing, washing, and other daily activities prior to the establishment of the facility.

But now, the canal water is contaminated, he said, expressing his hope that the facility would stop discharging smoke and wastewater into the environment to reduce pollution.

Tons of mango kernel waste at a landfill near the fruit trading and processing facility. Photo: Dang Tuyet / Tuoi Tre

The natural resource and environment authority in Cao Lanh said that it had imposed administrative fines worth a combined VND57.5 million (US$2,250) on the facility in May and December last year.

At that time, Nha failed to fulfill environment-related requirements and to make a report on its efforts to protect the environment.

On April 22, the authority discovered that his facility released untreated wastewater into the environment, in addition to digging an authorized pit, measuring 20 meters long, eight meters wide, and 1.5 meters deep, for wastewater storage.

One day later, the Cao Lanh Peoples Committee proposed the provincial administration levy an administrative fine of VND185 million ($7,260) on his business for building an unlawful waste treatment facility.

Nguyen Kim Nuong, deputy head of the Cao Lanh natural resource and environment authority, said that the business is seeking remediation measures.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
As many as 70 million AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine doses were administered in Vietnam when the country was hit by the pandemic, the General Department of Preventive Medicine under the Ministry of Health announced on Friday.

The vaccine, called Vaxzevria, was among 14 COVID-19 jabs authorized for emergency use by the World Health Organization (WHO).

The vaccine was approved for use in Europe by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) in late January 2021.

Vaxzevria is currently one of the most widely used vaccines in the world, with more than 170 countries approving it for emergency use.

Over two billion Vaxzevria doses have been administered globally.

AstraZenecas vaccine, which the drugmaker developed in partnership with the University of Oxford, was authorized for use in Vietnam on February 1, 2021, as a way to boost the fight against COVID-19, according to the ministry.

This was the first jab against COVID-19 to be imported into Vietnam to start a national vaccination drive at the height of the pandemic.

The vaccination process was conducted carefully, with pre-inoculation screening, injection, and reaction monitoring steps, to ensure the safety of residents.

Requirements on subjects eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine dose and the number of shots were kept updated frequently in accordance with the instructions from the WHO.

Until now, Vietnam has given over 266 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to people aged from five. Among them were 70 million doses of AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine for the first shots and boosters on adults.

AstraZenecas vaccine was repeatedly proven safe and effective, helping reduce the deaths caused by COVID-19.

Several global researches showed that 74 percent of people jabbed with a Vaxzevria shot developed some side effects, while no people inoculated with the vaccine were in danger.

The WHO declared AstraZenecas vaccine safe and effective to all people aged 18 or older.

Some reports made in the UK and Europe indicated that the syndrome of thrombocytopenia (a low platelet count) and venous thrombosis (blood clot) was a rare side effect of AstraZenecas vaccine.

As estimated, one out of 100,000 adults vaccinated with the jab suffered unusual blood clots with low blood platelets within 21 days after their vaccinations.

Another research showed that the number of people experiencing the rare type of blood clot after their inoculation was much lower than that of people suffering the syndrome after being infected by the novel coronavirus.

Given the low risk of unusual blood clots and low blood platelet counts, the WHO and EMA emphasized the benefit from Anglo-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZenecas vaccine and its efficacy against COVID-19.

Vietnams Ministry of Health said that the syndrome related to AstraZenecas vaccine is a rare side effect and appears in a short time during the post-vaccination period.

Vietnam has zero doses of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine at present and already stopped using the jab in July last year, a representative of the National Institute of Hygiene and Epidemiology told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper after the company announced its worldwide withdrawal of the vaccine a few days ago.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A European Commission (EC) official has warned that Vietnams dragon fruit and okra exports risk being suspended from the EU market if nothing is done to reduce pesticide residues.

The warning was released by Coulon Sylvie, a senior expert at the ECs Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE), at a conference co-hosted by the Vietnam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Notification Authority and Enquiry Point (Vietnam SPS Office) in coordination with DG SANTE in Hanoi on Tuesday.

The conference focused on disseminating regulations on the conditions for plant- and animal-derived agricultural products and foods to be imported into the EU.

Speaking at the event, Sylvie said that the EU is applying Regulation 2019/1973 on temporarily strengthening official control measures and special conditions for a number of non-animal origin foods and feed being exported to the bloc from some countries, including Vietnam.

She stated that dragon fruit and okra exports from Vietnam to the EU are now governed by Annex 2 of the Regulation, which specifies goods subject to special conditions for entry into the union due to contamination risks from mycotoxins such as aflatoxins, pesticide residues, pentachlorophenol, dioxins, and microbacteria.

Currently, both dragon fruit and okra are subject to inspection frequency rates of 20 percent and 50 percent, respectively, but these rates may be higher when Annex 2 is updated in July this year, the official cautioned.

Sylvie commented that while these fruits are highly sought after in the European market, the concern lies in their elevated levels of pesticide residues.

The EC official advised that Vietnam strengthen inspections on its dragon fruit and okra shipments before they are exported to the EU market.

If improvements are not made to reduce pesticide residues in these products, they will be moved to Annex 2A, which lists food and feed from certain third countries subject to suspension of entry into the EU, Sylvie warned.

Sylvie also said that the EU reviews and updates the list of products in the annexes every six months.

Cases that carry urgent risks or serious repeated non-compliance issues will face the application of serious EU safety measures, she stated.

These measures may include temporary suspension from the EU market, Sylvie warned.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
A 41-year-old traffic police officer from Gia Lai Province, located in Vietnams Central Highlands, has been detained for his alleged involvement in a traffic accident which left one pedestrian dead last week, the provincial police department said on Friday.

The officer is Nguyen Hong Phong, from the police agency of Chu Prong District.

A police report showed that Phong was driving a car from Chu Prong Town to Ia Boong Commune in the district on Thursday night last week.

When he was approaching Ia Drang, another commune in the district, Phong slammed into V.T.H., who was walking in the same direction as him.

The 49-year-old pedestrian was confirmed dead after being rushed to the Gia Lai Provincial General Hospital for emergency treatment.

Following the crash, a large number of residents flocked to the scene of the accident, demanding that Phong undergo a breath alcohol test.

Police officers were called to the scene, where Phong was tested for alcohol, as witnessed by the locals. No results have been announced so far.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Hoi An, a city in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, has issued a plan to mitigate overcrowding on beaches where people jostle for space to swim and picnic on the sand.

The city will tighten the management of its coastline from Cua Dai Beach to An Bang Beach, said vice-chairman of the Hoi An administration Nguyen Van Lanh.

Hoi Ans beaches are considered amongst the most beautiful in the world.

With fine sand, rows of coconut trees, and high-end tourist sites, the beaches have become attractive destinations for tourists.

The Reunification Day (April 30) and International Workers' Day (May 1) holiday saw a surge in activity on Hoi An's beaches this year, especially An Bang Beach, as tourists gathered to swim and enjoy picnics by the shore.

Local restaurants and eateries, however, experienced a slump in business.

Le Ngoc Thuan, the owner of the Deckhouse An Bang restaurant, complained that many foreigners left after seeing the scene, believing the beach to be in chaos.

Other local enterprises said the beaches should be re-planned to provide more services to travelers as tourists from other Asian countries and domestic visitors have complained of a shortage of services.

The local tourism market is witnessing a boom of Asian guests, according to Nguyen Son Thuy, director of Indochina Unique Tourist Co. Ltd., a local travel company.

Tourists dine on picnic mats on An Bang Beach in Hoi An City, Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam, April 30, 2024. Photo: B.D. / Tuoi Tre

These guests have shown keen interest in beaches. Those from South Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and India accounted for 51.2 percent of the total foreign tourists to Hoi An over the past few years, Thuy added.

However, many of Hoi Ans beaches do not have management boards or are in a mess.

Thuy suggested local authorities upgrade infrastructure on beaches, increase advertising costs, and accompany enterprises in organizing sea-related events.

Other tourism companies agreed that beaches are tourism spaces of Hoi An. Among them, An Bang Beach used to be listed as one of the most beautiful in Asia.

Dinh Dung, chairman of the administration in Cam An Commune, said An Bang Beach welcomed some 15,000 visitors per day, mainly local residents.

The high number of visitors results in a high volume of garbage.

Dung stated that picnicking on the beach had been prohibited in the central area of Cam An Beach, with permission granted only for the two sides of the beach.

Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter to get the latest news about Vietnam!
Mondays Four Corners report is Ruthless Pursuit in which a Chinese spy speaks out.

For the first time ever, a former spy for Chinas notorious secret police  one of the most powerful arms of the countrys intelligence apparatus  goes public, exposing the covert and illegal operations he was ordered to carry out on foreign soil, including in Australia.

In a major investigation reported by the ABCs Echo Hui, the spy comes out of the shadows at great danger to himself, revealing his face to expose how China has used its global network over the last two decades to surveil, silence and kidnap those it deems enemies of the state.

The spy divulges his double life and the secrets hes been guarding. He reveals the inner workings of the secret police, including the companies they use as cover, who his targets were, and the tactics he used to hunt them down.

It raises tough questions about Chinas global reach and Australias national security.

8.30pm on Monday 13 May on ABC.
MasterChef Australia will head to Victorias Goldfields region next Monday and Tuesday.

Judge Jean-Christophe Novelli said: It was a privilege to visit Bendigo and Ballarat to film these special episodes of MasterChef Australia. I was mesmerised by the beautiful inland Australian scenery. I just wish I had spotted a kangaroo in the wild!

In Mondays episode, the MasterChef Australia judges will challenge our 17 remaining contestants to a French themed mystery box in Bendigo. Inspired by the Bendigo Art Gallerys Paris: Impressions Of Life exhibition, the contestants will have 75 minutes to create a delectable dish, cooking at the Bendigo Town Hall.

The bottom four contestants from the mystery box will find themselves cooking in Tuesdays elimination challenge, amongst the truffle orchards at Black Cat Truffles near Ballarat. Head chef, Liam Downes, will set a four-hour pressure test like weve never seen before, and ultimately it will be the end of the MasterChef Australia journey for one of our talented home-cooks.

Head Chef of Black Cat Truffles, Liam Downes, said: It was an honour and a huge career highlight to host the MasterChef Australia team at Black Cat Truffles. It was a fantastic opportunity to showcase our farm and our amazing truffles. We really put the contestants through their paces.

7:30pm Monday & Tuesday.
Yesterday ABC announced new factual series The Assembly for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

The six part series produced by Helium Pictures, follows autistic student journalists as they prepare and interview six of the nations biggest names including the Prime Minister.

The format is based on a French series Les Rencontres du Papotin and BBC series The Assembly, which have variously featured interviews with President Emmanuel Macron in France, Antonio Banderas in Spain, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen in Denmark and Michael Sheen.

Leigh Sales will mentor and prepare the students as they learn their craft, research their interviewee of the week and discover how to discover the real person behind the public persona, culminating in an interview which promises to be disarming.

Students all undertake a specifically designed journalism course delivered by Macquarie University, the first of its kind in Australia. The Assembly is also being made with Aspect  Australias largest service for people on the autism spectrum, and Bus Stop Films  Australias leading production group supporting people with disabilities in film-making.

Leigh Sales says, The Assembly is as honest and authentic as it gets. The student journalists dont give the guests any chance to hide behind spin or obfuscation and its so beautiful to see our interviewees embrace a new kind of interview. Im looking forward to passing on my knowledge and experience to this inquisitive group and helping them explore new possibilities for themselves.

Julie Hanna, ABC Commissioning Editor, Factual TV says, Once in a while a ground-breaking idea comes along that encapsulates the importance of diversity in Australian media. Were incredibly proud to bring this genuine series to audiences as six extraordinary Australians are interviewed by the autistic student journalists.

Mark Fennessy, Melissa Maclean.

Mark Fennessy, Helium Chief Creative Officer says, It is a great privilege to acknowledge the value and genuine talent of autistic people  to include diverse voices and hear fresh perspectives in conversations of national interest. The Assembly promises to be truly compelling, ground-breaking television. With no subject out of bounds, our audiences can expect interviews filled with delight, chaos and revelation.

Melissa Maclean, Showrunner and Executive Producer says, This is a hugely entertaining and informative interview series, where no question is out of bounds and no subject is off the table. There is fantastic energy and optimism from everyone involved bringing a great joy to an inclusive workplace. Journalism will benefit from the diverse voices of autistic people.

Kyas Hepworth, Head of Screen NSW says, Its wonderful to see this group of student journalists embark on an exciting journey to expand their skills and deliver such engaging interviews. We are thrilled to support Helium and the entire creative team bringing this series to the ABC and highlighting the importance of inclusivity in all workplaces.

The Assembly is being produced by Helium Pictures for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, with production funding from Screen NSW. Executive produced by showrunner Melissa Maclean, executive produced by Therese Hegarty, Heliums Mark Fennessy and ABC Commissioning Editor, Factual TV Julie Hanna, Helium has developed The Assembly for an Australian audience from a format created by Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, originally produced by Kiosco.tv & Quad+Ten, and distributed by Cant Stop Media.
Voyager front man, Danny Estrin, will deliver the scores on behalf of Australia at this years Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden.

Danny Estrin said: Being asked to shout the douze points for Australia is yet another pinnacle of my whole Eurovision experience. I wont try to out-sartorialise Lee Lin Chin, but Ill be sure to glitz and glam for these iconic 15 seconds. This will truly cement my entire existence into the glorious fabric of Eurovision.

Myf Warhurst & Joel Creasey, and backstage correspondent, Courtney Act, will present the Final for SBS 5am AEST Sunday (replay 7:30pm).

Australians can vote in the Live Final.

You can vote online via Eurovisions official voting partner Digame, exclusively for Australias public Eurovision vote. This means there will be no SMS or televoting in Australia during the live shows. All of Australias public votes will be received via this online voting portal, which can be accessed via www.esc.vote

The voting portal will be open to Australians during the voting period in the Grand Final.

Just like SMS voting, votes will be limited to 20 per person and will cost 65c per vote.

Users can allocate 20 votes to one act, divide their votes between multiple acts, or just make one vote for their favourite.

Jury members and public voters cant vote for their own country, so you can vote for any country in the Grand Final.

For more information on how to vote, please see here

Full voting terms and conditions will be available on the voting platform.
In this article:

(Reuters) - Britain's competition regulator said on Friday it has initiated a probe into U.S. medical equipment maker Thermo Fisher Scientific's $3.1 billion deal to buy Swedish biotech firm Olink Holding AB.

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has set a deadline of July 8 for its phase 1 decision.

(Reporting by Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
Catalans to vote in election that is key to Spain's political stability

By Joan Faus

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Catalans vote on Sunday in a regional election that could determine the stability of Spain's Socialist-led government and also gauge the strength of a pro-independence movement that has roiled the country for a decade.

A government led by Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez's Socialist party in Catalonia after a decade of separatist governments would usher in a new era, said political scientist Toni Rodon.

"If the separatists lose their absolute majority in parliament, it would definitely represent a change of cycle," Rodon said. "Whether this is temporary or long-term, we shall see."

But a win for the Junts party would bolster the separatist cause and create further predicaments for Madrid. Junts' candidate is Carles Puigdemont, who was Catalonia's president during an ill-fated attempt to wrest the region from Spain in 2017, and he has vowed to resurrect an independence bid.

Since taking office for a second term last November, Sanchez has relied on a fragile alliance with separatists to pass legislation in the national parliament, earning the ire of conservative opponents.

Puigdemont, who faced prosecution in Spain over the failed independence bid and has been living in self-exile but who is set to return home soon thanks to an expected amnesty, has warned that Junts might withdraw its support if the next Catalan government is one he cannot accept.

Opinion polls forecast a comfortable lead for Socialist candidate Salvador Illa in the election, ahead of Junts and its more moderate rival Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC), which currently governs the wealthy northeastern region.

The Socialists stand to win 40 seats with Junts getting 34 seats and ERC 26 seats, according to a poll of polls by El Pais newspaper.

But some surveys also show around 40% of voters are undecided, so any outcome is possible.

Illa has focused his campaign on pledges to revive the region's economy, which since the independence drive has seen its economy fall behind Madrid's.

"Catalonia has been performing way below its capacities in the past 10 years," Illa said earlier this week in a televised debate, saying he would develop clean energy.

CONCILIATORY APPROACH

He defended the Socialists' conciliatory approach with separatists seven years after they ignored a court ban and held an independence referendum, triggering Spain's worst political crisis in decades.

Puigdemont fled to Belgium in 2017 to escape prosecution. But he plans to return to Catalonia thanks to an amnesty bill put forward by the governing Socialists that would annul the arrest warrant he faces, once it comes into force in late May or June.

Puigdemont said this week he was the best candidate to "protect and defend Catalans' interests".

It was a sentiment shared by Roser Aguilar, 69, who traveled to a rally in the French town of Argeles-sur-Mer, near the Catalonia border, where Puigdemont is campaigning.

"I believe Puigdemont is the only one who can take us towards achieving independence," she said.

Any victor in Catalonia on Sunday will probably have to govern in coalition, since no party looks capable of reaching the 68-seat threshold for a majority on its own.

If the Socialists win they may seek an alliance with ERC or Junts, although both separatist parties have so far ruled that out.

Failing that, they could attempt an even more unlikely partnership with the conservative People's Party, their main rivals at a national level.

If they took power, Junts and ERC, would seek to lead a new pro-independence government. But some opinion surveys have forecast they would fall short of the seats required, including with the support of smaller separatist parties.

If post-election negotiations fail to produce an agreement by August, a repeat election would take place in October.

(Reporting by Joan Faus; Additional reporting by Nacho Doce; Editing by Charlie Devereux and Frances Kerry)
TBILISI (Reuters) - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze said on Friday that the government would push ahead with the bill on "foreign agents" despite opposition from what he cast as "misled" youngsters who feel resentment towards Russia.

The legislation, which would require organisations receiving more than 20% of their funding from abroad to register as agents of foreign influence, has sparked street protests in Georgia by those who see it as authoritarian and Russian-inspired.

Georgia's envoy to France resigned in protest over the bill on Thursday, becoming the first senior official to do so.

The government says the law - which has been heavily criticized by the European Union and the United States - is needed in order to ensure that foreign funding of NGOs is transparent. Lawmakers are expected to begin debate on a third and final reading of the bill on Monday.

In an open letter addressed to the "sincere young people" of Georgia and published to his Facebook page, Kobakhidze suggested that the bill's protesters feel "obligated to harbour resentment towards all things Russian" and "mistakenly believe" that the Georgian draft is akin to similar legislation in Russia that has been used to crack down on dissent.

"We will heed the wishes of over 60 percent of the Georgian voters who firmly and thoughtfully support transparency and, by extension, envision a peaceful future for Georgia," Kobakhidze said.

"Their collective wisdom and discernment reflect the aspirations of the majority and will guide our actions accordingly," he said.

Bidzina Ivanishvili, the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, has said the law is necessary to stop the West trying to use Georgian as "cannon fodder" in a confrontation with Russia.

The Kremlin has denied any association with the Georgian bill.

Georgia has come under criticism from Western countries over its treatment of protesters at near-nightly rallies over the past month, where police have deployed water cannon, tear gas and stun grenades to disperse crowds.

Three members of Georgian opposition parties were violently attacked by groups of unidentified men overnight, Georgian media reported on Friday.

"We are aware of increased reports of harassment and physical assault of civil society and opposition activists and journalists. We condemn this and we call for a full independent and timely investigation", U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Thursday.

(Reporting and writing by Lucy Papachristou; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spain, Ireland and other European Union member countries plan to recognise a Palestinian state on May 21, the EU's foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said late on Thursday ahead of an expected U.N. vote on Friday on a Palestinian bid to become a full member.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in March that Spain and Ireland, along with Slovenia and Malta, had agreed to take the first steps towards recognition of a Palestinian state alongside Israel, seeing a two-state solution as essential for lasting peace.

Asked on local Spanish radio station RNE if May 21 was when Spain, Ireland and other EU countries would recognise a Palestinian state, Borrell said yes, mentioning Slovenia as well.

"This is a symbolic act of a political nature. More than a state, it recognises the will for that state to exist," he said, adding that Belgium and other countries would probably follow.

Previously, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares had said the decision on recognition had been made, although he did not give a date.

International calls for a ceasefire and permanent end to Palestinian-Israeli conflict have grown along with the death toll from Israel's offensive in Gaza to rout out Hamas after the militants' deadly cross-border attack on Oct. 7.

Israel has said plans for Palestinian recognition constitute a "prize for terrorism" that would reduce the chances of a negotiated resolution to the Gaza conflict.

On Friday the United Nations General Assembly is set to back a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognising it as qualified to join and sending the application back to the U.N. Security Council to "reconsider the matter favourably."

Ireland's national broadcaster RTE said on Thursday that Spain, Ireland, Slovenia and Malta had been waiting for the U.N. vote and were considering a joint recognition on May 21.

A spokesperson for the Spanish Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. There was no immediate comment on the date from the other countries.

Slovenian Prime Minister Robert Golob said earlier this week his country would recognise Palestine's statehood by mid June.

Since 1988, 139 out of 193 U.N. member states have recognised Palestinian statehood.

(Reporting by Matteo Allievi, editing by Inti Landauro and Philippa Fletcher)
1857 Rebellion: Idea of Nationality in 'Flag Salute Song'

Needless to say, this song can be read in the context of the current neo-imperialist crisis and communal disharmony. The young generations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh should at least do this important work

Friday May 10, 2024 5:01 PM , Prem Singh

British rulers, historians, scholars, writers, folklorists have referred to the Rebellion of 1857 that started from Meerut on 10 May 1857 by different names. This diversity of nomenclature reflects people's different attitudes towards the Rebellion. In the War of the nomenclature, the Rebellion has been described with derogatory terms such as 'Ghadar' by the Britishers on the one hand and 'India's First War of Independence' by the Indians on the other. However, the word Ghadar, which was used as a derogatory term by the British, later acquired a respectable meaning for Indians. The organization formed by Indian revolutionaries in America in 1913 was named Ghadar Party. Ghadar was the name of their mouthpiece as well. The title of the first Hindi novel based on the Rebellion, written after almost 75 years, also happened to be 'Ghadar'. When Amritlal Nagar collected details of legends and memoires related to the Rebellion, he named that book Ghadar Ke Phool.

Apart from the nomenclature, there are many assumptions about the character of this rebellion. It is described to range from 'feudal' to 'common peoples uprising'. There are various estimates regarding the number of people killed in the Rebellion. British records put the number of British people  including children and women  killed in the Rebellion at around 6000. The number of people killed on the Indian side during the suppression of the Rebellion and in the retaliatory actions taken by the British after the suppression is said to be from 8 lakh to 30 lakhs. It also includes the number of Indians killed in famines and epidemics associated with the rebellion.

The discourse of civilized-uncivilized and cruel-revolutionary can also be found in the writings of the historians of the Rebellion and the writers who wrote memoirs and fictional accounts based on various events and characters related to it. At the core of the Rebellion was merely a question of religious identity or was the rebellion fundamentally driven by the idea of nationality  this question has also been quite controversial and problematic. What I mean to say is that there is a whole world of arguments and counter-arguments laid out before us on the various aspects of the Rebellion.

In this article, written on the occasion of the 167th anniversary of the Rebellion, an attempt has been made to find out that at the core of the Rebellion was the idea of Indian nationality born out of the pain of subjugation. This attempt is made through a reading of the 'Flag Salute Song' (Jhanda Salami Geet) or national song (Qaumi Tarana) of the revolutionaries. Actually, the idea of nationality, when we associate it with nationalism, has never been a simple and straightforward idea. Era-specific factors, contemporary circumstances, social structures etc. make the idea of nationality a complex, and at times contradictory idea. The idea of nationality, which was at the root of the Rebellion, should also be viewed from this perspective.

The 'Flag Salute Song' was written by Azimullah Khan Yusufzai, a key figure in the Rebellion, and was published in Delhi's daily newspaper 'Payam-e-Azadi'. The publisher of this Urdu-Hindi newspaper, started in February 1857, was Azimullah Khan and the editor-in-chief was Mirza Bedar Bakht, grandson of Bahadur Shah Zafar. (It is obvious that the newspaper had the patronage of Nana Sahib. Because his Diwan Azimullah Khan had brought a French printing machine to India in February 1857.) This newspaper also started publishing in Marathi from Jhansi in September 1857.

Notably, Badshah Zafar's famous Pamphlet was published in 'Payam-e-Azadi'. The circulation of this newspaper spread rapidly throughout North India. The newspaper declared its support for the rebellion on 29 May 1857. The British government immediately banned the newspapers publication on charges of treason. Bedar Bakht was hanged. Azimullah Khan is believed to have left for the Nepal border with Nana Sahib after the defeat at Kanpur, where he died of illness at the age of 28.

Azimullah Khan, a resident of Kanpur, was neither a soldier nor a feudal lord. He was from a very ordinary socio-economic background. His mechanic father had passed away in his childhood. He was fortunate enough to survive the famine of 1837-38 along with his mother. Later the mother also died. He received his education while living in an orphanage and working in an Englishman's house. He first became secretary to several Britishers, and then held the post of Diwan of Nana Sahib. Nana Sahib promoted the polyglot (he knew English, French, Urdu, Persian and Sanskrit) and the intelligent Azimullah Khan to the post of Prime Minister.

It is believed that Azimullah Khan, a charming personality, could not get Nana Sahib's pension restored during his sojourn in England, but returned to India with the idea and strong determination to free India from British rule. He saw the myth that the British Empire was invincible being broken with his own eyes. He could see that the combined forces of England and France had been defeated by the Russian army in the Crimean War. Azimullah Khan seems to represent the concerns and efforts for the independence of the country made outside the realm of the consciousness of Navjagaran (renaissance).



The Flag Salute Song is as follows:

We are its owners, India is ours,

A land more pious and charming than paradise, is our land. We own it, India is ours,

The whole world is illuminated by its spirituality. So wonderful, so new, so different from the rest of the world,

The stream of Ganga-Jamuna makes it fertile. The snowclad mountain above guards us,

The sound of the ocean playing on the shore below. Its mines are spewing out gold, diamond and mercury.

The world celebrated its grandeur. The Firangi came from a distance and cast an evil eye,

Our beloved country was looted with both hands. Today the martyrs have challenged you O people,

Break the chains of slavery and shower embers. Hindu-Muslim-Sikh are our dear brothers,

This is the flag of freedom, we salute it.

If we interpret this song, we find that the British occupation has been identified as the national subjugation of India in the song. Because Indians are the natural owners of this country. It is true that the geographical extension of the Rebellion was mainly in North, East and Central India. But the claim of the revolutionaries is of India from the Himalayas to the sea. This is a fertile land, whose wealth is being looted by the British. The nuance of Aisa Mantar Mara suggests that the magic of Englishness (Angreziat) was dancing the heads of most of the Indians who were considered important. The echo of this nuance can be found in Gandhi's 'Hind Swarajya', where he says that the British did not enslave us, we ourselves have accepted their slavery.

It is true that most of the princely states and battalions of the Indian British Army supported the British instead of supporting the rebels; Or remain neutral. The consciousness of renaissance promoted by the newly educated Bhadralok also does not connect with the Rebellion. In this song, the criterion of an authentic Indian of that time has been placed that the true Indian is the one who takes the initiative to break the chains of slavery on the call of the martyrs. It needs to be kept in mind that India's independence, which became possible as a result of the struggle for independence after the Rebellion of 1857, was opposed by kings, princely states, communal organizations and many important individuals. The country also got divided due to misdeeds of such inauthentic Indians.

It is true that many times religious, casteist, ethnic, regional etc. fault lines emerge in the Rebellion. In a country the size of a subcontinent, with a deeply ancient society full of diversity as well as disparities, it was obvious for fault lines to emerge during the uprising. The song does not call for the country's independence on the basis of religious identity. However, unity and love among all religious people has been highlighted. Perhaps, Azimullah Khan, while writing this song, wanted to convert the call for religious identity into a call for national identity. If the women of India had also been invoked in the song, the significance of the song would have doubled. Because, women, mainly living on the socio-economic margins played an important role in the Rebellion.

Needless to say, this song can be read in the context of the current neo-imperialist crisis and communal disharmony. The young generations of India, Pakistan and Bangladesh should at least do this important work.



(The writer, Prem Singh, is associated with the socialist movement is a former teacher of Delhi University and a fellow of Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla)

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Welcome Guest! You are here: Home

Flying Taxis, Drones  Saudi Arabias new initiative to make Hajj smoother

In yet another move to make Hajj journey smoother, Saudi Arabia has decided to introduce flying taxis and drones for this years annual pilgrimage to Makkah.

Saturday May 11, 2024 1:00 AM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies

[File image for representation]

Riyadh: In yet another move to make Hajj journey smoother, Saudi Arabia has decided to introduce flying taxis and drones for this years annual pilgrimage to Makkah.

Hajj this year is likely to be performed from June 14 to 19, 2024  the final dates to be confirmed after citing of the new moon of the month of Dhul Hijjah.

More than 2.5 million Muslims from around the world will throng Makkah and Madinah in June for Hajj 2024.

To make their Hajj pilgrimage smoother, Saudi Arabia has announced a slew of measures along with introduction of flying taxis and drones for hassle free transportation.

Speaking at a press briefing after welcoming the first batch of foreign pilgrims at Prince Muhammad bin Abdulaziz International Airport in Medina on Thursday May 09, 2024, Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistics, Saleh Al Jasser said that these cutting-edge modes of transport, including taxi applications, aim to enhance the overall pilgrimage experience.

Al Jasser highlighted that several specialised companies in the transportation sector are in a race to provide the best means of transport in the coming years. He emphasised the importance of understanding these technologies and creating a suitable environment for their operation during the Hajj season.

Key Highlights

The initiative of Flying Taxis is a collaboration between the Saudi authorities and the Volocopter.

This electric vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft will be working as a taxi to transport pilgrims from Jeddahs King Abdul Aziz Airport to their hotels in Makkah.

These taxis will also function as emergency response vehicles.

As per reports, the flying taxis have completed their test flights in Saudi Arabias megacity project, Neom, which is located in the northwest.

The Saudi authorities plan to purchase 100 Lilium German jets to operate an air taxi service.

Saudi Arabian Airlines, also known as Saudia, had previously expressed its intention to operate flying taxis to transport Hajj pilgrims between King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah and hotels in Makkah. The airline aims to procure approximately 100 aircraft to facilitate this service.

(With inputs from Gulf News)

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
NEET UG 2024: Centre incharge promised to help students in return of 10L, booked

Gujarat Police has filed a criminal case against Tushar Bhatt  a teacher who was appointed as Deputy Superintendent at NEET UG 2024 exam centre in Godhra, for promising to help students in return of INR 10 lakh.

Friday May 10, 2024 11:12 AM , ummid.com News Network

[Image for representation]

Godhra (Gujarat): Gujarat Police has filed a criminal case against Tushar Bhatt  a teacher who was appointed as Deputy Superintendent at NEET UG 2024 exam centre in Godhra, for promising to help students in return of INR 10 lakh.

'Leave paper blank'

Tushar Bhatt, a Physics teacher with the help of his aides Parsuram Roy and Arif Vora, had asked as many as six students to leave their NEET UG answer sheet blank. They said the answer sheets will be filled by experts after the exam is over.

The National Testing Agency (NTA) had conducted National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test (NEET) for undergraduate medical courses MBBS, BDS and others on Sunday May 05, 2024. More than 24 lakh students from India and abroad had appeared in the important medical entrance exams conducted from 02:00 PM to 05:00 PM.

As per the FIR lodged at the Godhra Taluka Police Station on a complaint of the District Education Officer, Bhatt was working as a teacher at Jay Jalaram School and was appointed the Deputy Centre Superintendent for the NEET exam.

The accused had asked the medical aspirants to leave blank questions whose answers they did not know. The answers to these questions were to be written once the papers were collected after the exam, as per the FIR details.

Cash recovered from accused

A team of District Additional Collector and District Education Officer reached the school on the day of the examination and questioned Bhatt.

When they checked his mobile phone, they found a list of 16 candidates with their names, roll numbers and exam centres which was sent to his WhatsApp number by co-accused Roy, stated the FIR.

When asked about the list, Bhatt said these were candidates who were to take the NEET exam at his centre. He confessed to having been promised 10 lakh each to solve the question papers of six of these candidates, District Education Officer Kirit Patel said.

The police has also recovered 7 lakh cash from Bhatt's car which was paid to him by Vora as advance, said the police.

The NEET UG exam this year has been marred by controversies ever since it was conducted on May 05, 2024. A day before the exam, a video surfaced on social media claiming that NEET UG 2024 question papers could be leaked.

In the midst of the exam on May 05, 2024, reports went viral claiming that the NEET UG paper has indeed been leaked.

The National Testing Agency however refuted all these reports and said the exam was held in fully transparent manner.

[With inputs from Press Trust of India (PTI)]

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
OpenAI unveils Google Search rival Monday  How to access?

Microsoft backed OpenAI is poised to launch its own AI powered search product Monday May 13, 2024 which is billed as a competitor to Google Search.

Friday May 10, 2024 9:21 PM , ummid.com Tech Desk

Mumbai: Microsoft backed OpenAI is poised to launch its own AI powered search product Monday May 13, 2024 which is billed as a competitor to Google Search.

Google is dominating Internet search since last two decades though a minor stake is shared by Microsoft Bing and other smaller players.

OpenAI came to limelight after it launched AI chatbot ChatGPT last January. The IT firm has not publicly confirmed anything about the launch of its Google Search rival. But, multiple media reports citing Bloomberg and Information claimed that it plans a mega launch of a new and more efficient AI powered search tool ahead of Google I/O Conference which opens on Tuesday May 14, 2024.

Google is expected to unveil a slew of AI-related products at its annual I/O Conference.

More about OpenAI Search

OpenAI's search engine is an extension of its flagship ChatGPT product, and enables ChatGPT to pull in direct information from the Web and include citations, according to Bloomberg.

Based on reports, users will be able to ask questions and receive answers along with cited sources from the internet.

The new search engine will build upon the capabilities of OpenAIs flagship ChatGPT, allowing it to source direct information from the web, complete with citations. This development is seen as a response to ChatGPT's limitations in delivering real-time and accurate web information, despite its massive user base and groundbreaking technology.

The new platform will also likely to include images. For instance, if a user may want to know how to replace a tyre, they will be able to see step-by-step diagrams with images. This is a radically different approach from how conventional search engines work.

Not first of its kind

Based on the available reports it is claimed that OpenAI search will be drastically different from traditional internet search. Yet it will not be the first to launch AI powered search.

To list few OpenAI patron Microsoft integrated ChatGPT to its Bing search and Google followed suite by adding a number of AI features to its search engine .

How to access OpenAI Search

OpenAIs upcoming ChatGPT based search engine has already created a buzz in the market and could mark a significant shift in the search engine market, offering users a new way to interact with information on the internet.

Though there is no much details available for the soon to be launched Google Search rival, it is rumoured that users will be able to try it out through  search.chatgpt.com.

Visiting search.chatgpt.com at present would yield nothing.

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Welcome Guest! You are here: Home

Palestine bid to full UN membership receives huge support at UNGA

The UN General Assembly in its resolution passed Friday urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to give "favourable consideration" to Palestine's request

Friday May 10, 2024 10:27 PM , ummid.com with inputs from Agencies

United Nations: The UN General Assembly (UNGA) Friday May 10, 2024 passed with an overwhelming majority a resolution to expand Palestines rights and privileges at UN with an appeal to UNSC to admit Palestine as a full member of the world body.

Palestine current status at the United Nations since 2012 is of non-member observer state which allows some rights short of a full member.

What UNGA Resolution means for Palestine?

Friday's UN resolution confers additional rights on Palestine at the world body, allowing it to be seated among Member States in alphabetical order, take part fully in debates, make statements on behalf of a group, propose agenda items and have its representatives elected to committees.

"None of the upgrades in status will take effect until the new session of the Assembly opens on 10 September", the UN said.

How countries voted on UN Resolution?



The resolution which called to expand Palestines rights and privileges at the UN passed with 143 countries voting in favour, 09 voting against, and 25 abstentions.

The UN General Assembly in its resolution passed Friday also urged the UN Security Council (UNSC) to give "favourable consideration" to Palestine's request for full membership.

Granting Palestinian membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council.

India is one of the 143 countries who said yes to UN General Assembly vote today.

United States, which is likely to veto the resolution when it comes to UNSC voted against the UN General Assembly Palestine vote.

Argentina, Czechia, Hungary, Israel, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau are the 9 countries besides the United States that votes against the UNGA resolution.

Israel fumes

Israels ambassador denounces the UN for welcoming a terror state into its ranks.

"The United Nations was founded with the mission of ensuring such tyranny (Nazis) never raises its ugly head again. Today, you are about to do the exact opposite and advance the establishment of a Palestinian terror state, which will be led by the Hitler of our times", Israels ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan said after the vote.

"Today, with sick and twisted irony, the very body established to prevent evil is now welcoming a terror state into its ranks", he added.

World stands with Palestinians'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas welcome the UNGA vote. He said Palestine will continue to push for full membership at the UN after todays General Assembly vote.

He said the resolutions passage showed that the world stands with the rights and freedom of the Palestinian people, and against Israels occupation.

The UNGA resolution Friday comes amid the deadly war Israel has launched on the Palestinians since Oct 7, 2023.

More than 34,000 civilians have been killed in the Israeli bombing and close to 1.4 million Palestinians are starving due to the Zionist blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Welcome Guest! You are here: Home

Candidates in Tamil Nadu can check TN SSLC Class Xth results 2024 at dge.tn.gov.in, dge1.tn.nic.in, tnresults.nic.in and dge1.tn.nic.in today i.e. Friday May 10, 2024

Friday May 10, 2024 10:40 AM , ummid.com News Network

Tamil Nadu SSLC Result 2024 Live Updates: Girls again outperformed the boys in the TN SSLC exams. They registered a pass percent of 94.53 - around 6% more than boys.

TN SSLC Result Key Highlights

Total number of students appeared: 894,264

Total Number of female students: 447,061

Total Number of male students: 447,203

Total Number of Students Passed: 818,743

Overall Pass Percentage: 91.55%

The best-performing district in terms of pass percentage in the TN SSLC result 2024 is Ariyalur followed by Sivagangai and Ramanathapuram which came 2nd and 3rd.

09:35 AM: The Tamil Nadu State Board of Secondary Education (TNBSE) has announced the Class 10 or SSLC result 2024 which is now live on the official website.

The state has registered a pass percentage of 91.55% in the 2024 SSLC exams.

A total of 4,105 schools, including 1,364 run by the state government, secured a 100% pass percentage in the TN SSLC Results 2024. There are a total of 12,625 schools in Tamil Nadu.

Pass percentage of girl students is 94.53% whereas that of boys is 88.58%.

09:00 AM: The Tamil Nadu State Board of Secondary Education (TNBSE) is set to declare the Secondary School Leaving Certificate (TBSE SSLC) 10th results 2024 on its official website tnresults.nic.in as well as on associate websites today i.e. Friday May 10, 2024, it is officially confirmed.

The Tamil Nadu State Board of Secondary Education (TNBSE) officially confirmed that TNBSE SSLC result 2024 will be declared today at 09:30 am on tnresults.nic.in and other websites.

More than 9 lakh students from different districts of Tamil Nadu had appeared for the TN Class 10 exams held at 4,107 exam centres from March 26 to April 08, 2024.

Direct Link to check TNBSE SSL Results 2024

Click here to go to the official website: tnresults.nic.in .

. Click on TN Board SSLC Xth Class Results 2024.

Enter Registration Number and Date of Birth.

Check your class 10th SSLC results once it appears on the screen.

Download and then take a printout of the same.

Candidates can also check TN SSLC results of March 2024 exams at dge.tn.gov.in, dge1.tn.nic.in, tnresults.nic.in and dge1.tn.nic.in.

The TN board has officiall confirmed that Tamil Nadu SSLC Class 10 result 2024 will be live at tnresults.nic.in and some other mirror websites today at 09:30 am. A delay of few minutes is possible.

TN 10th SSLC Result on SMS

To get Tamil Nadu 10th Result 2024 as an SMS on phone, candidates will have to register the mobile number at the official websites.

Candidates are advised to contact their school to obtain hard copy of mark sheet from June 22 onwards from the website www.dge.tn.nic.in.

TN SSLC Previous Years Pass Percentages

The TN board had registered an overall Pass Percentage of 91.39 in the Class 10 SSLC exams held in 2023 .

In 2022, Tamil Nadu State Board of Secondary Education (TNBSE) had published Class 10th i.e. SSLC result and Merit List containing the names of toppers on its official website tnresults.nic.in on June 20, 2022. The overall pass percent in 2022 was 90.07%.

In 2021 and 2020 TN SSLC Class 10 exams were disturbed by the Covid 19 pandemic.

In 2019, TN SSLC exams were conducted smoothly and the board had registered pass percentage of 95.20, in 2018 the pass percent was 94.5, in 2017 it was 94.40 and in 2016 the pass percent was 93.6.

Tamil Nadu HSE +2 result 2024 was announced on May 06, 2024. The state registered a pass percentage of 93.76% in HSE +2 or Class 12th exams 2024 .

The Class 11 or HSE +1 exam result will be announced on May 14, 2024, students should note.

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
Welcome Guest! You are here: Home

UPSC Civil Services Prelim 2023 Answer Key released

The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023 official answer keys on its website upsc.gov.in.

Friday May 10, 2024 3:14 PM , ummid.com News Network

New Delhi: The Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) has released the Civil Services Preliminary Examination 2023 official answer keys on its website upsc.gov.in.

The UPSC had conducted Civil Services Prelims 2023 on May 28, 2023 . It announced the results on June 12, 2023.

The UPSC Civil Services Prelim exam was followed by Civil Services Main exams and Personal Tests.

The commission releases the Civil Services Prelim Answer Keys after the UPSC Civil Services Final result is declared, and not after the CS Prelim exams.

The 2023 Civil Services Final Result was announced on April 16, 2024 . Accordingly, the commission released the Civil Services Prelims Answer Keys on May 09, 2024.

How to check UPSC Prelims Answer Key

Visit the official website of UPSC: upsc.gov.in

On the homepage, click on Examination menu

Under the Examination menu on home page, click on Answer Keys

Click on General Studies 1 or General Studies 2 to download answer keys

The commission has published on its official website UPSC Prelim 2023 answer keys in two PDF files - General Studies I (Paper I) and General Studies II (Paper II).

There were a total of 100 questions carrying a total of 200 marks in General Studies 1. Candidates should note that the Commission has dropped one question from each series of General Studies 1.

General Studies 2 comprised a total of 80 questions with a maximum of 200 marks. There was negative marking in the exam.

Earlier, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court of India asking the UPSC to release the Civil Services Prelims Answer Key immediately after the exam. The apex court however had dismissed the petition as withdrawn .

Select Language To Read in Urdu, Hindi, Marathi or Arabic.
HA NOI Vietnamese okra, also known as gumbo, exported to the European Union could face suspension due to high levels of pesticide residue, according to the Viet Nam Sanitary and Phytosanitary Authority (SPS Viet Nam) under the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD).

Ngo Xuan Nam, the SPS's Deputy Director, said Vietnamese okra was one of five Vietnamese agricultural products that have been put under stricter inspection standards by the EU.

Okra, under current EU regulations, has been subjected to a 50 per cent inspection requirement on entry. Similarly, Vietnamese durian has been subjected to 10 per cent level of inspection, while instant noodles and dragon fruit both require a 20 per cent inspection. They have also been asked to go through further tests by the EU.

However, in light of recent reports of Vietnamese durian and okra failing to meet the bloc's requirements on pesticide residues, the EU may increase inspections of dragon fruits to 30 per cent and temporarily suspend all imports of okra, Nam said.

Vietnamese noodles, on the other hand, could be cleared from the list as there have been no violations in the last six months, said the deputy director.

Nam warned businesses that their products can still be put under stricter inspections in the future if they fail to comply with the EU's safety regulations. VNS
HA NOI  The US Department of Commerce held a hearing lately to discuss the potential designation of Viet Nam as a "market economy", according to Reuters.

This designation, which is supported by retailers and business groups, would result in a reduction of anti-dumping duties imposed on Vietnamese imports.

Currently, Viet Nam is classified as a non-market economy due to significant state influence.

During the virtual hearing in Washington on Wednesday, arguments were presented as part of a review process scheduled to conclude in late July.

Ted Osius, the head of the US-ASEAN Business Council, which supports the upgrade, stated that Viet Nam already operates as a market economy and meets key criteria such as currency convertibility.

Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh also appealed to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen last year to remove the non-market label.

In September 2023, Viet Nam and the US elevated their relationship to a comprehensive strategic partnership during President Joe Biden's visit. President Biden praised Viet Nam's significant progress in implementing market-based economic reforms and expressed eagerness to engage with Viet Nam in its transition to a market economy.

The US also acknowledged Viet Nam's continued efforts to modernise its monetary policy, enhance transparency in exchange rate management, promote macroeconomic stability, and ensure the soundness of its banking system. VNS
HCM CITY  Despite its small population, Singapore's coffee imports are relatively large, but Vietnamese exports to it remain modest, leaving ample room for expansion, according to the Vietnam Trade Office in that country.

Singapores coffee imports are worth SGD140 - 150 million (US$103.6- $110.9 million) a year, the same as Viet Nam's coffee exports to Thailand and Indonesia, it said.

Last year Malaysia, Indonesia and Switzerland were its biggest exporters, accounting for nearly 50 per cent of its market share and dominating the Arabica, robusta, and roasted and ground coffee market shares.

Viet Nam is only the ninth largest coffee exporter to Singapore with a share of 2.22 per cent worth SGD3.16 million ($2.3 million) last year. In the first quarter of this year its exports skyrocketed by 175.38 per cent to SGD1.46 million ($1.08 million) and a 3.64 per cent share.

Viet Nam mainly exports roasted and ground coffee followed by unroasted robusta and Arabica, with the latter, despite small numbers still, increasing by 28 per cent last year and 4.2 times in Q1.

In addition to its domestic demand, Singapore is also the region's leading transshipment trade hub, which if exploited well, will help Vietnamese coffee products enter third countries.

To promote exports to the country, the trade office said it is actively working with Vietnamese businesses to offer Singaporean importers timely information about coffee products and help them participate in trade fairs in Singapore to increase their presence there.

According to the Viet Nam Coffee and Cocoa Association, in the first six months of the 2023 - 24 coffee crop until March, Viet Nam exported 956,000 tonnes of coffee worth more than $3 billion.

In March exports were down 11.9 per cent in volume to 185,000 tonnes but up 41.1 per cent in value to $680.86 million as prices shot up.

The industry eyes $5 billion in exports this year from $4.24 billion last year.  VNS
HA NOI  Viet Nam's durian exports to China witnessed a significant surge in the first quarter of 2024, according to statistics of trade via the Youyi Guan border gate cited by China's Xinhua News Agency.

Specifically, Viet Nam exported 35,000 tonnes of durian to China during the period, valued at nearly US$1.77 million. China imported a total of 48,000 tonnes of durian worth some $2.56 million through the Youyi Guan border gate.

Li Youyang, Director of Trade at Guangxi Baiguoyuan Technology Co Ltd attributed the rise in durian sales to several key factors, saying that with continuous improvements in import procedures and the adoption of advanced cold storage technology, the company's durian sales in the first quarter increased by 20 per cent annually, and prices were 30-40 per cent lower than in previous years. As a result, many of its durian stores have run out of stock.

Liu Minkun from the Guangxi University pointed out a confluence of factors driving the popularity of durian from ASEAN member countries among Chinese consumers, including high product quality, strong supply chain advantages, positive bilateral relations, e-commerce boom and logistics systems.  VNS
SON LA  The second phase of the Gender-Responsive Equitable Agriculture and Tourism (GREAT 2) programme was launched in the northern mountainous province of Son La on May 10.

The event was co-hosted by the provincial Peoples Committee and the Australian Embassy in Vietnam.

Cherie Anne Russell, Counsellor for Development Cooperation at the Australian Embassy in Vietnam and co-chair of the provincial GREAT 2 Steering Committee said the programme has been underway in Son La since 2017, with an aim to empower ethnic minority women by increasing their income, fostering their voices within families and communities, and enhancing their self-reliance.

In the second phase, the programme looks to integrate more tourism activities and continues effective models from the first phase, such as developing flax, bamboo shoots, rice and others to sustain their success and then scale them up.

Over 15,000 women, with 70% being ethnic minorities, are expected to benefit from GREAT 2 Son La through access to services such as market information, agricultural promotion, quality input materials, finance and credit.

During a meeting held the same day, delegates from both sides were informed about the goals, approaches and key directions of the programme in Son La. - VNS
IEN BIEN More than 1 million tourists, including 4,800 foreigners, flocked to the northwestern mountainous province of Dien Bien from the outset of the year to May 7, according to the provincial Department of Culture and Sports.

From April 30 to May 7, the province welcomed over 370,000 tourist arrivals who came to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the ien Bien Phu Victory. The ien Bien Phu Historical Museum and the complex of the ien Bien Phu battlefield relics were full to their capacity on the days, hosting thousands of visitors each day.

As local hotels were full at that time, authorities encouraged more than 140 households to provide accommodation for 2,000 people. They received guidance in ensuring security and order as well as fire prevention and fighting.

In 2023, the number of visitors to ien Bien reached the one-million benchmark for the first time.

As the host of the Visit Vietnam Year 2024, ien Bien eyes to welcome 1.3 million visitors and gain some VN2.2 trillion (US$86.48 million) in tourism revenue for the whole year. VNA/VNS
A NANG  The Phong Le Village Shepherd Festival began in Hoa Chau Commune, Hoa Vang District, a Nang city on May 7. The two-day event is held to honour shepherd children and pray for a year of good weather, good harvests, prosperity and happiness for the villagers.

The Hoa Vang District People's Committee recreates the traditional culture of the ancient Phong Le Village, contributing to preserving and promote local historical heritage values.

Ngo Tat Hien, Head of Phong Le Village, said: The shepherd procession festival has existed for a long time, although it has gradually disappeared for a variety of reasons. We're hoping that this event goes well so that we can build on it better in the future. Everyone in the village is excited because the shepherd's festival was restored."

Le uc Hung, Chairman of Hoa Chau Commune People's Committee said that the successful restoration of the shepherd festival is an opportunity to honour the diverse cultural beauty of the Vietnamese people, while preserving sustainable values and vitality of the Phong Le community.

Villagers joined the procession to welcome Devine Farmer from spritual dunes to Phong Le village's communal house. After that the different clans take turns coming to the pavilion to offer incense to bring good fortune to the village and then the procession which includes shepherds and their buffaloes, walk around Phong Le field for a whole day.

In order to restore this year's festival Phong Le Village and the commune's schools are welcoming students as shepherds, starting from just ten years of age while the village elders preside over the festival. - VNS
Dr Nguyen Anh Tho, director of the Viet Nam National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health under the Viet Nam General Confederation of Labour, speaks to Tin Tuc (News) newspaper about occupational safety and hygiene amid recent serious labour accidents.

A series of serious workplace accidents have been reported recently. How do you assess labour safety assurance at businesses and factories?

Many companies still think that investing in safety measures is a waste of money because they lack the proper perspective.

The Secretariats Directive No 29 issued on September 18, 2013 and other legal documents of the Government and the Prime Minister, all require businesses to create motivation and changes, thereby improving working regimes, welfare and rights for workers.

To comply with legal requirements, many companies still only adhere to the minimum level of occupational safety and hygiene, regardless of whether this has improved working conditions or guaranteed the lives and health of employees.

In the meantime, our labour market has entered a new period in which employees actively select their place of employment as opposed to employers doing so. The cornerstones for firms to draw in workers are working conditions, labour rules, and fundamental pay, health, and welfare programmes. Companies must be aware of this.

Businesses must deploy training for workers on occupational safety and hygiene. Has this been carried out effectively?

The best way to guarantee and enhance workplace safety is through training, which also helps employees better protect themselves.

The first occupational safety and hygiene action month which was held in 2017 after the Law on Occupational Safety and Health took effect on July 1, 2016, selected training as the main theme. Education and training have always been the foundation of all issues.

Training is also the most effective measure in labour safety work. It is also the most effective, least expensive, and most significant measure that requires the greatest attention.

Companies themselves aspire to provide high-quality services as well, but many safety-training organisations lack excellent instructors, material and certifications.

Despite good purposes, the practical implementation of the training has not met the needs. The people who experience the greatest disadvantages are workers.

Our clear and complete regulations have created conditions for businesses to build their own training networks.

If businesses can train their own lecturers, technical staff and on-site experts, and upgrade themselves to become safety trainers, the training will show effectiveness. This has been mentioned in the law. Many big corporations have currently adopted this strategy.

To guide and support businesses to do this, first of all, we need a new mindset and programmes to support businesses in building a team of lecturers, ensuring on-site quality instead of depending on external units.

Statistics show the number of work accidents among freelance workers is on the rise. What solutions do you think are needed to protect them from the risks of unsafe work?

Informal workers account for a large proportion of many different occupations. It is necessary to formalise this group of workers so that they are better protected.

Although the Party and the State have currently issued comprehensive guidelines, there are still restrictions ranging from guidelines to particular regulations.

In addition, to better protect the self-employed group, it is necessary to promote communication, training, and have national training programmes on occupational safety and hygiene skills.

It is important to build and introduce skills in self-care, treatment of minor injuries and how to take care of physical and mental health for freelance workers.

What solutions should be taken to improve the efficiency of occupational safety and hygiene assurance?

In terms of the overall solution, the legal policy must be examined for revisions.

Currently, if a business hires contractors to provide general services to the business, when an accident or incident occurs right at the business, the parties' responsibilities are unclear and no one accepts accountability.

Regulations and quality control over technological systems are required for both domestic and international investment projects from the outset of construction.

Monitoring will help inspect materials and technological systems that can cause incidents or accidents.

Local authorities also need to have appropriate plans to early control the incidents including fire safety, or chemical incident.

Nowadays, we have to face not only traditional risks but also new risks from biosecurity, atomic nuclear and even factors affecting the mental health of the workers.

Special attention needs to be paid to allocating resources to ensure occupational safety and hygiene at all levels in terms of experts, scientists as well as finance. We must train a team of experts, scientists and good safety managers to manage millions of future businesses and new industries.

The staff requires safety skills training. Particular importance should be given to safety culture. Businesses cannot assign workers who lack safety awareness to operate a technology system or material production system where even a small incident can lead to a disaster.

Humans are the most vital and must be the primary focus of training from the very beginning. VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh has urged ministries, localities and sectors in the Red River Delta region to take proactive measures in researching and proposing institutional and policy reforms in order to achieve ways of overcoming obstacles and foster the region's development during the period 2021-2030, with a vision towards 2050.

He stressed that it was imperative to adopt fresh perspectives, fostering innovation and cultivating a renewed vision in the planning process for the Red River Delta region. Such an approach should ensure the harmonious integration of traditional values with progressive breakthroughs, comprehensive strategies and sustainable practices.

He was speaking at the third meeting of the Red River Delta Region Coordinating Council where the plans for the 2021-2030 period were formally announced. Those, which include a vision up to 2050, were recently approved by the Prime Minister, assessing the implementation of Resolution No30-NQ/TW by the Politburo and Resolution No14/NQ-CP by the Government over the past year, reviewing the mechanisms of special policies for regional development, coordinating regional plans and evaluating the implementation of key projects in the region.

The conference confirmed that ministries, sectors and localities in the Red River Delta region have been quick to issue action plans and achieve positive results after over a year of implementation.

The Government's action programme sets out 21 development targets, 36 tasks and 20 key projects for the region to be accomplished by 2030. Currently, three out of 36 tasks have been completed and plans for nine out of 11 provinces in the region have been approved.

The remaining tasks are large-scale projects being coordinated and implemented by relevant ministries and agencies and on schedule.

Regarding the 20 key projects, seven are already underway, eight are undergoing investment procedure formalities and the remaining projects are under review and will be implemented in the near future.

The socio-economic development of the region has achieved many positive results. The region's economic growth rate (GRDP) reached 6.28 per cent in 2023, 1.24 times higher than the national average and accounts for 30.1 per cent of the national GDP.

The per capita GRDP is now VN131.9 million ($5,180), so number two nationwide. State budget revenue in the region in 2023 is estimated to exceed VN720 trillion ($28.3 million), leading the country. Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is estimated at over $17.3 billion for 2023, also the highest in the country.

The Government has directed ministries, sectors and localities to propose policies on innovation, venture capital funds, controlled experimental mechanisms and specific policies for the Hoa Lac High-Tech Park, the National Innovation Centre and the semiconductor engineer training project, Decree.

Internal and inter-regional cooperation and linkage activities have been actively implemented by ministries, sectors and localities in the region to hit targets for rapid and sustainable development. Many important regional linkage projects are actively being implemented, such as the Beltway 4 Project in the Ha Noi Capital Region, the urban railway investment project as a pilot project in Ha Noi and the section from Nhon to Ha Noi Station. Many projects are in the investment stage, including the Ninh Binh to Hai Phong Expressway construction project.

The quality of infrastructure in the Red River Delta region is continuously improving, with four out of 11 local areas in the top ten in terms of the best infrastructure nationwide.

However, the region is still facing challenges regarding urban infrastructure, interregional environmental issues and the insufficient role of science, technology and innovation as drivers of development. More attention is needed on collaborative activities and regional coordination.

In concluding the conference, PM Chinh urged localities in the region to promptly bring together plans and action programmes to implement these plans, emphasising that while planning is crucial, equally important is the organisation and implementation of these plans.

He noted that the implementation of planning and socio-economic development in the region must align with the Party's guidelines, the State's laws and Resolution No.30 of the Central Party Committee. It must strictly adhere to and synchronise planning and consistently prioritise human-centered development, leveraging the intellect, talent, qualities and the ethics of the Vietnamese people.

Additionally, there should be a continued focus on the three strategic breakthroughs outlined in the 13th Party Congress regarding infrastructure development, human resource training and institutional improvement.

The Prime Minister agreed with the conference's agreement to restructure economic sectors, innovate growth models towards modernisation, prioritise investment in pivotal and dynamic projects, concentrate on human resource development, attract talent, promote innovation and streamline administrative procedures to enhance the investment environment.

He directed ministries, sectors and localities in the Red River Delta region to proactively research and propose institutional and policy reforms to address obstacles and stimulate development.  VNS
HA NOI - The European Union (EU) Delegation to Viet Nam hosted a ceremony in Ha Noi on May 9 to celebrate the Europe Day (May 9, 1950 - 2024).

Addressing the event, Permanent Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Nguyen Minh Vu described the EU as one of the most successful international organisations since the Schuman Declaration on May 9, 1950, which set out the foundation of the union.

He said since the establishment of their official relations, Viet Nam and the EU have faced numerous challenges amid regional and global uncertainties. However, this relationship is still growing intensively and bearing fruit.

Calling the relationship a model of cooperation for peace, the official expressed his hope that it will expand and deepen in the time ahead.

As a developing country in Southeast Asia and one of Europe's close partners, Viet Nam is aware of the value of cooperation with the EU in many areas, he stressed.

The union is currently the largest development partner, the fifth-biggest trading partner, and the sixth-largest foreign investor of Vietnam. Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian nation is the EU's largest trading partner in ASEAN and the 14th largest globally.

The Vietnamese official suggested EU countries soon ratify the EU  Viet Nam Investment Protection Agreement (EVIPA) and effectively implement the EU  Viet Nam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), considering these breakthroughs in the trade and investment cooperation.

He took the occasion to call on the EU to provide development assistance for Viet Nam for the 2024 - 2027 period and soon lift the "yellow card" imposed by the European Commission (EC) on Viet Nam's seafood exports, and continue to cooperate with and support the country in implementing the Resource Mobilisation Plan (RMP) within the framework of the Just Energy Transition Partnership (JETP) to achieve the goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.

Regarding the ASEAN  EU relations, Vu said Viet Nam supports and will actively promote the ASEAN-EU Strategic Partnership, noting the country believes that the EU will make more practical contributions to the grouping.

Head of the EU Delegation to Viet Nam Ambassador Julien Guerrier highly valued the Viet Nam  EU cooperative relations, emphasising that over the past 35 years, the EU has stood shoulder to shoulder with the country.

The EU hopes to support Viet Nam to achieve its national development goals by 2045 and its net-zero commitment, he added.

The diplomat also congratulated Viet Nam on its developmental milestones. VNS
HA NOI  Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh visited and held a working session with Army Corps 12 - Truong Son Construction Corporation and the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Traditional Association in Ha Noi on May 10, on the occasion of the 65th anniversary of the Ho Chi Minh Trail - the Traditional Day of Truong Son Army Corps (May 19).

The session virtually connected with all 27 units of Army Corps 12 nationwide.

In his speech, PM Chinh expressed gratitude to generations of Truong Son soldiers for their sacrifices and dedication to the legendary Truong Son feats, saying that nearly 20,000 officers, soldiers and young volunteers bravely sacrificed themselves, over 30,000 others were wounded and thousands more suffered from the effects of Agent Orange.

Hailing the corps ongoing role in national defence-security and economic development, he wished that it would pioneer in sci-tech application, digital transformation, construction of strategic infrastructure works as well as build a strong and healthy Party unit.

In particular, the corps and the Truong Son - Ho Chi Minh Trail Traditional Association were praised for raising public awareness of historical traditions, especially among the youth. This focus on historical preservation has resulted in the Ho Chi Minh Trail Museum becoming a landmark destination, attracting millions of visitors.

The date of May 19, 1959 became a historical milestone when the Party Central Committee decided to set up Corps 559 and build a strategic logistics line  the Truong Son Trail in the mainland and at sea. The corps underwent various name changes throughout the history, eventually becoming Army Corps 12 - Truong Son Construction Corporation.

Built in 1959 to carry supplies to the southern battlefield during the resistance war against the US, the Truong Son Trail played a key role in the liberation of Southern Viet Nam and the national reunification on April 30, 1975. It became a legend and a symbol of the Vietnamese peoples resilient spirit and solidarity among Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia.

The Vietnamese forces along the strategic Truong Son transportation route fought in over 2,500 battles, killing 18,740 enemies, capturing 1,200 others, shooting down 2,455 enemy aircraft, and destroying tens of thousands of tonnes of weapons and vehicles.

Following the national reunification, the Central Military Commission tasked the corps with transitioning its focus to economic development.

Today, it is managing over 110 construction projects, many of them hold high value and importance. It has also become one of the leading companies in Viet Nam's basic construction sector.

The Truong Son soldiers have also been honoured by the Party and the State with the title of Hero of the People's Armed Forces, the Golden Star Medal, the Ho Chi Minh Medal, and many other noble distinctions.  VNS
HA NOI  Vocational education in Ha Noi has incorporated many innovations, in which schools closely cooperate with businesses to sign employment contracts right from the time students are studying in schools.

As a student majoring in baking at the Cooking, Tourism and Fashion Vocational School, Phan Thi Bich Hien had memorable experiences in a baking and introducing products session.

The session was held at a job transaction and consultancy in Son Tay Town, near her school.

Hien is now studying for a double degree, both high school official curriculum and vocational training.

Not only can we practice our profession, but we can also participate in many useful interactive activities, such as job searching skills and receiving advice about future jobs," said Hien.

Giang Huyen Trang, an 11th grader at the Son Tay Town Centre for Vocational Education, could not hide her excitement after practising operating an excavator under the guidance of a lecturer from the Central College of Transport 1.

Trang said, "This experience shows me that I can choose to study many professions that, when I first heard about it, seemed to be only for men. Job opportunities are opening up for young people with good mechanical and technological skills."

Head of the Electronics and Refrigeration Industry Faculty under the Ha Noi College of High Technology (HHT) Nguyen Thi Hong told the Ha Noi Moi (New Ha Noi) newspaper that the model of "One day studying as a college student" attracted a great number of high school and junior secondary school students.

It creates conditions for them to access modern equipment and teaching methods associated with professional practice.

The work helps them choose schools and careers that are closer to their practical needs," she said.

Nguyen uc Minh, Head of the Organisation and Administration Division under the Ha Noi Community College, said that the school was increasing direct access to junior secondary and high school students.

The students are allowed to visit the college and experience the work here so that they can choose a suitable profession to study.

It also organises career experience tours to enterprises, providing real practice for learners.

Close connection

Ha Noi now has 313 vocational schools.

Their mission is to train 235,000 people this year, striving to raise the rate of trained workers to 74.2 per cent.

To realise this goal, the focus is on strengthening connections between the State, schools, and businesses in vocational education.

Talking about new points in the enrolment this year, Hong emphasised, "With close connection between schools, businesses and students, all parties achieve the goal of effectively combining learning and practising when the students are still in schools.

Many businesses highly appreciate the HHT's training effectiveness and are willing to lend their production lines to serve students practice.

Typically, the HHT signed a cooperation agreement with the XtechFuture Co Ltd in March last year.

The company will train second-year students as automation technicians.

It will also support equipment for teaching and learning, and support training costs for the school.

At the end of the training course, excellent students can intern and work at large-scale companies and enterprises such as Apple, Compal, Justech and Luxshare.  VNS
HCM CITY  HCM City has been trying to eliminate water pollution in its canals in order to improve the living environment for local inhabitants.

The drainage route of the Cai, Nhum and Xuan Truong streams and Ba Bo Canal at the border area between the city and Binh Duong Province has been treated with various pollution mitigation measures.

Accordingly, Ba Bo Canal received more than VN1 trillion (US$39.4 million) for solid concrete embankment construction.

Yet the canal water has always been too smelly. This is because many domestic wastewater pipes installed by local residents pour sewage directly into the canal.

A similar situation can be found in Nhum Stream, whose water is constantly black and stinking from sewage of nearby residential areas.

Tran Van ang, a resident living near a bridge on Provincial Highway No. 43 in Thu uc citys Binh Chieu Ward, said he and his neighbours had hoped to have an improved living environment after the renovation of Ba Bo Canal.

Nevertheless, the foul smell from the canals black water is still haunting them since domestic and industrial wastewater that has not been properly treated is continuously poured into the canal, severely affecting the health of dwellers here, especially the elderly and children.

The water quality of Cai, Nhum and Xuan Truong streams and Ba Bo Canal dropped slightly last year, according to Binh Duong Provinces Department of Natural Resources and Environment.

Organic pollution still exists here mostly due to untreated sewage from households in Binh Hoa Ward of Thuan An city in the province, and near the dormitory of Viet Nam National University - HCM City.

According to Vietnamese standards, in Ba Bo Canal, 75 per cent of the locations do not satisfy the BODS parameter, 25 per cent the DO parameter, 75 per cent the COD parameter, and 100 per cent the coliform parameter.

The figures for Cai, Nhum and Xuan Truong streams are all 100 per cent, which is really worrisome.

Ngo Quang Su, director of the provinces Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said that despite warnings by local authorities against illegal waste disposal into canals and efforts of functional teams to clean the surface of these canals, many citizens, mostly street vendors and passersby, still throw garbage carelessly.

Many households near Ba Bo Canal do not have their sewage pipes connected to urban sewage treatment plants owing to tardiness in the Nhum Stream drainage project as the land clearance task cannot be finished.

Nguyen Thi Thanh My, deputy director of the city Department of Natural Resources and Environment, said the city is going to inspect local residents, businesses and factories.

The public land will be reviewed to allocate suitable locations for the installation of automatic monitoring stations in the area between the two localities.

Binh Duong Provinces Peoples Committee chairman Vo Van Minh said the province is increasing its monitoring over Song Than 1 and Song Than 2 industrial parks regarding sewage treatment tasks via monitoring camera systems, automatic monitoring stations, and automatic sample collection devices.

It will also cooperate with Army Corps 4 to identify sewage arising from the units operations.

Bui Xuan Cuong, vice chairman of the city Peoples Committee, said the city is inspecting all possible sources pouring out wastewater and is closely monitoring environment law observation by manufacturers and businesses as well as industrial parks along these canals.

It assigned its Construction Department to continue the project to fight against urban flooding and to treat sewage in the 2020-45 period, including accelerating the construction of Northern Saigon Wastewater Treatment Plant No.1 and Northern Saigon Wastewater Treatment Station No.2.

The Department of Planning and Investment is tasked to attract more investment for these two important facilities.

To address water pollution in bordering areas between HCM City and Long An Province, the citys Department of Natural Resources and Environment is requested to collaborate with its counterpart from Long An Province to develop a pollution control plan for the 2024-30 period.

Accordingly, the two localities must strictly watch over pollution sources, share surface water monitoring data twice a month at bordering locations on Thay Cai and An Ha canals, and Can Giuoc and Ben Luc - Cho em rivers, as well as in industrial clusters and businesses normally releasing a large amount of sewage.

They also share inspection results and practical solutions while maintaining a special communication hotline for timely co-operation to handle law breaking cases.

The citys Construction Department is assigned to develop the flood control and wastewater treatment project in the 2020-45 period, the flood control and wastewater treatment project plan in the 2020-30 period.

The Department of Planning and Investment must promote investments in the construction of wastewater treatment plants, while the Department of Agriculture and Rural Development is in charge of implementing regulations related to managing, exploiting, and protecting irrigation projects for the Thay Cai - An Ha canal route.

The Irrigation Service Management and Operation One-Member Co. Ltd. is responsible for dredging sediment and collecting garbage for the above canal route.

The Urban Infrastructure Construction Investment Project Management Board is tasked to speed up the construction of a wastewater collection system and a corresponding treatment plant in the basin.

The districts of Cu Chi, Hoc Mon, Binh Chanh, Binh Tan and 8 are asked to update current wastewater sources under their charge and ensure all wastewater meets the applicable standards before being released into the environment.  VNS
Khanh Duong

HA NOI  Sung Thi So, a young Mong ethnic girl from Yen Bai Province, would have given up on her desire to go to college at the age of 18 and instead become a wife and mother if she had not had the courage to fight against a local outdated custom.

Having escaped three times from being kidnapped and forced to get married at an early age, So became the first girl in her village to be admitted to university.

Mong ethnic group in the Viet Nams northern mountainous area has a custom known as 'wife stealing', which permits local men to forcefully ask any girl of their choice to become their wives regardless of the girls consent.

So was abducted twice, when she was 14 and 16 years old, but was able to flee with the assistance of her father and other relatives.

But the third time was more horrifying.

Four years ago, when she was staying at home alone and studying to prepare for the high school graduation exam, two men broke into her house and pulled her on a motorbike ride, taking her to their place which was 30-40km away.

So said, I knew one of them as my neighbour's relative, but I do not know his name or how old he was.

"I had a bunch of escape plans like getting off the bike or calling for assistance as we got close to the local police station. But none of those could really happen. My phone was confiscated.

I had to sleep with the man who wanted to kidnap me. That was a horrifying sleepless night as I resisted the entire night.

My attempts to escape seemed to be almost hopeless as it is believed that once the kidnapped girl enters the gate of the mans house, she will become a member of that family and will not be accepted back to her parents house. When she dies, her spirit will also belong to that family.

One night and then two nights I could not do anything to escape. I told the man over and over again I will not marry you, I will not marry you.

When I eventually got my phone back, I called my father, who told me I could do anything I wanted if I didn't want to get married. My fathers supportive attitude motivated me.

On the third day, the family eventually decided to let me return home after realising how determined I was, on the condition that they would set up an engagement ceremony.

Coming back home, my father and I faced pressure from other villagers who tried to persuade us that was a good family. They even gave me and the man three more days to get to know each other and make a decision.

But I said no to everyone.

Escaping a forced marriage and aged 18, a few months later So passed the university entrance exam to the Ha Noi Law University and came to the capital city to realise her study dream.

"My desire to flee poverty drove me to escape from the kidnapping, she told Viet Nam News.

My family is very poor. Despite the fact that my great-grandparents, my grandparents and my parents worked hard in the fields, we never had enough food. I simply wanted a meal to eat, a coat and a pair of shoes to wear throughout the cold. I never stopped believing that I had to go to college, even when I was being held captive in a forced and early marriage.

When we have a goal, we are determined to remove any barriers that block our way. I don't want to become a victim of domestic abuse which I witnessed in my own family and in my ethnic group since I was a young child, she said.

She said ethnic men in her community are automatically given the authority to make decisions on the lives of the women they marry by beating and insulting them, while women have to handle an excessive amount of household chores and suffer greatly from both physical and mental health issues.

"I will undoubtedly never lead such a miserable life, she said.

From victim to agent of change

Now at the age of 22, So has completed her bachelor studies at the Ha Noi Law University and is offering free legal advice to Mong ethnic people who require support.

"There are numerous instances where a violent woman wishes to file for divorce, but her husband disagrees. They seek out me for legal assistance because they are unable to flee acts of violence," said So.

In some other certain cases, the woman does not know how to defend her rights in the event of a dispute because the man and woman do not have a marriage registration certificate.

"I want to stand up for women who experience domestic violence. Men have no right to treat women violently, either physically or mentally. I am aware that many women suffer their entire lives because there is no helping hand out there.

I can become one of the helpers.

I believe that every individual should be enabled to protect themselves. Many questioned why, at the time of my kidnapping, I did not notify the police. However I could not file a lawsuit against the kidnappers as I did not save any evidence. Having been abducted three times, I believe I should learn more about legal affairs. Thats why I decided to study law.

There is an additional risk now from the internet which could increase the numbers from ethnic communities forced into early marriage and So recently launched her own online initiative, So Saw Law, which uses the two primary languages of the Kinh and Mong to provide legal information to Mong people on Facebook and, soon, TikTok.

So said: A lot of Mong people in my neighborhood are illiterate, yet they are rather good at using TikTok. Through the internet, young ladies in the northern mountainous region can make friends with someone in the southern region. Some girls had left the community to get married to strangers they met online.

She noted that efforts to disseminate policies regarding forced and early marriage in ethnic communities have not been effective.

Although the majority of ethnic people do not know Kinh language, local officers still use that language to disseminate the policy. They dont understand what the officers say.

"A lot of ethnic people are unaware that they are breaking the law and do not even know what the death penalty is.

I want to become a bridge between them and the law, So said.

Last year So was one of two Vietnamese representatives to speak out against forced and under age marriage at an Asia-Pacific conference on child marriage in Nepal.

So said she wants to serve as a mentor for other girls in her village and to encourage them to pursue higher education.

"I want to show that women are just as capable as men at studying and working. I want to demonstrate to the parents in my village that education allows girls like me to make a lot of positive contributions to the community. They have no reason for stopping their daughters from continuing education.  VNS
ONG NAI  The director of a wood company is being investigated after a boiler explosion at his factory killed six people.

ong Nai Provincial Police on Friday began prosecution proceedings against Feng Yong, director of Sunrise Wood Trading Production Company.

Chinese national Yong, 39, has been detained pending further investigations for allegedly violating labour safety regulations stipulated in Article 295 of the Penal Code.

Another seven foreigners involved in the case are also banned from leaving Viet Nam as part of the ongoing investigation.

On May 1, an explosion at the companys factory in Vinh Cuu District killed six workers, one Chinese and five Vietnamese.

Five other people sustained serious injuries and have been receiving treatment at Thong Nhat General Hospital in Bien Hoa City.

At the time of the accident, 42 out of the companys 200 employees were working at the site.

According to ong Nai Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs, technical issues with the boiler were detected on April 30. The company then contacted the equipment supplier for maintenance.

The boiler exploded on the next day when technical staff went in to check and repair the machine.  VNS
HA NOI  Seventeen Vietnamese students will bring their nine projects to compete at the Regeneron International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2024, slated for May 11-17 in Los Angeles, the US.

The projects were selected from the 149 entries sent to the National Science and Technology Competition for high school students in the 2023-2024 academic year.

Initiated in 1950, ISEF is the world's largest global science competition for high school students. Each year, it attracts about 1,500 students from over 70 countries and territories around the world who showcase their research results. The competition offers an opportunity for future young scientists to engage in exchanges with their peers and scientists, including Nobel laureates who come to the fair as judges.

Vietnamese students have participated in the contest since 2012 and brought home prizes.

A project of Vietnamese students won a third prize at the Regeneron ISEF 2023, held in Dallas, the US. The project on pharmacological effects on the central nervous system of Litsea cubeba fruit and leaf essential oils, based on a pharmacological network in the Computational Biology and Bioinformatics (CBIO) category, was developed by Nguyen Thi Mai Anh and Nguyen Binh Giang, from the High School for Gifted Students of the University of Science, under the Viet Nam National University, Ha Noi(VNU).

Another project, a quadruped robot model used to assist search and rescue operations in landslide-affected areas by Le Minh uc and Le Nguyen Trung Kien from Le Hong Phong High School for Gifted Students in Ho Chi Minh City, also earned a Special Awards presented by the US Agency for International Development last year. VNS
HCM CITY  A workshop is taking place in Ho Chi Minh City on May 9 - 10 to share experience in adoption support service models of Italy.

The event, held by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and the Italian Commission for Intercountry Adoption (CAI), aims to provide a platform for experts, researchers, specialised agencies, sectors, and localities to seek measures for improving child adoption as well as child care, education, and protection.

ang Tran Anh Tuan, Director of the MoJs Child Adoption Department, said the Party and State have issued many policies and legal regulations on child care, education, and protection to ensure childrens equal access to resources and equal enjoyment of social services. Adoption aims to ensure the best benefits for adopted children, including being brought up, cared for, and educated in the family environment and having their rights respected.

He said opinions from domestic and foreign experts will help the agencies, organisations, and individuals handling child adoption have a broader view and strengthen the capacity of studying, building, and implementing adoption support models and services. This is also a source of reference for authorities to perfect a draft decree amending and supplementing the Governments decrees issued in 2011 and 2019 that detail the implementation of some articles of the Law on Child Adoption.

Tuan also highly valued the good results of the Viet Nam - Italy adoption cooperation on the basis of the two countries 2003 cooperation agreement on child adoption and Hague Convention No. 33 on Protection of Children and Cooperation in Respect of Intercountry Adoption.

CAI Vice President Vincenzo Starita said the countries cooperation programme on child adoption has helped create many new multiracial families and respect the personal identity and life of Vietnamese children.

Recording certain positive results, yet the two sides still need to address several shortcomings and difficulties to devise the best solutions for guaranteeing maximum benefits for each child who is abandoned or left without a family, he noted.

The Child Adoption Department said legal regulations on adoption in Viet Nam are basically complete and match international norms while the settlement of adoption has been standardised.

So far, more than 26,000 children have been adopted domestically, and nearly 4,000 others with severe disabilities or illnesses adopted to other countries, statistics show.

At the workshop, participants pointed out the necessity of support services during the adoption process in Viet Nam and the role of adoption organisations in the intercountry adoption system.

They also looked into facts of social work and support services for adoption in Viet Nam, and gave suggestions on social work implementation during the adoption settlement in the coming time. VNS
HA NOI  Public diplomacy is crucial in helping people at home and abroad understanding Viet Nam, its values, people, policies and achievements and refuting misinformation about the country.

That was the message from Nguyen Minh, Editor-in-Chief of Viet Nam News, at the workshop "Multimedia Communications in Public Diplomacy" on Thursday.

As Viet Nam integrates internationally, public diplomacy, he believes, deserves more attention. He said multimedia communications had become essential in creating ties and promoting mutual understandings between Viet Nam and other countries.

"Multimedia channels allow Viet Nam to express its perspectives not only through text but also images, sounds and videos, increasing influence and persuasion," Minh said.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. o Thi Thu Hang, Head of the Journalism Department under the Vietnam Journalists' Association, said digital transformation centres around the change of mindset and working techniques from a traditional to a digital environment.

She cited digital transformation as a factor that has given rise to multimedia and multi-platform journalism and digital ecosystems in media outlets.

"The three main building blocks of multimedia journalism are text, sound and visual," said Hang.

Dr. o Anh uc, a lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, underlined five challenges in public diplomacy, related to awareness, strategy, context, competition and journalism profits.

He said the goal of public diplomacy is not only to "inform what happens in Viet Nam" but more importantly to "create influence and experience" on the target audience.

The lecturer also highlighted five opportunities for the country in public diplomacy, which involve regime, reputation, materials, young people and media channels.

Cao Thi Ly Ly and inh Vu Nhat Hong, reporters of Viet Nam News, shared several practical tips to improve online engagement, such as embedding popular keywords in titles, captions, teaser and lead paragraphs of articles to boost viewership.

"We should use at least three and at most five main keywords in every article," said Ly.

The reporters suggested using the Google Trends tool to identify the most popular keywords every day on the Google search engine.

Nguyen Quang Vu, Deputy Director of the Vietnam News Agency Television Centre (Vnews), said most mainstream media outlets had engaged in multimedia.

Some advanced ones have employed AI for virtual studios and anchors which attract mass attention. However, multimedia's rise has also seen harmful misinformation pages emerge.

"The task now is to lure audiences away from those malicious pages and back to official sources," said Vu, noting their Channel oi Dien combats fake news head-on.

Nguyen Hoang Nhat, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Vietnam Plus, said audiences now consume news primarily on smartphones rather than print or desktop, citing over two million page views two days prior with over 70 per cent from mobiles.

With more than 70 million social media users in Viet Nam, he stressed the need for media outlets to leverage these platforms.

He also quoted a January 2024 survey showing Vietnamese spend 6h18m online daily, most on social media (2h25m) versus video/TV (2h21m) and news reading (1h47m).

Nguyen Phong Anh, a lecturer at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, said AI is advancing rapidly in sophistication, scale, diversity and personalisation, potentially reaching US$2 trillion in market size by 2030.

AI offers opportunities to automate mundane journalistic tasks, enhance audio-visuals, create new formats like AI-generated music and virtual reality, optimise advertising and customise user interfaces.

However, easier AI access means more junk content and sophisticated fake news, data bias risks,and the potential loss of advantages in some professions.  VNS
HA NOI Hoang Minh Ly, a young doctor at the National Cancer Hospital remains in a critical condition after a shocking accident at a coffee shop.

Ly was crushed by a giant glass window falling from the second floor of The Coffee House in Thai Ha, Ha Noi when she went out for coffee with her friends on April 20.

The building had been violently shaken by the thunderstorm of April 20, which led to the window falling onto Ly, who was on the first floor when the accident happened.

The young doctor was immediately brought to the emergency room, where she was diagnosed with multiple injuries to her spine, ribs and bone marrow, as well as a fourth-grade liver injury and a second-grade spleen injury.

Ly underwent two surgeries and is currently being monitored at the Ha Noi Medical University Hospital. According to doctors, the chance of Ly being paralysed from the accident is still high.

Deputy Minister of Health Tran Van Thuan visited Ly in the Ha Noi Medical University Hospital on Thursday and wished the best for the young doctor.

Twenty nine year old Ly, a native of Nghe An province, overcame a life of hardships to become a doctor, graduating from Ha Noi Medical University in 2019 and finished her oncology residency in 2022.

Her father, a soldier stationed near the border 500 kilometres away from Ha Noi, rushed to the capital only to find his beloved daughter in coma.

In another tragedy for the family, Ly's mother is also suffering from lymphoma and is currently under treatment in the National Cancer Hospital where she worked.

Community calls for response

As two family members are now in the hospital, Ly's father is trying to manage the finances, with Ly's friends and colleagues calling for help on social media.

The call for something to be done has intensified over the last few days, with social media users piling onto The Coffee House's pages demanding that the owner of the coffee franchise, who has not yet spoken of the incident, make a public comment. Some on social media even threatened to boycott the coffee venue.

On Thursday evening, The Coffee House issued a statement on its website acknowledging the incident and stating that the falling glass had injured four employees and three customers, including Ly.

The shop immediately evacuated the remaining customers to a storage room for shelter and quickly informed local police. On April 21, the four employees and two other customers were discharged from hospital.

The Coffee House said they had been in touch with Ly and her family in the hospital and along with the management board of Viet Tower (where the shop was located), have offered to support the family and are waiting to hear back.

Meanwhile, Ly's colleagues are still calling for help to support the doctor in her recovery. For additional details, readers should contact Dr. Phan Van Tan, leader of the HMU Nghe An Compatriots' Club at +84 349251769.

VNS
MADRID  Forty members of the forum of overseas Vietnamese (OV) women in Europe have for the first time attended the Global Summit of Women, which opened in Madrid, Spain, on Thursday (local time).

The three-day event discusses the role of women in driving the future economy. It draws over 1,000 government leaders, CEOs, and entrepreneurs from 70 countries worldwide, including the US, Mexico, Viet Nam, Cameroon, and Kazakhstan.

Within its framework, the OVs living across eight European nations met with President of the summit Irene Natividad and joined a business-networking event with 31 members of WeLead  a Vietnamese-based network of trailblazing women leaders, who are also in Madrid to attend the forum.

In her remarks, the president of the OV forum, Phan Bich Thien, the first-time participation shows that Vietnamese women in Europe not only form a network but also reach out to connect with their peers from other countries worldwide.

Natividad asserted that women worldwide, including those from Vietnam, play a significant role in the global economy.

Echoing the view, Nguyen Thi Tuyet Minh, Chairwoman of WeLead, expressed her belief that the meeting between female entrepreneurs from Viet Nam and the Vietnamese diaspora in Europe will open up opportunities for partnerships.

On this occasion, a cooperation agreement was signed between WeLead and the OV forum in Europe. VNS
By Nguyen My Ha

For the past seventy years, ien Bien Phu stands for bravery, dignity and victory of an entire nation who rose up to win back their independence. ien Bien Phu Campaign pulled together the physical and mindful strength of the nation.

From the barefoot soldiers and volunteer transporters, the human forces who pushed their 100-kilo plus bicycles to transport supplies to the battlefield or the soldiers who pulled heavy artillery pieces up to the mountains with their hands, millions of men and women would give up all of their most precious assets: their youth was dedicated to serve and fight for national freedom and independence.

Millions people gave all they had

For a few weeks now, a series of ceremonies to pay tribute to fallen soldiers, a series of activities have been going on not only in ien Bien Phu City but around the country, especially provinces where a large number of soldiers and volunteers had worked and supported the campaign.

On the contrary to the joyous songs, or positive energy that has been channeled from ien Bien elsewhere in the country, the nine-year-long resistance war had seen 8 military campaigns before the final ien Bien, and war veteran Nguyen Cong Dinh, at 97 years of age, remembers it well.

"Alas, there was nothing joyful about war," he remembers. "No matter how miserable the condition could be, you always had to keep a merry spirit to accomplish your duty."

And he was to carry on order from no other than General Vo Nguyen Giap, who entrusted him an important letter, that turned the campaign into a different approach.

This year, Dinh says he's not feeling well, so he would not go to celebrations, even if they are held in Ha Noi. "The weather has made me feel quite tired these days," he says. "I really don't know if I can make it to any of the reunions."

To prepare for the 50th anniversary of the ien Bien Phu battle victory , he went to ien Bien for two years in 2003 and 2004 to check. "After the trip, I had problems with my heart and had to have three stents placed in my heart," he says.

"I worked at the 'brain office' of the headquarters and was active from day 1 of the campaign, so I was very much involved," he says. "Especially those commanders, they trusted me, I guess, so they always wanted me to accompany them."

During the campaign, I fulfilled my duty and perhaps accomplished something vital.

I could say ien Bien campaign was a milestone that changed my life.

Dinh's efforts across all the military campaigns were considerable and he is proud of his exploits and the victory that was so hard won.

"I participated in all eight big campaigns during the 9-year resistance war against the French. My name was included in all of the campaigns: the Border Campaign, Ha Nam Ninh, Hoa Binh, Tay Bac (Ly Thuong Kiet) and the Tay Bac campaign that liberated the Upper Laos, and finally, ien Bien Phu. Now that I've become a historical witness, I can talk about what I've been through," he says.

"ien Bien Phu was an enormous campaign, and nearly 5 million people took part in it. Their contributions are very great, my part was very small. It may not be worth your while."

Despite Dinh's modesty, it's clear the veteran played a crucial role and has many stories to tell. One particular act was of huge significance to the outcome of the war

A messenger and a vital letter

According to the initial plan, January 26 was set to be the day when Viet Minh soldiers [resistance army] opened fire to start ien Bien Phu campaign.

But on the morning of that day, Gen Vo Nguyen Giap, commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People's Army, had a final meeting with the Front Party Committee on the battle, and after serious discussion, the participating officers decided to change the tactics of the entire campaign from the "Fast Strike, Fast Victory" approach to "Steady Attack, Steady Advance".

But for this vital change to be implemented, he had to get approval from President Ho Chi Minh and the Politburo, who lived in the Safety Zone in inh Hoa, Thai Nguyen Province, some 500km away.

Dinh, as always, was ready to carry out his order given, and again was entrusted with the assignment to take Gen Giap's letter to the President as fog fell on the night of January 27, 1954.

January in the mountains often saw fog in the late afternoon, and the activities of the Viet Minh resistance forces always took place from late in the evening until the next morning. Dinh left the headquarters in a car. Time was of the essence.

The road from Gen Giap's headquarters to where President Ho lived crossed three points that were often heavily bombarded: the Pha in Pass, the Co Noi T-junction and Au Lau Wharf.

During the trip, the road was heavily bombed, and the car had to run rough terrain with many bomb craters. It was critical that the letter be delivered whatever the costs and risks involved.

By midnight on January 28, when they got to Au Lau Wharf, a boatman took them on a ferry. When they got to the middle of the river, French troops shots flared up above their heads. Dinh remembers the ferryman telling him that enemy artillery fire was coming their way.

After two white nights, Dinh arrived in inh Hoa, and handed over the letter to Gen Van Tien Dung to present it to President Ho. The Politburo got the message and would get in touch with Gen Giap by telegraph. Mr. Dinh went back to the front after safely delivered the letter.

"My contribution was very little. But it was my one-of-a-lifetime experience that shaped me as I took part in our country's fight against invaders to protect our country. Simple as that, Mr. Dinh said.

ien Bien Phu legacy

This year, Dinh can no longer go up to ien Bien, but he always has the spirit of the battle of his life inside him.

After ien Bien Phu victory, Vietnamese people still had to endure even more hardship and fierce fighting. We enjoyed real peace only decades later.

Cherish the victory of ien Bien, it only reminds us that Viet Nam as a country must ensure to keep peace reigning long on Viet Nam.
By Le Viet Dung & Tran Khanh An

In the spring of 1954, the Battle of ien Bien Phu raged in northwestern Viet Nam as Viet Minh, or the Vietnamese Resistance forces, besieged French troops entrenched in a valley surrounded by mountains.

Among the fiercest fights was the assault on Hill A1 (identified as Strongpoint Eliane 2 by the French), a heavily fortified outpost that General Vo Nguyen Giap [commander-in-chief of the Vietnam People's Army] described as "the key" to breaking the French "Hedgehog".

Chu Van Mui, a veteran radioman and a war hero, recounts the fierce assault in which he played a crucial role.

The second phase of Viet Minh's military campaign at ien Bien Phu began on the night of March 30, 1954, as Vietnamese troops attacked five strongholds east of the French headquarters.

The 174th Regiment of the 316th Division was tasked with capturing the strongest of the five, Hill A1, an outpost of vital strategic importance.

The fight was fierce, with French troops in underground bunkers and supported by artillery and aerial bombardments.

By March 31, Vietnamese troops had captured half of Hill A1 but then lost communication with their division commanders due to severely broken telephone lines.

That's when Mui was immediately dispatched to reinforce the 174th Regiment. He and another radioman braved intense enemy shelling to reach Hill A1 and re-establish contact using their radio transceiver.

"In the evening, our troops on Hill A1 lost communication with their commanding post," Mui said. "Comrade uc and I urgently brought our radio transceiver, a US-made 102E, to Hill A1 to restore connection."

Under relentless fire, the two radiomen maintained the communication link and transmitted vital info that helped Vietnamese artillery repel many waves of French counterattacks.

On the night, the 102nd Regiment (under the 308th Division) and the remaining 174th Regiment launched the second assault on Hill A1. They quickly seized the lower defensive positions on the hill.

The French troops were forced back to the hilltop and retreated into underground bunkers.

"At around 2am, we attacked the hilltop, but the communication link up there with our commanding post was very bad," Mui said.

Mui fearlessly crossed a heavy artillery barrage, carrying his radio transceiver to the hilltop to restore communication.

By the morning of April 1, Vietnamese forces had controlled two-thirds of Hill A1 but could not expand their footholds.

The French attempted to retake Hill A1 with two tanks and reinforced troops. Mui called the artillery for support: "Two customers are leading two cows into the coffee shop" (meaning two enemy companies with two tanks begin counterattack).

Guided by Mui's info about the enemy's coordinates, the artillery blasted huge holes in their ranks, disabling their fighting power.

"A tank rushed to the top and fired heavily at our troops," Mui said. "An anti-tank soldier fired a shot, and the tank immediately was engulfed in fire."

Three waves of failed counterattacks cost the French hundreds of troops. The two sides settled into a stalemate.

On the night of April 1, Vietnamese forces launched the third attack but were pushed back. Radioman uc was killed that night, leaving Mui alone to operate the vital link while also fighting off the French.

The next day, the headquarters lost contact with regiment commander Hung Sinh. Through the radio, a general ordered Mui to locate him.

"I hadn't eaten for a day," Mui said. "But I strapped on the 20kg transceiver and went to find Comrade Sinh with my last ounce of strength."

After an intense search in the raging battle, he found Sinh wounded on the frontline. The commander was ordered to withdraw from the hill for medical treatment but insisted on remaining in the fight.

As reinforcements arrived the next day, Mui and Sinh returned to the hilltop to drive back French counterattacks. The two sides fought each other in a bloody stalemate for over a month.

Facing the unwavering resistance of the French garrison on Hill A1, the 174th Regiment took an alternative plan to break through the stronghold. An engineering team was assembled to dig a tunnel towards the French underground bunkers to plant explosives.

The soil at Hill A1 was extremely hard. On the first day, the team could only carve 90cm into the rocky slope. French troops rained down gunfire and grenades, wounding three sappers and knocking the team leader unconscious.

Despite the difficulties, the team managed to complete the tunnel on May 5. During the night, a tonne of explosives was placed directly beneath the French underground bunkers.

The next evening, after the Vietnamese forces in Hill A1 received the order to regroup in Hill Chay, 250m away, the explosives were detonated, blasting the bunkers to rubble.

Vietnamese troops quickly captured the hill. The French deployed two squads and a tank in a final attempt to retake Hill A1 but to no avail.

With the fall of Hill A1, an outpost just 300m away from the French headquarters, French resistance collapsed. Vietnamese forces planted their victory flag over Gen de Castries's headquarters on May 7.

"French troops held out stubbornly on Hill A1, only losing it on the last day of the battle," said Mui.

The 56-day and night siege of ien Bien Phu ended in a decisive French defeat leading to the Geneva Accord restoring peace in Indochina. But victory came at a tremendous cost, with the brutal struggle for Hill A1 exemplifying the sacrifice required to prevail against colonial forces.

For his significant contributions to the ien Bien Phu Campaign, Mui was honoured as a "Hero of the People's Armed Forces" in 1955.  VNS
Social media users immediately criticized the ad, which was posted on X by Apple CEO Tim Cook, as painfully tone-deaf at a time when the creative community is worried about its future with the emergence of generative AI.

Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad after backlash, photo Apple

"Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it's incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world," Apple's vice president of marketing Tor Myhren told Ad Age.

"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry."

The company also said it won't air the ad on television as planned.

Set to the song "All I ever need is you" by Sonny and Cher, the one-minute ad titled "Crush" sees the pile of creative artifacts -- including a guitar, piano and paint cans -- explode under the pressure of Apple's press.

At the end, the press pulls back and reveals Apple's latest tablet, the iPad Pro, touted as ultra-thin.

"The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley," wrote actor Hugh Grant on X in response to Cook's tweet.

Hollywood director Reed Morano urged Cook to "read the room," calling the ad "psychotic."

The ad harked to viral TikTok videos of industrial presses and other machines that are watched by millions on the platform.

Many critics said the ad betrayed Apple's iconic 1984 commercial that launched the first Mac computer and depicted the company as a hammer-throwing rebel against a monolith big brother.

The ad comes as ChatGPT and Dall-E creator OpenAI, as well as other AI giants, are facing lawsuits from artists and publishers saying that their material was used to train AI models without permission.

Apple announces Vietnam spending boost as CEO visits Hanoi Tech giant Apple said Monday it would increase spending on suppliers in Vietnam, a key production hub, as CEO Tim Cook arrived in the country for a two-day visit.

Vietnam asks Apple to make it global production base Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh met with Apple CEO Tim Cook on April 16 and asked him to identify Vietnam as a manufacturing base to engage in the iPhone maker's global production chain.

Apple suppliers in Vietnam climb to 35 in 2023 The number of Apple partners setting up factories or offices in Vietnam increased from 27 to 35 from 2022 to 2023, ranking first in the region and fourth in the world.
On May 9, the State Steering Committee for Important National and Key Energy Projects led by Minister of Industry and Trade Nguyen Hong Dien worked at the construction site of Nhon Trach 3 and 4 power plants in Nhon Trach district of the southern province of Dong Nai. These two projects have a total capital of $1.4 billion and a total capacity of 1,624 MW.

If everything proceeds according to the plan, Nhon Trach 3 will be finished and will be able to generate commercial power in November 2004, whilst Nhon Trach 4 will follow suit in May 2025.

However, as of April, the workload is only 85 per cent complete. This means that the construction process of Nhon Trach 3 is delayed for six months compared to the deadline due to barriers in land clearance. Meanwhile, the delay of Nhon Trach 3 will lead to delays in the Nhon Trach 4 deadline.

The investor reported to the State Steering Committee that the total area having clear ground relating to the land of Ong Keo Industrial Park was 30.7 hectares, and there are barriers relating to land hiring fees.

Project Management Board leaders have said that one issue that has to be settled promptly is the power purchase agreements (PPA) contract between Vietnam Electricity (EVN) and PV Power.

The next steps are committing to a long-term power purchase and figuring out the pricing range for liquefied natural gas power generation. These represent the most crucial elements required for the projects to be implemented successfully.

Another noteworthy problem is the disagreement between the Project Management Board and the land leasing entity, Tin Nghia Group.

Before the Lunar New Year, PV Power issued a document stamped as urgent and sent it to Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha and relevant authorities, stating that Tin Nghia Group, the organisation in charge of overseeing Ong Keo Industrial Park, had obstructed the construction of the cooling water discharge channel at the park's intersection with Road No. 4.

PV Power submitted the proposals to look for solutions for these two projects. The investor estimates that a delay in the construction of these two projects will cause damage to over $541,000 per day for parties, including Dong Nai Peoples Committee.

These two projects are national key projects, which play a crucial role in ensuring energy security for the country. Thus, the province and the investor need closer collaboration to resolve the pending issues and to accelerate the projects, said Minister Dien.

PetroVietnam invests in O Mon III and IV thermal power plants PetroVietnam has taken over the O Mon III and IV gas-fired power plants after a recent decision promulgated by Can Tho Peoples Committee.

Thailand delays 15 billion USD digital wallet scheme Thailands Deputy Minister of Finance Julapun Amornvivat on October 19 announced that the scheme to give 10,000 THB (274 USD) in handouts via digital wallets to more than 50 million people in the country will not be started on February 1, 2024 as planned.

Japanese automakers to invest 4.3 bln USD in Thailand The Thai Government announced on December 25 that four major Japanese automakers will invest 150 billion THB (4.34 billion USD) in Thailand over the next five years.

Chinese corporation proposes $2.4 billion power project in Quang Tri A joint venture between Chinas Huadian Group and Vietnams Minh Quang Technology has proposed the development of a hydrogen production plant in combination with a 1,200 MW wind farm and an 800 MW solar farm in the central province of Quang Tri, with a total investment of nearly $2.4 billion.
Vietnam enjoys high export growth in the first quarter of 2024 (Photo: VietnamPlus)

Positive progress was seen in exports in the first quarter of this year as the country earned more than 93 billion USD from overseas shipments, up 17 per cent year on year, with a trade surplus of 8 billion USD.

Revenue from the processing-manufacturing industry, which fetched 79.6 billion USD, accounted for 86 per cent of the countrys total export turnover, while agro-forestry-fisheries exports earned 8.46 billion USD, contributing 9.09 per cent to the countrys total.

Bui Huy Son, Director of the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT)s Planning and Finance Department, said that expansion was seen in exports of many products as well as shipments to the majority of export markets.

Particularly, exports to the US, Vietnams biggest market, reached 26.06 billion USD in the first three months of this year, up 25.5 per cent year on year. Those to China rose 5.2 per cent to 12.68 billion USD and to the EU 16.3 per cent to 12.1 billion USD.

Tran Thanh Hai, Deputy Director of the MoITs Import-Export Department held that a surge of 35.6 per cent in exports in March and 17 per cent in the first quarter of this year showed strong recovery in production and export activities of domestic businesses. This is a foundation for Vietnam to fulfil its export growth target of over 6 per cent for the whole year, he said.

Hai said that the 16 FTAs, covering all major export markets of Vietnam, have produced good results.

Currently, Vietnam is negotiating three other FTAs  a deal with the EFTA which comprises Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein, an FTA between ASEAN and Canada, and another between Vietnam and the UAE.

Particularly, the negotiations for a Vietnam-UAE FTA are being accelarated, Hai noted.

The official said that the MoIT is focusing on expanding negotiations for more FTAs and popularising benefits from the signed deals to businesses for better exploitation.

The FTAs have shown positive impact on exports and contributed to maintaining Vietnams advantages in trade and investment activities. Vietnam is still likely to face challenges, such as unpredictable developments in the global economy, with growth in many regions forecast to be lower than 2023.

Meanwhile, attention should be paid to sustainable development, climate change response, and safety for consumers. This has led to new regulations and standards for the supply chain, materials, labour and environment in which import products are manufactured, he said.

In order to meet the increasing requirements of the market, MoIT Deputy Minister Nguyen Sinh Nhat Tan underlined the need to enhance the quality of the FTAs. Vietnam should continue negotiating to upgrade the deals, expanding markets and market approaches.

At the same time, Vietnam should seek new markets and diversify export markets, both traditional and new ones, Tan underscored.

He advised local firms to keep a close eye on the market development and changes in policies of partners to apply suitable response measures and adjust their production plans.

He pledged that the ministry will continue organising trade promotion discussions with the system of Vietnam trade offices abroad to seek ways to promote sustainable exports.

President suggests Vietnam, Malaysia take advantage of FTAs President Nguyen Xuan Phuc has recommended Vietnam and Malaysia capitalise on free trade agreements of which both are members, particularly the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP).
This event is deemed an important milestone, opening up prospects for cooperation and development for both sides, and laying a stepping stone for Hanoi Plastics (HPC) to participate more deeply in the supply chain for leading Korean businesses in the future.

On the side of HPC, the signing ceremony featured Pham Do Huy Cuong, CEO of An Phat Holdings and chairman of the Board of Directors of HPC; Ngo Van Thu, general director of HPC; and Lam Thi Hien, deputy general director in charge of Business Development of HPC.

On the side of the Korean partner, Lee Don Ju, chairman and Lee Sang Hak, business director of PowerNet Technologies; and Song Sang Hoon, CEO of PowerNet Vietnam were present.

Pham Do Huy Cuong, CEO of An Phat Holdings and chairman of the Board of Directors of HPC and Lee Don Ju, chairman of PowerNet Technologies, at the MoU signing ceremony

The MoU aims to build up a conducive system of mutual support to maximise the production and business capacity of both parties.

Accordingly, HPC and PowerNet Technologies will strengthen cooperation in the construction and operation of end-product assembly and production facilities; promoting business cooperation in plastic moulding and production techniques; and other necessary fields to optimise cooperation benefits between the two parties.

To implement the MoU smoothly, HPC and PowerNet Technologies are set to establish and jointly operate a steering committee consisted of board members from both sides to discuss and exchange on many different issues.

Opportunities for supply network expansion

PowerNet Technologies is a leading business in the manufacture of switching mode power supply sets in Korea, boasting a 30 years-plus track record.

Headquartered in RoK with factories based in Qingdao and Shenyang cities in China, the company's products have forayed into 12 countries around the world.

PowerNet Technologies is currently a tier-1 supplier of Coway, a major brand in Korea, with decades of experience in manufacturing and developing household appliances, notably air and water purifiers.

Leveraging the move, HPC will directly engage in the production and assembly of complex components that make up air purifiers, instead of just producing plastic components as previously.

This would be an important step for HPC to participate more deeply in the supply chain for Coway, while also ushering in opportunities for the company to become a leading supplier for businesses in Korea and global electronics groups in the future.

The event also helps expand HPCs global customer headcount, marking a new milestone in its lasting journey of persistent innovation, technology improvement, and investment in machinery-equipment and human resources, to meet increasingly stringent market standards.

HPC- A leading supplier for major Korean businesses

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Pham Do Huy Cuong - CEO of An Phat Holdings and chairman of the Board of Directors of HPC said he appreciated the comprehensive MoU with PowerNet Technologies.

Pham Do Huy Cuong, CEO of An Phat Holdings and chairman of the Board of Directors of HPC highly appreciates the cooperation with PowerNet Technologies

The MoU marks a new success for HPC in its efforts to diversify the supply chain, realising the goal for production and business expansion, and product diversification to catch up with increasing market demands. This is also a solid stepping stone for us to engage more deeply in the global value chain, contributing to bringing high quality Vietnamese-made products to global customers, Cuong noted.

As for PowerNet Technologies, chairman Lee Don Ju expressed his joy at having the opportunity to cooperate with HPC, saying that the Hanoi Plastics has surpassed three other rivals to become a supplier of PowerNet Technologies, by virtue of meeting all the stringent requirements the company has set.

Lee Don Ju, chairman of PowerNet Technologies, has high expectations for future cooperation with HPC

Leveraging existing advantages, Lee believes that PowerNet Technologies and HPC will garner more development opportunities as well as secure significant customers in Korea and around the world.

Lee expressed his expectation that the MoU would lay the foundation for a long-term strategic partnership between PowerNet Technologies and HPC, turning the two companies into the leading suppliers for Coway in Southeast Asia.

Right after signing the MoU, PowerNet Technologies and HPC will embark on producing new product lineups to materialise their common goals.

Hanoi Plastics JSC is a member of An Phat Holdings, a leading high-tech and environmentally friendly plastic group in Vietnam and Southeast Asia.

The company has made it into the list of leading businesses in supporting industries, boasting a 50 year-plus track record in manufacturing plastic components, auto and motorbike parts, electronic devices, industrial equipment and accessories, and moulds.

HPC is the leading supplier for large groups and corporations such as Honda, Toyota, Piaggio, LG, and Panasonic.

Australia and Vietnam upgrades ties to a comprehensive strategic partnership Prime Minister of Australia Anthony Albanese and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh announced a major upgrade of the Australia  Vietnam relationship on March 5 to a comprehensive strategic partnership.

Vietnam-New Zealand Strategic Partnership sustains positive development momentum Vietnam and New Zealand established diplomatic ties in 1975 and elevated their relations to a strategic partnership in 2020. The cooperation results obtained so far are considered a positive foundation for the two countries to foster their cooperation in the future.
Vietnamese workers now can easily access jobs in other countries, work remotely, and gain attractive salary. Meanwhile, domestic and foreign companies in the country can also easily seek talents from around the world when the domestic labour market has yet to meet their demand.

An industrial electronics class at the Hanoi College of High Technology (Photo: VNA)

Dan Westgarth, Chief Operating Officer of Deel  a California-based human resource solution company, told Tuoi tre (Youth) newspaper that the world is entering the second stage of globalisation and people can work from everywhere. Remote working is now a trend, so the current priority is to improve skills instead of paying too much attention to workplaces.

Foreign companies tend to recruit Vietnamese for such positions as software engineering/programming, data analysis, digital marketing, and data engineering.

Statistics from the US firm also show that the US, Singapore, Australia, Hong Kong (China), and the UK have the biggest demand for Vietnamese personnel. Among them, Australia is thirsting for workers and has high preference for those from Vietnam.

Vietnamese workers are believed to boast characteristics suitable for such jobs as programming, software development, and data collection and analysis.

However, Antonia Sanda, communications director for Asia-Pacific at Deel, pointed out that though Vietnam is paying great attention to developing hi-tech human resources, the current speed is unable to satisfy market demand.

Other insiders also held that despite the big recruitment demand in hi-tech industries in Vietnam, human resources capacity still needs to be improved.

At the Coc Coc Co. Ltd, which owns the Coc Coc web browser and search engine, demand for manpower in the fields of artificial intelligence and data science has doubled over the last three years and will continue increasing in the time ahead, said Deputy General Director Mai Thi Thanh Oanh.

She added, however, that only about 20 per cent of the candidates meet at least 80 per cent of the recruitment criteria to be interviewed. After preliminary interviews, those qualified and able to go to work drop to just 5 per cent, she noted.

For its part, Huawei Vietnam said technology human resources in Vietnam are growing in terms of both quantity and quality.

Nguyen Huong, communications director of the Chinese-invested company, noted foreign language skills form one of the factors important to Vietnamese workers competitiveness compared to other countries talents. Human resources of Vietnam now have better awareness of improving their foreign language skills.

Vietnam ranked 59th in the 2023 Global Remote Work Index, which evaluates the potential of 108 countries/territories to qualify as top remote work destinations.

UNDP Administrator congratulates Vietnam on human development achievements Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Achim Steiner has congratulated Vietnam on many important achievements in human development it has obtained over the recent past.

Prensa Latina spotlights facts about human rights in Vietnam The Latin American News Agency Prensa Latina recently ran an article titled "Derechos humanos en Vietnam: hechos, mas que palabras" (Human rights in Vietnam: facts, more than words), highlighting Vietnams achievements in promoting human rights.

Vietnams human rights record hailed at UN review A Vietnamese delegation led by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Do Hung Viet attended a dialogue on Vietnam's national report under the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC)s fourth cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) mechanism in Geneva on May 7.
The past year saw an unprecedented surge in investment funding from China, especially in the northern provinces and economic zones. This trend is expected to continue due to cause tensions between global economic powers with the need for diversification in supply chains, and rising labour costs in the worlds largest manufacturing centre.

And on the 50th anniversary of the two countries establishment of relations, Vietnam and Japan elevated their bilateral ties to a Comprehensive Strategic Partnership, signalling a commitment to further collaboration in a wide range of areas.

The Vietnamese and US governments also signed a long-awaited Comprehensive Strategic Partnership last September, opening up opportunities for increased cooperation in various economic areas, especially high-tech sectors such as semiconductors and renewable energy.

Among the thousands of foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs) from the United States, China, and Japan responding to the survey, there was a modest rise to just over 30.3 per cent in the number of firms increasing investment, up from 30 per cent in 2022, indicating a cautious commitment to growth amid uncertain economic conditions.

The percentage of firms adding employees rose from 55.8 per cent in 2022 to 59.9 per cent in 2023, signifying a significant recovery in employment activities by FIEs. Profitability rose more modestly, with 46.5 per cent of firms reporting profits in 2023 compared to 42.8 per cent in 2022.

Concurrently, the proportion of firms reporting losses decreased to 42.32 per cent in 2023, lower than the 44.9 recorded in 2022 and down significantly from the peak of 51.3 per cent in 2021. This positive trajectory suggests a sustained rebound from the pandemics shadow.

The business confidence among FIEs shows a marked decline in the share of firms anticipating expansion in 2023. This year, only 26 per cent of firms expect to expand, a decrease from the 33 per cent seen in the previous year and significantly lower than the post-pandemic optimism peak of 47.7 per cent in 2021.

Moreover, the current sentiment starkly contrasts the pre-pandemic eras steadier confidence levels, where expansion expectations consistently remained above 45 per cent from 2014 to 2019. Such a downturn reflects a continued sense of caution in the business climate, which could be attributed to ongoing global economic uncertainties.

The confidence among non-exporting and exporting firms in Vietnam in 2023 expressed more pessimism, with non-exporters confidence declining slightly to 23.6 per cent and exporters confidence dropping sharply to 28.7 per cent.

According to the report and survey, FIEs from the US, China, and Japan express distinct concerns regarding Vietnams business environment. US firms frequently encounter challenges with policy and regulations, with 22 per cent highlighting these as significant hurdles. This group also struggles notably with bureaucratic procedures, impacting 16 per cent of respondents.

Japanese FIEs, meanwhile, face acute difficulties with tax-related procedures, a consistent theme in their feedback over the years. Seventy-two per cent of Japanese firms report severe issues with tax refunds, a stark contrast to the 42 per cent reported by non-Japanese investors. The challenges extend to tax finalisation, where 58 per cent of Japanese FIEs encounter problems.

FIEs from China exhibit a better ability to navigate Vietnams regulatory framework, with only 9 per cent reporting difficulties with policy and regulations, and a mere 5 per cent facing bureaucratic obstacles. However, these firms grapple with market-related challenges, with 38 per cent affected by market volatility and 44 per cent experiencing difficulties in customer acquisition.

In 2023, Vietnams investment landscape boasts 111 source countries and territories, each contributing to the nations foreign direct investment (FDI) profile. Singapore stood out as the top investor with an inflow of $6.9 billion, constituting 18.6 per cent of the total FDI and marking a 5.4 per cent increase from the previous year.

Japan followed as the second-largest investor, with Hong Kong also listed among the top contributors, indicating the continued strong presence from East Asia in the Vietnamese market. Investors from China boasted the highest number of new foreign-invested projects, while South Korean investors led in expanding existing ventures.

Emblematic of this growth were four substantial projects: the Japanese-funded Thai Binh liquefied natural gas thermal power plant with a capital registration of $1.99 billion, the Hong Kong-backed Jinko Solar Hai Ha Vietnam technology complex with $1.5 billion in Quang Ninh, the Taiwanese Lite-On Quang Ninh factory with an investment of $690 million, and the South Korean LG Innotek Haiphongs additional investment of $1 billion.

Fresh approaches expected in stock market tech trends Advanced technology and AI are rapidly transforming Vietnams stock market landscape, leading to significant changes in how firms operate and investors approach the market.

Vietnam's new tax regulations reflect global tax trends There have been various economic ups and downs in the post-pandemic era that have necessitated decisive measures to sustain growth. Despite an improvement in the third quarter of the year, Vietnam's economy still faces a number of obstacles to achieve its targets.

Three key trends shaping consumer industrys journey towards digital maturity Deloitte's latest report reveals three key trends that encapsulate the forces shaping the consumer industrys journey towards digital maturity.
On May 7, within nearly two hours of opening, Saigon Jewelry Company (SJC) adjusted the buying and selling prices of gold bars five times. By 10am, each tael of SJC gold had increased by $40 compared to the previous day, reaching slightly over $3,400, the highest level to date.

The trading price of SJC gold bars at other gold shops also showed an upward trend but with slower fluctuations.

At Phu Nhuan Jewelry Company, the price of gold bars at the same time rose to nearly $3,500. Meanwhile, at DOJI Gold and Gem Group, the increase per tael was lower, hovering around $3,450.

In terms of plain rings, SJC raised the price of plain rings to $3,000, while DOJI's Prosperous Plain Rings and Bao Tin Minh Chau rings did the same.

Since the beginning of the year, domestic gold prices have continuously surged. Investors who bought gold at the beginning of the year and sold it at this time have been making tens of millions of VND in profit per tael.

In the international market, the price of gold per ounce traded during the morning session in Hanoi hovered around $2,322. Converted at the Vietcombank selling exchange rate, excluding taxes and fees, the international gold price is approximately $630 lower than domestic gold.

The continuous increase in domestic gold prices, leading to a widening gap with international gold prices, is an extremely concerning signal for the national economy, especially for import-export businesses.

Economic expert Truong Vi Tuan stated that in the domestic market, the most important factor is the strong upward trend of the USD/VND exchange rate in recent weeks.

"This is entirely appropriate as gold prices are often calculated in USD. When the USD strengthens, it puts pressure on the VND, leading to a significant price difference in the USD/VND exchange rate, which affects import-export businesses, resulting in domestic price increases, burdening the lives of the people," Tuan said.

Explaining the lack of activity at recent auction sessions, economic expert Dinh Trong Thinh believed that the measures taken by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) had not been effective.

"To conduct successful gold auctions, firstly, the state needs to establish an appropriate bidding price, and the 10 per cent deposit rate is quite high and needs to be reconsidered," Thinh said. "Moreover, in the auction invitation notice, the SBV noted that if it couldn't purchase gold from the international market due to insufficient supply from partners, it reserved the right to cancel the results."

Thus, the risk for bidding units is significant because the gold price fluctuates, and if there is insufficient gold, the SBV has the right to cancel without compensation, which is too safe for the SBV and, consequently, increases the risk for bidding businesses, Thinh said.

According to Thinh, the increasing number of cancelled gold auction sessions may push gold prices even higher.

"The purpose of gold auctions is to timely intervene and address the difference between domestic and international gold prices, ensuring the stability, health, and effectiveness of the gold market. However, for every cancelled trading session, the amount of gold in the market doesn't increase, so traders will immediately push up gold prices," Thinh added.

Regarding the prospects of the gold market, expert Ngo Tri Long believed that balancing supply, demand, and strict supervision of business activities by enterprises could bring about change.

Completing the expected auction of nearly 17,000 taels of gold will also alleviate supply pressure in the market, contributing to lowering gold prices to some extent. However, we also need to listen to market demand to adjust supply accordingly," Long said.

"Organising auctions to reduce the price gap between domestic and international gold is not a fundamental solution. In the long term, we also need to consider amending Decree No.24/2012/ND-CP on the management of gold business activities to be appropriate for the current context," Long added.

Amendments to gold regulations on agenda Vietnamese authorities have identified issues and will close regulatory loopholes to stabilise the gold market, according to Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank).

Cautious state remains after gold auction Despite high market interest, Vietnams inaugural gold auction left 13,400 taels unsold, with restrictive conditions and regulatory uncertainties dampening enthusiasm and complicating efforts to align domestic prices with global rates.
During a meeting with institutional investors on May 9, Danny Le addressed questions regarding Masans preparation for SK Groups divestment.

He assured that SK Group would not conduct a mass sale of Masan Groups MSN shares.

We will continue to collaborate with SK Group as partners, alongside their role as shareholders. SK also holds stakes in The CrownX and WinCommerce and is committed to long-term investment in Vietnam. Therefore, Masan Group and SK plan a phased divestment over 24 months, mitigating concerns of a sell-off impacting share prices, Le said.

Le emphasised that SK Groups interests as a shareholder in The CrownX were long-term.

He noted that approximately a month and a half ago, GIC sold MSN shares, demonstrating the liquidity of the Vietnamese stock market.

Vietnams stock market has shown strong liquidity, which is promising for future transactions, he added.

Le also expressed confidence that Vietnams stock market could soon be classified as an emerging market, suggesting that SK would likely wait for additional capital inflows before making further moves.

Masan Group will work closely with SK to rebalance the portfolio or completely divest in a manner that protects our share price, ensuring all Masan shareholders benefit, he said.

In September 2023, Korean media reported that SK Group might divest its $500 million investment in Masan.

Subsequently, a senior SK official said, There may be some portfolio adjustments as Vietnams industry evolves, but we plan to strengthen our future cooperation further. Masan Group remains a key strategic partner, and we will continue to explore long-term collaboration opportunities.

SK became a shareholder in Masan Group in 2018, investing approximately $443 million to acquire a 9.5 per cent stake in Masan Group.

In mid-November 2021, SK Group, through its subsidiary SK South East Asia Investment, purchased a 16.3 per cent stake in WinCommerce for $410 million as part of its strategic partnership with Masan Group.

By November, SK Group further invested $340 million to acquire a 4.9 per cent stake in The CrownX, resulting in Masan and SK holding 85 per cent and 4.9 per cent stakes, respectively, in The CrownX.

Currently, SK Investment Vina I holds 131.9 million MSN shares, equivalent to a 9.22 per cent stake in Masan Group.

SK Group, a multi-industry conglomerate with a market capitalisation exceeding $88 billion, is the second-largest conglomerate in South Korea after Samsung.

SK was also recognised in TIMEs list of the 100 most influential companies of 2023, with strengths in energy, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, logistics, and information and communication technology.

We remain committed to enhancing our strategic partnership with Masan and will continue to explore new collaboration opportunities from a long-term perspective, an SK senior executive remarked.

Meanwhile, in late April, Masan announced that it has successfully completed a $250-million equity raise from Bain Capital, a world-leading private investment firm with approximately $180 billion of assets under management.

Masan eyes global expansion, WinCommerce to reach 4,000 stores by 2024 Masan Group Corporation, along with its publicly listed affiliates Masan Consumer and Masan MEATLife, convened their 2024 AGM in Ho Chi Minh City on April 26, projecting a unified vision titled "Consumer of Things".
Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan (right) receives Chairman of the Nagano prefectural council Nishizawa Masataka on May 9 in Hanoi. (Photo: The Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs)

Speaking at a meeting with Deputy Minister of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs Nguyen Ba Hoan in Hanoi, the Japanese official said that Nagano is a prefecture with the highest average life expectancy in Japan. Thus, the local authorities have paid much attention to health care for the public.

He informed the host the locality is drafting several key projects on public health care that require additional human resources relating to nursing.

More than 5,000 Vietnamese apprentices are living and working in Nagano, a modest number given the cooperation potential of the two sides, Masataka said, adding that in the coming time, he hoped Vietnam will create favourable conditions to send more Vietnamese guest workers to Nagano.

For his part, Hoan said that the cooperation in labour between Vietnam and Japan has received more and more attention and witnessed positive results in recent years.

He said that in the last few years, the number of Vietnamese workers in Japan accounts for over 50% of the total Vietnamese labourers working abroad every year.

In 2019, the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs and Nagano prefecture's administration signed a cooperation agreement on human resources development, Hoan said, suggesting the two sides review the agreement and find measures to boost their labour cooperation in the coming time.

Over 97,000 workers sent abroad in eight months Vietnam sent 97,234 workers abroad in the first eight months of 2023, equivalent to over 88 per cent of the years target, reported the Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA).
The government leader applauded Samsungs efforts and determination while doing business in Vietnam.

PM Pham Minh Chinh (R) receives CFO of Samsung Electronics Park Hark-kyu in Hanoi on May 9. (Photo: VNA)

The host and guest noted with satisfaction that the Vietnam - RoK comprehensive strategic partnership is growing strongly, political trust between the two countries unceasingly enhanced, and cooperation in various areas flourishing, especially in politics, economy, culture, and people-to-people exchanges, which form an important foundation for Samsung to expand investment in Vietnam.

PM Chinh affirmed that the Vietnamese Government always attaches importance to improving the investment climate and pledges to create favourable conditions for long-term operations of foreign enterprises.

It will continue providing optimal conditions for the projects of Samsung to operate fruitfully and develop sustainably in Vietnam in the spirit of harmonising interests and sharing risks, he stated.

For his part, Park noted Samsung has invested 22.4 billion USD in Vietnam so far and plans to add about 1 billion USD to its investment in the Southeast Asian country annually.

Aside from research, development, manufacturing, and export of electronic and high-technology products, the group has also been investing in supporting industries and manpower training for Vietnamese companies, and helping local firms to engage in its production and supply chain, he said.

Samsung hopes to continue developing to contribute to Vietnams foreign trade and economic growth, the CFO added.

Appreciating Samsungs building of an R&D centre and participation in manpower training in Vietnam, PM Chinh asked the group to coordinate closely to effectively run the training centres based at the National Innovation Centre (NIC), step up cooperation to turn digital technology enterprises of Vietnam into partners in its ecosystem, increase investment in and expand the R&D centre, and boost assistance for startup, innovation, and manpower training in the country.

He also welcomed Samsungs production and business plan, calling on it to continue helping Vietnam further improve domestic companies capacity so that they can join in Samsungs supply chain more effectively.

Samsung should continue seeing Vietnam as a strategic base for manufacturing and exporting its key products to international markets, particularly when the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the EU - Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) already took effect, PM Chinh suggested.

Agreeing with his host, Park spoke highly of Vietnams investment and business climate as well as the PMs readiness to listen to and assist enterprises, adding Samsung will continue standing side by side with the country on the development path.

Samsung to invest additional $1 billion per year in Vietnam Samsung has poured another $1.2 billion into Vietnam in 2023, raising its total investment capital to $22.4 billion.

Samsung Pay to drop support for Russia's Mir card Samsung said Wednesday it will stop supporting Russia's Mir card on its mobile payment service from April 3, in a fresh blow to Moscow's flagship rival to Mastercard and Visa.

Samsung Electronics expects 10-fold rise in Q1 profit Samsung Electronics said Friday it expects first-quarter operating profits to rise more than 10-fold year on year as chip prices recover.

Samsung returns to top of the smartphone market: industry tracker Samsung regained its position as the top smartphone seller, wresting back the lead from Apple as Chinese rivals close the gap on both market leaders, industry tracker International Data Corporation (IDC) reported Monday.

Samsung and NIC to train 200 students Samsung and the National Innovation Centre (NIC) kicked off the Samsung Innovation Campus (SIC) in Hoa Lac Hi-tech Park on May 3, with six training courses for 200 students.
In January, the Health Ministry found that about 7,500 cord blood units could not be used for transplants because they were exposed to temperatures exceeding the acceptable limit of below minus 150 degrees Celsius.

Singapore urges better stem cell bank supervision

Cordlife filed a police report in April blaming former staff for "potential wrongdoing".

Authorities have said Cordlife failed to properly store blood taken from the umbilical cord from babies, sparking the fury of thousands of parents

Singapore's health ministry urged the company to "revalidate its processing method for cord blood units and enhance staff training and supervision of its operations more closely", Janil Puthucheary, Senior Minister of State for Health, told parliament.

The company said in a statement on May 7 that it is boosting laboratory and technical manpower to prevent future disruptions, among other measures.

Cordlife CEO Ivan Yiu apologised to all customers and pledged to find ways to minimise the impact on them.

Storing cord blood is a private service that emerged over the past 20 years and is offered to parents when their babies are born, according to the Singapore health ministry.

US-based based Global Market Insights said the global cord blood banking market size is projected to grow to 20 billion USD by 2027 from 14.21 billion USD in 2020.

Amazon to invest 9 billion USD in Singapore Amazon said on May 7 it will invest 9 billion USD in Singapore over the next four years to expand its cloud computing capabilities in the island city.

Singapore Airlines switches to sustainable aviation fuel use Singapore Airlines has ordered 1,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from refiner Neste, which is the airliness first purchase of low-carbon jet fuel from the Finland-based refinery.
The official launch of Soilbuild International (Vietnam) took place in Hanoi on May 9, engaging esteemed guests, including domestic and international partners.

Delegates at key moments of the Soilbuild International launch

Soilbuild has an extensive track record of close to 50 years in constructing, developing and managing a diverse portfolio of residential and industrial real estate in Singapore.

The launch of Soilbuild International in Vietnam represents a major milestone for Soilbuild as it seeks to leverage on its in-depth experience in the industrial segment to fulfill the real estate needs of the industrialists in the local market.

During the event, Soilbuild unveiled its development plans for ready built factory facilities under the brand, Spectrum, and showcased its first project, Spectrum Nghe An.

The ceremony also featured several upcoming projects planned for development in key economic areas of northern Vietnam.

Spectrum Nghe An will feature ready-built factories ranging from 3,200sq.m to 14,000sq.m, developed in accordance with LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Standards within the WHA Industrial Zone 2 Nghe An.

Spectrum Nghe An will cover an area of 15.6 ha and is scheduled to commence construction in June 2024, with phase 1 expecting to be completed by the first quarter of 2025.

A 3D perspective of Spectrum Nghe An ready-built factory

During the event, Anchalee Prasertchand, vice president of WHA, a leading developer of industrial real estates and industrial parks, presented the land use certificate to Soilbuild, establishing a solid foundation for long-term cooperation between the entities.

Ding Khoon Yew, general director of Soilbuild International (Vietnam) said, Vietnam is a country benefiting greatly from the global supply chain shift. With the participation of major multinationals, there is a steadily growing demand for quality ready-built factories and warehouses aligned with global standards."

"Soilbuild is committed to build upon the foundation that we have accrued over the years to develop quality industrial space catering to the diverse needs of the locals and multinational corporations and to support them through their business growth.

Soilbuilds latest sustainable industrial development in Singapore, Tai Seng Exchange

Soilbuild also signed a strategic partnership agreement with GreenA Consultants, a well-established Sustainability Consultancy firm, to co-develop sustainability framework and advisory for the Soilbuilds industrial developments in Vietnam. This signifies Soilbuild's commitment to promoting green and sustainable standards in Vietnam's industrial real estate sector.

This signifies Soilbuild's commitment to promoting green and sustainable standards in Vietnam's industrial real estate sector.

Lim Han Qin, director of Soilbuild said, Soilbuild has been an early adopter of sustainability with our very first building achieving the highest green mark standard in Singapore since 2010. Through the years, we have been pushing the boundary of our sustainability journey to not only reduce the overall energy consumption and emissions, but also to secure a more sustainable future and resilient urban landscape for future generations.

With more than 47 years of experience, Soilbuild has developed a range of residential properties from high-end luxury condominiums to landed and conservation houses. Soilbuild has also developed a multitude of functional business spaces catering to the needs of multinational corporations and local enterprises in various sectors. The groups business space portfolio includes flagship developments in Solaris @ one-north, Solaris @ Kallang164, Tai Seng Exchange, Trion, Revv, West Park Biz Central and Eightrium @ Changi Business Park. Soilbuilds focus on sustainability and quality has also been recognised through the Green Mark Platinum accreditation (Singapore Green Building Standard) for its various projects, and awards such as Skyrise Greenery Awards held by Singapore Institute of Architects and National Parks Singapore, the Green Good Design Award for Architecture from the Chicago Athenaeum for Solaris @ one-north, as well as the Best Industrial Smart Building Development for Tai Seng Exchange.

Players display positivity for real estate A range of amendments to laws on housing, real estate, and land is expected to make the market more stable.

Yen Phong 2C ranked in Top 10 potential industrial park real estate projects Industrial Centre Yen Phong 2C has been ranked one of the Top 10 most potential industrial park real estate projects in 2024.
Thailand faces credit card default risks (Photo:bangkokpost.com)

In the period, special mention (SM) loans, defined as those overdue by 30-90 days, surged for credit cards to 12 billion THB (325 million USD), up 32.4 per cent year-on-year and 20.6 per cent as compared with the last quarter of 2023.

According to National Credit Bureau (NCB) data, roughly 190,000 cards defaulted. NCB Chief Executive Surapol Opastien said that the increase in defaults can partly be attributed to the bank's decision to raise the minimum payment requirement for credit cards from 5 per cent to 8 per cent at the start of the year.

He noted that fragile economic growth, an uneven income recovery for individuals, and higher costs of living are expected to further strain the ability of credit cardholders to repay their debts.

During the pandemic, the central bank temporarily reduced the minimum payment requirement to 5 per cent to alleviate the debt burden on borrowers.

However, in January this year the central bank reinstated the minimum payment rate of 8 per cent, with plans to return to the normal rate of 10 per cent in 2025.

According to NCB data, as of March this year, total credit cards issued totalled around 24 million, with outstanding loans tallying roughly 550 billion THB, marking a 3.2 per cent increase year-on-year.

Meanwhile, non-performing loans (NPLs) for credit cards amounted to 64 billion THB in the first quarter this year, representing a 14.6 per cent increase year-on-year.

Surapol affirmed that with the notable surge in SMs for credit card loans, there is mounting pressure for higher NPLs in the countrys economy. Concurrently, more young people are applying for credit cards over the past few years

NCB data revealed roughly 36,000 new credit cards were issued in the last two years, with 23,000 held by millennials aged between 27 and 44.

According to a central bank statement, the regulator pledged to monitor the impact of the minimum payment increase, following a proposal from the Credit Card Club to postpone the rate hike based on concerns about the weakened ability of credit cardholders to repay their debts amidst an uneven economic recovery.

Thailand carries out cabinet reshuffle The new cabinet of Thai Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin was announced on April 28.
The review, part of an ongoing assessment set to conclude by the end of July, is a pivotal step in defining Vietnam's economic standing on the global stage, according to Reuters.

Last year, Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh appealed to US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen to support efforts to enhance economic and financial ties between Vietnam and the United States, urging a swift recognition of Vietnam as a market economy.

According to Reuters, opposition from US steel producers and Gulf of Mexico shrimp farmers contrasts with support from American retailers and other business sectors.

Recognising Vietnam as a market economy would lower anti-dumping duties imposed on Vietnamese imports, which are generally higher for countries classified as non-market economies. This year, the US International Trade Commission maintained a 25.76 per cent anti-dumping duty on Vietnamese frozen shrimp, whereas shrimp from Thailand, which the US recognises as a market economy, incurs only a 5.34 per cent duty.

The US Department of Commerce employs specific criteria to evaluate a country's market economy status. These include the ability for currency convertibility; labour wages set through negotiation; openness to joint ventures and foreign investment; governmental ownership or control over production resources; and control over resource allocation and economic decision-making regarding prices and outputs.

According to Reuters, former US Ambassador to Vietnam and current president of the US-ASEAN Business Council Ted Osius advocated for Vietnam's designation, stating, "Vietnam has a market economy. They meet essential criteria like currency convertibility and are prepared for official recognition."

Osius also noted the significant investments American companies have made in Vietnam, driven by the country's promising development prospects.
Prime Minister Phan Minh Chinh and SBV Governor Nguyen Thi Hong visit the VIB booth at the event

At the event, VIB showcased its prominent digital technology solutions, including the MyVIB digital bank with AI Voice technology and augmented reality; VIB Checkout, which turns smartphones into POS devices for payments; and VIB Verse, offering an exploration experience of VIB city bank products and services through Oculus VR glasses. The VIB booth attracted attention from government leaders, state agencies, and numerous delegates who participated in the experiments.

Tran Nhat Minh, deputy general manager and director of VIB's Digital Banking Division, presented a talk on developing smart financial services for small- and medium-sized enterprises, with such VIB solutions as the iBusiness account package for individual entrepreneurs, and the sBusiness account package for micro-enterprises and household businesses, alongside the digital VIB Checkout bank.

Tran Nhat Minh, deputy general manager and director of VIB's Digital Banking Division

With VIB Checkout, VIB is the first bank to integrate a Soft POS directly into the digital banking app, transforming smartphones into mobile POS devices without the need for traditional POS machine installations, thereby saving costs.

Also during the event, VIB was honoured to receive a commendation from Governor Nguyen Thi Hong for the bank's Technology Services Division and its success in implementing a digital transformation plan for the banking sector according to Decision No.810/QD-NHNN.

Representatives from VIB and other banks receive commendations from Governor Nguyen Thi Hong (middle)

VIB has pioneered digital transformation, invested in promoting technology initiatives and digitalisation, and built a robust, advanced technology platform. The bank is implementing a long-term digitalisation strategy while witnessing strong growth with high digital penetration and transformation rates.

From 2016 to 2023, the growth rate of transactions through digital channels increased by 50 times, with 340 million transactions in 2023. In the first quarter of 2024, 96 per cent of retail banking transactions were performed digitally, with millions of customers using digital banking services every month.

With a diverse product ecosystem integrated with advanced technology, convenience, and exceptional speed, VIB continues to assert its leadership in digital transformation, delivering innovative digital products focused on customer needs. The digitalisation strategy has also led to VIB being recognised by both domestic and international organisations for its technology-rich products and services.

VIB introduces an easy, secure and private way to pay via Apple Pay Apple Pay is now available with the VIB Mastercards, bringing to card holders an easier, safer and more secure way to pay. Now, you can easily pay for everything you love, from everyday purchases like groceries and coffee, to online shopping and travel, using just your Apple devices.

VIB unveils Unlock privilege 4.0 The premium privilege package exclusively for VIB credit cardholders returns this year, bringing many expanded benefits to meet VIB's customers' needs. The package offers privileges ranging from restaurant deals to Vietnam Airlines membership, the lowest foreign exchange rates, birthday gifts, and a lot more besides.
On May 9, the government announced an action plan to implement Resolution No.41-NQ/TW, aimed at strengthening and enhancing the role of Vietnamese entrepreneurs in the modern era.

Resolution 41, issued late last year, outlines Vietnams goal to develop a robust and skilled entrepreneur community by 2030, with several companies achieving regional and global recognition. This includes large enterprises leading in key industries, integrating into global value chains, and mastering industrial and agricultural value chains.

The Vietnamese government's recent resolution sets specific goals: by 2030, Vietnam aims to have at least 10 entrepreneurs listed as global dollar billionaires and five among Asias most influential entrepreneurs, as recognised by reputable organisations.

According to Forbes 2024 billionaire list published in April, Vietnam currently boasts six billionaires: Vingroup chairman Pham Nhat Vuong, Vietjet chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, Hoa Phat chairman Tran Dinh Long, Techcombank chairman Ho Hung Anh, Thaco chairman Tran Ba Duong, and Masan chairman Nguyen Dang Quang.

The Wealth Report by Knight Frank, released in March, estimated that Vietnam had approximately 750 ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNWI) in 2023, a 2.4 per cent increase from 2022. Knight Frank projects that by 2028, the figure will reach around 980, a 30 per cent increase from 2023 and placing it among the top five fastest-growing UHNWI populations in the Asia-Pacific region, ahead of South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore.

The governments resolution also aims to have at least 2 million enterprises by 2030, focusing on developing strong economic conglomerates to lead various sectors. Additionally, the corporate sector is expected to contribute 65-70 per cent of the countrys GDP and approximately 32-38 per cent of total employment.

Regarding gender equity, the target is for women to own 20-25 per cent of businesses nationwide, with over 30 per cent of companies having female directors. The government also aims to increase the number of enterprises with the highest brand value by 10 per cent annually.

Looking to 2045, Vietnam aspires to have entrepreneurs leading conglomerates capable of driving industrial and agricultural value chains. Additionally, the goal is to develop a cadre of entrepreneurs with the competence and qualifications to meet national development objectives.

To achieve these goals, the government has tasked ministries, localities, and associations with raising awareness about the crucial role of entrepreneurs in national development. Authorities are also urged to refine legal policies to create an equitable investment and business environment.

The government is also focused on building business ethics and culture to foster national spirit and inspire a prosperous and happy nation, involving collaboration among workers, intellectuals, and others to enhance cooperation and development.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Pham Thu Hang (Photo: VNA broadcasts)

Speaking at the ministrys regular press conference, Hang said that Vietnam welcomes the DOC for holding the hearing on the recognition of Vietnam's market economy on May 8 and this is an important step in the process of considering the recognition. At the hearing, the Vietnamese side presented arguments, information, and data affirming that the Vietnamese economy completely meets the criteria of market economy status. At the same time, it emphasised that Vietnam's economy is doing even better than many economies that have gained market economy status.

According to the spokesperson, so far, 72 countries have recognised Vietnam as having a market economy, including large economies such as the UK, Canada, Australia and Japan. Vietnam has also participated in 16 bilateral and multilateral free trade agreements with more than 60 partners across the world.

The US's early recognition of Vietnam's market economy status will contribute to concretising the commitments of the two countries' senior leaders, strengthening the Vietnam-US comprehensive strategic partnership. Thereby, it will promote economic and trade relations, bringing practical benefits to businesses and people of the two countries," Hang emphasised.

Provincial competitiveness and green indices published The Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) has just launched the 2023 Provincial Competitiveness Index (PCI) and Provincial Green Index (PGI) reports.

Vietnam and UK deepen science, technology and innovation partnerships Vietnam and the United Kingdom are set deepen science, technology, and innovation (ST&I) partnerships, with a focus on emerging technologies, the environment, and healthcare.

What Vietnamese businesses can expect from the EU's CSRD The new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) aims to reshape environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards for businesses both within and linked to the EU. Nguyen Hoang Nam, ESG leader and partner, along with Luong The Cuong, ESG manager in Assurance Services at PwC Vietnam, explore the implications of the CSRD for Vietnam and outline the necessary strategic actions for compliance with these new standards.
This debut strongly affirms VinFasts commitment to being a leader across Southeast Asian markets and its mission to promote the electrification of transportation globally.

As part of its global growth strategy, VinFast has invested in numerous markets, including the United States, Canada, Europe and, more recently, Indonesia, India, and Thailand.

The Philippines marks a new milestone for VinFast in its Southeast Asian expansion strategy, particularly as the country embraces more government policies that promote the growth of electric vehicles. The brand launch also reaffirms VinFasts commitment to supporting the country in promoting greener and more sustainable transportation infrastructure.

VinFast will introduce Filipino customers to its comprehensive range of premium-quality electric vehicles, electric motorcycles, and electric bikes with modern, youthful designs and smart features, providing them with diverse offerings and high-quality electrified experiences.

Similar to other markets, VinFast will offer Filipino customers access to its exceptional after-sales services and attractive sales policies and the company is planning to establish a nationwide network of dealerships in the country, helping facilitate a swift transition from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles.

Nguyen Thi Minh Ngoc, CEO of VinFast Philippines, said, The brand launch in the Philippines marks another significant milestone for VinFast in its journey to grow its presence in the global electric vehicle market. We are proud to support the Philippines in its electric mobility revolution and believe that by offering modern, powerful, and smart vehicles alongside exceptional customer service, VinFast will steadily achieve its expansion goals in this market.

VinFast will host its brand launch event in Manila, Philippines on May 31 for the media and June 1-2 for the public. At the event, guests will be able to view and experience VinFast's range of electric vehicles, including the VF e34, VF 5, VF 7, and VF 9, six electric motorcycle models, and the VF DrgnFly electric bike.

In January 2024, Philippine President Ferdinand Romualdez Marcos Jr. and Vingroup chairman and VinFast founder and CEO Pham Nhat Vuong held an official meeting to discuss cooperation opportunities.

VinFast expands into Thailand VinFast has signed an MoU with 15 Thai dealers at the 2024 Bangkok International Motor Show, taking place from March 27 to April 7.

VinFast to continue to grow Pham Nhat Vuong, chairman of Vingroup Corporation, announced he will provide an additional $1 billion in sponsorship for VinFast in the near future and devote all efforts to building the brand at the company's AGM on April 25 in Hanoi.
VIENTIANE, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The first train traveling from Guiyang, capital of southwest China's Guizhou Province, to Lao capital Vientiane, arrived on Thursday, carrying over 200 Chinese tourists and making stronger links between Laos and China.

The train marked an important step in the development of high-quality tourism between China and Laos, with the China-Laos Railway being a pivotal link in the process.

The Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism, in collaboration with the Laos-China Railway Co., Ltd. (LCRC), and the Lao National Art Troupe organized an impressive show to welcome the tourists arriving at the Lane Xang EMU train station, which the group enjoyed with some dancing to the music.

After arriving in Vientiane, the visitors will take a tour of the capital, followed by a trip to Vangvieng district in Vientiane province, and then to northern Laos' Luang Prabang province and other places of interest.

Initially, the tours on this route will be scheduled once a month. The LCRC and tourist authorities may increase the number of train trips depending on passenger demand.

The China-Laos Railway is a landmark symbol of the friendship between Laos and China and has been a great boost to the success of Visit Laos Year 2024.

Since the end of 2023, the LCRC and the Lao Ministry of Information, Culture and Tourism have sought to bolster tourism in Laos through greater use of the railway.

The number of tourists coming to Laos via the China-Laos Railway is increasing, helping to fulfill the Lao government's ambition to rejuvenate the economy through tourism. 
At a late April AGM, VPBank chairman Ngo Chi Dung addressed concerns regarding the banks involvement in restructuring a zero-VND bank - a financial institution under special control by the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), acquired for zero due to their negative equity.

The financial landscape includes four such banks: OceanBank, CBBank, GPBank, and DongABank.

Weak bank reform to facilitate expansion activities, photo: OceanBank

From a strictly financial standpoint, most banks are reluctant to undertake such restructuring. However, VPBanks participation is motivated by broader strategic goals, Dung said.

Dung pointed out that the involvement of strategic shareholder SMBC has fortified VPBank with a substantial capital base, enabling its participation in the restructuring efforts.

Although this restructuring does not offer immediate financial returns, it facilitates our expansion strategy. Notably, it allows us to pursue higher credit growth and potentially increase our foreign ownership limit beyond the current 30 per cent cap, he explained.

Banks are generally capped at a 30 per cent foreign ownership limit, but with strategic investors, VPBank aims to elevate this threshold. Dung said that participating in the restructuring of zero-VND banks could enable it to extend foreign ownership, which is crucial for scaling operations and boosting capital.

In Vietnams challenging financial landscape, pivotal steps are being taken to restructure financially vulnerable institutions. Nguyen Thanh Tung, CEO of Vietcombank, announced that the bank has finalised its restructuring plan, which is now pending approval from the SBV. This move is part of a broader strategy to ensure seamless transitions and adherence to regulatory timelines.

We have developed specific strategies to proactively ensure the transition is managed smoothly, Tung said.

In preparation, Vietcombank is refining its network and evaluating its human resources to bridge any skill gaps, simultaneously establishing tailored training programmes to swiftly meet standards. Moreover, the bank has formed dedicated subcommittees to assist in the transfer of weak financial institutions.

Transfers are planned for 2024. Over the long term, acquiring weaker banks opens doors for potential strategies such as share sales or mergers, Tung explained.

Meanwhile, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao, vice chairwoman at HDBank, stated at its AGM in late April that the bank is among four chosen by the SBV due to its strong financial health and effective operations.

About 6-7 years ago, when we received the proposal from the SBV, we arranged and prepared to engage seriously. Accepting this role underlines the banks commitment and opens up transformative growth opportunities, Thao said.

Supporting this initiative allows HDBank to utilise additional favourable mechanisms to increase our annual credit growth limits, positioning us to become one of the top banks in the country within the next five years, Thao added.

Luu Trung Thai, chairman of MB, views this as an opportunity to explore new developmental pathways, notably in credit growth and management capabilities.

We are prepared for the assigned tasks, just awaiting government approval, Thai reported at the banks AGM last month. MB is engaging in various collaborative efforts aimed at supporting targeted commercial banks, with mandatory transfers expected to commence this year. Post-transfer, the weak bank will continue to operate independently under MB, with future options for merging or divesting after restructuring.

While the final destinations for these banks remain undisclosed, Vietcombank is actively providing comprehensive support to CBBank, covering aspects of governance, technology, products, services, and branding.

Meanwhile, MBs leadership has disclosed that the bank it is acquiring has accumulated losses of approximately $833 million, along with a non-performing loan ratio of 47 per cent. Among these institutions, OceanBank, acquired for zero, faces similar financial challenges.

The restructuring process, while beneficial, is complicated by significant risks, including the potential rise in non-performing loans, unresolved corporate bond debts, and challenges in achieving robust credit growth for production.

Given the complexities and impending risks, the timing and execution of these transfer plans must be judiciously considered to mitigate any negative impacts on the broader banking system and the economy, noted one financial sector expert to VIR.

At the SBVs April report to the National Assembly, the recurrent use of phrases such as finalising and submitting for approval highlighted the sluggish progress in handling weak banks, a theme that has persisted over the years.

Vu Hong Thanh, Chairman of the National Assemblys Economic Committee, expressed frustration with the slow progress of the restructuring project for the 2021-2025 period. In addition to the four mandatory acquisition banks, now including SCB, we are spending a significant amount of money daily to support these struggling banks, which is proving to be very costly, Thanh remarked.

SBV issues another 20 trillion VND worth of treasury bills The State Bank of Vietnam (SBV) on September 27 continued to offer 28-day treasury bills worth 20 trillion VND (833 million USD) through an auction.
McLennan Community College President Johnette McKown will add a third vice president position to her administration following the upcoming departure of two longtime vice presidents.

McKown is creating the position of vice president for strategic planning and enrollment, and Laura Wichman will fill that post beginning June 1. Wichman is presently MCC's chief research and effectiveness officer.

The new vice presidency comes as two vice presidents will leave MCC in upcoming months. Stephen Benson, vice president of finance and administration, has resigned after seven years at MCC to become president of Paris Junior College effective June 1. His position is on track to be filled by his departure date.

Fred Hills, MCC's vice president for instruction and student engagement, has informed McKown he intends to retire from the college at the end of August. More than two dozen people have already applied for the position.

McKown said the two impending departures provided an opportunity to reorganize her leadership team and balance duties more effectively. The pandemic, MCC's recovery from it and changes in state community college funding added new duties and responsibilities for the two administrators over the years.

"Stephen Benson started with five people reporting to him and ended with 12," McKown said.

In discussions with MCC trustees about the upcoming changes in her leadership team, they suggested she consider adding a third vice president, she said.

The new position will oversee records and registration, admissions, recruitment, marketing and communications, institutional research and program review. Wichman will continue her work as chief research and effectiveness officer under the new title, but the position will not be filled.

The vice president for finance and administration will oversee financial services, financial aid, human resources, purchasing, physical plant, campus police, information systems and emergency management. The adjustment in vice presidencies follows the hiring of Brandon Hill as dean of students, a new position, in March.

McKown said the realignment of responsibilities will help the college focus on enrollment, academic excellence, and course and certificate completion, which are categories that now shape MCC's revenue from the state. The state Legislature during last year's legislative session passed a law that shifts state community college funding to an outcome-driven model.

McKown praised the work and collaboration of Benson and Hills over the years. Worried that their departure within a few months of each other could impact faculty and staff morale, she organized a search committee shortly after news of Benson's acceptance of the Paris Junior College presidency.

That committee has narrowed a field of 21 candidates to two, and McKown expects Benson's position may be filled, with board approval, by June 1. The college already has received 29 applicants for Hills' position, she said.

McKown said Wichman's work with research and her interaction with both the administration and MCC board have showed her ability to assume the new position. The school's lower-level administration, too, should mean a smooth move into new leadership.

"Going forward, we have a very stable administration," McKown said.
The U.S. Department of Justice and Iowa civil rights and immigrant rights groups filed separate lawsuits Thursday to block enforcement of a new state law that would let state officials arrest and deport immigrants previously denied entry to the country.

The groups intend to ask a federal court for a preliminary injunction to block the law from being enforced during the course of the litigation, and prior to it taking effect.

Set to take effect July 1, the new law makes it a state crime for someone to attempt to enter Iowa after being previously deported or barred from entering the United States. The law makes it an aggravated misdemeanor, which carries up to a two-year sentence. In some cases, including people with certain prior convictions, the state crime would become a felony, punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Iowa and the American Immigration Council filed its lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Iowa on behalf of Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and the thousands of immigrants that the organization assists, including two anonymous immigrants.

They argue the Iowa law conflicts with existing federal law and interferes with the federal governments authority to enforce immigration law. They also allege the state law would allow Iowa immigrants with legal status to be arrested and deported, going against immigration laws set by Congress.

It is truly impossible to overstate how terrible this law is, how poorly written it is, how bizarre it is and how extreme it is, ACLU of Iowa legal director Rita Bettis Austen said.

The Justice Department announced it, too, had filed suit. The department sent a letter last week to top state officials warning it would sue to block the measure unless Iowa agrees to refrain from enforcing the new state law.

The Constitution assigns the federal government to regulate immigration and manage our international borders, according to the Justice Department. Pursuant to this authority, Congress has established a comprehensive immigration framework governing the entry of non-citizens into the U.S. and the removal of non-citizens from the country. Because (Senate File) 2340 is preempted by federal law and violates the United States Constitution, the Justice Department seeks a declaration that SF 2340 is invalid and an order preliminarily or permanently enjoining the state from enforcing the law.

Members of Iowa's Latino community, immigrant workers, advocates and allies marched and held candlelight vigils last week in Iowa City, Davenport, Waterloo and Des Moines to protest the law.

Escucha Mi Voz Iowa, an Iowa City-based immigrant advocacy group, in a statement ahead of the lawsuit's filing, praised efforts to block the law.

The federal government and the local groups filing suits are right. Gov. Reynolds' anti-immigrant deportation law is unconstitutional, and we will continue to fight it in court and on the streets, Ninoska Campos, an Escucha Mi Voz Iowa member, said.

AG: Iowa 'stands ready to defend' immigration law

The ACLU lawsuit names Republican Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird and two county attorneys as defendants. The attorneys would be tasked with enforcing the state law in the counties where the anonymous immigrants named as plaintiffs in the suit reside.

Bird, in a statement, said Iowa stands ready to defend our immigration law that keeps Iowa communities safe."

"When (Democratic President Joe) Biden fails to do his job and secure our border, states have to take matters into their own hands," Bird said. "Iowa's law is not unique; it simply enforces immigration laws while Biden refuses to.

Reynolds and other Republicans who supported the bill assert the law is needed because federal government, in their view, has insufficiently enforced federal immigration laws and abdicated its duty to control the U.S.-Mexico border.

As Governor, I have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Iowa. Since President Biden refuses to enforce our nations immigration laws  threatening the safety of our citizens  Iowa will step in, Reynolds said in a statement.

ACLU: Law will ensnare those with legal status

The legal complaint states SF2340 creates new crimes for anyone in Iowa, including a child, who has reentered the country after being deported, even if that person is now authorized to be in the country. The law states a court may not halt prosecution on the basis that a federal determination regarding the immigration status of the person is pending or will be initiated.

As our two green card holder clients make clear, it would likewise apply to people who have been granted asylum, or may have special visa given to them because they're survivors of domestic violence or other crimes, the ACLUs Austen said.

The lawsuit highlights 18-year-old Anna (a pseudonym used in the lawsuit to protect her identity), who was born in Honduras, where her father was murdered and her sister kidnapped. She fled to the United States with her mother in 2019 when she was 14. They were deported in 2020. Shortly after, still fearing for her life, Anna reentered the country again, this time unaccompanied. She applied for and received asylum, and is living in Iowa lawfully with an Iowa family and attending high school.

But under SF 2340, she can be arrested and deported, the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also includes an Iowa immigrant referred to as Jane Doe. A 68-year-old widow, mother of five and grandmother with health problems, she is currently a lawful permanent resident. A native of Mexico, she has lived in the United States for years.

Doe, who lives in Garnavillo, was ordered removed in 2005 and then deported to Mexico, the suit states. Because her husband was a citizen, he applied for her to lawfully return. However, the application wasnt approved before his death. It wasnt until 2022 that she was able to return to Iowa. Even though she holds a green card, she has experienced anxiety and fear that she will be removed under SF 2340 and separated from her family.

Another plaintiff, referred to as Elizabeth Roe, 40, a lawful permanent resident who lives in Des Moines with her husband. The suit states Roe came to the United States in 2016 to reunite with her brothers, who are U.S. citizens. She was deported in 2017, married her U.S. citizen husband in 2018 and waited five years for her visa and inadmissibility waiver to be approved by the government. She lawfully reentered in 2023.

She worries that the life she has worked so hard to build here in Iowa will be shattered if she is prosecuted under SF 2340, the lawsuit states.

Police chief: Law will diminish public safety

Democrats, activists and some police officials contend the law has serious logistical issues and will harm the relationship between law enforcement and immigrants.

They say it dumps immigration law at the feet of local law enforcement, who say they don't have the tools or training to carry it out fairly. The law does not provide funding or a requirement to train officers on immigration law.

Some law enforcement officials have said publicly the law will diminish public safety, not improve it, by making immigrants afraid to report crime and cooperate with police.

It will create fear in our community that will make people reluctant to talk to police and to report crimes, Marshalltown Police Chief Michael Tupper said in a statement.

Maria Corona, executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said the law puts immigrant victims of domestic violence and sexual assault at risk.

This law not only deters immigrant victims of intimate partner violence from calling police, but it penalizes victims already working with law enforcement to improve public safety by putting them at risk for arrest, deportation, or incarceration, Corona said. Discouraging domestic violence victims from calling police when they are in danger puts individuals at greater risk, undermines public safety, and threatens the well-being of communities across Iowa.

The Iowa case is similar to Texas law that has been challenged by both the Justice Department and civil rights groups. The Texas law is temporarily blocked while a federal appeals court weighs a challenge to a lower court's ruling that struck it down.
Palestinian people evacuated from Rafah set up a tent at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

GAZA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Israel has begun intensive bombardment of Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah on Friday after the talks on the Israel-Hamas truce held in Egypt's Cairo collapsed on Thursday, a local source said.

The number of casualties is not immediately available. The Kuwait Hospital in Rafah has been largely out of operation, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday.

Ten out of 34 UNRWA medical points in Rafah were forced to close and its three operational health centers in the area were operating at reduced capacity, it added. 

Palestinian people evacuated from Rafah sit in front of a tent at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Palestinian people evacuated from Rafah are seen on a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

A Palestinian child evacuated from Rafah is seen in a tent at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

A Palestinian girl evacuated from Rafah stands by a tent at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Palestinian people evacuated from Rafah are seen on a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Palestinian people evacuated from Rafah set up a tent at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

Palestinian children evacuated from Rafah are seen on a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)

A Palestinian woman evacuated from Rafah prepares food at a beach in the southern Gaza Strip city of Khan Younis, on May 10, 2024. Around 110,000 people have fled Rafah in search of safety as Israeli bombardment intensifies in the city, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media on Friday. (Photo by Rizek Abdeljawad/Xinhua)
It will be +10 today and no rain and or snow. Therefore, it is time to check all of Sammys things and whatnots and get her ready to take a trip to the TRV (Tiny Russian Village). Sammy the Volga blew a radiator this winter in the extreme bitter cold we had and we just had a new radiator put in. Then the battery that was eleven years old died, so we also replaced the starter to be pro-active and we bit the bullet and install a new alternator to replace the alternator that was stolen years ago by the body work guys. A 120 amp alternator is now working good and I have the extra juice to do some additions, such as cooling fans and lights

We also had a timing chain issue at the end of fall last year and that had a new chain and guides installed, plus a front timing case installed due to wearing and tearing. Thus Sammy has lots of new parts and today I will see how all these parts are doing. Are they playing together properly and or or they fighting like children do?

Oh and yes, time to change the oil and filter

Now let us think. Around May 18th looks like a good day to leave. Give or take a day. Holidays are over. Unless the West decided to kill us all? It will be time to travel to the TRV

Actually very sad that we have to include a thought about will we be here in even a week or so. A dying Empire of Chaos is not a good worldly happiness thingamajiggy

WtR
On Thursday night, the conservative political group "RedMove Nevada" held a debate for Republican candidates running for the U.S. Senate.

Many candidates criticized the front runners, Sam Brown and Jeff Gunter, for avoiding all the debates. (Sam Brown and Jeff Gunter skip debates and trade barbs in attack ads)

Due to time constraints, we interviewed only four of the six candidates on the debate stage.

We asked them about their central platform:

Stephanie Phillips, a 31-year resident of Las Vegas, is a veteran and military mom. She runs a non-profit to help homeless Veterans. Notably, Phillips received endorsements from conservative rock musician Ted Nugent and Texas Agriculture Commissioner Sid Miller.

"Children, veterans, accountability in Washington, and national security because they're coming after our children with this culture ideology," said Stephanie Phillips.

Tony Grady is a retired Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Air Force, a retired FedEx pilot, a husband, and a father of four. Grady served as the Deputy Air Boss at the Reno Air Races and is prolific on the national conservative news circuit, appearing regularly on Fox News and Newsmax.

"Securing our borderwithout a border, we don't have a country, so we have to be able to secure that. Then, we need to be energy-independent. And then we need to get the U.S. back to its proper place on the world stage," said Tony Grady.

Barry Lindemann grew up on a cattle ranch in Big Horn, Wyoming. He has run construction companies and finance and now runs a real estate portfolio full of hospitals, apartment buildings, and construction companies. Lindemann's niche is water rights issues.

His goal as a U.S. Senator would be to effect change in the department interior.

"I'm running to take on the problems of the Colorado River because if the Hoover Dam stops producing electricity, 25 percent of the electrical load across the state goes down," said Barry Lindemann.

Attorney Rhonda Kennedy is a legal champion for conservative issues and a mother of six. Kennedy won a lawsuit reopening gun stores during the lockdowns of the Covid-19 pandemic.

"When the gun stores were closed during COVID, I filed the Federal lawsuit that forced them open. I successfully defended businesses when they went after them for staying open during COVID," said Ronda Kennedy.

After Sam Brown's comments surfaced last week, we asked each candidate their views on the controversial Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository.

"I represent Nevadans, and it's ultimately up to us people. I would do my research, get all of my questions answered, get all of the facts, and bring them to the people, and I want to hear from the people," said Phillips.

"I will not support Yucca Mountain; my concern is to protect the people of Nevada. Nevadans have expressed they do not want Yucca Mountain," said Grady.

"Maybe, just maybe, we can make it a power generating station, but not a storage facility with a half-life of half a million years. I think you're just asking for disaster," said Lindemann.

"Nevada is not the country's dumping grounds; no, they should not be stored there. I have eleven-year-old triplets that have to grow up, and I don't want them growing up with nuclear waste stored in the state, no," said Kennedy.

The two candidates we did not get to speak to were retired Afghanistan combat veteran and green beret Bill Conrad and former Las Vegas assemblyman and businessman Jim Marchant.

June 11th is the date of the statewide primary to determine the republican nominee for U.S. Senate
A Reno man has been arrested after he allegedly stole a car, then fled an attempted traffic stop, crashed the car, and fled on foot.

Around 2 p.m. on Wednesday officers came across the car, identified as an Audi stolen out of Sacramento. They attempted a stop and the driver fled, crashing in front of a BevMo according to a post on Facebook from the South Lake Tahoe Police Department.

On Thursday around 2:15 p.m. South Lake Tahoe Police got a call about a suspicious person near Alpine Drive and Venice Drive.

The caller said the person matched a description of the suspect released on Wednesday, and that he had asked how to find a bus to Reno.

Officers found and arrested the suspect, identified as 27-year-old Dylan English of Reno.

He is facing charges of evading police and vehicle theft.
GABORONE, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Botswanan experts have accused Britain of "double standards" regarding the deportation of asylum seekers to Africa.

Late last month, the British parliament passed a controversial bill that paved the way for the country to send asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Thapelo Bulawa, a senior law lecturer at the University of Botswana (UB), told Xinhua in a telephone interview that British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak had pushed for the bill to be passed over the past two years despite strong opposition.

Bulawa said lawmakers and activists did everything within their power to scupper the legislation on human rights grounds, but the British government remained determined.

"Imagine a refugee from Palestine, Afghanistan, or some war-torn country finding his or her way into Britain, only to be deported to Rwanda under the deal that the two countries agreed to," Bulawa said.

"This kind of hypocrisy is what is happening under the Rwanda Asylum Plan," said Bulawa of the plan, which has already seen the first asylum seeker sent to Rwanda from Britain on April 30 this year.

Tendai Rueben Mbofana, a human rights activist and the director at Botswana Network for Social Justice, a local think-tank on human rights issues, said that those fleeing persecution should be provided with protection.

"There is a moral imperative to help people escape violence and upheavals. And Britain has shown a lack of moral obligation by rejecting asylum seekers before passing them to another country," said Mbofana.

Mbofana said the actions taken by Britain clearly show that "it does not care about the humanity and dignity of those seeking assistance."

Botswanan Minister of Foreign Affairs Lemogang Kwape said Botswana was approached by British authorities but turned down the proposal "because it is riddled with controversy."

"We have got a reputation to protect as a country. It is not that we are refusing to host asylum seekers, but things have to be done correctly," Kwape told Xinhua.

Britain was offering large sums of money to many African countries to accept rejected asylum seekers, but Botswana could not fall into the trap because "we did not want to regret in future for entering into a dodgy deal with Britain," said Kwape. 
Over the years, weve seen the extras at hotelsthe elaborate buffet breakfasts, the wine receptions, the complimentary in-room snacksturn from free perks to, well, extras.

But over in Pacific Heights, the Hotel Drisco is bucking the trend. While their competitors shave their amenities down to the bare minimum, the Drisco has been taking the opposite approach, beefing up the benefits to a nights stay.

The Driscos unconventional-for-the-times philosophy has not gone unnoticed. Last month, the over 120-year-old grand dame was among the very first U.S. hotels to be honored with Michelins brand new key rating for exceptional hotels and resorts.

Hotel Drisco's updated sitting room. (Travis Watts)

The timing couldnt be better for the hotel, which has just completed a handful of renovations. On its main floor, the Driscos sacrificed an entire guest room to more than double the size of its communal sitting room, a cozy living space anchored by custom furniture and fabrics, and round-the-clock coffee, tea, and citrus-accented spa water.

Meanwhile, over in reception, theyve expanded the former sliver of a space into a more inviting recessed seating area. The changes are subtle, and thats by design. Theyve taken enormous care to seamlessly integrate the updates with the propertys historical character.

Even less obvious are the hotels ever-expanding sustainability initiatives. The Driscos radiant hydronic heating and cooling system is cutting-edge in its energy efficiency while, behind the scenes, the hotel is using green cleaning products and laundering sheets and towels in cold water. Theyre partnering with nonprofits like Clean the World and San Francisco Food Runners to donate partially-used Bvlgari bath amenities and leftover food and beverages to those in need, and instead of providing guests with single-use water bottles, each room is stocked with a Brita-filtered pitcher.

Having scaled back some of its offerings during the early Covid years, the Driscos legendary complimentary morning and evening feasts are now back with a vengeance. At the gourmet continental breakfast in the downstairs dining room, theres a virtually endless selection of local handmade granola and organic sheeps milk yogurt, pastries, smoked salmon, meats, and cheeses. Custom eggs and omelets are made to order.

The Drisco's legendary evening wine reception. (Paul Dyer)

Then, every evening, the area fills once again with a host of riches from 5pm to 7pm, when a rainbow of California wines flow freely and a huge selection of artisanal cheeses, olives, deviled eggs, dips, and hot hors d'oeuvres beg to be eaten. (While youre there, peep their enormous wine collection in the gated vault at the back of the dining room).

But somehow, these free edible, drinkable amenities are just the start. Neither Hotel Driscos weekday morning chauffeur service nor its pillow bar will cost you an additional penny. If the state-of-the-art fitness center doesnt suit your needs, theyll hand you a complimentary pass to the JCCs expansive fitness facility eight blocks away. Even closer are the Lyon Street steps and the trails of the Presidio, which you can hit on foot or with a borrowable bike (which comes with your choice of helmets, locks, and backpacks).

None of this will surprise the Driscos loyal followers; with its tony neighborhood location far from the hustle of downtown, the hotel has long been a favorite for parents and grandparents visiting family in the city. The property has even been featured in the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die!

But with its new Michelin cred, the elegant hotel is turning fresh headsand the next generation will be just as delighted with what they find at the Drisco.

// 2901 Pacific Ave. (Pac Heights), hoteldrisco.com
Imagine cruising down a quiet stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico, where the road not only leads you to your destination but also serenades you with a melody. This is the reality of the Musical Road located in New Mexico. When it was first installed, it served as a fascinating attraction that blended music, engineering, and road safety. This innovative feature transformed road trips from boring and long to memorable and delightful. However, over time, the novelty has eroded.

New Mexicos Musical Road is on Route 66

Situated near Tijeras, on the historic Route 66, the Musical Road was a marvel of acoustic engineering. This quarter-mile section of the highway was equipped with specially designed rumble strips that played music when driven over by cars at the correct speed. The Musical Road in New Mexico not only enhanced the driving experience but also served as one of many unique landmarks on the famed Route 66. Naturally, it attracted curious visitors from around the world who were eager to hear its tunes.

Driving at 45 MPH activates musical rumble trips

To experience the musical magic, drivers needed to maintain a speed of exactly 45 miles per hour. At this speed, the vibrations caused by the tires moving over the rumble strips translated into the notes of the patriotic song America the Beautiful, written back in the late 19th century. The speed limit was intentionally aligned with the speed required to play the tune, encouraging drivers to adhere to safe driving speeds. This innovative approach ensured that the musical effect was not only a fun experience but also doubled as a tool for promoting traffic safety.

Musical Roads are designed to promote safe driving speeds

Installed in 2014, the Musical Highway was a collaborative project between the New Mexico Department of Transportation and the National Geographic Channel. The primary goal was to create a unique and engaging way to encourage drivers to maintain safe speeds on this otherwise unremarkable stretch of road. The project was inspired by similar musical roads found in other countries such as Japan, Argentina, Denmark, and more and has successfully turned an ordinary highway into an interactive musical instrument.

Drivers enjoy the melodic journey on Route 66

The Musical Road was a hit among both locals and tourists. Many drivers found themselves making U-turns for another pass, eager to experience the novelty of a singing road. While the road has brought joy and a unique experience to many, updates over the years have affected the clarity and continuity of the musical notes.

Over time, the condition of the Musical Road has changed. By 2020, new asphalt affected the performance of the rumble strips, and by 2022, the removal of guiding signs made it difficult for new visitors to find the exact starting point of the musical section, diminishing the overall experience. A spokesperson for New Mexicos Department of Transportation said, there are no plans to restore the musical highway. The cost is outrageous, and they have since restored portions of the roadway and removed all of the signs.

More from us: 7,000-Year-Old Road Discovered Off the Coast of Croatia

Those who got to experience the Musical Road in New Mexico at its fullest were lucky, and we can only hope that discussions of restoration will open in the future.


$5.5 million Exploration Grant Funding

Brisbane, May 10, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - State Gas Limited ( ASX:GAS ) ( STGSF:OTCMKTS ) has been awarded $5.5 million of exploration grant funding through the Queensland Government's Frontier Gas Exploration Program ("the Grant"). The Grant will be used to further delineate gas resources and reserves within the Company's Rolleston West coal seam gas ("CSG") project, through drilling of two new vertical wells ("the Campaign").



Successful results from the Campaign will accelerate the Company's application for a petroleum lease over a substantial portion of the project area and support the ongoing evaluation of a significant CSG project in the area.



A key aspect of State Gas' successful Grant application is that through applying the Company's compression and virtual pipeline assets, production testing gas from new wells can be captured instead of flared. This unique capability was essential in satisfying the assessment criteria for the Grant, in particular, being able to rapidly deliver new gas supply to Queensland and the East Coast domestic market.



State Gas' exploration permit ATP-2062 is located approximately 24 km southwest of the Rolleston Gas Plant and 35 km west of the Queensland Gas Pipeline (QGP) and the Wallumbilla to Gladstone Gas Pipeline (WGP). The acreage lies within the southwestern portion of the Bowen Basin in an area known as the Denison Trough. The Late Permian Bandanna formations located in the Denison Trough contain coal measures that produce prolific pipeline quality gas in the Arcadia Valley and Fairview CSG fields 80 - 120 km to the southeast of Rougemont, within the Comet Ridge structural trend. The seams within the Bandanna coal measures can be correlated for many kilometres and generally range in thickness from 0.3 to 3 m with total coal of 7 - 10 m. Gas content is generally consistent throughout, ranging from 4.5 - 6.5 m3/ton with composition greater than 92% methane.



State Gas has already established 279 petajoules of gas Contingent Resources within the project area, having successfully drilled, cored and logged two vertical and one dual-lateral exploration well. State Gas conducted preliminary production testing on its dual lateral well system ("Rougemont 2/3") during calendar years 2022 and 2023. The production testing achieved a stabilised flow rate of 474,000 cubic feet of gas per day which, when processed, is equivalent to approximately 0.5 terra joules of pipeline quality gas per day.



With the support of Grant funding, the Company intends to drill two new vertical wells as identified in Figure 2*. The two wells are adjacent to Rougemont 2/3 in an area that has proven gas content and commercial productivity. The wells are designed to intersect the entire Bandanna Formation coal measures and will have the ability to produce from all the permeable seams. This design will maximise the resultant reserves proven up by the wells, and which may be sufficient to underwrite a pipeline connection to the national pipeline grid.



The company considers that the delivery of additional exploration and appraisal wells stepped out from its existing dual lateral well system will serve multiple purposes:



1. further delineate gas resources for the purpose of supporting recognition of initial Proved and Probable 2P reserves:



2. demonstrate the commercial viability of a larger scale gas project, potentially capable of attracting third parting funding for pipeline infrastructure; and



3. bring to market new gas supply which can be immediately processed into HDNG and sold using the Company's existing HDNG production facility and Virtual Pipeline (VP) technology.



Additional production testing gas from these new wells will contribute to increased utilisation of the HDNG production facility and will support local coal mining operations that are seeking to reduce emissions through use of HDNG in place of diesel in their mining truck fleets.



State Gas' Executive Chairman, Mr Richard Cottee said, "Qualifying for this exploration grant funding is a strong endorsement for the Rolleston West Project and the Company. It demonstrates that the Queensland Government shares State Gas' view that the area is highly prospective and capable of supporting new gas project development. State Gas' HDNG Facility will enable it to capture and commercialise production testing gas from these wells, thereby supporting the Frontier Grant Program dual objectives of increasing geological knowledge of the area and accelerating new gas supply to Queensland and the East Coast domestic gas market.



The Queensland Government's foresight in stimulating investment in increased natural gas supply, and continued support of innovation in the gas sector should be acknowledged. The State's objectives are consistent with those outlined in the Federal Government's recently released Future Gas Strategy report which identifies the critical role natural gas will continue to play in supporting an orderly transition to lower emission fuel sources over time."



*To view tables and figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/X03000O4





About State Gas Limited





State Gas Limited (ASX:GAS) is a Queensland-based developer of the Reid's Dome gas field, originally discovered during drilling in 1955, located in the Bowen Basin in Central Queensland. State Gas is 100%-owner of the Reid's Dome Gas Project (PL-231) a CSG and conventional gas play, which is well-located 30 kilometres southwest of Rolleston, approximately 50 kilometres from the Queensland Gas Pipeline and interconnected east coast gas network.

Permian coal measures within the Reid's Dome Beds are extensive across the entire permit but the area had not been explored for coal seam gas prior to State Gas' ownership. In late 2018 State Gas drilled the first coal seam gas well in the region (Nyanda-4) into the Reid's Dome Beds and established the potential for a significant coal seam gas project in PL 231. The extension of the coal measures into the northern and central areas of the permit was confirmed in late 2019 by the Company's drilling of Aldinga East-1A (12 km north) and Serocold-1 (6 km to the north of Nyanda-4).

State Gas is also the 100% holder Authority to Prospect 2062 ("Rolleston-West"), a 1,414 km2 permit (eight times larger than PL 231) that is contiguous with the Reid's Dome Gas Project. Rolleston-West contains highly prospective targets for both coal seam gas (CSG) and known conventional gas within the permit area. It is not restricted by domestic gas reservation requirements.

The contiguous areas (Reid's Dome and Rolleston-West), under sole ownership by State Gas, enable integration of activities and a unified super-gasfield development, providing economies of scale, efficient operations, and optionality in marketing.

State Gas is implementing its strategic plan to bring gas to market from Reid's Dome and Rolleston-West to meet near term forecast shortfalls in the east coast domestic gas market. The strategy involves progressing a phased appraisal program in parallel with permitting for an export pipeline and development facilities to facilitate the fastest possible delivery of gas to market. State Gas' current focus has been to confirm the producibility of the gas through production testing of the wells.

Related Companies


Raiden Enters Into an Option Agreement Over Arrow Gold Project

Perth, May 9, 2024 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Raiden Resources Limited ( ASX:RDN ) ( YM4:FRA ) is pleased to announce that it has entered into a binding earn-in agreement with Mallina Co Pty Ltd, in regard to the Arrow gold project in the Pilbara.



Mr Dusko Ljubojevic, Managing Director of Raiden commented: "With this transaction, management continue to deliver on our strategy of generating strategic partnerships over the non-core assets to ensure that aggressive exploration campaigns are delivered and to maximise the discovery potential. The Company remains focused on the primary objectives, namely drilling the Andover North and South lithium projects. The Mallina team is lead by an accomplished technical and corporate team, with a track record of discovery. We hope that their experience will lead to further technical success on the Arrow project. In parallel, we plan to continue with the LCT exploration program on the Arrow project."



Transaction terms



Raiden has entered into a binding earn-in agreement with Mallina in regard to the Arrow gold project in the Pilbara. Under the terms of the agreement, Raiden shall retain 100% of the rights to all LCT and associated mineralisation in the project.



Following are the terms of the executed agreement;



- Mallina has committed to a minimum exploration expenditure of $600k, which shall include at least 3,000 metres of AC drilling, within 12 months of execution of the agreement (Minimum Obligation period)



- Mallina shall have the option to sole finance a further exploration campaign of 17,000 metres of diamond or RC drilling within 24 months after the Minimum Obligation Period to earn into a 51% interest in the project



- Mallina shall have the option to sole finance a further exploration campaign of 30,000 metres of diamond / RC drilling, or complete a PFS over the project to earn into a 75% interest in the project



- If Mallina earn into a 75% interest in the project, Raiden will have the option to;



o Maintain it's interest in the project by co-financing its portion of further exploration and development costs; or



o Sell its interest in the project, with Mallina having the right of first offer for that interest



- If the interest of either party dilutes 10% or less, then the party shall be deemed to have converted its interest to a 1% net smelter return royalty



Mallina will be the operator of the project, while Raiden will operate the LCT exploration program.



About Arrow Gold Project



Geological mapping, soil sampling and a detailed magnetic surveys executed over the Arrow project in the Pilbara region of Western Australia has defined dozens of significant anomalies through the project area. The project is centred 110 kilometres southwest of Port Hedland and overlies part of the highly prospective Mallina Basin. Given its location only 32 kilometres from De Grey Mining's Hemi gold deposit, the area has substantial potential to host significant orogenic gold deposits.



Raiden's Arrow licences cover Mesoarchean Mallina Basin rocks and later intrusions. Mallina Basin rocks exposed in the area are primarily De Grey Group siliciclastic turbidites. Layered mafic-ultramafic sills, part of the regionally extensive Millindinna intrusion, intruded the turbidites. Later granitic intrusions comprise ~2.95 Ga high Mg diorite (the Peawah Granodiorite of the Sisters Supersuite) and 2.94-2.93 Ga monzogranite (the Satirist Granite).



The district scale Wohler Shear, which hosts gold mineralisation along strike to the northeast, transects the project area.



About Mallina Co Pty Ltd



Mallina Co Pty Ltd is a wholly owned subsidiary of Discover Co Pty Ltd, a private unlisted company which invests in high potential copper and gold discovery opportunities in Australia. Discover Co is led by experienced resources industry executives Chris Wilcox and Markus Ziemer, and leverages the proven experience and track record of globally recognised advisors.



*To view figures, please visit:

https://abnnewswire.net/lnk/9D0D2F75





About Raiden Resources Limited





Raiden Resources Limited (ASX:RDN) (DAX:YM4) is a dual listed exploration and development company which is advancing the Mt Sholl Nickel-Copper-Cobalt-Palladium deposit in the Pilbara. The Company's portfolio host metals and commodities considered critical for the energy and electrification revolution.

Related Companies
Kenya hosts China-Africa economic trade expo amid growing Sino-African ties

Xinhua) 09:48, May 10, 2024

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo (CAETE) in Africa (Kenya) 2024 kicked off on Thursday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi as trade and investment between the two sides continue to expand.

The event in Kenya attracted a high-level delegation from central China's Hunan Province.

Rebecca Miano, cabinet secretary for the Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industry, said the three-day event is a living testament to the long-standing cooperation and friendship between China and Africa. "The real focus of the event is to serve as a catalyst for unlocking Africa's unexplored potential by seamlessly connecting with China's investment and trade community."

Eric Rutto, president of the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the event is a springboard for breakthrough advances that will propel China and Africa into a more competitive and sustainable future. He added that the event also provides unparalleled opportunities to forge new connections and partnerships with industry leaders, investors, and potential collaborators, paving the way for mutually beneficial collaborations that drive economic growth.

The CAETE is a follow-up action of the "eight major initiatives" at the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Cao Zhiqiang, vice governor of China's Hunan Province, said the CAETE is a key pillar of the growing China-Africa cooperation, which has already brought mutual benefits to the two regions.

Hunan Province is committed to facilitating the entry of more African agricultural and food products into the Chinese market to boost Africa's foreign exchange earnings, he added.

According to the Hunan delegation, for five consecutive years, Hunan's import and export trade with Africa has remained the eighth largest in China and the largest in the central and western regions.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Gunmen in an area of Nigeria where Fulani herdsmen are active attacked a Catholic school on Tuesday (May 7) night, wounding a security guard in an apparent kidnapping attempt.

In Adeke, a suburb of Makurdi, capital of Benue state, the assailants fired shots at the Father Angus Frazer Memorial High School, wounding the security guard. Civil Defense personnel rushed to the school and foiled the attempt to kidnap students residing at the institution, officials said.

The Rev. Moses Iorapuu, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, said in a press statement that officials closed the school on Wednesday (May 8) as a precaution.

The principal, Fr. Emmanuel Ogwuche, and the students are all safe, except for a security officer who was badly injured in the attack and is receiving attention at the hospital, Iorapuu said. We also appreciate the professionalism of the Civil Defense officers who provide security at the school.

Iorapuu said the assailants shot indiscriminately at both students and staff members asleep at the school, which is managed by the Via Christi Society. Actions by the principal and a team of Civil Defense officers repelled the attack and averted catastrophe, he said.

Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up

Fulanis have attacked churchgoers, farmers and villagers before, but now they have upped their game, attacking a school, Iorapuu told Catholic charity Aid to the Church in Need (ACN), according to the Catholic Herald. We are not sure what is going to happen next.

He said police did not arrive until after the assailants had left.

The school is reportedly located in a district notorious for killings and kidnappings by suspected Fulani militants.

The Makurdi Diocese has tightened security at church buildings and appealed to authorities to safeguard residents, Iorapuu said, adding that he hopes the state governor will wake up to the reality of what we are facing.

The Rev. Wilfred Anagbe, bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Makurdi, expressed sadness over attacks on Catholic schools in Benue state, saying herdsmen have destroyed most of its Catholic schools and hospitals.

Human rights group Defenders of Democracy appealed to the Nigerian government to end such attacks.

As a concerned group of citizens of this country and indigenes of Benue state in particular, we have watched with heavy hearts the escalating humanitarian crisis in the state, where armed herders have been ruthlessly attacking and killing innocent people, said Amos Uchiv, president of Defenders of Democracy, in a press statement. This is a stark reminder of the grave situation that has befallen our beloved state.

Uchiv said it was heartbreaking to witness so many people displaced from their ancestral lands, living in fear and uncertainty, due to continuous onslaughts by armed invaders who have vowed to take over our lands and occupy them.

The fact that the attackers are now coming closer to the extent of attacking a popular school right in Makurdi, the state capital, means that death is knocking at our doors if nothing is done urgently, he said. We appeal to Nigerian government to intervene urgently and prevent Benue state from being overrun by armed assailants.

Police said officers and other security personnel have been deployed to the school to protect students and staffs.

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 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.
Amidst the spread of misinformation in todays digital age, The 23 Watts, a new age communication consulting firm, has released a report that explores the relationship between Delhi Youth, notably Generation Z (Gen Z), and Fake news. The report titled Truth Be Told, examines how the digitally native Gen-Z perceive, consume and navigate the complexities of misinformation. With over 1,200 respondents aged below 25 years, across Delhi-NCR, Truth Be Told covers three broad areas: the influence of misinformation, the experience of coming across fake news, and the opinion of the youth about who is responsible for the Fake News epidemic.

The 23 Watts onboarded an external expert, Vijay Ganesan, Former Director-Analytics & Data Strategy, Europe at Kantar to verify the methodology applied in the report, Kantar

Truth be Told also sheds light on the Delhi Youths social media behaviours, mindsets, and information-sharing patterns, revealing the impact these factors have on their decision-making processes. Released ahead of the General Elections in New Delhi, this report seeks to foster an informed and resilient Gen Z electorate as they play a crucial role in shaping the outcome.

Some of the key highlights from the report include:

During national events like elections, 90% of the consensus experiences an increase in fake news.

91% believe fake news can influence voting decisions.

believe fake news can influence voting decisions. 80% of the population alters their perceptions and opinions based on fake news influence.

of the population alters their perceptions and opinions based on fake news influence. 59% of the consensus fall trap to sensationalism, leading them to share fake news

of the consensus fall trap to sensationalism, leading them to share fake news Although 95% claim to authenticate news, 45% have shared unauthenticated news later found to be fake.

claim to authenticate news, have shared unauthenticated news later found to be fake. Only 29% of individuals authenticate information through fact-checking websites.

of individuals authenticate information through fact-checking websites. 62% of the Delhi Genz consensus believe that fake news not only misleads perceptions but also plays as a tool to mend and damage reputations

of the Delhi Genz consensus believe that fake news not only misleads perceptions but also plays as a tool to mend and damage reputations 89% believe the government needs to do more to prevent fake news, with 69% suggesting stricter policies are necessary.

believe the government needs to do more to prevent fake news, with suggesting stricter policies are necessary. Approximately 66% of GenZ population relies on internet portals (YouTube, social media, messengers, online articles) for news consumption.

Putting forth the vision behind the report, Tarundeep Singh, Chief Growth Officer, The 23 Watts, says, Born into technology and raised with information at their fingertips, Generation Z is redefining political movements, religion, pop culture, national events, and more. With fake news being at the forefront of all major happenings in the nation, through The 23 Watts Insights Studio, we wanted to understand this shifting focus. The core of our effort is to map and mine the minds of the loud and proud Gen Z to understand the lasting shift in news consumption and the spread of misinformation.

The primary research also highlighted that 14% of Delhi Youth tend to share sensational news, without fact-checking, and only based on conjectures. All findings from the report tie back to how the high on hashtags Gen Z is on the loose, and easily swayed by their feed.

While sharing views on the report, Vijay Ganesan, Former Director-Analytics & Data Strategy, Europe, Kantar said, This research explores these themes in detail with an ideal balance with the Quantitative approach needed for a piece of reliable empirical evidence and equally complemented by in-depth insights unlocked through qualitative research to understand motivations and behaviours. It's an evolving area of research and this is an attempt to demystify the larger community. I am sure it will unlock more and more such unknowns in its immediate future iterations.

In an unprecedented year for elections, out of all the risks, Fake News is one of the major threats that the youth of Delhi face today. The call for Government action is loud, with 48%, demanding tighter policies, 16% appealing for education campaigns to navigate these rough seas and 15% advocating for national fact-checking as a solution. With a shared belief in the importance of digital literacy, the Delhi youth are calling for awareness campaigns and initiatives, arming themselves with knowledge to fight the tides of deception.
A global leader in the food and beverage industry, Danone India, has made the announcement of the appointment of Shashi Ranjan as the Managing Director for Danone India, with effect from May 10, 2024. With a wide background in the consumer goods industry and a demonstrated track record of leadership, Ranjan is bringing valuable expertise for futher driving the innovation and growth of Danone in the dynamic Indian market.

In his new role, Ranjan will be spearheading the strategic initiatives of Danone in India, with a focus on expansion of the presence of the company, bolstering collaborations, and encouraging sustainable growth. Leveraging his profound understanding of market dynamics and consumer preferences, he is dedicated to driving Danone India towards its global vision of offering health through food to the people of India.

Ranjan is bringing more than two decades of experience in strategic management, organizational transformation and corporate leadership. His vigorous leadership skills, strategic discernment, and passion for encouraging positive change make him an ideal fit for leafing the operations of Danone in India.

Commenting on the appointment, Christian Stammkoetter, President of AMEA at Danone stated, "We are thrilled to welcome Shashi Ranjan for leading our business in India. His wide experience and demonstrated track record in the consumer goods industry makes him the ideal candidate to propel Danone's innovaton and growth agenda in this significant market. We are confident that under his leadership, Danone India will be continuing to prosper and impact the lives of millions of consumers across the country in a positive manner."

Before joining Danone India, Ranjan served as President & Country Head of Sebamed in India, spearheading the growth and market expansion of the brand. Earlier he held central roles at Johnson & Johnson, McKinsey & Company, and IBM Consulting, steering business transformations and market entry strategies. Before this, he served the Indian Government in General administration and strategy roles covering various parts of India

Ranjans leadership spirit encourages innovation and continuous improvement, cultivating an environment where every day presents an opportunity to learn and inspire. His appointment marks a promising new chapter in Danone Indias journey towards growth and innovation.
Marking a significant milestone in its brand journey, DBS Bank India was announced as the exclusive banking partner for Srikanth, a biopic that chronicles the extraordinary story of Srikanth Bolla, a visually impaired Indian industrialist.

The film, starring Rajkummar Rao, Jyothika, Alaya F, Sharad Kelkar, sheds light on Bolla's determination and resilience as he overcame challenges to establish Bollant Industries, an eco-friendly company that empowers the differently abled.

Bolla, despite facing hurdles, tenaciously pursued his education, emerging as the first international visually impaired student in MIT. In 2011, he co-founded the Samanvai Center for Children with Multiple Disabilities, showcasing his dedication to inclusive education. The following year, in 2012, he established Bollant Industries. By 2016, he had extended his impact as the director of the Surge Impact Foundation.

DBS Bank India will leverage this partnership through strategic in-film branding, co-branded videos, and social media contests. The bank will extend the reach of this collaboration through branding across its branches and offices, fostering a deeper connection with employees and customers alike. Select customers from the bank participated in a meet-and-greet session with the lead actor. Srikanth Bolla is also scheduled to speak at the upcoming Mumbai chapter of DBS BusinessClass, foundED, a forum that celebrates modern-day founders and innovators while fostering entrepreneurship.

Commenting on the association, Shoma Narayanan, Managing Director, and Head - Group Strategic Marketing & Communications, DBS Bank India, said, DBS Bank India is honoured to be associated with Srikanth and to share this remarkable story with our customers and the wider community. It is inspiring to witness the journey of Bollant Industries, an enterprise dedicated to fostering both economic growth and societal good, unfold on the big screen. The film is a powerful reminder to trust our abilities, overcome challenges, and pursue our dreams, and we are confident that it will leave a lasting impact."

A spokesperson from T-Series Films said, We are happy to associate with DBS Bank India on this very special movie, Srikanth, that promotes inclusivity for all.

DBS Foundation (DBSF) catalyses the growth of purpose-driven businesses that leverage innovation to make a positive impact. Earlier this year, DBSF awarded grants to six sustainability-focused enterprises featured on Shark Tank India Season 3. Among these, Trestle Labs, a previous recipient of the DBSF Grant, secured additional funding. Through their product Kibo (Knowledge in a Box), the enterprise makes education and employment inclusive. It also helps overcome barriers such as language, literacy, and print disabilities like blindness, low vision, and dyslexia.

Through strategic partnerships, DBS Bank India shares uplifting stories that resonate with its customers. With these associations, the bank aims to engage a broader audience and reinforce its brand promise of 'Live more, Bank less'. More recently, DBS Bank India sponsored the documentary Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose: A Singapore Saga commissioned by the Tagore Society Singapore. The film captured Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose's role in spearheading the Azad Hind movement from Singapore.

As a different kind of bank, DBS continues to break boundaries its campaigns have been seen as category-defying in the industry. The bank introduced an industry-first online mini-series called "DBS Sparks," which is inspired by true stories and follows a group of young bankers as they navigate their work and personal lives. It showcases how these bankers challenge the status quo, go above and beyond to solve their clients' challenges, and genuinely make an impact in DBS' quest to be the best bank for a better world.
Mike Valerio has joined CNN as an international correspondent and will be based out of Asia. He will be overseeing the reportage on key stories from the Asia-Pacific region for the networks digital and television platforms.

Senior Vice President & Managing Editor APAC, CNN International, Ellana Lee said : We are delighted to welcome Mike to CNN International to cover the many important stories from the Asia Pacific region. She further said: Mikes versatility, his experience in the political sphere, and his strong background in investigative reporting will provide fresh insights to regional events in this dynamic part of the world.

Most recently, the eight-time Emmy Award-winning journalist was a national correspondent for CNN Newsource, based in Los Angeles. Before joining CNN, Valerio served as a political and law enforcement reporter for WUSA9 in Washington, D.C. He has extensively covered the White House, election security, and the Department of Justice, focusing on the FBI, ATF, and domestic terror cases.

Valerio earned a bachelors degree in Journalism & Mass Communication from The George Washington University.

He will be relocating to Asia this month.
Movado, the iconic Swiss watchmaker known for its modern design and innovative spirit since 1881, announced the launch of its new collection, BOLD Quest, through a captivating campaign featuring brand ambassador Sidharth Malhotra. The campaign film showcases Sidharth donning the new collection as he captures the city lights, symbolizing a lens to the future.

The BOLD Quest features a Swiss-made, 40mm shaped case paired with a sleek, brushed integrated bracelet. Its streamlined silhouette draws inspiration from Movado's vintage Astronic, first released in 1970. Utilizing the sun as its muse, the collection showcases Movados signature rounded dot at twelve oclock, representing both high noon and high design.

I have always admired Indias love for its rich heritage and legacy and the ability to preserve it yet embracing a futuristic outlook. Says Mr. Xavier Gauderlot, President International at Movado Group Inc. The new collection  BOLD Quest embodies this spirit, and we are thrilled to bring it to our consumers in India. Our brand ambassador, Sidharth Malhotra, is the ideal face for the new collection as he perfectly represents the balance between classic and contemporaryqualities fundamental to our ethos.

The BOLD Quest collection is built with precision that suits every kind of occasion, making it a versatile accessory in your wardrobe. Through this collection, we strive to blend tradition with modern design, offering our customers a timeless accessory that reflects sophistication and elegance on the wrist. With that said, Movado's campaign for BOLD Quest embodies a fresh, stylish take on the 'Moving in Motion' feeling.

As the Indian ambassador for Movado, I'm proud to be a part of this incredible journey as we unveil the phenomenal BOLD Quest collection, says actor, Sidharth Malhotra. The fusion of craftsmanship and innovation in this watch is extraordinary. It's a pleasure to represent a brand that so seamlessly combines classic elegance with contemporary style.

For more information, visit the newly launched Movado India website at www.movado.in, which features 'call me back' and 'store locator' options, along with detailed information of the collection.
VaynerMedia's Asia Pacific (APAC) region has appointed Melanie Cook as the new Head of Strategy and Insights for VaynerMedia's Asia Pacific (APAC) region, effective immediately. Cook brings wide ranging experience as an international strategic leader and will be responsible for spearheading the regional strategy team. She will be leveraging her expertise in cultural insights, emerging trends, and evolving formats for helping brands develop narratives, resonating with real audiences. Cook will be steering brands via "consumer-up" strategies, prioritizing relevance and business results over conventional "brand-down" approaches.

In her new role, Cook will oversee VaynerMedia's five offices in Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Tokyo, and Sydney, along with all twelve APAC markets where VaynerMedia has a presence. She will report to Tim Lindley, Managing Director of VaynerMedia Asia Pacific.

Cook aims to build a team of well-rounded professionals with diverse skillsets, encompassing analytics, community management, communications planning, and strategy.

"I'm excited to be part of a team with a unique blend of human insight, creativity, platform expertise, and cultural awareness," Cook said. He further added: "This combination allows us to captivate audiences, inspire them to take action, and help brands advance their storytelling while capturing valuable attention."

Prior to joining VaynerMedia, Cook served as the Regional Head of Strategy at MRM MENAT, where she led her team in driving significant marketing transformations across the region, focusing on the intersection of brand, digital technology, and customer experience.

Cook has a proven track record working with leading agencies like Saatchi & Saatchi, Publicis Sapient, and BBDO Proximity across Europe, MENAT, and APAC regions. She has held various leadership roles, including Head of Strategic Planning, Head of Strategy and Business Consultancy for Southeast Asia, and Senior Planner. Throughout her career, Cook has partnered with clients across diverse industries, including L'Oreal, Unilever, Visa, Neom, and LVMH.

This appointment follows VaynerMedia Asia Pacific's selection of Monchaya Koolawong as the new Country Manager for Thailand. Koolawong succeeds Auu Arunee and will report directly to Lindley. Her primary focus will be on expanding VaynerMedia's presence and driving business growth in Thailand by delivering strategic solutions that strengthen client brands, deliver significant business impact, and maximize investments.
After lengthy debate  and sparring between chambers  Alabama lawmakers finalized a $9.3 billion regular education budget and $1.7 billion in additional spending for K-12 and higher education.

That brings total spending on pre-K, K12 and higher education to $11 billion, below the record $11.6 billion allocated for the current budget year. The funding joins the states $3.4 billion general fund budget, which supports increases to prisons, mental health and Medicaid.

State education employees will get a 2% raise, and lawmakers added a $10 million allocation for summer EBT benefits for children for the summer of 2025.

During my state of the state address, I also challenged the Legislature to increase our starting salaries for teachers so we could have the highest base salary for teachers among our neighboring states, Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement Thursday night. We accomplished that, and since I have been governor, we have seen a 24 percent base pay increase  thats something to be proud of for sure.

Tensions over a stalled lottery bill held up several bills in the last days of the legislative session, including a final vote on the revised budget.

Its time that we stop playing these games with special interests and look out for the people who sent us here, and to fight the battle for the children, Rep. Barbara Drummond, D-Mobile, said on the House floor Thursday.

Im so frustrated because I see the faces of children who are the future and were not preparing them in Alabama. We sit here every session and talk about how we dont have people to go into the workforce because theyre not skilled. We sit here every day and bring children up in the gallery and we dont hold them to be important. Weve got to start looking at our tomorrow.

After hours of discussion on the House floor Thursday, lawmakers voted to take out $5 million from the supplemental budget that was designated for a retirement fund for educators. A conference committee redistributed that money to community college capital projects, historical and arts grants, as well as a principal leadership program that will now include career tech directors.

House sponsor Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, said the supplemental fund was simply not big enough to allocate the amount that would have been needed to keep up with increased costs of living, so the committee opted to spend those funds elsewhere.

On the House floor Tuesday, Democrats and some Republicans expressed frustration over the cuts. Some said they had received calls from frustrated educators and retirees. Others took the opportunity to speak out on the lottery bill, which could have provided more funding for education.

When it comes down to the bottom line, who needs it the most gets the least, Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, said on the stand after several of his colleagues voiced their concerns. Thats how we operate in this chamber.

Rep. Brett Easterbrook, R-Fruitdale, suggested the House carry the budget over and let the governor call a special session so that a lottery can be reconsidered. Gov. Kay Ivey dismissed the idea when questioned by reporters Thursday.

A $14.9 million allocation for a not-yet-created workers compensation program for educators was added in the Senate committee version, contingent on if SB278, which creates the program, became law. Garrett said the committee took out the allocation in the Education Trust Fund because the bill was unlikely to pass.

Lawmakers also approved a $1.5 million committee for a school safety task force that was not originally included in the education budget.

HB147, which allocates $1 billion from the Advancement and Technology Fund based on a formula that considers enrollment also was settled in the conference committee. The committee put back in $2 million for a professional development program that the Senate took out.

Other Senate additions that survived include a $900,000 first-grade readiness pilot project and a $5 million allocation to place automatic external defibrillators, or AEDs, in schools.

The budget now heads to Gov. Kay Ivey for her signature.
Jeff Fountain, a journalist by trade, is the founder and director of the The Schuman Centre for European Studies. Originally from New Zealand and now living in Holland, he led Youth With A Mission (YWAM) in Europe for 20 years. He also helped create Hope for Europe, an umbrella initiative for evangelical groups on the continent.

In a three-part series by Christian Daily International, Fountain shares his perspectives for evangelicals on the spiritual landscape driving Europe, both past, present and future.

In this first of three articles, the former YWAM leader recalls the faith background to Europe Day celebrated today, on May 9.

The celebration of Europe Day on May 9 marks 74 years  and counting  since French foreign minister Robert Schuman proposed a new European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC), in anticipation of the future European Union.

Schuman understood the personal terrors of war: as a French resistance fighter, the Nazis once captured and imprisoned him. In his subsequent postwar political role, he wanted to do something about the suffering of Europe in the 1950s when the continent came to terms with the aftermath of the bloody conflict.

Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up

Schuman had the idea to unite coal and steel industries, particularly in France and West Germany, with the aim of prospering Europeans, so that another war would be impossible.

Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements, which first create a de facto solidarity, read the original Schuman Declaration on May 9, 1950. The solidarity in production thus established will make it plain that any war between France and Germany becomes not merely unthinkable, but materially impossible.

The setting up of this powerful productive unit, open to all countries willing to take part and bound ultimately to provide all the member countries with the basic elements of industrial production on the same terms, will lay a true foundation for their economic unification.

Jeff Fountain calls the Schuman Declaration the defining moment in postwar Europe.

He argues, however, that few people realize the powerful Christian history behind the politics after WWII came to an end and people started looking to the future of the continent.

The day before Schumans declaration, there was no plan on the table. He put this plan on the table, Fountain told Christian Daily International. And ever since then we've had a movement underway.

We haven't necessarily kept to his plan, but the story that we don't really realize is this was very much a Christian-initiated project. It started with Christian forgiveness and reconciliation, and therefore it's been recognized by the European Parliament as the real starting point of a movement that has continued on in all sorts of erratic and stumbling ways.

Fountain recalled how he did not realize at first how significant the Christian faith had been to the launch of the postwar European movement. In 1991, he went to Brussels to find out whats happening with the development of European politics, telling his YWAM leadership team at the time they needed to know how to relate to it.

An official in the European Commission met the YWAMers and invited them to pray together  something that surprised Fountain.

Well, that was the last thing I expected in the European Commission building. And it turned out this official was a leader of a prayer network of Christians in the whole commission there. And then he began to tell this story that was not in line with the story that I had been raised up with [about the creation of Europe].

Fountain had heard of the views of some evangelicals equating the ECSC, then the European Economic Community (EEC) and subsequently the European Union (EU) to the beast in the book of Revelation, but now came a whole different story.

I'd never heard it before, about a small key bunch of people who were highly motivated by their Christian faith.

These influential people included American Lutheran church minister, The Rev. Frank Buchman who founded the Oxford Group, a Christian revival movement, leading to the international Moral Re-Armament peace-seeking movement, striving for conflict-free dialogue between nations.

Schuman asked Buchman whom to trust in the newly formed West Germany, after the war, according to Fountain. The influential church minister recommended Konrad Adenauer, the former Lord Mayor of Cologne who had opposed the Nazis to the point that he was sent to a concentration camp for some time.

In 1933, Adenauer refused to receive Adolf Hitler when the dictator visited the city. Adenauers biography on the European Parliament website notes he had a Christian faith that guided him throughout his life. The former Lord Mayor subsequently became the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of West Germany.

Konrad was a very devout believer, a Catholic, as was Schuman, Fountain recalled. Both these men had the same backgrounds of understanding of Catholic social teaching, which started off with an understanding of human beings created in the image of God, therefore there's only one human race.

Both men, Fountain argues, therefore rejected the perverse Nazi ideal of the Aryan superior race and sought the common good for all mankind. And this was really the beginning of the Christian democratic movement that so dominated the first four decades after the war on the continent.

Fountain realized weve got to take this seriously now after hearing about the spiritual background to the creation of modern Europe from the European Commission official. He started looking for mothers and fathers who had something of Gods heart for Europe amongst evangelicals.

It was very hard to find evangelicals who even thought about Europe, said Fountain. We just didn't go there.

The late Sir Fred Catherwood, former President of the Evangelical Alliance in the U.K., wrote a book called Pro-Europe, which helped Fountain form his own ideas on Europe at the time. He brought a lot of biblical thinking in his understanding why we need to work together in something like what became the EU. He greatly influenced my thinking.

Fountain asked the European Commission official to help organize a consultation for evangelical leaders to hear the same story about the Christian influence on modern Europes creation, and examine the responsibility and attitudes needed by evangelicals engaging in Europe. This led, amongst other things, to the setting up of a permanent office in Brussels by the European Evangelical Alliance.

Fountain felt so inspired by the story of Schuman that he set up The Schuman Centre for European Studies, after moving on from leading YWAM Europe after 20 years.

According to its website, the centres virtual, interdisciplinary network strives to jog memories, stir consciences and awaken imaginations concerning Europe and her Christian heritage. Through courses, events, tours and publications, the centre promotes biblical perspectives on Europes past, present and future, informing effective social, cultural and spiritual engagement towards a society based on biblical values.

Fountain notes that Europe Day this year (2024) is the same day as Ascension Day. Very few people could tell you what Ascension Day is, and very few people can tell you what Europe Day is, but even fewer people could see any connection between the two events.

But there is a connection because Ascension Day is part of the Jesus story, which is the greatest story and the greatest factor actually in shaping Europes story.
DeKalb County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against a woman who they say pushed another woman off a cliff, where her body remained undiscovered for almost two years.

Loretta Kay Carr, 45, of Fort Payne, was charged last year with capital murder-kidnapping in the October 2021 death of Mary Elizabeth Isbell. Her daughter, Jessie Eden Kelly, 22, faces the same charge.

According to court documents, Ninth Judicial Circuit District Attorney Summer Summerford stated the death penalty is warranted by the aggravating and mitigating circumstances in the case.

The remains of Isbell, who had been reported missing for almost two years, were identified June 30, 2023, on what would have been her 39th birthday, after their discovery in Little River Canyon National Park.

Isbell was reported missing by her ex-husband on Dec. 27, 2021. Detectives with Hartselle police used phone records to determine she had been living in the DeKalb County area on Lookout Mountain.

The discovery of her remains came after a tip in June 2023. Authorities believe Isbells death occurred sometime between the evening of Oct. 18 and the early morning of Oct. 19, 2021.

The three women knew each other through a man, an investigator said following Carrs arrest.

At a press conference following the identification of Isbells body, investigators said they suspected her remains were somewhere in the area of the park, but they were unsure of its exact location. They found it after receiving information from one of the suspects, an investigator said in June.
Jackson Lewis, the 19-year-old Elberta man charged with manslaughter in the 2022 overdose death of his girlfriend, was arrested April 30 and charged with attempting to sell illegal drugs to a student at an area high school.

Now, just days later, he has been hit with four counts of possessing child pornography by the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office.

Lewis has been in Mobile Metro Jail since his April 30 arrest for reportedly trying to sell drugs to a student at Mary G. Montgomery High School, with a Mobile County judge revoking the $75,000 bond he posted after his September 2022 arrest on manslaughter and drug distribution charges.

Mobile Metro Jail records show he has a hold on him from the Baldwin County Sheriffs Office for the child pornography charges.

According to WPMI, an investigator testified at Lewis bond revocation hearing Thursday that Lewis had tried to provide drugs to a 14-year-old Mary G. Montgomery student who he hoped would sell the drugs for him. The father of the 14-year-old said he went through her phone and found photos of Lewis holding pills, marijuana and mushrooms.

The father contacted the school resource officer, leading to Lewis arrest and bond revocation.

The same investigator said when they executed a search warrant at Lewis home, they found more than 4,000 images on his cell phone -- some of which were images of child pornography.

Mobile County District Attorney Keith Blackwood, whose office is prosecuting the manslaughter case against Lewis, called Lewis a danger to the community.

After (Lewis) was arrested on the manslaughter charge in August of 22, he was given no bond, Blackwood said. At some point a judge did grant him bond and he was able to get out. So we were very happy that a judge has now revoked his bond, and we believe our community is safer for it.

Lewis was indicted for manslaughter in June 2023 in the death of 15-year-old Adrianna Taylor, who was found unresponsive in her Semmes home on Aug. 31, 2022 -- days shy of her 16th birthday.

Taylor was a student at Mary G. Montgomery High School at the time of her death. Investigators said at the time Taylor had told her parents vape pens laced with fentanyl were passed around her school.

Lewis is accused of providing Taylor with marijuana and/or Xanax laced with fentanyl, causing her death, according to court documents. After he was indicted, Lewis was taken into custody on Sept. 7, 2023 and was released in November after posting the $75,000 bond which has now been revoked, meaning Lewis will remain incarcerated until his trial, scheduled for Sept. 23.

Although 17 at the time of Taylors death, Lewis is being tried as an adult and in November his motion to be granted youthful offender status was denied.

Of the charges facing Lewis, the charge of providing illegal drugs to a minor carries the stiffest possible sentence -- 10 years to life in prison. A manslaughter conviction carries a sentence of 2-10 years, while the child pornography charges each carry a possible sentence of 1-10 years.
Strong to severe storms raked across Alabama again on Thursday, and more will be possible overnight in south Alabama, according to the National Weather Service.

Central Alabama has seen the bulk of the action as of Thursday night, with multiple severe thunderstorms tracking across the region.

The National Weather Service in Birmingham has received many reports of hail, downed trees and flooding as of late Thursday.

Storms were tracking from west to east and were expected to move into Georgia later tonight.

But the threat for storms wont be over for Alabama. More storms are expected during the overnight hours, and those storms are expected to target south Alabama.

The strongest storms could spawn damaging wind gusts and hail and a tornado cant be ruled out.

A severe thunderstorm watch will be in effect for central Alabama until 11 p.m.:

A severe thunderstorm watch has been issued for parts of Alabama and Mississippi until 11 PM CDT pic.twitter.com/oF4jnBHKpB  NWS Memphis (@NWSMemphis) May 9, 2024

The Alabama counties in the watch are Autauga, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Chambers, Chilton, Clay, Coosa, Dallas, Elmore, Fayette, Greene, Hale, Jefferson, Lamar, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Shelby, Sumter, Talladega, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa and Walker. St. Clair County was later added to the watch.

The possibility of more storms follows an intense round of severe weather in north Alabama on Wednesday, which prompted a rarely used tornado emergency for DeKalb County. So far the National Weather Service in Huntsville has confirmed three tornadoes  one of them an EF-3  from those storms. The storm surveys will likely continue on Friday.

NOAAs Storm Prediction Center is maintaining a Level 3 out of 5 severe weather risk for parts of central and south Alabama (see the forecast map at the top of this post). The Level 3 risk area was expanded southward in the Thursday night update.

A Level 3 risk means that numerous severe storms will be possible.

The weather service in Mobile thinks the main event for southwest Alabama could come later tonight in the form of a bow echo that causes damaging winds.

750pm: -Storms are currently well north of our area. However, we expect this to quickly change late this evening and especially after midnight as numerous thunderstorms will develop and move across the area. Some storms will become severe with the main threat between 12-6am 1/2 pic.twitter.com/n78VXCcODj  NWS Mobile (@NWSMobile) May 10, 2024

The storms could last into the morning hours on Friday, and the Storm Prediction Center has a Level 2 risk hanging on for the southeast corner of Alabama and a Level 1 risk across more of the region.

Here is the outlook for Friday:
Baptists and Methodists helped build Alabama.

Both started their first Alabama churches in 1808, then became fixtures in every town of any size in the state.

Since Alabama was founded in 1819, Baptists and Methodists have been the two largest denominations, exerting influence across culture.

They did that by being churches for a common people, said retired Auburn University historian Wayne Flynt, author of Poor But Proud and Alabama: The History of a Deep South State, along with a history of Baptists in the state.

Yet the 2020s have been hard on Baptists, Methodists and other major denominations.

The Southern Baptist Convention just announced its lowest membership numbers since the 1970s, and the United Methodist Church in Alabama recently lost more than half of its churches in a split.

They are struggling, but thats a reflection of larger realities in an increasingly secular culture, Flynt said.

So are all Christian denominations of any kind whatsoever, Flynt said. The pattern all through history is rural societies where people do not have power or control tend to be more religious. There are a lot of things in the human experience we do not control. You want to control something.

The Business session of the 114th annual Southern Baptists Convention opened, 15,000 delegates signed up for the three-day meeting in St. Louis on Tuesday, June 1, 1971. Rev. Carl E. Bates of Charlotte, North Carolina was elected a second term as convention President. There are more than 11 million members the convention, making it the largest Protestant denomination in the nation. (AP Photo)ASSOCIATED PRESS

So, the frontier people of the South turned to faith.

Women dragged their whiskey-drinking husbands to brush arbor revivals, where they converted to Christianity, gave up booze and became stalwarts of the community.

Religiosity has waxed and waned since then. Its struggling now.

One thing that happened is technology, Flynt said. Its power that we did not have.

Now, when people have health problems, they turn to doctors and major medical centers like UAB, home to the latest in modern treatment.

The question is not why the Southern Baptists and Methodists are declining, Flynt said. Its why did they survive?

Retired Auburn University historian Wayne Flynt, author of Poor But Proud and Alabama: The History of Deep South State, along with a history of Baptists in the state, says technology has played a major role in the struggles of the Southern Baptist Convention and the United Methodist Church, both once dominant institutions in Alabama. (Photo by Greg Garrison/AL.com)ggarrison@al.com

While upper-class planters tended to be Episcopalians, or maybe Presbyterians, or even atheists or agnostics, the common people of Alabama through much of its history were Baptists and Methodists, Flynt said.

Those churches baptized them, married them, counseled them, sat with them when they were sick and buried them when they died.

Methodists now have a buttoned-up reputation, but they started as fiery frontier evangelists.

Methodist camp meetings were as fervent as Baptists, Flynt said.

In a world of technology such as iPhones, young people are turning to Google for answers more than God. People of no religious affiliation now outnumber churchgoers. About 28 percent of U.S. adults are religiously unaffiliated, according to the Pew Research Center. About 40 percent are Protestants and 20 percent Catholics.

There is absolutely no country in the western hemisphere where religion is getting stronger, Flynt said. Were becoming more rational.

Technology has become the new spiritual obsession of Americans since 2000, an era of smart phones becoming the Bibles that people carry with them.

Its because they feel like they have more options in dealing with problems, Flynt said. Theres not just a Baptist or Methodist church to help you with your problems. Its some other source of wisdom than the preacher or the Bible.

Poor people who couldnt afford or had no access to medical treatment once turned to religion for lack of other options, Flynt said.

They didnt have any money, he said. They prayed. The options now are scientific. Your first option is go to the hospital as fast as you can. People rely more on technology. They look not for a spiritual and miraculous answer. When technology becomes dominant, learning, wisdom, technology is the solution to your problems.

Southern Baptists reached their peak of more than 16.3 million members in 2006, with more than a million in Alabama. Thats now under 13 million nationally and 753,653 members in 3,164 Southern Baptist-affiliated churches in Alabama.

United Methodists had been in a decades-long decline losing several million members from the 1968 through the 2020 pandemic before debates over whether to embrace LGBTQ rights finally split the church in 2022-23. The United Methodist General Conference that concluded May 3 voted to fully embrace same-sex marriage and ordination of LGBTQ clergy, reversing longstanding policy. A breakaway group, the Global Methodist Church, will maintain those prohibitions.

How much the church should adapt to the surrounding, ever-changing culture has always been a point of contention for religion. In a society of rapid social change, thats even more acute.

Christian religion is under tremendous pressure, Flynt said.

In the past, Baptist and Methodist churches often preached the need for revival.

Sometimes it happened, and it could again, Flynt said.

He points to the indulgence of the 1920s and the humility of the 1930s as an example.

We are bombarded with an immature hedonism, Flynt said of current culture.

Look at the materialism of the 1920s and what happens in the 1930s, Flynt said.

Religion became a natural object of mockery during the Scopes trial in 1925, he said.

The Depression flipped America back into an embrace of faith, he said.

The twenties celebrated a kind of hedonism, Flynt said. Religion was so yesterday. Then all of a sudden the Depression happened, followed by World War II. People began to think their grandparents who were flappers were empty-headed idiots.

Depression and the prospect of World War II, when millions of families sent soldiers off to fight and possibly die halfway around the globe, turned a nation back to prayer and faith.

Hard times, the need for community and the need for meaning can turn people back to faith even when it has been abandoned for a generation, Flynt said.

A sense of community, thats the church, the church as family, Flynt said. I cant tell you how powerful that is in terms of human experience. The deeper spiritual me is the sense of community, the sense of belonging.

Many people have an innate sense of their own morality, or lack of it, Flynt said.

There is a moral conscience in people, even when all they do is what I want, with no discipline, no meaning, Flynt said. There is always within the human spirit a sense that Im better than that, that I should have some noble meaning to my life.

Religion offers the worst people a chance for redemption and meaning with a conversion experience, he said. Youre a pretty sorry person, your family hates you, then all of a sudden you have a conversion experience, he said. You have a chance to really change, to be a better person.

Flynt saw the pendulum swing from post-war faith and patriotism to social rebellion, secularism and the sexual revolution in the 1960s.

Many of my students messed up their lives with drugs and sex, Flynt said of his time as a professor at Samford University from 1965-77. There was a conservative reaction by 1977.

Could the pendulum swing again, reviving religion in America?

It wouldnt surprise me at all, Flynt said. All it takes is history.
A man found shot to death Tuesday in the front yard of a home in East Lake has been identified.

Carlos Leton Searight, 33, of Birmingham was found the 6800 block of 1st Avenue South.

East Precinct officers responded to the 6800 block of 1st Avenue South on multiple calls of a person shot, said Sgt. LaQuitta Wade.

Officers found Searight lying in the front yard unresponsive and suffering from an apparent gunshot wound, Wade said.

Birmingham Fire and Rescue Service personnel arrived on the scene and pronounced him dead.

Nine shell casings were found at the scene, Wade said, but it was not immediately clear how many bullets struck the victim.

The mans age was not immediately known, but Wade described the victim as a young adult male.

The preliminary investigation revealed motorists passing by spotted the unresponsive victim and called 911.

Those with information who wish to remain anonymous were asked to call CrimeStoppers at 205-254-7777.
Birmingham police are asking for the publics help in finding whoever shot a man to death on the porch of an Inglenook home in 2022.

Litfelton Alexander Frost, 32, died on Oct. 27, 2022.

Birmingham police received a 911 call around 4:30 p.m. that Thursday about a person shot in the 4100 block of 38th Avenue North.

Officers found Frost unresponsive on the porch of a house. He was pronounced dead on the scene at 4:47 p.m.

Investigators believe Frost was standing on the front porch when he was shot from a passing vehicle. The shooter then drove away.

Frost was Birminghams 123rd homicide that year.

Anyone with information is asked to call detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.
A Black U.S. Air Force airman was on the phone with his girlfriend one afternoon when he heard someone pounding on the door of his apartment in the Florida Panhandle.

After looking through the peephole and noticing that it was covered, he grabbed his gun  and sheriffs deputies stormed inside. His girlfriend, attorneys say, listened in as he was shot six times.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson was shot and killed May 3 in his Fort Walton Beach apartment by deputies with the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Department. Fort Walton Beach is located between Pensacola and Panama City.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, whos on the team representing Fortsons family, said deputies were responding to a disturbance call when they entered the wrong unit. Crump, based in Tallahassee, has been involved in several high-profile cases in which Black people were killed at the hands of law enforcement  including Trayvon Martin, George Floyd and Breonna Taylor.

Everyone should be troubled by this, Crump said during a news conference Thursday. Any law-abiding citizen who feels they have a right to the Fourth Amendment and Second Amendment should be very troubled by this matter.

Holding a frame with a photo of her 23-year-old son, Meka Fortson broke down as Crump demanded answers. The attorney urged the sheriffs office to do the right thing and respect Fortsons name and legacy.

They took my son, she said, her voice muffled as she sobbed.

Meka Fortson recounted the day she found out that something happened to her son. She said she rushed to the hospital to see him, and when she entered his hospital room, three men in Air Force uniforms and a black folder with a pen.

Thats when I knew, she said.

Attorneys know what happened during  and leading up  to the shooting, because Fortsons girlfriend witnessed it from a FaceTime call, Crump said. Theyre now in the process of obtaining body camera footage.

Earlier that day, Fortson had been playing video games with friends from the Air Force, Crump said. When he arrived home about 30 minutes before the shooting, he called his girlfriend, as he routinely did.

When Fortson heard someone knocking on his door, he asked who it was, Crump said. He didnt hear a reply, so he looked out of the peephole, but didnt see anything because it appeared to be covered.

Not knowing who was behind the door, Fortson grabbed his gun, which Crump says was legally obtained.

Fortsons girlfriend, the attorney said, then heard deputies kick the door  and multiple shots ring out. She overheard deputies walking through the apartment and announcing their presence.

At that point, Fortson was on the ground, struggling to breathe, according to Crump. He had been shot six times, bullets hitting him on the chest and left arm.

Okaloosa Sheriff Eric Aden said he was saddened by the shooting. The statement didnt name Fortson or the deputy who shot him. It also didnt mention how many times Fortson was hit by the barrage of bullets.

Late Friday afternoon, our deputy responded to a call of a disturbance in progress where he encountered an armed man, Aden said in a brief statement Tuesday. The deputy shot the man, who later succumbed to his injuries.

The deputy, Aden noted, was placed on administrative leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates the shooting.

At this time, we humbly ask for our communitys patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event, the sheriff said.

Crump, however, said deputies knocked on several doors before they burst into the wrong apartment, killing Fortson.

In a camouflage-printed dress, Meka Fortson reminisced about her son, who she called a gift. Affectionately nicknamed Mr. Make-it-happen, Fortson enlisted after graduating from high school in Atlanta with the dream of becoming a pilot.

Fortson, she said, was a role model to his four brothers and sisters. He was a quiet kid who blossomed in the Air Force and always sought to take care of his family. He came back to the U.S. from Kuwait, where he was serving, after his mother was hit by a truck in October.

Fortsons death has left his loved ones in shambles, Crump said. Fellow service members have reached out to the Fortsons to express how special he was to them.

Fortson, Crump added, was the best America had to offer. He served in the military, respected authority and was a responsible gun owner.

Look at that picture. Just look at that picture, Crump said. If that doesnt say patriot, I dont know what does.

2024 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
In 1993, at the height of his fame as a stand-up comedian, James Gregory preached a sermon at the Unity Church in Birmingham.

For one Sunday morning, he was a stand-up preacher, spinning his homespun philosophy that laughter heals a hurting world.

If you find something to laugh about, next thing you know youre in a good mood, Gregory told the congregation at Unity of Birmingham during the morning worship service on Nov. 3, 1993.

When you laugh, there aint a muscle in your body that dont get a workout.

Gregory, advertised as the funniest man in America, died on Wednesday. He was 78.

Gregory said at the time he was nervous before his first church gig.

But he seemed to feel at home once he stepped into the pulpit at Unity, an eclectic, hug-happy church whose featured guest the following Wednesday night was Swami Beyondananda, who wore a multi-colored wig and wrote books titled Driving Your Own Karma and When You See a Sacred Cow, Milk It For All Its Worth.

The musical selections that Sunday included the traditional How Great Thou Art mixed in with the Disney soundtrack classic Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Da and summer camp favorite Kumbaya. Guitarist Jim Aycock helped set the tone for Gregory by singing the country novelty song Drop-kick Me Jesus Through the Goalposts of Life.

Gregory, then 47, talked about growing up in the rural South in abject poverty east of Atlanta.

Life is a matter of perspective, he said. Theres people that dont have a dime to their name tickled to death all the time. You got millionaires jumping out of windows.

Gerald Bartholow, then the minister at Unity, said a couple in the church saw Gregory at the Comedy Club and wanted to bring him to speak to the congregation.

He was basically saying a lot of the things we teach, Bartholow said. Life is designed to be fun.

We are all about love, laughter and healing, said Bartholows wife, Jane.

Gregory, covering subject matter generally untapped by other preachers, said his family was so poor his mother used to patch up the holes in his underwear, which made him vow never to wear holey underwear again.

You know how many pairs of underwear I got at home? Gregory said. Last count, about 80, 85 pair.

Gregory, long a popular draw at the Comedy Club, shared his enthusiasm for a positive outlook on life.

Were supposed to have bad days, Gregory said. Dont let it linger. Gregory said he made a habit of praying about 15 to 20 times a day.

It dont take me long, he said. It takes 15 to 20 seconds. I dont ask God for much. I dont need much.

He said he usually asked God to live to perform another night and for God to watch out for his audience members, who had written many inspirational letters about how Gregorys humor touched their lives and helped them laugh their way through hard times.

Gregory said he got aggravated about people who lead privileged lives taking up Gods valuable time praying that Delta doesnt lose their luggage again.

He said he avoided airlines, preferring to drive even though people tell him more people die in car wrecks than plane crashes.

Thats the way I want to go, Gregory said. At least they can retrieve the body. I need that cause Im Baptist. If you give us something to embalm and some tater salad, we can have a funeral.
A Dauphin Island man was killed in a single-vehicle accident just south of Mobile Friday, the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency said in a release.

The accident occurred on Alabama 193, about five miles south of Mobile, about midnight Friday. A 2015 Ford F-350 driven by 36-year-old Thomas H. Clough left the roadway, struck a culvert head wall and overturned.

Clough was not wearing a seat belt at the time of the crash. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation, ALEA said.
Delta Airlines has unveiled its custom-painted Airbus A350 which will carry Team USA athletes to the Summer Olympic Games in Paris in late July.

The plane made its debut in Toulouse, France -- location of Airbus global headquarters and where there plane was built and painted, according to Delta. Among those on hand for the reveal were the 100 members of the Delta Chairmans Club -- the airlines top employees as chosen by their peers.

After its debut in France, the Team USA plane made its first flight to Deltas hub in Atlanta, with the Chairmans Club honorees aboard. The plane was given a water cannon salute at Atlantas Hartsfield Jackson International Airport and greeted by USA athletes, Delta leadership and past Chairmans Club honorees.

Unveiling the Team USA aircraft for the Olympic and Paralympic Games Paris 2024 marks a major milestone for Deltas support of Team USA as we look toward the start of competition in just a few months, said Chief Marketing Officer Alicia Tillman. This plane, designed by our in-house creative team, represents Deltas commitment to Team USA and our partnership to elevate these athletes to reach their highest potential.

The planes design was the work of Alessandra Rabellino and Deltas internal brand design team, Window Seat. The design includes element of the Team USA logo for both the Summer Olympics and Paralympic Winter Games of 2022, when Deltas eight-year partnership with the U.S. Olympic Committee began.

We evolved one of the main features from the Beijing Livery  the jet stream  into the shape of the Eiffel Tower, symbolizing momentum as we countdown to Paris, Rabellino said. Being able to see the big reveal after the curtain drop was so exciting. But what is even more special is being part of this occasion alongside the Chairmans Club Honorees who have such a big impact on our company  its a true honor.

The Team USA plane wont be mothballed until late July, however. Once it completes final certifications in a few weeks, it will begin flying regular routes with Delta customers aboard. Delta says the plane will be based out of Atlanta and primarily fly transatlantic routes.
Hundreds of Liberian refugees living in Ghana have been left destitute following the demolition of a section of a refugee camp, 45 kilometers outside of the countrys capital, Accra. The Buduburam refugee camp has been home to Liberians for 35 years after thousands fled two brutal civil wars between 1989 and 2003.

Although the UN had ruled that the refugees were safe to return home in 2006, many Liberians living in Ghana say they have no connection or relations with their home country preferring to stay in Ghana.

Speaking to Christian Daily International, the President of the Liberian Community Leadership at Buduburam Refugee camp, Dennis Yoko Gwion, said that the UN recommendation for an option of refugee integration within the Ghanaian society in 2010 has not worked as planned due to what he termed as restrictions by the government.

The Ghana Refugee Board gave us Liberian passports with resident permits which restricted us from working and doing business. We were promised that housing would be provided and that we would be relocated from Buduburam but the Refugee Board has kept us here all this time, said Gwion.

Gwion adds that 6,168 registered persons have been displaced as a result of the demolitions, which also included the destruction and looting of 65 churches.

Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up

Most people are unwillingly opting to go back home because they have nowhere to stay. People are living in congested school buildings with no food, water and poor sanitation, he said.

The refugees, who have been camping in nearby schools following the February 27 demolition are now at risk of being pushed to the streets after the authorities gave notice to the affected refugees to vacate the schools. The demolition happened despite assurance from the Chair of the Ghana Refugee Board, Professor Kenneth Agyemang Attafuah who said in comments at the UNHCR in Geneva in 2022 that the decommissioning of the refugee camp will be conducted in a safe, humane and efficient manner consistent with domestic and international law and Ghanas human rights obligations.

The Executive Secretary of the Ghana Refugee Board, Tetteh Padie, was quoted last month as saying about 600 people were affected by the demolitions, including Liberians and Ghanians.

Buduburam is no longer a refugee camp. We have several people living there who are not refugees. In fact, most of the people living there are not refugees, including the Liberians. Since the demolition, weve done some head counts and so far 268 persons who are refugees have come forward as having been affected, said Padie.

The Board, added Padie, is making arrangements for 231 documented refugees to be moved to another camp in Western Region with the help of UNHCR.

In his comments to CDI, Gwion refuted the refugee boards account, sharing photos and video recordings of displaced people who he said would be sleeping on the streets with little to no access to water and food.

The International Society for Human Rights (ISHR) whose leadership recently visited the site announced an emergency webinar to highlight the plight of the refugees and mobilize the much needed aid in the face of what ISHR terms as a dire situation.

As the situation deteriorates, the camp coordinator has issued a distressing message: our food reserves are rapidly depleting, and medical conditions are escalating. We cannot sit idly by as our fellow human beings suffer, the ISHR said in a statement.

ISHR Secretary General Matthias Boehning emphasized the need for the people of Buduburam refugee camp to be successfully integrated into Ghanaian society.

The Ghanaian government must follow up its words in Geneva with action. The ISHR will continue to work to ensure that the fate of the people in the Buduburam refugee camp is not forgotten and that real solutions are created, noted Boehning.

Liberian President Joseph Nyuma Boakai also weighed in on the demolition incident and suggested the eviction of the refugees was linked to a land ownership tussle.

It is the understanding of the President that the current activities taking place under the auspices of the Gomoa-Fetteh Traditional Council, who are believed to be the owners of the land hosting the Buduburam Camp, said the President in a statement published on his social media.

President Boakai urged the Ghanaian Government to intervene and ensure that the refugees living in the camp are safe, protected and treated humanely.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) said today it is investigating six unfair labor practice charges against Mercedes-Benz by the United Auto Workers.

Workers at the German automakers Vance factory are scheduled to begin voting next week on whether they will be represented by the UAW.

Vote totals are expected Friday.

In addition, the NLRB is also investigating three charges filed against Hyundais Montgomery plant.

The NLRBs Region 10 Atlanta office is handling the charges against Mercedes.

They allege that the factory disciplined employees for discussing unionization at work, prohibited distribution of union materials and paraphernalia, surveilled employees, discharged union supporters, forced employees to attend captive audience meetings, and made statements suggesting that union activity is futile.

Earlier this month, the UAW announced it was filing charges but the individual allegations were not immediately clear on the NLRB website.

In a statement, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International (MBUSI) said at the time that it has not interfered with or retaliated against any Team Member in their right to pursue union representation, and we do not agree that the claims have any merit.

We look forward to presenting our case to the NLRB, Mercedes-Benz stated. Additionally, MBUSI rejects claims that it has denied any Team Member leave for their union affiliation. Following the UAWs nationwide campaign to increase its membership, MBUSI wants to ensure its team members make an informed decision. MBUSI has a strong record of success over the past 25+ years operating as One Team in Alabama. Central to our success is our positive team culture that includes an open-door policy. MBUSI has a proven record of competitively compensating Team Members and providing many additional benefits. We believe open and direct communication with our Team Members is the best path forward to ensure continued success.

Once the NRLBs investigations are complete, its regional director will determine if the allegations have merit and seek remedies.

UAW dropped its unfair labor practice charges against Volkswagen once an election at the Chattanooga plant certified the union as bargaining agent.

In April, the UAW announced it was bringing charges against Mercedes in Germany for violating a law that forbids companies from non-compliance with labor protections, as well as discrimination and withholding of wages.

NLRB also said its Region 15 New Orleans office is investigating three charges against Hyundai in Montgomery.

Those charges allege that Hyundai fired an employee, confiscated, and prohibited distribution of union materials, and intimidated union supporters.

Mercedes-Benz, along with Hyundais Montgomery plant, are part of an ongoing campaign by the auto union to organize in Southern plants historically resistant to organizing.

Hyundai, in a statement, said the NLRB has not yet initiated any formal investigation into the claims. It denies the allegations, has not and will not interfer with or retaliate against any Team Member in their right to pursue union representation, the company said.

HMMA team members may choose to join a union or not as is their legal right, and this has been true since our plant opened in 2005, the company said. Since then, our team members have continuously demonstrated their preference for our Team Built Team Strong philosophy providing opportunities to be personally valued and respected and for their own voice to be heard in direct dialogue with one another.
A plan to allow voters to decide whether to authorize a lottery and casinos died Thursday with the end of the annual legislative session.

The proposed constitutional amendment fell one vote short in the Senate on April 30.

There was a chance for another vote if a senator who voted no had a change of heart, but that did not happen. The Senate adjourned to end the session at about 6:13 p.m. Thursday.

It was the closest the Legislature has come to sending the lottery question to the ballot since voters rejected Gov. Don Siegelmans lottery plan in October 1999 by a vote of 54% to 46%.

The legislation was a priority for the Republican leadership in the House and Gov. Kay Ivey. An ad hoc committee appointed by House Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter spent more than a year developing the plan.

The House passed it first in February. The Senate passed a scaled-back version three weeks later. The House passed a compromise plan approved by a conference committee. That moved it within one step of final passage. But the vote in the Senate was 20-15, one vote shy of the three-fifths majority required for a constitutional amendment. The amendment would have been on the ballot Aug. 20.

The Senates failure to pass the gambling and lottery package loomed over floor debates in the House over the past two days.

COLAs

One of the more spirited debates occurred Thursday morning over the removal of $5 million dedicated toward a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for teacher retirees. State Rep. Danny Garrett, R-Trussville, who oversees the education budget in the House, said the appropriation amounted to $50 for a 25-year retiree and was an insult, honestly.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers in the House said that Alabama could afford offering retirees a more substantial COLA had a gambling and lottery bill been approved by the Alabama Senate.

Rep. Chris Blackshear, R-Smiths Station, who sponsored the gambling and lottery bills in the House, said the $5 million was akin to throwing a little bone to retirees, but that the approval of a gambling and lottery bill would have offered a new piece of funding. He said the Senates actions hurt retirees.

It frustrates me when we have colleagues, who are not in this body, but they think every four years (them getting elected) is the best decision (voters) will ever make. But why dont we think they cant make a good decision on anything else? That is what I struggle with.

Blackshear said more revenue would have been raised by the gambling and lottery package to support retirees, pay for rural health care, among other things. His comments drew applause on the House floor.

So dont pour something on my leg and tell me its raining, Blackshear said. (The voters) are not as ignorant as they think they are.

Rep. Thomas Jackson, D-Thomasville, quoted biblical scripture and criticized the Senate for not pushing through a lottery and gambling bill leaving Alabamians to continue doing what they always do if they want to purchase a lottery ticket  travel to an adjacent state.

They tell me, since you all wont pass the lottery bill, well continue to support the children in Florida, Georgia, and Tennessee, Jackson said, referring to people who live in his district and elsewhere in Alabama about traveling to other states to buy lottery tickets where revenues go toward funding another states services, such as education.

We are hypocrites, Jackson said. That is what we are.

Rep. Juandalynn Givan, D-Birmingham, said her phones rings off the hook over issues like cost of living raises and will we get a lottery? She blamed the Senate for the lack of action and urged the Alabama House to take back our power.

This lottery bill has come before this House more than any piece of legislation in Alabama history, Givan said.

Rep. Brett Easterbrook, R-Fruitdale, suggested the House play a bit of political hardball and hold up the states education budget during the final day of session if the Senate did not adopt a lottery and gambling package.

We had a solution, Easterbrook said. Its the bill we passed. It was the gambling bill and the lottery. Weve kicked that can down the road for years and years and years. This body push it through this year. I would like to see (the education budget) bill carried over and let the governor call a special session and lets fixed this problem.

He added, We are required to pass this budget. I would postpone it.

Ivey, speaking to the media while in Montgomery earlier on Thursday, said she was not inclined to call a special session to deal with lottery and gambling.

Why would I do that? Ivey said. They cannot come to a consensus among themselves. Why would I spend the time and effort and money on a special session?

Ivey said she was disappointed with the Senates vote last week.

Every year, its always wait till next year, she said. I think people are tired of waiting until the next time.
This story was updated at 2:33 p.m. on May 10, 2024, to reflect that Ivey signed the bill into law.

Restaurants and grocery stores will have to label their seafood as imported or domestic, after Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey signed a bill requiring it into law Friday.
An Alabama elementary school teacher was arrested on assault charges Thursday after she allegedly used her forearm to hit a 7-year-old student last month, authorities said.

Brittney Denise Buford, a 32-year-old first-grade teacher at Loachapoka Elementary School in Loachapoka, in Lee County, allegedly struck the 7-year-old student in the face with her forearm around 2:43 p.m. April 17, the Lee County Sheriffs Office said Thursday.

Loachapoka Elementary School Principal Carmen Anderson reported the incident to Lee County sheriffs deputies, the sheriffs office said.

Anderson could not be reached for comment.

Buford, an Auburn resident, was charged with third-degree assault.

She was released from the Lee County jail after posting $1,000 bond.
The National Weather Service issued an updated severe thunderstorm warning at 3:18 a.m. on Friday valid until 3:45 a.m. for Coffee, Dale, Geneva, Henry and Houston counties.

The storms are expected to bring wind gusts of up to 70 mph and quarter-sized hail (1 inch).

"At 3:18 a.m., severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near Brundidge to near Fort Novosel to 9 miles west of Samson, moving east at 65 mph," says the weather service. "Hail damage to vehicles is expected. Expect considerable tree damage. Wind damage is also likely to mobile homes, roofs, and outbuildings."

Locations impacted by the warning include Daleville, Elba, Abbeville, Cottonwood, Fort Gaines, Geneva, Fort Novosel, Headland, Dothan, Ozark, Enterprise, Hartford, Taylor, Midland City, Kinsey, Ashford, Level Plains, Slocomb, Samson and Cowarts.

According to the weather service, "For your protection move to an interior room on the lowest floor of a building."

Lightning on the horizon: Expert safety measures for thunderstorms

Lightning strikes the United States approximately 25 million times each year, with the bulk of these electrical discharges occurring during the summer months. Tragically, lightning claims the lives of about 20 individuals annually, as reported by the weather service. The risk of lightning-related incidents escalates as thunderstorms draw near, reaching its peak when the storm directly looms overhead. However, it gradually recedes as the tempest moves away.

To ensure your safety during a thunderstorm, keep these recommendations in mind:

1. Lightning safety plan:

When venturing outdoors, it's crucial to have a lightning safety plan in place.

Stay vigilant by monitoring the sky for ominous signs and listening for the telltale sound of thunder. If thunder is audible, it's a clear indication of nearby lightning.

Seek shelter promptly in a safe location, preferably indoors.

2. Indoors safety measures:

Once you're indoors, avoid using corded phones, electrical devices, plumbing fixtures, and stay away from windows and doors.

Lightning can follow conductive pathways, and these precautions reduce the risk of electrical surges.

3. Wait for the all-clear:

After the last lightning strike or thunderclap, wait at least 30 minutes before resuming outdoor activities.

Lightning can strike even when a storm has seemingly passed, so exercise caution.

When indoor shelter isn't available:

If you find yourself outdoors without access to indoor shelter during a thunderstorm, take these steps to maximize your safety:

Avoid open fields, hilltops, or ridge crests, as they expose you to greater lightning risk.

Steer clear of tall, isolated trees and other prominent objects. In wooded areas, stay close to lower stands of trees.

If you're with a group, ensure individuals are spread out to prevent lightning current from transferring between people.

Camping in an open setting during a thunderstorm is strongly discouraged. If no alternative exists, set up camp in a valley, ravine, or other low-lying areas. Remember that a tent offers no protection against lightning.

Do not approach water bodies, wet objects, or metal items. Although water and metal do not attract lightning, they conduct electricity effectively and can pose significant risks.

In summary, when facing the threat of lightning, preparedness and vigilance are your best allies. By following these guidelines, you can significantly reduce the likelihood of lightning-related incidents and prioritize your safety.

Navigating rainy roads: Safety tips for wet weather

Heavy rainfall may lead to flooding if prolonged or if there is excessive runoff. Excessive runoff can be a result of saturated ground and/or rainfall intensity. Follow these recommendations from the weather service to stay safe in heavy rain:

Beware of swollen waterways:

In heavy rain, refrain from parking or walking near culverts or drainage ditches, where swift-moving water can pose a grave danger.

Maintain safe driving distances:

The two-second rule for following distance is your ally in heavy rain. Extend it to four seconds to ensure safe spacing in adverse conditions.

Slow down and drive with care:

On wet roads, slowing down is paramount. Gradually ease off the accelerator and avoid abrupt braking to prevent skidding.

Choose your lane wisely:

Stick to the middle lanes on multi-lane roads to minimize the risk of hydroplaning, as water tends to accumulate in outer lanes.

Visibility matters:

Enhance your visibility in heavy rain by activating your headlights. Be particularly vigilant for vehicles in blind spots, as rain-smeared windows can obscure them.

Watch out for slippery roads:

The first half-hour of rain is when roads are slickest due to a mix of rain, grime, and oil. Exercise heightened caution during this period.

Keep a safe distance from large vehicles:

Large trucks and buses can reduce your visibility with tire spray. Avoid tailgating and pass them swiftly and safely.

Mind your windshield wipers:

Heavy rain can overload the wiper blades. When visibility is so limited that the edges of the road or other vehicles cannot be seen at a safe distance, it is time to pull over and wait for the rain to ease up. It is best to stop at rest areas or other protected areas.

When stopping by the roadside is your only option, position your vehicle as far off the road as possible, ideally beyond guardrails. Keep your headlights on and activate emergency flashers to alert other drivers of your position.

By following these safety measures, you can significantly reduce risks and ensure your well-being when heavy rain pours down. Stay informed about weather conditions and heed advice from local authorities to make your journey safe and sound.

Advance Local Weather Alerts is a service provided by United Robots, which uses machine learning to compile the latest data from the National Weather Service.
Reuters reports that Hamas says it will not compromise further with Israel to win Gaza ceasefire.

Its just another headline about the heirs of Yassir Arafat; we know better than to take the statement seriously. Hamas will keep talking as long as they can, for obvious reasons.

The people engaged in negotiations, at least, if not their foot-soldiers, are safe while theyre at the negotiating table.

But theres a different question that ought to be inspired by that quote: Why is any kind of compromise even an issue?

In a normal war, between two legitimate governments, one hopes for negotiations, discussions, compromises, whatever it takes to bring an end to hostilities.

This is not a normal war.

Israel has a legitimate government, and Hamas is a crime gang full of the most brutal of homicidal maniacs. This isnt so much a war as it is a police action; Israel finally has the political will and the public support to wipe out a powerful criminal gang that has spent 35 years attacking and terrorizing Israeli citizens.

What does Hamas say, every time they return to the table? That they want Israel to stop shooting at them and give them lots of money and resources, which everyone knows Hamas will then use to make more rockets to shoot into Israel.

Its what Hamas does. Its what Hamas always does. Its Hamass raison d'etre.

Think for a moment about the most horrific crimes you can think of in American history.

Richard Speck was a violent drunkard and robber, who went on a crime spree, stabbing, raping and murdering at least eight innocent, defenseless women in 1966.

John Gacy was a child molester, rapist and Chicago Democrat party political activist who went on a crime spree, raping and murdering over thirty young men over a period of several years in the early 1970s.

Charles Manson was an arsonist, robber, pimp and drug abuser who organized a drug-driven death cult and engineered a notorious murder spree of at least seven people in August 1969.

How would the American press react if the police were working on finding and catching these criminals, and the criminals released statements to the press saying that theyve already compromised as much as theyre going to, and the police are just going to have stop being so demanding? How would we, the American public, react if they haughtily insisted on an end to the pursuit once their hideouts were identified? Would we be open to the idea of leaving them alone, and setting them free, once we finally had these killers surrounded?

Of course not. The very concept is outrageous. Once you have identified vicious mass murderers, and pursued them to their lairs, you finish the job. Theres no question here. But the way the mainstream press reports the stories, we forget whats really going on.

Please note: this is not about ethnicity at all. Its not a blanket judgment of the people of the Gaza Strip, many of whom are just as terrorized by Hamas as the Jews, Christians, and Arabs of Haifa, Ashdod and Tel Aviv are. The innocent Arab population of the Gaza Strip  those who do not support Hamas  are victims of Hamas as well, and they deserve freedom from their local tyrants, too.

This is a judgment of Hamas, a huge, malevolent crime gang that has been documented  in fact, they have proudly documented themselves  committing the most ghastly of crimes, at least equal to the ones committed by the American mass murderers named above.

Both the Western press and the American Democrat party insist on treating Hamas as if they are a legitimate government in a normal war. They are anything but.

The Gaza Strip is not an independent nation, and Hamas is neither a legitimate government nor a legitimate army.

On October 7, Hamas partisans charged through the wall separating Gaza from an area of kibbutzes, and they started rampaging, attacking the innocent residents of the farmhouses in these undefended, communal farms, and the equally innocent revelers at a music festival.

Within hours, 1,140 innocents had been murdered, many of them raped and tortured first, not by one or two fringe outliers of the invaders, but by many of them  too many for these crimes to be considered an exception to the rule.

These Hamas terrorists burned people and places. They destroyed property. They raped children, adults, and seniors, both men and women, before torturing and killing them.

The press denied these extremes at first; saying there was no evidence.

But there is tape.

It turned out that Hamas militants, proud of their handiwork, high on their abuse of defenseless Jews, giddily filmed their war crimes, and shared the film with their cheering crowds back home.

And then those tapes got out into the world.

Even the New York Times had to admit it. Even the United Nations had to certify it. Even the most antisemitic, corrupt world bodies had to admit the truth, that the Hamas attacks on October 7 werent just quick, indiscriminate attacks, but personalized, dedicated, malevolent attacks including sexual brutality often too grotesque to write about.

No, it is no exaggeration to compare the Hamas attackers of October 7 with Speck and Gacy, or other monstrous criminals of old. Speck used knives to kill; Gacy used his hands, Hamas used motorcycles, knives and guns. There arent that many other differences.

But what of Charles Manson? He didnt even commit the crimes himself. Where does he fit in this analogy?

Manson just stayed back at the headquarters and directed his familys actions, keeping his own hands clean. He taught his followers to kill, gave the orders, and stayed home.

Not unlike the political leaders of Hamas.

Hundreds of miles away from the fray, the Hamas bosses sit at a comfortable negotiating table, talking with Egyptian and Qatari mediators, who then try to convince Israel to give these criminals a break, to stop the pursuit and let them live to fight another day.

Whats the difference between the crime boss who orders the hit from the corner booth at a fine restaurant, and the hit man who carries out the contract? Under US law, at least, we recognize that both are guilty.

And so it is in the Middle East today, as we are encouraged to negotiate with mass murderers who have spent their entire lives using their own people as pawns in a genocidal quest to seize the nation of Israel and wipe out its current inhabitants, from the River to the Sea. (Yes, thats exactly what it means.)

Hamas is not a legitimate government. Their forces are not uniformed; they dont subscribe to the Geneva Conventions. Hamas, which spent virtually every day of the 35 years since their founding in planning for the eventual destruction of Israel, merits none of the courtesies we give to real governments in peace talks. In fact, it is an insult to all the legitimate governments of the world, to grant the same status to Hamas.

So, how should we respond to the leaders of Hamas, when they insist on undeserved concessions?

Exactly the same way we would respond if the request came from Speck, Gacy or Manson.

Hamas tortured, maimed, raped and killed 1140 innocents on Oct. 7, 2023 alone.

The only difference between them is scale.

John F. Di Leo is a Chicagoland-based international transportation manager, trade compliance trainer and speaker. A one-time Milwaukee County Republican Party chairman, he has been writing a regular column for Illinois Review since 2009. Read his book on vote fraud (The Tales of Little Pavel) and his political satires on the current administration (Evening Soup with Basement Joe, Volumes I, II, and III).

Image: Fars Media Corporation, via Wikimedia Commons // CC BY-SA 4.0 DEED
The rising problem of squatters illegally occupying peoples homes has become so obvious that even the mainstream media have recently been paying some attention to it, and lawmakers are beginning to take action.

A survey by the National Rental Home Council found 1,200 homes in Atlanta alone have been taken over by squatters, News Channel 8 in Atlanta reports. Georgia enacted a law in late April to speed up evictions of squatters. We will be watching this develop over the next year, Atlantas Fox 5 TV channel stated.

NBC Nightly News ran a national story on property owners difficulties in getting governments to cooperate in removing squatters. Local New York City TV stations and newspapers extensively covered the story of a Queens homeowner who was arrested for changing the locks on her house to keep squatters out. A local Los Angeles TV station took viewers inside a multi-million-dollar mansion that residents say was being used by squatters.

NBC News reported on the arrest of two New York City teens after the dead body of the apartment owners daughter was found in a duffel bag in the space they were illegally occupying (after the woman who was killed went there to check on the property; obviously not a coincidence). Newsweek reported on a Georgia squatter demanding $190,000 in damages from a property owner who tried to have him evicted.

Newsweek also reported on a Bellevue, Washington landlord who has been blocked from entering his home for the past two years because the state granted a squatter a Temporary Protection Order against the homeowner.

As these and numerous other incidents show, governments have been complicit in these massive property thefts. The New York Post led the way in exposing this problem with its laudable coverage of the NYC squatter story highlighting the fact that local governments often favor people illegally occupying houses over the property owners, plus its report on a Tik Tokker from Venezuela with a 500,000 strong online following who is offering his comrades tips on how to invade unoccupied homes and invoke squatters rights in the United States, in a clip that has drawn more than 3.9 million views. Other outlets picked up both stories.

Some lawmakers are beginning to respond. In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation in March that increases penalties for squatting, authorizes police to remove squatters immediately, sets criminal penalties for presenting a fake deed or lease, prohibits the unauthorized sale or renting of residential properties, and makes it a felony to cause $1,000 or more in damages to those properties. House Bill 621, aptly named simply Property Rights, passed unanimously in both houses of the state legislature.

If you are the victim of squatting, you can simply fill out a form, give it to your local sheriff, and the sheriff is instructed to go and remove the people who are inhabiting your dwelling illegally, DeSantis told the press upon signing the bill into law.

Attention to property rights and governments perverse protection of home invaders is long overdue. The notion that people can enter your property and take it over, and the government would then actively prevent you from evicting them, defies common sense and constitutes a direct, government-sponsored assault on property rights.

Squatters often take advantage of state and local adverse possession laws, which permit a person to take ownership of something, most commonly a piece of real estate, that they do not officially own by possessing or living in it for a set amount of time, or squatting in it, Newsweek notes.

These laws were supposedly intended to prevent property owners from evicting renters without due cause, a valid concern. However, government favoritism for occupants over owners intensified greatly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Since then, the laws and their enforcement processes have thoroughly degenerated into the idea of squatters rights, with property rights being transferred, for all practical purposes, from the legal owners to increasingly brazen invaders.

This undermining of property rights has a national parallel in President Joe Bidens deliberate neglect of the nations border and unleashing of a massive invasion of illegally resident aliens. It also bears similarities to state and local governments rampant ignoring of crimes by peaceful protestors who killed people and destroyed billions of dollars in property in 2020 and after with impunity, as well as the recent land and facility takeovers by anti-Israel demonstrators on college campuses.

All levels of government in the United States have been increasingly lax in their protection of property rights, and many have openly incited criminal activity in this regard -- except in the case of protestors against abortion, anti-American indoctrination of children in schools, the 2020 election processes, and other such politically protected positions.

The American Dream has always centered on owning property and building a life for oneself in a home that serves as a refuge from the troubles of the world. Governments have a duty to protect our right to do that. Designating thieves as tenants and arresting homeowners for trying to take their houses back is outrageous and un-American.

This phenomenon exemplifies a corruption of the very foundations of the American system, and as such it will be exceedingly difficult to reverse. It is ultimately up to the people themselves to rid their governments of those who fail to protect their rights.

That right, too, is something that is increasingly under attack. The people will have only themselves to blame if they lose it -- and will lose everything else as well.

S. T. Karnick is a senior fellow and director of publications for The Heartland Institute, where he edits Heartland Daily News and writes the Life, Liberty, Property e-newsletter.

Image: Pixabay
George Orwell once said, Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.' With the idiocies seen on college campuses all over the world, this warning is more current than ever.

I hope Israel completely and thoroughly destroys Hamas, but trying to explain why that outcome is desirable to miseducated youth, or to media dependent citizens, is daunting.

If you don't read the newspaper, you're uninformed. If you read the newspaper, you're misinformed. -- Mark Twain

It is easy to lay the blame for the recent spate of anti-Israel sympathies on social media (and trust me, they do share a massive amount of the blame) but the respectable media is no less culpable.

People are absolutely devoid of any sense of history in depth.

This has been going on for decades to be sure, but it has gotten worse.

Decades ago, in school, I was taught that the main cause of the American Revolution was taxation without representation.

Left out were the thorough examinations of the Intolerable Acts among which were the Quebec Act (which went beyond tendering a reasonable religious freedom, but allowed the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec to collect tithes) -- along with expanding Quebecs territorial claims, and the Currency Act (which caused an immediate depression).

A thorough examination of the royal insults show that the Patriots were patient beyond measure before taking up arms. In school, we were lead to believe the Revolution was a gentlemanly war, when, in fact, the British were rather vicious and ruthless.

But one cannot teach the children any of that, as it leads to embarrassing questions like: Is the Federal Government any better today?

So few know the real history of the Revolution.

But what astounds me is how so few know the real history of the British Isles. Consider Scotland.

Documentary after documentary treats Scotland as if it were one nation, which in fact, until the 18th century, it was actually a least two nations quite different in every way.

Scotland was split between the Highlands and the Lowlands. Yes, there were also minor outliers, but even these usually affiliated with one side or the other.

The Lowlanders were chiefly of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, Dane, and Norman descent, essentially North Germanic in ancestry. There was a quantum of Brythonic (Welsh) in them, but for all intents and purposes, the Lowlanders were culturally and linguistically English. And they often sided with England.

The Highlanders (Gaels/Scots) came from Ireland, and mixed with the Picts. But it goes deeper. Both the Highlanders and the Irish claimed descent from Scythia (Scot-ia). The Picts also claimed a Scythian ancestry, and asked the Irish Gaels (Scots) to give them Irish wives. Whether literal or a myth, it shows how closely related they all were.

The Picts had no wives and so asked the Scots [the Irish] for them; they would only give them on the condition that when any question of succession should arise, they should choose a king from the female royal line rather than from the male ... - Live Science

It was these Irish/Scots who Christianized and civilized the pagan Anglo-Saxons.

So the Highlanders -- the ones with the bagpipes and kilts -- were all but indistinguishable from the Irish, until the Reformation. They spoke Gaelic and were Celtic. And even after the Reformation, the Highlanders and Irish would often join forces against the English.

Why?

Because the wars in the British Isles were more than national wars, but were rather civilizational wars. Celtic vs. Anglo-Germanic.

After the Battle of Culloden, which the English side won, roughly three-quarters of the Highlanders (the real Scots) were hounded out of Scotland, to the Carolinas, to New York, to Nova Scotia, and other far flung parts of the world. Scotland had, for all intents and purposes, been de-Scoticized.

But Hollywood blurs this history, and what should be seen as two distinct peoples are thoroughly blended.

At that time, the British government lied and tried to frame the wars as religious: Catholic vs. Protestant  as a propaganda tool to the Anglican English populace. That lie is still believed. However, records show that the Highlanders were quite Presbyterian at the time of the Second Jacobite Uprising, even more Protestant than the English.

95.66% of the Highlanders were Protestant, and 4.34% were Catholic. Of every 10,000 Highlanders, 9566 were Protestant. - HighlandClearances.net

The Lowlanders who are, for the most part, of Anglo-Germanic stock, later moved to Ulster where they got called Ulster-Scots, and then to America, where they got called Scots-Irish. Most of them resisted Irish independence. They usually sided with the Anglos not the Celts, and their ethnonym refers more to their residences than a Celtic ancestry. Remember, the real Scots were from Scythia, eventually moving to Ireland and, only later on, to Highland Scotland. But it was these Celts, not the Lowlanders, who created Scotland.

As for Celtic side, which lionized Charles Stuart, Bonnie Prince Charles, that was a lie, too. Stuart was no prize either. He was a wannabe tyrant, but the Celts were desperate to get rid of Anglo misrule.

So names were switched, and history was distorted. Few know it, and history books peddle old propaganda.

Religion was a factor in the wars of the British Isles, but not the chief factor. The Irish and the Highlanders often rose above denominational concerns to unite against a common enemy.

The wars were often civilizational. Celtic vs. Germanic.

In attitudes towards each other, the Highlanders considered the Lowlanders to be foreigners encroaching on true Scottish values, agents of the English, and a major threat to their heritage. Lowlanders, in turn, considered Highlanders to be barbaric, backwards, wild, and derisively referred to them as the 'wild Irish.' -- The Highland Clearances

Until you understand that, the history of the British Isles is incomprehensible. It was more than mere clan warfare, as the English would have you believe. Civilizations were colliding.

So why is this important?

Half of America descends from the English, the Scots, or the Irish, and few know the real history of the area, or their ancestors. It was not England vs Ireland nor Scotland, but Celt vs. Anglo.

Likewise, in the Mideast, what is going on is not an ethnic, colonial, or national war, but a civilizational struggle. It runs far deeper than what can be conveyed by a social media post, or a nightly news report.

The lies are fast and furious.

The Celts, who were the more civilized group in the British Isles (Remember, they converted the Anglo-Saxons), lost. This is not unknown in history. Byzantine Rome fell to the Turks, and Coptic Egypt to Islam.

Lets hope that the Jews who are the most civilized group in the Mideast do not.

But that is not conveyed in tweets or sound bytes, and that is why lies propagate. People have to study to find the truth. In this case, start with the Bible.

Image: Murray (R.R. MacIan)
On May 19, general elections will be held in the Dominican Republic where the current president Luis Abinader, the former president Leonel Fernandez, and Santiago mayor Abel Martinez are competing for the National Palace.

Yet, the election is not only about the presidential office, but also the legislative positions of deputies and senators. A few days ago, the Archdiocese of Santo Domingo issued a document titled "Candidates in favor of life and family values", in which it detailed a list of 122 legislative candidates belonging to the major parties who are openly pro-life, and urged that they be elected to assume positions in Congress.

Among the listed candidates, 50 belong to the Partido Revolucionario Moderno (Modern Revolutionary Party, PRM), 32 to the Partido de la Liberacion Dominicana (Dominican Liberation Party, PLD), 26 to the Fuerza del Pueblo (People's Force, FP), 6 are from the Partido Revolucionario Dominicano (Dominican Revolutionary Party, PRD); 6 from the Partido Reformista Social Cristiano (Social Christian Reformist Party) and 2 candidates from Generacion de Servidores (Generation of Servants). The document includes photographs and party data of the selected candidates, as well as detailed information on the local parishes and their staff, as reported Listin Diario.

Manuel Ruiz, secretary of the Life Commission of the Episcopal Conference, and his team have mapped the candidates according to pastoral zones, seeking to let each parish know about the pro-life candidates in their territory. After identifying their allies and opponents, the Catholic Church plans to promote prayer and encourage parishioners to vote in favor of the chosen candidates. Ruiz noted, however, that "it was a draft that had been sent to the priests' and bishops' private chat for correction, and that an incomplete one was leaked."

"We want to say that if those who do not think like us, who are pro-abortion, who believe in same-sex marriage, we respect them. We are exercising our right to do this because the Church does not live on the moon, the Church lives on earth and is the institution that has the greatest presence in this country," Ruiz said.

Stay informed with The Christian Daily Newsletter Sign up

A number of legislators and leaders within the evangelical church reacted to the call of the Catholic Church to vote for the candidates who are against abortion. The deputy of the Modern Revolutionary Party (PRM), Amado Diaz, who is on the list of those favored by the Catholic Church, said that he is a person committed to life. "I am pro-life by nature, and I am against the type of modernism that they want to implement in all settings, including in Congress," said Diaz.

In addition, the congressman and candidate assured that being pro-life "is something we believe in, it is something we practice. We are grateful that the [Catholic] church takes us into account and if it helps us by voting for us, even better."

To find out what evangelicals are thinking about the list, Diario Cristiano, Christian Daily Internationals Spanish edition, spoke with Jorge Duarte, president of the Confraternidad Evangelica Dominicana (Dominican Evangelical Fellowship, CONEDO), one of the institutions that brings together churches and Christian ministries in the Dominican Republic.

He commented that "although we are not used to give our parishioners directions in the sense of voting in favor of any party or candidate, we do make an effort to create citizen awareness so that when its time to vote, we do it well."

He added that they are inviting people to vote "thinking of the good of the nation first and foremost, and to bring those people to positions of authority who are coherent with the Christian values that we practice and that are part of our Dominican identity."

Duarte referred to an online platform called Vota Bien (Vote Well) that was created by a group of Christians where they evaluate candidates according to their capabilities, political references, public performances, and commitments as officials.

"In that sense, we see what the Catholic Church has done as something favorable. In fact, we evangelicals are making use of a platform created by a team of believers, who have done a wonderful job to create the website Votabien.org, which has the largest compendium of candidates in favor of our values in the country," he said.

Regarding whether only evangelical candidates are featured, Pastor Duarte indicated that "not only evangelicals were listed, but also those who are not evangelicals but still support our values."

Pastor Feliciano Lacen, president of the Consejo Dominicano de Unidad Evangelica (Dominican Council of Evangelical Unity, CODUE), stated in a video published by El Nuevo Diario that "we [evangelicals] do not have a list per se. However, this list that has already been published coincides with everything that we have been working on all year with our faith community. We have been talking and making the leaders of the evangelical community aware that it is no longer enough to vote for tradition, nor for colors. But for people with principles and proven ethics and morals."

Lacen also said that they know "the deputies or legislators who are committed, not to the faith community but to the Dominican Republic and to life. But we are also very clear about those legislators who have given themselves the task of being spokespersons for a global agenda that is lobbying in all countries and that wants to compromise the principles, the family, morals, ethics and the life of our citizens."

Additionally, he said he understands that there are challenges to face as a Church highlighting that a great concern is "the diabolical agenda that comes to establish a culture of death."

Meanwhile, the presidential candidates discuss issues related to "the continuity of change", as in the case of the current president of the Republic, Luis Abinader. The president also discusses "the construction of the border wall" with Haiti.

Abel Martinez agrees with the president and talks about his plan to reduce the presence of Haitians in the Dominican Republic. Finally, former President Leonel Fernandez talks about the cost-of-living issue and citizen insecurity. He frequently compares the cost of a basic food basket during his term in office with the cost of the basic food basket today, 12 years later.

What direction the country will take remains to be seen as citizens head for the polls at the end of next week.





Originally published in Spanish on Diario Cristiano.
Nazi Germany wasnt the first nation to be enamored with racial purity and a master race.

It was America.

Proponents of eugenics gained immense influence here in the early 20th century. They hoped to incarcerate millions of unfit Americans in colonies, forbid them from marrying, or forcibly sterilize them so that, within several generations, only white Nordics would remain. For them, this was ultimately a global enterprise.

Historian and prolific author Edwin Black chronicles this dark phase of American history in his extensively researched book War Against the Weak: Eugenics and Americas Campaign to Create a Master Race. He charts how dubious scientific studies gained support and led to forced sterilizations, segregation, marriage prohibitions, and immigration restrictions for targeted populations.

The book was published in 2003; an expanded version emerged in 2012. Black writes that the material he gathered could have resulted in a standalone book for each chapter. Indeed, his detailing of the American programs alone  the first chapter describes a sheriff sweeping up Appalachian hillbillies for sterilization  makes one shudder at the casual cruelty. And his presentation of the eugenicists behind the programs and the billionaires who supported them makes one wonder if they were any different from the Nazis.

The idea of improving humans by weeding out the worst and the science underpinning it were of British origin. Indeed, 19th-century British scientist Sir Francis Galton coined the term eugenics, in which the EU (Greek for good) later acquired a dystopian dimension. But it was in the U.S. that its practice began, backed by the fortunes of the Carnegies, Rockefellers, Harrimans, and other billionaires. It also enjoyed support from the Department of Agriculture.

Charles Davenport, a devotee of Galton and Gregor Mendel and then head of the Carnegie Institution, joined forces with animal breeders and seed experts to set up the American Breeders Association in 1903. This organization, with the full support of the American government, was the first to pursue eugenic research. Davenport also established the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) in 1910, with a $10,000 donation from the widow of E.H. Harriman. The ERO soon became the epicenter of the American eugenics movement.

From 1903 to 1910, however, the ABA identified the most defective and undesirable Americans, 10% of the population by its estimate. Forced sterilization gained favor as a means of eventually eliminating criminals, the mentally disturbed, and even the poor (deemed genetically prone to laziness).

In 1907, Indiana became the first jurisdiction in the world to legislate forced sterilization for these populations. In 1909, Washington mandated sterilization of habitual criminals and rapists; Connecticut legislated for sterilization of the feebleminded and insane at two asylums; and California, too, legislated sterilization of state convicts and residents of a childrens home for the feebleminded. Nevada, New Jersey, and New York followed suit a few years later, allowing sterilization of similar groups. Some states did not spare drunkards and epileptics.

Much to the eugenicists frustration, few states carried out the procedures. They probably reasoned that such radical, irreversible action would not pass constitutional muster and may not have wanted to risk lawsuits.

From 1910, the ERO provided funding and institutional support to the eugenics movement. Inventor Alexander Graham Bell headed its board and eugenicist Harry Laughlin, who brought zeal to its functioning, served as a director. Through surveys and by coding family trees for special social and medical qualities, the organization swept up records of those deemed defective. It was committed to drying up the springs that feed the torrent of defective and degenerate protoplasm, and believed that doing so would save the U.S $100 million annually.

The underlying science was dubious and prevalent measures of intelligence faulty, but many elite scientists, medical experts, and educationists nevertheless crusaded for eugenics. Ten groups were chosen for elimination: the feebleminded, the pauper class, the deformed, the insane, the constitutionally weak, alcoholics, criminals, epileptics, those with defective sense organs, and those predisposed to specific diseases. Their extended families, believed to have defective germ plasm, were not to be spared.

Attempts were also made to stem the inflow of immigrants from eastern and southern Europe, for it was believed their genes would debase the American stock. But a short-lived program to establish a network of eugenic investigators abroad to warn of them had little success.

Top universities supported the eugenics program, big thinkers endorsed it, and rich capitalists enthusiastically financed it. The Eugenics Research Association, set up in 1913 with members drawn from Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Emory, Brown, and Johns Hopkins universities, pursued legislative and administrative action and produced propaganda to advance eugenics. During World War I, Dr John Kellogg, the breakfast cereal magnate, founded the Race Betterment Foundation (RBF), which advocated creating a super race through sterilization, mass incarceration, and immigration restrictions.

These efforts culminated in two 1920s landmarks. Virginia passed the Racial Integrity Act in 1924, requiring the registration of ones race with the authorities. Race would dictate where one could live, whom one could marry, which school one could attend, and where one could be buried. It was the epitome of white supremacy; false registration would lead to a years incarceration. The second landmark was the 1927 Buck v. Bell decision of the Supreme Court, written by Oliver Wendell Holmes, permitting sterilization of the unfit. After this, 30,000 sterilizations took place in the U.S., with 14,568 in California.

Black shows it was America that established the values of race and blood, which by the 1920s and 1930s were embraced throughout Europe. Eugenics and its methods were bandied about in newsletters, books, journal articles, and scientific conferences. The elimination of undesirables and the idea of lethal chambers became acceptable.

The Nazis clearly drew on these values and methods. But it might also be said that America literally took those ideas to Germany in the 1920s. The efforts of German race hygienists received funding and support from America, particularly from the Rockefellers, Carnegies, and Harrimans. As Black puts it, by the late twenties, Davenport and other Americans had created a whirlwind of joint projects and entanglements with German eugenics.

The most ambitious of these was one conceived to make eugenic measurements of every individual of mixed race in the world. IBMs emerging technology  with which 25,000 Hollerith punch cards could be cross-tabulated in an hour  was to be used to process the data. In the next decade, it was IBM that custom-designed the system used by Nazis to locate and exterminate Jews.

Besides these collaborations, there were two major carriers of eugenic ideas: physician Gustav Boeters, who learned of Americas castration, sterilization, and marriage restriction laws while working as a ships doctor in the U.S. from 1895-1900; and Alfred Ploetz, also a physician, who visited America and was fascinated by the quest to breed better humans. Returning to Germany, both worked to institute similar measures there. About that time, German social theorist Adolph Jost was arguing that the state had the right to kill the unfit.

Of the greatest significance, however, was the influence of American eugenic ideology on a corporal in the German army, then imprisoned for inciting mob violence. His name was Adolph Hitler, and he praised the American quest for Nordic purity, declaring in his book Mein Kampf that he wanted to duplicate the program. Eventually, he seized power in 1933; the Holocaust followed.

Once the world realized what the Nazis had unleashed, the American public recoiled from eugenics in horror. American eugenicists retreated from their positions, relabeling themselves geneticists, and their ideas died away. But, as Black explains in the final section of his book, devoted to Newgenics, the modern miracle of DNA testing once again raises the specter of a new genetic caste system of inequalities. Are we on our way to another war against the weak?

Image: Bibliotheque nationale de France, via Picryl / public domain
Israel is at war with Hamas. Guess which side Joe Biden has chosen to support and which side hes chosen to undermine.

Lets talk about the combatants in the Israel-Hamas War.

Israel:

A nation on land that Jews have occupied continuously for around 4,000 years;*

A liberal democracy that extends full civil rights to all citizens, including women and the LGBTQ+ spectrum;

A majority Jewish nation that allows freedom of worship, including for its Arab citizens, who make up over 20% of the population;

A country that expends enormous sums of money to protect its civilian population; and

A nation that wages war with such exquisite regard for protecting enemy civilians that it puts its own troops at risk and reveals its own battle plans in advance, even while it provides supplies to those enemy civilians.

Hamas:

A designated terrorist organization that represents a people who are relatively recent arrivals in the land;**

An entity that has its raison d'etre killing Jews;

A fanatic Islamic organization that kills, terrorizes, or expels Christians from territory it controls;

A misogynistic people who subordinate women;

A band of sexual sadists that recently engaged in one of the most primitive, sadistic, sexually perverse mass slaughters of civilians in modern history; and

A military that has deliberately intertwined its military, including its weapons storehouses, into its civilian population so that civilians become an integral part of its defense.

According to Biden, in an interview with CNNs Erin Burnett, the problem is that the war is killing civilians in Gaza, and its all Israels fault. Israel, says Biden, may not wage an offensive war. Biden will only help it defend itself against Hamass attacks (which will continue indefinitely, of course, unless Hamas is destroyed):

Biden tells CNN that he wont provide continued offensive military support to Israel if it pursues the full defeat of Hamas in Rafah.



This is an American President, betraying its greatest ally in favor of radical jihadists who call for Death to America. #StandWithIsrael pic.twitter.com/KuZwqof6bV  The Persian Jewess (@persianjewess) May 8, 2024

BIDEN: Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers. And I made it clear that, if they go into Rafah -- they havent gone into Rafah yet. If they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem. Were going to continue to make sure Israel is secure, in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks like came out of the Middle East recently. But its -- its just wrong. Were not going to supply the weapons and the artillery shells used -- that have been used... (CROSSTALK) BURNETT: Artillery shells as well? BIDEN: Yes, artillery shells. BURNETT: So, just to understand, what theyre doing right now in Rafah, is that not going into Rafah, as you define it? BIDEN: No, they havent gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border. And its causing problems with -- right now, in terms of with Egypt, which I have worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship and help. But I have made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet theyre not going to get our support if, in fact, theyre going into these population centers. Were not walking away from Israels security. Were walking away from Israels ability to wage war in those areas.

Let me reiterate: Biden has just told Israel, a long-standing ally, that America will undercut it if it wages war against a designated terrorist organization because that war might kill civilians (civilians, incidentally, who provide material and moral support to Hamas).

Biden says this even though Hamas (and Hezbollah) have deliberately targeted civilians for months, not just with the October 7 slaughter but with tens of thousands of rockets that rain down daily on Israel. The only reason Israeli civilians survive is because, as I said, Israel protects its civilians while Hamas uses its civilians as part of its military defense system. Thus, Biden has just rewarded a terrorist group for hiding behind women and children.

This is, quite simply, evil. Biden is holding Israel to a standard that no other nation in the world has ever had to meet and that no modern rules of civilized warfare require.

The assistance that Biden is offering Hamas is to withhold sophisticated weapons from Israel...the kind of weapons that, through pinpoint targeting abilities, avoid civilian damage. He is forcing Israel to kill more civilians if it wishes to defeat Hamas in its stronghold.

In addition to revealing himself as a moral black hole, Biden is also a political coward and someone who has just qualified for impeachment under the Trump standard.

Biden is a political coward because he intentionally withheld news about his undermining Israel until after he got to give his generic speech opposing genocidal antisemitism:

The White House National Security Council sought to keep the decision out of the public eye for several days until Biden could deliver a long-planned speech on Tuesday to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day. https://t.co/Qn9Er7sfbv  Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) May 9, 2024

Biden has also set himself up for impeachment because he has refused to expend funds that Congress specifically designated for an ally, and hes doing that for the manifest purpose of achieving a political benefit in an election (i.e., winning Michigan by gaining the Hamas vote). We know this is impeachable because Biden said so himself:

President Trump withheld Congressionally appropriated aid to Ukraine unless they granted him a political favor. It's the definition of quid pro quo.



This is no jokeTrump continues to put his own personal, political interests ahead of the national interest. He must be impeached. https://t.co/puPgevx568  Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) October 19, 2019

What Biden just did is so bad that even CNN called him out:

CNN's @ScottJenningsKY absolutely DESTROYS Biden for the double standard of the first Trump impeachment over holding Ukraine aid while he's now doing the same thing with aid to Israel pic.twitter.com/tW62SlJ4KP  Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) May 8, 2024

Scott Adams had his usual pithy take on what just happened:

This removes all doubt about the outcome of the election.



Now the leaders in both parties, plus Israel, want Biden to lose.



For confirmation of this prediction, see CNN's interview with Biden in which Erin Burnett crushes him. https://t.co/8EeRFiqtDy  Scott Adams (@ScottAdamsSays) May 9, 2024

Indeed, its so bad that an ardent leftist on my Facebook page, who also happens to be Jewish, finally bestirred herself to wonder why progressives dont like Israel. Americans are figuring out that the man in the White House a dangerous to the civilized world.

UPDATE: Not only is Biden refusing to supply Israel with myriad necessary weapons, effectively preventing her from engaging with Hamas's remaining forces, but Biden has also authorized arms sales to Qatar and Lebanon. That effectively means arms sales to Hamas because Hezbollah controls Lebanon, and Qatar is the home base for Hamas. So Biden isn't just handicapping our ally in its existential fight against a genocidal enemy, but it's also arming that same genocidal enemy.

Image: Biden (edited). CNN screen grab.

___________________

*Jewish ties to the land existed even during to time of the Ottoman Turks colonization.

**The Arabs who claim eternal ties to the land mostly have roots no deeper than the 1830s or even less than that.
The Anglospheres concept of individual liberty first found voice in a single seminal document: The Magna Carta of 1215. It truly is what its name says: A Great Charter. Small surprise then that two crazed climate activists, one an Anglican priest and the other a biologist, tried to destroy a copy of this great charter.

Thomas Jefferson neatly defined our American concept of liberty in the Declaration of Independence:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...

Neither Jefferson nor the Founders created these ideas. Instead, they were demanding rights that had been painfully eked out in Great Britain for centuries. These rights represented a fusion of ideas from the Bible, the Greek philosophers, the Roman Republic, and Anglo-Saxon tribes.

The first expression of that unique fusion was in England in 1215. That was when English barons forced a reluctant King John to acknowledge that he did not have unlimited power but was constrained by legal principles greater than he was.

Thus, the Magna Carta holds that abstract legal privileges are inherent in each individual and that these privileges transcend even the king himself. Although these inherent principles were written to apply only to a very small band of high lords, the mere act of recognizing that these rights exist was still the moment that led directly to Americas Bill of Rights, which extended these ideas to all citizens, not just to the favored few.

Because it limits the government, the Magna Carta is the antithesis of tyranny. Or, as Lord Denning explained, the Magna Carta is the greatest constitutional document of all timesthe foundation of the freedom of the individual against the arbitrary authority of the despot.

Given the Magna Cartas extraordinary symbolic importance as the foundational document upon which the Anglospheres ideas about individual liberty rest, it was no surprise to learn that a couple of crazed climatistas tried to destroy this ancient manuscriptand ironically, they justified doing so by claiming that the rule of law required them to do so:

Two protesters, aged 85 and 82, cracked the glass case surrounding the royal charter at the British Library in central London on Friday morning. The library holds two of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, with the others at Lincoln Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral. Rev Dr Sue Parfitt, an 82-year-old Anglican priest from Bristol, and Judy Bruce, an 85-year-old retired biology teacher from Swansea, entered the British Library at 10.40am. After they cracked the glass, Rev Parfitt and Mrs Bruce glued their hands together, demanding an emergency plan to stop oil by 2030. A Just Stop Oil spokesman said: Clause 39 of the Magna Carta is one of four clauses still enshrined in UK common law, a so-called golden passage that states: No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or in any other way ruined, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land. Contrast that with civil law as it stands in 2024, where corporations are buying private laws in the form of injunctions that circumvent the peoples rights to a trial by jury for speaking out against the crimes of oil companies.

Just Stop Oil, of course, was proud of this assault on a tangible manifestation of core abstract rights, recording and disseminating the crime:

 BREAKING: JUST STOP OIL BREAK MAGNA CARTA GLASS



 Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, and Judy Bruce, 85, then glued their hands together, demanding an emergency plan to just stop oil by 2030.



 Donate to help us take action at airports this summer  https://t.co/R20S8YQD1j pic.twitter.com/uYMsvULce2  Just Stop Oil (@JustStop_Oil) May 10, 2024

Do not get distracted by the womens age. Focus on the fact that they are leftists who undoubtedly have carried their values forward intact from the 1960s and have now found the latest vehicle for their efforts to overturn Western values.

The womens leftism has effectively transcended the rationality of science (for one is a biologist) and the dictates of the Anglican faith, which was inextricably intertwined with the developing idea of individual liberty in the Anglosphere. Imagine what they were preaching from the pulpit and the front of the classroom. Both these women desperately want the totalitarianism of a system in which the government controls carbon dioxide output...which means the government controls everything.

The takeaway is to remember that no matter what progressives here or abroad are seemingly talking about, thats not what theyre actually talking about. Their hysteria about the climate, insistence on the end of borders, embrace of Islam, obscene focus on abortion, and every other leftist shibboleth are all directed toward one single goal, which is the end of individual liberty. Its very fitting, therefore, that two leftist fishwives would strike at the very heart of individual liberty in the Anglosphere: The Magna Carta.

Image: X screen grab.
Replacement theory, anyone?

Someone ought to ask Joe Biden about his latest Freudian slip:

According to Fox News:

President Biden appeared to accidentally refer to Hispanic migrants as "voters" during an interview on a Spanish-speaking radio show released Tuesday. "It's even a bigger influx now in terms of Hispanic voters, or Hispanic - Hispanic citizens, who want to become citizens," President Biden said of the current migrant crisis. He argued that the current wave of immigration is "a little bit like back in the 1840s and the great exodus of Ireland, because of the famine and the way Irish Catholics were treated. They said no, no, we don't need any more of those folks. There was a large influx." "The Hispanic community is part of the future of America," Biden told a host from Spanish radio show Chiquibaby this week. "Twenty-eight out of every 100 students in school speak Spanish, the idea that youre gonna ignore that? Thats our future. One of the reasons that were growing so much is we have a significant influx of immigrants coming into our country, only reason our economys so good. Were not a xenophobic nation. Other nations are, were not, thats why our economy is the best in the world."

Of course he's bringing them in to make them into Democrat voters.

The Hispanic voters who are U.S. citizens have sharply moved away from Biden in the polls, having seen the impact of illegal immigration on their jobs and communities. What better then for Biden than to replace them with his own "Hispanic voters," culled from the lawless contents of Venezuela's emptied prisons (which is why many Venezuelan-Americans moved here in the first place, to get away from those guys), and assorted criminal classes from all the nations of Latin America and other third world countries. Arrests of illegal border crossers, once in, for commiting crimes against U.S. citizens, has roughly doubled to nearly 15,267 in 2023. Venezuela, for one, has sent so many here their crime rate has gone down back home. As for the Mexican criminal classes here, well, the cartels have set up shop in the states, too. Just ask the 'stewmakers' of Chula Vista.

This gaffe, as Fox noted, seemed to be accidental, but it's not the first time he and his pals have done it.

Katie Pavlich noted this:

The Biden administration calls illegal aliens new comers and undocumented Americans https://t.co/wpUncx9y6F  Katie Pavlich (@KatiePavlich) March 8, 2024

It was likely in reference to New Jersey Democrat Sen. Chris Murphy using just that term, "undocumented citizens."

Biden may have used the term, too.

Meanwhile, as Biden waxes falsely about illegals improving the economy, Democrats have kept up with the 'Hispanic voters' vision quite literally. Just yesterday, they quashed a bill in the House to require states to verify citizenship of voters before registering them:

Its official. The Biden campaign formally opposes House bill to *verify* citizenship status to vote in federal elections. Currently, all illegals need to do to vote is check a box. Biden wants illegals voting en masse. This proves it. https://t.co/0EsnMs5CX8  Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 9, 2024

Hispanic voters, indeed, fresh across the border from other countries.

They keep getting caught again and again on this idea that they are replacing the U.S.'s voters with various foreign countries' voters, including their least-worthy citizens. Import enough of them, and the elections will swing to Biden and the Democrats.

Which is why this illegal racket needs to be shut down yesterday and a new administration brought in to end the sleazy game they've been playing.

No, illegals are not "Hispanic voters" and a heckuva lot of them are not even Hispanic. Calling them that looks less like a Freudian slip than a statement of intent. They keep doing it, over and over, and it all starts to fall into place.

They're not fooling much of anyone any more about their surge in open borders. What they want is to replace the American voter with someone more malleable to their wishes and ignorant of democratic tradition.

Anyone who is an American voters is a fool if they don't shut this down come November.

Image: Twitter video screen shot
This is, for HuffPost, simply unbelievable, a new low even for them. The article headline claims theres a GOP plan for an execution spree if Trump wins the election. Turns out the spree will be directed only at the forty prisoners already on federal death row.

HuffPost says that in Donald Trumps administration, during the last six months of his presidency, he had thirteen prisoners on federal death row executed, thus ending a seventeen-year de facto federal execution moratorium. HuffPost didnt bother to say Trump wasnt bound by a federal execution moratorium.

A coalition of conservative groups known as Project 2025 released an 887-page document that outlines policy recommendations for each part of the federal government. A recommendation to execute every prisoner remaining on federal death row is (according to HuffPost buried) on page 554. Gene Hamilton, a former Trump DOJ and DHS official, author of the transition documents Department of Justice section, wrote that the next administration should do everything possible to obtain finality for every prisoner on federal death row, which is currently forty people. Every person on federal death row was convicted of crimes involving the death of a victim.

Is HuffPost trying to scare voters? While technically not out of context, the headline certainly doesnt convey the entire truth. It tries to paint Trump as a monster with voters who read only an articles headline.

Interestingly, shortly after Joe Biden was inaugurated, the Justice Department formally reinstated a moratorium on federal executions. It seems, however, that there has been little progress toward a permanent federal execution moratorium goal despite Bidens campaign promise to work to end the federal death penalty. He has been noticeably silent on the issue. Biden is hoist with his own petard because his DOJ is seeking the death penalty for Peyton Gendron, the Buffalo, N.Y. supermarket shooter.
Based on a new report, Huawei could ditch Android, and switch to its own OS. Just to be clear, Huawei has not confirmed anything just yet, this is based on a report by Nikkei Asia. Also, the report was careful not to mention anything about the global scale of this.

Before we get to that, however, lets just say that Huawei talked about pushing HarmonyOS to global smartphones recently. The companys global devices still ship with EMUI, which is based on Android. They do come without Google services, though.

Huawei seemingly plans to ditch Android in favor of its own OS

Having said that, based on this report, Huawei plans to include HarmonyOS Next exclusively, instead of Android OS. This new platform will reportedly include support for 4,000 apps at first, though that will grow to 5,000 within a year.

HarmonyOS Next is Huaweis new platform that the company plans to include on its smart products, ranging from smartphones to smartwatches, and various other gadgets. It is expected to come pre-installed on the Huawei Mate 70 series later this year.

It is reported that HarmonyOS Next utilizes memory three times more efficiently and that it supports on-device AI. The biggest problem for Huawei is apps, of course. That was the problem for AppGallery too, Huaweis Android app store.

The company has huge plans for HarmonyOS Next and its ecosystem of apps

Huawei actually has huge plans for HarmonyOS Next. It expects to expand from 4,000-5,000 apps all the way to 500,000 apps in a rather short time span. The exact timing was not mentioned, though.

For full transparency, HarmonyOS is based on Android. The same will not be the case with HarmonyOS Next, it would seem. Huawei really wants to utilize its very own OS.

We wonder what this means for the companys global smartphones, though. It will be very different switching its global phones to HarmonyOS Next, compared to the ones sold in China. We hope that Huawei will provide some clarification in the near future. Why? Well, back in November, the company said that global phones wont lose Android support. Then just last month, the company shared its wish to push HarmonyOS to global phones. Its, of course, possible that the company will just rebrand EMUI to HarmonyOS, though thats highly unlikely. HarmonyOS Next is coming to global markets, the only question is when exactly.
Weve been following news that OpenAI is planning on eventually launching a search engine. Well, now is quite a time to do so, as we are only days away from Google I/O. After rumors that the company was going to announce it on May 9th, we now have word that OpenAI could announce its search engine on Monday; just one day before Googles event!

In case you dont know, Google AI is set to go down on Tuesday, May 14th. During the event, we expect Google to announce new additions and developments for its products such as Android, Chrome, Search, Wear OS, Etc. While Google will cover a range of topics, we know that the company is going to primarily focus on AI.

OpenAI could announce a search engine on Monday

The timing of this couldnt be more poetic, as it could be just one day before Google I/O. When it comes to information about the search engine, details are pretty scarce. What we know is that its going to heavily leverage OpenAIs artificial intelligence, and were pretty sure that its going to give generative search results. So, unlike a traditional search engine that will only show you links to different sites, the search engine could pull information from different sites, and give you AI-generated results.

We know that OpenAI is working long and hard on this search engine, but were also certain that its getting a lot of help from its biggest contributor Microsoft. Microsoft owns Bing, which is the second-largest search engine in the world. Its been in a long battle against Google, so anything to take some of the wind out of Googles sails is probably welcome to Microsoft. Were pretty certain that some of the technology powering Bing could also go to power OpenAIs search engine.

However, Microsoft shouldnt take all of the credit; we have to give some credit to Google. According to sources, OpenAI has been tapping Google employees to help build up its search engine team.

Hopefully, this does not start a domino effect

We cant deny that some of Googles AI products have been rushed. The company has to stay ahead of the curve, but that has led to some issues regarding Googles AI products. Well, once OpenAI launches its search engine, theres no doubt that Google could possibly prioritize SGE (search generative experience).

This is the companys AI extension to Google Search that gives artificially generated responses to peoples search queries. It is a tool thats going to greatly diminish the traffic going to millions of websites. SGE is currently in testing, but if OpenAI announces its search engine, theres a possibility that Google could rush its product out the door.
Tony-nominated actress Justin Vivian Bond will be recognized with a new award from the 12th annual "Night of a Thousand Judys," receiving the inaugural Judy Icon Award, which will be presented on June 3 at 7 PM local time in Joe's Pub within the Public Theater in New York.

Written and hosted by Justin Elizabeth Sayre, the yearly Pride concert is set to benefit the Ali Forney Center in the upcoming iteration. This particular agency is the largest in the nation and dedicates its efforts to assisting the homeless youth of the LGBTQ+ community.

The event honors the late Broadway and film icon Judy Garland by showcasing her monumental and ever-beloved songs from her career on the stage, on the silver screen, and even in the music industry,

Directing the evening show is Peter James Cook, with choreography from Jason Wise and music direction from Drew Wutke.

About the Judy Icon Award and First Recipient Justin Vivian Bond

The award is given to Bond to honor her contributions to the LGBTQ+ community and affirm their achievement in acquiring legendary status, accomplishments that follow in the footsteps of the honor's namesake.

Bond made their Broadway debut in the "Kiki & Herb" duo cabaret production with pianist Kenny Mellman, playing the role of the now-iconic KiKi DuRane. The two started performing in San Fransisco in the 1990s and running through various cities and their famed venues.

One of these famous locations is Carnegie Hall, where the performance took place ahead of the duo's Broadway opening. In 2007, the production was nominated for the 2007 Tony Award for Best Special Theatrical Event.

Bond's other credits also reach both Off-Broady and West End productions. They are also known for their activism concerning the trans community.

Of this honor, would-be host Sayre said: "I've said this loud and often, but there is no other icon than Justin Vivian Bond."

"Chanteuse, provocateur, artist, sage, truthteller, style maven, V is the icon of downtown," she continued. "I adore all that she is and all that she does. Even for me, there will only be one Justin: Justin Vivian Bond."

Announcements for guest performers will be held at a later date. For ticketing information, visit the Public Theater's official website.
Andy Murray will return from injury at next weeks ATP Challenger Tour event in Bordeaux.

The former world number one has been sidelined for seven weeks by the serious ankle ligament damage he suffered during a third-round loss to Tomas Machac at the Miami Open in March.

It was announced on Wednesday that Murray had taken a wild card into the Geneva Open beginning on May 25.

But, with the French Open only a fortnight away, the Scot has opted for more clay-court practice and will also play next week in the second-tier tournament in France.

Murrays last match on clay also came in Bordeaux a year ago, when he was heavily beaten by Stan Wawrinka before deciding not to play at Roland Garros.

This year he has his sights set on a final appearance in the years second grand slam, where he will also enter the doubles alongside Davis Cup team-mate Dan Evans.

Murray is hoping to be back on the Parisian clay in the summer for a final tilt at another Olympic medal, with his best chance likely to be in doubles.
The 50th banking hub has opened, according to Cash Access UK, an organisation set up to help protect access to cash.

The latest hub opened in Jedburgh in the Scottish Borders, and Cash Access UK said it aims to reach 100 by the end of the year.

The hubs help to plug gaps for communities as bank branches close and make it easier for small businesses to bank cash.

They have a counter service operated by the Post Office, allowing customers to conduct routine banking transactions.

Each hub has a private area where customers can consult with staff representing their respective banks for more complex matters.

Banks participating in each hub operate on a rotational basis, ensuring the presence of staff from different banks on varying days.

Gareth Oakley, CEO, Cash Access UK: In a short space of time, were very proud of the difference the hubs are making.

If you visit the more established hubs, you will also see how they are bringing energy and life back to these communities too.

Ross Borkett, banking director at Post Office, said: This is a significant milestone for both Cash Access UK and all of our postmasters who operate the banking hubs.

Bim Afolami, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: I look forward to seeing more hubs opening in the coming months.

Hubs are recommended by cash access and ATM network Link, which reviews communities based on criteria including number of shops, transport links and deprivation.

Recommendations are then delivered by Cash Access UK, a not-for-profit organisation, which is owned and funded by nine major banks. From the day a Hub is recommended, it typically takes about 12 months to open.

In locations where it proves difficult to find a suitable property, Cash Access UK can open temporary hubs, giving more time to secure a permanent home for the hub.

The 50th banking hub has been established as a temporary hub in Exchange Street, Jedburgh.
Joost Klein, the Eurovision Song Contest entrant for the Netherlands, will not perform in a second dress rehearsal for the grand final while an investigation into an unspecified incident continues, the organisers have said.

The 26-year-old Dutch rapper and singer qualified at the Malmo Arena venue in Sweden on Thursday evening with his up-tempo song Europapa, a tribute to his late parents.

He was seen briefly at rehearsals on Friday during the flag parade before missing the performance of his track.

We have our 26 Grand Finalists. And now we have the running order they'll perform in on Saturday night. #Eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/kvHRfDHg9U  Eurovision Song Contest (@Eurovision) May 10, 2024

A statement from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said: The investigation into the incident with the Dutch artist in this years Eurovision Song Contest is still ongoing.

Discussions are also taking place between the EBU and Avrotros, the Dutch participating broadcaster.

While the investigation continues, the EBU has decided that Joost Klein will not perform during dress rehearsal two of the competition, which is voted on by juries in the 37 participating countries.

His performance from semi-final two will be used instead.

It comes as Spains state-owned broadcaster told the events organisers press and opinion needed to be respected.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, RTVE wrote: The Spanish delegation from @eurovision_tve has conveyed to @EBU_HQ its commitment to freedom of the press and opinion, and has asked that @Eurovision is seen to respect this.

Israels entry is Eden Golan (Martin Meissner/AP)

This years contest has been mired in controversy around the participation of Israel in the wake of the worsening humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Israeli act Eden Golan, whose emotional song Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel that sparked the conflict, will take part in Saturdays final.

RTVE also announced it would host the Junior Eurovision Song Contest in Madrid on November 16 after previous winners France turned down the opportunity.

The media event where Ana Maria Bordas, head of the Spanish delegation, announced Madrid would be the next host of the junior version of the contest, was conducted in a way that did not appear to allow for questions.

Earlier the EBU cancelled a media conference with UK entry Olly Alexander and the other acts who were granted automatic places in the grand final.

An email from the organisers read: Please note that the big five and Sweden media conference originally scheduled for 18.30 has been cancelled because all artists want to focus on rehearsals.

It also came as the EBU website appeared to have run into technical difficulty, showing access denied and refusing entry permission.

Alexander and Irelands entry Bambie Thug will be among the 26 nations competing for the title on Saturday night from 8pm BST.
On Thursday, April 25th, a 3-month-old German Shepherd mix puppy was dumped in a parking lot at the Country Living mobile home park in California. A vehicle was captured on the park's security camera and showed the car stop as someone let the dog out before driving away. Sadly, the confused puppy didn't know what to do or what was going on and ran after the people that just abandoned her.

The puppy was taken to the Fresno Animal Center where workers hoped it would be adopted. The Daily Mail shared a 'PUPdate' about the puppy on Wednesday, May 8th, and it sounds like the puppy found a forever family! Watch on to hear more about the puppy's story and its happy ending.

I'm so glad that the puppy found a forever home! Meredith Gintzig-Hayes is a first responder, and she hired someone to drive more than 2,700 miles from North Carolina to California to rescue the pup, as she was unable to leave work. The puppy was named Phoenix by her new owners and is now being trained to be a therapy dog in hospitals and hospices. Daily Mail commenters had all the feels about this story and left nearly 500 comments, most saying they hoped that the person who dumped her was caught. As of this writing, the person has not been caught. I think @Heather spoke for all of us when she said, "Breaks my HEART someone could drive away watching their dog chase after them in the mirror. So glad she got rescued!"

Related: Abandoned Pup Found Wandering the Streets Becomes Award-Winning Police Dog

Why Rescuing Dogs Is Important

Meredith told Inside Edition, "When I saw her video I truly connected with her and decided come heck or high water she would be ours."

There are so many dogs that end up in shelters due to abandonment, growing up as a stray, or being rescued from abuse situations. Many shelters are 'kill shelters', meaning if a dog isn't adopted or taken in by a rescue within a certain amount of time they are euthanized. Instead of buying a dog from a breeder or pet store, many people head to their local shelters to find a dog instead. We recently adopted a puppy from a rescue after her mom and siblings were abandoned, and she's the best dog we've ever had!

Is a rescued dog right for your family? There are several factors to consider, and they are the same as when choosing any pet. How long will the dog be alone during the day? Do you have space for the dog to exercise and play? Do you have children and other pets? Who will be the primary caregiver? Do you have time to train the dog?

While these questions are the same for whatever pet you choose to bring home, the reason why it's even more important with a rescue is because of all the issues they may be coming into your home with already. They can require more attention, more patience, and more time than a puppy or dog from a pet shop or breeder. Many of these dogs, especially dogs that are not puppies - come with some baggage. They may have trust issues, be afraid of everything, have anxiety, or behavioral issues. In short, they can be more work because of all of these issues. On the other hand, all many of them want is a family to love and be loved by.

I'm all for choosing a rescue dog and saving a life, but it isn't for everybody. Make sure to do your research and even talk to others who have brought a rescued dog home. It may be more work than you are willing to commit to.

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.
Store closing sale signs are seen at the Babies R Us store in Latham, N.Y., in 2018. Babies R Us closed its stores after its parent company Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017. New York-based WHP Global acquired both brands in 2021 with plans to revive them. Lori Van Buren/Albany Times Union

After shutting its doors in 2018, Babies R Us is coming back.

WHP Global, which now owns the brand, struck a deal with Kohls to open 200 shops inside the department chains stores this year. Ten of those locations are set to open in Texas, including a shop within the Kohls store at 11781 Bandera Road in San Antonio. Others are in Brownsville, Harlingen, Keller, Lubbock, McAllen, Mission, Missouri City, Rosenburg and Westchase.

The Babies R Us stores will range from 750 square feet to 2,500 square feet and carry furniture, baby gear and accessories. They will be near Kohls existing baby merchandise, expanding the host stores selection of such items. Customers can also peruse items on Kohls website and the company plans to create a baby registry.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

MORE RETAIL NEWS: Japanese dollar store chain Daiso to open multiple stores in San Antonio area

The first stores are scheduled to open in August and all 200 are expected to be open by the holiday season.

In 2018, Babies R Us closed its stores after its parent company Toys R Us filed for bankruptcy in 2017. New York-based WHP Global acquired both brands in 2021 with plans to revive them.

A 20,000-square-foot Toys R Us store opened at the American Dream mall in New Jersey in 2021 and more than 400 smaller shops inside Macys stores debuted in 2022. WHP Global began opening flagship stores last year, with the first at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport through a deal with Duty Free Americas.

The firm is also pushing into Mexico. It opened Toys R Us stores there last year and is partnering with retailer El Puerto de Liverpool to open Babies R Us brick-and-mortar stores and launch an e-commerce platform.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

MORE RETAIL NEWS: Musical instruments retailer Sam Ash closing all stores, including San Antonio location

Kohls executives said the move will help the company boost sales in the baby products category and attract new customers, particularly younger patrons who have not shopped at Kohls previously. The Wisconsin-based retailer said net sales fell 3.4% year-over-year in 2023 to $16.6 billion and it expects sales to decrease or increase 1% this year amid a challenging environment for department stores.

This partnership provides a significant growth opportunity in a large category that has been displaced in recent years and builds on our existing assortment, while broadening our reach with younger customers, Kohls CEO Tom Kingsbury said during a March earnings call with analysts.

The company entered into a similar arrangement with Sephora in 2020 and began adding 750-square-foot shops within its stores. Existing customers liked the shops, which also helped lure new customers, Kohls said. Sales surpassed $1.4 billion in 2023 and the company said it expects to meet its goal of $2 billion in receipts by 2025.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Greta Thunberg has said that Israel is trying to artwash the Eurovision Song Contest after she joined pro-Palestinian protesters, who are calling for a boycott of the competition.

Israeli act Eden Golan, whose emotional song Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel, will take part in the final on Saturday evening in Malmo Arena.

The 20-year-old singer was congratulated by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said he was proud of the young star.

Eden Golan of Israel (Martin Meissner/AP)

Rishi Sunak hit out at the demonstrations saying they were wrong and called the push for a boycott of Israel unfair, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said.

In a post on X, on Friday, the Swedish climate campaigner, whose mother Malena Ernman represented Sweden in the competition in 2009, said: People from all over Sweden are gathering in Malmo this week, where Eurovision is taking place, to protest against Israels participation in the competition and to demand a #FreePalestine and #CeasefireNow.

Yesterday we were tens of thousands people flooding the streets of Malmo. We will not accept that a country currently committing genocide is allowed a platform to artwash themselves.

The world cannot remain silent in a genocide. Everyone who can must use their voice and speak up against Israels crimes and occupation.

Artwashing describes the use of artistic performance to distract from perceived negative actions by people, groups, governments or countries.

Israel has strongly denied any accusations of genocide, and has maintained that it has the right to defend itself following the attacks launched by Hamas in October that saw more than 1,000 Israelis killed and kidnapped.

The Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) has also cancelled a media conference with UK entry Olly Alexander and the other acts who did not need to compete in the semi-finals after Netherlands representative Joost Klein was told earlier he cannot rehearse.

An email from the organisers read: Please note that the big five and Sweden media conference originally scheduled for 18.30 has been cancelled because all artists want to focus on rehearsals.

Following the announcement, Italys representative Angelina Mango performed John Lennons peace song Imagine.

Prior to singing in the media centre, the 23-year-old singer said: Today once more I just want the music to speak and this is the strongest message I can share today.

After finishing, she said that music speaks.

The media event for the Junior Eurovision Song Contest did not take place in the press conference, and was instead done in the main journalist hall, where there did not appear to be availability for questions.

The Swedish police authority told the PA news agency that an estimated crowd of 10,000 to 12,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who marched through Malmo on Thursday were very peaceful.

The demonstrators, who were condemning Israel taking part in Eurovision amid the conflict in Gaza, walked through the streets of Malmo from Stortorget to Molleplatsen.

Eden Golan will represent Israel in the Eurovision final (Jessica Gow/AP)

Police said nine people were warned about disturbing the public order and one man was arrested after allegedly carrying a knife and some tools in his bag.

The force said it has approved two demonstrations  both pro-Palestinian  for Saturday, when Alexander competes in the final alongside Irelands Bambie Thug, and Golan.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister thinks that these protests are wrong and some of the scenes weve seen have been outrageous.

She added that the UK shares the deep concern of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and we raise this regularly but the Prime Minister is incredibly mindful of the Israelis and also Jewish people around the world who love Eurovision following the attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians.

The Prime Ministers spokeswoman also said he understands the right to peaceful protest, though Mr Sunak thinks it is wrong and unfair to call for a boycott of their act, Golan.

She added: We remain steadfast in our support for Israel and its right to self defence and its right to prevent a terror attack such as we saw from ever happening again.

Alexander and Bambie, along with other Eurovision artists, released a joint statement in March backing an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza but refusing to boycott the event.

At a press conference on Thursday, Latvias qualifying contestant, Dons, was asked about his message, and his reply appeared to make reference to conflicts throughout the world.

He said: It was a special day for me in my life and Id say Ive never been so proud to be part of Latvian nation and Latvian, were the only country in the world that is in the shape of a butterfly.

A butterfly symbolises hope and freedom because to be a butterfly, you have to fly and you have to be free. Every country in the world deserves to be free.

Meanwhile, Klein told Golan she should answer a question on whether she is compromising the safety of other contestants at Eurovision.

A journalist asked Golan: Have you ever thought that by being here you bring risk and danger for other participants and public?

Nemo of Switzerland is an early favourite for the title (Martin Meissner/AP)

When Golan was told by the moderator that she did not have to answer the question, Klein chimed in, saying: Why not?

It has been reported by local media that he faced censure following another issue on Thursday.

He was seen briefly at rehearsals on Friday during the flag parade before missing the performance of his track due to an unexplained incident.

The EBU says that he will not be rehearsing until further notice.

Golan said: I think were all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and and united place for everyone and so I think its safe for everyone and we wouldnt be here (if not).

The Israeli act also said she was overwhelmed with emotions and that she was super excited to go on stage once more, and share that of my love with everyone.

Earlier, when Klein was asked if his song can unite people by music, he replied: I think thats a good question for the EBU.

During the semi-final, Golan was applauded and cheered by the audience, while dressed in a flowing sand-coloured dress.

That marked a change from Golan being booed during rehearsals on Wednesday, and reportedly facing shouts of free Palestine in the arena.

The events organiser said it will not censor the audience and encouraged the crowd to attend in the spirit of the contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being united by music.

According to the AP news agency, she has been surrounded by security as she travels from the hotel to the contest venue.

Golan said on Instagram she is going to continue to show up and perform and remind everyone that we are here to stay.

Switzerlands Nemo, whose operatic-pop song The Code is seen as one of the favourites to win on Saturday, has made the final along with Klein, with his irreverent and silly Europapa, and Norways Gate with the folkish Ulveham.

Also in the final is Austrias Kaleen, Greeces Marina Satti, Estonias 5Miinust x Puuluup, Georgias Nutsa Buzaladze and Armenias Ladaniva.

The EBU, whose members approved Israeli broadcaster Kan, has taken a strong stance, as in previous years, against political messages at Eurovision and flags and symbols from non-competing countries.

Despite the position, Tuesdays first semi-final saw former Swedish contestant and opening act Eric Saade wear a keffiyeh pattern material, commonly used by people who want to show they are pro-Palestinian, on his arm.

The EBU said the body regrets the moment, while Saade said it was a way of showing a part of my origin and was a gift as a child from his father, who is of Palestinian origin.
The fatal stabbing of an elderly man on his mobility scooter by a psychotic ex-prisoner left a whole community shocked and horrified, police have said.

On Friday, Lee Byer was handed an indefinite hospital order at the Old Bailey after admitting the manslaughter of 87-year-old Thomas OHalloran by diminished responsibility.

The court heard Byer was psychotic when he stabbed popular accordion player Mr OHalloran in the neck and chest in August 2022.

Byer had served a 12-year sentence for robbery and was released from Wormwood Scrubs on bail five days before the attack in Greenford, west London.

Thomas OHalloran was fatally stabbed (Met Police/PA)

Detective Inspector Laura Nelson told the PA news agency that the death of Mr OHalloran had a huge impact.

His loss is felt greatly within his family. He certainly showed no signs of slowing down in his old age. He was head of the family. He looked after his family, cared for them.

He enjoyed playing his accordion and he was very well known throughout the community for that.

I think the community were just shocked. Really, really horrified.

She said she hopes the conclusion of the case will bring justice for the family.

The prosecution had carefully considered the case before accepting Byers plea to manslaughter in light of the medical reports.

Ms Nelson said the sentence of a hospital order would help protect the public.

Thomas OHalloran used a mobility scooter (Met Police/PA)

Ultimately, weve got to think about public safety and rehabilitation. Lee Byer will get the treatment that he needs in order to enable him hopefully to be well, so that protects in the future, she said.

On the defendants criminal history, Ms Nelson said: We know that hed been released from prison five days prior to the attack.

Hed been sentenced and had been recalled on licence for a robbery offence.

The earlier recall to prison had been over a harassment matter and breaching a non-molestation order, she added.

On August 16 2022, Mr OHalloran had travelled on his mobility scooter with his accordion on a shopping trip to Tesco.

As he made his way home, Byer left his address and the pair crossed paths in an underpass on the A40.

Ms Nelson, who led the Scotland Yard investigation, said: Lee Byer attacked Thomas OHalloran for absolutely no reason. There was no motive for it.

She said emergency services were alerted within two minutes of the brutal attack.

The officer said: It was a very fast-paced investigation. I had a team of people specifically working on trying to track the suspects movements from CCTV.

Lee Byer was seen running from the scene (Met Police/PA)

We were fortunate that the area had very good coverage. We saw Byer exit the underpass still carrying a knife at this point. He had also got some gloves on.

Police followed his progress through the subway and under the A40.

Soon after that, Ms Nelson said the face mask Byer was wearing fell down and he was seen to dispose of an item in a drain which turned out to be a handle.

The clear image of the suspect was circulated in the media with an immediate response from the public naming Byer, she said.

Meanwhile, the handle Byer had dumped in a drain was examined and found to have the DNA from both the victim and Byer on it.

Of the defendant, Ms Nelson said: He was an unusual character. He denied the offence. Upon his arrest, he continued to deny being involved in the offence.

Even when presented with the wealth of evidence that we were able to put to him, he still disputed his involvement.

What we now know through a number of medical assessments is that he was psychotic.
Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting said he has spoken to more Tories considering a defection to the opposition but insisted the party would not accept just any MP after former Conservative Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor.

The shadow health secretary said Ms Elphicke had switched sides with a purpose and not out of personal ambition as he defended the move amid a backlash from some of her new party colleagues.

Referring to her defection along with former Tory Dan Poulter last month in an interview with the Independent, Mr Streeting said: I think in Dans case as a doctor in the NHS who has come to the unequivocal conclusion only Labour can be trusted to sort the NHS out, Natalie Elphicke who is with her community seeing the consequences of what happens when immigration goes poorly managed

I think theyre very powerful message-carriers but they have defected with a purpose, not out of personal ambition, and I think people should take that message really seriously.

Former Tory Dan Poulter (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Mr Streeting claimed he has spoken to more Tory MPs considering a move because of the division and incompetence of Rishi Sunaks Government.

Labour MPs have criticised the decision to admit Ms Elphicke to the party, citing her hardline views on immigration and her previous support of her ex-husband after he was found guilty of sexual assaulting two women.

The Dover MP apologised on Thursday for claiming after Charlie Elphickes 2020 conviction that he was attractive, and attracted to women and an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations.

She said: The period of 2017  2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.

Jess Phillips, the former shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, had earlier said Ms Elphicke should account for her actions, adding: Im all for forgiveness but I do think that that needs some explaining.

One Labour MP told the PA news agency they thought the decision was utterly disgraceful, while another was left in tears by the news.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reported that deputy leader Angela Rayner had told backbenchers at an internal parliamentary committee meeting that Ms Elphicke would have no formal role in the party following the backlash.

A source told the paper that the key point was that (Ms Rayner) clarified Natalie will have no formal role beyond being just a backbencher.

The decision was also another blow to the Prime Minister, coming shortly after Dr Poulters defection and a set of local election results last week which painted a dismal picture for the Conservatives.

Announcing her decision to switch parties, Ms Elphicke hit out at Mr Sunaks tired and chaotic government and accused him of failing to deliver on his promise to stop the boats, adding that Labour would bring a much better future for our country.

But Downing Street has pointed out her repeated attacks on Labours immigration policy while former prime minister Lord David Cameron said her defection showed the opposition stood for nothing.

Answering questions after a speech in London, the Foreign Secretary said: What does this tell us about the party shes joining? In life, if you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything.

I thought thats sort of what yesterday showed, that there isnt a policy about anything, its just been about clearing the decks to try and focus attention on the governing party.
The mastermind behind a bungled armed robbery that saw a police officer shot dead is to be sentenced for her murder.

Pc Sharon Beshenivsky was gunned down in the street on her daughters fourth birthday while interrupting a raid at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

She and her colleague, Pc Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the robbery.

Almost two decades on, the gangs ringleader, Piran Ditta Khan, became the last of the seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted in April this year.

Piran Ditta Khan being taken into custody at Elland Road Police Station in April 2023 (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

The 75-year-old, who spent 15 years on the run before being arrested in Pakistan, was found guilty of murdering Pc Beshenivsky, as well as two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He pleaded guilty to robbery.

Leeds Crown Court heard that although Khan did not leave the safety of a lookout car throughout the raid, he played a pivotal role in planning it and knew loaded weapons would be used.

Prosecutors said this made him guilty of Pc Beshenivskys murder as surely as if he had pulled the trigger himself.

Khan is due to be sentenced on Friday by Mr Justice Hilliard.

During the trial, jurors heard Khan was the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used them in the past to send money to family.

He flew to Pakistan two months after Pc Beshenivskys death and remained at liberty there until he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in January 2020 and then extradited to the UK last year.

Khan told jurors he did not know that a robbery was going to be carried out, or that weapons were going to be taken.

He claimed he was owed 12,000 by Universal Expresss owner and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq, who was later convicted of manslaughter over Pc Beshenivskys death, had offered to help get his money back. Prosecutors said there was no evidence of this.

The court heard Pc Beshenivskys injury was immediately fatal. Pc Milburn, who activated her personal radio and called for help as she was coughing up blood, survived her injuries after hospital treatment.
In England, Scotland and Wales, abortion is legal up to 24 weeks with the approval of two doctors - PETER DAZELEY/GETTY

Proposals to decriminalise abortion up to 24 weeks will open the door to sex selection of foetuses, campaigners have claimed.

An amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill  which is due to be debated next week  would end the prosecution of women if they abort before 24 weeks.

However, there are fears that women will face pressure to abort foetuses because they are female, opening the door to sex selection.

In England, Scotland and Wales, abortion is legal up to 24 weeks with the approval of two doctors.

However, after 10 weeks the procedure must be carried out in an approved clinic or NHS hospital.

The change, proposed by MPs including Stella Creasy and former health minister and medical doctor Dan Poulter, would exclude women from prosecution under the Abortion Act up to 24 weeks of pregnancy.

Any prosecution against a woman for an abortion outside that time period would only be allowed with the explicit consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

This does not go as far as an amendment by Dame Diana Johnson, the Labour chair of the home affairs committee, which proposes full decriminalisation of abortion after 24 weeks.

However, Devi Shah, spokeswoman for the Stop Gendercide campaign, said: Its a heartbreaking reality that many women here in the UK come under pressure to have a termination from their partners and family members simply because they are expecting a girl.

If sex-selective abortion is made legal, it will make it much more difficult for women to refuse pressure from their families to seek a sex-selective abortion.

The legalisation of sex-selective abortion through to 24 weeks, combined with the private availability of early NIPT tests for gender, would likely lead to a significant increase in sex-selective abortions taking place here in the UK.

However, Ms Creasy said a Government investigation had found claims of widespread demand for sex selection in the UK was a myth.

It had explicitly said there was no evidence to support the claims. Its a lie put about by people who want to restrict access to abortion. This is about making it harder for women to have abortions by suggesting they want to do it for that purpose, she said.

Ms Creasy said a Government investigation had found claims of widespread demand for sex selection in the UK was a myth - PA

Decriminalisation does not mean there would be no medical involvement at all. In fact, it is the reverse. All it does is give the patient a voice.

The row comes ahead of what could be the first major change in the abortion laws since 1990 when the time limit was lowered from 28 to 24 weeks.

MPs will have free vote if the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle accepts amendments which would, on the one hand, decriminalise abortion to varying degrees and, on the other, reduce the time limit further from 24 to 22 weeks.

The amendment to lower the abortion time limit has been tabled by Caroline Ansell, a Conservative MP, and has the backing of more than 30 MPs while former defence secretary Liam Fox has tabled the amendment to remove the exclusion for Downs syndrome.

It has divided the medical profession. More than 100 specialists in foetal medicine have written to MPs warning that reducing the time limit would be catastrophic.

The letter has been signed by senior figures from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, as well as the chairman of the Fetal Anomaly Screening Programme at the UK National Screening Committee and the president of the British Maternal and Foetal Medicine Society.

However, a separate group of more than 700 medics have urged MPs to back the change as appropriate given advances that have led to survival rates for babies born at 23 weeks have doubled from two in 10 to four in 10.

This has led to new guidance from the British Association of Perinatal Medicine enabling doctors to intervene to save premature babies from 22 weeks gestation.
There is this constant sense of impending loss and I just didnt want to have to transfer that to my child. Environmental scientist Dr Shobha Maharaj stands in front of the coastline in San Fernando, Trinidad, where coastal stabilization works have been done, in an attempt to preserve the coastline. Photograph: Kelly Ann Bobb/The Guardian

I had the hormonal urges, said Prof Camille Parmesan, a leading climate scientist based in France. Oh my gosh, it was very strong. But it was: Do I really want to bring a child into this world that were creating? Even 30 years ago, it was very clear the world was going to hell in a handbasket. Im 62 now and Im actually really glad I did not have children.

Parmesan is not alone. An exclusive Guardian survey has found that almost a fifth of the female climate experts who responded have chosen to have no children, or fewer children, due to the environmental crises afflicting the world.

Such decisions were extremely difficult, they said. Dr Shobha Maharaj, an expert on the effects of the climate crisis from Trinidad and Tobago, has chosen to have only one child, a son who is now six years old. Choosing to have a child was and continues to be a struggle, she said.

Maharaj said fear of what her childs future would hold, as well as adding another human to the planet, were part of the struggle: When you grow up on a small island, it becomes part of you. Small islands are already being very adversely impacted, so there is this constant sense of impending loss and I just didnt want to have to transfer that to my child.

However, my husband is the most family-oriented person I know, Maharaj said. So this was a compromise: one child, no more. Who knows, maybe my son will grow up to be someone who can help find a solution?

The Guardian approached every contactable lead author or review editor of all reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change since 2018. The IPCCs reports are the gold standard of climate knowledge. Of the 843 contacted, 360 replied to the question on life decisions, a high response rate.

Ninety-seven female scientists responded, with 17, including women from Brazil, Chile, Germany, India and Kenya, saying they had chosen to have fewer children. All but 1% of the scientists surveyed were over 40 years old and two-thirds were over 50, reflecting the senior positions they had reached in their professions. A quarter of the respondents were women, the same proportion as the overall authorship of the IPCC reports.

The findings were in response to a question about major personal decisions taken in response to the climate crisis by scientists who know the most about it, and who expect global temperatures to soar past international targets in coming years. 7% of the male scientists who responded said they had had either no children or fewer than they would otherwise have had.

Most of the female scientists interviewed had made their decisions about children in past decades, when they were younger and the grave danger of global heating was less apparent. They said they had not wanted to add to the global human population that is exacting a heavy environmental toll on the planet, and some also expressed fears about the climate chaos through which a child might now have to live.

Related: Hopeless and broken: why the worlds top climate scientists are in despair

The role of rising global population in the destruction of nature and the climate crisis has been a divisive topic for decades. The publication of The Population Bomb by Prof Paul Ehrlich in 1968, mentioned by several of the scientists in their survey responses, was a particular flashpoint. The debate prompted past allegations of racism, as nations with fast-rising populations are largely those in Africa and Asia. Compulsory population control is not part of todays population-environment debate, with better educational opportunities for girls and access to contraception for women who want it seen as effective and humane policies.

Parmesan, at the CNRS ecology centre in France, said: When I was making my choice, it was very clear in the ecological community that human population growth was a problem: preserving biodiversity was absolutely dependent on stabilising population.

Prof Regina Rodrigues, an oceanographer at the Federal University of Santa Catarina in Brazil, who also chose not to have children, was influenced by the environmental destruction she saw in the fast-expanding coastal town near Sao Paulo where she grew up.

The fact of the limitation of resources was really clear to me from a young age, she said. Then I learned about climate change and it was even more clear to me. Im totally satisfied in teaching and passing what I know to people  it doesnt need to be my blood. [My husband and I] dont regret a moment. We both work on climate and we are fighting.

Prof Lisa Schipper, an expert on climate vulnerability at the University of Bonn in Germany, chose to have one child. She said that coming from the global north, where each persons carbon footprint is much bigger than those living in the global south, there is a responsibility to think carefully about this choice.

It is honestly only now that I am starting to panic about my childs future, she said. When she was born in 2013, I felt more optimistic about the possibility of reducing emissions. Now I feel guilty about leaving her in this world without my protection, and guilty about having played a part in the changing climate. So its bleak.

An Indian scientist who chose to be anonymous decided to adopt rather than have children of her own. There are too many children in India who do not get a fair chance and we can offer that to someone who is already born, she said. We are not so special that our genes need to be transmitted: values matter more.

She said rich people who choose to have large families were self-centred and irresponsible in current times, citing low infant mortality and the huge gap between the emissions of the rich and the poor.

The links between environmental concerns and fertility choices are complex and research to date has found little consistency across age groups and nationalities. According to a recent review, choosing to have fewer or no children for environmental reasons could be the result of fears about the future, population levels or not having the resources needed to raise the children.

A study of Americans aged 27 to 45  younger than the IPCC scientists surveyed  found concern about the wellbeing of children in a climate-changed world was a much bigger factor than worries over the carbon footprint of their offspring. However, a focus group study in Sweden across all ages found few had changed or would change their plans for children owing to climate fears.

There has been almost no research in the global south. Many researchers noted that some women do not have the freedom or ability to choose if they have children, or how many.

On the debate on the role of population growth in environmental crises, Schipper said: How many people we have is irrelevant if only a small percentage are doing most of the damage. Parmesan disagreed, saying the total impact is the combination of peoples level of consumption and the total number of people: Dont cherrypick half of the equation and ignore the other half.
A heritage worth celebrating: the Sutton Hoo helmet in the British Museum - Martin Beddall/Alamy

No one who visits the Sutton Hoo gallery at the British Museum ever forgets the magnificent artistry of our Anglo-Saxon predecessors. We may think of the fourth to the 10th centuries as a Dark Age, ruled by crude barbarism and economic collapse, but the gold and bejewelled treasures they left behind are utterly spellbinding  in their way as good as anything produced by the Roman conquerors who came before.

Which is why it is regrettable that a distinguished journal that dominates the study of Anglo-Saxon history  simply and inoffensively entitled Anglo-Saxon England  is to be renamed by its no less reputable publisher, Cambridge University Press, under the bland new title Early Medieval England and its Neighbours.

Many believe it is due to the hue and cry about the term Anglo-Saxon in the US, where white supremacists have mobilised it as a racist variant of the term Aryan.

If that is the reason for the change, then as a historian I must protest. For a start, the term Anglo-Saxon is not a racial label, but a cultural one. Many English people are the product of a fusion between the Angle, Saxon, and Jute settlers, and the native Britons; the invaders coming from a wide arc of coastline stretching from the Netherlands to Jutland. Anglo-Saxon Britain was no apartheid state, but one fundamentally of rapid synthesis.

Indeed, the language we speak today was one noticeable product: just under half of the words we use remain of Anglo-Saxon origin. The Anglo-Saxon interpretation of Christianity, too, lives with us still: the Sutton Hoo treasures indicate Christianity was making inroads by the early seventh century, not long after the Jutish king of Kent accepted baptism from the first archbishop of Canterbury. Christian art of this period features stunning iconography derived from the pagan religions that came before.

Thereafter, Anglo-Saxon culture flourished in a myriad of ways: English monasteries produced startlingly beautiful manuscripts and Anglo-Saxon literature flowered, including rich alliterative poetry; the cultural ties extended to the royal courts in France and Germany.

King Alfred is the only English king to be known as the Great, not just for holding his own against Danish invaders but for his patronage of learning. The Anglo-Saxon kingdoms merged, divided and merged again, but out of their rivalries rose a large and wealthy kingdom, rich in wool sent to the looms of Flanders, and therefore highly attractive to waves of Viking raiders, followed in 1066 by William, duke of Normandy, himself of Viking descent.

The desirability of this kingdom reflects the high standard of artistic production, learning and prosperity that by the 11th century had few rivals in northern Europe. Its legacy has been extremely powerful. For if we dispense with the Anglo-Saxons, what happens to the name of England, the country of the Angles, or Essex and Sussex, territories of the Saxons? Can we talk any longer of the Anglophone countries? It is telling that even today Russian propaganda mockingly refers to us Britons as Anglosaksy, thinking it a term of derision. Such an insult makes one quite proud.

Any suggestion of broad ethnic or cultural cohesiveness inevitably generates suspicion in an academic world, where the fantasies of Critical Race Theory find racism under every ancient stone. Yet that is to forget that, even at the time, peoples saw each other as distinct cultures, with unique traits and practices.

Cambridge University Press would do well to acknowledge that its headquarters are in East Anglia. Instead of erasing the term Anglo-Saxon, it is far better to accept that our forebears oversaw a flourishing and fascinating period of this islands history. It deserves a proper name, and it already has one.

David Abulafia is professor emeritus of Mediterranean history at the University of Cambridge
The Ford Mustang Mach E impressed our motoring team, but one customer found repairs a challenge

Dear Alex,

We have been without my wifes Ford Mustang Mach E for two months. The dealer said that the main traction battery needed replacing and that one had been ordered from the US. However, we were also told this was the first instance of needing to replace a battery in the UK and, as such, they couldnt give us a timeframe for the repair.

Two months later, we are still waiting; Ford has suggested it may take another five months. We explored the idea of replacing the car with a similar one, but Ford says this is up to the dealer. The dealer will not consider it until our car has been repaired, which seems illogical. We have been provided with a hire car, but this is not all-wheel drive, which we need in our rural location. What should we do?

 RG

Dear RG,

I agree it seems bizarre that the dealer will not discuss rejection and replacement with you until the car has been repaired  after all, what would be the point of rejecting the car once it was fixed?

This also seems like a particularly long time to wait for a new battery, given Ford is presumably punting them out left, right and centre for production cars. I wondered whether they simply didnt want to pull a battery from the production line for your car.

So I got in touch with Ford to find out what was going on. I heard nothing back for a while, but when I tried again after a month or so I was told the case had been closed as resolved, three months after the car had first been taken to the dealer, and that a goodwill payment had been offered and accepted.

You confirmed that Ford had offered a free service on your Mustang as a gesture of goodwill, though you added that youd also managed to get Ford to agree to pay the cost of fuelling your hire car, given your wind turbine and solar panels at home mean powering your EV would largely have been free during this period.

Crucially, you also told me that within a week of my contact with Ford, the estimated timescale they had provided dropped from five months to only two weeks, with Ford agreeing to source a battery from Germany instead.

Im not certain why this couldnt have happened in the first place, but I am glad to hear the situation has been resolved to your satisfaction and that the car has been trouble-free since the new battery was fitted.

For new and used buying guides, tips and expert advice, visit our Advice section, or sign up to our newsletter here

To talk all things motoring with the Telegraph Cars team join the Telegraph Motoring Club Facebook group here

A-Z Car Finder
Australia's foreign minister Penny Wong addressing the UN general assembly in September 2023. Australia appears likely to back a vote on Palestines status after resolution was watered down. Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

Australias support of a UN vote on Palestinian membership is the opposite of what Hamas wants, and is not about recognising Palestine as a state, according to the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong.

The draft resolution was significantly watered down in last-minute negotiations and Australia was among 143 UN general assembly members to pass the resolution calling on the security council to reconsider granting full membership to Palestine.

On Saturday, Wong said the vote was about awarding modest additional rights to participate in United Nations forums, and that Australia would only recognise Palestine when we think the time is right.

She said Australias policy had changed to be open to recognition during a peace process, not necessarily only at the end of the peace process.

That small but significant shift in policy was revealed in April, and some interpreted it as a signal Australia could recognise Palestine in the near future, although Wong said there is no move to do that. Wong also emphasised there would be no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the backing of the resolution was consistent with Australias support for a two-state solution.

He said the government continued to unequivocally condemn Hamass actions on 7 October and call for the release of the hostages. But he said Palestinians have a right to live in peace and security side-by-side with Israel.

In a statement explaining the vote, the Australian government said the resolutions language expressed unwavering support for the two-state solution of Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security within recognised borders.

Like many other countries, our vote for this resolution is not bilateral recognition of Palestinian statehood, it said.

Nevertheless, Australia no longer accepts that recognition can only come at the end of the peace process.

We have been clear there is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state.

France, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand were among the countries that voted for the resolution at an emergency session of the general assembly in New York on Friday.

The US and Israel were among nine countries to oppose the resolution, while 25 others abstained.

Australia was leaning towards abstaining on the original resolution, in which the UN general assembly would have requested the 15-member security council to favourably reconsider Palestines application for full UN membership status.

Last month the US used its veto power to scuttle the proposal at a security council meeting, and full membership is impossible without that bodys consent.

In addition to the symbolic move of requesting a rethink by the security council, the general assembly was to consider granting Palestine rights and privileges to ensure its full and effective participation  on equal footing with member states, according to a draft version of the resolution circulating among diplomats last week.

An official with knowledge of the negotiations said the most recent version circulated by the United Arab Emirates was significantly watered down from earlier drafts and demonstrated major concessions by the Palestinians and the Arab Group.

The amended version enhanced the Palestinian mission to the UN with a range of new rights and privileges but made clear that these did not include voting rights.

After a week in which pro-Palestinian encampments were accused of antisemitism, Wong said she understood the Australian Jewish community were feeling distressed and isolated.

You have a right to be safe  and antisemitism has no place anywhere. I stand against it, we all must stand against it.

This resolution that we have supported is about long-term peace and security for both Israelis and Palestinians.

The vote was the opposite of what Hamas wants, Wong said.

The Coalitions foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said the government had proven overnight that they lack the courage to stand against pressure and by sound principles.

Birmingham said the resolution sent a shameful message that violence and terrorism get results ahead of negotiation and diplomacy.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry had also urged Wong to vote against the resolution.

The ECAJ president, Daniel Aghion, said it was grandstanding that would do nothing to free the Israeli hostages or break the grip of Hamas and alleviate the plight of Gazan civilians.

One can only conclude that Australias vote was driven by domestic political considerations, and not by principle, which makes it a sad and shameful day for all Australians, he said.

Australia should have joined the UK, Canada and the US in abstaining or voting against the resolution.

Related: Why Anthony Albanese will face a tough call when the UN votes on full membership for Palestine

This was Australias most highly anticipated UN vote since December, when it supported an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of hostages.

The Australian government continues to express alarm about the devastating consequences of an impending Israeli ground offensive into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken shelter.

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said the UN vote was a positive step but wouldnt be enough to stop Netanyahus catastrophic invasion of Rafah.

Australia was not inclined to oppose the UN resolution, after signals from Wong, about the need to kickstart progress towards a two-state solution to end the cycle of violence.

Palestinian diplomats at the UN represent the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The Palestinian Authority is dominated by Fatah, a rival to Hamas.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Networks president, Nasser Mashni, said the UN had still failed to recognise Palestinians basic, inherent right to participate in decision-making about issues that directly affect their lives and political aspirations.
The decision brings Steve Bannon closer to a four-month sentence behind bars. Photograph: Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters

Steve Bannon, the controversial hard-right strategist who has been influential in the thinking of Donald Trump, has lost his appeal against his conviction for contempt of Congress relating to the investigation into the January 6 insurrection.

A unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia circuit court of appeals upheld Bannons conviction on Friday. The decision brings him closer to a four-month sentence behind bars meted out to Bannon for having resisted the terms of Congresss subpoena against him.

Related: New book details Steve Bannons Maga movement plan to rule for 100 years

He has one last hope left to avoid a prison term  he could appeal to the full bench of the circuit court. He has seven days to make the move.

Bannon, a former editor of the far-right news outlet Breitbart, was convicted of contempt charges at trial in July 2022, having been charged with two federal counts. He was accused of refusing to appear for a deposition and of refusing to provide documents to the committee in response to a subpoena.

He was sentenced later that year to four months in prison. The punishment was put on hold after Bannon appealed.

Bannons lawyers claimed in the appeal that he had not ignored the committees subpoena, but was following the advice of his lawyer and acting out of concern that he might violate executive privilege objections raised by Trump.

The January 6 committee countered that virtually none of the documents it was seeking related to executive privilege as they were overwhelmingly related to Bannons actions as a private citizen.

The appeals court decision, written by Judge Brad Garcia, found that Bannon failed to comply with the subpoena, and his failure to comply was willful. The advice of counsel defense is no defense at all when faced with a subpoena.

Another former senior aide to Trump, Peter Navarro, is currently serving an identical four-month prison term having refused to testify and hand over records to the January 6 committee about matters relating to Bannon. Congress had wanted to question Navarro about a plot to subvert the 2020 election with which he had been involved and which he wrote about in a book, stating that the plan originated with Bannon.

Bannon worked as Trumps chief strategist in the White House during the first seven months of his presidency. He left the White House in August 2017 following controversy over Trumps response to the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and now runs a popular podcast called the War Room.

The January 6 committee was led by Democrats in the House of Representatives with the participation of some Republican Congress members. It concluded that Trump had engaged in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and had not prevented a mob of his supporters attacking the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

This is not Bannons first brush with a federal prosecution. As one of his last acts in the presidency, Trump pardoned Bannon in 2021, clearing him of fraud charges relating to his fundraising campaign, We Build the Wall.

Bannon had been accused by federal prosecutors of committing wire fraud and money laundering connected to the scheme, which claimed to be supporting Trumps contentious plan to build a border wall with Mexico. Bannon denied the charges.

He is still facing trial over allegations that he defrauded thousands of people who donated to the We Build the Wall fundraiser in New York supreme criminal court. State prosecutions are not covered by a presidential pardon.

That trial has been postponed until September. The judge presiding over it, Juan Merchan, currently has his hands full sitting on Trumps hush-money and election interference trial.
H-E-B plans to remodel its store in Castle Hills, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Google Earth H-E-B plans to remodel its store in Castle Hills, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Google Earth H-E-B plans to remodel its store in Castle Hills, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. Google Earth

H-E-Bs store in Castle Hills is slated to be remodeled, but the San Antonio grocer isnt sharing what the renovations will entail.

Some $10 million worth of work at the store at 6000 West Ave. is expected to begin in August and conclude in June 2025, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The filing describes the scope of the construction as a remodel but does not include any details. A company spokesperson declined to elaborate.

Retailers periodically update aging stores, and the Castle Hills store was built in 1996, according to the Bexar Appraisal District.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

H-E-Bs updates to other stores in the area could offer some clues to what may be in store.

The company is giving its Lincoln Heights store what it calls a complete wall-to-wall remodel and expansion that includes new and upgraded departments, more products, a bigger area for curbside pickup services, a new pharmacy drive-thru and a True Texas BBQ restaurant with indoor and outdoor seating. Those upgrades cost an estimated $7.1 million, according to state filings.

The space was previously an Albertsons location. After the company left San Antonio in 2002, H-E-B opened its store there.

Other company upgrades are minor. For example, H-E-B plans to replace and relocate refrigerated cases and equipment in some stores deli areas, build gas stations and car washes, and refashion employees break rooms at some others, state filings show. It has also remodeled stores to expand curbside pickup areas to provide more parking.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Similar to the one for the Castle Hills store, other filings describe recent or upcoming remodels but include few details. Others include the companys Las Palmas, Foster Road, and Nacogdoches and OConnor roads stores, as well as its Deco District, Commerce and Chupaderas streets, Marketplace on Bandera Road, and U.S. 281 and Loop 1604 stores.

Under its upscale Central Market banner, the company is overhauling its Broadway store, which opened in 1951.

There, H-E-B said, its adding more energy efficient fixtures and equipment, new sidewalks and windows; refashioning some departments; expanding seating areas for the cafe; upgrading the break room and administrative areas; and updating the stores facade and parking lot. The work will be done in two phases, with the first expected to be completed later this year and the second to be finished in mid-2026. The store will stay open during construction.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Joost Klein did not deliver his song Europapa in rehearsals - JESSICA GOW/EPA-EFE/SHUTTERSTOCK

The Dutch Eurovision act is under investigation a day after interrupting Israels entrant at a press conference.

Joost Klein did not deliver his song Europapa in rehearsals on Friday.

In a statement the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said: We are currently investigating an incident that was reported to us involving the Dutch artist.

He will not be rehearsing until further notice. We have no further comment at this time and will update in due course.

It follows a testy interjection from Klein during Israels entrant Eden Golans questions at a press conference that immediately followed the semifinals last night.

She was asked whether her participation in the contest was posing a risk and danger for other participants.

After being told by event organisers that she did not have to answer the question, Klein loudly interjected asking: Why not?

He then proceeded to sit through Golans answer with his arms crossed and his eyes closed.

Other countries entrants also alluded to the heightened tensions and Israel-Hamas conflict in their own answers, with Latvian contestant Dons saying that every country deserves to be free.

Klein was also asked how his song was a unifying track, to which he curtly responded that it was better to ask the EBU that question.

Klein had appeared as normal with all the other artists in the flag parade rehearsal on Friday afternoon but just as he was about to take to the stage again for his solo performance, his rehearsal was axed.

Instead, Israels entrant Golan, 20, performed her dress rehearsal for the track Hurricane.

The EBU have said they have no further comment on the incident at this time.

Tensions appear to have spilled over to this years contestants about Israels participation in the event amid its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

On Thursday night, Greeces entrant Marina Satti was seen feigning sleep and yawning while Golan answered her press questions in a now viral clip on social media.

It comes after pro-Palestine demonstrations of more than 10,000 people took place in Malmo, Sweden with protesters holding signs with Eurovisions branding stating Genocide Song Contest and calling for Israels removal from the show.

Swedish police said that nine people disturbed public order and that one person was arrested on suspicion of violating the law by carrying a knife and dangerous tools in his bag.

Two further protests have been approved by police and are scheduled to coincide with the final on Saturday.
A car in Broadwater Green, Worthing, wrapped to protect against fox attacks - Eddie Mitchell

Eco-friendly brake cables are being eaten by foxes, after manufacturers switched from petroleum-based insulation to soy, forcing owners to wrap their cars in tarpaulins.

Recent photos show multiple cars covered in blue plastic for protection after a spate of attacks in Worthing, West Sussex, with locals claiming at least 20 vehicles were targeted by foxes.

Jack Cousens, the AAs head of roads policy, said the animals may be attracted to the soy-based insulation on brake wires.

Since 2000, peanut and soy-based oils and waxes have been used on car parts including gearbox insulation, primer bulbs and diesel injector wires, instead of petroleum-based coverings.

There are two reasons why foxes attack cars in this way, Mr Cousens told The Telegraph. The first is that some cables can be soy-based and therefore they get attracted to the taste of that.

Secondly, within brake fluid there is something called glycol, which is a sweet-tasting alcoholic fluid, and they get a little bit attracted to that too. But they would only get attracted to it if they chew so far through the cable and uncover it.

Onwers drive cars onto tarpaulins, then use doors to hold them in place - Eddie Mitchell

Eddie Mitchell, who lives on Broadwater Green in Worthing, the latest target for hungry foxes, said: Everyone around us has been affected. Theres been at least 20 attacks by foxes on the brakes system under cars.

One neighbour ended up spending 1,500 on his Jaguar after it was attacked, he added.

Locals in Horsham, West Sussex, reported similar instances of foxes chewing through brake cables in 2021 and 2022 and residents in Sidcup, south east London, were reportedly forced to fox-proof their cars last year.

The RAC said there were record numbers of mice, rats and foxes surprising its customers last year by causing serious damage to their vehicles.

The motoring organisation said there were 303 breakdowns caused by animal damage in 2023, with 41 prompted by fox attacks.

Patrols also reported numerous cases of foxes chewing speed sensor wiring, windscreen wiper blades and brake hoses underneath cars, the RAC said.

The AA has previously advised car owners who live near foxes to consider parking in a secure garage or to use fox repellent.
Just Stop Oil protesters target Magna Carta

Just Stop Oil have targeted the Magna Carta in their latest environmental stunt.

Two protestors, aged 85 and 82, smashed the glass enclosure surrounding the historical artifact this morning at the British Library.

The British Library holds two of the four surviving copies of the Magna Carta, with the others being held at Lincoln Cathedral and Salisbury Cathedral.

Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, an active Anglican priest from Bristol, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher from Swansea, entered the British Library at 10:40 this morning.

After they smashed the glass, Reverend Parfitt and Mrs Bruce then glued their hands together, demanding an emergency plan to just stop oil by 2030.

A Just Stop Oil Spokesperson said: Clause 39 of the Magna Carta is one of four clauses still enshrined in UK common law, a so-called golden passage, that states: No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or in any other way ruined, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.

Contrast that with civil law as it stands in 2024, where corporations are buying private laws in the form of injunctions that circumvent the peoples rights to a trial by jury for speaking out against the crimes of oil companies.

This is a breaking news story and is being updated
Ukraine already has 39 Himars systems, which it has used with great success against Russian command posts and ammunition depots - JUNI KRISWANTO/AFP via Getty Images

Germany will buy three US Himars systems and transfer them to Ukraine, the defence minister announced during a visit to Washington.

I can confirm that we will transfer three Himars rocket systems to Ukraine in cooperation with the Americans, Boris Pistorius told reporters on Thursday. They come from US armed forces stocks and will be paid by us.

He went on to stress the importance of cooperation between the EU and the US on sending Ukraine the weapons and supplies it needs to repel Russian invaders.

Ukraine already possesses 39 Himars systems, which it has used with great success against Russian command posts and ammunition depots.

There is still no sign of the German government providing Kyiv with the Taurus, a powerful long-range missile system, which Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, said he could not hand over because it would lead to a huge escalation in tensions between Moscow and Berlin.

The Taurus would be capable, in Ukrainian hands, of striking targets deep inside Russia, including the Kremlin in Moscow.

It came as Mr Pistorius warned that Germany could be facing an arms freeze as soon as next year due to a lack of funding for the Bundeswehr in the Scholz governments budget.

Speaking to broadcaster ZDF, Mr Pistorius said the German army needed significant further investment to make it a leading European defence force in the near future.

[The problem is] money is needed to continue procurement for the Bundeswehr, or else next year and in the following years we will effectively be running into an arms freeze, the German defence minister said.

That would really not be a good sign for our allies, but also [not a good sign] with regard to our own defence capability.

According to German media reports, Mr Pistorius has been lobbying the finance ministry to exempt the army from the countrys famous debt brake, which imposes strict limits on government borrowing and spending.

Officials in the defence ministry have drawn up a memo which argues that this would be legal, as maintaining a credible defence force  the Bundeswehr  is a constitutional requirement in Germany.
Alienable right to life features the names of 1,039 people killed in mass shootings since the Columbine high school massacre in 1999. Photograph: Alienable Right to Life

On Capitol Hill there is no shortage of politicians who wrap themselves in the Stars and Stripes and founding documents when seeking to defend the right to bear arms. But any who walk up Pennsylvania Avenue in the next 10 days will be confronted by an inversion of these patriotic symbols and an urgent plea to tackle gun violence.

Alienable right to life is a public art installation at Freedom Plaza that features a huge American flag bearing the names of 1,039 people killed in mass shootings since the Columbine high school massacre 25 years ago.

Related: Tennessee passes bill to allow teachers to carry concealed guns despite protests

I, sadly, have left one panel blank on the north-east corner of this artwork in case there is yet another mass shooting while this art is on exhibition, artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg said on Friday at a rainy launch event attended by the congressional Democrats Nancy Pelosi and Jamie Raskin and gun safety advocates.

The piece, made of scaffold wrapped with vinyl, is 35ft long, 25ft high and 12ft wide and secured by 32,000lb of ballast. Nestled behind the flag is a giant facsimile of the Declaration of Independence, which takes the assertion that all men are created equal with certain unalienable rights, magnifies the word unalienable and puts a red cross through un, leaving only alienable.

Nearby is an interactive circular mural, representing an upside down Stars and Stripes (a sign of imminent danger or distress) for visitors to share personal stories.

Kids shouldnt be afraid to go to school! one says.

The structures are surrounded by trappings of the nations capital: historic quotations about Washington inscribed on the upper terrace; a statue of Casimir Pulaski, a general in the Continental army, on horseback; the executive office of the mayor and the council of the District of Columbia; the National Theatre, about to stage Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rices Jesus Christ Superstar.

In her remarks on Friday, Firstenberg, 64, described her motives for creating alienable right to life, noting that gun violence has become the leading cause of death for American children.

America has become a dangerous place, she said. It used to be a place where we talked about a chicken in every pot and now its a handgun in every nightstand.

This art is meant to broaden the dialogue regarding gun access from a singular focus on the right to bear arms to the individual right to life that emanates from the Declaration of Independence. Im just going to go there, folks: if people are willing to fight for the rights of frozen embryos in Alabama, we should fight for the rights of Americas children.

The artist told how a friend named Andrea recently bought a 9mm handgun and used it to end her life. Firstenberg has added her name to the circular mural, where the public are invited to use black stickers to add their reflections or the names of loved ones lost.

The image of our American flag will disappear under those stories of gun violence, Firstenberg said.

Alienable right to life, privately funded, was made possible with the help of the National Park Service and DowntownDC Business Improvement District, and will be on display until 20 May.

Firstenberg added: Let us all commit that we will not let our children die in car seats, in math class, at the movies, or sitting on a kerb watching a Fourth of July parade. We must stop adding names to the flag.

The launch event heard Pelosi and Raskin praise Firstenbergs work and urge Congress to do more to curb gun deaths, including legislation to ban assault weapons. Chaplain Denise Reid recounted how her life has been affected by gun violence for half a century including when her son, Tavon Waters, was shot at a traffic light in 2006 and left paralysed from the neck down. He died from his injuries three years later at the age of 25.

Reid, a deputy lead of the Baltimore city chapter of the group Moms Demand Action, said: A senseless act of violence took my precious child from me and senseless acts of gun violence continue to plague our communities. How far to the sky would this flag need to be to include all the names of those needlessly lost? As this art beautifully conveys, the Declaration of Independence clearly expressed 248 years ago that everyone has the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Firstenberg is known for poignant installations such as In America: Remember, which blanketed the National Mall with 701,000 white flags for 17 days in 2021, in memory of victims of the coronavirus pandemic. Their stories are now being entered into a database at George Washington University and some of the flags are preserved at her studio in Bethesda, Maryland.

In an interview, the artist said she hoped the scale and prominence of her work can transcend political divisions.

Words are going unheard because were all existing more and more every day in our own echo chambers so public art is one of the few ways in which we can reach people without prior intention on their part of choosing what information they get, she said.

Public art gives us a way to have free expression and hope that people see it. Will it change minds? I can only hope. We have to start comparing ourselves to other countries rather than just thinking were the best. We have to pull back and understand whats happening here.
Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi and leader of the Aam Admi party, pictured in March when he was arrested on money laundering charges. Photograph: Dinesh Joshi/AP

One of Indias best-known opposition leaders, Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has been granted bail by the countrys supreme court to allow him to take part in general election campaigningafter being kept behind bars for almost two months.

Kejriwal, who heads the Aam Aadmi party (AAP), has been held in jail since March when he was arrested on money-laundering charges. He has maintained that his arrest and detention was politically motivated to prevent him taking part in the election, which began in April and will continue until June.

Narendra Modi, the prime minister, and his ruling Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) are seeking a third term in power, and several opposition parties have accused the government of using tools of the state to go after them and undermine Indias democracy before the polls.

As he walked free from jail on Friday night after more than 50 nights behind bars , Kejriwal told his waiting supporters he wanted to save the country from dictatorship.

Last year, the AAP joined a coalition of dozens of opposition parties who came together under the acronym INDIA to fight the BJP in the election. Kejriwals release, which is until 1 June, will probably boost the opposition alliance and AAP, which has had to campaign for weeks without its figurehead. Saurabh Bharadwaj, a party leader, described the supreme court ruling as more than a miracle.

The AAP are contesting several seats across the country against the BJP, including in Delhi, where voting will take place on 25 May. Voting will continue till 1 June and then results will be counted on 4 June.

Related: Arvind Kejriwal: the Delhi chief minister jailed by Modis government

The case against Kejriwal was brought by the Enforcement Directorate (ED), a central government agency that is investigating the AAP over an alleged scam involving kickbacks from alcohol licensing deals. It alleges that Kejriwal was a kingpin in the corruption, which Kejriwal and the AAP have denied, calling the case a political witch-hunt.

The Modi government have denied any role in the case, stating that the ED is acting independently.

The ED had opposed granting Kejriwal bail but the supreme court judges questioned the timing of his arrest and concluded that he should be allowed to take part in the election campaign. Kejriwal, who was elected chief minister of Delhi in 2015, has been running the government from the citys Tihar jail since his arrest in March.

Justice Khanna, who was hearing the case, said: It is the election season. He is the elected chief minister of Delhi. The elections are around the corner. These are extraordinary situations. Its not normal  He is not otherwise a habitual offender or somebody who has been involved in any other case.

Khanna added: He could have been arrested before or after [the election] also. Whatever it is, 21 days here or there should not make any difference.

Other parties in the alliance have also alleged harassment by the BJP and the agencies under its control. The main opposition Congress party said its funds had been frozen by the tax authorities, while MPs in other parties have faced questioning and also been detained.

Kejriwals release was celebrated by several leaders in the INDIA coalition. Aaditya Thackeray, another key opposition leader in the bloc, said: Arvind Kejriwal getting justice and relief against dictatorial regime in the country is a huge sign of winds of change.
Labour LGBT Lanyards

The cost of living crisis has not yet impacted on the spending of taxpayers money on LGBT+ lanyards for people working in the Palace of Westminster. Senior Tory MP Sir Charles Walker told MPs that Parliament spent 1,639 on 1,500 rainbow/progressive flag lanyards in the 12 months to the end of March, up from a mere 380 on 500 rainbow lanyards in 2022/23, and nothing in the year before. Tory MP Nick Fletcher  whose parliamentary question elicited the figures  is not a fan, urging wearers to stop fuelling this tragic social contagion. Just say no.

MI6 chief pathetic says Rees-Mogg

Longstanding Garrick Club member Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg says he is very relaxed about women joining as long as the London club remains jolly. The Tory MP tells GB News: Clubs are for fun and for association and not for endless rows. But Rees-Mogg says the judges and spies who quit, having suddenly discovered that the Garrick didnt allow women to join were particularly ridiculous. The head of MI6 resigned, having been a member for some years, suddenly  oh dear, are women not allowed to join. Im so upset and I cant cope. That was just pathetic.

Are you sitting uncomfortably?

Why are some commuter train seats so much more uncomfortable than others? The comfy Southern train seats are a far cry from the ironing-board hard Thameslink ones. Norman Baker, the ex-Lib Dem MP for Lewes and a former transport minister, once investigated, amid suspicions that the piles-aggravating Thameslink seats were specified by a particularly-Cromwellian Whitehall official.

I didnt find out the name of the official, though did establish it was a Department for Transport official, not any rail employee, he tells me.

Thameslink wont say if it has had any complaints (apart from mine). Various seat designs were tested with stakeholders. The chosen design is the one that met all the safety and capacity requirements and offered the best comfort, a spokesman says. Really?

Trepidation in Ambridge

Actor Simon Williams loves playing well-heeled characters, like Justin Elliott in The Archers: The great thing about playing toffs, cads and privileged people is that we usually worked [on location] in stately homes, he says. I did three months in EastEnders and got a little glimpse of how the other half lives.

Williams says that the cast of The Archers is currently waiting to see who else is bumped off (the last character to be killed off was the villainous Rob Titchener last November). All 40 of us residents of Ambridge wait to see what the scripts bring, and always turn to the last page to check whether weve been killed off, he says.

Joans advice

Banter at the Variety Club awards between Dame Joan Collins  who was receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award  and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber. What can I say about Dame Joan? I think I was four when her first movie was made in 1952, which makes me feel very young, Lloyd Webber said, adding that Collins is one of our British living legends and an incredible friend.

Examining her award, Collins replied: It is so sweet of you to do this Andrew. Christopher Biggins turned me down.

Collins signed off with a flourish, saying: My advice for you all is: Live every day as though it was going to be your last. Because one day it will be. Goodnight!

Lords reform

A bright idea in the letters page of Wetherspoon News, which is distributed in the chains pubs. When I told my teenage daughter that the House of Lords is likely to be abolished, she immediately replied: They should turn it into a Wetherspoons! says customer Gareth Jones.

Over to Wetherspoons boss Sir Tim Martin. Your daughter has excellent commercial instincts, he says. If the House of Lords were abolished, Wetherspoon would be in there like a shot.

Princess Annes comedy teeth

Actress Vicki Pepperdine has revealed she uses the false teeth she wears to portray Princess Anne in Channel 4s The Windsors to amuse people at parties. Pepperdine, 62, says: Those false teeth appear from time to time. Ive got them in my bottom drawer. I wear them to parties.

The actress adds: My mum, who was quite a fan of the Queen and Princess Anne, used to say The Queen and Princess Anne do all the work! I think the Princess is very hard-working and takes it very seriously.

Peterborough, published every Friday at 7pm, is edited by Christopher Hope. You can reach him at peterborough@telegraph.co.uk
Complaints against Ms Osamor included an allegation of bullying - DANNY LAWSON/PA

A Labour MP had the whip restored despite four former staff members submitting formal complaints about her behaviour, The Telegraph can reveal.

Kate Osamor, the MP for Edmonton, in north London, was readmitted by the parliamentary party on Wednesday following an internal investigation into remarks she made accusing Israel of genocide, for which she has apologised unreservedly.

Labour gave the impression the case was closed, with a spokesman confirming the whip had been restored following a full inquiry.

But it is understood that the party received four separate complaints about Ms Osamors conduct prior to readmitting her, including allegations of bullying and intimidation, which are yet to be resolved.

It will raise questions as to why Labour chose to welcome the MP back into the fold despite being alerted to further concerns about her behaviour.

The party previously criticised the Conservatives for promoting former Tory MP Chris Pincher to the whips office when Downing Street was aware of allegations as well as reports and speculation about his conduct. Mr Pincher resigned from the House of Commons last year after being sacked from the party over a groping scandal.

The complaints against Ms Osamor, from four former members of her staff, included an allegation of bullying, as well as various claims of intimidation and generally unpleasant behaviour.

Unpleasant behaviour

In more than one case, the MP was accused of angry outbursts towards team members, causing some to claim to feeling frightened.

It is understood all four complaints were submitted to Labour during Ms Osamors suspension and acknowledged by the party prior to her getting the whip back.

Parliaments Independent Complaints and Grievance Scheme (ICGS) was also alerted to each of the four cases.

Labour would not comment on Ms Osamors case specifically, but said any complaints made to the party are taken seriously and investigated in line with our procedures. Ms Osamor was approached for comment.

Labour often insists in cases such as these that there is an independent complaints procedure that the party leadership does not involve itself in, and that different types of complaints are handled in different ways.

While allegations of bullying or intimidation are covered by the partys complaints policy, it states that personnel issues are likely to be excluded, and dealt with instead under internal HR policies and procedures.

The House of Commons refused to confirm whether the IGCS had received any of the complaints about Ms Osamors conduct, or whether it would be investigating, citing confidentiality reasons.

Since 2022, ICGS rules have stated that a complaint about bullying or harassment must be made within one year of the alleged incident in order to be considered by the watchdog.

Ms Osamor was stripped of the whip in January following a backlash from Jewish leaders over comments she made in a constituency newsletter post.

In her remarks on January 26, the MP described Holocaust Memorial Day as an international day to remember the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, the millions of other people murdered under Nazi persecution of other groups and more recent genocides in Cambodia, Rwanda, Bosnia and now Gaza.

But on Wednesday, Labour readmitted her following an internal investigation as she acknowledged that her comments had been insensitive and inappropriate.

Her reinstatement came hours after Natalie Elphicke, a Conservative MP widely regarded as having been on the Right of the party, announced her defection to Labour just moments before Prime Ministers Questions.

On Wednesday, a Labour Party spokesman said: The chief whip has today restored the Labour whip to Kate Osamor MP. This follows a full investigation by the Labour Party into complaints received about a social media post she made in January.
According to the letter, Ms Voigt cited flare-ups of a pre-existing condition that resulted in her experiencing 'heart palpitations and more' - Instagram

Miss USA said the toxic pageant culture that forced her to resign also caused her hair to fall out.

Noelia Voigt, 24, resigned as the title holder on Monday over the damage the competition had done to her mental health.

Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, 17, also relinquished her crown on Wednesday.

Leaked details from Ms Voigts resignation letter say the stress she suffered in the months since her competition win seven months ago put a strain on her physical and mental health.

Full body shakes

According to the letter, seen by NBC News, Ms Voigt cited flare-ups of a pre-existing condition that resulted in her experiencing heart palpitations, full body shakes, loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, loss of sleep, loss of hair, and more.

Ms Voigt blamed Laylah Rose, the pageants chief executive and president, for a toxic work environment that had aggravated her condition.

I am now diagnosed with anxiety and have to take two medications daily to manage the symptoms due to consistently being on edge, worrying about what Laylah will pop up with and choose to harass me about daily, the letter said.

Ms Voigt, who became the first title holder in the pageants 72-year history to voluntarily step down, claimed Ms Rose consistently failed to communicate and when she did, she was often cold and unnecessarily aggressive.

Her letter added: Its incredibly jarring to be trying to do my job and constantly be threatened with disciplinary action, including taking away my salary, for things that were never discussed with me.

I am silenced

Ms Voigts announcement on Instagram appeared initially restrained until her keen-eyed fans said it contained a hidden message. Taking the first letter of each sentence, they said the message spelt out I am silenced.

On Wednesday, Ms Srivastava followed Ms Voigts lead and quit the junior version of the contest, claiming her personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organisation.

The resignations came shortly after Claudia Michelle, the Miss USA social media manager, also quit her job, denouncing the unprofessional and inappropriate way management speaks about its titleholders.

Ms Voigt claimed an alleged incident of sexual harassment was not taken seriously enough by the organisation.

Recalling a Christmas event in Florida, the Venezuelan-American model said she was left alone in a car with a man who made several inappropriate statements to me about his desire to enter into a relationship with me.

Preserve integrity

After making Ms Rose aware of the issue, Ms Voigt claims she was told: We cannot prevent people saying things to you at public appearances, it is, unfortunately, part of the role youre in as a public figure.

Ms Rose said in a statement on Wednesday that the well-being of all individuals associated with Miss USA is my top priority.

All along, my personal goal as the head of this organisation has been to inspire women to always create new dreams, have the courage to explore it all, and continue to preserve integrity along the way. I hold myself to these same high standards and I take these allegations seriously, she said.

Miss Hawaii, Savannah Gankiewicz, 28, who finished runner-up to Ms Voigt in last Septembers pageant, was announced as her successor on Thursday.

She will be officially crowned as Miss USA in her home state of Hawaii next week.
Kate Silverton, 53, at home with her two children, Clemency and Wilbur - Mike Heron

Kate Silverton said she left the BBC because she felt the impact the Covid lockdown policies had on children were not being questioned rigorously enough by the media.

The former BBC newsreader said she left the industry in 2021 as it no longer brought her joy.

The mother-of-two said amid the pandemic she wanted to be in a position where I was helping more and decided to retrain as a child psychologist.

Silverton told Psychologies magazine: To be honest, news wasnt bringing me joy throughout that period of time, and I was questioning a lot of the policies that werent being interrogated as rigorously as they might have been journalistically, in terms of the impact I was seeing the pandemic having on children.

I wanted to be in a position where I was helping more.

The Government has faced criticism for its decision to close schools for long periods of time during lockdown, as well as its policies on children wearing masks.

The former Strictly Come Dancing contestant has a psychology degree from Durham University.

She joined the national broadcaster in 1997 and was a regular presenter of BBC News at One and BBC Weekend News.

The 53-year-old also made occasional appearances on the BBC News Channel and BBC World News.

At the time of her departure, she said: My academic background is in child psychology, and becoming a mum really inspired me too.

My journey has really been decades long, both in understanding more about childrens mental health, and as a parent really benefiting from all the interviews and access to advice that I was given by incredible people.

She added: People often ask me  women especially  if there is a second act when it comes to your career, and my advice is always to follow your heart and your joy.

It can take a massive leap of faith, and I know were not all in the position financially where we can make huge leaps, but sometimes when you commit to an idea, providence will follow.

You can have a second act; you just have to decide what its going to be.
Students walk on campus at Texas State University in San Marcos. The city agreed this week to make e-scooter rentals available 24 hours a day, citing the need for transportation options for Texas State students and other riders after midnight. Salgu Wissmath/San Antonio Express-News Electric Bird scooters are seen seen parked in downtown San Antonio. Spin Scooters, a subsidiary of Bird, will be allowed to expand operations in San Marcos, permitting rides after midnight and in a limited area east of Interstate 35. Josie Norris /San Antonio Express-News

San Marcos will allow electric scooter rentals after midnight and permit them to be used in an area east of Interstate 35, citing feedback from riders, especially Texas State students, whove asked for expanded scooter service in the city.

The expansion will be a six-month pilot program, and will be limited to a small area east of the highway near Aquarena Springs Drive between Uhland Drive and Davis Lane, which includes several apartment complexes.

Charles Campbell, the citys multimodal parking initiatives manager, told the San Marcos City Council this week that easing the rules would bring an estimated 5,000 additional rides per year. The council took no formal action, but members indicated they were unanimously in favor of the proposal.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The motorized scooters are available for anyone to ride, and are unlocked and paid for using a phone application.

The city and Texas State University entered a contract with Spin Scooters in 2021 to operate in a limited area west of I-35, including the university campus. In March, the company proposed expanding that area east of the highway. Spin Scooters also requested to extend operating hours, which are currently restricted to 5 a.m. to midnight.

In 2022, there were 75,835 scooter trips in the city, covering more than 79,000 miles, according to the city. In 2023, the number of trips increased to more than 81,000, though the total mileage traveled fell slightly.

There were no reported safety incidents in 2022 and only one in 2023, Campbell said. He didnt provide details about that incident, but said it took place after 7 a.m., and was unrelated to visibility.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Campbell said the citys police and fire departments reviewed the proposal and didnt express any objections.

He said Spin Scooters has a new Safe Start option within its app: During certain hours, it requires riders to correctly enter a keyword in order to activate the scooter, in an effort to discourage people from riding under the influence. He said the city could also choose to implement a mandatory speed limit during selected hours, limiting how fast the scooters can go during that time.

Spin Scooters operates 24-hour service in many other town and gown cities with large universities, Campbell told the council, including Baton Rouge, La., home to Louisiana State University, and Fayetteville, Ark., where the University of Arkansas is located. Spin Scooters parent company, Bird, and another scooter company, Lime, both operate around the clock in Austin, including the University of Texas campus, he said.

He said the estimated increase in rides from the extended hours is based on data from the company, which tracks when people try to rent a scooter after hours and are unable to. The company also considers usage in similar-sized cities to project demand, he said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

City Manager Stephanie Reyes told the council the expansion will provide another transportation option in traditionally underserved areas, and offer another option for third-shift workers and students, among others.

Recommended scooter parking zones in the new east side area include locations near current bus stops, Campbell said, allowing people to use scooters before or after riding a bus. He said city staff tested the route that scooters would use to pass under Interstate 35, and said the city could also add pavement markings or signs to direct riders.

Council Member Mark Gleason, who said he regularly bikes back and forth from both sides of the interstate, said he had some reservations about encouraging late-night crossings under the highway in what he called dangerous intersections. But he said hed ultimately like to see it expanded to more of the east side, and supported the decision to allow scooters there.

The city does not pay anything for the scooters to operate, but receives 20 cents per ride. The program has brought in annual revenue of about $6,600, Campbell said.
Keir Johnston and his wife, Grace Johnston, appear on the Ellen DeGeneres talkshow in 2015. Photograph: TheEllenShow/Youtube

A man who became famous after a dress bought for his wedding broke the internet has pleaded guilty to endangering his wifes life after admitting to strangling her.

Keir Johnston, 38, pleaded guilty to the attack at the high court in Glasgow on Thursday and was remanded in custody until a sentence is passed next month.

Johnston and his wife, Grace, who lived on the Isle of Colonsay after their 2015 marriage, found fame when the mother of the bride wore a dress that caused a global debate over its true colours  black and blue, or white and gold.

Named the dress that broke the internet, it turned into a social media storm when Caitlin McNeill, a guest at the wedding, first shared an image on Tumblr, appealing for help in solving the colour dilemma.

Celebrities including Kim Kardashian and Ellen DeGeneres were caught up in the debate, with the latter inviting the couple on to her talkshow, where they were given $10,000 and a trip to Grenada.

However, the court heard that at home Grace Johnston feared for her life. Johnston turned on his wife at their house on the remote Scottish island on 6 March 2022 and threatened her, saying: Someone is going to die.

Chris Macintosh, the prosecutor for the crown, told the judge, Lady Drummond, and the court how Grace Johnston lived in fear of her abusive husband. He said: There is no permanent police presence on the island, and she was in a situation where she felt trapped.

Grace Johnston had defied her husbands demands not to attend a job interview on the mainland and days later found herself in a life-threatening situation. On the day of the attack, Johnston was drinking at a pub quiz and sent several messages to his wife, with one reading: You should support me but you do not.

When Grace Johnston returned home, Johnston woke up and announced he would be leaving her. The couple went outside their cottage where Johnston grabbed his wife and threw her to the ground.

Macintosh said: Johnston woke up and said that he was going to leave her. She went outside the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pinned her to the ground.

He placed both knees on her arms, so she was unable to move. He then began strangling her with both his hands. She was initially able to scream and feared for her life and believed Johnston intended to kill her as he was very forceful.

Despite sustaining severe bruising from the attack, Grace Johnston did not require medical treatment.

The defending lawyer, Marco Guarino, said Johnston had accepted responsibility for the assault. Lady Drummond denied Johnston bail and placed him in custody, saying: I have no need to tell you that this is a serious and violent offence.

You repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in what must have been absolutely terrifying circumstances for her. I am afraid, Mr Johnston, that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and you will be remanded meantime.

Johnston will be sentenced on 6 June.
A UCLA faculty member holds up a sign on Thursday. Photograph: Jae C Hong/AP

More than 800 faculty and staff at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have called for the chancellors resignation following attacks by counter-protesters on pro-Palestinian student demonstrators and a violent police raid of the Gaza solidarity encampment on campus last week.

More than a hundred professors and other teaching staff gathered on Thursday to deliver a letter in support of their students engaged in pro-Palestinian activism, demanding Gene Block immediately step down as chancellor and an academic senate vote of no confidence in him. The letter also called for authorities to drop all charges against students, staff and faculty who were involved in the encampment.

Related: Police let violent mobs attack UCLA students. This is what lawlessness looks like | Judith Levine

The mass faculty action at one of the most prominent public universities in the US comes as campuses across the country have been roiled by pro-Palestinian encampment demonstrations and aggressive law enforcement crackdowns during graduation season.

Holding signs that said Take a walk, Block, UCLA faculty and staff  stand with our students and Disclose & Divest, professors from across departments recounted the brutal violence by counter-demonstrators on 30 April as police failed to intervene, and the subsequent mass arrests of the pro-Palestinian demonstrators.

We are outraged at the universitys failure to protect its students from vigilante and police violence and its refusal to uphold its stated values as made evident in the forcible removal and arrest of peacefully protesting students, faculty and staff, said Dan Froot, a UCLA world arts and cultures and dance professor representing senate faculty from his department.

A group of volunteer medics who helped care for demonstrators injured by police and counter-demonstrators told reporters that they had treated a wide range of injuries, including severe head lacerations, facial fractures, subarachnoid hemorrhages, rubber-bullet wounds, broken bones and asthma attacks from chemical irritants. Katherine Marino, a history professor who read a statement from faculty in her department, noted that at least 25 students had been hospitalized and roughly 200 protesters had been arrested, with police dragging visibly injured students away.

The letter also expressed solidarity with students demands, calling on UCLA to publish a report within 30 days disclosing all investments and for the university to divest from military-weapons-production companies and supporting systems.

Susan Slyomovics, an anthropology professor, read a statement on behalf of 75 Jewish faculty and staff, saying Block had misused Jews by suggesting the encampment had to be dismantled to prevent antisemitism: We assert that critiques of Israel are not presumptively antisemitic  that Jews who support the liberation of Palestine must not be devalued.

Related: Like family: three women  two Palestinian, one Jewish  find peace amid campus chaos

The faculty action comes as UAW local 4811, the largest union of academic workers representing 48,000 graduate student workers throughout the University of California system, is voting on a possible strike over administrators response to pro-Palestinian protests. Matt Barreto, a professor of political science and Chicana/o studies, said the group of professors was discussing the possibility to withhold our own additional labor until the demands are met. If graduate students go on strike, professors will not cross picket lines or do their work, he said.

UCLA did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Thursday. Block announced earlier this week the creation of a campus safety office, headed by a former Sacramento police chief, to identify the perpetrators of the violence and hold them to account.

A Los Angeles police department spokesperson said in an email on Friday morning that the department was looking into its involvement on campus along with other law enforcement agencies and that a detailed report would be issued.

Purnima Mankekar, a UCLA anthropology professor, said she felt an obligation to defend students at the encampment. The students, she said, had gone to great lengths to de-escalate violent attacks from counter-demonstrators. My job is to make sure the learning and intellectual growth of our students goes unimpeded  When that gets disrupted by violence that is perpetrated on them by outside instigators or by the police, that makes me very upset, she said.

If students are unable to engage in peaceful protests, the university is not a university, its a police state, she added. The parents of our students entrust us with them. Its our job to keep them safe.

It was significant that so many faculty had signed on to the letter, said Gary Segura, professor of public policy, political science and Chicano/a studies, and a former dean. Even faculty who may not have agreed with the student protesters underlying issues were mortified by the video of LAPD cops firing [less-lethal munitions] into the crowd. Those are students. I found it just terrifying.
One of the artefacts the Asante want repatriated is a golden trophy head, on display at Windsor Castle

More British museums are in talks to potentially return looted artefacts to an African king following a landmark loan deal, The Telegraph can reveal.

The ruler of the Asante people in Ghana, Otomfuo Osei Tutu II, struck a deal allowing the V&A and British Museum to loan him golden treasures taken by colonial forces in the 19th century.

Asante courtiers have said the deal is the beginning and a long-term campaign for the return of all looted artefacts may eventually involve a string of UK museums.

Formal requests for repatriation have not yet been made, but discussions have begun with several UK institutions.

Any repatriated items will be returned to the Asante capital of Kumasi and housed within the Manhyia Palace Museum, based within the compound of the kings residence, which is being expanded to handle a greater number of artefacts.

Ivor Agyeman-Duah, the museums director, has stressed the importance of these treasures to the Asante, and called for more to return home from Britain.

These are objects of a civilisation with significant religious and artistic significance, he said.

Their homecoming is about the memory of the past and the inspiration they give today.

Universally appreciated, they also have their first abode: as Asante objects.

The University of Oxfords Pitt Rivers Museum is understood to be collaborating with the Asante court.

The museum, which has already agreed to hand back its collection of Benin Bronzes to Nigeria, owns a stool used as a throne by the Asante king, who was deposed in 1874 by British forces.

Benin Bronzes have been at the centre of the repatriation debate - NEIL HALL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

This artefact and many others in UK collections were taken along with a war indemnity of 50,000 ounces of gold following the Third Anglo-Asante War, then auctioned off to collectors of major museums by the Crown jeweller in order to raise funds for injured soldiers.

The Wallace Collection in London has also been contacted over a potential arrangement to repatriate its Asante artefacts, which include vast state swords and golden trophy heads exacted as part of the indemnity.

The Burrell Collection, run by Glasgow Life, an arms-length body of Glasgow City Council, owns Asante treasures including another royal stool taken by the British after their victory in the 1874 conflict.

It is understood that approaches will be made to the museum regarding their Asante material, which has already been inventoried following a request from researchers in Ghana.

The Wellcome Trust, which has a gallery space in London, also owns several Asante items and is set to be approached by representatives of the king.

An informal approach has already been made regarding Asante artefacts within the Royal Collection, some of which are on display in the Grand Vestibule of Windsor Castle.

Gold artefacts have been returned to Ghana in the loan deal made with the British Museum - Eddie Mulholland

The scale of the plans to reclaim items taken in 1874, and in the later Anglo-Asante conflict of 1896, has been revealed after the court of the Asante indicated that the king would seek not just loans but permanent deals for repatriated treasures.

Mr Agyeman-Duah said that any push for returns would be on items taken following conflict with the British in 1874 and 1896, rather than artefacts that came into collection by other means.

The museum director and academic is also prepared to navigate the various legal constraints which govern the degree to which British museums can accept requests for repatriation.

Possibilities will then depend on each institution. National museums such as the British Museum are forbidden by UK law to hand over artefacts permanently, but the University of Oxford can make permanent deals, and has previously vowed to hand over its collection of Benin Bronzes.

The Wallace Collection is formed of a bequest to the nation by Lady Wallace, and it would be against the terms of the bequest to give away any works of art, but Glasgow Life museums can repatriate and have already returned artefacts to India.
Tory defector Natalie Elphicke with Labour leader Keir Starmer on a visit to her Dover constituency as he unveiled Labours new immigration policy. Photograph: Carlos Jasso/Reuters

The Labour party should be less tribal and be open to reasonably minded people, whichever way they voted in the past, Keir Starmer has said.

He welcomed Labours newest MP, Natalie Elphicke, at a speech in Dover and said her defection was proof that the party was building a broad range of support.

The Labour leader said Elphickes move was an invitation that we should be less tribal in the pursuit of a better country and invite people to our party who want to join in our object of national renewal.

Starmer was speaking in Elphickes constituency to announce his plan to scrap the Rwanda deportation scheme and replace it with a new specialised border security unit.

Asked where he would draw the line with rightwing politicians and whether he would welcome Nigel Farage into Labour, he said he wanted to bring as many people with us as possible but added that Farage was the last person who would want to join this Labour party.

Im sure there are many other Tory MPs who are feeling defeated by this government, he said.

Starmers comments came after Wes Streeting, the shadow health secretary, said he had spoken to more Conservative MPs who were considering crossing the floor, but insisted the party would not accept just any politician.

Related: Rishi Sunak staggers on  but for how long? - podcast

Streeting said Elphicke had switched sides with a purpose and not out of personal ambition, defending the move amid a backlash from some Labour MPs.

Referring to Elphickes defection and that of the former Tory MP Dan Poulter in an interview with the Independent, Streeting said: I think in Dans case, as a doctor in the NHS, who has come to the unequivocal conclusion only Labour can be trusted to sort the NHS out, [and] Natalie Elphicke, who is with her community seeing the consequences of what happens when immigration goes poorly managed 

I think they are very powerful message-carriers, but they have defected with a purpose, not out of personal ambition, and I think people should take that message really seriously.

Streeting said he had spoken to more Tory MPs considering a move because of the division and incompetence of Rishi Sunaks government.

However, he stressed there were limits, saying: If Liz Truss were to want to cross the floor, and I dont imagine she would, I would rather take the lettuce.

Labour MPs have criticised the decision to admit Elphicke to the party, citing her hardline views on immigration and her previous support of her ex-husband after he was found guilty of sexually assaulting two women.

The Dover MP apologised on Thursday for claiming, after Charlie Elphickes 2020 conviction, that he was attractive, and attracted to women and an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations.

She said: The period of 2017 to 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.

On Friday, the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper, welcomed Elphickes defection and accepted the apology of the Dover MP. Cooper told Times Radio: We welcome people coming to join the Labour party and changing their views on issues. We hope this will happen across the country.

She added: Natalie Elphicke has rightly apologised for the things that she has said and she has also condemned the behaviour of her ex-husband, both towards other women and towards her.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reported that Labours deputy leader, Angela Rayner, had told backbenchers at an internal parliamentary committee meeting that Elphicke would have no formal role in the party after the backlash.

A source told the Telegraph: The key point was that [Rayner] clarified Natalie will have no formal role beyond being just a backbencher.

The decision was another blow to Sunak, coming shortly after Poulters defection and local election results last week that painted a dismal picture for the Conservatives.

Announcing her decision to switch parties, Elphicke hit out at Sunaks tired and chaotic government and accused him of failing to deliver on his promise to stop the boats, adding that Labour would bring a much better future for our country.

Downing Street, meanwhile, has pointed out Elphickes repeated attacks on Labours immigration policy, and the foreign secretary, David Cameron, said her defection showed the opposition stood for nothing.
New South Wales police are pushing to keep documents related to the death of Krista Kach from the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission. Photograph: Livestream

New South Wales police are fighting a request to hand over key documents to the police watchdog over the death of Krista Kach, who was fatally wounded by police after she was shot with a bean bag round.

Kach, 47, died after a 10-hour standoff with police in Newcastle in September in which she was Tasered by police twice and went into cardiac arrest after a bean bag round punctured her body and impacted her heart. Police claimed Kach had earlier threatened officers with an axe.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc), which is overseeing the police investigations into Kachs death, had requested the forces manual on the use of less-lethal measures and personnel logs which recorded actions of police during the incident.

Related: Family of woman who died after being Tasered say NSW police had assured them shed be cared for

NSW police launched an appeal in the supreme court to stop it being compelled to produce the document in its entirety, arguing it contained sensitive information that was not relevant to the watchdogs monitoring.

In a hearing on Thursday between the NSW commissioner for police and the attorney general of NSW, the forces lawyer, David Hume, argued it should be up to the courts as to whether the public interest of not disclosing the forces records outweighed the public interest of it being disclosed to the watchdog.

Hume argued the manual guiding the deployment of less-lethal measures spans beyond the use of the bean bag rounds and deals with other police tactics, including methods used by law-enforcement agencies overseas.

In resisting the request to also hand over personnel logs, Hume argued it contained the names of officers which could disclose their identities and lead to reprisals. However he conceded the police may be willing to hand over a redacted version.

Shortly after Kach died, her family released a statement that said what happened to their mother was a disturbing and heartbreaking response by the police to a vulnerable person who had been told that she would soon be homeless.

Hume said the force respected the public interest need for transparency, however he said there are legitimate concerns about the information being disclosed beyond the commission.

This included the forces concerns that information could appear in a parliamentary report if passed to the state parliament.

We did invite Lecc to undertake not to on-disclose the information to parliament and that was refused, he said.

James Emmett SC, the council for the attorney general, argued the polices objections were not legitimate.

The Lecc is a body set up to carry on a degree of oversight  It is clearly equipped by parliament to make that judgment, he said.

Disclosure to the parliament does not necessarily lead to its publication. Parliament has control of the document from there.

One of the three judges overseeing the case questioned how Lecc could oversee an investigation without all the relevant material.

If the surveillance logs are telling the story of whats been happening during the particular incident, siege or the like, I am struggling with how one could have a proper monitoring of that incident response without access to something like that, the NSW court of appeal president, Julie Kathryn Ward, said.

Hume said the issues at play extended beyond this case.

We see genuine public interest concerns, where say, an informer has given the police information on the basis that that will stay within a very small group of people, and then they later find out well actually there was a whole statutory regime where Lecc was able to get that information and then it came before parliament, he said.

The judges have reserved their decision.
There were excited schoolchildren, speeches about mental health, a formal welcome ceremony and an outfit change. Musicians and dancers showcased local culture, the military put on a show and the guests of honour let slip a few sweet anecdotes about their children.

If this was Royal tour bingo, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex would have nearly a full house.

In Nigeria, the start of their three-day trip saw them follow the tried-and-tested programme the Duke has known all his adult life.

But this time, it was on the Sussexes own terms.

The couple met army wives during their tour of the defence HQ - AP Photo/Sunday Alamba

The couple wore beaded necklaces given to them by pupils at the school - Sunday Alamba/AP

Traditionally, it is royal women who visibly honour the host nation through wearing local designers, significant jewellery or the colours of the country. This time, the Duchess wore pure white while the Duke donned a suit in green: together making up the colours of the Nigerian flag.

In an earlier outfit, the Duchess wore a low-backed, peach-coloured dress in the neutral tones she is known for. She has previously said that while in Britain, she rarely wore colour in an effort to not stand out or clash with the Royal family.

She praised her husband as so smart, after he handed her the microphone following a speech about mental health.

As I look around this room, she told Nigerian students, I see myself in all of you as well.

The Duke and Duchess were filmed joining in a preschool music and dance class, revealing Princess Lilibet, who is nearly three, likes her singing and dancing classes and five-year-old Prince Archie loves construction.

In short, this is the type of trip to fit the Sussexes in their newfound freedom  high on smiling selfies, hugs and heartfelt words; low on official handshakes, diplomatic meetings and British press.

The Duchess of Sussex takes a selfie with students - Kola Sulaimon/AFP

The couple chatted to children in the preschool class - KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Images

Instead of a private secretary and palace advisers on foreign and Commonwealth matters, they had James Holt, the director of Archewell Foundation, David Wiseman, the Director for International Development at the Invictus Games Foundation, and their press secretaries.

In 2024, four years after they left working royal life, the couple are back on the world stage. After years of looking back  in a memoir, Netflix series and a myriad of interviews focusing on the challenges of their time in the Royal family  they are trying to look forward.

The Duchess is in the midst of releasing her American Riviera Orchard brand into the world and the Duke ploughs on with his Invictus mission.

Adenike Keennam, whose husband is in the air force, met the Duchess at the official welcome ceremony at Nigerias Defence Headquarters.

I told her welcome home. She gave me a big smile, she said afterwards.

I think its significant theyre here in many ways. With people like them who you see on TV or on the papers, to see them in person goes a long way.

The Prince was given a military welcome as he switched to formal attire for the defence visit - AFOLABI SOTUNDE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The couple clapped and cheered as they watched performers outside the school - Sunday Alamba/AP

The Sussexes had been given a military welcome, hosted by Christopher Musa, the chief of defence staff.

The Duke spoke of his gratitude for then joining the Invictus movement for Nigeria and for every single soul whos been injured protecting the freedoms of Nigeria.

As they signed the visitors book, Prince Harry remarked about the Duchesss calligraphy. She has beautiful handwriting.

With gratitude for the support of the Invictus community. And for welcoming me home she wrote.

Both Prince Harry and the Duchess signed a visitors book to say thank you for their welcome

The Duke wrote: Thank you for welcoming us to your beautiful country together, we will heal our troops

Earlier in the day, the couple visited the Lightway Academy in Abuja for an event focusing on mental health.

Will you promise to us that after today, no more being scared, no more being unsure of mental health? the Duke told students.

If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you gonna do? You gonna check in with them? Are you gonna ask him if theyre okay? cause its okay not to be okay.

As the Duke handed over the microphone, the Duchess asked the audience: You see why I married him? Hes so smart.

She went on to tell students: Interestingly, so our daughter, Lili, shes much, much tinier than you guys. Shes about to turn three.

And a few weeks ago she looked at me and she would just see the reflection in my eyes. And she was, mama, I see me in you.

Oh, now she was talking really, literally.

But I hung onto those words in a very different way. And I thought, yes, I do see me and you, and you see me and you, but as I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.

It is the couples first visit to Nigeria.

Meghan will co-host a "Women in Leadership" talk during her visit - Sunday Alamba/AP

On Saturday, they will attend a training session for Nigeria: Unconquered and a reception hosted by the chief of defence staff in honour of military families. The Duchess will co-host a Women in Leadership event with Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the director general of the World Trade Organisation.

Later in the day, the Duke made a solo trip 150 miles away, to Kaduna where he paid a visit to Senator Uba Sani, the governor of Kaduna state.

Im sorry that I didnt bring my wife, the Duke said, explaining she had separate meetings in Abuja. The focus here in Kaduna is the wounded, injured and sick men and women who serve in Nigerian forces and keep people safe.

Before he left, the Duke was given two paintings: one of him and his late mother Princess Diana, the other of him and the Duchess.

Prince Harry was presented with two portraits, one of which was of him and his mother, Princess Diana - GETTY IMAGES

He was asked to put on another gift  an outfit of a traditional waistcoat and a Big Gown and a Hula cap too.

Afterwards, he travelled to Reference Hospital Kaduna, the first port of call for injured Nigerian soldiers.

The Duke toured six wards, seeing row after row of young men recuperating from their injuries. Many had been shot or lost limbs after being ambushed by Boko Haram.

You are going to get better, get back on your feet, he told those in the first ward, during a visit in which he shook around 50 hands.

Corp Yusef, 23, who had been shot through the knee, spoke to him and the duke asked him about his rehab. Are you going to try for the Invictus Games team? Are you preparing for that? Dont disappoint us and then, pointing to his friend David Wiseman, an Invictus veteran who now works on the international expansion of the said, or him!

We will see you there.

As the Prince left the ward, Yusef was doing push ups on the bed to show his motivation to get ready.

Half way round he was introduced to 2nd Lt Princess Owowoh, 23, who had recently graduated from Sandhurst military academy where the Prince trained to be an army officer. He wrote to congratulate me and say that they were coming to Nigeria and about the Invictus Games Foundation, she said.

The Invictus Games gives hope to the soldiers. It encourages them to walk towards a goal, to achieve something new.

In the prosthetics and orthotics workshop, the Duke asked why more of the men he had just seen were not, and was told it was partly stigma.

As he left, he was given a large mirror decorated with a painting of himself with the Duchess.
A new virtual reality tool conveys the brutality of the Oct 7 Hamas attacks

Pro-Palestine university protesters should experience the unspeakable brutality of the Oct 7 attacks through virtual reality, Suella Braverman has suggested.

The former home secretary called on vice-chancellors and police to take a tougher approach on hate speech and anti-Semitism on marches and at university encampments.

Students have set up tents on university campuses across the country in protest against Israels actions against Hamas.

In an interview with The Telegraph, Mrs Braverman also said how protesters spouting anti-Semitism, racism and hatred with abandon made her feel ashamed to be British.

Last week, the Tory MP trialled a new virtual reality tool which allowed her to watch Oct 7 survivors tell their stories at the sites where the terror attacks took place.

Those who use the immersive technology are transported to locations such as the site of the Supernova music festival, where a survivor will detail what happened to them and others on that day.

Users experience the sound of gunshots, making the experience very real, according to Mrs Braverman.

Students at a pro-Palestine protest at Kings College, Cambridge - HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP

She added: The bravery by all of these people  for me thats what jumps out really  their resilience and their bravery in the face of unspeakable fear, unspeakable brutality and that on their instincts and on their wits they saved others and they fought valiantly.

Mrs Braverman said students involved in pro-Palestine encampments set up at around a dozen university campuses across the UK would be very good candidates to try out the technology.

I think there has never been a greater need for something like this because I am shocked and saddened by the exponential rise in anti-Semitism since Oct 7 in the UK, particularly on campus, she said.

Universities are supposed to be paragons of debate and inclusion and should be welcoming environments.

Theyve become hostile environments

Universities are supposed to be paragons of debate and inclusion and should be welcoming environments.

Theyve become incredibly hostile environments Im afraid for Jewish people and thats because of the misinformation which has fuelled anti-Semitism.

She added: Israel is defending themselves against a brutal terrorist organisation which is intent in destroying it and this VR gives you a flavour of how far Hamas will go to harm innocent civilians.

Everyone needs to see this  regardless of which side of the debate you stand, I actually think everybody needs to open their eyes to what happened on Oct 7.

When asked if this included those students setting up protest encampments at around a dozen universities across the country  including Oxford and Cambridge  Mrs Braverman said: I would think that they would be very good candidates for experiencing this virtual reality too.

Pro-Palestinian students paint placards in Oxford - Kin Cheung/AP

She stressed: We are free to express our opinions, we are free to disagree with Israel, we are free to disagree with its foreign policy, but we must do that with respect and we must do that based on facts and calling Israel a genocide state, an apartheid state, a Nazi state, all of that, is equivalent to anti-Semitism, Im afraid, it is.

Mrs Braverman, who was sacked as home secretary in November 2023, received a heavy backlash for describing pro-Palestine protests as hate marches.

When asked by The Telegraph about the marches, which are still taking place regularly in London, Mrs Braverman said: We still see hundreds of thousands of people taking to the streets on a regular basis, spouting anti-Semitism, racism and hatred with abandon, while the police stand meekly by and watch on and theyve made the areas where they go no-go zones for Jewish people on those days.

Thats unacceptable, its a disgrace and it makes me ashamed to be British.

The police need to take a different approach, they need a change of strategy and they need to start arresting those people in the marches who are committing crimes of racial hatred, abuse, harassment or threatening behaviour.

Students rally outside University College London. Suella Braverman says police need to take a tougher approach - Tayfun Salci/ZUMA Press Wire/Shutterstock

Mrs Braverman also said that she believes campus encampments are a consequence of poor enforcement which has led to the spreading of this to other institutions and realms of society.

She added: I think vice-chancellors need to take a tougher approach, I think the police need to take a tougher approach and they need to rein in this behaviour.

More than 1,100 people were killed in the Oct 7 attacks and 132 hostages taken by terrorists remain in captivity, according to the Israeli government.

Nearly 35,000 Palestinians have been killed in attacks launched by Israel in response, according to the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza.

Israel-is, the NGO which has created the experience, called Be The Witness, is hoping to take the tool to campuses across the world  with an aim of reaching 10 UK campuses by the end of the year and 500 globally.

Nimrod Palmach, its chief executive, said: We know the challenge ahead of us, particularly with the campuses that have encampments and this makes our mission even more powerful.

The Metropolitan Police has been contacted for comment.
Dorothy Bain, the Lord Advocate, speaking to the Scottish Parliament in January - Jeff J Mitchell/Getty

Scotlands most senior law officer has bowed to mounting pressure to explain to MSPs whether she backs a blanket exoneration of postmasters caught up in the Post Office Horizon IT scandal.

Dorothy Bain KC, the Lord Advocate, agreed to come to Holyrood to make a parliamentary statement after Douglas Ross, leader of the Scottish Conservatives, asked her to clear up the SNP governments mixed messaging on the issue.

Ahead of the legislation being considered by MSPs later this month, he accused SNP ministers of trying to gag Ms Bain after she previously appeared to suggest she did not support the blanket overturning of convictions.

Ms Bain told MSPs in January that postmasters already had the right to appeal their convictions, saying: This is an important process because not every case involving Horizon evidence will be a miscarriage of justice and each case must be considered carefully and with regard to the law.

Mr Ross said this would suggest she opposed the principles of the Post Office Offences Bill, which would automatically quash all convictions, and argued that MSPs should know where she stood before the first vote at Holyrood on May 21.

The Crown Office initially said Ms Bain had not commented in January on whether the convictions should be set aside, as this was a political matter. However, her spokesman then issued a second comment, saying she would appear at Holyrood.

Ms Bain has been 'gagged' by the SNP, Douglas Ross claims - Andrew Milligan/PA

He said: The Lord Advocate is fully supportive of her accountability to Parliament and is willing to make another statement.

When she appeared in January, the Lord Advocate said the Crown is continuing to use the existing mechanisms to address miscarriages of justice in Scotland.

However, he insisted that she had not commented on whether the convictions should be quashed and said she hoped to make the parliamentary statement as soon as possible.

Separate legal system

Unlike south of the border, where the Post Office has the power to bring its own prosecutions, the Crown Office brought all the cases against Scottish postmasters. Holyrood has control of Scotlands separate legal system.

As many as 100 people in Scotland may have been wrongly accused while working as Post Office branch managers. In 2020, the Scottish Criminal Cases Review Commission (SCCRC) wrote to 73 potential victims of miscarriages of justice.

Former First Minister Humza Yousaf pledged that all victims of the scandal in Scotland would have their convictions overturned.

He wanted to use a legislative consent motion, a device which would permit Westminster to extend to Scotland its law exonerating victims south of the Border.

But the UK Government has been warning for months this would be extremely difficult thanks to legal complexities, meaning a separate Bill will have to be introduced at Holyrood.

Her words do not appear to tally with the SNP position

Mr Ross demanded clarity on whether Ms Bains personal view had changed since January, saying: SNP ministers seem intent on gagging the Lord Advocate on this crucial issue, because her words in January do not appear to tally with their position.

We have had weeks of confected outrage from the SNP that UK legislation offering blanket exonerations will not apply here, despite them knowing full well that the different legal system and prosecution mechanism here demands a separate Scottish law.

He added: Scottish victims of this appalling miscarriage of justice need to know if the person who is both head of the Crown Office and the SNP Governments legal advisor actually believes in their bill, or if she rejects blanket exonerations.

The Scottish Government was approached for comment.
A Gaza war protest at Cambridge University - Daniel Jones/Daniel Jones

Followin pro-Palestinian demonstrations at Cambridge and Oxford, Rishi Sunak met with university leaders to discuss the safety of Jewish students.

The Prime Minister warned that the right to protest did not justify the harassment of Jewish students by a vocal and aggressive minority, which was driving an unacceptable rise in anti-Semitism on campuses.

Ahead of the meeting, and despite the Prime Ministers warning, Cambridges vice-chancellor revealed that the university would not move protesters.

Telegraph readers criticised those taking part in the protests  while also discussing declining university standards, the right to protest and whether the Government should intervene.

Suffocated by identity politics and woke activism

Oxford professor Nigel Biggar joined the discussion on Tuesday, criticising the Oxbridge protesters. Many readers followed suit by arguing how the protests reflected badly on the educational institutions.

Telegraph reader C.T. revealed their child has been deterred from applying for a place at both Cambridge and Oxford due to the involvement in identity politics and woke activism from both universities  as evidenced by the protests.

They said: My son is very single minded in his wish to pursue academic excellence but he doesnt want to go somewhere suffocated by identity politics and woke activism. He now has his eye on top European universities.

Reader D.J. was not alone in sharing that the protests had encouraged them to cancel ongoing donations to universities they once attended. They said: Just cancelled my ongoing donation to my old college in Oxford, as I dont want my money going anywhere near these intolerant bigots.

The protests prompted Richard Fields to reminisce on his time at Cambridge, while also drawing from his own experience as a teacher, to emphasise how far the standard displayed by students has fallen.

He said: I cannot reconcile the lack of knowledge of these protesters and academics with the students and academics of my time at Cambridge in the early 70s.

However, in my last few years as a teacher, I was constantly amazed by the paucity of knowledge of most of my students and worse, their lack of a desire for knowledge.

On the other hand, reader O.T. argued that the students are entitled to their right to protest and free speech, believing that theyre simply displaying democracy in action.

Protests call into question the quality of lecturers and professors

It emerged on Tuesday that Oxford students protesting against the war had secretly signed up to a demand that millions of Palestinians be allowed to take back their ancestral land in Israel.

Readers were shocked to find out that the universitys head of equality, Vernal Scott, was among those who had signed a letter in support of the demand.

Reader Mel Kay thinks Mr Scotts actions deem him unsuitable for the role. Everyone is entitled to hold an opinion, however, expressing it in a public forum when your role is head of equality and diversity is clearly a breach of said diversity, equity and inclusion.

He has a duty to remain fair and impartial, otherwise he is not suitable for the role.

Similarly, Peter Swales believes that the protests have called into question the quality of professors and lecturers working at the universities. He went on to suggest: Maybe their qualifications and whether the country should allow them to stay in their post should also be looked into.

Reader V. Bodie believes the protests devalues a degree from Cambridge and diminishes trust of employers.

The Telegraph approached The University of Oxford for comment.

Respect the Jewish community and free speech

Representatives from the Union of Jewish Students (UJS) and the Community Security Trust (CST) attended the roundtable with the Prime Minister and the university vice-chancellors on Thursday. Ahead of the meeting, Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, expressed concern over the safety of Jewish students.

Reader Paul Smith called upon the Prime Minister to take action: What are you going to say to these dangerous university leaders, Mr Sunak?

Just saying it is unacceptable doesnt cut it. Introduce new laws and stop this anti-Semitic hatred now. No gentle touch, get tough and do something.

Meanwhile, Alistair Rockhall looked towards the institutions when debating how best to address the demonstrations.

He argued that the police should let the UJS decide what they consider anti-Semitic and define the categories on a spectrum ranging from light to serious.

He believes this needs to be done in order to respect free speech, while at the same time allow protests in areas which are frequented, but do not disrupt university life.

Edward Fulton called for a proactive approach by the Government and the police, in carrying out their role to spell out what is legitimate protest and what is intimidation and keep order accordingly.

He added: University heads need to also make that position clear and discipline or expel rogue students as is appropriate to the offence.

Similarly, Simon Bryant suggested that limitations on engaging in political activism should be made a condition for the issuing of student visas.

He said: I know this is not a total solution but it would reduce their numbers and help keep agents of foreign powers out of our universities.

Jon Russell, on the other hand, thinks its right our police dont get involved, and that the decision to move protesters or let them stay should ultimately lie with the universities.
A student has been suspended from the Australian National University after saying Hamas deserves 'unconditional support. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

A student protester who said Hamas deserved unconditional support has been suspended from the Australian National University, pending disciplinary action.

The move came as Victoria Police pushed for more powers to shut down pro-Palestine encampments, saying if they were allowed to keep growing there was a strong likelihood of violence occurring between protest and counter-protest groups.

Universities have pushed back on the comments, with the Group of Eight (Go8) chief, Vicki Thomson, telling Guardian Australia police were free to come on campus when they liked and universities had acted appropriately when there had been breaches of law.

We are in the business of de-escalation. We do not want to see action as has occurred in the US where riot police have been brought in, she said.

Our universities are working with all of the relevant authorities , including state-based police to ensure the safety of all members of the university community.

The ANU confirmed on Thursday it had started disciplinary proceedings against Beatrice Tucker, who has been suspended from campus until a hearing on Tuesday.

An open letter to the ANU vice-chancellor, Genevieve Bell, from Students and Staff Against War (SSAW) ANU declared the groups unequivocal support for Tucker, demanding the disciplinary proceedings against them and another student be dropped.

SSAW ANU has members in the encampment but does not lead it or speak on behalf of the grassroots national movement Students for Palestine.

Related: Peter Dutton compares river to the sea chants at pro-Palestinian protests to Hitler

The right of Palestinians to resist Israels occupation is recognised under international law, the letter read. No one should be persecuted for standing in solidarity with Palestinian resistance.

Speaking on ABC Radio Canberra on 30 April, Tucker, a member of SSAW and organiser of the universitys encampment, was asked what message they would send to Hamas.

This is a very common question the media often throws at pro-Palestine activists, they replied.

Its seen as a bit of a scapegoat  its a distraction from the issue at hand, which is actually theres a genocide going on.

Hamas deserve our unconditional support  not because I agree with their strategy  complete disagreement with that, but the situation at hand is if you have no hope  nothing can justify what has been happening to the Palestinian people for 75 years.

A spokesperson for ANU said it could not provide specific details of investigations for privacy reasons but confirmed appropriate disciplinary action is being taken in this case.

Racism or hate speech, including antisemitism, is unacceptable at ANU, they said.

Universities are facing mounting pressure to break up the pro-Palestine encampments amid reports of attacks.

At the University of Adelaide, security was increased after two alleged firecracker attacks on an encampment, while Deakin University closed off the main walkway of its Burwood campus where protesters are established after recording protesters directing hate speech at community members.

On Thursday, the Victoria Police deputy commissioner, Neil Paterson, wrote to university vice-chancellors at RMIT, Deakin, Monash, La Trobe and the University of Melbourne asking them to carefully consider the risks of allowing camps to continue.

While acknowledging peoples right to protest, he noted police are being called to incidents on a daily basis and expressed his desire to avoid further escalation as seen in universities around the world, a Victoria police spokesperson said.

Police believe there is a strong likelihood of violence occurring between protest and counter-protest groups, as well as other criminal offences occurring such as property damage if the encampments continue to grow in size.

Police are also concerned about the number of protesters who are not students inflaming the situation.

Free Palestine Melbourne organiser Bella Beiraghi said the comments from Victoria Police were concerning and mischaracterising.

Our campuses remain safe, she said. This is a peaceful protest for the Palestinian people  we have the right to peaceful assembly.

Asked whether Patersons advice would be heeded, a spokesperson for the University of Melbourne said the campus was a public, open space that members of Victoria Police could attend at any time, while RMIT said no incidents had been reported.

Victoria police have set up surveillance cameras near the Monash University encampment to proactively monitor any activity that may require intervention and/or enforcement, Monash said in a statement after protesters clashed on Wednesday.

Security staff have also been requesting the identification of protestors to verify if they are students.

Related: Its unacceptable: as pro-Palestine encampments grow at Australian campuses so do claims of antisemitism

Encampment organiser Josiah Downey said protesters had been told verbally by management they could be reprimanded for using certain phrases. He said it was racist to ban the word intifada.

[Its] a term that translates to uprising in English, Downey said.

He said the group would put out an open letter calling for the withdrawal of the policy, as it impedes on the free speech of students on campus.

Monash University did not respond to questions about this but in a statement on its website said it had become aware of posts on social media saying Zionists  are not welcome on its campuses and had asked the social media platforms to remove the unacceptable posts.

Other Group of Eight universities, including the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide, have fallen short of banning the terms, instead imploring protesters to use clear phrases instead of slogans open to different interpretations or misinterpretation.

Thomson said Go8 universities had no plans to shut down the camps unless they broke the law or disrupted the core activities of universities  which did not include chanting the phrases.

Universities are having active discussions about time and place provisions, including moving the location of a camp during an exam period so teaching and learning wasnt disrupted.

Universities are gearing up for end of semester exams and students have a right to sit their exams without interference, she said.

While there have been some isolated instances on some of our campuses, in the main the protests have, to date, been reasonably peaceful.
An artists rendering shows the planned St. Peter the Apostle Catholic School in Boerne. St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church

Boerne is close to getting its first Catholic school in decades, with local church leaders saying work could start soon on the $25 million project.

The school will be affiliated with St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, one of Boernes biggest churches. Plans call for eventually offering classes from pre-kindergarten to the eight grade, said Julie Seguin, the school campaigns executive director.

Its been more than three decades since there has been a Catholic school in Boerne, Seguin said. A 2021 feasibility study conducted by the church was overwhelmingly in favor of building a school, Seguin said. Like Boerne as a whole, the parish has grown rapidly in recent years, Seguin said, jumping from 2,700 families in 2021 to just over 2,900 families now.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Theres lots of kids, and they need a place to go to school, Seguin said.

The school will initially serve pre-kindergarten to either fifth or sixth grade, Seguin said, and will add classes up to the eighth grade as students age. There are no current plans to serve grades nine through 12, she said.

While the school hasnt formally set tuition rates, Seguin said annual tuition is likely to be about $9,000 per student.

The school  currently being called St. Peter the Apostle Catholic School  will be built on an 8-acre site at 202 W. Kronkosky St. in downtown Boerne, not far from the church. Plans call for a 43,000-square-foot building, according to a filing with the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, which lists the estimated cost of the project at $25 million.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The land for the school  along with $5 million in seed funding  was a gift from the Kahlig family. From 1963 to 1982, the site was home to the since-closed St. Albert Catholic School, according to the churchs website.

Before it starts construction on the school, Seguin said, the church has a self-imposed goal of raising 85% of its construction costs, or about $20.4 million. The campaign is about $880,000 from reaching that goal, Seguin said. Organizers hope the goal will be reached and construction can start in the next two months, she said.

Fundraising for the project started in October 2023, with a goal of raising $28.5 million. The church received donations from all over Texas, most from the San Antonio area.

The parish has hosted fundraising events at local restaurants, as well as phone-a-thons to gather donations. The church is also selling the naming rights to nearly every room and feature in the new building. All 22 classrooms, the kitchen and other buildings are up for grabs.

One naming opportunity, the schools phone system, has already sold for $25,000. The most expensive option is still available: The name of the entire elementary school building is for sale for $5 million.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Were leaving no stone unturned, Seguin said.

The school, like its accompanying church, is part of the Archdiocese of San Antonio, which includes 28 Catholic elementary schools and eight high schools. Nineteen counties are under the archdioceses watch, stretching west to Del Rio and Uvalde, east to New Braunfels and Seguin, north to Fredericksburg and south to Pleasanton.

We know there are many families that have been coming from the Boerne area, sending their children to Catholic schools in San Antonio for a number of years, said Jordan McMorrough, director of communications of the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Were blessed now that they have the opportunity to attend a Catholic school in their home area.

All Catholic schools in Texas are accredited by the Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops Education Department, which is recognized by the Texas Education Agency.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Donald Trump with attorney Todd Blanche at Manhattan criminal court in New York on 10 May. Photograph: Getty Images

Donald Trump returned to the Manhattan courthouse on Friday, marking his 15th court appearance in his historic hush-money criminal trial.

Fridays court session, which featured a handful of custodial witnesses who provided more technical supplements to testimony or evidence, followed several days of testimony involving the adult film star Stormy Daniels, who testified in lurid detail about her alleged sexual affair with Trump.

Here are the key takeaways:

Defense paints Trump as a distracted multi-tasker

As former Trump aide Madeleine Westerhout took the stand again on Friday, Trumps attorney Susan Necheles tried to use her testimony to frame the former president as a busy multi-tasker who had to sign a tremendous amount of items, which would take up many hours of his day.

Westerhout, once the director of Oval Office operations during Trumps presidency, testified that Trump signed a slew of documents including proclamations, executive orders and checks.

He liked the printed form he felt [that] if someone was getting his signature, they would get his real signature, said Westerhout. Necheles asked Westerhout if she ever saw Trump signing things without reviewing them, as well as when he was on the phone and meeting with people, to which Westerhout replied in the affirmative.

He was a person who multi-tasked? asked Necheles. Yes, Westerhout replied.

Necheless cross-examination of Westerhout attempted to frame Trump as a busy and distracted person who signed many documents without paying close attention to them, including, potentially, the reimbursement checks he signed to Michael Cohen as part of the hush-money payment made to Daniels.

Trumps ex-aide plays into into defenses hush-money narrative

Westerhout appeared to play into the defenses argument of Trump being worried about the Stormy Daniels story because of his family. Westerhout, who said she had a conversation with Trump about the story, described Trump as very upset by it, adding: In my understanding he knew it would be hurtful to his family.

Asked by Necheles whether this information was based on what Trump had said to her, Westerhout said: Um, I dont believe he specifically said that, but I could just tell that the whole situation was very unpleasant.

Although it was not exactly a coup for prosecutors strategically, since Westerhout testified that she could not remember Trump saying anything specific, her testimony still appeared to play into their narrative.

Although prosecutors are arguing that Trump issued the hush-money payment to influence the 2016 presidential elections, his defense team is suggesting that the payment was made because of his concerns of his family, including his wife Melanias reaction.

Texts between Daniels former publicist and ex-National Enquirer editor

Another witness called to the stand today was Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal with the Manhattan district attorneys office, whose role is to locate and save social media posts relevant to the criminal case.

In addition to asking Longstreet about various tweets by Trump  including one from August 2018 in which Trump says, If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you dont retain the services of Michael Cohen!  prosecutor Rebecca Mangold pulled up multiple text messages between Danielss former publicist Gina Rodriguez and former National Enquirer editor Dylan Howard for Longstreet to read aloud. Some of the text messages have already been shown to jurors to review.

In the text messages, Rodriguez and Howard discuss Daniels wanting to publicize her sexual affair with Trump since she was yet to be paid. The texts read aloud by Longstreet include an exchange between Rodriguez and Howard in which they negotiate over prices for the National Enquirer to purchase the rights to Daniels story. Negotiating between $250,000 and $125,000 on 9 October 2016, they eventually settled on $120,000. In response, Rodriguez says: Sold.

Prosecutors focus on the text messages is an attempt to illustrate the chronology of the hush-money payment, as they argue that Cohen made the hush-money payment on 27 October 2016 via a shell company right before the presidential election.
The Met Office has put out a yellow warning ahead of what it calls 'thundery breakdowns' - Justin Stokes

Thunderstorm warnings have been issued for large parts of the UK on Sunday, with temperatures set to reach 27C this weekend.

The Met Office put out a yellow warning ahead of what it called thundery breakdowns.

The warning, in place from noon to 10pm on Sunday, covers the north west of England, most of Wales, much of central England and the South West.

Disruption to travel

Heavy showers and thunderstorms could lead to some disruption in places, especially to travel, said the Met Office.

Isolated property flooding is possible. There is a small chance that homes and businesses could be flooded quickly, with damage to some buildings from floodwater, lightning strikes, hail or strong winds.

The south of England is expecting highs of 25C (77F) on Friday, making it the hottest day of the year so far. Temperatures are predicted to reach 26C (78.8F) on Saturday and possibly 27C (80.6F) on Sunday, according to the forecaster.

Scotland and Northern Ireland are also set for balmy conditions, with Glasgow to see 22C (71.6F) heat on Saturday.
Forgotten lessons? The Tories could prosper from reconnecting with the ethos of Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson

Economic growth of 0.6 per cent in the first quarter of the year might not be much to shout about by historical standards, but nobody can deny that the UK is rebounding strongly from recession. The economy is returning to full health, said Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor. And more important than that, the IMF says our long-term prospects are the strongest of any major European economy over the coming years.

Earlier in the week, Mr Hunt had given an indication of the latest evolution in the Governments message to voters in advance of the general election. Harking back to the beginning of this lengthy period of Tory-led rule, he said that the UK had been the fastest growing major European country since 2010.

In other words, judge the Conservatives not just on the somewhat chaotic years since the Brexit referendum, but on the total period they have been in office. Other highlights cited by Mr Hunt included near-record employment and the minimum wage reaching two-thirds of median earnings.

It is true that the Conservatives have had some notable successes since 2010, including Michael Goves school reforms and pension auto-enrolment. However, even ministers will struggle not to concede that the broader legacy of the past 14 years has been rather more complicated. Some of the promising steps that Rishi Sunak has taken in recent months  including his plan to increase defence spending and unwinding some of the worst excesses of net zero  involve clearing up messes left by his Conservative predecessors.

Mr Hunts mention of the minimum wage was also telling. Middle-class voters would have cause to feel frustrated that, quite often, Conservatives have prioritised groups that do not tend to vote for the party. Since 2010, great strides have been made to raise the earnings of the poorest workers, or to cut the amount of tax that lower-income people pay. But the middle classes have been hammered. There has been little effort to reward ambition, and the Treasury is now perilously reliant on higher earners to pay the bills.

If the Tories are to have any hope of closing the polling gap with Labour, it will patently not be enough to attack the Oppositions plans or to bang on about relatively old victories. They will have to articulate what they intend to do with another five years in government, and that must include a vision for spreading mass prosperity.

It will not be easy territory for the party, which has strayed far from the philosophical ground occupied by Mrs Thatcher. But if the Conservatives arent the party of enterprise, hard work, and of rewarding people for doing the right thing, who else will be?
Stormy Daniels, Donald Trump and Michael Cohen are among the faces expected to take the stand in the trial

Donald Trump will this week hear prosecutors explain why his alleged cover-up of a hush money payment to a porn star during his 2016 campaign broke the law, at the first-ever criminal trial of a former US president.

Lawyers for the Republican presidential candidate will also make their opening statement in what may be the only one of Trumps four criminal prosecutions to go to trial before his Nov 5 election rematch with Joe Biden.

Prosecutors say the $130,000 payment made by Mr Trumps former lawyer Michael Cohens to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence about an alleged sexual encounter with Trump a decade earlier deceived voters in the waning days of Trumps 2016 campaign, when his candidacy was struggling with other revelations of sexual misbehaviour.

Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsification of business records brought by Alvin Bragg, the Manhattan district attorney, and denies having had a sexual encounter with Ms Daniels.

A colourful cast of witnesses will take the stand during the trial at the Lower Manhattan courthouse.

Here are some key figures set to testify in the case, which is expected to last six weeks:

The ex-publisher of the National Enquirer is expected to be the prosecutions first witness on Monday.

The long-time friend of Mr Trump was the CEO of American Media, the tabloids parent company, until August 2020.

Prosecutors say Mr Pecker met with Mr Trump and his former lawyer Michael Cohen at Trump Tower in August 2015 to discuss using the National Enquirer to suppress negative stories about the presidential candidate.

The plan is alleged to have involved buying exclusive rights to the stories but not publishing them.

Prosecutors say the Stormy Daniels payment, which is the focus of the trial, was part of a broader catch and kill scheme to bury stories about Mr Trump.

Mr Pecker, 72, and American Media provided details about Mr Cohens payment to Ms Daniels after being subpoenaed by federal investigators in April 2018, according to prosecutors.

Mr Pecker was later granted immunity in exchange for testimony about Mr Trumps knowledge of the payment.

The adult film actress, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, claims she had a sexual encounter with Mr Trump in 2006 and was paid $130,000 by Mr Cohen for her silence ahead of the 2016 presidential election.

Mr Cohen says his former boss directed the payment. Prosecutors claim Mr Trump falsely classified reimbursements to Mr Cohen as legal expenses. The former president has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.

Ms Daniels, 45, claims the liaison took place in 2006, when she was 27 and Mr Trump, then the star of The Apprentice, was 60.

Mr Trump, now 77, has denied the encounter with Ms Daniels and said the payment was personal and not related to the campaign.

The star witness for the prosecution once vowed to take a bullet for the former president.

For a decade, Michael Cohen served as Mr Trumps lawyer and backroom fixer, working, in his own words, to cover up his ex-bosss dirty deeds.

It was Mr Cohen, 57, who facilitated, and was later jailed for, the hush money payment to Ms Daniels. But critics say a past conviction for lying to Congress undermines his credibility as a witness.

Mr Cohen paid Ms Daniels out of his own pocket through a shell company and arranged for her to sign a non-disclosure agreement, according to prosecutors.

In August 2018, Mr Cohen pleaded guilty to a campaign finance law violation for paying Ms Daniels.

He was sentenced to three years in prison for that and other crimes and served more than a year before being released.

The public relations executive, 35, served as Trumps press secretary during his presidential campaign.

Once considered one of Donald Trumps closest confidantes and most trusted aides, Ms Hicks later became his White House communications director.

Prosecutors will ask her to shed light on what was happening inside the political operation of the Trump campaign in the final weeks before the 2016 election.

A search warrant released in July 2019 indicated that Ms Hicks participated in phone calls between Mr Trump and Mr Cohen where they allegedly discussed the hush money payments in 2016.

The 45th US president has said he plans to testify at his historic criminal trial.

Many legal experts suggest it is a risky strategy as it opens him up to probing cross-examination by skilled prosecutors.

Defendants are presumed innocent and are not required to take the stand.

But prosecutors must prove Mr Trump intended to break the law to secure a conviction and his testimony could be important in rebutting that assertion.

Mr Trump frequently uses courtroom appearances to rally his supporters. The Republican candidate might want to take advantage of the media spotlight on his trial for the benefit of the 2024 election campaign.
Paul Shanahan, managing director of Greystoke Builders, features in nine episodes of the BBC's Cowboy Trap - Champion News

A TV builder who helped victims of cowboy tradesmen on a hit BBC show has won a 500,000 court fight after his company was accused of leaving a boot print in paint work at a 1.2 million home.

Paul Shanahan, managing director of Greystoke Builders, featured in nine episodes of the BBCs Cowboy Trap, in which he was called in to salvage botched jobs done by rogue operators.

But he ended up in court himself after his company was accused by African studies academic Dr Zohor Aylwin of leaving multiple defects following a 113,000 revamp at her home.

Dr Aylwin alleged multiple problems, including a shower too small to get under, a lavatory that didnt flush properly and a boot print in paintwork.

After a trial at Mayor and City County Court, Judge Nicholas Parfitt KC threw out Dr Aylwins claim and ordered her to stump up 36,760 to cover the costs of the work. A decision on what proportions of the 460,000 lawyers bills each side will pay to be made at a later date.

He said there was no evidence the lavatory did not work, the shower fitting had been provided by Dr Aylwin, and that the boot print would have easily been solved.

Judge Parfitt said many of the alleged defects would have been picked up at the end of the work, but that Dr Aylwin had not engaged in a sensible snagging process after the parties fell out.

Dr Zohor Aylwin's home in the Oaks, Watford - Champion News

In online promotional material for Greystoke, Mr Shanahan describes working with BBC1 as the good guys on the Cowboy Trap  going in and rectifying the disasters previous builders have left.

But his company ended up in a legal fight with Moroccan culture expert Dr Zohor Aylwin after Greystoke carried out a 113,000 revamp on her 1.2 million home in the Oaks, Watford, in 2019.

The case began when Mr Shanahans company sued Dr Aylwin for unpaid invoices totalling about 44,000, with her then suing the company in return over an alleged series of defects in the work.

Her barrister, Ashley Pratt, said her complaints included sub-standard paintwork, including a step marked with a boot print of the companys employee, problems with the newly fitted kitchen, and a toilet that failed to flush.

The shower was clearly too short to fit under and was clearly unsuitable, he added.

He said Dr Aylwin disputed the claim to the unpaid invoices, saying defects in the work effectively extinguish the building companys bill.

But in court, Greystokes barrister Paul Fisher denied there was evidence of the defects alleged and highlighted the North London-based companys many years experience undertaking work of the nature undertaken at the property.

He told the judge: Indeed one of the companys witnesses and directors, Mr Paul Shanahan, worked as an expert on the BBC television programme Cowboy Trap, in which his team sought to rectify and complete works in residential homes initially undertaken by cowboy builders.

Not been in good condition

Mr Shanahan was personally engaged in the renovation works at Dr Aylwins home, the court heard, and had also negotiated the contract and scope of works.

Greystoke insisted its team did its utmost to carry out a successful overhaul of Dr Aylwins home and said the house had not been in a good condition when they went in.

The decor was in visibly poor pre-existing condition, said the barrister, adding that the previous poorly finished paintwork clearly had an impact on the visual appearance of the claimants works.

The defects alleged by the defendants do not come close to a sum that would set off or nullify the total debt claimed by the claimant, he told the judge.

Mr Fisher labelled the case a relatively simple debt claim which has spiralled out of control by virtue of alleged but unsubstantiated defects that have been raised by the defendants.

As a result, he said the relatively small-scale debt dispute had mushroomed into a three-day court action involving expert witnesses and with total legal costs projected at around 460,000.

Giving judgment, Judge Parfitt rejected Dr Aylwins counterclaim, saying that many of her criticisms would have been solved if she had engaged in snagging.

There are a number of items which would have been fixed had a sensible snagging process been conducted, he said.

This was raised by Greystoke, but not provided by Dr Aylwin.

Rejected criticism of toilet fitting

He specifically rejected criticism of the way the toilet was fitted, pointing out that it had been inspected by experts and seen to be flushing properly.

It has not been proven that Greystoke has installed otherwise than in accordance with reasonable practice, he said.

He also said that the shower fitting had been provided by the householder and it was reasonable for Greystoke to try to fit it.

Taken overall, the decorating work was of the standard of a reasonable contractor, although a slight reduction in the bill would be made for issues that would have been picked up by snagging.

An expert did not even notice the boot print in the paintwork on the step and, when shown a photograph of it, said it would probably be easily painted over.

On balance, I determine that where appropriate some deduction should be made for what I regard as snagging items, he continued.

He said there would be some reductions from the final bill due to snagging issues, variation in the work done, and to remove some extra fees.

The claimants claim succeeds in the sum of 36,760, he concluded.
10 May 2024 at 11:16 am

A US airman described as a patriot was shot dead in his hallway by a police officer who barged into the wrong apartment, his family has claimed.

Roger Fortson, 23, was shot multiple times after answering his front door to a sheriffs deputy while holding a handgun in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on May 3.

The officer, who has not been named, was responding to a domestic violence call at Chez Elan Apartments after a woman reported a couple arguing in a nearby apartment.

Mr Fortsons family claim he was alone in his home at the time.

Police bodycam footage released on Thursday shows the deputy knocking on Mr Fortsons door and shouting: Sheriffs office! Open the door!

Mr Fortson, a senior airman with 4th Special Operations Squadron, can be seen opening the door while holding a licensed gun pointed down at the floor in his right hand.

Roger Fortson's mother, Chantemekki, holds a picture of her son during a news conference with Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer who is representing the family - Gerald Herbert/AP

As he sees the officer, he briefly raises his left hand in protest but the deputy immediately fires six shots at him, striking Mr Fortson and causing him to fall to the floor.

Drop the gun! Drop the gun! the officer shouts after opening fire.

Its over there, replies Mr Forston as he lies on the ground. I dont have it.

The officer, who appeared to be alone at the time of the raid, then calls for additional support on his police radio.

Mr Forston, who worked for the special operations wing at Hurlburt Field airbase in Florida, later died from his wounds.

Mr Fortson can be seen on the officer's bodycam answering the door while holding a handgun at his side

His mother Chantemekki Fortson held a framed portrait of her late son wearing his military uniform before speaking at a press conference on Thursday.

My baby was shot up, she said.

Ben Crump, a civil rights lawyer, who is representing the family, said: For whatever reason, they thought he was a bad guy, but he was a good guy. He was a great guy. He was an exceptional guy. They took a patriot from us.

He was the best America had to offer, he added. He was fighting for our way of life. He was fighting for everybody.

Okaloosa County sheriff Eric Aden said his department was saddened about the shooting. At this time, we humbly ask for our communitys patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event, he said.

Floridas department of law enforcement said it is investigating the shooting.
Virginia residents listened to public comments before the board voted to restore the previously removed Confederate names - Evelyn Hockstein/REUTERS

Two schools in rural Virginia that were stripped of the names of Confederate generals at the height of the Black Lives Matter movement have had their original titles restored.

The Shenandoah County school board voted on Friday to restore the names of Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby Lee Elementary, which have been known as Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School for the past four years.

The original names of the schools honour three Confederate leaders  Thomas Stonewall Jackson, Turner Ashby and Robert E Lee.

The statue of Confederate general Stonewall Jackson, whose name Mountain View High School, in Virginia, will now be restored to, following a school board vote - Steve Helber/AP

The schools had their names changed in 2020, in response to public anger in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020. Public buildings across the US have been renamed, while statues of southern generals have been removed, as protesters demanded that figures with historical links to slavery are not commemorated.

A statue of Lee, the commander of the Army of Northern Virginia, has been removed from the states city of Charlottesville and melted down after it became the focus of a far-Right rally in 2021.

Over 60 schools have abolished Confederate names across the country since 2020  with the two schools in Virginia being the first to restore them.

The proposal to restore the names was initiated by a local conservative group, the Coalition for Better Schools, which cited the cultural significance and historical context of the original names.

Mountain View High School will have its original name, Stonewall Jackson High School, restored - EZE AMOS/NYTNS / Redux / eyevine

In its written request to the board, the group also cited surveys that showed more than 90 per cent of local residents in the largely white, Republican-leaning area favoured switching back to the Confederate names.

The motion passed by five votes to one, early on Friday  although some residents suggested that restoring the names would be racist.

Sarah Kohrs, who attended both schools and is sending her own children there, said: Their diplomas are going to state something, and I dont want it to state something linked to a Confederate general.

I had to deal with that my entire life. I dont want my kids to deal with that.
Olly Alexander is representing the UK at the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, with his song Dizzy

If Eurovision was a popularity contest, the UK should probably have taken the hint by now. Other than Germany, we have come last more times this century than any other country. And the dreaded nul points has become a painfully familiar feature in any conversation about the contest. But, are the politics of popularity all to blame  or are we simply not good enough?

The politics of Eurovision

Sir Terry Wogan, for 40 years the voice of Eurovision, was certainly in the former camp. Jaded by a dramatic decline in fortunes following Katrina & the Wavess victory for the UK in 1997, the presenter said Eurovision was no longer a music contest. Instead, the contest had become marred by regionalism and block voting.

How the UK has ranked in Eurovision

Since 1997, this trend has accelerated. Countries have enthusiastically supported those with historic, cultural or geographic links to their own, as reflected in both the jury and televoting stages of the scoring process.

Scandinavia, for example, majorly benefits here. This century, nearly a quarter of Swedish votes have come from Finland, Denmark, Iceland or Norway. This regional loyalty is reciprocated and is likely to have helped to propel Scandinavian countries to victory in a third of contests since 2000.

Sweden, hosting this year, is all too aware of its winning streak. As the second semi-final opened on Thursday evening, hosts Malin Akerman and Petra Mede sang a parody of last years winning song, Euphoria by Loreen, featuring the line please dont be angry with us, we just love Eurovision too much.

Similarly, Greece can bank on support from its neighbours of Albania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia. Cyprus, too, almost never fails to give Greece the full douze points.

How countries votes are made up

In 2008, Wogans final year presenting, he made it explicitly clear he begrudged the power of the Eastern bloc voting. Russia won that year, as the UK was beaten by performances including pirates from Latvia and, to Wogans particular annoyance, ridiculous singing clowns from Bosnia. I dont want to be presiding over yet another debacle, the normally jovial broadcaster said with bitterness.

For the UK, therefore, being isolated from Europe both geographically and, to an extent, politically, victory is made that much tougher. Ireland is the only country that loyally supports us, responsible for around 10 per cent of all points weve received.

The UK, though, is not alone in feeling aggrieved by these tactical disadvantages. France, Germany and Spain are among several countries who, on average, receive less than 3 per cent of the vote in any given year. France has not lifted the trophy since 1977.

Rule changes

A glance at the record book, however, tells something of a different story about the UKs Eurovision journey. After Sweden and Ireland, the UK has emerged as the winner on the most occasions alongside France, Netherlands and Luxembourg.

Part of this is undoubtedly a consequence of the UKs longevity in the contest. The UK also acts as one of the Big Five countries, granted automatic qualification owing to their financial support of the competition.

In the early years there was little room for politicking, with just 15 or so countries entering in the 1960s. Today, the boundaries of Eurovision stretch far and wide, from Azerbaijan to Australia; 37 countries can enter, leaving the UKs often straight-laced entries getting lost in a contest of gimmicks and post-Soviet camaraderie.

Number of entrants to Eurovision

A change in the language rules also appears to have played a role in the UKs loss of relevance in the contest.

Since its inception in 1956, countries were obliged to sing in their national language to reinforce the ethos of unity through diversity.

With English being the effective lingua franca of the western world, this might help explain why Ireland and England were able to secure one in four wins in the period to 1999  when the rules were abolished.

Since then, the proportion of songs sung in English has soared, from 12 per cent in 1997 to 62 per cent in 2023. The UKs advantage of reaching a wider audience through language has evaporated.

Number of songs by language

The entries

What data cant quite capture is just how weak the UKs entries have been in recent years. This week, The Telegraphs Tristram Fane Saunders ranked every UK entry since it first participated in the competition in 1957. Eight of the bottom 10 belonged to entries since 2000, including the out of tune Jemini (2001) and the car-crash James Newman performance in 2021.

There are also hints in the data that the UK is simply failing to enter songs that live up to Eurovision expectations. The majority of winners since 1997 have been melancholy power ballads, in a minor key. Think Netherlandss 2019 winner Arcade or Conchita Wursts iconic Rise Like a Phoenix in 2014.

In the same period, 18 of the UKs entries have been in the major key, out of step with the rest of Europes vibe. Sam Ryders Spaceman bucked this trend. The song pushed the UK to its highest point in two decades; a sign that choosing the right song can counterbalance the other disadvantages our nation may face.

Our reviewers have ranked this years song, to be performed by Olly Alexander, as a middling entry by UK standards. The bookies are less generous, giving just a 1 per cent chance of winning. But at least his song, Dizzy, is sung in the minor key.
The high court has ruled that indefinite detention of non-citizens, including asylum seekers, is legal in some circumstances. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Labor has won a major victory in the high court over the indefinite detention of non-citizens who refuse to cooperate with removal, but the win has put further in doubt its push for new deportation powers.

On Friday, the high court ruled detention is lawful in the case of ASF17, an Iranian asylum seeker who refused to cooperate with efforts to deport him because he fears for his life because he is bisexual, Christian and a Faili Kurd.

The court unanimously held detention is lawful if deportation would be possible were the detainee to decide to cooperate in the undertaking of administrative processes necessary to facilitate their removal. The case was dismissed with costs.

The decision closes the door on asylum seeker advocates attempt to argue that detention is not lawful if a person refuses to cooperate because they have a genuine fear of persecution if deported, but leaves open further challenges by detainees with protection findings.

The win has sparked trouble for the Albanese governments deportation bill, with the Greens arguing there is now no need for it and the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, saying the urgency is gone and there is no excuse to rush it through.

In November the high court ruled in the NZYQ decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful where there is no real prospect of the removal of a person from Australia becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future.

The decision set off a political firestorm, resulting the release of 153 immigration detainees. New statistics, released on Friday, reveal 76 of these are subject to electronic monitoring and 68 have a curfew, visa conditions which are also subject to a high court challenge.

In the ASF17 case, the commonwealth sought to establish non-cooperation with removal is a justification to keep people in detention. In March Guardian Australia revealed a leaked internal estimate that more than 170 could be freed if the commonwealth had lost the case.

In a joint judgment, six justices including chief justice Stephen Gageler said that ASF17 could be removed to Iran if he cooperated in the process of obtaining the requisite travel documents from Iranian authorities.

He has decided not to cooperate. He has the capacity to change his mind. He chooses not to do so.

They held that continuing detention for a non-punitive purpose that is occurring because of a voluntary decision of the detainee cannot be characterised as penal or punitive.

The six judges said that if no protection finding has been made in favour of the detainee, then a claim on the part of a detainee facing removal to fear harm in a country to which the detainee might be removed is insufficient to preclude removal to that country irrespective of whether that claim might be found on investigation to be genuine or well-founded.

Justice James Edelman  who wrote a separate but concurring judgment  said the high court could not revisit the factual basis upon which the federal court had rejected that ASF17 had a well-founded fear of persecution.

He said only executive decisions by the minister, such as to give him a visa, could bring an end to his continuing detention pending his consent to be returned to a country where he might be executed if he were to express, privately and consensually, what has been found to be his genuine sexual identity.

In a statement the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, said the government had fought strongly to defend our position in the high court and welcomed its unanimous decision.

The Greens immigration spokesperson, David Shoebridge, told reporters in Canberra the decision completely removes the case for Labors deportation bill.

In a statement the opposition, which has proposed extensive amendments to the bill but not stated a final position, said it is not in a form suitable to become law and needs to be improved before it can be passed.

Giles rejected claims the bill was no longer necessary and the Coalitions incoherent amendments.

Giles told reporters in Melbourne the bill puts in place a requirement to cooperate with removal, a gap that remained open for too long. Its a commonsense solution to a real problem.

Giles confirmed the government will put the bill to a vote, arguing the onus was on Peter Dutton to do the right thing to help us manage our migration system and keep the community safer.
The Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden will see more pro-Palestinian protests on the day of the final after Israel qualified for the competition.

Eden Golan, 20, whose emotional song Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel, triumphed in the semi-final on Thursday evening in Malmo Arena.

She was congratulated by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said he was proud of the young star.

Rishi Sunak thinks the demonstrations are wrong and called the push for a boycott of Israel unfair, a spokeswoman for the Prime Minister said.

The Swedish Police Authority told the PA news agency that an estimated crowd of 10,000 to 12,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who marched through Malmo on Thursday were very peaceful.

The demonstrators, who were condemning Israel taking part in Eurovision amid the conflict in Gaza, walked through the streets of Malmo from Stortorget to Molleplatsen, and among them was Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Police said nine people were warned about disturbing the public order and one man was arrested after allegedly carrying a knife and some tools in his bag.

The force said it has approved two demonstrations  both pro-Palestinian  for Saturday, when the UKs Olly Alexander competes in the final alongside Irelands Bambie Thug and Golan.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister thinks that these protests are wrong and some of the scenes weve seen have been outrageous.

She added that the UK shares the deep concern of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, and we raise this regularly but the Prime Minister is incredibly mindful of the Israelis and also Jewish people around the world who love Eurovision following the attacks by Hamas against Israeli civilians.

The Prime Ministers spokeswoman also said he understands the right to peaceful protest, though Mr Sunak thinks it is wrong and unfair to call for a boycott of their act, Golan.

She added: We remain steadfast in our support for Israel and its right to self defence and its right to prevent a terror attack such as we saw from ever happening again.

Eden Golan will represent Israel in the Eurovision final (Jessica Gow/TT News Agency/AP)

Alexander and Bambie, along with other Eurovision artists, released a joint statement in March backing an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza but refusing to boycott the event.

At a press conference on Thursday, Latvias qualifying contestant Dons was asked about his message, and his reply appeared to make reference to conflicts throughout the world.

He said: It was a special day for me in my life and Id say Ive never been so proud to be part of Latvian nation and Latvian, were the only country in the world that is in the shape of a butterfly.

A butterfly symbolises hope and freedom because to be a butterfly, you have to fly and you have to be free. Every country in the world deserves to be free.

Meanwhile Netherlands act Joost Klein told Golan she should answer a question on whether she is comprising the safety of other contestants at Eurovision.

A journalist asked Golan: Have you ever thought that by being here you bring risk and danger for other participants and public?

When Golan was told by the moderator that she did not have to answer the question, Klein chimed in, saying: Why not?

Golan said: I think were all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and and united place for everyone and so I think its safe for everyone and we wouldnt be here (if not).

The Israeli act also said she was overwhelmed with emotions and that she was super excited to go on stage once more, and share that of my love with everyone.

Earlier, when Klein was asked if his song can unite people by music, he replied: I think thats a good question for the EBU.

During the semi-final, Golan was applauded and cheered by the audience, while dressed in a flowing sand-coloured dress.

Nemo of Switzerland is an early favourite for the title (Martin Meissner/AP)

That marked a change from Golan being booed during rehearsals on Wednesday, and reportedly facing shouts of free Palestine in the arena.

The events organiser said it will not censor the audience and encouraged the crowd to attend in the spirit of the contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being united by music.

According to the AP news agency, she has been surrounded by security as she travels from the hotel to the contest venue.

Golan said on Instagram she is going to continue to show up and perform and remind everyone that we are here to stay.

Switzerlands Nemo, whose operatic-pop song The Code is seen as one of the favourites to win on Saturday, has made the final along with Klein, with his irreverent and silly Europapa, and Norways Gate with the folkish Ulveham.

Also in the final is Austrias Kaleen, Greeces Marina Satti, Estonias 5Miinust x Puuluup, Georgias Nutsa Buzaladze and Armenias Ladaniva.

The EBU, whose members approved Israeli broadcaster Kan, has taken a strong stance, as in previous years, against political messages at Eurovision and flags and symbols from non-competing countries.

Despite the position, Tuesdays first semi-final saw former Swedish contestant and opening act Eric Saade wear a keffiyeh pattern material, commonly used by people who want to show they are pro-Palestinian, on his arm.

The EBU said the body regrets the moment, while Saade said it was a way of showing a part of my origin and was a gift as a child from his father, who is of Palestinian origin.
Rhyma Castillo is a trending reporter for the Express-News and a member of its Digital Go Team. She can be reached at rhyma.castillo@express-news.net.

A native of San Antonio and a Texas A&M University graduate, she is a journalist with nearly a decade of experience. She has reported on politics, immigration, climate change, gun violence, and workers rights. Additionally, she excels in lifestyle and entertainment writing, covering music, television, video games, technology, and relationships.

In her free time, she enjoys painting, drawing, cooking, hiking, climbing, gardening, playing video games, cuddling with her cats, and making music with her band.
The mastermind of an armed robbery that ended in a police officer being shot dead will die in jail.

Pc Sharon Beshenivskys family watched from court as Piran Ditta Khan, the last member of the gang responsible for the armed raid that claimed her life, was sentenced after almost 20 years.

Pc Beshenivsky was killed on her daughters fourth birthday while interrupting a robbery at family-run Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

She and her colleague Pc Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range by one of the three men who had just carried out the raid as he emerged from the door of the business.

In April this year Khan  the gangs ringleader  became the last of seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted after spending almost 15 years on the run.

The 75-year-old was found guilty of murdering Pc Beshenivsky, as well as two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon.

He pleaded guilty to robbery.

Piran Ditta Khan (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

Leeds Crown Court heard that although Khan was eating sandwiches in a lookout car when the two officers were shot, he played a pivotal role in planning the raid and knew loaded weapons would be used.

Prosecutors said this made him guilty of Pc Beshenivskys murder as surely as if he had pulled the trigger himself.

On Friday, Mr Justice Hilliard jailed Khan for life with a minimum term of 40 years.

Peter Wright, defending, said due to Khans age, his final years, in all probability, are to be spent in custody with the forbidding prospect that he will die there.

During the trial, jurors heard Khan was the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used the firm in the past to send money to family in Pakistan.

He flew to Pakistan two months after Pc Beshenivskys death and remained at liberty there until he was arrested by Pakistani authorities in January 2020 and then extradited to the UK last year.

Khan told jurors he had no knowledge that a robbery was going to be carried out, or that weapons were going to be taken.

The exterior of the Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire (West Yorkshire Police/PA)

He claimed he was trying to reclaim 12,000 owed to him by Universal Expresss owner and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq, who was later convicted of the manslaughter of Pc Beshenivsky, had offered to help get his money back.

Prosecutors said there was no evidence of this.

The court heard Pc Beshenivskys injury was immediately fatal.

Pc Milburn, who activated her personal radio and called for help as she was coughing up blood, survived her injuries after hospital treatment.

In a victim personal statement read in court, Pc Beshenivskys daughter Lydia said she was too young and innocent to understand what happened when her mother failed to return home from work to celebrate her birthday.

Family liaison officer Linzie Holroyd reading a statement on behalf of Paul Beshenivsky (left), his new wife Michelle (third from left), daughter Lydia Beshenivsky (second from right) and son Paul Beshenivsky Jnr (right) outside Leeds Crown Court (Screengrab/PA)

Ms Beshenivsky described her mother as a hero who paid the ultimate sacrifice and said she was proud of her for doing the job she loved.

She said: There will always be a void in my life  a void that should have been filled with my mums presence but as a result of violent, callous actions by you, Piran Ditta Khan, and your associates that day, you robbed me of a future and precious time with my mum.

Every birthday is a reminder of what happened that day. It has recently been Mothers Day, and while my friends are celebrating with their mums, I sadly can never do that.

Paul Beshenivsky, who had been married to Pc Beshenivsky for four years when she died, said telling the children what had happened was the hardest thing I have ever had to do.

His statement read: The way we lost Sharon was in the most brutal, callous and futile way.

She never came home due to the actions and organisation of one person  Piran Ditta Khan.

If Piran Ditta Khan had never organised the robbery, Sharon would never have been shot dead and she would have come home that day.

The judge, Mr Justice Hilliard, praised Pc Beshenivskys courage in responding to the call when she and her colleague had no way of knowing what they would be confronted with when they got there.

Pc Sharon Beshenivskys courage and commitment to duty that day cost her her life, he said.

Mr Justice Hilliard said because Khan had fled to Pakistan after the murder at the age of 57 he had spent the rest of your 50s and all your 60s at liberty when you should have spent those years in custody.

The judge told Khan: You will inevitably spend the remainder of your life in custody, but that is a consequence of sentencing a man of your age for a crime of this particular gravity.

He said it would not be right to reduce the sentence because of Khans age and health conditions.

You are responsible for the fact that you are being sentenced at the age of 75 and not at a younger age.

You have had your younger and healthier years at liberty because you chose to leave the country when you feared you were about to be arrested.

Mr Justice Hilliard told Khan: You did not yourself enter the premises of Universal Express armed with weapons, however, I am sure you were the first to conceive of this robbery.

A statement from Pc Beshenivskys family read outside court following the hearing said: November 2005 was the start of an almost 19-year journey. A journey seeking the truth and justice for Sharon, who was not just a police officer, but a loving mum, wife, daughter, sister, and a friend to many.



Our journey seeking justice and closure of the judicial process is now at an end. This journey has and continues to be difficult for us all.



Enduring several trials over the years has been hard, each one of them taking us back to the very beginning, which made us feel like we had lost Sharon all over again. And now we once again pick up the pieces of our lives and continue forward as Sharon would have wanted us all to do.



Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Twiggs of West Yorkshire Police said:

This is a day of mixed emotions. On the one hand we are pleased to get the final conviction in this case, but on the other hand we are sad as it has brought into sharp focus the completely unnecessary waste of life that day.



For 18 years we have never given up on getting justice for Sharon and Teresa, and today their families have received that justice.



Sharon was murdered in the line of duty, in what was a totally unnecessary act. Sharon was doing her job and protecting the public.



The pain and anguish of what happened on that day and the profound sense of loss, will come flooding back to her family, friends, Police and the local community. It was a day we will never forget.



We never gave up, we relentlessly pursued Khan even when things got tough, we never gave up.
When the horrible storms tore through parts of the Midwest earlier this week one of the hardest hit areas was Barnsdall, a small town about 40 miles north of Tulsa, Oklahoma. As the tornado sirens went off a lot of families had to flee to local storm shelters, leaving their beloved pets behind.

One resident Lindsay Crowder and her family went to a storm shelter and when they returned home, their house was destroyed and their beloved cat Pikachu was missing.

Local station KJRH was covering the story when Lindsay was calling her cat and it crawled out of the rubble. They report, "2 News was there as Lindsay began calling out to Pikachu, who was miraculously discovered underneath the rubble alive.

For a small moment in time, the sadness lifted as she came out and into Lindsays waiting arms.

Im so happy right now. This is just a house. We cant replace her, and we cant replace our kids," she said. "We cant replace the people and things that mean so much.

Related: Cats Intently Exploring the Closet During a Tornado Are Full of Unbothered Energy

What an absolute miracle. I'm so sorry for all the houses that were destroyed during the storm, including the Crowder family home, but so happy they were reunited with their beloved cat.

Tornados are so scary, but there are some steps pet owners can take to try and be prepared as much as possible.

How To Protect Your Pets During Tornado Season

One of the very best things you can do before tornado season even hits is to have your pet microchipped with your phone and address updated so that if you are separated during a storm and your pet is found, you will be contacted right away. Also make sure your pet is wearing a collar with your contact information on it.

In addition to all your own personal papers, it's a good idea to keep a copy of your pet's vet records and vaccinations in case they are needed.

Keep a kennel or carrier within easy access so you can pack them into it in case you need to seek shelter away from home.

Pack your pet their very own go-bag with dishes for water and food, a small supply of food, any medications they take, comfort items like a blanket and favorite toy, and an extra collar, leash, or harness. Treats and waste bags are also a good idea.

The Animal Medical Center says, "During a tornado, it is essential to keep your pets indoors and away from windows, as flying debris can be extremely dangerous. If you are sheltering in place, ensure that your home is secure and that your pets cannot escape through open windows, doors, or other openings. If you must evacuate, take your pets with you and make sure they are secured in a carrier or on a leash."

Sirens and bad weather can upset some pets, so while you are sheltering in place make sure you give them lots of affection and speak to them in a reassuring, calm voice.

After the storm be careful about broken glass, debris and downed power lines, and keep your pet on a leash or in their carrier until you can move them to a safe area.

The Humane Society of Tulsa shared the following update to their Facebook page:

If you would like to donate or volunteer at the Tulsa Humane Society to help all the pets affected by these awful storms, you can visit their 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.
Sir Keir Starmer declined to commit to stopping the boats as he set out his partys plans to tackle cross-Channel migration.

The Labour leader said crossings needed to be reduced materially and he would like it to come down completely, but added he would not put a false number on his plans.

Speaking in Deal, Kent, on Friday, Sir Keir said a Labour government would expand counter-terror powers to cover people-smuggling gangs and create a new Border Security Command to co-ordinate efforts to halt the crossings.

His comments came as figures showed more than 9,000 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year.

In a message to smuggling gangs, he said: These shores will become hostile territory for you  we will find you. We will stop you. We will protect your victims with the Border Security Command. We will secure Britains borders.

He also reiterated his commitment to scrap the Governments Rwanda policy straight away, saying it was a gimmick he had no interest in pursuing.

More migrants arrived in Dover, Kent, on Friday (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Asked whether he would cancel deportation flights to Kigali, he told Sky News: There will be no flights scheduled or taking off after general election if Labour wins that general election.

But asked what would happen to any people deported to Rwanda in the coming months, he said Labour was not interested in repatriating people.

Sir Keirs speech followed the defection of Dover MP Natalie Elphicke, who told the audience of party supporters in Deal on Friday that Rishi Sunak had failed to keep our borders secure.

Ms Elphicke said Labour would provide a fresh approach to the issue that puts at its heart a commitment to border security.

New Labour MP Natalie Elphicke speaks before Sir Keir Starmers speech (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Under the plans outlined on Friday, Labour would establish a new border security command led by a former police, military or intelligence chief and modelled on an approach to counter-terrorism operations that Sir Keir said had already proven successful.

The new command would bring together officers from agencies including MI5, Immigration Enforcement and the National Crime Agency, focused on stopping people smugglers and freed from the cloying bureaucracy that so often prevents collaboration between different institutions.

Sir Keir said: This is about leveraging the power and potential of dynamic government, based on a counter-terrorism approach which we know works.

An end to the fragmentation between policing, the border force and our intelligence agencies, a collective raising of standards, so that border protection becomes an elite force, not a Cinderella service, an essential frontline defence that communities like this can depend upon.

(PA Graphics)

The unit would also benefit from new powers, expanding on those already used to combat terrorists, including enhanced stop-and-search powers and the ability to seize items before an offence has taken place.

Asked about providing a deterrent, Sir Keir said speeding up the processing of asylum claims and returning unsuccessful applicants to their home countries would be the most effective way of deterring people from making the journey, rendering it a pointless exercise.

He declined to say whether people would be returned to countries such as Syria and Eritrea, and declined to commit to opening up new safe routes.

I dont think safe routes is the answer to the vile trade that is being run to put people into small boats, I actually think breaking down the gangs is, he told ITV News.

Sir Keir also said he would seek to negotiate a replacement for the Dublin Agreement to allow asylum seekers to be returned to European countries, but ruled out joining an EU scheme.

Sir Keir Starmer reiterated his commitment to scrap the Governments Rwanda policy (Gareth Fuller/PA)

Home Secretary James Cleverly argued Labours proposals would make the UK the asylum capital of the world.

This half-hearted, poorly thought through, pale imitation of what is already in place, but without the deterrent of Rwanda, will inevitably see numbers go up, he told the BBC.

He argued Sir Keir is inevitably going to have to have an amnesty because he would not be able to return people to countries including Afghanistan, Iran and Syria.

Mr Cleverly also told LBC Radio the timing of Labours intervention was comic, because we are starting to see the deterrent of the Rwanda plan, although he could not give numbers of people who have left the UK for the EU.

Some 211 people made the journey from France to the UK on Thursday in three boats, provisional Home Office figures show.

(PA Graphics)

This suggests an average of around 70 people per boat and takes the provisional total for Channel crossings in 2024 to date to 9,037.

This is up 35% on this time last year, when 6,691 crossings were recorded, and a 16% rise compared to the same period in 2022 (7,801), according to PA news agency analysis of the data.

Crossing continued on Friday as Sir Keir set out Labours plans amid sunny and breezy but hazy weather conditions at sea.

Young children were among those seen being driven away on buses and in taxis after being brought ashore in Dover, Kent. Pictures also showed a private ambulance leaving the ports Border Force compound under blue lights. Maidstone-based Medevent Medical Services declined to comment on their attendance when contacted by PA.

Earlier this week, the Home Office stopped publishing the number of Channel crossings prevented just days after the policy was introduced.

Late on Wednesday night, the department said the decision to publish the data on a daily basis had been paused until further notice following consultation with the French. The reason behind the U-turn is yet to be disclosed but the Home Office previously described the statistics as estimates which were prone to error.
The First Minister of Wales has pleaded for Tata Steel to wait for a Labour government before shutting off its blast furnaces and making thousands of job cuts.

Following seven months of discussions with unions, Tata revealed last month it is proceeding with plans to shut down two blast furnaces and invest 1.25 billion in an electric arc furnace on its Port Talbot site.

The move will see thousands of jobs lost, with the new furnace needing fewer workers to maintain.

On a visit to the company in India, Vaughan Gething, the Welsh Government leader, called for it to wait for more investment from a potential incoming Labour UK government and keep one blast furnace running in the meantime.

Tata Steels Port Talbot site in South Wales (Ben Birchall/PA)

However, Mr Gethings trip has drawn criticism from the Conservatives, who said he should stop globetrotting and put money towards fixing the problem.

Speaking to the PA news agency from Mumbai on Friday, Mr Gething said: I made clear the case that the Welsh Governments prime position is we dont want to see the final blast furnace turned off with the significant numbers of job losses that will entail.

I spoke to (Labour leader) Keir Starmer before I came out, and the person who is the likely next prime minister made clear that he sees a manifesto offer that well need more steel, not less.

Just as I do, he does not want there to be an irreversible choice made just before a general election that is only months away.

The First Minister added there could be lots of capital investment available for the future of steel, reiterating Sir Keirs commitment for a 3 billion fund for the steel industry.

Tatas plans would see the two blast furnaces closed by the end of June and September respectively, with 2,800 jobs lost  the majority at its site in Port Talbot.

Up to 10,000 people are expected to be impacted indirectly.

Vaughan Gething said Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer, right, has promised investment in steel (Peter Byrne/PA)

The company has previously rejected a plan put forward by unions to keep one furnace running while the electric one is built, saying this would have incurred at least 1.6 billion of additional costs.

Mr Gething also said he want Tata to show it is here to stay in some significant form.

The First Minister said: If theyre going to go ahead with their 1.25 billion investment, then we need to see them making practical progress in the near future.

That could, for example, be about starting the planning process, because at the moment there are some people that dont trust the proposal to actually deliver an electric arc the size and scale that has been talked about.

Mr Gething insisted it is premature to talk about industrial action, and the company and workers should return to negotiations.

Two unions  Community and Unite  have already balloted their members on potential strike action at the plant in Port Talbot, with overwhelming support in favour.

He said: I want the company and trade unions back in the same room negotiating to make progress on this. I think its premature to talk about action actually taking place.

I respect the results of the ballot and I pointed out the strength of the Community ballot today, get back in the room and make progress on the future.

Asked why he waited to meet the company until after the consultation process with the unions was over, Mr Gething said: We needed to understand where trade unions and the company had go to.

If Id flown out when they were still deep into talks, cutting across what was happening, I think thats entirely the wrong thing to do.

Andrew RT Davies criticised the First Ministers globetrotting to divert from his domestic problems (Andrew Matthews/PA)

Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies criticised Mr Gethings trip.

He said: While the UK Government has put over half a billion pounds on the table to save steel jobs in Port Talbot, the only cash the Labour Welsh Government has spent is on this trip to India.

Vaughan Gething should stop globetrotting to divert from his domestic problems and measure his support for our steelworkers in pounds and pence.

TV Narendran, chief executive of Tata Steel, said: Today we had a productive discussion with the new First Minister of Wales about progressing our plans to secure the future of steelmaking in South Wales.

Tata Steels position remains that we are committed to the green transition of the UK steel industry, and our state-of-the-art electric arc furnace in Port Talbot will help safeguard steel sovereignty in Britain, preserve 5,000 jobs, support our customers, and reduce CO2 emissions by five million tonnes each year.

We understand the difficulties that our people are facing and are doing our utmost to provide holistic support, including on mental health. We are offering the most generous financial support package ever offered to outgoing employees.

Additionally, we are committed to providing support with job searches, training and upskilling activities, and we have committed 20 million to the transition board.

Tata Steel has always been a responsible, long-term and patient investor in its UK business, and we are committing significant additional capital to ensure that we can create an operationally, financially and environmentally sustainable business for the future.

Plaid Cymru spokesman for economy, Luke Fletcher MS said: I truly hope the First Ministers visit yields a positive result for workers in Tata Steel.

However, Tatas attitude towards workers has been nothing short of appalling. A responsible company doesnt act like this.

Plaid Cymru have long called for nationalisation to be seriously considered by the UK Government and to be pushed for by the Welsh Government.

Now is the time to act. We cannot be bystanders in our own nations future.
A 4-year-old girl  one of five relatives shot after unidentified gunmen unloaded at least 30 rounds into their San Antonio home  has died, officials said Thursday.

The shooting, captured on neighbor's surveillance cameras, took place about a half-hour before sunset Wednesday night at a San Antonio townhome where the girl lived with her siblings, age 7 and 8, and and the children's parents, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar reported.

First responders transported all five victims the San Antonio Military Medical Center in critical condition, according to Salazar.

The 4-year-old girl, whose name has not yet been released, died at the hospital, the sheriff said during a Thursday night news conference in which he released footage of the shooting to the media.

Two unidentified gunman, one wearing black (near box truck) and one wearing a gray hoodie), opened fire into a San Antonio home where five family member were shot on May 8, 2024. A 4-year-old girl inside was killed.

As of Friday, the other victims remained hospitalized, a sheriff's spokesperson said, and their conditions were not immediatly known.

Plane catches fire, slides off runway: 10 injured after plane carrying 85 people catches fire, skids off runway in Senegal

Who are the gunman who opened fire on the San Antonio home?

As of Friday, the gunman had not been identified publicly by law enforcement and no arrests had been made in the shooting.

But during Thursday's press conference, the sheriff said there are persons of interest being investigated in connection to the case.

"We're pretty certain we're hot on their tracks," he said, adding he could not elaborate about the suspects.

Two unidentified gunman, one wearing black and one wearing gray, (to left in picture provided by sheriff) opening fire into a San Antonio home where five family member were shot on May 8, 2024. A 4-year-old girl inside was killed.

The gunman and the victims apparently knew each other, the sheriff said.

"I have no doubt that they were after the people in that home for whatever reason," Salazar said. "These were people who were absolutely there to take lives last night... They wanted to empty enough lead into that home to make sure that they inflicted maximum damage. To make sure that they killed somebody."

"Is it going to give me great pleasure to charge both of these two guys with capital murder when the time comes? Absolutely," the sheriff said. "It's just something we can't allow to happen anywhere, to anyone much less a 4-year-old child who had nothing to do with anything."

30 rounds recovered from scene, police say

Disturbing footage released by the sheriff's office, shows two suspects wearing ski masks pull up to the townhome in a vehicle believed to be an Infiniti sedan, Salazar said.

The vehicle parks beside a white box truck and the suspects are seen getting out of the vehicle, running up to the home where they unleash a barrage of bullets from semi-automatic rifles into the house.

The men then get back into the vehicle with the high-powered weapons and flee the scene.

Two unidentified gunman, one wearing black pictured here, opened fire into a San Antonio home where five family member were shot on May 8, 2024. A 4-year-old girl inside was killed.

Investigators, the sheriff reported, found a least 30 shell casings at the scene.

Anyone with informatoin about the shooting is asked to contact the sheriff's office.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 4-year-old San Antonio girl dies after townhome invasion shooting
Drake's home was the subject of a trespassing incident Thursday.

Police were called about a trespasser at the superstar rapper's Canada home around 3:30 p.m. on Thursday afternoon, according to Toronto Police spokesperson Shannon Eames. The trespasser was involved in an "altercation" with security guards before the police arrived and was later taken to the hospital.

The "Rich Baby Daddy" hitmaker has been the subject of three police-involved incidents at his Toronto home this week, including an early morning shooting of a security guard outside of his mansion's gates Tuesday. Then, Toronto Police Service officers were called to Drake's home around 2 p.m. Wednesday after an individual "attempted to gain access to the property."

The Toronto home of rapper Drake, pictured in 2016, has been a hotbed for police involvement amid a highly public and contentious feud with fellow emcee Kendrick Lamar.

Security guard shot at Drake's home in Toronto, police say

Police could not disclose the individual's identity in the Wednesday break-in because the person was apprehended under the Ontario Mental Health Act, meaning the incident is not being treated as a criminal matter. But Eames said that the person involved in the Thursday incident was not apprehended under the Ontario Mental Health Act.

Under the act, authorities may take a person in custody to a physician for examination if officers are of the belief the person is "apparently suffering from (a) mental disorder" that could result in serious bodily harm, according to the Ontario government's website.

The trio of police-involved incidents come amid the rapper's highly contentious feud with Compton emcee Kendrick Lamar, which includes diss tracks featuring numerous accusations between the two ranging from secret children to sexual assault.

Drake's house is a notable centerpiece within the topic of discussion between the two rappers. His opulent property is well-known among his fans and the mega-mansion is featured on the cover of Lamar's buzzy diss track "Not Like Us," one of many one-offs aimed at Drake in which Lamar suggests that sex offenders live at Drake's Toronto home.

Contributing: Edward Segarra

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Drake: House subject of third police-involved incident after shooting
The latest court filing comes amid the exes' battle over their French winery

James Devaney/GC; David M. Benett/Max Cisotti/Dave Benett/WireImage Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt

Angelina Jolie allegedly encouraged the children she shares with ex Brad Pitt to avoid their father during visits, a security guard who worked for the couple claims in new court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

The allegation comes amid the exes ongoing and increasingly contentious legal battle over their French winery Chateau Miraval. Lawyers for Pitt submitted to L.A. Superior Court a declaration from security company owner Tony Webb, who worked for Jolie, 48, from 2000 to 2020; he claims he was fired by Jolie, but still currently works for Pitt, 60.

In his 12-page statement, Webb claimed a Jolie aide named Michael Vieira called him and tried to enlist his help to dissuade two bodyguards who had worked for Jolie via Webbs company SRS Global from testifying in her separate custody battle with Pitt over their children, half of whom have now reached legal age: Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and 15-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.

During the call, Mr. Vieira told me that he had heard that two contractors who had provided personal security for Ms. Jolie through SRS Global might be testifying in the family court case, according to Webb. Mr. Vieira then asked me to stop these two individuals from testifying.

Related: Everything to Know About Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's Vineyard, Chateau Miraval

I understood that Mr. Vieira was making this request on behalf of Ms. Jolie. I explained to Mr. Vieira that I had no power to stop them because they were independent contractors and not employees, he continued.

Karwai Tang/WireImage Shiloh Jolie-Pitt, Zahara Jolie-Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Vivienne Jolie-Pitt, Maddox Jolie-Pitt and Knox Jolie-Pitt

Mr. Vieira then told me that his call should serve as a reminder that those individuals had entered into non-disclosure agreements with Ms. Jolie and that I should remind them of that and tell them that if they testified in the family law case, Ms. Jolie would sue them, according to Webb.

One of the two individuals, Ross Foster, specified that he intended to testify regardless of the NDA, if he received a court subpoena, Webb added.

He further claimed in his declaration, When Mr. Foster told me this, he also told me that if asked, he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits.

Related: Brad Pitt 'Trying to Move on with His Life' amid Latest Legal Drama with Angelina Jolie: Exclusive Source

Paul Murphy, an attorney for Angelina Jolie, says in a statement obtained by PEOPLE, Mr. Pitts continued attempt to equate common NDAs for security personnel and housekeepers covering confidential information employees learn at work, with him demanding an expanded NDA to ensure the continued coverup of his deplorable actions remains shameful."



"This case is not about NDAs in general, but about power and control," continued Murphy.

"All Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt. She looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go.

Pitts lawyers submitted the declaration from Webb in an effort to illustrate that Jolie herself used the kind of non-disclosure agreements that she objected to sign when Pitt was ready to buy her out of the wine business in 2021.

Her hook is to allege that she was justified in terminating an imminent deal for Pitt to purchase her interest in Chateau Miraval, and in doing so breach her obligations not to sell to a stranger without his consent, because Pitts lawyers asked for an NDA to be included in the deal papers, his lawyers wrote.

Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic, MICHEL GANGNE/AFP via Getty Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt; Chateau Miraval

The extent of Jolies reliance on NDAs will help establish that Jolie was experienced with NDAs and understood their legitimate business purposes and undermine Jolies claim that Pitt and Perrins proposal of a standard NDA with a broad carve-out for legal proceedings was unconscionable and against public policy,  Pitts attorneys continued.

Related: Angelina Jolie Calls Daughter Vivienne a 'Tough Assistant' on The Outsiders: 'Takes It Very Seriously' (Exclusive)

They also accused Jolie of a ploy to turn this business dispute into a sideshow about family court matters.

In a motion previously filed by Jolies lawyers on April 4, they suggested Pitt feared that sealed documents included in their separate, years-long custody battle could be made public without the NDA.

In those papers, her lawyers referenced the alleged incident that occurred the day before Jolie filed for divorce in 2016, stating, "While Pitt's history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the familys September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles, this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well. Jolie then immediately left him."

The FBI investigated the incident and Pitt was not charged.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
A federal appeals court on Wednesday sided with a Catholic high school that fired a gay teacher over his plans to marry his partner, saying that the termination did not violate federal workplace protections for LGBTQ workers.

A three-judge panel of the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals said the North Carolina school did not violate Lonnie Billards rights under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, a federal anti-workplace discrimination law that protects against race, sex and religious discrimination.

Two members of the panel held that Billard played a vital role as a messenger of Charlotte Catholic High Schools faith values and said as a result, his firing was permissible under the ministerial exception to Title VII.

We conclude that the school entrusted Billard with vital religious duties, making him a messenger of its faith and placing him within the ministerial exception, Circuit Judge Pamela Harris wrote in the majority decision.

The third judge agreed with the judgement, but said in a partial dissent that he would have resolved the case on different grounds.

According to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the First Amendment safeguards the rights of religious organizations free from interference from civil authorities, to select those who will personify its beliefs. This is known as the ministerial exception.

The ruling from the appeals court is a notable departure from previous rulings by the court that have helped advance LGBTQ rights in various areas of life, including a pair of rulings last month that said state health insurance plans in North Carolina and West Virginia unlawfully excluded coverage for gender-affirming care, and a ruling in favor of a young trans athlete in West Virginia who was barred from participating in school sports under a state law.

Lonnie Billard, right, and his husband Richard Donham. - Courtesy Lonnie Billard

Billard told CNN he is very disappointed in the courts decision and worries he is running out of options.

Theres lots and lots of case law that backs me up. But my biggest feeling is confusion, he said. I just felt you cant tell people who you can love and who you can marry. Thats not right, you cant, you shouldnt be able to fire somebody because they love someone else. And thats why I went through what I did.

Billard said in October 2014, while he still worked for Charlotte Catholic High School, he announced his engagement to his partner on social media. Although hed worked for the school for a decade, Billard said he was fired from his job two months later.

He said he filed a discrimination complaint with the EEOC and then an employment discrimination lawsuit in 2017 against Charlotte Catholic High School, Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte.

Billard married his partner in May 2015 and says he loved every minute of his teaching career even though it ended abruptly. He is now retired.

CNN reached out to Mecklenburg Area Catholic Schools and Charlotte Catholic High School for comment on Thursday.

Luke Goodrich, vice president and senior counsel at Becket who represents the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charlotte, called the decision a victory for people of all faiths who cherish the freedom to pass on their faith to the next generation.

The Supreme Court has been crystal clear on this issue: Catholic schools have the freedom to choose teachers who fully support Catholic teaching, Goodrich said a in a statement.

CNNs Devan Cole contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
RALEIGH, N.C. - Theres something special happening with these New York Rangers.

You could make a very real case that they have been outplayed in back-to-back games by the Carolina Hurricanes, who have consistently applied pressure and won the shots-on-goal battle. But the Blueshirts are winning where it counts  on the scoreboard  with Thursdays 3-2 overtime victory in Game 3 at PNC Arena giving them a 3-0 stranglehold in the second-round series.

This marked their second consecutive comeback victory, with Alexis Lafreniere scoring the go-ahead goal on a rush feed from Artemi Panarin with 13:35 to play  his third goal in the last two games  and Panarin finishing it off after Canes forward Andrei Svechnikov's late equalizer forced overtime.

Those clutch efforts helped the Rangers tie a franchise record with seven consecutive playoff wins, matching the high mark from their last championship run 30 years ago. It also handed the Canes just their fifth loss in their last 20 postseason games on home ice.

Adding to the occasion was the long-awaited return of Filip Chytil. The 24-year-old forwards comeback following an absence of more than six months due to complications from a Nov. 2 concussion stands on its own as a feel-good story, but its the Blueshirts' collective resolve that has them on the precipice of their second Eastern Conference Finals appearance in the last three years.

Theyll have a chance to close out the series right back here on Saturday, with Game 4 puck drop set for 7 p.m. ET.

New York Rangers forward Alexis Lafreniere celebrates after scoring a goal against the Carolina Hurricanes.

Weathering the storm

It was no surprise to see desperate Hurricanes come out with a strong push and dominate possession in the opening period.

They outshot the Rangers, 17-7, in the first 20 minutes and took a 1-0 lead on Jake Guentzel's third goal in the last two games. This one came in similar fashion to his first tally in Game 2, with Carolina's prized trade-deadline addition lurking around the net and tipping a pass by Igor Shesterkin.

The Canes continued to pepper Shesterkin, living up to their reputation as one of the NHL's biggest shot volume teams, but the quantity often lacked quality. They were only credited with four high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five through two periods, according to Natural Stat Trick, with the Blueshirts' netminder swallowing up all of their long-range attempts while limiting the rebound opportunities.

More time at 5v5 likely would have benefited Carolina, but a chippy Game 3 devolved into another penalty fest. And that benefited the Rangers, as it has throughout the first few weeks of the playoffs.

New York's streak of scoring at least one power-play goal in five consecutive games came to an end, but the penalty kill made up for it. Mika Zibanejad sparked the tying goal on a second-period PK with a takeaway and a quick move to start a two-on-one rush, ending the impressive sequence by feeding Chris Kreider for the finish to make it 1-1 at the 8:30 mark.

Mika  Kreids for the shorthanded equalizer. pic.twitter.com/MfwA0yNbiR  x - New York Rangers (@NYRangers) May 10, 2024

The assist tied Zibanejad for most points (12) in franchise history through seven playoff games while giving the Rangers their third shorthanded goal of the postseason. They went 5-for-5 on the PK for third consecutive game and have killed 23 in a row overall. Their overall success rate in these playoffs is 93.8% (30-for-32), as they continue to dominate the ever-important special teams' battle.

Vincent Z. Mercogliano is the New York Rangers beat reporter for the USA TODAY Network. Read more of his work at lohud.com/sports/rangers/ and follow him on Twitter @vzmercogliano.

This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: Rangers top Hurricanes in Game 3 in overtime for 3-0 series lead
A 25-year-old Burbank, California man was charged Tuesday for killing his mother, "a beloved teacher in the Burbank community," the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office said.

Kyle Lombardo killed his mother, 57-year-old Karyn Lombardo, on Tuesday during an altercation in her Burbank home, LA County DA George Gascon announced Thursday in a news release.

My deepest condolences go out to the victims loved ones during this tremendously difficult time, Gascon said in the release. Ms. Lombardo... had her life senselessly taken. I want to assure the victims family and the community that our office is fully committed to seeking justice and accountability in this tragedy.

Karyn Lombardo died from blunt force head trauma and a brain bleed, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner said.

Lombardo is being held on $2 million bail, according to Gascon's office. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of life in state prison, the DA's office said.

Karyn Lombardo

Burbank police arrest Kyle Lombardo

Officers from the Burbank police department, which is investigating the case, responded to the Lombardo household around 10 p.m. Tuesday after receiving a report "regarding an unconscious female," the department said in a news release. When officers arrived, they found Karyn Lombardo unconscious inside the home, police said. She was pronounced dead after life-saving measures were unsuccessful.

Karyn Lombardo lived in the home with her husband and son, Kyle Lombardo, according to police. Kyle Lombardo was subsequently arrested and booked for murder "based on information obtained and evidence at the scene revealing he caused (Karyn Lombardo's) death," the department said.

Vince Lombardo, the deceased teachers husband, told KTLA-TV their son suffered from a "mental condition" and that police had to be called to their home in the past.

Its a reactionary system and thats basically what I was told, Vince Lombardo said of his son. Until something happens, you cant do anything. Theres not enough help to help these people, especially when they become adults... (Karyn Lombardo) loved him more than anything and tried to help him.

Pictured is a patch sewn onto a Burbank police officer's uniform.

Karyn Lombardo taught in Burbank for 30 years

Karyn Lombardo worked at Bret Harte Elementary School in Burbank for 30 years before her death, John Paramo, superintendent of the Burbank Unified School District, said in a statement emailed to USA TODAY.

Before transferring to Bret Harte Elementary in 1993, Paramo said that Karyn Lombardo began her career in the Burbank Unified School District as a bilingual teacher at Joaquin Miller Elementary in 1990. When employed at Bret Harte Elementary, she taught performing arts chorus, intervention and kindergarten, according to the statement.

"Ms. Lombardo touched the lives of thousands of students, parents, and colleagues, who will be mourning this loss in the days to come," Paramo's statement continued. "Her dedication, warmth and passion for teaching touched many students' and colleagues' lives. Her profound impact and loss on this community will be deeply felt throughout the City of Burbank.

All of Karyn Lombardo's students 'love her'

Vince Lombardo told KTLA-TV that "all (Karyn Lombardo's) students love her."

"Coming through the system here, there were students who became teachers because of her," Vince Lombardo said. "Shes a very magnificent person and I think if you ask anybody, I think shes too kind and that she loves to a fault.

Zoe Bautista, one of Karyn Lombardo's former students, also spoke to KTLA-TV about the Burbank teacher.

She would always tell us that if we were down, just to love ourselves and to talk to our parents about it, Bautista said. She would make us feel like we were the luckiest kids in the world.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Karyn Lombardo's son, 25, arrested in beloved Burbank teacher's death
Iran condemns U.S. pro-Israel pressure campaign against ICC

Xinhua) 09:50, May 10, 2024

TEHRAN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani on Thursday condemned the threats by a group of U.S. lawmakers against the International Criminal Court (ICC) intending to prevent the tribunal from issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials.

He made the remarks in a post on social media platform X while reacting to warnings by pro-Israel U.S. congressmen that any arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials would encounter U.S. retaliation.

Kanaani also slammed recent threats by a number of U.S. Republican senators against the ICC to impose sanctions should the tribunal take any such action.

The spokesman said that through "exerting pressure" on the ICC, these U.S. congressmen sought to grant Israeli officials and military commanders immunity for their "war crimes" against Palestinians, which is a "shameful and worrying" move.

He described the threats as "ugly interferences" that would set a "dangerous precedent" for contradicting the ICC's "objectives and philosophy of prosecuting and punishing war criminals."

Israel's military said on Tuesday that it had started "a precise counterterrorism operation" in Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip and assumed "operational control" over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a vital point for humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.

The development in Rafah is the latest escalation in the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict that has persisted for seven months in Gaza.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Jacob Beltran covers crime, breaking news and general assignments for the Express-News. He can be reached at jbeltran@express-news.net.

A San Antonio native, Jacob began his journalism career in 2010. He's worked for the student-run newspaper for San Antonio College, The Ranger, and for Texas A&M University-San Antonio, The Mesquite.

He enjoys video games, photography and exploring during his free time.
WASHINGTON  President Joe Biden significantly shifted his policy toward Israel this week by threatening to withhold U.S. weapons if the Israeli government moves forward with a full-scale invasion of Rafah in the Gaza Strip, while also pledging ironclad support for the Jewish state in a speech condemning the rise of antisemitism.

But Bidens nuanced position has created different fault lines of division within his own Democratic Party. The president now faces a rash of new criticism from some lawmakers and voters in battleground states where his position on Israel carries the most political risk for his efforts to win re-election.

Its starting to seem as if he is supporting the wrong side, Dovid Jacobowitz, a Democrat from Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, told NBC News. Jacobowitz wouldnt say if hell vote for Biden in November.

Nasir Raza, an undecided voter from Scottsdale, Arizona, who voted for Biden in 2020, said the presidents shift in position on Israel may be too late for a lot of people that I know, but added: For me, I may yet still vote for Joe Biden.

Over the seven months since the war in Gaza began, Bidens staunch backing of Israel has alienated him with some key supporters, including young voters and Arab Americans, and won him accolades from others who appreciated his pro-Israel stance. The shift in his position this week comes at an inflection point in the war. Negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza in exchange for the release of some hostages still held by Hamas are fragile at best, and Israel is poised to enter Rafah despite Bidens repeated objections.

Whether his handling of the conflict affects how voters make up their minds in November is still an open question. A key concern for Bidens re-election effort is that voters who oppose his approach stay home, potentially tipping the scales for former President Donald Trump in crucial battleground states such as Michigan, Arizona and Pennsylvania.

This week, Biden articulated positions on Israel that whipsawed from saying on Tuesday the U.S. would be unwavering in its commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, to a day later vowing to withhold weaponry that could be used in an offensive military operation in Rafah. The president, in an interview with CNN, specifically cited large bombs, some of them 2,000 pounds. He also acknowledged he recently halted a new shipment of those bombs to Israel and admitted for the first time since the war began that those U.S. weapons had killed innocent Palestinians.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs, Biden said Wednesday.

For Ricardo Serna, the president of Young Democrats of Arizona who remains undecided in the 2024 election, Bidens shift this week is not enough.

Its a step in the right direction, Serna said. But there needs to be a much more permanent solution to this if we dont want Donald Trump to be re-elected in November. And I fear that unless that happens, were going to be seeing another Donald Trump presidency.

Trump on Thursday said he wouldnt do what Biden did and questioned why Jewish voters would support Biden. If youre Jewish, and you vote for him, I say shame on you, Trump said in an interview with North Carolinas Spectrum News 1.

John Kirby, a spokesperson for the National Security Council, pushed back on criticism of Bidens stance. The argument that somehow were walking away from Israel or were not willing to help them defeat Hamas just doesnt comport with the facts, Kirby told reporters Thursday.

A senior administration official stressed Thursday that Biden is motivated by our national security interests and by our values, not by politics.

Reactions from two of Bidens allies reflect the spectrum of views on Israel and the war in Gaza among Democrats that he must navigate as he seeks to unify his party ahead of the November election.

Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., a progressive Biden surrogate who has disagreed with his handling of the conflict, praised his threat to withhold weapons to Israel. I do think this step from the president will be well received by many progressives who have been arguing for a course correction, Khanna said.

Yet Sen. John Fetterman, a Democrat from battleground Pennsylvania who is a vociferous supporter of Israel, criticized Biden for signaling hed halt weapons if Israel launches a major invasion of Rafah.

Hard disagree and deeply disappointing, Fetterman said of the presidents policy.

In still another twist in how Bidens changed position has shaken up views of him from within his own party, one of the sharpest critics of his handling of the conflict in Gaza, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., called it an important turning point in this war.

I commend the president for heeding this call to ensure we protect innocent Palestinian lives and refuse to supply weapons to ensure no more civilians in Gaza are killed as a consequence of U.S. bombs, Jayapal said Thursday.

Jill Zipin, the chairwoman and co-founder of a Jewish political action committee in Pennsylvania thats endorsed Biden, Democratic Jewish Outreach, said she agrees with his targeted approach to Israel.

I believe that the Biden administration and the Democratic Party has a deep commitment to Israels safety, and what they are doing here is acting in Israels best interest, said Zipin.

While many progressive Democrats and younger voters have been critical of Bidens Israel policy after the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attack  with some vowing to sit out the November election  others say it ultimately wont affect their vote.

Alex Toren, a 20-year-old student in Grand Rapids, Michigan, said he disagrees with Bidens handling of the war in Gaza and hopes his decision to halt a shipment of weapons to Israel last week is a permanent change. (The White House has said no final decision on whether to send those weapons has been made.)

But the truth is, Trump would be worse, Toren said. There is likely, in my opinion, nothing that could happen between now and November that would make me not vote for the president or not go to the polls in November.

David Jacobson, a Democrat in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, said Bidens shift in position on Israel this week smacks of a political calculation.

I thought that Bidens withholding of military aid to Israel is a serious and appalling misstep, Jacobson said. It seems that Biden is probably reacting to political pressures from the left wing of the Democratic Party with an election looming, and it is seriously unfortunate that he would feel the need to publicly compromise on Israels security in order to feel more secure about his electability.

Still, Jacobson said he plans to vote for Biden in November.
Climate protesters angry about Teslas plans to expand its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory in Germany tried to break into the plant on Friday, according to a statement from local police.

Multiple unauthorized people are trying to enter the ground of the Tesla factory, Brandenburg police said via X Friday. We are in the process of preventing this.

The situation is dynamic, a Brandenburg police spokesperson told CNBC Friday, adding that there have been multiple roadblocks in the area due to the demonstrations.

A Tesla spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Protests against Tesla in Germany (Patrick Pleul / dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images)

Since Monday, a camp has been set up near the Tesla grounds at its Brandenburg plant, with participation increasing since Wednesday and peaking on a German bank holiday Thursday, police said.

Protest gatherings were planned for Friday, one stationary near the Tesla factory grounds and another involving a procession from the camp, the Brandenburg police spokesperson told CNBC.

However, disruptions ensued, including attempts to breach the Tesla premises and sit-in blockades on roads, leading to roadblocks, the spokesperson said.

Protesters also occupied a nearby airfield in the Neuhardenberg municipality, lighting pyrotechnics and blocking access roads, according to the police.

Police intervened, leading to multiple arrests and instances of force. The police operation involved support from neighboring states and national forces, the spokesperson added.

CNN reported on Wednesday that Tesla asked its workers to stay home rather than come into the factory Friday due to concerns over the protests surrounding its Brandenburg plant.

Andre Thierig, a senior manufacturing director at the Tesla factory, confirmed via X on Tuesday that the electric car maker was shuttering production Friday in a one-day planned production shutdown.

Tesla is pursuing a major expansion for its battery and car assembly factory in Brandenburg, Germany, about 32 miles south of Berlin.

Image: Police carry an activist from a blockade (Patrick Pleul / dpa via AP)

Teslas planned expansion includes designs for a rail freight depot and storage facilities that could help it avoid reliance on other logistics providers and avoid production pauses due to parts shortages.

Locals in February voted against authorizing the factory expansion. However, the vote was nonbinding and Tesla and local officials still intend to push ahead.

Climate protesters have expressed concerns about Teslas plans, which entail cutting down approximately 250 acres of forest in a rural community of fewer than 8,000 residents near a nature conservation area.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has previously lashed out at protesters targeting Teslas German Gigafactory, saying on X in March theyre either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or theyre puppets of those who dont have good environmental goals.
Toni. M // Shutterstock

Boeing had the worst start to 2024 when a mid-air blowout happened on Alaska Airlines Flight 1282 while flying at around 16,000 ft. Well, it could be more nightmarish for the American aircraft manufacturer. The latest threat is in the form of a whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, who has been working with the company since 2007, alleging that the Boeing 787 Dreamliner isn't safe.

The statement gained the interest of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which had qualms about the company's manufacturing procedures after the mid-air blowout incident on the 737 Max 9. Now, with Sam Salehpour having testified before a Senate subcommittee on April 17, is Boeing going to be in more trouble? This article from Way.com will take you through Salehpour's revelations on the safety of the Boeing Dreamliner, the subsequent developments, and more on the aircraft.

Sam Salehpour's Whistleblowing

Salehpour, who works as a quality engineer in the company, claimed that the fuselage of some Boeing 787 Dreamliners wasn't properly fastened together. The error could lead the aircraft to tear open while in air after thousands of trips. He further said that many employees used "excessive stress" on vital parts to make it look as if there were no gaps between the metal components.

He said that the company was doing this to make aircraft swiftly and has been doing this for years to meet production goals. However, he alleged that the lifespan of the aircraft could be shorter. Salehpour was responsible for examining defects and developing strategies to avoid issues in the production line.

He also claimed that he addressed the concerns about the aircraft's safety to higher authorities. But he was ignored, and they put him in the 777 program.

Alaska Airlines Incident: The Turning Point

Though reassigned to another program, Salehpour claimed that he reported his concerns. He alleged that a supervisor scared him with the threat of physical violence when he did so. It was when the mid-air blowout happened on an Alaska Airlines Flight in January that he decided to file a complaint with the FAA via his attorney, Debra Katz. He wanted to avoid the catastrophic damage that could happen to these aircraft due to the alleged production issues. The letter sent by Salehpour's lawyers to the FAA also claims that he even found faults in the assembly process of Boeing 777.

FAA's Stand on Boeing Dreamliner

After Salehpour claimed that the fuselage of some Dreamliners weren't properly fastened together, the FAA started investigating these claims. The FAA didn't ground any airplanes due to this incident. As of now, no formal comments have been made on this by the FAA.

Why Did the Boeing 787 Dreamliner Have Problems?

If you think this was the first time that the aircraft came under the scrutiny of the FAA, then it's a big "no."

The FAA grounded all the U.S.-operated aircraft after two lithium-ion batteries malfunctioned. The scary part is that one battery even led to a fire near the tail of a parked airplane in Boston on Jan. 7, 2013. The FAA cleared the airplanes for flying only after approving the revised battery design in April 2013.

Also, the company had to cut down on aircraft production starting from 2019 due to quality control issues. Also, there was a temporary break in aircraft deliveries from January 2021 to August 2022. In August 2022, the FAA authorized the first Boeing 787 Dreamliner for delivery since 2021 after the company made the required inspection and apt improvements to meet certification standards.

What Boeing Said

The company has defended the production process of 787 and 777 airplanes, dismissing Salehpour's claims and allegations. According to the company, they're fully confident about the wide-body airliner and stated that the claims about the 787's structural integrity are incorrect and do not reflect the extensive work it has done to ensure the aircraft's quality and long-term safety.

The company further stated that the issues raised have already been subjected to close inspection by the FAA and do not presently pose any security concerns. Based on the examination and any future inspections, the company is confident that the wide-body airliner will maintain its strength and service life.

What Is a Boeing 787 Dreamliner?

When launched, this wide-body airliner was targeted to consume 20% less fuel than its predecessor, the Boeing 767. Also, it aimed to transport around 200-300 passengers on point-to-point routes of up to 8,500 nautical miles (9,800 mi).

The three variants of this wide-body airliner are as follows:

Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner  Shorter variant

Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner  Longer variant

Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner  Longest variant

Way.com

Technical Specifications

According to Boeing, these are the technical specs of the various variants. All these variants have a length and wingspan of 17m and 60m, respectively, and use the GEnx-1B/Trent 1000 engine.

Way.com

How Many Boeing 787s Are in Operation?

According to Cirium, a reputed aviation analytics source, 154 Boeing 787 aircraft are registered in the U.S., including 22 from Aeromexico and Avianca. With 71, United Airlines operates the maximum number of 787 Dreamliners. Hawaiian and American Airlines operate the rest. Globally, there are 1,078 Boeing 787s in service. With 605, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the most widely used one.

Based on information from Cirium, this table shows the total number of aircraft that each airline uses.

Way.com

Aircraft in Service Globally

According to Boeing, they delivered 13 Dreamliners in the first quarter of 2024.

What Is So Special about the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?

The superior aerodynamics, efficient engines, and mostly composite structure allow it to lower fuel usage by 25% and emit 25% less pollutants than previous models of aircraft. Part of the materials used to construct the aircraft can be recycled once the aircraft ends its service life.

Also, the company claims that the aircraft has higher cabin pressure and higher humidity. So, passengers flying in this will feel they're at an altitude of 6,000 feet, which is 2,000 feet lower than that of a typical flight. These changes will help in reducing headaches, dry eyes, and passenger fatigue.

Is the Boeing 787 Safe?

Though the aircraft have been involved in some accidents, there have been no fatalities or hull losses. Though Salehpour's allegations are serious, the FAA hasn't grounded any aircraft as of now. So, currently, there's no proof that the wide-body airliner isn't safe.

However, in March 2024, a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner flight from Sydney to Auckland, New Zealand, faced a sudden drop, causing injuries to around 50 passengers, with some getting pinned to the ceiling. The company said that the issue was likely due to a cockpit accident.

Way.com

Trust in Boeing Drops

Recent data from Statista shows that the net trust in Boeing has declined considerably. Net trust is the portion of respondents who trust a brand minus those who distrust it. So, according to the data, the net trust among respondents fell by 14 percentage points between Q4 of 2023 and Q1 of 2024 (January 1-February 28).

The biggest dip is among business travelers, with a 26 percentage point difference in the two quarters. We believe that these travelers had more trust in Boeing, and the trust plummeted significantly in accordance with the recent safety issues. When it comes to frequent flyers, the net trust dropped by 17 percentage points.

So, even though the company claims that its aircraft are safe, U.S. travelers seem to have safety concerns.

Dive into More Info

Where is the Boeing 787 built?

The Boeing 787 is being built at a 334,000 sq ft assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina. It's the only plant where the production of this wide-body airliner happens.

How many seats are on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner?

The 787 Dreamliner has around 210-330 seats, depending on the variant and flight range. The Boeing 787-8 has around 210-250 seats, the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner has around 250-290, and the Boeing 787-10 Dreamliner has around 300-330 seats. The total number of seats also varies according to the airline's confirmation preferences.

Is the Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner big?

The Boeing 787-9 aircraft is usually considered wide-body, mid-sized, and long-range.

Is the Boeing 787 the same as the Dreamliner?

Yes, both are the same.

Why did Boeing stop making the 787?

The FAA grounded all 787s in January 2013 until the updated battery design was certified in April 2013. Also, substantial quality control concerns from 2019 onward led to a production slowdown and, from January 2021 to August 2022, a complete halt in deliveries.

How much does a Boeing 787 cost?

The rate varies by the variant. For instance, the 787-8 variant costs around $248.3 million, the 787-9 costs around $292.5 million, and the 787-10 costs nearly $338.4 million.

Is the Boeing 777 or 787 better?

Both are recognized wide-body commercial aircraft; however, there are a few important differences between them. Though the 787 is more technologically advanced and fuel-efficient, the 777 is bigger and has a greater flight range.

This story was produced by Way.com and reviewed and distributed by Stacker Media.
China, Russia and Iran are among the foreign adversaries ramping up their efforts to influence the 2024 election with campaigns being aided by artificial intelligence, the FBI warned Thursday.

Election threats are more diverse and expansive than ever, a senior FBI official said on a call with reporters.

And while each adversary has their own approach with different nuances and prerogatives, sowing discord and undermining democracy is consistent across the board, the official added.

China in particular is expanding their influence efforts by creating fake social media accounts to push narratives and sow divisiveness, mirroring efforts deployed by Russia in prior elections.

The bureau said artificial intelligence tools are an undercurrent of many of the operations.

It doesnt just kind of lower the barrier of entry for people to do work in this space or create fake content, the official said.

It also really increases the ability for our sophisticated nation state actors to scale their operations and really build them out larger than weve seen previously.

The Office of the Director of National Intelligence noted in its annual threat assessment released in February that Chinese government efforts are based on a desire to sideline critics of China and magnify U.S. societal divisions.

Beijings growing efforts to actively exploit perceived U.S. societal divisions using its online personas move it closer to Moscows playbook for influence operations, the report stated.

The bureau has also previously warned of Chinas hacking prowess, noting the U.S. is far outnumbered in the number of personnel dedicated to looking for ways to gain access to different systems, including various forms of infrastructure.

But officials on Thursday largely focused on Russian efforts to access U.S. election-related systems such as state and local networks and voter registration data.

Russia can use their access to those government networks to undermine confidence in the U.S. election integrity and bolster influence operations, the official said.

Other top concerns ahead of the election include the mounting threats made to election workers across the country.

A survey from the Brennan Center for Justice released earlier this month found 38 percent of election officials said they have received threats, while more than half expressed concern for the safety of their colleagues.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
By Matthias Williams

LONDON (Reuters) -Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to close and leading to more children dying of hunger, United Nations aid agencies warned on Friday.

Humanitarian workers have sounded the alarm this week over the closure of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings for aid and people into Gaza as part of Israel's military operation in Rafah, the enclave's southernmost city where around 1 million uprooted people have been sheltering.

The Israeli military said a limited operation in Rafah was meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which governs the besieged Palestinian territory. U.N. agencies warn it could lead to a "slaughter" and put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.

"For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel," said the UNICEF Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young.

"This is already a huge issue for the population and for all humanitarian actors but in a matter of days, if not corrected, the lack of fuel could grind humanitarian operations to a halt," he told a virtual briefing.

More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in the last five days, he added.

The situation in Gaza has reached "even more unprecedented levels of emergency," Georgios Petropoulos, the head of the Gaza sub-office of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in the same briefing.

CLOSED CROSSINGS

The closed crossings had prevented the movement of people including aid workers and medical evacuations, he said, while food shortages were pushing up prices and supplies had already been lost from the destruction and looting of warehouses.

In the next day or so, five health ministry hospitals, five field hospitals and 30 ambulances would stop without more fuel, he said, adding that any kind of meaningful safe water production in Rafah has come to a halt.

Of the 12 aid-supported bakeries in southern Gaza, eight had ceased to operate and the rest would run out of stocks by Monday.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.

Israel's move on Rafah, where it says Hamas fighters and potentially hostages are ensconced among displaced Palestinians, began this week with the evacuation of some civilians followed by limited incursions.

The Biden administration has said it cannot support a major Rafah invasion in the absence of what it would deem a credible plan to safeguard non-combatants. Israel has said victory in the seven-month-old conflict is impossible without taking Rafah.

"At a time when people are being forced to pick up and move again, the lifesaving supplies that sustain and support them have been entirely cut off," Young said.

"Let's be very clear  this will result in children dying. Deaths that can be prevented."

(Reporting by Matthias Williams; Editing by Miranda Murray and Alex Richardson)
Google is facing two monumental antitrust cases that could have massive implications for both Google and the internet writ large. Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images

Google has faced numerous lawsuits over privacy, intellectual property, monopoly tactics, and more.

Google is currently battling two key antitrust cases over its search engine and advertising tactics.

Google also recently settled two class-action lawsuits concerning privacy and antitrust violations.

Google is one of the world's largest and most influential companies, and the most popular search engine by far. So it's no surprise that the search giant's rapidly evolving and boundary-pushing technology would attract litigation over the course of its 25-year history.

Google has been sued in dozens, if not hundreds of high-profile controversies over privacy, intellectual property, discrimination, advertising, and even defamation, and has racked up both wins and losses over the years.

Some of Google's most consequential legal cases have occurred in 2023 and 2024, including two major antitrust cases and several class-action lawsuits. Here's what you need to know about the biggest recent cases to land on Google's docket.

Why did the US government sue Google over antitrust violations?

The US government's battle against Google has resulted in two major antitrust cases that are both still ongoing.

One case culminated in a landmark monopoly trial in the fall of 2023, which is still awaiting a verdict. The dispute centered on whether Google has illegally abused its monopoly over the search engine industry, spending billions of dollars each year to suppress competition. The US government argued that Google's business dealings have blocked innovation in the search business to the detriment of internet users.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified in the antitrust trial in October 2023, and defended instances in which Google pushed companies like Apple and other smartphone makers into revenue-sharing agreements that would make Google the default search engine on phones and computers.

CEO Sundar Pichai was Google's star witness who testified on the company's deals with smartphone makers to make Google the default search engine. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The Google CEO even acknowledged on the stand that company executives knew that becoming the default search engine on smartphones "would lead to increased usage of our products and services."

The second major antitrust case against Google concerns its online advertising strategies, and is set to go to trial in September 2024. The US government has alleged that Google illegally abused its monopoly over the digital advertising market by acquiring its competitors and forcing website publishers to adopt Google's tools, such as Google Ads, thereby suppressing the rise of rival technologies.

Google has denied any wrongdoing in both cases. The search giant argued during its 2023 trial that Google dominates the search business because it's superior to its rivals, not because of its business dealings. Google has similarly denied the claims in the advertising-related monopoly case, saying its acquisitions were legal and actually enable innovative new advertising technologies, and that the federal government's lawsuit could undo years of industry progress.

What happens if Google loses its antitrust cases?

It's unclear who will win the antitrust case on Google's search engine. Judge Amit Mehta will be the one to decide the outcome, rather than a jury, and Mehta vigorously questioned both sides during closing arguments in May 2024.

If Google loses the lawsuit, Mehta is expected to take some sort of action that would boost competition in the search-engine business. Google could face consequences like orders to adjust its business practices, or even a total ban on its contracts to make Google the default search engine.

Both antitrust cases carry potentially massive implications for internet users  Google could face sanctions that alter its operations so dramatically that it loses its ubiquity in the search and advertising industries, paving the way for new companies and technologies to flourish.

Google's antitrust cases will also likely influence the outcomes of other antitrust lawsuits the US government has filed against major tech companies. Currently, Amazon, Apple, and Meta all face similar antitrust lawsuits against their business practices that could threaten their market dominance.

What to know about Google's class-action settlements and who can claim money

Google has been the subject of two major class-action lawsuits that were resolved or nearing resolution in late 2023 and 2024.

One of the most hotly anticipated resolutions was that of a class-action case involving personal data collected from 136 million Google Chrome users. The lawsuit accused Google of tracking the internet activity of users who had switched to Google's "incognito" setting.

As part of a settlement agreement, Google said it would delete the search data collected from those 136 million users, which Google said was merely "old personal technical data that was never associated with an individual and was never used for any form of personalization."

Lawyers initially sought a $5 billion payout for consumers, but anyone expecting to receive a chunk of that money will need to sue Google individually to receive any damages. The settlement agreement for the class-action case did not include any monetary damages to be paid out by Google.

Google settled a class-action antitrust case involving the Google Play Store for $700 million. SOPA Images/Getty Images

Google does, however, have to pay out roughly $700 million as part of a separate class-action case involving the Google Play Store. Attorneys general from five states accused Google of using monopoly tactics to box out competitors to the Google Play Store and limited users' ability to download Android apps from other app stores.

An estimated 102 million consumers were affected between August 16, 2016, and September 30, 2023, and are entitled to compensation of at least $2, the settlement agreement stipulated. Consumers who are eligible for the Google settlement don't need to submit any sort of claim to get that money, however. Consumers will receive automatic payments through PayPal or Venmo.

Google's battle over Europe's "right to be forgotten" laws

Google lost a landmark "right to be forgotten" case in 2014, but won a victory in 2019 when an EU court said the ruling was limited only to the European Union. picture alliance/Getty Images

One of Google's biggest legal battles in the 2010s concerned the European Court of Justice's "right to be forgotten" ruling and whether Google was responsible for personal data that appears in its search results. Google lost its case in 2014, and the EU court ruled that individuals have the right to remove information about themselves from search engine results.

Under the ruling, Google must respond to legitimate requests from individuals to delist webpages from its search results. Larry Page, one of Google's founders and a former CEO, spoke out vehemently against the EU court's "right to be forgotten" ruling at the time, warning that repressive foreign governments could abuse the ruling.

However, in 2019, Google won a "right to be forgotten" victory in a subsequent EU court ruling, which stipulated that Google only has to delist content from search results in Europe, and the "right to be forgotten" does not apply globally.

Recent research has suggested that Google and Microsoft together have received some 150,000 "right to be forgotten" requests to delist search results each year since the EU court's ruling in 2014. The vast majority of the links targeted for delisting were from Facebook, X, and YouTube.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Courtesy Emily's List

Two years ago last week, a draft opinion leaked, revealing that the United States Supreme Court planned to overturn Roe v. Wade. Most of us remember where we were when we heard the news, Vice President Kamala Harris said in an opening statement for the annual We Are EMILY gala hosted by EMILYs List, the political action committee that helps Democratic women in favor of abortion rights get elected.

[I] made a prediction that overturning Roe would be the opening shot in a full-on assault state by state on reproductive freedom, Harris continued, and that is exactly what has happened.

Since then, laws have been passed to criminalize doctors providing abortion care. For women in Texas, high-risk pregnancies have become even more perilous. And the future of birth control and in vitro fertilization hangs in the balance. Former President Donald Trump did this, Harris said in her speech. Donald Trump hand-picked three members of the United States Supreme Court because he intended for them to overturn Roe. And as he intended, they did.

The vice president then made the political personal by bringing up one of her best friends from high school, who she says was molested by her step-father. The idea that someone who survives a crime of violence to their body, a violation of their body, would not have the authority and ability to make a decision about what happens to their body next, thats immoral, Harris said. I know we all agree. One does not have to abandon their faith or deeply-held beliefs to agree that the government should not be telling her what to do with her body.

As the first president or vice president in history to visit a reproductive health clinic, Harris has seen first-hand the devastating impact that denying someone access to essential health care has. To be clear, Donald Trump is the architect of this crisis, Harris said in her We Are EMILY speech. And this is not a fact he even tries to hide. In fact, he brags about it. He has said the collection of abortion bans in the states is working the way its supposed to.

Since the overturn of Roe, Harris has held more than 60 events focused on abortion rights and brought together 250-plus legislators from 28 states. And as the country prepares for the 2024 presidential election, Harris is bringing attention to the possibility of a national abortion banand what that would mean for the future of abortion care: Enough with the gaslighting, because we all know that, if Donald Trump gets the chance, he will sign a national abortion ban. The vice president painted a dystopian Trump second-term, with more bans and less freedom. But we are not going to let that happen, she said. This November, reproductive freedom is on the ballot... Let us not be deterred. Momentum is on our side.

Courtesy Emily's List

The vice presidents remarks were preceded by an opening statement from Amanda Zurawski, who recounted her harrowing near-death experience after being denied an abortion in Texas. In a previous interview with ELLE, Zurawski said that she is focusing on harnessing motivation into action, and that she hopes to shine a light on how harmful abortion bans are. Zurawski also says she wants to change hearts and minds on the topic of abortion, and ultimately change votes.

The theme of the We Are EMILY gala was The Time is Now: Elect Democratic Pro-Choice Women, featuring additional speeches from EMILYs Lists President Jessica Mackler, Sen. Tammy Duckworth, Sen. Tammy Baldwin, and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, among others. Sen. Duckworth, who has been vocal about the importance of IVF access, was presented with the We Are EMILY Award.

You Might Also Like
Maryland's Democratic Senate primary is careening toward a bitter finish as voters decide who to nominate in an unexpectedly competitive race in the deep blue bastion.

Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. David Trone are the two main contenders in a primary that has sparked debates over everything from money in politics to electability to Democrats' commitment to diversity to Senate control. The primary election is next Tuesday, May 14.

Trone, the wealthy founder of Total Wine & More and congressman in his third term, has dumped more than $50 million of his own money into the race, has racked up endorsements from congressional colleagues and has insinuated that Alsobrooks isn't ready for the major leagues of federal politics.

PHOTO: Angela Alsobrooks and Rep. David Trone (Getty Images)

Alsobrooks, a Black woman who oversees one of Maryland's largest counties in the suburbs of the nation's capital (which is also one of the country's richest majority Black counties) has consolidated support from local politicos while casting herself as an above-the-fray, grassroots contender.

Polling shows the candidates locked in a close race. According to 538's polling average in the Maryland Democratic primary as of May 10, Trone is polling at 44.3%, while Alsobrooks follows with 38.7%.

The victor will likely face popular former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan, whose 11th-hour candidacy turned the race from a sleepy affair safely in Democrats' column to a race Democrats have to sweat in one of the country's bluest states -- with nothing short of Senate control at stake.

"The race is very fluid. If we were having this conversation a month ago, I'd say that there's a clear advantage for David Trone. But County Executive Alsobrooks has had a good run here as of late," said longtime Maryland Democratic strategist Len Foxwell, who, after speaking with ABC News for this story, said in a post on X that he liked "both candidates  just Trone "a little better."

"I think it's a toss-up right now," Foxwell said.

Trone burst onto the scene with a war chest that would prove hard for Alsobrooks to match and for virtually any candidate anywhere to replicate, blitzing the airways with advertisements as part of a nine-to-one spending advantage over his opponent. Trone and groups supporting him have spent at least $45 million on advertising in the race, rapidly eclipsing Alsobrooks and groups supporting her, who put in at least $5.6 million on advertising, per nonpartisan ad tracking firm Ad Impact.

On top of that, Trone has the backing of congressional heavy hitters such as House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

MORE: Could Larry Hogan turn a blue Senate seat red in Maryland?

However, he has been tripped up in the past few weeks. A verbal slip up in which he uttered a racial slur instead of the word "bugaboo" sparked a wave of negative headlines and ushered more endorsements to Alsobrooks. Also, a recent ad supporting Trone featured one supporter saying the Senate is not a place for those who need "training wheels" -- a swipe at Alsobrooks that critics said was a punch below the belt.

Trone apologized for the verbal slip, saying he didn't know the word was a racial slur. On Tuesday night, Trone said that the "training wheels" comment is one the supporter stands by, not one he made.

However, the Alsobrooks campaign pointed ABC News to a recent interview with WRC-TV where Trone said "this job is not for someone on training wheels."

ABC News has reached out to the Trone campaign for comment.

"And frankly, [Alsobrooks] doesn't have the experience at the federal level," Trone added -- a mea culpa Alsobrooks' supporters panned as inadequate.

Asked about the Trone's attacks on her experience level in Riverdale Park, Maryland, on Thursday, Alsobrooks told ABC News that the tightening of the race triggered his remarks.

"The truth of the matter is because we are on course to win the race, he's now turned to negative attacks," Alsobrooks said to reporters.

"My opponent has spent $62 million trying to buy this race -- after hearing about my experience, hearing about my record and about my vision for the state," Alsobrooks added.

Alsobrooks is facing the daunting task of matching up against one of Congress' wealthiest members by building support among popular lawmakers such as Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., and members of what Foxwell called the state Democratic machine.

"[Alsobrooks] is the consummate insider [with] deep relationships inside the Annapolis clubhouse," he said. "What we're seeing is the Democratic political class and all these ads from the entire constellation of Democratic leaders in Maryland coming together behind [Alsobrooks]."

Alsobrooks' candidacy has clear historic significance, especially in a state where more than 30% of the population is Black. No Black women currently serve in the Senate, after their already minuscule ranks dwindled from one to zero, after Vice President Kamala Harris departed for the White House.

"Black women deserve to be in all spaces where decisions are being made. It is shameful that in 2024, we do not currently have a Black woman serving in the United States Senate," Dominik Whitehead, NAACP Vice President of Campaigns said in a statement to ABC News.

Taken together, the clashing appeals of the two candidates have set the stage for a race that observers said either Alsobrooks or Trone could win.

Towering over the race is Hogan, who hasn't run in a presidential year or for federal office in more than 30 years, but has a track record of winning over Democratic voters, making electability against the two-term former governor the heartbeat of the race rather than any of the minimal policy disagreements between Alsobrooks and Trone.

PHOTO: Larry Hogan, former governor and U.S. Republican Senate candidate for Maryland, stands outside a polling station at Potomac Community Recreation Center, May 7, 2024, in Potomac, Md. (Graeme Sloan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

"A big part of the process for them is figuring out who has the best chance to win in November because it's likely that the Senate is going to be chipped by a few seats one way or the other," said Michael Hanmer, the director of the University of Maryland's Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement.

At a Tuesday night rally at a movie theater in Silver Spring, Maryland, Trone led a "beat Hogan!" chant and said that his record and experience means he has what it takes to win in the general election, even as he struggled to differentiate himself from Alsobrooks.

"This election, the U.S. Senate is at stake. Our democracy could be at stake," Trone told the crowd.

Interviews with voters revealed a particular attention to party control of the Senate next year and who could give Hogan a tougher challenge.

"I think right now, it's really hard for me to support Republican candidates in general," said Potomac, Maryland, voter Elizabeth Miller, who voiced worries about the "greater composition of our political sphere" and said she voted for Trone in the primary.

"I'm for sure voting Democrat just because having control in the Senate is such a big deal for me," added 18-year-old first-time voter Mackenzie Kinol, who was still deciding who to support when asked by ABC News on Tuesday.

Amid the Democratic infighting, Republicans are chomping at the bit to have Hogan on their general election ballot this November.

MORE: 'No easy way out': Biden faces anger from all sides as he navigates Israel-Hamas war

Sen. Steve Daines R-Mont., head of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said last week that Hogan's favorable polling and posture as a "maverick" who breaks with both former President Donald Trump and President Joe Biden would make him competitive in November.

"He has a maverick kind of brand as a popular two-term Republican governor in a blue state. Marylanders -- they trust him. He's got a proven track record. And Larry Hogan is just a terrific candidate," Daines said at a Christian Science Monitor breakfast in Washington, D.C.

Daines echoed Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, who told Politico last week that he thought Maryland was in play for Republicans this cycle, along with Ohio, Montana and Pennsylvania.

But Nathaniel Rakich, senior elections analyst at 538, threw some cold water on Republican's Maryland pickup prospects.

"In 2020, only one state voted for different parties for president and Senate. In 2016, none did. Perhaps it could happen this year in a swing state, but Maryland voted for Biden by 33 percentage points in 2020, and he will probably win it by a similar margin in 2024. A Senate candidate overperforming his party's presidential candidate by that much is virtually unheard of," Rakich said.

Editors note: This story has been updated to include details about Len Foxwells recent posts to X, Trones recent comments about training wheels to WRC-TV and that Hogan hasnt run in a presidential year or for federal office in more than 30 years.

Maryland primary to set up unexpectedly tight Senate race originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
BEIJING (Reuters) - Erratic rainfall in China's southwest is frustrating a multibillion-dollar push to green an aluminium industry that accounts for almost 60% of global output and, by some estimates, emits more carbon dioxide than Australia.

Lured by official promises of cheap hydropower, China Hongqiao Group and a handful of other coal-reliant smelters several years ago began moving 6.56 million metric tons of capacity - about 15% of China's total - from the northern rust belt to the mountainous and ethnically diverse Yunnan province, known for tea, coffee and wild mushrooms.

The opportunity to cut electricity bills and help the world's top polluter tackle global warming seemed like a safe bet. But as Yunnan's rivers and reservoirs dwindled amid poor rainfall, which some experts attribute to climate change, so did the reliability of electricity.

Reuters interviews with almost two dozen industry figures and analysts, as well as company filings and official documents, found insufficient hydropower has meant that only a little over half of the planned aluminium capacity shift has materialised. Some smelters are slowing or scaling back their already-delayed plans and others are seeking alternative locations.

"The power cuts in the past two years have made it clear that Yunnan can't be sustained as a major producing region," said one Yunnan industry figure who, as with others, spoke on the condition of anonymity due to the issue's sensitivity.

Despite growing demand for low-carbon products and strong industry profits in recent years, eight employees at four Yunnan smelters said they have had to cut production by 10% to 40%.

Muyi Yang, an adjunct fellow at the University of Technology Sydney who researches energy policy, said any supply disruptions would delay China's broader energy transition because aluminium is used in many clean technologies.

In addition to hindering China's climate goals, the hydro crunch has caused volatility in global aluminium prices and imperilled the potential for producers to cash in on demand for "green" metal, according to the analysts and industry sources.

Hongqiao's plan to move almost 4 million tons of production from Shandong province to Yunnan involved building two plants near the Vietnam border, in Wenshan and Honghe prefectures, each with capacity of roughly 2 million tons.

The 17 billion yuan ($2.35 billion) Wenshan factory opened in 2020 and was intended to reach full capacity in August 2022, the director of the industrial park where it is located told state media in 2021. But unstable hydropower has prevented that, two industry figures said.

At Honghe, production was due to begin in March 2023, according to a December 2021 overview of projects published by the Yunnan Department of Industry and Information Technology. Yet, initial production capacity of just 500,000 tons will be ready in the middle of this year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Chen Xinlin, a senior metals and mining consultant at Wood Mackenzie, said Honghe's capacity may not be commissioned this year due to the "hydropower bottleneck".

Hongqiao and its parent, Shandong Weiqiao Pioneering Group, did not respond to Reuters questions about the matter, and the Yunnan government declined to comment.

China's environment and industry ministries, and the top planning agency, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), did not respond to requests for comment.

GREEN DREAMS

Aluminium accounts for about 3% of the world's direct industrial carbon dioxide, according to the International Energy Agency.

For China, that meant cleaning up the sector would be crucial to its goals, formalised in 2020, of ensuring the country's carbon emissions peak by the end of this decade and reach net zero by 2060.

Part of the allure of aluminium made from hydropower or other clean energy is that producers may be able to charge premiums as global manufacturers raise their carbon standards for materials, though only a tiny proportion of green aluminium currently attracts such a premium.

Besides Hongqiao, producers including industry leader Aluminium Corporation of China, known as Chinalco, were drawn to Yunnan by provincial authorities' offer of discounted greener power at 0.25 yuan per kilowatt hour (kWh), less than half of what they were paying in northern China.

Chinalco announced in 2018 that it would move 1.2 million tons to Yunnan, and suppliers including anode producer Sunstone Development followed. Neither responded to requests for comment.

The new smelters brought in staff from China's north, with factory canteens serving braised noodles and shaobing, a flatbread stuffed with meat, to give workers a taste of home.

The plants produce silver-coloured ingots cast from molten aluminium into square-shaped bundles. These are collected by trucks and delivered to factories for processing into goods such as car parts, window frames and beer cans.

A 2022 World Economic Forum report anticipated that 2 to 3 million tons of primary aluminium production would move annually to China's southwest, mostly Yunnan, from 2020 to 2025, tapering to 90,000 to 100,000 tons per year by 2060.

The pace has been much slower.

Officials had been aware that power was a potential constraint.

"Solving power supply issues is the first thing Wenshan needs to work on to develop a green aluminium industry," He Chun, deputy bureau chief of the Wenshan Energy Bureau, told state media in 2021.

But rains proved uncooperative. Yunnan's Water Resources Department said in January that severe drought had persisted for a fifth year, leading to reduced hydropower generation.

On April 16, Wenshan officials warned of extreme drought conditions in Yanshan county, where several aluminium plants are located, including a Hongqiao smelter. Average rainfall so far this year is down 37%, according to the Wenshan government.

Adding to the smelters' dilemma, the NDRC in 2021 banned discounted power rates for aluminium producers.

'MAY THERE BE MORE RAIN'

In interviews with Reuters, 10 of the industry figures at smelters that moved to Yunnan described higher-than-expected electricity rates and periodic orders from the energy provider, China Southern Power Grid, to shut down on short notice.

Electricity rates had risen to 0.47 to 0.50 yuan per kWh, seven of these people said, still below what smelters paid in the north.

China Southern did not respond to a faxed request for comment.

Producers including Chinalco-owned Yunnan Aluminium and Henan Shenhuo Coal & Power, neither of which responded to requests for comment, have cited Yunnan's power-supply problems in financial filings.

In its 2023 annual report, Shenhuo warned that further increases in electricity rates or supply disruptions would create uncertainty for its operations.

Yunnan has sought to free up electricity by curbing transfers to other provinces. The provincial government has also said it will accelerate construction of wind and solar power, as well as more hydropower stations, and bolster its capacity for thermal power, which mainly comes from coal.

But frustrated smelting-industry figures talk of looking elsewhere.

"No one dares to stick with their relocation plan" because of Yunnan's power issues, said a manager at a Yunnan smelter.

Analysts expect more capacity to shift to northwestern China, where there is more access to power, including from coal that can assure stable supply for smelters.

In May 2023, Weiqiao's chairman Zhang Bo announced plans with Shandong Chuangxin Group to build a green aluminium base in Inner Mongolia, powered by wind and solar, according to a statement on the regional government's website.

For now, Yunnan smelter operators are looking to the skies.

"May there be more rain, that's the best thing we can wish for," said one smelter employee.

($1 = 7.2448 Chinese yuan renminbi)

(Reporting by Beijing Newsroom; editing by Tony Munroe and David Crawshaw)
Colin Strother, shown at rear in this 2004 photo, was one of Rep. Henry Cuellar's closest advisers for more than 20 years. He's now pleaded guilty to money laundering and agreed to help the Justice Department prosecute Cuellar and his wife. BOB OWEN/SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Court records that place U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar at the center of an international bribery scheme depict the arrangement as a well-oiled machine.

To judge from prosecutors papers, payoffs from the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank passed seamlessly through layers of middlemen and front companies, then to Cuellars wife and finally to the congressman himself with nary a hitch or a cross word.

As told in the dry legalese of a federal indictment, its a story devoid of emotion, misunderstandings, pratfalls  the everyday details that make a narrative relatable.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But there is an exception to the antiseptic tone. Its buried in a plea agreement signed by Texas political consultant Colin Strother. For more than 20 years, Strother, 50, was one of Cuellars closest advisers. He served as his chief of staff and managed his political campaigns.

U.S. Henry Cuellar, a fixture in South Texas politics for 20 years, has been indicted on federal charges of taking bribes from the government of Azerbaijan and a Mexican bank. Kin Man Hui/Staff photographer

While federal authorities were closing in on the congressman earlier this year, Strother cut a deal, agreeing to plead guilty to his role in the alleged bribery scheme and cooperate with the government. The plea agreement, filed in federal court in Houston and unsealed last week, says Strother was a go-between, accepting payoffs from the Mexican bank and handing the money over to Cuellars wife, Imelda, after taking a cut for himself.

The bribes  $10,000 a month for Imelda, $1,000 for Strother  were allegedly dressed up as payments for consulting services for a company that wanted to test and certify a Mexican-made fuel additive so it could be sold in the U.S. The congressmans wife knew nothing about fuel additives and never provided any services, prosecutors say.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In his plea agreement, Strother admits he knew the entire arrangement was a sham to disguise bribes destined for Henry Cuellar, a Democrat from Laredo. The document says Strother received $261,000 from March 2016 to June 2019 and passed along $236,390 to a front company controlled by Imelda.

Suspicion, then accusation

A touch of drama enters the narrative on page 10 of the agreement. At one point, the congressman messaged Strother: IC asking.

Strother knew what Cuellar was getting at by using his wifes initials, according to the agreement: Co-Conspirator 1 (Henry Cuellar) was inquiring about the status of the payments being made to the spouse, Co-Conspirator 2.

That hint of suspicion soon blossomed into full-blown accusation. The occasion was a dinner in Laredo in October 2018 attended by Henry Cuellar, Strother and others. After the meal, Cuellar and Strother had a brief conversation in the restaurants parking lot, the agreement says.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Cuellar didnt mince words: His wife believed Strother was shorting the couple on the bribe money, the document states.

"Strother and Co-Conspirator 1 discussed the payments to Co-Conspirator 2 and the fact that Co-Conspirator 2 had accused Strother of withholding payments that he owed to Co-Conspirator 2," according to the plea agreement.

Strother was prepared. He pulled out his phone and showed Cuellar a spreadsheet of the payments he had made to Co-Conspirator 2.

That satisfied the congressman, the agreement says: Co-Conspirator 1 assured Strother that there was no problem.

'Not worried about the truth'

Strother is now a problem for the Cuellars, both of whom are charged with bribery, money laundering, wire fraud and acting as an agent of a foreign principal. They are free on bond of $100,000 each after a court appearance in Houston.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Strother has agreed to fully cooperate with the Justice Department, hand over all relevant documents in his possession and testify truthfully when called upon to do so. In return for his "substantial assistance," prosecutors will recommend leniency in sentencing, though theres no guarantee the judge will oblige.

Chris Flood, a lawyer for Cuellar, said his client was not worried about the truth. He suggested Strother was not to be believed.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils his revised 2024-25 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento on Friday. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Faced with a $44.9-billion budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom described a plan to shrink the size of state government and slow his progressive policy agenda by eliminating 10,000 vacant state jobs, pausing an expansion of subsidized childcare and cutting billions in funding for climate change programs.

Newsom's revised $288-billion budget proposal, announced Friday, projected California's deficit to be $7 billion more than the shortfall his administration expected in January. The grim forecast was driven by lower than projected state revenues, continuing a pendulum swing from the fiscal boom of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These are things we worked closely with the Legislature to advance," Newsom said of the cuts. "None of this is the kind of work you enjoy doing, but you've got to do it. We have to be responsible. We have to be accountable."

Newsom's plan to close the deficit relies on $17.3 billion in savings from budget cuts he and lawmakers agreed to in April and using $4.2 billion from the state's rainy day fund and budget reserves for the upcoming fiscal year.

The proposed spending reductions Newsom touched on Friday also reverse and slash an additional $8.2 billion in funding in 2024-25.

Newsoms proposal includes $3.6 billion less for programs related to fighting climate change, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the Finance Department. The plan would also cut $2 billion over two years from a program to expand internet connectivity to underserved homes, businesses and community institutions.

The governor's revised budget proposal, which includes updated revenue projections after the state income tax filing deadline, typically jump-starts negotiations with Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly over a final fiscal plan for the upcoming year. The state Constitution requires lawmakers to approve the state budget by June 15.

An 'incomplete' plan

The governor's budget plan released Friday was incomplete compared to prior years. The administration provided only a 50-page summary of his proposal, compared to the more detailed, 260-page document Newsom released in January.

Newsom's budget news conference was originally scheduled for next Tuesday, the deadline for the governor to share his revised budget with the state Legislature. But Newsom is flying to Rome that day to speak at a climate conference at the Vatican and bumped his presentation up to Friday.

The change left the state Department of Finance, the fiscal arm of his administration, short on time to finalize a full budget summary, and additional documents, Palmer said. More information, his aides said, will be made available when additional documents are made public on Tuesday.

Read more:Public defenders, foster kids, climate: Programs created during California's boom may stall amid deficit

How bad is the budget problem?

Newsom cast California's current financial situation as a return to normal after the federal government provided trillions of dollars in funding to individuals, families, businesses and state governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, payouts that resulted in a historic surplus in California.

But those flush times did not last, and poor revenue forecasts in recent years have also deepened the state's fiscal troubles.

Newsom's estimate of a $100-billion surplus two years ago ended up far too rosy, and revenue in subsequent years also fell short of projections. A decision by the federal government to delay the 2022 federal income tax deadline from April to November due to winter storms complicated California's ability to project revenues last year.

Newsom's plan seeks to solve the budget deficit for the next two budget years, including additional cuts, reductions and delays to solve an estimated $28.4-billion deficit in 2025-26.

State Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) called out the difference between Newsom's deficit estimates and much higher models from the Legislative Analyst's Office.

"He continues to hang on to the unrealistically low deficit with the clear expertise of the LAO stating that the problem is significantly greater than that and that just means that his budget solutions are shooting too low," Niello said. "We'll get to the end of another fiscal year where we're in trouble again, just like this one."

Why does the deficit number keep changing?

In January, the Newsom administration predicted that California would have a $37.9-billion deficit to reckon with in the budget that lawmakers adopt in June.

Newsom and leaders of the Senate and Assembly reached an early agreement in April on $17.3 billion in reductions though most of those changes will not be passed into law until next month. Lawmakers passed a budget trailer bill that lowers unspent funding allocations in 2022-23 and 2023-24 by $1.6 billion last month.

The deficit number Newsom presented Friday subtracts the $17.3 billion in cuts agreed to earlier from the $37.9-billion deficit estimate from January.

Revenues have fallen short of expectations since January, deepening the budget problem by $7 billion.

Newsom is referring to the shortfall as $27.6 billion in 2024-25, but California is making cuts and reductions to solve a total budget deficit of $44.9 billion this year.

Read more:Newsom called it a 'gimmick.' Now hes using the trick to lower Californias massive deficit

How will the governor's cuts affect education?

Under Proposition 98, California has a minimum funding guarantee for schools and community colleges. Newsom is proposing an unusual maneuver to go back and lower the funding requirement for 2022-23 to reflect the lower-than-expected state revenues that came in late last year. The change could ultimately reduce funding for schools by tens of billions of dollars in future years and launch a monumental fight over education funding at the state Capitol.

Early childhood programs face cuts of more than $2 billion in the governors new budget proposal, including a 45% cut for the CalWORKS home visiting program, which provides supportive visits to about 3,000 low-income families following the birth of a baby.

He wants to reduce the Middle Class Scholarship program by $510 million and cut $550 million from a program that helps build and upgrade facilities for children in preschool and transitional kindergarten over the next two budget years.

Newsom called a decision to pause $1.4 billion planned to expand child-care availability over two years "difficult," but a necessary trade-off in order to pay child-care workers higher wages.

The state was finally making progress on childcare and early childhood initiatives which have been so ignored for so many years. To now cut back on that is disastrous for families and for our future, said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now and a former California Assembly member.

What about healthcare?

Among proposed healthcare cuts is the elimination of more than $300 million in state and local public health funding  a move that astounded organizations like the County Health Executives Assn. of California, which pointed to COVID-19 pandemic woes that were worsened by underfunding and questioned if the state was backtracking.

Newsom also proposes eliminating hundreds of millions from programs meant to train and recruit health workers including nurses and social workers  both industries that have faced staffing shortages.

Healthcare providers who serve California's low-income patients insured by Medi-Cal stand to lose extra pay meant to encourage healthcare facilities' participation in the safety net program. The governor's proposal takes more than $6 billion over multiple years meant for provider rate increases from a tax on managed healthcare organizations, known as the MCO tax, and uses it to support the Medi-Cal program in other ways.

Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said she was "deeply disappointed" by Friday's budget plan, saying it will "jeopardize access to not just sexual and reproductive care but quality, affordable health care across the board for the nearly 15 million Californians who rely on Medi-Cal."

Will prisons lose funding?

Newsoms proposal includes savings from the newly announced deactivation of 46 housing units at 13 state prisons, which would save $80.6 million. This comes as Californias prison population has declined by nearly 25% since 2019 and as the state prepares for the closure of its third prison, which Newsom said is now planned to close as early as November, five months ahead of schedule.

The governor said that, while he is interested in further reducing the larger footprint of the prison system, we want to be mindful of labor concerns, community concerns and trends." He also expressed concern about the possibility of unanticipated increases in prison populations . A measure that could appear on the November ballot calls for rolling back some criminal justice reforms that have helped reduce incarceration.

Read more:Newsom has approved three California prison closures but resists pressure to shutter more

Will the plan hurt workers?

The April agreement between lawmakers and the governor included $762 million in savings by pausing hiring for vacant state jobs. Newsom's updated proposal permanently deletes 10,000 open positions, which unions viewed as a potentially better option than furloughs or delaying planned salary increases to save money.

Details of a costly plan to hike pay for healthcare workers to at least $25 per hour are still to come, following months of negotiations between Newsom, unions and hospital leaders.

Newsom signed a bill last year that imposed a new industry minimum wage for California healthcare workers, but has voiced concerns about how fast the state can move on wages due to the deficit. His department estimated that the wage hikes could cost the state $2 billion in its first year of implementation  a figure that SEIU California, the union backing the measure, rushed to refute, urging hospitals to pay a bigger share of the costs.

Newsom was tight lipped on the details on Friday but said a deal is near.

This budget will not be signed without that deal, Newsom said Friday.

The budget proposal shared Friday does not include funding for a healthcare minimum wage increase, Palmer said.

Read more:As deficit estimate hits $68 billion, Newsom seeks 'major changes' to healthcare wage law

What else could be coming?

Negotiations are under way in the Legislature to place as many as three bonds on the November ballot that would ask voters to approve borrowing money to pay for low-income housing, school construction projects and climate-related infrastructure for adapting to floods, fires and droughts. Newsom declined to answer a question about how many of those he would like to go on the ballot.

Newsom said the close-call he experienced in March when his Proposition 1 bond for mental health facilities passed by barely more than 50% has "sobered" conversations about how much voters are willing to support borrowing measures.

"The public wants to see results. They're not interested in inputs, they're not interested to talk about how much money we're spending," he said. "They deserve results and they demand results. And so when we're out there promoting these bonds, we need to be mindful of that."

Times Sacramento bureau chief Laurel Rosenhall and staff writer Jenny Gold contributed to this report.

Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox three times per week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
After years of China being Germanys main trading partner, the United States appears to be quietly taking that top spot as the year progresses.

Combined exports and imports between Germany and the U.S. totaled 63 billion euros ($68 billion) between January and March 2024. Meanwhile, trade between Germany and China came to just below 60 billion euros, according to CNBC calculations. Reuters first reported the change on Thursday.

Several factors played a role in the change, Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro research at ING Research, told CNBC.This shift is the result of several factors: strong growth in the U.S. has boosted demand for German products. [] At the same time, decoupling from China, weaker domestic demand in China and China being able to produce goods it previously imported from Germany (mainly cars) reduced German exports to China, he said.

China has been Germanys biggest trading partner for years, but the gap between China and the U.S. narrowed in recent years. The U.S. has also long been a bigger market for German exports than China, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, told CNBC.

While the U.S. share of German exports has been growing in recent years, Chinas has been decreasing, he noted. The Chinese economy is stuttering and German companies are facing stiffer competition from subsidized Chinese firms, Schmieding said.

The key difference is that now the U.S. is also becoming more important when it comes to imports, he pointed out.

Germany has been pursuing a new China strategy, urging companies to de-risk from China last year. China is to remain a partner for Germany, the countrys government has stressed, and there should not be a de-coupling  but systemic rivalry has increasingly characterized the relationship between the two.

Tensions have also increased between the European Union and China, with the two launching investigations into each others trade practices and threatening to slap tariffs on imports.

Last month, a survey by German economic institute Ifo found that the number of companies that say they are dependent on China fell from 46% in February 2022 to 37% in February 2024. This was linked to fewer companies relying on inputs from Chinese manufacturers, the report said.

The fact that the U.S. has become Germanys largest trading partner indeed illustrates changing trade patterns and the gradual decoupling from China, Brzeski said.
Russian troops launched an armored ground attack on Ukraine's northeast Friday, in what Kyiv said was a major new offensive it had been expecting for months.

Ukraines defense ministry said it was rushing reserve units to the Kharkiv border region after a Russian effort to break through its defense lines backed by armored vehicles and artillery.

The ministry said in a statement the dawn attacks had been repulsed, but that battles of varying intensity continued.

The defense forces of Ukraine continue to hold back the enemys offensive, it said.

Russia has begun a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this direction, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during a planned news conference in Kyiv shortly after the ministry's statement. Ukraine has met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery.

Ukraine's command knew about this, Zelenskyy said, and was prepared to meet the enemy with fire. The Russian army could send more forces in this direction, he said, adding that a fierce battle was ongoing.

Ukrainian officials have been warning that the Kremlin was massing thousands of troops for a major new offensive this summer. Russian President Vladimir Putin has made clear his desire to carve out a buffer zone pushing Ukrainian forces back from their northern border, but until now his military's push across the front lines had been largely focused in the south and the eastern Donbas region.

It was not immediately clear whether the new Russian attack was an attempt to draw away Ukrainian forces  outgunned and outmanned despite new promises of Western support, or if it represented a major effort to seize territory around Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv.

Ukraine's defense ministry said Russia had carried out strikes using guided aerial bombs before attempting to breach defenses in the direction of Vovchansk, a town on the border with Russia just 35 miles northeast of Kharkiv.

Regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov also said Friday that Russian forces had intensified their shelling in the northern direction, especially around Vovchansk.

Shelling with guided aerial bombs and artillery went on throughout the night, Syniehubov said, and there were unsuccessful attempts by Russian reconnaissance groups to break through the border.

The Armed Forces of Ukraine confidently hold their positions: not a single meter has been lost, Syniehubov said in a post on Telegram. The enemy group does not pose a threat to Kharkiv, its forces are sufficient only for provocations in the northern direction.

Syniehubov also called for residents in the north of the region, especially those near Vovchansk, to heed evacuation calls.

Aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile in Kharkiv (Anadolu via Getty Images)

Military analysts had been expecting a new Russian push in the region as Kyiv waits for new U.S. military aid to arrive after months of severe ammunition shortages.

Moscow has used this vulnerability to press on, claiming to have taken multiple villages in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks. However, increased activity in the Kharkiv region could mark a new focus for Russian troops.

The Russian Ministry of Defense said Friday its forces claimed two settlements to the southeast of Kharkiv this week. It did not immediately release any statements about the alleged attempt early this morning at the breakthrough near Vovchansk.

Russia's influential military bloggers and war reporters were cautious early Friday, suggesting the reports could be the beginning of a long and arduous effort for Russian troops with no quick victories.

And Western military analysts were similarly cautious.

We need to be very careful about using words like breakthrough. As of now these seem more like probing attacks than a major offensive. Of course, its early days, so this can change, Phillips OBrien, a professor of strategic studies at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, told NBC News.

The regional capital, Kharkiv, has been badly shelled for weeks, in what some military observers saw as a possible preparation for a large-scale attack.

Putin has vowed to carve out a sanitary zone around the broader Kharkiv region to stop Ukrainian attacks from reaching Russias own border regions.
Amelia Showalter was debating whether asking a stranger to join her on a ghost tour was a mad idea.

She was sitting in a crowded bar in Edinburghs Old Town, the last dregs of a glass of Scottish whisky in front of her.

Also in front of her: Lucas Demaria. An Argentinian DJ shed just met. He was a fellow Edinburgh tourist and a self-confessed big nerd. And he was someone Amelia was very much liking talking with

Amelia swallowed the last of her whisky, and in turn swallowed her reservations. She wanted to carry on her conversation with Lucas. And she was in a city shed never visited before. If he said no, it didnt matter. What did she have to lose?

Im heading on this ghost tour soon, Amelia said. Do you want to come? Its supposed to be spooky.

Lucas raised his eyebrow.

Not that I actually believe in ghosts, Amelia added quickly.

Sure, said Lucas, laughing. Why not.

The next thing they knew, Amelia and Lucas were walking, shoulder to shoulder, down Edinburghs cobbled streets. Dusk was falling and the city, with its stone spired buildings and hills and crags in the distance, had a dreamy atmosphere.

The ghost tour focused on the citys bloody history, with the guide recounting the chilling tale of grave robbers Burke and Hare, stories of plague and taking the group into Edinburghs eerie Blair Street underground vaults, a series of abandoned chambers beneath the citys South Bridge.

Youd think it wouldnt be very romantic, Amelia tells CNN Travel today. But it was, because youre kind of pretending to be scared.

Amelia and Lucas stood closer and closer as the tour progressed. Their hands brushed against each other, but didnt quite touch.

And then, tour over, the two ducked into a bar. They sat together, drinking and chatting into the night.

And at some point I was like, We should make out, says Amelia.

And I was like, Yes, says Lucas, laughing.

I feel like at that point we were both like, Come on, were going to kiss, says Amelia.

It was going that way for sure, says Lucas.

One day in Edinburgh

Amelia and Lucas embarked on an Edinburgh ghost tour together, around the city's atmospheric Old Town. Pictured here: the city's gothic St Giles' Cathedral on the Royal Mile, photographed in the fog. - StephenBridger/iStockphoto/Getty Images

Amelia and Lucas went on the spontaneous ghost tour on June 4, 2018, which just so happened to be Amelias 35th birthday.

Back then, Amelia lived and worked in Washington D.C., running a political data consultancy. Shed previously worked on President Barack Obamas campaign in 2012.

From time to time, Amelias work led to interesting travel opportunities  and thats how she ended up visiting the UK in June 2018. She got invited to speak at a conference in London, and decided to tack on some extra days exploring the UK.

I was like, Well, if Im going to be sort of traveling on my own, when I turn 35, I should do something fun  I should go celebrate somehow, says Amelia.

Amelia decided to attend a Game of Thrones convention in Manchester in the north of England (I love sci-fi, fantasy, all that stuff, she says). Then she headed up to Scotland to squeeze in a day of solo travel in Edinburgh.

I just had the one day there, recalls Amelia. So I went to the National Museum of Scotland. I ate some haggis. And then I wanted to have some Scotch.

Amelia figured it would be fitting to sample a 35-year-old Scottish whisky on the day of her 35th birthday. She Googled Edinburghs best whisky bars and the internet suggested Edinburgh institution Bow Bar, situated on the citys colorful, winding Victoria Street. Amelia headed in that direction, pushed open the blue door and grabbed a seat at the bar.

Shed just started sipping her drink when she spotted Lucas. He caught her eye because he was  unlike almost everyone else inside Bow Bar drinking a beer.

I just thought it was so strange that this person was drinking a beer in a whisky bar, says Amelia. I really wanted to know, What beer is so good that youre doing that instead of drinking some whisky?

Without really thinking twice, Amelia turned to the stranger and asked the question.

Connecting over whisky

In June 2018, Lucas Demaria was 36 and starting to give up on trying to find the one, as he puts it.

Disillusioned with romance, Lucas decided to focus on exploring the world.

I started traveling late in my life, Lucas tells CNN Travel. And it just blew my mind.

He arrived in Edinburgh for the first time on the morning of June 4, 2018. Hed heard the city was scenic, but he couldnt quite believe how spectacular it really was.

I made it there and was like, Oh my God, this is a beautiful city, recalls Lucas. I had in my mind eating haggis, so I dropped the bag in the hostel, started walking, ate haggis, and then I told myself, Okay, I need to drink some scotch But Im very into beer. And I know really nothing about scotch.

Lucas stumbled across the Bow Bar while wandering around on foot. It looked like the place to go to satisfy his whisky quest. But once inside, the range of options was pretty intimidating. Lucas stared at the bottles, mystified. In the end he ordered a beer to enjoy while he mulled over the whisky options.

When Amelia struck up conversation, questioning his drink choice, Lucas told her a truncated version of this explanation. Hed actually been debating how to strike up conversation with Amelia before she got in there first  hed noticed her almost right away: Sitting at the end of the bar, a beautiful lady, as he recalls it.

Drink orders explained, the conversation moved on. Lucas was wearing a Star Wars T-shirt, and Amelia commented on it, saying she was also a fan.

I showed her my Star Wars tattoos, says Lucas.

At the time, Amelia was into cosplay  recreating and wearing the costumes of fictional characters. So after shed admired the tattoos, she got out her phone, and showed Lucas some photos of her hand-sewn Star Wars costumes.

It was a nerd meeting, says Lucas, laughing.

From there, the two talked a bit about their impressions of the UK, realizing along the way that they shared the same favorite British band: The Beatles.

The conversation flowed in a way that surprised them both  neither Lucas or Amelia usually spoke to strangers in bars.

Its not in my nature, says Lucas. But I would do that while traveling.

Yeah, I would never just go start talking to a random person in a bar in D.C., which is where I lived at the time, agrees Amelia. But when I travel, Im just a much more open-minded person.

It was this outlook that prompted Amelia to invite Lucas to join her on the ghost tour  and prompted Lucas to say yes.

After the evening of whisky drinking, ghost stories and growing closer, Amelia and Lucas had to say their goodbyes. Amelia was heading down to London for her conference, while Lucas still had a few more days exploring Edinburgh. The two exchanged contact details, and started communicating via messaging app WhatsApp.

First it was just text, for a couple of weeks, with some photos, recalls Amelia.

And then, one day when she was back home in Washington D.C., Amelia saw a voice recording from Lucas pop up on her phone.

Voice notes are pretty commonplace in the US now, but in 2018, Amelia had never come across the concept. In contrast, Lucas regularly sent voice notes to his friends in Argentina.

Amelia clicked play, and Lucas voice echoed around her bedroom. Her heart started racing.

To hear his voice and everything, I was just so excited, she recalls. And it made me realize, Oh, I really like this guy. Because when I was hearing his voice again, it was just so wonderful.

Before long, Amelia and Lucas were video calling regularly.

Wed be talking for an hour, a couple of hours, recalls Amelia.

Several times a week, says Lucas.

Statistics of love

Amelia is a data scientist and she found herself thinking through her burgeoning relationship with Lucas through a data-driven lens. - Amelia Showalter

Amelias a data scientist by trade, and even while caught up in the heady emotions of falling for Lucas, she tried to think things through logically.

When we met, I started making a little spreadsheet of how certain I felt that he was the love of my life, recalls Amelia.

I wasnt being overly romantic  the first entry was 10%  a 10% chance Lucas was the love of my life. Which is actually really high if you think about it, just because what are the odds that any person is the love of your life?

As she spent more and more time WhatsApping Lucas, Amelia added more data to the spreadsheet.

It went up to 20%, she says. I kept plotting it out.

But Amelia knew the only way of securing a higher score would be to see Lucas again. The prospect had been raised on their video calls  but they had to figure out the logistics.

Lucas DJ job was always busier during his Argentinian summer months, starting November through to January. If he was going to embark on another vacation, it needed to be before then.

Amelia considered visiting Lucas, and Lucas debated visiting Amelia, but ultimately the two decided meeting in a third country was the best plan.

So in October of 2018, we scheduled a 10-day trip to Peru together, recalls Amelia. Our second date.

On their respective flights to Peru, Amelia and Lucas played back their months of video conversations in their head. They were both excited, but also apprehensive.

I think my biggest fear, going to Peru, was, What if I get there, and all of a sudden, it just feels wrong? Like Ive built this whole thing up in my head, recalls Amelia. Because you can kind of do that with long distance.

But as soon as Amelia saw Lucas, her fears dissolved.

Immediately, I was like, Oh, no, this is great, Amelia says. Within the first two days, when we were walking around Lima, it was like, This feels really serious. And it felt good.

In between hiking the Inca Trail, marveling at Machu Picchu and eating mountains of delicious Peruvian food, Amelia and Lucas started talking about marriage.

By the end of the trip, we were not exactly engaged. But we were sort of engaged to be engaged, says Amelia.

She updated her spreadsheet: the percentage was steadily climbing.

Lucas and Amelia reunited in Peru for their "second date." Here they are at Machu Picchu. - Amelia Showalter

The idea of marrying someone youd only met twice seemed bizarre, but both Amelia and Lucas felt calm and excited when they considered their future together  with just a dash of surprise at the whole thing. After all, their lives were taking a direction neither of them had anticipated  it was a happy shift, but a shift all the same.

I never thought about getting married either until I met her, basically, says Lucas.

Amelia echoes this.

I had really gotten fine with the idea of being single, she says. I was like, Well, maybe Im just going to be one of those people that doesnt meet anybody. And thats okay. Im just going to have a life on my own.

The future suddenly looked very different for both of them.

In February 2019, Lucas came to D.C. to visit Amelia. He met her parents, friends and loved ones. Not long after, Amelia visited Lucas in Argentina.

It was during that trip that the couple officially got engaged. They picked out the ring together, making official something both of them knew was on the cards from pretty much day one.

Explaining this feeling to loved ones was sometimes a little strange, says Amelia. She recalls saying: I met this guy in Scotland, but hes from Argentina. And I think we might get married and fielding disbelieving responses, and some concerns.

It was just definitely a strange thing to explain to people, Amelia reflects today. But I think also, its such a different thing when youre in your 30s  because you know yourself better. I think it would be ill advised to do that when youre 20, because you dont really know yourself and its easy to get kind of caught up. But I think after 15, 20 years of dating, you know yourself  and you have had enough other relationships to know what doesnt work.

Getting married

Lucas moved to the US to be with Amelia. Here's the couple in Seattle, Washington. - Amelia Showalter

Amelia and Lucas were married at a small courthouse ceremony in Washington D.C. in the summer of 2019. Then, four months later, the couple threw a big D.C. celebration for family and friends.

As a DJ, Lucas had worked hundreds of weddings. Hed seen stuff he liked, stuff he didnt like  and all in all, knew what added up to a great evening. Amelia was on the same page. The couple wanted the evening to feel like, a night at the bar with all your friends, as Amelia puts it.

Amelia and Lucas rented a cafe-bar called Emissary in D.C. for the evening.

We had endless appetizers, recalls Amelia. So there wasnt a sit down dinner. It was just food whenever you want, open bar, with all the usual stuff thats on the menu, and espresso when you want because it was also a cafe.

Lucas mixed the music in advance, while Amelia made her own wedding dress using the sewing skills shed perfected from her years of cosplay.

And when she was planning her speech and considering what to say, Amelia dug out the spreadsheets shed compiled when she first met Lucas.

I printed signs with the graphs I made, she says. Everyone thought it was very funny.

Meanwhile Lucas best friend from Argentina made a speech in which he recounted the moment Lucas first told him hed met Amelia  and how hed known she was someone special based on the excited, heartfelt tone of Lucas voice.

The wedding also nodded to Amelia and Lucas first conversation in Bow Bar about their shared love of Star Wars. Midway through their first dance  to The Beatles In My Life  the couple interrupted proceedings to have a mini lightsaber battle.

Secretly, we had hidden some lightsabers with a couple of our friends, explains Amelia, laughing. So halfway through the dance. We did a little lightsaber action, little tiny dance fight, and then back to dancing.

You wouldnt think that lightsabers would work with the Beatles in my life. When I say it out loud, it sounds like a really weird combination, but it was really fun.

A month or so later, Lucas and Amelia relocated from D.C. to Seattle, Washington, where Amelia had grown up and where her parents still lived.

She was ready to leave the US capital, and figured if she and Lucas might have a kid, itd be nice to be closer to family.

As for Lucas, serendipitously, Seattle happened to be a perfect fit. He loved grunge music (I was a kid in the 90s, he shrugs), IPA beers and black coffee. He was instantly so happy there.

Life in Seattle

Lucas and Amelia now have a young son, Jude. Here's the family photographed last fall. - Amelia Showalter

Cut to today and Lucas and Amelia still live in Seattle. Lucas set up his own successful Seattle-based DJ business, while Amelias still working in political data analysis. The couple are also kept busy by their three-year-old son Jude.

Hes named  of course  for The Beatles song, Hey Jude. The name seemed appropriate, given Lucas and Amelia both love The Beatles and talked about the band that first night in Edinburgh.

Its so funny because those things  the fact that we both love Star Wars and The Beatles  it mattered a lot at the beginning because it was like, Oh, we have these things in common, reflects Amelia. And now I dont think about them so much, because we just have a whole life together.

I think shared values are, in the end, way more important than a shared taste for movies, agrees Lucas.

Its their similar approach to life, Lucas suggests, thats led him and Amelia to the happiness they continue to enjoy today.

Plus, while they still enjoy watching the same TV and movies, Amelia and Lucas tastes do occasionally diverge. Amelia loves a Broadway musical, for example, which isnt Lucas vibe. Meanwhile Amelias never quite got her head around Lucas passion for heavy metal.

The pandemic, and then the birth of Jude, put a pause on Lucas and Amelias desire to travel the world together post-wedding. But in 2023, the couple embarked on a long-awaited amazing Honeymoon to Japan, leaving Jude in the care of his grandparents.

Also on the travel agenda is one day returning to Edinburgh, this time with Jude in tow. Amelia and Lucas want to show their son where they met, and retrace the steps of their first evening together.

Were going to take Jude to the bar, says Lucas.

Put him on the bar, adds Amelia, laughing. And say, This is your fault.

Free drinks for us, jokes Lucas.

In reality, theyll probably hold off on returning to Edinburgh until Judes old enough to enjoy the trip in his own right.

Maybe on our 10 year anniversary, or something, says Amelia. Theres so much of Scotland Ive never seen, so we definitely want to go back there someday.

Lucas and Amelia are so grateful to have found each other so unexpectedly. - Amelia Showalter

Something Lucas and Amelia still marvel at is the idea that theyre so compatible, despite the fact they grew up thousands of miles from each other  and only happened to be in the same bar, in the same city, in the same country by happenstance.

Its so weird, hes just a random guy in a bar, says Amelia.

From a different country, adds Lucas.

Neither are who the other envisaged when they imagined a prospective life partner.

Lucas  who recalls breaking up with an ex who lived 15 minutes away from him because he felt like they were from different worlds  finds it incongruous yet incredible that he ended up marrying someone he met on vacation.

As for Amelia, she always figured shed end up with a fellow Ivy League graduate, who also worked in the D.C. politics world.

It wasnt like, Oh I must be with that kind of person, she says. But you just get an idea of, This is probably who I will end up with. I never would have assumed it would be a DJ from Argentina.

All this suggests, says Amelia and Lucas, that compatibility has little to do with shared backgrounds. It goes back to that shared values thing and being on the same wavelength, they say  and the idea of being open, of willingly embarking on adventures.

I mean, it doesnt mean youre going to absolutely find the love of your life from traveling, says Lucas.

You could find the love of one night, and that can be fun too, says Amelia.

Amelia and Lucas are also grateful that their relationship continues to develop as they grow together.

We were in love, says Lucas of their 2018 selves. But we didnt know each other 100% as we do know.

I always felt certain about you, says Amelia to Lucas. But Im more in love with you all the time. Its wonderful.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Former US president Donald Trump walks out to speak to the press during his trial for allegedly covering up a hush money payment linked to an extramarital affair, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York on April 30, 2024. Photo by JUSTIN LANE/POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Judge Juan Merchan told prosecutors to ask Donald Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen to stop commenting publicly on Trump or the former president's criminal hush money trial on Friday afternoon. Trump's lawyers argued that it was unfair to Trump that he is under a gag order not to talk about the participation of potential witnesses such as Cohen, but Cohen is free to talk about him.

Earlier in the day, Merchan ruled in favor of the defense team when he barred the prosecution from showing jurors a video of Trump boasting in 1999 about his knowledge about campaign finance laws. Prosecutors wanted to use the video to demonstrate that Trump knew Cohen's hush money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels was an illegal contribution to his 2016 campaign, but Merchan agreed with Trump's lawyer that the video was too old.

On Friday, jurors were shown a series of 2016 text messages between Daniels' former manager, Gina Rodriguez, and ex-editor of the National Enquirer, Dylan Howard. The messages included Rodriguez telling Howard that Daniels was Trump's mistress and Howard responding that he bet she was.

Keep up with USA TODAY's live updates from inside and outside the Manhattan courtroom:

Trump: lack of gag order on Michael Cohen a disgrace

Former President Donald Trump complained after leaving the courtroom for the week that Judge Juan Merchan hadnt put a gag order on his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, who is expected to be a key witness next week.

Cohen has been harshly critical of Trump since being imprisoned for lying on his behalf and for paying $130,000 to porn actress Stormy Daniels to remain quiet before the 2016 election. She testified about allegedly having sex with Trump while he was married in 2006.

Trump has bristled about Cohen and Daniels insulting him through social media while he was unable to respond. Trumps lawyer, Todd Blanche, asked Merchan to gag Cohen.

There is no gag order to Michael Cohen, Trump said. Everybody can say whatever they want, they can say whatever they want, but Im not allowed to say anything about anybody. Its a disgrace.

 Bart Jansen

Michael Cohen to be asked to stop talking about Trump case

Just before the early end of proceedings today, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to issue a gag order against former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who is expected to testify next week. Blanche argued Merchan has the ability to do that for witnesses as well as for a criminal defendant.

Blanche said the order should instruct Cohen not to talk about Trump or the case until the case is over. He argued it's unfair that Cohen can attack Trump and Trump, because of the gag order he is under, isn't allowed to respond.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said his team has repeatedly told all witnesses, not just Cohen, to refrain from making public statements. Because they aren't under a gag order, the prosecution has "no remedy" if the witnesses keep talking anyway, Steinglass said. "We have already asked. We have no power to order," Steinglass added.

"I would direct the People to communicate to Mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about this case" or about Mr. Trump, Merchan told the prosecution team. He said to tell Cohen that message "comes from the bench" and that the prosecution is "communicating that on behalf of the bench."

 Aysha Bagchi

Judge wants prosecutors to try to call Allen Weisselberg to testify

Prosecutor Christopher Conroy said the prosecution is willing  if the defense agreed to it  to simply tell jurors former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg is in jail for perjury. That would be "one way to solve the problem," Conroy added.

Judge Juan Merchan smirked at that. The defense didn't indicate it would agree.

Merchan didn't issue a ruling on whether prosecutors may introduce the agreement involving Weisselberg into evidence. But he said it would be helpful to his decision and "a factor" if he could see that some efforts were made to compel Weisselberg to testify.

Merchan worried that there was a desire to "jump the gun" by explaining why Weisselberg is not at the trial without trying to get him here. He suggested prosecutors could put Weisselberg on the stand outside of the jury's presence to establish whether his testimony is or isn't available.

"Let me think about it," Merchan also said.

 Aysha Bagchi

Prosecution and Trump team fight over Weisselberg evidence

The prosecution and defense have been arguing over whether the judge should allow jurors to learn about an agreement involving Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg is currently serving a five-month jail term for committing perjury in Trump's New York civil fraud case.

The agreement wasn't shown to the audience in the courtroom, but prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the agreement seems to put Weisselberg at risk of losing $750,000 in severance pay if he speaks to the prosecution.

Prosecutors want to introduce the agreement to explain why Weisselberg isn't testifying in this trial.

Trump lawyer Emil Bove argued the agreement isn't relevant and creates undue prejudice for Trump. He said if either the prosecution or the defense called Weisselberg as a witness, Weisselberg "would likely invoke." That may have been a reference to invoking the constitutional right against self-incrimination.

 Aysha Bagchi

When will Trump trial end?

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said the prosecution expects to call potentially two witnesses, and that it's "entirely possible" the prosecution will rest its case by the end of next week.

Merchan has already announced there won't be proceedings on Friday, May 17, to allow Trump to attend his youngest son Barron Trump's high school graduation.

It's the defense's choice whether to put on its own defense once the prosecution rests. There will still be closing arguments in the case and jury deliberations before a verdict.

Before the trial started, a court media advisory estimated the trial would last between six and eight weeks.

 Aysha Bagchi

Judge invites lawyers to make jury instruction requests

Jurors have been dismissed for the day, but Judge Juan Merchan is continuing to discuss issues with the jurors. Merchan said he will hold a conference with the lawyers later to go over the instructions he will ultimately give to the jurors before they begin their deliberations. But Merchan invited the lawyers to start bringing to his attention any requests for special instructions.

 Aysha Bagchi

Jarmel-Schneider's testimony ends

Paralegal Jarmel-Schneider's testimony has concluded. Trump lawyer Emil Bove's cross-examination went into some records being excluded in the prosecution's presentation of evidence to jurors.

 Aysha Bagchi

Jurors and audience laugh at paralegal enjoying 'tedious work'

Trump lawyer Emil Bove has begun cross-examining Jarmel-Schneider. He asked the paralegal if his preparation of summary documents for jurors was "tedious work"? Jarmel-Schneider said it "could be," but "honestly, I kind of enjoyed it." Many people chuckled or laughed in the courtroom, including several jurors.

 Aysha Bagchi

Chart shows invoices, vouchers, and checks for each count in Trump indictment

Jarmel-Schneider testified about a chart that has been shown to show jurors. It contains the invoices, vouchers, and checks that the prosecution says are linked to each count in the 34-count indictment against Trump.

There are 11 invoices associated with the 34 counts as well as one voucher for every month in 2017, Jarmel-Schneider. There are also checks associated with 11 of the counts in the indictment, he said.

 Aysha Bagchi

Prosecution providing summaries of phone calls to jurors

Jarmel-Schneider described summaries that have been prepared for jurors of calls between many people associated with this case, as well as calls involving the Trump Organization. Here's the full list of those involved in the calls:

Michael Cohen

Keith Davidson

Hope Hicks

Dylan Howard

David Pecker

Keith Schiller

Allen Weisselberg

Gina Rodriguez

Trump Organization

Donald Trump

 Aysha Bagchi

Witness Jaden Jarmel-Schneider prepared documents on phone calls

The prosecution has called Jaden Jarmel-Schneider, another paralegal in its office. Jarmel-Schneider said he prepared documents designed to give the jury a sense of how the prosecution figured out which phone numbers are associated with which people when it comes to call records in the case.

 Aysha Bagchi

Jurors see texts between Stormy Daniels' manager and National Enquirer editor

Jurors were shown a series of 2016 text messages between Stormy Daniels' former manager, Gina Rodriguez, and ex-editor of the National Enquirer, Dylan Howard.

The messages included Rodriguez telling Howard that Stormy Daniels was Trump's mistress and Howard responding that he bet she was.

Rodriguez also said to Howard that Daniels didn't want to go on the record with her story  meaning put her name behind the story  but would tell the story through a separate source.

Rodriguez said Daniels had sex with Trump and wanted $100,000. Rodriguez said Trump had promised Daniels a condo and a spot on The Apprentice, but never did anything for her. She said Daniels met Trump at a celebrity golf tournament.

 Aysha Bagchi

Jurors see Trump tweets on 'fine person' Michael Cohen

Longstreet testified about a series of tweets Trump posted on April 21, 2018 about his former lawyer, Michael Cohen. Trump said The New York Times and its reporter, Maggie Haberman, were "going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will 'flip.'"Trump described Cohen as "a fine person with a wonderful family," and someone "who I have always liked & respected.

"Most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble even if ... it means lying or making up stories. Sorry I don't see Michael doing that despite the horrible Witch Hunt and the dishonest media!" Trump also posted.

 Aysha Bagchi

Georgia Longstreet, Manhattan DA paralegal, testifying

Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal in Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office, has taken the stand for the second time in this trial. She testified earlier about several Trump social media posts.

 Aysha Bagchi

Judge sides with Trump on excluding 1999 campaign finance comments

After a short morning break, Judge Merchan said he's siding with the defense team over whether the prosecution can show jurors a video of Trump commenting in 1999 on his knowledge about campaign finance laws. Merchan expressed concerns about how old the comments are, saying they ask a jury to draw an inference about Trump's knowledge many years later, and "that's a lot of speculation."

 Aysha Bagchi

Trump wants his old comments on campaign finance laws kept out of trial

Just before a short morning break was taken, Trump lawyer Emil Bove asked Judge Merchan about excluding from evidence a 1999 video of Trump commenting on campaign finance laws.

I think nobody knows more about campaign finance than I do because Im the biggest contributor, Trump said at the time.

Bove argued that, whatever Trump said in 1999 about his knowledge of campaign finance laws doesn't prove something relevant about his knowledge in 2017, because there were extensive changes to those laws in the interim.

Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold responded that the corporate contribution ban, which she said is the relevant legal provision when it comes to the video, has been part of campaign finance law since 1907. She added that's close to 100 years before Trump's "admission in that video."

Merchan said he will rule later.

 Aysha Bagchi

Allen Weisselberg phone records introduced

The prosecution got phone records introduced into the evidence through their latest witness, Verizon employee Jennie Tomalin. The records state that they are associated with Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. Weisselberg is currently incarcerated for committing perjury during Trump's New York civil fraud trial.

The prosecution and defense only had brief questions for Tomalin, focused on how to read the records. She has now left the witness stand.

 Aysha Bagchi

Who is Jennie Tomalin?

Jennie Tomalin has been called to the witness stand. She is a Verizon employee who also appears to have been brought to testify so the prosecution can introduce phone records into evidence.

 Aysha Bagchi

Rick Scott defends Donald Trump outside the courtroom

Rick Scott, a Republican senator up for reelection in Florida, attended the trial Thursday. While Trump remains under a gag order, his allies in the GOP do not face the same restrictions. Scott stood by Trump as he addressed reporters outside Manhattan criminal court, suggesting the lead prosecutor has political motivations.

Im here because Ive known Donald Trump a long time. I knew him before I was governor. I consider him a friend. And what he is going through is just despicable, Scott said.

 Rachel Barber

Dixon confirms phone records don't show who did the talking, if call was pocket dial

Asked by Trump lawyer Emil Bove if the AT&T records show who was speaking during a phone call, Dixon confirmed they don't. Dixon also agreed they don't show if a call was an unintended "pocket dial."

Bove ended his cross-examination soon after that, and the prosecution had no further questions for Dixon.

 Aysha Bagchi

Stormy Daniels knocks Trump on X, saying real men take a stand in court

Porn star Stormy Daniels, who gave riveting testimony this week about her alleged sexual encounter with Trump in his hush money trial, fired back at the former president on X, formerly Twitter, after his legal teams request for a mistrial based on her testimony was denied twice.

Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Ohwait. Nevermind, Daniels wrote on X.

The tweet also comes after Trump lawyer Todd Blanche asked Judge Juan Merchan to modify Trumps gag order so he could respond to Daniels testimony. Merchan also denied that request.

Trump has previously attacked Daniels, calling her horseface and a sleaze bag.

 Sudiksha Kochi

Trump lawyer Emil Bove questioning AT&T witness

Trump lawyer Emil Bove is now asking Dixon questions on cross-examination.

 Aysha Bagchi

AT&T witness helps prosecutors introduce phone records

The prosecution quickly ended its questions for Dixon, which appear geared toward getting evidence of phone records admitted. The phone records involve former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen, who the prosecution indicated in opening statements will be testifying in the trial.

 Aysha Bagchi

Who is Daniel Dixon?

A new witness, Daniel Dixon, has been called to the witness stand. He is a lead compliance analyst who helps with complying with legal demands at AT&T.

 Aysha Bagchi

Westerhout talked with Trump's lawyer Wednesday night

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles ended her cross-examination and prosecutor Rebecca Mangold noted Necheles hadn't asked Westerhout if she had spoken with Necheles before. Mangold then posed that question to Westerhout, who said she spoke with Necheles once before, on Wednesday night.

That question may have been designed to plant the idea in the jury's mind that Westerhout is friendly with the defense team, including in the run-up to her testimony, even though she is a witness called by the prosecution.

When Mangold finished her brief follow-up questions for Westerhout, Necheles asked Westerhout whether she had met with the prosecution previously. Westerhout said she has met with the prosecution three times, has met with them for hours, and the most recent meeting was Wednesday morning.

 Aysha Bagchi

Westerhout statement about Stormy Daniels and Trump's concern for family stricken from court record

Westerhout testified that her memory of Trump's reaction to a story that Stormy Daniels got a hush money deal concerning him is "that he was very upset by it." Westerhout added: "He knew it would be hurtful to his family."

However, Westerhout also said: "I don't believe he specifically said that, but I could just tell the whole situation was very unpleasant." Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold then objected to Westerhout's testimony, likely based on her not having a proper foundation to say Trump was upset because he knew the story was hurtful to his family. Judge Merchan sustained the objection and struck Westerhout's answer from the court record.

 Aysha Bagchi

Westerhout says long-time Trump Organization assistant careful with Trump's money

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles asked Westerhout whether it was true that Rhona Graff, Trump's long-time assistant at the Trump Organization, was "very careful about not wanting to spend the president's money without his approval." Westerhout agreed that was true, and that Trump would often times approve expenses for Graff simply by writing "Pay."

 Aysha Bagchi

Westerhout's lawyer showed her materials this morning that Trump lawyer is asking about

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles is asking Westerhout about some materials that haven't been shown to the jury. Prosecutor Rebecca Mangold interjected to ask about Westerhout's familiarity with them. Westerhout said she was familiar and, on further questioning, explained that her lawyer showed them to her this morning. Yesterday, Westerhout said she has counsel who is representing her for free in this trial.

It's unclear why Westerhout's lawyer reviewed materials with her this morning that Trump's defense is now asking her about.

Following Westerhout's statement about the review this morning, Mangold objected to Trump's team introducing the evidence. After a private conversation between the lawyers and Judge Merchan at the bench, Merchan said he was denying Trump's motion to introduce the evidence.

Questioning has now moved on.

 Aysha Bagchi

Lawyers in lengthy private conversation with judge

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles has begun cross-examining Madeleine Westerhout again today, but the lawyers just had a lengthy private conversation with the judge at his bench.

The conversation followed prosecutor Rebecca Mangold making an objection, after Necheles and Westerhout were talking about Trump sending a photo to Allen Weisselberg of Trump boarding Air Force One for the first time. Weisselberg is the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, and is currently incarcerated for committing perjury in Trump's New York civil fraud trial that began in the fall.

The Air Force One photo was discussed yesterday when the prosecution was asking questions.

 Aysha Bagchi

Trump ignores questions about whether he will testify

Former President Donald Trump ignored shouted questions from reporters outside the courtroom about whether he would testify at his New York hush money trial.

But he promoted a Saturday political rally in Wildwood, New Jersey, where he said he would be able to campaign for president despite the horrible gag order that prevents him from commenting on witnesses or jurors participating in the case.

 Bart Jansen

Merchan rejects Trump subpoena request for former prosecutor as fishing expedition

Judge Juan Merchan rejected a request from Trumps defense team to subpoena Mark Pomerantz, a former prosecutor who criticized District Attorney Alvin Braggs handling of the investigation, calling it an illegitimate fishing expedition.

Pomerantz complained that Bragg was reluctant to pursue charges, although a grand jury eventually indicted Trump on 34 counts of falsifying business records to hide a hush money payment to porn actress Stormy Daniels before the 2016 election.

Trump has argued that other investigators, including Braggs predecessor as district attorney and the Justice Department, declined to press charges after reviewing the same evidence.

Merchan ruled that Trumps request was too broad and sought evidence that hes not allowed to have about how prosecutors prepared their case.

Defendant's Second and Third Requests are far too broad and amount to an improper fishing expedition into general discovery, Merchan ruled.

 Bart Jansen

Will Karen McDougal testify?

The prosecution said Thursday that Karen McDougal won't testify. McDougal is a former Playboy model who was paid $150,000 from the parent company of the National Enquirer, in a deal to stay quiet ahead of the 2016 election about an alleged Trump affair.

 Aysha Bagchi

Americans views on sex work could affect Stormy Daniels credibility

American societys strong puritanical roots have long kept sex and sex work taboo subjects, despite a widespread use of pornography. However, experts say Americans perceptions are beginning to change, which could make a difference in how credible they view Stormy Daniels.

The percentage of Americans who found pornography morally acceptable jumped from 36% in 2017 to 43% in 2018, according to a Gallup poll. That number remained relatively flat at 41% in 2022.

The New York Times reported that Trumps lawyer Susan Necheles referenced Daniels occupation to challenge her credibility. You have a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex appear to be real, Necheles said.

Thats not how I would put it, Daniels replied. The sex in the films is very much real, just like what happened to me in that room.

 Charles Trepany and Rachel Barber

Who is Susan Necheles?

Susan Necheles is a seasoned New York criminal defense lawyer and former prosecutor. She cross-examined Stormy Daniels earlier this week, and she is also due to continue cross-examining former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout later today.

 Aysha Bagchi

Is Trump on trial today?

Yes. Proceedings in Trump's trial are scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. EDT. Madeleine Westerhout, a former White House aide, is slated to re-take the witness stand for more cross-examination by Trump lawyer Susan Necheles.

 Aysha Bagchi

What is Stormy Daniels' real name? Stephanie Clifford.

Stormy Daniels' real name is Stephanie Clifford. When she introduced herself in court earlier this week, as all witnesses do when they take the stand, she called herself Stormy Daniels. On questioning by prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, she acknowledged that her real name is Stephanie Clifford, but said she prefers to go by Stormy Daniels at the proceedings.

 Aysha Bagchi

Why does Stormy Daniels owe Trump money?

A California judge ordered Stormy Daniels to pay Trump's legal fees after she filed a defamation lawsuit against him. She testified that her former lawyer, Michael Avenatti, wanted to file the lawsuit. He is now in prison for embezzlement and other crimes.

The defamation claim Daniels made wasn't based on her and Trump's dispute over whether they had sex in 2006. It had to do with a Trump tweet about a sketch of a different man who Daniels said threatened her in a parking lot in 2011 to keep quiet about Trump.

Trump has sued Daniels in Florida to get the money, but she still hasn't paid, she testified.

 Aysha Bagchi

Who is Madeleine Westerhout?

Madeleine Westerhout served as an assistant to Donald Trump during the beginning of his presidency before becoming director of Oval Office operations.

Westerhout broke down crying on the witness stand Thursday as she described being fired from her last role in the White House. Westerhout got in trouble for making off-the-record comments to reporters about Trump's children that the then-president described as "hurtful."

The prosecution had Westerhout show jurors where she used to work on a map of the White House  she sat in a room adjacent to the Oval Office. She testified Thursday that she was involved in the process of receiving checks from the Trump Organization that required Trump's signature. Some of the allegedly falsified records in Trump's hush money case are checks prosecutors say Trump signed as he paid his former lawyer, Michael Cohen, while he allegedly misdescribed what the checks were for.

 Aysha Bagchi

Stormy Daniels depiction in courtroom sketches captures attention

Stormy Daniels' testimony in Donald Trumps hush money trial Tuesday included plenty of details but it was the court artist's sketch of the former adult film star that captured the internet's attention.

Many agreed that she looked older in the drawing than she actually looked, while others poked fun at Daniels outright.

There seemed to be a difference between the way the sketch artist thought Daniels looked and how everyone else saw her, a difference noted by several people across multiple posts on X, formerly Twitter.

 Amaris Encinas, Sudiksha Kochi

Why did Trump ask for a mistrial and to change the gag order?

On Thursday, Trump lawyer Todd Blanche made zealous pleas for a mistrial and for a modified gag order based on Stormy Daniels' testimony. He said that some of her testimony was basically a "dog whistle for rape"  even though Daniels insisted she hadn't been physically threatened.

Blanche pointed to portions of Daniels' testimony where she described feeling light-headed, being aware of a power imbalance, and knowing Trump's bodyguard was nearby.

Blanche also characterized parts of Daniels' story as "completely different in kind" from earlier accounts  a claim the prosecution disputed.

Judge Juan Merchan said he wouldn't modify the gag order because he's concerned not just about witnesses who have already testified, but also about potential witnesses who could see Trump's attacks on others and be impacted. He described Trump's comments about people tied to his legal cases as "vitriol," adding: "Your client's track record speaks for itself."

Merchan also said Blanche made Daniels' credibility an issue when he called her claims about a sexual encounter false during his opening statement. The prosecution had the right to rehabilitate her credibility by going into her story after Blanche had "immediately attacked it," Merchan said.

 Aysha Bagchi

What did Stormy Daniels say in court?

Stormy Daniels showed Thursday that she's no shrinking violet, even as she was hammered by an aggressive cross-examination. Trump lawyer Susan Necheles tried to portray Daniels' story as changing between iterations, and portray Daniels herself as money-grubbing.

Daniels pushed back as Necheles raised possible inconsistencies in her story, such as Daniels saying Trump approached her about dinner in one telling, and that Trump's bodyguard approached her on Trump's behalf in another. Daniels replied that Trump and his bodyguard are a unit.

When Daniels characterized her decision to participate in a hush money deal in 2016 as about staying safe, Necheles said it was really about Daniels' bottom line.

"You chose to make money, right?" Necheles said.

"I chose to take the non-disclosure," Daniels responded.

 Aysha Bagchi

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump trial recap: Judge wants Michael Cohen to stop comments on Trump
Russian President Vladimir Putin presided over a pared-back Victory Day parade Thursday, showcasing his countrys unity and resolve to continue the war on Ukraine. But the martial celebrations also obscured simmering tensions inside the Kremlin and within Russian society.

At first glance, this years parade in Red Square was the usual well-choreographed display of military might: Over 9,000 military personnel took part, including a thousand currently serving in what Russia still calls the special military operation  the official euphemism for the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The mechanized column was led by a World War II-era T-34 tank, a symbol of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

May 9 is more than a day for commemorating the over 25 million Soviet soldiers and civilians who died during World War II.

Under Putin, the Russian state has elevated collective remembrance of the war to something resembling a secular religion. Its a day of high solemnity: in recent years, Russians have taken part in Immortal Regiment marches, carrying pictures of family members who served in the war. Putin  who has made patriotic education a priority  traditionally lays flowers at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

But since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the massive military parade has been somewhat downsized. Last year, the usual fly-by of military aircraft over Red Square was cancelled, and this years parade only featured one tank, the T-34 museum piece. Front-line priorities appear to take precedence over ceremony.

And as in years past, Putin cast the war in Ukraine today as a continuation of what Russians call the Great Patriotic War, making the mendacious claim that Russia is battling neo-Nazism in Ukraine. And while the war in Ukraine seems to be going better for Russia than one year ago, Putin still called for Russians to make more wartime sacrifice.

Russia is now going through a difficult, transitional period, he said in a speech before the parade.

The fate of the motherland, its future depends on each of us  We celebrate Victory Day in the context of the special military operation. All its participants  those who are on the front line, on the line of combat contact  are our heroes. We bow to your perseverance and self-sacrifice, dedication. All of Russia is with you!

But this years Victory Day is also happening against the background of a bribery scandal roiling Russias Ministry of Defense.

Last month, Russian Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov was caught in a corruption probe, arrested on suspicion of accepting a bribe of an especially large size. The scandal widened with the arrest of two Russian businessmen on suspicion of involvement in the bribe.

Under Putin, Victory Day has assumed greater importance in national life. - Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/Reuters

The day is a chance to showcase Russia's military might, even if the event has been pared back amid the war in Ukraine. - Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images

Ivanov has denied involvement in bribery and is willing to give detailed testimony to prove his innocence, according to Russian state news agency TASS. And Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, Ivanovs boss before his ouster from his ministerial post, played his usual role in this years Victory Day parade, reviewing the troops and reporting to Putin before the presidents speech.

Kremlinologists can draw few conclusions from Shoigus performance on May 9. But the arrest of Shoigus protege has led to speculation about infighting at the highest echelons of power and cast an uncomfortable spotlight on what observers see as a culture of rampant graft inside the Russian military.

As the Russian defense ministrys construction boss, Ivanov was responsible for overseeing projects such as the rebuilding of the shattered Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, which was obliterated by Russian forces in 2022.

The reconstruction of showcase apartment blocks in Mariupol has been a fixture of Russian government propaganda: Putin famously paid a visit to the occupied city last spring as part of a PR campaign.

But a visual investigation by the Financial Times pointed to shoddy workmanship in Mariupol, underscoring speculation that the reconstruction funds were being siphoned off by Russian companies that had won government construction contracts.

Ivanov is under US and EU sanction for his role in the war on Ukraine. But the lavish lifestyle of his ex-partner  who has an upscale Parisian address and enjoys the slopes at Courchevel  has been extensively scrutinized by the Anti-Corruption Foundation (ACF), the investigative outfit founded by Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny, who died in a Russian prison north of the Arctic Circle earlier this year.

Russias political opposition  which under Putin has largely been sidelined, marginalized or chased into exile  is still reeling from the death of Navalny.

But Navalnys investigative foundation has pressed ahead with its relentless focus on corruption in Putins Russia.

Putin said Russia was going through a "difficult, transitional period" at the event. - Stanislav Krasilnikov/Sputnik/AP

In recent weeks, ACF chief investigator Maria Pevchikh has managed to dominate much of the Russia conversation online with the release of a documentary series called The Traitors, which traces the origins of Putin against the background of the political and economic free-for-all in the Russia of the 1990s. Corruption, goes the argument, is the original sin of modern-day Russia.

But thats not the message Putin is projecting on Victory Day.

Despite the heavy losses of men and equipment on the battlefield in Ukraine, defense spending has buoyed the Russian economy. Putins technocrats have deftly managed the economy amid international sanctions, returning the country to GDP growth.

But Russias economy remains famously inefficient and corrupt. Prestige projects  such as the 2014 Sochi Olympics  have long been marred by allegations of corruption and favoritism, especially when it comes to the award of contracts. And the living standards of ordinary Russians are a secondary consideration in Putins wartime economy.

Viewed through that lens, this years Victory Day in Moscow was more of a feel-good exercise, presenting contemporary Russia as the opposite of the 90s: proud, militarily strong, pressing inexorably forward. And Putin, after a quarter century in power, presided over the whole affair with the same rhetoric of patriotism, sacrifice and love of Motherland.

In Russia, continuity has a quality of its own.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com


remaining of

Thank you for reading! On your next view you will be asked to log in to your subscriber account or create an account and subscribepurchase a subscription to continue reading.
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Armenia Ararat Mirzoyan had a meeting with the Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu.

According to a press release from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Armenia, the interlocutors noted with satisfaction the dynamics of the development of the high-level political dialogue between Armenia and Kazakhstan. Topics on bilateral agenda were discussed following the discussions held during the visit of the President of Kazakhstan to Yerevan in April.

The interlocutors exchanged views on regional issues.

The symbolic nature of holding the meeting of the Foreign Ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan on the Kazakh platform, particularly in the city of Almaty, was emphasized taking into account the significance of the 1991 Alma-Ata Declaration in the process of normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, including the border delimitation.

The issues of the development of regional economic and transport communications were touched upon.
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.
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The European Union supports the processes of peace and normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan, said the Head of the Delegation of the European Union to Armenia, Ambassador Vassilis Maragos during a press conference, referring to Armenia-EU cooperation in the field of security.

"The European Union supports peace and normalization processes in the region. The presence of the European Union mission in Armenia is evidence of that. The mission's presence on the Armenian-Azerbaijani border has helped to reduce tension and improve security for the people," Vassilis Maragos said.
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate on Thursday filed a detailed affidavit in the Supreme Court opposing interim relief to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, arrested in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, to campaign in the ongoing parliamentary polls, saying the right to campaign in an election is neither fundamental nor constitutional. The apex court is scheduled to pass an order on the issue of interim bail to Mr Kejriwal on Friday.

According to sources, the ED is also likely to file its first chargesheet against Mr Kejriwal in connection with the ongoing money laundering probe on Friday. If the chargesheet against the AAP national convener is filed, this will be the first occasion when he will be named as an accused in the case and is likely to be called a key conspirator in the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy "scam".

Calling the ED chargesheet, which is likely to be filed soon in a city court, the "BJP's chargesheet", the AAP alleged the party in power at the Centre only intends to defame Mr Kejriwal.

Also, Mr Kejriwal's legal team registered a strong objection to the ED's affidavit opposing interim bail in the apex court. It made the complaint to the top court registry, countering the affidavit submitted after the hearing was completed and just before the decision was to be announced on Friday.

The AAP denounced the ED's affidavit as a "blatant disregard of legal procedures", as the affidavit was submitted without taking the apex court's approval.

In its affidavit opposing the interim bail plea of Mr Kejriwal in the Supreme Court, the ED said no political leader has ever been granted interim bail for campaigning, even if he is contesting polls.

"It is relevant to note that the right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right," reads the EDs affidavit.

The ED said that, to its knowledge, "no political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning. Even a contesting candidate is not granted interim bail if he is in custody for his own campaigning".

Even the right to vote while in judicial custody, which is considered by the top court to be a statutory or constitutional right, is curtailed by statute by virtue of Section 62(5) of the Representation of Peoples Act.

It is pertinent to note that around 123 elections have taken place in the last 5 years and if interim bail is to be granted for the purpose of campaigning in an election, then no politician can be arrested and kept in judicial custody since elections are all-year-round phenomena, the agency said.

It further said: In a Federal structure, no set of elections is more significant than another and therefore, every politician at every level will argue that if he is not let out on interim bail, he will suffer irreversible consequences.

Under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act alone, there are many politicians who are in judicial custody at present and their cases are examined by competent courts upholding their custody. There must be several political leaders in judicial custody throughout the country for non-PMLA offences. There is no reason why a special prayer for special treatment by the petitioner be acceded to, the ED said. .

Granting interim bail merely for political campaigning will militate against and be discriminatory to the rule of equality, as work/business/profession or activity of every citizen is equally important to him or her. It will not be possible to hold that the work of a small farmer or a small trader is any less important than the political campaigning of a political leader who admittedly is not contesting, it said.

Citing that the top court will take the call about the grant or refusal of interim bail or release after three days of arguments by the petitioner, the ED affidavit said it has just begun.

On this ground also, this court may take a final view about the petition after fully hearing the respondent (the ED) particularly when there is no medical urgency, which requires consideration of interim release without fully hearing the respondents, the affidavit said.

The ED said: If the petitioner is extended any interim relief on account of him being a politician for the purposes of campaigning in the general election for his party, there is no gain in saying that all politicians incarcerated in some case or another will not seek a similar treatment, claiming that politicians are a class of their own.

The apex court in a larger bench in Vijay Madanlal Chaudhary versus Union of India & Others 2022 has held that "social and economic offences stand on a graver footing as they not only involve an individual victim but harm society as a whole," the ED said, adding that it does not agree with the observations suggesting that the offence of money laundering is a less heinous offence than the terrorism sought to be tackled under TADA or that there is no compelling state interest in tackling the offence of money-laundering.

In his reply dated November 2, 2023, to summons dated October 30, 2023, the petitioner (Mr Kejriwal), in order to avoid the summons, had used the same excuse of state elections in five states and during the arguments on interim bail, the petitioner is setting up the same ground of campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections to seek relief, the agency said.

The ED said if the apex court grants interim bail to Mr Kejriwal, it will give judicial imprimatur to the actions of the petitioner -- firstly to avoid summons citing the reason of campaigning in state elections as being a "star campaigner" of the AAP and secondly, to seek interim bail for campaigning for the party AAP in the general election, thereby carving out a separate class in favour of politicians who wish to campaign for their respective political parties.

Such an approach would violate the cherished values of the Constitution, which upholds the rule of law as a basic feature, meaning that no matter how high you might be, you are not above the law, it said.

Likewise, Mr Kejriwal also chose to avoid the summons dated December 22, 2023, as evident from his reply dated January 3, citing his preoccupation with the Rajya Sabha elections to avoid the summons.

The top court, the ED said, has repeatedly frowned upon the grant of bail to a person only on the consideration that he is a political leader of some prominent political party.

A politician can claim no special status higher than that of an ordinary citizen and is as much liable to be arrested and detained for committing offences as any other citizen, the affidavit said.

If the right to campaign is treated as a basis for the grant of interim bail, it would breach the principles of Article 14 for the reason that harvesting for a farmer will be an equally important factor seeking interim bail as will a board meeting or an annual general meeting for a director of a company who commits a crime, as these are their respective vocations or professions, the ED said, adding, There is absolutely no principle that justifies giving a differential treatment to a politician for campaigning over a farmer or a businessman who wishes to pursue his vocation.

On Wednesday, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who headed the bench that heard Mr Kejriwal's petition against his arrest in the case, said, "We will pronounce the interim order (on bail) on Friday. The main matter related to the challenge to arrest will also be taken up on the same day."

The AAP leader was arrested on March 21 and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
NEW DELHI: Aiming to boost the party's political fortunes in West Bengal in the ongoing parliamentary polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hold four back-to-back rallies and roadshows in West Bengal on Sunday. Before that, on Saturday, when the canvassing for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha polls comes to a close, Mr Modi will address three election rallies in neighbouring Odisha.

According to sources, in West Bengal, the Prime Minister will address rallies in Barrackpore in the North 24 Parganas, Panchla in Howrah, Chinsurah and Pursura in Hooghly on Sunday.

During his last visit to West Bengal on May 3, the Prime Minister held public meetings in Bardhaman, Krishnanagar and Bolpur. He also held an impromptu roadshow in Krishnanagar. Sources said that Mr Modi is also likely to hold a roadshow during his Sunday visit to the Opposition-ruled state.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP had won 18 seats in West Bengal, including the Hooghly and Barrackpore seats.

In Odisha, the Prime Minister will address public rallies in Kandhamal, Bolangir and Bargarh on Saturday. Sources said that the Prime Minister will also hold a roadshow in Bhubaneswar on Friday evening and he will stay the night at the Raj Bhavan. The roadshow will start from the Odisha BJP's headquarters near Sri Ram Mandir and end at Vani Vihar Square in the state capital.

Mr Modi had last visited Odisha on May 6, when he addressed two public meetings in Berhampur and Nabarangpur. Simultaneous Lok Sabha and Assembly elections will be held in Odisha in four phases, starting May 13.
HYDERABAD: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Narendra Modi-led NDA government at the Centre worked for only 25 people in the country like Adanis-Ambanis and made them 'billionaires' in the last ten years but the Congress-led IN.D.I.A. bloc will make millions of poor people 'lakhpatis' in the next five years, if voted to power in the Lok Sabha elections.

Alleging that Prime Minister Modi had privatised several government firms in order to abolish reservations, he said, "These elections are very critical. Firstly, the BJP and RSS are openly saying that they want to change the Constitution and abolish reservations. But Congress wants to increase reservations beyond 50 per cent. If voted to power, we will take up caste census across the country like the Congress governments caste survey in Telangana state."

He was addressing election meetings in Narsapur in Medak candidate Neelam Madhu Mudiran and Saroornagar for Hyderabad nominee Sameer Waliullah along with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday. He expressed confidence that the Congress-led I.N.D.I.A bloc will come to power on June 4 and begin the process to fill 30 lakh government jobs from August 15.

Rahul Gandhi said that the I.N.D.I.A. government, if voted to power, will take up a revolutionary programme that people would not even have dreamt of. It will be the worlds first-of-its-kind programme, he said.

"A list of all the poor and downtrodden would be prepared by visiting the remotest places in the country. One woman from a family would be identified and in her bank account we will deposit '1 lakh annually. She will get '8,500 per month and towards meeting her childrens education, health and food expenditure, an additional '8,500 would be deposited in the womens bank account on the first of every month.

Going further, he said With one stroke, we will eradicate poverty in the country. People will spend this amount to meet their daily needs. This would in turn pave the way for industrialisation as local companies will come up to produce goods and thereby generate jobs. In a way, the Indian economic system would be jump-started," he said.

He cautioned the people that if the Constitution was amended by the BJP, it would weaken their rights.

"This Constitution gave you voting, reservation and education rights apart from the right to speak and protest. That is real democracy. They want to weaken this democracy because they only want power. They only want their businessmen friends to thrive. They have sold the countrys assets to these friends," said the Congress leader.

Rahul Gandhi promised to implement a new scheme "First job pakki" for the unemployed youth.

"Under this, the Congress will give youth the right to the first job. If you are a diploma holder or graduate, the Congress party will give you a right to the first job in companies, public sector, private sector, government hospitals and offices. They will be given a years job and will be provided exclusive training and deposit 'one lakh in their bank account in one year," he said.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi praised the performance of the five-month old Congress government in Telangana.

"It is working like a team. It has already filled 30,000 jobs and is providing gas cylinders at Rs 500 each and 200 units free power supply; there is health insurance cover of Rs 10 lakh, while women can travel free of cost in RTC buses. Similar to what the Congress government in Telangana has been doing, the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will do it in the entire country, if voted to power," he said.
New Delhi: India on Thursday confirmed that the issue of debt relief for the Maldives was discussed in a meeting between external affairs minister S. Jaishankar and Maldivian foreign minister Moosa Zameer in the national capital. At the meeting, Mr Jaishankar said that India-Maldives ties are based on "mutual interests" and "reciprocal sensitivity.

According to recent reports, the Maldives is keen on debt relief regarding the repayment of loans taken from India by the archipelago nation in the recent past. The Maldivian economy, which is heavily dependent on tourism, is reportedly under severe stress. Among other factors, the fall in the number of Indian tourists due to the strain in bilateral ties has added to its economic woes.

Amid strains in bilateral ties due to the pronounced pro-China and anti-India positions taken by Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, who came to power last year, Mr Jaishankar, in his opening remarks ahead of bilateral talks, said, India has been a key provider of development assistance to the Maldives We have also extended financial support on favourable terms in the past. India has been a first responder on numerous occasions for the Maldives. It is in our common interest that we reach an understanding on how best we take our relationship forward.

Emphasising that close partnerships with neighbours are of great value, especially during global uncertainty, Mr Jaishankar further reminded Mr Zameer that India has been a key provider of development assistance to the Maldives and has also extended financial support on favourable terms in the past.

Last week, the two nations "reviewed the ongoing efforts to enable continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medevac services to the people of Maldives. India is already replacing defence personnel with civilians to operate the three aviation platforms for medical evacuation in the south-western maritime neighbouring country.

In a briefing about the ongoing visit of the Maldivian delegation, foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that the two ministers held extensive discussions on our bilateral relationship and regional security issues. They also discussed development partnerships, ongoing capacity building and training initiatives.

"Mr Jaishankar noted that, as close and proximate neighbours, the development of India-Maldives ties was based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity," Mr Jaiswal said, adding, "As regards the specific issues, as you are aware, both sides have been working together to ensure continued operation of Indian aviation platforms that provide humanitarian and medevac services to the people of Maldives. Accordingly, deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place.

In response to a media query on whether debt relief (for the Maldives) had been discussed in the meeting between the two foreign ministers, the foreign ministry spokesperson replied in the affirmative and said the issue of debt relief is part of the pillar of the development partnership between the two nations.
The Reserve Bank of India has changed its rules allowing Russia to use the rupees it earns from crude oil sales in India to invest in local government bonds, stocks, equities, and loans. India's imports from Russia are up by 32.95 per cent to US$ 61.44 billion.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) - Russia will reinvest in India its oil sale profits from India.

Since war broke out in Ukraine, India has paid Russian crude in rupees, but the funds have been held in the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to prevent money transfers to Russia from Indian banks, despite Moscow's attempts to convert Indian rupees into Emirati dirhams and Chinese yuan.

According to Indian media, Russia is now looking to invest the money in government bonds, stocks, equities, and loans.

On the Russian side there has been hesitation to park their money for prolonged periods of time in India," said Aditya Bhan, a Kolkata-based fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a global think tank, speaking to Newsweek.

The Russians seem to be looking more seriously incrementally at least, at investment opportunities in India, particularly those that are government backed," the expert explained.

The RBI, through various amendments in FEMA[*] regulations and procedures, has made it possible for Russian entities to invest in a whole bouquet of avenues, which the country has started to make full use of now, a top level source told The Hindu businessline.

India has started paying Russian oil in rupees rather than dollars to circumvent Western sanctions imposed on Russia following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

Under this mechanism, some Russian banks, including Gazprom and Rosbank, have opened rupee accounts in Indian banks, on behalf of Russian banks.

The rising unused rupee balance for Russian entities in these accounts was a big concern for Russia, the source added.

India is now trying to identify projects into which Russian investments can flow, like construction and certain infrastructure improvements.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov first hinted at the issue in September last year, saying that Moscow had "billions of rupees" deposited in Indian banks that could not be used.

After China, Russia is Indias second largest import source with imports rising by 32.95 per cent in 2023-24, to US$ 61.44 billion, billion in oil alone.

The changes to FEMA were introduced to allow investors to invest in Indian stocks and debt as well, something that has drawn Moscows interest, The Hindu source said.

Details of such investments are under wraps as private companies, that have businesses in the US and the EU, are not too comfortable about disclosing them, the source added.

Still, Western sanctions are unlikely to have an impact on Russian investment in India.

Why should the US be bothered (about Russias investments)? We are not dealing in dollars. And it is Russia that is investing in India and not vice versa, the source said.

Diplomatic and trade ties between Russia and India go back a long way.

India has never condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Despite being part of Quad, the Quadrilateral Security Dialogue, with the United States, Australia, and Japan, it has never stopped importing weapons from Russia.

Most of Indias import from Russia comprises oil, but there are also imports of defence equipment, fertilisers, edible fats and oil and precious and semi-precious stones and jewellery, the source said.

While payment for defence equipment was largely in rupee, payment for Russian oil was taking place in other currencies. Now that the rupee balance is finding various investment avenues, India can make a larger part of payment for its Russian imports in its domestic currency, the source added.

At some point, both sides would be working towards mechanisms to enable repatriation. The Russians particularly would want it earlier than anybody else," said Aditya Bhan, a Kolkata-based fellow at the Observer Research Foundation, a global think tank.

For now, "Russia continues to remain an important oil source and at least for the foreseeable future, that's not set to change," he added.

INDIAN MANDALA IS THE ASIANEWS NEWSLETTER DEDICATED TO INDIA. TO RECEIVE A WEEKLY UPDATE EVERY FRIDAY, CLICK HERE.

[*] Foreign Exchange Management Act.
Today's news: arson attack by settlers on the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Jerusalem, building closed for security reasons; Presidential elections in Sri Lanka between September and October; Seoul opens to foreign doctors in hospitals to cope with strike, controversy over racist web post; Gazprom sells off some properties in Moscow to compensate for losses.

INDIA

According to the latest United Nations report on migration in the world - released on May 8 in Dhaka - India was the largest recipient of remittances from abroad in 2022 with 111 billion US dollars, overtaking Mexico (61.1 billion dollars), China ( billion), the Philippines (.05 billion) and France (.04 billion). According to the report, India is the first nation to reach and surpass the 0 billion mark. Its revenue from 2010 to 2022 more than doubled.

ISRAEL-PALESTINE

A group of Israeli settlers yesterday launched an attack on the headquarters of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in East Jerusalem, setting fire to some trees located in the perimeter of the building in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood. Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said the attack forced him to close the complex, given the ongoing security risk to the UN agency's staff members.

SRI LANKA

Sri Lanka will hold its eagerly awaited presidential elections - the first since the ousting of Gotabaia Rayapaksa in 2022 - on a day between September 17 and October 16. The Electoral Commission announced this yesterday, adding that it will ask for nominations to be submitted within the time limits set by the provisions of the Constitution.

SOUTH KOREA

Seoul will allow foreign doctors to work in its hospitals. The prime minister declared this, while the strike of doctors in training, which has lasted since February 20, shows no signs of resolution. After the announcement, Korean Medical Association (KMA) head Lim Hyun-taek shared a screenshot of a news report on newly graduated Somali doctors with the comment: Coming soon. The post, which was later removed, sparked widespread criticism online with accusations of racism.

CHINA

A rapper who sings about growing up poor and going to work in the big city is enjoying great success on the Chinese web, providing a vision of the country that rarely surfaces in government propaganda touting Beijing's economic success. The official video of the song "Factory" by Zhang Fangzhao has obtained more than 2.5 million views in just a few hours. The smoke from the factories covers the steles - sings Zhang -. All the villages are bought for forced consolidation: the last remaining ones stand out like nails. The river water was dirty even when I was a child, now it has brought money but also diseases."

RUSSIA

After the record loss compared to the last 25 years, the Russian giant Gazprom has begun the sale of properties, publishing notices to this effect relating to various targets in Moscow and the province, including the historic offices of the Stroitelej ulitsa, the sanatorium complex- Imperial Park Hotel&Spa recreational area, various other facilities including the 96-space garage in the centre.

AZERBAIJAN-ISRAEL

The political director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry, David Nown, met in Baku with the deputy minister of Azerbaijan, Zaur Rzayev, declaring that after a thorough analysis of the situation and the course of our bilateral relations, we have found broad prospects of effective development", also meeting the president Ilham Aliev.
Five Indian nationals, a Filipino and an Estonian are free to go home. The Portuguese-flagged container ship was seized near the Strait of Hormuz on 13 April. Diplomats are working to free the remaining 17 crew members.

New Delhi (AsiaNews/Agencies)  Yesterday Iran released some members of the crew of the MSC Aries, a Portuguese-flagged, Israeli-owned container ship, which it had seized near the Strait of Hormuz on 13 April.

Portugals Foreign Ministry made the announcement last night, noting that seven people (out of 25) were freed today. Five are Indian nationals, a Filipino and an Estonian. An Indian female crew member was freed earlier.

The Indian Embassy in Iran confirmed that the Indian sailors left Iran for home.

We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas, Minister of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X.

For its part, Portugal demanded the "immediate release" of the remaining 17 crew members.

Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Navy seized the MSC Aries off the coast of Dubai, claiming that its owners were linked to Israel.

It is certain that this ship belongs to the Zionist regime, an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman said at the time.

The one crew member released earlier, Ann Tessa Joseph, from India, returned to Kerala on 18 April.

We had asked for consular access for these 16 people and we received that and our officers met them, Jaiswal said late last month about the crew.

Their health is good and there is no problem of any kind on the ship. Concerning their return, there are some technicalities and contractual obligations. Once they are done, it will decide their return," the MEA official added.

The foreign ministers of Portugal and Iran spoke on the phone 10 days ago.
A nurse speaks virtually to Donald Eustes, a patient at Houston Methodist Hospital, from the facilitys virtual care center. (Portions of this photo have been blurred to protect privacy.) Phil Galewitz/KFF Health News

Patients admitted to Houston Methodist Hospital get a monitoring device about the size of a half-dollar affixed to their chest  and an unwitting role in the expanding use of artificial intelligence in health care.

The slender, battery-powered gadget, called a BioButton, records vital signs including heart and breathing rates, then wirelessly sends the readings to nurses sitting in a 24-hour control room elsewhere in the hospital or in their homes. The devices software uses AI to analyze the voluminous data and detect signs a patients condition is deteriorating.

Hospital officials say the BioButton has improved care and reduced the workload of bedside nurses since its rollout last year.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Because we catch things earlier, patients are doing better, as we dont have to wait for the bedside team to notice if something is going wrong, said Sarah Pletcher, system vice president at Houston Methodist.

But some nurses fear the technology could wind up replacing them rather than supporting them  and harming patients. Houston Methodist, one of dozens of U.S. hospitals to employ the device, is the first to use the BioButton to monitor all patients except those in intensive care, Pletcher said.

The hype around a lot of these devices is they provide care at scale for less labor costs, said Michelle Mahon, a registered nurse and an assistant director of National Nurses United, the professions largest U.S. union. This is a trend that we find disturbing, she said.

The rollout of BioButton is among the latest examples of hospitals deploying technology to improve efficiency and address a decades-old nursing shortage. But that transition has raised its own concerns, including about the devices use of AI; polls show the public is wary of health providers relying on it for patient care.

LEFT: The BioButton, a monitoring device, is being used in dozens of hospitals employing artificial intelligence to analyze patients vital signs. RIGHT: Houston Methodist Hospital, just a few miles south of downtown Houston, is located amid a giant medical complex that includes several hospitals. Phil Galewitz/KFF Health News TOP: The BioButton, a monitoring device, is being used in dozens of hospitals employing artificial intelligence to analyze patients vital signs. ABOVE: Houston Methodist Hospital, just a few miles south of downtown Houston, is located amid a giant medical complex that includes several hospitals. Phil Galewitz/KFF Health News

In December 2022, the FDA cleared the BioButton for use in adult patients who are not in critical care. It is one of many AI tools now used by hospitals for tasks like reading diagnostic imaging results.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In 2023, President Joe Biden directed the Department of Health and Human Services to develop a plan to regulate AI in hospitals, including by collecting reports of patients harmed by its use.

The leader of BioIntelliSense, which developed the BioButton, said its device is a huge advance compared with nurses walking into a room every few hours to measure vital signs. With AI, you now move from I wonder why this patient crashed to I can see this crash coming before it happens and intervene appropriately,  said James Mault, CEO of the Golden, Colo.-based company.

The BioButton stays on the skin with an adhesive, is waterproof and has up to a 30-day battery life. The company says the device  which allows providers to quickly notice deteriorating health by recording more than 1,000 measurements a day per patient  has been used on more than 80,000 hospital patients nationwide in the past year.

Hospitals pay BioIntelliSense an annual subscription fee for the devices and software.

Houston Methodist officials would not reveal how much the hospital pays for the technology, though Pletcher said it equates to less than a cup of coffee a day per patient.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

For a hospital system that treats thousands of patients at a time  Houston Methodist has 2,653 non-ICU beds at its eight Houston-area hospitals  such an investment still could translate to millions of dollars a year.

Hospital officials say they have not made any changes in nurse staffing and have no plans to because of implementing the BioButton.

Inside the hospitals control center for virtual monitoring on a recent morning, about 15 nurses and technicians dressed in scrubs sat in front of large monitors showing the health status of hundreds of patients they were assigned to monitor.

A red checkmark next to a patients name signaled the AI software had found readings trending outside normal. Staff members could click into a patients medical record, showing patients vital signs over time and other medical history. These virtual nurses, if you will, could contact nurses on the floor by phone or email, or even dial directly into the patients room via video call.

Nutanben Gandhi, a technician who was watching 446 patients on her monitor that morning, said that when she gets an alert, she looks at the patients health record to see if the anomaly can be easily explained by something in the patients condition or if she needs to contact nurses on the patients floor.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Oftentimes an alert can be easily dismissed. But identifying signs of deteriorating health can be tough, said Steve Klahn, Houston Methodists clinical director of virtual medicine.

We are looking for a needle in a haystack, he said.

Donald Eustes, 65, was admitted to Houston Methodist in March for prostate cancer treatment and has since been treated for a stroke. He is happy to wear the BioButton.

You never know what can happen here, and having an extra set of eyes looking at you is a good thing, he said from his hospital bed. After being told the device uses AI, the Montgomery man said he has no problem with its helping his clinical team. This sounds like a good use of artificial intelligence.

Patients and nurses alike benefit from remote monitoring like the BioButton, said Pletcher of Houston Methodist.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

LEFT: Houston Methodist this year plans to send the BioButton home with patients so the hospital can better track their progress. TOP RIGHT: A nurse inside Houston Methodist Hospitals virtual intensive care unit monitors patients from afar. ABOVE RIGHT: Sarah Pletcher, system vice president at Houston Methodist, stands inside the hospitals 24-hour virtual intensive care unit where patients are monitored by nurses and technicians. Phil Galewitz/KFF Health News TOP: Houston Methodist this year plans to send the BioButton home with patients so the hospital can better track their progress. MIDDLE: A nurse inside Houston Methodist Hospitals virtual intensive care unit monitors patients from afar. ABOVE: Sarah Pletcher, system vice president at Houston Methodist, stands inside the hospitals 24-hour virtual intensive care unit where patients are monitored by nurses and technicians. Phil Galewitz/KFF Health News

The hospital has placed small cameras and microphones inside all patient rooms, enabling nurses outside to communicate with patients and perform tasks such as helping with patient admissions and discharge instructions. Patients can include family members on the remote calls with nurses or a doctor, she said.

Virtual technology frees up on-duty nurses to provide more hands-on help, such as starting an intravenous line, Pletcher said. With the BioButton, nurses can wait to take routine vital signs every eight hours instead of every four, she said.

Pletcher said the device reduces nurses stress in monitoring patients and allows some to work more flexible hours because virtual care can be done from home rather than coming to the hospital. Ultimately it helps retain nurses, not drive them away, she said.

Sheeba Roy, a nurse manager at Houston Methodist, said some members of the nursing staff were nervous about relying on the device and not checking patients vital signs as often themselves. But testing has shown the device provides accurate information.

After we implemented it, the staff loves it, Roy said.

Serena Bumpus, chief executive officer of the Texas Nurses Association, said her concern with any technology is that it can be more burdensome on nurses and take away time with patients.

We have to be hypervigilant in ensuring that we are not leaning on this to replace the ability of nurses to critically think and assess patients and validate what this device is telling us is true, Bumpus said.

Houston Methodist this year plans to send the BioButton home with patients so the hospital can better track their progress in the weeks after discharge, measuring the quality of their sleep and checking their gait.
10 May 2024 08:30 (UTC+04:00)

Nazrin Abdul Read more

Climate change is one of the global problems that concern the world and is now an undeniable reality in front of all countries. Widespread use of fossil fuels and, as a result, an increase in the volume of greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere, causes the temperature to rise in the world.

For these reasons, we can say that holding the COP29, which is the largest event in the world, is not a one-sided issue. In the issue of climate change, the international community and the countries of the world have a great responsibility.

Azerbaijan's hosting of COP29 can be considered the most important event of 2024 and a logical continuation of the country's strategy of transition to a green economy. The declaration of 2024 as the "Year of Solidarity for the Green World" in our country by the Decree of the President of Azerbaijan is a confirmation of the value given to this mission.

The next reality of the energy policy of Azerbaijan, which has rich alternative energy resources, is related to the development of "green energy". The strategic basis of renewable energy production policy is "Azerbaijan 2030: National Priorities of Socio-Economic Development" defined by the state and adopted in February 2021. One of the five national priorities - clean environment and "green growth" country priority sets new goals.

In addition, the "Socio-economic development strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022-2026" envisages increasing the share of renewable energy sources in electricity production to 24 percent by 2026, and to 30 percent by 2030.

When we look at the work done and the goals set, we see a country that is not satisfied with just making promises but achieves concrete results with strategic environmental decisions. This country is proving its importance to the green energy economy with practical activities. Thus, Azerbaijan aimed to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases by 35 percent by 2030, and by 40 percent by 2050, compared to 1990.

Despite its name being closely associated with oil, Azerbaijan is a leader in the implementation of approaches to the transition to green energy in the region and makes a great contribution to the fight against the consequences of climate change.

Azerbaijan takes practical measures to combat climate change and the ecological well-being of the planet. One of the main priorities in the reconstruction of the liberated territories is the restoration of the ecosystem and the protection of the environment. As the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said, Karabakh will be a "green energy" zone.

In accordance with the country's socio-economic development priorities, in the current and future period, more attention is paid to the use of renewable energy sources and the expansion of the application of "green" technologies.

Renewable energy projects with a capacity of 7 gigawatts will be implemented in Azerbaijan by 2030, 5 gigawatts of this capacity are planned to be exported.

In this direction, Azerbaijan is currently implementing a 240 MW wind power plant project with ACWA Power, a reputable company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the field of renewable energy.

Thus, in 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding on cooperation in the field of offshore wind energy was signed between the Ministry of Energy of Azerbaijan and the ACWA Power Company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The memorandum envisages cooperation in determining the main principles of cooperation in the field of offshore wind energy, assessing potential, and creating conditions for profitable investment in renewable energy projects in Azerbaijan.

According to the memorandum, on January 13, 2022, the groundbreaking ceremony of the "Khizi-Absheron" Wind Power Station was held in Azerbaijan by the ACWA Power Company.

It should be noted that "Khizi-Absheron" KES will be the largest power plant in the renewable energy sector in Azerbaijan with a capacity of 240 megawatts.

It was reported that the Wind Power Plant will be put into operation in 2025. By producing one billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, the station will save approximately 220 million cubic meters of natural gas and prevent more than 400,000 tons of carbon emissions from being released into the atmosphere.

Within the framework of the work carried out in this field, camera studies are ongoing across the country in the direction of identifying and prioritizing areas with the potential for renewable energy sources.

Along with the consumption and export of traditional energy resources of Azerbaijan, it attaches great importance to renewable energy due to its high potential.

It should be noted that Azerbaijan is one of the countries with high potential for renewable energy sources. According to calculations, the technical potential of renewable energy sources in our country is 135 gigawatts on land and 157 gigawatts at sea.

The economic potential of renewable energy sources is 27 gigawatts, including 3,000 megawatts of wind energy, 23,000 megawatts of solar energy, and 380 megawatts of bioenergy. The potential of mountain rivers is estimated at 520 megawatts.

Azerbaijan already has the experience of using wind energy and interest in this field is growing. Taking into account the environment, economic infrastructure, and geographical location, the wind energy potential in Azerbaijan is estimated at 800 MW.

The full use of this energy would save 20% of the energy produced now.

It should also be noted that in terms of wind energy, the Absheron Peninsula, coastal areas of the Caspian Sea, and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic are particularly favorable. At the same time, based on preliminary studies, it was determined that the technical potential of wind energy in the mountainous areas of Lachin and Kalbajar is 2000 MW.

According to preliminary estimates, this energy resource is approximately 2.4 billion. kW/s means electricity. This, in turn, costs 0.8 mln. ton means saving fuel.

In recent years, a large amount of investment has been made in the creation and restoration of energy infrastructure. In particular, the interest in alternative energy fields has increased significantly.

The start of operation of the Garadag Solar Power Station (GES) last year is the beginning of a new stage. Garadagh HPP is the first station built at the expense of foreign investment in our country. Thus, the project of the station is implemented with the prestigious "Masdar" company of the United Arab Emirates.

The 230 MW solar plant was officially inaugurated on October 26, 2023. Garadag Solar Power Plant is the largest solar power plant in the Caspian region and the CIS. The station was built with foreign investment worth 262 million US dollars.

It will be possible to save 110 million cubic meters of natural gas by producing 500 million kilowatt-hours of electricity at the station every year. This will reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere by 200,000 tons. The transition to green energy also shows the country's commitment to its obligations regarding carbon emissions. According to the commitment, Azerbaijan must reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent by 2050 and create a "zero emission" zone in the territories freed from occupation. As can be seen, serious measures are already being taken in this direction.

In the field of renewable energy in Azerbaijan, implementing the Yashma power plant construction project, turning Nakhchivan into a green energy zone along with Garabagh and East Zangazur (the possibility of building a 500 MW solar power plant is being considered), and the 240 MW power plant in Jabrayl, in which British company bp acts as a direct foreign investor. plans to launch a solar power plant.

One of the importance of the energy facility "Shafaq" Solar Power Station, which will be built with BP, is that it will be built in the territories freed from occupation. It is known that President Ilham Aliyev declared these territories - an area of 10,000 square kilometers - a "green energy" zone shortly after the victory in the 44-day Patriotic War. Therefore, the construction of "Shafaq" will play an important role in the realization of this goal, and will become a part of the grand construction carried out in Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur in general.

At the same time, it plans to implement SOCAR's project on connecting electric cables to offshore platforms to reduce the use of natural gas in enterprises in the country, as well as the construction of an underwater cable through the bottom of the Black Sea to transport green energy from Azerbaijan to Europe.

"SOCAR Green" LLC is expected to implement several important projects soon. Thus, in the initial phase of the "Mega" project, "SOCAR Green" and "Masdar" companies are planning to implement 1 GW wind and solar energy projects on land. "SOCAR Green" will also implement solar and wind energy projects in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic together with "ACWA Power", "Masdar" and "Energy China". Let's emphasize that Nakhchivan has been declared a "green energy" zone due to its rich resources in the mentioned area.

At the same time, studies are being conducted on the transportation of hydrogen to the European market through the Trans-Adriatic Pipeline (TAP). In particular, the requirements for the construction of the necessary equipment for the transportation of natural gas and hydrogen mixture through the TAP pipeline are being studied. At the same time, in cooperation with international companies such as bp and KBR (Great Britain), Masdar (UAE), and Equinor (Norway), discussions are held on promising technologies for the production of hydrogen.

It should be recalled that on December 17, 2022, the "Agreement on strategic partnership in the field of development and transmission of green energy" was signed between Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary, and Romania in Bucharest. This agreement envisages laying a 1,100-kilometer submarine cable under the Black Sea as the main channel providing Europe with "green energy". According to the agreement, 4 gigawatts of green energy will be exported to Europe at the initial stage. In other words, Azerbaijan aimed to build a "green energy" bridge to Europe.

Azerbaijan's green energy strategy is multifaceted and all risks have been taken into account. Azerbaijan, which is the leading country in the region in terms of energy resources, will maintain its position in the green energy sector as well. This is a well-thought-out and forward-looking energy policy. These projects are very valuable both for the protection of the environment, for the provision of economic power, and for raising the general level of development.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 11:20 (UTC+04:00)

Nazrin Abdul Read more

At the 4th meeting of the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States in Tashkent, hosted by the Uzbekistan Banks Association, Zakir Nuriyev, Vice-President of the Council, highlighted the pivotal role of joint efforts among Turkish banking communities in fortifying economic ties between nations, Azernews reports.

Nuriyev emphasized that the rapid organization of such gatherings underscores the high priority attached to this association, underscoring that banks and the financial sector serve as economic locomotives, propelling substantial progress. He pledged continuous support from the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States, including the Azerbaijan Bank Association, to foster this cooperation.

"Banks and the financial sector in general are the locomotive of the economy, and their association strongly supports the achievement and direction of significant progress in the economy. As the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States, including the Azerbaijan Bank Association, we will continuously support this cooperation."

Highlighting the dynamism of Azerbaijani banks as the driving force behind the country's economic development, Nuriyev noted advancements in both quantity and quality, particularly in digitalization.

Alpaslan Chakar, President of the Council, reflected on the journey of the council since its inception in 2022 in Istanbul, followed by subsequent meetings in Baku and Tashkent. The annual gatherings serve as forums to discuss pivotal economic issues relevant to the region.

During the conference's opening panel on "Financial trends - FinTech and banks, fight against fraud, popularization of Islamic banking," Alpaslan Cakar, CEO of Ziraat Bank, and Zakir Nuriyev, Vice-President of ABA, alongside leaders from member countries, delivered speeches.

Established on November 4, 2022, the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States aims to deepen existing economic relations among Turkic-speaking countries and foster closer ties within the financial and banking systems. The second meeting was held in Baku on June 13, 2023.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 12:07 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

A meeting has been held with the rector of the Azerbaijan National Conservatory, holder of the Shohrat and Sharaf State Orders, People's Artist Siyavush Karimi as part of the project "Face to Face" (Uzbuz), Azernews reports.

The project is organized with the support of the Ganja-Dashkesan Regional Cultural Department.

Siyavush Karimi discussed ideas for the development of music education with directors and teachers of music schools subordinate to the Ganja-Dashkesan Regional Cultural Department.

The main goal of the project "Face to Face" is to organize meetings with famous personalities working in various fields of culture, during which they share their experiences and successes.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, and Milli.Az.

----

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
The Baku Yunus Emre Institute has presented a project "Turan yolu-Zngzurum", created by masters of decorative and applied arts Lala, Togrul and Iskandar Sardarli, Azernews reports.

A total of 50 art works made by the Sardarli family were showcased as part of the exhibition, which aims at studying and promoting the cultural heritage formed in Western Azerbaijan.

The exhibition displays forgotten examples of applied taking into account ancient traditions and using modern technologies.

Speaking at the event, the head of the Baku Yunus Institute Emre Selcuk Karaklc, Doctor of Philosophy in Art History, art critic, Honored Artist Ziyadkhan Aliyev and Deputy of the Turkish Grand National Assembly Dogan Bek praised the Sardarli family's art which focuses on thepromotion of the decorative and applied arts, folk art and national heritage.

The family's craft, which synthesizes applied art with jewelry, attracts attention with its national flavor and originality.

Representatives of the Sardarli family, who are members of the Azerbaijan Artists' Union are currently working on new art works.

Their art works are kept in museums in Hungary, Northern Cyprus, Canada, and in collections in different countries.

The head of the Sardarli family, head of the International relations Department at NGO "Promoting the preservation and promotion of examples of applied art" Iskandar Sardarli said that the main goal of the project is to contribute to the revival of forgotten examples of folk art, propaganda of the history and culture of Western Azerbaijan.

Then the guests got acquainted with the interesting works of the Sardarli family.

Samples of decorative and applied art, chests, medallions, jewelry and other works made in a unique style glorifying historical architectural monuments, pearls of the cultural heritage of Western Azerbaijan, amazed with their national flavor and originality.

----

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 14:00 (UTC+04:00)

Laman Ismayilova Read more

Azerbaijani stand has been set up at the 16th International Cultural Festival of Tianjin University at Jijian Pedagogical University of China, Azernews reports.

Samples of the national cuisine, books, souvenirs and other materials reflecting the culture and history were on display at the national stand.

At the festival held under the motto "Let's learn from each other, let's develop together", students studying at the university and representing more than 40 countries, including Azerbaijani students, demonstrated their national culture.

The Azerbaijani students in national costumes informed the visitors of the Azerbaijan stand about the history and modern development of the country.

In addition to the festival, a scientific event called "Dialogue of Young Chinese Scholars" was held on the occasion of the International Chinese Language Day announced by the UN.

The head of the Azerbaijani language department of Beijing Foreign Languages University, Doctor of Philosophy Agshin Aliyev met with the university's Chinese language students and answered their questions.

----

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
Fidan Hajiyeva's First International Opera Festival in Baku enjoyed a huge success, Azernews reports.

The festival contributes to the promotion and development of classical music in Azerbaijan, identifies and supports new talents in the field of opera.

For seven days, works by Azerbaijani classics and world composers were held in Baku and Ganja as part of the festival.

Among the festival guests were world-famous conductors and composers from abroad, Azerbaijani vocalists and musicians as well as talented youth.

Foreign opera stars shared with Trend Life their impressions of the Fidan Hajiyeva's First International Opera Festival.

Cornelia von Kerssenbrock(Germany), artistic director and chief conductor of the Bavarian Gutt-Imling Opera Festival hailed the festival`s organization.

"For about twenty years I have been coming to Azerbaijan and taking part in various projects. Azerbaijan is a wonderful country with good-natured people, with its ancient culture and traditions, the history of opera. And it is a great pleasure and honor for me to be part of the festival organized by Fidan Hajiyeva. As the chief conductor of my own opera festival in Germany, I understand very well how much work and organizational effort is required to hold an opera festival. I appreciate the initiative of Fidan Hajiyeva. In my opinion, the promotion of culture is always an important part of the unification of nations. The language of music and the emotional aura of opera music are international and have no boundaries. Opera music has been exciting and touching the feelings of people from all over the world for more than 400 years. made a huge contribution to world opera culture. Opera music is a great art; opera unites world cultures, fine arts and theater, thus creating the integrity of the works. I would also like to note the fact that the festival program was compiled professionally. I wish Fidan Hajiyeva further success," she said.

Murat Cem Orhan (Turkiye), director of the Cemal Resit Rey Concert Salon and chief conductor of the Cemal Resit Rey Symphony Orchestra expressed his gladness with the participation in the festival.

"I was happy to take part in such a great celebration of opera art, representing my country on brotherly soil. I visited Baku for the first time, but all these days I felt at home. I would like to note the high professionalism of the musicians and vocalists with whom I was lucky to work, the organization of the project and express my personal gratitude to Fidan Hajieyva for the invitation. I wish the festival to become traditional and delight with the high art of classical music," he said.

Vyacheslav Vasiliev (Russia), soloist of the opera troupe of the Mariinsky Theater of St. Petersburg said that this was his second trip to Azerbaijan.

"This is the second time I come to Baku, last year I performed on the stage of the Azerbaijan State Opera and Ballet Theater in the opera Il trovatore (The Troubadour). Baku is a very beautiful and sunny city. By the way, my distant relatives live and have roots in this country. Holding such festivals is a kind of breath of fresh air in the world of high musical art. The international level of the festival also helps the audience to learn more about the art of soloists and musicians from different countries; this festival is a mutual enrichment of cultures. a real holiday that left very good, bright memories," said Vyacheslav Vasiliev.

Giorgi Chelidze (Georgia), soloist of the Youth Opera Company of the Bolshoi Theater and Teatro Regio Torino noted that Fidan Hajiyeva's First International Opera Festival became a great holiday for Azerbaijani opera enthusiasts.

"I always come to Baku with pleasure, where I have a lot of friends, and consider it my hometown. Back in 2018 in Baku I took first place at the Bulbul International Vocal Competition. Holding such a festival requires a lot of work and professionalism, and it became a great holiday for Azerbaijani opera enthusiasts, everything was at a high level. I would like to thank Fidan Hajiyeva for holding such a festival, I wish you many years of successful activity," Giorgi Chelidze said.

Ripalta Bufo (Italy), soloist of Teatro Verdi San Severo emphasised that many young talents took part in the festival.

"I visited Azerbaijan for the first time, performed in Baku and Ganja, where I was very warmly received. It is very important that I saw many young talents during the festival. I express my great gratitude to Fidan Hajiyeva not only for that , I spoke here in front of a wonderful audience, but was also able to get to know your people, culture, traditions better. Azerbaijanis and Italians are very similar in temperament. Moreover, I learned that Baku and Naples are sister cities, there is a little Venice on the Boulevard, we have a lot in common. Only the most wonderful impressions," said Ripalta Bufo.

Media partners of the event are Azernews.Az, Trend.Az, Day.Az, Milli.Az, and Turkic.World.

----

Laman Ismayilova is AzerNews staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @lmntypewriterrr

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 15:57 (UTC+04:00)

Azerbaijan's cultural community extends their congratulations to First Vice-President Mehriban Aliyeva on the 20th anniversary of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, Azernews reports citing the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry.

In a congratulatory letter, the cultural figures highlight the foundation's dedication to preserving the legacy of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, promoting Azerbaijani values, and advancing cultural heritage.

The foundation's efforts in upholding the ideals of statehood and sharing the rich heritage of Azerbaijan are commended by the cultural community.

"Since its establishment, the Heydar Aliyev Foundation has actively contributed to the successful state policy pursued by President Ilham Aliyev. Under your leadership, it plays an important role in the development of Azerbaijani culture, protection of national and moral values, multicultural traditions, and their promotion both within and outside the country.

The foundation's contributions to the restoration and reconstruction efforts in the liberated territories, the establishment of modern social and cultural infrastructure, and the recognition of Azerbaijan's cultural heritage as universal human values are irreplaceable.

The domestic and international projects that you implement and support strengthen the foundations of Azerbaijani culture, history, and statehood, instilling confidence in our people and supreme values, and making culture accessible and native to everyone.

The cultural community and our people commend the invaluable services of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation in protecting, restoring, and reconstructing various material and cultural monuments in Azerbaijan and abroad, as well as fostering international cultural exchange," the letter says.

The full letter is available at the Azerbaijan Culture Ministry's website.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 16:33 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

Today, a meeting between Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan has kicked off in Almaty.

They were greeted by Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu. This is of crucial importance as it can take place against the backdrop of intensive diplomatic efforts to resolve long-standing disputes between the two countries.

In her comment to Azernews, Pakistani political expert Shazia Anwer Cheema emphasized the importance of the ongoing meeting in Almaty.

Almaty has been the symbol of peace initiatives for a long and Kazakhstan's move for peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan are appreciated by global leaders like the United States and Russia, she noted.

The political scientist evaluated Kazakhstan's mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Kazakhstan has played a pivotal role for peace talks in central Asia and Eastern Europe for a long time and global powers always respect Kazakhstani initiatives for peace talks, she added.

The expert said that the meeting between the two countries foreign ministers that Almaty hosts is very symbolic.

Since Kazakhstan believes in non-aligned foreign policy and provides a complete impartial atmosphere for talk therefore this meeting is very symbolic and significant and can open the door for further deliberations, Cheema said.

Currently, the panic created in Armenia by the joint efforts of the opposition and religious representatives is in the center of the world's attention. Taking such a step at a time when the parties are moving towards the peace process is undoubtedly part of the actions of the parties who always wish for conflict in the South Caucasus. Concerning the issue, the political expert emphasized that it is the traditional policy of Armenia.

It is too early to comment because Armenia has a habit of using foreign affairs for its domestic consumption while peace needs a global and futuristic approach, she said.

The expert also said that whatever the Armenian side is thinking, the reality shows that the Almaty meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers, can open the peace doors for the South Caucasus.

However we need to be optimistic to see what results come out of this meeting because there is a chance that today's Almaty meeting can open door for further deliberations between the two countries providing how honest Armenia is about the peace in the region, the expert finished her speech.

It is worth noting that nowadays the progress towards the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia is ongoing. It should not be forgotten that the conclusion of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia guarantees development in many areas.

First of all, if there is no war or conflict in the region, there is no need for the mediation of external forces. This means that Azerbaijan and Armenia will not only recognise each other's borders, but will also start cooperating within the framework of the open door principle.

Secondly, Armenia's signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan will contribute to its relations with Turkiye, and the borders will open, which will massively affect Armenia's economic structure. On the other hand, Armenia will also benefit from Azerbaijan's giant oil and gas projects as well as its projects, in green energy.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the development of Armenia in the region will undermine the plans of colonialist countries like France to influence the South Caucasus for evil purposes. Yerevan will no longer have to be a toy for other countries and play into the hands of some Western organisations.

Undoubtedly, the signing of the peace treaty in the region will contribute a lot to Armenia as well as Azerbaijan and will maintain long-term security in the South Caucasus.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 08:00 (UTC+04:00)

Today is the birthday of the National Leader of Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev.

In Azerbaijan, the 101st anniversary of Heydar Aliyev's birth is marked.

Heydar Alirza oglu Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923, in the city of Nakhchivan (AR), Azerbaijan. After graduating from the Nakhchivan Pedagogical Technical College in 1939, he studied at the architecture faculty of the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (now Azerbaijan State Oil Academy). The war did not allow him to finish his education.

Since 1941, Heydar Aliyev worked as a department head in the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the Nakhchivan MSSR and the Council of People's Commissars of the Nakhchivan MSSR, and in 1944 he was sent to work in the state security agencies. Heydar Aliyev, who worked in the system of security bodies since 1964, worked as the deputy chairman of the State Security Committee under the Council of Ministers of the Azerbaijan SSR, and since 1967 as its chairman, rising to the rank of major general. In those years, he received special higher education in the city of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg). In 1957, he graduated from the history faculty of Azerbaijan State University.

Heydar Aliyev was elected the first secretary of the Central Committee at the July 1969 plenum of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan and became the head of the republic. Heydar Aliyev, who was elected a member of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in December 1982, was appointed as the first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers and became one of the leaders of the USSR. Heydar Aliyev was a deputy of the Supreme Soviets of the USSR and the Azerbaijan SSR for twenty years and served as the first deputy chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers for five years.

In October 1987, Heydar Aliyev resigned from his positions as a sign of protest against the political line introduced by the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and personally by General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev.

On January 20, 1990, Heydar Aliyev made a statement at the Azerbaijani representative office in Moscow regarding the bloody tragedy committed by the Soviet troops in Baku and demanded the punishment of the organizers and perpetrators of the crime committed against the people of Azerbaijan. He left the ranks of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union in July 1991 as a sign of protest against the hypocritical policy of the USSR leadership regarding the acute conflict situation in Nagorno-Karabakh.

Heydar Aliyev, who returned to Azerbaijan in July 1990, first lived in Baku and then in Nakhchivan, and was elected a deputy to the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan in the same year. In 1991-1993, he was the Chairman of the Supreme Assembly of the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic, Deputy Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of the Republic of Azerbaijan. In 1992, Heydar Aliyev was elected chairman of the New Azerbaijan Party at the founding congress held in Nakhchivan.

In May-June 1993, when the government crisis became extremely acute and there was a threat of a civil war in the country and the loss of independence, the people of Azerbaijan rose up with the demand to bring Heydar Aliyev to power. The then leaders of Azerbaijan were forced to officially invite Heydar Aliyev to Baku. Heydar Aliyev was elected the Chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan on June 15, 1993, and on July 24, by the decision of the Milli Majlis, he began to exercise the powers of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan.

On October 3, 1993, as a result of the national vote, Heydar Aliyev was elected the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan. On October 11, 1998, he was re-elected as the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan, having collected 76.1 percent of the votes in the elections held under conditions of high public participation. Heydar Aliyev, who agreed to be nominated in the presidential elections held on October 15, 2003, refused to participate in the elections due to health problems.

The National Leader of Azerbaijan, President Heydar Aliyev died on December 12, 2003, at the Cleveland Clinic (USA), where he was being treated, and was buried on December 15 in the Alley of Honor in Baku.

Heydar Aliyev has been awarded many state orders and medals, international awards, and was elected an honorary doctor of universities of various countries.

On September 29, 2022, President Ilham Aliyev signed a decree "On declaring 2023 the Year of Heydar Aliyev in the Republic of Azerbaijan". With another decree signed by the head of state on November 28, 2022, the "Action Plan for declaring 2023 as the "Year of Heydar Aliyev" in the Republic of Azerbaijan" was approved. In accordance with the Plan of Events, various events were held in our country and abroad in connection with the 100th anniversary of the Great Leader's birth.

National Leader Heydar Aliyev's greatest wish was the liberation of Karabakh from occupation and the restoration of our territorial integrity. This wish and will of the Great Leader was fulfilled by his worthy follower, the President of Azerbaijan, the Victorious Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Ilham Aliyev.

President Ilham Aliyev gave the Azerbaijani people the joy of another victory on September 19 last year. By raising Azerbaijan's national flag in the ancient and eternal lands - Khankendi, Khojaly, Khojavand, Agdara, and Asgaran, he fulfilled the wishes of our people. Thus, the sovereignty of independent Azerbaijan was fully restored.

At present, Garabagh and Eastern Zangazur, which have been freed from occupation, are being rebuilt, the areas are cleared of mines, and large-scale restoration and reconstruction works are being carried out.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 12:57 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the opening of the Kondalanchay water reservoir complex in the Fuzuli district following its repair and restoration, Azernews reports.

Zaur Mikayilov, Chairman of the Azerbaijan State Water Reserves Agency, briefed the head of state on the completed work.

The Kondalanchay-1 reservoir, located along the Kondalanchay River in Fuzuli district, with a total water capacity of 3.9 million cubic meters (usable volume of 3.6 million cubic meters) and a height of 14 meters, was commissioned in 1962. Comprehensive repair and restoration works were carried out on this reservoir as part of land reclamation and irrigation efforts in the liberated territories.

The Kondalanchay-2 reservoir, operational since 1951, has a total water capacity of 2.1 million cubic meters (usable volume of 1.6 million cubic meters) and a height of 23.35 meters. Comprehensive repair and restoration works were carried out on this reservoir as part of land reclamation and irrigation efforts in the liberated territories.

The Ashaghi Kondalanchay reservoir, operational since 1980, has a total water capacity of 9.5 million cubic meters (usable volume of 9 million cubic meters) and a height of 25 meters.

The head of state launched the Kondalanchay water reservoir complex.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 12:59 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev inspected the ongoing construction of the Ahmadbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway and participated in the opening of the first tunnel on this road, Azernews reports.

Chairman of the Board of the State Agency of Azerbaijan Automobile Roads Saleh Mammadov briefed the head of state on the progress of construction. The existing road has a length of 101 kilometers, while the new road is 81.7 kilometers long, representing a reduction of 19.3 kilometers. This road has 4 to 6 lanes. The construction involves 194 culverts of varying diameters, 38 underground passages, 11 bridges, 7 tunnels, and 9 viaducts. The total lengths are 1,557 meters for bridges, 1,965 meters for viaducts, and approximately 6,450 meters for tunnels in one direction.

Out of the seven planned tunnels, with a combined total length of 12.7 kilometers (for both directions), drilling work has already been completed on six tunnels. The Ahmadbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway starts from the Hajigabul-Horadiz-Agband-Zangezur corridor highway, connecting the liberated districts of Fuzuli, Khojavand, Khojaly, and Shusha.

President Ilham Aliyev participated in the opening of the first tunnel, which has a total length of 6,747 meters.

President Ilham Aliyev posed for photographs together with the workers.

Afterward, the President inspected the entrance and exit sections of the fourth tunnel on the Ahmadbeyli-Fuzuli-Shusha highway.

The left side of this tunnel, located at the 73.7-kilometer mark, is 679.8 meters long, while the right side is 680.6 meters long. Drilling has been completed, and the interior works are underway.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
An explosion caused a massive fire in Harrisonburg, Virginia, on Saturday morning. According to initial reports, three people have been injured in the blast in the South Main Street commercial area.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam wrote on Twitter that he had allocated emergency personnel for extra support, "My team and I are closely monitoring the situation in Harrisonburg after a gas explosion this morning. First responders and firefighters are on the scene, and we have deployed state emergency personnel for additional support. Please avoid the area."

Two of the victims were hospitalized and were said to be in a severe condition caused by the blast.

Harrisonburg's police officials received the initial reports at 8:30 a.m., according to a department spokesperson, reported Fox News.

According to city officials, the detonation transpired in a Miller Circle commercial business area in Harrisonburg.

As of 9:27 a.m., multiple crew and aid had been deployed on the scene. Officials stated at least three people had been transferred from the scene.

The Harrisonburg Fire Department stated that they were on the scene of the blast and fire in the area on South Main Street. The department advised the public to avoid the location.

Videos that surfaced on social media of the scene displayed a thick column of smoke emanating from the surrounding area. Netizen responses indicated that the initial blast was possibly felt miles away.

Officials stated that a number of nearby businesses were affected by the detonation. However, there have been no reports of severe injuries or adverse effects from these businesses.

Also Read: WWII Bomb Discovered in Poland Detonates While Being Defused

The fire department added they have not been able to evaluate the damage beyond the area for residents. Homeowners are asked to report property damage from the blast and fire to the Harrisonburg Fire Department.

The blast was reportedly near a Wendy's building in Harrisonburg, reported WRIC.

The root of the detonation is yet to be known, but an investigation by police officials is underway.

Numerous WHSV viewers reported feeling or hearing the blast for miles. Casualties have yet to be announced, and it was not immediately clear if all individuals have been accounted for.

John Hood from WHSV tweeted footage, "View from Air-3 of the building on Miller Circle in Harrisonburg that appears to have exploded this morning. Crews are containing the scene. Parts of South Main St. will be closed for some time. @WHSVnews," reported The Virginian Pilot.

Battling flames since 9:30 a.m., firefighters were still on the scene. While three people were admitted to the hospital, firefighters remain looking for other injured people.

South Main Street is near the JMU Transportation Department facility, where the incident transpired.

Harrisonburg, in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, has a population of 50,000 and features James Madison University.

Northam called the incident a "gas explosion." The fire and destruction so far have been contained in the initial shopping area. The area has a vape store, barbershop, grocery store, and music store.

According to the official Twitter account for Harrisonburg, a business was in flames with a cause yet to be determined.
10 May 2024 16:47 (UTC+04:00)

Fatima Latifova Read more

Azerbaijani NGOs participated in the tree planting action organized in memory of hundreds of Kenyans who lost their lives as a result of the natural disaster that occurred in the country a few days ago - heavy rains, on the National Tree Planting Day in Kenya, Azernews reports.

Parvana Valiyeva, member of the COP29 Organizing Committee, executive director of the "Service to Health" Public Union, emphasized that the climate event in Kenya clearly demonstrates the consequences of global climate changes. Amin Mammadov, Chairman of the Public Council under the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, Deputy Chairman of the Public Union "Experts in the Field of Water Use", noted that 2024 is the "Year of Solidarity for a Green World" in Azerbaijan, and participation in this action is also a sign of Azerbaijan's global struggle for a green world. Roza Safikhanli, the deputy head of the "Azerbaijan Campaign Against Landmines" pointed out that a safe world is important for everyone.

The chairman of the National Council of Youth Organizations of the Republic of Azerbaijan, Rafael Hajibeyli, also emphasized that the youth of Azerbaijan are also working for a green world, and by participating in this tree-planting action, they show solidarity with their Kenyan colleagues.

It should be noted that a group of NGOs from Azerbaijan is actively participating in the UN Civil Society Conference in Kenya.

Kenyan NGOs said that they will not forget this support of Azerbaijani NGOs and thanked them deeply for their solidarity.

It should also be noted that recently, for the first time, an acquaintance meeting between Azerbaijani and Kenyan NGOs was organized in Nairobi, and opportunities for cooperation were widely discussed.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 19:27 (UTC+04:00)

We are implementing large-scale programs in all liberated territories. Today, Shusha is already the sixth residential area to which former IDPs are returning, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during a ceremony to present apartment keys to the first returning residents of Shusha.

Former IDPs are also expected to return to the village of Sus of Lachin today, so life will be brought back to at least 20 residential areas before the end of this year, the head of state pointed out.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 22:44 (UTC+04:00)

President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the inauguration of the Zabukh and Garigishlag small hydroelectric power plants (SHPP) owned by Azerenerji OJSC in the Lachin district, Azernews reports.

Azerenerji President Baba Rzayev provided President Ilham Aliyev with an overview of the work completed at these power plants.

The Zabukh SHPP has a capacity of 2.8 MW and produces 8-9 million kWh of green energy annually. The " Garigishlag" SHPP, with a capacity of 4 MW, produces 11-12 million kWh annually.

To integrate the power plants into the national energy system, new substations, and 35 kV power transmission lines were constructed. In addition, optical cable lines were installed to connect the stations to a centralized SCADA system, allowing intelligent control, real-time monitoring, and remote control from Baku. The " Zabukh" SHPP, located on the Zabukh river, known for its high flow rate, can operate efficiently even during low-water seasons.

President Ilham Aliyev launched the stations.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 09:00 (UTC+04:00)

Due to the situation in Rafah in the Gaza Strip, the USA has suspended the supply of a total of 3,500 aerial bombs to Israel, Azernews reports, citing the Pentagon spokesman, Patrick Ryder, as he told in a statement.

According to him, the United States has not yet decided what to do with these supplies.

US President Joseph Biden said in an interview with CNN on May 8 that if a major military operation takes place in the city of Rafah, the US will stop supplying weapons to Israel.

It should be noted that a large number of Palestinians who were forced to leave other cities of Gaza have settled in Rafah. According to the Israeli side, the combat units of the Hamas group are concentrated in Rafah.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 15:32 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva, AZERNEWS

The enlargement of the European Union should entail a review of the entire decision-making system within the community, which currently requires unanimity, Azernews reports.

"It seems to me that by increasing the number of [potential members] to more than 30, we will not be able to function the way we work with the current rules," the diplomat said at a conference in Madrid. "This means a review of the decision-making system." "Spain is part of the group of friends of the qualified majority," he said.

Albares recalled that a number of countries in the Western Balkans have been "making a lot of efforts over the years" to join the community. "And we should avoid disappointment with new candidates," the Spanish minister stressed. - There can be no entry or extension "at a discount", it is a matter of merit."

The European Union now has 27 member states.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 21:19 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva, AZERNEWS

Kazakhstan and the Netherlands have signed nine commercial agreements aimed at developing bilateral relations in the fields of agriculture, healthcare, ecology, transport and logistics, Azernews reports.

VISCON Company and the Ministry of Agriculture of Kazakhstan signed a memorandum of understanding on the development of an automated planting material production center with artificial intelligence support. This agreement is aimed at increasing the yield and quality of agricultural crops and ensuring food security. In 2024-2026, it is planned to grow 12 million plants per year. In addition, a document on improving the veterinary system in the country was signed between the Ministry and the Royal State Duma organization.

The Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan and the Royal Philips company signed a memorandum of cooperation on the production of medical devices. The company plans to localize the production of Philips portable ultrasound diagnostic equipment in Kazakhstan. The parties also signed a memorandum on carbon.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
10 May 2024 21:54 (UTC+04:00)

By Alimat Aliyeva, AZERNEWS

The head of the digital media Commission of the Turkish parliament, Hussein Yaman, threatened TikTok with blocking, Azernews reports.

The possibility of blocking the social network is due to the fact that it "lays dynamite in the foundation of the Turkish family.

Speaking in the Turkish parliament, Yayman said about the danger of "trolls" who negatively affect the political life of Turkiye.

"TikTok has been banned in the United States, we oppose this ban, but in Turkiye the situation may reach a legislative ban," Yayman said.

He also called on the social network X to send its representative to Turkiye to resolve the contradictions that have arisen.

---

Follow us on Twitter @AzerNewsAz
State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada

Zip Code
In the midst of pro-Palestinian protests sweeping college campuses nationwide, educators and staff throughout the country find themselves unexpectedly caught in the fray, facing potential arrest and suspension as they stand up for their students' rights

Annelise Orleck is just one of the many faculty members across the nation who feel a duty to support their students amid pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses, despite the possibility of arrest and suspension.

Orleck has been teaching U.S. and Jewish history for more than three decades at Dartmouth College, but during a protest on their campus last week, the 65-year-old began to fear the idea of becoming a key figure in future textbooks.

Officers exerted their force when they threw her to the lawn and knelt on her back as she yelled at police officers who were arresting students on the campus green.

Orleck said she couldn't breathe.

"It did occur to me that I could die," Orleck recalled.

After videos of the professor's arrest with local police went viral, it raised the question of outside intervention on campuses.

Orleck elaborated on her experience, revealing that her hands were zip-tied before officers escorted her to a van and then charged her with criminal trespass.

Subsequently, she was banned from parts of the campus as a condition of her bail, although the school claims the ban will be lifted.

Dartmouth President Sian Leah Beilock highlighted in a statement that the protesters' "actions have consequences."

The 65-year-old professor doesn't know what lies ahead in terms of repercussions from her job, but she says it would be worth standing with her students.

"We were just worried that they would be assaulted, and we were right to be worried," Orleck said.

"It never occurred to me that I, as an older woman Dartmouth professor, would be arrested."

She and other college faculty members across the country told The Washington Post that they've felt a responsibility to support their students and stand up for their own ideological convictions, especially against school officials who have called law enforcement on protesters.

Columbia University, the core of recent protests, showed school staff guarding the students' encampment. Hundreds of faculty at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill signed a petition in support of suspended student protesters, while at other colleges, some faculty members have even physically stood between police officers and students.

Arrests, suspensions, and injuries are several of the consequences professors are facing. Their divided support among pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel movements has served as a sign of solidarity with some students, while other students continue to receive harassment.

Senior program officer for the American Association of University Professors, Anita Levy, reported the faculty union has seen more universities taking action against professors in recent months for speaking against the Gaza war or advising student groups.

"Politicians are putting the pressure on administrations to crack down in ways that we haven't seen before," Levy continued.

"This is a significantly different moment" than other recent protest movements.

Washington University in St. Louis experienced one of the largest crackdowns, in which six faculty members were placed on leave due to their alleged involvement in an April 27 pro-Palestinian protest on campus.

"Universities are making up the rules as they go, trying to suppress free speech on campus," said Angela Miller, a professor of art history and archaeology and one of the faculty members facing discipline.

It's become so extreme that she said that if students need to meet her during office hours, an administrator must be present to monitor the interaction.

Emails she receives from students with questions regarding their final class projects are to be referred to the office manager for a response.

Megan Green, an adjunct professor in Washington University's School of Social Work, has also been placed on leave.

Michael Allen, a senior architecture lecturer, said he too has been banned from campus and is only permitted to complete grade work.

All three members confirmed they were only at the protest to observe and support their students.

"I thought the presence of faculty outside the encampment would help de-escalate the situation," Allen, 43, said.

"I had no idea within less than three minutes I would be in handcuffs."

Green told the Post that what started as a peaceful demonstration with students sitting and eating together turned violent as police arrested protesters on April 27.

Allen expressed that he would have backed student protesters regardless of what they were supporting.

Benjamin Robinson, an associate professor of Germanic studies at Indiana University, blocked a line of police officers dressed in riot gear on the Bloomington campus on April 25, as dozens of students stood behind him, arms linked together.

"These are kids," Robinson, who wore a shirt that said, "Jews Say Cease Fire Now," recalled telling officers.

"Are you going to use violence against them?"

Robinson and 33 other protesters were arrested, according to university officials.

He has since filed a lawsuit against Indiana University's trustees and president with two other plaintiffs, alleging the campus ban on faculty and student protesters violated their free-speech rights.

When asked how he would respond if police returned to the encampments on campus, he doubled down:

"I'd be back on the field with the students in a heartbeat."
Baby Gray Whale at Bandon Confirmed Killed by Orcas, Rarely Documented on Oregon Coast

Published 5/08/24 at 3:35 a.m. - Updated 5/08/24 at 3:25 p.m.

By Oregon Coast Beach Connection Staff





(Bandon, Oregon)  [UPDATED] - There's absolutely no doubt now that orca season is in full swing on the Oregon coast, and it may end up as dramatic as last year's. (Photo Jim Rice, Marine Mammal Stranding Network)

A baby gray whale washed up in Bandon on Monday morning, and it turns out to be the result of orca predation.

These kinds of incidents involving the transient orcas that are in the area are rarely documented, and until recently they were never seen. Only one other incident in recent years is as such in this region.

Confirmation came late Monday night from Jim Rice, head of the Marine Mammal Stranding Network.

Yes - its a gray whale calf that recently died due to killer whale predation, Rice said.

The calf has the tell-tale scratch marks of killer whales, which are in the area to primarily hunt down seals and sea lions. However, they are known to hunt baby gray whales, which are still migrating through the region.

UPDATE: Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department said it is looking to remove the body for further study. Local tribes have first dibs and used it to revive a ceremony thousands of years old.

Last year, numerous witnesses saw and documented a pod of this special branch of transient orcas attacking a mother gray and her calf. The calf was eventually killed after hours of epic fighting on the mother's part. Dozens Watch and Document Orcas Attack, Kill Baby Whale on Oregon Coast: More Videos



Photo Jim Rice, Marine Mammal Stranding Network

The body washed up within a couple of days on the central coast.

At the time, Rice told Oregon Coast Beach Connection a surprising fact about how killer whales operate: Orcas often only consume a small amount of each carcass theyve killed.

This appears to be the case with the baby calf at Bandon: you can see where some of its insides have been torn out, but not much else is missing from the body. Killer whales often use these hunts as practices and it is not always about getting a meal.

Look for further updates on this story later today on Oregon Coast Beach Connection as more is learned. It's possible regional experts will have a good guess on which pod killed the baby gray.

The Oregon Coast Killer Whale Monitoring Program has documented a steady stream of orca sightings along the coastline since the beginning of April. The transients are definitely here.



Click on photo to see full shot - content warning

Some have even been identified by their markings, which included some of that pod that did the killing last year.

Sightings appear to have kickstarted on April 3. Some of the other sightings noted by the public:



Photo Jim Rice, Marine Mammal Stranding Network



Around April 12, a handful were spotted in the Coos Bay area.

Between April 20 and 23, a few were spotted around the Mouth of the Columbia.

April 24 there were numerous sightings around Lincoln City's northern waters.

Around that time, Depoe Bay's Dockside Charters Sportfishing and Whale Watching spotted four on the central coast. See video

Near the jetties at Reedsport, on April 30, some reported seeing them chasing or at least scoping out sea lions resting on the rocks.

On May 3, there were at least four orcas abut six miles west of Newport.

These transient orcas typically shut down the show around June as seal pup birthing season winds down.

2023 saw some incredible observations, including a first for all regional experts - at least in this area. A mama gray and her calf got stuck in the surfline at a Tillamook County beach, and managed to get free as witnesses were filming. 3 Gray Whales Strand on Oregon Coast: Calf from Orca Attack; Mother and Calf Swim Away

Rice said that was a definite first for Oregon, and he said it was quite possible the whales were trying to hide from marauding orcas when they became stranded.

Oregon Coast Hotels in this area - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours







MORE PHOTOS BELOW













More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....



Coastal Spotlight



Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright  Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted
Huge Sunspot / CME's May Bring Northern Lights to Washington, Oregon Coastlines

Published 5/09/24 at 6:25 a.m.

By Andre' Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection





(Oregon Coast) - Get your camera gear ready: clear skies and a really, really large sunspot out in space have created a decent recipe for spotting the Aurora Borealis in Oregon and Washington, which includes the coastlines. (Above: Oregon Coast Beach Connection snagged this shot of the Aurora Borealis years ago in the Coast Range).

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) has a geomagnetic storm watch in effect for Friday and Saturday (May 10 and 11), which just had the storm upgraded from a G2 to a G3 level. This eruption of solar material should produce a good set of northern lights in higher latitudes, but it may show as far south as Oregon, the SWPC said.

If you go looking, chances are slim you'll see it with the naked eye this far south. Most of the time, it's only captured on higher grade camera equipment that can take longer exposures. With clear skies over the weekend for the Oregon coast and Washington coast  as well as most inland areas  you'll want to point your lenses to the north for a bit.

Plan to go check things out after midnight on Friday and Saturday.

It's possible the geo-storm will create northern lights over many of the northern states and some of the lower Midwest to Oregon, the center said.

There is a massive sunspot on the sun right now that is 15 times the size of the Earth, and it recently fired off a set of CME's (coronal mass ejections) that will be combining into one and hit the planet over the weekend.



Taken by Martin Wise on May 8, 2024 @ Trenton, Florida



According to Spaceweather.com, it's called AR3664, and if you're looking at it with ordinary eclipse glasses you can actually see it right now. (Make sure you do NOT look at the sun without proper eye protection).

Multiple CMEs erupted associated with flare activity from Region 3664 on 07-08 May, the center said. These CMEs are expected to merge together with potential arrival expected late on 10 May to early on 11 May (UTC dates).



Oregon Coast Beach Connection

CMEs are eruptions of solar material, the center said. Watches at this level are infrequent but not exactly unusual.

AR3664 is being likened to the Carrington's sunspot in 1859 (the year Oregon became a state), which emitted a series of intense solar flares and CMEs. The resulting geomagnetic storms set fire to telegraph offices and sparked auroras from Cuba to Hawaii, said Spaceweather.com.

This geomagnetic storm is not expected to result in anything like that. The CME hurled at Earth on May 8 is tiny compared to the Carrington event.

Spaceweather.com included a sketch done by the famous Carrington back then using white paper with the sun projected onto it.

Still, according to the site, storms like those normally occur every 40 or 60 years, so Earth is reportedly long overdue. That one was the kind of event that many worry would fry out the internet and a host of other electrical systems in parts of the world.

Areas like the Oregon and Washington coast will be perfect for snapping photos as they're generally untouched by human lighting. Head to higher points to get a good view of the northern skies, such as near Cape Arago (Coos Bay area), Cape Blanco (Port Orford), the northern side of Neahkahnie Mountain near Manzanita, the high pullout just south of Yachats, or Anderson's Viewpoint near Oceanside.

You may, however, have to contend with winds.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours







MORE PHOTOS BELOW













More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....



Coastal Spotlight



Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright  Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted
When the Green Flash and Oregon Coast Whale Research Meet: Science Explanation

Published 5/03/24 at 3:35 a.m.

By Andre' Hagestedt, Oregon Coast Beach Connection





(Newport, Oregon)  One of the most sought-after sights on the Oregon coast and even Washington coast is catching a glimpse of the green flash at sunset. It's more common than not for visitors to line up along a beach view as sunset begins to try and see the famed, even elusive phenomenon. (Photo Craig Hayslip / Marine Mammla Institute / OSU)

What if, however, you're a whale researcher at sea? Does the green flash do its colorful thing for you and your crew? And if so, just what is the actual scientific explanation behind the green flash at sunset?

Craig Hayslip, Senior Faculty Research Assistant with the Marine Mammal Institute out of the Hatfield Science Center in Newport (Oregon State University), can answer the first question. He caught what is the money shot of the green flash on a research vessel on April 20. See Craig's Instagram photos

As for the science, the National Weather Service's (NWS) Brian P. Nieuwenhuis can delve into that. It's one of the few times anyone has obtained the explanation from an actual scientist out there. On top of that, it turns out t's related to another phenomenon known as the Novaya Zemlya effect which you see more often.

Haystlip was out at sea off Oregon's coast when he was snapping away at our star (called Sol, by the way) taking a dip into the ocean. He then caught one of the most striking shots of the green flash in recent years.

Lucky dog: apparently the crews of these vessels see them periodically  and most people only see it maybe once in their life.



Phil Manoug of NOAA captured this one a few years ago

We see a few out here but I see them from shore too. I dont think being on the ocean or on shore makes a difference, Hayslip told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. For our current project, surveying for marine mammals and seabirds from Cape Mendocino to the Columbia River, we work from sunrise to nearly sunset, so often the sun is setting as we put our gear away. In this case I just stayed out a bit longer because it looked like it would be a good sunset and fair conditions to catch a green flash.

The expedition was part of the MOSAIC Project, where scientists are examining the regional population of marine mammals and seabirds for the coming wind energy projects offshore.

The green flash can be a difficult one to see and even harder to photograph.

I think most people miss the flash because it is so small, Hayslip said. This photo was taken with a 500mm lens and then cropped to bring out the size even more. It was unique to me because I had never had a cloud in front of the sun like this before. While on these MOSAIC project cruises I have probably only photographed a green flash 4 or 5 times. This is our 6th and last cruise and I have been on all of them as a marine mammal observer.



Green flash in Seaside / Oregon Coast Beach Connection

At one point, Hayslip and his fellow crew got even luckier: they spotted a few orcas out there the day before he caught the green flash. Since about then, local orca groups have been on fire with numerous sightings along this coastline.

So exactly what causes the green flash?

Nieuwenhuis is with the Medford office of the NWS and one of his specialties is marine weather.

The Green Flash occurs as the blue and green light from the sun is refracted more than the reds and oranges, allowing the green to be seen at the edge of the sun, Nieuwenhuis told Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Red and orange are bent below the horizon, leaving the blues and greens, then the blue is scattered out by the air itself, so it isn't seen. This leaves the green as the only visible color. In effect, the atmosphere acts like a prism.



Novaya Zemlya / Oregon Coast Beach Connection

He said it's very much related to the Novaya Zemlya effect, which is an exceptionally cool sight where the sunset appears to be two-headed or three-headed or even more. It's a subtle one that people don't often recognize; they don't realize what they're really looking at. The sun is being projected above itself.

Both occur due to refraction of sunlight through multiple temperature layers of the atmosphere, Nieuwenhuis said. In the case of Novaya Zemlya effect, the atmosphere acts more like a lens, bending the light around the horizon, allowing the sun to appear above the horizon when it really isn't.

Both of them require inversion layers in the atmosphere, which usually just happens on clear, stable days, he said.

They also work best with a clear, unobstructed horizon, which our coast provides in abundance for sunsets, Nieuwenhuis said.

There's also a lot of talk in the science community that the Novaya Zemlya is rather rare  or it certainly was when it was first named centuries ago. Nieuwenhuis didn't really know for sure if it is considered rare, but if it is then the Oregon coast has something special and it doesn't even know it.

Am not sure if it is considered rare in occurrence, but it does seem to be uncommon purely based on where you have to be to see it: clear horizon through a strong inversion layer, he said. Our coast frequently features both of those at sunset, so maybe not so rare here? It does seem to occur most often in the polar regions.

Here's one seriously cool tidbit that few seem to note: the Novaya can display a green flash as well. That's something echoed by Nieuwenhuis. It's much harder to see, but make sure you look closely at the sunset when you see the Novaya happening.

More Strange Weather Cousins on the Oregon Coast: Green Flash and the Novaya Zemlya

The conventional wisdom has been that you'll see a green flash with no clouds between you and the sun. However, Hayslip's shot and the Novaya Zemlya prove there's more to it than a vacant sky.

Oregon Coast Hotels for this event - South Coast Hotels - Oregon Coast Vacation Rentals - Where to eat - Maps - Virtual Tours







MORE PHOTOS BELOW













More About Oregon Coast hotels, lodging.....

More About Oregon Coast Restaurants, Dining.....



Coastal Spotlight



Andre' GW Hagestedt is editor, owner and primary photographer / videographer of Oregon Coast Beach Connection, an online publication that sees over 1 million pageviews per month. He is also author of several books about the coast.

LATEST Related Oregon Coast Articles

Back to Oregon Coast

Contact Advertise on Oregon Coast Beach Connection

All Content, unless otherwise attributed, copyright  Oregon Coast Beach Connection. Unauthorized use or publication is not permitted
Florida deputies who fatally shot a Black airman at his home last Friday while responding to a disturbance call went to the wrong apartment, the family's lawyer said, citing a witness who was on a FaceTime call with the victim at the time.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, who was stationed at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field, was killed in his off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach on May 3, the Associated Press reported.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump said at the time of the shooting, Fortson was talking to a woman on FaceTime.

The woman, whom Crump did not identify, said Fortson was alone in the apartment when he heard somebody knocking twice.

When he couldn't see anyone through the peephole, Fortson went to get his gun, which was legally owned.

Deputies burst through the door as Fortson returned to his living room, and seeing him with a weapon opened fire, striking him six times, Crump said in a statement.

The woman said Fortson was on the floor gasping, "I can't breathe."

He died at a local hospital.

"The circumstances surrounding Roger's death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment," Crump said in a statement.

"We are calling for transparency in the investigation into Roger's death and the immediate release of body cam video to the family," he continued. "His family and the public deserve to know what occurred in the moments leading up to this tragedy."

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, in a statement posted on its Facebook page, said the deputy who shot Fortson was placed on administrative leave and it has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to investigate the shooting.

"At this time, we humbly ask for our community's patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event," it said.
Now that Kamala Harris has been coronated the Democratic Socialist designee for nomination as their candidate for President of these United States, after that political party's contrived primary process "democratically" elected Joseph R. Biden: What are your feelings about this party's progressive posture within their self-styled exercise of "Saving Democracy for America," and how truly critical the outcome of this presidential election will be?

8.7% I am ecstatic that this "Democracy's" First partially Black, First partially Indian, First female Co-Parent, and this nation's primary necessity is to her elect our First woman president.26.09% I really do not care about all these "Firsts." I will continue to pray, and work for this Representative Republic to elect someone competent, and brilliantly patriotic to be our next president.65.22% I will never vote for any politician that "first" does not have the core values to understand how dire this Constitutional Republic's situation has become.
Missouri's Attorney General, Andrew Bailey, has launched an invesigation into collusion by the Biden White House and Biden DOJ in the political prosecutions of President Trump. His office has filed a demand for "communications relating to the illicit prosecutions of Doanld Trump".

Congressional committees are also conducting investigatiions into the coordination by the Biden White House and DOJ of the political prosecutions of President Trump. Unlike a state Attorney General, however, the Congressional committees do not have the power to bring indictments.

A good example is the prosecutor in Alvin Bragg's office who is the lead counsel in the current Manhattan prosecution of Trump. He has been paid previously by the Democrat National Committee as a political consultant and his wife is a big Biden political contributor. He was given a very high ranking political appointmnet to the third ranking position in the DOJ after Biden's election and then resigned that to take a much less pretigious position professionally with the Manhattan District Attorney's office. Attorneys just do not make those sort of downward career moves unless there is an agenda involved, such as being dispatched by the Biden apparatus to do a political hit on their chief opponent.

He is not the only person from the Biden DOJ who went to Manhattan to work in the prosecution of Trump. Another one recently pled the 5th Amendment in a congressional hearing when asked if he had ever broken the law in his investigation of Trump.

Prosecutors from the offices of Alvin Bragg, Fani Willis, and Jack Smith also have their names in the visitor logs of the White House itself, not just the Biden DOJ.

https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2024/05/10/missouri-attorney-general-demands-doj-provide-communications-relating-to-the-illicit-prosecutions-of-president-trump/

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/actual-collusion-missouri-ag-accuses-biden-doj-coordinating-trump-prosecutors

Since President Trump is a candidate who will appear on the ballot in Missouri, it opens up potential prosecutions for things like election interference. It would be nice to see thugs like Merrick Garland, Jack Smith, Fani Willis, Alvin Bragg and their underlings facing criminal charges in a Missouri court. The shoe would then be on the other foot. It would be nice to see some of these corrupt judges indicted, too, and Bragg's money man George Soros as well.

Lawfare is a two edged sword. The Democrats unsheathed it for the first time in American political history and it may be about to swing back against them. One can only hope so.

Meanwhile, more corruption in the way the persecution / prosecution of Trump by the Biden regime and its minions continues to be exposed:

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/braggs-paralegal-admits-his-office-deleted-three-pages/

https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/confirmed-political-hitman-jack-smith-admits-violating-exact/

https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2024/05/jack_smith_has_admitted_to_violating_the_same_law_used_against_j6_defendants.html

The work of these Democrat hack prosecutors reminds one of Stalin's KGB Chief Beria, and his famous remark to Stalin preceding the Stalin Show Trials:
As anesthesiologist shortages continue nationwide, new residents may be the key to solving ongoing staffing struggles.

"On a brighter note, anesthesiology has never been more popular with medical students. All anesthesia residency positions are being filled through the residency match, and competition for those spots is fierce. As a result, the best and the brightest of U.S. medical students are entering anesthesia, which bodes well for the future," Gary Haynes, MD, PhD, professor of anesthesiology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans, told Becker's April 30.

While this could bode well for some states, there are currently eight states in the U.S. with no anesthesiology residents, and over half of residents stay in the state where they train to practice medicine full time. This could leave some states at a disadvantage.

Here are the eight states with no anesthesia residents in 2024, according to data from the National Resident Matching Program:

1. Alaska

2. Delaware

3. Hawaii

4. Idaho

5. Montana

6. North Dakota

7. South Dakota

8. Wyoming
Healthgrades recently released its rankings for the best hospitals in the U.S. for cardiac surgery, including three in Oregon.

The rankings recognize hospitals that deliver superior patient outcomes in heart bypass surgery and heart valve surgery.

Read more on the publication's ranking methodology here.

Here are the leaders of the Oregon hospitals and health systems that were included in the rankings:

Kaiser Permanente Sunnyside Medical Center (Clackamas)

Greg Adams, CEO

Andrew Bindman, MD, executive vice president and chief medical officer

Bechara Choucair, MD, senior vice president and chief health officer

Jeff Collins, regional president, Northwest

OHSU Hospital-Marquam Hill Campus (Portland)

Danny Jacobs, MD, president

Peter Barr-Gillespie, PhD, executive vice president and chief research officer

Lawrence Furnstahl, executive vice president and CFO

John Hunter, MD, executive vice president and CEO of OHSU Health

Providence St. Vincent Medical Center (Portland)
Baltimore-based Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital's emergency department resumed seeing new patients in the midst of dealing with a cybersecurity incident that is hampering Ascension facilities, The Baltimore Sun reported May 10.

Additionally, some systems at Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital have come back online, but care teams are being cautious about what systems they use to treat patients, according to Justin Blome, a spokesperson for the hospital.

Emergency services remain suspended at other Ascension facilities, the report said.

Mr. Blome told the Sun this is the first time Ascension Saint Agnes Hospital has experienced a cyberattack.

On May 8, St. Louis-based Ascension reported that it detected unusual activity on its network, indicative of a cybersecurity incident. On May 9, the organization confirmed it as such.

Ascension has 134,000 employees, 35,000 affiliated providers and 140 hospitals across 19 states and Washington, D.C. On May 9, Ascension said it does not have a timeline for when its systems, which were knocked offline due to the attack, would be back online.
The Biden administration plans to introduce cybersecurity mandates for hospitals that would be accompanied by free training for smaller facilities, Bloomberg reported.

"We look to put in place minimum cybersecurity standards for hospitals in the near term, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, told the news outlet May 9.

The proposed rule could apply to all organizations that receive Medicare or Medicaid funding and would be followed by a public comment period, according to the story. The White House intends to offer the free training to 1,400 small, rural hospitals in the coming weeks.

The plans follow unceasing cyberattacks on the healthcare industry, including the February hack of Change Healthcare, which crippled claims processing for large swaths of the country and potentially breached the data of 1 in 3 Americans. St. Louis-based Ascension, the nation's second-largest nonprofit health system with 140 hospitals, was hit with a "cybersecurity incident" May 8 that has caused IT outages, ambulance diversions and canceled appointments across the U.S.

The American Hospital Association has long opposed cybersecurity requirements for hospitals, saying any fines or CMS reimbursement cuts would impinge health systems' ability to fight hacks.

"The primary source of cyber-risk exposure facing the healthcare sector originates from vulnerabilities in third-party technology and service providers, not a hospital's primary systems," the association told Bloomberg. "The AHA supports a sectorwide approach to cyber-resiliency. We will continue to work with policymakers on an approach that doesn't result in unfunded mandates and a focus on the entire critical infrastructure of the healthcare sector."
Colton, Calif.-based Arrowhead Regional Medical Center has named Andrew Goldfrach CEO, effective June 1.

In his new role, Mr. Goldfrach will join the board of directors for the California Association of Public Hospitals and Health Systems. He will also join the Board of Trustees for the California University of Science and Medicine in Colton.

Prior to his new role, Mr. Goldfrach served as COO of the hospital for more than four years, according to an Arrowhead Regional Medical Center May 9 news release.

He also served as the CEO of University Hospitals Avon (Ohio) Rehabilitation Hospital.

ARMC hospital director William Gilbert has shared plans to retire in May, the release said.
Herbert Pardes, MD, a psychiatrist and leader who helped oversee the merger of the two medical centers that became New York-Presbyterian Hospital, died of aortic stenosis April 30 at age 89, The New York Times reported May 9.

Dr. Pardes was named president and CEO of New York-Presbyterian two years after the merger and led it from 1999 to 2011. The merger of New York Hospital and Presbyterian Hospital created one of the largest healthcare institutions in the country with more than 2,300 beds, 13,000 employees and $1.6 billion in annual revenue, according to the Times.

"It was an amazingly accomplished merger considering the different cultures of the two institutions," Kenneth Raske, president of the Greater New York Hospital Association, a trade group, told the Times. "He was the bridge that allowed the smooth and wrinkle-free transition of that institution."

Dr. Pardes aspired to make the hospital a model of medical care and institute policies such as nurses memorizing patients' and their families' names, and having rooms and lobbies painted soothing colors.

He is survived by three sons, six grandchildren and his partner, Nancy Wexler, PhD.
National Hospital Week  which aims to recognize and celebrate hospitals, health systems and the people who work at them  begins May 12 and runs through May 18.

Five things to know:

1. National Hospital Week begins on the same day that National Nurses Week ends. May 12 is also Florence Nightingale's birthday. She is considered the founder of modern nursing.

2. This year's theme is "We Are Health CareCaring for Patients; Strengthening Communities."

3. During the week, members of the American Hospital Association will receive access to a virtual concert available through Musicians On Call for caregivers, according to the association's website.

4. The American Hospital Association is also encouraging organizations to use #WeAreHealthCare and tag the AHA in social media posts celebrating the week.



5. For more information about National Hospital Week and ideas for how to celebrate, click here.
For the second year in a row, fewer graduates of U.S. medical schools are applying to residency programs in states with abortion bans, according to a new data analysis from the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Overall, residency programs in all states saw a decrease in the total number of applicants from students in their senior year of a doctor of medicine program for the 2023-2024 application period relative to the year prior. However, programs in states with strict abortion bans saw larger decreases.

Residencies in states with abortion bans saw the number of unique U.S. MD senior applicants drop 4.2% compared to the previous application cycle, compared to a 0.6% decrease in states where abortions remain legal.

"...while states with more severe restrictions are often less populous (and have fewer residency programs) than other states, U.S. MD applicants may be selectively reducing their likelihood of applying to programs in states with more state-imposed restrictions on health care regardless of the number of available residency programs," AAMC said in their May 10 data snapshot.

"Because these policy decisions appear to affect where physicians plan to practice, state governments and health care leaders need to consider the potential impact of those decisions on the physician workforce."

Fourteen states have enacted near-total abortion bans as of April 1.

The AAMC also evaluated data across specialties. When looking at specialties whose patients are most likely to be affected by abortion bans, pediatric residencies saw the largest overall drop  8.5%  in unique applicants in 2024, compared to the last application cycle.

View the full breakdown here.
The Miss USA pageant will now have to fill not one but two vacant thrones, after Miss Teen USA resigned from her position, just two days after her adult counterpart also gave up her crown.

"After months of grappling with this decision, I have made the choice to resign from the title of Miss Teen USA 2023," UmaSofia Srivastava wrote in a May 8 Instagram post, adding that her "personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization."

The official Miss Teen USA Instagram account responded to Srivastava's post by wishing her the best and thanking her for her service.

"We respect and support UmaSofia's decision to step down from her duties. The well-being of our titleholders is a top priority," the post read. "We are currently reviewing plans for the transition of responsibilities to a successor, and we will soon announce the crowning of the new Miss Teen USA."

Former Miss USA Noelia Voigt acknowledged Srivastava by name in her resignation post, on May 6, describing the high schooler as her "darling, beloved" friend. Voigt's decision shocked many in the pageant community, with some supporters noting that the first letters of the first 11 sentences of her post spelled out "I am silenced."

"In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health," Voigt wrote in her Instagram post. "My journey as Miss USA has been incredibly meaningful, representing Utah with pride, and later the USA at Miss Universe. Sadly, I have made the very tough decision to resign from the title of Miss USA 2023."

When Srivastava resigned from her position, Voigt was among the first commenters on her Instagram post.

"I LOVE YOU," she wrote. "So proud of you, my angel."

Many fans criticized the organization for using similar boilerplate language when responding to Voigt and Srivastava's resignations. Some called on the organization for more transparency and to address the issues that led to both beauty queens resigning mid-reign.

The organization's social media director Claudia Michelle announced her own resignation on May 3, in a social media post detailing her own issues with the organization.

"I have had the privilege to work with Noelia closely and have unfortunately seen a decline in her mental health since we first met. I feel like her ability to share her story and her platform have been diminished," Michelle wrote - noting that she could be open because she had not signed a non-disclosure agreement."I have firsthand seen the disrespect towards Uma and her family."

Fellow beauty queens and Miss USA competitors also supported Voigt's resignation on social media.

"The majority of the members of the Miss USA Class of 2023 support Noelia Voigt's decision to resign from the title of Miss USA," Srivastava's state-level adult counterpart Derby Chukwudi wrote on Instagram.

"We are asking the Miss USA Organization to release Noelia from the confidentially NDA clause of her contract, in perpetuity, so that she is free to speak on her experiences and time as Miss USA. We request a response within 24 hours."
Best Buy Health has partnered with another health system on in-home care.

The tech retailer said it joined forces with Bethlehem, Pa.-based St. Luke's University Health Network in the first quarter. The health system will use Best Buy's Current Health remote monitoring platform to treat post-discharge congestive heart failure patients.

"We talk a lot about our big goal to enable care at home for everyone, and we're intentional about our role as the enabler," Best Buy Health said in a May 9 statement. "Partnering with providers, health plans and biopharma organizations is at the core of our strategy."

Best Buy has been leaning into healthcare in recent years, acquiring Current Health in 2021 for $400 million and sending Geek Squad members into patients' homes to set up hospital-at-home technology. The company's health system partners also include Somerville, Mass.-based Mass General Brigham, Charlotte, N.C.-based Advocate Health, and New York City-based NYU Langone Health.
Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes has launched an investigation into what led to Dallas-based Steward Health Care filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on May 6.

The health system also recently shared that it is $9 billion in debt and has plans to sell all 31 of its hospitals, four of which are in Arizona and have a proposed auction date of June 28, according to a May 10 news release from Ms. Mayes.

Steward's Arizona hospitals include: Florence (Ariz.) Hospital, Mountain Vista Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz., St. Luke's Behavioral Health Center in Phoenix, and Tempe (Ariz.) St. Luke's Hospital.

Along with the hospitals, Steward also operates multiple medical practices across the state.

"Arizonans deserve to know more about the circumstances that led to Steward's bankruptcy filing," Ms. Mayes said in the release. "I am deeply concerned about the potential impact this could have on Arizona patients and medical providers. No matter who ultimately ends up owning and operating these facilities, I am committed to ensuring that no Arizonan is harmed by this bankruptcy, and I will fight to ensure that these hospitals remain open at all times to care for patients without any degradation of service."

Ms. Mayes has vowed to protect patient health information and employee records and to advocate for vendors and employees to receive pay that they are entitled to.

"She will also fight to ensure that prospective buyers do not take advantage of Stewards bankruptcy to acquire hospitals or medical practices when those buyers would otherwise be barred from acquiring them due to the antitrust laws," the release said.

Becker's has reached out to Steward for comment and will update this story should more information become available.
Pittsburgh-based UPMC has agreed to pay $38 million to settle a whistleblower lawsuit filed against the health system and 13 staff neurosurgeons in 2012, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The lawsuit, filed by former UPMC neurosurgeon William Bookwalter, MD, neurophysiologist Robert Sclabassi, MD, PhD, and surgical technologist Anna Mitina, claimed certain neurosurgeons submitted false claims to Medicare, according to the Justice Department. The neurosurgeons allegedly submitted claims for assisting with or supervising surgical procedures performed by other surgeons, residents, fellows or physician assistants, even though they did not participate in the relevant surgeries to the degree required.

A particular neurosurgeon also allegedly fraudulently submitted claims to Medicare for levels of spinal decompression not actually performed, according to the Justice Department.

In 2016, UPMC agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle some of the false claims allegations. However, the whistleblowers continued to pursue claims not covered by the 2016 settlement.

As part of the latest settlement, the three plaintiffs will receive $11 million of the $38 million to be paid by UPMC, plaintiff lawyers said, according to the Post-Gazette. The rest will be paid to the federal government. The settlement does not require the health system to admit wrongdoing.

UPMC had argued in response to the lawsuit that its physician compensation packages, which include a base work rate plus a productivity bonus, are legal and commonly used within healthcare.

Paul Wood, vice president and chief communications officer at UPMC, shared the following statement with Becker's: "UPMC is pleased to have resolved this matter, twelve years after it first started. The settlement, which includes no admission of liability, allows UPMC to keep its focus where it belongs  on providing world-class care to our patients."








The FDA is preparing to respond should bird flu begin circulating more widely among humans, though the threat the disease currently poses to humans remains low, the agency's commissioner Robert Califf, MD, told senators May 8.

"We got to have testing," Dr. Califf told the Senate Appropriations Committee, The Hill reported. "[We] got to have antivirals, and we need to have a vaccine ready to go. So we've been busy, getting prepared for if the virus does mutate in a way that jumps into humans on a larger level."

So far, there has been just one documented human infection that health officials believe is tied to the current outbreak among dairy cattle. The case was confirmed April 1 in a Texas dairy farm worker. Health officials have reiterated that there is currently no evidence that the H5N1 bird flu strain infecting dairy cattle in at least nine states is spreading between humans.

Four more updates:
Scroll down for all the answers to your questions

Business owners in Belfasts Great Victoria Street have said they have mixed feelings ahead of the closure of one of the city's largest train stations.

Today, Great Victoria Street Train Station will close its doors for the final time ahead of construction on the new state-of-the-art Belfast Grand Central Station.

The day will be marked by Translink who will give those travelling from Great Victoria Street Station a free commemorative ticket.

The transport company have also published a limited-edition special booklet outlining the history of the station as it departs ahead of the nearly 400m upgrade.

Watch: Inside the new 200m Belfast Grand Central Station as work enters final phase

The first station opened on the site of Great Victoria Street station in 1839, some 185 years ago.

The final train will depart (delays permitting) at 11.32pm to Bangor.

As the train leaves the station, it marks the beginning of travel disruption for some commuters, which Translink said will be minimal with various bus substitutions in place.

The transport company will operate a Belfast base from Lanyon Place, with no changes to Botanic or City Hospital stops.

However, later in the summer as engineering work continues, the rail line will close between Lanyon Place and Lisburn.

During this time, bus substitution services will operate and passengers will also be able to use scheduled Metro and Ulsterbus services operating between Belfast train stations and along the Lisburn Road.

Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph before the station shuts down its rail services, business owners who operate in the shopping mall, which connects the entrance to the stations, said they had mixed feelings about the closure.

Bread Street is newly opened in the station

A more recent addition to the station is Bread Street, whose employees didnt wish to be named, but admitted they were not too concerned.

Weve been busy since we opened, and nothing has been said to us. Were still going to be trading and open the whole way through the shutdown of the station, one employee said.

Bread Street is actually really busy, as you can see the amount of people in here, its great. But there will be no changes to us.

Sarah Bonar, who works within the electronic cigarette stand and vape shop, Ziggicig, expressed some concern, saying their shop is one of the busiest in Belfast.

Sarah Bonar, sales assistant at Ziggicigg

I work across Belfast, including shops in Lisburn, and this is one of the busiest there is. See the minute people get off those trains or buses, theyre straight in here. Its crazy busy.

We havent heard much about the closing of the station, but I doubt well close due to the business of this shop.

However, owner of mobile and tech accessory stand ProMobile, Navid Hemd is slightly more concerned.

Navid Hemd, owner of ProMobile and Tablets

The concession stand sells phone cases and any last-minute accessories for those heading on long journeys, including power banks. The stand is one of the only non-housed traders in the unit, but it is a permanent fixture.

There will be the buses, yes, but its mostly train passengers coming through here at rush hour who are stopping to look at the phone cases. I am worried, he admits.

It means there wont be as many people. We are a very busy place, and that is because of the train station. With bus passengers we dont get as many. Were not moving though, and well just stay here and hope.

Metro Barbers, which operates just yards away from the entrance to the bus station, connected to the soon-to-close train halt, is not closing its doors and while owner and manager Paul McGill admits it will be tough, hes looking at the bigger picture.

Paul McGill, owner of Metro Barbers in Great Northern Mall, Great Victoria Street

Were still open, I dare say we will be affected, he said.

We tend to get a fair share from the bus and train, but other customers do come to us as well. But at the end of the day, were looking at the bigger and longer picture.

The plan they say is that this area will be the thoroughfare to the main new hub. So there are going to be a lot more people coming through here once its done.

But it will be tight for a few months, but we just have to focus on what is to come. This Linen Quarter and new square is going to filter a lot of people through here which is good for us.

The only thing were worried about is that the barrier right next to the shop will have to close, its the cut-off part for the work, but itll be just a few months, but were not closing and will still be trading the entire thing.

We actually look at it as exciting for a new development to come here which will bring more customers to us.

Great Victoria Street closure  your questions answered

When does Belfast Great Victoria Street close?

Great Victoria Streets train operations will close tonight (Friday, May 10) with the final train leaving at 11.32pm.

When does it reopen?

The station itself, which still operates as a bus station, will not reopen in its current form. Instead, a new station, Belfast Grand Central, will replace it in the autumn.

What does this mean for travel into Belfast?

The railway line will remain open throughout Belfast but will no longer serve Great Victoria Street Station.

Translink has said passengers can continue to use other city centre stations including York Street, Lanyon Place, Botanic and City Hospital.

Major routes such as the Derry-Londonderry line will remain unaffected, with Belfast travellers instead boarding the train at Lanyon Place.

I travel from Lisburn to Lanyon place, how will I be affected?

From later this summer, the line from Lisburn to Lanyon will be closed. Translink has said a bus substitution will be in place.

Once in Belfast and at Lanyon Place, other bus services will also be available to commuters.

Will this affect larger summer events in Belfast like the Twelfth of July?

The disruption will be minimal. Only those travelling using the Lisburn line will be affected when travelling into Belfast.

For example, if youre travelling from Lurgan and wish to go to Portrush, you would use the bus substitution to Lanyon Place and board the Derry-Londonderry service there.

What about the Enterprise service?

The Enterprise service will continue to operate from Lanyon Place.
It was settled without admission of liability from firm

A Co Down chip shop worker with autism has settled his disability discrimination case for 8,000 after a fast food outlet failed to inform him of his dismissal.

Oisin McKerr took out a discrimination case against Mak's Plaice in Magheralin.

The case, which was supported by the Equality Commission for NI, was settled without admission of liability and the chip shop said it regrets any injury to feelings, distress or upset caused.

Oisin was a school pupil when he applied for the part-time job at the takeaway shop. It was his first job.

He said he declared that he lives with autism on his application form and that he was delighted to be offered the job.

I was really pleased to get the job in the chip shop. I thought I was doing well. I didnt know there were any problems, nobody told me, he said.

Oisin McKerr and his mother Charlene McKerr

In January 2023, a few months after starting, Oisin was told it was a quiet time for the shop, and he might get more hours in March.

The next week, Oisin received a text message to pick up his final pay cheque and return his uniform.

I didnt know I had been dismissed. I was really upset when I realised I wouldnt be working there anymore and saw they were recruiting new people.

I wish they had spoken to me and explained it. I would have listened; I would have done as they asked. I wasnt given the chance to explain my autism and to improve.

"Im glad this is all over now and Ive found a new job where I do feel supported and valued.

Oisin McKerr

Mary Kitson, senior legal officer for the Equality Commission, said Oisin was protected under the Disability Discrimination Act.

Employers are required to make reasonable adjustments to remove barriers to the recruitment and employment of people with disabilities, she said.

Oisin says that his employer did not talk to him about his autism or raise any issues about his performance. Nor did they inform him that he was being dismissed.

"Oisin deserved to be treated with dignity and respect at all stages of his employment.

Oisins employer should have identified support measures to try and address any issues of performance at work and discussed these with him.

"Good support from any employer is key to successful employment for a person with autism and effective communication is central to this support. If this approach had been taken, Oisin may have had the opportunity to keep his job.

Maks Plaice also affirmed its commitment to the principle of equality of opportunity in employment and agreed to liaise with the Equality Commission to review its equal opportunities policies, procedures and practices.

When the Belfast Telegraph contacted Maks Plaice for a further comment, a manager did not make any further comment and hung up the phone.
The heroic story of 1940s German university student Sophie Scholl whose distribution of anti-Nazi leaflets led to her death will be featured in a one-night-only symphony in Ulster Hall.

Conor Mitchell, who made headlines with his previous work Abomination: A DUP Opera, is staging his latest work, Riot Symphony with the award-winning Belfast Ensemble and Ulster Orchestra as part of its The Sun Still Shines performance tonight.
Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast

Farrah Lavery from Craigavon meets Bruce Springsteen at his Belfast concert (Credit: Aiken Promotions)

Farrah Lavery reaches out for a hug from Bruce Springsteen at Thursday's concert (Credit: Aiken Promotions)

Bruce Springsteen thrilled a young Co Armagh superfan with a special greeting at his Belfast concert last night.

The 74-year-old rock star gave seven-year-old Farrah Lavery a hug and a guitar pick in front of 40,000 people at Boucher Road Playing Fields as he sang Hungry Heart.

Those lucky enough to make it to the front row had plenty of chances for some interaction with The Boss as he high-fived and hugged those in the crowd throughout the night.

Heartfelt moment as Bruce Springsteen hugs young fan at Belfast concert

Young Farrah from Craigavon said she felt really special and excited when she got the chance to meet Springsteen.

The show at Boucher Road Playing Fields was Farrahs first-ever concert and getting a hug from Springsteen certainly made it memorable.

"He came down and I gave him an 'I love you' sign and he said it back to me the second time he came down, she told BBC Radio Ulsters Good Morning Ulster.

"He gave me a hug. I love him. I have been a fan for my whole life.

Farrah attended the concert with her mum Michelle, her brother Finn and dad Paul.

The Lavery family are Springsteen superfans, with Michelle having seen The Boss 50 times in various venues across the world.

"Bruce is always on in the car, I know it sounds a cliche but he is the soundtrack to our lives, she said. "I have travelled all over to see Bruce.

"A highlight was seeing him at Fenway Park in Boston in 2012  that was special.

"But nothing beats seeing him in Ireland on home turf.

Michelle said the family had an amazing time at the stars first Belfast concert in 11 years.

"It was unbelievable, we could never have predicted this would have happened," she said.

"It was like the perfect storm, Farrah's first concert and a brilliant family experience.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Another Springsteen superfan who had a memorable night yesterday was Co Tyrone woman, Mary T Conway.

The star invited Mary to dance to Hungry Heart during the concert.

Mary has been a Springsteen fan since she was a teenager and said she was blown away when The Boss invited her up for a dance during the show.

I have been a big fan of Bruce for 40 years and I couldnt believe it, the Creggan woman told We Are Tyrone.

Mary attended the concert with her two daughters, Caoimhe and Niamh.

During the song Hungry Heart he was walking around greeting fans in the front row.

Me and my daughters were sitting by the side of the stage at the pit and he walked right over, maintained full-eye contact and reached out his hand and beckoned me to come over.

There was no stopping me. I felt very privileged and very, very lucky, she said.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast

Springsteen and the all-important E Street Band were visiting Belfast on their 2024 world tour.

The European leg of the world tour kicked off in Cardiff on Sunday and Belfast was its second show.

After the Belfast gig, Springsteen's next date is in Kilkenny at UPMC Nowlan Park on Sunday.

Then he heads to Cork to play at SuperValu Pairc Ui Chaoimh, on Thursday, before travelling to Dublin where he is playing Croke Park on Sunday, May 19.
Rishi Sunak has said protests against Israels participation in Eurovision are wrong and calls for a boycott are unfair (Carl Court/PA)

Rishi Sunak has said protests against Israels participation in Eurovision are wrong and calls for a boycott are unfair.

The Prime Minister condemned what he described as outrageous scenes in Sweden after large-scale pro-Palestinian demonstrations in Malmo on Thursday, Downing Street said.

As many as 12,000 people took to the streets of the city, where the contest is being held this year, to protest against Israels military campaign in Gaza.

A Number 10 spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister thinks that these protests are wrong and some of the scenes weve seen have been outrageous.

She said Mr Sunak would urge people to consider this when repeating these unfair calls for a boycott and at the same time we continue to urge further action on aid in response to a growing humanitarian crisis.

There is always the right for peaceful protest, thats part of democracy here and around the world, but in terms of the Prime Ministers opinion, these scenes and whether it is right to call for a boycott of their acts, no  he thinks thats wrong, the spokeswoman said.

Swedish police told the PA news agency the crowd was largely very peaceful but that nine people were warned about disturbing the public order and one man was arrested after allegedly carrying a knife in his bag.

Israels participation in Eurovision has been a source of controversy amid the mounting death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, with the countrys contestant Eden Golan booed during rehearsals on Wednesday.

Pro-Palestinian protesters have called for artists to withdraw from the contest in solidarity with those living in the war-torn enclave.

Eden Golan representing Israel waves during a press meeting with the entries that advanced to the final after the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest (Jessica Gow/AP)

Golan, 20, has qualified for the final, when more demonstrations are expected to take place.

At a press conference on Thursday, Golan was asked: Have you ever thought that by being here you bring risk and danger for other participants and public?

She said: I think were all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and and united place for everyone and so I think its safe for everyone and we wouldnt be here (if not).

According to the AP news agency, Golan has been surrounded by security as she travels from the hotel to the contest venue.

The events organiser said it will not censor the audience and encouraged the crowd to attend in the spirit of the contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being united by music.
Derry-based Japanese arts festival is one of a kind in Europe: Its very special

Fiona Umetsu from the Japanese arts organisation speaks about why the Derry-based festival is one of a kind in Europe

Irodori Taiko performance

Aine Toner Fri 10 May 2024 at 07:09







A Japanese arts organisation based in Derry is celebrating its 10th birthday this month.
A lawsuit was brought against New York City on Thursday, alleging discrimination against gay male city employees.

The city's healthcare plan has long provided in vitro fertilization (IVF) benefits to male and female employees and their partners in different-sex relationships, as well as single women and women in same-sex relationships.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court, claims the city is hindering gay male employees from starting families.

The proposed class action lawsuit was filed by former assistant district attorney Corey Briskin and his husband.

The couple contends that the city's employee health insurance plan denied them coverage for IVF procedures, resulting in years of delay in their family planning journey.

"We were disheartened to say the least when we were told that we aren't eligible for the IVF benefit because of the way the policy is phrased," Briskin told The Washington Post. "We are entitled to equal treatment under the law."

A spokeswoman for Mayor Eric Adams told the paper the lawsuit was being reviewed.

The suit comes as the New York City Council is considering a bill introduced that would require coverage of IVF treatments for all employees, regardless of their marital status or sexual orientation.
Police at scene on Oakley Street in May 2020. Photo: Pacemaker

A self-confessed satanist who murdered and mutilated a friend at his squalid north Belfast home has lost a legal bid to secure a reduced prison sentence.

Court of Appeal judges rejected claims that the minimum 18-year term imposed on Sarunas Nauburaitis for kicking Maris Ludborzs to death and carving the word pig into his chest was manifestly excessive.
Pro-Palestinian students at Queens University who staged a sit-in in protest against Israel, will not face any repercussions for their involvement, according to the university.

Organised by QUBs Palestine Assembly, several students staged a protest in the entrance to the universitys Lanyon Building on Tuesday.

The group of around 20 protestors called for the university to condemn Israels mass killing of Palestinians and the deliberate destruction of Gazas educational infrastructure.

People Before Profit MLA Gerry Carroll also joined the protest.

They called for QUB to demand an immediate ceasefire in the region and offer sanctuary status to Palestinian academics and students.

It has further called for Queens to review all ties with Israeli universities, cultural institutions and its industrial sector, as well as implementing a sector-wide withdrawal of support for companies engaged in violations of Palestinian human rights.

Signs at the protest, which ended at around 7pm on Tuesday evening, also called for the removal of the Queens University Chancellor Hillary Clinton due to her apparent ties to Israel.

Hillary Clinton

In a new statement provided to the Belfast Telegraph, Queens University confirmed no students involved will face any repercussions and the university will take no further action.

[Tuesdays] protest passed peacefully and respectfully and therefore those involved will not face any repercussions nor will the university be taking any further action, a spokesperson said.

Queen's University is committed to freedom of thought and expression for students and staff within a framework of respect for the rights of other persons.

While we will recognise and defend the right to protest and have voices heard, in a respectful and legal way, it is essential that those who want to go about their normal business on campus can freely and safely do so without interference.

QUBs Jewish Society also welcomed the fact the sit-in at the university was peaceful.

We support the right of students to protest what is happening in Gaza, particularly given the events in Rafah right now, said a spokesperson.

The sit-in today was respectful and aligns with our hopes  peace for all and ceasefire. Yet, we are also nervous about the anti-semitic rhetoric that we have seen on campuses elsewhere.

Earlier this month, a senior figure in Northern Irelands small Jewish community said he was aware some Jewish students were careful about being open about their religion while at university, due to a rise in anti-semitism.

Michael Black is head of the citys 59-member Hebrew Congregation at Northern Irelands only synagogue, where Rabbi David Kale officiates.

I speak to some of the Jewish students and they are very careful. Theyre not too open, and watch what they say, he said.

The sit-in follows various similar protests across universities in the UK and the US.

Oxford and Cambridge have staged their own versions, while over 100 protestors have been arrested in New York following weeks of unrest at protests at Columbia Universitys campus.
Mr Lawlor was shot in north Belfast four years ago

A 32-year-old man arrested in Liverpool by Merseyside Police on suspicion of murdering Irish gangland suspect Robbie Lawlor in 2020 has been released on bail.

Mr Lawlor was shot dead outside a house in Etna Drive in north Belfast at around 11.50am on April 4 2020.

The suspect had been taken to Musgrave Police Station for questioning on Thursday, but was on Friday released on bail to allow for further police enquiries.

Two Belfast men have already appeared in court in January charged with Mr Lawlors murder.

Patrick Teer (48) and Adrian Holland (40) have denied the charge, as well as a further charge of conspiracy to murder.

Mr Lawlor  believed to be involved in organised crime in the Republic  was shot and killed outside Hollands house.

After the pair entered not guilty pleas to all three charges levelled against them, Mr Justice O'Hara was told that a trial is expected to last up to eight weeks.

The senior Judge said he anticipated the hearing would be held in the autumn. Following the arraignment, both Holland and Teer were released on continuing bail.
PSNI Chief Constable Jon Boutcher is set to meet with the Northern Ireland Policing Board next week to discuss a number of matters including revelations a number of NI-based journalists were subject to routine surveillance by the organisation.

The NI Policing Board requested an urgent meeting with the PSNI after details of the surveillance were revealed in documents released as part of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT), sitting at the Royal Courts of Justice on Wednesday.

It came during a hearing of a case examining allegations that investigative reporters Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney were subject to unlawful covert intelligence by the police.

The court heard that the PSNI was engaging in six-monthly trawls of phone data belonging to eight journalists in NI.

The IPT is examining allegations that two investigative reporters in Northern Ireland were subject to unlawful covert intelligence by the police as part of Operation Yurta.

Evidence presented to the tribunal on Wednesday suggested that the PSNI spying operation extended to several other reporters operating in Northern Ireland.

Mr Boutcher said the PSNI would co-operate fully with the IPT hearing but said he wanted to wait until that process concludes before speculating about what might or might not have happened in the past.

In a statement on Friday, Jon Boutcher said: I am meeting with the Chair and Vice Chair of the Northern Ireland Policing Board on Wednesday 15 May to discuss a number of matters, which will include the recent media commentary around the ongoing Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland will continue to co-operate fully with the IPT and I ask that we wait for that process to conclude before speculating about what might or might not have happened in the past.

I have written to various bodies that have expressed concern due to the media reporting to reassure them about how the Police Service of Northern Ireland conducts surveillance.

The documents show the surveillance started in 2007/8 and went on for a decade, involving a small group of journalists who were, in the words of one detective, always looking for a story.

Documents seen by the Belfast Telegraph show eight redacted names of those under surveillance by the PSNI.

Documentary makers Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney were controversially arrested in 2018 by police investigating the alleged leaking of confidential documents that appeared in a film they made about the Loughinisland Massacre.

The PSNI was later forced to apologise and agreed to pay 875,000 in damages to the journalists and the film company behind the documentary No Stone Unturned.

In 2019, Mr Birney and Mr McCaffrey lodged a complaint with the IPT asking it to establish whether there had been any unlawful surveillance of them.

The PSNI had asked Durham Constabulary to take the lead in the investigation into the leaked Police Ombudsman document that appeared in the documentary on the 1994 loyalist paramilitary gun attack.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has called for the PSNI to be honest about the surveillance.

Spokesperson Ian McGuinness said: Journalists exist to hold power to account and that includes writing stories about the PSNI which that force may not like.

Writing a story about the PSNI and protecting your confidential sources whilst doing so is not a crime.

"The NUJ is calling, yet again, for the PSNI to come clean. In particular, the force needs to state when it started spying on multiple journalists phone data, who the journalists were, and how many times each journalist was spied upon and must give a commitment that it will desist from doing this ever again, simply to uncover legitimate sources for stories."
Vulnerable Belfast gun accused lays low under death threats from UDA and UVF

The Sunday World revealed last week that the south Belfast man had been warned his life would be under threat the minute he sets foot out of jail

Billy McCune

Fri 10 May 2024 at 14:50

Death threat gun accused Billy McCune is in hiding as the UDA, UVF and an organised crime gang hunt him down, a source has claimed.
Mr Browne (54), known as Tony, was stabbed in his Poleglass home in October 2022 and died in hospital from his injuries.

His partner Wiktoria Maksymowicz appeared at Belfast Crown Court via a videolink with Hydebank today, where she admitted three offences aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse, which she had previously denied.

Her barrister Gavan Duffy KC told Mr Justice O'Hara that he had consulted with his client and following this, he asked that she be re-arraigned.

The Polish national, from Woodside Park in Dunmurry, was then addressed on the link by a court clerk and was charged that on October 14, 2022, she murdered Mr Browne in an offence aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse.

When asked do you now plead guilty or not guilty?, Maksymowicz replied, guilty.

She was further charged with both possessing a knife on a Glider Bus and of assaulting Mr Browne the day before his murder, on October 13, 2022.

These offences were also aggravated by reason of involving domestic abuse and when charged with the two counts, Maksymowicz replied guilty to both.

When a fourth charge of possessing cannabis on October 14, 2022, was put her, she admitted this charge too.

Crown barrister Frank O'Donoghue KC said the pleas were acceptable to the prosecution and added that he would now be seeking victim impact statements from Mr Browne's family ahead of the Tariff Hearing.

As relatives and friends of the deceased sat in the public gallery, Mr Duffy told the court his client wished to apologise for the damage and harm she has caused.

He said: During the course of my consultation with the defendant this week, she had indicated a desire to say something for the benefit of the family of the deceased.

I indicated I felt it was more appropriate that is something that is conveyed through her counsel  but what she wanted to convey was that she fully accepts and understands the considerable anger of Mr Browne's family, and that she knows and accepts that it is unlikely that they will ever forgive her for her actions.

She went on to indicate that she felt had it not been for her consumption of drugs and alcohol, these offences wouldn't have occurred.

What she does say is that she is truly sorry for the damage and the harm she has caused, is sorry for what happened to Tony and if there was any way she could change what has happened she would, but obviously she can't other than accept her responsibility.

Mr Duffy added that defence reports compiled on Maksymowicz will be provided ahead of sentencing.

Mr Justice O'Hara listed the Tariff Hearing for Thursday, June 27.

The senior judge then spoke to the defendant via the link and said: Ms Maksymowicz you have pleaded guilty to the murder of Mr Browne in October 2022. You have also pleaded guilty to a number of other offences.

In due course, at the end of June, a full sentencing hearing will take place but for today, because you have pleaded guilty to murder I must now impose upon you a sentence of life imprisonment.

The further hearing which takes place in June will decide what the minimum period you spend in custody is before your release will be considered by the Parole Commissioners.

But as of today you are sentenced to life imprisonment and a further issue about sentencing will be considered and debated at the hearing on the 27th of June, in advance of which I will receive victim impact statements from Mr Browne's family and friends on what they have to say and what they want to tell me about Mr Browne and the effect on which his murder has had on them.2

Mr Justice O'Hara then asked her do you understand? and Maksymowicz replied, yes I do.
Former DUP Mayor resigns from the party citing recent events as reason

The councillor has been elected to the Council since 2019

Cllr Ivor Wallace

Liam Tunney Fri 10 May 2024 at 23:28







A former DUP Mayor has resigned from the party, citing recent events among the reasons for his departure.
A founding member of the DUP and leading evangelical Protestant has said that the Union as we know it will come to an end within decades.
Stephen Donnelly said he wants to see a resolution on the HSE recruitment freeze (Cate McCurry/PA)

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he wants to see a resolution to the HSE recruitment freeze.

Mr Donnelly said the recruitment embargo is having an impact on clinical teams and nursing teams being able to do their job.

The Fianna Fail minister is having ongoing conversations with Cabinet colleagues about the issue and how to plug the funding gap.

More than 2,000 posts filled or committed to by the HSE last year have no Government-backed funding.

Mr Donnelly attended the final day of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) annual conference, held at Croke Park in north Dublin on Friday.

Government funding was provided for 6,000 new staff but the HSE hired 8,000 workers (Peter Byrne/PA)

He told those gathered that he is working with other ministers to resolve the issue.

That is an ongoing conversation that Im having with Government colleagues. Its being discussed, he said.

What I want to see is a resolution to this very quickly. Im acutely aware that the hiring embargo, whilst it was necessary because of thousands of staff that were hired for whom there was no funding to hire, unfortunately it was necessary.

It is impacting on our clinical teams and nursing teams to be able to do the full job that they want to do.

I want to see a resolution to this as quickly as possible. But what Government has to do is consider that there was a record amount of funding provided for hiring new staff.

He said funding was provided to hire 6,000 new workers but the HSE hired 8,000 staff. Mr Donnelly said the Government is still working on resolving the issue.

It was announced on Thursday that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will carry out a review of emergency care in the Mid West region to determine if a second emergency department is needed.

It will consider whether there is a need for a second emergency department to support University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which is heavily impacted by overcrowding.

Mr Donnelly said that despite reductions in the number of patients on trolleys in other hospitals, Limerick saw a big increase.

Its because of that increase over the last number of months that I have now kicked off a review of urgent and emergency care in the Mid West region, uniquely of all other regions that only has one emergency department, he said.

There has been more investment in Limerick hospital than any other hospital in the country in recent years.

Theyve had a huge increase in the budget, very importantly theyve had more than a 40% increase in the workforce, so about 1,200 more people working in UHL, they have an extra 108 beds already in place. I have committed to 86 more for this year and then weve nearly 200 beds being built on site.

Unfortunately, while other hospitals have managed to use investment to reduce the trolley numbers, its going the wrong way in Limerick.

There are more reforms required.

He said there needs to be a step change in investment capacity and reform.

What we need to see is ongoing clinical leadership in the hospital and administrative leadership in the hospital so the reforms in the ways of working that we know are having an impact in Waterford, in Portlaoise, in Tullamore and in other hospitals, that they become standard practice in UHL, he added.

I fully believe that if UHL can implement the kind of changes that the other hospitals have, we will see a very significant easing of the pressure on patients in the emergency department.
Never been to New York? Teleport yourself through live portal in Dublin City Centre

Have you ever been to New York City? Now, you can, without even leaving the island  and its cheaper than a flight.

It is due to a brand-new live portal in the heart of Dublin city, connecting the Irish capital to the Big Apple.

The portal in Dublin faces OConnell Street at its junction with North Earl Street, capturing two iconic monuments  the famous GPO building and the Spire.

Meanwhile, the portal in New York City has been installed on the Flatiron South Public Plaza at Broadway, Fifth Avenue, and 23rd Street  next to the famed Flatiron Building.

Both portals were launched this week and went live simultaneously.

Muskan Sahdev was holding a banner saying Hello Mom, as she saw her mother Purnima through the portal today, who has been living in New York City for six months.

"I waved at her and she was holding up the New York sign, it was lovely to see her! Muskan told the Irish Independent.

It's such an exciting concept and I feel like WhatsApp is a little bit too limiting but I can actually walk up here because I work so close by  Ill just walk up here and meet her.

I feel like its uniting people across borders and I think many mothers and daughters and families can connect. Its a wonderful feeling.

Deri Flood, whose daughter Aedi lives in New York, said it was lovely to see her daughter.

She's working in New York on the grad visa  she left college last summer and she's working as an engineer. I'm an engineer as well.

"I think people will make a point of coming to it in groups and just to see each other  particularly the Irish community over in New York.

"There's a lot of young people in New York now on those grad visas. They could just turn up here and then meet their families, and have a bit of craic, she said.

Lord Mayor of Dublin Daithi de Roiste unveiled the sculpture, with dancers performing in both Dublin and New York and providing visual concerts in each city.

Mr de Roiste has highlighted Dublin embracing the title of European Capital of Smart Tourism 2024.

"It shows the interconnectedness of our world, he said.

You can see the poignancy of it  we've had someone connecting with their mother here and with their sister.

"Despite the fact theyre only a couple of feet away, there are a million miles way across the Atlantic, but they are able to talk to them and see them through the portal.

From July, people in Dublin will be able to travel to other destinations through the portal, as it will connect them to cities in Poland, Brazil and Lithuania.

The portal was designed by Lithuanian artist and entrepreneur Benediktas Gylys, who said they offer an opportunity to meet fellow humans outside of your social circle and culture and provide a window between distant locations.

"From the initial two cities of Vilnius, Lithuania and Lublin, Poland, portals are now expanding to be a global network, he said.

"This is just the beginning and our team will continue bringing portals to large cities and little towns of planet Earth.

"Portals aim to be a bridge to a united planet. I am grateful to the cities of Dublin and New York for pioneering innovation and welcoming their portal sculptures, which is a significant milestone after years of work, he added.
Chinese young scientists urge global solidarity to advance sustainability agenda

Xinhua) 09:53, May 10, 2024

NAIROBI, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The international community should unite in purpose, share knowledge and best practices to accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), young Chinese scientists said Thursday on the sidelines of the United Nations Civil Society Conference underway in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi.

Meng Wang, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said cooperation and dialogue are crucial to charting a sustainable and green future for communities in the Global South.

According to Meng, the coming together of young scientists from China and various developing countries has accelerated progress toward achieving the SDGs related to food security, water, resilient cities, and green transition.

Meng, who is also a senior advisor to the Global PI community, a coalition of young scientists, innovators, and entrepreneurs, said collaborative research is essential to helping countries achieve sustainable and inclusive growth.

He said the attendance of young scientists at the UN Civil Society Conference reaffirmed the critical role of data-driven interventions in addressing global challenges such as poverty, climate change, conflicts, and inequality.

Meng said harnessing groundbreaking research and innovations from young scientists in the global south will be key to advancing sustainable growth that promises cohesion, long-term peace, and stability.

More than 2,000 delegates, including government officials, civil society leaders, industry executives, scientists, and innovators, are attending the 69th edition of the UN Civil Society Conference, which will end on Friday under the theme of "Shaping a Future of Global and Sustainable Progress."

Representatives of Chinese civil society and the scientific community are among the participants at the two-day summit, the first one to be held in the Global South that seeks to chart a new pathway for a sustainable future for the planet and its inhabitants.

Wenwu Sun, a Global PI community champion pursuing post-doctoral studies at China University of Geosciences (Beijing), said it is the responsibility of young scientists from the Global South to share the knowledge and expertise necessary to advance the sustainability agenda.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Former President Donald Trump accused President Joe Biden of abandoning Israel after he threatened to halt weapons shipments to the country if it carries out a military offensive against the city of Rafah in Gaza.

"Well, I wouldn't do what Biden did. He just abandoned Israel. I've never seen anything like it," Trump, the presumptive Republican nominee in the 2024 election, told a Spectrum News station in North Carolina.

The former president, who is currently attending his criminal trial over hush money payments to a former porn star before the 2016 election, questioned how Jews could support Biden this November.

"Why Jewish people vote for Democrats is beyond me," Trump said in the interview. "I think maybe they'll change their mind, but they've been wedded to Democrats for you know, for 50 years, probably more than that. And there's been no president has ever done anything close to what I've done for Israel."

Biden made the comments Wednesday night in an interview with CNN, expressing fear that more civilians could be killed if Israel attacks Rafah.

"If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities - that deal with that problem," Biden told the news outlet.



"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," he continued, adding: "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah ... I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities - that deal with that problem."
The Government has said it wants a deeper understanding of the specific risks of artificial intelligence (AI) before proposing any new laws to regulate the sector.

Technology minister Viscount Camrose said there is a real advantage to waiting for the right moment rather than moving quicker and risking legislating too narrowly.

His remarks came as peers pressed for the Government to support the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill.

A new body, known as the AI Authority, would be established under the Bill tabled by Conservative peer Lord Holmes of Richmond.

The Bill would require the authority to push forward AI regulation in the UK and assess and monitor potential risks to the economy.

Security, fairness, accountability and transparency are among the principles that the AI Authority must take into consideration, according to the Bill.

The Government believes a non-statutory approach provides critical adaptability but has pledged to keep it under review.

Lord Holmes said: Its clear when it comes to artificial intelligence its time to legislate, its time to lead and we know what we need to do, we know what we need to know to legislate.

We know the impact AI is already having on our creatives, on our IP (intellectual property), on our copyright across all of that important part of our economy.

Viscount Camrose said the Government has continued to make progress on its regulatory approach to AI, including moves to provide continuous examination of the risks.

He said: On legislation specifically, the Government is not ruling out new law in future but we believe our non-statutory approach is still the right approach for now while we continue to build the understanding needed to inform any future legislation based on a more comprehensive assessment of the benefits and risks of this fast-evolving technology.

While the Government does not support the Bill, I hope noble Lords will continue to contribute their valuable expertise in this area as our regulatory approach evolves.

Ulster Unionist Party peer Lord Empey said he feared the Government was losing momentum on the issue rather than maintaining its push to be a world leader.

He said: It does seem to me  with the ministers statement  that we have slipped back now, the European Union has set out its stall and, if were not going to have the legislative framework, then I think we need to know that.

And I just hope the Government will reflect that the position the Prime Minister adopted at the beginning of this process, I thought, was innovative, positive and good for the United Kingdom as a whole, but I fear that the loss of momentum in fact means we will be slipping back down at a very rapid rate.

Viscount Camrose said he did not accept the characterisation of a loss of momentum and pointed to the UK co-hosting the forthcoming AI Seoul Summit.

He said: I think moving very, very quickly to legislation  its always been the Governments position that its better to have a deeper understanding of the specific risks of AI across each sector and across all sectors before legislating too narrowly, and that theres a real advantage to waiting for the right moment to have judicious legislation that addresses specific risks rather than blanket legislation that goes to all of them.

The Bill received a third reading in the Lords and will now seek to secure time in the House of Commons to be considered further.
Demolition workers tear down Cliff Farm in Trimingham, Norfolk, which was rendered unsafe to be lived in by the owner after a recent slip left it overhanging the cliff. Picture date: Friday May 10, 2024.

An 18th century farmhouse that was left hanging precariously off a cliff following a land slip has been demolished.

Contractors used a wrecking machine to level Cliff Farm in Trimingham, north Norfolk, on Friday after coastal erosion made it unsafe to live in.

The machines metal jaws tore into the building methodically, starting with the side of the building nearest the sea.

It lifted away sections of roof, with some tiles dropping over the cliff edge, and knocked down the walls.

The driver lifted the chimney pot safely to the ground with his grab, as the owner had reportedly asked for it as a keepsake if it could be saved.

The home had been teetering on the edge of the cliff  with part of the structure hanging over the drop  for more than a month.

Demolition workers tear down Cliff Farm in Trimingham, Norfolk (Joe Giddens/PA)

It was last bought in 2019 for 132,000 and its owner left the building when it became unsafe.

Harry Blathwayt, North Norfolk District Councils portfolio holder for coast, said: The owner of the property is obviously very upset to be losing his house.

Its a difficult time for him.

He had hopes to see out a happy retirement in a beautiful position and thats been taken away from him.

Mr Blathwayt said it was a dynamic coastline in north Norfolk and there are a number of challenges.

Theres the fall of rain, weve had masses of rain, he said.

Cliff Farm was teetering over the edge of a cliff (Joe Giddens/ PA)

Weve had storms this winter almost all through the winter and its led to the cliffs being even more fragile than they normally are.

Weve had land slip through groundwater here and thats how weve got to this position today.

Mr Blathwayt said there were very few other properties at risk but they were very important to the people actually on them.

As things develop there will be more, he said.

Were doing a big project at Mundesley and at Cromer to protect houses so hopefully there will be less in the future.

He said it was not possible to protect every home that is at risk, adding: We can protect where there is good covering of houses so theres many people, but for single houses its very difficult to make the economics stack up.

The owner had already left the farmhouse (Joe Giddens/ PA)

Rob Goodliffe, the councils coastal transition manager leading the Coastwise project, which aims to prepare communities where the coast is eroding, said that materials from the demolished building will be sorted in the coming days and recycled where possible.

Across many parts of England coastal change is happening and has happened for a long time, he said.

In north Norfolk our coast has been eroding for thousands of years so its not a surprise.

We cant protect all of our coastline so yes there are other locations in north Norfolk where erosion is having impacts.

Were already working with some people, property owners in north Norfolk to try to find options and solutions for them in short-term similar need to this property here.

Weve also got to look to the medium and longer term and prepare and plan in advance because if we can plan in advance hopefully we can avoid the situations and give people options so we dont end up with properties getting on cliff edges like this.

Cliff Farm was affected by a land slip (Joe Giddens/ PA)

He continued: Climate change is and will play a role.

The sea levels here are rising.

This side of the country is also sinking slightly  we dont know exactly how much but it could be anywhere between 30cm to a metre or so over this next century.

That will have a big impact on our coast.

Theres also potential for increased storminess.

Storminess can have a big impact as that can affect our beaches, it can lower our beach levels which is our natural form of defence.

The material will be recyled (Joe Giddens/PA)

Any changes in weather patterns like prevailing winds  theres no evidence Im aware of that this is happening at the moment  but if that did happen that can have a big impact on our coastal processes as well.

So climate change is a factor, we need to be aware of it, this is the frontline of climate change in the UK.

Mr Goodliffe said he wanted to thank the homeowner for working with the council and being very pragmatic.

Its a really difficult situation but where you can have sensible conversations we can work together, we can find a way through, he said.

I hope that through the work were going to be doing with him in the coming weeks hopefully hell be able to walk away with options so that he can make choices and be able to safely get on with his life.

North Norfolk District Council paid for the demolition through a fund it set up for such instances a number of years ago.
We may be more than four years on from the start of the Covid pandemic, but the hurt is still very real for the families who lost loved ones.
Adobe Stock

Is it best to pray sitting down, standing up, bowing down, or kneeling? Should your hands be closed, open, or lifted to God? Do our eyes need to be closed when we pray? Is it better to pray out in nature or a church? Should we pray at night before we go to bed or in the morning when we wake up? Are there specific words we should use in our prayers? How should we start our prayers? Whats the proper way to finish a prayer? These questions, and others, are commonly asked about prayer. Whats the proper way to pray and do the things mentioned above even matter?

Too often, prayer is seen as a magic formula. Some people think that if we dont say the right things precisely or pray in the proper position, God wont hear and answer our prayer, which is entirely unbiblical. Our prayers arent answered based on when we pray, where we are, what position were in or in what order we word our prayers. In 1 John 5:14-15, were told to have confidence when we pray, knowing our prayers will be heard and answered as long as its in Gods will. Similarly, John 14:13-14 says God will do whatever we ask in His name so that the Son will bring glory to the Father. Ask for anything in His name, and He will grant it. According to these and several other scriptures, prayers are answered based on whether theyre asked according to Gods will and in Jesus name to bring glory to Jesus.

Is there a proper way to pray?

So, whats the proper way to pray? According to Philippians 4:6-7, we should pray without being anxious and pray about everything with thankful hearts. Our prayers will be answered with the gift of His peace in our hearts. The right way to pray is to pour our hearts out, be honest, and be open because God already knows us better than we know ourselves. We should present our requests, keeping in mind that God knows whats best and wont grant a request thats not His will for us. We should express our gratitude, love, and worship to God in prayer without worrying about saying the right words. God cares more about the content of our hearts than the eloquence of our words.

The closest the Bible comes to giving an outline for prayer is the Lords Prayer, found in Matthew 6:9-13. The Lords Prayer isnt a prayer we should memorize to recite to God. Its an example of things we should go into prayer, trust in God, worship, confession, requests, and submission. We should pray for the things the Lords Prayer talks about, using our words and making them our own with God. The correct way to pray is to open our hearts to God. It doesnt matter if youre at home, in a church, outside, in the morning or at night. These are all side issues and are subject to personal conviction, preference, and relevance. Gods desire is for prayer to be a genuine and personal connection between Himself and us.

Should we pray to Jesus or God, the Father?

Prayer is typically directed to the Father because Jesus teaches us to pray to the Father. When Jesus disciples asked Him to teach them how to pray, He told them to start their prayers with Father, as detailed in Luke 11:1-2. In prayer, we should address God the Father, which is the norm because its the pattern Jesus gave us to follow. In giving this instruction, Jesus isnt forbidding prayer from being directed at others in the Trinity, but Hes showing us that prayer will typically be directed to God the Father. Paul also reflects this sentiment. When writing to the Ephesians, he wrote that Christians have access to the Father by the one Spirit through Jesus, specifically in Ephesians 2:18.

This is the posture of the entire Christian life and the pattern for our prayer: by the Spirit, through the Son and to the Father. As Paul explains the Holy Spirits role in the life of believers, he highlights how the Spirit gives us the confidence to go to God in prayer. In fact, its by the Spirit that we cry Abba, Father, as detailed in Galatians 4:6, which isnt incidental. Jesus Himself cried out these exact words in His prayer in Mark 14:36. The Spirit moves Christians to address the Father in the same language that God the Son uses. Prayer is a way to express the sonship we have through Jesus. This is the standard shape of prayer and shares the shape of the connections within the Holy Trinity: the Son lives by the Spirit to the Father. As we pray, we come through Jesus into the happy and eternal dynamic.

With that being said, prayer should also be directed to the Son. The New Testament doesnt prohibit prayer from being directed to Jesus. In fact, there are several examples of people praying directly to Jesus. Some of these examples include Revelations 22:20, Acts 7:59, and 2 Corinthians 12:8. These examples give us a precedent for doing the same. Its right, good, and proper to pray to Jesus. While there are no examples of praying directly to the Holy Spirit, we can assume thats also allowed. Given the biblical example of praying to Jesus and considering everything Jesus means to His followers, it would be strange for a Christian to never pray to Jesus.

In this sense, we should pray to Jesus. It should be natural or intuitive to cry out to Him in adoration for all Hes done and for help to follow His path. However, we can also see that prayer shouldnt always be directed to Jesus, for He Himself teaches us to pray to the Father.
Shutterstock.com

If you simply mention the End Times, youll generate as many different opinions as people have favorite foods. The study of eschatology, or the study of the End Times, and the Bibles apocalyptic writings certainly bring no end to various understandings of Israels role in the End Times. Truthfully, none of us know the specific details of the events that will happen or when. Even Jesus said that only the Father knows the precise hour or day of the eschaton, or the end of all things as we know them, specifically in Matthew 24:36.

While theres much about the End Times that is unknown and falls into speculation or interpretation, one question remains: what about Israel? After all, throughout the Bible, in both the Old and New Testaments, the nation of Israel is described as Gods chosen people, so where does Israel fit into Gods plan for the End Times? What does He have in store for Israel and the reward of eternal life at the worlds end? Is the existence of Israels current state a fulfillment of Gods promises to them?

Old Testament prophecies for Israel.

Several Old Testament prophets, including Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah, prophesied about the restoration of Israel in the End Times, which includes Jewish people returning to Israel after a period of dispersion and exile, as detailed in Ezekiel 36:24-28. Some prophecies suggest that the rebuilding of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem is typically associated with the coming of the Messiah or a future period of spiritual renewal, as we read in Ezekiel 40:1-4. The promise of God to Abraham and his descendants about the land of Canaan, later known as Israel, is seen as a lasting covenant and the fulfillment of this promise is typically associated with End Time events, as detailed in Genesis 17:7-8.

This promise is introductory to the Abrahamic covenant and holds great importance in the biblical narrative. Its often linked with End Time events and the fulfillment and restoration of Gods promises to Abrahams descendants in the context of eschatology. Some interpretations within Christianity and Judaism see Jewish people returning to Israel as a sign of Gods faithfulness to this covenant and as part of His plan for the End Times.

New Testament prophecies for Israel.

In the New Testament, specifically in the Gospels and the book of Revelation, there are some references to Jesus return. Jesus return is typically connected to Israels restoration and salvation, as we read in Revelation 19:11-16. The book of Revelation has several passages that describe End Time events happening in Israel, including the Battle of Armageddon, which is seen as the final battle between the forces of good and evil as outlined in Revelation 16:16. Its essential to note that interpretations of the Battle of Armageddon and its connection to Israel can differ among believers and scholars.

Some see it as a literal battle, but others see it more as a symbol representing the ultimate war between the forces of evil and righteousness in the celestial struggle for Gods kingdom. Some interpretations of Romans 11 suggest that there will be a future turning of the Jewish people to faith in Christ as the Messiah, leading to their spiritual restoration, specifically in Romans 11:25-26. Jerusalem is repeatedly mentioned in both the Old and Testament prophecies as the central location for End Times events and the future capital of Gods kingdom.

As you can see, these verses highlight the future role of Jerusalem as the primary location in Gods plan for the End Times. They emphasize the significance of Jerusalem as a place where God will live, where His law will prevail, and where all nations will gather. Additionally, they point to Jerusalems role in End Time events, including battles and the ultimate establishment of Gods kingdom.

Israels current state.

Israels name is derived from the name given to Jacob, Abrahams grandson and Isaacs son. Jacobs 12 sons were the fathers of the 12 tribes that became the Jewish nation, or the nation of Israel. Its easy to acknowledge the trials that the people of Israel, or the Jewish people, have survived over the past 4,000 years. They survived 400 years of slavery and exile in Egypt, then escaped only to roam in the desert for another 40 years before entering the land of milk and honey. Then, there were 70 years of exile in Babylon after Jerusalems defeat by Nebuchadnezzar. Then, there were another 2,000 years of exile and dispersion from their homeland under the rule of multiple empires.

The Romans are best known, but there were also the Persians, Babylonians, Greek Hellenists, Arabs, Byzantines, British, Ottomans, and even Christian Crusaders who came from Europe to capture the Holy Land. There was also dispersion throughout other lands, commonly called Diaspora, which could easily have resulted in the absorption of other cultures through simple assimilation or absorption and mixed marriages, yet that didnt happen. Many nations didnt willingly accept Jews into their countries. For example, Russia was known for its harsh treatment of the Jews, who didnt have rights. Even during British rule, Jews suffered a great deal of cruelty at the hands of surrounding Arab populations.

Then, there was the Holocaust, where six million or more Jews were brutally executed, as much as 60 percent or more of the entire Jewish population. However, in 1948, against all odds, there was a homecoming to the Promised Land, the new state of Israel. The Jewish community reestablished Israel as a sovereign nation with a declaration of independence. At the time, several orthodox Jews and non-Jews worldwide were terrified and political clashes exist to this day. Still, with all of this, Israels people have endured. Against all odds, the Jewish people have returned to the land promised by God in Exodus and as exclaimed by several Old Testament prophets.

Zechariah 14 details a day when Jerusalem will be robbed by her enemies, which is foreshadowed in 2 Kings, when Nebuchadnezzars forces broke through Jerusalems walls, conquering the city. However, in verse 14, the prophet says on that day, Jesus feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, and it will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley with half of the mountain going north and half moving south. That day refers to the day of the Lords return to the same spot from where He ascended 40 days after His resurrection.
Shutterstock.com

Many people have researched and tried to answer the question, What year was Jesus born? Jesus birth was a critical moment in history and has long been a subject of theological contemplation and scholarly debate. The Nativity of Jesus Christ is typically celebrated on Christmas Day, December 25, but lets look into whether this was actually Jesus birthday. The Gospels of Luke and Matthew give accounts of Jesus birth, including facts like the names of Joseph and Mary, the location of Bethlehem, and the angels who appeared to the shepherds. However, they dont provide a specific date or year for this momentous event.

As a result, the question of when Jesus was born has given rise to several hypotheses and theories throughout the centuries. The biblical story doesnt give the year Jesus was born, so how was the date of Christmas determined, and when was Jesus born?

What year was Jesus Christ born?

The Bible doesnt give the exact day or year in which Jesus was born in Bethlehem. However, a close examination of the chronological details in history narrows down the possibilities to a sensible time window. The details of Jesus birth are found in the Gospels. Matthew 2:1 says that Jesus was born in the days of Herod the King. Herod died in 4 B.C., so theres one parameter to work with. After Mary and Joseph fled Bethlehem with Jesus, Herod ordered that all boys under two years old and younger in the area be killed, which indicates that Jesus couldve been as old as two years old before Herods death, placing the year of His birth between 6 and 4 B.C.

Luke 2:1-2 highlights several other factors to consider. It says that Caesar Augustus passed a decree that the world should be registered, which was the first registration of Quirinius governorship of Syria. Caesar reigned from 27 B.C. to A.D. 14, and Quirinius ruled Syria during this same period, with records of a census that included Judea in 6 B.C. Some scholars debate whether its the census mentioned in Luke, but it appears to be the same. Based on these historical factors, the most likely time of Jesus birth in Bethlehem is 6  5 B.C. The Gospel of Luke mentions another detail concerning this timeline. In Luke 3:23, we read that Jesus started His ministry when He was about 30 years old.

He started His ministry when John the Baptist ministered in the wilds, and Johns ministry started in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesars rule, Pontius Pilate serving as governor of Judea and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, according to Luke 3:1-2. The only time that fits these facts is A.D. 27-29. If Jesus was 30 years old by A.D. 27, His being born between 6 and 4 B.C. fits the chronology. More specifically, Jesus wouldve been 32 years old when His ministry started, which is still about 30 years old.

What about the day of Jesus birth? The tradition of December 25 was created years after the New Testament period. Its the day Christians agreed to celebrate Jesus birth, but the exact day of His birth is unknown. Whats known is that historical and biblical details point to an approximate year of birth. Jesus was born in Bethlehem in approximately 6  4 B.C. to His mother, Mary. His birth changed the world forever, along with the lives of countless people worldwide.

Was Jesus actually born in September?

The time of year that Jesus was born is a subject of debate, but the exact timing of His birth is nothing to be inflexible about, given the Bibles lack of detail on the matter. While the traditional date of celebrating Jesus birth is December 25, nowhere in the Bible points to His being born in mid-winter. One alternate theory is that Jesus was born in September. Those who suggest that Jesus was born in September make their case using the subsequent points: at the time of His birth, there were shepherds in the fields watching their flocks, according to Luke 2:8. Some sources indicate that shepherds werent typically in the fields during December due to the wet and cold conditions in Judea during that time of year. Therefore, Lukes account suggests that Jesus mightve been born in late summer or early fall, like September. The issue with this line of reasoning is that the low temperature in Bethlehem in December averages around the mid to low 40s.

Secondly, the idea that Jesus was born in September includes considering a census affecting Joseph and Mary. Some believe that Roman censuses wouldnt have been taken in winter, as the cold temperatures and poor road conditions wouldve made participating in a census challenging. However, others say that the Roman officials werent particularly concerned with the burdens they put on the citizenry. It was either obey Caesar or else, so convenience and ease didnt factor into the law-making process. Third, and perhaps most significant, the idea that Jesus was born in September rests on the timing of John the Baptists birth. These biblical facts lay the foundation. Zechariah, a priest and Johns father, was taking his place to serve in the temple when the angel Gabriel came to him and proclaimed that Zechariahs wife, Elizabeth, would conceive a son.

Luke 1:23-24 tells us that after Zechariah came home, his wife conceived, just as the angel foretold. Then, Gabriel visited Mary to share the miraculous conception of Jesus, a visit that came in the sixth month of Elizabeths pregnancy. Another critical detail to note is that Zechariah belonged to Abijah, a priestly division, as detailed in Luke 1:5. Using this information, we can calculate that the priests in the Abijah division functioned from June 13 to June 19. Assuming that Elizabeth conceived after Gabriels announcement to Zechariah, the sixth month would be December or January. Assuming that Mary conceived shortly after Gabriel shared the announcement with her, Jesus wouldve been born nine months later, in August or September.

Still, theres one issue with using those calculations. Were unsure of when the Abijah division of priests served. David created the priestly divisions, which were instituted under Solomons reign. However, the Babylonian exile demanded a reset of the divisions and their rotations, so Zechariahs division couldve served in mid-June, but other sources indicated Abijahs course to have finished on October 9 of the same year. An October conception of John would put Jesus birth in December or January.

Celebrating Jesus birth on Christmas holds deep significance in Christian tradition, even in light of His life, death, resurrection, and ascension. His birth marks the fulfillment of several Old Testament prophecies, highlighting His identity as the promised Messiah. This celebration confirms the belief that Gods plan of salvation foretold in the Bible, came to fruition through Jesus.
The president-elect, an ex-general accused of rights abuses, takes office in October.

Protesters march towards the General Election Commission office during a demonstration to call for investigations into the rigged presidential polls of Feb. 14, after preliminary results showed Defense Minister Prabowo Subianto was far ahead of his rivals, Jakarta, Feb. 23, 2024.

Indonesian political observers and human rights activists are fearful for their countrys fledgling democracy after President-elect Prabowo Subianto warned his political opponents: Support his administration or do not interfere.

As it is, civil rights activists were concerned that this former army general accused of grave human rights abuses while in the military, and who supported the late dictator Suharto, was running for the presidency a mere 26 years after the country transitioned to democracy.

They worried even more that dissent would be suppressed and civil rights and liberties would whittle away after Prabowo won by a landslide in the Feb. 14 presidential polls  already, they believed, democracy had slid back during the two terms of outgoing President Joko Jokowi Widodo.

Prabowos warning to his opponents came in a speech on Thursday to executive members of the National Mandate Party (PAN), which backed him in the election.

Its fine for those who dont wish to collaborate. If there are any who prefer to be onlookers from the sidelines, they are welcome to do so, said Prabowo, who will take office in October.

However, if you choose not to cooperate, please do not interfere, he cautioned.

Prabowo, currently the defense minister, said Indonesias progress relied on cooperation among its political elite.

I will continue to work with all willing forces, he said.

Dimas Bagus Arya, coordinator of the human rights organization KontraS, said Prabowos remarks were troubling for democracy and Indonesias political environment, because an opposition was vital to prevent the concentration of power.

This statement by Prabowo Subianto carries an undertone of intimidation and an inclination to assimilate all factions and the political elite into the orbit of power, Dimas told BenarNews.

For another analyst, the comments by Prabowo, once a supporter of President Suhartos New Order regime, indicate he has yet to become used to elective government.

It suggests a lack of readiness for democracy, creating fear among people, said Poltak Partogi Nainggolan, a political analyst at the National Research and Innovation Agency (BRIN).

[T]he new administration should foster a conducive environment, he told BenarNews.

President-elect and Gerindra Party Chairman Prabowo Subianto (left) listens to ally Zulkifli Hasan, chairman of the National Mandate Party (PAN), at a gathering with PAN executives, in Jakarta, May 9, 2024. [Via Facebook/Partai Amanat Nasional]

However, Prabowos approach has its admirers, such as his backer PAN's Chairman Zulkifli Hasan, who defended the controversial comments as a sign of a resolute leadership style.

The statement speaks for itself. Prabowo is a true fighter, committed to democratic principles, Zulkifli told BenarNews.

Prabowo has been emboldened lately by some major parties signaling they were going to back him in Parliament even though they had supported his opponents in the presidential race. Two of them are the National Awakening Party (PKB) and the NasDem Party.

Prabowos own coalition had won a total of 48% of the 580 contested parliamentary seats in the legislative election that was also held in February.

With the possible addition of PKB, NasDem and others, a potential grand alliance could see Prabowo in control of a substantial majority in the House of Representatives. That would mean the elimination of any big hurdles in the implementation of the president-elects policy agenda.

That would also mean the elimination of a viable parliamentary opposition  harmful for any democracy, but extremely dangerous for a young one like Indonesia, experts say.

Human rights organizations point to Jokowis two terms as an example of what a weak opposition could lead to.

They say Indonesian democracy experienced a regression throughout Jokowis tenure, a period marked by the support of a majority of the Houses lawmakers.

This backing is believed to have facilitated the enactment of contentious legislation, including revisions to the criminal code, the job creation law, and regulations governing the countrys main anti-corruption agency.

Under Jokowis leadership, the absence of formidable opposition in the legislature is said to have paved the way for these legislative changes.

Critics also point to a perceived erosion of free speech, an increase in limitations on civil liberties, and heightened police surveillance during this time.

Free lunch program

Now, analysts predict, these changes will become entrenched and more such ones will follow, because Prabowo has promised to continue Jokowis policies.

Many attribute Prabowos electoral victory to the tacit support he received from the very popular Jokowi.

The incumbent, who was elected president as a PDI-P candidate, twice, turned away from his party to back Prabowos presidential ticket, which included Jokowis eldest son, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, as the vice-presidential nominee.

Experts said Jokowis move was an attempt to maintain political influence even after he steps down in October and underscored his desire to ensure his policies continue under the next administration.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo (right) congratulates newly inaugurated Army Chief Gen. Maruli Simanjuntak (left) and his wife Paulina (rear) after his swearing-in ceremony at the Merdeka Palace in Jakarta, Nov. 29, 2023. [Achmad Ibrahim/AP]

Meanwhile, one policy agenda item that seems to be all his own, is Prabowos plan to offer free lunches to all Indonesian school students  thats 82 million children, according to the Jakarta Post.

Trubus Rahardiansyah, a public policy expert, sees Prabowos statements that were laced with a warning in the context of some significant policy burdens his administration is expected to face -- the free lunch program, for instance, will strain state coffers.

I see Prabowos policy programs as potentially challenging to implement, said Trubus, from Trisakti University in Jakarta. So Prabowo is telling opposing parties to refrain from interfering with his administrations agenda, Trubus added.

The president-elect plans to begin the program as soon as he takes office but implementation will be gradual. His team estimates the program will cost U.S. $6.2 billion to $7.4 billion in the first year.

But political cooperation cannot be demanded through intimidation.

Trubus condemned Prabowos remarks as reflective of political arrogance, warning of the potential erosion of democratic norms.

If everyone aligns with the government, public critique becomes untenable, Trubus said.

I perceive a gradual sidelining of our democracy, teetering on the brink of extinction.
In 2018, police seized U.S. $217.4 million in luxury goods, including more than 200 Hermes Birkin handbags, from Najib Razaks properties.

Rosmah Mansor, wife of incarcerated former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, arrives at the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex, March 3, 2023.

Malaysias defrauded 1MDB and some subsidiaries have sued Rosmah Mansor, lover of fine things and wife of incarcerated ex-PM Najib Razak, for U.S. $346 million that she allegedly swindled from the sovereign fund.

The fund and its affiliates allege that Rosmah spent the pilfered money on luxury bags, watches and jewelry, sourcing the goods from 48 sellers across 14 countries.

The lawsuit, filed May 9 in the Kuala Lumpur High Court, said Rosmah bought these items through a Singaporean fashion designer, Shabnam Naraindas Daswani (also known as Natasha Mirpuri), who is also targeted in the case.

A total of 320 such payments totaling U.S. $346,010,489 were made, the lawsuit said.

The companies alleged that the duo knowingly received or assisted in using the cash improperly.

The suing companies have demanded a return of the funds allegedly stolen  along with interest  compensation for legal costs, and any profit made from the sale of the goods, among other penalties.

The plaintiffs have asked the court to impose penalties they see fit on Natasha for what they said was dishonest assistance in the alleged purchase of the luxury goods.

The court set May 24 for technical proceedings in the case.

In May 2018, as part of corruption investigations into 1Malaysia Development Berhad, which investigators estimate was looted of $4.5 billion, Malaysian police seized bags, watches, jewelry  including more than 200 Hermes Birkins  and wads of cash worth a total of $217.4 million from Najibs properties.

The 1MDB case that broke in 2015 caused shockwaves worldwide with Malaysia becoming a byword for corruption.

Investigators estimate that more than $4.5 billion was plundered from 1MDB through fraudulent shell companies to corrupt government and bank officials and their associates. And the case involved a global cast of characters, including a well-known hip-hop star and a Hollywood A-lister.

Rosmahs husband, Najib, was involved as well.

He is in prison for the misappropriation of $9.5 million from a 1MDB subsidiary SRC International, but authorities reduced his 12-year sentence by half in February. He remains on trial in separate cases directly linked to 1MDB, including one connected with 2.3 billion ringgit (U.S. $487 million) that allegedly vanished from the fund and was deposited into the then-prime ministers accounts.

Second lawsuit related to jewelry purchase

Meanwhile, Rosmahs counsel in this case filed by 1MDB said they would soon release a media statement on the lawsuit.

As we have thus far only been served with a copy of the Writ [without the Statement of Claim] by the plaintiffs solicitors, we urge all parties to refrain from speculating on the matter and from making and publishing any statements on the same, Rosmahs counsel Rajivan Nambiar told BenarNews.

This is the second civil suit brought against Rosmah for the alleged purchase of jewelry.

In April last year, Lebanese jeweler Global Royalty Trading SAL sued for the return of $14.57 million, for what they alleged was the delivery of 44 pieces of jewelry to Rosmah in February 2018. The ex-PMs wife claimed those items, which police confiscated in May 2018, are no longer in her possession.

Rosmahs defense argued that if the 43 jewelry pieces were lost, the police or the Malaysian government should be held responsible because they were in charge of the raids on Najibs properties. The Lebanese jewelers items were seized during those raids.

The next hearing on this case is on May 29.

Rosmah, 73, was found guilty of corruption related to a hybrid solar project for rural schools in the state of Sabah. She was given a 10-year prison sentence and fined $233 million, but is out on bail as has filed an appeal against the verdict and sentencing.

The Court of Appeal is scheduled to begin hearing this application Oct. 23 this year.

Additionally, Rosmah is on trial for charges related to income tax and money laundering totaling $1.5 million.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.s top security official on Friday demanded the expulsion of Chinese diplomats who allegedly recorded a conversation about Filipino military resupply missions to a disputed shoal.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano called on the foreign office here to expel staffers at Chinas embassy in Manila whom the Philippine government suspects of having illegally recorded a telephone call between a Chinese official and a senior Filipino military official.

During the phone conversation, the officials allegedly discussed some kind of notification arrangement between China and the Philippines for Filipino resupply missions to Second Thomas (Ayungin) Shoal in the South China Sea.

The Chinese Embassys repeated acts of engaging in and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information  now releasing spurious transcripts or recordings of purported conversations between officials of the host country  should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned or without serious penalty, Ano said in a statement Friday.

Mal-information refers to information that is based on reality, but used to inflict harm on a person, organization or country, according to a 2018 publication by UNESCO.

Ano was criticizing the embassy for releasing a transcript of the alleged conversation to select Philippine media outlets.

The unmistakable objective of the embassys decision to release the transcript, he said, was to sow discord, division and disunity between and among the Filipino people.

He also accused China of spreading falsehoods and smears by claiming that Vice Adm. Alberto Carlos, head of the Philippine militarys Western Command (WESCOM), had agreed during the phone call to a new model for such resupply missions.

Without a doubt, these are serious breaches of the basic norms of international relations and diplomacy by the embassy, Ano said. Those individuals in the Chinese Embassy responsible for violating Philippine laws and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country.

Some tense standoffs at sea have occurred in recent months as China Coast Guard ships have harassed Philippine supply boats and tried to block them from sailing on to a Filipino military outpost at Second Thomas Shoal. The shoal lies within Manilas exclusive economic zone but is also claimed by Beijing.

It was not immediately clear from Anos statement if Philippine officials had verified if the alleged phone call actually happened. The Chinese embassy, for its part, has neither confirmed or denied news reports that the alleged conversation was tape-recorded.

The Philippines anti-wiretapping law prohibits the unauthorized wiretapping and secret recording of private communications to protect the privacy rights of individuals.

Earlier this week, Philippine officials announced that Carlos had gone on leave and was temporarily replaced.

The military did not release details of his whereabouts. WESCOM oversees the countrys defense of the Palawan and Kalayaan islands, including the disputed Spratly chain.

A crumbling Philippine navy ship, the BRP Sierra Madre, is seen at the Second Thomas Shoal in the South China Sea, April 23, 2023. [Aaron Favila/AP Photo]

In Beijing on Friday, the Chinese foreign ministry hit back in response to Anos statement.

The Philippines response shows exactly their guilty conscience in the face of facts and evidence and how exasperated and desperate they have become, ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said during a regular press conference.

We ask the Philippines to ensure that Chinese diplomats can carry out their duty normally, and to stop provocations and infringements, he said. The Philippines needs to quit denying the facts and must not make reckless moves that will only backfire on the Philippines itself.

Ano was the latest Philippine security official to demand that Manila come down hard on the Chinese embassy. Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro Jr. had earlier warned that, if proven true, those involved in recording the alleged phone conversation should be expelled from the Philippines.

Deception

Filipino maritime law expert Jay Batongbacal said that the alleged conversation, if it had actually happened, showed Beijings strategy in the South China Sea dispute.

This [alleged phone conversation] is just the latest in a string of attempts on their part to put up these so-called arrangements, which are always secret or verbal or non-binding. And then trying to tell the national government they should abide by these secret, unofficial agreements, Professor Jay Batongbacal, director of the University of the Philippines Institute for Maritime Affairs and Law of the Sea, said during a TV interview on Wednesday.

Theres an element of not just subversion, but also deception involved. And no sincere and properly-acting country should be doing this, Batongbacal told the ABS-CBN news program Top Story.

Deception should not be an instrument of statecraft and diplomacy.

Balikatan drills end

The controversy broke out in the last week of joint large-scale military drills between the United States and the Philippines. Washington has backed and reaffirmed its support for Manila over the South China Sea dispute.

The Philippines-U.S. drills, called Balikatan (or shoulder-to-shoulder) Exercises, officially ended Friday, marking the culmination of what the allies said was the most comprehensive iteration of the annual exercises yet.

This years drills saw over 16,000 troops from both sides, as well as observers from Australia, France, and other countries.

There were wide-ranging activities held across the country, but the highlight was this weeks beach defense drills that saw troops repel an imagined foreign force from taking over a beach in Laoag, a city in the northern Philippines facing Taiwan.

U.S. Marines join a mission to defend the beach in Laoag, in the northern Philippine province of Ilocos Norte, during a joint Balikatan drill, May 6, 2022. [Jason Gutierrez/BenarNews]

As Balikatan came to close, Defense Secretary Teodoro Jr. said his department would continuously increase the pressure on the military for them to evolve as soon as possible into a multi-threat, multi-theater operating armed force, consistent with the archipelagic doctrine nature of our country and the necessity for defending it in a proactive and not a passive manner.

We welcome more multilateral and maritime cooperative activities, he said, as he expressed thanks to the foreign governments who will continue to welcome us because our national right, territorial integrity, and dignity are non-negotiables for each and every Filipino.
Hailed as a success by the Thai government, the pilot project could see another expansion.

Thailand is piloting a biometric data collection program across five provinces, seeking to streamline health services for Myanmar nationals and stateless people  the countrys most mobile population.

With biometric details, including facial and iris scans, collected from 10,000 people, the program has already garnered praise for alleviating concerns over the identification of migrants. Yet, its implementation has activists worrying about Thailands evolving privacy landscape.

At the heart of the project is the efficient allocation of HPV and COVID-19 vaccines  a logistical hurdle for the transient. The program is being spearheaded by the Department of Disease Control in partnership with the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center and the Thai Red Cross Society.

[There are] maybe at least two or three times [doses] for each person. So we have to know whether this person already got a vaccination for the first time or the second time, so we can give the next dose properly, said Chai Wutitiwatchai, the technology centers director.

The plan is to compile a million profiles using iris and facial scans alongside personal data.

The provinces chosen, including Tak, Samut Sakhon and Prachuap Khiri Khan, are home to significant communities of Myanmar people, ranging from Civil Disobedience Movement activists  who quit their jobs to protest against military rulers  to asylum-seekers and laborers.

Declared a success by the Department of Disease Control, the offices representatives told Thai media it could expand to other provinces.

Privacy concerns

Pichit Siriwan, the Red Crosss deputy director of relief and the community health bureau, highlights the voluntary nature of the data provision, assuring that healthcare will not be denied to those uncomfortable with the process.

The faces and irises of the undocumented patients who visit health service outlets or displaced persons in the temporary shelters who seek vaccination will be scanned or taken, Pichit told Radio Free Asia, a news organizaion affiliated with BenarNews.

Then we will acquire a 13-digit ID with the Mo Prom app. One can refuse if one feels not comfortable with that. They still can receive the service.

A migrant worker from Myanmar receives the Sinovac COVID-19 vaccine in Phuket, Thailand, June 28, 2021. [Jorge Silva/Reuters]

But some digital activists remain uncertain whether biometric data from sensitive groups is safe to collect and store.

The centralization of personal data was particularly troubling for Myanmar nationals living in Thailand, according to a spokesperson at Myanmar Internet Project, a group documenting the countrys internet landscape.

This is concerning for us on a next level. We dont actually know how this data will be shared, said the official at the organization who declined to be named for security reasons.

As Myanmar exiles, we are very concerned this kind of data will be shared with different authorities, particularly on the Myanmar side.

The Red Cross, which will be responsible for storing the data and developing policy around it, including how it may be shared, rejected the possibility of collaborating with cross-border projects, including Myanmars junta-launched e-ID program.

Iris and facial scans would not be shared with state or private agencies, Pichit added.

However, the Red Cross still can tell state agencies and humanitarian organizations whether certain individuals had biometrics collected already and had the 13-digit I.D. or not, according to Pichit.

Police impunity

Other precedents like police impunity in migrant-populated areas leave some cautious of how far officials may go to get information they want, especially with hospitals under the Ministry of Public Health.

From my experience in the [Thai] Deep South, security, military officials often asked for individual information from hospitals, said Supat Hasuwannakit, president of the Rural Doctor Society.

They have both official and unofficial channels to seek such data. When it is official with a government letter, we have to follow them.

Additional legislation forthcoming from Thai authorities proposes a national database for DNA and other biometric information collected from 400,000 cases and 10,000 inmates per year.

The Red Cross said that in all cases, they would not risk the security of a patient by sharing facial or iris scans to the police or any other agencies.

However, the organization added it would have to share the data if it were court-ordered.

Myanmar migrant workers buy snacks from a vendor as they have been stuck for two weeks due to lockdown measures after more than a thousand COVID-19 cases were detected in the workers dormitory in Bangkok, May 24, 2021. [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

Thailands fledgling privacy policy, as well as a major data leak in 2023, has left others uncertain about data security.

In March 2023, Supat from the Rural Doctor Society became a whistleblower on a leak of 55 million Thai citizen identities. At that time, the society claimed the leak occurred from a private developer of the Mo Prom app.

Data privacy law

Thailand passed its first and only data privacy law in 2022, but critics say it is still too weak to provide adequate protection.

It also has significant loopholes allowing data to be used and collected without explicit consent for life-saving purposes, statistical research, public benefit or to protect ones rights and interests, if it is done via contract and under the authority of law.

Although thats a good kind of basic legislation, its actually not efficient enough, said the Myanmar Internet Project spokesperson.

For some, the project was eerily similar to one carried out in Bangladesh. In a controversial U.N. case in 2021, nearly a million identities of Rohingya refugees were turned over to the Bangladesh and Myanmar officials, causing some to go into hiding.

Volunteers give free food for migrant workers from Myanmar who lost their jobs following the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Bangkok, April 23, 2020. [Soe Zeya Tun/Reuters]

In the past, registering directly with the Ministry of Public made some migrants uneasy, even if it was to receive basic public health services, said Chai from the technology center.

Going through a non-government organization makes some feel more comfortable.

You know, theyre quite afraid of showing themselves to the state by making an official registration, he added. But if theyre just giving a picture of their face or even their iris pattern, they dont much care about showing themselves to the public.

The Ministry of Public Healths Department of Disease Control did not respond to RFAs inquiries as of this writing.
A new artificial intelligence program that is allowing users to simulate speaking to deceased loved ones is sparking ethical concerns from experts in the industry.



"Deadbots," also known as "griefbots," use artificial intelligence to mimic the langauge and personality of deceased people based on their "digital footprint," according to Techtimes.



AI ethicists are ringing the alarm on the long-lasting psychological harm the technology could cause, citing immoral companies and thoughtless business practices that are able to misuse the service while taking advantage of the living.

Experts highlight the potential harm and haunt that could be inflicted upon creators and users, explaining that while these services are legally permissible, letting users upload their conversations with dead relatives to essentially bring them back in the form of a chabot steps into a danger zone.

One of the study's co-authors at Cambridge's Leverhulme Center for the Future of Intelligence, Dr. Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basinska, told The Guardian:

"Rapid advancements in generative AI mean that nearly anyone with internet access and some basic know-how can revive a deceased loved one."

Adding, "This area of AI is an ethical minefield. It's important to prioritize the dignity of the deceased and ensure that this isn't encroached on by the financial motives of digital afterlife services."

Companies capitalizing on digital legacy services through advertisements is a likely possibility. It presents an uncomfortable situation when users realize they weren't consulted on whether their data, for example, if recreated loved ones offer daily suggestions or advice, could be shared.

While the deadbot is a risk to all, it especially raises concerns for children. Parents who want to help their children grieve the loss of someone close could cause significant damage by short-circuiting the normal mourning process.

"No re-creation service can prove that allowing children to interact with 'deadbots' is beneficial or, at the very least, does not harm this vulnerable group," the paper cautions.

Researchers have proposed a set of practices that require regulation in order to be enforced while simultaneously preserving the dignity of the dead.

Such measures include procedures for sensitively "retiring" deadbots and limiting their interactive features to adults only, while being transparent as to how the artificial system operates.

The idea to recreate a dead loved one using a ChatGPT-style AI mechanism is nothing new.

In 2021, Joshua Barbeau made headlines after using GPT-3 to manifest a chatbot who spoke with the voice of his deceased girlfriend, according to The Guardian.

Several other programs also offer services such as converting text messages from the deceased into chabots, which led developer Eugenia Kuyda to create the AI companion app Replika.

Another well-known business called MyHeritage is a genealogy website that has introduced Deep Nostalgia, featuring animation videos of users' ancestors from still photos.

Following its viral frenzy, the company admitted that some users found it creepy.

"The results can be controversial, and it's hard to stay indifferent to this technology," MyHeritage said at the time.

The company has since launched DeepStory, giving users the ability to generate talking videos.
Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene called her unsuccessful attempt to remove House Speaker Mike Johnson a "great victory."

The Georgia Republican was jeered by members of her own party on Wednesday when she introduced the motion to vacate, which lost 359 to 43, with 163 Democrats voting to keep Johnson in the post.

During an appearance Thursday on Steve Bannon's right-wing podcast, she was asked about her gambit to remove Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana.

"You heard the K Street money just absolutely through the instruments of the Democratic Party and the Republican people that have been bought off, booed you, you know, lustily," Bannon, a former adviser in Donald Trump's White House said, Raw Story reported.

"Well, that was exactly what I expected, Steve," Greene responded. "And you know, I think it was a great victory yesterday."

"It was a great victory for the American people to see the truth, for the curtain to be drawn back and them to see the ugly truth," she added.

Greene blamed "the uniparty" for her motion going down to overwhelming defeat.

"You can talk about the special interests controlling Washington, D.C., but the vote yesterday proved that Mike Johnson is completely bought and paid for by the Democrats," said Greene, who had claimed Johnson betrayed GOP values by backing a military aid package to Ukraine.

"Democrats can't take control of the House. Hakeem Jeffries cannot become Speaker of the House, because we have the votes and we hold the majority," she said, referring to the Democratic leader in the House.

If Johnson would have been ousted, it would have been the second Republican speaker to be removed in less than a year.

Former Speaker Kevin McCarthy was removed in October 2023 after Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz introduced a motion to vacate.

Jeffries addressed the stakes of Greene's move after the vote.

"Our decision to stop Marjorie Taylor Greene from plunging the House of Representatives and the country into further chaos is rooted in our commitment to solve problems for everyday Americans in a bipartisan manner," he told reporters. "We will continue to govern in a reasonable, responsible and results-oriented fashion, and put people over politics all day and every day."
If you'd like to leave a comment (or a tip or a question) about this story with the editors, please email us

We also welcome letters to the editor for publication; you can do that by filling out our letters form and submitting it to the newsroom.
BELLOWS FALLS  The town of Rockingham is so concerned about the possible impacts of the federal relicensing of Great River Hydro's Bellows Falls station on the town that it has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for intervenor and party status during the federal review of the project.

In addition, the town is filing comments on various issues the hydro project poses to the town -- ranging from the impact on rare grassland birds, recreational opportunities at Herrick's Cove, public access to the Connecticut River, as well as erosion caused by the operation of the hydro station itself.

"The town seeks to have any license issued by FERC conditioned to assure that the Bellows Falls Hydro Project does not cause erosion and provides for expansion of recreation," the petition adopted by the Rockingham Select Board Tuesday night reads.

The town petition points out that Great River Hydro owns 476 acres of riverfront property in the town, including 13.51 acres in downtown Bellows Falls, which it said means "100 percent of the village of Bellows Falls is impacted."

The hydro facility restricts access to the river in the village, the petition noted.

Rick Cowan, chairman of the Rockingham Select Board, said the town sought intervenor status because it "gives the town more options to pursue the actions we've sought in our comments." He said there was a "high level of interest" within the town about the hydro relicensing.

Those comments center around erosion control and expanded recreation opportunities and access, as well as improved economic development in downtown Bellows Falls.

The hydro facility, the petition states, "has restricted economic development and recreational opportunity for almost 100 years."

The petition said that the erosion from the operation of the peaking power facility degrades water quality, harming both fish and wildlife habitat, as well as creating a loss of land along the river.

The Rockingham Select Board voted unanimously Tuesday night to make the request, and Cowan said the town wants to insure its concerns are addressed.

Cowan praised the work of the town's development office, including Gary Fox and Betsy Thurston, in preparing the document, saying they had done "a ton of work" getting the documents for FERC ready.

According to Great River Hydro's relicensing application, it currently operates three turbines at the Bellows Falls facility, which generate a total of 40.8 megawatts, and it wants to install a new turbine "on the downstream side of the spillway."

Great River Hydro, in negotiations with the Connecticut River Conservancy and other environmental groups, has agreed to change its river operation from 'peaking power' to a more natural 'run-of-the-river' operation.

In the past, the hydro company has denied it is the source of the riverbank erosion, saying it is caused by the natural forces of the river.

The 643-foot-long and 30-foot tall concrete dam creates a 26-mile-long impoundment, which covers 2,804 acres, according to its license application.

Great River Hydro, which was purchased by Canadian energy giant Hydro-Quebec in February 2023 from ArcLight Capital Partners, is seeking a new 40-year license to operate a group of its dams on the Connecticut River, including dams and power generating facilities at Bellows Falls, Vernon and Wilder. Its other Connecticut River hydro facilities further north are not up for relicensing yet.

ArcLight had bought the Connecticut and Deerfield rivers hydro network from TransCanada, another Canadian energy giant, for $1 billion in 2017. Prior to that, the network was owned by USGen, a subsidiary of Pacific Gas and Electric.

The deadline for filing comments and for intervenor status is May 22, having been pushed back from April.

The town has wrangled with Great River Hydro's predecessors -- TransCanada, USGen and New England Power -- in the past over its tax assessment. And more recently, the town has been trying to reach an agreement about the pending Depot Street Bridge project, which will ultimately result in the removal of the 109-year-old bridge that spans the Bellows Falls Canal, which acts as the hydro station's penstock. The hydro company, the town and the Agency of Transportation all have concerns about the impact on the canal and the hydro station's power generation.

In its license application, Great River Hydro cited the 1,700-foot-long "stone-lined power canal," which is 29 feet deep, and varies from 36 to 100 feet wide.
Tyler Sumner, 25, of Adams, left, arrives Monday for arraignment on a single count of murder in Central Berkshire District Court in Pittsfield. Sumner was arrested in Adams on Saturday by Pittsfield Police, with assistance from Adams Police and North Adams Police. The charge is in connection with the Aug. 25 shooting on Columbus Avenue in Pittsfield, which killed 32-year-old Stephanie Olivieri. Nathaniel Green, right, is defending Sumner.
This Story in History is selected from the archives by Jeannie Maschino, The Berkshire Eagle.
Lee voters recite the pledge of allegiance before town meeting at Lee Middle and High School on Thursday. Voters passed changes in the zoning bylaw to limit the number of allowed cannabis cultivators in town.
The Massachusetts Department of Early Education and Care has delayed the announcement of subsidized slots for early education and care providers, leaving families and providers in limbo as the new school year approaches. The delay has caused uncertainty about how many slots will be allocated to providers.
Voters will be asked to raise and appropriate $100,000 more in this fiscal year in order to pay for various expenses at a special town meeting on Wednesday.
Donald Morrison, a former editor at Time Magazine, is an Eagle columnist and co-chairman of the advisory board. The opinions expressed by columnists do not necessarily reflect the views of The Berkshire Eagle.
Donald Trump's lawyers continued their cross-examination of Stormy Daniels on Thursday at the New York hush money criminal trial.

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles questioned the former porn star's efforts to sell her story of an alleged 2006 sexual encounter with Trump. He denies it ever happened.

Necheles accused her of refusing to share the story with reporters because she wouldn't be paid for it, the Associated Press reported.

"The better alternative was for you to get money, right?" Necheles said in court.

"The better alternative was to get my story protected with a paper trail so that my family didn't get hurt," Daniels replied.

Necheles then questioned her on her nondisclosure agreement that was reached with former Trump lawyer Michael Cohen.

Daniels took issue several times with the lawyer's questioning.

"You're putting words in my mouth," she said and Necheles was "trying to trick me into saying something that's not entirely true."

Necheles also questioned Daniels on whether she was trying to profit off of Trump's legal problems by selling items like a "Stormy Saint of Indictments" candle.

"Not unlike Mr. Trump," Daniels told the court.

Necheles later turned to her porn career asking, "You have a lot of experience in making phony stories about sex appear real?"

"The sex in those films is real, just like the sex in that room," Daniels responded.

When asked if she felt forced into sex with Trump she said that he didn't drug her or physically threaten her but said, "My own insecurities, in that moment, kept me from saying no."

Daniels testified that she never spoke with Trump about the $130,000 hush money payment and didn't know if he was aware of it.

"You have no personal knowledge about his involvement in that transaction or what he did or didn't do?" Necheles asked.

"Not directly, no," Daniels said.

Daniels pointed out that she was not directly involved in negotiating the agreement. Her lawyer handled it.

After the defense finished their cross-examination, prosecutors asked Daniels more questions.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger asked, "Have you been telling lies about Mr. Trump or the truth about Mr. Trump?"

"The truth," said Daniels and noted that the experience had more negative influence on her life than positive.

Daniels completed her testimony and walked out of the courtroom. Trump did not look at her as she left.
The word heresy is understood in the English language to mean a deviation from what is generally accepted to be true, and is not necessarily confined to religious tenets. For example, one could say it is heresy to eat your French fries with mayonnaise instead of ketchup in America. In this case, its nothing to worry about, and in some places around the world, mayonnaise is the preferred condiment!

For a follower of Jesus, however, heresy is surely something we should take seriously. As people who believe the Bible is our inerrant, infallible authority, we trust its words to tell us the truth about salvation, eternal life, and what it means to live pleasing to God in this world. Our standard isnt popular opinion or cultural norms, but the truth we find in the Word of God. Any deviation from the truth found in the Bible is considered heresy.

In the New Testament, the word heresy is from the Greek word airesis. Its also translated as sect, meaning the belief system of different groups such as Sadducees (Acts 5:17), Pharisees (Acts 15:5), and Orthodox Jews (Acts 26:5). Paul even used this word to describe what others called his faith in Christ (Acts 24:14), as the acceptance of Jesus as the promised Messiah was seen by many to be contrary to the Old Testament teachings. Airesis speaks of choice. Vines Dictionary defines it as a choosing, choice (from haireomai, to choose); then, that which is chosen, and hence, an opinion, especially a self-willed opinion, which is substituted for submission to the power of truth, and leads to division and the formation of sects.

What Does the Bible Teach Us about Heresy? Why Is It So Serious?

Differences of opinion on matters of preference shouldnt be a cause for concern among believers. We dont need to be divided over the color of the carpet or whether the worship pastor chooses traditional hymns or a more contemporary style of music. And the Bible gives us wisdom and guidance in settling lesser matters in a way that glorifies God.

But heresy in our doctrine should be taken very seriously. Ultimately, wrong teaching can keep us from obtaining eternal life. We can miss heaven if we choose to align our thinking and belief systems with teaching that is opposed to the truth of Gods Word.

Paul warned the believers against airesis, equating the false teaching of factions or sects with immorality, sorcery, and the like.

Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions [heresies], envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God (Galatians 5:19-21, emphasis added).

Peter also warns of the dangers of false teachers, whose words will lead us to destruction.

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep (2 Peter 2:1-3, emphasis added).

Just before this, Peter reminds us of where we can find the truth: But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of ones own interpretation, for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God (2 Peter 1:20-21). My husband likes to say, There are many applications in Scripture, but there is only one interpretation. That interpretation is the original intent of the Author, God.

Jesus had very strong words for His disciples, warning against the heresy of false teachers and prophets that keep us from entering heaven.

Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheeps clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits.  Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter (Matthew 7:15-16a, 21).

What did Jesus mean when He referred to the will of the Father? He tells us plainly, connecting His Fathers will to His own claim to be Gods Son, sent to be the Savior of the world.

For this is the will of My Father, that everyone who beholds the Son and believes in Him will have eternal life, and I Myself will raise him up on the last day (John 6:40).

Later, Jesus warns of the prevalence and boldness of false teachers who will lead many astray in the last days by enticing them to believe in someone other than Himself for salvation.

And Jesus answered and said to them, See to it that no one misleads you. For many will come in My name, saying I am the Christ, and will mislead many.  Then if anyone says to you, Behold, here is the Christ, or There He is, do not believe him. For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead if possible, even the elect (Matthew 24:4-5, 24).

As we all grow in knowledge and faith at different rates, we may find areas where we can agree to disagree. For example, many godly Bible scholars have a different view of end-times prophecy, and these arent inherently heretical. But there are several non-negotiable, foundational truths upon which the Christian faith is built. Straying from these does constitute heresy, and it important to know what the Bible says, and believe and live accordingly.

What Are Some of the Non-Negotiables of the Christian Faith?

Religious organizations compile and publish what is called a statement of faith that defines the non-negotiables of their belief system. This is a good exercise for individuals as well. It is dangerous to be illiterate about what it is we say we believe.

Faith in Jesus is more than an affiliation with a certain church or denomination. It is a commitment to be a disciple of the teachings of our Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. A personal statement of faith can strengthen our belief system and keep us far away from any heresy that would dishonor Him or diminish the power of His Word.

Here are a few important areas which need to be defined in your statement of faith, using Gods Word as the foundation and source of truth.

What does the Bible say about

the Scriptures?

God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit)?

salvation?

grace and works?

the Church (both local and universal)?

sharing the gospel?

our relationship with the culture?

What Are Some Warning Signs That We May Be Straying into Heresy?

C.H. Spurgeon said, It is a remarkable fact that all the heresies which have arisen in the Christian Church have had a decided tendency to dishonor God and to flatter man. Whenever we find ourselves lowering our view of God and elevating our view of self, we should stop and examine our beliefs.

Here are just three examples of dangerous deceptions that can lead to embracing a heretical faith, and some verses from Scripture that refute the heresy.

1. We Can Know God but Deny Jesus

The first step towards heresy is denying who Jesus is, the perfect, sinless Son of God who took on flesh, being born of a virgin, lived a life without sin, and willingly gave His own life on the cross to pay for the sins of the world. Heretics reject the deity of Jesus.

Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also (1 John 2:22-23).

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world (1 John 4:1-3).

2. We Can Obtain Eternal Life by Our Own Righteousness

Heretics deny that Jesus is the only way of salvation. One of the great deceptions of today is that all faiths are the same, just different ways to God, and that man can earn his way to heaven if he practices enough good deeds. The Bible teaches that salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, and granted solely on the work of Christ as a gift. No one can do enough good deeds to merit salvation, for in the sight of God, all our righteous acts are like filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6).

The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life (1 John 5:10-12).

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God; not as a result of works, so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

3. We Can Sin without Worry or Regret Because We Live under Grace, Not Law

If we deny the deity of Jesus and believe we can balance out our sin with enough good deeds, we will soon make excuses for our ungodly actions. Followers of Jesus still sin, even after salvation, as we live in imperfect, fleshly bodies. However, Gods grace isnt to be taken for granted and presumed upon. It is heresy to believe that God excuses our willful disobedience. If we truly belong to Him, we will suffer His discipline, and if we feel no conviction for our sin, we should question if we know Him at all.

Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints. For certain persons have crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 1:3-4).

If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. The one who says, I have come to know Him, and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: the one who says he abides in Him ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked (1 John 1:6; 2:3-6).

The antidote to heresy will always be to ask ourselves, What does the Bible say? Let us be true disciples, who hear and believe the words of Jesus.

Photo credit: Getty Images/Fiordaliso

Author Sheila Alewine is a pastors wife, mother, and grandmother of five. She and her husband lead Around The Corner Ministries, which serves to equip Christ-followers to share the gospel where they live, work and play. She has written seven devotionals including Just Pray: Gods Not Done With You Yet, Grace & Glory: 50 Days in the Purpose & Plan of God, and her newest one, Give Me A Faith Like That, as well as Going Around The Corner, a Bible study for small groups who desire to reach their communities for Christ. Their ministry also offers disciple-making resources like One-To-One Disciple-Making in partnership with Multiplication Ministries. Sheila has a passion for Gods Word and shares what God is teaching her on her blog, The Way of The Word. Connect with her on her blog, Facebook, and Instagram.
BillOReilly.com is not available in this country.



We apologize for any inconvenience.
A federal appeals court has refused to throw out Hunter Biden's federal gun indictment.

That means the president's son faces a criminal trial next month in Delaware.

The president's son had asked the 3rd US Circuit Court of Appeals to dismiss the charges

He asked the court to overturn a ruling from the trial judge that the case should move forward, CNN reported.

Prosecutors claim Biden illegally purchased a weapon because he was under the influence of narcotics at the time.

His lawyers say the charges violate his Second Amendment rights and that "possessing an unloaded gun for 11 days was not a threat to public safety."

He previously entered a not guilty plea.

Hunter Biden's lawyer, Abbe Lowell, said he could ask the U.S. Supreme Court to consider the case.

"In reviewing the panel's decision, we believe the issues involved are too important and further review of our request is appropriate," Lowell told CNBC.


Borsa Italiana non ha responsabilita per il contenuto del sito a cui sta per accedere e non ha responsabilita per le informazioni contenute.

Accedendo a questo link, Borsa Italiana non intende sollecitare acquisti o offerte in alcun paese da parte di nessuno.

Sarai automaticamente diretto al link in cinque secondi.
The NYPD said it has spent more than $50 million on overtime pay as officers responded to the thousands of pro-Palestinian protests that have broken out across New York City since the Israel-Hamas war began on Oct. 7, according to a report.

The $53 million is part of a $168 million expenditure for unplanned police overtime since last July, Gothamist reported.

NYPD officials told a City Council budget hearing Thursday that officers have racked up thousands of overtime hours because of the pro-Palestinian protests, with the department dishing out $5 million on OT between April 21 and May 7.

That includes the time when the NYPD broke up encampments on the campuses of Columbia University and the City College of New York.

Police officials defended the spending saying it was needed to quell the protests at the schools.

When NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban was asked by council members whether the schools would reimburse the department, NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Legal Matters Michael Gerber said that's an issue it is "exploring."
State Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington Washington D.C. West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Puerto Rico US Virgin Islands Armed Forces Americas Armed Forces Pacific Armed Forces Europe Northern Mariana Islands Marshall Islands American Samoa Federated States of Micronesia Guam Palau Alberta, Canada British Columbia, Canada Manitoba, Canada New Brunswick, Canada Newfoundland, Canada Nova Scotia, Canada Northwest Territories, Canada Nunavut, Canada Ontario, Canada Prince Edward Island, Canada Quebec, Canada Saskatchewan, Canada Yukon Territory, Canada

Postal Code
A firm directed by controversial landlord Marc Godart did not own the Dublin 8 property from which it unlawfully evicted a woman, the High Court has heard.

Lawyers for Green Label Short Lets Ltd said the property at Vintage Court, Cork Street, is owned by a woman with an address in Enniscorthy, Co Wexford, who is unconnected to Mr Godart.

Advertisement

Mr Justice Brian Cregan said the disclosure raises a host of questions, and asked how it can be the case that Green Label is a landlord without a premises.

He said he has offered the company two opportunities to explain the situation on affidavit, but the situation was not explained to his satisfaction.

In 2022, former tenant Lizet Pena-Herrera was awarded 15,433 by the Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) against Green Label for an egregious unlawful eviction.

The award was not paid, so she got a District Court order for payment of the debt plus costs.

Advertisement

Mr Godart (35), a Luxembourg national with substantial property interests in Ireland, has told the High Court in an affidavit that Green Label has no assets and has effectively ceased operations.

Ms Pena-Herrera, a psychologist originally from Bolivia, has brought a High Court application seeking to have Mr Godart  Green Labels sole director  called before the court to give evidence about the financial affairs of the company, with a view to identifying resources that can satisfy the RTB award, which has not been paid.

The companys lawyers argue the High Court does not have jurisdiction to hear Ms Pena-Herraras case.

Mixed messages

On Friday, John Kennedy SC, for Ms Pena-Herrara, said Mr Godart cannot use companies for his benefit without consequences.

Advertisement

He said there are conflicts in Green Labels evidence, as it appears to be telling the District Court it is not a landlord, but conveying a different message in the High Court.

Mr Kennedy, with Liam Bell BL, instructed by McGrath Mullen solicitors, said the firm cannot be two things at once, and it is appropriate for Mr Godart to be called to court to answer the case.

He said sums probably greatly in excess of the more than 15,000 owed to his client are likely being spent by the company on its defence of this case.

Green Labels senior counsel, Gary McCarthy, said the court must not conduct a partial hearing on the rights and wrongs of what occurred between the parties. Rather, it must address the strict, cold-hearted legal issue of whether the case was correctly brought and whether the High Court has the power to hear it.

Advertisement

He submitted the action should be struck out on jurisdictional grounds.

Mr McCarthy, with Darragh Haugh BL, instructed by Shields Solicitors, said the company has permitted Ms Pena-Herrera to inspect its books and records.

Mr Justice Cregan said he will rule on the application on Monday.

Ms Pena-Herrera, who came to Ireland in 2008, says she entered into a tenancy agreement in December 2020, renting a room for 470 per month at 8 Vintage Court.

In a sworn statement to the District Court, she said that in March 2022 she complained to Dublin City Council asking for an inspection of the premises due to a number of health and safety issues in the dwelling, principally overcrowding.

An inspection took place that April, and Ms Pena-Herrera was served with a notice by Green Label a week later to quit her accommodation, she claims.

She successfully appealed this notice to the RTB, but before it found in her favour, she claims she was phoned by someone acting for Green Label saying her belongings were moved from her room in Vintage Court to a storage facility.

She made a fresh complaint to the RTB, which ordered she should be paid a second sum of 14,443.


More than 1,500 Columbia alumni are threatening to withhold donations from their alma mater until it agrees to divest from Israel, remove the New York Police Department from the campus and drop charges against the pro-Palestinian student activists, among other demands - in a boycott that could cost the university more than $63 million.

The letter, which claims to represent more than 20 organizations, including various affinity groups and schools within Columbia, was initially sent to university President Minouche Shafik on May 3. The signatories expressed "firm and unwavering solidarity with all students, staff, and Columbia community members taking principled action to stop the University's continued collaboration with the Israeli government's ongoing genocidal violence against Palestinians."

"Peaceful escalation is a longstanding part of Columbia's legacy of student activism-a legacy which Columbia itself often uses to recruit prospective students," the letter reads. "We urge Columbia to learn from its own history - failures and successes alike - and follow the lead of its student activists at this pivotal moment."

Columbia University attracted international attention - and scrutiny - after Shafik twice authorized the NYPD to enter the campus and arrest protestors who occupied a campus lawn and then an academic building. Following the students' occupation of Hamilton Hall, she also requested that the police remain on campus until May 17, two days after commencement.

The letters' signatories condemned the university's decision to allow the NYPD on campus while barring the press and legal observers from monitoring the situation.

"We have seen reports that students were subject to military tactics, including the use of stun grenades, flash bangs, and gunfire," the letter reads.

"That police severely injured multiple students; that many were denied access to medication, food, and water once in police custody; that police forcibly removed Muslim students' hijabs in the presence of men, an unforgivable violation of their religious rights; and other alarming instances of mistreatment."

The letter's Jewish signatories also criticized the university for "weaponizing claims about antisemitism" - arguing that in doing so the university was endangering its Jewish students, many of whom are involved in pro-Palestinian activism. They also called on Columbia to reinstate Jewish Voice for Peace - a pro-Palestinian Jewish group that was barred from campus in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas attacks in Israel.

The letter concluded by calling attention to the Palestinians sheltering in Rafah, who are facing unprecedented Israeli bombardment, in one of the last remaining habitable areas of the Gaza Strip.

"The University must now act boldly in support of Palestinian life and liberation," the alumni wrote. Anything less is a betrayal of the core lessons we were taught at Columbia University."
Northern Irelands top doctor has told the Covid-19 Inquiry of his concern that scenes of a large number of people attending the funeral of republican Bobby Storey during the pandemic had the potential to undermine confidence in public health measures.

Dr Sir Michael McBride, Stormonts chief medical officer, told the inquiry that the funeral in Belfast and other high-profile breaches of Covid restrictions caused a great deal of hurt and anger.

Advertisement

The funeral in June 2020 sparked political controversy after then deputy first minister Michelle ONeill and other Sinn Fein ministers attended.

Chief Medical Officer for Northern Ireland Dr Michael McBride. Photo: Sir Mark Marlow/PA.

The gathering was criticised at the time as being in breach of Covid rules.

Advertisement

Large numbers of people lined the route and the cortege was followed at a distance by a large number of mourners at a time when social distancing guidelines were in place.

Earlier this week, Sinn Feins former communities minister Caral Ni Chuilin told the inquiry she accepted that she should not have attended the funeral.

Dr McBride was asked about the funeral during his appearance before inquiry chair Baroness Hallett on Friday.

Advertisement

He said: My concern at the time, and there were other high-profile breaches of the guidance and the regulations at that time right across the UK, was that anything whereby those of us in a position of public profile and who were leading (the) response to the pandemic or contributing to leading the response, anything which suggested there was one rule for us and a different rule for someone else, I think was extremely problematic.

My concern was that that and the other incidents where this occurred created a great deal of hurt, anger and also had the potential to undermine public confidence in what we were asking people to do and the huge sacrifices that people had already made at a time when they had many more sacrifices to make.

Advertisement

So, I was concerned about the discordance of those images and indeed other high-profile individuals across the UK who had similarly not followed the advice which was there for everyone to follow.
A 15-year-old girl will always be remembered due to her bubbly personality andsmiles mourners at her Requiem Mass heard.

Molly Dempsey from Whitehall Park, Baltinglass was pronounced dead at the scene of a fatal single vehicle collision at 5am on Sunday last at Slaney Park close to the town.

Advertisement

Students and friends from her secondary school, Scoil Chonclais provided a guard of honour with many wearing her favourite colour pink and white T-shirts emblazoned with her image and name in pink.

A sunshine-filled morning belied the shattering sadness of the Dempsey familys enormous loss.

Perched on a height above the town of Baltinglass, mourners began to gather from 10.30am at St Josephs Church for the teenagers Requiem Mass.

A car and tractor led the cortege into the grounds of the church with the words Molly 15 across both.

Advertisement

Her pink coloured coffin, with her name Moll was carried into the church by pall-bearers also wearing themed T-shirts. A white and pink lilies and roses floral wreath and a smiling photograph of the young girl adorned her coffin once in the church.

The Dempsey family already suffered two previous bereavements, when two of her brothers died in separate incidents. A 13-year-old brother Roy passed away tragically, while another 18-year-old brother Kilian died in Dublin.

She is the third of nine Dempsey children to have lost their lives.

Parish Priest Gerard Ahern who concelebrated the Mass explained the meaning behind three symbols which were brought to the altar representing her life, a photograph of her with her family and her love for them, her favourite book, The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horses, she liked to read for herself and to her nieces and nephews.

Advertisement

Finally a speaker was presented showing a love and passion for her favourite music and loud music as many of her neighbours would know.

Fr Ahern said: Molly has died with a life ahead of her and well never know now what that life would have been like. Sadly that will not happen now but her bubbly personality, her singing voice, her love of animals, her sense of fun would have seen her grow into a wonderful person.

"Molly was baptised in this church and on the 21 August 2021, I confirmed her here and one the one thing I remember she had taken the name of a male saint as her confirmation name that was more the exception than the norm.

"The name was Kilian and she told me the reason for taking that name, it was the name of her brother who died and I certainly thought it was most appropriate. His death had a profound effect on her and it was a beautiful tribute to a brother she loved deeply. When something like this happens we ask God why this happens and it's not easy holding onto faith."

Advertisement

He continued: "We are all very conscious but particularly for you Nigel and Mary that this is the third time youve been asked to carry such a heavy cross. We think of Roy and Killian, maybe it does offer some little support or comfort to you to know that once again that Molly, Roy and Kilian are together and that they will take care of her. But we gather here in the church because we are people of faith.

"A faith which is very much tested and leaves us asking many questions but if we thought this was the end of life for Molly I think it would be hard to take that on to realise for people of faith and to appreciate the fact that new life is open to her that will never end."

Mourners listened as Fr Ahern explained that while they were gathered in the church on a very sad occasion they were also there to celebrate and give thanks to God for the life of Molly.

"A life of only 15 years and really we shouldnt be here this morning and we can all sense that. We sense the sadness, we sense the despair, the sense of feeling of loss at this untimely death of Molly. We are very conscious of each other, her family, her parents Nigel and Mary and her siblings Laura, Charlie, Joe, Yvonne, Jake and Ella, grandmothers May and Dolly and extended family," he noted.

Advertisement

"We are here to offer you the support of our presence and the support of our prayers because often at a time like this there is nothing else we can say or do. Just to realise that everyone shares your pain and wants to be their support you whatever way they can and although Mollys life was a life of 15 years there was a lot that she achieved in that life and there are a lot of memories that she has left and those are memories that you will hold on to for a long time."

He revealed that it felt for him and Miss Dempsey's family that it seemed "somewhat unreal" to be there because of Molly's death.

"But that is the reality and theres no way of getting away from it. We all know that our lives will end with death but we hope and expect that it will come after a long life. But we all know from life from experience and the Dempsey family knows it doesnt work out that way and death can come at any age.

"Inevitably when it comes like this it's like as if the electricity is cut off everything stops. Television goes blank, the radio goes silent and the lights go out and we are plunged into darkness. We are in a blackout," explained Fr Ahern.

"When that happens we feel lost, helpless and maybe frightened and our whole routine is disrupted and we want to know why this happened. I often think that a sudden death and an unexpected death is like a blackout. Without the slightest warning we have no chance to prepare ourselves. We are plunged into darkness and, in the space of a minute your whole life is turned upside down.

"And as you went to bed on Saturday night little did anyone think what they would wake up to on Sunday morning. The first thing I thought of upon hearing of her death was of her parents Nigel and Mary and I didnt know then that you had already lost two children Roy and Kilian.

"I said to myself no parent should have to go through this. In fact, no parent expects to see a child of theirs to go before them but three is very hard to comprehend and only you Mary and Nigel know what that is like, the rest of us can only imagine it and for her siblings, Laura, Charlie, Joe, Jake and Ella you have lost your baby sister and only you know the pain of this loss."

Her close friend McKenzie told those gathered of Molly's love of horses, donkeys and dogs, her joy of dancing and loud music as mourner's tears flowed openly.

Three relatives gave reflections of how much Molly meant to them all. The young girl's remains were interred in Baltinglass cemetery following her funeral Mass.

The driver of a car, a teenage boy was not injured, was arrested on suspicion of offences under the Road Traffic Act, was detained under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 but later released.

Gardai said investigations were ongoing and a file was being prepared for the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
Chads military leader, Mahamat Deby Itno, was declared the winner of this weeks presidential election, according to provisional results.

The results were contested by his main rival, prime minister Succes Masra.

Advertisement

The national agency that manages Chads election released results of Mondays vote weeks earlier than planned.

The figures showed Mr Deby Itno won with just over 61 per cent of the vote, with the runner-up Mr Masra falling far behind with over 18.5 per cent of the vote.

Gunfire erupted in the capital following the announcement, though it was unclear if it was celebratory.

Preliminary results were initially expected on May 21st.

Advertisement

A Chadian woman votes in Ndjamena, Chad (AP)

Chad held its long-delayed presidential election following three years of military rule, a vote that analysts widely expected the incumbent to win.

Mr Deby Itno, also known as Mahamat Idriss Deby, seized power after his father, who spent three decades in power, was killed fighting rebels in 2021.

Advertisement

The oil-exporting country of nearly 18 million people has not had a free and fair transfer of power since it became independent in 1960 after decades of French colonial rule.

Hours ahead of Thursdays announcement, Mr Masra published a speech on Facebook accusing the authorities of planning to manipulate the outcome.

During the 11-minute speech, Mr Masra appeared in a blue suit at a podium with the national flag in the background and claimed victory, saying the incumbent was planning to reverse the outcome of the vote. He called on Chads military, police and other security forces to stop following Mr Deby Itnos orders.

These orders will lead you to side with the wrong side of Chads history, these orders will lead you to fight your brothers and sisters, these orders will lead you to commit the irreparable and unforgivable, he said in the speech. Refuse to obey these unjust orders!

Advertisement

There was no immediate response from the presidents office.

After the results were announced Thursday, military and civilian supporters took to the streets on foot and in cars and motorcycles, honking horns and waving flags.

We heard there was a (high) turnout, which shows that people are really aware and that they were mature enough to participate in (the vote), said Adoum Mohamed, a resident in the capital.

Mr Masra, president of The Transformers opposition party, fled Chad in October 2022.

Advertisement

The countrys military government at the time suspended his party and six others in a clampdown on protests against Mr Deby Itnos decision to extend his time in power by two more years.

More than 60 people were killed in the protests, which the government condemned as an attempted coup.

An agreement between the countrys minister of reconciliation and Mr Masras political party late last year allowed the exiled politician and other opposition figures to return to Chad. He was later appointed prime minister.

Chad is seen by the US and France as one of the last remaining stable allies in the vast Sahel region following military coups in Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger in recent years.

The ruling juntas in all three nations have expelled French forces and turned to Russias mercenary units for security assistance instead.
Croatian conservative leader Andrej Plenkovic was formally appointed as prime minister-designate on Friday for a third consecutive term after he forged an alliance with a right wing party following an inconclusive election.

Mr Plenkovics ruling Croatian Democratic Union won the most votes at last months parliamentary vote in the European Union nation, but not enough to stay in power on their own.

Advertisement

The party this week agreed to form a coalition with the far-right Homeland Movement for a parliamentary majority.

Andrej Plenkovic, left, meets President Zoran Milanovic at the presidential palace in Zagreb, Croatia, on Friday (AP)

MPs are set to approve Mr Plenkovics new government next week. It will have a slim majority of 78 in the 151-member assembly, which could herald political uncertainty.

Advertisement

We will continue in our third mandate to work for progress, Mr Plenkovic said on X, former Twitter, after he was appointed by President Zoran Milanovic.

Mr Plenkovics new Cabinet is likely to push Croatia further to the right ahead of next months European election, which takes place as the continent faces a war in Ukraine, climate emergencies, migration and other problems.

The Homeland Movement, or DP, is a relatively new political party in Croatia, made up largely of radical nationalists and social conservatives who had left the centre-right HDZ.

The party is led by the hardline mayor of the eastern town of Vukovar, which was destroyed during Croatias 1991 war for independence after it split from the former Yugoslavia.

Advertisement

For the first time in years, Croatias government will not include a party representing minority Serbs because DP opposed their inclusion. That has fuelled concerns about ethnic tensions stemming from the conflict in the 1990s.

HDZ has largely held office since Croatia gained independence. The Balkan nation became an EU member in 2013, and joined Europes passport-free travel area and the eurozone last year.
Labour frontbencher Wes Streeting said he has spoken to more Tories considering a defection to the British opposition but insisted the party would not accept just any MP after former Conservative Natalie Elphicke crossed the floor.

The shadow health secretary said Ms Elphicke had switched sides with a purpose and not out of personal ambition as he defended the move amid a backlash from some of her new party colleagues.

Advertisement

Referring to her defection along with former Tory Dan Poulter last month in an interview with the Independent, Mr Streeting said: I think in Dans case as a doctor in the NHS who has come to the unequivocal conclusion only Labour can be trusted to sort the NHS out, Natalie Elphicke who is with her community seeing the consequences of what happens when immigration goes poorly managed

I think theyre very powerful message-carriers but they have defected with a purpose, not out of personal ambition, and I think people should take that message really seriously.

Former Tory Dan Poulter (Dominic Lipinski/PA)

Advertisement

Mr Streeting claimed he has spoken to more Tory MPs considering a move because of the division and incompetence of Rishi Sunaks government.

Labour MPs have criticised the decision to admit Ms Elphicke to the party, citing her hardline views on immigration and her previous support of her ex-husband after he was found guilty of sexual assaulting two women.

The Dover MP apologised on Thursday for claiming after Charlie Elphickes 2020 conviction that he was attractive, and attracted to women and an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations.

She said: The period of 2017  2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew. I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.

Advertisement

Jess Phillips, the former shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, had earlier said Ms Elphicke should account for her actions, adding: Im all for forgiveness but I do think that that needs some explaining.

One Labour MP told the PA news agency they thought the decision was utterly disgraceful, while another was left in tears by the news.

Meanwhile, the Telegraph reported that deputy leader Angela Rayner had told backbenchers at an internal parliamentary committee meeting that Ms Elphicke would have no formal role in the party following the backlash.

A source told the paper that the key point was that (Ms Rayner) clarified Natalie will have no formal role beyond being just a backbencher.

Advertisement

The decision was also another blow to the UK prime minister, coming shortly after Dr Poulters defection and a set of local election results last week which painted a dismal picture for the Conservatives.

Announcing her decision to switch parties, Ms Elphicke hit out at Mr Sunaks tired and chaotic government and accused him of failing to deliver on his promise to stop the boats, adding that Labour would bring a much better future for our country.

But Downing Street has pointed out her repeated attacks on Labours immigration policy while former prime minister David Cameron said her defection showed the opposition stood for nothing.

Answering questions after a speech in London, the UK foreign secretary said: What does this tell us about the party shes joining? In life, if you dont stand for something, you will fall for anything.

Advertisement

I thought thats sort of what yesterday showed, that there isnt a policy about anything, its just been about clearing the decks to try and focus attention on the governing party.
The UN General Assembly has voted by a wide margin to grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and called on the Security Council to reconsider Palestines request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The world body approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions.

Advertisement

The United States voted against it, along with Israel, Argentina, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau and Papua New Guinea.

UN General Assembly determines that the State of Palestine is qualified and should be admitted as a member to the United Nations.



UNGA further recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter.https://t.co/xWc4QO8ruV pic.twitter.com/6dEl4ps8pp  United Nations (@UN) May 10, 2024 Advertisement

The vote reflected the wide global support for full membership of Palestine in the United Nations, with many countries expressing outrage at the escalating death toll in Gaza and fears of a major Israeli offensive in Rafah, a southern city where about 1.3 million Palestinians have sought refuge.

It also demonstrated growing support for the Palestinians.

Advertisement

A General Assembly resolution on October 27th calling for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza was approved by a vote of 120-14 with 45 abstentions.

That was just weeks after Israel launched its military offensive in response to Hamass October 7 attack in southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people.

While Fridays resolution gives Palestine some new rights and privileges, it reaffirms that it remains a non-member observer state without full UN membership and the right to vote in the General Assembly or at any of its conferences.

And the United States has made clear that it will block Palestinian membership and statehood until direct negotiations with Israel resolve key issues, including security, boundaries and the future of Jerusalem, and lead to a two-state solution.

Advertisement

US deputy ambassador Robert Wood said on Friday that for the US to support Palestinian statehood, direct negotiations must guarantee Israels security and future as a democratic Jewish state and that Palestinians can live in peace in a state of their own.

The US also vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine.

Under the UN Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be peace-loving and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval.

Advertisement

Palestinians mourn their relatives at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza (Ismael Abu Dayyah/AP)

Palestine became a UN non-member observer state in 2012.

The United States considers Fridays resolution an attempt to get around the charters provisions, Mr Wood reiterated on Thursday.

Unlike resolutions in the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly.

Fridays resolution required a two-thirds majority of members voting and got significantly more than the 118-vote minimum.

US allies supported the resolution, including France, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Australia, Estonia and Norway.

But European countries were very divided.

The resolution determines that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership  dropping the original language that in the General Assemblys judgment it is a peace-loving state.

It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favourably.

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the UN comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at centre stage.

At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

Before the vote, Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian UN ambassador, told the assembly in an emotional speech: No words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians, their families, communities and for our nation as a whole.

He said Palestinians in Gaza have been pushed to the very edge of the strip, to the very brink of life with Israel besieging Rafah.

Mr Mansour accused Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu of preparing to kill thousands to ensure his political survival and aiming to destroy the Palestinian people.

Israels UN ambassador Gilad Erdan vehemently opposed the resolution, accusing UN member nations of not mentioning Hamass October 7th attack and seeking to reward modern-day Nazis with rights and privileges.

Mr Erdan said if an election were held today, Hamas would win, and warned UN members that they were about to grant privileges and rights to the future terror state of Hamas.

He held up a photo of Yehya Sinwar, the mastermind of the Hamas attack on Israel, saying a terrorist whose stated goal is Jewish genocide would be a future Palestinian leader.

A poster of Noa Argamani is taped to one of the empty chairs for hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip as relatives and their supporters gather together outside Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahus official residence in Jerusalem (Maya Alleruzzo/AP)

Mr Erdan also accused the assembly of trampling on the UN Charter, putting two pages that said UN Charter in a small shredder he held up.

The original draft of the resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the US but also by Russia and China, three Western diplomats said.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the assemblys sessions and UN conferences on equal footing with member states.

It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China, which are strong supporters of Palestines UN membership, were concerned that granting the rights and privileges listed in an annex could set a precedent for other would-be UN members  with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Under longstanding legislation by the US Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to UN agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state, which could mean a cut-off in dues and voluntary contributions to the UN from its largest contributor.

The final draft that was voted on dropped the language that would put Palestine on equal footing with member states.

And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it decided on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

It also added a provision in the annex clarifying that it does not give Palestine the right to vote in the General Assembly or put forward candidates for UN agencies.

What the resolution does give Palestine are the rights to speak on all issues, not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and to serve on the assemblys main committees.

It also allows Palestinians to participate in UN and international conferences convened by the United Nations, but without the right to vote.

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authoritys application for UN membership in 2011.

It failed because the Palestinians did not get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Councils 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a UN observer to a non-member observer state.

That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join UN and other international organisations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18th, the Palestinians got much more support for full UN membership.

The vote was 12 in favour, the UK and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.
The UN General Assembly is expected to vote on Friday on a resolution that would grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favourably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent, and US deputy ambassador Robert Wood made clear on Thursday the Biden administration is opposed to the assembly resolution.

Advertisement

Under the UN Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be peace-loving and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a UN non-member observer state in 2012.





Advertisement

Weve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that, Mr Wood said on Thursday.

We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the UN is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.

But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

The draft resolution determines that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership  dropping the original language that in the General Assemblys judgment it is a peace-loving state. It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favourably.

Advertisement

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the UN comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at centere stage.

At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the US but also by Russia and China, the diplomats said.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the assemblys sessions and UN conferences on equal footing with member states.

Advertisement



The UN General Assembly is expected to vote on Friday on the Palestine resolution (Stefan Rousseau/PA)

It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China which are strong supporters of Palestines UN membership were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be UN members  with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Advertisement

Under longstanding legislation by the US Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to UN agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state  which could mean a cut-off in dues and voluntary contributions to the UN from its largest contributor.

The final draft drops the language that would put Palestine on equal footing with member states. And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.

The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and the right to be elected as officers in the assemblys main committees.

It would give the Palestinians the right to participate in UN and international conferences convened by the United Nations  but it drops their right to vote which was in the original draft.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authoritys application for UN membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians did not get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Councils 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a UN observer to a non-member observer state.

That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join UN and other international organisations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full UN membership. The vote was 12 in favour, the UK and Switzerland abstaining, and the US voting no and vetoing the resolution.
It is well known  in part from Pybus own Truganini: Journey through the Apocalypse (but retold here in two unbearably sad chapters)  that Truganini, mistakenly declared the last Tasmanian Aboriginal, was desperate not to be mutilated. On her deathbed she pleaded to be buried in the deepest part of DEntrecasteaux Channel. Her wishes were callously ignored: her bones were packed in a basement apple case and her skull was put on public display. It was not until 1976 that indignity ended: her skeleton was cremated and scattered in the waters off Bruny Island.

Another familiar story, but engagingly told by Pybus, concerns the attempt by Lady Jane Franklin (far more formidable than her hapless husband, Governor John Franklin) to civilise an Aboriginal girl, Mathinna. She lived with the Franklins in Government House, for three years but retained, in Lady Franklins exasperated words, the unconquerable nature of the savage. She was sent to Flinders Island, where she was brutalised on a daily basis: she told an inquiry I was once flogged when blood ran down my head  [but] I never complained about being flogged.

The portrait of Mathinna commissioned by Lady Franklin. Credit: Thomas Bock

Lady Franklin commissioned a portrait by Thomas Bock of the melancholy Mathinna wearing her trademark scarlet frock and sent it to London; later it was repatriated to the Tasmanian Art Gallery and is now beautifully reproduced in this book.

Lady Franklin sought, relentlessly, to promote the colony to the imperial centre as an important place of scientific research and learning. After she founded a local Royal Society, her reputation was ensured. She also impressed visiting naval officers with her own collection of Aboriginal specimens and skulls on display in Government House.
Veteran actor Chris Haywood had never heard of Spains Camino de Santiago nor did he know hed meet his eldest daughter for the first time on the 800-kilometre pilgrim route when he went there last year.

His friend, director Bill Bennett, asked him to star in a feature film, The Way, My Way, which is set on the Spanish path pilgrims have walked for more than 1000 years, where miracles, at least of endurance, are said to occur.

Chris Haywood stars in The Way, My Way about the Camino de Santiago.

The film, out in cinemas on Wednesday, is based on Bennetts 2014 memoir of the same name about his 30-day transformative solo trek in 2013.

But the British-born lead actor, based in Brooklyn, on the northern outskirts of Sydney, didnt know how the Camino would transform him, too, when he set out last September for three weeks filming in Spain.
The level and quality of the national conversation in Australian politics and media took a turn for the worse under John Howards prime ministership, says ABC journalist Laura Tingle.

The reporter and author will discuss the state of public discourse at the John Button Oration, to be delivered on Saturday at Melbournes Capitol Theatre. Named for the late senator John Button, who served in the Hawke and Keating governments, the speech is delivered annually as part of the Melbourne Writers Festival by a prominent Australian chosen by Buttons family.

Laura Tingle, chief political correspondent of the ABCs 7.30, will deliver the John Button Oration on Saturday, Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

[During Howards leadership] we saw this shift to the weaponisation of attacks on groups of people, whether its Indigenous Australians, Asian immigrants, African immigrants or Muslim Australians, Tingle says. That was a material change  so that became part of the conversation, not just in politics but in the media as well.

Having worked as a journalist for 40 years, the Walkley-award winner is well-placed to assess how things have evolved. She argues that while social media and the rise of divisive figures like Donald Trump have played a role, there are other major factors at play.
As a gesture to honor his constituents who are graduating from Columbia University this year, Long Island GOP Rep. Anthony D'Esposito is offering to host a separate ceremony after the Ivy League school made the "appalling" decision to cancel the 2024 commencement ceremony.

D'Esposito, a representative for parts of central and southern Nassau County, expressed to Columbia University President Minouche Shafik in a letter Wednesday that he wants to give students in his district "the graduation ceremony they deserve."

"For some, graduating from higher education is the pinnacle of their life thus far-an important milestone celebrated by family, friends, and loved ones," he said.

"These students have worked extremely hard, invested a tremendous amount of money, and succeeded in meeting requirements to proudly graduate.", the congressman continued, regarding the $89,000 annual tuition.

D'Esposito has demanded a complete list of all Columbia students from his Fourth Congressional District to enable his "work with community leaders and partners in government" in providing a platform for the graduates to receive their diplomas, as reported by The New York Post.

"Leadership at Columbia has failed these students," he added.

"We won't fail them as well."

The cancellation was heavily criticized, especially for Columbia's 2024 graduating class, as their high school graduations were also called off due to the COVID-19 pandemic just four years earlier.

Fabien Levy, spokesman for New York City Mayor Eric Adams, said in a Monday statement that the actions of a few, specifically those who are not affiliated with schools, continue to "highjack" events for students who have earned the right to walk across a stage and receive their diploma.

"It's infuriating that protestors are the ones now stealing this once-in-a-lifetime moment from students and their families," Levy added.

White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre also told reporters, "It is unfortunate that a small group of people went too far and cost their classmates this important event."

Several Congress members continue to call for Shafik's resignation.

Following weeks of pro-Palestinian demonstrations on campus, the university canceled its main commencement ceremony but still plans to move forward with smaller-scale graduations.

The protests over the Gaza war that have flooded campuses across the country have prompted school officials to reconsider commencement plans in order to protect students and attendees from any potential disputes.
Cappiello says she gave the boy the opportunity to apologise. But he continued to laugh. I got even more angry. And in the meantime, two girls interfered in the conversation and started spitting on me and started threatening me. The situation escalated, and Cappiello says she called police. I realised that I was in danger. I got a bit further from them. I saw two policemen walking past a couple minutes before, and I thought of going to them. Then I realised this group of kids were following me, and throwing stuff, like bottles full of Coke. Police told Cappiello to go into a shop and wait for them, she says.

Loading But I didnt want to hide from a group of kids who were assaulting me. I didnt want to show them that we are scared of them. Even though I knew it was a dangerous situation. I wanted to give them the message that I am not scared. I am not doing anything wrong. You touched me, you assaulted me, so you are the one who has to hide, not me. Cappiello says once they realised police were being called, she says she was punched for about five minutes. No one helped. I was trying to look for help ... thank God, two big men walked by and they just stopped the boy and girls from punching me, they were going at my face, nose, lips and teeth.

Cappiello suffered bruising to her face and head, police said. Police arrived quickly, Cappiello says. She commended the police for their response and the help they provided in the aftermath, including how officers have called to check on her. The 10-year-old boy was charged with sexual assault, common assault, and assault occasioning bodily harm while in company. Detective Inspector Kevin Goan on Friday confirmed the 10-year-old boy had since been dealt with under the restorative youth justice legislation. The process generally involves the child undergoing a meeting with a victim or those affected by the crime, and aims to address the impact on society and prevent reoffending. Another three juveniles, two 13-year-old girls and a 14-year-old boy, are still under investigation.

Loading Goan said now there would be multiple agencies working to ensure there would not be future incidents. I think its important for people to understand that where we have a child of such a young age and heading towards the justice system with serious criminal offending, that there is a lot of work that will now happen across multiple agencies, he said. But Cappiello says locals in the area are concerned and scared about rising juvenile crime, and a perception that no one can prevent the problem. She says while the incident terrified her, she felt compelled to speak out to seek change.

Ive lived here long enough to know that everyone is so sick of it, she says. You come here for a better life. You dont come here to lose it. Tourists might be scared to come now. Cappiello raised how her former workplace, a restaurant where her partner still works, was broken into by other offenders. Now the company is paying for security guards to work outside at nighttime. Thats not acceptable. Cappiello says a major concern she had was fear for her visa, and ruining the sacrifices she had made over five years of living in Australia. Both Cappiello, and her partner, also on a visa, wish to leave Cairns, and go to a larger city, where they would feel better protected, but she says they are limited given their work sponsorship conditions.
It is fair to say there is nothing that can be said about Lindemann that could reduce his guilt  condemned as he is by his actions and words. Sometimes, defence barristers have to try to defend the indefensible and this was the lot of Lucinda Thies. After the dreadful details of the crime are read, Thies takes the well-travelled path of suggesting her client is remorseful and acted out of character. It is clear the no-nonsense Hollingworth thinks this is complete nonsense. Monique Lezsak. Credit: Instagram The judge stops the barrister to describe the pathetic performance of her client that the barrister couldnt see as she was at the bar table facing the judge.

He put his head in his hands, he was shaking. It was the most dramatic  given the material Ive seen about his complete lack of remorse for her [the victim], to be doing that; turning it on, apparently for my benefit. Monique Lezsak wins a bodybuilding competition. I do not accept he has genuine regret for what he did to Ms Lezsak ... The moment I told him to pull himself together, he sat upright, he was miraculously able to control his emotions, and I maintain my description of crocodile tears. Any suggestion of remorse is sunk by his own words in a prison phone call to his parents where he continues to blame his victim. It was as though she poured petrol onto the fire ... That woman wrecked all of that for me. She wrecked everything for me. It was a blackout. She ripped my heart out of my chest, and she took everything from me. Little wonder Hollingworth is unimpressed. You get the feeling when the judge does sentence him, his tears may be very real.

Kaera Douglas, the partner of Jye Carter, the father of Lezsaks twin children, was apprehensive the first time she met Lezsak. But any concerns immediately melted away. I met her in December 2022. She welcomed me with open arms. She was the most beautiful person both inside and out that I have ever met. She was amazing. I thought we would become great friends for life, but we didnt get the chance. Douglas is a family violence survivor, repeatedly beaten and choked by her boyfriend, bikie Christopher Wayne Hudson, who took her dignity, her independence and very nearly her life. Family and friends of Monique Lezsak leave the Supreme Court. Credit: Darrian Traynor On the morning of Monday, June 18, 2007, just as city workers were arriving at their jobs, Hudson began to beat Douglas in the street. He grabbed me and said: Today is the day you are going to die. I tried to make a run for it, then he shot me in the stomach.

Solicitor Brendan Keilar, 43, a father of three, and Paul de Waard, a 25-year-old Dutch backpacker, tried to step in. Keilar was shot and died near the corner of William Street and Flinders Lane. De Waard and Douglas (who lost a kidney) survived. Douglas is speaking to us because she believes Lindemann should be jailed for life. (One feels Hollingworth would agree with her, but may be constricted by the need to provide a sentence discount due to the killers guilty plea.) He is a cold-blooded killer who has shown absolutely no remorse. He doesnt deserve to walk among us. We have to change the culture of a minority of men responsible for an epidemic. This has to stop, she says. Family violence survivor Kaera Douglas. Credit: Paul Jeffers Lezsaks mother-in-law, Annette Carter, remained close with the family and regularly visited to see the twins.

The first time she met Lindemann, she found him weird. He was all over me and in my face. He wanted all the attention, and I was there to visit the twins. It was all about him, he was a real show pony. Monique Lezsak was murdered by her partner, Sven Lindemann. At dinner, he moved next to her to say she reminded him of his own mother before bursting into tears. She feels he wanted to dominate the time to keep her away from her grandchildren. I thought of Monique as my own daughter. She was a beautiful person. I still cant comprehend that she is gone.

Lindemanns self-serving suggestion that he snapped and blacked out is self-deluded, pathetic and contrary to the facts. His actions make him a monster, his excuses make him a coward. Here are the facts. Lezsak, 39, a caring mother to her twins, Lily and Leo (not their real names), is devoted to fitness, winning several elite bodybuilding competitions. Lindemann, then 51, also a bodybuilder, tried to blame the use of steroids for his murderous outburst. They became a couple, but Lezsak remains concerned with Lindemanns cold relationship with the twins. It is as if their presence interferes with the attention the show pony craves.

On a trip to Queensland, Lezsak meets a man, and they begin to exchange texts. Loading In early May 2023, Lezsak tries to end her relationship with Lindemann. In the next two weeks, he veers from abusing her to self-pity and seeking couples counselling. Lezsak has transferred her savings to Lindemann for a deposit to buy a family home. They remain living with her parents in their Endeavour Hills home. He finds the identity of the other man, sending him threatening texts.

On the night of May 29, she leaves the family home twice to get away from him and later sleeps in her daughters room. Lindemann enters the room for another blazing row. Lily wakes crying. Lindemann contacts his work to say he will not be coming in. About 6.15am on May 30, he enters the kitchen as Lezsaks father, Zoltan, is preparing for work. He tells Zoltan his daughter is crazy, and he will grab his possessions and leave. Lily and Leo are on the futon in the living room talking to their grandmother when they hear screams from the master bedroom. It is 7.32am. After the attack, Sven Lindemann transferred $71,000 between bank accounts, tried to call his ex-wife and then turned the knife on himself. Credit: Facebook Lily, 10, runs in to see her mother being stabbed so violently the knife breaks.

Lindemann punches and strangles the wounded woman while dragging her from the en suite to the kitchen to grab another weapon from the knife block. Lily yells, Leave my mother alone. He screams at Lezsak, You have ruined my life. Unbelievably, the little girl manages to kick and disarm the bodybuilder, snatching the knife and throwing it on the kitchen floor. He grabs another, again breaking it in the frenzied attack. Monique Lezsak; and police at the scene after she was murdered. A second time, Lily grabs the weapon, but he gets another. He uses six knives to stab Lezsak 17 times.

Lily continues to fight, although she is injured five times and will need stitches in three wounds. Loading Injured and seeing her mother being killed before her, she uses voice recognition to call emergency services. The call is automatically transferred to triple zero. Lezsaks mother, Maggie Peril, hears Lily pleading, Stay with me, mum, stay with me. Lily tells the triple zero operator her mother is dead, and the killer is in the house. The operator transfers the call to a police sergeant. Lily tells the police officer she has tried CPR but Lezsak is dead. Both the mother and the daughter are covered in blood. Lily says to the sergeant, My hearts shattered in pieces, my mum, I loved her so much.

She is pleading with her mother not to leave her. It is now 7.36am and as the mortally wounded woman and her injured and heartbroken child lay on the dining room floor, Lindemann retreats to the bedroom where he jumps online and transfers $71,000 of their funds to another account, apparently trying to hide it from his victims family. This is hardly the actions of someone who has lost control. He then stabs himself.

Police arrive and rescue Lily, who screams at them to save her brother who remains in the house. The police cover his eyes so he doesnt see his mothers body. Loading Douglas says Lindemann is a butcher. I hope [Lily] receives a bravery award. She fought so hard to try and save her mother. Lezsaks former partner, Jye Carter, says: I want Monique to be remembered. We both loved the kids so much. He shouldnt be able to do a plea deal. I want the world to know what he has done. Life with no release is the only answer.
Thanks, everyone, for following the blog this afternoon.

No doubt we all felt something like a slight heart attack at the news of knife violence at Carousel shopping centre  thank goodness that police appear to have brought the situation under control swiftly and that there is no ongoing threat to the public.

Hopefully everyone is OK in Bunbury and surrounds  stay safe in that wild weather, if youre in it, and send any photos or video youve got to news@watoday.com.au.

Jesinta Burton will be back with you in the morning to bring you all the latest on those incidents.

Thanks again and good night.
Hurricane Stormy swept through Lower Manhattan this week, the kind of once-in-a-generation freak event that now seems to happen in US politics every couple of days. Crazy has become Americas permanent weather system. So while at one level it feels astounding that a former porn star, Stormy Daniels, is testifying against a former president, Donald Trump, on another it feels run-of-the-mill.

Presidential politics went tabloid in the early 1990s, when a muckraking supermarket trash sheet published allegations that the then governor of Arkansas, Bill Clinton, had an extramarital affair with a cabaret singer, Gennifer Flowers  a revelation that looked like it would scupper his hopes of reaching the White House.

What could possibly go wrong? Donald Trump and former porn actress Stormy Daniels. Credit: Illustration: Marija Ercegovac

An irony of the first criminal trial against a sitting or former US president is that it centres on what a supermarket tabloid did not publish, and the $130,000 hush money payment that Trump allegedly paid Stormy Daniels to make the story go away. When the adult film star took the stand to testify this week, the court proceedings sounded how that article might have read.

The story of their alleged 2006 tryst in a hotel suite in Lake Tahoe began with that classic narrative device, a sliding-doors moment. Eff no, was the then 27-year-old actresss reaction when one of Trumps aides invited her to dine with the billionaire host of The Apprentice. Her publicist, however, urged her to go, with the now immortal line: What could possibly go wrong?
While there is no silver bullet to addressing the challenges WAs housing market faces, we welcome the fact the government has opted for incentives to boost housing supply, rather than punitive measures such as new taxes as weve seen in other states, Hart said.
Kylie Speer 00:00:07

Hello and welcome to Australian Broker TV. I'm Kylie Speer. And joining me today is Jason Azzopardi, CEO at Brighten. Brighten has been recognized as a 5-Star Mortgage Innovator for 2024. Welcome to you, Jason. Congratulations. And thank you so much for joining us today.

Jason Azzopardi 00:00:25

Thank you so much, Kylie. Wonderful book to be with you.

Kylie Speer 00:00:28

Jason, you joined Brighten as CEO at the beginning of 2024, and had 25 years of experience in the industry across a range of well regarded institutions, what attracted you to the role?

Jason Azzopardi 00:00:40

Yeah, thanks, Kylie. Thanks for making me feel all I think Brighten's at an inflection point of the development I've we've been very, very much in the development phase for the last few years. And you know, we really feel now we're positioned for growth. So the ability to join an organization at a point where you know, we've got a huge target market, there a huge opportunity to take market share, and he's ready to take advantage of that was a was a huge attraction. I think, Brighten's relative youth, we've been in business for five years. And the advantage that's given us is we don't have the legacy systems that a lot of financial services, all the other organizations are particularly high online businesses have there, and they can't develop off that. So we've been able to innovate really, really quickly. Without those legacy systems holding us back, we've been able to tailor technology solutions that the market means and the market requires, which will help us take advantage of that opportunity in the market. So the combination of where the business is at to take advantage of the growth and they will technology solutions we have as was a huge attraction for myself.

Kylie Speer 00:01:45

Brighten makes a point of being accessible for the underserved segments in the market. How do you overcome the challenges and deliver for that demographic, particularly the self employed investors and expats?

Jason Azzopardi 00:01:58

Yeah, I think Well, the first thing is understanding the market that you operate in and and you know, we're we're huge believers that we want to have a home loan solution for as many Australians as possible. And the fact of the matter is, is not everyone has simple financial scenario. For us. It's about understanding what the different scenarios are for each customer. And then really trying to build a solution from a product perspective and a process perspective that allows them to to basically attain what they're trying to do.

Kylie Speer 00:02:28

Continuing in this vein, another niche you serve as alt doc, how do you differentiate yourself to gain an edge over your competitors?

Jason Azzopardi 00:02:37

Along the self employed spectrum is a range of of customers with different income scenarios they can be self employed can be IT professionals, self employed, people with construction businesses, they can really people with corner stores. So there's a range of different of customers out there that want to buy a home ultimately, and for us, it's about again, making sure that the product is there further, making sure that our technology backs up that process. So making that as simple as possible for for customers. I think the key for us in alt doc is what we've also done that most of our competitors have not been able to do is we've offered our top construction products. And what we've been able to do is open that up for the self employed and people with different substantiation for their a car. And that's been a huge advantage for us to be able to offer that to customers.

Kylie Speer 00:03:25

And 2023 MFAA figures show broker market share is around 71%. And pricing has vowed to become the brokers nonbank of choice, how far are you on this journey? And what further initiatives do you have in mind to reach your goal?

Jason Azzopardi 00:03:43

Yeah, look, I think there's no secret sauce, I think, as a lender, where we aim to be one thing, and that's easy to deal with. And that's easy to deal with for brokers. And that's easy to deal with for consumers. So for us is one can we make it as simple as possible for brokers and consumers? And two, how can we make it as quick as possible? And that's through a combination of product policy and the technology we've introduced.

Kylie Speer 00:04:07

You have built your own lending platform for those not familiar with the technology side of the business? How big an undertaking was that and why is it preferential to buying off the shelf?

Jason Azzopardi 00:04:20

Well, I mean, it is a large undertaking, but sure, you know, I'm a big believer that the investment in in not just money or time is worth the ability to hire a software engineer sitting with an SME and the business and the SME saying this is exactly how an optimal experience works in our company and a software engineer being able to go away, iterate that and come back and and with multiple iterations between SMEs and then engineer. He suddenly really that only technology companies can do. So we brought a bit of that. That strategy into the business we've taken algae experts working with SMEs and building really what what looked like exactly how we wanted it. And what does that do? Yes, it gives us speed as we talked about. But it also allows us to structure technology to be able to generate data that we can one use to understand our customers, one to optimize our experience, and ultimately share that data with brokers to be able to give them market insights to help them grow their business.

Kylie Speer 00:05:26

There are plans to expand your footprint into WA, why now? And do you feel any other areas of the country untapped for pricing?

Jason Azzopardi 00:05:37

You know, I think it's always been on the cards, I mean, who has a soft spot with me, I lived there for a few years, I'm a big advocate for the state itself. It's certainly a very prosperous state as well. But it can easily get overlooked on the Eastern Seaboard, we've got over 1000 brokers of credit to be brought in there at the moment. So firstly, that's a no brainer. Secondly, we have a market leading construction product, which I already outlined. And we are seeing that actually, the construction market in WA is very prosperous. There's some very good construction companies over there who are building hundreds of properties there a year. Again, our outdoor construction product is a market leader in that our peers don't even offer it. So for us, there's a instant match between our products and the requirement of the market on a product perspective, but as well, it's a state that we believe has huge opportunity, irrespective of being on the Eastern Seaboard. So for us, it's just an example of our maturity as a business, not that we thought wa was ever not a strategy, it was just, you know, making sure that we grow in a really sustainable way. And then the time came, and more importantly, we identified the right talent. And that's the key for us is how BDMS represent our brand, you know, to 1000s of brokers. And, you know, it's very, very important that those that those BDMS are, have the right ethics and motto and are really willing to go the extra yard for brokers.

Kylie Speer 00:07:01

And finally, Jason, Brighten highlights its superior services and fast turnaround times, which is something organizations may often promise brokers, how do both of these attributes look in practice when brokers deal with your firm?

Jason Azzopardi 00:07:17

Yeah, I mean, well, today, it's a combination of of technology and people we are overweight and our credit team in terms of people and talent, we continue to recruit credit, able to ensure we stay within 48 hours. So if again, we want to be easy to deal with, I mean, we're on the path the best, we break it to be as simple as possible. And that customer anxiety that commences once an application is launched, only increases the longer they're waiting to hear from us. So as I said earlier, there's no secret sauce to it. We have a highly competent credit team backed by this technology that we were very fortunate to win the award for. But that's really empowering the credit team to be able to manage their pipelines and make sure that they're getting back to the brokers as quickly as possible.

Kylie Speer 00:08:05

Well, congratulations. And thank you so much. Once again for your time today. Jason, it was wonderful to hear your insights.

Jason Azzopardi 00:08:13

Thanks, Kylie. It's great to speak to you. I'm absolutely honored to win the award. Were very humbled, and you're very, very gracious for the recognition. So thank you.

Kylie Speer 00:08:23

And thank you, of course to our viewers for watching the latest episode of Australian Broker TV. We'll see you again soon.
Loved ones said their final goodbyes to Jaylen Griffin, the 12-year-old boy who mysteriously vanished nearly four years ago on his way to a Buffalo, New York, corner store.

On Tuesday, the community gathered to honor the boy nearly a month after his decomposed remains were discovered in an attic, just five miles from where he disappeared.

Police quickly classified his case as a runaway, much to his family's chagrin.

"He was not a runaway," Bishop Darius Pridgen reiterated during Jaylen's memorial service at True Bethel Baptist Church, earlier this week, according to WKBW-TV. "He was 12 years old. If 12-year-old children don't come home... it's a missing persons report."

Now, Jaylen's case is being investigated as a homicide.

"Who killed Jaylen Griffin? We're not done. We're not resting," longtime family friend Pastor Tim Newkirk of GYC Ministries assured.

Jaylen's remains were cremated. His father, Brian Griffin  who is still struggling to come to terms with the loss of his son  held tightly to the urn containing what was left of his boy.

"It is still fresh to me. He's been missing for three-and-a-half years. It's been a long time. It's been a long journey and I'm hurting," admitted Griffin.

Jaylen's mother, Joann Ponzo, didn't live to see the day her son's body was found. In September 2023, she died of health issues and a "broken heart," loved ones said.

Although Jaylen's killer or killers are still out there, his grandmother, Shirley Banks, said she's "feeling good all over inside, as I know my grandson got his wings as he did, and I know his mother is shining down."
Wipro Limited (NYSE: WIT, BSE: 507685, NSE: WIPRO) is a leading technology services and consulting company focused on building innovative solutions that address clients most complex digital transformation needs. Leveraging our holistic portfolio of capabilities in consulting, design, engineering, and operations, we help clients realize their boldest ambitions and build future-ready, sustainable businesses. With over 230,000 employees and business partners across 65 countries, we deliver on the promise of helping our customers, colleagues, and communities thrive in an ever-changing world. For additional information, visit us at www.wipro.com The forward-looking statements contained herein represent Wipros beliefs regarding future events, many of which are by their nature, inherently uncertain and outside Wipros control. Such statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding Wipros growth prospects, its future financial operating results, and its plans, expectations, and intentions. Wipro cautions readers that the forward-looking statements contained herein are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results anticipated by such statements. Such risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks and uncertainties regarding fluctuations in our earnings, revenue and profits, our ability to generate and manage growth, complete proposed corporate actions, intense competition in IT services, our ability to maintain our cost advantage, wage increases in India, our ability to attract and retain highly skilled professionals, time and cost overruns on fixed-price, fixed-time frame contracts, client concentration, restrictions on immigration, our ability to manage our international operations, reduced demand for technology in our key focus areas, disruptions in telecommunication networks, our ability to successfully complete and integrate potential acquisitions, liability for damages on our service contracts, the success of the companies in which we make strategic investments, withdrawal of fiscal governmental incentives, political instability, war, legal restrictions on raising capital or acquiring companies outside India, unauthorized use of our intellectual property and general economic conditions affecting our business and industry.Additional risks that could affect our future operating results are more fully described in our filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, Annual Reports on Form 20-F. These filings are available at www.sec.gov . We may, from time to time, make additional written and oral forward-looking statements, including statements contained in the companys filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission and our reports to shareholders. We do not undertake to update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.
Close to 110,000 Palestinian civilians have fled the southern Gaza city of Rafah since Monday as Israeli strikes continue to intensify, a United Nations official reported Friday.

Armed Palestinian groups allegedly said they were targeting Israeli troops to the east, and Israel's military forces are stating their ground forces are conducting "targeted activity" in eastern Rafah.

Amid the heightening humanitarian crisis, the UN has warned that food and fuel are running out due to the closure of essential crossings that allow aid into the besieged territory.

Israeli Defense Forces seized control over the Rafah crossing along the Egyptian border, effectively shutting it down at the start of their operation.

The UN has repeatedly cautioned against the dangerous obstacles its staff and lorries would face in order to reach the reopened Kerem Shalom crossing with Israel, according to the BBC.

The advancement comes on the heels of a threat made by the U.S. president to stop supplying a number of weapons should it launch a major assault on "population centers" in Rafah.

The Israeli Prime Minister has rejected the threat, declaring Israel could "stand alone" if necessary.

The country continues to insist that after seven months of war in Gaza, victory will not be achieved without conquering the city and annihilating the remainder of the Hamas brigade.

However, with over a million displaced Palestinians sheltering there, the UN as well as Western powers have cautioned against a full-fledged assault that would lead to more mass civilian casualties and deepen what is already deemed a humanitarian catastrophe.

Residents and aid workers told the media outlet that the sound of artillery and air strikes in Rafah was nonstop.

Louise Wateridge, a spokeswoman for the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), relayed to the BBC,

"The building is shaking on a frequent basis. There is this constant buzzing of drones."

"The fear and nervousness that people [in Rafah] have had has now become terror."

Palestinian media reported two people killed in an Israeli airstrike on Thursday in the al-Jneinah neighborhood, while another three people were reportedly killed in an airstrike in the Brazil neighborhood, close to the Egyptian border.

The IDF said three of its soldiers were moderately wounded as a result of a booby-trapped explosion in a tunnel east of Rafah underneath three Israeli military vehicles.

At least five Palestinians were killed following an Israeli airstrike that struck a family's home in the western Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, including three children, one of whom was a one-year-old infant.

Dr. Jamal al-Hams, director of the Kuwaiti Specialist Hospital in Central Rafah and only one of two partially functioning hospitals in the city, told BBC Arabic that it did not have the diagnostic capabilities to treat patients properly, adding:

"Even the X-ray machine is disabled due to Israeli shelling, and there are no spare parts for it."

The situation has only worsened by the closure of the al-Najjar hospital in the city's east on Wednesday after an evacuation order amid nearby fighting.

Al-Hams went on to tell BBC Arabic on Thursday that the hospital was currently facing a surge in casualties, many of which were described as "unusual injuries caused by unusual weapons."

Hospitals in southern Gaza, including those outside Rafah, only have three days left before running out of fuel, warned the World Health Organization.

President Joe Biden's remarks in regard to the halt of any further weapons supply from the U.S. in the event of a full-scale assault on Rafah left many Israelis angry with their closest and most supportive ally.

On Thursday, Israel's far-right National Security Minister condemned the remarks, posting on social media that "Hamas loves Biden."

Netanyahu also released a video in which he reminded Israelis that their country survived an arms embargo in the 1948-49 Arab-Israeli war, resulting in the creation of a Jewish state.

"Today we are much stronger," he said.

"If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails."
UK students demonstrate Chinese proficiency in global language competition

Xinhua) 09:54, May 10, 2024

LONDON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom (UK) hosted regional finals for a global Chinese language competition here Thursday, with contestants from schools across the country proving their prowess in the language.

Students from 37 secondary schools across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland competed in the regional finals of the 17th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students.

Altogether 17 students won prizes in the individual competition category while six teams were awarded prizes in the group category.

Nathan Evans, a contestant from Pinner High School, told Xinhua that he found Chinese culture interesting and he would never have learned about the culture if he hadn't chosen to learn the language.

"Our class usually focuses on the language itself, but we do often delve into the culture behind it," said the ninth grader who has been learning Chinese since year seven. At his school, Chinese is compulsory for students in grades seven and eight.

Evans was among the 47 individual contestants who showcased their Chinese language proficiency through presentations, impromptu speeches, and Q&A sessions, covering a wide range of topics from campus life and new technologies to Chinese characters and tourist attractions in China.

"Learning Chinese offers students valuable advantages for their future as the language will give them more opportunities in work and can enhance their communication and collaboration skills," said Liu Jiayu, a Chinese teacher at Pinner High School.

In the group competition, about 60 students from 15 teams presented self-created videos of Chinese skits. The winning projects include stories featuring the Year of the Dragon and renowned Chinese heroine Mulan.

Jin Wei, one of the judges for the competition, said they were "extremely impressed" by the "brilliant job" done by all contestants and hoped they would persist in their journeys of learning Chinese.

The competition was jointly organized by the UK Chinese Bridge Club and Chinese Proficiency Test UK committee. In March, about 250 students from 60 schools across the UK took part in the preliminary rounds of the competition.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Two hikers reported missing on California's Mount Whitney earlier this week were found dead, officials confirmed Thursday.

A hiker called authorities at around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday to report two hiking companions were overdue returning to their campsite, according to the Inyo County Sheriff's Office.

The two missing hikers had planned to climb down to the "notch," a flat area near the Mount Whitney Mountaineer Route. From there, they planned to ski or snowboard down to Upper Boy Scout Lake, where their campsite was located.

Mount Whitney has an elevation of 14,505 feet, making it the tallest peak in the contiguous U.S.

Multiple search teams and a helicopter crew launched a search for the missing hikers, but, "tragically, both hikers were later discovered deceased," the sheriff's office said.

Their remains were located in neighboring Tulare County, so the sheriff's office said the case would be handled by the Tulare County Sheriff-Coroner's Office.

The identities of the hikers were not released.



-With reporting from TMX.
Despite the numerous calls that universities and police should crack down on pro-Palestinian campus protesters, only 3% of the demonstrations have resulted in any significant physical harm or property damage, according to the findings of a new study cited by the Guardian.

An analysis of 553 pro-Palestinian protests between 18 April and 3 May found that 97% of them did not cause serious damage, to statistics from the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED).

Fewer than 20 of the protests resulted in any serious interpersonal violence or property damage, reported the independent nonprofit organization.

In the same period, ACLED documented at least 70 instances of police action against the protesters that included arrests, use of chemical agents, batons and other kinds of physical force.

Nearly half of the campus protests that ACLED categorized as violent involved protesters fending off law enforcement during police intervention.

The report cited two instances of serious property damage: protesters at Portland State University who broke glass and damaged furniture and computers while occupying a campus library, and Columbia University protesters who broke windows during their occupation at a campus building, furing their takeover of a campus building.

Both events occurred April 30.

Graffiti or other use of spray paint was not considered "indicative of a violent demonstration," said Kieran Doyle, ACLED's North America research manager.
Kenyan capacity to rise despite stagnant cement consumption

10 May 2024

Kenya's cement sector is preparing for another cement capacity rise. Devki Group group's Cemtech Ltd subsidiary has submitted the environmental impact assessment report for a new clinker plant to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) for review. The project is the latest in a series of new clinker additions to Kenya's market that should see imports come under pressure.



Cemtech Ltd's proposed plant will be situated in Mwatsuma, Mwingi Central Kitui County. The total size and cost of the Cemtech Ltd clinker plant are yet to be confirmed. But Cemtech Ltd's proposal is just the latest planned clinker capacity addition. Other cement producers are also increasing their domestic capacity, adding 2Mta of cement grinding capacity by the end of 2024.

Kenya's additional clinker capacity is expected to reduce production costs, as producing domestic clinker is currently around 25-30 per cent cheaper than imports. Savannah Cement plans a new clinker factory costing US$500m to be built in Kitui County. The company currently imports its clinker as it does not have any clinker production facilities. In addition, Devki Group subsidiary, Simba Cement, recently came on-stream with an additional 6000tpd or 2Mta cement capacity at its West Pokot plant.

Furthermore, East African Portland Cement Co (EAPCC) has announced plans to invest US$200m in a new clinker factory in Kajiado County. This plant will have a clinker capacity of 5000tpa and is being located on a 300-acre site. EAPCC recently commissioned its Athi River plant to boost its cement production capacity by over 1Mta over the next two years, said the Star. A new kiln shell was added to the Athi River plant in 2022, resulting in a 38 per cent expansion in revenue.

By 2025 Kenyan producers are expected to add 4.4Mta of clinker capacity, taking the domestic total up to 10.7Mta, according to the Nation website.

Protection for domestic clinker producers

To support its domestic clinker producers, Kenya installed a 17.5 per cent export tax and investment promotion levy through its Finance Act in 2023 for commodities such as imported clinker. Correspondingly, imports of clinker dropped 38.4 per cent to 656,499t last year, according to the Business Daily. The value of imports fell 24 per cent to KES5bn (US$36.3m) in the same period.

Minimal growth in 2024

However, the rise in capacity comes amid stagnant cement consumption. The latest data for Kenya shows cement consumption contracted one per cent YoY in the YtD as of September 2023, amounting to 7.028Mt. Cement production was broadly flat during the same period, coming in at 7.332Mt.

For 2024 little or no market growth is forecast for Kenya's cement industry. Ongoing extreme weather conditions, after devastating flooding since March, are a downside risk to the sector this year while robust GDP growth of five per cent marks a slowing from 5.5 per cent YoY in 2023, according to the IMF. Inflationary pressures are expected to cool amid higher interest rates. The monetary policy rate is 13 per cent, up 425 basis points from a year ago. Tighter credit conditions will weigh on household spending and business investment plans. Government spending will also remain contained as it continues with fiscal consolidation. However, lower fuel prices will be welcome news for cement producers, supporting profitability at Kenya's expanding production base.

Published under
Bangladesh's cement exports see a 49% YoY growth during 10MFY23-24

ICR Newsroom By 10 May 2024

Bangladeshs cement industry has witnessed substantial growth in its exports. It saw a 48.7 per cent YoY growth in cement export revenue, generating US$15.94m during the first 10 months of FY23-24. This is up from US$10.72m in the same period of the previous year and includes some salt, stone, and related products. Cement exports rose by 29.3 per cent YoY and exceeded the target of US$12.23m for the 10MFY23-24.

Bangladeshs cement exports mainly depart for India, with other popular destinations including Nepal, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Bangladeshs total export revenue for all merchandise during 10MFY23-24 was US$47.47bn, up 3.9 per cent YoY, and the full-year target is US$62bn.

Published under
Trevor Bickford, the man who carried out a machete attack in New York City's Times Square during 2022's New Year's Eve celebration, was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Thursday.

Bickford, 20, pleaded guilty in January to slashing three New York City police officers in an attack inspired by Islamic extremism, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York. The Maine native faced up to 120 years in prison if he had received the maximum consecutive sentences for the six charges to which he pleaded guilty.

"Inspired by radical Islamic extremism, Trevor Bickford brutally attacked three NYPD officers who were just doing their jobs by protecting the public during the Times Square New Year's Eve festivities. Thankfully, one officer's quick-thinking actions stopped the defendant's attack while minimizing risk to the innocent bystanders who easily might have become additional victims of the defendant's heinous violence," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Then 19, Bickford traveled from his home in Maine to Times Square with the intent to attack government officials and military-aged men, and with the hope of becoming a martyr. Shouting "Allahu Akbar," Arabic for 'God is great', he injured three NYPD officers, leaving one with a skull fracture. One officer shot Bickford in the shoulder, halting his attack.

"The defendant's brutal ambush of three New York City police officers keeping watch over New Year's Eve celebrations was a premeditated act of terrorism," said FBI Director Christopher A. Wray. "Police officers work tirelessly to protect the communities they serve and assaults on them are reprehensible. He planned, prepared, and traveled to conduct a savage attack in support of his violent ideology, and now he is being held accountable for his actions."

Following his 27-year prison sentence, Bickford will remain under supervised release for the rest of his life.



-With reporting from TMX.
A 16-year-old boy has been arrested for vandalizing a World War I memorial in New York City's Central Park during a pro-Palestinian demonstration, according to a report.

The teen, who is known to attend rallies organized by the anti-Israeli group Within Our Lifetime, has been charged with criminal mischief in the third degree, a felony, and making graffiti, a misdemeanor, the New York Post reported.

He is accused of damaging the 107th Infrantry Memorial during a rally on Monday evening.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner, Operations, Kaz Daughtry posted a pixilated photo of the teen sitting in a police station on the social media platform X.

"The despicable vandalism we saw earlier this week on the WWI Memorial will not be ignored, and will not go unpunished. One of the culprits was placed in handcuffs today thanks to the World's Greatest Detectives," Daughtry said.

"This isn't simply juvenile hijinks - it's an act of desecration that undermines the freedoms our heroes fought and died for," he added.

The New York Post initally reported that the teen's dad turned him in, but police have since refuted that.

The teen is a student at Tottenville High School on Staten Island and has no prior arrests, the New York Post reported.

Another protester at Monday's demonstration set an American flag ablaze in front of the memorial honoring World War I soldiers.

Others were seen waving Palestinian flags.

The words "Gaza" and "Free Palestine" were scrawled on the base of the memorial.
Now that encampments of brave anti-Semitic student protesters and the dropout antifa fascists infiltrating their cadres have sprouted like weeds, should anyone be surprised? Some of the faculty indoctrinators at these institutions have been trying to bury the Holocaust for decades.With that as a backdrop, lets consider what real courage looks like.What follows is the heroic account of a man who put himself between the most notorious anti-Semitic regime in modern history, and the Jews it sought to exterminate.Roderick Roddie Edmonds was a native of Knoxville, Tennessee.Not much is known of his early life other than he grew up in a Christian family with three brothers. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the Army at Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia.In December 1944, then-Master Sergeant Edmonds was deployed to the German warfront with the 106th Infantry Division (Golden Lions), 422nd Infantry Regiment. On December 16, days after Edmondss arrival, the 422nd was attacked by the Germans as they launched their Battle of the Bulge counteroffensive. One soldier noted: We were surrounded and cut off by columns of German tanks, artillery and troops. Our division headquarters was being attacked  and that was ten miles behind us.On the afternoon of December 19, the 422nd Commander determined he could not sustain the losses and had to surrender. Some Regimental elements, including the Headquarters Company in which MSG Edmonds served, held out for two more days before surrendering. Edmonds noted, It was a hopeless cause in our case and when CPT Foster surrendered us, it was a wise thing, our rifles were no good against tanks.Over the course of that counteroffensive, the Nazis captured more than 20,000 GIs. Ironically, the sheer number of POWs diverted substantial German military assets from the battle front. The men of the 422nd Regiment were marched about 50 kilometers through brutal winter weather to Gerolstein, Germany, where they were loaded on box cars and transported to Stalag IXB in Bad Orb, Germany  those same boxcars has been used over the previous four years to transport Jews to their deaths.At Stalag IXB, the soldiers who were assumed to be Jewish by their family names, had been segregated from the other POWs and imprisoned in a section within the Stalag. Notably, this accounts for why some Jews shortened or altered their names after World War II. (Dog tags had a letter indicating the religion of the bearer, but Jewish service members were warned if captured, to destroy the tags immediately.)In preparation for transport to another Stalag, American prisoners were divided into three groups: Officers, Noncommissioned Officers (NCOs), and Enlisted. The NCOs, and many of the segregated Jews, were then transported to Stalag IXA near Ziegenhain, Germany, where MSG Edmonds was the senior noncommissioned officer in the camp. That meant he was responsible for the other 1,292 American POWs.On 27 January 1945, as it was becoming increasingly apparent that the end of the Third Reich was months away, the camps vicious German Commandant, Major Siegmann, ordered Edmonds to identify all the American POWs who were Jews. He ordered they were to be assembled outside their barracks the next morning so that they could be segregated from the rest of the prisoners, as the Nazis had done at Stalag IXB.But Edmonds knew this was different, and that Siegmanns intent was to execute his Jewish men, so he summoned his senior NCOs and gave them instructions. What happened after sunrise on January 28 is legendary, but until recent years, it was little known.Shortly after the freezing daybreak, instead of segregating the Jews as ordered, Edmonds and his senior NCOs assembled all 1,292 POWs outside their barracks.The Nazi Commandant was furious with Edmonds, exclaiming, They cannot all be Jews!Edmonds responded, We are all Jews here.Again, We are ALL Jews here.Siegmann approached Edmonds, drew and pointed his Luger 9mm pistol at Edmonds head, and demanded, You will order all Jews to step forward, or I will shoot you right now. But MSG Edmonds did not back down, telling Siegmann: Major, you will have to shoot all of us because we all know who you are. This war will soon be over, and when the war is over, you will be tried as a war criminal.  According to the Geneva Convention, we only have to give our name, rank, and serial number.The Conventions make no provision for having to disclose religion, and with an Allied victory on the horizon, Edmonds again brazenly warned Siegmann that he would be prosecuted.Siegmann reluctantly holstered his pistol and took no further action. It is estimated that Edmondss actions that morning saved more than 200 Jews among the Stalag POWs.Two months later, the Nazis and some prisoners of other nationalities vacated the camp ahead of approaching Allied Forces, but Edmonds refused the order for his Americans to vacate. Days later on 30 March, the POWs were liberated from Stalag IXA by the 6th Armored Division.However, Edmondss actions were not recognized further, and being a brave but humble man, like many World War II Veterans, in the years that followed, he preferred not to discuss the trauma and suffering he witnessed.Roddie Edmonds died in 1985, but three decades after his death, his defense of the Jewish POWs would finally be appropriately recognized.Shortly after his burial, Roddies wife, Mary Ann, gave his son Chris several diaries Roddie kept while a POW. One entry noted: Ive made new friends and lost some. I dont know if all my boys are alive or not, but I pray that they are. It all seems like a bad dream. As Chris, a Baptist minister, read the diaries further, he began researching the account of his fathers steadfast refusal to identify Jewish POWs. Over the next two decades, Chris was able to find Jewish soldiers his father had saved  and they verified his actions.Jewish POW and fellow 422nd veteran Lester Tannenbaum (who later changed his name to Tanner) described that cold winter morning: I would estimate that there were more than one thousand Americans standing in wide formation in front of the barracks, with Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds standing in front of the formation with several senior noncoms beside him, of which I was one There was no question in my mind or that of MSG Edmonds that the Germans were removing the Jewish prisoners from the general prisoner population at great risk to their survival. The U.S. Armys standing command to its ranking officers in POW camps is that you resist the enemy and care for the safety of your men to the extent possible. MSG Edmonds, at the risk of his immediate death, defied the Germans with the unexpected consequence that the Jewish prisoners were saved.Of Edmondss leadership, Tanner said: He did not throw his rank around. You knew he knew his stuff, and he got across to you without being arrogant or inconsiderate. I admired him for his command We were in combat on the front lines for only a short period, but it was clear that Roddie Edmonds was a man of great courage who led his men with the same capacity we had come to know in the States.After being liberated, Tanner said, I lost track of Roddie and I never saw him again after that day, but it was never out of my mind.In retrospective tears he added: I have to tell you, that experience with Roddie was the defining experience of my life. Edmonds saved my life when he defied the Germans. It wasnt only my life. I have four children, eight grandchildren, two great grandchildren. They wouldnt be here without him. Multiply that by 200 and you can see how important that decision has been. Roddie could no more turn over any of his men to the Nazis than he could stop breathing. He couldnt do it  a righteous man. That such people exist gives you hope for humanity.Another Jewish POW, Medic Paul Stern, who also stood next to Edmonds in the formation on 28 January 1945, recalled: I knew Master Sergeant Roddie Edmonds for a very short time, but I will never forget him.  He stood for everything good in a leader, and a compassionate human being.  Roddie was incredible, and he never got his recognition.  Although seventy years have passed, I can still hear the words he said to the German camp commander.Jewish POW, Sydney Skip Friedman, who was also in the Headquarters Division of the 422nd with Edmonds and Tanner, observed, We were liberated on March 30th, the second day of Passover, the historic Jewish celebration of liberation. He added, We were very lucky to have [Edmonds] with us.Their documented accounts, including that of American television host Irwin Sonny Fox, who was among those Roddie saved, were presented to Israels Yad Vashem Center, the national organization established to memorialize victims of the Holocaust.On February 10, 2015, Yad Vashem officially recognized Edmonds for his defense of Jewish servicemen at Stalag IXA. He was posthumously awarded the title of Righteous Among the Nations, Israels highest award for non-Jews who risked their own lives to save Jews during the Holocaust. Perhaps the most famous of the recipients is Oskar Schindler, whose efforts to save more than 1,000 Jews were documented by Steven Spielberg in his 1993 film Schindlers List.Edmonds was the fifth of only five Americans  and the only World War II serviceman  to receive this award. Israeli Ambassador Ron Dermer and Yad Vashem Council Chairman Rabbi Lau presented Chris Edmonds the Righteous Medal and Certificate of Honor on his fathers behalf.POW Sonny Fox declared, That such people can exist gives you hope for humanity.Indeed.A few days ago at a National Medal of Honor Heritage Center event, I was telling some friends who are descendants of another Tennessean, Medal of Honor recipient Alvin York, about Roddie Edmondss heroics. We concluded there is so much goodness across the generations of American Patriots that there is an endless supply of such accounts, but they rarely rise above the din of all the negative media that saturates our senses in order to generate ad revenues.And a final noteAt the Yad Vashem ceremony, Chairman Avner Shalev observed: Roddie Edmonds seemed like an ordinary American soldier, but he had an extraordinary sense of responsibility and dedication to his fellow human beings. These attributes form the common thread that binds members of this select group of Righteous Among the Nations. The choices and actions of Master Sgt. Edmonds set an example for his fellow American soldiers as they stood united against the barbaric evil of the Nazis.Roddie Edmondss actions should also set an example for young Americans on college and university campuses. They should stand united against the barbaric evil of the Hamas fascists, as some brave students have done.Roddie Edmonds: Your example of valor  a humble American Patriot defending Liberty for all above and beyond the call of duty, and in disregard for the peril to your own life  is eternal. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down ones life for his friends. (John 15:13)(Read more Profiles of Valor here Semper Vigilans Fortis Paratus et FidelisPro Deo et Libertate  1776Join us in daily prayer for our Patriots in uniform  Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines and Coast Guardsmen  standing in harms way in defense of American Liberty, and for Veterans, First Responders, and their families.Please consider a tax-deductible gift to support our hometown National Medal of Honor Sustaining Fund. Make a check payable to NMoH Sustaining Fund and mail to: Patriot Foundation Trust, PO Box 407, Chattanooga, TN 37401-0407. Visit the National Medal of Honor Heritage Center at Aquarium Plaza. (https://www.MOHHC.org)
The Hamilton County School Board voted Thursday to postpone the budget vote to its June 20 meeting.

Instead, the board will present an early budget outlined in April to the County Commission this Wednesday.

I just feel like theres still just a lot of unanswered questions, a lot of discussion that needs to be had, said Chairman Joe Smith.

Superintendent Dr. Justin Robertson said presenting an approved budget to the County Commission would work against a spirit of collaboration.

I think that just puts, kind of right off the bat, us in a tough place with the County Commission, Dr. Robertson told the board.

Dr. Robertson and board member Marco Perez said that lots of back-and-forth will fend off a repeat of last years surprise cut of $6 million for maintenance. The County Commission had promised to issue a bond with the money and turn it into $60 million for deferred maintenance and school facilities.

Dr. Robertson said that bond should be issued in June or July.

After the school board proposes the first-draft budget Wednesday, committee meetings will be held on both sides and Mayor Weston Wamp will present his budget proposal to the County Commission May 20. All parties will consider all the information and angles before the school board votes on its budget June 20, and the County Commission votes on its budget June 26.

Mr. Perez warned that any number assigned to maintenance would be snatched up by the County Commission this year, too.

I would be afraid that we would lose that money in our negotiations, Mr. Perez said.

Board members Jill Black and Ben Connor pushed for a schools budget vote May 9.

I think its important that everyone know where our priorities are, Ms. Black said. If (the County Commission) want it to be collaborative and they want us to come to their committee meetings, then they cant tell us we cant talk when we show up.

Thats not collaboration. Thats not a conversation, she said.

Mr. Connor said he had attended a County Commission education committee meeting ready for discussion.

I was asked not to talk. I got scolded, he said.

But Mr. Perez said though it feels slow and restrictive, a succession of committee meetings at the school board and the County Commission will hammer out a more synergetic budget without big surprises.

El que paga la fiesta escoge la musica, Mr. Perez said in Spanish. The one who pays for the party chooses the music.

If I dont like what they come back with, Im still going to push them, either way, he said.

Dr. Robertson had asked the County Commission in April to increase the school districts piece of the property tax pie from 43 percent to 49 percent, or by about $31 million, but was met with resistance. County officials told him schools are already getting a new $130 million for school buildings, on top of the pending bond, plus $96 million a year from a new state school formula.

That $31 million is very close to the $32 million listed in the proposed school budget for salary increases.

For the budget vote June 20, board members will choose between flat and percentage raises for classified and certified employees. The $2,800 or 5 percent raises add up to $20 million. Another $12 million will provide $50,000 base salaries for teachers, step increases, a district-wide salary study and staffing model strategies for schools.

Board member Gary Kuehn said the maintenance budget is his second priority, behind teacher salaries. He suggested moving a few million from the fund balance, which has $50.6 million in unassigned equity.

That is a reasonable request, Dr. Robertson said.

The fund balance is about one months operating expenses, a huge safety net. Attorney Scott Bennett said best practice requires 3 percent of the operating budget, or $18 million.

Mr. Kuehn and board member Karitsa Jones said schools in their districts were without air conditioning during 80-degree temperatures in April.

Weve got to get more money in there, Mr. Kuehn said. It handcuffs our maintenance department.

Mr. Kuehn said he will not vote to approve the budget if it leaves only $2 million for maintenance.
A city detective testified Friday that a cleaning crew found large amounts of blood at an apartment in North Chattanooga where Jasmine Pace was allegedly murdered.

Detective Zac Crawford said the bio-hazard crew stopped work and called police after locating the blood when a bed was moved. He said additional blood was found to have soaked down beneath bathroom tile.

An attorney for Jason Chen, who is charged in the gruesome slaying, is seeking to have evidence thrown out due to the victim's mother going into the Chen apartment several times and removing items.

Attorney Crawford said crime scene technicians then did another inspection of apt. 210 at the Lofts at Tremont, 110 Tremont St., in North Chattanooga.

He said blood was located and samples collected of the blood that had gone beneath the carpet and two subfloors. There were also blood samples taken from where it had seeped beneath the tile.

He also said that a mass of blood on the bedroom floor seemed to match the frame of an individual the size of Jasmine Pace.

The detective said it was later learned that she was handcuffed when she was killed.

District Attorney Coty Wamp introduced evidence that Chen may have gone back inside his apartment on Nov. 27, 2022, hours before police arrived with a search warrant.

Detective Crawford said it was learned, after police had been able to obtain Chen cellphone records, that he had left his parents' home at Nolensville, Tn., around 1 or 2 p.m. and headed to Chattanooga. He was in the vicinity of his apartment between 6-7 p.m., the detective said the cellphone records showed. Police arrived shortly before midnight.

Attorney Josh Weiss introduced photos taken off bodycam when two patrol officers went into the apartment and later photos from the time the crime scene techs arrived with a search warrant.

He said it showed a number of items had been moved around, cabinets opened, etc. He noted that Katrina Pace, mother of the victim, said she had gone in the apartment some three times prior to homicide detectives getting involved.

Joseph Seech, a former city detective who is now a veterans affairs coordinator in Michigan, recalled how he had written up the search warrant for the Chen apartment.

He said the case was first a missing persons, "then it started looking like we were looking at a homicide or a kidnapping."

A tape was played of a conversation between Detective Crawford, Pace attorney Ben McGowan and the Pace family, in which there was discussion of entering the apartment ahead of getting a search warrant.

Detective Crawford said sometimes there were issues of "preservation of life" that mandated going ahead "even if it tarnishes our investigation and skips the hoops."

Catrina Pace testified earlier that she was desperate to find her daughter and felt she was not getting full help from police initially. The body of Jasmine Pace was eventually found stuffed in a suitcase and dumped along Suck Creek Road.

A property manager for Wise Properties, owner of the apartment complex, said there had to be an extensive cleanup and gutting of apt. 210 after the incident. She said the bio-hazard cleanup itself cost over $7,000 and the total bill, that was paid by Chen's father, was over $20,000.

Cassidy Buffington said, "It was a long time before we were able to rent that apartment again - when people learned what had happened there. It really hurt the reputation of our property."


Previous Next

Food to serve 2,388 meals was collected by local Scouts across 11 counties that include Hamilton, Catoosa, Walker, Dade, Marion, Grundy, Bradley, Polk, Rhea, Bledsoe and Sequatchie. These items were provided to the local food pantry network in collaboration with the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. Most of the food was collected during the door to door Scouting for Food drive held in April.Officials said, "To help alleviate hunger in our community, 'Scouting for Food' is an annual collection of nonperishable food items, coordinated across the 11 counties served by the Cherokee Area Council, Boy Scouts of America.The Chattanooga Area Food Bank, the largest recipient of items, will deliver goods to various food pantries across the community who will receive the food collected, and in turn, give the food to thousands of individuals or families in need."We are deeply grateful for the nourishing meals that Scouting for Food will be able to provide to the families in need in our community, said Melissa Blevins, president & CEO of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank. In serving their community, the local Scouts are helping us provide food- and hope- to those neighbors in our community who are struggling and seeking food assistance. Jennifer Franklin, Community Engagement Manager of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank, added, Not only does this help us provide groceries for our neighbors in need, but also enables us to spread awareness in our community.The Scouting for Food campaign involved door-to-door food collection efforts by Cub Scouts, Scouts BSA and Venturers. Scouts distributed informational door hangers throughout their designated neighborhoods and community areas."The Scout Slogan is Do a Good Turn Daily," said Council Commissioner Zachary McCarty. "OurScouts log thousands of service hours annually. This project was a great way to demonstrate to thecommunity the values of Scouting that we teach to the youth of the program."Contact Amy Phillips with the Cherokee Area Council at 706-313-1949 for additionalinformation or to make a belated donation.
HCSO School Resource Deputy Sarah Long speaks to students at Loftis Middle School HCSO School Resource Deputy Sarah Long speaks to students at Loftis Middle School Sheriff Austin Garrett speaks to students at Loftis Middle School Loftis Middle School Principal Dr. Mary Catherine Gatlin speaks to students Previous Next

Sheriff Austin Garrett and the Hamilton County Sheriffs Office School Resource Deputy Unit, in conjunction with the administration of Loftis Middle School, hosted the schools inaugural DARE graduation ceremony for students who recently completed the program Friday morning.Officials said, "This graduation class signifies a significant expansion of the HCSO DARE Program to a third school in the HCDE system. The HCSO DARE Program is in its second academic year across the county since being brought back to our community by Sheriff Austin Garrett in 2023 after more than two decades.Approximately 200 Loftis Middle School students graduated this years inaugural program. To date, since the HCSO DARE Program was reinstituted in the Fall of 2022, we have had approximately 430 students graduate the Program."DARE was originally founded in 1983 and has proven so successful that it has been implemented in thousands of schools throughout the United States and many other countries. It is a law enforcement led series of classroom lessons that teaches children from kindergarten through 12th grade how to resist peer pressure and live productive drug and violence-free lives. The modern national DARE Program teaches millions of children the skills they need to avoid involvement in drugs and gangs, as well as lead lives free from substance abuse and violence. There is also a mental health component incorporated into the program."As part of my vision as Sheriff, I am pleased to see this program, now in its second year in our public schools, expanded to Loftis Middle School. My administration understands the value of this safety program and the importance it plays in not only reducing drug addiction in children, but the many other important lessons and values it teaches our young people. With the unprecedented number of overdose deaths we are seeing across our state and our nation, along with the increase in juvenile violence, there could not be a more important time to teach the DARE Program in our local schools. We must give our young people the tools they need to educate themselves about the dangers of illegal and prescription drug abuse and avoiding peer pressure by promoting respectful conduct, civility, and behavior, said Sheriff Garrett.To be a DARE Instructor, potential candidates are vetted by DARE mentors responsible for training new law enforcement personnel. The candidate must also be a POST certified, uniformed law enforcement officer with at two or more years of service and must successfully complete a rigorous 80-hour training course conducted by mentors with a significant number of years of classroom experience, as well as university-level educators from colleges of education. This coursework does not include the many additional hours of study and afterhours work required to test for the certification."The HCSO would like to thank the administration and staff at Loftis Middle School for their support in making this program possible for students," officials said. "We would also like to thank Mayor David Howell and City Manager Kirsten Ert Acuff for being present to support the graduates on behalf of the City of Lakesite."
You have permission to edit this article.

Edit Close
Geraldine Toya, center, marches to bring awareness to the death of her daughter Shawna Toya, in 2021, as dozens of people participate in Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day in Albuquerque, N.M., Sunday, May 5, 2024.
Imagine standing in front of a piece of art, and as youre witnessing the splendor of that particular masterpiece, you are suddenly struck with dizziness, heart palpitations, or even hallucinations.

This peculiar phenomenon is called Stendhal syndrome. Its when art admirers have an art attack. They become so overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the artwork in front of them that they experience significant physical and emotional symptoms.

The curious condition has a relatively long history. Stendhal syndrome was first described by an Italian psychiatrist in 1989. Its name comes from the 19th-century French romance writer Stendhal, who went by the pseudonym Marie-Henri Beyle. The author detailed his own experience of feeling overwhelmed by the art and architecture during a visit to Florence, Italy, in 1817.

Causes of Stendhal Syndrome

Stendhal syndrome is considered extremely rare. Its mostly seen in adults ages 26 to 40 and is said to develop after encountering something intensely beautiful. A higher incidence of Stendhal syndrome has been seen in people who are single, very religious, or nearing the end of their travels.

Intricate artwork and architecture are the top causes of Stendhal syndrome. Research has shown that it might also have something to do with the location of the art. The condition commonly occurs among tourists who travel to cities that are known for their art museums, architecture, historical past, and culture. These cities may include Athens, Paris, Rome, Florence, and Tokyo.

Other travel-related factors that could contribute to the onset of Stendhal syndrome include stress, jet lag, lack of sleep, dehydration, hunger, and sun exposure.

Symptoms of Stendhal Syndrome

The symptoms of this condition can be both mental and physical. There are three main symptoms in people who have experienced Stendhal syndrome. The first is an altered perception of colors or sounds, along with an increased sense of guilt or anxiety.

Sign up for Chip Chicks newsletter and get stories like this delivered to your inbox.
Urban farmers, Jeremy Peaches of Fresh Life Organics & Ivy Lawrence-Walls of Ivy Leaf Farms, who also are the founders of Black Farmer Box, a grocery store in Sunnyside. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff Photographer Georgia Provost is the president of Provost Studios, poses for a portrait on June 2, 2023 in Houston. Provost Studios has chronicled the Houston community since 1948. Brett Coomer/Staff photographer Long-established businesses in Houstons Fifth Ward are bracing for change as the 150-acre development, East River, attracts investment in the area. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer Sharon Benjamin stands in her salon, Janines House of Finesse, on Sept. 1, 2023 in Houston. Elizabeth Conley/Staff Photographer African-themed jewelry is for sale during the Fort Bend County Festival of One on Aug. 26, 2023, at the Fort Bend County Epicenter event complex in Rosenberg. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

Many Americans like to think our society and economy offer a level playing field for all, no matter your gender, religion or race. On the other hand, there is reality.

Conservative politicians across the country are pushing to end every program intended to counteract centuries of white supremacist policies. They have vilified and misrepresented diversity, equity and inclusion programs, alleging reverse racism. But the facts remain, and they are ugly.

The Alliance for Entrepreneurial Equitys The State of Black Business uses data from the Federal Reserve, the Census Bureau and other publicly available sources to gauge progress and problems.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Black-owned businesses are seeing year-over-year growth, but there are still wide divides across numerous metrics, from revenue and debt to business size and market access, said Imani Augustus, AEEs director.

Black people make up 14% of the U.S. population yet own only 2.5% of American businesses, Census Bureau data shows. While thats an increase from 2% in 2018, its still remarkably low. Asians are the only minority with a business ownership rate proportional to their population.

Black-owned businesses also tend to be small in comparison, with 97% employing fewer than 20 people. Three in four have fewer than five workers, the data shows. More than two-thirds are less than 5 years old and provide health care or social assistance; nearly 60% have revenues less than $100,000.

There are two explanations for the disparity: One is racist by suggesting Blacks are not as good at business, while the other suggests U.S. society is not as colorblind as it would like to believe. The telltales are in the credit and financing data.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Three-quarters of white-owned businesses are considered a low credit risk, compared with 30% of Black-owned businesses.

Black-owned businesses are denied financing far more than anyone else. Four in ten Black-owned businesses are completely denied loans, lines of credit, and cash advances, the report concluded, citing Federal Reserve banking data. Only 32% are fully approved. Compare that to white-owned businesses: only 18% are denied while 56% are fully approved.

Startups often rely on venture capital for financing until they have sufficient cash flow to qualify for bank loans. However, out of $138 billion that VC firms invested in 2023, only 0.5% went to Black-founded companies.

History provides some vital context. Whites enslaved most Blacks in the United States until the Civil War ended in 1865. The federal government and U.S. Supreme Court allowed state and local authorities to deny Blacks fundamental civil and economic rights until the 1960s.

Until the early 1970s, public schools and universities remained segregated, with Black children relegated to substandard facilities and fourth-hand textbooks. Housing policy forced Blacks into impoverished neighborhoods where even if a family could own its home, it held very low value due to poor public services and environmental hazards.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Government affirmative action programs boosted minority enrollment in universities and encouraged employers to hire qualified people of color in numbers proportional to the population. But when whites were forced to compete on a level playing field, they complained of reverse discrimination.

Today, Texas cities remain among the most racially and economically segregated in the nation, the nonprofit Urban Institute found. Living apart produces inequities in access to well-funded schools and quality health care.

Some conservatives concede that past racist policies are responsible for todays disparities, but they object to race-based methods of addressing them. In rejecting affirmative action programs at universities, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts last year declared that offering a helping hand is discriminatory.

Racial classifications are simply too pernicious, Roberts said. He believes taking away the head start enjoyed by white people is as evil as holding Black people back.

Texas Republicans are dismantling every government effort to level the playing field by passing laws banning DEI programs. Laws also prohibit state agencies and public schools from discussing the states white supremacist history or how officials blocked Black communities from economic success.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has announced investigations into private corporations trying to hire more minorities or correct past injustices. The most absurd suggestion is that DEI programs caused Boeings recent safety problems.
Illustration by Mallory Rentsch Tlapek / Source Images: WikiMedia Commons

Rarely does an essay cause such a stir as Aaron Renns The Three Worlds of Evangelicalism. Published in First Things in 2022, Renns framework for describing Christianitys fall into cultural disfavor since the 1960s elicited a wide range of responses, from wholehearted agreement to sympathetic skepticism to vociferous disagreement, and seemingly everything in between.

Renns essay categorizes the recent history of evangelicalism in the United States into three periods, or worlds. In the positive world, Christianity was in a position of cultural dominance; most Americans, even those who were not particularly religious, recognized the importance of Christianity to the countrys collective moral fabric. In the neutral world, the broader culture came to see Christianity not as uniquely good, but still as a belief system and worldview doing more good than harm.

Since the early 2010sthe dates themselves, Renn admits, are not bindingevangelicalism has been in the negative world. Here, culture and its elites are inherently suspicious of evangelical Christianity, especially when it challenges or conflicts with emerging, more attractive ideologies. Christians in the negative world, according to Renn, will encounter resistance to previously acceptable beliefs and behaviors. This resistance could take many forms, from simple yet pronounced disagreement all the way to the dreaded C-word: cancellation.

Less than two years after his essay, Renns book, Life in the Negative World: Confronting Challenges in an Anti-Christian Culture, updates and elaborates on his framework and provides tangible resources for Christians concerned about this cultural transformation. Renns work, he admits, is not pastoral, nor is it necessarily prescriptive. Rather, drawing on his experience in the world of management consulting, he proposes a way forward for American evangelicals wanting to adapt to the new normal in faithful and prophetic waysthat is, to be in the negative world while refusing to be of the negative world.

After briefly recapping his three worlds framework, Renn pivots to strategies for theologically conservative evangelicals finding themselves gradually alone in and at odds with the negative world. Renn organizes these strategies around three elements of evangelical identity: the personal, the institutional, and the missional. In the three chapters for each elementRenn is apparently a fan of trioshe advises Christians in a variety of contexts, from individual choices to organizational decision making.

In his section on personal living, for example, Renn exhorts Christians to remain obedient to Christian orthodoxy in the years and decades ahead, even as the larger culture continues to disincentivize such obedience. This sort of obedience, he believes, could bring real consequences to Christians in particular industries, including loss of work. This is why, Renn later argues, Christians should also seek to become less dependent on the world around them, shrewdly managing finances and networks to provide a sort of cancellation insurance.

Directing his attention to evangelical institutions, like churches and businesses, Renn warns Christians that there may come a time to rethink their relationship with mainstream institutions, adopting a less transformational approach with less investment in them.

Renn is adamant that he is not arguing for a head for the hills strategy in response to the negative world, but rather, as Rod Dreher proposes in The Benedict Option, a reorientation toward local, thick communities. Not only does this approach insulate orthodox Christians from prevailing cultural pressures, but it also encourages investment in congregations, neighborhoods, and communities, traditional incubators of the social capital necessary for a flourishing civil society.

Concluding with words on mission, Renn encourages Christians to boldly stand for truth. In this context, he spends a lot of time critiquing some evangelicals inordinate attention to gender and sexuality. He is skeptical of the wisdom of debating complementarianism and egalitarianism, even as he applauds thinkers who speak clearly and simply on these questions. (Canadian psychologist Jordan Peterson, Renn notes, has attracted millions of followers for his brand of folk wisdom.) Evangelicals, Renn believes, should develop thicker skin when making claims that were taken for granted as recently as the last 30 years, lovingly yet boldly being people of the truth in a progressively post-truth environment.

Reasons for optimism

When I read his First Things essay two years ago, I was skeptical of Renns three worlds framework. I thought it was a blunt instrument that ascribed questionable motives to leaders embracing an engagement model for Christian political and cultural participation. But in reading Life in the Negative World, I found myself nodding along far more than I had anticipated. Renn does not write as someone who has an axe to grind against Christian actors with whom he disagrees. He is, at the very least, trying to make sense of our undoubtedly changing cultural environment, and generally does so graciously and humbly.

In response to Renns original essay, critics pointed out that his framework seems to ignore the long history of prejudice and suffering among other elements of the American churchmost notably, of course, our Black brothers and sisters. To claim that conservative Christians are at an especially perilous period in American history is, for these critics, shortsighted and obtuse.

To be fair, Renn confronts this criticism head on, claiming that Black Protestants faced discrimination and violence not because of their religion but because of their race. Renn does not discount the struggles of the Black church for most of American history, but he doesnt think that comparison to todays challenges for conservative evangelicals is exactly fair.

Still, there are reasons American Christians may be more optimistic than Renn about our futures in a changing cultural environment. Consider, for example, todays legal and constitutional landscape. While Renn points to the same-sex marriage decision in Obergefell v. Hodges as indicative of an emerging negative world, he doesnt acknowledge other Supreme Court decisions, before and since, more favorable to Renns conservative evangelical audience. These cases, which have strengthened personal and institutional religious freedom protections, include 2012s Hosanna-Tabor v. EEOC, 2018s Masterpiece Cakeshop Ltd. v. Colorado Civil Rights Commission, 2020s Our Lady of Guadalupe School v. Morrissey-Berru, 2021s Fulton v. City of Philadelphia, and 2022s Carson v. Makin, to name just a few.

Now, Supreme Court decisions do not necessarily follow the broader cultural trajectory; conservative evangelicals may be protected from legal discrimination and government persecution and still face social costs for adhering to Christian orthodoxy. And Renns book is certainly not a legal analysis of the state of First Amendment jurisprudence pertaining to religious freedom. But considering the Supreme Courts solid 63 conservative majority and years-long trend toward accommodating religious exercise, evangelical Christians might have more reason for optimism in the negative world than Renn lets on.

There is a lack of empirical rigor in Life in the Negative World that is at times frustrating. For example, some of Renns claims are questionable without supporting evidencehe calls Donald Trumps Access Hollywood controversy a forty-eight hour blip of scandal, argues that a holistic pro-life position is evidence of a softened cultural engagement, and claims that evangelicals especially hold few top positions in important institutions. Renn may be advancing his own opinions throughout his book, but they are too often presented as matters of fact. And if they are bolstered by evidence, Renn does not often support them as such.

Additionally, as a political scientist, I was discouraged to see just one short chapter focused on Renns proposal for Christian political engagement in the negative world. The crux of Renns advice in this area is that evangelicals must remain prudentially engaged, demonstrating expertise and wisdom. But what this means in practice is not specified. Coming after chapters rife with practical recommendations, I was disappointed to see such a comparatively light chapter on how Christians should consider their political engagement amid an increasingly suspicious culture.

New models for new challenges

Despite these criticisms, I am convinced that Life in the Negative World is an important book at an important time. It should age well, as American cultureand evangelical Christianitys place in itcontinues to evolve, either deeper into the negative world or into something else entirely. For my money, Renns positive-neutral-negative world framework is among the most thought-provoking ideas pertaining to American evangelicalism this century. You dont have to be convinced by every element of Renns framework to appreciate it.

Crucially, Renns book is not a jeremiad against models of Christian political and cultural engagement with which he disagrees. To be sure, he does think these models are going to be ineffective in the years and decades ahead, singling out the culture-war and cultural-engagement models of the 1980s and 2000s, respectively, as popular but ill-suited to our present challenges.

The negative world, Renn predicts, will require more (and different) ideas from evangelicals than can be found in earlier models.

But Renns negative world strategies are not condescending or tinged with superiority. Instead, he approaches the negative world with an eye for creativity and fresh ideas to match the seriousness of this moment. Indeed, his advice seems to be offered with sincerity and a desire to help his fellow Christians. And whatever you think of Renns three-worlds framing, I think its fair to say that evangelicals need all the help we can get.

Daniel Bennett is an associate professor of political science at John Brown University and assistant director at the Center for Faith and Flourishing. His forthcoming book is Uneasy Citizenship: Embracing the Tension in Faith and Politics.
Paul Sancya / AP Images

When pastor John Sanqiang Cao, 64, crossed the border back into China from Myanmars Wa State on March 5, 2017, Chinese officials were waiting to arrest him. For years, he had traveled across the porous border from Yunnan Province to the impoverished Wa State, where he founded more than 20 schools, established drug rehabilitation centers, and provided medicine, books, school supplies, and Bibles to locals. Wa State is part of the notorious Golden Triangle, one of the worlds largest producers of methamphetamine.

Yet the courts in Yunnan sentenced Cao to seven years in prison for allegedly organizing illegal border crossings, a crime usually applied to human traffickers.

His case garnered widespread attention as Caos wife and two sons are US citizens, and Cao has permanent residency in the US. While he could have applied for US citizenship, Cao decided to keep his Chinese passport so that he could return to China for ministry work. He split his time between pastoring a Chinese church in North Carolina and training Chinese house church leaders and mobilizing them to do missions.

Sign up for The Daily Briefing Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily. Email* Sign Up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thanks for signing up. Please click here to see all our newsletters. Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Various international religious freedom groups and US lawmakers have long advocated for his release. In 2019, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention concluded that Cao was targeted due to his Christian faith.

Chinese authorities released Cao on March 5 after he finished serving his sentence. Four police officers escorted him to his hometown of Changsha, where he is now subjected to supervision and thought reform by the local government for five years.

CT spoke with Cao about his time in prison, the Bible verses that sustained him, his views on persecution, how it feels to be released to a changed China. This interview has been edited and shortened for clarity.

How are you feeling now? It has been more than 40 days since I have been freed. My health has improved a lot: My tinnitus was serious in the beginning, now it is much better. Every day I go out and jog for 20 minutes, so my body is recovering well.

How free are you right now? I am generally free, although two agencies, the judicial office and the police station, still monitor me every month by visiting my house. I can go out and about without being followed. However, I do not have a Chinese ID, so I am unable to go see a doctor or travel elsewhere. What was your time in prison like? I stayed at two prisons during my imprisonment. Because I shared the gospel with fellow prisoners at the first prison (Menglian Detention Center in Yunnan), I was transferred to Kunming Prison in 2019. To punish me, I was no longer allowed to speak with other inmates.

Courtesy of China Aid / Edits by CT Pastor John Cao

In China, prisoners need to go through laogai, which means reform through labor. The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) regards labor as noble and imposes long hours of work on prisoners. The purpose of laogai is to transform a bad person into a good person. At Menglian Detention Center, we sewed pants and clothing, for which we received next to nothing. At Kunming Prison, I assembled paper bags for tea leaves, as well as gift and fruit bags, without getting paid. While I was imprisoned, I did not get sun exposureI probably only saw sunlight about 10 times a year. Without sunlight and the vitamin D it produces, my body became weak. I was not allowed to go outside or to exercise. I could not even exercise in my room. Every day from 7 to 7:30 a.m., we had to watch a state-owned news program. I had zero interest in the news, as it is dogmatic and meaningless to me. I usually bowed my head to pray as the news played in the background. I did learn about the COVID-19 pandemic and other major outside news to some extent. All of us had to learn dozens of red songs [praising the CCP] to inherit red genes and ready ourselves to liberate all human beings. Since I could not speak to anyone when I was in the Kunming prison, I would pray and sing praise songs. I would also write some poems of praise. I was placed under surveillance by four fellow inmates, and I could not step out of my room. Although they could freely interact with inmates from other cells, I could not speak to any of them. Similarly, prisoners would not approach me once they saw the four guards standing beside me. Are there particular Bible verses that encouraged you? I did not have a Bible while in prison. Although both my mother and my lawyer brought Bibles to my prison, the correctional staff refused to hand them over to me. My mother would write down Bible verses in her letters to me. Yet the police checked our correspondence: If faith was mentioned in my letters, they would not be delivered.

Both prisons had small libraries with hundreds of books. I would search for Leo Tolstoys books, since there are some Bible verses in his books. When I found them, Id be very, very happy and copy the verses in my notebook. In the four years I was there, I copied dozens of verses. I especially liked the verses that remember believers who are suffering in prison. In Psalm 137:13 it says,

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; They said, Sing us one of the songs of Zion! These verses about Israel and the Jewish peoples grief during their Babylonian exile spoke to me.

Have you ever doubted your faith or wondered why you had to go through this trial? I have never wondered. Once I returned to China to spread the gospel, I knew that sooner or later I would be persecuted for my faith. Jesus said we will go through what he had experienced. For whosoever will pursue his life shall lose it, and whosoever will lose his life for the Lords sake shall find it. Also, I have been to every province in China, where I visited many Christians who were persecuted, beaten, and imprisoned. Ive heard their testimony. So when the day came, I had a great peace in my heart. I knew I would pay a price for my faith, so I felt very joyful. Your mother went to great lengths to visit you. What is behind her strength and courage? My mother may seem like an ordinary Christian, but she is a very remarkable Christian. It took her two full days to reach the detention center where I was held in Menglian, and oftentimes she could not even see me. On the days when we were able to meet, we had to talk on the phone through a glass window. Our conversations were monitored.

One time, my mother mentioned that a fellow believer passed on his greeting and was praying for me. Before she even finished her sentence, the keyword praying triggered the police to cut off the conversation and end our meeting. For her to ride the train for so many hours to merely have a three-minute conversation with me caused her to burst into tears.

According to Chinas prison law, prisoners have the right to write letters to their loved ones, but I could only write letters to my mother. That cut off my contact with the outside world, as I could only communicate through her. I wrote a poem to pay tribute to my mother. I talk about how during World War II, many mothers sent their sons to the frontline to fight. One line goes, Mothers sent off their sons in the past, side by side my mother stands with me now. I regard my mother as my comrade, who fights besides me. She is mightier than the WWII mothers.

Many people, from local Christians to US government officials, have called for your release and prayed for you. What would you like to say to them? I am extremely grateful for all the brothers and sisters around the world who prayed and advocated for me. I also know that they tried through many channels to convince the Chinese government to correct this mistake and release me.

I am very thankful for the many US lawmakers and officials who put in a lot of effort to free me. Whether ordinary citizen or official, they spoke out for me out of a sense of justice.

Many Chinese Christians also came to the entrance of my prison to pray for me. This could get them arrested, so they took great risks. The police at the prison knew that if there were people standing at the gate, they would be praying for me. An officer once secretly notified me that there were people who kneeled at the gate to pray for my freedom.

When you were released, you returned to a very different China with even less freedom for Christians, a worsening economy, and a crackdown on civil society. How are you coping? Initially, when I learned about my seven-year sentence, I could not wrap my head around the fact that they would persecute me, even though the things I did in northern Myanmar were beneficial to China. Once I was released, I realized that many pastors had been arrested. I came to realize that this is a crackdown against the house churches in China as a whole, and I just happened to be among the first few individuals.

Chinese Christians are not anti-government, they obey the constitution. An ordinary citizen does not possess a gunhow can he incite subversion of state power? For the government to crack down on Christians, it is an act of self-harm and self-damage. Not only do the Christians get hurt but the government also hurts its reputation and is discredited.

What are your plans going forward? First, I would like to get a Chinese ID so I can reunite with my family in the US. Without my ID, I cannot move freely to other places, purchase a cell phone, register for accounts online, or see a doctor.

It is not only about the reunion or about the inconvenience. Its also an expression of me being a Chinese citizen. I highly value my citizens rights, so for them to be deprived, it is very unfair and unjust. Christians experience a lot of similar treatment like this in their daily lives.

Other than that, my life has been good. Changsha has been good. I am able to participate in in-person and online church services. I have been contacted and invited by house churches to pastor them, but I have not yet decided, since house churches are still considered illegal in China. As always, my main purpose is to share the gospel.
Illustration by Mallory Rentsch Tlapek / Source Images: Getty

This piece was adapted from Russell Moores newsletter. Subscribe here.

Not since Tupac died have we seen the country quite as fixated on a feud between rappers. Over the past several weeks, artists Drake and Kendrick Lamar kept the news cycle abuzz with their dueling diss tracksridiculing each other in trivial matters of height and weight and popularity before getting nastier with implications of secret love children and the possible grooming of minors.

As the lyrics amped up, police even investigated whether the argument was related to a shooting of a security guard outside Drakes home in Toronto. For most people, though, the feud didnt seem dangerous; it just seemed fun. And thats what worries me.

Sign up for Moore to the Point Join Russell Moore in thinking through the important questions of the day, along with book and music recommendations he has found formative. Email* Sign Up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thanks for signing up. Please click here to see all our newsletters. Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

I am far from qualified to judge who the better artist is between Drake and Lamar. My dogs were named Waylon and Willie, but, come to think of it, the Outlaws wrote a diss track or two themselves. Even so, if this were just a story about musicians egos battling, it could be quickly forgotten. The greater concern is not that these two artists have diss tracks, but that we are all living in one ourselves.

Drake and Lamar obviously do have some genuine dislike of each other. I share sarcastic barbs with a good friend sometimes, but Ive never accused him of being a pedophile or of neglecting his child support. And yet, it also seems that much of this feud is theatricalmeant to mutually benefit them both.

After all, the question in the music industry press right now is not whether restraining orders will be sought but whose tracks are beating whose on the charts. The truth is, no matter who is winning or losing in that competition, both are winning. People are listening, if only to see which one will hit lyrically lower, jab more personally.

And the consuming audience wins too. Its one thing to be a fan. It gives fandom an extra hit of adrenaline, though, to move that fandom from liking someones work to liking someones work while hating someone elses. That transcends genres and platforms. Not long ago, some fans were enraged by DC Comics writer Tom Taylors musings that he would like to revisit some aspects of the backstory of the character Batgirl. They showed it by posting pictures of them burning photographs of Taylors face. He responded by posting, I write COMIC BOOKS.

This would be one thing if it were limited to fandoms vicariously living out virtual feuds, posing their favorite artists / movie franchises / characters / video game avatars / restaurant chains as imaginary gladiators at war with one another. The problem is that, as with so much else, these online realities are becoming real world realities. And they are affecting every part of life, including that of the church.

Texas Monthly recently highlighted the way that many Eastern Orthodox church communities in the United States are disturbed by the phenomenon of Ortho Bros tearing apart their communions. These are usually young men, almost always somewhere on the spectrum of white nationalist/Putinist/neo-Confederate. They are perhaps disproportionately incel (involuntarily celibate), but almost always with a view of women that confuses misogyny with masculinity.

And in their churches, they take the tactics of online troll discoursecomplete with I was only joking when caught in one-step-too-far indefensible behaviorinto the actual life of the congregation. These are usually, the Orthodox say, un-discipled young men, often with father issues, who arent drawn by the spirituality or liturgy of Orthodoxy but by being able to use it like a gamer would a skinan identity from which to identify enemies and to fight them, safely and from a distance.

We, of course, have seen a much, much larger phenomenon like this in our own evangelical circles. The theology differs, but not the vibeand, after a while, one realizes that the vibe is what matters, when one is bored of following Jesus and learning the Bible.

Decades ago, there was an evangelical trope that one should be a disciple of Jesus, not a fan. Thats true, but perhaps we should recognize what particular kind of fandom is infecting our religions communities: the kind that finds belonging by a shared hatred rather than a shared love.

This damages not just the witness of the church but the souls of the reverse fans who use it as a place to spike their adrenaline with a constant craving for controversy. It also hides whats really damaged and hurting, in need of the repair that can come only from grace.

Long before hip-hop, one unbelieving philosopher launched what one might call a diss track against another (by then long dead) anti-theist philosopher that almost predicted the reverse fandom we would see nowespecially with the theatrical pseudo-masculinity that denigrates women. In his History of Western Philosophy, Bertrand Russell dismantled Friedrich Nietzsches tough-guy portrait of himself as a woman-hating nihilist who valorizes the strong and abhors weakness.

It is obvious that in his day-dreams he is a warrior, not a professor; all the men he admires were military, Russell wrote. His opinion of women, like every mans, is an objectification of his own emotions towards them, which is obviously one of fear. Forget not thy whipbut nine women out of ten would get the whip away from him, and he knew it, so he kept away from women, and soothed his wounded vanity with unkind remarks.

Even as atheistic as he was, Russell also called out the ridiculous nature of Nietzsches dismissal of Christianity for its weakness and slave mentality. He wrote: He condemns Christian love because he thinks it is an outcome of fear: I am afraid my neighbor may injure me, and so I assure him that I love him.

It never occurred to Nietzsche that the lust for power, with which he endows his superman, is itself an outcome of fear, Russell wrote. Those who do not fear their neighbors see no necessity to tyrannize over them. Men who have conquered fear have not the frantic quality of Nietzsches artist-tyrant Neros, who try to enjoy music and massacre while their hearts are filled with dread of the inevitable palace revolution.

With a few minor tweaks, the same could be written of the kind of trolling we see nowabsent Nietzsches intellect but with all of his bilethat seems obsessed with putting women in their place and longing for a caesar who can impose a Nietzschean kind of Christianity on the rest of the world.

These are often people who are terrified of women and who would rather fantasize about cracking the whip in an imaginary, restored Christendom of the future than leading a prayer group in their own actual church. This kind of soul does not resonate with the psalms of the faithful but only with diss tracksof whatever genre or denomination or tribe, as long as they channel anger and punish enemies.

The police responding to shots at Drakes house unnerved those who remember previous feudsnot just between musicians but even between Olympic athletes and high school athletes and cheerleaders (or their parents), not to mention rival mob bossesthat ended in blood, not just words. Many remember that what starts as theater often becomes real. Artist rivalries are one thingcompeting fandoms usually dont hurt anybody. The stakes are higher, though, for a neighborhood, for a nation, for a church.

A people who lose truth turn to theater. A people who have given up on mission entertain themselves with feuds. A people who forget how to sing the songs of the redeemed can find that all thats left are the diss tracks of the enraged.

Russell Moore is the editor in chief at Christianity Today and leads its Public Theology Project.
Peru permits euthanasia, Florida frets about national security, and Kristi Noem is in the doghouse.

This week on The Bulletin, Mike Cosper and producer Clarissa Moll discuss Floridas new laws restricting Chinese citizens from real estate transactions and employment at state universities. Conversation turns next to Perus first exemption for medically assisted suicide and the growth of the global right-to-die movement. Finally, we talk about dogsour own and Gov. Kristi Noems, to be exact. Can the vice presidential hopeful remain a viable candidate after the release of her new book No Going Back? Special guests Skot Welch and Karen Swallow Prior join the discussion.

Todays Guests:

Skot Welch is the principal/founder of Global Bridgebuilders, a firm focusing on organizational development, cultural transformation, and inclusion. Prior to the launch of Global Bridgebuilders, Skot served as vice president of business development and benchmarking services for DiversityInc magazine in New Jersey, where he worked with many of the Fortune 500s biggest global brands across a broad range of industries. Skots most recent book is Unfractured: A Christ-Centered Action Plan for Cultural Change.

Sign up for The Daily Briefing Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily. Email* Sign Up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thanks for signing up. Please click here to see all our newsletters. Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

Karen Swallow Prior, PhD, is the author of The Evangelical Imagination: How Stories, Images, and Metaphors Created a Culture in Crisis and On Reading Well: Finding the Good Life through Great Books, among other titles. Her writing has appeared at Christianity Today, The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Washington Post, First Things, and other places. In addition, Dr. Prior is a columnist for Religion News Service, a contributing editor for Comment, a founding member of The Pelican Project, and a senior fellow at The Trinity Forum.

Resources Referenced:

When Buying a Home Is Treated as a National Security Threat, The New York Times

The Art of Dying: Living Fully into the Life to Come by Rob Moll

Who Will Comfort Me? The Total Care of Cicely Saunders by Karen Swallow Prior, the Acton Institute

The Bulletin is a production of Christianity Today Executive Producer: Erik Petrik Producers: Clarissa Moll and Matt Stevens Associate Producers: McKenzie Hill and Raed Gilliam Editing and Mix: TJ Hester Music: Dan Phelps Show Design: Bryan Todd Graphic Design: Amy Jones Social Media: Kate Lucky
Matthew Warner, who had tweeted about gay marriage, is the latest in a string of Christian college faculty who have lost their jobs after being accused of theological misalignment.

Chinges E. Sabol / Grace College & Seminary

With glowing performance reviews and above-average student evaluations, by most measures Matthew Warners first year as a communications professor at Grace College was a triumph.

But he spent most of that first year knowing it could be his last. After four months on the job, Warner was informed by the schools president, Drew Flamm, that the board had come to the conclusion that we dont think it works out to move forward, according to a recording obtained by Religion News Service.

Warners termination is the latest in a string of professor terminations at Christian colleges seemingly tied to clashes over narrowing and often unspoken political and theological criteria.

Sign up for The Daily Briefing Get the most recent headlines and stories from Christianity Today delivered to your inbox daily. Email* Sign Up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Thanks for signing up. Please click here to see all our newsletters. Sorry, something went wrong. Please try again.

While Flamm didnt specify the reasons for Warners dismissal, it was preceded by an online termination campaign clear about its goals. Launched by conservative influencers and Grace College stakeholders, the campaign demanded Warners removal due to his social media posts about LGBTQ rights, Black Lives Matter, and critiques of the GOP. Almost all the posts predated Warners employment at the college.

Grace College declined to answer questions about Warner, saying it was a personnel matter. Dr. Matt Warner fulfilled his agreement for the year. Grace College wishes Dr. Warner well in his future endeavors, Norm Bakhit, Grace Colleges chief officer of human resources, told RNS in a statement. Flamm did not offer further comment.

Warner and his wife said they both left behind jobs and sold their home in metro Detroit to move with their three kids to Warsaw, Indiana, for Warners job at Grace. It was his dream position, they said, and noted that they gave up 60 percent of their income for him to take it.

Warner was eager to work with colleagues he described as world class, and quickly became known for his interactive teaching style and enthusiastic participation in department events, according to student evaluations and interviews with faculty. Early on, administrators tapped him to be a faculty mentor to first-year students.

Then, in October, Warner learned there was a group of local moms calling for him to be fired. Warner traced the outcry back to a Facebook post by Evan Kilgore, a Grace alum and onetime employee who captured screenshots of Warners past tweets, which included such phrases as I support gay marriage, My pronouns are he/they, Tucker Carlson is fascist, and When Christendom is conservative it ceases to be transformative.

A former Turning Point USA ambassador and now faith-based political commentator, Kilgore told RNS he posted because parents might want to be aware of somebody who has influence over their child with these beliefs.

Kilgore said he was originally tipped off about Warners posts by Monica Boyer, a Grace College parent and local political organizer. While Kilgores post clarified that he was not calling for Warners termination, Boyer took a different approach.

I am OFFICIALLY calling on Grace College to fire this professor IMMEDIATELY, Boyer wrote on Facebook. The devil probably shouldnt mess with moms who fight for their kids, she wrote the same day, adding that moms were driving around campus, praying.

Warner proactively met with supervisors as Boyers repeated demands gained traction among her nearly 8,000 Facebook followers. But initial conversations werent reassuring. Flamm and Bakhit, the chief human resources officer, told Warner he wasnt yet a faculty member because the board hadnt ratified him. Now, the board was considering voting against Warners ratification, a move that would end his employment.

Warner, who distinguishes between his support of peoples civil rights and his theological convictions, said he had no qualms with the schools faith standards or lifestyle commitments. Affiliated with Charis Fellowship, a theologically conservative network of churches with roots in German pietism, Grace College requires all faculty to sign a lifestyle commitment that affirms marriage as between one man and one woman and bans homosexual behavior.

Theyve created a caricature of me based on taking a very small number of social media posts out of context, Warner said. I was treated from the beginning as a threat or liability. And nobody at any time had a conversation with me about what I believe, or what Im willing to do to support the college.

The news that he wasnt already a faculty member also came as a shock.

Most faculty here seemed very surprised to learn that two months after they moved here and started their jobs, they technically were still not employees, one faculty member, who requested not to be named, told RNS.

In mid-October, Flamm offered Warner the option to voluntarily resign, and, alternatively, outlined a potential pathway forward that involved meeting regularly with Flamm and other administrators to restore trust before the boards ratification vote.

But the path forward never materialized, according to Warner, who had emailed Bakhit asking for a breakdown of the process. Bakhit told him there were no specific steps. Warner met with some administrators but not with Flamm.

Things came to a head on December 7, when Flamm told Warner the board had voted not to ratify him. Bakhit offered Warner $60,000 for his voluntary resignation and a confidentiality agreement that included a nondisclosure agreement clause, an offer Warner eventually refused, in part so he could finish out the school year. Though Flamm didnt provide rationale for the boards decision, Bakhit told Warner it was due to the tone and tenor of his social media posts.

The fit isnt because of your theology, the fit is more about  how youve come across in the past, and the concern, or the confidence that it wouldnt happen again in the future, Bakhit said in a recording obtained by RNS.

Meanwhile, many Grace College employees said they felt in the dark about Warners departure.

It feels like its only a matter of time before I or anyone else cross an invisible line we didnt know was there, and are determined to not be missionally aligned, one Grace College employee told RNS.

Cliff Staton, director of Grace Colleges school of arts and sciences partnership programs, said he wondered, if Warner didnt fit at Grace College, did he?

In a low-trust culture, you start thinking, I must be at risk too, said Staton. That was pervasive across faculty. Especially because there was no definitive language around the why.

In the spring, students tried to organize a petition and a protest vouching for Warner but were unable to secure the administrations approval. Students are disappointed in Grace for not saying anything publicly about the situation and caving to outside pressure, one student told RNS.

As Christian colleges vie for a dwindling number of incoming students, many are struggling to navigate the chasm between the convictions of conservative stakeholders and those of their more theologically, politically, and racially diverse faculty and student bodies.

In many cases, precarious finances have led schools to prioritize the former. Last year, English professors at Taylor University and Palm Beach Atlantic University were dismissed after receiving alumni, donor, and parental criticism for their teachings on racial justice, though both had been teaching on that topic for over a decade.

Matthew Bonzo, who has taught philosophy at Cornerstone University in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for 26 years, told RNS he was pushed out after refusing to sign an oath of loyalty committing unwavering support to the president and his policies. Even after pushback led to the oath being dropped, Bonzo said he was notified that his position was being eliminated.

Bonzo told RNS hes seeing many Christian colleges attempt to shield students from conversations about race and gender due to fear of undermining students faith.

The thing that strikes me is the willingness of boards and administration to kind of alter the process to achieve the end that they want, Bonzo told RNS. At the very moment when Christian higher ed could be helping to navigate difficult cultural moments, weve been sidelined by these kinds of controversies.

RNS independently confirmed that over 100 employees have departed Cornerstone since the arrival of the current president in 2021. In an email to RNS, the vice president for enrollment said the school has had a strong retention rate of about 81 percent for faculty and staff and has seen a slight increase in enrollment since last year.

At Grace College, those demanding Warners removal prevailed. In January, Warner filed a faculty grievance charging Flamm and Bakhit with alleged violations of college policy, but per the college bylaws, the president is the final arbiter of faculty grievances, and Flamm did not find that he or Bakhit had misstepped. Warner also submitted a board appeal requesting that a third party hear his case, but instead, the board affirmed Flamms ruling on the grievance.

Even in all the complexity and hardship of this experience, at all points, he has been on team Grace, Warners pastor, the Rev. Emily Cash, said of him. His intention was never to show up at Grace to stir the pot, but to love students and engage them in the kind of learning he himself was delighted by.  He wanted, truly, to be at Grace, and for Grace to be a place of grace.
Home News Biden faces bipartisan pushback over threat to cut off weapons for Israel

President Joe Biden has faced criticism from Republicans and some within his own party after he promised to withhold an arms shipment to Israel if the U.S. ally invaded Rafah in Gaza to launch an assault against a Hamas military stronghold.

During a Wednesday interview with CNN, the president said that the United States would still provide rocket interceptor for Israel's Iron Dome and other defensive weapons, but other major shipments would cease if Israel proceeds with moving into Rafah.

Israel launched an offensive in Gaza following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,200 people, mostly civilians in Southern Israel. Throughout the war, Israel's stated objective has been to eradicate the terror group, which has controlled the Gaza Strip since 2007, and free the hostages. The Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry says that over 34,000 people in Gaza have died since the war began, but doesn't differentiate between combatants and civilian deaths.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

Regurgitation of the Gaza death toll figures by media outlets and activists have put pressure on the Biden administration to halt military support for the offensive.

"We're not walking away from Israel's security," Biden said. "We're walking away from Israel's ability to wage war in those areas."

"We're going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently. But it's just wrong. We're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells," he added.

The U.S. has already paused "one shipment of high payload munitions," Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin confirmed during a Wednesday Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense.

The pause on shipments to Israel has prompted criticism from various lawmakers on both sides of the political aisle. The following pages highlight six reactions from Republicans and Democrats.
Home News 'Hungry for a message of hope': 100 make decisions for Christ in aftermath of Hawaii wildfires

Around 100 people professed faith in Jesus at worship services held in wildfire-ravaged Hawaii last week, the culmination of Harvest Christian Fellowship's "Hope for Lahaina" outreach efforts to share the hope of Christ with a community devastated by the deadliest wildfire in the United States in over a century.

Evangelist Greg Laurie of the California-based Harvest church network held two outreach events on April 28 at the Ritz Carlton Kapalua Hotel in Lahaina, Maui County. Harvest's location in Maui County opened in 2016 when Kumulani Chapel merged with the multi-campus network.

Considering the fires that destroyed the historic town of Lahaina last August killed over 100 and displaced over 6,000, Laurie told The Christian Post this week that "people are hungry for a message of hope."

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

"When you've had everything taken from you, when you've lost a loved one, or you've lost your home, or all of your belongings and all of your family memories  in that ash  that really impacts people," he said.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's National Centers for Environmental Information states that the wildfires were the deadliest in the U.S. in over a century. Data from the Pacific Disaster Center and the Federal Emergency Management Agency shows that more than 2,000 structures were "damaged and destroyed" in the wildfires, inflicting over $5.5 billion in damages.

"Hope for Lahaina" consisted of two services and over 3,000 attendees. The Sunday night service featured worship led by Leeland and a performance by Danny Gokey of "American Idol" fame.

In an X post this past Sunday featuring a three-minute video documenting highlights from the services, Laurie stated that "100 professions were made for Christ." Video footage from one of the services shows Laurie asking, "What do we do when the bottom drops out?"

"What do we do when we don't think we can make it another day?" he asked.

"We look to God," he replied. "There's a book that God has given us that has hope in it, and that book is called the Bible. This is where you're going to find the hope that you need."

"Hope has a name: it's Jesus," he continued.

Laurie told CP that the church "respond[ed] immediately to the needs of the people, which were many" after the fires last summer.

"One person showed up at the church;  his house burned down. He didn't have any food. He didn't have clothing. He didn't have anything, so we have set up something called the Maui Relief Fund and people generously gave to that," he said.

"We were able to provide food, clothing, water, even payments for some people  having to get [a] temporary residence and other things, and so that was just one aspect of what we did."

He said the church sent Christian mental health counselors to help people process the grief of the tragedy. Harvest's Maui location held events for children and teenagers, including movie nights, focusing on faith and providing relief. Laurie described it as trying to provide an "oasis in the middle of this desert" and a "moment of calm in the middle of a storm."

"Hope for Lahaina was something that everything was building towards. We wanted to do what we think we do best, which is proclaim the Gospel," Laurie said.

Laurie said that the church provided people who made decisions for Christ at the event with a "New Believers Bible," which includes a New Testament with notes written with new believers in mind.

"Then we follow up with them within 24 hours or so with a phone call," Laurie said. "We also contact them by mail, and if they're  anywhere near us, we reach out to them personally in every way we can to get them out to the church again," he added. "So  it's pretty extensive."

"We do everything short of being intrusive in our follow-up process," Laurie asserted. "What I've found is if a person really wants to continue on in their faith, they will respond to one of these things that we do. And if they don't want to, then they won't. So  we do everything we can do to integrate them in church."

With 1,000 attending the morning service and 2,000 attending the evening service, Laurie is happy with the turnout, considering the island's population.

Comparing the island's population to the much larger population of California, Laurie remarked, "That would be as if we had an event that was attended by 287,000 people and 14,000 people responded to the Gospel."

Laurie estimated that 25% of the attendees were from out of town, while 75% were locals.

"I think [the tragedy] causes one to ask, 'What is my life really built on?' So, I think it's  caused many to reexamine their faith. I think it's caused many to reach out, realizing they need God's help," he said. "And I think that they see the Church in action.  The Church is often criticized, and the Church is not even close to perfect, and we're flawed. But no one reaches out and touches people when they're hurting like followers of Jesus Christ."

Laurie said, "A lot of people who didn't really think a lot about our church on Maui are now attending because they've seen God's love demonstrated for them in a tangible way."

Laurie said the rebuilding process in Lahaina is moving "very slowly" and will take a long time.

"There's still rubble there that needs to be cleared, and I don't think they've started any construction yet," he said.

As for Harvest's plans to hold similar "Hope for Lahaina" events, Laurie hopes a "full-scale island-wide crusade" will take place in the near future.

In a May 1 X post, Laurie announced that Harvest is building a new location in Maui that they hope to open later in 2024 to serve as a "light" to the community and "a place where tourists come and find Christ."

The new location has been in the works for seven months. Laurie envisions the new facility as a space that will enable the church to "accommodate more people and have a more extensive ministry to people of all ages, especially children." He estimates the average attendance at the Maui location as "anywhere from 500-800" across two services.
Home News Francis Chan defends Gospel for Asia after legal settlement: 'No money was misappropriated'

Popular preacher and author Francis Chan issued a strong defense of the nonprofit charity Gospel for Asia following the announcement Friday that the organization will pay $37 million to settle a class action lawsuit over the alleged misuse of donations.

Chan, the author of Crazy Love and former pastor at Cornerstone Community Church in Simi Valley, California, released a statement responding to the news of Gospel for Asias settlement with plaintiffs who accused the organization of mishandling hundreds of millions in donations earmarked for the mission field worldwide.

When I first heard of the accusations against K.P. Yohannan, I was surprised and deeply concerned, the 51-year-old pastor, who has served as a GFA board member since 2015, said in a statement shared with The Christian Post.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

I have been let down many times by people I once respected. At the same time, I know that public figures will often be wrongly accused. It goes with the territory.

Chan explained that when the accusations first hit Gospel for Asia over three years ago, he did not race to abrupt conclusions as some of his colleagues did.

He did his own research by traveling to the Texas headquarters and to the mission field in India with a trusted financial expert who was a partner in a large accounting firm. Chan also asked Yohannan and his son, Danny, to send over their tax returns from the previous year.

After careful research, our conclusion was that there was no money misappropriated and that all funds were channeled to the intended areas, Chan assured.

As a result of the ordeal, Chans admiration for founder K.P. Yohannan only grew.

From the start, it didnt make sense that he was misappropriating funds, Chan reasoned. There was no logical motive. I had spent time in his home and driven with him in his car. He lives very humbly. When I saw his tax returns, I was shocked at how little he made and how much he gave.

Gospel for Asia, along with Yohannan, have fought a years-long legal battle to clear the organizations name after accusations that funds meant for charitable purposes were used to build personal residences and a headquarters in Texas, among other things. The lawsuit was brought by former GFA donors Garland and Phyllis Murphy.

GFA will pay $37 million  some of which will be paid over the course of the next year  as part of a legal settlement. But the settlement also shows that the parties agree that evidence demonstrates donations made to GFA earmarked for the mission field did make it to the field and were not used for personal gain or enrichment.

GFA has always maintained that funds were not used fraudulently and the settlement agreement refutes previous claims that only a small percentage of donations made it to the mission field.

In reference to the $37 million settlement fund, Chan said that he is saddened that such a large sum of money had to be given to an attorney.

[B]ut I am grateful that [Yohannan] has been cleared of the accusation, Chan wrote in the statement. K.P. has been a mentor to me for years. The way that he speaks to God and about Him is different from anyone else I know. His words and actions have led to me loving Jesus more consistently and deeply. He is the first to admit shortcomings in his life, but he continues to be an example to me. For this, I am eternally grateful.

Although GFA has agreed to a settlement to the legal case that nearly forced the organization to shut down, the charity will need to reapply for memberships in associations such as the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and National Religious Broadcasters.

Both organizations dropped GFA as a member institution in 2016 after ECFA highlighted several concerns about GFAs financial accountability.

In a September 2015 letter, ECFA took issue with the fact that hundreds of millions of dollars in excess cash was being held in GFA partner field accounts in India. Additionally, ECFA stated that GFA was too delayed in sending donations to the mission field which contrasts with the level of urgency communicated in GFAs donor appeals.

ECFA also voiced concern that: GFAs foreign field partners were completely independent organizations that prevented GFA from exercising any direct control over field partners;" about $20 million in funds gifted to GFA USA by GFA India were used to build the organizations headquarters in Wills Point, Texas; and GFA did not have a foreign grant process in place to oversee the use of donations in the mission field.

GFA instituted a new foreign funding process that was developed with the assistance of a new audit firm in 2016.

The nonprofit has been subject to annual audits by the South Carolina-based CPA firm Payne, White and Schmutz. All audits have come back clean.

The organization has also hired one of the big four accounting firms in the United States to objectively analyze the flow of GFA donations to the mission field.

Johnnie Moore, an evangelical media communications executive who is acting as a spokesperson for GFA, told The Christian Post last week that even before the lawsuit, GFA was working to satisfying many of ECFAs concerns.

"The legal case has further prepared them to complete that process," Moore said. "The organization is confident it can meet the criteria necessary for membership again in accrediting bodies like the NRB, once they choose to pursue it."
Home News Gospel for Asia founder KP Yohannan dies of cardiac arrest after being struck by car

K.P. Yohannan, the founder and director of Gospel for Asia and the metropolitan of the Believers Eastern Church, has died of a cardiac arrest at the age of 74.

Gospel for Asia announced Yohannan's death in a statement, noting that the influential Indian Christian leader died on Wednesday morning at a hospital in Dallas, Texas.

Yohannan was struck by a car while taking a walk the day before. While at the hospital recovering from the accident, he suffered a sudden cardiac arrest.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

"We praise God for allowing His servant the strength to run his race faithfully and with much endurance to the very end," GFA stated in the announcement.

"Millions of lives are forever transformed because of his tireless passion and service unto his Savior. May God receive him into the embrace of the saints. Christ is risen! May his memory be eternal!"

Yohannan is survived by his wife, Gisela; his son Daniel, daughter Sarah and seven grandchildren: David, Esther, Jonah, Hannah, Lydia, Naomi and Noah.

Yohannan was born in Southern India in 1950 as the youngest of six sons, reportedly in a village where St. Thomas the Apostle had planted a church in the first century, according to his online obituary.

Inspired by the example and friendship of missionary George Verwer, Yohannan entered the ministry and received a theological education at Criswell College in the 1970s.

Yohannan founded Gospel for Asia in 1979. He became metropolitan of the Believers Eastern Church in February 2003. BEC identifies as Evangelical, however it adopts more high church worship practices and attire.

A prolific writer, according to GFA World, Yohannan has had around 250 books published in Asia and 12 books in the United States.

From 2008 to 2022, Yohannan contributed a few opinion columns to The Christian Post, the last of which was published in May 2022 and titled "How do we reclaim this 'vanishing generation'?"

"I believe we've left a whole generation floundering because  despite all our teaching materials, church programs, and activities  they've never had a genuine encounter with the living Christ. Instead, we've been led to believe the smartphone generation needs constant media bombardment," he wrote at the time.

"Our misplaced emphasis on fast-moving media and rock-concert volume has replaced the much-needed timeless discipline of seeking God in quiet meditation and reverent silence. As a consequence, our worship services have focused on performance rather than coming before God."

In recent years, Yohannan and Gospel for Asia have faced legal battles amid allegations of financial misconduct regarding their handling of donations.

In one lawsuit, the plaintiffs alleged that millions in donations earmarked for charitable purposes were instead used to run for-profit businesses and build personal residences and a headquarters in Texas.

In 2019, the ministry reached a $37 million settlement over the allegations, with Yohannan and GFA's Chief Operating Officer David Carroll denying any wrongdoing.

Among those who have come to Yohannan's defense after the settlement was announced is popular Crazy Love preacher Francis Chan, who served as a GFA board member. Chan said he hired a financial expert and went to GFA's Texas headquarters to investigate the claims of misappropriation.

"After careful research, our conclusion was that there was no money misappropriated and that all funds were channeled to the intended areas," Chan said in 2019.

However, GFA was expelled from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability in 2015 and from the National Religious Broadcasters in 2016 over the controversy.

In November 2020, the Indian government, which over the last several years has cracked down on foreign-funded Christian mission organizations amid a rise of Hindu nationalism within the country, accused BEC and Yohannan of "siphoning out" tax-exempted funds for "personal and other illegal expenses."

BEC spokesperson Fr. Sijo Pandapallil told CP at the time that the matter was being misrepresented and "wildly mischaracterized on social media."

In 2021, Greg Zentner of Nova Scotia filed a $170 million class-action lawsuit against GFA, accusing the ministry of defrauding thousands of Canadians and churches by using funds for "improper purposes."

In 2022, the Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion to certify the complaint, concluding that the plaintiff "failed to show some basis in fact for his allegation that the defendants intentionally misappropriated donor funds in a manner that had no connection to any purported charitable purpose."
Home News $170M class-action lawsuit against Gospel for Asia refused certification by Canadian judge

A judge rejected a proposed $170 million class-action lawsuit against one of the worlds largest Christian ministries over alleged misappropriation of funds more than three years after the charity paid $37 million to settle a similar class-action lawsuit in the United States.

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice dismissed a motion to certify a lawsuit against Gospel for Asia (GFA World) Canada and a number of its current and former officers and directors.

Plaintiff Greg Zentner of Nova Scotia filed the motion in June 2021, alleging that GFA defrauded thousands of Canadians and churches who collectively donated millions to GFA Canada by diverting those funds to improper purposes.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

The motion to certify a class action was denied on March 17 by Justice Peter J. Cavenaugh. GFA announced the dismissal in a press statement earlier this month.

The judge found the plaintiff failed to show some basis in fact for his allegation that the defendants intentionally misappropriated donor funds in a manner that had no connection to any purported charitable purpose.

The judge also found Zentner had not shown some basis in fact that he or other class members suffered a "compensable loss."

"I regard the evidence as supporting Zentners suspicion, based on evidence that is speculative, that GFA Canada misappropriated donors money," the judge wrote in his 29-page ruling obtained by The Christian Post.

"But suspicion, based on speculation, is not enough. The approach that Zentner has taken

on this motion ... is to make serious allegations of fraud and then assert that the evidence tendered by the defendants is not sufficient to prove that donors money was spent in India as they designated, and discovery is needed to uncover the evidence of fraud. This approach reverses the onus. The onus is on Zentner to adduce admissible evidence showing some basis in fact that donated funds were misappropriated."

"The only expert who has undertaken an analysis of how donor funds were used is [GFA Canadas forensic accounting expert Andy] Harrington, and his opinion is that GFA Canada used donor funds in the field as directed, an opinion that is not challenged by other expert evidence," the ruling states.

The ruling comes as GFA has maintained that all funds for the field were sent to their intended destination and used for ministry purposes, he added.

Founded by K.P. Yohannan over 40 years ago, Gospel for Asia was founded to serve the least of these in Asia and Africa, often in places where no one else is serving, so they can experience the love of God for the first time.

GFA reached a $37 million settlement in 2019 in another class-action lawsuit that accused the nonprofit of mishandling hundreds of millions in donations designated to be used in the mission field worldwide. There was no admission of liability by GFA under the settlement.

In the 2015 lawsuit, Yohannan and his associates were accused of racketeering, fraud and financial mismanagement for using donations earmarked for charitable purposes within its mission fields to build personal residences and a headquarters in Texas.

GFA denied the allegation, but the organization was subsequently expelled from the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and the National Religious Broadcasters after financial accountability concerns were voiced.

The offices of Yohannans Believers Eastern Church in India were raided by authorities in November 2020 over allegations that the network received foreign donations through associated nongovernmental organizations.

GFA  which is a separate legal entity  later described the actions against Believers Eastern Church as a type of Christian persecution and part of an ongoing smear campaign targeting the ministry.

An affidavit in support of Zentner's lawsuit cites a press release from the Indian Ministry of finance announcing search and seizure operations said to have been carried out as credible information was received that the group received donations from foreign countries ostensibly for helping the poor and destitute and for evangelical purposes, but was actually siphoning out of such tax-exempted funds in cash to engage in unaccounted cash transactions or personal and other illegal expenses in real estate transactions."

However, the court ruled that the press release "does not disclose the source of the information" and is "not admissible evidence showing some basis in fact for Zentners allegation that GFA Canada fraudulently misappropriated donors money."

Preacher and author Francis Chan, who has served as a GFA board member since 2015, has remained a staunch public defender of the organization and Yohannan.

After allegations emerged against GFA in 2015, Chan said he traveled to its Texas headquarters and the mission field in India with a trusted financial expert who is a partner with a large accounting firm. Chan also reviewed tax returns from Yohannan and his son.

After careful research, our conclusion was that there was no money misappropriated and that all funds were channeled to the intended areas, Chan assured in a 2019 statement.
Sonia Garcia is a trending food reporter for the Houston Chronicle. She can be reached at sonia.garcia@houstonchronicle.com.

A Rio Grande Valley native, she previously was an editor and writer for the Austin digital news startup Austonia after graduating from Texas State University. She enjoys trying new restaurants in Houston, where she lives with her 14-year-old Chihuahua.
Home News Man who heard Mica Miller crying before suicide regrets not checking on her, says she had Bible

If he had known that the crying he heard at Lumber River State Park on April 27 was that of a woman who was about to take her life, Johnnie Jacobs believes he would have tried to help. Jacobs now regrets not checking to see what was going on before he heard a gunshot when Pastor John-Paul Millers late wife, Mica Miller, decided to kill herself.

If it had been a person that was crying in the open, I would have checked on them all day long, Jacobs told News 13 in an interview on Thursday. I just wish I would have gone in there and checked on her.

Jacobs comments come after the Robeson County Sheriff's Office in North Carolina presented a detailed report of clear and compelling evidence Tuesday showing that Mica Miller took her own life, including a 911 call in which she told a dispatcher, Im about to kill myself, and I just want my family to know where to find me.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

Police said they traced Mica Millers call to the Lumber River State Park in Orrum, North Carolina, where they searched for her with the help of a drone. They found her black Honda Accord and inside was a Sig Sauer gun case in the passenger seat and a box of ammunition in the center console. A receipt inside the vehicle showed that the gun was purchased from a pawn shop that same day.

As investigators kept searching for Miller, they noted that an individual who had found a bag near the water edge with an identification belonging to Miller also stated that he heard someone crying and a gunshot while he was fishing.

In the interview, Jacobs said he wanted to set the record straight about what exactly happened in the park.

He said he only decided to check what was happening after he heard a gunshot go off and the crying stopped. He later decided to investigate what was going on and found Mica Millers personal belongings.

She had her license, her bank card, keys in the bag, a little small Bible, her purse, all of her credit cards, and a few receipts and some things, he recalled.

He now wishes he had checked on what was going on a little earlier.

As I decided that I was going to stop fishing, I came back through, stopped where they call it a slew or a lake off of the river, he said. I pulled in there with my little boat and, maybe five minutes after  I heard a cry. I heard it for about two or three minutes. Then I stopped, heard a gunshot. Then, the crying stopped.

Knowing that the crying he heard was Mica Miller in distress has devastated Jacobs, who says he's been leaning on his faith to cope with the tragedy.

Im just going to depend on the Lord to get me through this, he said. Its changed my life.

On Tuesday, Mica Millers family visited the restricted area in the park where officials found her body. About two days before she killed herself, officials say she filed for divorce from Pastor John-Paul Miller of Solid Rock at Market Common in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, who was recently granted a leave of absence to care for his family and mourn his late wife.

Despite the findings of the police investigation and stating that his wife was diagnosed with bipolar II, schizophrenic and dependent personality disorder, John-Paul has been accused online of abusing wife or driving her to suicide.

In a press release on Thursday, the pastors attorney, Russell B. Long, refuted the claims and threatened legal action against any person or media organization that perpetuates false narratives against his client.

Following the untimely death of Mica Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Millers involvement in her demise. This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to begin proliferating these falsehoods, on a mammoth proportion, Long said.

Our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife. Recent reports claim that Pastor Miller groomed his wife from the age of 10 years old couldnt be farther from the truth. She moved to Myrtle Beach at the age of 15, was married to another man at the age of 18 and divorced at the age of 21, he insisted.

Long further pointed to Mica Millers mental illness and suggested that her death highlights a need to destigmatize mental health issues in society.

It has come to light that Mica Miller struggled with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, which when not properly managed, led to paranoid episodes and self-destructive behavior, he wrote.

Some reports made by her in the recent past are nonsensical. This unfortunate reality underscores the importance of destigmatizing mental health issues and ensuring those affected receive appropriate support and treatment.
Home News Missouri defunds Planned Parenthood, abortion providers

Missouri has passed a law stopping public funds like Medicaid from going to Planned Parenthood and other abortion providers operating in the state.

Missouri Gov. Mike Parson signed House Bill 2634 into law on Thursday, which makes it "unlawful for any public funds to be expended to any abortion facility, or to any affiliate of such abortion facility."

The law defines "affiliate" as "a person or entity who enters into, with an abortion facility, a legal relationship created or governed by at least one written instrument, including a certificate of formation, a franchise agreement, standards of affiliation, bylaws, or a license."

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

While Missouri had already enacted a measure to prevent the public funding of abortion, the new law stops any public funding of abortion providers or their affiliates, such as reimbursements via the MO HealthNet program.

"Our administration has been the strongest pro-life administration in Missouri history," Parson said in a statement. "We thank members of the General Assembly for recognizing this important issue and sending this legislation to my desk."

"We've ended all elective abortions in this state, approved new support for mothers, expecting mothers, and children, and, with this bill, ensured that we are not sending taxpayer dollars to abortion providers for any purpose."

Missouri bans abortions in nearly all circumstances, with Planned Parenthood facilities that operate in the state providing other services such as contraception and STI testing.

Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region & Southwest Missouri posted a statement to Facebook denouncing the new law, arguing that it blocks "essential health care, including birth control, cancer screenings, annual wellness exams, and STI testing and treatment at Planned Parenthood."

"Planned Parenthood health centers serve nearly half of all patients who rely on family planning safety-net providers in the state. Other providers cannot absorb the thousands of patients impacted by this 'defunding' attack," the organization continued. "All our Missouri health centers remain open, and we plan to continue caring for patients with Medicaid."

Missouri lawmakers had previously attempted to bar abortion providers in the state from receiving public funds in 2022 with the passage of House Bill 3014.

In February, the Missouri Supreme Court ruled against HB 3014, concluding that it violated the Missouri Constitution's equal protection and single-subject provisions. The latter prohibits laws from tackling more than one major issue.

On a national level, Planned Parenthood's annual report for 2022-2023, released last month, shows that it received a record of nearly $700 million in government grants and reimbursements but provided fewer health services and more abortions.
Home News Mob attacks 15 Catholic students while praying in Indonesia; local Muslims try to protect them

SURABAYA, Indonesia  Two young women were slightly wounded when a mob of Muslims on Sunday assaulted a group of 15 students engaged in a Catholic ritual prayer at a rented house in Banten Province, on the Indonesian island of Java, sources said.

Enraged at the Catholic group praying the rosary in a home rather than in a church building, the local neighborhood head incited area Muslims to break up the meeting and injure the two female students in the Pamulang area of Babakan village, Setu Sub-District, a suburb of Jakarta in Tangerang Selatan Regency, at about 7:30 p.m., according to published reports.

Some of the assailants were reportedly armed with a long machete, sickles, knives and blocks, and one of the young women suffered a slight wound near her nose while another sustained a minor wound in the stomach, in spite of efforts by local Muslims to protect them.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

A male Muslim student, Farhan Rizky Romadhon, also was reportedly attacked and suffered a cut on his head.

The conflict began when the neighborhood head, identified as Diding, peeped into the house where the students were praying, and then intruded in, reviling the students for the prayer ritual and ultimately dispersing them, according to Barak.id.

Catholic students of Pamulang University were beaten and hacked in Viktor [in Pamulang, Babakan village], just because they PRAYED, religious and human rights activist Permadi Arya, known in media as Abu Janda, posted on Instagram. The incident was started by the head of the neighborhood (Ketua RT) named Diding who provoked residents.

Diding harassed, intimidated and beat the Catholic students and his fellow Muslims who were trying to prevent further chaos and harm, Permadi Arya stated.

Citing statements of the unidentified two female students, Permadi Arya asserted that Diding said holding the rosary prayer in the area disrespected him as a local leader, and that such rituals should be held in a church building.

I have told you not to hold worship here, Diding said, according to the students. If you want to hold the worship, do it in the church there, as we Muslims do worship in the mosque. How dare you disrespect me as the head of the neighborhood, [expletive deleted].

Besides calling on Indonesia Minister of Religion Yaqut Cholil Qoumas to take legal measures on behalf of the Catholic students, Permadi Arya also asked for firm action from the government.

The attorney for the attacked students, Siprianus Edi Hardum, said in a press statement that a crowd started gathering around the site at 7:30 p.m.

At 19:30, the crowd started to gather after hearing provocation from the RT head who shouted Hey, [expletive deleted], if you dont disperse, I will call the residents, Siprianus Edi said, according to Tirto.id. The masses came carrying sharp objects as long machetes, sickles, and even blocks.

Siprianus Edi and members of the Association of Eastern Indonesia (Persatuan Indonesia Timur, PETIR), an association of religious groups, reported the case to the Metro Jaya Regional Police Chief. They demanded police immediately arrest the leader of the attack.

Siprianus Edi said praying the rosary from house to house is traditionally held in May and October in Indonesia.

Anyone is free to carry out their worship, Siprianus Edi said. People who disturb people who are praying are considered pests (destroyers) of the country, destroyers of Indonesia as a democratic country.

The South Tangerang Police Resort arrested the RT head and three other residents as suspects, identified only as males under the initials D, 53 years old; I, age 30; S, 36; and A, 26. Evidence was also taken in the form of video recordings, one long machete, a sickle and two knives.

Catholic students have routinely held worship and rosary prayer in one of the rented houses in the area, and uneasy residents had complained to the head of the Citizen Association (Rukun Warga, or RW), identified only as Marat, who had reprimanded and warned the students.

Marat said they ignored his warning, triggering residents anger, according to Tempo. co.

So far, residents have complained about it, and the RT took the action, Marat told reporters on Monday in Babakan village. They gather regularly, and there are worship services, too.

Marat said holding worship itself is OK, but that large numbers of students gathering loudly is a problem, according to Tempo.co. Asserting that the mob had been warned about using sharp weapons, he claimed that the situation got out of control because the Catholic students first struck the residents.

Bonar Tigor Naipospos, deputy chairman of the Setara Institute for Peace and Democracy, indicated that intolerant people in Indonesia mistakenly believe that gathering for worship at a house is against the law. Private worship is legal in Indonesia, but many people consider the private sphere as only the five daily prayers in Islam, he said.

Indonesia ranked 42nd on Open Doors 2024 World Watch List of the 50 countries where it is most difficult to be a Christian.

Originally published at Morning Star News.
Home News Judge rules ballot initiative to enshrine abortion into NY Constitution 'null and void'

The effort to place a proposed constitutional amendment on the ballot in New York that would establish a right to abortion has been put on hold following a judge's ruling.

In an opinion issued Tuesday, Judge Daniel Doyle of the Supreme Court of New York ruled that a proposal asking voters to approve an Equal Rights Amendment to the New York Constitution cannot appear on the ballot in November. He found that supporters of the initiative failed to follow proper procedures as required by law.

Doyle is based in Livingston County, which is located in upstate New York, a more conservative part of the state.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

Doyle pointed to Article XIX of the New York Constitution, which states that constitutional amendments proposed by the state Senate or Assembly "shall be referred to the attorney-general whose duty it shall be within twenty days thereafter to render an opinion in writing to the senate and assembly as to the effect of such amendment or amendments upon other provisions of the constitution."

The New York Constitution also declares that "Upon receiving such opinion," the proposed constitutional amendment must "be agreed to by a majority of members elected to each of the two houses, such proposed amendments shall be entered on their journals, and the ayes and noes taken thereon, and referred to the next regular legislative session convening after the succeeding general election of members of the assembly, and shall be published for three months previous to the time of making such choice."

"If in such legislative session, such proposed amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by a majority of all the members elected to each house, then it shall be the duty of the legislature to submit each proposed amendment or amendments to the people for approval," the constitution adds.

The ruling noted that rather than waiting for the attorney general to issue an opinion, the legislature voted to adopt the proposed constitutional amendment on the same day it was introduced in July 2022. The attorney general did not submit an opinion until later that month after both chambers of the legislature had already approved it.

"The voters have no right to vote on an amendment placed on the ballot in violation of the procedures required by the Constitution," Doyle wrote. "The concurrent resolution is declared null and void, and the proposed amendment shall be removed from the ballot for the general election of November 5, 2024."

Doyle didn't elaborate on the content of the proposed constitutional amendment he was invalidating in his decision, which would amend the New York Constitution to read, "No person shall because of race, color, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability, creed, religion, or sex, including sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy, pregnancy outcomes, and reproductive healthcare and autonomy, be subjected to any discrimination in their civil rights."

The New York Constitution limits equal protection of the law to race, color, creed and religion. The proposed amendment seeks to expand the list of protected characteristics under state law.

In July 2022, the Democrat-controlled New York Senate approved the proposal in a 49-14 vote, while the Democrat-controlled New York Assembly passed it in a 95-45 vote. All but one Senate Democrat joined six Senate Republicans to support the measure, while one Democrat joined all other Republicans in opposing it. In the Assembly vote, all but two Democrats supported it, while all Republicans opposed it. State law requires that a proposed constitutional amendment be approved by two consecutive legislatures.

In January 2023, the proposal was approved by the Democrat-controlled New York Senate in a 43-20 vote, with all but two Republicans voting against it and all but one Democrat expressing support for it. Meanwhile, the state's Democrat-controlled Assembly passed it in a 97-46 vote, with three Democrats joining all Republicans in opposing it.

In a statement on X Tuesday, New York's Democrat Attorney General Letitia James asserted, "The decision to strike the ERA from the ballot is disappointing."

"We're appealing to defend New Yorkers' rights." James, a Democrat, declared that "the Equal Rights Amendment was advanced to protect people's fundamental rights like reproductive freedom and access to abortion care."

As James alluded to in her remarks, the Equal Rights Amendment is viewed as a way to enshrine a right to abortion in the New York Constitution. The proposed constitutional amendment is one of several proposals across the United States designed to establish a right to abortion at the state level that may appear before voters in the 2024 election.
Home News Senior Airman Roger Fortson shot dead inside apartment; police release bodycam video

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorney's Office have been asked to investigate the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Senior Air Force Airman Roger Fortson inside his apartment by a local police officer near Hurlburt Field where he was stationed, the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office announced.

"All of us at the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office are saddened about the fatal officer involved shooting over the weekend. Late Friday afternoon, our deputy responded to a call of a disturbance in progress where he encountered an armed man," Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in a statement Wednesday.

"The deputy shot the man, who later succumbed to his injuries. I immediately placed the deputy on administrative leave and have asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) to conduct the investigation that is required in such incidents. The State Attorney's Office will also conduct an independent review."

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

Aden asked the community for patience "as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event."

At a press conference Thursday, civil rights and personal injury attorney Ben Crump, representing Fortson's family, called the airman assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron "a patriot." He urged the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office not to "stain" his name with their narrative.

Crump called for transparency in the case and urged the police to release the body cam footage of the shooting. The sheriff's office released the footage Thursday.

According to CBS News, the video shows a deputy knocking on Fortson's apartment door and announcing that he is with the sheriff's office. When the door opens, the deputy is seen yelling for Fortson to step back. Within seconds, the deputy shot Fortson. The deputy then tells Fortson to drop his gun while he is lying on the ground. But Fortson is heard telling the deputy that he doesn't have the gun. The officer tells Fortson not to move as he calls for emergency medical help before the video ends.

"It pains me to show the video, but I know that you all need to see it," Aden was quoted as saying.

Crump said a witness, identified as Fortson's girlfriend, was on Facetime with the airman for the entirety of the encounter. She stated that Fortson was alone in his apartment when he heard a knock on his door.

When he asked, "Who is it?" he didn't get a response, she said. A few minutes later, there was another knock, she added, but this time it was very aggressive. Fortson looked through his peephole and saw no one, so he retrieved his legally owned gun as a precaution.

As he was walking back to his living room, the girlfriend said police officers broke through his door and shot him six times when they saw that he was armed.

His girlfriend said she saw him on the ground saying, "I can't breathe," after he was shot. Fortson was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Fortson's girlfriend believes the police may have entered the wrong apartment as there was no disturbance at his apartment prior to the shooting.

Fortson's mother, Chantemekki Fortson, said at Thursday's press conference that her son's girlfriend was devastated by his killing.

"She literally watched them walk over him as he was dying, taking his last breath," the grieving mother said.

Attorney Brian Barr of the Levin Papantonio Rafferty Law Firm, who is also representing the family, said the airman did nothing wrong.

"All he was doing was sitting in his house, sitting in his house. My Lord, every one of us sit in our houses every day, and every one of us, if somebody we don't know comes into our house, are going to defend ourselves," Barr said. "Every single one of us. And he lost his life because they knocked on the wrong door and they came into the wrong door."
Big, Earth-Shattering Moments To Come From The United Methodist Church's General Conference: The Inside Story

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 15:07 15:07

Massive shifts and deeper fissures are sure to come after the United Methodist Church's General Conference, with LGBTQ issues dominating the conversation.

"Delegates at the conference in Charlotte, North Carolina, made history by voting overwhelmingly to end the denominations ban on gay marriage and the ordination of people involved in same-sex relationships," The Christian Post reported. "The votes came after thousands of mostly conservative congregations departed the UMC in recent years in opposition to theologically liberal leaders' refusing to enforce the rules in the UMC Book of Discipline."

CP reporter Michael Gryboski, who covered the general conference, joins "The Inside Story" to share what unfolded, the implications, and why it matters.
Rising Antisemitism Concerns In Education, Female Athletes Sue Biden, Benny Hinn Reveals Ministry Regrets

link to download the audio instead. link to download the audio instead. 07:18 07:18

Top headlines for Friday, May 10, 2024

In this episode, we discuss the rising concerns among Jewish students in the Berkeley Unified School District, where a failure to address antisemitism has reportedly left them feeling unsafe to express their identities. Then, we shift our focus to New York City, where the Department of Education Chancellor, David Banks, faces tough questions about the reassignment of a principal following a high school riot against a Jewish teacher.

We continue to North Carolina, where an appeals court's decision allows a Catholic school to dismiss a teacher over his same-sex marriage, sparking debate over religious freedom and discrimination. Finally, we reflect on the candid admissions of televangelist Benny Hinn, who voices his regrets over promoting false prophecies and prosperity theology.
Home Opinion The death to America crowd

Weve all witnessed the recent drama of the pro-Palestinian, anti-Jewish protests on college campuses. A recent discovery at one of the protests speaks volumes about the whole movement.

In the tents of the anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protesters at NYU, the police who cleared out their den of dissent uncovered signs which said, Death to Israel! Death to America!

Surprise. Surprise.

Get Our Latest News for FREE Subscribe to get daily/weekly email with the top stories (plus special offers!) from The Christian Post. Be the first to know. Subscribe

People who care about Americas godly roots as a nation  yes, our Judeo-Christian roots  know how principles revealed in the Bible are linked to the American experiment in self-liberty under God.

In contrast to our nations founding are sentiments held by many young Americans today: Death to Israel and Death to America.

There is a sense in which Jews and Christians are tied together for freedoms sake both in America and in the country of Israel.

Ive interviewed Rabbi Daniel Lapin a few times for Christian television. He is the founder and head of the American Alliance of Jews and Christians.

He once told me, No country in the last 2,000 years has provided the same haven of tranquility and prosperity for Jews as had the United States of America. And this is not in spite of Americans being Christian; it is because of it. You might say that America's Bible belt is the Jewish communitys safety belt.

And he added: Jews need to understand that our safety and security in the United States is dependent upon the health and vitality of American Christianity.

Therefore, says the rabbi, the very safety of Jews (and others) is put at risk when the Christian faith is undermined in America. That is certainly borne out more and more in the protests and the rise of anti-Semitic violence we see today.

Recently, as the executive director of Providence Forum, I had the privilege to participate in our ministrys Faith and Freedom Tour in Philadelphia. Dr. Peter Lillback, the founder of Providence Forum, was our tour guide. Providence Forum is now a part of Coral Ridge Ministries, headed up by Dr. Robert J. Pacienza, our host for this memorable weekend.

At one of our stops, Dr. Lillback highlighted the old synagogue there. Because of the Christian attitude of that citys founder, the Quaker minister and lawyer William Penn, people (including Jews) would be free to practice their religion in his settlement without harassment. A rarity in that day.

As Dr. Lillback noted in one of our videos how Penn cared deeply about conscience rights, and it showed in the colony and the city he created in America: Philadelphia, named from the Bible, brotherly love, established on the Golden Rule, freedom of conscience to each other. That becomes, then, the model of America. When Thomas Jefferson and George Washington look at Philadelphia, they say that place has succeeded far better than Virginia that imposes religion on others. Their view of conscience, their view of freedom is extraordinary.

One of the Jews who came to Philadelphia almost a century after Penn helped the American cause in pivotal ways, for which he should be remembered. Haym Salomon was a very successful Jewish investor, who fled Europe because of anti-Semitic persecution.

In his 2022 book, Rediscovering America: How the National Holidays Tell an Amazing Story About Who We Are, Scott Powell, a senior fellow with the Discovery Institute, writes: Washington and the Continental Army were in fact perpetually short of financial resources. Fortunately, even before the Revolutionary War started there was a young Jewish lover of liberty being raised up, Haym Salomon.

Thankfully, Scott Powell was able to attend our tour and to provide some information about Salomon, a man to whom America owes a debt of gratitude. Powell notes that Salomon was not only savvy and successful as a financier, but he had an impeccable reputation of integrity. That was probably a key element of his success.

Powell notes in his book: After the war, financial records sum up that Haym Salomons fundraising and personal lending provided over $650,000 [which would translate to a staggering amount of money in todays dollars]  for Washington and the war effort.

One interesting footnote about Haym Salomon is that the terrific actor Claude Rains played him in a short dramatic film made in 1939  entitled, Sons of Liberty  by the eminent Casablanca director Michael Curtiz.

The film may not hold up well today, but the man  Haym Salomon  deserves to be remembered by whole new generations of Americans.

America was built by the sacrifices of many Christians and some of their Jewish friends, like Haym Salomon, a man that modern Americans have almost completely forgotten.

So, we fast forward to today, and we see modern nihilist protesters with mottos like Death to Israel! Death to America! Truly, our nation is overripe in the need for a genuine spiritual revival.
Benny Hinn shares two things he regrets most about his ministry

Controversial televangelist Benny Hinn said his two "biggest regrets" in his decades-long ministry include promoting prophesies he now admits "were not accurate or from the Lord" and pushing "prosperity theology".

"The two things I regret most in ministry: I was not too wise a number of times with prophecy," the 71-year-old charismatic preacher told Stephen Strang, host of The Strang Report, in a recent interview.

"I had guests come to the crusades that I think brought harm to not only people's lives but also to my reputation because their prophecies were not really prophecy. They went outside the borders of redemption."

"And then there were times when I thought God had showed me something that He wasn't showing me. And I spoke it out," Hinn said. "But in 1 Corinthians 13, we clearly see that we all prophesy in part. That means we don't see the full picture. And sadly  and I wish I could go back and fix it  but sadly, there were some prophesies I gave that were not accurate or from the Lord."

"But who's perfect?" he added.

"And for that, of course, I ask people to forgive me," Hinn said. "I'm just human and made mistakes like that. And I'll probably make them again, I suppose, down the road, because I'm not perfect.

"But you know, it's sad when people focus on the times you missed it. But that's just, you know, the way it is. Yet there were times when I did not miss it," Hinn claimed.

Hinn said his other greatest regret in ministry is his teachings on prosperity theology. Since the 1980s, the Israeli-born American-Canadian has been one of the most notorious purveyors of the prosperity gospel, which teaches that God rewards active faith and faithful payments of tithes and offerings with health and wealth.

"And that's been a very difficult one for me," he said. "When I started in ministry, it was simple. And then the ministry grew. ... I think that's when my troubles began. I don't blame anyone, but sadly you get kind of in a place [where] it becomes difficult. You don't know what to do and how to get out of it.

"So I came to the conclusion in 2019 that I don't want to be part of the gimmickry of it, and I still stand by that. But sadly, I let pressure get to me, and because of that pressure, I said things and did things that I should not have done," Hinn said. "And for that, really, I am sorry, and I ask the dear people watching us to really forgive me for that. And I'm striving with all my heart to be as biblical as possible with that."

"Right now, my focus is the Lord and only the Lord," Hinn said. "And if, of course, there will be the time when I may have to raise funds for our ministry, I will do it as biblically as I know how  and balanced."

This is not the first time Hinn has claimed to publicly renounce his past teachings. In September 2019, he admitted his teachings on prosperity "got out of hand" and "damaged a lot of people" and said he wants the remaining years of his ministry to focus on evangelism and the Gospel  not the "health and wealth" theology that made him millions.

"How long do I have on this Earth? What am I going to do in the next 20 years? That is for me to decide," he said at the time. "I want to make sure that for the next 15-20 years of my life, that my message is the Cross. The real call on my life."

"I want to be known for that," Hinn continued. "I don't want to be known as the prosperity teacher. Prosperity is one thing in the Bible, there's a whole lot more in the Word of God than prosperity, but it's become a major issue now because of the gimmickry involved in it. That needs to stop."

At the time, Hinn also hit back at reports of his tremendous wealth, including a net worth of $60 million and multiple private jets, stating, "If I had that kind of money, I would give it to God. It's madness ... that's ludicrous. I don't know how, even, that started."

Biblical prosperity, he said, is "God blessing His people, taking care of His people. Jesus made it very clear, if God cares for the birds of the air and the lilies of the field, will He not care for us? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all the things you need will not only come, but they'll also be added to you."

Hinn's nephew, Costi Hinn, who has openly criticised his uncle and the prosperity gospel, told Christian News that he hopes for genuine repentance  not simply remorse  on his uncle's part. However, he said that Hinn has previously expressed regret for his past teachings only to resume his behavior.

"Genuine repentance in the Bible is always accompanied by actions that prove that it's really repentance," he stated, explaining that repentance would look similar to that of the account of Zacchaeus, a corrupt tax collector who returned money to those he had swindled out of his love for Jesus.

"Jesus saves him and goes to his house that day and is willing to eat a meal with him and show him love and grace in the midst of his past and his sin," he recalled. "And Zacchaeus is jumping for joy, excited to pay people back, excited to do whatever it takes to follow Jesus and show his genuine repentance through his actions.

"My desire is that Uncle Benny's statement is not merely public remorse to save face or protect his ministry from decline," he stated, "but rather that it is genuine repentance and that he would be willing to forsake everything if it means gaining Christ and the full Gospel."

 The Christian Post
When a friend messaged to say his sons had just wolfed down a superior cheeseburger poboy at Josephines Gulf Coast Tradition, I knew I had to try one.

Ive known that hamburger poboys are a thing in New Orleans  a recent visit to Orange Lees PoBoys & Wings in Cypress refreshed that nugget for me  but Ive never actually tried one. I always got distracted by fried shrimp or oysters or catfish; or maybe a mess of roast beef smothered in gravy and debris.

The Sittin Sidewayz Burger at Josephines Gulf Coast Tradition in Midtown Alison Cook/Staff The Sittin Sidewayz Burger at Josephines Gulf Coast Tradition in Midtown Alison Cook/Staff The Sittin Sidewayz Burger at Josephines Gulf Coast Tradition in Midtown Alison Cook/Staff

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

It was time. Josephines sly name for the burger poboy amused me, too  both for its literal imagery of side-by-side patties on a French loaf, and for its shout-out to Houston rapper Paul Walls Sittin Sidewayz hit with Big Pokey, a bit of hip-hop nostalgia from the 2005 memory box.

Im the undisputed king of the parking lot, sittin sideways, finishes the song. I could imagine Josephines Mississippi-born chef, Lucas McKinney, grinning his head off as he put the poboy on his rollicking Gulf Coast menu.

Leave your car in the parking lot and come check it out.

Price: $18 for a 3-patty cheeseburger on a French loaf, halved, with a side of fries. (It can feed two regular-sized people, or one linebacker.) Spring for a beer or a glass of red wine from the surprisingly fun list and youre all set.

Ordering: Table service at the counter, in the dining room or on the patio.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Architecture: On a 10-inch French loaf goes a healthy swipe of burger sauce, made of mayo and spicy brown mustard, followed by three beef patties around 1/3 of an inch thick. A glossy drape of melted American cheese slides down their sides. Next comes the traditional iceberg chiffonade, slices of tomato, thick rounds of sweet-and-sour bread and butter pickles, and the crowning touch  fried red onion strings in batons and thin rounds. A bit more burger sauce finishes things off.

Quality: Stop me before I use the word delicious. Oh, I give up, because thats exactly how this mighty sandwich hits. The ingredients sing, from the well-seasoned 44 Farms beef patties striped with grill marks, to tomatoes that were actually red the night I tried them, to the way the laid-back burger sauce supports and enhances the beef without taking over.

And oh, the way the Leidenheimer loaf out of NOLA does its job, from its crackly crust to its feathery crumb. Add bread and butters with a stout homemade character, and that unexpected fleet of lightly fried red onion strings, and youll begin to see why my friend felt the need to message me about the poboy.

One of the patties gets sliced, the better to distribute along the length of the sandwich. And theres plenty for two regular-size people to share, although I could imagine scarfing the whole thing.

Ooze rating: The patties are juicy rather than drippy, and theres not a lot of condiment sploosh.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Letter grade: A

Value: Decent considering size and quality, plus the flock of fries that comes with it.

Bonus points: The French fries are good of their kind, crisp and vigorously seasoned despite not having a fresh-cut interior texture. And the service here is so welcoming and hospitable, with a palpable esprit de corps, that it adds value. Theyve recently added Max Braverman, who did the fascinating cocktails at Jun, as bar chief, so Im looking forward to what he brings to the list.

Vegetarian options: Nothing in the burger/sandwich categories, and the vegetable sides tend to the porky, but theres a fascinating Southern green pea salad, hush puppies, biscuits and fun desserts on the menu.

Stuff for later: The splendid gumbo, redfish dip and biscuits with house-made jam are all well suited for take-home.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Local color: If you adore the sound of a happy dining room, Josephines is for you. This is not the Midtown party crowd, but rather a demographic mix of ages and backgrounds brought together by our love of Louisiana-inflected Southern cooking and Gulf Coast seafood. I sat at the counter between an older gentleman who asked for the Macallan list of pricey single-malt Scotch, and a young woman whod come from the office to try a variety of Josephines well-chosen farmed Gulf Oysters. As she worked her way around the ice-filled tray with its flagged labels, she marveled at how different they all tasted.

Down at the end of the counter, a couple of guys groaned over the Astros game unfolding on the big screens. At least the Sittin Sidewayz burger made it less painful.
The Colorado legislature passed this week AI regulations aimed at private companies, adding to the increasingly complex patchwork of AI statutes rising across the US and potentially giving the states Attorney General the authority to prosecute companies that use AI to discriminate against consumers. Colorado Governor Jared Polis has until June 7 to decide whether to sign Senate Bill 24-205 into law.

The legislation requires companies that conduct business in Colorado to disclose to the states attorney general any known or reasonably foreseeable risk of algorithmic discrimination, within 90 days after the discovery or receipt of a credible report.

CIOs might struggle with the bills language because the focus is on whether AI  in any form  helps make consequential decisions that could impact Colorado residents. The bill defines consequential decision as being any decision that has a material legal or similarly significant effect on the provision or denial to any consumer, which includes educational enrollment, employment or employment opportunity, financial or lending service, healthcare services, housing, insurance, or a legal service.
According to one attendee at the 2023 Houston Gay Pride Parade, a lack of bathrooms meant she and others were forced to relieve themselves in the nearby bushes.

The whole place stank of urine, says Diana Sims, who was watching the parade near Walker Street with a group of friends. I was in the military. I am used to nasty facilities. Everything smelled like a latrine.

Accusations of improper portable toilet facilities is just the latest in the salvo in the Gay Pride Parade drama. A new LGBTQIA+ organization, New Faces of Pride, is hosting their own parade on June 22, a week before Houstons longtime hosts, Pride Houston 365, host theirs on June 29. Bryan Cotton, the president of New Faces of Pride, has accused Pride Houston 365 of corrupt management and trying to create a monopoly on LGBT Pride events in the city.

Many things have fallen apart over the past few years, which is why we are here with a crew that knows how to take care of things, Cotton says in an email.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Sims says that while she was attending the parade, she was unable to locate a single portable restroom. When she asked police officers, who were providing security, they told her they were using the nearby restaurants because they didnt think there were any portable restrooms around. When those businesses closed, police started using the bushes.

Selfie of Diana Sims (far left, front row) and friends on Pride Parade route in downtown Houston in 2023 Courtesy Diana Sims

A female officer asked us about bathrooms, says Sims. I pointed to the bushes and offered to hold a towel up for her.

Pride Festivals New Faces of Pride When: Noon-10 p.m. June 22 Where: Downtown Houston Details: newfacesofpride.org Pride Houston 365 When: Noon-10 p.m. June 29 Where: Downtown Houston Details: pridehouston365.org

Thats not true, says Pride Houston 365 president Kendra Walker when asked why there were no restrooms.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Mayors Office of Special Events states that gatherings must provide portable restrooms. One for every 300 people is acceptable, and 10% of them must be compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Houston Gay Pride Parade reportedly drew a crowd of 500,000 last year.

We are required to have porta-potties by the city, says Walker. Its not like we could just not have them.

According to Walker, there was an issue getting portable restrooms for the parade in 2023. Pride Houston 365 ordered their supply through the company Nation Waste. The maps and pictures provided by Walker to the Chronicle show that clusters of three potties were to be placed in six different locations between City Hall and the intersection of Taft and Allen Parkway. These were to be delivered by 5 a.m.

The elusive porta-potties at the 2023 Pride Houston event in downtown Houston Kendra Walker

Nation Waste declined to comment on the matter, but Walker says they delivered only half of the total order. In addition, the delivery was late, with units arriving between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. This left Pride Houston 365 with little choice but to soldier on with what they had.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Honestly, there was nothing we could do about it, she says. We cant order potties at the last minute.

When asked why police were unhelpful in guiding attendees like Sims to what portable restrooms were available, she says police are often not the best source of such information.

The routes for the two Pride parades in 2024 Ken Ellis

I cant explain about the cops, she says. They coordinate security. You can literally ask the cop where the grandstand is, and they wouldnt know. They should know because they give them our layout.

Walker has taken steps to ensure there will not be a repeat of last year. Despite Pride Houston 365 getting a refund for the undelivered restrooms and partially refunding them for the rest over the inconvenience, they will not be using Nation Waste again.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

People along the parade route cheer as floats go by during the Pride Parade downtown on Saturday, June 24, 2023 in Houston. Some of them may be wondering where to find a porta-potty. Karen Warren/Staff photographer

Neither will New Faces of Pride. Parade chair Dustin Sheffield says the new organization is still taking portable restroom bids, but Nation Waste is not on the list.

Outside of the city requesting it, we also (provide restrooms) out of respect for the buildings around, he says. We dont want someone doing it on the buildings. We want to respect the city. Were trying to bring back some of the old standards that a lot of us had. To make it run smoother.

As for Sims, she is heartened to hear that the parades are taking bathroom access seriously. A veteran, she occasionally has to use a cane due to an old injury and cannot walk long distances in search of a toilet. Initially, she planned to not attend either parade this year, but Walkers acknowledgement of last years shortage and promise to fix it changed her mind.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Aboneaza-te la rubricile dorite si primeste zilnic notificari pe email cu link-uri la articolele care au fost adaugate in ultimele 24 de ore. Notificarile vor fi expediate la adresa indicata mai jos. Daca doresti sa schimbi adresa - o poti modifica editand informatia de profil aici.
Consimtamantul pentru controlul de fond/ a antecedentelor

Subsemnatul/Subsemnata, confirm ca am aplicat la Secretariatul Pre-Vetting/ de Evaluare a Procurorilor si confirm ca candidatura mea este supusa unei verificari a antecedentelor si a integritatii financiare efectuata de autoritatile competente din Republica Moldova, care se extinde si asupra sotului/sotiei si a rudelor/afinilor de gradul I. Furnizarea detaliilor mele personale, copiei buletinului meu de identitate/pasaportului, CV-ului si semnatura de mai jos servesc drept consimtamant pentru ca toate datele mele cu caracter personal, ale sotului/sotiei si a rudelor/afinilor de gradul I sa fie evaluate si analizate fara limitare de catre autoritatile competente, in vederea finalizarii verificarii antecedentelor si a integritatii financiare. Aditional eu inteleg ca la accesarea datelor mele, informatia referitoare la membrii imediati ai familiei mele de asemenea va fi accesata.

Eu inteleg ca rezultatele verificarii antecedentelor si integritatii finaniciare vor fi transmise lui Anne M. Trice, Director superior in cadrul Dexis Consulting Group in calitatea sa de representant al angajatorului pentru pozitia la care am aplicat.

De asemenea, confirm ca parte a consimtamantului meu sunt atasate urmatoarele:

__XX_ Copia pe fata si verso a buletinului meu de identitate/ pasaportului

__XX_ CV-ul current, cu indicarea tuturor locurilor de munca si studiilor anterioare.
Laura-Jane Rawlings is not your average not-for-profit sector CEO. At 16, she left school after not achieving GCSEs and never feeling connected to the educational system.

She was also bullied during secondary school for being a tomboy and facing financial challenges at home.

I never had the cool shoes and clothes. I never fit in, in terms of some of those groups that exist, so spent quite a bit of time just removing myself from group situations and things like that at school. I didnt have the best experience, Rawlings says.

Experiencing poverty

Rawlings grew up in a loving home that faced periods of poverty. From a young age, she remembers the challenge of her mother balancing money at home.

I have a stark image in my head of my mum and dad not eating one evening because there was only enough food for my sister and I, and that would have been a beans-on-toast type of meal.

Money was a real struggle for us as a family and the biggest barrier we had. But what they lacked in money, my parents were always able to make up for in love and support. There was an abundance of that and that makes a difference.

Because of the financial challenges they faced, Rawlings and her family had to move house a lot during her primary and secondary school education. She attended three different primary and junior schools, which she says had an impact on her skill acquisition and education attainment.

In addition, her parents were not particularly academic, meaning she did not have much support to develop her academic skills.

Ive thought about all of that over the last few years in terms of why my experience is different from others and why its led me to be the type of person I am and start Youth Employment UK, she says.

As a teenager, it was crucial for Rawlings to get an accessible part-time job so that she could buy items for herself. When she turned 13, she got a paper round job and started waitressing at 14 or 15, which allowed her to develop skills in dealing with the general public.

It was a different skill development during my time in secondary school because the work stuff was easier, more fun and had a fundamental result. Every shift, I was making money whereas in school I was a grey student  the ones that arent causing problems or gifted and talented.

Rawlings believes that as a middle student, she was perfectly capable of achieving GCSEs but the lack of focus on her and work needed to secure the grades, prevented her from doing so.

Schools are very different now. My daughter whos doing GCSEs this year is in after-school sessions four days a week and lunchtime clubs for revision.

There was none of that pressure for some schools that there is now and it was easy for grey students to come, go and disappear.

Tackling the education and employment gap

By the age of 16, Rawlings says she had the necessary skills to navigate the world of work. After working in retail, she built a career in sales and marketing and then recruitment.

While working in recruitment, she noticed that young people were struggling to transition from school to work and lacked confidence in their skills.

She says: That got me curious because when I left school, I was ready. I became aware of this gap between education and employment and started volunteering in schools because I wanted to help young people understand that game.

In 2012, with youth unemployment reaching 21% , Rawlings saw an opportunity to empower young people to be prepared for the world of work.

That was the birth of Youth Employment UK because I was like: Whos advocating for young people and the services they need? Whos making sure theres a service that fits purpose and that young people with varied individual experiences are understood by the system?

In 2012, there was very little because of austerity and everything else that was going on. The youth voice and youth-led services werent strong across the country.

Rawlings set up Youth Employment UK as an independent, not-for-profit community interest company (CIC), as it was an easier option for somebody who didnt have any experience, she says.

Its fewer hurdles to jump to get something up and running so thats why I went for it to be a not-for-profit CIC.

Today, her organisation helps young people access the support and information they need to progress, gives them a voice on the issues that affect them and works with employers to develop and be recognised for their youth-friendly employment practice, among other things.

The charity sector isnt particularly friendly

Rawlings says that from what she has seen, its really hard to become a leader in the charity sector.

I dont think its particularly friendly. I really struggled to build networks with other chief executives. I now have done it but its taken sharp elbows and persistence and proven time and time again that theres a need for Youth Employment UK to exist alongside them.

As a young leader coming into the charity sector, I found it really hard, frustrating and lonely.

She recalls being in rooms for the first time with not-for-profit chief executives and the first question everybody would ask was who funds you?.

Theres this competition because of a defensiveness around funding. I remember sitting in a room at a Cabinet Office event very early on with all the charity leaders and they told the government that one of their biggest challenges was that they wouldnt refer young people to other services because theyd lose the funding for that young person.

I was struck by that because by its nature, the charity sector should be about doing the right thing for the right person, but its clear that funding drives behaviour in the sector.

Rawlings believes that the sector is quite narrowed by the leaders skills and experiences of only ever working in the third sector who might not necessarily know how to pivot quickly.

Weve seen it over the last few years through austerity and the cost-of-living crisis. We start to see more and more charities struggling to keep the lights on and its a commercial acumen sometimes that isnt there.

It worries me when organisations like the British Youth Council close down

Since its establishment, Youth Employment UK has supported millions of young people and worked with more than 900 employers.

Rawlings says she has the most incredible team who worked hard to build her organisations foundation.

Im optimistic for Youth Employment UK. Were about to transform into a different league and many have been saying that were already punching above our weight for an organisation of our size and turnover. But I think were going to step up a gear over the next 12 months and thats exciting.

However, she admits that when she founded Youth Employment UK 12 years ago, she thought it would be quite easy to solve youth unemployment.

I could see the parts of the puzzles that needed piecing together and felt there was a way to solve it. Now, in 2024, youth unemployment has become the most complex issue. If we go through any economic challenge, employers arent hiring and reduce their apprenticeship programme and training.

Employers arent offering work experience because theyre hybrid, yet theyre demanding work experience from young people before they recruit them.

The next few years are going to be extremely hard for young people and that is why Youth Employment UK is needed more than ever before, she says.

Im glad weve got our structure right to be able to stay in the fight. It worries me when we see organisations like the British Youth Council closing themselves down because we need more of us to advocate for young people and provide the support they need the most.

sign up to receive the free Civil Society daily news bulletin here . For more news, interviews, opinion and analysis about charities and the voluntary sector,




The husband of a Connecticut visiting nurse who was killed during an appointment with a convicted rapist filed a wrongful death lawsuit Monday, alleging her employer repeatedly ignored workers safety concerns about treating dangerous patients.

Ronald Grayson sued Elara Caring, its affiliated companies and others over the killing of his wife, Joyce Grayson, a 63-year-old mother of six who was found dead in the basement of a halfway house in Willimantic on Oct. 28. She was strangled and suffered multiple blunt force injuries, authorities said. Elara Caring, based in Dallas, Texas, denies the allegations.

For years prior to October 28, 2023, employees of Elara Caring affiliates experienced multiple, repeated instances in which they were verbally, physically and sexually harassed, assaulted, attacked, yelled at, chased, threatened, punched, kicked, grabbed and brushed up against by mentally unstable and/or violent patients of Elara Caring, according to the lawsuit, which seeks undisclosed damages.

Instead of addressing nurses concerns, the lawsuit alleges, the company encouraged employees to focus on increasing profitability while nurses were chastised, shamed and gaslit, led to believe that they were overreacting. Staff were required to treat patients who were dangerous, mentally unstable and, frequently, unsuitable for home health care services, the lawsuit says.

The suit, filed in Middletown Superior Court, also accuses the company of failing to implement a policy allowing escorts or other staff to accompany nurses when they visit potentially dangerous clients.

Probe Into Death of Nurse on Home Visit Alleges Employer Failed to Protect Workers

Joyce Graysons death was entirely preventable and those who failed to protect her from a violent offender should be held accountable, said Kelly Reardon, a lawyer for Graysons family.

Elara Caring called the allegations unwarranted in a statement released Monday. The company says it provides home care for more than 60,000 patients in 17 states.

Joyce Grayson had an appointment to administer medication to Michael Reese that morning. Reese, who was on probation after serving 14 years in prison for stabbing and sexually assaulting a woman in 2006 in New Haven, is charged with murder and other crimes in the nurses death. His lawyers have not returned messages seeking comment.

Elara repeated previous comments it made saying Connecticut officials determined Reese was not a danger to the community and were responsible for monitoring and managing his activities.

Elara Caring provided services only after Connecticuts Department of Correction, Board of Pardons and Parole, and the Judicial branch determined it was safe to put Reese back into the community, the statement said. Joyce Grayson was a trusted friend, colleague, and mentor. We remain devastated and angered by her loss.

The killing spurred a call for greater protections for home health care workers in Connecticut and across the country. Connecticut lawmakers are now considering a bill that would improve safety for health care workers.

Graysons family is also asking for permission to sue the state Judicial Branch, which oversees probation, and the Department of Correction for $25 million in connection with their oversight of Reese. The Judicial Branch declined to comment and the Correction Department did not return messages. People who want to sue the state need approval of the claims commissioners office and the legislature.

The lawsuit also names The Connection, which runs a community treatment program at the halfway house where Grayson was killed. The provider declined to comment on the lawsuits allegations.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Brazils aid measures after historic floods battering Rio Grande do Sul state will result in a fiscal impact of 7.7 billion reais ($1.49 billion) for the federal government, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said on Wednesday.

Most of the impact will come from the injection of 5.5 billion reais into a guarantee fund that backs the National Program to Support Microenterprises and Small Businesses (Pronampe). Brazil Floods Deaths Reaches107 PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, May 9 (Reuters)  The death toll from severe flooding in southern Brazil has risen to 107, civil defense said on Thursday, as rescue operations continued and authorities began to see the cost of recovering from the devastation in the state of Rio Grande do Sul. In a dramatic symbol of the disaster, rescuers saved a horse that had been trapped precariously for two days on a rooftop in a badly flooded town. More rains are forecast in the coming days, raising fears that water levels will rise further in the inundated state capital of Porto Alegre and nearby town where streets have turned into rivers. At least 136 people are still missing and more than 165,000 have been displaced from flooded homes and rescued by boats and helicopters. Television images showed the horse straddling the roof of a farmhouse on the outskirts of Canoas, a town north of Porto Alegre. The animal was secured by firemen and loaded into a Zodiac inflatable boat to take it to safety. The floods have destroyed infrastructure and bridges, blocking access to Porto Alegre, where supermarket shelves are empty and looting has been reported at night. Governor Eduardo Leite said initial calculations indicate that Rio Grande do Sul will need at least 19 billion reais ($3.68 billion) to rebuild from the damage, which has extended into farm areas around the capital. The effect of the floods and the extent of the tragedy are devastating, he said on social media. In Brasilia, the federal government estimated the fiscal impact of the flooding at 7.7 billion reais ($1.49 billion), mostly due to the injection of funds into a support program for small businesses hit by the floods. This doesnt end here, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said at an event announcing steps to help the stricken state. Lula said the full extent of Rio Grande do Suls needs would be known only when the water recedes. ($1 = 5.1588 reais) (Reporting by Amanda Perobelli and Leonardo Benansato in Porto Alegre, Andre Romani in Sao Paulo and Marcela Ayres in Brasilia; writing by Anthony Boadle.Editing by Marguerita Choy)

Torrential rains and subsequent floods in Brazils southernmost state have caused unprecedented devastation in recent days, killing 107 people and displacing more than 165,000.

This doesnt end here, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva emphasized at the same event, adding that the full extent of Rio Grande do Suls needs would be grasped when the water recedes.

Haddad said that 4.5 billion reais would be allocated for guarantee concessions, aiming to leverage these resources to offer credit of up to 30 billion reais to businesses of this size.

Additionally, 1 billion reais are set to be directed towards interest subsidies within Pronampe, with the minister emphasizing that reconstruction efforts would require zero interest charges in some cases.

A proposal approved by Congress paved the way for the expenditures related to the disaster not to be included in the calculation of the governments official goal of eliminating its primary deficit this year.

However, as the measures also involve new expenses, they will exert pressure on the public debt, an impact that Planning Minister Simone Tebet told Reuters was seen as marginal.

Haddad said the government would also implement other measures that do not affect the primary balance, such as the anticipation of benefits and income tax refunds, and suspension of debt payments.

In total, considering the leverage expected in the credit programs, the government estimates that the announced measures will put 51 billion reais into the economy.

($1 = 5.1559 reais)

(Reporting by Marcela Ayres; editing by Gabriel Araujo, Kirsten Donovan)
The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has asked that states make personal protective equipment (PPE) available to workers on dairy farms, poultry farms, and in slaughterhouses given concerns about the H5N1 bird flu.

Although CDCs assessment of the immediate risk to the U.S. public from avian influenza remains low, the agency highlighted the importance of states acting to protect people with work exposures, who may be at higher risk of infection.

CDC asked state and regional health departments to work with their state agriculture department counterparts and partners in communities, such as farmworker organizations, that can help facilitate PPE distributions.

CDC Principal Deputy Director Nirav D. Shah recommended that states prioritize distribution of PPE to farms with herds in which a cow was confirmed to be infected with avian flu, noting that some states have already distributed PPE to dairy farms.

States were asked to use existing PPE stockpiles for this effort. Shah also briefed state officials on how to request additional PPE from the strategic national stockpile, if needed.

H5N1 is a contagious viral disease of domestic poultry and wild birds. It can be deadly to domestic poultry and can wipe out entire flocks within a matter of days. While it causes less severe illness in cattle than in poultry, the disease remains of concern for all livestock and also for humans who come into contact with infected animals.

The CDC reports that there have been 36 incidents of bird flu found in domestic livestock in nine states: Texas, Kansas, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, South Dakota, Ohio, Colorado and Idaho.

To date, the Food and Drug Administration testing of dairy and meat products have indicated the products are safe for humans.
Maygel Coronel opens her first U.S. store in Houston's River Oaks District. Jose Rodriguez Amber Elliott, from left, Caroline Knapp, Chiara Casiraghi and Demi McCormack at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor Tara Martin at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor Maygel Coronel hosting influencers/local celebs in store for grand opening dinner on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor Lily Barfield at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor Maygel Coronel hosting influencers/local celebs in store for grand opening dinner on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor Maygel Coronel hosting influencers/local celebs in store for grand opening dinner on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor Maygel Coronel opens her first U.S. store in Houston's River Oaks District. Jose Rodriguez Maygel Coronel opens her first U.S. store in Houston's River Oaks District. Jose Rodriguez Maygel Coronel opens her first U.S. store in Houston's River Oaks District. Jose Rodriguez Maygel Coronel opens her first U.S. store in Houston's River Oaks District. Jose Rodriguez

Statuesque and impeccably styled, Colombian designer Maygel Coronel is her eponymous swimwear brand's best model. During her pop-up store's grand opening celebration in River Oaks District, she wore the Tirso rosette jersey maxi dress ($570) in terracotta. Her manicure, pedicure and flat sandals matched in an equally rust-forward shade. Even Coronel's earrings, by Venezuelan-born, Houston-based jeweler Susana Vega, shone in an understated bronze.

Retail staff circled the space  previously occupied by the Conservatory  in similar body-con outfits. Some were petite, others curvier. The twist here? Each woman had on the exact same size.

As the fashion industry tussles to become more inclusive, Coronel has seemingly found a solution: one size fits all.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Maygel Coronel pictured here with jewelry deisgner Susana Vega, who has pieces for sale inside the shop. Jose Rodriguez

To clarify, the designer isn't suggesting that all bodies are made the same. Or that her customer needs to be tall and slim to shimmy into her brand's ultra-tight bathing suits and swimming gowns (more on that later.) Rather, Coronel has constructed most of her products with built-in support and shape-maintaining silhouettes and fabrics.

Many pieces have Spanx or SKIMS-esque bodysuits sewn right in. No more agonizing over undergarments. And these swimsuits, separates and dresses are fitted with a capital 'F'  though not in a 'can't sit down way,' more of an 'all the goods are secure' way.

"The decision we've made to make this one size, using Lycra, gives us the possibility of embracing wider body types. Of (addressing) other kinds of bodies and shapes. It's really important to make all women feel comfortable in her skin," Coronel told the Chronicle.

Petite and extended sizes are offered, too. Earlier this year, the Latin American Fashion Summit's award winner for emerging talent introduced velvet to the collection. She's teased that one other fabric will debut during high summer. Just don't expect prints anytime soon.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

"We're sticking very close to the original aesthetic with solid colors, and will not do patterns for now," Coronel said.

Far more creative than the everyday basic, her moderately-priced line ($200 to $630) provides considerable value and versatility. The solid colors have a timeless quality and are ideal for mixing and matching, especially on vacation. And the Lycra material is suitable for both swimming and sunset cocktails. Nearly everything, including the maxi and mini dresses, can withstand a dip in the ocean or pool  without losing their shape.

Maygel Coronel opens her first U.S. store in Houston's River Oaks District. Jose Rodriguez

"It's possible to take everything from the beach to the city," Coronel explains. "The bottom part includes lining to make women feel more comfortable and confident."

She designed with common body insecurities in mind. Bust, waist and hip areas are snug, and then some.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The local Latin community is the primary reason she selected Houston for her first U.S. brick and mortar store. When Coronel first created the brand in 2017, she did not expect Bayou City to become of her most lucrative markets.

"What the consumer likes here is very elegant," she says. "They love colors. That's what I can see when I'm in the United States, lots of blue, orange and green. The Houston woman sometimes decides on black, but also takes lots of risk and buys pretty strong colors."

For now, her pop-up location in River Oaks District is open through June 2024. Then Coronel will gauge if Houston is a permanent fit.

Natalie Steen at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Lily Barfield, left, and Lexi Killion at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Chiara Casiraghi at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Demi McCormack at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Caroline Knapp at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Kathryn Swain at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Susana Vega at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Kat Pressly at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Kaleta Blaffer Johnson at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Lindsey Leigh Hohlt at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Reagan Corbett at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor

Lily Barfield at grand opening dinner hosted by Maygel Coronel for influencers/local celebs on April 24, 2024. Gary Fountain/Contributor
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio -- Seniors Chris Utech and Nina Deshpande were crowned king and queen, respectively, at the Orange High School prom May 4 at the Silver Grille at The Ritz-Carlton in downtown Cleveland.

Following the Casino Royale themed prom, the students were transported to the Fun n Stuff amusement park in Macedonia for an after-prom event hosted by the Orange High School PTA.
WASHINGTON, D. C. - Rocky River GOP Rep. Max Miller, one of two Jewish Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives, introduced a congressional resolution on Friday condemning President Joe Bidens decision to pause some arms transfers to Israel.

Bidens pledge to suspend some weapons system shipments to Israel if it moved forward with a ground invasion of the city of Rafah has upset House Republican leaders including Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana, who described it a catastrophic policy in a Thursday interview with NBC News.

What theyre withholding is precision weapons that are desperately needed, Johnson said. These are the things that they need to do to do the job that must be done to eradicate the threat of Hamas who is still lurking there. And so, for Joe Biden to do this, he is he is going against what he told Congress, what his top officials in the White House specifically told me that they would do.

Biden this week told CNN that the U.S. is still committed to Israels defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms but that if Israel goes into Rafah, were not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, Biden continued.

Millers resolution condemns the Biden administrations decision to pause some of its arms transfers to Israel, calls on it to allow all previously approved arms transfers to proceed quickly, stands with Israel as it defends itself against the barbaric war launched by Hamas and other terrorists and reaffirms Israels right to self-defense.

Miller released a statement that noted Congress passed legislation last month that provides $26.38 billion in emergency supplemental aid to help Israel to defend itself against Hamas, and Biden signed it into law on April 24.

The Presidents decision to unilaterally order a pause on certain defense articles ready for imminent delivery to Israel without consulting Congress is a danger to Israel, the hostages still held by Hamas - including Americans, and a gift to a dastardly terrorist organization and its sympathizers, said a statement from Miller. Any daylight between the U.S. and Israel on military matters only risks the lives of the hostages, further emboldens Hamas and Iran-backed forces in the region by weakening Israels negotiating hand at a pivotal moment and weakens Israels efforts to protect its sovereignty and citizens.

Aides to Miller said they plan to seek a House of Representatives vote on it next week under a provision that allows speedy consideration of measures expected to get at least 2/3 support. Its cosponsors include House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, a Texas Republican.

Miller is a vocal advocate of Israel. Soon after joining Congress last year, he led a successful drive to remove Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over statements she made that he regarded as antisemitic. He was also an original cosponsor of a resolution condemning antisemitism that the House of Representatives approved last year.

Sabrina Eaton writes about the federal government and politics in Washington, D.C., for cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.
CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- Ive been hearing bad things about Zionism since at least 1975. That was the year I wore a sticker which read I Am a Zionist. I got the sticker at the El Al ticket counter at Ben Gurion Airport. The United Nations had just passed the Soviet-sponsored Zionism is racism resolution. (The U.N. revoked that conclusion in 1991.) I wore the sticker in Greece -- my next stop after Israel. I was 25. In Greece, a slightly drunk Greek man kissed the sticker, mistaking it for the blue-and-white Greek flag.

Back home, several of my friends were into edgier causes than Zionism. One friend said he was going to Cuba to harvest sugar cane. He didnt go to Cuba, but he talked about it. I took a Hebrew class at Hillel at Case Western Reserve University to pick up basic Hebrew expressions, which I then used in Israel. I had grown up attending The Temple (also known as The Temple-Tifereth Israel and Silvers Temple) in University Circle, and hadnt learned much conversational Hebrew. (The Temple in University Circle is now the Maltz Performing Arts Center.)
File: Jeep Weekend started as a small weekend event for Jeep lovers in Crystal Beach but grew into a large gathering of hundreds of vehicles including Jeeps, UTV's, 4-wheelers and more on the beach. Photo made on May 16, 2020. Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise Jeep Weekend started as a small weekend event for Jeep lovers in Crystal Beach but has grown to a large gathering of hundreds of vehicles including Jeeps, UTV's, 4-wheelers and more on the beach. Photo made on May 16, 2020. Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise File: A group of people riding a Jeep during the Go Topless Jeep Weekend in Crystal Beach gets stopped by a Galveston County Sheriff's Office deputy on Sunday, May 17, 2020. Marie D. De Jesus, Houston Chronicle / Staff photographer Jeep Weekend started as a small weekend event for Jeep lovers in Crystal Beach but has grown to a large gathering of hundreds of vehicles including Jeeps, UTV's, 4-wheelers and more on the beach. Photo made on May 16, 2020. Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise Fran Ruchalski/The Enterprise Aerial photo of thousands of Jeeps lined up for Go Topless Jeep Weekend, May 21, 2022, on Bolivar Peninsula. Dozens of people, including a Galveston County sheriff's deputy, were reportedly injured over the weekend. Galveston County Emergency Services District No.2 Facebook page

Some Bolivar Peninsula businesses will close and residents were advised to shop early and stay home  not for a hurricane, but for the annual Jeep Weekend, which started as an unofficial Jeep gathering but has since become a "free-for-all" with up to 100,000 people, according to law enforcement.

The Galveston County Sheriff's Office has been preparing since February for the event, which will take place May 17-19 and requires an all-hands-on-deck presence.

"This event overwhelms all of our resources," Maj. Ray Nolen said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Several businesses near Crystal Beach, including the areas main grocery, The Big Store, have already declared that they would close for the weekend rather than risk getting caught in gridlocked traffic.

WHY IS HOUSTON SMOKY? Meterologists explain why Houston has been so hazy this week

There are only two ways to leave Crystal Beach and Bolivar Peninsula, said Kelly Murphy, who lives nearby and works at Ships Wheel, a bar on Texas 87 that will close for the weekend.

Its either the ferry or a two-lane road, said Murphy, who spent more than two hours getting to work last year when the bar stayed open during Jeep Weekend. The road was completely blocked, nobody could get through, cops couldnt get through, and we were all going in the same direction, and people were going on the wrong side of the road.  It was not safe.

How did Jeep Weekend get so big?

What is known as Jeep Weekend or Go Topless Jeep Weekend, as many on social media groups have noted, may no longer be the best name for the event, as it's now not focused on Jeep enthusiasts.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The event has never been sponsored by one specific group, and in the early years, it was primarily attended by Jeep clubs and Jeep owners.

The Jeep clubs were respectful, and we got good business, Murphy said. I didnt see any Jeeps last year. While I was stuck in traffic, I saw cars, trucks, all kinds of vehicles, young people and alcohol.

About six years ago, the gathering started to attract people outside of the Jeep owner and devotee community, according to Nolen.

People heard about it and started to bring their motorcycles, ATVs and trucks, he said, adding that many of the Jeep groups eventually took their party elsewhere.

The Jeep clubs didn't want to be associated with what it had become, Nolen said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

He estimates that the event started about a decade ago, and Murphy, 26, remembers being aware of it while still in high school.

According to Nolen, officials were hoping that if the Jeeps were no longer there, the more recent crowds would eventually stop coming. But without an intended purpose of people coming together to share a common passion, the gatherings just became chaotic.

Some businesses in Crystal Beach will stay open

Another Crystal Beach business, Latitude 29.2 Surf Shop, will stay open through the weekend, but only a skeleton crew will be working.

The surf shops younger staff will be getting the long weekend off for their own safety, said Derick Reed, 37, one of the shops veteran employees, who has lived in the area for 15 years.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

It was just one of those things that just happened, and it became a thing," Reed said. "The Jeepers stopped coming, but everybody else  disrespectful people, rowdy people  kept coming."

BAY AREA INSIDER: Must-read local news from League City, Clear Lake and other Bay Area communities

Others in the area welcome the crowds. The Bolivar Breeze RV Park shared on social media that its location and food options make it a convenient place to stay during the weekend.

Jessica Ortiz, 21, has attended the event in her own 2009 Jeep.

"Jeeps are kind of a thing here (on Crystal Beach) because of the high tides, and it used to be where people with Jeeps hung out with their families," said Ortiz, who works at a beach house rental business on the beach.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

She said she doesn't mind the more recent "crazy" atmosphere despite the long lines at the ferry and crowds.

"I am on the younger side, so I do like the rowdiness of it," she said.

Could Galveston County cancel Jeep Weekend?

Nolen said county officials have never considered shutting down the event because it would require closing the beach, which the county sees as an infringement on constitutional rights according to the Texas Open Beaches Act.

The law guarantees free public access to beaches on the Gulf of Mexico. Beaches are closed only when there is a threat of a hurricane or other severe weather or there is contamination in the water.

County authorities, Nolen said, are also concerned that a cancellation might create more chaos if crowds postpone the event and flock to the beaches without warning.

If were not expecting and planned for it, we would really have a mess on our hands, he said. At the end of the day, its a public beach, and we dont want to violate public beach acts to stop a bunch of beachgoers. This thing taxes our resources and everybodys energy, and morale. Its best we plan as best we can and handle it.

How many arrests and injuries are there during Jeep Weekend?

Last year, close to 100,000 people and 30,000 vehicles packed a 4-mile stretch of beach, resulting in 234 arrests and two alcohol-related deaths, Nolen said.

There were 89 calls to emergency services, district manager Doug Saunders told the Houston Chronicle last year. Of those calls, seven resulted in people being airlifted to hospitals for various traumatic injuries.

The peninsula and Crystal Beach host several large events, such as diesel truck conventions and Memorial Day celebrations, without any major incidents, Nolen said.

This kind of grew and took a life of its own, and it got out of hand, he said. I doubt the people who come now care if the Jeeps are there. Its just an off-the-hinge party where people park on the beach and consume alcohol.

What should residents of Bolivar and Crystal Beach do to prepare?

Nolen advises residents of Crystal Beach and the peninsula to shop for food and other necessities before the event and to stay home.

There are a lot of older people, retirees and families in Crystal Beach and on the Bolivar Peninsula, Murphy said.

She worries about what will happen if the gridlock she experienced last year will be repeated, leaving more vulnerable residents stuck.
Faculty of New York private university join students in pro-Palestine encampment

Xinhua) 09:59, May 10, 2024

NEW YORK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Faculty members of The New School, a private university in Manhattan of New York City, the United States, set up their own pro-Palestine encampment in the lobby of the campus building near Union Square on Wednesday.

The faculty members involved in the action called for, among others, divestment from weapons manufacturing companies, dismissal of charges against student protesters and the removal of New York police on campus, according to The New School Free Press.

About 20 professors occupied the lobby with tents and banners reading "Faculty Against Genocide." This is reportedly the first faculty-led protest in the United States.

The staff at The New School named their encampment after Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian poet and professor, who was killed in an airstrike in December 2023.

Roughly 40 students were arrested and subsequently suspended from The New School as a student encampment was cleared by the New York Police Department on May 3. Across the nation, more than 2,000 arrests have been made on college campuses in recent weeks.

Many of the university's students have seen a shift to online classes or venues outside of school grounds, with one student reporting that their professor held class at a restaurant. And some teachers are refusing to submit final grades until their demands are met.

Scores of U.S. college campuses have seen pro-Palestinian movements over the past few months, and high schools are starting to participate as well. Students in Chicago, Illinois; Salem, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and some cities in Washington state have been organizing walkouts, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, protests continue to rage across the United States as Israel launched new attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip.

In New York City alone, The New School, Baruch College, Fordham University and The Cooper Union have planned encampments, walk-outs or rallies, in solidarity with Palestine, which are set to commence on May 9, according to posts on social media.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Homes are seen in the growing community of Woodforest, a project of Houston-based Johnson Development Corp. on Saturday, Jan. 2, 2021, in Montgomery. The Montgomery Central Appraisal District will undergo a leadership overhaul after the board of directors fired its chief appraiser in April and will welcome three new board members in July. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Homes in the Magnolia Crossing subdivision are seen, Tuesday, July 18, 2023, in Magnolia. The Montgomery Central Appraisal District will undergo a leadership overhaul after the board of directors fired its chief appraiser in April and will welcome three new board members in July. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Construction continues at Woodmill Creek, a community of 189 build-to-rent, multifamily homes, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in The Woodlands. The Montgomery Central Appraisal District will undergo a leadership overhaul after the board of directors fired its chief appraiser in April and will welcome three new board members in July. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Construction continues at Woodmill Creek, a community of 189 build-to-rent, multifamily homes, Wednesday, March 15, 2023, in The Woodlands. The Montgomery Central Appraisal District will undergo a leadership overhaul after the board of directors fired its chief appraiser in April and will welcome three new board members in July. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer Workers pour concrete for a driveway as home construction continues near Conroe ISDs Christopher J. Hines Elementary, Wednesday, June 28, 2023, in Spring. The Montgomery Central Appraisal District will undergo a leadership overhaul after the board of directors fired its chief appraiser in April and will welcome three new board members in July. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

The Montgomery Central Appraisal District will undergo a leadership overhaul after the board of directors fired its chief appraiser and voters elected three new members.

Chairman Bruce Tough confirmed Thursday that the board unanimously voted to terminate Janet Jennings-Doyle's employment during an April 30 meeting. He declined to provide any additional information.



Jennings-Doyle was fired due to "work-related misconduct," including policy violation and "lack of candor," according to a statement from the board in meeting minutes.



"All of this has resulted in damage to the district and exposed it to even greater potential damage, including the loss of confidence from the taxing entities that the district reports to," the minutes state.

According to the minutes of the board's April 30 special meeting, Board Member Arthur Bredehoft moved to terminate Jennings-Doyle immediately.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Jennings-Doyle began work at the district as interim chief appraiser in October 2022 before being named to the position in December of that year.

She could not be reached for comment.

Sherry Hunter is serving as interim chief appraiser.

New board members

Former Conroe Mayor Webb Melder and longtime residents Pete Palmer and Gary Beck were elected May 4 to fill the at-large positions created by Proposition 4 last year. The new board members will take office July 1.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Proposition 4 added the three new positions to districts with a population of 75,000 or more. The additional members increased the board to nine voting members. Five members are appointed by governing bodies of participating taxing entities, and three are now elected in the general election by residents.

The board of directors is responsible for hiring the chief appraiser, adopting its biennial reappraisal plan, and adopting its annual budget.

Melder said he, Palmer and Beck have a learning curve ahead. He said Palmer and Beck both have experience with the district as members of the appraiser review board.

Ive got my ears wide open and Ive got to educate myself, Melder said.

Melder said hiring a new chief appraiser was not a high priority.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

(I) didnt detect any sense of urgency to find a new chief appraiser, Melder said of the current board. The last thing I want to do is show up as a newbie and try and dictate something when I have no years of experience of time on the board.

Palmer said the chief appraiser position must be addressed once the new members are seated. He said the board faces some challenges.

Ive got to gather a lot of the facts and come to a good conclusion and develop a plan of action, Palmer said.

Property lawsuits and exemption delays

Last year, the district faced a record number of property lawsuits and a delay in applying homestead exemptions to 11,000 homeowners, causing a revenue shortage for taxing entities, including Montgomery County.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In 38 years of doing this, we have never had a year quite like this one, Tax Assessor-Collector Tammy McRae said during a special commissioners court meeting in August. We lost a lot of value last year.

At that time, McRae said the district had 19,500 tax appraisal protests pending.

The districts budget has also continued to climb, reaching $15.5 million in 2024, a 17% increase over 2023.

During a budget presentation in July to Montgomery County commissioners, Jennings-Doyle said the budget increases are not in operations but were to cover costs for the district's appraisal review board and legal fees. The budget also included $4.8 million to replace the districts antiquated software.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

According to information presented by Jennings-Doyle, Montgomery County has grown 31.4 percent in the past five years. With more than 370,000 parcels, it ranks 10 out of the 254 counties in Texas.
The artificial intelligence landscape is teeming with players, and they're not all legitimate. Some are practicing something called "AI washing," which Securities and Exchange Commission chair Gary Gensler explained in a video includes "false claims to investors by those purporting to use those new technologies."

In the financial space, the SEC fined two investment advisers, Delphia (USA) Inc. and Global Predictions Inc., a total of $400,000 in March for what the SEC described as marketing AI-enabled investment predictions to their clients when they were not actually using this technology. (The companies paid the penalties and accepted SEC orders without admitting or denying the Commission's findings.)

It's not just the financial services space that is seeing this phenomenon. Analytics firm FactSet dug through earnings call transcripts of S&P 500 companies for the three months ending in mid-March and found that 179 companies used the term "AI," which exceeds the five-year average of 73 companies. While it's not clear which of these companies are being disingenuous about the depth of AI technology in their operations, experts say tacking on the acronym has become commonplace across industries.

"It actually isn't that hard to put AI into a slide deck, or to even just use AI because you can use it very easily through any of the platforms without having to build it into the business," said Michael Stewart, managing partner at Microsoft's venture arm M12, who focuses on AI, gaming, and deep tech. "Yet, there's no sustainable competitive advantage to that," he added.

In reality, what AI washing leads to is a breakdown of confidence between vendors and their consumers, enterprise partners and investors.

"The parties at risk are really the people on the back end not understanding the technology," said Timothy Bates, professor of practice at University of Michigan-Flint College of Innovation & Technology with an expertise in AI and other emerging technology (and formerly chief technology officer at Lenovo and General Motors).

It's not just companies claiming AI use when they have none. Bates says so-called button-pushing applications are AI washing, too. AI learns by ingesting information and receiving varying inputs, or prompts. "When you ask the same question over and over again, which is a button push, it doesn't build the database," Bates said, adding that third-party applications built on generic natural language processing models are not effective over the long term.

For example, when a law firm buys an AI assistant to replace a human, it may stop working in a matter of months if it's not based on a unique, unbiased database that's specifically trained on law and actively learning.

A 'good' corporate AI litmus test

Toby Coulthard, chief product officer at Phrasee, a generative AI solution for enterprise clients (including Sephora and Macy's), says to be wary of any business that uses the term AI broadly.

"AI is such an ambiguous term," Coulthard said. Instead, he says the businesses should define what type of AI they use and specify how they're employing it.

Additionally, Coulthard says to take note of when a company first began talking about its AI usage. "Seeing if a business was talking about AI prior to ChatGPT is a good litmus test," he said. And it's also a positive sign, he says, if they're talking about what they won't do with AI and employing some kind of ethics policy.

"The more you see a business speak more verbose around what they do with AI and what they don't do with AI, it's going to be a lot more of an accurate representation," Coulthard said.

Bates says to look at the model the company uses for an AI offering. "It's really digging into the company itself and finding out, have they generated their own models [or] are they completely dependent on a third-party model?" And if they are dependent on a third-party model, uncover their service-level agreement or key performance indicators over the next one or two years, he said. "These prompts that are being sold as AI companies, they have to be maintained and monitored and adjusted in order to work."

Microsoft's VC approach to AI scrutiny

Stewart and the other AI-focused partners at M12 scrutinize startups by using what they call the four D's: data, dividends, distribution, and delight.

"If you don't, as a startup, have access to your customer's most important data that relates to what the AI will operate on, then any other competitor can have access to the same data," Stewart said.

For the dividends piece, it can be helpful to identify whether the output of the AI is the work product itself. In other words, is it contributing to the bottom line? When possible, involved parties can look at the gross profitability of any kind of AI business, knowing that one advantage of the technology is extremely high profit margins. Stewart says even 8090% gross profitability for a fully AI company with limited human intervention is standard.

While the distribution and delight elements of M12's investment analysis process aren't directly related to AI washing, these factors play a key role in determining the sustainable longevity of a startup (understanding that young businesses tend to evolve as they mature).

With thousands of AI startups in the market, the winning ones "need strong and stable distribution channels to cut through the noise and ensure they can reach customers in the first place," M12 says. Meanwhile, "creating consistently delightful user experiences is key to creating the love that keeps them coming back for more."
 This is the script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on May 3, 2024.

The Southeast Asian region, with a population of over 600 million, is currently experiencing an unprecedented heatwave. Recent record-breaking high temperatures have been observed in countries including Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. It's noteworthy that Southeast Asia is a critical region for 26% of global rice output and 40% of exports, also serving as a major rice supplier to regions like the Middle East and Africa. The recent heatwaves have impacted rice production.

Rice, being a semi-aquatic plant, requires abundant water resources, but the hot weather and droughts in parts of Southeast Asia have affected rice yields. According to the South China Morning Post, Indonesia's rice production has decreased from 31.53 million tons to 30.9 million tons this year.

Additionally, in Malaysia, high temperatures and the El Nino have led to water shortages, forcing farmers to delay planting seasons due to the lack of water. Usually, farmers in Southeast Asia plant rice twice a year, but the recent extreme weather has caused many local farmers to only plant once.

Some rice producers in India have told CNBC that under the influence of extreme weather, rice prices have significantly surged in the past two years.

Ashish Jain

CFO of KRBL

"Like any other agri commodity weather and global climate patterns have a huge impact. I think the last two or three years has seen record rice and rice prices. And that's because of weather, you know, unexpected weather changes in large rice produced across the world."

Extreme weather has not only affected Asia but has also impacted several countries in southern Europe, thereby affecting olive oil production. Spain, in particular, produces over 40% of the world's olive oil. According to data from the food industry research firm Mintec, Spain can produce 1.3 to 1.5 million tons of olive oil per harvest season.

However, droughts and high temperatures in Spain over the past two years have led to a decline in olive oil production. Official data shows that Spain's production for the 2022-2023 season was only 666,000 tons, while Mintec estimates that production for the 2023-2024 season will be between 830,000 to 850,000 tons.

The decline in production has also led to a continuous surge in olive oil prices. IMF's data shows that the price of global olive oil has risen from $4,000 per ton in early 2022 to over $10,000 per ton currently.

Meanwhile, Mintec's benchmark index shows that this January, extra virgin olive oil from Andalusia, Spain reached a historical high of 9.2 per kilogram, approximately 70 yuan. As of April 19 this year, the price has fallen to about 7.8 but remains high. The slight decline in price is attributed to recent rainfall in Spain, which may be favorable for cultivation.

With a backdrop of extreme weather, industry insiders and researchers are calling for attention to the issue of "food security." Researchers in Southeast Asia have already developed drought-resistant rice varieties and olive oil producers in Spain are also calling for industry transformation. We'll keep an eye on the topic of food security for you.


 This is the weekly script of CNBC's news report for China's CCTV on May 3, 2024.

Warren Buffett

This week's People of the Week is first focused on the legendary investor, Warren Buffett.

This Saturday the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway, known as the "Investment World Spring Festival Gala", is coming again. Every year at this time, tens of thousands of people from around the world rush to the small town of Omaha, USA, hoping to listen to Buffett's investment wisdom. Unlike previous years, this is the first meeting after Buffett's partner Munger passed away in November last year, and the usual Q&A session, the duo show of Buffett and Munger, will also become Buffett's solo show this year. and remember that on this year's August 30th, Buffett will be 94 years old, and this year will also be his 60th time attending the several-hour Q&A.

Given Munger's passing and Buffett's age, one major focus of investors at this meeting is Berkshire's succession plan. Abel and Jain became vice chairmen of Berkshire in 2018, leading non-insurance and insurance businesses respectively, and in recent years they have also begun to play more important public roles at the annual meeting. Buffett confirmed to CNBC that if he no longer runs Berkshire, then Abel will take over. In addition, investors are also paying attention to Berkshire's large cash holdings, the mysterious stocks purchased at the end of last year, and Buffett's views on the current investment environment.

Laxman Narasimhan

Next, let's focus on Starbucks' CEO, Laxman Narasimhan. In about a year since taking office, Narasimhan has faced unprecedented challenges. The latest financial report shows that in the first quarter of this year, Starbucks'' revenue and profits were below market expectations, especially with a 4% decline in same-store sales, the first decline since 2020. Starbucks also lowered its performance expectations for the fiscal year 2024. These have caused market fluctuations.

On Wednesday, Starbucks' stock price plummeted by about 16% in one day. It can be seen that from early 2023 to now, Starbucks' stock price trend has diverged from the S&P 500 index, with Starbucks continuously declining.

In an interview with CNBC, Narasimhan admitted to having gone through a difficult quarter, attributing the performance to consumers' more cautious spending attitude.

It's worth noting that Narasimhan took over the baton from Schultz, who is considered the "Father of Starbucks." Schultz had returned to Starbucks several times to help the company through tough times, and it took a year to find and train a successor, now Narasimhan needs to prove to investors and predecessors that he is capable of bringing customers back to Starbucks.

Borje Ekholm

Finally, let's focus on the CEO of Ericsson, a Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, Borje Ekholm.

In recent years, there has been controversy within the industry over the strict regulation of the digital area by the EU authorities. On the one hand, officials responsible for regulatory affairs in the EU believe that in fields such as AI, it is necessary to ensure fair competition in the market, hence the strict scrutiny of corporate mergers; but on the other hand, this week, Ericsson's CEO Ekholm voiced his opinion in an interview with the Financial Times, stating that excessive regulation has weakened Europe's competitiveness.

He also mentioned that the digital infrastructure of the EU is at risk and called for the EU to amend its antitrust policies. Previously, in an interview with CNBC, Ekholm also stated that there are mainly three major telecom operators in the United States, but in Europe, there are about 100 in total, with at least four operators in each country. The market's fragmentation is not conducive to company profitability or the large-scale deployment of 5G networks. Therefore, executives in the European telecom industry have been urging regulatory agencies to adjust regulatory frameworks, approve cooperation, and help operators expand their scale.

These are the hot figures of this week, and we will continue to keep you updated!
Singer-songwriter and Texas native Lyle Lovett Karen Warren/Staff photographer The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion is seen, Wednesday, April 15, 2020, in The Woodlands. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer In this file image from July 4, 2015, More than 11,000 visitors enjoyed patriotic music from the Houston Symphony during the Star Spangled Salute at The Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion Friday. To view or purchase this photo and others like it, visit HCNpics.com. Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle

All of the Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion's performing arts shows will be fully free for the first time this year.

The Woodlands' largest music venue has always had free seating on the lawn for its performing arts shows; now, no one will need a ticket or pass to enter the concert hall on performing arts days. A 50th anniversary celebration featuring Lyle Lovett will also be free.

The move is in line with CEO Jeff Young's mission to make the arts available to the community.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We are putting our money where our mouth is and will be rolling out some new initiatives that will truly make the performing arts accessible to all, Young said in April. We need to continually push the envelope with new and innovative works and evolve as an organization to the ever-changing landscape.

Here are nine ways to catch a concert for free this year:

Bugs Bunny at the Symphony

The Houston Symphony will kick of the Pavilion's free concert season with Bugs Bunny at The Symphony June 18.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Conducted by George Daugherty, the show pioneered the "live orchestra and big screen" concerts that incorporate a live soundtrack with the cartoons on video.

The Music of Pink Floyd

As the Houston Symphony's summer home, the Pavilion will feature several performances from the orchestra, including a Pink Floyd-centric concert June 26.

Pink Floyd's music is a natural match for the orchestra, according to the venue, and will feature unusual harmonies, ethereal high string lines and rich underscores from the band's robust soundtrack.

Star-Spangled Salute

The annual Star-Spangled Salute will pair new conductor Jason Seber, who is new to the event, with the tradition's classic songs,

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Each song will look to evoke patriotism in celebration of Independence Day, and red, white and blue gear will be abundant. Gates open at 6 p.m. July 3.

Batman (1989) in Concert

In celebration of the film's 35th anniversary, the Houston Symphony will perform a live orchestra soundtrack to the 1989 Batman while the film is projected onscreen.

The film's soundscore was composer Danny Elfman's first collaboration with director Tim Burton and was nominated for a Grammy award.

Catch the iconic "Batman" theme in-person at the July 26 event.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Woodlands Symphony

The Woodlands' own symphony orchestra will take the Pavilion stage Sept. 18 for its Once Upon a Symphony event.

Celebrating fantastical fiction featuring dragons, magic and far-away lands, the show is great for introducing young children to classical music, according to the venue.

Hocus Pocus Pops

The Pavilion's spookiest annual concert will feature spooky symphony songs and trick or treating for the horde of "little costumed ghouls and goblins" that will descend upon the event.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Gates will open for trick or treating at 6 p.m. Oct. 17.

50th anniversary Lyle Lovett concert

For its 50th birthday, The Woodlands will host a free concert featuring Lyle Lovett and Woodlands-native Hayes Carll, Howard Hughes and The Woodlands Township announced Wednesday.

The event will include Lovett, a Klein native, His Big Band, and Carll as an opener.

Given that both Lyle Lovett and Hayes Carll have personal connections to The Woodlands, this 50th anniversary concert holds an extra layer of significance," Howard Hughes Houston president Jim Carman said.

Registration for priority access to tickets is now open.

US Army Field Band and Soldier's Chorus

The touring United States Army Field Band will make a pit stop in The Woodlands to perform at the pavilion this fall.

By bringing a variety of music to audiences around the world, the Field Band fosters support for the armed forces from the American people and supports diplomatic efforts abroad.

The band will perform at 7 p.m. Oct. 22.

Holly Jolly Jingle

Canceled by storms in 2023, Conroe ISD students look to take to the stage once again this year at the annual Holly Jolly Jingle concert Nov. 5.
Police confront environmental activists in a forest near the Tesla Gigafactory electric car factory near Gruenheide, Germany, May 10, 2024.

Climate protesters angry about Tesla's plans to expand its Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory in Germany tried to break into the plant on Friday, according to a statement from local police.

"Multiple unauthorized people are trying to enter the ground of the Tesla factory," Brandenburg police said via X Friday. "We are in the process of preventing this."

"The situation is dynamic," a Brandenburg police spokesperson told CNBC Friday, adding that there have been multiple roadblocks in the area due to the demonstrations.

A Tesla spokesperson was not immediately available for comment when contacted by CNBC.

Since Monday, a camp has been set up near the Tesla grounds at its Brandenburg plant, with participation increasing since Wednesday and peaking on a German bank holiday Thursday, police said.
Elon Musk attends a symposium on "Antisemitism Online" during the European Jewish Association conference in Krakow, on Jan. 22, 2024.

A federal judge in California dismissed a lawsuit filed by Elon Musk's X against Israel's Bright Data, in a case that involved the scraping of public online data and its appropriate uses.

X, formerly Twitter, sued Bright Data, alleging the company "scrapes data from X" and sells it "using elaborate technical measures to evade X Corp.'s anti-scraping technology." X also claimed the company violated its terms of service and copyright.

Data scraping occurs when automated programs scour publicly accessible websites to collect data, which can later be used for a wide range of purposes, including training artificial intelligence models and targeting online ads. The practice is generally legal in the U.S. when it involves scraping publicly accessible data, according to a 2022 ruling that capped off an extended legal battle involving LinkedIn.

X was previously seeking more than $1 million in damages from unknown defendants over "unlawfully scraping data associated with Texas residents," according to a suit that was filed in Dallas County.

In dismissing the complaint, Judge William Alsup wrote, "X Corp. wants it both ways: to keep its safe harbors yet exercise a copyright owner's right to exclude, wresting fees from those who wish to extract and copy X users' content."

Giving social networks complete control over the collection and use of public web data "risks the possible creation of information monopolies that would disserve the public interest," the judge wrote. He added that X was not "looking to protect X users' privacy," and was "happy to allow the extraction and copying of X users' content so long as it gets paid."

A representative for X didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meta previously filed a complaint against Bright Data and was similarly unsuccessful.

Bright Data said in an emailed statement that its victories against Meta and X show that public information online "belongs to all of us, and any attempt to deny the public access will fail."

"What is happening now is unprecedented, the implications impact general business, research, AI and beyond," the company said.

Bright Data says it only scrapes publicly available data that's visible to anyone without a login. At the time of the suit's filing, X made the information Bright Data scraped available to anyone.
A robot is producing auto parts on the production line of an auto parts company in Minhou County, Fuzhou, China, on May 7, 2024. Nurphoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images

BEIJING  European companies in China are finding it harder to make money in the country as growth slows and overcapacity pressures increase, according to a survey released Friday by the EU Chamber of Commerce in China. In the metropolis of Shanghai, business members even reported delays in getting paid as it became more difficult to enforce contracts versus the prior year, according to chapter head Carlo D'Andrea. "State-owned enterprises, they postponed payments and they are using this in order to get some defacto loans from companies, especially from small, medium enterprise," D'Andrea said, citing members' comments. China's growth has slowed in recent years amid geopolitical tensions. A slump in the real estate sector, which has close ties to local government finances, has also dragged down the economy. Only 30% of EU Chamber survey respondents said their profit margins were higher in China than their company's worldwide average  an eight-year low.

watch now

Back in 2016, just 24% of respondents said their profit margins were better in China than they were globally, the report said. That reflected a crash in the Chinese stock market in the summer of 2015, alongside a slowdown in the real estate market at the time, EU Chamber President Jens Eskelund pointed out to reporters. He said the current slowdown in Chinese growth had similar cyclical aspects, but there are questions about how long and deep it would be this time. The Chamber's latest survey covered 529 respondents and was conducted from mid-January to early February. This year's questionnaire included a new question about whether members faced difficulties in transferring dividends back to their headquarters. While more than 70% reported no issues, 4% said they were unable to do so, and about one-fourth said they experienced some difficulties or delays. It was not immediately clear whether this was due to a new regulatory stance or typical tax audit requirements.

What is happening now is that companies are beginning to realize some of these pressures ... are taking on perhaps a more permanent nature. Jens Eskelund EU Chamber of Commerce in China, president

China's economy is now far bigger than it was in 2015 and 2016. Trade tensions with the U.S. have also escalated in recent years, with Beijing doubling down on manufacturing to bolster tech self-sufficiency. "Our members saw to some extent that their ability to grow and make profit in the Chinese market  [the] correlation with the GDP figure is becoming weaker," Eskelund said. "What is important to foreign companies is not necessarily sort of a headline GDP figure, 5.3% or whatever, but the composition of GDP," he said. "If you have a GDP figure that is growing because more investment is being made into manufacturing capacity, that is not good for foreign companies. But if you have a GDP that is growing because domestic demand is growing, then that is a good thing." China's National Bureau of Statistics is due to release fixed asset investment, industrial production and retail sales for April next Friday.

Overcapacity overhang

China's emphasis on manufacturing, coupled with modest domestic demand, has led to growing global concerns that overproduction will reduce profit margins. More than one-third of EU Chamber survey respondents said they observed overcapacity in their industry in the last year, and another 10% expect to see it in the near future. The civil engineering, construction and automotive industries had the highest share of respondents reporting overcapacity. More than 70% of respondents said overcapacity in their industry resulted in price drops. "This is not just European companies whining," Eskelund said. "This is equally, if not more painful, for Chinese companies."

Market opening in some industries

Chinese authorities have meanwhile bolstered high-level efforts to attract foreign investment. Eskelund noted how Beijing's recent visa-free policy for several EU countries has allowed executives the flexibility to plan China trips one week in advance, instead of two to three months previously. He added that Beijing's extension of tax exemption policies has also encouraged more international staff and their families to stay in China.

Cosmetics and food and beverage companies have benefited from China's recent efforts to open its market, he said, noting that a record high of 39% of respondents said the local market was fully open in their industry. China has restricted the extent to which foreign businesses can own or operate in certain industries. Beijing removes some off-limits categories each year via a "negative list."

Record high skepticism
European markets closed higher on Friday as positive momentum continued into the end of the week.

The pan-European Stoxx 600 index was up by 0.8% by the close. Mining stocks and utilities led gains and were up 1.3% and 1.5% respectively.

All major bourses were in the green, with the Stoxx 600, as well as Germany's Dax, France's CAC 40 and the U.K.'s FTSE 100 notching fresh record highs.

"As equities do we're looking to the future I think. Generally speaking investors are seeing a brighter future ahead for European markets and they're reflecting that now," Daniel Morris, chief market strategist at BNP Paribas Asset Management told CNBC's "Squawk Box Europe" on Friday.
Federal authorities on Friday charged Fat Brands and its chair Andy Wiederhorn of committing a brazen scheme that netted him $47 million in bogus loans from the restaurant company that owns Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Twin Peaks.

Shares of Fat Brands closed down 27% on Friday. The company has a market value of $92 million.

Fat Brands, Wiederhorn and a few other people were criminally indicted by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles for wire fraud, tax evasion and other counts related to the alleged scheme.

In a separate civil complaint, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission accused the company and Wiederhorn of violations related to the same conduct.

"These charges are unprecedented, unwarranted, unsubstantiated and unjust," Fat Brands counsel Brian Hennigan said in a statement. "They are based on conduct that ended over three years ago and ignore the Company's cooperation with the investigation."

Wiederhorn, who was convicted two decades ago in a criminal case that involved similar conduct, was separately criminally charged in an indictment in Los Angeles of being a federal felon in possession of a handgun and ammunition.

"We look forward to making clear in court that this is an unfortunate example of government overreach  and a case with no victims, no losses and no crimes," Wiederhorn's attorney Nicola Hanna said.

As chief executive of Fat Brands, Wiederhorn, 58, allegedly directed the company to loan its own funds to him, with no intention of ever paying the "sham" loans back, according to the indictment.

The SEC alleges that Wiederhorn then used the cash to pay for private jets, first-class airfare, luxury vacations, mortgage and rent payments, plus nearly $700,000 in "shopping and jewelry."

Wiederhorn stepped down as CEO last year, following the company's disclosure that the SEC was investigating him. In February, Fat Brands disclosed it had received a Wells notice from the agency, meaning the SEC was planning to take action against it.

Wiederhorn's alleged fraud accounted for roughly 44% of Fat Brands' revenue between 2017 and 2021, which meant the company often was not able to pay its bills. In those situations, Wiederhorn would allegedly redirect funds from credit cards paid for by Fat Brands back to the company with assistance from his son Thayer, who was then the company's chief marketing officer and is now its chief operating officer.

Fat Brands never disclosed the cash transfers as related party transactions to investors. In 2020, the cash transfers were written off after the company's merger with Fog Cutter Capital Group, Fat Brands' largest shareholder, which also happened to be majority owned by Wiederhorn, according to the SEC complaint.

Ron Roe, the company's vice president of finance and former chief financial officer, and Rebecca Hershinger, another former CFO, were also named as defendants in the SEC complaint. Hershinger and tax advisor William Amon were also named in the indictment. Hershinger's attorney Michael Proctor said in a statement to CNBC that the charges are baseless.

Additionally, as far back as 2006, Wiederhorn has owed taxes for his personal income to the IRS. He also did not report any of the so-called loans from Fat Brands as income, according to the indictment. As of March 2021, Wiederhorn owed $7.74 million to the IRS for his unpaid personal taxes.

Twenty years ago, he pleaded guilty to filing a false tax return and paying an illegal gratuity to an associate while leading Fog Cutter Capital. He paid a $2 million fine and spent more than a year in federal prison in Oregon. During his time in prison, Fog Cutter Capital's board opted to pay him a bonus equal to the fine and continued paying his salary, a decision that attracted widespread criticism.

Wiederhorn is expected to be arraigned Friday afternoon in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles. The remaining defendants' arraignments are expected to be in the first week of June.
Ford's Chief Financial Officer John Lawler and Linda Zhang, chief engineer for the company's All Electric F-150 Lightning, participate in the opening bell ceremony at the New York Stock Exchange, April 28, 2022.

Ford Motor on Friday named the former chief financial officer of electric-vehicle startup Lucid to replace its current CFO, who is being promoted to closely oversee the company's ongoing turnaround plan, the company said in a press release.

The ex-Lucid executive, Sherry House, will join Ford first as finance vice president in early June. In that position, she'll be working to transition into the CFO role by early 2025, according to the release.

In the meantime, current CFO John Lawler will continue in his position while expanding his role to become vice chair.

Lawler has been CFO since October 2020. During this time, he helped build the company's Ford+ turnaround plan to make Ford more efficient and profitable as the company worked to expand current operations and invest billions in electric vehicles.

Ford has faced years of inflated warranty costs, including $1.9 billion in 2023. The company last year said it has a $7 billion to $8 billion annual disadvantage compared with traditional rivals due to production costs, quality issues and other operational inefficiencies.

The move comes as Ford ramps up its focus on electric vehicles. The automaker's U.S. sales jumped 10.5% in February 2024 compared with sales in February 2023, thanks to increases in its all-hybrid and all-electric vehicle sales. The results included an 81% jump in all-electric vehicles.

"Make no mistake, EVs are coming, EVs are part of the future," Lawler told CNBC back in February.

Still, the unit is not yet profitable. As part of its 2024 guidance, first released in February, Ford said it expected its EV business to lose between $5 billion and $5.5 billion this year.

House served as CFO at Lucid Motors for nearly three years until last December. Over that time, the company went public, started producing and delivering its luxury EVs, and opened manufacturing plants in the U.S. and Saudi Arabia. She's also held roles at Alphabet -backed autonomous-driving technology company Waymo and General Motors .

"Sherry adds an important leadership dimension to Ford as we urgently build a profitable EV business, generate new and recurring revenue streams, and create a more dynamic and resilient company," Ford President and CEO Jim Farley said in the release.

Ford reorganized its operations in 2022, splitting EVs and legacy autos into two separate units to streamline the growing EV business and maximize profits.
Vadym Buinov | Moment | Getty Images

Working parents, guardians or caretakers know the challenge of striking the delicate balance between work and care responsibilities. From paid parental leave to quality health-care coverage and equal pay that cover child care costs, it's become a priority for workers to find an employer that recognizes parents have specific needs. With no federal oversight of workplace benefits like paid leave and caregiving policies, corporate leaders are being asked to take the lead. CNBC partner Just Capital looked through policy disclosures at America's largest companies to find the best in the country at meeting these needs. "Americans are very clear about what they believe companies should prioritize: their workers," said Alison Omens, president of Just Capital.

Top companies for parents

Goldman Sachs , American Express , Deckers Outdoor, S&P Global and Splunk are the top companies for parents in 2024, according to Just Capital's research. All five companies offer the following benefits: 20 or more weeks of paid parental leave for both primary and secondary caregivers; parental leave parity for all caregivers; and backup subsidized dependent care for their employees. "What the pandemic uncovered and remains true today, is that for working parents, particularly for mothers who disproportionately provide caregiving, a key part is their paid parental leave," said Omens.

Courtesy: Lauren and Mario Washington
Brad Smith, vice chair and president of Microsoft, speaks at Gateway Technical College in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, on May 8, 2024.

A House committee wants Microsoft 's top lawyer, Brad Smith, to attend a hearing this month on exploits of the company's software that resulted in hackers obtaining U.S. government officials' emails.

Politicians regularly request that technology companies send their leaders to Washington. The CEOs of Alphabet, Meta and TikTok have all answered questions from members of Congress in recent years. Microsoft, the world's most valuable public company, sells subscriptions to email software that's pervasive in business and government, making it an obvious target for hackers.

A proposed hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security, at 10 a.m. ET on May 22 in Washington, would go over Microsoft's response to China's breach of U.S. government officials' email accounts, which the company disclosed last summer. The attack involved accounts belonging to Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo, the Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., and Nicholas Burns, the U.S. ambassador to China.

But Smith might not necessarily show up at the time the committee asked about in a letter it sent him on Thursday.

"We're always committed to providing Congress with information that is important to the nation's security, and we look forward to discussing the specifics of the best time and way to do this," a Microsoft spokesperson told CNBC in an email on Thursday.

Last month, the Cyber Safety Review Board said in a 34-page report on the attack that "Microsoft's customers would benefit from its CEO and board of directors directly focusing on the company's security culture."

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella directed employees to put security first in a memo last week. The company announced operational changes that address shortcomings that the independent federal board identified in the report.

Charlie Bell, executive vice president for security, said the Microsoft would "improve the accuracy, effectiveness, transparency, and velocity of public messaging and customer engagement" after the board expressed concern about the company not correcting an error in a corporate blog post for months.

In January, Microsoft reported another cyberattack. This time, Russian intelligence gained access to some of the company's top executives' email accounts.

Committee chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in their letter inviting Smith to the hearing that they were encouraged by the company's plans to overhaul its security practices. But they said the company's failure to stop attacks put Americans at risk.

"Given the gravity of the issues discussed above and the need for thorough examination and oversight, it is critical that you appear before the committee," Green and Thompson wrote.

WATCH: Microsoft needs to prioritize security over feature development: Former CISA Director Chris Krebs
"It's definitely an earthquake." That's how American diplomat Richard Haass described the stunning declaration by U.S. President Joe Biden that his administration would stop supplying certain weapons to Israel if it went ahead with a planned invasion of Rafah in the Gaza Strip. "This was building up for a while, and Rafah was the straw that broke the camel's back," Haass, former president of the Council on Foreign Relations and policy advisor during the George W. Bush administration, said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Haaretz. "There's real skepticism in the administration that Rafah will bring about a deal for the hostages, like the Israelis have been saying." The last several weeks have seen a fraught back and forth between Israel and Hamas and the Qatari, Egyptian and American mediators trying to come up with a deal that will allow a cease-fire between the warring parties and a release of the hostages still held by the Palestinian militant group. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has long pushed for an invasion of Rafah  Gaza's southernmost city where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering  saying that it's essential to defeating Hamas and winning the war. Numerous governments and humanitarian aid organizations including the United Nations and the WHO have warned of the catastrophic humanitarian consequences of an invasion in the overcrowded enclave that's already been ravaged by military strikes, disease and famine.

Following the Israeli army's ground incursions into certain neighborhoods east of Rafah, located in the southern Gaza Strip, Palestinians residing in the area continue to migrate from the eastern neighborhoods of the city towards the west of Khan Yunis on May 09, 2024. Ashraf Amr | Anadolu | Getty Images

"I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they haven't gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities  that deal with that problem," Biden said in an interview with CNN broadcast Thursday. "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," he said, when asked if the 2,000-pound bombs that the U.S. sends to Israel have killed civilians.

Pentagon confirms weapons shipment pause to Israel

The Pentagon confirmed Wednesday that the administration paused the delivery to Israel of a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. Biden and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin reiterated Washington's "ironclad" support for Israel, but Austin told lawmakers that "it's about having the right kinds of weapons for the task at hand" and that the U.S. wants to see Israel carry out "more precise" operations. "A small diameter bomb, which is a precision weapon, that's very useful in a dense, built-up environment," he said, "but maybe not so much a 2,000-pound bomb that could create a lot of collateral damage." Netanyahu remains undeterred, saying that Israel will "stand alone" and fight "with our fingernails" if U.S. weapons shipments stopped. Many other Israeli lawmakers attacked Biden and the U.S. for the announcement, despite the U.S. being Israel's single biggest supporter and source of military funding and weapons on the world stage.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant (L) visits army units on the border between Israel and Gaza Strip near Rafah, Gaza on May 07, 2024. The Israeli army issued immediate evacuation orders early Monday for Palestinians in the eastern neighborhoods of Rafah and called on them to move to the town of al-Mawasi in southern Gaza. Israeli Ministry of Defense | Anadolu | Getty Images

Itamar Ben Gvir, Israel's far-right national security minister, posted on X simply writing: "Hamas [heart emoji] Biden." Biden's warning marked the first time the president, a staunch supporter of Israel and a self-proclaimed Zionist, has paused or threatened to fully halt any arms shipments to the Jewish state. It's also important to note that the paused shipments in question may still be delivered at a later date, and that it reportedly does not apply to the $26.4 billion security assistance package for Israel already approved by Congress in April.

Will it actually impact anything?

Israeli security experts say the pause won't impact planned operations in Rafah, while other analysts say the move is largely symbolic but aims to send a serious message. Israeli troops on Tuesday took control of the Gaza side of the vital Rafah border crossing and have been amassing troops there and carrying out strikes on some parts of the city. "Despite the Biden administration withholding critical munitions from Israel in order to force the delay or halt of Israel's Rafah operation, it's unlikely that these munitions were the integral weapon required for Israel's planned operation," Avi Melamed, a former Israeli intelligence official and regional analyst, said. Melamed argued that "Biden's statements embolden Hamas, Iran and put U.S. allies in the region at risk," but that he expects "slow and precise" operations by Israeli forces in Rafah, by which means he believes "Israel is likely to avoid a direct collision course with the Biden administration's latest position."

watch now

Clayton Allen, U.S. director at political risk firm Eurasia Group, called Biden's decision "a headline-grabbing move that has some eventual impact on Israeli capabilities," but added that it "doesn't hit at the bulk of U.S. assistance or really diminish what they can do in the coming weeks." Others praised the move. Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont said it must be a "first step." "Our leverage is clear," Sanders said in a statement. "Over the years, the United States has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahu's horrific war against the Palestinian people."

Meanwhile, the nonprofit organization Democracy for the Arab World Now, or DAWN, which is focused on U.S. policy and human rights in the Middle East, said in a statement that the Biden administration's "suspension of massive bombs to Israel is an important but long overdue acknowledgement that Israel has been using American weapons to indiscriminately kill Palestinian civilians in violation of the most basic laws of war." CNBC has contacted the Israel Defense Forces for comment.

Children sit back on a truck as Palestinians with their packed belongings, continue to depart from the eastern neighborhoods of the city due to ongoing Israeli attacks in Rafah, Gaza on May 8, 2024. Ali Jadallah | Anadolu | Getty Images
Jim Simons attends the IAS Einstein Gala at Pier 60 at Chelsea Piers in New York City.

Jim Simons, a mathematician who founded the most successful quantitative hedge fund of all time, passed away on Friday in New York City, his foundation announced on its website.

Pioneering mathematical models and algorithms to make investment decisions, Simons left behind a track record at Renaissance Technologies that rivaled that of legends such as Warren Buffett and George Soros. His flagship Medallion Fund enjoyed annual returns of 66% between 1988 to 2018, according to Gregory Zuckerman's book "The Man Who Solved the Market."

During the Vietnam War, he worked as a codebreaker for U.S. intelligence, monitoring the Soviet Union and successfully cracking a Russian code.

Simons received a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1958 and earned his Ph.D in mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley at the age of 23. The quant guru founded what became Renaissance in 1978 at the age of 40 after he quit academia and decided to give a shot at trading.

Unlike most investors who studied fundamentals such as sales and earnings and profit margins to evaluate a company's worth, Simons relied entirely on an automated trading system to take advantage of market inefficiencies and trading patterns.

"I have no opinion on any stocks. ... The computer has its opinions and we slavishly follow them," Simons said in a CNBC interview in 2016.
Ariel Gonzalez Garcia stands next to Civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen as he holds a press conference on recent charges against three jailers in connection to a 2022 assault at the Harris County Jail that left Ariel Gonzalez Garcia in a coma, he is photographed on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Ariel Gonzalez Garcia stands next to Civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen as he holds a press conference on recent charges against three jailers in connection to a 2022 assault at the Harris County Jail that left Ariel Gonzalez Garcia in a coma, he is photographed on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Maura Nieto, partner to Ariel Gonzalez Garcia ( right ) speaks next to Civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen ( left) as they hold a press conference on recent charges against three jailers in connection to a 2022 assault at the Harris County Jail that left Ariel Gonzalez Garcia in a coma, they are photographed on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

Three jailers indicted in the injury of 48-year-old Adael Gonzalez Garcia in November 2022 have been relieved of duty and are no longer working at the jail, officials with the Harris County Sheriff's Office said Friday.

The officers, charged with misdemeanor assault causing bodily injury, were relieved of duty, as required by sheriff's office protocol, about a week after a grand jury handed down the April 29 indictments, officials said in a news release.

"HCSO officers are entrusted to provide care and a safe environment for those in our custody," the release stated. "We take these matters seriously and conduct an internal review of all use of force incidents. All employees are held accountable for their actions and must adhere to all protocols and policies."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The detention officers, John Ziesemer, Ezihuo Osiminibeke and Jimmy Poole, were relieved May 4 and 6 after an internal investigation into Garcia's injuries, officials said. The indictments were part of a use of force investigation, records show.

The grand jury took no action on a fourth detention officer, whom civil rights lawyer Randall Kallinen said surrendered a license that allowed him to be a jailer. The jury declined to indict a fifth individual in connection with Garcia's injuries, Kallinen said. The sheriff's office did not elaborate on the status of their employment in a statement and could not be reached for additional comment.

Kallinen surmises that felony indictments could have been sought because of the severity of Garcia's injuries but that the misdemeanor charges against the three detention officers would have been "more likely to be upheld."

"The mere fact that they're charged with assault is a good step in the right direction," Kallinen said Friday during a news conference outside the jail.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Garcia also addressed the indictments, saying the injuries have had a lasting impact on his ability to find work.

"I thank God I'm alive," Garcia said in Spanish. "My head still hurts, I get dizzy at times."

He also disputed that he fell off the bed as described in the sheriff's office account of what happened after his arrest on a Walker County warrant.

Garcia, who had been wanted on a misdemeanor DWI charge, was booked into the Harris County Jail. He purportedly fell from a top bunk bed and suffered an injury to his face. He was taken to the jail clinic for treatment. The next day, he was released from the clinic and was being escorted to another cell block when, jail staffers reported, he became combative and attempted to punch a detention officer. A struggle ensued, with Garcia falling and striking his head on the ground, authorities said.

Garcia was taken to Ben Taub Hospital, where he remained in a coma for several days.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ariel Gonzalez Garcia speaks next to Civil rights attorney Randall Kallinen as they hold a press conference on recent charges against three jailers in connection to a 2022 assault at the Harris County Jail that left Ariel Gonzalez Garcia in a coma, he is photographed on Friday, May 10, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

The indictments contend that Osiminibeke and Poole struck Garcia's head with their hands, while Ziesemer threw Garcia to the ground. The injuries put Garcia in a coma.

Kallinen, who represented Garcia in civil litigation against the county, said he requested to review surveillance video of the incident but he has yet to see it. He called on the sheriff's office Friday to require detention officers to wear body cameras, a protocol that the law enforcement agency is expected to adopt this year. More than 200 detention officers were outfitted with the cameras earlier this year.

Justin Keiter, who represents Ziesemer, described Garcia as the aggressor, alleging that he sucker-punched his client from behind while he was trying to leave the jail floor. Keiter said that he has watched surveillance footage showing that Ziesemer was acting in self-defense.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ziesmer and Osiminibeke are expected in court next week, while Poole is scheduled to return to court in July. All three are free on bail.
R1T trucks on the assembly line at the Rivian electric vehicle plant in Normal on April 11, 2022.

Once-hot electric vehicle startups  years ago fueled by low interest rates, free cash and Wall Street bullishness  are now scrambling to prove they can survive in tougher market conditions. That is if they haven't gone bankrupt already.

Chief among their talking points: cash.

Executives of Rivian Automotive, Lucid Group and Nikola Corp. this week each detailed plans to reduce costs while attempting to grow operations and make their first profits. Those efforts have ranged from job cuts and production changes to supplier rearrangements and shifting priorities.

The scramble comes as EV adoption takes hold slower than many expected and after companies spent billions in an attempt to rush vehicles to market to gain first-mover advantages in white-space segments.

Of those three automakers, Rivian is in the strongest cash position as EV adoption struggles. The company says it has enough cash to get through its big R2 launch in early 2026.

The slowdown, as well as the increased competition, has even impacted U.S. EV leader Tesla , which is in the midst of a global restructuring that includes laying off roughly 10% of its workforce.

Wall Street analysts have referred to the current state of the electric vehicle market as an "EV winter," an end to so-called EV Euphoria or, more optimistically, a temporary pullback that carmakers will need to overcome for long-term gains.

"US EV adoption likely entered an air pocket after having penetrated initial adopters & specific regions," Citi analyst Itay Michaeli wrote in a Thursday investor note. "The situation will not change overnight, but we see reason for optimism over the next 12-18 months."
The flags of the U.S. and Germany are on the table at a bilateral meeting between German Economics Minister Habeck and U.S. Secretary of State Blinken at a hotel on the Gendarmenmarkt. Photo: Christoph Soeder/dpa (Photo by Christoph Soeder/picture alliance via Getty Images)

After years of China being Germany's main trading partner, the U.S. looks like it's quietly taking that top spot as the year progresses.

Combined exports and imports between Germany and the U.S. totaled 63 billion euros ($68 billion) between January and March of 2024. Meanwhile, trade between Germany and China came to just below 60 billion euros, according to CNBC calculations. Reuters first reported the change on Thursday.

Several factors played a role in the move, Carsten Brzeski, global head of macro research at ING Research, told CNBC.

"This shift is the result of several factors: strong growth in the U.S. has boosted demand for German products. [] At the same time, decoupling from China, weaker domestic demand in China and China being able to produce goods it previously imported from Germany (mainly cars) reduced German exports to China," he said.

China has been Germany's biggest trading partner for years, but the gap between China and the U.S. narrowed in recent years. The U.S. has also long been a bigger market for German exports than China, Holger Schmieding, chief economist at Berenberg Bank, told CNBC.

While the U.S. share of German exports had been growing in recent years, China's has been decreasing, he noted. "The Chinese economy is stuttering and German companies are facing stiffer competition from subsidised Chinese firms," Schmieding said.

The key difference is that now the U.S. is also becoming more important when it comes to imports, he pointed out.
A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile (according to the Ukrainian authorities, S-400) in the area of a cottage residential development in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 10, 2024.

Ukraine sent reserve units to the border areas of the northeastern Kharkiv region, seeking to shore up its defenses against intensifying Russian attacks.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry said in a Google-translated post via Telegram that Russian forces sought to break through Ukraine's defense line in Kharkiv at approximately 5 a.m. local time, but were beaten back.

Oleh Syniehubov, head of Ukraine's Kharkiv region, said that "the armed forces of Ukraine confidently hold their positions" and "not a single meter has been lost."

In a separate post, Syniehubov said that "massive" Russian shelling in the Kharkiv region had killed at least two people and injured five others.

Russian attacks in eastern Ukraine have intensified in recent weeks, which analysts say likely reflects the Kremlin's intent to secure tactical gains before the arrival of Western military aid to the front lines.
Harris County detention officer Robert Robertson was arrested Wednesday as he reported to work at the Harris County Jail at 701 N. San Jacinto. Elizabeth Conley/Staff photographer Adael Garcia in 2022. Randall L. Kallinen

A grand jury has indicted three Harris County jailers for their alleged role in the injury of a jail inmate in 2022 that left the 48-year-old in a coma, records show.

Adael Gonzalez Garcia was taken to Ben Taub Hospital with major injuries days after he was arrested in November 2022 on an outstanding DWI warrant issued in Walker County and booked into the Harris County Jail. The officers have been indicted on misdemeanor charges of assault causing bodily injury, records show.

Garcia was sent to the jail clinic for injuries to his face after falling from a top bunk bed at the jail on Nov. 24, 2022. The next day, as jailers were walking him back from the clinic, he triggered the altercation after he apparently tried to strike a detention officer, according to the sheriff's office.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Jail staff said the struggle ended when Garcia fell, and his head hit the ground. However, for nearly two years, Garcia's family and attorney Randall L. Kallinen have asked for surveillance video of the altercation. Kallinen said he has yet to see a video.

HOUSTON POLITICS: Harris County leaders want to get to root cause of ongoing problems at jail

The indictments issued last month allege two detainment officers, Ezihuo Osiminibeke and Jimmy Poole, struck Garcia's head with their hands, and John Ziesemer threw Garcia to the ground.

Justin Alan Keiter, who represents Ziesemer, said that Garcia was the aggressor who sucker-punched him from behind while he was trying to leave the floor. Keiter said that he has seen surveillance footage showing that Ziesemer was acting in self-defense as well as in defense of other inmates.

"The case against my client is the most egregious. That man did everything right and nothing wrong," he said. "That man was the definition of professionalism in the Harris County Jail."

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Garcia's family and Kallinen have been critical of overcrowding in the Harris County jail and a lack of transparency.

"The Harris County Jail was very slow to react," Kallinen said Thursday. "How long do you have to look at a video to see something was done wrong?"

Garcia is taking medication to address the seizures he has experienced since the injury. After the injury, he was left in a vegetative state, and a piece of plastic had to be used to replace a missing chunk of bone from his skull, Kallinen said.

Garcia, his family and Kallien have scheduled a news conference for Friday morning to discuss the charges and reform within the jail, including advocating for body-worn cameras for detainment officers.

Months after the incident involving Garcia, 31-year-old Jacoby Pillow died in jail custody after he apparently "assaulted a detention officer," the sheriff's office said. Jailers restrained Pillow and took him back to his cell after he was cleared by medical staff. Later the same morning, he was found unresponsive and pronounced dead at a local hospital. Civil rights groups also pointed to overcrowding having an effect on jail staff.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In 2021, 23-year-old Jaquaree Simmons was found dead in his Harris County Jail cell, and forensic examiners determined he died from blunt force trauma.
In a study commissioned by ASICS, the largest global examination of the exercise gender gap showed the profound impact of regular physical activity on women's mental health.

The Move Her Mind study, which surveyed nearly 25,000 individuals and conducted 26 focus groups worldwide, unveiled a direct correlation between women's level of physical activity and their emotional well-being.

Participants reported a notable increase in happiness by 52%, confidence by 48% and energy levels by 50% when engaging in regular exercise compared to periods of inactivity.

Furthermore, exercise emerged as a potent tool for managing negative emotions, with participants indicating a 67% decrease in stress and an 80% reduction in frustration during active periods.

Despite the evident benefits, women encounter various obstacles in prioritizing exercise, as highlighted by study lead Dr. Dee Dlugonski.

"Regardless of their level of activity, women are facing barriers to being as active as they would like to be," Dlugonski said, according to People.

Time constraints emerged as a significant barrier, with over half of the women citing insufficient time for physical activity. Additionally, caregiving responsibilities, particularly motherhood, significantly impede women's ability to maintain consistent exercise routines, with activity levels plummeting during childbearing and child-rearing years.

The study also shed light on the enduring impact of gendered expectations, with women facing societal pressures that limit their opportunities for physical activity. Even as children grow older, mothers struggle to reintegrate exercise into their lives, citing time constraints and work commitments as primary deterrents.

Meanwhile, in recognition of Mental Health Awareness Month, ASICS launched a special edition shoe, the GEL-CUMULUS 26, featuring green detailing symbolizing mental health awareness. For each pair sold in May, ASICS pledges a $3 donation to the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), supporting initiatives aimed at promoting mental well-being.

Koichiro Kodama, President and CEO of ASICS North America, expressed the company's commitment to the holistic well-being of people, emphasizing the role of movement in nurturing both body and mind.

Through the GEL-CUMULUS 26 campaign, ASICS aims to raise awareness and support mental health initiatives, embodying their founding principle of "Sound Mind, Sound Body."
Police respond to a fatal shooting in the 2400 block of Wayside on April 1, 2024. Courtesy/OnScene.tv

A ditched car and dropped cellphone were the key pieces of evidence that led Houston Police to nightclub owner Hernan Torres and his two sons in connection with a brazen gas station shooting that killed the son of a Dominican politician, court documents revealed.

The phone, which belonged to the father, was left at the scene, abandoned as the accused shooters fled the April 1 shooting in a hurry, according to court records. Investigators used the phone to link Torres Sr. and his sons, Hernan Jr. and Hernando, to the attack that left Luis Pacheco Rojas, 34, dead and another man wounded outside a southeast Houston gas station in the 2400 block of Wayside.

MORE ON HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM: How Harris County is using its $100 million public safety bond funding

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Surveillance cameras at the gas station caught the moment when two vehicles boxed in a Cadillac SUV with Pacheco Rojas and three other men outside the gas station, prosecutors said. Torres and his 19- and 25-year-old sons emerged from the two cars, a Dodge Charger and Mercedes Benz sedan, and exchanged words with the four men, authorities said.

The first round of gunfire appeared to come from the Cadillac, before any of the Torres men, one of whom was shown brandishing a firearm, had a chance to open fire, investigators wrote in charging papers.

Houston police looking for three gunmen in 'targeted' Wayside shooting that left 1 dead, 1 wounded. Photos courtesy of the Houston Police Department

The father and son managed to return fire, regardless, and struck Pacheco Rojas and another man as they tried fleeing the barrage of gunfire, according to police.

Pacheco Rojas, an aspiring rapper and DJ, was the son of Alfredo Pacheco, the president of the Chamber of Deputies in the Dominican Republic.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Police described the shooting as targeted, but neither they nor prosecutors have drawn any connections between Alfredo Rojas death and his fathers political position. A prosecutor, Bryan Honeycutt, said how the Torres family knew Pacheco Rojas, if at all, remained under investigation.

Police tracked the familys Dodge Charger to an auto body shop in South Houston, where security cameras showed two men leaving the car there and walking away. The Charger, which still had its license plate intact, was registered to the Torres familys home, blocks away from where the gas station shooting unfolded.

Investigators also found gunfire damage to the Charger, without elaborating in court documents how that damage happened.

Torres Sr. was arrested in Philadelphia and is expected to return to Harris County to face the murder charge in connection with Pacheco Rojas death, as well as two counts of aggravated assault of a deadly weapon linked to an unrelated shooting outside the familys night club in February.

Despite his recent arrest, authorities had eyed Torres Sr. as a possible murder suspect within days of Pacheco Rojas death, according to court records.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Prosecutors on April 4 identified the father as a suspect in an unrelated murder case in bail paperwork for the assault case. In that incident, Torres Sr. ordered security at his El Trebo VIP club at 6500 Dixie Drive to remove two patrons. Once outside, Torres Sr., who identified himself as a club owner to the patrons, shot one of the men in the leg, according to court records.

Torres Sr., unlike his sons, has a criminal history. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to intoxicated manslaughter.

Hernan Torres, Jr. is shown during an appearance in the Harris County 338th District Criminal Court Wednesday, May 8, 2024, in Houston. Hernan Torres, Sr. and his two sons, Hernan Torres, Jr. and Hernando Torres, are charged with murder over the April 1 shooting death of Luis Alfredo Pacheco Rojas. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Norwood Richardson, a court-appointed defense attorney for the eldest son, argued in court Wednesday that self-defense may have played a role in the shooting and that video evidence would corroborate that.

The sons are being held in the Harris County Jail on $2 million for their role in the shooting.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Richardson was adamant that his client, Torres Jr., 25, should have a lower bail amount, noting that he, like his brother, was born and raised in Houston. Both sons lack a criminal history.

Judge Ramona Franklin in the 338th District Court declined to lower his bail, deeming that the amount set earlier this week by a magistrate was sufficient. Court records indicate that Torres Jr. also described himself as a nightclub owner.

The younger son, Hernando, is not expected to appear in court until next week.

A judge signed an order barring the father and son from being housed near each other at the jail.
Student Nova Uribe, 13, speaks to Houston ISD's Board of Managers during their monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

The Houston ISD Board of Managers unanimously approved two measures Thursday allowing the district to cut dozens of staff and teaching positions as part of a reduction in force before the beginning of the 2024-25 school year.

The boards approval means HISD can proceed with cuts to any current campus-level jobs, including nurses; librarians; counselors; assistant principals; principals; reading, math and science teachers; fine arts and other elective instructors; speech therapists; magnet coordinators; and special education coordinators.

The full extent of the districts future personnel cuts is unclear as the agenda items did not state the total number of planned reductions. The agenda items also do not require HISD to cut from all of the listed positions. The district has already begun sending notices to employees in certain roles, such as wraparound specialists, custodians and maintenance workers.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

State-appointed Superintendent Mike Miles said in a news conference before the board meeting that almost every single HISD department would be shrinking due to budget cuts, but he did not say how many total employees would lose their positions after the end of the school year.

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: Join our private Zoom event with HISD Superintendent Mike Miles

Miles also said that an undetermined number of teachers and principals received notices this week that they will be out of jobs based on performance metrics, including instruction and achievement data, but he said those cuts were unrelated to the districts planned reduction in force. He said the district would share the full number of people being let go in a few weeks.

HISD School Board member Paula Mendoza joins Houston ISD's Board of Managers as they hold their monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

Board members approved the reduction-in-force measures as part of the consent agenda, which meant they did not discuss the agenda items before voting.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

However, HISD students, parents and teachers spent about three hours speaking out against the proposed staff cuts and other agenda items in one-minute increments. Multiple speakers ended their comments with No transparency. No trust. No bond, referencing their lack of support for a multibillion-dollar school bond election being planned for this November.

HISD wraparound specialist Rocio Puente said she was one of the 170 campus-level wraparound specialists who were notified last week that they would be laid off at the end of the year. She said eliminating these roles  which provide resources such as school supplies, food and clothing  deprives students of essential support and the ability to succeed.

Our role is crucial to the overall well-being of our students as we ensure their basic needs are met so they can thrive academically and personally, Puente said during the meeting. How could you take this away from our students and what gives you the right to destroy the lives of our children by setting them up for failure?

HISD School Board member Paula Mendoza listens to a community member speak during Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer HISD School Board member Rolando Martinez joins Houston ISD's Board of Managers as they hold their monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer HISD School Board members Cassandra Bandy and Janette Linder join Houston ISD's Board of Managers as they hold their monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer Superintendent Mike Miles listens to a community member speak during the Houston ISD's Board of Managers monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

SUBSCRIBER EXCLUSIVE: Join our private Zoom event with HISD Superintendent Mike Miles

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

HISD, like several other school districts in Texas, has had to prepare for significant budget cuts in the upcoming school year as it loses federal COVID-19 relief money, known as Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, sees student enrollment decline and because state lawmakers refused to increase school funding during the previous legislative session.

Effective budget management is paramount for closing the 2035 competencies skills gaps of creativity, critical thinking teamwork, problem solving and resiliency, while ensuring financial sustainability, said Shannon Swoope, a parent of two HISD students. I encourage HISD to build a budget, not take up Miles ax to the previous budget.

Multiple attendees also spoke out about what they described as a lack of transparency in the budget process. The district currently has one budget workshop planned this year on Thursday, when it plans to disclose the majority of its financial plans. The district held five budget workshops during the previous academic year, beginning with one on Feb. 16, 2023.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Meghna Goswami, a parent of two HISD students, said she understood difficult decisions needed to be made about district staffing and programs in the budget for next year, but she was surprised by the lack of communication from the district on its plans for cuts to services that students and schools would be facing next year.

Houston ISD's Board of Managers hold their monthly board meeting on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Houston. Raquel Natalicchio/Staff photographer

As a public entity that's taxpayer funded, it is imperative that HISD has a transparent budgeting process, not just a compliance step after budget decisions are already made, but one that is thoughtful and deliberate and includes community input, Goswami said.

The Board of Managers is expected to vote on whether to approve the budget during its regular meeting next month. The school board will also review the names of everyone affected by the staff cuts during a future meeting if a campus or department determines that reductions are necessary.

Elizabeth Sander contributed to this report.
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.

Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how spread bets and CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.


Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup.
Julian Gill is an investigative reporter for the Houston Chronicle.

His wide-ranging work on the medical beat, including a three-part narrative on a COVID-19 lung transplant patient, was recognized at the 2022 Texas Managing Editors awards, where he received top honors in the specialty reporting category and second place in the star reporter of the year category.

In addition to his extensive reporting on COVID, he has written about the effects of the Texas abortion ban, the maternal mortality crisis, and advances in the Texas Medical Center.

He joined the paper in 2018 after two years at the Denton Record-Chronicle, where he covered police and county government. He graduated from the University of North Texas. A San Antonio native, he is a die-hard Spurs fan and avid runner.
This week I went to a packed church in North London to say farewell to a very great man. He was Ray Lewis, 61, my former deputy mayor of London, former prison officer, former priest  and one of the most inspiring teachers I have ever seen in action.

There were hundreds of us in that congregation, singing, clapping, cheering our praises of Rays life and work, and of course there were many of his former pupils.

One after the other they came to the front and explained what Ray had done for them, how he had changed their lives. They wept tears of gratitude.

They came from some pretty tough parts of London, and some of them  young black boys and girls  had grown up without father figures. If things had gone differently, they could have been sucked into Londons gangs. They could have been victims of knife crime, bleeding out on the pavements  in the resurgent plague that has just been chronicled, in these pages, by Harriet Sergeant.

They could have been another statistic on the wretched record of Mayor Khan.

Boris Johnson with the late Ray Lewis, who was the former deputy mayor of London

Ray Lewis, 61, gave kids in his East Side Young Leaders Academy such self-confidence that they went on to win places and scholarships at some of the best schools in the country

Each of them, however, had been blessed by Providence, and somehow referred to East Side Young Leaders Academy  a kind of boot camp Ray founded over 20 years ago in a modest-looking hall in the Borough of Newham.

There, under the tutelage of the booming-voiced but diminutive Guyanan, those kids discovered discipline.

Ray gave them such self-confidence and ambition that they went on to win places and scholarships at some of the best schools in the country: Rugby, Lancing, Eton, Sherborne School for Girls, City of London, and others. They went on from these schools to some of the best universities in the world.

From tiny beginnings, East Side Young Leaders Academy has nurtured cohort after cohort of kids, so that there are now 1,300 alumni out there already, and with three more academies, and growing partnerships with private schools, there are more and more young people who have been scrambling up a ladder of opportunity that was invented by Ray Lewis.

I sat there listening to those tributes, and I wondered if there was ever an educational mission so noble and so fine. Surely no one could be so blinkered or so crabbed as to want to kick away that ladder.

East Side Young Leaders Academy  a kind of boot camp Ray founded over 20 years ago  functions from a modest-looking hall in the Borough of Newham

Surely no politician would ever be so foolish as to make it more difficult for those young people to fulfil their potential.

Would they? Oh but they would. Never, ever underestimate the sheer spitefulness of the left, their relentless desire to seek out the tall poppies and scythe off their heads.

The truth is that for the past 20 years the London Lefties have resented Ray. They have deplored his methods. They have moaned about his parade-ground discipline. They have whinged about his jokes  and his utter refusal to be politically correct.

By various ruses they have repeatedly tried to frustrate his ambitions and to close down his school  regardless of the needs of his charges. They resented Ray because he was the living, breathing repudiation of their miserablist socialist ideology.

Their message to those kids was that their fate was sealed at birth, and that their chances in life depended utterly on their class, their race and the whole ineluctable socio-economic matrix of their background.

Rays message to those kids was totally different.

Ray said, No. He said, to hell with all that Lefty fatalism.

Ray told them they could achieve great things.

He believed  as I do  that you will find talent and potential pretty evenly distributed in our country; and he thought that it was his job, with his unique formula, to unleash that potential.

READ MORE: BORIS JOHNSON: Our desperate fight to save Donny the dying duckling - and what it tells us about the nature of humanity... Advertisement

Those young leaders could feel the sincerity of his belief in them  and of course that made them believe in themselves; and that is at least partly why they succeeded academically, and continue to succeed in so many walks of life.

For two decades the formula has worked, and the programme has expanded, because the fee-paying schools were willing and increasingly enthusiastic partners, subsidising East Side pupils, and many others, in a process that has been expanding to the point where 20 per cent of kids at Eton have some sort of financial assistance in the form of scholarships or bursaries.

Any sane person would surely want this type of support to continue. I want more and more young people to get their foot on that ladder of opportunity, because that is what I mean by levelling up  and that is one of the reasons I am now really dreading the prospect of Starmer and Labour.

If they get in, they are going to do something that Tony Blair never did, because he was much too sensible. They are going to hit the fee-paying schools with VAT at 20 per cent.

This is pure vindictiveness. It will cripple some schools. Of course we want to improve all schools in this country. Of course that is by far the most important thing we can do in politics  which is why the government I led poured in so much cash, lifted starting salaries for teachers, funded teachers to go to schools and areas that really needed them, expanded the academy programme and much more besides.

But how does it help all these schools to crucify the relatively small fee-paying sector? It will do nothing to raise standards or attainment, not in a single classroom. It will do nothing to improve our national productivity, or add a penny to GDP. Quite the reverse.

It will mean that fee-paying schools are forced to sell more and more of their places to affluent kids from overseas, so that young people in this country find it harder and harder to get in.

By walloping these schools with a 20 per cent tax, Starmer will make it much tougher for them to provide the very scholarships and bursaries that have helped kids like the pupils of Ray Lewis.

You have to wonder why Starmer is doing it, why he is being so destructive and un-Blairlike and hostile to aspiration.

Is it for the tax revenue? Of course not. The sums raised would be fiscally trivial, and subject to the law of diminishing returns, since the tax would tend to put schools out of business.

Boris during his schoolboy days at Eton, in 1979

Keir Starmer plans to hit fee-paying schools with VAT at 20 per cent

There are some who think it is just a gesture to his Lefty backbenches, and that Starmer - who attended a fee-paying school - will find an excuse, once in office, for not going ahead. I fear it is worse than that.

The terrible truth about Starmer is that he is way to the left of Blair, and in attacking these schools he is revealing his true colours, and the true instincts of the Labour party today.

They want to punish excellence. Tories want to promote excellence everywhere.

Labour wants to level down. Tories want to level up.

It is clear that Starmers Labour party want to take away opportunity from those who need it most.

When I think what a Labour government would mean for the life-chances of those kids in Rays academies, it makes me boil with rage.

Starmers lot just want to punish aspiration  and they must not be allowed to succeed.

As for Starmer himself - who benefited from a bursary at his private school - how utterly monstrous that he should now make it so much harder for schools to offer exactly the same kind of financial help that gave him such a crucial leg-up in life.
A woman who was born without a vagina, womb or cervix has asked her mother if she's sad about never having grandchildren in a new family podcast exploring the relationships between children and their parents.

TV presenter Vogue Williams speaks to mothers and fathers and their adult children to discuss subjects theyve rarely, if ever, talked about in The Mail's new podcast, The Apple & The Tree.

These are deep, intimate, and revealing conversations that move through love, grief, shame, sexuality, religion, addiction, identity and so much more, recorded in guests own homes, with Vogue unpacking what's been shared at the end of each episode.

In the fourth episode, Vogue travels to Reading to meet Ally, 42, and her mother Wendy, 74.

Ally has Mayer-Rokitansky-Kuster-Hauser (MRKH) Syndrome, a rare congenital disorder meaning she was born without a vagina, womb or cervix - though this was only discovered when she was a teenager.

Listen to the full interview with Ally & Wendy on The Apple & The Tree podcast:

In the fourth episode, Vogue travels to Reading to meet Ally, 42, and her mother Wendy, 74 (both pictured)

Understandably, this was extremely difficult for Ally and her mother to deal with, and Ally lived through some wild years with difficult relationships and risky behaviour.

Now an advocate and spokesperson for the MRKH community, Ally says she has moved past any shame or regret.

Wendy had an 'ordinary' pregnancy with Ally, who also has an older brother, and they didn't notice anything different until Ally was a teenager.

By the time Ally came to take her GCSEs, she still hadn't got her first period. After going to the doctors, she was sent away for nine months as medical professionals just assumed it would begin at some point.

After another nine months, still Ally hadn't got her period.

She said: 'They don't draw conclusions, you don't believe those conclusions exist, they don't go to worst case scenarios, because you don't believe that there's a worst-case scenario.'

Despite externally looking like a woman with wide hips and breasts, Ally was eventually diagnosed with MRKH syndrome after an internal exam discovered she didn't have a vagina, womb or cervix.

Women with MRKH are able to make their own vagina through options such as vaginal lengthening or dilation, but this can be a difficult and traumatic process.

TV presenter Vogue Williams candidly speaks to parents and their adult children to discuss subjects theyve rarely, if ever, talked about in her new podcast Apple & The Tree

After dropping out of school a month before her A-Levels, Ally went to Australia to lose her virginity, as she wanted to be in a place where no one knew about her diagnosis.

She said: 'A lot of woman with MRKH go on to be a little promiscuous to prove womanhood. You want to prove your worth, you're like "I am desirable, if I can't have kids I want to do this right".'

Ally had always wanted to ask her mother if she's sad she'll never have grandchildren - and the podcast offered her the perfect space to do so for the first time.

But Wendy's response was far from what Ally expected.

She said: 'Oh, I don't give a f***!'

Ally asked: 'You don't? You don't feel robbed, you don't wonder what she would look like?'

Wendy responded: 'No, honestly and truly. No, I really didn't Ally, I genuinely, truly really didn't. As much as I love you, I'm not naturally a maternal person. I only loved you because you were mine.

'Because I knew early on that you weren't going to be able to have kids, I adjusted to reality.

'That's the funniest thing you've said. Never ever ever. I'm not just bulls***ing, I'm speaking my truth.'

Ally and Wendy (both pictured) have always been close, but Ally's MRKH diagnosis brought them even closer together

As a teenager, Ally (right) discovered she had MRKH, a rare congenital disorder that means she was born without a vagina, womb or cervix

Ally said: 'That's good, I sometimes feel like maybe I judge me, maybe society judges me, because you get to age where you're thinking "I should be married, I should have children".

'I'm a great writer, I'm a great advocate, but sometimes I think I've had a catalogue of difficulties. Self-worth and real self-esteem has always been our tricky points together.'

In the podcast, Ally and Wendy demonstrate the closeness of their relationship by candidly discussing topics such as eating disorders, self-harm, drugs and relationships.

Ally said: 'I have had such a wonderful close relationship with my mum since I was diagnosed at the age of 16 and I think we demonstrate how we can have really hard conversations about difficult topics.'

Wendy added: 'The dynamic of our relationship because of MRKH has gone deeper, more personal than the bulk of relationships between mother and daughter. It is a blessing actually.'

Listen to the latest episode of our podcast The Apple & The Tree, hosted by Vogue Williams on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. New episodes released every Friday.

The Apple & The Tree Podcast: listen wherever you get your podcasts
Ken Ernst prepares to treat wood framing with chemicals to combat mold on Sept. 5, 2017, after Tropical Storm Harvey flooded his River Plantation home in Conroe. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

Homes in the Greater Houston area that experienced recent flooding are at risk of developing mold because of the excess moisture and standing water.

Mold can pose a risk to everyone entering a home, but its hazardous to people with asthma, allergies and those with compromised immune systems. Mold is a type of fungus that sprouts from microscopic spores floating in the air.

According to the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, a home has 24 to 48 hours to dry out before its assumed it has mold growth. Mold can grow in walls, furniture, cardboard boxes, books, carpet, foods, insulation, showers, sinks, bathtubs, toilets, refrigerators, air conditioning vents and many other places inside a home.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

MORE FLOOD ADVICE: Leave flood-displaced critters alone, Texas wildlife experts say

Dr. Luis Ostrosky-Zeichner, chief of infectious diseases and epidemiology with UTHealth Houston, helped conduct a study following Hurricane Harvey which found a spike in hospitalizations in Houston with patients with invasive mold infections, primarily in people who had weakened immune systems.

When you inhale the spores of these molds, they get into your lungs and normally your immune system is pretty good about controlling and getting rid of them, but when you have massive exposure, you overwhelm your immune system, Ostrosky-Zeichner said. When your immune system is not working well, you have no chance in controlling it.

Invasive mold infections usually begin in the lungs, where the spores begin eating away at the lungs by creating little cavities. The spores will eventually enter the bodys bloodstream that can cause people to get sick and potentially die, Ostrosky-Zeichner said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Mold can appear as little pink or black substances growing in moist or humid areas around the home. The CDC recommends removing mold growth from hard surfaces using commercial products, soap and water or beach. If one does decide to use bleach to get rid of mold, the CDC says:

Never mix bleach with ammonia or other household cleaners.

Open windows and doors to provide fresh air while using it.

Wear non-porous gloves and use protective eye wear.

If you are entering a home or building with known mold damage, the CDC recommends wearing N-95 respirators, goggles or eye protection, protective gloves, long pants and waterproof boots.

The CDC also recommended using a qualified professional to investigate if a home or building has mold.
The winners of the BookTok awards will be revealed at the end of July

TikTok Book Awards have returned for a second year, revealing a new cohort of BookTokkers competing for the title of BookTok creator of the year.

Videos about reading and creative writing have gained such momentum in recent years that the app has reintroduced its book awards in the UK and Ireland this year.

With more than 167 billion views, the BookTok community actively encourages Gen Zs across the world to pick up a book.

Behind the boom are content creators conveying their love of novels in different ways, whether by curating lists of books or reviewing them.

To celebrate their contributions, TikTok has revealed the creators nominated for the prize of BookTok Creator of the Year.

TikTok Book Awards have returned for a second year, revealing a new category of creators up for the prize of BookTok Creator of the year, including Maisie Matilda (pictured)

Industry experts will review the longlist, including previous winner Eden Victoria alongside Jack Edwards, CEO of the Publishers Association Dan Conway, and Editor of The Bookseller Philip Jones.

The public will determine the winner in the UK and Ireland through an in-app vote that will go live in July.

Elsewhere, the award ceremony will also recognise other impressive book-related feats on the platform, including International Book of The Year and Rising Star - BookTok Creator Of The Year.

Here, FEMAIL explores the contenders for the prize of BookTok creator of the year.

Maisie Matilda @maisie_matilda

It's not reading or writing that Maisie Matilda contributes to the BookTok community, but painting.

So, how does she qualify to be nominated in the category of BookTok Creator of the Year? Because she paints on books.

Maisie paints intricate designs inspired by the books straight onto the pages, and her intricate designs have racked up millions of likes.

If she's not painting Edward Cullen and Bella Swan on books from the Twilight collection, she's painting on classics, such as Pretty Woman or Pride and Prejudice.

While the artist has received 'thousands' of commission requests, she currently rejects any offers from fans to purchase her creations because she is 'overwhelmed' by her popularity and is unable to keep up, according to her Instagram.

Abby's books @abbysbooks

Abby (pictured), 24, from the UK, has racked up 400 thousand followers on the app by sharing her must-reads

24-year-old Abby, from the UK, has made her mark on BookTok by sharing her top reads with others.

Her bookshelves are lined with novels in all different shapes and sizes, and Abby provides her followers with her honest thoughts on each of them.

She's a true bookworm and loves sharing her knowledge with her 400 thousand followers.

Her fans benefit from weekly roundups and reviews of the content she has consumed that week.

And when she's not offering her thoughts on books, such as Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar or Bad Fruit by Ella King, she's making relatable memes for the BookTok community to giggle along with.

Zai Rambles - @zairambles

BookTok content creator Zai Rambles celebrates black representation across film and literature.

Moving across New York, Los Angeles, and London, Zai shares her thoughts on a range of genres.

From African mythology books to anime shows, Zai has it covered - explaining her thoughts on them along the way.

On top of making her mark in the BookTok community, Zai also runs a film club - with a particulr interest in the shows and films that were once books in their original form, such as Candice Carty-William's Queenie, which is set to become a television show.

Fantasy Anexe - @anexwilson

While other BookTok creators keep their coverage broad, @anexwilson sticks to what he knows - fantasy novels.

Based in London, the content creator knows the ins and outs of most novels in the genre, and his specialty is recommending the ones worth picking up.

However, it's clear he has a personal favourite- The Lord of the Rings, with plenty of his content discussing the epic fantasy adventure.

But Fantasy Anexe takes his love of J.R.R Tolkien's novels to the next level, dissecting each scene and sharing his thoughts to his 290 thousand followers.

Shane Donohue - @irishfella.exe

Shane Donohue (pictured) has made a name for himself by reading 'bedtime stories' to his followers

Shane Donohue from Clare, Ireland, initially started his account as a joke, but has since amassed over two million followers.

The TikTok star has gained a cult following by live streaming in the evenings and reading 'bedtime stories' to those tuned in.

He told the Irish Mirror: 'During the lockdown, I decided I'd start up again, and I saw someone reading on TikTok, and I thought I'd be funny, you know, someone with dyslexia and a lisp to read bedtime stories.'

After he launched the account, Shane received floods of messages from fans raving about how his reading helped them to unwind and have a better nights sleep.

Now, he's regularly live streams to his followers reading a range of classics, such as Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Bill Wood - @billreads

Bill Woods (pictured) behind @billreads is not just a BookTok content creator but also an established author

UK-based Bill Woods is more than just a BookTok content creator, but also the author of Let's Split Up, a thriller set to be released in September 2024 under Scholastic.

After graduating from Birmingham City University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts with honours in Film & Screenwriting, he entered the world of BookTok.

You can expect frank reviews on his TikTok channel, with a focus on young adult mystery novels.

On top of writing books and reviewing them on TikTok, he also sells books at Waterstones - practically making him an expert in his trade.

Coco -@cultofbooks

Coco loves reading, whether its fantasy, romance, or thrillers, and thats why her biggest dream in life is to own a bookstore.

The UK-based content creator adores all aspects when it comes to books, whether it's discussing them with others or setting up camp and getting stuck into a new book.

Shes racked up a loyal fan base made of 80 thousand followers on TikTok, with her fans keen to hear her thoughts on newly released novels.

And when shes not raving about her new novel, shes actively helping those less privileged by fundraising.

Stacey @literaryfling

London-based Stacey is well known in the BookTok community, regularly sharing videos on her top reads and recommendations.

Followers can expect monthly roundups of the books she has read in the past few weeks.

Not only does Stacey discuss her must-reads, but also publishing and her writing interests.

Stacey is currently pursuing her passion of becoming an author, and helps encourage others in the industry by sharing resources.
On first glance, beauty pageants seem like a glittering competition that showcases glamor and elegance - but underneath the stunning women, dazzling gowns, and sparkling tiaras is a dark industry plagued by a slew of horrific allegations.

Over the years, what was once a worldwide phenomenon watched by millions has become shrouded in scandal - from a winner who tragically took her own life over the hate she received to claims that former Miss Universe Organization co-owner Donald Trump would go into the dressing room of teenage girls at the competitions.

In the most recent shocking twist, both Miss USA 2024 and Miss Teen USA 2024 announced that they were resigning within days of one another.

Miss USA Noelia Voigt, 24, shared her shock resignation via Instagram on Monday, explaining that she wanted to focus on her 'physical and mental well-being' in a statement.

Both Miss USA 2024 Noelia Voigt and Miss Teen USA 2024 UmaSofia Srivastava (seen together) announced that they were resigning from their titles within days of one another

The announcements sent shockwaves around the beauty industry, especially after fans noticed that the first letter of each sentence of Noelia's statement spell out, 'I AM SILENCED'

Over the years, the beauty pageant industry has become shrouded in scandal. Take a look back at the rise and fall of the Miss Universe Organization

Two days later, 17-year-old Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava said she too was stepping down because her personal values 'no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.'

The back-to-back announcements sent shockwaves through the beauty pageant industry, especially after eagle-eyed fans spotted a code in Noelia's statement, with the first letter of each sentence spelling out, 'I AM SILENCED.'

Immediately, rumors erupted about what really led to the two women stepping away, with an insider accusing the Miss Universe Organization of creating 'harmful workplace conditions' and a 'toxic atmosphere' to the New York Post.

The Miss Universe Organization - which oversees the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA competitions - helped turn beauty pageants into what they are today.

They were the first to broadcast their competitions on national TV in the 1950s - and following World War II and the Great Depression, people all across America became enthralled with watching the glamorous events play out each year.

The organization worked hard to make pageants more than a superficial competition designed to highlight the most stunning women around the globe; each competitor had to pick a cause to represent, and the winners worked tirelessly to raise awareness about their topic.

On the outside, it looked like the Miss Universe Organization had everything - immense popularity while giving women a platform to speak out against important subjects that they were passionate about.

But as quick as its dazzling rise came its controversial fall, and by the late 1990s, the company had become embroiled in scandal.

Perhaps Donald was to blame. He became a co-owner of the Miss Universe Organization in 1996, but immediately faced backlash after he made comments about one winner's weight and described her as 'Miss Piggy.'

And while Donald ultimately parted ways with the organization in 2015 - after the network airing the pageants dropped them due to his controversial statements - it has continued on a downward spiral since then.

After his departure, a slew of former contestants made a series of shocking claims against him; in addition, immense scrutiny around the pageants' lack of inclusivity has swirled over the years, as many noticed that only women of certain body sizes and skin colors were chosen to compete.

Things only got worse in 2022, when DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that Miss USA's Vice President had quietly left after he faced an onslaught of horrific sexual harassment allegations.

In addition, rumors erupted later that year that the Miss USA competition had been rigged, after viewers noticed something very strange about an ad the winner had filmed.

After years of controversies and now with Noelia and UmaSofia's shock resignations, the question remains: Is this the final blow for the Miss Universe Organization or will they be able to bounce back?

Only time will tell, but in the meantime, take a look back at the rise and fall of the Miss Universe Organization - and uncover all the murky scandals that the company has faced over the years.

The glitzy rise of the Miss Universe Organization: How the company helped turn beauty pageants into a worldwide phenomenon and massive industry

P.T. Barnum would hold live beauty contests during the 1850s, where 'contestants would be displayed and judged by paying audiences, who would crown their favorite the winner'

The first official Miss America competition took place in 1921, when Atlantic City saw its numbers dwindling and decided to host a competition as a ploy to bring in some more tourists

More than 100,000 people showed up to watch the young ladies strut their stuff and vote on who was the best looking. Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman (seen) was crowned winner

Beauty pageants have been going on for more than a century; it's been said that acclaimed showman P.T. Barnum - who founded Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus - would hold live beauty contests during the 1850s, where 'contestants would be displayed and judged by paying audiences, who would crown their favorite the winner,' per Guinness World Records.

In 1951, when Miss America winner Yolande Betbeze Fox (seen) refused to pose for photos in a swimsuit, one of the event's sponsor, Catalina Swimwear decided to cut ties with the competition and start its own

The first official Miss America competition took place in 1921, when Atlantic City, New Jersey, saw its numbers dwindling and decided to host what they thought would be a small but fun competition as a ploy to bring in some more tourists.

They released an ad in the newspaper asking women from all across America to come and compete to see who was the most beautiful - but what happened next was unprecedented.

The city's officials certainly didn't expect that more than 100,000 people would show up to watch the young ladies strut their stuff and vote on who was the best looking.

Sixteen-year-old Margaret Gorman was crowned as the winner and given $100. It was a major success, so the beach-side city started hosting the pageant every year.

Unfortunately, when the Great Depression hit in 1929, the pageant came to a halt and it seemed like the industry was doomed.

But when the economic crisis ceased in the 1950s, they came back stronger than ever.

It then launched the Miss USA and Miss Universe competitions in 1952, forming the Miss Universe Organization. Participants of the first Miss Universe competition are seen

A few years later, the competitions began being televised live on CBS - and that changed everything. Finalists in the first phase of the Miss Universe pageant in 1961 are seen

People all across the globe became enthralled with the razzle and dazzle of the competitions, Miss Universe 1989 Angela Visser is seen after her win

TV personalities like John Charles Daly, Bob Barker (left), Alan Thicke (right), and Dick Clark all hosted the pageants over the years

In 1951, the Miss America competition returned - but when its winner Yolande Betbeze Fox refused to pose for photos in a swimsuit afterwards, one of the event's sponsor, Catalina Swimwear, decided to cut ties with the competition and start its own.

It then launched the Miss USA and Miss Universe competitions in 1952. A few years later, the competitions began being televised live on CBS - and that changed everything for the beauty pageant industry.

Soon, a slew of celebrities clamored for a chance to host the events, with TV personalities like John Charles Daly, Bob Barker, Alan Thicke, and Dick Clark all running the pageants over the years.

People all across the globe became enthralled with the razzle and dazzle of the competitions - and between the stunning women and the A-list appearances, millions were tuning in each year to watch it all play out on TV.

Lack of inclusivity: The competitions have faced backlash for only accepting women with certain body types and skin colors- and for not allowing those who were married to compete for decades

The competitions have faced backlash for only accepting women with certain body types and skin colors - and for not allowing those who were married to compete for decades

Donald Trump - who became a co-owner of the pageants in 1996 - called Miss Universe 1996 Alicia Machado 'an eating machine' and 'Miss Piggy' on Howard Stern's radio show

The Miss Universe Organization set fierce rules for who would be allowed to compete - many of which have been fiercely slammed over the years.

For example, until recently, women hoping to take home the title of Miss Universe were not allowed to compete if they were currently or previously married or if they had any children or were pregnant.

Back in 1957, Mary Leona Gage, from Texas, was crowned as Miss USA - but later had her title revoked after officials found out she was secretly married and had two children.

According to The Baltimore Sun, Mary got married at age 14 and had entered the competition to 'get away' from her husband and 'escape his oppression.'

The outlet reported that the scrutiny she faced after losing her crown resulted in multiple 'suicide attempts' and 'drug overdoses.'

In August 2022, it was announced that the competition was opening its doors to married women and mothers; and while it's becoming more accepting regarding marital status, the Miss USA and Miss Universe pageants have also come under fire for only accepting women with certain body types or skin colors.

Miss Universe 1996 Alicia Machado, from Venezuela, was reportedly told by officials that she was going to be replaced if she didn't lose weight.

At the time, Donald - who became a co-owner of the pageants that year - even called her 'an eating machine' and 'Miss Piggy' on Howard Stern's radio show.

Siera Bearchell, who represented Canada at Miss Universe in 2017, told Elle that she was 'told she had to lose' a certain amount of weight 'to have potential to win the competition'

Plus, following her win in 2021, Miss USA Elle Smith (seen) begged the organization to showcase 'all body types'

Siera Bearchell, who represented Canada at Miss Universe in 2017, told Elle that she was 'told she had to lose' a certain amount of weight 'to have potential to win the competition,' which resulted in her 'restricting her eating' in the lead up.

'I was never happy with what I looked like or what I was being told to do,' she said. 'I was instructed to eat as little as possible... I couldn't even workout to the level I would because I literally had no fuel for my body.

'Some days I would have a single protein bar  half in the morning and half later on and do hours of workouts. I was told, "If you want to be successful, this is what you have to do."'

Plus, following her win in 2021, Miss USA Elle Smith begged the organization to showcase 'all body types.'

'At Miss USA, we have been so inclusive to different ethnicities and different races, but more or less, we all look very similar,' she told Insider.

'I think, if we want to be representative of women as a whole, then we've got to be more inclusive to all body types.'

A slew of scandals: Former contestants claimed Donald Trump entered the changing rooms with minors and the vice president of Miss USA was accused of sexual harassment in 2021

In 2015, NBC announced that it was dropping all of its business deals with Trump (seen in 2004 with Miss Universe Jennifer Hawkins), which meant it would no longer be showing the competitions

He parted ways with the organization, but one year later, former contestants claimed he had entered the changing rooms with minors in a report. He's seen in 2012 with Miss Universe

In 2015, the once booming Miss Universe Organization first began to crumble, thanks to the ongoing backlash over its lack of inclusivity and co-owner Donald's growing number of controversial statements.

After he launched his presidential campaign, NBC announced that it was dropping all of its business deals with Trump, which meant it would no longer be showing the Miss USA and Miss Universe competitions.

Donald ultimately parted ways with the Miss Universe Organization that year and Fox agreed to air the pageants.

But one year later, an explosive report from Buzzfeed came out that saw multiple former competitors making a slew of allegations against Donald.

Some even claimed that he entered the Miss Teen USA changing rooms where girls as young as 15 were getting undressed.

'I remember putting on my dress really quick because I was like, "Oh my God, there's a man in here,"' Mariah Billado, Miss Teen Vermont 1997, told the publication.

'He just came strolling right in,' Miss Arizona 2001 Tasha Dixon added. 'There was no second to put a robe on or any sort of clothing or anything.

'Some girls were topless. Others girls were naked. Our first introduction to him was when we were at the dress rehearsal and half-naked changing into our bikinis.

In 2022, DailyMail.com revealed that the Vice President of Miss USA, Max Sebrechts (seen with his wife), had quietly stepped down amid accusations that he sexually harassed contestants

He was accused of sending inappropriate messages to two more girls, and telling one she was his 'personal favorite' and promising to help her become Miss USA. He's seen with his wife

'To have the owner come waltzing in, when were naked, or half-naked, in a very physically vulnerable position and then to have the pressure of the people that worked for him telling us to go fawn all over him, go walk up to him, talk to him, get his attention...' she added, trailing off.

In October 2022, DailyMail.com exclusively revealed that the vice president of Miss USA, Max Sebrechts, had been forced to quietly step down one year prior amid accusations that he sexually harassed contestants.

One contestant had complained that he invited himself into her hotel room and kissed her.

He was also accused of sending inappropriate messages to two more girls, and telling one she was his 'personal favorite' and promising to help her become Miss USA. He denied the claims.

Contestants crumbling under the immense pressure: Miss USA 2019 tragically took her own life after struggling with online hate regarding her win

Cheslie Kryst jumped to her death from the 29th floor of her apartment building in New York City in January 2022 at age 30 - three years after she earned the Miss USA title

In a book written by the pageant queen before her passing, which was released by her mom last month, she revealed that the horrific backlash lead to her deciding to take her own life

The winners of the Miss Universe competition often become stars in their own right, embarking on press tours and making a slew of appearances around the world.

They score invites to coveted events, and mingle with some of Hollywood's most elite.

The ladies also live lavishly; they are rewarded with a scholarship to the New York Film Academy - a private acting school - and used to get a free apartment in one of Trump's lavish apartment complexes in Manhattan during the year they reigned.

The winners also receive a cash prize - the exact amount has changed numerous times over the year, right now it's $250,000 - have much of their living expenses covered by the Miss Universe Organization, and are given access to a full styling and glam team at all times.

But being crowned as the winner comes with immense pressure, which tragically led to one woman taking her own life.

Miss USA 2019 Cheslie Kryst jumped to her death from the 29th floor of her apartment building in New York City in January 2022 at age 30 - only three years after she became the oldest woman to ever earn the Miss USA title.

In a tell-all book written by the pageant queen before her passing, which was released by her mom last month, she revealed that the horrific backlash that she faced in the wake of her win led to her sadly deciding to take her own life.

In the book, Cheslie recalled battling an 'unshakable feeling that she did not belong' and an 'inner voice' that repeatedly told her she was 'never enough'

She explained that her 'long-standing insecurities' were only worsened after she was crowned as Miss USA - due to the harsh reaction from the public. She's seen in 2020

In an excerpt from the memoir, obtained by People, Cheslie recalled battling an 'unshakable feeling that she did not belong' and an 'inner voice' that repeatedly told her she was 'never enough.'

She explained that her 'long-standing insecurities' were only worsened after she was crowned as Miss USA - due to the harsh reaction from the public.

She said haters would comment with 'vomit face emoji's' on her Instagram following her win in 2019, and even recalled one person 'telling her to kill herself' in a private message.

'All of this only added to my long-standing insecurities - the feeling that everyone around me knew more than I did, that everyone else was better at my job, and that I didn't deserve this title,' she wrote.

'People would soon find out I was a fraud. I felt like an imposter, but not just in pageants.'

Cheslie remembered constantly having 'panicky thoughts and feelings of inadequacy' during the press tour after the competition.

'I meticulously picked apart each of my responses and kicked myself for not using a better word or saying a profound phrase or interjecting humor or throwing out a useful stat,' she continued.

'I had to be perfect because I had to represent for all youth, women, and Black people who also wanted to be in the room but had been denied access.'

Accusations of rigging: After a winner was crowned for Miss USA in 2022, some viewers wondered if it had been fixed and accused the organization of picking her before the competition began

In 2022, Miss Universe Organization was shrouded in more scandal after R'Bonney Gabriel earned the title of Miss USA - and some people wondered if the competition had been fixed

Many viewers pointed out that the beauty queen had filmed an advertisement for a plastic surgery spa nine weeks before the competition took place - which is a key part of the prize

In 2022, Miss Universe Organization was shrouded in more scandal after Miss Texas R'Bonney Gabriel earned the title of Miss USA - and some people wondered if the competition had been fixed.

Many viewers pointed out that the beauty queen had filmed an advertisement for a plastic surgery spa nine weeks before the competition took place - which is a key part of the prize.

That clinic uploaded the video advert hours after her win, sparking suspicion that they'd known all along she would be crowned, especially since none of the other entrants are known to have visited the resort.

It was only heightened when Miss Missouri Mikala McGhee told Insider that 'a lot of the girls felt like it was the organization's plan from the beginning for R'Bonney to win, no matter who else was competing.'

R'Bonney later denied the claims in a statement that read: 'It was not rigged, because I would never enter any pageant or any competition that I would know I would win. I have a lot of integrity.

'I want to be transparent and I want everybody to know that there was no unfair advantage and nothing was rigged.'

Afterwards, a third-party investigation found that 'accusations of rigging of the 2022 Miss USA Pageant were false.'

Afterwards, a third-party investigation found that 'accusations of rigging of the 2022 Miss USA Pageant were false.' Even so, Miss USA president Crystle Stewart (seen) was replaced

Back in 2012, a woman named Sheena Monnin (seen) resigned just two days before she was set to compete after she claimed that the top five contestants had already been chosen

Even so, Miss USA president Crystle Stewart was replaced with Laylah Rose.

This wasn't the first time the organization faced accusations of rigging. Back in 2012, a woman named Sheena Monnin resigned just two days before she was set to compete in the Miss USA pageant after she claimed that the top five contestants had already been chosen.

At the time, she said in a Facebook post, 'In good conscience, I can no longer be affiliated in any way with an organization I consider to be fraudulent, lacking in morals, inconsistent, and in many ways trashy.'

She was sued for defamation and was ordered to pay $5 million to Miss USA.

'We cannot allow a disgruntled contestant to make false and reckless statements which are damaging to the many people who have devoted their hearts and souls to the Miss Universe, Miss USA, and Miss Teen USA pageant systems,' co-owner Donald said at the time.

'While I feel very badly for Sheena, she did the wrong thing. She was really nasty, and we had no choice. It is an expensive lesson for her.'

The final blow? Both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA resigned within days of each other - with one including a secret message that says 'I am silenced' in her announcement

Noelia shared the news that she was stepping down via Instagram earlier this week - becoming the first title holder in Miss USA's 72-year history to relinquish her crown

'I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for your mental health,' she wrote. 'I have made the very tough decision to resign from the title of Miss USA 2023'

Noelia shared the news that she was stepping down via Instagram earlier this week - becoming the first title holder in Miss USA's 72-year history to relinquish her crow.

'In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health,' she wrote.

'My journey as Miss USA has been incredibly meaningful, representing Utah with pride, and later the USA at Miss Universe.

'Sadly, I have made the very tough decision to resign from the title of Miss USA 2023.'

Noelia was awarded the title last September after campaigning on messages of anti-bullying, dating violence awareness and immigration reform. She was the first Venezuelan-American woman to win the pageant.

'I realize this may come as a large shock to many,' she captioned the post. 'Never compromise your physical and mental well-being.'

Her resignation was followed by Miss Teen USA UmaSofia, who said in her own statement, 'I find that my personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization'

Afterwards, an insider accused the Miss Universe Organization of creating 'harmful workplace conditions' and a 'toxic atmosphere' to the New York Post. Noelia is seen

Her resignation was quickly followed by Miss Teen USA UmaSofia, who said in her own statement, 'After careful consideration, I've decided to resign as I find that my personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.'

She added in the caption, 'While this was certainly not how I saw my reign coming to a close, I am excited to continue my advocacy for education and acceptance, start applying to colleges, and share some exciting new projects.

Afterwards, the New York Post reported that the winners were forced to sign strict contracts that said they had to smile at all times.

'This toxic atmosphere is a serious concern. There is an urgent need for intervention at the leadership level,' an insider told the publication.

In response to both resignations, former Miss USA titleholders released a joint statement, which was posted by Miss Wisconsin USA 2023 Alexis Loomans on her Instagram, demanding that Noelia be released from her non-disclosure agreement 'so that she is free to speak on her experiences and time as Miss USA.'

'Our goal is to give Noelia her voice back. We are asking for full transparency for contestants in the class of 2024 and beyond,' it said.

The Miss USA Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.
You'll most likely spot Prince Harry wearing a crisp shirt or smart suit during public appearances, but look closely and you'll notice there's one accessory the Duke is never spotted without - an engraved silver bangle he's been wearing for 20 years.

Harry's most recent appearance today at the Light Academy in Abuja, Nigeria, where the Duke and Duchess of Sussex are carrying out a mini tour to champion the Invictus Games, is no exception.

The Prince was also recently spotted wearing the same jewellery during his London visit, with royal watchers noticing his stack of bracelets peeking out from under his suit jacket as he shook hands with VIPs or waved at the crowds.

The Duke of Sussex had returned to the UK to speak at a special service at St Paul's Cathedral to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games.

Harry looked professional in a navy suit and crisp white shirt, his military medals proudly on display - a smart outfit that was somewhat inconsistent with his mismatched bracelets.

Prince Harry visited St Paul's Cathedral in London this week to mark the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have arrived in Nigeria where the couple will be carrying out a mini tour to champion the Invictus Games

Alongside his trusty silver bangle, the Prince wore a selection of other jewellery on his right wrist, including the same woven bracelet that he was pictured wearing last month at a charity polo match in Florida.

It's not unusual for Harry to mix and match his bracelets, but his silver bangle remains a constant, no matter the dress code - even on his wedding day to Meghan Markle back in 2018.

Prince Harry was first pictured wearing the bracelet back in 2001 cheering on from the sidelines at a charity polo match alongside his brother, Prince William.

It's been widely speculated that Harry bought the bracelet during his first trip to Africa, which came shortly after his mother, the late Princess Diana of Wales, passed away in 1997.

'I first came in 1997, straight after my mum died,' Harry told Town and Country magazine back in 2021. 'My dad told my brother and me to pack our bags - we were going to Africa to get away from it all.'

It was here that Harry was able to find some 'normality' in the aftermath of his mother's death.

He continued: 'I have this intense sense of complete relaxation and normality here. To not get recognised, to lose myself in the bush with what I would call the most down-to-earth people on the planet.'

Prince Harry was first spotted wearing his signature silver bangle in 2001 at a charity polo match

Prince Harry's blue beaded bracelet caused speculation when new girlfriend Meghan Markle was spotted wearing the same one

Prince Harry wore a single bangle to his wedding reception at St George's Hall in Windsor

It's not the first time Prince Harry's bracelets have caught the public's attention.

In 2016, Harry sparked worldwide rumours that he and Suits star Meghan Markle, who is now his wife, were dating after both were spotted wearing matching blue beaded bracelets.

Shortly after Harry was spotted making several public appearances in the distinctive jewellery piece, Meghan posted a picture to Instagram wearing a very similar bracelet style, which royal fans were convinced matched Harry's.

And it's not just bracelets that are symbolic for the Duke - Harry also has a necklace that holds a special significance.

Speaking on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert last year, Harry recalled the infamous incident in his book Spare where he and brother Prince William allegedly had a physical fight.

Prince Harry often teams his silver bangle with other bracelets that have a significant meaning

Prince Harry was spotted with his signature stack of bracelets at a charity polo match, which he attended alongside his wife, Meghan Markle

'There is a lot of talk about the physical fight that the two of you had, where he pushed you down in the kitchen and broke the dog bowl when you fell on it,' host Stephen Colbert said to Harry on the show.

He then asked: 'It says he broke your necklace. Which necklace was this that he broke?' To which Harry replied: 'This one, which is now fixed.'

The Duke then showed the host a series of charms attached to a black cord, before explaining: 'I've got my kids' heartbeats, which my wife gave me.

'And a friend of mine in Botswana made this for me, which has got Tiger's-eye on it,' he added.
The technique applied specifically to the upside-down bottle design

He recently demonstrated a more efficient method of squeezing out ketchup

Jordan Howlett, 27, gained TikTok fame with insights into the fast food industry

Seems we all have some ketch-ing-up to do.

Apparently there is a right way to properly squeeze the ketchup out of plastic bottles, but most people are oblivious to the more efficient method.

Jordan Howlett, a 27-year-old TikTok star from San Diego, California, known for sharing insights into the fast-food industry, demonstrated to his audience of 12 million followers how to properly squeeze the sauce.

Using the technique makes it so that gravity does most of the work in coaxing the condiment out of its upside-down container - and viewers were left stunned.

Jordan Howlett, 27, has shot to TikTok fame sharing niche insights about fast food as well as miscellaneous food products

Responding to a TikTok of a man squeezing out ketchup with remarkable efficiency, Jordan broke down the history of ketchup bottles and the superior squeezing technique

The creator, whose video was inspired by another TikTok of a man demonstrating the superior method, claimed he wrote a college paper on 'ketchup bottle development,' which, if true, makes him an especially savvy source for this hyper-niche factoid.

Heinz released its distinctive octagonal glass ketchup bottle in 1890, he described.

Almost a century later, in 1983, the iconic ketchup brand came out with a squeezable plastic vessel for its product - although the shape still resembled the classic glass jar.

'But it was still difficult to get ketchup out of the bottle,' Jordan explained.

Finally, in 2001, Heinz debuted the upside-down model of condiment containers.

This design saw the lid double as the base, keeping the ketchup close to the opening.

A little-known secret, however, was that squeezing the sides of this bottle - as opposed to squeezing from the front and back - pushes the ketchup out with practically zero exertion.

In his video, Jordan went on to demonstrate the effectiveness of the technique.

Heinz's upside-down ketchup bottle design debuted in 2001, making it so the product would already be at the opening

Jordan explained how squeezing the bottle at its sides - instead of at the front and back - would allow the ketchup to be squeezed out with practically no exertion

Jordan's many fans took to the comments, sharing a wide variety of reactions to the hack

'Now if you were to squeeze a gravity bottle from the front like this, you have to physically squeeze for it to come out.

'But if you were to squeeze a bottle from the sides, and then release, all the pressure is going to push out the ketchup on its own,' he narrated.

One disclaimer Jordan added was that the approach relies on air pressure.

So the emptier the bottle, the less efficient it will become.

Thousands of Jordan's many fans took to the comment section, expressing a variety of reactions.

'If baffles me how companies spend millions of dollars on developing this kind of stuff and then TELL NO ONE!' vented one exasperated TikToker.

'Now I'm using ketchup wrong?! Man I'm done with the internet,' grumbled a second.

'Bro majored in food hacks,' joked a third of Jordan's breadth of food trivia.

Yet another ecstatically declared: 'I TRIED IT IT WORKS!!!!!'
A mother has revealed the heartbreaking last conversation she had with her dying four old son.

Ruth Scully, from Leonardtown, Maryland, lost her four-year-old son, Nolan, in February of 2017 to Rhabdomyosarcoma.

The cancer, which affects the soft skeletal tissue, is highly aggressive and can spread quickly - becoming resistant to all forms of treatment.

Nolan had just 15 months to fight the disease, from November 2015 to February 2017, before it took his life.

In one of their last conversations together, she told her son that he 'didn't have to fight anymore' who said he would go to Heaven and 'play until you get there'.

Ruth Scully lost her son Nolan, both seen here, in February of 2017 to a rare form of cancer

The cancer , which affects the soft skeletal tissue, is highly aggressive and can spread quickly - becoming resistant to all forms of treatment

In November of 2015, doctors diagnosed Nolan with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer

Scully recalls telling her son 'it hurts to breathe doesn't it?', who responded 'weeeelll...yeah.'

'You're in a lot of pain aren't you baby?', she said, before adding 'poot, this cancer stuff sucks. You don't have to fight anymore.'

Her son responded: 'I don't. But I will for you Mommy', which caused Scully to question, 'is that what you have been doing?? Fighting for Mommy??'

Despite the circumstances, Nolan bravely told his mom: 'well DUH!' before Ruth asks him: 'What is Mommy's job?', to which he replied with a big grin, 'to keep me safe'.

Ruth said her heart was shattering as she told him: 'Honey. I can't do that anymore here. The only way I can keep you safe is in Heaven.'

Heartbreakingly, Nolan told her: 'I'll just go to Heaven and play until you get there! You'll come right?', to which she responded: 'Absolutely.'

In September 2015, Nolan came down with a stuffy nose, which his parents just assumed was a common cold.

But soon, his breathing became difficult. Doctors tried antibiotics, a humidifier, steam and saline spray - but nothing worked. They decided to take biopsies of his adenoid tissue, which sits behind the nasal cavity.

Finally, in November of 2015, doctors diagnosed Nolan with Alveolar Rhabdomyosarcoma, a rare soft tissue cancer - a tumor had been compressing his airway causing his 'stuffy nose'.

Pictures shared on social media show a bright and happy young boy, posing for pictures with hospital staff and family with a beaming smile.

In September 2015, Nolan came down with a stuffy nose, which his parents just assumed was a common cold

In one of their last conversations together, she told her son that he 'didn't have to fight anymore' who said he would go to Heaven and 'play until you get there'

An oncologist told the family that the four-year-old's cancer had spread and large tumors were compressing his bronchial tubes and heart just four weeks after open chest surgery

The cancer grows in muscles, fat, bones or the linings of joints. Patients often experience drooping eyelids, headaches and nausea, trouble urinating and having bowels movements.

Rounds of chemotherapy and radiation soon followed. Nolan lost his hair and gradually grew weaker.

The disease is an aggressive and highly malignant form of cancer and, in Nolan, it started spreading throughout his body.

Once it spreads, the survival rate falls between 20 percent and 40 percent.

Ruth wrote about how she had wanted to describe Nolan's last days for a while and how her son 'was made of nothing but pure love.'

On a Facebook page she and husband Jonathan created called Nolan Strong, Ruth describes her feelings as 'agony unlike any other', in a touching tribute.

When Ruth took Nolan to the hospital for the last time, he had been battling cancer for more than a year, had not eaten or drank anything in days and was continuously vomiting.

On February 1, the oncologist told the family that the four-year-old's cancer had spread and large tumors were compressing his bronchial tubes and heart just four weeks after open chest surgery.

The cancer had become resistant to all treatment options and all doctors could do now was keep Nolan comfortable as he was deteriorating rapidly.

'When I brought Nolan to the hospital for the last time, I knew there was something else wrong other than just a lingering case of C-DIFF. I just knew, and strange enough, I think he did too. He hadn't eaten or drank anything in days and was continually vomiting,' she wrote.

'On February 1st we were sat down with his ENTIRE team. When his Oncologist spoke, I saw the pure pain in her eyes.

Pictures shared on social media show a bright and happy young boy, posing for pictures with hospital staff, seen here with Doctor Kate, and family with a beaming smile

Ruth shared a photo of Nolan lying on the bathroom floor, showing how her son was too terrified to leave her side even when she showered

On February 4 2017, Nolan passed away with the post describing his fight going on to be shared more than 928,000 times

'She explained at this time she didn't feel his Cancer (sic) was treatable as it had become resistant to all treatment options we had tried and the plan would be to keep him comfortable as he was deteriorating rapidly.'

Ruth explained that her son slept for most of following days and the anguish she felt over signing an emergency responder 'Do Not Resuscitate' order.

On February 4 2017, Nolan passed away with the post describing his fight going on to be shared more than 928,000 times.

Ruth added how her son love his family and friends with a fierce devotion and that he 'was a warrior who died with dignity and love'.

Alongside the letter, is a photo of Nolan lying on the bathroom floor, showing how her son was too terrified to leave her side even when she showered.

'Now I'm the one terrified to shower,' she wrote. 'With nothing but an empty shower rug now where once a beautiful perfect little boy laid waiting for his Mommy.'
Prince William couldn't resist snapping up the South West's most famous savoury treat as his tour of the Scilly Isles continued on Friday - and suggested he was taking some of the edible souvenirs home for his family.

William, 41, who is known locally as the Duke of Cornwall, arrived at St Mary's Harbour on St Mary's, the largest of the Scilly Isles by boat, having travelled from Tresco, one of the smaller islands this morning.

The Prince is continuing with his royal duties while the Princess of Wales receives treatment for abdominal cancer. In Nigeria, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began the first day of their three-day visit to the African nation.

Clearly in cheered spirits, and sharing that he'd already enjoyed a morning swim, the Prince was seen disembarking a boat called The Pegasus, which bore the Duke of Cornwall flag, as he arrived at St Mary's maritime harbour.

Prince William, known as the Duke of Cornwall in the South West, looked sorely tempted by the traditional Cornish pasties on sale in On the Quay cafe in St Mary's Harbour on Friday as his tour of the Scilly Isles continued

The royal, 41, stumped up 27.50 for five of the pasties, one for each family member as he chatted to cafe workers Joely Dearman, 22, right, and Zachariah Fox, 28

William stops to chat to members of the St Mary's Boatmen's Association

A small cheer went up from a throng of onlookers on the harbour as he stepped quayside for the final day of his visit to the South West region.

Wearing a pair of stylish sunglasses to protect his eyes from the Cornish sun, the Prince donned a brown blazer with matching brogues and his favourite navy chino trousers as he made his way along the water's edge.

He hailed the 'glorious' weather before strolling to the On the Quay cafe, where he bought five traditional Cornish pasties for 5.50 each.

He was served by Joely Dearman, 22, and Zachariah Fox, 28, both seasonal workers from North Devon on the mainland.

The Prince of Wales looked in good spirits as he chatted to local business people during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly

'Are you waiting for a boat?' The Prince joked that he was never sure when he saw crowds if they were actually there for him

As the Scilly sunshine hotted up, William, wearing fashionable transparent sunglasses took off his blazer

The Prince pictured arriving on St Mary's; the royal will return to Windsor later today to spend the weekend with the Princess of Wales, who's undergoing cancer treatment, and their children

Local primary school children were among those lining the quay in anticipation of William's arrival on the largest of the Scilly Isles this morning

Prince Williams leans in for a chat with the shy-looking youngsters during his visit

'What's selling quickest this morning?' he asked them.

Told it was the pasties, the Prince was clearly hooked on the idea of buying some, saying: 'They smell delicious. Makes your mouth water.'

He went on to tell them: 'I was saying to the others, I can't believe the islands today when you've got weather like this, it's just beautiful. I got in the sea yesterday which was good - I wore a wetsuit.'

Outside, he also told tourists lined up to greet him that he wished he could stay for a little longer but said he would return home that afternoon to spend the weekend in Windsor.

'My family are very upset I'm here without them,' he laughed. 'The children will kill me if I don't go home later.'

The Prince later visited St. Mary's Community Hospital to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall

The Prince 'broke ground' to mark the first step towards the new facility, which will offers integrated health services to the local community

Never shy of a physical challenge, the Prince got digging to mark the spot where building will begin

The 41-year-old royal's digging was given a round of applause, with work on the island's new facility due to start shortly

The heir-to-the-throne is shown around St Mary's Community Hospital on the island

William is seen shaking hands with healthcare professionals at the hospital

Kind words: The royal also spend time with patients at the Scilly Isles hospital

He also asked the well-wishers if they were waiting to catch a boat.

'We're waiting for you!' One woman said. 'I'm never sure,' William responded.

The Prince also met representatives from local businesses on the harbour front on St Mary's, the largest of the Scilly islands.

The harbour is run by the Duchy of Cornwall and is considered the maritime gateway to the islands - a crucial part of the community, which relies on the tourism industry.

It handles passengers and vessels travelling to the Isles of Scilly from 'Tripper Boats' and sail training vessels to fishing boats and those carrying special cargo deliveries.

Wearing a pair of sunglasses, the Prince donned a brown blazer with matching brogues and his favourite navy chino trousers for the visit

Smile! An onlooker takes a photo of the royal as he makes his way into the quayside area of St Mary's

The Duke of Cornwall also shared that he'd enjoyed a morning dip before making the boat trip from neighbouring isle Tresco

The Scilly Isles waters glinted in the sunshine as William chatted with a medal-winning boat crew

The Prince later visited St. Mary's Community Hospital to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

After being given a spade, the Prince 'broke ground' to mark the first step towards the new facility, which will offers integrated health services to the local community.

He then spent time chatting to healthcare workers at the community hospital .

Meanwhile, on another continent, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began their 72-hour tour of Nigeria today, as the Duke evoked memories of his suffering after his mother Princess Diana's death.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met officials and children at the Wuse Lightway Academy this morning, hours after their arrival in Abuja in the early hours.

Harry spoke to a group of pupils at the school, which is supported by the couple's Archewell Foundation, about mental health and referenced when someone has 'lost a loved one in your family and you don't know who to turn to or who to speak to'.

The Prince, who's travelling home this evening, has been enjoying a mini tour of the South West

The Duke  who was 12 and his brother William 15 when Diana died in Paris in 1997 - added that there was 'no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day',

He also told the children: 'You can have it, she (Meghan) can have it, I can have it. They can have it. Every single one of us is likely to have it on any given day.'

The couple flew in together just before 5am following a secret reunion at London Heathrow's VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.

Meanwhile in Nigeria, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja as part of their three-day visit to the African nation

Harry and Meghan clap as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Harry and Meghan smile as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today

They both boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.

The Sussexes, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.

It comes after Harry said it was 'great' to be back in the UK this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke had been in London since Tuesday to attend events relating to the competition including a thanksgiving service.
It is as I cry in a wobbly voice: 'I think that's enough now!' that I fear for my lower right rib. I'm encased in a corset that's being laced tightly, and with every pull, I'm almost yanked off my feet. I am clinging onto the roof rack of a four-by-four just to stay upright.

It is a scene reminiscent of Gone With the Wind when Scarlett O'Hara is instructed to: 'Just hold on and suck in!' as she clings to a bed post in an effort to stay stable as Mammy laces her in ahead of a picnic.

But why am I clinging to a four-by-four? Well I've just arrived in London's Notting Hill to road test this waist-cinching corset. And it restricts my movement to such an extent that I was unable to wear it on the way here, because I literally couldn't sit down in it.

Now I've got it on, and the pressure on one of my ribs is so intense that I'm concerned it might crack. Panicking, I garble: 'Loosen it! Loosen it! My rib's about to snap!'

Clearly I am not as much of a trooper as reality star and businesswoman Kim Kardashian, who managed to remain poised despite her corset being so tight she could barely breathe.

Samantha Rea braved a corset in the style of Kim Kardashian to strut her stuff on the streets of London

This was just a few days ago, at the Met Gala, an annual event in New York where celebrities compete to out-do each other on the red carpet.

Video footage of Kim K at the event appears to show her doing tiny little gasps, as if the corset has compressed her lungs so much, there's barely any room for oxygen.

Given that breathing is pretty much fundamental to staying alive, Kim K made headlines for prioritising fashion over her ability to breathe, in a move seen by many as 'dangerous'.

With a waist that looked so slender it was rumoured to be only 19 inches, there was speculation about whether Kim K had removed some of her ribcage, while others wondered where she was now storing her guts.

Experts shared warnings about the health risks associated with wearing such a crushing corset, suggesting it could cause digestive problems, rib deformities and damage to internal organs, as well as restricted breathing.

The brave journalist donned the garment after Kim Kardashian shocked fans in her corset

Kim's outfit featured metal chain mail leaves and a corset so tight it made eyes water as she arrived at the Met Gala

And then of course there were concerns about the beauty standards it set for young girls, with glamour model turned reality star Nicola McLean slamming it as irresponsible.

But scaremongering aside, I think Kim K looked AMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAZING!! And actually, a 19 inch waist isn't even that small.

When Posh Spice married David Beckham back in 1999, she apparently had an 18 inch waist, thanks to a corset hidden under her Vera Wang wedding dress.

Burlesque star Dita Von Teese is said to have a waist of 16.5 inches when she's strapped into a corset and Kylie Minogue was rumoured to have cinched in her waist to just 16 inches for her 2005 Showgirl tour.

Is it true? Who knows! But they all look fabulous, and so I wonder what a corset could do for me.

Victoria Beckham, Dita Von Teese and Kylie apparently all had the help of internationally acclaimed corsetier Mr. Pearl - who's also worked with Kim K and the cast of Bridgerton.

The journalist chose an under-bust corset which covered the torso of her body

Unfortunately, I cannot afford Mr. Pearl's celebrity-size fees, so I head to Camden, in north London, in search of an off-the-peg affordable corset that will make me look like Kim K.

After wandering through the maze of Stables Market, past leather belts and '50s frocks, I find a rail of corsets in a shop called Tainted Prince. 'Over bust or under bust?' asks the woman managing the shop.

I look down at my scruffy trainers in embarrassment, thinking she is checking how close I am to financial ruin before deciding whether to assist me. But it's OK! It turns out that 'over bust' means the corset covers your boobs, while 'under bust' means it stops just beneath them.

Having chosen 'under bust', we look at my options and I explain I want a corset I can pull in really tight, to make my waist look super snatched like Kim Kardashian.

And so I'm laced into a robust black corset - as I grip onto a clothing rail in an effort to stay on my feet. My rib cage cannot compete. It acquiesces to the corset and as it's squashed smaller and smaller, I remember a drawing I saw online, of what your insides look like when you have a corset on.

It's actually two drawings side by side. The first shows what your insides look like when you're not wearing a corset, with everything where it should be. Then the second drawing shows your guts and internal organs all squished and distorted and pushed out of place.

I try not to think of this, and focus instead on the lovely hourglass image in the mirror in front of me. Sold!

I plan to wear the corset out and about this afternoon, and I suspect it would be easier if I skip lunch. Only I never skip lunch. I never miss a meal. I cannot even get my head around the popular concept of 'brunch' because you're either missing breakfast or you're missing lunch - and why would anyone miss out on an opportunity to eat a meal?

And so I don't skip lunch, and my generous portion size means I eat it out of an oversize baking bowl as usual, but unfortunately I do not have time to sit very still for an hour afterwards, as I like to do.

Instead, I dash straight out, in a slight state of anxiety about where my lunch is going to go when I am laced into the corset.

Samantha revealed that, when the corset was tightened around her, she struggled to stay upright

One factor Samantha didn't consider was the heat as she strapped into the tight corset amid soaring temperatures

It is a hot day, and I do not need an additional layer around my midriff, but this is the least of my worries as I'm now genuinely worried about my lunch bursting out of my body. Because that's what happens, isn't it, when you squeeze things too tight - the contents shoot out.

Think about a tortilla wrap. You squeeze that too hard and all the chicken and guacamole spills out either end. And I'm pretty sure I know which end my lunch will burst out.

But it's fine because I look fabulous. I mean, I think I do. I can't actually get to a mirror or reach for the one in my bag, because my movement is so restricted. I can't walk in heels at the best of times, so combining them with a corset that I cannot bend or breathe in means I'm just sort of stuck here on the pavement. Like a beached whale but with a smaller waist.

I'd imagined myself sipping a martini on an atmospheric Notting Hill terrace, like Dita Von Teese - only I'd be holding the martini glass, rather than splashing about inside it, doing a burlesque routine.

The trouble is, I can't quite hobble to a bar. And even if I were carried to one, in an over-the-shoulder fireman's lift (yes please!) I'd have no chance of sitting down when I got there. And I'm definitely not standing up in heels.

Samantha found her movement was severely restricted while she was wearing the corset

After asking other people online what they thought of corsets, most people agreed it was deeply uncomfortable

So my plans are somewhat scuppered and I'm also jolly hot. I'd like to drink some water, except I am not sure there's anywhere for it to go. How the dickens did Scarlett O'Hara manage at her picnic?

It's possible that I don't even look as fabulous as I'd hoped, because when I send my boyfriend a picture, all he sends back is a large cry-laughing emoji. So not only am I uncomfortable, but it's all for nothing, as apparently I look ridiculous. Perhaps I am less Kim K, and more Sam Smith.

Feeling rather deflated I ask on Facebook: 'Corsets! Thumbs up or thumbs down?' My friend Jo says she has a corset that was custom made for her: 'It's beautiful! However, I can't wear it anymore as I live alone and you need to hold your breasts in place, get someone to strap you in, put a foot on your back and pull the cords tight - a feat completely impossible alone!!'

This is so true - corsets are not a one-woman job. I ask Jo if she ever suffered a crushed rib or a breathing failure while she was wearing her corset. She says: 'No injuries but I always made sure I wouldn't be eating out that night, as that would be uncomfortable.'

Louise says: 'Don't get me wrong I need a top up of Ramipril at the thought of Dita Von Teese in a champagne glass sporting a black corset. However, a contraption that has the power to shift internal organs should be consigned to the past.'

I have to Google 'Ramipril' and it turns out to be medication for high blood pressure. I am glad to hear that despite concerns for internal organs, corsets are still considered hot (just apparently not on me).

Twitter seems to echo these mixed feelings when I post a poll that brings back these results :

Just spent the afternoon in a corset. Is your first thought:

Are your ribs ok? 13%

Internal organs f****d? 3%

Could you breathe? 31%

Where are the pictures? 53%

Despite an uncomfortable afternoon, I still think Kim K looked fabulous at the Met Gala and I still love the old fashioned glamour of Dita Von Teese. Who doesn't feel better when they make an effort with their appearance? And quite frankly, I wouldn't even enjoy a martini in my jogging bottoms - getting dressed up is part of the fun.

It does cross my mind that if wearing an item of clothing restricts your movement and your ability to eat, and means you can't even get dressed by yourself, then maybe it's not massively empowering. But then, maybe I just need staff, because I swear my life would be so much easier if I simply had people to do things for me. So I'll definitely be wearing my corset again - but maybe I'll get it laced a little looser next time!
The Princess of Wales is 'doing well' after her cancer diagnosis, Prince William has revealed.

The royal discussed his wife's health during a visit to St Mary's Community Hospital on the Isles of Scilly.

William is continuing with his royal duties while Kate receives treatment for abdominal cancer, following her 'shock' announcement in March that she had been diagnosed and was receiving chemotherapy.

The Prince couldn't resist snapping up the region's most famous savoury treat as his tour continues today - and suggested he is taking some of the edible souvenirs home for his family.

William, 41, who is known locally as the Duke of Cornwall, arrived at St Mary's Harbour having travelled from Tresco, one of the smaller islands this morning.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began the first day of their three-day visit to the African nation.

Prince William looked tempted by the traditional Cornish pasties on sale in On the Quay cafe in St Mary's Harbour on Friday as his tour of the Scilly Isles continues

The royal, 41, stumped up 27.50 for five of the pasties, one for each family member as he chatted to cafe workers Joely Dearman, 22, and Zachariah Fox, 28

William said George, Charlotte and Louis are 'very jealous' of his trip away, adding that he might bring them to Cornwall later in the year, according to The Sun.

Sharing that he'd already enjoyed a morning swim, the Prince was seen disembarking a boat called The Pegasus, which bore the Duke of Cornwall flag, as he arrived at St Mary's maritime harbour.

A small cheer went up from a throng of onlookers on the harbour as he stepped quayside for the final day of his visit to the South West region.

Wearing a pair of stylish sunglasses to protect his eyes from the Cornish sun, the Prince donned a brown blazer with matching brogues and his favourite navy chino trousers as he made his way along the water's edge.

He hailed the 'glorious' weather before strolling to the On the Quay cafe, where he bought five traditional Cornish pasties for 5.50 each.

He was served by Joely Dearman, 22, and Zachariah Fox, 28, both seasonal workers from North Devon on the mainland.

The Prince of Wales looked in good spirits as he chatted to local business people during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly

'Are you waiting for a boat?' The Prince joked that he was never sure when he saw crowds if they were actually there for him

The Prince pictured arriving on St Mary's; the royal will return to Windsor later today to spend the weekend with the Princess of Wales, who's undergoing cancer treatment, and their children

Local primary school children were among those lining the quay in anticipation of William's arrival on the largest of the Scilly Isles this morning

Prince Williams leans in for a chat with the shy-looking youngsters during his visit

'What's selling quickest this morning?' he asked them.

Told it was the pasties, the Prince was clearly hooked on the idea of buying some, saying: 'They smell delicious. Makes your mouth water.'

He went on to tell them: 'I was saying to the others, I can't believe the islands today when you've got weather like this, it's just beautiful. I got in the sea yesterday which was good - I wore a wetsuit.'

Outside, he also told tourists who had lined up to greet him that he wished he could stay for a little longer but he would return home that afternoon to spend the weekend in Windsor.

'My family are very upset I'm here without them,' he laughed. 'The children will kill me if I don't go home later.'

The Prince later visited St. Mary's Community Hospital to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall

The Prince 'broke ground' to mark the first step towards the new facility, which will offers integrated health services to the local community

Never shy of a physical challenge, the Prince got digging to mark the spot where building will begin

The 41-year-old royal's digging was given a round of applause, with work on the island's new facility due to start shortly

The heir-to-the-throne is shown around St Mary's Community Hospital on the island

William is seen shaking hands with healthcare professionals at the hospital

Kind words: The royal also spend time with patients at the Scilly Isles hospital

He also asked the well-wishers if they were waiting to catch a boat.

'We're waiting for you,' one woman said. 'I'm never sure,' William responded.

The Prince also met representatives from local businesses on the harbour front on St Mary's, the largest of the Scilly islands.

The harbour is run by the Duchy of Cornwall and is considered the maritime gateway to the islands - a crucial part of the community, which relies on the tourism industry.

It handles passengers and vessels travelling to the Isles of Scilly from 'Tripper Boats' and sail training vessels to fishing boats and those carrying special cargo deliveries.

Wearing a pair of sunglasses, the Prince donned a brown blazer with matching brogues and his favourite navy chino trousers for the visit

Smile! An onlooker takes a photo of the royal as he makes his way into the quayside area of St Mary's

The Duke of Cornwall also shared that he'd enjoyed a morning dip before making the boat trip from neighbouring isle Tresco

The Scilly Isles waters glinted in the sunshine as William chatted with a medal-winning boat crew

The Prince later visited St. Mary's Community Hospital to meet staff and hear about a new integrated health and social care facility which is set to be built on adjacent land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

The Prince was driven the short distance from the harbour to St. Mary's Community Hospital, where he met staff and was updated on plans which will see a new health and social care facility built on Duchy of Cornwall land.

He told several members of staff that he was keen to learn more about what was needed on the islands and how the Duchy could help. 'Keep flagging anything else that we can do,' he told them.

'I'm hoping to do more down here where you guys want it.'

He later told another group: 'We have got to work to do better. I don't have all the answers but I'm just trying to learn my way around and work out what needs doing.'

On arrival, the Prince was met by Tracy Smith, who is in charge of hospital administration. She said later: 'I asked how Princess Kate was and how the children were and said I hoped they would enjoy some time here over the summer.

'He said he would very much like that to be able to happen.'

The Prince and Princess of Wales occasionally bring their three children over to Tresco in the holidays, following a tradition William enjoyed during his own childhood.

'The children are very jealous that I'm here,' he told Ms Smith. 'Are we going to have a look around?'

Inside, the Prince was shown the x-ray facilities and the kitchen, where, he was told, homemade meals were prepared for the patients.

As he was shown into one patient's room, he exclaimed: 'That's a pretty cool view!'

The two then pulled up chairs in the window and had a private chat.

The Prince later met various groups of staff, from GPs and nurses to trainees and office workers.

Prince William met staff including Lynda McHale, 68, who has worked for the NHS for 50 years

The Prince asked the staff about their shift patterns and whether they lived on the island or the mainland

The Prince of Wales, who is also the Duke of Cornwall, visits St Mary's Community Hospital on Friday

Among them was Lynda McHale, 68, who he was told had worked for the NHS for 50 years.

'I'm very lucky, I love my job, I've seen many things,' she told him.

Mrs McHale gave the Prince a letter from her granddaughter, who is an 'avid fan' of both William and Prince George.

'She wanted to wish his father and wife good health,' she said after the visit. 'He said he would read it later.'

The Prince asked the staff about their shift patterns and whether they lived on the island or the mainland.

He was told there were three GPs based at the centre but that it could be 'quite challenging' serving the smaller islands, where they hold weekly or fortnightly clinics, particularly if the weather was bad or the tide was low.

'It's amazing how many roles everyone has to double hand or triple hand,' he said. 'You are all very good jack of all trades.

'For staff, it's so important to keep them motivated, keep up morale, and it's really important we have got the ability to look after them.'

The prince remarked how dry the ground was before he symbolically took the first step towards the new build

The Prince, who's travelling home this evening, has been enjoying a mini tour of the South West

Prince William was seen talking to some schoolchildren while visiting the Islands

He was able to enjoy clear blue skies as he chatted to locals on a visit to St Mary's harbour

He told the staff that he hoped the extension would make a real difference to the lives of the local residents, recalling a story about how a baby had been born mid-air en route to the mainland. 'No one would have wanted that to happen,' he laughed.

Part of the building will be a new maternity unit, allowing local mothers-to-be to be cared for on the island.

'People say it's very difficult to have a child on the islands,' he said. 'The costs are huge. Hopefully we will be able to do it here.'

He returned to the subject again a few minutes later, describing the costs as 'astronomical.'

The Prince congratulated one member of staff who is due to give birth on June 15. 'Ooh nice, a summer baby,' he said. 'I'm June 21, it might slip in first.'

William was then shown the plans for the hospital extension before being given a spade to dig the first patch of earth for the foundations.

'Does it matter where I start?' he asked, before exclaiming: 'Have you seen how dry that is?

'I might get an inch out of there if we're lucky!' However, he persevered, digging a small amount of dry mud up before being given a loud round of applause. The Prince told staff that he would be back next year, when the extension should be all but complete.

The 20m project is being funded by the NHS.

Meanwhile, on another continent, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began their 72-hour tour of Nigeria today, as the Duke evoked memories of his suffering after his mother Princess Diana's death.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex met officials and children at the Wuse Lightway Academy this morning, hours after their arrival in Abuja in the early hours.

Harry spoke to a group of pupils at the school, which is supported by the couple's Archewell Foundation, about mental health and referenced when someone has 'lost a loved one in your family and you don't know who to turn to or who to speak to'.

The Duke  who was 12 and his brother William 15 when Diana died in Paris in 1997 - added that there was 'no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day',

He also told the children: 'You can have it, she (Meghan) can have it, I can have it. They can have it. Every single one of us is likely to have it on any given day.'

The couple flew in together just before 5am following a secret reunion at London Heathrow's VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.

Meanwhile in Nigeria, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja as part of their three-day visit to the African nation

Harry and Meghan clap as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Harry and Meghan smile as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today

They both boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.

The Sussexes, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.

It comes after Harry said it was 'great' to be back in the UK this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke had been in London since Tuesday to attend events relating to the competition including a thanksgiving service.
Meghan Markle has revealed her daughter, Princess Lilibet, loves to dance, as she joined a group of schoolchildren for a boogie today.

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, spoke to pupils at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja about her two-year-old daughter has developed a natural rhythm while she and Prince Harry joined them for Jump Up, Turn Around.

The BBC reported that, while chatting to the students, Meghan said Lilibet's favourite class is dancing, adding: 'Maybe it's all the jumping around.'

She also spoke to the pupils about an exhibition of robot cars coming up - at which point the Duchess suggested she wanted to return to see them.

The sweet moments came as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex began their unofficial 'royal' tour of Nigeria today, which will last for three days.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex joined in with a dance of Jump Up, Turn Around as they joined children at the Wuse Lightway Academy

As the Duke and Duchess danced with the children, Meghan performed a perfect twirl while Harry's dance moves looked a little less refined and he pulled an awkward face as he appeared to struggle to keep up.

At one point, Meghan burst into laughter and put a supportive hand hand on Harry's arm, while the children bopped with delight and sang along.

Elsewhere during the school visit, Meghan and Harry each addressed the students in a speech.

The couple spoke about mental health at the school supported by their Archewell Foundation, with Meghan encouraging them to 'just be honest with each other'.

While chatting to the pupils, Meghan revealed her daughter Lilibet's favourite class is dancing and joked it was probably because of 'all the jumping around'

Harry also said: 'If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you going to do? Are you going to check in on them? Are you going to ask them if they're OK? Because it's OK not to be OK.' Handing the mic to Meghan, she added: 'Do you see why I married him? He's so smart. And so inspiring because he speaks the truth.'

Meghan - who was wearing a long Heidi Merrick 'Windsor' dress worth an estimated 450 - told the pupils: 'As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well. So it is a complete honour to have our first visit to Nigeria, be here with all of you.

'We believe in all of you, we believe in your futures, we believe in your ability to continue telling your stories and to just be honest with each other. There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you're taking care of yourselves.'

Meghan also praised James Holt, the executive director of the Archewell Foundation who has joined them on the trip, for his work - adding that his 'birthday is today'.

Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning

Harry and Meghan clap as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Harry and Meghan take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex are welcomed to the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Meghan Markle waves as she and Harry visit the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Harry gave his own speech about mental health, evoking memories of his suffering after his mother Princess Diana's death when he referred to people who have 'lost a loved one in your family and you don't know who to turn to or who to speak to'.

The Duke - who was 12 and his brother William 15 when Diana died in Paris in 1997 - added that there was 'no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day'.

He also told the children: 'You can have it, she (Meghan) can have it, I can have it. They can have it. Every single one of us is likely to have it on any given day.'

The Duke asked one child their age, and when they said they were five, he replied: 'You're five? Our son Archie is five.' Meghan added: 'That's right, he turned five.' She also said that Lilibet loved dancing, adding: 'Maybe it's all the jumping around.'

The Sussexes were greeted by a dancing troupe and a crowd of excited students and teachers. Student Nnenna Okorie said of Meghan: 'She is the prettiest human being ever. I admire her so much and then Harry. I love how he is so supportive.'

The couple arrived together in Abuja just before 5am following a secret reunion at Heathrow's VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.

They boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.

The Sussexes, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.

Meghan revealed on her Spotify podcast Archetypes in 2022 that she found out she has Nigerian ancestry, describing herself as '43 per cent Nigerian'.

And yesterday, Harry said it was 'great' to be back in the UK this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke had been in London since Tuesday to attend events relating to the competition including a thanksgiving service.
Meghan Markle looked gorgeous in a white suit this afternoon as she visited the Defence headquarters in Abuja during her three-day tour of Nigeria with Prince Harry.

The Duchess of Sussex is thought to have sported her $1,595 Altuzarra Acacia White Blazer today, which she previously wore to the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018. By then, Meghan was pregnant with the couple's first child, Prince Archie, now five.

It's not the first time today that the mother-of-two, 42, has seemingly paid tribute to some of the special milestones in her life.

This morning, Meghan put on a chic display as she bared her back in a sleeveless peach maxi dress from Californian designer Heidi Merrick, which is first thought to have been released in 2018, the year of Meghan's royal wedding to Harry.

The backless silk gown - featuring a billowing skirt, dropped hemline and cinched waist and thought to have originally been priced at $572 -is also titled Windsor, which is the official name for Meghan's royal in-laws.

Meghan Markle (pictured left) looked gorgeous in a white suit this afternoon as she visited the Defence headquarters in Abuja during her three-day tour of Nigeria with Prince Harry (pictured right)

For her latest outfit, Meghan teamed her elegant blazer with matching Altuzarra suit trousers and donned a white T-shirt underneath her jacket.

Adding a touch of glitz to her ensemble, the mother-of-two stunned in her AURate collar necklace and her wedding rings.

She also opted to wear her $62,000 Lorraine Schwartz pinky band, which has a contentious background; there have long been questions about the origin of the ring.

In 2021, Prince Harry and Meghan denied claims that the band was fashioned with diamonds gifted to the couple by a mystery donor in the Middle East - before clarifying that they were referring to a different ring.

They initially said the piece was sourced by a stylist on the shoot directly from the designer and that there was no link to a mystery donor in the Middle East.

But in a spectacular U-turn, they later rolled back the denial, and clarified that they were referring to a different ring.

There was no further mention made of the Lorraine Schwartz ring in question on her right hand, begging the question of whether Meghan has something to hide about the provenance of the diamond, which was first seen on her finger in October 2020.

If the diamonds did indeed come from the Middle East, it's not clear if Meghan received the gift while she was still a working royal, or after she performed her final official duties in early March 2020.

The Duchess of Sussex is thought to have sported her $1,595 Altuzarra Acacia White Blazer today, which she previously wore to the Invictus Games in Sydney in 2018 (pictured). By then, Meghan was pregnant with the couple's first child, Prince Archie, now five

For her latest outfit, Meghan teamed her elegant blazer with matching Altuzarra suit trousers and donned a white T-shirt underneath her jacket

Prince Harry and Meghan visit Nigeria's Defence Headquarters in Abuja this afternoon

She did not visit the region officially, but there's always the possibility she made a private trip.

Buckingham Palace only publishes a list of gifts received by royals while on duty in the UK or overseas, and there is no public record of Meghan being given any diamonds.

Gifts sent to the royals outside of official engagements are recorded but not made public.

The palace previously directed inquiries about the diamonds back to the Sussexes' representatives in the US.

Meghan complemented her outfit with a smattering of glamorous makeup, including a pink lip-gloss, plenty of blush and a smokey eyeshadow look. Her hair appeared equally glam, with the Duchess opting for soft curls.

Harry just looked as smart as his wife, sporting a stylish green suit and navy tie, with a white crisp shirt.

Meanwhile, Meghan praised 'smart' Harry today as their 72-hour tour of Nigeria got underway, saying her husband was 'so inspiring because he speaks the truth.'

The Duke of Sussex spoke to pupils about mental health, saying: 'If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you going to do? Are you going to check in on them? Are you going to ask them if they're OK? Because it's OK not to be OK.'

Handing the microphone to the beaming Duchess in Abuja, she then added: 'Do you see why I married him? He's so smart. And so inspiring because he speaks the truth.'

The Duchess of Sussex at Nigeria's Defence Headquarters in Abuja this afternoon

Adding a touch of glitz to her ensemble, the mother-of-two stunned in her AURate collar necklace and her wedding rings

Meanwhile, Meghan (pictured left) praised 'smart' Harry (pictured right) today as their 72-hour tour of Nigeria got underway, saying her husband was 'so inspiring because he speaks the truth.'

The couple visited Wuse Lightway Academy which is supported by their Archewell Foundation, with Meghan encouraging pupils to 'just be honest with each other'.

They visited the school about five hours after their arrival in Abuja  before heading onto the Nigerian Defence Headquarters for their next engagement from noon.

Meghan told the pupils: 'As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well. So it is a complete honour to have our first visit to Nigeria, be here with all of you.

'We believe in all of you, we believe in your futures, we believe in your ability to continue telling your stories and to just be honest with each other. There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you're taking care of yourselves.'

Meghan also praised James Holt, the executive director of the Archewell Foundation who has joined them on the trip, for his work - adding that his 'birthday is today'.

Harry gave his own speech about mental health, evoking memories of his suffering after his mother Princess Diana's death when he referred to people who have 'lost a loved one in your family and you don't know who to turn to or who to speak to'.

The Duke - who was 12 and his brother William 15 when Diana died in Paris in 1997 - added that there was 'no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day'.

He also told the children: 'You can have it, she (Meghan) can have it, I can have it. They can have it. Every single one of us is likely to have it on any given day.'

The Duke asked one child their age, and when they said they were five, he replied: 'You're five? Our son Archie is five.' Meghan added: 'That's right, he turned five.' She also said that Lilibet loved dancing, adding: 'Maybe its all the jumping around.'

Meghan opted for a daring backless dress as she and Prince Harry kicked off their 72-hour whistlestop tour of Nigeria today with a trip to a school supported by the couple's Archewell Foundation

The Duchess of Sussex, 42, looked effortlessly elegant as she bared her back in a sleeveless peach-coloured frock, featuring a dropped hemline, billowing skirt and cinched waist

Adding a touch of glitz to her ensemble, the mother-of-two sported chunky gold earrings, her AURate collar necklace and an array of dazzling bracelets

Meghan takes a selfie with students as Harry watches at the Wuse Lightway Academy today

Harry and Meghan take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

The Sussexes were greeted by a dancing troupe and a crowd of excited students and teachers. Student Nnenna Okorie said of Meghan: 'She is the prettiest human being ever. I admire her so much and then Harry. I love how he is so supportive.'

At the Defence HQ, the couple spent an hour inside before emerging to cheers from and shaking hands with well-wishers amid chaotic scenes. An uncomfortable looking Harry quickly ushered Meghan into their car as onlookers almost overwhelmed them.

The couple arrived together in Abuja just before 5am following a secret reunion at Heathrow's VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.

They boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.

The Sussexes, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.

Meghan revealed on her Spotify podcast Archetypes in 2022 that she found out she has Nigerian ancestry, describing herself as '43 per cent Nigerian'.

And yesterday, Harry said it was 'great' to be back in the UK this week to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. The Duke had been in London since Tuesday to attend events relating to the competition including a thanksgiving service.

Harry and Meghan have a four-man security team with them for the tour, who have accompanied the Duke since he arrived in London. Nigeria has also provided protection including armed guards and bullet proof vehicles for the couple's stay.
High schoolers return textbooks Friday, May 15, 2020. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

Textbook censorship

Regarding "Cy-Fair ISD board votes to remove chapters teaching vaccines and cultural diversity from textbooks," (May 8): Can someone help me understand what these school boards are so afraid of when it comes to teaching kids? Facing budget cuts and deficits, they want to remove text that says humans cause problems. Do they think animals built the factories that pollute the air and water?

These kids have access to more information than I ever could have imagined when faced with research and a card catalog. So they change textbooks to reflect an idea that humans do nothing wrong and issues are just made up and mean nothing. Every kid I know has a cellphone and can access any number of topics without a board member having to say so. They waste so much time and energy on things that, as a teen, I would have rolled my eyes at and gone and found anyway.

Do these board members want our next generations to be so limited by information and free thinking that they are nothing but drones? What a sad thought and worse, what a miserable life. The rest of the world is outpacing us, and these are the very reasons why. Its shameful.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Stephen White, Houston

I didn't know that learning to stick your head in the sand was part of the school curriculum these days. Heaven forbid our students should read anything that might make them think about and discuss controversial subjects.

David Kelly, Spring

This article helped me to understand what being conservative means. I think the article shows that these conservatives saw an opportunity to force their out-of-date ideas on students and they took it, even though they did not have the money to change the textbooks.

Trump beware: Conservatives may be after witches next.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

David Norman, Katy

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, depopulation means "to greatly reduce the population of." Depopulation can happen for many reasons. It may be due to disease, such as COVID-19 or the plague. It may happen due to war, such as the Oct. 7 attack on Israel or the assault on Gaza. It can also occur because of migration, such as when people move out of the third largest school district in Texas so that their children can get a less censored and better quality education. Perhaps many people will select a district that isn't focused on rearranging deck chairs while the Titanic sinks. But hey, when your property values drop because no one wants to move there, you won't have to pay as much in property taxes.

Jean Tanner, Houston

Cy-Fair plans to censor parts of the science curriculum based purely on political grounds. Joseph Stalin did that in the Soviet Union and it set Soviet science back decades. But then, it is apparent that the Cy-Fair school board is ignorant of science, so they are probably not aware of that history either.

Alan Jackson, Houston

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Lakewood follow-up

Regarding "The Lakewood Church shooter had encounters with more than 50 officers. Nobody stopped her." (May 6): The Chronicle's Lakewood Church article detailing the shooting in February was long awaited by me. I heard the sickening sound of the shots ricocheting around the neighborhood that day and then watched as the first responders showed up in force after the shooting.

Since that time there has been little reported on television in the way of follow-up. This shooting deserved the in-depth coverage that the Chronicle published to outline the cascading events that unfolded over years and led to this tragedy.

While I am grateful for this detailed article, I am also extremely disheartened by it, as so many years went by with so many red flags and no one, as the article indicates, connected the dots for this shooter over so many years of troubled history.

The mental health care crisis in this country has to be solved by a standard protocol of connecting the dots for the thousands of people who are in desperate need of help who may be planning something like this.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Its a continual barrage of another day, another shooting, and its just reporting with no follow-up. The Chronicles careful and precise deep dive and analysis using a committed team of reporters was very welcome to this reader.

I hope that we, as a society, can solve the huge challenge that exists and connect the dots for all people who need mental health assistance in this country to prevent these increasingly common and ongoing tragedies from continuing and becoming just another news story.
Advertisement

Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips have put their quaint Santa Barbara home on the market for $3,895,000.

The longtime couple purchased the 1940s three-bedroom abode in 2021 for $2.9 million and they went about completing a full renovation to bring it up to date.

The listing describes it as a 'magical' and 'private' property, which blends 'old world charm with modern amenities.'

Along with a bright and airy main house, the 0.51 acre estate also includes a two-bedroom guesthouse.

News of Billy and Chynna's property sale comes after they recently revealed how the move to California had put extra pressure on their relationship.

Billy Baldwin and Chynna Phillips have put their quaint Santa Barbara home on the market for $3,895,000

The longtime couple purchased the 1940s three-bedroom abode in 2021 for $2.9 million and they went about completing a full renovation to bring it up to date

The listing describes it as a 'magical' and 'private' property, which blends 'old world charm with modern amenities'

News of Billy and Chynna's property sale comes after they recently revealed how the move to California had put extra pressure on their relationship

In a video previously shared to 56-year-old Chynna's faith-based YouTube channel, called California Preachin', she candidly revealed that she and Billy, 61, had been 'bickering and arguing' more than ever since relocating from the East Coast.

'Moving is hard, it definitely creates a perfect nesting ground for bickering and arguing [with all the] stressors,' Chynna said.

'So Billy and I have been kind of going at it these past couple of days. We have just been getting on each other's last nerve.

'It's frustrating because just when I feel like we're on a roll and things are starting to get better we start the bickering again,' she added.

Their Santa Barbara property was listed for sale online on May 8.

Giving a feel for what it is like, the realtors note: 'Wide plank oak wood floors, vaulted ceilings and skylights, 8ft tall French doors and an abundance of windows bring in light and overlook the majestic oaks and lush grounds.

'Meandering pathways, a circular driveway, covered patio for dining al fresco and a grassy yard provide the backdrop for enjoyable living.'

In another of her YouTubes uploaded two years ago, Chynna gives viewers a comprehensive tour of the property.

In another of her YouTubes uploaded two years ago, Chynna gives viewers a comprehensive tour of the property

The master bathroom features a freestanding tub and a spacious walk in shower

Another one of Chynna's favorite spots, she says, is an infrared sauna in one of the outbuildings

Some of the highlights she points out include the 'amazing' skylight in the dining room, a spot where Billy's wine collection is stored, a 'country kitchen sink,' and master bathroom with a freestanding tub.

Another one of her favorite spots, she says, is an infrared sauna in one of the outbuildings.

Many viewers gave the home a huge thumbs up.

One commenter wrote: 'I like that it's not one of those over-the-top, huge mansions. This is much more homey, cozy and relatable. It's light, airy and beautiful!'

Another fan mused: 'This is the home dreams are made of! Everywhere you look is someplace beautiful. I love what you've done as far as the changes you made.

'I think it's just perfect! Even the trees are just gorgeous... I'm thrilled for you as I would be for anyone who had their dream home like this. Nothing pretentious about it. That says it all if you ask me!'

So far, the listing has amassed more than 600 views on property site Zillow on three days.

Before deciding to part ways with it completely, they had been renting the home out for $14,000 a month.
When it comes to style, we are all inspired by what we see; whether it be a well-dressed celebrity, a blow-your-mind catwalk presentation or even a fashionable passerby.

As fashion editors, we're moved by all of the above, and then some. We're exposed to under-the-radar labels; we get a first-hand look at collections months before they hit stores; we attend VIP events; we're tapped into brands with chic-yet-cheap offerings and we shop  a lot.

To share our knowledge, FEMAIL brings you Style Swoon, a weekly series of the latest, greatest and on the verge. We hope this series will serve as a buying guide and point of inspiration for all.

Today we focus on stylish happenings in New York City other than the Met Gala.

New York-based label LAPOINTE introduced LA-SUNGLASS pronounced 'La Sunglass' from LAPOINTE this week

Throw shade

New York-based label LAPOINTE introduced LA-SUNGLASS pronounced 'La Sunglass' from LAPOINTE this week.

Inspired by Founder + Creative-Director Sally LaPointes staple, this edgy, everyday essential was designed to elevate the boldness of your personal style.

'Ive always wanted a pair of truly all-black sunglasses, so I decided to go more discreet with the logo placement because its more about the vibe than brand visibility,' shared Sally.

According to the label, this is the one style (all black with a flat-top silhouette) that works with everything and on everyone, they retail for $285

Inspired by Founder + Creative-Director Sally LaPointes staple, this edgy, everyday essential was designed to elevate the boldness of your personal style

The launch of sunglasses comes on the heels of an exciting return to the NYFW Runway circuit where models stepped off a big yellow school bus before hitting the catwalk dressed in their coolest 'Back to School' looks.

We're told the launch is also a tease of whats to come as the brand continues to expand into new categories.

Does your summer wardrobe need a new pair of sunnies?

According to the label, this is the one style (all black with a flat-top silhouette) that works with everything and on everyone.

The sunglasses retail for $285 and are available on shoplapointe.com.

A name synonymous with New York...

Ariana Rockefeller attended the Women & Science lecture and luncheon held at Rockefeller University on Thursday, May 9th on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

The stunning brunette was the epitome of chic for the educational afternoon in a white dress by Abadia Official, an ethically sourced, woman-led brand from Saudi Arabia.

Ariana tells Daily Mail that she discovered the luxury label after spending time in the Middle East.

Ariana Rockefeller attended the Women & Science lecture and luncheon held at Rockefeller University wearing a white dress by Abadia Official, an ethically sourced, woman-led brand from Saudi Arabia

She added a pop of color to her Abadia Official look with a purple Chanel bag and matching Gianvito Rossi flats.

Her signature long brown hair was styled straight and parted down the middle.

A global icon, Ariana recently starred as the digital cover model and story for L'Officiel Arabia, a trusted source fashion, art, culture, and lifestyle.

This week Melissa Joy Manning hosted a sip and shop event at her charming boutique on Court Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn

No sleep 'til ...

This week Melissa Joy Manning hosted a sip and shop event at her charming boutique on Court Street in Cobble Hill, Brooklyn.

The event was held on behalf of Nest, a non-profit 501(c)(3) supporting the responsible growth and creative engagement of the artisan & maker economy to build a world of greater gender equity and economic inclusion.

Joining Melissa as co-hosts were Nests Lindsey Struck and Tara Levy, fashion designer Tracy Reese, influencer Lindsay Weiss, and Daily Mail's Style Director Pandora Amoratis, all wearing fashion by Hope For Flowers.

The event was held on behalf of Nest, a non-profit 501(c)(3) supporting the responsible growth and creative engagement of the artisan & maker economy to build a world of greater gender equity and economic inclusion

Joining Melissa as co-hosts were Nests Lindsey Struck (far left) and Tara Levy (far right), fashion designer Tracy Reese, influencer Lindsay Weiss, and Daily Mail's Style Director Pandora Amoratis

Attendees shopped the store's amazing selection of jewelry, gifts and eco-conscious fashions from legendary designer Tracy Reese's Hope for Flowers collection.

10% of sales from the evening are being donated to Nest.

Nest believes that when brands, philanthropy and artisan businesses come together, they can harness the potential of craft to drive economic opportunity for workers everywhere.

Didn't get the invite? Don't fret! You can still support Nest through this weekend. Melissa Joy Manning is hosting a raffle for a $1,000 gift card with all proceeds benefitting nest. Enter here.

Attendees shopped the store's amazing selection of jewelry, gifts and eco-conscious fashions from legendary designer Tracy Reese's Hope for Flowers collection

Music to our ears

To celebrate her 'Glorious' album release Kate Hudson gave an intimate concert at Casa Cipriani's exclusive Jazz Cafe, located at 10 South Street in Manhattan's Financial District.

For the special occasion the blonde beauty donned an archival Donna Karan Collection dress.

The silk chiffon gown featuring a diamonte neckline was first seen on the runway during New York Fashion Week in the fall of 2002.

Channeling her inner rock star she accessorized with Pasquale Bruni jewels and wore her signature blonde locks in loose textured waves.

To celebrate her 'Glorious' album release Kate Hudson gave an intimate concert at Casa Cipriani's exclusive Jazz Cafe this week

For the special occasion the blonde beauty donned an archival Donna Karan collection at dress

The silk chiffon gown was first seen on the runway during fall New York Fashion Week in 2002

Donna Karan first launched her brand in 1985 with a collection titled, 'Seven Easy Pieces.'

The practical-but-not-boring capsule catapulted her iconic ready-to-wear business for the modern day working women.

On the heels of her off-the-rack success she later launched Donna Karan Atelier, a collection designed and created from the finest materials for red carpet dressing.

Immediately embraced and beloved by celebs, her gowns have been worn by everyone from Demi Moore to Hillary Clinton to Hollywood's most glamorous events.

Almost 40 years later, Donna's original pieces are now being reinterpreted at a lower price-point but just as chic. Check them out here.
59-year-old Melinda was full of pride as she reunited with Bill

Melinda Gates ditched her eye-catching diamond ring as she reunited with her billionaire ex-husband Bill for the first time in eight months today to mark 27-year-old daughter Jennifer's med school graduation.

The 59-year-old former wife of Microsoft billionaire Bill, 68, was pictured out and about in New York City with her former spouse on Friday in honor of their eldest child's achievement - with the special occasion bringing the estranged lovers back together for the first time in nearly a year.

Jennifer - who has matched for residency at Mt. Sinai's pediatrics program - seemed to appreciate her parents putting tensions aside to focus on her accomplishment as she grinned from ear-to-ear while walking into upscale eatery Marea on Manhattan's Upper West Side with her younger sister Phoebe, 21.

The family reunion comes just weeks after Melinda fueled romance rumors when she stepped out donning a blinding diamond ring, which she chose to leave behind for the day in order to keep the shine on her eldest daughter.

Melinda Gates has ditched her impressive sparkler as she reunited with ex-husband Bill for the first time in eight months to mark their daughter Jennifer's med school graduation

The 59-year-old former wife of Microsoft billionaire Bill, 68, was seen strolling around in New York City to mark Jennifer's special day as she finished med school

The awkward reunion comes just weeks after Melinda fueled romance rumors when she stepped out donning a blinding diamond ring

The family was joined by their younger daughter, Phoebe, whose 21st birthday last September served as the last occasion they were all publicly seen together.

But while Phoebe's milestone birthday was celebrated with a party, the family marked Jennifer's achievement by enjoying an upscale lunch at Marea with each other before going their separate ways.

The exes arrived to the elegant dining spot in separate cars and didn't hold back when it came to celebrations.

The family sure made to ring in the accomplishment with a pricey lunch at the lavish restaurant, where a side of arugula will set diners back a staggering $18.

Meanwhile, a selection of pasta dishes are priced at $47 each, a swordfish dish comes in at $61, an asparagus appetizer costs $39, and guests can enjoy caviar for a whopping $285.

The pricey plates were not likely to put a huge dent in the bank accounts of Melinda and Bill however, with the former couple boasting respective fortunes of $11.2 billion and $130 billion, according to Forbes.

Melinda looked chic as ever as she sported a floral mid-length dress with a pair of orange heels.

She let her stunning locks fall down her shoulders and accessorized with a white purse before throwing a yellow cardigan atop her shoulders.

Jennifer glowed in an all-white outfit while donning a Mount Sinai silver stole.

The exes arrived to the elegant dining spot in separate cars and didn't hold back when it came to celebrations

The family was joined by their younger daughter, Phoebe, who they were last seen celebrating with on her birthday in September

Melinda looked chic as ever as she sported a floral mid-length dress with a pair of orange heels

Bill kept his look professional and simple as he sported a navy suit with a purple tie.

Phoebe, 21, followed her mother's theme and donned a purple floral dress and threw a black coat on top.

The family enjoyed the very lavish lunch before heading off separately.

Last month, Jennifer - who has been studying in med school - announced that she had matched for her residency at Mt. Sinai's pediatrics program, meaning that she will maintain her status as a New York resident for at least the next few years.

Jennifer's younger sister has also been spending a lot of time in New York recently, despite currently being enrolled at Stanford University in California, where she is studying human biology, according to her online profile.

Since her divorce from Bill, Melinda has maintained a very close relationship with her daughters, regularly taking Phoebe with her on trips around the world.

However, she was the center of headlines a few weeks ago when she stepped out in New York City sporting an enormous diamond ring.

The family enjoyed the very lavish lunch before heading off separately

Jennifer glowed in an all-white outfit while donning a Mount Sinai silver stole

The family sure made to ring in the accomplishment with a pricey lunch at the lavish restaurant, where a side of arugula will set diners back a staggering $18

Her outing came just one day after she was first seen modeling the dazzling diamond when she touched down in the city in a private helicopter on Saturday, prompting many to question whether she was planning to walk down the aisle with her former Fox News anchor boyfriend Jon Du Pre, who she was first linked with back in 2022.

But the billionaire philanthropist quick shut down any suggestion that she and Jon, 65, are headed for the altar when she addressed the speculation in a statement via her rep this morning, confirming that the pair have broken up - and insisting that she is not currently engaged to anyone.

'Melinda is not engaged and is no longer dating Jon Du Pre,' a spokesperson told Page Six.

The mother-of-three, who has had no public romances since her relationship with Jon was revealed back in 2022, did seem more eager to conceal the bauble during her latest outing however - crossing her arms over her chest in what could well have been an attempt to hide the dazzler from view.

Other than the eye-catching ring, Melinda did her best to blend into her surroundings with a simple black jacket and matching black jeans, which she paired with some $850 multi-colored Chloe sneakers, a $1,600 Celine bag, and some sunglasses that were perched on her head.

Since her divorce from Bill, (seen together in 2019) Melinda has maintained a very close relationship with her daughters, regularly taking Phoebe with her on trips around the world

The couple released a statement at the time of their split and revealed that their wasn't just 'one moment' that led to it

The 27-year-old medical student, who is the oldest child of Microsoft co-founder Bill and Melinda, moved into a $51 million penthouse in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood

Melinda and Bill split after nearly three decades of marriage in 2021.

The couple released a statement at the time of their split and revealed that their wasn't just 'one moment' that led to it.

Despite their estranged relationship, the couple seems to continue to be doting parents to their children - with Jennifer enjoying much of the luxuries that come along with having billionaire parents.

Jennifer knew from an early age that she would have to forge her own path because she wouldn't be inheriting her parents' billions, but that doesn't mean she isn't living a life of luxury.

The 27-year-old medical student, who is the oldest child of Microsoft co-founder Bill and Melinda, moved into a $51 million penthouse in Manhattan's trendy Tribeca neighborhood.

Jennifer and her husband, Olympic showjumper Nayel Nassar, 33, have one child together, a baby girl named Leila, and they have plenty of room for their growing family in their new six-bedroom home.

The move comes six years after her father, Bill, shared that he will be giving the vast majority of his billions away to avoid spoiling his children.

However, his oldest daughter has already proven to have a strong work ethic, and the impending arrival of his first grandchild may have swayed him to purchase her the lavish penthouse.
Queen Mary and King Frederik may be gearing up to 'celebrate' 20 years of marriage on Tuesday, but some are claiming their famed 'fairytale romance' is over.

The couple, who met at Sydney pub The Slip Inn during the 2000 Olympics, are known for their subtle yet endearing displays of affection at public events.

But, according to body language and vocal intelligence expert, Dr Louise Mahler, their recent 'loving glances', linked arms and broad smiles are 'all for show'.

She believes they have been inauthentic with their affection since photographs of the King in Madrid with glamorous socialite Genoveva Casanova went viral - triggering rumours of an affair.

However, Dr Mahler claims their relationship will endure thanks to one green flag: They both want to be King and Queen, and they want to do so together.

According to body language and vocal intelligence expert, Dr Louise Mahler, the pair's recent 'loving glances', linked arms and broad smiles are 'all for show'. The distance between them, outward gazes, the Queen's stance and the King's clenched fist hints at tension romantically

Queen Mary, pictured here a step ahead of her husband, has 'taken the reins' of the relationship and of the couple's public image, Dr Mahler said earlier this week

'They are not showing any signs of being a couple [romantically],' she said.

Dr Mahler claims Queen Mary is blocking King Frederik out throughout a recent interview, their first as monarchs, with folded hands and crossed legs. Her head is also tilted away from him quite often.

'She is in control. He is sulking and he needs to grow up,' she said.

Heavily-scripted appearances, including the awkward interview on Denmark's TV 2 and their first tour through Scandinavia as leaders aid in proving her point.

During the televised interview King Frederik glances his wife and smiles - though Dr Mahler claims the glances were 'far too short to be authentic'.

The pair are pictured on their wedding day on May 14, 2004

During the televised interview King Frederik glances his wife and smiles - though Dr Mahler claims the glances were 'far too short to be authentic'. He regularly has his hands curled into fists, indicating feelings of tension and discomfort

'He doesn't even look at her long enough for his eyes to focus,' she said.

Photos of the couple at royal engagements may show them walking arm in arm - but their 'affectionate displays' are merely formulated for the crowd, Dr Mahler says.

'It can be that after so many years, this is understandable, but given previous tactile behaviour and the rumours before the coronation, one senses a challenge in their relationship,' she said.

The couple's body language during the TV 2 interview was 'closed off' and 'awkward' with Queen Mary blocking King Fred with her hands and legs and leaning away with her shoulders while he 'fidgeted' the whole time (pictured). Read more about the bizarre appearance here

Dr Mahler said the couple's interactions changed after rumours swirled that Frederik had an affair with Mexican socialite Genoveva Casanova (pictured)

In one photo, uploaded to Instagram by the palace, the couple smile arm in arm for the crowd - but King Frederik's hands are clenched into fists

'There are signs of heads facing different directions, arms blocking contact from each other and a spatial distance of as much as possible,' she said.

Dr Mahler believes he has 'checked out' completely while Mary's behaviour has simply been 'protective' since the family was embroiled in the embarrassing scandal last November.

But there is hope for the pair, even if it's not in a traditionally intimate sense.

'The good news is, here are two people totally committed to their role (as King and Queen), and playing the role as a couple,' she said.

'They are together and perhaps that's all that matters to the nation,' she said.
Scans revealed she had a clot in her leg and pulmonary embolisms in both lungs

A mother claims she 'could have died' after developing blood clots just weeks after her GP prescribed the 'wrong' contraceptive pill.

Emma Tuthill, who lives in Ayrshire, began taking the Pill again in March  six years after giving birth to son Kaiden.

But in April, Ms Tuthill's heart rate suddenly spiked and she collapsed at home.

While reassured by medics nothing was amiss, days later the 32-year-old suffered a seizure that left her struggling to move.

Rushed to A&E, scans revealed she had a life-threatening blood clot in her leg and a pulmonary embolism in both lungs.

Emma Tuthill (pictured), who lives near Ayr in Ayrshire, began taking the Pill again in March, six years after giving birth to son Kaiden. But in April, Ms Tuthill's heart rate suddenly spiked and she collapsed at home

But in April, Ms Tuthill's heart rate suddenly spiked and she collapsed at home. While reassured by medics nothing was amiss, days later the 32-year-old suffered a seizure that left her struggling to move. Pictured, Ms Tuthill with her son Kaiden

Rushed to A&E, scans revealed she had a life-threatening blood clot in her leg and pulmonary embolisms in both lungs. The painful condition occurs when a clot forms in a vein, usually in the leg, before traveling to the lung where it gets stuck. Such blockages can prove fatal if the clot blocks the blood supply to the lungs

The condition occurs when a clot forms in a vein, usually in the leg, before traveling to the lung where it gets stuck.

Such blockages can prove fatal if the clot blocks the blood supply to the lungs.

Ms Tuthill's experience is believed to be a dangerous combination linked to her migraines and the Pill.

General NHS advice warns women who have migraines with aura  where there are warning signs before the painful headaches strike  may not be able to take the combined pill as it can raise the risk of clots and even strokes.

Other health service resources go further, stating the risk posed to women who have migraines with aura by the medication is 'unacceptable' or that it shouldn't be offered for these patients.

Recalling starting on the Pill shortly before her ordeal, Ms Tuthill said: 'I thought I'd be fine because I'd been on it so long in the past. Then one day I felt really cold and had had a migraine all day.

'I felt my heart beating really fast. I was brushing my teeth and knew I just didn't feel right.

'I came up to my bed, sat down and thought I was having a panic attack. Then I woke up and I was on the floor and my wee boy was holding my hand, asking if I was okay.'

Her mother called 999, but paramedics who treated Ms Tuthill told her that her body was simply 'resetting itself' after a cold, she claimed.

Still concerned by her symptoms, she visited her GP the following day who echoed the paramedics' explanation, Ms Tuthill said.

However, just days later, she suffered a seizure while with her partner, 34-year-old William Dickson, who then rushed her to University Hospital Crosshouse in Kilmarnock.

She said: 'William called the ambulance and the paramedics said my oxygen levels were dangerously low.

'After my seizure when I came around, I felt like I couldn't breathe. It was like someone was suffocating me, it was horrible.'

'I was extremely unwell at first but on day four of being on the high dependency unit the doctor came to me and said I could've died.

'He told me that it sounds like a provoked clot due to the contraceptive pill.'

Seizures, sudden bursts of electrical activity in the brain that affect how it works can be triggered by blood clots.

While this is most commonly reported with blood clots that appear in the brain there are cases where medics have linked them to a pulmonary embolism.

Medics believe these seizures are triggered by the brain experiencing a sudden loss of oxygen or dramatic change in blood pressure due to the blood clot in the lung, which causes brain cells to malfunction.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA)  which polices the safety of drugs used in Britain  notes the combined Pill, which is also often taken as acne medication, can increase the risk of blood clots.

However, its 'benefits far outweigh the risk of serious side effects', it adds.

NHS figures suggest around one in 20,000 women on the combined pill, but who do not have migraines, suffer a stroke each year.

NHS advice warns women who have migraines with aura  where there are warning signs before the painful headaches strike  shouldn't take the combined pill as it raises the risk of clots and even strokes

The NHS says natural family planning can be up to 99 per cent effective when done correctly and around 75 per cent if not used according to instructions. By comparison, the Pill, implant, IUS and IUD are 99 per cent effective with perfect use, while condoms are 98 per cent

For comparison, just one in 100,000 women who are both not on the pill and don't have migraines, are thought to suffer strokes.

But NHS resources says this rises to at one per 3,500 among those who experience migraines with aura, also known as classic migraines.

The reaction is believed to be due to how oestrogen  a hormone in the combined pill  boosts the number of clotting substances in women's blood. The Pill contains oestrogen and progestogen.

At higher levels, this raises the risk of a clot forming anywhere in the body and  if this becomes dislodged and travels to the brain  can trigger a stroke.

Ms Tuthill said she feels 'failed' by medical professionals.

She claimed her GP didn't warn her about the risks associated with the combined pill and had even previously prescribed medication to help treat her migraines.

Ms Tuthill added: 'My own GP phoned me to apologise because it turns out I shouldn't have been put back on that pill because I suffer migraines. She said "I have to clinically apologise".

'I was raging. I feel like I was failed by the paramedics too who missed all the signs. You can't play the blame game but it seems wrong.'

She added: 'My leg is still extremely swollen, I can't stand for long. I get out of breath very easily. I can just about walk up the stairs.

'I have to go back to the hospital to see if there's any long-lasting damage to my heart and lungs.

'It makes me feel terrified that I could've died that day, especially because they're still there in my lungs.

'If you don't feel right, go to your GP and ask to be checked out. I didn't have any visible signs until I was already in the hospital.

'I feel disappointed it wasn't caught earlier. You put your trust in medical professionals and I could've easily died. I feel lucky to be alive.'

The proportion of Brits taking oral contraceptives has fallen by more than two-thirds, from 420,600 in 2012/13 to 126,400 in 2022/23, according to NHS data. Around 555,400 women turned to the health service's sexual and reproductive health services in 2022/23  equivalent to four per cent of 13 to 54-year-olds

NHS figures for 2022/23 suggest there were almost 3million prescriptions for the combined pill and more than 4million for the mini pill, which just contains progestogen.

Around a quarter of all women aged 15 to 49 are on either the combined or progesterone only pill.

But the Faculty of Sexual & Reproductive Healthcare estimates around 1 per cent of women using the contraceptive are at risk of suffering blood clots.

Known side effects of the drug  proven to be over 99 per cent effective at stopping pregnancy  include nausea, breast tenderness, mood swings and headaches.

Rarer complications of the combined and the mini pill, however, can include a slightly heightened risk of breast and cervical cancer.

Research also suggests 40 per cent of patients who die from a pulmonary embolism complained of nagging symptoms for weeks before their death.

For every pulmonary embolism diagnosed in time, there are at least another two where the diagnosis was missed and resulted in sudden death, according to the charity Thrombosis UK.
Another newborn baby has died from whooping cough, MailOnline can reveal today amid growing fears the outbreak could be the worst in 40 years.

Nearly 3,000 cases of pertussis, or the 100-day cough, have already been recorded in 2024  treble levels seen across the entirety of 2023. Nottingham, parts of Wales, Leeds and Sheffield appear to be the hotspots.

Only three of 330-plus districts across England and Wales have yet to report any suspected cases this year, MailOnline analysis reveals.

Whooping cough  an illness as contagious as measles  killed five babies in the first quarter of 2024. All were under the age of three months.

Another victim, not yet included in the official toll, is Evie-Grace Lewis, who died last week at just 15 days old after catching the infection. Heartbroken parents Reece and Caitlin say she 'deteriorated so quickly'.

It means six babies have died in the current outbreak, making it the deadliest in a decade.

Another victim, not yet included in the official toll, is Evie-Grace Lewis, who died last week at just 15 days old after catching the infection

Reece Lewis, Evie-Grace's father, told ITV News that his partner, Caitlin, 'had to have the vaccine during her pregnancy', adding: 'But I didn't know what it is or what it was for.' Pictured, Evie-Grace's parents, Caitlin and Reece

Your browser does not support iframes.

Dozens of newborns used to die from the illness every year before pregnant women were routinely offered jabs in 2012.

One of the country's most respected paediatricians today warned 'there will be more deaths'.

Sir Andrew Pollard, chair of the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, a Government advisory panel, claimed the 'only thing we can actually do' is drastically vaccination rates.

UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) bosses have blamed the current outbreak on a steady decline in the uptake of vaccines among expectant mums.

Experts say this is due to a mixture of vaccine hesitancy in the wake of Covid as well as a lack of awareness. The cancellation of many 'non essential' services during the pandemic and the consequence of lockdowns on immunity are also thought to have played a role.

The jab in pregnancy, offered between 16 and 32 weeks, protects babies in the first few months of their life, when they are most vulnerable and before they can receive their own vaccines.

Heartbroken parents Reece and Caitlin say she 'deteriorated so quickly'

Your browser does not support iframes.

Polly Deehy, from Dartford, Kent, was an otherwise healthy baby until her terrifying ordeal. In April, at just two weeks old, she developed a rattly cough that left her struggling to breathe. She was rushed to hospital four days later by her parents when she suddenly turned blue, her mother Kerry Pearson (pictured) revealed

After her condition worsened she was transferred to St Mary's Hospital in London where medics diagnosed her with pertussis, nicknamed the '100-day cough', and put her on a ventilator

Your browser does not support iframes.

Just a quarter of expectant mothers have had the pertussis jab in some boroughs of London. Rates are below half in other parts of the capital and Birmingham.

Uptake of the six-in-one jab  offered to babies in the first four months of life  are also at an all-time low.

Babies are given three doses of the six-in-one jab at eight, 12 and 16 weeks of age to protect against whooping cough and other serious diseases such as diphtheria and polio. A pre-school booster is offered after they turn three.

Only 21 fatalities were logged between then and 2023. All but two of their mothers were unvaccinated.

MailOnline understands of the six babies known to have died of whooping cough in 2024, just two of their mothers were unvaccinated.

ALL THE VACCINES PREGNANT WOMEN AND CHILDREN SHOULD HAVE AND WHEN During Pregnancy Flu vaccine (at any stage of pregnancy during flu season)

Covid booster vaccine (during any stage of pregnancy)

Whooping cough (from week 16 of pregnancy) Vaccines for babies under 1 year old 8 weeks 6-in-1 vaccine

Rotavirus vaccine

MenB vaccine 12 weeks 6-in-1 vaccine (2nd dose)

Pneumococcal vaccine

Rotavirus vaccine (2nd dose) 16 weeks 6-in-1 vaccine (3rd dose)

MenB vaccine (2nd dose) Vaccines for children aged 1 to 15 1 year Hib/MenC vaccine (1st dose)

MMR vaccine (1st dose)

Pneumococcal vaccine (2nd dose)

MenB vaccine (3rd dose) 2 to 15 years Children's flu vaccine (every year until children finish Year 11 of secondary school) 3 years and 4 months MMR vaccine (2nd dose)

4-in-1 pre-school booster vaccine 12 to 13 years HPV vaccine 14 years 3-in-1 teenage booster vaccine

MenACWY vaccine Source: NHS Choices Advertisement

Reece Lewis, Evie-Grace's father, told ITV News that his partner, Caitlin, 'had to have the vaccine during her pregnancy', adding: 'But I didn't know what it is or what it was for.'

He admitted that he 'didn't really know anything' about whooping cough, a bacterial infection that can silently lurk inside the body for 21 days.

Reece, who with Caitlin is now fundraising for Birmingham Children's Hospital where Evie-Grace was treated, said said she had been 'perfectly fine' in the first few days of her life.

It was only 'around day seven when we really started to worry'.

He told ITV: 'In the last two to three days of her life was when it really went bad and she just deteriorated so quickly  it was unreal.

'Her first cough would be a normal cough, then she would go silent and you could hear she was so blocked up she couldn't get the cough out and was struggling to breathe.'

MailOnline has created an interactive map revealing the number of suspected cases detected in each local authority across England and Wales in 2024.

Nationwide, more than 8,000 whooping cough cases have been recorded since the start of the year.

Yet there is still a huge disparity in rates across the country, with Nottingham logging the most (180).

It was followed by the Vale of Glamorgan (130), Cardiff (124) and Swansea (121), all of which are in Wales.

Similarly high figures were seen in Leeds (111), Sheffield (110) and Hart (98).

In comparison, three authorities  the City of London, Torridge and the Isles of Scilly  haven't logged a single case so far.

Experts have already warned the epidemic 'may well tragically rise'.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan, an A&E doctor in London, told MailOnline: 'There is, inevitably, a lag between deaths and official reported figures.

'So already, by mid-May, the number of deaths is thought to be higher.

'And with paediatric intensive care units now on "surge capacity" because of both pertussis and measles, that number may well, tragically, rise.'

In the 1980s, the government published terrifying adverts telling parents whooping cough can cause vomiting, weight loss, brain damage and death in children.

Dr Ahsan said the Department of Health should re-publicise the deadly dangers of the illness to boost vaccine uptake.

Dr David Elliman, a consultant in community child health at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London, today also said: 'The rise in cases of measles and pertussis and the sad deaths in the first three months of this year, should be a wakeup call to the NHS.'

Dr Michael Head, senior research fellow in global health based at the University of Southampton, today said: 'Whooping cough can and does kill babies.

'A high coverage of vaccination is vital in reducing transmission within populations.

'Vaccine uptake in young children and for expectant mothers during pregnancy is so important. The vaccine is safe, and extremely effective.

'As a disease, whooping cough is as infectious as measles, and more infectious than Covid.

'This is, in part, due to a long period where the infected individual can be infectious, able to transmit the bacteria to others.

The government has been urged to publicise the deadly danger of whooping cough to boost vaccine uptake, as it did in the 1980s and '90s

Health officials warned that the infection is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold, as the first signs are a runny nose and sore throat. But around a week later, sufferers may develop coughing bouts that last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a 'whoop' sound between coughs. Other signs of whooping cough include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting and becoming red in the face

Your browser does not support iframes.

'Thus, with a larger pool of susceptible people, there is increased likelihood of an outbreak being sustained.'

Whooping cough, spread through coughs and sneezes, can initially be difficult to tell apart from a cold, with the first signs typically being a runny nose and sore throat.

But around a week later, sufferers may develop coughing bouts which last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a 'whoop' sound between coughs.

Other signs of pertussis include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting and becoming red in the face.

Whooping cough is a cyclical illness which typically peaks every five years. The last occurred in 2016, when almost 6,000 cases were confirmed.

Pre-pandemic, between 2,500 and 4,500 suspected cases were logged each year. This fell to around 500 during the coronavirus crisis.

Surveillance statistics show 2,793 lab-confirmed cases have been reported this year to the end of March.

Of these, 556 were logged in January, 918 in February and 1,319 in March.

Half (50.8 per cent) were among those aged 15 and older, with more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) in children aged 10 to 14.

But rates remained highest in babies under three months.

However, infection rates are still nowhere near the annual high of 170,000 logged in the 1940s.

Almost 3,000 cases have already been recorded in 2024  triple the levels seen across the entirety of 2023. Health chiefs say Covid lockdowns have fuelled England's unprecedented pertussis epidemic, nicknamed the '100-day cough'

Over half (50.8 per cent) of all whooping cases in 2024 have been among those aged 15 and older, with more than a quarter (28.6 per cent) in children aged 10 to 14. But the rates of whooping cough remained highest in babies under three months, UKHSA noted

Pregnant women are being urged to get the vaccine to protect their baby from catching the infection in the first few weeks of their life. Protection should last until they are old enough to get vaccinated themselves

Sufferers are infectious from around six days after cold-like symptoms begin to three weeks after their cough starts.

Doctors dish out antibiotics as treatment if the whooping cough is detected within three weeks.

However, if a person has been infected for longer, antibiotics will not speed up their recovery.

Whooping cough is less severe in older children and adults but can still cause sore ribs, a hernias, ear infections and urinary incontinence among these groups.

Earlier this week, Kerry Pearson, from Dartford, Kent, also urged all pregnant women to take the whooping cough jab after her newborn Polly spent 10 days in a coma with the infection .

In April, at just two weeks old, she developed a rattly cough that left her struggling to breathe.

She said: 'I knew nothing about whooping cough  it was just something from my grandparents' era.

'There's no treatment and no cure, we're just having to wait and it's unbearable.
One bad day at work could literally age your body by years.

A new study has shown for the first time that stress can make our cells appear up to five years older in a single day.

Luckily, a good night's sleep offsets most of that damage.

But the study undermines the idea that our biological clocks, as we understand them now, are a perfect way of measuring our 'true' age.

This new study shows that over a day, people's epigenetic clocks give off different measurements. Previously, it was thought that this measurement was stable to daily changes.

Epigenetic clocks look at invisible changes to our DNA which scientists can interpret as a measure of our cells' age.

While some people measure age in years and others in smile lines - scientists are a little more complicated than that.

They say the more important metric is actually your biological age.

Biological age is determined by unwinding our DNA and reading it for tiny changes- this is called our epigenetic clock.

Think of these changes like rust on nail or scratches on a CD - just at the microscopic level.

Over a lifetime, people accumulate changes to their clocks - up until now, scientists thought your epigenetic clock was pretty much stable in the short-term, Art Petronis, a chrono-epigeneticist at the University of Toronto, Canada, and Vilnius University in Lithuania told PNAS.

But it turns out these clocks might be sensitive to changes made throughout the day too, according to Dr Petronis' new research, which was published in the peer reviewed journal called Aging Cell.

So sensitive, in fact, that the stress of a day can make a person appear to gain five years of genetic changes in a 24 hour period.

This is what aging looks like at the DNA level, as stressors cause little tags and changes to be added to your genetic code. Scientists can identify these markers from blood.

But this doesn't mean one particularly stressful work day will take years off your life.

It does mean that you might want to take those biological aging tests out of your shopping cart- because if someone's biological age can fluctuate so extremely over one day, taking a reading at any time might not give you an accurate idea of how 'old' your cells really are.

This is particularly important as epigenetic clock tests are currently being used 'with abandon' in labs Trey Ideker, a geneticist at the University California, San Diego, who wasn't involved in the study, told PNAS.

Also, multiple companies have cropped up around the world- offering at home tests for people curious about their cellular aging.

This is the same genre of test that Will and Jada Smith talked about using in a 2019 episode of Red Table Talk - and that predicted UFC president Dana White only had a decade left to live.

A company called Tally Health offers one for $249. Another, called Novos, offers an epigenetic test for $349 a pop.

At the cheap end, you can buy ProHealth's TruMe Biological Age Test for $99.

There's still 'way too much' that we don't understand about the science of epigenetics for these tests to be considered accurate, Professor Ideker said.

'Its a study Ive been waiting to see for a long time,' Professor Ideker said.

Dr Petronis and his team landed at their conclusions by taking blood samples from a 52 year old man every three hours - cumulating in 24 samples to sort through.

They ran 17 different tests on each of the samples - each of which indicated a different epigenetic change.

In 13 of those tests, the researchers saw a big swing over a 24 hour period.

Overnight the epigenetic clocks appeared their youngest. Throughout the day, the clocks appeared older and older, peaking in age around midday.

So if you get an epigenetic test done around noon, for example, your results could make it seem like you're much more aged than you really are.

We all exist on a bit of a fluctuating scale of epigenetic changes, not at one static age, the study suggests. Dr Petronis said that this study needs to be repeated with more people to figure out how applicable it is to the average person.

But for now, he hopes it 'opens the door' on a big question about epigenetic clocks.
Americans are spending $500,000 a year to select the sexes of their kids with in vitro fertilization (IVF).

The practice allows parents to choose a particular sex is illegal everywhere aside the US and Mexico, and is thus one of the more controversial across the globe.

Aside from its invasive nature and enormous price tag, one round will run patients at least $20,000, a small price to pay for some struggling with fertility issues.

However, one doctor at a clinic offering such services has claimed the sex-picking perk draws in 85 percent of his IVF patients alone - a startling statistic given that accounts for five percent of the total $8 billion the practices rake in each year.

The California physician also pointed out a seemingly unlimited ceiling for growth, for a practice meant to a last resort for those who are eager to be parents but who face obstacles when it comes to conceiving.

The treatment, as of writing, is on the rise, he and other doctors said - especially when sex selection is an option.

Pictured, Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles, one of countless clinics across the country that offer IVF with sec sex selection. The practice - illegal in most countries - is now immensely popular in the US

The practice sees patients select other characteristics such as their baby's eye color, before a doctor collects eggs from ovaries to be fertilized by sperm in a lab (seen here). Sex selection IVF rakes in at least $500million a year - five percent of the money brought in by IVF overall

'The market is the size of the human race,' said Jeffrey Steinberg, founder of the Fertility Institutes in Los Angeles, of the assisted pregnancy practice's popularity.

At his clinic, patients can also select other characteristics such as their baby's eye color, as he collects eggs from their ovaries to be fertilized by sperm in a lab.

Participants can also choose their baby's sex - a perk he estimates draws 85 percent of patients alone.

As for patients, some are same sex couples, while some are just single and attempting parenthood on their own.

As of writing, 15 states - including California - require insurance plans cover it, though more often than not, the coverage is minimal.

He told Slate Tuesday how he markets sex-selection aggressively, as figures surrounding selective IVF for sex selection show that it rakes in an impressive amount of cash.

Sharon Moayeri, the founder of OC Fertility in Newport Beach, said more of the same, revealing that for many Americans, the ability to pick sexes is sort of a silver lining - in a sea of doubt created by difficulty conceiving.

However, unlike Steinberg's, her clinic does not heavily advertise sex selection, she said - though she estimates that still some 15 percent of patients arrive solely because of the perk, without any fertility issues.

Sharon Moayeri said that for many Americans, the ability to pick sexes is sort of a silver lining - in a sea of doubt created by difficulty conceiving

A doctor at the medical center at the University of California San Francisco, meanwhile, said that only some patients come in solely for sex selection, but did point out several instances of parents who, once in the building, are more likely to request girls

'The market is the size of the human race,' said Jeffrey Steinberg, founder of the Fertility Institutes, of the assisted pregnancy practice's popularity

The founder of OC Fertility in Newport Beach (pictured), she her clinic does not heavily advertise sex selection, she said - though she estimates that still some 15 percent of patients arrive solely because of the perk, without any fertility issues

A doctor at the medical center at the University of California San Francisco, meanwhile, said that a low number of patients come in solely for sex selection, but did point out several instances of parents who, once in the building, are more likely to request girls - a phenomenon not unique among Americans, Slate found.

The publication spoke to 15 women and a few men who plan on doing IVF solely for the assurance they will conceive a daughter, fueling debate over the degree of control some parents are attempting amid the controversial practice.

Meanwhile, IVF with sex selection is almost unheard unheard of in countries across the rest of the world,

It is currently allowed for everyone only in Spain, Belgium, Czech Republic, India, Israel, Russia, Ukraine, Mexico and the US, and to only heterosexual couples in Germany, Austria, Italy, UK, Egypt, Saudi Arabia.

The UK is only one among the second sampleset to allow it for single women, while Egypt and Saudi Arabia only administer the practice on married couples, forcing unwed aspiring parents to look elsewhere.

Costa Rica is the only country to bar the practice fully, with it legal everywhere else with some restrictions.

However, the ability to completely control the babys destiny - from sex to eye color - is offered only in the two North American countries, marketed chiefly to single mothers, same-sex couples, and families with a history of autism.

It is still divisive, an exclusive poll administered by DailyMail.com in March showed, with 60 percent of Americans said the treatment should remain legal, while just 12 percent said it should be illegal, according to 1,000 voters.

In the US, the ability to control a babys destiny - offered chiefly to single mothers, same-sex couples, and families with a history of autism - is still a bit divisive.

In an exclusive poll administered by DailyMail.com in March, 60 percent of Americans of all ages said the treatment should remain legal, while just 12 percent said it should be illegal, according to the survey of 1,000 voters

The highlighted states have laws on the books stipulating that life begins at the moment of fertilization. In Louisiana, the intentional disposal or destruction of a human embryo is illegal

In contrast, 27 percent said they did not know either way.

The groups with the slimmest majorities in favor of in vitro fertilization (IVF) were Blacks and Latinos, people aged 18 to 29 and Republicans.

By contrast, the largest support was among people over 65, whites, college graduates and Democratic voters.

The results come after the fertility treatment was thrust into the spotlight last month when a court in Alabama ruled frozen embryos have the same rights as children.

While the Alabama ruling did not directly restrict IVF, it could open the door to wrongful death lawsuits for embryos that are discarded.

With the threat of prosecution looming, there are fears that doctors will stop performing IVF, limiting access to an already tough to get treatment.

Laura Kerwin, a Harvard-trained psychologist in California, told Slate that while geared toward helping parents, IVF is still 'a moneymaking industry.'

'People need to realize that [clinics] have a fiduciary duty to their shareholders to make money,' she said, citing draws like selecting kids' sex from birt.

'Theyre trying to sell you on an option.'
Children and teachers with suspected whooping cough should be excluded from classes for up to three weeks, according to official guidance.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) says youngsters should isolate for 21 days 'from the onset of symptoms' to avoid spreading the killer bug, if they have not had antibiotics.

However, it's feared thousands of kids with minor coughs could be kept at home needlessly by worried parents, leading to a repeat of the Covid self-isolation nightmare.

Tory MP David Davis criticised the advice as overly-cautious, saying children should be tested, treated and sent back to class.

The government has been urged to publicise the deadly danger of whooping cough to boost vaccine uptake, as it did in the 1980s and '90s

This advert detailing the symptoms of whooping cough and warning of its danger was published in magazines in the USA in the 1950s

He said: 'The obvious response would be to put them on antibiotics and return them to school as quickly as possible.

'We should have learned the lesson from Covid that children are robust in the face of most illnesses. It's vitally important to maintain the continuity of education.

'Being away from school for weeks on end can put children behind in critical areas of their study, and they may not recover.

'Plainly, the right approach is to is to use medical procedures to accelerate their return, not to take an overcautious delay which could do real damage to their education.'

Whooping cough has killed five babies this year amid fears of the worst outbreak in 40 years. Almost 3,000 cases have been reported so far this year, three times the total for the whole of 2023.

The illness can be diagnosed with a PCR test and treated with antibiotics, reducing the necessary isolation time to 48 hours. But it's feared under-pressure GPs may struggle to meet demand.

Health officials warned that the infection is initially difficult to tell apart from a cold, as the first signs are a runny nose and sore throat. But around a week later, sufferers may develop coughing bouts that last minutes, struggle to breathe after coughing and make a 'whoop' sound between coughs. Other signs of whooping cough include bringing up a thick mucus that can cause vomiting and becoming red in the face

Official guidance on the UKHSA website states that children should be excluded from school for at least 21 days after symptoms start. Suspected cases should be reported to them, and text messages will be sent to parents whose children attend a school with a confirmed case.

Teachers and staff at nurseries and schools should also isolate if they suffer 'active uncontrollable coughing', it adds.

A spokesman for the UKHSA said: 'If anyone in your family is diagnosed with whooping cough, it's important they stay at home and do not go into work, school or nursery until 48 hours after starting antibiotics, or 3 weeks after symptoms start if they have not had antibiotics.

'This helps to prevent the spread of infection, especially to vulnerable groups. However, vaccination remains the best protection for babies and children.'

A whooping cough vaccine for pregnant women to protect their babies was introduced in October 2012. Immediately after that, the number of baby deaths fell.

New mum Kerry Pearson, from Dartford, Kent, has urged all pregnant women to take the whooping cough jab after her newborn Polly spent 10 days in a coma with the infection

The UKHSA has blamed the current outbreak on a steady decline in the uptake of vaccines among expectant mums. Experts say this is due to a mixture of vaccine hesitancy, lack of awareness and the cancellation of many 'non essential' services during the Covid pandemic.

However, it's believed that three of the five grieving mothers had jabs during pregnancy to protect their children.

In the 1980s, the government published terrifying adverts telling parents that whooping cough can cause vomiting, weight loss, brain damage and death in children.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan believes the government should go back to publishing terrifying adverts about the dangers of whooping cough, as they did in the 1980 and '90s

Dr Saleyha Ahsan, a London-based A&E doctor, said the Department of Health should go back to publicising the deadly danger of the illness to boost vaccine uptake, as they did in the 1980s and '90s.

'There is a lack of knowledge about how deadly and dangerous whooping cough can be,' she said. 'In the 1980s there was lots of coverage about how dangerous whooping cough was.

'I was a teenager then and was terrified because I had two little baby sisters. I used to bug my mum to make sure they had their vaccines because I was terrified by the pictures I was seeing.

'Publicity works. In Australia they've really gone for it, and awareness there among the general public is significantly more than here. Our vaccine uptake has gone down to about 59.5 per cent, and in some parts of London it's down to 36 per cent. Those places are the ones with worst rates of really sick babies.

'I've spoken to mums who've lost their babies to whooping cough - every one is a massive advocate for the vaccine. It's about education and reassurance. It's not all down to mums, the healthcare profession has to take a role in this.'

She added childhood whooping cough vaccines stop working after 10 years, so the NHS should consider giving boosters to adults, as they do in the US.

Drug company GSK put out adverts warning parents about the dangers of whooping cough in the US during the 1990s

'Education is needed for the public, for mums, and across the healthcare profession as well, because I didn't realise it and colleagues also didn't,' she said.

'It's important. It's a highly contagious disease, it's easily spread, it's very difficult to diagnose, and if it reaches a child under two months, it can kill them. It's a discussion we need to have.'

Kerry Pearson, from Dartford, Kent, has urged all pregnant women to take the whooping cough jab after her newborn Polly spent 10 days in a coma with the infection.

In April, at just two weeks old, she developed a rattly cough that left her struggling to breathe.

She said: 'I knew nothing about whooping cough  it was just something from my grandparents' era. There's no treatment and no cure, we're just having to wait and it's unbearable.

Your browser does not support iframes.

Your browser does not support iframes.

'If I'd had the vaccine during my pregnancy I'd have passed on the antibodies in my breastmilk. The vaccine should be routinely offered with every pregnancy.

'I just want people to be aware, you should have the whooping cough vaccine when you're pregnant. If you're not offered it then please demand it.'

'If you're an anti-vaxxer please reconsider  this is deadly to infants  it's not worth the risk. Nothing is worth going through what we're going through.

'We need to educate people about the vaccine and the symptoms.

'Whooping cough is dangerous to newborns and I want people to know what to look out for.'
Roughly 70 Americans in Colorado are being monitored for bird flu due to potential exposure.

The dairy farm workers will be tested for the virus if they show any symptoms, though this has not been the case so far, local health officials said.

Details about their ages, gender and conditions have not been revealed, but they all worked on a farm in the northeastern part of the state.

Only one person so far - a farmer in Texas - has tested positive for H5N1 virus this outbreak, but the CDC fears many more could be infected and not coming forward.

It comes as the FDA's top official revealed the agency is gearing up for a bird flu pandemic in people that could kill one in four of those it infects.

Roughly 70 Americans in Colorado are being monitored for bird flu due to potential exposure

The above map shows the states that have reported bird flu infections in dairy herds

Dr Robert Califf, the FDA's chief commissioner, told a Senate Committee that officials were drawing up plans to roll out tests, antiviral drugs and vaccines in the event the virus jumps to humans and causes a large-scale outbreak.

But he emphasized the risk of it spreading to people was still low.

'This virus, like all viruses, is mutating,' he told the policymakers. 'We need to continue to prepare for the possibility that it might jump to humans.'

'[The] real worry is that it will jump to the human lungs where, when that has happened in other parts of the world... the mortality rate has been 25 percent.'

Officials in Colorado said it still was not clear exactly how or when the workers were potentially exposed, but bird flu was detected in the herd of cows in late April.

'We're still putting the puzzle pieces together,' said Colorado's state veterinarian Maggie Baldwin in a public town hall on Zoom on May 8.

Texas has tested around 20 dairy workers with flu symptoms, with one positive test, while Idaho tested one person and New Mexico said it had tested three people.

But the CDC says there has been a reluctance by states and farms to cooperate with the agency, because farmers are worried about financial losses if their cattle are found to be infected.

After causing a record outbreak in birds over the past few years, H5N1 appears to be spreading in cattle for the first time.

A total of 36 farms across nine states have so far detected the virus among their dairy herds. Only one of the 36 diary herds is in Colorado.

As the virus spreads, particularly between two different species, it acquires more mutations which may allow it to infect people more easily.

Fragments of the virus have already been detected in products including one in five grocery store milks  as well as cottage cheese and sour cream.

But officials say these are still safe to consume because the virus inside them is inactivated during the pasteurization process.

The above graph shows the dairy herds that have tested positive for bird flu over time. Officials fear that this is bringing the virus a step closer to infecting humans

A tick indicates foods that have tested positive for bird flu, while a cross indicates those that have been tested for bird flu but were not found to contain the virus

Dairy farmers work closely with raw milk, which contains a high concentration of bird flu when it is produced by infected cattle.

Only two humans in the US have tested positive for bird flu ever, with both being in close contact with animals infected with the virus.

There have been no signs in either case of the individuals spreading the disease to others.

Some scientists suspect that bird flu can spread when cows are milked, as equipment may become infected or the virus may enter the air during cleaning.

People who have close and lengthy contact with infected animals may become infected when the virus enters through their eyes or mouth, or when droplets are breathed in through the nose.

It comes after CDC officials restated their warning that bird flu had 'pandemic potential' in a new report.

Writing in the New England Journal of Medicine, they made the warning in a section about rolling out vaccines if the virus spills over to humans.

Also last week, a separate study by the US Department of Agriculture released genetic data showing the H5N1 strain tearing through dairy farms had acquired dozens of new mutations.

These changes could make the strain more likely to spread from cows to other animals, including people, and make the virus resistant to antivirals.
Construction workers working at 3800 block of Westheimer Road Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in Houston. The Westheimer improvement project will improve bus stops and repair pavement on a six-mile stretch of Westheimer Road from Loop610 to downtown. Yi-Chin Lee/Staff photographer

Dreams of an urban Houston

Regarding Hells freezing over. Houston is becoming more urban and the MKT trail proves it. | Editorial, (May 8): What a lovely dream. I fully support Mayor John Whitmires pause on and review of projects such as the redesign of Shepherd Drive and Montrose Boulevard. How do you propose anyone get to work or home or move goods in and out of the city (yes, we already are one) while were transitioning to this utopian vision of urban life? These projects would have us stuck in traffic purgatory.

The urban life this editorial waxes on about will not happen magically. While I agree that too much money has been spent in the past spreading concrete around this city, I strongly advise that the wizard planners account for a transition period. Its not the destination, its the journey.

Ann Derryberry, Houston

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

To quote this editorial, Wed like to think  that the scrappy, adaptive, work-with-what-weve-got attitude of our best developers and designers can invent new forms of urbanism across our great city.

You encourage innovation and preservation of what weve got, and I agree with you. However, how is cutting down 50-year-old live oak trees, pouring concrete and replanting much smaller caliper trees in boxes working with what weve got? A great designer would come up with a plan that saves most, if not all, of the existing tree canopy, uses permeable materials, adds vegetation, benches, art and safe crossings. That would be scrappy, and it would turn Montrose into a memorable boulevard.

Mary Ellen Whitworth, Houston

Regarding Mayor Whitmire halted a major Houston street redesign. It will set us back. | Editorial, (May 2): Mayor Whitmires recent moves to halt and potentially reverse Houstons mobility plans represent a troubling shift that threatens to dismantle over a decade of progress toward a more sustainable and accessible urban environment. While his administration focuses on public safety and infrastructure, the rhetoric used to dismiss concerns  labeling advocates as anti-car activists and opposition as merely special interests  ignores the broader implications for all city dwellers.

These decisions not only affect those advocating for progressive transportation policies but also everyday residents who navigate the citys streets as drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists. This isnt about protecting special interests; its about safeguarding the wellbeing of every Houstonian who relies on these mobility initiatives to reduce traffic, enhance safety and promote a healthier lifestyle.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Moreover, Whitmires approach could undo the strides made toward reducing Houstons carbon footprint and improving public transportation and bike paths. The potential rollback of these initiatives is a step backward in the citys commitment to environmental sustainability and urban quality of life.

His lack of expertise in urban planning and mobility further exacerbates the issue, raising questions about the efficacy of his unilateral decisions in these areas. As someone who is actively engaged in the citys transportation dynamics  not just a bystander or special interest  I see these developments as a significant blow to Houstons future. Its crucial that progress in mobility not be sacrificed for short-term political gains or mischaracterized debates.

Mark Wright, Houston

Accountability

Regarding Cheating and retaliation? Houston should worry about Union Pacifics safety culture. | Editorial, (May 7): My mother, born in 1916, crossed those railroad tracks on the way to and from school. Union Pacific needs to be held accountable after 90 years of blocking roads and polluting the air.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Rene Maher, Houston

Unfair distribution

Regarding Houston-area residents clean up flooded homes as Hidalgo, Abbott, other leaders work to assist, (May 6): Gov. Greg Abbott urges those afflicted to report damage to ensure that flood dollars go to help rebuild homes, businesses and lives. Where was Abbott in 2021 when the General Land Office, headed by then-Land Commissioner George P. Bush, decided Harris County would receive zero dollars of the $1 billion in federal money originally allocated to Texas after Hurricane Harvey?

The Chronicle reported on June 19, 2021, that federal aid distributed by the GLO disproportionately flowed to inland counties with less damage from Harvey than coastal communities, including inland counties not originally designated for aid by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Will politics once again intrude and direct a majority of federal flood relief dollars toward red counties such as Montgomery and Liberty rather than bluer Harris County and Houston?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

J. Brient, Missouri City
Junk food is a staple across America's school canteens - but a new map has laid bare which states serve up the least nutritious lunches.

Louisiana has the worst in the country, based on several factors including how many fruits and vegetables students consume, from kindergarten through high school.

The state is followed by Idaho, where the most popular lunch is a pizza cheeseburger, and Wyoming, where students prefer chicken nuggets.

On the other end, Massachusetts has the healthiest lunches, thanks in part to schools incorporating fresh, local foods into its meals.

Massachusetts has the healthiest school lunches in the country, according to data from ProCare Therapy, followed by Maine and Hawaii. Louisiana has the unhealthiest, followed by Idaho and Wyoming

This is followed by Maine takes the the second healthiest spot, followed by Hawaii, according to a report by ProCare Therapy, a school-based health company.

The report comes as America seeks to overhaul its school lunches because many of the meals offered to students have been deemed unhealthy and full of junk ingredients, some of which have been associated with cancers.

ProCare determined its rankings based on factors such as students' consumption of fruits, vegetable's and sugary drinks, the number of National School Lunch Program lunches served per 10,000 children and a state's participation in the Farm to School program, which sees schools buy and use locally produced fresh ingredients.

The National School Lunch Program is a federally assisted meal program providing nutritionally balanced, low-cost or free lunches to kids.

ProCare used data from the US Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) Farm to School (F2S) census and the Health Resources and Service Administrations (HRSA) and National Survey of Children's Health (NSCH).

These factors were combined to create a school lunch index score out of 100 possible points, with higher scores representing healthier school lunches.

Findings revealed Hawaii has the largest Farm to School program participation, with 11 percent of the state's school district engaging in a program.

Louisiana, Idaho, Wyoming, New Mexico and Alaska were the bottom five states, scoring less than 42 points each.

Louisiana's lack of participation in the Farm to School program and lower percentage of NSLP meals served contributed to its poor scores.

Schoolchildren in Louisiana were also given fewer fruits and vegetables than students in other states.

Poor lunch nutrition could be a contributing factor to Louisiana's high childhood obesity rate. The state has the third highest rate of obesity in kids 10 to 17 years old in the US, according to Statista data from 2021.

In addition to nutrition, the analysis also found the most popular school lunch item in each state using Google search data.

For Massachusetts, deemed the state with the healthiest school lunches, the most popular item was pizza. In Louisiana, it was fried chicken.

The report comes as a campaign was launched to ban the popular lunchtime product Lunchables from free school meals after watchdog group Consumer Reports found they contained high levels of sodium.

'Lunchables are not a healthy option for kids and shouldn't be allowed on the menu as part of the National School Lunch Program,' Brian Ronholm, director of food policy at Consumer Reports, said.

A cafeteria worker prepares Lunchables for lunch at a school in Pembroke, North Carolina

ProCare determined its ranking based on factors such as meals served in adherence to federal nutrition guidelines and the rate of Farm to School program participation, which is a program through which schools buy and feature locally produced, farm-fresh foods on their menus

He added: 'The Lunchables and similar lunch kits we tested contain concerning levels of sodium and harmful chemicals that can lead to serious health problems over time.

'The USDA should remove Lunchables from the National School Lunch Program and ensure that kids in schools have healthier options.'

Lunchables created two new versions of its kit especially for school lunch programs across the US last year, but the new report found they contain even more salt than the Lunchables kits customers can get in grocery stores.

The school cafeteria version of the Lunchables was found to contain between 460 to 740 milligrams per serving, which is 'nearly a quarter to half of a childs daily recommended limit for sodium' - no more than 1,500 mg per day for four- to eight-year-olds.

Consumer Reports found the turkey and cheddar school variety of Lunchables contained 930 mg of sodium, while the store-bought version contained 740 mg.

Rising cancer rates in young people have also been linked to increasing prevalence of ultra processed food.

An analysis of CDC data recently found that colorectal cancers have risen by up to six-fold in children aged 10-14 since 2000.

In 2020, only 0.6 children ages 10 to 14 per 100,000 population were diagnosed with colorectal cancer compared to 0.1 per 100,000 in 1999 - a 500 percent increase.
Blockbuster obesity drugs have transformed how we treat the condition - but doctors are warning they may cause potentially severe psychiatric effects.

Two new case reports reveal how two American patients became psychotic after taking semaglutide, the key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy.

One morbidly obese woman, 42, had been taking the drug for three weeks when she began suffering delusions that she was dead and attempted to strangle herself.

The symptoms went away after she came off the medication.

Another man, 72, who was described as 'highly functional', became manic after six weeks on the drug. He began cleaning the house compulsively and was convinced all his neighbors were dead.

Patients taking weight loss drugs such as semaglutide, the main ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, have reported behavior changes such as manic episodes as well as impulsive behavior leading to attempted suicides

The case reports were raised at a recent meeting of the American Psychiatric Association (APA).

A slew of reports just like these case have been reported around the world.

The doctors who treated the patients have called for patients given the new obesity drugs to be monitored once a week, even if they don't have a history of mental health issues.

For patients who do, they want healthcare providers to do a thorough background and family history check to gauge their risk.

Zepbound and Wegovy include warnings on their labels about possible suicidal behavior, while Ozempic's lacks any warnings about psychological effects.

None of their labels include warnings or contraindications for people with bipolar disorder, warning them that they could see worsened depression or manic episodes.

A new KFF poll found that one in eight American adults have used the new obesity drugs, meaning millions could be susceptible to potentially severe psychiatric issues.

Dr Shahan Syed, from Bergen New Bridge Medical Center in New Jersey, described how the 42-year-old woman had a history of PTSD and bipolar 1 disorder.

She also had morbid obesity, meaning her body mass index was above 40, and type 2 diabetes.

Because of her psychiatric history, she was deemed not a candidate for bariatric surgery and was started on Ozempic.

According to Dr Syed, the medication drove up her anxiety, which pushed her toward impulsive behavior such as attempting to take her own life.

Just three weeks in, the patient suddenly developed 'behavioral disruptions', including a feeling that she had died. She also attempted to self-strangulate, said Dr Syed.

He said: 'I suspect that we're going to see much more of these sorts of cases, unfortunately, just because of how commonplace the prescribing is of these medications.'

Doctors generally do not know yet why semaglutide would cause mania and other behavior changes. Semaglutide works on receptors in the brain involved in appetite regulation.

Activation of these receptors can influence the activity of other neurotransmitters involved in mood, including serotonin and dopamine.

Altering levels of dopamine, which is associated with motivation, reward, and pleasure, can contribute to manic symptoms such as impulsivity, restlessness, high energy, and reduced inhibitions.

And serotonin plays an outsized role in mood regulation, so knocking levels of this neurotransmitter out of balance can lead to severe mood instability typical of manic episodes.

'It works on fat cells primarily, but it also works on muscles. And the brain is essentially all that. Would this be affecting the brain? We don't know.'

An evaluation by the FDA of Ozempic and similar drugs found no evidence they cause suicidal thoughts after conducting 'detailed reviews'.

Meanwhile, the 72-year-old man who was otherwise described as 'highly functional', and prescribed semaglutide for his type 2 diabetes.

He also had a history of depression, dementia-like symptoms following a neurological procedure, a benign tumor in his pituitary gland, and hypothyroidism.

GOT A HEALTH-RELATED STORY? EMAIL: Health@dailymail.com Advertisement

About six weeks into his regimen, the man's wife noticed stark behavior changes. He would suddenly swing from existential crisis to goal-directed activities, such as deep-cleaning the house at the drop of a hat.

He had been admitted to the hospital thinking he had encephalitis or inflammation in the brain 'because it was so acute of a change,' according to Dr Jodie Nghiem at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City.

But blood tests came back normal, and because of the man's advanced age  psychotic and bipolar disorders typically come on in early adulthood  psychiatrists ruled out mania and psychosis.

Still, doctors placed him on an antipsychotic, the main class of drugs used to treat schizophrenia and psychosis, and sometimes to treat bipolar disorder.

Around 18 percent of US adults, roughly 45 million people, are being treated for depression, which can worsen obesity and drive someone to seek out Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound, or its sister drug Mounjaro.

Dr Sayed, who has called for the addition of a warning for people with certain psychiatric conditions including bipolar disorder, said: 'I would really like all healthcare providers -- irrespective of psychiatry -- neurology, endocrine, to do a thorough family history and psychiatric history.'
When two men opened fire at the Chiefs' Super Bowl parade in 2024 - glee gave way quickly to chaos.

Those men killed one woman and injured a further 24 people - casting ripples of devastation throughout the community.

Three of the victims of that day have spoken out for the first time, revealing how the horror lives on with them - literally.

They are still adjusting to life with bullet fragments lodged in their bodies.

James Lemons, 39, lost his job as a warehouse worker as a result of a bullet wound to his right thigh.

The youngest victim, Mireya Nelson, 15, is living with bullet fragments splayed out in her shoulder, but trusts the doctor's decision to leave it in, even as she undergoes painful physical therapy.

Three of the people who who were shot during the 2024 super bowl parade in Kansas City. Each still deals with remnants of bullets in their body.

Sarai Holguin, 71, has accepted her bullet as a 'friend', despite the fact that it prohibits her from seeing her elderly father and makes moving her foot difficult.

These three survivors are emblematic of a larger debate in the medical community -whether it's right for doctors to leave bullets in someone's body after they've been shot.

They might do it for a range of reasons. For one, cutting a bullet out of someone who has already been wounded intensely might cause more damage, blood loss and trauma than is necessary - especially when the bullet is lodged in an area that won't do any harm.

For another, if the bullet is difficult to reach because it's close to important anatomical structures like blood vessels or nerves, doctors might leave it in.

In 2023, 42,967 Americans died from gun wounds according to the National Institute for Health Care Management. Yet only 15 percent of hospitals have policies on bullet removal, Kaiser Family Foundation reported.

People who leave the hospital with bullets still in their bodies are more likely to return to the ER within six months of their initial injury than those who get bullets removed, according to a 2021 study from Washington University in St. Louis.

Doctors chose to leave bullets or their fragments in these three Chief's fans who ended up in hospitals on that fateful day in February.

Mr Lemons and his daughter Kensley at the parade.

Mr Lemons had his daughter hoisted on his shoulder, looking out at the celebration, when he was shot in the back of his right thigh at the parade.

After taking a scan of his leg, the doctors discovered the bullet had narrowly missed important blood vessels, and was sitting in a part of Mr Lemons thigh that they believed he would heal easily.

So, they sent him home with the slug still buried in his leg.

But for Mr Lemons, who works a warehouse job that regularly requires him to move 100 pound packages around the workplace, this was far from the truth.

The pain the bullet caused in his leg made it difficult to walk - let alone work.

So he lost his job, and with it, his insurance.

This caused him great distress - not just in dealing with the trauma of being shot, but the pressures of caring for a family on a single income with mounting medical debts.

The $1.9 million in funds that was raised for victims of the SuperBowl shooting by United Way has yet to be made available to families like the Lemons.

Instead, they're relying on donations to a GoFund me to be able to afford Mr Lemons bullet removal surgery later this month.

Luckily for Erika Nelson, the mother of 15 year old parade victim, Mireya Nelson, her job in healthcare provides robust insurance that has paid for Mireya's treatments.

At the parade, Mireya was hit by a bullet that nicked her chin and went through her jaw into her shoulder before exiting out her arm.

After treating the initial wounds, her doctors decided that the teenager had been through enough surgery, and opted to leave bullet fragments in her shoulder. I dont really care for them,' Mireya said.

Now, Mireya sees a therapist at the request of her mother, but her only complaint is that physical therapy is sometimes painful. She also notes that the scars on her chin are bumpy.

Erika, like any mother, worried about the psychological toll that this would take on her daughter, but ultimately decided that the doctors made the right decision.

I dont want her to keep going back in the hospital and getting surgery. Thats more trauma to her and more recovery time, more physical therapy and stuff like that,' Erika said.

Mrs Holguin's foot hasn't acted the same since she got shot. Her foot dangles limply, and she has a hard time moving her toes.

Mrs Holguin is living with a bullet in her knee.

In some cases, people are able to adapt to their new life with a foreign body tagging along. That's what happened with Mrs Holguin.

Mrs Holguin was shot near her knee at the parade, and quickly helped to the hospital by 'anonymous heroes'. There, the doctors determined that the best way to care for her was to leave the bullet in, perform a couple damage control surgeries and patch her wound with a device called a WoundVac.

This high-tech device is attached to a gentle vacuum which removes pressure to help a big wound heal faster, according to Johns Hopkins. The device costs roughly $800 per month.

For several weeks, Ms Holguin saw doctors nearly daily to monitor her progress.

Between those visits, the WoundVac and the initial surgeries, the bills quickly piled up for Mrs Holguin.

The native Mexican who became a US citizen in 2018 had a hard time comprehending the complex bills and forms dropped off at her mailbox, but was able to receive help through her local consulate.

Once she was able to secure payments for her medical bills through the Jackson County victim fund, her distress in dealing with the event dampened.

The Chiefs parade took place at Union Station in downtown Kansas City Missouri in February 2024.

She said now, she and her bullet, 'became friends so that she doesnt do any bad to me anymore.'

Still, she cannot travel to see her father back in Mexico, and has trouble moving her foot. But she's moving forward in her new reality, with her new friend, the bullet, permanently inside her.

I have processed this new chapter in my life, Holguin said. I have never given up and I will move on with Gods help.

Despite how common it is for doctors to leave bullets in bodies, some providers question its validity.

Leaving a bullet in a body sometimes leads to further physical and psychological complications, Dr LJ Punch, a trauma surgeon based in St. Louis, told KCUR.

In terms of the physical, if a bullet contains lead, the chemical can leech into the blood stream over time, according to the CDC. Chronic lead exposure can lead to nerve damage, brain damage and death.

Then there are the cases where the bullet gets infected. Other times, it can poke out of the skin, like a splinter - which is painful and unsightly for many patients.

Also, sometimes the scar tissue that forms around a bullet inside someone's body can press on nerves, ligaments or muscles - inhibiting movement or making it painful.

The psychological toll of keeping a bullet in someone's body is another concern that doctors might need to consider, Dr Brendan Campbell, a pediatric surgeon, told KCUR

'Many times its the emotional, psychological injuries, which many of these patients take away as well,' he said.

Leaving a bullet in someone's body can be a physical reminder of what they went through.

And 'when people stay in their trauma, that trauma can change them for a lifetime,' Dr Punch added.

33 percent of survivors of gun violence report living in fear of the event happening again, according to EveryTown research. 43 percent of survivors reported needing psychological support after living through gun violence.

Yet many survivors of gun violence are put back out into the world without resources, with mounting bills and a fresh bullet still in their body, like the Chief's fans.

'Trauma care is war medicine,' Punch said. 'It is set to be ready at any moment and any time, every day, to save a life. It is not equipped to take care of the healing that needs to come after.'
Richard and I have talked about Martha and George so long,' said Elizabeth Taylor, 'we sometimes feel we've become them.'

It's precisely this passionate identification on the part of the actors with the characters they played in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? which gives the film, released in June 1966, its lasting appeal.

George and Martha's taunts, dares and what Philip Gefter, in his well-researched book Cocktails with George and Martha, calls 'an array of escalating antagonisms' all seem to enshrine Burton and Taylor's real-life relationship.

For Edward Albee's play, which opened to acclaim on Broadway in October 1962 and had played for 644 sold-out performances, is a study of the horrible reality of marriage  too much proximity, too much mutual self-knowledge, too much discord.

Love, as Albee depicts it, involves considerable hatred, bitterness, sado-masochism and intermittent loneliness. When George begins to lament some of this, Martha cuts him short: 'You can't stand it? You married me for it!'

Elizabeth Taylor with Richard Burton after her Oscar win for the film Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf?

Elizabeth as Martha and Richard as George in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf?, released in June 1966

The European stage premiere was directed by Ingmar Bergman, who had been married five times, and whose later television series Scenes From A Marriage is heavily indebted to Albee.

Albee's intention was to create a drama that would stand in sardonic opposition to the insipid romantic comedies of Doris Day, or the shrill farce of Lucille Ball. He wanted to shatter sentimental illusions, and his background was distinctly homosexual. As one of Albee's partners, Terrence McNally, said, 'We were drunk all the time. We had a lot of fun. And we had a lot of fights. And a lot of sex.'

It is perfectly possible, therefore, to see Martha as a man in drag  one of her lines is: 'I'm loud and I'm vulgar, and I wear the pants in this house because somebody's got to'  and Taylor, by the 1960s, had become a big camp bawd.

She is always in movement as Martha, always forging ahead, chewing a chicken drumstick or crunching ice cubes. She is never cowed or broken, is full of strength  never subordinate. Taylor gained a stone-and-a-half to play the role, and spent two hours every day in make-up, turning herself into 'a frustrated, middle-aged, unhappy woman', or man-eater.

Warner Brothers paid Albee today's equivalent of $4 million for the film rights, with the intention of casting Bette Davis as Martha and James Mason or (interestingly) Peter Sellers, as George.

Commercial considerations, however, steered the studio towards Burton and Taylor, who after Cleopatra were bigger than Kennedy, Khrushchev and the Cuban missiles. The producer-screenwriter was Ernest Lehman, who was responsible for Hitchcock's North By Northwest and The Sound Of Music.

He is the unsung hero in this story, keeping the peace, doing his best to control the 'wildly indulgent whims' of his cast. He was soon on tranquilisers and amphetamines, as Taylor kept badgering him for trinkets.

Who's Afraid Of Virginia Wolf? is a film about of the horrible reality of marriage  too much proximity, too much mutual self-knowledge and too much discord

'I have no intention of spending my own money on an actress who is receiving $1 million for her performance,' he stated bravely. Lehman caved in, presenting her at the wrap party with an antique turquoise and gold pendant. Lehman also had to endure the caprices of Mike Nichols, who though a lauded director of Neil Simon comedies in the theatre, had never made a film.

Nichols thought of himself as 'an undeniable genius', and claimed to share with Albee 'a sense of alienation and unhappiness' about life in general.

A German-Jewish refugee with alopecia (Taylor advised him on wigs), Nichols was much-married, bred Arabian horses, and lived in Cole Porter's former estate in Hollywood.

'Luxury was undoubtedly to his taste', says Gefter. He appreciated invitations to grand parties  he'd boast to Lehman about dinners with Julie Andrews or Andre Previn. He was moody and neurotic. 'Your rage and your anger make me uncomfortable', Lehman finally had to tell him.

The Burtons turning up a fortnight late, rehearsals finally began on July 6, 1965. Dressing rooms were palatial  suites with kitchens and grand pianos. Taylor's was yellow and white; Burton's wood-panelled 'with an old English feeling'.

Flower arrangements and cases of Dom Perignon abounded, as did throngs of the Burtons' personal press agents, lawyers, dressers, secretaries and costume designers. There were bodyguards and additional security. 'Elizabeth and I are fairly well-known. If we belch, they photograph it,' Burton explained. As with royalty, studio personnel were not to address the stars, unless the stars initiated a greeting first.

Burton's chief concern on the set was to insist on a cinematographer and make-up artist who'd successfully conceal his pockmarked skin. 'He cannot perform to his utmost ability unless he feels absolutely secure about this,' Lehman noted.

The first cameraman, Harry Stradling, was sacked and replaced by Haskell Wexler, who duly won an Oscar for his deep-toned black-and-white lighting. Once cameras began rolling Burton remained sceptical and disenchanted. 'The facts of the matter are that this picture is really going to be a flop anyway. It's badly written. It's badly acted. It's badly directed.'

He was somewhat drunk when he publicly uttered those words. Taylor was also drinking too much, adding to her irritability and raising the tension. Yet being intoxicated and in extreme states are where Burton and Taylor always found each other.

On show in Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? therefore, as the characters go for each other, is their delirium: emotions ranging from loyalty to betrayal, tenderness to unbridled contempt, regard to rejection.

On screen and off, Taylor and Burton are to be seen 'reverting to their favourite pastimes, fighting and having sex. Or having sex and fighting.' Burton once really did say, 'I love arguing with Elizabeth, except when she is in the nude.' And as Taylor said, 'I was the happy recipient of his reputation as a man who knew how to please a woman.'

Contractually due $100,000 for every week of production that went over schedule, Taylor easily ensured they went over schedule and over budget, which reached $70 million in today's figures  for a film with one small set and no action set-pieces.

The Burtons never arrived until gone ten, lunched until five, and knocked off at six with Bloody Marys. 'Mike, old buddy, sorry we're late,' said Burton, who with Taylor had been entertaining the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. Taylor additionally had days off for period pains and an abscessed tooth.

Though the National Catholic Office for Motion Pictures objected to the 11 'goddamns', seven 'b******s', five 'sons of bitches', and assorted 'up yours' and 'screw yous', Who's Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? garnered 13 Oscar nominations.

Taylor rightly won for Best Actress. (Though Gefter says she'd 'never played such a psychologically complex role', I vehemently disagree  maybe her beauty had blinded people to how good she always was, going back to National Velvet.) Burton was robbed of the Best Actor statuette by Paul Scofield for A Man For All Seasons.

I was fascinated to learn Burton, at the time in Camelot, had been offered the role of George in the original New York stage production, but he was already heading off to Rome to play Antony in Cleopatra, and make his date with destiny.

Roger Lewis's Erotic Vagrancy: Everything About Richard Burton And Elizabeth Taylor, published by Riverrun, is out now.

Cocktails with George and Martha: Richard Burton, Elizabeth Taylor, and the making of 'Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' by Philip Gefter is published by Ithaka Press, 25
Jaguar Land Rover has posted its biggest profit since 2015 after a record year of sales.

Britain's biggest car maker, which is owned by India's Tata Motors, posted profits of 2.2billion for the full year to the end of March.

This is the group's best haul in nine years.

JLR's best revenues in nine years have been driven by the increase in sales of top-end models, like its new Defender SUV

The Range Rover maker notched up annual revenues of 29billion, the highest ever for the group and up 27 per cent year-on-year.

The bumper performance was driven by strong demand for its top-end models.

The company sold 401,303 cars in the year, with its Defender model  which costs around 55,000  making up more than a quarter of these sales.

The order book was around 133,000 vehicles at the end of the year.

Some 76 per cent of these orders were for Range Rover, Range Rover Sport and Defender models, JLR said.

Boss Adrian Mardell said: 'This has been a year of great strategic progress at JLR.'
Three months ago, Nancy Mace's office was in disarray.

The Republican congresswoman fired or lost nine staffers from her Washington D.C. office in three months - and many of them trashed her to the media on the way out.

Now, the South Carolina lawmaker has dramatically hit back and accused the former aides of sabotage in an extraordinary interview with DailyMail.com.

Mace, 46, says the departed staffers mismanaged $1million, hacked her phone, spied on medical records, and even submerged electronic devices in water and deleted files to cover their tracks.

The mother-of-two claims they even went as far snooping on her childrens' calendars and would monitor doctor appointments.

Nancy Mace says her new staff are still repairing the damage left behind by her 'sabotaging' former aides

'I knew that they were sabotaging the office for a while. I didn't know to the extent that they were doing it,' Mace exclusively told DailyMail.com in a sit-down interview at her Capitol Hill home

Her new team is still trying to repair damage, she said.

'I knew that they were sabotaging the office for a while. I didn't know to the extent that they were doing it,' Mace told DailyMail.com in a sit-down interview at her Capitol Hill home, the one at the center of a dispute between her and her ex-fiance.

'They were signing my name on documents they didn't have permission to do - one of them submerged their electronic devices under water so we couldn't access their files. They deleted files, some of them deleted files off our server, so there'd be no documentation for the new staff that were coming in.'

In December, the congresswoman fired her chief of staff, then her deputy chief of staff and her legislative director resigned. A total of nine staffers had departed the office by February.

Mace went on: 'We had another former staffer that would leak the names of the new employees we were hiring so that negative stories could be written about them.'

'We even had interns quit because old staff threatened the interns, threatened that they would never get a job on the hill if they worked in my office.'

Mace said she had another former staff member who hacked her devices and was tracking her for nine months.

'Literally, they could see where I was at all times. They could see my kids' calendars, my doctors' appointments, my medical information.'

'The stories I have from some of my former staff are horrific, and were a massive invasion of my privacy.'

But not only that, she said.

Mace went on: 'We had another former staffer that would leak the names of the new employees we were hiring so that negative stories could be written about them'

'We're finding thousands of dollars in bills they didn't pay,' the congresswoman went on. 'Paperwork that didn't get filed that was supposed to.'

Mace was irate to find out that her staff had left close to $1 million on the table in her office budget. 'It was $400,000 in 2022 and close to half a million in 2023,' she said.

'It's our job to manage our office, be fiscally responsible, but to use everything we have to communicate our constituent services,' she said.

'If people don't know that, hey, you didn't get your IRS refund in 2020,w e'll help you or if you need an appointment at the VA, and you've waited for six months and you need assistance, we'll get that appointment for you. Heck, I'll even call the DMV if you can't get in the DMV.'

'That money could have also gone toward salaries, bonuses - especially if you're entry level, it's really hard to get by in D.C.,' she went on. 'It was really outrageous.'

It's not clear who exactly burned the bridge as the staff departed en masse. Mace claims her old staff was plotting against her, and she's found relief in a new group of aides she can trust. But former Mace employees have described a 'toxic' worked environment.

A source familiar with the daily operations of the office shot back: 'The swamp has truly gotten to Nancy Mace. A 'fiscally conservative' congresswoman is upset that staff saved her constituents money?'

Any money unspent in an office budget goes back to the Treasury.

'I guess she never understood that the office budget is not a personal bank account. Ask her mentor, Senator Paul. Every year he sends unspent funds back to the Treasury to pay down the debt. Rep. Mace would rather spend tax money on vanity mail pieces than return a dime back to the American people.'

Two former staffers laid blame on Mace for failing to give approval for a $400,000 mailing program in 2022 before deadline.

They denied that her personal devices had been hacked, and said it was standard routine for elected officials to share their personal calendars with staff.

'She had a personal calendar, a political calendar, and official calendar. All three of those calendars were managed and shared with senior staff so that we could go about the daily operations. No one hacked her accounts. She set them all up.'

'She routinely would try to revoke access, be like 'you can no longer see my calendar' for a couple of weeks. And you know what, we couldn't do our jobs.'

'This seems to be stemming from paranoia and trust issues,' another former staffer said. 'She's clearly unwell and I hope she gets help.'

'Everything the staff had access to was granted by her.'

The former aide claimed that the 'submerged device' allegation stemmed from a staff member who dropped water on their computer and took it to the tech team. 'This wasn't espionage or something.'

As for signing her name without her permission, 'she's talking about the run-of-the-mill, every office has hand stamp of a member. This is a stamp that she had directed our team to use for clerical tasks that she didn't want to be bothered with.'

After former chief Dan Hanlon left the office, he launched a brief primary run against her, propped up by other former aides.

Mace has become a fixture on cable news since her election in 2020 - by design, according to former staffers who say she was 'obsessed' with media attention.

The 46-year-old mother-of-two was stunned in May 2022 when her entrepreneur boyfriend Patrick Bryant got down on one knee and asked if she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him

'Everything started with media attention,' one source familiar with the office told DailyMail.com. 'We were free to drive the legislative agenda. She was pretty hands off in the process, which is pretty cool for a staffer. She was more focused on getting on Fox News.'

Mace shot back: 'Some people say I do it for TV interviews, but I turn down more than I actually do. So that's not really consistent. People say I'm a flip flopper, but then nobody can say what I flip flopped on. Literally no one.'

'I don't get anything out of [doing TV]. I actually get more grief. I mean, I get death threats every time I go on TV.'

She scoffed at the suggestion that she was only focused on media attention, said it was all just part of her relentless ambition to excel at the job.

'I work really hard. I work seven days a week for the country,' she said, muttering that she'd hardly had a wink of sleep the night before.

She speaks passionately about her two pet issues - women's rights, be it through moderate abortion laws or IVF protection, and gun violence prevention measures that don't involve restricting the Second Amendment, like Amber alerts for mass shootings.

Rep. Nancy Mace and her fiance, left, broke up while her office was in disarray. Revelations about their split came out as staffers departed

'It's insulting to think that I can only be good at one thing, and I try to do good in all things,' she added. 'And that means I'm married to a job. That means I don't have a life.'

'I just saved 1,000 jobs at a defense contractor in my district. Time and time again, the kind of infrastructure projects that need permits expedited, I've done it. We've just done so much for the district.'

She even voted to oust former Speaker Kevin McCarthy when he did keep promises he allegedly made to put bills related to women's issues and mass shooting prevention on the House floor.

'I've worked steadfastly on on doing a portfolio of legislation related to women's issues women and girls, to protect victims protect their rights.'

She went on: 'As Republicans, we have a difficult time I think messaging on gun violence. You don't have to sacrifice your principles to say, hey, we want to keep our kids safe. It shouldn't be controversial to say we don't want our kids shot.'
They have paid for its vet bills which found it was uninjured

A young Aussie couple holidaying in Bali have been targeted in an online hate campaign after being wrongly accused of leaving a stray dog to die after they accidentally hit it on their moped.

Charlie Torr and her boyfriend Jake Biggs were riding through Uluwatu, on the island's south coast, when a dog called Neo ran across the road and was hit.

A local rushed to the scene and took a photo of the couple after they checked on the dog, which appeared to be uninjured.

The image spread across social media, along with claims the couple had left the dog for dead and refused to pay its vet bills upon returning to Australia.

The pair have now hit back at the claims, describing them as 'false and without foundation'.

An Aussie influencer and her pet-loving boyfriend, Charlie Torr (Right) and Jack Biggs (Left), have denied they fled after hitting a dog with a moped while on holiday in Bali

Mr Biggs, who works at a doggy day-care and training business, told Daily Mail Australia the couple 'felt very unsafe in the situation', with a pack of dogs and irate locals surrounding their moped.

'Already driving cautiously due to the road conditions and the prevalence of stray dogs, we stopped when one dog dashed towards us trying to escape the other dogs,' he said.

'Despite our efforts to avoid contact, the dog ran in our direction, lightly bouncing off the front side of the scooter.

'We observed the dog to immediately jump up and continue running away from a larger dog pursuing him up a set of stairs. Other than trying to escape the larger dog, the dog looked entirely fine and uninjured.'

He said they had only driven about 100m down the road to escape the pack of angry strays before returning to find the local man and the dog they hit were not at the scene.

The pooch had been taken to a nearby vet and looked over for injuries.

After social media posts identified the couple and revealed the dog was still in the care of a vet, Mr Biggs reached out to the clinic to pay for its bills.

'The vet shortly after confirmed that the dog is in great condition and has been playing with other dogs at the vet,' he said.

The couple were pictured - shortly after checking the dog was uninjured - by an angry local who falsely accused them of attempting to flee the scene

The pooch (pictured) was taken to a veterinarian clinic and found to have not been injured but had health issues related to being a stray. The couple have paid for all of its vet bills

A series of X-rays and tests confirmed the dog hadn't suffered any injuries due to the collision, however, it was 'anaemic and dirty as it had been abandoned by its owners'.

Conversations, bills and transactions seen by Daily Mail Australia confirmed the couple have been funding care of the dog.

Mr Biggs said the allegations that they hadn't attempted to take care of the dog 'do not align with our values as devoted animal lovers'.

'It has led to relentless bullying and disturbing threats against us. There is no excuse for this,' he said.

The posts led to Ms Torr, an actor and influencer, deactivating her TikTok and Instagram accounts after receiving a number of hateful messages.
An expert has raised major questions about a key theory that has emerged about the brutal deaths of two Australian surfers and their American friend.

The remains of Callum, 33, and Jake Robinson, 30, as well as their friend Carter Rhoad, 30, were found dumped in a 45metre-deep well on a property in Mexico's on Saturday, each with a single gunshot wound to the head.

The Robinson brothers, originally from Perth, were in northern Mexico on a surfing trip when they failed to check in to an Airbnb near the city of Ensenada in the Baja California region on April 27.

The official story from the State Attorney General of Baja California is that the trio were purely victims of petty crime.

Police allege the perpetrators saw the travellers' vehicle and wanted to steal the tyres, with the victims murdered when they resisted.

However, there are still many unresolved questions.

Australian brothers Jake, 30, (right) and Callum Robinson, 32, (second from left) are pictured with their parents Debra and Martin

Jack Carter Rhoad, 30, was murdered with the two Australian brothers

There have been suggestions that Mexico's infamous cartels and organised crime gangs were responsible for the murders.

Organised crime researcher Dr Philip Johnson, a lecturer in the College of Business, Government and Law at Flinders University in Melbourne, told Daily Mail Australia there wasn't much evidence to support the theory.

'I don't think there's anything here to say this came down the chain of command from a drug cartel or some other sort of criminal organisation,' he said.

'I think it's really important to say cartels aren't organisations with clear memberships, there's no card-carrying cartel situation.

'Larger and wealthier, more powerful organisations work with subcontracts to a lot of different local gangs.

'So these guys could be relatively petty criminals, not in any particular way associated with a larger cartel.

'That doesn't mean they haven't done business for them.'

Dr Johnson explained the cartels' involvement in violence was due to the impunity with which they were allowed to operate by the state, police and military.

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)

Australian brothers Callum, 33 (left) and Jake, 30, were last seen with their American friend on April 27

'Some cartels are quite well armed and have very experienced 'soldiers', so to speak, but what really allows them to do what they do is the fact that they can do it and get away with it and do it again and get away with it,' he said.

Dr Johnson said the fact another body was found in the well with the Australian brothers and their American friend - which had been dumped previously - was evidence of this impunity.

The area where the murders occurred is currently under the control of the vicious Sinaloa cartel.

Members of the Sinaloa cartel have claimed they handed over the travelling trio's killers to the authorities.

A representative from the organisation denied any wrongdoing and said the cartel had turned over the culprits to police after becoming afraid of 'unwanted attention'.

'They were low-level robbers acting alone. But we handed them over,' the Sinaloa member told the Daily Beast.

'We learned that the cops were looking for the gringos and also began looking for those who were responsible. We called the authorities to let them know where to find them.'

In response to these claims, Dr Johnson said it was possible a branch of the Sinaloa cartel knew something about the triple murder, or took action after learning about the crime.

'Larger organisations will be more interested in trafficking large quantities of illicit drugs; they won't want petty crime interfering with their trafficking routes and local arrangements,' he said.

Dr Johnson explained the 'unwanted attention' mentioned by the cartel member could refer to a drug trafficking operation utilising Ensenada as a transit point.

He said the cartel would prefer minimal police and media scrutiny to conduct business smoothly.

'They aim for a quiet and "normal" environment to avoid attention from federal authorities and higher-level law enforcement, though they may have arrangements with local law enforcement,' he said.

The execution-style murders of the three victims - who died from a single gunshot wound to the head - also raised questions for Dr Johnson.

Brothers Jesus Gerardo (pictured left) and Cristian Alejandro were two of the three suspects arrested. All suspects surnames have been supressed by a Mexican court

Ari Gisel, 23, is one of three suspects arrested. She is reportedly the partner of fellow suspect Jesus Gerardo

He said that suggested they were cold-blooded, calculated killings, not just the result of an opportunistic theft.

'I think it takes a degree of skill and experience to kill people in this way,' he said.

'For a fairly minor crime, to go to the trouble of killing every victim in this way making sure there are no survivors or witnesses...

'This idea of a theft, a sort of opportunistic theft in a place with no regular traffic, at a remote surf location, seems pretty weird.'

Dr Johnson suggested the isolated location of the murders appeared unlikely setting for petty criminals to encounter people with any valuables.

'There's something more here about the interaction between the perpetrators and the victims in this kind of remote, unlikely location,' he said.

Dr Johnson also found the burning of the vehicle surprising, questioning why it was simply not driven away or sold.

'Even if there had been a struggle and there were blood stains in the vehicle, it was a fairly calculated way to hide evidence,' he said.

Expert points out major flaw with tyre theory

Eltan Talmi is CEO of Tactical Troop, a private security company specialising in Mexico.

Speaking to Daily Mail Australia, he provided insight into the horrific actions of the cartels in Baja California.

'According to the organisation Causa en Comun, Baja California concluded 2023 as the Mexican state with the highest count of atrocities, totaling 438 incidents,' he said.

'These atrocities encompass mutilations, dismemberments, desecration of corpses, massacres, discovery of clandestine graves, torture, and other severe crimes.'

He agrees the theory suggesting the brothers were killed simply for their tyres doesn't stack up.

'The tyres issue is, of course, a cover story,' he said.

'No one will kill three tourists in Mexico for tyres. You can steal the tyres during the night without drawing so much attention.'

He said for authorities to conclude this was merely an auto parts theft seems hasty.

Mr Talmi believes the execution-style murders suggests more sinister intent

The corpses were decomposing after the thieves dumped them into a remote, 45metre-deep well

'Although violent car thefts often lead to severe injuries or fatalities, there were no reports of violent auto parts thefts in the region last year,' he said.

Mr Talmi believes the manner of how the three surfers were murdered suggests more sinister intent.

'Why were there headshots? It's highly improbable to consistently hit in the head if they were supposedly defending themselves; more likely, there would be multiple body shots,' he sad.

He said the location where the bodies were disposed of suggests the perpetrators might have known about this well beforehand.

'This case may not be a matter of simple criminality but could instead be linked to an organised crime group,' he said.

Mr Talmi said a number of factors led to him concluding this: 'The presence of a burnt vehicle, the dragging of bodies, and efforts to conceal these bodies in a pre-existing clandestine grave.'

He agreed with Dr Johnson that it appeared the brutal murders was a tragic case of 'being in the wrong place at the wrong time.'
Australians are divided after a Western Sydney council banned books about same-sex parents from its libraries.

Cumberland City Council, which covers a population of about 240,000 people living near Parramatta, voted in May to 'take immediate action to rid same-sex parents books/materials in council's library service'.

The motion narrowly passed by six votes to five.

During the debate, former mayor and current councillor Steve Christou held up a picture of a book called Same-Sex Parents by author Holly Duhig, which he claimed had sparked complaints from his constituents.

The book features a gay male couple and their young son on the cover.

'One parent texted me to say, "please get this crap off our shelves", with a screenshot of the book,' Cr Christou said.

'This is not Marrickville or Newtown.

'We're talking a demographic where 62 per cent of the population were originally born overseas.

'The have very deeply-held conservative family and religious values, regardless of their religion, whether that be Christian, Catholic, Orthodox, Islamic, [or] Hindu.'

Cr Christou said the community was sick and tired of left-wing woke initiatives.

Cumberland's former mayor and current councillor Steve Christou touted the ban as a way to protect children from 'sexualisation' in the book (pictured)

What residents think about the book ban?

Muslim woman Naz, 30, is in favour of the book being pulled as it could be too 'overwhelming' for young children.

'It's hard to tackle these topics because it's very sensitive for everyone,' she said.

'Children should have exposure to everything, in time, but they need to be sheltered to develop the skillset to understand these things first.

'The content around this is changing so rapidly, ten years ago most of us didn't know there were more than two genders.

'I can understand as a Muslim female and future mother why young mothers want to protect their children from this - especially how it works with our Islamic views and culture.'

While Naz believed education should be available to children, she believes timing is key.

She said the concepts of of gender and sexuality can be difficult for children to understand.

'For a kid raised in this environment it can be difficult to understand what a boy is or girl is.

'Then they're confronted with being able to choose their gender, then they have to decide who they're attracted to,' she said.

'I, myself, can accept and understand this concept but to a six-year-old it would be very hard.'

Craig, who lives in Regents Park, told Daily Mail Australia the council 'shouldn't be involved' in deciding what parents allow their children to read.

'There are all different kinds of people here; families can think whatever they want,' he said.

Cumberland resident Naz (pictured) said while it's important for children to 'have exposure to everything', 'they need to be sheltered to develop the skillset to understand' first

Former mayor and current councillor Steve Christou (pictured) told Daily Mail Australia he opposed 'any form of sexualisation of our children, whether it's a heterosexual or homosexual'

Cumberland local Adriana, 32, said the electorate has a high concentration of Muslim believers who often have 'really strong' opinions about the LGBTQ+ community.

'I haven't seen the book and don't know its content but I don't think its fair if the council has just decided to pull it,' she said.

'If there was really strong negative feedback I can understand, but it's not fair.'

Shashank, 28, agreed, saying: 'It's not right for council to decide.

'Children should get to know about these things so banning the book is not a good idea.

'Parents have the first right in decisions for their children.'

Adriana (pictured) said Cumberland has a high concentration of Muslim believers who often have 'really strong' opinions about the LGBTQ+ community

Shashank (pictured) believed it's 'not right for councils to decide' what content parents allow their children to read

Belma, 61, said if parents are concerned about their children's exposure to sexuality, the community library should be the least of their concerns.

'You hear little kids talking about sex but that's not the fault of any book, it's the internet,' she said.

'You can't just remove books, you need to remove the phones.

'I'm Muslim and there would be some Muslims who would be very upset about the book.

'But children need to learn about these relationships. It's not right for them to learn when they're already dating.'

Another Cumberland resident, 26-year-old Angel, said that while there are 'a few religions' in the area, 'everyone should be entitled to their own opinion'.
The finalists of this year's Comedy Pet Photo Competition have been revealed including a headless horse and a kung-fu fighting dog.

Professional photographers Paul Joynson-Hicks and Tom Sullman created the competition to celebrate the positive role pets have in our lives and to encourage animal welfare.

The images were chosen for their photographic quality as well as their comedic value and were subject to serious scrutiny from the judges who are all expert animal lovers.

Some of the panel includes TV presenter Kate Humble, professional photographer Gerrary Gethings and his son Jarvis Gethings and also Barry the Border Terrier.

Hector saw the cat do it... so thought he would give it a try... and this is about as far as he got before reversing out the way he came

Chantal Sammons, Um, Excuse Me... A cat looks like the spitting image of a Chinese Lucky Cat with its paw up

Sylvia Michel, Everybody is Kung Fu Fighting... A dog shows off its martial arts skills in the snow

Vera Faupel, Dancing Queen... A dog is captured in mid-air with an hilarious look on its face

Darya Zelentsova, The Proud Pup and His Best Friend

Debby Thomas, I think I saw a mouse... A horse looks like it is floating in mid-air

Diann Johnson, Pool Friends... A cat looks intently at a rubber duck with sunglasses and is reflected in the water

Philippa Huber, It's Behind-You... A dog looks happy as it looks for stray bubble

Kenichi Morinaga, You Didn't Hear This From Me But... Two cats look like they are deep in gossip

Bernard Sim, Peek-a-Boo... A dog's fur covers its eyes making it hard to tell if it can see

Charlotte Kitchen, Tired Donkey... A donkey gives a big yawn, making it look like it is smiling

Yasuda Aburanekomaru, You keep watch... Two cats look like they're up to mischief

Emma Beardsmore, Nosey Neighbours.... Two cats keep watch as they poke their heads over the fence

Anna Petro, Really!! A dog looks less than impressed with its owner, giving a very human-like expression

There was also writer and comedian Mel Geidroyc and TV vet Emma Milne as well as a former competition winner Elke Vogelsang.

All the 30 finalists will be eligible for the People's Choice Category where the public vote for their favourite funny pet.

The vote is open from May 10 and closes on June 2.

Also, one lucky voter will be chosen at random and will win a 100 cast prize.

The 2024 Comedy Pet Winners will be announced on June 6.

The winner will receive 500 cash and a brilliant camera bag from ThinkTANK.

Alina Vogel, Sun Lover... A hamster looks comfy and cosy as it has a snooze in its den

Julie Smith, I Believe I Can Fly... A fluffy poodle looks like a dog-shaped cloud as it floats mid-gallop

Jonathan Casey, New Rose... A cute tortoise holds a flower, either as a snack or to give it to someone else

Vittorio Ricci, Belly Dancer Style... A cat pokes its eyes through the tassles of a rug

Julia Illig, Curls in the Wind... An owner and her dog look dramtically windswept during a day at the beach

Lock Lui, It's Time To Get Up... A dog greets its owner in the morning, giving an hilarious POV shot

Luiza Ribeiro, Grumpy Dog... A dog looks grumpy and as though it is pouting

Silvia Jiang, Who Are You? A cat looks seriously concerned about its new lion teddy friend

Tomoaki Tanto, Kitten Stuck In Traffic... A cat affectionately brushes its head on the backside of its friend

Tammo Zelle, It's Fu Cold... A dog looks unimpressed by the snow and cold

Atsuyuki Ohshima, Hard Workers... Two cats work together in order to rip up a roll of tissue

Kenichi Morinaga, Cat In a Trap Like Super Mario... A cat's front end disappears as it seemingly travels through a pipe like Mario

Sylvia Michel, Peek a boo... A dog disappears in the snow, with only its ears poking out

Kazutoshi Ono, Tarzan... A cat shows off its jungle swinging skills as it dangles from a cord

David Kertzman, What am I thinking... A horse has apparently lost its head in this hilariously timed shot
China, Hungary elevate ties during Xis visit in Budapest

10:03, May 10, 2024 By Wang Wenwen ( Global Times

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, on May 9, 2024 Photo: Xinhua

China and Hungary decided Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to this Central and Eastern European country, which experts say is a result of fruitful cooperation between the two sides and carries significance to China-Europe relations.

The announcement was made after Xi held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They jointly witnessed exchange of cooperation documents and met with the press.

The China-Hungary relationship is now at its best in history, Xi said earlier on Thursday when meeting with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest.

The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.

Xi arrived in Budapest on Wednesday, on the last leg of his three-nation European trip. Xi previously visited Hungary 15 years ago.

He was warmly welcomed by Orban and his wife at Budapest Airport upon arrival. The Hungarian Air Force sent fighter jets to escort Xi's plane after it entered the country's airspace.

Ju Weiwei, deputy director of the Central and Eastern Europe Office, Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that elevating bilateral relations to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era is a big achievement of bilateral relations and is a result of fruitful cooperation between China and Hungary in all aspects such as infrastructure, investment and culture as well as respect for each other's core interests and the solid basis of public opinion in both countries.

"This has positive significance to future China-Europe relations and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe," said Ju.

Both Chinese and Hungarian experts believe mutual respect and a cooperative approach with no ideological strings attached have played decisive roles in bilateral relations.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Hungary diplomatic relations. Hungary was one of the first countries in the world to establish official relations with China.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a recent interview with the Global Times that it's a great honor that the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties with a presidential visit. He believes that this is positive feedback showing that China and Hungary are on the right track and this is very important to Hungary.

Mutual respect

Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit, Xi said when meeting with the Hungarian president.

Szijjarto told the Global Times that mutual respect, which is currently missing in international politics, is a really strong and stable basis for the successful cooperation between China and Hungary.

Over the years, China-Hungary cooperation has been developing in a steady manner. In 2015, Hungary became the first European country to join the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. In 2017, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Hungary-Serbia railway that is under construction is the flagship project of the BRI in Central and Eastern Europe.

On world affairs, China and Hungary often share similar stances. Despite being an EU member state and a NATO member, Hungary has remained committed to not sending any weapons to Ukraine.

Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of John von Neumann University and chief advisor to the governor of the Central Bank of Hungary, told the Global Times that the relationship between Hungary and China is getting increasingly close because they think similarly about international relations.

"Hungary seeks cooperation with countries based on its own national interests. It recognizes that pragmatic cooperation can bring promising prospects while confrontation and sanctions can only bring lose-lose scenarios and be exploited by those with ulterior motives," Ju told the Global Times.

Bridge linking East and West

In 2010, Hungary began implementing the "Opening to the East" policy, underlining the fact that the wind is blowing from the East in the world economy.

In recent years, Hungary has become a major logistics hub for China-Europe trade. Hungary is also Europe's electric vehicle hub  Chinese EV maker BYD announced in late 2023 that it will build its first European electric vehicle production base in Hungary and the plant will produce EVs and plug-in hybrids for the European market.

Hungary's connectivity strategy makes it a key country to connect West and East. Experts also believe that Hungary can play a facilitating role in bridging China and Europe.

On several occasions, Hungary has stood aside from or opposed EU positions against China. For instance, in 2021, Hungary blocked an EU statement criticizing China's National Security Law for Hong Kong.

"Hungary is special among the EU. It does not oppose the bloc every time when it comes to China-related issues, but it has played a special role in China-Europe relations. Hungary is a partner China should seriously cooperate with," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

On July 1, Hungary will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Foreign Minister Szijjarto believes Hungary can use the opportunity to influence the EU's policy toward China.

"We will be able to share with our European colleagues in a very credible manner how helpful, how useful and how profitable it can be to work together with China," Szijjarto told the Global Times in the interview.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Lesley Briones is joined by her family for block-walking on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022. Annie Mulligan/Contributor

This Mothers Day marks almost eight years since I experienced the second of my two intense miscarriages, each of which resulted in hospitalization. I was blessed that the laws in Texas  and in the U.S.  were not what they are now, and I was able to get the stabilizing care I needed. That would likely not be the case today.

In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan signed the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act (EMTALA), ensuring everyone the right to receive stabilizing care in an emergency room, regardless of ability to pay. New state abortion bans threaten to dismantle this right and restrict physicians ability to administer lifesaving treatments.

We are already enduring the impact of conflicting laws. Media reports have detailed numerous cases in which womens lives were threatened after hospitals turned them away, refusing to offer stabilizing care. In Harris County, one woman recently miscarried in the lobby bathroom of an emergency room because she was denied treatment.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

This is the current reality for my three young daughters, who are growing up with fewer rights than their grandmothers. As a mother, Latina and Catholic, I am sickened to see equality eroded and freedoms stripped away from my daughters and all young women. As a lawyer and a former judge, I am appalled to witness the legal system weaponized against women rather than protecting their fundamental rights.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, it turned back half a century of progress and told our daughters that legislators in their states would have the last word on their bodies. When the Texas Legislature passed a draconian trigger law banning abortions with no exceptions for rape or incest, they told our daughters that their rights were less important than those of a criminal. And when the state of Texas sued the Biden administration claiming that EMTALA does not guarantee your right to an abortion  even in cases of medical emergencies  it told our daughters that the guarantee of stabilizing care for every American does not apply to them.

Since Texas banned abortion, pregnant womens lives have been threatened after hospitals turned them away, refusing to offer stabilizing care. Koh Sze Kiat/Getty Images

In this extreme climate, the message to our daughters is clear: Your survival isnt a priority.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In a related case, the Supreme Court will soon decide whether to upend decades of practice under EMTALA in favor of Idahos near-total abortion ban, which would likely affect Texas case. Idaho and Texas both argue that a doctor should be permitted to perform an abortion only if the doctor determines the patient would die without it. Supreme Court justices, particularly the women, ran through both hypothetical and real-life examples of major but less-than-lethal threats  merely a serious medical condition in Justice Sonia Sotomayors words  such as loss of an organ or the ability to have children. Idahos synthesized response: The seriousness of a medical condition is subjective; the care should not be a guaranteed right until a woman is near death.

If the Supreme Court rules in Idahos favor, pregnant women in Idaho, Texas and many other states will not receive stabilizing care. Instead, doctors would be forced to let a womans health deteriorate until theyre confident that without it, she would die.

Even as extremist politicians work to undermine Americans fundamental rights, my message to our daughters is this: Leaders in Harris County will fight to protect your access to reproductive care.

Thanks to the Biden-Harris administrations direct allocation of federal American Rescue Plan Act funding, my colleagues and I on the Harris County Commissioners Court formed a $6 million Reproductive Healthcare Access Fund. Within the bounds of Texas laws, Harris County  the nations third largest county  is investing in local organizations to provide essential reproductive health care services, including access to comprehensive family planning services, screenings for sexually transmitted diseases and more.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Lesley Briones, Commissioner Precinct 4, during Commissioners Court on Tuesday, June 6, 2023, in Houston. Melissa Phillip/Staff Photographer

Harris County is strengthening womens ability to control their reproductive futures. Whether through education, family planning or health screenings, we are delivering a message steeped in the very principles of EMTALA: You deserve access to care. So while extremists seek to score political points out of touch with the majority of Americans, we are taking action to support mothers and families.

Harris County is resisting. And this Texas mother will keep fighting like hell to build the Texas our daughters deserve.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
After weeks of anti-Israel protests across college campuses nationwide, GOP lawmakers are increasingly calling for investigations into 'dark money' groups that could be illegally funding the students' activism.

Protests at Columbia University, George Washington University, UCLA and more all bore clear similarities: Rows of colored tents containing new sleeping bags and well-coordinated meals for the demonstrators.

Equally as clear is where these college-aged students got these supplies: Democrat mega-donors who are backing Biden's re-election effort.

'I mean, these are some of Biden's biggest donors who are funding this,' Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told DailyMail.com of the ongoing campus protests that have resulted in thousands of student arrests.

Columbia University's 'Gaza Solidarity Encampment' last for weeks before New York police raided the tent-strewn campsite and arrested hundreds of activists

Within days of the Columbia University encampment cropping up other pro-Gaza tent cities began appearing across colleges in other parts of the country, like at UCLA, shown above

Over 100 tents were counted at George Washington University's pro-Palestinian encampment, which eventually grew so large tents spilled out onto D.C. city streets

Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., told DailyMail.com the nonprofits funding pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses could be illegal

'It's probably no coincidence that [Biden's] donors are funding this unrest and he's now out there now cutting the State of Israel loose ... saying that he's not even going to allow Israel to buy weapons.'

'They are using a lattice of dark money groups, supposed nonprofit groups, that probably violates the law.'

'I mean, you can't use a 501(c)(3) or a 501(c)(4) to fund illegal activities under the law, and these groups, they know what they're doing.'

The Missouri Republican is so skeptical of the 'dark money' groups behind the protests' funding that he sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland earlier this week asking him to investigate.

'This pattern is disturbing,' he wrote to Garland about the rash of college protests, adding that 'It is also almost certainly illegal.'

In his letter, he referenced a report which found that Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) and IfNotNow (INN) - two pro-Palestinian advocacy groups - were major forces in supporting the college protests, particularly those at Columbia University.

According to the report, JVP and INN received financial funding from Democrat supporter George Soros' Tides Foundation.

The groups were also reportedly supported by David Rockefeller's Rockefeller Brothers Fund.

Additional pro-Palestinian groups involved in the college protests received funding from Democratic donors Susan and Nick Pritzker - the heirs to the Hyatt hotel empire - who have previously donated to President Biden, the report indicates.

'So we need to find out who is writing the checks? Has the law been violated? And you know Biden ought to comment on this,' Hawley said. 'I mean his biggest donors are funding this unrest and violence.'

A person stands among the tents set up in an encampment of pro-Palestinian protesters on the campus of UCLA

The George Washington University encampment was broken up by D.C. police early Wednesday morning, leading to at least 33 arrests

And Hawley is not alone, several members of the GOP Senate caucus - including those in leadership - also want to probe the money flowing into the protestors' coffers.

'I agree with him. I think we need to find that out,' Chairman of the Senate Republican Conference John Barrasso, R-Wyo., told DailyMail.com. 'The American people have a right have a right to know.'

'This isn't just a couple of students who spontaneously have gotten together,' he continued. 'This is well-funded and organized and deliberative and an attack against our rights.'

National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Steve Daines, R-Mont., told DailyMail.com people 'absolutely' want the funding behind the college protests investigated, adding 'The American people are outraged.'

He said 'the same funding source and the same billionaires that are funding the Democrat Senate campaigns' are paying for the protestors tents, sleeping bags and meals.

'The funding for the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic, anti-American protests occurring at universities across the country, much of the funding came from Joe Biden and the Democrats biggest donors,' Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said at a Thursday press conference, referencing the same report as Hawley.

'What is happening on campus is happening because the Democrat base wants it to happen,' he continued.

Democrats, however, were not as eager to probe whose funding the protestors.

'I don't really care who's paying for it,' Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., told DailyMail.com. 'But it's very clear that it's not some kind of grassroots movement or anything.'

Fetterman, who has largely split with his party over his staunch support of Israel, mentioned how he too has been targeted by the pro-Gaza groups.

Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said he does not care who is funding the protests despite being targeted by some of the groups found to be supported by 'dark money' groups

'The same kind of organizations, the JVP and INN, were those same ones that were having protests in front of my office in Philadelphia, and people are paying these kinds of organizations to organize these things.'

'That's it's not a grassroots kind of spontaneous kind of situation for sure.'

JVP, INN and the Tides Foundation did not immediately return requests for comment.
A proposed Muslim cemetery in Pine Valley, California is causing local unrest as concerns about water contamination from decomposed bodies arise.

Pine Valley, a small rural town 45 minutes east of San Diego, has a population of 1,646, per the recent U.S. Census. A circulating petition opposing has just as many signatures as how many people live in the town.

SD Crescentwood Cemetery, the nonprofit advocating for the project's execution, is proposing that the burial ground be located on 37 acres of untouched land between Interstate 8 and Old Highway 80.

The main concern from residents are that the decomposing bodies could contaminate the Campo-Cottonwood Sole Source Aquifer, the primary source of water for its service area.

When a person in the Muslim religion is buried, their corpse is wrapped in a shroud and is typically not embalmed, making it easier for fluids from the bodies to seep into the ground. For this reason, local residents and voting members of Campo/Lake Morena Community Planning Group (CLMCPG) are arguing against the cemetery.

Pine Valley (pictured), a small rural town 45 minutes east of San Diego, has a population of 1,646, per the recent U.S. Census

SD Crescentwood Cemetery, the nonprofit advocating for the project's execution, is proposing that the burial ground be located on 37 acres of untouched land between Interstate 8 and Old Highway 80 (Pictured: The access road was marked off on the proposed cemetery site in Pine Valley)

'Human remain leachate can contaminate drinking water by seeping into the ground and entering the aquifer,' the petition points out. 'This can happen through cracks in the cemetery's liner, or through the natural breakdown of the liner over time. Byproducts including bacteria, viruses, parasites, lead, arsenic, and mercury.'

The non-profit argues the cemetery would have minimal environmental impact and that would meet all county and state regulations.

The project's conception began back in 2021 when the nonprofit filed an application and purchased the property between La Posta Indian Reservation and Golden Acorn Casino in 2022.

Pictured: Blueprint of where the cemetery would be located and how it would be constructed

The main concern from residents are that the decomposing bodies could contaminate the Campo-Cottonwood Sole Source Aquifer, the primary source of water for its service area

In March 2023, the organization filed for a Major Use Permit (MUP) with San Diego County so that graves could start being dug by the end of 2024.

A request for an on-site mortuary was suspended as all funeral preparations were sanctioned off site.

The project number of burials that would take place per year is uncertain, but the local planning group alleges that there would be 350 burials a year. However, the Crescentwood website clarifies that 350 graves are needed a year, but they are not all necessarily used.

Per the MUP, 'it is anticipated that there will be approximately four burials per month.'

The county is requiring Crescentwood to conduct a groundwater investigation and hydrology study before making a decision on the project. From there, they will decide whether or not any mitigation will be required.

Alan Klos, a resident of Pine Valley for the past seven years, told NBC 7 that he understands why the rural town is an ideal place for a cemetery.

'I mean, it's not ideal but, unfortunately, those who have departed, they do need a place to be buried, and I really can't think of a whole lot of more beautiful areas than out here,' Klos said. 'As long as they're careful, I don't really see a problem with it.'

Pictured: Diagram of where the cemetery will be zoned

The non-profit argues the cemetery would have minimal environmental impact and that would meet all county and state regulations

The project number of burials that would take place per year is uncertain, but the local planning group alleges that there would be 350 burials a year

Pictured: A map of the Campo-Cottonwood Sole Source Aquifer

But he also made it clear that he only supports the cemetery being dug if it does not negatively effect the environment, 'making sure that those who have been interred aren't polluting the groundwater.

'You know, it's not causing any sort of environmental issues or potentially affecting the safety of the families who live here in Pine Valley and in the area,' Klos said.

The project is still in the early stages and a decision from the county is not expected for at least a year.
MI5 has apologised to an abuse victim whose secret agent would-be cannibal ex-partner attacked her with a machete and sexually assaulted her.

The woman has complained to a watchdog after the service didn't promptly disclose information about the agent - who can't be named for legal reasons.

Even while under investigation by the police, the man was able to leave Britain and work for an intelligence service abroad.

In a preliminary hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) on Thursday, MI5's barrister Neil Sheldon KC apologised to the woman who complained to the IPT.

He said: 'We wish to apologise to the claimant and her representatives.'

MI5 has apologised to an abuse victim whose secret agent would-be cannibal ex-partner attacked her with a machete and sexually assaulted her (Stock image)

He previously abused and threatened to murder a former female partner and her child.

He then used her name as a cover while working for MI5 and threatened to sexually abuse and kill young girls.

He also wrote down his sick cannibal fantasies about eating children.

After MI5 tried trying to block the story being revealed by the BBC two years ago, it was revealed the man was a right-wing extremist.

MI5 has so far refused to confirm whether the man was or was not an agent or informant.

A full trial is set for January 2025.
A man has been charged after allegedly chasing a group of women with a tree branch.

The 42-year-old man was caught on CCTV approaching a dozen women who were posing for a photo on King George Square in Brisbane's CBD.

All of the women ran towards the City Hall building as the photographer stayed behind to unsuccessfully fend the man off.

A 42-year-old man ruined a photoshoot by allegedly approaching a dozen women in Brisbane's King George Square with a tree branch

Police charged the man with wilful damage to property and going armed to cause fear

Police arrived at the scene to find that the women had locked themselves inside a building for safety.

The man was charged with wilful damage to property on Adelaide Street and going armed to cause fear.

Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner described footage of the incident as 'disturbing'.

The incident was captured by the city's CCTV network which has recently added another 240 cameras to help police combat youth crime.

This brings the total number of cameras in the Brisbane City Council area up to 3,500.

The cameras are constantly monitored and have assisted in the prosecution of 1,595 offences in the last 12 months.


The son who allegedly killed his mother - a beloved California kindergarten teacher - struggled with his mental health 'for many years' as she tried to get him help, according to family members.

Kyle Lombardo, 25, wept and mostly held his head down during a brief hearing Thursday on charges that he killed his mother, Karyn, at their Burbank, Calif. home.

Lombardo was in court on for an arraignment, which was continued to May 22. He remains on a $2 million bail.

Deputy Public Defender Jimmy Chu said Lombardo and his mother were embroiled in a fight on Tuesday, which resulted in her accidental death.

'I'm very aware that my client's mother was a beloved member of the community,' said Chu to reporters outside of a Burbank courthouse. 'We offer our deepest condolences.

'However, it is also my understanding that at this time this tragedy is a result of an accident, following an altercation between a son and a mother, whom my client deeply loved.'

Karyn Lombardo (left middle), 57, was found dead on Tuesday in her home in Burbank, California. Her son, Kyle Lombardo (far left), 25, was arrested and charged with her murder

Deputy Public Defender Jimmy Chu spoke to reporters after Thursday's hearing. He said Kyle Lombardo and his mother, Karyn, had a fight before she was accidentally killed

Chu added he and his office are investigating Lombardo's mental health and intellectual developmental disabilities he may have.

Karyn Lombardo, who was born in the English seaside town of Bournemouth - about two hours south west of London- doted on her 25-year old son, family members told DailyMail.com.

'Kyle has struggled with his mental health for years and years,' said Karyn's older brother, Kevin, who attended the hearing. 'My hope is this draws attention to the problems of mental health.'

Chu said no weapons were used in the incident.

Kyle Lombardo, 25, wept and mostly held his head down during a brief hearing Thursday on charges that he killed his mother, Kathryn, at their Burbank, Calif. home

Lombardo's father, Vince, did not attend the hearing.

Vince Lombardo told local TV station KTLA that he was not home the night of the murder and stayed overnight in Lake Arrowhead, about three hours east of Los Angeles.

He said he spoke to his wife just before 10pm that night.

Community members erected a memorial for the beloved teacher. Vince Lombardo, Karyn's husband and Kyle's father, said their son had a mental condition and that police were called to the family's home in the past

Community members, many former students of Karyn Lombardo, mourned the beloved teacher's death

'Its a reactionary system and thats basically what I was told,' Vince said about his son's mental health.

'Until something happens, you cant do anything,' he added. 'That theres not enough help to help these people, especially when they become adults. She loved him more than anything and tried to help him.'

Her brother said Karyn was proud of her British roots.

At their Burbank home, a plaque was prominently displayed on their front window of the famous British phrase, 'Keep Calm, Carry On', while her car was decorated with Union Jack accessories.

A bouquet of flowers were left at the front steps.

Her husband said she was loved by all of her students.

'Coming through the system here, there were students who became teachers because of her,' Vince Lombardo said.

'Shes a very magnificent person and I think if you ask anybody, I think shes too kind and that she loves to a fault.'
The Commonwealth might have won in the High Court today, but that victory spells defeat for the Albanese Government on the politics of this issue.

It makes a mockery of Labor's desperate urgings just weeks ago that the parliament rush through laws which might have circumvented a negative judgement.

Today's unanimous High Court decision means that the Iranian man known only as ASF17 will remain in immigration detention until he cooperates with his deportation, because 'he has been found by a delegate of the Minister not to have a genuine and well founded fear of persecution in Iran'.

It also takes the pressure off the Coalition to pass the draft legislation when the Senate returns on Tuesday, which is also Budget day. Labor would have ramped up the pressure on the Opposition to urgently do so if the judgement had gone the other way.

Simply put, there was no need to rush the Bill though parliament in 72 hours in the first place. Legal scholars were almost unanimous in their assessment that the High Court would do exactly what it now has.

Home Affairs Minister Clare O'Neil (above) while welcoming the High Court decision has been left with political egg on her face

The High Court ruling means that an Iranian detainee won't be released into the community

Labor should now take the time necessary to get the draft legislation it initially played politics with right, which may mean adopting the recommendations the Coalition has made to improve it.

While Labor enjoyed the political optics before the judgement of the Coalition being forced to side with the Greens to defeat the rushed legislation in the Senate, the two parties came at it from very different perspectives.

The Greens were concerned about detainee human rights. The Coalition's focus was on a lack of oversight and too much ambit being given to the responsible minister.

The stacked government inquiry which unsurprisingly supported the draft legislation being passed into law as it stands received 118 submissions, 117 of which opposed the Bill in its current form.

The only submission that supported it came from - wait for it - the Department of Home Affairs: Clare O'Neil's department - the responsible minister with so much to lose politically as problems in her portfolio area drag on.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton (above) stood firm opposing Labor's rushed legislation

Many Australians would be wondering why the High Court drew a distinction between its earlier judgement impacting on the NZYQ cohort - meaning that they couldn't be indefinitely detained and were so controversially released into the community - and this judgement.

The difference boils down to the fact that ASF17 can be removed but is simply refusing to go. He's not stateless and not a genuine refugee. The cohort therefore can be sent back to their home countries.

While some activists might disagree with this, citing concerns for their safety, from the High Court's perspective that doesn't matter because of the formal determinations to the contrary.

The initial rushing of the Bill through parliament was purely political so that the Coalition couldn't accuse the government of not being ready for a court ruling if it went against them, like the ASF17 ruling did.

A released immigration detainee who allegedly bashing an elderly Perth woman is arrested by police

But that was a very different situation. Legal scholars were bracing for the High Court to rule the way it did, the Government's own lawyers warned it that an adverse judgement was possible, and the High Court itself even flagged the looming judgement, presumably to give the Government time to do what it didn't: make appropriate arrangements for the imminent release of dozens and dozens of alleged rapists and murders to properly protect the community.

That didn't happen and there have been a string of alleged criminal actions by the cohort since, causing serious headaches for the Albanese Government politically.
However, there are only a dozen chances to get a taste each day

Diners claim it is 'perfection' and 'the best burger in New York City'

The 'Dive Burger' at Le Dive in Manhattan comes with French-inspired fixings

A trendy French eatery in New York City is serving up an off-menu cheeseburger that is earning rave reviews - for those who are lucky enough to get their hands on one.

Le Dive, a popular wine bar in Manhattan's Lower East Side, introduced its 'Dive Burger' last month.

It has been branded 'the best burger in New York City' by one food reviewer. But there is a catch: the kitchen only turns out 12 of them per day.

The ultra-exclusive item is served on an 'if you know, you know' basis. It cannot be ordered online, as it is off-menu fare.

Le Dive, a trendy French wine bar in New York City, has begun offering a secret 'Dive Burger' - but only 12 lucky diners will get to enjoy it each day

The eight-ounce patty is topped with au poivre sauce, Emmental cheese and watercress tossed in a Dijon-shallot vinaigrette. Diners have left rave reviews, including one TikToker who deemed it 'perfection'

The burger will set diners back $26, but it considerably heartier than Le Dive's other fare, which mostly includes small plates

And unlike some other New York City eateries that serve 'secret burgers' upon request, Le Dive limits the number that the kitchen prepares each day.

The burger features an eight-ounce patty on a fluffy brioche bun, done up with fixings like au poivre sauce, Emmental cheese and watercress tossed in a Dijon-shallot vinaigrette.

It comes with a side of thin-cut French fries and will set diners back $26.

The burger has drummed up attention online, earning rave reviews from those fortunate enough to get a taste.

One food blogger who goes by the handle @chewyorkcity noted that she ordered 'as soon as she sat down,' fearing it would sell out.

Another content creator filmed herself going to try 'by far the most exclusive burger in New York City' and offered advice to those wanting to do the same.

'Pro tip: they're currently not serving them at the bar, so make sure you're sitting at a table,' she said.

She claimed the Dive Burger was so good it left her 'at a loss for words'.

The burger was announced in a promotional Instagram post on March 27, just five days before it began serving. It must be ordered in person and by special request

Le Dive is best known for its natural wine, which starts at $68 a bottle and can go up to $82

The Lower East Side eatery's heavier plates include roast chicken and steak frites

Le Dive's menu mostly consists of smaller plates, which, combined with the low supply, might explain the hefty price tag.

Other offerings include tinned sardines, radishes and butter, and baguettes slathered in jam and fresh fruit.

However, there is some equally pricey fare including a $25 roast chicken, $34 steak frites, and $27 half-dozen raw oysters. Bottles of wine start at $68 and can cost up to $82 plus tax.

The Dive Burger was introduced in an Instagram update from March 27, five days before it was set to begin making its way to diners' tables.

It is just the latest secret burger to crop up at restaurants across the Big Apple.

The Brindle Room, an East Village gastropub, offers the 'Sebastian's Steakhouse Burger' to diners in the know.

While it is not offered on the dinner menu, the burger - which is topped with American cheese and caramelized onion and served on a toasted white bun - is one of the most popular items.

Secret burgers have even made an appearance at chain restaurants like Hillstone, the upscale eatery that shuttered its Midtown location last year.

The remaining Rose Hill location serves a 'Hickory Burger,' a grilled beef patty topped with shredded cheddar cheese, chopped onions, a slab of Canadian bacon and the namesake hickory BBQ sauce.
A watchdog has called for Wandsworth prison to be put into emergency measures amid concerns over failings in security and severe problems with overcrowding, drugs, violence and self-harm.

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor wrote to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to issue an urgent notification for improvement at the category B jail in south west London after 'deeply concerning' inspection findings.

Mr Taylor said: 'The poor outcomes we found at Wandsworth are systemic and cultural failures and stemmed from poor leadership at every level of the prison, from HMPPS and the Ministry of Justice.

'Many well-meaning and hard-working leaders and staff persevered at Wandsworth, and their resilience was impressive, but they were often fighting against a tide of cross-cutting, intractable problems that require comprehensive, long-term solutions.

'For this troubled prison to begin to recover, Wandsworth needs permanent experienced leaders at all levels who are invested in its long-term future to improve security, safety and guide their less experienced colleagues.

A watchdog has called for Wandsworth prison to be put into emergency measures amid concerns over failings in security and severe problems with overcrowding, drugs, and violence

Chief inspector of prisons Charlie Taylor (pictured) wrote to Justice Secretary Alex Chalk to issue an urgent notification for improvement at the category B jail in south west London after 'deeply concerning' inspection findings

'Until this happens, the risk of a further catastrophe, a self-inflicted death or escape from lawful custody, is ever present.'

Wandsworth was the scene of an alleged escape by Daniel Khalife last year.

The prison's governor, Katie Price, resigned during the inspection earlier this week.

Prisons minister Edward Argar said the 'deeply concerning report' shows the jail continues to face 'significant challenges' and it was 'clear that on top of the additional support we've already provided since September to improve safety and security, including nearly 1 million of upgrades, we need to go further still.'

Extra experienced staff will be added to the prison's management team in the coming weeks to provide the 'leadership, culture change and training needed to turn Wandsworth around', he said, adding: 'In the interim we are deploying more staff, including prison officers, to the prison and will set out further action shortly.'

The jail was described as 'unsafe and inhumane' in another recent report, which said Wandsworth's failings reflected the wider prison system.

The report also found most prisoners were sharing cells designed for one person - and said inexperienced and worn-out staff could not accurately account for all inmates during the day.

The inspector also noted how some men had had no access to a shower for five days while self-harm cases were also rising.

The chief inspector of prisons has issued six urgent notifications about prisons in England and Wales since November 2022.

It comes just three months after police downed a drone caught smuggling drugs into the south London prison before the stash was picked up by a fox.

The police were enforcing the no-fly zones that have been legally introduced around all prisons by the Ministry of Justice since the end of January.

Previously, officers could act only where there was evidence of contraband being smuggled.

Drone operators who break the rules will be fined up to 2,500 while those smuggling illicit items may face up to a decade behind bars.

Figures show that the number of drones captured or sighted within prison grounds more than doubled between 2019 and 2021.

They carry drugs such as spice, which increases the levels of violence and aggression among inmates, and mobile phones  which are then used to order more contraband.
The National Cyber Security Centre was facing questions about its own defences last night after telling visitors they could open internal doors using the passcode '1234'.

Diplomats and journalists attending a speech by Lord Cameron were left bemused after being issued with the simple password on arrival at the organisation's high-tech headquarters in central London.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) was established as part of GCHQ in 2016 to advise government, the private sector and the public on toughening defences against hacking.

As part of its remit, it issues advice to the public on devising passwords that will defeat hackers.

The National Cyber Security Centre was established as part of GCHQ in 2016 to advise government, the private sector and the public on defences against hacking (Stock photo)

British Foreign Secretary Lord David Cameron delivers a speech at the National Cyber Security Centre in London, Britain on May 9, 2024

In guidance issued earlier this year, the NCSC specifically warned against using codes that contained a 'run of numbers', saying that cyberattacks often depended on hackers being able to steal or guess passwords.

'Weak passwords are vulnerable to attack,' it said. 'Research shows that weak passwords often contain names, places or a run of numbers. The more complex a password is, the more secure it becomes.'

The agency's website also contains a list of 100,000 common passwords that should be avoided and which should be 'changed immediately' if they are still in use. Number 15 on the list is 1234.

The NCSC declined to comment on the matter yesterday. But a Whitehall source insisted that the agency had 'robust and in-depth security measures in place at its headquarters'.

The source suggested that the simple passcode issued to visitors would only allow them to access non-sensitive areas, such as toilets.

Another insider said: 'It's the code they give to visiting journalists as it's all most of them can remember. It won't let you roam the building.'
The High Court has ruled against a bisexual Iranian man who is refusing to be deported from Australia, in a landmark judgement which could have freed almost 200 more detainees.

The seven High Court justices delivered their verdict on Friday and dismissed the legal bid by the man, known as ASF17.

The man identifies as bisexual and refuses to return to Iran because he fears he will face the death penalty. Iran has a longstanding policy of not accepting involuntary returnees.

But the court found in a unanimous verdict that detention is lawful in scenarios where deportation is only hindered by a detainee who refuses to cooperate.

The judgement said the government would have been successful in deporting ASF17 'were the detainee to decide to cooperate in the undertaking of administrative processes necessary to facilitate their removal'.

The ruling is a major win for the government but pressure is now mounting for Labor to drop controversial 'Trump-style' immigration legislation.

The government had attempted to push far-reaching new migration laws though Parliament in March, but was blocked in the Senate by the Coalition, Greens and crossbenchers.

Under the proposed legislation, tourists from nations which do not accept forcibly returned citizens could be banned from travelling to Australia.

The Greens called a snap press conference on Friday morning to call on the government to drop this bill, noting it is 'even more unjustified' given the High Court result.

Human rights lawyers have described it as 'the pure definition of discrimination,' and 'Trumpian', while others have questioned whether Labor would have ever supported the Coalition if roles were reversed.

The Albanese government has dodged a second round of public outcry after the seven High Court justices delivered their verdict on Friday in the case of an Iranian detainee who is refusing to assist in his deportation. Pictured: Immigration Minister Andrew Giles

ASF17 launched his legal bid to be freed 'barely a week after' the controversial NZYQ decision, which saw 152 detainees - including murderers and rapists - released into the community.

The High Court ruled in November that it was unconstitutional to keep people locked up if there was no reasonable assumption that they could ever return home.

ASF17 told the High Court of 'being caught by his wife in bed with a man in Iran and of his wife having reported the incident to police who had attempted to arrest him'.

But Friday's judgement found ASF17 had not expressed his fears about being harmed in Iran due to his sexual orientation to immigration officials during his 2015 application to stay in the country.

The judgement also questioned his account of his bisexuality while still in Iran.

'The primary judge accepted that ASF17's present sexual orientation is bisexual and found that he has had recent sexual encounters with men while in immigration detention,' the judgement read.

'However, the primary judge did not accept the truthfulness of the account given by ASF17 of having been caught by his wife in bed with a man in Iran, did not accept that ASF17 was telling the truth about why he did not want to return to Iran.

'The primary judge found that ASF17 did not have a genuine subjective fear of harm in Iran and that the reason ASF17 was refusing to undertake voluntary actions to assist in his return to Iran was that he wanted to remain in Australia.'

Immigration Minister Andrew Giles celebrated the government win on Friday morning.

He said: 'The Government fought strongly to defend our position in the High Court in the matter of ASF17 v Commonwealth of Australia.

'We welcome todays unanimous decision of the Court, which has found that individuals who are not cooperating with their own removal are able to remain in immigration detention until they are removed from Australia.

'Community safety continues to be our highest priority and we will continue to take all necessary steps to keep Australians as safe as possible.'

Tourists from at least five countries could be banned from travelling to Australia if Labor's tough proposed migration laws pass Parliament. The legislation was created ahead of the potential release of 170 more detainees

It comes on the back of the controversial NZYQ decision from November, which saw 154 detainees - including murderers and rapists - released into the community.

As of February 2024, the AFP had received at least 27 reports of crimes committed by some of those released detainees.

In late April, 73-year-old Ninette Simons was beaten until she was unconscious at Girrawheen in Perth's north. Released detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan was charged over the incident.

Jamshidi Doukoshkan and two other attackers allegedly beat 73-year-old Ninette Simons (above) unconscious at Girrawheen in Perth's north on April 16

Who is ASF17?

ASF17 has been fighting deportation efforts since late 2018 after he arrived by boat in 2013. He has been in immigration detention since 2014.

ASF17's lawyers had argued the government detained him in a 'punitive' manner and that the onus was on the Commonwealth to 'show a real prospect of removal from Australia becoming practicable in the reasonably foreseeable future'.

His counsel Lisa De Ferrari SC, told the High Court her client had repeatedly asked federal officials to try to find another country to take him in.

She cited testimony from ASF17 where he said: 'Even take me back to where you picked me up in the high seas,' and: 'Even take me to Gaza  I'd have a better chance there of not being killed [than if I was sent to Iran.]'

But the High Court instead accepted the Commonwealth argument that is a moot point because Iran is the only possible country he can be deported to.

Government lawyers argued his ongoing detention is a legally allowable consequence of his refusal to cooperate with efforts to send him back to Iran.

Iran also has a policy of refusing to accept people who are forcibly returned.

The government's lawyers argued this matter is entirely separate from the NZYQ matter, in which detainees had no possible way of returning to their home country.

In this case - and for the 170 detainees in a similar position - the only barrier to their deportation is their own unwillingness to assist, they said.

Recently released immigration detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan (above), who is accused of bashing an elderly woman in her own home, has been in and out of court this year

Immigration detention laws cause headache for government

As part of the government's efforts to stop detainees being released, they proposed introducing a jail sentence of up to five years for failed asylum seekers who refuse to cooperate with their deportation.

There was also a clause which would allow the government to ban any and all visitors from designated countries which do not facilitate unwilling deportations.

That could result in citizens of Iran, Iraq, Zimbabwe, Russia and South Sudan being banned from travelling to Australia altogether, even for a holiday - although some exceptions would apply.

But the Coalition teamed up with the Greens to block Labor's bill from passing the Senate swiftly.

Instead, it was referred to a formal Senate inquiry, which delivered its findings on Tuesday.

While the committee recommended the bill pass the Senate, the Coalition have made several amendments in order to shield from 'potential unintended consequences'.

It comes on the back of the controversial NZYQ decision from November, which saw 154 detainees released into the community

These amendments include a requirement that the minister inform parliament if they are going to exercise the power to issue a removal pathway direction to a person.

The Greens want the bill rejected in full, arguing it is 'divisive and cruel'.

The proposal caused a diplomatic headache for the government.

Poll Do you support Labor's proposed 'Trump-style' travel ban? YES NO IT'S DESPERATION Do you support Labor's proposed 'Trump-style' travel ban? YES 2712 votes

NO 526 votes

IT'S DESPERATION 624 votes Now share your opinion





A spokesperson for the Russian Embassy in Canberra told Daily Mail Australia the inclusion of Russia in this proposed legislation 'is quite far-fetched'.

'We are struggling to remember a single occasion where the Australian Government expressed concerns about the removal of a Russian national not having a valid reason to remain or asked us for cooperation with such removal,' the spokesperson fumed.

The Russian embassy was not approached or briefed by the Australian government about the legislation or its potential effects, the spokesman added.

When contacted by Daily Mail Australia, the Iraqi embassy in Canberra appeared caught off-guard, asking for information about the proposal.

Embattled Immigration Minister Andrew Giles said of the proposal: 'What we're doing with this piece of legislation, this important piece of legislation, is to fill a very significant loophole.

'[It is] a loophole that a small cohort of people who have no basis upon which to remain in Australia who are refusing to co-operate with efforts to effect their removal.

'Importantly... these people are not refugees.'
Journalists document Pro-Palestinian groups as they gather on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin for a 'May Day' protest, Sunday, May 5. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

As Texas Department of Public Safety troopers dressed in riot gear fired pepper spray and flash-bang grenades into a crowd of young protesters on the University of Texas at Austin campus Monday, April 29, student journalists stepped up to document the chaos. They stayed on the scene to capture every detail as law enforcement roughly dragged dozens of protesters into custody.

Some of those student journalists came away with pepper spray in their eyes, scraped knees and temporary hearing damage from the grenades. But their work had just begun. They had photos and videos to edit, stories to write and social media posts to create. They also had finals to study for, projects to complete and essays to write. Its the end of the spring semester, so seniors have been planning graduations while also worrying about the job market.

Im a journalism professor at UT. We are lucky to have arguably the strongest college newspaper in the nation in The Daily Texan, which has consistently produced excellent journalism for more than 100 years. Walter Cronkite, Bill Moyers and even Lady Bird Johnson worked at The Texan, and countless other top journalists have started successful careers there. Since the Vietnam War protests, few student journalists have had to face the stress of the current staff.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Part of what makes The Texan great is its independence from the university. The students are free to hold the powerful to account and tell their stories without pressure from the school. Beyond staffers from The Texan, student journalists from Texas Student TV and several students interning at local news outlets also covered the protests.

Throughout history, student journalists have often been at odds with the official university stance. Some in the administration undoubtedly see student journalists as ankle biters and thorns. We see them as driven students who are doing their best to learn the craft in a maelstrom while also confronting all the pressures that young adults face, from learning to be independent to passing an astronomy exam. Right now, we also see them as brave storytellers who are working hard to make sense of a complex situation.

Multiple pro-Palestine groups demanded that UT-Austin pull its investment from companies the group believes are complaisant in deaths of Palestinians in Gaza and called for an end to the Israel-Hamas war. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

They are covering their own community of students and other young people who are risking their safety and academic careers for causes they believe in. The state troopers have not been differentiating between student journalists and protesters.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The student journalists independence from the university also means they are independent from the faculty of the School of Journalism and Media. But that doesnt mean they are alone. We stand with our students who are taking risks and putting themselves in danger.

Professional journalists at times will stand back from protests to observe safely from afar. Our students have been getting up close to the state troopers who pressed into the crowd while riding crowd-control trained horses and motorcycles. They have been pushed to the ground. Their immediate instinct was to snap photos of other students who had also been pushed down, to document the truth of what was happening.

The students have been pushing back on incorrect narratives, correcting misinformation and providing a clear view of whats taking place on the campus as the university responds to the protests.

Their photographs have been featured in The Guardian and their work highlighted by Teen Vogue as an outlet to follow. Individual student journalists have been asked to be interviewed by NPR, the New York Times and other national and statewide news outlets while they also wonder how theyre going to finish their English literature essay.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A woman wraps herself in a Palestine flag at a UT-Austin protest on May 5. Jason Fochtman/Staff photographer

From their first days in our journalism courses, students learn how to practice journalism ethically. We teach them to write clear sentences, seek the truth in reporting, capture compelling visuals and much more.

Just this semester, we added a course on dealing with mental health when working as a journalist. The old ways of just pushing your feelings away often meant many abandoned the field. The situations journalists cover can be traumatic, and the national and state political landscape and the problems with the news medias revenue model add to the stress.

Many of these students decided to major in journalism despite their own families urging them not to. They have told us that they often dont feel support from their own circles for following their passions. We support them, and we admire them.

They are teaching all of us.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that President Joe Biden is making a mistake delaying a shipment of bombs to his country to help fight their war against Hamas.

The president, last week, delayed the delivery of 3,500 bombs to the U.S.'s Middle East ally. It was the first time he used his executive power to influence Israel's approach to its war.

Speaking to Dr. Phil on his primetime talk show Thursday, Netanyahu is clearly not happy with the president's actions.

'I've known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more. We often had our agreements, but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now,' Netanyahu said.

Biden on Wednesday said U.S. bombs have been used to kill civilians in Rafah and that he would pause more arms shipments to Israel if Netanyahu launches a full-scale invasion.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that President Joe Biden is making a mistake delaying a shipment of bombs to his country to help fight their war against Hamas

The president, last week, delayed the delivery of 3,500 bombs to the U.S.'s Middle East ally. It was the first time he used his executive power to influence Israel's approach to its war

However, Netanyahu remains committed to doing what he believes is best to win this war and issued a chilling warning.

'We will do what we have to do to protect our country, and that means to protect our future. And that means we will defeat Hamas, including in Rafah. We have no other choice,' he added.

Netanyahu also clarified that the bombs Biden would be sending were precision and therefor would not affect large population centers.

Despite the pause, Biden reiterated his support for Israel in his interview with Erin Burnett.

'We're going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks like the one came out at least recently. But it's just wrong. We're not gonna - we're not gonna supply the weapons and artillery shells used,' he said.

He noted Israel has not launched a full-scale invasion yet - just crossed the border - but express frustration the invasion has cut off a crucial supply line via Egypt to bring in much-humanitarian aid to the Palestinian refugees in Gaza.

They haven't gotten in the population centers - what they did is right on the border and it's causing problems with - right now - in terms of Egypt, which I've worked very hard make sure we have a relationship and help but I've made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet  theyre not going to get our support if, in fact, they go into these population centers,' he said.

Asked if Netanyahu has crossed the red line yet, Biden said: Not yet but weve held up the weapons. Weve helped up one shipment. It was an old shipment. We held that up.

He also shared the advice he gave Netanyahu when he visited the prime minister in the days after the October 7th attack by Hamas.

Netanyahu remains committed to doing what he believes is best to win this war

President Biden said the U.S. would not supply the bombs to help Israel invade Rafah

'Immediately after that happened I said to Bibi don't make the same mistake we made in America - we want to get Bin Laden and will help you get similar. But we went into Afghanistan which made sense to go get Bin Laden but it made no sense to try and unify Afghanistan,' he said.'

'I will help you focus on getting the bad guys but we've got to think through what is happening after Gaza. After this is over.'

Israel has downplayed the administration's decision to withhold the 1,800 2,000-pound and 1,700 500-pound bombs.

The administration also is reviewing whether to hold back future transfers, including guidance kits that convert so-called dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions, according to reports.

Many Democrats have urged the president to limit arms shipments to Israel out of concern they will be used against innocent civilians.

Israel heavily relies on the U.S. to stock its military. Many of the drones used last month to ward off Iranian missiles were American-made and U.S. forces helped counter the bombing.

Biden's decision comes as he has struggled to balance his support for Israel after the October 7th attack by Hamas with his efforts to protect the civilian population of Palestine.

About a million refugees have crowded into Rafah. Biden on Monday warned Netanyahu against a full-scale assault of Rafah.

Many Democrats have urged the president to limit arms shipments to Israel out of concern they will be used against innocent civilians

Israel heavily relies on the U.S. to stock its military. Many of the drones used last month to ward off Iranian missiles were American-made and U.S. forces helped counter the bombing

But, on Monday, Israel's military warned about 110,000 civilians to leave Rafah, and hours later its tanks moved in. It was not a full-scale invasion but some worry that one is imminent.

Israel has threatened a major assault on area to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there.

Biden and Netanyahu's relationship has gotten more tense as the prime minister has repeatedly defied U.S. demands on major issues.

The move on Biden's part to pause bombs has drawn bipartisan criticism.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, is a top surrogate for Biden on the global stage. His public break from Biden's policy is nearly unprecedented.

Coons recounted a call last night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Senate floor on Thursday.

'You don't just have right to defend the Israeli people against Hamas, you have the obligation,' Coons said he told Netanyahu. 'You have go after them. You have to finish the job. You have to go into Rafah.'

Speaker Mike Johnson called the move a 'betrayal' after he agreed to risk his job and put a $95 billion foreign aid package on the House floor that included $26 billion for Israel.

That package passed only after six months of delay as both sides of the aisle could not come together on Ukraine aid or border security provisions.

Sen. Tom Cotton demanded the House impeach President Joe Biden.

'Some people say Joe Biden is doing this for his reelection, which would be bad enough,' the Arkansas Republican said. 'It would also, I have to add, be grounds for impeachment.
Starting July 1, California restaurants will not be allowed to add a surcharge to their menu items or services, which experts say will lead to soaring menu prices in San Francisco.

The ban, confirmed by the California Office of the Attorney General on Wednesday, has sent shockwaves through the already suffering restaurant industry.

'Ending the ability for restaurants to use service charges (even if clearly and legibly listed on their menu) will have a very negative impact on the survival of this still struggling industry,' the Golden Gate Restaurant Association told the San Francisco Chronicle.

'Diners will not pay less, instead they will see significant menu price increases, which we believe will further cause them to pull back on dining out.  Not only will restaurants struggle, but workers will lose hours and jobs.'

While consumers expressed their approval of the state's decision to ban hidden fees and encourage price transparency, restaurant owners in the Bay are worried the price increase will annoy customers who are already cutting back on dining out due to rising costs.

Zuni Cafe diners (pictured), most known for their chicken for two dinner special, stirred up controversy in 2021 when they stopped tips and instead charged a 20% 'fair wage' fee that is split between all the employees.

If Zuni Cafe folds their 5% health mandate charge and 20% fair wage charge in the cost of the chicken for two (pictured) , which is currently priced at $75, the price would rise to $94.50

The San Francisco Chronicle looked at three of the city's most popular dishes and how the restaurants will adjust their prices in accordance to the ban.

Zuni Cafe diners, most known for their chicken for two dinner special, stirred up controversy in 2021 when they stopped tips and instead charged a 20% 'fair wage' fee that is split between all the employees.

On top of that, Zuni Cafe charges a 5% fee for the city's health care mandate, which requires employees to set aside money for worker health benefits.

If both charges become included in the cost of the chicken, which is currently priced at $75, the price would rise to $94.50.

Z&Y Restaurant, located in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, is best known for their fish filet with flaming chili oil.

The restaurant charges a 4% health mandate and an 18% service fee. Folding both charges into the price of the fish filet, which was originally $38.95, would skyrocket the price to $47.79.

Koi Palace, a dim sum restaurant with three different locations throughout the city, is known for their rainbow sampler of Shanghai six dumplings. They charge an 18% service fee and, if included in the total price, will increase the price of dumplings from $12.80 to $15.10.

California Senate Bill 478 cracks down on hidden fees in various industries, including restaurants.

Z&Y Restaurant (pictured), located in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, is best known for their fish filet with flaming chili oil

Folding both the 4% health mandate charge and 18% service fee into the price of the fish filet, which was originally $38.95, would skyrocket the price to $47.79.

Koi Palace (pictured), a dim sum restaurant with three different locations throughout the city, is known for their rainbow sampler of Shanghai six dumplings

If Koi Palace folds an 18% service fee in the total price, it will increase the price of dumplings from $12.80 to $15.10

Under this new law, restaurants must include all mandatory surcharges, like service fees or fees tied to local government mandates, directly in their advertised prices.

Disclosing these fees beforehand or after a customer pays, as commonly seen on menus, booking platforms, or receipts, will not suffice.

The law does not apply to taxes or affect tipping practices.
Four teenage girls and a 16-year-old boy have been charged after a stolen Porsche crashed into a concrete wall during a police chase in one of Australia's wealthiest suburbs.

The girls, aged 12, 14 and 16, were charged with be carried in conveyance without consent of owner.

The boy, who was behind the wheel, has been charged with police pursuit, drive conveyance without consent of owner, drive never licensed, not stop at red light/stop sign, larceny, and breach of bail.

The boy was driving with six teenage girls in the car.

The girls charged were granted conditional bail and are due to face court on June 5.

The boy was refused bail and will appear in the children's court on Saturday.

Two other girls aged 13 and 14 were released without charge but will be dealt with under the Young Offenders Act.

Police had been called to a home in Lalchere St, Curl Curl on Sydney's northern beaches following at 4.40am on Friday following reports of a break-in.

Six girls aged from 12 to 16 and a 16-year-old boy have been arrested after a stolen Porsche crashed in one of Australia's wealthiest suburbs

On arrival they were told that a Porsche Cayenne SUV had been stolen.

'A short time later, officers patrolling at Balgowlah located and attempted to stop the vehicle (but) it failed to stop and a pursuit was initiated,' a police spokesperson said.

The SUV then crashed into a concrete barrier on Spit Road in Mosman, which is home to some of Australia's wealthiest people.

A witness told 2GB's Ben Fordham that when he drove past shortly after the crash, 'it looked like they were all girls sitting in the gutter, handcuffed... young girls'.

A map is pictured showing the area of Sydney's north shore where the crash happened

Nobody was injured in the crash.

One witness, Adam, said 'The Porsche was sort of turned on the middle lane and it looked like it was sort of stationary there.

'It looked like it has spun around, like they'd lost control or something. There were four police cars there, blocking both lanes.'

He added that it was 'a bit strange, just driving past and seeing a bunch of girls in the gutter.'

Two out of three southbound lanes on Spit Road, which links Sydney's north shore to the northern beaches, were closed after the crash.

The car has since been removed and the road fully reopened.

Photos from the scene show the Porsche's airbags were triggered, and the front right wheel arch and bumper were damaged.

Locals in Balgowlah reported being woken up by the sound of police sirens at around 4.50am.
Five babies have died of whooping cough amid fears of the worst outbreak in 40 years.

Almost 3,000 cases have been reported so far this year, three times the total for the whole of 2023.

The babies, who were all under three months, died from January to March.

Experts blame the surge in infections on a fall in vaccination uptake, a less effective jab and reduced community immunity caused by lockdowns. It is believed that three of the five grieving mothers had jabs during pregnancy to protect their children.

Doctors said last night that vaccination remained the best defence and urged parents to check their children's jabs were up to date. Data shows the number of deaths so far this year is the highest since 2014.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan warned that the overall number of whooping cough deaths 'may well rise', with reported figures expected to increase by mid-May.

Dr Saleyha Ahsan (pictured) warned that the overall number of whooping cough deaths 'may well rise'

As contagious as measles, whooping cough can be severe in babies under six months and lead to long-term complications (stock photo)

The first signs of the illness, which is also known as pertussis or the '100-day cough', are similar to a cold

She wrote in an article for the Daily Mail: 'There is, inevitably, a lag between deaths and official reported figures, so already, by mid-May, the number of deaths is thought to be higher.

'And with paediatric intensive care units now on 'surge capacity' because of both pertussis, and measles  which means in essence there are many cases  that number may well, tragically, rise.'

The first signs of the illness, which is also known as pertussis or the '100-day cough', are similar to a cold. But after about a week it can develop into long coughing bouts that are typically worse at night.

As contagious as measles, whooping cough can be severe in babies under six months and lead to long-term complications.

It is the latest disease associated with the Victorian era to make a comeback, with similar outbreaks of measles and scarlet fever.

Prior to routine vaccination being introduced in 1957, outbreaks in the UK could affect up to 150,000 people and kill 300 in a single year.

Gayatri Amirthalingam, consultant epidemiologist at the UK Health Security Agency, yesterday sent her condolences to 'those families who have so tragically lost their baby'.

She added: 'Vaccination remains the best defence against whooping cough and it is vital that pregnant women and young infants receive their vaccines at the right time.

'Whooping cough can affect people of all ages but for very young babies it can be extremely serious.' Paul Hunter, professor in medicine at the University of East Anglia, said the latest rise in cases was fuelled by factors including falling vaccination uptake and reduced community transmission during lockdowns.

A newer vaccine introduced in the 1990s because it is safer with fewer side effects may also be slightly less effective, he suggested. 'If it is true that three of these women were vaccinated, it is quite worrying,' he said.

'It used to be much more common in the last century up until the vaccine was introduced. However, this current year looks like we may see more cases than we have seen in any of the last 40 years.'

Just one baby died last year from whooping cough, the first fatality since 2019. But officials are concerned that just a quarter of expectant mothers have had the pertussis jab  offered between 16 and 32 weeks  in parts of London. Rates are below half in other parts of the capital and in Birmingham. Uptake of the six-in-one jab  offered to babies in the first four months of life  are also at an all-time low. Just 91.8 per cent were fully vaccinated by their first birthday in 2022/23, according to NHS figures, below the 95 per cent target.

GPs and the wider NHS have been alerted and are being encouraged to test anyone with symptoms to allow close monitoring of numbers (stock photo)

A newer vaccine introduced in the 1990s because it is safer with fewer side effects may also be slightly less effective (stock photo)

Of the 21 deaths from whooping cough between 2012 and 2023, 19 involved babies or mothers who were unvaccinated.

Yet of the recent fatalities, just two are not thought to have had the jab which was introduced in 2012 to protect newborns too young to be vaccinated themselves. Officials are now keen to ramp up vaccination rates to stifle the spread, which has been seen across all regions. Professor Sir Stephen Powis, medical director of the NHS, said: 'With cases of whooping cough continuing to rise sharply across the country, and these figures sadly showing five infant deaths, it is vital that families come forward to get the protection they need.

'If you are pregnant and have not been vaccinated yet, or your child is not up to date with whooping cough or other routine vaccinations, please contact your GP as soon as possible; and if you or your child show symptoms, ask for an urgent GP appointment or get help from NHS 111.'

GPs and the wider NHS have been alerted and are being encouraged to test anyone with symptoms to allow close monitoring of numbers.

Steve Brine, chairman of the Commons health committee, called for 'rapid action to prevent a further fall in the uptake of vaccinations across the country'.

Accusing ministers of failing to heed the lessons of Covid-19, he repeated calls to give medical and nursing students and recently retired staff a greater role in boosting declining rates.

He said: 'In the light of today's sad news, I urge the Government to rethink its approach and follow steps we have outlined to boost vaccination uptake across the country.'

A Department of Health spokesman said: 'We are committed to improving vaccination uptake rates to fully protect the public from preventable diseases and are urging people to make sure they and their children have received all appropriate jabs. The vaccine is proven to be safe and effective.'
SSTA to call for staff to refuse to work beyond their contracted 35-hour week

Teachers are being 'emotionally blackmailed' into taking on excessive workloads, a union boss will claim today.

Stuart Hunter, president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association (SSTA), is to call for staff to refuse to work beyond their contracted 35-hour week.

He will also compare the treatment teachers receive to the experience of domestic abuse victims, claiming they have been 'very subtly controlled and coerced' into taking on extra tasks for which they had not been trained.

Mr Hunter will suggest the 'most effective way... of ending controlling and coercive behaviour is to first acknowledge that it is happening' but that the next step is to 'unite and with one voice clearly state that magic word: No'.

Stuart Hunter (pictured) is the president of the Scottish Secondary Teachers' Association

Scottish Tory education spokesman Liam Kerr said: 'Teacher shortages lie at the root of this requirement to work additional hours, and the blame for that lies squarely with the SNP government, which has underfunded councils and presided over a fall in numbers, rather than delivering the 3,500 extra teachers they promised.'

At the SSTA conference in Glasgow, Mr Hunter will say a culture has been created 'whereby teachers cannot say 'no' because it will not look good for them  after all, 'It's for the sake of the kids'.

'This is the conundrum  how do we reduce our workload back to our contractually agreed 35-hour working week without having a detrimental impact on our students?

'Why do we allow ourselves to be emotionally blackmailed to the point we damage our own mental health to do the job we love? Institutional controlling or coercive behaviour is similar in many ways to the more commonly known domestic form of abuse.'

Mr Hunter will say that a culture has been created where teachers can't refuse over fears that it won't look good for them (file photo)

Meanwhile, the NASUWT, whose conference is being held virtually today, said the SNP government is 'failing to act with the urgency required to get a grip of the escalating crisis in violence and abuse from pupils'.

Last night a spokesman for the Scottish Government said: 'The NASUWT is part of the national group tasked with producing a behaviour action plan  which shows clear partnership working between Scottish Government and the teaching professional associations.'

He added: 'Scotland has the lowest pupil-teacher ratio of any UK nation.'
Several refugees who attempted to set up new tent encampments in areas of Dublin yesterday were run out by locals, it emerged last night.

It followed a directed multi-agency clearout of the latest 'tent city' on the Grand Canal earlier in the morning by the Irish government.

Over 160 rough-sleeping refugees were moved to alternative accommodation and their tents  provided by the government  were destroyed.

Irish prime minister Simon Harris said the encampment at the Grand Canal, which popped up weeks after another had to be removed from outside the International Protection Office (IPO) on Mount St just 400 metres away, 'became very close' to a 'real public health emergency'.

But just hours after the early morning operation, the Irish parliament heard many refugees headed for both the East Wall and Ringsend areas of Dublin.

Tents being removed from the Grand Canal, Dublin - migrants and asylum seekers had been staying inside them

Several refugees who attempted to set up new tent encampments in areas of Dublin yesterday were run out by locals, it emerged last night

Tents pitched under the Mac Mahon Bridge over the Grand Canal in Dublin

Over 160 rough-sleeping refugees were moved to alternative accommodation and their tents  provided by the government  were destroyed

Several tents were seen pitched near the East Link toll bridge following the canal operation but the men were quickly told to move on by locals, the Irish Daily Mail has learned.

After that, over half a dozen were seen pitched up in Ringsend Park. However, at around 9.30am, the refugees who tried to tent up there were told by a group of men to leave or the matter would escalate, both locals and security sources told the Mail.

The refugees then left.

Later, at the entrance to Ringsend Park, a slashed red Trespass tent was impaled through on the gates at the entrance to the park.

These are the same type of tents which are being handed out to refugees by both homeless organisations as well as state bodies.

Commenting on the image, Social Democrats politician Jennifer Whitmore said: 'Government failure to deal with this issue is not only causing huge difficulties for asylum seekers and communities, but there are clearly also safety risks for them.

'It is unacceptable that Government continues to place asylum seekers in a very vulnerable position by refusing to provide them with the necessary supports and accommodation.'

A bus carrying refugees leaves the Grand Canal area of Dublin

Migrants and Asylum seekers pitch tents in the centre of Dublin

Dozens of migrants are fleeing across the Irish Sea every day and setting up camp in the Irish capital amid an ongoing row with the British government over immigration

While no criminal incident was reported to gardai, security sources have said that officers were made aware of a potential altercation between the men and the refugees.

'The guards were informed that there were men trying to set up tents in the area but there's not a lot they can do in this situation.

'They were keeping an eye on the situation to see if anything developed but thankfully nothing did and no crime was reported in the end,' our source said.

A local woman who was in the park told the Mail that she had heard about the incident but that there was so sign of any refugees in the park by 3.30pm.

She said: 'I have been down here with my children since around midday. There was not a sign of them anywhere.

'Usually I'd let the kids go down on their own so long as they stay together but I had heard that there was a bit of trouble earlier on so that's why I came down to keep an eye on them.'

Both the East Wall and Ringsend areas of the city have been flashpoints for anti-immigrant rhetoric.

Various protests have taken place in both areas. Ringsend was also the scene of an arson attack on an old pub in December. The premises was rumoured to have been earmarked by the Department of Integration as a location for refugees to be housed.

People stand by rows of tents, near the International Protection Office (IPO) in Dublin on April 30, 2024

Refugees and asylum seekers being moved to International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS)-designated accommodation on May 1

People seeking international protection were moved from outside the International Protection Office on Mount Street on May 1

Mr Harris said yesterday that neither he, nor the Government, would accept tented encampments in the city.

However, with close to 100 asylum seekers arriving each day, and an ongoing shortage of accommodation, similar scenes are likely to be repeated.

He said he had 'no doubt' other issues would arise in future but added that the multi-agency response would continue.

'The days of people saying, 'that's not my issue, that's for that department, that's for that agency'... I don't want to hear it. This is Ireland. This is Team Ireland,' he said.

The Prime Minister said there would not be a situation where another camp would be allowed to stay for weeks or months, adding: 'Those days are gone. Those days are over. That's not going to happen.'

But the Government has faced criticism for erecting an array of fences at the Grand Canal and Mount Street to prevent the encampments from returning.

Asked if public spaces would continue to be blocked off with fences, Mr Harris said: 'The multi-agency response involves a number of different actions happening. It doesn't involve the long-term erection of barriering off parts of our city, but in the short term that can be a requirement.'

Speaking earlier in the Irish parliament, Ms Whitmore told the deputy prime minister: 'I hope you have a large supply of fences' if the Government's only plan was to fence off large sections of the city centre.

'Fencing every street in the city isn't going to work' she said.

The Department of Integration has confirmed that the tents are provided to refugees who do not have offers of accommodation through a number of charities.

It said it is funding agencies including Mendicity, the Capuchin Day Centre, Tiglin and Crosscare 'for the provision of necessary basics which may include tents'.

Ms Whitmore told the Irish Daily Mail it was 'crazy' that the state was funding tents that are being 'given out and then a day or two later they are destroyed'.

Ms Whitmore said that asylum seekers without accommodation are simply being 'given a tent' and 'dispersed', left not knowing where to go. She also criticised the Government for simply moving asylum seekers to different parts of the city.

'All this is going to do is push people from one street to another. Ultimately they need accommodation and if it's not there and we have more and more and nowhere else to go then we are going to have more people sleeping on the streets because the IPO is in the city centre.'

In the parliament, Sinn Fein deputy leader Pearse Doherty said that the Government was limping from crisis to crisis.

Workers hose down the street where migrants were camping in Dublin

Tents cluster near Dublin's Office of International Protection, serving as temporary homes for asylum seekers

'It's clear that you have no coherent strategy. Last week the Prime Minister said he would not allow makeshift shanty towns to develop in Dublin or any other cities or towns.

'So can you assure the Dail [Irish parliament] we will not be back here next week facing a similar situation with another 100 tents erected down by the canal or indeed anywhere else across the city?' he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Micheal Martin replied that it was 'not sustainable' to have a tented encampment on the canal or in any public setting.

'It's not good for migrants, not good for asylum-seekers, nor for residents, or the general area. I think it's just simply not acceptable,' Mr Martin said. 'There is a plan resolutely to deal with tents wherever they arise.'

A total of 168 people were moved to state-provided accommodation following the dismantling of the makeshift camp on the canal.

A total of 15 international-protection applicants were moved to the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, while 153 were accommodated at the Crooksling site.

However, as seen in the previous operations to move migrants to new housing setups, many decide to return to the city to be closer to people they know or to be closer to the city centre itself.

The multi-agency operation to clear the tents began at approximately 6.30am yesterday.

By approximately 8am, all the tents had been removed.

The asylum seekers who had been living in the makeshift encampment were told it was an offence to stay on the canal and that they would be taken by bus to official accommodation.

Volunteers and a Safetynet mobile health unit also assisted the operation.

The encampment on the waterway emerged shortly after more than 200 asylum seekers were cleared from a similar makeshift camp at the nearby IPO in Mount Street last week.
A heavily pregnant woman is one of the many Australians stranded in Vanuatu as the Pacific island country's national airline went into voluntary liquidation on Friday.

On Thursday it emerged that all international flights scheduled on Air Vanuatu until Sunday had been cancelled, as the government 'reviewed' the airline's future.

But just hours later, the airline entered voluntary liquidation, stranding hundreds of passengers, including Melbourne woman Adara Brooks, who is 31 weeks pregnant.

Ms Brooks said she and her husband Tyler were about to leave for the airport when they heard their flight had been cancelled, and the next flight out could now be weeks away.

'We are definitely pretty keen to get home,' she told the Today show. 'We have two little toddlers at home as well. We are keen to get home as soon as we can.'

Melbourne woman Adara Brooks, who is 31 weeks pregnant, is stuck on the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu after its national airline collapsed. She is pictured with her husband Tyler

On Thursday it emerged that all international flights scheduled on Air Vanuatu (plane pictured) until Sunday had been cancelled, as the government 'reviewed' the airline's future.

The couple will also have to pay a lot of money to get home to Australia as Mr Brooks said their insurance won't cover their flights home.

'We've got travel insurance, but it's not covered, so we'll be out of pocket probably thousands and thousands of dollars,' he said.

'There's fine print on most travel insurances that don't cover administration or liquidation, unfortunately.'

The couple said they may be able to get a flight to Fiji or New Caledonia and then fly from there to Australia, but for the moment they are stuck in Vanuata and just weeks away from their third baby being born.

Ernst and Young (EY) Australia's Morgan Kelly, Justin Walsh and Andrew Hanson were appointed as liquidators on Friday.

This was attributed to the result of 'extended maintenance requirements' on Air Vanuatu's aircraft.

EY said it would conduct safety and maintenance checks before the resumption of normal operations.

Mr Kelly, partner in strategy and transactions, said the airline's existing management team would remain in place throughout the process.

'Air Vanuatu is critical to the people of the Republic of Vanuatu and a strategically important business to the nation,' he said.

'Our team is working closely with management to ensure continuity of service to customers and to ensure services continue as seamlessly as possible.

'The outlook for the airline is positive, despite pressures on the broader industry, and we will be focused on securing the future of this strategically vital national carrier.'

Affected travellers would be informed of this disruption and rebooked on flights as soon as operations resumed.

Air Vanuatu has been teetering on the edge of financial ruin after reports the Vanuatu government appointed EY to advise the government.

'The Vanuatu government is now considering placing Air Vanuatu ... into voluntary administration,' the airline said on Thursday.

It operates four planes, including one Boeing 737 and three turboprop planes.

The Vanuatu Tourism Office said it was aware of reports Air Vanuatu had entered voluntary administration.

'We are conscious of the impact this situation has on travellers, ticket holders and the industry and on behalf of the Vanuatu tourism industry extend our apologies to anyone affected,' it said in a statement.

'This is an evolving situation and we will continue to post updates.'

Australia's national carrier Qantas does not operate flights into Vanuatu but has a codeshare agreement with the airline to link passengers to the nation.

Qantas said it was supporting customers affected by the cancellations to find alternative flights.

Air Vanuatu (plane pictured) operates four aeroplanes, including one Boeing 737 and three turboprop planes

It also encouraged any customers with bookings on Air Vanuatu between now and the end of May to contact their flight provider for refunds.

Virgin Australia is the only other Australian airline to operate into Vanuatu with its scheduled flights continuing to go ahead.

The airline's struggles followed the collapse of Australian budget start-up Bonza, which had just started flying about a year ago.

Bonza's planes have begun to be removed from Australia before the airline's financial crisis is laid bare at a creditors' meeting.
A Brazilian diver involved in a plot to ship millions of dollars of cocaine into Australia is still missing and now believed dead two years after the fatal smuggling attempt.

NSW Police on Friday released images of two vehicles they believe could be linked to the disappearance of Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva, 32, one of two Brazilian divers involved in the May 2022 scheme.

The body of the other man, 31-year-old Bruno Borges Martins, was discovered floating in Newcastle Harbour wearing specialist diving gear, with 54kg of cocaine found nearby.

The two Brazilians were smuggled into Australia from Indonesia to retrieve cocaine from a bulk carrier docked at the Port of Newcastle.

Jhoni Fernandes Da Silva, 32, (pictured) has been missing for two years after being smuggled into Australia to retrieve cocaine from a ship docked at the Port of Newcastle

Police released images on Friday of vehicles which could be linked to Da Silva's disappearance. A white Mitsubishi Fuso truck was last spotted on the M4 motorway at Pennant Hills on May 8, 2022

A Toyota Townace van was travelling with the Fuso and police are also interested in finding it

Detectives believe Martins was working with Da Silva to recover the drugs when he died.

His older accomplice was initially thought to have escaped with millions of dollars in cocaine.

But two years after Martins' death, police now think Da Silva is unlikely to be alive.

Organised Crime Squad commander Peter Faux said investigators wanted to bring closure to Da Silva's family.

More than 50kg of cocaine was found near the body of Brazilian diver Bruno Borges Martins, 31, at the Port of Newcastle in May 2022 (pictured police investigating the cocaine bricks)

'We believe that there are people out there who have information that can provide closure for the family two years after he disappeared,' he said.

'I urge anyone who has information to speak to us so that Mr Da Silva's loved ones don't have to spend another year wondering what happened to him.'

Police are looking for information about two vehicles seen travelling together in Sydney's northwest on the night before Martins' body was found.

A white Mitsubishi Fuso truck, which detectives believe could be connected to Da Silva's disappearance, was last spotted on the M4 motorway at Pennant Hills on May 8, 2022.

It was travelling with a Toyota Townace van that police are also trying to track down.

Two Australian men have been charged over the cocaine plot and remain before the courts.

One of the duo has admitted to people smuggling, but no one has been charged with causing the death of either diver.
Homeless numbers going up in NSW

Homelessness has surged across NSW as the state's housing crisis pushes an increasing number of people onto the streets.

The annual street count, released on Friday, revealed a 25 per cent spike in the tally of people sleeping rough statewide.

Officials found 2,037 sleeping on the streets during the February headcount, up from 1,623 a year earlier.

Some of the largest increases were in coastal areas, including a near-80 per cent rise in rough-sleepers in the Coffs Harbour council region.

Byron Shire, a popular tourist region in the state's north, had the most people sleeping rough of any local government area in the state.

It and other ocean-side regions, such as Sydney's northern beaches, have become home to large camps of homeless people sleeping in tents amid a dire shortage of affordable accommodation.

Some of the largest increases in homelessness were in coastal areas, including a near-80 per cent rise in rough-sleepers in the Coffs Harbour council region (stock image)

Homelessness Minister Rose Jackson said the regional figures were unprecedented but not unexpected.

'We don't just need data to tell us this - our regional communities are feeling this every day,' she said on Friday.

'The sobering street count figures again paint a harrowing picture of homelessness and street sleeping across our state.'

Ms Jackson said the government was looking at every option to tackle the housing crisis, including through a review of short-term accommodation rules.

Tighter restrictions have already been introduced in Byron Shire, where a 60-day annual cap on non-hosted short-term rentals applies.

A short-term rental booking surcharge that could be used to fund crisis accommodation is among the measures being considered.

Of the people found in the latest street count, 64 per cent were staying in vehicles, 18 per cent were in open spaces and 10 per cent were in makeshift dwellings.

Another 241 sites were found with evidence of homelessness, such as sleeping bags and personal belongings, but with no person present.
She said her decision had nothing to do with mishandling campus anti-Semitism

Cornell University President Martha Pollack has announced her resignation after seven years following months of anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus.

She said that her decision to leave had nothing to do with the polarizing political climate on campus or claims that she inadequately handled anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus.

'I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: This decision is mine and mine alone,' she wrote in a university-wide email.

'After seven fruitful and gratifying years as Cornell's president  and after a career in research and academia spanning five decades  I'm ready for a new chapter in my life.'

Pollack, whose last day in office will be June 30, is now the fourth Ivy League president to step down in six months, joining the ranks of former Harvard President Claudine Gay and former UPenn President Liz Magill - both of whom were ousted in part for their inadequate responses to campus anti-Semitism post-October 7.

Cornell University President Martha Pollack has announced her resignation after seven years following months of anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus

Pollack said that her decision to leave had nothing to do with the polarizing political climate or claims that she inadequately handled the anti-Semitic demonstrations on campus

Major donor Jon Lindseth asked the university to reevaluate its 'misguided commitment' to DEI, arguing it has led to the 'disgrace' of the Ivy League institution

In a separate announcement, it was revealed that the board had asked the university provost, Michael I. Kotlikoff, to serve in the interim for the next two years.

This comes after one of Cornell University's major donors threatened to yank his funds in January unless Pollack quit and the institution turns its back on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

In an open letter addressed to the Board of Trustees, Jon Lindseth asked the university to reevaluate its 'misguided commitment' to DEI, arguing it has led to the 'disgrace' of the Ivy League institution in the last several years.

Lindseth and his family have long been prominent donors to the upstate New York school, but the graduate of the class of 1956 now says he is 'alarmed by the diminished quality of education offered lately by my alma mater because of its disastrous involvement with DEI policies that have infiltrated every part of the university.'

Despite backlash over his DEI commentary, Lindseth insists that he favors 'the Blacks' at Cornell.

He called her response to multiple acts of overt anti-Semitism on campus in the wake of October 7, ' shameful.'

The disgraced president has been under public fire since astonishing acts of anti-Semitism began occurring on her campus in the wake of Hamas' barbaric attack on Israel.

Lindseth said he believed the horrifying displays of anti-Semitism, which included violent threats made against the school's Jewish students and kosher dining hall, in addition to an associate professor declaring publicly his joyous support of Hamas' October 7 attacks, are a manifestation of the progressive ideology the school has adopted.

Russell Rickford, an associate professor of history, took a leave of absence from Cornell after calling Hamas' attack on Israel 'exhilarating'

Pollack told the Cornell community that she'd alerted the FBI about the threats.

'We take all threats seriously and are working closely with Cornell and our law enforcement partners at every level to determine the credibility, share information, and take appropriate investigative action,' wrote the agency in a statement.

'Nothing is more important than the safety of our communities and we will not tolerate violence motivated by hate and extremism.'
Sade Hogue cheers during a press conference calling for action to repair old private sewage lines Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at her home in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer A crew works to replace a sewage line Tuesday, April 16, 2024, in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

For thousands of low-income Houstonians, brown water gushing into their backyards and seeping up through their bathroom sinks has become an unavoidable reality.

Sade Hogue, a 37-year-old mother of two, for years struggled with sewage leaks whenever it rained. The smell was so unbearable in the summer that she stopped inviting friends and family to stay at her house in Northeast Houston, embarrassed by the poo-poo vapors that often filled her backyard, she said.

SEARCH OUR MAP: Where have sewer leaks happened in your neighborhood?

The issue lay in the deterioration of her sanitary sewer lateral  the private section of the sewer pipe that channeled wastewater from her house to the public sewer main in the street. It ended up costing around $25,000 to overhaul the system, Hogue said, an expense she was only able to manage with assistance from a Houston nonprofit.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

With the citys budget season fast approaching, advocates from local environmental nonprofits Bayou City Waterkeeper, Northeast Action Collective and West Street Recovery are urging Mayor John Whitmire to create a $20 million fund to help residents like Hogue maintain private sewer lines.

Whitmire recently said the city is "broke" and noted the need to curb new spending for the upcoming fiscal year that starts in July. But advocates said fresh investment in the sewer system is worth fighting for, given how widespread overflows are degrading water quality and affecting the health of Houstonians in vulnerable communities.

I have neighbors all the way down to the end of the street experiencing the same problems, said Hogue, who lives in Settegast, a historically Black neighborhood known for its low life expectancy. Its more than just an inconvenience. Its a lifestyle weve had to adapt to.

A group of people from the Northeast Action Collective and West Street Recovery host a press conference calling on the city to fund the repair and replacement of private sewage lines Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at the home of Sade Hogue in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

The Chronicle's analysis of data collected by the city shows that private sewer releases disproportionately affect low-income minority residents.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

From April 2021 to June 2023, the period for which data is available, the city has recorded over 4,400 private sewer leaks. Around two-thirds of these incidents occurred in census tracts  areas typically with a few thousand people  where the median household income is below Houston's median of $60,440. Eighty-six percent of the leaks happened in areas where Black and Hispanic residents together make up the majority of the population.

There have been 155 incidents in Hogues ZIP code alone, which recorded the fourth-highest number of private overflows per thousand residents out of nearly 90 ZIP codes that had at least one leak in recent years.

Erin Jones, a spokeswoman for Houstons Public Works Department, acknowledged many less-affluent communities are particularly hard-hit by sewage spills, largely due to aging infrastructure and developers not taking as much care when constructing underground wastewater lines.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

It might be unrealistic, however, to fulfill the advocates' request for a city fund to assist with private sewer line repairs, Jones said, as municipalities are generally prohibited from using taxpayer dollars for private individual benefits under Texas law.

That's going to cause a hiccup in their demand, Jones said.

Advocates calling for more investment in aging sewer lines

Houston's struggle with sewer spills  which often send waste into yards and contaminate local streams in violation of the Clean Water Act  has long attracted scrutiny from federal and state regulators.

About a decade ago, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency began negotiating a consent decree  a legally binding improvement plan  with the city. Rather than suing Houston over these chronic problems, regulators asked the city to come up with a more aggressive schedule for cleaning and repairing its lift stations, treatment plants and thousands of miles of public sewer pipes.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In 2021, a federal judge approved their agreement. The plan required Houston to spend approximately $2 billion more over the next 15 years to upgrade its clogged and overwhelmed sanitary sewer infrastructure.

The negotiated investment, however, focused solely on city property. But Ben Hirsch, an organizer with West Street Recovery, said private lines require urgent attention as well.

Half of the entire system is on the private side, Hirsch said. Because these systems are connected, having a degraded public line in your neighborhood over time also weakens the private lines.

Hirschs group typically carries out private lateral repairs for two households per year, with Hogue being one of the residents they assisted this year. However, with a full replacement costing up to tens of thousands of dollars each, he and others pointed out that these community-driven efforts, while crucial, are far from sufficient.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The stakes of failing to address the problem are high. Raw sewage, which contains disease-causing viruses and bacteria, could lead to illnesses ranging from stomach flu and upper respiratory infections to potentially life-threatening conditions like cholera and Hepatitis B, according to the EPA.

Kourtney Revels, an organizer with Bayou City Waterkeeper, has been interviewing Houstonians about their experiences with broken private sewer lines over the past few months.

An old sewage line is seen Tuesday, April 16, 2024, at the home of Sade Hogue in Houston. Jon Shapley/Staff photographer

She said low-income areas are especially vulnerable to Houston's "poo problem" due to a combination of factors, including often larger family sizes, insufficient funds for minor repairs before they escalate and compounding issues like poor drainage that further strain their community infrastructure.

Her organization threatened to sue the city over sewage spillage before state and federal regulators intervened and the subsequent consent decree.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

One of the residents Revels spoke with is Malberth Moses, 66, who has been dealing with sewage overflows at his Northeast Houston home since his family first moved in during the 1960s.

Moses, who used to do home repair work, is now retired and living on Social Security. Despite his tight budget, he said he has spent thousands over the years trying to replace the pipes himself. Today, however, he still encounters regular sewage backups in his bathroom and brown water pooling near his house after rainstorms.

It's time that communities facing sewage overflows, with related health impacts, receive justice, Revels said. We really want to see (the city) putting their money where their mouth is.

Data highlights disparity in private sewer infrastructure

Data collected by the city as part of the consent decree reveals private sewer leaks tend to be concentrated in specific clusters that stretch from Northeast to South Houston.

Jones said these areas align with the citys observations of older communities that require significant infrastructure upgrades. At the same time, she said, some residents need more information on how to do their part to prevent sewer blockages.

Public Works reports that about 70% of sewer overflows in Houston are caused by clogs from grease poured down drains, and wipes and rags flushed down toilets. The problem becomes more severe during the colder months when grease solidifies more quickly in the pipes, particularly around the holiday season, which sees an increase in use of cooking fats and oils.

To raise awareness, the department has launched the "Protect Our Pipes" program to educate the public on the proper ways to dispose of materials that can harm the sewer system.

A lot of people just don't realize that because that's how they were raised, Jones said. Thats why were trying to get the word out.

While the city is unlikely to establish a $20 million fund dedicated to private laterals, Jones encouraged residents needing private wastewater maintenance to contact the citys Housing and Community Development Department to see if they qualify for home repair grants or other funding. The housing department said its home repair program has exhausted its funding and is not accepting new applications at this time.

Meanwhile, for residents like Hogue and her neighbors, the need for help is pressing.

After Hurricane Harvey in 2017 exacerbated sewage spills and backups at her house, Hogue said she has had to maintain constant vigilance by keeping sanitizer and cleaning supplies at hand and teaching her young children how to steer clear of contaminated water.

Without intervention from West Street Recovery, Hogue said her home, which has been in her husbands family for three generations, might have been condemned.
Social media exploded after hearing the news that Barron Trump is going to officially enter politics, as he will serve as a delegate for his father at the Republican National Convention later this year.

Barron, who only turned 18 in March, was chosen as one of the state of Florida's 41 at-large delegates to the national gathering of Republicans in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in mid-July.

He will be one of the estimated 2,429 delegates who are expected to officially nominate his father as the Republican candidate for the 2024 race.

This led many on social media to both worry for and delight in the fact that they felt this meant Trump's youngest son was now 'fair game' to attack and that his mother would let her son open himself up to such criticism.

Rob Vorcek wrote: 'I very much believe this is going to end very badly. He's now fair game to the media. I'm actually surprised. I thought [Barron's mother] Melania would do everything to prevent this but if Barron, now an adult, personally made this decision to participate in his father's circus, so be it.'

Social media exploded after hearing the news that Barron Trump is going to officially enter politics, as he will serve as a delegate for his father at the Republican National Convention later this year

Many on social media delighted in the fact that they felt this meant Trump's youngest son was now 'fair game' to attack and that his mother Melania would let her son open himself up to such criticism

Others compared the treatment of Barron to that given to the children of Presidents Clinton and Obama.

'Barron Trump is fair game,' wrote one X user. 'I repeat fair game. Don't care. You came for Chelsea at 13. You went after the Obama girls as children & still are attacking them. This anchor baby deserves nothing less. He's a lab experiment gone wrong.'

'Before Republicans clutch their pearls about whatever Barron Trump is trending for again, maybe they should apologize to Malia and Sasha Obama, Chelsea Clinton, David Hogg, Greta Thunberg and every single little girl they forced to give birth,' wrote another.

Tristan Snell joked: 'By the end of this year, perhaps Barron Trump will be a fake Trump elector in Florida -- after Biden wins Florida in November.'

Barron has largely been kept out of the public eye, but was brought into the spotlight this week after a judge delayed his father's hush money trial in New York so that he can attend Barron's high school graduation on May 17.

Regardless of age, the first son has often been treated harshly on social media by liberals and even some members of the mainstream media.

Former NBC News executive Mike Sington said Barron was 'fair game' after the birthday that marks adulthoot. He later deleted the tweet after facing harsh backlash and criticism online.

Sington told Newsweek: 'I posted he was 'fair game' now, meaning, as an adult, he's 'fair game' for criticism from the press.

Barron has largely been kept out of the public eye, but was brought into the spotlight this week after a judge delayed his father's hush money trial in New York so that he can attend Barron's high school graduation on May 17

Barron was at his mother Melania's side at the funeral of her mother and Barron's grandmother, Amalija, in January

'Someone pointed out to me 'fair game' could mean fair game to be harmed.

'I don't wish physical harm on anyone, so I took it down. I listen to the comments and criticism I receive.'

Trump has been subject to death threats from those who opposed his father's actions as president.

He is currently living in Florida with his parents and considering what college to attend with help from his mother Melania.

Barron has been kept almost completely out of the limelight for much of his childhood - as a large proportion of his adolescence took place during his father Donald Trump's White House tenure.

He was the first boy to grow up in the White House since JFK Jr in 1963 - and Barron has lived through many of his family's scandals in his teen years.

In January 2018, he was not yet 12 when the media was engulfed by porn star Stormy Daniels's bombshell claims that she had an affair with Donald just four months after Barron was born.

During his presidency, Trump's most ardent critics even resorted to criticizing the young boy as a means of attacking his father.

Trump (left) and Barron Trump (right) arrive at the funeral of his grandmother Amalija Knavs in Palm Beach, Florida in January

Regardless of age, the first son has often been treated harshly on social media by liberals and even some members of the mainstream media

A Saturday Night Live writer who made a bad-taste joke about Barron Trump on Twitter apologized for her 'inexcusable' actions after she was suspended from the show.

On Inauguration Day 2017, Katie Rich tweeted that the ten-year-old boy would become 'this country's first homeschool shooter,' but deleted it three hours later.

She then came in for an avalanche of criticism from Twitter users, who branded her 'scum', called for her account to be blocked, and urged NBC to fire her.

Rich wasn't fired, but she was suspended indefinitely from working on the show after the furor failed to cool down over the weekend, an insider told Deadline Monday.

The same day, she tweeted: 'I sincerely apologize for the insensitive tweet. I deeply regret my actions & offensive words. It was inexcusable & I'm so sorry.'

Rich left the show in 2019 and now works as a writer on various projects.

Trump's adult children from previous marriages have faced criticisms due to their public profiles, but Barron's young age has protected him from much of the attention.
Three young siblings from Georgia were killed in a suspected murder-suicide after their mother's ex took them to get food while she was in the hospital with their brother.

Gwinnett County Police identified the deceased as 13-year-old Arianny Rodriguez, 11-year-old Chadal Rodriguez and 9-year-old Carlos Rodriguez. The children were found dead inside a car Wednesday alongside 56-year-old Jose Plasencia.

Plasencia and the childrens mother, Karina Rodriguez, share another child, who had been hospitalized earlier that week.

'The suspect met with the victims mother, her three children, and the child they shared together at a local hospital,' police said.

'After some time, the mother agreed to let the three children go with the suspect to grab a bite to eat while she remained at the hospital.'

Police have identified the three children found dead inside a car in Atlanta as 9-year-old Carlos Rodriguez (left), 11-year-old Chadal Rodriguez (center) and 13-year-old Arianny Rodriguez (right)

The children were found alongside Jose Plasencia, 56, who shared another child with the siblings' mother, Karina Rodriguez

The siblings went with Plasencia to get food while their mother was in the hospital with her other child. Their bodies were found Wednesday morning

Investigators believe the deaths are the result of a murder-suicide, but are awaiting confirmation from the medical examiner's office

Plasencia's brother claimed he was suffering from depression that had gotten worse due to 'due to economic and health problems'

It is not clear how long the children were with Plasencia, but around 1 a.m. Wednesday, a patrolling officer encountered a 'suspicious vehicle' that had been parked on the pedestrian walking trail at Lucky Shoals Park in Norcross.

The car, a 2005 Honda Accord, was still running and its rear lights were on, according to a police report.

In the backseat, the officer discovered the bodies of a young boy and girl, face-down and on top of each other. Blood pooled beneath them, and one of the children appeared to have suffered a gunshot to the head.

Another girl was found slumped over in the front passenger seat. Beside her, Plasencia was limp, the window next to him shattered.

The officer determined that all four were 'obviously deceased,' according to the report. Police initially believed Plasencia was the children's father at the time of the grueling discovery.

Their deaths are suspected to be the result of a murder-suicide, but investigators are awaiting confirmation from the medical examiner's office.

On Thursday, families in the DeKalb County School District were informed that two Kingsley Elementary students and one Peachtree Middle student had died.

Kingsley Elementary, which Carlos and Chadal attended, posted a statement to Facebook.

'One of our Kingsley families suffered a devastating loss this week. Our hearts go out to them, and to all of our students and staff members who held these children close,' the school wrote.

The statement urged community members to consider donating to family's GoFundMe, 'as they navigate their unspeakable loss'.

The fundraising campaign, organized by a friend of Rodriguez, included an appeal from the grieving mother.

'I am a single mother and my heart is broken by the tragic loss of my three little angels,' Rodriguez wrote. She requested help with funeral expenses and funds needed to send the children her native Dominican Republic for a 'Christian burial'.

'I am devastated with my heart in pieces,' Rodriguez said, describing the children as her 'world'.

Speaking to Al Momento, a Dominican news outlet, Plasencia's brother claimed the 56-year-old had been suffering from depression that had worsened 'due to economic and health problems'.

The man's neighbors described him as a family man who, 'despite his financial and health problems,' continued to send money to his 84-year-old mother to afford her medication.

Plasencia was not romantically involved with Rodriguez at the time of the deaths.

Police records show he was previously arrested on an 'expired or no license' charge and a traffic violation, but had no charges or convictions related to violent crime.

The 56-year-old was known to own a gun but told people he recently sold it, according to police.
An Australian real estate guru has taken aim at some agents in his industry who he said are putting their own egos ahead of their clients.

Sydney auctioneer Tom Panos, who runs a training businesses for property sellers, said in a 'rant' shared to his social media that some agents were acting like bankers in the years before the global financial crisis (GFC) hit.

'When did agents get such big egos? Wake up call, you are not the hero, the vendor is,' Mr Panos, who is known for his appearances on The Block, said.

Mr Panos said agents who were focused on their own profile and wallets when selling houses were only damaging their long-term business, likening the behaviour to bankers whose widespread irresponsible lending was the catalyst for the GFC.

'I don't know when it happened but, at some point in the last two decades, we moved away from making the hero the client and, all of a sudden, the real estate agent decides they are the hero in the transaction.'

Sydney auctioneer Tom Panos said real estate agents who acted like they were the star of the transaction when a customer buys or sells a house were damaging their long term business

Mr Panos said he was frustrated by real estate agents who forgot they are there to provide a service for their customers.

'You see that in the way these real estate agents - not all of them and that's the thing that annoys me - but a small cohort of agents who are are acting like the bankers did before the GFC.

'If you remember the world of banking before the GFC it was a money trail - do what you want, sell what you want, make money, don't worry about the client, this is going to be a party that's never going to end.

'At some point the hero moved from being the vendor and the real estate agent decided to be the hero - including the way they act and even the way do their marketing.

'In some properties the agent is more marketed than the actual home - and it has been funded by the vendor.

'Is there a real estate trainer out there that's telling people just do what you want to do, look good and screw everyone else?'

Mr Panos likened the behaviour of a 'small cohort' of agents to bankers before the GFC who acted like their industry was 'party'

Many commenters on Mr Panos's video agreed, both within and outside the industry.

'I also blame franchised agencies that pull kids in off the street, put them in a suit and play with peoples livelihoods. Churn and burn,' one commenter said.

'They're all about the KPI's rather than the welfare of the client. They even compete against their own franchise offices for turf.'

Another commenter argued that: 'If they can sell your house for say 20k or 30k less for a quick sale, it doesn't make much of a difference to their commission, but it's a huge difference for the seller to lose 30k'.

'Paying an agent to essentially just market themselves is ridiculous. No offence to all the good agents out there,' a third said.

However, some argued that real estate agents were justified in promoting their own interests.

'Top agents keep a lot information about their properties to stop the buyer getting screwed. What happens when they find out they got sold a lemon?' one said.

'All agents I know are very down the earthhowever I get complaints about the property managers,' another said.

In one stunning example, last year a Ray White real estate agent in Brisbane was sacked after she mocked renters in a suburb where she worked, calling them 'nobodies'.

Aimee Therese Marsh was a top-performing agent at Ray White Aspley, near Griffin in Brisbane's north, but was sacked for taunting tenants in a local Facebook group.

'They are a disgrace and irrelevant,' she wrote.

'Half of them don't even own homes in Griffin. They are tenants,' she added, with a laughing emoji.

Her extraordinary comments were made using her professional social media page, meaning she was quickly exposed as the author.

When another user suggested tenants were 'nobodies,' Ms Marsh said 'probably earn $50k a year and envious of me'.

'I pay twice their wage in tax, or I probably pay their Centrelink wages,' she said.

She then made another comment from her personal Facebook page: 'Jealously is a curse and money controls people and emotions lol.'

'I can't wait to sell the houses they rent hehe.'

Ray White posted a statement to Facebook saying Ms Marsh's employment had been 'terminated immediately'.

A spokesperson for Ray White told Daily Mail Australia she was fired 'within about an hour' of when the agency's social media team found her comments.

'We respect and value each and every one within our community, and we have a big community of people who rent.

'The views of Aimee Marsh do not align with the values of our business.

'We show pride in our customer service, we have a big community of renters, and we don't tolerate anything like this,' the business said.
Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger will plead guilty to the alleged assault of a woman after allegedly escaping police and sparking a three-day manhunt.

Pledger's lawyer Jasper MacCuspie said his client intended to plead guilty to the charges during a hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday.

The 30-year-old's arrest came after footage emerged of the actor allegedly dragging a woman to the ground by her hair before stomping on her head.

Pledger allegedly escaped from a court-ordered medical assessment at Royal Melbourne Hospital during the early hours of April 23.

Former Home and Away star Orpheus Pledger (pictured) will plead guilty to the alleged assault of a woman after allegedly escaping police and sparking a three-day manhunt

Orpheus Pledger's lawyer said his client intended to plead guilty to the charges during a hearing in Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday

He was escorted by police from jail to the hospital about 3.30am, but by 9.10am still had not been seen by a doctor.

Pledger is alleged to have got up and walked out, in breach of his jail conditions.

His disappearance sparked a frantic three-day manhunt with police issuing a public appeal. He was arrested and returned to jail two days later.

Mr MacCuspie told the court that at 'no point' did the court or police let him know his client was back in custody.

'In some ways it lucky the media reported on it . because I would have had no idea where he was,' he told the court on Friday.

'It's a bit concerning from our perspective.'

Police prosecutor Olivia Sparrow recommended in court last month that Pledger remain in custody as he was a 'unacceptable risk' to the community while homeless and allegedly suffering drug and mental health issues.

Ms Sparrow had previously raised concerns about the mental health assessment order as staff at the hospital can't physically stop him from leaving.

Magistrate Justin Foster also aired his concerns over the order as it meant Pledger could leave without being apprehended.

Pledger played Mason Morgan on Home and Away for 339 episodes from 2016 to 2019 when the his character was killed off. He also appeared on SAS Australia in 2022

'Clinically he might get on his drugs and whatever treatment he needs and show improvement. Then he can be released into the community,' he said.

'The risk of something further happening and having dire consequences is striking.'

Pledger played Mason Morgan on the soap for 339 episodes from 2016 to 2019 when his character was killed off.

He also appeared on Neighbours as Noah Parkin in 2011 and on the third season of SAS Australia in 2022 before he decided to quit the show.

Pledger has been in custody since his arrest on March 27.

He is scheduled to return to court on July 11.
An Arizona State University student breaks down in tears in front of the court house following her arrest after learning she won't be allowed to graduate.

Breanna Brocker, a senior who took part in the pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus, told ABC 15 that she won't be able to graduate as her suspension will cause her to miss her final exam.

'I'm a little disappointed,' she said. 'I'm being restricted from a lot of things right now that I, that I didn't expect to be for first standing up for something that I believe in.'

The Arizona Board of Regents stated that ASU would collaborate with students facing suspension to ensure completion of final exams or assignments, even while the court case proceeds. However, it's unlikely their suspension will be lifted before the day commencement takes place.

'I have, I have family coming in who I have to let them know to, you know, not come to my graduation ceremonies.'

Breanna Brocker (pictured), a senior who took part in the pro-Palestine demonstrations on campus, told ABC 15 that she won't be able to graduate as her suspension will cause her to miss her final exam

Despite the punishment, Brocker said she doesn't regret standing up for what she believed in (Pictured: protests at Arizona State University after the campus canceled an event where Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was to speak on Palestine)

Brocker said: 'I was doing what I believed was right, and I still believe it to be right. I would stand up for the cause again, even if it means something negative for me.' (Pictured: protest at Arizona State University after the campus canceled an event where Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was to speak on Palestine)

Brocker was one the 72 individuals arrested and taken into custody for continuing to protest on ASU's campus despite being given multiple warnings about the potential legal and academic consequences (Pictured: Protests at Arizona State University after the campus canceled an event where Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was to speak on Palestine)

A 2020 high school grad, she will miss her second chance to take part in a proper graduation ceremony.

But despite the punishment, she said she doesn't regret standing up for what she believed in.

'I was doing what I believed was right, and I still believe it to be right. I would stand up for the cause again, even if it means something negative for me,' she further said.

'So much harm has been done to all of those people already.'

At the end of the day, Brocker said the Palestinians in Gaza are the ones actually suffering.

'I am safe. I am fine. I might not graduate and that might harm future job prospects, but I'm not in physical danger. I'm not constantly worried about being hurt or being forced from my home or anything like that. I would absolutely stand up again and protest again,' she said.

Brocker was one the 72 individuals arrested and taken into custody for continuing to protest on ASU's campus despite being given multiple warnings about the potential legal and academic consequences.

She was also one of the 20 students the U.S. District judge denied preliminary injection to to lift the ban on students who were suspended after the protests.

In a statement, ASU wrote that the group of protestors, of which only 15 were students attending the university, set up prohibited encampments on Old Main lawn.

Those that refused to leave were arrested and charged with criminal trespass.

The students filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents, citing violations of their First Amendment rights and causing 'irreparable harm' their suspension is causing them as they are unable to enroll in classes.

'I'm a little disappointed,' Brocker said. 'I'm being restricted from a lot of things right now that I, that I didn't expect to be for first standing up for something that I believe in'

The group of protestors, of which only 15 were students attending the university, set up prohibited encampments on Old Main lawn. Those that refused to leave were arrested for criminal trespass (Pictured: Protests at Arizona State University after the campus canceled an event where Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was to speak on Palestine)

WATCH: We spoke with ASU senior Breanna Brocker outside the courthouse, who said she will not be able to graduate because the suspension will cause her to miss her final exam pic.twitter.com/FKGaMuzOt7  Ben Brown (@bdbrown473) May 4, 2024

Judge John Tuchi ruled that the students did not provide sufficient evidence that either of their claims were true.

The judge's decision comes even though the trespassing charges against the students haven't even gone to court yet.

'Getting a restraining order or preliminary injunction is a very high burden, very difficult to do so I wouldn't say I'm surprised,' attorney David Chami, who is representing the 20 ASU students in this case, told ABC 15.

'The actions that they used to arrest and the decision they made to suspend without having all of the evidence sets to be contrary to what we do in this country  innocent until proven guilty, right? In this case, the school decided to suspend even before they had all the evidence, all the facts.'

Back in November, ASU canceled an on-campus event where Democratic Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was due to give a speech.

The Arizona Palestine Network, which is not an on-campus organization, arranged the 'Palestine is an American issue' event.

This came after Tlaib was censured by her colleagues in the US House of Representatives for defending Hamas and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state earlier this month.

The University said that the event did not comply with policies and procedures, which is why it was canceled, which the group said was false.

A spokesperson of the University told Fox: 'Organizers of events using ASU facilities must be properly registered with ASU and must meet all university requirements for crowd management, parking, security, and insurance.

'In addition, the events must be produced in a way which minimizes disruption to academic and other activities on campus.

'The event featuring Congresswoman Tlaib was planned and produced by groups not affiliated with ASU and was organized outside of ASU policies and procedures. Accordingly, that event will not take place today on the ASU Tempe campus.'

The decision to cancel the Michigan Congresswoman's talk sparked outrage among pro-Palestine students.

Arizona State University canceled an on-campus event in November where Republican Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib was due to give a speech

This came after Tlaib was censured by her colleagues in the US House of Representatives for defending Hamas and calling for the destruction of the Jewish state earlier this month

Once the cancelation was announced, the Arizona Palestine Network criticized the university and said the institution was 'blocking' their right to Free Speech.

They claimed that all policies and procedures had been followed.

In a lengthy Facebook post, the group wrote: 'The Arizona State University administration would have the public believe that the event with Rep. Rashida Tlaib was cancelled due to it being planned by outside organizations, but this is demonstrably false.

'Several student groups were directly involved with the process of planning this event in direct coordination with the University since AUGUST. All proper procedures and guidelines were followed to ensure the event happened in accordance with University policy, across several documented meetings.

'For the ASU administration to then claim that failure to follow proper procedure was the reason for the events cancellation, is a clear and bold faced LIE. The actions of the University were a clear attempt at blocking an expression of Free Speech that they do not agree with.

'ASU tried to silence Rashidas voice, our voice, but it only inspired us to become much louder!'

The pro-Palestine group also launched a petition not to cancel the event, where students were asked to copy a template they had posted with their name and email University officials.

The petition called the cancelation unacceptable and a violation of the University's charter.

In retaliation, the group and its supporters launched a protest on the ASU campus.

Dozens of protestors were photographed holding Palestinian flags and signs congregated on the Tempe campus.

According to the organizers, due to safety concerns, protesters also got to hear Tlaib's speech remotely through a Zoom call on a laptop.

In an Instagram video, Tlaib says: 'This is not about me only. It's a movement that's growing beyond just one person, and that is what's so threatening to Arizona State University.

'Do not let the University sway you all. What you are doing is powerful and impactful,' she continued.

The University said that the event did not comply with policies and procedures, which is why it was canceled

Once the cancelation was announced, the Arizona Palestine Network criticized the university and said the institution was 'blocking' their right to Free Speech

Other universities, such as USC and Columbia University, have gone as far as cancelling their main commencement ceremonies altogether to avoid potential safety hazards (Pictured: Group of 30 Columbia students stage walkout at Hillary Clinton's lecture in protest over the Ivy League school's 'lack of support for pro-Palestine students' - after their faces were displayed on 'doxxing truck' near campus)

'People are going to ask you where you were during this moment. And you're going to say I was focused on saving lives  nothing controversial about that.'

After Tlaib's speech, attendees heard from Palestinian-American Arizona state Rep. Athena Salman who had also remotely called into the protest. She commented that she was disappointed in ASU 'trying to pull the plug' on the event, saying it was 'not accidental.'

'The University has chosen ethnic intimidation, to shut down the voice of the person who is speaking out against such violence against the Palestinian people,' Salman said.

'What message does that send to the student body, to the Arab students, to the Muslim students, to the students who are advocating for peace, advocating for ceasefire, advocating for solutions?'

Other universities, such as USC and Columbia University, have gone as far as cancelling their main commencement ceremonies altogether to avoid potential safety hazards in the midst of the pro-Palestine protests sweeping college campuses nationwide.
Crime buffs believe they spotted an intriguing detail in a TV interview

A suspicious detail in a pastor husband's interview filmed days after his wife died has raised speculation amongst internet sleuths.

Mica Miller, 30, was found dead at Lumbee River State Park in North Carolina on April 27 from a self inflicted gunshot wound.

Her death came days after serving her husband John-Paul Miller, 44, with divorce papers following a tumultuous relationship.

Miller gave an interview with ABC15 just days later while wearing a necklace similar to the one his wife was frequently pictured in.

During the interview, Miller breaks down in tears saying: 'She was the greatest wife anyone could ever ask for. We spent every night together just talking and talking.'

Images taken at a pawn shop prior to her death show Mica purchasing a gun, wearing a similar necklace.

John-Paul Miller, 44, gave an interview with ABC15 while wearing a necklace similar to the one his wife Mica Miller was frequently pictured in just days after she was found dead

Images taken at a pawn shop prior to her death show Mica purchasing a gun, wearing a similar necklace

Her death came days after serving her husband John Paul Miller, 44, with divorce papers following a tumultuous relationship

Online sleuths seem to suggest that the two necklaces are one and the same and that he was wearing the exact necklace she was last seen in.

It has lead to speculation online about how he may have come about obtaining the necklace.

In the days after her death, her friends and family held a rally calling for 'justice for Mica' outside the Solid Rock Church where Pastor Miller worked.

The pastor stunned his congregants last week when, after a service in which he had laughed and appeared entirely at ease, he announced that his wife had died.

Miller, who has a criminal record including multiple counts of aggravated assault and battery to which he pleaded guilty, told his congregation that her death was 'self-induced.'

'You all know she wasn't well mentally and that she needed her medicine and it was hard to get to her,' he said.

Prior to making the announcement, he asked his flock to stand and instructed them to, 'leave church quietly and don't talk about the announcement here in the building.'

In a statement released on Thursday via his lawyers, which was also shared by his former church on social media, said the speculation was unfounded rumors and false.

The statement said: 'Following the untimely death of Mica Miller, unfounded rumors and false accusations began circulating on social media and in various media outlets, suggesting Pastor Miller's involvement in her demise.

'This created a buzz, causing local and national media outlets to begin proliferating these falsehoods, on a mammoth proportion.

In the days after her death, her friends and family held a rally calling for 'justice for Mica' outside the Solid Rock Church where Pastor Miller worked

Police have now released images Miller in the lead up to her death amid conjecture about the circumstances. Pictured: Miller at her South Carolina home the day she died

'Our client refutes any report that suggests he ever abused his wife. Recent reports claim that Pastor Miller 'groomed' his wife from the age of 10 years old couldn't be farther from the truth.

'She moved to Myrtle Beach at the age of 15, was married to another man at the age of 18, and divorced at the age of, 21.'

It continued: ' It has come to light that Mica Miller struggled with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, which, when not properly managed, led to paranoid episodes and self-destructive behavior.

'Again, Mica suffered from mental illness and some reports made by her in the recent past are nonsensical.

'This unfortunate reality underscores the importance of destigmatizing mental health issues and ensuring those affected receive appropriate support and treatment.

'We wish to emphasize that, after a thorough investigation by the Robeson County, North Carolina Sheriffs Office, it has been conclusively determined that Ms. Miller's death was the result of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

'This finding completely exonerates Pastor Miller of any wrongdoing. These baseless claims and false reporting have caused immense distress and harm to Pastor Miller and his family and needs to stop immediately.'

His lawyers also warned that any 'defamatory and libelous statements' made would be met with legal action.

A police report over the alleged auto theft of her silver Honda Accord shows how far their marital problems stretched back.

'When the complainant was discharged from the hospital, hospital staff informed her that her husband picked up her purse and her keys,' the report from February 2023 states.

'The complainant believed that her husband fraudulently initiated her involuntary hospitalization and "stole" her care while she was in the hospital.'

Miller met with the cops at Coastal Grand Mall and told them she and her husband had been separated since January of that year.

'The complainant stated that she has known her husband since she was ten-years-old and that he "groomed" her while she worked for him at Solid Rock Church until they were married,' the report adds.

When investigators contacted her husband, he told them that his wife had been suffering from a 'reckless episode' due to poor mental health.

The former pastor told the officer he had seized the vehicle to prevent it being sold and would not give it back for a month to allow the episode to pass.

Miller (right), 30, died by suicide suicide on April 27, days after filing for divorce from John-Paul Miller, 44, (left)

Miller told cops she had known her husband since she was 10-years-old and that he groomed her 'for years' before they married

As both parties stated they were legally married, the investigator had to consider the car as marital property and therefore 'could not establish a criminal offense'.

Weeks before her passing, she shared a video speaking about abuse within marriage as claims emerge she was being harassed and was 'afraid for her life'.

She said: 'Today my heart's a little heavy. I've had lots of women that have reached out to me about situations of abuse, and I just want to tell you what a lot of people have told me lately, because I think I forgot.

'But you are the bride of Christ before anybody else's, male or female, it doesn't matter what gender you are, abuse is abuse.'

Court records hint at the tumult within the marriage with Mica first filing for divorce back in October 2023 before withdrawing the filing February 12.

Later that same month Miller filed against his wife for Separate Support and Maintenance in a motion withdrawn March 11.

But on April 15, just 12 days before she was found dead, Mica filed once more and, according to friends, also sought a no contact order against her husband.

A police reported obtained by DailyMail.com shows that Miller also contacted officers accusing her husband of sharing an indecent photo of herself on a Facebook group called 'big boobs and nice curves'.

An obituary penned by him also described his wife as 'a great stepmother, and an amazing wife and helpmate' and portrayed her as his biggest cheerleader.

Miller had called authorities before taking her own life, telling them: 'I'm about to kill myself and I just want my family to know where to find me'.

Family and friends have insisted that Miller did not take her own life, her sister Sierra Brown previously told DailyMail.com that 'there's still an open investigation'.

Miller is observed on store surveillance walking into Dicks Pawn Shop in Myrtle Beach, SC

Mica Miller (pictured) died just weeks after a cop filed a report claiming she told him she was afraid for her life

Mica's friends Kenn and Allicia Young spoke out on NewsNation and said they do not believe the pastor's wife took her own life

Millers black Honda is observed traveling on Highway 501 near Four Mile Rd., Conway, South Carolina on April 27 hours before her death

Friend Allicia Young, who is a member of the Solid Rock Church alongside her husband Kenn, said: 'I absolutely do not believe that she took her own life.'

'I absolutely do not believe that she took her own life because she was energetic and her faith in God was unwavering,' Allicia said on Banfield.

'She was always quick to encourage somebody else, including myself. We went to lunches together, we worked out together.'

Evidence released by Robeson County Sheriff's Office as part of their investigation conclusively shows Miller plotting to end her life.

A still from a Ring doorbell shows her on her front porch at 11am on the day of her death.

Just over an hour later, a surveillance image shows her entering Dick's Pawn Shop where she purchases a fire arm.

A waitress told how the pastor had been sending her flirty messages, including calling her 'super hot' and asking for 'bikini pics' while still married

Shortly after, Miller's black Honda was observed traveling on Highway 501 near Four Mile Rd., Conway, South Carolina on the way to the state park.

Once there she called 911 to provide instructions to a dispatcher on where her body could be found.

Meanwhile a waitress claims Pastor Miller was sending her flirty messages while his wife planned to kill herself, including calling her 'super hot' and asking for 'bikini pics.'

'I asked him if anything was new, and he more or less said yes, lots new, LOL, I'll text later,' she told NewsNation's Elizabeth Vargas, confirming LOL stands for 'laugh out loud'.

The waitress explained she had engaged with the pastor in a bid to expose his behavior after becoming 'suspicious' he might be married.

Pastor Miller has since been released of his ministerial functions at Solid Rock at Market Common Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Her attorneys are now appealing the guilty verdict handed down in 2023

A California woman who stabbed a man she had briefly dated over 100 times while in a drug-induced dissociative state is appealing her conviction, despite receiving no prison sentence.

Bryn Spejcher, 32, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in December 2023 for the killing of 26-year-old Chad O'Melia. She was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service the following month.

In court, Spejcher did not dispute accusations that she stabbed O'Melia 108 times with multiple knives while high on cannabis.

Prosecutors originally charged her with second-degree murder, but that charge was reduced when Spejcher was determined to have been 'acutely psychotic' during the spate of violence.

Despite spending no time behind bars, DailyMail.com can reveal that Spejcher's attorneys have filed a notice of appeal in her case, arguing that the her intoxication was 'involuntary' and the result of O'Melia's 'fraud and trickery'.

If they are successful in appealing the guilty verdict, the 32-year-old's considerably light sentence could be lowered even further.

Attorneys for 32-year-old Bryn Spejcher have filed a notice of appeal in her case, which saw her convicted of involuntary manslaughter in December 2023

Spejcher was sentenced to two years of probation and 100 hours of community service after fatally stabbing Chad O'Melia, 26, while high on cannabis

Spejcher did not dispute attacking O'Melia, but claimed she was 'coerced' into smoking the weed that made her hear voices urging her to kill him

Spejcher attacked O'Melia in his Thousand Oaks apartment after taking a few hits from his bong in May 2018 and suffering a psychotic episode.

'She thought she was dead,' a prosecutor explained during the trial. 'She had an out-of-body experience.

'She could see her own dead body, and she could hear voices, emergency room doctors doing CPR, her family, other voices, unknown voices, telling her that to bring herself back to life, she would have to kill Chad O'Melia.'

Spejcher retrieved three kitchen knives and stabbed the 26-year-old down his body, puncturing his heart, lungs and vital arteries in his neck.

Despite characterizing herself as a 'dog lover,' Spejcher then stabbed her dog and repeatedly plunged an eight-inch bread knife into her own face and neck while crouching near O'Melia's body.

She only stopped once police arrived and struck her with a baton.

While both the defense and the prosecution agreed that the violence was the result of intoxication, the prosecution depicted Spejcher as a partier who was looking to get high, while her defense argued that she was forced into taking the drug.

Under California law, a person is seen as responsible for their actions while impaired unless their intoxication was involuntary.

Spejcher stabbed the 26-year-old 108 times in the heart, lungs and neck before turning the knife on her dog and herself

The prosecution depicted her as a partier who was looking to get high - but Spejcher alleged she felt 'intimidated' by O'Melia and 'feared the consequences' of declining to use his bong

O'Melia's father, Sean, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the California woman in 2020, but that was put on hold until the trial concluded

Spejcher told DailyMail.com that their relationship 'didn't have a label,' despite being characterized in the press as boyfriend and girlfriend

Speaking out for the first time since her sentencing, Spejcher told DailyMail.com that O'Melia had 'pressured' her into smoking cannabis.

'I felt intimidated by him,' the 34-year-old claimed. 'If something felt personal to him, even if it really wasn't, he'd have this short fuse.'

In fact, Spejcher said, his 'temper outbursts and uncontrollable emotions' were so extreme that she 'feared the consequences' of declining to use his bong on the night of his death.

She explained how O'Melia 'prepared' weed in the device before alleging coercing her to inhale it.

'He said, "Hurry up. Inhale now Do it really fast, go go go,"' she recalled.

'Yes, I physically inhaled it. So, we're both accountable.'

During the trial, Spejcher claimed to have never previously experienced a 'high'.

When she took a few puffs and told O'Melia she didn't feel anything, he allegedly said, 'Oh, well let's make this really intense for you.'

An expert witness said the violent fit suggested that the marijuana she smoked was far stronger than other strains, but O'Melia's father, Sean, disagreed.

He asserted that Spejcher had not been coerced - rather, she knew what she was doing and 'viciously and prematurely ended' his son's life.

Sean O'Melia filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Spejcher in 2020, which was put on hold until the criminal proceedings wrapped.

When the pair met at a dog park in early 2018, Spejcher claimed they 'got along great'.

She had recently moved to the area for a new role in the audiology department at the University of California, Los Angeles.

'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,' she explained.

Spejcher also disputed characterizations of their relationship as boyfriend and girlfriend.

'It didn't have a label,' she said, conceding their connection was initially romantic.

The California woman insisted that she had used cannabis 'less than 10 times' in her life, while O'Melia was a daily user.

In court documents reviewed by DailyMail.com, O'Melia's roommate, Vinicius De Oliveira, testified, 'If Chad was home, he was high.'

De Oliveira also recalled how, two months before his death, O'Melia had persuaded him to get high for the first time  using the same bong he offered Spejcher.

The weed made him feel as if he was 'dying, ' De Oliveira said, adding, 'My heart beating really fast. The wall and faces were kind of moving.'

He allegedly begged O'Melia and another friend to take him to a hospital, but they simply laughed.
A man accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend outside a gym on Wednesday 'didn't read' the AVO conditions imposed on him before breaching them by approaching her.

Anthony Monteleone appeared in Manly court on Sydney's northern beaches on Friday on charges of wounding with intent to murder and breaching an apprehended violence order.

Just over a week before the alleged attack, Monteleone, 45, admitted that he had breached a non-contact order made by police to protect the woman.

On April 29, he pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching an AVO after allegedly harassing the woman with multiple phone calls from several different numbers.

Monteleone told police he didn't know he was breaching the no-contact order because he 'didn't read the conditions'.

Anthony Monteleone (pictured) appeared in Manly court on Sydney's northern beaches on Friday on charges of wounding with intent to murder and breaching an apprehended violence order

Monteleone is accused of stabbing his ex-girlfriend outside a gym in inner-city Alexandria on Wednesday. The scene is pictured

An agreed set of facts reveal that Monteleone and the woman had been in a relationship for about eight-weeks, which ended on April 18 when she caught him texting another woman.

The woman ordered Monteleone not to contact her again, the Daily Telegraph reported.

She contacted the police as she feared Monteleone might harm her and on April 20 a provisional order was made barring him from calling, texting or approaching her.

But four days later he started texting and calling her repeatedly over a period of about three days.

Among the voice messages Monteleone left were: 'Can you please talk to me, I won't bother you ever. Well I promise, I just want to speak to you. Can you call me back please? That's all I want. I just want to tell you a few things, please, I want no trouble please.'

Another message said: 'Please call me. I just want to have a quick chat with you. Please, that's all I'm asking. I've left you alone, I've done everything, please, honestly I just want to speak to you, I'd appreciate it.'

The woman decided to go to Burwood Police Station in Sydney's inner west on April 27, to report Monteleone's calls and texts, but didn't make it there as she thought she saw Monteleone's black Subaru following her and drove home.

On the way back, she called a friend, and asked her to come to her home as she was afraid of her former boyfriend.

Monteleone followed her back to her home address, documents state, and left his car to follow her to her home.

The 45-year-old (pictured) handed himself into police on Thursday morning

Anthony Monteleone (pictured being arrested) will face Manly Local Court on Friday

But the woman's friend arrived at the same time and Monteleone left.

The next day, he called the woman seven times in just 12 minutes, from several different numbers.

Monteleone appeared in Manly Local Court via a video-link from Surry Hills police station on Friday, wearing what appeared to be a hospital gown.

He had handed himself in to police on Thursday, nearly 24 hours after investigators allege he lay in wait for the woman outside Crunch Fitness, Alexandria before attacking her with a kitchen knife.

She was treated by paramedics for multiple stab wounds before being taken to hospital in a stable condition.

Monteleone only spoke to confirm he could hear as his lawyer told the court there would be no application for bail.

Magistrate Robyn Denes formally refused bail and Monteleone will remain in custody until the matter returns to court in July.

Monteleone handed himself in to police on Thursday, nearly 24 hours after investigators allege he lay in wait for the woman outside Crunch Fitness, Alexandria before attacking her with a kitchen knife

Ms Denes instructed the court registry to advise the State Parole Authority that Monteleone's intensive corrections order, which she placed him on in April, would be revoked.

He was to serve an 18-month sentence in the community, which required him to not commit any further offences and do a domestic abuse program as well as be subject to mandatory supervision.

If you or someone you know has experienced, or is at risk of, family and domestic violence and/or sexual assault, call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) for 24 hour counselling.
Her security watch failed to do anything about it

A Victorian woman who was violently assaulted by her ex-partner is suing the supplier of a personal safety device claiming her repeated 'please help me' requests were left unanswered.

The woman, who only wants to be known as Peta, 52, says in court documents she obtained a security watch from Commsync Alert in August 2021 after several family violence incidents at the hands of her ex, Jason Richards.

She was told the device would notify nominated people as well as Queensland-based security provider Back2Base Monitoring if she was in distress.

The nominated people could call triple zero directly by pressing 'five' on their keyboard, while the company had to notify Peta's family violence service provider - who would then call police if required.

Peta, 52, is suing Commsync Alert, a security watch provider who she claims gave her a sense of false security after she alleged its device did not work during an attack in October 2021

After repeated incidents with her ex, Jason Richards, local police and a counsellor urged Peta to wear the security device known as the StandbyU Shield (pictured)

About 11pm on October 17, 2021, Richards, who had five previous intervention orders taken out against him to protect Peta, went to her house uninvited and assaulted her by taping her mouth and attempting to smother her with a pillow.

He also knelt on her throat and tried to hang a noose around her neck but she was able to fight him off.

Richards killed himself the following day.

The attack lasted for about five hours, with Peta pressing the alert on her watch three times and using the audio recording function to say, 'please help me'.

Back2Base was allegedly notified each time and should have contacted the family violence support service or Victoria Police when Peta did not respond to their checks.

Between 11pm and 4:30am, three pleas for help from Peta were never referred to police and Back2Base never directly contacted her because Richards gained possession of her phone.

The previous intervention orders were taken out against Richards between February and October 2021.

Local police and a counsellor at the Mallee sexual assault unit urged Peta to wear the security device known as the StandbyU Shield.

In a statement of claim filed in the Victorian County Court in March, Peta said she suffered post-traumatic stress disorder, major depressive disorder and anxiety as a result of the attack.

She is seeking damages and costs from Commsync and Back2Base, alleging they failed to exercise reasonable care towards her.

Richards, who had five previous intervention orders taken out against him to protect Peta, went to her house uninvited and assaulted her for five hours, the court heard

Peta claims the two companies should have contacted police if they received the watch alerts and she was not responsive.

'I thought this thing was supposed to save my life, I thought I'd be safe,' Peta said.

'But the only way I stopped him from killing me was by sticking my finger in his eye when he was trying to smother me.'

Her lawyer Aki Munir, a senior associate of Arnold Thomas & Becker, claimed the watch gave her client a false sense of security.

'The failures associated with (the watch) resulted in dire consequences,' she said.

'Peta's trauma was unnecessary and preventable.'

Gary Rushton, general manager of Back2Base, told AAP he could not comment on the case as it was before the Victorian County Court.

Moray & Agnew partner Jeremy Peck, who is representing Commsync in the proceedings, was also approached for comment.

A defence statement filed on behalf of Commsync Alert alleged that Back2Base Monitoring was not permitted to contact police when Peta did not respond to their phone calls, as set out in the national police alarm activation response guidelines.

'Back2Base's records from 17 October 2021 and 18 October 2021 record that Back2Base monitored the audio around the StandbyU Shield worn by the plaintiff and recorded "could hear couple talking normally", "no one speaking, could hear background movement" and "very little talking  general conversation",' Commsync Alerts defence statement said.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

beyondblue 1300 22 4636
Popular budget supermarket chain Lidl has announced a third pay rise in the past 12 months for staff paid on an hourly basis.

This will see any Lidl workers paid an hourly wage receive a minimum of 12.40 across the country, rising from the brand's previous rate of 12.

In London, colleagues will see entry level pay rise to 13.65, up from 13.55, with the higher amount being due to the London Living Wage.

The new base rate meets an industry-leading benchmark, as it will equal the best hourly pay in the sector.

The latest move represents an investment of over 2.5million, following a 37million investment in March 2024, as well as an 8million raise in September 2023, bringing the total investment in pay over the past 12 months to nearly 50million.

Popular budget supermarket chain Lidl has announced a third pay rise in the past 12 months for staff paid on an hourly basis

Since opening its first UK store in 1994, the budget-friendly supermarket now has 960 outlets, with over 32,000 employees across Britain.

Lidl's hourly pay rates for colleagues also increase with length of service, with pay reaching 13.00 nationally and 14.00 within London.

These top rates are the highest hourly pay amounts in the industry.

The investment follows record trading and market share gains over the Spring period, with Lidl's market share now standing at a record 8%.

Ryan McDonnell, CEO at Lidl GB, commented: 'As we continue to expand, we are welcoming more customers and attracting more colleagues into the business every day. It's absolutely right, therefore, that we continue to offer industry-leading pay'.

Stephanie Rogers, Chief Human Resources Officer at Lidl GB, added: 'The critical role that our colleagues play in driving our growth is always front of mind for us, which is why we're committed to offering extremely competitive pay alongside a raft of other benefits.

'We want to continue to support and strengthen the teams that run our stores and warehouses every day, whilst attracting the best new talent. This latest investment helps us to do just that'.

The pay rise for Lidl staff comes after Asda announced it will invest 150million into giving more than 120,000 staff an 8.4% pay rise.

Asda revealed it would increase basic pay for retail workers to 12.04 per hour later this year, with those at stores inside the M25 receiving 13.21

The UK's third largest supermarket chain increased basic pay for retail workers to 12.04 per hour last month, with those at stores inside the M25 receiving 13.21.

The move by Asda follows an increase in the national minimum wage from 10.42 to 11.44, which came into force on April 1.

Mohsin Issa, Asda co-owner, said: 'This record investment will see Asda become the highest paying grocery retailer in the UK, recognising the hard work of our store colleagues in serving customers every day.

'We want to be a company that people are proud to work for, which is why we are proposing increasing pay for retail and Express colleagues by more than 8% this year.'
Microsoft's next biggest AI model could potentially rival even the industry's leading large language models like OpenAI's GPT-4, Google's Gemini AI, and Claude from Anthropic.

According to insider reports from The Information, the upcoming MAI-1 model will have over 500 billion parameters, outclassing previous models released as well as current models Meta and Mistral offers.

AI parameters refer to the "configuration variables" the model can handle, allowing it to process more complex patterns and provide more accurate predictions.

The bigger the parameters an AI handles, the better its performance and data input processing will be.

While its processing capabilities are much lesser than Gemini (100 trillion parameters) and GPT-4 (1 trillion), MAI-1 is only in its initial development phase and is expected to handle bigger parameters after Microsoft determines its exact purpose.

Microsoft MAI-1 Already Surpasses Other Mainstream AI Models

At its current stage, the AI is reportedly "far larger" than the Meta's and Mistral's, which currently only sit around 70 million parameters.

The biggest indicator that it is intended to compete with industry giants is Microsoft's willingness to invest in the project even without assurances on the final product.

According to the report, the tech giant has already poured $650 million to secure intellectual rights on the technology last March.

Microsoft is also putting former Google DeepMind co-founder Mustafa Suleyman to head the project despite regulatory scrutiny over the deal.

Also Read : Microsoft Appoints DeepMind Co-Founder as CEO of New AI Division

MAI-1 Will be Built from the Ground Up: Sources

Unlike previous AI models Microsoft released, MAI-1 will be entirely built on Microsoft rather than a carry-over from another company as it did when it invested $10 billion to OpenAI in Azure.

According to sources, training data and other tools from Inflection, Suleyman's former company, will possibly be used while other necessary resources will be directly from Microsoft.

It remains uncertain how much money Microsoft is willing to invest into the project amid operation slowdowns caused by regulators cracking down on the tech giants.
A drug kingpin known as The Headmaster whose hitman gunned down nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has been jailed for 28 years after police smashed his cocaine gang.

Vincent Coggins, 58, was the head of Merseyside's notorious Huyton Firm and ordered attacks on rivals like the one that killed Olivia. The child's killer, Thomas Cashman, was a hitman for Coggins before he was sentenced to life for her murder.

Coggins and his older brother Francis built up a powerful organised crime group that was involved in international drug trafficking - aided by connections forged with fellow gangsters in Spain.

He has now finally been brought to justice after officers intercepted Encrochat messages that show them plotting revenge on men they mistakenly believed were responsible for robbing them.

On May 23, 2020, a 'stash house' in Huyton used by Coggins' gang was targeted by a group who posed as delivery drivers before launching a machete and axe attack and stealing more than 1 million of cocaine.

Vincent Coggins, 58, was the head of Merseyside's notorious Huyton Firm and ordered attacks on rivals like the one that killed Olivia

In communications sent on Encrochat, Coggins, who used the handle moonlitboat, expressed a desire to kill those responsible for the robbery, whom he incorrectly identified as Brian Maxwell Junior, Michael Eves and Iyobosa Igbinovia.

Four other men from Salford, Greater Manchester, were later jailed for the robbery.

Messages between Coggins and associates including Paul Woodford, 58; Michael Earle, 48; and Edward Robert Jarvis, 59; showed discussions of plans for revenge.

Police, who were monitoring Encrochat messages after the encrypted messaging network was cracked by police in 2020, became aware of threats towards the men wrongly identified as the robbers.

Threat-to-life notices were issued and the defendants were subject to disruption notices from police.

Those threats led to Maxwell Jr's father, Brian Maxwell Senior, giving money, property and land worth 1million to the gang in a bid to save his son's life, the court heard.

On June 16, 2020, three days after the Encrochat service alerted its users to the hack, the defendants were the first arrested by North West Regional Organised Crime Unit (NWROCU) officers as a result of the intercepted messages.

Armed Spanish police stormed a villa in the Costa del Sol linked to the brothers in 2017 but they were never charged. Four cannabis farms yielding 6.4million annually were also raided by police.

Armed Spanish police stormed a villa in the Costa del Sol linked to the brothers in 2017 but they were never charged

A man being arrested during the raid on the property in the Costa del Sol

Large numbers of marijuana plants were also recovered in the raid on the villa

Encrochat messages show the Coggins brothers messaging each other about a cocaine deal worth 16million and paying off a corrupt police officer nicknamed 'piggy', the Mirror reports.

Another message shows Vincent threatening to torture one local businessman, texting in broken English: 'Then we deside weather we slash him, chop his fingers off or wotever.'

He later boasted about slashing the man with a knife, writing 'slash across face an smashed his eyes in an took half an ear an tonge'.

After they were charged, Coggins, Woodford, Earle and Jarvis attempted to have the Encrochat evidence thrown out in a bid which could have impacted hundreds of other cases.

In a legal argument seen as a test case for other Encrochat trials, their lawyers claimed the evidence was inadmissible, but their attempt was eventually dismissed by the court.

Most of the defendants pleaded guilty to offences but Jarvis, of Breckside Park, Liverpool, was convicted yesterday, following a trial at Manchester Crown Court, of two counts of conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to commit blackmail.

Cashman, 34, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 42 years for the murder of nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel

Reporting restrictions on the other cases were lifted on the conclusion of Jarvis's trial.

Coggins, of Liverpool, was jailed for 28 years after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to commit blackmail.

Woodford, of Liverpool, was jailed for 24 years and six months and Earle, of Huyton, was jailed for 11 years after both pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply Class A drugs and conspiracy to commit blackmail.

Paul Glynn, 59, of Liverpool, who was minding the stash house where the cocaine was stored and was attacked in the robbery, was jailed for 11 years and two months after pleading guilty to conspiracy to supply cocaine.

Darren Tierney, 46, of Stockport, was jailed for 12 years and nine months; Paul Fitzsimmons, 60, of Liverpool, was jailed for 12 years and six months; Kevin Rimmer, 57, of Huyton, was jailed for 16 years; and Dean Borrows, 39, of Liverpool, was jailed for 16 years after all pleaded guilty to conspiracy to supply class A drugs.
The victim of a horrific head-on crash involving a P-plater has been identified as a hard-working single mother and refugee who was on her way home to pick up her son for school.

Zamira Hussainpoor, 35, was killed on Tuesday morning when a ute veered onto the wrong side of the road and smashed into her Toyota hatchback in Hampton Park, in Melbourne's southeast.

Ms Hussainpoor, who died at the scene, was only minutes away from picking up her 13-year-old son Husnain after finishing a nightshift at a factory where she worked.

Zamira Hussainpoor, 35, (pictured with her son Husnain) was killed on Tuesday morning when a ute smashed into her Toyota hatchback in Hampton Park, in Melbourne's southeast

The mother was killed when the ute smashed into her car on Tuesday morning

Ms Hussainpoor's brother-in-law, Abdur-Rahman Butler, said she migrated to Australia in the early 2000s and has been raising her son alone since he was two.

'Despite countless setbacks and hardships, including abandonment by her ex-husband, she triumphed,' he said.

'She was loved by the community, her family, her friends and workmates, but especially her dear son, Husnain

'She died both in service of her son, but also her workmate who was in the car with her at the time, who she had graciously picked up to go to work.

'Zamira was the perfect mother, the perfect daughter, loved by all and the joy of the party, no one could tell the profound hurt and hardship she had endured because it was always hidden behind a radiant smile. She loved her son more than anything in the world.'

Ms Hussainpoor has been raising her son alone since he was two-years-old

Mr Butler has started a GoFundMe page for Ms Hussainpoor, which has since raised more than $21,000.

'As a single mother, she was the sole breadwinner and nurturer for young Husnain, tirelessly working night shifts to support him financially, and missing sleep throughout the day to spend what little time she could with him,' Mr Butler wrote.

'Zamira did an incredible job of raising Husnain, a 13-year-old boy who is extremely bright, compassionate and kind.'

'While young Husnain has dealt with the situation with exceptional grace and patience, any boy of his age would inevitably feel the impacts of losing their mother.'

Mr Butler said Husnain, who has never known his father, would be looked after by his pensioner grandmother.

Funds raised by the GoFundMe will go towards helping raise Husnain and 'easing the financial burden of these tragic circumstances'.

Police are investigating whether the driver of the ute, who was on his P-plates, was speeding at the time of the fatal accident.

Ms Hussainpoor's colleague who was also in the car at the time was taken to hospital with serious injuries.

The 20-year-old driver of the ute was airlifted to hospital with critical injuries.

Anyone with information has been urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Russia launched a punishing wave of missile, kamikaze drone and artillery attacks on Kharkiv last night amid signs Vladimir Putin may seek to seize Ukraine's second city.

Shocking images and videos out of the devastated metropolis this morning showed several residential buildings on fire and rubble strewed about the streets as rescue workers rushed to extinguish the blaze.

Olena Kurylo, who became known as the 'Face of the War' after her home was destroyed in Moscow's initial bombardment just hours into the conflict on February 24, 2022, said residents feared this was 'the start of the Kharkiv assault - and that we will all perish here'.

'We are not sleeping, again, just now was the tenth air raid alert of the night,' Olena, 54, told reporters in the early hours of the morning.

'I didn't close my eyes, but I can't run downstairs to the basement, because I am so exhausted from yet another sleepless night.

'We are at the end of our tether from tiredness. There hasn't been a single quiet night for weeks.'

Russia struck Kharkiv and Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, on the border with Russia, with a mass missile, drone, and artillery attack in the early hours of May 10, 2024

Shocking images and videos out of the devastated metropolis this morning showed several residential buildings on fire

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said three residential houses were set alight and destroyed with dozens more damaged as a result of the Russian attack

A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile (according to the Ukrainian authorities, S-400) in the area of a cottage residential development in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 10, 2024

Olena Kurylo, who became known as the 'Face of the War' after her home was destroyed in Moscow 's initial bombardment just hours into the conflict on February 24, 2022, said residents feared this was 'the start of the Kharkiv assault'

Olena Kurylo shows a photo selfie of her injuries on her phone, which she took after a missle hit her apartment on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

The defiant teacher - who was treated in Britain for damage to her eye in Putin's 2022 strikes on residential areas of Kharkiv - said: 'We won't leave.

'They destroyed my house on the first day of the war, it is still in ruins. They killed my health, my eyesight. They've deprived me of everything - and I want to ask why?

'This is our land. This is home. There is no reason why our huge neighbour is destroying us. There is no excuse for millions of broken lives.'

'I've forgotten what it is to sleep for more than two hours uninterrupted

'We all know this is exactly their aim, to exhaust us, and to make us leave the city, so they can take it.'

Turning her ire toward the Russian president, Olena said: 'The mental, ugly, impotent old man, the deranged maniac Putin, who tries to extend his life by sucking the blood of others will get nothing from us.

'We've got to stand up to him even if the walls of my bathroom where I've been spending so many nights are the last thing I'll see.'

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said three residential houses were set alight and destroyed with dozens more damaged as a result of the Russian attack overnight, which he said targeted both infrastructure and residential areas.

In photos that Sinehubov posted on the Telegram messaging app, large gouts of flame can be seen shooting into the murky sky early this morning.

Two people, including an 11-year-old child, were injured in the strikes, though no deaths have yet been reported.

Ukraine's air defence systems destroyed 10 attack drones, the air force said, but added that two guided missiles were also launched by Moscow's forces.

These missiles are believed to have caused the damage to the residential buildings.

A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile

Three residential buildings and outbuildings were destroyed and several other buildings were damaged in the Russian missile attack

Doctors treated two victims, including an 11-year-old child, following the attack

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine May 10, 2024

The overnight attack on Kharkiv came just one day after Ukraine said it was forced to limit power supplies across the country and warned of possible blackouts after a 'massive' wave of Russian missiles and drones had targeted the country's battered energy system.

Moscow also said its forces had taken control of two more frontline villages, as it ups its attacks on land and from the skies with Ukrainian troops struggling more than two years into the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia's attack 'deliberate, calculated and sneaky.'

'Almost 60 missiles and more than 20 Shahed drones targeting life-supporting civilian infrastructure. Not a single military target. Life itself was the target overnight, as it has been for hundreds of other similar days in this war,' he said in a social media post.

The intensified strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure triggered fresh warnings of blackouts as state power operator Ukrenergo said it was limiting supplies.

'Ukrenergo's dispatch centre is forced to limit power supply to industry and business from 18:00 to 23:00. The scope of the restrictions will be distributed evenly among all regions,' it said in a statement.

'The reason for the restrictions is the shortage of electricity caused by a massive Russian missile and drone attack on energy facilities,' it added.

The overnight attack on Kharkiv came just one day after Ukraine said it was forced to limit power supplies across the country

Ukraine's air defence systems destroyed 10 attack drones, the air force said, but added that two guided missiles were also launched by Moscow's forces

A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile

Olena Kurylo is seen after an airstrike damages an apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022

Nevertheless, Kyiv has continued to demonstrate its ability to strike back, destroying another oil refinery in Russia in a kamikaze drone attack on Kaluga region yesterday.

Footage showed a huge inferno at the First Plant processing facility - hours after Ukraine flew another attack drone across almost 950 miles of Russia - a record distance - to impact the giant Salavat plant in Bashkortostan.

In Kaluga, three vast tanks of diesel exploded in an inferno after the kamikaze drone hit - the second attack on this refinery in two months.

Regional governor Vladislav Shapsha confirmed the attack, reporting: 'The extent of damage to the enterprise's infrastructure is being assessed.'

Ukraine also targeted Bryansk, Kursk, Moscow and Belgorod regions.

The fighting came as Putin opted for continuity in re-appointing technocrat Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister.

The career bureaucrat would become acting president if Putin were somehow incapacitated.

Mishustin, 58, is credited with guiding Russia through the chaos inflicted by Putin's decision to go to war, and his reappointment is a sign of stability.
Is global TV sensation Baby Reindeer about to return to its stage roots?

Olivier award-winning West End producer Francesca Moody  who put on A Streetcar Named Desire with Paul Mescal last year and Fleabag with Phoebe Waller-Bridge in 2019  has the stage rights to Richard Gadd's one-man show, on which the Netflix smash hit is based.

She produced it at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival back in 2019, took it to London's bijou Bush Theatre  and was planning to move it to the Ambassadors Theatre, before Covid intervened. Now there is a lot of heat and excitement about the prospect of another tilt at the West End.

Gadd's solo show, which runs at around 65 intense minutes, would surely draw big crowds thanks to its streaming success.

Netflix reported this week that Baby Reindeer remains its global No 1 show, with 18.6 million viewers over the past four weeks. Gadd has spent this week in Los Angeles on a hastily convened promotional tour alongside co-stars Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau.

Richard Gadd's solo show, which runs at around 65 intense minutes, would surely draw big crowds thanks to its streaming success

Olivier award-winning West End producer Francesca Moody (left) has the stage rights to the one-man show performed by Richard Gadd (right), on which the Netflix smash hit is based

Netflix's Baby Reindeer tells the story of fictional comedian Donny Dunn who is stalked by a woman called Martha (pictured), whom he meets in a pub

Gadd has spent this week in Los Angeles on a hastily convened promotional tour. From left to right, screenwriter Jenelle Riley, Richard Gadd, co-stars Jessica Gunning and Nava Mau

Baby Reindeer tells the story of fictional comedian Donny Dunn who is stalked by a woman called Martha, whom he meets in a pub. It is based on Gadd's own experiences of being stalked.

The Scottish writer, comedian and actor spoke about the 'unbelievable response' to the programme, saying he originally hoped it would become a 'little cult, artistic gem on the Netflix platform'.

Instead, it has turned into a phenomenon. 'It felt like I woke up one day and everyone was watching it,' he marvelled.

Gadd's next move will be to shoot a six-part drama called Lions for the BBC. Set in Glasgow, it tells the story of two brothers across decades.

This week he said: 'I remember when I was getting stalked. It was relentless and felt like it was everywhere, and I felt like my life wasn't really functioning. I still had these unbelievable pangs of feeling sorry for her [Martha]. I never saw someone who was a villain. I saw someone who needed help and wasn't getting it.'

A spokesman for Francesca Moody declined to comment on plans for the show.
Keir Starmer looks set to inflame Labour fury over Natalie Elphicke's defection by appearing alongside her today.

Sir Keir is set to push his plans for a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the Channel boats crisis during a visit to his new MP's Dover constituency.

The body will bring together key agencies including MI5, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service. It would mark the first time that MI5 agents have been deployed in this way on the problem.

Government sources dismissed the plans for 'yet another Labour quango' as a 'rearranging of the bureaucratic deckchairs'.

Although Labour has not officially confirmed Ms Elphicke will attend the speech, it would raise questions if she is absent.

Keir Starmer (pictured with Natalie Elphicke) will announce plans to create a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the small boats crisis

Government sources dismissed the plans for 'yet another Labour quango' as a 'rearranging of the bureaucratic deckchairs' (file picture of migrants trying to cross the Channel last month)

Ms Elphicke's dramatic crossing of the floor at PMQs on Wednesday has caused shockwaves through Labour.

She was considered on the right of the Tories, and previously slammed the Labour leader as 'Sir Softie' for his approach to Channel migration.

Sir Keir trumpeted the defection as evidence that Labour has broad appeal and can take on the Conservatives in their own core issues. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting boasted overnight that the party is talking to more prospective switchers on the government benches, with Dan Poulter already having made the change a fortnight ago.

However, critics have accused Sir Keir of turning the party into a 'dustbin' for Conservative right-wingers - while even normally staunch supporter Lord Kinnock has warned he needs to be careful who to accept.

Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy suffered an awkward moment on the BBC's Question Time last night when the audience was asked whether Ms Elphicke was an 'asset' to her party and no-one put their hand up.

Sir Keir's allies have been stressing that Ms Elphicke is not standing for re-election in Dover and will not have a frontbench role or be handed a peerage.

Yesterday Ms Elphicke issued an apology for comments in which she appeared to blame victims after her husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she succeeded as Dover MP, was convicted of sexual assualt.

Labour said its new Border Command would be bolstered by new counter- terror powers to smash the smuggling gangs.

A former police, military or intelligence chief will be appointed to lead the body and report to the Home Secretary.

Labour also said it would hire hundreds of specialist investigators, intelligence agents and cross-border police officers to work across the UK and Europe to protect the border.

The plans will be paid for by redirecting 75million of the allocated costs for the Rwanda scheme, which Labour has repeatedly vowed to scrap  even if it is working. Sir Keir is expected to be joined for the speech by his party's newest MP, Natalie Elphicke, who defected from the Tories on Wednesday.

She accused Rishi Sunak of failing to deliver on his promise to stop the boats, but her shock move caused a major backlash in opposition circles.

The Labour leader will say his plan replaces 'gimmicks with graft', and he will accuse the Tories of overseeing a 'talk tough, do nothing culture' that has led to record numbers of small boat arrivals. But last night Home Secretary James Cleverly said Sir Keir's 'big new idea is an amnesty'.

Labour has previously said it will overturn the Government's asylum ban by considering the claims of all those who have entered the UK illegally since March last year.

Mr Cleverly said: 'Rather than starting the flights and stopping the boats, Sir Keir Starmer's big new idea is an amnesty for all illegal immigrants.'

Graph showing the number of migrants that have arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel since 2019

A source close to the Home Secretary likened the plans to a 'rearranging official deck chairs to create a quango directed to do work they've already been doing under this Government'.

The source added: 'He's setting himself up as a Labour King Canute claiming his hollow words can stop the waves. Meanwhile this Government will continue working to stop the boats.'

Sir Keir will declare it is his 'firm belief' that 'we also need new and stronger powers to enforce the law and bring these smugglers to justice'.

He will say: 'I know we use the term small boats, but these boats are not, for the most part, that small.

'The gangs now use dinghies on a scale way beyond anything you would see for legitimate recreational activity. We should be working with our European partners to seize those boats, and seize material here in the UK to collect further evidence.

'We should turn over every stone and use every reasonable power  that is my message to the smugglers: these shores will become hostile territory for you.'

A total of 8,826 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, provisional Home Office figures show. This is up 32 per cent on this time last year, when 6,691 migrants were recorded, and a 14 per cent rise compared with the same period in 2022 (7,750).
A bungling NHS health board in Wales accidentally paid more than 100,000 in additional wages to staff - and now wants them to pay the money back or work for free.

Just over a dozen members of theatre staff at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil received payments varying between 5,000 to more than 30,000 each.

They believed they were eligible for the extra cash because of planned shift pattern changes and so were given what is known as 'pay protection'.

These payments are provided to top up an employee's average earnings in situations where they may become disadvantaged because of organisational changes.

The new shift pattern changes began in January and when gaps arose in staffing, the employees worked overtime shifts.

Theatre staff at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil received payments varying between 5,000 to more than 30,000 each - but are now being asked to repay the money or work overtime for free

However, according to health board officials, employees cannot receive pay protection while working overtime.

WalesOnline understands staff members have been given two options to return the money, by either paying it back in full, or working overtime without being paid.

Affected staff are said to be feeling very distressed by the situation.

Speaking to MailOnline, a spokesperson for Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, which looks after health services for 450,000 people living in Merthyr Tydfil, alongside Bridgend and Rhondda Cynon Taf, said: 'We are aware that for some of our theatres staff at Prince Charles Hospital, a payment in lieu of shift pattern changes has been processed incorrectly.

'As soon as this mistake was identified, we prioritised talking with those affected, as well as their trade union representatives, to find a way forward.

'We fully appreciate the impact that this payment error has had on individuals, and as such, we have involved colleagues in every step of this ongoing conversation.

'We have conducted an investigation into this matter, and have already taken steps to minimise the risk of a similar occurrence.'
The irate McDonald's customer who allegedly shot and killed lawyer Jeffrey Limmer after he asked him to stop shouting at staff has been named, as police continue to hunt for him.

Anthony Martin Landry, 57, faces a murder charge following the shooting at the fast food restaurant on a Texas highway, according to Houston Police department.

Jeffrey Limmer, 46, stepped in when the customer started shouting at McDonald's employees at the branch on 8147 Katy Freeway, Houston, on Saturday at 6 pm.

Limmer tried to calm him down, and then as they argued outside the store, the angry man went to his car, pulled out a gun and shot the lawyer twice.

The shooter then fled the scene in an early 2000s blue Ford pickup truck. Police were called to the scene and found Limmer unresponsive with multiple gunshot wounds and he was declared dead at the scene.

Anthony Martin Landry, 57, faces a murder charge following the shooting at the fast food restaurant on a Texas highway, according to Houston Police department

Jeffrey Limmer, 46, was shot and killed on Saturday at 6 pm at the branch on 8147 Katy Freeway in Houston

Limmer tried to calm the man down and as they walked out of the store together arguing, the angry man walked to his car, pulled out a gun and shot him. (Pictured: The Houston McDonald's)

Landry reportedly has a lengthy rap sheet and was on a $10,000 bond for felony aggravated assault at the time of the shooting.

He had struck a family member with a cane in February, causing bodily harm, the New York Post reports citing court papers.

He had been scheduled to appear in court on May 10.

Landry previously faced several criminal court cases for possession crack cocaine, evading detention and forgery, according to reports.

Limmer was an associate at Houston law firm, Lewis Brisbois, having attended the University of Texas and then graduated law school at South Texas College of Law.

His family said in a statement, obtained by Fox 26 Houston, that they hope their loved one's killer is arrested and that justice is served.

'Our family is relieved to learn that the suspect has been identified, and we pray that he is apprehended as soon as possible so that he cannot hurt anyone else.

'Additionally, we are praying for the safety of law enforcement as they work to bring him to justice.

'We are grateful to the community for your overwhelming love and support, and we ask that you respect our privacy as we mourn the loss of our dear Jeff.'

'He's always just wanted to fight for the little guy and do the right thing,' Limmer's sister, Jennifer Thomas, said

'He's always just wanted to fight for the little guy and do the right thing,' Limmer's sister, Jennifer Thomas, told ABC7.

'Just, he was very staunch in his convictions, and was just conservative in his values and his morals,' she added.

'He loved fiercely his family and friends. Always laughing, making jokes, and just loving life,' Thomas said.

According to his sister, Limmer lived near the McDonald's and went there often. She thinks that he likely went to the fast-food chain to get some work done.

She said he had spent all of his career trying to help others, so she wasn't surprised to hear that he had tried to help the employees.

'Knowing Jeff, he's the one who always says, "Calm down. It's not that big of a deal," and divert the situation', she said.

The Houston Police Department responded to reports of a shooting at the McDonald's on Saturday night.

A customer at the restaurant was angry with his order and had started shouting at employees, detectives told ABC7.

His heartbroken sister said he was a 'good Samaritan who is trying to do the right thing and not letting those employees at McDonald's go through that,' (pictured: Limmer (left) and his family

Limmer tried to calm the customer down and drew his attention away from the staff just before the suspect grabbed his gun and shot the lawyer

Limmer tried to calm the customer down and drew his attention away from the staff. They then began arguing and then fighting outside the store.

Limmer pushed the angry customer to the floor, according to the detectives, and then the man got off the floor and ran to his car before fatally shooting Limmer.

Limmer then ran back into the McDonald's where staff called paramedics.

His heartbroken sister said he was a 'good Samaritan who is trying to do the right thing and not letting those employees at McDonald's go through that.'

His friend, Greg Monteverde, told Fox26: 'Utilizing cuss words and other profanities, Jeff stepped in to try and de-escalate the situation to try and calm him down. I thought it was brave. I respect it.'

'I think a lot of us knew Jeff to be that type of individual. In school, he would invite somebody who wasn't the most popular student to a party or things like that.'

He added: 'He's in Heaven. He's looking down on all of us saying it's going to be OK.'

Anyone with information on the case has been asked to contact Houston Police Department.
Friends of an Australian tourist who turned up to hospital while on holiday in Fiji with a mystery stab wound have issued an urgent plea for help as he fights for life.

Clayton Brett was supposed to fly home after a holiday in Fiji on May 1, but instead of boarding his flight he fronted a hospital with a stab wound to his stomach.

The 43-year-old quickly became extremely unwell, with the wound becoming infected and leading to septic shock.

The infection was so severe he was put into an induced coma in the intensive care unit of the hospital in Nadi.

Mr Brett's sudden silence caused his family to worry, with his parents, stepbrother and cousin desperately trying to track him down.

His stepbrother Matthew Davis said Mr Brett didn't come home when he was meant to and wasn't answering any phone calls.

Clayton Brett is in hospital in Fiji

In desperation, the family began to call hospitals in Fiji.

'We had a bad feeling there was something going on, so we called the hospitals to see if by chance he was at any of the hospitals,' Mr Davis said.

'They got news he was there and he actually presented with a stab wound to the stomach.'

As soon as they heard the news, Mr Brett's father Terry and stepmother Jenny Davis were on the next flight to Fiji to be by his side.

When they arrived, they were told Mr Brett must remain in 24-hour intensive care to receive treatment.

Septic shock is a life-threatening condition that can cause dangerously low blood pressure and organs to shutdown.

Mr Brett now requires dialysis as his kidneys are failing, but the hospital in Nadi doesn't have a functioning dialysis machine.

His parents have now had to make the crucial decision to fly Mr Brett back to Australia to receive the necessary interventions via medevac.

Clayton Brett is in hospital in Fiji

Mr Davis said Mr Brett's parents had managed to scrape together $140,000 and pay for a medevac to fly him back to Melbourne for treatment.

'We've had to find the money and pay upfront before it goes ahead,' Mr Davis said.

He is now hoping his stepbrother makes the flight home and there are no adverse reactions while in transit.

He said: 'Hopefully the flight goes well, we don't know how he's going to react in the air'.

While there are concerns held for Mr Brett, his stepbrother said there are also grave concerns for his parent's wellbeing.

A GoFundMe has been set up by Mr Davis to alleviate the financial stresses in what he describes as an 'already stressful situation'.

'Funds raised will go towards alleviating some of the financial pressure and stresses from Terry and Jenny and assist in paying the international hospital expenses and the medical repatriation flight costs,' the fundraiser states.

Mr Brett is expected to land in Melbourne sometime on Friday.
A young Australian model who walked for Marc Jacobs and worked in Paris, New York, London and Milan has tragically died after a battle with cancer.

Sian Scale, 28, lost her battle with a rare and incurable type of cancer on Tuesday while surrounded by loved ones at Melbourne's Peter MacCallum hospital.

Ms Scale was signed with Chadwick Models and worked for international designers Burberry, Dior and Chanel in campaigns around the world.

She also featured in campaigns for Vogue and Vanity Fair.

Sian Scale, 28, lost her battle with a rare and incurable type of cancer on Tuesday while surrounded by loved ones at Melbourne's Peter MacCallum hospital

Ms Scale was signed with Chadwick Models and worked for international designers Burberry, Dior and Chanel in campaigns around the world

Ms Scale's family said she never complained about her cancer diagnosis and her dying wish was for people to donate blood.

'She was determined and strong and had such grace in navigating the most difficult year of her life with such acceptance, optimism and vulnerability,' they said, The Herald Sun reported.

'Sian was very generous, loving, kind, fun, adventurous and modest.'

Her family said she was an advocate for social justice and gender issues and acted as a mentor figure to other young women entering the fashion industry.

The model (pictured left) worked all around the world

Tributes have flowed for Sian Scale after she lost a battle with cancer

Ms Scale's final message was: 'If anyone wants to do anything in memory of me, it is to give blood  it is the gift of life.'

Chadwick Models shared a heartfelt tribute to the 28-year-old on Wednesday.

'It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we mourn the passing of our beautiful model Sian Scale,' the agency wrote.

'She was dearly loved by our Chadwick team, models, her international agents and clients.

'Sian was a bright and unique light in our world who unapologetically marched to her own beat.

'We will all miss her more than words can express, and her incredible work in pictures will immortalise her forever.'

Ms Scale is remembered by her parents and two brothers.
A British man was arrested for allegedly arranging for his friends to flood a restaurant in Thailand with false one-star reviews after a dispute with the owner.

The British national, identified only as Alexander, 21, reportedly wanted to use the Italian restaurant as a convenient shortcut to his accommodation in Phuket in 2022.

However, the owner barred him from doing so because he was not a paying customer.

As revenge, Alexander is said to have enlisted his friends' help in flooding the restaurant with negative reviews, plunging its rating from 4.8 to 3.1 out of 5 stars.

The Central Investigation Bureau arrested Alexander at his new apartment in Bangkok on May 9, after the owner filed a complaint with the Sakhu Police Station claiming the fake reviews had caused damage to the restaurant's finances and reputation.

The British national, identified only as Alexander, 21, (right) reportedly wanted to use the Italian restaurant as a convenient shortcut to his accommodation in Phuket in 2022

The arrest warrant was issued against Alexander on August 2023 for 'entering false computer data likely to cause damage to the general public'.

Police Major Jomparit Kaewreung of the Crime Suppression Division said: 'The suspect was handed over to the inquiry officer of Sakhu Police Station for further legal action. During the interrogation, he has denied the charges.'

Alexander was taken back to the Sakhu Police Station in Phuket for prosecution.

In October 2020, an American tourist was arrested over a negative hotel review he posted on TripAdvisor.

He accused the Sea View Resort in Phuket of 'modern-day slavery'. He was subsequently detained and charged under Thailand's strict anti-defamation laws before apologising and being released.

Despite being one of the wealthiest countries in the world, Thailand has resisted attempts at modernising and continues to enforce archaic laws banning free speech.
Netflix has reportedly started its first wave of casting calls for the second season of its "One Piece" live adaptation, confirming the appearances of several fan-favorite characters.

According to an insider report, Netflix has begun looking for potential actors for Princess Vivi, Nico Robin, Smoker, Tashigi, Ms. Valentine, Mr. 5, and Crocus.

The casting call also sheds some light on what the production expects the upcoming characters to look like.

So far, a Latina actress seems to be the favored to play Robin while Princess Vivi could either be Middle Eastern or South Asian.

Aside from Crocus, the mentioned roles are cast as recurring "Guest Stars" for Season 2 and possibly future seasons.

Noticeably, the casting call has yet to include other integral characters during the "Alabasta Saga," including Tony Tony Chopper, Luffy's brother Portgas D. Ace, and Crocodile.

There is no news when the next waves of casting calls will begin, although reports indicate that it might start sometime this year too.

The second season is expected to cover the Straw Hat Pirates' adventure in the Grand Line and at least some parts of the Alabasta Kingdom.

'One Piece' Season 2: What We Know So Far

Despite the looming release of its second season and the plot already available in manga and anime, Netflix has kept most of the "One Piece" live-action production inside closed doors.

Earlier reports indicated the second season is codenamed "Project Renaissance" with filming set to start by June this year in South Africa.

The appearance of Mr. 3 and the whole Baroque Works plotline was already hinted at by the show's main star Inaki Godoy on TikTok during Luffy's birthday on May 5.

@onepiecenetflix Its May 5th, NAKAMA! Join our captain Inaki Godoy in celebrating the greatest, coolest, and most inspiring pirate to ever sail the Grand Line. Happy B-B-B-B-Birthday, Monkey D. Luffy!   original sound - One Piece Netflix

Netflix Plans to Launch More Shows Amid Live Adaptation Hype

Following the success of "One Piece" and "Avatar: The Last Airbender" live adaptations, Netflix is reportedly jumping on the people's hype to release similar projects in the future from other anime and cartoon series.

So far, the streaming giant has already announced plans to adapt "Yu Yu Hakusho" into a Japanese-led live-action series.

The company has also started drafting plans for Season 1 of "My Hero Academia" and "Sword Art Online," complimenting the original adaptations' manga and light novel runs.

The massive step is seen as Netflix's second attempt to capture anime and animated series fans after its first try with "Cowboy Bebop" and "Death Note" ended with an underwhelming reception.
Desperate Jon Swinney insisted he can make Scotland independent within five years today as a poll showed the SNP slipping behind Labour.

The First Minister claimed the arguments for breaking up the UK are 'compelling', despite acknowledging the chaos that has been wracking the party.

In a series of interviews, Mr Swinney also played down concerns about Kate Forbes - a devout Christian who previously opposed gay marriage - becoming his deputy. He stressed that the separatists will still be 'on the side' of LGBT voters.

The comments came as a Savanta survey found Labour ahead of the SNP on Westminster voting intention - the first time the firm has given Keir Starmer's party the advantage.

Desperate Jon Swinney (pictured chairing his first Cabinet today with deputy Kate Forbes) insisted he can make Scotland independent within five years today as a poll showed the SNP slipping behind Labour

A Savanta survey has put Labour ahead of the SNP on Westminster voting intention - the first time the firm has given Keir Starmer's party the advantage

Labour was up two points since October on 37 per cent support, with the SNP down two on 33 per cent. The Tories were on 17 per cent.

If replicated at an election, the results suggest Sir Keir could get dozens of MPs north of the border.

Speaking from Bute House, Mr Swinney told BBC news his party had been through a 'difficult period' but that he was determined to give the government 'very clear leadership'.

He said on Sky News that he still believed independence could happen in the next five years 'because the arguments for it are compelling'.

The cost-of-living crisis and Brexit were doing 'severe economic and social damage' to Scotland, he added.

However, Mr Swinney admitted the SNP has work to do to build greater support for independence.

He said that would be a focus for his leadership, despite pleas to concentrate on improving the economy and public service.

Mr Swinney denied that the appointment of Ms Forbes as his deputy would make the Scottish government less progressive.

'The protection of the rights of LGBT individuals in our society is absolutely fundamental to my government  the protection of those rights and the enhancement of those rights,' he said.

Former First Minister Alex Salmond - now leader of the Alba Party - complained that the SNP's 'incompetence' has 'hindered' the cause of Scottish independence

Mr Swinney said he had not discussed abandoning the Gender Recognition Reform Bill with Ms Forbes before installing her to the job, adding that the 'reality of the situation' was that the courts had ruled the legislation was unable to proceed.

Meanwhile, former First Minister Alex Salmond - now leader of the Alba Party - complained that the SNP's 'incompetence' has 'hindered' the cause of Scottish independence.

Mr Salmond also said in an interview that there is no 'immediate' way for another independence referendum to be held, as he criticised successor Nicola Sturgeon for her 'ill-fated, kamikaze' Supreme Court case on whether the Scottish government had the right to hold a vote without Westminster approval.
The boss of British Gas has said that every home could be forced to have smart meters installed in a bid to meet net zero targets.

Chris O'Shea's comments come two months after government data found that almost four million smart meters across Britain are not working properly leading to customers being overcharged for energy bills.

Speaking at the House of Commons energy select committee, the chief executive of Centrica - which owns British Gas - called for a 'street by street rather than customer to customer' installation for the devices over a five year period.

He said: 'We think that in order to have the proper smart grid that's required to keep costs low in the future, everybody should have a smart meter. One of the things we should consider as to whether this is a voluntary programme, or whether it should be mandatory.'

Mr O'Shea went on to claim that more than a third of British Gas' seven and a half million customers had ignored offers to install a smart meter.

Chris O'Shea, the boss of British Gas. Mr O'Shea has said that every home could be forced to have a smart meters in a bid to meet net zero targets

Mr O'Shea's comments come two months after it was found that almost four million smart meters across Britain are not working properly leading to customers being overcharged for energy bills (stock image)

The chief executive, who was paid 8 million last year, said: 'I have customers that write to me saying, "Please stop bothering me. I don't want a smart meter."

'We found that 44 per cent of our customers don't have them, of whom 600,000, or about 8 per cent, have said they don't want one.

'So for 36 per cent of customers we are not sure whether they will take one or not.'

In words reported by The Times, Mr O'Shea argued that if the government 'mandated' a smart meter installation scheme, they could be installed by 2029.

According to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, smart meters make up 61 per cent of all domestic meters in the country.

While customers are not legally obliged to accept a smart meter if they are offered one, suppliers do often insist on installing smart meters when older meters reach the end of their life.

They often say that some non-smart meters are no longer being manufactured and are under obligation to install a smart meter if the old one is deemed unsafe.

One woman was charged 900 without warning by her smart meter in December last year.

Mr O'Shea said: 'I have customers that write to me saying, 'Please stop bothering me. I don't want a smart meter.' 'We found that 44 per cent of our customers don't have them, of whom 600,000, or about 8 per cent, have said they don't want one' (stock image)

Paula McCracken, from East Yorkshire, said her smart meter had never worked properly and she was overcharged despite taking regular manual readings.

The 48-year-old said EDF Energy took more than 900 from her account twice with no warning, leaving her with a 'my 500 overdraft fully taken'.

How to check your smart meter is working Smart mode means your meter should automatically send readings to your supplier. If it's not working in smart mode, you'll need to send regular meter readings yourself. Citizens' Advice has an online tool that shows you how to ensure your meter is working properly. Advertisement

She said she was refunded on both occasions but not straight away.

'If I had no family and friends around me to lend me a bit of money for shopping and things, I would have been completely penniless with two children for a week,' she said.

At the time, EDF Energy apologised and admitted it 'fell short'.

A spokesman said: 'Having taken actions to diagnose and resolve the issue remotely, which were unfortunately unsuccessful, we set up an appointment to reattempt commissioning but could still not receive reads due to further technical issues on site that could not be resolved.'

Sharlene Peppard, 42, from Doncaster, South Yorkshire, has 11 children and used her smarter meters to budget.

After 18 months she was told by EDF that the meters were not compatible with each other.

'I went to the ombudsman who contacted the engineer. I was told the government had set a date for December 2025 to fix the problem and I'd have to wait until then,' she said.

At the end of 2023, 61 per cent of meters operating were smart meters - inclusive of those not operating in smart mode - which was a 6 percentage point increase from the end of 2022

This graph from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero shows how the number of domestic smart meters installed by large suppliers has increased since their launch in 2011

Mrs Peppard said EDF estimated her bills to be 2 a month.

She added: 'I'd be in thousands of pounds worth of debt if I believed that. So I'm manually logging in to make the extra 200 payment each month.'

Celebrities have also been overcharged by EDF. In December last year, Turner Prize-winning artist Grayson Perry revealed that his smart meter raised his electric bill from 300 to a whopping 39,000 and they tried to take the amount from his account.

EDF pointed to an 'erroneous meter reading' as a possible explanation for unusual changes in amounts charged, and said such increases were verified through a human check.

Six flat owners at a Victorian property in Ealing, West London, suffered a major misbilling when they had an SSE smart meter installed early last year for the lighting of the property's common areas - stairs and exterior.

Monthly bills used to work out at about 20, but when the smart meter was installed, they began to rise and rise, reaching a staggering 600 a month.

They contacted SSE and were told the reason was - bizarrely - because readings that the supplier received were for a meter 270 miles away in Sunderland.

The occupants, which include actress Jilly Bond, contacted the Energy Ombudsman, which looks into disputes between suppliers and customers. In November last year, it ordered SSE to refund the overpayments.

Smart Energy GB, a non-profit organisation which promotes smart meters, said there were now nearly 35million of the devices in the country. It added that 88.6 per cent of them were operating in smart mode at the end of 2023, a rise of 1.3 percentage points from 87.3 per cent the previous year.

The group also pointed out that the sharp increase in the number of meters not operating in smart mode was due to a data reporting error, which has been rectified in the latest Government figures - released in March.

The number of smart and advanced meter installations in 2023 decreased by 6% on 2022

The number of domestic smart meters operating in smart mode is now at a total of 29million

A Smart Energy GB spokesman told MailOnline at the time: 'We know that most people have a very positive experience with their smart meter, but we also understand the frustration felt by some whose meter may be temporarily operating without all of its smart features.

'If your smart meter is not sending automatic readings to your energy supplier, please be reassured that it will still be recording your energy use correctly.

'We would recommend that you send your supplier meter readings to make sure you receive accurate, rather than estimated, bills until all of the features of your smart meter have been restored.'

In November last year, it emerged that six of the country's largest energy suppliers will pay 10.8million in penalties for failing to meet targets to install smart meters.

Energy regulator Ofgem ordered British Gas, Bulb, OVO, E.On, Scottish Power and SSE to cough up. With British Gas being ordered to pay the most after being handed a bill for 3.4million.

All six missed their targets for 2022, which was the first time suppliers had to meet a target. The firms should have installed a total of 1.3million more smart meters than they did.

Ofgem said the money will go into a fund that mostly helps Brits in vulnerable situations most at risk from cold homes and high energy bills.
A Boeing 737 passenger jet was forced to make an emergency landing just minutes after takeoff from a Japanese airport this morning amid safety concerns - the fourth incident to plague the under-fire aircraft maker in just three days.

Flight 166, a 737 jet operated by United Airlines carrying 50 passengers, took off from Fukuoka Airport in southwestern Japan and headed for Guam - only to turn back minutes later when pilots declared an emergency.

The plane landed back on the tarmac at Fukuoka around 11:45am local time (3:45am UK time) after a wing flap was found to be malfunctioning. No casualties were reported.

Yesterday, a total of 190 people were evacuated from a Boeing 737-800 belonging to Turkey-based Corendon Airlines whose tyre burst as it came into land at Gazipasa airport near the Mediterranean coastal town of Alanya.

Pictures from the scene today the stationary aircraft on the tarmac flanked by emergency vehicles - its front wheels and landing gear crumpled underneath.

That came just hours after shocking footage emerged showing the moment terrified passengers fled a burning Boeing 737-300 jet carrying 78 passengers that skidded off the runway and caught fire during take-off in Senegal.

And on Wednesday, a Boeing 767 cargo plane operated by FedEx made an emergency landing at Istanbul Airport after its front landing gear failed, with dramatic video showing the nose of the plane skidding across the runway sending sparks and smoke trailing through the air.

Japonyann Fukuoka Havaliman'ndan kalkan United Airlines'a ait bir yolcu ucag, "flap" arzas nedeniyle havalimanna donerek acil inis yapt.



Yolcu ve murettebattan yaralanan olmad. pic.twitter.com/rkcWrmwUSm  Yeni Journal (@yenijournal) May 10, 2024

The United Airlines flight landed back on the tarmac at Fukuoka around 11:45am local time (3:45am UK time) after a wing flap was found to be malfunctioning. No casualties were reported

Shocking footage emerged of the moment terrified passengers fled a burning Boeing jet that skidded off the runway and caught fire in Senegal early this morning

A clip taken by one horrified passenger showed a female customer sprinting away from the scene of the wreckage as flames poured from the 737's left engine, lighting up the night sky

The passengers could be seen leaping from the door and sliding down emergency evacuation slides away from the flames

A Boeing 738 plane of Corendon Airlines that operated Cologne-Antalya flight gets stuck on runway due to a burst tire in Antalya, Turkiye on May 9, 2024

Pictures from the scene in Turkey today showed the stationary aircraft on the tarmac flanked by emergency vehicles - its front wheels and landing gear crumpled underneath. Corendon Airlines denied Turkish reports that the aircraft had landed on its nose

There is no suggestion that Boeing is responsible for the mishaps, but such incidents will only compound woes for the company already facing intense scrutiny over safety concerns - as well as the deaths of two whistleblowers just two months apart.

Boeing has also been accused of letting safety lapse as it obsesses over 'woke' diversity targets in staffing, as well as over-paying executives working from home.

Current CEO Dave Calhoun announced in March he would be stepping down at the end of this year in a management overhaul, with share prices plunging.

And passengers are said to be deliberately changing flights to avoid Boeing's fleet or travelling with anti-anxiety medication.

In the case of the crash landing in Senegal yesterday, the plane suffered serious damage when a failed takeoff attempt sent it careening off the tarmac and into the bush at Blaise Diagne airport near the capital city Dakar.

A clip taken by one horrified traveller showed a female customer fleeing the scene of the wreckage as flames poured from the 737's left engine, lighting up the night sky.

Emergency crews rushed to evacuate the passengers, eleven of whom were injured, four seriously so - though no deaths have been reported.

Authorities are now trying to establish the cause of the incident.

'Our plane just caught fire,' wrote Malian musician Cheick Siriman Sissoko in a post on Facebook that showed passengers jumping down the emergency slides at night.

Transport Minister El Malick Ndiaye said the Air Senegal flight operated by TransAir was headed to Bamako, in neighbouring Mali, late Wednesday with 79 passengers, two pilots and four cabin crew.

The injured were being treated at a hospital, while the others were taken to a hotel.

No other details were immediately available. Boeing did not respond to a request for comment by the Associated Press, the news outlet reported.

Meanwhile, questions were also being raised over the incident in Turkey.

Ankara's Transport and Infrastructure Ministry reported damage to the plane's front gear but did not provide further details.

The runway was not damaged but flights were diverted to the nearby Antalya airport while the aircraft was being removed.

The ministry said the incident occurred at around 11am.

'The evacuation of the 190 people on board, consisting of 184 passengers and 6 crew members, has been completed,' a statement said.

'There were no injuries reported among the passengers, and initial assessments indicate no damage on the runway.'

Shocking images revealed the plane operated by Senegalese carrier Transair nestled in the dirt with a gaping hole in the left engine that was covered in firefighting foam in the aftermath of the blaze

The Boeing 737 jet carrying 73 passengers caught on fire and suffered serious damage when a failed takeoff attempt sent it skidding off the runway early this morning

Shocking footage showed the moment the plane attempted an emergency landing, smashing down into the runway and scraping its nose along the concrete

In the case of the FedEx plane on Wednesday, the flight had taken off from Paris' Charles de Gaulle airport early on Wednesday and was bound for Istanbul when the pilot realised the landing gear was malfunctioning.

Unsettling footage showed the moment the plane attempted an emergency landing, touching down into the runway and scraping its nose along the concrete.

Sparks flew from the plane's tattered fuselage as it crunched along the tarmac with smoke billowing from behind.

Fortunately, firefighters and rescue teams were already waiting at the scene, with Turkey's transport ministry having dispatched emergency teams as soon as it learned that the pilot's landing gear was not working.

The first responders flocked to surround the plane as it ground to a halt and immediately doused it with firefighting foam to prevent any potential fire from sparking.

No one was injured in the incident and the crew safely evacuated the aircraft, said Abdulkadir Uraloglu, Turkey's transportation and infrastructure minister.

The runway where the plane landed was closed off while the aircraft was being removed, he said.

'IGA Istanbul Airport Rescue and ARFF continues its efforts to move the aircraft to a safe area and open the runway to flight traffic. Flight traffic and operations continue smoothly on all other runways, including the spare runways,' a statement read.

Boeing is already under the microscope amid mounting controversy over safety problems, suspected quality control issues and the deaths of whistleblowers.

Sparks flew from the plane's tattered fuselage as it crunched along the tarmac with smoke billowing from behind

The plane was doused with firefighting foam as it ground to a halt

The aftermath of the crash is seen with firefighting foam coating the runway

Efforts are underway to tow the plane off the runway, while investigations into the accident continue at Istanbul Airport in Istanbul, Turkiye on May 08, 2024

The nose of the plane is seen resting on the runway as emergency workers and inspectors look on

This is the moment the nose touched down on the runway in Turkey

The US' Federal Aviation Administration said Monday it has opened an investigation into the company after workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes.

In an email to Boeing's South Carolina employees on April 29, Scott Stocker, who leads the 787 program, said a worker observed an 'irregularity' in a required test of the wing-to-body join and reported it to his manager.

'After receiving the report, we quickly reviewed the matter and learned that several people had been violating Company policies by not performing a required test, but recording the work as having been completed,' Stocker wrote.

No planes have been taken out of service, but having to perform the test out of order on planes will slow the delivery of jets still being built at the final assembly plant in North Charleston, South Carolina.

Boeing must also create a plan to address planes that are already flying, the FAA said.

'The FAA is investigating whether Boeing completed the inspections and whether company employees may have falsified aircraft records,' a statement read.

The plane screeched along the tarmac and was received by several firetrucks

FedEx plane makes emergency landing at Istanbul Airport in Turkey

Flight tracking data shows how the plane came in to land once before abandoning the attempt and lining up for a second pass

Dozens of grounded Boeing 737 MAX aircraft are seen parked in an aerial photo at Boeing Field in Seattle, Washington, U.S. July 1, 2019. Picture taken July 1, 2019

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

Wreckage of the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737-MAX plane is seen on March 11, 2019. The plane crashed six minutes after takeoff, killing all 157 passengers on board

A Boeing 737 Max operated by United Airlines veered off the tarmac into the grass in March when exiting the runway at George Bush Airport in Houston

Incidents including the January 5 Alaska Airlines debacle have intensified scrutiny on Boeing

Boeing has faced criticisms over its 737 MAX jets in recent years, with disasters including a 2018 crash of a Lion Air flight in Indonesia which killed 189 people

In April, a Boeing whistleblower, Sam Salehpour, also testified at a congressional hearing that the company had taken manufacturing shortcuts to turn out 787s as quickly as possible.

The company was already under intense pressure since a door plug blew out of a Boeing 737 Max during an Alaska Airlines flight in January, leaving a gaping hole in the plane.

Then in March, a slew of serious mishaps occurred.

A Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner over New Zealand plummetted 300ft, with more than 50 people hurt, days before a Boeing 737 MAX-8 operated by United Airlines veered off the runway after landing in Houston, Texas, on March 8.

The aircraft, which arrived from Memphis, was said to have suffered gear collapse as it exited the runway at George Bush Airport, although the 160 passengers and six crew were not injured.

Earlier that same week there were two other incidents, one involving a 737 engine which caught fire after taking off from George Bush Airport bound for Fort Myers in Florida on March 4.

The second saw a 256lb wheel drop from a United Airlines plane, a Boeing 777-200, shortly after take-off in San Francisco that crushed cars parked below as it plummeted to the ground.

The United Airlines flight 35 was barely off the runway on its way to Osaka in Japan when it happened, prompting the plane carrying 235 passengers and 14 crew to be diverted to Los Angeles Airport.

Even more safety failures have followed, including when a Boeing jet had to make an emergency landing in LAX due to hydraulic issues, after taking off from San Francisco on March 9.

The list continues with a United Airlines Boeing 777 en route to Japan from San Francisco that was forced into an emergency landing in at LAX when it lost a tyre on March 11.

Another Boeing jet was forced to make an emergency landing in LAX after taking off from San Francisco due to hydraulic issues on March 9.

The 737 MAX (pictured) is one aircraft at the centre of Boeing's current crisis over safety

The Federal Aviation Administration capped production of the 737 MAX due to concerns while 171 of Boeing's fleet were grounded, causing a huge financial headache for the company

The Alaska Airlines incident in January was followed by 24billion of Boeing's market value being wiped off as share prices plunged

That same day, passengers on board a Latam Airlines from Sydney to Auckland were left traumatised after 50 were injured when their Boeing 787-9 plunged, throwing passengers against the ceiling, before landing safely.

An American Airlines Boeing 777 carrying 249 people was forced to make an emergency landing at LAX after a 'mechanical problem' on March 13.

Flight AA 345 was arriving from Dallas Fort Worth and landed in Los Angeles around 8:45 p.m.

The aircraft taxied along the runway and all passengers and crew onboard were able to disembark using a jet bridge, with initial reports suggesting the issue was a blown-out tyre.

And on March 29 another Alaska Airlines plane, flying from from Hawaii to Alaska, was forced to turn around after a bathroom flooded filling the aisles of the Boeing 737 MAX-9 jet with water.

The flight from Honolulu to Anchorage was 90 minutes into its flight when the forward bathroom of the aircraft suddenly began to malfunction, prompting the captain to turn back to Hawaii for the problem to be fixed.

But the descent into disaster for Boeing began back in 2018 when a total of 346 people died in two crashes involving Boeing's flagship 737 MAX aircraft, on a Lion Air flight in Indonesia in October 2018 and one operated by Ethiopian Airlines the following March.

Those prompted the grounding of all Boeing 737 airlines for 21 months and hazardous glitches have continued to affect journeys on a regular basis.

Meanwhile, families of some of the victims of the 2018 and 2019 crashes have pushed the Justice Department to revive a criminal fraud charge against the company by determining that Boeing's continued lapses violated the terms of a 2021 deferred prosecution agreement.

And two whistleblowers embroiled in a dispute with Boeing died just months apart from each other earlier this year, only increasing speculation over the aerospace company's dealings.

Former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, Joshua Dean, 45, died last week from a mystery infection - less than two months after whistleblower John Barnett, 62, died by suicide in the midst of a legal action against Boeing.

Brian Knowles, a South Carolina based attorney who represented both whistleblowers, said that his clients were 'heroes.'

'They loved the company and wanted to help the company do better,' Knowles said.

'They didn't speak out to be aggravating or for fame. They're raising concerns because people's lives are at stake.'

John Barnett, 62, died in March by suicide in the midst of a legal action against Boeing

Former quality auditor at Spirit AeroSystems, Joshua Dean died last week from an infection

Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour testifies before the US Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Subcommittee on Investigations

While Knowles has declined to speculate about Barnett's apparent suicide, he said the Boeing whistleblower never showed any signs that he wanted to end his life.

The lawyer said: 'I knew John Barnett for seven years and never saw anything that would indicate he would take his own life... Then again, I've never dealt with someone who did [commit suicide[. So maybe you don't see the signs. I don't know.'

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.

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.

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.

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.'

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.

Boeing has long denied Dean, and other whistleblower claims that the company willfully ignored safety warnings.

Barnett, meanwhile, 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'.
From their Scottish accents to their similar physical appearances, Baby Reindeer's 'Martha' bears undoubtable similarities to Richard Gadd's alleged real-life stalker Fiona Harvey.

Following the show's phenomenal global success, comedian Mr Gadd, who based the Netflix hit on his real life, said he did not want the true identities of his abusers to be revealed, adding that it's 'not the point' of the series.

The show sees Mr Gadd's character Donny Dunn fall victim to a relentless stalking campaign by 'Martha', which starts after he served her in a London pub while working as a bartender.

Until now, the Mail has chosen not to identify the real Martha - instead withholding her name and pixelating her face, to protect her privacy. Now she herself has placed her real identity in the public domain, we will name her as Fiona Harvey.

Mr Gadd previously made it clear that he changed names and specific details of the story to protect the identities of those involved, even claiming that 'Martha' 'would not even recognise herself' in the hit show.

But many viewers have taken to social media to criticise the show's creator's for choosing an 'identical' actress to play Mr Gadd's real-life stalker.

Netflix's Senior Director of Public Policy Benjamin King was asked about the streamer's duty of care regarding Baby Reindeer and whether he was concerned that the characters might be identified. He claimed both Netflix and Baby Reindeer producer Clerkenwell Films took 'every reasonable precaution in disguising the real-life identities of the people involved in that story'.

Since the real-life Martha last night revealed herself as 58-year-old Fiona Harvey on Piers Morgan Uncensored, MailOnline takes a look at some key parallels between the two women.

The 58-year-old alleged stalker is pictured on Morgan's programme

Views of the show took to social media to comment on the similarity between Martha and Fiona Harvey

Similar physical appearance

After seeing actor Jessica Gunning play her character in Baby Reindeer, Ms Harvey claimed to be insulted by her physical portrayal.

But there are some noticeable similarities between the two women, including their hair colour and 'build'.

During last night's interview, presenter Piers Morgan said: 'I've never met you before but you do look and sound very similar to the actress in the drama.'

Ms Harvey replied: 'I haven't seen the actress, we're both Scottish, we've both got dark hair. She's considerably younger than me - I think she's about 18 years younger than me.'

When Piers commented on the 'resemblance' between the two women, Ms Harvey laughed: 'Do you think so? That's hardly flattering.'

She added: 'I mean people compare me to Lorraine Kelly, but I look nothing like Lorraine Kelly. We all happen to have dark hair and we're Scottish.'

Many views of the show took to social media to criticise Martha's striking similarity to Ms Harvey, saying it put the woman at risk.

'What I don't get - why make a show called Baby Reindeer, cast an almost identical actress, and tell everyone it's a true story if you felt sorry for her and didn't want people to find her and hound her?' one person wrote.

Another said: 'The Piers Morgan Baby Reindeer thing is scary how similar she is to Martha.'

A third added: 'I remember an interview with the Baby Reindeer writer and she said that the Martha character was changed so much the person wouldn't recognise herself. That's simply only true because she's delusional, they're identical, scarily so as well and very dangerous for her.'

The chilling real-life drama was inspired by the ordeal suffered by Scottish creator and leading man Richard Gadd at the hands of 'Martha' (played by Jessica Gunning, right)

Scottish accent

Both Ms Harvey and the character of Martha have Scottish accents, although the real-life woman said there is a significant difference between the character's accent and her own.

'I think the actress is from Glasgow, I think, but I'm not sure,' she said.

Ms Harvey said she is from the central belt, despite previous media reports stating she is from Fyvie in Aberdeenshire.

Background in law and high-powered contacts

In the show, Martha calls herself a lawyer and often talks about how she knows high-powered people - with famous politicians such as Gordon Brown and David Cameron appearing as contacts on her phone.

One scene shows Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd) looking at her Facebook page to discover badly photoshopped images of Martha with the famous figures.

Baby Reindeer, the extraordinary hit Netflix drama, has been viewed more than 60 million times in the past month

Last night's interview saw Ms Harvey claim she has been in a relationship with a lawyer for the past five years, adding that she has other successful lawyers as friends.

The Scottish woman also said she has a law degree from Aberdeen University, which she studied for in the 1980s.

When questioned by Piers about her degree, Ms Harvey said: '[I got] alright grades. I mean not top of the year or anything, but alright grades.

'You're asking me what marks I got for 13 subjects - I can't remember.'

She added: 'I did alright, I didn't do top of the year.'
A former sailor who claims her career was ended when the captain's dinner table fell on her in rough seas is suing the Ministry of Defence for 500,000.

Joleen Williams, 38, sustained a spinal injury when her frigate HMS St Albans made an unplanned 180-degree turn while sailing off the south coast in October 2014.

She says she was pinned to a cabinet by her commanding officer's table damaging her spine resulting in her medical discharge from the Royal Navy in December 2017.

The former leading medical assistant (LMA) is suing the MoD at Central London County Court, for 500,000 in compensation for the loss of her ten-year career.

The MoD is fighting the claim, saying the captain's table was fixed down and there was a warning sounded known as a 'pipe' to announce the change of direction.

Joleen Williams is suing the Ministry of Defence after she suffered a spinal injury on duty

Miss Williams says she is entitled to 500,000 in compensation for the loss of her career

Commander Catherine Jordan told the court a warning was given before the ship turned

Judge Richard Roberts was told that Miss Williams, from the Poole area, was sailing on board HMS St Albans off the Isle of Portland when she was injured.

In her evidence, she told the court she had been ordered to have dinner at the table of the ship's commanding officer, Commander Catherine Jordan, who is now a commodore.

'At about 20.00 hours, after we had finished the last course of the dinner, but the table had still to be cleared, the ship rolled unexpectedly to starboard,' Miss Williams said.

'No warning pipe had been given in advance. I was thrown backwards in my chair with my back against the filing cabinet.

'I remember the commanding officer calling up to the bridge and telling them: 'What the hell are you doing up there? You just took out our LMA'.

'It took a few minutes for the other people in the cabin to get the table off me.'

HMS St Albans where Miss Williams was stationed when she sustained the injuries

For the MoD, barrister Richard Seabrook denied liability for the injuries, claiming that the warning pipe - stating 'Do you hear there, the ship is about to turn across the sea and may/will roll'- was sounded.

Miss Williams was at fault herself for not doing enough to stabilise herself after the disputed warning was sounded, he claimed.

'The defendant's case is that a pipe was made, so warning the entire ship's company that the turn was going to be made and to prepare for that,' he told the judge.

'The table had been secured and secured adequately by a cable that ran from its underside to a fixing point on the deck beneath the table.

'In any event, as a matter of fact it didn't fall on to the claimant. The warning pipe was made.'

In her written evidence to the court, Commodore Jordan said: 'I recall a warning pipe was sounded.

'Immediately the pipe was heard, myself and the other crew members stabilized themselves and also ensured that the dinner items on the table such as the jugs and glasses did not slide off the table as the ship rolled.'

The trial continues.
Keir Starmer today vowed to ditch the 'dead horse' Rwanda scheme 'straight away' if he wins power - despite signs it is already having a deterrent effect.

The Labour leader hardened up his stance against the government's Channel boats strategy as he paraded Tory defector Natalie Elphicke at a speech in her Dover constituency.

Sir Keir was introduced by Ms Elphicke as he fleshed out plans for a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the crisis during a visit her Dover constituency.

'It's fantastic to be in your constituency, welcome to the Labour Party,' he said.

Sir Keir dismissed anger in his own ranks at the bombshell, arguing that Ms Elphicke's switch showed 'we've got a Tory party that is on its last legs... it's out of ideas' and urging people to be 'less tribal in our pursuit of a better country'.

Sir Keir insisted that the issue of boat crossings must be tackled 'upstream', mocking Rishi Sunak for trying to 'build a wall' in the Channel.

The new command will bring together key agencies including the MI5, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service. It would mark the first time that MI5 agents have been deployed in this way on the problem.

Highlighting his experience as a former Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir said that there should also be new counter-terror style powers to shut off internet access and close bank accounts of suspected people-smugglers.

'We will secure Britain's borders. And we will also rebuild Britain's broken asylum system,' Sir Keir said.

However, Tories dismissed the plans for 'yet another Labour quango' as a 'rearranging of the bureaucratic deckchairs'. They demanded to know where Sir Keir plans to send failed asylum seekers if not to Rwanda.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said Labour would 'create a haven for criminal gangs' and 'make the UK the asylum capital of the world'.

Keir Starmer hardened his stance against the government's Channel boats strategy as he paraded Tory defector Natalie Elphicke at a speech in Dover

Sir Keir was introduced by Ms Elphicke (pictured) as he pushed plans for a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the Channel crisis

Keir Starmer (pictured with Natalie Elphicke) was announcing plans to create a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the small boats crisis

Government sources dismissed the plans for 'yet another Labour quango' as a 'rearranging of the bureaucratic deckchairs' (file picture of migrants trying to cross the Channel last month)

Evidence has been increasing about the effect of the Rwanda plan, with Ireland complaining that large numbers of migrants are crossing the border with Northern Ireland to avoid being sent to the African state.

One migrant told Sky News he had paid smugglers 500 to be taken back to France from the UK, as he was worried about being deported to Rwanda or Iraq.

Gangs also reportedly moaned that they were running out of passengers as a result of the controversial policy.

But Sir Keir said the Rwanda scheme is an 'absolute waste of money' and 'a gimmick, not a solution' as he detailed Labour's approach.

'They will get flights off the ground, I dont doubt that but I also dont doubt it will not work, he said.

His commitment was to 'ending the scheme absolutely, flights and all'. 'It is not going to work, it is an absolute waste of money. It is a gimmick, not a solution,' he said.

'I'm not prepared to have a government that is run on gimmicks.'

Sir Keir refused to give a target for reducing numbers crossing the Channel.

But he said he had 'smashed' terrorist gangs as head of the CPS and could do the same to smuggling gangs.

The Border Command would be an 'elite force, not a Cinderella service', he claimed.

'We will restore serious government to our borders, tackle this problem at source and replace the Rwanda policy permanently,' Sir Keir said.

Sir Keir said he would seek a new partnership with Europe to access real-time intelligence and that he has been to the Hague to push for a new security pact.

He said stronger powers are needed to bring smuggling gangs to justice, including powers to shut off internet access, close their bank accounts and trace their movements using intelligence agency information.

'We use the term small boats, but the boats are not for the most part that small,' Sir Keir said. 'The gangs now use dinghies on a scale way beyond anything you would see for legitimate recreational activity.'

In a message to smuggling gangs, he said: 'These shores will become hostile territory for you  we will find you. We will stop you. We will protect your victims with the Border Security Command. We will secure Britain's borders.'

'I dragged my party away from the allure of gesture politics. And I will do the same for Westminster,' he said.

Ms Elphicke's dramatic crossing of the floor at PMQs on Wednesday has caused shockwaves through Labour.

She was considered on the right of the Tories, and previously slammed the Labour leader as 'Sir Softie' for his approach to Channel migration.

Sir Keir trumpeted the defection as evidence that Labour has broad appeal and can take on the Conservatives in their own core issues. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting boasted overnight that the party is talking to more prospective switchers on the government benches, with Dan Poulter already having made the change a fortnight ago.

However, critics have accused Sir Keir of turning the party into a 'dustbin' for Conservative right-wingers - while even normally staunch supporter Lord Kinnock has warned he needs to be careful who to accept.

Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy suffered an awkward moment on the BBC's Question Time last night when the audience was asked whether Ms Elphicke was an 'asset' to her party and no-one put their hand up.

Sir Keir went to Dover to make the case for his approach to the Channel crisis

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper was in the audience, after admitting she did not know about Ms Elphicke's defection until she actually crossed the floor in the Commons

Sir Keir's allies have been stressing that Ms Elphicke is not standing for re-election in Dover and will not have a frontbench role or be handed a peerage. Labour's candidate in Dover, Mike Tapp, also spoke at the event today.

Yesterday Ms Elphicke issued an apology for comments in which she appeared to blame victims after her husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she succeeded as Dover MP, was convicted of sexual assualt.

Introducing her new leader today, Ms Elphicke said Labour would provide 'a fresh approach' to the issue 'that puts at its heart a commitment to border security'.

Taking questions after the speech in Dover, Sir Keir said: 'I'm very pleased to welcome Natalie to the Labour Party. You've heard the reasons yourself why she took that very difficult step.'

He said he wanted his 'changed' party to be a place where 'reasonably minded people, whichever way they voted in the past' feel they can join

'It is an invitation that we should be less tribal in the pursuit of a better country and invite people to our party who want to join in our object of national renewal,' Sir Keir said.

Asked where he would draw the line with right-wing politicians and whether he would welcome Nigel Farage into Labour, he said 'a list of names doesn't help anyone but Nigel Farage wouldn't want to join Labour' but added that he wanted to 'bring as many people with us as possible'

Graph showing the number of migrants that have arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel since 2019

Labour said its new Border Command would be bolstered by new counter- terror powers to smash the smuggling gangs.

A former police, military or intelligence chief will be appointed to lead the body and report to the Home Secretary.

Labour also said it would hire hundreds of specialist investigators, intelligence agents and cross-border police officers to work across the UK and Europe to protect the border.

The plans will be paid for by redirecting 75million of the allocated costs for the Rwanda scheme, which Labour has repeatedly vowed to scrap  even if it is working.

Labour has previously said it will overturn the Government's asylum ban by considering the claims of all those who have entered the UK illegally since March last year.

Mr Cleverly said: 'Rather than starting the flights and stopping the boats, Sir Keir Starmer's big new idea is an amnesty for all illegal immigrants.'

A source close to the Home Secretary likened the plans to a 'rearranging official deck chairs to create a quango directed to do work they've already been doing under this Government'.

The source added: 'He's setting himself up as a Labour King Canute claiming his hollow words can stop the waves. Meanwhile this Government will continue working to stop the boats.'

Some 211 people made the journey from France to the UK on yesterday in three boats, provisional Home Office figures show.

This suggests an average of around 70 people per boat and takes the provisional total for Channel crossings in 2024 to date to 9,037.

This is up 35 per cent on this time last year, when 6,691 crossings were recorded, and a 16% rise compared to the same period in 2022 (7,801),
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has blamed parents working from home for an 'unacceptable' spike in school absences on Fridays.

An analysis of Government figures has shown unauthorised absences are 20 per cent higher on Fridays than Wednesdays.

Ms Keegan said schools were facing 'major challenges' with parents taking their children out of the classrooms for long weekends or holidays without permission.

Writing in The Times, the Education Secretary said: 'There are still major challenges with data showing unauthorised holiday absence increasing by 25 per cent.

'There are regularly 50,000 more pupil absences on a Fridays compared with Mondays, which could be linked with many parents working from home.'

The Cabinet minister said that being in school was 'fundamental to a child's future success in life' as she vowed to improve attendance rates as her 'top priority'.

She also set out her intention to restore social norms about children attending school every day, as she admitted the Covid pandemic 'had a major impact on school attendance'.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has blamed parents working from home for an 'unacceptable' spike in school absences on Fridays

An analysis of Government figures has shown unauthorised absences are 20 per cent higher on Fridays than Wednesdays

'We are very clear: it is unacceptable to take a deliberate decision to take your child out of school,' the Education Secretary said.

The Times reported that Ms Keegan wants to move on from Covid-era expectations that children with runny noses and other minor ailments should stay at home, while stressing that those with mild anxiety should also be expected to attend school.

The newspaper's analysis of Government data showed absence rates rose from 4.7 per cent in 2019 to 7.6 per cent in 2021 and remain at 7 per cent.

According to daily data for the current academic year, overall absence rates are 6.6 per cent on Wednesdays, rising to 7.8 per cent on Fridays.

The trend was even more pronounced for unauthorised absences, which are 20 per cent higher on Fridays than Wednesdays.

The gap is biggest in primary schools, suggesting parents rather than pupils are driving the spike in Friday absences.

Primary pupils are 21 per cent more likely to be absent on Friday and 24 per cent more likely to be absent without reason.

In her article, Ms Keegan said that regular school attendance 'isn't just about getting the best academic grades.

'It's also about the things we often take for granted - like making friends in the playground, building vital social skills and a curriculum which gives them the best chance to reach their true potential,' she added.

The Education Secretary outlined how the Government was pursuing a 'support-first approach' to tackling school absence - but also warned of punitive measures.

'Where this support-first approach does not work, we have increased the minimum fine by 20 up to 80,' she said.

'We are very clear: it is unacceptable to take a deliberate decision to take your child out of school.

'This matters because every day a child is absent means they will miss on average five to six lessons  time they will never get back.

She added: 'There are still too many children whose attendance hasnt yet recovered.

'Thats why we will do everything we can to support schools, parents and children to overcome the obstacles that lead to school absence.'

According to figures for March, released by the Department of Education, 150,000 children at state schools were classed as severely absent for the 2022-23 school year. That was 30,000 more than the year prior.

It is also 150 per cent higher than the 60,000 who were severely absent in 2018-19, before the pandemic, according to Government statistics.
Democractic mega-donor and Hollywood mogul Haim Saban has slammed President Joe Biden for halting a shipment of weapons to Israel.

Biden halted a shipment of 3,500 bombs to Israel last week, and said on Wednesday that he was happy to pause more arm shipments if Benjamin Netanyahu launches a full-scale invasion against Rafah, the last-standing city of the Gaza Strip.

But Hollywood media mogul Haim Saban, one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors, attacked Biden's combative stance.

In an email to Biden aides Steve Ricchetti and Anita Dunn, Axios reported, former IDF soldier Saban said: 'Let's not forget that there are more Jewish voters, who care about Israel, than Muslims voters that care about Hamas.'

Saban, estimated to be worth $2.8billion, described Biden's decision as 'bad... on all levels', adding that it 'sends a terrible message to our allies in the region, and beyond, that we can flip from doing the right thing to bending to political pressure.'

Saban, who has donated and raised millions of dollars for the Democratic party, ramped up his campaign spending in the last six weeks of the 2020 election, after staying out of the race.

Hollywood media mogul Haim Saban (pictured), one of the Democratic Party's biggest donors, attacked Biden's combative stance

Saban sent the email to Biden aides Steve Ricchetti and Anita Dunn

In one virtual fundraising event that year, he raised $4.5million after selling tickets for half a million dollars each.

During the 2016 race, which Hillary Clinton lost against Donald Trump, he gave more than $16million to the Democratic Party.

He has consistently said in media interviews: 'I'm a one-issue guy, and my issue is Israel.'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu minister said Thursday that his country will 'stand alone' if it has to in its war against Hamas after President Joe Biden said the U.S. would not provide offensive weapons for Israel's long-promised assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

'If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails,' he said. 'But we have much more than fingernails.'

Netanyahu's comments come amid a deepening crisis in relations with the United States.

Israel says that Rafah is Hamas' last stronghold in Gaza, and Netanyahu has repeatedly vowed to invade the city despite widespread international opposition due to concerns over the more than 1 million Palestinian civilians huddled in the city.

Biden's comments about providing weapons were the latest sign of steadily deteriorating relations between Israel and its closest and most important ally after seven months of Israel's war against Hamas.

The Israeli leader vowed to destroy Hamas after its October 7 rampage in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were captured and taken hostage.
Unhinged dictator of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko has admitted he is 'bonkers' and has no 'red lines' as he threatens the West with nuclear weapons given to him by Vladimir Putin.

His rant came as Russian and Belarusian forces carried out tactical nuclear weapons drills, claiming the West is threatening them.

'We are closer than ever to a nuclear catastrophe,' said Lukashenko, 69, who maintained his grip on power after rigging a presidential election and brutally quashing protests in 2020.

'We are not planning to attack anyone. But everyone should understand that we will hit back.

'And all their chatter ''AhPutin is pushing Lukashenko''. And then about me ''He's bonkers, he has no [red] lines''.

'They are absolutely right in saying so. I am far from stupid but I have no [red] lines.'

Belarus stages nuclear drills

Russian and Belarusian forces are carrying out tactical nuclear weapons drills, claiming the West is threatening them

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko take part in a flower-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Victory Day, which marks the 79th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War Two, in central Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2024

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko attends a meeting of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council of the Eurasian Economic Union at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, on Wednesday, May 8, 2024

Pictures and footage show Lukashenko's troops engaged in tactical nuclear weapons tests in Belarus that also involved land-fired Iskander missiles and aerial warheads fired from Su-25 planes.

Putin last year supplied nuclear weapons to Belarus, with Lukashenko constituting the Russian president's closest ally.

The pair met in Moscow this week amid ongoing exercises, where a rambling Lukashenko told journalists: 'Nuclear weapons are terrible weapons.

'You have probably noticed that we and the Russian leadership often emphasise - not of a strategic nature.

'God forbid that we should take up this button again.

Today's tactical weapons 'are many times more powerful than they were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki', Lukashenko said.

'One explosion will kill thousands and thousands of people. It's a terrible weapon. And in order to use such weapons, you have to train, you have to know how to do it.

'This is our third training. The Russians have done more than that. But why did we do it publicly? You see what the situation is.

'There is an escalation of tension, which comes primarily from Ukraine. But escalation is not only in Ukraine: the Middle East is already in flames, Iran is close by, further away, in the Pacific region - against China.

'I have already said: we are closer than ever to a nuclear catastrophe. What should we do in this situation?

'We must learn to shoot with a machine gun. And keep the powder dry, including this deadly weapon.

'For us and Russia, it's exclusively a weapon of deterrence. We don't want anything alien to us, and Russia doesn't want anything alien to them.'

Today's tactical weapons 'are many times more powerful than they were in Hiroshima and Nagasaki', Lukashenko said.

Masked Belarusian soldiers man a missile launcher

Putin and Lukashenko met in Moscow this week amid ongoing exercises, where the Belarusian president made shocking comments to journalists

FILE - In this photo released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on April 20, 2022, a Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile is launched from Plesetsk in northwestern Russia

Russian security council deputy head Dmitry Medvedev said this week that the use of Western missiles by Kyiv to strike on Russian soil - or the placement of NATO troops in Ukraine - will be seen as a direct entry of Western countries into the war 'to which we will have to respond'.

'In this case, none of them will be able to hide either on Capitol Hill, or in the Elysee Palace, or in 10 Downing Street.

'A world catastrophe will come.

'By the way, Kennedy and Khrushchev were able to understand this more than 60 years ago.

'But the current infantile morons who have seized power in the West do not want to understand,' he said.
Elizabeth Hurley and her son Damian have revealed how one of his godfathers smuggled 100 costumes into the Caribbean for their upcoming film Strictly Confidential.

The actress, 58, was appearing on The One Show alongside Damian, 22, who wrote and directed the mystery film which his mother starred in.

He described how he had to ask one of his godfathers to bring a suitcase of costumes - mostly bikinis - out to join them after they had problems at customs.

Damian has six godfathers, Sir Elton John, his partner David Furnish, Hugh Grant, Denis Leary, Teddy Forstmann and Henry Dent Brocklehurst.

The film, which was filmed in St Kitts and Nevis, features a sex scene involving Liz Hurley, which she laughed off when asked about whether it was strange for her son to have directed it.

Elizabeth Hurley, 58, and her son Damian, 22, appeared on Thursday night's episode of The One Show

Sir Elton John is just one of Damian's six godfathers, along with his partner David Furnish (not pictured)

Liz Hurley's ex-boyfriend Hugh Grant (left), one of Damian's godfathers, supported his godson at the film's screening this week, as did his other godfather David Furnish (right)

Liz Hurley (right) chose six godfathers for her son, including Denis Leary (left)

The pair told The One Show that due to the film being 'low budget', they had to film scenes quickly and had little room for error or delays.

But disaster struck when a shipment of costumes was denied entry at the border and shipped back to the US.

Damian said: 'This was about a week before we were meant to be shooting. I think about 80 percent of our costumes got denied entry at the border, and were shipped back to the US.

'So we were there and there aren't really any costume shops, there's no infrastructure for a movie.

'I persuaded my male godfather to bring about 100 costumes in, smuggle them in a suitcase. And of course most of them were bikinis for the beach.

'So my very straight-laced godfather had to stand there going, "Of course these 80 bikinis are mine!", when he was stopped at customs. But we got them. And watch the movie, there's lots of bikinis, they made it.'

Damian and his mother attended the film's screening in London on Wednesday night along with Liz's ex Hugh Grant

Damian said Grant, pictured with Liz at this week's screening of Strictly Confidential, was not the bikini smuggler

Henry Dent Brocklehurst pictured with Liz Hurley at a black tie fundraising dinner in London in 2008

Sir Elton John's partner David Furnish (left) is another of the potential bikini smugglers

Liz Hurley dated Hugh Grant for 13 years until an amicable split in 2000 (the couple are pictured in 1994)

Damian didn't give any other clues as to the identity of his godfather, but did confirm it was not Hugh Grant.

'He is not the bikini smuggler,' he told Alex Scott.

American billionaire Teddy Forstmann, real name Theodore, is also ruled out as he sadly died in 2011.

That leaves Sir Elton John, David Furnish, US actor Denis Leary and Henry Dent Brocklehurst as potential smugglers.

Liz told the show she was first filmed by Damian when she gave him his first camera at the age of ten.

She said: 'He wrote sketches and initially little baby films and gradually go up to making bigger films.

'I always said I'd be in his first film, and because he filmed me so much, and because I often force him to take photo ops of me all the time, it just seemed like nothing.

'It was a very low budget film. It was just like do it and knock it out and get going.'

Speaking about filming intimate scenes, which includes a sex scene with another woman, Liz said: 'Everyone knows it's not actually sexy to shoot any kind of intimate scene. It's just technical. And we'd rehearsed it. Damian made it so comfortable. It was nothing.'
"AI Hype" has been a term many people heard from the tech industry over the past year as more companies and startups jump into the trend to secure their spot in the technology of tomorrow.

Yet, the same hype could be hurting future innovations as demand for the trend puts people's safety and privacy at risk.

Also Read : AI Too Expensive to Replace Most Workers Yet, MIT Study Says

AI Remains a Costly Venture to Become Profitable

Despite AI firms' claims of improvement in their AI machines, most large language models remain inefficient outside of a limited function.

All of the products available in the market are still prone to "AI hallucinations" and need constant human intervention to operate smoothly.

For these technologies to fully work requires further development, resources, and time to complete, an expensive venture for a far-off future many companies have found out after using the technology.

A study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology even suggests that it is "more economically attractive" to hire regular workers than to employ AI systems to automate roles.

AI Innovation is an Unfocused Business Venture

Even the companies' market competition can be pointed out as a cause for actual innovations for the technology stall.

As it is now, companies have been promoting the use of AI across a wide variety of professions and applications.

However, many of these ventures remain in initial phases as startups try to pierce the already steeped market even if their products are unfinished.

Bigger Demands for AI Overtake Safety Precautions

Amid concerns about its development, AI companies continue to release more AI products for a wide variety of uses at a rapidly increasing pace as demand for the technology increases.

This, in turn, sacrifices much needed for companies to assess all security and safety risks posed by the technology.

It does not help that many AI firms keep most of their safety tests inside closed doors, allowing major vulnerabilities and system issues to remain unresolved even after the technology is released to the public.

The result is the backwards safety assessment major AI companies are adopting today where most security risks are flagged after consumers have already used the product.

Notable evidence is the prevalence of AI generating inaccurate information or being used by bad actors despite the companies' promises to provide stronger guardrails on their products.
Tents being provided to migrants in Ireland are being paid for with taxpayers' money, MailOnline can reveal.

The Irish government has confirmed that one of its departments is funding four homeless charities to supply the tents which have lined the streets of Dublin for several months.

We can reveal that the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth is using taxpayer money to allow Mendicity, Capuchin Day Centre, Tiglin and Crosscare to give out tents to migrants who have arrived in Dublin on small boats to seek asylum.

The revelation has sparked anger among Irish locals who said it was a 'joke' that their hard-earned cash was being used on tents, which are then being cleared and destroyed.

Glen Thomas, a 26-year-old maintenance worker from near Smithfield, Dublin, told MailOnline: 'It frustrates me, I have to say. I've just come out of a day's work, a hard graft, trying to earning a wedge.

Asylum seekers' tents on the Grand Canal bank at Warrington Place, Dublin

Tents being provided to migrants in Ireland are being paid for with taxpayers' money, MailOnline can reveal

A view of several tents which are about to be removed at Dublin's Grand Canal

Former St.Brigid's Home Crooksling which is currently being used to house asylum seekers in Dublin

'I pay a lot of tax every month and that's where it's going, it's totally unfair - and I'm not the only one. I work hard every day, Monday to Friday. It's a joke.'

He added: 'I disagree with it totally. I'm against it all to be honest. There's plenty of Irish people that need it, there's so many Irish homeless people, they don't even get tents, never mind homes.

'It's a no-brainer for me, they should be looking after their own people before. There's so many incidents that have happened when they've come over.'

When asked if he was surprised that this is where taxpayer money is going, he said: 'Not really, not with the way the government it is. It's corrupt.'

It comes after the Irish government said on Thursday: 'Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY) is funding homeless service providers (Mendicity, Capuchin Day Centre, Tiglin, Crosscare) for provision of necessary basics which may include tents.'

Salesman Garreth Lloyd, from Donnycarney, Dublin, told MailOnline: 'When they are coming in illegally, I don't know if our tax money should be going there. You don't know who you are letting in. It's different when it's illegal migrants coming in.

'I think I'd rather the money I pay my tax with to be getting our own homeless people off the streets. If you were to give me the option rather than to illegal immigrants that we don't know what kind of these people are. I don't think that's where I want my taxpayer money going.'

The 30-year-old, who had just started a new job as an electric salesman, added: 'I'm all for immigrants coming over. The only thing is a lot of things have happened this year with immigrants but they are not vetted. I have a problem with that. I have no problem with migrants coming over except when they are not vetted.'

When asked where he would prefer his money to be going, he said: 'I think at the moment it's mainly Irish homeless people in Dublin. The homeless crisis is absolutely crazy.'

Salesman Garreth Lloyd (pictured), from Donnycarney, Dublin, told MailOnline: 'When they are coming in illegally, I don't know if our tax money should be going there. You don't know who you are letting in. It's different when it's illegal migrants coming in'

Catrina O'Doherty (pictured), 40, said: 'If we are paying for tents and then they are being destroyed a week after, it's a waste of money.It's frustrating, it's a waste of money definitely '

Mother-of-one Erica Ryan, from Smithfield, Dublin, said: 'They shouldn't be in the country. It's not fair. The Government don't look after their own, so why look after the migrants? They are not even vetted, some of these people.

'I would prefer the money to go on Irish people, to help them to be housed. They are getting everything when they coming into the country and the Irish are left to live on the streets, that's not fair.'

The 32-year-old added: 'It doesn't surprise me, with this country anymore. It's bad what they are doing and it's going to cause more and more trouble. It's their own fault.'

Catrina O'Doherty, 40, said: 'If we are paying for tents and then they are being destroyed a week after, it's a waste of money.It's frustrating, it's a waste of money definitely. '

She added: 'They need to house people. I think they should have an organised reception centre and I don't know they are processing them that well and people are being left to their own devices.

'We are going to have immigration all over the world due to wars. We are all immigrants the way I see it, people have moved always across the world. We are an island, we didn't just sprout up here.'

Her friend, who did not want to be named, added: 'That doesn't make any sense to me. If it is, it does seem kind of strange that you are paying tents and then you are not controlling how they are being distributed.'

Michael Noone, 45, said: 'There's an awful lot of homeless people in Ireland which they should look after the Irish people.

'I work at Dublin City Council, I'm back living with my mum and I'm 45 years of age. I can't get priority to get a house over here and they prioritise refugees.

'I think they should get their priorities with the Irish people first.'

The Dublin City Council worker, from Blackhall, added: 'I don't mind the Irish taxpayer paying money if they are official. At the end of the day, we have to look after them, you can't leave them on the street.

'I think the taxpayer should pay for a certain limit, up to three months. But after a certain limit, they should be quicker to get them back where they are from. The process should be quicker, that's my opinion.'

Michelle, 52, from Colndalkin, said she was 'concerned' to hear taxpayer money going on those who had crossed into Ireland illegally.

She said: 'It concerns me an awful lot. This world is so dangerous. I don't believe taxpayers should be paying for illegal migrants, they should be brought back to their country.

'It's alright helping the women and children but men, no. I would rather the money went on our homeless people, a lot of them need help and are struggling with addiction. It's the government's fault. They are coming to our country trying to help and they are doing wrong things.'

In contrast, Ken, from the Smithfield area, said he did not mind his taxpayer money going on the tents.

He said: 'It's very difficult because they've got 200-odd supposed to be coming in every week. They have to be housed, well we don't have to house them, we don't have housing for our own. But something has to be done.

'I think every homeless person is the same, they are all human beings so they have to be looked after in some way. Our problem is money at a state. Small country, small population. Bigger countries can do a bit better.

Michelle (pictured), 52, from Colndalkin, said she was 'concerned' to hear taxpayer money going on those who had crossed into Ireland illegally

Michael Noone (pictured), 45, said: 'There's an awful lot of homeless people in Ireland which they should look after the Irish people'

'The opposition never say what they think can be done or what they would do, it's all vote-catching at the time, with the election coming up.'

When asked if he thought most Irish people would agree with him, he said: 'I would hope so. There's nothing else we can do.

'People are saying we should have seen it coming, we didn't see it coming to the extent it is coming. We were slow to react, Government's everywhere are slow to react.'

Asylum seekers had spent months surrounding Dublin's International Protection Office on Mount Street in the city centre until it was dismantled on May 1.

The Irish government had blamed Britain's Rwanda policy for a recent influx of migrants leaving Northern Ireland for Dublin.

Migrants living in Mount Street before it was destroyed and cleaned told MailOnline how they had left the UK to avoid being sent to Rwanda - and even thanked Britain for now allowing asylum seekers to be sent back to Belfast.

Asylum seeker Otumba, who travelled from Nigeria to the UK before settling in Dublin via Belfast, said last week: 'I came into the UK. I wanted to seek asylum. Then 5 weeks ago we heard that the Rwanda Bill is going to be passed, and we don't want to go back to Africa.

'Africa is not an option. It is not safe. Africa is like a volcano that can erupt at any time. We decided to go to Ireland on information that Ireland is safer and more accommodating.

'We had an idea about what was going to happen, so you don't take chances.'

Otumba, in his 40s, arrived in the UK four months ago after flying from his home in Lagos,Nigeria, on a six-month tourist visa. He intended to claim asylum when his visa expired because he faced 'persecution' back home.

He continued: 'Now our Irish prime minister wants to put emergency legislation to send people back. It's not going to work because the UK will say they are not willing to accept asylum seekers from Ireland which I think is good news to us.

'We don't want to go Rwanda. It's a very good thing that we can't go back to [Northern Ireland]. It concerns me that [Ireland wants to send people back].'

Just days after the tents were removed on Mount Street, a replacement encampment sprung up along Dublin's Grand Canal but around 100 tents were removed by diggers on Thursday and the area was fenced off.

Migrants have now been moved to tents at Crooksling, a former nursing home an hour out of Dublin in the mountains, and Citywest - a nearby hotel where many Ukrainians are also being housed.

The removal of the encampments comes amid a diplomatic row between the UK and Ireland over migrants coming to Dublin from Northern Ireland.

The Irish Government said on Thursday that 163 asylum seekers were moved to Crooksling, where 10 to 12-man 'tents and weather-proof tents' have been supplied for migrants. There are toilets and showers, health services, and indoor areas for food at Crooksling.

When MailOnline visited the site, there was a 10ft metal gate and security preventing access. Three police cars also entered the premises in quick succession but left shortly after.

The Grand Canal encampment in Dublin now has barriers up to prevent migrants returning. Waterways Ireland, which is responsible for the Grand Canal property, spent 13,500 on cleaning up the latest tent city.

Irish prime minister Simon Harris told parliament on Wednesday that the similar operation last week had a 'very positive impact' and averted a 'public health near-emergency'.

Former St.Brigid's Home Crooksling which is currently being used to house asylum seekers in Dublin

He said: 'I continue to believe that it was the right action to take. I became Taoiseach four weeks ago, I took charge of this situation.

'There had been, in my view, a tacit acceptance by many State agencies that the situation on Mount Street could just continue and was just the new norm. That was not right.'

He added: 'We will deal with the Grand Canal. Action will be taken.'

Justice Minister Helen McEntee, who recently alleged that more than 80 per cent of migrants in Ireland are coming in via Northern Ireland to avoid deportation to Rwanda, said that the government must ensure a tent city does not return.

'Once people are moved, measures will be put in place to ensure that it doesn't happen again.'

'When they are provided with that accommodation, it's also really important that we don't see scenes like we're seeing now at Mount Street again, that it cannot re-emerge, that we have hundreds of tents  not just outside the international protection office  but outside people's homes, outside people's businesses.'

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared last month that he is 'not interested' in taking back migrants from Ireland given that the EU refuses to take back Channel migrants who arrived from France.

He was speaking after Ireland warned they could draft emergency laws to force refugees back to the UK.

Mr Harris vowed to pass new laws to facilitate returns of migrants after the country's courts declared the UK cannot be classed as 'safe' due to its pact with Rwanda.

But the UK Government said it would ignore any law passed by Ireland, with a No 10 spokesperson declaring: 'Even if Ireland was to pass legislation, it is up to the UK Government to decide who it does or does not accept into the country.

'We are not going to start accepting returns from the EU, just as France doesn't accept returns from the UK.'

MailOnline has contacted DCEDIY and the four homeless charities for comment.
A TV builder who helped victims of cowboy traders on a hit BBC show has won a 500,000 court fight after his company was accused of botched work for a millionaire widow, including fitting a shower too small to get under, a toilet that didn't flush properly and leaving a boot print in the paintwork.

Paul Shanahan, managing director of Greystoke Builders Ltd, played a key role in nine episodes of BBC's Cowboy Trap, in which he was called in to salvage jobs undertaken by rogue operators.

But he ended up in court himself when his company was accused by African studies academic Dr Zohor Aylwin of leaving multiple defects at her 1.2million home.

She alleged the issues occurred during a 113,000 revamp at her home.

After a trial at Mayor and City County Court, Judge Nicholas Parfitt KC threw out Dr Aylwin's claim and ordered her to stump up 36,760 to cover the costs of the work.

Dr Zohor Aylwin (right) had accused Greystoke Builders Ltd of botched work at her 1.2million home in Watford, but her claims were thrown out at Mayor and City County Court

Paul Shanahan, managing director of Greystoke Builders Ltd, played a key role in nine episodes of BBC's Cowboy Trap, in which he was called in to salvage jobs undertaken by rogue operators - but ended up fighting claims against his company in court

But she could end up paying considerably more, with a decision on what proportions of the 460,000 lawyers' bills each side will pay to be made at a later date.

He said there was no evidence the toilet didn't work, the shower fitting had been provided by Dr Aylwin, and that the boot print would have easily been solved in snagging.

Judge Parfitt said many of the alleged 'defects' would have been picked up at the end of the work, but that Dr Aylwin had not engaged in a 'sensible snagging process' after the parties fell out.

In online promotional material for Greystoke, Mr Shanahan describes 'working with BBC1 as the good guys on the Cowboy Trap - going in and rectifying the disasters previous builders have left'.

But his company ended up in a legal fight with the Moroccan culture expert after Greystoke carried out the revamp on her home in the Oaks, Watford, in 2019.

The case began when Mr Shanahan's company sued Dr Aylwin for unpaid invoices totalling about 44,000, with her then suing the company in return over an alleged series of defects in the work.

Her barrister, Ashley Pratt, said her complaints included sub-standard paintwork, including a step marked with a 'boot print of the company's employee,' problems with the newly fitted kitchen, and a toilet that failed to flush.

'The shower was clearly too short to fit under and was clearly unsuitable,' he added.

He said Dr Aylwin disputed the claim to the unpaid invoices, saying defects in the work effectively 'extinguish' the building company's bill.

But in court, Greystoke's barrister Paul Fisher denied there was evidence of the defects alleged and highlighted the north London-based company's 'many years experience undertaking work of the nature undertaken at the property'.

He told the judge: 'Indeed one of the company's witnesses and directors, Mr Paul Shanahan, worked as an expert on the BBC television programme 'Cowboy Trap', in which his team sought to rectify and compete works in residential homes initially undertaken by 'cowboy' builders.'

Mr Shanahan was personally engaged in the renovation works at Dr Aylwin's home, the court heard, and had also negotiated the contract and 'scope of works'.

Greystoke insisted its team did their utmost to carry out a successful overhaul of Dr Aylwin's home and said the house had not been in a good condition when they went in.

The decor was in 'visibly poor pre-existing condition', said the barrister, adding that the previous poorly finished paintwork 'clearly had an impact on the visual appearance of the claimant's works'.

Dr Zohor Aylwin's 1.2million home in The Oaks, Watford, where Greystoke Builders Ltd carried out a 113,000 revamp

'The defects alleged by the defendants do not come close to a sum that would set off or nullify the total debt claimed by the claimant,' he told the judge.

Mr Fisher labelled the case a 'relatively simple debt claim which has spiraled out of control by virtue of alleged, but unsubstantiated defects that have been raised by the defendants'.

As a result, he said the relatively small-scale debt dispute had mushroomed into a three-day court action involving expert witnesses and with total legal costs projected at around 460,000.

Giving judgment, Judge Parfitt rejected Dr Aylwin's counterclaim, saying that many of her criticisms would have been solved if she had engaged in snagging.

'There are a number of items which would have been fixed had a sensible snagging process been conducted,' he said.

'This was raised by Greystoke, but not provided by Dr Aylwin.'

He specifically rejected criticism of the way the toilet was fitted, pointing out that it had been inspected by experts and seen to be flushing properly.

'It has not been proven that Greystoke has installed otherwise than in accordance with reasonable practice,' he said.

He also said that the shower fitting had been provided by the householder and it was 'reasonable' for Greystoke to try to fit it.

Taken overall, the decorating work was of 'the standard of a reasonable contractor,' although a slight reduction in the bill would be made for issues that would have been picked up by snagging.

An expert did not even notice the boot print in the paintwork on the step and, when shown a photograph of it, said it would probably be easily painted over.

'On balance, I determine that where appropriate some deduction should be made for what I regard as snagging items,' he continued.

He said there would be some reductions from the final bill due to snagging issues, variation in the work done, and to remove some extra fees.

'The claimant's claim succeeds in the sum of 36,760,' he concluded.
A Virginia school board today voted to reinstate Confederate names to two schools that were stripped of their original names in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2020.

The school board of Shenandoah County, Virginia, voted 5-1 to undo the 2020 decision, which saw a high school and elementary school stripping the names of three military leaders of the pro-slavery Southern states in the US Civil War: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee, and Turner Ashby.

The schools were called Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School  both in Quicksburg, Virginia  but were renamed Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School.

The dramatic reversal comes after four years of wrangling following the original name changes during Covid and in the wake of the George Floyd murder by police in Minneapolis that sparked the Black Lives Matter movement.

It is believed to be the country's first case of any schools being realigned with Confederate icons amid continuing public unease over associations with a movement that fought to maintain slavery.

Eighth-grade student Aaliyah Ogle speaks against reverting the names of two schools in Quicksburg, Virginia, to those honoring Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee at an emotional public session of Shenandoah County Schools Board on May 9, 2024

The school board of Shenandoah County, Virginia, voted 5-1 to undo the 2020 decision that had renamed the district's high school to Mountain View High (pictured)

The school's original name, after Confederate generals Stonewall Jackson, was changed four years ago as part of a resolution to condemn racism

Demonstrators call on the Shenandoah County school board to vote against restoring previously removed Confederate names to two local schools ahead of a school board meeting

The vote went through despite furious backlash from some residents who had formed a group called Claim the Names to fight the return  and many others who spoke passionately at the public part of the meeting which lasted more than five hours.

School board documents showed the 2020 name change was part of a resolution to condemn 'racism and affirm the division's commitment to an inclusive school environment for all.'

A local conservative coalition, the Coalition for Better Schools, asked the Shenandoah County school board in April to reinstate the names, writing that doing so was 'essential to honor our community's heritage.'

In its written request to the board, the group cited surveys that it mailed to residents of the districts from which the schools' students are drawn, saying that out of 1,160 responses to 8,507 surveys sent, more than 90% favored switching back to the Confederate names.

The vote went through despite furious backlash from some residents who had formed a group called Claim the Names to fight the return  and many others who spoke passionately at the public part of the meeting which lasted more than five hours.

These included African American eighth-grade student, Aaliyah Ogle, who pleaded with eloquence for the new names to stay.

Virginia residents listen to public comments during a Shenandoah County school board hearing before the board voted to restore its original names

Ashby-Lee Elementary School, named after Confederate commander Robert E. Lee, and officer Turner Ashby, was also renamed to Honey Run Elementary School

But less than two years later, a petition was launched to gauge the strength of feeling on reverting the schools back to their original names, which was decided on a 5-1 vote on Thursday

Kyle Gutshall, the board's vice chairman, said the 2020 name change had increased public attention on the board and helped shift its political composition to the right

The middle schooler took to the podium in front the of packed meeting and said: 'This year I played three sports at Mountain View. I'm a black student.'

If the school's name is reverted to Stonewall Jackson she said: 'I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves.

'That makes me feel like I'm disrespecting my ancestors and going against what my family and I believe, which is that you should all be treated equally and that slavery an awful thing.

'It is unfair to me that restoring the names is up for discussion. Stonewall Jackson fought for slavery to be a constitutional right that would be carried out forever.'

Sarah Kohrs, who graduated from both schools, co-leads a citizens group that has garnered 687 signatures on an online petition to keep the current names.

Her oldest child attends the high school and she expects to enroll a younger child there as well.

'Their diplomas are going to state something, and I don't want it to state something linked to a Confederate general,' she said. 'I had to deal with that my entire life. I don't want my kids to deal with that.'

Kyle Gutshall, the board's vice chairman, said the 2020 name change had increased public attention on the board and helped shift its political composition to the right.

A group called Coalition for Better Schools then ramped up the pressure by distributing survey leaflets saying 'the names can be restored' and asking recipients to tick off the original titles

It claimed 91.3 percent of people who returned the forms demanded the schools go back to their original names

He voted to reinstate the Confederate names when a similar motion came up in 2022, primarily because he felt the 2020 decision was made without sufficient public input. The 2022 motion failed due to a tied vote.

The dramatically different outcome on Thursday follows the appointment four months ago of three new members to the board in a county steeped in Civil War history.

Their campaigning included calling for a rethink on the original switch, saying the 5-1 vote was not carried out following proper public consultation amid the pandemic.

A group called Coalition for Better Schools then ramped up the pressure by distributing survey leaflets saying 'the names can be restored' and asking recipients to tick two boxes next to the four choices.

It claimed 91.3 percent of people who returned the forms demanded the schools go back to their original names  and passed the results to the Shenandoah board asking members to consider the move.

The group's letter to members, obtained by DailyMail.com, said: 'These schools hold historical significance and have been integral parts of our community for many years

'We understand that the decision to rename these schools was made in response to discussions surrounding Confederate symbols. However, we believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor out community's heritage and respect the wishes of the majority.'

It added: 'Restoring these names would demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, respect for history, and responsiveness to community feedback.'

The elementary school was named, in part, after Robert E. Lee

Reverting to the names bucks a four-year trend of US institutions removing symbols of the Confederacy following nationwide racial justice protests

Gutshall said there was 'overwhelming' support in his district to keep the current names but that a 60% majority of the entire county still appeared to favor the old ones.

Michelle Manning, who represented Gutshall's district in 2020, said she and other board members heard for weeks from county residents who supported changing the schools' names before they voted to do so, even though in-person feedback opportunities were more limited due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Manning said some supporters of the current names might be afraid to speak out due to how charged the issue had become.

'I received phone calls threatening my well-being after our vote in 2020, so I personally cannot blame people,' she said.

Reverting to the names bucks a four-year trend of US institutions removing symbols of the Confederacy following nationwide racial justice protests triggered by the May 2020 murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officers.

Among the more than 60 U.S. schools formerly named after Confederate figures that have changed their name since 2020, none have reinstated the Confederate names so far, according to trade publication Education Week, which tracks such schools.
A British teenage tourist was reportedly raped in the toilets of a bar in Crete just yards away from her unsuspecting parents earlier this week.

The attack took place on Wednesday night while the 16-year-old holidaymaker was enjoying an evening with her parents at a bar in the tourist hotspot of Malia.

The young victim excused herself to go to the toilet, where she was allegedly set upon by an attacker who followed her into the bathroom.

He quickly fled the scene, but Malian police ascertained his identity upon reviewing CCTV footage from the bar after the victim reported the ordeal later that night, Greek outlet Protothema reports.

Police are now hunting the 28-year-old Pakistani national they believe carried out the attack.

The heinous attack took place on Wednesday night after the 16-year-old holidaymaker was enjoying an evening with her parents at a bar in the tourist hotspot of Malia

The shocking case comes just weeks after police in Majorca arrested an Italian man on suspicion of raping a British woman on a beach near Magaluf.

The 20-year-old was held after the victim complained he had forced himself on her after a night out in Palmanova which borders the famous party resort.

The alleged victim is a holidaymaker, according to sources close to the investigation.

Those sources confirmed the alleged rape had occurred in the early hours of April 11 but the arrest did not take place until three days later after detectives took statements from a witness and viewed CCTV footage.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Majorca said: 'The Civil Guard in Calvia has arrested an Italian man aged 20 as the suspected author of a crime of sexual assault on a woman.

The 20-year-old was held after the victim complained he had forced himself on her after a night out in Palmanova (pictured) which borders the famous party resort

'The alleged victim and suspect coincided in a late-night bar in Palmanova.

'When the bar closed, the suspect allegedly took advantage of the woman's state of disorientation because of the amount of alcohol she had drunk, to take her to the beach and rape her.

'Officers began an investigation and managed to identify and locate the alleged offender.'

The unnamed Italian was released on bail by an investigating magistrate following a subsequent court appearance.

The criminal probe is ongoing.
This video is no longer available

This video is no longer available

A migrant has revealed how he paid a smuggling gang to get him out of Britain and back to France because he didn't want to be sent to Rwanda.

Omar, who left Kurdistan two years ago after paying 12,000 to get to the UK, said his miserable experience in Britain persuaded him to return across the Channel.

The 52-year-old spoke to Sky News from a migrant camp in northern France as he explained how he 'couldn't cope with Britain anymore'.

'They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda - I cannot go there,' he said.

In a further sign the Government's asylum scheme with Rwanda is already proving a deterrent to potential migrants, smugglers moaned they are running out of clients.

'These are the last Kurdish customers I have. There are no more,' one told the TV news channel, as they answered 'Rwanda' when asked why.

The Sky News footage was broadcast on the same day Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer vowed to ditch the 'dead horse' Rwanda scheme 'straight away' if he becomes PM.

Omar, speaking to Sky News' Adam Parsons, revealed how he paid a smuggling gang to get him out of Britain and back to France because he didn't want to be sent to Rwanda

In a further sign the Government's asylum scheme with Rwanda is already proving a deterrent to potential migrants, smugglers moaned to Sky News they are running out of clients

The Sky News footage was broadcast on the same day Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer vowed to ditch the 'dead horse' Rwanda scheme 'straight away' if he becomes PM

In a speech in Dover, Sir Keir branded the Government's agreement for asylum seekers to be deported to the African country as an 'absolute waste of money'.

He said: 'It is not going to work, it is an absolute waste of money. It is a gimmick, not a solution. Im not prepared to have a government that is run on gimmicks.'

The Labour leader insisted the issue of migrants crossing the Channel in small boats must be tackled 'upstream' as he fleshed out plans for a 'Border Security Command'.

Sky News spoke to a series of migrants at a camp near Dunkirk after witnessing a fresh boatload of people attempt to leave the shore in northern France.

The report revealed how Omar was in Britain for 20 months, suffered a stroke, failed to gain asylum and ended up paying a smuggler 500 to return him to France.

'Here there is no washing or bath,' he said of conditions in the camp.

'You can't clean yourself. Life is hard. But in Britain I had to give my fingerprints and signature regularly. Once every two weeks.

'Then I was told they had turned me down for asylum. I couldn't cope with Britain anymore.

'They could arrest me and send me to Rwanda or Iraq. Rwanda - I cannot go there.

'So that's why I came back here, to this place. But I have no money. I am 52 years old.

'It's a terrible feeling to be back here, but what can I do?'

But others were less bothered about the UK Government's threat to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda.

Barzan, also from Kurdistan, said: 'People won't stop, whatever you tell them.

'Even if you tell them they will be taken to Africa, they would still go without hesitation. Rwanda is better than Kurdistan.

'But in Britain there is work. The currency is strong. I'm young and I want to make a life for myself.'

Another man named Karwan said: 'I think it's a joke. Two years ago they started going on about Rwanda and nothing came of it. Now, it's just for the sake of the election. Nothing else.'

Rishi Sunak has yet to see any migrants deported under the UK-Rwanda Migration and Economic Development Partnership, which was signed in April 2022.

But the Prime Minister is aiming for the first deportation flights to begin in July, following the passing of fresh legislation in Parliament.

It was recently revealed how a failed asylum seeker had gone to Rwanda from Britain under a separate voluntary scheme after being paid around 3,000 of taxpayers' cash.
A pair of elderly protestors who brazenly hammered the glass protecting the Magna Carta, before gluing themselves to the display as part of a Just Stop Oil protest, have been denounced for their 'reckless' stunt.

Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, an active Anglican priest, author, and retired psychotherapist from Bristol, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher from Swansea, entered the British Library and used a hammer and chisel to damage the glass enclosure around the ancient tome, at around 10.40am on Friday morning.

The pair then proceeded to glue themselves to the enclosure, while holding a sign reading: 'The government is breaking the law' and could be heard saying: 'Is the government above the law?'

They carried out the action to demand an emergency plan to stop new oil and gas licenses by 2030.

But their actions have been slammed by Tory Policing Minister Chris Philp, who said their stunt was an act of 'extremism'.

Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, an active Anglican priest, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher from Swansea, entered the British Library and used a hammer and chisel to shatter the glass enclosure around the ancient tome

Video footage of the incident shows the pair attempting to crack the display showing the Magna Carta with a hammer and chisel

Speaking to MailOnline, he said: 'Eco-zealots have gone from being harmless hippies to committing reckless acts of criminal damage.

'The Magna Carta is symbolic of our rules-based system, which Just Stop Oil and their friends clearly have contempt for.

'We decide things in this country through peaceful debate, reasoned persuasion and democratic elections - not by vandalism or violence.'

'The close links between these eco-terrorists and the Labour Party are becoming more worrying by the day.

'Sir Keir Starmer needs to join us and take a stand, calling out this extremism for what it is and showing it has no place in our peaceful and democratic society.'

Chairman of the Conservative Party Richard Holden described today's incident as 'reckless vandalism'.

The destructive duo were seen trying to hammer their way through the protective glass casing

He said: 'Dale Vince's climate crackpots have plumbed new depths.

'This bizarre assault on our country's history is the latest in a long line of reckless vandalism and destruction.

'It shows they are not interested in making a positive impact, but in purile performative politics.

'With Just Stop Oil's backer helping to shape Sir Keir's energy policy, it is terrifying to think this is his guiding philosophy.

'Sir Keir Starmer must condemn this latest vandalism at once and return 1.5 million plus he took on bended knee from Just Stop Oil's founder.'

Met Police confirmed that following the incident two people have been arrested and are currently in custody.

The two activists then appear to glue themselves to the display as part of their Just Stop Oil protest

In video footage of the incident, the pair can be seen going up to the toughened glass before using a hammer and chisel to cause damage to the casing.

Judy Bruce then states aloud: 'This famous document is about the rule of law and standing up against an abuse of power.

'And second of all, our government is breaking its own laws.'

Reverend Dr Parfitt then added: 'As a Christian I am compelled to do all that I can to alleviate the appalling suffering that's already coming down the line and is here already.'

As the video footage ended, the pair then appeared to glue their hands to the display glass.

The Magna Carta is a revered legal document dating back more than 800 years ago, which established for the first time that neither monarch nor government was above the law and set out principles of liberty that have endured through the centuries.

This famous royal charter of rights was agreed by King John at Runnymede, near Windsor, on June 15, 1215.

The pair of elderly Just Stop Oil activists have appeared together before.

In November, they interrupted a Thanksgiving service at St Paul's Cathedral by walking up to the front and holding up bright orange posters saying 'just stop oil' and 'will our children thank us?'

Just Stop Oil announced the pair's action on Friday morning via a social media post on X

And previously, Rev Parfitt has been arrested by police for joining chaotic climate protests in London.

In October 2022 she was among 16 people detained by cops for causing gridlock as eco protesters sat in the middle of the road and displayed banners in the capital.

The demonstrators also glued themselves to the tarmac near Holborn tube station as they demanded the Government halts all new oil and gas production.

In 2020 Rev. Parfitt was arrested for sitting in her camp chair outside the MoD's Abbey Wood site near Bristol and was found guilty of obstruction of a highway at Bristol Magistrates' Court last June.

However, in March 2022 Bristol appeal court ruled the Reverend had a 'lawful excuse' for her peaceful protest and that her use of the road was 'reasonable' and quashed the conviction.

Rev. Parfitt was also acquitted for climbing on top of a train at Shadwell DLR tube station and refusing to move until officers arrived in October 2019.

Reverend Sue Parfitt pictured being led away by an officer to a waiting police van during protests in London in 2022

Rev. Sue Parfitt taking part in a Just Stop Oil protest in London back in 2022

The Reverend has been arrested during a number of climate protests including blocking Britain's largest military site and Insulate Britain blockades

Parfitt pictured after she climbed on top of a DLR train with two other Christian climate activists at Shadwell tube station in October 2019

She was joined by two other Christian climate activists, Father Martin Newell, 54, who used a ladder to climb onto the roof of the Docklands Light Railway train, and Phil Kingston, 85, who superglued his hand to the side of the train.

As the pensioner was being led, arm-in-arm with a police officer to a waiting van, she said: 'I am doing this because we are on the brink of the greatest catastrophe that human beings have ever known, and the Government and the public have to wake up to this.

A statement from the British Library confirmed the hardened glass enclosure was 'minimally damaged', while the Magna Carta itself remains intact.

The statement said: 'An incident occurred at the British Library on Friday 10 May in which two individuals attacked the toughened glass case containing the Magna Carta in the Library's Treasures Gallery.

'The Library's Security team intervened to prevent further damage to the case, which was minimal.

'The police were notified and the Magna Carta itself remains undamaged.

'The Treasures Gallery is temporarily closed until further notice.'

Met Police confirmed the incident this morning and said two arrests had been made.

A statement said: 'At 10.52am police were called to the British Library to reports of Just Stop Oil activists trying to damage the Magna Carta.

'Officers arrested two people on suspicion of criminal damage, both of which are currently in custody.

'The damage caused was to the protective case and not the exhibit itself.'

In a statement appearing on the Just Stop Oil website this morning, protestor Judy Bruce said: 'This week 400 respected scientists - contributors to IPCC reports - are saying we are 'woefully unprepared' for what's coming: 2.5 or more degrees of heating above pre industrial levels.'

'Instead of acting, our dysfunctional government is like the three monkeys: 'See nothing, hear nothing, say nothing, pretend we've got 25 years.' We haven't! We must get off our addiction to oil and gas by 2030  starting now.'

Meanwhile Rev Dr Sue Parfitt said: 'The Magna Carta is rightly revered, being of great importance to our history, to our freedoms and to our laws.

'But there will be no freedom, no lawfulness, no rights, if we allow climate breakdown to become the catastrophe that is now threatened.'

Rev Dr Parfitt has previously been arrested for participating in climate protest action.

In 2022, she was among 16 people arrested for causing gridlock as eco protesters sat in the middle of the road and displayed banners, as well as gluing themselves to the tarmac near Holborn tube station.

Rev. Parfitt was also arrested for sitting in her camp chair outside the MoD's Abbey Wood site near Bristol and was found guilty of obstruction of a highway at Bristol Magistrates' Court in 2021.

However, on that occasion Bristol appeal court ruled that the Reverend had a 'lawful excuse' for her peaceful protest and that her use of the road was 'reasonable'.

Rev. Parfitt was also acquitted for climbing on top of a train at Shadwell DLR tube station and refusing to move until officers arrived in October 2019.
These are the two young children have died after getting caught up in the rough waters of California stream on an excursion with their mother.

Sophie Humann, 4, and her brother Deejay Humann, 2, were swept away after they entered the fast-moving water of a creek in San Bernardino on Tuesday.

The kids were playing near Mill Creek while on a day out to the Thurman Flats Picnic Area with their mother.

While the mom was tending to her son, the girl entered the water and got swept down the stream, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department.

The mother began a desperate search for her daughter - but when she returned to the little boy, she realized he had also disappeared.

The kids were playing near Mill Creek while on a day out to the Thurman Flats Picnic Area with their mother

Fire and law enforcement officials were enlisted to help in the desperate search for the kids

First responders are seen trying to revive one of the children with CPR

The kids were playing near Mill Creek while on a day out to the Thurman Flats Picnic Area with their mother

'After frantically searching, she hiked up to the picnic area and contacted another family to help search for the children but were unsuccessful in locating them,' said the sheriff's statement.

Fire and law enforcement officials were enlisted to help in the desperate search for the young kids.

The little girl was finally found at 4:39pm and her brother at 5:04pm near the creek's edge, abc7 reported.

A San Bernardino County Fire swift-water rescue team ultimately managed to locate them in the water.

The girl was sent to Redlands Community Hospital by ambulance while the boy was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Despite being rushed to local hospitals and receiving life-saving measures, both of the children were tragically pronounced dead at the hospital, the sheriff's statement said.

The girl was sent to Redlands Community Hospital by ambulance while the boy was airlifted to Loma Linda University Medical Center

Despite being rushed to local hospitals and receiving life-saving measures, both of the children were tragically pronounced dead at the hospital

A GoFundMe for the children has collected over $10,000.

It reads: 'On May 7th 2024 God welcomed two more beautiful angels through his gates. It is with extreme sadness that we announce the passing of Sophie and Deejay Humann.

'Both of them were a bright spark in this world and will be deeply missed. They touched the lives of so many and its our turn to give back to their family in this time of need.

'We are raising money to cover the costs of the funeral and memorial services for Sophie and Deejay's family as this passing was completely unexpected. We want to give Deejay and Sophie the memorial they deserve, to honor their memory and say our last goodbyes.'

Mill Creek is a 17.8-mile-long stream located in the San Bernardino Mountains.
A senior coroner, who previously ruled that the death of a 14-day-old baby was 'contributed to by midwives' neglect', has now written to medical bodies urging them to take preventative action.

Penelope Schofield, senior coroner for West Sussex, Brighton and Hove, has penned a message to the Nursing and Midwifery Council and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists

She has urged the medical bodies to improve the training around a rare condition that 'still remains an ignorance nationally among professionals' and led to the tragic death of baby Orlando in 2021.

During a home birth gone wrong, midwives failed to spot that Robyn Davies, 28, had developed a rare condition called hyponatraemia which caused her seizures and starved her baby of oxygen.

Orlando had no heartbeat when he was born by emergency C-Section at 2.37am on September 10 and tragically passed away two weeks later in intensive care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

During a home birth gone wrong, midwives failed to spot that Robyn Davies, 28, had developed a rare condition called hyponatraemia which caused her seizures and starved her baby of oxygen

Orlando tragically passed away two weeks later in intensive care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton

The coroner ruled that midwives were 'completely unaware' of the condition that led to the death of the newborn baby.

She said there was 'no recognition of any potential risk' associated with hyponatraemia - which is caused by a lower than normal level of sodium in the bloodstream.

At the inquest into Orlando's death in March this year, grieving mother Mrs Davis - herself a trained midwife - accused her ex-workmates of negligence.

She said she 'never felt safe' and her concerns about the labour going wrong were repeatedly brushed aside during the home birth.

The inquest in Chichester heard that Mrs Davis was told to take her 'midwifery hat off'.

The young mother ended up being rushed by ambulance to Worthing Hospital, West Sussex, where she was placed in a coma.

Her previously healthy baby boy Orlando was born with no heartbeat and brain damage having been starved of oxygen.

He tragically passed away in intensive care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton just 14 days after he was born, despite it being initially assessed as a 'low risk' pregnancy.

Orlando was the second child of Mrs Davis and her husband Jonny Davis, 30, who works as a graphic designer.

The couple have since had another baby but suffer from PTSD since losing their son.

Orlando was the second child of Mrs Davis and her husband Jonny Davis, 30, who works as a graphic designer

Previously healthy Orlando (pictured) was born with no heartbeat and brain damage having been starved of oxygen

The baby died two weeks later in intensive care at the Royal Sussex County Hospital

Senior coroner Mrs Schofield ruled Orlando's death had been 'contributed to by neglect' in which there was a 'gross failure to provide basic medical attention'.

Now, in a Prevention of Future Deaths report, she said evidence heard at the inquest revealed 'matters giving rise to concern'.

Mrs Schofied wrote that she was concerned about there being no guidance on how to manage hyponatraemia in pregnancy and labour.

She wrote: 'In my opinion there is a risk that future deaths could occur unless action is taken,' she wrote.

'Orlando was caused an irreversible brain injury when his mother suffered a seizure having developed hyponatremia during her labour.

'The concern is that the midwifes (in the community and in the hospital, who had cared for Orlando's mother) were completely unaware of this potential condition developing in birthing women.

'In this case due to Orlando developing a tachycardia during labour Orlando's mothers was actively encouraged to take in more fluid yet there was no accurate record kept of either input or output of fluid.

'Again when in hospital further fluids were given intravenously with no recognition of any potential risk of hyponatremia developing by the midwives or the Doctor on duty.'

She added: 'In my opinion action should be taken to prevent future deaths and I believe you (and/or your organisation) have the power to take such action.'

The coroner reminded the medical bodies that they are legally required to reply within 56 days.

Robyn Davis and her husband Jonny (pictued) lost their baby boy Orlando, despite the pregnancy being initially assessed as 'low risk'

Mrs Davis had hyponatraemia which midwives failed to spot. She ended up being rushed by ambulance to Worthing Hospital in West Sussex where she was placed in a coma

The devastated young mother previously told the hearing how she was 'haunted' by having to make the decision to let baby Orlando die.

Mrs Davis said she and her husband suffered 'complete heartbreak' when they were told it was in their baby's 'best interest' to die.

She said: 'I could not understand that Orlando was this catastrophically ill that meant he was going to die.

'I just can't explain the sadness, frustration, anger and complete heartbreak I felt and still feel towards the Trust for not keeping us safe.

'As a parent, I can't explain how horrendous hearing the news that it's in your child's best interest to die.

'To also be faced with agreeing to end your child's life is the biggest scar you could ever imagine, we knew it was the best thing we could do for him but it doesn't make it remotely easier.

'We had to make terrible decisions as to when and how Orlando would die.

'We then watched our son pass away which took around 24 hours.'

The funeral of Orlando Davis whose parents are 'haunted' by having to make the decision to let him die

Recalling the tragic event, Mrs Davis said: 'This is the hardest thing I think could possibly ever happen to a human being and I am haunted psychologically in so many ways from this, and I can honestly say hand on heart my life is ruined because of this.

'I just had to keep telling myself that I know for Orlando it was the kindest thing we could have agreed to, as his daily condition was deteriorating

'Everyone could tell his life would not be comfortable, pain free or happy, and his life expectancy was so very poor.'

She adds: 'May my beautiful son rest in peace.'
A parliamentary researcher charged with spying for China will face trial next year.

Christopher Cash, the former director of an influential China policy group with links to the Security Minister appeared in court today accused of passing secrets to the hostile state.

The 29-year-old is charged with giving 'articles, notes, documents or information' to a foreign state under the Official Secrets Act 1911, along with a British teacher Christopher Berry, 32, with whom he once taught in China.

The pair appeared at the Old Bailey for a brief hearing today, speaking only to confirm their names.

Unusually, they were not asked to enter the dock and were allowed to sit in the legal benches beside their solicitors.

Christopher Cash, the former director of an influential China policy group with links to the Security Minister appeared in court today accused of passing secrets to the hostile state

He appeared at the Old Bailey today alongside British teacher Christopher Berry, 32, (at the front of this image) with whom he once taught in China

Last month the duo were charged with 'providing secret information to a foreign state by obtaining, collecting, recording, publishing or communicating notes, documents or information which might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly useful to an enemy'.

Cash and Berry are accused of being in contact with each other and an individual assessed to be a Chinese intelligence agent.

The two alleged spies became friends after both secured teaching jobs in China through a British firm which helps students and lecturers find employment in the country.

As young graduates, they taught together at Hangzhou Oriental Middle School in eastern China near Shanghai around 2018.

Cash went on to become the director of an influential China policy group with links to Security Minister Tom Tugendhat and Foreign Affairs Committee chair Alicia Kearns.

Berry stayed in China teaching economics and English, but later moved to promoting Chinese landmarks, making YouTube videos about heritage sites.

Cash walking into the Old Bailey today, where he spoke only to confirm his name

He was arrested in March 2023 when he returned to the UK during a holiday.

Cash, who lives in East London, was arrested in Edinburgh.

No pleas were entered during the brief hearing today.

Both men remain on conditional bail

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring previously set bail conditions for Cash who was told not to contact MPs or to enter the parliamentary estate.

He was also ordered not to contact any other staff of parliamentarians.

Cash was told he was only permitted to contact his local MP on constituency matters.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker said their trial will take place next year at a date to be determined.

They will next appear in court for a plea hearing on July 19.
Advertisement

Donald Trumps former White House executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout returned to the stand on Friday as the third week of evidence in the hush money trial drew to a close.

The longtime aide testified about her work in the Oval Office and her close relationship with the former president.

Judge Juan Merchan rejected calls from the presumptive Republican nominees lawyers for a mistrial late on Thursday over Daniels salacious testimony about spanking Trump with a magazine and having sex without a condom.

Trump has denied 34 counts of falsifying business records by hiding the reimbursement to former lawyer Michael Cohen over the $130,000 he paid Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair.

Cohen is expected to testify himself on Monday, setting up a brilliant showdown in court.

Follow all the action from DailyMail.coms reporters in the courtroom.
NASA plans to build a plasma rocket capable of sending people to Mars within just two months.

The Pulsed Plasma Rocket is planned to generate up to 100,000 Newton's thrust force for every 5,000 seconds or equivalent to the total force a helicopter exerts throughout its whole flight.

Most important of all, the rocket is capable of carrying and transporting much heavier spacecraft easily, allowing even crewed missions to use this rocket in the future.

NASA Plans to Shorten Travel Time to Mars

Normally, a one-way rocket takes at least nine months to travel from Earth to Mars. A full round trip would be even longer at 21 months as the ship must wait three months to match the Earth's position before takeoff.

The process could take even longer due to unforeseen delays and technical issues, further increasing expenses to fly the rocket.

With the rocket's propulsion power, a spacecraft is expected to "reach high velocities for reasonable mission transit times."

The plasma rocket was among the six selected project proposals in NASA's Innovative Advanced Concepts to receive development support. It was developed by Brianna Clements of Howe Industries.

Also Read : Nokia, NASA Plans to Bring 4G Network to the Moon

NASA Ramps Up Mars Mission Efforts

The development support for the planned Pulsed Plasma Rocket is expected to boost NASA's ongoing efforts to fasten

The space agency has already started opening more volunteer positions in Mars-simulated environments, preparing more people to form colonies on Mars.

So far, the space agency has already collected enough data to help future astronauts prepare for life on a foreign planet thanks to all the remote drones and land rovers sent over the past decade.

This is in addition to the US's upcoming return to the moon as NASA intends to use data from the Artemis missions for its eventual journey to the Red Planet.
A bus carrying 20 passengers plunged into a river in St Petersburg killing at least three people, Russian media reports, with horrifying footage showing the moment it smashed into a car and spun off the bridge.

The out of control vehicle was seen swerving wildly along the road, slamming into oncoming traffic before crashing through the bridge's fence and falling into the Moika River.

Stunned passersby ran over as the number 262 bus became submerged, with only its roof visible above the water for hours before it was lifted out by a crane this afternoon.

Emergency services rushed to the scene this morning, with authorities saying that rescuers pulled nine people from the water in a rapid operation. Three of them died, while four others were in a critical condition and two more were in a serious condition. Six more people got out themselves.

The driver has been arrested and was taken for questioning by police, with authorities saying they are still trying to establish what happened.

The bus smashed through the bridge's barrier and plunged into the river, footage shows

Stunned passersby ran over as the bus became submerged, with only its roof visible above the water

Searches of the river are said to be ongoing after this morning's crash, with the bus remaining submerged

Rescuers lift the wreckage of a bus out of the Moyka River in St.Petersburg, Russia, 10 May 2024

Brave locals were seen jumping into the river and standing on the roof of the bus as they tried to haul victims out of the sinking vehicle.

Bystanders threw them lifebuoy rings to help in the rescue effort, while a passing boat also pulled up nearby.

It is believed that a number of people were pulled out alive through the hatch in the roof of the bus by rescuers.

Six got out on their own and then were collected by rescue boats in the Moika River, according to reports.

Reports said the driver was among those who escaped and he was immediately detained, with a criminal case opened.

Authorities in St Petersburg said that the owner of the bus had been fined 23 times for various violations. Private companies run most of the city's bus services.

The bus driver's wife was quoted by Russian media as saying that managers forced him to work a morning shift after working for 20 hours the previous day and getting virtually no rest.

Authorities opened a criminal investigation into alleged traffic violations and unsafe travel services.

Witnesses at the scene suggested that the bus may have been faulty. It hit an SUV before plunging in the river, according to reports.

Rescuers work at the site where a passenger bus fell off a bridge into a river in Saint Petersburg, Russia May 10, 2024

Rescue teams on boats in the River Moika today as the bus was pulled out by a crane

The vehicle was seen swerving wildly along the road, slamming into oncoming traffic before falling into the river

Governor of St Petersburg Alexander Beglov said that a multi-agency operation was underway which he was coordinating personally.

He added that the victims of the crash were being provided with 'prompt assistance'.

The city's transport committee reported that the driver of the bus lost control when turning from Bolshaya Morskaya Street to Potseluev 'Kissing' Bridge.

'The bus turned around, it broke through the fence and fell into the water. Emergency Situations Ministry employees and an ambulance are working at the scene,' it said.

Crowds watched on as rescuers continued to search the river following the horror crash

'Representatives of the carrier and the leadership of the transport committee have also been sent to the scene. All victims will be provided with the necessary assistance.'

A witness said they saw the bus swerve before the collision. 'He started hitting cars that were parked. Everything happened quickly,' the man said of the driver.

A student called Mikhail said: 'I saw the moment the bus hit the car, it spun around and it began to fall.

'The bus went sideways, smashed the curb, smashed a fence and fell sideways.'

Another witness said: 'The driver of the bus, when turning from Bolshaya Morskaya Street to Potseluyev Bridge, lost control, the bus spun around, it broke through the fence and fell into the water.'
An alleged spy accused of carrying out an arson attack for Russia's Wagner Group appeared in court today.

Dylan Earl is alleged to have torched an industrial unit in London, which was advertised on charity websites as an aid collection centre for the war in Ukraine.

The 20-year-old from Leicestershire is the first person to be charged under the new National Security Act brought in last year to target those working secretly for hostile states within the UK.

He is accused of recruiting other Britons who were paid by a 'foreign intelligence service' to start the blaze to send a 'message' on behalf of Russia that assistance to Ukraine will be met with 'punishment'.

It is said to be the first attack orchestrated by the Wagner Group on British soil.

Dylan Earl is alleged to have torched an industrial unit in London , which was advertised on charity websites as an aid collection centre for the war in Ukraine

Today Earl appeared on a videolink from Belmarsh Prison for a brief hearing at the Old Bailey.

Mr Justice Jeremy Baker told the defendant that he will go on trial next year before a High Court judge at the Old Bailey.

The case concerns an attack on two industrial units in Leyton owned by a Ukrainian logistics firm on March 20.

Eight fire engines and around 60 firefighters spent more than four hours tackling the blaze which was allegedly started by a group of men recruited by Earl.

Jake Reeves, 22 from Croydon, south London is accused of accepting money from Russia to carry out the arson attack.

He has been charged with aggravated arson and agreeing to accept a material benefit, namely money, from a foreign intelligence service.

Paul Adrian English, 60, from Roehampton and Nii Kojo Mensah, 21, from Croydon are also charged with aggravated arson.

But they are said to be unaware that Earl was allegedly working for the Wagner Group, which became a proscribed terror group in the UK last year.

A fifth man, Dmitrijus Paulauskas, a 22-year-old pilot who has dual British-Russian nationality, is also charged with failing to disclose information to police about terrorist acts.

The case concerns an attack on two industrial units in Leyton owned by a Ukrainian logistics firm on March 20

Paulauskas appeared in court for the hearing today.

But English was unable to attend as he was taken from prison to hospital due to an ongoing medical problem.

Reeves and Mensah also did not appear as they were not brought to the court from prison due to an error by security staff.

Earl did not enter any pleas to the charges, which include assisting a foreign intelligence service by carrying out reconnaissance of targets, preparatory conduct and aggravated arson 'in relation to activity intended to benefit Russia'.

The judge set a provisional eight week trial date for 2 June 2025.

At a previous hearing, Prosecutor David Cawthorne outlined the case: 'Mr Earl acted as a conduit.

'He was recruited online by those acting on behalf of Russia and the terrorist organisation the Wagner group to recruit others and engage in malign activity.

'The arson which caused a significant fire in a commercial premises was intended to send out the message that if you assist Ukraine there will be punishment to follow.'

The five defendants will next appear for a pre-trial hearing on 4 October.
Vladimir Putin has re-hired a former adviser who previously called for Russia to carry out a preemptive nuclear strike against Europe to 'test NATO's resolve'.

Professor Sergei Karaganov, a political scientists who has been hired by the Kremlin to study how to 'deter the West', said in the past that such an attack on Europe would be the best way of saving the world from a full-blown war.

In addition to Putin, the 71-year-old was also a presidential adviser to his predecessor Boris Yeltsin, and is seen as being a hugely influential Russian foreign policy expert.

He is linked to several pervasive ideas in Russian foreign policy such as the so-called Karaganov doctrine - on the rights of ethnic Russians living abroad, and the Putin Doctrine - the support of authoritarian regimes while undermining democracies.

He has also been a staunch supporter of Putin's invasion of Ukraine from the beginning, having helped formulate a number of the key ideas that led to it in 2022.

What's more, he has also promoted the idea of a 'Greater Eurasia' and defended closer ties with China, while arguing the era of Western dominance has ended.

Putin, he has argued, is right to free the world from the 'western yoke'.

Professor Sergei Karaganov, a political scientists who has been hired by the Kremlin to study how to 'deter the West', said in the past that such an attack on Europe would be the best way of saving the world from a full-blown war

Despite this, in an essay last year for a Russian foreign policy website, Karaganov called for the use of nuclear weapons to smash 'the will of the West'.

He made the extraordinary claim that use of such weapons against the West can 'save humanity' from the radioactive ruins of full-scale atomic Armageddon.

He expressed scepticism that the United States would come to the defence of Europe in such an event, saying only a 'madman' in the White House would sacrifice Boston for Poznan - Poland's fifth largest city. 'Both the US and Europe understand this perfectly well, though they prefer not to think about it,' he wrote.

In order to 'to arouse the instinct of self-preservation that the West has lost,' he argued, Russia 'will have to make nuclear deterrence a convincing argument again by lowering the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons set unacceptably high, and by rapidly but prudently moving up the deterrence-escalation ladder.'

Furthermore, he has said a Russian victory in Ukraine can only be achieved if the West was forced to 'retreat strategically, or even surrender'.

He warned that leaders in China would be unlikely to support a preemptive strike on Europe, but said Beijing would 'rejoice at heart that a powerful blow has been dealt to the reputation and position of the United States'.

'Morally, this is a terrible choice as we will use God's weapon, thus dooming ourselves to grave spiritual losses. But if we do not do this, not only Russia can die, but most likely the entire human civilization will cease to exist,' he said.

Now, Karaganov - a senior academic at the Higher School of Economics in Moscow - is understood to have been hired by the Kremlin once more.

He will carry out further research into foreign police for Moscow's rulers, with an investigation by Russian opposition news site Meduza finding that he has been commissioned to carry out eight studies by Putin's office and the government.

While the cost to the Russian taxpayer is unclear, a source inside the university told Meduza it was 'no less than ten million rubles' (around 850,000).

Meduza reported that the topics he has been commissioned to research include: 'the theory and practice of nuclear deterrence in current conditions with relation to Russian politics' and 'a dialogue on developing a new concept of nuclear deterrence in the quadrilateral Russia-China-India-Pakistan format'.

A source told the Russian publication that the professor would not manage the projects on his own, and speculated the job may be symbolic.

'There's a feeling at the university that they're making sure certain people are 'well fed'.' the source told Meduza.

In an essay last year for a Russian foreign policy website, Karaganov called for the use of nuclear weapons to smash 'the will of the West'. Pictured: A file photo shows a Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile being launched by Russia in April 2022

Karaganov has in the past said he wants Putin's regime to increase its nuclear rhetoric, which has already sent chills down many spines in the West.

However, if this does not deter the West from supplying weapons to Ukraine, nuclear strikes should be unleashed, he wrote in his essay last year.

People should be warned of 'the need to leave their places of residence near objects that could become targets of nuclear strikes in countries that provide direct support to the Kyiv regime'.

'The enemy must know that we are ready to strike a preemptive retaliatory strike for all of his current and past aggressions in order to prevent a slide into a global thermonuclear war,' he wrote, and claimed the West has lost the Cold War 'fear of hell' or 'Armageddon' that exists in a full scale nuclear war.

He advocates using presumably tactical nuclear weapons on initially a limited scale to force Western populations to demand their leaders back down in support for Ukraine by scaring the world over use of such weapons to annihilate the planet.

'The fear of nuclear escalation must be restored. Otherwise humanity is doomed,' said the professor, who is also an Honorary Chairman of the Russian Presidium of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policy.

'But what if they don't back down [and if the West has] completely lost your sense of self-preservation?

'Then [Russia] will have to hit a group of targets in a number of countries in order to bring those who have lost their minds to their senses.

'This is a morally terrible choice - we use the weapons of God, dooming ourselves to severe spiritual losses.

'But if this is not done, not only Russia may perish, but, most likely, the entire human civilisation will end. We will have to make this choice.'

Russian military vehicles, including Yars intercontinental ballistic missile launchers, roll on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in central Moscow on May 9, 2024

Separately, he wrote in an article for Profile magazine: 'In the end, the winners are not judged. And the saviours are thanked.'

Karaganov admits in his chilling analysis that Putin's bloodbath war has so far failed to yoke Kyiv - and is costing untold lives of Russians and Ukrainians.

'We can fight for another year or two or three, sacrificing thousands and thousands of our best men and grinding tens and hundreds of thousands of people who fell into a tragic historical trap of the inhabitants of the territory that is now called Ukraine,' he wrote.

'This military operation cannot end with a decisive victory without imposing a strategic retreat or even capitulation on the West. We must force the West to give up trying to turn back history, give up its attempts at global dominance and force it to take care of itself, digesting its current multi-level crisis.'

His analysis mirrors the ranting of pro-Putin TV propagandists.

Yet he is seen as a Moscow academic giant who is close to the dictator and a key map-maker of Russian foreign strategy, and now has Putin's ear directly.

Karaganov is a founder of the Kremlin president's cherished Valdai Club and also holds the position of Academic Supervisor of the Faculty of World Economy and International Affairs at the Russian Higher School of Economics.

Ignoring that Putin began the war in Ukraine, he said: 'By breaking the West's will to aggression, we will not only save ourselves, finally liberate the world from the Western yoke that has lasted five centuries, but we will also save all of humanity.'

He is an architect of the strategy that led Putin to invade Ukraine.

He once insisted: 'Russia is genetically an authoritarian power.

'Russia's authoritarianism was not imposed from above but is the result of our history which has formed our genetic code.'

The fear of Russian nuclear weapons has heightened since the invasion of Ukraine.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin delivers a speech during the Victory Day military parade at Red Square in central Moscow on May 9, 2024

Moscow has the world's largest stockpile of such weapons - an estimated stockpile of 5,580 warheads - even more than the United States.

To remind the West of this, Putin took a test flight in a revamped Tu-160M nuclear-capable strategic bomber earlier this year, which he described as 'excellent'.

What's more, an investigation by the Financial Times found that Russia's threshold for using nuclear weapons is lower than it states publicly.

Scenarios in which it would consider using the devastating weapons includes enemy troops entering Russian territory or the defeat of Russian border troops.
A border patrol agent has claimed that it's cartels who are in control of the US-Mexico border.

The anonymous agent told Dan Abrams of NewsNation that the US government does not have control of the border, which has fallen into the hands of cartels.

'The biggest thing is that we do not control the border, the cartel controls the border,' the agent said.

'Everything that we do is a reaction to things that they have planned. Usually, were chasing around pawns while the kings and queens are doing whatever they want.'

The agent asked to remain anonymous because he said he is 'terrified to talk to media' and possibly losing his job over it.

The anonymous agent told News Nation that the US government does not have control of the border, which has fallen into the hands of cartels

The agency has struggled to keep up with the record numbers of migrants crossing the border

It is thought the IDs are being made and sold by cartels so that migrants travelling to the US from Asia and elsewhere can pass checks by Mexican police as they travel through the country

The agent added: 'Our border is by no means secure, and even if it was, we dont have the manpower to handle the situation thats happening right now.'

EXCLUSIVE READ MORE: Chinese 'snakehead' gangs working with cartels to bring migrants to US Above, a man who entered the country legally using the controversial CBP One app Advertisement

They warned that 'no one is coming to protect you' because the agency has 'been defunded and overwhelmed.'

Border Patrol has struggled to keep up with the record numbers of migrants trying to cross the border, as officers are forced to spend more time processing asylum claims.

Migrant numbers have exploded as organized crime has obtained more power and expanded its presence in Mexico, with cartels often charging smugglers a tax to allow them to work in the region.

As previously reported by DailyMail.com, cartels have been recruiting American soldiers to smuggle migrants into the US in a worrying new trend.

So far, two have been arrested for participating in the illegal people smuggling schemes.

Cartels are also believed to be providing Mexican IDs to Chinese nationals hoping to cross the border into the US.

It is thought the IDs are being made and sold by cartels so that migrants travelling to the US from Asia and elsewhere can pass checks by Mexican police as they travel through the country.

The documents are then destroyed or discarded by migrants as they cross the US border, making it harder for authorities to identify them and easing their path to asylum.

San Diego has seen more than double the amount of Chinese nationals cross its border in the first half of this fiscal year than in all of 2023.

Most fly into Tijuana before paying cartels up to $35,000 to get them to the US.

Migrant arrests in San Diego reached 8,989 for the week ending April 16, according to figures the agency posted on X. Meanwhile, Tucson  which previously had been the top region for crossings  had 7,500 arrests for the week ending April 19.

Texas National Guard conducts operation using non-lethal weapons, specifically a pepper spray gun, to disperse migrants maintaining a camp within the Rio Grande

Recent data shows the migrant crisis is shifting west to border states like Arizona and California amid a crack down in Texas by Republican Governor Greg Abbott

Recent data shows the migrant crisis is shifting west to border states like Arizona and California amid a crack down in Texas by Republican Governor Greg Abbott.

Mexican authorities have also tightened security on their side of the Texan border.

The volume of migrants arriving is overwhelming resources in San Diego, with officials reporting that up to 1,000 people a day are being released at city train and bus stops.

Crossings in the sector rose from 31,562 in February to 33,784 in March, although this total was down slightly from the 34,371 migrants who entered San Diego in December.

DailyMail.com has previously revealed that a US Border Patrol chief has warned that his agents are being overwhelmed by the number of Chinese migrants crossing the border illegally and that they could be missing Communist spies.

Chief Patrol Agent Anthony Good, of the Border Patrols El Paso Sector, told the Homeland Security Committee during a private hearing in September last year that his agents were 'trying their best to figure out why [individuals from other continents are] coming' but that 'information can be hidden' and 'their agendas, their ideologies, the reason for them coming could be missed'.
A fresh land invasion of Kharkiv triggers a new phase of the war in Ukraine

yiv's troops pushed back Russian forces from most of Kharkiv region in 2022

Ukraine is conducting mass civilian evacuations of towns in the Kharkiv region as Russian troops launch a fresh ground invasion of the northeastern territory amid fears Vladimir Putin seeks to seize the nation's second city.

Kyiv's troops pushed back Russian forces from most of Kharkiv region in late 2022, but Moscow is now back on the offensive there as war-weary Ukrainians struggle with ammunition and manpower shortages.

'At approximately 5:00am (0200 GMT), the enemy attempted to break through our defence line under the cover of armoured vehicles,' the Ukrainian defence ministry said.

A high-ranking Ukrainian military source said Russia had advanced into Ukraine by just over half a mile close to the town of Vovchansk and was trying to 'create a buffer zone' to prevent attacks into Russian territory.

The advances represent the Kremlin's biggest land offensive in the region since its initial invasion in February 2022 and trigger a new phase of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said: 'Russia launched a new wave of counter-offensive actions in this area. Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery...

'Now there is a fierce battle under way in this direction,' he said in a press conference in Kyiv.

The Russian defence ministry has not provided any comment but Russian military bloggers suggested active fighting was taking place.

Ukrainian rescuers work to extinguish a fire at the site of an overnight missile strike on private buildings in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 10 May 2024

Ukrainian rescuers work to extinguish a fire at the site of an overnight missile strike on private buildings in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 10 May 2024

While Putin's ground forces try to push back the Ukrainian defenders, artillery, drones and missiles battered several locations in the Kharkiv region.

At least two people were wounded in Russian shelling of Kharkiv overnight

Rescuers extinguish the fire at the site of a Russian missile strike on the city's private residential buildings area on May 10, 2024

Ukraine had previously said it was aware that Russia was assembling thousands of troops along the northeastern border, close to the Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

Though Russia would have to commit huge resources to capture Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv, it could compel Ukraine to send more troops to the region, leaving other areas more vulnerable to attack.

Forcing Ukrainian authorities to evacuate civilians is also likely to create disruption and divert resources.

The Ukrainian Defence Ministry said fighting against Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups continued into the afternoon.

While Putin's ground forces try to push back the Ukrainian defenders, artillery, drones and missiles battered several locations in the Kharkiv region.

'The entire town is under massive shelling now, it is not safe to stay here,' Vovchansk administration head Tamaz Hambarishvili told Ukraine's Hromadske Radio.

The town, which has a population of 3,000 people, sits less than five miles across the border from Russia. Evacuations were underway there and in nearby areas earlier today.

One person was killed and several were wounded in the town amid shelling this morning, regional police said.

'Enemy shelling from various types of weapons has been intensifying in Kharkiv region in the northern direction for the last day,' regional governor Oleh Synehubov said.

Vitaliy Ganchev, the Russian-installed official in the region, confirmed there was fighting near the border and urged civilians to take shelter.

'In this regard, I ask residents living in these areas to be careful and not to leave shelters without an urgent need,' he added.

Today's ground assault comes after Russia launched a punishing wave of missile, kamikaze drone and artillery attacks on Kharkiv last night.

Shocking images and videos out of the devastated metropolis this morning showed several residential buildings on fire and rubble strewed about the streets as rescue workers rushed to extinguish the blaze.

A private residential building lies destroyed by a Russian missile strike on May 10, 2024 in Kharkiv

Ukrainian rescuers work to extinguish a fire at the site of an overnight missile strike on private buildings in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 10 May 2024

Rescuers respond at the site of a Russian missile strike on the city's private residential buildings area on May 10, 2024 in Kharkiv

Ukrainian rescuers work to extinguish a fire at the site of an overnight missile strike on private buildings in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, 10 May 2024

Shocking images and videos out of the devastated metropolis this morning showed several residential buildings on fire

Olena Kurylo, who became known as the 'Face of the War' after her home was destroyed in Moscow's initial bombardment just hours into the conflict on February 24, 2022, said residents feared this was 'the start of the Kharkiv assault - and that we will all perish here'.

'We are not sleeping, again, just now was the tenth air raid alert of the night,' Olena, 54, told reporters in the early hours of the morning.

'I didn't close my eyes, but I can't run downstairs to the basement, because I am so exhausted from yet another sleepless night.

'We are at the end of our tether from tiredness. There hasn't been a single quiet night for weeks.'

The defiant teacher - who was treated in Britain for damage to her eye in Putin's 2022 strikes on residential areas of Kharkiv - said: 'We won't leave.

'They destroyed my house on the first day of the war, it is still in ruins. They killed my health, my eyesight. They've deprived me of everything - and I want to ask why?

'This is our land. This is home. There is no reason why our huge neighbour is destroying us. There is no excuse for millions of broken lives.'

Russia struck Kharkiv and Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, on the border with Russia, with a mass missile, drone, and artillery attack in the early hours of May 10, 2024

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said three residential houses were set alight and destroyed with dozens more damaged as a result of the Russian attack

A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile (according to the Ukrainian authorities, S-400) in the area of a cottage residential development in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 10, 2024

Olena Kurylo, who became known as the 'Face of the War' after her home was destroyed in Moscow 's initial bombardment just hours into the conflict on February 24, 2022, said residents feared this was 'the start of the Kharkiv assault'

Olena Kurylo shows a photo selfie of her injuries on her phone, which she took after a missle hit her apartment on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine

'I've forgotten what it is to sleep for more than two hours uninterrupted,' she continued.

'We all know this is exactly their aim, to exhaust us, and to make us leave the city, so they can take it.'

Turning her ire toward the Russian president, Olena said: 'The mental, ugly, impotent old man, the deranged maniac Putin, who tries to extend his life by sucking the blood of others will get nothing from us.

'We've got to stand up to him even if the walls of my bathroom where I've been spending so many nights are the last thing I'll see.'

Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the Kharkiv region, said three residential houses were set alight and destroyed with dozens more damaged as a result of the Russian attack overnight, which he said targeted both infrastructure and residential areas.

In photos that Sinehubov posted on the Telegram messaging app, large gouts of flame can be seen shooting into the murky sky early this morning.

Two people, including an 11-year-old child, were injured in the strikes, though no deaths have yet been reported.

Ukraine's air defence systems destroyed 10 attack drones, the air force said, but added that two guided missiles were also launched by Moscow's forces.

These missiles are believed to have caused the damage to the residential buildings.

A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile

Three residential buildings and outbuildings were destroyed and several other buildings were damaged in the Russian missile attack

Doctors treated two victims, including an 11-year-old child, following the attack

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine May 10, 2024

The overnight attack on Kharkiv came just one day after Ukraine said it was forced to limit power supplies across the country and warned of possible blackouts after a 'massive' wave of Russian missiles and drones had targeted the country's battered energy system.

Moscow also said its forces had taken control of two more frontline villages, as it ups its attacks on land and from the skies with Ukrainian troops struggling more than two years into the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called Russia's attack 'deliberate, calculated and sneaky.'

'Almost 60 missiles and more than 20 Shahed drones targeting life-supporting civilian infrastructure. Not a single military target. Life itself was the target overnight, as it has been for hundreds of other similar days in this war,' he said in a social media post.

The intensified strikes on Ukraine's energy infrastructure triggered fresh warnings of blackouts as state power operator Ukrenergo said it was limiting supplies.

'Ukrenergo's dispatch centre is forced to limit power supply to industry and business from 18:00 to 23:00. The scope of the restrictions will be distributed evenly among all regions,' it said in a statement.

'The reason for the restrictions is the shortage of electricity caused by a massive Russian missile and drone attack on energy facilities,' it added.

The overnight attack on Kharkiv came just one day after Ukraine said it was forced to limit power supplies across the country

Ukraine's air defence systems destroyed 10 attack drones, the air force said, but added that two guided missiles were also launched by Moscow's forces

A view from the site aftermath of the explosion of a Russian missile

Olena Kurylo is seen after an airstrike damages an apartment complex outside of Kharkiv, Ukraine on February 24, 2022

Nevertheless, Kyiv has continued to demonstrate its ability to strike back, destroying another oil refinery in Russia in a kamikaze drone attack on Kaluga region yesterday.

Footage showed a huge inferno at the First Plant processing facility - hours after Ukraine flew another attack drone across almost 950 miles of Russia - a record distance - to impact the giant Salavat plant in Bashkortostan.

In Kaluga, three vast tanks of diesel exploded in an inferno after the kamikaze drone hit - the second attack on this refinery in two months.

Regional governor Vladislav Shapsha confirmed the attack, reporting: 'The extent of damage to the enterprise's infrastructure is being assessed.'

Ukraine also targeted Bryansk, Kursk, Moscow and Belgorod regions.

The fighting came as Putin opted for continuity in re-appointing technocrat Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister.

The career bureaucrat would become acting president if Putin were somehow incapacitated.

Mishustin, 58, is credited with guiding Russia through the chaos inflicted by Putin's decision to go to war, and his reappointment is a sign of stability.
Abc's 20/20 airs Friday at 9pm ET and can be streamed the next day on Hulu

The wife of a killer preacher has described how she went from 'living the American dream' with her family to her husband being convicted of the murders of two teenagers in 1999.

Twenty-five years on from the homicides, Jeanette McCraney has spoken about the moment she learned the father of her two children was the prime suspect.

'I start calling him, no answer, a couple of hours go by and my phone rings, and he (the cop) says, is this Mr McCraney's wife?' Jeanette tells ABC's 20/20 in a preview exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com ahead of Friday's episode.

'I said, "Has Colin been in an accident?" He says, "No." I was like, "OK, is he in trouble or something? I'm confused." They said, "Yeah, he's in big trouble."'

In March 2019, modern DNA evidence tied Alabama preacher Coley McCraney, now 49, to the 1999 of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and JB. Beasley.

The wife of a killer preacher has described how she went from 'living the American dream' with her family to her husband being convicted of the murders of two teenagers in 1999

Twenty-five years on from the homicides, Jeanette McCraney (pictured right) has spoken about the moment she learned the father of her two children was the prime suspect

In March 2019, modern DNA evidence tied Alabama preacher Coley McCraney, now 49, to the 1999 of 17-year-olds Tracie Hawlett and JB. Beasley (pictured)

Jeanette's life would never be the same again. 'I feel like we had everything together,' she adds in the clip.

The mother of two, who maintain Coley's innocence and is standing by his side, said she was 'living an American dream' in Dothan, Alabama, with their idyllic family life in 2019.

They appeared to be the model Christian family, with Coley working as both a minister and a truck driver at the time of his arrest.

'My kids are growing up in church,' Jeanette tells ABC News. 'They're seeing their mom and their dad do the right thing.'

But everything was not as it seemed. Coley McCraney's DNA was matched to samples found on Beasley in March 2019, and he would later stand trial for capital murder and rape.

The case dates back to July 31, 1999, when Beasley and Hawlett met to celebrate Beasley's 17th birthday at a field party in Headlands, Alabama.

But they never made it to their destination. 20/20 also hears from the parents of the victims, who describe their last interactions and the nightmare years ever since.

Hawlett's mother, Carol Roberts, recalls how her daughter called her from a gas station in rural Ozark, Alabama, where the girls had stopped en route to the party.

They had got lost and were asking for directions back to Hawlett's home. But they never made it.

'"We've got directions,"' Roberts remembers her daughter saying on the phone. 'She didn't talk like anything was wrong. There wasn't any fear or anything in her voice. We said, "We love you," to each other, and I went on to bed.'

The next morning, Roberts realized her daughter had not returned home.

Coley McCraney's DNA was matched to samples found on Beasley in March 2019, and he would later stand trial for capital murder and rape. (Pictured: McCraney's arrest)

J.B. Beasley (pictured) had been on the way to celebrate her 17th birthday when she was killed

Hawlett last spoke with her mother from the gas station hours before she was killed

She called 911, and within hours, the cops discovered Beasley's black Mazda sedan on the side of the road less than a mile form the gas station.

Their bodies were found with gunshot wounds to the head inside the trunk, while their belongings, including purses, money and Tracie's keys, were still inside the car.

'That crime scene, that trunk, those two girls is the only homicide that I ever turned around and had to walk off,' Barry Tucker, a former Trooper Captain with the Alabama Bureau of Investigation, tells ABC News.

'When you see the innocence and a life that's just been snatched away, that's hard to swallow.'

For the next 25 years, detectives would comb the southern state for clues about who killed the teenage girls, but to no avail.

In 2018, Ozark Police Chief Marlos Walker caught wind of new forensic genetic genealogy being used to catch the Golden State Killer in California.

Walker sent DNA samples from the 1999 file to a lab in Virginia, and five months later he received results which matched a familiar name.

'I was looking at the list again, and when I saw the name McCraney, that stood out because I knew of a McCraney in high school,' he reveals to ABC News.

When approached McCraney willingly gave a DNA sample, and Walker was 'blown away' when it came back as a match to samples found on Beasley. He had never been a suspect.

On March 15, 2019, police arrested Coley McCraney and charged him with four counts of capital murder as well as first-degree rape. He was later sentenced to life in prison.

'I was in shock,' Roberts says. 'We'd waited 24 years for this, and finally, somebody's going to be held accountable.'

Coley McCraney's DNA was matched to samples found on Beasley in March 2019, and he would later stand trial for capital murder and rape

Pictured: The scene from McCraney's arrest decades after the killings in Alabama

'When they read, "Guilty," I fell forward and tears just streamed down my face,' Beasley's mother Cheryl Burgoon tells 20/20. She described her daughter as a 'beautiful gift.'

McCraney maintains that he had sex with Beasley but did not kill the teenagers.

'They can call me a cheat, they can call me a dog. They can call me a lot of things at that time, but they cannot call me a killer,' McCraney says in the phone interview with ABC News from his prison cell.

He has appealed the verdict and hopes to secure a fresh trial. The ruling on this appeal is expected sometime this year.

ABC's 20/20 airs Friday at 9pm ET and will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
The Miss USA pageant has named a new winner after the former titleholder resigned over concerns of her 'physical and mental wellbeing' amid bullying allegations.

Noelia Voigt, 24, announced her shock resignation on Monday in an Instagram post that said, 'In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health.'

On Thursday, the national pageant named the new 2023 winner as Savannah Ganziewicz, 28, who is Miss Hawaii.

Miss USA announced that they would crown Ganziewicz in a ceremony in her home state next week.

After Voigt's sudden resignation, the organization has been scrutinized after the former winner cited mental health and wellbeing as her reasoning - which has fueled rumors of bullying in the pageant world.

Noelia Voigt, 24, became the first title holder in Miss USA's 72-year history to relinquish her crown

On Thursday, the national pageant named the new 2023 winner as Savannah Ganziewicz (pictured), 28, who is Miss Hawaii

Miss USA announced that they would crown Ganziewicz (pictured) in a ceremony in her home state next week

Voigt was crowned last September after campaigning on messages of anti-bullying and immigration reform, but plans to step down to prioritize her 'physical and mental well-being'

'In life, I strongly value the importance of making decisions that feel best for you and your mental health,' Voigt wrote in Monday's announcement

Eagle-eyed fans spotted a cryptic code in Voigt's resignation statement, with the first letter of each sentence spelling out, 'I AM SILENCED.'

Voigt's fellow contestants have come out in support of her decision to step down, calling for pageant bosses to release her from her NDA in order to 'give Noelia her voice back'.

The beauty queen's resignation was quickly followed by Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, 17, also quitting on Wednesday, saying in her own statement that her values 'no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.'

A third woman, Miss USA's social media manager, also sensationally quit her job in what is believed to have been a coordinated move with the titleholders, slamming the management and saying she disavows 'workplace toxicity and bullying.'

Allegations of a 'toxic' environment surrounding the Miss USA Organization have been swirling as news of the trio's sudden resignations broke in recent days.

These allegedly include strict contracts forcing contestants to smile at all times, alongside bullying and widespread mental health issues among pageant queens.

Eagle-eyed fans spotted an apparent hidden message in her resignation statement, with the first letter of each sentence spelling out, 'I AM SILENCED'

Miss USA & Teen USA Organization President/CEO, Laylah Rose (centre) with the titleholders

Voigt's resignation was quickly followed by Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava (pictured together), who said her values 'no longer fully align with the direction of the organization'

Despite allegations of toxicity in the community, Gankiewicz voiced her support for the former winner in a statement accepting her new title.

READ MORE: Miss USA 'hides coded cry for help' in her resignation letter with online sleuths spotting cryptic message after beauty queen gave up her crown over mental health struggles Noelia Voigt, 24, became the first title holder in Miss USA's 72-year history to relinquish her crown Advertisement

'Please know that my decision to accept the Miss USA crown was not one that was made lightly. I stand with Noelia and admire her strength to step down and prioritize her mental health,' she wrote.

Gankiewicz was congratulated by Laylah Rose, Miss USA's CEP & president. 'We are proud to crown Savannah Miss USA 2023, A true representation of vision, intelligence, and compassion. Her dedication to empowering women through self-love and confidence is inspiring, and we look forward to her impactful reign as Miss USA.'

Amid the ongoing drama, an insider told The New York Post that Voigt's mental health sharply declined while serving as Miss USA, saying she suffered from 'micromanaging to the 10th degree and harassing.'

'Noelia wakes up every day on pins and needles because of harassing emails [from pageant organizers]: "Don't do this," "Don't do that," "Take that post down," "Unlike that post."

They added that she would be told to 'remember your NDA' constantly, and Miss USA Organization president Rose would allegedly post to social media under Voigt and Srivastava's handles on a whim.

The Miss USA Organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment when contacted by DailyMail.com.

In the days before Voigt's resignation, the organization's social media manager Claudia Michelle also stepped down, writing in her own statement that 'being offered your dream job and seeing that it was anything but was so disheartening.'

'This is a women's empowerment organization and my hope in making this statement is to restore some of the empowerment back to these titleholders that was so deeply lost in their year,' wrote the former staffer.

Miss USA 2023 Noelia Voigt announced her resignation in an Instagram post, days after she appeared at the Kentucky Derby

Voigt on Thursday made her first red carpet appearance since news spread of her shocking resignation as Miss USA, for an event commemorating People magazines 50th anniversary at the New York City photography museum Fotografiska New York

She claimed she was left to manage Voigt's social media almost entirely alone, and during her time working with the 24-year-old she 'unfortunately (saw) a decline in her mental health.'

She added that Voigt's 'ability to share her story and her platform have been diminished', and said she witnessed 'disrespect' directed at Srivastava.

'I believe their voices and their stories should be heard and not silenced,' she wrote. 'I disavow workplace toxicity and bullying of any kind.'

On Thursday, Voigt made her first red carpet appearance since news spread of her shocking resignation as Miss USA.

The beauty queen was pictured at the New York City photography museum Fotografiska New York for PEOPLE: Celebrating 50 Years, an event commemorating People magazines 50th anniversary.

Voigt donned a shoulderless gray midi length tulle dress while carrying a striped crystal clutch purse, with strappy silver heels. She had her lustrous brown locks parted to the side and wore large earrings.

Voigt thanked the publication for having her to the event in an Instagram post, calling it an 'an honor to celebrate' the magazine's milestone alongside some incredibly iconic people.
An American Binance executive is being 'held hostage' in Nigeria amid claims his company was asked for a $150 million crypto bribe.

Compliance officer Tigran Gambaryan has been detained in the country for more than 70 days charged with tax evasion and money laundering.

His colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla was charged alongside him and the company, but managed to escape using a smuggled passport before he could be incarcerated.

Gambaryan is a former federal financial regulatory agent who is currently being held in Kuje prison located just an hour away from where Prince Harry and Meghan Markle began their 72-hour tour of Nigeria.

Gambaryan was detained in February after flying to the country to discuss compliance with Nigeria's SEC.

American Binance executive Tigran Gambaryan (pictured) is being 'held hostage' in Nigeria amid claims his company was asked for a $150 million crypto bribe to release him

Gambaryan has been detained in the country for more than 70 days charged with tax evasion and money laundering. Pictured: Gambaryan in his last video before he was jailed

His colleague Nadeem Anjarwalla (pictured) was charged alongside him and the company, but managed to escape using a smuggled passport before he could be incarcerated.

Tensions have flared between the platform and Nigerian officials amid the collapse of the country's currency, the Naira, which lawmakers believe to be partly due to trading on Binance.

The company's representatives were ordered to appear before the Nigerian House of Representatives to explain their activities.

Gambaryan flew to meet them on January 8, but the meeting soon turned combative with Binance accused of a host of tax violations.

At the conclusion of that meeting, Gambaryan was approached 'by unknown persons' who suggested, 'a significant payment in cryptocurrency to be paid in secret within 48 hours to make these issues go away.

Sources told the New York Times the demand was equivalent to $150 million.

Binance said it rejected the proposition, 'not viewing it to be a legitimate settlement offer'.

The exchange provided the context for the February meeting when Gambaryan returned to Nigeria for a second time to try and iron out the exact nature of the accusations.

Gambaryan, pictured ion court in April, was detained in February after flying to the country to discuss compliance with Nigeria's SEC

Tensions have flared between the platform and Nigerian officials amid the collapse of the country's currency, the Naira, which lawmakers believe to be partly due to trading on Binance. Pictured: High court in Abuja, Nigeria

Binance CEO Richard Teng has slammed the detention of his employee who he insisted is 'innocent'

While the meeting initially progressed well, relations broke down after a separate set of officials entered the discussions and demanded granular information about its Nigerian users which the company was unwilling to meet.

'The next 24 hours were marked by aggressive behavior towards Tigran and Nadeem where they were accused personally of holding responsibility for the state of the naira and the overall economy, and allegations of terrorist financing and money laundering,' Binance CEO Richard Teng said.

Binance said its execs were given assurances of safe passage, but this turned out to be false.

Following the meeting, Gambaryan and Anjarwalla were moved to a secure compound where their passports were confiscated.

'To invite a company's mid-level employees for collaborative policy meetings, only to detain them, has set a dangerous new precedent for all companies worldwide,' Teng added.

After he was detained, the US Embassy was sent a note from Nigerian officials insisting that he was not being imprisoned.

'It is important to emphasize that Mr. Tigran is currently having a discussion with our team and the intent of his stay is purely for the purpose of constructive dialogue,' the letter seen by the New York Times said. 'We assure you that the individual is participating willingly.'

However, Gambaryan was then transferred to Kuje prison where he remains pending a court date of May 17.

Gambaryan is a financial compliance officer for Binance who used to work for the federal government

Gambaryan is being held in Kuje prison (pictured) where he remains pending a court date of May 17

The prison is one of the country's largest and was the center of a violent jail break by Boko Haram terrorists in 2022

The prison is one of the country's largest and was the center of a violent jail break by Boko Haram terrorists in 2022.

Meanwhile, just 28 miles away Harry and Meghan kicked off their tour of Nigeria at Wuse Lightway Academy which is supported by their Archewell Foundation.

Teng explained in a lengthy blog post how his platform had been trying to engage with the SEC for several years amid the boom in cryptocurrency in Nigeria.

In 2023, Nigerian officials issued a warning against trading with Binance, leading the company to pull all advertising in the country which began tensions between both sides.

'The message from the Nigerian government is clear, we must detain an innocent, mid-level employee and a former U.S. federal agent, and place him in a dangerous prison in order to control Binance,' Teng said.

The incident is the latest hurdle for Binance, which agreed to a $4.3 billion fine last year to settle charges by the U.S. government that enabled criminal activity on its platform.

Binance's founder Changpeng Zhao was additionally sentenced to four months in prison for his part in the infractions.

Nigeria's national security adviser maintains the charges against the platform are legitimate.

'We are confident that Nigeria has a good case,' spokesman Zakari Mijinyawa said.

The incident is the latest hurdle for Binance, which agreed to a $4.3 billion fine last year to settle charges by the U.S. government that enabled criminal activity on its platform. Founder Changpeng Zhao (pictured) was sentenced to four months in jail

Gambaryan's detention came amid flaring tensions between Binance and Nigerian officials who had ordered a crackdown on its operations in the country

He added the Nigerian government would be making its case, 'on the strength of the facts and evidence, in accordance with due process.'

'Binance equally will have every opportunity under the rule of law to make its case and see justice delivered,' he added.

Mijinyawa confirmed to Al-Jazeera that those responsible for Anjarwalla's escape from custody have also been arrested.

In a final video before his phone was confiscated, Gambaryan is seen begging for help from the US government and pleading with Nigerian officials to let him go.

DailyMail.com has contacted Binance and Nigeria's national security adviser for comment.
More than 13,300 homes and businesses have been left without power around Sydney's inner west as wild weather batters the city.

Thousands went without electricity on Friday night amid heavy rain.

Residents reported street lights and even traffic lights going down in the area.

Suburbs including Newton and Alexandria have been impacted.

More than 13,000 homes and businesses have been left without power around Sydney 's inner west as wild weather batters the city

A usually busy King Street in Newtown was submerged in darkness on Friday night

'The traffic lights, street lights and shop lights are all out,' one inner west resident on King Street, in Newtown, told Daily Mail Australia.

'People screamed and ran out of the shops.'

It comes after a week of wet weather lashing most of the country with more miserable conditions on the forecast.

Sydney could cop as much as 45mm of rain on Saturday and up to 20mm on Sunday.

The reason for the wet weather is a high pressure system centred just south of the country drawing in moisture from the atmosphere which will turn to rain as it meets a pool of upper-level cold air over the next few days.

South-east Australia is in for a soaking over the weekend as this cumulative rainfall map for the seven days until Tuesday shows

NSW and Victoria are in for a soaking, while southern WA, eastern SA and southern Queensland will also see significant falls.

The Bureau of Meteorology's Sarah Scully said the upper-level trough will combine with a coastal trough over NSW on Saturday and 'ramp up' the rainfall.

'Moderate to heavy rainfall is expected in the southern half of NSW,' Ms Scully said.

'We're expecting to issue a severe weather warning as grounds are really wet through eastern parts of NSW due to recent rainfall.

'Inland NSW the rainfall totals look to be more than 50mm over the weekend, some places even reaching 100mm.'

The Bureau also has a hazardous surf warning in place for Saturday for the Macquarie coast, Hunter coast, Sydney coast and Illawarra coast.
A Michigan woman has launched a lawsuit against multiple Hawaii authorities after her husband of 38 years died while snorkeling.

Patti Johnson is suing the Fairmont Kea Lani resort, Hawaiian Tourism Authority and Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau after her husband Ray Johnson's death was ruled a 'drowning' in the autopsy report.

She believes that Ray's death, which happened in front of her, did not resemble a 'traditional' drowning in any sense and was actually due to ROPE - Rapid Onset Pulmonary Edema - that may have been exacerbated by their recent flight.

'There's barely a minute in my life that goes by that I don't think about him,' she told ABC News.

Dr. Meilan Han, chief of pulmonary and critical care medicine at the University of Michigan, explained: 'What long-haul flights do is it has an effect on your lungs.

Patti Johnson is suing the Fairmont Kea Lani resort, Hawaiian Tourism Authority and Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau after her husband, Ray Johnson's death in February was ruled as 'drowning' in the autopsy report

'Soon they started yelling, call 911! That's when I ran to the beach. And I ran -- I got onto the beach. They were pulling him out. His head snapped back and I believe at that point he was gone,' Patti recalled.

'After three days, you are back to normal, but if you snorkel after that long flight, there is a substantial increased risk of death.'

In her lawsuit, Patti alleges that all three of the defendants had failed to educate the public about the potential dangers of ROPE.

'I don't want other people to go through what we have gone through and to lose a family member to - lose your husband in this way.

'It's just heartbreaking and it's avoidable, and so just, you know, just to please be aware of this. Make people aware,' she told the outlet.

Patti said that minutes before he died, Ray was snorkeling with friends around Wailea Beach, which fronts the resort, when she stopped in her tracks and realized that something was not right.

After a few seconds, she noticed that other snorkelers helping Ray as he was trying to keep his head above water and heading to shore.

'Soon they started yelling, call 911! That's when I ran to the beach. And I ran - I got onto the beach. They were pulling him out. His head snapped back, and I believe at that point, he was gone,' Patti recalled.

She also told NewsNation's Morning in America that there was a medical conference at the resort and many doctors as well as nurses responded to their cry for help but nothing could be done.

Ray was snorkeling with friends around Wailea Beach (pictured) when the incident happened

Patti believes that her husband suffered from ROPE - Rapid onset pulmonary edema which caused his death

The coroner later ruled Ray's death as drowning, but Patti refuses to believe so.

'I was watching him come in, how could he be drowning? According to her friends who were snorkeling with him, Ray was talking and also diving down under the water.

'At one point, he came up and said, "You gotta help me, I'm having trouble breathing," and that's when he decided to head back to shore. I don't think when people are drowning in a conditional manner, you're going to be conversing,' she said.

Instead, Patti believes that her husband suffered from ROPE.

The couple were staying Fairmont Kea Lani in February. The resort has not yet commented on the lawsuit

In her lawsuit, Patti alleges that all three of the defendants had failed to educate the public about the potential dangers of ROPE

According to Yale Medicine, ROPE is a condition in which fluid accumulates in the lungs, making it hard to breathe.

Mostly, the buildup of fluid is caused by a pressure imbalance in the heart but other causes can also send excess fluid to the lungs.

Symptoms include difficulty breathing, shortness of breath, wheezing, shallow breathing.

Jay Stuemke, the family attorney, confirmed that Ray was an experienced snorkeler and believes that the couple's long flight contributed to his death.

The Hawaiian Tourism Authority, Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau and Fairmont Kea Lani have not yet commented on the lawsuit.
You never know when the calls you receive from someone who claims to work for a company are actually legitimate. This has been a problem for years, and Dell users seem to be experiencing it more frequently than others.

Dell Incident Led to Data Leak

The manufacturing giant has recently notified an unknown number of its customers of an incident involving a Dell portal, which contained a database with limited types of customer information. If you think there's not much to go on from that, you are right.

Dell refused to elaborate on the vague message, but it does coincide with a report stating that a bad actor is supposedly selling information from Dell customers in late April. The dark web sale was said to have acquired the information of 49 million customers.

The information in question includes names, physical addresses, phone numbers, purchase information like service tag, item description, date of order, and related warranty information, as per Ars Technica. The affected customers are those who made purchases between 2017 to 2024.

To make matters worse, it's not just customers who are affected by the breach. The seller claims that they also obtained company information and that they are the sole possessor of the data. The data provided by the bad actor showed millions of rows of customer purchases.

There were also data pointing to enterprises, partners, schools, or unidentified entities. This finally offers clarity as to why Dell customers keep getting calls from "employees," a lot of which turn out to be scams.

Since the caller knows private information that only the company and the customer should know, the fraudulent call becomes more believable. The customers, in turn, provide other data like financial information resulting in them losing money.

A Dell spokesperson denied any relation to the noted incident and the sale of customer information on the dark web, although there were also no further explanations regarding the matter. "We believe there is not a significant risk to our customers given the type of information involved."

Read Also : Australian Court Fines Dell Due to Misleading Monitor Discounts





How to Avoid Being Scammed Through Calls

This can be tricky since the scammers are capable of calling from a valid Dell phone number, so extra caution is advised. If you happen to receive a call from someone claiming to be a Dell employee, it's best to ask what they need from you first.

If they don't require you to provide any information, then you may entertain the caller as it might be an actual call from a company employee. If they ask for information, however, it's best not to provide any for now and hang up immediately.

If you're worried that it may be a legitimate concern, you can call the direct support line from Dell. The number, 1-866-795-5597, is a 24/7 service where you can ask if an employee really did call you for assistance and information.

Since the threat actors managed to steal physical addresses as well, the fraudulent activity mail extend to physical mail. If so, check the mail and see if it is asking for information. If so, you can again call the service line and ask if the company sent it. Or, you can just ignore it entirely.
Critics say chaplains are a 'Trojan horse' for proselytizing kids without guardrails

Rocky Malloy is a man on a mission.

And that mission is, in his own words, to deploy chaplains to make America's public 'schools turn into churches.'

For many, it's a worrying bid to erode the division of church and state enshrined in the US Constitution.

It's scarier still when you consider Malloy's historic convictions for drug trafficking and trying to topple Mexico's government.

But for the growing number of Republican lawmakers who back Malloy, it's how to put troubled young people on the righteous path.

Rocky Malloy's road to righteousness passed through drugs, piracy and rebel groups in Central America

Malloy he and wife Joske are putting 'God and prayer' in America's schools through GOP-endorsed chaplain laws

It's working. Texas and Florida have in recent months passed laws to allow school chaplains.

Republicans in Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah and several other states are advancing similar bills.

Poll Should chaplains be allowed in schools? Yes No Not sure Should chaplains be allowed in schools? Yes 21 votes

No 9 votes

Not sure 1 votes Now share your opinion





Advocates say having spiritual chaplains in schools can ease a youth mental health crisis, help overstretched teachers, and offer spiritual care to students who can't afford religious schools.

But critics say it's harmful to introduce authority figures to kids without clear boundaries or standards.

Others say Malloy's chaplains will do more than counsel  that they seek to convert students, promote abstinence and discourage homosexuality.

They also note that Malloy wants taxpayers to pick up the tab and pay chaplains' wages.

DailyMail.com has unearthed documents and videos that suggest some concerns are justified.

Malloy's goals go far beyond what even many Christians seek in a public school system.

He heads the National School Chaplain Association (NSCA), a subsidiary of Mission Generation, which was launched in 1999 to bring Jesus to classrooms worldwide.

In presentations to donors, Malloy boasts that chapalins reduce teen pregnancies by 80 percent, citing 'anecdotal' statistics from by an unnamed 'third party'

Malloy started his journey on a remote island in Central America where he grew pot and read from an oversize Bible

Members seek to 'enhance HIS presence by infiltrating' the public school system, according to documents seen by Texas lawmakers.

They want to 'leverage one of the largest networks on the earth, the existing school system, and utilize government funding  to teach Jesus in the classroom,' the papers show.

In rarely-seen videos from the late 2010s, Malloy is candid about his goals.

Chaplains should be the only person in a school 'representing absolute truth,' he says in one.

'They get to define what truth is,' he adds, in classrooms where all else is 'relative.'

Citing the Christian children's author C.S. Lewis, he says they're 'working behind enemy lines.'

US schoolkids get a 'godless education' with teachers who blur the lines between men and women, he says.

In closed-door presentations to conservative donors, he says school chaplains can save them.

In one, he boasts about his group's impressive 'salvation' rate.

Fully 83 percent of students who sit down with chaplains respond 'positively to the Gospel message, accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior,' according to one of Malloy's presentations.

Malloy met his wife and ministry partner, Joske, a Dutch nurse, near the Honduras-Nicaragua border in 1989 when he was caught up in the Sandinista Civil War

A chaplain in a private religious school in Tennessee. Malloy aims to 'infiltrate' public schools with his own chaplains to 'work behind enemy lines'

With chaplains in schools, graduations go up, pregnancies, suicides and truancy fall, he says.

The message resonates with conservatives, who worry about lefty teachers dwelling on race and gender instead of teaching kids how to read and write.

Malloy says chaplains would scour libraries and flag books with sexual content  a goal of many parents' rights groups and Republican-controlled legislatures.

It's a strange turnaround for Malloy, a dad-of-five from North Carolina with a backstory in drugs, guns, piracy, and Central American rebel groups.

In videos, Malloy describes himself living on a remote island in the 1980s, growing pot and reading the Bible.

Later, in Mexico, he got mixed up with a tribe that led to his getting a life sentence for drug trafficking and trying to overthrow the government.

His release from jail 72 hours later was thanks to divine intervention, he says.

On the Honduras-Nicaragua border in 1989, he was caught up in the Sandinista Civil War, where he met his wife and ministry partner, Joske, a Dutch nurse serving in the conflict.

He started working with children there, and came to see schools as a vehicle for spreading the Gospel to children, teachers, parents  and society at large.

He built a network of chaplains that today has projects in 30,531 schools across 23 countries, the group says.

Malloy does not shy away from his record in piracy, drug trafficking and Central American rebel movements

Eric Johnson has served as a chaplain in Iowa's hospitals for 15 years. Putting chaplains in public schools with children remains controversial, though

Now he's bringing it home to America.

The NSCA says it was 'instrumental' in Texas becoming the first US state with a school chaplain law, which passed in 2023.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a similar law in April; more than a dozen states have legislation in the works.

Across the US, Republican and Democratic politicians are sparring over the role of chaplains.

They were traditionally viewed as clergymen ministering outside of congregations, but the modern role is poorly defined.

Chaplains serve in the US Congress, military, and prisons, and each has stringent rules for hiring and service.

Hospitals, police and fire stations, colleges and private firms also hire chaplains with wide-ranging standards.

Many chaplains have seminary or ministry training in a particular faith.

But chaplains serving in multicultural places may also need professional, supervised training.

Malloy's NSCA certifies chaplains, in some cases after a few hours' of online tuition.

The flexible laws typically permit chaplains with backgrounds in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or another faith.

Malloy could be fighting for attention against 'ministers' from the Satanic Temple group, which aims to get in to schools through chaplain laws

Jared Deck, an Oklahoma Democratic state representative, calls the chaplain law a 'Trojan horse'

The Satanic Temple, a federally-recognized religion that fuses devil worship with political trolling, says it plans to use chaplain laws to deploy its own 'ministers' to schools.

But, in reality, only the NSCA and other Christian groups have the members and the money to get large numbers of chaplains in schools.

Still, the laws are not a slam dunk, and have been rejected in Indiana, Utah and several other states.

In Texas, which passed the law, major schools districts in Houston, Austin, and Dallas are not participating.

Republicans in Oklahoma are currently pushing their own draft school chaplain law, opposed by Democrats.

Jared Deck, a Democratic state representative, calls the bill a 'Trojan horse' for Malloy's NSCA and others seeking to convert schoolkids.

'These organizations are calling for proselytization in public schools while the politicians presenting the bill say they're not,' Deck told DailyMail.com.

'They want to use public dollars for religious indoctrination. Next, they'll seek to determine which religions can be taught.'
Former Olympic swimmer Scott Miller has said he was introduced to drugs through his relationship with his ex-wife Charlotte Dawson before spiralling into addiction and landing in jail.

Miller, 49, was sentenced in Sydney's Downing Centre District Court on Friday for running an ice supply ring in 2020 in Sydney's inner west where the drugs were hidden in instant noodle containers.

The silver medalist had pleaded guilty to supplying a large commercial quantity of drugs and directing a criminal group.

He was sentenced to four years and given a non-parole period of one year.

With time already served, Miller could be a free man by next Wednesday.

During Friday's court appearance, Miller submitted an affidavit claiming his courtship and 1999 marriage to the late glamorous TV host and socialite Dawson put him on a dark path.

Dawson took her own life in 2014, a day after Miller turned 39.

Former Olympic swimmer Scott Miller has said he was introduced to drugs through his relationship with his ex-wife Charlotte Dawson before spiralling into addiction and landing in jail

'Charlotte was engaged in the fashion and media industry and it was in the context of my exposure to the lifestyle that my wife's social and employment connections afforded that I was first introduced to personal drug use,' Miller wrote, the Daily Telegraph reported.

'Whilst it was not significant I realise in retrospect that it was (the) start on my long and disastrous involvement with drug abuse.'

The marriage between Dawson and Miller, who as a butterfly swimmer won a silver and bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, didn't last long and ended after a few years.

Miller blamed his new lifestyle for missing selection for the Sydney 2000 Olympics.

'This failure  was also a factor in the deterioration of my marriage, which ended after three or four years,' he said in the court document.

He also said the isolation and separation from his family while training added to his mental anguish.

Miller's lawyer Greg Goold told the court a psychiatric assessment found that he suffered from depression common to elite athletes when they can no longer compete at the highest level.

Miller won a silver medal in the 100m butterfly at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics but he felt crushed by coming second

The marriage between Dawson and Miller, who as a butterfly swimmer won a silver and bronze medal at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics , didn't last long and ended after a few years

'Pursuing glory for his country came at an expense of everything else in his life,' the court heard.

When Miller finished second to Russian Denis Pankratov for the 100m butterfly final at the 1996 Olympics, it had a serious mental effect on him.

These type of stresses caused Miller to turn to drugs, which has resulted in a number of arrests and imprisonments.

Miller is currently serving a maximum jail term of five years and six months having already plead guilty to charges associated with supplying drugs related to the same supply ring.

The one-year non-parole period of his latest sentence is set to elapse on May 15 and because of time already served, he will be eligible for release less than a week after his latest conviction.

Miller is seen being arrested by police in February, 2021

The latest sentence was over Miller supplying 504g of ice from a Haberfield property in Sydney's inner west between April and October in 2020.

Judge Andrew Scotting said he believed the depression and anxiety connected to his swimming career had contributed to the Olympian's offences.

He added that he believed Miller had shown good prospects of rehabilitation having abstained from drugs and completed a degree in building and construction at Curtin University and even scoring high distinctions all while behind bars.

Corrective Services told the court Miller had been a model prisoner.

'I accept that the point has been reached that no further rehabilitation will be gained by keeping him in jail,' Judge Scotting told the court.
The government of the Balearic Islands has introduced a ban on the sale of alcohol between 9:30pm and 8am in a bid to crack down on so-called low quality tourism.

The Balearic government's new decree, which will be enforced until at least December 2027, bans late night sales of booze from commercial establishments in Llucmajor, Palma and Calvia in Mallorca and Sant Antoni in Ibiza.

The government wrote in its announcement of the ban that the 'correct interpretation' of the ban was that 'commercial establishments' have to be completely closed, and cannot simply shut display cases.

It also banned party boats from being within one nautical mile of any of these destinations, and they are banned from picking up an disembarking passengers in this area.

The BBC reported that the decree, an expansion of a 2020 law, was pushed at the request of local authorities.

A spokesperson for the Balearic Islands tourism council said that the 2020 law was combatting anti-social behaviour.

Late night sales of booze will be banned in Ibiza and Mallorca

He added that he hoped the law would no longer be necessary in 'in three to four years, if we instill in people how to behave.'

The bans come after the government warned that rowdy Brits could face hefty fines following the introduction of tougher new sanctions for bad behaviour for flouting civic rules in its biggest holiday hotspots.

The mayor of Mallorca's capital, Palma, said one of his main objectives is to 'correct uncivil attitudes' and this applies as much to holidaymakers as it does to locals.

Jaime Martinez said the new Civic Ordinance could see offenders hit with fines of up to 3,000, depending on the severity of the breach - with the new rules due to come into force in a couple of months.

The new rules include a ban on drink parties in public places, graffiti, scooters, and even nudism and semi-nudism.

This new Ordinance toughens the sanctions on activities that deteriorate or dirty the city's public spaces.

According to the mayor, the current ordinance is too 'lax' and needs an increase in sanctions to promote one of the main objectives of his mandate: 'Correct uncivil attitudes.'

It comes after he told leisure industry bosses at the ITB Berlin tourism fair earlier this month that he and his administration are working to stop 'rampant' irresponsible tourism on the island.

According to the ordinance, if the consumption of alcohol on public roads disrupts coexistence, involves crowds or deteriorates the tranquillity of the environment, among other situations, the infraction will be considered serious.

Tourists seen walking on the street at in Magaluf

Breaching this rule will set you back 750 to 1,500 - or if it's considered very serious, the fine can range from 1,500 to 3,000.

On this issue, the mayor has pointed out that there are identified areas where 'we must act with greater presence', such as Santa Catalina, Palma beach or the Paseo Maritimo.

The amount of infractions for graffiti or slogans will be increased from 100 to 750 euros to fines of 1,500 to 3,000.

In the case of minors who commit graffiti vandalism, the mayor explained that parents will be held responsible and will have to ensure payment of penalties and meet the cost of removal by the town hall.

In relation to banners, posters and advertising brochures, their placement in municipal buildings or facilities, in public spaces and street furniture is prohibited. Thus, the sanctions will range from 750 to 1,500.

Likewise, placement on monuments, listed buildings or on traffic signs that make their visibility difficult will result in a serious infringement, amounting to 1,500 to 3,000.
A surfing competition has been forced to allow a transgender woman to compete after initially banning her from the tournament.

But despite the ban being lifted by a demand from Californian regulators, the surfer Sasha Jane Lowerson, 44, said she would refuse to compete anyway.

The American Longboard Association said last month that transgender women could not compete in the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro this Saturday.

'We're gonna stick to our guns, I wanna offer an equal playing field for all athletes and that's the stand we're taking,' founder Todd Messick said.

Sasha Jane Lowerson, 44, was banned from the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro until the California Coastal Commission forced organizers to change policy

Messick's stance divided opinion in the surfing community and he received strong support online from activists opposing trans athletes competing against women.

However, he was on Tuesday sent a strongly worded letter from the California Coastal Commission demanding a U-turn.

Executive director Kate Huckelbridge wrote that surfing competitions in Californian waters could not discriminate based on gender.

She wrote that the ban was not consistent with the Coastal Act and was 'particularly concerned' the event 'does not provide equitable access to all competitors'.

'Prohibiting or unfairly limiting' transgender athletes from competing... impedes access by discriminating against transgender surfers,' she wrote.

Huckelbridge wrote that the event, as per law, would need a permit - but would be given an exemption if it followed the commission's 'environmental justice policy', which forbids discrimination based on gender.

Her letter threatened 'administrative penalties and other remedies' if this was not followed.

Lowerson said she was 'really disappointed and surprised' at being excluded from the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro

Lowerson won men's surfing competitions in her native Australia before she transitioned about three years ago

Despite Lowerson registering for the event sparking the commission's intervention, she was not on the published list for the event and said she wouldn't compete

Despite Lowerson registering for the event sparking the commission's intervention, she was not on the published list for the event and said she wouldn't compete.

'Why would I openly subject myself to the dangers associated with turning up to this minor small time event with little to no safety precautions. This event is poorly planed poorly ran,' she said.

'As far as I know the organizers made a public announcement via social media without contacting me stating I wasn't allowed to surf.

'I have since yet had zero contact with this organization. They have yet not even bothered to refund my event entry fee.'

Messick said in a video announcing the transgender ban last month that he would 'support biological males and biological females in their divisions'.

'If you were born a female, you enter in the women's; if you were born a male you enter into the men's,' he said.

'You guys can live however and whatever you want to do in life, that's not for me to decide, but it is for me to decide what's fair and what's not fair for the American Longboard Association.

'We're gonna stick to our guns, I wanna offer an equal playing field for all athletes and that's the stand we're taking.

'This whole thing is about traditional longboard surfing and supporting that.'

Messick said Lowerson registering for the event 'threw me completely off guard, I didn't think I'd have to address this so soon'.

Lowerson has won women's competition's around the world since transitioning, and on at least one occasion outscored both the male athletes while competing as a woman

Messick said Lowerson registering for the event 'threw me completely off guard, I didn't think I'd have to address this so soon'

After the commission forced him to rescind the ban, he told the BBC he was 'surprised by the amount of anger' it created.

Messick referred to comments by prominent professional surfer Bethany Hamilton, who lashed out in January at new World Surf League policies allowing transgender athletes to compete.

'Male-bodied athletes should not be competing in female sports. Period,' she said at the time.

'Many of the girls currently on tour are not in support of this new rule, and they fear being ostracized if they speak up.

'Is a hormone level an accurate depiction of whether someone is male or female?'

Messick claimed '90 per cent of the female surfers I spoke to are in agreement, but many haven't commented. It's that sensitive'.

Hamilton has not commented on the American Longboard Association issue.

Save Women's Sport Australasia co-founder Ro Edge spoke in support of Messick's ban and blamed California Governor Gavin Newsome.

'A Californian surfing comp organizer tries to protect fairness for females but is stymied by legislation passed by master misogynist Gavin Newsome whos prioritized a males feelings over all else,' she wrote.

Bethany Hamilton, 33, lashed out in January at new World Surf League policies allowing transgender athletes to compete

'Many of the girls currently on tour are not in support of this new rule, and they fear being ostracised if they speak up,' Hamilton said

WSL's new policy is in line with that of the International Surfing Association, which allows transgender women to compete if they maintain a testosterone level of less than 5 nmol/L for at least a year.

Hamilton said in January that it would be better to create another division 'so that all can have a fair opportunity to showcase their passion and talent'.

Lowerson told the BBC she was 'really disappointed and surprised' at being excluded from the Huntington Beach Longboard Pro.

'You can't cherry-pick the rulebook. If you're going to use the rulebook, you use all of it,' she said.

Lowerson won men's surfing competitions in her native Australia before she transitioned about three years ago.

She has since won women's competition's around the world, and on at least one occasion outscored both the male athletes while competing as a woman.

Surf brand Rip Curl came under fire for featuring Lowerson in its advertising after dropping Hamilton for her anti-trans views.

Lowerson previously told Daily Mail Australia she was hesitant to compete as a trans surfer due to 'fears of rejection and even the threat of violence'

Lowerson featured on the Rip Curl Women Instagram page in January as part of the company's Meet The Local Heroes of Western Australia campaign.

Rip Curl later quietly deleted all mention of Lowerson from its website and social media.

Lowerson previously told Daily Mail Australia she was hesitant to compete as a trans surfer due to 'fears of rejection and even the threat of violence'.

'Surfing was a thing that held me back from transitioning due to the old guard being so patriarchal and transphobic and homophobic,' she said.

'When I started transitioning I stopped surfing for six months. I was willing to walk away from it to be truly happy.

'To think that something that gave me so much love and freedom was the thing that held me back was really horrible and hard to deal with.'
A website awarded an eagle-eyed user with a free 35 bottle of wine - for being the only person to read the terms and conditions in full.

The free bottle of 'good wine' was hidden in the privacy policy of the Tax Policy Associates website as an experiment to test if anyone had read the full policy.

Hidden in the middle of the terms and conditions, a clause had been planted saying that the website would 'send a bottle of good wine to the first person to read this'.

It took three months for the small print to be spotted and the wine - a 35 bottle of Chateau de Sales 2013/14, Pomerol - to be claimed.

Dan Neidle, who heads the non-profit organisation, admitted the experiment was a 'childish protest' that all businesses are required to have a privacy policy but no one reads it.

The free bottle of 'good wine' was hidden in the privacy policy of the Tax Policy Associates website as an experiment to test if anyone had read the full policy (Stock Image)

Hidden in the middle of the terms and conditions, a clause had been planted saying that the website would 'send a bottle of good wine to the first person to read this'.

Neidle told the BBC: 'Every tiny coffee shop has to have a privacy policy on their website, it's crazy. It's money that's being wasted.'

On X, formerly known as Twitter, Mr Neidle said: 'Crazier still is that we're legally required to have a privacy policy, even though nobody cares or reads it.'

According to the Information Commissioner's Office, all companies that hold personal data must have a privacy policy - a key requirement under the UK's General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (GDPR).

Tax Policy Associates played a similar trick two years ago, when it took four months for the clause to be spotted.

Mr Neidle added: 'We did it again to see if people were paying more attention and they're not.'

He explained that the sneaky experiment was inspired by the band Van Halen who would ask tour promoters for a bowl of M&Ms with the brown ones removed.

The test was designed to check if tour organisers were paying attention to complicated instructions.

According to the Information Commissioner's Office, all companies that hold personal data must have a privacy policy (Stock Image)

Other companies have hidden Easter eggs within their small print in a bid to prove how few people actually read them.

On April Fool's Day in 2010, Game Station, a UK-based games retailer, added an 'immortal soul clause' to their terms and conditions.

The clause read: 'By placing an order via this website on the first day of the fourth month of the year 2010 Anno Domini, you agree to grant us a non-transferable option to claim, for now and for ever more, your immortal soul.'

Game Station claimed 88 per cent of their customers had not read the clause, granting them legal ownership of their souls.

A home economics teacher from America once won a $10,000 reward after she closely read the terms and conditions that came with a travel insurance policy she purchased for a trip to England.

Squaremouth, the Florida-based insurance company, had promised the reward as part of their Pays to Read campaign and said: 'We awarded one customer $10,000 for doing what no one does, but always should'.

In 2017, 22,000 people who signed up to use free public Wi-Fi, inadvertently agreed to complete 1,000 hours of community service including washing toilets and 'relieving sewer blockages', according to The Guardian.

Three years earlier, a handful of Londoners gave up their eldest children in exchange for public Wi-Fi access.

In MailChimp's legal terms, the email marketing company put it simply: 'We won't be held liable for any delays or failure in performance of any part of the Service, from any cause beyond our control.

'This includes, but is not limited to, acts of god, changes to law or regulations, embargoes, war, terrorist acts, riots, fires, earthquakes, nuclear accidents, floods, strikes, power blackouts, volcanic action, unusually severe weather conditions, and acts of hackers or third-party internet service providers.'
A case of mad cow disease has been confirmed on a farm in the UK, officials have revealed.

An investigation is underway after a case of the disease, officially known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), was discovered in Ayrshire, Scotland. It is the first known case in Britain since 2021.

The farm has been put into lockdown, but it is understood that the animal did not enter the human food chain and the risks to the public are 'minimal'.

The Scottish Government said it was 'identified as a result of routine surveillance and stringent control measures' which meant that animals over four years of age that die on farm are routinely tested for BSE.

An investigation is underway after a case of the disease, officially known as Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (BSE), was discovered in Ayrshire, Scotland. Pictured: a photo from 1996 of cows killed because of the disease

The farm has been put into lockdown, but it is understood that the animal did not enter the human food chain and the risks to the public are 'minimal'. Pictured: a herd of 124 cows in France had to be killed in 1996 because one of them had the disease

All animals that came into contact with the case have been located and placed in quarantine, while the owners work with authorities on next steps.

If passed on to humans when they eat contaminated beef, BSE can cause variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)  a fatal, degenerative brain disorder.

At the disease's peak in the early 1990s, it was infecting more than 30,000 cows a year but, until today, there had been only six cases in the UK since 2012.

Three others farms with connections to the case also imposed restrictions but chief veterinary officer Sheila Voas described the risk to the public as 'minimal'.

Food Standards Scotland have confirmed there is no risk to human health and described it as an 'isolated case' which is being probed by the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA).

Scotland's agriculture minister, Jim Fairlie, said: 'Following confirmation of a case of classical BSE in Ayrshire, the Scottish Government and other agencies took swift and robust action to protect the agriculture sector. This included establishing a precautionary movement ban on the farm.

Food Standards Scotland have confirmed there is no risk to human health and described it as an 'isolated case' which is being probed by the Animal Plant and Health Agency (APHA) (file photo)

At the disease's peak in the early 1990s, it was infecting more than 30,000 cows a year but, until today, there had been only six cases in the UK since 2012. Pictured: dead cows on a farm in France during a 1996 outbreak

'The fact we identified this isolated case so quickly is proof that our surveillance system for detecting this type of disease is working effectively.

'I want to thank the animal's owner for their diligence. Their decisive action has allowed us to identify and isolate the case at speed which has minimised its impact on the wider industry.'

BSE first emerged in the mid-1980s as a result of feeding natural grass-eating cows beef offal, but it can also be caused by a random genetic mutation.

Ms Voas said: 'The fast detection of this case is proof that our surveillance system is doing its job.

'We are working closely with the Animal and Plant Health Agency, and other partners to identify where the disease came from.

'I want to reassure both farmers and the public that the risk associated with this isolated case is minimal. But, if any farmers are concerned, I would urge them to seek veterinary advice.'

In 1996, all beef exports from Britain were banned by the European Union and the ban wasn't lifted until 2006.

Cows over the age of 30 months were also ordered to be killed to halt the spread of the disease  called the Over Thirty Months Scheme.

Ian McWatt, deputy chief executive of Food Standards Scotland, said: 'There are strict controls in place to protect consumers from the risk of BSE, including controls on animal feed, and removal of the parts of cattle most likely to carry BSE infectivity.

'Consumers can be reassured that these important protection measures remain in place and that Food Standards Scotland Official Veterinarians and Meat Hygiene Inspectors working in all abattoirs in Scotland will continue to ensure that in respect of BSE controls, the safety of consumers remains a priority.

'We will continue to work closely with Scottish Government, other agencies and industry at this time.'
Sarah Katz died at the age of 21 after consuming the caffeinated beverage

The parents of a girl who died after drinking a Charged Lemonade from Panera Bread have spoken out after the energy drink was axed following multiple deaths.

Sarah Katz died at the age of 21 after suffering two cardiac arrests shortly after consuming the highly caffeinated beverage from the American restaurant chain.

Since her death in September 2022, multiple lawsuits were filed against Panera Bread on behalf of others who died or were left with serious health conditions after consuming the lemonade.

The grieving parents of Katz, who was a student at the prestigious University of Pennsylvania, have now opened up about losing their daughter.

Katz's father, Michael, recalled the moment he found out that his daughter had 'collapsed' and raced to the trauma center to learn that she had suffered from cardiac arrest - but that doctors were able to resuscitate her.

Sarah Katz (pictured) died on September 10, 2022, just hours after she consumed a large Charged Lemonade from a branch of Panera Bread in Philadelphia

The grieving parents of Katz, Michael and Jill Katz (pictured), have now opened up about losing their daughter

'The pain is just so hard and so deep. It's not something you get better from,' Jill Katz, Sarah's mother said. She is pictured here with her daughter

However, after the 21-year-old suffered a second cardiac arrest, medical officials ended the resuscitation - leaving her heartbroken parents in 'total disbelief'.

'The pain is just so hard and so deep. It's not something you get better from,' Jill Katz, Sarah's mother said. She added that time has not healed their heartbreak, and they have been forced to acclimate to the pain of losing their beloved daughter.

'Sarah was an amazing daughter, an amazing friend and an amazing sister,' Jill said. She volunteered at the local children's hospital, was part of her school's pre-law society and acted as social chair for her sorority. She was studying health and society and international relations.

Katz's parents revealed that they had to pack up her apartment in Philadelphia following her tragic death, which was 'gut-wrenching,' and that it was there they learned from her roommate that she had consumed the Panera Bread Charged Lemonade.

The roommate had heard of other related incidents that had occurred after others had consumed Charged Lemonades and she put two and two together.

When the doctor was informed about the lemonade consumption, they said it was absolutely something that could have contributed to the death.

Since her death in September 2022, multiple lawsuits were filed against Panera Bread on behalf of others who died or were left with serious health condition s after consuming the lemonade

The Katz family are now suing Panera Bread for wrongful death, negligence and several other counts - alleging that the company failed to properly warn consumers of their dangerous product

Katz's parents said that she typically steered clear of energy drinks because of a known heart condition that she was diagnosed with at the age of five.

The Katz family are now suing Panera Bread for wrongful death, negligence and several other counts - alleging that the company failed to properly warn consumers of their dangerous product.

Panera Bread announced on Tuesday that the Charged Lemonade beverages would be pulled from the menu.

A spokesperson for the chain said the change was part of a 'menu transformation' and internal memos suggest it could begin within the next two weeks.

But the move comes after lawsuits blamed the highly caffeinated drinks for two deaths and heart damage in a third patient.

'I know that as we're sitting here today that people's lives have been saved by the awareness of this,' Jill Katz told ABC News.

The lawsuit filed alleges that the 30-fluid-ounce drink exceeds the combined contents of 12 fluid ounces of Red Bull (114 milligrams of caffeine) and 16 ounces of Monster Energy Drink (160 milligrams of caffeine).

Elizabeth Crawford, the attorney representing the Katz family, revealed that Panera Bread doesn't even offer a 30-ounce option for coffee.

A regular size of Charged Lemonade, which is 20 ounces, has 260 milligrams of caffeine. The large, which comes in a 30-ounce cup, has 390 milligrams

The lawsuit claims that Mr. Brown was 'reasonably confident it was a traditional lemonade containing a reasonable amount of caffeine safe for him to drink'

A second lawsuit was filed in December by the family of a disabled Florida man, 46, who also died after drinking several Charged Lemonades.

A third lawsuit was filed in January by Lauren Skerritt, a 28-year-old from Rhode Island who claimed the beverage left her with 'permanent' heart injuries.

A 30-ounce large Charged Lemonade contains 390 milligrams, which is nearly the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) entire recommended daily limit.

A spokesperson for Panera said Tuesday that the phasing out of the drinks was due to customer feedback.

'We listened to more than 30,000 guests about what they wanted from Panera, and are focusing next on the broad array of beverages we know our guests desire  ranging from exciting, on-trend flavors, to low sugar and low-caffeine options,' they said.

After news of the first lawsuit broke, Panera put more detailed disclosures in all of its restaurants and on its website warning customers to consume the drinks in moderation.

The chain also stated that they were not recommended for children, pregnant women, breastfeeding moms or people sensitive to caffeine.

Internal memos shared with NBC News by senior staff in Missouri and Pennsylvania indicate the phase-out could happen in two weeks.

But not all employees were aware of the change - including staff in one store in New York City who said they had no knowledge of the move.

DailyMail.com has reached out to Panera Bread for comment.
Police officers wrestled an 'armed joyrider' to the ground after he burst out of an ambulance and tried to escape.

Only moments before he led police on a pursuit in a heavily built up residential area before crashing and coming off a motorbike.

Offices called paramedics to treat the suspect and while he was being tended to he bolted out the back of an ambulance and began to run away on Thursday afternoon.

Just as it looked like he was going to make good his escape he was flattened by a 6ft officer in a spearing rugby tackle.

Footage show the man in torn grey joggers with a bloody left leg, being bundled to the ground on Whitworth Road, Rochdale.

A police officer wrestles with a suspected joy rider after an audacious escape attempt

The tooth and nail fracas was captured on a police officer's dashcam footage

The 'joy rider' makes an effort to leg it out the back of the ambulance and away from police

Greater Manchester police released the footage on X, formerly Twitter, explaining the man was arrested on suspicion of stealing a motor vehicle, possession of drugs and an offensive weapon.

In a cheeky caption, the force said: 'Who says we only chase people in cars?

'Having been arrested in the back of an ambulance for theft, drugs and weapons offences this perp thought he could get away.'

But the suspected criminal had not counted on a bit of old fashioned policing and soon got a rude awakening.

Reinforcements from Greater Manchester Police arrive to subdue the escapee

A Greater Manchester Police spokesman said: 'This suspected motorbike thief thought he could escape from our officers following a pursuit in Rochdale but was swiftly proved wrong.

'Hes now in custody on suspicion of theft of a motor vehicle, possession of drugs and an offensive weapon, and escape of lawful custody.'

Car thieves and joyriders are using increasingly sophisticated technology to steal vehicles and evade detection.

This includes key-cloning which tricks a vehicle's security system into thinking the genuine key is being used to switch on the engine.
Diane Abbott today lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer for welcoming Tory defector Natalie Elphicke to Labour while she herself remains suspended from the party.

The veteran left-winger, who has been MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington since 1987, has had the Labour whip withdrawn for more than a year.

She was suspended amid a probe into her comments about Jewish people in a letter to the Observer newspaper in April last year.

Ms Abbott issued a swift apology for her remarks, in which she suggested Jewish, Irish and Traveller people experience 'prejudice' but are not 'subject to racism'.

But she is still having to sit as an independent MP in the House of Commons as the long-running investigation continues.

The former shadow home secretary drew a comparison between her own treatment by Labour and that of Ms Elphicke, whose defection has sparked a party backlash.

Ms Abbott said Ms Elphicke was 'right to apologise' for past comments in which she appeared to blame victims after her husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she succeeded as Dover MP, was convicted of sexual assualt.

But, in a swipe at Sir Keir, Ms Abbott added: 'The decision to accept it five years after she first said it is unusual. Not everyone is treated with such generosity.'

Sir Keir this morning defended dismissed anger in his own ranks at Ms Elphicke being allowed to join Labour and claimed politics should be 'less tribal'.

Diane Abbott lashed out at Sir Keir Starmer for welcoming Tory defector Natalie Elphicke to Labour while she herself remains suspended from the party

Ms Elphicke joined Sir Keir in her Dover constituency this morning to launch Labour's plans to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel in small boats

Ms Abbott drew a comparison between her own treatment by Labour and that of Ms Elphicke, whose defection has sparked a party backlash

Labour MPs have criticised the decision to admit Ms Elphicke to the party, citing her hardline views on immigration and past support of her ex-husband.

The Dover MP apologised yesterday for claiming after Charlie Elphicke's 2020 conviction that he was 'attractive, and attracted to women' and 'an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations'.

She said: 'The period of 2017 - 2020 was an incredibly stressful and difficult one for me as I learned more about the person I thought I knew.

'I know it was far harder for the women who had to relive their experiences and give evidence against him.'

Jess Phillips, the former shadow minister for domestic violence and safeguarding, had earlier said Ms Elphicke should 'account for her actions', adding: 'I'm all for forgiveness but I do think that that needs some explaining.'

Ms Elphicke stunned Westminster by crossing the floor of the Commons to sit on Labour's benches just ahead of Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday.

She joined Sir Keir in her Dover constituency this morning to launch Labour's plans to tackle people-smuggling gangs bringing migrants across the Channel in small boats.

Speaking at the event, Sir Keir dismissed anger in his own ranks at Ms Elphicke being allowed to join the party.

He argued that Ms Elphicke's switch showed 'we've got a Tory party that is on its last legs... it's out of ideas' and urged people to be 'less tribal in our pursuit of a better country'.

Sir Keir said: 'I'm very pleased to welcome Natalie to the Labour Party. You've heard the reasons yourself why she took that very difficult step.'

The Labour leader added he wanted his party to be a place that 'reasonably-minded people, whichever way they voted in the past' feel they can join.

'It is an invitation that we should be less tribal in the pursuit of a better country and invite people to our party who want to join in our object of national renewal,' he said.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has boasted that Labour is talking to more prospective switchers on the Tory benches, with Dan Poulter already having made the change a fortnight ago.

But critics have accused Sir Keir of turning the party into a 'dustbin' for Conservative right-wingers - while even normally staunch supporter Lord Kinnock has warned Sir Keir needs to be careful who to accept.

Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy suffered an awkward moment on the BBC's Question Time last night when the audience was asked whether Ms Elphicke was an 'asset' to her party and no-one put their hand up.

Asked if he was concerned about the backlash from within the Labour Party to Ms Elphicke's defection, Starmer said today that she had set out the reasons for this 'very important and significant' defection.

He said: 'It's a Conservative Party that is on its last legs, it's out of road, out of ideas, and that is why I genuinely think the mood of the country, and Natalie has picked up on this, is for change and a general election.'

No-one can understand why Mr Sunak is 'clinging on by his fingernails' to power, Sir Keir added.

Ms Elphicke stunned Westminster this week when she switched sides from the Conservatives to Sir Keir's Labour just before Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday

Downing Street has pointed out Ms Elphicke's past attacks on Labour's immigration policy while former prime minister Lord Cameron said her defection showed the opposition stood for nothing.

There were calls for Ms Abbott to be readmitted as a Labour MP earlier this year after she was put at the centre of a Conservative racism scandal.

Tory donor Frank Hester was reported to have said Ms Abbott, Britain's first black female MP, made him 'want to hate all black women' and that she 'should be shot'.

Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner branded the comments about Ms Abbott as 'absolutely chilling' and said she 'would like to see' the veteran MP's suspension lifted.

Ms Abbott was accused of 'spouting hateful anti-Semitism' with her newspaper letter in April last year.

The row was sparked by her response to a comment article that stated Irish, Jewish and Traveller people all suffer from racism.

'They undoubtedly experience prejudice,' Ms Abbott wrote.

'This is similar to racism and the two words are often used as if they are interchangeable.

'It is true that many types of white people with points of difference, such as redheads, can experience this prejudice.

'But they are not all their lives subject to racism. In pre-civil rights America, Irish people, Jewish people and Travellers were not required to sit at the back of the bus.

'In apartheid South Africa, these groups were allowed to vote. And at the height of slavery, there were no white-seeming people manacled on the slave ships.'

Amid the backlash against her comments, Ms Abbott issued a public apology.

In a statement posted on her Twitter account, she wrote: 'I am writing regarding my letter that was recently published in the Observer.

'I wish to wholly and unreservedly withdraw my remarks and disassociate myself from them.

'The errors arose in an initial draft being sent. But there is no excuse and I wish to apologise for any anguish caused.

'Racism takes many forms, and it is completely undeniable that Jewish people have suffered its monstrous effects, as have Irish people, Travellers and many others.

'Once again, I would likely (sic) to apologise publicly for the remarks and any distress caused as a result of them.'
Republicans are launching a probe into the federal law enforcement response to 'pro-Hamas' college protests that have 'failed' to prevent threats and violence against Jewish students.

In recent weeks, thousands of students and activists have been arrested for illegally occupying college campuses across the U.S. while calling for the downfall of Israel and praising Palestinians in Gaza.

At times, Jewish students have been targets of violence and have been blocked from attending classes by pro-Palestinian activists. Some Jewish students have described being afraid to be on campus and others have been told to avoid it altogether.

Now, House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green, R-Tenn., is investigating why federal authorities and the universities have failed to protect these students despite receiving over $8 million in 2023 in taxpayer-funded government grants to do so.

'Universities like Columbia that receive taxpayer-funded Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention grants from DHS must be able to uphold freedom of speech while protecting their studentsespecially as Jewish students have been repeatedly singled out for harassment since last October,' Green exclusively told DailyMail.com in a statement.

Law enforcement intervenes to separate pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian protestors at a UCLA demonstration

Despite Columbia University receiving over $800,000 in federal funding to prevent terrorism and violence on campus, hundreds of students and activists were arrested for protesting. The school's president, Minouche Shafik, has requested a sustained police presence on campus

'These acts of anti-Semitic hate and brazen support for terrorist groups are unacceptable anywhere, particularly at our institutions of higher learning, but this rhetoric and coordinated, destructive activity could point toward even more sinister threats to public safety and national security.'

'The Committee demands answers from DHS and the FBI on what they are doing to protect students, identify broader threats, and secure the homeland,' Green said.

On Friday, the Republican sent a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Sec. Alejandro Mayorkas asking how their agencies worked to prevent violence towards Jewish students.

The lawmaker mentioned how a Columbia University department received over $800,000 in federal violence and terrorism prevention funding yet still 'failed' to protect students and avoid violence.

'Despite receiving substantial federal funding under DHS Targeted Violence and Terrorism Prevention (TVTP) grant program, many universities have failed to effectively respond to an increase in threats and acts of violence directed at Jewish students and the Jewish community,' the letter exclusively obtained by DailyMail.com stated.

'This includes, for instance, the Teachers College at Columbia University, who received $820,332 in TVTP grant funding in fiscal year 2023, for the purposes of countering violent extremism.'

'It is unclear, however, that DHS is taking sufficient steps to ensure the safety and security of the homeland,' Green continued in the letter, before adding it is also 'unclear from the Committees oversight how the FBI is protecting the American people from these potential terrorist attacks by countering possible terrorist cells and operatives here in the homeland.'

In total, DHS award over $8 million in federal grant funding to universities and colleges nationwide 'to establish or enhance capabilities to prevent targeted violence and terrorism.'

Green demanded that the federal agencies send the committee proof of their correspondence with law enforcement and colleges demonstrating efforts to protect students.

The letter is co-signed by Rep. August Pfluger, the chairman of House Subcommittee on Counterterrorism, Law Enforcement, and Intelligence.

'The antisemitic riots endangering Jewish students and law enforcement officers are unacceptable,' Pfluger said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

'DHS and FBI must demonstrate action in taking these threats seriously and securing the homeland.'

The lawmakers demanded a response from the FBI and DHS by May 24.
(Photo : Unsplash/carlos aranda)

Tesla is accused of keeping employees in Buffalo, New York, from unionizing, according to a complaint filed by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

An NLRB Complaint Alleging Tesla of Union-Busting

On Tuesday, Linda Leslie, the NLRB's regional director for Buffalo, filed a complaint alleging that Tesla "promulgated and maintained" an acceptable use policy for workplace technology in 2023 that purportedly aimed at discouraging employees from unionizing or engaging in concerted activities, following complaints from members of Workers United.

CNBC acquired a copy of the complaint via a Freedom of Information Act request. The complaint outlined restrictions on Tesla employees, prohibiting activities such as recording, unauthorized soliciting or promoting, and creating channels and distribution lists.

The NLRB also alleges that the policy had the impact of infringing upon employees' rights, such as restraining and coercing employees, guaranteed under the National Labor Relations Act, which generally safeguards workers' rights to discuss organizing, join a union, and collectively negotiate for improved pay and working conditions.

Tesla's Buffalo Plant

The Tesla Buffalo plant was initially intended for manufacturing solar panels but has recently been repurposed to assemble electric vehicle charging equipment and accommodate a team of AI software data labelers.

READ ALSO: Tesla Implements Broad Restructuring, Cuts Another 14% of Workforce, Affecting 285 Employees in Buffalo Factory

The Buffalo plant saw job cuts last month in a broader restructuring effort at Tesla. As per a WARN notice filed in the state, Tesla laid off 285 employees in New York, primarily at the Buffalo factory, as the company reduced thousands of jobs globally following a decline in EV sales in the first quarter.

Legal Disputes Concerning Tesla Over The Years

The new claims contribute to a growing list of legal disputes between Tesla, its employees, and government agencies regarding the electric carmaker's employment practices, including other cases alleging illegal anti-union behavior and a series of lawsuits concerning race discrimination.

Tesla and its CEO, Elon Musk, have long opposed unions and have been found to have engaged in anti-union activities. In 2021, the NLRB found Tesla guilty of union busting when it fired a union activist and when Musk's 2018 tweet questioned why Tesla employees would vote for a union, suggesting they would lose out on stock options and pay union dues for no apparent benefit. An administrative court instructed the CEO to delete the post. Despite Tesla's challenge, the request for review was denied. The post remains on Musk's X account, where he has 182.7 million followers.

Tesla has also encountered labor issues in Europe. Swedish service technicians initiated a strike last year that persists to this day, with the labor group intermittently allowing some authorized work. Employees in Sweden, where most of the workforce is unionized, are also pushing for a collective bargaining agreement with Tesla.

An administrative judge will initially hear the case in July, whose decision can be appealed to the five-member labor board and then to a federal appeals court.

RELATED ARTICLE: Tesla Confronting Wage Law Violations, Faces Class-Action Lawsuit from California Workers Demanding $5M in Damages

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Keir Starmer's plan to tackle the Channel crisis was derided by Tories today as he vowed to scrap the Rwanda scheme despite evidence it already having an impact.

The Labour leader tried to get on the front foot on migration by parading Tory defector Natalie Elphicke at a speech in her Dover constituency.

He said he would ditch the 'dead horse' Rwanda scheme 'straight away' if he wins power.

Instead he suggested a 'Border Security Command' bringing together key agencies including the MI5, the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and the Crown Prosecution Service.

Highlighting his experience as a former Director of Public Prosecutions, Sir Keir said that there should also be new counter-terror style powers to shut off internet access and close bank accounts of suspected people-smugglers.

'We will secure Britain's borders. And we will also rebuild Britain's broken asylum system,' Sir Keir said.

However, Tories dismissed Labour's central idea as a 'rebrand' of the existing Small Boats Operational Command - and accused Sir Keir of wanting to give an 'amnesty' to thousands of would-be migrants. The Labour leader also refused to say he would stop crossings altogether, or give a target for reducing them.

The row escalated amid more signs that the Rwanda initiative is having an effect, even though no flights have taken off.

Ireland has been complaining that large numbers of migrants are crossing the border with Northern Ireland to avoid being sent to the African state.

One migrant told Sky News he had paid smugglers 500 to be taken back to France from the UK, as he was worried about being deported to Rwanda or Iraq.

Gang bosses also reportedly moaned that they were running out of passengers as a result of the controversial policy.

Home Secretary James Cleverly said Labour would 'create a haven for criminal gangs' and 'make the UK the asylum capital of the world'.

Keir Starmer hardened his stance against the government's Channel boats strategy as he paraded Tory defector Natalie Elphicke at a speech in Dover

Sir Keir was introduced by Ms Elphicke (pictured) as he pushed plans for a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the Channel crisis

Keir Starmer (pictured with Natalie Elphicke) was announcing plans to create a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the small boats crisis

Government sources dismissed the plans for 'yet another Labour quango' as a 'rearranging of the bureaucratic deckchairs' (file picture of migrants trying to cross the Channel last month)

In his speech, Sir Keir said the Rwanda scheme is an 'absolute waste of money' and 'a gimmick, not a solution' as he detailed Labour's approach.

'They will get flights off the ground, I don't doubt that but I also don't doubt it will not work,' he said.

His commitment was to 'ending the scheme absolutely, flights and all'. 'It is not going to work, it is an absolute waste of money. It is a gimmick, not a solution,' he said.

'I'm not prepared to have a government that is run on gimmicks.'

Sir Keir refused to give a target for reducing numbers crossing the Channel.

But he said he had 'smashed' terrorist gangs as head of the CPS and could do the same to smuggling gangs.

The Border Command would be an 'elite force, not a Cinderella service', he claimed.

'We will restore serious government to our borders, tackle this problem at source and replace the Rwanda policy permanently,' Sir Keir said.

Sir Keir said he would seek a new partnership with Europe to access real-time intelligence and that he has been to the Hague to push for a new security pact.

He said stronger powers are needed to bring smuggling gangs to justice, including powers to shut off internet access, close their bank accounts and trace their movements using intelligence agency information.

'We use the term small boats, but the boats are not for the most part that small,' Sir Keir said. 'The gangs now use dinghies on a scale way beyond anything you would see for legitimate recreational activity.'

In a message to smuggling gangs, he said: 'These shores will become hostile territory for you  we will find you. We will stop you. We will protect your victims with the Border Security Command. We will secure Britain's borders.'

'I dragged my party away from the allure of gesture politics. And I will do the same for Westminster,' he said.

Labour has previously said it will overturn the Government's asylum ban by considering the claims of all those who have entered the UK illegally since March last year.

Mr Cleverly said: 'Rather than starting the flights and stopping the boats, Sir Keir Starmer's big new idea is an amnesty for all illegal immigrants.'

Immigration minister Michael Tomlinson said: 'Labour would scrap the Rwanda scheme even though it is working leaving nowhere to send people whose home country is unsafe.

'Labour would simply re-brand our Small Boats Operational Command, a dedicated unit of Border Force officers working closely with the military to stop the boats.'

He also accused Labour of wanting to expand the asylum system to accept 'tens of thousands' of claims from outside the UK, and said Sir Keir would do a deal with the EU to accept more migrants.

'Labour won't stop the boats. They want to stop the planes,' Mr Tomlinson added.

Sir Keir was introduced by Ms Elphicke as he fleshed out plans for a 'Border Security Command' to tackle the crisis during a visit her Dover constituency.

'It's fantastic to be in your constituency, welcome to the Labour Party,' he said.

Sir Keir dismissed anger in his own ranks at the bombshell, arguing that Ms Elphicke's switch showed 'we've got a Tory party that is on its last legs... it's out of ideas' and urging people to be 'less tribal in our pursuit of a better country'.

Ms Elphicke's dramatic crossing of the floor at PMQs on Wednesday has caused shockwaves through Labour.

She was considered on the right of the Tories, and previously slammed the Labour leader as 'Sir Softie' for his approach to Channel migration.

Sir Keir trumpeted the defection as evidence that Labour has broad appeal and can take on the Conservatives in their own core issues. Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting boasted overnight that the party is talking to more prospective switchers on the government benches, with Dan Poulter already having made the change a fortnight ago.

However, critics have accused Sir Keir of turning the party into a 'dustbin' for Conservative right-wingers - while even normally staunch supporter Lord Kinnock has warned he needs to be careful who to accept.

Labour frontbencher Lisa Nandy suffered an awkward moment on the BBC's Question Time last night when the audience was asked whether Ms Elphicke was an 'asset' to her party and no-one put their hand up.

Tories dismissed Labour's central idea as a 'rebrand' of the existing Small Boats Operational Command - and accused Sir Keir of wanting to give an 'amnesty' to thousands of would-be migrants

Sir Keir went to Dover to make the case for his approach to the Channel crisis

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper was in the audience, after admitting she did not know about Ms Elphicke's defection until she actually crossed the floor in the Commons

Sir Keir's allies have been stressing that Ms Elphicke is not standing for re-election in Dover and will not have a frontbench role or be handed a peerage. Labour's candidate in Dover, Mike Tapp, also spoke at the event today.

Yesterday Ms Elphicke issued an apology for comments in which she appeared to blame victims after her husband Charlie Elphicke, whom she succeeded as Dover MP, was convicted of sexual assualt.

Introducing her new leader today, Ms Elphicke said Labour would provide 'a fresh approach' to the issue 'that puts at its heart a commitment to border security'.

Taking questions after the speech in Dover, Sir Keir said: 'I'm very pleased to welcome Natalie to the Labour Party. You've heard the reasons yourself why she took that very difficult step.'

He said he wanted his 'changed' party to be a place where 'reasonably minded people, whichever way they voted in the past' feel they can join

'It is an invitation that we should be less tribal in the pursuit of a better country and invite people to our party who want to join in our object of national renewal,' Sir Keir said.

Asked where he would draw the line with right-wing politicians and whether he would welcome Nigel Farage into Labour, he said 'a list of names doesn't help anyone but Nigel Farage wouldn't want to join Labour' but added that he wanted to 'bring as many people with us as possible'

Graph showing the number of migrants that have arrived in the UK by crossing the Channel since 2019

Labour said its new Border Command would be bolstered by new counter- terror powers to smash the smuggling gangs.

A former police, military or intelligence chief will be appointed to lead the body and report to the Home Secretary.

Labour also said it would hire hundreds of specialist investigators, intelligence agents and cross-border police officers to work across the UK and Europe to protect the border.

The plans will be paid for by redirecting 75million of the allocated costs for the Rwanda scheme, which Labour has repeatedly vowed to scrap  even if it is working.

Some 211 people made the journey from France to the UK on yesterday in three boats, provisional Home Office figures show.

This suggests an average of around 70 people per boat and takes the provisional total for Channel crossings in 2024 to date to 9,037.

This is up 35 per cent on this time last year, when 6,691 crossings were recorded, and a 16% rise compared to the same period in 2022 (7,801),
A homeless woman has been found living inside a Michigan rooftop grocery store sign where she appeared to have set up an office.

The 34-year-old vagrant, whose identity was not disclosed, was found April 23 when a contractor was investigating an extension cord on the roof.

She had been living behind the triangle-shaped sign - approximately 5ft wide and 8ft high that has a door accessible to the roof - of the Family Fare supermarket, located in Midland, a city approximately 130 miles north of Detroit.

She appeared to be using electricity that was powered by the grocery store.

Midland Police Department Officer Brennon Warren said the woman told them she that had a job but, had been living inside the retailer's sign for nearly a year, but did not provide further details, Fox19Now reported.

Warren said she agreed to leave and no charges were pressed, as per the news outlet.

On Thursday, the officer said: 'It's a story that makes you scratch your head, just somebody living up in a sign.'

The homeless woman was found living behind the sign of the Family Fare supermarket last month. The triangle-shaped sign measures approximately 5ft wide and 8ft high. Officials said there is also a door that is accessible from the roof

Some of the shocking items the officer discovered included flooring the woman had laid down, a desk, clothing, a Keuring coffee maker, printer and a computer.

He said, 'things you'd have in your home,' and explained that she was able to get electricity through a power cord plugged into an outlet on the roof.

It is unclear how the woman was able to get onto the roof - no signs of a ladder were around- and appeared to puzzle the officer.

'I honestly don't know how she was getting up there. She didn't indicate, either,' he said.

The woman complied with the officer's request and left with no issue, and no charges were pressed.

It remains unclear where the woman had gone.

The entrance of Family Fare that posts stores hours from 6am to 10pm

The shelves are stocked with cereal and oatmeal at the Family Fare supermarket

Adrienne Chance, the spokesperson for SpartanNash, the parent company of Family Fare, told the news outlet that the employees at the store responded 'with the utmost compassion and professionalism,' upon learning the news.

Though she did not provide further details on the matter, she spoke about the widespread housing issue facing the nation.

'Ensuring there is ample safe, affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving,' she said.

The officer said, they provided her with some information about services in the area.

'She apologized and continued on her way,' Officer Warren said. 'Where she went from there, I don't know.'

DailyMail.com reached out to SpartanNash.
Prince Harry and Meghan's visit to Nigeria  the world's 12th most dangerous country  has raised eyebrows after Harry questioned his own own security in the UK.

Official advice from the UK government is to avoid 'all but essential travel' to parts of Nigeria which has a murder rate of 34 per 100,000 people (the UK Is just over one) and is prone to kidnappings.

Although the capital Abuja where Meghan and Harry flew into is deemed relatively safe, the military base at Kaduna in northwest Nigeria on the itinerary, is seen as a hot 'red zone'  and comparatively far more dangerous than London.

Even locals have been advised to avoid the main highway linking Abuja to Kaduna which has been dubbed 'kidnap alley' after a spate of abductions earlier this year and is in parts ruled by armed bandits.

Ken Wharfe, former royal protection officer the late Princess of Wales visited Nigeria in the early 90s with her and now King Charles.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline Mr Wharfe laid bare the hypocrisy of Harry who deemed Britain unsafe but was happy to travel to Nigeria.

He said: 'I went to Nigeria with Harry's mother and father and it was pretty lawless back then and so you do have to question why he has gone there if he says the safety of his wife and children is uppermost.

For their 72 hours 'private trip' Harry and Meghan have their own four-man security team which they have paid for themselves, and they have also been given unprecedented security by Nigeria

Although the capital Abuja where Meghan and Harry flew into is deemed relatively safe, the military base at Kaduna in northwest Nigeria on the itinerary, is seen as a hot 'red zone'

Official advice from the UK government is to avoid 'all but essential travel' to Nigeria which has a murder rate of 34 per 100,000 people

Prince Harry and Meghan visit the Lightway Academy, a primary and secondary school in Abuja, Nigeria

Ken Wharfe is visible between William and Diana in the background as the future King attends his first official engagement on St David's Day in 1991

With Britain not providing Prince Harry with public-funded security protection he has to employ his own private security team. Pictured: Harry

Prince Harry was pictured with the same security detail in Nigeria

Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex, leaves the High Court in London, on March 27, 2023

'Outriders, machine guns on trucks and armed guards all sounds pretty dramatic and if there is that level of security you have to suppose the risk is very high which again raises the question of why go.

'If the situation deems that level of protection, then you do have to ask why he is there and for him to say he feels unsafe in London when he has all that security in London does leave you asking does it make sense to go.

'He's going to a high-risk country and I'm sure he will be looked after but he is a high level target and one that would certainly in the feather of anyone looking to make him a dramatic impact.

'A member of the British royal family is about as pretty high as gets and what better target can you have, yet he is happy to travel there but question his safety in London, it does small of hypocrisy.

'I appreciate Invictus Games and Archewell are important to him but if you are going somewhere that demands that level of security then you just don't do it, why take the risk ?'

For their 72 hours 'private trip' Harry and Meghan have their own four-man security team which they have paid for themselves, and they have also been given unprecedented security by Nigeria.

On Friday when they arrived at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja where they paid a visit to the Chief of Defence staff General Christopher Musa, they had an astonishing 14 car convoy.

The escort was made up of ten army vehicles, including three Toyota pickups mounted with machine guns and two ambulances.

Personal protection officers among his entourage

For their 72 hours 'private trip' Harry and Meghan have their own four-man security team which they have paid for themselves

Members of their secuirty were seen on the phone

They have also been given unprecedented security by Nigeria

On Friday when they arrived at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja where they paid a visit to the Chief of Defence staff General Christopher Musa, Harry (pictured) had an astonishing 14 car convoy

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning

The Duke and Duchess watch dancers at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja this morning

Harry's escort was made up of ten army vehicles, including three Toyota pickups mounted with machine guns and two ambulances

The astonishing level of protection comes after Harry launched a legal challenge in the UK where he argued against the loss of his Metropolitan Police bodyguards

Outriders preceded the convoy, and the protection was provided by balaclava wearing, machine gun toting members of the Nigerian Army  one wearing a menacing skull motive.

Just hours before Harry and Megan arrived in Nigeria, armed kidnappers abducted dozens of students in a raid at the Kogi state University of Science and Technology, 200 miles south of Abuja in Anyigba.

According to an eye witness account, a large group of gunmen entered the campus from surrounding countryside and started shooting sporadically into the premises.

In a fire fight lasting 30 minutes security staff fought off the attackers although the gang managed to get into lecture halls and snatch dozens of students who were taken away.

The astonishing level of protection comes after Harry launched a legal challenge in the UK where he argued against the loss of his Metropolitan Police bodyguards.

Last year he brought a legal challenge against the downgrading of his security when he stopped being working a royal.

In February he lost that claim and then a further appeal last month was also rejected but he intends to carry on the fight with his legal ran saying they would 'challenge the decision'.

The High Court turned down his request for security saying:'The reality of the matter is that the claimant considers he should receive a different approach to his protection whilst in the UK than Ravec decided he should, based in part on his comparison of his own position with that of others.

'Ravec, as an expert body, concluded otherwise. It was entitled to do so,' said the ruling from Sir Peter Lane.

And the judge said the appeal bid did not add to the claim but was a 'recapitulation of the case' that had previously been brought.

Prince Harry's legal team had argued that he had been treated unfairly in the changes to his police protection, when he still faced significant security threats.

But the High Court ruled in February that there had been no unlawfulness in the decision-making.
Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon is likely headed to prison after an appeals court upheld his conviction for contempt of Congress.

He was handed a four-month sentence in 2022 for refusing to give evidence to a congressional investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

But it was put on hold as he appealed, saying that he acted in good faith by following legal advice and that he was barred from including critical evidence at his trial.

The decision came on Friday when the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected his challenge.

'Bannon insists that 'wilfully' should be interpreted to require bad faith and argues that his non-compliance does not qualify because his lawyer advised him not to respond to the subpoena,' wrote Judge Bradley Garcia.

Former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon lost his appeal against two counts of contempt of Congress Friday and will have to report to prison

A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday upheld Bannon's conviction for defying a subpoena from a congressional panel that investigated the Jan 6. attack on the U.S. Capitol

But, he continued, the court's position is that 'willfully' only means deliberately.

'Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannon's other challenges to his conviction have merit, we affirm.'

Bannon was one of a string of Trump allies who refused to obey a subpoena to testify before the House investigation into the Jan. 6 violence, claiming 'executive privilege' protected conversations and other information related to the presidency.

He was held in contempt by the House on a largely party lines votes in October 2021.

And sentencing Judge Carl Nichols said he had no grounds to claim privilege, given that he had left the White House years before the events on Jan. 6.

'Some of the information sought by the subpoena is information under which no conceivable claim of executive privilege could've been made,' Nichols said.

He was handed two four-month sentences for two charges of contempt, to run concurrently, and fined $6500.

Bannon appealed on four grounds: That the district court was wrong to say he willfully ignored the subpoena; that his conduct was affirmed by government officials; that the subpoena was invalid; and that he was not allowed to use key evidence for his defense.

All four arguments were rejected in a 20-page ruling.

Bannon is seen in the State Dining Room of the White House in February 2017 with President Donald Trump and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk

Bannon spoke with Trump at least twice on January 5, attended a planning meeting at the Willard Hotel in Washington, D.C. and said on his podcast, 'all hell is going to break loose tomorrow,' according to J6 committee

Bannon pictured as he spoke to the media after arriving at federal court to be sentenced on October 21, 2022 in Washington, DC

Bannon will follow Peter Navarro (pictured) becoming the second Trump aide reporting to federal prison after being found guilty of contempt of Congress

He is not entirely out of legal options, and could ask the full appeals court to hear his case or take it to the Supreme Court, but legal analysts were quick to say that he had little hope of winning.

Bannon joined the Trump campaign in 2016 and went to the White House as chief strategist.

But he lost a power struggle and was soon ousted. Since then he has become a key voice of Trump's MAGA movement.

Peter Navarro, another Trump ally, reported to a federal prison in Miami in March, becoming the first former White House official to be imprisoned for contempt of Congress.

Meanwhile, in another reminder of the turmoil of the Trump years, the former president is sitting in a New York courtroom where he in on trial, accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records.

He denies all the charges but this week had to endure two days of testimony by Stormy Daniels, the adult movie star who says she slept with Trump in 2006.
A certification hearing to decide is DeClue will be tried as an adult is on Friday

Her parents said a part of her skull was removed to relieve pressure

The family of the Missouri teen who suffered severe brain injuries after being attacked has said that a part of her skull has been removed to help with recovery.

Kaylee Gain, 16, from St. Louis, was left in a life-threatening condition by Maurnice DeClue, 15, who allegedly smashed her head into concrete during a violent altercation.

Kaylee suffered a skull fracture and frontal lobe damage during the violent March 8 brawl that was caught on camera near her high school but has since been released from the intensive care unit.

Clint and Jaime Gain, the victim's parents have shared an update about her health and said she is now at home, after her long hospitalization and two weeks at in-patient rehabilitation facility but still has 'a long road ahead.'

On her GoFundMe page, the family's attorney revealed that a part of the teen's skull had to be removed to 'relieve the pressure on her brain' and she now needs to 'wear a custom helmet.'

Kaylee Gain, 16, from St. Louis, (pictured) was left in a life-threatening condition by Maurnice DeClue, 15, who repeatedly smashed her head into concrete during a violent altercation

Clint and Jaime Gain, the victim's parents, revealed that Kaylee is now at home, after her long hospitalization and two weeks at in-patient rehabilitation facility

On her GoFundMe page, the family's attorney revealed that a part of the teen's skull had to be removed to 'relieve the pressure on her brain' and she now needs to 'wear a custom helmet'

DeClue's parents reportedly told local media that she 'wants to apologize' to Kaylee

'While hospitalized, Kaylee underwent a craniectomy, which is a neurosurgical procedure that involved removing a portion of Kaylees skull in order to relieve the pressure on her brain.

'The portion of Kaylees skull that was removed still has not been put back in place. Ever since Kaylee underwent this procedure it has been necessary for her to wear a custom helmet in order to protect her brain in the event of a fall.

'Kaylee is scheduled to undergo an additional surgery to reattach this portion of her skull which will require yet another hospitalization,' attorney Bryan M. Kaemmerer wrote.

Her family also said that the young teen has been experiencing short-term memory loss and will be undergoing extensive neuropsychological testing to determine the long-term impact of her injuries on her cognitive function.

She has also been suffering from 'trauma, fear and pain' due to the incident.

Her family also said that the young teen has been experiencing short-term memory loss

Gain, due to her condition, will not attend the hearing tomorrow, but her mother, father, stepmother and attorney will be present

She has also been suffering from 'trauma, fear and pain' due to the incident

The updates comes the same week as a St. Louis County Circuit Court judge's decision whether Kaylee's alleged attacker will be tried in court as an adult.

DeClue is facing assault charges. While the hearing is scheduled for today, it is not necessary that the judge provides a decision at the time.

Gain, due to her condition, will not attend the hearing tomorrow, but her mother, father, stepmother and attorney will be present.

'The family is confident in the legal system, and trusts that the Judge will make an appropriate decision based on all of the facts and evidence in the case.

'The family will respect the ruling, regardless of the outcome,' the lawyer said.

Kaylee's parents have previously slammed their daughter's accused attacker, who is in custody and demand she be tried as an adult.

'Physically she is doing well, walking with little to no assistance but must wear a helmet for her safety as she is still missing her bone flap,' Kaylee's parents shared in their most recent update

The last update shared by Clinton Gain on March 22 shared that Kaylee was finally able to breathe on her own and she was in stable condition at the hospital.

'We are happy to share that Kaylee is breathing on her own, remains stable and the best news so far is that we have been moved out of the ICU. We are truly blessed by the outpouring of support and your prayers.'

The GoFundMe has raised almost $$50,927 out of its $100,000 and has garnered over 1,000 donations.

In the weeks following the attack, Kaylee remained in a coma before finally regaining consciousness and leaving hospital at the end of March.

Her parents previously took aim at social media posts they believed were made by DeClue, which referenced WWE and made light of the situation.

Gain appeared to have a seizure as other teens continue to fight over her body

Her parents previously took aim at social media posts they believed were made by DeClue, which referenced WWE and made light of the situation

However, Bryan Kaemmerer, who represents Kaylee's family, was forced to retract the claims made in his prior statement, admitting: 'It appears that the social media posts that were made from an account bearing the name of the accused do not appear to be legitimate in light of additional details that have surfaced about the timing of the accused's arrest, the accused's lack of access to her phone after she was taken into custody, and metadata showing precisely when these posts were first published.'

At that time, he added Kaylee is recovering but 'tends to reiterate the same short sentences over and over', and that she doesn't know why she is in the hospital.

DeClue's parents reportedly told local media that she 'wants to apologize' to Kaylee.

They have been visiting DeClue while she remains in juvenile custody and claim police have complied messages on social media which allegedly include threats towards the teen.

Gwendolyn, the aunt of DeClue, said that 'cruel' people have managed to get their fundraiser for legal fees taken down and that the 15-year-old is the real victim

His statement said that Kaylee's family were 'encouraged' after DeClue's parents said she wished to apologize for her actions.

'While these statements do not change the family's position that it is appropriate for the accused to be tried as an adult, it is encouraging that the accused appears to be remorseful for what transpired during these unfortunate events,' he added.

'The family is thankful that the accused apparently did not post these entirely distasteful messages.

'This does not, however, change the fact that the family firmly believes that there is more than sufficient evidence for the accused to be tried as an adult.'

DailyMail.com revealed DeClue's family said 'cruel' people have managed to get their fundraiser for legal fees taken down and that the 15-year-old is the real victim.

During a hearing at St Louis County Court earlier in April, officials set a date for DeClue's certification hearing on May 10, which will rule if she is tried as an adult for the first-degree felony assault charges.

DeClue's aunt Gwendolyn claims the family's CashApp account to raise funds has been removed over reports of a 'scam'

Both sets of parents attended the hearing, with the judge advising DeClue's parents Ronald, who attended court in a wheelchair, and Conseula that they have a right to a lawyer as well as their daughter.

Both declined to comment when approached by DailyMail.com, but DeClue's lawyer Gregory Smith added she was 'doing well' despite being in detention.

'She's a smart girl', Smith said. 'We're doing what we can to protect her from it, but she has a good understanding of the law.'

Judge Dodson ordered both families to be escorted out of the courtroom separately - which he said was a usual practice in his courtroom. A pre-trial management hearing will also take place on May 1, nine days before the certification hearing.

The family of DeClue, who confirmed her name publicly in a statement to 'address the misconceptions' around her arrest, launched a fundraiser to raise $150,000 to assist with her legal fees after she was charged with felony assault.
A British family was left 'terrified' after being circled by a shark just off a beach at a popular holiday resort in Spain.

Holidaymaker Jessica Kenny, 27, was paddling in the sea at Playa Arenal d'en Castell, Menorca, with her four-year-old son when she spotted a shark that came 'zig-zagging' toward them.

She quickly realised it was following her dad, Darren, 57, who was swimming ahead towards some buoys, on Monday.

Passers-by began screaming and calling for the lifeguard - who dialled for backup and put the red flags out.

Children were hurriedly evacuated from the sea, but others were allowed to come close enough to video the shark.

A British family was left 'terrified' after being circled by a shark just off a beach at a popular holiday resort Spain

Passers-by began screaming and calling for the lifeguard - who dialled for backup and put the red flags out

Jessica, a GP receptionist from Liverpool, said: 'I was only up to my waist with my little boy - while my dad had swam ahead.

'We were laughing and joking because it was cold.

'Then we saw a weird thing sticking out the water - we were joking around, saying it must be a shark.

'But we didn't really believe it.

'It was quite strange, zig-zagging around us.

'As it came closer, we realised the thing sticking out of the water was a fin.

'We were like, 'oh my god - that's a shark'.'

The mum-of-two ran out of the water with her son - while others on the beach laughed.

But Jessica realised the shark - believed to be a blue shark - was heading towards Darren, who'd started swimming back to the beach.

She said: 'We'd lost sight of it after we turned around.

'But we then saw it was following my dad back to the beach. It was circling around him - but it wasn't going for him, if that makes sense.

'Honestly it was so scary, but my dad loves everything to do with the sea.

'When we were back on the beach, he was so excited.'

Sharks are a fairly common sighting in the region and often come up to the shoreline

The Arenal d'en Castell beach in Menorca, a popular destination also home to sharks

Jessica and Darren tried to calm her son down - who was 'a bit upset and worried' after the ordeal.

'My dad was telling him how lucky he was to have seen a shark at four years old,' she added. 'In all his 57 years, he'd never seen one.

'They decided to name it Freddie.'

The family left the beach at 4:35pm, an hour after the shark was first spotted - and the lifeguards were still trying to chase it out.

Darren, a lorry driver, said: 'It was such a surreal experience.

'I've always wanted to see a shark - even going snorkelling in Jamaica and Cuba just so I could spot one.

'I can't believe I swam with one in Menorca, with my daughter and grandson.'

The shark sighting is believed to be the first so far this year near a Costa beach.

A shark was spotted on the same beach in June 2018 when swimmers were also banned from entering the water for the entire afternoon.
Violent crime rates have dipped in recent years after a pandemic surge, but several states have been slower than most returning to safety.

In a new ranking from US News based on both violent and property crimes across the nation, New Mexico emerged as the most dangerous of all 50 states.

The South and Midwest hosted the majority of the unenviable ranking, with Louisiana and Colorado rounding out the top three.

It comes after the US saw a terrifying spike in robberies, assaults and homicides in 2022, which have since declined according to new data by the FBI.

New Mexico has emerged as the most dangerous state in America, owning a violent crime rate of 780 cases per 100,000 people, and a property crime rate of 2,984 per 100,000 people

Louisiana routinely ranks as one of the least safe places in the nation, and came in second in the new rankings thanks to a violent crime rate of 629 cases per 100,000 people

Colorado - also home to one of the nation's worst suicide rates - came in third with a worse property crime rate than the top two states at 3,148 cases per 100,000 people

According to the FBI, 2023 saw a 13 percent decline in murders compared to the previous year, a six percent drop in violent crime reports, and a four percent decline in property crime.

These metrics on violent and property crime were used to calculate the most dangerous state to currently live in, as New Mexico's lawbreaking saw it come out on top.

The state owns a violent crime rate of 780 cases per 100,000 people, and a property crime rate of 2,984 per 100,000 people.

This was closely followed by Louisiana - which routinely ranks among the most dangerous places in America - which has a violent crime rate of 629 per 100,000 people.

Louisiana also owns the second most dangerous city in America, Monroe, where residents have a shocking 1 in 38 chance of becoming a victim of violent crime.

Monroe also has one of the highest murder rates in the United States, according to analysis of reports to the FBI, and had been the most dangerous city for the last two years until it was toppled by Bessemer, Alabama this year.

Colorado came in third in the latest rankings, although the state owns a worse property crime rate than the top two states at 3,148 cases per 100,000 people.

In a separate ranking, the top 100 most crime-ridden cities were recently revealed - with Bessemer, Alabama coming in first

Missouri also found its way onto the top 10 most dangerous states list thanks to having some of the loosest gun laws in the nation

Oregon came eighth in the list, with one of the worst property crime rates at 2,935 cases per 100,000 people

Although not counted in the ranking metrics, the mountainous state is also home of one of the nation's worst suicide rates, and finds itself right in the heart of America's 'Suicide Belt.'

Although Arkansas' 2,452 property crime cases are low for number four on the list, residents struggle with higher violent crime at 645 cases per 100,000 people.

Washington and Tennessee came fourth and fifth, with the latter most recently making headlines after college student Riley Strain vanished on a night out in Nashville while his family search for answers.

Alaska - the third least populated state in the nation - has a low property crime rate at just 1,789 cases per 100,000, but it owns the second highest violent crime rate in the nation at 759 cases per 100,000.

Rounding out the top 10 was Oregon, California and Missouri, with the Show-me State's crime exacerbated by having some of the loosest gun laws in America.
A mom has been killed and her daughter left critically injured in a horrifying hit-and-run just days before Mother's Day.

Juanita Vidal, 71, was fatally struck by a car as it tried to evade police on Thursday.

Her daughter Jessica Vidal, 44, was also mown down. She was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital with serious injuries.

The collision took place at around 5pm as the women were crossing the at the intersection of Eldert Street and Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn.

Surveillance footage shows a blue Mazda with Massachusetts license plates motoring through the crossing quickly followed by police.

A mom has been killed and her daughter left critically injured in a horrifying hit-and-run just days before Mother's Day

Juanita Vidal, 71, was fatally struck by a car as it tried to evade police on Thursday

The collision took place at around 5pm as the women were crossing the at the intersection of Eldert Street and Knickerbocker Avenue in Brooklyn

The NYPD told ABC7 their officers were trying to pull the driver over for a traffic infraction.

However, tragedy struck when he lost control of the vehicle and crashed into the pedestrians.

Vidal was taken to Wycoff Hospital where she later died. Her daughter was still in hospital as of Friday.

'The older woman got CPR as soon as they could,' eyewitness Rodrigo Gonzalez said. 'They calmed the middle-aged woman down. But they were both very hurt.'

'I heard a crash, a really loud smash, and then right away I heard the sirens and so I came out,' another neighbor whose vehicle was caught up in the chaos told PIX11.

'I came out and saw my van was pressed up against the tree I ran over here. The ladies were on the floor.'

The suspect fled the scene by jumping on a subway train.

Her daughter Jessica Vidal, 44, was also mown down. She was rushed to Elmhurst Hospital with serious injuries

Surveillance footage shows a blue Mazda with Massachusetts license plates motoring through the crossing quickly followed by police

This neighbor ran into the street after hearing a 'really loud smash' to find his van had been pressed up against a tree in the collision

A manhunt is now underway for the culprit, who was described as a young man with a ponytail who was wearing a blue shirt and jeans at the time of the smash.

His vehicle turned out to be a rental, according to the police who confirmed no arrests have been made.
The acting Department of Labor secretary was visibly uncomfortable as a GOP senator pressed her on the rampant sexual harassment and lewd behavior at a federal insurance firm.

After a bombshell report exposed that 'creepy men' at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) had been sending pictures of their genitalia to female subordinates in addition to other sexual and racist misconduct, the agency's Chair Martin Gruenberg apologized to staff on Tuesday.

On Thursday, Acting Labor Department Sec. Julie Su was pressed on the workplace misconduct during a hearing where, at times, she appeared uncomfortable talking about the extent of the sexual harassment.

'One young woman said: 'My supervisor continuously sends me text messages with photographs of his penis,'' Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., stated during the hearing. 'Is that a labor violation?'

Su paused before answering sheepishly, 'I mean, it's horrible.'

Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., pressed acting Labor Sec. Julie Su on a report which found widespread sexual misconduct at the FDIC. Su, who was smiling and jovial in her answers to other lawmakers, quickly was taken aback by the questions on sexual harassment

Acting Labor Sec. Julie Su told Kennedy that though she had not read the report that many of the complaints detailed within it were unacceptable workplace behavior, though she did not claim they were labor violations

'Have you read the recent outside report, 234 pages, about he creepy old men at the FDIC,' Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., asked Su.

'I have not seen that, senator,' she responded.

Out of the over 5,000 workers at the FDIC over 500, close to 10 percent, filed complaints over toxic workplace allegations, Kennedy said during the hearing.

The report notes scores of sexual misconduct claims and paints a picture of a corporate gentleman's club where female employees were regularly subjected to inappropriate behavior and comments.

In addition to allegations of sexual harassment, the report also found instances of racism and more.

Kennedy continued: 'Another employee, a Hispanic employee, said 'My supervisor required me to recite the Pledge of Allegiance because he said I had to prove I'm an American.' Is that a labor violation?'

Su responded: 'I think, senator, everything that you're saying is not acceptable in the workplace.'

During the back and forth Su seemed taken aback by the line of questioning by Kennedy.

Earlier in the hearing, she appeared smiling and eager to answer questions posed by the Senate panel.

Once Kennedy began quizzing her on the reports findings, however, her smile quickly faded.

'One young woman said 'my supervisor sent me a text message saying, 'get naked b----.' Is that a labor violation?'

'I think it's unacceptable workplace behavior, certainly,' Su responded.

Lauren Lemmer (left) quit in 2013 over claims she had been repeatedly harassed and denied advancement opportunities, Kelsi Foutz (right) quit in 2022 after senior male colleagues reportedly made inappropriate comments

The report, conducted by the law firm Cleary Gottlieb on behalf of the FDIC, was first prompted by a Wall Street Journal report indicating an agency rife with harassment and misconduct.

It found racial discrimination, sexual harassment and bullying were commonplace at all levels and that leadership tolerated it.

The report also found that complaints about the misconduct were met with retaliation against those who dared to speak up.

Surprisingly, the report did not suggest changing leadership.

It did, however, suggest that major changes need to occur at the agency, including the appointment of leaders to help change the firm's culture.

'What are you going to do about the FDIC? How are you going to protect those employees,' Kennedy pressed Su.

'They definitely deserve protection,' she answered, before adding 'The sexual harassment claims that you were talking about fall under a different federal agency.'

Hundreds of women detailed instances of toxic workplace behavior in the now-infamous report on the FDIC

She claimed the complaints would fall under the purview of the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (EEOC), a federal agency created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

'It doesn't sound to me like you're planning on doing anything to help these young female employees,' Kennedy said.

'Now that you've brought to my attention, I'm happy to make sure that the EEOC is aware that there is a case like this,' Su said.
Greek police have arrested a Pakistani man who allegedly raped a 16-year-old British teenager in the toilets of a bar in Crete just yards away from her unsuspecting parents earlier this week.

The attack took place on Wednesday night while the 16-year-old holidaymaker was enjoying an evening with her parents at a bar in the tourist hotspot of Malia.

The young victim excused herself to go to the toilet, where she was allegedly set upon by an attacker who followed her into the bathroom.

He quickly fled the scene, but Malian police ascertained his identity upon reviewing CCTV footage from the bar after the victim reported the ordeal later that night, Greek outlet Protothema reports.

Police have since arrested and charged the man, who has not yet been named, CretaLive reported.

The alleged rapist claimed the girl followed him into the toilet after they met at the bar.

The heinous attack took place on Wednesday night after the 16-year-old holidaymaker was enjoying an evening with her parents at a bar in the tourist hotspot of Malia

The shocking case comes just weeks after police in Majorca arrested an Italian man on suspicion of raping a British woman on a beach near Magaluf.

The 20-year-old was held after the victim complained he had forced himself on her after a night out in Palmanova which borders the famous party resort.

The alleged victim is a holidaymaker, according to sources close to the investigation.

Those sources confirmed the alleged rape had occurred in the early hours of April 11 but the arrest did not take place until three days later after detectives took statements from a witness and viewed CCTV footage.

A spokesman for the Civil Guard in Majorca said: 'The Civil Guard in Calvia has arrested an Italian man aged 20 as the suspected author of a crime of sexual assault on a woman.

The 20-year-old was held after the victim complained he had forced himself on her after a night out in Palmanova (pictured) which borders the famous party resort

'The alleged victim and suspect coincided in a late-night bar in Palmanova.

'When the bar closed, the suspect allegedly took advantage of the woman's state of disorientation because of the amount of alcohol she had drunk, to take her to the beach and rape her.

'Officers began an investigation and managed to identify and locate the alleged offender.'

The unnamed Italian was released on bail by an investigating magistrate following a subsequent court appearance.

The criminal probe is ongoing.
(Photo : Unsplash/Red John)

Mother's Day marks a high point in flower sales and deliveries in the United States, with last year's spending exceeding $3 billion, including imports. This makes the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) wary of the potential threat that imported flowers pose to the nation's agriculture and environment.

Risks and Restrictions on Flower Importation

U.S. Customs and Border Patrol is reminding people about the restrictions and risks of importing flowers as Mother's Day gifts, including certain items from Mexico.

According to a press release from CBP, Mother's Day sees a surge in flower imports, which could bring pests and diseases harmful to U.S. agriculture and the environment. Certain items like flowers, greenery, potted plants, and soil are prohibited to avoid introducing plant diseases, invasive insects, and parasitic nematodes due to their destructive nature that diminish the quality of ornamental plants and crops and could result in millions of eradication efforts and export trade restrictions.

READ ALSO: Exploring Women's Month: Top 10 Interesting Facts You Need to Know

Prohibited Plants and Ornaments

One of the plants CBP mentioned was Chrysanthemums, a common cut flower from Mexico and the most popular Mother's Day gift. CBP warned that bringing these plants through passenger ports of entry is banned because a fungus called Chrysanthemum White Rust is common in them. This fungus causes a devastating floral disease to crops that could also endanger flower growers.

CBP also cautioned against various types of greenery used in bouquets to enhance the appearance of floral arrangements, such as "Orange jasmine," or Murraya, which could contain the potential presence of pests and diseases if illegally imported.

CBP Manning Port Entries

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is ramping up vigilance for floral arrangements ahead of Mother's Day weekend. It expresses concern about the possibility of invasive pests and plant diseases being inadvertently transported within flowers imported from other countries, which could have adverse effects on the ecosystem and lead to considerable damage to habitats across the nation.

On Wednesday, Hector Mancha, CBP's director of field operations in El Paso, Texas, stated that CBP usually experiences a surge in floral imports in the days leading up to Mother's Day observances. Hence, all the hard-working and vigilant CBP agricultural specialists will be stationed at ports of entry to ensure that all imported floral arrangements are devoid of insects, pests, or diseases.

Mancha also encourages travelers to declare all agricultural products they bring into the country to CBP and strongly advises the public to check the CBP website before importing floral arrangements to understand which flowers are allowed and which are restricted or prohibited.

According to the Library of Congress, the tradition of giving Mother's Day flowers can be traced back to Anna Jarvis, the holiday's founder, who began wearing white carnations in honor of her mother and later donated them to her church congregation in Grafton, W.Va., during Mother's Day celebrations. Her use of flower symbolism gained popularity nationwide in the early 1900s after an article in the Weekly Florist Review promoted carnations, her favorite flower, for Mother's Day.

RELATED ARTICLE: Flowers Do's and Don'ts in Business

 2017 Jobs & Hire All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
At least 90 passengers have been injured after two trains collided in Argentina on Friday.

One train carrying was crossing a bridge in the Buenos Aires town of Palermo when it rear-ended another that was transporting supplies for track maintenance work at 10:31 am local time.

The fire department and paramedics responded and were able to remove the injured passengers of the wagons within 40 minutes, Buenos Aires Chief of Government, Jorge Macri, told reporters.

Macri said two passengers were airlifted to area hospital. He said they are in critical condition.

A train carrying passengers crashed into a maintenance train on a bridge in the Buenos Aires town of Palermo on Friday. Authorities reported 60 passengers were injured - 30 were taken to area hospitals

Paramedics tend to injured passengers who were in a train crash in Palermo, Argentina, on Friday

The transit union secretary said that the signal system on the train line had not functioned in 10 days

Transit union secretary, Omar Maturano, revealed the train line signal system had been shut down for the past 10 days.

'There is theft of high voltage cables,' he told reporters. 'We have been working without signals for 10 days, due to the degradation of the railway and lack of security.

'We are working blindly. They don't fix the trains because there is no money. I hold the (government) responsible for the incident.'

Sources with knowledge of the investigation told TN news network that repairs were being done to the signal system on the track before the passenger train collided with the maintenance train.

Transportation Secretary Franco Mogetta said authorities are looking into the cause of the accident.

'We are sorry for this terrible accident. Luckily we do not have (deaths to report),' he said. 'We are investigating the causes of the accident. There are multiple hypotheses, we cannot forecast anything.'

Footage of social media showed the front car of the passenger trained completely wrecked.

First responders could be seen escorting passengers through the opposite track while teams of paramedics treated the injured lying on stretchers.

Christian Maidana, 32, was sitting in the third passenger car and on his way to his waiter job at a school, when the train suddenly stopped and caused his head to hit a metal bar in the seat in front of him.

First responders were able to evacuate passengers within 40 minutes

The fire department ordered passengers to remain in the train because of a possible oil spill before they were evacuated

Paramedics transport injured commuters after two trains collided in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on Friday morning

'It was 10 seconds of shaking, a terrible scare,' he told La Nacion newspaper. 'When I realized that we were on top of the bridge, I was terrified because everything was shaking. 'I thought we were going to fall.'

Maidana said he walked towards the first car and found passengers lying on the floor with their faces covered in blood.

A retired woman, who was traveling with her granddaughter, said that she usually sat in the first car, but opted for a seat in the last wagon.

She said that they were instructed to remain in their cars because of a potential oil spill before they were evacuated.

'I felt three strong whiplashes, I thought the train was going to overturn,' she said.
Donald Trump revealed his son Barron is becoming a chip off the old block - he likes politics and enjoys giving his father advice.

'He's really been a great student. And he does like politics. It's sort of funny,' the former president told 'Kayal and Company' on Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

'He'll tell me sometimes, 'Dad, this is what you have to do,'' he added.

Trump also revealed the 18-year-old, who is graduating from high school next week, is weighing what college he might attend. But, he noted, the campus protests have been a factor in that decision.

'He does like politics. It's sort of funny,' Trump told 'Kayal and Company' on Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT of his son Barron

'He's a senior now in high school, and he'll be going to college. And you know, a lot of, a lot of these choices of colleges are changing because you see whats going on in the last month,' Trump said.

Trump has been critical of the pro-Palestine protests that have turned up on college campuses throughout the nation. He told Time magazine he would call out the National Guard on them.

Barron is considering NYU, the Daily Beast reported, but the school has seen its share protesters and arrests by NYPD. The Trump family has made no announcement about where Barron will go.

The former president also complimented his 6ft7in son's looks.

'He's a little on the tall side. I will tell you, he's a tall one, but he is a good-looking guy,' Trump said.

Barron Trump is taking his first steps into the political arena this summer when he became one of the 125 delegates that Florida is sending to the Republican National Convention to formally nominate Donald Trump as the GOP presidential nominee.

Other family members - Don Jr. and his fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos - are also delegates at large and will attend the event, which takes place in Milwaukee from Monday, July 15 to Thursday, July 18.

Ivanka Trump, who served as a senior adviser in her father's White House, was the only Trump child not on the delegate list.

Barron Trump was rarely seen during the Trump White House years, mainly at the request of his mother Melania who is known to be protective of her son

Then-President Donald Trump, center, waves while walking with First Lady Melania Trump, right, and son Barron Trump on the South Lawn in November 2019

Lara Trump - Eric's wife - is vice chair of the Republican National Committee and will be at the convention in her official capacity.

The Republican Party of Florida on Wednesday night picked Barron to join his older siblings for the event.

The only requirement to be a delegate is to live and vote in the state. Barron, who turned 18 in March, will be eligible to cast his first votes in the August primary and in the November election.

But his first official vote will be at the convention when he casts a vote for his father to be the Republican presidential nominee.

Barron graduates from Oxbridge Academy in suburban West Palm Beach next week. That day - May 17th - will be a busy one for Donald Trump.

He's also scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Minnesota's Lincoln Reagan dinner.

Barron's graduation ceremony is in the morning so it's feasible Trump could attend both events.

During Trump's White House years Barron was rarely seen, mainly at the request of his mother Melania who is known to be protective of her son.

He was at his father's 2016 presidential announcement and attended the Republican National Conventions in both 2016 and 2020.

But sources told DailyMail.com that the 6ft 7in teen, who has never uttered a word in public, is a steadfast supporter of the Trump 2024 campaign behind the scenes.

Delegates from a state typically sit on the convention floor together during the roll call of the states, where they vote for the party's nominee for president.

Eric Trump will serve as the Florida delegation chair, which means he will formally place his father's name in for the nomination for the state.

'We have a great delegation of grassroots leaders, elected officials and even Trump family members,' Florida GOP chairman Evan Power said. 'Florida is continuing to have a great convention team, but more importantly we are preparing to win Florida and win it big.'

Barron Trump, seen walking from Marine One in August 2020, has developed a taste for politics and will be a delegate for Florida to the Republican National Convention

Donald Trump, Melania Trump, Ivanka Trump, Donald Trump Jr.'s then-wife Vanessa Trump, Tiffany Trump, Eric Trump, Jared Kushner and Lara Trump at the first presidential debate in September of the 2016 election

Barron Trump (center) with mom Melania (left) and siblings Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany as Donald Trump is sworn in as president in January 2017

In Trump's last two White House campaigns, Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka were heavily involved - speaking at their father's rallies and campaigning for him. Tiffany joined her siblings in the 2020 campaign but Barron stayed out of sight.

He was only 10 when his father became president.

Barron, who turned 18 last month, returned to the spotlight with Donald Trump's hush-money trial when the former president argued he should be allowed a break from trial to attend Barron Trump's May 17 high school graduation.

Judge Juan Merchan agreed to allow the break in the trial.

It's unclear what Barron's plans are after high school. He's lived in Florida since his father left the White House.

Donald Trump won Florida twice - in the 2016 and 2020 elections. But Republicans in the state were in a tough spot in the 2020 GOP contest because Gov. Ron DeSantis was making a bid.

Ultimately DeSantis dropped out and endorsed Trump.

President Donald Trump and son Barron Trump exit Air Force One in February 2020

Lara Trump, Tiffany Trump and Barron Trump at the 2016 Republican convention

Barron Trump with his parents Donald and Melania on the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention in August 2020

Now the slate of delegates to the Republican convention is filled with Trump loyalists: former state Attorney General Pam Bondi, longtime Trump adviser Sergio Gor, top Trump donors and loyalists who endorsed Trump over DeSantis.
An anti-Israel teenage protestor was arrested for defacing a World World I memorial in Central Park in New York City.

The boy, 16, is accused of of being part of a group that vandalized the 107th Infantry Memorial in a Monday night demonstration where hundreds marched from Hunter College to the Met Gala.

The historic memorial was vandalized by several demonstrators who sprayed 'Gaza' and 'Free Palestine' on its base.

The vandals also plastered the statue with anti-Israel stickers and one protester was seen burning the American flag as others held up Palestinian flags.

The defacing of the memorial prompted mayor Eric Adams to offer $5,000 of his own money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects, who he called 'cowards.'

The boy, 16, is accused of of being part of a group that vandalized the 107th Infantry Memorial in a Monday night demonstration

The arrested teen has been a constant presence at rallies organized by the pro-Palestine activist group Within Our Lifetime

The historic memorial was vandalized by several demonstrators who sprayed 'Gaza' and 'Free Palestine' on its base

The vandals also plastered the statue with anti-Israel stickers and one protester was seen burning the American flag

The Democrat said: 'I want to be extremely clear. In spite of the unpopular notion that people don't want to say it -- I want to say it -- I love America. And the reason we are here is because of men and women like the statue behind us.

'And we cannot remain silent when our symbols of freedom are desecrated by individuals who clearly hate our country and hate our way of life.

'I am not going to remain silent and we should not remain silent, because our silence gives the belief that everything is OK, and it is not OK.'

CrimeStoppers has also offered a $10,000 reward and police have put up posters with images of the suspects near the statue.

The arrested teen has been a constant presence at rallies organized by the pro-Palestine activist group Within Our Lifetime, according to the New York Post.

An American flag was left burning on the ground while chants of 'Free Palestine' rang out

The defacing of the memorial prompted mayor Eric Adams to offer $5,000 of his own money for information leading to the arrest of the suspects

He is facing two felony counts of third-degree criminal mischief, and two counts of making graffiti.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner Kaz Daughtry shared an image of the boy in handcuffs along with a warning message.

'The despicable vandalism we saw earlier this week on the WWI Memorial will not be ignored, and will not go unpunished,' Daughtry said on X.

'One of the culprits was placed in handcuffs today thanks to the Worlds Greatest Detectives. This isnt simply juvenile hijinks- its an act of desecration that undermines the freedoms our heroes fought and died for.'

The spray-painted messages on the statue had been cleaned by Tuesday afternoon.

He is facing two counts of third-degree criminal mischief, and two counts of making graffiti

One thousand pro-Palestine protestors clashed with the NYPD just a block away from New York's Met Gala on Monday evening

Police face pro-Palestinian demonstrators near the Met Gala

Vandals also desecrated the Civil War Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman monument at Grand Army Plaza on 59th Street on Monday night.

The memorial honors the soldiers who died in World War, depicting them in the throes of battle.

The soldiers of the Seventh Regiments 107th Infantry helped to break Germanys Hindenburg Line of defense at the conclusion of World War I, according to the Central Park Conservancy.

It was dedicated on September 29, 1927, with its location chosen because of its proximity to the Regiments Armory just to the east on Park Avenue.

Anyone with any information is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477).
This is the shocking moment a cruise ship arrives in New York City with a 44-foot dead endangered whale caught in its bow.

MSC Cruises confirmed the dead whale was discovered on the bow of the MSC Meraviglia Saturday as it approached the port in Brooklyn before sailing to New England and Canada.

The endangered sei whale - one of the largest whale species that are internationally protected - is typically found in deeper waters far from the coastline, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration fisheries spokesperson Andrea Gomez told DailyMail.com.

It remains unclear, at this time, if the whale was already deceased when it was struck by the ship. Gomez said they will not know until they get the results back from the necropsy which can take up to several weeks to months.

On Tuesday, a necropsy was conducted by the no-profit, Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, and confirmed that the whale was a mature female.

The endangered whale, identified as a Sei whale - was seen caught in the ship's bow. Sei whales are typically observed in deeper waters far from the coastline

The whale has been identified as a 44-foot, mature female. It remains unclear at this time if the ship struck the whale or the whale had already been deceased

The nonprofit said the necropsy examination revealed that the whale's right flipper had broken bones, and there was evidence of tissue trauma along the right shoulder blade region

The whale was relocated and towed to shore at Sandy Hook, New Jersey, to allow for better access to heavy equipment and resources to conduct a necropsy, the NOAA said.

The nonprofit said the necropsy examination revealed that the whale's right flipper had broken bones, and there was evidence of tissue trauma along the right shoulder blade region.

The whales gastrointestinal tract was full of food. Most of the other organs were sampled including for biotoxin analysis and other life history studies.

They said that samples were collected and will be sent for histopathologic analysis. The tissue and bone samples collected will help biologists determine if the vessel interaction occurred pre or post mortem, the administration said.

Between 2019-2023, there were 22 large whales reported with suspected vessel strike injuries in New York and New Jersey, according to the NOAA.

'There have been no records from our region mention another animal being observed on a bow of a vessel,' they said. 'But one fin whale in 2021 was observed in the port of Newark and suspected to be since that's an odd location for that animal to be. Again, not confirmed or observed.'

MSC Meraviglia cruise ship leaves the port of New York December 2023

A spokesperson with MCS Cruises said in a statement that they have comprehensive measures in place to help avoid collisions, such as training all our deck officers with the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA).

'Were 'deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life,' they said. ' We follow regulations designed to protect whales and other marine life'.

'This includes altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid whales and we will continue to evaluate and update our procedures with our partners and the authorities.

The NOAA said that 'mariners operating along the U.S. East Coast are encouraged to slow their vessel speed, stay alert, and report any sightings of right whales or any dead, injured, or entangled whales.'

The Atlantic Marine Conservation Society (AMSEAS) is the lead on this case and one of the federally authorized marine mammal response organizations based in New York.

Their local partners include, the Marine Mammal Stranding Center which is the stranding partner in New Jersey, the Army Corps of Engineers, National Park Service, the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, Monmouth County Department of Public Works and Engineering, and Sea Bright Fire Rescue Squad.
The beleaguered SNP have suffered a fresh blow after a new opinion poll put them seven points behind Labour in Scotland ahead of the general election.

A new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey of Westminster voting intention among Scots found Labour on 38 per cent support - a five point rise since last month.

This compared to the SNP on 31 per cent, down one point, the Conservatives on 14 per cent, down three points, and the Liberal Democrats on 8 per cent.

The Scottish Greens, who were kicked out of power-sharing at Holyrood last month by the SNP, were up two points to 4 per cent.

The seven-point lead for Labour - when Scottish voters were asked who they would back if a UK general election were held tomorrow - is the largest lead recorded by any polling company for Labour in Scotland since June 2014.

It will serve as a huge boost to Sir Keir Starmer as he looks to end 14 years of Conservative rule at Westminster and become prime minister.

The SNP were plunged into fresh turmoil when Humza Yousaf ended the party's Bute House power-sharing deal with the Scottish Greens, before then announcing his resignation.

But John Swinney, Mr Yousaf's replacement as SNP leader and Scottish First Minister, has tried to put a brave face on the party's travails.

He today desperately claimed he could make Scotland independent within five years.

The First Minister claimed the arguments for breaking up the UK are 'compelling', despite acknowledging the chaos that has been wracking the SNP.

A new Redfield & Wilton Strategies survey of Westminster voting intention among Scots found Labour on 38 per cent support - a five point rise since last month

The poll put the SNP on 31 per cent, down one point from last month, the Conservatives on 14 per cent, down three points, and the Liberal Democrats on 8 per cent

In a series of interviews, Mr Swinney also played down concerns about Kate Forbes - a devout Christian who previously opposed gay marriage - becoming his deputy.

He stressed that the party will still be 'on the side' of LGBT voters.

His comments came as a separate Savanta survey found Labour ahead of the SNP on Westminster voting intention - the first time the firm has given Sir Keir's party the advantage.

Labour was up two points since October on 37 per cent support, with the SNP down two on 33 per cent. The Tories were on 17 per cent.

If replicated at an election, the results suggest Sir Keir could get dozens of MPs north of the border.

Speaking from Bute House, Mr Swinney told BBC News his party had been through a 'difficult period' but that he was determined to give the government 'very clear leadership'.

He said on Sky News that he still believed independence could happen in the next five years 'because the arguments for it are compelling'.

The cost-of-living crisis and Brexit were doing 'severe economic and social damage' to Scotland, he added.

However, Mr Swinney admitted the SNP has work to do to build greater support for independence.

He said that would be a focus for his leadership, despite pleas to concentrate on improving the economy and public service.

Mr Swinney denied that the appointment of Ms Forbes as his deputy would make the Scottish Government less progressive.

'The protection of the rights of LGBT individuals in our society is absolutely fundamental to my government  the protection of those rights and the enhancement of those rights,' he said.

Desperate Jon Swinney (pictured chairing his first Cabinet today with deputy Kate Forbes) insisted he can make Scotland independent within five years

A Savanta survey put Labour ahead of the SNP on Westminster voting intention - the first time the firm has given Keir Starmer's party the advantage

Former First Minister Alex Salmond - now leader of the Alba Party - complained that the SNP's 'incompetence' has 'hindered' the cause of Scottish independence

Mr Swinney said he had not discussed abandoning the Gender Recognition Reform Bill with Ms Forbes before installing her to the job, adding that the 'reality of the situation' was that the courts had ruled the legislation was unable to proceed.

Meanwhile, former First Minister Alex Salmond - now leader of the Alba Party - complained that the SNP's 'incompetence' has 'hindered' the cause of Scottish independence.

Mr Salmond also said in an interview that there is no 'immediate' way for another independence referendum to be held, as he criticised successor Nicola Sturgeon for her 'ill-fated, kamikaze' Supreme Court case on whether the Scottish Government had the right to hold a vote without Westminster approval.
Mica made at least eight police reports about her husband in weeks before death

Mica Miller threatened to send her estranged pastor husband to jail after he confronted her as she get her slashed tires fixed.

Mica, 30, was found dead in Lumbee River State Park in North Carolina on April 27 from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

She took her own life days after serving her husband John Paul Miller, 44, with divorce papers, and police ruled it a suicide.

Miller is accused in court documents of grooming her for years before they wed and of committing her to a hospital to steal her car, which he also put a tracker on.

Mica called police at least eight times in the weeks leading up to her death, one of which was at East Coast Honda in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on March 11.

Mica Miller, 30, took her own life days after serving her husband John Paul Miller, 44, with divorce papers, and police ruled it a suicide

She told officers she was there after her tires were slashed, and her husband suddenly showed up and harassed her.

'I'll show you the pictures... they'll be on Facebook in a few hours,' he told her in a video obtained by NewsNation.

Mica replied: 'Walk away. Do you want to go to jail? Alright, you'll be in jail in a few hours.'

Miller walked away to his car and sped off, she told police.

It was not clear what pictures they were arguing about, but a police report obtained by DailyMail.com showed Mica also contacted police accusing her husband of sharing an indecent photo of hers on a Facebook group called 'big boobs and nice curves'.

Miller even tagged Mica's old account, which she had no access to and therefore couldn't un-tag herself.

Mica told police that she sent the image to her husband six months earlier.

'The complainant further advised that he is the only person she has ever sent that type of photo to. Although the complainants' breasts are exposed the nipple is blurred out, not meeting the SC Code of Law for nudity,' the report stated.

Officers also advised Mica that the photo was posted anonymously, and there was 'no way to prove he was the one who actually posted the photo'.

Mica called police at least eight times in the weeks leading up to her death, one of which was at East Coast Honda in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, on March 11

She told officers she was there after her tires were slashed, and her husband suddenly showed up and harassed her

Shockingly, authorities even told the distressed woman that 'once a photo is sent the person who the photo was sent to is now the owner of the photo.'

A month before, Miller complained that Mica and her family were 'harassing him' on social media  moaning that a post his wife had made regarding 'abuse' would harm his reputation.

Officers dismissed his claims, advising him to contact them again if he was being harassed, as he had 'no texts or proof' of the allegations.

Later on March 14 and March 26 Mica reported that she had found a tracking device on her car, after discovering it attached by magnets under the chassis.

Another police report over the alleged theft of her silver Honda Accord shows the breakdown of their marriage dating back to February 2023.

'When the complainant was discharged from the hospital, hospital staff informed her that her husband picked up her purse and her keys,' the report states.

'The complainant believed that her husband fraudulently initiated her involuntary hospitalization and 'stole' her care while she was in the hospital.'

Miller is accused in court documents of grooming her for years before they wed and of committing her to a hospital to steal her car, which he also put a tracker on

Weeks earlier, she shared a video speaking about abuse within marriage and her family claimed her husband had harassed her and she was 'afraid for her life'

Mica met with the cops at Coastal Grand Mall and told them she and her husband had been separated since January of that year.

When investigators contacted her husband, he told them that his wife had been suffering from a 'reckless episode' due to poor mental health.

He said the incidents were annual crises which would flare up around Christmas and result in Mica spending excessively.

Miller told the officer he seized the vehicle to prevent it being sold and would not give it back for a month to allow the episode to pass.

As both parties stated they were legally married, the investigator had to consider the car as marital property and therefore 'could not establish a criminal offense'.

The most salacious claim in Mica's police reports was that Miller, who is 14 years older than her, 'groomed' her since she was 10, before they married in 2017.

'The complainant stated that she has known her husband since she was ten-years-old and that he 'groomed' her while she worked for him at Solid Rock Church until they were married,' the report added.

In the days after her death, her friends and family held a rally calling for 'justice for Mica' outside the Solid Rock Church where Pastor Miller works

Miller's lawyer Russel Long said this 'couldn't be farther from the truth. She moved to Myrtle Beach at the age of 15, was married to another man at the age of 18 and divorced at the age of 21'.

'It has come to light that Mica Miller struggled with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder, which, when not properly managed, led to paranoid episodes and self-destructive behavior,' he said.

Long claimed 'some reports made by her in the recent past are nonsensical' in reference to her claims recorded in police documents.

Long added that Mica's death being ruled a suicide by police 'completely exonerates Pastor Miller of any wrongdoing'.

Mica's sister Sierra Francis told NewsNation she probably meant Miller groomed her since 2010, as her sister told her it began when she was 14 or 15.

Another video showed Mica seemingly addressing close friends and family, alluding to her struggles before her death.

You can see the pain right through her smile. Makes me sick what he put her through.  Why couldnt JP have left her alone so she could live the rest of her life?! It is always about control. Mica Miller deserved so much more than all of this. #justiceformica #DomesticViolence pic.twitter.com/v8US1jXmTJ  Rose (@901Lulu) May 7, 2024

Mica Miller, 30, was found dead at Lumbee River State Park in North Carolina on April 27 from a self inflicted gunshot wound

'I've had to keep my circle small the past couple of weeks,' she said.

'I'm going through a lot and it's hard, and it's my cross to bear. It is the thing that God has put in my life to deal with.

'I don't want to bring a lot of people into it. When your world is shook up you need to take a pause, I can only pray that more people will take a pause.

'I'm trying to get my priorities straight right now, and that is making sure that my heart doesn't have any unforgiveness, bitterness, resentment.

'Just forgiveness, and hope for the future, and peace because you can't put a price on peace.

'Thank you for all your prayers and support, know that I have to keep my circle really small just now. This is the best way I know how.'

In the days after her death, her friends and family held a rally calling for 'justice for Mica' outside the Solid Rock Church where Pastor Miller works.

The pastor stunned his congregants last week when, after a service in which he had laughed and appeared entirely at ease, he announced that his wife had died.

Miller, who has a criminal record including multiple counts of aggravated assault and battery to which he pleaded guilty, told his congregation that her death was 'self-induced'.

A police report obtained by DailyMail.com has since revealed that Mica Miller had accused her husband of sharing a nude photo of herself on a Facebook group, weeks before her death

'You all know she wasn't well mentally and that she needed her medicine and it was hard to get to her,' he said.

Before making the announcement, he asked his flock to stand and instructed them to, 'leave church quietly and don't talk about the announcement here in the building.'

Weeks before her passing, she shared a video speaking about abuse within marriage as claims emerge she was being harassed and was 'afraid for her life'.

She said: 'Today my heart's a little heavy. I've had lots of women that have reached out to me about situations of abuse, and I just want to tell you what a lot of people have told me lately, because I think I forgot.

'But you are the bride of Christ before anybody else's, male or female, it doesn't matter what gender you are, abuse is abuse.'

Court records hint at the tumult within the marriage with Mica first filing for divorce in October 2023 before withdrawing the filing February 12.

Later that same month Miller filed against his wife for Separate Support and Maintenance in a motion withdrawn March 11.

But on April 15, just 12 days before she was found dead, Mica filed once more and, according to friends, also sought a no contact order against her husband.

Mica's friends Kenn and Allicia Young spoke out on NewsNation and said they do not believe the pastor's wife took her own life

An obituary penned by him also described his wife as 'a great stepmother, and an amazing wife and helpmate' and portrayed her as his biggest cheerleader.

Miller had called authorities before taking her own life, telling them: 'I'm about to kill myself and I just want my family to know where to find me'.

Family and friends have insisted that Miller did not take her own life, her sister Sierra Brown previously told DailyMail.com that 'there's still an open investigation'.

Friend Allicia Young, who is a member of the Solid Rock Church alongside her husband Kenn, said: 'I absolutely do not believe that she took her own life.'

'I absolutely do not believe that she took her own life because she was energetic and her faith in God was unwavering,' Allicia said on Banfield.

'She was always quick to encourage somebody else, including myself. We went to lunches together, we worked out together.'

Evidence released by Robeson County Sheriff's Office as part of their investigation conclusively shows Miller plotting to end her life.

A still from a Ring doorbell shows her on her front porch at 11am on the day of her death.

Miller's black Honda is observed traveling on Highway 501 near Four Mile Rd., Conway, South Carolina on April 27 hours before her death

The pastor's wife was seen on CCTV purchasing a firearm at a pawn shop, she later used the weapon to end her life

Just over an hour later, a surveillance image shows her entering Dick's Pawn Shop where she purchases a fire arm.

Shortly after, Miller's black Honda was observed traveling on Highway 501 near Four Mile Road in, Conway, South Carolina on the way to the state park.

Once there she called 911 to provide instructions to a dispatcher on where her body could be found.

Meanwhile a waitress claims Pastor Miller was sending her flirty messages while his wife planned to kill herself, including calling her 'super hot' and asking for 'bikini pics.'

Pastor Miller has since been released of his ministerial functions at Solid Rock at Market Common Church in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
Ikea has pushed back opening its new Oxford Street store to fix the leaky basement in the building.

It is the second time the proposed store, which was previously home to Topshop's flagship London site, has seen its opening delayed.

Ingka Investment, the investment arm of the retail group, bought the Grade II listed building at 214 Oxford Street after Topshop owner Arcadia fell into administration.

Work started on the site in 2022, with original plans to open the location by autumn 2023.

But last year it revealed this opening plan had now been pushed to autumn 2024 due to the scale of refurbishment work.

Ingka Investment, the investment arm of the retail group, bought the Grade II listed building at 214 Oxford Street after Topshop owner Arcadia fell into administration. Pictured, the site of the proposed Oxford Street store

Ikea said it recently discovered the need for unforeseen additional work on the lower of two basement levels to control a water leak

On Friday, the Swedish furniture and homeware giant said the shop will not be opening in Spring 2025 due to the 'hugely complex' nature of the renovation.

It said work across all seven floors of the building - which will create a new Ikea store and four floors of office space - has seen 'significant progress' but faced 'unexpected conditions' during the process.

Ikea said it recently discovered the need for unforeseen additional work on the lower of two basement levels to control a water leak. Work on this is currently underway.

Peter van der Poel, managing director of Ingka Investments, said: 'Ikea Oxford Street is a one-of-a-kind project, involving the sensitive and sustainable upgrade of a Grade II listed building that is over a hundred years old.

'Following the discovery of an unforeseen water ingress issue, we're now taking vital steps to mitigate long-term flood risk, and to protect and future-proof this historic building for many years to come.'

Peter Jelkeby, chief executive and chief sustainability officer of Ikea UK, said: 'We've been overwhelmed by the interest and excitement generated around our Oxford Street opening.

'The historic nature of the building makes its careful renovation more complex, but we want to ensure Londoners that we're just as excited to open the store as they are to visit it.

'We look forward to doing so in spring 2025 and contributing to a positive future for London's most renowned shopping district.'

Oxford Street was once revered on the global stage, with its shopping opportunities being compared with the likes of Paris and New York but the shift to online shopping and the impact of the pandemic have left the street a shell of its former self.

Oxford Street has been overrun in recent years by tacky sweet shops that have replaced household names. Pictured, a large installation representing a Frakta bag is unveiled as Ikea prepares for its 2024 debut on Oxford Street in London

It was once the flagship location for Britain's high end stores but over the years big brands have started to abandon the hub, making it one of the biggest victims of the slow death of UK high streets.

Things were worsened by the coronavirus pandemic, plunging more iconic brands into administration and as a result closing their doors.

Other industry experts warned the demise of Oxford Street could spell an end for all British high streets which risk collapsing into 'wastelands' unless there are major regeneration efforts

Oxford Street has been overrun in recent years by tacky sweet shops that have replaced household names.

As big names such as Topshop, Miss Selfridge, Dorothy Perkins, Debenhams, Oasis and Warehouse disappeared, city centres across the country were left with empty windows and people instead searching for their favourite labels online.
The husband of beloved California kindergarten teacher Karyn Lombardo said she died after she 'hit her head' during an altercation with their son - and claims it was an accident.

An emotional Vince Lombardo made the shocking revelation after his son, Kyle, appeared at a Burbank courthouse on Thursday for his arraignment on murder charges.

In an interview with local ABC 7, Vince said he spoke briefly to his son, who told him how the tragic events unfolded.

'There was some type of altercation, her head was hit,' Vince said.

He added: 'He was volatile. He had a kind heart, big heart. But when he got to that point he was pretty volatile and he didn't know how to control his emotions.'

Investigators said Kyle allegedly killed his mother, who was a popular kindergarten teacher, at about 10pm Tuesday at their home on the 800 block of North Avon Street in Burbank.

Karyn Lombardo (left middle), 57, was found dead on Tuesday in her home in Burbank, California. Her son, Kyle Lombardo (far left), 25, was arrested and charged with her murder

Vince Lombardo said he spoke to his son, who allegedly told him the incident was an accident

Vince Lombardo told local TV station KTLA that he was not home the night of the murder and stayed overnight in Lake Arrowhead, about three hours east of Los Angeles.

Kyle, 25, is facing a maximum sentence of life in prison if convicted. He remains in a Downtown Los Angeles jail in lieu of a $2 million bail.

Vince Lombardo said his son was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome - a form of autism - and attention-deficit disorder, or ADD.

'He's mentally challenged. He didn't want to kill her,' said Vince of his son.

The grieving husband and father also said Kyle took medications, but they became ineffective over time.

He said police were called several times over the years to their home.

Vince Lombardo said his son, Kyle, was diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome and attention-deficit disorder, or ADD

Investigators said Kyle allegedly killed his mother, who was a popular kindergarten teacher, at about 10pm Tuesday at their home on the 800 block of North Avon Street in Burbank

Vince also said once his son became an adult, it became more difficult to obtain state mental health services, and often took months to get an appointment.

Kevin Buckle, Karyn's older brother, told DailyMail.com his sister had tried 'many, many times' to try to get help for her long-suffering son.

'Kyle has struggled with his mental health for years and years,' Buckle said. 'My hope is this draws attention to the problems of mental health.'

Karyn Lombardo had worked in the Burbank Unified School District since 1990 and was most recently a kindergarten teacher.

Kevin Buckle, Karyn's older brother, attended his nephew's arraignment on Thursday. He said his younger sister tried multiple times over the year to get help for Kyle

Karyn Lombardo was proud of her British roots and her career as a veteran teacher. She displayed both sentiments with her car accessories

Parents and Karyn's former students erected a memorial for the beloved teacher.

Her brother said Karyn was proud of her British roots. They were born in the English seaside town of Bournemouth - about two hours south west of London.

At their Burbank home, a plaque was prominently displayed on their front window of the famous British phrase, 'Keep Calm, Carry On', while her car was decorated with Union Jack accessories.

Zoe Bautista, one of Karyn's former students, said the teacher was 'sweet' and 'kind.'

'She would always tell us that if we were down, just to love ourselves and to talk to our parents about it,' Bautista told KTLA. 'She would make us feel like we were the luckiest kids in the world.'

Karyn Lombardo's family said she doted on her son and tried many times to get the best help for his mental health struggles

After Thursday's court hearing, Deputy Public Defender Jimmy Chu said the mother and son did have an altercation, but no weapons were used.

'I'm very aware that my client's mother was a beloved member of the community,' said Chu to reporters outside of a Burbank courthouse. 'We offer our deepest condolences.

'However, it is also my understanding that at this time this tragedy is a result of an accident, following an altercation between a son and a mother, whom my client deeply loved.'
A heartbroken mother chimpanzee is still carrying her baby's mummified remains at a Spanish zoo, three months after it died.

Unable to say goodbye to her baby, grief stricken mother Natalia takes its body everywhere with her in her enclosure at Bioparc Valencia.

The zoo said in a statement on May 10 that the baby chimp died at the beginning of February, a common occurrence with the species which has a high infantile mortality rate.

Chimpanzees are known to mourn, but this mother's grief is reportedly quite severe.

'This is a species where social ties and group cohesion are fundamental, so all members are affected by these sad events', the Spanish zoo said.

A grieving chimpanzee mother still carries around her baby's mummified remains, three months after it sadly passed away

'They need a period of 'grieving' and little by little they come to terms with reality and the loss, although the mother may still needs time to even let go of the inert body.'

Natalia gave birth in February at the same time as another female chimp, and her second baby is alive and well.

They said that they had hoped the presence of the other baby would cheer Natalia, but so far it did not seem to be having any impact on her grief.'

The zoo said that the group of chimpanzees are critically endangered and are part of a special programme to try to save them.

It said: 'The BIOPARCs of Fuengirola and Valencia are home to the largest group in Spain of chimpanzees of the subspecies Pan troglodytes verus, critically endangered according to the Red List of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and have a prominent role in the European programme for their protection (EEP).

The baby chimp died in February, with the species known to have a high infant mortality rate

Bioparc Valencia said that it did its best to ensure that the species could live in an environment that mirrors their natural habitat as closely as possible, saying: 'It should be emphasised that the animals housed in centres like BIOPARC are not pets nor are they domesticated.

'The objective is the preservation of the species, providing them with maximum well-being and, at the same time, favouring their behaviour and natural instinct.

'In this sense, it is necessary to assume the most tragic part, no matter how heartbreaking it may be for people. Now efforts are focused on providing the group with as much peace as possible, with the certainty that they have already overcome similar situations.'
The Biden administration said Friday that Israel's use of U.S.-provided weapons in Gaza likely violated international humanitarian law - but wartime conditions prevented US officials from determining that for certain in specific airstrikes.

The finding of 'reasonable' evidence to conclude that the U.S. ally had breached international law in its conduct of the war in Gaza was released in a summary of a report being delivered to Congress on Friday.

It is the strongest statement that the Biden administration has made yet.

But the caveat that the U.S. was unable immediately to link specific U.S. weapons to individual strikes by Israeli forces in Gaza could give the administration leeway in any future decision on whether to restrict provisions of offensive weapons to Israel.

The first-of-its-kind assessment, which was compelled by President Joe Bidens fellow Democrats in Congress, comes after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid restrictions that have claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children.

Those were launched in response to Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7 2023 that saw 1,300 Israelis murdered.

While U.S. officials were unable to gather all the information they needed on specific strikes, the report said given Israel's 'significant reliance' on U.S.-made weapons, it was 'reasonable to assess' that they had been used by Israel's security forces in instances 'inconsistent' with its obligations under international humanitarian law 'or with best practices for mitigating civilian harm.'

Israel's military has the experience, technology and know-how to minimize harm to civilians, but 'the results on the ground, including high levels of civilian casualties, raise substantial questions as to whether the IDF is using them effectively in all cases,' the report said.

U.S. President Joe Biden boards Marine One at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View, Calif., Thursday, May 9, 2024. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Pool Photo via AP)

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Maryland Democrat who led the push in Congress, told reporters that even even though the administration had reached a general finding, 'theyre ducking a determination on the hard cases, politically inconvenient cases.'

Biden has tried to walk an ever-finer line in his support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus war against Hamas.

He has faced growing rancor at home and abroad over the soaring Palestinian death toll and the onset of famine, caused in large part by Israeli restrictions on the movement of food and aid into Gaza.

Tensions have been heightened further in recent weeks by Netanyahus pledge to expand the Israeli militarys offensive in the crowded southern city of Rafah, despite Biden's adamant opposition.

Biden is in the closing months of a tough reelection campaign against Donald Trump. He faces demands from many Democrats that he cut the flow of offensive weapons to Israel and denunciation from Republicans who accuse him of wavering on support for Israel at its time of need.

Rep. Michael McCaul, the Republican chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said the review was unnecessary 'and only contributes to politically motivated anti-Israel sentiment.'

'Now is the time to stand with our ally Israel and ensure they have the tools they need,' he said in a statement.

The Democratic administration took one of the first steps toward conditioning military aid to Israel in recent days when it paused a shipment of 3,500 bombs out of concern over Israels threatened offensive on Rafah, a southern city crowded with more than a million Palestinians, a senior administration official said.

The presidential directive, agreed to in February, obligated the Defense and State departments to conduct 'an assessment of any credible reports or allegations that such defense articles and, as appropriate, defense services, have been used in a manner not consistent with international law, including international humanitarian law.'

Nothing in the presidential directive would have triggered any cutoff of arms if the administration had more definitively ruled that Israels conduct had violated international law.

The agreement also obligated them to tell Congress whether they deemed that Israel has acted to 'arbitrarily to deny, restrict, or otherwise impede, directly or indirectly,' delivery of any U.S.-supported humanitarian aid into Gaza for starving civilians there.

On this question, the report cited 'deep concerns' that Israel played a significant role in preventing adequate aid from reaching starving Palestinians. However, it said Israel had recently taken some positive steps, although still inadequate, and the U.S. government did not currently find Israel restricting aid deliveries in a way that violated U.S. law governing foreign militaries that receive U.S. military aid.

Van Hollen accused the administration of glossing over what he said were clear Israeli blocks on food and aid deliveries during much of the war. 'Thats why we have hundreds of thousands of Palestinians that have nothing to do with Hamas on the verge of starvation,' he said.

Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

Lawmakers and others who advocated for the review said Biden and previous American leaders have followed a double standard when enforcing U.S. laws governing how foreign militaries use U.S. support, an accusation the Biden administration denies. They had urged the administration to make a straightforward legal determination of whether there was credible evidence that specific Israeli airstrikes on schools, crowded neighborhoods, medical workers, aid convoys and other targets, and restrictions on aid shipments into Gaza, violated the laws of war and human rights.

Their opponents argued that a U.S. finding against Israel would weaken it at a time it is battling Hamas and other Iran-backed groups. Any sharply critical findings on Israel are sure to add to pressure on Biden to curb the flow of weapons and money to Israels military and further heighten tensions with Netanyahus hard-right government over its conduct of the war against Hamas.

Any finding against Israel also could endanger Bidens support in this year's presidential elections from some voters who keenly support Israel.

At the time the White House agreed to the review, it was working to head off moves from Democratic lawmakers and independent Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to start restricting shipments of weapons to Israel.

Israel launched its offensive after an Oct. 7 assault into Israel, led by Hamas, killed about 1,200 people. Two-thirds of the Palestinians killed since then have been women and children, according to local health officials. U.S. and U.N. officials say Israeli restrictions on food shipments since Oct. 7 have brought on full-fledged famine in northern Gaza.

Human rights groups long have accused Israeli security forces of committing abuses against Palestinians and have accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account. In January, in a case brought by South Africa, the top U.N. court ordered Israel to do all it could to prevent death, destruction and any acts of genocide in Gaza, but the panel stopped short of ordering an end to the military offensive.

Israel says it is following all U.S. and international law, that it investigates allegations of abuse by its security forces and that its campaign in Gaza is proportional to the existential threat it says is posed by Hamas.

Biden in December said 'indiscriminate bombing' was costing Israel international backing. After Israeli forces targeted and killed seven aid workers from the World Central Kitchen in April, the Biden administration for the first time signaled it might cut military aid to Israel if it didnt change its handling of the war and humanitarian aid.

Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush, in the 1980s and early 1990s, were the last presidents to openly hold back weapons or military financing to try to push Israel to change its actions in the region or toward Palestinians.

A report to the Biden administration by an unofficial, self-formed panel including military experts, academics and former State Department officials detailed Israeli strikes on aid convoys, journalists, hospitals, schools and refugee centers and other sites. They argued that the civilian death toll in those strikes - such as an Oct. 31 strike on an apartment building reported to have killed 106 civilians - was disproportionate to the blow against any military target.
Vloggers share unique 'gourmet' lens for China-France exchanges

Global Times) 10:16, May 10, 2024

Guo Zhanglong's noodle shop in Paris Photo: Li Jieyi/GT

On a sunny afternoon in May, after days of rain, Guo Zhanglong, or vlogger "Little Guoguo in Paris," took Global Times reporters to his first noodle shop which is not far from the Louvre.

Having been living in Paris for more than a decade, Guo's tasty career started quite recently from a food cart at a weekly market. He shared his story in his vlogs and has accumulated numerous followers on multiple platforms. Now he owns two shops, the other is located in a small alley facing Notre Dame Cathedral.

Guo picked the sites in order to attract both local French residents, while also serving the Chinese community and visiting tourists. The strategy has been successful as the customers are roughly half-half. Many French customers are skilled chopstick users and their favorite toppings are tomato, egg and beef.

France has the tradition of having a special of the day and Guo's noodles have now become a usual dish for many of the locals, which has exceeded his expectations and proves that "The French are willing to embrace new things, including different culinary cultures," Guo said.

When Guo arrived in France in 2012 as an overseas student, Paris already had many Chinese restaurants, yet most were "adapted versions, suitable for the locals." However, many "authentic taste" eateries have emerged over the past 10 years.

"Paris has become the ceiling across Europe in terms of Chinese restaurants," Guo joked, as many Chinese students in other countries would come to Paris at the weekend or during the holidays to comfort their Chinese stomachs.

Guo saw this "small change in a bite" as the epitome of increasingly vibrant and intensive China-France exchanges over the past decade. Another phenomenon is that more Chinese brands, mainly electronics, rather than "made-in-China" small products, can be seen in this metropolis.

Corentin Delcroix, or Shanghai-based "Chef Guangtan" who is popular on video sites Youtube, Douyin and Bilibili, shared the same feeling on the other side of the story.

After first visiting China in 2002, Guangtan was amazed at the quick development China achieved, in particular, on the internet and digital platforms. Many quality and rare ingredients which used to be difficult to find, can arrive at your door with the click of a button. Many local agricultural products are getting promotion and market recognition.

Yet some Westerners still have a misconception that Chinese food is greasy and cheap, with average materials. Therefore, "I wanted to share more 'genuine Chinese cuisines,' so that they [those Westerners] could learn more about Chinese food, Chinese culture and better understand China's diversity," Guangtan told the Global Times.

Sometimes netizens may follow Chef Guangtan's recipes and share their "homework" - with a picture of a beef bourguignon surrounded by Chinese dishes, and that is Guangtan's "moment of achievement."

Guangtan also said that his counterparts back in France are quite interested in Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques.

Unlike Guangtan, an Institut Paul Bocuse graduate and Michelin-starred chef's fine dining style, Antoine Bunel, a social media influencer based in Beijing, found that the Chinese audience is also receptive to his home-cooking style.

Despite different materials, cooking techniques and a preference for a certain category of food, both China and France have a world-renowned culinary heritage, so their conversation often yields passionate exchanges, Bunel told the Global Times.

With an interest in fusion food, Bunel noted such exchanges and fusion have taken place for centuries as the common spice pepper on French tables does not grow in the Mediterranean country, while the Chinese home dish tomato and fried egg was a novelty in the 17th century when tomatoes first arrived in the East Asian country.

A Chinese girl, Yooupi, stands out from all the vloggers as she gained fame for "cooking based on what is in the dustbin." However, this unique food adventure in France allows her to interact with local French in an untraditional way and gain knowledge of the culture.

"The warmth and kindness they give also encourages me to share my knowledge of China with them," Yooupi told the Global Times.

"Food knows no borders" is the sentence that well represents all the vloggers' experiences and feelings.

Guo shared a "magical story" that a local French grandpa received a surprise from a Chinese friend and business partner whom he had lost contact for more than 10 years. The grandpa appeared in Guo's video and his Chinese friend happened to come across it. The friend spent a lot of time asking for the French grandpa's number to ask, "I saw you in a video. Was that you?"

Since the noodle shop opened, Guo has hosted many French people who speak Chinese, who have personal connections with or are interested in China, and friends of these friendsMartial arts practitioners, Chinese musical instrument players

A small noodle shop has become a food-centered salon and Guo suddenly realizes that he is building a bridge between the two countries on the two ends of the expansive Eurasia.

Just like a bowl of noodles reunited two old friends, food is one of many possible channels of communication. It is through unremitting exchanges between the two peoples that China and France can form a foundation of public opinion to develop sound relationship, Guo believes.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Min Hee-jin clashes with HYBE over 'illegal' audit of employee

By Pyo Kyung-min

The Ador board meeting convened Friday decided to hold an extraordinary shareholders meeting on May 31, where the dismissal of Ador CEO Min Hee-jin will be tabled as requested by its parent company HYBE.

As disclosed Friday by Ador's legal representative, Shin & Kim Law Firm, "the decision to hold the shareholders meeting on May 31 was made under the attendance of all board members (including Min) today."

The forthcoming meeting is expected to vote on whether or not to dismiss Min.

If the meeting proceeds as planned, industry insiders expect a strong possibility that the current CEO of Ador will be removed from her position, given that HYBE holds a controlling 80 percent stake in Ador.

However, Min took proactive legal action Tuesday by filing for an injunction against HYBE to block the company from exercising its rights in the upcoming meeting, saying that it should not be allowed to vote in favor of her dismissal proposal based on the shareholders' agreement between them.

If the court grants the hearing for this injunction, scheduled for next Friday, HYBE's efforts to dismiss Min would be halted.

Last month, HYBE accused Min and Ador's management of attempting to spin off from the parent company, prompting an emergency audit.

HYBE reported the Ador employees to the Yongsan Police Station on April 25, saying that it gathered significant evidence of embezzlement.

Min, however, vehemently denied the allegations later that day in a press conference.

Additionally, HYBE sought court permission to organize an extraordinary shareholders meeting to discuss Min's dismissal, while Ador, citing time constraints, unsuccessfully attempted to reschedule its hearing for April 30.

During the hearing, Ador reaffirmed its commitment to hold a board meeting on May 10 and convene an extraordinary shareholders meeting by the end of May.

Friday's board meeting saw the Ador CEO fulfilling this pledge.

'Illegal' audit

The board meeting occurred amid a tense standoff, with Ador saying HYBE conducted "an illegal audit" the night before and HYBE responding there were no issues with the audit.

The sublabel issued a statement Friday alleging that HYBE "mistreated and harassed" by commencing an audit on an Ador employee after their regular work hours at around 7 p.m. Thursday.

The audit took over five hours, continuing past midnight into the early hours of Friday, the statement said.

According to Ador, HYBE followed a director of Ador's styling department to their residence and demanded access to their laptop and personal cell phone.

HYBE made threats of police involvement if the director didn't cooperate, Ador said.

The audit was prompted by allegations that the director received payments from outside advertisers instead of incentives from Ador. While HYBE viewed this as embezzlement, Ador said this did not cause financial harm to the company.

Ador noted that such practice is a "common industry custom" for directors to receive payments from advertisers instead of incentives from the company and that HYBE was fully notified in advance.

HYBE countered Ador's claims, saying the audit was legal.

"The audit conducted on the director was carried out legally with the consent of the auditee, and all procedures were undergone in a non-coercive atmosphere," it said in a press release later on Friday.

The company criticized Ador's characterization of such practices as an industry custom, adding, "There is no practice where company employees directly receive profits from advertisers ... Transferring amounts that should be recognized as company revenue privately and condoning it for years is not a custom but a blatant illegality."

NewJeans' whereabouts

Amid heightened tensions, members of NewJeans, the girl group produced by Min, began indirectly sharing their thoughts surrounding the turmoil.

NewJeans member Minji took to Phoning, an online fan communication platform Monday, attempting to ease fans' concerns by saying, "Don't cry, everyone. There will only be happy things."

Member Danielle also expressed her feelings Wednesday, saying, "My heart feels heavy these days."

NewJeans is set to return to the music scene on May 24 with a new album titled "How Sweet." This will be followed by the release of their debut single in Japan next month, along with a fan meeting at Tokyo Dome.
A great-grandmother bled to death after nurses failed to pass on worried relatives' concerns to doctors as her condition deteriorated over more than a week, an inquest heard.

Hospital bosses accepted there had been a 'very serious error' in the treatment of retired weaver Margaret Clement, a mother of three, grandmother of six and great grandmother of nine, known by family and friends as Peggy.

The 92-year-old was being treated by the same hospital trust criticised last month over the death of retired nurse, Pat Dawson, 73, who was not revived after her medical notes were mixed up with those of a 90-year-old man who had a Do Not Resuscitate notice.

Concluding an inquest into Mrs Clement's death this week, Area Coroner Chris Long said he will be issuing a prevention of future deaths notice containing a series of recommendations.

He added: 'What I've found is a number of nursing and clinical failures in her care. Her death was not as it should have been.'

Mrs Clement's granddaughter, Rebecca Jane Sutton, a GB News broadcaster and former deputy leader of UKIP, said: 'The pain and distress my gran felt at this time is beyond immeasurable, but the undignified ending is something she would have been furious about.

Peggy with her grandchildren Rebecca and Tony, and their children Paris, Peaches and Lewis

The head of nursing at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, conceded that it had been a 'very serious error'

'I think it's a culture within the trust. The culture of the ward she was on was basically to do nothing.

'Nobody with a serious medical condition should be safer at home than in a hospital.

'It's outrageous but there's been so many people I've spoken to with similar experiences. I'm concerned this may be happening in other trusts.

'We trusted in the hospital trust but we were gaslit. 'They told us she just needed fluids but she was dying.'

Mrs Clement, from Burnley, Lancashire, had been admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital on May 23, 2022, after breaking her hip in a fall - with the surgeon telling her family the procedure had been a success and that she had 'another five years'.

But after being transferred closer to home, to Burnley General Hospital, to continue her recuperation, the pensioner - whose late husband Jim, a Royal Navy veteran, died aged 92 in 2019 - began to deteriorate.

By June 6, her family said they had started to raise concerns about her condition.

Peggy with her husband Jim Clement who passed away in 2019

Mrs Clement, from Burnley, Lancashire, had been admitted to Royal Blackburn Hospital on May 23, 2022, after breaking her hip in a fall

But to their horror, she was then transferred to another respite unit, the Reedyford ward at Pendle Community Hospital, Nelson, on June 10, to continue her recovery - and not back to an acute unit.

Two days later, on June 12, Mrs Clement deteriorated further  with concerns again reported by relatives - but nurses still failed to alert doctors.

The inquest heard that at this point, she had symptoms of internal, gastrointestinal bleeding which should have been noticed.

It was not until June 14  eight days after the family first reported concerns and by which time she suffered significant rectal bleeding, then vomited blood - that the pensioner was returned to the A&E department at Blackburn by ambulance.

The following morning, on June 15, Mrs Clement was taken for an endoscopy to locate the source of the bleeding but she suffered a cardiac arrest and died.

During an inquest held this week at Preston Coroner's Court, Nicola Robinson, the head of nursing at East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust, conceded that it had been a 'very serious error' when nurses had failed to alert doctors when Mrs Clement became unwell.

Ms Robinson admitted to the coroner that she 'can't promise' the situation will not happen happen again.

But she said that training improvements were ongoing and that she believed Reedyford had 'turned a corner'.

Dr Fozia Shah, a doctor at Reedyford at the time of Mrs Clement's death, was visibly shocked as she was told that nurses had not contacted a doctor when her condition deteriorated.

Dr Shah revealed that she had been reporting her concerns about under-staffing at Reedyford for three years before Peggy's death.

She said: 'I escalated it to my seniors because I found myself in the situation where I had no choice but to raise my concerns about the vulnerability of the ward but I got no answers.

'I got so frustrated that I went directly to the medical director Jawad Husain. I said 'it's a huge risk'.'

Recording a narrative verdict following the inquest at Preston Coroner's Court (pictured), coroner Mr Long said he was satisfied Mrs Clement was showing signs of upper gastrointestinal bleeding by June 12

The doctor said she was concerned about the lack of senior medical staff at Reedyford  with junior doctors expected to cover the two wards, which had no doctors working out of hours or at weekends.

Dr Shah added: 'If [Peggy's deterioration] had been escalated, we would have done more tests. I am so very sorry for the loss of Peggy but all we can do in cases like this is to make sure we do better next time so no other families have to go through the same distress.'

Recording a narrative verdict following the inquest at Preston Coroner's Court, coroner Mr Long said he was satisfied Mrs Clement was showing signs of upper gastrointestinal bleeding by June 12, becoming 'significant'.

He said: 'An upper gastrointestinal bleed was then diagnosed which led to a cerebrovascular accident from which she did not recover.'

Despite the failings, he found that even if Peggy's care had been better she would not have survived. He concluded that the delays in treating Peggy did not contribute to her death.

But Ms Sutton, known as Rebecca Jane, said: 'People never really understand why dignity in death is so important, until they witness someone have a highly undignified death.'

She said she has found subsequent visits to the Royal Blackburn Hospital extremely difficult.

Ms Sutton said: 'Two years later, when I have to walk those halls of Blackburn hospital, especially passing the endoscopy unit, I will often be found in tears, struggling to move and frozen to the spot in fear or sadness.'

Posting on her X account after the inquest, she said she hoped the hospital would now take action requested by the coroner  and that her grandmother's death 'won't be in vain'.

She wrote: 'Gran's death was violent. Vomiting and passing blood. She died because the bleeding caused a stroke.

'The coroner issued an order to prevent future deaths, because the hospital have not learnt, and future deaths will occur, if they don't act now.

'We got there, Gran. Your death was wrong and hopefully it won't be in vain.'

Executive Medial Director at East Lancashire Hospitals Trust, Mr Husain, said: 'Our condolences go out to Mrs Clement's family for their loss, and we regret that the quality of care she received fell short of our usual standards.

'In response to the incidents surrounding Mrs Clement's death, the Trust implemented two comprehensive action plans. Valuable lessons have been learned from this experience and have been shared with colleagues.

'Efforts have been made to enhance the response to patients' deteriorating conditions, focusing on improved communication and the establishment of a dedicated 'call for concern' hotline. This hotline offers an avenue for anyone who observes a patient's condition decline to seek urgent, independent review if they have concerns.'

Mrs Clement's inquest comes a month after an inquest into the death of Mrs Dawson, a retired GP practice nurse, which another coroner, Kate Bisset said would not have happened 'if the care she had received had been different'.

She said failings included the crucial error in checking the wrong patient's notes, failure to record tests that Mrs Dawson received in hospital and staff not following correct sepsis and abdominal care procedures.

Mrs Dawson's son, John, told the inquest in Accrington: 'I know that our mum would have been horrified by how the system she gave her life to failed her.

Emergency consultant Ahmad Alabood said the tragedy, at Royal Blackburn Hospital in September last year, was an 'honest mistake because [staff] were rushing' when the unit was 'over-stretched and over-crowded'.

Mr Husain said of Mrs Dawson's death: 'This is a tragic incident that should never have happened and for that we are truly sorry.'
Republican Rep. Cory Mills filed impeachment articles against President Biden for pausing arms deliveries to Israel sparking widespread outrage - even by Democrats.

Mills is accusing Biden of engaging in a 'quid pro quo' exchange by withholding military aid to pressure Israel to change its tactics in its war on Gaza.

He says it's only fair Biden gets impeached in the same manner as President Donald Trump in 2019 - for allegedly pressuring Ukraine to dig up dirt on the Bidens by withholding aid. The Senate eventually acquitted Trump of wrongdoing.

'The House has no choice but to impeach President 'Quid Pro Joe' Biden,' Mills said in a statement to DailyMail.com.

He says Biden is 'pressuring Israel' by 'pausing their funding' that has already been approved by Congress if they don't 'stop all operations with Hamas.'

'It's a very clear message, 'this for that.' These are the same accusations made against President Trump, which resulted in his impeachment by Democrats,' he went on.

'The same must happen for Joe Biden,' said Mills, R-Fla.

The impeachment push by Mills comes even though he voted against sending aid to Israel himself.

Republican Rep. Cory Mills has filed impeachment articles against President Biden for pausing arms deliveries to Israel, even though he voted against that aid

He was among 21 Republicans who opposed a vote on a $26 billion Israel aid bill that was wrapped into a $95 billion foreign aid package.

Mills was also among 14 Republicans who opposed a failed Israel aid bill in February, but he's gone on two separate rescue missions to Israel since the outbreak of war in October.

'As Vice President, Biden was caught threatening to withhold funding and aid to Ukraine unless they fired the attorney general investigating Burisma, a company financially benefiting his son Hunter, not to mention the 10% share for 'the big guy' himself,' Mills went on to describe other alleged 'quid pro quo' arrangements by the president.

Meanwhile House Oversight Republicans, led by Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., launched an investigation into Biden's decision.

'The Committee is alarmed by the Biden Administration's willingness to play political games with U.S. taxpayer funded assistance going to Israel. President Biden signed off on a pause of a weapons delivery to Israel, a longtime U.S. ally. Given President Biden's scheduled speech on Tuesday, May 8, 2024, to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, the White House Security Council reportedly chose to keep news of this decision to withhold vital military support out of the public's attention until after his remarks,' the committee said in a statement.

And Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., led 25 House Democrats in a letter to National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan on Friday urging the administration to deliver the much-needed weapons.

'Withholding weapons shipments to Israel  only emboldens our mutual enemies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed proxies.'

Rep. Josh Gottheimer, D-N.J., led 25 House Democrats in a letter to national security adviser Jake Sullivan 'withholding weapons shipments to Israel  only emboldens our mutual enemies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed proxies'

They requested a classified briefing on the matter.

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., demanded the House impeach Joe Biden on the Trump-Ukraine precedent on Thursday.

'Some people say Joe Biden is doing this for his reelection, which would be bad enough,' the Arkansas Republican said. 'It would also, I have to add, be grounds for impeachment.

He harkened back to 2019 when former President Donald Trump was impeached for what his critics said was withholding aid to Ukraine for political campaign purposes.

Other Senate Republicans, having successfully avoided the half-year fray of the House impeachment inquiry, were hesitant to make such a call, even as they deemed Biden a 'propaganda tool' and a 'mouthpiece for Hamas.

'I didn't come here to talk about that but given what they did to president trump, i think you could make that argument,' Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told DailyMail.com in a news conference.

'It does put the hostages more at risk, it makes the war go on longer. It Emboldens Iran in time they need to be contained,' he said, adding it could also squander the U.S.'s 'last best chance for structural changes in the Mid East.'

Biden told CNN on Wednesday that he would pause more arms shipments to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launches a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

Israelis reacted with fury and ceasefire negotiations have stalled. Netanyahu didn't respond directly to Biden's comment, but he posted a video on social media of a defiant speech he delivered this week in which he said 'no amount of pressure' will 'stop Israel from defending itself.'

The president, last week, delayed the delivery of 3,500 bombs to the U.S.'s Middle East ally. It was the first time he used his executive power to influence Israel's approach to its war with Hamas - after progressives for months begged him to do just that.

His words of warning on Wednesday were the most direct threat Biden has made to Israel during the seven-month war.

'Civilians have been killed in Rafah as a result of those bombs and other ways. They go after population centers. I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they haven't gone into Rafah yet - I'm not supplying the weapons,' Biden said.

But Kirby appeared to be clarifying the president's stance.

'As the President said, Israel has not yet launched such an operation. So he was talking about what would happen in the future, if they did. That's a choice that Israel will have to make. And it's one we hope they don't,' he noted.

Before the passing of the $26 billion aid package last month, the U.S. had given Israel $216 billion in aid since 1946. Most of that came from the $3.3 billion the U.S. offers each year as grants under the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) program. It's estimated that U.S. funding accounts for some 15 percent of the Israeli defense budget.

Biden is far from the first president to dangle arms shipments over the Israelis in exchange for a change in policy.

In 1982, Ronald Reagan accused then-Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin of committing a 'holocaust' in Lebanon in the early 1980s, and held back shipments of fighter jets and artillery shells to force Israel to stop bombing Beirut.

Still, Biden's top Senate ally has gone against him to say the IDF should 'finish the job' in Rafah.

Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, is a top surrogate for Biden on the global stage. His public break from Biden's policy is nearly unprecedented.

Coons recounted a call last night with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Senate floor on Thursday.

'You don't just have right to defend the Israeli people against Hamas, you have the obligation,' Coons said he told Netanyahu. 'You have go after them. You have to finish the job. You have to go into Rafah.'

Still, he called on Israel to allow Palestinian civilians a pathway out of Rafah.

'There are a million civilian refugees who've flown down to the very bottom of Gaza and now are up against the hard border with Egypt. And given that Egypt will not let any of them into Egypt, you have to provide a pathway for civilians to leave Rafah before you go in at scale, with a bombing campaign, a ground campaign to minimize civilian injuries and deaths.'

Speaker Mike Johnson called the move a 'betrayal' after he agreed to risk his job and put a $95 billion foreign aid package on the House floor that included $26 billion for Israel.

That package passed only after six months of delay as both sides of the aisle could not come together on Ukraine aid or border security provisions.

Graham turned up the heat on Biden to broker diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel. 'I believe a Democratic president is best positioned to build on the Abraham accords went to Saudi Arabia. That would be a major accomplishment,' he said

Sen. Tom Cotton demanded the House impeach President Joe Biden . 'Some people say Joe Biden is doing this for his reelection, which would be bad enough,' the Arkansas Republican said. 'It would also, I have to add, be grounds for impeachment'

Coons later told DailyMail.com the call to impeach Biden over withholding arms to Israel is 'ridiculous.'

'President Biden's goal is to continue to support Israel security and to avoid needless civilian deaths,' Coons continued. 'Former President Trump's goal was to extract a personal political benefits from the head of a partner country so I don't see the parallel.'

'Don't go in and do that dumb s---,' Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., said of Cotton's impeachment idea.

The difference between Republicans and progressive Democrats's view of Biden's handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict could not be more stark - as if they're talking about two different presidents.

Last month 56 House Democrats, including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi, urged the pause in a letter to Biden.

Progressives have taken to calling Biden 'genocide Joe' and saying he has 'blood on his hands' for allowing the war to go on seven months before he threatened to withhold aid.

Republicans, meanwhile, insist that Israel could do no more to avoid civilian casualties if it is to take out Hamas.

'Israel does not want to kill even a single civilian,' Cruz said. 'There is no military on the face of earth that does more to protect civilians.'

The White House reined in Biden's remarks on withholding foreign aid on Thursday.

'Everybody keeps talking about pausing weapons shipments. Weapons shipments are still going to Israel. And they're still getting the vast, vast majority of everything that they need to defend themselves,' National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

As a result, Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, called Biden a 'mouthpiece for Hamas' and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, accused him of being 'the most anti-Israel president this nation has ever seen.

Cruz said Biden has been 'undermining Israel at every step of the way.'

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, noted it was Biden who put together the supplemental funding request for Israel.

'Without any consultation, the administration over the weekend halted delivery of essential weapons. It did not inform Appropriations, Foreign Relations or Armed Services commitees. It was a unilateral decision.'

Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kans., accused Biden of having a 'schizophrenic national security policy.'

'He says he wants to help Israel but he's scared to lose a handful of votes in Michigan.'

Just as Israel and Saudi Arabia were on the precipice of normalizing relations, Hamas launched its October 7 attack on Israel, which killed some 1,200 Israelis and has subsequently led to the death of over 35,000 Palestinians in Israel's counteroffensive.

Graham turned up the heat on Biden to broker diplomatic ties between Saudi Arabia and Israel.

Israeli soldiers with military vehicles gather at an undisclosed position near the border fence with the Gaza Strip

'I believe a Democratic president is best positioned to build on the Abraham accords went to Saudi Arabia. That would be a major accomplishment,' he said.

The Abraham Accords, brokered during the Trump administration, led to normalization between Israel and the UAE and Bahrain.

On Monday, Israel's military warned about 110,000 civilians to leave Rafah, and hours later its tanks moved in. It was not a full-scale invasion but some worry that one is imminent.

Israel has threatened a major assault on area to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there.
Migrants have been photographed flashing hand signals on a bus from Dover today after dozens of people were intercepted crossing the Channel on small boats.

It comes on the same day Sir Keir Starmer unveiled the Labour party's plans to tackle the UK's small boat crisis.

Groups of people in orange life jackets were brought ashore at Dover docks in Kent after being picked up at sea, taking the number to be intercepted so far this year to 9,037.

They were brought into the immigration processing centre on a Border Force vessel at the former Jetfoil terminal in the Western docks.

A migrant flashing a hand signals on a bus from Dover today after dozens of people were intercepted crossing the Channel on small boats

Another migrant poses with a different hand signal on the bus from Dover today after being intercepted

211 migrants arrived on Thursday according to official figures - including one person who was taken off a Border Force vessel in a wheelchair.

Two groups of mainly male asylum seekers were brought ashore to the Port of Dover's former cruise terminal by authorities, with the man in a wheelchair assisted up the gangway by staff.

After months of poor conditions hampering people smugglers, the sunny weather and calmer seas have allowed the numbers arriving on the south coast to pick up.

1,470 migrants in 28 boats have arrived in May alone - despite the Rwanda deportation policy becoming law as the Government seeks to deter potential crossers with the threat of forced relocation to east Africa.

The interceptions today mark the seventh consecutive day of recorded arrivals - a record for 2024.

Groups of people in orange life jackets were brought ashore at Dover docks in Kent after being picked up at sea, taking the number to be intercepted so far this year to 9,037

They were brought into the immigration processing centre on a Border Force vessel at the former Jetfoil terminal in the Western docks

A total 9,037 asylum seekers aboard 184 boats have been intercepted and brought to Britain so far this year.

In the same period last year 6,683 people had been picked up and in 2022, which was a record year, 7,803 people were intercepted.

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. Last year they stopped 26,000 people from reaching our shores.

'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.'
Donald Trump made an extraordinary offer to oil executives and lobbyists over a chopped steak dinner at his Mar-a-Lago headquarters: Return me to the White House with $1 billion in donations and I'll overturn Joe Biden's burdensome environmental regulations, including his electric vehicle mandate.

Multiple people with knowledge of the conversation said the offer stunned those present at the 'energy round table' held at his Florida club.

The oil industry figures had reportedly expressed their frustration at new regulations they said were getting in the way of their business, prompting Trump to lay out his idea.

The Biden campaign seized on the reports, accusing the Republican candidate of selling out working families to Big Oil.

The story, reported by the Washington Post, illustrates both the former president's highly transactional approach to politics and his reliance on the oil industry.

Donald Trump urged oil executives and lobbyists to donate $1 billion to help him with the White House. In return he said he would overturn Joe Biden's green policies

Executives who gathered at Mar-a-Lago complained about regulations harming their industry. Pump jacks are seen here in an oil field in Midland, Texas

Trump sold the idea as a good 'deal' for those present in return for the repeal of environmental rules and policies and a hold any new ones being enacted.

It comes as the Biden administration hurries to overturn Trump's actions in office and issue new environmental regulations before the election.

Trump promised a return to less restrictive policies.

'You've been waiting on a permit for five years; you'll get it on day one,' Trump told the gathering, according to an attendee.

And he took particular aim at new rules to reduce emissions from car tailpipes, boosting sales of E.V.'s. He called the rules 'ridiculous.'

Despite the gripes, the U.S. oil industry is booming.

Production broke records last year, and the industry is on track to surge to a new high of 13.21 million barrels per day this year, according to the the government's Energy Information Administration.

But Trump promised even better times ahead. he promised to immediately end Biden's freeze on new permits for Liquefied National Gas exports (implemented in order to study their effect on climate change and national security), one of the industry's top asks.

'You'll get it on the first day,' he said, according someone present.

About 20 people attended the April 11 event at Trump's Mar-a-Lago club

Among those present was North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has been advising Trump on energy issues after dropping out of the Republican 2024 nomination race

Attendees included Mike Sabel, the chief executive and founder of Venture Global, and Jack Fusco, the chief executive of Cheniere Energy. Figures from companies including Chevron, Continental Resources, Exxon and Occidental.

About 20 people attended the April 11 event, according to the New York Times. It was organized by Harold Hamm, a billionaire who has long helped developed Republican energy policies.

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who has been mentioned as a possible vice presidential pick, was also present. He has been advising Trump on energy issues since dropping out of the 2024 Republican nomination race.

Trump's message was that they should donate to his campaign because his policies would be better for their industry than Biden's.

'That has been his pitch to everybody,' said Michael McKenna, who worked in the Trump White House.

And he also reportedly delivered a diatribe against wind turbines. He has repeatedly falsely claimed that they cause cancer.

Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said: 'This is Trump's corrupt MAGA agenda in a nutshell: Trump acting as a puppet for his largest donors  giving them tax breaks and favorable policies while working families get screwed over.'

While executives have pushed for some of Biden's rules to be reversed, some have also expressed frustration at the way policies are introduced and then thrown out with each change in political leadership. Some say they simply want consistency in order to help with planning.
A Menorca holiday village dubbed the 'Spanish Mykonos' has threatened to ban all tourists after previously telling them to only visit between 11am and 8pm so they can enjoy their breakfasts.

Binibeca Vell, which is popular with Brits, is set to receive one million tourists this year after its popularity boomed on social media.

Locals have complained about the bad behaviour of visitors with one claiming 'they went into homes', 'sat on chairs' and 'climb on our walls'.

Last year, residents began to hit back, requesting tourists only visit the fishing village - which is famous for its unique whitewashed walls - between 11am and 8pm.

In a post on the village's website, locals also asked vistors to refrain from 'entering homes' and 'climbing balconies'.

The message included a series of pictures showing one tourist splayed out on a stairwell and another sitting in a chair belonging to one of the locals.

Binibeca Vell, which is popular with Brits, is set to receive one million tourists this year after its popularity boomed on social media

Locals have complained about the bad behaviour of visitors with one claiming 'they went into homes', 'sat on chairs' and 'climb on our walls'

Last year, residents began to hit back, requesting tourists only visit the fishing village - which is famous for its whitewashed walls - between 11am and 8pm

In a post on the village's website, locals also asked vistors to refrain from 'entering homes' and 'climbing balconies'

Oscar Monge, who runs a group representing Binibeca Vell's 195 property owners, told the Guardian: 'Binibeca Vell is not a place of adventure, but it's a private housing development where people reside.'

'If the administration continues to leave us abandoned, in August we'll carry out a vote among owners on whether we should close up the development,' he added.

Mr Monge explained that the main problem is the Spanish authorities who residents believe are not doing enough to tackle the issues with tourists.

Binibeca Vell residents were given 12,850 by the government last year to help deal with rubbish removal but the deal has not been renewed.

Begona Mercadal, head of tourism for Menorca told the El Diario newspaper that residents would be able to close their village to tourists if they wished.

She said: 'We fully acknowledge that it is private property and, therefore, if they want to close it, that is their right.'

The row in Binibeca Vell comes amid a number of protests across holiday hotspots in Spain that are struggling with overtourism.

Last month, furious locals in Mallorca demanded that British holidaymakers 'go home' in anti-tourist graffiti scrawled across the isalnd.

'Go Home Tourist' was written in English over a wall underneath a real estate promotion billboard in Nou Llevant, Mallorca, a neighbourhood that has seen a massive influx of foreign buyers over the past few years.

'Go Home Tourist' scrawled in English over a wall underneath a real estate promotion billboard in Nou Llevant, Mallorca

Holidaymaking Brits met with anti-tourist graffiti on Tenerife as frustrated locals claim they only 'drink cheap beer, lay in the sun and eat low quality food'

The thousands of demonstrators in Tenerife joined the protests under the slogan: 'The Canary Islands have a limit'

People on a hunger strike sit in wheelchairs during a demonstration for a change in the tourism model in the Canary Islands, in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain, April 20, 2024

Protesters flood the streets of Tenerife calling on local authorities to temporarily limit visitor numbers

Thousands of people also demonstrated in Tenerife, Canary Islands in April to demand that the government temporarily limit tourist arrivals.

Residents in Mallorca are echoing some of the same complaints that protestors in the Canary Islands have been making, claiming that the boom in short-term holiday rentals is driving up housing costs for locals.

British visitors to Tenerife are also set to be hit with a controversial 'tourist tax' from next year, local authorites recently confirmed.

The proposal is part of the island's new tourism strategy and is seen as an eco tax, but the level of charge and the formalities are yet to be agreed by Parliament.

It will apply to all of Tenerife's most famous protected sites, including the volcano Mount Teide and several rural parks and hamlets like Masca.

A spokesman for the Tenerife government said the introduction of this eco tax was necessary due to the vast increase of people visiting protected sites, visitors and locals alike.

Travellers aged 16 and over already pay a daily charge of up to 4 (3.45) when visiting the equally popular Balearic islands, such as Majorca, Menorca and Ibiza.

MailOnline also reported today that the government of the Balearic Islands had introduced a ban on the sale of alcohol between 9:30pm and 8am in a bid to crack down on so-called low quality tourism.

Late night sales of booze will be banned in Ibiza and Mallorca in a crack down on so-called low quality tourism

Tourists seen walking on the street at in Magaluf

The new decree, which will be enforced until at least December 2027, bans late night sales of booze from commercial establishments in Llucmajor, Palma and Calvia in Mallorca and Sant Antoni in Ibiza.

The government wrote in its announcement of the ban that the 'correct interpretation' of the ban was that 'commercial establishments' have to be completely closed, and cannot simply shut display cases.

It also banned party boats from being within one nautical mile of any of these destinations, and they are banned from picking up an disembarking passengers in this area.

The BBC reported that the decree, an expansion of a 2020 law, was pushed at the request of local authorities.

A spokesperson for the Balearic Islands tourism council said that the 2020 law was combatting anti-social behaviour.

He added that he hoped the law would no longer be necessary in 'in three to four years, if we instill in people how to behave.'
The family of 'hero' police officer Sharon Beshenivsky declared the end of a 19-year 'journey seeking the truth and justice' as the mastermind of the robbery in which she was murdered was condemned to die behind bars.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, was given a mandatory life sentence with a minimum term of 40 years today for murder.

Taking into account time spent awaiting trial, it means the takeaway restaurant boss would have to live to the age of 111 to be considered for parole.

His sentencing at Leeds Crown Court was an emotional and landmark moment for PC Beshenivsky's husband Paul, 61, and their two children Lydia, 22, and Paul, 25, who sat in court to hear the judge's decision. PC Beshenivsky's mother and brother were also there.

In a personal statement Lydia told the court she regards her mother  killed aged 38 awhilst attending an armed robbery on duty  to be a 'hero' who 'paid the ultimate sacrifice.'

'Hero' police officer Sharon Beshenivsky, 38, was shot dead during an armed robbery in 2005

PC Beshenivsky's family outside Leeds Crown Court after hearing that her killer had been sentenced to a minimum of 40 years for her murder. Pictured: Paul, 61, (left) and their two children Lydia, 22, and Paul, 25 (right)

Piran Ditta Khan was found guilty of murder at Leeds Crown Court on 4 April. He was jailed for 40 years

While Mr Beshenivsky, a father-of-four who has since remarried, described the ordeal of coping with the final trial of the seven members of the robbery gang as 'like losing Sharon all over again.'

The judge Mr Justice Hilliard rejected the prosecution's case for a 'whole life order' but said Khan would 'inevitably' never be released anyway.

He said PC Beshenivsky and her colleague Teresa Milburn, who was shot but survived, deserved the public's 'admiration and gratitude' for fearlessly responding to the emergency and investigating the armed robbery on the Universal Express travel agency in Bradford in November 2005.

The judge said: 'PC Beshenivsky's courage and commitment to her duty that day cost her her life.'

The court heard Khan had picked the location of the robbery, planned it and gave the go ahead for three men armed with guns and a knife to enter the travel agents that day. They hoped to steal up to 100,000 but escaped with 5,405.

Both police officers were gunned down at point blank range as the robbers fled.

'You intended the weapons should be used to kill if necessary to do so', he told Khan.

With the net closing in father-of-six Khan left his business, wife and children behind and flew to his native Pakistan two months after the murder.

Mother-of-three PC Beshenivsky was shot after attending a robbery in Bradford. Her killer then fled to Pakistan, leaving his wife and children behind before returning in 2020

This 'spray and pray' MAC-10 sub-machine gun was used at the scene of the murder

Khan, 75, in police custody before he was sentenced for the robbery. The court heard Khan had planned the operation, he and three others hoped to steal up to 100,000 but escaped with 5,405.

Despite the age of the takeaway restaurant owner, the judge refused to reduce the minimum prison term as he had enjoyed his healthy years fleeing justice

The funeral of murdered PC Beshenivsky. Her widower, Paul hopes that the family will be able to 'pick up the pieces of our lives and continue forward as Sharon would have wanted us all to do.'

Lydia Beshenivsky pictured in a police hat as she waits to present flowers to the Queen in Bradford 2007. Her mother was shot dead on her fourth birthday

He remained there a free man until diplomatic pressure from the British government led to his arrest in January 2020 and extradition to the UK.

The judge refused to reduce the minimum term because of his age and ill health as he had enjoyed his healthy years fleeing justice.

In his statement read in court Mr Beshenivsky said he hoped this 'closing chapter' would give his family 'some degree of closure.'

He said his wife was killed in a most 'brutal, callous and futile way.'

'She never came home due to the actions and organisation of one person - Piran Ditta Khan.

'If Piran Ditta Khan had never organised the robbery, Sharon would never have been shot dead and she would have come home that day.'

He said the grief they suffered was 'unimaginable' but added: 'She was doing her duty as a police officer and the job she loved to do. We were all very proud of her.'

Lydia said she has 'little or no memory of my mum' and her death left a 'void that has never been filled.'

PC Beshenivsky's colleague Teresa Milburn (pictured) was shot but survived

Pictured: Paul, 61, (right), his new wife Michelle, and his two children Lydia, 22, and Paul, 25 (left)

Hundreds of floral tributes were laid at the scene of the murder of PC Beshenivsky (pictured in 2005)

A statement read outside court on behalf of the entire family said 18 November, the date of the ill-fated robbery and Lydia's fourth birthday, was 'now a day of remembrance and memorial.'

'That was the day the lives of our family and those close to Sharon changed forever,' they said.

It began a journey lasting almost 19 years. 'A journey seeking the truth and justice for Sharon, who was not just a police officer, but a loving mum, wife, daughter, sister and friend to many.

'Our journey seeking justice and closure of the judicial process is now at an end. This journey has and continues to be difficult for us all. Enduring several trials over the years has been hard, each one of them taking us back to the very beginning, which made us feel like we had lost Sharon all over again. And now we once again pick up the pieces of our lives and continue forward as Sharon would have wanted us all to do.'

Adding: 'No prison sentence could ever compensate us for Sharon's life and our loss, but we will move forward knowing that justice has been served.'

A new photograph of PC Beshenivsky in her police uniform was released for the sentencing hearing.

Assistant Chief Constable Patrick Twiggs praised the multi-agency efforts that brought Khan to justice after so many years.

'We never gave up, we relentlessly pursued Khan even when things got tough, we never gave up,' he said.
Prince Harry has been gifted a portrait of Princess Diana holding him as a child during his visit to Nigeria, 34 years after his mother went to the African country.

Harry and Meghan arrived in Nigeria this morning for their three-day private tour after flying into Abuja together following a secret reunion in London.

After visiting children at a school and meeting officials at Nigeria's Defence Headquarters, the pair headed to Kaduna State where they were welcomed by Governor Uba Sani and other government officials.

Governor Sani presented Harry with the framed portrait of Diana holding him as a child along with another portrait of him and Meghan on their wedding day and other gifts before decorating him with traditional Hausa attire.

Governor Sani presents gifts to Prince Harry as well as decorates him with a traditional Hausa attire. pic.twitter.com/T3d0NasoP0  Channels Television (@channelstv) May 10, 2024

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State presenting Prince Harry with a portrait of Diana holding him as a child

Governor Uba Sani decorated Prince Harry with traditional Hausa attire during his visit to Nigeria

Harry and Meghan smile as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Prince Harry's tour of Nigeria with his wife Meghan Markle comes 34 years after Princess Diana visited the country with Prince Charles.

Back then, the Princess of Wales displayed the kindness which she became famous for when she held the hand of a leprosy patient as her husband initially stood by awkwardly.

Today, after his and Meghan's arrival in Abuja, Harry evoked memories of his suffering following his mother's death when he spoke to a group of school children.

Harry and Meghan take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Prince Harry's tour of Nigeria with his wife Meghan Markle comes 34 years after Princess Diana visited the country with Prince Charles. Above: The couple visit children at the Lights Academy in Abuja today

Charles and Diana stand at the bedside of Lucky, a leprosy patient at the Molai Centre in Nigeria

The Princess of Wales displayed the kindness which she became famous for when she held the hand of a leprosy patient as her husband initially stood by awkwardly. The patient, named Lucky, beamed when the princess held her hand at the Molai Centre, a leprosy hospital and rehabilitation village in Maiduguri, northern Nigeria, in March 1990

The Duke of Sussex, who was 12 when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, told the pupils there is 'no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day.'

His and Meghan's visit will be seen by the Duke as another effort to continue his mother's 'unfinished' work.

He said in 2022 that he felt 'obligated' to live out her legacy 'as much as possible'.
Donald Trump left his criminal trial with a smile on Friday after a judge told the prosecution to control their star witness Michael Cohen.

The former president nodded as Judge Juan Merchan urged the Manhattan District Attorney's Office to direct the lawyer at the center of the case to stop discussing it.

The good news for the presumptive Republican presidential nominee came at the end of a grueling week in court where he sat through six hours of testimony from Stormy Daniels.

The porn star went into detail with her salacious and sometimes lurid claims about the night they allegedly had sex in a hotel room in 2006 - a story Trump has denied.

She finished her appearance on the stand on Thursday afternoon, with Friday a far more subdued affair with witnesses who gave less dramatic but still crucial evidence.

Donald Trump speaking alongside his lawyer Todd Blanche on Friday, May 10 after court wrapped up for the week

A sketch of Donald Trump in a Manhattan criminal courtroom on May 10

Michael Cohen is expected to begin testifying on Monday in the hush money case. The judge told prosecutors to direct Cohen to stop making statements about the case on Friday

Trump's former White House executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout started Friday by telling the court how he would receive mail and sign checks in the Oval Office.

Then two employees from cell phone carriers AT&T and Verizon took the stand as custodial witnesses, used so the prosecution can enter evidence.

Finally a pair of paralegals from the Manhattan DA testified about call records and social media posts.

The drama came as the jury was excused and the court prepared to wrap up for the week.

A sketch of Donald Trump following along as paralegal Georgia Longstreet testified on Friday

Trumps defense lawyer Todd Blanche urged the court to put a gag on Cohen, who has been posting TikTok videos and appearing on podcasts throughout the trial.

Cohen continues to speak about this trial and President Trump. As recently as Wednesday he was on TikTok talking extensively, Blanche said.

Hes wearing a white t-shirt with a picture of President Trump behind bars.

Now we have one week left of the trial, (we ask that) he be prohibited from speaking just as President Trump is.'

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass insisted that they have no control over what witnesses say but claimed they have 'repeatedly' asked witnesses not to talk about it.

But Merchan insisted that prosecutors pass on a message to Cohen.

I would direct the people to communicate to Mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about this case.

A sketch of Judge Juan Merchan presiding over the Trump hush money trial

Michael Cohen is one of the two more witnesses the prosecutors say they will call before resting their case. Cohen is a central figure in carrying out the hush money payment to Stormy Daniels. Prosecutors said Friday they could wrap up their case by the end of next week

Cohen is expected to be called to the witness stand starting on Monday for testimony that could last for several days and is crucial to the prosecution case.

He served as Trump's personal attorney paid Stormy Daniels the $130,000 to keep quiet about the alleged affair just before the 2016 election.

Prosecutors claim Trump then falsified business records in an effort to cover up the payment to the porn star when he reimbursed Cohen for the payment.

Checks and invoices laid out in court show Trump signed multiple checks totaling $420,000 to Cohen including nine checks which were sent down to Washington for his signature while he was serving as president.

Donald Trump exiting the Manhattan criminal courtroom on Friday, May 10

Moments later the judge told prosecutors to direct their key witness from speaking about the case, Trump exited the courtroom where he slammed his own gag order that blocks him from going after witnesses.

'Everybody can say whatever they want, he complained. 'But I'm not allowed to say anything about anybody.'

The gag order specifically prevents him from speaking about witnesses and court staff. It does not apply to the judge or his 2024 political opponent.

On Thursday, his lawyers attempted to get the gag order modified so Trump could respond to Stormy Daniels after her scandalous testimony concluded, but the judge rejected the request.

He pointed out that Trump has a track record of attacks and said he was not just concerned about Daniels' but other witnesses yet to testify in the case.

Stormy Daniels with her lawyer after testifying in the hush money case about her alleged affair with Donald Trump and payment to not speak out

Trump defense attorney Susan Necheles cross-examining Stormy Daniels on May 9

Cohen is one of two witnesses prosecutors said they would call before they rest their case.

They told the judge on Friday that could happen at the end of next week.

It is also unclear whether Allen Weisselberg, the former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization, will be compelled to testify even if it is outside the presence of the jury.

Before taking issue with Cohen on Friday, Trump's lawyer objected to the prosecution submitting Weisselberg's severance agreement as evidence.

Weisselberg is serving five month sentence on Rikers Island for perjury.

Allen Weisselberg is serving five months in prison on Rikers Island after lying under oath in the Donald Trump civil fraud case. He is former chief financial officer of the Trump Organization. On Friday, Judge Merchan questioned why he was not being compelled to testify in the hush money case

Prosecutors want to submit the agreement because it includes provisions that Weisselberg on disparage the Trump Organization or its employees.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy argued it would help explain why he is not testifying.

During the back and forth, it was revealed that neither the prosecution nor defense has compelled Weisselberg's testimony in the case.

Defense lawyer Emil Bove told the judge if either side tried to call him he would likely invoke his Fifth Amendment right.

Merchan suggested Weisselberg could be brought in to take the stand under oath but without the jury present to see if he would testify.

He said he would like to know that Weisselberg won't testify even if compelled and did not make a decision on whether the severance agreement could be submitted into evidence before court adjourned for the day.
John Swinney is facing the shortest honeymoon in political history after two polls put the SNP on course for catastrophic back-to-back defeats.

In a blow to Nationalist hopes that he would be a clean break from past troubles, the latest surveys show the new First Minister failing to stem the dramatic haemorrhaging of support.

Mr Swinney, who took over as SNP leader on Monday, yesterday set the clock ticking on yet another countdown to independence after claiming Scotland could exit the Union within five years.

But polling suggests he and his party are increasingly out of touch with voters.

A survey of Westminster voting intentions of 1,000 Scots by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, which took place on Wednesday and Thursday, indicates the SNP is on track to lose 30 MPs.

The results give Labour its largest lead of any polling in Scotland since 2014 at 38 per cent  up five points from last month  with the Nationalists trailing behind at 31 per cent, down a point.

John Swinney chairs his first Cabinet meeting with his new deputy Kate Forbes and Finance Secretary Shona Robison

Strathclyde University political scientist Professor Sir John Curtice said that if repeated at a general election this would see the SNP crash from 43 seats to just 13, with Scottish Labour going from two MPs to 33.

A separate poll by Savanta also has Labour ahead in a Westminster contest by 37 to 33 per cent  which would see the SNP lose more than half its MPs.

In the last Savanta survey in October, Labour and the SNP were still neck-and-neck.

The polling firm also found the SNP had fallen behind in voting intentions for the 2026 Holyrood election. Both parties are tied on 35 per cent  though Labour has edged in front on the list vote, by 32 per cent to 26 per cent. That would be enough for Anas Sarwar to form a minority government.

The Savanta survey of 1,000 voters took place between May 3, when it became clear Mr Swinney would succeed Humza Yousaf, and May 8, by which time he had been elected First Minister.

Scottish Tory chairman Craig Hoy said: Voters know John Swinney just spells more of the same  with the same recycled Cabinet and failing policies of the Sturgeon and Yousaf eras  which is why this appears to be the shortest honeymoon in political history.

John Swinney has made it clear he and his government will not just continue, but accelerate, their relentless and divisive push for independence. He is picking up where he left off during his time in Nicola Sturgeons failed government, focusing only on governing in the Nationalists interests, rather than the national interest.

Chris Hopkins, political research director at Savanta, said: Our findings underline the major uphill task John Swinney faces.

The SNP is likely to fall quite far from the 43 seats they hold at the next general election.

Even if Swinney can begin to turn things around, the spectre of Sturgeon and everything her time in power is now associated with will continue to hang over the party and hamper any recovery.

Professor Curtice said: The most interesting question to ask is whether the installation of Swinney has proven an immediate remedy for the SNPs difficulties or perhaps it has done little more than stem the rot occurring under Yousaf. It looks more like the latter. In more good news for Scottish Labour, the party was yesterday celebrating by-election victory in Kilwinning.

Labour took the North Ayrshire Council seat from the Tories, but with a 10 per cent swing from the SNP. Mr Sarwar said: This result shows people right across Scotland are crying out for change.

Meanwhile Mr Swinney, who chaired his first Cabinet meeting yesterday, has already talked up another independence push.

Asked on Sky News if he thinks Britain could be broken up within five years, he said: Independence can be delivered in that timescale because the arguments for it are compelling.

I acknowledge we have work to do to build greater support for independence and thats what my leadership will be all about.
A Florida man miraculously survived a near-death experience when he fell into the shark-infested waters after slipping off a boat in the Bahamas.

Marlin Wakeman, 24, was at the Flying Fish Marina, in Long Island when he tried to dock the boat he was working on, and accidentally tumbled into the dangerous waters during the terrifying April 26 ordeal.

At least 20 sharks, that had been feasting on dead fish carcasses thrown into the water by a nearby fisherman, attacked Wakeman seconds after he hit the water.

One of the sharks bit him on the leg, and another sank their teeth into his shoulder. Wakeman managed to get himself out danger to safety, as the boat's captain rushed to tie a tourniquet on his leg.

Wakeman was rushed to the nearest hospital, and later flown to a trauma center in Florida. Trauma surgeon Dr. Robert Borrego at St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach said the boy's kneecap was punctured, and the shark just missed an artery.

Doctors said Wakeman, who underwent surgery, is expected to make a full recovery.

Marlin Wakeman, 24, was at the Flying Fish Marina, in Long Island when he tried to dock the boat he was working on, and accidentally tumbled into the dangerous waters

The shark-infested waters (pictured) around the marina in Long Island Bahamas. Wakeman said one shark bit him on the leg, and another on the shoulder as he was trying to get to safety

At the Thursday press conference held at St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Wakeman said: 'I got very lucky and it could have turned out to be a very different outcome'

Wakeman, who was using crutches appeared upbeat as he spoke of his ordeal at a press conference on Thursday that was held at the hospital with his family members and surgeon by his side.

'I was bit by two sharks two weeks ago in Southern Bahamas. I was going to get back on the boat at the marina there was low tide and a lot of surge going on that day.'

He said, 'when I went to take a step onto the boat I didn't take as much time as I should have and ended up in the water hanging onto the cockpit of the boat,' The Palm Beach Post reported.

'When I got bit, I was pulling myself back in but he grabbed me, and pulled me under water. I kind of scrambled for a second, and got my surroundings in check and realized what was going on,' he said.

He added: 'I got my left hand back on the boat, and at that time the other shark came and hit me on the right side on my right shoulder and then after that I was able to pull myself up back on the boat thank goodness and call for help.'

He said, that marina was the 'worst marina he had ever seen there's at all times 20 sharks roaming around.

'When I ended up in the water I knew pretty much what was going to happen when he bit me I knew what was going on. There wasn't a second in my mind of what it or what was happening.'

He said he was holding onto the covering board, and the shark grabbed him and pulled him underwater and then let go of him.

'I got really lucky he didn't head shake or hold on for a while and that is when I was able to get back up onto the surface get my hand back onto the boat. That is when I got up to the surface to get off the boat and the other shark bit me but luckily he wasn't able to grab onto me so I was able to get off the boat.'

He said the ordeal 'happened so fast,' and said he had no time to be scared, as he knew what was going on and just had to get out of the water.

Though he admitted he may have some 'nightmares here or there' he said 'I'll be all right.'

In fact, once he fully recovers he plans to go back to the same area, and explained it is a prime area to to dive, and fish.

He added: 'I got very lucky and it could have turned out to be a very different outcome.'

His advice to others: 'Don't be scared. Keep in mind they are an Apex predator and you don't want to end up in their mouth.'
By Anna J. Park

The implementation of the planned financial investment income tax scheme would deal a fatal blow to the Korean stock market, the Korean Corporate Governance Forum warned on Friday.

In its statement released earlier in the day, the association consisted of financial experts and scholars urged the government and political circles to delay the implementation of the financial investment income tax, which is slated to take effect from 2025.

The forum estimated that the implementation of the tax scheme would result in outflows of approximately 150 trillion won ($109 billion) from the Korean stock market, which accounts for about six percent of the entire market cap of domestic stock markets.

"Is it really the government and political circles' intention to kick away the ladder of earning financial income, which is the only remaining source of building wealth for ordinary citizens, who have already been frustrated by the country's skyrocketing real estate prices? They should carefully examine the impacts from the implementation of the tax scheme," the forum's statement reads, denouncing that the tax scheme will be "penny wise, pound foolish."

The financial investment income tax is a system where individuals must pay a capital gains tax of 20 percent on profits from financial investments, such as stocks, bonds, funds and derivatives, exceeding a certain amount  50 million won for stocks, 2.5 million won for other financial products.

The tax rate will increase to 25 percent when the annual returns from financial investments exceed 300 million won. The tax's implementation has been postponed for two years until next year through a previous bipartisan agreement.

"If the tax is implemented, a considerable amount of money will flow out of the domestic stock market towards overseas markets through investors' portfolio adjustments, resulting in a further loss of upward momentum for Korean stock prices," the forum's statement went on, stressing that Korean stocks are essentially in complete competition with other stock markets, such as the United States and Japan.

"Despite the fact that U.S. and Japanese stock markets grew by over 80 percent during the past five years, when the local stock markets have not even risen 20 percent during the same period, one of the core reasons behind domestic investors' remaining in the Korean stock market was tax benefits," the forum noted. "If dozens of trillions of won flow out of the local market and is to be relocated in overseas stock markets, the 'Korea discount' will further deepen."

The forum also pointed out that the implementation of the tax scheme will chip away at the government's ongoing Corporate Value-up Program, raising questions about what measures the government has in place to address the clearly anticipated negative impact of the tax implementation.

"In order to impose financial capital gains taxes at the same level as other advanced countries like the U.S., it is necessary to first establish a legal framework where minority shareholders' rights will be fully protected at the level of those mature capitalist countries, such as a corporate board's fiduciary duty for general shareholders," the forum emphasized.

Furthermore, there were concerns that if the profits distributed by private equity funds were uniformly classified as dividend income, subjecting them to the comprehensive taxation of financial income with a maximum tax rate of 49.5 percent, investors who indirectly invested in private equity funds might resort to a "fund run" phenomenon to avoid the higher tax burden.

The forum also questioned, "Why is it that the capital gains tax imposed on controlling shareholders, which has been continuously deferred since 2000 for various reasons, is not being rushed through for implementation, while the financial investment income tax on ordinary retail shareholders is being hurriedly pursued?"

The Yoon administration and ruling party advocated for the complete abolition of the tax, while the opposition criticized it as a "tax reduction for the wealthy" and pledged to proceed with the plan as scheduled.

During a press conference marking his second anniversary in office the previous day, President Yoon Suk Yeol requested cooperation from the opposition, stating, "If we do not abolish the financial investment income tax, significant capital is likely to leave the domestic stock market."

The president added that the multiple layers of taxes on dividend income, inheritance, and gifts are already considerably higher compared to advanced countries.

However, Rep. Jin Sung-joon from the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, who leads the party's policy committee, said Friday that the taxation should be implemented as scheduled from Jan. 1, 2025.
A U.S. federal agency will give out ID cards to migrants who entered the country illegally for free this summer in an attempt to 'streamline' immigration processing.

After years of consecutive record-breaking illegal immigration into the U.S., Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is planning a program to give migrants free ID cards.

The agency hopes the ICE Secure Docket Card program will modernize the documentation workflow for immigrant removal proceedings which have long plagued the organization.

According to a report, the program will be rolled out this summer and will begin with the distribution of approximately 10,000 ID cards.

Images obtained by Fox News Digital shed light on the Biden administration's planned ID for illegal immigrants, as officials look for ways to track the volume of migrants being released into the U.S.

Record levels of migrants crossed into the U.S. illegally in 2023, according to ICE data

ICE confirmed the program aims to 'modernize documentation provided to some noncitizens,' but added that the cards will not function as a legitimate form of identification.

'While the specifics of the card and pilot are under development, it is important to note the secure card will not be an official form of federal identification,' an agency spokesperson told Fox News.

'The secure card will indicate it is for use by DHS agencies and would be provided only after national security background checks have been performed.'

Federal officials have decried the current state of the documentation program that migrants are subject to when crossing into the U.S.

Generally, migrants who cross the border and are released into the U.S. are provided paperwork that details their asylum claims or immigration status.

ICE officials have said that the paperwork could pose a security threat as it can be easily lost and deteriorated as migrants navigate the country.

The new plastic ID cards would make that process more efficient, ICE argues, adding it could also streamline the identification process used by the agency.

'Moving to a secure card will save the agency millions, free up resources and ensure information is quickly accessible to DHS officials while reducing the agency's FOIA backlog,' a DHS spokesperson told Fox News.

'For provisionally released noncitizens, the digital modernization will provide ongoing access to important immigration documents through the secure card and connected portal.'

However, despite the positives touted by ICE and DHS, the program has outraged some lawmakers.

The program was first reported on in 2022, but the IDs will officially be rolled out this summer

Migrants who crossed form Mexico into the U.S. await processing by federal officials

'Instead of focusing time, energy, & taxpayer dollars on plugging the holes in our Southern border, the Biden Admin is getting ready to give out 'migrant ID' cards to illegal aliens, making it easier for them to take advantage of American citizens,' Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., posted on X Friday.

Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tenn., similarly posted on X: 'ICE wants to start distributing ID cards to illegals this summer. More evidence of Biden trying to make illegal legal.'

It is unclear exactly when the ID program will be rolled out this summer.

Officials from ICE and DHS did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's request for comment.

Earlier this week, the House introduced a measure that would outlaw illegal migrants from voting in U.S. elections by requiring proof of citizenship to register to vote.

The bill is backed by Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, and Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, and has received the support of Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

'We all know - intuitively - that a lot of illegals are voting in federal elections,' Johnson said this week before conceding, 'But it's not been something that is easily provable.'

Still, GOP lawmakers have been hard at work to ensure the the massive influx of migrants that have come into the U.S. in recent years do not impact elections.

On Wednesday, the House narrowly passed a measure that would add a citizenship question to the U.S. census to prevent illegal immigrants from impacting the allotment of Congressional districts and electoral votes.

Asylum-seeking migrants line up near the border while waiting to be transported by the U.S. Border Patrol after crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S.

'Including the count of non-US citizens in determining how many congressional seats and electoral votes each state has is skewing the representation of Americans in their federal government, Rep. Chuck Edwards, R-Ill., who introduced the bill in January, said in a statement.

'The mere presence of illegal immigrants in the U.S. is influencing electoral outcomes, and the Equal Representation Act that the House passed would protect our democracy by making sure that American citizens  and American citizens only  have a say in determining the direction of our country,' Edwards continued.
A Menorca holiday village dubbed the 'Spanish Mykonos' has threatened to ban all tourists after previously telling them to only visit between 11am and 8pm so they can enjoy their breakfasts.

It comes after the government of the Balearic Islands introduced a ban on the sale of alcohol between 9:30pm and 8am in a bid to crack down on so-called low quality tourism.

The decree bans late night sales of booze from commercial establishments in Llucmajor, Palma and Calvia in Mallorca and Sant Antoni in Ibiza.

Binibeca Vell, which is popular with Brits, is set to receive one million tourists this year after its popularity boomed on social media.

Locals have complained about the bad behaviour of visitors with one claiming 'they went into homes', 'sat on chairs' and 'climb on our walls'.

Last year, residents began to hit back, requesting tourists only visit the fishing village - which is famous for its unique whitewashed walls - between 11am and 8pm.

Binibeca Vell, which is popular with Brits, is set to receive one million tourists this year after its popularity boomed on social media

In a post on the village's website, locals also asked vistors to refrain from 'entering homes' and 'climbing balconies'

Locals have complained about the bad behaviour of visitors with one claiming 'they went into homes', 'sat on chairs' and 'climb on our walls'

Last year, residents began to hit back, requesting tourists only visit the fishing village - which is famous for its whitewashed walls - between 11am and 8pm

In a post on the village's website, locals also asked vistors to refrain from 'entering homes' and 'climbing balconies'.

The message included a series of pictures showing one tourist splayed out on a stairwell and another sitting in a chair belonging to one of the locals.

Oscar Monge, who runs a group representing Binibeca Vell's 195 property owners, told the Guardian: 'Binibeca Vell is not a place of adventure, but it's a private housing development where people reside.'

'If the administration continues to leave us abandoned, in August we'll carry out a vote among owners on whether we should close up the development,' he added.

Mr Monge explained that the main problem is the Spanish authorities who residents believe are not doing enough to tackle the issues with tourists.

Binibeca Vell residents were given 12,850 by the government last year to help deal with rubbish removal but the deal has not been renewed.

Begona Mercadal, head of tourism for Menorca told the El Diario newspaper that residents would be able to close their village to tourists if they wished.

She said: 'We fully acknowledge that it is private property and, therefore, if they want to close it, that is their right.'

The decree on the banning of late night sales of alcohol is an expansion of a 2020 law already in place.

The government wrote in its announcement of the ban that the 'correct interpretation' of the ban was that 'commercial establishments' have to be completely closed, and cannot simply shut display cases.

It also banned party boats from being within one nautical mile of any of these destinations, and they are banned from picking up an disembarking passengers in this area.

Late night sales of booze will be banned in Ibiza and Mallorca

Tourists seen walking on the street at in Magaluf

The BBC reported that the decree was pushed at the request of local authorities.

A spokesperson for the Balearic Islands tourism council said that the 2020 law was combatting anti-social behaviour.

He added that he hoped the law would no longer be necessary in 'in three to four years, if we instill in people how to behave.'

The bans come after the government warned that rowdy Brits could face hefty fines following the introduction of tougher new sanctions for bad behaviour for flouting civic rules in its biggest holiday hotspots.

The mayor of Mallorca's capital, Palma, said one of his main objectives is to 'correct uncivil attitudes' and this applies as much to holidaymakers as it does to locals.

Jaime Martinez said the new Civic Ordinance could see offenders hit with fines of up to 3,000, depending on the severity of the breach - with the new rules due to come into force in a couple of months.

The new rules include a ban on drink parties in public places, graffiti, scooters, and even nudism and semi-nudism.

This new Ordinance toughens the sanctions on activities that deteriorate or dirty the city's public spaces.

According to the mayor, the current ordinance is too 'lax' and needs an increase in sanctions to promote one of the main objectives of his mandate: 'Correct uncivil attitudes.'

It comes after he told leisure industry bosses at the ITB Berlin tourism fair earlier this month that he and his administration are working to stop 'rampant' irresponsible tourism on the island.

According to the ordinance, if the consumption of alcohol on public roads disrupts coexistence, involves crowds or deteriorates the tranquillity of the environment, among other situations, the infraction will be considered serious.

Breaching this rule will set you back 750 to 1,500 - or if it's considered very serious, the fine can range from 1,500 to 3,000.

On this issue, the mayor has pointed out that there are identified areas where 'we must act with greater presence', such as Santa Catalina, Palma beach or the Paseo Maritimo.

The amount of infractions for graffiti or slogans will be increased from 100 to 750 euros to fines of 1,500 to 3,000.

In the case of minors who commit graffiti vandalism, the mayor explained that parents will be held responsible and will have to ensure payment of penalties and meet the cost of removal by the town hall.

In relation to banners, posters and advertising brochures, their placement in municipal buildings or facilities, in public spaces and street furniture is prohibited. Thus, the sanctions will range from 750 to 1,500.

Likewise, placement on monuments, listed buildings or on traffic signs that make their visibility difficult will result in a serious infringement, amounting to 1,500 to 3,000.
Barron Trump is declining Florida's offer to be a delegate to the Republican National Convention this summer, citing 'prior committments,' according to his mother's office.

Melania Trump's office made a statement to DailyMail.com on behalf of her son.

'While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,' the Office of Melania Trump said.

No futher details were given.

On Wednesday, Barron, 18, was elected as an at-large delegate to help formally nominate his father Donald Trump as the Republican presidential nominee.

It's now unclear if he will even attend the convention, which takes place in Milwaukee from Monday, July 15 to Thursday, July 18.

'While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party , he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments,' the Office of Melania Trump said to DailyMail.com

Other family members - Don Jr. and his fiancee Kimberly Guilfoyle, Eric Trump, Tiffany Trump and her husband Michael Boulos - are also delegates at large for the state of Florida.

Ivanka Trump, who served as a senior adviser in her father's White House, was the only Trump child not on the delegate list.

Unlike his half-siblings, Barron Trump was rarely seen during his father's White House years, mainly at the request of his mother Melania who is known to be protective of her son.

She rarely let Barron attend official White House events when she was first lady. Additionally, she would have Barron travel in a separate car - instead of the Beast - when he rode in the presidential motorcade. The dedicated mom made sure he was buckled up in his SUV.

She also had Barron board Air Force One on the back stairs of the plane so there would not be photographs of him climbing the front stairs with his parents.

The former first lady has used her own presence to signal her support or displeasure with her husband. She did attend his announcement at Mar-a-Lago that he would make another presidential bid but she was not there on the night of Super Tuesday, when Trump effectively locked up the Republican presidential nomination.

Barron wasn't present at any of the above political events.

Melania Trump is known to be a protective mother of her son Barron, who was 10 when his dad became president; above she straightens his tie on Inauguration Day

Previously, Barron has been the target of social media trolls.

Former NBC News executive Mike Sington said Barron was 'fair game' turning 18, the birthday that marks adulthood. He later deleted the tweet after facing harsh backlash and criticism online.

The youngest Trump was defended by many of his former first kids, including Chelsea Clinton.

'I think he's a private citizen,' she told ABC's The View. 'I feel so strongly that if you are a private citizen, you have an unimpeachable right to privacy, and I think the media should leave him alone.'

And, last year, a Chicago woman was arrested for making death threats against Barron.

'He does like politics. It's sort of funny,' Trump told 'Kayal and Company' on Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT of his son Barron

Friday's shock announcement comes after Donald Trump revealed Barron likes politics and enjoys giving his father advice.

'He's really been a great student. And he does like politics. It's sort of funny,' the former president told 'Kayal and Company' on Philadelphia's Talk Radio 1210 WPHT.

'He'll tell me sometimes, 'Dad, this is what you have to do,'' he added.

Trump also revealed the 18-year-old, who is graduating from high school next week, is weighing what college he might attend. But, he noted, the campus protests have been a factor in that decision.

'He's a senior now in high school, and he'll be going to college. And you know, a lot of, a lot of these choices of colleges are changing because you see what's going on in the last month,' Trump said.

Trump has been critical of the pro-Palestine protests that have turned up on college campuses throughout the nation. He told Time magazine he would call out the National Guard on them.

Barron is considering NYU, the Daily Beast reported, but the school has seen its share protesters and arrests by NYPD. The Trump family has made no announcement about where Barron will go.

The former president also complimented his 6ft7in son's looks.

'He's a little on the tall side. I will tell you, he's a tall one, but he is a good-looking guy,' Trump said.

The former president spent Friday in a Manhattan court room as New York continues to prosecute him over a hush-money payment to porn star Stormy Daniels.

Daniels testified in court this week, talking aboug her sexual encounter with Trump in 2006. She claimed Trump told her at the time he and Melania have separate bedrooms.

Trump has denied the affair.

Then-President Donald Trump, center, waves while walking with First Lady Melania Trump, right, and son Barron Trump on the South Lawn in November 2019

Barron has neve been in public life his half-siblings - above Don Jr., Melania, Donald, Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany Trump

Reports of Barron's interest in politics seemed confirmed on Wednesday when the Republican Party of Florida picked him to join his older siblings as an at-large delegate for the state.

The only requirement to be a delegate is to live and vote in the state. Barron, who turned 18 in March, will be eligible to cast his first votes in the August primary and in the November election.

Barron graduates from Oxbridge Academy in suburban West Palm Beach next week.

That day - May 17th - will be a busy one for Donald Trump.

He's also scheduled to be the keynote speaker at Minnesota's Lincoln Reagan dinner.

Barron's graduation ceremony is in the morning so it's feasible Trump could attend both events.

It's unclear what Barron's plans are for after high school.

But sources told DailyMail.com that the 6ft 7in teen, who has never uttered a word in public, is a steadfast supporter of the Trump 2024 campaign behind the scenes.

Barron was at his father's 2016 presidential announcement and attended the Republican National Conventions in both 2016 and 2020.

He was not at his father's 2024 announcement at Mar-a-Lago.

Barron Trump, seen walking from Marine One in August 2020, has developed a taste for politics and will be a delegate for Florida to the Republican National Convention

Barron Trump (center) with mom Melania (left) and siblings Ivanka, Eric and Tiffany as Donald Trump is sworn in as president in January 2017 - he was just 10 when his father became president

President Donald Trump and son Barron Trump exit Air Force One in February 2020

Barron Trump with his parents Donald and Melania on the South Lawn of the White House on the fourth day of the Republican National Convention in August 2020

In Trump's last two White House campaigns, Don Jr., Eric and Ivanka were heavily involved - speaking at their father's rallies and campaigning for him. Tiffany joined her siblings in the 2020 campaign but Barron stayed out of sight.

He was only 10 when his father became president.

Barron, who turned 18 last month, returned to the spotlight with Donald Trump's hush-money trial when the former president argued he should be allowed a break from trial to attend Barron Trump's May 17 high school graduation.

Judge Juan Merchan agreed to allow the break in the trial.
Sick details have emerged in the case of the young Kansas steakhouse worker who allegedly contaminated food with his bodily fluids.

Jace Christian Hanson, 21, is accused of urinating and rubbing his genitals on food which was consumed at the Hereford House between March 26 and April 23.

He allegedly filmed himself contaminating the dishes at the Leawood eatery before posting the footage online, according to a Johnson County Court affidavit.

Hanson was charged with one felony count of criminal threat at the end of April after detectives spoke with management at the restaurant about their suspicions.

Jace Christian Hanson, 21, is accused of urinating and rubbing his genitals on food which was consumed at the Hereford House between March 26 and April 23

Sick details have emerged in the case of the employee who contaminated food with his bodily fluids at Hereford House steak joint in Leawood, Kansas

FBI agents reviewed IP addresses linked to the videos, which were posted on thisvid.com under the username 'vandalizer.'

The clips were titled 'pissing in the serving sauce again', 'pissing on restaurant desert', 'love making people taste my sweaty genitals' and 'spitting in everything in restaurant part 2'.

He allegedly used body parts including his genitals, buttocks and feet to touch the food, and shoving it down his pants before serving it to customers.

Investigators showed the images to the chef at Hereford House, who recognized the Au Jus sauce in one of the thumbnails, per court documents.

Hanson was suspended from his job and interrogated by police. When asked whether he was aware of any food contamination incidents, cops said he admitted to his antics.

'I'll be straight up, yeah,' he told investigators, adding that he had 'just been doing stupid s***'.

Authorities said Hanson confessed he started his disturbing behavior little more than a week into the job, motivated by discontent with his role.

Hanson filmed himself contaminating the dishes at the Leawood eatery before posting the footage online, according to a Johnson County Court affidavit

But he said even after he started enjoying the job, he still continued with the disgusting acts, according to officials.

Police said Hanson told them his final violation involved sticking a lettuce down his pants before returning it to a tray to be served on April 23.

Authorities said he revealed at least 20 dishes were contaminated before being consumed by patrons.

The news left long-time customers shocked and worried about who was being 'targeted.'

Hanson is accused of felony criminal threat, which in Kansas carries a maximum sentence of up to 13 months in jail and a fine of up to $100,000.

It is unclear if he has entered a plea at this time.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani had his conservative talk radio show cancelled after repeatedly questioning the results of the 2020 election.

The station's billionaire owner, John Catsimatidis, abruptly ended the run over Giuliani's election claims.

'John had warned him a few times about doing that and finally he just kind of crossed the line,' Catsimatidis producer Matt Wanning told DailyMail.com.

Asked about potential legal exposure from Giuliani's claims, in particular Dominion Voting Systems, he responded: 'Oh yeah. It's been floating around for a while.' He wasn't aware if the station had specifically received a warning letter from the voting machine company, which reached a $787 million settlement with Fox News in 2023.

New York billionaire John Catsimatidis suspended former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and nixed his show on WABC, citing his repeated statements claiming 2020 election fraud

Giuliani blasted the move in a statement to DailyMail.com, indicating that he did not learn of his suspension directly.

'Im learning from a leak to the New York Times that I'm being fired by John Catsimatidis and WABC because I refused to comply with their overly broad directive stating, word-for-word, that I'm, "prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 Presidential Election,"" he humed.

'This directive is a clear violation of free speech and Ill have much more to say about this on my 8:00 pm ET livestream which you can watch on any of my social media platforms, including on X, Facebook or YouTube,' he said, plugging his own digital program.

A Dominion spokesman said he didn't have anything on the subject.

A May 9 letter from Red Apple Media signed by Catsimatidis begins, in bold type, 'This letter serves to remind you that you are prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 Presidential Election on your programs broadcast on WABC Radio.'

It then states that, 'It has come to our attention that you continue to publish allegations of this nature on social media, and are now subject to additional court filings accusing you of this conduct, as reported by Bloomberg Law this week.

That was a reference to a new legal claim by Ruby Freeman and her daughter Wandrea Arshaye Shaye Moss, who won a $148 million court legal judgment against Giuliani.

The WABC show provides a financial lifetime for Giuliani, who that judgement after a jury found he defamed two Georgia election workers. Giuliani is appealing.

Catsimatidis sent a May 9 letter to Giuliani warning him that 'you are prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 Presidential Election on your programs broadcast on WABC Radio'

Giuliani spoke to Trump supporters on January 6

The letter also states that its legal departments have monitored similar statements by Giuliani over previous months, and that it has worked to 'dump the audio of these allegations' so they would not be broadcast or rebroadcast. It warned of his claims of fraud: 'You may not do so on our airwaves.' Catsimatidis concludes in a hand-written note: 'We should meet.'

Giuliani earned a percentage of ad royalties from the program. His most recent program featured extended musings about Donald Trump's Stormy Daniels trial but not many ads. One was from an area lawyer. It wasn't clear how much money Giuliani was able to make from hosting the show.

He also hosts his own Common Sense podcast, which he live streams from Florida.

Catsimatidis, owner of the supermarket chain Gristedes, is a player in New York politics and was the runner up for his party's mayoral nomination in 2013. But he parts ways with former New Yorker Donald Trump when it comes to his and Giuliani's claims of massive election fraud.

Giuliani is facing massive legal fees and a multi-million court judgment

It is the latest blow for Giuliani, a former Donald Trump lawyer who finds himself facing a massive court judgment while facing other legal jeopardy

Catsimatidis is a Republican billionaire supermarket chain owner who 'doesn't buy into' Giuliani's election fraud claims

'He just dismisses it. He doesnt buy into the whole thing,' said Manning.

Catsimatidis told the New York Times he had delivered the warnings to Giuliani via text.

'Were not going to talk about fallacies of the November 2020 election,' he told the paper. 'We warned him once. We warned him twice. And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it.'

'So, he left me no option. I suspended him,' he said.

Giuliani was indicted along with Trump and other alleged coconspirators in Georgia.

On his last radio show, he predicted the classified documents case against Trump would be dismissed, and called for getting special counsel Jack Smith on trial. 'Im looking forward to that should Trump win that therell be an investigation of him,' he said.

Later Friday, Giuliani went on a twitter storm railing about the move.

'John Catsimatidis and @77ABCradio fired me for refusing to comply with their overly broad directive stating I'm, prohibited from engaging in conversations relating to the 2020 Presidential Election.

'John says I was informed ahead of time of these restrictions, which is demonstrably untrue. Ive been regularly commenting on the 2020 election for 3.5 years, and Ive talked about the Georgia case incessantly ever since the verdict. WABC hosts questioned me on these topics.

'Obviously I was never informed on such a policy, and even if there was one, it was violated so often that it couldnt be taken seriously.'
A Chinese tech executive who faced a social media backlash after telling staff grumbling about long hours 'I'm not your mum' has now quit.

Baidu vice-president and head of public relations Qu Jing had posted several videos on social media addressing employees.

'I can make you jobless in this industry,' said Ms Qu in one clip as she warned staff that she needed their dedication and did not care if it impacted their personal lives.

'I'm not your mum,' she said. 'I only care about results.'

Baidu is one of China's largest tech companies, running the country's leading search engine, and is often seen as the country's equivalent to Google.

Baidu vice-president and head of public relations Qu Jing berated staff in ranting videos on social media

Baidu is one of China 's largest tech companies and is a leading search engine similar to Google

But her comments hit a raw nerve with young workers fed up with long hours and relentless pressure.

Chinese tech companies are notorious for long working hours, with employees expected to do the '996'. This means they start work at 9am, leave at 9pm and work six days a week.

Ms Qu has now left the company. In a series of short videos posted last week on Douyin, China's version of TikTok, she had spoken about her devotion to her career, strict management style and unflagging demands on subordinates.

She criticised one for not wanting to work weekends, and dismissed a complaint that her late-night work messages kept up one of her employee's crying children.

In one clip the tech boss said 'I can make you jobless in this industry,'. Her comments have infuriated young workers who do long hours, often working six days a week

The vice-president and head of public relations has now quit after her remarks came to light

In another clip she declared: 'If you work in public relations, don't expect weekends off. Keep your phone on 24 hours a day, always ready to respond.'

Douyin users accused Ms Qu of an aggressive and insensitive approach and of promoting a toxic workplace.

On Thursday, she apologised on social media for causing 'external misunderstandings about Baidu's values and culture'.

'Many of the criticisms are very pertinent, I am reflecting deeply and humbly accept them,' she said. 'There are many inappropriate [things said] in the video that caused external misunderstandings about the company's values and corporate culture, causing serious harm. I sincerely apologise.'

It is understood she stepped down from Baidu hours later.

Baidu did not respond to a request for comment. Ms Qu could not be reached.
Social media users have joked that Prince Harry looks like African royalty after he was snapped accepting a picture of Princess Diana.

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took Nigeria by storm today, posing for selfies, playing with children and being mobbed by fans as they kicked off their three-day tour in a royal fashion.

The pair of them received a military welcome in the afternoon as onlookers flooded to try and catch a glimpse of the glowing couple - after a morning visit where Meghan told schoolgirls: 'I see myself in all of you.'

After visiting children at a school and meeting officials at Nigeria's Defence Headquarters, the pair headed to Kaduna State where they were welcomed by Governor Uba Sani and other government officials.

Governor Sani presented Harry with the framed portrait of Diana holding him as a child along with another portrait of him and Meghan on their wedding day and other gifts before decorating him with traditional Hausa attire.

Governor Uba Sani decorated Prince Harry with traditional Hausa attire during his visit to Nigeria

Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State presenting Prince Harry with a portrait of Diana holding him as a child

Social media users were quick to share their reaction to Prince Harry in traditional Hausa attire

Harry and Meghan smile as they meet children at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Harry and Meghan take part in games at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja today

Prince Harry's tour of Nigeria with his wife Meghan Markle comes 34 years after Princess Diana visited the country with Prince Charles. Above: The couple visit children at the Lights Academy in Abuja today

Responding to the picture of Harry on social media, one person joked: 'Theyve adopted Henry lol,' while another said: 'Prince Harry is now a Nigerian prince.'

Yet, many pointed out how the picture was just a traditional ceremony with Harry dressed in Nigerian attire called Agbada.

One person wrote: 'Agbada, it's an honor for them to actually offer and dress a person in it! Very few are so accepted.'

Another added: 'Its called an Agbada, very elegant I love it!', while a third commented: 'Prince Harry in agbada [laughing face emoji]'.

Prince Harry's tour of Nigeria with his wife Meghan Markle comes 34 years after Princess Diana visited the country with Prince Charles.

Back then, the Princess of Wales displayed the kindness which she became famous for when she held the hand of a leprosy patient as her husband initially stood by awkwardly.

Today, after his and Meghan's arrival in Abuja, Harry evoked memories of his suffering following his mother's death when he spoke to a group of school children.

The Duke of Sussex, who was 12 when Diana was killed in a car crash in Paris in 1997, told the pupils there is 'no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day.'

His and Meghan's visit will be seen by the Duke as another effort to continue his mother's 'unfinished' work.

He said in 2022 that he felt 'obligated' to live out her legacy 'as much as possible'.

Harry and Meghan on their tour of Nigerian capital Abuja on Friday

Personal protection officers can be seen among Harry and Meghan's entourage

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex meet with the Chief of Defence at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja

Security has been ramped up ahead of Harry and Meghan's visit in Nigeria

The Sussexes were greeted by a dancing troupe and a crowd of excited students and teachers

Prince Harry's tour of Nigeria with his wife Meghan Markle comes 34 years after Princess Diana visited the country with Prince Charles

The Duke and Duchess of Sussex took Nigeria by storm today

Earlier today there was another comical moment on their Nigerian tour when Meghan took a picture with pupils at Wuse Lightway Academy and Harry put his arms up and pulled a cheeky grin behind her.

The couple spoke about mental health at the school supported by their Archewell Foundation, with Meghan encouraging them to 'just be honest with each other'.

Harry also said: 'If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you going to do? Are you going to check in on them? Are you going to ask them if they're OK? Because it's OK not to be OK.' Handing the mic to Meghan, she added: 'Do you see why I married him? He's so smart. And so inspiring because he speaks the truth.'

They visited the school about five hours after their arrival in Abuja  before heading onto the Nigerian Defence Headquarters for their next engagement from noon.

Meghan - who was wearing a long Heidi Merrick 'Windsor' dress worth an estimated 450 - told the pupils: 'As I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well. So it is a complete honour to have our first visit to Nigeria, be here with all of you.

'We believe in all of you, we believe in your futures, we believe in your ability to continue telling your stories and to just be honest with each other. There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you're taking care of yourselves.'

Meghan also praised James Holt, the executive director of the Archewell Foundation who has joined them on the trip, for his work - adding that his 'birthday is today'.

The Duke asked one child their age, and when they said they were five, he replied: 'You're five? Our son Archie is five.' Meghan added: 'That's right, he turned five.' She also said that Lilibet loved dancing, adding: 'Maybe it's all the jumping around.'

The Sussexes were greeted by a dancing troupe and a crowd of excited students and teachers. Student Nnenna Okorie said of Meghan: 'She is the prettiest human being ever. I admire her so much and then Harry. I love how he is so supportive.'

At the Defence HQ, the couple spent an hour inside before emerging to cheers from and shaking hands with well-wishers amid chaotic scenes.

On Friday the couple arrived at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja where they paid a visit to the Chief of Defence staff General Christopher Musa

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja on Friday morning

Prince Harry speaks to those sitting with him at the Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja on Friday

At the Defence HQ, the couple spent an hour inside before emerging to cheers from and shaking hands with well-wishers amid chaotic scenes. An uncomfortable looking Harry quickly ushered Meghan into their car as onlookers almost overwhelmed them.

The couple arrived together in Abuja just before 5am following a secret reunion at Heathrow's VIP Windsor Suite yesterday after the Duchess arrived from Los Angeles.

They boarded the British Airways overnight flight to Abuja, which was slightly delayed after the scheduled pilot went sick and a replacement had to be scrambled.

The Sussexes, visiting Nigeria together for the first time, were seated in the first class section of the Boeing 777 and were kept apart from other passengers by a curtain.

Meghan revealed on her Spotify podcast Archetypes in 2022 that she found out she has Nigerian ancestry, describing herself as '43 per cent Nigerian'.

Harry had been in London since Tuesday, attending various events relating to the Invictus Games, before he made the trip to Nigeria.

Yesterday, he chatted and played games with bereaved military children as he made a surprise visit to a charity event.

The 39-year-old spent the afternoon with 50 children and young people, aged between six and 22, who have experienced the death of a military parent.

He took part in games - including one which saw the duke use a straw to transport Smarties as quickly as possible - and spoke to the youngsters as part of the fun-filled event hosted in London by Scotty's Little Soldiers.
King Charles met David Beckham to discuss his charitable foundation while Prince Harry was in the country, the Mail understands.

The Duke had said that his father was too busy attending to 'various other priorities' to see him while he was in Britain this week.

No pictures were released of the meeting and it is unknown where the pair met.

The revelation that the King met the former England captain, 49, while his son was home and attending an event two miles from Buckingham Palace may widen their rift further.

Prince Harry's visit was planned months in advance and while the King's visit this week to a barracks was called a 'surprise', his diary is also tightly choreographed.

But the Duke of Sussex had reportedly invited his father to St Paul's Cathedral for the tenth anniversary of the Invictus Games although courtiers were not aware Harry had made any specific request to see the King.

The King met David Beckham to discuss his charitable foundation while Harry was in the UK, the Mail understands

Prince Harry and Meghan during in Abuja during a quasi-royal visit to Abuja

The Palace has remained tight-lipped as to why the two never met despite virtually crossing each other's paths.

While in the UK, the prince said it was 'great' to be back, but refused to rule out the possibility of him applying for American citizenship.

In a previous Netflix series, Harry had also suggested that he had been blocked from seeing the late Queen, despite his grandmother inviting him and Meghan to stay.

Harry rushed over in February when his father was first diagnosed with cancer, but only got a brief meeting with the monarch and Queen Camilla before they left for Sandringham.

Meanwhile the Duke of Sussex and his wife were given a rockstar's welcome during a trip to Nigeria.

Harry during his visit to Kaduna state in Nigeria. The prince has previously complained that he and his wife had been blocked from seeing royals, including his grandmother, the late Queen

Despite Foreign Office official advice warning against travel to several parts of the west African nation, Harry travelled to Kaduna state to visit a military hospital.

Leaving his wife in Abuja, the prince apologised for her absence as he arrived in the state, which is partly controlled by armed bandits and is known for reports of rapes and kidnappings.

The visit was dubbed a 'quasi-royal' tour, with Harry faced with accusations of 'hypocrisy' after travelling to high risk areas having raised concerns over his security back in the UK.

On Monday, the King is due to hand over the colonelcy of the Army Air Corps to his other son and heir, Prince William.
President Joe Biden called North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un the president of South Korea at a closed-door fundraiser Portola Valley, California Friday.

Biden, 81, was going after his 2024 rival, former President Donald Trump, for praising the North Korean leader after they met a handful of times during the Republican's administration.

The president talked of Trump's pride from 'love letters from South Korean president Kim Jong Un.'

The president of South Korea is Yoon Suk Yeol, who Biden has met a number of times - including at a White House state dinner, an official trip to South Korea and a summit at Camp David - since Yoon was elected in 2022.

Since being sworn-in, Biden has worked carefully to cultivate relationships with the leaders of South Korea and Japan to counter the rise of China.

President Joe Biden (right) walks with Rep. Anna Eschoo (right) ahead of a fundraiser Friday in San Francisco. In the camera-free campaign event, Biden accidentally said that Kim Jong Un was the leader of South Korea

81-year-old Biden (left) has met the president of South Korea, Yoon Suk Yeol (right) on a number of occassions, including at an April 2023 White House State Dinner. Yoon performed a rendition of Don McClean's American Pie at the glitzy White House gathering

The flub comes a week after the president called Japan 'xenophobic' at another private event with donors.

At a fundraiser at D.C.'s glitzy Mayflower Hotel to mark the start of Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the president talked about why he believed the U.S. economy was stronger than several Asian nations.

Biden was trying to take a jab at former President Donald Trump for talking about the 'love letters' he exchanged with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un (pictured)

'Why is China stalling so badly economically? Why is Japan having trouble? Why is Russia? Why is India? Because they're xenophobic,' Biden said. 'They don't want immigrants,' the president surmised.

In the aftermath of the 'xenophobic' comment, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre never said if the president meant what he said.

'I think the broader, the broader, the broader case that he was trying to make, which I think most, most leaders and allies across the globe understand, is he was trying - he was saying that when it comes to, when it comes to, when it comes to who we are as a nation, we are a nation of immigrants, that is in our DNA,' she answered when asked if the slight was intentional - and if Biden planned to apologize.

In the past when Biden has made gaffes, Jean-Pierre's noted how commonplace it is for people to make slips of the tongue.

Voters, however, have remained skeptical that Biden - the country's oldest president - is up to a second term.

The Biden campaign has tried to fight fire with fire, highlighting it online when Trump makes a gaffe or stumble.

The president's Kim Jong Un oops comes as the North Korean dictator was already in the news - for claims contained in Gov. Kristi Noem's book that the two met face-to-face.

Noem, who was already embroiled in a dog-killing scandal, also came under fire when she said she had met Kim in person while serving in Congress in the pages of the new book.

Since then, her spokesperson told DailyMail.com that the passage is coming out, placing blame on a 'ghostwriter.'

'It was brought to our attention that the upcoming book "No Going Back" has two small errors,' spokesperson Ian Fury said. 'This has been communicated to the ghostwriter and editor.'

'Kim Jong Un was included in a list of world leaders and shouldn't have been,' Fury said.

Noem has had a series of awkward interviews as well, where she's refused to say how the anecdote about meeting Kim appeared in the book.
A two-year psychiatric program that would see him released is being considered

A doctor who drove his kids off a cliff in a failed murder-suicide bid could be offered a lifeline by the California courts.

Dharmesh Patel, 42, is charged with the attempted murder of his wife Neha and their two kids near San Francisco, by intentionally driving their Tesla off a 330- foot cliff.

The incident happened on January 2 last year, and allegedly saw his hospitalized family tell paramedics, 'he tried to kill us'.

Psychologists, however, have testified Patel appeared increasingly delusional in the days before the crash, culminating in a one-time psychotic episode.

Earlier this month, Patel's wife begged for his release - stressing that she and her children, aged four and seven, 'need him in our life.' A two-year, 'mental health diversion' program that would see him released is now being considered.

As Patel's attorney made their case, members his wife's family - his in-laws - sat in to show their support.

Dharmesh Patel, 42, is charged with the attempted murder of his wife Neha and their two kids near San Francisco, by intentionally driving their Tesla off a 330- foot cliff. He is seen arriving at San Mateo County Superior Court on Friday

'Mr. Patel is a good man,' Patel's attorney said during a hearing Friday, arguing the January 2023 incident was a one-time psychotic episode

'Mr. Patel is a good man,' Patel's attorney, Joshua Bentley, said during a hearing Friday - the last of three to determine whether Patel should be admitted into a program that would see all of his criminal charges dismissed.

He acknowledged the 'incredibly serious' nature of the charges, but stressed Patel was a perfect candidate for the two years of treatment by a team of psychologists led by James Armontrout, director of the Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship.

The psychologist was one of several to diagnose Patel with major depressive disorder in the wake the crash near Half Moon Bay, after which every member of the family survived but were left seriously injured.

While making his argument, Bentley produced 47 letters of support portrayed as signs that Patel was 'beloved by his community,' as Patels parents and siblings and members of his wifes family sat in court offering support.

The judge, meanwhile, sat and listened, ahead of a decision set to be announced June 20.

Under the plan, Patel would spend at least two months in an intensive outpatient program at El Camino Health, a non-profit hospital with 420 beds in scenic Mountain View.

He would also attend weekly therapy sessions with at least two clinicians while being allowed back home, on the condition he be outfitted with a GPS monitoring device and largely barred from leaving San Mateo County.

He would also be barred from practicing medicine, as well as driving.

The incident happened on January 2, and allegedly saw his hospitalized family tell paramedics, 'he tried to kill us.' Several of his relatives are seen arriving in court Friday for the last of three hearings to determine whether Patel should be admitted into a program. Pictured, l to r: Patels sister, his wifes dad, his his sister-in-law, and wifes mom, with his brother in the back

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.' The program would see all of his charges dismissed and him released with an ankle bracelet. The crashed Tesla is seen here

First, he would spend at least two months in an intensive outpatient program at El Camino Health, a non-profit hospital with 420 beds in Mountain View. It has a 41 acre campus

During the hearing, the doctor's defense produced 47 letters of support portrayed as signs that Patel was 'beloved by his community,' as Patels parents and siblings and other members of his family sat in the court offering support. Patels sister is seen at left, along with his wifes mother and father

The two years of treatment would be presided over by team of psychologists led by James Armontrout, director of the Stanford Forensic Psychiatry Fellowship

But prosecutors, whove charged Dharmesh Patel with three counts of attempted murder, argued the two-year program would leave both his family and the community in danger from a man who has long masked his symptoms and shown a reluctance to take antipsychotic medication.

Patels parents and siblings, and members of his wifes family sat in court offering Patel support, as the judge weighed his fate. A decision will be announced June 20

As his wife and two children were plunging form that cliff, what is most frightening is that nobody saw this coming, Deputy District Attorney Dominique Davis told San Mateo Superior Court Judge Susan Jakubowski during proceedings in Redwood City.

She said the risk of releasing him is the total annihilation of his entire family.

Two months after the near fatal crash, while in jail awaiting prosecution, he was already asking why he had to take medications all the time, Davis added, as San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe aired similar arguments.

Bentley, sitting beside his client who was wearing red prison fatigues and sandals with both hands cuffed, acknowledged that there is no question this is an incredibly serious case, that the charges are very, very serious, that the actions are very, very serious.

But Bentley said his client had no criminal history and described him as a loving family man.

In June last year, the doctor was banned from practicing medicine after being called 'an alarming danger to the public,' by the medical board

The wreckage of the Tesla is pictured at the bottom of the cliff

After calling Patel 'a good man,' Bentley further asserted: This was not him. This was 100 percent a mental health episode.

He said doctors only later discovered he suffers major depressive disorder with psychotic features, which came on quick and that nobody saw coming.

During earlier hearings, experts who met with Patel said he had been hearing footsteps and thought he was being followed in the weeks before the crash, San Francisco Chronicle reported.

But the prosecution on Friday cited their own expert who diagnosed him a more severe schizoaffective disorder, which can be treated with psychotropics.

They said that despite being described by his family as generally even-keeled and stable, hed expressed paranoid, delusional thoughts for over a year, obsessing over the war in Ukraine, the fentanyl crisis, and concerns that his children would be sex trafficked.

After his arrest, he initially talked about having a flat tire and said the car skidded out of control on a narrow road, and only started discussing mental issues when speaking with a doctor for the defense.

Patel, 42, accused of purposefully driving his Tesla off the Devil Slide's cliff thought he was protecting his family, one psychologist testified - as the defense attempts to paint the incident as a onetime ordeal

Lawyers have argued the Mental Health Diversion will address all of his issues, receiving intensive outpatient treatment from a mental health team that will report back to the court on a weekly basis

Bentley said the Mental Health Diversion will address all of his issues, receiving intensive outpatient treatment from a mental health team that will report back to the court on a weekly basis. The program would include safeguards, he noted. Hed have to surrender his driver license and passport and wear a high-tech ankle bracelet with GPS that will set off an alarm if he leaves the area.

He will also give up his right to practice medicine, as he focuses on his mental health.

He has been in remission for over a year, Bentley tried to assure the judge.

The prosecutor countered that Patel has a history of being unreliable in reporting symptoms, and tells people whatever he thinks will help him at the time.

In court last week, his wife begged prosecutors to drop the charges in favor of the diversion program.

'We need him in our life,' she said, before blaming the crash on 'a mental health episode beyond any of our understanding or control,' Mercury News reported.

She also promised that 'things will be different' if her husband is allowed to return home to their family.

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.'

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.

If he successfully completes the program, his criminal charges would be dropped. If the judge rejects the diversion, he faces a criminal trial and seven years to life on each of three counts.
By Kwon Mee-yoo

"Hansik," or Korean food, continues to gain awareness internationally with soju (a Korean clear distilled alcoholic drink) and bibimbap (rice mixed with meat and vegetables) leading the surge in popularity, according to the latest Korean Food Promotion Institute findings.

The institute's "2023 Overseas Korean Food Consumer Survey," conducted on 9,000 adults in 18 major cities worldwide from last August to October, indicated a growing appetite for Korean flavors and culinary traditions globally.

Soju has emerged as the most recognized Korean alcoholic beverage among international consumers.

The survey showed that 41.1 percent of participants identified soju as a familiar Korean alcoholic drink, surpassing beer at 31.6 percent, fruit wine at 22.8 percent, "cheongju" (refined rice wine) at 17.9 percent and "takju" (raw rice wine) at 14.5 percent.

The drink's popularity is most notable in Southeast Asia, where 62.7 percent of respondents said they recognize it.

Soju consumption over the past two years has increased by 1.4 percentage points, totaling a consumption rate of 47.9 percent among those surveyed.

Among the drinkers, 35.1 percent cited taste as the reason for drinking Korean alcoholic drinks, while 16 percent said recommendations by others, and 15.5 percent said their appearances on K-dramas and movies.

Korean home meal replacements (HMR) are also capturing attention worldwide. According to the survey, 39.2 percent of respondents are now familiar with these convenient meal options, marking a slight increase from last year. Impressively, 85.7 percent of those familiar have tried Korean ready meals.

Leading the pack, bibimbap claimed the top spot as the favorite with 22.8 percent of the vote, closely followed by "gimbap" (seaweed rice roll) at 19.1 percent, kimchi fried rice at 13 percent, "ramyeon" (instant noodle) at 11.5 percent and "jajangmyeon" (noodle with black bean sauce) at 4.9 percent, indicating a diverse preference for quick and tasty Korean meals.

Regional differences in familiarity with Korean cuisine were also noted in the survey.

Southeast Asia leads with the highest awareness and trial rates of Korean HMRs, suggesting a strong cultural affinity and acceptance of Korean food products.

North America, while less familar with Korean cuisine, showed a significant year-on-year increase in willingness to try Korean alcoholic beverages, rising by 12.1 percentage points.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared he wants Australian couples to have more kids - even during a cost of living crisis.

With Australia having a low fertility rate, the father-of-three said bigger families needed to be encouraged.

'We want to make it easier for people to have bigger families if they want to and that's why we're making these enormous investments in early childhood education,' he said on Friday.

But Dr Chalmers ruled out reviving the old baby bonus, which a decade ago gave $5,000 per eligible child - more than $8,000 in today's money.

'We've found a better way to support people who make that choice,' he said.

'I know that some people can't afford to have more kids, I know that people will make their own choices and I don't pretend for a moment that government should direct those choices.'

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declared he wants Australian couples to have more kids even during a cost of living crisis (he is pictured, left, with wife Laura and their three children Jack, Leo and Annabel)

Dr Chalmers has hinted that instead of the baby bonus, his third Budget would look at making paid parental leave more generous, noting the work of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth.

'It's why Katy and I work so closely together to make sure, with Amanda Rishworth, that we could expand paid parental leave and pay the superannuation guarantee,' he said.

Former Liberal treasurer Peter Costello introduced a $3,000 lump sum baby bonus in July 2004, famously declaring parents should 'have one for Mum, one for Dad, and one for the country'.

But his Labor successor Wayne Swan axed the baby bonus in his last Budget in May 2013, by which time it was $5,000.

Dr Chalmers at the time was Mr Swan's chief of staff who two months earlier had married Laura Anderson, a former ministerial media adviser to Penny Wong.

The Treasurer said Australia would benefit from 'healthy birth rates' and the government's goal was to make it easier to have families if they wanted to.

The old baby bonus had caused Australia's fertility rate to increase from 1.73 in 2001 to 1.88 by 2011.

But by 2021, it had fallen back to 1.7, after hitting a record-low of 1.59 during the pandemic in 2020.

Dr Chalmers ruled out reviving the old baby bonus, which a decade ago gave $5,000 to a new mum having a child - or more than $8,000 in today's money (he is pictured in his Brisbane electorate office in 2022 with his children Jack, Annabel and Leo)

Dr Chalmers has hinted that instead of the baby bonus, his third Budget would look at making paid parental leave more generous, noting the work of Finance Minister Katy Gallagher and Social Services Minister Amanda Rishworth (the Treasurer is pictured in May 2023 hugging his daughter Annabel after delivering his second Budget as wife Laura looks on)

Treasury's Intergenerational Report forecast fertility falling back to 1.62 by 2032/33, down from 1.66 in 2022/23.

This would see Australia became even more reliant on immigration as the population aged, so the government would have more working-age people to tax.

Personal income taxes made up 45 per cent of the commonwealth's $618.2billion in revenue during the last financial year.

Paid parental leave debuted in January 2011 and now sees the federal government pay 20 weeks' leave - rising to 26 weeks from 2026.
During my first trip back to Australia since my parents died I read in the papers that even though Prince Harry was in the UK this week, neither his father nor his brother could find time in their busy diaries to see him.

And I have to admit: my first reaction was utter glee. Harry deserves to be shunned, I thought, after his and Meghan's betrayals of the Royal Family.

Then I thought again. For once I actually felt sorry for Harry, cut adrift from the people he loved.

Because I've been there, too: the prodigal daughter who left home in Perth to seek a new life half a world away, who flew in and out for happy times and holidays  but who wasn't there when my elderly parents became frail and needed care. That hard work was left to my family back home.

Prince Harry and Meghan on a visit to a primary and secondary school in Abuja, Nigeria, today as part of a three-day trip

Prince William visits St Mary's Harbour in the Isles of Sicily in south west England today

Unkind words, which I now regret, were said at times between us siblings. And it broke Mum and Dad's hearts that I was so far away: for them, family was everything. Yet over the past year, I've said sorry to my relatives, many times in many ways, for the things I got wrong. Especially to my younger brother and his family.

That's why the highlight of my trip this month was seeing my brother again: knocking on his door and feeling his big, warm, loving  and forgiving  embrace. It was as though the bitter years just melted away: I felt a burden lift from my shoulders.

And that's all I would wish for Harry: that he says sorry.

Not in an email, nor a voice message, but a full and complete apology to his father, his brother, Kate and Camilla  all of whom he and Meghan have slurred.

I've said sorry to my family, Harry. Can you say sorry to yours?

The Duchess of Sussex is in Africa exploring her roots after discovering she's 43 per cent Nigerian. Megs has been given the Nigerian name Amira Ngozi Lolo, which means 'Blessed Warrior Princess'. Am guessing they don't have a word for 'back-stabbing, money-grubbing royal hanger-on'.

Prince Harry and Meghan in Abuja, Nigeria, as they visit the country as part of the Invictus Games anniversary

Why's Bridget woke?

Renee Zellweger is filming the latest Bridget Jones movie Mad About The Boy, in which our gal no longer obsesses about her weight. Insiders promise to be 'more reflective of what people think about body image these days'.

So farewell to those fat pants and what about the ciggies and booze? As for single mum-of-two Bridget, 51, seducing One Day's heart-throb Leo Woodall, 27, I'd need a pack of fags and a bottle of wine just to get through that cringefest.

Renee Zellweger is filming the latest Bridget Jones movie Mad About The Boy

More than two months since my dear elderly friend Gary died  and I'm still unable to get the electric hospital bed they provided for his home removed. Websites don't work, phones aren't answered, emails bounce back. We've had three dates to collect it and no one turned up. What is going on when NHS beds worth thousands are stuck in the homes of people who no longer need them?

Westminster wars

After the Tories are wiped out in the local elections, Kwasi Kwarteng says he plans to stand down at the next election. His term as Chancellor under Liz Truss was brief, although given the allegations  hotly denied  that the pair were rather more than colleagues, perhaps the least said about 'briefs' the better.

How long can Angela 'Two Homes' Rayner last after yet another neighbour says they will testify in court that the Deputy Labour leader fibbed about where she lived to avoid tax. As one of the Tory 'scum' Rayner so often derided, may I enjoy a moment of schadenfreude?

What is more shameful, that the hard-Right Tory Natalie Elphicke abandons ship and joins the Labour Party she despised, or that Keir Starmer accepts her when polls predict he will get a 403 majority. No wonder he has received a fierce backlash from his party for embracing this traitor.

Chisel-jawed British actor Nicholas Galitzine, 29, reveals he's terrified his handsomeness will be his defining feature, insisting: 'The most important thing to me is that I'm taken seriously as a performer.'

Nicky moans that movie execs have treated him like 'a cut of beef at a meat market'. Welcome to the world most actresses face their entire careers.

British actor Nicholas Galitzine, 29, reveals he's terrified his handsomeness will be his defining feature

Wearing an Arabic keffiyeh, eco-warrior Greta Thunberg was among thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters demanding Israel's Eurovision entrant Eden Golan be removed from the competition. Because she's a Jew.

Despite the protests, Eden has made it to tonight's (Saturday) grand final. Perhaps Eden has taken Greta's own wisdom to heart in her long campaign of truancy on behalf of climate change: 'Giving up cannot be an option.' I hope Eden wins. And nul points to Greta, targeting another woman brave enough to stand up for her beliefs.

Five years after Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt's acrimonious divorce, they're still at each other's throats in court, with Ange claiming her children suffer PTSD from Brad's behaviour and a former bodyguard claiming he witnessed her ordering their children to shun Brad during agreed custody visits.

And to think Brad dumped his wife Jennifer Aniston for all this. I hate to be unsisterly, but Jolie had 'fruitcake' etched on her Botoxed forehead from the moment he met her.

Angelina Jolie as Maleficent in the 2014 Disney classic

Marking her 40th year as a presenter on daytime TV, Lorraine Kelly modestly informs us she will never retire and 'wants to be like David Attenborough', who is 98 and still working. Yes, that would be Britain's greatest-ever broadcaster, biologist, national treasure and chronicler of all that is magical on Earth. Sorry, Lorr, but there's not a monkey's chance of that ever happening.

Research shows a third of men aged 20 to 34 still live with their parents, claiming they're saving to get on the property ladder. Which leaves one wondering, what woman would want a man still having Mummy doing his washing and cooking in his mid-thirties? Talk about a red flag.

Having cast his mother Elizabeth Hurley as the star of his first movie Strictly Confidential, Liz's son Damian, 22, claims Mum is one of the all-time great actresses: 'She goes into this zone where she just 'is'. Great actors can do that.' Elizabeth Hurley a great actress? Whatever Damian is on, I want some.

Friends of Mick Jagger's fiancee Melanie Hamrick, 37, say she is keen to have a second child with him. Maybe Mel should remember You Can't Always Get What You Want: the last thing any child needs is an octogenarian dad.

Mick Jagger and his fiancee Melanie Hamrick attend a gala in New York last June

Long life? My cat's feline lucky

My cat Ted is appalled by research claiming crossbred cats outlive pedigrees or mixed-breed moggies like him. Ted reminds me he is 13 and in fine fettle, his uncle Jim was 19 before he went to cat heaven and brothers Ronnie and Reggie made it to 17. And all of them, like him, were happy fat cats.
The prospective storm could cause disruptions to GPS, the internet and power

It follows a series of solar flares that began on Wednesday, tipping officials off

The uncommonly powerful solar storm is expected to hit around midday Friday

A rare and powerful solar storm may occur in outer space today that could wreak havoc on earth, officials have warned  the first in nearly 20 years if it happens.

At least five streams of plasma, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), are heading toward Earth, prompting the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) to issue a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Friday into the weekend.

This is the first such alert aired since 2005 when Earth was hit with the highest dose of radiation in a half-century.

This time around, the 'unusual event' could disrupt electronic devices like GPS and parts of power grids, NOAA said  while citing how it may also drape a huge portion of the country, as far south as Alabama, in colorful natural lights.

The CMEs exploded from a massive sunspot, an area on the sun that is cooler than the surface, on May 8 - paving the way for Thursday's alert.

In it, officials explained how the expulsions of matter and magnetic field from the celestial body's atmosphere could cause problems for millions of earthlings as soon as noon ET Friday.

A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere - the area around Earth controlled by the planet's magnetic field - often caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Pictured, a CME from the sun, as captured by NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory satellite on June 17, 2015

The emergency alert read: 'NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) - a division of the National Weather Service - is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections that began on May 8'. Sunspots and flares spotted by scientists are seen here

WHAT IS A SOLAR STORM? A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere - the area around Earth controlled by our planet's magnetic field. A solar storm occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth Earth's magnetosphere is created by our magnetic field and protects us from most particles the sun emits. But when a CME or high-speed stream arrives at Earth it buffets the magnetosphere. If the arriving solar magnetic field is directed southward it interacts strongly with the oppositely oriented magnetic field of the Earth. The Earth's magnetic field is then peeled open like an onion allowing energetic solar wind particles to stream down the field lines to hit the atmosphere over the poles. Source: NASA Advertisement

'NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)  a division of the National Weather Service  is monitoring the sun following a series of solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) that began on May 8,' the emergency alert read.

'Space weather forecasters have issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday.

'Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,' it went on, before describing the abnormal activity that tipped space specialists off.

'A large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares since Wednesday at 5:00 am ET,' it read.

'At least five flares were associated with CMEs that appear to be Earth-directed. SWPC forecasters will monitor NOAA and NASA's space assets for the onset of a geomagnetic storm.'

CMEs are explosions of plasma and magnetic fields from the sun's corona, which cause geomagnetic storms when they are directed at Earth.

A solar or geomagnetic storm is a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere  the area around Earth controlled by the planet's magnetic field.

And the Friday storm has been rated 'G4' (on a scale of one to five), making it a 'severe' storm.'

'Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earth's surface,' the statement went on, stating how the storm could 'potentially [disrupt] communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.'

Solar flares can damage satellites and have an enormous financial cost. The charged particles can also threaten airlines by disturbing the Earth's magnetic field

'Additional solar eruptions could cause geomagnetic storm conditions to persist through the weekend,' officials, before describing the abnormal activity that tipped space specialists off

It also could 'wipe out the internet' for some, scientists further warned  as NOAA upped the Geomagnetic Storm Watch from Moderate to Severe for Friday through Sunday late Thursday.

'SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action,' officials wrote upon administering the action.

'Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth,' they added of some of the potential storm's more scenic side effects.

'A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California.'

The last time the Space Weather Prediction Center issued such a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch was in January 20, 2005, beginning just before 2 a.m. ET.

A storm of energetic protons impacted Earth just 15 minutes later, causing a radio burst with a high frequency, indicating the presence of a large number of energetic electrons in very strong magnetic fields.

'A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California,' officials wrote Thursday. The aurora  a natural light display in Earth's sky - would be somewhat reminiscent of the recognizable Northern Lights

In the blink of an eye, the outburst shocked Earth with the highest dose of radiation measured in five decades, tripping radiation monitors all over the planet within moments.

'This flare produced the largest solar radiation signal on the ground in nearly 50 years,' Richard Mewaldt of the California Institute of Technology said at the time, as other services like the internet were largely spared.

'But we were really surprised when we saw how fast the particles reached their peak intensity and arrived at Earth,' the scientist added.

In that case, the raging proton storm peaked in 15 minutes  though normally, the most intense part of a proton event typically takes two hours or longer to build up, officials said Thursday.

The event, if it occurs, will start as early as noon ET, officials warned  after a G5 storm in 2004 caused power outages in Sweden while damaging power transformers in South Africa.

This time around, the US will likely be affected, officials said.
Apple has apologised for a controversial advert plugging its new iPad following a fierce online backlash.

The one-minute clip shows a collection of artistic objects  including paints, books and musical instruments  being crushed by an industrial press.

The 'tasteless' and 'insulting' promo was widely slammed, including by English actor Hugh Grant.

The Love Actually star posted on X (formerly Twitter): 'The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley.'

In a statement given to Ad Age, Apple said it was sorry and that it 'missed the mark'.

In the ad, the artistic objects are slowly turned to bits by the metal press as 'All I Ever Need is You' by Sonny and Cher plays

'Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad,' the trillion-dollar firm said.

'We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry.'

Plans to broadcast the ad on TV have reportedly been scrapped.

However, the ad is still on Apple's YouTube channel, where it has over 1.4 million views and counting.

An Apple spokesperson declined to comment further but directed inquiries to the Ad Age report.

In the short clip  which was originally posted to X by Apple CEO Tim Cook  the artistic objects are slowly turned to bits by the metal press as 'All I Ever Need is You' by Sonny and Cher plays.

When the press lifts up again, the pulverized remains have vanished and the new iPad Pro appears instead.

It's unclear how much Apple spent on the advert; MailOnline has contacted the tech giant for more information

Objects being crushed include a guitar, piano, trumpet, books, metronome, sculpted clay, vinyl player and a TV

When the press lifts up again, the pulverized remains have vanished and the new iPad Pro appears instead

On X, English actor Hugh Grant posted: 'The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley'

'The most powerful iPad ever is also the thinnest,' a narrator says at the end of the commercial.

It seems the collection of objects is supposed to represent everything that the new iPad is capable of  from sketching art to playing music and displaying documents.

It's also meant to highlight the tablet as the thinnest product Apple has ever made  although, ironically, at 5.1mm (0.2 inch), it would be destroyed by the industrial press too.

Unfortunately for Apple, artists considered the suggestion that one of its product could replace all of their tools as 'insulting'.

British filmmaker Asif Kapadia said he doesn't know why anyone at Apple 'thought this ad was a good idea'.

'It is the most honest metaphor for what tech companies do to the arts, to artists, musicians, creators, writers, filmmakers: squeeze them, use them, not pay well, take everything then say it's all created by them,' he posted on X.

Another furious X user called it 'an absolutely tone-deaf and insulting ad'.

He said: 'The visual messaging is terrible Like who thought literally CRUSHING THE ARTS AND THEIR TOOLS was the move to make to market this towards creatives?'

British filmmaker Asif Kapadia said he doesn't know why anyone at Apple 'thought this ad was a good idea'

Unfortunately, artists are considering the suggestion that an Apple product could replace all of their tools as 'insulting'

Another X user posted: 'With all the Apple tech knowhow, if you really insisted on producing such a tasteless advert, you could have used cgi [computer generated imagery]'

Someone else called it 'the perfect metaphor' for the creative industries being decimated by wealthy companies

Someone else posted: 'With all the Apple tech knowhow, if you really insisted on producing such a tasteless advert, you could have used cgi [computer generated imagery].

'The fact that you chose to destroy things that could have been used by properly talented people speaks volumes about you, your company, and the state of things.'

Yet another said: 'At a time when artists, musicians and creatives are more worried than ever that tech companies are trying to crush them into dust for profit, along comes Apple and makes an *ad* whose whole message is: yes that is exactly what we're doing.'

One person reversed the advert, showing the iPad being crushed and the objects appearing in its place, saying they'd 'fixed it'.

Other users figured that the controversy generated by the advert would simply help Apple sell its products.

It's likely the controversy generated by the advert would simply help Apple sell its products

Apple said it won't air the iPad 'Crush' ad on television as planned - although it's still on the firm's YouTube channel

James Bore, tech expert at consultancy Bores Group, said the ad 'kind of shows how disconnected they are from actual creative efforts'.

'I think they may have alienated a not-insignificant part of their target market by thinking like technologists rather than creatives,' he told MailOnline.

'There were much better ways to create the same message, without destroying things that their customers will feel sentimental about for a publicity stunt.

'Unless of course they were going deliberately for the controversy sells angle, which I can't rule out entirely.'

It's unclear how much Apple spent on the advert; MailOnline has contacted the tech giant for more information.

Forty years ago, Apple was responsible for what's been described as one of the greatest commercials, called '1984', directed by Ridley Scott.

The ad  plugging the original Apple Macintosh computer  portrays a dystopian setting influenced by George Orwell's famous book where humanity is saved from 'conformity'.

Christopher Slevin, creative director for marketing agency Inkling Culture, said the message of the new ad is effectively the opposite.

'Apples new iPad spot is essentially them turning into the thing they said they were out to destroy in the 1984 ad,' he wrote on LinkedIn.

Apple unveiled the iPad Pro along with a slightly cheaper iPad Air and an Apple Pencil at an unveiling event on Tuesday.

However, people were left asking 'who still buys iPads', as the line only makes up around 6 per cent of the company's sales.

Apple has launched a new 'Ozempic iPad Pro' on Tuesday, declaring the tablet its thinnest device yet. The latest iPad Pro stole the show when Apple said it measures just 5.1 millimeters thick - thinner than the iPod Nano (left)

Aside from its extra-thin profile, the new iPad Pro is fasters due to a new AI-focused M4 chip with a larger 'neural engine' that can complete 38 trillion tasks per second.

The 799 iPad Air is equipped with the less-capable M2 chip, but both iPads come in two screen sizes  11 inches and 13 inches.

The Magic Pencil, Apple's 129 ($129) stylus, also gets haptic controls in the form of a 'squeeze function' and the ability to roll the pencil to change brush shapes.

Apple's next event is Apple's annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), from June 10-14.

Although WWDC generally focuses on new software rather than hardware, the event may even include a big update on Apple's recent work on AI, where it's been falling behind compared to rivals such as Microsoft and Google.

Apple boss Tim Cook has also teased a 'huge' AI announcement that's coming 'later this year'  possibly a product akin to ChatGPT.
This has been triggered by the first 'severe' solar storm in 20 years hitting Earth

The Northern Lights could be visible over the entirety of the UK tonight

All of Britain could get a spectacular glimpse of the Northern Lights tonight thanks to a massive solar storm which threatens to cause chaos around the world.

Scientists fear the 'severe' geomagnetic storm  the first to strike Earth in almost 20 years  has the power to disrupt power grids, mobile networks and GPS satellites.

The unusual event will also drape a huge portion of the country in a spectacular light display (an 'aurora').

Stargazers as far south as Cornwall could be in for a glimpse, the Met Office said.

After a series of solar flares on Wednesday, multiple eruptions of solar radiation have now combined into a single wave due to hit Earth tonight.

The Northern Lights may be visible over large parts of the UK tonight as a massive solar storm hits Earth. The red regions of this map show predictions of where the aurora will be most intense

The Northern Lights have been triggered by a massive solar flare, seen in the bottom right of this image, which has swept up a number of other waves of ejected solar material into a single burst

The brilliant colours of the aurora are caused by electrically charged particles from the sun colliding with the Earth's magnetic field.

Usually, the sun only ejects enough plasma to trigger lights around the poles where the magnetic fields are at their strongest.

But during events called 'coronal mass ejections' the sun releases huge waves of plasma from its corona - the sun's outermost layer.

On Thursday, NOAA issued a Severe (G4) Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the first time since January 2005.

Throughout Wednesday and Thursday, a sunspot 16 times the diameter of Earth released multiple coronal mass ejections (CMEs) in the planet's direction.

However, one strong flare released on Thursday has proven to be particularly fast and is now expected to 'sweep up' all of the radiation into a single wave.

As the solar storm hits the Earth tonight, the charged particles will interact with the planet's magnetic field and create light. In some cases, these lights can be visible over the south of England as shown in this 2024 picture of Stonehenge

The Northern Lights: A stunning natural light display The Northern and Southern Lights (auroras) are natural light spectacles. The displays light up when electrically charged particles from the sun enter Earth's atmosphere. Usually, the particles are deflected by Earth's magnetic field, but during stronger storms they enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles such as hydrogen and helium. These collisions emit light in many amazing colours, although pale green and pink are common. Advertisement

While this might sound ominous, this is actually great news for stargazers in the Northern Hemisphere.

The Met Office says: 'Where skies are clear and provided dark enough skies, sightings are expected to develop following the CME arrival across the northern half of the UK.'

They add that there is 'a chance that aurora may become visible to all parts of the UK and similar geomagnetic latitudes'.

Increased auroral activity should persist over the weekend into Sunday night and potentially into next week due to a chance of more CMEs arriving in the coming days.

Met Office Space Weather Manager Krista Hammond told MailOnline: 'While short nights at this time of year will limit the visibility window, if conditions are right there's a good chance of sightings on Friday night.

'Aurora visibility may persist through Saturday night, but as it stands this is likely to be less widespread than on Friday night with northern parts of the UK most likely to continue to have the best viewing potential.'

Weather conditions tonight should also give plenty of places a decent chance of seeing the aurora.

By this evening, most of the UK should avoid any rain with clear skies over Scotland and much of the north and west of England.

Tonight's weather offers some great opportunities to see the Aurora Borealis with clear skies over much of the UK

Mathew Owens, professor of space physics at the University of Reading, said it's worth looking north in the night's sky at around 2am UK time tonight (early Saturday morning).

'If you're late to bed or up before sunrise, it's worth looking north as you may see the Northern Lights,' he said.

'A strong aurora is probable for Scotland and northern England (and the weather looks to be cooperating for optimal viewing).

'It may stretch further south, but until we have those magnetic field measurements when the CMEs arrive, it's hard to say.'

However, experts at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in the US also warn that these beautiful displays could come alongside significant disruption.

NOAA says: 'Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earths surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations.'

As clouds of particles from the sun smash into gases in the atmosphere their collision creates electricity.

That electric field soaks up the radio waves we use to communicate, meaning that signals to satellites and other services can't get through  creating radio blackouts.

The Met Office has issued an R3 Xray Radio Blackout Alert, indicating that strong radio blackouts are likely as the storm arrives.

That electricity can also flow into the electrical grid, causing damage and power outages.

While beautiful, experts warn that the Northern Lights may come alongside serious disruption caused by large geomagnetic storms. Pictured: Northern lights over Northumberland in April 2024

NOAA points out that the last G5 (Extreme) solar storm in 2003 caused power outages after Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa.

Geomagnetic storms can also cause the atmosphere to expand until it swallows up satellites in low-Earth orbit.

Just like running into a headwind, that air resistance slows down the satellite and makes it harder for them to stay in orbit.

In some cases, this could potentially lead to the disruption of the satellites which are essential for communications and GPS navigation.

However, it is not certain how disruptive today's storm will be but it is unlikely to be the last major solar event of the year.

The sun has a cycle of activity which reaches its peak every 11 years in an event called the solar maximum.

During this so-called maximum, the sun has a much greater number of sunspots, which are the origins of the biggest coronal mass ejections.

The same charged particles which produce stunning lights, like these seen over Cornwall earlier this year, can also disrupt radio communications, satellites, and even electrical grids

A study published last year found that this maximum is coming sooner than some scientists had anticipated, meaning that space weather is likely to be volatile for some time to come.

In March this led to a G2 solar storm triggering aurora over Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Lead author Dr Dibyendu Nandi, a physicist from the IISER Kolkata Center of Excellence in Space Sciences, told MailOnline at the time: The most intense storms can sometimes result in catastrophic orbital decay of low Earth orbiting satellites and disrupt satellite based services.

'They can also induce strong disturbances in the geomagnetic field tripping electric power grids located in high latitude regions.'
READ MORE: Inside 'world's deadliest cave' that could cause next pandemic

From the entrance, it looks almost like a normal cave, with a rocky overhang and leaves scattered around the entrance.

The only giveaway is a warning sign adorned with deathly skulls and crossbones saying: 'Danger! No trespassing beyond this point.'

This is Costa Rica's Cave of Death  or 'Cueva de la Muerte' in the local Spanish  located at the Recreo Verde tourist complex in the district of Venecia.

Measuring 6.5 feet deep and nearly 10 feet long (2 meters by 3 meters), it instantly kills any creature that enters it.

However, this isn't deterring brave explorers from making the visit to the site in the hunt for social media videos.

Visitors to the Cave of Death demonstrate its potency by holding a lit torch to the entrance. Note the warning sign adorned with deathly skulls and crossbones saying: 'Danger! No trespassing beyond this point'

The Cave of Death - or 'Cueva de la Muerte' in the local Spanish - is in the Recreo Verde tourist complex in the district of Venecia, Costa Rica

According to Belgium-based cave explorer Guy van Rentergem, who visited the site several years ago, it contains a substantial amount of carbon dioxide (CO2).

In fact, levels of the gas inside the cave are so high that it can cause unconsciousness almost instantaneously, followed by cessation of breathing.

Luckily, humans are generally safe because it's too small to fit into  and signs on the site provide a sufficient warning.

However, snakes, birds, rodents and other small creatures quickly die after unwittingly wandering into the entrance, perhaps in search of food.

'This is a very small cave, but it's unusual in that there is a substantial seep of carbon dioxide gas coming from the far slot at the back of the cave,' van Rentergem said.

In a clip posted to YouTube, Belgium-based cave explorer Guy van Rentergem (pictured) explains why the cave is so dangerous

Why is CO2 a danger ?

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is a colourless, odourless gas 1.5 times as heavy as air. It is a toxic gas at high concentration, and an asphyxiant (it causes animals including humans to stop breathing). When there's too much CO2, there's less room for oxygen molecules, so CO2 replaces the oxygen that the body needs to breathe. CO2 release during eruptions and from vents, the ground, and lava flows can pose a hazard where concentrations are very high and the gas is trapped near the surface. Source: IVHHN Advertisement

'Small animals will enter the cave and asphyxiate, usually in a few moments.'

Every hour around 30 kg of carbon dioxide is emitted from the slot into the atmosphere  equivalent as an average car driving 256 km, the expert added.

'In a year this 263 tons of carbon dioxide or equivalent to a car driving 2.2 million km or 56 times around the world.'

It's unclear exactly what the source of the gas is, although van Rentergem says it is of volcanic origin.

During his visit to the Cave of Death, one of van Rentergem's crew demonstrates its the cave's potency by holding a lit torch to the entrance.

After just a few seconds, the flame is extinguished  and that's because CO2 displaces the oxygen around fire that makes it burn.

Because CO2 is heavier than air, concentrations of the gas are higher nearer the base of the cave  an additional danger factor for small animals.

A 2022 study by Italian researchers pointed out that natural caves are particularly prone to 'hazardous CO2 accumulations'.

That's because they foster the release to the atmosphere of 'geogenic' CO2  which means CO2 that comes from the Earth's geological processes.

'Atmospheric CO2 concentrations can reach high levels inside natural caves, representing a hazardous condition for both humans frequenting the underground environment,' the study authors said.

Generally, the toxicity of CO2 in high concentrations is not well understood, meaning people who visit such caves may underestimate the dangers.

Other caves with high levels of the gas include Movile Cave in Romania and Carburangeli Cave in Italy.

Famously, Peak Cavern in Derbyshire was the location of a tragic accident involving British student Neil Moss in 1959.

The 20-year-old Oxford University undergraduate lost consciousnesses due to CO2 inhalation  although this was thought to have been from his own respiration built up in the base of the cave shaft.
If the idea of building a train on the moon sounds like something from the pages of a sci-fi novel, you wouldn't be alone.

But the moon train is actually just one of six 'science fiction-like concepts' to receive new funding from NASAs Innovative Advanced Concepts program.

Flexible Levitation on a Track, or FLOAT, plans to use levitating magnetic robots to transport up to 100 tonnes of materials on the lunar surface every day.

According to the team behind the Scalextric-like project, this would provide a reliable and autonomous way of moving resources mined on the moon.

Project leader Dr Ethan Schaler, a robotics engineer at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, says: 'A durable, long-life robotic transport system will be critical to the daily operations of a sustainable lunar base in the 2030s'.

NASA wants to build a railway on the moon which uses floating robots to carry materials along a flexible track (artist's depiction, pictured). This track would contain components to magnetically lift the robots and push them along using electromagnetic propulsion

In a NASA blog post, Dr Schaler writes: 'We want to build the first lunar railway system, which will provide reliable, autonomous, and efficient payload transport on the moon.'

Unlike a railway on Earth, this lunar transport network wouldn't use the fixed rails you might be familiar with.

Dr Schaler and his team propose to create lengths of flexible track which can be 'unrolled' directly onto the lunar surface.

These are designed to cut down on construction time since, if the moonbase changes, these tracks could simply be rolled up and moved elsewhere.

The actual moving will be done by a series of 'unpowered magnetic robots' which levitate over the surface of the track.

NASA announced that the moon railway project would receive $600,000 to (487,764) in new funding alongside five other 'science fiction-like concepts' (file photo)

The track itself will then generate electromagnetic thrust to propel the robots to their destination.

This is the same principle behind maglev trains on Earth, which use strong electromagnetic fields to propel unpowered carriages along tracks.

Much like a floating Scalextric track, it is the rails that provide the power rather than the vehicle itself.

Dr Schaler claims that each robot will be able to carry loads of various shapes and sizes at speeds of around 1 mph (1.61 km/h).

Unlike robots with wheels or legs, these floating carts will avoid wearing down the tracks in the dusty lunar environment.

Just like a Scalextric track (pictured) the powered rails of the moon railway would propel unpowered vehicles along a set route. The vehicles may move around 1 mph (1.61 km/h)

NASA Artemis missions Past Artemis I - successful uncrewed loop around the moon (November-December 2022) Upcoming Artemis II - crewed loop around the moon Old date: November 2024 New date: September 2025 Artemis III - crewed landing on the moon Old date: December 2025 New date: September 2026 Artemis IV - crewed landing on the moon/assembly of the Lunar Gateway space station (September 2028) Advertisement

While the idea of moon bases might seem far-fetched for now, the reality of living on the moon is becoming an increasingly pressing concern.

As part of the Artemis missions, NASA will be exploring and eventually landing near the moon's south pole which is believed to hold ice within its craters.

Although NASA has pushed back the date of its crewed lunar landing, the space agency still has ambitions to establish a human presence on our lunar satellite.

Jim Free, NASA's associate administrator for exploration systems development, recently told reporters that the space agency would likely build more than one base camp as part of the Artemis landings.

Ultimately, NASA and other rival space agencies in Russia and China may all attempt to establish permanent settlements on the moon.

However, due to the harsh environment on the lunar surface, mining and transporting materials may not be a job that's safe for human astronauts.

In the NASA blog post, Dr Schaler explained that FLOAT will 'operate autonomously in the dusty, inhospitable lunar environment.'

The system could be used to transport regolith mined onsite or to ferry materials to and from landing sites or other outposts.

NASA is preparing to establish a more permanent presence on the moon with efforts including the signing of the Artemis Accords (pictured) which are a treating guiding the principles of space exploration and cooperation between nations

FLOAT is just one of six futuristic ideas that have been selected for phase two funding from NIAC, NASA's 'innovative advanced concepts' program.

These projects range from fluid telescopes to plasma-powered rockets that could take humans to Mars in just two months.

Each project now receives $600,000 to (487,764) in new funding to develop their technology further.

Dr Shcaler says that his team will use this funding to create a miniature set of tracks and robots for further testing.

If any projects are selected to advance to the next stage then they could even be considered for a future NASA mission.

John Nelson, NIAC program executive, says: 'These diverse, science fiction-like concepts represent a fantastic class of Phase II studies.

'Our NIAC fellows never cease to amaze and inspire, and this class definitely gives NASA a lot to think about in terms of whats possible in the future.'
A 16-foot-tall giraffe batted its long eyelashes in thanks at an Oklahoma chiropractor who traveled nearly two hours to loosen the animal's jaw.

Dr. Joren Whitley, 34, owns the practice Oklahoma Chiropractic that specializes in spinal manipulation for humans and animals of all sizes from baby kittens and bats to giraffes.

In a video uploaded on TikTok, Whitley is seen twisting and turning the giraffe's neck before hearing an audible popping noise and prompting the animal snuggles against his head in evident gratitude.

Dr. Joren Whitley, 34, owns the practice Oklahoma Chiropractic that specializes in spinal manipulation for humans and animals of all sizes

Whitley is seen twisting and turning the giraffe's neck before hearing an audible popping noise in a video posted on TikTok

Gerry the giraffe (pictured) didn't appear to be in pain but was also experiencing small problems in his upper and lower neck.

Whitley traveled from Oklahoma City to a ranch in Ardmore, Oklahoma to examine Gerry the giraffe after he received an unusual call that the African mammal wasn't chewing properly.

'Gerry's jaw had great range of motion moving one direction, but it did not have the same range of motion on the other side,' Whitley told The Washington Post.

The giraffe didn't appear to be in pain but was also experiencing small problems in his upper and lower neck.

Whitley stood on a platform over Gerry's head and placed his hands on either side of the animal's neck before pushing it backwards and turning it side-to-side.

Gerry is seen in the video twisting his head back and forth after Whitley successfully cracked it and said: 'Now, that's moving great.'

Gerry hugged Whitley in a show of affection after the chiropractor unlocked his jaw

Gerry cuddled against Whitley's head in a dog-like gesture of appreciation

Whitley said that working on the giraffe's neck was a dream and enjoyed that he cuddled up to him like they were best friends

Gerry nuzzled Whitley's head and cuddled up close to him while the chiropractor scratched behind his ears

In an immediate show of emotion, Gerry nuzzled Whitley's head and cuddled up close to him while the chiropractor scratched behind his ears.

'When I made the adjustments, he rubbed his head all over me like 'You're my best friend,' Whitley told The Post.

'Working on a giraffe's neck is a chiropractor's dream,' he told CNN. 'It's the longest neck in the world.'

Whitley's post received an overwhelming response of 26.1 million views and received comments from people complaining that they're upset being a giraffe chiropractor wasn't an option when they were in school, while another wrote: 'You can see his relief! That warms my heart.'

Gerry is owned by Missy Nowell, a longhorn cattle rancher, who told The Post that Whitley's efforts seemed to have been a success because the giraffe doesn't have problems chewing anymore.

'I would describe it as an immediate positive response,' she said, adding that Gerry is essentially a 2,500-pound dog that just wants to be loved by everyone.

'The only time he has an issue is if you're not paying him any attention,' Nowell added.

Whitley told Jam Press that he's constantly on the lookout for other animals that need his chiropractic services, but clarified that the way he treats each one has to be specifically tailored to their size and body structure.

'There are of course safety measures I have to take with the larger animals that I don't with a kitten,' he told Jam Press.

'I have not worked on an elephant or a whale yet but I know with my passion it will happen in the future.

'Every day animals leave our office having a better quality of life.'
The creators of ChatGPT are poised to release a new search product to rival Google, according to reports.

The new feature, expected to be confirmed by Microsoft-backed OpenAI on Monday, will allow users to search the web via the popular chatbot.

The details of how this will function have not been revealed, but it is likely that the AI will search the web for users and generate results based on what it finds.

For example, this could let users ask ChatGPT a question and receive much more detailed answers that cite web sources like Wikipedia or online blogs.

If true, it could present the biggest challenge yet to Google's search engine supremacy.

The company behind the AI chatbot ChatGPT are reportedly preparing to launch a new search tool this Monday to rival Google

According to insiders quoted by Bloomberg and The Information, it may be the biggest change to the ChatGPT tool so far.

Currently, with the paid version of ChatGPT, users can access real-time information  but this is only due an integration with Microsoft's search engine Bing.

It's expected that with the new feature, ChatGPT will be able to source and return up-to-date search results more independently of Bing  potentially for all users, not just paid.

ChatGPT is a large language model which lets users enter text questions and receive replies on almost any possible topic.

Since its launch in November 2022, the San Francisco-based company has rapidly risen to be one of the biggest names in AI.

However, ChatGPT's responses are currently limited for most users by a lack of access to live internet data.

ChatGPT can refer users to online search results for some queries  such as the current weather  but this service is limited to paying customers.

The 'Browse with Bing' service, introduced in 2023, lets the AI search through live web results to return more up to date information.

It is not yet clear how the new search feature will differ from this current capability, nor is it known whether the search feature will be for paid users only.

However, it's expected that this update give the AI the power to search the live web and allow it to display pictures in its results.

The release will reportedly come on the eve of Google's I/O event at which the search giant is expected to reveal details of its own new AI features

According to Bloomberg, this new version of the product will deliver relevant images alongside text results  such as diagrams to accompany technical instructions.

While suggestions that OpenAI was developing search features emerged in February, this is the first time that details of the product have emerged.

On social media, eagle-eyed tech fans also spotted that OpenAI had created a domain for search.chatgpt.com.

The URL currently shows a 'not found' message but over the weekend the link briefly took users to ChatGPT's official website.

Eagle-eyed social media users on X, formerly Twitter, spotted that OpenAI has created a URL for search.chatgpt.com. Over the weekend this URL briefly re-routed users to ChatGPT's official website

According to 'two sources familiar with the matter' who spoke with Reuters, OpenAI is reportedly planning to release the new search feature on Monday.

If true, this would come on the day before Google's I/O event where Alphabet, Google's parent company, is expected to reveal new AI features.

With more than 100 million weekly users, ChatGPT could be the first serious challenge to Google for dominance in the world of online search.

OpenAI has received around $13 billion in investment from Microsoft, the company behind rival search engine Bing.

Last year, Microsoft released a demo version of Bing that integrated ChatGPT.

Microsoft has since released its own AI assistant, called Microsoft copilot, but it has been reported that ChatGPT's new search feature may be powered by Bing.

OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has led the company to become one of the biggest names in AI. This move could put Altman's Microsoft-backed OpenAI in direct competition with Google

From students to lawyers, many people are already turning to AI to provide facts and information they may have previously searched Google for.

AI's tendency to 'hallucinate' means that these responses are not always accurate but the tools remain popular.

Dedicated AI-powered search tools have now emerged, such as Perplexity AI which was launched in 2022.

Perplexity AI, which recently gained a $1 billion valuation, has gathered about 10 million monthly users with its own AI-powered search tool.

These figures may seem small compared to Google's one billion daily users, but Alphabet does appear to be concerned nonetheless.

In a meeting reported by CNBC last month, Google senior vice president Prabhakar Raghavan told employees: 'Its not like life is going to be hunky-dory, forever.'

Mr Raghavan added: 'If theres a clear and present market reality, we need to twitch faster, like the athletes twitch faster.'

Last year, Google launched its own AI, Gemini, as a rival to ChatGPT but the chatbot has been plagued with issues.

This culminated with Google pausing the Gemini AI after it was accused of replacing white historical figures, including Nazi soldiers, with people of colour.

OpenAI did not respond to MailOnline's request for comment.
Powder pink hermit crabs scuttle across the creamy sands, lichen-covered green turtles come up for air so close we can hear them breathe, and giant tortoises munch their way through the palm trees behind us.

Im not sure Ive ever seen anything so beautiful, so exotic, so tropical. In fact, this might just be the best beach in the world. And we have the whole thing to ourselves.

Im on Desroches, a tiny speck of jungle-covered land in the Outer Islands of the Seychelles. Its so remote it would take 15 hours to travel here by boat from the main island of Mahe, which itself is 900 miles off the nearest mainland (Kenya, to be precise). The one vessel that makes that journey comes just four times a year with essentials to stock up its residents.

The only way for tourists to get here is to board a tiny prop plane, which my husband and I happily do to escape the humidity and 30C sunshine.

The Four Seasons at Desroches Island is the only hotel on this tiny isle, which measures just 3.5 miles long and 0.5 miles wide. After the plane touches down on the palm-lined runway, which crosses the whole width of the island from south to north, were transported on buggies to our room (our bags appear two minutes later). Its the most luxurious and enjoyable of plane-to-hotel transfers.

'Im not sure Ive ever seen anything so beautiful, so exotic, so tropical. In fact, this might just be the best beach in the world. And we have the whole thing to ourselves,' writes Harriet Sime of her visit to the above beach at Desroches Island

The Four Seasons at Desroches Island is the only hotel on the island

Bikes with our initials are waiting outside our thatched cabana. A push through the gigantic wooden door takes us to a four-poster bed which looks on to our own pool and leads us to a small stretch of beach and the reef-speckled ocean.

Were desperate to explore, so pack our maps in the wicker backpacks in our room and get going.

Towering palms whizz by in a tropical green blur, bending like man-made pieces of art, as our bikes flick sand in our wake.

Castaways: Harriet, with her husband Dan and George the tortoise, Desroches's eldest resident

Dusty lanes take us through dense forests, leading to ribbons of sand with water the texture of silk, each somehow more beautiful than the last, until we settle for the day on Aquarium Beach, in the north-east of the island. Despite being home to such a famous hotel brand, Desroches still has a desert island feel to it  broken trees linger over lapping turquoise water and unraked sand, locals commute bare foot or on bikes while giant leathery fruit bats hang within the jungle.

The islands eldest resident is George, a 120-year-old free-roaming Aldabra tortoise, who we find relaxing under the shade of a guettarda tree on our first morning.

Hes huge, with dents in his thick shell caused by falling coconuts and white markings from where hes been scratching on a tree. We snap off a branch and place it in front of him. He slowly raises his snake-like neck and blinks his wet, emotive eyes. We were told by a local conservationist that George loves gentle touch, so we stroke his neck, causing him to go up on all fours  a sure sign hes happy.

Harriet's tour of the Seychelles takes her to Mahe, the largest and most populated island (pictured)

In Mahe, Harriet checks into the Anantara Maia, where she stays in a villa 'high in the palm tree-clad mountains'

After three days living the luxury castaway life on Desroches, we head back to Mahe, the largest and most populated island of the Seychelles, and our second hotel, Anantara Maia.

Were taken to our villa, high in the palm tree-clad mountains, which is more like a mini hotel. We have a pool, a huge bathtub sunk into the terrace, and a small kitchen where our butler, Gihan (each villa is assigned one whos on hand 24/7), cooks and serves us breakfast, lunch and dinner most days. Theres a reason the hotel has drawn the rich and famous for decades.

One morning we rise early to drive 30 minutes to Victoria  the worlds smallest capital  home to around 25,000 people, to get a taste of local life. The counters are piled high with vibrant fruit and veg as fishermen descale red snapper and chop up shark fins, T-shirts folded across their chests to air their bellies. In one corner a stork perches behind a man scrubbing fish on a wooden board with a grater, hopping down when he walks away to nibble on the leftovers. Upstairs, women in impossibly tight shorts and crop tops sell turtle-emblazoned T-shirts and shot glasses.

Harriet concludes her holiday with a stay at the Six Senses Zil Pasyon, Felicite Island

The only way for tourists to reach Desroches is to board a tiny prop plane

Our final stop is a 15-minute flight from Mahe via prop plane to the tiny Felicite Island. Its as if were island-hopping. Our base is the Six Senses Zil Pasyon. Its a honeymooners paradise  30 chic villas with twinkling infinity pools and playful swings in the glass-fronted bathrooms, which overlook palm forests falling into the ocean.

We quickly get into a rhythm waking early for breakfast before jumping into the water to explore reefs bursting with coral in every shade of pink, purple and orange.

On our final afternoon we notice prints running from the sea up the sand bank on the beach. We follow them and spot a hawksbill turtle using her hind flippers to dig a vase-shaped hole. We watch in silence for a minute or two as she prepares to nest. Lets hope her babies live as long as our friend George on Desroches, Dan says, as we tip-toe away and leave her in peace.
North Korea has held a state funeral for Kim Ki-nam, known as the master of propaganda operations for the North's ruling family, with leader Kim Jong-un in attendance, state media said Friday.

The former secretary of the Central Committee of the North's ruling Workers' Party died at the age of 94 on Tuesday due to age-related illness and multiple organ failure, according to the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).

Kim Jong-un, who led the state funeral committee for the late official, attended the funeral held in Pyongyang on Thursday and accompanied the bereaved family members to a burial at the Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery, the KCNA said.

"He said that thanks to the veterans of the revolution like Kim Ki-nam who made a positive contribution to consolidating the cornerstone for the existence and development of our Party and state and ... the revolutionary cause of Juche could be dynamically advanced despite the tempest of history," it added.

Kim Ki-nam, who spent decades overseeing propaganda operations in North Korea, was dubbed the "North Korean Goebbels" after Nazi Germany's propaganda minister Paul Joseph Goebbels.

The late official was known to have stepped down from most official posts after he was excluded from a group of top officials sitting on the podium together with the leader Kim in a party plenary meeting in October 2017.

In 2009, he visited South Korea while leading a North Korean delegation to pay condolences to late former South Korean President Kim Dae-jung. The late president held the first inter-Korean summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, the late father of the current North Korean leader, in 2000. (Yonhap)
It looked at prices of a range of costs including meals, drinks, attractions and accommodation

Advertisement

Europe's best-value-for-money cities for Britons have been revealed - and the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius is the cheapest.

Second place in the ranking goes to Lisbon in Portugal, while underrated Lille in France comes third.

The most expensive destination is one of the most popular for weekenders. Amsterdam languishes at the bottom in 37th place. Second to last is Belfast where a dinner for two costs 109, while third from bottom, Edinburgh, sees visitors having to pay 5.25 for a bottle of beer.

The findings are courtesy of the 17th annual Post Office Travel Money City Costs Barometer and are based on the costs of 12 'tourism items' across 37 cities. They include two nights in three-star accommodation, return airport transfers, a top museum and a cup of coffee.

In Vilnius, this basket of goods totals 237. Meanwhile, at the other end of the scale, holidaymakers planning a trip to Amsterdam wont get much change from 669.

Europe's best-value city hotspots have been revealed and it's Vilnius in Lithuania (above) that's number one in the ranking. The findings are courtesy of the 17th annual Post Office Travel Money City Costs Barometer and are based on the costs of 12 'tourism items' across 37 cities

Above is the top ten cheapest European holiday destination ranking, which shows that the cost of coffee in Vilnius is just 1.82

Europe's most expensive city is Amsterdam, which sits at the bottom of the table in 37th place

The same basket of goods is priced at 263 in second-place Lisbon - last years number-one city and the cheapest in Western Europe. A 26 per cent rise in the average cost of three-star accommodation in Lisbon - 152 for two nights compared to 121 in June 2023 - accounts for the higher barometer cost this year.

However, prices for meals, drinks and other tourist commodities remain good value, according to Post Office Travel Money.

Third-place Lille in France - which has a charming old town of cobbled streets and colourful buildings - has jumped seven places up the top ten due to a fall in accommodation prices - now 131 compared to 186 in June 2023.

Lisbon, last year's winner, sits in second place and still offers the best value in Western Europe at 263

Lille sits in third place and has a charming old town of cobbled streets and colourful buildings

The Greek capital, Athens, with its iconic Acropolis (above), ranks fifth. The basket of goods here totals 289

The basket of goods compared includes a three-course meal for two, a glass of wine and top museums

Eastern European cities fare well in the rankings, with seven placing in the top ten alongside Vilnius, which is less than half the price of 18 other cities.

In fourth comes charming Krakow (278), overtaking classical Athens (fifth, 289) before the Eastern European cities take firm control of the rest of the top rankings with Riga (sixth, 297) and Budapest (seventh, 310).

Price falls in both Bratislava (5.7 per cent, eighth, 316), and Prague (12.5 per cent, ninth, 318), have guaranteed their entry into the upper echelons.

Finally, tenth place goes to Poland's capital, Warsaw, with goods totalling 319.

Krakow, Poland, comes in at number four and is one of several Eastern European cities to appear in the top ten

Prices in London have fallen 6.5 per cent since last year, placing it at 25th on the list

Cardiff sits at number 16 on the barometer overall, but is the best-value UK capital city

This year, the barometer found that prices have fallen in 21 of the cities surveyed

The cheapest of the four UK capital cities is Cardiff, sitting in 16th place (409). It is over a third cheaper than Belfast (36th, 629), the most expensive Irish city this year, and surpasses Dublin (32nd, 578).

Edinburgh is in the same ballpark (35th) with a basket total of 602 thanks to price rises of 12 per cent. Surprisingly, prices in London have fallen 6.5 per cent (524), placing it 25th on the list.

This year, prices have fallen in 21 of the cities surveyed.

Paris (24th) saw a reduction of 24.9 per cent (287 compared to 382 last year), Venice (33rd) is down 21.9 per cent (375 from 480) and Prague is down 21.4 per cent (196 to 154).

The largest fall in accommodation prices has been in Lille, which saw prices drop 30 per cent from 186 to 131. Past winner Athens registered accommodation costs of 289, while the most expensive is Amsterdam at 462.

Laura Plunkett, Head of Travel Money at Post Office, said: 'It's important to remember that the cost of meals and drinks need to be added to the spending budget as city break holidays rarely include these items.

Over the course of two or three days, these can make a big difference to holiday costs and the low prices we found for meals and drinks in Lisbon and Athens make these cities strong contenders for a bargain break'.
Advertisement

San Sebastian has come top in a new Which? survey of Spain's best and worst coastal resorts, while flashy Puerto Banus finishes rock bottom, with holidaymakers writing it off as 'tacky' and 'a seedy dump'.

The consumer champion invited travellers to rate their experiences of Spanish seaside towns, which were scored on 11 criteria including the quality of the beach and seafront, safety, food and drink, accommodation, and value for money.

An overall score was calculated based on general satisfaction and likeliness to recommend after Which? received 2,259 responses to its survey.

Superyacht hotspot Puerto Banus takes last place in the table with a score of just 55 per cent, receiving less than impressive consumer reports despite its reputation 'as a glamorous place to see and be seen and a playground for the rich and famous', says Which? Travel.

It adds: 'A suburb of Marbella, its streets are lined with designer shops, while its marina boasts some of the world's most expensive yachts, but that could not save the beach town from being the lowest ranked out of 30 seaside towns in Spain.'

Puerto Banus (above), not far from Marbella, ranks last in a new Which? survey of Spain's 30 best and worst coastal resorts

San Sebastian ranks as Spain's best seaside town, with visitors raving about the local snacks, pinchos, and choice of top-tier restaurants

Nerja, on the Costa del Sol, takes second place with a score of 81 per cent, and is the perfect spot for those looking to fly and flop down on the beach, according to Which?

The consumer champion explains that the marina's opening party in 1970 - which featured Julio Iglesias crooning to guests including the likes of Hugh Hefner, the Aga Khan and Princess Grace of Monaco - 'set the tone for the party-loving town and it continues to attract celebrity guests'.

Survey respondents, however, were less than impressed, according to their testimonies.

Puerto Banus scores just one star for value for money - the only destination in the Which? survey to do so.

The Which? survey asked 1,287 members about their experiences of Spanish coastal towns in the past year

The high price tag attached to a meal out or shopping trip was a recurring theme in survey responses, with one visitor describing their experience as 'overpriced'.

It also scores just one star for tourist attractions and has little in the way of cultural sites, according to the responses to the survey. Instead, people-watching and parties are the key draws, says Which?, reflected in its one-star score for peace and quiet.

It also receives just two stars for safety, attractiveness and friendliness, with one respondent saying their experiences of the town had 'deteriorated' over their years of visiting.

They lamented that 'it's still a place for the rich and to be seen but has become tacky', while another holidaymaker who visited told the survey 'it is a seedy dump'.

It fared moderately better for its beach, seafront, food and drink offerings and shopping, scooping three stars in each of the categories, with some respondents praising the 'great atmosphere' and 'great range of restaurants'.

Cartagena is the third best-rated Spanish seaside town, rating well in the survey for friendliness and shopping

Famous beach town Marbella is frequently seen on TV hosting luxurious celebrity parties, but finishes 17th in the Which? survey

Benidorm, often dubbed 'Blackpool in the Sun', comes 12th in the ranking, scoring five stars for its beach

Just ahead of Puerto Banus, with a score of 56 per cent, is La Manga (29th), well known for its position on the Mar Menor, a coastal saltwater lagoon.

It receives just one star for tourist attractions, and two stars for its seafront, overall attractiveness, peace and quiet, and value for money.

While some lamented that the town appeared 'faded' and 'tacky', with 'too many high-rise hotels', others said it felt like a 'home from home' and appreciated the 'traditional Spanish restaurants, cafes and bars'.

San Sebastian takes the top spot with an 'excellent' city score of 88 per cent.

Almeria, a city in southeast Spain, comes 19th, with visitors scoring it four stars for safety but only two stars for 'seafront' and 'attractiveness'

Cadiz, an ancient port in Andalusia, comes 10th with an overall score of 76 per cent. It scores three stars for its beach and four stars for safety and accommodation

It is rated a full five stars for its beach, attractiveness and food and drink by visitors - the latter being an area where it 'particularly excels', having the second-highest number of Michelin stars per capita in Europe.

Visitors 'raved' about the local snacks, pinchos - that's small portions of food served with cocktails - and choice of top-tier restaurants.

It scores four stars for its seafront, safety, friendliness, accommodation, tourist attractions and shopping - dropping to three stars for value for money.

One visitor summarised that 'it was small enough to walk round easily, the beach and surroundings were beautiful, and it felt very safe', while another said 'I wish I could have stayed there longer'.

Tied in third place is Cartagena, Javea (above) and Sitges, with joint scores of 80 per cent

Nerja takes second place with a score of 81 per cent, and is the perfect spot for those looking to fly and flop down on the beach, according to Which?

It 'easily surpassed' its better-known neighbours on the Costa del Sol such as 'Blackpool in the sun' Benidorm (12th), Marbella (17th) - frequently seen on TV hosting luxurious celebrity parties - and Torremolinos (18th). The latter two finish in the lower half of the table with scores of 68 and 66 per cent, while Fuengirola (27th) is in the bottom five with a score of just 58 per cent.

Which? says: 'Development has been reined in compared to other resorts on the coast, and Nerja still feels like an Andalusian town of decades gone by, boasting white-washed houses and swaying palm trees.'

It receives a four-star rating for its seafront, safety, friendliness, food and drink and accommodation, with respondents saying it felt like a 'traditional unspoilt Spanish town'.

Tied in third place is Cartagena, Javea and Sitges, with joint scores of 80 per cent.

Rory Boland, Editor of Which? Travel, said: 'This survey shows that there are plenty of fantastic Spanish beach resorts that will easily beat the best-marketed destinations like Marbella and Torremolinos. You don't even need to look far, with beautiful Nerja and its quaint white-washed streets also to be found on the Costa del Sol.

'For those looking for a city break with a dose of sea and sunshine, San Sebastian can't be topped - it's rightly famous for its excellent restaurants and authentic cuisine, and comes complete with a pretty old town and fantastic beaches.'
An OnlyFans star has come under fire for labelling a male flight attendant a 'weakling' and a 'limp noodle' for not lifting her luggage into an overhead bin on a plane.

Crossfit athlete and influencer Tatiana Girardi, from Cali, Colombia, posted a photograph of an Avianca crew member to her two million Instagram followers, alongside a caption that derided him for not dealing with her suitcase on his own.

The now-deleted post read: 'There are limp noodles around here. Take note: I asked this guy, "Can you help me lift the suitcase?'

'And he goes, "Between the two of us "

'I felt so sorry for this weakling. I told him, "Relax, I can do it myself!"'

Crossfit athlete and influencer Tatiana Girardi has come under fire for labelling a male flight attendant a 'weakling' and a 'limp noodle' for not lifting her luggage into an overhead bin on a plane

Jay Robert, who has worked as senior cabin crew for Emirates, responded to Ms Girardi's post on his popular Fly Guy's Cabin Crew Lounge network, calling her 'entitled' and 'sexist'.

He wrote: 'This is not an Avianca flight attendant issue, a lazy flight attendant issue, a strong or weak flight attendant issue, or a male or female issue.

'This suitcase is your issue, and your responsibility is to lift it. If you can't manage it, check it.

'The response you said this crew member gave you is the correct response that flight attendants worldwide are trained to give.

'We can assist you, but we are not to lift bags alone. We don't do this because it's not our responsibility, our health and well-being are not worth your suitcase.

Ms Girardi posted a photograph of an Avianca crew member to her two million Instagram followers alongside a caption that derided him for not dealing with her suitcase on his own

On the left is Ms Girardi's now-deleted post. The athlete hails from Cali, Colombia

'At many airlines, if the crew is injured lifting luggage, they are not even covered by medical benefits. Many crew members have had their careers ruined by lifting heavy bags, which is why airlines do not allow crew to lift bags.

'In my opinion, your comment is not only entitled but also sexist, as you think the female crew shouldn't be held accountable if they decline to lift your bag, but if a man only offers to assist but not lift himself, he's lazy, weak, and less of a man because he wishes to protect his health and job.

'As someone who had their career derailed due to back injuries from helping passengers, I, for one, applaud my fellow male crew member for not allowing toxic gender stereotypes of what men should do for women to influence his actions.'

At the time of writing Jay's post has received 560 comments, with many agreeing with his stance.

One commenter, Mike N Karla, wrote: 'You pack it you stack it. People should have to show the gate agent they can lift their own bag over their head. We do not have a clue what you packed, or how you most likely over packed it.

'We do not have X-ray vision to see what is inside or a way to tell us the weight of it. Get over yourself. Get it together - think like the independent woman you are.'

MailOnline Travel has contacted Ms Girardi for a comment.
THE RESPONDER

Sundays, BBC1

Rating:

Heads up: my five-star review (with bells on!) isnt for episode one of this second series of The Responder  which, like a majority of season openers, has a bit too much to do and not quite enough time in which to do it.

Even if you enjoyed series one, you may still need to refresh your memory: its been two years since we first met Martin Freemans Chris Carson, the Liverpool copper whose night-time beat is as dark as it gets. And if youre new to this show? Well, like Carson youll have your work cut out. But do hang in there: episode two is as fine an hour of telly as you will see this year.

To recap: all the night-shift drug dealers, bent coppers, gangsters and murders have taken their toll on Carsons marriage to Kate (MyAnna Buring) and working partnership with Rachel (Adelayo Adedayo).

The Responder on BBC 1 stars Martin Freeman and Adelayo Adedayo

At the start of this series, Carson is living alone, professionally demoted, estranged from Kate and struggling to maintain a relationship with his young daughter while managing the ongoing fallout from the series one murder of drug dealer Carl Sweeney.

This is proper appointment TV - the curse is the two-year wait to get more

So, those are the facts and their murky consequences. However, once viewers are back up to speed, the facts are the least of it.

Like Belfast-set Blue Lights, The Responder combines a confident sense of place with densely layered plots that thrillingly confound expectations of a police procedural potboiler.

That these two shows co-exist on our screens in 2024 is a blessing  they are both proper appointment TV  and a curse: yup, well have another two years to wait until we get more.

Unlike Blue Lights unstarry ensemble cast, however, The Responder is an unashamed vehicle for Martin Freemans Carson  a weary, frustrated, careworn Everybloke.

While nobody does put-upon better than Freeman  he won an International Emmy for the first series  it helps that hes been gifted a brilliant script, too. Ex-copper Tony Schumachers ability to weave taut plotting and convincingly mordant humour to create fully realised 3D characters in plausibly edge-of-the-seat dramatic situations reminds me of the work of Paul Abbott (Cracker, Clocking Off, Shameless, State Of Play) at his Noughties peak.

Its been two years since we first met Martin Freeman s Chris Carson, the Liverpool copper whose night-time beat is as dark as it gets

The dialogue is largely conversational so its hard to dig out a one-liner with which to dazzle.

Suffice it to say that in episode two (available on BBC iPlayer), when Kevin Eldon (an actor invariably cast to add interesting darkness) appears as a man suffering from memory loss (wheres the sun gone?), there is a brief exchange with another occupant in the back seat of Carsons squad car that (bearing in mind this is Liverpool) had me punching the air: Have you seen the sun?Nah, I dont read that s***.

When writing of this calibre is deployed as a throwaway line between two peripheral characters, very good TV is effectively elevated to the status of the truly great. And make no mistake, The Responder is truly great television.

Simple, addictive - what's not to love?

DOUBLE THE MONEY

Fridays, Channel 4

Rating:

Pictured (L-R): Radhika, Seema, Barry, Debbie, Dale, Harvey, Talia, Shana, Paulette, Kallum, Jack and Natalie. Front: Sue Perkins

Imagine a show combining Dragons Den-style entrepreneurship with Race Across The Worlds familial back stories, plus a smidgen of The Apprentices pleasurable schadenfreude. What would you get? Channel 4s Double The Money  and a completely addictive new format.

After one episode there is nothing not to love about the least tricksily titled show on telly: 13 pairs of contestants are given 250 quid and asked to double it, week-by-week, until they hit 20k. Its as simple as that. (Why, oh why, didnt I think of it?).

Not everybody is in it to win it, however; the two pairs ousted at the end of the first episode clearly had other priorities.

All the fun/chaos is presided over by (currently omnipresent on-screen; no bad thing in my book) the ever warm and empathic Sue Perkins (left, with the contestants), who wants everybody to achieve their potential.

However, if Sue ever decided to move on, Channel 4 could do worse than employ The Traitors victor Harry Clark as presenter.

Somebody with that combination of guile and charm would be ideally suited to a show demanding both, and which as a result would almost certainly run and run.

The end of a dark delight

Inside No 9 (BBC iPlayer) is Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmiths brilliantly dark Tales Of The Unexpected for the 21st century

Now in its final series, Inside No 9 (BBC iPlayer) is Steve Pemberton and Reece Shearsmiths brilliantly dark Tales Of The Unexpected for the 21st century  as well-known for its stellar guest stars as for the tangential, cult-y take on mystery/horror/psychodrama.

You never know where youll end up, but this is all about the journey  although last weeks Tube trip was definitely not for claustrophobics.

Suits (BBC iPlayer) first arrived when my TV lawyer love was directed at The Good Wife.

Now the BBCs bought it, its time to catch up on the show that made Meghan Markle.

So far, however, it belongs to Patrick J Adamss legal ingenue Mike Ross and Gabriel Macht (wily boss Harvey)  and the first episodes a cracker.

But Im surely not the first critic to wonder if Meghans line (I can afford Chinese on my own. This is on the firm. I want sushi) set a precedent for her dealings with our royal Firm?
Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Bieber put fans in a frenzy after revealing their pregnancy on Thursday.

The superstar couple  who tied the knot in 2018  took to Hailey's Instagram with a stunning video of their vow renewal in Hawaii to announce that they are expecting their first baby together.

In the scene, Hailey dons a flowing, lacy white dress as the camera zooms in on her blossoming baby bump, with Justin embracing her from behind and gently resting his hands on her belly.

The scant particulars provided in the social media share, including Hailey's simple caption tagging her husband, left fans clamoring for more information.

Now, DailyMail.com reveals all the wild details about Justin and Hailey's surprise announcement, below.

Justin Bieber and wife Hailey Bieber put fans in a frenzy after revealing their pregnancy on Thursday

The superstar couple  who tied the knot in 2018  took to Hailey's Instagram with a stunning video of their vow renewal in Hawaii to announce that they are expecting their first baby together

Justin and Hailey's due date

The endearing couple has kept their pregnancy low-key, prompting fans to speculate whether the model's recent preference for loose-fitting clothing was a deliberate choice to conceal her burgeoning baby bump.

The endearing couple has kept their pregnancy low-key, prompting fans to speculate whether the model's recent preference for loose-fitting clothing was a deliberate choice to conceal her burgeoning baby bump

Now, with the release of the adorable video featuring Hailey proudly displaying her belly, it seems the couple has been keeping their secret under wraps for quite some time.

TMZ reported that sources with direct knowledge of the couple say Hailey is six months pregnant.

If true, the couple are about to enter their third trimester soon and a baby could be arriving by end of summer.

Hailey's stunning look

Supermodel Hailey is well-acquainted with haute couture, and her breathtaking attire for the vow renewal served as yet another testament to her fashion prowess.

For the occasion, the expectant mother donned an ethereal white lace dress from Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello

To complete the look with a touch of glamour, she adorned herself with black Saint Laurent sunglasses.

For the occasion, the expectant mother donned an ethereal white lace dress from Saint Laurent by Anthony Vaccarello.

The bespoke floor-length gown boasted an off-the-shoulder silhouette adorned with delicate sheer accents.

She complemented the refined ensemble with a custom lace headscarf, elegantly enveloping her hair and delicately winding around her neck.

To complete the look with a touch of glamour, she adorned herself with black Saint Laurent sunglasses.

The mom-to-be flashes new ring

In addition to revealing the baby bump, both expectant parents also showcased newly acquired wedding bands.

The mom-to-be's previous wedding bands, a set of pave diamond circlets, beautifully encircled her oval-cut engagement ring, gracefully contouring its shape.

Her latest addition to her jewelry collection is a timeless diamond infinity band, exuding simplicity and elegance

Her latest addition to her jewelry collection is a timeless diamond infinity band, exuding simplicity and elegance.

Justin sported a matching band, creating a romantic and coordinated gesture between the couple.

Justin teases new music

Justin's dulcet tones can be heard in the video, in what appears to be a snippet of a new song.

The song is characterized by its country-inspired guitars and a slow beat, set against video footage capturing his vow renewal ceremony with the model in Hawaii.

Justin's dulcet tones can be heard in the video, in what appears to be a snippet of a new song

'Im starting to be open to' he sings before the video cuts out.

Justin's newest ditty is his first release since teaming up with SZA for an acoustic version of her hit Snooze in September.

He also featured on Don Toliver's track Private Landing with Future in February 2023.

Pop star held glass of wine during vignette

In the baby announcement video, Justin was seen holding what seems to be a glass of red wine.

The couple have had enjoyed wine nights as recently as their fifth wedding anniversary, despite the couple referring to the pop star's sobriety journey in the past.

In the baby announcement video, Justin was seen holding what seems to be a glass of red wine

In 2021, Hailey revealed that helping Justin navigate his sobriety was 'extremely difficult' for her, as it brought back memories of watching her father Stephen Baldwin struggle with his addictions.

The year before, Justin revealed he relied on drugs as an 'escape' from his life in the spotlight.

He said he eventually decided to get sober because he was 'dying', adding that people aren't aware of how 'serious' his addictions were.

The pastor who led vow renewal revealed

The couple's pregnancy arrives almost six years following the couple's courthouse wedding in New York City in September 2018, swiftly following their engagement by only two months.

Justin and Hailey's special ceremony was led by their pastor Judah Smith

To commemorate their bond, they exchanged vows for a second time a year later in an extravagant wedding ceremony held in South Carolina.

Now they renewed the vows in Hawaii, which they shared on Instagram.

Justin and Hailey's special ceremony was led by their pastor Judah Smith.

Smith took over as Bieber's pastor after the pop star distanced himself from his previous spiritual guide, Carl Lentz, when it was revealed hed cheated on his wife, per TMZ.
With news of Hailey Bieber's pregnancy, fans are now deciphering a cryptic message from her father, wondering if it hinted at the baby news all along.

The model, 27, announced she was expecting her first child with husband Justin Bieber, 30, on Thursday, showing off her bump in an Instagram video.

It comes a little over two and a half months after Hailey's actor father Stephen Baldwin, 57, publicly asked for 'prayers' for his daughter and son-in-law, sparking concerns for the couple's marriage.

The Usual Suspects alum reposted a video of Justin singing, which was shared by All Things Possible Ministries founder Victor Marx and captioned: 'Christians please when you think of Justin & Hailey, take a moment to offer a little prayer for them to have wisdom, protection, and draw close to the Lord.'

The 58-year-old evangelist had written that his wife Eileen Marx and Hailey's mother Kennya Deodato Baldwin 'pray often together' for the married couple.

With news of Hailey Bieber's, 27, pregnancy, fans are now deciphering a cryptic message from her dad Stephen Baldwin, 57, wondering if it hinted at the baby news; the duo seen in 2011

The model announced she was expecting her first child with husband Justin Bieber, 30, on Thursday, showing off her bump in an Instagram video

Following her announcement some fans took online to discuss how Stephen's prayer request might have been linked to her pregnancy.

'Im crying Stephen Baldwin cant keep secrets for s**t,' one person wrote on Twitter.

'Stephen Baldwin's prayers work miracles,' someone else added.

Meanwhile Stephen took to his Twitter to congratulate the pair on their baby joy.

Reposting a snap from their announcement, he wrote, 'Love you guys [heart emoji] blessed beyond words. praise God. let's get ready to have some fun y'all.'

The photo had a Bible verse from John 4:16 that read: 'God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.'

Victor's original caption, in the clip reposted by Baldwin, read: 'There are special challenges that folks in high visibility positions face and also the enemy doesn't want them to draw closer to Jesus,' Victor wrote.

'So often regardless of the material things or the accolades they often face spiritual warfare that intense and seeks to ship-wreck their faith, marriage, and life in general. So thank you.'

Stephen's daughter arguably would never have even met the Canadian crooner had he not been there to introduce the future couple while backstage on NBC's TODAY back in 2009.

It comes a little over two and a half months after Stephen publicly asked for 'prayers' for his daughter and son-in-law, sparking concerns for their marriage

He reposted a video of Justin singing, which was shared by All Things Possible Ministries founder Victor Marx and captioned: 'Christians please when you think of Justin & Hailey, take a moment to offer a little prayer for them to have wisdom, protection, and draw close to the Lord'

Following Hailey's announcement some fans took online to discuss how his prayer request might have been linked to her pregnancy. 'Im crying Stephen Baldwin cant keep secrets for s**t,' one person wrote on Twitter

'Stephen Baldwin's prayers work miracles,' someone else added

Meanwhile Stephen took to his Twitter to congratulate the pair on their baby joy. Reposting a snap from their announcement, he wrote, 'Love you guys blessed beyond words. praise God'

'Nice to meet you,' were the first words Hailey ever uttered to Bieber.

The two-time Grammy winner and the Rhode founder eventually began dating in 2015, and they rekindled their on/off romance in 2018 - three months after his split with Selena Gomez.

Hailey and Justin revealed their baby joy during a surprise vow renewal in Hawaii.

She shared a beautiful video showing her debuting her bump in a custom Yves Saint Laurent lace wedding dress by Anthony Vaccarello, paired with a flowing veil.

The star and the Baby hitmaker - who recently sparked concern with a crying selfie - shared a sweet kiss as they celebrated their news during their outdoor ceremony - with Hailey sporting a new diamond ring.

Justin - who was casually clad in a backwards cap, bomber jacket and jeans - was seen filming his bride cradling her bump - with the video set to a new track by the Grammy winner.

The couple have been married since September 2018.

TMZ reports that Hailey is more than six months pregnant.

Kendall Jenner quickly took to the comment section of Hailey's post to declare: 'ahhhh here come the tears again.'

Kim Kardashian wrote: 'I love you guys sooooo much!!!!' while Chrissy Teigen penned: 'EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!! You are going to be an amazing amazing mommy oh boy get ready!!! So exciting so happy for you both!!'

Kylie Jenner wrote: 'i love you guys!!!! ahhhhhhhh' while mom Kris Jenner wrote: 'We are so so excited cant wait cant wait what a blessing!!!!!'

In the original post 58-year-old evangelist Marx had written that his wife Eileen Marx and Hailey's mother Kennya Deodato Baldwin 'pray often together' for the married couple

Victor wrote: 'There are special challenges that folks in high visibility positions face and also the enemy doesn't want them to draw closer to Jesus. So often regardless of the material things or the accolades they often face spiritual warfare that intense and seeks to ship-wreck their faith, marriage, and life in general. So thank you'

Stephen's daughter arguably would never have even met the Canadian crooner had he not been there to introduce the future couple while backstage on NBC's TODAY back in 2009; the trio seen in 2011

Justin and Hailey had a brief fling in 2016 amid a break in his on/off decade-long romance with Gomez.

When he and the Disney Channel alum, 31, finally called it quits for good in May 2018, Justin fell into Hailey's arms and they've been attached at the hip since.

The pair have spoken candidly about their relationship over the years  including their 'really tough' first year of marriage.

Speaking to GQ in 2021, Justin revealed that his and Hailey's initial difficulties stemmed from 'trauma' and 'just lack of trust.'

'There was all these things that you don't want to admit to the person that you're with, because it's scary. You don't want to scare them off by saying, 'I'm scared,'' he explained.

The Sorry hitmaker admitted during the first year of marriage he was 'on eggshells' but now he's never felt more stable.

The couple previously expressed their mutual desire for children but in 2023 Hailey expressed concerns about raising a family in the spotlight.

'I want kids so bad but I get scared. It's enough that people say things about my husband or my friends,' she told the Sunday Times last year.

'I can't imagine having to confront people saying things about a child. We can only do the best we can to raise them. As long as they feel loved and safe.'

Hailey and Justin revealed their baby joy during a surprise vow renewal in Hawaii

She shared a beautiful video showing her debuting her bump in a custom Yves Saint Laurent lace wedding dress by Anthony Vaccarello, paired with a flowing veil

The parents-to-be looked emotional as they embraced

The couple have been married since September 2018; seen in 2022

Last year the Rhode skincare founder dished that she and Justin would like to try for a family 'in the next couple of years.'

You don't know how long that process [of getting pregnant] is every going to take. Definitely no kids this year, that would be a little hectic, I think,' Hailey told WSJ.

'There's this thing that happens for women when you get married. Everybody assumes it's: 'First comes love, then comes marriage, then comes the baby,' the wife of Justin Bieber explained.

Justin married Hailey at a courthouse in New York City in September 2018.

The couple exchanged vows on the same day they obtained their marriage licence at the courthouse on September 13, TMZ claimed at the time.

The couple tied the knot again in front of friends and family at the luxury Montage Palmetto Bluffs resort in South Carolina on September 30, 2019.
Tyrese Gibson's ex-wife Norma Mitchell is suing him for defamation and seeking a temporary restraining order against him over Instagram posts accusing her of 'blackmail and making death threats.'

Mitchell filed a lawsuit obtained by TMZ against the Fast and Furious star in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging Gibson defamed her and disclosed private information about their teenage daughter Shayla, 16, in a series of Instagram posts between April 30 and May 7.

Gibson, 45 and Mitchell were married from 2007-2009 and have been locked in numerous legal battles over the years.

Mitchell claims the pair disputed over their daughter's school tuition before the actor used social media to make the row public - allegedly 'slamming Mitchell with a cruel barrage of derogatory and defamatory posts, including false accusations she has committed blackmail, extortion, death threats, tax evasion, forgery, bank fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.'

The lawsuit claims Gibson shared his family court motion on social media and alleges he posted a Google Drive link to the filing in his bio. - which Mitchell claims listed Shayla's school and other personal details.

Tyrese Gibson's ex-wife Norma Mitchell is suing him for defamation and seeking a temporary restraining order against him over shock Instagram posts accusing her of 'blackmail and making death threats' (pictured 2008)

The lawsuit alleges Gibson knew he was not supposed to post the link - referring to a May 1 Instagram caption from the star which read: 'Before they make me delete this post and the link with the full 167 pages of court documents with details [ receipts ] to back up everything GO THERE NOW.'

The post remains on Gibson's Instagram page and reads: 'Im done living my life in fear of what she might accuse me of next Im done with anyone having power over my life to make ALL THAT I HAVE BUILT crumble. [ for those of you who will say Cry me a river, you rich alpha MALE. Thats cool.

Gibson's claims include: 'Extortion, death threats, blackmail, tax evasion, domestic and international wire fraud, skipping 3 FULL YEARS of tuition of our daughters schooL OVER 25k in the rears [sic] 167 pages of the full on court documents link in bio ] 25 years of my life and me being a committed father. No one will EVER HAVE POWER over my life and career. Ever. One thing I dont do is LIE

'I am done with living in fear I got 1 TYRESE! Just 1.. and I am going to protect my name and legacy and family until I take my last breath.. This is a man BLEEDING OUT LOUD.'

Mitchell claims the Instagram posts Tyrese shared are 'grounds for harassment' and is asking the court to force him to take them down.

She is also asking Gibson be ordered to refrain from talking about them online and wants a judge to make him pay for therapy sessions in regards to the posts.

A judge has yet to rule on the TRO request.

Mitchell filed a lawsuit obtained by TMZ against the Fast and Furious star in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday, alleging Gibson defamed her and disclosed private information about their daughter Shayla, 16, in a series of Instagram posts (pictured 2015)

Mitchell claims the pair disputed over their daughter's school tuition before the actor used social media to make the row public

DailyMail.com has contacted Gibson's representatives for comment.

Gibson is also in the midst of a divorce battle with second wife Samantha Lee - with whom he shares daughter Soraya, five.

The pair secretly wed in 2017 and split in 2020.

At the time, Gibson took to Instagram to release a statement that read, 'After much thought, consideration, and prayer, We unfortunately have made the difficult decision to officially separate & divorce.'

'Our intention is to remain the best of friends & strong coparents,' he penned, later adding, 'Our journey together has been a ride of both ups & downs, but it's a journey that neither of us would have chosen to take with anyone else.'

In conclusion, he wrote, 'We would really appreciate your most sincere prayers and to respect our privacy at this time as we deal with the reality of where we are.'

Last September, Tyrese got candid about the 'pain' that he had felt while watching his marriage 'go up in smoke,' during an exclusive interview with DailyMail.com.

The How You Gonna Act Like That hitmaker first crossed paths with Samantha in 2015 and the former couple said 'I do' on Valentine's Day in 2017.

'Basically, I was in a relationship for five years  the love of my life,' he stated. 'I wanted to be married until I had no teeth left in my mouth, eating mashed potatoes and coleslaw.'

He continued, 'That's the vision I had. I kept my wedding band on consistently'

Gibson is also in the midst of a divorce battle with second wife Samantha Lee - with whom he shares daughter Soraya, five.; seen in 2017 in New Jersey

Gibson is pictured with youngest daughter Soraya

'I was up there with the Care Bears. I'm such a sucker for love, the sanctuary of marriage and anyone who is in love, it doesn't matter what race, nationality or sexual preference. There was nothing better than the beauty of love.

'And to have my marriage to just kind of go up in smoke right before my eyes has been very challenging for me,' Tyrese admitted.

The actor has since been romantically linked to media influencer, Zelie Timothy, following his split from Samantha.
Sopha Dopha has surprised her brother with a trip to Japan.

The 19-year-old influencer, real name Sophia Begg, is said to make millions off social media and splashed out her cash to treat her sibling.

The teen sensation shared the sweet moment she told her brother about the getaway on Instagram.

'I'm taking [my brother] to Japan for his 18th birthday and I'm telling him tonight,' she said, before showing a travel cosmetics case she would wrap as a 'decoy' gift.

Sopha explained she was planning to give him the gift at dinner, and after he unwrapped it she would hand him a stack of Japanese bank notes, as well as printed plane tickets.

Sopha Dopha has surprised her brother with a trip to Japan . The 19-year-old influencer, real name Sophia Begg, is said to make millions off social media and splashed out her cash to treat her sibling

The teen sensation shared the sweet moment she told her brother about the getaway on Instagram

The video then cut to the dinner and showed her brother unwrapping the gift and looking perplexed, before seeing the Japanese money and opening his mouth in disbelief.

Sopha handed him the tickets and said: 'You're going to Japan baby!'

Still shocked by the generous gift from his sister, he asked: 'What do I tell work?'

The young influencer's fans praised Sopha in the comments attached to her post.

'You're actually the cutest for doing this,' wrote one follower, while another said: 'Very cool big sis.'

The young influencer's fans praised Sopha in the comments attached to her post

Another Sopha fan said: 'Wweetest boy ever omg his reaction' while one more said 'his reaction made me so happy. Bless.'

Other followers expressed how real they found the new 18-year-old's first question after finding out he was travelling.

'"What do I tell work?" He's so real for that because same,' one commenter joked.

It comes after the Sopha's humiliating interaction with host Tony Armstrong at the recent 2023 TikTok Awards. Both pictured

It comes after Sopha's humiliating interaction with host Tony Armstrong at the recent 2023 TikTok Awards.

At the awards show, Sophia accused the ABC presenter, 34, of flirting with her despite the fact he just went public with his new girlfriend.

'How are you feeling? You look ecstatic and I'm pumped for you,' Tony said as he addressed Sopha who was nominated for the Creator of the Year award.

'Thank you. Wow! Stop flirting with me!' she replied, prompting scattered laughter in the audience.

Aussies erupted online and Sopha's fans turned on her when the embarrassing moment went viral.

They soon worked out what went so badly wrong: Sopha appeared to not understand the word 'ecstatic' and believed it was somehow a physical compliment, such as 'exquisite'.
An Australian man who is the spitting image of Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds has revealed the surprising way his movie star looks helped him purchase a property.

Brisbane influencer Shaun Birley, 35, said he was able to purchase a $1.34milllion Queensland property after securing several endorsements due to his resemblance to the Hollywood star, 47.

'I wish I could say he could potentially be my half brother but no. The funny thing is I just dont see it and it comes up every day from people,' he told Realestate.com.au.

His resemblance to the Marvel favourite is so uncanny he was once approached by producers who asked him to appear as Reynolds' body double in a commercial.

'Unfortunately, we had a clashing of schedules, I missed out on an ad with Ryan in Abu Dhabi. The producers said they'll keep me in mind for future work which is cool.'

Australian influencer Shaun Birley (pictured) is the spitting image of Deadpool actor Ryan Reynolds, and has revealed the surprising way his movie star looks helped him purchase a property

Birley put the money from his influencer endorsements to good use, and in 2022 bought into a luxury apartment project, in which he snapped up a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment for $1.34million.

'Those guys do an amazing job. It's gone up quite a bit and been revalued at $1.7million. That was completed late last year, it's an investment.'

Meanwhile, Reynolds kept himself busy last year filming Deadpool 3 in England alongside his best mate Hugh Jackman.

Birley said he was able to purchase a $1.34milllion Queensland property after securing several endorsements due to his resemblance to Ryan Reynolds (pictured)

Jackman appears to have surrounded himself with close friends as he moves on from his wife of 27 years Deborra-Lee Furness.

As he navigates the divorce process, the Hollywood star, 55, has been spending quite a bit of time with close friend Ryan.

In October, he shared a picture of the two to his Instagram Stories, the Wolverine star drew a love heart around the actor's face.

Birley put the money from his influencer endorsements to good use, and in 2022 bought into a luxury apartment project (pictured), in which he snapped up a three bedroom, two bathroom apartment for $1.34million

A few weeks prior to that, the duo also caught up to attend a New York Jets game at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey.

They joined Taylor Swift as they prepared to watch the pop star's new love, Travis Kelce, with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Reynolds plays the anti-hero title character in the Deadpool series, while Jackman will be reprising his role as Wolverine from the X-Men movies.

Deadpool 3 is due in cinemas November 2024.
Tori Spelling dropped in on Instagram on Thursday to share that she was about to get her teeth done by dentist to the celebs, Dr. Kevin Sands.

The 50-year-old star  whose marriage to Dean McDermott recently ended  posted a video clip in the dental office via the app's Stories feature.

The former Beverly Hills, 90210 actress was elated as she recorded herself moments before going under anesthesia.

'Here I am with my lifetime bestie and I'm getting my new teeth today!' she squealed before adding, 'They're going in. Here they are.'

Dr. Sands presented the pearly whites on a prototype mouth as Tori declared, 'I can't wait!'

Tori Spelling dropped in on Instagram on Thursday to share that she was about to get her teeth done

The 50-year-old star posted a video clip in Dr. Kevin Sands' dental office

Tori's long blonde hair was parted down the middle and streamed around her face and over her chest.

She wore a white tank top underneath a black zip-up sweatshirt she wore draped off one shoulder.

The sassy media personality asked her doctor, 'Am I going to look hot [with my new teeth]?' to which he replied, 'Hotter! Hotter than hell.'

Spelling agreed, 'Good answer. That's right.'

'Let's have a good day, guys,' the dental professional added before Tori chimed in, 'Here we go.'

Then she asked, 'Can I go to sleep now?' as Dr. Sands answered, 'Let's go.'

The Hollywood fixture's visit for cosmetic surgery comes after she shared a candid new episode of her podcast Misspelling.

She discussed how it would have been her and ex-husband Dean's 18th wedding anniversary this week, had they not split.

The former Beverly Hills, 90210 actress was elated as she recorded herself moments before going under anesthesia

Dr. Sands presented the pearly whites on a prototype mouth as Tori declared, 'I can't wait!'

Spelling and ex-husband Dean McDermott married in in Fiji in 2006. They share Liam, 17, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, and Finn, 11, and Beau, 7

Along with a post shared to her 1.7 million followers, she captioned, 'Today would have been our 18th wedding anniversary

'I always DIYd something for @imdeanmcdermott every year based on the traditional or modern anniversary gift. Was, is, will always be a crafty girl. I will continue to believe homemade = .'

She added, 'On my NEW episode of @misspellingpodcast OUT NOW I break down the bench I built that broke. Sometimes you have to burn it all down to rebuild. Listen as I get metaTORIcal on this episode titled Miss-May.'

Spelling and McDermott married in in Fiji in 2006. They share Liam, 17, Stella, 15, Hattie, 12, and Finn, 11, and Beau, 7.
Medical professors at major hospitals took a day off Friday, the third of its kind in two weeks, as they expressed fatigue from filling the void of trainee doctors who left their worksites in protest of the government's medical reform.

While fatigued medical professors take a leave of absence, treatment of critically ill patients and inpatient services at their hospitals are provided, according to the hospitals.

Medical professors took a day off on April 30 and May 3, but no major disruptions of public health services were reported.

On Friday, some medical professors at four major hospitals in Seoul  Seoul National University Hospital, Asan Medical Center, Severance Hospital and Seoul St. Mary's Hospital  took a voluntary leave of absence.

It was unclear how many professors took a day off, but their action is expected to affect some 50 hospitals nationwide.

The professors, who are senior doctors at general hospitals, started taking a weekly day off in solidarity with some 12,000 trainee doctors who have left their worksites since Feb. 20 in protest of the plan to boost the number of medical students by 2,000.

The weekly day off came amid the prolonged standoff between the government and the medical community on the medical reform.

On the previous day, President Yoon Suk Yeol said in a press conference that the reform plan "is a task that can no longer be delayed," indicating the government intends to accomplish the initiative despite the protest.

During a press briefing, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo said the government does not have an immediate plan to allow foreign doctor license holders to practice in the country.

The remark came after the health ministry said earlier this week that those holding a medical license issued by foreign nations would be allowed to legally practice medicine in South Korea in the event that the government declares a top-level medical service warning.

"The revision is a preemptive and supplementary measure to prepare for a potential future emergency," Park said. "Currently, the government does not have immediate plans to deploy foreign doctors, as the existing emergency medical system is being maintained effectively, despite some challenges."

Park added that even if foreign doctors are deployed, they will only be authorized to administer treatments under the supervision of local doctors.

The government will implement strict safety measures to ensure that only doctors whose skills have been verified are allowed to treat the people, he said.

The government, meanwhile, submitted minutes of meetings on the medical school quota increase and other documents to the Seoul High Court on Friday to verify that the quota hike decision was based on scientific grounds.

Late last month, the appellate court demanded that the government submit relevant documents on discussions leading to its decision while reviewing an injunction request by the medical community for halting the execution of the planned hike.

Some 40,000 doctors, medical students and parents also submitted a petition to the court against the quota adjustment plan, claiming that a hike of 2,000 was groundless and it will compromise the country's health care system and the quality of medical education.

The court decision is expected to be available next week.

Doctors have raised suspicions that the minutes may not exist, although the government has claimed that all required meetings were documented.

The government also held the second round of a presidential committee on medical reform launched last month to resolve the issue on the day, although doctors have been boycotting the platform, calling for a complete abandonment of the plan.

Key agendas discussed during the meeting included enhancing the capabilities of general hospitals and improving compensation for medical services, Park added. (Yonhap)
Minnie Driver showed off her age-defying figure at Vogue x Netlfix's star-studded party on Thursday, celebrating the upcoming TV BAFTAs.

The Good Will Hunting actress, 54, looked gorgeous in a tiny denim mini skirt, and a matching jacket.

She added heels to show off her legs further and a pop of colour with her bright green bag.

Minnie joined a host of stars at Dovetale at 1 Hotel Mayfair in London for a bash hosted by British Vogue and Netflix to celebrate Sunday's BAFTA TV Awards.

Minnie Driver showed off her age-defying figure at Vogue x Netflix's star-studded party on Thursday, celebrating the upcoming TV BAFTAs at Dovetale at 1 Hotel Mayfair in London

The Good Will Hunting actress, 54, looked gorgeous in a tiny denim mini skirt, and a matching jacket

Minnie recently spoke out about her experience in the industry, declaring that female film bosses are worse than men in mistreating actresses when it comes to seeing them as sex objects, ageism and unequal pay.

The Good Will Hunting star revealed she was recently fired from a film by the woman in charge because she 'just decided she wanted her friend to be in my part'.

Oscar-nominated Minnie, 54, said: 'It was about a week of me just feeling just incredibly disposable and awful and sad on a lot of levels that I was disposable and that women are still treating women as badly as we say men have been treating us.'

Minnie said that speaking up as a woman in the film industry affected her career after she refused to twice act out having an orgasm while eating chocolate in front of a room of leering men for an advert - leading the casting director to brand her 'very difficult'.

Drawing on her 33 years in Hollywood, the British and American actress said: 'I wish I could say it was only men that Id noticed underwriting that particular kind of behaviour but there are so many women I've come across as well.

'We've [actresses] all agreed we don't want to be the one to step up and go, "This is wrong," because then you don't get the work.

'It's very Grapes of Wrath, it's very much if one person says they'll work for 20 cents a day.

'We have to band together and all say no.'

She added heels to show off her legs further and a pop of colour with her bright green bag

Minnie shares a 16-year-old son from a brief relationship with the producer behind Law and Order, Timothy J. Lea in 1997 before dating Matt Damon for a year while filming Good Will Hunting in 1997.

The mother-of-one lives in Los Angeles and has been in a relationship with the filmmaker Addison ODea since 2019.
Diane Lane had all eyes on her and her lovely red dress as she hit the red carpet for the 2024 Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai Spring Luncheon on Thursday.

The 59-year-old actress was one of the two honorees  along with Gretchen Pace, the Vice President and General Manager of Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills  at the event, which was held at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills.

Joining Diane on the red carpet was another leading lady, Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith, 78, who lit up the red carpet with her brilliant white suit.

The Women's Guild supports Cedars-Sinai hospital by fundraising for new programs, contributing to expansions of its campus, and funding major hires for the renowned hospital.

Diane ushered in summer early with her bright red dress, which featured overlapping scarlet and fuchsia circles with tiny white gaps peaking through.

Diane Lane, 59, had all eyes on her and her lovely red dress as she hit the red carpet for the 2024 Women's Guild Cedars-Sinai Spring Luncheon on Thursday. She was joined by Jaclyn Smith, 78, at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills

The look, which featured medium-length sleeves with rolled-up cuffs, was decorated with black floral designs.

Its skirt reached down to her ankles, and the Under The Tuscan Sun star wore a slim scarlet belt around her waist.

Her brunette locks were pinned back and fanned out across her shoulders, framing her delicate pearl earrings, and she completed her ensemble with a set of strappy black open-toe heels.

She proudly posed on the red carpet with her award, the 2024 Woman of the 21st Century Award.

Jaclyn contrasted Diane's look with a chic white suit, and she added a cool touch by wearing it draped over her shoulders with her arms hanging free.

She rocked a hypnotizing gray, white and red patterned blouse, and she added some extra sparkle with a thick gold pendant dangling from her throat.

The film and television star carried an off-white alligator-print clutch, and she sported elegantly feathered hair.

E! News Host Keltie Knight wore a striking pair of high-waisted black slacks held up with thick suspenders.

Diane ushered in summer early with her bright red dress, which featured overlapping scarlet and fuchsia circles with tiny white gaps peaking through

The look, which featured medium-length sleeves with rolled-up cuffs, was decorated with black floral designs

She proudly posed on the red carpet with her award, the 2024 Woman of the 21st Century Award

Jaclyn rocked a chic white suit, and she added a cool touch by draping it over her shoulders. She wore a hypnotizing patterned blouse, and she added extra sparkle with a gold pendant

The film and television star carried an off-white alligator-print clutch, and she sported elegantly feathered hair

E! News Host Keltie Knight wore high-waisted black slacks held up with thick suspenders, along with a tuxedo-style shirt with a lace front and a dangling bow tie

Joining Diane on the red carpet was her fellow honoree, Gretchen Pace, who is the Vice President and General Manager of Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills

She was honored at the luncheon with the 2024 Humanitarian Award. Gretchen wore a white waffle-print mesh dress with a layered skirt and white Chelsea boots

She paired them with a tuxedo-style shirt with a lace front, and she had on a large bow tie that dangled down her torso.

Joining Diane on the red carpet was her fellow honoree, Gretchen Pace, who is the Vice President and General Manager of Neiman Marcus Beverly Hills.

She was honored at the luncheon with the 2024 Humanitarian Award.

Gretchen stood out in a pleasing sleeveless waffle-print mesh dress with a multi-layer miniskirt, along with white Chelsea boots.
Actress and author Jenny Mollen shared a very candid look at her 'Mother's Day makeover', which included a 'breast lift, fat transfer, and chin lipo.'

The star, 44, who is married to American Pie actor Jason Biggs, posted a number of hospital clips on Thursday, documenting her transformation on Instagram.

The Live Fast Die Hot author  who previously shared a cheeky nude snap with her followers  was also joined by her mom, Peggy Mollen, who underwent a face procedure including a lip lift as well as hand filling.

The Amateur Night actress captioned one of her posts: 'What did I do?????? Breast lift, fat transfer, chin lipo, and a three hour stand-up set for what really should be my own Netflix special.'

In the first video shared to her social media Jenny was seen strolling through a hospital hallway topless, wearing just a pair of black underwear and pink socks.

Jenny Mollen shared a candid look at her 'Mother's Day makeover', which included a 'breast lift, fat transfer, and chin lipo '

The actress, 44, who is married to Jason Biggs, shared a number of hospital clips on Thursday, documenting her transformation on Instagram

She also shouted out her surgeon, Dr. Oren Tepper, adding in her caption '@drorentepper 4 EVA! '

Jenny  who also authored City of Likes in 2022  filmed while laying on a hospital gurney and explaining that she will need to get fat taken from her legs to put under her eyes.

On a second clip she wrote, 'Before you start commenting w your opinion. No negativity! Support women mutherf*****s.'

In the video she was in a hospital gown seemingly getting ready for her breast lift.

She also shared glimpses at her recovery process, wearing a pink bandage around her head following her chin lipo.

Jenny then posted a snap of her and her mom in pajamas as they recovered at the Gansevoort hotel in New York.

'Of course we stayed the night at the @gansevoort and of course we walked home like this,' she captioned the snap.

Jenny also shared a number of updates to her Stories, showing off the bruising on her face.

Jason appeared briefly in one clip as he was driving Jenny to one of the appointments.

The star captioned one of her posts: 'What did I do?????? Breast lift, fat transfer, chin lipo'. She also showed her blood-stained bra, commenting 'This is just my nipple bleeding, don't worry about it'

In the first video shared to her social media Jenny was seen strolling through a hospital hallway topless, wearing just a pair of black underwear and pink socks

Jenny seemed very comfortable as she walked into the procedure room with no shirt on

She filmed while laying on a hospital gurney and explaining that she will need to get fat taken from her legs to put under her eyes

She also shared glimpses at her recovery process, wearing a pink bandage around her head following her chin lipo

Jason appeared briefly in one clip as he was driving Jenny to one of the appointments

She was also joined by her mom, Peggy Mollen (R), who underwent a face procedure including a lip lift as well as hand filling. Jenny shared a photo of them the day after their procedures

Three days prior she posted a snap with her mom (L) and mother-in-law Angela Biggs (C) as they had an early celebration of Mother's Day with a two night stay in the Hamptons

Jenny previously admitted that she has undergone a breast augmentation surgery, a breast lift, lower blepharoplasty and regular Botox treatments; pictured 2019

At one point she pulled down her pajamas top to reveal a red blood stain on her pink bra, as she told the camera, 'This is just my nipple bleeding, don't worry about it.'

Three days prior she shared a snap with her mom and mother-in-law Angela Biggs as they had an early celebration of Mother's Day with a two night stay in the Hamptons.

Jenny previously admitted that she has undergone a breast augmentation surgery, a breast lift, lower blepharoplasty and regular Botox treatments.

Last year in an essay for Oprah Daily she reflected on aging and plastic surgery.

'I want the respect of being over 40 but the power of being under 30,' she wrote, adding, 'I spent the best years my body will ever see in a velour tracksuit, only to reach my 40s and learn that black-tie now means a bikini covered in full-length fishnet. Its not fair.'

The star continued, 'Despite the surgeries, facials, lasers, and fillers, nothing has changed the way I feel about being older. Its both bittersweet and infuriating.'

'As the people around us start looking more and more like their iPhone Memojis, perhaps the biggest act of rebellion is to do nothing. But Im too big a narcissist for that.'

'What we need as a culture is group therapy and transparency, people talking about how maddening it feels to be out of control,' she concluded, adding, 'Regardless of your current age, you are never going to be younger than you are right now.'

In 2019 she told Us Weekly about her botox use: 'If you can smooth out a few lines, I think it does wonders for your psyche. It's important to empower women in any way possible. And I think that this is something that actually makes you feel good about yourself.

The social media influencer and author is no stranger to being candid with her followers. Last year she posted a throwback photo in which she posed nude while pretending to hitchhike on a road.

Jenny has been married to American Pie star Jason, 45, since 2008; pictured in 2019

They share two sons, Sid, 10, and Lazlo, seven, whose identities they've chosen to keep private

In the caption, she joked, 'My past is packed with fashion blunders and wardrobe malfunctions, most of which were my fault. This scuba fin was one of my best.'

The scuba fin mentioned was used to protect her modesty as she carefully positioned it over her torso.

The photo also showed the mother-of-two donning a sun hat and sunglasses as she stood barefoot.

Jenny has been married to American Pie star Jason, 45, since 2008.

The couple share two sons: Sid, 10, and Lazlo, seven.
Jourdan Dunn looked nothing short of sensational in a patterned gown at the Charlotte Tilbury Future of Fragrance Experience launch party on Thursday.

The British model, 33, dressed to impress in the figure hugging red and black number as she attended the event held at Protein Studios in London.

She showcased her amazing figure in the backless gown which featured a halter neckline and lace up detailing at the back.

Jourdan elevated her frame in a pair of GEDEBE Dita black heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling silver stud Swarovski earrings.

The stunner applied a glamorous palette of makeup to accentuate her beauty as she posed leaning on a giant silver unicorn.

Jourdan Dunn looked nothing short of sensational in a patterned gown at the Charlotte Tilbury Future of Fragrance Experience launch party on Thursday

The British model, 33, dressed to impress in the figure hugging red and black number as she attended the event held at Protein Studios in London

Also in attendance was Lady Mary Charteris who left little to the imagination as she flashed her underwear under a sheer black dazzling gown.

She added inches to her frame in a pair of towering stilettos and carried her belongings in a matching handbag.

Model Clara Page put on a leggy display in a white and black floral gown which boasted a daring thigh high split.

She rocked an eye catching pair of platform black heels and accessorised with a black choker necklace.

Phoebe Torrance displayed her very toned abs in a tiny black long sleeved crop top and blue denim jeans as she posed for photos at the launch party.

Also in attendance was former Made In Chelsea star Sophie Habboo, who cut a casual figure in a white sleeveless top and blue denim jeans.

The reality star cinched in her waist with a chunky black belt and carried her belongings in a black handbag.

Charlotte looked incredible as she arrived at the party in style as she hopped out of a a personalised black cab.

The makeup artist stunned in a black and red sparkly dress which she teamed with opaque tights and heels.

She showcased her amazing figure in the backless gown which featured a halter neckline and lace up detailing a the back

Jourdan elevated her frame in a pair of black heels and accessorised with a pair of dazzling silver stud earrings

The stunner applied a glamorous palette of makeup to accentuate her beauty as she posed leaning on a giant silver unicorn

Jourdan wowed as she posed in front of the brands new fragrance

Also in attendance was Lady Mary Charteris who left little to the imagination in a sheer black dazzling gown

She added inches to her frame in a pair of towering stilettos and carried her belongings in a matching handbag

Model Clara Page put on a leggy display in a white and black floral gown which boasted a daring thigh high split

Phoebe Torrance displayed her very toned abs in a tiny black long sleeved crop top and blue denim jeans as she posed for photos at the launch party

Also in attendance was former Made In Chelsea star Sophie Habboo, who cut a casual figure in a white sleeveless top and blue denim jeans

Charlotte looked incredible as she arrived at the party in style as she hopped out of a a personalised black cab

The makeup artist stunned in a black and red sparkly dress which she teamed with opaque tights and heels
Popular influencer Sopha Dopha has launched her first range of handbags with label Peta + Jain.

The 19-year-old, whose real name is Sophia Begg, celebrated the news by sharing a series of behind-the-scenes videos to Instagram from the photoshoot for her range.

In the post, the social media star flaunted her figure in skimpy ensembles as she posed with bags from her collection.

'The day is finally here and I couldn't be more excited. So beyond grateful for this opportunity and I hope you guys enjoy shopping the collection,' she wrote.

In one image, Sopha wore a tiny black skirt and white shirt as she held a brown bag from the collection.

Popular influencer Sopha Dopha has launched her first range of handbags with label Peta + Jain

The 19-year-old, whose real name is Sophia Begg, celebrated the news by sharing a series of images from the photoshoot for her new range

She also posed in a tiny black leotard and leather jacket while carrying a white bag.

In a third image, the influencer showed off her pins in a mini patterned skirt and red jumper.

Sopha's new collection is available on the Peta + Jain website and prices range from $69.95 to 109.95.

Sopha boasts 537,000 followers on Instagram and 1.2million followers on TikTok, where she is known for sharing fashion and lifestyle content.

In one image, Sopha wore a white crop top and matching coloured pants as she held a black bag from the collection

The influencer also showed off her pins in a mini patterned skirt and red jumper

After penny-pinching as a teenager to work towards her dream life, the influencer has now fallen into all the trappings of fame and fortune.

In December, she made headlines for all the wrong reasons thanks to her antics at the 2023 TikTok Awards.

Just a few weeks later, she raised eyebrows again when she suffered an unfortunate fake tan fail on the red carpet of a film premiere in Sydney.

Stepping out with a fresh fake tan in a gorgeous white halter dress, it was glaringly obvious she had chosen not to apply fake tan around two tattoos on her arm.

Sopha's new collection is available on the Peta + Jain website and prices range from $69.95 to 109.95
Laughing Boy (Jermyn Street, London, then Bath)

Verdict: The power of love

Rating:

Connor's mum, Sara, calls her son LB, short for Laughing Boy. Also London Buses, which her fun, funny child cuddled as others kids cuddle teddies. He hated shops, loud noise and darkness. He was 'quirky', says Sara, an Oxford academic, smiling through tears. Autistic, epileptic, Connor saw things in his own way. He could be a 'handful', but he was easy to love.

Notice the past tense. Aged 18, Connor left his special school, where he was safe and happy, and moved into the next phase of 'care': an Assessment and Treatment Unit run by Southern Health. He was never assessed. He was 'treated' with sedatives. Reports of his seizures were ignored. Locked in a bathroom, while his supervisor ordered groceries on-line, he drowned.

Stephen Unwin's devastating dramatisation of his mother's published memoir begins on that unforgettable scorching day in 2013.

So starts Sara's tireless, fearless mission to expose the scandal of neglect and indifference which lead to Connor's entirely preventable death while under NHS 'care'. It culminates  and the irony is savage  with a tense, sickening scene in which Sara herself is put on trial, accused of going to work, instead of staying at home with her son, judged 'monstrous' by his case-worker.

Connor's mum, Sara, calls her son LB, short for Laughing Boy. Also London Buses, which her fun, funny child cuddled as others kids cuddle teddies. He hated shops, loud noise and darkness

He was 'quirky', says Sara (pictured, Janie Dee), an Oxford academic, smiling through tears. Autistic, epileptic, Connor saw things in his own way. He could be a 'handful', but he was easy to love

Blurry images of children singing, of a smiling little Connor are projected on a curved white wall  like the end of a bath. Treasured videos. But Connor himself is ever-present, played by Alfie Friedman, intensely alive, asking questions, making statements, always ending in the word 'Mum'. The connection between them is extraordinary, as is Janie Dee's performance as his doggedly determined mother, her searing grief contained, her fury and frustration spilling over.

Almost unbearable, but essential campaigning theatre.

Jermyn Street Theatre to May 31; Theatre Royal, Bath, June 4-8.

ON TOUR

BY VERONICA LEE

Moby Dick

Verdict: A whale of a tale

Rating:

Retelling Herman Melville's 19th-century novel about one man's obsession with the eponymous whale is no mean feat, and Sebastian Armesto's adaptation certainly has a good try. On Kate Bunce's set of wooden planks, scaffolding and a sailcloth, he and director Jesse Jones spin the yarn  with its famous opening line 'Call me Ishmael'  using words, movement and music (mostly sea-shanties) with a nine-strong cast of actor-musicians.

Despite being a bracing story set mostly on the high seas, the first act moves slowly as Ishmael (Mark Arends) tell us why he's about to board a whaling ship, and how his friendship with harpooner Queequeg (Tom Swale) began.

Retelling Herman Melville's 19th-century novel about one man's obsession with the eponymous whale is no mean feat, and Sebastian Armesto's adaptation certainly has a good try

Despite being a bracing story set mostly on the high seas, the first act moves slowly as Ishmael (Mark Arends, pictured) tell us why he's about to board a whaling ship, and how his friendship with harpooner Queequeg (Tom Swale) began

Once we're under sail things move more briskly and we see Ahab (Guy Rhys), captain of the Pequod, becoming ever more obsessed with finding the elusive Moby Dick. He's intent on getting revenge on the leviathan that took his leg, and the play's two big scenes  encounters with sperm whales on the ocean waves  are genuinely thrilling: one ending with the stage bathed in red light, signifying the gory mess that killing one of these huge beasts involved.

The programme notes indicate the creative team's wish to draw parallels between the wanton killing of whales in the 19th century and environmental destruction in the 21st. But happily Simple8's touring production, in association with Royal & Derngate, doesn't dwell on the political; rather it efficiently parlays the human weakness at the heart of Melville's book.

As first mate Starbuck (Hannah Emanuel) points out: 'Let Ahab beware of Ahab.' And it's the captain's single-minded pursuit that will do for them all.

Moby Dick is touring until June 22 (simple8.co.uk)



BY VERONICA LEE

Frankie Goes To Bollywood

Verdict: Razzle but no dazzle

Rating:

As with Bollywood movies, writer/director Pravesh Kumar packs a lot into his new musical, an entertaining but uneven mix of homage, satire, music and comedy.

Orphaned British-Asian Frankie (Laila Zaidi) works at her local cinema in Milton Keynes with her 'sister-cousin' Goldy (Katie Stasi); a chance meeting there with Bollywood director Prem (an underused Navin Kundra) takes her to Mumbai, to star in a film.

Her fantasy of India's gargantuan film industry welcoming her into its bosom soon turns into a nightmare when she discovers it's riven with misogyny and nepotism, and peopled by men like Raju King (Shakil Hussain, doing a marvellous turn as a big-on-ego, short-on-talent leading man).

While Mr Kumar takes his time to lay out the many strands in the story (the evening could do with a judicious cut), Frankie's transition from sweet teen to stroppy diva happens too suddenly to be plausible  even if it is, like so much else in this busy production, entirely predictable.

As with Bollywood movies, writer/director Pravesh Kumar packs a lot into his new musical, an entertaining but uneven mix of homage, satire, music and comedy

Orphaned British-Asian Frankie (Laila Zaidi) works at her local cinema in Milton Keynes with her 'sister-cousin' Goldy (Katie Stasi); a chance meeting there with Bollywood director Prem (an underused Navin Kundra) takes her to Mumbai, to star in a film

That's frustrating, as the writer is making some interesting points about belonging and identity, and how women are treated not just in Bollywood but in Indian society, which laps up the industry's output while not, he suggests, questioning its unrealistic portrayal of women and relationships.

The character Malika (a strong Helen K. Wint), for example, is Raju's leading lady but she's quickly swept aside when the younger Frankie comes along.

Andy Kumar's costume designs add lustre  saris unrolling to form a film backdrop when the action moves to Mumbai is an inspired touch  and the talented cast elevate the otherwise unmemorable songs: a mix of stirring pop ballads and Bollywood beats by Niraj Chag and Tasha Taylor Johnson. Ms Zaidi and Ms Stasi, meanwhile, are superb.

For tour dates see rifcotheatre.com
Chris Pine playfully wore a bathrobe-style coat over pajamas as he headed to Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week to plug his directorial debut Poolman.

Along with helming and co-writing the feature, Chris, 43, also stars in it alongside Annete Bening, Ariana DeBose, Danny DeVito and Jennifer Jason Leigh.

In the run-up to the theatrical release of his upcoming movie, Chris has repeatedly caught the eye for his striking wardrobe choices.

He did not disappoint when he surfaced this Thursday to tape a late-night TV appearance with Jimmy in aid of Poolman.

Wrapped in a navy bathrobe that he wore open, Chris amped up the watery effect in an aquamarine pajama top and a matching set of tiny shorts.

Chris Pine playfully wore a bathrobe-style coat over pajamas as he headed to Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week to plug his directorial debut Poolman

While whirling through the publicity rounds for his upcoming movie, Chris has repeatedly caught the eye for his striking wardrobe choices

Wrapped in a navy bathrobe that he wore open, Chris amped up the watery effect in an aquamarine pajama top and a matching set of tiny shorts

The silver fox, who has been sporting a bushy salt-and-pepper beard, left his top few buttons tantalizingly undone over his bronzed chest.

Chris stars in his new film as Darren - an apartment complex pool man with a philosophical streak - while Annette and Danny feature as his neighbors.

Eventually Darren becomes aware of a water heist and is launched into a series of film noir misadventures that include a femme fatale.

The comedy mystery boasts a cast that includes DeWanda Wise, the star of the Netflix series adapted from Spike Lee's classic movie She's Gotta Have It.

Groundhog Day actor Stephen Tobolowsky, The Shawshank Redemption alum Clancy Brown and veteran English actress Juliet Mills are also seen in the film.

Shedding light on his fashion sense, Chris recently revealed that many of his Poolman costumes were lifted from his real-life wardrobe.

'I wear an outfit in it thats basically my version of Cary Grant in To Catch a Thief, which is one of my favorite films,' the Star Trek heartthrob told Access. 'I wear two of my own hats in it, so Im very much into the Poolman aesthetic.'

He cut a particularly eye-catching figure at Poolman's Los Angeles premiere, thrown late last month at Quentin Tarantino's Vista Theatre.

Along with helming and co-writing the feature, Chris, 43, also stars in it alongside Annete Bening (right) and Jennifer Jason Leigh (left)

Chris stars in his new film as Darren - an apartment complex pool man with a philosophical streak - while Annette and Danny feature as his neighbors

He cut a particularly eye-catching figure at Poolman's Los Angeles premiere, thrown late last month at Quentin Tarantino's Vista Theatre

Chris made a splash in an 'I [heart] LA' t-shirt with a blue blazer, a high-cut pair of tight denim shorts, a large flower in his lapel and even a scraggly blonde wig.

Poolman is slated for a limited theatrical release in America this Friday - eight months after its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The movie was savaged by the critics after its debut, to the point it currently holds a dismal 23% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

'Not only the worst film I saw during the fall festival season but would likely be one of the worst films in any year it came out,' wrote Variety critic Owen Gleiberman.
Orlando Bloom is no stranger to the movie blockbuster, having starred in two epic franchises - Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean - but he has now revealed that there is one major film on his list of credits that he did that he actually didn't want to do.

The 47-year-old British actor, who is engaged to popstar Katy Perry, made the admission during a new interview with Variety, when he was asked if he could remember various lines he's said in different movies.

He was given a line from one particular hit - which grossed nearly $500 million worldwide when it was in theaters - but he couldn't place it.

When the actor finally realized what movie it was, he admitted, 'I think I just blanked that movie out of my brain, by the way.'

While the film was certainly a summer blockbuster, Bloom did not have fond memories from the film... 2004's Troy with Brad Pitt.

Orlando Bloom is no stranger to the movie blockbuster, starring in two epic franchises - Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean - but there is one huge movie he did that he actually didn't want to do

While the film was certainly a summer blockbuster, Bloom did not have fond memories from the film... 2004's Troy with Brad Pitt

Bloom portrayed Paris, the younger brother of Eric Bana's Hector, the commander of the Trojan armies, in the film from director Wolfgang Petersen.

He was already a household name, coming off the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie, The Curse of the Black Pearl.

Bloom admitted, 'So many people love that movie, but for me, playing that character was just like...' as the actor made a motion slitting his throat.

'Am I allowed to say all these things? I didn't want to do the movie. I didn't want to play this character,' he said.

Bloom admitted, 'The movie was great. It was Brad (Pitt) and it was Eric (Bana) and it was Peter O'Toole and I'm like, "How am I going to play this character? It was completely against everything I had felt in my being.'

He added that one part of the script called for Paris to, 'crawl along the floor, having been beaten by somebody and just holds his brother's leg.'

Bloom said that he admitted, 'I'm not going to be able to do this,' though one of his agents at the time told him, 'But that's the moment that'll make it.'

'I completely fell for that line of an agent, and that's why I've blanked that line from my mind,' Bloom admitted.

Bloom portrayed Paris, the younger brother of Eric Bana's Hector, the commander of the Trojan armies, in the film from director Wolfgang Petersen

Bloom admitted, 'So many people love that movie, but for me, playing that character was just like...' as the actor made a motion slitting his throat

'Am I allowed to say all these things? I didn't want to do the movie. I didn't want to play this character,' he said

Troy was based on Homer's Iliad and Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, with Pitt playing Achilles and Brian Cox playing King Agamemnon

Troy was based on Homer's Iliad and Quintus Smyrnaeus' Posthomerica, with Pitt playing Achilles and Brian Cox playing King Agamemnon.

The film - scripted by Game of Thrones co-creator David Benioff - took in $133.3 million domestic and $497.4 million worldwide.

Bloom would go on to continue in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and he's most recently coming off Gran Turismo and Carnival Row.

He most recently starred in Red Right Hand, which also starred Garret Dillahunt and Andie MacDowell.
Series, which debuted in 2017, is prequel to The Big Bang Theory

A Young Sheldon executive producer explained how the show tackled the tough task in depicting the death of one of its beloved characters.

'The way we brought this show to an end here, it's emotional,' Steve Holland told Variety on Thursday. 'I was emotional doing it. It's emotional for the characters. It's emotional watching it back.'

On the show's episode titled A New Home and a Traditional Texas Torture, which aired Thursday and begins streaming Friday on Paramount+, it was revealed the character George Cooper, played by Lance Barber, had a fatal heart attack.

George's death had earlier been revealed on The Big Bang Theory, the CBS series Young Sheldon is a spinoff of.

On that show, the adult incarnation of his storyline son Sheldon Cooper (Jim Parsons) had said he'd been 14 when his father had died.

Young Sheldon executive producer Steve Holland explained how the show tackled the tough task in depicting the death of one of its beloved characters. The cast's Zoe Perry, Raegan Revord, Iain Armitage, Lance Barber and Montana Jordan pictured in 2017

Jim Parsons played the adult incarnation of Sheldon Cooper on The Big Bang Theory, and narrated Young Sheldon

In the storyline of Young Sheldon's seventh season, the younger incarnation of Sheldon is 14-years-old.

Producers had previously indicated that George's passing would be addressed in the last season of the show, according to the outlet, without specifying when that would happen.

'We always knew we were going to address it this season,' Holland told Variety Thursday. 'We always knew we were going to get to the funeral this season.

'And we always knew that Georges death would happen off screen, that we didnt want to witness it. It was just a question of when.'

Holland told the outlet that plans to depict George's death and funeral on the series finale were 're-shifted' at the suggestion of the show's co-creator and executive producer Chuck Lorre.

'I think it was Chuck who said, "This is mostly a positive, uplifting show. Lets not leave the audience deep in their grief. Lets watch the family start to piece itself back together, and lets end with a little hope."'

Holland told the outlet that the show hoped to depict George's death 'in a way that was hopefully a little surprising' to the audience, adding that 'people who know Big Bang are expecting it.

'So thats why it happens at the end of [episode 12] - we thought maybe we can catch people off-guard,' Holland said. 'Even though they know its going to come, maybe they wont see it coming then.

George's death had earlier been revealed on The Big Bang Theory, the CBS series Young Sheldon is a spinoff of. On that show, the adult Sheldon Cooper had revealed he'd been 14 when his father had died. Pictured in the 2017 pilot episode

Young Sheldon executive producer Steve Holland was pictured at a CBS event at Paramount Studios on May 2

Holland told the outlet about the creative task of intermingling info revealed on the The Big Bang Theory into its prequel series.

'It was pretty much just his age,' Holland said. 'And to be honest, even Big Bang canon isnt entirely consistent.

'It got more consistent. We know it was 14 and we know that Sheldon goes to Caltech right afterwards and leaves Georgie and the rest of the family behind grieving. Those were the two pieces that we knew.'

Asked about how actor Lance Barber took the news of his character's tragic turn, Holland said the actor has 'known since the beginning of the show that George Sr. had an expiration date.

'We slowed time down a little bit. Like, we extended it because the kids, our actual cast members Raegan and Iain, are 16 in real life,' he said. 'We stretched one year out into a couple seasons to keep Lance alive as far as long as we could. But he always knew this was coming.'

Holland said that the show's imminent conclusion helped ease the blow of his character's death.

Actor Lance Barber, 50, pictured last month in Hollywood, played the role over 139 episodes

The cast's Annie Potts, Perry, Armitage, Barber, Revord and Jordan attended the premiere of the show's 100th episode at Warner Bros. Studios on March 18, 2022 in Burbank, California

Parsons and Mayim Bialik are slated to appear on the Young Sheldon series finale slated to air May 16 at 8/7c on CBS

'I think also it being the last season made it a little easier on him that there wasnt going to be seasons going forward that he wasnt going to get to be a part of, but he was great because he really wanted to be there,' he said.

Parsons, who serves as a narrator on the spinoff series, and Mayim Bialik are slated to appear on the Young Sheldon series finale slated to air May 16 at 8/7c on CBS.

Fans of the franchise can look forward to the next spinoff, Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage, slated to debut this autumn on CBS.
Stephen asked the same 15 questions that other celebrities have answered as part of The Colbert Questionert

Ryan Gosling was asked to describe the rest of his life in just five words on Thursday's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS.

The 43-year-old Canadian actor was given the challenge by host Stephen, 59, while taking The Colbert Questionert.

'Run it by Eva first,' Ryan answered, referencing his partner Eva Mendes, 50.

Ryan recorded the segment for the network talk show as part of his media blitz to promote his new film The Fall Guy.

Stephen told Ryan that his show had developed a 'time-tested way of penetrating the bark of isolation we wrap around our hearts as human beings'.

Ryan Gosling was asked to describe the rest of his life in just five words on Thursday's episode of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on CBS

He then asked the same 15 questions that other celebrities have answered as part of The Colbert Questionert.

'What is the best sandwich?,' Stephen asked in the traditional first question.

'Ice cream,' Ryan answered.

'I see how this is going to go,' Stephen said.

'Because you can have all the sandwiches in the world and it would be a tough decision. But the ice cream sandwich comes out, your mind is made up. Your decision is made for you,' Ryan said.

'Do you lick around the edges?,' Stephen asked.

'That is none of your business,' Ryan quipped.

Ryan revealed that his first concert was Elvis Perry and explained that his uncle Perry used to perform as Elvis.

The 43-year-old Canadian actor referenced his partner Eva Mendes, shown together in September 2012 in Toronto, when asked to describe the rest of his life in five words

Stephen told Ryan that his show had developed a 'time-tested way of penetrating the bark of isolation we wrap around our hearts as human beings'

'What is the best sandwich?,' Stephen asked in the traditional first question

'Ice cream,' Ryan answered

Ryan recorded the segment for the network talk show as part of his media blitz to promote his new film The Fall Guy in which he plays stuntman Colt Seavers, shown in a scene

'He was amazing. The best I've ever seen. He put me in his acts. I gave out teddy bears during Teddy Bear,' Ryan said.

'What is the scariest animal?,' Stephen asked.

'Man,' Ryan answered.

'Am I wrong? Or the mosquito. Kill more people than anything else,' Ryan said with a laugh.

'Apples or oranges,' Stephen asked.

Ryan said it was 'tough' to pick between them.

'Oranges help with scurvy and I do not want that again. The apple, you can make a bong out of,' Ryan said.

'What do you think happens when we die?,' Stephen asked.

'What do you think happens when we die?,' Stephen asked

'We wake up,' Ryan said.

Stephen asked Ryan to name his favorite action move other than his new movie The Fall Guy.

Ryan first named the 1985 martial arts film No Retreat, No Surrender about a teenager who learns how to fight bullies from the spirit of Bruce Lee.

He then said First Blood starring Sylvester Stallone as Vietnam War veteran John Rambo was his favorite.

'He just wanted to have a cup of coffee in that diner, Stephen. He was just John and they made him be Rambo. They forced him to be Rambo. He didn't want to be Rambo. He just wanted a cup of coffee, but he had long hair and had to get out of town,' Ryan said.

'Favorite smell,' Stephen said.

'He just wanted to have a cup of coffee in that diner, Stephen. He was just John and they made him be Rambo. They forced him to be Rambo. He didn't want to be Rambo. He just wanted a cup of coffee, but he had long hair and had to get out of town,' Ryan said of Vietnam War veteran John Rambo in First Blood

'It's hard not to give it to flowers on this one. They've been working on this for millions of years. You should give it to them. But I want to say dogs' paws,' Ryan said.

He said that dog paws smell like either popcorn or nachos.

'And my dog George who is no longer with us he had the perfect blend. He was nachos and popcorn,' Ryan said.

'Earliest memory?,' Stephen asked.

'My mom used to bake cakes as a side hustle. And I remember one morning waking up to the smell of a baked cake and I went into the kitchen and she made this wedding cake and she plugged it in and this waterfall came down it. And she had built a motor into it and there was water falling down the cake and I remember thinking, my mom is pretty cool,' Ryan said.

'If you only get one song to listen to for the rest of your life. What is it?,' Stephen asked.

'Push It by Salt-n-Pepa. It hasn't gotten old yet. And it's great life advice,' Ryan said of the 1987 song by the New York City hip hop group.

'Whatever it is, you know. Push it. And then if you're gonna do it, push it, push it really good,' Ryan said.

'My mom used to bake cakes as a side hustle. And I remember one morning waking up to the smell of a baked cake and I went into the kitchen and she made this wedding cake and she plugged it in and this waterfall came down it. And she had built a motor into it and there was water falling down the cake and I remember thinking, my mom is pretty cool,' Ryan said when asked about his earliest memory

'If you only get one song to listen to for the rest of your life. What is it?,' Stephen asked

'Push It by Salt-n-Pepa. It hasn't gotten old yet. And it's great life advice,' Ryan said of the 1987 song by the New York City hip hop group. 'Whatever it is, you know. Push it. And then if you're gonna do it, push it, push it really good'

Ryan and actress Eva have been together since 2011 and have daughters Esmeralda Amada, 9, and Amada Lee, 8, together.

The Fall Guy also starring Emily Blunt and Aaron Taylor-Johnson was released on May 3 by Universal Pictures.

Barbra Streisand, 82, revealed that she has a rose named after her while answering The Colbert Questionert in a January episode.

The Colbert Questionert has become a regular fixture on the CBS talk show and Cate Blanchett, Nicki Minaj and Mariah Carey recently have answered the 15 questions.
Health ministry vows to thoroughly verify qualifications before deployment

By Jun Ji-hye

A heated debate has been sparked by the governments recent decision to allow doctors holding licenses issued in foreign nations to legally practice medicine here without passing required exams in case the country faces a serious public health care crisis.

The Ministry of Health and Welfare came up with the idea amid prolonged medical service disruptions, caused by the ongoing nationwide walkout by thousands of trainee doctors protesting the policy to increase the quota for medical students starting next year.

Supporters for the introduction of foreign medical license holders say it seems like an inevitable choice if the medical service disruptions, which began in February, continue.

However, objectors claim that it would be difficult to ensure qualifications of foreign license holders and that the issue of who is to blame could be raised in case of medical accidents.

On Wednesday, the health ministry announced the plan to revise the enforcement regulation of the Medical Act. Under the revision, those who have acquired doctors licenses in other countries will be able to practice medicine in Korea upon approval by the health ministry when the country issues the highest national health crisis alert.

On Feb. 23, the ministry raised the alert level to the uppermost tier of serious in response to the walkout by trainee doctors, so the revision plan is interpreted as a preparation in case the current health care standoff is protracted further.

As to possible communication problems with foreign license holders, the revision is expected to apply mainly to Koreans who studied medicine overseas and acquired licenses there.

I agree with the need to bring foreign medical license holders to this country as Korean doctors have refused to treat patients, an online commentator commented on the related news article.

Another commentator wrote, Bringing in foreign doctors is natural in this competitive society. Korean doctors should accept the reality.

On the other hand, critics called the qualifications of foreign license holders into questions, as the revision would enable these people to skip the relatively complicated procedures they previously would have had to go through to legally practice medicine in Korea.

Under the current regulation, those who studied medicine overseas would have to pass a preliminary examination in Korea comprising written and performance tests. And then they would have to pass a state exam to finally be allowed to practice medicine here.

According to Rep. Shin Hyun-young of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, Friday, among 424 foreign medical school graduates who applied for all these procedures between 2005 and 2023, only 41.4 percent passed. The doctor-turned-lawmaker cited documents from the health ministry and the Korea Health Personnel Licensing Examination Institute.

Characteristics of diseases and responses to treatments vary between different races, sexes, regions and living habits. Even if one graduates from a medical school in a foreign nation, they should have to pass required exams again in Korea to practice medicine here, Shin said.

Skipping these procedures to deploy foreign license holders immediately is a dangerous idea not only to patients but also to themselves when considering possible medical accidents.

Lim Hyun-taek, president of the Korean Medical Association, the largest doctors coalition here, criticized the government for ruining the countrys medical system.

Many have visited Korea to learn from our advanced medical skills. Nevertheless, the government is leaving behind Korean doctors in the standoff and moving to bring in low-quality medical professionals, he said.

In response to growing concerns, the health ministry said it will thoroughly verify qualifications of foreign license holders. It added the enforcement regulation revision, scheduled for later this month, does not mean they will be able to start practicing medicine immediately.

The revision is a preemptive measure in preparation for a contingency, Second Vice Health Minister Park Min-soo during a press briefing. We will establish a system to prevent unqualified physicians from treating patients in this country.
Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth visited SiriusXM's Jess Cagle Show in Los Angeles on Thursday to talk up their new movie Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga.

For the promotional appearance, the 28-year-old actress teased her cleavage in a sexy black faux leather top with a large, zipped keyhole opening at the front.

She teamed the sleek look with creased black trousers, which she wore underneath a mini skirt with two front pockets.

The Florida-born fashionista rounded out the outfit with a pair of pointy-toe black heels.

For his part, 40-year-old Chris wore a striped blue blazer over a gray shirt and black tank top.

Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth visited SiriusXM's Jess Cagle Show in Los Angeles on Thursday to talk up their new movie Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga; pictured with director George Miller

For the promotional appearance, the 28-year-old actress teased her cleavage in a sexy black faux leather top with a zip keyhole opening at the front

Anya teamed her sleek look with creased black trousers, which she wore underneath a mini skirt with two front pockets

Anya's long blonde locks were arranged in a precise center part and ironed straight as they flowed over her chest.

Her face was immaculately made up with flattering tones that warmed her cheeks and pout.

And the stunner showed off a glossy plum-colored manicure as she discussed her latest flick.

Chris added black pants to his outfit and cuffed his layered sleeves.

He looked typically handsome with his dirty blonde hair styled in soft spikes and he rocked a trimmed beard.

The acting duo was joined by Mad Max creator George Miller, 79.

The filmmaker wore a black blazer over a dark blue button-up shirt and added olive green trousers.

He wore black shoes as well as round, black-framed eyeglasses with lightly tinted sepia lenses.

Anya engaged in conversation about the film with a microphone in hand. She showed off a glossy plum-colored manicure

For his part, 40-year-old Chris wore a striped blue blazer over a gray shirt and black tank top

The acting duo was joined by Mad Max creator George Miller, 79

Taylor-Joy's long blond locks were parted down the center and ironed straight

Liam smiled while contributing to the conversation around the action movie

Taylor-Joy recently sat down with Variety for a gorgeous photo shoot and to discuss Furiosa.

In the interview she revealed the shocking request that Miller regularly made as they shot the film.

She explained: 'We'd do takes where he'd be like, "Do it again with your mouth closed." He has a thing about my mouth. He thinks when my mouth is open, I look too young.'

Anya added, 'This is the wasteland, and any outbreak of emotion is punished by death....

'Any empathy is punished by death  any kindness, really. It all made sense to me. I think the restrictions that were placed on me by George did create a radiation off the character, because she is being suppressed continuously throughout the film.'
Liev Schreiber and his wife Taylor Neisen got their weekend off to an early start by hitting the red carpet at an event in New York City.

The 56-year-old actor and his 31-year-old wife were spotted arriving at the 2024 Ali Forney Center A Place At The Table Gala at Cipriani Wall Street.

The outing comes just one night after they were both spotted at the 2024 Public Theater Gala on Wednesday evening.

Schreiber and his wife were joined by other celebs on the red carpet such as Marcia Gay Harden and Tommy Dorfman.

The annual event honors, 'remarkable young individuals at the core of our work and the heart of our mission,' according to the Ali Forney Center.

Liev Schreiber and his wife Taylor Neisen got their weekend off to an early start by hitting the red carpet at an event in New York City

Schreiber and his wife were joined by other celebs on the red carpet such as Marcia Gay Harden and Tommy Dorfman

Schreiber stepped out in a dark green suede suit with a white dress shirt and a black tie for the event.

The scruffy actor also wore black-framed glasses with matching green suede pants and black dress shoes to complete his look.

His wife Neisen, who he married in July 2023, a month before they welcomed their first child in August 2023, opted for a more colorful look.

She stepped out in a bright royal blue dress, her blonde locks flowing down to her shoulders.

Her dress was cinched off with a large black belt with a feathery ruffled skirt with gold strand earrings.

She completed her look with a canary yellow handbag and strappy royal heels for the outing.

Schreiber and Neisen - a former beauty queen who won Miss South Dakota in 2012 - started dating in 2017.

The actor returned to Broadway for a revival of John Patrick Shanley's Pulitzer-winning play Doubt.

His wife Neisen, who he married in July 2023, a month before they welcomed their first child in August 2023, opted for a more colorful look

Marcia Gay Harden rocks an all-black look at the 2024 Ali Forney Center A Place At the Table Gala

Tommy Dofman hit the red carpet at the 2024 Ali Forney Center A Place At the Table Gala

He plays Father Flynn, a role originated on Broadway by Brian F. Flynn and played in the 2008 movie adaptation by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Schreiber stars alongside Amy Ryan as Sister Aloysius, originally played on Broadway by Tony winner Cherry Jones and in the film by Meryl Streep.

The Sister James role originated by Heather Goldenhersh on Broadway and played in the movie by Amy Adams, is played by Zoe Kazan in the revival.

The Doubt revival debuted at The Todd Haimes Theater on February 4 and closed on April 21.
Deborra-Lee Furness has returned to acting following her split from husband of 27 years, Hugh Jackman.

And the Australian actress, 68, was seen celebrating her new film with her 'bestie' Hollywood hunk Eric Bana Thursday in New York.

The pair were attending a special screening of their movie Force of Nature: The Dry 2 at NeueHouse Cinema in Madison Square.

Deborra-Lee looked chic in a black blouse with sheer arms and a white collar at the neck for the occasion.

She paired the top with loose black trousers and wore her blonde hair up and straightened at the front.

Deborra-Lee Furness has returned to acting following her shocking split from husband of 27 years, Hugh Jackman. The Australian actress, 68, was seen with her 'bestie', Hollywood hunk Eric Bana on Thursday in New York. Both pictured

The pair were attending a special screening of their film Force of Nature: The Dry 2 at NeueHouse Cinema in Madison Square

Eric, 55, was suave in a matching light blue suit jacket and pants with white shirt unbuttoned at the neck.

According to Woman's Day, the pair quickly became pals while working on the set of Force of Nature: The Dry 2 together.

'She and Eric had a great time filming and were set buddies from day one. She's getting a real kick out of co-starring with him,' an 'insider' allegedly told the publication.

Deborra-Lee looked chic in a black blouse with sheer arms and chest and a white collar at the neck

She paired the top with loose black pants and wore her blonde hair up and straightened at the front

Eric, 55, was suave in a matching light blue suit jacket and pants with white shirt unbuttoned at the neck

'Having Eric around on her first foray into acting in a long time was a huge comfort to her.'

The source went on to say Deborra-Lee found Eric 'funny and handsome', while the actor was impressed by her acting talent.

Eric is happily married to his long-time wife Rebecca Gleeson.

Deborra-Lee has found a friend to lean on following her shocking split from husband of 27 years, Hugh Jackman

It comes after Deborra-Lee shared a very telling message about her split from Hugh on her T-shirt as she stepped out in Bondi over summer.

She proudly donned a white shirt with 'S**T HAPPENS written in bold lettering across the front.

The Correlli actress and Wolverine star ended their 27-year marriage last year, with the pair announcing their shock split in September.

Eric happily married to his long-time wife Rebecca Gleeson

Delivering the news with a united front, they told their fans they separated 'to pursue our individual growth'.

'We have been blessed to share almost three decades together in a wonderful, loving marriage,' the couple said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE.

'Our journey now is shifting and we have decided to separate to pursue our individual growth.'

The pair tied the knot in 1996 after crossing paths on the set of Correlli in 1995, and share two adopted children: son Oscar, 23, and daughter Ava, 18.
Eurovision fans went wild as ABBA teased their return in a social media clip on Thursday.

They dominated the music scene throughout the 1970s, but after just 10 years - and two divorces - they called it quits in 1983.

But since Eurovision 2024 kicked off, rumours that the band are set to reunite for a performance on the singing competition have started to spread, as they prepare to mark 50 years since they won with hit track Waterloo.

The band - made up of Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus - shared a clip to their TikTok page popping out from behind a bush.

The sound playing over the video said: 'Ok guys we're back, did you miss us? Because we missed you'

Eurovision fans went wild as ABBA teased their return in a social media clip on Thursday

Fans rushed to the comment section to share their excitement, with one penning: 'Omg if they appear at Eurovision I'll absolutely explode';

'Stop they are so iconic'; 'We need ABBA at Eurovision';

'The best and most important comeback in history? We're ready'

It comes after ABBA thanked fans in a rare statement as the band celebrate the 50th anniversary of their Eurovision Song Contest victory.

The iconic 70s pop group remain the show's most famous and successful exports after they were crowned winners in April 1974 with their song, Waterloo.

Reflecting on the milestone, the group issued a joint statement as they expressed their gratitude for fans 'steadfast loyalty and support through the years'.

To mark the anniversary, several pianos across Europe will play a pre-recorded by Benny simultaneously to make it sound as though he is playing live.

Sharing a picture of the foursome winning the accolade, they wrote: 'It's slightly dizzying and deeply humbling to think that millions of you who saw us for the first time in the Eurovision final 1974 have passed our music on not only to one generation, but to several.

'We see evidence of that every time one of us visits Abba Voyage in London, and it's because of this we can celebrate the 50th anniversary of that event in the knowledge that our songs still resonate around the world.'

They continued: 'It's difficult to comprehend that 50 years have gone by since the four of us waited backstage for the verdicts of all the juries around Europe at the Dome in Brighton.

'So what were out dreams during those suspenseful moments or in the chaos in the aftermath of the victory we had secured with the smallest margin in Eurovision history?

'Four different dreams, no doubt, but whatever they were, however grand, reality has surpassed them, that's for sure.'

They dominated the music scene throughout the 1970s, but after just 10 years - and two divorces - they called it quits in 1983

The band - made up of Benny Andersson, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, Agnetha Faltskog and Bjorn Ulvaeus - shared a clip to their TikTok page popping out from behind a bush

Fans rushed to the comment section to share their excitement, with one penning: 'Omg if they appear at Eurovision I'll absolutely explode'

The group went on to have a huge repertoire of hits including Dancing Queen (1976), Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (1979) and Super Trouper (1976) to name a few.

Since their split their catalogue of music has inspired the Mamma Mia! film franchise and theatre show, and more recently the incredible ABBA Voyage.

The iconic hologram show has pumped 322million into the British economy - with more than a million tickets bought at up to 181.50 each.

The gig five years in the making takes the audience back to Abba's 1970s and 1980s prime and allows fans to experience them in concert, despite their split back in December 1982.

Thanking fans for their continued support they added: 'Many of you were there from the very start and have followed us ever since  for over half a century!

'Music you discover and learn to love when you grow up or even later in life has a way of staying with you forever.

'We share that experience with you and to know that our music has become a constant in your lives is a wonderful thing.'

They concluded: 'Throughout the years we have been blessed with the outpouring of love from you, our fans.

'We feel it and we want to know that hardly a day goes by when we're not reminded of it. To say thank you for what you're giving us without sounding trivial is not easy and this is not a moment of triviality.

Since their split in 1982 their catalogue of music has inspired the Mamma Mia! film franchise and theatre show, and more recently the incredible ABBA Voyage.

The lengthy statement thanked fans for their continued support they added: 'Many of you were there from the very start and have followed us ever since  for over half a century!

'It is a happy and, at the same time, solemn moment and we can only hope that you understand how deeply grateful we are for a long, successful career and for your steadfast loyalty and support through the years. Thank you!'

The foursome broke up in 1982, and whilst they came together for a one-off occasion to mark the debut of ABBA Voyage in 2022, there hasn't been a 'proper' reunion with all four on stage singing together again.

Last year, a spokesperson for the band Gorel Hanser issued a 'clear denial' of a Eurovision reunion, saying there were 'no such plans' and it was 'definitely wishful thinking from fans.

Benny added: 'I don't want to. And if I don't want to, the others won't. It's the same for all four of us  someone says, 'no'  it's a no.'

On Sunday, performers representing 26 countries from across Europe and beyond take to the stage at the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest.

On Tuesday, the annual music competition kicked off with its first of two semi finals in the Swedish city of Malmo - with ten of the 15 acts performing voted through to Saturday's finale by viewers.

The second semi final on Thursday will further narrow the original field of 37 competing nations to 26 for the highly anticipated final, where frontrunners include Croatia's Baby Lasagna and Switzerland's Nemo.

Ireland's entry also left viewers predicting the country could win the contest after non-binary artist Bambie Thug, 31, from County Cork, delivered a sensational performance of their song Doomsday Blue for the crowd on Tuesday.

The band pictured in 2022 arriving at the Abba Voyage concert in London

It comes just ahead of a new film about ABBA 's rise to global stardom, which features never-before-seen footage of tense encounters between the iconic Swedish band.

Documentary ABBA: Against The Odds will tell the epic story of the band's domination of the pop charts - as well as the personal relationships that led to its demise.

A new trailer of the upcoming documentary, which drops on BBC iPlayer on May 4, includes previously unseen clips of Agnetha Faltskog, Bjorn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad.

In one clip, Benny and Bjorn are seen rehearsing on stage together before all the lights go out at which point they are left looking concerned.

While another hints at some of the tensions felt within the group, as Agnetha is spotted looking annoyed on stage as she appears to shout at one of her bandmates.

What made ABBA unique was not only their beloved sound, but the fact the band was made up of two couples.

When the band formed, Agnetha and Bjorn were already married while Benny and Anni-Frid were dating.
Katie Holmes was spotted out solo in New York City on Thursday  three weeks after celebrating daughter Suri's 18th birthday.

The Dawson's Creek star, 45, strolled the sidwalk in beige suede moccasins while chatting on her iPhone.

She layered a stylish black slip dress over a dark green tank top with brown trim.

Katie wore her silky brunette hair down and shielded her eyes with chic gold-framed sunglasses.

The actress accessorized with several layered chain necklaces for her afternoon errand run.

Katie Holmes was spotted out solo in New York City on Thursday  three weeks after celebrating daughter Suri's 18th birthday

Katie made the move from Los Angeles to New York City in 2012 after divorcing husband of six years, Tom Cruise, 61.

The couple began dating in April 2005 and Holmes, who grew up Catholic, began studying Tom's religion Scientology.

Their first and old child, daughter Suri Cruise, was born on April 18, 2006.

Seven months later, Tom and Katie tied the knot in November 2006 during a Scientology ceremony held at Odescalchi Castle in Bracciano, Italy.

Katie shocked fans while she filed to divorce Tom in June 2012. She was eventually granted primary custody of Suri.

It's been reported that Tom has rarely seen his daughter in the last 11 years despite being afforded visitation rights.

Last month, Suri rang in her 18th birthday in New York City while her A-list father was busy shooting the next Mission Impossible film in Europe.

The Dawson's Creek star, 45, strolled the sidwalk in beige suede moccasins while chatting on her iPhone

She layered a stylish black slip dress over a dark green tank top with brown trim

Although he missed his daughter's milestone, Tom did find the time to attend Victoria Beckham's star-studded 50th birthday bash in London two days later.

Now that Suri is a legal adult, the Interview With The Vampire star no longer has to pay child support.

It's been reported that Tom forked over $33,000 per month, totaling around $400,000 a year, plus Suri's expenses, such as medical and education.

While she's estranged from Tom, Suri has a close relationship with mom Katie.

Katie has shared some insight on their tight bond over the years.

In an essay for Vogue Australia, the TV star said it was the 'most precious gift' to spend COVID-19 lockdown with her only child.

'To live for a moment in time without the pressure of results and instead appreciate the natural rhythms of mother and daughter was the most precious gift,' she wrote.

Last month, Katie celebrated her daughter Suri Cruise's 18th birthday in NYC - while her estranged father Tom Cruise, 61, filmed the next Mission Impossible film in Europe; Katie and Suri seen in 2020

Although he missed his daughter's birthday, Tom did find the time to attend Victoria Beckham's star-studded 50th birthday bash in London two days later (pictured)

Also in 2020, Katie gushed to InStyle about how much she loves Suri and marveled at how 'very strong' the teen is; their pair seen in 2017

Also in 2020, Katie gushed to InStyle about how much she loves Suri and marveled at how 'very strong' the teen is.

'I love her so much. My biggest goal has always been to nurture her into her individuality,' she told the magazine.

'To make sure she is 100 percent herself and strong, confident, and able. And to know it. She came out very strong  she's always been a strong personality.'

She described Suri as a 'hard worker' who works tirelessly to master her skills.

'She'll pick an activity and work her butt off until she's really good at it,' Katie said. 'Then she's like, "OK, I'm going to try the next thing."

'She's very focused and a hard worker.'
Ariana Madix was supported by Katie Maloney on Thursday at a dinner celebrating her DSW spring shoe collection in Beverly Hills, California.

The Ariana Madix x DSW Collection Dinner was held at The Peninsula Beverly Hills hotel to celebrate the partnership between the footwear retailer and Vanderpump Rules star Ariana, 38.

Ariana wore a floral print crop top and matching miniskirt for the dinner.

She completed her outfit with open-toed tan platform heels and accessorized with earrings and bracelets.

Ariana had her blonde parted down the middle and pulled back and accentuated her natural beauty with full makeup.

Ariana Madix was supported by Katie Maloney on Thursday at a dinner celebrating her DSW spring shoe collection in Beverly Hills, California

Katie, 37 wore an all-black outfit including Vampire T-shirt, trousers, jacket and heels.

The Bravo star accessorized with black sunglasses and dangling earrings.

Sophia Umansky, 24, attended the event wearing a blue crop top, jeans and a long white sweater.

The daughter of Kyle Richards and Mauricio Umansky had her long brown hair down and also carried a blue purse.

Sophia's half-sister Farrah Aldjufrie, 35, also attended in a tan dress with a long skirt.

Farrah and Sophia also teamed up for a group photo with Alexia Umansky, 27.

Former Vanderpump Rules cast member Dayna Kathan, 33, also supported her friend Ariana.

Dayna wore a black jacket over a short skirt and had her long blonde hair down below her shoulders.

Katie, 37 wore an all-black outfit including Vampire T-shirt, trousers, jacket and heels

Ariana wore a floral print crop top and matching miniskirt for the dinner

Sophia Umansky, 24, attended the event wearing a blue crop top, jeans and a long white sweater

Sophia's half-sister Farrah Aldjufrie, 35, also attended in a tan dress with a long skirt

Farrah and Sophia also teamed up for a group photo with Alexia Umansky

Former Vanderpump Rules cast member Dayna Kathan, 33, also supported her friend Ariana

Ariana's stylist Emily Men, 36, rocked a striped light blue jacket for the dinner along with floral heels.

She had her dark hair down in soft curls and carried a pink purse.

Love Island star Courtney Lynn and comedian Kelsey Darragh also attended the dinner along with Kyra Green.

Ariana launched her exclusive DSW spring collection on April 12 and the partnership will run through June 1 with new drops every three weeks.

The collection includes sneakers, dress heels and flat sandals with a price point ranging from $37 to $120.

Ariana's stylist Emily Men, 36, rocked a striped light blue jacket for the dinner along with floral heels

Love Island star Courtney Lynn wore a sheer dress with a middle cut-out

Writer and comedian Kelsey Darragh also attended the dinner

Dayna, Ariana and Katie teamed up for a photo

Kyra Green posed with Ariana and Courtney

Emily and Katie sat next to each other

Ariana flashed her cute smile during the dinner at The Peninsula Beverly Hills

Ariana launched her exclusive DSW spring collection on April 12 and the partnership will run through June 1 with new drops every three weeks

The collection includes sneakers, dress heels and flat sandals with a price point ranging from $37 to $120

Ariana can next be seen in the upcoming Vanderpump Rules season 11 reunion episodes.

The Bravo show's season finale aired on Tuesday with Ariana refusing to speak with her ex-boyfriend Tom Sandoval, 41, during a group trip to San Francisco.

Lala Kent, 33, voiced her frustration with Ariana who split with Sandoval in March 2023 after learning of his months-long affair with her good friend Rachel Leviss, 29.

'This happened to her, the world rallied around her,' Lala said. 'She now thinks she is Beyonce. It's bulls*** that she can't film with someone that she stays under the same roof!'
Vanessa Feltz is said to have made a swift exit when finding herself at the same event as her ex-fiance, Ben Ofoedu and his new girlfriend, Precious Muir.

Precious, 33, spoke to Richard Eden at the launch of Nativo Show at Inca London restaurant on Thursday, and had words of comfort for the former Radio 2 star, 62.

'Love is unfair,' the model declared of Vanessa, who was with Ben, 52, for 17 years. 'She may have seen us and left. We're happy to be at events with her  hopefully, we can speak to each other at least.

'I can imagine what it must feel like to see someone you've been with for years now dating someone else  it's not easy.'

Precious added: 'There's the age difference. I'm much younger than her, maybe that's a factor as well. I hope she finds somebody that she could fall in love with as well  it's sad what happened.'

Vanessa Feltz is said to have made a swift exit when finding herself at the same event as her ex-fiance, Ben Ofoedu and his new girlfriend, Precious Muir, on Thursday (Pictured in March)

Speaking to Richard Eden, Precious said of Vanessa: 'There's the age difference. I'm much younger than her, maybe that's a factor as well'

In recent months, Vanessa has been seen out on dates with Tinder's 'most swiped man' Stefan-Pierre.

Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, the lothario spoke about one night out with the TV legend after they dined at Sheesh in London's Mayfair in March - sparking dating rumours in the wake of her split from Ben Ofoedu.

Vanessa and Stefan-Pierre sat at an intimate table and reportedly chatted for hours before saying goodbye with a hug.

Stefan revealed that 'amazing' Vanessa was a huge fan of his pheromones when she smelt his aftershave.

He said: 'She's great. A gentleman never tells but she is the most amazing woman and she loves my new fragrance Pierre 47 with the pheromones. We had a bottle of New Zealand Sauvignon blanc with dinner.

The male model is an unexpected choice for the TV host, who just last year swore off toy boys after discovering ex Ben, 51, had been unfaithful.

Yet if her relationship with Stefan-Pierre turns into romance, she'll have moved on with a man nearly half her age.
Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman is set to return for the second season of the Paramount + spy series Special Ops: Lioness.

The 56-year-old Sydney born actress plays the boss of a team of female CIA agents.

Kidman is also an executive producer of the action packed thriller which was penned by Taylor Sheridan, the famed creator of the Kevin Costner Yellowstone series.

Other series regulars including stars Zoe Saldana and Laysla De Oliveira will also return for the second season reported Yahoo News on Friday.

Also announced as featured this season as regulars will be Michael Kelly and Morgan Freeman.

Hollywood superstar Nicole Kidman is set to return for the second season of the Paramount + spy series Special Ops: Lioness. Pictured: Nicole Kidman at the Met Gala this week

Inspired by a real life U.S. military program, the eight-part first season focused on a covert operation in which female agents were recruited to befriend the wives and girlfriends of terrorists.

Season one saw CIA agent Joe (Zoe Saldana) recruit a Marine, Cruz, played by Laysla De Oliveira to make pals with the daughter of a financier who is funding a terrorist program.

A new statement from producers teases that Kidman may play a larger role in season two as Joe's stern boss.

The 56-year-old Sydney born actress plays the boss of a team of female CIA agents. Kidman is also an executive producer of the action packed thriller which was penned by Taylor Sheridan, the famed creator of the Kevin Costner Yellowstone series. Kidman is pictured in a scene from season one of Special Ops: Lioness

'Our Paramount+ audience resoundingly has joined forces in support of Lioness' gripping, global story and the powerhouse performances from Zoe Saldana, Laysla De Oliveira and Nicole Kidman,' said Jeff Grossman, Executive Vice President of Programming at Paramount+.

The statement also confirmed that Sheridan, who wrote all eight episodes of season one, will be back to oversee the series.

It comes after Kidman was honoured at the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award gala in Los Angeles last month.

Inspired by a real life U.S. military prgoram, the eight-part first season focused on a covert operation in which female agents were recruited to befriend the wives and girlfriends of terrorists. It co-stars Zoe Saldana and Laysla De Oliveira. Pictured: Season one

The Australian actress raved the AFI honor was 'beyond my wildest dreams' when she was announced as the recipient earlier in April.

'Receiving this award fills me with overwhelming gratitude,' she wrote at the time. 'To be the first Australian to be honoured in this way leaves me speechless.

Nicole added, 'I grew up as a Sydney suburban girl who just wanted to act; to have forged a career by doing what I love is a blessing beyond my dreams. I thank the AFI for this amazing honour.'

She later shared a throwback photo of herself in one of her first movies, 1983's Bush Christmas.

'This 14 year old girl could have never predicted all the talented people she would get to work with and the many different characters she would get to play,' she captioned the post.

'So excited to celebrate with so many friends and peers on Saturday with the @AmericanFilmInstitue xx,' added Nicole.
They say that black never goes out of fashion and Kaya Scodelario, Jourdan Dunn, and Eleanor Tomlinson proved that to be the case on Thursday night.

The ladies were dressed to impress as they attended the British Vogue and Netflix celebration for the BAFTA TV Awards at 1 Hotel Mayfair in London.

The Gentlemen actress Kaya, 32, looked incredible as she put on a leggy display in a chic little black number.

The stunning ensemble showcased her toned legs and boasted a stylish bow neckline and an A-line hem.

She chose to further accessorise the look with a pair of white gold diamond earrings and wore several rings.

Kaya opted for adding inches to her frame with a pair of black platform heels and styled her brunette locks up in a half-up-half-down hairstyle.

The Gentlemen's Kaya Scodelario, (left) joined sideboob-flashing Jourdan Dunn, (right) and Eleanor Tomlinson in matching hue at the Vogue x Netflix BAFTA bash at 1 Hotel Mayfair in London on Thursday

One Day actress Eleanor Tomlinson, 31, attended the event and put on a very glamorous display in a black jumpsuit as she waljed the red carpet

Meanwhile, braless supermodel Jourdan, 33, made a show-stopping entrance in an all-black ensemble which showed off her sideboob,

Her ensemble consisted of a high-neck top and a satin maxi skirt.

The stylish ensemble showed off her enviable figure and stunning tattoo on her ribcage.

She added inches to her frame with a pair of black platform heels and further accessorised with a cluster of diamond earrings.

To finish off the look, Jourdan toted her essentials around in a mini black handbag which featured a chain link shoulder strap.

Meanwhile, Poldark and One Day actress Eleanor Tomlinson, 31, also put on a very glamorous display in a black jumpsuit.

The stylish ensemble boasted a strapless neckline and a figure-hugging design.

The beauty opted for adding inches to her frame with a pair of high heels and further accessorised with a pair of pearl drop earrings.

Kaya, who used to star in Skins, looked incredible in her short mini dress

Supermodel Jourdan made a show-stopping entrance in her all-black ensemble consisting of a high-neck top and a satin maxi skirt

Eleanor's stylish ensemble boasted a strapless neckline and a figure-hugging design

She further accessorised with a pair of pearl drop earrings (Pictured L-R Eleanor and Ross)

She elevated her natural beauty with a flawless palette of makeup and styled her red locks in loose Hollywood waves for the evening.

Her brother Ross Tomlinson, who is known for starring in Four Weddings and a Funeral, also joined the actress on the red carpet for the star-studded event.

He cut a dapper figure in a navy blue suit and teamed a white vest underneath.

Ross opted for further smartening up the look with a pair of brown leather loafers and wore a stylish brown belt.

The highly anticipated BAFTA Television Awards 2024 is returning to screens to celebrate another exceptional year for British TV.

Netflix's The Crown is leading the pack with the most nods after it received an impressive eight nominations, setting the stage for a thrilling ceremony.

The streaming giant's Black Mirror followed closely behind as it has been awarded seven nominations for its episode Demon 79 - the fifth episode in the sixth season.

But for a second year on the run, Coronation Street has been snubbed by the BAFTAs as they miss out on a nomination in the soap category.

Eleanor proceeded to style her red locks in loose Hollywood waves for the evening

Her brother Ross Tomlinson (right), who is known for starring in Four Weddings and a Funeral, also joined the actress for the star-studded event

The Angus Thongs and Perfect Snogging actress appeared in high spirits as she exited the car and made her way into the venue

Billie Piper dressed to impress in a figure hugging nude conical Jean-Paul Gaultier dress

Meanwhile actress Eiza Gonzalez, 34, turned heads in a sheer white lace long sleeved bodysuit flashing a matching lace bra beneath

This year's star-studded ceremony will take place on Sunday, May 12.

The awards will return to their usual stomping ground at London's Royal Festival Hall for another year after they chose to switch it up in 2023.

Last year marked a brief change in venue as they held the awards ceremony at the Queen Elizabeth Hall at London's Southbank.

The show will be broadcast live on BBC One, BBC One HD and BBC iPlayer from 7pm.

Meanwhile, red-carpet interviews will be streamed across BAFTA and BBC social media channels.

Kaya's stunning ensemble showcased her toned pins and boasted a stylish bow neckline and an A-line hem
Coronation Street star Sair Khan shared adorable first snaps with her newborn baby boy on Instagram on Friday.

The Leeds-born actress, 36, announced on Thursday that she welcomed the new tot with her partner Nathan Chilton.

And completely overjoyed in their baby bubble, Sair cradled her little boy sweetly in her arms for a professional photoshoot.

Just days after leaving the ITV soap, Sair gave birth to her first child and is now making sure to soak up every moment.

Sair is well-known for playing Alya Nazir on the legendary soap since 2014, and has previously competed on the ITV reality series I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!

Coronation Street star Sair Khan, 36, shared adorable first snaps with her newborn baby boy on Instagram on Friday

The Leeds-born actress announced on Thursday that she welcomed the new tot with her partner Nathan Chilton

She has made her exit for a new job in Dublin, and was previously on maternity leave following 10 years on the show.

In the lengthy caption, she opened up about motherhood and her pregnancy, giving fans a detailed insight into her 'rollercoaster' labour.

In the carousel, she also shared a sweet snap of Nathan gently holding the teeny tiny one on his chest.

'Hes here!,' she penned thrilled.

'Okay, when I said Spring awakening in my last post I didnt mean keep me awake. The new parent zombie look is definitely a thing isnt it.

'More importantly our little boy is just marvellous. Very serious and curious about the world. Hes super strong and so resilient for joining me on the absolute rollercoaster that was our 22 hours of labour. We didnt quite get the birth id hoped for but thats okay (two birth pools, no water birth).

She went on to explain what her labouring experience was like: 'How can I describe the labour experience it was raw and primal and Im glad I kept an open heart and no expectations because my gosh I had NO IDEA what a ride I was in for.

'And since then weve been non stop trying to figure out latches and vomit and tears all while dealing with sleep deprivation and the small issue of trying to heal my own body too.

And completely overjoyed in their baby bubble, Sair shared a snap of her partner cradling their little boy sweetly in her arms for a professional photoshoot

Sair is well-known for playing Alya Nazir on the legendary soap since 2014, and has previously competed on the ITV reality series I'm a Celebrity ...Get Me Out of Here!

In the lengthy caption, she opened up about motherhood and her pregnancy , giving fans a detailed insight into her 'rollercoaster' labour

In the lengthy caption, she opened about motherhood and her pregnancy journey, giving fans a detailed insight into her 'rollercoaster' labour

'Massive respect to all the new Mamas and Dads trying to get through those first few days and weeks.

'Somehow were off the starting blocks and Im so unbelievably grateful for our healthy baby, for Nathan and the for the incredible support network around us for their patience, generosity and late night voice notes that have kept me going.'

'Anyone else ever felt like theres a DJ beat coming from your breast pump at 3am or is that what delirium is?!,' she joked.

She finished off giving new mums a word of advice: 'Ill get round to sharing all the bits and bobs that Ive found most useful in the early days. Sound machine is definitely up there, cant believe we did without it those first few days!

'And also eevvvvery-thing for soothing yourself during breast feeding! Lanolin balm, Silver Shields, Silicone shields. For now its back to the cuteness, cuddles and intoxicating new baby smell that are making it all worthwhile. Sair x.'

Sair revealed her pregnancy with a happy announcement on her Instagram page back in December.

The soap star looked radiant in the photos as she cradled her belly while posing alongside her boyfriend Nathan.

Alongside the snaps, she wrote: 'Hello It's been a little while since posting on here which has been a real mix of emotions.

Sair revealed her pregnancy with a happy announcement on her Instagram page back in December

She made the happy announcement sharing snaps of her growing bump

Sair wrote: 'We're so excited for the arrival of Baby Chilton in Spring 2024'

'With all that is happening in the world it didn't feel like the right time to share but we also know it's okay to keep hope and pray for peace whilst acknowledging that we feel blessed and grateful.'

Sair addressed Nathan's health issues in the post, noting he had chondroblastoma surgery - a procedure to remove a tumor - on his pelvis in 2022.

She said: 'Last year was a challenging time for us both with Nathan's chondroblastoma surgery on his pelvis. It's been a long road to recovery and still has many obstacles ahead as we deal with the spread of the tumour to his lungs.

'Life can be difficult and there'll always be challenges to face but there are also important lessons to be learnt and gifts to be cherished. We're so excited for the arrival of Baby Chilton in Spring 2024.'

Sair and Nathan went public with their romance in 2021 but they have been together since late 2020 after being introduced by a mutual friend.

Nathan was forced to have surgery to remove a benign bone tumour on his pelvis and documented his health battle online.

Sair said she was 'so proud' of her partner at the time, writing: 'Nathan has been on a long journey to have his pelvic chondroblastoma removed.

Sair and Nathan went public with their romance in 2021 but they have been together since late 2020 after being introduced by a mutual friend

'He's been documenting the story on YouTube with the aim of helping others going through similar life changes.

'It can be a really isolating experience. I'm so proud of him for being so open and vulnerable in the hope that others won't feel so alone.'

Prior to her relationship with Nathan, Sair was in a two-year romance with Emmerdale actor Simon Lennon who she split from in 2019.
Foreign Minister Cho Tae-yul will visit China early next week for talks with his Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi, the foreign ministry said Friday, marking the first trip to Beijing by a South Korean top diplomat in more than six years.

Cho's two-day trip to Beijing from Monday through Tuesday comes as South Korea faces the task of managing the relationship with China that has soured amid Seoul's strong alignment with the United States under the Yoon Suk Yeol government.

It will mark the first visit to China by a South Korean foreign minister since November 2017, when then Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha paid a visit during the administration of then President Moon Jae-in.

His visit also comes ahead of a widely expected trilateral summit among the leaders of South Korea, China and Japan that Seoul seeks to capitalize on to boost the three-way cooperation with its Asian neighbors. The summit is most likely to take place from May 26-27.

Cho will discuss with Wang "issues of common interest, from bilateral relations, the trilateral summit and the Korean Peninsula, to regional and global issues," the ministry said in a press release.

Cho also plans to have a meeting with South Korean businesspeople working in China and discuss ideas and efforts on how to bolster bilateral business exchanges with Beijing.

Bilateral ties between Seoul and Beijing deteriorated to a low point last year when Chinese Ambassador to Seoul Xing Haiming publicly warned his host country that it would "definitely regret it" if it "bets on China's defeat" in its rivalry with the U.S.

Xing's remarks were seen to reflect Beijing's displeasure over Seoul moving closer to Washington in a departure from the previous Moon Jae-in government that gave weight to its relationship with China.

Beijing has also reacted angrily to Yoon's comments about maintaining the status quo in the Taiwan Strait, a highly sensitive issue that China considers to be its own affair in which no other countries have right to intervene.

South Korea has been looking to improve its ties with China, given the strategic need to do so with its largest trading partner and a key player in its diplomacy with North Korea.

Taking office as foreign minister early in January, Cho stressed the importance of keeping a "stable" relationship with Beijing, citing the potential for deeper cooperation in the economy, North Korean issues and other areas.

In their first phone talks in February, Wang extended an invitation to Cho to visit Beijing to further advance the bilateral relationship.

During the visit, Cho also plans to convene a conference of South Korean consuls general stationed in China's regional provinces to stress the importance of municipal-level exchanges in the development of bilateral ties.

In late April, Cho held talks with Hao Peng, the communist party secretary of China's Liaoning province, in Seoul and discussed cooperation in supply chains and investment. (Yonhap)
Angelina Jolie's lawyer made a highly unusual public appeal to her ex-husband Brad Pitt  asking the actor to 'let her go' - on Friday.

Paul Murphy, her attorney, said: 'She looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go'. Pitt is accused of 'sandbagging' his former wife by filing a response to documents which her team say was 'designed to cause a press event.'

Her team also say that the latest legal skirmishes, which concern Pitt requiring Jolie to sign an NDA as part of a deal to sell her portion of their vineyard, are part of a 'shameful' cover-up of his abuse of her and are 'about power and control.'

The appeal follows a declaration by a former bodyguard which was lodged at the LA Superior Court by Pitt's side. It accused Jolie of trying to drive a wedge between Pitt and their six children. Jolie's team are now moving to have that filing struck.

It's thought that the three eldest children  Maddox, Pax and Zahara - have no relationship with Pitt, and son Pax said in an Instagram post three years ago that his father was a 'world class a**hole' and 'f***ing awful human being' who made his children tremble with fear.

Angelina Jolie's lawyer made a highly unusual public appeal to her ex husband Brad Pitt  asking the actor to 'let her go' - on Friday (the couple pictured in 2013)

Pitt is no longer seeking to vary custody arrangements for the three children who are under 18, following protracted legal action which failed.

Meanwhile, battle rages over the vineyard they once co-owned, which Ms Jolie sold to billionaire Yuri Sheffler of the Stoli group.

Pitt argues went against their agreement to offer the other the right of first refusal.

Paul Murphy, attorney for Angelina Jolie, said: 'Mr. Pitt's continued attempt to equate common NDAs for security personnel and housekeepers covering confidential information employees learn at work, with him demanding an expanded NDA to ensure the continued cover-up of his deplorable actions remains shameful.

'This case is not about NDAs in general, but about power and control.

'All Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt. She looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go.'

A source close to the case adds that the former bodyguard Tony Webb who made the declaration was present on the tarmac when Pitt allegedly attacked Jolie and the children in the 2016 incident on a private plane which ended the marriage.

The source said: 'Webb is on Pitt's payroll and worked for the same security team whose other members stood on the Tarmac in LA and turned a blind eye to Pitt's actions that day.

It's thought that the three eldest children  Maddox, Pax and Zahara - have no relationship with Pitt (Brad is pictured in 2014 with L-R Pax, Shiloh, Maddox and his parents Jane and William)

Angelina and Brad are pictured in 2005 movie Mr And Mrs Smith, where they met while he was still married to Jennifer Aniston

'Webb's declaration also conveniently leaves out the fact that the second security guard mentioned in the declaration, though called to testify by Pitt, testified in favor of Angelina, not against her.'

In legal papers seen by Daily Mail.com, Jolie objects to and moves to strike the declaration of their former bodyguard, filed by Pitt on Wednesday.

The filing notes: 'Pitt clearly is trying to gain an unfair advantage by offering this contested evidence for the first time on reply when Jolie has no opportunity to respond.

The law is crystal clear that this form of evidence sandbagging grossly violates due process of law and should be struck. 'The general rule of motion practice is that new evidence is not permitted with reply papers.'

It adds: 'The Webb declaration has no relevance to this case or to the issue presented by Pitt's motion. In fact, the Webb declaration, which does not mention the word 'Miraval' a single time, serves to demonstrate exactly why other NDAs involving other parties and other circumstances are irrelevant and willas Jolie predicted in her opposition brief cause a mini-trial on each and every NDA Pitt claims is relevant to this case.

'The Webb declaration illustrates the point: Pitt is now claiming that conversations with two 'contractors' (security guards) about testimony in a different case are somehow relevant here. Jolie contests the testimony's relevance, its credibility (Webb works for Pitt), and its accuracy.

'To resolve this, the Court would have to have a mini-trial on this issue alone, yet none of it explains whether Pitt's demand for an expanded NDA from Jolie as a condition of purchasing her interest in Miraval was the reason the deal they had struck fell apart.

'If this evidence truly was relevant and material to Pitt's motion, he would have indeed, was required tooffer it in his moving papers.

'That he did not do so tells the Court all it needs to know about the strength of Pitt's motion and, frankly, his true purpose in filing the Webb declarationto create a press event and again put external pressure on Jolie. The declaration is irrelevant and violates Jolie's due process rights. The Court should strike the declaration. '

The couple's Chateau Miraval vineyard is pictured. They previously owned the sprawling estate

According to documents lodged by Pitt's lawyers on Thursday, former SAS soldier Webb claims that the two colleagues were told by Jolie's personal assistant that she 'would sue' after it emerged that they might give evidence in the couple's custody battle.

Documents submitted to the court, seen by DailyMail.com, state Webb's colleague told him he overheard Jolie 'encouraging the children to avoid spending time with Pitt during custody visits.'

His comments make up part of the motion lodged by Pitt, where Jolie is called a 'hypocrite' for claiming he wanted to use an NDA in the sale of their French vineyard to 'control' her  despite regularly gagging her own staff with similar contracts.

In his statement, Webb claims that two of his contractors were subpoenaed to give evidence at the estranged couple's custody hearings  exposing conversations between Jolie and the children.

He claims in the document that he typically took orders from Jolie's personal assistant Michael Vieira and became aware that the relationship between Pitt and Jolie broke down in 2016.

According to Webb, the papers read, 'After their divorce SRS Global and I continue to provide security for Ms. Jolie, Mr. Pitt and their children.

'Shortly before two SRS global contractors testified in a court case that I understood was related to Ms Jolie and Mr Pitt's divorce and the custody of their children Mr. Vieira called me on my cell phone.

'He told me that he had heard that two contractors who provided personal security for Ms. Jolie through SRS Global might be testifying in the family court case.

'Mr. Vieira then asked me to stop the two individuals from testifying. I understood that Mr. Vieira was making this request on the behalf of Ms. Jolie,' Webb alleges in his declaration.

Webb went on to say in the document that he had 'no power' to stop the two individuals from testifying because they were 'independent contractors' rather than his direct employees.

The filings claim that Vieira then warned Webb that both men had 'entered into NDA's' with Jolie, and if they 'testified in the family law case, Jolie would sue them.'

Webb added: 'I communicated this message to the two individuals over the phone and they both told me they planned to testify.

In legal papers seen by Daily Mail.com, Jolie objects to and moves to strike the declaration of their former bodyguard, filed by Pitt on Wednesday (the couple in 2015)

'One of the two individuals, Ross Foster, specified that he intended to testify regardless of the NDA if he received a court subpoena.

'When Mr. Foster told me this he told me also that if asked he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie making to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits'.

Webb, from England, retired from military service to set up SRS Global Security Ltd before working for Pitt and Jolie.

Earlier this year, Jolie's attorneys made the claim that the marriage did include physical violence.

Court papers said: 'Pitt's history of physical abuse of Jolie started well before the family's September 2016 plane trip from France to Los Angeles. this flight marked the first time he turned his physical abuse on the children as well.

The court papers claim Jolie has evidence of 'Pitt's history of physical abuse of the family and control abuse of Jolie' and claims the children continue to experience 'significant and ongoing post-traumatic stress' as the result of his alleged physical and emotional abuse.

Attorneys for Jolie refer to a 'history of abuse, control and cover-ups' and claim that Jolie has 'testimony, emails, photographs, and other evidence' which, they say, will show how Pitt tried to conceal his behaviour if they come to trial.

The actor's denials of physically abusing the family are described in the court documents as 'gaslighting'.

Documents in addition claim he exerted 'coercive' financial control over her via their dispute over the Miraval wine-making business as their divorce has dragged on over the past seven years.

The couple are pictured in 2014

Pitt has denied all allegations of physical abuse and was not charged following an FBI probe over what happened on the flight.

The couple met on the set of the film Mr and Mrs Smith in 2004 and the following year Brad Pitt and actress wife Jennifer Aniston announced that they were getting divorced. In 2008 Pitt and Jolie bought Chateau Miraval, a 35 room house in Provence with 926 acres and a vineyard.

He and Jolie have six children, Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15 and were married at Chateau Miraval in 2014, with the children playing roles in the ceremony and writing their vows.

Jolie filed for divorce five days after the incident on the plane in 2016 and a legal battle has raged ever since.

A hearing on Pitt's NDA motion is to be decided during a hearing on May 16, while full trial over the issues is not expected this year.
Eve Gale and Demi Sims put on a very cosy display at SOLSKIN's launch party at Roka Canary Wharf in London on Friday.

The Love Island star, 25, co-hosted the dinner with her twin sister Jess, 25, to celebrate their collaboration with the fake tan brand.

Eve and Jess, who recently signed a lucrative deal with SOLSKIN to become the brand's first ever brand ambassador, looked gorgeous in matching mini dresses.

And supporting her new flame, former TOWIE star Demi, 27, was right by Eve's side to celebrate her success.

Jess and Eve's ensemble consisted of a mini corset dress, showing off her enviable curves and glorious tan.

Eve Gale, 25, and Demi Sims, 27, (left) put on a very cosy display at SOLSKIN's launch party at Roka Canary Wharf in London on Friday

The Love Island star co-hosted the dinner with her twin sister Jess, 25, (right) to celebrate their collaboration with the fake tan brand

Eve, who revealed last month that she went on a first date with Demi, accessorised her outfit with a bangle bracelet and a pair of diamond earrings.

Meanwhile, Demi looked incredible in a grey leather mini-dress which featured a plunging neckline.

Eve and Demi, who are seeing where their relationship takes them, seemed more than loved-up at the event.

In one sweet snap, Demi can be seen holding Eve by the waist as the pair struck a pose for the camera.

Jess, who recently split from Love Island star Callum Jones, 27, and bared all in an exclusive interview with MailOnline, put on a busty display in the stylish number that showed off her deep tan.

She added inches to her frame with some silver strappy heels and styled her long locks in loose waves for the evening.

Several Love Island stars also attended and were dressed to the nines as they celebrated the twin's latest brand deal.

Georgia Harrison, 29, set pulses racing in a checked co-ord as she had her toned stomach on full display.

Eve and Jess, who recently signed a lucrative deal with SOLSKIN to become the brand's first ever brand ambassador, looked gorgeous in matching mini dresses (pictured L-R Eve, Demi, Jess)

Meanwhile, Demi who recently revealed that she went on a date last month with Eve, looked incredible in a grey leather mini-dress which featured a plunging neckline

During the event, the twins stunned as they got several snaps with the founders of the brand, the Conder family (pictured L-R Sarah Conder, Eve, Jess, and Joel Conder)

Demi Jones, 25, also attended and put on a very leggy display in a glam denim mini-dress

The twins also reunited with Kaz Kamwi, 29, (far left) and Olivia Hawkins, 27, (second from right) and they posed up a storm

PLT ambassadors Ami Charlize (left) and Nya Temple (right) also attended and put on a leggy display as they wore matching knee-high leather boots

Ami looked incredible in a grey mini dress which she teamed with a black leather blazer and knee-high boots

Throughout the night, the twins got several group snaps with their pals (pictured L-R Georgia Harrison, Olivia, Eve, Demi, Jourdan Riane, Kaz, Jess, Demi)

SOLSKIN founders Sarah (left) cut a glam figure in a white blazer dress while Joel (right) sported a casual figure in an oversized white T-shirt

Jess and Eve looked incredible as they posed by their picturesque dinner table set up

Georgia Harrison, 29, also attended and set pulses racing in a checked co-ord

The stunner (center) had her toned stomach on full display in the stylish ensemble which consisted of a tiny waistcoat and a pair of matching low-rise shorts

Meanwhile, Kaz Kamwi, 29, was a vision in red as she wore a stylish halterneck midi dress that featured a ruched detailing.

Demi Jones put on a very leggy display and cut a glam figure in a denim mini-dress.

The Love Island star, 25, looked nothing short of sensational as she further elevated her height with some nude heels and carried a Fendi handbag.

Olivia Hawkins stunned in a bold red mini dress as she struck up several sultry poses for the camera.

SOLSKIN, created by the Conder family, best known as YouTube's Dad Vs Girls, is a fake tan designed for sensitive skin.

Speaking about the collaboration, Jess told MailOnline: 'Were really really excited. Weve tanned for so long and tried a lot of tanning brands but we actually really really love this brand.

'Weve met Kaci and the Conders before so were really excited for the collaboration and feel so lucky that we are the first brand ambassadors.'

Eve added: 'Its a tan that weve always used. Its really good for sensitive skin and really inclusive for all skin types.

She toted her essentials around in a stylish Vivienne Westwood shoulder bag and added inches to her frame with a pair of black patent leather court heels

Meanwhile, Kaz was a vision in red as she wore a stylish halterneck midi dress that featured a ruched detailing

Love Island star Jourdan Riane also attended and showed off her slender figure in a black maxi dress

Kaci Conder (far right) also stunned in a leopard print maxi dress as she posed up a storm alongside her family

Influencer Megan McLoughlin channelled sandy from Grease as she showed off her sensational figure in a satin jumpsuit

Olivia Hawkins stunned in a bold red mini dress as she struck up several sultry poses for the camera (pictured L-R Kaz, Jess, Olivia, Eve)

The stunning ensemble showcased Olivia's toned legs while boasting a flattering corset bust and a tulle skirt

Nya also cut a casual figure in a black two-piece co-ord set consisting of a black cropped top and a mini skirt

Meanwhile, Milli Jo Mcloughlin commanded attention in a pair of leather flared trousers and a jacket to match

'We just really love the tan, its got so many good qualities that we love, nourishing, lasts so long and looks really natural.'

The announcement comes after Eve has blossomed into a new romance outside the villa with Demi.

The reality star, who previously appeared on the ITV2 dating series with her twin sister Jess, failed to make a lasting connection but since returning to the UK has found love elsewhere.

Eve revealed that she and Demi had a flirty friendship for years but have now enjoyed their first date together and are getting on like a house on fire.

A source has told OK!: 'Eve and Demi's date may have come as a surprise, but they've been texting a lot behind the scenes. They quickly realised just how much they liked one another and the attraction took off from there.

'It all started as a friendship and it's allowed them to grow naturally. They know each other well and are always giggling and laughing. Everyone around them is pleased to see them happy.'
Jeff Stewart continued to sport his unrecognisable look with his huge grey beard and long silver hair as he enjoyed a coffee with a friend in London on Friday.

The Bill actor, 67, who is best known for playing PC Reg Hollis on the hit ITV drama from its 1984 inception until he left in 2008, looked worlds away from his cleancut image on the police detective drama in his latest outing.

As he has done in recent years, Jeff again showed off his bushy facial hair and curly silver locks as he enjoyed a cup of coffee and a chat outside the Hungarian bakery.

Jeff cut a casual figure in a yellow T-shirt layered under a beige rain mac. He cut a quirky figure in a pair of bright orange shorts, printed with motorcycle stamps.

The veteran actor kept comfortable in a pair of green New Balance trainers, CAT socks and framed his face with a pair of black square glasses.

Jeff Stewart continued to show off his bushy grey beard and long silver hair as he enjoyed a coffee with a friend in Hampstead's Louis Patisserie, London on Friday

Jeff has been seen out and about with his different look in recent months, after telling how he grew his hair to distance himself from his The Bill character.

Jeff shot to fame as PC Reg Hollis in the soap in which he appeared for nearly a thousand episodes.

He starred alongside Graham Cole's PC Tony Stamp and Mark Wingett's character DC Jim Carver.

Though he didn't appear in the pilot episode, he featured regularly from the first regular instalment onwards and appeared in a total of 872 episodes.

The star played Reg for 24 years, before the character was axed in January 2008.

Speaking in 2011 about the decision, Jeff told The Sun: 'I felt I had been badly let down.'

After hearing the plans from the show's producers Jeff went back to his dressing room and still dazed by the news, attempted to take his own life.

He once again showed off his very bushy facial hair and curly locks as he enjoyed a cup of coffee and a chat outside the Hungarian bakery

Jeff, who appeared on the ITV drama from 1984 to 2008, cut a casual figure in a yellow T-shirt layered under a beige rain mac

He cut a quirky figure in a pair of bright orange shorts, printed with motorcycle stamps

The veteran actor kept comfortable in a pair of green New Balance trainers, CAT socks and framed his face with a pair of black square glasses

The star played Reg for 24 years, before the character (pictured in 2007) was sadly axed in January 2008, and he told how he felt 'badly let down' by the decision at the time

As he began to black out, he changed his mind and rang the front desk for help.

Luckily he was found in time and was rushed from the studios in Merton, South West London to hospital.

'I didn't see a counsellor, it was evident I was OK and I never worried how it would affect my career.

'I thought, "I have a choice, you can either stagnate or blossom"', he added.

Jeff has previously told how his bearded appearance has been a way to distance himself from the clean-shaven Reg, with whom he had become synonymous.

He said: 'I didn't cut my hair for three years. It was a thought-out, deliberate choice.

'I thought, "I have to look as different as possible".'

The Bill ran for a total of 26 years, with the popular series ending in 2010 after being axed - much to the dismay of staunch fans.

Though The Bill was his biggest role to date, Jeff has appeared in a number of other programmes including Crossroads, Doctor Who and Hi-De-Hi!.

He has also starred in independent films and won a Best Actor award for his role in Under Jakob's Ladder at the Manhattan Film Festival in 2011.

Jeff has been seen out-and-about with his different look in recent months, after telling how he grew his hair to distance himself from his The Bill character
Lana Wilkinson had an American Dream - and now it is about to come true.

The Melbourne-based entrepreneur has announced she is set to launch her stylish shoe brand in the United States.

Wilkinson, 42, first teased that she working on getting her four-year-old fashion brand into stores Stateside in February.

And now the Herald Sun reports that Lana had been able to stitch up a deal with stockists in US department stores.

According to the publication Lana's pal Bec Judd and designer Rebecca Valance 'worked' with the high-profile socialite in getting her Lana Wilkinson brand in front of the right contacts during New York fashion week.

Lana Wilkinson (pictured) has announced she is set to launch her stylish shoe brand in the United States. The Herald Sun reports that her stylish footwear will soon be stocked in apartment stores Stateside

'Exciting meetings and opportunities have come about with the shoes and brand to explore, especially during New York fashion week,' she told Herald Sun in February.

'It's a real pinch me moment. Watch this space,' she added.

Wilkinson is part of an elite Australian social circle that includes Bec Judd and Michelle Greene, who are behind the activewear brand Jaggad, and WAG-turned-designer Nadia Bartel.

It is unclear at this stage whether Wilkinson has designed a fresh range for the U.S. market.

Wilkinson, 42, first teased that she working on getting her four-year-old fashion brand into the American market in February

According to the publication Lana's pal Bec Judd (pictured, left) and designer Rebecca Valance 'worked' with the high-profile socialite in getting her Lana Wilkinson brand in front of the right contacts during New York fashion week

Her new line-up advertised on her website include black patent leather 'Huw' boots with 8.5cm heels worth $399.95. There's also a set of slingback heels, the 'Cleo', worth $229.95.

Meanwhile, Wilkinson has announced she has partnered with designer Michael Lo Sordo for Sydney Fashion Week, which begins on May 14.

Describing the team-up as a 'dream come true', Wilkinson told the publication:

'This collaboration feels effortless, yet extremely impactful and together the runway looks tell a story of glamour and creativity that I'm very proud to be a part of.

'The partnership is an exciting opportunity for the brand to reach new heights of recognition and success within the fashion industry and I couldn't be more excited for Tuesday night.'
His mother is a major sex symbol who came to fame in the early 1990s.

She has since worked on big action movies and small dramas.

Her costars include Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sofia Vergara and Joe Pesci.

But she has also become an activist who has met Dalai Lama.

The high IQ babe has also written a tell-all book about growing up in a rural part of an East Coast state.

Now this boy is following in his mother's footsteps by getting into acting as he shared on Friday that he has now secured his SAG card.

Who is he?

His mother is a major sex symbol who came to fame in the early 1990s. She has since worked on big action movies and small dramas. Her costars include Robert De Niro , Michael Douglas , Leonardo DiCaprio , Sofia Vergara and Joe Pesci. Who is her son?

He is Sharon Stone's son Roan.

In a flashback image shared this week, Roan showed off his maybe tattoos. One had a watch over his heart, which basically means he has to watch out for his heart.

Another is a medieval style cross. Stone was raised a Catholic.

On his arm he has a tattoo of a cross with feathers on the bottom. And there is a mark of an eagle on the inside of his arm.

He added a Chai necklace.

He has followed in her acting footsteps as the star shared a snap of him on set this week.

Last week the Basic Instinct star, 66, wrote: 'ROAN JOSEPH STONE / DAY 1 on set. Welcome to the family biz kid, have fun.' He was seen sitting in a chair.

The actress was every inch the proud mother as she posted a snap of her shirtless son flashing his bold tattoos.

He is Sharon Stone's son Roan, who has followed in her acting footsteps

Stone attends the 49th Chaplin Award Honoring Jeff Bridges at Lincoln Center on April 29, 2024 in New York City

'Proud of you @roanjosephstone. Well done,' she penned - without revealing what she was congratulating him on.

Roan shared a second photo on his own social media - a selfie from his bathroom.

The Casino actress adopted Roan with her ex-husband Phil Bronstein, 73, in 2000.

The star has two younger sons, whom she adopted after her divorce from Roan's dad.

She is a proud mom to Laird, 17, and Quinn, 16. She has reportedly made room in her family for Roan's best friend, and considers him as a fourth child.

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.

The actress shares Roan with her ex-husband Phil Bronstein, 73 ; pictured in San Francisco in April 2002

Stone seen with Billy Baldwin in the 1993 movie Sliver

'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.
Good Morning Britain appeared to be a little awkward on Friday, as Jason Donovan appeared on the show via video to discuss his return to the Rocky Horror Show.

The actor, 55, is reprising the role of suspender-clad Frank 'N' Furter in the 2024-2025 UK tour of Richard O'Brien's musical.

He is currently playing the role in Sydney and Melbourne for the 50th anniversary, after first stepping into the famous high heels for the UK tour back in 1998.

But things became tense during his interview with GMB, as host Kate Garraway brought up how Jason had been 'in a very dark place' during that period, and commented that the show 'saved' him.

Jason, who starred as Scott Robinson on Neighbours from 1986 - 1989, had a well-documented struggle with substance abuse in the mid 90s, including cocaine addiction.

Good Morning Britain appeared to be a little awkward on Friday, as Jason Donovan appeared on the show via video to discuss his return to the Rocky Horror Show.

The actor, 55, is reprising the role of suspender-clad Frank 'N' Furter in the 2024-2025 UK tour of Richard O'Brien's musical (pictured)

He is currently playing the role in Sydney and Melbourne for the 50th anniversary, after first stepping into the famous high heels for the UK tour back in 1998 (pictured)

He documented his wild partying days in his book Between The Lines: My Story Uncut and admitted his drug dealer was worried by his three-gram-a-day habit.

Fortunately, he managed to kick his past addictions and re-establish himself as a successful stage and screen actor in the early 2000s.

And he didn't appear to be happy to relive the past, as Kate said: '25 years ago, when you were last on stage, the Rocky Horror show in this role, it kind of saved you from a very very dark place, where it didn't look like at the time that you'd be looking and feeling this good 25 years on, did it?'

Taken aback, Jason refuted her question and said: 'Well, I mean, you know, I don't know whether it necessarily saved me? It had a purpose in my life...'

Sensing the tension, Kate quickly interrupted him to defend herself and say: 'I'm just saying that, you've been quoted as saying that it saved you. It's not me making it up!'

A sheepish Jason replied: 'Oh am I? Oh Kate really? Oh okay, okay.'

He then added: 'Well to cut straight to the chase, I met my wife on Rocky Horror in 1998 and weve been together happily now for 25 years.

'I would say that the character of Frank is a sort of extravert and misfit character and he goes to dark places which I was probably going to at that point in my life.

But things became tense during his interview with GMB , as host Kate Garraway brought up how Jason had been 'in a very dark place' during that period, and commented that the show 'saved' him

Jason, who starred as Scott Robinson on Neighbours from 1986 - 1989, had a well-documented struggle with substance abuse in the mid 90s, including cocaine addiction (pictured in 1998)

Sensing the tension, Kate quickly interrupted him to defend herself and say: 'I'm just saying that, you've been quoted as saying that it saved you. It's not me making it up!'

'But, it wasnt long after that show that a lightbulb happened in my life and things sort of started to change for the best so it seems like a natural progression for me to re-visit this wonderful show 25 years on.'

Referencing the uncomfortable atmosphere, Jason admitted: 'I dont really like to look back at those things because there is so much to look forward to.'

He said that it was his children that had motivated him to kick his drug addiction, rather than the Rocky Horror Show.

He said: 'The catalyst for change for me was my children but youve got to want to change in your life and I go back to your comment that I look well and I look healthy and thats because I have always had a relatively positive outlook on life and kept relatively fit.

'I had great friends and great family around me and I think that a support network when youre in those moments is crucial.

'How do you process what I went through at a very young age? Success - theres no manual for how you deal with it as a young child. In todays world, this would be under the title of mental health.'

In subtle dig, he added: 'I think people have got to be slightly careful when they refer back to those darker days because yes they were, but I think you have to be able to understand peoples life story.'

Adding to the awkwardness, Jason then seemed to suggest he was leaving the interview early, as he went on: 'But I'll leave you with, well, I won't leave you unless you want me to leave?'

He said that it was his children that had motivated him to kick his drug addiction, rather than the Rocky Horror Show (pictured with children Jemma and Zac in 2015)

Adding to the awkwardness, Jason then seemed to suggest he was leaving the interview early, causing co-host Adil Ray to quickly shout out: 'Where are you going?' while Kate begged: 'Don't go anywhere!'

This caused co-host Adil Ray to quickly shout out: 'Where are you going?' while Kate begged: 'Don't go anywhere!'

Viewers watching at home also noted the tension and took to social media to brand the interview 'awkward' and 'shameless'.

They tweeted: 'Goodness me they're determined to get Jason Donovan to keep dragging up the past when he'd clearly like to talk about the future; No idea why gmb dragged up that story to ask Jason Donovan about...'

'Shameless @GMB. Jason Donovan on to talk about what hes doing now, but @kategarraway and @adilray have to rake up his past. Inability to fill 10mins of interview with positives; The interview with Jason Donovan is so awkward'.

'I dont think it was right for him to bring up to Jason Donovan about, "Oh youve been in some pretty dark places." As once you have beaten an addiction, its not a good idea to bring someone back to think about those dark times.'

Jason's escalating drug habit in the 90s saw him snorting up to 30 lines of cocaine a day and he has admitted: 'There was a long period where my best friends didnt think I was going to make it.'

In 1995, he even suffered a seizure while high at Kate Moss' 21st birthday party, thrown by Johnny Depp at LAs infamous Viper Room club.

But he checked himself out of hospital the same night and returned directly to the club to score more cocaine.

Viewers watching at home also noted the tension and took to social media to brand the interview 'awkward' and 'shameless'

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2016 about the reasons for his addiction, Jason said: 'My pop career was stagnating and I needed to do some growing up. But that didnt happen.

'I decided to party. This would be no ordinary party either. It started in 1991 and didnt end until 2000.

Some would say it was a late reaction to my mother walking out on me when I was a kid. Im not convinced.

'The fact is that I liked cocaine and I was having a fun time on it, at least to start with. I had the funds. I had the access to the drugs.'

He went on: 'Cocaine made me feel confident. It made me feel very sexual. On coke I could fool myself that I was being creative. When I got warning signs, I chose to ignore them.

'I experienced a lot of dark days and nights. The comedowns from cocaine were indescribably awful.

Jason then met stage manager Angela Malloch on the Rocky Horror Show tour in 1998, going on to tie the knot in Bali in 2008 and welcoming three children together - Jemma, Zac and Molly.

Crediting becoming a father as his motivation for getting clean, he said: ' I came to my senses in time for the birth of my daughter, Jemma. Probably the best decision I have ever made.

Jason's escalating drug habit in the 90s saw him snorting up to 30 lines of cocaine a day and he has admitted: 'There was a long period where my best friends didnt think I was going to make it' (pictured in 1990s)

Jason then met stage manager Angela Malloch on the Rocky Horror Show tour in 1998, going on to tie the knot in Bali in 2008 and welcoming three children together (pictured together)

'I certainly dont miss being off my head on coke, or the horror of lying in bed at 5.30am, totally wired, unable to sleep, feeling that Ive ruined my life.'

In 2016, he told The Mirror that he was honest with his kids about his pasts in the hopes that they will learn from his mistakes.

He said: 'My kids are very aware of what I've done in my life, or rather what I shouldn't have done.

'You can only lead by example, I educate my children to hopefully make the right choices. If they don't I will support them along the way.

'I just hope that what they've seen through me, they can learn to take the good bits and hopefully looks back at the bad bits. No life is perfect.'

The Rocky Horror show tour will hit the road from August this year and the new West End production includes a two-week run at London's Dominion Theatre from September 6.

The musical stage show was written and created by Richard O'Brien in 1973, and then adapted for the 1975 film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry.

The show follows Brad and his fiancee, Janet, as they happen across a gothic looking mansion after their car breaks down.

They meet the head of the house Dr Frank 'N' Furter, a self-proclaimed "sweet transvestite from transexual Transylvania", and the couple watch on as he creates a man called Rocky in his laboratory.

Good Morning Britain weekdays from 6am on ITV1 & ITVX

The Rocky Horror show tour will hit the road from August this year and the new West End production includes a two-week run at London's Dominion Theatre from September 6 (cast pictured)

The musical stage show was written and created by Richard O'Brien in 1973, and then adapted for the 1975 film, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, starring Susan Sarandon and Tim Curry (pictured)
Ines de Ramon showcased her personal style as she stepped out to dinner with friends on Thursday in Los Angeles.

The jewelry designer, 34, who was seen packing on the PDA with boyfriend Brad Pitt, 60, during a recent getaway in Santa Barbara, looked stylish in all white.

The artist donned a white T-shirt with matching athleisure pants and white New Balance sneakers for her outing.

The Swiss-born beauty draped a long white scarf around her neck.

Her shoulder length brown hair was styled straight and she appeared to be wearing natural looking makeup.

Ines de Ramon, showcased her personal style as she stepped out to dinner with friends Thursday in Los Angeles. The jewelry designer, 34, who was seen packing on the PDA with boyfriend Brad Pitt, 60, during a recent getaway in Santa Barbara, looked stylish in all white

She accessorized with gold hoop earrings and placed bangles on her wrist.

The jeweler carried a large black Chanel shoulder bag and wore large square sunglasses with tortoise shell frames.

De Ramon was seen carrying a couple of bags filled with purchases from Neiman Marcus, while one of her friends seemed to be carrying home some leftovers from dinner.

The outing comes as court papers accuse Pitt's ex-wife, Angelina Jolie, 48, of trying to keep the former couple's six kids away from their dad.

Recently filed court papers in the Pitt-Jolie battle over their Chateau Miraval winery includes a declaration submitted by a body guard who alleges some security personnel claimed they heard the Eternals actress telling their six children to avoid their father custody visits.

Tony Webb, who is a veteran of the UKs Royal Marines and British Armys Special Air Service, claimed in court documents filed on Thursday by the Babylon actor's attorneys that 'Between 2000 and 2020, I provided varying degrees of personal security for Angelina Jolie and her family, and I currently provide services for Brad Pitt.'

In his statement, Webb said while working for both Jolie and Pitt via the security firm SRS Global, he was asked by Jolie's assistant Michael Viera to 'stop' two other security guards from testifying in court papers obtained by People.

The exes went through a tempestuous five-year court battle over custody of their children, Maddox, 22, Pax, 20, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 17, and twins Vivienne and Knox, 15, after their split in 2016.

The artist donned a white T-shirt with matching athleisure pants and white New Balance sneakers for her outing. The Swiss-born beauty draped a long white scarf around her neck

De Ramon was seen carrying a couple of bags filled with purchases from Neiman Marcus, while one of her friends seemed to be carrying home some leftovers from dinner

'Mr. Vieira then told me that his call should serve as a reminder that those individuals had entered into non-disclosure agreements with Ms. Jolie and that I should remind them of that and tell them that if they testified in the family law case, Ms. Jolie would sue them,' Webb explained.

'I communicated this message to the two individuals over the phone and they both told me that they planned to testify. One of the two individuals, Ross Foster, specified that he intended to testify regardless of the NDA, if he received a court subpoena.'

'When Mr. Foster told me this, he also told me that if asked, he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits.'

The allegations have been unveiled as part of the Hollywood A-listers' battle over non-disclosure agreements surrounding the sale of the $500 million winery in France. Jolie claims Pitt wants her to sign an expansive NDA that would prevent her from speaking about the actor's 'personal misconduct.'

'I understood that Mr. Vieira was making this request on behalf of Ms. Jolie. I explained to Mr. Vieira that I had no power to stop them because they were independent contractors and not employees of SRS Global,' he wrote.

In court papers filed Thursday a security guard who still works for Brad Pitt stated he was asked to 'stop' two other security guards from testifying in the Pitt-Jolie custody battle

Tony Webb said when he contacted one of the guards, Ross Foster, 'told me... that if asked, he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits' (Pictured with children Maddox, Vivienne, Knox, Zahara, Shiloh and Knox Jolie-Pitt in Los Angeles in October 2021)

'Mr. Vieira then told me that his call should serve as a reminder that those individuals had entered into non-disclosure agreements with Ms. Jolie and that I should remind them of that and tell them that if they testified in the family law case, Ms. Jolie would sue them,' Webb explained.

'I communicated this message to the two individuals over the phone and they both told me that they planned to testify. One of the two individuals, Ross Foster, specified that he intended to testify regardless of the NDA, if he received a court subpoena.'

'When Mr. Foster told me this, he also told me that if asked, he would testify about statements he overheard that Ms. Jolie made to the children, encouraging them to avoid spending time with Mr. Pitt during custody visits.'

The new documents are part of the Hollywood A-listers' battle over non-disclosure agreements amid their court fight over their winery in France. Jolie's attorney claims Pitt wants her to sign an NDA to 'coverup of his deplorable actions' Pictured in London in May 2014)

'I understand that Mr. Foster and the other individual mentioned above were, in fact, subpoenaed, and that both did, in fact, testify in the Jolie/Pitt family law case.'

Jolie's attorney released a statement claiming the current court case was about 'power and control,' and the Bullet Train star efforts to 'coverup of his deplorable actions remains shameful.'

'All Angelina has ever wanted was separation and health, with positive relationships between all members of their family, including Mr. Pitt. She looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go.'

The next hearing on the case has been scheduled for May 16.
Actress and model Jaime King is known as one of the most stylish stars in Hollywood.

And on Thursday, she made sure to put on a fashionable display as she exited the Chateau Marmont late that night.

The 45-year-old donned a blue velvet dress with a plunging neckline.

She had a black coat tied around her waist which matched her black stilettos.

Jaime had her platinum blonde hair pinned back and her makeup was natural and minimal, which allowed her glowing complexion to come through.

Jaime King made sure to put on a fashionable display as she exited the Chateau Marmont on Thursday night

The outing comes just days after the Sin City star was spotted crying in her car while stuck in traffic on Sunset Boulevard.

Her emotional moment came just weeks after she filed an emergency request to change her child and spousal support agreement with ex-husband Kyle Newman.

The former couple  who were married for 13 years before their split in 2020  share sons James Knight, 10, and Leo Thames, eight.

The lawsuit between the exes was previously filed in Los Angeles on April 15 and King stated in legal documents that she 'lacks the ability to pay the support.'

In her filing, the White Chicks alum asked the court to end the spousal agreement, which was previously filed two years earlier in April 2022.

She also included social media posts of her ex's wedding to his current wife, musician Cynthia 'Cyn' Nabozny, and examples of his success as a filmmaker and actor.

The 45-year-old donned a blue velvet dress with a plunging neckline

She had a black coat tied around her waist which matched her black stilettos

King at the ONE HUMANITY Foundation's global launch event on May 7 in Bel Air, California

In response to her petition, Newman filed a response, claiming that she had 'been out of compliance with the court's child and spousal support orders for well over a year.'

According to a statement issued by his attorney on the same day, the couple were previously entered into a binding agreement and for that reason, the court 'denied her motion in full.'

While settling their divorce, King was previously ordered to pay Newman $429 per month in child support.

In addition, King was required to pay Newman $1,000 a month in spousal support.

The custody agreement also called for a percentage of any of her income above $175,344 per year to be paid quarterly to her ex.
Jennifer Garner said it was easy for her to get pregnant with the three children she shares with ex-husband Ben Affleck.

The 52-year-old is mom to Violet, 18, Fin (formerly Seraphina), 15, and Sam, 12.

'I was so lucky. I had great pregnancies,' she said on the Kelly Corrigan Wonders podcast.

It is part of a special series called About Your Mother, co-hosted by Christy Turlington, 55, and benefitting her organization, Every Mother Counts.

'I've been pregnant three times in my life. I have three kids. I'm so lucky,' the Alias star revealed.

'I think combined, I tried...all of them were on purpose, I should say. And combined, I probably tried for four or five months.'

Jennifer Garner, 52, said she had no trouble getting pregnant with her three children in a recent interview. 'I've been pregnant three times in my life. I have three kids. I'm so lucky,' the Alias star revealed (Pictured in Beverly Hills April 28)

Attesting to her hardiness, the Family Switch star boasted, 'I bet I could have one in a field right now,' the Once Upon a Farm founder joked.

'You shouldn't be saying that out loud!' host Corrigan admonished.

'I'm not that worried about it.' Garner joshed, 'I don't really, I'm just saying, yeah, breeding. I was born to breed, for sure... big hips.'

Other guests on the About Your Mother series included Bono, Amy Schumer and Cindy Crawford.

The goal of the series is to raise $100,000 for Turlington's group which invests in providing 'quality, respectful and equitable maternity care around the world.'

The charity's website said all donations made through Mother's Day, May 12 will be matched dollar for dollar.

As for celebrating Mother's Day Sunday, The Adam Project star said she only wants one thing from her kids.

'When my kids were really little, on some Mother's Day, they all sat on my lap one after the other all at once for a picture,' Garner told People.

The actress discussed her pregnancies and motherhood on the Kelly Corrigan Wonders podcast as part of a special series called About Your Mother

'I was born to breed, for sure... big hips,' the actress joked; pictured in Los Angeles in March 2019)

The actress shares children Violet, 18, Fin (formerly Seraphina), 15 and Sam 12, with ex-husband Ben Affleck, 51 (Pictured in Los Angeles in June 2019)

Neither Garner nor Affleck has spoken publicly about middle child Fin's transition. The teen introduced their new identity in April while speaking at the funeral of Garner's father

The Emmy nominee said she has continued the tradition.

'I want that picture every year, even though it's ridiculous at this point. They're so big. But I make them take it and they are just like, "Mom." But that's my ask.'

Neither Garner nor Affleck has spoken publicly about middle child Fin's transition.

'Hello my name is Fin Affleck, the teen said introducing their new identity in April at Garner's father's funeral in Charleston, West Virginia.
Motley Crue co-founder Nikki Sixx and his wife Courtney have revealed that a stalker, who they claim has been harassing them for eight years, has finally been arrested.

The couple, who tied the knot in 2014, shared their joy and relief on social media on Friday as they confirmed that the woman named Vanessa M. Clark from Knoxville, Tennessee had been taken into custody.

The 65-year-old bassist and songwriter explained what had happened in a black and white post on his Instagram story which read: 'Stalker one from Tennesee has been arrested (again) for breaking the restraining order (again) and is also being charged with resisting arrest.

'Been a hard month. Happy to be home with my family. Thank you to my legal team and the court system.'

'Shes threatened the judge, Nikkis life, Courtneys life, their daughter Rubys life,' an insider exclusively told DailyMail.com. 'She thinks she and Nikki are twin flames and has gotten to cross-examine Nikki in court three times.'

Nikki Sixx and his wife Courtney (pictured) shared their relief on Friday as they confirmed that their stalker had been taken into custody after eight years of stalking

A woman named Vanessa M. Clark from in Knoxville, Tennessee, came close to a shootout with police, according to Courtney

The source continued: 'She was telling him during cross-examination they are twin flames like Bonnie and Clyde or Romeo and Juliette.

'She asked him, "Why is that so hard for you to understand, Nikki? Did you do too many drugs in the 80s?"'

Nikki asked 'why did it take so long' in a lengthy Instagram post in which he claimed the woman had been ordered to seek help for her mental health but had refused.

'Laws should be looked at to protect innocent people and stronger laws to help around mental illness,' he wrote. 'This woman was ordered to get mental help and just didnt do it and then slipped through the cracks.

'She also has a weapon and has been allowed to keep it even after threatening our family with acts of violence.

'The fact that this went on so long couldve ended in tragedy.'

Courtney, 38, shared the long-awaited good news with fans in an Instagram post which featured a picture of the smiling star throwing a bouquet of flowers in the air.

In the jubilant update, she revealed that the woman - who claimed to be the 'twin soul of Nikki Sixx' on Instagram - had been 'ready to have a shoot out' with the US Marshall as she resisted the arrest.

The 65-year-old bassist and songwriter explained what had happened in a black and white post on his Instagram story

'Thank you Heavenly Father! Our stalker is in jail!!!!,' the caption began. 'This woman has been harassing, violently threatening and stalking my husband, my daughter and me for the longest 8 years of our lives.'

The mother-of-one continued: 'She has shown zero regard to multiple, multiple court protection orders. We have been begging (even the judge ordered Meta to take down her abusive profile) which they still have yet to do.

'I reported this woman eight years ago to Instagram. Eight years my family has been dealing with this.'

Courtney then admitted having to learn how to shoot a firearm for fear of needing to protect herself from the stalker.

She continued: 'Having to purchase home protection, I had to learn how to shoot a gun. Weve hired full time security. Its been hell.

'Last night this stalker resisted arrest and was ready to have a shoot out with the US Marshalls and The Knoxville Sheriffs Department.'

Courtney, 38, shared the long-awaited good news with fans on an Instagram post which featured a picture of the smiling star throwing a bouquet of flowers in the air

The Bouquet Box founder explained: 'She claimed someone would be shot and she wouldnt go down without a fight.

'Thank you to our incredible men in blue who came to my familys rescue last night and successful made the arrest even through she resisted no one gotten hurt.'

In her Instagram bio, Vanessa called herself the 'Twin soul of Nikki Sixx'.

She also claimed that her 'court cases were all due to C**tney's jealousy' while boasting that her 'Bio, acct & all it's content ruled legal as my 1st amm then tampered/contempt'.

The troubled fan had more than 1,000 posts which featured lengthy statements in which she accused the legendary rocker and his wife of increasingly strange claims.

In a post shared just one day before her arrest, she spoke about firing her lawyer as she wrote: 'Let's just say, someone out there in that enforcement field knows I've had enough of being bullied/harassed/threatened & I'm thru. They found out the minute I fired that lawyer, I was dead a** serious.'

Nikki and Courtney tied the knot in March 2014 in Beverly Hills and they share a daughter, Ruby

Courtney revealed that the woman - who claimed to be the 'twin soul of Nikki Sixx' on Instagram - had been 'ready to have a shoot out' with the US Marshall as she resisted the arrest

Fans of Nikki and Courtney shared messages of support as they reacted to the news.

One wrote: 'Thank God ... I am sorry you and family had to go through that ..I cannot imagine .... Have blessed Mothers day.'

Another commented: 'Im so glad. I saw this stalkers horrible page and IG should remove it immediately, I cannot imagine how awful this has been for you all, wishing you peace and happiness moving forward.'

Nikki first appeared in public with Courtney at a Call of Duty: Black Ops launch party in Santa Monica, California, back in 2010.

Two-years later he proposed to her while on vacation on the Caribbean island of St Bart's. They tied the knot in March 2014 in Beverly Hills.

Renowned for his hard-partying with his band, Nikki has been married three times and has four children.

He shares Gunner, 29, Storm, 24, and Decker, 23, with first wife Brandi Brandt and Frankie-Jean, 18, with second wife Donna D'Errico.
South Koreans given no chance for glimpse into Yoon's foreign policy

By Nam Hyun-woo

President Yoon Suk Yeol had his first press conference in 631 days on Thursday, but the general assessment seems disappointed, with many reporters at the event saying it wasnt worth the wait, particularly regarding diplomacy and foreign affairs.

During the 70-minute question-and-answer session of the press conference, Yoon took four questions related to foreign affairs. Presidential spokesperson Kim Soo-kyung gave chances only to four foreign correspondents, dismissing dozens of reporters from domestic news outlets who raised their hands desperately, and moved on to the next question category.

There was no pre-arranged notice to the press corps covering the presidential office, nor a process of asking reporters from domestic news outlets to understand the time constraints. The spokesperson smoothly picked correspondents from Reuters, BBC, AFP and Nikkei without hesitation, as if it was obvious that only foreign correspondents would get the chance to ask questions on foreign affairs.

When Yoon finished his press conference and exchanged handshakes with attending reporters, this reporter made a small and diffident complaint to him  while remembering previous cases of presidential security dragging out those making intimidating gestures toward Yoon.

It seems a little odd to take foreign affairs-related questions only from foreign correspondents, this reporter said, while shaking hands cautiously with Yoon. The president smiled and replied: Maybe we can do it again later.

It is obvious for the president to take questions from foreign correspondents, and natural for the presidential aides to expect that foreign news outlets would focus on diplomatic issues. Former presidents also answered foreign correspondents questions during press conferences, but they did not exclude domestic news outlets from the chance to ask questions on diplomatic matters.

During the press conference, foreign correspondents asked questions on international matters that involve South Korea, such as how Yoon will negotiate with Washington over sharing the costs for United States Forces Korea in case of Donald Trumps win in the U.S. presidential election, what will be the red line in South Koreas relations with Russia, and how he will shape Seouls relations with Japan.

Though the questions were about timely matters of international interest, they do not include South Koreans perspective of wondering how Yoon should navigate global geopolitical upheavals to protect the country's interests.

By limiting the questions only to foreign correspondents, there were no chances to gain insights into Yoons thoughts on diplomatic matters important for Seoul, such as how to handle worsening relations with China, how to contain North Koreas escalating missile and nuclear threats and bring the regime back to diplomacy, and what are the tangible benefits of Yoons diplomatic principle of leaning toward the U.S. and Japan.

These questions may seem far from fresh from the perspective of international audiences, but all are related to the interests and safety of South Korea's businesses and people.

Though Yoon showed a clear stance of standing by Washington in the U.S.-China rivalry, China still remains South Korea's largest trading partner.

Despite the stronger-than-ever alliance with the U.S. and amicable relations with Japan, Washington is pressing South Korean businesses to invest more in the U.S., while Japan is now coercing South Korean tech giant Naver to divest its stake from popular messaging app Line, which was developed by Navers Japanese arm.

Months earlier, a Washington-based diplomatic analyst suggested to this reporter to ask Yoon, if possible, whether South Korea would send its troops or even non-combat military forces if a military conflict takes place between the U.S. and China over Taiwan, saying this could be the Yoon administration's most compelling conundrum in the near future, directly affecting the safety of South Koreans.

Already, a minor-opposition lawmaker-elect said that he plans to table a resolution against sending South Korean troops to overseas military conflicts, citing the possibility of a war in Taiwan.

Since Yoon said that maybe we can do it again later, this reporter may have to wait to ask that question  maybe for another 631 days. By that time, Mr. President, please learn that foreign affairs are not reserved for foreign correspondents only.
Avicii's ex-girlfriend Emily Goldberg has tragically passed away at just 34-years-old only a year after she celebrated being 'cancer free'.

Emily died on April 3 in La Jolla, California from a pulmonary embolism - which is a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in the lung.

Her family have described her as a 'vivacious and unique person who experienced many adventures in her all too brief life'.

Emily last posted on her Instagram in May last year as she shared a picture of herself lying in a hospital bed with her thumbs up to the camera.

She captioned the picture: 'I lived b****. I have had cancer for the past year. I am now cancer free.'

Avicii's ex girlfriend Emily Goldberg has tragically died at age 34 - a year after last social media post celebrating being 'cancer free'

Emily last posted on her Instagram in May last year as she shared a picture of herself lying in a hospital bed with her thumbs up to the camera

The post has since been flooded with condolences to her family from Avicii fans, as they wrote: 'Hope you're reunited with your soulmate Tim and you're both enjoying rest and peace.'

'Rest in peace'; 'My deepest condolences to the family and loved ones so sorry for your loss. Rest in peace Emily.'; 'Rest in peace u are now with avicii'; 'Just read the news Rest in Peace'.

Emily is survived by her parents, Julie and Sam Goldberg of La Jolla, and brother Aaron Goldberg of Chicago, Illinois.

Emily and the late DJ dated from 2011 to 2013 before the hitmaker, whose real name was Tim Bergling - died in 2018 by suicide at just 28 years old.

Emily revealed her heartbreak on social media the day after his sudden passing in Oman as she shared a screengrab of text messages between the pair, and a handful of personal pictures of them together.

She wrote: 'Come on babe, don't give up on us. Choose me, and I'll show you love.' Those are lyrics from a song Tim wrote for me. I wish I could have lived up to them.'

She continued: 'For the two years we were together, he was my closest confidante, and my best friend. Now I can't look at Bear without knowing I'll never see his face again.

'I'm still collecting my thoughts and thank you for all your kind words and texts. Wake me up when it's all over, because I don't want it to be real #ripavicii.'

Emily died on April 3 in La Jolla, California from a pulmonary embolism - which is a blood clot that blocks and stops blood flow to an artery in the lung

Emily and the late DJ dated from 2011 to 2013 before the hitmaker, whose real name was Tim Bergling - died in 2018 by suicide at just 28 years old

Emily revealed her heartbreak on social media the day after his sudden passing in Oman as she shared a screengrab of text messages between the pair, and a handful of personal pictures of them together

The post has since been flooded with condolences to her family from Avicii fans, as they wrote: 'Hope you're reunited with your soulmate Tim and you're both enjoying rest and peace'

She captioned the post: ' Come on babe, dont give up on us. Choose me, and Ill show you love. Those are lyrics from a song Tim wrote for me. I wish I could have lived up to them'

She also shared a Whatsapp conversation she had with the musician from an unknown date. She wrote: 'I love u tim!' The superstar DJ replied: 'I love you too emilyyyy.'

After Avicii's death, his family released a statement revealing that Avicii did not want to go on and had been struggling with mental health issues at the time of his death.

'He really struggled with thoughts about Meaning, Life, Happiness. He could not go on any longer. He wanted to find peace,' the statement said.

Despite a meteoric rise to success following the release of hit-single Le7els in 2011, Avicii announced in 2016 that he would not longer perform live, following years health problems caused by stress and alcohol abuse, as well as severe anxiety.

Emily continued to pay tribute to the star after his death after she posted a series of memories with him in April 2021, to mark two years since his passing.

She wrote: 'He was a best friend and a soul mate'.

The influencer also had her own cameo page, which read: 'I'll pretty much do anything. Portion of the proceeds will be going to The Tim Bergling Foundation'.

The documentary Avicii: True Stories shed light on the extreme pressure he was under, performing 320 shows in a single year.

In the documentary, Avicii, a self-confessed introvert, speaks frequently about using alcohol as a crutch to be able to perform, drinking every day during his hectic tour, and to help him with his crippling anxiety and stress.

Emily continued to pay tribute to the star after his death after she posted a series of memories with him in April 2021, to mark two years since his passing

After Avicii's death, his family released a statement revealing that Avicii did not want to go on and had been struggling with mental health issues at the time of his death

Despite a meteoric rise to success following the release of hit-single Le7els in 2011, Avicii announced in 2016 that he would not longer perform live, following years health problems caused by stress and alcohol abuse, as well as severe anxiety

At the age of 21 he was diagnosed with acute pancreatitis - a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the pancreas - due in part to excessive drinking.

In 2014, he was again hospitalised and forced to have his gallbladder and appendix removed.

Avicii made a fortune during his short career, cashing in $28million in 2014 alone, earning $250,000 a night when playing out sold-out shows, according to GQ.

Avicii himself was less bothered about his millions, saying in 2013 that he 'noticed straight away when I started making money, that I don't need that much money'.

In 2012 he donated the entire income of his U.S. tour - more than one million dollars - to hunger relief charity Feeding America, and in 2013 he gave one million euros to Swedish aid organisation Radiohjalpen.

The star grew up in affluent Ostermalm in the Swedish capital Stockholm, and began producing music in high school.

He made a name for himself on the EDM (Electronic Dance Music) scene, before his breakthrough hit Le7els in 2011.

He would later become known for hits like Wake Me Up!, You Make Me, and recently Lonely Together, a collaboration with Rita Ora.

He won two MTV Music Awards, one Billboard Music Award and earned two Grammy nominations.

Just three days before his death, in his final post on Twitter, Bergling thanked the Billboard Music Award's jury for his nomination int the Top Dance/Electronic Album category for his EP Avici (01).

In the days following his death, it was revealed that Avicii had been in a committed relationship with Czech-American model Tereza Kacerova, and was a doting step-father to her young son at the time of his death.

Anyone can contact Samaritans FREE any time from any phone on 116 123, visit samaritans.org for more information
Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader has claimed Martin Scorsese's dog bit off and ate part of his thumb in a horrifying attack.

Schrader, 77, who has collaborated with legendary director Scorsese, 81 on Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing Out The Dead, revealed to Variety that a pet Scottish Terrier had savaged his hand during a dinner meeting.

In his profile to promote new film Oh, Canada, director Schrader showed up to dinner in December with 'a massive, bloody bandage wrapped around his hand and said: 'So on Tuesday night, I had dinner with Marty at his place. He has these dogs.

'They were very cute. Two of them were bichon frise. Theyre really beautiful. But then, he has a Scottie, which is a problematic dog. It was his daughters dog. He doesnt like the dog, but they have to keep him and blah, blah, blah.

'I tried to pet the Scottie... The Scottie not only took out part of my thumb, he ate it.'

Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader has claimed Martin Scorsese's dog bit off and ate part of his thumb in a horrifying attack - pictured 2019

Three of Scorsese's dogs - Mac, Flora and Jasmine - who are all terrier breeds

When asked if he 'had to go to the ER', Schrader added: 'Marty has an in-house nurse.'

Scorsese is known for being a keen animal lover - and even has an Instagram account dedicated to his canines. It is not known which of his dogs is the culprit.

In 2018 Scorsese was sued by a nurse who said she was unable to work for years after being attacked by his terrier Desmond in 2015.

Natara Matias alleged she was set upon by Scorsese's 'ferocious' dog, that has since died, who took a bite of her right leg causing her to fall.

Scorsese and his wife Helen denied any wrongdoing.

She accused Scorsese and Helen of allowing their white terrier Desmond to 'menace' the home nurse at their townhouse on East 64th St. near Park Ave.

Matias' complaint describes Desmond as 'wild, unruly, vicious' and possessing a 'ferocious nature' with a propensity to attack other dogs and people.

She said the Scorseses, accused of gross negligence, were well aware of this and failed to keep the dog under control which led to her being hurt.

Schrader, 77, who has collaborated with legendary director Scorsese, 81 on Raging Bull, The Last Temptation of Christ and Bringing Out The Dead, revealed to Variety that a pet Scottish Terrier had savaged his hand during a dinner meeting

Scorsese is known for being a keen animal lover - and even has an Instagram account dedicated to his canines. It is not known which of his dogs is the culprit - pictured Scottish Terrier Jasmine

Scorsese's wife Helen is seen with their three dogs

Scorsese is seen with daughter Francesca's schnauzer Oscar in January

As she attempted to wrest Desmond from her leg as she was bitten, Matias is believed to have fallen which created injuries in her neck and back.

The attack is also said to have caused 'great pain, shock and mental anguish' to the plaintiff, whose lawyer Greg Martello was unaware Desmond had passed away.

Scorsese's daughter Francesca uploaded an Instagram post dedicated to Desmond after his death in July 2016.

'RIP Desi, I will always have an empty feeling in my heart because you brought me so much happiness throughout my life and now you're gone,' wrote Francesca at the time.
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has joined the cast of the upcoming Jurassic World movie, according to Deadline.

The news about the 43-year-old actor was revealed on Friday, and it was also reported that he would star alongside Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming feature, which is already receiving attention from the franchise's longtime fans.

Details about the character that will be played by the star of The Lincoln Lawyer are currently being kept under wraps.

Development on the upcoming entry in the Jurassic Park film series was initially revealed to the public this past January, when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that David Koepp would pen the movie's screenplay.

The screenwriter also co-wrote the script for the original 1993 adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel, which was directed by Steven Spielberg.

Manuel Garcia-Rulfo has joined the cast of the upcoming Jurassic World movie, according to Deadline; seen in April

The 77-year-old filmmaker is expected to serve as an executive producer for the new installment in the franchise.

Koepp went on to write the screenplay for 1997's The Lost World: Jurassic Park, which was also directed by Spielberg.

The Schindler's List director went on to serve as an executive producer for all three films in the Jurassic World film series, which were released in 2015, 2018 and 2022, respectively.

The most recent three entries in the film series starred Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard as Owen Grady and Claire Dearing, respectively.

However, the two performers will not reprise their past roles in the upcoming feature.

It was also revealed that Jeff Goldblum, Laura Dern and Sam Neill, who portrayed Dr. Ian Malcolm, Dr. Ellie Sattler and Dr. Alan Grant, will not appear in the new movie.

It was reported that David Leitch was in talks to direct the new entry in the franchise, although he eventually departed the project.

Details about the character that will be played by the star of The Lincoln Lawyer are currently being kept under wraps

The news about the 43-year-old actor was revealed on Friday, and it was also reported that he would star alongside Scarlett Johansson in the upcoming feature, which is already receiving attention from the franchise's longtime fans; seen in April

Development on the upcoming entry in the Jurassic Park film series was initially revealed to the public this past January, when The Hollywood Reporter revealed that David Koepp would pen the movie's screenplay

The new Jurassic World movie is currently set to make its debut on July 2, 2025

Gareth Edwards was revealed to have begun negotiations to direct the feature this past February.

According to Deadline, Jonathan Bailey, best known for his work on the Showtime series Fellow Travelers, entered negotiations to work on the feature last month.

Plot details for the upcoming feature are currently being kept under wraps.

The new Jurassic World movie is currently set to make its debut on July 2, 2025.
Rachel McAdams was a vision in white at the star-studded 2024 Tony Awards nominations luncheon at the Rainbow Room in New York Friday.

The actress, 45, who recently made her Broadway debut in Mary Jane, showcased her edgy style in a three-piece linen suit.

The Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play nominee, showcased her toned abs in a pair of white pants with a matching cropped vest.

The Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret star topped it off with an oversized jacket and wore white sandals.

Her long, brunette locks were styled in loose layers and her makeup looked natural with a bright pink lip.

Rachel McAdams was a vision in white at the star-studded 2024 Tony Awards nominations luncheon at the Rainbow Room in New York Friday

She accessorized with gold hoop earrings and carried an off-white shoulder bag.

The Disobedience star was seen sharing a congratulatory hug with fellow nominee Jeremy Strong.

The 45-year-old received a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his work in An Enemy of the People.

The Succession star looked dapper in a brown suit and T-shirt. His salt and pepper hair was parted on the side and worn short.

The Emmy winner sported a mustache and a scruffy beard.

Fellow nominees Sarah Paulson and Kelli O'Hara also chose white for the big event.

Paulson, 49, who, like McAdams, has a Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play nomination for her work in Appropriate, donned a white Khaite suit with a knee length coat and wide leg pants.

She offered some contrast, wearing black pumps and carrying a black bag.

The actress made her Broadway debut in Mary Jane and was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play

The Disobedience star was seen sharing a congratulatory hug with fellow nominee Jeremy Strong. The 45-year-old received a nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for his work in An Enemy of the People

Saah Paulson, 49, who, like McAdams, has a Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Play nomination for her work in Appropriate, donned a white Khaite suit with a knee length coat and wide leg pants with black pumps and a black bag

The Golden Globe winner's blonde bob was parted on the side and styled straight. Her makeup looked natural with a soft pink lip.

The American Crime Story star accessorized with large gold earrings.

O'Hara, 48, looked sleek in a white jumpsuit with gold chain straps.

The Gilded Age star displayed her fit arms, deciding to carry the matching blazer rather than covering up.

O'Hara is nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her role in Days of Wine and Roses.

Her long, blonde hair was styled in loose curls and her makeup showcased her fair complexion, adding a bit of pink on her cheeks and a neutral lip.

She accessorized with gold hoop earrings and carried an off-white handbag.

Kelli O'Hara, 48, looked sleek in a white jumpsuit with gold chain straps and carried the matching blazer. She was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Musical for her role in Days of Wine and Roses

O'Hara posed for a photo with pal and The Gilded Age co-star Celia Keenan-Bolger, 46, who wore a long orange jacket over a white top. The Mother Play star was nominated for Best Featured Actress in a Play

The Accidental Wolf star stopped for a moment to pose for a photo with pal and The Gilded Age co-star Celia Keenan-Bolger, 46, who wore a long orange jacket over a white top.

The actress who won the Tony for Best Lead Actress in a Play in 2019 for To Kill a Mockingbird, wore white sandals and carried a white purse.

The Best Featured Actress in a Musical nominee styled her long, blonde hair in waves and she accessorized with a gold necklace.

The Tony Awards will take place May 16 in New York and the show, hosted by Ariana DeBose, will air live on CBS.
Jessica Alba cut a fashionable figure while heading to a meeting in Beverly Hills on Friday afternoon.

The 43-year-old actress stood out in a striped button-up shirt and a bright white pair of pants, which were paired with matching sneakers.

The performer - who was recently spotted in the company of her daughters Honor, 15, and Haven, 12 - also accessorized with various pieces of jewelry and a sizable blue purse as she made her way to her appointment.

Alba's voluminous brunette hair remained free-flowing and cascaded onto her shoulders and chest.

The Sin City star's outing took place just two days after she gave her Instagram followers a look into her birthday trip by sharing several photos on her account.

Jessica Alba cut a fashionable figure while heading to a meeting in Beverly Hills on Friday afternoon

The actress celebrated her special occasion by taking several of her friends with her to a luxury resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico.

The performer was seen while cutting a cake in her first photo, and she also included several photos that had been taken during various trips to the beach.

Alba also wrote a short message in her post's caption where she described her getaway as the 'best birthday trip a girl could ask for.'

The Dark Angel star went on to write that she was grateful for the company of the friends who had joined her on the trip.

'To be on this journey of life with a circle of [women] who can let go of the ideas of who we should be and be vulnerable and open to growth is beyond magical to witness and to be part of,' she wrote.

Alba added: 'One of the best gifts in life is a tribe of [women] that elevate one another - so thank you to my #soulsisters, I love you!'

The performer is also currently preparing for the release of the action-thriller feature Trigger Warning, in which she will star.

The movie will be centered on a former Special Forces member who inherits her deceased grandfather's bar and is forced to deal with a violent gang that runs her hometown.

The 43-year-old actress stood out in a striped button-up shirt and a bright white pair of pants, which were paired with matching sneakers

The performer - who was recently spotted in the company of her daughters Honor, 15, and Haven, 12 - also accessorized with various pieces of jewelry and a sizable blue purse as she made her way to her appointment

The Sin City star's outing took place just two days after she gave her Instagram followers a look into her birthday trip by sharing several photos on her account

The actress celebrated her special occasion by taking several of her friends with her to a luxury resort in Playa Del Carmen, Mexico

The performer is also currently preparing for the release of the action-thriller feature Trigger Warning, in which she will star

Development on the feature began in the mid-2010s, and Alba signed on to star in the film and serve as one of its executive producers in 2020.

Other cast members in the Mouly Surya-directed film include Anthony Michael Hall, Mark Webber and Tone Hall.

Production on the feature kicked off in 2021 and took place at various locations in New Mexico.

Trigger Warning is currently scheduled to debut on the Netflix streaming service on June 21.
Phillip Schofield appears to be planning his comeback after he was seen out and about with ITV royalty Declan Donnelly.

In photos obtained by The Sun, the duo were snapped together in London after a four-hour dinner at a restaurant close to their homes.

It has been almost a year since Phillip, 62, left This Morning last May. He stood down from the daytime show after admitting he had lied about his relationship with a much younger colleague.

Friends of the presenter told the publication that although they have been pushing for him to return to the spotlight, he himself has reservations.

The source explained that Phillip is being supported by his friends at ITV including Alison Hammond and Ant and Dec.

Phillip Schofield enjoys four hour dinner with Dec Donnelly as he hints at TV comeback almost a year after leaving This Morning

Dec has reportedly been supporting the star after he left This Morning last May after admitting he had lied about his relationship with a much younger colleague

They said: 'They have all been rallying around him and their support, especially from Dec who is such a good friend, has really helped Phil. Some TV executives have been in touch with Phil about a possible return and his friends have told him he should consider it.

'Phil is still shell shocked by everything that happened last year and is happy at the moment to focus on rebuilding his life with the support of his friends and family.

'Whether he will make a comeback  whether it's on TV or radio  is still undecided but the offers are there if he wants to pursue them. His friends have told him they will support him all the way.'

Phillip and Dec's dinner is the first time the pair have been seen publicly together since the This Morning scandal.

Dec was joined by his wife Ali Astall, while Phil was accompanied by his puppy.

Onlookers reported that the pair looked in good spirits and were seen laughing and joking together like it was an ordinary night out.

After Phillip left the show in May, his co-host Holly Willoughby later left in October due to an alleged kidnap plot.

The pair were officially replaced by Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley in March as the two took on the show full time after a series of guest presenters had been rotating the daytime slot.

A source told The Sun: 'They have all been rallying around him and their support, especially from Dec who is such a good friend, has really helped Phil. Some TV executives have been in touch with Phil about a possible return and his friends have told him he should consider it (Phil and Holly Willoughby hosting this morning in May 2023 shortly before Phil resigned)

The pair were officially replaced by Ben Shephard and Cat Deeley in March as the two took on the show full time after a series of guest presenters had been rotating the daytime slot

Back in March friends of the star have said that Phillip is quite certain he will never work again following his admission that he had an affair with a much younger colleague and then lied about it (pictured 2014)

Back in March friends of the star have said that Phillip is quite certain he will never work again following his admission that he had an affair with a much younger colleague and then lied about it.

One said: Phillip has been very, very down recently. He doesnt know how he is going to work again. Its devastating for him to realise but he also knows that there is not a lot he can do about it. He doesnt know who will take him. He knows there is no way back to ITV or the BBC.

Sources close to the star say that his friends are trying to encourage him to think he can have a fulfilling life away from showbusiness.

One said: Just because he may not be on telly again doesnt mean he cant enjoy his life. Phil isnt so sure though.

The star has though been tipped for a job on national radio  his 'first love'  with Britain's largest commercial stations said to be jostling to bring him in to woo new listeners from rivals, including BBC Radio 2.

An ITV report in December cleared bosses of a cover-up and did not mention any further damaging claims about Phil's relationship with a young runner on the show.

Despite claims of a 'whitewash', industry insiders told MailOnline that it opens the door to the star getting a new big-money deal to return to work in 2024.

But a senior British broadcasting source said at the time that a return to TV for Phillip is 'unlikely  for now'.

He said: 'Now that a line has been drawn in the sand by ITV over the Schofield saga, attention will move on.

'Within a period of time there is now a place for Phillip to return, possibly not on TV yet, but there are now a myriad of opportunities for him on commercial radio where he will be offered big money to return to his first love.

'The KC's report gives him a fresh chance  but nobody will be surprised at all to see that ITV has found itself in the clear as it tries to save This Morning'.

He quit This Morning after he admitted to a past relationship with a younger male former colleague  but neither men spoke to Jane Mulcahy KC, whose report came out in December.

Ms Mulcahy found that the unnamed runner's promotion from This Morning to Loose Women 'had nothing to do' with Phillip and claimed that also 'only one person' interviewed had knowledge of the affair but 'did not report their knowledge at time'.

Phillip started out in local radio in New Zealand as a teenager before joining the BBC, hosting a popular show on Radio 1 while presenting Going Live.

Alison Hammond has also reportedly been supporting the former This Morning presenter

Phillip also stepped down from Dancing On Ice as Stephen Mulhern took his place for January's series (pictured 2023)

Phillip and Holly are pictured either side of the man with whom he had an affair

It now remains to be seen whether Britain's most popular stations, such as Classic FM, Magic, Virgin, Heart or other giants now swoop. Greatest Hits Radio has also been on a hiring spree, grabbing big names such as Ken Bruce and Simon Mayo to take listeners from Radio 2.

Furious ITV staff blasted the external report into Phillip's affair with a younger colleague as a 'whitewash'.

One employee told the Mail of their 'sheer bewilderment' that only one junior worker was aware of the relationship.

The report found that ITV did not cover up the relationship and that station bosses had made 'considerable efforts' to discover the truth in 2019  four years before the affair broke.

The external review found that the channel was 'unable to uncover the relevant evidence' until Phillip's own admission in May when he told the Mail that he had been having the relationship and that he had later lied about it.

ITV bosses have said both Phillip and his former lover, who has never been named publicly, 'repeatedly denied' allegations of a relationship until the star dramatically quit ITV and formally apologised.

It added that only one person out of 48 interviewed  a junior employee  said they knew about the presenter's relationship with the younger male former colleague before he revealed it.

Ms Mulcahy revealed that Phillip refused to take part in the review into the circumstances surrounding the his departure because of 'the risk to his health'. She added that she was informed that the host's mental health had since deteriorated.

Phillip's former colleague and lover also declined to participate in the report.
Sophie Piper showed off her ample cleavage in a ruby red bikini as she shared sexy Instagram snaps on Friday.

The Love Island star, 25, is enjoying a loved-up holiday with boyfriend Joshua Ritchie, 29, whom she met on the ITV dating show, in Jamaica.

And sharing an insight into her luxury getaway, Sophie flaunted her jaw-dropping figure in the skimpy two-piece.

The beauty posed up a storm on a tropical beach, showcasing her snatched waist and gorgeous curves.

Sophie also shared a sweet snap with Josh as they posed in front of the idyllic sunset in their stylish ensembles.

Sophie Piper, 25, showed off her ample cleavage in a ruby red bikini as she shared sexy Instagram snaps on Friday

The Love Island star is enjoying a loved-up holiday with boyfriend Joshua Ritchie, 29, whom she met on the ITV dating show, in Jamaica

In March, Josh revealed on his Instagram story that he asked Sophie to be his girlfriend but she turned him down, saying: 'I don't think we're at that stage yet.'

In the video he shared, Josh showed a hotel bed surrounded with rose petals and that had rose petals on the bed itself spelling out 'will you be my gf?'

Josh turned the camera to Sophie and said: 'Look what we have here, then. Thankfully, she said "no".'

Sophie explained: 'Erm, I just don't think we're at that stage yet. I think there's a lot of stuff still that we're working out.'

Josh burst into laughter while Sophie was speaking, letting his followers know that Sophie wasn't being serious.

Rochelle Humes' sister confirmed this by taking to her own Story to share a photo of the bed and write: 'His (sic) the cutest haha'.

Josh took Sophie to the luxurious Down Hall Hotel & Spa in Bishop's Stortford to pop the question.

It comes just over a month after the couple finished Love Island All Stars in third place after being coupled up since the day after Sophie entered the Villa.

And sharing an insight into her luxury getaway, Sophie flaunted her jaw-dropping figure in the skimpy two-piece

The beauty posed up a storm on a tropical beach, showcasing her snatched waist and gorgeous curves

Sophie also shared a sweet snap with Josh as they posed in front of the idyllic sunset in their stylish ensembles

In March, Josh revealed on his Instagram story that he asked Sophie to be his girlfriend but she turned him down, saying: 'I don't think we're at that stage yet' - which turned out to be a joke

In the video he shared, Josh showed a hotel bed surrounded with rose petals and that had rose petals on the bed itself spelling out 'will you be my gf?'

Before Sophie, Josh was coupled up with former flame Georgia Harrison, but the two decided to remain friends.

Sophie and Josh's journey is a stark contrast to co-stars Georgia Steel and Toby Aromolaran who called it quits two weeks after celebrating Toby's 25th birthday.

Earlier this year, the new couple joined Coronation Street stars and Kirstie Allsopp at Alton Towers.

The celebs were there to try out the theme park's revamped ride Nemesis Reborn which is now open to the public.
The Biden administration is set to announce a four-fold increase on tariffs for electric coming from China, new reports suggest.

Officials will announce the significant hike in levies on clean-energy goods from China on Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports.

The decision will also affect critical minerals, solar products and batteries, sources familiar with the matter told the Journal.

Tariffs on roughly $300 billion of Chinese goods were first imposed by Donald Trump and have been subject to a yearslong review by the White House.

Evidence that China was increasing its exports of electric products pushed policy makers in Washington towards higher levels in a bid to protect the emerging American clean-energy industry.

Chinese electric vehicles, such as BYDs (pictured), are soon set to be subject to a roughly 100 percent tariff, according to reports

Biden is set to announce a four-fold increase on electric vehicles coming from China

The current tariff on Chinese EVs is 25 percent, and is set to be raised to roughly 100 percent, the Journal reports.

It has effectively blocked the vehicles, which can often be cheaper than Western-made cars, from the US market.

However, the ramping up of Chinese manufacturing has worried the White House and American automakers that the current tariff is no longer enough.

The Chinese foreign ministry hit back at the plans at a briefing on Friday stating that tariffs have disrupted trade between the US and China.

'China will take all necessary measures to defend its rights and interests,' a spokesperson for the ministry said.

Protecting American industry and jobs from foreign competition has been a key message for Biden as he attempts to carry swing states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan ahead of the election in November.

'These are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition,' Biden said during a campaign visit to Michigan last month.

The President told workers he would raise tariffs on Chinese steel in order to protect industry jobs in the state.

Tariffs will also be raised on critical minerals, solar products and batteries coming from China

In turn Trump has stated that he would raise tariffs on all Chinese imports to 60 percent if he was reinstated to the White House.

The former President has also argued that the American auto industry could face a 'bloodbath' if he loses.

China is attempting to increase its clean energy production as a way of stimulating its slumping economy.

However, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly warned against the approach, arguing that other countries will simply impose tariffs and other impediments in order to protect their own industries form a flood of cheaper Chinese exports.

'China is too large to export its way to rapid growth,' she told Chinese officials during a recent visit.
It comes as nationwide house prices have risen 5 percent year-on-year

Soaring house prices and high mortgage rates may have put many Americans' homebuying dreams on ice. But a treasure trove of bargain hotspots is popping up across the country.

A new report by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found 15 cities where home values have fallen outright this year.

Among them are neighborhoods in New York, Texas and Florida.

These areas are at-odds with a nationwide trend which has seen the median price of a single-family home rise 5 percent year-on-year to a median of $389,400.

At the same time, mortgage rates have surpassed 7 percent - meaning buyers face paying more than $900 a month on a standard home than if they had bought two years ago.

Elmira in New York saw the highest drop of any US neighborhood, with properties falling to $135,800 in the first three months of 2024. Pictured: Elmira

The city is surrounded by rolling hills and rivers and boasts a population of 26,700 people. Pictured: the Christmas House shop in a Queen Anne Victorian home in Elmira

According to the NAR, prospective newcomers to the area would need to earn $34,424 to qualify for a mortgage with a 20 percent downpayment. Pictured: a three-bedroom home for sale in Elmira for $95,900

The area, which was once famously home to author Mark Twain, sits in Chemung County and is most famous for its rich culture, art and historical sites. Pictured: Twain's octagonal study built on the grounds of Quarry Farm in Elmira

NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun said: 'Astonishingly, greater than 90 percent of the country's metro areas experienced home price growth despite facing the highest mortgage rates in two decades.

'In the current market, rising prices are the direct result of insufficient housing supply not meeting the full demand.'

But 15 cities did see their prices fall in the first quarter of the year compared to the same period in 2023, the NAR said.

Elmira in New York saw the highest drop of any US neighborhood, with properties falling to $135,800 in the first three months of 2024. It marked a drop of 15.1 percent from $160,000 last year.

Elmira was followed by San Antonio, TX (pictured) which saw its home values decline 4.6 percent in the last year

South Bend, IN (pictured) also made the list, with the median house price falling 1.6 percent to $180,000

A three-bedroom, one bathroom property in South Bend is currently available on Redfin for $159,900

The area, which was once famously home to author Mark Twain, sits in Chemung County and is most famous for its rich culture, art and historical sites.

The city is surrounded by rolling hills and rivers and boasts a population of 26,700 people.

According to the NAR, prospective newcomers to the area would need to earn $34,424 to qualify for a mortgage with a 20 percent downpayment.

Elmira was followed by San Antonio, TX, which saw its home values decline 4.6 percent in the last year.

The drop is likely an overdue price correction after San Antonio became one of the hottest housing markets to emerge from the pandemic.

White collar employees moved to the area in their droves after the shift to remote working unshackled them from their San Francisco and New York offices.

The median house price in San Antonio fell to $305,800 in the first three months of 2024, from $320,500 in the same period last year.

In Shreveport, LA (pictured) house prices have fallen 0.9 percent since last year, the data shows

A 2,589-foot property in Shreveport is currently listed on Redfin for $250,000

The median price of homes in Peoria, IL (pictured) is now $127,200

It means a buyer would now need an income of $77,516 to qualify for a home with a 20 percent downpayment.

Meanwhile three neighborhoods in Florida made the list. Cape Coral saw its median house price fall by 4.4 percent from $415,000 from $434,000 in the same period the year prior.

Crestview and Panama City also saw similar drops. Other neighborhoods included: Boulder, CO, Salem, OR, South Bend, IN, Logan, UT, Baton Rouge, LA, Peoria, IL, Shreveport, LA, Myrtle Beach, SC, Austin, TX, and Little Rock, AK.
The future of Indian agriculture hinges on a blend of tradition and innovation. Precision agriculture offers a crucial pathway to sustainably feed 1.7 billion people

Indias population is projected to reach approximately 1.7 billion by 2050. It would be a significant challenge for Indian agriculture to meet the food demands of such a vast population amidst the emerging challenges of climate change. Additionally, the sector faces issues such as an ageing farmer population. Younger generations are increasingly veering away from taking over the family agricultural farm, choosing other, more lucrative and less labour-intensive career paths over agriculture. To address these challenges, the adoption of modern farming techniques like precision farming and digital smart agriculture becomes imperative to ensure sustainable food production and the future prosperity of Indian agriculture.

A recent parliamentary panel has emphasized the importance of promoting agricultural mechanization, particularly for small and marginal farmers and has advocated for the integration of tiny robots and Artificial Intelligence (AI) into Indian farm operations to address the challenges posed by fragmented land holdings. Furthermore, the panel recommended the establishment of a National Institute of Agricultural Robotics and Artificial Intelligence to ensure that India remains at the forefront of agricultural development both domestically and internationally. On August 23, 2022, regarding Farm Mechanization, the Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education revealed that Indias mechanisation level stands at 47 per cent, trailing China (59.5 per cent), Brazil (75 per cent) and the US (95 per cent). The level of mechanisation varies greatly by region inside India too. Northern States boast higher rates (70-80 per cent), driven by fertile land, labour decline and State backing. Southern and eastern States lag (35-45 per cent) due to fragmented land holdings. North-eastern States struggle due to terrain, equipment costs and socio-economic factors.

Certainly, agriculture has evolved steadily from a traditional, labour-intensive model to a sophisticated, technology-driven system. Key milestones include the establishment of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK). The development of high-yielding, cost-effective, disease/pest-resistant and climate-resilient varieties and technologies across crops, horticulture, animal husbandry and fisheries sciences by ICAR has significantly bolstered production and productivity. However, while acknowledging these strides, its imperative to recognize that the pace of progress must match the urgency of our times.

Throughout history, people have always sought easier, faster and more efficient ways to get things done. This pursuit has sparked a technological revolution that merges age-old farming practices with cutting-edge innovations like the Internet of Things (IoT) known as Ag-IoT. It is a huge change in farming that could shake up how we grow, manage and protect our food. Its solutions are not merely about efficiency; they are about empowering farmers to achieve greater time efficiency, productivity and precision in their daily tasks. Its like having a super smart assistant that can take care of land, animals, crops and farms without needing humans to do everything. People also call it precision agriculture, smart agriculture, or digital agriculture.

It is like a big step forward in farming because it uses data to make decisions, making everything more efficient and productive. Through Ag-IoT, the very pulse of plant and animal needs can be sensed. The farmers can keep an eye on the soil all the time, control watering systems from afar and even check on the health of their animals without being right there. Its super handy because it can predict how much crops will grow accurately. In every aspect, Ag-IoT stands poised to revolutionize the landscape of crop management, insect and pest surveillance, food warehousing, livestock care, disease monitoring, dairy operations, supply chain logistics and beyond.

The evolution of drone technology has opened up boundless possibilities in the realm of crop assessment and monitoring. One such pioneering initiative, the NaMo Drone Didi Initiative, stands as a beacon of empowerment for rural women. In a momentous gesture, Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally handed over 1000 drones to 1000 Namo Drone Didis across 10 locations nationwide at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute in Pusa, New Delhi. These drones will help them do things like check on crops, spray fertilizers and plant seeds. Prime Minister Modis announcement of the Drone Didi yojana 2023-24 further underscores the Governments dedication to leveraging technology for the betterment of society. Significant financial allocations during 2020-21 and 2021-22, by the Indian Government including INR 1756.3 crores and INR 2422.7 crores respectively to States for the integration of cutting-edge technologies like drones, artificial intelligence, blockchain, remote sensing and GIS into agriculture and INR 7302.50 crores and INR 7908.18 crores were made in the same periods to ICAR for R&D, further demonstrate the Governments dedication to modernizing agriculture.

Technological strides like RFID tags (radio frequency identification) and systems like NLIS (National Livestock Identification Scheme) and INAPH (Information Network for Animal Productivity & Health) have propelled Precision Dairy Farming.

With swift electronic scanning and data integration, farmers can efficiently manage cow health, productivity and records, marking a significant shift in the dairy industry towards precision and efficiency. Meanwhile, in the aquaculture industry, companies like Aquaconnect and Shrimpbox are leveraging technology to revolutionise shrimp farming. Aquaconnect employs artificial intelligence and satellite sensing technologies to monitor farm performance and provide advice to shrimp and fish farmers, predominantly small to medium-scale operations. Shrimpbox, on the other hand, specializes in shrimp farming in colder climates and landlocked areas, boasting impressive productivity with minimal water usage and without antibiotics. Cropin Technology, based in Bengaluru, has developed Aksara, an open-source microlanguage model tailored for climate-smart farming.

In India, the World Economic Forums AI for Agriculture Innovation (AI4AI) initiative, led by C4IR India, is revolutionizing farming through AI. The Saagu Baagu pilot in Telanganas Khammam district, supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and Digital Green, exemplifies this success. With over 7,000 farmers benefiting, chilli yields surged by 21 per cent, pesticide use decreased by 9 per cent, fertilizer usage dropped by 5 per cent and unit prices improved by 8 per cent. Consequently, farmers doubled their earnings, with incomes rising by over INR 66,000 per acre per crop cycle. Overall, AI interventions at 175 farms in India have boosted crop yields by 30 per cent, as per the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

In conclusion, the future of Indian agriculture hinges on a blend of tradition and innovation. With a burgeoning population and dwindling resources, precision agriculture offers a crucial pathway to sustainably feed 1.7 billion people. If established, the National Institute of Agricultural Robotics and Artificial Intelligence would catapult Indian agriculture into unprecedented realms of excellence. The benefits of farm mechanization must permeate every corner of our nation, bridging divides and fostering inclusivity. We cannot afford to overlook those who are marginalized by the digital divide, particularly our small-scale farmers. As we look towards the future, let us remain committed to nurturing a vibrant, tech-enabled agrarian ecosystem that empowers farmers, preserves natural resources and ensures food security for generations to come.

(The writer is a scientist, at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhawanipatna; their views are personal)
South Korea is considering the deployment of special forces for security operations inside the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, in response to North Korea's restoration of demolished guard posts along the border, sources said Friday.

The South's military is reviewing the move in line with efforts to restore operations at its dismantled border guard posts, as the North is known to have effectively rebuilt the guard posts it had demolished under a 2018 inter-Korean military accord.

Last November, the South's military detected the North rebuilding the guard posts, days after Pyongyang announced it would restore all measures halted under the 2018 agreement. As part of the deal, the two Koreas had demolished or disarmed 11 of their guard posts inside the DMZ.

In response to the North's rebuilt guard posts, the military is considering mobilizing troops from a commando regiment to strengthen security in areas near its destroyed guard posts, according to the sources.

While South Korea is currently restoring its guard posts, rebuilding the concrete structures is expected to take a considerable amount of time.

A Joint Chiefs of Staff official said various measures will be considered to operate the guard posts but declined to comment further, citing risks to troop safety. (Yonhap)
As the dust settles, revelations by the Telangana Police shed new light on Vemulas untimely death

Rohith Vemula(26), a PhD scholar at the University of Hyderabad was found dead in his hostel room on 17 January 2016. Had he lived for another fortnight, he would have celebrated his 27th birthday on January 30. But he was called back by the Maker as it is said that He prefers the favourite ones to join Him ahead of others.

The untimely demise of Vemula opened a Pandoras Box all over India. Opposition parties led by the Congress staged a nationwide protest and agitation blaming the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre for the death of this young man. The CPI(M)s frontal organization SFI called for education bundh the next day and demanded the resignation of Smriti Irani, the then union minister for human resources development and Bandaru Dattatreya, a minister of State from the council of ministers blaming the duo for the death of Rohith Vemula. Poets affiliated with the CPI(M) and other Left organizations wrote poems and short stories based on the life and times of Vemula. The fact that Vemula belonged to the Harijan community added to their ire and this was discernible from the power of the words with which they blamed the communal and fascist Government at the Centre. Many articles and features that appeared in regional newspapers and satellite TV channels blamed the doorsteps of Smrithi Irani for Rohith Vemulas suicide.

A major political outfit promoted by the all-powerful minority community had declared a solatium of Rs 25 lakh to the family of Vemula within days of his unfortunate death. Though it is more than eight years since he bade farewell to this world, his mother or brother has not been given the promised amount. When Radhika, the mother of Rohith Vemulacontacted the leadership of the said party, they feigned ignorance about the amount and the matter was given a silent burial.

More than eight years after the suicide of Vemula, the Telangana Police which was entrusted with the probe of finding out matters that led Vemula to resort to the extreme measure concluded that Rohith Vemula was neither a member of the Harijan community nor any Other Backward Community (OBC) student as he had claimed. The fear that the university was likely to detect the truth behind his caste status which would put an end to his political aspirations had made him take the drastic step, said the police report.

The unanswered question in the whole episode is why the investigating officers failed to track the phone calls made by Vemula during the last few days of his life. This would have thrown more light on the reasons behind the suicide of the research scholar. Many of his colleagues attribute a failed love affair as the cause behind his suicide.

Months before he committed suicide, Vemula had led a demonstration under the auspices of the Ambedkar Students Association on the University Campus to protest the death penalty awarded to Yakub Memon, one of the prime accused in the Mumbai serial blasts of 1993 which claimed 260 lives. There were reports that the soft-spoken Vemula and his friends had bashed up a member of the rival union and the victim needed hospitalisation. Moreover, there were charges against the University of Hyderabad for non-payment of a monthly scholarship of Rs 25,000 to Vemula though the university authorities denied the allegation.

Rohith Vemula was neither the first Harijan student in the University of Hyderabad or any other universities in India who have committed suicide. Rajini Anand, an engineering college student in Kerala had jumped to death in 2004 following the callous approach of the ruling Congress-led Government in the State towards her plea for financial assistance to pay college fees.

Sometime last year, a CPI(M) member of Rajya Sabha asked the Government of India to furnish the number of Harijan students who had committed suicide in the country since 2014. The MPs innuendo was that no Harijan students had committed suicide in the country before the swearing-in of Modi as Prime Minister.

The kind of fire from the opposition faced by Smrithi Irani was unprecedented and strange. The Rohith Vemula affair cost her the office of the HRD ministry and she was relegated to minister of textiles Opposition party leaders have all the right to criticize the Government and ministers for errors and omissions. But it should be restricted to the carelessness and irresponsibility of the concerned minister. For eight years, this young lady was crucified by her political rivals. Had they taken a little bit of time and gone through the releases issued by the Government of India, they would not have dared to throw mud at Smrithi.

(The writer is special correspondent with The Pioneer; views are personal)
US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has dismissed concerns raised by certain quarters about democracy in India and said he "100 per cent" believes that Washington can trust its relationship with New Delhi which is going to be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century.

Speaking at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations, a prominent think-tank, Garcetti said he was confident that "10 years from now India is going to be a vibrant democracy as it is today in terms of free and fair elections".

"Again there's things that probably are worse and there's things that are better. They have a law, you can't go more than two kilometers to vote. So there'll be one guy who lives in the mountains as a monk (at) someplace. They will walk for two days to bring the voting machine, execute the vote," he said, responding to a question expressing concerns over the status of democracy in India.

He said that during election times in India, there are people who check trucks to make sure that nobody has cash going around.

"There's probably walk-in money, as they call it in some cities here in the United States, Philadelphia, that's like a tradition where cash kind of gets you votes and things like that," he said.

Garcetti said he has been impressed with certain things Indians do that are better than Americans.

He, however, added there are things that "we keep our eyes on. And I just disagree that we don't speak out about them".

"But in my heart, 100 per cent, I believe, not only will this still continue to be one of the world's most vibrant democracies," Garcetti said.

"I 100 per cent believe we can trust this relationship. It's going to be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century, the US and India together," Garcetti, known to be close to US President Joe Biden, said.

Garcetti also praised how the power is distributed between the states and the central government in India.

"We put them out. It's not the only thing. I mean, some people want us to only say that. But this is too important a relationship to spend all day long only saying that over and over. You're not going to get anything else done. It'll become a self-fulfilling prophecy that they will not be close to us. Whereas where we find the common ground, which I think is really human to human, very deep," he said.

"... If you don't know state governments in India, which are as powerful as the centre and are run by opposition parties, and there's plenty of criticisms you can make, too, about other parties that have been in power," he said.

"If you look at history in India, there's not been some golden era where everybody's rights have been respected," Garcetti said.

Garcetti said Americans poll better in India than Americans do in America.

"You have a lot of leaders there who have come worked, been educated here, have an affinity. There's a huge positive polling of Americans. I told the President (Biden) before the state visit (by Prime Minister Narendra Modi) that Americans poll better in India than Americans do in America. They like us more than we like ourselves. That's rare in the world today," Garcetti said, adding that Poland is the only other country that comes close.

This is a huge advantage for the US, he said.

Garcetti said America's role is to stand up for the principles and the values that it has and never to retreat from those and talk about them.

"But is the relationship only that and those points of conflict? Absolutely not. It would be bad diplomacy, it would be bad policy," he said.
An old video of another senior Congress leader, who has served in the Cabinet of several Prime Ministers, Mani Shankar Aiyar, has provided fresh ammunition to the BJP on Friday to attack the Congress, which, a few days ago, had worked hard to douse the flames ignited by its leader Sam Pitroda.

In the midst of an aggressive Lok Sabha campaign, the BJP seized upon them, accusing the grand old party of being an apologist for Pakistan and the terrorism emanating from its soil.

Meanwhile, the Congress again quickly distanced itself from Aiyar's comments. His remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of the 2014 general elections left a scar on the Congress till now.

In the video, which has gone viral on social media, Aiyar is heard saying that India should respect Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it since it also possesses an atom bomb. Aiyar said the video is old and being resurfaced now as the BJP's election campaign is faltering.

He indicated in the video that if a "mad person" comes to power there and uses the atom bomb, it will not be good and will have its effect here too. As the remarks triggered a row, the Congress said it totally disagrees with the remarks made by Aiyar some months ago. Aiyar does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever, Congress media department chairperson Pawan Khera said.

Home Minister Amit Shah slammed the Congress for "raising question mark" on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and asserted that every inch of it belonged to India and no force can snatch it.

"Aiyar is telling us to respect Pakistan as it possesses an atomic bomb. A few days ago, INDIA Bloc leader Farooq Abdullah said do not talk about PoK as Pakistan has an atomic bomb. I want to tell the Congress and INDIA Bloc that PoK belongs to India and no force can snatch it," Shah said at an election rally in Jharkhand's Khunti.

Hitting back at BJP Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said why is Pakistan being discussed when elections are taking place in India and the unemployment rate here is at a 45-year high.

"I ask when was the statement made?  If it is an old statement, then why are we discussing it today? Secondly, I want to ask, where are elections taking place, in India or in Pakistan? They are taking place in India. So why are we discussing Pakistan?" she said during her campaign trail in Amethi for the party's candidate Kishori Lal Sharma. BJP cited recent comments of more Congress leaders to make its point.

The leader of Opposition in Maharashtra, Vijay Wadettiwar, had said IPS officer Hemant Karkare was killed by a cop affiliated to the RSS and not Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab and former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi had dismissed a recent terror incident in Poonch in which an Air Force official died as a poll stunt, noted Union Minister Rajeev Chandrashekhar.

"Indian National Congress dissociates itself completely from and disagrees totally with some remarks made by Aiyar a few months back which have been revived today by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modi's daily goof ups. Aiyar does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever," said Khera.

Uploading a video of External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Khera said, "If old videos are to be used, here is a not so old video where the External Affairs Minister is publicly advising India to be afraid of China."
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail until June 1 so that he can campaign for the Lok Sabha elections. As he exited through gate number 4, Kejriwal was welcomed by a sea of AAP workers, as well as senior leaders like Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, Atishi, and Saurabh Bhardwaj.

His wife Sunita Kejriwal, his daughter Harshita and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak turned up outside the jail to give him a rousing welcome with workers chanting slogans and Kejriwal waving to his supporters. Kejriwal left from Tihar in his convoy. Clad in yellow T-shirts, AAP supporters danced to dhol beats and fed each other sweets at the party office here on Friday

In a major relief to embattled Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the SC on Friday granted him interim bail in a money laundering case at the peak of the election season but barred him from visiting his office or the Delhi Secretariat and signing official files unless absolutely necessary for obtaining the Lieutenant Governor's approval.

He has been asked to surrender to the prison authorities by June 2. June 1 is the last day of the seven-phase elections. The votes will be counted on June 4. Kejriwal's release from jail, however transient, is expected to give a boost to the AAP's Lok Sabha campaign in Delhi where polling is scheduled for May 25, with its foremost leader hitting the hustings.

Setting him free for 21 days after 50 days of custody in the money laundering case, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta in its eight pages order, said Kejriwal will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the excise policy case.

In his first address, Delhi Chief Minister said, "Didn't I tell you I'd be back soon? I am back." He added, "I'm fighting against dictatorship with all I have, now 140 crore of us have to do that." He also thanked the Supreme Court judges who delivered the verdict. "Tomorrow at 11 am, we will all go to the Hanuman Mandir in Connaught Place, then there will be a Press conference at the party office at 1 pm; I request all of you to come to the Hanuman Mandir," he said.

Slogans like "Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal ji choot gaye", "Modi ji ja rahe hain, Kejriwal ji aa rahe hain," and "dekho dekho kon aaya, sher aaya sher aaya" rent the air at the AAP office on office. Many supporters carried posters with slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi written on them.

The bench also directed Kejriwal to furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the jail superintendent.

A wave of jubilation swept across the INDIA Bloc parties as the news spread like wildfire, with his AAP terming it a "triumph of truth". "Hanuman ji ki jai. This is the victory of democracy. It is the result of the prayers and blessings of millions of people. Many thanks to everyone," Kejriwal's wife Sunita, who was filling in for her husband during his absence from the electoral battleground, said in a post on X in Hindi.

Kejriwal is the first sitting Chief Minister in India to be put behind bars. Imposing bail conditions on the embattled AAP leader, a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, "He shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat." It asked Kejriwal to not sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governor's sanction during the 21-day interim bail period.

It asked Kejriwal to not sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governor's sanction during the 21-day interim bail period.

"He shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi," the top court said.

"He will not make any comment with regard to his role in the present case; and will not interact with any of the witnesses and/or have access to any official files connected with the case," the top court said.

"Given the importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving a premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country. While examining the question of grant of interim bail/release, the courts always take into consideration the peculiarities associated with the person in question and the surrounding circumstances. In fact, to ignore the same would be iniquitous and wrong," the bench said in its order.

The apex court, while granting Kejriwal the relief said there is no doubt about the fact that serious accusations have been made against him but he has not been convicted yet."He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to society," the bench said.

"It is no gain saying that the general elections to the Lok Sabha are the most significant and important event this year, as they should be in a national election year. Between 650-700 million voters out of an electorate of about 970 million will cast their votes to elect the Government of this country for the next five years," the bench said.

"The prosecution has rightly pointed out that the appellant -Kejriwal had failed to appear in spite of nine (9) notices/summons, first of which was issued in October 2023. This is a negative factor, but there are several other facets which we are required to take into consideration. The appellant -Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to society," it said.

"The investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022. Kejriwal was arrested, as noted above, on 21.03.2024. More importantly, legality and validity of the arrest itself is under challenge before this court and we are yet to finally pronounce on the same. The situation cannot be compared with harvesting crops or pleading to look after business affairs. In this background, once the matter is subjudice and the questions relating to legality of arrest are under consideration, a more holistic and libertarian view is justified, in the background that the 18th Lok Sabha General Elections are being held," it said.

"Twenty-one days should not make any difference," Justice Khanna noted, saying the ED case was registered in August 2022 while the Chief Minister was arrested on March 21 this year."He (Kejriwal) was out there for one-and-a-half-years. He could have been arrested earlier or after but nothing such thing happened," the bench told the ED.

"The grant of interim bail will not be treated as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case or the criminal appeal which is pending consideration before us," the bench said.

"As the appeal is pending before us, we do not think it would be proper for us to direct the appellant - Kejriwal to approach the trial court for interim bail/release. This may not be apt in view of the legal issues and contentions that are under examination and consideration before us," it said.

As soon as the bench assembled for pronouncing the order, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act, has approached the Government for contesting the elections.

"Now we have been approached by Amritpal Singh. That's our concern. I could not find any precedent to assist the court on this (interim bail for poll campaigning). A person is being released for election campaigning," he told the bench.
The auspicious day of Akshay Tritya on Friday witnessed a flood of nominations with a whopping 82 candidates filing their papers for the June 1 elections on the fourth day of the filing of nominations. With May 11 and 12 being the gazetted holidays, only two days are left for filing the nominations  May 13 and 14 (Monday and Tuesday).

The self-styled Khalistan preacher and National Security Act (NSA) detainee Amritpal Singh, currently lodged in Assams Dibrugarh jail, has filed his nomination papers for the Khadoor Sahib constituency as an independent candidate.

The day saw several stalwarts officially throwing their hats in the electoral ring. In Jalandhar, candidates of prominent parties  former Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi from Congress; Sushil Kumar Rinku from Bharatiya Janata Party; and Mohinder Singh Kaypee from Shiromani Akali Dal  filed their papers among a total six candidates.

Other prominent leaders to file their nominations on Friday include former Deputy Chief Minister and Congress candidate Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and BJPs Dinesh Singh Babbu from Gurdaspur; BJPs Taranjit Singh Sandhu and SADs Anil Joshi from Amritsar; Congress Yamani Gomar and AAPs Dr Raj Kumar Chabbewal from Hoshiarpur; SADs former MP Prem Singh Chandumajra and AAPs Malvinder Singh Kang from Anandpur Sahib; sitting MP and BJP leader Ravneet Singh Bittu from Ludhiana; former MLA and AAPs Gurpreet Singh GP from Fatehgarh Sahib; Cabinet Minister and AAP candidate Gurmeet Singh Khuddian and Congress former MLA Jeetmohinder Singh Sidhu from Bathinda; former MLA and SAD candidate NK Sharma from Patiala, among others.

Punjab Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) Sibin C reported that on the fourth day of filing of nominations in Punjab for the Lok Sabha elections-2024, 95 nominations have been filed by 82 candidates for 13 Lok Sabha seats.

None candidates have filed 14 nomination papers from Gurdaspur; eight nominations have been filed by six candidates from Amritsar; three candidates filed papers from Khadoor Sahib; six candidates filed nominations from Jalandhar; five candidates filed seven nominations from Hoshiarpur; nine nominations have been filed by seven candidates from Anandpur Sahib; 12 candidates filed nominations from Ludhiana; eight nominations have been filed by six candidates from Fatehgarh Sahib; eight candidates filed nominations from Faridkot; seven candidates filed nominations from Bathinda; four candidates filed nominations from Sangrur; five candidates from Patiala; and four from Ferozepur.

Due to gazetted holidays on May 11 and 12, no nomination papers can be filed on these days. Notably, from May 7 to May 10, 163 nomination papers have been filed by 143 candidates, he added.

Amritpal files nominations from Dibrugarh jail

Punjab Government has facilitated Waris Punjab De head Amritpal Singh, currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA) in Assams Dibrugarh jail, to file his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Khadoor Sahib.

The development came after Amritpal had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court on Friday seeking temporary release to file his nomination to contest the Lok Sabha polls.

As per the affidavit and information submitted by the state of Punjab before the Bench, two sets of nomination forms and other paperwork were filled in and signed by Amritpal Singh on May 9. He was also allowed to meet his proposer and advocate at Dibrugarh Central Jail.

The Superintendent Central Jail Dibrugarh will administer the oath to the detenue as per the provisions of law including Handbook for Candidate, 2023 and issue Certificate for Receipt of Oath and send original form of Oath to Returning Officer, 03- Khadoor Sahab, (Punjab). The oath will be administered as and when a request is made by the detenue after his nomination form is submitted before the Returning Officer, read the affidavit.
The AAP and INDIA bloc leaders rejoiced in celebrations in the national capital on Friday after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till June 1, saying his release from judicial custody will pave the way for big changes in the country.

Jubilant workers danced and raised slogans such as Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal ji choot gaye (Locks of jail broken, Kejriwal is freed) outside the AAPs office in Delhi. The party thanked the Supreme Court for granting interim bail to the AAP chief. The former IRS officer and Kejriwals wife Sunita, who has stepped into the limelight since her husbands arrest on March 21, said Kejriwals release on interim bail is victory of democracy and attributed the relief as the result of prayers and blessings of millions of people. Hanuman ji ki jai. This is the victory of democracy. It is the result of the prayers and blessings of millions of people. Many thanks to everyone, Sunita said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

At a joint press conference, senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj described the interim bail as a blessing of Lord Hanuman to his devotee Kejriwal. He said, Kejriwals interim bail after 40 days is no less than a miracle. There is also a divine hint that prevailing conditions are going to change in the country. His release will pave the way for big changes in the country.

Following the apex courts decision, AAP cancelled all its meetings and programmes in the city ahead of the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, which is slated to be held in Delhi on May 25. MLA Dilip Pandey and AAP candidate for East Delhi Kuldeep Kumars interaction with a group of doctors in Patparganj, MLA Ritiraj Jhas Sankalp sabha in Sangam Vihar, AAP Delhi Convenor and Delhi Minister Gopal Rais Sankalp Sabha in Matiala and Vikaspuri and Senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi, MCD Mayor Shelly Oberoi, MLA Rakhir Birla and Women wing President Sarika Chaudharys event of forming a human chain were in the list of programmes that were called off following the relief by Supreme Court.

Partys Delhi unit convener Gopal Rai said all people in the country who love democracy are overjoyed with the top courts verdict and it is a ray of hope for them. The SC verdict has not only provided interim bail to Kejriwal, it has also ensured victory of democracy and the constitution, he said.

Senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Atishi described the top courts decision as a victory for truth and democracy in the country and said, I want to appeal to people that this is the last chance to save democracy through the power of vote and replace dictatorship in the country.

Claiming that dictatorship will end, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh said, Truth can be troubled but not defeated (Satya pareshan ho sakta hai, parajit nahin). The decision of the Honble Supreme Court is welcome. Dictatorship will end. Satyamev Jayate. Talking to the media, AAP MLA Durgesh Pathak said, We welcome the Supreme Court order. Satyamev Jayete! The dictatorship will end.

Congress, AAPs alliance partner in Delhi, also welcomed the decision of the apex court stating this will boost the faith of the people in democracy. Delhi Congress Chief Devender Yadav said, We have been saying that the BJP and its leaders have caged the establishments of democracy. Because of this, the sitting CMs were sent to jail. I appreciate the Supreme Courts order of granting (interim) bail to Arvind Kejriwal. This will boost the faith of people in democracy.

The decision of the Supreme Court, for letting Kejriwal campaign for the upcoming Lok Sabha 2024 elections, will strengthen the alliance, he said. We are into an alliance and in an alliance, wherever someone is needed, we have to stand with them. All the seven (Lok Sabha seats) are our responsibility. We will try that the joint campaign, which has got strength now, will get stronger by this decision, Yadav claimed.

Congress candidate Kanhaiya Kumar from Northeast Delhi constituency welcomed the SC decision and said that the INDIA blocs war for justice continues. On X (formerly Twitter), he said, I welcome the decision of the Honble Supreme Court to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal. This is a big decision to protect the constitutional rights of citizens. INDIA alliances war for justice continues, the real victory will be achieved on June 4 by uprooting this anti-constitutional government.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2. The matter relates to the alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi governments now scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
In an apparent reaction to the Supreme Courts decision to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, senior BJP leader Vinay Sahasrabuddhe on Friday said the lordships have made themselves a part of the campaign by picking a side right in the middle of the elections. By picking a side right in the middle of elections, the lordships that be have made themselves a part of the campaign. When the billion ballots speak, they may not like it, he wrote on X.

This comes after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Kejriwal till June 1 to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Reacting to the decision, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said bail does not amount to acquittal and asserted that Kejriwals release will have no impact on the elections. The BJP will win all seven seats in Delhi, he told reporters in Patna.

Meanwhile, Delhi BJP said the bail is not proof of being innocent and sometimes even criminals are released on parole. BJP candidate from South Delhi Parliamentary seat and Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said the Supreme Court has only granted Arvind Kejriwal interim bail for 20 days. Such bail is also granted to dangerous criminals for specific purposes. In the eyes of the Supreme Court, Kejriwal is an accused, hence several conditions have been imposed on him, he said. Bidhuri stated that the Aam Aadmi Party is celebrating Kejriwals bail as though the court has exonerated him. Today, they are shouting the slogan Satyamev Jayate (truth alone triumphs), and from June 2, they will start claiming that the constitution is in danger because Kejriwal has to return to jail.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said that while the BJP respects the Supreme Courts decision, getting interim bail does not mean that Delhis Chief Minister is free of guilt. Sometimes even criminals are released on parole, and this is a legal process, so it does not prove that Arvind Kejriwal, who was the main culprit in the multi-million rupee liquor scam, is innocent today, Sachdeva said.

Further, Sachdeva asserted that truth cant be defeated. He said, The truth may have been delayed but its not defeated because the truth is that only Arvind Kejriwal is responsible for the liquor scam in Delhi, pushing youth into addiction, and bringing in a new liquor policy to fill his pockets.

Attacking the AAP for portraying that the AAP chief has been acquitted of his charges in the alleged excise policy linked money laundering scam, Sachdeva said, The way Aam Aadmi Party leaders are trying to portray that Arvind Kejriwal has been acquitted, they are once again misleading the people of Delhi and betraying them, adding that the people of Delhi understand that whether it is a liquor scam or other scandals in Delhi, Kejriwal is the mastermind behind all of them.

Taking a jibe at AAP for creating a stir for jailed Chief Minister, he said, AAP has no local issues for the elections because as a state government, they have done nothing in the last 10 years. So they created a stir in the name of Arvind Kejriwal being jailed and are now trying to create a deceptive atmosphere of coming out of jail, which the people of Delhi will not buy. BJP candidates will win all seven seats in the upcoming elections.
The election campaign for the fourth phase of Lok Sabha Elections-2024, will stop from 6 pm on May 11 in the 8 Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies of Madhya Pradesh where voting will be conducted from 7 am to 6 pm on Monday, May 13.

Chief Electoral Officer Anupam Rajan has said that there is a provision to stop the election campaign in the parliamentary constituency 48 hours before the scheduled end of voting. After the deadline for campaigning ends, those from outside areas, who are not voters of that Lok Sabha Parliamentary Constituency, will have to leave that constituency. For this, an intensive monitoring campaign is also run by the District Election Officer.

It may be noted that voting is to be held on May 13 in 8 Lok Sabha parliamentary constituencies including Dewas (SC), Ujjain (SC), Mandsaur, Ratlam (SC), Dhar (SC), Indore, Khargone (SC) and Khandwa in the fourth and last phase of Lok Sabha elections in Madhya Pradesh.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah today attacked the INDI Alliance and reiterated that the area in the Pakistan Occupied Kashmir belongs to India. I want to tell the Congress and the INDI Alliance that POK belongs to India, nobody can snatch it. Instead of bringing POK back from Pakistan, the Congress is scaring the people of India by talking about the atom bomb. I don't know what has happened to the Congress. The BJP's stand is clear that every inch of POK belongs to India and should remain in India, he said.

The Union Home Minister was addressing the Maha Vijay Sankalp Sabha of BJP candidate and Union Minister Arjun Munda in Khunti on Friday. He slammed the Congress, JMM and INDI alliance in the state. Addressing a huge public gathering, he said that a few days ago, Rs 350 crore cash was seized from the house of a Congress MP. All this money is yours, of my tribal brothers, which Rahul Baba's party has looted.

He said that just two days ago, Rs 35 crore and jewellery were recovered from the house of a Congress minister in Jharkhand. All this money belongs to the tribal brothers of Jharkhand and the people of the backward society. I want to tell the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha that the Congress you are sitting with to gain power, that Congress stopped the creation of Jharkhand for years. During the rule of the Congress, the tribals of the country were not taken care of at all. The Ministry of Tribal Welfare was also with a Joint Secretary of the Home Department. But the work of forming the Tribal Commission and the Ministry of Tribal Welfare was done by Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji.

Shah said that today I say with confidence that Narendra Modi has done the work of freeing Jharkhand and Bihar from Naxalism. Our Prime Minister has done the work of declaring the birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda on 15th November as "Tribal Pride Day" and building special Tribal Freedom Fighter Museums across the country for all tribal freedom fighters.

He said that PFI used to spread terrorism in the whole country, it got the biggest support from the Congress and JMM government here. Narendra Modi raided more than 100 places in one night and put the entire cadre of PFI in jail and banned it.

The 150th birth anniversary of Bhagwan Birsa Munda will come in 2025. Modi ji has decided to celebrate 2025 as "Tribal Pride Year". This is a matter of pride for all of us. Mr Shah said that when Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the Prime Minister of the country, he worked to create and develop Jharkhand. Atal Ji created Jharkhand and Modi Ji is working to improve Jharkhand. Today this Manishanker Ayyar is threatening the country to give respect to Pakistan, they have the atom bomb. A few days ago, the leader of the same Indi Alliance, Farooq Abdullah had said that don't talk about POK, Pakistan has the atom bomb.

While addressing the rally, Arjun Munda said that the voice of Lord Birsa Munda should reach Delhi. Today we all have got to hear the address of such a Home Minister, due to which the internal security of the country has been strengthened. Today there is an atmosphere of peace in the whole country. The country wants to move forward with peace. The country wants to progress.

He said that PM Modi is working to promote the poor, youth, farmers and women power. All the decisions of our government are being taken in this regard. The aim of PM Modi is to raise the standard of living of the poor, village women should become Lakhpati Didi, our youth should get employment and the farmers of the country are our pride, their self-respect should be linked with the country.
After voting on May 7 in Bhopal Lok Sabha seat, EVMs have been deposited in the strong room of the old jail where EVMs are kept under three layer security.

More than 200 personnel are deployed 24 hours a day. At the same time, 18 CCTVs have been installed to monitor the strong room and campus.

More than 20 policemen, including an inspector and two Sub Inspectors are deployed shift-wise at the main gate, while there are Paramilitary Force (CISF) personnel inside.

A DSP level officer is also on duty outside. At the same time, be it the Collector or other responsible officer, everyone has to enter the gate first. Only after this they can go inside. Deputy Election Officer Deepak Pandey said that 18 CCTVs have been installed, which are on the entire campus including the storm room.

Decision of 22 contesting candidates would be out on June 4. This arrangement is in place to protect the EVMs which were brought back after voting at 2034 polling booths in Bhopal on May 7. A strong room has been made in the old jail itself. Counting will take place here on June 4. The fate of 22 candidates will be decided.

Separate EVMs have been kept for all the 7 assembly constituencies of Bhopal  Berasia, Huzur, Narela, Govindpura, Bhopal Central, Bhopal North and Bhopal South-West.

After voting, all EVMs and postal ballots were kept in the strong room till 4 am on May 8. From this day onwards there is three level security arrangement here. Barricading has been done at the gate of the old jail complex itself. Police personnel are deployed here 24 hours a day, who do checking. No one is allowed to go inside without seeing the identity card. Doing shift wise duty. After the gate, security arrangements are handed over to the Armed Forces. The Armed forces are keeping an eye all the time.

The place where the strong room is in the old jail. Outside it, a tent has been set up for the agents of all the candidates, who are taking the live feed of the CCTV installed inside the strong room. For this, an LED screen has also been installed outside the strong room. Live feed of the jail is also available.
By Jung Min-ho

The Korean government has been ordered to pay a Moroccan asylum-seeker 10 million won ($7,300) in compensation for the torturous treatment he received here in 2021.

The Seoul Central District Court ruled Thursday in favor of the plaintiff who filed a damage suit in December 2022 for physical and mental pains he had suffered at a detention facility for foreign nationals in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

The released pictures of the man with his wrists and ankles bound behind his back there later ignited an outcry from human rights activists, who helped him take legal action.

Officials at the detention facility said that the restraining measures were necessary after the man showed violent behavior, including self-harm.

But the court ruled that the measures involving ropes, zip ties and box tape were excessive, saying the inhumane method caused him significant physical pain and infringed upon his dignity as a human being.

Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Kim Ji-rim, his lawyer from GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation, a Seoul-based civic group, urged the Ministry of Justice not to appeal it but to focus on reforming its system to better protect the human rights of foreigners in Korea.

After the issue came into the fore, the ministry announced its plan to improve the system of controlling defiant behavior at such facilities by specifying under which circumstances and what kind of tools it could use under its revised enforcement regulations.

The ministry has yet to appeal the decision.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Friday, claimed that an INDIA bloc storm is arriving in Uttar Pradesh and asserted that Narendra Modi will not become the prime minister of the country this time.

Addressing a rally in Kannauj, from where Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the Lok Sabha election, Rahul Gandhi said, Take it in writing, Narendra Modi will not become the prime minister of India. It is over.

Aap likh ke le lo (take it in writing), he said at the rally which was also addressed by Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Aam Aadmi Party Member of Parliament Sanjay Singh. This was their first joint rally of the INDIA bloc in Kannauj.

Congress and Samajwadi Party, both constituents of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), are contesting the Lok Sabha elections in alliance in Uttar Pradesh. Congress is contesting 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP.

The BJP is going to suffer its biggest defeat in UP... there is a storm blowing in favour of the INDIA bloc in the state, Rahul said.

The INDIA bloc leaders appealed to the people to vote for the opposition alliance to power and listed all that they proposed to do for the people if they win.

Rahul added that UP paves the way for the country and it has made up its mind to bring a change.

Countering Prime Minister Narendra Modis remarks that there was a nexus between the Congress and business tycoons Adani and Ambani, Rahul Gandhi said, You have seen that in 10 years, Narendra Modi ji had not taken the names of Adani and Ambani, but now he was taking the names of people who he thinks could save him.

He said the BJP would try its best to deviate the attention of the people through different means in the next 10-15 days and warned the electorate not to fall in the saffron partys trap.

We must not get deviated.... Today, the only issue of utmost importance is to save the Constitution. This Constitution gives powers to the poor and the deprived,' Rahul added.

Flashing a copy of the Constitution, the Congress leader said that the BJP had made up its mind to change the Constitution if it returned to power. We will never allow any power to change the Constitution,' he said.

Rahul also accused the BJP of taking money from the Covid vaccine manufacturers in the form of electoral bonds.

'Modiji asked you people to clap and bang thalis during COVID-19.... While people were dying from lack of oxygen, he and his party took money from the vaccine maker, he alleged.

Rahul Gandhi promised that one woman in every family would get Rs 1 lakh every year till the family rises above the poverty line. He also promised to increase MGNREGA wages and ensure apprenticeships for the youth in different streams.

Addressing the rally, Akhilesh Yadav attacked the BJP by saying that the INDIA bloc was poised to win the Lok Sabha polls. He emphasised that, Those who break the society must be punished.

Kannauj never left me and I will never leave Kannauj, Akhilesh said, adding that Kannauj was taken to the heights of development by the earlier SP government in UP. He said people who travel the Agra-Lucknow Expressway know that it was built by the 'Samajwadis'.

We assure the people of Kannauj that we will work to enhance the fragrance of development which has stalled, he said, alluding to the region's perfume trade.

The BJP cleaned the chief ministers official residence in Lucknow with Gangjal when I vacated it and now, they recently washed a temple after I prayed there. You should ensure that they get washed away this time, the SP chief said.

AAP leader Sanjay Singh claimed that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh wanted to change the Constitution to end reservation.

We will get forfeited the election deposits of whoever is trying to destroy Babasahebs Constitution, he said.

He said that most of the top AAP leaders were in jail but this had not diminished their will to fight against the government.

Polling is slated in Kannauj on May 13 in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav in support of BJP candidate from Dhar Lok Sabha seat, Savitri Thakur, in support of BJP candidate from Dhamnod, Khargone Lok Sabha seat, Gajendra Patel from Badnawar Assembly, BJP candidate from Maheshwar Assembly, Anil from Maheshwar, Mandleshwar, Ujjain Lok Sabha seat. Addressing the public meetings and road shows organized in Nagda and Ujjain in support of Firoziya, he said that when we praise the temples and our gods and goddesses, our opposition parties including Congress feel pain. Congress party is contesting elections in India, but letters are coming out for them from Pakistan. Congressmen change so many colors, even a chameleon should feel ashamed.

Now Congress is going to disappear like carrot grass. In difficult times like Covid, Hanuman devotee Prime Minister Narendra Modiji saved everyone's life.

Lord Parshuram was a great guru, a seeker and a great donor. During this, the Chief Minister also participated in road shows organized in Maheshwar, Mandleshwar, Dhamnod, Nagda.

Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said that Congress and its opposition parties get irritated by taking the names of our Gods and Goddesses. Whenever we take the name of our Lord, snakes lie on His chest. We are people of tradition who worship our Gods and Goddesses. Congress also created obstacles for years in the temple of Lord Shri Ram. For 70 years, he kept fighting the Hindus and Muslims of the country and kept doing politics, but he did not allow the temple to be built.

After this, when the path to the temple opened under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Supreme Court gave its decision, the Muslims of the country also seemed happy with this decision, but even on such an occasion, the Congress party looked sad. He also rejected the invitation for the consecration of Shri Ram's life and has not come for darshan till date. Congress people ask for votes, but they do politics by making our society fight among themselves.

Now if Shri Ram temple is not built in the country even after independence, then when will it be built?Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said that there is a Modi-like atmosphere in the entire country and state. Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji and Lord Shri Ram are being hailed everywhere. This time the election is between the devotees of Shri Ram and the opponents of Shri Ram. Shri Ram devotee and Shri Hanuman devotee Prime Minister Narendra Modi has fulfilled the dreams of the countrymen.

The opponents of Shri Ram have not been able to even visit the temple till now. Chief Minister Dr. Yadav said that two hundred and fifty years ago, Mother Goddess Ahilya of Maheshwar had illuminated the pilgrimage sites. Expressed religious sentiments. The Somnath temple was destroyed a thousand years ago, but under the leadership of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the people here also enjoyed the Somnath temple. Now, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modiji, Ram Navami and Eid were celebrated with joy across the country. The wave of Sanatan Dharma culture is going on under the leadership of Modiji.

He worked to eliminate terrorists. Now terrorist incidents do not happen anywhere in Delhi, Mumbai, Agra. After the removal of Article 370 in Kashmir, now the people of Pakistan Occupied Kashmir say that we should also join India.Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav said that earlier carrot grass used to grow in every field. Nowadays carrot grass has disappeared. Similarly, Congress is also going to disappear, it will not take long.

Now under the leadership of Prime Minister Modiji, the respect of the country is increasing in the world, but even after this the people of the arrogant alliance are abusing him day and night. People who abuse Modiji. They are all on bail. Those who were not granted bail are in jail. Prime Minister Narendra Modiji has said 'Neither will I eat nor will I let you eat' and 'If there is Modi, it is possible'. It is a fight of the honest against the dishonest.
State President of BJP and Khajuraho MP, Vishnudutt Sharma, while addressing the public meeting after the road show at Sarvania Maharaj, Jawad Assembly in Neemuch district in support of the party candidate from Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency, Sudhir Gupta, said that from North to South, East The people of the country from right to west have decided to make Narendra Modi the Prime Minister for the third time. The people of the country are voting only to make Modi the Prime Minister. You people have also seen Congress governments. There was a Congress government in Madhya Pradesh before 2003, when people had to yearn for basic facilities like roads, electricity and water. The Congress government has made people yearn for drinking water.

After Narendra Modi became the Prime Minister in 2014, drinking water is being supplied from tap to every house under the Jal Jeevan Mission. Before the road and public meeting, the BJP State President reached Indore district Janapav and offered prayers on the birth anniversary of Lord Parshuram and wished for the happiness, prosperity and prosperity of the people of Madhya Pradesh. Party candidate Sudhir Gupta also addressed the public meeting organized after the road show.

BJP State President and MP Vishnudutt Sharma said that the Congress Party, which ruled the country for 55 to 60 years after independence, did not do any work to eradicate poverty.

The Congress government only worked to get votes by giving the slogan of eradicating poverty. But after becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, Narendra Modi is continuously working for the welfare of the poor. 4 crore poor people of the country living in slums and kutcha houses have been given permanent houses under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana.

Three crore more houses are to be built in the next five years. I give this guarantee to all of you on behalf of Prime Minister Modi Ji that the poor who have not yet been given permanent houses under the PM Awas Yojana, after Narendra Modi Ji becomes the Prime Minister for the third time, permanent houses will be constructed for all of them. Will go. You make BJP's party candidate Mr. Sudhir Gupta victorious from Mandsaur Lok Sabha constituency with historic votes and send him to Delhi, the BJP government will bring development in the area. When the Prime Minister opened the bank accounts of the poor of the country under the Jan Dhan Yojana, the opposition parties including Congress used to raise questions and laugh as to why the bank accounts of the poor were opened.

Today, in the same bank accounts, the amount of BJP's central and state government's poor welfare and beneficiary schemes including Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi, Ladli Brahmin Yojana are coming directly into the bank accounts. Congress leader Late. Rajiv Gandhi, when he was the Prime Minister, used to say that I send one rupee each from Delhi to the poor, only 15 paise reaches the poor, the remaining 85 paise is eaten up by brokers and middlemen. But after becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi implemented the DBT scheme by working on zero tolerance and today the amount of all the beneficiaries of the schemes is coming into the bank accounts.

If Modi ji sends one rupee to a poor person from Delhi, the poor gets only one rupee, there is not embezzlement or corruption of even a single penny. Prime Minister is making India corruption free.BJP State President Vishnudutt Sharma said that Congress leaders say that inheritance tax should be imposed in India. Inheritance tax is levied in America and European countries. In this tax, after the death of a person, 55 percent of his property goes to the government.
A constable posted with GRP Vidisha died while two others escaped with injuries when they were returning from Vidisha to Bhopal after duty was hit by a speeding truck near Sanchi.

Both the injured have been admitted to District Hospital Vidisha. Bhopal Police has registered the case and sent the dairy to Sanchi Police.

Constable Manoj Kumar posted in Vidisha GRP told that Sonu Sharma lives in Khajanaki Bagh, Bhopal. He is posted as constable in GRP Vidisha. After completing his duty around 10.30 pm on Thursday night, he was returning to Bhopal by car with his companions Udayveer and Laxman. When Sonu's car reached near Sanchi, a speeding truck coming from the front hit the car.

Constable Sonu Sharma and his companions were seriously injured in the accident. Everyone was sent to District Hospital Vidisha for treatment. Here, after medical examination, the doctors referred Sonu Sharma to Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal. According to Manoj Kumar, Sonu Sharma, the car in which he was traveling belongs to Vidisha GRP police station in-charge.

Sonu Sharma, who was referred from Sanchi to Bhopal for treatment, was declared dead by the doctors of Hamidia Hospital on the intervening night of Thursday-Friday after medical examination. The doctors of Hamidia Hospital told the attendant who took Sonu to the hospital for treatment that the patient had died about half an hour ago. Along with this, Kohefija police was informed about the death of constable Sonu Sharma. Police have registered a case on this.

Constable Manoj Kumar posted in Vidisha GRP told that Sonu was sitting in the car next to the driver.

Due to the collision with the truck, a fountain of blood burst from Sonu's head. Doctors gave first aid to Sonu in Vidisha District Hospital. Despite this, the bleeding from his head was not stopping. Due to this, the doctors referred Sonu to Hamidia Hospital in Bhopal.

According to constable Manoj Kumar, after completion of duty on Thursday evening, Sonu had left for Bhopal with fellow constables Udayveer and Laxman in the car of the police station in-charge. Then no one had any idea that an accident would happen just minutes after leaving the police station.

Sonu Sharma's brother-in-law Rajiv Chaubey told that father-in-law Ayodhya Prasad Sharma was a senior constable in Railways. He died of a heart attack three years ago. Two years ago, Sonu Sharma was given compassionate appointment to the post of constable in his place. Sonu used to go from Bhopal to Vidisha daily for his duty. On Thursday too, he was returning from duty to Bhopal like usual, when he died in an accident on the way.

Rajiv Chaubey told that Sonu was the only brother among four sisters. His two elder sisters are married. He lived in Khajanki Bagh, Bhopal with two sisters and mother Saroj Sharma. According to Rajeev, Sonu's elder sister Neha Sharma is a sub inspector in UP Police. While the youngest sister Muskaan is studying.
In a consequential turn of events, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in response to the Supreme Court's decision to grant interim bail to his Delhi counterpart and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo Arvind Kejriwal, promptly altered his plans on Friday. Canceling his scheduled Lok Sabha election campaign in Gurdaspur, Mann hastily made his way to Delhi, recognizing the significance of the moment for his party and the political landscape at large.

Mann swiftly redirected his itinerary to prioritize the emerging situation in the nation's capital. His originally planned roadshow in Kalanaur, Gurdaspur, was promptly set aside as he made arrangements to travel to Delhi.

It has been learnt that the Chief Minister promptly took a flight from Amritsar to Delhi to welcome Kejriwal, whose was released from Tihar Jail in the evening.

Reacting on the development, Mann declared that the AAP will now intensify its fight to safeguard democracy. Reiterating that Arvind Kejriwal is an ideology, Mann declared, We shall now progress with increased momentum. Inquilab Zindabad.

Looking ahead, AAP's electoral strategy is expected to evolve in response to Kejriwal's release, with a renewed focus on engaging with voters and amplifying the party's message of inclusive governance and social justice. The battleground of Punjab's electoral arena is set to witness a spirited contest, with AAP emerging as a formidable force, emboldened by the return of its leader and the promise of a new chapter in the state's political narrative.

Boost to AAPs campaign

The impact of Kejriwal's bail transcends mere legal reliefit signifies a renewed vigour in Punjab's political arena and sets the stage for an intensified electoral battle. As AAP prepares to harness this momentum, the coming days are poised to witness heightened activity and spirited campaigning across the State, shaping the narrative of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

In Punjab, where political dynamics have often been turbulent and closely contested, Kejriwal's release injected a new dimension into the electoral landscape. AAP's aspirations to consolidate its presence in the state are buoyed by the support and enthusiasm generated by Kejriwal's leadership.

With Kejriwal's release from jail until June 1  the date of polling in Punjab, which is part of the seventh and final phase of elections  the INDIA bloc leaders are elated. Kejriwal had been unable to campaign in the past three phases of polling due to his incarceration. Party leaders anticipate that Kejriwal's freedom will inject momentum into AAP's campaign in Punjab.

While Kejriwal's wife, Sunita, was slated to campaign in Punjab, her plans were put on hold pending the Supreme Court's decision on Kejriwal's bail.

However, four phases of polling remain, and Kejriwal will now be able to campaign for all four phases. Notably, the Lok Sabha election results will be announced on June 4, and on June 2, Kejriwal will need to surrender himself to Tihar Jail again.

Nonetheless, following his release from Tihar Jail, Kejriwal is expected to campaign for AAP candidates not only in Delhi, but also in Punjab and in Haryana. A schedule is being set by the party for this purpose.

Notably, AAP is contesting elections on total of 22 Lok Sabha seats across India. Even as voting has taken place on four seats in the first three phases of polling, the electorate are yet to exercise their franchise on the remaining 18 seats, including four in Delhi, 13 in Punjab, and one Haryana's Kurukshetra constituency.

Victory For Democracy, says AAP Celebrating the News

Meanwhile, AAP leaders and supporters in Chandigarh celebrated the news, hailing it as a victory for democracy and a turning point in the battle against authoritarianism. Cabinet Ministers and party members alike conveyed their elation and vowed to intensify their efforts towards achieving their electoral goals.

AAP's buoyant spirits were palpable following the Supreme Court's decision. Expressing gratitude to the judiciary, Mann took to social media, stating, Thanks to the Supreme Court... Now we will fight the battle to save democracy with more vigour...Arvind Kejriwal is not a person but an ideology... and now we will move forward faster. Inquilab Zindabad.

Similarly, Finance Minister Harpal Cheema also posted on X, Todays interim bail order for @ArvindKejriwal Ji by Honble Supreme Court reaffirms the honesty and integrity of the @AamAadmiParty. Grateful to the judiciary for upholding justice. Arvind Jis presence among us will give all of us energy and vigour to fight and win.

Kejriwals close aide and Punjab Health Minister Dr Balbir Singh, who is also contesting impending Lok Sabha polls from Patiala, wrote on X, Beginning of the end for the dictatorial Modi regime in India. Indias favorite son, babbar sher @ArvindKejriwal ji has been given bail by Supreme Court. All the evil planning of BJP has failed to work! Now just watch how the INDIA campaign will shoot up. We are so happy & thankful to Waheguru ji!.

Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains hailed the Supreme Court's grant of interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal, stating that it underscored the triumph of truth. He emphasized that this development offered a ray of hope for the nation, fortifying our democracy. Bains expressed confidence that Kejriwal's victory would galvanize the entire country to unite against what he perceives as a dictatorial regime bent on undermining democracy and the Constitution.

AAP spokesperson Neel Garg asserted that the BJP and Narendra Modis apprehension of the Aam Aadmi Party and Arvind Kejriwal is evident, prompting them to orchestrate a conspiracy against the party. Garg highlighted the misuse of central agencies to thwart their efforts, culminating in the arrest of a sitting Chief Minister just before the general elections. He emphasized the significance of the court's decision, asserting its pivotal role in safeguarding democracy and the constitution. Garg vowed that AAP leaders and workers would operate with renewed vigor and enthusiasm in the wake of this development.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed election rallies in Gorakhpur and Bahraich on Friday. He vehemently criticised the opposition parties, including Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress, labelled them as Ramdrohis.

Chief Minister Yogi asserted that the opposition parties not only consider the Ram temple as useless for their political gains but also neglected the legacy of Maharaja Suheldev for seven decades post-Independence.

Yogi accompanied party candidate Ravi Kishan when he filed his nomination papers in Gorakhpur and later addressed the public at Mahant Digvijaynath Park.

In Bahraichs Mahsi locality, he rallied in support of party candidate Dr Anand Kumar Gaur.

Chief Minister Yogi said, Ramrajya is the ultimate solution to the nations challenges, and Baar Baar Modi Sarkar is the only solution.

He reiterated the publics desire to re-elect leaders who embody the principles of Ramrajya.

During the public address in Gorakhpur, Yogi vehemently criticised both SP and Congress for the statements made by certain leaders regarding the construction of the Shri Ram temple in Ayodhya. He said, The opposition leaders, who seemed disheartened until the third voting phase, have begun commenting on Lord Ram. Some have deemed the Ram temple useless, while others question its public benefit. Those who support terrorists will undoubtedly feel bad about the Ram temple.

Yogi stated, Had the opposition, when in power, implemented stringent measures against those responsible for the terrorist attacks on Ram Janmabhoomi, similar to the current measures being taken nationwide, and against organised crime in Uttar Pradesh, then incidents like the terrorist attacks on Sankatmochan temple and courts could have been prevented.

Chief Minister Yogi hit out against the policy of appeasement towards terrorism which resulted in the loss of thousands of lives in these attacks.

He said, The oppositions acceptance of defeat is evident as the Lok Sabha elections progress, with Congress, SP and BSP conceding the electoral race.

Yogi noted that he has had the opportunity to visit nine states during the campaign and a unified voice echoes throughout the country: Ek Baar Fir Modi Sarkaar.

In a scathing attack on the opposition, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that Congress, SP and BSP did not give respect to the brave Maharaja Suheldev Rajbhar, who killed Somnath temple culprit Ghazi Salar Masud and built his tomb in Bahraich, only for the vote bank as they feared losing the votes of Ghazi Salar Masuds devotees

He paid homage to the land of bravery of Maharaja Suheldev and the sacred land of freedom fighter Raja Balbhadra Singh as he greeted the gathering on the auspicious occasions of Akshaya Tritiya and Parshuram Jayanti.

Chief Minister Yogi emphasised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the state government not only constructed the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya but also took decisive measures to curb the influence of mafia elements, who were sowing seeds of chaos and disorder.

The chief minister said that a government that respects peoples emotions, protects interests, and integrates development initiatives should be chosen repeatedly. This not only improves the present but also creates new opportunities for the future, he added.

Reflecting on the journey of Indias development, Chief Minister Yogi noted the transformation from a decade ago when the nation grappled with terrorism, Naxalism, corruption in development projects, and rampant crime. The poor died of hunger and youth migrated. Daughters and businessmen were not safe. There were riots and curfews everywhere. Attacks occurred in courts of Ayodhya, Varanasi, Lucknow, and CRPF camps, he added.
Nation will not forgive BJP for cheating people with their lies, says new face of the Opposition

In just a few weeks after the Enforcement Directorate apprehended her husband Hemant Soren, former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, in an alleged case of money laundering, she has surfaced as one of the most prominent faces in national politics. Her presence and speeches in INDIA blocks humongous rallies at the national platforms is being admired by political veterans.

Popularly being seen as the next chief Minister Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Kalpana Murmu Soren, is an army officers daughter, an engineering graduate, an MBA, a housewife, a mother of two kids and politician due to compulsion. Being seen in the present times as one of the most promising women politicians of the country, Kalpna is on a mission to save the Constitution and democracy.

In a candid interview with the Pioneer, Kalpna Soren poured out her heart on her entry into politics, internal and external challenges before her as a budding politician, burning issues of the State and the nation as well as her vision to bring about a change in the country after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections . Excerpts:

What compelled you to enter politics? Was it due to prevailing situations, or you were read for it beforehand?

It was January 31, 2024, when my life took a sudden turn after Hemant Soren ji was arrested. My life has completely changed since then. The whirlwind of events caught me off guard, leaving me unprepared for the challenges that lay ahead. Amidst the tumultuous ups and downs within both the party and our family, I have emerged with a clear vision: to advocate for the people of Jharkhand and all those across the nation who have been denied their rights.

As we enter the election season, our focus is unwavering. We are gearing up to contest every Lok Sabha seat in the state, driven by a fierce determination to safeguard the identity and rights of every individual belonging to Jharkhand. Our mission is to fight for the very existence of every 'Jharkhandi'.

Did it ever come to your mind to enter politics? As the ED investigation was going on, were you being prepared for this?

There was absolutely no prior preparation for this. As the case unfolded, I stood by Hemant ji during his legal challenges. However, when everything unfolded unexpectedly, I found myself in a situation where my in-laws' health was deteriorating, my brother-in-law took on new responsibilities in the State Cabinet, and party workers began approaching me, urging me to step forward and support them. They expressed their longing for Hemant Ji and implored me to step in and help fill the void, emphasizing the urgency of saving Jharkhand.

Who do you think is responsible for Hemant Sorens arrest?

It's widely understood that the case against Hemant ji lacks merit, given the unique nature of the land in questionit's unsellable. Authorities should have verified any connection between him and the land before making an arrest. Surprisingly, not a single document bears Hemant Soren's name. Even more intriguingly, the landowners themselves have been implicated in the case. This raises serious questions about the motives behind Hemant ji's arrest. The forces behind the arrest are known to one and all.

With Jharkhand gaining notoriety for corruption, do you think corruption is the biggest challenge in Jharkhands development?

Corruption knows no bordersit is there in various forms across the world. In Jharkhand, corruption is evident in the Centre's failure to allocate over Rs 1,36,000 Crore in royalties owed to the state. Additionally, the disregard for our plea for a separate Sarna Religious Code and the denial of 27 per cent reservation for OBCs further exemplify corruption.

Further exacerbating the situation, the authorities have unjustly snatched PMAY houses from 8 lakh families in Jharkhand, reallocating them to States with their double engine governments. Moreover, they have invalidated 12 lakh ration cards, yet expect unwavering loyalty in return. This exploitation of our resources without reciprocation has left the people feeling deceiveda form of grand corruption.

While the Jharkhand government is actively combating corruption within its jurisdiction, the Center's neglectful treatment only fuels public discontent. Hemant ji's vocal opposition to these injustices speaks volumes, as evidenced by the current state of affairs.

What caused such a dispute in JMMs first family? How do you see Sita Sorens departure for the party?

The news of my elder sister-in-law's departure from the party to join the BJP came as a complete surprise to us all, especially since we learned about it through the media. Initially, I was deeply affected by the developments surrounding Hemant ji, and it took some time for us to process everything. However, after speaking with senior party leaders, we realized that her decision was a personal one, and it was important for us to respect it. Despite the differences, I hold great admiration and respect for her, viewing her as an elder sister-in-law. I simply want to extend my best wishes to her as she embarks on this new journey.

How are you being received in the party?

The outpouring of support has been heartening from every corner. From Rahul Gandhi's Nyay Yatra to the Ulgulan Nyay Rally in Jharkhand, blessings have poured in from small party workers to senior members alike. Each member of the JMM sees me as carrying forward Hemant Ji's thoughts, urging me to persist in the fight for the people of Jharkhand. The overwhelming love and blessings from the party workers have left me deeply moved and grateful.

How do you plan to stand against BJPs might?

The deceptive tactics of the BJP government have become evident to everyone now. Since 2014, the BJP has been spreading numerous falsehoods, promising employment, depositing 15 lakh rupees in bank accounts, and doubling farmers' income. Over the past decade, it has become increasingly clear to the people of India that the BJP's promises were nothing but empty rhetoric. Despite these assurances, the reality remains unchangedpeople continue to struggle to make ends meet.

In places like Manipur, where suffering has been palpable, many have remained silent witnesses to the BJP's failures. The BJP's deceit and falsehoods will not be easily forgotten or forgiven by the people. After a decade of broken promises and unfulfilled commitments, it's evident that the BJP's words cannot be trusted.

Do you think more women should enter politics and empower others?

Absolutely! Women's representation in politics remains significantly low in our country, especially in states like Jharkhand. If I can serve as an inspiration for women to step forward, seize power, and become influential decision-makers at both the state and national levels, I would consider myself incredibly fortunate.

Are you ready for the responsibility for the next Chief Minister of Jharkhand?

As of now, I am just a simple Sepoy of the JMM, just beginning to grasp the ideals and aspirations of my father-in-law, Shibu Soren, my husband Hemant ji, and my fellow party members. When I interact with party members, they share their experiences with Guruji, which fills me with pride for both them and my family.

Being referred to as a warrior resonates with me because I see myself as someone who perseveres through challenges and is prepared to tackle whatever comes my way. I eagerly await my husband's return and continue to fight in his absence. Once he resumes leadership of the party, I'll steadfastly support him while remaining active in politics under his guidance.
A special court for UAPA cases in Maharashtra's Pune on Friday convicted and sentenced two men to life imprisonment and acquitted three, including key accused Virendrasinh Tawde, in the murder of well-known rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar.

Dabholkar (67), an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead while on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge here on August 20, 2013.

Reading out the order in a packed courtroom, Additional Sessions Judge (Special Court) P P Jadhav said that the prosecution had proved the charges of murder and conspiracy against Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar and they have been awarded life imprisonment and a fine of Rs 5 lakh.

According to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Andure and Kalaskar had shot Dabholkar.

The court acquitted accused ENT surgeon Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave for want of evidence.

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defence examined two witnesses during the trial. The accused were opposed to Dabholkar's crusade against superstition, it had stated in its final arguments.

Pune police initially probed the case. The CBI took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court, order and arrested Tawde linked to the Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016.

According to the prosecution, Tawde was one of the masterminds of the murder.

Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawde and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar's organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra), it claimed.

The CBI first named fugitives Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as the shooters in its charge sheet. But later it arrested Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, and claimed in a supplementary charge sheet that they had shot Dabholkar.

Subsequently, the central agency arrested advocate Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave as alleged co-conspirators. During the trial, advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, one of the defence lawyers, had questioned the CBI's flip-flop over the shooters' identity.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 120 B (conspiracy ), 302 (murder), relevant sections of the Arms Act, and section 16 (Punishment for terrorist act ) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA.

While Tawde, Andure and Kalaskar are in jail, Punalekar and Bhave are out on bail.

Dabholkar's murder was followed by the murders of three other rationalists/activists in the next four years: communist leader Govind Pansare (Kolhapur, February 2015), Kannada scholar and writer M M Kalburgi (Dharwad, August 2015) and journalist Gauri Lankesh (Bengaluru, September 2017).

It was suspected that the culprits in these four cases were linked to each other.
Chinese eVTOL firms speed UAE deployment, seeking new opportunities

Global Times) 10:24, May 10, 2024

Chinese electric aerial vehicle start-up Autoflight Aviation Technology conducts trial flights of its eVTOL aircraft "CarryAll" in Ai Ain, the United Arabic Emirates on May 6, 2024. Photo: Courtesy of Autoflight

Multiple Chinese enterprises related to the low-altitude economy are ramping up trial flights of their electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), as they move to explore international business opportunities following the nation's development plan for the sector.

The low-altitude economy can be seen as an unexplored market, with huge domestic and international potential, industry observers said.

Chinese electric aerial vehicle start-up Autoflight Aviation Technology (Autoflight) has completed trial flights of its eVTOL aircraft "CarryAll" in the city of Al Ain, the UAE, the company told the Global Times on Thursday.

The CarryAll aircraft has a total takeoff weight of two tons, and it has completed a 123-kilometer flight with a duration of 41 minutes. This is the world's first ton-plus eVTOL to complete a long-distance flight in the Middle East region, according to Autoflight.

Another Chinese eVTOL company, EHang Holdings, held a demonstration flight with passengers via its EH216-S aircraft in Abu Dhabi on Monday, said to be the first of its kind in the UAE and the Middle East region.

Xie Jia, senior vice president of Autoflight, told the Global Times on Thursday that enterprises from various countries are investing more in low-altitude aircraft, and Chinese companies are taking the lead in some core technical fields.

"China's complete supply chain and operating experience in the new-energy vehicle field are accelerating the development of eVTOLs and the low-altitude economy, and the nation's huge consumption market has provided enterprises with a positive environment of sustainable development," said Xie.

The 2024 Government Work Report stated that the development of the low-altitude economy is one of the new growth engines. Local governments in many Chinese cities have taken measures to establish testing sites and routes for related aircraft and technologies.

The first low-altitude drone logistics route in North China's Hebei Province with a total length of 12.5 kilometers completed trial operations on Tuesday at the Xiong'an New Area, according to the local government.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Police have detained a man on charges of stealing wallets from foreign tourists on the subway in Seoul, just four months after he was released from prison for the same offense, officials said Friday.

The man in his 50s was formally arrested last month on charges of pickpocketing two Chinese tourists as they exited a subway train, snatching about 600,000 won ($438.6) on two separate occasions, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency.

The suspect, who has 19 criminal records, including 12 theft charges, confessed to the police that he committed the crime to cover his living expenses and that all the stolen money had been spent. He had been released in November after serving a 20-month prison sentence for the same charges, according to the officials.

The police suspect that the man targeted female passengers wearing backpacks or handbags during the evening rush hour, particularly foreigners who may face difficulty reporting the theft.

In March, a similar case was reported involving a man, also in his 50s, who was detained for stealing a wallet containing 100,000 won from a victim's bag on a subway.

The man allegedly committed the theft just three days after being released from prison and had 10 criminal records for similar misdemeanors. The police advised passengers to carry their bags in front of them, rather than sideways or on their backs, and to report any theft immediately to the police. (Yonhap)


Cyprus online dating tips guide



advises ideas on how to



pick up Cypriot women



and the ways to



hookup with neighborhood ladies



in Cyprus. Travel, enjoy and have a great time with hot



single women



and also you could even



meet up with the really love



in your life. Read more on how best to



date Cypriot women



, where to



get a hold of intercourse



and the ways to



get laid in Cyprus



,

European Countries

.



Cyprus is actually an area country



thats located in the Eastern Mediterranean region. Located at southern area of

Turkey

, and to the west of

Lebanon

, the country provides a populace of over a million residents. Truly one of the most visited places in

Europe

, with well over a million visitors from year to year. Cyprus is actually a part of Commonwealth since 1961 possesses a high-income economy and a significantly high Human Development Index. Cyprus can have ancient h2o wells and archaeological remains from 10 Millennium BC. The Mycenaean

Greeks

transitioned the united states inside 2nd Millennium BC. Nowadays,



it is the place to find renowned historical sites, spectacular opinions, and reasonable folks



.

Get alerts:







Cyprus Top 10 Summary:



Chance of picking right on up women



: 3.5 / 5

Getting at day



: 3 / 5

Getting at night



: 4 / 5

Appears of ladies



: 4 / 5

Attitude of ladies



: 4 / 5

Nightlife generally



: 3.5 / 5

Residents English level



: 3.5 / 5

Transportation



: 3.5 / 5

Spending budget per day



: US$60  $900

Accommodation



: US$12  $500



Cypriot Ladies





Cyprus will be the third-largest country within the Mediterranean, which indicates that



this has many vacationers



. You may have a great chance for hooking up with ladies within this nation. The nation is primarily full of neighborhood girls, with marvelous beauties as they are really ladylike. The men are highly intrigued by the females in Cyprus, for their irresistible elegant energy and mystique. Cyprus has a lot of



open-minded women just who lead the westernized way of living



. The ladies choose to lead separate schedules and they are highly entertaining.



It wont just take a lot of time to wow a Cyprus girl



, as they display large curiosity about foreigners. You also need to have an excellent choose a technique for any daytime together with evening.



The girls in Cyprus have no a lot problems speaking in English



. Another factor that plays a part in having good chances of starting up could be the many tourists contained in this country. You will also discover tourist ladies in metropolises who are touring or tend to be settled indeed there.



The nation has actually over one million tourists



journey to this gorgeous spot yearly. Many international women like to hookup or continue dates with tourist guys during their stay. They even seek a travel lover with whom they are able to take pleasure in their excursion. In the event that you



check out the correct locations



, youll be able to to pick up some gorgeous regional and overseas babes as well as have a very good time using them.









Appears of women



: 4 / 5





The ladies in Cyprus have breathtaking beauties and are generally a few of the attractive females on earth



. Their own beauties leaves you experiencing weakened to your feet. Usually, a Cyprus feminine has

European

searching attributes such as fair to pale skin, lightweight hair, and vision. In Cyprus, an average top of a female is actually five foot and four inches.



The women in Cyprus are very keen regarding their looks and place in many energy to check polished and pristine



. When you go to the places in Cyprus, you will certainly realize that the women have actually a westernized lifestyle and love to liven up.









Attitude of ladies



: 4 / 5



In Cyprus, the girls tend to be



extremely appealing and friendly in direction of people from other countries



. The women in Cyprus originate from good backgrounds whore acknowledging of all people. They are certainly not discriminative or biased towards any individual. The females are



well-mannered and treat complete strangers with kindness



. Youll not identify a lady in Cyprus being impolite to many other people without a solid cause. The girls tend to be confident, in addition to never daunted by having to speak their own brain.

If this woman is not enthusiastic about you, shell be suggesting upfront without having to be rude. In the event that you finish bugging the lady extreme, she will be able to let you know off at the same time. They are really intelligent and will keep associations with various people. Also, they are really laid back and hold their own nightlives productive.



The majority of women into the towns of Cyprus are vivacious, and youll have a lot of fun with these people



.



Where youll get Intercourse Now





You can get intercourse on the web in



Cyprus



. You just need to find the best readily available ladies.



See Women Using The Internet Here!





How-to Choose Girls





Whenever picking up girls in Cyprus, it is vital that you understand that the procedure is



quite simple



. The greater number of you try hard, the not likely you will be receive laid with a lady.



The simple method is more very likely to deal with a female in Cyprus



, as compared to a secondary one. Should you decide input continuously effort into impressing women, she may well not proper care.

As soon as you approach a girl in just about any town of Cyprus, you must understand that



producing the first impact is an essential thing



. Generate a fantastic basic effect, youll want to start thinking about three situations:



confidence, communication, and seductiveness



. Whenever you approach a female, the most critical tool obtaining the interest of women is actually interaction. Girls like a guy who is a smooth talker and can swoon the lady with her terms. This is basically the best source for information to



implement every corny and cheesy collection lines



you have got discovered through the years. Additionally, offer the girl compliments while youre speaking to her to exhibit her your own interest.

In the event that you shower this lady with comments, shell get a better effect of you and it is prone to remember you. Make certain you do not use weird comments, but alternatively, ensure that it it is mellow. Plus, it is vital that you additionally speak slow and concisely as



some women in Cyprus is probably not well-aware of English



. Whenever you choose certain terms and terms in

Turkish

or

Greek

, its possible to wow lots of women in the nation. In conjunction with producing great dialogue, you have to additionally address all of them with regard and add seductiveness to your body language and tone.



Women usually prefer the lowest vocals tone in relation to guys



. Some women buy activated by a person that features a reduced vocals array. Should you decide concentrate on conditioning the attributes as previously mentioned earlier in the day, could be easily able to pick-up women. The women in Cyprus are open-minded and liberal, and it cannot get a lot of time to wow a lady. If youd like to hook up with girls within town, it is vital that you focus on your appearance, confidence, charm, and wide range.

A girl in Cyprus will most likely pay attention to



just how a man gift suggestions himself



. This is exactly specially a significant part if you should be drawing near to a lady through the day. When you look at the day, women probably will judge you considering all of your aspects, including physical appearance, self-confidence, and wide range. If youre planning to get females inside area,



the extreme concern is your looks



. To win a female over, you have to check friendly and decent. This doesnt indicate you need to make a serious modification, such as for example changing the characteristics or just about any other element about your self. Its centering on the easy situations, such as dressing up perfectly and place on an excellent perfume that will attract girls. Always put on garments that are attractive and suitable. Theres also lots of shores inside the metropolises of Cyprus.



When you yourself have a nicely toned body, it is possible to show your own abs in the beach



, thatll steal the attention of many women.

Also, once the women have become elegant,



several have actually submissive characters



. They prefer to-be approached by one. Some females from inside the area will approach you; however, a lot of them will expect that keep in touch with them 1st.



Nearing a lady first affirms the lady that youre positive and really thinking about the woman



. As aforementioned, that they like the person to be straightforward. Cannot act hard to get or seem too desperate, because this is a massive turn fully off for many women. Rather, walk-up to her decently and speak pleasantly.

Females in Cyprus also like



men who will be chivalrous and sort towards women



. Females despise one that is ridiculous or impolite to other individuals. Getting chivalrous programs the females you are giving them admire, which will instantly bring in their unique passions. The tradition of



casual relationship is very typical



within this nation, and girls you should never mind getting together with a stranger following the initial meeting. After you introduce yourself to a female, you can easily ask their to grab a coffee to you or get this lady quantity.



Refrain from asking for intercourse upfront



, since this can come down as impolite and unpleasant. By satisfying maybe once or twice, she will have the ability to trust you, along with the chance to develop a sexual and romantic interest in her.

Furthermore, if you are somebody with



countless wide range



, youll probably have numerous women swoon over you. The girls like to see a person whom dresses up well and drives in an enjoyable car. The girls within this area like to be pampered by men; thus, if youre ready to



simply take them to high priced restaurants, and permit them to store, they truly are very likely to get with you



.



Really reasonably more straightforward to choose girls throughout the night contained in this country



. Through the night, the women need a great time consequently they are normally hanging out from inside the towns. The women are willing to follow a man after having a glass or two with him. Throughout daytime, they may be active along with their routines, therefore might possibly not have a high probability of chatting with them. But for those who have a beneficial strategy for the daytime, you will not have a lot difficulty discovering girls while in the day sometimes.

Should you keep your tips stated earlier in your mind, you will have great likelihood of starting up with a female in Cyprus.



Youll be able to make an effort to approach the non-native women inside city



, because they are prone to have a very open-minded method towards matchmaking. Travelers arent that tough to spot when you look at the city. The non-native women in many cases are in search of a companion they may be able share their unique excursion with, or have a sleazy time with.









Probability of getting



: 3.5 / 5





Discover fantastic odds of picking right on up within area



. This is exactly primarily since the girls are independent and open-minded. They are very into foreign people because of the unique appearances and distinct characters. The females do not worry about acquiring close with a stranger.



If you find yourself some body with good allure and self-confidence, its likely youll discover numerous girls that will end up being ready to hookup to you



. You have got substantially large odds of picking up girls during evening, plus the evening. By keeping the main points as mentioned above in mind, the standing has become justified.



Methods for Daytime





Throughout daytime, the females in Cyprus are usually active. The metropolis will probably be packed during daytime and will have a high quantity of visitors. However, this really is an optimistic point for your family.



Due to the high level of traffic, you are likely to encounter numerous females who you can talk to



. Remember the women in Cyprus tend to be preoccupied with work, study, or family lives during the daytime so it may be difficult for you to definitely keep good discussion. As previously mentioned in this manual,



the main facet during the daytime is actually communication



. You have got great odds of running into girls during mid-day timings, at rush-hour or break time. If you possibly could converse well making use of females, youll be able to increase the interest of several females inside the towns and cities.









Potential for getting at daytime



: 3 / 5



Through the daytime, the females are usually hectic within this city. But lots of females tend to be outbound and like to relate solely to each person, including vacationers, during daytime.



Some girls can be hanging out at malls or bars, many will also be out partying during the shores



. It depends on the form of female you want to draw in. For those who have a strong strategy for the daytime and stick to the previously mentioned recommendations, youll be able to to impress lots of girls within city. By firmly taking under consideration the above-mentioned factors, the standing is actually hereby justified.



Finest Locations to meet up with Babes





The following cafes include most recommended locations for fulfilling women:

In addition, these malls supply a good amount of website traffic during afternoon and night:

The Shopping Mall of Cyprus, Nicosia , Cyprus



You may have a high probability of obtaining international women at beaches



. They are tourist attractions associated with urban area and also have numerous visitors see daily. Some of the best coastlines tend to be:



Alagadi Turtle Seashore





Protaras Beach





Tips for Nighttime







While in the evening, the women are generally really active



. That they like to keep out and either celebration or relax with regards to close friends.



Many females are searching forward to meeting various men and connecting together with them



. The night strategy is about seductiveness and charisma. Youll find different methods to seduce women, such as for instance complimenting and slightly flirting with her.









Probability of hooking up at nighttime



: 4 / 5





Discover extremely high likelihood of starting up while in the evening in this nation



. The females are usually wanting a great time during the night, and appearance toward acquiring with an attractive guy with who capable invest their unique night. As a tourist, its possible to connect with lots of people around the nation in order to find women youll be able to hookup with.



The girls are curious about linking with foreigners and do not mind consuming them to their particular places after having a crazy night



. Females tend to be highly very likely to come back to your house after conference you any time you develop a great basic feeling.



Finest Nightclubs to get to know Babes





A lot of the clubs start around 11 pm, and the partying continues on before sun comes up. The bars stated earlier and groups will be the most crowded and lively places to pick up hot ladies:



Vibes Club



a Ayiou Antoniou (Bar Street)

Paphos

, Cyprus

a Ayiou Antoniou (Bar Street) Paphos , Cyprus

The Castle Club





Ayia Napa

, Cyprus

 Ayia Napa , Cyprus

Klubd



 Ammochostou,

Nicosia

, Cyprus

 Ammochostou, Nicosia , Cyprus

Soho Club



a

Ayia Napa

, Cyprus









Nightlife as a whole



: 3.5 / 5





The lifestyle, generally speaking, is pretty crazy contained in this urban area



. It really is great as a result of lively area existence,



events, and raves, plus the sensuous ladies



. There are a lot of children contained in this city who are into residing it up and keep carefully the evening alive. From inside the locations of Cyprus, get older is not important.



People of all age brackets always remain away throughout the night some time celebration till the sun pops up



. Additionally many places to chill throughout the night, particularly beaches where you can go for a walk, or having a coffee at a regional cafA.

The metropolis if Nicosia , Cyprus through the night



Mature Ladies and Cougars





You will find several adult women in this urban area that happen to be



solitary, widowed, or divorced



. These include your best option when wanting to pursue an older girl. Just remember that , a mature woman is well-experienced at online dating, and additionally be great at judging yourself language. You should work maturely and suitably to get her interest.



Regions




By Jung Min-ho

A Kazakhstani national was sentenced to two years in prison, Friday, for coercing a woman from his country into prostitution and extorting her out of money.

The Gwangju District Court convicted the 39-year-old of forcing the victim to work in the sex industry in Korea and demanding $7,000 in service fees for helping her to find a job. He was also ordered to pay 450,000 won ($330) in restitution for his crimes.

The man, who was staying in Korea without a proper visa, lured her to the country with promises of a job working at a factory here.

When she arrived, he suddenly demanded she pay him $7,000, telling her to work in the illegal sex trade to pay it off.

His offense was tantamount to forcing her into slave-like labor and, for that, he deserved a heavy penalty, the court said.
Reports of NK soldiers in Ukraine may show Russia's 'profound' desperation: US official
By Ko Dong-hwan

CJ Olive Young plans to enter the Japanese retail beauty products market as Korean cosmetic products become increasingly popular in Japan, the country's largest beauty product retailer said Friday.

The beauty product arm of CJ Group will establish a subsidiary in Japan within the first half of this year to make the country a base for its global expansion.

The company said Japan was selected for its proximity to Korea and similarity in consumption trends.

Olive Young, which has been a popular destination among tourists coming to Korea, has already begun exporting its private brand (PB) products, including skin care brand Bio Heal BOH and cosmetic brand Wakemake, to Japan in 2020, confirming the potential for the company's success in the Japanese market.

The company's sales in the country have been increasing by 125 percent on average each year, with a jump of 76 percent in sales in the first quarter of this year compared to the same period the previous year.

Japan, according to the company, holds great significance for its PB business.

The PB market is one of the company's two-track strategies for its global business. The other is its online shopping platform, Olive Young Global Mall, which is currently available in 150 countries.

"The K-beauty industry recently grew with the country's small-to-medium-size (SME) companies and indie brands," a company official said. Their products are gaining attention from global consumers, most notably the United States and Japan.

"Our global market expansion will allow the SMEs and indie brands we curate and sell to promote themselves to broader global regions," the official added.

The company this weekend will set up a promotional booth for Japanese consumers around ZOZO Marine Stadium in Chiba, Japan, where KCON Japan 2024 will take place from Saturday to Sunday.
By Ko Dong-hwan

Hyundai Engineering CEO Hong Hyeon-sung apologized Friday after tens of thousands of defects were found in the new apartment complex the company built in Muan County, South Jeolla Province.

Hong, in a statement, admitted a number of hazards have been reported at Hillstate Oryong and said the company will have discussions with the soon-to-be residents to fix the hazards.

"From now on, we'll start inspecting all the apartment buildings we've built to make sure they receive top-notch quality control ... This kind of problem is never found too late," Hong said in the statement.

Hillstate Oryong, built in the southwestern coastal region of the country, has 800 units in 12 buildings that are as high as 24 stories tall.

The company invited the future residents of the apartments late last month to inspect the buildings before they move in this month, where they discovered defects such as incomplete tiling and deformed walls in and outside the suites.

The findings prompted them to file complaints to the Muan County Office.

The authority then called experts to inspect the entire apartment town.

A three-day inspection found some 50,000 defects, including bent steel beams under the concrete filling and uneven exterior walls on some of the buildings.

The shoddy construction went viral as the victims shared photos of the hazards online.

Hong visited the complex Thursday and met the victims to apologize.

According to a post on an online community, each suite had an average of 150 to 200 defects.

Despite the severity of the issue, when the future residents staged a protest in front of the county office on May 2, the office officials responded the defects the residents had filed were mostly minor problems and major hazards were hard to find.
By Ko Dong-hwan

BAT Rothmans is turning cigarette butt-infested alleys in Korea into flowerbeds to promote responsible consumption of its products, continuing its commitment to environmental causes, the tobacco company said Friday.

Employees of the company on Thursday swept the trash on a street in Seoul and planted flowers under a campaign titled GGOT BAT, a play of words combining the Korean word "kkot," which means flower, and the company's name, which together in Korean means flowerbed.

The campaign is part of the company's environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) initiative.

The campaign drew participation from some 80 company employees, who picked up trash and planted spring flowers such as rhododendrons and portulaca.

The company carried out the campaign hoping it would discourage smokers from littering in the transformed spots.

The company first launched the campaign last year and garnered positive public reactions.

It prompted the company to sign a partnership with the Korean National Council for Conservation of Nature's Seoul Special City Committee last year.

This year, Seoul's Jung District Office joined the partnership. The office agreed to designate areas to transform within its jurisdiction, including Euljiro, Myeong-dong and Heungin-dong, which have been seeing the worst littering issues in the central Seoul district.

BAT Rothmans plans to install 20 flowerbeds this year and maintain them to ensure the campaign's long-term success and integrity.

"The GGOT BAT campaign is a collaborative project that involves not just our organization but all members of the local community," said Song Young-jae, country manager of BAT Rothmans. "Through this initiative, we aim to heighten awareness on the importance of environmental protection, encouraging more individuals to actively participate in beautifying and caring for their local areas."

BAT Rothmans has been engaging in other ESG campaigns. It has formed a partnership with Wiperth, the country's largest "plogging" (picking up litter and jogging) organization, to support collecting 3 tons of litter nationwide.

The company also supports the annual Eco League contest, which seeks to foster innovative ideas that address various environmental challenges.
Key Points:

The Chinese military claims to have driven away a US Navy destroyer near the Paracel Islands in the South China Sea.

The US maintains that the destroyer asserted navigational rights consistent with international law.

This incident highlights the escalating tensions and ongoing territorial disputes in the South China Sea.

US Destroyer Challenged by Chinese Military in South China Sea

Tensions flared in the South China Sea as the Chinese military claimed to have driven away a US Navy destroyer near the Paracel Islands on May 10th. The incident marks the latest escalation in the ongoing dispute over the regions territorial claims and navigation rights.

Get alerts:

The Southern Theater Command of the Peoples Liberation Army released a statement accusing the USS Halsey of seriously infringing on Chinas sovereignty and security by entering what they consider their territorial waters. They further condemned the action as evidence of navigation hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea.

The US Navy countered, stating that the destroyer was conducting a routine operation, asserting navigational rights and freedoms consistent with international law. They maintained that the USS Halsey exited the area after completing its operation and continued its journey within the South China Sea.

Complexities of South China Sea Territorial Claims

The recent encounter between the US Navy and the Chinese military is not an isolated incident but a symptom of the intricate and long-standing territorial disputes in the South China Sea. The region is subject to overlapping claims by multiple countries, creating a complex geopolitical landscape. China asserts historical rights over a significant portion of the South China Sea, encompassing areas that the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Brunei also claim. These overlapping claims have been a source of tension and dispute for decades.

In 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration delivered a landmark ruling that invalidated Chinas expansive claims based on the nine-dash line, a demarcation used by China to delineate its asserted territory. However, China has rejected the ruling and continues maintaining a robust presence in the region through its military and coast guard activities. This includes constructing artificial islands and deploying naval vessels, effectively strengthening its control and influence.

The issue of Taiwan adds another layer of complexity to the situation. China views Taiwan as an integral part of its territory, while Taiwan maintains its independent governance. The recent passage of the USS Halsey through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow waterway separating Taiwan and China, has further aggravated tensions. China consistently expresses its disapproval of US naval operations near Taiwan, interpreting them as a challenge to its sovereignty and a gesture of support for Taiwans autonomy.

Rising Tensions and International Concerns

The latest naval spat between the US and China underscores the escalating tensions in the South China Sea. The regions strategic importance for trade and resource exploration fuels competing claims and interests.

The international community observes these developments with growing concern, fearing miscalculations or accidents that could lead to a broader conflict. The US remains committed to upholding freedom of navigation and supporting its regional allies, while China continues to assert its territorial claims and resist what it perceives as external interference.

As the United States and China continue to assert their presence and interests in the South China Sea, the potential for further confrontations and escalation remains a significant concern. The international community watches closely, urging both sides to engage in dialogue and diplomacy to resolve disputes peacefully and prevent the region from becoming a flashpoint for conflict. The future stability of the South China Sea hinges on a delicate balance of power, respect for international law, and a commitment to finding common ground amidst competing claims.
Following an investigation by the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland (HSENI), Swift Control Services Limited was today fined 10,000 at Derry Crown Court.

The Dungannon based company pleaded guilty to a single health and safety offence at an earlier court hearing.

The investigation followed the death of Mr Adam Newell (18), an electrical apprentice working at a new build property on Tirgan Road, Moneymore on October 16 2021.

Mr Newell sustained fatal injuries after coming in to contact with a live electrical circuit during work inside the property which was under construction.

The investigation established that Mr Newell was working alone and unsupervised within a storeroom in the property when the incident occurred. Mr Newell had been working with a newly laid electrical cable which had become energised, resulting in electrocution.

Lee Dougan, Inspector from HSENIs Major Investigation Team confirmed that: It is vitally important that young or inexperienced workers including apprentices, are provided with clear and sufficient instruction, training, and supervision from their employer, so they can understand the significance of health and safety whilst at work. This is especially important within high-risk industries such as construction, agriculture, and manufacturing.

Risks to young or inexperienced workers need to be identified, managed and any remaining actions required effectively communicated. They may also need additional support from their employer to allow them to carry out their work such as tailored training or closer supervision.

This tragic death was completely preventable. HSENI will not hesitate to take enforcement action where companies or individuals fail to take the appropriate steps to protect young or inexperienced employees in the workplace.

PPS Acting Assistant Director Graham Cardwell said: Prosecutors in the PPSs Fraud & Departmental Section worked closely with the Health and Safety Executive for Northern Ireland investigators to build a robust prosecution case which resulted in the guilty plea.

This is a tragic and distressing case in which a young man lost his life whilst working as a first-year electrical apprentice. This shows just how devastating the consequences of not having adequate safety measures in place can be. The conviction in this case should act as a deterrent to other employers and businesses to ensure they have stringent processes in place, especially for young or inexperienced workers, to ensure employees and others affected by their work are not exposed to risks which affect their health or safety.

The PPS will continue to work with our enforcement partners to prosecute for health and safety breaches in cases where the Test for Prosecution is met.
Coding is both a skill and an art form, requiring both technical expertise and creative problem-solving. There is a large scope for AI to solve the complexities of coding and make the process more reliable. AI for coding can help suggest optimisations, identify bugs, enhance security, automate repetitive tasks and more. This allows developers to focus more on the creative aspects of their work. Before we get to the list of some of the best AI Coding Assistants that you can pick from, lets provide some insight into what to expect.

What is AI for coding

AI for coding is an assistant coder by your side. Similar to what ChatGPT is for writers. These are sophisticated software tools that leverage artificial intelligence to make coding simpler. They are useful for both learners and expert developers. AI coding assistants learn and improve themselves from vast repositories of code. They understand your code context and suggest changes, fetch functions you need, and even predict large snippets of code you could use. This helps improve productivity and reduces errors.

These tools can:

Help you avoid syntax errors for different programming languages.

Help you quickly debug your code, flagging potential errors.

Help improve coding efficiency by suggesting alternative implementations

Suggest comments to keep your code more readable. This also helps improve collaboration between teams and avoid conflict.

Suggest potential security vulnerabilities in your code

Make it easier to collaborate with your team in IDE.

Help you stay updated with the latest developments and can help save time and efficiency.

You cant completely trust AI tools. If you are still learning and can not immediately catch if AI-generated code is out of context or buggy, you should avoid depending too much on it. If you are an intermediate or even expert coder, suggestions from AI coding assistants can help you learn different techniques for doing things.

Bugs in AI-generated codes can be difficult to detect. So, it is essential that you first learn coding and know what you are doing to make the most of AI Coding tools.

Now, lets talk about some of the best options that you must try.

Cursor AI

The Cursor AI coding editor acts as a collaborator, understanding the context of your project and offering assistance throughout the coding workflow. Its Copilot++ feature can suggest midline completion. You can also chat with AI thats monitoring your code and discuss before making changes. You can also set style guidelines, check details for unfamiliar variables or even auto debug your code.

The basic Cursor AI version is free. The Pro version costs $20 per month or $16 per month when billed annually.

Try Here

GitHub Copilot

One of the major advantages of GitHub Copilot is that is integrated into the GitHub ecosystem. While it supports various programming languages, its effectiveness varies, with stronger support for languages like JavaScript. It particularly shines for small programs where there is not much context or for tasks that can be automated.

GitHub Copilot is available for free to certain developers, provided they share their code with Microsoft for training the model. Subscriptions for team users cost $4 per month.

Try Here

Codeium

Codeium AI is another great free option for coders that supports multiple coding languages. It offers precise code suggestions, code explanations, and automated test generation, all aimed at refining code quality and clarity. It offers specific tips to improve your code, explaining code in simple terms, and even making tests automatically to check your code. Its great for working together with others too, as it helps with sharing and reviewing code easily.

Codeium is free for individual users. Teams can opt for a paid subscription for $12 per month.

Try Here

Amazon CodeWhisperer

Amazon CodeWhisperer looks at what youre typing and suggests how to finish it based on what youve written before. You can choose to accept, change, or ignore its suggestions. It also checks your code for security issues, like if its vulnerable to hackers, and tells you how to fix them. It works best with certain programming languages like Java and Python. You can use it in programs like Visual Studio Code and with Amazons cloud services. However, there is no option to chat with the code generator.

Amazon CodeWhisperer is free for individuals and affordable for businesses. To get it, you just need to add it to your program, connect it to Amazon, and sign in. If you use Amazons services a lot or care about open-source software, its a good choice.

Try Here

Tabnine

Tabnine is a coding tool that cares about keeping your work safe and sound. You can also create bespoke models trained on your codebase to stick to your coding style. It suggests helpful changes to your code and can thus help you speed up your coding. Users can set their guidelines for static code analysis. They can also share and import code snippets with others within their own IDE.

You can use Tabnine for free with basic features for 90 days. The Pro version costs $12 a month.

Try Here

AskCodi

AskCodi is a versatile tool that supports over 50 programming languages. You can directly access AskCodi features within popular IDEs like VS Code and PyCharm. It can generate codes based on natural language prompts and includes Real-time chat support. The premium version lets you switch between different AI models.

The Basic free plan includes 50 credits per month. The Premium plan costs $9.99 per month and gives you 500 credits per month. The Ultimate plan costs $29.99 per months and awards 3000 credits per month.

Try Here

Mutable AI

MutableAI offers a set of handy tools to make coding smoother and faster. Its AI Autocomplete feature suggests helpful bits of code as you type to make your job simpler. MutableAI not only helps you write code but also has a Production Quality Code feature that helps you tidy up your code, making it work better. You can chat with it and tell it what changes you want to make with the Prompt-driven Development tool. It even helps out with Test Generation, automatically creating tests to make sure your code works as it should. And it works with multiple languages and popular IDEs.

The basic plan starts at $2 a month per project, or you can go for the premium plan at $15 a month per project for some extra perks.

Try Here

Replit

Replit serves as a dynamic Integrated Development Environment (IDE) powered by AI. It has a user-friendly interface, can be conveniently accessed via a browser and works with over 50 programming languages. You can simply hover over an identifier or function and a little window pops up with the type and some information from the documents. Its real-time collaboration feature fosters seamless teamwork, with changes visible instantaneously. Its version control system helps with effortless tracking and restoration of code and thus can save a lot of hassle. Its rich library of pre-built components and sharing functionalities further add value.

You can also access Replit via mobile and tablet apps to code on mobile devices. You can start with a free version and the Core plan costs $20 per month and $10 per month when billed annually.

Try Here
HIGHLIGHTS With the help of auto-complete, users will get AI-generated suggestions to complete their prompts. In addition to this, theres also going to be a rewrite feature. These new AI features will be available to paid Microsoft 365 users in the coming months.

AI is cooking up a storm in the world of technology and it is not going to end up soon. Every other day we hear about revolutionary technology. Now, Microsoft is up to something. We hear that the tech giant is planning to change how we write using AI. Often we are confused about what prompts to give and where to begin. The company introduced new features on Wednesday that enhance the functionality of the Microsoft Copilot chatbot.

The new features make life easier for users and help them deal with the challenges they have to face while giving prompts and getting the desired results. Lets now take a look at what new AI features Microsoft has introduced.

Also read: Whats new in Microsoft Copilot Pro? Know here

Upcoming AI features on Microsoft Copilot

The first feature that I am going to talk about is auto-complete. With the help of this feature, users will get AI-generated suggestions to complete their prompts. For eg: If you type shorten it could give you prompts like this paragraph etc. It makes it easier for you.

In addition to this, theres also going to be a rewrite feature. This is something that we have previously seen on ChatGPT. If you are not satisfied with the prompt, you can ask Copilot to rewrite it until you get the best option.

Microsoft will also soon launch a catch-up feature. With the help of this feature, users will get personalised insights based on recent activity. The Microsoft Copilot will also recommend actions such as reviewing meeting notes, etc.

Also read: Microsoft Copilot Pro now available globally: Check how much it costs in India & what it offers

Copilot Labs for organisations

A Copilot Lab will also be introduced soon. This feature will be aimed at organisations and will provide them with specific prompts for their specific work needs.

These new AI features will be available to paid Microsoft 365 users in the coming months.
Save my User ID and Password

Some subscribers prefer to save their log-in information so they do not have to enter their User ID and Password each time they visit the site. To activate this function, check the 'Save my User ID and Password' box in the log-in section. This will save the password on the computer you're using to access the site.

Note: If you choose to use the log-out feature, you will lose your saved information. This means you will be required to log-in the next time you visit our site.
A Pentagon spokesperson refused Thursday to comment on whether the United States wants Seoul to provide lethal arms support to Ukraine, after South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol reaffirmed his administration's policy against any provision of offensive weapons to the war-torn country.

Seoul has maintained a stance to offer humanitarian and non-lethal defense assistance to Ukraine, such as protective suits, demining equipment and other military supplies, though pressure has continued for arms support to the country.

"I will let the Republic of Korea (ROK) speak for itself when it comes to what they feel comfortable with providing to support Ukraine," Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told a press briefing, referring to South Korea by its official name.

"The ROK is an incredible ally, and they certainly have provided non-lethal assistance to Ukraine and support the broader effort to deter and prevent Russian aggression in Ukraine," he added.

He was responding to a question over whether Washington wants Seoul to provide 155-mm artillery rounds and other offensive weapons to Ukraine.

Ryder said that Washington is thankful to any country that backs Ukraine.

"We are just grateful for any nation that can contribute in some way to help send a clear signal to authoritarian regimes that invading your democratic, peaceful neighbor is not acceptable behavior," he said.

During a press conference on Thursday (Korea time), Yoon said South Korea is doing its best to provide humanitarian and reconstruction aid to Ukraine but stands by its policy of not providing offensive, lethal weapons to any nation in conflict.

Ryder also responded to a question about Russia's reported plan to conduct drills on the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, and the possibility of related military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang.

"I've seen that reported in the press and I would just say again that it's irresponsible, reckless saber-rattling," he said. "That is dangerous given the current climate ... international security environment." (Yonhap)
Country

United States of America US Virgin Islands United States Minor Outlying Islands Canada Mexico, United Mexican States Bahamas, Commonwealth of the Cuba, Republic of Dominican Republic Haiti, Republic of Jamaica Afghanistan Albania, People's Socialist Republic of Algeria, People's Democratic Republic of American Samoa Andorra, Principality of Angola, Republic of Anguilla Antarctica (the territory South of 60 deg S) Antigua and Barbuda Argentina, Argentine Republic Armenia Aruba Australia, Commonwealth of Austria, Republic of Azerbaijan, Republic of Bahrain, Kingdom of Bangladesh, People's Republic of Barbados Belarus Belgium, Kingdom of Belize Benin, People's Republic of Bermuda Bhutan, Kingdom of Bolivia, Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina Botswana, Republic of Bouvet Island (Bouvetoya) Brazil, Federative Republic of British Indian Ocean Territory (Chagos Archipelago) British Virgin Islands Brunei Darussalam Bulgaria, People's Republic of Burkina Faso Burundi, Republic of Cambodia, Kingdom of Cameroon, United Republic of Cape Verde, Republic of Cayman Islands Central African Republic Chad, Republic of Chile, Republic of China, People's Republic of Christmas Island Cocos (Keeling) Islands Colombia, Republic of Comoros, Union of the Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, People's Republic of Cook Islands Costa Rica, Republic of Cote D'Ivoire, Ivory Coast, Republic of the Cyprus, Republic of Czech Republic Denmark, Kingdom of Djibouti, Republic of Dominica, Commonwealth of Ecuador, Republic of Egypt, Arab Republic of El Salvador, Republic of Equatorial Guinea, Republic of Eritrea Estonia Ethiopia Faeroe Islands Falkland Islands (Malvinas) Fiji, Republic of the Fiji Islands Finland, Republic of France, French Republic French Guiana French Polynesia French Southern Territories Gabon, Gabonese Republic Gambia, Republic of the Georgia Germany Ghana, Republic of Gibraltar Greece, Hellenic Republic Greenland Grenada Guadaloupe Guam Guatemala, Republic of Guinea, Revolutionary People's Rep'c of Guinea-Bissau, Republic of Guyana, Republic of Heard and McDonald Islands Holy See (Vatican City State) Honduras, Republic of Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of China Hrvatska (Croatia) Hungary, Hungarian People's Republic Iceland, Republic of India, Republic of Indonesia, Republic of Iran, Islamic Republic of Iraq, Republic of Ireland Israel, State of Italy, Italian Republic Japan Jordan, Hashemite Kingdom of Kazakhstan, Republic of Kenya, Republic of Kiribati, Republic of Korea, Democratic People's Republic of Korea, Republic of Kuwait, State of Kyrgyz Republic Lao People's Democratic Republic Latvia Lebanon, Lebanese Republic Lesotho, Kingdom of Liberia, Republic of Libyan Arab Jamahiriya Liechtenstein, Principality of Lithuania Luxembourg, Grand Duchy of Macao, Special Administrative Region of China Macedonia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Madagascar, Republic of Malawi, Republic of Malaysia Maldives, Republic of Mali, Republic of Malta, Republic of Marshall Islands Martinique Mauritania, Islamic Republic of Mauritius Mayotte Micronesia, Federated States of Moldova, Republic of Monaco, Principality of Mongolia, Mongolian People's Republic Montserrat Morocco, Kingdom of Mozambique, People's Republic of Myanmar Namibia Nauru, Republic of Nepal, Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles Netherlands, Kingdom of the New Caledonia New Zealand Nicaragua, Republic of Niger, Republic of the Nigeria, Federal Republic of Niue, Republic of Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Norway, Kingdom of Oman, Sultanate of Pakistan, Islamic Republic of Palau Palestinian Territory, Occupied Panama, Republic of Papua New Guinea Paraguay, Republic of Peru, Republic of Philippines, Republic of the Pitcairn Island Poland, Polish People's Republic Portugal, Portuguese Republic Puerto Rico Qatar, State of Reunion Romania, Socialist Republic of Russian Federation Rwanda, Rwandese Republic Samoa, Independent State of San Marino, Republic of Sao Tome and Principe, Democratic Republic of Saudi Arabia, Kingdom of Senegal, Republic of Serbia and Montenegro Seychelles, Republic of Sierra Leone, Republic of Singapore, Republic of Slovakia (Slovak Republic) Slovenia Solomon Islands Somalia, Somali Republic South Africa, Republic of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Spain, Spanish State Sri Lanka, Democratic Socialist Republic of St. Helena St. Kitts and Nevis St. Lucia St. Pierre and Miquelon St. Vincent and the Grenadines Sudan, Democratic Republic of the Suriname, Republic of Svalbard & Jan Mayen Islands Swaziland, Kingdom of Sweden, Kingdom of Switzerland, Swiss Confederation Syrian Arab Republic Taiwan, Province of China Tajikistan Tanzania, United Republic of Thailand, Kingdom of Timor-Leste, Democratic Republic of Togo, Togolese Republic Tokelau (Tokelau Islands) Tonga, Kingdom of Trinidad and Tobago, Republic of Tunisia, Republic of Turkey, Republic of Turkmenistan Turks and Caicos Islands Tuvalu Uganda, Republic of Ukraine United Arab Emirates United Kingdom of Great Britain & N. Ireland Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe
A convicted scammer who claimed to be an Irish heiress and who is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from several alleged victims should be extradited to the UK, a federal court in the US has ruled.

Marianne Smyth, who accusers say has also fashioned herself as a witch, a psychic and a friend to Hollywood stars, has been in a Maine jail waiting to learn if she will be extradited.

She faces allegations that she stole more than 170,000 dollars (135,000) from people from 2008 to 2010 in Northern Ireland.

US magistrate judge John Nivison ruled on Thursday that there is sufficient evidence to certify her extradition to the UK to face charges.

Judge Nivison wrote that she will be in custody of the US Marshals Service pending a decision on extradition by US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

A lawyer for Smyth, who has declined to comment in the past, did not respond to phone calls and emails on Thursday.

The judges ruling that she should be extradited could help bring about the end of a bizarre saga in which alleged victims have painted Smyth as a master of disguise and a veteran travelling grifter.

Smyth faces four counts of fraud by abuse of position under the UK Fraud Act of 2006, and four counts of theft in violation of Northern Irelands Theft Act of 1969, Judge Nivison wrote.

Authorities overseas have said Smyth stole money that she had promised to invest and arranged to sell an alleged victim a home but took the money. A court in Northern Ireland issued arrest warrants for her earlier this decade.

The evidence presented regarding Ms Smyths interactions with and transactions involving the individuals is sufficient to sustain the four fraud charges and the four theft charges that are the subject of the extradition request, Judge Nivison wrote.

Smyths victims included Johnathan Walton, a podcaster who warned others about her. Smyth was found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Mr Walton and spent about two years in jail.

The two had grown close in Los Angeles, and Smyth told Mr Walton she was due an inheritance of seven million dollars from her wealthy Irish family, but Smyths story began to fall apart when Mr Walton learned she was jailed for stealing 200,000 dollars from a travel agency she worked for.

Walton used his podcast to gather tips from Smyths other accusers. Some of those accusers said Smyth started a fake charity and others said she posed as everything from a cancer patient to Jennifer Anistons best friend.

Smyth, who is in fact American, was found and arrested in Maine in February.
An Air Canada flight from Venice to Toronto was forced to make an emergency landing in Dublin Airport yesterday following a major technical issue aboard the aircraft.

The flight (AC819 /ACA819), which left from Venice airport shortly after 4pm on Thursday, made the emergency landing in Ireland at around 7pm due to a hydraulics issue aboard the commercial Airbus A330-300.

Fire crews awaited the aircraft as it landed on the runway in Dublin, which lost nose steering as soon as it touched the ground. No injuries from passengers or staff were recorded.

The aircraft, with no steering of its own, needed to be towed off of the runway by a tug, which took over 20 minutes to arrive. The knock-on effect meant that dozens of arriving flights were delayed, as only one runway was in use for this period.

Hydraulic systems of some description are present on virtually all aircraft types, and in larger and more complex aircraft multiple systems may be used to provide the muscle to operate a wide variety of components and systems.

For example, these could include primary and secondary flight controls, the landing gear, nosewheel steering, wheel brakes, thrust reversers and cargo doors.

As such hydraulics issues are a major concern for flights, as depending on the specific failure or the extent of damage to the hydraulic systems, it could lead to full loss of control for pilots or difficulty in operating landing gear.
A Cork family has appealed for help for a mum of two after breast cancer diagnosis.

Aisling Murphy Collins, aged 35, was diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer, which is a type of breast cancer that spreads from the primary tumour in the breast to another part of the body.

To help her and her family cover the medical costs, her sister-in-law, Valerie Collins has created a fundraiser

"Please help us to support Aisling in her ongoing battle with her advanced breast cancer. Her husband Darren & children Adaline (8) & Teddy (5) give her all the love she needs, however, we hope to provide them with some financial support to cover ongoing medical and living costs, as they fight this deadly disease together," said Valerie on a GoFundMe page.

"Over the past 3 years she has bravely faced chemotherapy, a mastectomy, numerous rounds of radiotherapy, immunotherapy and continues her fight for life, all while being a loving mother and wife. At 35 years old, she is truly an amazingly resilient person with an unwavering positive attitude to every obstacle," she added.

"Life with metastatic breast cancer, and the associated medical costs, has become a huge struggle financially. Much of the financial pressures they have not had the time and space to contemplate. This family needs your help for what lies ahead."
A dog rescue in Limerick have issued a heartfelt plea for a forever home for a "super affectionate" Jack Russel.

Molly Moos Westie Rescue shared pictures on social media of Lucy, "a beautiful and extremely sweet 6 year old female Jack Russell Terrier", whose owner has passed away.

"Meet Lucy who came into our care when her owner passed away, she was so sad but has started to adjust to her new circumstances and her little personality is beginning to shine," the rescue posted.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Molly Moos Westie Rescue (@mollymooswestierescue)

According to the rescue, Lucy is quiet and "super affectionate", well-behaved indoors and in the car, and fully toilet-trained.

This cute pup is quite happy in the company of other dogs, "but would rather have her new best friend(s) all to herself," the rescue said.

"Lucy's ideal home would be where there is someone home for a good portion of the day, maybe a retired couple or person. She enjoys a quiet life, so no small children".

If you think Lucy's new home could be with you, you can DM Molly Moos Westie Rescue to enquire.
Russia on Thursday wrapped itself in patriotic pageantry for Victory Day, as President Vladimir Putin celebrated the defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II by hailing his forces fighting in Ukraine and blasting the West for fueling conflicts around the world.

Even though few veterans of what Russia calls the Great Patriotic War are still alive 79 years after Berlin fell to the Red Army, the victory remains the most important and widely revered symbol of Russias prowess and a key element of national identity.

Putin has turned Victory Day  the country's most important secular holiday  into a pillar of his nearly quarter-century in power and a justification of his military action in Ukraine.

Two days after beginning his fifth term in office , he led the festivities across Russia that recall the nation's wartime sacrifice.

Victory Day unites all generations, Putin said in a speech in Red Square that came on the coldest May 9 in decades amid some snow flurries. We are going forward relying on our centuries-old traditions and feel confident that together we will ensure a free and secure future of Russia."

As battalions marched by and military hardware  both old and new  rumbled over the cobblestones, the sky cleared briefly to allow a flyby of warplanes, some of which trailed smoke in the white, red and blue of the Russian flag.

Putin hailed the troops fighting in Ukraine as our heroes for their courage, resilience and self-denial, adding that all of Russia is with you.

He accused the West of fueling regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious strife and trying to contain sovereign and independent centers of global development.

With tensions with Washington over Ukraine soaring to their highest level since the Cold War, Putin issued another stark reminder of Moscow's nuclear might.

Russia will do everything to prevent global confrontation, but will not allow anyone to threaten us, he said. Our strategic forces are in combat readiness.

Nuclear-capable Yars intercontinental ballistic missiles were pulled across Red Square, underscoring his message.

The Soviet Union lost about 27 million people in World War II, an estimate that many historians consider conservative, scarring virtually every family.

Nazi troops overran much of the western Soviet Union when they invaded in June 1941, before being driven back all the way to Berlin, where the USSR's hammer and sickle flag was raised above the ruined capital. The U.S., U.K, France and other allies mark the end of the war in Europe on May 8.

The immense suffering and sacrifice in cities like Stalingrad, Kursk and Putin's native Leningrad  now St. Petersburg  still serve as a powerful symbol of the country's ability to prevail against seemingly overwhelming challenges.

Since coming to power on the last day of 1999, Putin has made May 9 an important part of his political agenda, featuring missiles, tanks and fighter jets. Medal-bedecked veterans joined him Thursday to review the parade, and many  including the president  wore the black-and-orange St. Georges ribbon that is traditionally associated with Victory Day.

About 9,000 troops, including about 1,000 who fought in Ukraine, took part in Thursday's parade.

Although the U.S. and U.K. ambassadors did not attend, Putin was joined by other dignitaries and presidents of several former Soviet nations along with a few other Moscow allies, including the leaders of Cuba, Guinea-Bissau and Laos.

In his speech, he accused the West of revanchism  hypocrisy and lies in seeking to play down the Soviet role in defeating Nazi Germany.

Putin described Victory Day as very emotional and poignant.

Every family is honoring its heroes, looking at pictures with dear faces and remembering their relatives and how they fought, he said.

Putin, 71, talks frequently about his family history, sharing memories of his father, who fought on the front during the Nazi siege of the city and was badly wounded.

As Putin tells it, his father, also named Vladimir, came home from a military hospital during the war to see workers trying to take away his wife, Maria, who had been declared dead of starvation. But the elder Putin did not believe she had died  saying she had only lost consciousness, weak with hunger. Their first child, Viktor, died during the siege when he was 3, one of more than 1 million Leningrad residents who died in the 872-day blockade, most of them from starvation.

For several years, Putin carried a photo of his father in Victory Day marches  as did others honoring relatives who were war veterans  in what was called the Immortal Regiment.

Those demonstrations were suspended during the coronavirus pandemic and then again amid security concerns after the start of the fighting in Ukraine.

As part of his efforts to burnish the Soviet legacy and trample on any attempts to question it, Russia has introduced laws that criminalized the rehabilitation of Nazism that include punishing the desecration of memorials or challenging Kremlin versions of World War II history.

When he sent troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Putin evoked World War II in seeking to justify his actions that Kyiv and its Western allies denounced as an unprovoked war of aggression. Putin cited the denazification of Ukraine as a main goal of Moscow, falsely describing the government of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who is Jewish and lost relatives in the Holocaust, as neo-Nazis.

Putin tried to cast Ukraines veneration of some of its nationalist leaders who cooperated with the Nazis in World War II as a sign of Kyivs purported Nazi sympathies. He regularly made unfounded references to Ukrainian nationalist figures such as Stepan Bandera, who was killed by a Soviet spy in Munich in 1959, as an underlying justification for the Russian military action in Ukraine.

Many observers see Putins focus on World War II as part of his efforts to revive the USSRs clout and prestige and his reliance on Soviet practices.

Its the continuous self-identification with the USSR as the victor of Nazism and the lack of any other strong legitimacy that forced the Kremlin to declare denazification as the goal of the war, Nikolay Epplee said in a commentary for Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center.

The Russian leadership, he said, has locked itself up in a worldview limited by the Soviet past. (AP)
Dundalk Institute of Technology's BA (Hons) in Film & Television Production is the recipient of 2 new industry-supported awards for students on its programme. These new awards will be presented at the upcoming Film Showcase on Thursday May 16th in the IMC Dundalk.

The Samson Films Best Short Film Award will be presented to the best short film made on the year-long Film Project module in 3rd year while the Dearbhla Walsh Best Major Project Award will be presented to the best TV drama/documentary made on the year-long Major Project module in 4th year.

Samson Films is one of Ireland's leading independent film and television production companies. In addition to developing its own material, Samson Films also acts as a co-producer and executive producer on a wide range of Irish, European and International feature film projects. The company has been awarded slate funding by the Irish Film Board and by the EU Media Programme. See https://www.samsonfilms.com/ for more information.

On announcing the award, David Collins, Managing Director/Producer stated:

"Samson films is a proud supporter of DkIT. Through various collaborations with DkIT, Samson Films has seen an excellent standard from the students, who frequently demonstrate their passion and determination for the Irish film industry."

The Dearbhla Walsh award is from an award-winning Irish film and television director who has worked on drama series for several television channels worldwide. Dearbhlas key credits include The Tudors, Shameless, Penny Dreadful, Bad Sisters, Fargo, The Handmaid's Tale, amongst many more.

Dearbhla is a strong supporter of young filmmakers and on being associated with the award stated:

"Im honoured & proud to be associated with DkIT in viewing & awarding the DEARBHLA WALSH AWARD FOR BEST MAJOR PROJECT. The award is a culmination of 4 challenging years of study & experimenting in the craft of directing & presenting a final piece of work that reflects excellence & ambition in their chosen craft married with passion for their subject, theme & art. Lights  Camera - ACTION!"
Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content.

Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist.

If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter .

Support our mission and join our community now.
The father of the late 18-month old baby boy, Hunter Molloy has been released from prison on compassionate grounds, a court heard this Friday.

At Ennis Circuit Court, Patrick Whyms BL (instructed by solicitor, Daragh Hassett) told the court that Peter Molloy, Hunter's father is now on bail after being released from prison on compassionate grounds arising from the death of his infant child this week.

Mr Molloy (22) of Ballaghboy Halting site on Enniss Quin Rd, was on remand in custody pending a trial at the circuit court.

It is understood that the Prison Service sanctioned the release of Mr Molloy on Wednesday in the hours after Hunters death was confirmed at University Hospital Limerick (UHL).

Hunter died from injuries sustained in a road traffic accident at the Ballaghboy halting site before lunchtime on Wednesday, May 8.

Read More: Aunt of little boy who tragically died in Ennis hopes he has 'the best bed in heaven'

Peter Molloy is facing three charges, including one of endangerment, arising from an incident on Enniss Watery Rd on November 18th 2023.

In a separate court in Ennis today, Judge Vincent Deane at Ennis District Court allowed the release from custody of Hunters uncle, Michael Molloy (30) on compassionate grounds.

Michael Molloy was on remand in custody where he is facing a charge of assault causing harm contrary to Section 3 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act arising from an incident at Ballaghboy halting site on March 3rd this year.

Solicitor for Mr Molloy, Daragh Hassett told Judge Deane that the release from prison for Mr Molloy on bail on compassionate grounds was on consent with the State.

State Solicitor for Clare, Aisling Casey told Judge Deane that there has been a tragic death in the family of an 18 month old baby in the last couple of days so there is consent to this application.

Ms Casey said that Mr Molloys release on bail is conditional on him not entering Ballaghboy halting site except for funeral purposes of his nephew, Hunter Molloy; residing at a Shannon address; abiding by a curfew from 10pm to 8am and signing on Mondays and Wednesday at Ennis Garda Station.

Ms Casey said that Michael Molloy is to have no contact with the alleged injured party in the alleged assault case.

Judge Deane said that after he signs the warrant, the question of Mr Molloy's bail can be taken up with the prison Governor.

In court previously, Mr Hassett has criticised the living conditions that his clients endure at the Ballaghboy halting site.

Mr Hassett has described the site as totally unsuitable with cramped living conditions.

He previously told the court that the site was built as a temporary measure but has never been closed.

The funeral arrangements for Hunter Molloy have yet to be released.
Israel bombarded Gaza including Rafah on Friday after negotiators left truce talks in Cairo without a deal and a senior U.N. official said aid operations are now all but impossible.

AFP journalists witnessed artillery strikes on Rafah, after U.S. President Joe Biden vowed in an interview to cut off artillery shells and other weapons for Israel if a full-scale offensive into the southern Gaza city goes ahead.

It was the first time Biden raised the ultimate U.S. leverage over Israel, military aid totalling $3 billion a year, after repeated appeals for Israel to stay out of Rafah.

Despite widespread international opposition, Israeli troops on Tuesday entered Rafah's eastern sector, saying they were pursuing militants.

The Gaza war began with Hamas's unprecedented Oct. 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

Displaced again

Israeli troops this week seized and closed the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza  through which all fuel passes into the territory  after ordering residents of eastern Rafah to evacuate.

Israel said its southern crossing with the Palestinian territory  Kerem Shalom  was reopened on Wednesday.

On Friday it said air defences intercepted a launch of munitions "from the Rafah area."

Most aid enters Gaza through Kerem Shalom but Andrea De Domenico, who heads the UN humanitarian office, OCHA, in the occupied Palestinian territories, said the entry of assistance through Kerem Shalom remains tricky.

"We lost the main entry point for all humanitarian aid," he told AFP.

On Friday the United Nations said more than 100,000 people have fled Rafah.

The city on the Egyptian border had been sheltering 1.4 million people, the U.N. said, after Israel early in the war told Palestinians to move to "safe zones" in Gaza's south  including Rafah.

With mattresses and other possessions piled high atop junky cars or even donkey carts, they are on the move again, kicking up dust past bombed-out buildings.

Many have returned to the city of Khan Yunis, where intense fighting raged earlier this year, or are crowded into shelters along the seashore in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

Israel's military on Friday said operations continued in eastern Rafah.

"On the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing, the troops eliminated several terror cells during close-quarters combat and with an aerial strike," a statement said.

Witnesses reported air strikes and fighting in Gaza City, further north.

'Alive and kicking'

Israeli and Hamas negotiating teams left Cairo on Thursday after what Egypt called a "two-day round" of indirect negotiations on terms of a Gaza truce, according to Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence services.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a phone call, agreed on the importance of "urging the parties to show flexibility" and make "all the necessary efforts" to reach a cease-fire, an Egyptian foreign ministry statement said.

Hamas said its delegation had left for Qatar, home to the group's political leadership.

"In practice, the occupation (Israel) rejected the proposal submitted by the mediators and raised objections to it on several central issues," Hamas said, adding it stood by the proposal.

"Accordingly, the ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation."

Hamas has said a mediators' proposal it agreed to involved withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war, and the exchange of hostages held by militants for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, with the aim of a "permanent cease-fire."

Israel has long resisted the idea of a permanent cease-fire, insisting it must finish dismantling Hamas.

However, an analysis by Lazar Berman in The Times of Israel on Friday said, "Hamas is still very much alive and kicking."

Berman wrote that "the military effort to crush Hamas as a coherent fighting force is unfinished, and it remains unclear that it ever will be completed."

In the CNN interview in which he threatened to stop some weapons supplies if Israeli forces "go into Rafah," Biden deplored that American bombs had already been used to kill civilians in Gaza.

His administration paused delivery last week of 3,500 bombs as Israel appeared ready to attack Rafah.

When asked about Israel's action already in Rafah, Biden said "they haven't gone in the population centres."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not respond directly to the U.S. threat but said "we will stand alone" if necessary.

In comments delivered on the eve of Israel's Independence Day, he said: "We will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with God's help, together we will win."

During their October attack militants seized hostages, of whom Israel estimates 128 remain in Gaza, including 36 who the military says are dead.

Protesters regularly take to Israeli streets  including on Thursday  demanding a deal to free the captives and accusing Netanyahu of prolonging the war.

Philippe Lazzarini, head of the main aid body in Gaza, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, said late Thursday it was closing its east Jerusalem headquarters after an arson attack by "Israeli extremists" on its perimeter.

Following a U.S. veto that foiled the Palestinians' drive for full U.N. membership, they are turning to the General Assembly.

Diplomats and observers say a resolution calling for full Palestinian U.N. membership is likely to win broad support on Friday, granting them some additional rights in the global body and a symbolic win.

Israeli singer Eden Golan secured a different kind of victory, qualifying for this weekend's Eurovision song contest grand finale, even as thousands of demonstrators marched in host country Sweden over the Gaza war.

Pro-Palestinian protests that began on U.S. campuses have spread around the world. (AFP)
Full Text: Outcome list of President Xi Jinping's state visit to Hungary

Xinhua) 13:14, May 10, 2024

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- From May 8 to 10, 2024, President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China paid a state visit to Hungary. The outcome list of the visit is as follows:

I. Joint Statement

Joint Statement Between the People's Republic of China and Hungary on the Establishment of an All-Weather Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the New Era

II. Cooperation Documents Signed or Agreed Upon by Both Parties

China-Hungary Belt and Road Cooperation Priority Projects and Issues List (the third round)

Memorandum of Understanding on Establishing Joint Laboratories Between the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary

Memorandum of Understanding on Cooperation Between the Ministry of Finance of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Finance of Hungary

Memorandum of Understanding on Promoting High-quality Development of Economic and Trade Cooperation Zones Between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry for National Economy of Hungary

Memorandum of Understanding on Promoting Investment Cooperation in Green Development Between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Energy of Hungary

Memorandum of Understanding on the Establishment of Investment Cooperation Committee Between the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary

Work Plan on Cultural Cooperation Between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary for the Period 2025-2029

Joint Communique Between the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Culture and Innovation of Hungary on the Inauguration of the China Cultural Center in Budapest

Memorandum of Understanding Between the China Atomic Energy Authority and Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary for Cooperation in Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy

Memorandum of Understanding Between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary on Cooperation in the Field of Animal and Plant Quarantine

Protocol Between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary on Health Requirements for Bovine Semen to be Exported from Hungary to China

Protocol of Phytosanitary Requirements for Export of Fresh Cherries from Hungary to China Between the General Administration of Customs of the People's Republic of China and the Ministry of Agriculture of Hungary

Memorandum of Understanding Between the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary on Promoting Supply Chain Cooperation Between Chinese and Hungarian Enterprises

Memorandum of Understanding on Film Cooperation Between China Film Administration and the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister of Hungary

News Exchange and Cooperation Agreement Between Xinhua News Agency of the People's Republic of China, Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund and Duna Media Service Provider Nonprofit Ltd. of Hungary

Memorandum on Deepening Cooperation Between China Media Group and Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund of Hungary

Strategic Cooperation Agreement Between China Media Group and National Tourism Agency of Hungary

Agreement on Mutual Cooperation Between People's Daily (People's Republic of China) and Media Service Support and Asset Management Fund and Duna Media Service Nonprofit Private Limited Company (Hungary)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
THE setting of Chloe Michelle Howarths debut novel Sunburn  West Cork, 1993  is purposefully chosen.

The young author, born three years earlier, wanted to depict a world before mobile phones.

The plot wouldnt have worked if the characters had mobile phones, she explains over the phone, speaking from a very sunny Brighton, her home of the last three years.

There would have been too much secrecy. The writing style is also too romantic. It is partly told in love letters, not the kind of thing you can put into text-speak.

There is a strongly nostalgic feel to the book too.

The other reason for setting a large part of the novel in 1993 links to the significance of the date for queer people. Homosexuality was only decriminalised in 1993.

I chose the date to highlight what unsteady ground the characters would have been on at that time. Again, I didnt experience that as a young queer person growing up some time later.

It certainly wasnt as difficult for me as it is for some of my characters. But I do think that Ireland has changed a lot since I was a teenager. Young people now are so much more comfortable with their gender and sexuality.

It wasnt dangerous for me, but it also wasnt celebrated in the way it is now. This new generation of young people are so brave. They are fantastic.

Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth, from Cork

Asked if young people are her target audience, the author says not specifically.

I didnt write it with anyone particular in mind, but I would say it is for teenagers and up. People my age and older who have read it say it brought them back to their youth. Teenagers who have read it say it is exactly what theyre experiencing now.

You will always have some kind of inner turmoil growing up. We all find difficulty accepting ourselves, so in that regard this book is not exclusively about a queer experience.

Sunburn and the sting of first love

Described as an astute and evocative portrayal of first love, adolescent anxieties, and the realities of growing up on a small rural town, Sunburn tells the story of Lucy who is facing her final exams and the end of school. Feeling alienated from those around her, things change when she forms a strengthening bond with Susannah, a dynamic teenager who lives in the Big House.

The title was the very last thing that came. I felt it was symbolic because first love has a long impact. It is like a long, hot summer that stays with you, a bitter-sweet memory.

Social class plays a role too, she explains.

The main character has a lot of expectations on her from family and other people around her. She lets them define her as she is not able to fight against it.

She needs someone to put her through school, and college. But for Susannah, its different. She is much freer, knowing there will be an inheritance.

Happy Surprises

Chloe Howarth has been writing since she was a teenager. Impressively, this is the first book she has written, and it also the first thing she has had published.

The whole experience has been a long string of happy surprises for the Rosscarbery-born author.

It is only now looking back that I realise how good I have had it with my publishers, Verve. They have been an amazing team to work with. I have had so much creative freedom, which is not always the case.

I keep thinking things will slow down but then the next thing happens. It is close to a year since Sunburn came out and its all still going.

And it certainly is still going. Sunburn was shortlisted for the inaugural Nero Book Awards in the Debut Fiction category and is now also shortlisted at the British Book Awards in the Discover category.

Brighton Base, Cork Heart

The writer describes West Cork as her ongoing inspiration.

I started writing Sunburn when I was living in West Cork. It just came naturally. Most of my work since is set in rural Ireland. I find it so inspiring, so fascinating, visually, and atmospherically.

Although away from home, she lives with two Dublin girls who she met whilst studying English, Media, and Cultural Studies in Dun Laoghaire. As she puts it, she is always flying the flag for Cork.

In fact, she is in the throes of planning her holidays in West Cork this summer.

Proud to be described as an Irish writer, she takes inspiration from other Irish writing talent.

I think Claire Keegan is wonderful, a master at refining. She can say so much with so few words. She is a once in a lifetime talent. My work is very Irish, including names and place names; I keep the dialogue as Irish as possible. I dont want to shy away from my Irishness.
Tell us a little bit about yourself:

My name is Claire OLeary. I am from Ballybrowney, Rathcormac, in Cork. I am from a family of nine. Im the third-youngest of four girls and three boys. My dad, Donal, owns a haulage company in Little Island and my mom, Valerie, is an actress and drama teacher. That might be how I fell into the arts from a young age: I was no good at driving trucks!

I went to school in Loreto Convent, in Fermoy, and when I reached transition year, I realised that most subjects werent for me (maths and science, specifically) and I found myself looking forward to the after-school rehearsals, dance, drama, and singing lessons in Cork. I looked into studying drama and theatre studies and musical theatre in a sixth-form college in London, where I very luckily got to spend my final two years, studying my A Levels in arts-educational schools in London.

I was both nervous and excited and, at the age of 15, I hadnt a clue how to use a washing machine properly, but my eldest sister, Sally, was studying in London at the same time, so I had her on the other end of the phone instructing me whenever I was in a small crisis!

After those two years, I received a scholarship to continue my studies on the BA degree course in musical theatre at ArtsEd.

After graduating from my degree, I was cast in Les Miserables at The Sondheim Theatre on the West End, where I was in the ensemble and played the role of Cosette until 2022. Since then, Ive performed in workshops for new musicals and just recently finished in The Wizard Of Oz at The London Palladium. Performing at The Palladium was definitely a bucket-list theatre for me. Especially in such a special show: I used to watch Judy Garland on repeat in The Wizard Of Oz when I was a little girl.

Being home for the Cork Proms is so special to me.

What is your ideal way to spend a Friday night?

I do love a night out, and a night on the dancefloor with my friends. If I had to choose, Friday nights are a cinema night for me, I live near a great independent cinema, called The Castle Cinema. They always have both classics and new films showing, so Im spoiled for choice on a Friday night. Maybe a nice dinner beforehand, happily full and ready to be entertained with a good film.

Claire O'Leary, who will star in There's No Place Like Home - A Musical Theatre Revue, as part of The Cork Proms 2024, runs at Cork Opera House on June 19 - 20.

Lie-ins or up with the lark... which is it for you?

Growing up, I was never an early bird, my dad would have to drag me out of bed in the morning and I would very slowly, and crankily, make my way down the stairs. But since getting older and having a morning routine I enjoy, getting up doing some exercise first thing, and enjoying a walk with a nice coffee, sets up a good and productive day for me.

Does work creep into your weekend at all?

With auditions during the week, with music and scripts to learn and work on, I find the best time to do that is the weekend. Theres never really a clock-off point, especially when Im in a show.

The weekend loses all meaning when you spend Fridays, Saturdays, and sometimes Sundays at the theatre, and they sort of merge into one.

Mondays become your new Saturdays. But theres also no better feeling than a Saturday night at the theatre, so I love the work creeping into the weekend.

If money was no object, where would you head to on a weekend city break? And who would you bring with you?

Ooh, I love this question! My dads a big country music fan, so I would head straight to Nashville with him. We got him a trip there for his 60th, with my mom, and they had the time of their lives. So Id have all nine OLearys on a flight to Nashville for some country music for sure!!

Closer to home, is there some place you like to head to recharge the batteries?

Definitely Ballybrowney, where my family home is. Its always the perfect place for recharging batteries. Time never really seems to exist there, so having lovely chats with my mom, slow mornings, cooking, taking my dog Holly for a walk, is idyllic. Theres a little river about a 15-minute walk from my house... it is extremely peaceful and calming. Oh! And my moms cooking is definitely a recharge.

Do you like to catch up with family/friends at the weekend?

I love it! Luckily, my sister Sally and brother-in-law, Sav, live in London, so we are usually on the hunt for a good pub roast on a Sunday. My Aunt Geniveve and Uncle Paddy live here, too, so whether its a pub lunch or a home-cooked roast, we always have a great gang of us together that makes up the perfect Sunday. I also live with my two best friends, Liadan and Martha, so living with them can feel like a constant sleepover with your best friends.

Do you get to indulge any hobbies? Even as a spectator?

I am a big cinema-goer! Maybe three times a week. I like ticking off a list of all the films out at the moment and with all the incredible Irish cinema thats being created, I am usually never stuck for choice.

Ive signed up to the Hackney Half, too, this year, so running has become a hobby whilst training for that.

And I always love a good podcast, saving an episode of Im Grand Mam and cooking my favourite meal. Both therapeutic.

Entertain or be entertained? Do you have a signature dish?

Can I say a bit of both? My sister Sally is a great cook, so when I go over to her, she is usually cooking up a storm. But I like being the entertainer sometimes. I like treating people and Ive grown up with my mom always being a wonderful host and filling the table with gorgeous food. A signature dish I love making for friends and family is a linguine with garlic and chilli prawns with some homemade garlic bread. Someone else would have to bring dessert, though, because I cannot bake.

We have so many places to eat out in Cork  where are your go-to spots?

Anytime Im home, Ill always stop off in Cork Coffee Roasters. Great coffee! The Bookshelf. I often think about the Westcork Rotisserie Chicken from SpitJack! I love Market Lane. I love the Italian Rossinis. Myself and my boyfriend Chris have devoured many a pizza from The Franciscan Well.

Sunday night comes around too fast.. how do you spend it?

After being full from a lovely roast, a big Sunday walk, Sunday evenings consist of getting ready for the week ahead, to-do-list, comfy clothes, nice shower, record on, film on the TV, and chilling out. It sometimes consists of chaotic last-minute line learning.

What time does your alarm clock go off on Monday morning?

Kickstarting the week always feels good with an early rise. 7:15/7:30am.
A RESIDENT of a new social homes development in Bantry has said he feels like he has landed in heaven after receiving the keys to his new home.

Paul Barry is a resident of one of 18 homes delivered by Cluid Housing as part of the landmark regeneration of the former Mercy Convent in Bantry.

The development includes 10 one- and two-bed homes in the converted convent and cookery school buildings, and eight new-build single-storey homes. The works also sought to stabilise and preserve the convents chapel for future use.

Mr Barry, who moved into his new home having spent seven months in emergency accommodation, said: Before moving into my new home in the Bantry Convent, I was living in emergency accommodation for seven months. This was a very difficult time in my life and a time when I was really struggling.

However, all has changed since I got the keys to my new home, and I feel like I have landed in heaven. I love my new home, and I couldnt ask for more.

There is a nice little community emerging in the old convent, and its lovely to be a part of it. I am very grateful to Cluid for providing me with this opportunity and I hope to be living in the old schoolhouse for many years to come.

Cluid Housing chief commercial officer Eibhlin OConnor said it is wonderful to see the historic site bustling with life.

The convent and school have been a focal point in Bantry for 160 years, so their regeneration has been of huge importance to Cluid, and the local community, she said.

Our decades of experience were certainly called upon for this project. It has been a labour of love  complete with challenges and setbacks, so its fantastic to be here today celebrating its official opening.

The work done by the team in Cluid, and our expert partners, has preserved the historic buildings and provided 18 high-quality, secure homes that will benefit the community.

We thank Cork County Council for trusting us with a site of such great significance, and hope that your trust has been repaid.

Deputising for the Mayor of County Cork at the launch, Independent councillor Danny Collins said Cork County Council was delighted to collaborate with Cluid in its delivery. These much-needed homes will help to meet social housing needs locally for older members of our community, he said.

The development will contribute positively to the vibrant and welcoming community of Bantry and will allow older people to live in their own area and enjoy a high quality of life through established connections with the community.

The homes were funded by the Department of Housing under the CAS scheme, administered by Cork County Council.
MUNSTER Technological University (MTU) has announced that it has secured 7.6m in funding to advance its research activities through the Enterprise Ireland Technology Gateway Programme until 2029.

This funding  co-financed by the Government and the EU through the European Regional Development Funds Southern, Eastern, and Midland Regional Programme  underscores the MTUs commitment to collaboration between industry and higher education.

Since the inception of the Technology Gateway Programme in 2013, more than 4,900 Irish companies have utilised the network, engaging in more than 7,700 innovation projects, resulting in 60m invested by companies in research projects with technological universities and institutes of technology.

The majority of these companies are SMEs, leveraging cutting-edge facilities and expertise offered by Technology Gateways.

Welcoming the funding boost, the president of Munster Technological University, Prof Maggie Cusack, said: This investment will extend MTUs successful collaborations, driving innovation across the South West, and connecting businesses with our esteemed research network. We will continue to push the boundaries of innovation and economic growth.

The CEO of Enterprise Ireland, Leo Clancy, highlighted the Technology Gateway Programmes track record of enabling companies nationwide to develop new products, processes, and services, leveraging the expertise and resources available at academic institutions.

The investment of 7.6m is projected to generate 1,660 industry projects, and will benefit several research centres at MTU.

The funding will support the southern regions sectoral areas of strength, and is aligned with the National Smart Specialisation Strategys thematic areas: Advanced manufacturing, automotive/aerospace, food/agritech, design, ICT, marine/maritime, pharma/med-tech, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and smart cities and communities.
A FORMER Eurovision presenter has called for Eurovision 2025 to be held closer to Bambie Thugs hometown of Macroom if they win on Saturday night.

Ireland South MEP candidate and former presenter Cynthia Ni Mhurchu has called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and RTE to consider hosting the Eurovision outside Dublin, in either Millstreet or Killarney.

Bambie Thug is in with a real chance of winning Eurovision, and if they do, RTE will want to host Eurovision 2025 in Dublin, Ni Mhurchu said.

However, she said there were great venues in Millstreet and Killarney, adding: Millstreet have played host to the Eurovision before, I do not see why we cannot do it again.

Both Millstreet and Killarney are short drives from two fantastic airports in Cork and Kerry, and both have excellent rail links and plenty of accommodation.

The Eurovision was last hosted in Millstreet in 1993. The year before that, Ni Mhurchu presented the show at the Point Theatre in Dublin with Gerry Ryan, the year of the first performance of Riverdance.

The Green Glens Arena in Milstreet, the venue in 1993, was an equestrian centre at the time.

The 1993 competition was the only one to be held outside of Dublin, with local Millstreet businessman Noel C Duggan offering host broadcaster RTE the venue for free.

Ni Mhurchu said it would be a fitting tribute to the Cork artist if the Eurovision was broadcast in close proximity to Bambie Thugs hometown, and that it would be great for the region.

According to a report produced after the Eurovision was hosted in Liverpool in 2023, the local economy benefited to the tune of 54.8m (64m) with restaurants, accommodation providers, shops, bars, and transport networks all benefitting.

A show like this would bring thousands of visitors to Cork and Kerry and give a much-needed boost to our tourism product in the South, as fans from all over Europe would descend on the region to cheer on their respective countries, Ms Ni Mhurchu said.

She wished Bambie Thug the best of luck for tomorrow night and called on everyone in Cork and Kerry to get behind any potential campaigns to host the competition down south if they win.
A 30-YEAR-OLD Cobh man who admitted hunting on privately owned lands with dogs, in contravention of the Wildlife Act, was convicted and fined for the offence at Cork District Court.

Dylan Scannell of Fosters Haven, Cobh, Co Cork, appeared before Judge Mary Dorgan at Cork District Court, where he pleaded guilty to the offence through his solicitor Joseph Cuddigan.

Sergeant Gearoid Davis said that at 10.10am on March 14, at Kilboy, Riverstick, gardai observed a large number of men spread out across two fields hunting with dogs.

They saw three vehicles parked up on the side of the road, with a dog trailer attached to each vehicle, said Sgt Davis.

They had at least three different dog breeds, as well as bars and a shovel. The dogs were off-lead and hunting around the fields. They land was private property.

Scannell pleaded guilty to a charge that on March 14, 2021, not being the owner of land, he entered the land for hunting foxes without permission, contrary to the Wildlife Act.

Mr Cuddigan pointed out that the accused pleaded guilty to the offence.

There would have been a time historically when farmers would have been greatly appreciative of this kind of hunting on their land, but that time has passed, said Mr Cuddigan.

Judge Mary Dorgan imposed a 400 fine on the defendant for this offence.
EUROMILLIONS players in Cork are being urged to check their tickets with Tuesdays Match 5 winner yet to come forward.

The Rebel County player scooped 202,576 after matching five numbers in the May 7 draw to become the biggest winner in Ireland.

The winning Quick Pick ticket was purchased on Monday, May 6 at Murphys Grocery in Rockchapel, Mallow.

Jerome Murphy who has owned the store with his sister Lorraine since 1988 was thrilled to hear the good news.

Theres been some amount of excitement around the place since word got out about the win.

"This is the biggest prize that we have ever sold so its great news all round really  for the winner, the store and the area.

"Weve been telling all of our customers to get checking their tickets.

"While we do have a lot of locals who come into us, we do get a good bit of passing trade and sure for the weekend that was in it with it being the May Bank Holiday, the winner really could be anywhere. Heres hoping they check their ticket soon and claim their huge prize.

The winning numbers in the Tuesday draw were: 35, 36, 41, 42, 45 and the lucky stars were 06, 11.

National Lottery spokesperson Sarah Orr appealed to Cork players to check their tickets as soon as possible.

We are eager to hear from a Cork EuroMillions player who now has a ticket worth an incredible 202,576," she said.

"Its important to note that the winning ticket was a Quick Pick which was purchased the day before the draw on Monday 6th May.

"With last weekend being a Bank Holiday, the winner could have been passing through the area and purchased their tickets on their travels or of course they could even be a local.

"The ticket could be sitting in someones pocket who is unaware that they have a big prize waiting for them! The key information to remember is that the winning ticket was purchased in the Mallow area at Murphys Grocery in Rockchapel who are one of our Payzone stores.

"Their National Lottery tickets print on white paper instead of the usual larger tickets commonly seen nationwide which may sound very familiar to the Cork player who now has a ticket worth 202,576.

The Rebel County winner is advised to sign their ticket and keep it safe. They should contact our prize claims team on 1800 666 222 or email claims@lottery.ie and arrangements will be made for them to visit Lotto HQ to collect their prize.

Meanwhile, it could be a Friday night to remember for EuroMillions players in Ireland with tonights jackpot set to roll towards an estimated 40 million.
A motorist who was desperately trying to evade a drugs search took off on a rampage of dangerous driving that did not end until he was involved in a head-on crash into a car in which a woman and a child were travelling and the car extensively damaged.

Judge Mary Dorgan said at Cork District Court: It was a significant accident. He was not insured so it now falls to be dealt with by the Motor Insurance Bureau of Ireland. I recall the case  it was very bad.

It was a very alarming situation. The guards were trying to stop him in connection with a drugs matter and he went on what can only be described as a driving rampage.

24-year-old Lukas Mikoliunas of no fixed address in Cork city was sentenced to a total of six months in custody, disqualified from driving for four years and put on a post-release probation bond. This followed his plea of guilty to a variety of charges arising out of the incident last February, including having cannabis for sale or supply, dangerous driving and having no insurance.

The young man has been in custody since the incident and appeared for sentencing at Cork District Court by video link from prison.

Sergeant John Kelleher outlined the background to the incident previously.

At 3.30 in the afternoon of February 19 at Bandon Road he was driving the 04-registered Mercedes which failed to stop for gardai.

He took off at speed along Magazine Road. He failed to stop at red lights. He turned on to College Road and then on to Orchard Road where he collided head-on with a Toyota Corolla while attempting to evade gardai.

500 worth of cannabis was found on the floor of the car on the passenger side."

In relation to the plea of guilty to having drugs for sale or supply, the judge noted that this would have been very difficult to prove without his admission.

What happened on the day was very, very difficult for the people involved. This is very very serious.

He needs to look at what is going on in his life. It is good to see his girlfriend nodding her head because he is going to need the support. I am going to put him on a post-release probation bond.

You must attend the probation service an do what they tell you to do. I am going to put in a condition about victim empathy, addiction services and to attend to your driving, which quite frankly is the worst that I have seen since I have started dealing with these matters.
A drunken man carrying a bottle of vodka approached gardai dealing with a city centre incident and told them to f*** off and mind your own business.

Now at Cork District Court, 30-year-old Lee Moran of St Vincents hostel, Anglesea Terrace, Cork, has pleaded guilty to being threatening and abusive and being drunk and a danger.

Sergeant Dave Delea said the incident occurred on March 4 at Parnell Place when gardai were dealing with a separate incident.

Lee Moran arrived on the scene and he was unsteady on his feet and had a bottle of vodka in his hand.

He was verbally abusive, telling guards to mind their own business, Sgt Delea said.

Michael Quinlan solicitor said the accused was now off drink and drugs and attending regular meetings to prevent the kind of relapse that occurred on March 4.

Judge Mary Dorgan said she was glad to hear the young man was making changes in his life. She took the drunkenness into consideration and fined him 350 on the threatening and abusive charge.

The young man said: I appreciate that, thanks very much.
CORK County Council is inviting the public to have their say on the early-stage plans for the proposed design of the new Bandon River Valley Greenway route.

The greenway, which will commence from Crossbarry, will travel through Innishannon, Bandon, Clonakilty and Timoleague.

The project is at the Phase 1 Concept and Feasibility stage, which involves investigating the constraints and opportunities within the study area to examine the projects feasibility.

Public consultation meetings will be held on the greenway in Bandon Town Hall from 2pm to 8pm on May 21 and in ODonovans Hotel in Clonakilty from 2pm to 8pm on May 22.

An online consultation, housed on the project website, is also currently open to submissions and will close on June 14.

Cork County Council has appointed environmental consultants, RPS Group, to design the route. Mayor of the County of Cork, councillor Frank OFlynn said that community input is key to ensuring this greenway aligns with the needs of residents and businesses in the area.

Our common goal is to develop a greenway that will provide a safe, sustainable, and healthy transport option for local communities, he said.

Fianna Fail councillor for the Bandon-Kinsale Municipal District, Gillian Coughlan described the greenway as an exciting prospect for residents across the Bandon-Kinsale Municipal District, for recreational uses as well as commuting to school or work.

The project is funded by Transport Infrastructure Irelands (TII) Greenway Programme and future development of the scheme is subject to their support.

See www.wcgbandon.ie
Jonathan McCambridge, PA

Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) chief constable Jon Boutcher has said he will discuss commentary around the forces use of surveillance powers with his oversight body.

A hearing of the Investigatory Powers Tribunal (IPT) in London on Wednesday heard claims that police in Northern Ireland undertook six-monthly trawls of the phone data of troublemaker journalists to see if they were in contact with officer sources.

It came during a hearing of a case examining allegations that investigative reporters Barry McCaffrey and Trevor Birney were subject to unlawful covert intelligence by the police.

Journalists Barry McCaffrey (left) and Trevor Birney (right) speaking to media after leaving the Royal Courts of Justice in London following an Investigatory Powers Tribunal hearing (Victoria Jones/PA)

Mr Boutcher said the PSNI would co-operate fully with the IPT hearing but said he wanted to wait until that process concludes before speculating about what might or might not have happened in the past.

The Northern Ireland Policing Board, the oversight body for the PSNI, said on Thursday an urgent meeting had been sought with Mr Boutcher over the IPT claims.

Board chair Mukesh Sharma and vice chair Brendan Mullan said they wanted to seek further clarification and assurance around whether surveillance powers have been used lawfully, proportionately and appropriately in the past.

In response, Mr Boutcher said he would meet Mr Sharma and Mr Mullan on Wednesday to discuss a number of matters.

He said this would include the recent media commentary around the ongoing Investigatory Powers Tribunal.

Mr Boutcher said: The Police Service of Northern Ireland will continue to co-operate fully with the IPT and I ask that we wait for that process to conclude before speculating about what might or might not have happened in the past.

I have written to various bodies that have expressed concern due to the media reporting to reassure them about how the Police Service of Northern Ireland conducts surveillance.

Evidence presented to the tribunal on Wednesday suggested PSNI spying operations extended to several other reporters operating in the region.

The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has accused the PSNI of shocking and despicable behaviour, and called for the service to come clean.
Are you looking for more fulfillment out of life  a way to pursue your passions, to have a positive impact on the society around you, or simply do a bit of good?

If so, clear your schedule for May 23rd and head to Cork citys Clayton Hotel between 5.30pm to 8pm, where youll find exciting opportunities to do exactly that with the help of Boardmatch!

Boardmatch is a registered charity specialising in not-for-profit board recruitment that works "a bit like a dating website for charities", explains their Communications and Education manager Hannah Coleman.

Since the organisation was founded in 2005, Boardmatch has been connecting people who want to volunteer their skills and expertise with charities and not-for-profits that have board vacancies.

While this online service has been hugely successful, helping to place over 400 people a year on to charity boards in Ireland, Boardmatch is now aiming to facilitate even greater connections by bringing those charities and potential board members together in person.

At Boardmatch, our main goal is to break down the barriers to board recruitment, Hannah shares. We facilitate a fair, transparent recruitment process so that charities can independently source people from outside of their pre-existing networks. We help them to bring in new people with new perspectives, which is hugely important in creating more diversity on Irish charity boards.

Hannah Coleman, Communications and Education manager with Boardmatch.

The way we do that is primarily through our website, but back in 2018 we held our first Trustee Speed Dating event, because we wanted something where there was just an instant connection and face-to-face interaction, where we could really leverage the human connection side of things. We try to make it as easy as possible for organisations to find board members, so if theres a charity or individual that might not have strong computer literacy skills, for example, or that found using our website was a bit of a barrier and wanted to speed up the process, this event is great for them.

As beneficial as the event is for charities, its also a win-win for any potential board members who are eager to find the right organisation to volunteer their services to. Attendees will have plenty of opportunities on the night to ask as many questions as they want to a whole host of different organisations, helping to narrow down which charitys mission aligns with their own values.

We still have a few charity tables left for the event, but at the moment theres a wide range lined up with 25 charities exhibiting on the night, promises Hannah. We have arts organisations, housing organisations, education, disability services  all sorts. Some of the charities registered so far include The Cork Deaf Association, Eating Disorder Centre Cork, Mahon Family Resource Centre and Dance Cork Firkin Crane, so theres a good mix there to cater not only to whatever your interests are, but also whatever scale of organisation you want to get involved in. Some people prefer a smaller organisation where they can get a bit more hands on and help steer the development and growth of the charity, but other people might want to get involved with a charity thats more mature and is already very clear on their strategy and how the board can support that.

With so many different organisations looking for new recruits on the night, its only natural that theres huge variety in the kind of board members each of them is hoping to find. Theres no one type of person more suited to being a board member than anyone else, as Hannah points out.

"Anyone can be a board member, theres no minimum skill requirement that you need. A board needs a wide variety of skills at its disposal. It needs people who have finance skills and legal skills, for example, but also people who have lived experience, who have any and all kind of skills  whether thats from working in hospitality, in communications or in HR. A charity operates best when it has people with a wide range of skills and experience around the board table. Not everybody has to tick every single box, particularly in terms of having senior management experience, thats a big myth that were trying to bust. Charities are looking for a huge range of different skills from their board members.

While theres no particular qualifications or experience needed, the one thing that absolutely all board members must be able to offer is time. Its important to reflect honestly on how big of a commitment you can make to a charity before getting involved, Hannah advises.

For anybody coming to our event, I think theyll get the most out of it by having an open mind and exploring a few different options. It is worth having a think about your own time commitments beforehand though. If youre interested in joining a charity board, one of the first things to decide is how much time youll realistically be able to give to that charity.

"Its become easier in some ways to join a charity board because a lot of meetings now happen online, meaning you dont have to factor in time to travel there and back. Boards still do meet in person, of course, but they tend to go for more of a hybrid model nowadays, which makes things that bit easier for people who are juggling board responsibilities with busy work lives and personal lives. There are ways to make it work, but you need to be realistic about how much time you can dedicate to a board  that will help guide the conversations youre having with charities on the night.

You should also have a good think about what youre interested in and what you want to get out of board volunteering. I think some people are really passionate about a specific cause and thats what draws them to board volunteering. Maybe somebody is really enthusiastic about fostering the arts, for example, and thats why they want to get involved. With other people, while of course theyd still have an interest in the organisation, its more about career development and getting board experience as means to gain new skills and a better understanding of governance. Of course, there still has to be passion there, youre never going to be a board member if you dont care about the charity! Before the event, well send out a full list of all the registered charities that are involved and a summary on each one, so people have the option to do a bit of prep beforehand if they already have a particular organisation in mind that they want to target on the night.

Regardless of how much research youd prefer to do before attending, however, youre guaranteed a successful evening regardless! The Boardmatch team are taking care of all the leg work to ensure the event goes off without a hitch. Now into their fifth year of running this speed dating event, theyre aiming to go bigger and better than ever!

We first began the Trustee Speed Dating in 2018, but paused it for a few years due to Covid. When we first brought it back [post-pandemic], there was a fear as to whether people were truly ready for it when we were all just dipping our toe back into in-person events again, but weve seen a huge shift in the past two years. Theres a much higher demand there, with people really crying out to have more in-person events. Thats why we decided to expand the speed dating and host it regionally. This event in Cork will be our first one outside of Dublin.

To mark their arrival to the real capital, Hannah and the Boardmatch team are confident that their first event in Cork will be one of their best yet  with plenty of engaging activities and ice-breakers lined up.

We want this to be a really fun and unique event, where spontaneity is more than encouraged. Well have a wildcard box on the night, where people can take a slip of paper thatll name a random charity for them to talk to. We want it to be interesting and accessible, for people to have all sorts of different conversations with the mix of charities. Some really meaningful interactions can come about that way.

It honestly is a real feel-good evening  the main feedback we get from this event each year is that people are always blown away by the energy in the room. Its a group of people coming together with plenty of good will, everyone is there to give up their time for various good causes and discuss further opportunities around that. It makes for a great atmosphere.

To experience the atmosphere for yourself, book your spot at Trustee Speed Dating here.

*Boardmatch Charity Trustee Speed Dating is kindly sponsored by Davy Group and BHP Insurance, and supported by Cork City Council.
MACROOM woman Mary Coakley is a walker who wants to do something worthwhile.

Doing a stretch of the Camino for Focus Ireland will make the journey more worthwhile, says Mary, the mother of two daughters, Aimee and Leah.

As well as caring about the homeless crisis in Ireland, and doing something about it, Mary also cares for 21-year-old Aimee, who is autistic.

Yes, I am full-time carer to Aimee, says Mary. She depends on me full-time otherwise she might have to go into a support home.

When Leah is around during the day for a while, I can get out to walk. It is good for my head space. Why is Mary taking on the final 115km stretch of the Camino Frances route between May 27 and June 3?

Walking the Camino was something I always wanted to do, she says.

And when I came across Focus Irelands Camino Walk Challenge for this year, I knew I had to sign up. Doing the walk for a good cause will help me keep a goal in mind.

Homelessness is such a big issue now, its frightening, adds Mary.

It is an issue experienced by people who lack a place to live that is supportive, affordable, decent and secure.

The figures are frightening. The number of homeless people in Ireland is is at a record level of 13,531, and latest figures from the Department of Housing show that 9,504 adults and 4,027 children accessed emergency housing in January, 2024.

Just over half of homeless people are single adults, with 453% aged 25 to 44.

Figures also show there are 500 adults homeless in Cork alone.

There are so many people homeless, we often dont know the real numbers, says Mary.

She is clocking up the mileage during her training, in preparation for her expedition for Focus Ireland.

Im doing roughly 12km a day, five days a week, says Mary.

Often, I do an extra kilometre a day. Last Thursday morning I did 16km.

How long did that take her?

Two hours and 35 minutes, says Mary, who is obviously a fit lady.

Santiago de Compostela.

Mary is upping her training as the trip gets closer.

Im hoping by the time I get to up my distance by continuing doing an extra by 1km a day, then nearer to the trip Ill be comfortable walking 20km a day.

The time is right.

Now that I have a good reason to walk the Camino, its now or never. On her trip, Mary will walk from Sarria to Santiago Compostela, part of a group of 20 who are participating in the Focus Ireland Fundraising initiative.

Ahead of the hike, she has started a GoFundMe page with which she has so far raised almost 2,000.

You will find her page at: https://www.gofundme.com/f/qqdkz2-camino-de-santiago-may-27-june-3

Fundraising is not Marys forte.

Im not very comfortable doing it, asking people for money, but it has to be done, says Mary.

Homelessness is constant these days. Theres a constant reminder of people dying on our streets, and I just think it is an awful thing in our society. Mary, a keen walker with an important goal in mind, has built up endurance and determination to do 115km of the Camino.

I am looking forward to walking, she says.

I will be out of my comfort zone, but when its done and dusted, Ill be happy. Bernard OHehir, who is living in Cork, and who knows what its like to be homeless, is happy that Mary is supporting Focus Ireland.

What is it like to be homeless?

Sleeping rough on the streets is not nice, says Bernard, who is a published author in full employment who became homeless in 2011 through no fault of his own.

I became homeless in 2011 due to a personal issue and I really couldnt see any light ahead, he says.

Something stuck with him.

Hope stuck with me, he says simply. I clung to hope as my life improved.

In January, 2020, my mum died, and I made a promise that I would make her proud of me and live the best life that I could.

Bernard recalls those harrowing days, when he had no place to call home.

Being homeless makes you lose your dignity and your sense of self-respect, says Bernard.

Nobody respected him, he believed.

I remember hanging out on a street corner with some of my mates having a laugh, says Bernard.

I remember this lady came around the corner and began shouting abuse at us. I wondered what I had done wrong. He did the right thing.

My life improved when I started to volunteer, and I became immersed in the issues of homelessness.

Bernard had experience.

I know what those dark times being homeless are like, says Bernard.

I met people in hostels who were kind, often older than me. I also saw people being taken away in body bags and who self-harmed.

Ive seen it all. Groups in Cork that help the homeless, such as Penny Dinners and the Vincent de Paul, welcomed Bernard on board.

We brought the homeless people food, clothes, and care packs, says Bernard.

When I had a few bob in my pocket, Id go to Tesco and get a loaf or a swiss roll for the people on the streets.

My eyes were opened to their suffering. I knew 99% of the homeless people on the streets in Cork. Things should change. Things can change.

Things can change, insists Bernard.

I got so much help. Bernard helped set up a volunteer group, called Reaching Out, which provides hot food, clothes and supplies for rough sleepers.

Bernards mum, who was from Doneraile, would be proud of him.

He smiles.

I hope Ive made her proud.

Bernard OHehir has published a pocketbook of uplifting messages entitled Memories And Hope.

ABOUT FOCUS IRELAND

Focus Ireland has been working harder than ever in 2024, supporting 680 households in Cork who are homeless.

Focus Ireland have been based in Cork since 2007 and their work has grown, providing 152 homes throughout the city and county through their own developments and Focus Housing Association, in close partnership with local authorities.

Focus Ireland was delighted to open 16 of these homes in the heart of Cork city on the Grand Parade last year, which also includes their new Cork office.

Focus Ireland also supports households in Cork through housing and services work and many more through their Tenancy Support and Settlement Service.

While family homelessness is largely a Dublin crisis, many are at risk around the country due to the housing crisis. There are more than 180 children in emergency accommodation in the Southwest region.

For more see https://www.focusireland.ie/
SELF health-check routines need to be as second nature to us as our skin-care regimes.

Thats according to Carrigaline based GP Dr Monica Peres, who will be highlighting the importance of preventative health when she speaks a WellFest, Europes largest outdoor health, fitness and wellness festival.

Dr Monica, 34, is deeply passionate about promoting health and wellness and in her upcoming talk, she will shed light on the common self-checks that we all need to incorporate into our monthly routines.

They should include, she says, breast examinations which many women will already be doing, but also lesser-known lymph node checks.

Theyre in your neck and head and Ill be demonstrating how to do them at WellFest, she said.

Skin and moles also need to be monitored, to be aware of any changes that could indicate melanoma, and vulvas also need to be regularly checked.

Yes, vulvas should be checked too  after all, theyre a part of you! said Dr Monica.

Women, she said, are getting better at using the right terminology for their anatomy.

Before, my patients might say down there and thered be some embarrassment, but its becoming more normal to talk about these things, which is a good thing.

The whole idea is that if you know whats normal for you by doing your checks, youll be able to recognise significant changes in your health and what they can mean, she said.

Additionally, Dr Monica will spotlight the importance of the free cancer screening services available in Ireland and demonstrate testicular exams.

As a GP, she sees people from the cradle to the grave. The womens health issues she deals regularly with not surprisingly relate to the menopause.

Its great that were talking about this now, but we have to make sure that we dont focus on this at the expense of all other aspects of our health; in other words, that we dont focus entirely on the hot flushes and not be aware of things like osteoporosis or heart health, she said.

Contraception advice is another regular issue her female patients talk to her about.

So is mental health, and people are becoming more open about talking about it and are willing to accept medical health, outside of just psychotherapy, she said.

Dr Monica enjoys a public profile and is a regular TV contributor. She also has a large following on social media and has an impressive 110,000 followers on Instagram - @dr.blondieperes - where she shares advice from everything from why we need to clean our mobile phones to videos on IUD insertion.

Social media is a great tool to reach out to people I otherwise couldnt  and it can be fun! she said.

Dr Monica is also running as a local election candidate for the Green Party in the Carrigaline area.

From chatting to my patients, I can see that access to health services need to improve, she said.

Things like physiotherapy, people are having to wait for two to three months for an appointment when they need to be seen as soon as possible.

Its the same if someone with mental health issues needs to see a therapist, theres a wait. There has to be more resources put into community health.

Having said that, Dr Monica is very aware of how different services are here, compared to her native Nigeria.

I visited last year and the whole thing brought me to tears, the education around our bodies, access to services. When I came back, I had a new appreciation for what we have here, particularly our free screening services, she said.

Dr Monica was raised in Dublin and is a graduate of Trinity College. She moved to Cork 10 years ago to do her internship in CUH and MUH.

Shes been living in Carrigaline for six years now, and Cork very much feels like home.

I love it! she said.

ABOUT WELLFEST

WellFest, Europes largest outdoor health, fitness and wellness festival, returns to Kilmainham jail on May 11 and 12. Other headliners include Vogue Williams, Joe Wicks and Maeve Madden.

WellFest features more than 150 health and wellness experts from Ireland and abroad, more than 15 festival areas and stages, delicious food and exciting brands. It boasts to have the ultimate feelgood experience for attendees to create memories that inspire them all year round.

As well as the annual festival, WellFest provides year-round wellness inspiration via wellfest.ie.
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.

Scotlands climate hasnt historically been supportive to large mosquito populations, as it tends to be cooler. But now, scientists have discovered widespread populations of mosquitoes around Scotland, and they fear warming temperatures could lead to increasing public health risks from mosquito-borne diseases.

Scientists at the University of Glasgows Centre for Virus Research found 16 different types of mosquitoes around Scotland. In these findings, scientists discovered one of the most common mosquitoes in the world, the Culex pipiens, in Scotland for the first time.

A Culex pipiens mosquito. Ouwesok / Flickr

The leader of the research, Heather Ferguson, told the BBC that the research team was surprised by the widespread presence of mosquitoes in Scotland and warned that the population numbers could continue rising amid climate change.

According to the Central Massachusetts Mosquito Control Program, mosquitoes prefer temperatures around 80 degrees Fahrenheit (27 degrees Celsius), but they cant function at temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit (10 degrees Celsius). As Wilderness Scotland reported, the average warm-weather temperature for Scotland is about 64 degrees Fahrenheit (18 degrees Celsius), while cooler seasons average 32 degrees Fahrenheit (0 degrees Celsius).

This has kept mosquitoes to a minimum in Scotland. However, as climate change causes rising temperatures, the mosquito populations have better odds of survival. This could also allow non-native mosquito species that carry diseases to spread in areas they havent thrived in before.

Although relatively low in abundance, mosquitoes have been present in Scotland for millennia, and are a natural part of our ecosystems, Ferguson explained, as reported by The Herald. While they dont present a risk to human health here currently, climate change could increase the risk of invasive mosquito species establishing in Scotland. It may also increase the risk for mosquito-borne diseases that are present in some other European countries to establish.

Scientists found 16 different types of mosquitoes by placing traps at 24 locations all around Scotland. The highest concentrations of mosquitoes were found around Loch of Kinnordy in Angus in eastern Scotland and in Caithness in northern Scotland.

Scientists are asking the public for help with a citizen science project dubbed Mosquito Scotland. As part of the project, the public is being asked to report mosquito sightings via the project website. The Mosquito Scotland project will continue for three years, through 2026.

According to the University of Glasgow, which is leading Mosquito Scotland, vector-borne diseases, like those spread by mosquitoes, account for 700,000 deaths per year. The citizen science project aims to provide more details on mosquitoes and assess risks of mosquito-borne diseases, and this information can also help prepare to handle increased risks to public health.

At a time of environmental change it is really important to investigate the current and potential risk posed by mosquitoes and mosquito-borne disease, Dr. Jolyon Medlock, head of the medical entomology and zoonoses ecology team at project collaborator UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA), said in a statement. This programme of research will be crucial in improving our understanding and preparedness as we continue to tackle future threats to public health associated with a changing climate.
(Screenshot from ABC News footage)Watched by U.S. President Donald Trump, Pope Francis blesses a rosary for First Lady Melania Trump at the Vatican on May 24, 2017.

Pope Francis urged U.S. President Donald Trump to be a peacemaker at their first meeting in the Vatican, but he was not all smiles throughout their meeting.

Trump had spoken sharp words about the Pope during the U.S. election campaign last year, but received a tribute from the Swiss Guard in a Vatican courtyard when he arrived on May 24.

"It is my desire that you become an olive tree to construct peace," the Pope said, speaking in Spanish, Reuters reported.

Trump responded: "We can use peace."

Francis once said that Christians must have "cheerful faces and eyes full of joy," The Guardian wrote, noting such emotions seemed absent when Trump descended on the Vatican.

The meeting was ultimately considered a success following the rocky start to the pair's relationship last year, when the Pope was seen to have questioned Trump's Christian credentials.

But despite a warm trading of gifts and humorous exchange between Pope Francis and the first lady, Melania Trump when the Pope asked if she fed him a popular kind of Slovenian cake  the meeting was notable for the somber tone at the start.

Francis gave Trump a signed copy of his 2017 peace message titled "Nonviolence - A Style of Politics for Peace," and a copy of his 2015 encyclical letter on the need to protect the environment from the effects of climate change.

"Well, I'll be reading them," said Trump who has made a number of utterances at odds with the notion that climate change is caused mostly by human activity.

When the two sat at the pontiff's desk watched by photographers and reporters, the Pope shunned the typical small talk that usually occurs before the media is ushered out.

MEXICAN WALL

Last year the Pope said a man who thinks about building walls and not bridges is "not Christian," seen as a sharp reprimand for Trump's pledge to build a wall along the U.S. border with Mexico, Reuters reported.

Trump said it was "disgraceful" of the Argentine-born pope, who represents just over half of the world's two billion Christians, to question his faith.

"If and when the Vatican is attacked by ISIS, which as everyone knows is ISIS' ultimate trophy, I can promise you that the pope would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president," Trump said during the campaign.

The Pope and President talked privately for around 30 minutes with translators present.

When first lady Melania Trump accompanied the President to his meeting with the Pope, she wore a black long-sleeved Dolce and Gabbana dress with a veil.

Trump's daughter and White House adviser Ivanka Trump was also dressed all in black with a head covering, ABC News Australia noted.

"Per Vatican protocol, women who have an audience with the Pope are required to wear long sleeves, formal black clothing, and a veil to cover the head," Stephanie Grisham, the first lady's communications director, told CNN.

Days earlier, during her visit to Saudi Arabia, a strict, conservative Muslim theocracy, the first lady avoided the customary headscarf, but arrived at the birthplace of Islam wearing a black suit reminiscent of the abaya worn by most women there.

Despite not covering her head, the first lady's outfit earned her glowing reviews quoted in the local press that lauded her responsiveness to the country's culture.

When asked why she wore a veil at the Vatican but overlooked a head covering in Saudi Arabia, Grisham said there was no request nor requirement for such attire from that country.
(Photo: Vatican Media)Swearing in of Swiss Guards at the Vatican on May6, 2021.

The smallest army and one the world's oldest standing armies has welcomed 34 new recruits from Switzerland to serve the Roman Catholic pope.

In their oath-taking the new Swiss Guards were sworn in on May 6 in an elaborate ceremony in Vatican City in which the guards promised to protect the Pope, even "sacrificing if necessary also my own life," Catholic News Agency reported.

Pope Francis addressed the new recruits and expressed his appreciation that young people "choose to dedicate some years of their lives in generous service to the Successor of Peter and to the ecclesial community."

The Swiss Guard was founded in 1506 by Pope Julius II, deposed twice and re-established in 1800. It remains tasked with protecting the pope and his residence.

Francis said, "With you I thank the Lord, the source of all good, for the various gifts and vocations.

"He has entrusted to you, and I pray that those who are now beginning their service may respond fully to Christ's call, following Him with faithful generosity."

The Chaplain to the Swiss Guard, Father Thomas Widmer offered the Guards a reflection on the spiritual meaning of "oath-taking," Vatican News reported.

He said their sharp, military bearing is at its most impressive and beautiful when it is combined with interior courage in defending the Gospel.

"You, as Christian soldiers, remember that you increase in courage and infinite power because Almighty God is with you," Widmer said.

"Your oath, dear Guards, in essence says: I am capable of remaining faithful and steadfast in representing and living out universal values and thus bearing fruit also for the good of society."

Entry requirements include being Swiss, Catholic, at least 1.74 meters (5 feet 7 inches) tall, under 30 years old, and male.

The swearing-in ceremony of the smallest army in the world always takes place on May 6 - in memory of the 1527 Sack of Rome, an uprising at the time.

This year Switzerland's President Guy Parmelin met the Pope in the Vatican for the swearing-in.

The Pontifical Swiss Guard has increased from 110 to 135 men since 2018.
(Photo: Vatican Media)Swearing in of Swiss Guards at the Vatican on May6, 2021.

For the first time in 500 years, women could be allowed to join the iconic Swiss Guards who protect the Pope at the Vatican.

Reports suggest the idea has emerged as the barracks are being upgraded, which should be completed by 2030, World Radio Switzerland reported April 8.

Currently, the set-up means the guard cannot accommodate women.

But WRS reported that the former Swiss president, Doris Leuthard, chairs a Swiss committee overseeing the new construction of the guards' barracks.

She says it's hoped the new building will be able to house women, but it has to be approved by the Pope.

WRS said reports suggest that Pope Francis would be open to it, but he is now 87 years old and frail, and it's not sure if his successor will willing to move forward.

The Pontifical Swiss Guard received 34 new recruits at a swearing-in ceremony at the Vatican on May 6, with Swiss President Viola Amherd also in attendance, Reuters news agency reported.

During the traditional oath taken in Italian, German, and French, the guards swear to protect and defend the Pope and all his successors, and put their lives on the line for that.

The official ceremony took place in the Courtyard of Saint Damas at the Apostolic Palace in Rome, in an austere but festive atmosphere, in the presence of their families.

The guards wore the colorful "Gran Gala" ceremonial uniform  including an armor suit also worn for the traditional papal blessing "Urbi et Orbi" at Christmas and at Easter.

It was Pope Julius II that founded the Swiss Guards in 1506. Often dubbed as "the world's smallest army."

Founded in 1506, the Swiss guards - separate to the Swiss Armed Forces - are hired by the Roman Catholic Church, under the leadership of the Pope.

Members of the all-male unit swear loyalty to the Pope in a ceremony at the Belvedere Court in the Vatican.

This ceremony takes place every year on May 6 - to mark the anniversary of the Sack of Rome in 1527 by the mutinous troops of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor.
Apple will reportedly focus its first round of generative AI enhancements on beefing up Siris conversational chops. Sources speaking with The New York Times say company executives realized early last year that ChatGPT made Siri look antiquated. The company allegedly decided that the large language model (LLM) principles behind OpenAIs chatbot could give the iPhones virtual assistant a much-needed shot in the arm. So Apple will reportedly roll out a new version of Siri powered by generative AI at its WWDC keynote on June 10.

Apple Senior Vice Presidents Craig Federighi and John Giannandrea reportedly tested ChatGPT for weeks before the company realized that Siri looked outdated. (I would argue that the epiphany came about a decade late.) What followed was what The NYT describes as Apples most significant reorganization in more than a decade.

The company sees generative AI as a once-in-a-decade tentpole area worth shifting heaps of resources to address. You may recall the company canceled its $10 billion Apple Car project earlier this year. Apple reportedly reassigned many of those engineers to work on generative AI.

Apple executives allegedly fear AI models could eventually replace established software like iOS, turning the iPhone into a dumb brick by comparison. The clunky, awkward and overall unconvincing first wave of dedicated AI gadgets weve reviewed, like the Human AI Pin and Rabbit R1, arent good enough to pose a threat. But that could change as software evolves, other smartphone makers incorporate more AI into their operating systems and other hardware makers have a chance to innovate.

So, at least for now, it appears Apple isnt launching direct competitors to generative AI stalwarts like ChatGPT (words), Midjourney (images) or ElevenLabs (voices). Instead, it will start with a new Siri and updated iPhone models with expanded memory to better handle local processing. In addition, the company will reportedly add a text-summarizing feature to the Messages app.

Apples M4 chip (shown next to VP John Ternus) could help process local Siri requests. (Apple)

Apples first foray into generative AI, if The NYTs sources are correct, sounds like less of an immediate threat to creators than some had imagined. At its May iPad event, the company ran a video plugging the new iPad Pro that showed various creative tools crushed by a hydraulic press. The clip accidentally served as the perfect metaphor for the (legitimate) fears of artists, musicians and other creators, whose work AI models have trained on  and who stand to be replaced by those same tools as they become more normalized for content creation.

On Thursday, Apple apologized for the ad and said it canceled plans to run it on TV.

Samsung and Google have already loaded their flagship phones with various generative AI features that go far beyond improving their virtual assistants. These include tools for editing photos, generating text and enhancing transcription (among other things). These features typically rely on cloud-based servers for processing, whereas Apples approach will allegedly prioritize privacy and handle requests locally. So Apple will apparently start with a more streamlined approach that sticks to improving whats already there, as well as keeping most or all processing on-device.

The New York Times sources add that Apples culture of internal secrecy and privacy-focused marketing have stunted its AI progress. Former Siri engineer John Burkey told the paper that the companys tendency to silo off the information various divisions share with each other has been another primary culprit in Siris inability to evolve far past where the assistant was when it launched a day before Steve Jobs died in 2011.
Climate protestors in Germany broke through police barricades on Friday, amid clashes between activists and law enforcement. The protestors either made it onto (according to protestors) or near (according to local police) the grounds of a Tesla gigafactory in Grunheide, Germany, near Berlin. Its part of a planned five-day demonstration ahead of a local government vote next week to determine whether Teslas plant can expand.

Wired flagged social media videos showing activists, many of whom have been camping out in treehouses in nearby forest encampments, running toward a Tesla building on the site. In addition, the German newspaper Welt said at least one person participating was injured. Police reportedly police used pepper spray and batons to try to thwart the crowd, and there were at least some arrests.

A spokesperson for one of the groups participating in the protests told Wired that they broke the police barriers and stormed the Tesla grounds. Eight hundred people have entered the premises of the gigafactory, Lucia Mende of Disrupt Tesla said. However, local police posted on X (Musks social media platform) that the activists only reached a field facing the site. We have been able to prevent them from entering so far, they posted.

Axel Schmidt via Getty Images

At least at first glance, its easy to wonder why activists are pouring so much energy into fighting Tesla. After all, despite Musks increasingly unhinged right-wing conspiracy-mongering and Nazi-catering on X, other automakers pushing gas-guzzling cars seem like more appropriate targets (not to mention the fossil fuel companies spending big bucks on anti-climate-reform disinformation). However, several factors make the issues at the heart of the protests less simplistic.

A (nonbinding) vote in February showed Grunheide residents opposed the expansion by almost a two-to-one ratio. If for no other reason, the local government having a chance to brush aside the overwhelming will of the voters in the name of capitalism is enough to raise the eyebrows of anyone who balks at minority rule.

Wired notes the area is also one of the most water-scarce in Germany, and residents worry the gigafactory will drain the resource, leaving much less for the humans who live there. The plant could also pollute local water supplies.

Those fears appear to have merit: The plant is licensed to use 1.4 million cubic meters of water annually, and a separate Wired report from Tuesday noted thats enough to supply for a large town. As for the contamination fears, Tesla was fined in 2019 by the EPA for several hazardous waste violations at a California factory. The company paid a grand total of $31,000 to settle. (Tesla had a market cap of almost $76 billion in 2019.)

But some of the groups protesting have concerns that go much farther than those more immediate issues affecting the locals, instead taking issue with the entire electric vehicle movement. Companies like Tesla are there to save the car industry, theyre not there to save the climate, Esther Kamm, spokesperson for Turn Off the Tap on Tesla told Wired.

Another activist, who only gave Wired the name Mara, described the factory as the result of green capitalism. She views the EV movement as little more than a theatrical performance in the name of profit. This has been completely thought up by such companies to have more growth, even in times of an environmental crisis, she said.

I wouldnt exactly say flipping the bird to the EV movement is a workable solution to the very real and pressing climate crisis. Regardless of your thoughts on the matter, the world needs to move quickly to fend off climate changes most ravaging effects, and the scientific consensus is that the planned shift to EVs will need to play a central role.

Tesla reportedly told its employees at the factory to work from home on Friday, shutting down the plants for the planned protests. As for Fridays protests, Welt reports that the situation had calmed by afternoon  at least for now.
Just in case there was any doubt about how Jack Dorsey really feels about Bluesky, the former Twitter CEO has offered new details on why he left the board and deleted his account on the service he helped kickstart. In a characteristically bizarre interview with Mike Solana of Founders Fund, Dorsey had plenty of criticism for Bluesky.

In the interview, Dorsey claimed that Bluesky was literally repeating all the mistakes he made while running Twitter. The entire conversation is long and a bit rambly, but Dorseys complaints seem to boil down to two issues:

He never intended Bluesky to be an independent company with its own board and stock and other vestiges of a corporate entity (Bluesky spun out of Twitter as a public benefit corporation in 2022.) Instead, his plan was for Twitter to be the first client to take advantage of the open source protocol Bluesky created. The fact that Bluesky has some form of content moderation and has occasionally banned users for things like using racial slurs in their usernames.

People started seeing Bluesky as something to run to, away from Twitter, Dorsey said. It's the thing that's not Twitter, and therefore it's great. And Bluesky saw this exodus of people from Twitter show up, and it was a very, very common crowd.  But little by little, they started asking Jay and the team for moderation tools, and to kick people off. And unfortunately they followed through with it. That was the second moment I thought, uh, nope. This is literally repeating all the mistakes we made as a company.

Dorsey also confirmed that he is financially backing Nostr, another decentralized Twitter-like service popular among some crypto enthusiasts and run by an anonymous founder. I know it's early, and Nostr is weird and hard to use, but if you truly believe in censorship resistance and free speech, you have to use the technologies that actually enable that, and defend your rights, Dorsey said.

A lot of this isnt particularly surprising. If youve followed Dorseys public comments over the last couple years, hes repeatedly said that Twitters original sin was being a company that would be beholden to advertisers and other corporate interests. Its why he backed Elon Musks takeover of the company. (Not coincidentally, Dorsey still has about $1 billion of his personal wealth invested in the company now known as X.) Hes also been very clear that he made many of Twitters most consequential moderation decisions reluctantly.

Unsurprisingly, Dorseys comments werent well-received on Bluesky. In a lengthy thread, Blueskys protocol engineer Paul Frazee said that Twitter was supposed to to be the AT Protocols first client but that Elon killed that straight dead after he took over the company. That entire company was frozen by the prolonged acquisition, and the agreement quickly ended when Elon took over, Frazee said. It was never going to happen. Also: unmoderated spaces are a ridiculous idea. We created a shared network for competing moderated spaces to exist. Even if somebody wanted to make an unmoderated ATProto app, I guess they could? Good luck with the app stores and regulators and users, I guess.

While Dorsey was careful not to criticize Musk directly, he was slightly less enthusiastic than when he said that Musk would be the one to extend the light of consciousness by taking over Twitter. Dorsey noted that, while he used to fight government requests to take down accounts, Musk takes the other path and generally complies. Elon will fight in the way he fights, and I appreciate that, but he could certainly be compromised, Dorsey said.

Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, who was handpicked by Dorsey to lead Bluesky, also addressed Dorsey's comments, saying the Twitter founder doesn't "fully understand" the work the company is doing. "With all due respect to Jack for having the vision to invest in decentralized protocols, weve carried out the work in a way I dont think he fully understands," she wrote. "Bluesky is structurally open in a way Twitter has never been, but the design of atproto allows it to feel familiar and easy to use."

Update May 10, 2024, 11:50 AM ET: This post has been updated with comments from Bluesky CEO Jay Graber.
2023 saw the 100th anniversary of the birth of Lee Kuan Yew, Singapores first prime minister, and the man at the heart of the state today. The anniversary was marked by a torrent of remembrances of the figure once described by Henry Kissinger as one of the asymmetries of history. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong (Lee Kuan Yews son) is stepping down on 15 May and passing the baton to a new generation of leadership unrelated to the Lee family. The continuation of Lees Peoples Action Party and the entire edifice of the Singaporean state hangs in the balance. Therefore, it is important for Marxists and communists to understand the nature of the Singaporean state today.

The official propaganda of the Singaporean state is that the elder Lee, through his determination, competence and leadership, instilled a sort of civic patriotism in the Singaporean population, the spirit of which transcended all class conflict and marks Singapore as an exceptional nation to this day. However, to truly understand not only Singapores past course of development but also where it is going, we must pierce the veil of official propaganda and understand the real material conditions that laid the foundation for the countrys class-concilliationist politics. We must pay particular attention to the political formations that arose in the 1950s and 60s that moulded the Singaporean state into what it is today, and the market forces that shaped its development thereafter.

Singapores early development

Singapore is a small island at the tip of the Malay peninsula, the geography of which prevented large-scale agricultural societies from developing. Hence, before British colonisation, the only established urban centre was a small fishing and trading port. This port was seized upon and expanded significantly by Sir Stamford Raffles on behalf of the British, to counter Dutch trading dominance in the region.

The vast entrepot trade that flowed through Singapores harbour under British rule stimulated the development of a largely ethnically Chinese merchant class that acted as compradors for European traders in the region. As the port grew and adjacent industries were developed to support it, a sizable working class of mostly Chinese but also Indian and Malay descent developed alongside it.

Who was Lee Kuan Yew?

Understanding Lee not as an enlightened administrator but as a representative of the Singaporean petty-bourgeoisie, helps explain his ideas and the role he played in the events to come / Image: Wellington City Archives collection, Wikimedia Commons

Harry Lee Kuan Yew was born on 16 September 1923, to a wealthy Peranakans (Straits Chinese) family during British colonial rule. He was the eldest of five children of a Shell Oil Company depot manager. Lee was fast-tracked to receive tutelage at the prestigious Raffles Institution, giving him access to a university education at the London School of Economics and later Cambridge.

This background is not secondary as it shaped Lees ideology and class outlook. Understanding Lee not as an enlightened administrator but as a representative of the Singaporean petty-bourgeoisie, trained in the worldview of the British ruling class, helps explain his ideas and the role he played in the events to come.

Retreat of British imperialism

Though victorious in the Second World War, British imperialism was extremely weakened and a series of mutinies in the army forced them to recognise that they had to relinquish direct control of their colonial possessions in South East Asia. However, due to its strategic location as a trade hub, the British took extreme precautions to ensure Singapore would not slip out of their hands politically or economically.

As Trotsky remarked in a speech in 1926:

Singapore and Hong Kong mark the most important highways of imperialism. Singapore is the key between the Indian Ocean and the Pacific. It represents one of the most important bases of British policy in the Far East.

Maintaining that control would not prove so easy in the tumultuous period following the Second World War, with the Soviet Union emerging as a major power, and the Chinese Revolution providing a beacon to the workers and oppressed in South East Asia. The question of Singapores formal independence was inevitable, the question was: what class would lead it?

To ensure governance could be passed to a responsible bourgeois party, while maintaining a loyal opposition, the British extended a prolonged period of transition to independence beginning in 1948, in which year after year more seats of the Legislative Council went up for election. The idea was that this would create an environment in which a two-party system - as existed in Britain - could develop, which would be easy to keep under British influence.

However, due to the nature of Singapores development as a colonial trading hub, the tiny local bourgeoisie was tied hand and foot to British capital, and had no interest in leading the independence movement or fostering a national consciousness. Hence, the Singaporean bourgeois surprised even the British with their ineptitude. The political parties they put up, like the Singapore Progressive Party, never had any appeal outside of their narrow merchant interest groups.

Additionally, the resistance against the Japanese occupation of Singapore during World War II was led almost entirely by the armed regiments of the Malayan Communist Party (MCP), as British and bourgeois elements collaborated with the Japanese occupation forces, discrediting themselves in the eyes of the working class.

The Singaporean working class was highly organised in the Singapore Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), which was under MCP control, and on many occasions undertook militant strike action against the poverty and exploitation of the colonial system. Singaporean workers looked to the anticolonial revolutions sweeping the region, and especially the Chinese revolution, as a solution. Resisting this revolutionary pressure, and cracking down on any subversion was, therefore, the top priority of the British administration.

Lees plan for a mass party

This was the landscape that Lee entered when he returned to Singapore in 1950. He began working for a law firm, which gave him a front-row seat in the unfolding class struggle. It was through this that he became convinced of the inability of the Singaporean bourgeoisie to create a mass base for a bourgeois nationalist party. Lee, more than any of the other petty-bourgeois intellectuals in his circles, realised that this mass base could only be brought about by co-opting the trade union and labour movement.

Lee sought to make a name for himself as a champion of the workers and the oppressed by taking on cases against the British authorities, often pro bono. It was through this work that he was introduced to Lim Chin Siong and Fong Swee Suan, leaders of the influential bus drivers and factory unions. While the unions were strongly influenced by communists, Lee consciously sought their support as he believed he could use them, simultaneously convincing the British authorities that he could keep the communist elements at bay. The lefts in turn believed that an alliance with these respectable petty-bourgeois elements would protect them from being proscribed and imprisoned.

It is very clear that, while publicly Lee touted his left-wing or working-class sympathies, he at all times knew what class interests he was really defending. Already before coming to Singapore Lee gave the following address to the Malayan Forum in London:

. . . If we, who can become the most privileged part of the local population under British rule, openly declare that British imperialism must go, the effect will be immediate. But if we do not give leadership, it will come from the other ranks of society, and if these leaders attain power, as they will with the support of the masses, we shall find that we, as a class, have merely changed masters [But] our trump-card is that responsible British leaders realise that independence must and will come to Malaya and that therefore, it will be better to hand Malaya to leaders sympathetic to the British Commonwealth, and what is more important, willing to remain in the sterling area.

Lee certainly understood the tasks facing the Singaporean bourgeoisie. Furthermore, his gambit worked and he won over Lim, Fong and other left-wing elements to his coalition, which culminated in the founding of the Peoples Action Party (PAP) on 21 November 1954.

The students fought back with school sit-ins and mass demonstrations in which workers also participated / Image: The National Archives UK, Flickr

With both a respectable middle-class leadership that was palatable to the British, as well as a mass working-class base provided by the trade unions, the mixed-class nature of the PAP proved a winning formula in the parliamentary arena. The party quickly made large inroads into the Singaporean working class by outwardly advancing strong anti-colonial and socialist messaging. However, within the party, the Lee wing was conspiring to shore up more and more control of the executive and limit the control of the local branches.

The left-wing went on the counter-offensive, winning four of the 12 central executive committee seats and attempting to push through changes to the PAP constitution that would enshrine more rank-and-file democracy in the party. This was a serious threat to the petty-bourgeois leadership group around Lee as it might actually make the party beholden to its working-class base.

Fortunately for him, Lees group had considerable help in their battle against the left and party democracy. Under an internal security plan named Operation Photo the British authorities began cracking down on cultural and social organisations by which the anticolonial movement was led. Particularly the organisations of the Chinese working class and youth were targeted. The Singapore Chinese Middle School Student Union was banned and two schools were closed. The students fought back with school sit-ins and mass demonstrations in which workers also participated. The police attacked the students and the situation escalated into what is now known as the Chinese Middle School riots, in which 15 people died. This escalation provided the political pretext for the arrest of almost the entirety of the leadership of the left, which included three of the four recently elected to the PAP CEC.

Lee used this opportunity to consolidate his position, and made sure none of the lefts were part of the delegation to London to negotiate the extension of independence to Singapore. With the British satisfied that the communist threat had been dealt with, it was agreed that Singaporean independence would be achieved via a merger with the Federation of Malaya, and governance handed over to an Internal Security Council (ISC) with wide-ranging powers of arbitrary arrest and detention.

Developing capitalism with bonapartist characteristics

With the left suppressed, the PAP came to power based on a transitional plan, the core of which was a heavy emphasis on developing industry that could compete on the world market and solve the serious unemployment that plagued the island. However, based on capitalism, this industrialisation plan was dependent on there being a common market with Malaya, as well as sufficient capital and technical know-how to bring Singaporean industry up to a level where it could compete globally.

The PAP consulted the help of the World Bank to develop a plan for Singapores industrialisation, and they published their findings in what became known as the Winsemius Report. The report concluded that, even with the presumed precondition of the merger with Malaya, the driving force of Singapores industrialisation would have to be foreign capital, and hence the need to seduce foreign capital would dictate the PAP's policy while in power.

Fortunately for them, the crushing of the workers' movement in the previous period had indeed created the political preconditions for foreign capital to feel confident investing in Singapore under the guiding hand of Lees PAP. This, combined with the huge surge in primary commodity prices during the Korean War and later the Vietnam War, allowed Singapore to industrialise and ride the postwar boom, providing to a standard of living considerably higher than many of its neighbouring countries.

The PAP skillfully combined repression with a welfare state that provided access to government-subsidised housing, healthcare and education, which insulated Singaporean workers from the negative impacts of rapid industrialisation and urbanisation. Furthermore, in large part due to the resulting class peace, the PAP was able to structurally readjust Singapores economy around the extension of globalisation, financialisation and the entry of China into the world market to become the key trading and financial hub in the region. This whole process has heavily distorted class relations within Singapore. The PAP facilitated this process, dissolving the trade unions and all other independent working-class organisations into the Singaporean state in what is known as the tripartite model.

With authoritarian methods, combined with social concessions and cynical nationalist propaganda, the PAP regime shored up passive support from among Singaporean workers for decades, and ensured that it was impossible for discontent to express itself through any channels outside of PAP control. In 1960 the party introduced the Internal Security Act, which gave itself sweeping police powers to preventatively detain and imprison any dissidents, especially communists. Critics of the state deemed out of line would often face lawsuits that left them in financial ruin. Opposition parties are allowed, but are rendered so anemic that they have virtually no hope of ever going into government. As a result, Singapore is de facto a single-party state under the PAP.

The Singaporean state after Lee

The future of the PAP, however, is anything but certain. The global crisis of overproduction, and the intensification of market penetration by competing world powers, are creating enormous turmoil. All of this serves to undermine the very foundations of Singapores prosperity and stability. The PAP only managed to consolidate its rule because of the extremely anomalous conditions of the postwar boom, which allowed for the extension of trade and commerce to undercut the class struggle for a certain period. These conditions are a thing of the past. The PAP cannot govern as it did, and many bourgeois commentators are worried about how it will manage the transition.

There are some illusions being spread about Singapore transitioning to a genuine bourgeois democracy as the legitimacy of the PAP wanes. The PAP is more than happy to indulge these illusions, with the full understanding that the Singaporean state cannot exist outside of PAP control, so complete is the fusing of the party and the state. The outgoing prime minister Lee Hsien Loong admitted as much at a recent party conference.

This highlights the hypocrisy of many in the Western media, who hold up Lee as a visionary pragmatist, a model of statesmanship to be emulated by the West as capitalist regimes across the globe are in a crisis of legitimacy. From the perspective of the parasitic bourgeois, he was indeed a visionary pragmatist who succeeded in defending their privileges and property rights against the growing revolutionary tide of the 1950s. However, the hopes of todays bourgeoisie in repeating Lees success are misplaced. Our period is one of crisis, revolutions and counter-revolutions and one in which the working class has been immensely strengthened.

Today, while Singaporean citizens still enjoy a standard of living significantly higher than their brothers and sisters of the region, this has only come about by Singapore becoming an imperialist power unto itself in addition to being a hub for US and Chinese finance capital. Singapore is the biggest source of Foreign Direct Investment for Indonesia, Myanmar, Vietnam, Thailand, and is the second largest for Malaysia. Singaporean capitals huge influence in the region is facilitated by the state project Enterprise Singapore, which oversees over 2,000 projects around Southeast Asia for Singaporean capital to invest in.

These investments - rather than contributing to the local economies - are parasitic in nature, exploiting the cheap labour of workers in the region as well as causing catastrophic environmental damage through large palm oil plantations and land reclamation projects. This is not to mention the hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshi and Indian migrant workers who labour in slave-like conditions to keep Singapore clean and vibrant.

The workers of Singapore and the region must have no illusions about the smiling mask of bourgeois democracy, which barely covers the bloody face of imperialism. Genuine democratic rights can only be won in the battle of the working class for a socialist revolution that will free the workers and the oppressed of the entire region. The PAP regime has long maintained that it defended Singapore from the menace of communism. In this coming period, however, genuine communism is poised to make a world-historic reappearance and the PAP will have none of the advantages of the past with which it defended the inequality and barbarity of the capitalist system.

If you are a revolutionary communist who wants to see the end of the capitalist system the world over, join us!
Kellie Pickler was screaming in extreme distress when her personal assistant called 911 following her husband Kyle Jacobs' death, according to a report.

In Touch recently obtained an audio recording of the 911 call that Pickler's assistant made when they saw blood pouring from a door at the scene of the suicide -- their home in Nashville. In the recording, Pickler was screaming while the assistant spoke with the dispatcher.

"Somebody's shot or something," the assistant said as Pickler cried and screamed in the background. However, what she was saying was not clear.





"We just see blood, and the door's closed," the assistant continued. "It's coming out from under the door. Please hurry."

The assistant explained that they were "scared to open" the bedroom door and confirm what had caused all the blood. However, they already had an idea of what happened.

"We think we know, but ... please hurry," the assistant continued.

The assistant confirmed that Jacobs was behind the door. The dispatcher assured them that help was on the way.

During the call, Pickler's assistant confirmed that Jacobs owned a gun. When asked, "Do you think he shot himself?" the assistant was hesitant but said, "He's got a gun... yeah."





The dispatcher told the assistant it would help if they could open the door and try to stop the bleeding. The caller was reluctant but agreed.

"They want me to see if I can stop his bleeding," the assistant told Pickler, who was still hysterical.

However, the door was locked. The dispatcher then asked them to seek help in opening the door but assured them that they were on their way.

Three months later, the autopsy revealed that Jacobs died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound on Feb. 17, 2023. There were no drugs in his system. However, the late country music songwriter, vocalist, guitarist and pianist had a history of "pseudoseizures [seizures caused by psychological factors], gastrointestinal bleeding, elevated liver enzymes, and chronic alcohol use."

Following Jacobs' passing, Pickler broke her silence to thank everyone who supported her. She also shared the lesson she learned from her late husband.





"One of the most beautiful lessons my husband taught me was in a moment of a crisis if you don't know what to do, 'do nothing, just be still,'" she said in a statement to People. "I have chosen to heed his advice."

"Thank you to my family, friends, and supporters, for the countless letters, calls, and messages that you have sent my way. It has truly touched my soul, and it's helping me get through the darkest time in my life. As many of you have told me, you are all in my prayers."

Last month, Pickler made her first performance since losing her husband at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium for a tribute concert to Patsy Cline. She sang "The Woman I Am" from her 2013 album and paid tribute to her late husband, who co-wrote the song with her.

"My husband and I actually wrote this song together, gosh, over a decade ago," Pickler said onstage. "The last time I was here in the Ryman Auditorium was with him on a date night, and I know he is here with us tonight."





If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741741 or go to 988lifeline.org.
Conservative media pundit Ann Coulter made the outrageous claim about presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy on his podcast.

The political commentator spoke with the Republican candidate about nationalism and fundamentals of American Identity.

Coulter, 62, made the shocking remark that she would not back him for the GOP nomination because "you're an Indian" on his podcast 'The Truth.'

RELATED: King Charles Is Too Busy To See Prince Harry During UK Visit: 'The Duke Of Course Is Understanding'

"I agreed with many many things you said during  in fact, probably more than most other candidates  when you were running for president...but I still would not have voted for you, because you're an Indian," she stated.

The 62-year-old doubled-down on her statement, explaining that she would only vote for presidential candidates who are WASPs, which stands for White Anglo-Saxon Protestants.

"There is a core national identity that is the identity of the WASP," she began. "That doesn't mean we can't take anyone else in, a Sri Lankan, or a Japanese...or an Indian, but the core around which the nation's values are formed is the WASP."

RELATED: King Charles Is Too Busy To See Prince Harry During UK Visit: 'The Duke Of Course Is Understanding'

Coulter continued: "We've never had a president who didn't have at least partial English ancestry," adding that if his children married someone from the Daughters of the American Revolution she would "definitely" vote for them.

.@AnnCoulter told me flat-out to my face that she couldnt vote for me because youre an Indian, even though she agreed with me more than most other candidates. I disagree with her but respect she had the guts to speak her mind. It was a riveting hour. The TRUTH podcast is back https://t.co/neVjKSs6e9  Vivek Ramaswamy (@VivekGRamaswamy) May 8, 2024

A shocked Ramaswamy, 38, posted their conversation on Twitter, now known as X, on Wednesday.

"Ann Coulter told me flat-out to my face that she couldn't vote for me because you're Indian," even though she agreed with me more than other candidates," he tweeted.

"I disagree with her but respect she has the guts to speak her mind. It was a riveting hour. The TRUTH Podcast is back," he wrote.

"I was initially shocked, and for a split second, enraged, he told the 'New York Post' Thursday. "But after that I was just deeply curious, and it was a fascinating conversation."
Los Angeles, CAThe just released historical aviation adventure book by Michael B. Butler, Round the World & Across Russia in 21 Days, 30 Years Later: 12 Planes & 22 Aviators Thru 11 Countries When the Soviet Union Fell & Russia Returned, is a bestseller in multiple categories related to Russia, Siberian and Discovery Expeditions. The story of 12 small planes circumnavigating while crossing the entire landmass of Russia, only months after the final collapse of the Soviet Union, was constructed by the author, who also documented the event, using seven major pilot journals, five ancillary journals interviews and 25 hours of videotape.

With sales in multiple European countries and across the United States, Round the World & Across Russia is full of fascinating history based on the fact that it has been three decades of unpredictable world history since the pilots landed in Moscow as guests of Russian Vice President Alexander Rutskoi. Given royal treatment in Moscow, that same clout showed itself periodically as they progressed across the desolate Siberian terrain.

Starting in Santa Monica, on July 4, 1992, the single and twin engine aircraft few east and crossed the North Atlantic from Goose Bay, Labrador to Iceland, with a picturesque stop at the southern tip of Greenland. Then it was on to Southend Airport, near London, before heading to Helsinki and thence to Moscow and then off into Siberia.

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble, details and color slide shows can be found at www.MichaelButlerBooks.com.

Round the World & Across Russia Book Trailer





Here is a small section of when the organizers went to meet with Russian officials in January 1992, who only three weeks earlier were Soviet officials as the Soviet Union had voted itself out of business the previous month.

"In January 1992 the World Flight organizers were staying on a boat-hotel, on the Moscow River, for two weeks of key meetings. A time of confusing bureaucratic overflow greeted the worried organizers, twice a day all types of Russian committees turned up for meetings in the deep winter of a chilly, snow blanketed Moscow. Subjects discussed ranged from routing, airspace restrictions, permits, cultural events, fuel hauling and media coverage, which were accompanied by a blurred line of authority with little idea of who, if anyone, could make any final decisions.

"Organizers were subjected to demands for more information, and then promptly sent into confusion by more questions than answers. Meetings, involving upwards of 20 people, with translators blazing away in English, French, and Russian, made the harried atmosphere even more confusing, chaotic and difficult. But how could it not be so, the government was gone only weeks before and it was 'catch as catch can' on steroids.

"U.S. Embassy staff were unable to provide assistance as sketchy info, in a rapidly changing scene, clouded the air. A secretive yet strangely evolving open air mentality pervaded a Moscow where cash ruled, with American green backs preferred over the Soviet ruble about to be phased out. CIA operatives must have been working throughout the country. Committees of Russian Air Traffic Controllers and the Aeroflot Pilots Association consisted of up to 15 members, both lacking in any decision-making ability and so the members reached no determinations. They would go away for a few days, then return with two questions for each request, and this tactic, of course, served to shelter decision makers from committing themselves. They were also visited by committees of artists and businessmen unrelated to the World Flight or its aims, but since it this was supposed to an annual event all new connections were welcomedwho knew what was going to happen over the next days or months.

"Keeping people waiting, cooling their heels in the dark, is a hallmark of not only Soviet but Russian style of business. During WWII, when Allied planners were in Moscow to discuss cooperation in deception campaigns regarding the June 1944 D-Day landings in France, British and American planners were kept in Moscow for an extra month waiting for answers. Distrust pervaded the strained relationship between the Soviets and Allies: Stalin, Churchill and FDR were all hedging bets and looking towards the shape of the post-war world.

"Routing through Russian airspace was a critical topic for discussion: for example, entering Russian Airspace from Helsinki, Finland was not to be accomplished over the Baltic Republics because they were not part of the new Confederation of Independent States (CIS)the new Russian state. Russian politicians had a difficult task ahead trying to create a federation of states, all rife with nationalist pride and poisoned with resentment from Moscow's brutal and vicious long-term domination."

Media Interviews: For review copies or interviews please contact Eric Blair Enterprises at MichaelButlerBooks@pm.me or 213-534-7292.
Friday, May 10, 2024

On Self Esteem and Immortality

In this episode of The Doyenne of Death Podcast, host Gail Rubin continues her conversation with speaker and author Greg Bennick about the pioneering work of Ernest Becker, author of the Pulitzer Prize winning book, The Denial of Death. In part two of this conversation, Gail and Greg discuss self esteem, Beckers work related to the Terror Management Theory, the Pearls Before Swine cartoons of Stephan Pastis, and how we all strive for meaning in our lives. (You can catch what you missed in Part One here.)

The Pearls Before Swine cartoon strip by Stephan Pastis often pokes fun at death, self esteem, and funeral planning. During this podcast, Gail and Greg discuss a March 17, 2024 strip that talks about the goal of every being on earth:  To leave their mark to be significant and in doing so, gain some measure of immortality. Greg noted that we as humans are striving for a permanent presence even though we are temporary creatures.

Greg Bennick has been a thought provoker, public presenter, comedic juggler and punk rock vocalist (yes you read that correctly), a TEDx Speaker, a humanitarian and philanthropist, and an influencer devoted to transforming the world by inspiring personal and social change.

He is writing the first ever biography of philosopher, cultural anthropologist, and Pulitzer Prize winner Ernest Becker, who dedicated his life to understanding the complexities of self esteem and how it relates to our psychological well-being. Greg has been studying Beckers work for twenty-five years and is a recognized expert on his writing. The insights Greg has drawn from Beckers work offer hope for our increasingly turbulent world.

He is the author of the forthcoming book, Reclaim the Moment: 7 Strategies to Build a Better Now. It provides strategies for juggling a world of distractions to prioritize focus, improve self-esteem, and increase performance. To be released August 2024 by Wiley, its available for pre-order NOW: tinyurl.com/buildabetternow. Learn more at www.GregBennick.com.

You can listen and download the podcast at RedCircle.com. Or watch and listen to the conversation on YouTube.

About Gail Rubin

Gail Rubin, Certified Thanatologist and The Doyenne of Death, was recognized by the Association for Death Education and Counseling (ADEC) with their prestigious Community Educator Award at the organizations annual conference in Houston on April 11, 2024. ADECs Community Educator Award honors an individual in a non-academic setting with expertise in the field of thanatology, the study of death, dying and bereavement. The award recognizes excellence in developing community focused teaching materials and events that are innovative and cutting edge.

She has created and facilitated numerous community death education events and materials. Learn more about Gail Rubin and her work at www.AGoodGoodbye.com and www.BeforeIDieFestivals.com.

Related
LISBON, Ohio  The Columbiana County Soil & Water Conservation District is hosting a public meeting to discuss natural resource concerns in the Lisbon Creek Watershed, a small portion of the Little Beaver Creek Watershed.

The Lisbon Creek Watershed lies primarily in Center Township with portions spanning sections of the Village of Lisbon, Salem Township, Elkrun Township, and Fairfield Township. Resource concerns include flooding, erosion, drainage, agricultural runoff, water quality, wildlife habitat and other related topics.

Public input will help the district complete a Non-Point Source Implementation Strategy (NPS-IS) which will allow the district to apply for various grants, including EPA 319 funds, to complete projects.

The Columbiana Soil and Water Conservation District is holding a stakeholder meeting at the Lisbon Train Station, 232 S. Market St., Lisbon, on May 13 at 6 p.m. to discuss the watershed plan.

For more information visit our website at columbianacoswcd.com or contact McKinsie Klim at 330-277-2976 or mckinsie.klim@oh.nacdnet.net.
Farmers in Northern Ireland have just days left to apply for their single applications, or penalties may be applied.

The closing date for submissions is midnight Wednesday 15 May 2024 and after that date financial penalties will be applied.

To date, more than 14,000 farmers have submitted their single applications, meaning thousands of farmers still need to make their claim.

Submitting a single application is one of the most important tasks for farmers in Northern England each year.

It must be used to claim farm payments under numerous schemes, such as BPS, Young Farmers Payment and Environmental Farming Scheme.

The Department of Agriculture (DAERA) has reminded farmers to allow adequate time to check all information is correct.

Agriculture Minister Andrew Muir said: I would encourage the remaining farmers to complete their application without delay. The online application service is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Completing applications before the 15 May deadline will avoid late claim penalties and allow my department to issue prompt payments from 2 September.

Farmers that have not yet applied have been told to do so now to avoid late claim penalties and to allow enough time to check that their information is accurate.

Applications submitted between 16 May and 10 June will incur financial penalties.
Payments to hill farmers and crofters under the 2023 Scottish upland sheep support scheme (SUSSS), worth 6.6 million, have commenced today.

The scheme gives direct support to help maintain sheep flocks in farm businesses reliant on poorer quality rough grazing.

It is seen as a vital source of support for more than a thousand hill sheep farmers and crofters in Scotland.

The Scottish government confirmed that more than 1,000 sheep farming businesses will receive their share of around 6.6 million from today (10 May).

Nearly all (97%) of the eligible applications to SUSSS 2023 have been processed for payment, it added.

Agriculture Minister, Jim Fairlie said: I know how important it is for sheep producers to have confidence in the support available to them be delivered on time and as expected.

"It is vital to being able to plan and budget for the year, so we are doing everything we possibly can to make sure the funding is in accounts as soon as possible."

This support is not only important for farmers producing from some of the toughest farmland, but also to the local communities which see reinvestment from these businesses.

It also underlines the importance of headage schemes and the value they deliver as the UK starts to transition towards new support arrangements for farmers.

Mr Fairlie said the Scottish government would 'continue to do all we can' to provide the backing needed to protect hill farmers and crofters.

He said: We are fortunate to have an incredible sheep farming sector that is globally renowned, with thousands of jobs dependant on well raised flocks, efficient distribution and enormous retail potential at home and abroad."
The UK's first police officer who specialises in livestock theft has been announced, as the latest figures show the crime has cost farmers 2.7 million.

Martin Beck, who has 30 years of policing experience in rural areas, has been named as the first UK-wide livestock theft prevention officer.

The new role involves gathering livestock theft-related intelligence across the UK, though a new initiative code named Operation Foldyard.

It will gather and share information on new theft trends and work with local police forces to build cases and help secure convictions.

Funding provided by NFU Mutual has enabled the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU) to recruit Mr Beck.

His appointment comes as the toll from livestock theft reached an estimated 2.7 million in 2022, according to the latest figures from NFU Mutual.

However, for many police officers, livestock theft is outside their crime-fighting experience.

Mr Beck said that, as part of the role, he would be working with police forces across the country to help them understand the crime.

From my new base at the National Rural Crime Unit (NRCU), I will be working to ensure information is shared between the police forces and their key partners," Mr Beck, who worked for Devon and Cornwall Police, said.

To help coordinate activity, the NRCU is introducing Operation Foldyard, which will share intelligence between police forces and partners including in the farming industry.

As the intelligence picture grows, I expect to see individuals involved in livestock theft targeted and disrupted."

Farmers are regularly seeing both small and large numbers of thefts across the country, police forces have regularly warned.

The crime causes suffering to animals which are often treated badly by thieves and sometimes even slaughtered out in the fields.

Livestock theft is also a cause of food crime and can present a risk to public health as the quality and safety of stolen meat products cannot be guaranteed.

Mr Beck said the crime "needs to be exposed for the harm it is causing", and that the people involved are "criminals".

He added: While larger thefts can be high value and devastating for that farmers business, finding one or two of their flock butchered in their fields can be just as distressing.
Waitrose has announced a new push toward regenerative agriculture to help the 'financial resilience' of farms and to combat climate change.

The retailer said it would support more than 2,000 of its farmer suppliers to move to nature-friendly farming practices.

It plans to source British meat, milk, eggs, fruit and vegetables from farms that use regenerative practices by 2035.

As part of the push, farmers will have access finance and resources to support their transition to regenerative and low carbon farming.

A market will be provided for regeneratively produced food in Waitrose shops and online, the supermarket said.

A permanent 'Centre of Excellence' will be made at Waitrose's Leckford Estate, in Hampshire, providing tools, workshops, online resources and mentoring to help farmers.

Waitrose said that a group of farmers will also develop understanding of regenerative practices across different supply chains, tailored to farming types and then scale these into supply chains.

And the retailer confirmed that it will complete a state of nature assessment by 2026 of all of its own brand UK farms.

The plans were announced at Waitrose's farm on the Leckford Estate, where farmers have been farming regeneratively since 2020.

Its executive director, James Bailey committed the supermarket to "play its part revolutionising the British food system".

He said: We want customers to know that when they shop with us, they are voting with their purses and wallets for a food system that works in harmony with the natural world, and that supports a financially sustainable future for British farmers.

We have a duty to help our farmers make the move towards more nature-friendly growing, and were committed to playing our part in the revolution that our countrys food system requires.
Andy Cohen has been cleared in an investigation into claims of misconduct.

Andy Cohen has been cleared of wrongdoing by Bravo TV bosses

The 55-year-old presenter faced a probe by his bosses at Bravo TV after 'Real Housewives' stars Brandi Glanville and Leah McSweeney made a series of allegations against him in two separate lawsuits, but Bravo chiefs have now cleared him of any wrongdoing.

A Bravo spokesperson told New York Post column Page Six: "The outside investigation into the recent allegations made by Brandi Glanville and Leah McSweeney against Andy Cohen has now been completed, and the claims were found to be unsubstantiated."

'The Real Housewives of New York City' star McSweeney, 41, filed a lawsuit agains Cohen in March in which she made a series of claims including that he offered drugs to castmembers and handed out special favours, while she also claims show bosses of encouraging her to drink despite having a history of alcohol problems.

Cohen vehemently denied her claims.

He was also hit by a lawsuit from 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills' star Glanville, 51, who accused Cohen of sexual harassment and claimed he invited her to watch him have sex with 'Below Deck' castmember Kate Chastain.

Glanville's lawyers also sent a letter to Bravo's parent company NBCUniversal, Warner Bros. and production company Shed Media in February claiming the 'Watch What Happens Live' host made the advance in an inappropriate recording which he sent her in 2022.

Cohen later said sorry for the "inappropriate" clip and insisted Glanville was "in on the joke".

After the letter was made public, The 'Real Housewives' executive producer wrote on X: The video shows Kate Chastain and I very clearly joking to Brandi.

"It was absolutely meant in jest, and Brandis response clearly communicated she was in on the joke. That said, it was totally inappropriate and I apologise."

The conclusion of the investigation comes after 'The Real Housewives of Orange County' Heather Dubrow told Page SIx she had never heard any talk about drugs during her appearances on Cohen's show 'Watch What Happens Live'.

She said: "Ive been on Watch What Happens Live a million times. I have never seen drugs, heard about drugs, nothing ever. And Im a kid from the 80s, OK?

"I have never seen any of that. Watch What Happens Live is such a fun experience. Yeah, we have a cocktail on the show. Its fun, but theres a drinking game always with a disclaimer: dont drink and drive. Its a fun experience. Its sad its being brought down to this level. My experience has been nothing but positive."
Ricki Lake refused to take Ozempic when her doctor tried to "push" it on her.

Ricki Lake has shed 35 pounds without the help of Ozempic

The 55-year-old television host is feeling the "best" she has done in years after shedding 35 pounds but revealed that medics were keen for her her to have the controversial weight-loss drug before she ultimately decided to go it alone.

Speaking on 'Good Morning America', she explained: "The doctor was pushing it for people who were overweight. And he was saying you weren't going to be successful without it, is what he said to me, really. And I like a challenge. And I like proving people wrong. And so it p***** me off. I just was reluctant, and I wanted to give it a go on my own."

The Emmy Award-winning star - who shot to fame as a teenager when she took on the leading role of plump wannabe dancer Tracy Turnblad in the 1988 comedy 'Hairspray' before it was turned into a smash-hit Broadway musical - tied the knot with Ross Burningham in 2022 and reflected that the "only thing" that was wrong with their marriage beforehand was their "extra weight".

She said: "I have this new marriage, and I'm so blissfully happy with this amazing man.

"My perfect man. And you know if I pinpoint one thing that was not working in our lives is that we were carrying this extra weight."

Ricki - who was initially married to Rob Sussman from 1994 until 2004 an then to the late Christian Evans from 2012 until 2015 - has lost weight in the past but insisted that this time round it is all a "lifestyle change" rather than a quick fix.

She said: "This is a lifestyle change. I've made this my job, and it's become my joy. Like, I just  I love it. I think it's safe to say I'm in the best shape of my life.

"I say, this is what happy looks like. Like this is really  I could cry. I'm so happy. I'm so happy."
Woody Harrelson and Ted Danson are launching a new podcast.

Woody Harrelson is launching a new podcast

The 62-year-old actor has joined forces with Ted - his former 'Cheers' co-star - to create a new podcast series titled 'Where Everybody Knows Your Name'.

Ted, 76 - who played Sam Malone on 'Cheers' - said: "Though Ive always dreaded small talk at a cocktail party, Ive found that it is a genuine privilege to sit down with someone for a deep, uninterrupted conversation. With this podcast, well do just that. And that I get to do it with Woody, my dear friend of many decades, is the cherry on top of the sundae.

"Each week, well reflect on our own friendship and careers, and get to the core of the special guests who join us. I cant wait for you to listen."

Woody played bartender Woody Boyd on 'Cheers' between 1985 and 1993, and the Hollywood actor is now looking forward to reuniting with his former co-star.

Woody said in a statement: "The best part about doing this podcast is that its given me an excuse to hang out with Ted.

"Sure well talk with interesting guests, and sure well share some laughs along the way, but the biggest win will be rekindling our romance, I mean friendship, after all this time. And Im glad listeners will be able to join us for that."

The podcast will launch on SiriusXM on June 12 and new episodes of the show will be released every Wednesday.

The upcoming podcast series will feature a number of special guests, including Will Arnett, Kristen Bell, Laura Dern, Jane Fonda, Simu Liu, Conan OBrien, Nick Offerman and Martin Short.
Prince Harry reassured a group of bereaved children that it is "okay to be sad".

Prince Harry made a surprised visit to bereaved young people

The Duke of Sussex - who was just 12 when his mother Princess Diana died in a car accident in 1997 - made a surprise visit at an event run by Scotty's Little Soldiers during his surprise visit to London earlier this week, where he played games such as edible races, flipper challenge and bucket head, as well as sitting down to chat with the 50 young people, who were aged between six and 22 and have experienced the death of a military parent.

Joshua Kirkham - who was six years old when his dad Lance Corporal Christopher Bradshaw died in a road collision in 2011 - told the Daily Telegraph newspaper: The standout moment in our conversation with Prince Harry was around coping mechanisms for bereavement.

We discussed being proud of the family member weve lost, celebrating their life, and understanding that its okay to be sad, to grieve, and to seek support in whatever way feels right.

Georgia Paterson felt "more connected" to her dad - who took his own life in 2016 - by speaking to Harry.

The 16 year old said: Prince Harry was the best person to share that experience with because hes been through it and understands better than anyone. It was really moving to see how vulnerable he was with us, which encouraged us to open up as well.

It felt really connecting because when your parent served, they served for the country, and one of the most important things for the country is the Royal family. Speaking with someone who is part of that made me feel more connected to my Dad. It was amazing to be connected to him in that moment.

Harry is global ambassador for the charity and said it was "an honour" to meet with the group.

He said: It was an honour to meet so many of the wonderful families Scottys Little Soldiers supports.

I have long believed in the mission of this charity, and I truly believe the work they do to foster community and create space for young people to connect, grieve, but also have fun together is life-changing.

I am a huge supporter of their work and very proud to be their first global ambassador.
Remember the saying food is an experience? Tresind brings the saying to life. The 10-course Chef's Tasting menu curated by Chef Sarfaraz Ahmed, promises a captivating exploration of regional Indian flavours and seasonal ingredients! From the fiery spices of the South to the robust flavours of Central India, each dish is crafted to narrate the story of a different region, offering diners a comprehensive journey. Think dishes like Jeera Aloo espuma and tomato chutney finished with a tomato clear soup consomme made with khada masala and jaggery with Asparagus that adds a textural crunch, Jeera aloo with rasam promising a mesmerising blend of sweet, savoury, and tangy flavours. The jackfruit bharta, peanut makhani, Malabar paratha. Along with the beloved classics such as the Khichadi of India, the palate-cleansing Khandvi ice cream, and the beloved Coffee Stones, among other delightful dishes.

Image: ShutterstockMothers Day serves as the perfect excuse to show your mum just how much you appreciate her. Presents are one way, but the best would be to spend quality time with her by taking her out for a special meal. If youre looking for restaurant reccos, weve got you covered! Here are a few that top our list:Nestled in the vibrant heart of Mumbai, Bandra's latest culinary gem offers a tantalising journey through the diverse flavours of Asia. At Megumi, the culinary journey transcends borders with Nikkei cuisine, a harmonious fusion of Japanese and Peruvian traditions. The food is heavenly and the space is beautifully done up and is perfect for a nice Mothers Day lunch. We suggest ordering the Baby Spinach Grapefruit Salad, Enoki Edamame Sushi, Crystals Dimsums, and the Yaki Udon.Nothing like heading to a cutesy ice cream cafe after a nice meal, right? We highly recommend Gold by Ice Cream Works. With luxury ingredients sourced from around the world, Gold by ICW offers vegan scoops, sugar-free toppings, no-added sweeteners, and more. We suggest trying the Shahi Gulab Jamun sundae and the Berry Sorbet ice-cream cone.

Perched on the 48th floor of Kohinoor Square in Dadar, Bastian offers expansive space and a breathtaking view of the city. Oh, and even better food! The space resembles an exotic cave on top of a high-rise. The 450-seater space is loosely divided into sections, flooring in deliberately unfinished cobblestones and travertine marble further contributing to the rustic-chic feel. We suggest you get a table in the fine dining area which offers back-to-back seating that is both intimate and private at the same time.

As for the food, opt for the Burrata Salad and Avocado Poke, Robata dishes like King Mushroom Robata dish, Vegan Gluten-Free Nachos; and Cottage Cheese Kung Pao. Dont forget to end your meal with the decadent Lotus Kunafa Cheesecake; and Baked Alaska! They also have a special mango menu featuring dishes like Classic tres leches (with mango garnish), served with vanilla sponge, three milk, and seasonal fruit; and Mango Pull Me Up which comes with the vanilla sponge, vanilla cream, fresh mango, coconut glaze, mango rocks.



Pa pa ya, BKC



Pa Pa Ya is known for its vibrant and flavorful Pan-Asian cuisine, so if your mum is a fan of Asian food, head straight to Pa Pa Ya. Opt for the Som Tam salad, Truffle Mushroom and Cream Cheese Dimsums, California Maki Roll, and the Edamame Chickpea Slider with Potato Chips. End your meal with the Biscoff Cheesecake that is both rich and delicious. To add a touch of extra sweetness, all moms will receive a complimentary dessert at any of their outlets!



Stand By Coffee



Who doesnt love coffee dates? Indulge in quality time with your mother amidst aromatic brews and wholesome conversations at Worlis latest spot Stand By Coffee. We recommend the Sea Salt Mocha, Vanilla Frappe, and Hibiscus Iced Tea. Pair it with delectable sandwiches, croissants, and coffee cakes. Our top picks are the Hazelnut Babka, and the Brownie.



Koa

Koa at Korum Mall in Thane offers everything from world cuisine to delicious cocktails. Located at Korum Mall in Thane, Koa features an open-plan ground floor and is done up with bohemian interiors. Think elements such as circular island bars, window tables inspired by cabanas, earthen pots placed strategically throughout the space, wooden swings, lush green foliage, flimsy white curtains, and pampas grass. Opt for the elaborate Mezze Platter, the Golmaal Onion Rings with Jamaican Spice, and the Ravioli Orange Paprika, leek- and parmesan-stuffed ravioli doused in an orange butter paprika sauce with a generous helping of pine nuts and candied ginger.



Los Cavos



Brought to the suburb of Bandra by VRO Hospitality in partnership with fashion and celebrity photographer Rahul Jhangiani, the space is inspired by the vibrant mosaic of Latin American culture and invites guests to immerse themselves in a unique fusion of Latin cuisine and cocktails. The warm and visually intriguing interiors by Maze Concept Design Studio showcase an artful transformation of a contemporary space into a time-worn, aged setting, blending the allure of yesteryears with modernity.The restaurant has brought on board renowned Peruvian chef Rafael Estremadoyro Garcia to curate a timeless Latin American menu. We recommend the Truffle Fries and Deep Fried Baby Brussels Sprouts, Veggie Chaufa Rice, a Peruvian version of fried rice, which proves to be a satisfying dish consisting of vegetables and rice in a delicious oyster and soy sauce, and the Chocolate Mousse, which comes with 70% cacao mousse, caramelised nuts, and chocolate sauce, a must-have at Los Cavos if youre fond of chocolate.
Priyanka Chopra, a global icon who was busy shooting for her upcoming Hollywood film, Heads of State, took a break to enjoy family time with her daughter Malti Marie and mother Madhu Chopra in Ireland.

The actress spends a serene evening in the picturesque city of Dublin. She looked super chic as she donned an oversized warm black top, completing her look with baggy denim pants. Her mother, Madhu Chopra looks vibrant in a multi-coloured top and fluffy jacket to combat the chilly weather. Malti Marie, the actresss daughter stole the limelight with her cute looks.

The star recently bid farewell to the film Heads of State, expressing her gratitude for the enriching experience she had working on the film. Praising the funny and professional atmosphere created by the cast and crew, the actress shared a glimpse of her time on the set.
Recently, Rajkumar Rao bought a luxurious Rs. 44 crore house in Mumbai from Bollywood actress Janhvi Kapoor. Recalling an anecdote of his decision to buy this particular property, he said that the inspiration behind him buying this extravagant property was Shah Rukh Khan.



As Rajkumar spoke about his new house he recalled Shah Rukhs exact words of inspiration to him that left the actor fascinated. He told him that whenever you buy a house, always buy one which is a little beyond your means due to which you will work harder and want to earn it.







The actors upcoming projects are Stree 2, a horror-comedy, directed by Amar Kaushik co-starring Shraddha Kapoor, Abhishek Banerjee, Aparshakti Khurrana and Pankaj Tripathi. In addition to this, the actor is currently shooting along with Triptii Dimri for Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video.
1. Paa

2. Secret Superstar

3. The Sky is Pink

4. English Vinglish

5. Mimi

6. Helicopter Eela

7. Taare Zameen Par

8. Mrs Chatterjee vs Norway

9. Panga

10. Nil Battey Sannata

Its that time of the year when you remember and appreciate the sacrifice and hard work your mom does for you. Since its the weekend, there is no excuse for not spending time with your mom. Motherhood is perhaps the most paradoxical yet amazing role a woman has to play in her life. On one hand, you have significance and honour when you hold a child in your arms, whether biological or adopted, while on the other hand, children and the family take their mothers for granted almost every day. After becoming a mother, the pressure to be a good mother makes it difficult to not be able to do things that you used to as a regular person. So let us not forget expressing how deeply we love our mothers and make them feel extra special on this special day.As Mothers Day is round the corner, here is a list of Bollywood films you can watch with her showcasing the unending love they have for their children:Paa is a film for all the single moms who juggle the difficulty between work and taking care of their homes and children. These single moms make it look so effortless while they go through hell and back. The film stars Amitabh Bachchan, Abhishek Bachchan and Vidya Balan. Making this Bollywood movie extra special is the role reversal of Amitabh Bachchan being Abhishek Bachchan's son. Ais a film showcasing the story of a girl who along with her mothers support strives to excel in the field she has chosen for herself. Starring Zaira Wasim, Meher Vij and Aamir Khan it narrates the unconditional love and sacrifice of a mother that holds the family together.The Sky is Pink is based on the love story of a couple through the lens of their spunky teenage daughter, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis. Starring Priyanka Chopra, Farhan Akhtar and Zaira Wasim, the film portrays the journey of how they navigate through life providing their daughter full support to combat the disease.Directed by Gauri Shinde, theportrays a quiet, sweet tempered housewife who endures small slights from her very well-educated husband and daughter every day because of her inability to speak and understand English, often leading to making her feel unwanted and illiterate. The films star cast includes Sridevi, Adil Hussain and Mehdi Nebbou. It's a beautiful portrayal of the sacrifice and hard work that a mother puts in to raise not only her children but also her entire family without getting any credit.is a perfect comedy-drama with an apt balance of fun and emotions. It revolves around the story of a surrogate who gets attached to the child raising the child up as her own. Starring Kriti Sanon and Pankaj Tripathi, the film displays the unbreakable mother-child relationship that will keep you hooked to the screen.portrays the story of a worried mother who dedicates her entire life to focusing on her son, despite being extremely talented. The film touches topics like womanhood and parenthood and how parents may have a hard time letting go of their children once they come of age. Directed by Pradeep Sarkar, the film stars Kajol, Neha Dhupia and Riddhi sen. At its core the film is dedicated to mothers and their dreams. It narrates the story of thousands of mothers who let go of their dreams and ambitions in order to nurture their children and family to the best of their ability.Directed by Aamir Khan,is a film which portrays the story of an artistically gifted eight-year old boy named Ishaan Awasthi whos poor academic performance leads to him being sent to a boarding school by his parents. Starring Aamir Khan, Darsheel Safary and Tisca Chopra in lead roles, the film explores the patience one needs to have with children in order to understand their problems and help them come out of them.God could not be everywhere so he created mothers.is the perfect reflection of this. Starring Rani Mukerji in the lead, the film is directed by Ashima Chibber. The film revolves around a mother who has immigrated to Norway. Due to strict regulations related to upbringing in the nation, she is separated from her children leading her to commit several offenses to rescue and be with her children. A film that will bring you to tears, it will increase the love and respect you have for your mother.A film that is inspired by the life of a National-level Kabbadi player, Panga follows her success, struggle, and her willpower to overcome stereotypes. It shows the importance of family love and support for one to succeed in life. The film is directed by Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari and stars Kangana Ranaut, Jassie Gill and Richa Chadha in pivotal roles. It focuses on how a former kabaddi player is influenced by her child to become her own person once more. She goes back to playing sports, finding herself in the process.Nil Battey Sannata is a family drama which follows the story of a single mother who acquires education along with daughter as they pass out from school together. It portrays a mothers will power to fulfil her dreams, ones which she left when she took on the responsibility of nurturing a life. The film stars Swara Bhaskar, Riya Shukla and Ratna Pathak Shah in prominent roles.Spending time with your mom is the greatest gift you can give to her. Shower her with love and respect everyday and dont forget to remember the sacrifices she has made for you. A day is not enough to celebrate the importance a mother has in her childs life. So this Mothers Day lets celebrate the very being that a mother is and plan something amazing for her. Even if you do not have plans of gifting her something she likes or a day full of fun activities, just put on your pyjamas, get your blankets ready and prepare a tub of hot popcorn as the above mentioned list of films will strengthen the unwavering bond between a mother and her child. These films are not only entertaining to watch but also redefine the true societal definition of a mother.
KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / Avant Brands Inc. (TSX:AVNT)(OTCQX:AVTBF)(FRA:1BU0) ("Avant" or the "Company"), a leading producer of innovative and award-winning cannabis products, announces the planned departure of Mr. David Lynn, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, effective July 5, 2024.

Since 2018, Mr. Lynn has been instrumental in the construction and scale-up of the Company's operating facilities, developing Avant's incredible team of 175+ employees, while leading the domestic and international sales strategies. Additionally, Mr. Lynn has cultivated a strong leadership team that will assume his operations, sales, and export-focused responsibilities. Avant greatly appreciates his dedication and significant contributions, which have been foundational to our year-over-year revenue growth.

Norton Singhavon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avant Brands commented: "David has been a key player in our success, helping to streamline our operations and prepare us for future growth. Additionally, we are very pleased to see the succession plan implementation occurring, ensuring a smooth transition. Going forward, we are well-positioned for continued innovation and growth, thanks to the solid groundwork established by David's leadership, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours."

Additionally, in the Management Information Circular, dated April 5, 2024, the Company's Board of Directors nominated Mr. Michael Blady for re-election. The Company announces that Mr. Blady will not stand for re-election at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2024.

About Avant Brands Inc.

Avant is an innovative, market-leading premium cannabis company. Avant has multiple operational production facilities across Canada, which produce high-quality, handcrafted cannabis products based on unique and exceptional cultivars.

Avant offers a comprehensive product portfolio catering to recreational, medical, and export markets. Our renowned consumer brands, including BLK MKT, Tenzo, Cognoscente, flowr and Treehugger, are available in key recreational markets across Canada. Avant's products are distributed globally to Australia, Israel and Germany, with its flagship brand BLK MKT currently being sold in Israel. Additionally, Avant's medical cannabis brand, GreenTec, serves qualified patients nationwide through its GreenTec Medical portal and trusted medical cannabis partners.

Avant is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AVNT) and accessible to international investors through the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX: AVTBF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA: 1BU0). Headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia, Avant operates in strategic locations including British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.

For more information about Avant, including access to investor presentations and details about its consumer brands, please visit www.avantbrands.ca

For further inquiries, please contact:

Investor Relations at Avant Brands Inc.

1-800-351-6358

ir@avantbrands.ca

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements relating to Avant Brands Inc.'s future performance, growth prospects, strategic initiatives, and anticipated outcomes. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as 'may', 'will', 'should', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'could', 'intend', 'target', 'project', 'estimate', 'believe', 'predict', 'potential', 'plan', 'objective', 'contemplate', 'seek', 'aim', 'continue', 'budget', 'forecast', 'projections', 'outlook', 'strategy', 'priority', 'goal', 'aim', 'pursue', 'on track', 'initiative', 'expand', 'maintain', 'monitor' and similar expressions or their negatives.

These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, including but not limited to, the current regulatory environment, market conditions, and Avant Brands Inc.'s business strategies. However, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in consumer preferences, regulatory changes, market competition, and the impact of geopolitical events.

Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks, and uncertainties is not exhaustive. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and may not prove to be accurate. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which they are based will occur.

The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this release, and Avant Brands Inc. undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Avant Brands Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 9, 2024) - Nexus Uranium Corp. (CSE: NEXU) (OTCQB: GIDMF) (FSE: 3H1) (the "Company" or "Nexus") is announces a renewal agreement with MIC Market Information & Content Publishing GmbH ("MIC") (Address: Gerhart-Hauptmann-St. 49b 51379 Leverkusen; email: contact@micpublishing.de; phone: +49 2171-7766628) beginning May 9th, 2024 (the "Agreement") for marketing services which will continue through June 15th, 2024 or until budget exhaustion. Pursuant to the Agreement, MIC will utilize their online programs with the aim of increasing investor awareness and interest in the Company through various online platforms and methods of engagement in consideration of EUR 150,000.

MIC is an independent company which will, as appropriate, provide project management and consulting for an online marketing campaign, coordinate marketing actions, maintain and optimize AdWords campaigns, adapt AdWords bidding strategies, optimize AdWords ads and create and optimize landing pages (the "Marketing Services"). The promotional activity will occur in Europe by email, Facebook, and Google. MIC does not have any prior relationship with the Company, other than previous marketing engagements and the Agreement constitutes an arm's length transaction. To the Company's knowledge, MIC holds no securities of Nexus.

About the Independence Project

The Independence project is located in one of the premiere gold mining jurisdictions, the Battle Mountain mining district of Northern Nevada, and is located entirely within Nevada Gold Mines' Phoenix Mine permitted Plan of Operations. Nevada Gold Mines is a joint venture between Barrick Gold (61.5%) and Newmont (38.5%), which is forecasted to produce between 2.7 to 2.9 million ounces of gold at a cash cost of US$980 - $1,060 per ounce (Source: Nevada Gold Mines 2024 Outlook retrieved from https://www.barrick.com/English/operations/nevada-gold-mines/default.aspx).

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 economic evaluation of the PEA utilized a US$1,700 per ounce gold price assumption to drive a NPV5% of US$17.6M and IRR of 18%. It also demonstrated significant leverage to gold prices, yielding a US$59.6M NPV5% and IRR of 35.9% assuming a gold price of US$2,125 per ounce, which is lower than the current spot price of US$2,385 per ounce.





Table 1: Gold Price Sensitivity

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7273/208682_ca8ee22f94d3091b_001full.jpg

Source: 2022 PEA Technical Report





Figure 1: Independence Gold Project Map

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/7273/208682_ca8ee22f94d3091b_002full.jpg

About Nexus Uranium Corp.

Nexus Uranium Corp. 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, including, but not limited to any future development of the Company's projects.:

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, inherent risks associated with the mining industry and the results of exploration activities and development of mineral properties, stock market volatility and capital market fluctuations, 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/208682

SOURCE: Nexus Uranium Corp.
Department of Commerce, Consuls, Industry, and Businesses Participate in Trade-Focused Event

PORT HUENEME, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / World Trade Week was established in 1935 by President Roosevelt and was created to recognize the importance and benefits of global trade to the local and national economy. This year, the Port of Hueneme welcomed trade partners from around the world with a focus on "Supply Chain and AI" that included Department of Commerce officials and local elected officials as well as business leaders and consuls in attendance to share information focused on the current state of the supply chain, the economy, and artificial intelligence.

11th World Trade Week Event hosted at the Port of Hueneme

The Port's 11th annual World Trade Week event was held on May 2, 2024 at the FATHOMWERX lab located at the Port of Hueneme and welcomed almost 100 people from around the globe with an interest and involvement in international trade.

Drew Rodriguez, Public & Community Relations Senior Representative at the Port of Hueneme, was this year's emcee. Oxnard Harbor District President Celina Zacarias welcomed attendees by stating that international trade is important to the Port of Hueneme and to the region.

"It is my distinct honor to be here to celebrate World Trade Week and its connection to us all here in Ventura County," President Zacarias said. "We are gathered here at the Port of Hueneme-the birthplace of the FATHOMWERX technology lab-to continue to explore the world trade and supply chain landscape and its interconnection to technology and its potential for the Ventura County region."

Celina Zacarias, President of the Oxnard Harbor District Board of Harbor Comissioners, giving welcoming remarks.

Kristin Decas, CEO & Port Director, provided an overview of port operations, the current state of the supply chain, an update on the Port's international trade partners, and the economic impact the Port has on the region.

"Happy World Trade Day!" Decas declared before jumping into her presentation about the Port. "We just came back from a trade mission and had quite an amazing experience in both South Korea and Japan," she said. "We signed two MOUs (memorandum of understanding) and these MOUs really homed in not only on economic development, customer relations, building business, but importantly, about building green corridors and sustainability and moving towards a footprint of decarbonization."

Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director, providing port update.

Trade updates from the Port's global partners from the countries of Mexico, Lithuania, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom shared key information about how their country's traditional exports and emerging markets are fostering growth and investment opportunities.

Ambassador Ricardo Santana, Consulado de Mexico en Oxnard, said: "Our ongoing trade partnership continues to grow. For us, the Port is very important because of its location-strategically situated on the Central Coast of California for its infrastructure with the modern docks, storage facilities, and railway access. In 2022, bilateral trade between Mexico and California amounted to $73.7 billion dollars."

Mantas Zamzickas, Commercial Attache of Lithuania to the USA, Consulate General of Lithuania in Los Angeles, said: "The Port of Klaipeda is the biggest in Lithuania and started a collaboration with the Port of Hueneme just last year. Hopefully, in upcoming years, the (trade) numbers will increase."

Sean Kagan, Senior Trade Policy Advisor, British Consulate-General Los Angeles, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, said: "The U.S. is the U.K.'s largest export market for goods and services, so it is a really important trade relationship for the United Kingdom. U.S./U.K. bilateral invest is worth over $1.5 trillion-supporting more than 2.7 million jobs. It's great to be at a port where you can see that happening. You can see the goods coming in."



Betty Young, Business Development Officer, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said: "We are here to connect international companies to meet many of the rising opportunities in this market and in growing sectors. Hong Kong can facilitate new opportunities in innovation and technology, medical and healthcare, sustainability, and creative."

Trade Updates from Global Partners (Left to Right) Ambassador Ricardo Santana, Consulado de Mexico en Oxnard; Mantas Zamzickas, Commercial Attache of Lithuania to the USA, Consulate General of Lithuania in Los Angeles; Sean Kagan, Senior Trade Policy Advisor, British Consulate-General Los Angeles, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and Betty Young, Business Development Officer, Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

A special pre-recorded welcome message of Grant T. Harris, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis, was shared with attendees: "Enhancing supply chain resiliency is central to our work at the Department of Commerce," he said. "Together, with industry partners like the Port of Hueneme, we are working to address and get ahead of supply chain issues facing American businesses. By building stronger and more resilient supply chains, we will strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness, protect our national security, and support good paying jobs in communities across the country."

This year's keynote speaker was Caroline Kaufman, Industries Team Lead in the Office of Supply Chain Services and the International Trade Administration, which is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce.

Keynote Speaker Caroline Kaufman, Industries Team Lead in the Office of Supply Chain Services (SCS), International Trade Administration, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, delivering speech.

"The Department recognizes the critical role that maritime services and ports such as the Port of Hueneme play in ensuring strong supply chains and the smooth movement of goods throughout the United States and around the world," Kaufman said. "The Department of Commerce has one overarching goal: That goal is to improve America's economic competitiveness. Ports are a critical piece to the resiliency equation."

After a lunch break, Richard Swanson, a Senior Advisor for the Office of the Regional Director - Pacific South Network, U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Maryanne Burke, Director of the U.S. Commercial Service for the U.S. Export Assistance Center office located at the Port of Hueneme, provided a regional update, discussed the District Export Council of Southern California, and shared foreign direct investment information.

The Role of AI In International Trade Roundtable Panel Discussion. (Left to Right) Moderator: Simona Racek, Trade Specialist at EDC SBDC & Co-CEO of TradeZiris; Todd Smith, Founder & CEO of KYG Trade; Vincent Iacopella, EVP Growth & Strategy of Alba Wheels Up International; and Ray Bowman, Director of the Economic Development Collaborative Small Business Development Center (EDC SBDC).

A roundtable discussion moderated by Simona Racek, Trade Specialist at EDC SBDC & Co-CEO of TradeZiris focused on the role of AI in international trade.

"It is a true pleasure to be here and to be joined by three top exports in our Southern California community," Racek said. "What our speakers have in common is that they are already transforming trade operations by applying AI to international trade."

The panel included Todd Smith, Founder & CEO of KYG Trade; Vincent Iacopella, EVP Growth & Strategy of Alba Wheels Up International; and Ray Bowman, Director of the Economic Development Collaborative Small Business Development Center.

To close the event, the Oxnard Harbor District Board of Commissioners presented special awards focused on companies who export goods through the Port of Hueneme.

The Auto Export Achievement was presented to Toyota Motor North America by Celina Zacarias, President of the Oxnard Harbor District, the Container Export Achievement was awarded to Allied Potato by Oxnard Harbor Commissioner Maryanne Rooney, and the EDC World Trade Advocacy Award was awarded to Moorpark College by the Economic Development Center of Ventura County.

A Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Commercial Service was awarded to the Port of Hueneme by Maryanne Burke, Director of the U.S. Commercial Service U.S. Export Assistance Center office at the Port of Hueneme and Richard Swanson, Senior Advisor for the Office of the Regional Director, Pacific South Network, U.S. Commercial Service.

Container Export Achievement awarded to Allied Potato, presented by Mary Anne Rooney, Port of Hueneme Harbor Commissioner, on behalf of the Port of Hueneme.

Auto Export Achievement awarded to Toyota Motor North America, presented by Celina Zacarias, President of the Oxnard Harbor District, Board of Harbor Commissioners, on behalf of the Port of Hueneme.

EDC World Trade Advocacy Award awarded to Moorpark College, presented by Ray Bowman, Director of the Economic Development Collaborative Small Business Development Center (EDC SBDC), on behalf of the Economic Development Center of Ventura County.

U.S. Commercial Service, Certificate of Appreciation awarded to Port of Hueneme, presented by Maryanne Burke, Director of the US Commercial Service U.S. Export Assistance Center office at the Port of Hueneme and Richard Swanson, Senior Advisor for the Office of the Regional Director, Pacific South Network, U.S Commercial Service. Award was received by Port of Hueneme Board of Harbor Comissioners, CEO/Port Director, Port Staff, Port Customers, and Port Partners.

READ MORE ABOUT THE OXNARD WORLD TRADE CENTER HERE: https://www.portofhueneme.org/business/world-trade-center/

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

Public & Government Relations Manager

laustin@portofh.org

(805) 816-8324

SOURCE: Port of Hueneme

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Shenzhen, China--(Newsfile Corp. - May 9, 2024) - Kexing Biopharm recently took an important step forward in cancer therapy. Kexing Biopharm signed a cooperation agreement with Kerui Pharma, a subsidiary of Qingfeng Pharmaceutical Group (hereinafter referred to as "Qingfeng Pharma"), for the international commercialization of Olaparib Tablets. The agreement grants Kexing Biopharm the rights to commercialize Qingfeng Pharma-manufactured Olaparib Tablets in 10 oversea countries.

Olaparib Tablets, as a poly(adenosine diphosphate-ribose) polymerase (PARP) inhibitor, were initially indicated for BRCA-mutated advanced ovarian cancer, and subsequently expanded to ovarian cancer, breast cancer, pancreatic cancer, prostate cancer and other malignancies. It is a first-line therapeutic agent for breast cancer and a first-line maintenance therapy for ovarian cancer recommended by the NCCN clinical guidelines.

Breast cancer and ovarian cancer in females are among the most common types of cancer in the world, with a promising market outlook for breast cancer drugs, estimated to exceed USD 50 billion. For breast cancer treatment, Kexing Biopharm's portfolio includes chemotherapeutics Paclitaxel for injection (Albumin Bound) and Eribulin as chemotherapeutic drugs, also expanding Palbociclib (a CDK4/6 inhibitor with a wider market coverage) as endocrinotherapy, and Trastuzumab and Neratinib (tyrosine kinase inhibitors) as targeted drugs. The recent licensing of Olaparib (a PARP inhibitor) is indicative of ongoing efforts to diversify its offerings for breast cancer in overseas markets.

Kexing Biopharm has been working to expand its reach in overseas markets since 2000, with its flagship self-developed products Human Erythropoietin (EPO) and Human Granulocyte Colony-stimulating Factor (GC) successfully penetrating global markets across an array of countries and regions. Kexing Biopharm's overseas marketing team has drawn on over two decades of experience in international commercialization to craft professional solutions in critical sectors from product registration, market expansion and marketing, to GMP compliance audit. A variety of Kexing Biopharm's products have been approved and are marketed in approximately 40 countries and regions, including Brazil, Indonesia and the Philippines. Since the beginning of 2024, Kexing Biopharm has received numerous on-site GMP inspections by health authorities from various oversea countries. As the company licenses in more new products, its global presence will continue to grow, and mark a bright future.

Kexing Biopharm Co., Ltd.

Haiyan Zheng

kexingbiopharm@kexing.com

www.kexing.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208537

SOURCE: Global News
The 2024 World Brand Moganshan Conference

DEQING, China, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The 2024 World Brand Moganshan Conference (WBS) kicked off on May 10 in the picturesque town of Moganshan, located in Deqing County, eastern China's Zhejiang Province, as the country celebrates the 8th China Brand Day.



Similar to the annual winter gathering of global leaders and elites in Davos, Switzerland, more than 4,000 participants from renowned companies around the world, as well as representatives from governments, international media, global academic institutions, and industry associations, have converged in the renowned destination of Moganshan, renowned for its legendary sword-making heritage. Together, they are exploring the path to brand development.

As a significant driving force in promoting the cultivation of a brand powerhouse, WBS was initiated in 2023 by Xinhua News Agency, China Council for Brand Development, as well as various partners including Zhejiang Province, Huzhou City and Deqing County.

The conference has established an international, authoritative, and professional platform for exploring the historical development patterns of global brands, analyzing the current development trends in the field, and envisioning the future of global brand development. WBS holds a position of great influence as one of China's most significant events centered around brand development.

Under the theme "Brands Bring Better Future for the World", this year's conference will encompass a comprehensive program of over 40 main activities and several supporting events, spanning across three days. In addition to renowned Chinese and global brands showcasing and promoting their products in Moganshan, the conference has also attracted participation from more than one-third of China's provincial-level regions, which seek to present their unique attributes and expand their cooperation networks through various means.

This year's WBS maintains its focus on China, while also emphasizing a global perspective. The diverse range of activities align with current trends and incorporate a global vision. The conference serves as a platform for communication and cooperation between Chinese and foreign brands.

At the opening ceremony and main forum, Joe Weinman, a 5G digital transformation strategist who proposed Cloudonomics, delivered a public lecture on global brand strategy in the age of artificial intelligence.

A series of international events, including an exchange event at lawn between Chinese and foreign entrepreneurs, a forum on the world's Top 500 brand development, a forum on international branding, and a think tank forum on global brand innovation and development, feature global brand topics. These events will analyze the driving role of cultural elements from different countries and regions in the growth of corporate brands, and explore effective strategies for cross-cultural brand communication.

During the conference, the 2024 China Brand Value Information and various rankings will be released, including the unveiling of the brand cases of sponsors and local governments, aiming to establish an authoritative release system in global brand development.

The event has assembled a distinguished gathering of domestic and international experts, scholars, and renowned entrepreneurs who will actively participate in discussions and share their insights on a wide range of topics.

These discussions will delve into the shared characteristics that contribute to the success of global brands, the cultural influences propelling the growth of such brands, and the essential principles that ensure the long-term viability of global brands. This diverse array of intellectual discussions will offer a rich and stimulating exploration of brand development.

"Think globally and aim for building a world-renowned brand," said Nan Cunhui, board chairman of Zhejiang-based CHINT Group Co., Ltd.

From its humble beginnings as a family workshop with only 8 employees to its current presence in over 140 countries and regions, CHINT Group Co., Ltd., founded in 1984, has evolved into a globally renowned provider of smart energy system solutions.

According to Nan, companies must place reliance on technological innovation and foster a sense of craftsmanship in order to enhance product quality and brand value. Simultaneously, it is crucial to consistently broaden the global perspective, reinforce the scope and depth of corporate globalization, and, as a result, augment international influence.

Brand building is a top priority on China's agenda, serving as a strong driver for the country's pursuit of high-quality development, the creation of a high-quality life, and the enhancement of communication and cooperation with the world.

Since 2017, May 10 has been designated as China Brand Day, with WBS emerging as one of the flagship events of this occasion. It is anticipated that Moganshan Town will evolve into the "Davos" of the global branding industry.

According to the official plan, China aims to establish a comprehensive brand system by 2035. This system will encompass numerous corporate, industrial, and regional brands that are recognized for their exceptional quality, notable advantages, and independent intellectual property rights.

This brand system will be strategically positioned, highly competitive, and imbued with vitality, propelling China's overall brand strength to a prominent global position. It will contribute to meeting the increasing aspirations of the population for an improved quality of life.

Source: The 2024 World Brand Moganshan Conference
REGULATED INFORMATION

May 10, 2024, 7:00am CET / 1:00am ET

NYXOAH SA

(Euronext Brussels: NYXH)

Rue Edouard Belin 12, 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert, Belgium

(hereinafter the "Company")

Invitation to attend the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings of the Company

to be held on June 12, 2024

The board of directors of the Company is pleased to invite its securities holders to attend the annual shareholders' meeting of the Company, to be held on Wednesday, June 12, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. CET at the Company's seat, or at such other place as will be indicated prior to such time. The annual shareholders' meeting will be followed immediately by an extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

The Company will also set up a video conference to allow holders of securities of the Company who have duly registered for the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings to follow the meetings remotely and ask questions, as the case may be in writing, during the meetings. The modalities to attend the meetings via video conference will be communicated to the relevant securities holders in due time. The videoconference will not qualify as an electronic communication tool to attend and vote at the shareholders' meetings as referred to in Article 7:137 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, but will be an extra facility for securities holders to follow the shareholders' meetings. Holders of securities wishing to attend the meetings via video conference and also validly vote on the items on the agendas, are invited to exercise their voting rights prior to the shareholders' meetings by following the rules set out in this convening notice, either by voting remotely by mail, or by giving a proxy to a representative of the Company.

In order to facilitate the keeping of the attendance list on the day of the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings, the holders of securities issued by the Company and their representatives are invited to register as from 1:30 p.m. CET.

AGENDA OF THE ANNUAL SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING

Acknowledgement and discussion of:

the statutory annual accounts for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023; the consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023; the annual report of the board of directors on the statutory annual accounts for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023; the annual report of the board of directors on the consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023; the statutory auditor's report on the statutory annual accounts for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023; and the statutory auditor's report on the consolidated financial statements for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023.

1. Approval of the statutory annual accounts for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023 and the proposed allocation of the result





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to approve the annual accounts for the financial year ended on December 31, 2023 and the allocation of the result as proposed by the board of directors.

2. Discharge of directors





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to grant discharge to each of the directors who was in office during the financial year ended on December 31, 2023 for the performance of their mandate during that financial year.

3. Discharge of the statutory auditor





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to grant discharge to the statutory auditor who was in office during the financial year ended on December 31, 2023 for the performance of his mandate during that financial year.

4. Acknowledgement and approval of the remuneration report





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to approve the remuneration report.

Acknowledgement and approval of the amended remuneration policy to allow for a share-based remuneration for the non-executive directors

Upon the recommendation of the remuneration committee, the board of directors proposes to amend the remuneration policy of the Company to allow for the granting of so-called "restricted share units" or "RSUs" to non-executive directors. This RSU remuneration component replaces the existing share-based remuneration in the form of a grant of warrants to non-executive directors as approved by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022. The proposed features of the RSUs are summarized in the proposed amended remuneration policy.

Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to approve (a) the amended remuneration policy, (b) the granting to non-executive directors of "restricted share units" or "RSUs" as further described in the amended remuneration policy, whereby the RSUs shall be awarded for the first time as of the date of this shareholders' meeting, and (c) the cancellation as of the date of this shareholders' meeting of the current warrant component of the non-executive directors' remuneration as approved by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

Appointment of Robelga SRL (permanently represented by Robert Taub) as director

Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to appoint Robelga SRL, permanently represented by Robert Taub, as director of the Company until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Robelga SRL will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

1. Reappointment of Jurgen Hambrecht as independent director





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Jurgen Hambrecht as an independent director of the Company within the meaning of Article 7:87 of the CCA and provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code, until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Jurgen Hambrecht will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

2. Reappointment of Kevin Rakin as independent director





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Kevin Rakin as an independent director of the Company within the meaning of Article 7:87 of the CCA and provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code, until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Kevin Rakin will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

3. Reappointment of Rita Johnson-Mills as independent director





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Rita Johnson-Mills as an independent director of the Company within the meaning of Article 7:87 of the CCA and provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code, until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Rita Johnson-Mills will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

4. Reappointment of Virginia Kirby as independent director





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Virginia Kirby as an independent director of the Company within the meaning of Article 7:87 of the CCA and provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code, until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Virginia Kirby will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

5. Reappointment of Wildman Ventures LLC (permanently represented by Daniel Wildman) as independent director





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Wildman Ventures LLC, permanently represented by Daniel Wildman, as an independent director of the Company within the meaning of Article 7:87 of the CCA and provision 3.5 of the 2020 Belgian Corporate Governance Code, until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Wildman Ventures LLC will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

6. Reappointment of Pierre Gianello as director

Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Pierre Gianello as director of the Company until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Pierre Gianello will be remunerated as provided for the non-executive members of the board of directors in the Company's remuneration policy as adopted by the shareholders' meeting and, as concerns the cash remuneration, as decided by the annual shareholders' meeting of June 8, 2022.

7. Reappointment of Olivier Taelman as director

Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to reappoint Olivier Taelman as director of the Company until the annual shareholders' meeting to be held in 2025. The mandate of Olivier Taelman will not be remunerated.

AGENDA OF THE EXTRAORDINARY SHAREHOLDERS' MEETING

Acknowledgment and discussion of the special report by the board of directors drawn up in accordance with article 7:199 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations relating to the proposal to renew the authorized capital

8.Renewal of the authorization to the board of directors to increase the share capital within the framework of the authorized capital

Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting resolves to renew the authorization to the board of directors to increase the share capital in one or several times, during a period of five (5) years as from the publication in the Annexes to the Belgian Official Gazette of this authorization, with an aggregate amount equal to EUR 3,436,000, and this in accordance with the terms and conditions set forth in the special report of the board of directors prepared in accordance with Article 7:199 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, as referred to in agenda item 1 of this extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

Consequently, the shareholders' meeting resolves to delete the first and second paragraph of Article 7 ("Authorized capital") of the articles of association of the Company entirely and to replace such first and second paragraph of Article 7 respectively with the following text (whereby (i) the date referred to between brackets in the second paragraph shall be the date of the shareholders' meeting approving the renewed authorized capital, and (ii) the other provisions of Article 7 remain in place and are re-approved):

A)text of the first paragraph: "The board of directors is authorized to increase the capital of the company on one or several occasions in accordance with the Code of Companies and Associations by a maximum aggregate amount of EUR 3,436,000."

B)text of the second paragraph: "This authorization is valid for a period of five years as from the date of publication in the Annexes to the Belgian State Gazette of an extract of the minutes of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of the company of [date of the shareholders' meeting approving the renewed authorized capital]."

5. Power of attorney to the notary





Proposed decision : The shareholders' meeting decides to grant the acting notary, and any other notary of "Berquin Notarissen", all powers to draw up and sign a restated version of the articles of association of the Company and to file them in the appropriate data base in accordance with applicable law.

ADMISSION FORMALITIES AND PARTICIPATION IN THE SHAREHOLDERS' MEETINGS

In order to attend the shareholders' meetings on June 12, 2024, the holders of shares and subscription rights are requested to comply with articles 26 and 27 of the Company's articles of association and the following formalities.

If the attendance quorum required pursuant to Article 7:153 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations is not met at the extraordinary shareholders' meeting of June 12, 2024, a second extraordinary shareholders' meeting will be convened on Monday, July 1, 2024 at 2:00 p.m. CET, to deliberate and resolve on the agenda items of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting regardless of the share capital present or represented by the shareholders.

The holders of subscription rights issued by the Company can, in accordance with Article 7:135 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations only attend the shareholders' meetings with a consultative vote.

In order to be able to participate in the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings, a holder of securities issued by the Company must satisfy two conditions: (a) be registered as holder of such securities on the registration date and (b) notify the Company, as described below.

Registration date

The registration date is May 29, 2024 at midnight (Belgian time). Only persons registered as securities holders on that date and time will be entitled to attend and (if they are shareholders) vote at the meetings. The number of securities held by the securities holder on the day of the meetings will not be taken into account.

Holders of registered shares or subscription rights must be registered in the Company's share register or subscription rights register, as the case may be, by midnight (Belgian time) on May 29, 2024.





Holders of dematerialized shares must deliver, or have delivered, to the Company, at the latest on June 6, 2024 at midnight (Belgian time), a certificate issued by the authorized account holder or by the settlement institution certifying the number of dematerialized shares registered in the name of the shareholder in its accounts on the registration date, for which the shareholder has declared his intention to participate in the meetings. This certificate must be sent to the Company by e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com.





Intention to participate in the meetings

The securities holders must inform the board of directors of the Company by e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com no later than June 6, 2024, of their intention to participate in the meetings, indicate the number of securities for which they intend to vote, and, for holders of dematerialized shares, present proof of their registration as a shareholder on the registration date.

In order to attend the meetings, securities holders and proxy holders must prove their identity and representatives of legal entities must submit documents establishing their identity and their power of representation, at the latest immediately before the start of the meetings.

Voting by proxy or by mail

Shareholders can exercise their voting rights prior to the meetings either (i) by voting by mail or (ii) by giving a proxy to a representative of the Company.

If shareholders vote by proxy, the proxy holder will be a representative of the Company. This proxy holder may only exercise the voting right in accordance with the voting instructions contained in the proxy.

The proxy voting form and the form for voting by mail approved by the Company must be used for this purpose. These forms can be downloaded from the Company's website> Shareholders' Meetings).

If shareholders vote by proxy or by mail, they must, in addition to the above formalities, send by e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com a duly completed and signed proxy voting form or form for voting by mail. These documents must reach the Company no later than June 6, 2024.

Note that the proxy voting forms and the forms for voting by mail may be signed by using an electronic signature as provided for in Article 7:143  2 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations.

Participation in the virtual shareholders' meetings

Securities holders wishing to participate remotely, virtually and in real time, to the Company's annual and extraordinary shareholders' meetings are required to confirm their participation and communicate their e-mail address to the Company by June 6, 2024 at the latest by e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com.

A few days before the shareholders' meetings, securities holders who have completed this formality will receive by e-mail (at the address they will have communicated to the Company) a link, and as the case may be a user name and a password, enabling them to follow and participate in the shareholders' meetings via their computer, tablet or smartphone.

Just before the start of the shareholders' meetings, the securities holders will have to click on the link that will have been previously communicated to them by e-mail, and as the case may be enter their user name and password, in order to join the virtual shareholders' meetings.

Securities holders attending the virtual shareholders' meetings will have the opportunity to view the live broadcast of the meetings in real time and to ask questions to the directors, as the case may be in writing, during the meetings regarding the items on the agenda.

New agenda items, proposed decisions and right to ask questions

Shareholders holding at least 3% of the capital who wish to request the inclusion of new items on the agenda or to submit proposals for decision must, in addition to the above formalities, establish on the date of their request proof of ownership of the required participation in the capital and send the text of the agenda items and the proposed decisions by e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com no later than May 21, 2024. The request must also mention the e-mail address to which the Company will send the confirmation of receipt of the request.

The case being, the revised agenda will be published no later than May 28, 2024.

Shareholders who wish to do so may send any questions they may have to the Company, relating solely to the agendas of the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings, by e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com, no later than June 6, 2024. The answers to these questions will be provided during the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings in accordance with applicable law.

Documentation

All documents concerning the annual and the extraordinary shareholders' meetings that are required by law to be made available, as well as the total number of shares and voting rights outstanding, are available on the Company's website on: https://investors.nyxoah.com/shareholder-information. The documents are also available at the seat of the Company and can only be consulted by appointment made by e-mail (shareholders@nyxoah.com). Shareholders may also obtain a hard copy of these documents free of charge by sending an e-mail to shareholders@nyxoah.com.

The aforementioned formalities, as well as the instructions on the Company's website and on the proxy voting forms and forms for voting by mail must be strictly observed.

Various

Quorum : There is no particular quorum requirement for the deliberation and voting of the decisions proposed in the agenda of the annual shareholders' meeting.

In accordance with Article 7:153 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, at least 50% of the share capital must be present or represented for the deliberation and voting on the decisions proposed in item 2 of the agenda of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting.

Voting : Each share entitles the holder to one vote.

Majority : In accordance with applicable law, the decisions proposed in the agenda of the annual shareholders' meeting and the decisions proposed in the agenda of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting, other than agenda item 2, will be adopted if they are approved by a simple majority of the votes validly cast by the shareholders present or represented at the relevant shareholders' meeting. In accordance with Article 7:153 of the Belgian Code of Companies and Associations, the decisions proposed in item 2 of the agenda of the extraordinary shareholders' meeting will be adopted if they are approved by 75% of the votes validly cast by the shareholders present or represented. Blank votes and abstentions are not taken into account.

Personal data : The Company is responsible for the processing of personal data that it receives or collects from holders of securities issued by the Company and agents in connection with the Company's shareholders' meetings.

The processing of such data will be carried out for the purpose of organizing and holding the relevant shareholders' meeting, including convening, registration, attendance and voting, as well as maintaining lists or registers of securities holders and for purposes of analysis of the Company's securities holders' base.

The data includes, but is not limited to, the following: identification data, the number and nature of a holder's securities issued by the Company, proxies and voting instructions. This information may also be transferred to third parties for the purpose of assisting or servicing the Company in connection with the foregoing.

The processing of such data will be carried out, mutatis mutandis, in accordance with the Company's privacy notice available on the Company's website: https://www.nyxoah.com/privacy-notice-nyxoah.

The Company draws the attention of holders of securities issued by the Company and agents to the description of the rights they may have as data subjects, such as, inter alia, the right of inspection, the right to rectify and the right to object to processing, which are set out in the section entitled "What rights can you exercise?" of the aforementioned privacy notice.

All this is without prejudice to the applicable rules on registration, use of information and participation in shareholders' meetings in order to exercise your rights as a data subject. For any other information relating to the processing of personal data by or on behalf of the Company, the Company can be contacted by e-mail at privacy@nyxoah.com.

The board of directors

Attachment
Exact Sciences, a leading provider of cancer screening and diagnostic tests, today announced that the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has recommended the expanded use of the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score test to more effectively target chemotherapy treatment for women who have hormone receptor-positive (HR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative (HER2-), early-stage breast cancer involving up to three positive nodes and who have been through the menopause. NICE confirmed that breast cancer patients who are male and trans, non-binary or intersex may benefit from the test depending on their hormonal profile. The recommendation has the potential to impact more than 3000 additional breast-cancer patients in England who will now have access to the test through the National Health Service (NHS).1

The new guidance expands upon earlier NICE recommendations for testing patients without lymph node involvement. Access to genomic testing for patients with lymph node-positive breast cancer addresses the issue of overtreatment with chemotherapy, helping many patients to avoid treatment side effects such as nausea, fatigue, hair loss and potentially secondary cancer. In addition, expanded reimbursement has the potential to free up resources and capacity within NHS breast cancer services.

Dr Caroline Archer, consultant medical oncologist Portsmouth Hospital NHS Trust said: "This is a practice-changing moment for node-positive patients and the NHS. There is an urgent need to target chemotherapy more precisely to those most likely to benefit from it, so that patients can avoid unnecessary side effects. The Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score result enables us to do this effectively by providing specific information about an individual's response to chemotherapy. This positive recommendation marks a significant step forward in supporting equitable access to the test across the country."

While the majority of patients with lymph node-positive early-stage breast cancer receive chemotherapy, research shows that only a minority benefit from the treatment. The Oncotype DX test is the only test able to identify around 85% of postmenopausal patients whose cancer outcomes are not likely improved by chemotherapy, meaning they can avoid the risk of side effects.2,3,4

A recent independent UK multi-centre trial led by Prof Holt involving 680 women with lymph node-positive early breast cancer confirmed that using the Oncotype DX test to help guide chemotherapy treatment decisions leads to a substantial reduction in unnecessary chemotherapy, as well as savings for the NHS.5

Prof Simon Holt, Health and Life Science, Swansea University Peony Breast Care Unit, Prince Philip Hospital said:

"This decision to recommend the use of the Oncotype DX test to guide chemotherapy decisions in early node positive breast cancer will be of great benefit to our postmenopausal patients and to the NHS. The use of the test will reduce the suffering and inconvenience by sparing up to 85% of people unnecessary chemotherapy, which in turn, then reduces the care demands on Oncology services. It also reduces significantly the cost of treatment so that NHS resources can be redistributed to other medical priorities.

Also, our research has shown that the use of the Oncotype DX test means both clinicians and their patients will have much greater confidence in their chemotherapy decisions."

The test's efficacy is also supported by the landmark TAILORx6 and RxPONDER7 studies, which demonstrated that most patients with either node-negative or node-positive early-stage breast cancer do not benefit from chemotherapy and can be reliably identified using the Oncotype DX test.

Matt Bull, Head of Northern Europe (UK, Ireland and Nordics) at Exact Sciences, added: "We are delighted that more patients with node-positive breast cancer will now also benefit from knowing their Recurrence Score result. We are proud of the potential impact the expanded use of the Oncotype DX test will have better patient treatment, improved clinical confidence and less pressure on the health service."

About the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score test

The Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score test is designed to facilitate personalised clinical decisions by providing information about the biology of an individual breast cancer, with the potential to deliver financial benefits for healthcare systems. The test was first made available to patients in 2004, and over 1,5 million patients around the world have benefited from it. It is incorporated in major breast cancer treatment guidelines, including those of the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) and the St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference, as well as the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) in the U.S.

To learn more about the test, visit: https://www.oncotypeiq.com/en

About Exact Sciences

A leading provider of cancer screening and diagnostic tests, Exact Sciences gives patients and health care professionals the clarity needed to take life-changing action earlier. Building on the success of the Cologuard and Oncotype tests, Exact Sciences is investing in its pipeline to develop innovative solutions for use before, during, and after a cancer diagnosis. For more information, visit https://www.exactsciences.com, follow Exact Sciences on X (formerly known as Twitter) @ExactSciences, or find Exact Sciences on LinkedIn and Facebook.

NOTE: Oncotype, Oncotype DX, Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score and Recurrence Score are trademarks or registered trademarks of Genomic Health, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Exact Sciences Corporation. Exact Sciences and Cologuard are trademarks or registered trademarks of Exact Sciences Corporation. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.

1 Tumour profiling tests to guide adjuvant chemotherapy decisions for lymph node-positive early breast cancer [DG58], NICE Resource impact tool, May 2024: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/dg58/resources/resource-impact-template-excel-13425543901

2 Bello et al. Ann Surg Oncol. 2018.

3 Zhang et al. Breast Can Res Treat. 2020.

4 Stemmer et al. npj Breast Cancer. 2017.

5 Holt et al. British Journal of Cancer, 2024 pp. 1-8

6 Sparano et al. N Engl J Med. 2018

7 Kalinsky et al. New Engl J Med. 2021

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240510861568/en/

Contacts:

Media:

Federico Maiardi

+41 79-138-13-26

fmaiardi@exactsciences.com
From breakfast with giraffes to art classes at Louvre Abu Dhabi

One Summer Isn't Enough

ABU DHABI, UAE, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Planning your summer holidays, and looking for a unique mix of culture, adventure, and inspiration? Then Abu Dhabi is the destination for you! With the summer season just around the corner, Experience Abu Dhabi has introduced 101 Abu Dhabi Do's to bring your travel plans to life, unveiling the vast diversity of what the emirate has to offer like never before.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click: https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/9260551-get-inspired-for-summer-with-101-abu-dhabi-dos/.

From creating art beneath Louvre Abu Dhabi's iconic dome to driving on an F1 track at Yas Marina Circuit, visitors can blend relaxation, discovery, and excitement across the 101 experiences, each creating lasting memories across a packed summer season.

Every moment in Abu Dhabi is rooted in Emirati hospitality, with culture at the heart of every experience - each more enticing than the last. 101 Abu Dhabi Do's is more than just a list of experiences, it is a curated selection of enriching moments that highlight opportunities for adventure and discovery at every turn.

Are you ready for the best summer ever? Here are 10 experiences to kickstart your inspiration:

#45Art tours from a new POV

Louvre Abu Dhabi is a work of art best viewed from the water

Blend art, history and adventure with an on-the-water experience, kayaking around the iconic Louvre Abu Dhabi dome. The region's first universal museum is surrounded by water, where you can catch sunset views.

Louvre Abu Dhabi, Saadiyat Island

#83 Take the plunge

Scuba dive with more than 330+ species at The National Aquarium

If you're looking for aquatic adventures, head to Al Qana and visit The National Aquarium, where you can dive into the underwater realm and partake in an exhilarating swim with sharks, rays, and thousands underwater animals.

The National Aquarium, Al Qana

#30 Wake up on the wild side

Book breakfast with a giraffe at Emirates Park Zoo

Elevate your morning with a one-of-a-kind adventure, dining with some of nature's most incredible mammals - along with guided tour, and so much more.

Emirates Park Zoo, Al Bahya

#41 Learn centuries-old skills

Through the generations, House of Artisans keeps vibrant traditions alive

At this centre dedicated to Emirati crafts, visitors can not only purchase handmade mementoes, they can also participate in living traditions such as Sadu, Khoos and Talli handicrafts.

House of Artisans, Al Hosn

#87 Outwit a true trickster

Test your limits at the Joker's Funhouse

With mind-bending tricks, tests and surprises, kids and families will encounter The Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Penguin, and many more of Gotham City's most infamous residents.

Warner Bros. World Abu Dhabi, Yas Island

#61 Step into the spotlight

More than 50 projectors light up Qasr Al Watan for an audiovisual spectacle

Delve into the nation's history and culture and wander through majestic halls, taking in the best of Arabian craftsmanship. Afterwards, enjoy the stunning nightly light show projected onto the exterior of the palace's walls.

Qasr Al Watan, Abu Dhabi Corniche

#94 Roadtrip at 120mph

Power around an F1 circuit with the Formula Yas 3000 experience

Boasting a V6 Jaguar engine, this powerful race car is the closest thing to an F1 car that most people will ever drive. Test your skills on a legendary track with top speeds of up to 275km/h.

Yas Marina Circuit, Yas Island

#71 Weave your way through a masterpiece

Walk on the world's largest hand-woven carpet at the UAE's largest mosque

The predominantly wool, single-piece carpet is 5,400 square metres and was hand-crafted by approximately 1,200 artisans. The total project took two years, including eight months for the design and 12 months for the knotting.

Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque

#22 Drop in from 104 feet high

Try the world's biggest indoor flight chamber at CLYMB

Whether you're an absolute beginner or an expert flyer, dedicated instructors will guide you throughout this thrilling experience. The flight chamber measures 32 feet wide and a record-breaking 104 feet high.

CLYMB Abu Dhabi, Yas Island

#4 Become a ninja warrior

Take on the inflatable arena at Air Maniax in Yas Mall

Take on family and friends with this test of balance, strength, speed, and agility. Jump and swing your way around the course before tackling the inflatable arena - and a huge variety of obstacles.

Air Maniax, Yas MallTop of Form

Listed in alphabetical order by location, the 101 Abu Dhabi Do's allow visitors to discover Abu Dhabi's hidden treasures and a wide variety of experiences, from the known to the unknown.

Discover the full list of 101 Abu Dhabi Do's!

Whether you are planning a solo trip to reconnect with yourself, spending time unwinding with your partner, or and creating long-lasting memories with family, you are sure to have a memorable time in Abu Dhabi this summer.

The full list of 101 Abu Dhabi Do's is now live, ready to guide your next travel adventure - with more experiences than can be discovered in just one summer.

www.visitabudhabi.ae

About the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi:

The Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi (DCT Abu Dhabi) drives the sustainable growth of Abu Dhabi's culture and tourism sectors and its creative industries, fuelling economic progress and helping to achieve Abu Dhabi's wider global ambitions.

By working in partnership with the organisations that define the emirate's position as a leading international destination, DCT Abu Dhabi strives to unite the ecosystem around a shared vision of the emirate's potential, coordinate effort and investment, deliver innovative solutions, and use the best tools, policies and systems to support the culture and tourism industries.

DCT Abu Dhabi's vision is defined by the emirate's people, heritage and landscape. We work to enhance Abu Dhabi's status as a place of authenticity, innovation, and unparalleled experiences, represented by its living traditions of hospitality, pioneering initiatives and creative thought.

For more information about the Department of Culture and Tourism - Abu Dhabi and the destination, please visit: dct.gov.ae and visitabudhabi.ae.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2379551/DCT_Abu_Dhabi.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2239093/4629993/Experience_Abu_Dhabi_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/get-inspired-for-summer-with-101-abu-dhabi-dos-302142133.html
LONDON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, today announced that its ambitious targets for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This milestone underscores ViewSonic's commitment to environmental sustainability and its proactive role in combating climate change.

Near-Term Target for Climate Action

ViewSonic has committed to significantly reducing its carbon footprint by targeting a 42% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030, from a 2021 baseline. The company also aims to reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services and the use of sold products by 42% within the same timeframe. These targets align with the SBTi's stringent criteria to keep global temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, consistent with the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement.

Long-Term Vision for Net-Zero

In pursuit of broader environmental goals, ViewSonic aims to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across its entire value chain by 2050. This long-term commitment is part of ViewSonic's strategy to integrate sustainability into all aspects of its operations and business ethos.

"Receiving SBTi validation for our GHG emissions reduction targets is a testament to our dedication to creating a more sustainable future," said James Chu, CEO of ViewSonic. "As a technology leader, we believe it is our responsibility to lead by example in the transition to a low-carbon economy. These validated targets not only reflect our commitment but also set a clear and science-driven path for our climate action strategy."

Innovative and Sustainable Solutions

The commitment to sustainability is further supported by ISO 14064 certification, affirming the rigorous approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. ViewSonic excels in creating energy-efficient products, highlighted by their EPEAT Silver-certified ViewBoard interactive displays and commercial displays, and ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2024 recognized monitors. ViewSonic also leads in eco-friendly innovation with lamp-free LED and laser projectors, which contain no mercury and significantly reduce environmental impact. For more information on ViewSonic's efforts and commitments, visit our ESG initiatives at ViewSonic's ESG webpage.

About ViewSonic

Founded in 1987 in California, ViewSonic is a leading global visual solutions provider with a presence in over 100 countries. The company leverages over 35 years of expertise in visual technology to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of hardware, software, content, and services. ViewSonic offers a wide range of products, with screen sizes spanning from 5 inches to a massive 760 inches. This includes interactive displays, large format displays, LED displays, pen displays, monitors, projectors, SaaS, AI services, interactive content, and more. This innovative ecosystem empowers education, workplaces, and individuals to foster creativity, collaboration, and seamless learning. ViewSonic focuses on designing products that deliver optimal performance and customer satisfaction while integrating sustainable production practices and upholding comprehensive environmental, social, and governance standards. The company's goal is to enable customers to "See the Difference". Learn more at www.viewsonic.com.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2407584/ViewSonic_aims_to_achieve_net_zero_GHG_emissions_across_its_entire_value_chain_by_2050.jpg

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2407585/ViewSonic_s_targets_for_achieving_net_zero_greenhouse_gas__GHG__emissions_by_2050_have_been_validate.jpg

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1587181/Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/viewsonic-achieves-sbti-validation-for-net-zero-emissions-by-2050-302141231.html
Road Town, British Virgin Islands--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - In a significant move for cryptocurrency enthusiasts, LBank Exchange, a premier global digital asset trading platform, has announced the listing of Sinso Filx (FILX) on May 9, 2024. Users of LBank Exchange can brace themselves for the FILX/USDT trading pair, which went live already.

FILX Listing Banner

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8831/208710_1dfb4b44146bb9de_001full.jpg

Sinso Filx (FILX) is a decentralized edge computing and data processing network that leverages Interplanetary Consensus (IPC) to rebuild the existing Sinsov1 gateway into an IPC subnet of Filecoin, enhancing cache acceleration services and constructing the Layer2 architecture of the Filecoin multi-layer subnet.

Introducing Sinso Filx: Enhancing Filecoin with advanced IPC-driven caching and Layer2 solutions

LBank Exchange is thrilled to announce the listing of Sinso Filx(FILX), representing an advanced decentralized edge computing and data processing network, part of the broader SINSO ecosystem, which leverages the Filecoin network to enhance data storage and governance solutions. This network uses the Interplanetary Consensus (IPC) and aims to transform the existing Sinsov1 gateway into an IPC subnet. The primary goal of SINSO FILX is to provide cache acceleration and build a robust Layer2 architecture, significantly enhancing the capabilities and efficiency of the Filecoin multi-layer subnet.

At the heart of the SINSO FILX system are various components designed to streamline and secure the storage and management of data across decentralized networks. This includes the development of efficient data gateways and layers that ensure quick and secure access and interaction with the Filecoin network. These technologies cater to a wide range of applications, from GameFi and VR to high-speed CDN and DAPP responses, emphasizing versatility and performance in high-demand scenarios.

The SINSO FILX token underpins the economic activities within the network, providing a means for transactions, governance, and incentive mechanisms. This token is integral to fostering participation and growth within the SINSO ecosystem, ensuring that developers, content creators, and users engage in a sustainable and mutually beneficial digital economy. As such, SINSO FILX not only facilitates the technological advancement of decentralized storage solutions but also supports a thriving community focused on leveraging blockchain technology for innovative data governance.

About FILX Token

Based on ERC20, FILX has a total supply of 100 million (i.e. 100,000,000). The FILX token distribution is as follows: 2% for Consumption & Combustion, 10% for Token Sales, 10% allocated to the Team & Advisors, 8% to the Reserve & Foundation, 60% dedicated to the Pool & Ecosystem, and 10% for Marketing & Community. The FILX token is poised for its debut on LBank Exchange at 10:00 UTC on May 9, 2024. Investors who are interested in FILX can easily buy and sell on LBank Exchange now.

Learn More about FILX Token:

Official Website: https://www.sinso.io/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/sinsonetwork

Telegram: https://t.me/filxnetwork

Contract: https://etherscan.io/token/0x7D0ce6F744ebfE2Ea039b9a9A77D5c3075F275b9

About LBank

LBank is one of the top crypto exchanges, established in 2015. It offers specialized financial derivatives, expert asset management services, and safe crypto trading to its users. The platform holds over 9 million users from more than 210 regions across the world. LBank is a cutting-edge growing platform that ensures the integrity of users' funds and aims to contribute to the global adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Start Trading Now: lbank.com

Community & Social Media:

l Telegram

l Twitter

l LinkedIn

l YouTube

Press contact:

press@lbank.com

Business Contact:

LBK Blockchain Co. Limited

LBank Exchange

marketing@lbank.com

business@lbank.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208710

SOURCE: LBank
Erinnern Sie sich, als Moderna und BioNTech von unbekannten Unternehmen zu globalen Marktfuhrern wurden und fruhzeitige Investoren reich belohnt haben?



Die Branche steht vor einem erneuten Innovationsschub  von bahnbrechenden Medikamenten bis hin zu revolutionaren Therapien.



Warum sollten Sie dabei sein?



Sie sollten jetzt in Biotech-Aktien einsteigen, weil wir am Beginn einer neuen Ara der medizinischen Innovation stehen konnten! Gen- und Zelltherapien, personalisierte Medizin und bahnbrechende Technologien konnten das Gesundheitswesen revolutionieren  und die Aktienkurse in die Hohe schieen lassen.



Die nachste Erfolgsgeschichte im Biotechbereich warten nur darauf, entdeckt zu werden. Wer jetzt investiert, hat die Chance, von gigantischen Durchbruchen und enormen Renditen zu profitieren. Warten Sie nicht, bis es zu spat ist - der nachste Biotech-Superstar konnte morgen schon durchstarten!



Verpassen Sie nicht diese Chance!



Fordern Sie sofort unseren brandneuen Biotech-Spezialreport an und erfahren Sie, welche 3 Biotech-Aktien das riesige Potenzial haben, Ihren finanziellen Erfolg zu sichern. Dieser Report ist komplett kostenlos und zeigt Ihnen zukunftstrachtige Investments im Biotech-Sektor.



Handeln Sie jetzt und sichern Sie sich Ihren kostenfreien Report!
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!
NINGBO, China, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ningbo, a famous port city in China, has added a window for foreign exchanges. Ningbo International Communication Center was unveiled on May 8, 2024. Video congratulations were also sent by Irina Bokova, former Director-General of UNESCO; Georgios Papandreou, former Prime Minister of Greece; Long Yongtu, former Secretary-General of the Boao Forum; Maitre Khalid EL Fataoui, President of the Moroccan Chinese Association for Cultural and Economic Revitalization. Over 200 Chinese and foreign guests, including Evandro Carvalho, recipient of the Chinese Government Friendship Award and Director of the Research Collective for Brazil-China Studies; Vincent Lemarchand, Honorary Citizen of Ningbo and president of the Rouen-Ningbo Friendship Committee, have attended the event.

Ningbo has always been an open city that connects China with the outside world. As a richly cultured "National Historical and Cultural City" and the "East Asian Cultural Capital", Ningbo has more than 8,000 years of accumulation of heritage, baptism of culture, and edification of civilization, making the unique marine culture, culture of Wang Yangming's theories, book collection culture and other genes deeply rooted in the city's bloodline. As a famous port city, Ningbo Zhoushan Port has ranked first in the world in cargo throughput for 15 consecutive years.

The newly unveiled Ningbo International Communication Center will focus on "NB-PLUS", serve foreign exchanges, cultivate foreign exchange industries, and promote the integration of industrial chains, innovation chains, and production chains. At the unveiling ceremony, the "Opportunity China  Dialogue with World" platform was launched. More than 150 Chinese-foreign cultural exchange activities in 12 categories such as performances, books, exhibitions, and archives are planned to be carried out during the year. The exchange program "Read China  New Youth" is launched, including "Young Foreigners touring in Zhejiang", "Travelling with the Young", "Inviting the Young to the Practice", "The Petrel Youth to the Rural Area", etc., will link more than 30 countries and regions such as the United States, Britain, Germany, Central and Eastern Europe, building a platform for exchanges and interaction between young people from Ningbo and overseas.

Professor Jon Garibaldi, Provost of University of Nottingham Ningbo China, said: "This is a great opportunity for both China and the UK. At present, we have cooperated with China to establish a campus and carry out teaching. I would like to take the advantage of this opportunity to allow us both to have more research and cooperation in the future. This opportunity allows me to see a very bright future."

Contact Person:

Zhou Fangjia

Tel: 0086-13968380517

Email: 41710465@qq.com

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2409610/Ningbo.jpg

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2409685/Ningbo_Logo.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/the-renowned-port-city-of-ningbo-reopened-the-window-for-international-exchanges-with-unveiled-ningbo-international-communication-center-302142222.html
CHICAGO, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The report "Medical Polymer Market by type (Medical plastics, Medical elastomers), Application (Medical Disposables, Medical Instruments and Devices, Prosthetics, Diagnostics Instruments and Tools), Manufacturing Technology, and Region - Global Forecast to 2029", is expected to grow at a CAGR of 8.0% during the forecast period, from an estimated USD 41.1 billion in 2024 to USD 60.5 billion by 2029.

The growth of the medical polymer market is fueled by several key factors. Technological advancements, especially in areas like 3D printing and nanotechnology, have expanded the possibilities for medical polymer applications. Increasing awareness about infection control and patient safety has led to the development of antimicrobial and biocompatible polymers. Moreover, the trend towards personalized medicine and minimally invasive procedures drives the demand for specialized polymers that offer precise properties. Additionally, environmental concerns are pushing the industry towards bio-based and sustainable polymers, further driving market growth.

Browse in-depth TOC on "Medical Polymer Market"

341 - Tables

56 - Figures

439 - Pages

Download PDF Brochure: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/pdfdownloadNew.asp?id=211635984

Medical Plastics, by type, is expected to be the most significant medical polymer market segment during the forecast period.

Medical plastics are poised to maintain the most significant market share in the medical polymer market due to their unparalleled versatility and suitability for a wide range of medical applications. The demand for medical plastics is driven by their exceptional properties such as biocompatibility, durability, and ease of sterilization, which are crucial for medical device manufacturing. Additionally, the ongoing advancements in polymer engineering continue to enhance the performance and functionality of medical plastics, making them indispensable in modern healthcare settings. Moreover, the shift towards disposable medical products and the rising demand for minimally invasive procedures further propel the adoption of medical plastics, solidifying their position as the dominant type in the medical polymer market.

Medical Instruments & devices is anticipated to be the most significant medical polymer market segment, by application, during the forecast period.

The medical instruments and devices application segment is poised to capture the most significant market share in the medical polymer market due to several compelling factors. Firstly, the increasing demand for advanced medical technologies and the growing prevalence of chronic diseases are driving the need for innovative medical devices and instruments. These devices require materials with specific properties like biocompatibility, stabilizability, and chemical resistance, all of which medical polymers can provide. Additionally, the trend towards minimally invasive procedures is driving the development of lightweight and durable medical devices, further boosting the demand for medical polymers in this segment. Furthermore, ongoing technological advancements in medical polymer formulations and manufacturing processes are enhancing the performance and reliability of medical instruments and devices, reinforcing their dominance in the market.

Request Sample Pages: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/requestsampleNew.asp?id=211635984

Extrusion tubing is anticipated to be the most significant medical polymer market segment, by manufacturing technology, during the forecast period.

Extrusion tubing manufacturing technology is poised to maintain the most significant market share in the manufacturing technology segment of the medical polymer market due to its efficiency, versatility, and cost-effectiveness. This technology enables the production of precise and uniform medical tubing with a wide range of properties such as flexibility, transparency, and biocompatibility, meeting the diverse needs of medical applications. The customizable nature of extrusion processes allows for tailored tubing dimensions, wall thickness, and material compositions, ensuring compatibility with various medical devices and procedures. Additionally, the scalability and mass production capabilities of extrusion technology make it highly favorable for manufacturers seeking efficient solutions for medical polymer components. These factors collectively contribute to the dominance of extrusion tubing manufacturing technology in the medical polymer market's manufacturing technology segment.

Asia Pacific is expected to be the fastest-growing region in the global medical polymer market, by region, during the forecast period.

The Asia Pacific region is experiencing rapid growth in the global medical polymer market due to several key factors. Firstly, the region's burgeoning population and rising middle-class income levels are driving increased healthcare spending, leading to higher demand for medical devices and equipment that rely on medical polymers. Additionally, the region benefits from a robust manufacturing infrastructure and a skilled workforce, allowing for cost-effective production of medical polymers and related products. Moreover, favourable government policies, investments in healthcare infrastructure, and technological advancements are further propelling market growth in the Asia Pacific. The region's dynamic economies, coupled with a growing focus on healthcare modernization and innovation, position it as the fastest-growing region in the global medical polymer market.

To enable an in-depth understanding of the competitive landscape, the report includes the profiles of some of the top players in the medical polymer market. These are BASF SE (Germany), SABIC (Saudi Arabia), Covestro AG (Germany), Celanese Corporation (US), and Evonik Industries (Germany).

Browse Adjacent Market: Resins and Polymers Market Research & Consulting

Related Reports:

High Performance Medical Plastics Market - Global Forecast to 2026

Medical Plastics Market - Global Forecast to 2024

About MarketsandMarkets

MarketsandMarkets has been recognized as one of America's best management consulting firms by Forbes, as per their recent report.

MarketsandMarkets is a blue ocean alternative in growth consulting and program management, leveraging a man-machine offering to drive supernormal growth for progressive organizations in the B2B space. We have the widest lens on emerging technologies, making us proficient in co-creating supernormal growth for clients.

Earlier this year, we made a formal transformation into one of America's best management consulting firms as per a survey conducted by Forbes.

The B2B economy is witnessing the emergence of $25 trillion of new revenue streams that are substituting existing revenue streams in this decade alone. We work with clients on growth programs, helping them monetize this $25 trillion opportunity through our service lines - TAM Expansion, Go-to-Market (GTM) Strategy to Execution, Market Share Gain, Account Enablement, and Thought Leadership Marketing.

Built on the 'GIVE Growth' principle, we work with several Forbes Global 2000 B2B companies - helping them stay relevant in a disruptive ecosystem. Our insights and strategies are molded by our industry experts, cutting-edge AI-powered Market Intelligence Cloud, and years of research. The KnowledgeStore (our Market Intelligence Cloud) integrates our research, facilitates an analysis of interconnections through a set of applications, helping clients look at the entire ecosystem and understand the revenue shifts happening in their industry.

To find out more, visit www.MarketsandMarkets.com or follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

Contact:

Mr. Aashish Mehra

MarketsandMarkets INC.

630 Dundee Road

Suite 430

Northbrook, IL 60062

USA: +1-888-600-6441

Email: sales@marketsandmarkets.com

Research Insights: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/ResearchInsight/medical-polymer-market.asp

Visit Our Website: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/

Content Source: https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/PressReleases/medical-polymer.asp

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/1951202/4609423/MarketsandMarkets.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/medical-polymer-market-worth-60-5-billion-by-2029--exclusive-report-by-marketsandmarkets-302142153.html
Der Goldpreis haussiert und schwingt sich von Hoch zu Hoch. Getrieben von geopolitischen Unsicherheiten sowie der Aussicht auf eine lockere Geldpolitik der FED gehen Experten aktuell von weiter steigenden Notierungen bis sogar in den Bereich von 3.000 US-Dollar je Unze Gold aus.



Im Schatten des Basispreises notieren Goldproduzenten aus der zweiten Reihe sowie Explorationsunternehmen noch weit weg von ihren historischen Hochststanden entfernt und bieten dadurch erhebliches Aufholpotential.



In diesem kostenlosen Report geben wir Ihnen Favoriten an die Hand, die aufgrund von Sondersituation die Chance auf eine Kursvervielfachung besitzen.



Handeln Sie Jetzt!



Fordern Sie jetzt den brandneuen Spezialreport an und profitieren Sie von dem weiter steigenden Kurs des Edelmetalls.



Sichern Sie sich jetzt Ihren kostenfreien Report.
Live Video Stream to Begin at 8:00 a.m. ET

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) will host an Investor Day on Tuesday, May 21, 2024 via a live video stream. During the event, members of Ares' senior leadership team will provide an update on the firm's businesses, growth strategy and outlook. The presentation will begin at 8:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

To register for the event and to access the Investor Day presentation and live video stream, please visit the Investor Resources section of the Company's website at ir.aresmgmt.com. A replay of the event will also be made available on the Investor Resources section of the Company's website shortly after the event.

About Ares Management Corporation

Ares Management Corporation (NYSE:ARES) is a leading global alternative investment manager offering clients complementary primary and secondary investment solutions across the credit, real estate, private equity and infrastructure asset classes. We seek to provide flexible capital to support businesses and create value for our stakeholders and within our communities. By collaborating across our investment groups, we aim to generate consistent and attractive investment returns throughout market cycles. As of March 31, 2024, Ares Management Corporation's global platform had approximately $428 billion of assets under management with approximately 2,900 employees operating across North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and the Middle East. For more information, please visit www.aresmgmt.com.

Investors:

Greg Mason

or

Carl Drake

irares@aresmgmt.com

+1-888-818-5298

Media:

media@aresmgmt.com

SOURCE: Ares Management Corporation

View the original press release on accesswire.com
NanoViricides, Inc. (NYSE American:NNVC) (the "Company"), a global leader in broad-spectrum antiviral nanomedicines, today announces that Anil R. Diwan, Ph.D., the Company's President and Executive Chairman, will be attending the EF Hutton Annual Global Conference, which will be held at The Plaza Hotel in New York, NY on Wednesday, May 15, 2024.

Event EF Hutton Annual Global Conference Date May 15, 2024 Location The Plaza Hotel, New York, NY

This year's event will feature key executives from public and private companies to convey their unique stories to an extensive audience which includes institutional investors, high-net worth individuals, corporate clients, and exclusive members of the press. Investors and executives will have the opportunity to interact with each other in a friendly, high-energy environment.

To learn more and submit a registration request, visit www://ibn.fm/EfHutton2024Registration.

Dr. Diwan will share with investors the progress NanoViricides has accomplished in the past year.

"The ultra-broad-spectrum antiviral drug NV-387 could lead to a disruptive change in how we treat viral infections just as penicillin revolutionized how we treat bacterial infections," said Dr. Diwan.

The Company's lead drug, NV-387 has successfully completed Phase 1a/1b human clinical trials in healthy subjects, with no reported adverse events, indicating excellent safety. This clinical trial was sponsored by Karveer Meditech Pvt. Ltd., the Company's licensee and collaborator, and conducted by PristynCR in India.

The same drug NV-387 has demonstrated strong antiviral activity against viruses from multiple families, including Coronaviruses (SARS-CoV-2, Long COVID, Seasonal coronaviral infections), RSV, Influenza A, as well as a Smallpox/Mpox related mouse virus in stringent, lethal viral infection animal models. In all of these cases, NV-387 led to improvement in survival that substantially exceeded or was at least on par with that from already approved drugs or known antiviral agents.

NV-387 could be the very first single drug that can treat all of the "tripledemic" viral infections, namely, Coronaviruses, RSV, and Influenza A.

Once the Phase I final report is available, the Company plans to advance NV-387 into Phase II clinical trials for the evaluation of antiviral effect. The Company believes that these clinical trials, if successful, would follow Phase III clinical trials towards regulatory approval of NV-387 to treat various viral infections.

In addition to NV-387, the Company has a broad and deep pipeline of drug candidates against several virus families. The most advanced among these, NV-HHV-1, is the Company's lead drug candidate for the treatment of Shingles rash, HSV-1 "cold sores" and HSV-2 "genital ulcers".

About EF Hutton

EF Hutton is an investment bank headquartered in New York, NY that provides strategic advice and financing solutions to middle market and emerging growth companies. EF Hutton has a proven track record of providing superior strategic advice to clients across the globe in any sector, with unique access to capital from the USA, Asia, Europe, UAE, and Latin America.

EF Hutton continues to be a leader on Wall Street, having raised over 15.8 billion in capital across more than 265 transactions through a variety of product types. Since 2022, by deal count, EF Hutton has been #1 in SPAC issuance and #1 in US IPO issuance, per SPAC Insider and Bloomberg. Taken together, EF Hutton is one of the most active investment banks in the middle market space. For more information visit efhutton.com.

About NanoViricides

NanoViricides, Inc. (the "Company") (www.nanoviricides.com) is a development stage company that is creating special purpose nanomaterials for antiviral therapy. The Company's novel nanoviricide class of drug candidates are designed to specifically attack enveloped virus particles and to dismantle them. Additionally, nanoviricides mimick the host-side features that the viruses continue to require in spite of mutations, and therefore the viruses would be highly unlikely to escape the nanvoricide drugs.

Our lead drug candidate is NV-387 (drug product NV-CoV-2) for the treatment of RSV, COVID-19, Long COVID, Influenza, Bird Flu H5N1, and other respiratory viral infections. NV-387 has successfully completed a Phase 1a/1b human clinical trial in healthy subjects with no reported adverse events even at the highest and repeated dosages. The Company is currently focused on advancing NV-387 into Phase II human clinical trials for treatment of RSV infection.

Our other advanced candidate is NV-HHV-1 for the treatment of Shingles rash, HSV-1 "cold sores" and HSV-2 "genital ulcers". The Company cannot project an exact date for filing an IND for any of its drugs because of dependence on a number of external collaborators and consultants.

The Company is also developing drugs against a number of viral diseases including oral and genital Herpes, viral diseases of the eye including EKC and herpes keratitis, H1N1 swine flu, H5N1 bird flu, seasonal Influenza, HIV, Hepatitis C, Rabies, Dengue fever, and Ebola virus, among others. NanoViricides' platform technology and programs are based on the TheraCour nanomedicine technology of TheraCour, which TheraCour licenses from AllExcel. NanoViricides holds a worldwide exclusive perpetual license to this technology for several drugs with specific targeting mechanisms in perpetuity for the treatment of the following human viral diseases: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV/AIDS), Hepatitis B Virus (HBV), Hepatitis C Virus (HCV), Rabies, Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV-1 and HSV-2), Varicella-Zoster Virus (VZV), Influenza and Asian Bird Flu Virus, Dengue viruses, Japanese Encephalitis virus, West Nile Virus, Ebola/Marburg viruses, and certain Coronaviruses. The Company intends to obtain a license for poxviruses and/or enteroviruses if the initial research is successful. The Company's technology is based on broad, exclusive, sub-licensable, field licenses to drugs developed in these areas from TheraCour Pharma, Inc. The Company's business model is based on licensing technology from TheraCour Pharma Inc. for specific application verticals of specific viruses, as established at its foundation in 2005.

As is customary, the Company must state the risk factor that the path to typical drug development of any pharmaceutical product is extremely lengthy and requires substantial capital. As with any drug development efforts by any company, there can be no assurance at this time that any of the Company's pharmaceutical candidates would show sufficient effectiveness and safety for human clinical development. Further, there can be no assurance at this time that successful results against coronavirus in our lab will lead to successful clinical trials or a successful pharmaceutical product.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that reflect the Company's current expectation regarding future events. Actual events could differ materially and substantially from those projected herein and depend on a number of factors. Certain statements in this release, and other written or oral statements made by NanoViricides, Inc. are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements since they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which are, in some cases, beyond the Company's control and which could, and likely will, materially affect actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements. The Company assumes no obligation to publicly update or revise these forward-looking statements for any reason, or to update the reasons actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements, even if new information becomes available in the future. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the company's expectations include, but are not limited to, those factors that are disclosed under the heading "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in documents filed by the company from time to time with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission and other regulatory authorities. Although it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors, they may include the following: demonstration and proof of principle in preclinical trials that a nanoviricide is safe and effective; successful development of our product candidates; our ability to seek and obtain regulatory approvals, including with respect to the indications we are seeking; the successful commercialization of our product candidates; and market acceptance of our products.

The phrases "safety", "effectiveness" and equivalent phrases as used in this press release refer to research findings including clinical trials as the customary research usage and do not indicate evaluation of safety or effectiveness by the US FDA.

FDA refers to US Food and Drug Administration. IND application refers to "Investigational New Drug" application. cGMP refers to current Good Manufacturing Practices. CMC refers to "Chemistry, Manufacture, and Controls". CHMP refers to the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use, which is the European Medicines Agency's (EMA) committee responsible for human medicines. API stands for "Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient". API means active pharmaceutical ingredient.

Contact:

NanoViricides, Inc.

info@nanoviricides.com

Public Relations Contact:

MJ Clyburn, TraDigital IR

clyburn@tradigitalir.com

SOURCE: NanoViricides, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Brainerd, Minnesota--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - HLRBO, the leading online hunting lease platform, is thrilled to unveil its exciting Field Rep Program, dedicated exclusively to outdoor and hunting enthusiasts and designed to fuel their passion for the outdoors while generating extra income.

HLRBO Launches Field Rep Program, Offering Hunting and Outdoor Enthusiasts the Opportunity to Earn Income and Immerse Themselves in Nature

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/8814/208707_66ee29a8046d1818_002full.jpg

The traditional 9-to-5 job model is only one of many paths to financial stability today. Recognizing the rise of gig work, side hustles, and the hard work people do outside of their full-time jobs, HLRBO introduces a unique side hustle perfectly suited for outdoor enthusiasts. This new Field Rep Program embodies the company's commitment to expanding access to hunting and empowering outdoor adventurers to turn their passion into profit.

"We're thrilled to offer this incredible opportunity," said Heath Schubert, HLRBO's CEO and founder, while introducing the program. "This program is for those who enjoy exploring hunting grounds, soaking in the beauty of nature, and sharing their love for the outdoors."

Hunting leasing is an untapped revenue stream for many farmers, and with hunters struggling to source hunting grounds, HLRBO challenges landowners to tap into this supplemental income source. However, since many farmers may not even know their hunting rights, HLRBO reps will help landowners understand the benefits of hunting leasing and also secure their deer, duck, and turkey hunting leases. HLRBO's Field Reps will become HLRBO ambassadors, directly connecting with land owners, walking and verifying properties, and taking photos and videos of HLRBO properties. The reps will then upload pictures and videos of scouted properties on HLRBO, build relationships with the landowners, and recruit new landowners for HLRBO.

Beyond the thrill of the outdoors, this program offers reps the opportunity to work on their own schedule and earn as much as $150 for every verified property and $200 for every new landowner recruited. Moreover, this opportunity offers the chance to promote responsible land management and contribute to HLRBO's growth. "The HLRBO Field Rep program is a great way to earn extra money doing something I really enjoy," says David Marrero, a field rep at HLRBO. More than just offering an opportunity to make money, he says the experience also allows him to be outdoors, explore new properties, and contribute to the success of HLRBO.

"Flexibility is a defining trait for us," said Cookie Lithyouvong, Co-founder of HLRBO. "Through our platform, we cater to the diverse needs of hunters and landowners. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, we help hunters find their ideal hunting ground, and landowners connect with responsible hunters who share their values."

Now, with the help of HLRBO's field reps, farmers can list their properties on the platform and determine their availability schedule, pricing for different types of hunting, and much more. Hunters browse these listings, search for their preferences by hunting type or location, and connect with landowners. "The best part of HLRBO is that it isn't just a platform for hunting leases; it's about the future of hunting," stated Matt Simon, Co-founder of HLRBO. "We've created a thriving community of hunters and landowners."

HLRBO's successful online hunting network seamlessly connects landowners and hunters. As the company continues to grow, it invites like-minded nature lovers to join its journey of revolutionizing the hunting industry. "Sharing our passion for hunting and the outdoors with people who truly appreciate it is incredibly important to us," Schubert emphasizes. This program will expand our reach and expertise while giving more people the chance to make money doing something they love."

As hunting culture thrives, HLRBO is committed to creating a seamless and flexible experience for landowners by simplifying hunting leasing and for responsible hunters by providing access to the perfect hunting grounds. By joining the HLRBO Field Rep Program, outdoor adventurers become active participants in shaping the future of hunting leasing. To become a field rep, visit HLRBO's Field Rep Program page.

About HLRBO:

HLRBO is a technology company on a mission to revolutionize the hunting industry. Founded in 2015, the company has established one of the fastest-growing online hunting networks, with thousands of properties and hunters. Through its leading platform, HLRBO facilitates the listing and searching of all public hunting land across the country. With HLRBO, hunting leasing has never been easier.

Contact Info:

Name: Noelle Schubert

Email: noelle@hlrbo.com

Organization: HLRBO

Website: https://www.hlrbo.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208707

SOURCE: Plentisoft
Rogue Baron Plc - Notice of AGM and Issue of Shares for Eight Vodka following Acquisition

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 10

10 May 2024

Rogue Baron plc

('Rogue Baron' or the 'Company')

Notice of AGM

Issue of Shares for Eight Vodka following Acquisition



Rogue Baron plc (AQSE: SHNJ), a leading company in the premium spirit sector, is pleased to give notice that its Annual General Meeting ('AGM') will be held at the offices of Hill Dickinson LLP, 8th Floor, The Broadgate Tower, 20 Primrose Street, London EC2A 2EW at 11 a.m. BST on 6 June 2024. A copy of the Notice of AGM, together with the Form of Proxy have been posted to registered shareholders and are available to view on the Company's website.

The Company is also pleased to announce that following the acquisition of Eight Vodka Limited, the 14,000,000 new consideration shares have now been issued.

Application has been made for the 14,000,000 ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on the Aquis Growth Market ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission of the new ordinary shares will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on or around 15 May 2024.

Following the issue of the 14,000,000 consideration shares, in accordance with the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules, Rogue Baron has 142,986,263 ordinary shares of 0.001 each ("Ordinary Shares") in issue, each share carrying the right to one vote.

The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury.

The figure of 142,986,263 Ordinary Shares may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.



The Directors of the Company accept responsibility for the contents of this announcement.

END

For further information, please contact:

The Company

Ryan Dolder

rdolder@roguebaron.com

Aquis Corporate Adviser:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Narisha Ragoonanthun / Brefo Gyasi +44 (0) 20 7469 0936

Aquis Corporate Broker:

Peterhouse Capital Limited

Lucy Williams +44 (0) 20 7469 0936

Joint Broker:

Clear Capital Limited

Bob Roberts +44 (0) 20 3869 6080
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - StromaGenesis, highly scalable cancer diagnostics, multiple tests- validated in clinical trials, will be participating in the EF Hutton Annual Global Conference, which will take place on May 15, 2024 at The Plaza Hotel in New York.

Richard Pestell will be presenting on May 15th. Interested parties can register to attend here. Members of the StromaGenesis management will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the day.

About StromaGenesis

StromaGenesis is a molecular diagnostic company that has developed tests to improve cancer patients' outcomes. Its three tests are the product of over 18 years of academic work funded by ~$10M of public research grants and the subject of 36 peer-reviewed publications with the company founder. StromaGenesis is raising $15m to transition the tests to a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) laboratory and initiate commercialization in the US and selected European countries over the next 18 months.

About EF Hutton LLC

EF Hutton LLC is an investment bank headquartered in New York, NY, which provides strategic advisory and financing solutions to middle market and emerging growth companies. EF Hutton has a proven track record of offering superior strategic advisory to clients across the globe in any sector, with unique access to capital from the USA, Asia, Europe, UAE, and Latin America.

EF Hutton is a leader on Wall Street, having raised over $16 billion in capital across more than 270 transactions through various product types. Since 2022, by deal count, the firm has been #1 in US IPO issuance and #1 in SPAC issuance, per Bloomberg and SPAC Insider. EF Hutton is one of the most active investment banks in the middle of the market space. For more information, please visit efhutton.com.

For further information:

Richard G Pestell

2674020545

stromagenesisillc@gmail.com

Source: StromaGenesis

SOURCE: EF Hutton
Montreal, Quebec--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - &OR Collective, a tech-led sustainable lifestyle brand differentiated by its zero-waste manufacturing process and circularity platform, will be participating in the EF Hutton Annual Global Conference, which will take place on May 15, 2024 at The Plaza Hotel in New York.

Kristen King, Founder and Co-CEO and Katie Green, Founder and Co-CEO, will be presenting on May 15th. Interested parties can register to attend here. Members of &Or Collective's management will also be holding one-on-one investor meetings throughout the day.

About &OR Collective

Launched in 2023, &OR Collective is a Montreal-based sustainable lifestyle brand that combines cutting-edge technology with innovative environmentally conscious practices. Defined by a modern, value based supply chain, &OR is eliminating cut-off textile waste and solving for overproduction while encouraging a less is more wardrobe away from overconsumption & fast fashion without compromising quality or desirability. Utilizing a zero-waste manufacturing method, &OR produces high-quality apparel designed for longevity and minimal environmental impact while embedding circularity into the business through a strategic partnership with SuperCircle, New York based fiber to fiber recycler. &OR Collective's commitment to innovative and sustainably made products will soon extend into new categories as the brand broadens - creating better things, better ways. Available online at www.andorcollective.com

About EF Hutton LLC

EF Hutton LLC is an investment bank headquartered in New York, NY, which provides strategic advisory and financing solutions to middle market and emerging growth companies. EF Hutton has a proven track record of offering superior strategic advisory to clients across the globe in any sector, with unique access to capital from the USA, Asia, Europe, UAE, and Latin America.

EF Hutton is a leader on Wall Street, having raised over $16 billion in capital across more than 270 transactions through various product types. Since 2022, by deal count, the firm has been #1 in US IPO issuance and #1 in SPAC issuance, per Bloomberg and SPAC Insider. EF Hutton is one of the most active investment banks in the middle of the market space. For more information, please visit efhutton.com.

For further information:

Katie Green, Founder / Co-Ceo

514-799-8302

katie@andorcollective.com

Instagram: @and.or.collective

Website: www.andorcollective.com

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208652

SOURCE: EF Hutton
Victory Day military parade held in Moscow

Ecns.cn) 13:25, May 10, 2024

Su-25 attack aircraft are seen during the Victory Day military parade over Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2024, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, Russia's term for World War II. (Photo: China News Service/Tian Bing)

Military vehicles march during the Victory Day parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2024, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, Russia's term for World War II. (Photo: China News Service/Tian Bing)

Servicewomen march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2024, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, Russia's term for World War II. (Photo: China News Service/Tian Bing)

Russian honor guard soldiers carrying the Russian national flag march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, May 9, 2024, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, Russia's term for World War II.

Russian honor guard soldiers carrying the Russian national flag march during the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, May 9, 2024, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, Russia's term for World War II.

Servicemen make preparation ahead of the Victory Day military parade on Red Square in Moscow, Russia, May 9, 2024, which marks the 79th anniversary of the Soviet Union's victory in the Great Patriotic War against Nazi Germany, Russia's term for World War II. (Photo: China News Service/Tian Bing)

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
MANCHESTER, England, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- UK-headquartered, global Identity and Access Management (IAM) specialist, ProofID has won the Judge's Award for Global Ambition at the Northern Tech Awards held at Manchester Cathedral. The company won the award in recognition of its expansion in the USA following the successful acquisitions of Regatta Solutions an Austin, Texas based Identity Governance and Administration (IGA) integrator and PEGRight a Colorado Springs, Colorado based IAM integrator.

These two acquisitions created a combined business which leads the field as a provider of enterprise identity solutions and global identity managed services across Europe and North America. The awards, organised by GP Bullhound, are a demonstration of the spirit of innovation, resilience, and growth that defines the Northern tech ecosystem.

Tom Eggleston, CEO of ProofID said: "ProofID has always embraced its northern roots, but it's been an exciting road."

"Our journey to the international stage continues and reflects not only our ambition to grow via acquisition but also our ability to adapt, innovate and thrive in other territories. It's truly wonderful for our work to be recognised in this way."

In 2022, Maven invested 15 million through the Maven UK Regional Buyout Fund to support ProofID's growth and strategic expansion. Since then, the company has continued to develop its partnerships with IAM vendors, offering broader solutions and enhancing its market position.

The award, accepted by Peter Dolan, CFO of ProofID, is held to showcase leading tech businesses in the North, fuelling growth in its powerful tech economy. The eleventh edition of the Northern Tech Awards ceremony, brought together 250 CEOs, entrepreneurs, and business leaders from across the digital economy, celebrating innovation and excellence in the North of England and Scotland.

Javed Huq, Managing Director of sponsor, GP Bullhound said: "Congratulations to all the winners of the 2024 Northern Tech Awards.

"Their success is a testament to the remarkable determination and entrepreneurship, which have enabled their businesses to thrive in a challenging market landscape.

"We are immensely proud of the dedication and innovation within the Northern tech ecosystem and believe it is important to celebrate these achievements at tonight's awards. We are honoured to champion these leading tech businesses and look forward to their continued growth and contribution to the UK economy."

About ProofID

ProofID is a global identity security partner, integrator and service provider. As a proven identity specialist, ProofID is committed to delivering pain-free, secure and seamless digital user experiences however complex the project. Trusted by Tier 1 enterprises and mid-market businesses around the world to design, deliver and manage IAM and IGA services. ProofID has successfully deployed industry leading technologies into all market sectors with dynamic workforce needs and seamless customer engagements. ProofID's highly skilled team has been awarded the highest technical accreditations by all their chosen partners including Ping Identity, earning Global Delivery Partner of the Year Award for 6 consecutive years and SailPoint, achieving delivery Admiral status. For more information visit www.ProofID.com.

LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

Photo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2408798/Northern_tech_awards.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/proofid-wins-judges-award-for-global-ambition-at-the-2024-northern-tech-awards-302142277.html
May 21, 2024 in Tucson, Arizona

Aeluma, Inc. (OTCQB:ALMU), a semiconductor company specializing in high performance, scalable technologies for mobile, automotive, communication, and defense & aerospace, announced today that its CEO will deliver a presentation at the upcoming 2024 International Conference on Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology in Tucson, AZ.

The conference invited Aeluma CEO Jonathan Klamkin, Ph.D., to deliver a presentation titled "Heterogeneously Integrated Compound Semiconductors on Large-Diameter Substrates for Scaling to Consumer Market Volumes" at the conference on May 21, 2024 at 3:50 p.m. PT at the JW Marriott Starr Pass Resort.

The International Conference on Compound Semiconductor Manufacturing Technology is comprised of technical papers, talks, workshops, and manufacturer exhibits and is open to anyone who is interested in the latest advances in compound semiconductor manufacturing and device technology. To meet with Dr. Klamkin at the conference, attendees are encouraged to contact the company at info@aeluma.com.

About Aeluma, Inc.

Aeluma (www.aeluma.com) develops novel optoelectronics for sensing and communication applications. Aeluma has pioneered a technique to manufacture semiconductor chips using high-performance compound semiconductor materials on large-diameter substrates that are commonly used for mass-market microelectronics. The technology has the potential to enhance performance and scale manufacturing, both of which are critical for emerging applications. Aeluma is developing a streamlined business model from its headquarters in Santa Barbara, California that has a state-of-the-art manufacturing cleanroom. Its transformative semiconductor chip technology may impact a variety of markets including automotive LiDAR (light detection and ranging), mobile, defense & aerospace, AR/VR, AI, quantum, and communication. Aeluma differentiates itself with unique semiconductor manufacturing capability, proprietary technology, the ability to perform rapid prototyping, and a broad set of product offerings.

Forward-Looking Statements

All statements in this press release that are not historical are forward-looking statements, including, among other things, statements relating to the Company's expectations regarding its market position and market opportunity, expectations and plans as to its product development, manufacturing and sales, and relations with its partners and investors. These statements are not historical facts but rather are based on the Company's current expectations, estimates, and projections regarding its business, operations and other similar or related factors. Words such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "anticipate," "predict," "potential," "continue," "expect," "intend," "plan," "project," "believe," "estimate," and other similar or related expressions are used to identify these forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements because they involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that are difficult or impossible to predict and, in some cases, beyond the Company's control. Actual results may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including those described in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company undertakes no obligation to revise or update information in this release to reflect events or circumstances in the future, even if new information becomes available.

Company Contact:

Aeluma, Inc.

(805) 351-2707

info@aeluma.com

Investor Contact:

Bishop IR

Mike Bishop

(415) 894-9633

ir@aeluma.com

SOURCE: Aeluma, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
THUNDER BAY, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Clean Air Metals Inc. ("Clean Air Metals" or the "Company") (TSXV:AIR)(FRA:CKU)(OTCQB:CLRMF) announces the following senior management changes.

Dr. Geoff Heggie, VP of Exploration has left the company to pursue other opportunities. Dr Heggie was instrumental in executing the infill drilling program that added significant ounces to the Escape Deposit. We thank Geoff for his service over the past years and wish him the best in his future endeavours.

Dr. Lionnel Djon joins Clean Air Metals as the new VP of Exploration. Dr. Djon, who most recently led the exploration team at Impala Canada, brings a wealth of relevant experience and a track record of success. His leadership resulted in significant mineral resource increases at the Lac des Iles mine through discoveries at depth and adjacent to the known deposit. He is an expert in applying advanced geochemical and geophysical techniques and the application of machine learning and Artificial Intelligence to exploration targeting and modelling.

Dr. Djon received his Master's in Earth Sciences from the University of Quebec, his PhD in Geology from Queens University and his Executive MBA from the School of Management, UQAM, Quebec.

Jim Gallagher, CEO, commented: "We are very pleased to have Lionnel bring his unique PGM expertise to the Clean Air team. His knowledge of Northwestern Ontario deposits and his track record of success in applying advanced techniques to identify and discover Platinum, Palladium, Nickel, and Copper deposits are very relevant to our company's two strategic goals: continuing to expand the Thunder Bay North deposit and adding other complementary exploration assets to our portfolio."

Kris Tuuttila PGeo, B.Sc, has been promoted to VP of Sustainability and Community Relations from his current role as Director. Kris has 20 years of leadership experience in environmental consulting across Canada. He has directed multidisciplinary environmental projects and impact assessments relating to various stages of mine development in Northern Ontario. Kris has established meaningful and respectful relations with numerous Aboriginal communities throughout the north, having been instrumental in signing several partnership agreements to advance reconciliation.

Jim Gallagher commented: "Kris's promotion is not only a recognition of the excellent work he has done for Clean Air Metals over the last few years but also of the critical importance of his portfolio to the company's future success. The Clean Air Team believes that true reconciliation with all aboriginal communities, particularly communities with traditional territory and treaty rights, requires real business partnerships, including potential equity ownership of the assets. This is a key initiative that Kris is leading."

Mia Boiridy, MSc. joins the Company as Director of Communications and Investor Relations. Mia is a seasoned executive, having held senior management positions at several Canadian junior exploration companies over the last ten years. She will be responsible for the company's communication and marketing activities, developing and growing relationships with stakeholders, and being the primary point of contact for investors, analysts, and the media. Mia holds a BSc. Geology (Honours) and an MSc. Geochemistry from McGill University.

"Ongoing communication with the public, shareholders and other interested parties is key to Clean Air Metals' success. Mia brings a wealth of experience and skills that will be instrumental as we continue to develop our Thunder Bay North Project and grow our assets," noted Mike Garbutt, COO of Clean Air Metals.

Company Update

The leadership team is reviewing the potential for acquiring other PGM, Cu, and Ni assets throughout Northern Ontario, with numerous assets currently being investigated. There is no certainty that any of these investigations will lead to a business relationship, and the Company will only report further when a material transaction has been approved by the Board of Directors.

Qualified Person

Mike Garbutt, PEng, a Qualified Person under National Instrument 43-101 and the Company's Chief Operating Officer, has reviewed and approved all technical information in this press release.

Social Engagement

Clean Air Metals Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary Panoramic PGMs (Canada) Ltd. acknowledge that the Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals Project is on the traditional territories of the Fort William First Nation, Red Rock Indian Band and Biinjitiwabik Zaaging Anishinabek. The parties together are the Cooperating Participants in a Memorandum of Agreement dated January 9, 2021 (press release January 11, 2021) and an Exploration Agreement signed April 13, 2022 (press release April 14, 2022).

The Company appreciates the opportunity to work in these territories and remains committed to the recognition and respect of those who have lived, travelled, and gathered on the lands since time immemorial. Clean Air Metals is committed to stewarding Indigenous heritage and building, fostering and encouraging a respectful relationship with First Nations and Metis peoples based on principles of mutual trust, respect, reciprocity and collaboration in the spirit of reconciliation.

About Clean Air Metals Inc.

Clean Air Metals is a development and exploration company advancing its flagship, 100% owned Thunder Bay North Critical Minerals ("TBN") project, 40 km northeast of Thunder Bay, Ontario. The TBN project, accessible by road and next to established infrastructure, hosts two (2) deposits - the Current and Escape deposits, only 2.5 km apart. Together, the deposits host a 13.8 Mt indicated mineral resource containing 2.4M Pt eq. oz (Technical Report on the Thunder Bay North Project, Ontario Canada, NI43-101, SLR Consulting Canada Ltd, June 19, 2023) with significant potential for expansion down-plunge.

One of the rare primary platinum resources outside of South Africa, the TBN project is in a stable and mining-friendly jurisdiction and benefits from longstanding relationships with local First Nations. With its proven technical team, Clean Air Metals is committed to growing the resources at the TBN project and creating long-term value for shareholders.

ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS

"Jim Gallagher"

Jim Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc.

For further information, please contact:

Jim Gallagher, Chief Executive Officer of Clean Air Metals Inc.

Phone: 705 690 7997

Email: jgallagher@cleanairmetals.ca

Website: www.cleanairmetals.ca

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

The information contained herein contains "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements relate to information 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: 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 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 except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Actual events or results could differ materially from the Company's expectations or projections.

SOURCE: Clean Air Metals, Inc.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
NORTHAMPTON, MA / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Cummins Inc.

by Tom Quimby, On-highway Journalist

Cummins

The Environmental Protection Agency has announced the final rule for Phase 3 of its Greenhouse Gas Emissions for heavy-duty vehicles. Since issuing Phase 1 of its GHG regulations in 2011, EPA emissions rules for all vehicle classes have become increasingly rigorous. The latest Phase 3 rule continues to address heavy-duty vehicles which the EPA separates into five categories: light heavy-duty vocational; medium heavy-duty vocational; heavy heavy-duty vocational; short-haul (day cab) tractors; and long-haul (sleeper cab) tractors.

In its introduction for GHG Phase 3, EPA pointed out that its latest phase sets new carbon dioxide (CO2) emission standards for heavy-duty vehicles through model year 2032 "with more stringent CO2 standards phasing in as early as MY 2027 for certain vehicle categories." Prior to finalizing GHG standards, EPA considers comments from various stakeholders like manufacturers, fleets, owner-operators, trucking associations, environmental interest groups and private citizens. The standards are technology-neutral and performance-based, allowing each manufacturer to choose what set of emissions control technologies is best suited to meet the standards and the needs of their customers.

"We have assessed and demonstrated that these standards are appropriate and feasible considering cost, lead time, and other relevant factors," EPA noted in its executive summary.

While there is plenty to read in all 392 pages of GHG Phase 3, let's look at five major takeaways:

The initial rollout for Phase 3 GHG impacts only MY 2027 light heavy-duty and medium heavy-duty on-highway vocational vehicles such as commercial chassis cabs, panel vans and box trucks (complete pickups not included) ranging from Class 2b to 3, or 8,500 to 14,000 lb. gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR). Though EPA does not endorse any particular technology and does not mandate the use of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs), they do project a possible path of compliance for MY 2027 light heavy-duty vocational with 17% ZEVs and 83% powered by internal combustion engines (ICE). MY 2027 medium heavy-duty vocational could be a mix of 13% zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) and 87% ICE.

Lower Phase 3 standards come next for MY 2028 short-haul (day cab) tractors which the EPA anticipates will be a combination of 8% ZEV and 92% ICE. MY 2029 heavy heavy-duty vehicles follow with a projected mix of 13% ZEV and 87% ICE. MY 2030 long-haul (sleeper cab) bring up the rear with an anticipated adoption rate of 6% ZEV and 94% ICE. Check the EPA's table below for other projected rates of adoption for subsequent model years through 2032.

EPA set its GHG Phase 3 timeline based on current and projected advances to prevent and control GHG emissions. The EPA makes clear that it does not pick and choose when it comes to emissions reduction. The agency recognizes that fleets and owner-operators will continue to adopt emerging technologies. Options such as all-electric, fuel cell and internal combustion will continue to play a vital role. A range of technologies can meet the demanding heavy-duty power requirements while continuing to reduce emissions along the way. For example, the Biden administration recently acknowledged the importance of emissions reduction through support of research and development of hydrogen internal combustion engines, including Cummins' X15H. EPA states in GHG Phase 3 that hydrogen engines have essentially a 100% reduction in CO2 emissions.

The EPA also announced that it is adding warranty requirements for batteries and other components of zero-emission vehicles and requiring customer-facing battery state-of-health monitors for plug-in hybrid and battery electric vehicles.

EPA notes it has improved its analysis of infrastructure readiness for heavy-duty all-electric, hydrogen fuel cell and hydrogen combustion trucks. Citing growing public and private funding sources, the agency states, "there are significant efforts already underway to develop and expand heavy-duty vehicle electric charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure."

Through Cummins' multi-solutions approach, the company can offer customers the industry's broadest portfolio of low- and zero-emissions, allowing customers to meet emissions regulations in a way that also best meets their business needs.

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
Kupfer wird oft als das Gold der Energiewende bezeichnet, weil es aufgrund seiner hervorragenden elektrischen Leitfahigkeit eine zentrale Rolle in vielen Technologien spielt, die fur nachhaltige Energiesysteme entscheidend sind. Experten gehen aufgrund der Angebotsknappheit von einem Superzyklus aus.

Korrektur als Einstiegschance

Nach Hochststanden im Mai korrigierte das rote Metall stark. Die Abwartsspirale verstarkte sich in den vergangenen Tagen aufgrund schwacher Konjunkturdaten aus den USA und China. Langfristig konnte sich die aktuell laufende Korrektur als exzellente Einstiegsmoglichkeit herausstellen.

3 Kupferaktien mit hohem Potential

Im neuen, kostenlosen Spezialreport stellen wir drei aussichtsreiche Unternehmen vor, die bei einem weiteren Anstieg uberproportional profitieren konnten.

Handeln Sie jetzt und sichern Sie sich Ihren kostenfreien Report!
Portland, Oregon--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - Color Pro, a leading painting contractor in Portland, unveils a groundbreaking approach to the painting industry, combining social responsibility with a neat service. This innovative model promises to revolutionize the way painting businesses operate.

Color Pro, Bringing Your Vision to Life One Brushstroke at a Time

Painting contractor enthusiast Frank Perez embarked on a visionary journey to establish a painting business that not only excels in craftsmanship but also prioritizes social impact. With the guidance of industry experts like Mike Vallejo, Color Pro sets a new standard for excellence by partnering with contractors and suppliers who share their commitment to cleanliness and social responsibility.

Pioneering a New Era in Painting Services

Color Pro believes in more than just brushing strokes on walls; it believes in creating transformative experiences for clients. By emphasizing personalized service and attention to detail, Color Pro ensures that each project is a reflection of the client's unique vision.

"Color Pro is not just about painting walls; it's about painting a better future for our community," says Frank Perez, CEO of Color Pro. "We're dedicated to providing top-notch services while making a positive impact on society."

Frank Perez and Mike Vallejo, CEO and COO of Color Pro

Empowering Communities Through Exclusive Partnerships

At the heart of Color Pro's success lies its exclusive partnerships with contractors and suppliers who share its values. These partnerships enable Color Pro to secure the best prices and quality products while supporting local businesses and artisans.

"Our partnerships go beyond business transactions; they're built on trust, integrity, and a shared commitment to social responsibility," explains Mike Vallejo, COO at Color Pro. "Together, we're not just painting houses; we're painting a brighter future for our communities."

Setting the Standard for Excellence

Color Pro distinguishes itself in the painting industry through its unwavering dedication to quality service delivery. From meticulous surface preparation to flawless finishing touches, Color Pro ensures that every project exceeds client expectations.

"Our attention to detail and commitment to excellence are what set us apart," says Frank, CEO of Color Pro. "We don't just paint walls; we create masterpieces that stand the test of time."

The Color Pro Fleet

Investing in Innovation and Growth

In addition to providing exceptional painting services in Portland, Color Pro is committed to staying ahead of industry trends. By investing in optimizing customer service with technology, Color Pro ensures that its services are easily accessible to clients seeking top-tier painting solutions.

"Our online presence is crucial to reaching our target audience and expanding our business," says Frank. "Investing in our brand and technology allows us to connect with clients who share our values and vision for a better tomorrow."

Join the Color Pro Revolution

Color Pro invites homeowners and businesses alike to experience the difference that socially conscious painting services can make. With a focus on cleanliness, craftsmanship, and community impact, Color Pro is redefining the painting industry one brushstroke at a time.

"Whether you're renovating your home or enhancing your business space, Color Pro is here to bring your vision to life," concludes Mike. "Join us in painting a brighter future for our communities."

About Color Pro

Color Pro is a leading painting company dedicated to providing exceptional services with a social conscience. With a focus on quality, craftsmanship, and community impact, Color Pro is revolutionizing the painting industry one brushstroke at a time.

Contant Details:

Frank Perez

Color Pro

Phone: 503-496-8276

Address: 1050 SW 6th Ave, 1100, Portland, OR 97204

Email: info@colorpro.com

Website: https://colorpro.co/

Google Business Page: https://g.page/r/CVHUPtyiDL-1EAI/

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208695

SOURCE: Imperium Authority
Washington, D.C.--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - Over the past 23 years, the National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) has documented nearly 2000 incidents of violence against people who were homeless. Since 1999, at least 588 of unhoused victims have violently been killed just for being unhoused.

These crimes appear to have been motivated by a perpetrator's bias against people experiencing homelessness, and to have been facilitated by a perpetrator's ability to target homeless people with relative ease. The crimes are a litany of atrocities: beatings, rapes, mutilations, and murders. The murder victims died in unfathomable ways: not only shot or stabbed to death, but also set on fire, drowned - even beheaded.

This year, we've documented shocking levels of law enforcement involvement in attacks against people experiencing homelessness, as well as serial attacks on people experiencing homelessness. Most notably, Oregon saw a whopping 500% increase since the last reported attacks in 2019.

In several states, such as Kentucky, Florida, Missouri, and others, legislation has been enacted that exacerbates the already dire situation faced by those experiencing homelessness. These laws create a vicious cycle of punitive measures that further marginalize and dehumanize people who are already in vulnerable circumstances.

Unfortunately, these injustices have fueled vigilantism and hatred directed towards people who are forced to live outdoors. It is imperative that society recognizes that homelessness is a societal issue and should not be met with violence or unwarranted hostility.

City and county level ordinances also contribute to a perfect storm of dehumanization of people experiencing homelessness that leads to violence. The small town of Grants Pass, Oregon, is one of hundreds of cities nationwide that has passed law banning sleeping outdoors. The Grants Pass ordinance was challenged in court, as there is not enough shelter available in town for everyone who needs it, and the city appealed. On April 22, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case, and over 700 advocates gathered on the steps of the court to rally in support of Housing, not Handcuffs for people forced to live outdoors. The decision reached in this case has far-reaching implications for the treatment of individuals who have been displaced from their homes.

The quiet town of Grants Pass was surprised in March of 2022, when an unknown assailant set the tent of someone forced to live outdoors on fire. Unfortunately, we should not be surprised.

While NCH has compelling data on the number and severity of attacks in general, many of these acts remain underreported (in part because people experiencing homelessness tend to live on the outskirts of communities). The Bureau of Justice Statistics found that in 2019 "less than half (44%) of violent victimizations (of people experiencing homelessness) are reported to police." Furthermore, many attacks were likely even more gruesome than available reports imply.

The National Coalition for the Homeless calls upon all stakeholders, including lawmakers, law enforcement agencies, advocacy groups, and community members, to view consider protecting our unhoused neighbors as a vulnerable population. Further, we urge policymakers to invest in the housing and community supports we all need, and that are proven to end homelessness.

As a responsible and compassionate community, we must strive for an inclusive society that uplifts and empowers everyone, regardless of their housing status.





Hostile architecture and encampment "sweeps" contribute to victimization

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10528/208621_1edaa71fd43bf84f_001full.jpg





Will James, KNKX - Memorial for suspected vigilante shooting victim in Takoma, WA

To view an enhanced version of this graphic, please visit:

https://images.newsfilecorp.com/files/10528/208621_1edaa71fd43bf84f_003full.jpg

Read the full report: https://nationalhomeless.org/wp-content/uploads/2024-Hate-Crimes-Report_for-web.pdf.

Contact: Donald Whitehead

Phone: 301-275-7341

Email: dwhitehead@nationalhomeless.org

######

The National Coalition for the Homeless advocates for increased public investment in affordable housing, services, and resources for housing stability. We are creating lasting systems change by developing leaders with lived experience who know how to permanently solve homelessness. We all want the same thing - a safe place to call home.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208621

SOURCE: National Coalition for the Homeless
TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Sterling Metals Corp. (TSXV:SAG)(OTCQB:SAGGF) ("Sterling" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that it has completed the acquisition (the "Transaction") of the Copper Road Project (the "Copper Road Project"), from Copper Road Resources Inc. (TSXV:CRD) ("Copper Road") through the purchase of 100797918 Ontario Inc. (the "Subsidiary"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Copper Road. Located 80km north of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada, the Copper Road Project is a 24,000ha high-potential brownfield copper-moly-silver-gold project associated with the Midcontinent Rift, which until 2021 had never been fully consolidated. Recent porphyry and breccia drill holes as well as past copper production from two mines suggest the potential for larger intrusion related copper mineralization. The Copper Road Project benefits from its strategic proximity to substantial infrastructure (Figure 1).

As consideration for the Transaction, Sterling has acquired the Subsidiary and issued 108,087,669 Common Shares (the "Consideration Shares") in the capital of the Company, of which 86,249,546 Consideration Shares will be distributed, on a pro rata basis, to the shareholders of record of Copper Road as of close of business on Wednesday, May 8, 2024 (the "Record Date"). Sterling has also paid $460,000 in cash.

Mathew Wilson, CEO and Director of Sterling, commented, "We are excited to complete the acquisition of Copper Road, adding a complementary and compelling project to our growing Canadian exploration portfolio. The timing of Transaction represents a significant opportunity for existing and new shareholders of Sterling, as we enter a new copper supercycle, largely the product of years of underinvestment and lack of discoveries. As we look ahead, we are excited to begin our Phase I exploration program in the coming weeks. Our exploration team as been diligently gathering historical and current data and we look forward to providing plans with the aim of making important discoveries in eastern Canada."

To stay updated on Sterling's progress, please sign up to the mailing list by clicking here: https://www.sterlingmetals.ca/contact/request-info/.

Figure 1: Location of the Copper Road Project in Ontario, Canada located in proximity to significant infrastructure

For additional information on the Copper Road Project and the Transaction, please refer to Sterling's news releases dated February 14, 2024, February 27, 2024 and April 30, 2024.

In connection with the Transaction, Sterling has agreed to pay a finder's fee to Castlewood Capital Corporation (the "Finder") in the amount of $20,000 (plus all applicable taxes) and shall issue the Finder an aggregate of 2,064,841 common shares in the capital of Sterling.

About Sterling Metals

Sterling Metals (TSXV:SAG) and (OTCQB:SAGGF) is a mineral exploration company focused on large scale and high-grade Canadian exploration opportunities. The Company is advancing the 24,000-hectare Copper Road Project in Ontario which has past production, and multiple breccia and porphyry targets strategically located near robust infrastructure and the 29,000-hectare Adeline Project in Labrador which covers an entire sediment-hosted copper belt with significant silver credits. Both opportunities have demonstrated potential for important new copper discoveries, underscoring Sterling's commitment to pioneering exploration in mineral rich Canada.

For more information, please contact:

Sterling Metals Corp.

Mathew Wilson, CEO and Director

Tel: (416) 643-3887

Email: info@sterlingmetals.ca

Website: www.sterlingmetals.ca

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

This news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

SOURCE: Sterling Metals Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - Borealis Mining Company Limited (formerly, 1329300 B.C. Ltd.) (the "Company" or "Borealis") is pleased to announce, further to its press releases of February 6, 2024, February 26, 2024, March 19, 2024 and March 25, 2024, the closing of its previously announced business combination by way of a plan of arrangement under Division 5 of Part 9 of the Business Corporations Act (British Columbia) (the "Arrangement").

The Arrangement was carried out pursuant to an arrangement agreement dated February 6, 2024, between the Company (formerly, 1329300 B.C. Ltd.), 1000693081 Ontario Ltd. ("Subco"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company and Borealis Mining Company Limited (the "Target"). The Target owns a 100% interest in the Borealis mine property.

Borealis Mine

The Borealis mine property, located close to the town of Hawthorne, NV, is fully permitted and equipped for present mine operations and future expansion, with existing open pits, heap leach pads, modern infrastructure, and a functional ADR facility which produces dore bars. The project has historically produced over 600,000 ounces of gold from an open pit heap leach operation. It is an under-explored property and has not been drilled since 2011. The property possesses high grade expansion potential with excellent historical drilling results, along with a number of untested regional targets.

The Arrangement

The closing of the Arrangement resulted in the Company acquiring all of the issued and outstanding common shares in the capital of the Target (each, a "Target Share"). The Target Shares outstanding immediately prior to the completion of the Arrangement have been cancelled, and the former holders of the Target Shares received common shares in the capital of the Company (each, a "Company Share"), resulting in the Company issuing an aggregate of 76,057,838 Company Shares.

In addition, the 13,288,900 common share purchase warrants of the Target (each, a "Target Warrant") and 1,123,136 compensation options of the Target (each, a "Target Compensation Option") have been cancelled, and the former holders of the Target Warrants and the Target Compensation Options will receive economically equivalent securities of the Company.

The Arrangement resulted in the non-diluted Company Shares being held as follows: (i) 76,057,838 Company Shares (approximately 97.77%) held by former Target shareholders; and (ii) 1,737,745 Company Shares (approximately 2.23%) held by existing Company shareholders.

Name Change and Amalgamation

In connection with the closing of the Arrangement, the Target and Subco amalgamated pursuant to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) and the resulting entity has become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, carrying on the business of the Target. In addition, the Company changed its name from 1329300 B.C. Ltd. to Borealis Mining Company Limited.

Management and Board

In connection with the Arrangement, shareholders of the Company elected Kelly Malcolm, Robert Buchan, Greg Gibson, Anthony Makuch, Richard Patricio and Christina McCarthy as directors of the Company at the annual and special meeting of the Company held on March 19, 2024.

Following the Arrangement, the management of the Company is comprised of Kelly Malcolm, President, Chief Executive Officer, Mike Dai, Chief Financial Officer, Anthony Makuch, Non-Executive Chairman, Andreas Steckenborn, Chief Operating Officer, Iain Campbell, Vice President, Exploration and Jen Thor, Secretary.

A brief biography of the members of the board of directors and management of the Company are as follows:

Kelly Malcolm, President, Chief Executive Officer and Director - Mr. Malcolm is a Professional Geologist (Ontario) with extensive exploration experience focused on precious metal exploration. Mr. Malcolm is the President and CEO of Borealis. Mr. Malcolm was previously VP Exploration of Amex Exploration Inc., a mineral resource company which has made several discoveries on the Perron project in Quebec, since from January 2019 to January 2024. Prior thereto, Mr. Malcolm served as President and CEO of Generic Gold Corp., a mineral resource company, from May 2017 to July 2020. Mr. Malcolm was involved in the discovery and delineation of Detour Gold's high grade 58N gold deposit, and acts as director, advisor, or management for several public and private mineral exploration companies. Mr. Malcolm holds a BSc in geology and a BA in economics from Laurentian University.

Mike Dai, Chief Financial Officer - Mr. Dai is a seasoned financial executive having held several key roles in finance, operations and capital markets. Mr. Dai is CFO of Borealis. Mr. Dai is also CFO of Copperhead Resources Inc. (CSE: CUH), a mineral resource company, since May 2022. He is a CPA and a CFA charter holder and has been involved in several public transactions throughout his career. Mr. Dai joined ALOE Finance in 2012, a transaction advisory and financial consulting firm, and is a partner at the firm. Prior to his involvement with ALOE Finance, he held various roles at Grant Thornton LLP, an audit, tax and advisory firm. Mr. Dai is an alumnus of the University of Waterloo, where he obtained his masters of accounting.

Anthony Makuch, Non-Executive Chairman and Director - Mr. Makuch has over 35 years of mining industry experience. Mr. Makuch is the CEO of Discovery Silver Corp., a mineral resource company, since January 2023. Prior thereto, Mr. Makuch was President, CEO and Director of Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd., a mineral resource company, from July 2016 to February 2022, President and CEO at Lake Shore Gold Inc., from 2008 until its acquisition by Tahoe Resources Inc. in 2016, when he became the Executive Vice-President and President of Canadian Operations. From 2006 to 2008 Mr. Makuch was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for FNX Mining Company Inc. From 1998 to 2005 he held progressively senior positions with Dynatec Corporation, including VP Operations. From 1992 to 1998, Mr. Makuch worked with Kinross Gold Corporation at a number of their North American operations. Mr. Makuch is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Honours Applied Earth Sciences) from the University of Waterloo (Ontario), and both a Master of Science Degree in Engineering and a Master of Business Administration from Queen's University (Ontario) and has obtained the Institute of Corporate Directors ICD.D designation from the University of Toronto Rotman School of Business.

Andreas Steckenborn, Chief Operating Officer - Mr. Steckenborn is a mining engineering entrepreneur based in Reno, Nevada. Mr. Steckenborn is the Chief Operating Officer of Borealis and Owner and Principal Engineer of S-Teck Mining Consulting Ltd., a mining consulting company, since April 2022. Prior thereto, Mr. Steckenborn was a Senior Engineer at Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd., a mineral resource company, from June 2014 to January 2022. Mr. Steckenborn is a Professional Engineer (P.Eng) and holds a Bachelor of Applied Science Degree (Mineral Engineering) from the University of Toronto.

Iain Campbell, Vice President, Exploration - Mr. Campbell is the Vice President, Exploration of Borealis. Prior thereto, Mr. Campbell was the Senior Resource Geologist of Agnico Eagle Limited, a mineral resource company, from February 2022 to April 2023, the Senior Geologist of Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd., a mineral resource company, from January 2020 to February 2022, and Geologist of Detour Gold Corporation, a mineral resource company, from June 2013 to January 2020. Mr. Campbell is a Professional Geologist (Ontario) and holds a BSc in geology from Laurentian University.

Robert Buchan, Director - Mr. Buchan graduated from Heriot-Watt University in Scotland in 1969 with a degree in mining engineering and from Queens University in 1971 with the masters in mineral economics. Mr. Buchan started his career with Joy Manufacturing, a mining equipment manufacturer, and quickly moved to the financial services market with various stints as a mining analyst. In 1986, Mr. Buchan helped Ned Goodman start Dundee Capital, where he served as Vice Chair until his departure 1993 to start Kinross Gold where he served as CEO until he retired in 2004. Mr. Buchan subsequently participated in the formation of Katanga Copper, where he served as Chair until 2007. In that year he was instrumental in creating Allied Nevada, where he remained as Chair until 2014. Mr. Buchan has served on numerous boards including being the Chair of Polius Gold, Russia's largest gold mining company. Mr. Buchan recently completed a seven-year appointment as chancellor of Herriot-Watt University.

Greg Gibson, Director - Mr. Gibson has more than 30 years' experience in the mining industry as a miner, mine manager, director and officer. Mr. Gibson's experience has focused on gold and copper mines primarily in Canada, US, and Australia. Mr. Gibson successfully led Trelawney Mining and Exploration as President, CEO and director from an early explorer to the $608 million sale to IAMGOLD in 2012. Mr. Gibson is a Director of the Borealis and a Director of G6 Energy Corp., a junior resource company, since May 2022. Prior thereto, Mr. Gibson was a Special Advisor to the CEO of Kirkland Lake Gold Ltd., a mining company, from June 2020 to February 2022, President, CEO and a Director of Jerritt Canyon Canada Ltd., a mining company, from June 2015 to April 2019, and Chairman, CEO and a Director of Sprott Mining Inc., a mining company, from May 2015 to April 2019.

Richard Patricio, Director - Mr. Patricio is the President and CEO of Mega Uranium Ltd., having previously been its Executive Vice President from 2005 to 2015. Until April 2016, Mr. Patricio was also the CEO of Pinetree Capital Ltd. ("Pinetree"), a TSX-listed investment company specializing in early-stage resource investments. Mr. Patricio joined Pinetree in November 2005 as Vice President, Corporate and Legal Affairs. Prior to that, Mr. Patricio practiced law at a top-tier Toronto-based law firm before moving in-house with a TSX- listed issuer. Mr. Patricio has built a number of mining companies with global operations and holds (and has held) senior officer and director positions in several companies listed on stock exchanges in Toronto, Australia, London and New York. He currently serves on the Board of IsoEnergy Ltd., Latitude Uranium Inc., Toro Energy Limited, and the NexGen Energy Ltd., all in his capacity as CEO of Mega Uranium Ltd. He also sits on the Board of Sterling Metals Corp. Mr. Patricio received his law degree from Osgoode Hall and was called to the Ontario bar in 2000.

Christina McCarthy, Director - Ms. McCarthy is a geologist with over 15 years of experience in the resource capital markets. Ms. McCarthy is the former President and CEO of Paycore Minerals Inc., recently acquired by i-80 Gold Corp. for $90 million. She previously held the position of Vice President of Corporate Development for New Oroperu Resources Inc., which was acquired by Anacortes Mining Corp. in 2021. Ms. McCarthy served as Director of Corporate Development for McEwen Mining from 2014 to 2019. She spent the past 15 years in various roles, including management and board roles, equity research at Euro Pacific, and Institutional Sales at Haywood Securities, as well as building an exempt market dealer focusing on resources. Prior to entering the resource capital markets, she worked for a junior exploration company managing exploration programs on multiple projects throughout Norway and Sweden. Ms. McCarthy was also influential in building and supporting one of the leading resource initial public offerings in August 2020, New Found Gold Corp., while briefly serving as the CEO of Palisades Goldcorp Ltd. Ms. McCarthy holds a Bachelor of Science Degree (Earth Sciences / Geology) from Brock University.

Jen Thor - Secretary - Ms. Thor is a Law Clerk at Irwin Lowy LLP. Ms. Thor serves or has served as an officer and/or director of several public companies. Ms. Thor is a member of the Institute of Law Clerks of Ontario.

Early Warning

In connection with the completion of the Arrangement, Evanachan Limited, a company beneficially owned and controlled by Robert McEwen, acquired an aggregate of 13,448,153 Company Shares representing approximately 17.29% of the issued and outstanding Company Shares on a non-diluted basis.

The Company Shares were acquired for investment purposes. Evanachan Limited may, depending on market and other conditions, or as future circumstances may dictate, increase or decrease some or all of the existing or additional securities it holds or will hold, or may continue to hold its current position, depending on market conditions.

The disclosure in this news release is being issued in accordance with National Instrument 62-103 - The Early Warning System and Related Take-Over Bid and Insider Reporting Issues in connection with the filing of an early warning report on the Company's SEDAR+ profile at www.sedarplus.ca. A copy of the early warning report can be obtained by contacting Robert McEwen, President of Evanachan Limited (150 King Street West, Suite 2800, Toronto, Ontario M5H 1J9), at (647) 258-0395 ext. 200.

About Borealis

Borealis is a gold mining and exploration company focused on exploration and resumption of production of the Borealis Mine in Nevada. The Borealis Mine is a fully permitted minesite, equipped with active heap leach pads, an ADR facility, and all necessary infrastructure to support a heap leach gold mining operation. In addition to the mine, the property, comprised of 751 unpatented mining claims of approximately 20 acres each totalling approximately 15,020 acres and one unpatented mill site claim of about five acres located in western Nevada, is highly prospective for additional high-sulfidation gold mineralization. Borealis is led by a strong board and management team, many of whom have founded, managed, and sold highly successful mining and exploration companies.

For further information, please contact:

Kelly Malcolm

President and Chief Executive Officer

Tel: (647) 299-1153

This news release may contain certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate", "may", "will", "would", "potential", "proposed" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. These statements are only predictions. Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the information is provided, and is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking information. For a description of the risks and uncertainties facing the Company and its business and affairs, readers should refer to the Company's Management's Discussion and Analysis. The Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking information if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change, unless required by law. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.

This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in the United States. The securities have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities in any state in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208735

SOURCE: Borealis Mining Company Limited
Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL)

Serengeti, Tanzania's Leading Beer, Embarks on a New Chapter with a Fresh Look, Innovative Product, and Diamond Platnumz as Brand Ambassador



10-May-2024 / 16:50 CET/CEST

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





Serengeti, Tanzania's Leading Beer, Embarks on a New Chapter with a Fresh Look, Innovative Product, and Diamond Platnumz as Brand Ambassador

Serengeti ( www.SerengetiBreweries.co.tz ), leading beer brand in Tanzania, has unveiled its rejuvenated identity alongside a new product innovation - Serengeti Lemon. The re-launch not only celebrates the Serengeti's rich legacy but also signifies its dedication to embodying the Tanzanian spirit of resilience and progress.

Since its inception in 1996, Serengeti has flourished into the largest bottled brand in East Africa. The new look reflects Serengeti's journey of growth and evolution, resonating with the dynamic energy of Tanzania.

"We are thrilled to embark on this exciting journey, marking a new chapter in the Serengeti story. Our refreshed look and innovative products like Serengeti Lager, Serengeti Lite, and the newest addition, Serengeti Lemon, reaffirm our commitment to offering exceptional experiences to our consumers. Today, Serengeti although a young brand born in 1996, has grown to become the largest bottled brand in East Africa thanks to the love and pride of Tanzanians," expressed Obinna Anyalebechi, Managing Director of Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL).

Rhona Namanya, Serengeti Head of Beer, echoed this sentiment, stating, "Serengeti is more than just a beer; it represents the vibrant spirit and essence of Tanzania. Our re-launch is a testament to our dedication to staying true to our roots while embracing a forward-thinking approach."

Amidst this momentous occasion, Serengeti also announced its partnership with Tanzanian music sensation, Diamond Platnumz, as the brand ambassador. Recognized for his charisma and deep connection with Tanzanian audiences.

"We are delighted to welcome Diamond Platnumz to the Serengeti family. His dynamic presence and cultural influence make him the perfect ambassador to represent our brand," remarked Obinna Anyalebechi. "Just as Serengeti has grown alongside the Tanzanian people, we anticipate an exhilarating journey ahead, crafting unforgettable experiences for our consumers with Diamond by our side."

Echoing the sentiments, Diamond remarked, "I am excited to join the Serengeti family! Collaborating with a brand that resonates with the energy and spirit of Tanzania is something to be proud of."

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of Serengeti Breweries Limited (SBL).

Download Image1: https://apo-opa.co/4b6Z0T4

Download Image 2: https://apo-opa.co/3y7gQ9S

Download Image 3: https://apo-opa.co/3UzzOO0

Download Image 4: https://apo-opa.co/3UCK08l

Download Image 5: https://apo-opa.co/4bf29jY

Download Image 6: https://apo-opa.co/3JST2Jw

Dissemination of a CORPORATE NEWS, transmitted by EQS Group.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.




ANKARA, Turkiye, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chairperson of the Digital Technologies Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) - Digital Technologies Business Council and the Founder of Cerebrum Tech, Recep Erdem Erkul, PhD, was appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea in Sivas.

Technology entrepreneur R. Erdem Erkul, PhD, was appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea in Sivas. Erkul received the appointment certificate from the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Turkiye Yeondoo Jeong, at the ceremony held at the embassy building in Ankara.

Expressing his gratitude to Ambassador Jeong for entrusting the duty to him on behalf of the Republic of Korea, Mr.Erkul stated that the relationship between the two countries has been getting stronger every year since the first establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957. Erkul also mentioned that he takes pride in contributing to the development of the commercial and cultural relations of the two countries with the professional experiences he has gained working for non-governmental organizations and top international private sector companies.

Erkul is a respected technology entrepreneur known for his work in non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Turkiye and the Republic of Korea and his work for the development of the technology sector.

Between 2014 and 2018, Erkul served as a director and company spokesperson at Samsung Electronics Turkiye, the Republic of Korea's technology giant, taking part in various R&D and innovation projects between the two countries.

Erkul founded the new-generation technology company Cerebrum Tech in 2021, and one of its six offices worldwide is located in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. He also has been serving as the Chairperson of the Digital Technologies Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) for two terms, currently.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2409757/Cerebrum_Tech.jpg

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.co.uk/news-releases/cerebrum-tech-founder--chairman-rerdem-erkul-phd-appointed-as-the-honorary-consul-of-the-republic-of-korea-in-sivas-302142285.html
Redde Northgate Plc - Transaction in Own Shares

PR Newswire

LONDON, United Kingdom, May 10

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

10 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 10 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 : 50,000 Weighted average purchase price paid 403.75 pence per share Highest purchase price paid 405.5 pence per share Lowest purchase price paid 402 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 19,339,362 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 226,752,061 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 910May 2024)

Number of shares

purchased Transaction price

(GB pence per share) Time of transaction Transaction reference number Venue 25,000 25,000 405.50 402.00 13:02:21 15:32:15 00069897273TRLO0 00069902747TRLO0 LSE 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 10

For immediate release

10 May 2024

FINSBURY GROWTH & INCOME TRUST PLC

(the "Company")

MARKET PURCHASE OF COMPANY'S OWN SHARES

The Company announce that it has today purchased 127,412 of its own shares ("Ordinary Shares") at a price of 856.67 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 41,563,343; 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 183,427,960.

The figure of 183,427,960 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
KeyBank Community Plaza set to highlight nonprofits and small businesses on match days

PORTLAND, OR / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / KeyBank has entered a new multiyear partnership with the Portland Timbers and Portland Thorns FC, it was announced today. The partnership includes naming rights to the northeast entrance of Providence Park, which will be unveiled as the 'KeyBank Community Plaza' on May 9.

"We are very excited to have KeyBank return as a partner and look forward to unveiling the KeyBank Community Plaza to Timbers and Thorns fans," said Timbers CEO Heather Davis. "We are proud to work with KeyBank to utilize our shared platform to help support deserving non-profits and small businesses."

The KeyBank Community Plaza will host a local nonprofit or small business on Timbers and Thorns match days. Fans will have the opportunity to engage with and learn about the highlighted organization at an informational table on the concourse. The Timbers will also provide marketing support throughout the matchday, with the intent of generating awareness and exposure for the participating organizations.

"We are pleased to continue to partner with KeyBank," said Alexis Lee, President, Business Operations, Thorns FC. "It's important that we continue to partner with community-first organizations like KeyBank. We look forward to collaborating with them as we both work to provide a positive impact on small businesses across the Portland area."

A founding partner of the Portland Timbers in 2011, KeyBank is returning for its 13th season with the club. With community at the forefront of the partnership, KeyBank has collaborated with the Timbers and Thorns on many local initiatives in years past, including Fields For All projects, Boys and Girls Club opportunities, and Stand Together Week.

"We are proud to sponsor the Providence Park KeyBank Community Plaza," said Josh Lyons, KeyBank Oregon and SW Washington Market President. "We hope this space provides a sense of gathering, togetherness, and celebration for the years to come. KeyBank is honored to partner with both the Timbers and Thorns and are excited to support their efforts on and off the pitch."

The May 9 unveiling with take place at the KeyBank Community Plaza on the corner of SW Morrison St. and SW 18th Ave. from 3-4 p.m. (Pacific). Club representatives in attendance will include CEO Heather Davis, VP of Community and Social Impact Dr. Robin Beavers, Thorns FC President of Business Operations Alexis Lee, Timbers players Eric Miller and Santiago Moreno, and Thorns FC players Sam Coffey and Meghan Klingenberg. KeyBank will be represented by Market President Josh Lyons. The new nonprofit and small business platform will be demonstrated at the event with MESO and L&M Hair Academy in attendance.

View additional multimedia and more ESG storytelling from KeyBank on 3blmedia.com.

Contact Info:

Spokesperson: KeyBank

Website: https://www.3blmedia.com/profiles/keybank

Email: info@3blmedia.com

SOURCE: KeyBank

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - BMEX Gold Inc. (TSXV: BMEX) (FSE: 8M0) ("BMEX" or the "Company") announces that it is undertaking a non-brokered private placement financing of for aggregate gross proceeds of up to $1,250,000 (the "Offering").

The Offering will consist of the sale of up to 6,666,667 flow-through units ("FT Unit") at $0.15 for gross proceeds of up to $1,000,000 and 1,666,667 non-flow-through units ("NFT Units") at $0.15 for gross non-flow through proceeds of up to $250,000. Each FT Unit and each NFT Unit consists of one common share (a "Common Share") of the Company and one full common share purchase warrant ("Warrant"), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire one additional Common Share at a price of $0.20 per share for a period of twenty-four (24) months from the closing date of the Offering.

In consideration for services provided with respect to the Offering, the Company may pay cash finder's fees of up to 6% of the gross proceeds of the Offering.

The gross proceeds from the sale of the FT Units will be used to further explore and evaluate the Company's Dunlop Bay project located in Quebec, Canada and proceeds from the sale of the NFT Units will be used for general working capital.

All securities issued pursuant to the Offering will be subject to a statutory hold period of four months from the date of issuance in accordance with applicable securities legislation. The Offering is subject to certain closing conditions including, but not limited to, the receipt of all necessary regulatory and other approvals including the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange.

This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to sell any of the securities in the United States. The securities have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") or any state securities laws and may not be offered or sold within the United States or to U.S. Persons unless registered under the U.S. Securities Act and applicable state securities laws or an exemption from such registration is available.

About BMEX Gold Inc.

BMEX Gold Inc. is a junior Canadian mining exploration company with the primary objective to acquire, explore, and develop viable gold and base metal projects in the mining-friendly jurisdiction of Quebec, Canada. BMEX is currently fully focused its 100% interest in its two projects, both located in the prolific Abitibi greenstone belt:

King Tut Project consists of 120 contiguous claims on 5,206 hectares

consists of 120 contiguous claims on 5,206 hectares Dunlop Bay Project consists of 76 mineral claims that cover 4,226 hectares

BMEX common shares trade under the symbol "BMEX" on the TSX-V and under the symbol 8M0 on the Frankfurt Exchange.

For further information please contact:

BMEX Gold Inc.

Robert Pryde President and CEO

Tel: (403) 478-6042

Email: info@bmexgold.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. No stock exchange, securities commission or other regulatory authority has approved or disapproved the information contained herein.

Forward-looking statements:

This news release contains forward-looking statements. All statements, other than of historical facts, that address activities, events or developments that the Company believes, expects or anticipates will or may occur in the future including, without limitation, the completion of the Offering as described herein are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are generally identifiable by use of the words "will", "should", "continue", "expect", "anticipate", "estimate", "believe", "intend", "to earn", "to have', "plan" or "project" or the negative of these words or other variations on these words or comparable terminology. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond the Company's ability to control or predict, that may cause the actual results of the Company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from current expectations include, among other things, failure to obtain any necessary regulatory approvals, the termination of any agreement governing the Offering, general business and economic conditions, changes in world gold markets, sufficient labour and equipment being available, changes in laws and permitting requirements, unanticipated weather changes, title disputes and claims, environmental risks as well as those risks identified in the Company's annual Management's Discussion and Analysis. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those described and accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Although the Company has attempted to identify important risks, uncertainties and factors which could cause actual results to differ materially, there may be others that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. The Company does not intend, and does not assume any obligation, to update these forward-looking statements except as otherwise required by applicable law.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208768

SOURCE: BMEX Gold Inc
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - East Africa Metals Inc. (TSXV: EAM) ("East Africa" or the "Company") are pleased to announce the development of the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk mines has been initiated. EAM's development partner, the Chinese company Tibet Huayu Mining Co., Ltd. ("Tibet Huayu"), through its wholly owned subsidiary Silk Road Investments Co. Ltd., will bear 100% of the costs of mine construction.

The mine development program is operated by the jointly owned company Tigray Resources Inc. ("TRI" - 70% Silk Road, 30% East Africa Metals). Once commercial production begins, East Africa will have the right to a Net Profits Interest ("NPI") equivalent to 30% of the total production (Au, Cu), net of mining and processing costs.

Operations at Mato Bula and Da Tambuk were suspended during the three-year regional conflict which was ended with the signing of the Pretoria Agreement in November 2023. Since that time, TRI has established a base of operations and staff in the nearby town of Shire. The Shire staff are currently working with local authorities and regional governments to prepare the sites for construction activity.

In addition to permitting and approvals, TRI's staff has advanced the mine development agenda through:

The revised feasibility study of the project has been completed. The revised study includes detailed design parameters that will see the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk mines now developed simultaneously around a central processing facility.

The plans for access road construction has been completed and discussions with the local government ("Werda") to finalize the start of construction are in progress. The commencement of road construction is expected to begin prior to the end of May 2024.

Community meetings with all stakeholders have been held and support for the project going forward has been confirmed by the Federal and Regional governments and local community.

Ministry of Mines official mining cadastral confirms EAM's mining rights to the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk Mining Licenses remain active and in good standing.

In addition, planning is in progress for a drill program to test the Halima Hill prospect that lies within the Adyabo Mining License. Drilling is expected to begin prior to the end of Q2 2024.

Mato Bula Gold Copper and Da Tambuk Gold Projects

The Adyabo Project Mato Bula and Da Tambuk deposits are high sulphidation gold rich VMS. This submarine porphyry-related system is located in the southern part of the Arabian-Nubian Shield (ANS) in the Tigray region of northern Ethiopia. Mining licences have been received that cover both deposits on Adyabo, Mato Bula Au-Cu-Ag and Da Tambuk Au.

Tibet Huayu Mining Co. Limited is responsible for 100% financing of both Adyabo's Mato Bula and Da Tambuk mine construction costs resulting in a 70% THM and 30% EAM ownership.

In April 2018, Preliminary Economic Assessment (PEA) results were released on the Mato Bula Gold Copper and Da Tambuk Gold Projects, indicating strong project economics. For Mato Bula, the post-tax NPV is US$56.7 million (8% discount rate), and an IRR of 28.4%. For Da Tambuk, the post-tax NPV is US$13.0 million, with an IRR of 28.6% at a gold price of USD1,325.

About Tibet Huayu Mining Co. Ltd.

Tibet Huayu Mining Co., Ltd. is part of Huayu Mining, and multinational mining group listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange since 2016. Huayu owns a 50% stake in Tajikistan's largest state-owned enterprise, Tajikistan Aluminum and Gold Industry, in addition to a 70% stake in Tigray Resources Incorporated PLC ("TRI"), which owns the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk mines.

About East Africa Metals

The Company's principal assets include a 30% Net Profits Interest in the Mato Bula and Da Tambuk mines (collectively "Adyabo Property") and a 70% project interest in the Harvest polymetallic VMS Exploration Project in the Tigray Region of Ethiopia. In addition, the Company has a 30% Net Streaming Interest in the Magambazi Mine in the Tanga Region of Tanzania.

EAM has invested US$66.8M in African exploration since 2005 and has identified a total of 2.8 million ounces of gold and gold-equivalent resources representing an average discovery cost per ounce of US$24.

More information on the Company can be viewed at the Company's website: www.eastafricametals.com.

On behalf of the Board of Directors:

Andrew Lee Smith, P.Geo., CEO

For further information contact:

Nick Watters, Business Development

Telephone +1 (604) 488-0822

Email investors@eastafricametals.com

Website www.eastafricametals.com

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Information

This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities legislation. Generally, forward-looking information can be identified using forward-looking terminology such as "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "forecast", "project", "budget", "schedule", "may", "will", "could", "might", "should", "indicate" or variations of such words or similar words or expressions. Forward-looking information is based on reasonable assumptions that have been made by East Africa as at the date of such information and is subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements of East Africa to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking information, including but not limited to: timing of receipt of mining permit; timing of mining development; projected heap leach recoveries; early exploration; the closing of the agreement with the exploration and development company to advance the Magambazi Project or identify any other corporate opportunities for the Company; mineral exploration and development; metal and mineral prices; availability of capital; accuracy of East Africa's projections and estimates, including the initial mineral resource for the Adyabo, Harvest and Magambazi Properties; interest and exchange rates; competition; stock price fluctuations; availability of drilling equipment and access; actual results of current exploration activities; government regulation; political or economic developments; foreign taxation risks; environmental risks; insurance risks; capital expenditures; operating or technical difficulties in connection with development activities; personnel relations; the speculative nature of strategic metal exploration and development including the risks of diminishing quantities of grades of reserves; contests over title to properties; and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, as well as those risk factors set out in in East Africa's management's discussion and analysis for the three months and nine months ended September 30, 2023 and for the year ended December 31, 2023, and East Africa's listing application dated July 8, 2013. Mineral Resources, which are not Mineral Reserves, do not have demonstrated economic viability. The contained gold, copper and silver figures shown are in situ. No assurance can be given that the estimated quantities will be produced. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to the timely closing of the financing; the timely closing of the Handeni Property definitive agreement; the price of gold, silver, copper and zinc; the demand for gold, silver, copper and zinc; the ability to carry on exploration and development activities; the timely receipt of any required approvals; the ability to obtain qualified personnel, equipment and services in a timely and cost-efficient manner; the ability to operate in a safe, efficient and effective manner; the renewal or extension of exploration Licenses; the regulatory framework regarding environmental matters, and such other assumptions and factors as set out herein. Although East Africa has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other factors that cause results not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. The Company does not update or revise forward looking information even if new information becomes available unless legislation requires the Company do so. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information contained herein, except in accordance with applicable securities laws. Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208725

SOURCE: East Africa Metals, Inc.
Vancouver, British Columbia--(Newsfile Corp. - May 10, 2024) - Wealth Minerals Ltd. (TSXV: WML) (OTCQB: WMLLF) (SSE: WMLCL) (FSE: EJZN) (the "Company" or "Wealth"), announces closing of their non-brokered private placement (the "Placement") as announced on May 6, 2024, issuing 10,000,000 shares (the "Shares") at a price of $0.20 per Share for proceeds of up to $2,000,000. The financing was fully subscribed by Sulzer AG, Switzerland.

The securities issued in the Offering are subject to a four-month hold period, during which time the securities may not be traded.

Commenting on the Private Placement, Henk van Alphen, CEO, stated: "We are excited to welcome Sulzer AG, as a new industrial shareholder. Sulzer AG is a global leader in fluid engineering and chemical processing applications."

This press release does not constitute an offer of sale of any of the foregoing securities in the United States. None of the foregoing securities have been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "1933 Act") or any applicable state securities laws and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account or benefit of, U.S. persons (as defined in Regulation S under the 1933 Act) or persons in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from such registration requirements. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor will there be any sale of the foregoing securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

About Wealth Minerals Ltd.

Wealth is a mineral resource company with interests in Canada and Chile. The Company's focus is the acquisition and development of lithium projects in South America.

The Company opportunistically advances battery metal projects where it has a peer advantage in project selection and initial evaluation. Lithium market dynamics and a rapidly increasing metal price are the result of profound structural issues with the industry meeting anticipated future demand. Wealth is positioning itself to be a major beneficiary of this future mismatch of supply and demand. In parallel with lithium market dynamics, Wealth believes other battery metals will benefit from similar industry trends.

For further details on the Company readers are referred to the Company's website (www.wealthminerals.com) and its Canadian regulatory filings on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

On Behalf of the Board of Directors of

WEALTH MINERALS LTD.

"Hendrik van Alphen"

Hendrik van Alphen

Chief Executive Officer

For further information, please contact:

Marla Ritchie, Michael Pound or Henk van Alphen

Phone: 604-331-0096 or 604-638-3886

For all Investor Relations inquiries, please contact:

John Liviakis

Liviakis Financial Communications Inc.

Phone: 415-389-4670

or

Lucas A. Zimmerman

Managing Director

MZ Group - MZ North America

(949) 259-4987

WML@mzgroup.us

www.mzgroup.us

For all Public Relations inquiries, please contact:

Nancy Thompson

Vorticom, Inc.

Office: 212-532-2208 | Mobile: 917-371-4053

Follow Us:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/WealthMineralsLtd

Linkedin - https://www.linkedin.com/company/wealth-minerals

Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/WealthMinerals

Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this press release, which has been prepared by management.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This press release contains forward-looking statements and forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein including, without limitation, statements regarding the anticipated content, commencement, timing and cost of exploration programs, anticipated exploration program results, the discovery and delineation of mineral deposits/resources/reserves, the Company's expectation that it will be able to enter into agreements to acquire interests in additional mineral projects, 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. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend, estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which, by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are not guarantees of future results or performance, and that actual results may differ materially from those in forward looking statements as a result of various factors, including, but not limited to, the state of the financial markets for the Company's equity securities, the state of the commodity markets generally, variations in the nature, quality and quantity of any mineral deposits that may be located, variations in the market price of any mineral products the Company may produce or plan to produce, the inability of the Company to obtain any necessary permits, consents or authorizations required, including TSXV acceptance, for its planned activities, the inability of the Company to produce minerals from its properties successfully or profitably, to continue its projected growth, to raise the necessary capital or to be fully able to implement its business strategies, and other risks and uncertainties disclosed in the Company's latest interim Management Discussion and Analysis and filed with certain securities commissions in Canada. All of the Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials, including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's mineral properties.

**NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES**



To view the source version of this press release, please visit https://www.newsfilecorp.com/release/208820

SOURCE: Wealth Minerals Ltd.
VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE)(NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") reports interim financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. The interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") are available on Skeena's website and have been posted under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Skeena is also pleased to announce the publication of its Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") report for the 2023 calendar year. Skeena made significant positive contributions last year across economic, environmental, social, and governance areas. We continue to create value for our shareholders, broader stakeholders and First Nation partners by continually evaluating our substantial ESG efforts and associated performance. The ESG report outlining these positive contributions is available on Skeena's website here.

About Skeena

Skeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the Eskay Creek and Snip Projects, two past-producing mines located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of Northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Definitive Feasibility Study for Eskay Creek in November 2023 which highlights an after-tax NPV5% of C$2B, 43% IRR, and a 1.2-year payback at US$1,800/oz Au and US$23/oz Ag.

On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited,

Walter Coles Randy Reichert Executive Chairman President & CEO

Contact Information

Investor Inquiries: info@skeenaresources.com

Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725

Company Website: www.skeenaresources.com

Qualified Persons

In accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration & Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has prepared, validated, and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting the exploration activities on its projects.

Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

Certain statements and information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or our future performance. The use of words such as "anticipates", "believes", "proposes", "contemplates", "generates", "targets", "is projected", "is planned", "considers", "estimates", "expects", "is expected", "potential" and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "will", "could", or "would" be taken, achieved, or occur, may identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Specific forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the results of the Definitive Feasibility Study, processing capacity of the mine, anticipated mine life, probable reserves, estimated project capital and operating costs, sustaining costs, results of test work and studies, planned environmental assessments, the future price of metals, metal concentrate, and future exploration and development. Such forward-looking statements are based on material factors and/or assumptions which include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and the assumptions set forth herein and in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2023, its most recently filed interim MD&A, and the Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") dated March 28, 2024. Such forward-looking statements represent the Company's management expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made, and are necessarily based on several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein, and are subject to significant operational, business, economic, and regulatory risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including permitting and other government approvals; changes in economic conditions, including changes in the price of gold and other key variables; changes in mine plans and other factors, including accidents, equipment breakdown, bad weather and other project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of the Company; environmental risks and unanticipated reclamation expenses; and other risk factors identified in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2023, its most recently filed interim MD&A, the AIF dated March 28, 2024, the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated January 31, 2023, and in the Company's other periodic filings with securities and regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States that are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update and/or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE: Skeena Resources Limited

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Temas Resources Corp. (CSE:TMAS)(OTCQB:TMASF) ("Temas" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that, further to its press releases dated February 8, 2024, March 22, 2024 and April 8, 2024, the Company has closed the second and final tranche of its oversubscribed non-brokered private placement (the "Financing"), issuing 2,655,000 units (the "Units") at a price of $0.20 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $531,000.

Each Unit consists of one common share of the Company (a "Share") and one-half of one common share purchase warrant of the Company (each whole warrant, a "Warrant"). Each Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one additional Share at an exercise price of $0.40 for a period of two years from the closing date.

The gross proceeds raised from the sale of Units will be used to advance the Company's exploration programs and for general corporate matters. The Company paid finders a cash fee of $2,520 and issued 12,600 finders' warrants (the "Finders' Warrants") as compensation for introducing certain purchasers of Units to the Company. The Finders' Warrants have the same terms as the Warrants.

Together with the closing of the first financing tranche announced on April 8, 2024, the Company issued an aggregate of 8,598,690 Units for aggregate gross proceeds of $1,719,738, oversubscribing the original offering by approximately 15%. Certain directors of the Company subscribed for an aggregate 3,353,690 Units of the first tranche the Financing for gross proceeds of $670,738 representing approximately 40% of the overall placement.

Pursuant to applicable Canadian securities laws, all securities issued and issuable in connection with the Offering will be subject to a four month hold period commencing on the Closing Date.

About Temas Resources

Temas Resources Corp. is focused on the advanced La Blache and Lac Brule Iron-Titanium-Vanadium projects in Quebec. The critical metals the Company is exploring for are key to our national mineral independence. Additionally, the Company invests in and works to apply its green mineral recovery technologies across its mining portfolio to reduce the environmental impact and carbon footprint of metal extraction through advanced processing and patented leaching technologies.

All public filings for the Company can be found on the SEDAR+ website www.sedarplus.ca. For more information about the Company, please visit www.temasresources.com.

For further information or investor relations inquiries:

Tim Fernback

Chief Executive Officer

E-mail: tfernback@shaw.ca

KIN Communications Inc.

Tel: 604-684-6730

tmas@kincommunications.com

Neither the Canadian Securities Exchange nor the Market Regulator (as that term is defined in the policies of the Canadian Securities Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation that are not historical facts. Forward-looking statements involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, prospects, and opportunities to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, the expectations of management regarding the proposed Financing, the expectations of management regarding the use of proceeds of the Financing; and regulatory approval for the proposed Financing. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results, performance or developments to differ materially from those contained in the statements including that: the Company may not complete the Financing; the proceeds of the Offering may not be used as stated in this news release; and those additional risks set out in the Company's public documents filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. Although the Company believes that the assumptions and factors used in preparing the forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on these statements, which only apply as of the date of this news release, and no assurance can be given that such events will occur in the disclosed time frames or at all. Except where required by law, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

SOURCE: Temas Resources Corp.

View the original press release on accesswire.com
Team of everyone energy (Picture: everyone energy)

everyone energy, a Berlin, Germany-based greentech startup, closed its seven figure Seed funding round.

The round was led by High-Tech Grunderfonds (HTGF), and neoteq ventures.

The company intends to use the funds to expand operations and its development efforts.

Founded in August 2021 by Celine Gohlich, Fabian Reetz and Florian Gmeiner, everyone energy offers white-label, automated renewable energy planning software for customized advisory services on renewable energy solutions. The software enables energy service providers to build digital customer services and automate sales processes to overcome the complexity and lack of transparency of the energy industrys regulatory framework and lead to a more efficient energy transition.

FinSMEs

10/05/2024
Three Ships Beauty, a Toronto, Canada-based natural skincare brand, raised USD$2.5M in funding.

The round was led by BDC Capitals new Thrive Venture Fund with participation from strategic angel investors.

The company intends to use the funds to further expand in the US market, invest in brand and growth marketing, and strengthen the team with strategic hires to continue scaling retail and e-commerce growth.

Founded by Connie Lo and Laura Burget, Three Ships Beauty is a skincare brand whose products include science-backed plant-derived ingredients, no fillers or chemicals, and are housed in 100% recyclable packaging. Products include the Skin Hero Bio-Retinol Serum, and the Dew Drops Serum.

In 2023, the company expanded its distribution to Whole Foods locations across North America and, to start off 2024, they released First Light Vitamin C + Caffeine Eye Cream.

FinSMEs

10/05/2024
Mohammad Rasoulof has faced repeated prison sentences and film bans in his native Iran, whose Shiite theocracy long has railed against Western-embraced artists as a part of a soft war against its policies read more

The award-winning Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison and lashings just ahead of his planned trip to the Cannes film festival, his lawyer told The Associated Press Thursday.

Rasoulof, 51, known for his film There Is No Evil, has become the latest artist targeted in a widening crackdown on all dissent in the Islamic Republic following years of mass protests, including over the 2022 death of Mahsa Amini.

Advertisement

Iranian authorities havent acknowledged the sentence but Rasoulof and other artists had co-signed a letter urging authorities to put your gun down amid demonstrations over a 2022 building collapse that killed at least 29 people in the southwestern city of Abadan. In the time since then, artists, athletes, celebrities and others have been called for questioning or faced prison sentences.

This judgment is issued due to Mr. Rasoulof signing statements in support of the Iranian people, his lawyer Babak Paknia told the AP. He said that those statements, along with his tweets and further social activities, were found to be instances of action against national security.

Rasoulof faced trial in Tehrans Revolutionary Court, Paknia added.

The tribunals, often handling cases of those with Western ties later used in prisoner swaps by Iran, have been internationally criticized for not allowing those on trial to pick their own lawyers or even see the evidence against them in closed-door hearings.

The director also faces lashings, fines and asset seizures, his lawyer said.

Irans mission to the United Nations did not respond to a request for comment over Rasoulofs sentencing. He had been scheduled to head to Cannes for the premiere of his new film, The Seed of the Sacred Fig, later this month.

Advertisement

There Is No Evil, which tells four stories loosely connected to the use of the death penalty in Iran, won the Golden Bear prize at Berlin in 2020. Rasoulof wasnt there to accept the award due to a travel ban imposed on him by Iranian authorities. Shortly after receiving the award, he was sentenced to a year in prison for three films he made that authorities found to be propaganda against the system.

He has faced repeated prison sentences and film bans in his native Iran, whose Shiite theocracy long has railed against Western-embraced artists as a part of a soft war against its policies. Yet Iran has become known on the international film circuit for daring, thought-provoking movies outlining the challenges of life in the Islamic Republic.

Advertisement

Fellow filmmaker Saeed Roustayi and his producer similarly faced legal action last year after traveling to Cannes to show Leilas Brothers.

Associated Press
A journey of discovery involves a lot of travel and tension and in this case, some terrific and terrifying visuals. Cinematographer Atsushi Okui lets his ingenious imagination run wild and laces the animation with cutesy and gorgeous moments read more

Cast: Soma Santoki, Masaki Suda, Aimyon, Yoshimo Kimura

Director: Hayao Miyazaki

Language: Japanese

Filmmaker Hayao Miyazakis animated film The Boy And The Heron won the BAFTA Award, the Golden Globe, and above all, the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature Film. Miyazaki also said in an interview that this is the most expensive animated Japanese film they have made. The story is bursting with imagination and imageries we usually witness in Hollywood juggernauts. The Boy And The Heron begins with visuals from a war that has broken in a town and the boy in question is Mahito who says his mother died in that very war. And the Heron in question says shes alive. Mahito encounters a woman who happens to be a spitting image of his mother and the mystery behind her existence continues to deepen.

Advertisement

A journey of discovery and dazzle

A journey of discovery involves a lot of travel and tension and in this case, some terrific and terrifying visuals. Cinematographer Atsushi Okui lets his ingenious imagination run wild and laces the animation with cutesy and gorgeous moments. The film takes time to settle. In fact, there are scenes where every minute activity of the central character is shown till its over, even if it involves wearing his clothes, climbing the stairs, or drinking a glass of water. The heron exists for comic relief and so do the maids that reside with our hero. The wild bird mouths the films best line one should quote in real too often- Loose lips lead to sinking ships.

Making no bones

What appeared to be a story of a boy and his lost mother, and of course the heron, turns into a crowded feature with one eccentric character after another with different motivations. And since the world is both fictional and animated, the makers make no bones about making the proceedings as cartoonish as possible in good ways. We know we are making a story about a lost mother but why should we shy away from cracking jokes and having fun?

It has been reported the film could be the filmmakers swan song. Heres hoping its just could be and not will be. Lets have some more adventures and madness.

Advertisement

Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)

The Boy And The Heron is playing in cinemas
So what is really missing in Star is this conviction, and the clarity. What the film is missing is the very stubborn heart that the universe has fallen in love with read more

Director: Elan

Cast: Kavin, Preity Mukhundhan, Aaditi Pohankar

Star, with Kavin playing the lead role of Kalai is about a young boy who dreams of nothing but becoming an actor. All he thinks about is acting, and films. The question is, will he make it? After all, there are thousands of people who crowd the metro cities on a daily basis just for that one big break. However, this industry is not welcoming, and neither is it simple. In such a case, what does Kalai have to help him rise to the top? One would think that the film would center on Kalais journey as he pursued his dreams. Sure, it would cash in on the experience of his failures to hype up his successes, but in Star, because of flawed writing, there is no balance between cause and effect.

Advertisement

The majority of the film feels as if someone is skipping through scenes, fast forwarding through Kalais life. The scenes set during Kalais school time is to establish that he loves movies, and can go to the extent of making prank calls to get a holiday for Rajinikanth release. The college time-period of Kalais life is nothing but him falling in love with a junior student called Meera. It is only when the time for campus interview comes that the film even touches upon Kalais passion for acting. It is not enough to just tell the audience that he is passionate about acting. One must show him pursuing it, with obsession, as if his life depended on it. At least, if the film is about the rise of a star, I believe it is necessary to underline accentuate this obsession.

However, the filmmaker attempts to use a popular quote to repeatedly establish this fact. Author JM Storms famous quote  The universe falls in love with a stubborn heart  is used to establish the male leads stubborn heart during interval block. However, right after this, we see him drown in depression. This break in flow, in terms of understanding the psyche of a man who would do pretty much everything to become an actor, is the downfall of this film. To be honest, there are some brilliant scenes where Kavin steals the limelight with his action, however, these very scenes are undermined because of the plot that is pretty much predictable from the very beginning.

Advertisement

For instance, the scene of Kalai where he acts out a dialogue to his father, is the best scene in the film in my perspective. It establishes this mad love that Kalai has for acting, it establishes how he has grown as an actor, and also portrays the beautiful bond between the father and son strengthened by this common passion for acting and films. In contradiction to this is the entire part, where Kalai travels to Mumbai to audition to be a part of a workshop only to be rejected by the person in charge there. Sure, the scene of him accepting that he doesnt really understand acting as much as he believed he did was great, but what about after? What do we get to see? We see him on the streets, struggling for money, food and shelter. But him learning acting? Nada, we see nothing.

Advertisement

The female characters Meera (Preity Mukhundhan) and Surabhi (Aaditi Pohankar) are nothing but chapters in Kalais life. One is a chapter that ends in heartbreak, while another is all about learning experience. Be it when Meera breaks up with Kalai, or when Kalai loses his sh** with Surabhi who is already traumatised by violence  we do not see a stubborn heart. We see a man broken down by his own dreams. So much so, his life is almost destroyed to pieces by it. However, where is the part where he picks himself up? Where is the part where he refocuses on his passion? This is entirely missed. This reminds me of a scene in MS Dhoni biopic starring late Sushant Singh Rajput. The scene where he sits at the railway station, and a moment of epiphany strikes which the character the conviction that he needs to pursue his passion with clarity.

Advertisement

So what is really missing in Star is this conviction, and the clarity. What the film is missing is the very stubborn heart that the universe has fallen in love with. You see, when you are stubborn with conviction, you seem to shine, otherwise, you only come off as being bullheaded. Unfortunately, what a lost opportunity because this Kavin really did shine in the film.

Rating: 2 (out of 5 stars)

Star is playing in cinemas

Priyanka Sundar is a film journalist who covers films and series of different languages with a special focus on identity and gender politics.
Amritpal Singh, the Waris Punjab De leader, has been in Dibrugarh Jail since last April when authorities arrested him and detained him under the National Security Act (NSA). Singh, who had been evading authorities for more than a month, will contest from Punjabs Sri Khadoor Sahib constituency as an Independent candidate. But how is this possible? read more

Amritpal Singh's lawyer said he had agreed to contest polls in the interest of the 'Khalsa Panth'. FIle photo

Pro-Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singh has filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls.

The Waris Punjab De leader has been in Dibrugarh Jail since last April when authorities detained him under the National Security Act (NSA).

Singh was arrested in Rode village of Punjabs Moga district after being trapped by the police.

He had been evading authorities for more than a month.

But what do we know about Amritpals candidacy? And can you fight polls from jail?

Advertisement

Lets take a closer look:

What do we know about Amritpals candidacy?

As per News18, Singh will be contesting the Lok Sabha polls from Punjabs Sri Khadoor Sahib.

He will be an Independent candidate in the constituency that goes to the polls on 1 June.

I met Bhai Saheb (Amritpal) in Dibrugarh Central Jail. I requested him that in the interest of the Khalsa Panth, he should contest elections from Khadoor Sahib to become a Member of Parliament this time, Amritpals lawyer Rajdev Singh Khalsa told India Today. Bhai Saheb has agreed, and he will contest the elections as an Independent candidate.

Singh on Friday had approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court asking to be released temporarily so he could file his nomination prior to the 14 May deadline.

NDTV reported that Singh also asked the court to direct jail authorities to help him finish the necessary paperwork.

This includes taking a photograph and opening an account in a bank.

The petitioner is a citizen of India and an elector from Khadoor Sahib Constituency and therefore is qualified for contesting the elections, the petition reads.

The petition also mentioned that his father Tarsem Singh had written to Punjabs Chief Electoral Officer and the Amritsar District Magistrate to provide guidelines for Singh to file his nomination.

Singh in his petition claimed that the State of Punjab and District Magistrate, Amritsar have deliberately not issued any further instructions in order to delay and make sure that the petitioner is not able to file his nomination to contest Lok Sabha Election.

Advertisement

Can Singh contest from jail?

But can he really contest from jail?

The answer is an unequivocal yes.

As per India Today, those in jail can contest polls, but are unable to vote.

Singh, for example, can contest polls as he has not been convicted.

Even if he is convicted, he can run for office six years after his jail term ends.

Those that have been jailed can file nominations from prison with aid from a representative.

Advertisement

If a person who has been jailed wins the polls, he or she is then released to take the oath of office.

This is because there is no law allowing the oath of office to be administered inside the prison.

Singh isnt the first person to run for office from jail.

Mukhtar Ansari, who recently passed away, fought on a BSP ticket from Uttar Pradeshs Mau Assembly in 1996 and won the poll.

Mukhtar Ansari was a five-time MLA from Mau constituency in eastern UP. He was a dreaded gangster with 65 cases against him. File photo/Getty Images

Similarly, Lalu Prasad Yadav during the 1998 Lok Sabha polls was jailed over the fodder scam.

Yadav fought from Bihars Madhepura Lok Sabha seat and also won.

Punjab and Haryana HC dismisses petition

The Punjab and Haryana High Court dismissed the petition after the state government told the court it had helped Singh file his nomination for the polls.

Advertisement

Live Law reported that Justice Vinod S Bhardwaj then dismissed Singhs petition as infructuous considering that the request had already been fulfilled.

Two sets of nomination forms and other paperwork were filled in and signed by Singh on 9 May based on telephonic instructions received from the Dibrugarh Central Jail superintendent, Punjab Deputy Advocate General Arjun Sheoran told the high court.

The Superintendent Central Jail Dibrugarh will administer oath to the detenue as per the provisions of law including Handbook for Candidate, 2023 and issue Certificate for Receipt of Oath and send original form of Oath to Returning Officer, 03- Khadoor Sahab, (Punjab). The oath will be administered as and when a request is made by the detenue after his nomination form is submitted before the RO [returning officer], the high court was told as per Indian Express

Sheoran added that Singh was also allowed to meet his proposer and lawyer at the Dibrugarh Central Jail.

With inputs from agencies
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam. The order serves as a shot in the arm for the AAP amid the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, as it allows for the AAP chief to campaign and rouse up support for his candidates. It will also boost the morale of the party read more

AAP supporters with masks resembling Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal. The SC's order of an interim bail to the CM serves as a huge boost to the AAP. File image/AFP

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will be heaving a sigh of relief today (10 May) as the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the alleged excise policy scam. He will now be able to campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal, arrested in the money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam , will have to surrender and go back to jail on 2 June, a day after the last phase of the polls  1 June.

Advertisement

Now, it is left to be seen if the Delhi CMs interim bail will boost the partys campaign ahead of the polls  Delhi will exercise its right to vote on 25 May. Or will it be a case of too little, too late?

What the court said

On 10 May, Supreme Court Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta granted interim bail to Kejriwal until 1 June, adding that the AAP boss, who is currently lodged at Tihar jail, will surrender to prison officials by 2 June.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had earlier vehemently opposed granting any relief to Kejriwal for electioneering, saying there was no precedent available. However, the apex court said that 21 days (the period of bail) will not make any difference.

It further pointed out that the ED had registered its case two years ago and that Kejriwal was only arrested in March 2024. For one-and-a-half years he was there he could have been arrested before or after (the election) also. Whatever it is, 21 days here or there should not make any difference, the court said.

Shadan Farasat, Supreme Court lawyer representing Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, speaks with the media after the apex court granted interim bail to Kejriwal until 1 June. PTI

This is, notably, in line with what it had said during its Tuesday hearing too. The bench had then observed that Kejriwal is the chief minister of Delhi and elections come once in five years and there is no harm in campaigning. We are only considering whether this case requires an exception or if the person involved is in that exceptional circumstance, given the fact that elections are round the corner, the bench had said.

Advertisement

And in granting interim bail today, the apex court also laid down conditions that the Delhi chief minister would have to follow, which are similar to the ones laid down for AAPs Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh.

How the AAP has reacted

Reports state that the AAP boss will walk out as early as this evening and will be able to canvass for the votes. The AAP welcomed the courts decision with AAP workers celebrating outside the partys office in the Capital, chanting slogans such as Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal ji choot gaye.

Advertisement

Delhi minister and AAP leader Imran Hussain celebrates with party workers after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal until 1 June. PTI

AAPs Sanjay Singh said in a post on X: Truth can be troubled but not defeated. The decision of the Honble Supreme Court is welcome. The dictatorship will end. Satyamev Jayate.

Delhi minister Atishi also said, The Supreme Court decision today does not just give relief to Arvind Kejriwal. Democracy has won, the Constitution has won. Whenever democracy and the Constitution have been threatened, Supreme Court has come forward to protect it. This decision will safeguard democracy.

Echoing similar sentiments, Delhi minister Saurabh Bharadwaj said: In a PMLA case, in which the Centres machinery wanted to keep a chief minister in jail in a case where people have been kept in jail for months without proof for months, Arvind Kejriwal getting interim bail in 40 days is nothing short of a miracle, This is a sign from God that India needs a change.

Advertisement

AAP leader Jasmine Shah went a step further and said: The Lok Sabha election actually begins today. Even in areas where there is no AAP candidate, the people of the country will vote for the INDIA bloc candidate.

Boost amid the polls

Needless to say, the temporary relief to Kejriwal will provide a boost to the AAP, especially when it comes to electioneering and canvassing. It will also serve as a morale booster to the workers, who have been tirelessly working.

Lets break it down, step by step. From the point of canvassing, Kejriwals bail will be a big shot in the arm. Polling has yet to take place in 18 of the 22 Lok Sabha constituencies that the AAP is contesting: four in Delhi, 13 in Punjab, and one in Haryana. As one leader was quoted as telling the Indian Express, It is a big leg-up for us. We have campaigned well so far and the issue of him being arrested before the elections has been raised at every platform  right from the court of the people to the court of law. It is no secret that he is the best speaker we have. He has been watching whatever is unfolding closely and will hit the ground running.

It is expected that in the next few days itself, Kejriwal will campaign for the four seats in Delhi where AAP is contesting.

Jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals wife Sunita Kejriwal during a roadshow in support of partys candidate from South Delhi Sahi Ram Pehalwan for Lok Sabha polls, in Delhi. In the absence of her husband, Sunita has taken on the responsibility of campaigning for AAP leaders during the ongoing elections. File image/PTI

While he has been in jail, other AAP members, such as Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann and his wife, Sunita Kejriwal , have taken on the responsibility for canvassing. In fact, on 27 April, Sunita Kejriwal had held her maiden roadshow in the East Delhi constituency. Prior to that, she had also addressed rallies of the INDIA bloc in Delhi and Jharkhand.

Some media reports said that Kejriwals bail will also enable him to strategise with the other INDIA bloc leaders for the ongoing elections. An AAP leader told Indian Express, The biggest blow to the party because of the arrests for Manish Sisodia and Kejriwal was that the organisational hierarchy was not the strongest. With Kejriwal walking out of jail, these issues will get ironed out.

Lost opportunity

While the AAP and INDIA bloc seems buoyed by the interim relief provided to Kejriwal, would it actually make a difference to the elections?

Pundits arent able to discern if its a matter of too little, too late. Thats because of the time lost. Delhi will go to the polls in the sixth phase on 25 May, while Punjab goes to the polls in the last phase on 1 June. This means that Kejriwal has approximately 10 days to campaign for his party candidates. Compare this to BJP. The Narendra Modi-led party has had enough time to campaign and establish a rapport with the voter.

Only the results on 4 June will be able to tell us if Kejriwals bail has had any positive impact. Until then, its a game of wait and watch.

With inputs from agencies
Celebrations outside Tihar jail have already begun with AAP workers distributing sweets in anticipation of Arvind Kejriwals release. The chief ministers wife Sunita is en route to the jail while Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann has already reached the spot. Kejriwal, who is set to go to CM House, is expected to campaign all over the country for the AAP and India bloc read more

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor excise policy scam. PTI

Arvind Kejriwals wait for bail finally came to an end on Friday.

The Supreme Court granted the Delhi chief minister interim bail till 1 June to campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.

Votes are set to be counted on 4 June.

Arvind Kejriwal does not have any criminal antecedents and he is not a threat to the society, the apex court said while announcing its order.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor excise policy scam.

Advertisement

The Aam Aadmi Party hailed the bail granted to its leader as a victory of truth, while several Opposition leaders including West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also praised the apex court verdict.

But what will Kejriwal do next?

Lets take a closer look:

The Aam Aadmi Party has asked its Delhi MLAs, councillors and workers to reach Tihar to welcome Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal after his release from jail on interim bail, according to party leader Gopal Rai.

The Aam Aadmi Party has asked Delhi MLAs, councillors and workers to reach Tihar Jail to welcome Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who will soon be released, Rai told PTI.

Security has been tightened up outside the Tihar Prison complex in anticipation of a huge gathering for Kejriwals release from judicial custody on interim bail.

The AAP workers who have reached the spot have already begun to celebrate.

#WATCH | Delhi: AAP workers distribute sweets as they celebrate outside the Tihar jail.



CM Kejriwal will be released from Tihar jail today after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1. pic.twitter.com/3ESnKz5u8p  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Kejriwals wife Sunita wrote on X, This is the victory of democracy. It is the result of the prayers and blessings of millions of people. Many thanks to everyone.

Sunita is also heading to Tihar jail to welcome her husband.

#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal along with their daughter leaves from CM's residence for Tihar Jail.



The CM was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court till June 1. pic.twitter.com/B2CAM3yF4s  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann on Friday reached Tihar jail to receive Kejriwal.

#WATCH | Delhi: Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann reaches Tihar jail to receive CM Arvind Kejriwal



CM Kejriwal will be released from Tihar jail today after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1. pic.twitter.com/c6KzAbRgJz  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Advertisement

Mann said they will now fight the battle to save democracy with more intensity.

In a post on X, he said, Thanks to the Supreme Court now we will fight the battle to save democracy with more intensity Arvind Kejriwal is not a person but a thoughtand now will take this thought forward with greater momentum.

News18 reported that the Delhi chief minister will head to CM House after being released from Tihar jail.

Sources told NDTV that Kejriwal will campaign all over the country for the AAP and the India bloc.

Advertisement

The outlet quoted party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj as saying, Getting interim bail in 40 days is more than a miracle. Through the Supreme Court, it is a hint from God that whatever is happening in India, a change is needed. Arvind Kejriwal has the blessings of Lord Bajrangbali, and today he will come out of jail. I think its not an ordinary thing. He is coming out of jail for a big purpose.

Opposition leaders celebrate

Congress leader Pawan Khera hoped former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren also gets due justice.

We welcome the intervention by the Supreme Court in granting bail to Arvind KejriwalWe also hope that the prime minister gets enough time after June 4, when he becomes the former prime minister of India, to introspect sitting in Sabarmati Ashram the kind of politics he has indulged in, he said.

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also welcomed the Supreme Court order, saying I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections.

Advertisement

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee hailed the Supreme Court order. PTI

Sharad Pawar, who heads the NCP (SP), said the country remains steadfast in the pursuit of democracy.

I welcome the interim bail order granted to the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal by the SC. India remains steadfast in the pursuit of democracy, Pawar wrote on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi called it a big win for Kejriwal.

And big win for Arvind Kejriwal ji as SC steps in to grant him interim bail. The bid to silence the opposition by BJP is backfiring on them. We Wont be silenced, wont bend, wont give in come what may. Bharat is watching, India is winning! Jai Hind! she wrote on X.

Another Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said justice and relief to Kejriwal against the dictatorial regime in the country was a huge sign of winds of change.

But Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said the development does not mean Kejriwal is innocent.

He has been granted bail for the election campaign till June 1 but what after that? Getting interim bail does not mean that you have been proven innocent. It will not affect the elections, BJP will win all 7 seats of Delhi, Sachdeva was quoted as saying by News18.

The apex court had imposed a slew of bail conditions on the AAP leader.

It said he cannot visit his office or the Delhi Secretariat during the tenure of his interim bail.

It asked Kejriwal to not sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governors sanction during the 21-day interim bail period.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal, arrested in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, will have to surrender and go back to jail on 2 June.

Shadan Farasat, Supreme Court lawyer representing Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, speaks with the media after the apex court granted interim bail to Kejriwal until 1 June. PTI

The bench refused the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, that the interim bail be granted till 5 June .

1 June is the last day of the seven-phase elections.

The court said reasons for granting Kejriwal interim bail will follow.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta and Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the Enforcement Directorate, opposed the granting of interim bail to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief on grounds of poll campaigning saying no such precedents are available.

Observing that granting Kejriwal interim bail for 21 days will not make much of a difference, the bench said the EDs Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) was registered in August 2022 while the chief minister was arrested on 21 March.

He (Kejriwal) was out there for one-and-a-half-years. He could have been arrested earlier or after but nothing such thing happened, the bench told ED.

The law officers urged the court to impose bail conditions, including that Kejriwal will not say anything regarding the excise policy case.

The bench said the conditions will be similar to those imposed on AAP leader Sanjay Singh, who was given bail last month in connection with the case.

According to lawyer Shadan Farasat, who appeared for Kejriwal, the court pronounced a very short oral order.

We have not yet seen the written order. So we dont know the exact contents of the written order. The court said they are releasing Kejriwal on an interim release/bail until 2 June, and there are no conditions on what he can say and what he cannot say during the campaigning process and while he is out in these 20-22 days, he said.

We are hoping that this order is uploaded today, and then we will update appropriate procedure for his release, Farasat added.

The apex court is hearing Kejriwals plea challenging the Delhi High Courts verdict last month upholding his arrest in the case.

The bench said arguments on Kejriwals plea against the arrest will continue next week and it will try to pronounce the judgement on the petition before the summer vacations starting 20 May.

With inputs from agencies
A Chinese zoo in the Jiangsu province is facing the wrath of visitors after it tried to pass off two Chow Chow dogs, painted black and white, as real pandas. Authorities said they did so because they didnt have any of the giant bears. They further insisted that zoogoers are not being misled read more

China's "panda dogs" as seen at the Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu Province. Image Courtesy: X

Can dogs pass for pandas? Certainly not. But in a chinese zoo, panda dogs is a real thing.

Visitors of a zoo in Chinas Jiangsu province raised eyebrows when they found animals on exhibit were not miniature pandas, but coloured dogs.

Even after the outrage from visitors over its deceptive tactic, the zoo defended its actions and stands true to its invention of so-called panda dogs.

How did this whole drama unfold? We explain.

Advertisement

The controversy

It all began on 1 May, when most people on holiday thronged the Jiangsu provinces Tainzhou Zoo, in the hope of seeing some cute pandas.

To lure visitors, the zoo which promised to show Xiong Mao Quan, which translates literally to panda dogs on its tickets reportedly gave a makeover to two spitz breed Chow Chow dogs.

The zookeepers had reportedly taken the dogs, known for their thick double coat of fur, dyed them black and white, and trimmed their mane so they would resemble the Chinese national animal.

These painted dogs passed under the deceptive name of panda dogs have been on display on all days of the May Day holidays, between 8 am and 5 pm.

The absurdity of #CCP's propaganda knows no bounds! Transforming dogs into pandas to deceive the populace is beyond ridiculous. 1/3@bxieus @SolomonYue @songpinganq pic.twitter.com/2mNs827HUR  Jen Ping (@JenPing3) May 10, 2024

The zoo was found selling its tickets priced at 20 yuan (around Rs 236) per adult and 10 yuan (around Rs 115) per child, according to The Global Times report.

Advertisement

There was widespread outrage when zoogoers realised they were looking at Chow Chow dogs instead of pandas. Some people even took to social media to accuse the zoo of animal cruelty along with deceiving its customers and posting videos of the panda enclosure.

Inevitably the visitors will feel disappointed and deceived upon discovering the truth, some lawyers were quoted as saying in The Global Times.

Zoos response

After the outrage, the zoo admitted that the two fake pandas were, in fact, Chow Chow pups who made their debut as panda dogs on the national holiday.

But, refusing to believe that they used deceptive language on their tickets, the zoo said they delivered what was promised on the ticket  panda dogs and did not charge extra.

Advertisement

This is just a new display we offer to visitors. We are not charging extra. The wording featuring Chow Chow dogs is correct and exactly describes what they are, so we are not cheating our visitors, a ticket seller was stated in The Global Times.

The spokesperson said the move came as the zoo wanted to fill in the blank and did not have enough space to accommodate pandas, which are a huge tourist attraction.

China is the home of pandas; there are approximately 1,800 giant pandas in the wild and 600 in captivity, with their habitat limited to the mountains of southwestern China.

Advertisement

Pandas are endemic to China. Reuters

The zoo further said a staff member got the idea of dyeing dogs online, a move that can help them increase visitors.

This way, we will be able to add more fun into the zoo and boost footfall, the staff told Jiangsu News.

Responding to allegations of animal cruelty, the spokesperson gave a bizarre argument that even people dye their hair.

People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur, he was quoted as saying in a Moneycontrol report.

Not a first for Chinese zoos

In August 2023, allegations had surfaced against Hangzhou Zoo in eastern China, claiming that they had resorted to dressing a man in a bear costume within their bear enclosure due to the absence of real bears. Similarly, a viral video in July depicted a Malaysian sun bear named Angela walking on its hind legs, leading to speculation that it was a person in a poorly fitting bear suit.

Advertisement

A staff member of the zoo, speaking to The Sun on WeChat, refuted the claims, stating, Our zoo is government-run, so that kind of situation would not happen.

The temperature in the summer is nearly 40 degrees, if you put on a fur suit, you certainly couldnt last more than a few minutes without lying down.

In other instances, several Chinese zoos have faced accusations of attempting to pass off dyed and groomed dogs as wolves or African cats.

Reports have cited an incident from 2010, where a park in Zhengzhou, Henan province, reportedly acquired four dyed Chow Chows and a golden retriever, dyed to resemble a tiger, from a pet market in Sichuan. This was allegedly done in a bid to attract visitors, as reported by local media outlets cited by Reuters.

With inputs from agencies
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been granted interim bail by the Supreme Court until 1 June, the last day of the polling for Lok Sabha elections. The AAP has hailed the apex courts order as a victory of truth. What rights will the leader have once he steps out of prison? read more

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal is set to walk out of jail after the Supreme Court Friday (10 May) granted him interim bail until 1 June. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Opposition have welcomed the apex courts decision.

Kejriwals party has hailed the apex courts order as a victory of truth. Delhi Minister Atishi said, We have started a movement to end dictatorship, and this movement will be strengthened with Kejriwal walking out of jail.

Advertisement

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on 21 March in an alleged money laundering case related to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. He was sent to Tihar jail on 1 April after a court in Delhi remanded him to judicial custody.

#WATCH | On interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, Delhi Minister and AAP leader Atishi says, "This is the victory of truth...I thank the SC for coming forward to save the Constitution and democracy. Arvind Kejriwal will come out of Tihar Jail this evening and I am sure he pic.twitter.com/0Doq2lYeqK  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

What did the Supreme Court say while giving bail to Kejriwal? Can he campaign now? Will he be able to vote? Can he discharge his official duties as the Delhi CM?

Lets take a closer look.

SC grants interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal

The apex court said that granting Kejriwal an interim bail for 21 days will not make much of a difference. 21 days here or there should not make a difference."

Advertisement

The Supreme Court also said that the Delhi CM would have to surrender on 2 June. While granting him interim relief, the court noted that Kejriwal does not have any criminal antecedents and is not a threat to society.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta refused the request of senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, to grant interim bail till 5 June  a day after the Lok Sabha election results will be declared.

#SupremeCourt rejects ED's argument that the release of #ArvindKejriwal would be giving preferential treatment to politicians.



SC cites the importance of General Elections. pic.twitter.com/YxzgxHID0U  Live Law (@LiveLawIndia) May 10, 2024

Advertisement

Justice Khanna told the ED, which objected to Kejriwals interim relief, the case was registered in August 2022 and the Delhi CM was arrested in March 2024.

He (Kejriwal) was out there for one-and-a-half-years. He could have been arrested earlier or after but nothing such thing happened, he added.

Can Kejriwal campaign?

Yes.

Kejriwal has been granted bail for campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Electors have yet not cast their votes in 18 of the 22 Lok Sabha constituencies where the AAP has fielded candidates  four in Delhi, 13 in Punjab, and one in Haryana, noted Indian Express.

Advertisement

Delhi and Haryana will go to polls on 25 May, while Punjab, the other state where the AAP is in power, will vote on 1 June  the last and seventh phase of Lok Sabha polls.

Sunita Kejriwal, the Delhi CMs wife, has been campaigning for the AAP in the Lok Sabha polls in the absence of her husband.

Earlier this week, the ED had opposed the bail to Kejriwal, saying there is no fundamental right that gives Kejriwal the right to bail to campaign. The right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right, the central probe agency said.

Advertisement

It further pointed out that no political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning even though he is not the contesting candidate.

Justice Khanna said at the time, It is the election season. He is the elected chief minister of Delhi. The elections are around the corner. These are extraordinary situations. Its not normal He is not otherwise a habitual (offender) or somebody who has been involved in any other case.

Can the Delhi CM vote?

Indian laws have a paradox. While prisoners can contest elections in the country, they cannot vote.

Section 62 (5) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 states, No person shall vote at any election if he is confined in a prison, whether under a sentence of imprisonment or transportation or otherwise, or is in the lawful custody of the police.

However, Kejriwal will be out on interim bail when Delhi votes on 25 May. Hence, he can cast his vote in the Lok Sabha polls.

What about his duties as the Delhi CM?

Kejriwal cannot discharge his duties as the chief minister of Delhi.

While granting interim bail to the AAP convenor, the Supreme Court has put conditions. Kejriwal cannot visit the CM office and the Delhi Secretariat.

He will have to furnish a bail bond of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the Tihar Jail Superintendent. He is likely to walk out of jail later on Friday.

Kejriwal cannot make any comments regarding his role in the Delhi excise policy case. He cannot interact with witnesses or have access to any official files related to the case.

Moreover, the AAP leader cannot sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

With inputs from agencies
In India, the Supreme Court is set to reveal its decision regarding Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals bail plea. Meanwhile, on the global stage, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is set to vote on full membership for Palestine. Countries are also expected to finalise the negotiations on the pandemic accords. Heres a look at these and other newsmakers read more

The Supreme Court is set to announce its verdict on Arvind Kejriwal's bail plea on Friday. PTI

As the world steers through another bustling week, significant events on the global stage are lined up for Friday, 10 May. poised to impact international relations and economic policies.

In India, the apex court is set to reveal its decision regarding Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals bail plea. In neighbouring Pakistan, farmers across the nation will protest on Friday against import of wheat.

On the global stage, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is set to vote on full membership for Palestine. Countries are also expected to finalise the negotiations on the pandemic accords.

Advertisement

In Africa, Kenya is set to hold peace talks regarding the situation in South Sudan.

Heres an in-depth look at the big events happening across the world on 10 May.

Supreme Court to decide on Kejriwals interim bail

The Supreme Court of India is set to deliver its order regarding interim bail for Delhi CM Kejriwal in connection with an alleged money laundering case tied to the excise policy scam. The court had earlier reserved its decision for 10 May. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on 21 March and is currently under judicial custody. The Delhi CMs political fate hangs in the balance, with the court also mandating that he refrain from performing any official duties if granted bail.

Nationwide farmers protests in Pakistan

The Kissan Ittehad Pakistan has announced that thousands of farmers across the country will take part in nationwide protests against the ongoing wheat crisis, starting from 10 May. The protest will begin from Multan, as stated by the Kissan Ittehad Pakistan. The wheat prices in the market have dropped significantly and are far below the support price of Rs 3,900 per 40 Kg. This has caused discontent among farmers, who are blaming the decision to import wheat despite a bumper crop locally.

UN General Assembly to vote on Palestinian membership

The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) is set to vote on a resolution that would recognise the Palestinian Authority as qualified for full UN membership. The vote is expected to happen on 10 May.

Advertisement

The vote not only signifies a global gauge of support for Palestinian statehood, but may also marks a critical juncture in the resolution of the Gaza war.

The UN General Assembly is set to vote on full membership for Palestine on May 10. Image courtesy: UN

This comes after a US veto last month blocked the Palestinian Authoritys bid at the Security Council.

Countries to finalise the pandemic accord

Countries are due to finalise negotiations on the pandemic accord on 10 May, with a view to adopting it at the WHOs annual meeting later this month.

A draft of the pandemic accord being negotiated at the World Health Organization proposes that wealthier countries should be requested to contribute their fair share in aiding the world during pandemics. This includes setting aside 20 per cent of tests, treatments, and vaccines for the WHO to distribute during emergencies in underprivileged countries.

Advertisement

Despite the deadline at the doorstep, significant disparities between wealthy and developing nations over equitable access to medications and vaccines remain.

Peace talks for South Sudans conflict to be held in Nairobi

Peace talks to resolve the conflict between South Sudans transitional government and some holdout group are set to begin in Kenya on Friday. The talks will be facilitated by Nairobi and led by former army commander Lazurus Sumbeiywo, these talks aim to reconcile differences and bring more groups into the fold of the 2018 peace agreement, potentially ending years of conflict.
Venezuela is believed to be the first nation in modern times to have completely lost all of its glaciers. Five of the six glaciers in Venezuela, located in the Sierra Nevada de Merida mountain range, disappeared by 2011. Since the Humboldt glacier was now less than two hectares in size, its classification was reduced from glacier to ice field read more

Tourist stand with the view of Peak Humboldt in front of them at the Sierra Nevada in the andean state of Merida. Reuters

Record-high temperatures, deluges, droughts, and wildfires, the impacts of climate change are evident.

Due to the warming temperatures, this country just lost its last glacier, after it turned into an ice field.

Venezuela is believed to be the first nation in modern times to have completely lost all of its glaciers.

In Venezuela there are no more glaciers, Professor Julio Cesar Centeno from the University of the Andes (ULA) told AFP in March, adding, What we have is a piece of ice that is 0.4 per cent of its original size.

Advertisement

Lets take a closer look.

Venezuela loses its last glacier

There used to be six glaciers in Venezuela, located in the Sierra Nevada de Merida mountain range, about 5,000 metres above sea level.

According to The Guardian, five of them disappeared by 2011, leaving just the Humboldt glacier, also known as La Corona, close to the countrys second-highest mountain Pico Humboldt.

A few years of political unrest in the nation had prevented scientists from keeping an eye on the Humboldt glacier, which was expected to last at least another ten years.

The glacier melted far more quickly than predicted, according to evaluations made recently.

It was now less than two hectares in size, the report said.

Its classification was thus reduced from glacier to ice field.

A view of Bolivar Peak at the Sierra Nevada in the Andean state of Merida Reuters

Other countries lost their glaciers several decades ago after the end of the little ice age but Venezuela is arguably the first one to lose them in modern times, The Guardian quoted Maximiliano Herrera, a climatologist and weather historian who maintains a chronicle of extreme temperatures.

The glacier at Humboldt does not have an accumulation zone and is currently only losing surface, with no dynamic of accumulation or expansion, said Luis Daniel Llambi, an ecologist at Adaptation at Altitude, a programme for climate change adaptation in the Andes, the report said.

Our last expedition to the area was in December 2023 and we did observe that the glacier had lost some two hectares from the previous visit in 2019, (down from four hectares) to less than two hectares now.

Advertisement

The loss of many ecosystems

The Venezuelan government has put in a thermal blanket in December as its final attempt to protect the glacier from further melting, according to BBC News.

The government has not stated if the cover has been unrolled yet, but it was transported to Humboldt Peak in December by helicopter in 35 separate sections, each measuring 2.75 by 80 metres, as per Wion News.

However, some experts believe it to be too little, too late.

Julio Cesar Centeno is among the specialists who firmly believe that the Humboldt glacier, also called La Corona, is irreversibly melting.

The loss of La Corona marks the loss of much more than the ice itself, it also marks the loss of the many ecosystem services that glaciers provide, from unique microbial habitats to environments of significant cultural value, The Guardian quoted Caroline Clason, a glaciologist and assistant professor at Durham University.

Advertisement

Compared to nations like Peru, where tropical glaciers are far more widespread, Venezuelas glaciers played a far smaller part in the regions water supply.

The biggest impact for me of the disappearance of glaciers is cultural, Llambi told the publication, adding, Glaciers were a part of the regions cultural identity, and for the mountaineering and touristic activities.

This is an extremely sad record for our country, but also a unique moment in our history, providing an opportunity to (not only) communicate the reality and immediacy of climate change impacts, but also to study the colonisation of life under extreme conditions and the changes that climate change brings to high mountain ecosystems.

Advertisement

The reason behind melting glaciers

El Nino weather has been plaguing the planet recently.

According to specialists, the phenomenon causes temperatures to rise, which may hasten the melting of tropical glaciers.

Clason, while speaking to The Guardian, said, That Venezuela has now lost all its glaciers really symbolises the changes we can expect to see across our global cryosphere under continued climate change. As a glaciologist, this is a poignant reminder of why we do the job and what is at stake for these environments and for society.

Dr James Kirkham and Dr Miriam Jackson, glaciologists with the ICCI and the International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development, were quoted by BBC as saying, The latest projections show that between 20 and 80% of glaciers globally will be lost by 2100 (with significant regional variation), depending on the emissions pathway followed.

Advertisement

The two added that even though a portion of this loss is already locked in, rapidly lowering CO2 emissions could save other glacial deposits, which will have enormous benefits for livelihoods, and energy, water and food security.

Glaciers in other countries at risk

As per The Guardian, Herrera claims that Slovenia, Mexico, and Indonesia will be the next countries to lose their glaciers.

Recent record-high temperatures in Mexico and Papua Island, Indonesia, are predicted to hasten the glaciers retreat.

According to Llambi, as glaciers continue to recede from the Andes, what is happening in Venezuela is a reflection of what will happen from north to south, first in Colombia and Ecuador, then in Peru and Bolivia.

Earlier, the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) report also highlighted that most glaciers in the high-mountain region in Asia had lost significant mass because of record-breaking high temperatures and dry conditions.

Criteria for ice body to qualify as a glacier

A widely acknowledged guideline of about 10 hectares is provided by the US Geological Survey, however, there is no global standard for the minimum size of a body of ice that qualifies as a glacier.

Dr Kirkham and Dr Jackson explained to BBC that glaciologists recognise a glacier as an ice mass that deforms under its own weight.

They told the outlet in a joint statement, Glaciologists often use a criteria of 0.1 square kilometre [10 hectares] as a common definition, but any ice mass above that size still has to deform under its own weight [to count].

With inputs from agencies
India has scored a big win after securing the release of five sailors on board MSC Aries, which was captured by Iran in early April. However, 11 other Indian crew members are yet to return home, with officials noting that some technicalities are to be processed for their homecoming read more

The MSC Aries was seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards on 13 April near the Strait of Hormuz. The ship had a crew of 25 members, including 17 Indians. Image Courtesy: @MonitorX99800/X

Indias diplomacy scored a big win on Thursday (9 May) after it was able to secure the release of five Indians on board the MSC Aries, a commercial ship with links to Israel, which had been seized by Tehran earlier.

The Indian embassy in Iran while thanking the Iranian authorities for their cooperation also confirmed that the sailors had departed the country during the evening and would be making their way home soon.

Advertisement

However, the work isnt over yet. New Delhi still has to secure the release of the remaining 11 Indian crew members on board the captured vessel.

Home bound

On Thursday, Iran freed seven of the 25 crew members on board the MSC Aries, including five Indians , a Filipino and an Estonian. The Indian sailors, as per officials, are making their way home.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhi Jaiswal confirming the news, said on X: Five of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas.

5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas.  India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) May 9, 2024

The release comes after India pressed into action to secure their release. In fact, shortly after the ship had been captured, Indias external affairs minister S Jaishankar had held phone calls with his counterparts in Iran and Israel. In his call with his Iranian counterpart, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, Jaishankar had also expressed concerns over the situation and the condition of the 17 on board the ship.

Advertisement

Following his call with the Iranian foreign minister, S Jaishankar had posted on X, Discussed the current situation in the region. Stressed the importance of avoiding escalation, exercising restraint, and returning to diplomacy. Agreed to remain in touch.

And it seems that Indias diplomacy worked, as Iran had on 18 April released one of the Indian crew member, Ann Tessa Joseph from Thrissur, Kerala. With the concerted efforts of Indian mission in Tehran and the Iranian govt, Indian deck cadet Ms Ann Tessa Joseph from Thrissur, Kerala, who was among the Indian crew members of container vessel MSC Aries, has landed safely at the Cochin International Airport today afternoon, posted the MEA on her return to India.

Advertisement

Ann Tessa Joseph, who was among the 17 Indians onboard vessel MSC Aries that was seized by Iranian military, with her family after returning home, on 20 April. File image/PTI

When asked about her captivity, Joseph had said that she had been treated well; there was no cruelty or ill-treatment. Moreover, the other Indians who were also taken captive were in good health and were also given the chance to contact their family members.

While the five Indians are returning home, efforts are still on by the MEA to secure the release of the remaining 11 Indians on board the ship. It is still not clear why their return home hasnt been cleared yet. However, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswals previous press interaction offers some clues. Earlier in April, while interacting with the members of the press, he had said that there were certain technicalities involved in the return of the crew members.

Advertisement

There are certain technicalities involved, there are some contractual obligations, once that is done, it will depend on that when will they return, he had then told the media.

Irans seizure of MSC Aries

It was on 13 April that Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy had seized the MSC Aries, a container ship with links to Israel, near the Strait of Hormuz.

At the time, Iran had said that the vessel had been seized as it has violated maritime laws. The vessel was diverted into Irans territorial waters as a result of violating maritime laws and not answering calls made by Iranian authorities, spokesperson Nasser Kanaani had said.

Advertisement

An official slides down a rope during a helicopter raid on MSC Aries ship at sea. File image/Reuters

Irans state-run IRNA news agency further reported that a Guards helicopter had boarded the MSC Aries and taken it into Iranian waters.

The MSC Aries, a 1,200-foot cargo vessel, had 25 crew members on board, of which 17 were Indians. It is operated by MSC, a major shipping company, but belongs to an affiliate of Zodiac Maritime, which is part of the Zodiac Group, owned by the Israel-born billionaire Eyal Ofer.

Notably, the ships capture came hours before Tehran launched an attack on Israel  it had launched more than 300 drones and missiles towards the Jewish nation. However, 99 per cent of them had been intercepted either outside Israeli airspace or over the country itself, Israel said. The airstrike had been Irans response to its consulate building being hit in Syrias Damascus, killing 13 people, including some senior officials of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Not Irans first vessel capture

The capture of MSC Aries was not the first time Iran had seized a commercial vessel. In January, Irans navy seized a tanker loaded with oil off the coast of Oman. In that seizure, soldiers also descended from a helicopter.

The United States has also said that before the war in Gaza, Iran had harassed, attacked or interfered with more than a dozen internationally flagged merchant ships in recent years.

Moreover, the Iranian-backed Houthi rebels have also been a menace on the high waters, launched more than 40 attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since last November. The Houthis have said they would be attacking ships connected with Israel, or heading to or from there. However, many of the vessels have no connection with Israel.

With inputs from agencies
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and US president Joe Biden have long maintained a complex relationship. But now that their opinions on the Gaza war are at odds and their political futures are in jeopardy. Biden is delaying the shipment of heavy bombs to Israel and threatening to stop providing artillery and other weapons, while Netanyahu is ignoring the US leaders warnings read more

This combination photo shows President Joe Biden, left, on 8 March 2024, in Wallingford, Pa., and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Tel Aviv, Israel. AP

For a long time, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and United States president Joe Biden have maintained a complex relationship.

But now that their opinions on the Israel-Hamas conflict are at odds, their political futures are in jeopardy.

They are running out of room to manoeuvre.

Lets take a closer look.

Differences between Biden and Netanyahu

Their relationship has reached a breaking point.

Biden is delaying the shipment of heavy bombs to Israel and threatening to stop providing artillery and other weapons if Netanyahu proceeds with a large-scale assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Advertisement

Netanyahu, on the other hand, is ignoring Bidens warnings and resolutely stating, If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone.

If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails, he said.

Biden has always taken pride in his ability to control Netanyahu more through rewards than punishments.

However, the increase in conflict over the last seven months raises the possibility that his strategy is well past its prime.

Netanyahu has grown more resistant to Bidens public charm offensives and private pleading, which has led to the presidents more forceful response in recent weeks.

Both men are juggling a dangerous West Asian scenario with their own domestic political issues.

If they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem," Biden said in a CNN interview Wednesday, laying bare his growing differences with Netanyahu.

Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., accompanied by George Washington University students speaks during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol, Wednesday, 8 May 2024, in Washington, after police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday and arrested demonstrators. AP

John Kirby, the national security spokesperson for the White House, refrained from confirming on Thursday whether Biden told Netanyahu of his decision to halt the shipment of 3,500 bombs at their earlier-this-week meeting.

But he claimed that when it comes to his issues, Biden has been direct and forthright with Netanyahu.

Moreover, Bidens aides maintain that the president will not permit a serious breakdown in the US-Israel alliance during his administration.

Advertisement

They point to Bidens personal ties to Israel and his belief that the nation has the right to self-defense in addition to the political necessity  the majority of Americans support Israel.

Observing the upheaval pro-Palestinian protests have caused in both his party and the college campuses that have served as a haven for Democratic voters, the presidents aides have been speculating for months that Biden might be the last traditionally pro-Israel Democrat in the White House.

Their optimism in their capacity to manage Netanyahu might be a symptom of the same problem that has plagued several American presidents who have disagreed with the Israeli PM over the years.

Advertisement

Not the first time

Biden and Netanyahu have known each other since Biden was a young senator and Netanyahu was a senior official in Israels embassy in Washington.

Theyve hit rough patches before.

When Biden was vice president under President Barack Obama, there were disagreements regarding Israels building of settlements in the West Bank.

Subsequently, Netanyahu fiercely disagreed with Bidens attempt to revive the Obama-signed nuclear agreement with Iran that Donald Trump had withdrawn.

When Biden pushed Netanyahu to ease tensions throughout Israels deadly 11-day conflict with Hamas in 2021, Netanyahu became enraged.

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks as he meets with President Joe Biden, 18 October 2023, in Tel Aviv. AP

More than a month passed between the two leaders earlier this year as Bidens frustration with Netanyahu increased due to the Gaza humanitarian crisis.

Advertisement

Such differences between the centre-left Democrat and the head of the most far-right coalition government in Israeli history did not destroy their relationship.

However, its uncertain how the leaders will proceed given that the Biden-Netanyahu relationship is currently more strained than it has ever been.

Netanyahus dilemma

Netanyahu is caught between public pressure for a hostage deal and hard-liners in his coalition who want him to expand the Rafah invasion.

This is despite global alarm about the harm it could do to some 1.3 million Palestinians sheltering there.

Hes made clear that he will push forward with a Rafah operation with or without a deal for hostages.

Advertisement

The Israeli leader vowed to destroy Hamas after its 7 October rampage in southern Israel in which 1,200 people were killed and some 250 were captured and taken hostage.

But his public standing has cratered since then, as he faces pressure to find a pathway to a truce that would bring home the remaining hostages and the remains of Israelis who have died in captivity.

Hes resisted an investigation into what led to the intelligence and military failures leading up to the Hamas attack.

All the while, hes still facing legal problems, including a long-running corruption trial in which he is charged with fraud and accepting bribes.

Holding Israeli flags people stand in front of trucks carrying humanitarian aid as they try to stop them to enter in the Gaza Strip in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza, in southern Israel, in Kerem Shalom. AP

Netanyahus political survival may depend on the Rafah offensive.

If he reaches a hostage deal that stops short of conquering Rafah, hardliners in his coalition have threatened to topple the government and trigger new elections at a time when opinion polls forecast he would lose.

To keep his partners on board and prevent them from pre-empting an election, in which Likud will be decimated and he will be turned out of office, he needs to keep the total victory myth alive  and that is only possible by avoiding a deal with Hamas, wrote Anshel Pfeffer, a columnist and author of a Netanyahu biography, in the Haaretz daily.

Aviv Bushinsky, a former spokesperson and chief of staff for Netanyahu, said the Israeli leader remains focused on the wars primary goal  defeating Hamas  because of concerns about his image and legacy.

He said Netanyahu has spent his career branding himself as the tough guy on terror.

He thinks this is how he will be remembered. Hes been promising for a decade to cream Hamas," Bushinsky said. If he doesnt, in his mind hell be remembered as the worst prime minister of all time.

Mounting pressure on Biden

Biden, meanwhile, faces mounting protests from young Americans, a segment of the electorate critical to his reelection.

And hes faced backlash from Muslim Americans, a key voting bloc in the battleground state of Michigan. Some have threatened to withhold their votes in November to protest his administrations handling of the war.

Vermont senator Bernie Sanders, a Biden ally who has been frustrated by the administrations handling of the war, said Thursday that Biden should go further and suspend delivery of all offensive weaponry to Israel.

The United States does and should stand by its allies, but our allies must also stand by the values and the laws of the United States of America, Sanders said. We must use all of our leverage to prevent the catastrophe in Gaza from becoming even worse.

At the same time, Biden is facing bruising criticism from Republicans, including presumptive 2024 GOP presidential nominee Trump, who says that his decision to hold back weapons is a betrayal of an essential Mideast ally.

What Biden is doing with respect to Israel is disgraceful. If any Jewish person voted for Joe Biden, they should be ashamed of themselves. Hes totally abandoned Israel, Trump told reporters on Thursday.

Idaho senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Bidens move is simply a nod to the left flank that is handing a great victory to Hamas.

Friction between the US and Israeli leaders

There has previously been tension between Israeli and American leaders.

President George HW Bush and Israeli PM Yitzhak Shamirs relationship was strained as the Republican administration threatened to withhold $10 billion in loan guarantees to thwart new settlement activity in the West Bank.

Obama and Netanyahus relationship was marked by mutual distrust over the Democrats effort to reignite the Middle East peace process and forge the Iran nuclear deal.

There were always workarounds if the heads of government really dont get along. We may get to that, said Elliot Abrams, a senior national security official in the George W Bush administration. But of course, this may be a sort of problem that solves itself in that one or both of them may be gone from office" in a matter of months.

With inputs from The Associated Press
A new study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PM-EAC) on the religious composition of populations in 167 countries reveals that the share of the Hindu population in India has dipped by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015, while the Muslim share saw a 43.15 per cent rise. We take a look at the findings and how they have triggered a political slugfest between the BJP and its rivals read more

Hindu women offer prayers during a festival in Ahmedabad. The share of Hindu population in India has dipped 7.82 per cent, says a new report by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PM-EAC). File photo/Reuters

Hindus vs Muslims It is a sensitive subject in India. Now a new analysis by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (PM-EAC) has led to a slugfest between political parties.

According to the research, the share of the Hindu population has dipped and that of the minority  Muslims, Christians, and Sikhs  have seen a rise between 1950 and 2015.

We take a look at the PM-EAC report and why politicians are sparring over it.

Advertisement

What does the PM-EAC report say?

According to the working paper of EAC-PM , which was released on Tuesday, the share of the Hindu population in India decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015. In the corresponding period, the share of the Muslim population saw a 43.15 per cent increase.

The share of other religious minorities, barring Parsis and Jains, saw a rise in population up to 6.58 per cent in these 65 years.

According to the report, the share of the majority Hindu population in India decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015 (from 84.68 per cent to 78.06 per cent). The share of the Muslim population in 1950 was 9.84 per cent and increased to 14.09 per cent in 2015  a 43.15 per cent increase.

A Muslim girl studies at a madrassa in the Muslim-dominated Johapura area in Ahmedabad. There has been a rise in the share of the Muslim population in India from 1950 to 2015. File photo/Reuters

The share of the Christian population rose from 2.24 per cent to 2.36 per cent  an increase of 5.38 per cent between 1950 and 2015. The share of the Sikh population increased from 1.24 per cent in 1950 to 1.85 per cent in 2015, a 6.58 per cent rise. The share of the Buddhist population also witnessed an increase from 0.05 per cent to 0.18 per cent over the said period.

There was a decline in the share of the Parsi and Jain population. The Parsis witnessed a stark 85 per cent decline, reducing from 0.03 per cent share in 1950 to 0.004 per cent in 2015. The Jain population saw a drop from 0.45 per cent to 0.36 per cent.

Advertisement

Titled Share of Religious Minorities: A cross country analysis, the report researched data on the religious composition of populations in 167 countries. A dip in the majority population is a global trend also seen in Europe. However, India stood out compared to countries in the neighbourhood.

In SAARC countries (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldives) and Myanmar, the share of the majority religious denomination has decreased in four countries and increased in five, the PM-EAC report says.

A devotee enters a Parsi fire temple in Mumbai. The Parsis, descendants of Persian Zoroastrians, emigrated to the Indian subcontinent more than 1000 years ago to escape religious persecution after the Islamic conquest. File photo/Reuters

Among these, all Muslim-majority countries witnessed an increase in the share of the majority religious denomination. However, the Maldives was an exception, where the share of the majority group (Shafii Muslims) declined by 1.47 per cent, according to a report. Among the five non-Muslim majority countries, Myanmar, India and Nepal saw a decline in the share of the majority religious denomination while Sri Lanka and Bhutan saw their share increase.

Advertisement

The analysis relied on the Religious Characteristics of States Dataset 2017 to study religious composition across countries with a focus only on nations where a majority religion accounted for more than 50 per cent share of the total population in 1950.

The study said it was agnostic to the underlying causes of such demographic change and focused on the share of the minority population as a cumulative measure of their well-being. It concluded that minorities are not just protected but thriving in India.

The share of majority religious domination has decreased in four countries and increased in five. Graphic courtesy: PM-EAC

Why are BJP and its rivals sparring over the report?

The report has invited some sharp reactions with Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders linking the decline in the share of the Hindu population and the rising Muslim share to the Congress appeasement of minorities.

Advertisement

Amit Malviya, the partys in-charge of the National Information and Technology Department targeted the Congress over the analysis, saying that if the country is left to Congress, then there would be no country for Hindus.

Share of Hindus shrunk 7.8% between 1950 and 2015. The Muslim population grew by 43%. This is what decades of Congress rule did to us. Left to them, there would be no country for Hindus, he wrote on X.

Explained: Can a state carry out a census?

BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi slammed the Grand Old Party on the subject of reservation. If by this pace the population is increasing and Congress is hell bent on giving reservation to Muslims on the basis of population, then the share will be cut from whom? From the SC/ST and the OBC in the future

Advertisement

The possibility of increase in Muslim population is higher because of multiple marriages, conversion, infiltration. They (Muslims) are having secular cover. This needs to be answered, he was quoted as saying by the news agency PTI.

VIDEO | Here's what BJP leader Sudhanshu Trivedi said on report on growth in Muslim population in India.



"It is a well-known fact and was in public domain. In 1951 Census, Hindus were 88 pc, Muslims 9.5 pc. In 2011, Hindus were 79.8 pc, Muslims 14.5 pc. It is a well-documented pic.twitter.com/Vlg3eAzHpe  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 9, 2024

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar claimed that one particular community is increasing its population in a manner where demography of India is being altered, changed and it leads to some questions like how much of growth in the Muslim community is being caused by illegal immigration and conversion, reports Deccan Herald.

Keshav Prasad Maurya, Uttar Pradeshs deputy chief minister, also pointed fingers at the Congress, claiming that the Muslim population was increasing due to the partys appeasement politics. This is a topic of concern and this imbalance in the populationrise in Muslim population and decline in Hindu population, has happened because of the Congress Muslim appeasement.

Muslim women search for their names on the voters list at a polling centre in Maharashtra. The BJP has accused the Congress of appeasing the minority population. File photo/Reuters

However, BJP rivals have criticised the report. All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday called it a report from Whatsapp University.

Asked about the declining share of the Hindu population, Owaisi said, Forward me the report then I will respond. Whose report is this? Who made this report? Report from Whatsapp University. Who made this report?

RJDs Tejashwi Prasad Yadav on Thursday cast doubts on the EAC-PM report, questioning how the Centre could determine the Hindu and Muslim population without even conducting a Census. The former deputy CM alleged that the ruling dispensation at creating a rift between Hindus and Muslims to divert attention from real issues.

You arrived at numbers without holding a Census? Wasnt Census due in 2021? You are the PM of the country please give up your Hindu-Muslim binary and talk about issues, taking a potshot at PM Narendra Modi.

Meanwhile, the Population Foundation of India (PFI) expressed deep concerns about media reports misrepresenting the data published in the EAC-PM report.

The PFI, an independent think tank working on population trends and reproductive and sexual health, said that media outlets were misreporting the findings contained in the working paper to spread alarm regarding the Muslim population. Such interpretations are not only inaccurate but also misleading and baseless, it said, according to The Hindu.

With inputs from agencies
In an attempt at intimidation, Beijing has ramped up its influential campaigns against Taiwan ahead of the presidential inauguration of president-elect Lai Ching-te on 20 May. Lai is a pro-independence politician and is the successor to Tsai Ing-wen who has on numerous occasions advocated for Taiwanese nationalism read more

Chess pieces are seen in front of displayed Chinese and Taiwanese flags in this illustration. File Image/Reuters

China has initiated a series of influence campaigns against Taiwan ahead of the islands inauguration of president-elect Lai Ching-te on 20 May. Beijing has increased the scale and frequency of military activities near Taiwan while partially relaxing travel and import restrictions.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring the island under Beijings control.

Taiwanese defence ministry in a frenzy

Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials said on Thursday (9 May) that dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island.

Advertisement

In addition to this, Taipei detected 26 Chinese military aircraft and five Chinese naval vessels near the island between 2 May and 3 May, including 17 Chinese military aircraft crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait. Some Chinese aircraft got as close as about 76 kilometres from Taiwans northern port city of Keelung, which hosts an important naval base.

Also Read: With Taiwanese President Lai Ching-te set to assume office, Chinas woes will only exacerbate

The director general of Taiwans National Security Bureau, Tsai Ming-yen, told Taiwanese lawmakers on 1 May that the Chinese military had incorporated new tactics into its joint combat readiness patrol near the island, including staging night-time combat patrols and using landing ships and minesweepers during these exercises.

Diplomatic maneuvers used by Beijing

Beijing also announced plans to allow residents from its southern province of Fujian to travel to Taiwans outlying island of Matsu while lifting import restrictions on Taiwanese pomelos and two types of seafood late last month.

The news came after a group of lawmakers from Taiwans main opposition party, the Kuomintang, which advocates closer ties between Taipei and Beijing, visited China.

Some experts say the measures rolled out by Beijing in recent weeks are all part of its influence operation against Taipei, which involves using disinformation campaigns, economic coercion, and gray zone operations to impose pressure on Taiwan, Su Tzu-yun, a military expert at the Taipei-based Institute for National Defence and Security Research told VOA.

Advertisement

Also Read: Taiwan to create its own Starlink-like satellite system to counter China offensive

The Coast Guard in Taipei said late on Thursday it had detected 12 Chinese ships around its outlying island of Kinmen.

Kinmen, administered by Taipei but located five kilometres (three miles) from the Chinese city of Xiamen, has seen heightened tensions in recent months, with Chinese coast guard ships maintaining a presence around it.

Chinas overall strategy is still to increase pressure on Taiwan but they are also offering some small favours to Taiwans opposition parties, said Su Tzu-yun.

US warship passes through Taiwan Strait

In a move likely to further escalate tensions, a United States (US) warship sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180 kilometre (110 mile) body of water separating the island from China on Wednesday (8 May). China denounced the transit, considering it a violation of its jurisdiction over the strait.

Advertisement

Beijing says it has authority over the strait. Taiwan and the US dispute that, saying the Taiwan Strait is an international waterway.

The Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey (DDG 97) conducts routine underway operations while transiting through the Taiwan Strait on 8 May, 2024. AP

Navy Senior Captain Li Xi, spokesperson for Chinas Eastern Theater Command, accused the US of having publicly hyped the passage of the USS Halsey on Wednesday. In a statement, Li said the command, which oversees operations around the strait, organised naval and air forces to monitor the passage of the US ship through the entire process.

The US Navys 7th Fleet said the Halsey conducted a routine Taiwan Strait transit on 8 May through waters where high-seas freedoms of navigation and overflight apply in accordance with international law."

Advertisement

Lai to ensure policy continuity

In response to the escalating tensions, president-elect Lai has appointed key cabinet members to oversee national security and foreign policy, signaling continuity with the outgoing administrations approach.

Taiwan President-elect Lai Ching-te, of Democratic Progressive Partys (DPP), holds a press conference, following victory in the presidential elections, in Taipei, Taiwan. File Image/Reuters

Since some of his cabinet members are holdovers from the current administration, they have already established relationships with officials in other countries, and some of the existing co-operations can continue, Chen Fang-yu, a political scientist at Soochow University in Taiwan told VOA.

Lais Democratic Progressive Party favours Taiwans de facto independent status under which it maintains strong unofficial relations with the US and other major nations.

Also Read: Who is Chiang Kai-shek, whose statues Taiwan is tearing down?

Advertisement

China had warned before Taiwans elections that Lai would bring war and decline to the island, making the lead-up to his 20 May inauguration a closely watched period, reported AFP. Since the Chinese military usually concentrates military exercises between June and November, Taipei will be closely monitoring any increase in Chinese military activities around the island nation.

Taiwans government rejects Beijings sovereignty claims, saying only the islands people can decide their future.

With inputs from agencies
In recent years, Germany has witnessed a concerning rise in far-right sentiment. The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which has been promoting hyper-nationalistic and anti-Semitic views, has been gaining popularity. We take a look at why there is a resurgence of the far-right in the European nation read more

In recent years, Germany has witnessed a concerning rise in far-right sentiment. Given the countrys past under Nazis, this has sparked national and international alarm. This resurgence is mainly embodied by the Alternative for Germany (AfD), which has increasingly embraced extreme right-wing ideologies and revisionist narratives of Germanys past.

We take a look at why the far right in rising in Germany, and how the public and political response has been.

The rise of AfD

Advertisement

The AfD, initially emerging as a Eurosceptic and anti-immigration voice, has shifted dramatically toward promoting nationalist and anti-Semitic rhetoric. This has found resonance, especially in the former East German states such as Saxony, Thuringia, and Brandenburg. These are regions that have experienced economic stagnation and high unemployment rates since unification of East and West Germany. These areas have become strongholds for the AfD.

Economic and social catalysts

Several factors have fueled the rise of the AfD. High immigration rates following the refugee crises of the mid-2010s have been a significant driver, with the party exploiting public fears about the impact of immigration on German cultural and economic stability. This narrative has gained traction amidst broader societal uncertainties, exacerbated by financial challenges, the COVID-19 pandemic, and geopolitical tensions such as the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, according to a report by The Independent.

The struggling German economy and influx of immigrants into the nation has fuelled the rise of the far-right. AP

The recent influx of over 300,000 asylum seekers from Syria, Afghanistan, and Turkey, coupled with the arrival of Ukrainian refugees, has intensified debates on immigration and integration, providing fertile ground for far-right rhetoric. The tension is further amplified by economic frustrations and the perceived ineffectiveness of the current government under Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose administration has been criticised for handling various crises, including the energy transition and economic reform.

Political and public response

In response to the growing influence of far-right ideologies, German authorities, led by Interior Minister Nancy Faeser, have implemented measures to curb extremist groups operational capabilities. These measures include stricter controls on extremists weapon ownership and enhanced monitoring of their financial activities.

Advertisement

Simultaneously, there has been significant public opposition to the far-rights agenda. Massive protests have erupted across Germany, with millions participating in demonstrations advocating for democracy and condemning hate. These protests reflect widespread public dissent and have pressured the government to adopt more decisive actions against far-right extremism.

The challenge of addressing far-right extremism

Addressing the rise of the AfD presents a complex challenge. The partys popularity, particularly among younger voters in economically struggling regions, underscores a profound discontent with the current political and economic systems. Moreover, the partys radical factions, such as the Thuringia branch led by Bjoern Hoecke, who has openly espoused revisionist views of Germanys Nazi past, pose a significant threat to democratic values.

Advertisement

Efforts to ban the AfD have sparked controversy, reflecting the delicate balance between protecting democratic principles and suppressing extremist views. Given the AfDs significant electoral support, such a ban would have substantial legal and political implications.

Efforts to ban the far-right AfD party had sparked controversy in Germany. Reuters

The narrative of nationalism and xenophobia being propagated by the AfD is not just a political challenge but a moral test for Germany. As the country moves forward, it must reconcile its economic and social policies with the imperative to uphold democratic values and human rights, ensuring that all citizens, regardless of their background, feel included and valued in German society. The upcoming elections and the European Parliaments decisions will be pivotal in determining the trajectory of far-right movements and their influence on policy and society.

Advertisement

Societal integration and education efforts

To counteract the growing influence of the far-right, Germany has increased its efforts in civic education, focusing on the importance of democratic values and the dangers of extremism. Educational programs that promote tolerance and diversity are being expanded, especially in areas with high levels of AfD support. These initiatives are critical in shaping young minds and countering the narratives of hate and division.

Moreover, community integration projects aim to bring together people of various backgrounds to foster a sense of unity and mutual respect. Such programs are vital in areas receiving high numbers of immigrants, where tensions may be more pronounced. By improving community cohesion, Germany hopes to undermine the divisive tactics employed by far-right groups.

Advertisement

International cooperation and monitoring

On the international stage, Germany is seeking greater cooperation with European neighbours to tackle the rise of far-right extremism across the continent, including sharing intelligence on far-right groups, coordinating law enforcement efforts, and harmonising policies on hate speech and online radicalisation.

Furthermore, Germany is actively participating in global forums to address the root causes of extremism, such as economic disparity and political disenfranchisement. By cooperating with other nations, Germany aims to create a more robust international framework for combating far-right ideologies and ensuring a safer, more inclusive world.

Germanys fight against far-right extremism involves governmental action, societal engagement, education, community building, and international collaboration. As this battle continues, the stakes remain high, with the future of German democracy and the integrity of its historical lessons hanging in the balance.

With inputs from agencies
While Donald Trump spends a lot of time in court hearings, he also has a job at hand. He will need to pick a running mate. Who will it be? South Carolina Senator Tim Scott or Indian-origin entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy? That is not all. The Republican nominee has few other options. We take a look read more

Former US President Donald Trump throws autographed hats to the crowd during the final round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, New Jersey on 13 August, 2023. File Image/AP

With Donald Trump and US President Joe Biden emerging as the frontrunners in their respective party primaries, attention now turns to the question looming over the November US presidential ballot: Who will Trump select as his running mate?

Dubbed the veepstakes, the speculation surrounding Trumps choice reached new heights over last weekend as he invited several top contenders onstage at a high-dollar Republican fundraiser held at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Many viewed this event as an audition of sorts for hopefuls vying for the vice presidential slot.

Advertisement

According to recent media reports, Trump has ramped up his search in recent weeks, relishing the opportunity to assess potential running mates. The list of contenders is extensive, with numerous names being floated, ranging from the plausible to the more improbable.

Who is being considered?

Among the frequently suggested options are South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, New York Rep. Elise Stefanik, Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, Florida Senator Marco Rubio, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.

However, South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem, once considered a top contender, faced a setback after reports emerged of her involvement in the death of her family dog years ago.

Also Read: Donald Trump on trial: Justice or witch hunt?

Notably absent from speculation is Trumps former vice president, Mike Pence. Pences refusal to heed Trumps demands to block the certification of the 2020 election led to his fall from grace among Trumps supporters. Despite briefly entering the race for the GOP nomination last year, Pence has made it clear that he will not support Trumps 2024 campaign. As Trumps vice presidential selection process unfolds, the political world eagerly awaits his decision.

What has Trump said about each of them?

Trump seems to prize loyalty over everything else, reported CNN. In an audio recording obtained by Axios, Trump at the private luncheon commented on each of the following lawmakers, giving some insight into his thinking:

Advertisement

Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.)  His name is coming up a lot for vice president!"

Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.)  As a candidate he did a good job, but as a surrogate hes unbelievable."

Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio)  He wasnt a supporter of mine at the very beginning He was saying things like the guys a total disasterany ways I got to know him a little bit As a non politician, hes become one of the great senators."

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah)  I love your haircut!  And hes a good man too."

Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.)  [When she ran in 2018] she was like the energizer bunny. She would go from stop to stop to stop."

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum  I didnt know this: He was a supporter of my two campaigns. Hes a very rich man."

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem  Somebody that I love. Shes been with me, a supporter of mine and Ive been a supporter of hers for a long time. 

Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.)  A very smart person. She was in upstate New York when I met herlittle did we realise she would be such a big factor."

Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.)  Somebody whos created something very special politicallyI like diversity. Diversite as you would say. I like diversite. [Donors] worth millions of dollarsall want a piece of Byron."

Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-Tex.)  Another friend of mine makes the best commercialsbeautiful family."

Rep. Michael Waltz (R-Fla.)  A man that knows more about the military. When I want to know about the military, I call him."

When can we expect Trump to reach a decision?

Looking back at recent history, its likely that Trump will choose his running mate during the summer, around the time of the Republican National Convention scheduled for 15 July to 18 July in Milwaukee.

Trump selected Pence on 15 July in 2016, revealing his decision via a tweet. Similarly, Hillary Clinton announced her choice of Sen. Tim Kaine a week later, also through a tweet, on 22 July, reported CNN.

Former US President Donald Trump and then-Vice President Mike Pence attend a campaign rally at Cherry Capital Airport in Traverse City, Michigan on 2 November, 2020. File Image/Reuters

Joe Biden disclosed his selection of Kamala Harris on 11 August, 2020, in an email to supporters.

Also Read: Who is Barron Trump, former US president Donald Trumps youngest son, set to debut in politics?

Advertisement

Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate in 2012, announced his selection of then-Rep. Paul Ryan from Wisconsin on 11 August.

In 2008, the announcements came later. Barack Obama revealed Biden as his pick in a text message to supporters on 23 August. That same year, the Republican nominee, McCain, announced his selection of Palin on 29 August.

Typically, these announcements occur a few days or a week before the partys national convention. However, there are instances, such as Democrats in 2004 and Republicans in 2012, when the pick is made two weeks before the convention.

Also Read: Oh S**t! Why are Trumps supporters wearing nappies to rallies?

Advertisement

While historically, selecting a running mate would happen at the convention itself, the last time this occurred was in 1988.

Under the US 12th Amendment, if Trump, currently residing in Florida, were to select a running mate also residing in Florida, Floridas electors would be prohibited from voting for both Trump and his running mate in the electoral college. This issue was addressed in 2000 when Governor of Texas George W. Bush chose Dick Cheney, who also lived in Texas. To avoid any conflict with Texas crucial electoral votes, Cheney changed his voter registration to Wyoming.

With inputs from agencies
The UN General Assembly has shown strong support for Palestines full membership amid ongoing conflicts in Gaza. Despite this, significant obstacles remain, primarily due to potential US veto power in the Security Council. We explain exactly what the success of the vote means read more

Palestine has been pushing for full membership of the UN for over a decade. Image courtesy: UN

The UN General As sembly voted overwhelmingly on Friday to back a resolution that supports enhanced status for the Palestinian mission but stops short of granting full UN membership. As many as 143 nations, including India, voted in favor of the resolution. Among the nine that voted against it were the US and Israel. There were 25 abstentions. This is a significant push for Palestinian statehood and highlights Israels isolation amid ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Advertisement

What is the current status of Palestine in the UN? Why have past attempts to get full membership for Palestine failed? What does the new resolution say? We explain.

Palestines current status at the UN

The resolution does not confer full membership or voting rights within the General Assembly to Palestine, nor does it allow the state to seek a position on the UN Security Council. However, it grants Palestinian diplomats new privileges, including the ability to sit in the UN General Assembly in alphabetical order, introduce proposals and amendments, speak on Middle Eastern issues, and make statements on behalf of nation groups.

The State of Palestine is currently recognised as a non-member observer state by the UN. That happened in 2012, the General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to upgrade Palestines status from an entity to a non-member observer state. This status change has allowed Palestine to join international organisationss and treaties, such as the International Criminal Court, and has symbolically bolstered its quest for statehood on the global stage.

The decision also allowed Palestinians to join other international organisations, including the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The apex court of the UN is currently considering the legality of Israels occupation, settlement and annexation of Palestinian territory, as well as a separate case alleging that Israel is violating the Genocide Convention in its war against Hamas in Gaza

Advertisement

The bid for UN membership

Palestine has been striving for full UN membership for over a decade. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first submitted an application for UN membership in 2011. However, the bid did not secure enough support from the UNSC due primarily to opposition from some of its permanent members, particularly the United States.

The latest push for full membership comes at a time of the ongoing conflict and thousands of casualties in Gaza.

Palestines latest push for full membership, and de facto recognition of its statehood, comes amid escalating casualties in Gaza and Rafah. Reuters

Why the resolution is a big deal

The language of the draft resolution is a big deal. The resolution has called for a concerted international effort to end the Israeli occupation that began in 1967. It was in 1967 that Israel captured territories like the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip. This point in the resolution, in simple words, reiterates that the Palestinian state comprise these territories.

Advertisement

The resolution, referencing the 1948 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and Article 4 of the UN Charter, recommended that the UNSC reconsider the matter of its full membership favourably. This is important as an application to become a full member with voting rights would have to be approved by the UNSC.

Trita Parsi, Executive Vice-president of Quincy Institute, and American think tank, in a LinkedIn post wrote that the resolution appears to grant Palestine the full rights and privileges of a member EVEN if the UNSC fails to admit Palestine. This would be an unprecedented decision designed to bypass US President Joe Bidens veto at the UNSC. For context, Biden had, in April, vetoed a draft resolution at the UNSC which recommended granting the State of Palestine full membership in the UN.

Advertisement

The modified draft resolution says that the bypassing of the UNSC is done on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent. This is likely a move to alleviate concerns that China and Russia, Palestines supporters in the UNSC, have regarding states such as Taiwan or Kosovo using this to get full membership.

This resolution is also carefully crafted to avoid triggering a cutoff of US funding under a 1990 law. The overwhelming support for the resolution in the UNSC in light of the conflict and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, shows how isolated Israel and the US are in their positions at the UN.

Advertisement

The chances of Palestine getting full membership

The hurdle is the UNSC. To become a full member of the UN, a state must first receive a recommendation for admission from the UNSC, where approval requires at least nine affirmative votes and no vetoes from any of the five permanent members. The US has consistently opposed unilateral moves to full membership, advocating instead for a negotiated peace agreement with Israel as the pathway to resolving the status of Palestine.

The US, a long-time ally of Israel, has obstructed Palestines push for full UN membership. Reuters

Reaction from US, Israel

The US mission to the UN, which voted against the measure, reiterated that despite the resolutions passage, it does not change the Palestinian Authoritys status as a non-member state observer mission. The missions spokesperson, Nathan Evans, stated that the resolution does not meet the criteria for U.N. membership set by the UN charter. The US also warned that it would veto any further efforts to obtain full membership for Palestine if brought before the UNSC.

In a dramatic protest at the UNGA, Israels Ambassador Gilad Erdan tore up a copy of the UN Charter following the passage of a resolution endorsing Palestines full membership in the organization. Erdan condemned the resolution as a clear violation of the Charter and an attempt to bypass a recent US veto in the Security Council concerning the same issue.

This day will go down in infamy, Erdan stated, as he ripped the document in front of the assembly. He accused member states of shredding the UN Charter with your own hands through their support of the vote, describing it as an immoral act.

The resolution, which was notably supported by India among others, aims to elevate Palestines status at the UN and has reignited tensions over the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the international level.

With inputs from agencies
A special court in Pune has found two people guilty in the murder case of Dr Narendra Dabholkar and sentenced them to life imprisonment. Heres a look back at the background of the case, and how investigations unfolded for over 11 years read more

Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti member shows a portrait of Narendra Dabholkar during a Nirbhay rally on his 10th death anniversary, in Mumbai on 19 August, 2023. He was fatally shot while on his morning walk near the VR Shinde bridge in Pune on 20 August 2013. File image/PTI

Almost 11 years after the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar, a prominent anti-superstition activist, a special court for UAPA cases in Pune, Maharashtra, found two men guilty for the crime, while acquitting three others. Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskarand were sentenced to life imprisonment, while three others  Virendrasinh Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar, and Vikram Bhave  were acquitted of the charges.

Heres everything you need to know about the case.

What do we know about the high-profile murder?

Advertisement

On 20 August 2013, Dr Narendra Dabholkar was fatally shot while on his morning walk near the VR Shinde bridge in Pune. Two assailants on a motorbike shot him three times at close range. Two bullets hit Dabholkar in the head and chest, and he died on the spot. The attackers then fled the scene, leaving behind no immediate clue.

The assailants fled the scene on the motorbike, which they later handed over to a third person in an area with no CCTV coverage. They then took a bus to Aurangabad. According to a Times of India report, two civic sweepers who were present at the bridge witnessed the two men get on the motorbike after the shooting and drive away.

Some saw the killing as part of a series of murders targeting popular rationalists who were perceived to be anti-Hindu. Three other people were targeted: CPI member Govind Pansare and academic MM Kalburgi in 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in 2017.

Who is Narendra Dabholkar?

In the late 1980s, after leaving his decade-long medical practice, Dabholkar founded the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS), an organisation dedicated to eradicating superstition in Maharashtra. Through MANS, he campaigned for social reform and laws against black magic and superstitious practices across religions, saying that these practices exploit the poor and uneducated. Dabholkar, known as a genial doctor, social activist, rationalist, writer, and editor, became the face of the anti-superstition movement in Maharashtra.

Advertisement

In addition to his work with MANS, Dabholkar served as the editor of the liberal-leaning Marathi weekly Sadhana. He also actively participated in movements promoting equality among different societal groups and fostering scientific temper. File image/PTI

In his attempt to establish an anti-superstition legislative framework, he faced many challenges, including opposition from various organisations and political parties. According to Times of India, he had returned from Mumbai the night before his assassination, where he had advocated for legislation to outlaw human sacrifice and black magic, a cause he had championed for over 15 years.

As a result of his work, he was labelled anti-Hindu and faced multiple threats on his life. In December 2013, just four months after his tragic murder, the Maharashtra government finally passed the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and Other Inhuman, Evil, and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, a law that Dabholkar had tirelessly campaigned for.

Advertisement

In addition to his work with MANS, Dabholkar served as the editor of the liberal-leaning Marathi weekly Sadhana. He also actively participated in movements promoting equality among different societal groups and fostering scientific temper, as per Indian Express.

How the investigation unfolded?

Dabholkars death was investigated by multiple agencies.

Initially, five members of the Hindu organisation Sanatan Sanstha, based in Goa, were charged with planning the killing and destroying evidence, as per a report. To find the culprits, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed, consisting of Pune police, Maharashtra police, and the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).

In June 2014, five months after the murder, Pune police arrested arms dealer Manish Nagori and his aide Vikas Khandelwal. The police claimed to have found a gun used in the murder. When brought before the court, Nagori claimed that the then-ATS chief Rakesh Maria offered them Rs 25 lakh to confess to the murder.

Advertisement

According to an Indian Express report, he later claimed that their allegations against Maria were an emotional outburst. The police case became more difficult when Pansare was killed in 2015, allegedly with a firearm similar to the one used in the Dabholkar case. Nagori and Khandelwal were granted bail after the police failed to submit a chargesheet within the deadline.

In the same month, the CBI took over the Dabholkar murder investigation following a Bombay High Court order. On 10 June 2016, the CBI arrested an ENT surgeon Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, who is also affiliated with the radical organisation Sanatan Sanstha, in the Dabholkar murder case based on a witness statement provided by a Hindutva activist and metallurgy craftsman Sanjay Sadvilkar.

Advertisement

Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti members take part in a Nirbhay rally. Narendra Dabholkar campaigned for social reform and laws against black magic and superstitious practices across religions. File image/PTI

The CBI claimed that Tawade is one of the conspiracys masterminds.

Before his arrest in the Dabholkar case, Tawade was arrested by Maharashtra Police for the murder of Pansare, who was shot near his Kolhapur residence in February 2015.

The CBI claimed that Dabholkars murder was motivated by a long standing enmity/hatred between him and Sanatan Sanstha, as per an Indian Express report.

The CBIs September 2016 chargesheet against Tawade named absconding Sanatan Sanstha members Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as the two assailants who shot Dabholkar. However, in August 2018, the CBI arrested Hindutva activists Sachin Prakashrao Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, contradicting its earlier claim and informing the court that these two were the shooters who opened fire on Dabholkar. Sanjeev Punalekar, a lawyer with Sanatan Sanstha in Mumbai, and his aide Vikram Bhave were also arrested by the CBI in May 2019. The CBI also arrested three others, Amol Kale, Amit Digwekar, and Rajesh Bangera, who, along with Kalasakar, are accused of the 2017 murder of Bangalore journalist Gauri Lankesh, reports Indian Express.

According to the chargesheets, as reported by Times of India, Dabholkar and three others were targeted because they were perceived as impeding the establishment of a theocratic state, or Hindu Rashtra. The victims views on superstition, rationalism, and secularism, which were frequently expressed in articles and speeches, were not well received by Sanatan Sansthan members.

Chargesheets filed by three different agencies - the CBI, a Karnataka SIT, and a Maharashtra SIT - all agree that the murders of the four people were connected.

With inputs from agencies
US president Joe Biden made a public statement, warning Israel for the first time that the US would cease supplying them with weapons if they continued their assault on Rafah. The US is the largest arms supplier to Israel in the region, followed by Germany and Italy read more

Israeli soldiers walk near tanks, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, near the Israel-Gaza Border, in southern Israel. Reuters

It appears that tensions between the US and Israel, its key ally in the West Asia, are escalating. Israeli forces have been using powerful bunker-busting bombs in their ongoing seven-month conflict in Gaza against Hamas militants, a move that the US has now stopped supporting.

US president Joe Biden made a public statement on Wednesday, warning Israel for the first time that the US would cease supplying them with weapons if they continued their assault on Rafah . In a CNN interview, Biden admitted that Israel has been using US weapons to murder civilians in Gaza, the site of Israels seven-month-long offensive to destroy Hamas. The majority of the 34,789 Palestinians killed by Israels campaign are civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Advertisement

The US is the largest arms supplier to Israel in the region, followed by Germany, and Italy. Meanwhile, Canada and the Netherlands have halted their arms supplies to Israel due to concerns about potential violations of international humanitarian law, including civilian casualties and damage to residential areas, in Gaza.

Here are the weapons that these countries supply to Israel. Which countries stopped doing this and why?

United States

The suspended arms delivery to Israel consisted of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs , according to US officials. The decision arose from concerns about the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings (like Rafah), a US official said.

In 2016 the US and Israel signed a third 10-year Memorandum of Understanding covering the 2018-2028 period providing for $38 billion (Rs 3.17 lakh crore) in military aid, $33 billion (Rs 2.75 lakh crore) in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion (Rs 4,17,40 crore) for missile defence systems. Israel received 69 per cent of its military aid from the US in the 2019-2023 period, according to a March factsheet issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Israel is the first international operator of the US F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, considered the most technologically advanced fighter jet ever made. Israel is in the process of buying 75 F-35s and  as of last year  had taken delivery of 36, paying for them with US assistance.

Advertisement

An Israeli military vehicle fires near the Israel-Gaza border, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in southern Israel. According to US officials, the suspended arms delivery to Israel included 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) and 1,700 500-pound bombs. Reuters

The US has also helped Israel develop and arm its Iron Dome short-range rocket defence system, developed after the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The United States has repeatedly sent Israel hundreds of millions of dollars to help replenish its interceptor missiles.

Further, Washington has helped fund the fdevelopment of Israels Davids Sling system, designed to shoot down rockets fired from 100 km to 200 km (62 miles to 124 miles) away.

Germany

German defence export approvals to Israel rose nearly tenfold to $351 million (Rs 29,30 crore) in 2023 compared with the previous year, with Berlin treating permit requests as a priority after Hamas 7 October attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

Advertisement

Germany primarily supplies Israel with components for air defence systems and communications equipment, according to the German press agency dpa, which first reported the figures.

Also Read: Why has Israel rejected three-phase ceasefire deal accepted by Hamas? What comes next?

Weapons exported included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for automatic or semi-automatic firearms. Dpa said that most of the export licences were granted for land vehicles and technology for the development, assembly, maintenance and repair of weapons.

Germany has provided about 30 per cent of Israels military aid in 2019-23, according to SIPRI figures.

Italy

A Foreign Ministry source confirmed on 9 May that Italy, one of Israels three biggest arms suppliers along with the US and Germany, had halted new export approvals since the start of the Gaza war. Everything stopped. And the last orders were delivered in November, the source told Reuters.

Advertisement

Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights.

Israeli soldiers operate a military vehicle near the Israel-Gaza Border, in southern Israel. According to SIPRIs report, Italy provided approximately one per cent of Israels military aid from 2019 to 23. Reuters

In March, Defence Minister Guido Crosetto had said Italy has continued to export arms to Israel but that only previously signed orders were being honoured after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gaza civilians.

In December alone, Italy sent $1.4 million (Rs 11.69 crore) worth of arms to Israel, triple the level of the same month in 2022.

Italy provided about one per cent of Israels military aid in 2019-23, according to SIPRIs report, reportedly including helicopters and naval artillery.

Advertisement

Britain

Britain is not one of Israels bigger suppliers. Unlike the US, Britains government does not give arms directly to Israel but rather licences companies to sell  often components into US supply chains like F-35 jets.

Last year, Britain granted export licences to sell at least $52.5 million (Rs 438 crore) of defence equipment to Israel. The licences were for items including munitions, unmanned air vehicles, small arms ammunition and components for aircraft, helicopters, and assault rifles.

Also Read: Israel takes Al Jazeera off air: Who owns the media network? Why did Israel order its shutdown?

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told parliament on Thursday that Britain ran one of the worlds strictest licencing control regimes in which it periodically reviewed advice on Israels commitment to humanitarian law. With regard to export licences, following the most recent assessment, it is unchanged, he said.

Some left-wing opposition parties have called on the government to revoke the export licences in the face of Gazas soaring death toll and to publish the legal advice used to reach the assessment that arms exports could continue.

Canada

Canadas government said on 20 March that it had stopped licencing arms exports to Israel since 8 January, and the freeze would continue until Ottawa could ensure the weapons are used in accordance with humanitarian law. Many of Gazas dead from Israeli bombardments and ground offensives have been civilians, according to international rights groups.

Canada had since the Hamas attack on 7 October authorised at least $21 million (Rs 175 crore) worth of new permits, more than the value of such permits allowed in the previous year.

Netherlands

The Dutch government halted shipments of parts for F-35 jets to Israel from warehouses in the Netherlands in February, after an appeals court ruling determined that there was a risk the parts were being used for violations of humanitarian law. The government is appealing that ruling.

With inputs from Reuters
After being sworn in for yet another term as Russias President, Vladimir Putin proposed to the parliament that his prime minister remain the same. The Russian State Duma voted in favour of Putins wishes. Mikhail Mishustin has been the Russian PM since 2020. Who is he? read more

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin attends a meeting with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev in Baku, Azerbaijan on 6 March, 2024. File Image/Reuters via Sputnik

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on Friday, proposed the reinstatement of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, which the State Duma, the lower house of Russias parliament voted to approve the very same day.

Russias government resigned automatically after Putins inauguration on 7 May following his re-election, and he nominated Mishustin, 58, to continue leading the cabinet, a position he has held since 2020 .

Despite this transition, there are no indications of significant changes in the governments composition. Observers suggest that Putins priority may be to maintain stability amidst geopolitical tensions, particularly concerning Russias invasion of Ukraine , reported Deutsche Welle.

Advertisement

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with the candidate for the post of Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on 10 May, 2024. Reuters via Sputnik

Who is Mikhail Mishustin?

We take a look at a few notable details about Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin:

Aged 58, born on 3 March, 1966, Mishustin assumed office as head of government in January 2020, succeeding Dmitry Medvedev. Despite his prominence, Mishustin, like many Russian elites, has faced Western sanctions linked to the conflict in Ukraine.

Notably, Mishustin lacks a background in security services, distinguishing him from the siloviki faction of intelligence veterans closely associated with Putin. Prior to his tenure as prime minister, he led the federal tax service, where he significantly increased revenues over a decade, reported Reuters.

Mishustins tenure has been characterised by the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and Russias conflict with Ukraine. He has been tasked with addressing vast logistical issues arising from these crises.

In October 2022, Mishustin was appointed to head a new Coordination Council aimed at improving the supply chain for the armed forces and enhancing medical and logistical support. This initiative followed acknowledged deficiencies highlighted during a mobilisation effort involving 300,000 personnel.

Known for his confident communication style, Mishustin frequently appears on television, engaging in discussions with Putin on government initiatives and deadlines.

In his April 2024 parliamentary report, Mishustin highlighted the governments success in navigating challenging economic conditions under Western sanctions and meeting targets set by Putin. Notably, he referenced Putin 67 times in the official excerpts of his speech.

Can Mishustin be seen as Putins heir?

Mishustin, viewed as a potential successor to Putin, could assume a significant role in future Kremlin power transitions. According to constitutional provisions, the Prime Minister is positioned as the first successor to temporarily assume the presidency in the event of the leaders resignation, removal, or health-related incapacity.

Despite this constitutional position, Mishustin has maintained a low profile, refraining from making political statements and ignoring media engagements. This discretion likely contributes to his continued endorsement by Putin.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin arrive for a meeting with members of the government in Moscow, Russia on 6 May, 2024. Reuters via Sputnik

His anticipated reappointment underscores Putins appreciation for Mishustins competence and lack of political ambition, reported Metro.

Also Read: What is Chloropicrin, the chemical agent Russia has allegedly used in the Ukraine war?

Mishustin has demonstrated loyalty to Putin, notably during a critical juncture in June last year when he urged national support amid a crisis involving mercenaries in Ukraine .

Putin has also served as a Russian PM

Although power within the Russian political framework is predominantly vested in the President, the Prime Minister holds a significant role in governmental management. The Prime Minister has the authority to determine governance priorities and delegate responsibilities among government members.

Putins own tenure reflects the interplay of power dynamics within the Russian political landscape. Between 2008 and 2012, Putin assumed the position of Prime Minister following two consecutive presidential terms, after which Dmitry Medvedev took over the post until 2020. Medvedev is currently the Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of the Russia,

Advertisement

Russian President Vladimir Putin and then-Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev speak before a meeting with members of the government in Moscow, Russia on 15 January, 2020. File Image/Reuters via Sputnik

This move was widely interpreted as a strategic maneuver to maintain influence, given the constitutional restriction on more than two consecutive presidential terms for any leader. Subsequently, Putin reclaimed the presidency in 2012.

Throughout Putins tenure, he has significantly consolidated his authority. In 2021, an amendment to the constitution drew criticism from international observers. While the amendment preserved the two-term limit for presidents, it effectively nullified the terms Putin had already served.

Also Read: Zelenskyy sacks head of Ukrainian state guard two days after foiled Russian assassination plot

This amendment was viewed as a mechanism to potentially extend Putins presidency for two additional six-year terms, until 2036.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies
Joe Bidens decision came after several phone calls with Benjamin Netanyahu advising him not to invade Rafah and as the US president seeks to separate US-Israel ties from his relationship with Netanyahu. Biden is also facing a torrent of criticism at home from the progressive wing of the Democratic party who want him to put pressure on Jerusalem to protect civilians in Gaza read more

US officials said President Joe Biden ultimately went public after deciding that Benjamin Netanyahu simply wasnt listening to his warnings not to invade Rafah.

US president Joe Bidens warning that the US would not supply Israel with weapons for its Rafah attack left many shocked.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, Biden told CNN.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem.

Advertisement

The development came days after Israeli troops seized control of Gazas vital Rafah border crossing  which the White House has called a limited operation that stopped short of the full-on Israeli invasion of the city that Biden has repeatedly warned against, most recently in a Monday call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Bidens threat to hold up artillery shells comes afterearlier revelations that the US was going to pause a shipment of heavy bombs.

Bidens comments and his decision last week to pause the shipment of heavy bombs to Israel are the most striking manifestations of the growing daylight between his administration and Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus government.

Biden said Wednesday that Israels actions around Rafah had not yet crossed his red lines, but has repeated that Israel needs to do far more to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza.

The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 900-kilogram bombs and 1,700 500 225-kilogram bombs, according to a senior US administration official who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

The focus of US concern was the larger explosives and how they could be used in a dense urban area.

But why did Biden go public with this statement? Can Netanyahu launch the offensive in Rafah without without US suppling weapons?

Advertisement

Lets take a closer look:

Why Biden went public

According to CNN, Bidens decision came after several phone calls with Netanyahu advising him not to invade Rafah.

It also came after top US officials spent hours with their Israeli counterparts urging the same.

Officials said Biden ultimately went public after deciding that Netanyahu simply wasnt listening.

I can assure you the direct and forthright nature with which he expressed himself and his concerns in that interview with Erin Burnett is consistent with how he has expressed himself to Prime Minister Netanyahu and to Israeli officials, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was quoted as saying by CNN.

Advertisement

Kirby said Israels government has has understood  for some time now what a Rafah operation would mean.

Biden is also seeking to separate US-Israel ties from his relationship with Netanyahu.

Israel is not the same thing as Netanyahu, a senior Biden adviser told CNN.

Officials said it was the IDF killing of seven World Central Kitchen aid workers in Gaza that was the last straw.

Biden also told lawmakers that he and Netanyahu were headed for a come to Jesus moment.

Advertisement

Bidens biggest break with Netanyahu is a moment that was always coming  even if it took months to arrive and was engineered reluctantly on the US presidents part. The critical political interests of the US and Israeli leaders  both of whose hold on office is threatened by the war  are diverging, the CNN piece noted.

A US official, speaking anonymously to the Washington Post, called Bidens move a shot across the bow to Israel.

Wave of criticism at home

Biden is also facing political turmoil at home.

Both the Opposition and a portion of the Democratic party are taking aim at the Commander-In-Chief over his support of Israel.

Advertisement

In the eyes of right-wing politicians, Israel can do no wrong and no level of US support is sufficient.

House Speaker Mike Johnson and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnel in a joint letter to Israel urged him to reconsider,

Israel faces an existential and multi-front threat and daylight between Israel and the US at this dangerous time risks emboldening Israels enemies and undermining the trust that other allies and partners have in the US, the letter stated as per The Week.

McConnell claimed Biden succumbed to political pressure from his partys anti-Israel base and the campus communists who decided to wrap themselves in the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah.

Joe Biden has come under increasing pressure from young people in his party particularly Arabs and Muslims to halt the Israel-Gaza war.

Meanwhile, the progressive wing of the Democratic party insists Biden isnt putting enough pressure on Israel to stop the loss of civilian life in Gaza.

Biden has already seen protests vote in swing states like Michigan from thousands of young, Arab and Muslim voters  a coalition he needs if he is to retake the White House in November.

Over the years, the US has provided tens of billions of dollars in military aid to Israel. We can no longer be complicit in Netanyahus horrific war against the Palestinian people, Senator Bernie Sanders, a leading progressive, said after Biden made his statement.

Senator Chris Van Hollen added, We should use the tools available to us to enforce the presidents objectives and US policy.

A partnership must be a two-way street, not a one-way blank cheque.

But it may be too little too late.

A piece in CNN noted that Gaza has taken on a moral dimension for many voters.

The crisis is one of the most intractable international political dramas to afflict any president in his re-election year in recent memory. And it hands Biden a set of unpalatable choices from which it will be almost impossible for him to emerge politically unscathed, the piece noted.

Can Israel go into Rafah without US arms?

First, lets examine the US military support for Israel.

As per The Week, the US has given $158.7 billion in aid since it came into existence in May 1948.

Of the total aid, $124.3 billion is military aid.

The US gives Israel around $3.8 billion in aid every year.

The Biden administration gave Israel an extra $15 billion a week ago.

When it comes to the current conflict, the US is playing its cards close to the vest.

According to The Guardian, the Pentagon gave Israel $320 million in precision bomb kits in November.

In December, it sent 14,000 tank shells worth $106 million.

It also sent 57,000 155mm artillery shells worth $147.5m and their fuses and primers as well as 30,000 howitzer charges.

Officials told Congress in March the US had made over 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the 7 October attack.

One think-tank said the Pentagon was sometimes struggling to find sufficient cargo aircraft to deliver the systems because so much was waiting to sent.

According to The Guardian, the question of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) weapons stockpile is a bit of a puzzle.

The US after the Hamas attack allowed Israel access to its own stockpile in Israel.

That stockpile, known as WRSA-I, could have as much as $4.4 billion worth of munitions.

The reality is that the limited category of weapons covered by the Biden pause leaves other weapons types apparently available to Israel, including tank rounds and artillery shells. Israels air force remains largely unaffected; 25 more F-35 fighters were approved for sale in March, part of a deal authorised by Congress in 2008, the piece noted.

It said that Israel could almost surely go ahead with its planned Rafah offensive.

But that would risk deepening the military supply rift with the US, the piece noted.

Brian Finucane, a senior adviser in the US programme at the International Crisis Group told Al Jazeera even an immediate halt of weapons to Israel may not make a difference when it comes to Rafah.

It may not have an immediate operational impact based on the stores they may have on hand, Finucane said.

But Patrick Bury, a professor at the University of Bath specialising in warfare, said Israel could potentially use up its munitions stockpile very quickly if it were to launch a full scale military operation in Rafah.

The move is going to be a major consideration for Israel, Bury told Al Jazeera.

Israel insists it has enough arms.

The New York Times quoted Israels military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, spokesman for the Israeli military as saying it had sufficient munitions for its planned operations, including operations in Rafah.

Its possible well have to economise the way we use our arms and hit more targets without precision bombs, added ex-national security advisor Jacob Nagel.

Avi Dadon, a former leader of arms procurement at Israels Defense Ministry, was quoted as saying he could be worried if America stopped supplying weapons.

But Netanyahu remains defiant.

If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails and with that same strength of spirit, with Gods help, together we will win, he was quoted as saying by The New York Times.
The US Ambassador to India also said that he fully trusts the relationship between India and United States read more

Washington: The Biden administrations top diplomat in New Delhi dismissed concerns being raised in certain quarters about democracy in India and observed that in many ways Indians are better that the Americans.

At an event organised here on Thursday by the Council on Foreign Relations, a top American think-tank, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti told the audience he was confident that 10 years from now India is going to be a vibrant democracy as it is today in terms of free and fair elections.

Again theres things that probably are worse and theres things that are better. They have a law, you cant go more than two kilometres to vote. So therell be one guy who lives in the mountains as a monk (at) someplace. They will walk for two days to bring the voting machine, execute the vote, he said, responding to a question expressing concerns over the status of democracy in India.

He said that during elections times in India, there are people who check trucks to make sure that nobody has cash going around. Theres probably walk-in money, as they call it in some cities here in the United States, Philadelphia, thats like a tradition where cash kind of gets you votes and things like that. So, Ive been impressed with certain things they do that are better than us.

He, however, added there are things that we keep our eyes on. And I just disagree that we dont speak out about them.

Advertisement

We put them out. Its not the only thing. I mean, some people want us to only say that. But this is too important a relationship to spend all day long only saying that over and over. Youre not going to get anything else done. Itll become a self-fulfilling prophecy that they will not be close to us. Whereas where we find the common ground, which I think is really human to human, very deep, he said.

You have a lot of leaders there who have come worked, been educated here, have an affinity. Theres a huge positive polling of Americans. I told the president before the state visit that Americans poll better in India than Americans do in America. They like us more than we like ourselves. Thats rare in the world today, Garcetti said, adding that Poland is the only other country that comes close.

This is a huge advantage for the US, he said.

 If you dont know state governments in India, which are as powerful as the Centre and are run by opposition parties, and theres plenty of criticisms you can make, too, about other parties that have been in power. If you look at history in India, theres not been some golden era where everybodys rights have been respected, Garcetti said.

Americas role is to stand up for the principles and the values that we have, to never retreat from those and talk about them. But is the relationship only that and those points of conflict? Absolutely not. It would be bad diplomacy, it would be bad policy. But in my heart, 100 per cent, I believe, not only will this still continue to be one of the worlds most vibrant democracies, Garcetti said.

I 100 per cent believe we can trust this relationship. Its going to be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century, the US and India together, he said.
Jaishankar said India respects and practices freedom of speech, but that does not equate with freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, extend support to separatism or allow political space to elements advocating violence. read more

The Canadian government is sending a message that its vote bank is more powerful than its rule of law by allowing political space to Khalistani separatist elements, , External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said.

India respects and practices freedom of speech, but that does not equate with freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, extend support to separatism or allow political space to elements advocating violence, Jaishankar said in an exclusive interview to PTI late Thursday,

Advertisement

The external affairs minister also expressed concern over individuals with dubious backgrounds being permitted to enter and reside in Canada, particularly referencing Khalistani supporters among Sikh migrants from Punjab. In any rules-based society, you would imagine that you would check peoples background, how they came, what passport they carried etc, he said.

If you have people whose presence there is itself on very dubious documents, what does it say about you? It actually says that your vote bank is more powerful than your rule of law, the minister said.

The Indian diaspora in Canada is about 1.8 million strong and there are another one million Non-Resident Indians residing in the country. The Indian diaspora, mostly of Sikh ethnicity, is considered an influential bloc in Canadas politics.

Ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations in September last year of the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

New Delhi rejected Trudeaus charges as absurd. India has been maintaining that the main issue has been that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistani elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

It is not so much a question of running out of options. What we have seen to our regret has been the direction of Canadian politics where separatists and extremist forces, many of whom openly advocate violence, have been given political space in that country, Jaishankar said. And there are people in positions of prominence today in Canadian politics who actually espouse that kind of separatism and extremism, he said.

Advertisement

His remarks came in response to a question on how India plans to deal with challenges emanating from Canada and whether the options for New Delhi are running out. We cannot for the good relations overlook that, he said during the freewheeling interview at PTIs headquarters. Jaishankar said Canadas response to Indias concerns has been that it has freedom of speech.

Whenever we have taken this up with the Canadians..it is not a new issue It has been going on almost for 10 years and they keep saying, oh we have freedom of speech.

We also have freedom of speech in our country. But freedom of speech does not mean freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, freedom of speech does not mean the kind of positions and the kind of activities which people in Canada are doing which does harm to our country because of its support for separatism, Jaishankar said. And freedom of speech does not mean this kind of space which is also given to people of various dubious backgrounds  people associated with organised crime and so on, the external affairs minister added.

Advertisement

In the last few months, India has been expressing concerns over the security of its diplomats in Canada and calling on Ottawa to ensure that they are able to carry out their responsibilities without fear.

There have been instances of pro-Khalistani elements threatening to harm Indian diplomats. Days after Trudeaus allegations in September last, India asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity. Canada subsequently withdrew 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

India has been asserting that its core issue with Canada remains that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country. Last week, Canadian authorities charged three Indian nationals with the murder of Nijjar. It is reported that they entered Canada on student visas. On Thursday, India said Canada has not provided any specific evidence or information in the case yet.

Advertisement

With inputs from PTI.
Before passing the interim bail order to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court said: 21 days here or there should not make any difference read more

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in March in connection with the alleged Delhi liquor excise policy scam. AFP

In a major relief for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the Supreme Court of India granted bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till June 1, the day when the last phase of Lok Sabha polls 2024 will be held.

The Chief Minister will have to surrender on June 2, a couple of days ahead of the announcement of the 2024 Lok Sabha poll results.

He will only be allowed to campaign for his party  AAP  for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Advertisement

Kejriwals interim bail order was passed on Friday by a bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta.

Before granting him bail, the apex court set five conditions for Kejriwal:

1. The Delhi CM shall furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent;

2. Kejriwal shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat;

3. The AAP national convenor shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi;

4. Delhi CM Kejriwal will not make any comment with regard to his role in the present case  Delhi liquor policy case  for which he was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21;

5. Kejriwal will not interact with any of the witnesses and/or have access to any official files connected with the case.

Also Read: Big relief for Arvind Kejriwal! SC grants interim bail till June 1 to campaign for Lok Sabha polls

Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat representing Kejriwal said: There is no restriction on his election campaigning. We will try for his release today itself.

Kejriwal is currently lodged in Delhis Tihar jail in the money laundering case connected to the Delhi excise policy.

Advertisement

He is likely to be released in a few hours.

#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal gets interim bail till June 1



Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat representing Kejriwal says, "There is no restriction on his election campaigning. We will try for his release today itself." pic.twitter.com/k7miOKKo7V  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

21 days should not make a difference

Before reading out the bail order, the court pulled up ED for the delay in arresting the AAP chief.

Advertisement

The SC said the central agency had registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) in August 2022, but Kejriwal was arrested in March 2024.

For about one and half years he was there An arrest could have been made afterwards or before, whatever it is. 21 days here or there should not make any difference, Justice Khanna said.

On Thursday, the ED had filed a new affidavit opposing the grant of interim bail for Kejriwal for campaigning for the ongoing polls.

During the hearing of Kejriwals appeal on May 7, the Supreme Court had hinted at granting interim bail and let him campaign.

Also Read: How Arvind Kejriwal went from jail to bail in 51 days of peak election season

Advertisement

The probe agency had said an election campaign cannot be considered as grounds for bail as it is not a fundamental or legal right. It also said granting bail in this case would create a wrong precedent.

The money-laundering probe by the ED against Kejriwal stems from a case registered in 2022 by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on a complaint made by Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.
CPI(M) central committee member A K Balans statement came after controversies surrounding Vijayan and his familys nearly three-week-long foreign tour erupted. read more

The ruling CPI(M) in Kerala on Friday likened Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayans foreign trip to a period of rest akin to Gods after creating the universe in six days, drawing a parallel to the Biblical narrative.

CPI(M) central committee member A K Balan said that the Chief Ministers trip wasnt to space but rather a break in Indonesia, which, according to the veteran leader, is only 60 km away from Pygmalion point (Indira point) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. His statement came after controversies surrounding Vijayan and his familys nearly three-week-long foreign tour erupted.

Advertisement

Balan said Vijayan went abroad to relax after enduring unimaginable strain due to administrative and organisational activities.

Whats the problem for you in allowing him a rest? He went to a place within calling distance. Everything being spread about this is a myth, Balan told reporters.

He said the Chief Minister conducted the Nava Kerala Sadas programme, travelling across the state for 30 days, and later addressed election rallies for at least four hours a day for one month.

Even God rested for one day after creating the universe in six days. That day is Sunday. Are you saying that the Chief Minister cant even do that? Balan said, drawing from the theological narration in the Old Testament of the Bible where it is written that after creating the universe in six days, God rested on the seventh day.

He further clarified that the Chief Minister did not go to outer space.

Isnt this a country within a reachable distance where one can answer our call? Campbell Bay, the southern village of India in Andaman Nicobar, is three degrees of longitude farther than Kanyakumari. It is only 60 km from its southern tip, Pygmalion point (Indira point), to Indonesia, Balan said. According to the National Maritime Foundation, the distance between Indira Point in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Banda Aceh in Indonesia is just 80 nautical miles.

If you call Pinarayi Vijayan, it is a place where he can be heard, Balan said, questioning the doubts being repeatedly raised about the CMs foreign tour despite clarifications.

Advertisement

Responding to a query about the reported allegations by KPCC chief K Sudhakaran regarding Vijayan and his familys foreign visit being an extravaganza, Balan said the Chief Minister himself has clarified that it was a private trip.

Balan stated that the Chief Minister has a monthly income of Rs 92,000.

Sudhakaran had criticised the CM over the trip and sought to know why he was taking his family members along.

I suspect that it is a sponsored trip. Even if it is a sponsored trip, why is Vijayan keeping everything a secret? Why is he evading responsibility, Sudhakaran had asked.

CPI(M) state secretary M V Govindan on Wednesday said Vijayan embarked on his overseas trip at his own expense after getting requisite permissions from the party and the Central government.

Advertisement

Vijayan actually took a break after the intense Lok Sabha poll campaigning in Kerala and decided to travel abroad with his family, he had said. The CM and his close family members left for various foreign destinations on May 6.

With PTI inputs.
Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that Pakistan will not use its atom bombs if India gives it respect and engages in dialogue read more

After Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar said that India should give respect to Pakistan as the country has nuclear weapons, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at Congress and said its ideology is fully visible in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar lashed out at Aiyars remarks and flagged the support Congress is getting from Pakistan.

Support to and from Pakistan including offering to give up Siachen. Support to and from domestic terror-linked organisations and people like SDPI, Yasin Malik, said Chandrasekhar in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

Advertisement

Rahuls Cong "idealogy" is fully visible in these elections



Support to and from Pakistan incldg offrng to give up Siachen

 Support to and from domestic terror-linked organizations and people like SDPI, Yasin Malik

 Rampant Corruption and loot of money meant for poor pic.twitter.com/UABONLzNFN  Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Modiyude Kutumbam) (@Rajeev_GoI) May 10, 2024

Last month, in an interview with writer and filmmaker Aditya Sangwan, Aiyar raised the spectre of nuclear weapons and wondered what would happen if some crazy person comes to power in Pakistan and decides to use nuclear weapon against India. He also criticised the muscular

What if some crazy person comes to power there? They have atom bombsWhat would happen then? You need to understand that if you want to be vishvaguru, however severe the crisis is with Pakistan, we worked to resolve it. For the past 10 years, all such work has been stopped, said Aiyar in Hindi.

Talk to Pakistan, we are running around with guns!

Aiyar has pitched for dialogue between India and Pakistan and has criticised the Narendra Modi governments approach to tensions with the neighbour. He said the policy has got nothing since 2014.

Aiyar has said that India should respect Pakistans sovereignty and while India may talk tough with Pakistan, the dialogue must go on.

Pakistan is also a sovereign country. It also has respect. Maintaining that respect, you do all the tough talk all you want, but do talk to them! You are running around with gun! What have you got out of it? Nothing! Tensions have kept on increasing, said Aiyar.

Advertisement

He further said, If you talk to them, you give them respect, then they will not touch the bomb, but you have rejected them.

Aiyar also criticised the Modi governments position on the issue of nuclear weapons and said any strike on Pakistan would also affect India.

If some crazy person blasts our bomb at Lahore, then radioactivity will reach Amritsar in eight seconds. If you keep such bombs, you need to stop their usage, said Aiyar.

When asked about the muscular policy of the Modi government, Aiyar said that it works if we have [muscles] and they dont.

We all know their muscles are in Kahuta. If misgivings spread, we will be having problems, said Aiyar, referring to the Pakistani nuclear facility at Kahuta near Islamabad thats engaged in nuclear weapons production.

Advertisement

Congress leaders stay in India, but their hearts reside in Pakistan

After the video of Aiyars remarks began circulation, BJP leader Anurag Thakur said that while Congress leaders live in India, their hearts are in Pakistan.

Is this the fear of Congress? Or is it love for Pakistan? It comes to light again and again. Congress leaders stay in India, but their hearts reside in Pakistan. They spread fears in India. What courage does Pakistan have to do anything against India? India knows how to give befitting reply and has given it as well, said Union minister Thakur in an interview with ANI.

Advertisement

#WATCH | On Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's recent statement, Union Minister Anurag Thakur says, "...Congress leaders stay in India but their hearts reside in Pakistan. What courage does Pakistan have? India knows how to give a befitting reply." pic.twitter.com/NjUVm0CMJO  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Thakur was the second BJP leader to slam Aiyars remarks after Union minister Chandrasekhar.
Meet the Supreme Court judges, Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta, whose legal expertise and distinguished careers have played a pivotal role in shaping key judicial precedents, including hearing Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals interim bail in the liquor scam case read more

Meet the Supreme Court judges who heard Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwals plea for interim bail in the liquor scam case.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, currently the second senior-most judge in the Supreme Court of India, comes from a distinguished lineage of legal luminaries. He is the nephew of the legendary Supreme Court judge, Justice HR Khanna, renowned for his solitary dissent in the landmark 1976 ADM Jabalpur case during the Emergency era. Prior to his elevation to the apex court in 2019, Justice Khanna served as a judge at the Delhi High Court.

Advertisement

Beginning his judicial career in 2005 as a judge of the Delhi High Court, Justice Khanna followed in the footsteps of his father, Justice Dev Raj Khanna, who had also retired as a judge from the same High Court in 1985. Notably, Justice Sanjiv Khanna ascended to the Supreme Court without presiding as the Chief Justice of any High Court. Throughout his tenure in the apex court, Justice Khanna has contributed to several significant judgments, including those related to the Central Vista, Franklin Templeton, the inclusion of the CJI Office under RTI and the Karnataka MLAs case.

Scheduled to assume the role of Chief Justice of India for a term of six months from 11 November, 2024, to 13 May, 2025, Justice Khannas judicial acumen and contributions underscore his prominence in the Indian legal landscape. He notably served as a member of the five-judge apex court bench that delivered the Article 370 verdict, indicating his pivotal role in shaping key legal precedents.

Justice Dipankar Datta

Born on 9 February, 1965, Justice Dipankar Datta commenced his legal practice by enrolling as an advocate with the Bar Council of West Bengal in 1989. Over the course of 16 years, he represented diverse litigants, including the State of West Bengal, Union of India, and various statutory authorities, before the Calcutta High Court, other High Courts, tribunals and the Supreme Court of India. Additionally, he served as a guest lecturer on Constitutional Law at the University College of Law, University of Calcutta, during the periods of 1996-97 and 1999-2000.

Elevated as a permanent Judge of the Calcutta High Court on 22 June, 2006, Justice Dattas legal acumen was further recognised when he assumed the position of Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court on 28 April, 2020. After serving for over two and a half years at the helm of the Bombay High Court, he took on the mantle of a Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 12 December, 2022, with a tenure expected to conclude on 8 February, 2030.

Advertisement

Recently, in a notable concurring opinion delivered as part of a judgment dismissing pleas seeking cross-verification of votes cast in electronic voting machines (EVMs) with Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT), Justice Datta highlighted the efforts of certain vested interest groups attempting to undermine the nations achievements.
The National Commission for Women said a woman approached them to file a complaint against three men who were dressed in civilian clothes and who claimed that they were from the Karnataka police read more

One of the women who filed a sexual abuse case against Prajwal Revanna is now claiming that she was forced to file a false case against the MP, who has been accused of abusing around 2,900 women.

The National Commission for Women (NCW), claims that one of the numerous women who filed a complaint against the MP from Karnatakas Hassan, was forced into doing so.

With this development, Revanna seems to have received a major assist in his defence, Irrespective of the fact if these claims are fabricated or real.

Advertisement

The NCW said a woman approached them to file a complaint against three men who were dressed in civilian clothes and who claimed that they were from the Karnataka police.

She also complained that she received many calls from unknown numbers asking her to file a complaint against the accused. It has come to light that the woman was forced by a group of individuals to the file the complaint on charges of harassment, NCW said.

Several media reports claim that the woman has sought protection for her family.

On Thursday, NCW also denied reports about 700 women filing complaints to the commission against Prajwal Revanna.

NCW would like to state that 700 women have not made any complaints to NCW regarding the Prajwal Revanna case. Some media channels are falsely reporting this, the commission said in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

SIT threatening victims with false prostitution cases against JDS

Following the NCWs revelations, Karnatakas ex-chief minister and JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy accused the Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the case, of threatening the victims with false prostitution case against them.

The investigating officers are going to the doorsteps of the victims and threatening them. Tell us, isnt it a fact that the SIT officers are threatening the victims with false prostitution cases against them? Is this how the probe is being conducted, Kumaraswamy, uncle of Prajwal Revanna, said hitting out at the states Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda, who earlier described the case as the biggest sex scandal in the world.

Advertisement

Where have you kept the rescued woman who was kidnapped? Why is she not being produced before the court? Do you support the act of distribution of private videos of the victims, Kumaraswamy further said.

Kumaraswamy demanded a fair probe into the case and alleged the Congress governments involvement in the SIT investigation.

The JSD president also met Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and submitted a memorandum urging for an impartial probe into the case.

Case against Prajwal Revanna

Three cases of rape have been registered against Prajwal Revanna by the SIT after some women agreed to file criminal complaints against the Hassan MP.

The SIT was constituted by the Karnataka government to probe the sexual assualt videos that were allegedly accessed from Prajwal Revannas mobile phone by a car driver and later leaked to the MPs political rivals.

Advertisement

Electronic devices including pen drives and CDs emerged in the public domain on April 21, ahead of the April 26 Hassan parliament poll, with videos which seem to suggest that Prajwal Revanna, allegedly carried out sexual assaults on several women in Hassan and captured the attacks as videos on his mobile phone.

As many as 2,900 files with videos and images of the sexual encounters of Prajwal Revanna were found in the pen drives that were leaked.

Where is Prajwal Revanna?

Prajwal Revanna has fled the country and the SIT has already arrested his father and JDS MLA HD Revanna under sexual abuse and kidnap charges.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies
Slamming Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam, BJP said, Bhuria wants to give a guarantee to those whose personal law encourages multiple marriages and wants to incentivise more population of its vote bank read more

Congress has been trying all possible tricks in their books to woo voters. Now the partys Lok Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam, Kantilal Bhuria, has stoked controversy by promising Rs 2 lakh annually to men who have two wives if the grand old party is voted to power.

Addressing an election rally in Sailana, a five-term member of parliament (MP) and former Union Tribal Affairs minister in the UPA-2 government, Bhuria also claimed that women from each household will get Rs 1 lakh if Congress comes to power.

Advertisement

If Congress comes to power, as our manifesto states, every woman will get Rs 1 lakh in bank account. (For) The person who has two wives will get Rs 2 lakh, the Congress LS candidate said.

Bhurias controversial statements got backing from Madhya Pradesh Congress chief Jitu Patwari who said: Bhuria ji has made a terrific announcement just now that a person with two wives will get double.

#WATCH | While addressing a public rally, Congress candidate from Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam, Kantilal Bhuria says, "...After the Congress govt comes to power, what we have written in our constitution, Rs 1 lakh will be credited in the account of every woman, and those who have 2 pic.twitter.com/xzTSXoGzH2  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

What does Congress manifesto say?

The Congress in its 2024 Lok Sabha election manifesto has pledged to introduce the Mahalaxmi Scheme, which aims to provide Rs 1 lakh annually to one woman from a poor household to alleviate poverty. However, there is no mention about giving any money to those who have two wives.

Under the Mahalaxmi scheme, women will get Rs 8,500 per month till they move out of the below-poverty line (BPL) segment.

Advertisement

Bhuria accuses PM Modi of disrespecting tribals

Bhuria, in his address, also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of disrespecting tribals and of keeping quiet when a tribal was urinated upon by a BJP leader in Sidhi.

BJP slams Bhuria

The remarks by the Congress Lok Sabha candidate drew sharp criticism from the BJP which sought action from the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Bhuria.

Sharing a clip of Bhurias two wives statement on X, Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja wrote, What an objectionable comment

Advertisement

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla also slammed Bhuria, saying the Congress aimed to offer incentives to individuals whose personal law permits multiple marriages.

Kantilal Bhuria of Congress discloses the perverted variant of jitni aabadi utna haq scheme/guarantee of Congress Its not about women samman but treating women like an objectDisgusting, Poonawalla said.

Advertisement

Congress says, If you practice multiple marriages - you can get Rs 1 lakh per wife .. if you have two wives - Rs 2 lakhs .. so on .. 4 wives then you can calculateKantilal Bhuria wants to give a guarantee to those whose personal law encourages multiple marriages and wants to incentivise more population of its vote bank, the BJP leader further said.

Kantilal Bhuria of Congress discloses the perverted variant of jitni aabadi utna haq scheme / guarantee of Congress



Its not about women samman but treating women like  / / thing



Disgusting 



Congress says : If you practice bahu-vivah multiple marriages - you pic.twitter.com/8eofWOpQuP  Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) May 10, 2024

Advertisement

Bhuria is contesting against BJP candidate Anita Chauhan, the wife of Madhya Pradesh Forest Minister Nagar Singh Chauhan.

Lok Sabha polls 2024 in Ratlam will be held in the fourth phase on May 13.

With inputs from agencies
Narendra Dabholkar, the leader of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead in Pune on August 20, 2013, reportedly by members of a fringe organisation read more

A Pune court on Thursday sentenced two people to life in prison for the 2013 killing of campaigner Narendra Dabholkar while three additional defendants in the case were cleared by the court.

Narendra Dabholkar, the leader of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, was shot dead in Pune on 20 August, 2013, reportedly by members of a fringe organisation.

The shooting deaths of Govind Pansare in February 2015 and MM Kalburgi in August of the same year occurred after Dabholkars assassination in Pune. In September 2017, Gauri Lankesh was fatally murdered outside her Bengaluru residence.

Advertisement

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defence examined two witnesses during the trial.

The accused were opposed to Dabholkars crusade against superstition, the prosecution had stated in its final arguments.

Pune police initially probed the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court order and arrested Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon linked to the Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016.

According to the prosecution, Tawade was one of the masterminds of the murder.

Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawade and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkars organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra), it claimed.
The apex court, however, rejected Arvind Kejriwals plea to grant him bail till counting of votes and directed him to surrender on 2 June read more

The Supreme Court on Friday gave interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till 1 June after he sought a release from jail to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

He was arrested in a excise policy case on 21 March.

The legal team of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP National Convenor Arvind Kejriwal on Thursday raised objection to the affidavit filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposing his interim bail in the Supreme Court.

Advertisement

The team issued a press release revealing that a formal complaint in this regard has been lodged with the Supreme Courts registry.

Denouncing the EDs affidavit as a blatant disregard of legal procedures, the release said the affidavit was submitted without taking the SCs approval and issued at a time when the matter is already slated for a final decision in the top court on Friday.

What EDs latest affidavit says

The right to campaign in an election is neither a fundamental nor a constitutional right, the Enforcement Directorate submitted to the apex court on Thursday, a day ahead of the scheduled pronouncement of the courts order on grant of interim bail to Kejriwal in an alleged money laundering case.

The agency in its affidavit said, In light of the above factual and legal submissions, the prayer for interim bail deserves to be rejected as it would not only be contrary to settled principles of law but violate the rule of law which is a basic feature of the Constitution.

It underscored that grant of any special concession to the Delhi chief minister and enlarging him on interim bail for campaigning in the general elections would be anathema to the rule of law and equality and create a precedent.

Grant of interim bail merely for political campaigning would militate against and will be discriminatory to the rule of equality as work/business/ profession or activity of every citizen is equally important to him or her, it said, adding it would not be possible to hold that the work of a small farmer or trader is any less important than campaigning by a political leader who admittedly is not contesting.

Advertisement

It said, This Court would take the call about grant/refusal of interim bail/release after 3-day long arguments of the petitioner. As against this, the respondents (ED) have just begun. On this ground also this court may take a final view about the petition after fully hearing the respondent particularly when there is no medical urgency which requires consideration of interim release without fully hearing the respondents.

The agency said if Kejriwal is extended any interim relief on account of him being a politician for campaigning in the Lok Sabha polls for his party, there is no gainsaying that all jailed politicians would seek similar treatment claiming they are in a class of their own.

Advertisement

A politician can claim no special status higher than that of an ordinary citizen and is as much liable to be arrested and detained for committing offences as any other citizen, it said in its 44-page affidavit.

The agency submitted that there is absolutely no principle which justifies giving a differential treatment to a politician for campaigning over a farmer or a businessman who wishes to pursue his vocation.

If the right to campaign is treated as a basis for grant of interim bail it would breach the principles of Article 14 for the reason that harvesting for a farmer would be an equally important factor seeking interim bail as would a board meeting or an annual general meeting for a director of a company who commits a crime as these are their respective vocations or professions, it said.

Advertisement

Pointing out that Kejriwal has not filed petitions for regular or interim bail before the apex court or any other court, the ED said the consistent approach of this court has been to relegate parties to the remedy of bail under CrPC when they had challenged their arrest claiming it to be illegal.

It referred to the orders passed by the court in the cases of former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, AAP leader Sanjay Singh and Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha, where the court asked them to move bail petitions in the money laundering case related to the Delhi excise policy scam.

Advertisement

The agency said such an approach would violate the cherished values of the Constitution which upholds the rule of law as a basic feature meaning thereby that howsoever high you might be you are not above the law.

On Wednesday, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who headed the bench that heard Kejriwals petition against his arrest in the case, said, We will pronounce the interim order (on bail) on Friday. The main matter related to the challenge to arrest will also be taken up on the same day.

The Delhi High Court had last month upheld the AAP leaders arrest, saying there was no illegality and the ED was left with little option after his skipping several summonses and refusing to join the investigation.

ED charge sheet soon

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is expected to soon file a fresh charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case and it may name Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BRS leader K Kavitha and some others as accused, official sources said on Thursday.

The federal agency had arrested Kejriwal from his official residence here on March 21 under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) while Kavitha, the MLC daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was taken into custody from Hyderabad on 15 March.

Official sources said a prosecution complaint against half-a-dozen entities, including the two politicians, some linked individuals and companies, has been readied and the agency may file it before a special PMLA court here within the next 4-5 days.

The accused will be charged with money laundering and the prosecution complaint will be filed under sections 45 and 44(1) of the PMLA, the sources said.

The agency may also name the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) in this charge sheet along with attachment of some fresh assets in the case that was registered in 2022.

This will be the seventh charge sheet by the ED in this case in which it has arrested 18 people so far including Kejriwals party colleague and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and others. Singh was granted bail sometime back.

AAP sources alleged that the expected complaint was nothing but the BJPs charge sheet and that the party in power at the Centre only intends to defame Kejriwal.

The ED sources said the agency is expected to charge Kejriwal with non-cooperation in its investigation and being vicariously liable for the offence committed by the AAP, being the national convenor of the said party and because of his role and active involvement in the day-to-day affairs and the conduct of the business of AAP.

It may reiterate its earlier charge made against Kejriwal, before a court, that as the AAP national convenor and member of its national executive, Kejriwal was ultimately responsible for the funds being used in the election expenses including their generation.

Kejriwal, 55, has been called by the ED the kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi excise scam orchestrated in collusion with ministers of the Delhi government, AAP leaders and other persons.

The ED has also alleged that Rs 45 crore kickbacks, out of the Rs 100 crore bribe provided by the South Group, were used by the AAP for the Goa assembly election campaign in 2022.

The South Group liquor lobby allegedly includes Kavitha, TDP Ongole seat Lok Sabha candidate Magunta Sreenivasulu Reddy, his son Raghav Reddy and others.

The excise case pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi governments excise policy for 2021-22, which was later scrapped.

Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the alleged irregularities. Subsequently, the ED registered a case under the PMLA.

The ED filed its money laundering case on 22 August, 2022, taking cognisance of the CBI FIR that was lodged on 17 August, 2022.

A day ahead of the scheduled pronouncement of its order on grant of interim bail to Kejriwal in the money laundering case, the ED told the Supreme Court on Thursday that the right to campaign in an election is neither a fundamental nor a constitutional right.

The central probe agency said there were numerous examples where politicians contested elections while in judicial custody, and some even won, but were never granted interim bail for campaigning.

The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi governments now-scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.

The AAP leader was arrested on 21 March and is currently lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.
Following his detention on March 21, Kejriwal has been detained by the courts at Tihar Jail read more

Arvind Kejriwal, the chief minister of Delhi, has been granted temporary release by the Supreme Court till June 1, which is the last day of voting in the seven-stage 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, who was detained by the Enforcement Directorate on 21 March in connection with the purported Delhi liquor excise policy fraud, needs to turn himself in to the jail officials by June 2.

Advertisement

The Enforcement Directorate earlier stated in court that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is the kingpin and key conspirator of the Delhi excise scam. According to the EDs remand application, Kejriwal was allegedly involved in a conspiracy to benefit specific individuals and to demand kickbacks from liquor businessmen in exchange for favours.

Heres a timeline of Kejriwals battle with Enforcement Directorate in courts:

10 May 2024: The Supreme Court gave interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal till 1 June after he sought a release from jail to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

The Delhi liquor policy-related money laundering case will see the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) named as an accused party in a new chargesheet filed by the ED. Arvind Kejriwal, the national convenor of the AAP and the incarcerated chief minister of Delhi, would also be named as an accused in the case by the ED.

9 May 2024: In a fresh affidavit filed in the Supreme Court, the ED said that even a contesting candidate is not granted interim bail if he is in custody for his own campaigning.'

7 May 2024: The Supreme Court postponed its decision on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals interim bail application in a money laundering case related from the alleged Delhi excise policy scandal. The Court is expected to hear the case next on May 7 or the following week.

Advertisement

A Delhi court on Tuesday prolonged Kejriwals judicial custody till May 20.

15 April 2024: Supreme Court sent a notice to the ED about Kejriwals case and asked a response.

9 April 2024: The Supreme Court upheld his arrest owing to his continued refusal to help with the investigation and show up for summonses.

21 March 2024: Kejriwal has been imprisoned by the judiciary in Tihar Jail.

March 2024: Delhi Minister Atishi said that a legal team is travelling to the Registrar of the Supreme Courts house to request a quashing of Arvind Kejriwals detention.

March 2024: Kejriwal ignored nine summonses issued by the agency for questioning. ED arrests Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

Advertisement

March 2024: Hours after the high court refused him respite, Kejriwal petitioned the Supreme Court for protection against any coercive action by the ED.

March 2024: The Delhi High Court declined to provide Kejriwal any protection from coercive action.

March 2024: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal files a petition with the Delhi High Court challenging ED summonses. The chief minister told the Delhi High Court that he will not appear before the ED because there is a clear intent to arrest him, with elections approaching.

March 2024: A sessions judge gives Kejriwal bail in response to two allegations brought by the ED against him for failing to appear in court.

Advertisement

February 2024: Kejriwal failed to appear for the sixth summons. AAP said that they had expressed legal concerns about the illegal summons of ED and had not gotten a response.

February 2024: The Delhi court exempts Kejriwal from making a personal appearance for the day.

February 2024: ED filed a court motion saying that the AAP leader did not comply with the summons.

February 2024: Kejriwal ignores the EDs summons for the fifth time.

January 2024: The fifth summons is issued by ED.

January 2024: Kejriwal reacted to the EDs summonses, questioning why letters were given to him while he was not an accused in the purported Delhi excise policy case.

Advertisement

January 2024: The ED issued a fourth summons to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) convenor, requesting him to appear for interrogation on January 18.

January 2024: Kejriwal missed the third summons alleging a plot by the Central government.

December 2023: The ED sent Kejriwal a third summons to appear before it for interrogation on January 3.

December 2023: Kejriwal rejects second summons, claiming it is illegal and politically motivated.

November 2023: Kejriwal went to Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh, to address a political rally instead of responding to the EDs first summons.

October 2023: The ED issues its first summons to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in connection with the liquor policy fraud.

November 2021: The Delhi government introduces a new excise policy.
Interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal: While some hailed it as a rightful victory, others viewed it as a temporary measure read more

(File) Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal leaves the Rouse Avenue Court where he was produced in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, in New Delhi. PTI

Politicians across the spectrum reacted to the Supreme Court granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor scam case on Friday. While some hailed it as a rightful victory, others viewed it as a temporary measure.

Here are a few reactions:

Thanks to the Supreme Court now we will fight the battle to save democracy with more intensity, said Punjab chief minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann.

Advertisement

   ...            ...



       ...           ...



   Bhagwant Mann (@BhagwantMann) May 10, 2024

NCP president Sharad Pawar also welcomed the SC decision to grant interim bail to Kejriwal. This is what he tweeted.

I welcome the interim bail order granted to Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal by the SC. India remains steadfast in the pursuit of democracy.  Sharad Pawar (@PawarSpeaks) May 10, 2024

I welcome the decision of the Honble Supreme Court to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, said Congress leader

Kanhaiya Kumar.

Advertisement

        @ArvindKejriwal                        



INDIA      ,   4          Kanhaiya Kumar (@kanhaiyakumar) May 10, 2024

This is Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said on the interim bail to Kejriwal.

The bail of Delhis popular Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal ji is another victory of truth, he said.

The eyes of every citizen of the country are moist with happiness, their brother, their son Arvind Kejriwal is about to come out of jail, tweeted AAP leader Raghav Chadha.

       ,            .



     ,  .



              



 ,    !  Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) May 10, 2024

Arvind Kejriwal ji getting justice and relief against dictatorial regime in the country is a huge sign of winds of change, said Aaditya Thackeray of the Uddhav Thackeray faction.

 @ArvindKejriwal ji getting justice and relief against dictatorial regime in the country is a huge sign of winds of change.



He has been speaking the truth and that is what the bjp dislikes.



More power to him and the INDIA alliance for Bharat.



We will protect our  Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) May 10, 2024

I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail, said West Bengal chief minister and TMC supremo Mamata Banerjee on the interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal.

I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections.  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 10, 2024

On interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, AICC in-charge of Delhi and Haryana Deepak Babaria says, The court decision is right. BJP had attempted to block him from campaigning for elections.

#WATCH | On interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, AICC in-charge of Delhi and Haryana Deepak Babaria says, "The court decision is right. BJP had attempted to block him from campaigning for elections. It is BJP's policy to send all Opposition leaders behind bars and stop them pic.twitter.com/yCgOgc8HcI  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa had this to say on interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case. It is clear from the Supreme Court judgement that he has been granted bail for elections only. He will have to go back to jail after June 1

#WATCH | On interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in excise policy case, BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa says, "It is clear from the Supreme Court judgement that he has been granted bail for elections only. He will have to go back to jail after June 1..." pic.twitter.com/R5K95qfk8H  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Reacting to the interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal till 1 June, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nipuram said, Instead of jail or bail, first he should be removed from the CM post. How can an accused run the government from jail?
While India has done well to manage the emerging geopolitical and geo-economic challenges, it has to gear up to handle the technological challenges emerging due to niche technologies, where China is leading much ahead read more

India needs to increase its pace considerably to keep up with China on the tech front. Illustration by Shutterstock

There are multiple disruptions that are taking place currently. The Cold War did provide some kind of stability, though it witnessed multiple conflicts wherein warring sides were either supported by the US or by the Soviet Union or Russia. With the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the US emerged as the sole superpower, and its fragile stability still continued. With China undertaking major strides in all domains, coupled with its new-found ambition of becoming the sole superpower of the world, the international narrative of dynamic equilibrium is witnessing a major change.

Advertisement

With Chinese incursions having entered their fifth year in eastern Ladakh, the Russia-Ukraine war continuing in the third year, and the Israel-Hamas conflict continuing in the eighth month, with no end in sight for any of these conflicts, global uncertainties continue. As this emerging geopolitical situation becomes more and more fragile with every passing day, new political alignments are emerging. Russia-China has already entered into a no limit friendship, with a new alignment emerging in the form of Russia-China-North Korea-Iran. More nations could join this alliance, including Pakistan.

The balancing act expected from India on the geo-political front is an important challenge, but India has been walking a tight rope efficiently so far. India has also been managing the economic issues, including the challenges of the supply chain, reasonably well in the national interest. The biggest challenge that is most disruptive stems from technological disruption, which is more alarming as compared to geopolitical and geoeconomic disruptions.

In fact, technological disruptions shape even geopolitical and geoeconomic disruptions. The Houthi attack in the Red Sea using drones and missiles resulted in the US and some other NATO countries mobilising their resources to counter this threat. Technology to be effective need not result in high-end, sophisticated weapons, but low-end, cost-effective weapons using simple technology are also potent tools for the strategic impact that happened consequent to this attack by Houthis in the Red Sea. Another technological impact can be gauged from the fact that Ukraine, with a non-existent navy, has caused asymmetric damage to Russian vessels and has become a headache for the Russians in the Black Sea as they were forced to move more eastward.

Advertisement

India is currently faced with two major adversaries who are in active collusion with each other, viz, China and Pakistan. It is therefore essential that technological challenges emerging from Chinese technology focus be factored into the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) in the Indian Defence Forces to address this new challenge. Any technological process with China can be deemed to be available with Pakistan as well, and therefore India needs to prepare for handling such technology based emerging conflict situations on both fronts.

China has put in substantial effort into technology development and is leveraging it for warfighting in multiple domains. There are close to 20 niche technologies in which China has become the world leader, even surpassing the US. These technologies include anti-satellite weapons (ASAT weapons) as well as hypersonics. Both of these are being weaponised by China, along with other niche technologies. In addition to weaponising these technologies, which are of strategic importance, China is setting its own standards as international standards, as international standards have yet to be formalised in most of the cases. As a leading developer of these niche technologies, China is affecting a large number of nations by making them adopt these standards. Once more countries adopt these Chinese standards due to their associated benefits, the world may be forced to accept them as international standards, thus changing the entire ecosystem.

Advertisement

To counter such a technological prowess by China, India needs to take quick and multiple steps to preserve its national interests. It is quite challenging to match up the growth of niche technologies as technology does not develop in a linear fashion. Though substantial effort is underway towards the development of these technologies, more focused, out-of-the-box effort is needed to handle this technology challenge.

Some of the steps needed could be:

 Enhanced R&D budget with output-linked incentives.

 Besides taking the product development to the prototype stage, it must also be taken to the procurement stage in all successful cases.

 A complementary approach among all the stakeholders.

Advertisement

 Making all the transfer of technologies (TOT) to the developers and manufacturers available free of charge.

 Leveraging advanced technologies from friendly countries for joint ventures for co-development, co-production, and co-exports.

 Involve technical establishments both in the public and private sectors for not only the development of niche technologies but also the operationalisation of them.

 All three defence services are developing their technical capacities independently. Before integration is achieved for the operationalisation of joint theatres, these service wise capacities must be integrated.

 Though interaction with academia has increased, these need to be further reinforced.

 Service think tanks must come up with likely scenarios indicating the prioritised technology-led warfighting situations based on which DRDO as well as other organisations must develop the required technologies.

Advertisement

 Innovation is the only solution.

While India has done well to manage the emerging geopolitical and geo-economic challenges, it has to gear up to handle the technological challenges emerging due to niche technologies. There are no options but to innovate, as China is leading the world in this domain in some of the critical technologies.

The author is Director General, CENJOWS, and Kargil war veteran. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
As the French President seeks to look beyond the dominant cross-Atlantic approach to Europes security, China appears ready to exploit differences in the continent read more

French President Emmanuel Macron and China's President Xi Jinping pose for photos, on the day of a state dinner at the Elysee Palace, as part of China's President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan's two-day state visit, in Paris, France, on 6 May, Reuters

Emmanuel Macron, along with his wife Brigitte Macron, hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan at the Pyrenees mountains, a place where the French President made regular trips to see his grandmother as a child, on Tuesday. A day before this, on Monday, the wife of the Chinese President, on invitation, visited the Orsay Museum with the first lady of France in Paris.

The two-day visit of the Chinese President to France was a part of Xis Europe tour, which includes Serbia and Hungary as well, two countries that have maintained close ties with Russia despite the Ukraine war. Xis Europe tour will conclude on Friday.

Advertisement

Xis France visit saw the rolling of the red carpet for the Chinese President as he attended the state dinner organised for him by Macron at the Elysee Palace, as the General Secretary of the Chinese Communist Party started his first trip to Europe in five years.

The streets of Paris, which were the Eden of modern liberal viewsremember the French Revolutionwere donned with Chinese and French flags, welcoming an autocrat ruling a regime no less Robespierrian. Yet protesters wearing Tibetan flags on their shoulders took part in a demonstration in support of members of the Tibetan and Uighur communities, whose rights the West claims to vehemently advocate.

The visit marked 60 years of diplomatic relations between Paris and Beijing, as France was the first Western country to formally recognise the Peoples Republic of China on January 27, 1964.

To understand the reasons behind this hospitality, Macrons recent interview to the Economist can be referred to, in which the French President called the war in Ukraine an existential threat to Europe. Otherwise as well, the President has been considered among the most hawkish leaders when it comes to the security of the continent.

Macron has been advocating a more independent security policy for Europe moving out of the cross-Atlantic approach and favours being less reliant on Washington, or US-led NATO in terms of ensuring Europes security.

Advertisement

If Russia wins in Ukraine there will be no security in Europe Who can pretend that Russia will stop there? asked the French President.

Shadow of the Dragon

The Elysee Palace said last week, Exchanges will focus on international crises, first and foremost the war in Ukraine and the situation in the Middle East. The statement came ahead of Xis visit, clearly showing France wanting to engage Beijing in the two most prominent global crises of the world that particularly involve the security of Europe, because if a war in Ukraine is an existential threat to the continent, the war in the Middle East directly influences radical Islamic sentiments, something Europe, including France, is heavily suffering.

Advertisement

Beijing has professed neutrality in the Russia-Ukraine war, though it claims to have a no-limits partnership with Moscow. Also, China has amicable ties with Iran and was a factor behind once much acclaimed Saudi-Iran rapprochement. Undoubtedly, the Middle Kingdom has its own cards to play.

We must continue to engage China, which is objectively the international player with the greatest leverage to change Moscows mind, an unnamed French diplomat had told Le Monde.

With Russian President Vladimir Putin due to visit China this month, Macron must have tried to persuade Xi to ask Russia to engage in Switzerland talks to be held next month, to discuss Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskys 10-point plan, which was forwarded by Zelensky at the end of 2022 but was rejected by Moscow. Reports say some 160 delegations have already been invited.

Advertisement

The Systematic Rivalry

Since March 2019, the European Union has referred to China as a systemic rival, and France is the most important member of the blocthe EUs only remaining permanent-5 member of the UN security council. The 27 members of the supranational political and economic union are divided on their attitude towards China, particularly France and Germany, which stress the need to engage with the rising Asian giant.

Europe has been wary of Chinas business practices; for example, last year, the EU opened a probe into Chinas subsidies for electric vehicle makers, which is the highest-profile case against China since the EU probe into Chinese solar panels a decade ago. Also, virtue signalling is a divine right the West claims to possess, and hence they have been giving lectures to China over the issues of human rights, only to fall into deaf ears.

Advertisement

However, Macrons being a voter of strategic autonomy may be leading Xi to smell an opportunity here. On his arrival, Xi said that ties between China and France were a model for the international community of peaceful coexistence and win-win cooperation between countries with different social systems. It is in our interest to get China to weigh in on the stability of the international order, said Macron. We must, therefore, work with China to build peace, added the French President.

The AUKUS agreement in September 2021 between the US, the UK, and Australia has not gone well with France. Though France stands with the US against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this scar has yet to perish. After all, out of this fallout, the French ambassador was recalled, making this move the first of its kind in the history of US-France relations.

The Furthermore

Several experts believe the US policies, particularly regarding the Russia-Ukraine war, have pushed Moscow closer to Beijing than ever before and have further divided the European continent.

Xi travelled to Serbia from France, receiving a red carpet welcome there as well. Belgrade left no stone untouched to flaunt the ironclad friendship it enjoys with Beijing. Xis visit coincided with the 25th anniversary of the US airstrikes on Chinas embassy in Belgrade. The event was symbolic of the highest moment of the US-led unipolar world order and the dominance of NATO. Notably, Serbia is neither a member of the EU nor NATO; it is the largest country in Southeast Europe seeking entry into the bloc, and it has maintained close ties with Russia despite the Ukraine war.

Also, as quoted by the BBC, China claims to be the largest source of foreign direct investment in Serbia.

Xi has praised Budapests independent foreign policy for defying great power politics, even before meeting Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Hungary is the last stop in Xis five-day trip to Europe.

Hungary, a member of both the EU and NATO and the first European country to sign a Belt and Road Initiative cooperation agreement with China, has been known for singing a different tune, and Orban has been critical of the Brussels model of Europe finding it unsustainable and with no future. Also, Orbans Hungary is closest to Russia, distrusts Ukraine, and opposes most of the EUs policies. From migration to rights for the LGBTQ+ community, Orban has been at loggerheads with the EU.

As such, Budapest is a perfect place for Beijing to land in the region that was once Washingtons backyard.

Conclusion

France and China both have their own strategic interests involved in this trip, and so is the case, albeit more local than global, with Serbia and Hungary as well. This trip and the kind of welcome Xi is receiving in these countries are a clear reaction to US policies and serve as a caution for Washington. Certainly, the US doesnt command the influence it had in the region during the heyday of the unilateral world.

Further, the fallouts of the US-led NATOs approach towards the Russia-Ukraine war and Brussels model of Europe seem to be surfacing, which are being cultivated by the Chinese.

Apart from gaining the global significance that befits a rising superpower, the Asian giant has another angle of interest as well: As Vijay Gokhale also maintains in his book The Long Game, the Chinese are quite conscious of their self-image particularly in the eyes of their domestic public, in order to garner the opinion that China is a responsible player in the international system. The Chinese want to be seen as the beautiful swan gliding on the placid surface of a lake in sylvan surroundings. Undoubtedly, this image has been well-presented throughout this tour.

Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
It remains to be seen how Gen Asim Munir will respond to Imran Khans incendiary words. The chances are that he will ensure a further crackdown on the PTI and enmesh Khan in new cases read more

After December 16, 1971, no date is as traumatic for the Pakistan army as May 9, 2023. On the former day the pride of the men in khaki was humbled on the parade ground in Dhaka when Lt Gen AAK Niazi surrendered to Lt Gen Jagjit Singh Arora. On the latter, the supporters of former prime minister and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan rioted against the army in the streets and cantonments of the country. In the process they destroyed monuments dedicated to the armys revered martyrs, pillaged corps commander Lahores house, which is named after the countrys founder, Mohammed Ali Jinnah, and also attacked other army installations. By showing such utter disrespect the rioters outraged the armys image of itself as the final protector of the people and the country and its foundational principles. No wonder some army generals cried out in anguish that what the external enemy (obviously, meaning India) had not been able to accomplish had been done by the countrys internal foes.

Advertisement

The May 9 events set the army chief, Gen Asim Munir, squarely against Imran Khan. That their relations were fractured was one aspect of the issue. The other was the inroads that Khan had succeeded in making in the army by invoking the gairat (pride) of some officers and other ranks by projecting that he was standing firm against the attempts of foreign countries, especially the United States, at interfering in Pakistans internal affairs. The fact that some members of the armed forces had given their ear and more to Khans song was unacceptable to the majority of the force. This is because the ethos of the army demands that all officers and men must be loyal to the army chief and no one else

Munir and his supporting generals and officers simply could not afford to overlook Khans inroads into the army, for it would have impaired the forces discipline and professionalism. And, they could not allow a political leader, howsoever popular, to create splits in the force. Hence, Munir acted decisively against many in its own ranks, including the corps commander, Lahore. He had them court martialed and dismissed. He opened a second front against Khan through other political forces (the term other political forces has been deliberately used for the Pakistan army is both a professional and a political force) and like-minded individuals in other institutions, including the judiciary, to ensure that Khan remained incarcerated and that the PTI was weakened. The aim was to get it defeated in the elections to the National Assembly and reduce Imran Khans challenge to a nullity.

Advertisement

Munir succeeded in these objectives but not fully. As Pakistan marked the anniversary of May 9, it became clear that the army and its fellow political travelers have not succeeded in entirely rooting out the Imran Khan challenge. The events of the last few days and Munirs long statement of May 9 demonstrates this fact.

On May 7 Director-General of Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) Major General Ahmed Sharif addressed an over two-hour long press conference. He vehemently, and again and again condemned those responsible for the mayhem of May 9 last year. This was a clear reference to Imran Khan and the PTI though Sharif carefully avoided naming them. During his fulminations he slipped in the message that a dialogue with the PTI was only possible if they apologised publicly to the nation for their actions and pledging to abandon their anarchical approaches adopted constructive political positions. It is not surprising that the Pakistani media underlined Sharifs message for Khan and the PTI.

Advertisement

Imran Khans response to this message was clear and direct. When asked by reporters, as he left a case hearing in a court on May 8, if he was willing to apologise for the May 9 events, Khan responded in the negative. According to media reports Khan stressed that he came to know of May 9, 2023 events only when he attended the court proceedings in the Pakistan Supreme Court on that day. He also emphasised that he had already condemned the violent incidents. PTIs Omar Ayub Khan who is the current leader of the opposition in the Pakistan National Assembly went further to call the events of May 9 as a conspiracy against Khan.

Advertisement

On May 8 evening Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari said May 9, 2023 will always be remembered as a dark day in Pakistans history. Media reports stated that he stressed that the events of that day had tarnished Pakistan and had only served the interests of the countrys enemies. Prime minister Shehbaz Sharif told a special meeting of the cabinet on May 9 morning that the aim of the May 9, 2023 events was to end democracy in Pakistan, bury the constitution and establish an individuals dictatorship. While these reactions of the current political leaders were significant the most noteworthy statement came from army chief Asim Munir.

Advertisement

During a visit to the Lahore Garrison on May 9, Munir said that attempts were being made through digital platforms to create divisions between the army and the people. He characterised the riots of May 9, 2023 as criminally orchestrated violence and that its plotters were now trying to twist the narrative. However, he added, there can be no compromise or deal with the planners and architects of this dark chapter in our history. He then went on to say the real leaders who present themselves as victims now will be held accountable for their actions, particularly when there is irrefutable evidence of their involvement and complicity in organized violence and sabotage.

Significantly, Munir, who inaugurated a Jinnah Library at the Lahore Garrison, invoked the memory of the countrys founder. He said that constructive forces have rekindled the memory of Quaid by building this public library over the ash and rubble created by the destructive forces. This was a clear reference to the ransacking of Jinnah House which is the residence of the Lahore Corps Commander on May 9 last year.

Imran Khans defiance has continued. He met Omar Ayub Khan and former president Arif Alvi, among other PTI leaders, at the Adiala Jail on May 9. Coming out of the jail premises after meeting him these PTI leaders addressed a press conference. They said that Khan had instructed that cases should be filed in the courts for the production of CCTV footage of the May events. Omar Ayub Khan reported that Imran Khan had reiterated that the May 9 developments were part of the London Plan which was meant to oust his government. In the past Imran Khan has claimed that elements in the judiciary went along with that plan. The PTI leaders also recalled their partys narrative that the peoples mandate it had received in the February 8 election had been stolen from them and that Imran Khan remained the most popular leader in Pakistan. For the time being, it is a fact that his popularity is substantial particularly in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab provinces.

The most significant element of the press conference which reinforced that the current Pakistani situation is, above all, is truly a fight between Imran Khan and Munir was when Omar Ayub Khan said that the PTI chief had said that March 9 was a considered conspiracy as was that of March 11, 1971. On that day in 1971, according to Imran Khan, then president Gen. Yahya Khan had met Sheikh Mujibur Rehman and had fixed a date for calling the session of the National Assembly. However, after Yahya Khan returned to Rawalpindi the military operation was launched in East Pakistan. That had resulted in the break-up of Pakistan on 16th December, 1971. That was the true black day for Pakistan. Omar Ayub Khan reported that Imran Khan had emphasized that the decisions and actions of Yahya Khan were his alone. They were not of the institution or that of the army or the armed forces. Similarly, the responsibility of the London Plan was of a single individual and not that of the institution or of the armed forces. The PTI signal is towards former army chief Gen Qamar Bajwa but its main beneficiary being the present chief Asim Munir.

Clearly, Imran Khan is trying to create a distance between Munir and his officers and men. This will be completely unacceptable to Munir and his supporting generals. They will interpret Imran Khans words as attempting to instigate a revolt in the army. The government is likely to go along with this interpretation.

It remains to be seen how Munir will respond to Khans incendiary words. The chances are that he will ensure a further crackdown on the PTI and enmesh Khan in new cases. Munirs real problem though is how to credibly and decisively dent Khans popularity. He will try to do that but even if he cannot he simply cannot allow Khan to continue to attempt creating fissures in the army. Hence, Munir may be forced to think of creative and forceful ways of dealing with Khan.

There is no early end to Pakistans fundamental problems in sight.

The writer is a former Indian diplomat who served as Indias Ambassador to Afghanistan and Myanmar, and as secretary, the Ministry of External Affairs. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect Firstposts views.
The former boss of Baidus PR declared in another video that weekends were not to be expected for those in the public relations field, and that employees should keep their phones on and remain on call 24/7 read more

Baidu's PR head Qu had apologised earlier in the day and said her posts did not speak for Baidu. However, she was fired shortly after that. Image Credit: AP

Qu Jing, the former vice president and head of communications at Baidu, one of Chinas leading tech giants often likened to Google, has found herself at the centre of a major controversy because of some videos she posted on Douyin, Chinas equivalent of TikTok,

In these videos which sparked a major outrage, Qu was seen unabashedly championing toxic work places and toxic office cultures. Here videos where flavoured with an uncharacteristic lack of consideration for employees personal lives.

Advertisement

In one particularly contentious clip, Qu berated an employee who hesitated to embark on a 50-day business trip amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, disregarding the individuals concerns about health risks and family obligations.

Why should I take my employees family into consideration? Im not her mother-in-law, Qu retorted, displaying a startling lack of empathy. Her dismissive attitude toward work-life balance extended to her own experiences as a working mother, where she proudly admitted to neglecting significant family milestones, such as her sons birthday, in the pursuit of her career aspirations.

Further exacerbating the public outcry, Qu declared in another video that weekends were not to be expected for those in the public relations field and that employees should keep their phones on and remain on call 24/7.

She even issued threats of retaliation against those who dared to voice grievances, warning that they would find themselves unemployable in the industry.

Qus remarks drew widespread criticism, especially from young professionals already grappling with the pervasive 996 work culture in Chinas tech sector  a term coined by Alibaba founder Jack Ma, which refers to the expectation of working from 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM, six days a week. Ma, was in support of such a culture and had said people were blessed to have the opportunity to work this hard.

Social media platforms were flooded with criticisms of Qus insensitivity and lack of professionalism, with many expressing disbelief that such attitudes persisted at the highest levels of corporate leadership.

Advertisement

In the wake of the public backlash, Qu issued an apology, conceding that her videos did not align with Baidus values and expressing regret for any misunderstanding they may have caused.

However, the damage was irreversible, and reports soon emerged that she was let go from the company.

The fallout from Qus scandal reignited long-standing conversations about work-life balance and the toll of relentless corporate expectations on employees mental and physical well-being. As companies across China grapple with these issues, Qus downfall serves as a stark reminder of the importance of fostering a healthy and supportive workplace culture that prioritizes the needs and welfare of its employees.
Tim Cook is in his early 60s and will continue to lead Apple for at least 3-4 years. However the search for his replacement wont be easy. However, it seems that one man, John Ternus, Apples Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering is being groomed as Cooks successor read more

John Ternus is well liked within Apple's top leadership and other executives. He was also seen unveiling the iPad Air and iPro at the Let Loose event. Image Credit: Apple

During Tim Cooks tenure as Apples CEO, the tech giant has seen innovation, expansion, and stability. Since taking over from Steve Jobs in 2011, Cook has overseen the introduction of some groundbreaking products like the Apple Watch, ventured into new business territories such as streaming video with the Apple TV, and even dared to push forward mixed reality computing into the mainstream via the Apple Vision Pro.

Cook is in his early 60s and has surpassed the average tenure of Fortune 500 CEOs. A recent Bloomberg report claims that even though Cook isnt looking to retire or step down anytime soon, and plans to continue for another 3-4 years at least, speculations are rife about who might succeed him and lead Apple into its next chapter.

Advertisement

Looking for Cooks successor

Despite Cooks prolonged stewardship, the search for his successor is not as simple and straightforward as one would imagine. The thing is, Apples top executive team largely consists of people who have been with the company since the Jobs era. It has remained relatively unchanged over the past decade, barring a few notable departures like designer Jony Ive. As a result, if any one of them were to take over as CEO will have to step down in a couple of years

While Chief Operating Officer Jeff Williams seems to be a frontrunner for the position, he is almost the same age as Cook, and so he presents the same issues as Cook.

Bloomberg reports that now Apples senior leadership is looking at John Ternus, Apples Senior Vice President of Hardware Engineering, and the man who introduced the iPad Pro and iPad Air to the world.

Who is John Ternus?

Ternus, aged 49, has been steadily ascending the ranks within Apple for over two decades. He has earned praise from his colleagues for his leadership skills and has seen an increasing visibility in product launches and other corporate initiatives.

Having started his Apple journey working on external Mac monitors, Ternus gradually expanded his purview to oversee key product lines like the iPad and Mac.

His colleagues commend his collaborative approach and hands-on involvement in product development, citing his ability to bridge gaps between hardware and software teams.

Advertisement

However, scepticism lingers among some Apple insiders regarding Ternus suitability for the CEO role. Critics argue that he lacks a focus on future technologies and has had limited involvement in flagship projects like the Vision Pro headset and self-driving car initiatives.

Nonetheless, Ternus has a track record of being reliable, a major problem solver and has earned endorsements from several key influential figures.

Is Ternus getting fast-tracked?

While Ternus appears to be a leading contender, other executives within Apple also warrant consideration. Craig Federighi and Deirdre OBrien are respected figures within the company, but they are viewed as unlikely successors to Cook, again, because of their age. Similarly, Phil Schiller and Dan Riccio, while influential, are believed to be approaching the end of their tenures at Apple.

Advertisement

Every spring, Apple hosts an exclusive gathering known as the Top 100, an offsite event held in Californias Carmel Valley that brings together the companys most promising executives. This past March, John Ternus was notably at the forefront, leading the presentation of Apples technology roadmap. While Ternus had previously assisted in these presentations, this year he took the lead himself, signalling to some insiders that he is being primed for greater responsibilities.

While its speculated that Apples future CEO may have been among the attendees, there are voices within the company advocating for an outsider to take the helm to ensure Apple maintains its innovative edge. As one Apple insider noted, the company may need someone with a truly revolutionary vision to avoid stagnation akin to what happened with IBM.

Advertisement

Despite the uncertainties surrounding Apples future leadership, one thing is clear: the companys board faces the daunting task of identifying a leader who can maintain Apples trajectory of innovation and success.

With Cooks presence expected for the foreseeable future, the transition to a new CEO will be a carefully orchestrated process, with the aim to ensure continuity and stability for one of the worlds most valuable companies.
Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee said the death toll was preliminary and that it might rise as many people are missing. read more

Flash floods from seasonal rains in the northern province of Baghlan killed at least 50 people on Friday, a Taliban official said, adding that the death toll may rise

Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qaniee told Reuters that there had been flooding in more than five districts in Baghlan after heavy rains and that some families were stuck and in need of urgent help. He said that the death toll was preliminary and that it might rise as many people are missing.

Advertisement

The Ministry of Interior has sent teams and helicopters to the area, but due to a shortage of night vision lights in helicopters, the operation may not be successful, he said.

In April, at least 70 people died from heavy rains and flash flooding in the country. About 2,000 homes, three mosques, and four schools were damaged last month. Thousands of people require humanitarian assistance. The flooding also damaged agriculture land and 2,500 animals died in the deluges.

With inputs from agencies.
Storms and floods battering the South American countrys southernmost state, home to some 10.9 million people, have also left more than 337,000 displaced. read more

The death toll from heavy rains in Brazils Rio Grande do Sul state has climbed to 113 as major floods engulfed entire cities in the southernmost state part of the country last week, local civil defence said on Friday.

Storms and floods battering the South American countrys southernmost state, home to some 10.9 million people, have also left more than 337,000 displaced. Heavy rains and flooding in Rio Grande do Sul since last week also have left hundreds of people missing, authorities said, adding that more than 230,000 displaced and much of the region isolated by the floodwaters.

Advertisement

The floods have also impacted water and electricity services, with more than 1.4 million affected overall, according to Civil Defense.

Almost half a million people were without power in Porto Alegre and outlying towns as electricity companies cut off supplies for security reasons in flooded neighborhoods. National grid operator ONS said five hydroelectric dams and transmission lines were shut down due to the heavy rains.

The citys airport, its apron under water, has suspended all flights since Friday. Authorities said that there was no official tally for the number of animals that died or made homeless. Local media estimated the number to be in the thousands.

Fuel shortages were reported as state-run oil company Petrobras said it was having trouble moving diesel from its refinery in badly-flooded Canoas within metropolitan Porto Alegre, a senior government official said.

With inputs from agencies.
Mondays vote aimed to end three years of military rule in a country crucial to the fight against jihadism across Africas Sahel desert region read more

A supporter of Chad's junta chief Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno points a gun in the air as he celebrates with others their candidate's victory in N'Djamena, after the electoral commission said Deby won 61.03 percent of votes. AFP

Chads junta chief Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno won this weeks presidential election in the first round, according to provisional official results released on Thursday, extending his familys decades-long grip on power.

Mondays vote aimed to end three years of military rule in a country crucial to the fight against jihadism across Africas Sahel desert region.

The ANGE electoral commission said Deby won 61.03 percent of votes, beating his Prime Minister Succes Masra who only garnered 18.53 percent, in results due to be confirmed by the Constitutional Council.

Advertisement

Soldiers fired shots in the air in the capital NDjamena out of joy and to deter protesters, AFP journalists reported, after Masra had earlier claimed victory and warned Debys team would rig the results.

Some frightened people ran for cover or to return home after the shots, while near the presidential palace in central NDjamena Debys supporters shouted, sung and sounded car horns in celebration, AFP reporters saw.

Supporters of Masra, a 40-year-old economist, had been holding their own ballot count in parallel to the official one, and in a speech posted on his Facebook page hours before the results were released, Masra said his teams count establishes the victory in the first round, that of change over the status quo.

The victory is resounding and without blemish, he said.

Masra went on to say the team of Deby, who was proclaimed transitional president three years ago by the army, would soon announce that he had won and steal the victory from the people.

Masra, a former opposition leader appointed prime minister in January, urged Chadians to mobilise peacefully to prove our victory.

In Thursdays announcement was a surprise, coming nearly two weeks earlier than the scheduled release date of May 21.

Deby and Masra faced eight other candidates who were either relatively unknown or considered not hostile to the regime.

Former premier Albert Pahimi Padacke came third with 16.91 percent of votes in an election that saw turnout of 75.89 percent, ANGE chief Ahmed Bartchiret announced.

Advertisement

Pilot, co-pilot towards democracy

Opponents had called for a boycott of the vote, dismissing it as fixed.

Since announcing he would stand, Masra said he was doing so to maintain the current team of pilot and co-pilot of a plane headed towards democracy, referring to himself and Deby.

Masra had been a fierce opponent of the regime before it named him prime minister in January after he returned from exile.

He faced accusations of being a stooge by the opposition, which has been violently repressed and its leading figures barred from standing.

Early in the campaign, observers predicted a massive win for Deby, also aged 40, whose top rival was killed earlier this year.

Advertisement

Ally against jihadism

Deby was proclaimed transitional president by fellow army generals in 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who had ruled Chad with an iron fist for 30 years, was killed in a gun battle with rebels.

Deby promised an 18-month transition to democracy but then extended it by two years.

Opposition figures have since fled, been silenced or joined forces with Deby.

Debys cousin and chief election rival Yaya Dillo Djerou was shot point-blank in the head in an army assault on February 28, according to his party.

The International Federation for Human Rights had warned that the election appeared neither credible, free nor democratic.

Advertisement

The International Crisis Group also noted that a number of problems in the run-up to the balloting cast doubt on its credibility.

On Wednesday, Masras Transformers party condemned violence against him and his supporters, urging people to defend their will expressed at the ballot box against electoral fraud.

Chad has remained a firm ally of traditional security partner France, whose forces in recent years have been ousted by military regimes in former African colonies including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.

The Sahel nations are reeling from jihadist insurgencies and have strengthened ties with Russia after severing them with Paris.
The flight, which is currently being investigated by central authorities, had on board around 75 Gujaratis on a tourist visa according to a Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer as well as several from Punjab are also suspected to be on board read more

A chartered flight from Dubai carrying numerous Indian passengers, including around 75 from Gujarat, was returned from Jamaicas capital Kingston after local officials were dissatisfied with the passengers paperwork.

Randhir Jaiswal, the Ministry of External Affairs official spokesperson, confirmed that the flight departed Kingston for Dubai on May 7.

We understand that a Germany-registered chartered flight with Indians on board landed in Kingston from Dubai on May 2 for tourism. They had prior hotel bookings, Jaiswal stated at his weekly media conference.

Advertisement

The authorities were not satisfied with them being tourists. The flight and passengers were ordered to return to place of origin, Dubai. The passengers left Kingston on May 7, he explained.

According to a Jamaica Observer story, immigration officers turned away 253 international passengers on the trip due to security concerns.

According to the media site, Jamaicas Ministry of National Security said that local officials often inspect passenger planes for potential security risks as well as legal and/or regulatory infractions.

The flight, which is currently being investigated by central authorities, had on board around 75 Gujaratis on a tourist visa according to a Gujarat Crime Investigation Department (CID) officer as well as several from Punjab are also suspected to be on board.

It is believed that these visitors intended to enter the US illegally by way of the border with Mexico.

Last December, a Nicaragua-bound aircraft carrying Indians was delayed in France and then returned to India on suspicion of human trafficking.

In an attempt to smuggle more than sixty individuals from the state into the United States, the Gujarat CID has charged fourteen operatives with human trafficking. At least 66 persons from the state were among the 303 passengers on the Legend Airways flight from Fujairah in UAE, to Nicaragua.
The latest dispute between China and the U.S. came amid heightened tensions in the strategic South China Sea, with U.S. ally the Philippines embroiled in an bitter diplomatic row with Beijing over disputed waters in the region. read more

China 'drove away' US destroyer USS Halsey in South China Sea, says military- File Photo - Reuters

China said that it had monitored and warned a US Navy destroyer USS Halsey in the contentious South China Sea, mere days after the vessels passage through the Taiwan Strait provoked Chinas discontent.

The Southern Theater Command of the Peoples Liberation Army said in a statement on Friday that Chinas military drove away US Navy destroyer that entered the territorial waters of Paracel Islands in the South China Sea on May 10.

Advertisement

Despite an international ruling dismissing its claims as legally unfounded, Beijing asserts control over nearly the entire South China Sea. It maintains a substantial presence of coast guard, navy, and other vessels to patrol and fortify the region.

The US move seriously infringed on Chinas sovereignty and security, the military said. It is yet another iron proof of its navigation hegemony and militarization of the South China Sea, it said, adding its troops would stay on high alert and safeguard national security.

The U.S. Navy said in a statement the destroyer asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands consistent with international law.

The USS Halsey exited the area after its operation and continued on in the South China Sea, the statement said.

The latest dispute between China and the U.S. came amid heightened tensions in the strategic South China Sea, with U.S. ally the Philippines embroiled in an bitter diplomatic row with Beijing over disputed waters in the region.

China claims large swaths of the South China Sea, including parts claimed by the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei. The Permanent Court of Arbitration in 2016 ruled that Beijings claims had no basis under international law.

Fridays naval spat between US and Chinese forces came just days after the USS Halsey sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometre body of water separating the island from China.

Advertisement

Chinese naval colonel Li Xi called the US warship passage public hype.

He added in a statement late on Wednesday that the Eastern Theatre Command had also organised naval and air forces to monitor the passage of the US ship through the entire process.

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring the island under Beijings control.

Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials on Thursday reported dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island.

With inputs from agencies.
Pakistan is seeking a new bailout package in the range of USD 6 to USD 8 billion for three years under the EFF, with a possibility of augmentation through climate financing, The News International reported last month. read more

An advance team of the IMF has reached the cash-strapped Pakistan to hold talks regarding their request for a longer and larger bailout package, according to a media report on Friday.

A support team of the International Monetary Fund will discuss the first phase of the next long-term loan under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF) with the countrys financial team, Geo News said citing sources. The IMF review mission is scheduled to arrive in Islamabad on May 16, the report said.

Advertisement

According to a report of Geo News The IMF team will receive data from different departments and will also discuss the upcoming budget 2025 with the Finance Ministry officials. The team will reportedly stay in Pakistan for more than 10 days.

Pakistan is seeking a new bailout package in the range of USD 6 to USD 8 billion for three years under the EFF, with a possibility of augmentation through climate financing, The News International reported last month.

Meanwhile, Pakistan has decided to seek a rollover of around USD 12 billion debt from key allies like China in the 2024-25 fiscal year to meet a whopping USD 23 billion worth of gap in its external financing as the federal government aims to achieve budget targets before the expected arrival of the IMF team to the country.

According to the Finance Ministry insiders, USD 5 billion from Saudi Arabia, USD 3 billion from the UAE, and USD 4 billion from China will be rolled over, adding that the estimate of further new financing from China would also be included in the next financial years budget, The Express Tribune newspaper reported.

Pakistan will receive more than USD 1 billion from the IMF under the fresh loan program, while new financing from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank has also been included in the estimated budget.

According to the Finance Ministry sources, new loan program agreements will be made with financial institutions. The federal government aims to achieve budget targets before the anticipated arrival of the IMF review mission in Pakistan.

Advertisement

Negotiations for a new loan program with the global lender are expected to commence in mid-May ahead of the budget which will be presented in June.

With inputs from agencies.
Nigeria, Africas most populous country with over 200 million inhabitants, has recently progressed from a transit site for illegal narcotics to a full-fledged producer, user, and distributor read more

Nigerias Senate recommended dramatically tougher punishments for drug trafficking on Thursday, with the death penalty becoming the new maximum sentence through a legislative change.

The change, which is not yet legislation, substitutes life imprisonment, which was formerly the most severe sentence.

Nigeria, Africas most populous country with over 200 million inhabitants, has recently progressed from a transit site for illegal narcotics to a full-fledged producer, user, and distributor.

According to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, opioid misuse, particularly tramadol and cough syrups containing codeine, is common throughout Nigeria, and the manufacturing and import of codeine cough syrup was outlawed in 2018.

Advertisement

While cannabis is cultivated locally, cocaine, methamphetamine and other narcotics are trafficked through the country alongside opioids to feed a growing addiction problem.

The legislation stemmed from a report by the Senate committees on judiciary, human rights and legal matters, and drugs and narcotics, which Senator Mohammed Monguno presented during Thursdays plenary session.

Supporters argued the threat of execution would serve as a stronger deterrent to drug traffickers than life imprisonment.

Lawmakers who opposed the measure expressed concerns about the irreversible nature of the death penalty and the possibility of wrongful convictions.

The House of Representatives earlier passed the bill but without a death penalty provision. Five select members of the Senate and House will need to harmonize the two versions before it goes to the president.
Humanitarian officials who are tracking the number of people fleeing Rafah described the evacuation as the largest movement of population in the conflict-stricken enclave in recent months read more

As Israel continues to remain adamant about conducting a ground assault in Rafah, United Nations officials present at the Gazan city said that more than 100,000 people have fled the region. Humanitarian officials who are tracking the number of people fleeing Rafah described the evacuation as the largest movement of population in the conflict-stricken enclave.

The officials warned that the numbers are expected to rise as Israel continues to intensify its bombardment in the southernmost Gazan city. The aid officials stated that the newly displaced people will end up in makeshift encampments without any services, living in the rubble of their former homes without basic essentials necessary for life," The Guardian reported.

Advertisement

There is a lot of fear and trepidation. The roads are very congested with cars, donkey carts, trolleys, pickup trucks and people walking. Some have already been displaced multiple times and are trying to take material for shelter with them, which isnt easy; others are moving for the first time," a UN official operating in Rafah told The Guardian.

We could be talking about 300,000 within a few days. The problem is there is basically nowhere that kind of a number of people can go which is safe and equipped to provide the basic essentials necessary for life," he added.

The evacuation process started immediately after Israeli officials told Reuters that the negotiation to halt the ongoing conflict had come to an end and Israel would proceed with its ground assault in Rafah and other parts of the Southern Gaza Strip as planned.

All supplies to Rafah were cut off

The matter became even more concerning after Israel on Tuesday announced the seizure of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing. With this, the supply of aid in southern Gaza has been cut off and the Gazans in the region have little to no aid stockpiled after seven months of war.

The clashes between the Israel Defence Force (IDF), Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants have also caused civilian casualties in the region. Israels attack in Rafah came despite explicit opposition from both the United States and the United Nations.

Both parties have warned that an assault in Rafah would cause a major humanitarian crisis. Tensions between Washington and Tel Aviv escalated after US President Joe Biden issued a public warning against Israel.

Advertisement

The 81-year-old president made it clear that the United States would halt its military supply to Israel if the Jewish nation moved on and conducted the Rafah assault. Bidens decision prompted a major fury in Israel. On Thursday, the countrys Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that his country would continue to fight Hamas until its destruction, adding that there is no war more just than this.

Bezalel Smotrich, the far-right finance minister, reiterated the Israeli stance and maintained that Rafah should be conquered completely and the sooner the better.

With inputs from agencies.
Pakistan will receive more than $1 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in a fresh loan to shore up its bankrupt economy read more

For years, the Pakistani economy has been in crises (Photo: Reuters)

Cash-strapped Pakistan has decided to seek renewal of loans to the tune of $12 billion to meet budget goals ahead of the talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The exercise is aimed at meeting budget targets related to external liabilities ahead of the arrival of the IMF team in the country. Pakistan is set to receive more than $1 billion from the IMF in a fresh loan to shore up its bankrupt economy.

Advertisement

Of the $12 billion loan to be rolled over in 2024, Pakistan owes $5 billion to Saudi Arabia, $3 billion to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and $4 billion to China, according to The Express Tribune newspaper.

Since 2023, the IMF has provided more than $3 billion in loan to Pakistan as the country continued to suffer from yearslong economic crisis. It is also expected to receive new external financing from the World Bank and Asian Development Bank (ADB), according to PTI.

The Shehbaz Sherif-led Pakistani government has been trying to double-down on loans and investments from international lenders and friendly countries in a last-gasp effort to rescue the countrys sinking economy that has been in a downward spiral for years. It has sought investments to the tune of $50 billion from Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

IMF negotiations to start mid-May, Pakistan woos China

The negotiations between Pakistan and the IMF for a fresh loan programme will start in mid-May, according to PTI.

The IMF delegation will be provided details that the targets have been met, according to the report.

The Express Tribune paper cited sources to report that Pakistans Finance Ministry has started preparing the budget to set the targets for debt repayment, defence budget, and tax collections.

Separately, Pakistan is trying to woo China for a fresh set of investments to fill its empty coffers. At the moment, Pakistani Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal is in China with a high-level delegation to woo current and new Chinese investors and financial institutions. During his engagements, Iqbal also sought Chinas continued cooperation in the early implementation of hydropower projects part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Advertisement

Iqbals visit to China comes ahead of Shehbazs visit to Pakistan early next month.
Negotiators from the World Health Organizations 194 member states were hoping to have a final draft agreement by the end of Friday, with a view toward adopting the legally-binding text at the World Health Assembly later this month read more

The World Health Organisation (WHO) logo is seen near its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland. Reuters File

Talks to draw up a global pact to help fight future pandemics are likely to miss an initial deadline on Friday, three sources close to the process said.

Negotiators from the World Health Organizations 194 member states were hoping to have a final draft agreement by the end of Friday, with a view toward adopting the legally-binding text at the World Health Assembly later this month.

Instead talks on the text may have to continue, sources said, as countries grapple with key sticking points.

Advertisement

There is no chance at all of us reaching agreement by Friday, said one Western diplomat.

The aim of the document, alongside a series of updates to existing rules on dealing with pandemics, is to shore up the worlds defences against new pathogens after the COVID-19 pandemic killed millions of people.

But there have been deep disagreements throughout the negotiating process, particularly around equity. The accord, commonly known as a treaty, has also become politicised in some countries.

Talks will continue to Friday night, 00.00 hours, Roland Driece, one of the co-chairs of the intergovernmental negotiating body leading the treaty talks, said in an email. Then, we will discuss where we stand and what needs to be done.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said this week teams were strongly committed to finalizing the agreement in time for the World Health Assembly.

Vaccine Sharing

Some of the treatys most contentious elements, including details around a pathogen access and benefits system, have already been pushed back for later discussion, with a deadline two years from now. The system intends to codify sharing of material with pandemic potential, such as new viruses or strains, and ensure that all countries benefit fairly from vaccines, drugs and tests developed as a result.

The existing draft treaty includes a clause asking pharmaceutical manufacturers to reserve 10% of such items to donate to the WHO, and 10% for the agency to buy at affordable prices, to distribute in poorer countries during health emergencies.

Advertisement

A report earlier this week in the UKs Telegraph newspaper said the UK would not sign a treaty the country says would force it to give away a fifth of its vaccines. Negotiations are ongoing, a WHO spokesperson said on Thursday.

An official involved in the talks said while most countries supported a commitment to fairer vaccine access, a fixed percentage was not finalized.

An existing agreement that governs pandemic influenza also has a clause about selling vaccines at affordable prices or donating them to WHO. It allows for between 5% and 20% for both options, to allow for flexibility in negotiating with manufacturers.

Advertisement

This framework is what would be brought into play should the H5N1 strain of avian flu, which has raised alarm after being identified in cows in the United States as well as among other animals and birds, become easily transmissible between humans.

The WHO currently assesses that threat as low as there has been no evidence of human-to-human spread.

External experts said losing political momentum for the pandemic accord was a risk if there are delays, particularly in an election year for many countries.

Its not over till its over, said Alexandra Phelan, a global health law expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. But over is rapidly approaching.
China has accused the Philippines of trespassing and of treachery, while Manila has scolded Beijing for what it says is a policy of aggression and dangerous manoeuvring inside its exclusive economic zone. read more

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Chinese President Xi Jinping. Tensions between the two countries are escalating over territory in the South China Sea. (Source photos by Reuters)

The Philippines national security adviser on Friday called for the expulsion of Chinese diplomats over an alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral in a significant escalation of a bitter row over the South China Sea, Nikkei Asia reported.

This comes a week after China harassed and shot water cannons at a Filipino humanitarian mission headed to Scarborough Shoal, a flashpoint in the region.

Chinas embassy in Manila had orchestrated repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and misinformation, with the objective of sowing discord, division and disunity, Eduardo Ano said in a statement.

Advertisement

Those actions should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned without serious penalty, he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian called the comments provocative and said Chinese diplomats in the Philippines had to be allowed to do their job.

China solemnly requests the Philippine side to effectively safeguard the normal performance of duties by Chinese diplomatic personnel, stop infringing and provoking, and refrain from denying the facts, Lin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The two countries have been embroiled in a series of heated standoffs this past year in disputed areas of the South China Sea as the Philippines, emboldened by support from the United States and other allies, steps up activities in waters occupied by Chinas vast coast guard.

China has accused the Philippines of trespassing and of treachery, while Manila has scolded Beijing for what it says is a policy of aggression and dangerous manoeuvring inside its exclusive economic zone.

The expelling of diplomats could intensify a row that has so far seen heated exchanges, diplomatic protests and the ramming and water-cannoning of Philippine ships at two disputed shoals, the closest of which is more than 850 km (530 miles) away from mainland China.

Ano was referring to a news report this week of an alleged leak of a call between a Chinese diplomat and a Filipino admiral discussing a dispute over the South China Sea, which carried a transcript that showed the admiral agreeing to concessions with China.

Advertisement

According to the transcript published by the Manila Times, the admiral agreed to Chinas proposal of a new model, where the Philippines would use fewer vessels in resupply trips to marines stationed at a grounded warship at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, and notify Beijing about the missions in advance.

Reuters has not heard the reported phone conversation and could not verify the contents of the published transcript. The report said the conversation had taken place in January and the transcript was provided by a ranking Chinese official, which it did not name.

INTERFERENCE OPERATIONS

Ano said he backed the defence ministers call for the foreign ministry to take appropriate action against embassy officials, who he claimed recorded an alleged phone conversation in violation of Philippine laws, including its anti-wire tapping act, as well as serious breaches of diplomatic protocols.

Advertisement

Those individuals in the Chinese embassy  and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately, he said.

On Wednesday, Chinese spokesperson Lin said the embassy in Manila had released details about relevant communications between the two countries on managing the situation at the Second Thomas Shoal.

Lin, in comments shared by the embassy, did not elaborate on what details or communications were released, or when, but said facts are clear and backed by hard evidence that cannot be denied.

The Philippines has insisted on denying these objective facts and seeks to mislead the international community, Lin added.

Advertisement

China has long been vexed by the Philippines maintaining its small military presence aboard the Sierre Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal, where it has been since 1999 to try to prop up its territorial claim.

Beijing has repeatedly said the Philippines had agreed to tow that ship away, which Manila denies.

Manila-based political analyst Julio Amador said expelling diplomats should be part of the Philippines diplomatic tool kit and Chinese embassy officials had shown they did not value their working relationships with Filipino officials.

Diplomacy is based on trust, yet China is trying to make it look like all meetings between its diplomats and Philippine government representatives are negotiations with binding results, he said.

Advertisement

It has no right to make demands on the Philippines on how the latter manages areas over which it has sovereign rights.
During his previous stint as Russias Prime Minister, Mishustin reflected little to no political ambitions read more

Just days after commencing his new term as the Russian President, Vladimir Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the countrys prime minister. The 58-year-old technocrat was handed over the prime ministerial post for the second time consecutively.

During his previous stint as Russias Prime Minister, Mishustin reflected little to no political ambitions. Adhering to the laws, the Russian premier resigned from the PMs post on Tuesday. He has already served as the countrys prime minister for the past four years.

Advertisement

Mishustins resignation came the same day Putin began his fifth presidential term after a grand inauguration.

An expected call

Mishustins reappointment to the prime ministerial post was widely expected by political observers. Several experts believed that the Russian president has appreciated his skills and low political profile.

In the past, Mishustin has served as the former head of Russias tax service. Throughout his career, the Russian technocrat has steered clear of political statements. During his last stint as the countrys PM, he rarely gave media interviews and his take on the Russia-Ukraine war was never made public.

According to The Associated Press, the speaker of the parliaments lower house, Vyacheslav Volodin, announced that Putin has submitted Mishustins candidacy to the State Duma. The Russian body will be conducting a session later on Friday to consider his candidacy.

According to the amendment introduced to the Russian constitution in 2020, the lower house approves the candidacy of the prime minister, who then submits the candidacy of cabinet members.

Given their effort to stabilise the economy at a time of war, most of the cabinet members are also expected to keep their jobs. Hence, the other re-appointments are also expected to take place shortly.

Fate of Shoigu remain uncertain

While many are expecting Putin to go ahead with the same cabinet, the fate of the Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu remains uncertain. Two major reasons for these uncertainties are; military setbacks Russia witnessed while fighting against Ukraine and last months arrest of his top associate, Timur Ivanov.

Advertisement

Ivanov served as deputy defence minister of Russia and was in charge of multibillion military construction projects. However, he was arrested on bribery charges and was ordered to stay in custody. Many considered the arrest of Ivanov, as a reflection of souring ties between Shoigu and Putin.

In the past, Shoigu was slammed by many after Russia faced military setbacks in the war. The condemnation was intensified after Ukraine was able to liberate its prominent city, Kherson, from Russian occupation.

During his turbulent time as the countrys defence minister Shoigu also faced scathing attacks from Wagner mercenary chief Yevgeny Prigozhin. The criticism was followed by Wargners brief attempt to march towards Moscow and the death of the Wagner boss.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies.
The Ukrainian authorities are evacuating the town of Vovchansk and surrounding areas in the Kharkiv province as Russian forces advance in the region read more

Russia has launched a major ground offensive in Ukraines Kharkiv province in the countrys northeast, said Ukraines Ministry of Defense.

Following the beginning of the Russian offensive, Ukrainian authorities started evacuating residents in the area under assault. The Ukrainian military has deployed reinforcements to Kharkiv to defend the region.

At a press conference in capital Kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said fierce fighting was underway in Kharkiv.

The Russian offensive in Kharkiv comes after a string of battlefield successes in recent months. In the initial weeks of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian attacks in Kharkiv were repelled, but now the Russian forces have returned to the region at a time when the Ukrainian military is stretched thin along various fronts and are starved of ammunition amid low morale and mounting losses.

Advertisement

Russia attacked with armoured vehicles & artillery, aerial barrage

The all-out Russian assault of Kharkiv includes a ground offensive with armoured vehicles along with artillery and guided aerial bombs, according to Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the MoD said that the Russian attack began at around 5 am. The post added that the attack was repelled and battles of varying intensity continue.

Reserve units have been deployed to strengthen the defense in this area of the front. The Defense Forces of Ukraine continue to hold back the enemys offensive, said MoD further in the post.

The Defense Forces of Ukraine are defending our strongholds in the Kharkiv region.

Over the past day, the enemy used guided aerial bombs to carry out airstrikes in the Vovchansk direction.

With the beginning of the night, the russian occupiers increased the fire pressure on first  Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) May 10, 2024

Separately, a high-ranking Ukrainian military source told AFP news agency that Russia had advanced into Ukraine by one kilometre. The source further said Russia was trying to create a buffer zone to prevent Ukrainian attacks inside Russian territory.

Fierce battle underway in Kharkiv, says Zelenskyy

Following the beginning of the Russian assault, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said a fierce battle was underway in the Kharkiv region.

Zelenskyy further said that the Ukrainian military was prepared for the Russian offensives, as per The Guardian.

Ukraine met them there with troops: brigades and artillery, said Zelenskyy, adding that Russia could send more personnel to support the ongoing attack.
The United States is expected to provide a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine, officials said, as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the northeast Kharkiv region.

This is Ukraines third installment of aid since Congress approved additional funding in late April following months of political deadlock. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy cautioned on Thursday about the challenging situation in the east but expressed confidence in the forthcoming supply of U.S. weapons, stating, we will be able to stop them.

Advertisement

The aid package reportedly includes artillery, air defence and anti-tank munitions, armored vehicles, and other weaponry and equipment. Officials, speaking anonymously because the aid has not been officially announced, indicated that the assistance will be provided through presidential drawdown authority. This mechanism allows for the rapid deployment of systems and munitions from existing U.S. stockpiles to the war front.

The weapons aid will utilize Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from U.S. stocks without specific U.S. congressional approval during an emergency. As a part of the $95 billion aid bills, Congress authorized $60.8 billion worth of various forms of aid to Ukraine, including $8 billion worth of PDA.

The aid announcement is expected as soon as Friday and comes after Russian forces launched an armoured ground attack on Friday near Ukraines second city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

Earlier today, Russian forces launched an armoured ground attack on Friday near Ukraines second city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

Ukraine sent reinforcements as fighting raged in the border areas of the region, the defence ministry said, adding that Russia had pounded the frontier town of Vovchansk with guided aerial bombs and artillery.

Advertisement

Russia has sought to exploit Ukraines shortages of ammunition and manpower as the flow of Western supplies since the outbreak of the war petered out while Congress struggled to pass the bill. Moscow has assembled large troop concentrations in the east as well as in the north and has been gaining an edge on the battlefield, Zelenskyy said.

With inputs from agencies.
Till October, Russian exporters held about $8 billion in Vostro accounts. Due to a lack of investment opportunities in India, the money held in the Vostro accounts of Russian exporters remained unspent read more

Exporters in Russia, who started trading with India using Indian rupees, have recently spent nearly $4 billion to buy India-made defence equipment and armaments, among other imports and Indian securities. This amount come from funds which were lying idle in their Vostro accounts.

Till October, Russian exporters held about $8 billion in Vostro accounts. These accounts were set up to facilitate trade between Russia and India, using Indian rupees and are managed by a domestic bank on behalf of a foreign bank.

Advertisement

As per a report by the Mint, due to a lack of investment opportunities in India, the money held in the Vostro accounts of Russian exporters remained unspent.

In a mere six months, they used only about 50 per cent of these funds, the report quoted two people aware of the matter, who declined to be identified.

One of them said, It is difficult to say the exact amount in the Vostro accounts since some transactions are very complex. However, during the last 6-8 months or so, a large part of the amount has been used.

Back in July 2023, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) permitted 20 banks operating in the country to open 92 SRVAs of partner banks from 22 countries as part of efforts to promote bilateral trade in local currencies. Russia was one of them.

A Vostro account allows a foreign lender for transactions, including forex settlements, cross-border payments, and investments in a different market.

Russia also uses the rupee from these Vostro accounts to import goods from India.

India exports machinery, auto parts and other engineering goods to Russia.

The Russian Vostro account started witnessing a large amount of rupee deposited in as India purchased increased amounts of cheap Russian crude oil following the sanctions imposed on Moscow by the West.

For the unversed, Russia is among the largest suppliers of crude oil to India.

Russian funds (in rupees) have also been invested in Indian government treasury bills. As per regulations such funds are not allowed to be invested in corporate debt.

Advertisement

The report quoted a second person saying that both New Delhi and Moscow have been working on sorting the issue of the piling up of rupee payments in the Vostro account.

Indian exports are also being settled from the Russian funds from the Vostro account," the person added.

As per recent data from Indias commerce ministry, exports to Russia in 2023 stood at $4.06 billion, while imports totalled $60.60 billion.
The announcement of the closure came after the body alleged that Israeli extremists set fire to the perimeter of the headquarters and the building continues to face repeated attacks read more

As the Israel-Hamas war continues to escalate, the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced that it is temporarily closing its East Jerusalem headquarters. The announcement of the closure came after the body alleged that Israeli extremists set fire to the perimeter of the headquarters and the building continues to face repeated attacks.

The authorities noted that during the arson attack, UNRWA and staff from other UN agencies were present at the compound and the area also has petrol and diesel stations for a fleet of UN cars. Hence, a major tragedy could have occurred if the fire reached those petrol and diesel stations.

Advertisement

This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the Unrwa headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, the head of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, said on X, formally known as Twitter.

A crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting Burn down the United Nations," he added. The head of the humanitarian agency also shared a video from the incident.

Massive plumes of smoke were seen engulfing the skies of the region an pro-Israel protesters chanted anti-UN slogans in Hebrew. In his statement, Lazzarini insisted that it is the duty of the state of Israel to ensure the safety of the UN personnel in the region.

It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times. UN staff, premises and operations should be protected at all times in line with international law, the UNRWA head pointed out.

I call on all those who have influence to put an end to these attacks and hold all those responsible accountable. The perpetrators of these attacks must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable. Anything less will set a new dangerous standard, he concluded.

UNRWAs struggle to operate in the region

In his tweet, Lazzaroni mentioned that the recent arson attack came two months after Israeli extremists staging protests outside the Unrwa compound. He even mentioned that during the protest, one of the protesters became violent and started throwing stones at the UN staff.

Advertisement

The UNRWA has been responsible for coordinating nearly all aid to Gaza since the start of the war and has faced several hindrances while conducting its operation in the region.

In January this year, Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the devastating October 7 Hamas attack in southern Israel which eventually triggered the war.

The accusation led many UNRWA aid donors including the United States to abruptly suspend funding to the agency. Following this debacle, An independent review of the allegations found some neutrality-related issues with the body. But maintained that Israel had yet to provide evidence for its chief allegations.

Advertisement

Meanwhile, Qatars foreign ministry on Thursday condemned in the strongest terms the attack by Israeli settlers on the UNRWA headquarters. The ministry went on to criticise the systematic Israeli targeting of Unrwa, maintaining the aim was to liquidate it and deprive millions of Palestinians of its necessary services. UNRWA which was created in 1949, employs about 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

With inputs from agencies.
Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and in Europe. Some colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety. read more

Police arrested over 40 protesters and dismantled pro-Palestinian encampments at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Arizona in the early hours of Friday, as authorities continued to crack down on demonstrations leading up to commencement ceremonies on US campuses.

Philadelphia officers in riot gear pushed reporters away from the encampment at the University of Pennsylvania before tearing down tents and tossing the belongings of protesters in a trash truck, the student newspaper reported. About 33 people were arrested, Penns public safety department said.

Advertisement

According to a letter from the schools president, ten people were arrested at M.I.T. following days of mounting tension on the Cambridge campus. The arrests occurred after certain students defied a university deadline to dismantle the encampment, resulting in their suspensions.

A similar scene unfolded simultaneously at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology near Boston, where student journalists reported that riot police arrested at least 10 student protesters before flattening the encampment and discarding their belongings.

The dawn raids were the latest efforts by school and local authorities to end such demonstrations at dozens of universities around the country. Students have called for a ceasefire in Israels incursion into Gaza and have demanded their schools divest from companies with ties to Israel.

Many university leaders have called the encampments safety hazards and sought to end them ahead of May commencement ceremonies, which draw large crowds of outside visitors to campuses.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth said in a statement on Friday that the 10 individuals arrested on Friday peacefully submitted to police, but that the arrests came after escalating clashes between pro-Palestinian and pro-Israeli protesters.

It was not heading in a direction anyone could call peaceful, she said, adding that the cost and disruption for the community overall made the situation increasingly untenable.

Penn Interim President J. Larry Jameson said in a statement on Monday that every day the encampment exists, the campus is less safe, citing reports of harassing and threatening speech, the defacement of campus landmarks, and a video of a student being denied entry to the encampment.

Advertisement

Since the first mass arrests at Columbia University in New York on April 18, at least 2,600 demonstrators have been detained at more than 100 protests in 39 states and Washington, D.C., according to The Appeal, a nonprofit news organization. Some policing experts say such sweeping detentions can be counter-productive, fueling protests rather than deterring them.

Similar protests have sprung up at campuses in other countries as well. In western Canada, local police removed protesters from an encampment at the University of Calgary on Thursday, using non-lethal munitions, according to a statement from the city, which said the number of arrests would be made public on Friday.

Advertisement

Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and in Europe. Some colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.

The protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City. It has since swept college campuses nationwide, with demonstrators generally seeking to draw attention to the deaths from the Israel-Hamas war or calling for their schools to stop doing business with Israel or companies that support its war efforts.

Advertisement

With inputs from agencies.
The discussions centered on a shared commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation and develop capabilities to measure and mitigate methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas to achieve significant reductions within this decade. read more

The climate negotiations between the worlds leading greenhouse gas emitters concluded with plans for the US and China to work together on reducing coal consumption and increasing the use of renewable energy.

John Podesta, the US senior adviser to the president for international climate policy, said that the country held an in-depth and substantive discussion covering topics such as addressing methane emissions, transitioning to clean energy, and implementing local initiatives to combat global warming.

Advertisement

Addressing the media, Podesta said We have to get the climate problem under control, and there are no more important countries than the US and China to lead the way.

Even as our overall relationship between our two countries has increasingly been characterized by fierce competition, we have an obligation to our citizens and the people of the world to communicate, cooperate and collaborate where we can to tackle the climate crisis, he was quoted by Bloomberg as saying.

The United States and Chinas new climate envoys convened for their first face-to-face discussions on Wednesday and Thursday in Washington, leading a bilateral working group to accelerate concrete climate action. This unique collaboration between the US and China on climate change has been instrumental in driving global climate initiatives, as policies implemented by the worlds two largest economies, also the biggest polluters can significantly influence energy trends worldwide.

The talks happened amid ongoing trade tensions, with President Joe Biden poised to unveil plans for tariffs on China, initially imposed in 2018, which may target strategic sectors like electric vehicles with new levies. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has cautioned against Chinese overcapacity and surging exports of green technology, warning of their distortionary effects on the global economy. In response, Chinas Liu has argued that efforts by the US and European Union to counter Chinese dominance risk impeding progress in the fight against climate change.

The discussions centered on a shared commitment to enhance bilateral cooperation and develop capabilities to measure and mitigate methane emissions, a potent greenhouse gas to achieve significant reductions within this decade, as stated by the US State Department on Friday.

Advertisement

Also, both countries expressed support for the commitment made at the UN climate talks in Dubai last December, which aims to ensure that forthcoming emissions reduction pledges are comprehensive, covering all greenhouse gases and aligned with the necessary actions to limit global warming to 1.5C, a critical threshold.
The US Department of Justice has charged an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, of working with an Indian government employee to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun read more

US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti has said there needs to be accountability if state-actors were involved in the Pannun plot (Photo: AP)

The United States is satisfied with the accountability that it has demanded from India in the case of alleged assassination plot of Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, said US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti.

Last year, the US Department of Justice charged an Indian national, Nikhil Gupta, of working with an Indian government employee to assassinate Pannun on American soil. Pannun, whom India has designated as a terrorist, is a dual US-Canadian citizen.

Advertisement

After the Joe Biden administration raised the case with India, the Narendra Modi government formed a high-level committee to look into the matter.

Speaking at an event organised by the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), a US-based think tank, Garcetti further said that the incident the alleged plot to kill a US national on American soil marked a red line and there has to be accountability.

So far, the administration is satisfied with the accountability that we have demanded on this because this is a red line for America, for our citizens, and the core part of what we have to do, said Garcetti.

If theres connection to state actor, there needs to be accountability

Referring to the allegation that an Indian government official, reportedly from the intelligence agency RAW, was involved in the alleged plot to kill Pannun, Garcetti said that there needs to be accountability if state-actors were involved.

There is a criminal case. There is an indictment. If there is any connection to state-actors, there needs to be an accountability. We expect not only from our side, but we [also] expect India to have that accountability, said Garcetti.

Garcetti further said that while the criminal case will proceed in India, the Biden administration also expects consequences in India.

Advertisement

Citing sources in the Indian and US security establishment, The Washington Post reported that an Indian officer, Vikram Yadav, is alleged to have been involved in the plot. The US indictment unsealed last year, however, had not named the Indian official.

High-level Indian committee looking into the case

The Modi government has formed a high-level committee to look into the issues raised by the Biden administration regarding the alleged Pannun plot.

While the panel has been formed, the government has rejected The Posts story last month that named an Indian official as being involved in the alleged Plot and further said that the US agencies have assessed that the-then RAW chief Samant Goel had approved the plot and National Security Advisor (NSA) Ajit Doval was probably aware of it.

Advertisement

In a statement, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) called these claims unwarranted and unsubstantiated.

The report in question makes unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter, said MEA Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal.

He further said, 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 othersSpeculative and irresponsible comments on it are not helpful.
Russia has accused the United States of interfering in Indian elections and meddling in Indias internal affairs read more

After Russia said the United States is working to destabilise India during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, the US has said it does not involve itself in elections.

Refuting Russias charge, the US said that that the Indians elections are for the Indian people to decide.

No, of course, we dont involve ourselves in elections in India as we dont involve ourselves in elections anywhere in the world. Those are decisions for the people of India to make, sad US Department of State Spokesperson Matthew Miller on Thursday, as per PTI.

Advertisement

Earlier this week, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova charged the US with accusing India and other countries groundlessly with the intention to interfere in elections.

Regular unfounded accusations by the United States against New Delhi we see that they groundlessly accuse not only India but also many other states of violating religious freedoms are a reflection of the United States misunderstanding of the national mentality, the historical context of the development of the Indian state and disrespect for India as a state, said Zakharova.

The comments were in the context of a media report related to the alleged plot of kill Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Sing Pannun. The US has alleged that an Indian official, purportedly from the Indian intelligence agency RAW, was involved in the plot to kill Pannun on American soil.

The reason is that they try to unbalance the internal political situation in India in order to complicate the (ongoing) general parliamentary elections. That is part of meddling into Indias internal affairs, RT further quoted Zakharova as saying.

Zakharova further said, The Washington Post, it seems to me, should use the term repressive regime and everything you quoted in relation to Washington. It is difficult to imagine a more repressive regime than Washington, both in domestic and international affairs.

While State Department Spokesperson Miller rejected Zakharovas accusation, he refrained from commenting on the alleged Pannun plot.

There is a publicly returned indictment that contains alleged facts. They are allegations until theyre proven before a jury that anyone can go and read. I wont speak to them here because of course its an ongoing legal matter and Ill leave it at that, said Miller.
After a brief meeting over the matter, the Ukrainian leader issued a decree dismissing the official named Serhiy Rud. No successor has been nominated as of now read more

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sacked the head of the state guard two days after two of its members were accused of plotting his assassination. According to Reuters, Zelenskyy asked the Ukrainian official to step down from the post on May 9.

After a brief meeting over the matter, the Ukrainian leader issued a decree dismissing the official named Serhiy Rud. No successor has been nominated as of now.

Earlier this week, the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) revealed that it had caught two men and accused them of plotting the assassination of the Ukrainian leader. The two men were serving as colonels in the state guard service.

Advertisement

A gift to Putin?

During the investigation, the Ukrainian SBU found that the assassinations would have been a gift for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who commenced his next term in office on May 7. The authorities found that the men were recruited by Russias Federal Security Service (FSB) who leaked classified information to Moscow.

The two men were tasked to find someone close to the presidential guard, who would have held the Ukrainian leader hostage and later killed him. However, the Ukrainian authorities did not give clarity on the fact that at what point the alleged plot had been foiled.

The SBU noted that the Russian authorities were also plotting to kill SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Lieutenant-General Kyrylo Budanov.

Meanwhile, Moscow refused to comment on the allegations hurled by the SBU. This is not the first time Zelenskyy faced an assassination attempt. Starting from last year, there have been at least five Russian plots to kill the Ukrainian leader that have been foiled so far.

Throughout the course of the war, the Ukrainian leader has faced major difficulties from within. In light of this, some key staff positions were changed to ensure that no Ukrainian official is colluding with Russia.

In February, Zelenskyy named Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after dismissing General Valerii Zaluzhny from the position. Zaluzhny was the one who said that the Russia-Ukraine war had reached a stalemate, a sentiment which was heavily criticised by Zelenskyy.

Advertisement

With inputs from Reuters.
With Zelenskyys consent, the validity of both the legislations was extended from May 14 to August 11. This is the second time the war-stricken countrys parliament extended the legislation in 2024 read more

As the Russia-Ukraine war escalated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed into law the extension of martial law and general mobilization which were implemented during the start of the conflict.

With Zelenskyys consent, the validity of both the legislations was extended from May 14 to August 11. Zelenskyy submitted the proposals for the extension of the laws for 90 days to the parliament on May 6. Two days later, Ukraines parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted to approve the legislation.

Advertisement

This is the second time the war-stricken countrys parliament extended the legislation in 2024. Earlier this year, the parliament voted to extend martial law and mobilisation from Feb. 14 until May 14.

What are these laws about?

Ukraine first declared martial law across the country on February 24, 2022, on the same day Russia commenced its full-scale invasion of Ukrainian territories. Since then, the law has been repeatedly extended to counter the Russian forces on the border.

Last month, Ukraines parliament passed a bill to overhaul how the military-drafted civilians. The country passed an amendment to the mobilisation law in which they lowered the conscription age from 27 to 25.

The bill was introduced to expand the number of civilians the army could mobilise to defend the Ukrainian territories from the wrath of Russian forces.

Why Ukraine needs more soldiers?

In December, Zelenskyy stated that the countrys military had proposed mobilising 500,000 more Ukrainians into the armed forces. The request was made by former military chief, Gen. Valery Zaluzhny.

However, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the new head of the Ukrainian armed forces maintained that the aforementioned figure is no longer up-to-date and assured that it has been significantly reduced after a review of resources, The Telegraph reported.

In the past, there have been constant calls to reduce the military mobilisation age. Some called it a crucial step since Ukraine was struggling to garner a constant flow of foreign aid.

Advertisement

Another main reason for the reduction of the age is the fact that the average age of Ukrainian troops is over 40. It is very unusual to have your wars fought by your dads, quipped Gen. Richard Barrons, former commander of the British militarys Joint Forces Command.

Hence, it was argued that the younger men would be in a better physical condition to fight the battle against the Russians. A similar assertion was made by US Senator Lindsey Graham during his visit to Kyiv.

I would hope that those eligible to serve in the Ukrainian military would join. I cant believe its at 27, he told reporters. Youre in a fight for your life, so you should be serving  not at 25 or 27.
Hundreds of faculty, staff demand UCLA chancellor's resignation

Xinhua) 14:17, May 10, 2024

LOS ANGELES, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 900 members of University of California (UC) faculty and staff have been calling on Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to resign over the university's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

"We will not stand by as our students are assaulted and silenced," said the group in an online petition. "We remain committed to protecting our students' safety and their right to protest, assemble, and speak freely."

A total of 895 people from the 10-campus public university system have signed the petition as of Thursday night. Of them, 642 are from UCLA.

The group said in the petition they demand that UCLA recommend all legal charges be dropped and grant full amnesty to all students, staff and faculty who were involved in the encampment and peaceful protest.

"Following the violent and aggressive police sweep of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on May 2, 2024, resulting in more than 200 students, faculty, and staff arrested while peacefully protesting, it has become obvious that Chancellor Block has failed our university," said the petition.

UC faculty and staff members also demand that UCLA issue a report within 30 days to fully disclose all investments so that students may understand how the university prioritizes their finances, and call on UCLA to divest from all military weapons production companies and supporting systems.

The UCLA Academic Senate, which represents the university's faculty, said in a message to its members earlier this week that "recent events that transpired on our campus deeply dismayed and disappointed many faculty, staff, students and alumni."

The UCLA Academic Senate said it will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to consider a no-confidence resolution and a censure resolution of Block, who has been chancellor of UCLA since 2007.

UCLA's Undergraduate Students Association Council also passed a resolution on Tuesday night calling for the resignation of Block if he does not meet the demands of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment, according to Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
FM 'saddened' at having to take 'necessary' legal action against lawmaker

ROC Central News Agency

05/09/2024 09:23 PM

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () on Thursday said he was "saddened" at having to take legal action against an opposition lawmaker over an alleged confidential document leak, but stressed that doing so was necessary to prevent future leaks that could damage Taiwan.

Speaking during a radio interview, Wu said he understands that taking legal action against Kuomintang (KMT) Legislator Hsu Chiao-hsin () is expected to send a "shockwave between the relations of the government's legislative and administrative branches."

However, doing so is necessary to prevent future leaks of confidential government documents, Wu added.

"If we don't take swift measures to stop [the leak], there will likely be further harm to our national interests," Wu stressed.

Wu's comments came after MOFA filed a report with the Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Tuesday, accusing Hsu of violating Section One under Article 132 of the Criminal Code.

This followed Hsu making public detailed information from an MOU Taiwan signed with the Czech Republic last December on joint assistance for Ukraine.

That section of the Criminal Code stipulates that a public official who discloses or gives away a document of a secret nature about matters other than the national defense could face a maximum of three years in prison.

The MOU information Hsu revealed on May 5 showed that Taiwan had agreed to provide a US$10 million donation to help rebuild Ukraine's medical infrastructure through an organization called the Czech Health Technology Institute (CHTI). A condition was that 30-40 percent of the funds would be used to purchase medical supplies from Taiwan.

Hsu cited concerns over the potential misuse of taxpayers' money and raised the alarm over MOFA maybe being able to choose which Taiwanese companies were going to be involved in the project.

She criticized MOFA and other government departments for regularly misusing confidentiality to avoid public scrutiny.

When defending herself on Wednesday, Hsu noted that a publication in March by the Czech Republic's foreign ministry also included information in the MOU, for example the fact Taiwan had pledged US$10 million and stipulated 30 percent of the supplies must come from Taiwanese companies.

She added that when making details of the MOU public, she covered some parts so no confidential information could be seen.

Commenting on Hsu's defense Thursday, Wu said his ministry listed the MOU's details as confidential because they could be used by the People's Republic of China (PRC) to pressure Ukraine into refusing Taiwan's assistance.

He said Hsu could still have overseen MOFA's spending by holding a closed-door legislative session or private meeting with MOFA.

Sadly, she chose not to do so before making the details of the MOU public, Wu added.

In fact, after signing the MOU, a copy was sent to all 113 lawmakers for their reference as stipulated in the Conclusion of Treaties Act, according to Wu.

The minister said the publication by the Czech Republic foreign ministry in March and the press release by MOFA in December had given the public a general idea about what the MOU entails.

However, in contrast to Hsu, neither MOFA nor the Czech Republic foreign ministry have made the details of the MOU public, Wu argued.

The minister said Taiwan wanted 30-40 percent of the funds to be used to purchase medical supplies from Taiwan because of two 2014 Legislative Yuan resolutions passed by Democratic Progressive Party and KMT lawmakers to help Taiwanese companies carry out international cooperation projects.

The Czech side will choose the Taiwanese companies to be involved following a tender process, he said.

Meanwhile, CHTI said in a statement Thursday that it was saddened to hear Hsu's claims, calling them "not a reflection of reality."

"We have always been committed to the highest standards of ethical conduct and have worked tirelessly to improve healthcare outcomes worldwide," it added.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/kb

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China's state security authorities unveil illegal monitoring devices in sea areas

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: May 09, 2024 10:21 PM

Chinese national security authorities have unveiled the illegal monitoring devices discovered in the country's sea areas, emphasizing the need to remain vigilant against the potential threats from foreign intelligence agencies, as the country's vast maritime areas are not only rich in resources, but also crucial in safeguarding national security, according to China's Ministry of State Security on Thursday.

The foreign intelligence agencies have been using different methods to strengthen their monitoring of China's maritime areas, carrying out a series of intelligence gathering and technical espionage activities, the ministry said in an article released on Thursday.

Among the 10 spy cases disclosed in April, there was one related to illegal monitoring activities conducted in sea areas.

In September 2018, a ship captain surnamed Yang, who often operates in the waters through the Yellow Sea, salvaged a device consisting of two parts - a black part with complex equipment, marked in foreign language, and a long part with a propeller. Yang ended the operation early and reported the information to the national security authorities immediately after landing.

The device was identified as a new type of underwater espionage equipment developed by a foreign country. Its design, materials used, manufacturing process, and multiple detection equipment it carried were at the forefront of international standards, which performed at an advanced level. The device can collect various types of hydrological data, which posed a potential threat to China's military security and maritime interests, said the ministry.

Yang and other residents safeguarding national security were rewarded by the national security authorities.

Li Wei, a researcher and security expert from the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations told the Global Times on Thursday that maritime security is of importance to every country as it is closely related to national security. The ocean plays a vital role in human life, and the increasing threats to maritime security are a growing concern for nations worldwide, Li said.

Some foreign hostile forces are conducting espionage activities to gather information on a nation's marine resources involving deploying ocean sensors to collect marine data, monitoring fishing activities or maritime routes. "These actions pose a serious threat to national security, highlighting the importance of regarding maritime security as an important part in safeguarding the national security," Li said.

National security authorities have discovered a variety of hidden illegal monitoring devices, referred to as "ocean spies," operating in the country's waters, said the ministry.

These devices represent advanced technology, have complex and powerful functions, are highly integrated, including being equipped with self-destruct capabilities. Some operate as "silent sentinels," gathering oceanographic and ship activity data to support battlefield environment preset. Others monitor real-time conditions in the sea, while some work as "underwater lighthouses," guiding foreign submarines when entering China's waters, according to the ministry.

National security authorities called on residents to report any suspicious devices, and cooperate with the authorities to enhance the ability to identify and prevent foreign espionage activities.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Historian. Activist. Spy?

Exclusive: For years, an American academic pushed for democracy in his native China.

The FBI claims it was a front.

By Tara McKelvey and Jane Tang for RFA Investigative

May 9, 2024

CHAPTER 1

One afternoon in 2016, historian Wang Shujun arrived at Dong Lai Shun, a renowned restaurant in Hong Kong's Kowloon district, near the harbor.

Over the next few hours, he would be courted by Li Ming, an official with a branch of China's Ministry of State Security, or MSS, and his boss He Feng, an MSS regional director. As the meal concluded, Li flipped open a cigarette case and offered Wang a Double Happiness, an upmarket Chinese brand.

Back home in Queens, New York, Wang was a writer who had worked as a cashier in a gift shop to make ends meet. Here, he was being treated to a sumptuous banquet and feted for his literary and scholarly achievements.

Wang's face lit up as he recounted the details while speaking to Radio Free Asia in a park outside the Brooklyn courthouse where he will soon face trial on charges related to espionage and lying to the FBI.

"They enjoyed hearing this love story," Wang said, recalling how he told the men a tale about a Chinese military commander's affairs. He scooted to the edge of the bench, showing how the agents listened, hands clasped and leaning forward so they could catch all the details.

In March 2022, Wang, a U.S. citizen, was arrested by the FBI on allegations that he told these same men secrets about his friends in the Chinese pro-democracy movement in the U.S. a effectively serving as a spy for Beijing. Two months later, he was charged with federal crimes alongside Li, He, and two other Chinese MSS officials. Wang, the only American in the group, denies the charges, claiming they'd never discussed anything of importance.

Wang could never have predicted this turn of events as he told his stories over the Hong Kong meal. Only much later would he come to understand that his links to these men may well cost him his freedom.

A 'master of deceit'

In the criminal complaint filed against Wang, federal prosecutors allege that he had served as an agent of the Chinese government and violated the Foreign Agents Registration Act, a law that requires individuals in the U.S. to disclose activities undertaken on behalf of another government. Among their accusations is that Wang passed on information about a prominent Hong Kong dissident who was later arrested.

The prosecutors said that Wang had also lied to the FBI, when he claimed he hadn't met with Chinese intelligence agents. They called him a "master of deceit."

Wang's trial is set to begin at the federal court in Brooklyn this July. He has pleaded not guilty. He maintains that the FBI agents have made a mistake casting him in the role of a spy, and says he intends to clear the matter up. If found guilty, he faces up to 20 years in prison.

The case has provided insight into the reach of the MSS, how it appears to run operations in the United States, and how assets are allegedly cultivated and co-opted.

It has also exposed some of the complex incentives underlying the work of U.S. intelligence services. Amid heightened tensions between Washington and Beijing, U.S. intelligence has stepped up efforts to catch suspected spies, with seemingly improbable figures like Wang sometimes landing in the crosshairs.

Speaking about his arrest from the book-lined conference room of his lawyer's Queens office, Wang said he did nothing wrong a a claim he would repeat over several interviews with RFA during an eight-week period in the summer and fall of 2023.

"Who could have imagined that it would all be misunderstood just because of a few WeChat messages, and then I became labeled as a spy?" he said. "How could I be misunderstood in this way?"

A scholar and a spy?

Wang is trim and broad-shouldered, with a playful manner that makes him seem decades younger than his 75 years. When he speaks a in Mandarin with an occasional English phrase or word woven in a he is animated and insistent, sometimes gesticulating for emphasis.

Born in Qingdao, in the eastern Chinese province of Shandong, Wang had worked as a professor at Qingdao College of Social Sciences and wrote books about Chinese military history before coming to the United States. He said his passion for the subject came from his father, who he claimed had served as an interpreter for a U.S. Navy rear admiral at the end of World War II.

Wang's books were popular enough in China to help him win an invitation to the U.S. as an academic. He arrived in September 1994 for a two-year term as a visiting scholar at Columbia University.

He ended up staying, becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen and throwing himself into American life. He traveled around the country, watched American movies and learned the lyrics of Oscar-winning musicals. Midway through one interview, he belted out a decent rendition of "Edelweiss" from "The Sound of Music."

In 2006, Wang joined the Hu Zhao Foundation, an organization in New York that puts on lectures and organizes conferences in the U.S. advocating for democracy back in China. Wang volunteered for the group, helping with bookkeeping and administrative duties.

But according to the FBI, he also began keeping tabs on Chinese dissidents in the U.S. for the MSS.

The MSS is the Chinese government's equivalent of the FBI and CIA combined, but with authoritarian undertones, dedicated to upholding the party's absolute power. In its operations abroad, it collects intelligence on foreign governments through assets, or informants, and other means.

U.S. intelligence experts say its work is part of a larger effort by Chinese President Xi Jinping to consolidate power in Beijing. According to these experts, Xi has recently expanded his government's espionage operations, pressuring the intelligence services to collect even more information about the United States.

Nicholas Eftimiades, a former CIA officer who has spent years studying Chinese intelligence operations and has reviewed court filings about Wang, said the MSS homes in on certain groups when gathering intelligence.

"One of the MSS's responsibilities has been penetrating Chinese dissident groups abroad a what they call the 'five poisons': democracy advocates, Taiwan, Tibetans, Uyghurs and Falun Gong," Eftimiades told RFA.

Officials in Beijing use espionage to reach "strategic goals," ranging from obtaining secrets about the U.S. government to tamping down criticism of the Chinese Communist Party's policies. By looking to recruit Chinese Americans involved in pro-democracy movements, for instance, Beijing officials try to gain insight into their world so they can find ways to intimidate democracy advocates and ultimately soften the impact of their work.

The expansion of the Chinese espionage services has led to a wider spy net, with Chinese spymasters tapping into a larger pool of assets.

One of the most effective MSS techniques has been to recruit individuals who were born and raised in China and are now living in the United States, according to intelligence experts. Naturalized citizens are targeted because they can be cultivated over time, have the freedom and mobility that citizenship grants and have better access to information.

"People who have family ties to China, speak Chinese and make regular trips to China are more likely to be targeted," Alex Joske, the author of "Spies and Lies: How China's Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World," told RFA. "Many ethnic Chinese have no interest in helping the Chinese government, whereas others may be vulnerable to coercion, financial inducements or feel a desire to help their 'ancestral nation.'"

Chinese intelligence officers try to lure these individuals in different ways, experts say. Sometimes, they offer money and appeal to an individual's pride in their Chinese heritage, pandering to their vanities. Sometimes, they threaten dissidents' families in China in order to silence them or to force activists to divulge information about the pro-democracy movement in the U.S.

In the end, the assets and informants range from true believers a individuals committed to the party and its policies a to ordinary people. Whether pressured or wooed by attention, money and prestige, they end up passing information to Chinese intelligence that can be used in a range of ways.

Wang appears to fit the description of an ideal target. He enjoys being the center of attention. Recalling the meal in Hong Kong with the MSS agents, Wang described He as: "Not handsome. Unlike me." He bragged about how fond the MSS officials were of his jokes. "They laughed and were eager to hear more." He gave hours of interviews to RFA, telling tales of his renown as a scholar and displaying his books and news clippings about his work.

His vanity may well have left him vulnerable to manipulation, particularly as he seemed to struggle to make ends meet throughout his decades in New York. At the time of his arrest, he owned a Chrysler and little else, according to a transcript of his arraignment. Yet he would take trips back and forth to China over the years, where he would be wined, dined and feted. According to prosecutors, MSS agents paid for some of his flights and meals.

Wang told RFA his only relationship with the MSS was to have shared an occasional meal. Asked whether the MSS had paid for Wang's tickets or given him money, his lawyer, Kevin Tung, told RFA: "I don't know."

CHAPTER 2

One April afternoon in 2019, border agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York brought Wang into an interview room. He had just arrived back from a trip to China and they asked him about contacts with Chinese intelligence officials while there. According to an FBI agent quoted in the court documents, he stated "falsely" that he'd had nothing to do with the MSS. Wang was allowed to leave a but U.S. authorities would be keeping tabs on him.

Over the subsequent months, Wang continued writing, living his life and working as a volunteer for the Hu Zhao Foundation. During this time, he did not hear from the FBI.

Then, in July 2021, an undercover FBI special agent visited Wang at his daughter's house in Norwich, Connecticut, where he was staying, according to court documents. At first, Wang said, he thought the person had come to mow the lawn.

Instead, the visitor told him he wanted to talk about the Chinese intelligence services. He spoke Mandarin and claimed he was sent by the MSS. He warned Wang that the FBI was watching him.

According to the court complaint, Wang admitted to the undercover agent that he had met and regularly spoke with MSS officers. The undercover agent said he could help Wang cover his tracks. Unbeknownst to Wang, the conversation was being recorded.

And so, the prosecutors said, Wang gave the person the password for his email account and agreed that he should delete some of the messages written to the MSS. Wang asked him to keep some messages so as not to tip off the FBI that he knew he was being watched.

It was March 16, 2022, and the sun had just risen over the Flushing neighborhood of Queens when someone knocked on the door of Wang's apartment.

He was startled awake. From inside his apartment, he could hear someone calling his name. "I recognized his voice," Wang recalled later when speaking to RFA. He opened the door. Standing in the hallway was the man he had met the previous summer a this time with a team of agents in jackets emblazoned with the letters "FBI" who arrested him.

Wang later said he remained "calm and composed," even as he was taken away by the agents to a courthouse in Brooklyn.

By the time the sun set, Wang was back at home with an electronic monitoring device. When RFA spoke with him, he was wearing a strip of terry cloth wrapped around his leg, just above his Hush-Puppies-style shoe, to cushion the device around his ankle.

As he recalled the moment the agents came to the door, a pained look crossed Wang's face. "I told them, 'There must be something wrong,'" he said. "I said to them, 'You can't be arresting me. I haven't done anything.'"

A disposable spy?

Prosecutors claim Wang had for years performed tasks for the MSS, such as finding out who individual dissidents were in touch with, passing on information about protests and tracking the movements of persons of interest to the Chinese intelligence service.

Wang openly admitted to RFA that he communicated with MSS agents on WeChat and other platforms. He said he was aware that the people he was talking to were agents, but insisted their back-and-forths were just "casual conversation."

Federal investigators looked at it differently. The exchanges are part of their evidence that Wang was providing sensitive information to the Chinese intelligence service.

Prosecutors allege that he also used other, more secretive ways, to communicate with handlers. One method involved writing notes and storing them in the "Drafts" folder of an email account. He shared the password with MSS agents, who would later log in to read the unsent emails.

Wang told RFA that he was simply taking notes for a book he planned to write about the Hu Zhao Foundation, the pro-democracy group.

But prosecutors said Wang routinely gave sensitive information to his Chinese handlers. Once, Wang told an agent that a human-rights activist from China who spoke regularly with Uyghurs in Xinjiang would attend a meeting of the Hu Zhao Foundation. When the activist arrived, Wang allegedly informed the agent.

In another example, Wang told the MSS agents about a telephone conversation he'd had with an individual described in the indictment as a "Hong Kong Dissident," a prominent lawyer who was active in politics. According to court documents, Wang passed the person's phone number to the MSS agents. He also relayed details of a phone conversation they'd had, including remarks they had made about "pro-democracy organizations" and "Hong Kong independence and various candidates in upcoming elections."

While prosecutors didn't reveal the dissident's name in their filings, it has been widely reported that he is Albert Ho, a human rights lawyer who was imprisoned on multiple occasions.

U.S. prosecutors did not say that the information Wang gave directly led to Ho's arrest, but they argued that it contributed to "a portion of a multifaceted effort by the PRC [People's Republic of China's] government to track" the dissident.

Messages intercepted by the FBI sometimes seemed to reflect frustration from MSS handlers, who would press Wang to give better intelligence over time. Experts who study Chinese intelligence say that this is a common approach for the MSS: they start by asking small favors from an asset, and gradually demand more.

But Wang did not have much to give. By his own account and that of others who worked for the pro-democracy foundation where he was a member, he handled only administrative tasks and did not have access to sensitive information.

Why would the MSS bother with someone like Wang? Eftimiades, the former CIA officer, said that MSS agents cultivate individuals like Wang because they do not cost much, and one never knows what an asset will provide. Once they are no longer useful, the agents cut off contact and move on.

"As far as the MSS is concerned, the loss of this asset was no loss to them, really," Eftimiades said.

In spy terms then, Wang was a "throw-away agent."

'Enough is enough'

In recent years, American intelligence has made a concerted effort to disrupt Chinese spy operations in the United States. Former intelligence officers from the CIA and the FBI told RFA that they believe Wang's arrest will help show that Chinese spies cannot run agents in the country with impunity.

A few years ago Justice Department officials "were still kind of coming to grips" with the Chinese government's spying, said David Laufman, a former prosecutor and ex-chief of the department's counterintelligence and export control section. "The Justice Department and the White House had not come to a boiling point where collectively they said, 'Enough is enough.'"

"Now, we're seeing case after case being brought," said Laufman, now with the New Haven, Connecticut-based law firm Wiggin and Dana. Indeed, in testimony to Congress last year, FBI Director Christopher Wray disclosed that the agency has opened "thousands of active investigations" into Chinese espionage in the United States. He had previously testified in 2021 that the bureau opens a new investigation into China "every 10 hours."

Meanwhile, the CIA has also ramped up its effort. In a July 2023 speech to the Ditchley Foundation, a U.K.-based association, CIA Director William Burns noted that the agency has more than doubled its spending on the effort to combat Chinese espionage. The agency has also established a China Mission Center and increased its hiring and training of Mandarin speakers, he said.

Amid the heightened tensions, low-level informants are increasingly targeted. According to intelligence experts, this is because the U.S. intelligence agencies now have more resources for spy hunts and also because there are simply more informants, which means it's easier for federal investigators to find them.

The arrest of even a low-level informant for the Chinese security ministry is viewed as a win for the U.S., experts say.

MSS agents are naturally concerned about protecting secrets, and they will wonder whether the U.S. investigators will find out any sensitive information. "If you want to impede Chinese intelligence services, then this is a way to mess with them," said Mark Stout, a former CIA officer and intelligence historian.

Meanwhile, the U.S. domestic intelligence service a the FBI a "would like to catch everybody who's spying from the smallest fish up to the big one," he added. "Espionage is espionage, and we're going to run down all these people."

Civil rights advocates are concerned, however, that Justice Department officials are pursuing cases with no merit. They say the authorities arrest only small-time operators, leaving the MSS directors free to carry on their work and ultimately causing more harm than good.

"They're just going after anybody they can," said Alex Nowrasteh, a vice president at Cato Institute, a libertarian research organization based in Washington, and the author of a 2021 report about espionage.

"A lot of times they catch people who aren't very careful or who aren't stealing very valuable secrets," Nowrasteh said. Prosecutions, especially of individuals who appear to have no access to classified information, can have unintended consequences, he added. Academics and researchers who are originally from China may worry that they will also be scrutinized by federal investigators.

"There's a possibility that by casting a wide net, you scare a lot of scientists," Nowrasteh said. "In some cases, they go back to China. There needs to be a balance."

A spokesman for the Chinese Embassy, Liu Pengyu, declined to comment specifically about Wang's case when asked. But he denied accusations that the Chinese government conducts wide-scale espionage operations in the U.S.

"In recent years, the U.S. government and media have frequently hyped up the topic of 'Chinese spies,' many of which later proved to be unfounded," he said in an email to RFA.

Like their U.S. counterparts, Chinese officials appear to be stepping up their arrests of individuals suspected of espionage.

Indeed, the MSS made its social media debut with a WeChat post in August 2023 asking for "all members of society" to be on the lookout for foreign spies in China. Two highly publicized arrests of Chinese nationals accused to have been recruited by the CIA followed within the month. (Chinese government officials provide no specific information about their trials).

This April, China's MSS released a video on social media titled "Top Ten Spy Cases." In contrast to the way trials are handled in the U.S., the Chinese government conducted the legal process of these cases entirely in secret.

CHAPTER 3

Long before the FBI agents came calling, some people within diaspora circles viewed Wang as an operator a a Lao Youtiao. Literally, this means "old dough stick," a term used to describe someone who cannot be trusted.

Cheng Xiaonong, a prominent member of the Chinese diaspora in New York who has known Wang for decades, described him as giving him the impression of having "a slippery personality a the kind that lies without it showing on his face, never raising an eyebrow."

Wang's stories frequently did not add up or were not quite what they seem. Speaking to RFA, Wang frequently referred to himself as a "famous professor," even though his stint as a Columbia University scholar had ended decades earlier. A book that Wang considers his masterwork, "The Legend of Zhang Xueliang," was found to have been partly plagiarized, according to Chinese court documents seen by RFA. Several associates who had come in contact with him in the pro-democracy movement even told RFA that they had harbored suspicions about Wang's loyalties for some time.

Li Hengqing, a vice chairman of the Hu Zhao Foundation, said some members of the group thought that Wang was too close to Chinese security officials, but they kept him around because he was useful. He was a "meticulous" worker, Li said, recalling how Wang would plan events and send out paper greeting cards during the holidays.

Yet Wang is hardly the only member of the pro-democracy movement who is alleged to have a complex relationship with Chinese intelligence.

The offering of information to Chinese security ministries has occurred more often in pro-democracy circles than has been commonly understood, according to people who are part of the movement.

Xia Ming, 58, a political science professor at the City University of New York, held a senior-level position with the Hu Zhao Foundation for about a decade, starting in 2006. Over time, he told RFA, he began to see signs of trouble. "Somehow I sensed something was not going well." Then he heard rumors. "People told me, 'You're surrounded by spies.'"

"I decided to bow out," he said. "This is why I resigned."

Wang, for his part, contended that he himself was the victim of a double-cross.

He stated in an affidavit that someone called "Abrala" from the pro-democracy movement had falsely accused him of being a spy. The prosecutors dismissed Wang's claims about the person, whose real name was not included in the court documents. "The defendant's statements simply cannot be credited," they said in a memo filed to the court.

In reporting this story, RFA discovered Abrala's true identity and learned that he worked for RFA. Abrala said in an interview that he had not informed on Wang to the FBI. A spokesman for RFA said in early 2024 that Abrala was no longer working for the company.

Wang has never wavered in his conviction that he is innocent. The charges, he once shouted during an interview with RFA, were "BULL----."

On the day of a pre-trial hearing late last summer, Wang walked into the courtroom with his lawyer. The alleged "Chinese spy" used a metal cane decorated with an American flag sticker.

"Many of the things that appear in the indictment are remarks that have been misunderstood," he told RFA at a later interview.

With his trial due to commence in July, Wang said that he has faith in the judicial system. He remained confident that he would be found innocent.

"Deep down, I feel at ease," he said. "There is no fear in my heart."

Though he is looking at up to two decades in prison if found guilty, Wang said that his feelings for his adopted country have not changed.

"I still love America," he said on one occasion and then clasped his hands together, over his heart. As he turned to head home, he looked back and gave a salute.

Edited and produced by RFA Investigative & RFA Multimedia

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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Former senior Ho Chi Minh City official arrested

He was one of 3 city bosses detained in connection with the country's biggest fraud case.

By RFA Vietnamese 2024.05.08 -- Vietnam's communist party ordered the arrest of Le Thanh Hai, the former secretary of the Ho Chi Minh City Party Committee and a former Politburo member, state media reported.

Its Central Inspection Committee announced the move on Wednesday in relation to the Van Thinh Phat corruption scandal.

It said the Party Committee "violated the principle of democratic centralism and working regulations," and lacked responsibility, leadership and direction.

As a result, it said, the committee and other organizations violated party regulations and state laws relating to land use, finance, investment, planning and construction of Van Thinh Phat's projects and bidding packages implemented by the Progressive International Joint Stock Company.

In April, Truong My Lan, the chairwoman of Van Thinh Phat, was sentenced to death for masterminding a massive fraud that led to US$27 billion in losses at Saigon Commercial Bank.

On Wednesday, the Central Inspection Committee also arrested Le Hoang Quan and Nguyen Thanh Phong, two former chairmen of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in connection with the scandal.

The three were also punished back in March 2020 for "violations and shortcomings" in connection with the Thu Thiem urban development project in Ho Chi Minh City. The Politburo ordered the dismissal of Hai as secretary of the city's Party Committee for the 2010-2015 term, while Quan and Phong received warnings.

The long-running "blazing furnace" campaign continues to net regional and national officials as Vietnam's communist party tries to stamp out corruption in its ranks.

Translated by RFA Vietnamese. Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. and Tanzania Co-Host Military Intelligence Conference

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Tanzania Peoples' Defence Forces (TPDF) hosted the Chiefs & Directors of Military Intelligence Conference (CDMIC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from April 30 to May 3.

By U.S. Africa Command Public Affairs , United States Africa Command Stuttgart, Germany May 09, 2024

U.S. Africa Command (AFRICOM) and Tanzania Peoples' Defence Forces (TPDF) hosted the Chiefs & Directors of Military Intelligence Conference (CDMIC) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from April 30 to May 3.

Keynote speakers included U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Rose Keravuori, AFRICOM director of intelligence, alongside TPDF Chief of Defence Intelligence Maj. Gen. Mbaraka Mkeremy.

The 2024 conference highlights AFRICOM's commitment to fostering collaborative relationships with African partners, emphasizing the significance of intelligence engagement, and mutual interests. Serving as a pivotal forum, the conference facilitated the cultivation of collective strategies to address common challenges across Africa. Moreover, the conference reinforced AFRICOM's whole-of-government approach, integrating diplomacy, development, and defense in its engagement with African counterparts.

Keravuori underscored the critical importance of timely intelligence sharing by introducing the innovative concept of intelligence diplomacy. She said this approach leverages intelligence as a key tool to inform decisions, foster alignment in strategies and perspectives, facilitate collaborative actions, and deny adversaries any undue advantages.

"Your calls will always be welcomed and your perspectives earnestly considered," said Keravouri as she emphasized the command's commitment to open communication.

Participants from 33 African nations converged to delve into crucial themes such as: The Challenge of Hybrid Threats in Africa; Violent Extremism & Organized Crime in Africa: Coexistence & Convergence; and Military Intelligence in the Maritime Domain: Enabling Early Warning across a Spectrum of Threats.

Gen. Joao Pereira Massano, head of the Angolan Military Intelligence and Security Service and co-host of the 2023 CDMIC, echoed this sentiment.

"The acquisition of information through extensive networks of relationships fosters and facilitates meaningful exchanges," he said.

In his remarks, Mkeremy discussed the importance of partnership, characterizing it as a dual role of being both a friend and a brother at the same time.

"Our collective aim is to collaborate in crafting African-led solutions to prevailing challenges, while also striving to foster opportunities for the youth and prosperity for all," said Mkeremy.

Mvemba Phezo Dizolele, senior fellow and director of the Africa Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies emphasized the relevance of intelligence diplomacy in addressing an expanding spectrum of global threats, ranging from organized crime to terrorism to digital disruptions. Dizolele asserted that intelligence diplomacy as a potent tool for states to forge mutually beneficial partnerships in the face of such challenges. Engagements like CDMIC, he said, play a pivotal role in nurturing essential bonds of trust that drive effective intelligence collaboration. Ultimately, Dizolele concluded, security cooperation hinges on the foundation of trust.

U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, is one of 11 U.S. Department of Defense combatant commands, each with a geographic or functional mission that provides command and control of military forces in peace and war. U.S. Africa Command employs the broad-reaching diplomacy, development, and defense approach to foster interagency efforts and help negate the drivers of conflict and extremism in Africa.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 9 USCENTCOM, Royal Jordanian Air Force Conduct Humanitarian Airdrops into Gaza

U.S. Central Command

Press Release | May 9, 2024

USCENTCOM

May 09, 2024

Release Number 20240509-02

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 May 9, 2024, at 12:11 p.m. (Gaza time) to provide essential relief to civilians in Gaza affected by the ongoing conflict.

The combined joint operation included three U.S. Air Force C-130 aircraft. The U.S. C-130s dropped more than 25,300 meals ready to eat (MREs), providing life-saving humanitarian assistance in Northern Gaza. Additionally, more than 6,000 pounds of Jordanian food supplies were also delivered. To date the U.S. has dropped approximately 1,220 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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






USCENTCOM Commander Visits Pakistan

U.S. Central Command

Press Release | May 9, 2024

USCENTCOM

May 9, 2024

Release Number 20240509-01

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TAMPA, Fla. -- Between May 7 and 9, Gen. Michael Erik Kurilla, commander of United States Central Command, visited Pakistan where he met with Gen. Syed Asim Munir, Chief of the Army Staff and other Pakistan Armed Forces senior leaders. Their discussions focused on counter terrorism efforts and the enduring military-to-military partnership between Pakistani and US armed forces.

The leaders also discussed the success of the recent Inspired Union 2024 naval exercise, future opportunities, and the shared role in solving security challenges in the USCENTCOM area of responsibility.

While in the country, Gen. Kurilla traveled to several locations in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, bordering Afghanistan. There, he met with the leadership of Pakistan's 11th Corps, Frontier Corps, and 7th Division to discuss the counterterrorism operations along the border.

"The capability, competence, and professionalism of the Pakistan Armed Forces are extraordinary," said Gen. Kurilla. "I look forward to continuing to strengthen our seven decades plus military-to-miliary partnership."

-30-

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Dogfighting and Air-to-Air Refuelling: Gripen users exercise Lion Effort takes off at Caslav AFB

Ministry of Defence & Armed Forces of the Czech Republic

9.5.2024

Author: by Captain Hana Havrdova

From May 9-27, 2024, the Czech Air Force 21st Tactical Air Force Base Caslav hosts multinational exercise Lion Effort 2024 (LE24), which trains approximately 500 service personnel, of whom about 150 are international participants.

Lion Effort is the fifth iteration of an air exercise for countries operating the JAS-39 Gripen aircraft, also known as the Gripen Users Group (GUG). In 2009, the exercise took place in Hungary, the second issue was hosted by the Kingdom of Sweden in 2012, the third edition was held in the Czech Republic in 2015, and the fourth in the series again in Hungary in 2018. In 2021, the exercise was cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

LE24 brings together Gripen the Czech, Hungarian and Swedish Air Forces with their Gripen fighters while Thailand is joining without air assets. The Czech Air Force also drills with L-159 Advanced Light Combat Aircraft and C-295 CASA, while German Air Force Eurofighter Typhoons, Polish Air Force F-16s and an A-330MRTT tanker operate in concert from their home stations. In order to add complexity to the scenarios, the Czech Air Force activates the Air National Command Centre (ANCC), plus the Joint Terminal Attack Controllers (JTAC) from the 22nd Helicopter Air Force Base Namest are joining in, and the 25th Air Defence Missile Regiment home based at Strakonice contributes the SURN system to complement the ground based air defence post. The whole tactical control is the responsibility of the Czech Control and Reporting Centre (CRC).

Organised from May 14-23, 2024, the exercise flight program is divided into two main blocks. Mornings are dedicated to complex missions with coordination of all trainees as part of Composite Air Operations (COMAO) involving various types of aircraft, possibly supported by ground forces, to achieve the required military effect. The afternoons include shadow wave missions with emphasis on dogfighting and close air support. Aircrews in roughly two dozen aircraft train advanced air combat, including air-to-air refuelling, and practise their interoperability.

"This year, Lion Effort is unique in several aspects. First, Swedish Air Force participates as a full-fledged NATO member. Second, it is the exercise's complexity, because the Czech Air Force integrated exercise Lion Effort and annual exercise Ramstein Guard, which is one of the pinnacle training events for the NATO air power community with specific focus on electronic warfare training and jamming," said Colonel Michal Kudyn from the Czech Air Force Command.

In week one, the aircrews training as part of exercise Ramstein Guard practise operations in electronically contested environment with jamming of the aircraft radars, radio connectivity and the GPS. This part of the exercise employs a contracted Draken Europe FA-20 aircraft in the jamming role, as well as further experts from the Military Technology Faculty of the Czech Defence University, experts in Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) from the Czech Geospatial and Hydrometeorological Agency and specialist of the 53rd Reconnaissance and Electronic Warfare Regiment based in Opava.

"The Gripens are playing the key role in this exercise as they are involved both in the scenarios honing advanced air combat tactics including in jammed environments, and in air to ground missions to provide Close Air Support (CAS) with the use of Litening 4i targeting and surveillance pods. This shows the capabilities of the JAS-39 Gripen, which the Czech Air Force intends to rely on in the next ten years," Colonel Kudyn added.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 9, 2024

Transcript

Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder Holds a Press Briefing Press Secretary John F. Kirby Holds a Press Briefing

Major General Pat Ryder, Pentagon Press Secretary

MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER: All right, well, good afternoon, everyone. Just a few things  thank you, sir  just a few things at the top and then that'll get right to your questions.

First, let me start with a brief update on the status of the Joint Logistics Over-The-Shore capability, or JLOTS, that we're establishing in support of humanitarian assistance efforts with USAID and other partners. As my colleague Sabrina Singh briefed on Tuesday, the construction of the two portions of the JLOTS system, both the floating pier and the Trident pier, or causeway, have been completed and are currently positioned offshore at the Port of Ashdod awaiting final movement.

While I'm not going to provide a specific date, we expect these temporary piers to be put into position in the very near future, pending suitable security and weather conditions. In the meantime, the motor vessel Sagamore departed Cyprus today loaded with humanitarian aid for transloading onto the motor vessel Roy P. Benavidez, which is currently off the coast of Ashdod, to begin the process of staging humanitarian aid.

Now, once the floating pier and the Trident pier are in position, this will allow for the Benavidez to transload  load the aid to logistics support vessels and delivery while the motor vessel Sagamore is back in Cyprus to enable loading of additional aid.

And as you are aware, this is a complex operation which requires close coordination with many partners. The United States is joining an international community-backed effort led by USAID, with support from the United Nations, the World Food Program, the Republic of Cyprus, other partner nations, and the IDF to expand the delivery of humanitarian assistance via a maritime corridor to the people of Gaza.

We're grateful for the continued partnership and cooperation of all involved in this important effort, and we'll be sure to keep you updated as the JLOTS system becomes operational.

Switching gears, Secretary Austin hosted German Federal Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius today here in the Pentagon for a bilateral meeting to discuss ongoing efforts to support Ukraine in their fight against Russian aggression.

The two leaders also exchanged views on the upcoming 75th anniversary NATO Washington Summit in July and addressed broader security issues, to include challenges in the Indo-Pacific region and our nation's mutual commitment to global stability and NATO's strategic goals. A full readout from the meeting will be posted to the DOD website later today.

Following his meeting with Minister Pistorius, Secretary Austin departed the Pentagon to travel to South Carolina, where he'll deliver the commencement address at South Carolina State university tomorrow. He'll also visit Fort Jackson to meet with troops, swear in some of our newest recruits joining the U.S. military, and see the Army's Future Soldier Preparatory Course.

And finally, after joining NATO last year, Finland forged a new tie with the Department of Defense when they signed their formal state partnership agreement with the Virginia National Guard at a ceremony in Helsinki on May 2nd.

While only recently formalized, the partnership between Finland and the Virginia Guard goes back to 2001, when the 29th Infantry Division of the Virginia Army Guard deployed with Finnish Defense Forces as part of Stabilization Force 10 in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

The National Guard's state partnership program now includes 89 partnerships with 106 nations around the globe. And I would encourage you to reach out to National Guard Bureau for more information.

With that, I'm happy to take your questions. We'll start off with Associated Press, Tara.

Q: Thanks, General Ryder. First on Rafah and then a second topic. The President yesterday said that depending on what happens in Rafah, he may also pause potentially artillery and weapons shipments to Israel. And a senior administration official said earlier this week that JDAM kits were possibly under consideration as something else that might be paused.

Can you give us an update on these shipments? The  one, the 2,000 pound and 500 pound bombs that are already paused? And whether the Pentagon has received any request to pause additional weapons shipments?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. First, you know, let me  let me just say up front, Tara, that, as you heard both Secretary Austin and the President say, our commitment to Israel's inherent right to self-defense remains ironclad. And as you know, we've provided billions of dollars in security assistance to Israel. We've supported their efforts to defend themselves, most recently Iran's unprecedented attack. So there should be no question that we will continue to stand by Israel when it comes to their defense.

Also, as Secretary Austin and the President highlighted yesterday, we're currently reviewing some near-term security assistance. Specifically, we paused one shipment of weapons consisting of 1,800 2,000 pound bombs and 1,700 500 pound bombs.

We've not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment, and, you know, I'm not going to get into hypotheticals. Again, we've been very clear on our views as it relates to Rafah and any ground operations there, and I'll just leave it there.

Q: What would, I guess, determine your final decision on whether to send weapons? What do you need from Israel in order to send them weapons or to determine that you're not sending weapons?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, I'm not  again, I'm not going to get into hypotheticals. As I mentioned, we've  we have paused one shipment. And of course, we're continuing to discuss with Israeli officials, you know, their plans as it relates to Rafah and addressing the Hamas threat.

Q: OK. And then a separate topic. On Friday, a Florida sheriff's deputy shot and killed senior airman Roger Fortson. He was in his own off-base apartment. The  the deputy entered the apartment and shot and killed him. Has Secretary Austin been following this? Is he concerned at all? Has he reached out to the family? And are there any kind of greater concerns about all of the military personnel that live in off-base housing when you have law enforcement coming, responding to a call?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Well, first of all, the  the Secretary is following this closely. And  and I would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to airman Fortson's family. We are of course saddened at the loss of one of our own.



I know that his death is currently under investigation, so I'll  I'll have to refer you to the Florida civil authorities for any questions about what happened, but we do know that his family is grieving and we offer our sincere condolences.

Q: Has the Secretary reached out to the family?

GEN. RYDER: Not to my knowledge.

Tom?

Q: Pat, a little more detail on the pier. You said the Sagamore is underway, it'll load onto the Benavidez, and then the Benavidez will load onto smaller ships. Is that  can you ...

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, so the way to think of this, Tom  sure. The way to think of this is in this period of time that we have before the pier becomes operational, we're  we're essentially using that time to get ahead. And since the Sagamore has been loaded with humanitarian assistance, by transloading that onto the Benavidez, the Benavidez is essentially in position to immediately start loading that onto the floating pier for subsequent shipment to the causeway and delivery to the shore.

Since the Benavidez will be on the scene, so to speak, the day we pull the trigger and  and start operations, that then frees up the Sagamore to go back to Cyprus to load up with additional aid. And then once this process gets going, the way to think of this is you'll have that floating pier several miles off-shore, ships will go directly from Cyprus to the floating pier to  to unload.

But because we're, again, waiting for the appropriate security and weather conditions to kick this off, we're going to use that time to our advantage to move forward.

Q: So the Benavidez will unload onto the pier itself?

GEN. RYDER: Correct.

Q: And then do we know who will be driving the trucks along the causeway to the beach?

GEN. RYDER: So, there will be non-U.S. civilian contractors that will be driving those vehicles on the causeway onto the beach.

Yeah. Bill?

Q: Real quick on the Benavidez and all that. Is that going to be the regular rhythm for you all or is that just what you're going to do to prime the pump ...

GEN. RYDER: That's just priming the pump, right? So, yeah. Yeah. So essentially after that, what will happen is the floating pier will be available for vessels to docket, to transload onto the logistic support field vessels. And so, you know, it could be the Benavidez, it could be the Sagamore, it could be other ships, again, that are picking up aid in Cyprus and bringing it to that floating pier.

Q: And then, on the pause and some munitions, you know, could you explain a little bit about, you know, why those munitions were paused? And give us a sense, if you could, if Israel's trying to attack, you know, underground facilities used by Hamas, why those wouldn't be appropriate for that mission.

GEN. RYDER: Well, again, you know, as we assess the situation in Rafah, we made the decision to pause this one shipment. Again, as I highlighted, a final determination has not been made on how to proceed with that shipment.

But specifically, we're focused on the end use, especially rather focused on the end use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact that they could have in a dense urban setting as we've seen in other parts of Gaza. So, that's something that we'll continue to look at.

Now, again, looking at the broader context of the U.S.-Israel relationship, as I highlighted, we're going to continue to support Israel and its defensive needs in terms of the capabilities they need to defend himself. So again, we're talking about one shipment consisting of those 2,000 pounds and 500-pound bombs. Thanks.

Q: Gen. Pat, just quickly on the 2,000-pound bombs, can you say the last time there was a shipment of the 2000-pound bombs to Israel?

GEN. RYDER: I don't have that information to provide, Tom.

Q: So, yesterday, the President acknowledged that Palestinian civilians have been killed by U.S.-provided weapons. Do you have a number of how many or assessment of how many civilians were killed by these weapons? And does the Secretary feel any moral obligation to kind of make that assessment?

GEN. RYDER: I don't have a number, Fadi. Again, as we've said from the beginning, the loss of any innocent lives in this conflict are tragic. We've been very clear from the start with our Israeli partners that we expect that they will employ any capabilities we provide them in accordance with the law of armed conflict and international humanitarian law. And that has been a consistent and steady conversation that we've had from  with them from the beginning, and it continues to now.

So again, as they contemplate how they will approach Hamas and Rafah, we certainly have provided our thoughts in how to best do that to take civilian safety and humanitarian assistance into account. And we'll continue to have those conversations.

Q: You're talking about expectations. However, as you just mentioned before that one of the consideration about the 2,000-pound bombs is the density of the population in Rafah and how they were used before in other location by Israel. Why didn't you restrict before the use of these bombs knowing that Gaza is one of the most densely populated areas in the world? And were you expecting something different? Was that a mistake not to restrict the use of these bombs in Gaza?

GEN. RYDER: Well, you know, look, a couple of things. First of all, again, we've been very consistent from the beginning in terms of how we believe that Israel should approach addressing the threat of Hamas about the importance of precision in going after Hamas. And we've also been very clear that more needs to be done to ensure the safety and security of civilians, innocent civilians in Gaza.

You know, and I don't have to tell you again, the challenging environment here with an adversary that, again, embeds itself amongst the civilian population. That said, we absolutely do not want to see innocent lives lost in this tragic conflict. So again, we're going to continue to consult with Israel as they look at how to address Hamas in Rafah. And we will continue to do what we can to not only ensure that civilian safety is taken into account, but also look at how we can continue to get humanitarian assistance, whether it's by land, sea or air to help the - the people of Gaza.

Q: ... one follow-up, and this is technical. Is there any interest in the Pentagon to look into how many civilians were killed by U.S.-provided bombs?

GEN. RYDER: You know, look, Fadi, right now, there's an ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel. And we understand the complex and dynamic nature of that conflict. So, our focus right now is on getting humanitarian assistance into Gaza. Also, continuing to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself. And again, I'd highlight just several weeks ago when they were attacked by Iran in an unprecedented air attack. So, those threats are real.

And at the end of the day, what we're all working toward alongside many partners in the international community is a situation where Israelis and Palestinians can live next to one another in peace. There can be security and stability in Gaza and the region. And again, we'll continue to work toward that.

Let me go to Chris.

Q: Thanks, Pat. Just quick clarification on the munitions. These are just purely the dump bombs themselves, not any associated guidance kit that may come along with it.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, thanks. Chris, I appreciate the question. I'm just not going to be able to get into more specifics on the package itself.

Q: Well, but I mean, presumably part of the issue is the nature of these weapons being unguided causing damage.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Again, I'm not going to get into the  into more specifics. Yeah. I mean, you know how these systems work, right? You have bombs, which are essentially dumb bombs that you put JDAM kits on, but it relates to this particular shipment. I'm not going to get more specific on the details of that beyond what I've already provided.

Let me just go to the phone here real quick. Washington Post, Missy Ryan.

Q: Hey, Pat. Thank you. I have a couple of questions. First of all, could you speak to the DOD assessment of what impact, if any, the pause in these particular weapons will have on Israel's ability to continue its campaign or the  anything about what you guys think the impact will be or maybe there will be no impact? And then, I have another question.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. So, I appreciate the question, Missy. I'm not going to get into assessing Israeli military operations and their readiness and potential impact on operations. Again, I think as we've highlighted, as we see the operations being conducted in Rafah and as we assess those, the decision has been made to pause this one shipment. So, I won't go beyond that. And your follow up?

Q: Yeah. So, my other question is related to what Kirby said earlier at his gaggle about how, you know, the United States is hoping that Israel doesn't launch a full-fledged offensive into Rafah city, but that the U.S. will continue to work with Israel and other things, including sealing the border between Gaza and Egypt, and also helping Israel target leaders including Sinwar that, you know, the U.S. is doing on an ongoing basis, he said. And so, I'm just wondering if you could provide any more detail on those two activities since their military activity is like, what exactly is happening vis a vis trying to make the border more secure  and then on the targeting front. Because it's a little bit confusing about the targeting set that the U.S. was not providing targeting assistance.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Thanks, Missy. So, to be unfortunately unsatisfying, I'm not going to have more details provide other than, again, broadly speaking. We understand and support Israel's right to defend itself. And, of course, as an important partner and ally, we're going to continue to consult with them as we have been from the beginning on how best to do that. But as it relates to those specifics, I don't have anything to provide beyond what Mr. Kirby already passed along.

GEN. RYDER: Let me go to Jeff Schogol, Task & Purpose.

Q: Thank you. You had mentioned that the incident in Florida is under investigation, but I'm just wondering, does the Defense Department have any advice or words for airmen at Hurlburt who may be feeling pretty angry right now over this incident?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Thanks, Jeff. Again, you know, a tragic situation here. As I mentioned, you know, we're certainly, you know, saddened by the loss of our airmen. You know, we obviously need to allow the investigation to run its course. Don't want to get ahead of that. But you know, we certainly never want to see our airmen or any military member or any part of our DOD family be put into a situation like this. So again, we need to allow time for the investigation on this course. And you know, we'll certainly have more to say once we've had the opportunity to see that. Thanks. Lara.

Q: Thank you. I was hoping you could give us DOD's assessment of Israel's campaign in Rafah right now. They've been doing airstrikes for weeks. My understanding is they evacuated hundred thousand people from a certain area. Now, they are bombing and on the ground in a certain part of Rafah. Can you say if that's generally correct? And does DOD assess that this is still a limited operation?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. So, we do assess at this stage that it is a limited operation. As I'm sure you can appreciate, I'm not in a position nor would I provide an operational briefing on behalf of Israel. But yes, it's  all indications are at this time that it is a relatively limited operation meant to secure that area. And so, again, we'll continue to assess and monitor. That's all I've got at this point.

Q: Have the Israelis briefed DOD on any additional plans to move further into Rafah or to expand the scope of the operation?

GEN. RYDER: I don't have anything to pass along in that regard. Thank you. Sir.

Q: Thank you, General. To what extent do you know that Hamas is on board with the JLOTS plan? Is there direct communication between U.S. military leadership and Hamas leaders to make sure that they're not going to try to scuttle this? And then, what happens if things go terribly wrong on the beachfront? Is it Israel responsibility or does the U.S. have contingency plans if Hamas were to attack the pier itself?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. So, to answer the question, no. No conversations between DOD and Hamas. And again, you know, I'm not going to get into its intelligence other than to say we have no intelligence at this point in time to indicate that Hamas is actively targeting JLOTS or the humanitarian assistance.

That said, look, this is a combat zone, it's a dangerous area. And  and so we are going to continue to take security absolutely seriously. It's going to be a priority for this operation, it has been a priority for this operation. And we'll do what we need to ensure that our forces are protected and those that are supporting this  this operation.

And so, you know, to that point, I think as you see this go on, the commanders on the ground, the commander  the U.S. commanders that are overseeing this out at  at sea and from Israel, you know, they will have the authorities to make decisions as necessary, based on the conditions as it relates to any type of security situation.

But all that to say right now we would certainly hope that if Hamas truly does care about the Palestinian people, that they would not threaten humanitarian assistance being delivered to people in dire need. And for our part, we'll continue to work with the international community to rush that aid in.

Q: And who's responsible for the security of these non-U.S. civilian contractors on the ground that are going to be on the pier and on the beach?

GEN. RYDER: So as it relates to the  the security at the assembly area where aid comes off, of course Israel will be providing security there and working and coordinating with World Food Program in order to  and  and others  USAID and others to  to provide that security on the ground. But again, I don't want to get into specific details on that for operation security reasons.

Let me go to this gentleman.

Q: Thank you. Just a quick follow-up on the bombs. Do you have an assessment of how many of these heavy bombs that Israel already has? Like, do they already have a sustainable stockpile?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, I just  I'm not going to get into the weapons inventory of a partner country. I'd  I'd refer you to them to talk about their inventory.

Q: ... quick follow on Rafah. You mentioned  sorry  on Rafah  and I forgot what I was going to say.

GEN. RYDER: That's OK. I can come back to you.

All right, let me go to Wafaa from Alhurra.

Q: Thank you, General. General, can you please tell us what's your definition of a large-scale operation in Rafah, or what would the Pentagon consider acceptable in terms of the number of casualties resulting of such operation?

And I have another question.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah, thanks, Wafaa. So  so look, you know, I  I'm  I'm not going to paint out hypothetical scenarios as it relates to Rafah. I think you  you have to take a step back and  and look at what we're talking about here.

You've got more than a million people condensed into a relatively small area. And doing any type of large-scale military operation within the confines of that area present significant risks to the civilian population there which has already been put in a very, very challenging situation.

And  and so our focus has been on communicating with our Israeli partners on the fact that we both agree that Hamas needs to be defeated and that we understand that Hamas has elements within Rafah, but to do it in a way that takes the safety of civilians into account as they conduct those operations.

And so again, as we have observed the  this limited operation so far and  in a portion of Rafah, we're continuing to assess that, and in the meantime have paused that one shipment of weapons.

And then I'm sorry, you had a follow-up?



Q: Yes. So Mr. Kirby today talked about alternatives to defeat Hamas without the need for a  the  alternative that do not require large-scale invasion. Can you please talk a little bit about these alternatives?

GEN. RYDER: I'm  I'm sorry, Wafaa, you're coming in a little bit broken. Talk about what  what ...

Q: Alternatives to defeat Hamas that do not require large-scale invasion.

GEN. RYDER: Gotcha. You know, so look, these are things that we've talked about in the past, in terms of sequencing, right? So the evacuation of civilians from the battle space to a degree where you don't have the large, you know, grouping of people that are  could potentially be impacted by this. It's ensuring that when you have evacuated those  those people, that they have access to food, water, sanitation, shelter. And then of course, approaching the Hamas threat in a precise manner, you know, counter-terrorism-style, as you've seen us and the Israelis do elsewhere in the past. So those are some examples.

OK, let me ...

Q: Thank you.

GEN. RYDER: ... come back to the room here. Janne?

Q: Thank you, General. Two questions. South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said at a press conference yesterday that he would not provide lethal weapons to Ukraine. Does the United States still want 155 millimeter artillery shells and offensive weapons supports from South Korea?

GEN. RYDER: Well, look, I'll  I'll let the Republic of Korea speak for itself when it comes to what they feel comfortable with providing to support Ukraine. As you know, the ROK are  are an incredible ally and they certainly have provided assistance  non-lethal assistance to Ukraine and support the broader effort to deter and prevent Russian aggression in Ukraine.

But again, it's for them to talk about. We're just grateful for any nation that can contribute in some way to help send a clear signal to authoritarian regimes that invading your democratic, peaceful neighbor is not acceptable behavior. Thank you.

Q: ... Russia  the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Russia will conduct [an] exercise on the use of tactical nuclear weapons. How can you predict possibility of cooperation between Russia and North Korea in the use of tactical nuclear weapons?

GEN. RYDER: Well, look, you know, I talked about this before. I've seen that reported in the press, and I would just say again it's irresponsible, reckless saber-rattling that is  that is dangerous, given the current climate  international security environment climate. And I'll just leave it at that.

Konstantin?

Q: Thanks, Pat. On senior airman Fortson, can you say whether  it  the Defense Department or the Air Force is assisting or  with the investigation?

GEN. RYDER: I'd have to refer you to the Air Force. You know, again, the  as I understand it, the Florida civil authorities are investigating, but I'd refer you to the Air Force for any more questions on that.

Younis?

Q: Thank you very much, General. The fact that the President said that U.S. bombs were used to kill civilians in Gaza is pretty striking. Does that mean that the  the Israeli military campaign has somehow made the United States complicit in it  in any of that? Is that why the Biden administration is now saying "we don't want any part of that in Rafah"? Is that  is that ...

GEN. RYDER: Well, look, I'm  I'm not going to speak for the President. I think we  again, we've been very clear from the beginning that after Israel was attacked by Hamas on October 7th, and again, I think it's important to remember that 1,200 people killed, over 250 hostages taken. Half of whom are still being held. And it's important that no one forget that fact that Hamas is still holding these individuals hostage.

Our focus has been on supporting Israel to defend itself from attacks by Hamas and so that they can defend their people and prevent another October 7th from happening. At the same time, as this conflict has progressed, we've seen the unfortunate impact that it's had on the civilian population in Gaza.

And again, we've been very clear that we do not want to see innocent civilians killed, whether they'd be Palestinian or Israeli. And so we've been working very closely with the international community to get humanitarian assistance into Gaza. We've been working to ensure that Israel has the ability to defend itself, but we also recognize the fact that more needs to be done to safeguard civilians in the battle space. And so, again, we'll continue to work toward that.

Q: I have one follow-up. If the President makes that determination that U.S. bombs are killing civilians anywhere, you know, any country that you've supplied those weapons to, does that determination come from the Department of Defense to the White House? And if so, what's the standard procedure with that said country?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Again, I appreciate the question. I'm just not going to get into hypotheticals. As you know, we have a process by which we employ when it comes to evaluating the use of security assistance. And that process is currently ongoing. It's led by the State Department, so I'd refer you to them in that regard.

Yes, sir?

Q: Thank you, General. Two quick question on  in Syria, especially in northeast Syria. You know, according to some local reports on local people, Iran is endeavoring to expand its influence, you know, in Syria. And this is by using the local tribes, especially the Arak tribes, to establish some proxy groups with which they established in Iraq  no, in Syria. So is that something that concerns you? Or have you ever noticed this? And is there  this is concerns you or has any rise eyebrows in Washington?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. I mean, look, this is not new behavior from Iran. It's how they do business, right? So essentially, by trying to train and influence proxy groups to essentially project their foreign policy of trying to expel the U.S. and other partners from the region in order to be able to do whatever it is they want to do unchecked. And so, of course, that's something that we continue to keep an eye on, you know?

And I think it's important that from a U.S. perspective, you know, when it comes to the Middle East region, we respect the sovereignty of the countries that we work with, unlike some of these proxy groups, which have embedded themselves into the region. And when it comes to uncovered spaces like Syria, we're going to continue to stay focused, number one, on the defeat ISIS mission, but we're also going to maintain awareness of broader regional threats as we work with allies and partners to keep an eye on it. And again, to prevent potential, you know, future situations whereby our forces are citizens or, you know, importantly, our allies and partners are threatened.

Q: Last question. As you spoke of the ISIS, according to the security officials in northern Syria, the ISIS activities in increasing the past five months. And one of the security officials said that the ISIS is slowly but surely growing stronger. And in the recent day, they killed a member of the SDF. So what's your assessment on that, especially on the ISIS activities? And how do you - going to help the - the SDF to prevent the resurgence of the ISIS?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Well, again, the international coalition to defeat ISIS still exists today. And we continue to work closely with the international community to address the ISIS threat. As it relates to Iraq and Syria, ISIS is by no means what it was 10 years ago. And that's a good thing.

That said, to your point, we can't rest on our laurels and we need to continue to work together to prevent a resurgence of ISIS in that that region. You still have places like Al-Hawl, which contains, you know, several thousand ISIS prisoners that need to be repatriated back to their countries of origin. And so we continue to work with the international community on that front.

When you look more broadly in terms of ISIS around the world in places like Africa or Afghanistan, you do see ISIS starting to gain some traction. And so this will continue to be something that's very important from a counterterrorism standpoint and a threat we need to continue to take seriously.

Thank you. Yes, sir?

Q: Thank you, General. So two questions. One on Syria. Recently, U.S. expatriates like some prisoners from the Al-Hawl camps. And there are 11, I think, 11 people. And one is a non-U. S. citizen. So how does count?

GEN. RYDER: I'm sorry, the 11 prisoners that..

Q: ... from the Al-Hawl camps that  like ISIS members, but U.S. expatriated them to the country. One is a non-U.S. citizen.

GEN. RYDER: If I understand your correct question correctly. So essentially, yes. I mean, that is the goal is to essentially repatriate those individuals back to their countries of origin so that they can be  it can be addressed in their own domestic legal systems on how best to, you know, address that threat.

Again, what you don't want is essentially a terrorist breeding ground where it essentially becomes a tinderbox waiting to explode. And so I know U.S. Central Command, U.S. State Department, has been working very closely with partners throughout the region, throughout the world to address this, and, of course, working with the SDF from a  the forces that are actually running and maintaining that facility.

Q: One question on Rafah. Well, you are working on building piers to provide humanitarian aid into Gaza. And as you know, the Israel has controlled border gates into Rafah. How has that made it difficult to get aid into Gaza, into Rafah?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. So, you know, broadly speaking again, what you're seeing here and, you know, another way to look at this pier is essentially as another gate into Rafah to get aid into. So in addition to working to make sure that there's an increase in flow of aid via land, it's also  we also have the opportunity via sea. And as you know, we've also been providing aid via air. So that's the way that we look at it. Yes, sir?

Q: Hey, Pat. I just want  Israel, I think, has done as much or more to secure noncombatants in Rafah as the U.S. has done in its own urban  difficult urban battles in the past, going from Fallujah, all the way back to the Battle of Manila in the Second World War. Is the U.S. holding Israel to a standard, an unreasonable standard that it has never really bothered to secure for itself?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Thanks, Mike. So, yeah. So look, I'm going to look at every situation based on its merits, based on the current operating environment. And the fact is, we are where we are today. And I think we've been very clear, both publicly and privately that as Israel contemplates its operations in Rafah, that we would expect to see it be done in a way that takes civilian safety into account.

And, you know, again, the President and Secretary Austin have both said that as we assess what's happening in Rafah right now, we put a pause on this one shipment of weapons. Again, taking a step back to be clear, our commitment to Israel's defense will remain iron clad. And we will continue to ensure and take all necessary steps to ensure that Israel has what it needs to defend itself from threats in the region to include Hamas.

Q: Yeah, October 7th, the President said that he was behind Israel's plan to destroy Hamas. Is that still the case anymore or is he sort of winding that back?

GEN. RYDER: We believe that Hamas needs to be defeated. Absolutely. Thank you. Sure.

Q: Just a quick point of clarification. On the Israeli military's relatively limited incursion vicinity of Rafah, I believe Israeli officials have said that it's intended to cut off the weapons to Hamas in that area.

To what extent does this resemble  the initial move  the IDF made here? To what extent does that resemble that, you know, the tailored operational plans, U.S. officials have discussed with their Israeli counterparts or does this appear to be more consistent with shaping operations for larger scale ground clearing?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Again, I'm not going to get into trying to characterize from the podium here detailed Israeli operations other than, again, what we've observed and what they've told us in terms of it being a limited operation. So last question. Yes, sir?

Q: Sir, two questions, please. One, conflicts around the globe still going on, one after another, and they are connected with military. And Prime Minister Narendra Modi still influenced among global leaders. Do you think he has any power, any influence to stop and end these conflicts and wars going on?

GEN. RYDER: Are you asking me if Prime Minister Modi has influence to stop conflicts?

Q: Some of the leaders where these wars are going on, like, Russia, in Ukraine, and in the Middle East, and all that influences more than ever today.

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. I appreciate the question, (inaudible). As I'm sure you can appreciate, I'm not going to make a judgment regarding the leader of India, other than to say that, look, India is an important and strategic nation, and a very important part of the world. And from a U.S. standpoint, we, of course, very much appreciate the relationship that we have with India and from a defense department standpoint. Look forward to continuing to bolster our security cooperation relationship. Thank you.

Q: And second, sir.

GEN. RYDER: Yup.

Q: Secretaries of State and Treasury were in China recently, and both of them warned China in their own ways and different that not to influence elections or not to interfere in the U.S. interference in many ways, including cyber and all that.

My question is, is this building, DOD or Pentagon, affected about or about those warning to China in any way as far as the U.S. and national security is concerned?

GEN. RYDER: Yeah. Look, when it comes to election security, the Department of Defense, of course, plays a role in that as you know. I won't get into the specifics of that other than it's something that we take very seriously to ensure the integrity of our own elections to include on the cyber side. So I'll just leave it there.

Thank you very much, everybody. Appreciate it.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3771193/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 9, 2024

By C. Todd Lopez, DOD News

DOD Uses Unfavorable Sea Conditions to Gain Efficiencies on Gaza Aid Mission

While unfavorable sea conditions have slowed deployment of two piers meant to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza, the Defense Department has found a way to use the delay to its advantage and get ahead on the mission once it gets underway.

Earlier this week the Defense Department announced completion of the construction of two floating piers, which will be used to deliver humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Construction of the Joint Logistics Over-the-Shore, or JLOTS, system on the Mediterranean Sea was completed Tuesday. One floating pier will be deployed several miles offshore outside Gaza, while the other, called the Trident pier, or "causeway," will be pushed onto and attached to the Gazan shore. Together they will be used to move humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Both of the floating piers, along with the MV Roy P. Benavidez  a large, medium-speed, roll-on, roll-off ship  are off the coast of Israel near the Port of Ashdod, about 18 miles north of Gaza. Unfavorable sea conditions prevent movement of the piers to their final location.

In the meantime, the MV Sagamore  a commercial cargo ship  has been loaded with humanitarian aid in Cyprus and has made its way to Ashdod. Instead of waiting for the piers to be deployed, humanitarian aid on the Sagamore will be moved to the Benavidez so that the Sagamore can go back to Cyprus to get more aid supplies, said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder.

"In this period of time that we have before the pier becomes operational, we're essentially using that time to get ahead," Ryder said during a briefing today. "Since the Sagamore has been loaded with humanitarian assistance, by transloading that on to the Benavidez, the Benavidez is essentially in position to immediately start loading that onto the floating pier for subsequent shipment to the causeway and delivery to the shore."

Because the Benavidez will remain near Gaza when the humanitarian mission begins, Ryder said, the Sagamore is free to go back to Cyprus to get additional aid.

Once the two floating piers are deployed, ships loaded with humanitarian aid will dock at the floating pier off the coast of Gaza and have their cargo unloaded onto trucks that are onboard Army-owned landing craft utility ships, or LCUs, and logistic support vessels, or LSVs.

The Army ships will then travel toward Gaza where they will meet up with the Trident pier. There, the trucks onboard the LCUs and LSVs will drive onto the pier and onto the shore of Gaza where the humanitarian aid supplies can then be staged for delivery inside Gaza. Ryder said non-U.S. civilian contractors will be responsible for driving those vehicles.

It's expected that initially about 90 truckloads of supplies will transit the causeway each day and make their way into Gaza. When the operation reaches full capacity, as many as 150 trucks will make their way into Gaza daily.

"This is a complex operation which requires close coordination with many partners," said Ryder. "The United States is joining an international community-backed effort, led by [U.S. Agency for International Development] with support from the United Nations, the World Food Programme, the Republic of Cyprus, other partner nations and the [Israeli Defense Forces] to expand the delivery of humanitarian assistance via a maritime corridor to the people of Gaza."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Transcript on Ren'ai Jiao 'new model' is real; Philippines breaches commitment: source

Global Times

By GT staff reporters Published: May 09, 2024 09:38 PM

The Philippine government has been overdrawing on its reputation and national credibility on issues related to the South China Sea, saying one thing and doing another and constantly flip-flopping, Chinese analysts said after Philippine officials accused China of "violating wiretapping law" over a phone conversation in which a Philippine navy official agreed to a "new model" for resupply missions concerning Ren'ai Jiao.

A transcript of the supposed recording of a phone call between the Chinese side and the Philippines' Western Command (WESCOM) Commander Vice Admiral Alberto Carlos on January 3 was revealed by media in recent days, in which Carlos agreed to a "new model" for resupply missions concerning Ren'ai Jiao.

The transcript which documented the phone conversation between the Chinese side and Carlos on January 3 has been confirmed to be true, the Global Times has learned from a source familiar with the affair on Wednesday. Following the conversation, the Philippine side adhered to the "new model" in the subsequent resupply mission, only delivering essential daily supplies to the grounded warship, and notified the Chinese side in advance.

Based on the "new model" arrangement and humanitarian principle, the Chinese side permitted the Philippine resupply operation, said the source.

However, thereafter, the Philippine side reneged on its promise. Not only did it fail to notify the Chinese side in advance of its resupply activities, but it also attempted to transport construction materials to the illegally grounded vessel, deliberately causing trouble and maliciously hyping up the situation.

The China Coast Guard has firmly restricted the Philippine's illegal resupply activities, according to the source.

On Wednesday, Philippine defense chief Gilberto Teodoro Jr. told reporters that the audio recording had "violated" the country's Anti-Wire Tapping Law.

Teodoro also claimed that they are leaving the department of Foreign Affairs to find out the truth behind the incident, threatening that the person responsible for the recording will "be expelled," according to media reports.

Teodoro's remarks sound more like chicanery when facing undeniable facts, as the transcript of the "new model" is true, said Chinese analysts.

At a press conference on May 6, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian also gave a briefing on the situation, saying that early this year, the Chinese and Philippine sides agreed on a "new model" for resupply missions concerning Ren'ai Jiao after multiple rounds of discussions through diplomatic channels and the Armed Forces of the Philippines WESCOM.

The Philippine military made repeated confirmations that the "new model" had been approved by all key officials in the Philippines chain of command, including the Secretary of National Defense and the National Security Advisor. On February 2, the Philippines carried out one resupply mission under this "new model" before abandoning it, said Lin.

The Chinese proverb "listen to what they say, watch what they do" seems fitting when considering the recent reactions of senior officials in the Philippines. It appears that the country has habitually been overdrawing on its government's reputation and national credibility on relevant issues, saying one thing and doing another, presenting one face in public and another in private, constantly flip-flopping, Ding Duo, a deputy director of the Institute of Maritime Law and Policy at the China Institute for South China Sea Studies, told the Global Times.

In addition to China, other regional countries and the international community have sufficient reason to believe that "political commitments" made by the Philippine government are no longer credible, and that the Philippines is perceived as an untrustworthy nation in international relations, said Ding.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






PLA's Type 055 large destroyers conduct frequent drills in South China Sea

Global Times

By Liu Xuanzun Published: May 09, 2024 09:29 PM

At least three Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy task forces led by Type 055 large destroyers conducted exercises and combat patrols in and beyond the South China Sea over the past month, with experts saying on Thursday that this type of world-class warship has reached complete operational capability, and their deployment will contribute to peace and stability amid recent tensions in the region.

A destroyer detachment under the navy of the PLA Southern Theater Command recently organized a training task force consisting of the Type 055 large destroyer Zunyi, the Type 052C destroyer Haikou, the Type 052D destroyer Kunming and the Type 054A frigate Xianning in a combat exercise in the South China Sea, China Central Television (CCTV) reported on Wednesday.

The exercise included courses covering anti-ship, anti-air and anti-submarine tasks, which laid solid foundations for carrying out flexible military maneuvers and dealing with complex situations, the report said.

On May 2, four PLA Navy vessels including the Type 055 large destroyer Dalian were spotted traversing the Sibutu Passage, Philippine media reported, citing a spokesperson at the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

The Sibutu Passage is a channel connecting the Sulu Sea with the Sulawesi Sea, also an important transit route for international trade between the Pacific and the Indian Ocean normally used for international navigation.

On April 21, CCTV reported that a task force led by another Type 055 large destroyer, the Xianyang, wrapped up a combat patrol and far seas exercise mission in the South China Sea, the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean.

The PLA Navy has commissioned eight Type 055 large destroyers as of 2024, with four of them in service with the Southern Theater Command facing the South China Sea.

Characterized by its large displacement of more than 10,000 tons and capability of sailing in far seas, the Type 055 large destroyer is adaptable in operating in the South China Sea, the eastern Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean, Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Thursday.

These far seas exercises tested the comprehensive combat capabilities of this type of world-class warship, Fu said, noting that the Type 055s are now completely ready for combat.

The Type 055's frequent deployment in the South China Sea came amid recent tensions in the South China Sea stirred up by the Philippines and the US, with the two countries reportedly holding their largest Balikatan combat exercises in years from April 22 to May 10.

Fu said that at a time when some countries are holding provocative activities and exercises in the South China Sea, the Chinese drills show that China will not allow them to stir up trouble.

The complete operational capability of the Type 055s can contribute to the safeguard of national security as well as peace and stability in the world, Fu said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Press Briefing by IDF Spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, May 9

IDF Press Release

May 9, 2024

09.05.24

IDF

In the central Gaza Strip, IDF and ISA forces, led by the 99th Division, began an operation last night in the Zeitoun area. The forces operated in the area following dozens of air strikes on terror targets. The forces are working to dismantle Hamas, preserve and deepen the military achievements, and thwart Hamas' attempts at rehabilitation in the Zeitoun area.

Yesterday, in the northern Gaza Strip, we eliminated the terrorist Ahmed Ali, the Commander of Hamas' Naval Unit in Gaza City. He led a series of terror attacks against Israeli civilians and IDF troops during the war. In Shejaiya, IAF fighter jets eliminated a commander from the Nukhba Forces who led ambushes and terror operations against IDF troops operating in the Gaza Strip.

In the southern Gaza Strip, in the eastern Rafah area, forces of the 162nd Division are continuing to operate against terror targets and the smuggling of weapons in the area of eastern Rafah. This activity supports the intelligence we had  Hamas used the area of the Rafah Crossing for terrorism. We found several terrorist tunnel shafts in the area, which we are currently investigating and scanning, and so far, our forces have eliminated approximately 50 terrorists in this area during encounters and air strikes, and also during scans in the area. Currently, the divisional forces are continuing to operate against terror targets in the area.

On the northern border, in recent hours, alerts were activated regarding the infiltration of two UAVs. They were intercepted over Lebanese territory. We activate the alerts to allow enough time for residents to reach protected spaces even when we intercept the aircraft over Lebanon. We do this to protect the security of the residents, which is our primary mission.

In recent days, we have eliminated nine Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon and struck approximately 115 Hezbollah targets in the area of southern Lebanon this week. Yesterday, we struck more than 20 Hezbollah targets in the Ramyeh area in southern Lebanon. These strikes are part of the effort to damage the Hezbollah terror organization and push it away from the contact line. Hezbollah responds with fire, and unfortunately, there are also casualties and injuries. This week, Staff Sergeant Haim Sabach, Master Sergeant (res.) Dan Kamkagi, and Master Sergeant (res.) Nahman Natan Hertz, fell in action, may their memory be a blessing. Soldiers in the 551st Brigade, we embrace their families and accompany them.

This evening, we also remember our supreme mission and our obligation to the hostages still held in Gaza. We continue and will continue to do everything to create the conditions for the return of the hostages and our dear ones home as quickly as possible.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran blasts 'shameful' US pressure campaign on ICC

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani has said that the threats and pressures on the prosecutors and judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) by some US lawmakers are worrying and shameful.

"The goal of a group of representatives of the US Congress and the US Senate is to threaten and pressure the prosecutors and judges of the International Criminal Court to provide immunity for war crimes and genocide by the officials and military commanders of the Zionist regime, and this is a shameful and worrying action," Kanaani wrote on his page on X social media platform on Thursday.

He added: "This heinous intervention will create a dangerous procedure that is contrary to the goals and raison d'etre of the International Criminal Court in punishing war criminals, while global silence in the face of such threats hinders the implementation of justice and the continuation of crimes against the Palestinian nation."

6125**4354



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Speaking with Guterres, Iran FM urges increased pressure on Israeli regime

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has warned of the continuation of the dangerous approach of the Zionist regime and called for increased pressure, especially from the United Nations, on the regime.

In a phone call with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres on Thursday, Amirabdollahian said the Islamic Republic of Iran continues its efforts to establish stability and security in the region, especially by ending the crimes of the Israeli regime in the war against Gaza.

He also appreciated the efforts of the UN secretary general aimed at ending the occupying regime's genocidal war on Gaza.

Amirabdollahian warned that if the US, instead of putting pressure on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a ceasefire, appeases this regime in committing new crimes in Rafah, the consequences will be severe for the supporters of the war.

Guterres, for his part, appreciate Iran's wise actions and positions to achieve peace and security in the region, saying the UN has emphasized its firm position from the beginning to achieve a ceasefire and end the war as soon as possible.

"We are in the process of putting pressure on Israel and actively consulting with the United States and other influential countries to establish a ceasefire and an immediate end to the war in Gaza and the region, and especially to open the Rafah crossing as soon as possible and other crossings that are the lifeline of the people of Gaza," he said.

The UN chief added, "I am constantly in contact with Egypt, Qatar and Jordan in addition to the ongoing consultation between us, and I ask all sides to focus on stopping the war and bloodshed. Be sure that we will continue seriously until the war is stopped and the problems are resolved, and we thank Iran in this way."

6125**4354



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Yemeni army targets 3 Israeli-linked warships, vessels in support of Palestine

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The Yemeni Armed Forces have conducted a series of operations in support of the Palestinian people and their resistance, targeting three ships owned by the Zionist regime and related to this regime in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden.

Israeli ships MSC DEGO and MSC GINA were targeted in the Arabian Sea in an operation carried out with several ballistic missiles and drones, which hit the targets accurately, Yemeni Armed Forces spokesman Brigadier General Yahya Saree said in a statement carried by Al Mayadeen on Thursday.

Saree said that the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a special operation against the MSC VITTORIA ship related to the Zionist regime in the Indian Ocean.

Yemeni Armed Forces have said that they won't stop their attacks until the unrelenting Israeli ground and aerial offensives in Gaza are halted.

Yemenis have declared their open support for Palestine's struggle against the Israeli occupation since the regime launched a devastating war on Gaza on October 7 after the territory's Palestinian Resistance movements carried out a surprise retaliatory attack, dubbed Operation Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity.

6125**4354



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Israel using truce talks as cover to attack Rafah: Hamas official

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement on the Gaza war and is using negotiations as a cover to attack Rafah city, a senior Hamas official says.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu is attempting to "create excuses to avoid negotiations" and Israel is not serious about achieving a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Samaa TV quoted Izzat al-Rishq as saying.

The Zionist regime is "using negotiations as a pretext to occupy Rafah city and the (Rafah) border crossing," al-Rishq said.

He added that Netanyahu also blamed Hamas and the mediators for the lack of progress in the talks.

6125**4354

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Hamas chief discusses Gaza with head of Iraq's Fatah Alliance

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- The political bureau chief of the Palestinian Resistance Movement Hamas and the head of Iraq's Fatah Parliamentary Coalition held a telephone conversation on the Gaza Strip.

According to the Palestinian media, the Hamas movement in a statement confirmed that Ismail Haniyeh and Hadi al-Ameri discussed the latest political and field developments related to the Gaza war.

Ceasefire talks and the Zionist regime's ground invasion of Rafah were other topics of discussions between the two resistance leaders, the statement said.

Haniyeh hailed Iraq's stance on Palestinians and valued the operations of the Iraqi resistance in support of Gaza.

Reiterating Iraq's firm position against the Zionist regime and standing by the Palestinian nation, al-Ameri emphasized that the Palestinian resistance groups manage the situation with wisdom and make the right decisions at the right time.

Since the onset of the Israeli genocidal war on Gaza, the Iraqi resistance has carried out dozens of attacks on Israeli interests as well as those of the United States for its backing to the Zionist regime's crimes in Gaza.

4399



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






OSCE launches comprehensive training programme on countering the financing of terrorism for Montenegro

OSCE | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

9 May 2024

On 8 May 2024, the OSCE Transnational Threats Department, in collaboration with the OSCE Mission to Montenegro and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, concluded a training of trainers' course aimed at empowering experts from Montenegro with essential skills and knowledge to counter the financing of terrorism. This marked the launch of a comprehensive training initiative for the country.

Six trainers from the key governmental agencies of Montenegro, including the Special State Prosecutor's Office, Customs Administration, National Security Agency, as well as the Police Directorate's Sector for the Fight against Crime and the Financial Intelligence Unit, convened in Vienna for an intensive three-day course. Together, they delved into a comprehensive curriculum covering the international, regional and national threat landscape. The participants also explored the nuances of the terrorist funding cycle, financial requirements of a terrorist organization and sources of information. Under the guidance of international experts, the inter-agency team tailored the course material and crafted practical exercises so that they resonate with the unique context of Montenegro.

"While the international community, including Montenegro, has taken commendable strides in criminalizing terrorism financing and implementing relevant legislation, we must recognize that significant challenges persist, in particular in the realm of investigating and prosecuting terrorism financing," highlighted Irfan Saeed, Head of the Transnational Threats Department's Action against Terrorism Unit, during his opening remarks.

The course forms part of a comprehensive training programme on countering the financing of terrorism for Montenegro, funded by the United States. The programme is dedicated to further bolstering the operational framework to prevent terrorists from moving, storing, using and raising funds, in line with the latest international commitments and standards. After this course, the trainers taking part in the initiative, jointly with the lead experts, will go on to deliver it to their peers actively involved in countering the financing of terrorism efforts, thereby further amplifying the impact of this programme.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Netanyahu vows to continue attacks in Gaza despite Biden's threat to halt weapon shipment

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 21:54, May 09, 2024

JERUSALEM, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement on Thursday that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza despite the U.S. threat to halt some weapon shipments.

"If Israel is forced to stand alone -- Israel will stand alone," said Netanyahu in a public speech made on Sunday's Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day and posted on his official X account on Thursday.

The Israeli prime minister added that "no amount of pressure" will stop Israel from "defending itself."

During a CNN interview on Wednesday, U.S. President Joe Biden said that he would halt some shipments of U.S. weapons to Israel if Netanyahu launches a major invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where more than 1 million Palestinians are taking refuge.

"We're not walking away from Israel's security. We're walking away from Israel's ability to wage war in those areas," said Biden.

The U.S. president admitted that Israel used U.S. bombs on civilians in Gaza. "Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," said Biden.

U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the U.S. had already paused "one shipment of high payload munitions" to Israel.

The United States has sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to Israel since the ongoing conflict broke up on Oct. 7, 2023, according to reports from U.S. news outlets.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Egypt, Jordan warn against humanitarian catastrophe of Israeli attacks in Rafah

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 20:39, May 09, 2024

CAIRO, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh on Thursday warned against the humanitarian catastrophe of the ongoing Israeli military operation in the Palestinian city of Rafah, according to the Egyptian presidency office's statement.

The two leaders made the remarks during a meeting in Cairo, where they reiterated the two countries' "full rejection" of the Israeli invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the besieged enclave, said the statement.

"The Israeli operation impedes the only safe exit of the wounded and sick Palestinians and hinders the delivery of humanitarian and relief aid," they emphasized.

The ongoing conditions require the international community to take its responsibilities for reaching an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and to push forward for the recognition of an independent Palestinian state which will help in achieving regional security and stability, the statement added.

The Israeli army launched a military operation in Rafah on Monday night, where more than 1 million internally displaced Palestinians have sought refuge since Israel's offensive began on Oct. 7 last year.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Hamas delegation leaves Cairo after days of negotiation: statement

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 20:09, May 09, 2024

GAZA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A delegation from Hamas for ceasefire talks departed Cairo for the Qatari capital of Doha on Thursday, Ezzat Al-Rashq, a member of the Hamas Political Bureau, said in a statement.

Al-Rashq confirmed the group's commitment to a proposal received from Egyptian and Qatari mediators, adding that Israel's military actions in Rafah aim to "block all efforts made by mediators to reach ceasefire in Gaza."

Over the past three days, Egypt hosted delegations from Hamas, Israel, Qatar, and the United States to reach a "comprehensive truce" in the Gaza Strip.

On Monday, Hamas accepted the Egyptian proposal of reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, while Israel expressed its rejection of the current copy of the proposal.

Concurrently, the Israeli military has intensified its operations in Rafah and took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a crucial passage for humanitarian aid going into the enclave and wounded civilians leaving the strip.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Houthi group launches attacks on Israel-linked ships in maritime escalation

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 18:51, May 09, 2024

SANAA, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Yemen's Houthi group announced on Thursday that they have conducted attacks on three vessels associated with Israel in the Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean, and Arabian Sea.

According to Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea, the operation was a coordinated effort involving naval, drone, and missile forces.

The first two vessels, identified as the MSC DIEGO and MSC GINA, were located in the Gulf of Aden. The third vessel, the MSC VITTORIA, was reportedly struck twice, once in the Indian Ocean and again in the Arabian Sea. Sarea did not provide specific dates or times for the attacks but claimed the strikes were precise.

Sarea also vowed readiness to intensify military actions in support of the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, an early report from the British Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said MSC GINA and MSC DIEGO, both Panama-flagged container vessels, were attacked by two missiles on Tuesday when traversing the Gulf of Aden.

"Neither was hit, and all crew on board are safe," the UKMTO added.

The Houthi group, which has taken control of several northern provinces, including the capital Sanaa, has been targeting ships linked to Israel since the previous year, citing solidarity with the Palestinian cause. Recently, the group has also threatened actions against similar vessels in the Mediterranean.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Biden says U.S. won't provide weapons to Israel for Rafah invasion

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 11:24, May 09, 2024

WASHINGTON, May 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States will not send weapons to Israel if they are to be used in a major military operation in Rafah, in southern Gaza Strip, U.S. President Joe Biden told CNN on Wednesday.

The president's remarks were his first to address U.S. arms supply to Israel following the administration's decision last week to put the shipment of bombs on hold, a warning that Israel should not launch an invasion in Rafah absent credible protection of civilian lives.

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers," Biden said, referring to 2,000-pound bombs whose delivery to Israel has been halted. U.S. media reported that also being delayed was the transfer of 500-pound bombs.

"We're going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently," Biden said. "But it's, it's just wrong. We're not going to -- we're not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells."

The Israel Defense Forces has now taken control of the Gazan side of the Rafah crossing linking Egypt and Gaza. Biden said Israel's actions so far have yet to cross a red line of entering heavily populated areas in Rafah.

"They haven't gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border. And it's causing problems with, right now, in terms of - with Egypt, which I've worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship and help," Biden said.

"I've made it clear to (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) and the (Israeli) War Cabinet: They're not going to get our support, if in fact they go on these population centers," he said.

Biden's words were interpreted by U.S. media as drawing a red line for the Israeli government.

What's also significant is that the president acknowledged that bombs his nation sent to Israel had been used to kill civilians in the conflict in Gaza, indicating that the United States played a role in the slaughter.

Earlier in the day, as he testified on the Pentagon's Fiscal Year 2025 budget proposal, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told Senators on Capitol Hill that the Pentagon is "going to continue to do what's necessary to ensure that Israel has the means to defend itself. But that said, we are currently reviewing some near-term security assistance shipments in the context of unfolding events in Rafah."

"We haven't made any decisions," Austin added. "We did pause as we reevaluated some of the security assistance we're providing."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Major Rafah invasion won't defeat Hamas: White House

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 9:10 PM

The White House has said a full-scale invasion of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip by the Israeli regime would not advanced the regime's and the United States' shared objective of defeating the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.

"Smashing into Rafah...will not advance that objective," John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, told a briefing with reporters on Thursday.

The regime has vowed for weeks to launch a wholesale ground incursion against the city.

The Israeli military has already gone ahead with waging limited ground attacks against the city and seized the nearby crossing into Egypt, which is the main corridor for transfer of aid into besieged Gaza.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians are seeking refuge in Rafah after fleeing a war that the regime has been waging against the entire Gaza since October 7.

At least 34.904 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed so far during the war, which began following al-Aqsa Storm, a retaliatory operation by the coastal sliver's resistance groups.

"Our view is any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas's hands at the negotiating table, not Israel's," Kirby added.

He was referring to ongoing Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated talks between the movement and the regime that are aimed at arrival at a potential truce.

On Wednesday, a senior Hamas official said the Israeli regime was prolonging the negotiations so it can go ahead with invading entire Rafah.

"Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement," said Izzat al-Rishq, who is a member of Hamas' Political Bureau. It "uses the negotiations as a cover to invade Rafah and occupy the crossing," the Palestinian official added.

Speaking on Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres strongly warned the regime against carrying out the invasion.

"This is an opportunity that cannot be missed, and a ground invasion in Rafah would be intolerable," he said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Houthi: Yemen to target Israel-linked ships regardless of destination

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 7:00 PM

Yemen's Ansarullah leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi says the country's forces will target ships of any company related to supplying or transporting goods to Israel regardless of their destination.

This is a fourth stage of escalation in retaliation for "the Israeli aggression on Rafah" in the southern Gaza Strip, but Yemen is also considering a further "fifth and sixth stage", he said in a televised speech on Thursday.

"Any ships of any company involved in supply or transporting goods to the enemy and to any destination will be targeted. Any ship transporting goods to enemy ports will be a target for us wherever our hands reach," he said.

"When we make a decision at a certain stage, it means that we have the capabilities to implement it," he added.

Ansarullah has been targeting Israeli-linked ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden in solidarity with the Palestinians. It says the operations will continue unless Israel stops its war and its siege on the Gaza Strip.

"We are also thinking about the fifth stage now, and we have very important, sensitive, and impactful options against the enemies," Houthi said. "There are no red lines for us that can hinder us from carrying out our operations."

Houthi said Ansarullah forces continue to target American, Israeli, and British ships linked to the Israeli enemy.

He said the forces carried out 25 operations in the month of Shawwal which began on April 10, during which 71 ballistic missiles and drones were launched.

Since the beginning of Yemen's operations, 112 vessels have been targeted, he said, adding 10 ballistic missiles and drones were launched only over the past week.

Houthi described Israel as "an enemy of the Islamic Ummah", which poses a danger and a threat to global security and peace.

"The enemy only understands the language of force, and the Ummah needs to focus on the strength of deterrence," he said.

Houthi also called on Arab states to help stop a widening Israeli invasion of Rafah, suggesting that they allow Ansarullah use their stocks of weapons and ammunition against Israel.

"If any Arab country desires, we are ready to activate the capabilities stored in its warehouses instead of letting them rust or be misused against the enemy.

"The enemy's escalation regarding the Rafah crossing, east of Rafah, and the expected threat to the rest of Rafah must be met with greater action at all levels," he said.

Israel's attack in the southern Gaza city of Rafah has expanded from airstrikes to ground attacks, CNN reported on Thursday, citing new satellite images.

The images, which bear a striking resemblance to the early stages of Israel's ground invasion of Gaza last year, show troops are active outside the immediate border crossing area between Egypt and Gaza, which Israel occupied on Monday evening, the broadcaster said.

The buildup comes despite intense international pressure on Israel not to move in on Rafah. Aid agencies have been warning that "any ground operation would mean more suffering and death" for the 1.2 million displaced Palestinians sheltering in and around the city.

Houthi said the occupation of the Rafah crossing does not target only the Palestinian people but is also a show of force against the Egyptian people and army.

"Whenever the enemy escalates, we should escalate even more at all levels and activities," he said, adding the Islamic Ummah needs to achieve a deterrent capability against their enemies to fend off danger.

"Events and evidence unequivocally indicate the importance of reviving conscious spiritual Jihad within the Islamic Ummah," he said.

"Stagnation and passivity will not suffice against the enemy's motives of hatred, greed, and dangerous beliefs."

Houthi said with what's happening in Gaza, "it's astonishing that some regimes negotiate security agreements with America for protection", apparently referring to reports that the US and Saudi Arabia were finalizing a "mega-deal".

According to US media reports, the agreement would "tie together the futures of Saudi Arabia, Israel and Gaza".

The Ansarullah leader said the US clearly encouraged the Israeli occupation of the Rafah crossing, prepared the conditions for it, and is a partner in all crimes of the occupying regime.

"The US pretends to pressure the enemy on Rafah after providing it with a huge stockpile of bombs and weapons.

"No one should be deceived by the American position as it is an actual partner in all the genocide crimes in Gaza and plays a primary role in the occupation of the Rafah crossing," Houthi said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






UK holds firm on arms exports to Israel despite Rafah invasion

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 7:00 PM

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said the United Kingdom will not halt arms sales to Israel even if the regime stages a large-scale assault on the southern Palestinian city of Rafah.

In a speech on Thursday David Cameron claimed that UK arms sales were not the same as those from the US to Israel.

The top British diplomat said there was "a very fundamental difference" between the US government, which supplies weapons directly as a state to Israel, and the UK government, which licenses the export of arms sold by companies.

"The US is a massive state supplier of weapons to Israel. We do not have a UK government supply of weapons to Israel, we have a number of licenses," Cameron said.

In the main part of his speech, Cameron said Britain and its allies had to show more courage in facing down adversaries in "a moment of peril". But he was unwilling to describe what Israel would have to do in Rafah to be deemed to have crossed a red line.

Katie Fallon, at the Campaign Against the Arms Trade (Caat), said Cameron's comments show "absolutely no regard for the survival of Palestinians in Gaza or for the rule of law in the UK."

"It is beyond alarming, and unlawful, that our foreign secretary and government think that the risk of genocide and war crimes are simply irrelevant in their decision to license UK-made arms and components to Israel for use in Gaza," she said.

The current licenses cover the export of components for combat aircraft, armored personnel carriers and targeting equipment.

"F-35 jets that have been dropping bombs on Gaza for the last seven months would not be in the sky without the components made all across the UK," Fallon said.

President Joe Biden recently threatened to stop sending some US weapons amid concerns about an invasion into Rafah.

British lawmakers have pressed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to follow the US.

"It's been reported that the United States has paused an armed shipment to Israel. The UK will now follow suit, won't it?" Scottish National Party MP Stephen Flynn said in Parliament.

In response, Sunak said: "The right honorable gentleman may not realize, but the UK government doesn't itself directly provide arms or ship arms to Israel."

Sunak, however, went on to acknowledge that the UK government licenses the export of arms to Israel.

The government drew similar distinctions when asked tough questions about UK arms exports to Israel in February.

London is facing a domestic pressure since an Israeli attack on the World Central Kitchen convoy killed three British nationals last month in Gaza.

Government officials have repeatedly emphasized in recent months that UK defense exports to Israel were very small. In 2023, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said such exports were "just 42m ($53m) last year."

Anti-arms campaigners have said that the true figure could be much higher, because the items sold under opaque open licenses keep the value of arms and their quantities secret.

They also point to how critical UK-made components may be to Israel's war effort.

According to Caat, British companies provide around 15 percent of the components of the F35 stealth combat aircraft that Israel has used to bomb the besieged Palestinian territory.

It also believes the real value of arms exports to Israel is twice as high as the government claims it is, reaching at least 1bn ($1.3 billion) since 2015.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran: US threat of sanctions on ICC over Israel arrest warrants 'shameful'

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 4:14 PM

Iran has hit out at the US over reports that American lawmakers are preparing legislation to sanction International Criminal Court officials if they issue arrest warrants against Israeli officials.

With pro-Israel members of Congress having warned repeatedly that the ICC risks consequences from the US if it moves forward with the warrants, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Michael McCaul confirmed that the legislation is in the works.

"This is a shameful and worrying act," Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kan'ani wrote on X on Thursday, reacting to the US plan by members of Congress in both parties.

"The goal of a group of representatives of US Congress in threatening and pressuring the prosecutors and judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) is to provide immunity for war crimes and genocide by the officials and military commanders of the Zionist regime," he added.

US senators have reportedly threatened ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan with "personally targeting him, his family, and his court staff" if he issues arrest warrants against Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and senior military officers.

According to the Zeteo website, a letter sent by 12 members of Congress warned Khan of heavy sanctions if he dared to issue arrest warrants against the Israeli occupation leadership.

The signatories said that if the ICC issues arrest warrants against Netanyahu and other Israeli officials, it will be viewed as a threat not only to Israel's sovereignty, but also to the sovereignty of the United States, leading to heavy sanctions.

The signatories, the report said, concluded on an ominous note, "You have been warned."

In his Thursday post, Kan'ani said, "This ugly intervention will create a dangerous trend that is contrary to the goals and philosophy of the International Criminal Court in penalizing and punishing war criminals."

"Global silence in the face of such threats hinders the execution of justice and the continuation of crimes against the Palestinian nation and impunity for its perpetrators," he added.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Israel's acts of terror, genocide in Rafah will cause another human disaster: Iran FM

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 10:07 AM

Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian warns that the continuation of Israel's acts of terror and genocide in the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip will lead to another human disaster in the region.

Amir-Abdollahian made the remarks in a phone conversation with Secretary General of the United Nations Antonio Guterres on Thursday as Israel plans to launch a long-feared all-out military offensive against Rafah, home to 1.5 million displaced Palestinians.

"In continuation of the 'policy of terror and genocide', the Zionist regime (Israel) is now trying to cause another human disaster in the region by closing the Rafah and Karem Abu Salim border crossings," Amir-Abdollahian said.

He added that Israel aims to render international efforts to stop the war fruitless.

The US must exert pressure on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept an Egyptian-Qatari ceasefire proposal, he emphasized.

Otherwise, if the US shows leniency towards the Israeli regime in committing new crimes in Rafah, the consequences will be severe for the supporters of the war, the top Iranian diplomat warned.

"Now it is the White House that must choose between showing the will to put pressure on the Israeli regime to stop the war and dragging the region into a new and different level of crisis and tension," Amir-Abdollahian pointed out.

On Tuesday, Israeli troops took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza, a vital lifeline for aid to enter the territory. Israeli officials said it was the first step towards a full-scale assault on Rafah.

At least 34,904 people, most of them women and children, have been killed and 78,514 people wounded so far as a result of Israel's war that the regime began on October 7 following a retaliatory operation by Gaza's resistance groups.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Amir-Abdollahian hailed the UN chief's efforts to end Israel's war and genocide in Gaza.

He said Iran will continue its efforts to help establish lasting stability and security in the region and end Israel's war crimes in the Gaza Strip.

The Iranian foreign minister supported a move by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas to accept the proposed truce plan, calling on the UN to play a more active role in ending the war and to hold a session in the presence of influential countries to discuss possible ways to help Palestine.

Guterres, for his part, commended Iran's wise measures and positions on establishing peace and security in the region.

He said the UN has always pursued a firm stance on the importance of establishing a ceasefire and ending the war in Gaza as soon as possible.

He added that the UN will continue to exert pressure on Israel and hold constant consultations with the United States and other influential countries to establish an immediate ceasefire and end the war in Gaza and the region.

The UN chief reiterated that the world body will continue its efforts to open the Rafah and other border crossings as soon as possible.

Pointing to his constant talks with senior Egyptian, Qatari and Jordanian officials, Guterres called on all parties to focus their efforts on ways to stop the war and bloodshed in Gaza.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Israeli warplanes's assault on Rafah claims more civilian lives amid rising fears of 'catastrophe'

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 10:46 AM

Israeli warplanes have carried out a series of airstrikes on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, resulting in the loss of civilian lives and leaving several others wounded as the brutal war enters its 216th day.

At least 20 Palestinians were killed and numerous others were wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes that took place on Thursday in Rafah city.

The attacks were focused on a residence in the al-Jnaina neighborhood of Rafah, with additional bombings hitting Tal as-Sultan neighborhood to the west, which killed four and injured sixteen others.

A significant number of casualties were also reported in Gaza following intense shelling near the Ali bin Abi Talib Mosque in the al-Zaytoun neighborhood on Thursday. Numerous buildings have been destroyed, and there are reports of missing individuals as ambulances face difficulties in accessing the area.

Eight civilians, including three children and an infant, tragically lost their lives on Thursday in an Israeli airstrike targeting a residence owned by the Eid family in the western part of Rafah city.

The Gaza Strip continues to be targeted by airstrikes, with a particular focus on the central and eastern regions. The majority of these attacks have been concentrated in the eastern part of Rafah city.

This is while the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, reported "fierce clashes" with Israeli forces in eastern Rafah on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the al-Quds Brigades, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, also confirmed clashes with Israeli forces in the same area.

An estimated 1.5 million people had packed into Rafah in search of refuge over the last several months of Israel's war on the Gaza Strip. Since Monday, Israeli forces are forcing more Palestinian citizens to evacuate Rafah.

The vast majority of the people are taking either the coastal road where Israeli gunboats keep firing at them, or Salah al-Din Street - a highly perilous area due to ongoing attacks in the eastern part of Rafah, Khan Yunis, and the central region.

The UN and humanitarian aid groups are warning of a "catastrophe" should Israel launch a full ground invasion of the city.

The world body on Tuesday expressed alarm over what it called Israel's "choking-off" of Gaza's two main aid arteries, after Israeli troops took full control of the Palestinian side of the nearby Rafah crossing with Egypt.

The number of people killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours has reached 60.

More than 34,904 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, mostly women and children, and 78,400 others injured, since October when the war began, according to Palestinian health authorities.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 8: 'Axis of Resistance' operations against Israeli occupation

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 8:46 AM

By Press TV Website Staff

Amid Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, which has killed nearly 34,844 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, May 8, are as follows:

Al-Qassam Brigades' operations on May 8:

Targeted an Israeli infantry force west of the "Netzarim" axis in Gaza with a barrage of mortar shells.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah with heavy-caliber mortar shells.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces west of the "Netzarim" axis with mortar shells.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces at the "Kerem Shalom military site" with 114-mm short-range "Rajoom" missile system.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces penetrating east of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza using appropriate weapons.

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades' operations on May 8:

Targeted a gathering of Israeli forces with a 107-type short-range barrage of rockets.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles with a barrage of heavy-caliber mortar shells in Al-Shouka neighborhood, east of southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Targeted an Israeli military vehicle with an RPG shell in the combat axis east of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles infiltrating east of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza with appropriate weapons.

Engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces storming the city of Nablus and Balata camp in occupied West Bank with machine guns and explosive devices.

Al-Quds Brigades' operations on May 8:

Targeted a gathering Israeli troops and their military vehicles east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah with mortar shells.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles with heavy-caliber mortar shells in the Al-Shouka neighborhood, east of the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles east of the city of Rafah with a barrage of 60-caliber mortar shells.

Targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles in the vicinity of the airport in the southern Gaza city of Rafah with heavy-caliber mortar shells

Mujahideen Brigades' operations on May 8:

Bombed a gathering of Israeli forces stationed in the "Netzarim" axis with short-range rockets.

Martyr Omar Al-Qasim Forces' operations on May 8:

Sniped an Israeli soldier in the Al-Shouka neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah in southern Gaza Strip, causing grave injuries.

Al-Asifah Forces' operations on May 8:

Bombed a gathering of Israeli soldiers and their military vehicles in the Sheikh Ajlin area in "Netzarim" axis, southwest of Gaza City, with a barrage of mortar shells.

Hezbollah's operations on May 8:

Eastern sector:

At around 10:30 local time, Al-Assi site of the Israeli military was targeted by a drone.

At around 11:03 local time, Israeli soldiers in the Metula settlement were targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 11:03 local time, Israeli military building in Al-Manara Settlement was targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 17:00 local time, the Al-Samaqa site in Lebanon's Kfar Shuba was targeted with a barrage of missiles.

Western sector:

At around 11:00 local time, two Israeli military buildings were targeted in the Shlomi settlement with appropriate weapons.

At around 11:00 local time, two Israeli military buildings in the Avivim settlement were targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 13:25 local time, Israeli soldiers and surveillance equipment at the Raheb site were targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 14:25 local time, Israeli soldiers and their surveillance equipment at the Al-Malikiyah site were targeted with appropriate weapons.

At around 15:00 local time, the headquarters of the Western Brigade of the Israeli military in Yaara was targeted with drones.

At around 16:20 local time, the headquarters of the 91st Division of the Israeli military in the Branit Barracks was targeted with a volley of Burkan missiles.

At around 19:50 local time, Israeli soldiers were targeted in the vicinity of the Ramia site with appropriate weapons.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US claims it'd freeze arms supplies to Israel upon full-scale invasion of Rafah

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 3:29 AM

The US, the biggest supporter of Israel's ongoing genocidal war against the Gaza Strip, claims it would freeze its generous arms supplies to the regime if the latter went ahead with its promised full-scale invasion of the refugee-packed Gazan city of Rafah.

"If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used... to deal with the cities," President Joe Biden claimed in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.

"We're not gonna supply the weapons and the artillery shells that have been used," he went on.

The United States has been providing the regime with thousands of tons of military equipment since Tel Aviv launched the war on October 7 following a retaliatory operation by Gaza's resistance groups.

Biden's remarks came only after the war killed at least 34,844 Palestinians, most of them women and children.

The US props up the Israeli regime with $3 billion in annual military aid.

Biden even began pushing Congress to ramp up the support after the war started.

The US's only move to limit the weapon supplies came earlier on Wednesday, when US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that Biden had decided to hold up delivery of high payload munitions to the Israeli regime over the prospect of Rafah's invasion.

Some 1.5 million Palestinians are seeking refuge in the city after fleeing the regime's unbridled aggression against the rest of Gaza.

Rafah is already witnessing incessant Israeli airstrikes and a limited ground incursion by the regime.

The US president, meanwhile, significantly toned down his threat of halting the American arms supplies.

"We're not walking away from Israel's security," he said, adding, "We're walking away from Israel's ability to wage war in those areas."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fiji's former PM Bainimarama jailed for one year for obstructing justice

As PM he took the oath of allegiance and his actions were a breach of public trust, High Court judge said.

By BenarNews Staff 2024.05.09 -- Fiji's former strongman prime minister, Frank Bainimarama, left a Suva court house in handcuffs Thursday after being sentenced to one year in prison for obstructing justice - a ruling that bars him from seeking public office for nearly a decade.

Acting Chief Justice Salesi Temo also sentenced suspended Police Commissioner Sitiveni Qiliho to two years prison for abuse of office.

The pair were found guilty in March after facing trial for their roles in halting a 2020 police investigation into alleged financial mismanagement at the University of the South Pacific.

Temo said Bainimarama's sentencing and the conditions of his imprisonment had taken into account his health problems. "Although he will be in the state's custody, he is to be treated humanely," he said.

Bainimarama and Qiliho were escorted in handcuffs from the Suva court house for transport to prison minutes after the sentencing, anxiety visible on their faces. The former leader used a handkerchief to conceal the cuffs holding his wrists together.

Ahead of his sentencing, there was a heavy security presence in the capital and around the High Court.

Defence lawyer Devanesh Sharma said Bainimarama's legal team had hoped for a suspended sentence and an appeal is on the table.

"However, we have to be practical about this. The sentence falls on the lower scale but we will go back and look at our options," he said.

Bainimarama, who came to power in a 2006 coup that he argued was needed to preserve racial harmony in Fiji, held sway over the Pacific island country for 16 years with a combination of military force, legal harassment of political opponents and a draconian media law that stifled the press.

He moved Fiji closer to China after the United States, Australia, France and New Zealand imposed sanctions after the coup and he later became known as a Pacific islands advocate for action to limit climate change.

Fiji's Crimes Act allows a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment for conspiring to defeat justice. Under Fiji's constitution, Bainimarama's conviction makes him ineligible to run for public office for eight years.

Temo in his ruling said Bainimarama had taken an oath of allegiance as prime minister and his actions were a breach of the public's trust. Qiliho had clearly abused his role as the country's top police officer, he said.

Bainimarama's 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 with two coups that sought to reassert indigenous Fijian political power.

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.

Bainimarama still commands a significant following in Fiji, a country of nearly 1 million people. The initial enthusiasm for Rabuka's coalition government has faded amid cost-of-living increases, slowing economic growth and scandals involving government ministers.

Former Fiji Times editor-in-chief Netani Rika, who was forced out of the newspaper by the Bainimarama government, said the country could have gone down a better path if a quarter century ago it had openly addressed tensions between iTaukei indigenous Fijians and Fijians of Indian descent

"I think it's a sad day, It should not have come to this," he told RFA affiliate BenarNews.

"I feel sad especially for the families of both men. I feel sad because this is a waste of a year for Bainimarama and two years for Qiliho. Their families will suffer the most," he said.

"It is high time they do something about the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. We need to take issues out once and for all. Had we done that, we would have never seen a day like this."

Hours before the sentencing, Bainimarama tweeted his dismay at the latest scientific report to predict the world would not achieve its goal of limiting average temperature rise to 1.5C. He did not mention his legal woes.

"Put another way: the world's experts expect the erasure of low-lying island nations," he wrote.

BenarNews is an RFA-affiliated online news organization.

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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Tens Of Thousands Rally In Yerevan, Demanding Pashinian Step Down Over Border Deal With Baku

By RFE/RL's Armenian Service May 09, 2024

Tens of thousands of Armenians rallied in the center of Yerevan on May 9 amid calls by an outspoken Armenian archbishop for Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and his government to resign over a land deal with rival Azerbaijan.

Archbishop Bagrat Galstanian, the leader of the Tavush Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church, led the protest in the Armenian capital's central square against the controversial border-demarcation deal with Baku that cedes control of four villages that were part of Azerbaijan during the Soviet era but which have been controlled by Armenia since the 1990s.

The border agreement has been hailed by the United States and the European Union, as well as by Pashinian, who has been accused by opposition politicians of giving up territory with no guarantees.

Addressing thousands of supporters who gathered in Yerevan's Republic Square, Galstanian gave Pashinian one hour -- until 7:40 p.m. Yerevan time -- to announce his resignation.

"You no longer have any kind of power in the Republic of Armenia," Galstanian said, using the same phrase that Pashinian addressed to his predecessor, then Prime Minister Serzh Sarkisian, when he successfully challenged him in large-scale streets protests six years earlier.

The archbishop said he was ready, within the next hour, to meet with Pashinian to discuss "all terms of his resignation," sparking cheers from the crowd and chants of "Nikol Traitor!" and "Resign!"

When the deadline passed with no apparent response from Pashinian, Galstanian said he would spend the night in the square and urged his supporters to again gather at the same place tomorrow.

Galstanian asked his supporters to be patient for "two or three more days" while he explored the possibility of impeaching Pashinian in parliament.

Pashinian's political allies and other supporters have verbally attacked Galstanian during protests over the past two weeks.

During an April 30 session of the Armenian parliament, pro-government lawmakers branded Galstanian a Russian spy, accused him of provoking another war with Azerbaijan, and even called on Armenian border guards to forcibly draft the 52-year-old archbishop.

Pashinian has said the unilateral concessions are necessary to prevent Azerbaijani military aggression against Armenia. The Armenian opposition maintains he is actually encouraging Baku to demand more territory from Armenia and to use force for that purpose.

Armenia agreed to the handover as the initial step in defining the frontier between the two rival South Caucasus countries.

Armenia and Azerbaijan have fought two wars in the last three decades over the region of Nagorno-Karabakh, which had been a majority ethnic Armenian enclave since the Soviet collapse and is internationally recognized as Azerbaijani territory.

The region initially came under the control of ethnic Armenian forces, backed by the Armenian military, in separatist fighting that ended in 1994.

In 2020, Azerbaijan took back parts of Nagorno-Karabakh along with seven surrounding districts that Armenian forces had claimed during the earlier conflict.

After Baku took full control over the region as the result of a one-day military operation in September last year, nearly 100,000 ethnic Armenians fled Nagorno-Karabakh to Armenia.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/protests-armenia- pashinian-resignation-border-deal/32939889.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Putin, Pashinian Agree On Withdrawal Of Russian Troops From Some Armenian Regions

By RFE/RL's Armenian Service May 09, 2024

Russian border guards will withdraw from a number of regions of Armenia but will continue to be deployed on the Armenian-Turkish and Armenian-Iranian border following an agreement between Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinian and Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The announcement by the Kremlin on May 9 marks a new step in Yerevan distancing itself from traditional ally Russia following accusations by Armenia that the Russian peacekeepers deployed in and around the region of Nagorno-Karabakh after a bloody war with Azerbaijan in 2020 did not do enough to stop a lightning offensive launched by Baku in September.

Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the move was discussed and agreed upon at Pashinian's request during talks between the two leaders in Moscow on May 8.

"In the autumn 2020, at the request of the Armenian side, our troops were deployed to a number of Armenian regions. Pashinian said that currently, due to changed conditions, they are no longer needed, so President Putin agreed and the withdrawal of our military and border guards was agreed," Peskov said.

According to the agreement, the Russian border guards and military points located in Tavush, Syunik, Vayots Dzor, Gegharkunik, and Ararat will end their deployment and withdraw from those points.

Some 2,000 Russian peacekeepers have already withdrawn from the Nagorno-Karabakh area that had been for three decades under ethnic Armenian control.

Armenian authorities have accused Russian peacekeepers deployed to Nagorno-Karabakh after the 2020 war of failing to stop Azerbaijan's new offensive in September.

Russia has rejected the accusations, arguing that its troops didn't have a mandate to intervene and charging that Pashinian had effectively paved the way for the collapse of separatist rule in Nagorno-Karabakh by previously acknowledging Azerbaijan's sovereignty over it.

Armenia has also asked Moscow to withdraw the Russian border guards that had been deployed at Yerevan's main airport starting from August 1.

In March, Pashinian said in an interview with the France 24 television channel that his country had also frozen its membership in the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The CSTO has been at the heart of Armenia's turn away from Moscow, with Pashinian's government having long criticized the Russia-led security grouping for its "failure to respond to the security challenges" facing Armenia.

Pashinian declined to attend a CSTO summit in Minsk in November and said in a televised Q&A session then that any decision about Yerevan's continued membership in the grouping -- which includes Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan -- would be based on Armenia's "own state interests."

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/karabakh-pashinian-putin-turkey- iran-csto/32939732.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






North Macedonia's New President Prefers The Country's Old Name

By RFESunchica Stojanovska Zoksimovska and Andy Heil May 09, 2024

SKOPJE -- Longtime university professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova is preparing for the transition from teaching politics to practicing it following her landslide victory to unseat incumbent North Macedonia President Stevo Pendarovski.

Her triumph, more than doubling Pendarovski's support alongside a win in parliament for her nationalist allies, is likely to fuel a more confrontational approach toward the European Union by the Balkan country of around 2.4 million people, who have endured a bumpy Westward path.

North Macedonia is a member of NATO and an EU candidate country, although its accession to the latter has been hobbled by ethnic and cultural disputes with its neighbors.

"My paths lead first to the Balkans, and, of course, Brussels is not excluded either," Siljanovska-Davkova, 70, said on election night.

She coasted to a 35-percentage-point win over Pendarovski, who is aligned with the country's previous center-left, pro-EU leadership, and quickly pledged to represent "all citizens, all ethnic groups, [all] party members" in a country where ethnic Macedonians dominate with a sizable Albanian minority and other, smaller ethnic groups.

First Female President

Siljanovska-Davkova is the first female president in the history of North Macedonia, which seceded from the former Yugoslavia following a referendum in 1991. She has previously called herself a champion of justice in everyday life, particularly in the area of women's rights, and an "emancipated woman with traditional family values."

While she is an independent, each of her two presidential bids has been supported by the right-wing nationalist Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization-Democratic Party for Macedonian Unity (VMRO-DPMNE), which has been in opposition for the past seven years and won a resounding victory in the parliamentary elections. And Siljanovska-Davkova has publicly embraced the nationalist current that has filled the gap left by an erosion of public faith in Brussels' promise of EU enlargement.

Pointedly, she refuses to use the word "North" before the country's name in public speeches, a snub directed at the divisive Prespa Agreement made with Greece in 2019 that resolved the countries' name dispute. The agreement, which mandated that Macedonia become North Macedonia, initially cleared the path for North Macedonia's further Western integration.

The Prespa issue, according to Siljanovska-Davkova, is still "legally and politically open." In her electoral program, she said the agreement was "adopted in violation of national law" and was a "serious violation of the collective and individual human rights of the citizens of Macedonia."

But that needn't prove a hindrance in regional relations, according to Aleksandar Krzalovski, the executive director at the nongovernmental Macedonian Center for International Cooperation (MCMS). He predicted to RFE/RL's Balkan Service that Siljanovska-Davkova would acquit herself well in relations with other countries in the region.

"Maybe she lacks diplomatic experience at that level," he said, "but I believe she will do well in that domain and will initiate and maintain good relations with her neighbors herself."

Constitutional Law Expert

A law graduate, Siljanovska-Davkova has taught law and politics at universities since the late 1980s. Since 2004, she has been a full-time professor of constitutional law, modern political systems, and local self-government at the Justinian I Law Faculty in Skopje, authoring more than 200 academic papers on constitutional law.

A member of the Macedonian legislative constitutional commission that effectively paved a path to independence from Yugoslavia, Siljanovska-Davkova's political career began almost immediately after the then-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia's bloodless secession following a referendum in 1991. At the suggestion of the Liberal Party, she became a minister without portfolio in the SDSM-led government of Prime Minister Branko Crvenkovski, which governed from 1992-94.

She became a parliamentary deputy again in 2020 and has sat on the Venice Commission, the Council of Europe's advisory body of experts on issues of constitutional law.

This is her second attempt to become the country's president. In 2019, she lost the presidential runoff to Pendarovski by about 58,000 votes, a deficit of around 8 percentage points.

Fight Over The Constitution

After ruling for the past seven years, analysts said that Pendarovski's Social Democratic Union of Macedonia (SDSM) was punished by voters for its perceived failure to tackle corruption and economic woes but also for its support of a constitutional amendment demanded by EU member Bulgaria.

Sofia has requested that North Macedonia change the preamble to its constitution to include Bulgarians among North Macedonia's constitutive peoples and has linked the issue to Skopje's EU accession process. In July 2023, North Macedonia's SDSM-led government adopted the text of a possible constitutional amendment that included the mention of several peoples, including Bulgarians, but VMRO-DPMNE and other opposition parties prevented its passage.

MCMS executive director Krzalovski said the constitution issue will be "the most pressing problem" for North Macedonia in the near future. On the campaign trail, the victorious VMRO-DPMNE repeatedly told voters that the EU negotiation framework can be changed.

"I expect that in these six months there will be intensive work on the [issue] and overcoming it and possibly adoption of the constitutional amendments with some modifications," Krzalovski said. "Will VMRO-DPMNE succeed in that or not? And what will they accept in the end as a final solution? But I expect movement by the end of the year."

Although North Macedonia's presidency is primarily ceremonial, Siljanovska-Davkova has pledged to build a consensus with the government but also with the opposition.

"The point of European integration is Europeanization according to the Copenhagen criteria," reads her election program, before citing the agreement that was reached with French diplomatic help in 2022 as a road map to lifting Sofia's veto on North Macedonia's path toward the EU. "In the [2017] Agreement on Friendship, Good Neighborliness, and Cooperation, there is not a single part [regarding] changing the constitution of the Republic of Macedonia."

In public appearances, Siljanovska-Davkova has mostly tended to stick to legalistic, noncontroversial responses. However, in an interview last month with RFE/RL's Balkan Service, she said that the head of state doesn't decide whether or not to amend the constitution. But if lawmakers in the new parliament passed such changes, she said, "Of course, I will respect that, because the parliament is the constitutional body. I don't have a problem."

'A Huge Responsibility'

With a five-year term and a two-term limit under the constitution, Siljanovska-Davkova will become North Macedonia's sixth president since independence.

"Is there a bigger change than that, that for the first time in this country, a woman becomes president?" she said on election night. "Is there a greater inspiration for smart women? There is none.... When I surround myself with women similar to me, women in the model of [the late Czech dissident and President] Vaclav Havel...[women] who can express a position and defend it, that is a reforming step for me."

North Macedonia's president is constitutionally responsible, among other duties, for granting mandates for the composition of governments, appointing and dismissing ambassadors, and signing international agreements on behalf of the country. They can also veto laws by returning them to parliament for reconsideration.

The head of state is also the supreme commander of the Macedonian armed forces and president of the country's security council, appointing and dismissing the director of the national Intelligence Agency.

Siljanovska-Davkova will turn 71 on May 11, one day before Pendarovski's current mandate expires.

"The prize [of the presidency] is priceless to me," she said in Skopje on May 8, as early returns showed her and the VMRO-DPMNE coasting to victory, "but [it] is also a huge responsibility."

Written by Andy Heil based on reporting by RFE/RL Balkan Service correspondent Sunchica Stojanovska Zoksimovska in Skopje

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/north-macedonia-president- siljanovska-davkova-brussels/32939952.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Georgian Ambassador To France Quits In Protest Over 'Foreign Agent' Bill

By RFE/RL's Georgian Service May 09, 2024

Georgia's ambassador to France has resigned in protest against the so-called "foreign agent" bill, becoming the first senior official to do so amid ongoing demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi.

In a posting on Facebook on May 9, Gotcha Javakhishvili said the proposed legislation, which has passed on two readings in parliament already, would steer Georgia away from further integration within Europe.

"The current tensions and climate generated by the revived draft law in our relations with our foreign friends and partners make my mission...extremely difficult," wrote Javakhishvili, who was appointed Georgian ambassador to France in 2022.

He said that while he did not personally know any Georgian officials or diplomats who were "openly pro-Russian," he believed the draft law "may be a kind of tactic to achieve a certain goal."

"I no longer see my role and resources in this direction: the move towards Europe," Javakhishvili said.

Weeks of protests against what critics call "the Russian law" -- legislation pushed by the ruling Georgian Dream party despite widespread anger from much of the country -- have been met with tough police actions to disperse crowds, while roving bands of thugs have targeted demonstrators.

In Washington on May 9, U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the United States was deeply troubled by actions taken against those protesting the draft law.

"We are aware of increased reports of harassment and physical assault of civil society and opposition activists and journalists. We condemn this and we call for a full independent and timely investigation," Miller said.

Miller said Washington had enjoyed a successful partnership with Georgia for more than 30 years and would like to continue that.

"There is still time to work collaboratively with Georgia but the Georgian government needs to change course for that to be the case," he said.

The comments came as reports emerged that Ucha Abashidze, a military expert, blogger, and activist was arrested at his home in Tbilisi, accused of allegedly illegally purchasing and storing weapons.

As police searched Abashidze's home, a crowd gathered outside to protest. An unspecified number of arrests were reported.

Earlier, Georgia's Interior Ministry said an investigation has been opened into the assault of three protesters -- one of whom is an opposition politician -- during a rally against the law in Tbilisi late on May 8.

Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said on May 9 that the attacks by unidentified assailants on international relations specialist Gia Japaridze, activist Lasha Gvinianidze, and Dimitri Chikovani, a member of the National Movement opposition party, would be investigated fully and that he condemns "all kinds of attacks."

Separately, police announced that six protesters who took part in rallies against the "foreign agent" bill have been detained for alleged public disturbance offenses, police announced at a briefing on May 9.

The six are accused of attacking a police officer and damaging private property, Tbilisi police chief Sulkhan Tamazashvili told the briefing.

The tens of thousands of Georgians who have taken to the streets in Tbilisi and other cities faced violent reprisals by riot police, which included chemical spray and tear gas, water cannons, and the alleged use of rubber bullets on protesters and journalists.

The government has denied the use of rubber bullets, but several protesters have shown wounds consistent with those inflicted by such projectiles.

Tamazashvili told the media on May 9 that one of those detained allegedly threw a blunt object at a law enforcement officer during a protest on April 16, which caused an eye injury. He added that, during the same April 16 protest, one participant allegedly damaged a police vehicle.

Three other people are accused of damaging surveillance cameras during rallies on May 1 and May 2, while another person allegedly damaged the entrance door into parliament and threw a stone into the the parliament's courtyard, injuring a firefighter and a member of the rescue services.

Three more incidents are under investigation, Tamazashvili said, adding that there have been no arrests yet in connection with them.

In the latest protests, Georgians demonstrated in cities across the country on May 8. Following the harsh police crackdown on earlier protests in Tbilisi, smaller rallies in Zugdidi, Kutaisi, and Gori took place without incident.

One protest organizer, Zviad Tsetskhladze, said opponents of the bill had created a group that will try to provide financial support to individuals who are dismissed from their public-service jobs over their opposition to it.

The controversial bill says media outlets, NGOs, and other nonprofits must register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad.

The government insists the law is in line with EU standards and is only intended to increase "transparency" and prevent "harmful foreign influence" in the country's political scene.

Human Rights Watch rejected that stance on May 9, saying it threatens fundamental rights in the country.

"Georgian parliamentarians and government officials formally defend the bill as providing transparency, but they make no secret of its intended purpose," said Hugh Williamson, the rights watchdog's Europe and Central Asia director.

"By labeling independent groups and media as serving foreign interests, they intend to marginalize and stifle critical voices in the country that are fundamental for any functioning democracy."

The legislation is expected to face a third and final reading that could come as early as May 13, with Georgian Dream and its allies seemingly in control of enough votes to carry the bill and potentially override a veto that has been promised by President Salome Zurabishvili.

European Union leaders say implementation of the law would adversely affect Georgia's hopes of eventual EU membership, and condemnation has also come from the United States -- the former Soviet republic's biggest backer in recent years.

With reporting by Reuters

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-ambassador-france- resigns-foreign-agent-bill-/32939954.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Beatings, Arrests In Georgia As Protests Against Controversial Law Continue

By RFE/RL's Georgian Service May 09, 2024

Georgia's Interior Ministry said an investigation has been opened into the assault of three protesters -- one of whom is an opposition politician -- during a rally against the so-called "foreign agents" law in Tbilisi late on May 8.

Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri said on May 9 that the attacks by unidentified assailants on international relations specialist Gia Japaridze, activist Lasha Gvinianidze, and Dimitri Chikovani, a member of the National Movement opposition party would be investigated fully and that he condemns "all kinds of attacks."

Weeks of protest against what critics call "the Russian law" -- legislation pushed by the ruling Georgian Dream party despite widespread anger from much of the country -- have been met with tough police actions to disperse crowds, while roving bands of thugs have targeted demonstrators.

"An attack took place, people were injured, unfortunately," Gomelauri said.

Separately, police announced that six protesters who took part in rallies against the so-called "foreign agents" bill have been detained for alleged public disturbance offenses, police announced at a briefing on May 9.

The six are accused of attacking a police officer and damaging private property, Tbilisi police chief Sulkhan Tamazashvili told the briefing.

The tens of thousands of Georgians who have taken to the streets in Tbilisi and other cities faced violent reprisals by riot police, which included chemical spray and tear gas, water cannons, and the alleged use of rubber bullets on protesters and journalists.

The government has denied the use of rubber bullets, but several protesters have shown wounds consistent with those inflicted by such projectiles.

Tamazashvili told the media on May 9 that one of those detained allegedly threw a blunt object at a law enforcement officer during a protest on April 16, which caused an eye injury. He added that, during the same April 16 protest, one participant allegedly damaged a police vehicle.

Three other people are accused of damaging surveillance cameras during rallies on May 1 and May 2, while another person allegedly damaged the entrance door into parliament and threw a stone into the the parliament's courtyard, injuring a firefighter and a member of the rescue services.

Three more incidents are under investigation, Tamazashvili said, adding that there have been no arrests yet in connection with them.

In the latest protests, Georgians demonstrated in cities across the country on May 8. Following the harsh police crackdown on earlier protests in Tbilisi, smaller rallies in Zugdidi, Kutaisi, and Gori took place without incident.

One protest organizer, Zviad Tsetskhladze, said opponents of the bill had created a group that will try to provide financial support to individuals who are dismissed from their public-service jobs over their opposition to it.

The controversial bill says media, NGOs, and other nonprofits must register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad.

The government insists the law is in line with EU standards and is only intended to increase "transparency" and prevent "harmful foreign influence" in the country's political scene.

Human Rights Watch rejected that stance on May 9, saying it threatens fundamental rights in the country.

"Georgian parliamentarians and government officials formally defend the bill as providing transparency, but they make no secret of its intended purpose," said Hugh Williamson, the rights watchdog's Europe and Central Asia director.

"By labeling independent groups and media as serving foreign interests, they intend to marginalize and stifle critical voices in the country that are fundamental for any functioning democracy."

The legislation is expected to face a third and final reading that could come as early as May 13, with Georgian Dream and its allies seemingly in control of enough votes to carry the bill and potentially override a veto that has been promised by President Salome Zurabishvili.

European Union leaders say implementation of the law would adversely affect Georgia's hopes of eventual EU membership, and condemnation has also come from the United States -- the former Soviet republic's biggest backer in recent years.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/georgia-tbilisi-foreign-agents- law-protest/32939363.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Launches Identified From Area of Rafah Toward Kerem Shalom Crossing - Israel Defense Forces

Sputnik News

20240509

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement that numerous launches were identified from the area of Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing that opened Wednesday on the border between Israel and the southern Gaza Strip.

"Following the sirens that sounded in Kerem Shalom throughout the day, numerous launches were identified from the area of Rafah toward the Kerem Shalom Crossing. The launches did not cross into Israeli territory and fell in the Gaza Strip. In addition, following the sirens that sounded earlier today in the area of Shlomit, eight launches were identified crossing from the area of Rafah into the area of Kerem Shalom," the IDF said on Telegram.

It said that as a result of the launches, an IDF soldier was slightly injured and received initial medical treatment at the scene.

 Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Secretary Blinken's Call with Egyptian Foreign Minister Shoukry

US Department of State

Readout

Office of the Spokesperson

May 9, 2024

The below is attributable to Spokesperson Matthew Miller:

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken spoke today with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. The Secretary expressed his gratitude for Egypt's ongoing efforts to reach an immediate ceasefire that secures the release of hostages, and discussed with Foreign Minister Shoukry ongoing diplomacy to prevent the conflict from spreading. Secretary Blinken reaffirmed President Biden's clear position that the United States does not support a major military operation in Rafah and the United States' rejection of any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza. The Secretary also expressed the United States' support for the reopening of Rafah crossing and the continued flow of urgently needed humanitarian assistance.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






UK forces airdrop 100 tonnes of aid for Gaza civilians

The Royal Air Force completed its 11th airdrop today, delivering a total of 110 tonnes of aid from 120 parachutes. In this latest airdrop, the UK has provided ready-to-eat meals, water, rice, tinned goods and flour for the people of Gaza

9 May 2024

The Royal Air Force completed its 11th airdrop today, delivering a total of 110 tonnes of aid from 120 parachutes

UK has provided ready-to-eat meals, water, rice, tinned goods and flour for the people of Gaza

Airdrops are alongside UK's continued support to get aid in via land routes and international efforts to open a maritime aid corridor

The UK has completed its 11th airdrop into Gaza today, reaching the milestone of over 100 tonnes of life-saving aid delivered by air.

Over the course of 11 Royal Air Force flights, the UK has delivered ready-to-eat meals, water, rice, tinned goods and flour, with a total of 12 tonnes dropped into Northern Gaza today.

The UK began conducting airdrops in late March, as part of the Jordanian international initiative. The Royal Air Force has used A400Ms, flying from Amman, Jordan, where aid pallets attached to parachutes are collected and loaded by RAF and British Army personnel.

The aid is dropped along the northern coastline of Gaza, with drop zones regularly surveyed to ensure civilians are not harmed. Each flight takes around one hour and British personnel work closely with the Royal Jordanian Air Force to plan and conduct each mission.

Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said:

Our commitment to delivering large quantities of aid to those most in need is unwavering, this milestone is both testament to that and a demonstration of where our focus lies over the coming weeks and months. Given the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, we deployed RFA Cardigan Bay to the Eastern Mediterranean to support efforts to build a temporary pier to deliver crucial humanitarian assistance. We continue to pressure Israel to fully open Ashdod Port as well as more land crossings.

Foreign Secretary David Cameron said:

The UK is playing a leadership role in alleviating the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Through our partnership with Jordan, we have now delivered 100 tonnes of life-saving aid by air. But it is only by land that we will be able to transport the full amount of humanitarian assistance needed. We have seen an encouraging increase in the number of aid trucks getting in, but we must see further action so that more aid gets over the border and is safely distributed.

Royal Navy support ship RFA Cardigan Bay recently set sail from Cyprus to support international efforts to open a maritime aid corridor to Gaza. The ship is providing accommodation for hundreds of US sailors and soldiers building a temporary pier off the coast of Gaza. According to US estimates, this pier will initially facilitate the delivery of 90 truckloads of aid into Gaza and scale up to 150 truckloads once fully operational.

As land routes remain the quickest and most effective means of delivering aid, the UK also continues to engage with Israel to open more land crossings into Gaza.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Statement by UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell on military operations and border closures in Rafah, Gaza

UNICEF

09 May 2024

NEW YORK, 9 May 2024 -- "The humanitarian response of UNICEF and our partners  and thus the lives of all the children and their families in the Gaza Strip who depend on it  requires fuel. We need fuel to move lifesaving supplies - medicine, treatments for malnutrition, tents and water pipes - as well as staff to reach children and families in need. But the intensification of military operations in the Rafah area and the closure of key border crossings into southern Gaza have severed our access to fuel, threatening to grind humanitarian operations to a halt.

"The limited essential infrastructure in Gaza that remains at least partially functional also depends on fuel to provide lifesaving services. This includes the remaining hospitals and primary health care centres, water desalination plants and water wells, sewage pumps and solid waste collection - all of which could run out of fuel within days, if not hours.

"The situation is dire. If the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings are not reopened to fuel and humanitarian supplies, the consequences will be felt almost immediately: life support services for premature babies will lose power; children and families will become dehydrated or consume dangerous water; sewage will overflow and spread disease further. Simply put, lost time will soon become lost lives.

"I strongly urge the relevant authorities to provide humanitarian actors with actionable measures and concrete assurances to facilitate safe and secure movement of humanitarian cargo, via all routes, into and within the Gaza Strip.

"I am also deeply concerned about the movement of civilians in Gaza to unsafe areas. In response to evacuation orders in eastern Rafah, at least 80,000 people have reportedly fled the area, with many seeking shelter in Al-Mawasi and among the ruins of Khan Younis. We have been warning for months that Al-Mawasi is not a safe option. It is a narrow strip of beach on the coast that lacks the basic infrastructure - like toilets and running water - needed to sustain the population. Furthermore, most of the children in Rafah have already been displaced multiple times by the fighting, in direct contravention of their human rights and international humanitarian law.

"Finally, we have also been warning for months that any military escalation in Rafah would lead to even greater human suffering. And now, we are seeing that play out in real-time. Gaza's children have suffered terribly in this war. More than 14,000 have reportedly been killed, according to the latest estimate by the Palestinian Ministry of Health. Thousands more have been injured or lost family members, loved ones or friends, while an estimated 17,000 children are unaccompanied or separated. Nearly all of Gaza's children have been exposed to the traumatic experiences of war, the consequences of which will last a lifetime. Many are badly injured, exhausted, sick, malnourished, or traumatised. With this latest escalation in Rafah, they must now endure more pain and suffering.

"I implore the parties to the conflict to immediately cease hostilities, protect children and civilian infrastructure, release every remaining hostage, and give humanitarian actors the space and access necessary to safely roll out the massive, multi-agency response inside the Gaza Strip that is so desperately needed."

#####

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Gaza: 80,000 displaced from Rafah as Israeli bombardment intensifies, say UN aid teams

9 May 2024 - Some 80,000 people have left Rafah since Monday amid continuing Israeli bombardment in and around Gaza's southernmost city overnight and into Thursday, UN humanitarians reported.

Most of those uprooted by Israeli military evacuation orders in eastern Rafah have already been displaced from other areas of Gaza; they are now leaving with everything they can carry "in vehicles, trucks, (on) motorbikes and donkey carts", according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).

More than 47,500 people are estimated to have left their shelters in Rafah on Wednesday alone, UNRWA said, with some families approaching the agency's shelters at Tel Sultan as well as Al Mawasi in the west.

The World Food Programme's (WFP) Director for Palestine Matthew Hollingworth said in a post on X on Thursday that the agency's main warehouse "is now inaccessible."

"No aid has entered from southern crossings in two days", he added. There is only a single bakery still operational while supplies of food will last only one to three days.

Bombs all around

In an update, UNRWA noted "an ongoing and significant amount of bombardment" in eastern Rafah early Thursday "and all through the night".

The development comes as UN humanitarians repeated warnings about the lack of desperately needed aid reaching highly vulnerable people in Gaza despite reports that the Kerem Shalom crossing near Rafah had reopened.

"We are engaging with all involved on the resumption of the entry of goods, including fuel, and so that we can again begin managing incoming supplies," said the UN aid coordination office, OCHA late Wednesday. "However, the situation remains extremely fluid, and we continue to confront a range of challenges amid active hostilities. We count on cooperation and facilitation to get these crossings operational again since stocks of critical supplies, including fuel, are being depleted by the hour."

The Kerem Shalom crossing had been closed following a deadly rocket attack claimed by Hamas last weekend. It is next to Rafah, which is the main entry point for aid into Gaza and which was seized on Tuesday by Israeli forces, dashing ceasefire hopes.

Northern aid delays

According to OCHA, more than a quarter of humanitarian missions to northern Gaza in April "were impeded by Israeli authorities, and 10 percent were denied...The UN and humanitarian partners continue efforts to scale up aid operations whenever and wherever possible."

On Wednesday the UN World Food Programme (WFP) reported that it had reached Beit Hanoun, in northern Gaza, "which had been inaccessible for months".

In a message on X, the agency said that it was ready to scale up food assistance across northern Gaza, "but rolling back six months months of starvation requires steady flows of food supplies. Safe, lasting access needs to be sustained over time."

Lost time is lost lives: UNICEF chief

In a later statement, the UNICEF chief Catherine Russell, said fuel was urgently needed "to move lifesaving supplies - medicine, treatments for malnutrition, tents and water pipes - as well as staff to reach children and families in need."

Supplies have been in effect severed she added, threatening to grind all operations to a halt.

"The limited essential infrastructure in Gaza that remains at least partially functional also depends on fuel to provide lifesaving services. This includes the remaining hospitals and primary healthcare centres, water desalination plants and water wells, sewage pumps and solid waste collection - all of which could run out of fuel within days, if not hours."

"The situation is dire" she warned and if the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings are not reopened "the consequences will be felt almost immediately: life support services for premature babies will lose power; children and families will become dehydrated or consume dangerous water; sewage will overflow and spread disease further. Simply put, lost time will soon become lost lives."

West Bank violence unabated

As war continues in Gaza, the UN rights office, OHCHR, warned that violations against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank have also increased substantially.

"The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is acting as if there is an armed conflict in the West Bank," said Ajith Sunghay, head of the OHCHR office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, in an interview with UN News.

Mr. Sunghay explained that the situation in the West Bank was already very dire even before hostilities erupted in Gaza following the Hamas-led attacks in southern Israel that left some 1,250 dead and more than 250 taken hostage.

In its latest update on the situation in the West Bank, the UN aid office, OCHA, noted that the Israeli Supreme Court had ruled in favour of the return of 360 Palestinians to their homes in Khirbet Zanouta herding community in Hebron, six months after being displaced by settler attacks.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Haiti: UNICEF ensures thousands have safe drinking water

9 May 2024 - More than 30,000 people displaced by gang violence in Haiti's capital, Port-au-Prince, have access to safe drinking water thanks to the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and partners.

Port-au-Prince has been in the grip of armed groups for several years now, and roughly two months ago they launched coordinated attacks which paralyzed the metropolitan area.

Since then, UNICEF, alongside the National Directorate for Water and Sanitation (DINEPA) and partners, has provided more than 2.6 million litres of safe drinking water to children and families across 20 sites housing those displaced.

Dire conditions, disease threat

The recent escalation of violence has compounded the already dire situation faced by children and families, who already lack essential support and facilities.

The current rainy season has only added to their plight, leading to major flooding in lowland areas of the capital and the resurgence of cholera cases in Cite Soleil, an extremely impoverished neighbourhood.

"With no drinking quality water and adequate sanitation and hygiene facilities, displaced children are exposed to water-borne diseases, more specifically to a widespread cholera outbreak" said Ruben Um Bayiha, Chief of UNICEF's Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) Programme.

'Navigating a war zone'

Furthermore, he said "operating in such an insecure and volatile environment is akin to navigating a war zone every day."

Despite the challenges, UNICEF and partners are stepping up efforts to protect children and families and provide the lifesaving support they desperately need, he stressed.

Supporting displaced families

UNICEF leads WASH response in Haiti, providing over half of overall support, ensuring safe drinking water, sanitation, and hygiene services at all displacement sites.

Initiatives include trucking water, treating piped water, repairing water supply and sanitation systems, building temporary latrines, providing essential hygiene items, and delivering hygiene messages.

UNICEF said its WASH efforts "yielded significant outcomes" during March, with over 700,000 gallons (2.66 million litres) of chlorinated water distributed to displaced families and children.

Collaborative efforts with partners such as the aid organizations Solidarites International, ORRAH, and ACTED, have ensured that essential needs were met even in the most challenging circumstances.

Furthermore, UNICEF and partners have distributed hygiene kits to almost 11,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) across six sites.

'Crisis will worsen'

UNICEF has also prioritized improving sanitary conditions in the high-risk IDP sites, including removing and safely disposing about 78 cubic metres of fecal sludge from three sites accommodating roughly 7,000 people.

Mr. Um Bayiha upheld the agency's commitment to addressing evolving needs, particularly as the region braces for the upcoming hurricane season.

Yet, he warned that "this crisis will worsen unless the response is scaled up urgently," underscoring the need for funding.

UNICEF aims to support more than 884,000 people across Haiti this year to access quality water for drinking and domestic needs, as well as appropriate sanitation services and critical WASH supplies.

Thousands receive meals

Meanwhile, UN humanitarians and partners been supporting people affected by recent gang clashes in Delmas commune in Port-au-Prince.

Meals, shelter and other supplies have been provided to displaced persons and the host community, and the hope is that assistance will ramp up as soon as security allows.

This week, the World Food Programme distributed food to 264,000 schoolchildren and more than 5,600 displaced people in the capital.

WFP also distributed food in Cite Soleil, reaching some 26,000 people this week.

Teams have reached more than 680,000 people since the beginning of March and provided more than 800,000 hot meals to more than 94,000 displaced people in the Port-au-Prince metropolitan area.

WFP has also distributed school meals to more than 330,000 school children across Haiti.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East

UNRWA

9 May 2024

From Philippe Lazzarini, the UNRWA Commissioner General as posted on his official X account (previously known as Twitter)

This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem.

This took place while UNRWA and other UN Agencies' staff were on the compound.

While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas. The UNRWA headquarters has on its grounds a petrol and diesel station for the Agency's fleet of cars.

Our director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up.

A crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting "Burn down the United Nations" (see video below from Israeli media).

This is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk.

In light of this second appalling incident in less than a week, I have taken the decision to close down our coumpound until proper security is restored.

Over the past two months, Israeli extremists have been staging protests outside the UNRWA compound in Jerusalem, called by an elected member of the Jerusalem municipality.

This week, the protest became violent when demonstrators threw stones at UN staff and at the buildings of the compound.

Over the past months, UN staff have regularly been subjected to harassment and intimidation. Our compound has been seriously vandalized and damaged.

On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns.

It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times.

UN staff, premises and operations should be protected at all times in line with international law.

I call on all those who have influence to put an end to these attacks and hold all those responsible accountable.

The perpetrators of these attacks must be investigated and those responsible must be held accountable.

Anything less will set a new dangerous standard.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






920th RQW successfully conducts civilian medical airlift 350 miles off coast of US

Published May 9, 2024

By Tech. Sgt. Darius Sostre-Miroir

920th Rescue Wing Public Affairs

PATRICK SPACE FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) -- The 920th Rescue Wing successfully conducted a civilian medical airlift operation of a critical patient aboard a cruise ship located more than 350-nautical-miles off the eastern coast of the United States May 4.

Within hours of the call, the 920th RQW prepared and launched a rescue force consisting of two HH-60G Pave Hawks, two HC-130J Combat King IIs and two teams of combat rescue officers and pararescuemen to fly to the ship's position and safely extract the patient for transport to the nearest capable medical center.

"Everyone in the wing mobilized with exceptional speed," said Capt. Dylan Gann, 301st Rescue Squadron pilot. "By uniting our efforts, we saved crucial time, delivering life-saving assistance six hours ahead of other response teams. Our collective determination and efficiency ensured the successful rescue and transport of the individual in need."

The wing assembled a wing operations center battle staff to coordinate all aspects of the rescue across the wing. Air Force specialty codes from maintenance to weather directed information to the on-scene team. Flight doctors were used to find the right treatment facility for the patient from home station and relayed information via over the horizon communication and data links to the rescue force.

Reaching the ship's remote location required three helicopter air-to-air refuelings. A HAAR involves connecting a probe from the helicopter to a drogue on the HC-130J, allowing fuel transfer mid-flight. This ensures extended mission duration and combat readiness in austere environments and dynamic situations.

When the mission commander arrived on location, two HC-130J's circled the airspace to assess the situation and assumed on-scene command while ready to conduct HAAR as needed. Then, HH-60s approached the ship to execute the extraction of the patient. Pararescuemen were hoisted down and immediately began preparing the patient and then the patient and his mother were then hoisted up into the helicopter, where he was received medical attention enroute to a hospital.



"This is what ready now looks like," said Lt. Col. John Lowe, 920th Operations Group commander. "These real-world missions are what our countless hours of training have prepared us for. Rescue was able to plan and execute this mission without hesitation. This combined arms team is highly trained in their field while understanding what role they play in the bigger picture and led to the successful completion of the mission," Lowe said.

The patient was successfully transferred to a hospital in the United States. After eight hours and more than 1,000 miles flown, the mission was complete when all of the aircraft returned to Patrick Space Force Base.

Based at Patrick SFB, the 920th Rescue Wing is Air Force Reserve Command's only combat search and rescue wing. Its primary mission is to plan, lead and conduct military rescue operations and missions to deny competitors and adversaries exploitation of isolated personnel.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Optimizing AI, Air University hosts Artificial Intelligence Symposium

Published May 9, 2024

By Senior Airman Greydon Furstenau

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. (AFNS) -- Military and civilian leaders from across the Department of the Air Force recently convened at Air University to discuss the emerging role of artificial intelligence in future warfighting. These discussions took place at the Air University Symposium, "Harnessing AI for Information Advantage" event, hosted at Maxwell Air Force Base May 1-2.

The symposium focused primarily on the potential benefits of AI and how it will shape the information advantage in future conflicts. Key discussion topics included the coming AI revolution, identifying the threats and potential promises of AI in military applications, developing future AI-capable warfighters and how to reoptimize current strategies by incorporating AI in an era of Great Power Competition.

"Air University is meeting the challenges and benefits posed by AI head on," said Lt. Col. Matthew Tipton, LeMay Center deputy director of Strategy and Concepts. "For example, in the flying community, pilots develop 'air sense,' an intuitive grasp of their aircraft's behavior through experience. It's about feeling beyond the visible, sensing what might be amiss. We face a similar challenge with artificial intelligence: How can we cultivate an 'AI sense' in Airmen? It's about training them to not only understand the data but also to intuitively recognize when something doesn't seem quite right."

Keynote speakers at the symposium included Casey Mock from the Center for Humane Technology who discussed risks associated with generative AI and deception, and author Paul Scharre who discussed excerpts from his book, "Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence."

Other presenters included subject matter experts from Department of the Air Force AI Accelerator at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Air Force Research Laboratory, Air Force Institute of Technology, Eglin Flight Test Squadron, National Air and Space Intelligence Center, Headquarters Air Force Chief Digital and AI Office, China Aerospace Studies Institute, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency and others.

The symposium also facilitated networking opportunities, enabling Air Force leaders to meet and engage with top experts in the AI-career field from across academia, think tanks and industry with the common goal of exploring the AI technology that will change the way the military views AI and ultimately inform Air Force doctrine.

In addition to the main symposium, an Air University research showcase was hosted at the historic Kress Building in downtown Montgomery, Alabama, on May 1, where participants from across Air University presented projects to highlight the cutting-edge research taking place at Maxwell AFB. Here, students interacted directly with senior military leaders while discussing how AI can be used to address complex challenges, fuel innovation while enhancing safety and security. This provided a platform for students to discuss their findings and demonstrate their learning directly to key military leaders.

"We aimed to distill some of the noise surrounding this topic and go straight to the truth about AI. The media offers various portrayals, but we focused on showing the actual situation  our current position and our ongoing efforts," Tipton said. "This approach enabled direct dialogue between AI practitioners and the MAJCOM [major command] commander."

As AI advances, it will continue to play a critical role in optimizing defense strategies in support of great power competition. The Air University AI Symposium is just one of the steps being taken to tackle these significant challenges while providing an overview of how AI is impacting the defense establishment.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Enhancing Maritime Domain Awareness: Obangame Express bolsters Africa's Yaounde Code of Conduct

US Navy

09 May 2024

From Lt.Cmdr. Tyler Barker

LIBREVILLE, Gabon -- The Yaounde Code of Conduct (YCoC) provides a framework and governing instruction on maritime coordination and collaboration throughout West and Central Africa.

Borne out of a need for a common regional strategy to address transnational threats in the Gulf of Guinea, the YCoC has been in place for over a decade and has proven an integral component of maritime security and stability in the region.

"In June 2013, the leaders of the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) and Central Africa (ECCAS), as well as the Gulf of Guinea Commission (CGG), met in Yaounde, Cameroon, laying the foundations for a common regional strategy relating to the prevention and repression of illegal acts perpetrated in the common maritime space of West and Central Africa," said Captain Emmanuel Bell Bell, Head of the Information and Communication Management Division at the Interregional Coordination Center (ICC). "The primary objective of the Yaounde Code of Conduct is to manage and significantly reduce the adverse effects of acts of piracy, armed robbery against vessels and other illicit maritime activities, such as illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing."

The heart of the YCoC centers on continued regional collaboration and a sense of trust among neighboring countries and YCoC signatories. Maritime threats are not relegated to one nation's territorial waters, so collaboration is essential to the economies and livelihoods of all West African nations. What affects Senegal's Exclusive Economic Zone can affect the waters of Angola and Namibia. Illicit activity off the coast of Cabo Verde can have repercussions in Gabon and the Republic of Congo. This interconnectedness presents challenges and opportunities.

"Given the maritime transnational threats facing the Gulf of Guinea, no State could effectively resolve this maritime security problem alone, hence the regional maritime security and safety strategies adopted by the Regional Economic Communities," Bell Bell added.

This overall Gulf of Guinea information sharing framework divides the West and Central African maritime domain into a series of zones, with national Maritime Operations Centers (MOC) feeding information to the zone leads and into Maritime Multinational Coordination Centers (MMCC), located in Luanda, Angola; Douala, Cameroon; Cotonou, Benin; Accra, Ghana; and a final MMCC under development in Praia, Cabo Verde. These MMCCs then report to one of two regional-level coordination centers, the Regional Maritime Security Center for Central Africa (CRESMAC) in Pointe Noire, Congo, and the Regional Maritime Security Center for West Africa (CRESMAO) in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, with the overall responsibility for implementing the YCoC resting with the ICC in Yaounde.

In order to truly hone a collective regional response to threats, exercise Obangame Express, by design, takes place across more than 6,000 kilometers in Western and Central African waters. Rather than partner nations coming to one country and one MOC to train, exercise serials will take place across all zones, from Senegal to Angola, mirroring the zones of the YCoC.

"The key to success in the Obangame Express series of exercises is leveraging the experiences, capabilities and functionalities of all of our African partners, and leveraging them across the entire Yaounde Code of Conduct area," said Capt. Harish Patel, Obangame Express exercise director. "Obangame Express participants are united in a common purpose - working together to ensure maritime security across Western Africa. We are excited to work toward that goal during the course of the exercise."

For this overall maritime architecture to work, every step of information gathering and processing, from national MOCs to MMCCs, to the CRESMAC and CRESMAO, and ultimately to the ICC, must be coordinated and communicated to be successful. This is where multinational training opportunities like Obangame Express come into play.

Now in its 13th iteration, a primary goal of the exercise is to test this information sharing framework. It empowers African and international partners to identify, assess, and share suspect activity and potential threats with operations centers for further evaluation and, if needed, a coordinated response.

"Exercises like Obangame Express are an opportunity to test some pillars of the regional maritime security and safety strategy for the Gulf of Guinea, notably the exchange of information, the harmonization of operational procedures and the strengthening of cooperation between partners in the maritime sector," said Bell Bell. "On a practical level, we are talking about testing the technical, procedural and human interoperability of all our navies based on realistic scenarios concerning maritime threats. In addition, Obangame Express grants a certain visibility to the architectural structures of Yaounde."

As partners and allies work together through various Obangame Express exercise serials, they know that the training they accomplish during the exercise has real world benefits throughout the year. Understanding and implementing the tenets of the Yaounde Code of Conduct benefits not only those nations on Africa's Western shores, but all participating partner and ally forces.

In place for more than a decade, the YCoC has become an integral component of West African maritime security. Through combined initiatives like Obangame Express, it will remain a model for regional and international collaboration for decades to come.

During exercise Obangame Express 2024, the 13th iteration of the exercise, partner and ally forces collaborate to enhance collective maritime law enforcement capabilities, bolster national and regional security in West Africa, and foster greater interoperability among U.S., African, and multinational partners. The U.S. routinely exercises with our partners in Africa to build enduring relationships and combined capacity to ensure the safety and security of the regional maritime environment.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Rafah assault will strengthen Hamas' hand, says White House

By Patsy Widakuswara May 09, 2024

The United States is again warning Israel against expanding its limited operation into an all-out assault on Rafah, this time not only for long-held humanitarian concerns but for strategic calculations.

"Our view is that Rafah operations, certainly any kind of major Rafah ground operation, would actually strengthen Hamas' hands at the negotiating table, not Israel's," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters Thursday.

Kirby said that Yahya Sinwar, the Hamas leader believed to be hiding in the network of tunnels in Gaza, would have "less incentive to want to come to the negotiating table" if there were massive new civilian casualties in Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered Israeli forces to carry out a "limited operation" in eastern Rafah earlier this week after rejecting a proposed cease-fire deal that Hamas said it had agreed to. The deal would have provided a temporary pause in hostilities paired with the release of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails.

On Thursday, cease-fire negotiations in Cairo between Israel and Hamas with intermediaries including Egypt, Qatar and the U.S. were put on hold, according to Egyptian state media.

U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Thursday that negotiators are still working to make changes to Hamas' counterproposal, but finalizing the agreement's text was an "incredibly difficult" process.

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Thursday that his country's military "will continue to fight Hamas until its destruction."

His comments came a day after President Joe Biden said the U.S. would not provide offensive weapons to Israel for use in Rafah, while also expressing a commitment to Israel's defense.

Weapons shipment pause

The U.S. announced Wednesday it is pausing shipment of weapons consisting of 1,800 907-kilogram (2,000-pound) bombs and 1,700 226-kilogram (500-pound) bombs over concerns that Israel could use them in civilian-populated areas of Rafah as they have in other parts of Gaza.

U.S. officials have for weeks expressed opposition to Israel's plans to carry out an offensive in Rafah, where more than half of the territory's population has sought refuge from the fighting elsewhere. Israeli officials cited the need to conduct an operation there to defeat Hamas and secure the release of hostages held in Gaza.

Israel has now occupied the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing into Egypt. It's an effort to send the signal that Hamas no longer has control over the territory, said Aaron David Miller, former U.S. negotiator for the Middle East who is now with the Carnegie Endowment for Peace.

"And perhaps to position themselves for a more comprehensive operation," he told VOA.

Whether the arms transfer pause will change Israel's calculus on Rafah is "too soon to tell," Kirby said. Further U.S. action toward Israel is "going to depend on what we see Israel do in Rafah."

Kirby rejected proposals reportedly floated by Israel that would allow it to continue its operations in Rafah during the proposed cease-fire. The U.S. would only support a cease-fire that would provide "six weeks of calm in all of Gaza," he said.

"Smashing into Rafah" would not advance the objective of Hamas' sustainable and enduring defeat, Kirby said. The U.S. is prepared instead to secure the border between Gaza and Egypt to prevent weapons from coming into the Palestinian enclave.

The U.S. can also "help [Israel] target the leaders including Mr. Sinwar, which we are frankly doing with the Israelis on an ongoing basis," Kirby said.

On further questioning, he would not confirm that the United States is helping Israel to identify specific targets but said the U.S. can help with "setting the conditions" for Israel to go after them.

Miller said an assassination attempt on Hamas leaders is unlikely to compel the militant group to move closer toward cease-fire.

"Sinwar wants to survive," he said.

The White House has not responded to VOA's question on whether the administration would support a cease-fire counteroffer from Hamas that allows its leaders to remain alive.

Humanitarian concerns

United Nations officials expressed concerns about humanitarian aid deliveries reaching Gaza, including fuel, amid the Israeli operations in the Rafah area.

Rafah is a key crossing used to bring in aid from Egypt, while a nearby crossing called Kerem Shalom allows for shipments to cross into southern Gaza from Israel.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it has reopened the Kerem Shalom crossing, but the United Nations said no humanitarian aid had yet entered the Palestinian territory as no one was present to receive it after workers left the area because of Israeli attacks near there.

The Kerem Shalom crossing was closed last weekend after a Hamas rocket attack killed four Israeli soldiers. Tuesday, an Israeli tank brigade seized the nearby Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, also forcing its closure.

UNRWA, the U.N.'s Palestinian aid agency, closed its doors in East Jerusalem Thursday, the agency said in a statement, after Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeters of its headquarters.

There were no casualties, but armed men outside UNRWA's compound chanted, "Burn down the United Nations."

Protests outside the compound have become violent this week, according to the statement, with demonstrators throwing stones at U.N. staff and at buildings.

UNRWA called for the perpetrators of the attacks to be investigated and held responsible.

Around 80,000 people have fled Rafah since Monday when Israel intensified its operations in the southern Gaza city, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said Thursday.

The World Health Organization says about 1.2 million people are sheltering in Rafah, and more than half of them are children. Many have come from other parts of Gaza, fleeing in search of safety and shelter as Israel's campaign against Hamas left much of the Gaza Strip in ruins.

The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials. About 100 of the hostages were freed in a weeklong truce in late November.

Israel's counteroffensive in Gaza has killed more than 34,900 Palestinians, about two-thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza. The Israeli military says the death toll includes thousands of Hamas fighters it has killed.

United Nations correspondent Margaret Besheer contributed to this report. Some information came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Aid shipment destined for Gaza leaves Cyprus

By VOA News May 09, 2024

Relief supplies for the Gaza Strip left Cyprus on a U.S. container ship Thursday morning, Cypriot officials said.

The U.S. vessel Sagamore, filled with aid from Britain, Cyprus and the United States, left the port of Larnaca, Cypriot government spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou said.

U.S. military engineers have been working to install a temporary pier on the Gaza coast to unload maritime aid deliveries. The project has experienced delays because of heavy seas off the coast, forcing builders to assemble the pier in the Israeli port of Ashdod.

"The platform is expected to be ready by the time the ship arrives in order for the aid to be unloaded and distributed to Palestinians in need," Antoniou said.

U.S. President Joe Biden ordered the construction of the platform in March.

Donor countries are trying to find other ways to send aid to Gaza. U.N. agencies warned that Israel's restriction of deliveries could contribute to an emerging famine in Gaza.

Relief is desperately needed in Gaza after Israel ordered an evacuation of at least 100,000 Palestinians from Rafah, Gaza's southernmost city, where most of the territory's population has clustered.

Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.

The Israel-Hamas war was triggered by the October 7 Hamas terror attack on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and led to the capture of about 250 hostages, according to Israeli officials.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Several killed after residents of Afghan province protest orders from Taliban

By Ayaz Gul May 09, 2024

At least four people were reported killed on Thursday during clashes between protesters and Taliban security forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Residents in Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, held a demonstration after being told by Taliban authorities to vacate their homes for the construction of a customs clearing facility, according to witnesses and officials.

Protesters blocked a busy highway linking Afghanistan to Pakistan and refused to allow the destruction of their properties. Taliban security forces fired gunshots to disperse the crowd and clear the highway to allow trade convoys to resume their journey in both directions, eyewitnesses reported.

An area information and culture department spokesperson confirmed the clashes, saying residents "created chaos in response" to the official order. Arafat Mohajer said that the violence resulted in the death of a Taliban officer and "a number of people who were occupying the [state[ land [illegally]." He did not share further details.

Protesters refuted the official claims, saying they had the deeds and owned the land.

A resident in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, confirmed to VOA by phone that firing by Taliban security forces killed three protesters.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan three years ago and faced no public opposition to their hard-line policies until this month.

Last week, farmers and residents took to the streets in northeastern Badakhshan province to protest the eradication of poppy fields by the Taliban counternarcotics units.

Security forces opened fire to disperse the demonstrators, killing two people.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, has imposed a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation and production, usage, transportation and trade of all illicit drugs in Afghanistan.

Some information for this report came from AFP.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Somalia calls for termination of UN political mission

By Mohamed Olad Hassan May 09, 2024

The Somali government has asked the U.N. Security Council to terminate the U.N. political mission in Somalia that has been helping the war-torn African country since 2013.

News about a letter requesting the departure of the 360-member United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) when its mandate expires in October has been circulating through social media for about a day. The news also temporarily appeared on the website of the Somali National News Agency before the content was removed.

Government officials who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media confirmed the existence of the request to VOA.

Ahmed Isse Awad, Somalia's former foreign minister and former ambassador to the U.S., said the mission is still vital to Somalia and the decision to terminate is untimely.

"The U.N. political mission has advised and supported Somalia on governance, peacebuilding, security reforms and democracy for over a decade, and I think it is still vital for strengthening the capacity of the government institutions. I think it is not the time to terminate it," he said.

The government's request to end the mission comes at a time a U.N.-mandated African Union safekeeping mission, currently comprising at least 10,000 soldiers known as ATMIS, is due to withdraw and hand the country's security over to the Somali state by the end of this year.

VOA's calls to Somalia's foreign and information ministries went unanswered.

According to the United Nations, UNSOM was established in 2013 by U.N. Security Council Resolution 2102 to advise the federal government of Somalia and the African Union Mission in Somalia on policy and peacebuilding.

The UNSOM mandate was subsequently renewed by Security Council resolutions more than 15 times. The current Resolution 2710, approved in 2023, expires in October.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Greece criticizes Turkey for converting ancient church to mosque

By Anthee Carassava May 09, 2024

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has officially dedicated an ancient Byzantine church as a mosque, drawing a protest from Greece. Many Greeks want a summit scheduled for Monday in Ankara between Erdogan and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to be canceled.

Greece's criticism centers on the formal opening of the Church of St. Saviour in Chora as a Muslim house of worship, four years after it was converted. The ancient site was a museum before its conversion to a mosque and is a United Nations-protected monument revered for its mosaic masterpieces.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan presided remotely over the opening ceremony this past Monday from the presidential palace in Ankara.

While the move to open the site as a mosque has won praise from the Muslim faithful in Turkey, it has angered many Greeks, among them Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.

He said Erdogan's decision is "unnecessary" and an insult.

Speaking after talks Thursday with Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou, Mitsotakis said if anything, the church's conversion is an affront to, as he put it, the rich cultural history that Istanbul has to show for... at the crossroads of many civilizations.

The Church of St. Saviour in Chora is the latest ancient church that Erdogan has converted since ordering Istanbul's prized landmark, the Hagia Sophia, to be transformed in 2020 to a Muslim house of prayer.

Analysts view the conversions as part of an attempt by Erdogan to consolidate the conservative and religious support base of his ruling party amid an economic downturn gripping Turkey.

The latest conversion has also drawn criticism from the United States, with the State Department calling on Turkey to preserve the monument's diverse history and allow access to all visitors.

In Athens, many political leaders are urging Mitsotakis to cancel a meeting he has scheduled with Erdogan for next week as part of a previously agreed plan to ease relations between the longtime foes.

Nikos Androulakis, the leader of Greece's socialist party, is among those calling for the talks to be called off.

"There is no way that I would go," Androulakis said, adding, "This is a provocation."

The prospect of canceling the talks is a "no-go," said Mitsotakis.

"It is imperative to keep all channels of communication open," said Mitsotakis.

He went on to say, "It is much better that I face President Erdogan in person and express my strong opposition to this latest conversion, than allow this matter to spark another crisis between the two countries."

Relations between Greece and Turkey have long been strained. The two neighbors and NATO members nearly went to war in 2020 over contested energy reserves in the Mediterranean. They have also been at odds over the divided island of Cyprus; it is split between a Turkish-Cypriot north and a Greek-Cypriot south.

Since 1974, several efforts by the United Nations and the United States to reunite the island have failed.

In recent remarks, Erdogan said all problems can be resolved between Greece and Turkey. In December, Erdogan made an official visit to Greece, where he met with Prime Minister Mitsotakis. They agreed on several measures to ease tensions.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






North Macedonia's right-wing opposition scores victory in elections

By Jane Bojadzievski May 09, 2024

North Macedonia elected its first woman president Wednesday as the ruling Social Democratic Union of Macedonia suffered historic losses in presidential and parliamentary elections.

With nearly all the votes counted, university professor Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, the presidential candidate of the right-wing VMRO-DPMNE opposition party, won nearly 65% of the vote, with incumbent President Stevo Pendarovski winning 29%, according to the country's State Election Commission.

In the parliamentary contest, the VMRO-DPMNE-led coalition Your Macedonia won 43% of the votes, giving it 58 of the parliament's 120 seats, just short of a majority.

Although it was uncertain on election day whether the 40% turnout threshold for the presidential election would be reached, due to calls for a boycott, the State Election Commission reported that turnout exceeded 46%.

In her first post-election public address, President-elect Siljanovska-Davkova promised to "act as the president of all citizens, of all ethnic groups, of party members, of those who are not in parties, because a president, especially not if she is a woman, cannot unite and search for unity if he sticks to party lines."

VMRO-DPMNE party head Hristijan Mickoski called the election results a "historic victory for North Macedonia and the people of Macedonia," adding that the ruling Social Democratic Union, or SDSM, lost because of "crime, corruption, incompetence, false values, the confiscated state, tenders, nepotism and a hundred other consequences that made the state suffer and the people disappointed."

SDSM officials have repeatedly rejected these criticisms.

SDSM head Dimitar Kovacevski congratulated the victors Wednesday while telling reporters that his party's loss was "disappointing" and "a heavy blow."

EU and NATO considerations

The country agreed to change its name from the Republic of Macedonia to the Republic of North Macedonia in 2019 following a decadeslong dispute with Greece over the designation.

In a 2018 referendum, voters in North Macedonia approved an agreement with Greece that included changing the country's name in order to clear the way for its European Union and NATO accession. However, turnout for the referendum was less than the 50% threshold required to validate the results, leaving parliament to approve the change.

Mickoski has refused to acknowledge the country's name change and the 2018 agreement with Greece. The opposition also supports standing firm in ongoing linguistic and historical disputes with neighboring Bulgaria, an EU member that has blocked North Macedonia's EU accession negotiations.

EU membership negotiations with North Macedonia  and fellow-candidate Albania  began in 2022, and the process is expected to take years.

Commenting Wednesday on North Macedonia's elections and their potential effect on the country's EU accession bid, Deputy U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Gabriel Escobar said, "I am confident and hope that regardless of the elections in North Macedonia, the road to Europe will continue."

On Tuesday, European Commission spokesperson Ana Pisonero told reporters in Brussels that "North Macedonia has committed itself to constitutional changes and, from our perspective, we believe that all political forces will focus on progress in the EU integration process."

Pisonero added: "The European Council has clearly stated what the expectations are and we, for our part, fully support the perspective of North Macedonia's membership in the EU, and we hope that we will be able to open the negotiation process as soon as possible."

Corruption is an issue

The European Commission reported in November that corruption, another hot-button issue, "remains prevalent in many areas" of North Macedonia.

In December, U.S. Ambassador to North Macedonia Angela Aggeler said there was "an epidemic of corruption in this country that has affected every sector, every organization, and only by exposing the corrupt actors can we begin to help the country address these issues."

The VMRO-DPMNE has accused the SDSM and its junior coalition partner, the Democratic Union for Integration, the third-largest political party and largest ethnic Albanian political party, of causing a "corruption pandemic."

Wednesday was the third time that Macedonian citizens in the U.S. and elsewhere outside North Macedonia voted in the country's presidential elections.

According to the State Election Commission, more than 2,300 domestic and international observers monitored the voting.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Chad opposition, civil society groups complain of vote rigging and threats

By Moki Edwin Kindzeka May 09, 2024

Chad's opposition, civil society groups and some election observers are condemning violence, threats and fraud, including the stuffing of ballot boxes, to favor transitional president General Mahamat Idriss Deby after the central African state's May 6 presidential polls. Deby's main challenger, Prime Minister Succes Masra, is asking for international assistance, saying he is under surveillance and faces threats to his safety after at least two people were killed in the election.

Masra says there has been persistent violence and threats against him and his supporters since election day.

The Transformers, the party Masra leads, said on Facebook Wednesday that their candidate's residence is under drone surveillance, but gave no further details.

The party denounced what it called threats and serious violence to intimidate their supporters, who they say have also been arbitrarily arrested since Monday's vote.

Masra charged that Chad's National Elections Management Agency, known as ANGE, is rigging the vote in favor of Deby. Masra urged civilians to defend what he called their will expressed at the ballot box against massive electoral fraud.

Chad's Coalition of Moral Authorities for Mediation, or CONAMM, an association that includes traditional rulers, clerics, former government ministers and youth and women leaders, complained of massive fraud and intimidation during the polls.

Speaking on Chad's state television Thursday, CONAMM's secretary-general Baniara Yoyana said there were many irregularities including seizing and stuffing of ballot boxes in favor of Deby by government officials. He added such irregularities are pushing civilians who think that their democratic rights are being abused to riot.

Chad's opposition and civil society say a government soldier who attempted to stuff ballot boxes in favor of Deby died in a hospital after he was assaulted and stabbed by angry voters near Moundou, Chad's second-largest city.

They also say a civilian was killed on election day in Moundou following a dispute in a polling station.

Chad's government acknowledges the killings but denies troops were ordered to vote and rig the election in favor of Deby.

The central African state's officials say ANGE is a permanent, independent and impartial body and refute what they say are allegations Deby wants to rig the election and proclaim himself Chad's president.

Civil society groups and CONAMM say Chad may descend into chaos if the government and ANGE fail to ensure the results they will publish reflect the aspirations of Chad's citizens as expressed in Monday's polls.

Saleh Kebzabo's duty as Chad's government-appointed state mediator is to preempt and negotiate an end to potential crises and threats.

He said he is pleading with all citizens to be calm and maintain peace while waiting for the official proclamation of Chad's May 6 presidential elections results by the country's constitutional council, which is the only body empowered to proclaim definitive results. Kebzabo said results civilians appear to be contesting are fake because Chad's Constitutional Council has not proclaimed any.

Kebzabo said tensions are also provoked by a ban on filming or taking photos of result sheets in polling stations and publishing them on social media and radio and television. ANGE says it imposed the ban because opposition parties may manipulate results they film to ignite violent clashes.

The European Union said Tuesday that Chad officials denied nearly 3,000 civil society members it financed from observing the presidential election.

Deby was proclaimed transitional president in April 2021 after his father, Idriss Deby Itno, was killed in a gun battle with rebels following 30 years in power.

He promised an 18-month transition to democracy but then extended it by two years. He is seen by many observers as the likely winner of the May 6 presidential polls, whose result will be proclaimed by Chad's Constitutional Council on May 21.

The opposition and civil society accuse Deby ruling with an iron fist and say he is not ready to relinquish power. But Deby says he will hand over power if defeated.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Operation Iron Swords - Day 216 - 09 May 2024

At any point, Hamas could have ended this burgeoning tragedy to

surrender and release every hostage.

Hamas instigated and owns this humanitarian catastrophe.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA)

Israel Today newspaper reported that the head of Israel's propaganda system (Hespra), Moshek Aviv, resigned from his position 09 May 2024. Aviv took office about a month before last October 7. He was subjected to harsh criticism for Tel Aviv's inability to implement successful propaganda campaigns in the face of the Palestinian narrative that has spread widely around the world. This is not the Aviv Moshe who is a well-known celebrity chef in Israel who has a restaurant and deli in Piano, a shopping mall in South Netanya.

Avivs post was the key position overseeing Israels public diplomacy efforts. The head of the national information system Moshek Aviv stated 10 April 2024: We are marking half a year of intense fighting in the information arena in the fight for the consciousness of the international community. The activity of the information system will continue to be focused and determined with the goal of generating international legitimacy for our actions in the various arenas. We will continue to fight for the truth of the State of Israel and spread it in every way.

It was Aviv who told English-language spokesman Eylon Levy that he was suspended until further notice in early March, prompting Levys departure from the directorate. The official reason for Avivs departure is personal and health-related, the TV report says. It quotes sources in the Prime Ministers Office saying, however, that there are other reasons for his departure, and noting that he is a very statesmanlike person. The report says that the political intrigues in the PMO would likely have been hard for him. Public Diplomacy Minister Galit Distel Atbaryan quit her job five days after the October 7 Hamas invasion and massacre in southern Israel.

The Hebrew newspaper Israel Today quoted Defense Council Minister Benny Gantz as saying, Israel has a security and moral obligation to continue fighting to return our prisoners and remove the Hamas threat from the south of the country, and the United States has a moral and strategic obligation to provide Israel with the tools required for that.

Talks for the release of the abductees reached a dead end. Disagreements between Israel and the US were also noted in the negotiations. The Americans are pushing for a big deal - the cessation of hostilities in exchange for the release of all the abductees. As far as Israel is concerned, ending the hostilities is not at all on the agenda. The Israeli delegation returned from Cairo to Israel in the afternoon, not before putting on a written document its reservations about the Hamas plan. A delegation of the terrorist organization and the head of the CIA also left Egypt without reaching an understanding.

An American source told Al Jazeera that it was decided to stop the talks held in Cairo regarding a ceasefire in Gaza and the exchange of prisoners due to the current situation in Rafah. The source familiar with the talks explained that the delegation of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) returned to Doha, while other delegations remained in Cairo. The same source indicated that CIA Director William Burns was on his way back from Cairo to the United States as scheduled.

Meanwhile, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted a political source as saying that the Israeli delegation left Cairo to return to Israel. The source told the Commission that it was found that there were unbridgeable gaps in the prisoner exchange negotiations. Israeli Army Radio said that the Israeli delegation "presented reservations about Hamas' proposal, and confirmed that the operation in Rafah will continue as planned."

David Horovitz wrote in the Times of Israel "close examination of the Hamas document, as issued (Arabic) by the terror group itself, shows that far from containing amendments or a remotely viable counterproposal, it is constructed with incendiary sophistication to ensure that Hamas survives the war and regains control over the entire Gaza Strip. It is also calculated to ensure that Hamas secures further key, immensely far-reaching goals without having to meet the prime Israeli requirement for a deal: the release of all the hostages. In fact, Hamas can abrogate the deal, with all of its key goals achieved and then some, while continuing to hold almost all of the hostages.... the IDF must withdraw completely from Gaza and a permanent cessation of military operations must take effect before any more hostages are freed in the second stage....

".. the Hamas proposal states that, in the first stage, internally displaced people in Gaza shall return to their areas of residence and that all residents of Gaza shall be allowed freedom of movement in all parts of the Strip, with all Israeli aviation (military and reconnaissance) in Gaza to cease for much of each day. Combined with a partial withdrawal of IDF troops as further specified for this first stage, the effect of these demands would be to enable Hamass gunmen and officials to retake control of the entire Gaza Strip....

"Sinwar would reliably expect the euphoria accompanying the return of the prisoners to cement Hamas as the peerless champion of the Palestinian cause, fueling soaring support for Hamas in the West Bank and the unification of West Bank Palestinians behind it, the marginalizing of the already failing PA, and the dawn of a new era of escalated violence and terrorism against Israel..... Hamas would have very little incentive to proceed with the process. It would have precious little left to extract from Israel. And Israel, crucially, would have very little if any remaining leverage over Hamas."

War Termination

A prominent leader in the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) said - today, Thursday - that Israel is not serious about reaching an agreement, and is exploiting the negotiations as a cover to invade the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip . A member of the Hamas political bureau, Izzat al-Rishq, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to create pretexts to evade the negotiations, and blames Hamas and the mediators.

In statements published on the Telegram platform, Al-Rishq added that Hamass approval of the mediators proposal confused Netanyahu and put him in a dilemma, stressing that Hamas is sticking to its position that it informed the mediators of approving their proposal. Yesterday, Wednesday, negotiations resumed in Cairo aimed at reaching an agreement to exchange prisoners and detainees and to establish a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in the presence of all concerned parties, amid American optimism about the possibility of concluding an agreement.

Hamas leader Osama Hamdan said that the movement sent its delegation to Cairo to confirm its seriousness in negotiating, and that the ball is now in the court of the American administration, which he said must prove its seriousness and credibility in committing the Netanyahu government to the agreement proposal that Hamas agreed to. Last Monday, Hamas announced its approval of a proposed three-stage agreement for a ceasefire in Gaza and an exchange of prisoners and detainees, but an Israeli official said that the proposed agreement was unacceptable to Israel due to the watering down of its provisions.

The positive response of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) to the mediators proposal was not devoid of the basic demand calling for stopping the war on Gaza, which the Israeli government found difficult to accept, so it sent its tanks to the Rafah crossing and occupied it in a show of force. Through this move, Israel aimed to exert field pressure on Hamas, without having to incite the ire of the United States and the world with a comprehensive operation in Rafah.

It is important to point out that Hamas avoided submitting a new proposal as it did in a previous stage of the negotiations, and announced its approval of the mediators proposal after working with them to introduce amendments that are consistent with its demands, provide an appropriate solution to the differences, and allow the Netanyahu government to come down from the tree it climbed by rejecting a ceasefire. fire. It used a term previously introduced by the United States, which talks about cessation of military and hostile operations, and added permanently.

Note that the amendments made by this movement to the Paris Formula succeeded in establishing basic demands, which are - according to the statements of its leaders - a permanent cessation of aggression, the occupations withdrawal from the entire Gaza Strip, the unconditional return of the displaced, relief and reconstruction, ending the siege, and completing an exchange deal. Real and serious. With this tactic, Hamas appeared in the position of facilitating the agreement, contrary to the image that Netanyahu hoped for and was promoting, that it was disrupting the agreement, and it even threw a fireball towards the hard-line government.

Hamas has presented important benefits, such as reducing the prisoner exchange formula in favor of focusing on humanitarian relief demands that alleviate the pain and suffering of its popular incubator, in light of the long battle that the Palestinian people are waging with the occupation. Hamas also adhered to its demand for the return of the displaced without any Israeli obstacles, by emphasizing the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Netzarim crossing and the Kuwait roundabout.

However, the resistance would not have neglected its demand for the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza and the cessation of the war, as there is no meaning to exchanging prisoners, without stipulating that the occupation army will not launch a new aggression against Gaza after the resistance has lost the prisoners card, which is its most important negotiating card.

The Israeli government did not hide its surprise when Hamas announced its approval of the mediators proposal, but it was keen to say that the proposal had been subject to amendments that were unacceptable to it. Indeed, some leaks spoke of anger at the approval of the Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), William Burns, who was in Doha. On Hamas's demands without consulting Israel.

The Israeli forces began a military operation to occupy the Fatah crossing, and for this purpose they occupied about 3.5 kilometers from the Salah al-Din (Philadelphia) axis, which extends 14.5 kilometers from the Mediterranean Sea to the Kerem Shalom crossing. This coincided with the announcement of sending an unauthorized negotiating delegation to Egypt to discuss the formula. New proposal for mediators. In the statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he stressed that Hamass proposal is far from the necessary demands of Israel, considering that its goal is to blow up the entry of our forces into Rafah, and this did not happen. Netanyahu also stressed that Israel will not allow Hamas to rebuild its military capabilities and restore rule in the Gaza Strip, meaning that he wants to obtain the prisoners, and then resume the war on Gaza.

Israeli Channel 12 revealed the most prominent objections that Netanyahu and his negotiating team see to the new proposal, but when we examine them, we find that they are differences on a numerical basis, and this will most likely not constitute an obstacle to the agreement in the end.

The main disagreement is represented by the announcement of a cessation of the war before the start of the second phase, in addition to Israels demand to impose a veto on any high-ranking Palestinian whom Hamas demands in exchange for female soldiers. The new proposal reinforced the differences within the Israeli war government. Contrary to the desire of Netanyahu, who wants to disrupt the deal and prevent reaching an agreement that would lead to stopping the war and expose him to trials, the two council members from the National Camp bloc, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, are demanding that a deal be reached that would lead to the return of the prisoners.

Their position is consistent with the American position in this regard, and they are even exposed to pressure from their electoral base about the feasibility of their continued presence in a government that failed on October 7, fails to manage the war, and seeks to prolong its duration for personal goals related to Netanyahu. However, Netanyahu's negotiation will lead to increased disagreements within his coalition, especially in light of the failure to achieve the war's two goals of eliminating Hamas and liberating the prisoners.

The Israeli security services have unanimously concluded that the entity has lost two basic advantages in this war, namely: American support and the unity of the street, and that the war has reached a dead end. This undermines Netanyahus justifications for continuing the war and marketing this with the slogan of complete victory, which is a cover for his desire to continue to rule. He unsuccessfully avoided being tried for corruption on and after October 7. Netanyahu's hardline position will lead to protests by the families of the prisoners, which will constitute mounting pressure on the government of all shades.

The continuation of the attack on Rafah will enhance the differences with the American government, which is seeking to reach a ceasefire agreement, to save its popularity, which was greatly damaged by the war atrocities committed by the Israelis, the weakening of the Western alliance that it established at the beginning of the war, and the demands of many European countries for a ceasefire. The Biden administration is also seeking to achieve a ceasefire to achieve a normalization process between Israel and Saudi Arabia, and is pressing hard for that, because it wants to improve its position in the US elections in November of this year. Therefore, it is pressuring the Netanyahu government to deal positively with the mediators proposal, which Hamass approval of led to directing arrows of pressure on the entity.

In this context, several sources confirmed that the US administration, by decision of the US National Security Council, postponed sending specific shipments of weapons produced by Boeing to the occupation. The sources report that the postponement took place for only two weeks, but the significance of the matter is that it is the first time since October 7. The first time such action has been taken against Israel. However, this limited measure does not diminish the importance of continued American support, which Biden recently expressed when he said, The United States support for Israel is firm and will not change, even if there are differences.

This does not negate the US administrations continued fear of Netanyahus decision to invade Rafah, as US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said, Israels control of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip appears to be a prelude to a major military operation. However, the American administration realizes that unless it succeeds in restraining Netanyahu, launching a major attack on Rafah will lead to the cessation of negotiations, especially since Hamas has threatened to do so if the attack is carried out, which will harm the American strategy that seeks calm in the region, not to provide an atmosphere. Not only for the normalization process, but also to prevent the region from sliding into a regional escalation that conflicts with its efforts to focus on China and Russia.

It is difficult to predict the future of the deal in light of the interactions inside Israel, the formula that the government will reach in dealing with the mediators proposal, and the discrepancies with the American position. But the negotiations are likely to continue for days or even weeks, and will witness moderate American pressure on Israel, including an attempt to dissuade it from launching a comprehensive war on Rafah.

However, these moderate pressures, such as delaying the arrival of arms shipments to the entity, may not be enough to curb Netanyahus ambition to continue the war and disrupt any deal for prisoners, including moving forward with the occupation of other parts of Rafah with the possibility of causing massacres, which will lead to further disintegration of Western support for Israel. And the escalation of confrontations with Hezbollah and the Houthis. It is doubtful that the aggression against Rafah will achieve a success that the occupation army did not achieve in the north and center. Rather, it may lead - according to the estimates of the security services - to confronting strategic traps prepared by the resistance for the occupation army.

It is likely that Netanyahu will not deal seriously with the negotiations until he succeeds in promoting the completion of his mission, occupying all of Gaza, and achieving the goal of complete victory. However, with the escalation of American pressure, he may be forced to deal positively with the mediators proposal before the mission of occupying Rafah is completed, especially since his partners do not see fundamental differences between the two parties. What Israel wants and what is offered in the deal. This may result in the implementation of the first phase of the deal after reaching satisfactory solutions for both parties, with the resistance continuing to adhere to the condition of proceeding with the second and third phases with a strict clause confirming the ceasefire.

By implementing the first phase, the resistance can achieve important achievements in terms of providing relief to the Palestinian people and stopping the crimes of the occupation, as well as succeeding in releasing about a thousand Palestinians, including 250 resistance fighters with high sentences and life sentences, while continuing to hold the most important card, which is the military. However, after approving the deal by introducing amendments to it, Netanyahu may not be able to market it to his hard-line partners, which will lead to their withdrawal from the government. This is not required to lead to a breakdown in the governments contract, after his opposition opponent, Naftali Bennett, pledged to provide him with a safety net if he decided to proceed with the deal.

Perhaps Ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich's feeling that they do not have alternatives in the event of leaving the government may lead them to remain in it and try to disrupt what they can of the deal. Therefore, this scenario may include success for the first stage, but the success of the other stages remains not guaranteed.

In any case, the signing of the deal may mark the end of the Netanyahu government in the foreseeable future. It will strengthen the position of the resistance and give it the opportunity to catch its breath in an ongoing battle with the occupation. It will frustrate attempts to find an alternative to it, while activating the reconstruction plan for the Gaza Strip through a national government within a Palestinian consensus. What these negotiations confirm is that the resistance does not enter negotiations in a state of weakness and defeat, just as Israel does not enter them in a state of victory in which it can impose its conditions. But the real equations that put pressure on both parties force them to resort to an exchange and ceasefire deal as part of Arab and international mediation efforts.

Operational Update

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that Washington believes that any major military operation in Rafah will weaken the Israeli position in the negotiations. He pointed out that Washington is still communicating with Israel regarding amendments to the ceasefire proposal - which Hamas agreed to - and that work is underway to finalize the text, but the matter is extremely difficult, as he described it. The spokesman stressed that US President Joe Biden's statements yesterday - that Washington may withhold weapons from Israel if it invades Rafah - do not undermine Israel's negotiating position and do not push Hamas to "more intransigence." Miller stated that Washington has not yet seen any indications that Israel is imminent carrying out a major military operation in Rafah.

Operational Update - Gaza

Israeli officials confirmed that the military operation would continue in Rafah. While the occupation army spokesman said in a press interview that the Gaza war is the most difficult in the world. The Israeli army said that it was targeting Hamas brigades and its infrastructure east of Rafah, stressing that the forces of the 401st Brigade were continuing to raid the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing.

Update from IDF spokesman , Brigadier General Daniel Hagari: "We are working in the Zeyton area, and preventing Hamas' attempts to rebuild Bazar. In the East Rafah area, we continue fighting. We have eliminated about 50 terrorists." Earlier today (Thursday), three IDF soldiers were moderately injured as a result of a shaft explosion from a trap in East Rafah, the soldiers were evacuated to receive medical treatment at a hospital, their families were informed.

IDF and Shin Bet fighters launched an operation led by Division 99, in the Zeyton area in the center of the Gaza Strip, to continue dismantling terrorist infrastructure and eliminating terrorists in the area. Under intelligence guidance, the operation began with an attack aircraft of Air Force fighter jets during which approximately 25 terrorist targets were attacked. Among the targets were attacked military buildings, attack tunnels, observation posts, sniper positions and other terrorist infrastructures. In the combined coordination, the fighters of the Nahal Brigade's combat teams, 679 and 2 are working to purify the area in the Zeyton area.

The military and strategic expert, Major General Fayez Al-Duwairi, said it was likely that the Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement ( Hamas ) - would carry out specific operations against the Israeli forces penetrating east of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, within the next 48 hours. Al-Duwairi - during his analysis of the field scene on Al-Jazeera - attributed his estimates to the fact that the occupation army relied on armored vehicles supported by brigades east of Rafah , to penetrate into open areas, which constitutes difficulty for the resistance in initially dealing with them.

He added that Al-Qassam fighters and the rest of the factions are underground, and some time must pass to absorb the shock, "and then employ the tunnel network to carry out specific operations during the next 36-48 hours." He warned that the method of managing the defensive battle may become clear within 48 hours by the Palestinian resistance, as the battle is still in its infancy and is currently relying on bombing operations inside the Gaza envelope , carrying out sniper operations, and limited use of anti-tank missiles.

He stressed that the current Rafah operation is a limited battle within the framework of a specific place to achieve political goals, including controlling the Rafah border crossing, closing it and isolating the Gaza Strip from the world. Among the objectives also - according to Al-Duwairi - is the bombing of high-rise residential towers with the aim of depriving the resistance of carrying out monitoring, surveillance and sniping operations, as well as completing the process of systematic destruction of the necessities of life, destroying dozens of apartments and killing dozens.

Regarding the statements of Israeli army spokesman Daniel Hagari that Israel planned a war that would last approximately a year, Al-Duwairi stated that estimating the duration of the war depends on the nature of the battles, the size of the participating forces, and the method of managing the defensive battle. He added, "7 months have passed since the war, without achieving any military achievements after employing more than 35% of the total occupation army," adding that the size of the participating force at the height of the war amounted to 21 brigades, compared to 5 brigades currently, 3 of which are regular, "which means that "There is still a long way to go to achieve the war goals."

The strategic expert concluded that political goals are difficult to translate into a military plan, Therefore, the time frame and dimensions of the battle in built-up areas will prolong the duration of the battle. Hagari had stated - earlier on Wednesday - that "Gaza is one of the most difficult battlefields in the world, in terms of fighting, its intensity, and the tunnels that Hamas dug underground."

According to IDF estimates, around 150,000 Palestinians have heeded the call to evacuate the area thus far. Despite the substantial evacuation, there are currently no plans to extend the evacuation order to other parts of Rafah. The IDF asserts that the ongoing operation remains contained and is primarily focused on eastern Rafah, particularly amid ongoing hostage negotiations with Hamas.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees ( UNRWA ) announced - Thursday - that about 80,000 people fled Rafah within 3 days since Israel intensified its military operations in the city located in the southern Gaza Strip. UNRWA said on the X platform that since the Israeli occupation forces intensified their operations on May 6, about 80,000 people have fled Rafah, searching for another place to seek refuge, warning that the losses of these families are unbearable. There is no safe place.

The Gaza Strip Crossings Authority denies what the US State Department said regarding opening the crossings and bringing humanitarian aid into the Strip. The Authority confirmed that the Gaza Strip crossings are still closed and under the control of the Israeli occupation, and no aid has been brought in since the start of the ground invasion of Rafah Governorate, the occupation of the Rafah border crossing, and the closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing.

The Israeli army continued its violent air and artillery bombardment on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip . While the eastern neighborhoods of the city are witnessing fierce clashes between the Palestinian resistance and the occupation forces, the occupation forces are penetrating the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood and its surrounding areas in Gaza City. Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza reported that 8 Palestinians, including 4 children, were killed and 16 others were injured in an Israeli bombing that targeted a house in the Tal al-Sultan neighborhood, west of the city of Rafah. The reporter added that ambulance teams transported the injured and the bodies of the martyrs to Kuwait Hospital in the city center, in light of an acute shortage of medical supplies and all other services.

In turn, Director-General of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, warned that the Israeli occupations closure of the Rafah border crossing prevents the United Nations from bringing in fuel, without which all humanitarian operations will stop, and also hinders the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

On the ground, the Al-Qassam Brigades - the military wing of the Hamas movement - announced that its fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with Israeli forces penetrating east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Al-Qassam also announced the bombing of concentrations of occupation forces at the Karm Shalom military site with a short-range Rajum missile system of 114 mm caliber, in addition to targeting concentrations of Israeli forces east of the city of Rafah with heavy-caliber mortar shells.

In turn, the Al-Quds Brigades - the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement - announced that its fighters were engaged in fierce clashes with machine guns and assault rifles with Israeli soldiers and vehicles penetrating east of the city of Rafah. It also announced the bombardment of Israeli soldiers and their vehicles penetrating the vicinity of the airport and the Al-Shoka neighborhood, east of the city of Rafah, with heavy-caliber mortar shells and 60-millimeter regular mortar shells.

International newspapers covered the Israeli ground military operation in the city of Rafah , south of the Gaza Strip , and said that it increased the frustration of both the United States and Israel due to their contradictory positions regarding this operation. On the American website Axios, an article by Andrew Sollender spoke about the failure of Israeli officials to ease tensions and address the growing frustration of Democrats regarding the war in Gaza during Congressional meetings.

The article quoted Democratic Representative Brad Sherman - whom the writer describes as a strong ally of Israel - as saying that lawmakers do not have any information about Israel's plans in Rafah, and that what is clear is that the Israelis are thinking about a long-term war of attrition, describing the matter as a "bad idea."

In the newspaper "Israel Today", Erez Lin wrote an article in which he said that Israel is very frustrated about the United States temporarily halting a large shipment of offensive weapons. He added that Israel possesses a large arsenal of weapons, making it unlikely that stopping the weapons alone would stop the attack on Rafah. However, the writer adds, the cessation of the arms shipment indicates an increasing dispute between the United States and Israel regarding Gaza.

The Independent newspaper quoted former British National Security Advisor Peter Ricketts as saying that Britain should be ahead of the United States in suspending arms sales to Israel. Ricketts added, "It is unfortunate that the British government was not able to take a position on this matter." The article noted that Prime Minister Rishi Sunak "is facing increasing pressure even from within his own party to immediately suspend the supply of weapons to Israel, amid growing dissatisfaction with the number of civilians killed due to the Israeli war."

In the French "Liberation", writer Lea Maceguin said that the worst humanitarian scenario "will become a reality if the Israeli military operation is launched in Rafah." The writer continued that Israel stands alone in the face of the world, and is heading towards the worst option of launching a military operation against Rafah, to which more than half of the population of the Gaza Strip has been displaced.

Finally, writer Perry Bacon said in an article in the Washington Post that the campaign to demonize and suppress protests on university campuses in the United States has gone beyond the limits. The writer considered that the reaction was intense, aggressive, and apparently completely wrong, noting that what the protesters at American universities are being exposed to "is the latest negative repercussions resulting from the disastrous US government decision to fully ally with Israel as it destroys Gaza."

A political source told Kan news: "The activity in Rafah requires strategic decisions to be made regarding the ways of proceeding. It is not only about who will control the Rafah crossing, but also whether or not Israel will promote the activities of local parties, or activate a military government." News was also delivered that the MLA presented the main points of Prime Minister Netanyahu's plan, while a senior official in the Ministry of Defense presented the activities of the joint working group for the IDF, the Shin Bet and the Israel Defense Forces. No decisions were made and therefore the discussion is expected to continue today. Until now, Prime Minister Netanyahu has avoided holding a substantive discussion on the issue.

North of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul said that the occupation forces penetrated by land into the Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, southeast of Gaza City, leading to the displacement of hundreds of families. He added that Israeli vehicles advanced on Street No. 8, amid intense fire and missiles from Israeli helicopters towards the neighborhoods of Al-Sabra, Al-Zaytoun and Tal Al-Hawa.

For its part, the Al-Qassam Brigades said that its fighters targeted a gathering of Israeli forces and an infantry force west of the  Netzarim  axis with mortar shells. In a related context, the government media office in Gaza announced the recovery of 49 bodies from a third mass grave inside the Shifa Medical Complex , bringing the number of mass graves found inside hospitals in the Strip to 7 graves so far, from which 520 martyrs were recovered. The media office confirmed in a statement that government crews continue to recover more bodies. He added that the occupation army executed nearly 400 Palestinians during the storming of Al-Shifa Medical Complex, where it executed hundreds of wounded, sick, displaced, and medical staff.

The media office in Gaza called on the countries of the free world to put pressure on the occupation in order to stop the genocidal war against the health sector and hospitals. He also called for the opening of an independent international investigation into the crimes committed by the occupation against medical personnel, the wounded, the sick, and the displaced.

Operational Update - Judea-Samaria

The soldiers of the IDF, the Shin Bet and the MGB arrested five wanted persons associated with Hamas in the Hebron area of the Yehuda Brigade, in Beit Kahil and Beta the soldiers arrested four more wanted persons. In the Nablus area of the Samaria Division, the forces arrested three wanted persons and confiscated a gun. In Tel, in the area of the brigade, the forces confiscated incendiary materials. In the Etzion Brigade, the fighters arrested 11 wanted persons, including a wanted person associated with Hamas who incited terrorist acts. Two wanted men were arrested in Kabatia in Menasha and two more wanted men were arrested in Ein Umm Ashrayit in Benjamin. In the Kalkiliya area of ??the Ephraim Brigade, the fighters arrested four wanted men. During the night, the forces secured the entrance of worshipers to the tomb of Yehoshua ben Nun in the area of the brigade. The wanted persons who were arrested and the means of warfare that were confiscated were transferred to the security forces for further treatment, there are no casualties to our forces. So far, since the beginning of the war, about 4,000 wanted persons have been arrested throughout the Iosh and in the Bekaa and Emekim division, about 1,700 of them are associated with Hamas.

Hundreds of extremist settlers, under the protection of the Israeli occupation forces, stormed a town in Salfit Governorate in the occupied West Bank , while the occupation army forces continued at dawn on Thursday morning their campaign of raids and demolition of homes in many areas in the West Bank. Local sources reported to Al Jazeera that the occupation forces closed shops and all entrances to the town of Kafl Haris (north of Salfit), and prevented residents from entering and leaving before encircling the center of the town to secure the entry of settlers who are preparing to raid an Islamic religious shrine in the center of the town to perform Talmudic rituals there. In the town of Kifl, there is a keeper of the shrines of Yusha, Dhu al-Nun, and Dhu al-Kifl, and Israeli settlers claim that the shrines are Jewish. However, the townspeople and historians deny these allegations, and confirm that they are Islamic and prayers were held there until the 1960s.

In occupied Jerusalem , Al Jazeera's correspondent said that large forces from the occupation army and police stormed the Shuafat camp. In Bethlehem, south of Jerusalem, the occupation forces demolished a house under construction in the Jawfa Aziz area. An occupation army force - accompanied by bulldozers and vehicles - raided the area and proceeded to demolish the house under the pretext of not having a permit.

The occupation forces also demolished two homes belonging to two Palestinian families in the Marj al-Ghizlan area near Bethlehem. Palestinian platforms circulated clips documenting the occupation forces bulldozers demolishing the two houses. In Jenin, in the northern West Bank, the occupation forces stormed the town of Qabatiya, south of the city, and entered it, reinforced with military vehicles and a bulldozer, and conducted their patrols in the streets of the town.

In the city of Hebron, in the south of the West Bank, the occupation forces stormed the cities of Yatta, south of the city and Halhul, north of it, and arrested a citizen whose house they demolished two days ago. It also conducted its patrols in various areas of the city of Halhul, raiding and searching homes. In Ramallah, north of occupied Jerusalem, the occupation forces stormed the town of Barqa, east of the city, and the Umm Al-Sharayet neighborhood in the city of Al-Bireh, north of the city. In the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, scenes broadcast by local Palestinian platforms showed a number of vehicles belonging to the occupation forces storming the northern mountain area and raiding a residential building.

In parallel with its war on the Gaza Strip , the occupation escalated its operations in the West Bank, leaving - in addition to the arrests - 497 martyrs and about 4,950 wounded, according to data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health until last Tuesday.

Operational Update - Lebanon

Fighter jets attacked a terrorist infrastructure and a military structure of Hezbollah in the area of ??Eyta al-Sha'ab. IDF forces fired to remove a threat in several areas in southern Lebanon. Fighter jets and air defense fighters of the Air Force intercepted two unmanned aircraft in Lebanese territory. Also, several launches were identified that crossed from Lebanon towards several areas in the north of the country. Injuries were detected in a peaceful area, as a result of which a fire broke out in the area, fire brigades are working on the spot to put out the fire. There are no casualties.

The Lebanese "Hezbollah" published a summary of its operations carried out against the Israeli army on Thursday, "in support of the steadfast Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and in support of their valiant and honorable resistance." Hezbollah's military media indicated that "the Islamic Resistance carried out a number of operations against the positions and deployment of the Israeli enemy army on the Lebanese-Palestinian border on Thursday, May 9, 2024, according to the following":

Eastern sector (southern Lebanon):

- 15:00: The Al-Samaqa site in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kafr Shuba was targeted with missile weapons and was directly hit.

- At 16:58: An air attack was launched with assault drones targeting the military leadership of the Israeli enemy forces in the Kfargaladi colony and its surroundings, directly hitting its operations room and leaving its officers and soldiers dead and wounded.

Western sector (southern Lebanon):

- At 13:23: One of the modern technical systems that was recently installed at the Ramia site was targeted with appropriate weapons and was directly hit, leading to its destruction.

- At 14:15: A new Israeli enemy command center in the Natawa settlement was targeted with artillery shells and it was directly hit.

- At 15:20: We targeted a group of Israeli enemy soldiers at the Al-Jardah point with appropriate weapons, directly hitting it and leaving its members dead or wounded.

- At 17:15: A deployment of Israeli enemy soldiers in the vicinity of the Jal al-Alam site was targeted with a heavy-caliber Burkan missile.

- At 20:05: A military vehicle was targeted at the Al-Malikiyah site with appropriate weapons, and it was directly hit, leaving its crew dead and wounded, and it was seen engulfed in flames.

It is worth noting that since the Hamas movement launched Operation Al-Aqsa Flood on October 7 and the subsequent devastating war on the Gaza Strip, Hezbollah has been carrying out operations in support of Gaza and to create a support front against the Israeli army . Hezbollah repeatedly stressed that stopping its operations "depends on the cessation of the aggression against the Gaza Strip."

Operational Update - Syria / Iraq

Operational Update - Yemen

Yemeni forces have attacked three ships affiliated to Israel as part of a maritime campaign in support of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, a spokesman said. In a televised speech on Thursday, spokesman of Yemeni Armed Forces Brigadier General Yahya Saree announced that the Yemeni forces had targeted two ships, MSC DIEGO and MSC GINA, in the Gulf of Aden with several ballistic missiles and drones. Additionally, he said, the vessel MSC VITTORIA was twice hit, once in the Indian Ocean and again in the Arabian Sea.

The Yemeni Armed Forces are following developments in the Gaza Strip and will not hesitate to escalate their military operations in the face of the oppression against the Palestinian people, Saree added. He also stressed that the Yemeni forces will continue to prevent Israeli maritime activity until the occupying regime ends its aggression against Gaza and lifts its siege on the Palestinian territory.

Maps

All maps are lies. Not only is it easy to lie with maps, it is essential, wrote cartographer Mark Monmoneir in his book How to Lie with Maps. He showed that condensing complex, three-dimensional spaces onto a two-dimensional sheet of paper [in old days] is bound to be reductive. But it is impossible to comprehend the war in Gaza without reference to maps, otherwise the entire conflict is reduced to an endless series of meaningless acts of random violence and the suffering of civilians. The first characteristic of guerrilla warfare is the loss of a front line. Evidently, different mappers have different ideas of how to depict the war in Gaza, notably those that seek to depict Israeli progress in the ground campaign. Part of the problem is latency. The news that forms the basis of the maps takes time to filter out to mappers, and the cartographers take time in crafting their maps, and it takes time to curate them. These processes are uneven among mappers, so their maps may differ in detail. Probably there is some ideological bias, or at least thematic apperception, which is understandable in wartime. It may come as no surprise that al-Jazeera maps depict rather less Israeli territorial progress than other sources. Finally, there remains the epistemological question of just exactly what are the colored in areas depicting. Naively, this might be understood as areas of Israeli control, that are no longer contested by the HAMAS. Or possibly these are areas of Israeli presence, in many of which the possibility of an RPG-wielding HAMAS militant popping out of a tunnel unexpectedly remains a live possibility. With the "zero-range" combat characterized by small unit tactics on both sides, maps may be prey to a fallacy of misplaced concreteness.

Bystanders

The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign, Political and Security Affairs, Josep Borrell, called for not selling weapons to Israel. Borrell explained that the Israeli bombing will not stop until the ammunition in its possession runs out, and added that the European Union is "divided" about taking a common position against what happened in the Middle East. Borrell addressed the leaders of the European Union countries, saying, Some leaders say, there are too many deaths in Gaza, and the question that must be asked is: How many people must die? Do we have to wait for 50,000 people to die before we take the necessary measures to prevent more?

An Egyptian official revealed in a conversation with Kan News that the aggressive American stance against Israel in a Rafih context is also partly related to Cairo's protest. The Egyptians urged the administration to find a solution to Israel's intention to operate in Rafah. Egypt informed Israel that it will disable all the trucks it is parking for the purpose of bringing aid into the Gaza Strip - until Israel specifies a date on which it will open the Rafah crossing.

In Cairo they strongly protested to the American administration about Israel's conduct in recent days, in the context of the operation in Rafah. Bakan News It was announced today (Thursday) on the evening news at Bakan 11, that the aggressive American position against Israel in the context of Rafah and the delay in arms shipments, is also partly related to Cairo's protest - according to an Egyptian source who is not aware of the details.

According to the Egyptian official, in Cairo they put the responsibility for the consequences of the Israeli conduct on the Americans. The Egyptians told the Americans: "You must find a solution to the matter, because the action in Rafah is sabotaging Egypt's mediation efforts to reach an agreement and has negative consequences for both Egyptian national security and the unrest within Egyptian society." That is, according to the Egyptians, the operation in Rafah strengthens, among other things, the position of the extremist currents among them.

The Egyptian source also told Kan news that despite the Israeli statements that this is a limited operation - the Egyptians have no real guarantee that the operation in Rafah will not turn into a larger operation. Therefore, they hope that the aggressive American position will dissuade Israel from doing so.

Yesterday, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, said in an interview with the CNN network that Washington will not send weapons to Israel if it starts a large-scale invasion in Rafah. According to him, "Civilians were killed in Gaza because of these bombs and because of other ways they harm population concentrations. I made it clear that if they enter Rafah - and they haven't entered Rafah yet - I will not supply them with weapons that they used in the past to attack the cities."

Egypt has informed Israel that it will disable all the trucks it is parking in favor of bringing aid into the Gaza Strip - until Israel specifies the date on which it will open the Rafah crossing. This is how news was published for the first time this evening. Most of the trucks that bring aid from El-Arish Port in Egypt to Kerem Shalom are Egyptian trucks - therefore this decision on the part of the Egyptians could cast a heavy shadow on the humanitarian effort. The issue will be discussed tonight at the cabinet meeting.

Axis of Resistance

Since the Israeli invasion of Gaza, Russian President Vladimir Putin finds it easy to describe the liberal international order of US President Joe Biden as a hollow shell, especially after the latter announced that he would stand up to the International Criminal Court if it issued charges against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. After he had supported her accusation of war crimes in Ukraine against Putin. This is what British writer Edward Luce sees in his article, which he begins with a rule among the Italian mafia that stipulates that whenever an operation is carried out, the question arises: Who benefits? Then the writer commented that there is no evidence that Russia was behind the Hamas operation on October 7. October 2023, but it was one of the main beneficiaries.

Luce stressed that whoever wants to reach the same result only has to ask the question: Who is the loser?, so that it becomes clear to him without difficulty that Biden is the loser from a geopolitical standpoint and that the movement of Israeli forces towards Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip is likely to only make the matter worse. The writer says: Fate wanted the Hamas attack to coincide with Putins birthday to represent the geopolitical instability that resulted from this operation. A continuing gift to Moscow, including Bidens position on the International Criminal Court when it comes to Netanyahu compared to his position on it regarding Putin.

Edward Luce, a Financial Times writer, pointed out that the irony is that before the Hamas attack , there was mutual admiration between Putin and Netanyahu, as each viewed the other as a strong leader who would spare no effort to cling to power, and that they shared their disdain. For American liberals, and benevolent Democrats in general, although Russias invasion of Ukraine and its rapprochement with Iran have affected that relationship, according to the writer.

Luce explained that Putin remains a beneficiary party from the repercussions of the Israeli armys operations in Gaza , but his interests in this matter overlap with the interests of Netanyahu, who fears that the end of the war will lead to holding general elections in which the Likud Party is not expected to win, which means that he may go directly to prison. Because of his postponed corruption trials, he therefore has every incentive to continue the war. This makes Netanyahu a major threat to Bidens re-election prospects, just as Putin is.

The writer concluded by saying: Everything good for Putin is good for Donald Trump and therefore bad for Biden.

Allied for Democracy

The security officials believe: it is impossible to move forward with full force in Rafah, without agreeing on the future of the strip  In Israel they clarify: we will act in Rafah, even at the cost of a frontal confrontation with the US. The war cabinet and the political-security cabinet are met tonight (Thursday), for discussions that are expected to focus on the rift with the Americans - and the effect of the political pressure on the issue of armaments on the continuation of the operation in Rafah. The Israeli position: We will attack in the south of the Strip, even at the cost of a political confrontation.

The security establishment is coming to the discussions with a desire to determine courses of action, against the background of the crisis with the US. The political echelon will have to decide whether to occupy Rafah in full or in part, or at all to carry out a measured encirclement and raids. Israel has indeed approved the plans for action in Rafah, but the assessment is that due to the crisis the IDF will have to make adjustments.

In the face of President Joe Biden's decision to halt a portion of arms shipments to Israel over its military operation in Rafah, both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and National Unity party chairman, Minister Benny Gantz, delivered responses, asserting Israel's determination to defend itself, even if it means standing alone. Speaking Thursday evening, Netanyahu invoked Israel's historic struggle for independence, emphasizing the nation's resolve and unity in the face of adversity. "If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone," Netanyahu declared. "I have already said that if we have to - we will fight with our nails."

Drawing parallels to Israel's War of Independence, Netanyahu underscored the nation's strength and resilience, asserting that Israel possesses the determination and capabilities to overcome its adversaries. "Today we are much stronger. We are determined, and we are united to defeat our enemies and protect our lives," he affirmed.

Echoing Netanyahu's sentiment, Minister Benny Gantz emphasized the strategic and values-based partnership between the U.S. and Israel. Gantz underscored the importance of ongoing dialogue and cooperation between the two nations, particularly in matters crucial to Israel's security. He stated, "The partnership between the U.S. and Israel is a strategic partnership, and just as importantly - a values-based partnership."

The Israeli minister stressed that Israel has both a security and moral obligation to combat threats posed by groups like Hamas, emphasizing the necessity of returning hostages and ensuring the safety of Israeli citizens. He highlighted the U.S.'s moral and strategic responsibility to support Israel in these efforts, calling for continued arms shipments to bolster Israel's capabilities. Gantz added, "Israel has a security and moral obligation to continue fighting to return our hostages and remove the threat of Hamas from the south of the country, and the US has a moral and strategic obligation to provide Israel with the tools required for this mission."

The State Camp political party believes that a deal will not come to fruition. Gadi Eisenkot pledged that if there is no progress in the negotiations for the hostage deal, he will resign from the government, which may happen within days. The state camp believes that in recent days the negotiations for the deal have reached an impasse and the chances that the deal will go into effect soon are low. Yesterday at the War Cabinet meeting that dealt with the issue, the impression was given that the chance of a deal is very small. Gadi Eisenkot made a clear commitment that if there is no progress he will retire.

Bekan 11 reported last month that the coalition is preparing an alternative to the phase in which Minister Benny Gantz and the state camp will withdraw from the government. Senior officials in the coalition say that it was decided that after Gantz's retirement, former minister Gideon Sa'ar will be offered to return to the government and replace him in the war cabinet.

Sa'ar resigned from the government , after his demand for a place in the war cabinet was not met, partly because of Gantz's own opposition, and the fear that adding Sa'ar to the reduced cabinet would cause the retirement of Minister Ben Gabir, who also demanded to join the cabinet. After Gantz's retirement, the restriction on Sa'ar's inclusion in the war cabinet will be removed, and therefore the coalition intends to offer Sa'ar to replace Gantz and his faction. In that case, ministers Ben Gabir and Smotrich are also expected to join the reduced cabinet, since in Gantz's absence the opposition to their inclusion will be removed.

The political delegations of Israel, the United States, Qatar and Hamas left Cairo today after two days of talks to reach a hostage deal. According to sources familiar with the negotiations, there are irreconcilable gaps that have been discovered in recent days between the parties during the talks. In Israel, tonight the cabinet will decide on the continuation of the talks.

US President Joe Biden warned that his country would not provide Israel with specific types of weapons if it launched an attack on the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip , and stressed that the bombs provided by Washington to Tel Aviv were used to kill civilians in Gaza. During an interview with CNN, Biden said - in response to a question about the reason that prompted his administration last week to suspend sending a shipment of bombs to Israel - that "civilians were killed in Gaza because of these bombs, and this is a bad thing."

He warned, "If they (the Israelis) enter Rafah, I will not provide them with the weapons that were previously used against the cities," adding, "We will not hand over to them the weapons and artillery shells that have been used" so far in the war on the Gaza Strip. This is the first time that Biden has publicly set conditions for American military support for Israel, but he stressed that the United States will continue to "ensure Israel's protection by Iron Dome."

Regarding the recent Israeli attacks in Rafah, the southernmost part of the Gaza Strip, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are crowded, Biden described the operation as an incursion that did not affect population centers, indicating that it is not a large-scale ground operation that requires a response from his administration. Biden added that he clearly warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the war government that they will not have our support if they enter population centers, but stressed that Israel has not yet crossed the red line regarding Rafah.

Regarding the student movement that spread across American universities, Biden said, I received the students message, and there is a legitimate right to demonstrate, but it is not permissible to use hate speech and threaten Jewish students.

The White House even reported that President Biden instructed his team to continue working in cooperation with Israel in order to inflict a "lasting defeat" on the terrorist organization. It was also reported that the US has not made a final decision regarding the progress of the arms shipment to Israel that has been suspended.

The Israeli Ambassador to the United States, Michael Herzog, said that US President Joe Biden's decision to withhold weapons from Israel due to its planned operation in Rafah sends a "wrong message" to Hamas and Israel's enemies. He explained that this decision "puts us in a corner because we have to deal with Rafah in one way or another."

The Israeli Kan channel said that failure to reach a prisoner exchange agreement between the Palestinian resistance and Israel threatens the emergency government with collapse. The channel indicated that the two Ministers in the War Council, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot from the "State Camp" bloc, will resign from the emergency government, which will lead to its collapse if a prisoner exchange agreement is not reached soon.

Operation Iron Swords - By the Numbers

1,900,000 IDPs in Gaza

78,404 Gazans injured, 28% adult male

70,000 tons of explosives dropped on Gaza

70,000 housing units completely destroyed

70,000 Israeli IDPs from Lebanon border

45,000 bombs dropped in Gaza

43,000 Gazans killed, including buried under rubble

34,844 Gazans martyred

33,000 Gaza targets attacked

20,528 Palestinians in Israeli prisons [Haaretz, 20 Mar 2024]

15,140 Israelis injured [i24 TV]

15,000 rockets launched from Gaza

14,520 Gazan children martyred

13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [N12]

13,000 HAMAS combatants killed [IDF]

11,000 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank in 2023

10,000 Gazans missing under the rubble

9,920 Gazan women martyred

9,400 Palestinians in Israeli prisons

9,000 IDF needing psychological assistance

8,365 arrested by Israelis in the West Bank since Oct.7th

7,209 IDF injured admitted to rehabilitation [IDF]

6,800 IDF officers and soldiers injured [Channel 12]

6,000 HAMAS combatants killed [HAMAS]

5,500 IDF wounded [reports]

4,800 West Bank Palestinians wounded

4,700 sites targetted in Lebanon

3,850 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria

3,484 administrative detainees

3,188 IDF wounded [IDF]

2,100 Gazan women are missing

1,609 terrorists killed on the first day

1,650 wanted persons arrested throughout Judea and Samaria affiliated with Hamas

1,160 Israelis killed on the first day

604 Israeli officers and soldiers killed since the start of the war

468 West Bank Palestinians martyred

364 people [including fighters] killed in Lebanon

260 Israeli officers and soldiers killed in Gaza

240 Hezbollah fighters killed in Lebanon

126 people recovered, including 91 Israelis, 11 bodies, and 24 foreign workers

116 living hostages in Palestinian custody

70 civilians killed in Lebanon

29 IDF deaths were caused by "friendly fire"

15 Israelis killed in the West Bank and Israel

Not every number is reported every day, so sudden jumps generally reflect reporting artifacts rather than actual upticks. Many of these numbers fluctate, up and down, with no apparent explanation. This list records the highest number reliably reported for each matter, under the theory that reality with catch up with reports, as is relentlessly the case.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Russo-Ukraine War - 09 May 2024 - Day 806

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 in April 2024, Russian attacks intensified in eastern Ukraine, rising by 17 per cent from March 2024. Of these, more than three-quarters were located in the Avdiivka, Chasiv Yar, and Marinka areas of the front line.

Attacks in the vicinity of Chasiv Yar rose by 200 per cent from March to April. This is almost certainly a reflection of Russia's renewed attempts to gain control of the town - situated on high ground to the west of Bakhmut.

Despite the substantial increase in attacks on this axis, Russia made only minor tactical gains in the area during April and almost certainly sustained heavy losses.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that during the day of May 9, there were 76x tactical engagements.

Russian forces launched a total of 5x missile and 72x air strikes, 74x MLRS attacks on the positions of Ukrainian troops and various settlements. Unfortunately, the Russian attacks have wounded civilians. Residential apartment blocks and private houses, as well as other civil 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. The Russian adversary launched an air strike in the vicinity of Kostyantynivka (Sumy oblast). More than 10x settlements, including Khrinivka (Chernihiv oblast), Myropillya (Sumy oblast), came under Russian artillery and mortar fire.

Kup'yans'k and Lyman axes: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 7x attacks in the vicinities of Syn'kivka, Petropavlivka, Berestove (Kharkiv oblast), Stel'makhivka (Luhansk oblast), where Russian forces, using air attacks, attempted to improve its tactical position. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 10x settlements, including Petropavlivka, Stepova Novoselivka, Berestove (Kharkiv oblast).

Lyman axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 3x attacks in the vicinities of Novosadove, Tors'ke (Donetsk oblast) and in the area of the Serebryans'ke forestry (Luhansk oblast). Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Lyman (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Nevs'ke (Luhansk oblast), Terny, Yampolivka, Tors'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Bakhmut axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 16x attacks in the vicinities of Bilohorivka (Luhansk oblast), Verkhn'okam'yans'ke, Ivanivske, Novyi, Stupochky, Klishchiivka (Donetsk oblast), where Russian forces, using air strikes, attempted to improve its tactical position. The Russian adversary launched air strikes in the vicinities of Druzhba, Spirne (Donetsk oblast). More than 10x settlements came under artillery and mortar fire, including Hryhorivka, Chasiv Yar (Donetsk oblast).

Avdiivka axis: the Ukrainian defenders repelled 20x attacks in the vicinities of Kalynove, Novooleksandrivka, Novoselivka Persha, Umans'ke, Yasnobrodivka, Netailove (Donetsk oblast), where Russian forces, with air support, made attempts to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their positions. Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at around 20x settlements, including Novooleksandrivka, Sokil, Novopokrovs'ke, Umans'ke (Donetsk oblast).

Novopavlivka axis: the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold back Russian forces near Kostyantynivka, Vodyane and Urozhaine (Donetsk oblast), where the Russian invaders made 6x attempts to breach Ukrainian defense. Russian forces launched an air strike in the vicinity of Bohoyavlenka (Donetsk oblast). Russian forces fired artillery and mortars at more than 10x settlements, including Krasnohorivka, Maksymil'yanivka, Heorhiivka (Donetsk oblast).

Orikhiv axis: Russian forces launched 16x assaults on positions of Ukrainian defenders in the vicinities of Staromaiors'ke (Donetsk oblast) and Robotyne (Zaporizhzhia oblast). Around 20x settlements, including Bilohir'ya, Robotyne, Kam'yans'ke (Zaporizhzhia oblast), were under artillery and mortar fire of the occupiers.

Kherson axis: Russia does not abandon its intention to dislodge Ukrainian troops from their bridgeheads on the left bank of the Dnipro River. During the day of May 9, Russian forces executed 2x unsuccessful assaults on positions of Ukrainian troops in the vicinity of Krynky (Kherson oblast). The Russian occupiers fired artillery and mortars at around 20 settlements, including Krynky, Tyahynka, Kachkarivka, Kizomys, Stanislav (Kherson oblast).

During the day of May 9, the Ukrainian Air Force and Missile Forces launched strikes on 1x air defense system, 17x concentrations of Russian troops.

The Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported that as a result of active operations, the Zapad Group of Forces' units improved the situation along the front line, defeated AFU 21st and 44th mechanised brigades close to Stelmakhovka and Nevskoye (Lugansk People's Republic).

In addition, the Zapad Group of Forces' units repelled one counter-attack launched by assault groups of the AFU 116th Mechanised Brigade near Senkovka railway station.

The AFU losses amounted to up to 40 Ukrainian troops, two 152-mm D-20 howitzers, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzers.

The Yug Group of Forces' units took more advantageous lines, inflicted fire damage on manpower and hardware of AFU 23rd, 33rd mechanised, 79th air assault, 111th territorial defence brigades near Yelizavetovka, Novoye, and Pobeda (Donetsk People's Republic).

One attack launched by an assault group of the AFU 93rd mechanised brigade was repelled near Krasnoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 215 Ukrainian troops, two armoured personnel carriers, including one U.S.-made M113, two motor vehicles, one 155-mm U.S.-made M777 howitzer, four 152-mm D-20 howitzer, and two 122-mm D-30 howitzer.

As a result of active operations, the Tsentr Group of Forces' units improved the tactical situation, inflicted losses on units of AFU 59th mechanised infantry, 24th, 100th, and 115th mechanised, 68th jaeger, 109th territorial defence, 2nd national guard brigades near Karlovka, Mayorsk, Novgorodskoye, Rozovka, Novokalinovo, and Semyonovka (Donetsk People's Republic).

Ten counter-attacks launched by assault groups of AFU 23rd, 24th, 47th, 100th mechanised, 71st jaeger, 59th mechanised infantry, 142nd and 143rd infantry brigades were repelled close to Leninskoye, Solovyevo, Orlovka, Pervomayskoye, and Netaylovo (Donetsk People's Republic).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 380 Ukrainian troops, one tank, and two infantry fighting vehicles.

In the course of the counter-battery warfare, the Russian troops eliminated two 155-mm U.S.-made M777 howitzers, two 155-mm U.S.-made M109 Paladin self-propelled artillery systems, one 152-mm Giatsint-B gun, one 152-mm D-20 howitzer, two 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems, and one 122-mm D-30 howitzer.

The Vostok Group of Forces' units captured more advantageous lines, inflicted losses on manpower and hardware of AFU 58th mechanised infantry, 128th territorial defence brigades near Urozhaynoye and Makarovka (Donetsk People's Republic). One counter-attack launched by assault groups of the AFU 123rd Territorial Defence Brigade was repelled close to Staromayorskoye (Donetsk People's Republic).

The enemy lost up to 175 Ukrainian troops, two tanks, two armoured personnel carriers, three motor vehicles, one 155-mm UK-made FH-70 howitzer, as well as two 122-mm Gvozdika self-propelled artillery systems.

The units of the Dnepr Group of Forces launched strikes at clusters of manpower and hardware of AFU 65th mechanised, 121st territorial defence, 23rd national guard brigades near Rabotino (Zaporozhye region), Zolotaya Balka (Kherson region), and Vyshetarasovka (Dnepropetrovsk region).

The AFU losses amounted to up to 35 Ukrainian troops, two motor vehicles, and two 155-mm U.S.-made M777 howitzers.

Operational-Tactical Aviation, Missile Troops and Artillery of the Russian Groups of Forces have engaged one command and observation post of the AFU 65th Mechanised Brigade and one ammunition depot of AFU Donetsk Operational-Tactical Group, as well as AFU manpower and military hardware in 105 areas.

Air defence systems have shot down two U.S.-made ATACMS operational-tactical missiles, 15 Czech-made Vampire missiles, one U.S.-made HIMARS MLRS projectile, five French-made Hammer aerial guided bombs, as well as 28 unmanned aerial vehicles.

In total, 594 airplanes, 270 helicopters, 23,856 unmanned aerial vehicles, 512 air-to-air missile systems, 15,960 tanks and other armoured fighting vehicles, 1,280 MLRS combat vehicles, 9,415 field artillery guns and mortars, and 21,563 special military vehicles have been neutralised since the beginning of the special military operation.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Joint Press Release: 14th Meeting of India-EU Joint Working Group on Counter Terrorism

India - Ministry of External Affairs

May 09, 2024

The European Union and India held their 14th Counter-Terrorism Dialogue on 07 May 2024 in New Delhi.

2. The dialogue was an opportunity to continue and enhance cooperation on this important element of the EU-India Strategic Partnership. The EU and India strongly condemned terrorism in all its forms and manifestations and emphasised the need for strengthening international cooperation in dealing with counter terrorism challenges. In this context, they agreed that cooperation in multilateral fora such as the United Nations and the Global Counter terrorism Forum (GCTF) remained crucial.

3. The meeting allowed for an in depth discussion on regional threat assessments, key Counter-Terrorism policy developments, including state sponsored and cross-border terrorism, countering terrorism financing, preventing online radicalisation and exchanging on the impact of new and disruptive technologies, including their consequences for the threat and their use in countering terrorism.

4. The EU and India discussed ways to deepen relations between Indian and European law enforcement authorities. In this context, they welcomed the signing of the working arrangement between Europol and the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

5. They emphasized the importance of strengthening counter-terrorism cooperation through exchange of information, capacity building, strengthening law enforcement and judicial partnerships.

6. The Dialogue was co-chaired by Joanneke Balfoort, Director for Security and Defence Policy in the European External Action Service and Ambassador K.D. Dewal, Joint Secretary for Counter-Terrorism in the Ministry of External Affairs of India. The EU's Belgian Presidency chair of the COTER Working Group, Nicolas Nihon also took part in the Dialogue.

7. The EU and India agreed to hold the next round of JWG on CT in Brussels.

New Delhi

May 09, 2024

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Xi arrives in Budapest for state visit to Hungary

Global Times

By Xinhua Published: May 09, 2024 12:56 PM

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Hungary.

In a written speech upon his arrival, Xi said China and Hungary are good friends and good partners of mutual trust.

"I am delighted to pay a state visit to the beautiful country of Hungary at the gracious invitation of President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban," he said, extending heartfelt greetings and best wishes to the Hungarian government and people on behalf of the government and people of China.

Noting that Hungary is known for its time-honored history and profound cultural heritage, Xi said the Hungarian people are industrious, intelligent, open, inclusive, pioneering and creative.

In recent years, the government and people of Hungary have been forging ahead with determination, making impressive progress in economic and social development, he said. "As a good friend and a comprehensive strategic partner, we in China, both the government and people, heartily rejoice over your achievements."

In 1949, Hungary was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China. In 2004, the two countries decided to forge a friendly and cooperative partnership.

In 2017, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership, upgrading and speeding up the mutually beneficial cooperation and strengthening the popular support for traditional China-Hungary friendship, Xi noted.

In recent years, the two sides have seen frequent high-level exchanges, deepening mutual trust, fruitful outcomes in Belt and Road cooperation, vibrant people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and close coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs, he said.

"Together, we have set a fine example of building a new type of international relations featuring mutual respect, fairness, justice and win-win cooperation," Xi said.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of China-Hungary diplomatic ties, bringing an important opportunity for the growth of bilateral relations, he said.

Xi said he looks forward to meeting with President Sulyok, Prime Minister Orban and other Hungarian leaders, and they will jointly outline a new blueprint for cooperation and development, with a view to steering the China-Hungary relationship forward in big strides and taking it to a higher level.

"I believe that no matter how the international landscape evolves, China and Hungary will always view and approach the bilateral relationship from a broad perspective and a long-term view," he said.

"Through vigorous and determined endeavors, we will work together toward the goal of building a community with a shared future for mankind, and make our due contribution to world peace, stability, development and prosperity," he added.

"I am confident that, with the two sides' concerted efforts, this visit will be a complete success and usher in an even brighter future of the China-Hungary relationship," he said.

Orban and his wife waited at Budapest Airport to welcome Xi. Hungarian Air Force sent fighter jets to escort Xi's plane after it entered the country's airspace for a state visit.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Xi, Vucic hold talks, hail evergrowing ironclad friendship

Global Times

China, Serbia elevate comprehensive strategic partnership

By Zhang Han in Belgrade Published: May 09, 2024 12:39 AM

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Wednesday signed a joint statement on building a community with shared future in the new era in Belgrade, making Serbia the first European country to build such a community with China.

In the joint statement, the two countries decided to deepen and elevate the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership. Serbia was the first Central and Eastern European country to become China's comprehensive strategic partner eight years ago.

"It is a strategic choice made by both sides to build a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era. Its goal is to realize the aspiration of the two peoples for a better life. Its foundation and driving force come from the firm support and extensive participation of the two peoples," Xi told reporters during a joint press conference with Vucic.

Xi also announced six measures to support the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future.

China is ready to import more quality and distinctive agricultural products from Serbia. China welcomes Serbia to increase direct flights between Belgrade and Shanghai, and encourages airlines from both sides to launch direct flights between Belgrade and Guangzhou.

The Chinese side will aid 50 young Serbian scientists in exchange programs with China for the next three years and a total of 300 Serbian youths will be invited to study in China in the next three years, said Xi.

China supports Serbia in hosting Expo 2027, and will send a delegation to participate in the grand show. China encourages its enterprises to take part in the construction of relevant projects, Xi said.

With joint efforts from China and Serbia, the free trade agreement between the two countries will take effect on July 1, Xi said.

During his talks with Vucic on Wednesday in Belgrade, Xi said bilateral relations between China and Serbia are richer in content and have become a model of friendly relations between China and European countries.

Xi called on China and Serbia to carry forward the innovative nature of bilateral relations, open up new prospects for cooperation, and make innovative cooperation a new growth point of bilateral ties.

Xi was greeted by tens of thousands of Serbians on Wednesday and a welcoming ceremony was held outside the Palace of Serbia before the meeting between the two leaders.

Chinese national flags and Chinese-language welcoming banners were hanging on landmark buildings in Belgrade on Wednesday.

Chinese and Serbian experts said the meeting between the two heads of state will continue to provide high-level guidance to the sound development of bilateral relationship for the years to come and further inject vitality into the time-weathered, ironclad friendship.

Ironclad friendship

On Tuesday, a signed article by President Xi titled "May the Light of Our Ironclad Friendship Shine on the Path of China-Serbia Cooperation" was published in Serbian media Politika.

Xi noted in the article that "there has always been an affinity between Chinese and Serbian peoples despite the long distance between us. During the bitter Anti-Fascist War and our respective nation-building in the last century, the Chinese and Serbian peoples forged a strong friendship that extends through time and space."

"Amid the ongoing transformations unseen in a century in the world, our mutual support remains as strong as ever, our cooperation is closer, and our exchanges and mutual learning more substantive. Whatever changes in the international landscape, China and Serbia remain true friends and good partners. Our ironclad friendship is ever-growing, setting a model for state-to-state and people-to-people interactions," Xi wrote.

The long-lasting friendship and win-win cooperation between China and Serbia makes it clear to us that a stronger bilateral relationship conforms with the trend of history and serves the best interests of our two peoples. It also helps promote our common progress. On the new journey of the new era, the China-Serbia comprehensive strategic partnership has more potential for further growth.

Xi said China and Serbia should always be good friends and treat each other with sincerity, good partners for win-win cooperation, play an exemplary role in promoting fairness and justice and strengthen the heart-to-heart connection between their two peoples.

Chinese and Serbian observers shared the consensus that since Xi's last visit, bilateral cooperation has entered fast track with numerous notable fruits.

With China's support, hundreds of kilometers of highways have been built, the fastest railway in Eastern Europe entered operation, and energy facilities keep renewing, Boyan Lalic, Director of the Belt and Road Institute Belgrade, told the Global Times Wednesday.

The China-built high-speed railway connecting Belgrade to Novi Sad, inexpensive and comfortable, has cut the previously 1.5-hour trip to just 36 minutes, making a two-city life possible for many young people seeking opportunities, the Global Times learned.

The railway is part of a more ambitious project linking Belgrade and Budapest, the capital of Hungary, which could finish construction by 2026, according to estimate. The flagship project has created jobs, offered unique career experience and trainings, and has allowed people like Serbian engineer Aleksandra Milosavljevic to "make really good friends with my Chinese colleagues."

Bilateral trade soared from $596 million in 2016 to $4.35 billion in 2023 and China became the largest source of direct investment for Serbia in 2022, per official data.

Join hands on international stage

In the signed article, Xi wrote "Twenty-five years ago today, NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese embassy in Yugoslavia ... This we should never forget. The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself."

The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples, and will inspire us to march forward with big strides, Xi wrote.

Dong Yifan, a research fellow at the Institute of European Studies, China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that both China and Serbia adhere to independence and non-alignment in their strategic approaches, choosing to follow their own development paths and opposing hegemony. "We share a strong consensus in international affairs."

The last stop of Xi's three-nation European trip is Hungary, during which a series of cooperation agreements are expected to be signed, according to media reports.

Both Serbia and Hungary are pillar countries in China-proposed BRI, and have long been at the forefront of European countries' relations with China with close cooperation, Dong said, adding that high-level diplomacy has played a key role in the two countries' relations with China.

He Zhigao, a research fellow with the Institute of European Studies of CASS, told the Global Times that Serbia and Hungary "stand out" among European countries in regard to developing China ties partly because they can overcome some external restraints and make more independent decisions based on their own interests.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Xi concludes Serbia visit with elevated ties, deepened friendship and promising cooperation

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 18:58, May 09, 2024

BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his state visit to Serbia on Wednesday, bundling up a multitude of deals and a strengthened bond of friendship with the country.

At the end of a fully-packed day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic bid farewell to Xi at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, where he had welcomed the Chinese president the day before.

UPGRADED TIES

Earlier in the day, Xi and Vucic signed a joint statement on the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, an upgrade of relations from the comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2016.

The deal, which was declared by Xi and Vucic during their meeting in the Serbian capital, makes Serbia the first European country to build such a community with China.

Over the past few years, Xi said, the bilateral relationship has leapfrogged with historic progress, and since the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, in particular, the bilateral relationship has been enriched in substance and expanded in scope, which has become an example for China's friendly relations with other European countries.

Serbia is China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe, Xi said, adding that under the new circumstances, Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

"With this agreement, Serbia is leading the way in its relations with China," said Ivona Ladjevac, deputy director at the Institute for International Politics and Economics in Belgrade.

The announcement on deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic partnership and building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era marks a new milestone in the history of this bilateral relationship, said Vucic.

The strategic, practical, and innovative nature of promoting bilateral relations will set a benchmark and model for cooperation between the East and the West, Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

STRONGER IRONCLAD FRIENDSHIP

The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has stood the test of the changing international landscape, Xi said, noting that such friendship is characterized by profound historical roots, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and strong popular support.

In a signed article published Tuesday in Politika, a Belgrade-based Serbian daily, Xi wrote that the ironclad friendship between the two countries is ever-growing. "Whatever changes in the international landscape, China and Serbia remain true friends and good partners," he wrote.

The Chinese president's arrival coincides with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO forces carried out savage airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia, leaving more than 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million more displaced. On the night of May 7, exactly 25 years ago, NATO bombed the Chinese embassy, killing three Chinese journalists, including one from Xinhua.

"The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself," Xi wrote in the article. "The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples, and will inspire us to march forward with big strides."

Gordana, a local resident who didn't reveal her full name, referred to the bombing as a "painful memory" to her. "The cooperation between China and Serbia holds the promise of providing my children with a better life than I experienced," she told Xinhua.

Precious moments of goodwill and friendship are a signature of Xi's short but significant stay in Serbia, which lasts no more than 24 hours.

A telling moment was the grand welcoming ceremony held by Vucic on Wednesday morning with the impressive attendance of more than 10,000 Serbian people.

Crowds were waving the national flags of both countries and chanting "China! Serbia!" with applause and cheers pervading the atmosphere.

"We are here to show our friendship with China, and we want our Chinese friends know that we cherish it very much," said Milos Tosic, a college professor present at the event. Tosic told Xinhua that it is not only his opinion, but one shared "by all the people here today."

At a welcoming banquet around noon, Xi shared his nostalgic memory with Vucic, reminiscing about the Yugoslav film "The Bridge" and the song "Bella Ciao," which have become the fondest memories in his youthful days.

"China will work together with the friendly people of Serbia and make tireless efforts to build a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era," Xi pledged in his concluding remarks at the banquet toast.

FUTURE-ORIENTED PARTNERSHIP

During the meeting with Vucic, Xi said the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era is an upgrade of the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia, and it also represents their common values and objectives, namely, joint pursuit of development, win-win cooperation and mutual success.

In support of the building of the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, Xi has announced six measures when he met the press together with Vucic. Notable among the measures are a free trade agreement between China and Serbia which will take effect on July 1 and an exchange program under which Serbian youths and young Serbian scientists are invited to visit China in the next three years.

"The sky is the limit," said Vucic, referring to the scope of cooperation with China.

"For Serbia, it obviously brings a great deal," said Aleksandar Pavic, a Serbian political expert. "The opening of the Chinese market with the Free Trade Agreement, academic exchanges ... those are very, very important."

"China offers a hand of cooperation on an equal footing, and offers great opportunities without conditions," Pavic said. "We've grown weary of the zero-sum game for far too long."

The substantial deals added new testimony to the special bond of ironclad friendship enjoyed by China and Serbia.

Past years have seen leapfrog growth of China-Serbia cooperation. Two-way trade in 2023 surged to 4.35 billion U.S. dollars, Chinese customs statistics showed. In 2022, China became the largest source of direct investment for Serbia. After the bilateral free trade deal takes effect, more than 60 percent of taxable items will become tariff-free immediately, and the final import volume proportion of both sides with zero-tariff items will reach about 95 percent.

Under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative are flagship projects such as the Smederevo Steelworks and the high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest. An integral segment of the Belgrade-Budapest railway is the high-speed train linking Belgrade and Serbia's second-largest city Novi Sad, which has transported some 6.83 million passengers over the past two years.

Serbia has long been known as "the gateway to the Balkans" on the European continent. "Everything that has been done so far and will be done in the future can serve as an example to other countries in the region and throughout Europe to get involved as much as possible," said Aleksandar Mitic, a research fellow also with the institute.

"The principle of mutual benefit can really work," said Mitic.

Serbia, undoubtedly, stands as a reliable partner for China in Europe, said Aleksandar Vojvodic, head engineer of the Clean Serbia Project of China Road and Bridge Corporation.

There will be a promising prospect for further enhancement and expansion of existing cooperation, said Vojvodic.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Highlights of Xi's state visit to Serbia

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 16:31, May 09, 2024

BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his visit to Serbia on Wednesday, the second leg of his six-day trip to Europe through Friday.

The following are some of the highlights of Xi's remarks and statements, as well as some important agreements reached between the two countries during his state visit to Serbia.

ON CHINA-SERBIA RELATIONS

-- The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has stood the test of the changing international landscape. Such friendship is characterized by profound historical roots, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and strong popular support.

-- Over the past few years, under the leadership of Xi and Vucic, the bilateral relationship has leapfrogged with historic progress, and since the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, in particular, the bilateral relationship has been enriched in substance and expanded in scope, which has become an example for China's friendly relations with other European countries.

-- Actions speak louder than words. China will stand shoulder to shoulder with Serbia, share weal and woe like passengers in the same boat, carry forward the spirit of the ironclad friendship, maintain and grow their friendship, and jointly safeguard fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries.

-- As the two sides pursue their respective national development and revitalization, China will join hands with Serbia to advance the building of a community with a shared future in the new era.

-- Serbia is China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Their bilateral cooperation has injected strong impetus into their respective development and rejuvenation, and brought tangible benefits to the two peoples.

-- Under the new circumstances, Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

-- The China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era is an upgrade of the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia. It also represents their common values and objectives, namely, joint pursuit of development, win-win cooperation and mutual success. These are the common aspirations of China, Serbia, and all countries that are committed to independence, peace and development.

ON COOPERATION AND PEOPLE-TO-PEOPLE EXCHANGES

-- Standing at a new historical starting point, China will work with Serbia to jointly stay committed to the original aspiration and forge ahead together to open up a new vista in China-Serbia cooperation with stronger momentum, greater scope, and higher quality.

-- By building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, the two sides should keep deepening and expanding high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and collaboration between China and Central and Eastern European countries, thus contributing to their respective modernization.

-- High-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia has achieved remarkable results. The two sides should steadily advance cooperation in traditional areas such as transportation and energy infrastructure, make sure the entire Serbian section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway go into operation as scheduled, jointly operate well their major cooperation projects, create more small and beautiful livelihood projects, and continue to generate positive economic and social impacts.

-- China supports Serbia in upholding independence and pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, and supports its efforts in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two sides should continue to offer each other firm support, deepen strategic cooperation, and safeguard their respective political security and fundamental interests.

-- It is important for China and Serbia to jointly reject hegemonism and power politics, and oppose bloc politics or bloc confrontation. The two sides should join hands to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, practice true multilateralism, and promote international fairness and justice.

-- With the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement set to take effect on July 1 this year, the high-standard mutual opening up between China and Serbia will surely enter a new stage.

-- China will continue to import more high-quality agricultural specialties from Serbia.

-- China supports Serbia in hosting Expo 2027, and will send a delegation to participate in the grand show. China encourages its enterprises to take part in the construction of relevant projects.

-- China will support 50 young Serbian scientists in taking part in scientific research exchanges in China in the next three years. It is ready to work with Serbia to strengthen cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) and endeavor to ensure humanity properly develop and utilize AI.

-- China will invite 300 young Serbians to China on study and exchange programs in the next three years.

-- China welcomes the opening of direct flights from Belgrade to Shanghai by the Serbian side so as to comprehensively deepen people-to-people exchanges, and encourages airlines from both sides to launch direct flights between Belgrade and Guangzhou.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian's Regular Press Conference on May 9, 2024

Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the People's Republic of China

2024-05-09 18:31

CCTV: Can you share with us more details, outcomes and highlights of President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia?

Lin Jian: President Xi Jinping just wrapped up his state visit to Serbia. During the visit, President Xi attended a grand welcoming ceremony held by President Vucic and the two presidents held talks before jointly meeting the press. The two heads of state announced the decision of deepening and upgrading the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Serbia and of building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era.

President Xi noted that the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has stood the test of changing international environment with its deep roots in history, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and great affinity between the two peoples. In recent years, bilateral relations have achieved leapfrog development and historical results. Under the new circumstances, Serbia becomes the first European country to build a community with a shared future with China. This speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level relationship between the two countries. The two sides should focus on the strategic nature of the relations between the two countries and grasp the general direction of the bilateral relationship; adhere to the pragmatic nature of the cooperation between the two countries for the benefit of the people of the two countries; carry forward the innovative nature of the relations between the two countries, open up new prospects for cooperation, and turn innovative cooperation into a new growth point of the bilateral relations.

President Xi announced the first batch of six practical steps China will take to support the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era. First, as a result of the two sides' joint efforts, the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement will take effect on July 1 this year. Second, China supports Serbia in hosting the Specialized Expo 2027, and will send a delegation to attend the event. Chinese businesses will also be encouraged to take part in relevant construction projects. Third, China will import more high-quality agricultural specialties from Serbia. Procedures for the export of dried plums and blueberry to China have already been completed, and the restrictions related to highly pathogenic avian influenza have been lifted. Fourth, China will support 50 young Serbian scientists in taking part in scientific research exchange in China in the next three years. Fifth, China will invite 300 young Serbians to study in China in the next three years. Sixth, China welcomes the opening of direct flights from Belgrade to Shanghai by Serbia, and encourages the two countries' airlines to open direct flights from Belgrade to Guangzhou.

The two presidents signed the Joint Statement on Deepening and Elevating the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership and Building a China-Serbia Community with a Shared Future in the New Era. They also witnessed the exchange of multiple cooperation documents including on Belt and Road cooperation, green development, digital economy, e-commerce, infrastructure, economic and technical cooperation, information and communication, agri-food, and the media.

As President Xi Jinping stressed, the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era is an upgrade of the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia. It also represents our common values and objectives, namely joint pursuit of development, win-win corporation and mutual success. These are the common aspirations of China, Serbia, and all countries that are committed to independence, peace and development. China will work with Serbia, share weal and woe like passengers in the same boat, carry forward the spirit of the ironclad friendship, maintain and grow our friendship, and jointly safeguard the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries. As the two sides pursue their respective national development and revitalization, China will join hands with Serbia to advance the building of a community with a shared future in the new era.

TV Asahi: A video footage that was shot by a drone over a Japanese destroyer of Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force was shared online in China. However, flying a drone over the Self-Defense Forces' bases without permission is prohibited by law in Japan. Sources at Japan's Defense Ministry said the footage is likely to be authentic. What's your comment?

Lin Jian: I don't know where the footage you mentioned came from.

China Review News: International Monetary Fund First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath said on May 7 that escalating tensions between the US and China have caused global ripples and countries are reevaluating their trading and investment partners based on economic and national security concerns, leaving the world divided into three blocs: a US leaning bloc, a China leaning bloc, and a bloc of nonaligned countries. The trend of economic fragmentation may lead to a broad retreat from the rule-based global trading system and a significant reversal of the gains from economic integration. She mentioned that the US and China need pragmatic steps to rebuild trust. The first step is to keep open the lines of communication. Dialogue between the US and China can help prevent the worst outcomes from occurring. What's China's comment?

Lin Jian: As President Xi Jinping stressed, we live in an interdependent world and rise and fall together. With their interests deeply intertwined, all countries need to build maximum consensus for win-win and all-win outcomes. This is the basic starting point for China to view the world and the China-US relationship. To overstretch the concept of national security, and weaken or sever one's economic ties with other countries leads nowhere, and will only destabilize global industrial and supply chains, disrupt international trade order, and end up harming one's own interests. The US needs to act on its commitment of not seeking to hold back China's economic growth and create an enabling environment for its relations with China and cooperation in various fields.

The world economy faces the risk of fragmentation and confrontation, but more importantly, it is presented with opportunities for solidarity and cooperation. The course of history will be shaped by the choices we make. In the face of rising unilateralism and protectionism, China advocates a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We will always choose solidarity and cooperation, and stand on the side of openness and mutual benefit. We stand ready to work with the rest of the world to uphold the international system with the UN at its core and the multilateral trading system centered on the WTO, and strive for a world with a common purpose and a shared pursuit for global development.

China Daily: It is reported that the elected-leader Lai Ching-te of the Taiwan region said that he looks forward to strengthening cooperation with Japan after May 20 and that any contingency for Taiwan is a contingency for Japan and vice versa. What's China's comment?

Lin Jian: "Any contingency for Taiwan is a contingency for Japan." This is a dangerous but apparently miscalculated notion preached by some in Japan. By repeating and hyping that rhetoric, the DPP authorities are essentially telling the world that their underlying logic is to ingratiate themselves with Japan, sell Taiwan out and seek "Taiwan independence" through soliciting foreign support. It once again reminds people that "Taiwan independence" and foreign interference are the biggest undermining factor for peace and stability in the Taiwan Strait. Let me stress that the one-China principle is a universal consensus. No separatist attempt for "Taiwan independence" will get anywhere, whatever its form or pretext.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China's Xi arrives in Hungary on last leg of European tour

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 1:57 PM

Chinese President Xi Jinping has arrived in the European city of Budapest, the capital of Hungary, on the last leg of his 5-day visit to Europe.

Xi, who is on an official 3-day visit to Hungary, arrived in the Hungarian capital on Wednesday.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who is hosting Xi in hope of expanding the already broad ties between Budapest and Beijing, received the Chinese leader upon his landing.

Orban, who has been pursuing an active "Eastern opening" foreign policy in past years, is Xi's closest ally in the EU.

Xi, ahead of his arrival, released an op-ed published in Hungary's pro-government Magyar Nemzet daily in Budapest, in which he praised the "long-standing friendship" between the two countries.

"We have gone through hardships together and defied power politics together amid volatile international situations."

"Our bilateral relationship is at its best in history, and has embarked on a golden voyage... On the new journey of the new era, China looks forward to working closely with our Hungarian friends," he wrote.

During Xi's visit, the two countries are expected to sign at least 16 different agreements promoting their cooperation in rail and road infrastructure, nuclear energy and the automotive industry.

Xi's visit to Hungary is the final leg of the Chinese leader's 3-leg tour of Europe which kicked off earlier this week.

The Chinese leader began his European tour in France, his third visit to the country since taking office as president in 2013.

Xi met with French president Emmanuel Macron on Monday. Media analysts described the meeting between the two leaders, who were accompanied by their senior advisors, as cordial. However, the meeting also revealed the tensions between Beijing and the EU over the war in Ukraine and global trade.

After France, Xi visited non-EU partner Serbia on the second stop of his 3-leg European visit where met with his Serbian counterpart, Aleksandar Vucic, on Wednesday.

His arrival to Belgrade coincided with the 25th anniversary of the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in the city by US jets during NATO's air war over Kosovo, when three Chinese citizens were killed. The US bombing of the Chinese embassy in Belgrade prompted the two countries to forge closer political and diplomatic ties since then.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China-Cambodia joint military exercise to kick off on May 16

Four Chinese warships are joining the Golden Dragon exercise, making it their biggest-ever joint sea drills.

By RFA Staff 2024.05.09 -- A major military exercise between China and Cambodia, the Golden Dragon 2024, is going to take place on May 16-30, a Cambodian official source said.

The Royal Gendarmerie - a branch of Cambodia's armed forces - said on its Facebook page that the drills will be held under the theme "Counter-terrorism Operations and Humanitarian Relief" at two main locations in Kampong Chhnang and Sihanoukville provinces.

General Chhum Sucheat, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense, also told a press conference in Phnom Penh that the exercise will begin on May 16.

This is the sixth Golden Dragon joint exercise between the two militaries since 2016. It was canceled in 2021 and 2022 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chhum Sucheat was quoted in Cambodian media as saying that the two Chinese vessels, which have been docking in Cambodia's Ream naval base since last December, are there to help train the Cambodian navy and prepare for the joint exercise.

The military spokesman rejected allegations that the Chinese navy had been using facilities at Ream as a military base.

The prolonged training focuses on "technical skills in the use of ships and weapons as well as other new technologies," according to Chhum Sucheat, who added that the Chinese side was also testing the quality of the upgraded Ream naval base which China helped develop.

Cambodia is planning to purchase similar warships to those docked at the base, the general said.

Naval drills

The two Chinese warships at Ream are believed to be China-built Type 056 guide-missile corvettes. The 1,500-ton vessels are fitted with anti-ship missiles as well as torpedoes and can carry a helicopter.

Besides the two corvettes, the Chinese navy has also dispatched two more warships to Cambodia for training exercises with the Cambodian navy.

Beijing's Ministry of National Defense said on Thursday that training ship Qijiguang and landing ship Jinggangshan are on their way to train together with Cambodian naval personnel in May.

The Jinggangshan, a Type 071 amphibious landing ship that can carry up to 800 troops, also took part in the Golden Dragon 2023 and conducted an unprecedented maritime exercise with the Cambodian navy in the waters off Sihanoukville.

With the four Chinese warships present, the maritime drills this year are expected to be more extensive. Staff from the two navies will train in maritime counter-terrorism operations as well as search-and-rescue at sea.

Military ties between China and Cambodia have deepened in recent years, with Beijing providing aid, equipment and training to Cambodian forces. In 2021, the United States imposed an arms embargo on Cambodia over concerns about "deepening Chinese military influence".

Edited by Taejun Kang.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Orban Meets With Xi, Calls China 'One Of The Pillars Of New World Order'

By RFE/RL's Hungarian Service May 09, 2024

China and Hungary will expand cooperation in several areas, including in the nuclear power industry, Hungarian Prime Minister Vitkor Orban announced in Budapest on May 9 after talks with visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping.

"China is one of the pillars of the new world order," Orban told a press conference in the Hungarian capital.

Xi arrived in the Hungarian capital late on May 8 after meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade. His European tour started on May 5 in France where President Emmanuel Macron and EU leaders urged him to ease Chinese trade restrictions and to use his influence to press Russian President Vladimir Putin to end his invasion of Ukraine.

Orban said bilateral trade had quadrupled in the past 20 years, transforming relations between Beijing and Hungary into "a strategic partnership."

Orban said Chinese investment was so small in Hungary 20 years ago that a "magnifying glass" was needed to find it. Last year, however, three-quarters of all foreign investment in Hungary was by China, Orban said, adding it provided jobs for tens of thousands of Hungarians.

Orban also said Hungary would support China's peace plan for Ukraine.

Beijing put forward a 12-point paper more than a year ago that set out general principles for ending Russia's war on Ukraine but did not get into specifics. It received a lukewarm reception at the time in both Russia and Ukraine, while the United States said China was presenting itself as a peacemaker but reflecting Russia's "false narrative" and failing to condemn its full-scale invasion.

Speaking alongside Orban at the Budapest press conference, Xi said China will deepen economic, trade, investment, and financial cooperation with Hungary.

Xi, making his third and final stop on a European tour, promised to advance key construction projections, including a high-speed rail link between Budapest and Belgrade.

Xi called Hungary "the No. 1 target in the Central [and] Eastern European region for Chinese investment" in an article he wrote for the pro-government daily Magyar Nemzet.

Hungarian and Chinese officials were expected to sign 16 to 18 new cooperation agreements, one of which could be a large-scale infrastructure project within China's huge Belt and Road project, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said earlier this week.

Xi's first trip to Europe in five years is seen as part of his drive to increase Beijing's influence on the continent's economic and political affairs.

Orban has forged close relations with China and Russia, while angering Brussels for refusing to join EU sanctions against Moscow or to allow, like other NATO countries, arms shipments to Ukraine.

In Belgrade, the two countries said a Sino-Serbian agreement signed by Xi and Vucic raises the level of their cooperation from strategic partnership to "building the community of Serbia and China with a common future in the new era."

After a series of bilateral meetings, Vucic called it "the highest form of cooperation between the two countries."

Xi said their countries will "jointly oppose hegemony and power politics" in the interest of "fundamental and long-term interests."

Like Moscow, Beijing has supported Belgrade diplomatically in its refusal to recognize former province Kosovo's independence, while Belgrade has supported China's claims to Taiwan. "Taiwan is China," Vucic said on May 8, citing the UN Charter.

Xi's visit was seemingly timed to coincide with the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the former Chinese Embassy in Belgrade in 1999, a deadly incident that has united Beijing and Belgrade in their criticism of Western intervention in the Balkans and around the world.

China has invested some $6 billion in Serbia in the past decade, putting the money into copper mines and a steel mill as well as major highway and infrastructure projects, which have been criticized by some as nontransparent and overly risky deals between governments.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/xi-hungary-orban-european- tour-pillar-new-world-order/32939244.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Hong Kong's national security 'conspiracy' trial of media mogul drags on

By VOA Cantonese May 09, 2024

Media mogul Jimmy Lai's trial for "conspiracy to collude with foreign forces" and "conspiracy to publish incitement" is set to drag on longer than the 80 days initially planned. As of Thursday, the 73rd day of the trial, only six of 14 scheduled witnesses had testified.

Lai, the 76-year-old founder of Hong Kong's Next Media and three companies owned by Apple Daily, which has been out of operation for nearly three years, was charged under the Hong Kong version of China's national security law.

Lai and his newspaper supported Hong Kong's 2019 pro-democracy movement, which the controversial law has been used to crush.

If found guilty, he could be sentenced to life in prison. Lai, who is also a British citizen, has pleaded not guilty to all the charges.

The trial, conducted by three judges designated under the national security law, began December 18, three years after Lai was arrested, and has been slower than expected.

During cross-examination by the defense this week, Chan Tsz-wah, who was charged along with Lai but is now a witness for the prosecution, admitted he gave false statements to officers during interviews with police in October 2020, saying he was trying to distance himself from Lai and his personal assistant.

Legal experts say the admission will make all sides view Chan's testimony with caution, which could stretch out his questioning time.

"So generally speaking, even if the court listens to and accepts his testimony, how much weight it will give his words is another matter," Hong Kong lawyer Frankie Siu told VOA.

Siu noted the trial is also slow because it is in English, while witness testimony is in Cantonese and has to be interpreted.

Chung Kim Wah, former assistant professor in the Department of Applied Social Science at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, told VOA the prosecutor may also be trying to bolster the government's charges through a lengthy trial.

"And through the statements of several accomplice witnesses, especially one or two of them, they hope to create the image that Jimmy Lai premeditated and colluded with the United States."

Rights groups and U.S. officials have condemned the trial as politically motivated.

In April, two U.S. lawmakers proposed a bill to rename the street and mailing address for the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office (Hong Kong's de facto embassy in Washington) to "Jimmy Lai Way" to honor the jailed media entrepreneur

Lai's case is the first in Hong Kong of "colluding with foreign forces" since Beijing enacted Hong Kong's national security law in 2020.

Beijing says the security law is needed to maintain stability, but has used it to arrest, jail and try hundreds of pro-democracy activists, stifling Hong Kong's once vibrant civil society.

In March, Hong Kong lawmakers unanimously and quickly approved their own sweeping national security law known as Basic Law Article 23, strengthening the government's ability to silence dissent.

VOA's Adrianna Zhang contributed to this report.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






In Hungary, Chinese president to discuss Ukraine, investments

By VOA News May 09, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping is wrapping up his European tour with a final stop in Hungary, where he is expected to discuss Ukraine and investments in Hungarian infrastructure, energy and electric vehicle manufacturing.

Hungarian soldiers on horseback were part of a warm welcome Xi received Thursday when he met with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at Budapest's Buda Castle.

In remarks during his meeting with Sulyok, Xi said Beijing is ready to raise ties with Budapest to a higher level, according to China's state-run Xinhua News Agency. He also said the two countries' friendship does not target any third party.

Xi's stop in Hungary is the third and final stop on his first European tour in five years. He also visited France and Serbia.

During his first stop in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pressed Xi to ensure fair trade with Europe and use his influence on Russia to end the 2-year-old war in Ukraine.

In Budapest, Xi is scheduled to meet with Hungary Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has strengthened his country's political relations with China since he came into power in 2010.

Hungary has become an important investment and trade partner for China at a time when other European Union countries have started distancing themselves from the East Asian country.

China and Hungary are expected to sign 16 to 18 new cooperation agreements, including a potential large-scale infrastructure project within China's Belt and Road project, Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said.

Beijing has invested billions in Hungary and sees it as an important gateway to the 27-member EU. Xi has said he wants Hungary to promote the development of China-EU relations when it assumes the rotating EU presidency in July.

Hungary hosts several Chinese electric vehicle battery plants. China is also financing a major high-speed rail project linking the capitals of Hungary and Serbia.

Xi and Orban plan to announce specific agreements later Thursday, Gergely Gulyas, Orban's chief of staff, said Thursday at a news conference.

Budapest residents faced road closures and increased security on Thursday as supporters and critics of Xi gathered in the city to demonstrate.

Xi is set to leave Hungary on Friday.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press and Reuters

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Analysis: Is the West losing a battle with China for Serbia's heart?

By Rade Rankovic, Jovana Djurovic May 09, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia this week brought out a crowd waving Serbian and Chinese flags and praising the "ironclad" friendship of two countries. Elsewhere in the West, it raised many questions about Serbia's future role in Europe.

Analysts say that was exactly the idea. At a time of global rivalry between Beijing and Washington, the messages Xi delivered from Belgrade appeared aimed at a much wider audience.

Xi and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed a number of bilateral agreements on Wednesday, which followed the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during NATO's 1999 campaign to halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. The U.S. apologized for that action, calling it "a mistake."

David Shullman, an expert on China with the Washington-based Atlantic Council, told VOA that Xi's arrival in Belgrade on the May 7 anniversary was aimed at sending a broader message in the context of the war in Ukraine: that China is not a "warmonger" like the U.S. and NATO.

Chinese messaging, Shullman said, "parrots Russia's messaging about the war in Ukraine, about not putting a blame on Russia, but putting a blame on the U.S., NATO for 'fanning the flames' of the war, continuing to support the Ukrainians, and that China is the one that's the force for peace and stability. ...

"There is an awareness in the Chinese system [that] this is a key binding point between China and Serbia, and it fits into that message that China has been pushing about NATO and the U.S."

China's president referred to the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in an op-ed published Tuesday in Serbia's pro-government newspaper Politika: "The people of China value peace, but they will never allow a historical tragedy to happen again."

Paul McCarthy, director for Europe at the International Republican Institute in Washington, agreed that the timing of Xi's visit was no accident.

"I think that Xi's entire visit to Europe was organized around the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing," he said. "It is too symbolic an opportunity for the Chinese to miss and underlines, so to speak, the position of Serbia and the strategic disagreement with the West that has been going on for 25 years."

Xi and Vucic signed a statement on the two countries' "shared future," which the Serbian president described as being a level above the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the two countries agreed to in 2016.

According to the Atlantic Council's Shullman, Xi has often used the phrase "shared future" to indicate he wants a new balance of power in the world.

"The story of a shared future is how China wants to establish a global order that is less U.S.-led, that is multipolar, that is a more 'democratic' international order a as the Chinese say," he said.

"In essence, it is an order that is no longer led by the U.S. and in which China plays a more significant role."

He added: "The fact that Serbia is spoken of as the first European country that will be part of the community and 'common future' shows that for Chinese leaders, especially Xi, Serbia is of great importance ... as an economic partner and as a country that is a candidate for the EU."

In addition, Xi's visit to Serbia signaled to Washington that China has reliable partners in Europe and that the U.S. "will not be able to completely win over Europe to its side."

China owns mines and factories across Serbia and has provided billions of dollars' worth of funding for roads, bridges and various facilities, becoming Serbia's key partner in much-needed infrastructure development.

Still, some experts say the future of cooperation between Belgrade and Beijing is uncertain, given the complicated relations between the U.S. and China.

Vuk Vuksanovic, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, told VOA that broadening cooperation between Serbia and China from a strategic partnership to the level of "building a community of Serbia and China with a common future in the new era" is little more than a diplomatic game that suits both governments at the moment.

He added that the future relationship depends much more on Beijing than on Belgrade.

"The previous strategic partnership agreement was a joint statement from 2009 that had warm rhetoric but did not actually bring about any monumental transformation of those relations," he said.

"And that was until the moment when China showed greater interest in the Balkans due to the Belt and Road Initiative," a massive, Chinese-led global infrastructure development strategy. "I think the key question for the U.S. will be whether that cooperation will include some major project in the field of defense and high technology."

The International Republican Institute's McCarthy said it is unclear how the agreements between Serbia and China and the plans for a "common future" will affect Serbia's relationship with the West.

Still, he noted, a free-trade agreement between China and Serbia that comes into force in July "turns Serbia more towards the East," raising the question of "how serious is Serbia on its European path."

He added: "I have to say that, from Washington's perspective, they might feel like they're losing the battle for Serbia's heart, so to speak."

This article originated in VOA's Serbian Service with contributions from Dino Jahic, Marko Protic and Stefan Miljus.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China, Hungary elevate ties during Xi's visit in Budapest

Global Times

Mutual respect, cooperative approach play decisive role: experts

By Wang Wenwen in Budapest Published: May 10, 2024 01:09 AM

China and Hungary decided Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to this Central and Eastern European country, which experts say is a result of fruitful cooperation between the two sides and carries significance to China-Europe relations.

The announcement was made after Xi held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They jointly witnessed exchange of cooperation documents and met with the press.

The China-Hungary relationship is now at its best in history, Xi said earlier on Thursday when meeting with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest.

The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.

Xi arrived in Budapest on Wednesday, on the last leg of his three-nation European trip. Xi previously visited Hungary 15 years ago.

He was warmly welcomed by Orban and his wife at Budapest Airport upon arrival. The Hungarian Air Force sent fighter jets to escort Xi's plane after it entered the country's airspace.

Ju Weiwei, deputy director of the Central and Eastern Europe Office, Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that elevate bilateral relations to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era is a big achievement of bilateral relations and is a result of fruitful cooperation between China and Hungary in all aspects such as infrastructure, investment and culture as well as respect for each other's core interests and the solid basis of public opinion in both countries.

"This has positive significance to future China-Europe relations and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe," said Ju.

Both Chinese and Hungarian experts believe mutual respect and a cooperative approach with no ideological strings attached have played decisive roles in bilateral relations.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Hungary diplomatic relations. Hungary was one of the first countries in the world to establish official relations with China.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a recent interview with the Global Times that it's a great honor that the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties with a presidential visit. He believes that this is positive feedback showing that China and Hungary are on the right track and this is very important to Hungary.

Mutual respect

Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit, Xi said when meeting with the Hungarian president.

Szijjarto told the Global Times that mutual respect, which is currently missing in international politics, is a really strong and stable basis for the successful cooperation between China and Hungary.

Over the years, China-Hungary cooperation has been developing in a steady manner. In 2015, Hungary became the first European country to join the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. In 2017, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Hungary-Serbia railway that is under construction is the flagship project of the BRI in Central and Eastern Europe.

On world affairs, China and Hungary often share similar stances. Despite being an EU member state and a NATO member, Hungary has remained committed to not sending any weapons to Ukraine.

Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of John von Neumann University and chief advisor to the governor of the Central Bank of Hungary, told the Global Times that the relationship between Hungary and China is getting increasingly close because they think similarly about international relations.

"Hungary seeks cooperation with countries based on its own national interests. It recognizes that pragmatic cooperation can bring promising prospects while confrontation and sanctions can only bring lose-lose scenarios and be exploited by those with ulterior motives," Ju told the Global Times.

Bridge linking East and West

In 2010, Hungary began implementing the "Opening to the East" policy, underlining the fact that the wind is blowing from the East in the world economy.

In recent years, Hungary has become a major logistics hub for China-Europe trade. Hungary is also Europe's electric vehicle hub a Chinese EV maker BYD announced in late 2023 that it will build its first European electric vehicle production base in Hungary and the plant will produce EVs and plug-in hybrids for the Europe market.

Hungary's connectivity strategy makes it a key country to connect West and East. Experts also believe that Hungary can play a facilitating role in bridging China and Europe.

On several occasions, Hungary has stood aside from or opposed EU positions against China. For instance, in 2021, Hungary blocked an EU statement criticizing China's National Security Law for Hong Kong.

"Hungary is special among the EU. It does not oppose the bloc every time when it comes to China-related issues, but it has played a special role in China-Europe relations. Hungary is a partner China should seriously cooperate with," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

On July 1, Hungary will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Foreign Minister Szijjarto believes Hungary can use the opportunity to influence the EU's policy toward China.

"We will be able to share with our European colleagues in a very credible manner how helpful, how useful and how profitable it can be to work together with China," Szijjarto told the Global Times in the interview.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Two Chinese mega-cities lift curbs on buying homes to shore up real estate market

Global Times

By Global Times Published: May 10, 2024 01:27 AM

Two Chinese mega-cities, Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang Province and Xi'an in Northwest China's Shaanxi Province, said on Thursday they would lift all home purchase restrictions to shore up the local real estate market and boost market confidence. It follows similar moves recently in other big cities like Chengdu, Shenzhen and Beijing.

The city housing authority in Hangzhou said in a notice that it will no longer review the qualifications of homebuyers, with the restrictions on residential property purchases having lasted for eight years, the Xinhua News Agency reported. This comes after Hangzhou announced last October it would narrow the scope of home purchase restrictions to four core districts, including Shangcheng district. It also announced the removal of all restrictions on home purchases starting from May 9.

Xi'an, the capital city of Shaanxi Province, has announced similar measures. The local authorities said they will remove all restrictions on residential property purchases and will no longer review the qualifications of homebuyers for both new and second-hand homes.

As of Thursday, a total of 35 Chinese cities have relaxed restrictions on home purchases, while 24 have completely scrapped all curbs on residential property purchases. In addition, more than 160 cities have adopted home-buying loosening policies, CCTV News reported.

These measures will encourage other cities to follow suit and will boost market confidence, Chinese analysts said.

More regions and cities in China will start a new wave of policy relaxation, along with promotions by developers, Yan Yuejin, research director at Shanghai-based E-house China R&D Institute, said on Thursday.

Chinese authorities have been ramping up measures to prop up the real estate sector recently. The most recent meeting of the Communist Party of China Central Committee Political Bureau on April 30 called for measures to support the property sector, saying that city-specific policies should be implemented, and that local governments, real estate enterprises and financial institutions must shoulder their share of responsibilities to ensure the delivery of housing projects and to safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of homebuyers.

Combining the new changes in the relationship between supply and demand in the real estate market and people's aspirations for high-quality housing, it is imperative to conduct research on policies and measures to reduce housing inventory and improve the quality of new housing in a coordinated manner. New modes for the development of the real estate sector will be fostered to boost the sector's high-quality development, according to Xinhua.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China urges US to create enabling environment for bilateral cooperation, opposes generalization of national security: FM

Global Times

By Global Times Published: May 09, 2024 07:54 PM

China urged the US to create an enabling environment for bilateral relations and cooperation across various fields, noting that the generalization of the concept of national security will finally harm its own interests, according to the Chinese Foreign Ministry.

Lin Jian, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, made the remarks during a regular press conference on Thursday, in response to latest warnings by IMF's First Deputy Managing Director Gita Gopinath.

Gopinath said on Tuesday that escalating tensions between the US and China have caused global ripples and countries are reevaluating their trading and investment partners based on economic and national security concerns, leaving the world divided into three blocs: a US leaning bloc, a China leaning bloc, and a bloc of nonaligned countries.

The trend of economic fragmentation may lead to a broad retreat from the rule-based global trading system and a significant reversal of the gains from economic integration, Gopinath warned, noting that the US and China need pragmatic steps to rebuild trust. The first step is to keep open the lines of communication. Dialogue between the US and China can help prevent the worst outcomes from occurring.

Lin stated that overstretching the concept of national security, and weakening or severing one's economic ties with other countries leads nowhere, and will only destabilize global industrial and supply chains, disrupt international trade order, and end up harming one's own interests.

"We hope that the US can fulfill its commitment of not seeking to hold back China's economic growth, and take concrete measures to create an enabling environment for its relations with China and cooperation in various fields," Lin said.

In the face of rising unilateralism and protectionism, China advocates a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization. We will always choose solidarity and cooperation, and stand on the side of openness and mutual benefit, Lin said.

Lin emphasized that China is ready to work with the rest of the world to uphold the international system with the UN at its core, and the multilateral trading system centered on the WTO, and strive for a world with a common purpose and a shared pursuit for global development.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Bier of Kim Ki Nam Visited by Many Officials in DPRK

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, May 9 (KCNA) -- Members of the state funeral committee and officials of the Party, government, armed forces organs, ministries and national agencies of the DPRK visited the bier of Kim Ki Nam, former secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea who is winner of Order of Kim Il Sung and Order of Kim Jong Il and the title of Labor Hero, on May 8 to express condolences over his death.

They entered the mourning ceremony venue with sorrow over the loss of the veteran of the Party and the revolution, authoritative theoretician and prominent political activist.

Seen before the bier of the deceased was a wreath bearing the august name of the respected Comrade Kim Jong Un .

Amid the playing of dirge, laid were wreaths in the names of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK, the Cabinet of the DPRK, the Ministry of National Defence, ministries and national agencies.

The mourners observed a moment's silence in memory of the late Kim Ki Nam.

They expressed deep sympathy to his family members. -0-

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






China's tunnel boring machine industry achieves leapfrog development

14:39, May 10, 2024 By Li Xinping ( People's Daily

A tunnel boring machine (TBM), also referred to as full-section tunnel boring machine, is a machine used to excavate tunnels. It combines multiple technologies such as machinery, electronics, information technology, and artificial intelligence, being acclaimed as the "king of construction machinery."

More than two decades ago, China did not have its own TBM. Today, Chinese-produced TBMs account for nearly 70 percent of the global market.

An ultra-large diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM) rolls off the production line in Changsha, central China's Hunan province, February 26, 2024. (People's Daily Online/Li Jian)

How did the Chinese TBMs make this giant leap? People's Daily reporters delved into the TBM manufacturing companies to uncover the secrets.

In early 2000, when China Railway Group Limited (hereafter referred to as China Railway) decided to develop its own TBM, some thought it was an unrealistic idea.

Wang Dujuan, chief engineer of China Railway Hi-Tech Industry Corporation Limited (CRHIC), a subsidiary of China Railway, said that a TBM has over 20,000 components, and its control system alone has more than 2,000 control points. "Many colleagues at that time had never even seen a TBM before," she recalled.

Thanks to substantial efforts and investments, China's first domestically developed earth pressure balance TBM with independent intellectual property rights made its debut in 2008, known as the "China Railway No. 1" TBM.

On February 6, 2009, the China Railway No. 1 TBM started working for a metro project in north China's Tianjin municipality. Four months later, a tunnel of the Tianjin Metro Line 3 was holed through, with ground settlement carefully controlled within 3 millimeters and passing all expert inspections.

Since then, the Chinese TBM industry has gained momentum, with a number of competitive manufacturers emerging and growing, such as China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG), China Railway Construction Heavy Industry Corporation Limited (CRCHI), and CCCC Tianhe Mechanical Equipment Manufacturing Co., Ltd. affiliated with China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC).

Today, China boasts the world's largest TBM fleet, with approximately 5,000 units. Over 90 percent of China's metro tunnels were constructed using TBM technology.

A TBM stands several stories high and is as heavy as hundreds of elephants. It consists of tens of thousands of components. To enhance the resilience of the industrial and supply chains, every link of the industry must collaborate effectively.

"China's TBM industry follows a development path where the manufacturing of complete TBMs drives the manufacturing of components," said Zhang Zhiguo, general manager of CREG.

Ten years ago, bearings and gearboxes needed to be imported due to weaknesses in the industrial chain, and today, these weaknesses are gradually being resolved, Zhang told People's Daily.

Crafting main bearings proved to be one of the most challenging tasks due to the extreme and harsh operating conditions they face as the "heart" of a TBM, including ultra-heavy loads, large eccentric loads, and frequently varying loads. Besides, they need to meet critical standards such as high reliability and long service life. The material selection, design, manufacturing, and testing of them also presented immense difficulties. That's why they are considered the pinnacle of the industrial chain of large-scale, high-end, precision bearings.

An ultra-large diameter tunnel boring machine (TBM) is assembled at a production base of China Railway Engineering Equipment Group Co., Ltd. (CREG) in Hangzhou, east China's Zhejiang province. (People's Daily Online/Long Wei)

To finalize the design for main bearings, the Chinese research and development team experimented with hundreds of materials and processes, conducted thousands of theoretical verifications and design optimizations, and analyzed tens of thousands of inspection and test data sets.

In collaboration with leading specialty steel companies in China, CRCHI conducted in-depth research on material elemental matching and methods for controlling impurities and carbides, ultimately overcoming the bottleneck in the materials used for main bearings.

On October 12, 2023, a TBM main bearing with a diameter of 8.61 meters rolled off the production line at a CRCHI facility in Changsha, central China's Hunan province. It was the world's largest-diameter main bearing for TBM, boasting the heaviest weight and highest bearing capacity.

"It marked that China has become a global leader in the development and manufacturing of ultra-large diameter main bearings. Chinese-produced TBM main bearings now cover the full range from small to ultra-large diameters," said Liu Feixiang, chief scientist of CRCHI.

Additionally, Chinese enterprises are consistently moving towards intelligent and automated TBM operations, exploring autonomous excavation and remote control capabilities.

For instance, China's independently developed TBM "Linghang" is equipped with a system to monitor the status of key components in real-time, including the wear and temperature of cutting tools and slurry circulation pipes. It also provides damage predictions, effectively improving the construction efficiency.

The "Linghang" TBM also provides functions of intelligent excavation, intelligent assembly, advanced geological forecasting, and tail-end seal safety warnings. Therefore, it can automatically adjust parameters and excavate in ordinary geological conditions and can be controlled remotely from the ground surface under special circumstances.

Chinese TBM manufacturers are continuously expanding into overseas markets.

In 2012, China exported its first domestically produced TBM after China Railway won the bid for a metro construction project in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. During the construction, the "China Railway No. 50" TBM erected an average of eight rings per day, achieving over ten rings per day for seven consecutive days, setting a new record for metro TBM tunneling in Malaysia.

In 2015, China's "Zhang Heng" and "Zhan Tianyou" TBMs won contracts for metro projects in Singapore. In 2016, a rectangular pipe jack TBM was awarded another contract, pioneering the entry of China's specialized TBMs into overseas markets.

In 2019, the "China Railway No. 699" TBM won a bid for a railway project in northern Italy, marking the first application of China's advanced tunneling equipment in a country of European Union. In the same year, two domestically produced TBMs were contracted for a Paris metro construction project in France.

"All these demonstrate the recognition for the comprehensive strength of China's TBM brands by the international high-end market," said Zhang.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Senior Official for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) Pak's Meeting with People's Republic of China (PRC) Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu

US Department of State

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

May 9, 2024

Senior Official for the DPRK Dr. Jung Pak met PRC Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming in Tokyo on May 9.

Senior Official Pak noted the continued threat posed to regional and global security by the DPRK's unlawful nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs, as well as its provocative and irresponsible rhetoric toward its neighbors. She stressed concerns regarding deepening military cooperation between the DPRK and Russia, including unlawful arms transfers, and noted that Russia's veto of a UN Security Council resolution to extend the mandate of the UN 1718 DPRK Sanctions Committee's Panel of Experts will hamper the efforts of the international community to ensure implementation of previous UN Security Council resolutions. Senior Official Pak emphasized U.S. commitment to dialogue and diplomacy with the DPRK as the only viable means of achieving lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula. She also expressed continued U.S. concerns regarding the forcible repatriation of North Koreans, including asylum seekers, to the DPRK and called on Beijing to uphold its non-refoulement obligations.

This meeting follows Secretary Blinken's April 24-26 visit to the People's Republic of China, during which the Secretary underscored the U.S. commitment to the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to the importance of maintaining open lines of communication with the PRC.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Funeral of Late Kim Ki Nam Held

Korean Central News Agency of DPRK

Pyongyang, May 10 (KCNA) -- A state funeral of Kim Ki Nam, former secretary of the Central Committee of the Workers' Party of Korea who is winner of Order of Kim Il Sung and Order of Kim Jong Il and Labor Hero, was solemnly held in the capital city of Pyongyang on May 9.

A flag was hoisted at half-mast at the Sojang Club where the bier of the deceased was laid and the guard of honor of the Korean People's Army lined up.

The hall of state funeral was wrapped in bitter grief over the loss of a precious veteran revolutionary and a prominent figure of the ideological front of the Party who devoted his all to the development of the glorious WPK and the prosperity of our dignified and powerful state.

Kim Jong Un , general secretary of the Workers' Party of Korea and president of the State Affairs of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, appeared at the funeral hall.

Present there were members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau, members and alternate members of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK and other members of the state funeral committee, officials of the Party Central Committee, provincial party committees and armed forces organs and the bereaved family members.

A ceremony of carrying out the coffin of the late Kim Ki Nam took place.

Amid the playing of dirge, Kim Jong Un , chairman of the state funeral committee, paid silent tribute to Kim Ki Nam, hardly repressing bitter sorrow at the loss of the genuine loyalist of the WPK, steadfast revolutionary and prominent political activist.

The coffin of the late Kim Ki Nam was carried out.

The guard of honor solemnly covered a red flag over the bier of the late Kim Ki Nam in reflection of the respect of all the Party members, people and service personnel across the country.

The respected Comrade Kim Jong Un saw the bier off, expressing deep condolences again over his death.

Many citizens in streets of the capital city expressed their sympathy to the funeral car out of the sorrow of bidding last farewell to the late Kim Ki Nam, who had remained boundlessly loyal to the cause of the Party and left a clear trace and strong impression in the prosperity of the country and the mental and cultural growth of the people throughout his life.

The funeral car passed through the building of the Central Committee of the WPK, the supreme headquarters of the revolution, where the Party flag of victory and glory was fluttering.

Officials of the WPK Central Committee paid their last respects to the funeral car with the sorrow of parting from the loyal veteran of the WPK who made a great contribution to the historic cause of modeling the entire Party and the whole society on the revolutionary ideology of the leader while working at an important post of the WPK Central Committee for over 60 years.

A ceremony of bidding farewell to the late Kim Ki Nam took place at the Patriotic Martyrs Cemetery in Sinmi-ri.

Kim Jong Un attended the ceremony.

The guard of honor of the KPA lined up there to greet the bier.

Kim Jong Un together with members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the WPK greeted the bier of the late Kim Ki Nam at the entrance to the cemetery.

With the remains of the deceased at the head, Kim Jong Un climbed the cemetery together with members of the state funeral committee and the bereaved family members.

The ceremony of bidding farewell to the late Kim Ki Nam was declared and the DPRK national anthem was played.

Ri Il Hwan, member of the Political Bureau and secretary of the Central Committee of the WPK, made a condolatory address.

A ceremony of burying remains of the late Kim Ki Nam was held.

A volley of 180 rounds of balls was fired in reflection of the sorrow over the loss of a prominent political activist who performed distinguished feats before the Party and the country.

Kim Jong Un laid earth on the remains of the deceased, feeling bitter grief at the last parting with the precious veteran of the Party and the revolution.

Members of the Presidium of the Political Bureau of the WPK Central Committee and the bereaved family members covered the remains of the deceased with earth.

Kim Jong Un expressed his grief, recollecting with deep emotion the noble life of the veteran revolutionary who had reliably defended the validity of our ideology and cause.

A wreath bearing his august name was laid at the grave amid the playing of the wreath-laying music.

Placed there were wreaths in the names of the Central Committee of the WPK, the Standing Committee of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK and the Cabinet of the DPRK.

Kim Jong Un paid silent tribute to the memory of the late Kim Ki Nam, together with all the participants in the ceremony.

He said that thanks to the veterans of the revolution like Kim Ki Nam who made a positive contribution to consolidating the cornerstone for the existence and development of our Party and state and greatly encouraged all of us through their genuine career and immortal exploits, the revolutionary cause of Juche could be dynamically advanced despite the tempest of history.

The noble traits of the veteran revolutionary serve as a model of life shining with loyalty and patriotism, he said, adding that such noble soul and spirit will be immortal along with the cause of the Party and the history of brilliant development of our great state.

He paid high tribute to all the martyrs who glorified the annals of national liberation, national defence and national prosperity with their precious sacrifice and patriotic devotion on the long journey from the beginning of the revolution to the present.

The feats of the martyrs will be remembered by the country and the people forever and the victory of the revolutionary cause of Juche and the communist cause desired by them will be surely achieved, thanks to the noble sense of obligation of the great Party Central Committee which takes care of the lives of the revolutionary soldiers to the last and adds luster to them with ardent love and trust. -0-

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 9, 2024

Release

Readout of Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Meeting With German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder provided the following readout:

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III and the German Minister of Defense Boris Pistorius met at the Pentagon today to reaffirm their dedication to the bilateral defense relationship and to the NATO Alliance.

Secretary Austin thanked Minister Pistorius for Germany's commitment to Ukraine's defense, both in terms of security assistance and leadership within the Ukraine Defense Contact Group.

The two also discussed the upcoming NATO Summit in July and the celebration of 75 years of NATO, highlighting the vital role of transatlantic cooperation. Both emphasized the need for deepening defense industrial cooperation to strengthen our collective defense and interoperability within NATO, and the importance of unity in addressing today's security challenges. The Secretary commended Germany for reaching the shared NATO commitment to spend at least two percent of Gross Domestic Product on defense this year.

Minister Pistorius also noted that two German frigates recently departed for the Indo-Pacific, underscoring Germany's focus on the region.

The meeting not only underscores the enduring partnership between the two nations but also their shared commitment to upholding democratic values and ensuring a safe and secure future for both nations.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Releases/Release/Article/3771159/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 9, 2024

Transcript

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III's Remarks Welcoming German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to the Pentagon

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III; German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD J. AUSTIN III: Well, Boris, Mr. Minister, welcome back to the Pentagon.

Yesterday marked 79 years since V-E Day and the Allied sacrifice (inaudible). Boris, your wreath-laying ceremony yesterday at Arlington National Cemetery underscored the commitment of today's Germany to progress, memory, democracy and human rights.

Today, Germany is a force for peace and security. After the United States, Germany is the second-largest donor of military assistance to Ukraine as it resists Putin's aggression. Now, you've earmarked $7.7 billion for Ukraine in 2024 alone, and Germany has donated critical air defense systems and artillery, and we will continue our close partnership to ensure that Ukraine has the capabilities that it needs to succeed on the battlefield. Germany has also taken in the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe, helping more than 1.1 million desperate civilians. So our message today is clear: together, we will ensure that our support for Ukraine remains strong and enduring.

President Biden recently signed into law more life-saving assistance for Ukraine and other partners which allowed us to move out immediately to send Ukraine critical air defense capabilities, artillery, and armor from our stocks. And Boris, thanks for your leadership, and thanks for everything that Germany is doing for Ukraine's self-defense.

Germany's plan for a permanent brigade in Lithuania is an historic commitment that will strengthen European security. Germany is also deploying its troops to support security and stability in the Middle East and Africa and the Balkans. And whether deterring the Kremlin's aggression or bolstering stability in the Indo-Pacific, our two proud democracies are in lockstep.

We're also meeting at a significant time for NATO, which will head into the Washington Summit in July stronger than ever with 32 allies. Now Boris, I know how dedicated you are to keeping NATO unified, ready and resolute, and we commend Germany for reaching our shared NATO commitment to spend at least two percent of your GDP on defense this year.

Germany remains one of our strongest and most reliable allies, and I'm proud to reaffirm our alliance today and to continue working together for security and peace. And thanks again for making the trip. It's great to see you, and I look forward to a great discussion. Over to you, sir.

DEFENSE MINISTER BORIS PISTORIUS: Austin, thank you very much. Good friends, first of all, I would like to thank you for your really kind words of welcome and for your hospitality once more, and I'm glad to see you here again at the Pentagon. It's already my second visit, and my second, really, within a year, that underlines the close and trusting defense relationship between our two nations, as well as between us two personally.

Over the past year, we have worked closely together to address a variety of common challenges and strengthen the trans-Atlantic partnership. I look forward to continuing this work and the personal conversation today, and in the month to come.

An important topic, of course a you already mentioned it a will be the support for Ukraine, and I'm very, very grateful to the United States for its leadership and support of Ukraine. Thank you also personally, dear Lloyd, for your relentless efforts. Ukraine is under pressure, and it needs our joint support.

Germany and the United States not only share the values of freedom and democracy, as you underlined, but also, together with all our allies, the responsibility for the security and defense of the Euro-Atlantic. In this context, I would like to confirm our strong commitment to more contributions to fair trans-Atlantic burden-sharing. We are taking on more responsibility, and together with other NATO allies, are increasing our investments in defense substantially. We have undertaken several huge steps to rebalance the burden-sharing, for example, the brigade in Lithuania or the European Sky Shield Initiative, we fulfill the two percent GDP pledge in 2024, and will continue to do so.

Having said, this (sic) role of the United States for security and defense in Europe, we remain decisive. We are deeply grateful for this enduring commitment.

At the same time, we are becoming increasingly involved in the Indo-Pacific. A free and peaceful Indo-Pacific is important to all of us, and we want to help promote peace and stability in that region. Before starting my journey on Tuesday, I bid farewell to our unit for the German Indo-Pacific deployments that will be in New York on the 23 of May, San Diego afterwards in June, and look forward to the participation in RIMPAC and a true trip around the world focusing on the Indo-Pacific region, and this is our commitment, too.

Germany is and remains a staunch ally of the United States. We both will continue to work closely as partners, as allies and as friends. This is more important than ever in this world, and I'm confident that we can achieve much together. I'm looking forward to today's conversation and our future cooperation. Thanks a lot.

SEC. AUSTIN: Well, Minister, welcome again, and thanks, everybody.

https://www.defense.gov/News/Transcripts/Transcript/Article/3770755/

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






May 9, 2024

By C. Todd Lopez, DOD News

U.S., German Defense Leaders Discuss Shared Interests in NATO, Ukraine, Indo-Pacific

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III today hosted German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at the Pentagon for a bilateral discussion on shared interests ranging from Ukraine to operations in the Indo-Pacific region.

Austin commended Pistorius on Germany's commitment to providing support to Ukraine's self-defense, citing, among other things, the weapons systems Germany has supplied and the financial commitments it has made.

"After the United States, Germany is the second-largest donor of military assistance to Ukraine, as it resists Putin's aggression," Austin said. "You earmarked $7.7 billion for Ukraine in 2024 alone. Germany has donated critical air defense systems and artillery. And we will continue our close partnership to ensure that Ukraine has the capabilities that it needs to succeed on the battlefield."

Germany has also taken in the largest number of Ukrainian refugees in Europe, Austin said.

"Thanks for everything that Germany is doing for Ukraine's self-defense," Austin said.

When it comes to greater Europe-wide commitments to security, Austin said Germany is also contributing greatly.

"Germany's plan for a permanent brigade in Lithuania is a historic commitment that will strengthen European security," he said. "And we commend Germany for reaching our shared NATO commitment to spend at least 2% of your GDP on defense this year. Germany remains one of our strongest and most reliable allies."

The secretary also noted Germany's deployment of troops to support security and stability in the Middle East, Africa and the Balkans.

"Whether deterring the Kremlin's aggression, or bolstering stability in the Indo-Pacific, our two proud democracies are in lockstep," Austin said.

Pistorius thanked Austin for American leadership in supporting Ukraine, and acknowledged that the U.S. and Germany have interests outside Europe as well a particularly in the Indo-Pacific region.

"A free and peaceful Indo-Pacific is important to all of us, and we want to help promote peace and stability in that region," Pistorius said, adding that he looks forward to Germany's participation in the Rim of the Pacific exercise, which begins in June.

The event, also known as Rimpac, is the world's largest maritime warfare exercise. "Germany is and remains a staunch ally of the United States," Pistorius said. "We both will continue to work closely as partners, as allies and as friends. This is more important than ever in this world, and I'm confident that we can achieve much together."

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Transcript of Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (May 09, 2024)

India - Ministry of External Affairs

May 09, 2024

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. I warmly welcome you to this Press engagement and with that I open the floor for questions.

Huma: Sir, what were the outcomes of the meeting which the Foreign Minister had with his Maldives' counterpart? That is one. Am I allowed to ask a second question now? So, there was this plane which has come back from Jamaica and had 218 Indians on board. So if you can share more details.

Yeshi: Yeshi Seli from the New Indian Express. Was there any talk of the last batch of Indian military men coming back from Maldives? And Dr. Jaishankar talked about reviewing all dimensions of the bilateral. What does that imply? Will there be a rethink on certain projects that India is doing over there? And also any update on the 16 sailors when they are coming back from Iran?

John: John Reed from the FT. I wanted to ask about the commission of inquiry about the Khalistani alleged killing in the US. And I was wondering whether and indeed when it was going to report back to the public or would these findings be kept private? And when will we be briefed on that? Thank you.

Pranay: Pranay Upadhyaya Zee News se. Sir, mera sawaal Canada me jo teen Bharatiya giraftaar kiye gaye hain aur unko jo bhi aarop lagaye gaye hain. Kya Bharat ne consular access manga hai in teeno ke liye aur abhi tak Canada sarkar ke saath kya koi official is maamle me baat hui hai?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Pranay Upadhyaya from Zee News. Sir, my question is regarding the three Indians arrested in Canada and the allegations against them. Has India sought consular access for these three, and has there been any official communication with the Canadian government on this matter?

Sidhant: Sir, Sidhant from WION. Sir, related question to Pranay Sir's. When it comes to Canada, we saw the comments by the Foreign Minister saying that she stands by the allegations. Have the Canadian side provided any evidence so far, when it comes to Indian government's link when it comes to Nijjar killing?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay, let me first go over these questions. Huma, your question was regarding EAM's meeting with the Foreign Minister of Maldives. The Foreign Minister of Maldives, as you know, he's here in town. Sometime back, we had released remarks of External Affairs Minister, which is there on our website. I will ask you to please refer to those as well. Both leaders discussed all aspects of the relationship. They also discussed regional issues, regional security issues. They also went over development cooperation program and cooperation that happens between India and Maldives. EAM, as you must have seen, in his remarks, he noted that as close and approximate neighbors, the development of India-Maldives ties was based on mutual interest and reciprocal sensitivity. He further noted that as far as India was concerned, these were articulated in terms of our Neighborhood First and SAGAR vision. We also looked at several other issues that form part of our overall engagement, capacity building, training, security issues on which we work together, and disaster relief, in many cases, India has been the first responder for Maldives. All those, the entire gamut of relationship was discussed when the two Foreign Ministers met this afternoon here in New Delhi.

Your question regarding the plane in Jamaica, we are given to understand that a chartered flight from Dubai landed in Jamaica, Kingston. There were several Indians on board. They had prior travel bookings. They also had prior hotel bookings, but the local authorities were not satisfied with them as tourists. And therefore, after a few days, after due formalities being done, they decided that they return to their point of origin, which is Dubai, and then they were sent back to Dubai on 7th May. So that is where we are.

Yeshi, your question regarding last batch of personnel in Maldives; so, you know, both Maldives and India, they have been engaged for quite some time to see how best they can continue the operation of the aviation platforms. And in that regard, you've seen developments that the first and second batch of our people who were providing support there, they had come back. And now what I can to you is that the deputation of the competent Indian technical personnel has taken place. So that is where we are. And these platforms, as you know, they provide Medvac services and humanitarian services to the people of Maldives.

On 16 sailors who are there on the ship in Iran, we had made it very clear also that their coming back depends on their contractual obligations. Once those contractual obligations are taken care of, it is for them to decide, because the contractual obligation is between them and the company, them and the captain in charge. But we are in touch with Iranian government to take things forward, to get them released as early as possible.

Yeshi: [Inaudible] have they been replaced by civilians? Can we get any clarification on that because when the first batch returned...

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Yes, we had already said that we have replaced them with technical personnel from our side. Technical people who can operate those aviation platforms, they have been sent there and they will take care of the services.

John, your question regarding high-level committee, this question has been asked in this presser several times. High-level committee was constituted some time back to look into all the security concerns that were shared and we take those security concerns very seriously ourselves, for it impinges our own national security. The high-level committee continues to work. And as and when we are ready to share more information, we will do that with you and with several of our friends who have asked this question before.

Pranay, apka sawaal teen Bharatiyo ko le ke tha, jaisa ki aapko gyat hai, sab logon ko yaha sangyan hai, ki teen Bharatiyo ko hirasat me liya gaya hai, Nijjar ke mamle me. Hum logon ko bhi bataya gaya hai iske baare me. Halaaki iske baare me koi formal, aupcharik roop se koi rajnayik communication humare pas nahi aaya hai. Lekin humko bataya gaya hai ki ye teen logon ko hirasat me liya gaya hai is mamle me. Jaha tak consular access ki aapne baat ki, alag alag desho me alag alag praavdhan hota hai. Kai ek desho me aisa praavdhan hai ki agar consular access jisko hirasat me liya gaya hai agar wo na mange to phir waha ki sarkar humse humko ye baat... matlab ye request humare tak nahi laati hai. Suo moto nahi hota hai ki aapne waha ke nagarik ke, kisi desh ke nagarik ko hirasat me liya aur us desh ko aap counselor access de de.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Pranay, your question was about the three Indians, as you are aware, all here are aware that three Indians have been arrested in the Nijjar case. We have also been informed about it. However, there has been no formal diplomatic communication to us regarding this. But we have been informed that these three individuals have been arrested in this matter. As far as your query on consular access is concerned, different countries have different provisions. In some countries, there is a provision that if the person arrested does not request consular access, then the government of that country does not communicate this request to us. It does not happen suo moto, that if you arrest a citizen of a country, and you give consular access to that country.

Sudhi: Is that official channel information? Can we say that Canada has informed us about the arrest? I mean I am just..

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Canada has informed us about the arrest. That's correct.

Speaker: [Inaudible]

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: What happens is in consular access in different countries, there are different norms. In certain countries if a person, say a national of a particular country, if he has been apprehended, then it is for that national to make a request that please give consular access to my Embassy. And thereafter, it is granted.

Yeshi: All three are Canadians or are they Indian nationals?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Beyond that, we do not have any information. As I told you that we have been informed that three people have been arrested and they happen to be Indian nationals. That is what we have been told.

Sidhant, your question was regarding whether any evidence has been shared with us. Let me first make it clear that no specific or relevant evidence or information has been shared by the Canadian authorities in regard to this particular matter, till date, with us. You will therefore understand our view that the matter is being prejudged when people say X or Y. Obviously, there are political interests at work. We have long maintained that separatists, extremists and those advocating violence have been given political space in Canada. Our diplomats have been threatened with impunity and obstructed in their performance of duties. We have also pointed out to the Canadian authorities that figures associated with organized crime with links in India have been allowed entry and residency. Many of our extradition requests are pending with them. We are having discussions at the diplomatic level on all these matters with the Canadian side.

Ayanangsha Maitra: This is Ayanangsha Maitra, Foreign Secretary Kwatra Sir is in Dhaka. Sir during his visit, ahead of Prime Minister's tentative visit, is there any announcement or update on security on the Chicken's Neck corridor, adjoining Siliguri's area? Also Bangladesh is also increasing its interest in Indo-Pacific, they released the IPO. So, in the front of Teesta water sharing as well as IPO or border killing, is there some announcement there? Thank you, Sir.

Rishabh: Sir, earlier today, we heard a Spokesperson from the Russian Foreign Ministry saying and accusing West of interfering in Indian elections, specifically when it comes to the alleged plot to kill Pannun case or for that matter, the way Canada has been accusing India. Any comment on that?

Ileana: Good afternoon, Ileana, TASS News Agency. There were reports from Indian colleagues, in Indian newspaper, at least in one, on the issue which was discussed for, I guess, more than a year, including by our Foreign Ministers, Russian and Indian one. It is said that the problem with these billions of Rupees which were accumulated in Indian banks is resolved. And these Rupees are used for investment in India. So can you this report and if it's so, on what they were spent? And is it really no longer this problem exists? Thank you.

Umashankar: Umashankar NDTV India se. Mera sawaal ye hai ki, jo abhi pucha bhi gaya hai, ki Bharat ne America ke aaropo ko kharij kar diya sire se. Lekin kai wajaho se high level committee bhi banai hai. Is beech me Russia ki taraf se bayaan aata hai ki kisi bhi tarah ka sabut saja nhi kiya gaya hai. To Bharat Russia ke is bayaan ko kya endorse karta hai?

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Umashankar from NDTV India. My question, also asked earlier, is that it has been said that India has outrightly rejected the allegations made by America. However, a high-level committee has also been constituted for some reasons. Meanwhile, a statement came from Russia that no evidence has been provided in any way. So, does India endorse this statement from Russia?

Emerson: Good afternoon, Sir. I'm Emerson from Central News Agency. The 77th World Health Assembly is going to take place in Geneva, starting May 27, with the theme of 'All for Health, Health for All'. Taiwan has been kept out of the WHA for many years, even as an observer, due to political factors. And this year, Taiwan is again appealing for international support for its participation as an observer. May I know India's position on this? Thank you.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Okay. Thank you. Can we come back for the third round? Regarding your question, Foreign Secretary Vinay Kwatra, he visited Bangladesh on 8th and 9th. During the visit, he had meetings with his counterpart, the Bangladeshi counterpart. In addition, he also called on the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and the Foreign Minister of Bangladesh. We have also put out a read-out of the meeting. Please have a look at the document to get more details. But to tell you that, you know, in the meeting with the Foreign Secretary, our Foreign Secretary and the Bangladesh Foreign Secretary, the entire gamut of relationship between India and Bangladesh was discussed. We have, as you know, a very strong development partnership, a very strong economic and trade partnership. We collaborate in political areas, in security areas; water resources is an important cooperation area as well; power, energy, defence, connectivity and subregional cooperation. So, all these matters were discussed in the meeting between the Foreign Secretaries of the two countries.

Rishabh, your question regarding interference, you know, we had made some statements on reports emanating from the United States. We have made our position very clear whether it is United States Commission on International Religious Freedom or any other report that came out which made certain observations on that. And therefore, I'll leave your question to that point.

Umashankar Ji, apka bhi sawaal ka jawab yehi hai ki jo hum logon ka kahena tha American jo reports aai unpe, jo humko tippani karna tha, humne kaha aur aap dekhenge usme humne ye baat kahi hai ki kisi parakar ki koi influence baahar se karna chahe ya interfere karna chahe, bilkul sara sar galat hai, aur kabhi saksham nahi hoga hamare desh mein.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate translation] Umashankar Ji, the answer to your question is same, that what we had to say, to comment on the reports that came from America, we have said. And as you can see, we have stated that any kind of influence or interference from outside is completely wrong and will not succeed in our country.

Ileana, your question is regarding investments of the money that is here on account of the trading arrangements between Russia and India. I don't have an update for you on that. But let me come back to you with more details. These are very technical issues. But I'm sure...let me come back to you on this in a few days time.

Emerson, your question regarding World Health Assembly; see, as far as Taiwan is concerned, India has cultural ties, scientific ties, trading ties, investment ties with Taiwan. And we want to facilitate these exchanges and take it forward.

Sudhi: Sir Sudhi Ranjan from Bloomberg. Sir just seeking a clarification, you, in your previous reply on Canada, you said, there is discussions, talk between the two countries going on, on the issues. Can you give us an understanding of the level and the format where the talks are? We've also seen Indian High Commissioner in Canada saying that there are talks going on. So what is the level of the talks? And also, Sir, we understand that the Joint Terror Mechanism between India and Canada was supposed to meet this year. Can you give us a clarity as to whether that meeting is happening?

Gautam: Sir, I'm Gautam Lahiri. Sir, coming back to questions on Foreign Secretary's visit to Bangladesh, he has begun his visit by meeting Prime Minister first. Then he met Foreign Minister and after that, counterpart. So whether is there any possibility or whether he has invited, on behalf of India, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit India soon.

Pia: Hi Pia with The Print, Sir, I have two questions. First is on Maldives. Was debt relief discussed in the talks between External Affairs Minister Jaishankar and his Maldivian counterpart? And secondly, a report had come out today claiming that India's rise on the world stage under Modi is a mirage. And it even said that in the US and the UK, Modi ranks 23 and 26 out of 35 popular foreign political leaders. In fact, Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin are placed above him. Any response on this report? Any reaction? Thank you.

Santosh: Sir, main Santosh Thakur Navbharat se. Sir mere do sawaal hai. Sir, ek toh Chini raajdoot ki, kaafi dino baad niyukti hui hai Bharat me, uspar apki pratikriya. Dusara Sir Nepal ne Kalapani sahit do aur sthaano ke, jinko le kar bich me vivvad tha, wo apne note pe chhapne ka ailaan kiya hai. Toh uspe apki partikriya. Dhanyavaad.

[Question in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Sir, I'm Santosh Thakur from Navabharat. Sir, I have two questions. First, Chinese Ambaasador has been appointed in India after a long time. Your reaction to that? Second, Nepal has announced to print images of Kalapani and two other places, on which there was a controversy, on its currency note. Your response to that? Thank you.

Speaker 3: Sir, I'm from German TV. So, there are arrests of gangs operating in India sending people to Russia. And eventually they are ending up in Russian Army. So, the question is that, is it a kind of a link to the Russian state or what is your comment on that?

Pranay: Sir, this is a supplementary to the same question. Recently, there were actions by CBI against some recruiting agents. So, is there any follow up? Did you get any information on that?

Huma: Sir, there are reports that Indian workers in Israel are feeling exploited and they are regretting the decision because they are not getting the pay and they are being made to work for longer hours. So, have you heard any such thing and if yes, what is Indian government doing?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So, Sudhi, first regarding your question about discussions happening; yes, discussions are happening between India and Canada on some of the issues that I pointed out. You know, we have been telling them that you are giving political space to separatists, extremists and people who advocate violence. They are acting against India. We also have asked them to extradite several people. We have also conveyed our concerns regarding our diplomats being threatened and not being allowed to carry out their functions. So, on all these issues, discussion is happening between India and Canada. As far as the Joint Terror Mechanism that you said, I understand that it is something that should be happening, but I don't have the exact details. But these are normal talks, normal exchanges that happen between two countries, security and counter-terrorism. So, I will have an update as to when exactly it is happening, but it is there in the offing.

Gautam Ji, regarding Foreign Secretary's visit; yes, you know, the relationship between India and Bangladesh is very special, as you know. Foreign Secretary called on the Prime Minister, he also called on the External Affairs Minister. All issues were discussed and we gave a lot of importance, in keeping with our Neighborhood First policy, to Bangladesh. India is the leading development partner and also it is the largest trading partner of Bangladesh in the region. So, the visit of the Foreign Secretary will give a major boost to the partnership and impart a new momentum to this relationship as well.

Pia, regarding your question; yes, you know, I had said in my remarks when I talked about External Affairs Minister's engagement that development cooperation matters were discussed between the two leaders. Regarding the report that you are talking about, I have not seen any report. So, let me first have a look...

Pia: Sir, debt relief, not development cooperation. I have asked about debt relief.

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: So, debt relief, these are issues which are part of development cooperation, you know. Development cooperation, development assistance, they form part of that pillar of work.

Santosh ji, apka sawaal Chini raajdoot ko le ke tha. China me humare raajdoot hain aur unke ab naye Chini rajdoot yaha aa rahe hain, toh ye chalta raheta hai. Ye to humare raajdoot waha hai, unke bhi raajdoot yaha hone chahiye, tabhi aadan pradan chalta rahega.

Nepal me note ko le ke jo apne baat kahi, uspe Videsh Mantri haal hi ke dino me Bhubaneswar me shayad unhone kaha ki ye jo masle hain, ye Nepal aur Bharat ke bich me jo bhi dialogue humare chal rahe hain boundary ko le ke, simawarti kshetra ko le ke, uske tehet chal rahi hain, aur koi unilateral action agar liya jata hai, usse jamini haqikat nahi badalta hai. To yeh masla jo hai dono desho ke bich me baat chit chal rahi hai.

[Answer in Hindi: Approximate Translation] Santosh ji, your question was regarding the Chinese Ambassador. We have our Ambassador in China, and new Chinese Ambassador is coming here, it's a normal routine. Our Ambassador is there, so their Ambassador should also be here, so that the exchanges can be continued.

Regarding your query about the currency note in Nepal, the External Affairs Minister, recently, in Bhubaneswar perhaps, stated that the dialogues between Nepal and India regarding boundary, border areas, are ongoing within that framework; and any unilateral action does not change the ground reality. So, this issue is being discussed through dialogue between the two countries.

Regarding your question, you know, we also understand that four people have been arrested, who were part of the network which were duping people or misguiding them and sending them away on false promises and false contracts. Four people have been arrested. CBI is investigating the matter. There are several others on whom the investigation is on and hopefully we will have better results soon.

Huma, regarding your question about Indian workers; see, if there is any matter of consular nature, those are issues which our Embassy handles. Our Embassy is always in touch with the community, our professionals who are staying abroad, our diaspora. And as and when there are issues, the Embassy looks into. So, hopefully now that you have told me, I am sure our Embassy is looking into all these matters.

Srinjoy: Sir, there has been a meeting between Tim Barrow and the EAM. Can you tell us a little about the meeting, what happened? Also, Sir, on the 24th of April, in five areas, in Chushul, at the Vasundhara gap, at Doka La, at Gora La and another place in the Northeast, there have been five meetings between Indian and Chinese military personnel. So, can you tell us if there is any forward movement?

Abhishek: Sir, Abhishek Jha from CNN News18 this side. My question is regarding this Tim Barrow-NSA, Tim Barrow's meeting with EAM also. Did the issue of Khalistani or pro-Khalisthani activists active in UK was also discussed? We know that India is also investigating some of the activists who participated in last year March attack on India House. So, those issues were discussed or not? And my second question is Afghanistan Embassy's Consul General, Mariam Wardak, she has stepped down. Also, there are allegations, in fact, that she was found smuggling a substantial amount of gold. You have any comment on that?

Speaker 4: Sir, just in addition to the previous question, do you have any number of Indians who are trapped in Russia, in Russian army? And there are kind of reports in Punjab and other part of India, they are getting SMS to the family members, but we don't have any official confirmation how many people are there and what are their status. And also, this gang which is operating in India, do they have any link with the Russian state? What is your comment on that specifically?

Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Official Spokesperson: Thank you. So, first, coming to your question, you know, this is not the first time that we are answering this question. We have said in the past that over 20 people have approached us who want to be released from the Russian Army. We have taken up the matter with the Russian side. As a result, 10 people have returned back home. Because of this problem, some time back, CBI launched an investigation and raided several places. As a result of that, four people have been arrested. I understand that investigation is on in other locations and involving other people and people who are into this business. So, that is where we are. So, 20 plus people who are yet to come back, we have successfully been able to bring back 10 people and four people have been arrested so far here in India.

Abhishek and Srinjoy, your question relates to the visit of UK NSA, Sir Tim Barrow; the UK NSA is in India, today. He is co-chairing UK-India Strategic Dialogue along with our NSA. As part of this engagement, the two sides, they have had extensive discussions covering all security issues. Also, the meeting focused around technology and security initiative, which will be a major bilateral mechanism to strengthen cooperation in critical and emerging technologies. So, that is an important piece of discussion, an important piece of emerging collaboration between India and the UK. They also discussed bilateral issues, as I said, and also regional issues and global matters of mutual interest. This visit will give a major boost to the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership that we have with the United Kingdom. As part of the visit, UK NSA also called on the External Affairs Minister and they reviewed bilateral ties. They also discussed regional and global issues.

Srinjoy regarding your question about the 24th April meeting, there are several engagements that happen between the two countries and these engagements are part of those ongoing talks. We have been updating you on the WMCC process and whenever we have military-to-military or diplomatic conversation with the Chinese side at the diplomatic level, we have been updating you on what is happening on peace and tranquility issues in border areas.

Abhishek, your question regarding CG of Afghanistan, we have seen some reports regarding the incident that you highlighted. We also have seen the statement issued by the diplomat. Further than that, we have nothing to add.

Thank you very much. See you next week.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






INDIAN NAVAL SHIPS DELHI, SHAKTI, AND KILTAN COMPLETED THEIR VISIT TO SINGAPORE, AS A PART OF THE OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENT OF THE EASTERN FLEET TO THE SOUTH CHINA SEA

India - Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Defence

Posted On: 09 MAY 2024 5:55PM by PIB Delhi

Indian Naval Ships Delhi, Shakti and Kiltan visited Singapore from 06 - 09 May 24, aimed at undertaking bilateral engagements and discussing areas of mutual interest and cooperation, and reaffirming the commitment to enhance maritime security and stability in the region. This visit is part of the Operational Deployment of the Indian Navy's Eastern Fleet to the South China Sea.

R Adm Rajesh Dhankhar, Flag Officer Commanding Eastern Fleet and Commanding Officers of the ships had an interaction with the Fleet Commander, Republic of Singapore Navy at the Singapore Naval Headquarters. The visit provided an opportunity for discussions on enhancing naval cooperation and interoperability between navies of both India and Singapore. A deck reception was hosted onboard INS Shakti, wherein personnel from both navies and the Indian diaspora in Singapore and also local diplomatic community had the opportunity to interact, furthering the bonds of friendship and mutual respect.

As part of the Indian Navy's commitment to maritime education and outreach, local school children were invited to visit the Indian Ships. The children were given guided tours of the ships, where they learned about naval operations, India's rich maritime history and heritage and also the importance of maritime security. These interactions aim to inspire the younger generation and promote a greater understanding of maritime affairs. Personnel from both the Indian Navy and the Republic of Singapore Navy also undertook cross-ship visits and Subject Matter Expert Exchange (SMEE), in addition to other professional interactions.

****

VM/SPS



(Release ID: 2020103)

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Iran will have to change nuclear doctrine if existence threatened: Ex-FM

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Head of Iran's Strategic Council on Foreign Relations (SCFR) Kamal Kharrazi has said that Iran will have to change its nuclear doctrine if Israel threatens its existence.

In an interview with Al Jazeera Television network, Kharrazi, a former foreign minister, emphasized that if the Zionist regime makes a mistake and damages Iran's nuclear facilities, Tehran's level of deterrence will be different.

"Two years ago, in an interview with Al Jazeera, I announced that Iran has the potential to produce a nuclear bomb; and today we still have that capacity, but we have no decision to produce a nuclear bomb," he said.

Kharrazi added that Tehran has not sought to produce a nuclear bomb, "but if Iran's existence is threatened, we will have to change our nuclear doctrine."

Iranian military officials have also announced recently that if Israel seeks to attack the country's nuclear facilities, it is possible to revise the Islamic Republic's nuclear doctrine and policies and deviate from the previous declaration considerations, the adviser to the Supreme Leader said.

In response to a question about the latest developments concerning Iran-Saudi Arabia ties, he said that the resumption of relations between the two countries was a very important step that was beneficial for both parties.

Kharrazi emphasized that Iran does not recognize the Israeli regime and considers the Israeli regime to be an occupier "because Jewish immigrants came here from different countries and took over the houses and properties of Palestinians and killed them, and this killing continues, therefore, we do not recognize such an entity."

6125**4354



NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Int'l nuclear conf. countered campaign against Iran nuclear industry: AEOI chief

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

May 9, 2024

Tehran, IRNA -- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Mohammad Eslami has said that the First International Conference on Nuclear Sciences and Technology served as an opportunity to counter the campaign against Iran's nuclear industry.

Eslami made the comment on Wednesday afternoon at the closing ceremony of the three-day conference held in the historical city of Isfahan.

He said that Iran has managed to make significant progress in its nuclear industry despite difficulties created by arrogant powers which he said have dominance on international bodies.

The official also said that the AEOI is determined to continue efforts for making further progress in accordance with pieces of advice by the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei.

Javad Karimi-Sabet, head of the Iranian Nuclear Society, also addressed the closing ceremony of the International Conference on Nuclear Sciences and Technology (ICNST).

He hailed the conference as a historical event in Iran's nuclear industry, as it included more than a dozen panels of experts and attracted a large number of participants including academics and students.

Karimi-Sabet said that the conference provided opportunities of collaboration between universities and industries, which he said help the two sides create a roadmap for future plans.

The ICNST and the 30th edition of the National Nuclear Conference were held on May 6-8.

4194





NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






US Specifically Paused Weapons Shipment to Israel Including 2000-Pound Bombs - Ryder

Sputnik News

20240509

WASHINGTON, (Sputnik) a The US specifically paused a weapons shipment to Israel, including eighteen hundred 2000-pound bombs and seventeen hundred 500-pound bombs, Pentagon Press Secretary Pat Ryder said.

"Specifically, we [the US] paused one shipment of weapons consisting of 1800 2000-pound bombs, and 1700 500-pound bombs," Ryder said during a press briefing.

On Wednesday, Biden said in an interview that the United States will go as far as to stop the flow of weapons to Israel should the Netanyahu war cabinet decide on a major military operation in the Gaza Strip.

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed Wednesday that the US has paused one shipment of "high payload munitions" to Israel and is "reviewing near-term" shipments amid Israel's heightened offensive in Rafah.

It remains unclear whether the suspension of weapons deliveries to Israel will make any difference and cause Israel to call off its Rafah operation. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly stated that his country stands ready to proceed with its military plans no matter what Washington or any other country says or does.

On Monday, Israel started a military operation in the eastern parts of Rafah and took control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt. Hamas said that it had agreed to the provisions of the ceasefire deal proposed by Egypt and Qatar mediators, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the truce deal unacceptable. Over a million people are believed to be sheltering in the city.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Fighting in Rakhine state townships displaces 40,000 Rohingyas

They now face a humanitarian crisis.

By RFA Burmese 2024.05.09 -- At least 40,000 ethnic Rohingyas have been forced to flee intense clashes between junta troops and the rebel Arakan Army in two townships in western Myanmar's Rakhine state since the start of the week, and are now facing a humanitarian crisis, the displaced told RFA Burmese on Thursday.

The fighting in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships came amid widespread gains in Rakhine state by the Arakan Army, or AA, that prompted the junta to implement a draft to shore up depleted troop losses.

As part of its efforts, the military has reportedly forcibly recruited Rohingyas into pro-junta militias which it says must be formed to protect their Muslim faith in majority Buddhist Rakhine state.

But observers say the junta is trying to stoke ethnic tensions in the region to slow the Arakan Army's advance.

Nay San Lwin, a Rohingya rights activist who is monitoring the situation, said that the 40,000 first began to flee on Monday and hail from more than 10 villages, including Buthidaung's Ka Kyet Bet, Ah Lel Chaung and Ba Gon Nar villages, and Maungdaw's Paung Zar and Hla Baw Zar villages - all of which are located in close proximity to the fighting.

"Rohingyas are not allowed to take shelter at IDP [internally displaced people] camps, so they will not receive humanitarian aid," he said. "Between 40,000 and 50,000 Rohingyas - including women, children, the elderly and the disabled - have been forced to flee from the villages in Buthidaung and Maungdaw."

Nay San Lwin said that the number of displaced was confirmed after speaking to Rohingyas from the villages by phone over the last three days.

Rohingya sources say the situation in Rakhine state has grown increasingly complex in recent weeks and that members of their ethnic community are being exploited and oppressed by both the military and the AA.

Rohingya activists estimate the Rohingya population of Buthidaung to be around 200,000 and of Maungdaw to be some 80,000, totaling nearly 300,000 people. Those who have fled since Monday account for nearly 15% of the Rohingya population in the two townships.

Warned to flee by AA

A Rohingya resident of Maungdaw township who, like others interviewed for this report, spoke on condition of anonymity due to security concerns, told RFA that his escape was prompted by warnings of impending clashes from the AA.

"The AA told us that there would be a fight here, so we fled," he said, adding that the ethnic rebels advised seeking shelter in urban areas to avoid junta heavy artillery and airstrikes. "The AA didn't attack us, they urged us to flee."

Attempts to contact AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha about the situation in the two townships went unanswered Thursday.

Armed conflict escalated in Maungdaw in May, and the Rohingya resident said that while the junta has bombarded the township, the pro-junta No. 5 Border Guard Police Force, based in Maungdaw's Myo Thu Gyi village, has "opened fire every day."

A Rohingya from Buthidaung called the situation there "life-threatening."

"We are not safe at all and have already been targeted in an airstrike," he said. "I have fled with all of my family members from the conflict areas. People from six or seven villages have run away ... Now we are facing difficulties getting food."

He went on to say that Rohingyas from Maungdaw and Buthidaung had been unable to flee to urban areas and were forced to take shelter in nearby villages.

Ethnic Rakhines also at risk

Other residents told RFA that ethnic Rakhines have also been fleeing Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships.

On Tuesday, RFA reported that junta troops and their pro-junta Rohingya militias set fire to nearly 50 houses in Maungdaw's Shwe Yin Aye and Wai Thar Li villages from May 6-9.

RFA was unable to reach Attorney General Hla Thein, the junta's spokesperson for Rakhine state, for comment on the situation in Maungdaw and Buthidaung on Thursday.

In a message posted to the social media platform Telegram on Wednesday, AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha accused the junta of forcibly recruiting Rohingya from camps for the displaced in neighboring Bangladesh, where nearly 1 million languish after fleeing ethnic violence in Rakhine state in recent years.

He also condemned insurgent groups the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the Arakan Rohingya Army and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization for claiming that they had aligned with the AA to fight junta troops.

The same day, Rohingya refugees told RFA that the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization had forcibly recruited "at least 500 people" for military service from camps for displaced Rohingyas in Bangladesh's Cox's Bazar between April 29 and May 8.

The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army, the Arakan Rohingya Army and the Rohingya Solidarity Organization have not made any announcement about recruitment at the camps.

Residents of Rakhine state say that more than 2,000 Rohingyas have been forcibly taken for conscription from the capital Sittwe, and the townships of Kyaukphyu, Buthidaung and Maungdaw since February, when the junta announced it was implementing the military service law.

More than 166,000 people have fled their homes amid the conflict in Rakhine state, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The fighting began in November, when the AA ended a ceasefire agreement that had been in place with the military since it seized power from Myanmar's democratically elected government in a February 2021 coup d'etat.

Translated by Aung Naing. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.

Copyright 1998-2024, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036. For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: mahajanr@rfa.org. RFA content 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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






20,000 displaced by battles: Myanmar rescue workers

Fighting between junta and ethnic armed groups is pushing people from their villages, according to residents.

By RFA Burmese 2024.05.09 -- Clashes have forced more than 20,000 people from their homes in Myanmar, residents and rescue teams told Radio Free Asia on Thursday, exacerbating what the United Nations has warned is a deepening humanitarian crisis.

The junta, which took power in a 2021 coup, has faced growing resistance from allied insurgent groups since October last year in several parts of the country.

Over recent days, some 10,000 people had been forced to flee fighting in Kachin State in the north and even more had fled clashes in Shan State in northeastern Myanmar, residents and an aid worker in the conflict zones told RFA.

In Kachin State, fighting has intensified in Mansi and Momauk townships since ethnic minority Kachin insurgents attacked junta positions on Wednesday, a resident said.

Junta forces had withdrawn from Momauk while many civilians had also fled, they said.

"There are no people in the city, and many homes have also been damaged," said the resident who declined to be identified for security reasons. More than 10,000 people had left villages across Mansi and Momauk townships, residents estimated, while in Shan State's Hsihseng township, an even greater number of people had fled from their homes, people there said.

The United Nations said last week more than three million people have been displaced due to fighting in Myanmar, with numbers increasing significantly in the past six months since insurgents battling the junta that seized power in 2021 stepped up their offensives.

In the town of Mansi, another resident told RFA that the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) and allied fighters had been attacking junta camps. The insurgent group has been on the offensive since February, fighting the military regime for land and trade routes in the resource-rich state.

"They were fighting over Mansi city until today. All the civilians have fled," the Mansi resident said. "Three people were killed by the artillery and airstrikes. Some people fled to Bhamo and some fled to Man Wein Gyi."

On Monday, the KIA captured a bridge from junta forces in Mansi township. The next day they seized a camp in Mogaung, several townships away, and junta-affiliated police stations in Mansi he added. KIA information officer Col. Naw Bu told RFA the junta was retaliating with heavy weapons and airstrikes.

The junta has not released any information about its operations in Kachin State. RFA attempted to contact the state's junta spokesperson, Moe Min Thein for comment, but he did not answer phone calls.

More than 8,000 people live in Mansi and 10,000 people in Momauk township, according to a 2014 census, indicating that over half of the population has fled the area.

In Shan State to the south, the estimated number of people in Hsihseng township fleeing battles between the junta and the Pa-O National Liberation Army ethnic minority insurgent group, is considerably higher, a rescue worker told RFA Wednesday.

"As far as we know, there are about 50,000 people who had to flee," said the worker who declined to be identified, adding that out of this group, only 10,000 couldn't be accounted for in Hsaik Hkawng San Pya village. "They came in droves and they haven't received any help yet."

RFA was not able to verify the estimated number of people displaced.

Those fleeing Hsaik Hkawng were being given shelter in monasteries, and as of Thursday morning, more people were coming in urgent need of food and shelter, he added.

RFA attempted to contact Shan State's junta spokesperson, Khun Thein Maung, for confirmation on the number of refugees fleeing Hsihseng township, but he did not respond to enquiries.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

Updated to correct name of Hsaik Hkawng San Pya village.

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.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Meeting between the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar

Pakistan Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Today, the Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar received the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, Dr. Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al-Khulaifi accompanied by senior delegates from the Qatar Investment Authority.

The two sides reviewed Pakistan-Qatar bilateral relations and trade and investment ties with particular focus on cooperation in sectors including energy, mining and aviation.

The two sides also exchanged views on regional and global developments especially the dire situation in Gaza. The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister admired Qatar's active role as a mediator with regard to the Palestine Israel conflict and emphasized that peace in the region could only be ensured through the establishment of a viable, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine on the basis of pre-1967 borders, with Al Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

The Minister of State conveyed message from the Prime Minister & Foreign Minister of the State of Qatar, His Highness Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, reiterating steadfast support for Pakistan.

The Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister underscored the significance of economic diplomacy towards transforming bilateral ties into a mutually beneficial economic partnership.

Islamabad

9 May 2024

77/2024

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Over 400 killed in Pakistan as military intensifies operations in KP and Baluchistan

By Iftikhar Hussain May 09, 2024

Tufail Dawar, a resident of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, recounted a harrowing day on April 30 when he and his fellow villagers were trapped in their homes by gunfire outside.

"We couldn't go out for the entire day as security forces and militants engaged in a fierce shootout during a military operation in our village," Dawar explained. During the crossfire, one of his cousins was injured and is currently receiving treatment in a local hospital.

Resident of the restive tribal districts of Pakistan along the Afghan border and adjacent areas tell VOA Deewa that due to increasing military operations many areas have been declared no-go zones, restricting their daily mobility.

"Our village has been declared a no-go zone by security forces and no development work is happening. There are no sources of livelihoods and many families have left the area due to military operations," Maulana Naqibullah Khan told VOA Deewa over the phone.

Khan said that in the past three months locals had negotiated with the security forces to secure the release of nearly 60 residents who had been arrested after being accused of providing food and medical treatment to the militants.

"The situation has deteriorated; we have seen helicopter shellings in December 2023, and the security forces operation continues. Locals have suffered property and human losses and we have held meetings, but it persists," said Muhammad Amin, a village council member in Kadera, a community of 900 homes in northwestern Pakistan.

The Pakistani military says that army, police, intelligence and other law enforcement agencies are carrying out more than 100 operations daily against terrorism in the country.

Major-General Ahmed Sharif, a spokesperson for Pakistan's military, said during a live broadcast news conference Tuesday that security forces have conducted 13,135 small and major intelligence-based operations so far this year against terrorists and their facilitators, "during which 249 terrorists were sent to hell while 396 were arrested."

VOA reached out to Pakistan military media wing Inter Services Public Relations official Brigadier Ghazanfar via WhatsApp seeking further details on the military operations in the region, but he has not responded.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan, told a gathering organized by the Institute of Regional Studies on Tuesday that there has been a 60% increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Haq Nawaz, a Peshawar-based analyst, said Pakistan lacks a clear strategy to combat terrorism.

"Pakistan has adopted both the dialogue and military operations strategy in the past, but terrorism is on the rise in Pakistan and Pakistan's military and political forces should work together to devise a new strategy," he said.

The Center for Research and Securities Studies (CRSS), an Islamabad-based think tank tracking terrorism in Pakistan, has said that terror-related fatalities surged 17% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the corresponding period in 2023.

The report says 432 people were killed and 370 others were injured in the first three months in 245 attacks and military operations. The provincewise breakdown is not yet available, but CRSS says that 92% of the violence occurred in KP and Baluchistan.

This story originated in VOA's Deewa Service.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Meeting with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan

Vladimir Putin had a meeting at the Kremlin with Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan.

May 8, 2024

22:40

The Kremlin, Moscow

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Mr Pashinyan, I am very pleased to welcome you to Moscow once again.

This is an anniversary summit, as we are celebrating the EAEU's tenth anniversary. Cooperation within this international organisation has had a positive impact on all our countries, including Russia and Armenia, throughout these years, as we have discussed before coming into this room. Armenia has seen a very substantial increase in its trade with EAEU countries since 2015. In fact, Russia-Armenia trade has increased by a factor of 14.

As for our bilateral relations, we have also been successful in expanding them. Economic cooperation has invariably been our primary focus. Last year, we saw a substantial increase in trade, largely due to higher imports, or exports, if we look at it from Armenia's perspective. Trade exceeded $7 billion. We have never seen such high levels in our trade and economic relations before.

Of course, our relations go beyond trade. There are regional security matters on our agenda too. We will not discuss them in detail during the public part of our meeting, but we have the opportunity to discuss our relations in all aspects, including regional security matters, on the sidelines of the EAEU meeting.

I am very glad to see you. Welcome.

Prime Minister of Armenia Nikol Pashinyan: Thank you very much.

Mr Putin, first of all, allow me to thank you for your warm welcome and the excellent organisation of the Supreme Eurasian Economic Council meeting.

Our previous meeting was in December 2023. Since then, several important matters emerged, and we need to discuss them. We have already gone over the economic aspects during the Council meeting. I hope and I am confident that we can now focus on major bilateral and regional matters.

I am delighted to have a meeting with you too. Thank you.

<...>

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Meeting with President of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev

Vladimir Putin held a meeting at the Kremlin with President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev.

May 8, 2024

23:45

The Kremlin, Moscow

<...>

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Our governments have generated positive momentum when working together.

President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Our trade agreements have become the primary focus for all our agencies and our prime ministers. And these agreements are being implemented.

Vladimir Putin: Trade has been on the rise between our two countries.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Indeed, we have seen an increase in trade.

This year we will be targeting the $5 billion mark and tasked every minister accordingly. I also had a meeting today with [Deputy Prime Minister - Minister of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation Denis] Manturov. He raised four issues and we resolved them right away.

Vladimir Putin: As spring has arrived and the summer is approaching, we eagerly anticipate the arrival of fruit and vegetables from Uzbekistan, just like last year. This is something that benefits all of us by keeping prices low and preventing them from rising.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev: Very well.

[Head of the Republic of Tatarstan Rustam] Minnikhanov has visited our southern regions, and was amazed by the cabbage, dried apricots, garlic and scallions that we grow. In fact, he was taken by surprise by what he saw during the visit. He said: "Why do we buy anything in other countries? These products are cheap and eco-friendly." Most importantly, the prices are reasonable.

Vladimir Putin: We have been buying more products from Uzbekistan every year.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev: It would be wonderful if this trend continues.

Vladimir Putin: We will make sure of it.

Shavkat Mirziyoyev: I have also mentioned the Agroexpress initiative. I talked about it in my remarks. We have all it takes to satisfy the demand for agricultural products in the Russian market.

Vladimir Putin: We will support this initiative. In fact, even without it we have been witnessing an increase in trade over the past couple of years, reaching unprecedented levels. We will continue to expand our trade.

<...>

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Victory Parade on Red Square

President of Russia, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin attended a military parade marking the 79th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

May 9, 2024

10:50

The Kremlin, Moscow

Alongside with the President of Russia on the stand were President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, President of the Kyrgyz Republic Sadyr Japarov, President of the Republic of Tajikistan Emomali Rahmon, President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedov and President of the Republic of Uzbekistan Shavkat Mirziyoyev, and President of the Republic of Cuba Miguel Mario DAaz-Canel y BermAdez, President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Mokhtar Sissoco EmbalA, and President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith. Before the parade, Vladimir Putin welcomed the heads of foreign states who had arrived in Moscow for the celebrations, in the Heraldic Hall of the Kremlin.

The parade began when the the national flag of Russia and the Banner of Victory were carried into Red Square. The parade was led by Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Ground Forces Army General Oleg Salyukov and reviewed by Acting Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu.

The marching column on Red Square included 30 ceremonial regiments of over 9,000 service personnel, among them over 1,000 troops taking part in the special military operation.

The motorised column was headed by the legendary "Victory tank," the T-34. Tigr-M, VPK Ural and KAMAZ multi-purpose utility armoured vehicles, Linza Protected Field Ambulances, Iskander-M operational tactical missile systems, S-400 Triumf air defence launchers, Yars mobile ground-based missile systems and BTR-82A armoured personnel carriers drove through Red Square.

The Victory Day parade ended with an aerial part with Su-30M and MiG-29 jets flown by the Russkiye Vityazi (Russian Knights) and Strizhi aerobatic teams flying over Red Square in the famous lozenge-shaped Cuban Diamond formation, followed by six Su-25 fighter jets painting the sky into the colours of the Russian flag.

The music accompaniment was provided by the Moscow garrison's combined military orchestra.

* * *

Speech by the President of Russia at the military parade

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Citizens of Russia,

Dear veterans,

Comrade soldiers and sailors, sergeants and sergeant majors midshipmen and warrant officers,

Comrade officers, generals and admirals,

Soldiers and commanders, frontline personnel participating in the special military operation,

I congratulate you on Victory Day! This is our main, truly national sacred holiday.

Today we are honouring our fathers and grandfathers and grand-grandfathers. They defended their native land and crushed Nazism, liberated the peoples of Europe and displayed unparalleled heroism in combat and on the home front.

Today, we are witnessing attempts to distort the truth about World War II. This truth is a sore for those who have developed a habit of basing their effectively colonial policy on duplicity and lies. They are tearing down memorials to those who really fought Nazism, erecting monuments to traitors and Hitler's accomplices and erasing the memory of the heroism and noble spirit of the liberators and the great sacrifice they made for the sake of all life on Earth.

Harbouring revanchist sentiments, making a mockery of history, and seeking to justify present-day Nazi followers is part of what constitutes a common policy of Western elites to fuel regional conflicts, inter-ethnic and inter-religious strife and to contain sovereign and independent centres of global development.

We reject exceptionalist claims of any country or alliance. We know what this unchecked ambition may lead to. Russia will do utmost to avoid a global confrontation but it will not allow itself to be threatened. Our strategic forces are always in combat readiness.

The West would love to forget the lessons of World War II, but we remember that the destiny of humankind was decided during the colossal battles of Moscow, Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk, Kharkov, Minsk, Smolensk and Kiev, and in the intense and bloody fighting from Murmansk to the Caucasus and the Crimea.

For the first three long and harsh years of the Great Patriotic War, the Soviet Union, along with all its constituent republics, fought the Nazis virtually single-handedly, while the virtually of all Europe worked to support the Nazi war machine.

But let me emphasise: Russia has never belittled the significance of the Second Front or that of Allied assistance. We honour the valor of all members of the Anti-Hitler Coalition, the Resistance Movement, the underground movement and guerrillas, as well as the courage displayed by the peoples of China fighting for their independence against militarist Japan's aggression. We will forever remember and we will never forget our joint struggle and the inspiring traditions of alliance.

Friends!

Russia is now going through a difficult, watershed moment of its history. The fate of our Motherland and its future depend on each us.

Today, on Victory Day, we feel it ever more sharply and never fail to draw inspiration from our generation of the brave, noble and wise victors, and the way they cherished friendship and remained firm in the face of adversity, always trusted themselves and their country, and had a sincere and selfless love for their Motherland.

We are celebrating Victory Day against the backdrop of the Special Military Operation. All of those engaged in it, on the frontlines, are our heroes. We are humbled by your fortitude and self-sacrifice. All of Russia stands with you.

Our veterans, too, believe in you, and they are worried about you. That they remain involved emotionally in your lives and heroism is an unbreakable tie that binds this heroic generation together.

Today we honour the radiant memory of those whose lives were taken by the Great Patriotic War, the memory of sons, daughters, fathers, mothers, grandfathers, grand-grandfathers, husbands, wives, brothers, sisters, family members and loved ones and friends.

We bow our heads while cherishing the memory of the Great Patriotic War's veterans who are no longer with us. In memory of civilians who died in the barbarous shelling and terrorist attacks committed by the neo-Nazis, and of our brothers-in-arms who have fallen in the struggle against neo-Nazism and in the righteous fight for Russia.

I declare a minute of silence.

(A moment of silence.)

Our dear veterans, comrades and friends!

May 9 is always an emotional and poignant date. Every family cherishes its heroes, looks at their photographs, their dear, beloved faces, remembers their family members and their tales of war and toil.

Victory Days unites all generations. We are going forwards relying on our centuries-old traditions and feeling confident that together we will ensure a free and secure future of Russia.

Glory to the valiant Armed Forces! For Russia! For Victory!

Hurah!

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Reception in honour of the heads of state invited to attend Victory Day celebrations

Vladimir Putin addressed the guests at a reception on behalf of the President of Russia in honour of the heads of state invited to attend the celebrations of the 79th anniversary of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

May 9, 2024

13:00

The Kremlin, Moscow

President of Russia Vladimir Putin: Colleagues, friends,

Today, on Victory Day, it is with a special feeling of warmth that we welcome in Russia and here in Moscow our reliable partners and friends.

This is a sacred day which is marked across the Commonwealth of Independent States, as well as in many countries of Europe and around the world, anywhere where people realise that justice, equality and humanism are perennial values, where people remember and honour heroism and the feats accomplished by the warriors who brought freedom and created a future for people and nations across the world.

Time has no power over the greatness of the colossal victory of 1945. Despite all attempts to rewrite history, the lessons that the world community learnt in the crucible of the Second World War remain unassailable.

The Nazis and the Japanese militarists drew almost 80 percent of the world's population into this war by unleashing their aggression in Europe and North Africa, in the Asia-Pacific Region, killing millions of innocent people. Those who stopped and defeated this evil will be covered in fame, eternal and unfading, for the feats they accomplished.

We remember the Allied contribution to fighting Nazism, those who took part in the lend-lease convoys, including Cuba, by the way. We are delighted to have the President of this country, Miguel Diaz-Canel Bermudez, with us on a day which matters so much to all of us.

In the person of President of the Lao People's Democratic Republic Thongloun Sisoulith we offer our greetings to nations where resistance movement fighters were proactive during World War II alongside members of national liberation movements. The struggle they led at the time paved the way to the emergence of independent and sovereign states in Asia which now play an increasingly important role in the global economy and world affairs.

The Nazis directed most of their military might against the Soviet Union, but the enemy had to face a vigorous and firm pushback there. The entire Soviet nation rose to defend the Fatherland in an unprecedented demonstration of unity and mass heroism.

Victory Day is sacred for the heads of state from the Commonwealth of Independent States. There are veterans of war and those who worked on the home front in every single family in our countries. We took a bus together on our way here, where we discussed this, and tried to understand how many veterans are still with us. Remembering those who have passed away is an integral and essential element of our shared past and the triumphs we achieved together on the battlefield, as well as on the home front.

Having defeated Nazism and asserted its independence, our country made a sincere effort to support other nations aspiring to self-determination by helping people in Africa and Asia both in word and deed during their anti-colonial struggles without backing out once they achieved their state independence.

I believe that President of the Republic of Guinea-Bissau Umaro Sissoco Embalo, who is here today, will agree that this consistency on behalf of the Soviet Union and then Russia has borne fruit. Africa is building up capacity and aspires to emerging as an effective powerhouse in a multipolar world with its unique identity by making confident strides in nurturing a genuine sense of political and economic sovereignty.

Let me emphasise that Russia reaffirms its commitment to promoting mutually beneficial partnerships and friendship with everyone who shares the values of freedom and justice and calls for strictly abiding by the international norms, as well as for an inclusive, equal and indivisible security architecture.

This is the debt we owe to all those who endured the horrific test of the Second World War. The memory of the comradery in arms of our forefathers, as well as the openness, mutual understanding and friendship among people representing a broad spectrum of ethnic groups, cultures and traditions will serve as a reliable foundation for moving forward and working together in the name of the future.

Friends, I would like to raise a toast for the generation of victors! For the Great Victory! For peace and wellbeing! For our good friends!

Thank you for being with us.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Putin says Russia's nuclear forces 'always on alert'

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 6:36 PM

President Vladimir Putin says Russia's strategic nuclear forces are "always on alert" to defend the nation against enemy threats.

"Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash, but at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always on alert," Putin told the annual Victory Day military parade at Red Square in central Moscow on Thursday.

Addressing a large audience gathered for the 79th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II, Putin said Russia is now going through a "difficult, crucial period".

"The fate of the Motherland, its future depends on each of us," he said.

Putin characterized Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine as an existential battle against "neo-Nazis".

Russia often invites representatives from "friendly" countries to the event. This year, nine world leaders - the heads of Belarus, Cuba, Guinea-Bissau, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan - attended the parade featuring columns of Russian troops and military equipment.

Putin also touched on joint nuclear drills between Russia and Belarus, saying they were "nothing unusual".

"This time we invited our friends, allies, and the President of Belarus asked for this, to take part in one of the stages of this exercise. We do it regularly. This time it's carried out in three stages. At the second stage, Belarusian colleagues will join our joint actions."

Belarus President Aleksandr Lukashenko said it is the third joint military exercise with Russia.

On Tuesday, Belarus launched drills involving missiles and warplanes capable of carrying tactical nuclear weapons, which Russia has deployed there amid tensions with the West over Ukraine.

Last year, Russia moved some of its tactical nuclear weapons into Belarus, which also borders Ukraine and NATO members Poland, Latvia and Lithuania.

Moscow says the tactical nuclear weapons deployed to Belarus remain under Russian military control.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Putin says Moscow won't allow 'anyone' to threaten Russia, warns about possible global clash

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 11:07 AM

Russia President Vladimir Putin says Moscow will not allow "anyone" to pose threats against the Russian Federation, warning about a possible global clash.

Putin, who was sworn in on Tuesday for a record-breaking fifth term as Russia's president and began another six-year-long tenure, made the remarks on Thursday on the occasion of the capitulation of Nazi Germany and the end of World War II in Europe in 1945.

"Russia will do everything to prevent a global clash. But at the same time we will not allow anyone to threaten us. Our strategic forces are always in a state of combat readiness," stressed the 71-year-old Russian leader in a speech at the Victory Day parade on Moscow's Red Square, marking the anniversary of the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II.

"Revanchism, the mockery of history and the striving to justify current followers of Nazism are part of the Western elites' general policy of instigating ever new regional conflicts, interethnic and inter-religious strife and containing sovereign, independent centers of world development," Putin added.

His remarks came as on his orders, the Russian military launched its "special military operation" in neighboring Ukraine in February 2022 to "de-Nazify" and "de-militarize" the ex-Soviet republic seeking NATO membership.

Since the onset of the ongoing war, the West, and most notably the United States, supported Ukraine with cash and heavy weaponry while imposing unprecedented sanctions on Russian officials and entities.

"Russia is now going through a difficult, milestone period, the fate of the Motherland, its future depends on each of us," Putin further said.

The Soviet Union, of which Russia was the largest part, lost some 27 million people in World War II, including many millions in Ukraine, which was also part of the Soviet Union but eventually pushed Nazi forces back to the capital Berlin, where defeated Adolf Hitler took his own life and the red Soviet Victory Banner was hoisted over the Reichstag in late April 1945.

Putin also accused the West of trying to incite global conflicts and interethnic hostility and restraining sovereign development centers.

"In the West, they would like to forget the lessons of the Second World War. But we remember that the fate of mankind was decided in the grand battles near Moscow and Leningrad, Rzhev, Stalingrad, Kursk and Kharkiv, near Minsk, Smolensk and Kyiv, in heavy, bloody battles from Murmansk to the Caucasus and Crimea," the Russian president added at the parade, which also featured Russia's Yars intercontinental strategic missile.

After calling for a minute of silence to honor the fallen, Putin ended with the words: "For Russia! For victory! Hurrah!", providing the cue for thousands of troops to answer with three loud cheers.

The Kremlin has repeatedly warned the endless flow of advanced arms to Ukraine will only prolong the war.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Days After Ordering Nuclear Drills, Putin Warns Of Rising Global Risks

By RFE/RL's Russian Service May 09, 2024

Just days after announcing military exercises involving tactical nuclear weapons, Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of the rising risk of a global conflict.

Speaking on Moscow's Red Square on May 9 to mark Russia's victory over Nazi Germany in World War II -- a ceremony shunned by Western leaders but attended by the heads of Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Cuba, Laos and Guinea-Bissau -- Putin criticized the West for being "arrogant" and warned that Russia "will not allow anyone to threaten us."

The Russian leader, who was inaugurated for a fifth time on May 7, has used such rhetoric before to justify his full-scale invasion of neighboring Ukraine in February 2022. He says the West has used Ukraine to interfere in what is an area traditionally part of Russia's sphere of influence.

Kyiv and the West, which has backed Ukraine with military equipment and financial aid, say the war is simply a move by Putin to take land it once ruled over during the Soviet era.

In 2014, Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine's Crimea, taking control of it through a referendum deemed illegitimate, while since February 2022, Moscow has also claimed four regions inside Ukraine, meaning it now controls just a bit less than one-fifth of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory.

Russia's Defense Ministry on May 6 announced drills involving tactical nuclear weapons for the first time since it launched its aggression against Ukraine more than two years ago.

Russia said it was running the military exercises because of "unprecedented" and "provocative" statements from Britain and France that Moscow said showed their growing involvement in the war in Ukraine.

Putin said on May 9 that there was "nothing unusual" about the exercises, which the European Union has called a "continuation of Russia's irresponsible behavior."

A spokesman for EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the move was further "proof that the Kremlin is only interested in further escalating the situation which was caused by its illegal aggression against Ukraine."

Belarus, where Russia currently locates some of its tactical nuclear weapons, said it will check the preparedness of its nuclear forces as well.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/putin-warning-global-risks- nuclear-victory-day-/32939581.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






U.S. warship's transit though Taiwan Strait closely monitored: Defense ministry

ROC Central News Agency

05/09/2024 11:13 AM

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) Taiwan's military was fully aware of an operation by the United States Navy on Wednesday that involved the passage of an warship through the Taiwan Strait, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Wednesday.

In a statement, the MND said the warship entered the Taiwan Strait from the north at 7 a.m. Wednesday, traveling southwards.

Throughout the transit, the Taiwanese military was closely monitoring the surrounding sea and airspace, and the situation remained normal, the defense ministry said.

According to a U.S. Navy press release on Wednesday, the missile destroyer USS Halsey of the 7th Fleet navigated through the waters of the Taiwan Strait on Wednesday in accordance with international law, exercising the rights of freedom of navigation and overflight beyond the territorial sea of any coastal state.

The passage of the USS Halsey through the Taiwan Strait demonstrated the U.S.' commitment to upholding the principles of freedom of navigation for all nations, the statement said.

No member of the international community should be intimidated or coerced into giving up their rights and freedoms, it added.

According to the statement, the U.S. military operates in accordance with international law in all permissible locations for flying, sailing and conducting operations.

(By Yang Chao-yen and Evelyn Yang)

Enditem/pc

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






11 Chinese vessels detected in Taiwan-controlled waters off Kinmen

ROC Central News Agency

05/09/2024 11:05 PM

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) Two fleets of various types of Chinese vessels intruded into the Taiwan-controlled prohibited and restricted waters off the Kinmen Islands Thursday afternoon, according to Taiwan's Coast Guard Administration (CGA).

The incident marked the first intrusion into Taiwan's prohibited and restricted waters by Chinese patrol vessels operating in coordination with other types of Chinese vessels, and the fourth intrusion into the areas recorded this month, according to Taiwan's CGA in a statement.

Both fleets were detected at 3 p.m., the CGA said.

One fleet operating in the restricted waters four nautical miles southwest of Liaoluo Bay on Kinmen Island consisted of two patrol ships, two surveillance ships, and one "fisheries law enforcement" ship from the China Coast Guard fleet, in addition to two Chinese Ministry of Transport rescue vessels, the CGA said.

The fleet was apparently conducting a drill with three other Chinese fishing vessels, according to the CGA.

The CGA said it dispatched three patrol vessels to shadow the Chinese ships, collect evidence, and broadcast warnings to expel the intruders.

Meanwhile, another fleet of four China Coast Guard ships sailed into the restricted and prohibited waters from the south of Dadan Island, the CGA said.

The four ships were accompanied by another vessel from the same agency sailing just outside the Taiwan-controlled waters, according to the CGA, which scrambled three other patrol vessels to monitor and warn off the intruders, the CGA said.

Chinese fleets have in recent days sailed at high speeds in the waters south of the Kinmen Islands where maritime traffic is busy, which not only compromises maritime safety but disrupts peace across the Taiwan Strait, the CGA said.

Jan Jyh-horng (), vice head and spokesperson of Taiwan's Mainland Affairs Council (MAC), on Wednesday urged China not to engage in any provocative actions in the Taiwan Strait.

Maintaining peace in the Taiwan Strait and the region requires both sides to make efforts, Jan said during a press conference, adding that Beijing should not attempt to change the status quo across the Taiwan Strait through such actions.

(By Hung Hsueh-kuang and Sean Lin)

Enditem/cs

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Taiwan stands firm on name of representative office in Lithuania

ROC Central News Agency

05/09/2024 01:02 PM

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) Foreign Minister Joseph Wu () said Thursday that Taiwan has not received any formal request to change the name of its representative office in Lithuania and will not yield on that issue even is it is asked to do so.

"The Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania" is a name that was agreed on in 2021 by the two governments, after some negotiations, and they signed official documents to that effect, Wu said in a radio interview, when asked about a reported proposal by Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda to change the name.

In an interview published Tuesday by the Baltic News Service, Nauseda said that while he welcomed, in principle, the establishment of the representative office in Lithuania, "in the context of the stabilization of relations with China, I would see the need to change its name."

The current name of the office "sounds like a Taiwan mission, not a Taiwanese mission, and Beijing sees this as an attempt by Taiwan to act as an independent state," Nauseda was quoted as saying in the BNS interview series, published in English in the run-up to Lithuania's presidential election on May 12.

"The adjustment [of the name] could serve as Lithuania's signal towards the normalization of diplomatic relations with China," said Nauseda, who is seeking reelection.

Asked Thursday to comment on Nauseda's statements on the issue, Wu said it is normal for politicians in a democratic country to express different views on various issues, and it was not the first time that Nauseda had made such a suggestion.

However, in Lithuania, it is the prime minister, not the president, who is the head of government, Wu said.

He also said that the opposition parties in Lithuania do not support changing the Taiwan office's name, as they think such a move would hurt their country's international reputation and indicate it was bowing to pressure from China.

In response to a question by the radio host, Wu said Taiwan had not received any official requests from the Lithuanian government to change the office's name.

"I don't think they will ask us to change it," he said. "Even if they ask to sign a new agreement [on the Taiwan office's name], we won't accept that," Wu said.

Relations between Taiwan and Lithuania have been growing over the past years, with the two sides signing an agreement in July 2021 to open reciprocal representative offices.

Taiwan opened its office in Vilnius on Nov. 18, 2021, while the Lithuanian Trade Representative Office officially opened in Taipei on Nov. 7, 2022.

Taiwan representative offices overseas are typically named the "Taipei Economic and Cultural Office" or "Taipei Representative Office," in keeping with the host countries' preference to avoid any references that would imply Taiwan is a separate country from China.

Beijing, which sees Taiwan and mainland China as part of the same country, has sought to impose political and economic penalties on Lithuania for its decision to allow the inclusion of "Taiwanese" in the name of the Taiwan office, as Beijing views those optics as encouraging formal independence.

Beijing's punitive measures have included recalling its ambassador to Lithuania, downgrading diplomatic relations with the Baltic country, expelling the Lithuanian ambassador to China, suspending direct freight rail services to Lithuania, and banning the country's products on the Chinese market.

(By Joseph Yeh)

Enditem/pc

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Matsu halts plan to help residents apply for China city pass: MAC

ROC Central News Agency

05/09/2024 10:47 PM

Taipei, May 9 (CNA) Lienchiang County (Matsu) government has halted plans to help residents apply for the "Fuzhou-Matsu City Pass," an initiative launched by Fujian Provincial government in China to provide residents of the Taiwan's Matsu Islands with preferential discounts, according to the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC).

Lienchiang County government consulted with the MAC in early March after receiving a request from the Chinese authorities to handle applications from Matsu residents interested in obtaining the "Fuzhou-Matsu City Pass," said Jan Jyh-horng (), vice head and spokesperson of the MAC, during a press conference on Wednesday.

He stated that the county government halted the plan to assist with applications for the pass after being advised by the council of possible violations of Article 33-1 of the Act Governing Relations between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area.

In applying for the pass, Matsu residents submitted personal information such as copies of their Republic of China (Taiwan) ID cards and Mainland Travel Permit for Taiwan Residents, Jan said.

"If it [the county government] hadn't stopped and indeed shared [citizens'] personal information with China, it could have potentially constituted what we call 'cooperative behavior' [in the act]," Jan noted, adding that the county government had subsequently removed promotional content regarding the handling service from its official website.

With a stored value of 300 Chinese yuan (US$41.5), the "Fuzhou-Matsu City Pass" offers benefits to Matsu residents, such as discounts on public transportation and special rates at designated hotels during their stay in Fuzhou, the capital of Fujian province, according to local media in Taiwan and information provided by the Fujian government.

The initiative sparked discussions among members of the public in Taiwan regarding whether China is using it as a means to exert influence on residents of the Matsu Islands.

The "Fuzhou-Matsu City Pass" was mentioned among the 13 measures announced by Fujian government to benefit Taiwanese during a visit by 17 opposition Kuomintang (KMT) lawmakers to Beijing from April 26 to 28.

Apart from the monetary subsidy, holders of the pass would also enjoy benefits such as free accomodation for Taiwanese and easier school enrollment for their children, according to a press release from the Fujian government.

Tzeng Wei-feng (), an assistant research fellow at National Chengchi University's Institute of International Relations, told CNA in a previous interview that the moves reflect efforts by China to localize the Taiwan Strait and assert Taiwan as a province of China, which requires only coordination between provinces, not country to country contacts.

(By Sunny Lai)

Enditem/AW

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Joint Statement by the U.S. Department of State and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Second U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue

US Department of State

Media Note

Office of the Spokesperson

May 9, 2024

The following is the text of a joint statement by the U.S. Department of State and UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office.

Begin text:

On Wednesday 8 May 2024, the UK Government hosted a senior U.S. Government delegation for the second U.S.-UK Strategic Sanctions Dialogue.

Talks, which took place in London and followed the inaugural Dialogue held in Washington, D.C. in July 2023, delivered on the commitment under the 2023 Atlantic Declaration for a Twenty-First Century U.S.-UK Economic Partnership to strengthen coordination on sanctions and export controls. This brought together both countries' departments and agencies for strategic discussions on priorities across geographic and thematic sanctions and export controls regimes. The UK delegation was led by the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, and included senior officials from His Majesty's Treasury, and the Department of Business and Trade. The U.S. delegation was led by the State Department and included senior officials from the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Department of Commerce.

The United States and the United Kingdom reaffirmed that sanctions and export controls are essential tools of national security policy. The delegations discussed the uses of targeted, coordinated sanctions and export control measures to deter and disrupt malign activity and to defend international norms.

In response to Russia's war against Ukraine, together with our allies and partners, we have imposed unprecedented costs on the Kremlin through sanctions and export controls. These measures are starving Russia's military of essential components and technology, along with other items, and constraining Putin's ability to wage war on Ukraine. We will continue to work with allies to restrict sources of Russian revenue, including from services and key commodities such as energy and metals that allow Russia to fight. Beyond Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom reaffirmed our shared commitment to opposing those who threaten peace, security, and stability in the Middle East, reflected in recent coordinated actions targeting Iranian malign actors, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad leaders and financiers, and those enabling Houthi Red Sea attacks. We are committed to holding to account those responsible for conducting or supporting terrorist and other destabilizing activities in the Middle East.

The United States and the United Kingdom continue to intensify our coordination on United Nations and autonomous sanctions regimes, bilaterally and with other partners. This includes action to promote accountability for human rights violations and abuses, tackle corruption, counter terrorism, and weapons proliferation, and target cyber-criminal networks.

Across our programs, we commit to continue to work together and with allies to ensure the effectiveness of our sanctions and export control measures. We will continue to collaborate to counter circumvention occurring in third country jurisdictions to strengthen our measures in support of shared national security and foreign policy goals.

End text.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Defence Secretary praises Scottish contribution to shipbuilding & defence

Defence Secretary has met with apprentices, engineers and key industry leaders during a visit to key shipyards. Scotland plays a crucial role in the Navy's shipbuilding pipeline and the UK's security.

9 May 2024

Defence Secretary meets with apprentices, engineers and key industry leaders.

New warship production well underway in Scotland

More than 12,000 Scottish jobs are supported through defence spend with UK industry.

Paul Sheerin announced as Chair of the shipbuilding Skills Delivery Group.

Scotland is playing a crucial role in the Navy's shipbuilding pipeline and the UK's security, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps has said today on a visit to key shipyards.

Visiting Govan, where BAE Systems are building Type 26 frigates, and HMNB Clyde, home of the Royal Navy's submarine fleet, the Defence Secretary met with key industry leaders, staff and apprentices, observing the significant progress on the major warship production programme.

Scotland is the beating heart of military shipbuilding, with eight Type 26 ships being built in Glasgow and five Type 31 frigates being built by Babcock International in Rosyth. This supports and is supported by the local maritime infrastructure, supply chains, and extensive skills and training resources. On a tour at BAE Systems in Govan, the Defence Secretary saw the Type 26 frigates in build, and toured HMS Cardiff.

More than 12,000 jobs in Scotland are directly supported by Defence, with more than A2 billion spent annually with UK industry in Scotland. Over 5,000 jobs will be created or sustained across the build of Type 26 and Type 31 programmes alone, and just under 1,000 apprentices will be trained to provide the skill required to build and maintain our Royal Navy fleet.

Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, said:

As the home of the nuclear deterrent - which keeps us all safe around the clock - nobody can question that Scotland is absolutely central to the UK's security. As Shipbuilding Tsar, it is fantastic to see the positive impact that the Scottish shipbuilding industry plays. A sector once restricted by periods of 'boom and bust' is now witnessing a resurgence, with Scottish shipyards buzzing with activity and its workforce expanding. Brand new warships will operate around the world, looking after our nation's interests, for decades to come, and they will have been built by highly skilled shipbuilders right here in Glasgow. We continue to back the UK defence industry in Scotland with billions of pounds every year, supporting thousands of jobs and apprenticeships."

At HMNB Clyde, the home of the UK's nuclear deterrent submarines, the Defence Secretary visited an attack submarine. HMNB Clyde is currently one of the largest employers in Scotland and is in the process of increasing its on-site staff from 6,800 to over 8,000, whilst the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) has committed to spending more than A3 billion on sites in Scotland, including A1.6 billion on the Clyde Infrastructure Programme, to establish it as the home of UK's submarine fleet.

The Defence Secretary, in his role as Shipbuilding Tsar, is responsible for overseeing all of the government's interests in UK shipbuilding. The Government's commitment to UK Shipbuilding through the Refreshed National Shipbuilding Strategy has allowed industry to invest for the future, with BAE Systems' A12 million Applied Shipbuilding Skills Academy and the construction of a modern shipbuilding hall in Govan currently underway.

The Government has today issued its response to the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce report. In response to recommendations within, the report the National Shipbuilding Office has launched the shipbuilding Skills Delivery Group. This group will drive the delivery of the Taskforce recommendations and will be a champion for skills within the UK Shipbuilding Enterprise. Grant Shapps also announced the Chair of the Group will be Paul Sheerin, and the two met at Govan shipyard.

Paul Sheerin, Chair of Skills Delivery Group said:

It is critical for the UK shipbuilding enterprise that the skills gap is addressed, and to ensure that this can happen there needs to be a unified approach across different skills systems, across different parts of the enterprise and across government and the devolved administrations. I am extremely excited to chair the SDG, working alongside a highly knowledgeable and experienced membership comprised of representatives from across the whole enterprise. With the continued support of the Shipbuilding Tsar and the NSO, I look forward to working with the Group to deliver a positive impact on skills within this vital sector to the UK.

Scottish Secretary, Alister Jack said:

Scottish-based critical defence assets play a crucial role in the security of the UK. As well as helping to keep us all safe, defence also delivers thousands of high-skilled jobs and billions of pounds investment in Scotland, driving prosperity and boosting the Scottish economy. I'm proud that Scottish skills, expertise and innovation make such an enormous contribution to the UK's defence industry.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukrainian law enforcers receive equipment from OSCE to better combat illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives

OSCE | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe

9 May 2024

The OSCE supports Ukraine in addressing the problem of illicit trafficking in weapons, ammunition and explosives by providing specialized vehicles and equipment to its law enforcement authorities.

On 8 May 2024, at the official donation ceremony in Kyiv, the OSCE delivered an assistance package of more than 1.9 million EUR value, which included off-road vehicles, automobiles for service dog transportation, disruptors and specialized toolkits for the safe removal of explosive ordnance, as well as ICT equipment with analytical software. The equipment was distributed among the expert departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the National Police, the State Border Guard Service and the State Customs Service according to their mandates in responding to the risks and threats posed by illicit firearms and explosives, in particular the attempts of cross-border smuggling.

"We must not underestimate the risks of smuggling, that is why we are developing our operational capabilities in arms control, including with the OSCE support," said Kateryna Pavlichenko, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine.

This donation is a part of the OSCE's broader efforts to assist Ukraine in establishing effective control over weapons to avoid access to those by criminal elements.

"Ukraine is now understandably focused on overcoming the disastrous impact of Russia's war against the country, but the war makes it also imperative to better control weapons, preventing criminals from making use of it. This cannot be achieved with equipment only, but together with the improvement of legislative mechanisms and co-ordination at the governmental level. The OSCE will keep supporting Ukraine on this track," noted Ambassador Marcel PeAko, the Special Representative of the OSCE Chairmanship-in-Office - Project Co-ordinator in Ukraine during the ceremony.

Procurement and donation of the equipment was carried out within the OSCE extra-budgetary project "In Support of Strengthening Capacities of Ukrainian Authorities in Preventing and Combating Illicit Trafficking in Weapons, Ammunition and Explosives in All Its Aspects", funded by the European Union, Finland, France, Germany, Poland and the United States of America.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukraine says Russian raids ruin 2 hydroelectric power plants

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 21:52, May 09, 2024

KIEV, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Russian missile and drone attacks on Wednesday heavily damaged two hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine, Ukraine's state-run hydropower generating company Ukrhydroenergo said Thursday.

"Two hydroelectric power plants are out of operation," Ukrhydroenergo said in a post on Telegram, not specifying locations.

Ukraine's overall hydroelectric power generation has suffered big losses in the recent attacks, it added.

The company said it would take "considerable efforts" and "significant financial resources" to repair and restore the destroyed facilities.

On Wednesday, Russia fired 55 missiles and 21 drones in an attack that targeted power generation and transmission facilities in six Ukrainian regions, according to Ukrainian authorities.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






EU agrees to use profits of frozen Russian assets to arm Ukraine

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 4:00 PM

The European Union has agreed to use profits from Russian state assets in order to supply Ukraine with military hardware, as the Kremlin has already warned about a possible global clash if the West continues with its flow of arms into the ex-Soviet republic.

Envoys of the European bloc's member states agreed in principle to use windfall profits from frozen Russian state assets for arming Ukraine.

Russia's war with Ukraine, which began in February 2022, prompted EU countries to freeze around a200 billion of Russian central bank assets as part of punishing sanctions by the bloc against Moscow.

EU ambassadors had "agreed in principle on measures concerning extraordinary revenues stemming from Russia's immobilized assets," said the bloc's Belgian presidency in a post on X.

It claimed that the funds would "serve to support Ukraine's recovery and military defense in the context of the Russian aggression," with a first tranche expected to be freed up in July.

Meanwhile, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen praised the agreement.

"I welcome today's political agreement on our proposal to use the proceeds from immobilized Russian assets for Ukraine. There could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live," she said on X.

If the move is approved at a gathering of EU finance ministers next Tuesday, the interest - worth up to three billion euros per year - will be used to jointly purchase military hardware for Ukraine.

Citing four unnamed EU diplomats, Reuters said that EU ministers still need to approve the legal text that will see 90 percent of the proceeds go into an EU-run fund for military aid for Ukraine, with the other 10 percent would be purportedly used for reconstruction.

The Kremlin has previously said that seizing the interest arising from frozen Russian assets was a move toward the "destruction of the legal foundations of European law and international law."

Around 70 percent of Russian assets frozen in Western countries are held in Euroclear, a Belgian-based securities depository, which has the equivalent of approximately $204 billion worth of Russian central bank securities and cash.

Since the onset of the current war, Euroclear has made about a5 billion in net profits from the Russian assets, of which, net profits produced until mid-February this year will stay with the depository and act as a buffer against legal claims.

Back in late April, Moscow threatened the West with a "severe" response and "endless" legal challenges if the assets are touched.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Lithuania says deployment of Western army trainers in Ukraine 'quite doable'

Iran Press TV

Thursday, 09 May 2024 3:25 PM

Lithuania's foreign minister says there could be a temporary alliance among Western nations to deploy military trainers in Ukraine, supported by ground-based air defense.

Gabrielius Landsbergis upon meeting his British counterpart, David Cameron, in London expressed support for his statement that Ukraine could utilize weapons manufactured in Britain against Russia, The Guardian reported.

"Our troops have been training Ukrainians in Ukraine before the war, and we've been doing that for many years. So returning to this tradition might be quite doable," Landsbergis said.

"This could be a first step in president Macron's initiative."

The 42-year-old foreign minister has consistently advocated for stronger measures against Russia, while his recent comments indicate that there is backing in certain European regions for the assertive approach embraced by the French president.

He said that the idea of providing training to Ukrainians within their own borders was deemed as a more feasible option compared to conducting training within the territories of NATO member states.

"You don't need to transport them all the way. You have everything that they need right there," he said.

"It could be that the trainers stationed as part of the coalition to train the Ukrainians in Ukraine could be defended with air defense, and that in turn implies that part of Ukrainian sky could be defended with air defense."

The move would "tell Putin that it's not up to him to decide the way that we're helping Ukraine. Instead, we'll see what is needed, and we adapt to the situation because the situation is not getting better."

The Baltic country's foreign minister further mentioned that the Lithuanian parliament had already authorized the government to conduct training activities in Ukraine, emphasizing the importance of doing so within a larger coalition.

He blamed the West for its "failure" in Ukraine and sounded hopeless for the future of the conflict.

"The damage that we're seeing - it's on us, it's our failure. It sounds like Russian success, but they can do this blindfolded if we're unable to defend Ukrainian cities," Landsbergis said.

"Looking into the next winter I honestly have a very difficult time to imagine how the country is going to fare."

President Emmanuel Macron of France has advocated the idea of sending troops to Ukraine, arguing that it is legitimate to keep Russia guessing about what the west is prepared to do to defend Ukrainian sovereignty.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukranian Civilians Killed, Energy Infrastructure Hit In Russian Strikes

By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service May 09, 2024

Fresh Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilian and infrastructure targets overnight killed two people and caused serious damage to Ukraine's already battered energy infrastructure, regional officials and the military said on May 9.

Russian shelling killed a 62-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman in the southern city of Nikopol, wounding another two and causing damage to houses and roads, Dnipropetrovsk regional chief Serhiy Lysak said on Telegram.

Russia has been frequently shelling Nikopol and other Ukrainian cities from across the Dnieper River, and starting from October 2022, it has systematically attacked Ukraine's energy infrastructure, causing serious damage and electricity shortages for civilian and industrial users.

Ukraine's Ukrhydroenerho operator said on May 9 that two hydropower plants have been severely damaged by Russian attacks and were taken out of operation, without naming the two units.

Before the war, Ukraine's 10 hydropower plants produced some 10 percent of its electricity. Russia last year blew up the gigantic Kakhovka hydropower plant. Currently, only seven hydropower plants are still in operation and have a largely diminished capacity.

"To date, all hydropower generating capacity has suffered devastating damage. Destroyed equipment requires considerable efforts to repair, restore and significant financial resources. Today, the support, help, and decisive action of the international community are more important than ever," Ukrhydroenerho said in a statement on Telegram.

The Energy Ministry said it plans to double electricity imports on May 9 to make up for the losses caused by the latest wave of Russian attacks on its infrastructure.

The imports are expected to rise to 16,699 megawatt hours compared to 7,600 on May 8, the Ministry said.

Ukraine's air force, meanwhile, said that Russia had launched 20 drones at targets in the southern region of Odesa, and 17 of those drones had been shot down by its air defense systems.

Separately, an informed source who spoke on condition of anonymity told RFE/RL on May 9 that Ukrainian drones struck two oil depots in the village of Yurivka near the city of Anapa in Russia's Krasnodar region.

The claim could not be independently verified immediately.

Hours later, an informed security source, also speaking to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity on May 9, said that a Ukrainian attack drone had struck a Russian oil refining plant in the Russian region of Bashkortostan after flying a "record" distance of 1,500 kilometers in an operation conducted by the SBU security service.

The claim also could not be verified independently.

In Kyiv, Ukraine's parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted on May 9 to dismiss Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskiy and the deputy prime minister for reconstruction, Oleksandr Kubrakov.

Last month, Solskiy was released on bail after being taken into custody over accusations that he had illegally acquired land worth about 291 million hryvnias ($7 million).

He had subsequently tendered his resignation. Kubrakov leaves as the government looks to break apart his ministry, which currently oversees wartime reconstruction efforts amid Russia's full-scale invasion.

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukranian-civilians-killed- russian-strikes-infrastructure/32939592.html

Copyright (c) 2024. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






NATO Soldiers Present in Ukraine - Polish Prime Minister

Sputnik News

20240509

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - Some NATO troops have been deployed in Ukraine, and the alliance is assisting Kiev as much as it can, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said on Thursday.

"NATO today is helping as much as it can. As much as it can. Without NATO's help, Ukraine would not have been able to defend itself for so long. Well, and there are some troops there, I mean soldiers. There are some soldiers there. Observers, engineers," Tusk told reporters.

The prime minister did not specify details on the number of troops or their countries of origin.

The alliance itself has repeatedly claimed it "only" sends aid to Ukraine, and some reports suggested that a "no boots on the ground" policy would be proposed at the upcoming July summit. However, the extent of Western military assistance to the Kiev regime is hard to overestimate a just the US has recently allocated $61 billion for Ukraine, despite growing realization that it will not help to stop Russia's advance.

According to CIA Director William Burns, without western help Ukraine will likely lose on the battlefield before the end of this year.

Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron's suggestion that NATO may have to send troops to Ukraine to fight Russia got a cold reception across the EU, with multiple officials and politicians warning him that such a step would be catastrophic.

A Sputnik

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Armed Forces minister hails unity of support for Ukraine and Black Sea security during Europe visits

Armed Forces minister has met with defence leaders and military chiefs in Romania and Bulgaria. This follows the UK government announcing a further A500m in military support for Ukraine and to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP.

9 May 2024

Armed Forces minister met defence leaders and military chiefs in Romania and Bulgaria

Follows UK government announcing a further A500m in military support for Ukraine and to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP

Minister visits UK troops deployed on Operation Biloxi, the UK's contribution to NATO's enhanced air policing missing in Romania

Working together to strengthen collective security in the Black Sea and the urgency of increasing military support for Ukraine were the focus of visits by the Minister for the Armed Forces to Romania and Bulgaria this week.

In a series of meetings with defence ministers and military chiefs in Bucharest and Sofia on Wednesday and Thursday, Minister Leo Docherty highlighted the UK's recent commitment of a further half a billion pounds to provide urgent additional military support for Ukraine.

He also highlighted the Prime Minister's recent commitment to increase UK defence spending to 2.5% of GDP in 2030, emphasising the importance of NATO member states following the UK's lead in investing in their Armed Forces to help deliver stability and deter against potential threats.

Minister for the Armed Forces, Leo Docherty, said:

Putin's illegal invasion has strengthened defence relationships between democratic countries across Europe and united us in support of Ukraine and freedom. To uphold the rules-based international order, protect our daily freedoms and deter against potential threats, it is important like-minded nations band together and invest more to ensure our collective security. In my meetings with defence ministers and chiefs in Romania and Bulgaria, I emphasised how the UK is increasing military support for Ukraine as part of the international effort to ensure Putin fails and democracy prevails.

The Minister's visits began on Wednesday when he met UK personnel working at the International Donor Coordination Centre in Wiesbaden, Germany, through which the logistics of military aid deliveries to Ukraine are organised.

He then travelled to Bucharest, where he held meetings with Romanian Minister of National Defense Angel TAlvAr, State Secretary for Defence Policy, Simona Cojocaru, and Chief of Defence, General GheorghiEA Vlad.

The UK is currently contributing six Typhoon fighter jets and more than 200 Royal Air Force aviators to defend Romania's airspace as part of Operation Biloxi - the UK's contribution to NATO's enhanced air policing mission in southern Europe. Minister Docherty met personnel deployed for the next three months as part of the mission.

After travelling to Sofia, the minister met Bulgarian Defence Minister, Atanas Zapryanov, Chief of Defence Admiral, Emil Eftimov, and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ivan Kondon.

He then delivered a keynote speech at Bulgaria's National Defence College, where he hailed the growing defence relationship between the UK and Bulgaria, as set out through the signing of a 2018 Defence Declaration and further symbolised through the UK's first deployment to Bulgaria as part of a NATO mission in 2022.

NATO forms the bedrock of our shared security with like-minded countries in the North Atlantic and Europe, and the UK's A75 billion defence uplift over the next six years will ensure it remains the biggest defence spender in Europe.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






The Global Peace Summit: Leaders of Ireland, Moldova, Czech Republic, Presidents of the European Commission and the European Council Confirmed Their Participation

President of Ukraine

9 May 2024 - 21:35

Following the phone and video calls with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Council Charles Michel, the President of Moldova Maia Sandu, the President of the Czech Republic Petr Pavel, and the Taoiseach of Ireland Simon Harris confirmed their participation in the Global Peace Summit.

During a video call with Ursula von der Leyen, Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked for the fact that Europe and the European Union stand with Ukraine. The two leaders discussed preparations for the Global Peace Summit, the involvement of as many countries as possible, including representatives of the Global South, and the start of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU in June.

The Head of State emphasized the importance of continuing defense support for Ukraine and bolstering air defense. Ursula von der Leyen assured that she would do everything possible to resolve these issues.

The President thanked Charles Michel for his support of the Ukrainian Peace Formula and assistance in involving as many countries as possible in the Global Peace Summit in Switzerland. The parties also discussed preparations for the 25th Ukraine - EU Summit.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Simon Harris exchanged views on the prospects for cooperation in the field of demining and the conclusion of a bilateral security agreement. They agreed to instruct their teams to start working on the document as soon as possible.

The Head of State thanked Petr Pavel for the initiative to purchase shells for our country. The President of Ukraine noted that its immediate implementation would be of great significance on the battlefield. The leaders discussed further defense cooperation and the urgent needs of Ukrainian warriors.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Maia Sandu exchanged views on the integration of both countries into the European Union.

"Europe is our common home, its security depends on a just peace in Ukraine," the Head of State said.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Defense Support, Ukraine's Path to the EU, and the Global Peace Summit: Volodymyr Zelenskyy Met with Roberta Metsola

President of Ukraine

9 May 2024 - 16:50

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola in Kyiv. They discussed the situation at the front, defense support, plans of the Russian occupiers, Ukraine's European integration and the Global Peace Summit. The leaders made this announcement during a joint press conference.

The Head of State emphasized that now, 79 years after defeating Nazism, Europe has once again become a place of battle that decides the fate of many nations.

"And in this battle, life must prevail. Life must prevail over Russian FABs and KABs, Russian missiles, Russian assaults, and hatred that ruin the lives of millions of Ukrainians and see the lives of millions of Europeans as their target," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

The President thanked Roberta Metsola for her consistent support of Ukraine and presented her with the Order of Merit of the first class. He reminded that the President of the European Parliament was one of the first world leaders to visit Ukraine when the Russian occupiers were still on the outskirts of Kyiv.

The parties also discussed the preparation of the Global Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland. Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that the Russian dictator is trying to disrupt the Summit.

"That is why we need a crystal clear position of every state, every leader, every international organization regarding participation in the Global Peace Summit and support of our common peacebuilding efforts," the President said.

The Head of State emphasized that Ukraine has fulfilled all the necessary conditions for the adoption of the negotiating framework and the start of negotiations on the accession of our country to the European Union in June.

Roberta Metsola noted that her visit demonstrates the unwavering support for Ukraine and its place in the European family, and called on Europeans to step up their assistance.

"I am optimistic about the negotiating framework being adopted by the EU member states in June. The European Parliament will help Ukraine to move along the European path in all possible ways and supports all 10 points of the Ukrainian Peace Formula. We hope that the Peace Summit in Switzerland will yield practical results," the President of the European Parliament summarized.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






New Agreements Between the Regions of Ukraine and Europe Will Enhance Protection and Security a the President at the Second International Summit of Cities and Regions

President of Ukraine

9 May 2024 - 14:35

On Europe Day, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy participated in the Second International Summit of Cities and Regions. The event was also attended by Roberta Metsola, the President of the European Parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk, the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Denys Shmyhal, the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Andriy Yermak, the Head of the Office of the President, members of Parliament, government officials, and representatives of Ukrainian and foreign self-government bodies.

The Head of State noted that today we all celebrate the Day of Europe a Europe united and founded on the principles of law and cooperation, and therefore, the strongest in all time and the most oriented towards peace. He added that now is as crucial a time for Europe as it was at the very beginning of the modern project of a united and peaceful Europe.

"Each of you sees that Putin has come to our land in exactly the same way as Hitler came to the lands of other nations: illegally, unprovoked and absolutely hideous. Unfortunately, the same thing can happen to our nations. That is why our mutual assistance is a work aimed at ensuring that not only this aggressor loses, but that the very idea of any war in Europe is crushed again," the President said.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy pointed out that the Second International Summit of Cities and Regions was attended by representatives of 18 countries and the President of the European Parliament Roberta Metsola. He thanked her and other European leaders for their support for Ukraine.

"In June, a new, very important stage should begin a the stage of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU. And I ask you to further increase the cooperation between all of us in Europe. Do your best to ensure that all of us a at the level of our countries and at the level of the whole of Europe a do not miss a single chance for security, for peace and for joint results. And today, new agreements between our communities a between Ukraine and your countries a have been prepared, new agreements that will give us all the necessary strength," the Head of State noted.

Roberta Metsola emphasized that the EU has been standing with Ukrainians since the beginning of the full-scale invasion and will continue helping in every way possible, will condemn the aggressor, will adopt sanctions against the Kremlin, and will bring all those involved in war crimes to justice. The President of the European Parliament also expressed confidence in the European future of Ukraine.

"The path to accession will certainly be difficult, and Ukraine's path is unique in many ways because we need to consider the urgency of rebuilding Ukraine's infrastructure and economy. But the EP and the EU will be ready to help. We will return and we will rebuild together, because Ukraine is Europe, and Europe is Ukraine," she said.

The International Summit of Cities and Regions was launched to unite the efforts of Ukraine and the world. It was held for the first time last year on April 20. According to Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, it has already demonstrated its effectiveness. Since then, more than 1,600 partnership agreements have been signed, most of them with communities and regions of Poland and Germany. The Prime Minister announced that new projects would be presented at the summit today and called on communities and regions to join forces to help Ukraine's energy sector.

"Over the past few months, Russia has been intensively attacking our power plants, substations, and other facilities. More than 800 heating supply facilities have been destroyed or damaged, up to 8 GW of electricity generation has been lost, and distribution systems have been damaged. Restoration will require huge funds and enormous efforts," said Denys Shmyhal.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Europe to fund Ukraine weapons with profits from frozen Russian assets

By Henry Ridgwell May 09, 2024

The European Union has agreed in principle to a deal that would use the proceeds from frozen Russian assets to supply weapons for Ukraine. The bloc said the first payments could be made by the summer, despite calls by Washington for its European allies to go much further and fully seize Russia's billions for the benefit of Kyiv.

EU officials welcomed the agreement. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Thursday, "there could be no stronger symbol and no greater use for that money than to make Ukraine and all of Europe a safer place to live."

The EU's Trade Commissioner, Valdis Dombrovskis, wrote that the first $1 billon should be available by the summer, mainly for military support. "Russia will pay directly for its crimes," Dombrovskis said.

Assets frozen

Western financial institutions and companies are holding billions of dollars of cash and assets of Russia's central bank, which were frozen by Europe and the United States in the wake of Moscow's February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. About 70% of the assets, amounting to more than $200 billion, are held in Brussels at Euroclear, a financial services company and clearing house that specializes in cross-border securities transactions and the safe-keeping of assets.

The United States, along with Britain and Canada, have been pushing for those assets to be fully seized and used to help Kyiv fight Russia's invasion. Last month, Washington passed legislation allowing it to seize Russian foreign currency reserves within the United States to fund weapons for Ukraine.

European caution

However, Europe is being more cautious. European Union ambassadors meeting in Brussels Wednesday agreed in principle to use only the interest earned on the Russian assets.

Ian Bond, a foreign policy analyst and Russia specialist at the Center for European Reform, said Brussels could go further.

"What the EU is talking about is not seizing the principal - but using the interest, which might amount to seven or $8 billion a year and using that for the benefit of Ukraine," Bond told VOA. "It's a worthwhile sum of money, but it is a tiny sum of money compared to the amount of damage that Russia has done to Ukraine and the amount of money that Ukraine needs to keep its government services and its war effort going."

The deal should be fully signed off at an EU finance ministers' meeting on May 14.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the bloc must act quickly to support Ukraine.

"The funds available there can be used not only for procurement (of weapons) within Europe, but also outside Europe. Because what really matters now is that weapons can be delivered as quickly as possible," Scholz said Monday during a visit to Latvia.

EU fears

Some in Europe fear that the U.S. plan to fully seize Russia's assets would trigger a lengthy legal battle and may prompt other countries like China to sell their euro investments, destabilizing the currency.

Neutral EU states, including Hungary and Austria, objected to using the profits to buy Ukraine weapons. The EU has secured their agreement by ringfencing around 10 per cent of the Russian windfall profits for humanitarian aid.

Russian retaliation

Russia last month warned the West against seizing its assets. "Russian assets must remain untouched because otherwise there will be a severe response to Western thievery," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on Telegram April 28.

There are concerns in Europe that Moscow will retaliate by seizing more assets belonging to Western companies still operating in Russia.

Those companies may find little sympathy in the West, suggests analyst Ian Bond.

"My view on that is these companies have had two years to get out of the Russian market. If they stayed in, it was because they thought it was okay to continue to earn money in Russia, despite the fact that it was waging a brutal war of aggression against one of its neighbors. And if they lose their shirts now, that's their tough luck," he said.

"There are European assets in Russia that the Russian government could seize. And it has in some cases already seized the assets of Western private companies in Russia. But I don't think that the amounts would match up," Bond added.

EU officials hope the deal will be fully implemented by June, when Hungary is due to take over the rotating EU Council presidency. Analysts say there are concerns within the EU that Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban could try to block the deal if it isn't fully signed off by then, as he seeks to maintain close ties with Russia.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Ukrainian attack injures 8 in Russia's Belgorod

By VOA News May 09, 2024

Officials in western Russia said Thursday a Ukrainian aerial attack injured at least eight people.

Vyacheslav Gladkov, the governor of the Belgorod region located along the Ukrainian border, said on Telegram the attack also damaged more than 20 buildings.

Russia's defense ministry said it destroyed 15 rockets and a Ukrainian drone over Belgorod.

The governor the neighboring Kursk region, Roman Starovoyt, said Russian air defenses shot down three Ukrainian drones overnight. There were no reports of damage or injuries.

Russia's defense ministry also reported destroying two drones over the Bryansk region.

Ukraine's military said it shot down 17 of 20 drones that Russia used in overnight attacks.

The Ukrainian air force said the intercepts took place over the Odesa region.

There were no reports of damage from the Russian attacks.

Some information for this report came from Agence France-Presse and Reuters.

NEWS LETTER Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list Enter Your Email Address






Portage, Michigan, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the wake of the devastating tornadoes that swept through Portage, Michigan, YES Communities has launched a comprehensive support initiative to aid residents in their recovery efforts. YES Communities is deeply committed to the well-being and resilience of the communities we serve, and we are dedicated to assisting those impacted by this tragic event.

The YES Emergency Response Team drove through the night with their emergency truck and equipment to be onsite and begin providing residents with essential services immediately following the storm.

Lori Richards, Community Manager of Pavilion Estates said, Our residents are our top priority, and we are working quickly as a team to make sure they have resources and supplies to start the recovery process. We have been blessed with generous supply donations from companies and individuals and have set up a supply donation center for our residents needs, including meals 3 times per day.

YES priority is to ensure that affected residents have access to the resources and support they need during this challenging time. To that end, YES has implemented a range of measures to assist with immediate needs, including:

Emergency Shelter Assistance - We are working diligently to provide temporary housing solutions for displaced residents, ensuring that they have a safe and secure place to stay during this challenging time.

Support Services Coordination - YES is collaborating closely with local agencies and organizations to coordinate access to essential support services, including food, clothing, counseling, and financial assistance.

Property Recovery Efforts - Our dedicated team is actively assessing property damage and mobilizing resources to expedite the restoration process, including debris removal and repairs.

Sheriff Richard Fuller of Kalamazoo County stated, In all my career, I have not seen a community so well-orchestrated by the staff to help with recovery efforts. The storm came fast and furious and the ability for our first responders and the community team to address the safety of the residents was incredible.

Steven Schaub, CEO of YES Communities said, We understand that the road to recovery may be long and challenging, but we are committed to supporting the recovery and rebuilding efforts of all our affected residents. We are extremely thankful for the first responders and local organizations for their dedication to our residents and team members who have been onsite, working around the clock.

Attachment
Investors can contact the law firm at no cost to learn more about recovering their losses



LOS ANGELES, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Portnoy Law Firm advises The Chemours Company (Chemours or the Company) (NYSE: CC) investors that a lawsuit was filed on behalf of investors that purchased Chemours securities between February 10, 2023 and February 28, 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 complaint asserts that the defendants did not inform investors about: (1) manipulation of Free Cash Flow targets by some of the company's top executives to boost their cash and stock bonus under the company's yearly and long-term reward schemes; and (2) deficiencies in the company's accounting methods and controls over financial reporting.

On February 29, 2024, before market opening, Chemours shocked investors with the news that it would postpone its 2023 annual report filing and that the company's Board of Directors had suspended President and CEO Mark Newman, Senior VP and CFO Jonathan Lock, and VP, Controller, and Principal Accounting Officer Camela Wisel, pending an internal review led by the Audit Committee with help from external legal counsel. The investigation's range includes examining the Chemours Ethics Hotline reporting processes and the company's working capital management practices, which affect both the incentive plans and certain non-GAAP metrics. Recognizing the significance of these issues for both executive compensation and investor evaluations of financial performance, Chemours has stated it is identifying possible significant weaknesses in its financial reporting controls as of December 31, 2023, particularly concerning the maintenance of effective controls and senior management's influence.

Following these revelations, Chemours share price plummeted by $9.05, or over 31%, ending the day at $28.72 per share on February 29, 2024.

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
Dublin, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Global Data Center Chip Market Report by Chip Type, Data Center Size, Industry Vertical, and Region 2024-2032" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.



The global data center chip market size reached US$ 10.9 Billion in 2023. Looking forward, the market is projected to reach US$ 17.8 Billion by 2032, exhibiting a growth rate (CAGR) of 5.60% during 2023-2032. The market is primarily driven by the expanding information technology (IT) industry, the continuous technological advancements, the extensive research and development (R&D) efforts by the leading players, and the introduction of the five-nanometer process for semiconductor manufacturing.







Major Market Drivers: The extensive utilization of cloud computing services by businesses and consumers is among the primary factors driving the data center chip market outlook. Moreover, the escalating demand for powerful and energy-efficient chips to support virtualization, storage, networking, and other critical workloads is also catalyzing the market growth.

Key Market Trends: The integration of specialized hardware accelerators, such as GPUs (Graphics Processing Units), TPUs (Tensor Processing Units), and FPGAs (Field-Programmable Gate Arrays) to optimize the performance of AI workloads is propelling the data center chip market trends. Additionally, the growing popularity of advanced semiconductor process nodes, such as 7nm and 5nm, to enable higher transistor density, improved performance, and lower power consumption is also catalyzing the global market.

Competitive Landscape: Some of the major market players in the data center chip industry include Achronix Semiconductor Corporation, Advanced Micro Devices Inc., Arm Limited, Broadcom Inc., Fujitsu Limited, GlobalFoundries Inc., Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., Intel Corporation, Marvell Technology Inc., Nvidia Corporation, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited, among many others.

Geographical Trends: North America accounted for the largest share in the data center chip market analysis, owing to the development of advanced telecommunications infrastructure and reliable power supply. Besides this, the increasing number of leading companies, the inflating investments in cloud computing, and the extensive utilization of data-intensive applications are stimulating the data center chip market statistics in the region.

Challenges and Opportunities: The extensive processing of complex workloads, including AI/ML, high-performance computing, and big data analytics, while minimizing power consumption and latency poses challenges for the market. However, the development of customized chip solutions, including application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) and domain-specific architectures (DSAs) for specific uses presents significant growth opportunities for the data center chip market share.

The Increasing Demand for Cloud Services and Big Data Analytics



The expanding infrastructure of cloud service providers, such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud is propelling the market growth. Besides this, the escalating demand for data centers to store, manage, and process large amounts of information is further stimulating the data center chip market growth. For instance, Amazon Web Services Inc. has launched a supply chain management application that would eliminate the requirement for businesses to utilize multiple systems and vendors to access critical network data.



AWS Supply Chain is a machine learning-powered application that automatically combines and analyzes data across numerous supply chain systems, creating a "unified data lake." Moreover, in May 2023, IBM unveiled IBM Hybrid Cloud Mesh, a SaaS offering that was developed to facilitate enterprises to obtain management to their hybrid multi-cloud infrastructure.



Expanding IoT and Edge Computing



The growing popularity of edge data centers to process and analyze the data generated from IoT devices, such as smart wearables, sensors, and connected appliances in real-time is positively influencing the data center chip market demand. Moreover, the extensive utilization of these components to enhance data security, reduce latency, and enable faster decision-making is acting as another significant growth-inducing factor. For instance, according to the data from GSMA Intelligence, the 5G market penetration worldwide is expected to increase from 3% in 2020 to 64% in 2030.



Additionally, as part of the Digital India initiative, the Government of India has planned to give IoT a push in the country. The government has allocated INR 7,000-crore funds to develop 100 smart cities in the country powered by IoT devices. The government intends to control traffic, efficiently use water and power, and collect data using IoT sensors for healthcare and other services.



Growth of AI and Machine Learning Applications



The escalating demand for advanced data center chips in AI and ML algorithms to process and analyze vast amounts of datasets is positively influencing the market growth. Besides this, the incorporation of AI and ML across various industries, such as healthcare, retail, finance, and autonomous vehicles to improve efficiency and make data-driven decisions is also bolstering the market growth. For instance, in April 2023, Oracle Corporation and GitLab Inc. announced the availability of a new offering that expands ML and AI functionalities.



Customers can run AI and ML workloads with GPU-enabled GitLab runners on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) and get access to deploy cloud services wherever needed, including on-premises and multi-cloud environments. Moreover, Inflection AI secured one of the largest artificial machine learning funding rounds, totaling US$ 225 Million. It is referred to as a machine learning and AI startup. It is expected to improve machine learning, allowing for intuitive human-computer interfaces in the near future.

Key Questions Answered in This Report

How big is the global data center chip market?

What is the expected growth rate of the global data center chip market during 2024-2032?

What are the key factors driving the global data center chip market?

What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the global data center chip market?

What is the breakup of the global data center chip market based on the chip type?

What is the breakup of the global data center chip market based on the data center size?

What is the breakup of the global data center chip market based on the industry vertical?

What are the key regions in the global data center chip market?

Who are the key players/companies in the global data center chip market?

Key Attributes:

Report Attribute Details No. of Pages 138 Forecast Period 2023 - 2032 Estimated Market Value (USD) in 2023 $10.9 Billion Forecasted Market Value (USD) by 2032 $17.8 Billion Compound Annual Growth Rate 5.6% Regions Covered Global



Companies Featured

Achronix Semiconductor Corporation

Advanced Micro Devices Inc.

Arm Limited

Broadcom Inc.

Fujitsu Limited

GlobalFoundries Inc.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd.

Intel Corporation

Marvell Technology Inc.

Nvidia Corporation

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company Limited. etc.

Data Center Chip Market Segmentation



Breakup by Chip Type:

GPU

ASIC

FPGA

CPU

Others

Breakup by Data Center Size:

Small and Medium Size

Large Size

Breakup by Industry Vertical:

BFSI

Manufacturing

Government

IT and Telecom

Retail

Transportation

Energy and Utilities

Others

Breakup by Region:

North America

United States

Canada

Asia-Pacific

China

Japan

India

South Korea

Australia

Indonesia

Others

Europe

Germany

France

United Kingdom

Italy

Spain

Russia

Others

Latin America

Brazil

Mexico

Others

Middle East and Africa

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/thdrb

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
Bronx, New York, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Freshly Baked NYC, a local cannabis delivery service in the Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens area, is set to open to the Bronx community with the grand opening of its first recreational dispensary on May 11th. Located on Arthur Ave in the heart of Bronx Little Italy,, this brick-and-mortar establishment promises to bring the community a family friendly atmosphere surrounding the store and an upscale atmosphere inside the store that will make all walks of life feel comfortable.

Freshly Baked NYC's dispensary will showcase an extensive selection of locally sourced products from New York, including Ayrloom Cannabis, Silly Nice and CannaCure, alongside beloved national brands that are being produced here in NY State like Cookies, PAX, Jetty Extracts, Kiva Confections including Camino & Lost Farms, as well as Old Pal, Fernway, Packwoods, and Miss Grass.

"We are excited to introduce the Bronx to our curated collection of high-quality, lab-tested cannabis products," says David NicPonski, Founder of Freshly Baked NYC and NYC Social Equity License Holder. "Our mission is to provide the community with a safe alternative to the illegal stores, with lab tested products from right here in New York State and the convenience of mainstream retailers and outlets with online ordering, express pick-up, at home delivery, and an in-store experience that is comparable to most high-end retailers in 2024.

The opening of Freshly Baked NYC's licensed dispensary represents a significant milestone in New York's evolving cannabis landscape. As the 6 storefront to open in the Bronx, it underscores the progress of the Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) in making large changes to increase the speed the licensed cannabis retailers are able to open at, while shutting down the illegal retailers. NYCRA, an organization built to help advocate for these retailers has played a large part in pushing for these changes with the OCM.

"On behalf of the entire New York Cannabis Retail Association (NYCRA), I would like to express my admiration for David Nicponski and Pam Nicponski. Their remarkable dedication and unwavering commitment to the organization and the cannabis industry in New York have not gone unnoticed. I would also like to acknowledge the profound impact that David and Pam's future endeavors hold for their community. Their dedication to serving and uplifting their community through responsible and ethical cannabis retail is commendable. We have no doubt that their leadership will continue to bring positive change and foster a sense of unity within the industry and beyond." Jayson Tantalo - VP of Operations - New York Cannabis Retail Association"

Freshly Baked NYC invites the community to join in the celebration with a "grand opening" on May 11th, starting at 4:20 PM. The dispensary will feature cutting-edge technology, including an online ordering platform provided by Dispense E-Commerce and a Membership Program, "The Baker's Club," powered by Alpine IQ.

"We believe in utilizing technology to connect each guest with the education they are seeking when walking into a dispensary for the first time or twentieth," says B.J. Jordan, Marketing & Customer Experience Manager at Freshly Baked NYC. "99% of guests are looking to understand the product better or how it can help them. We are here to foster that relationship and help be a guide to each individual's cannabis journey. We are here to be educators rather than salespeople. Technology helps us bridge that gap and provide our guests with the information they want, in whatever method works best for them.

The afternoon festivities commence at 4:20 PM, with doors opening to the public at 4:45 PM. Online orders will be open starting at 9:00 AM with fulfillment & pickup beginning at 9:00 AM. Delivery is available everyday via scheduled delivery.

For further information and updates, follow Freshly Baked NYC on social media: @freshlybaked.nyc

Attachments
Washington, DC, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is proud to announce that its Senior Vice President for Public Policy and Government Affairs, Lodriguez Murray, is included on the Washingtonian Magazines listing of Washington, DCs Most Influential People of 2024.

The magazine states that the selection process isnt easy. Factors include deep subject-matter expertise and significant understanding of how the nations capital works, with the goal of getting action and understanding the nuances and complexities of a particular issue area. Murray is honored and inspired to be included.

Lodriguez is a valued member of the UNCF team, said Dr. Michael L. Lomax, president and CEO, UNCF. I am proud of the work he does every day on behalf of the historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) that comprise our member institutions. As a former UNCF scholar when he was an undergraduate, I am delighted to be part of this full circle moment where I have the opportunity to work alongside him daily as an executive in this organization.

I have the pleasure to work on behalf of HBCUs and the students they serve, Murray said. UNCF is not a job for me. It is a calling. I accept it and welcome the responsibility to ensure HBCUs receive a much more equitable share of the resources they have long deserved. I thank every Member of Congress, administration policy and decision maker, HBCU president and UNCF team member who makes this important work possible on a daily basis.

This is Murrays fourth straight year to be included on the Washingtonians list, which can be found here. Other luminaries on this years list include former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, Education Trust CEO Denise Forte, and National Education Association President Becky Pringle.

###

About UNCF

UNCF (United Negro College Fund) is the nations largest and most effective minority education organization. To serve youth, the community and the nation, UNCF supports students education and development through scholarships and other programs, supports and strengthens its 37 member colleges and universities, and advocates for the importance of minority education and college readiness. While totaling only 3% of all colleges and universities, UNCF institutions and other historically Black colleges and universities are highly effective, awarding 15% of bachelors degrees, 5% of masters degrees, 10% of doctoral degrees and 19% of all STEM degrees earned by Black students in higher education. UNCF administers more than 400 programs, including scholarship, internship and fellowship, mentoring, summer enrichment, and curriculum and faculty development programs. Today, UNCF supports more than 50,000 students at over 1,100 colleges and universities across the country. Its logo features the UNCF torch of leadership in education and its widely recognized trademark, A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Learn more at UNCF.org or for continuous updates and news, follow UNCF on X (formerly Twitter) at @UNCF.

Attachment
BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Members of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), met in the Southeastern U.S., for the groups annual conference, general membership meeting, and election of officers. Members of OCM joined the conference from Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The group was blessed with a raft of speakers that included Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Michael Kades, and Andy Green, Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Dept of Agriculture. A full list of speakers can be found here.

One of the largest and most well attended annual conferences OCM has seen in more than a decade, the events and conference were planned and executed by OCM Founder Fred Stokes, a native Mississippian who resides in Portersville, and longtime office manager Pat Craycraft who drove two full days each way just to be there.

The case has been made to bring small processors, feed lots, and additional infrastructure back to the Southeastern U.S. so that American food production is not centralized in the Mid-West and further consolidated with the four big packer monopoly than runs the American meat cartel, said Fred Stokes, Founder of OCM. We applaud and appreciate each of our speakers and the OCM membership for their steadfast dedication to bring fairness and regional voices from the Southeast into the fold.

The conference was focused on expanding regional agriculture infrastructure, the continued work of OCM to create and improve competitive markets in the U.S., and how the USDOJ, USDA, and State Departments of Agriculture can address the decades-long monopolization of American agriculture by foreign interests like the Chinese-owned Smithfield and Brazil-based JBS.

OCMs general membership meeting saw the election of former Kansas State House Representative Tatum Lee-Hahn to replace Jerika Brumbeloe, reelection of Board Directors Marty Irby from Washington, D.C., and Taylor Haynes of Laramie, Wyoming, and as well as the reelection of the 2024 officers by unanimous consent with no opposition. Haynes will continue to serve as President, Mike Schultz of Brewster, Kansas as Vice-President, Irby as Secretary, and Jonathan Buttram of Albertville, Alabama as Treasurer.

During the annual meeting Fred Stokes, Tatum Lee-Hahn, and others discussed planning for the 2025 convention and it was decided a committee would be appointed by President Haynes to secure a location in the Southeastern U.S. again next year. The groups also received commentary from board member Dave Wright of Neligh, Nebraska, spoke about the continued concentration in the marketplace and Stokes spoke about the long-term damage the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA) continues to cause to Southeastern markets and the need for Congress to recognize that NCBA only represents 3% of the cattle industry which is barely a fraction of the market and producers in the space.

Im honored to be selected to serve as President of OCM for a third term and appreciate the memberships confidence in our leadership, said Taylor Haynes, President of OCM, and Founder of Wyomings Independent Cattle Producers Organization. Weve made astounding strides over the past year and Im especially encouraged by the outpour of support for our efforts and collaboration with Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, the U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and others who now see the agriculture model in the U.S. must be changed. I applaud the work dedicated to the organization by Marty Irby and congratulate him on receiving the Helmuth Award this year  OCMs highest honor.

Many thanks to the members of OCM for giving me the opportunity to serve as Vice-President for another year, said Mike Schultz, Vice-President at OCM and Founder of the Kansas Cattlemens Association. The groundswell of support for OCM has put us in a stronger position than weve ever been, and industrial agriculture interests that have put countless American family farmers and ranchers out of business are on the run.

The groundswell of support OCM has seen in the past year from producers and elected officials across America is astounding and were making more of a difference in Washington, D.C. than Ive ever seen before, said Jonathan Buttram, Treasurer at OCM and President of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association. Our finances are in great shape and we have the opportunity to make greater change and have more impact than we ever have in the upcoming Farm Bill  I appreciate the memberships confidence in reelecting me to serve another term.

The annual Helmuth Award  OCMs highest honor named in remembrance of OCMs late co-founder John Helmuth was awarded to Board Director and Secretary Marty Irby.

I am deeply humbled to receive the John Helmuth Award, have never been more surprised to have such a distinguished honor bestowed upon me, and truly believe that God is with us, said Marty Irby, Secretary at OCM and President at Competitive Markets Action who is leading the groups lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. If the National Cattlemens Beef Association and Berman Co. believe their continued slanderous personal attacks against me are working for them, they should take note their actions only further fuel my desire to work harder and make dramatic change that will improve the lives of the American family farmers that keep this country fed. Chinas front men and whipping boys will not prevail.

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The foundation of the Organization for Competitive Markets is to fight for competitive markets in agriculture for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. True competition reduces the need for economic regulation. Our mission, and our duty, is to define and advocate the proper role of government in the agricultural economy as a regulator and enforcer of rules necessary for markets that are fair, honest, accessible and competitive for all citizens.

Attachments
London, UK, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Theres a lot to celebrate in cryptocurrency today. Bitcoin seems to be slowly but surely shooting for that $100,000 mark and BlockDAG Network is taking over the worldquite literally.

Like never before, many people think that investing in cryptocurrencies is an excellent alteration to diversify their investment portfolio. Because traditional communication channels have failed in the past to have a dramatic impact on the general public, Blockchain technology or crypto projects like BlockDAG Network are acutely aware that awe-inspiring digital marketing is necessary to promote and accelerate innovation and adoption.

According to Statista, it is essential for a new market participant to create a positive image and stand out among the sea of cryptocurrencies already in existence. The masses rely heavily on brand and company advertisement. This connection allows them to get to know projects on a more personal level and choose whether they want to be active participants in the ecosystems.

Projects that choose to be professional participants in the cryptocurrency market must analyse their brand reputation, foster credibility, create excitement and share as much accurate information as possible with their audience.

Blockchain and cryptocurrencies represent a new reality of economic aspects that are technically different from existing traditional systems. Unlike conventional financial institutions or service providers, blockchain ecosystem professionals use and maximise participation in events, digital marketing, public relations, and media exposure to build and support their crypto businesses, blockchain, and DeFi projects. They try to attract or keep participants through an array of modern marketing efforts.

Marketing and advertising have become indispensable tools for projects aiming to carve out their niche and gain traction in a crowded market. In a space where innovation and competition abound, effective marketing strategies can make all the difference in capturing the attention of investors, attracting users, and establishing credibility. The power of good publicity and the ripple effects of spreading word-of-mouth through social media cannot be understated. Projects that successfully leverage these channels to showcase their strengths, highlight their value propositions, and engage with their community often see exponential growth and recognition within the industry.

BlockDAG Network is a project that has truly embraced the importance of marketing and advertisement in its journey to becoming a household name in the cryptocurrency world.

Through monumental marketing efforts, BlockDAG Network has embarked on a mission to "go global" and take over the world, one major city at a time. From the bustling streets of Tokyo to the iconic skyline of New York City, BlockDAG's presence has been felt far and wide. And today, the project stands illuminated on the screens of Piccadilly Circus, marking yet another milestone in its unstoppable ascent.

The significance of BlockDAG's global marketing endeavours is truly fascinating. By capturing the attention of audiences in key financial hubs and cultural epicentres, BlockDAG is attracting an ever-growing, more diverse user base and global audience. The project's commitment to visibility and accessibility is evident in its strategic approach to marketing, which leverages both traditional advertising channels and the power of social media to amplify its message and reach.





Indeed, the recent listing of BlockDAG Network on Coinmarketcap is a testament to the project's rising prominence and credibility within the cryptocurrency community. As one of the most important and widely-used cryptocurrency websites in the world, Coinmarketcap listing provides affirmation and validation of BlockDAG's legitimacy and potential legacy. It opens doors to new opportunities, increases visibility, and instils confidence among investors and stakeholders.

Looking ahead, the future of BlockDAG Network is brighter than everboth metaphorically and because of the bright lights of the screens of Piccadilly Circus.

While Bitcoin is slowly but surely pointing at hitting the $100K mark this coming September, BlockDAG Networks innovative strategic marketing initiatives, and growing liquidity will surely propel the project to new heights in the coming months, with exponential growth and global success.

Speculating on its potential, BlockDAG Network has the opportunity to soar to the top 50 coins on Coinmarketcap at launch, backed by a robust liquidity pool of 100 million. The journey ahead is filled with promise and possibility, and BlockDAG Network is ready to seize every opportunity and pave the way for a more democratic yet exciting decentralised future. As BlockDAG continues its upward trajectory in the cryptocurrency world, its global audience and user base will only continue to expand, propelling the project to new heights of success and influence within the industry. With each milestone reached and each city conquered, BlockDAG Network cements its position as a global giant in the crypto space, setting the stage for a future where decentralised technologies drive innovation and empower individuals worldwide.

Read About BlockDAG Presale:

Website: https://blockdag.network

Presale: https://purchase.blockdag.network

Telegram:https://t.me/blockDAGnetworkOfficial

Discord: https://discord.gg/Q7BxghMVyu



Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.
OSAKA, Japan, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- DigiKey, a leading global commerce distributor offering the largest selection of technical components and automation products in stock for immediate shipment, announced today it has been registered as an Importer of Record (IOR) in Japan, effective May 1, 2024, after successfully completing the steps required by the Japanese government.



As an IOR, DigiKey is responsible for ensuring imported goods comply with local laws in Japan, enabling Japanese customers to eliminate the need for customs clearance and payment of duties and consumption tax. The new IOR status also provides Japanese customers compliance with the governments Qualified Invoice System (QIS), introduced last October. It allows customers to issue qualified local invoices, including QIS registration numbers.

As the companys first overseas expansion, DigiKey has had a long-standing, proud relationship with Japanese suppliers and customers since launching the DigiKey Japan website and support operations in 2002, said Dave Doherty, president of DigiKey. Our goal in becoming an IOR is to make it even easier for customers to access our industry-best breadth of products to support their design and procurement needs.

DigiKey has been investing in the IOR business model conversion and compliance of our invoice system since DigiKey Japan became an official business entity as Digi-Key Electronics G.K. in 2022, said Tony Ng, vice president of APAC for DigiKey. DigiKey continues to grow and optimize our localization in Japan, with a focused understanding of the market needs and how they contribute to our business growth.

DigiKey has evolved significantly since the company's initial global expansion into overseas markets. With over 20 years of dedicated service, DigiKey has built a solid reputation among Japanese customers and supported hundreds of suppliers in their quest to expand globally. Today, DigiKey Japan has transcended its role as merely a customer service center. Equipped with comprehensive sales, marketing and technical support functions, DigiKey Japan enhances support for local engineers and purchasing managers, catering specifically to their unique needs within the region.

For more information, please visit the DigiKey website.

About DigiKey

DigiKey, headquartered in Thief River Falls, Minn., USA, is recognized as the global leader and continuous innovator in the cutting-edge commerce distribution of electronic components and automation products worldwide. We get technical by providing more than 15.3 million components from over 2,900 quality name-brand manufacturers with an industry-leading breadth and depth of product in stock and available for immediate shipment. DigiKey also supports engineers, designers, builders and procurement professionals with a wealth of digital solutions, frictionless interactions and tools to make their jobs more efficient. Additional information can be found at digikey.com and on Facebook , X , YouTube , Instagram and LinkedIn .

Editorial Contact

Laura Stengrim

DigiKey

+1 218-681-8000 ext. 14489

laura.stengrim@digikey.com

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2ae949f0-f0d3-4640-8dde-565927065e28
DIRECTOR DECLARATION

London, 10 May 2024  Endeavour Mining plc (LSE:EDV, TSX:EDV) (the Company) announces in accordance with Listing Rule 9.6.14R that Cathia Lawson-Hall, Independent Non-Executive Director, has joined the board of Eurazeo SE (Eurazeo), a company listed on the Euronext Paris, as a non-executive director effective following her election at Eurazeos Combined Shareholders Meeting on 7 May 2024.

CONTACT INFORMATION

For Investor Relations enquiries: For Media enquiries: Jack Garman Brunswick Group LLP in London Vice President of Investor Relations Carole Cable, Partner +44 203 011 2723 +44 207 404 5959 investor@endeavourmining.com ccable@brunswickgroup.com

ABOUT ENDEAVOUR MINING PLC

Endeavour Mining is one of the worlds senior gold producers and the largest in West Africa, with operating assets across Senegal, Cote dIvoire and Burkina Faso and a strong portfolio of advanced development projects and exploration assets in the highly prospective Birimian Greenstone Belt across West Africa.

A member of the World Gold Council, Endeavour is committed to the principles of responsible mining and delivering sustainable value to its employees, stakeholders and the communities where it operates. Endeavour is admitted to listing and to trading on the London Stock Exchange and the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the symbol EDV.

For more information, please visit www.endeavourmining.com.

Attachment
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The American Foundation for the Blind (AFB) released this week its latest study in a series examining the digital inclusion of people with disabilities on websites and mobile applications. The study continues to affirm that major accessibility barriers still exist online, resulting in significant time spent and lost revenue opportunities.



The study released provided a better understanding of the frustrations of users who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision experience when encountering inaccessible content online, through mobile apps, or kiosks. Among the key findings, researchers discovered users experience an average of 12 obstacles per week, which required an additional 2.4 hours of lost time spent trying to navigate the inaccessible platform. This was double the time needed to perform online tasks without barriers. When people faced inaccessible kiosks in retail settings or medical offices, they spent 74% of the time on a given task working through accessibility hurdles.

The findings in this second phase of our research on digital inclusion truly reveal how time-consuming inaccessible web and mobile applications are for people who rely on assistive technology to perform basic tasks, said Stephanie Enyart, AFB Chief Public Policy and Research Officer. This significant amount of additional time lost results in lost productivity and business, which would not have been the case if app developers simply followed the standards for accessibility that are readily available.

Recent regulations require that entities build their websites and apps to a specific accessibility standard, and the Department of Justice has routinely held that these standards apply to a wide array of entities.

Research participants shared frustrations ranging from inaccessible wavers for recreation centers to wasting up to three hours simply trying to purchase airline tickets. On average, participants required 24.3 minutes of assistance per week when sighted assistance was available. And, as discovered in the initial first phase of this series released in April 2023, it was unsurprising that barriers would result in customers taking their business elsewhere when possible. In 20% of cases, participants gave up the task they were trying to do because the accessibility barriers were insurmountable, and often this meant walking away from an online purchase.

Recommendations from the study included ongoing work by federal, state, and local governments to push forward safeguards that guarantee accessibility. Instructors of computer science courses are also encouraged to incorporate accessibility best practices for future developers, and public and private entities are encouraged to make sure content meets accessibility standards and new software developers have a working understanding of building web and mobile applications that use these standards.

For more information on this study, visit the report online, where you can access the executive summary and additional information uncovered in this ongoing series.

Founded in 1921, the American Foundation for the Blind creates equal opportunities and expands possibilities for people who are blind, deafblind, or have low vision through advocacy, thought leadership, and strategic partnerships. In addition to publishing the Journal of Visual Impairment & Blindness (JVIB), AFB is also the proud steward of the Helen Keller Archive, which is available on the AFB website at www.afb.org.
New York, NY, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- More than 500 guests joined the Open Space Institute (OSI) at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City on Wednesday, May 8th to celebrate the organizations 50th Anniversary Gala. The event honored board founding chair John Adams and his wife, Patricia, a vital longtime supporter, as well as Kim Elliman, OSIs former President & CEO, who retired in early April after more than 30 years in his role. Select photos available here; full gallery here.

The Gala raised more than $1.4 million for OSI, a national leader in land protection and expanding public access to the outdoors. The event featured a keynote address from Kris Tompkins, President and co-founder of Tompkins Conservation and former CEO of the Patagonia outdoor recreation company.

The Gala was both a wonderful celebration of OSIs 50 years and a spirited testament to the enormous values of the smart, strategic land conservation on which OSI has built its reputation, said OSI president and CEO, Erik Kulleseid. Our deepest thanks to all who had a hand in making our celebratory event an unparalleled success including our Board of Trustees, Gala chairs and host committee members, and our guests. This event was truly one for the ages.

"From our beginnings in New Yorks Hudson Valley and Catskills regions, OSI has grown into a powerhouse in the fields of land protection, conservation policy, and improving the public access to protected land for all, said OSI Board of Trustees co-chair, Amy Salzman. We are extraordinarily proud of everything we have achieved over the past five decades and prouder yet of the community of supporters, partners, and friends with whom we share our success. With the strength of this expansive community, our committed board of trustees, and stellar staff, we are poised for continued and greater success in the future."

The event marked OSIs first-ever Gala. In addition to the Gala, the organization is celebrating a key milestone this year: 2.5 million acres of land saved directly and with partners throughout the eastern seaboard of the United States and southern Canada.

OSI extends sincere thanks to the honorary chairs for OSIs 50th Anniversary Gala: Christopher C. Davis, Leonard A. Lauder, Kitty Patterson & Tom Kempner, Larry Rockefeller & Wendy Gordon, Elizabeth W. Smith, and Lucy Rockefeller Waletzky, M.D. They were joined by honorary co-chairs Kate Adams & Duke Wiser, Tom & Currie Barron, Lea Paine Highet & Ian Highet, and Amy Salzman & Randy Milch. The Gala committee comprised Carol Ash, Virginia & Dana Beach, Anne Perkins Cabot, Kim Elliman & Jennifer Cunningham, Paul Elston & Frances Beinecke, Buzzy Geduld, Trustees and Staff of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, Joseph & Carson Gleberman, Jane & Roger Goodell, Holly Hegener & Jon Cummings, Samuel G. Huber & Catherine Weiss, J.M. Kaplan Fund, the Klipper Family, Larry & Dana Linden, Michael Mantell, Barnabas McHenry, Thomas McHenry, the Prospect Hill Foundation, Jennifer Perkins Speers, Hume Steyer & Nanahya Santana, Patricia F. Sullivan, Marjorie & Charles Van Dercook, Robin & Giorgios Vlamis, and Kim & Finn Wentworth.

About Kim Elliman

Christopher Kim Elliman is a nationally recognized leader in land conservation policy, strategy, and advocacy who spent more than three decades at the helm of OSI as President & CEO. Kims retirement in April 2024 bookended a remarkable era of programmatic and geographic expansion for OSI, during which the organization grew from a local, Hudson Valley land trust into a nationally recognized conservation leader active in 17 states in the eastern United States and three Canadian provinces. Throughout his career, Kim has served on numerous boards and foundations, including: the Adirondack Land Trust; Black Rock Forest Consortium; Butler Conservation Fund; The Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation; GROW NYC; Jamaica Bay Rockaway Parks Conservancy; Overhills Foundation; Samuel Freeman Charitable Trust; Storm King Arts Center; The Wilderness Society; the Wildlife Conservation Society; and Yale School of the Environment Steering Committee.

About John & Patricia Adams

Over their long and storied careers, John and Patricia Adams have worked together to honor and protect the natural world. John is the Founding Chairman of OSI and has served as the Chair of the Board of Trustees since its establishment. He is also Founding Director of the Natural Resources Defense Council. He has been the recipient of numerous awards and commendations in recognition of his work, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honor in the United States. John and Patricia have worked with OSI and local communities to preserve and enhance the Hudson Valley and the Beaverkill, ensuring and expanding public access and protecting our precious environmental resources.

About the Open Space Institute

The Open Space Institute is a national leader in land conservation and efforts to make parks and other protected land more welcoming for all. Since 1974, OSI has partnered in the protection of more than 2.5 million at-risk and environmentally sensitive acres in the eastern U.S. and Canada. OSIs land protection promotes clean air and water, improves access to recreation, provides wildlife habitat, strengthens communities, and combats climate change, while curbing its devastating effects.

#

Attachments
OTTAWA, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The results are in for the 2024 City Nature Challenge, a massive international effort to track and showcase global biodiversity. In collaboration with the Canadian Wildlife Federation (CWF), 40 Canadian cities competed to observe wildlife with Metro Vancouver Regional District, Montreal, Cape Breton Regional Municipality and Kincardine leading the way in different categories.



It was a super close race between Vancouver and Montreal as they traded top spot for most observations throughout the four days, said James Page, species at risk and biodiversity specialist for CWF. Per capita, the results look drastically different with two smaller towns on top: Cape Breton on the east coast led in observations, surpassing many larger cities like Toronto, Victoria, and Ottawa outright, not just per capita. Kincardine, Ont. had most participants per capita of about 11,000 residents.

In total, there were more than 120,000 wildlife observations in Canada during the April 26 to 29 event and more than two million around the world.

These are very significant numbers which included more than 1,600 observations of species at risk in Canada, Page explained. Some key finds include six of Canadas eight species of at-risk turtles and several rare whales including a dozen Killer Whale observations around Vancouver Island. This data helps scientists track and conserve our biodiversity, making wildlife the biggest winners.

Highlights include:

Metro Vancouver had 14,066 observations of 1,563 species

Montreal had 14,046 observations of 1,319 species and the most participants overall

Cape Breton Regional Municipality had the most observations per capita at 12,434

The municipality of Kincardine had the most participants per capita

The Mallard Duck was the most observed species followed by Canada Goose and Red-winged Blackbird

The top species at risk recorded were the Banded Killifish, Painted Turtle, Horned Grebe, Northern Leopard Frog and Yellow Lampmussel. These species are all at risk in some parts of their range.

Participation has been on the rise, with an increase of 25 per cent more people taking part both nationally and internationally as compared to 2023, Page said. More noticeable is the massive 65 per cent increase this year in number of observations contributed in Canada, more than doubling the international increase of 30 per cent.

Just like wildlife, people are greatly affected by weather patterns, with 2023 being a colder wet weekend in most of Canada, which might explain this years jump.

These observations are critical to assessing global impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss, at a key time of year when species are emerging or returning in the spring, said Page. CWF thanks all Canadians for their contributions to the iNaturalist.ca database, which CWF leads here in Canada.

The City Nature Challenge was established by the California Academy of Sciences and Natural Museum of Los Angeles in 2016. The public can also contribute using iNaturalist Canada all year by joining CWFs Observation Nation project.

To learn more about the 2024 challenge and sign up for the 2025 competition, visit CityNatureChallenge.ca.

About the Canadian Wildlife Federation:

The Canadian Wildlife Federation is a national, not-for-profit charitable organization dedicated to conserving Canadas wildlife and habitats for the use and enjoyment of all. By spreading knowledge of human impacts on wildlife and the environment, carrying out actions to conserve and restore species and habitats, developing and delivering conservation education programs, advocating for changes to government policy and programs, and co-operating with like-minded partners, CWF encourages a future in which Canadians can live in harmony with nature. For more information, visit CanadianWildlifeFederation.ca.

About the City Nature Challenge:

Started in 2016 for the first-ever Citizen Science Day, the teams at Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County and California Academy of Sciences dreamed up the City Nature Challenge as a fun way to capitalize on their home cities friendly rivalry. In 2017 the City Nature Challenge went national and in 2018 it became an international event.

Contact:

David DeRocco

Sr. Manager, Marketing and Events

davidd@cwf-fcf.org

(613) 599-9594 x 279

(905) 975 4672 (cell)

General Contact:

media@cwf-fcf.org

A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c82f3383-245c-49ae-a5f7-4fbec289def7
SAN DIEGO, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- KULR Technology Group, Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) (the "Company" or "KULR"), a global leader in sustainable energy management, will hold a conference call on Wednesday, May 15th at 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (1:30 p.m. Pacific time) to discuss its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. The financial results will be issued in a press release prior to the call.

KULR management will host the conference call, followed by a question-and-answer period. Interested parties can submit relevant questions prior to the call to Stuart Smith at SmallCapVoice.Com, Inc. via email: ssmith@smallcapvoice.com by 12:00 PM ET on Tuesday, May 14th, 2024. Mr. Smith will compile a list of questions and submit them to the Company prior to the conference call. The questions that will get addressed will be based on the relevance to the shareholder base, and the appropriateness of the questions in light of public disclosure rules.

Date: Wednesday, May 15, 2024

Time: 4:30 p.m. Eastern time (1:30 p.m. Pacific time)

To access the call, please register using the following link: KULR First Quarter 2024 Earnings Call. After registering, an email will be sent, including dial-in details with a conference call access code required to join the live call. The conference call will be available for replay here via the Investor Relations section on KULRs website (www.kulrtechnology.com).

About KULR Technology Group, Inc.

KULR Technology Group Inc. (NYSE American: KULR) is a leading energy management platform company offering proven solutions that play a critical role in accelerating the electrification of the circular economy. Leveraging a foundation in developing, manufacturing, and licensing next-generation carbon fiber thermal management technologies for batteries and electronic systems, KULR has evolved its holistic suite of products and services to enable its customers across disciplines to operate with efficiency and sustainability in mind. For more information, please visit www.kulrtechnology.com.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of offers to buy any securities of any entity. This release contains certain forward-looking statements based on our current expectations, forecasts and assumptions that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements in this release are based on information available to us as of the date hereof. Our actual results may differ materially from those stated or implied in such forward-looking statements, due to risks and uncertainties associated with our business, which include the risk factors disclosed in our Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 12, 2024, as may be amended or supplemented by other reports we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission from time to time. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding our expectations, beliefs, intentions, or strategies regarding the future and can be identified by forward-looking words such as anticipate, believe, could, estimate, expect, intend, may, should, and would or similar words. All forecasts are provided by management in this release are based on information available at this time and management expects that internal projections and expectations may change over time. In addition, the forecasts are entirely on managements best estimate of our future financial performance given our current contracts, current backlog of opportunities and conversations with new and existing customers about our products and services. We assume no obligation to update the information included in this press release, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.



Investor Relations:

KULR Technology Group, Inc.

Phone: 858-866-8478 x 847

Email: ir@kulrtechnology.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, alongside Executive Pastry Chef, Kenta Takahashi, secured two honors at the 35th Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards, reaffirming its status as a beacon of culinary excellence in Vancouver.

Winning gold in the "Best Seafood" category for 2024, Boulevard continues to set the standard for seafood with innovative flavors paired with impeccable presentation. This accolade underscores their unwavering commitment to showcasing the finest and freshest seafood from the coast of B.C. and around the world, from Fanny Bay oysters and perfectly cooked translucent Haida Gwaii halibut to a paella-inspired.





Adding to the celebration, Executive Chef Kenta Takahashi has been honored as the "Best Pastry Chef" of 2024. Chef Kenta's mastery of the pastry arts has garnered widespread acclaim, with his creative confections and decadent desserts earning him the same title twice in three years at Canadas 100 Best. From visually stunning bon bons to intricate yet elegant dessert platters, Chef Kenta's creations highlight his passion for innovation while showcasing his commitment to the development of desserts for future generations.

The 35th Annual Vancouver Magazine Restaurant Awards ceremony celebrated the best in Vancouver's culinary scene, recognizing distinction across various categories. Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar's double win highlights a dedication to consistent culinary execution, exceptional hospitality, and unwavering devotion to an incredible guest experience as it enters its tenth year.





For more information about Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar, including reservations, menu offerings, and 10th Anniversary events, please visit www.boulevardvancouver.ca .

ABOUT BOULEVARD KITCHEN & OYSTER BAR

Located in Vancouvers downtown shopping district, Boulevard Kitchen & Oyster Bar is the premier award-winning dining destination led by Executive Chef Roger Ma, Signature Executive Chef Alex Chen, and Pastry Chef Kenta Takahashi. Committed to culinary excellence, the renowned restaurant offers a delightful experience to diners with innovative dishes, impeccable service, and elegant ambiance. One of the most awarded restaurants in the citys recent history, Boulevards seafood-focused menu is grounded in classical technique and training, artfully infused with West Coast flair and international influences. Boulevard boasts a gorgeous room, signature booths, a buzzy bar, and elegant private dining spaces, each enhanced with exceptional service, and a wide-ranging selection of wines and cocktail.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/92befe41-94e6-46a0-a88b-0e7107604fdc

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/c60bd002-f965-41eb-afaa-97cbb5c4cfb6

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/8154187c-87e7-416e-9f43-38e0ad9f2da5
MONTREAL, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- mdf commerce inc. (mdf or the Company) (TSX: MDF), a SaaS leader in digital commerce technologies, announced today that at the Companys special meeting (the Meeting) of its shareholders (the Shareholders) held earlier today, an overwhelming majority of Shareholders voted in favour of the special resolution (the Arrangement Resolution) approving the previously announced statutory plan of arrangement under the Canada Business Corporations Act involving the Company and 9511-1357 Quebec Inc. (the Purchaser), an entity affiliated with funds managed by KKR, a leading global investment firm, pursuant to which the Purchaser will acquire all of the issued and outstanding common shares (the Shares) in the capital of the Company for $5.80 in cash per Share (the Consideration), the whole subject to the terms and conditions of the arrangement agreement dated March 11, 2024 (the Arrangement Agreement) between the Company and the Purchaser (the Arrangement).

Approval of the Arrangement Resolution required the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds (66 2/3%) of the votes cast by Shareholders virtually present or represented by proxy and entitled to vote at the Meeting (each holder of Shares being entitled to one vote per Share).

Details on the voting results at the Meeting are set forth below:

Total Shares voted at the Meeting 29,134,025 Total Shares voted FOR the Arrangement Resolution 28,881,981 Percentage of Shares voted FOR the Arrangement Resolution 99.13%



A report on voting results for the Meeting will be filed under the Companys profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca.

mdf anticipates returning to the Superior Court of Quebec (the Court) on May 15, 2024 to seek a final order of the Court approving the Arrangement. Completion of the Arrangement remains subject to closing conditions as set forth in the Arrangement Agreement, including approval of the Court. Assuming that the conditions to closing are satisfied or waived (if permitted), it is expected that the Arrangement will be completed on or about May 17, 2024. Following completion of the Arrangement, KKR intends to cause the Shares to be delisted from the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) and applications will be made for mdf to cease to be a reporting issuer under applicable securities laws.

Additional information regarding the Arrangement and the procedure for exchange of Shares for the Consideration is provided in the Companys management information circular in respect of the Meeting dated April 10, 2024, a copy of which is available on SEDAR+ under the Companys profile at www.sedarplus.ca.

Forward Looking Information

This press release contains forward-looking information and forward-looking statements (collectively, forward-looking information) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. This information includes, but is not limited to, statements relating to mdf commerce's business objectives, expected growth, results of operations, performance and financial results. In some cases, forward-looking information can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as expects, estimates, outlook, forecasts, projection, prospects, intends, anticipates, believes, or variations of such words and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results may, could, would, might, will, will be taken, occur or be achieved. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, intentions, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances contain forward-looking information. Statements containing forward-looking information are not historical facts but instead represent managements expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances. Forward-looking information in this press release include, among other things, statements relating to the anticipated timing for completion of the Arrangement, including the parties ability to satisfy the conditions to the consummation of the Arrangement; the delisting of the Shares from the TSX and the Company ceasing to be a reporting issuer under applicable securities laws; the timing of the hearing for the final order; and the receipt of the required Court approval and other customary closing conditions.

Risks and uncertainties related to the transactions contemplated by the Arrangement Agreement include, but are not limited to: the possibility that the Arrangement will not be completed on the terms and conditions, or on the timing, currently contemplated, and that it may not be completed at all, due to a failure to obtain or satisfy, in a timely manner or otherwise, required regulatory and court approvals and other conditions to the closing of the Arrangement or for other reasons; the negative impact that the failure to complete the Arrangement for any reason could have on the price of the Shares or on the business of the Company; KKRs failure to pay the Consideration at closing of the Arrangement; the business of mdf commerce may experience significant disruptions, including loss of clients or employees due to Arrangement related uncertainty, industry conditions or other factors; risks relating to employee retention; the risk of regulatory changes that may materially impact the business or the operations of the Company; the risk that legal proceedings may be instituted against mdf commerce; and risks related to the diversion of managements attention from mdf commerces ongoing business operations while the Arrangement is pending; and other risks and uncertainties affecting mdf commerce, including those described in the Risk Factors and Uncertainty section of the Companys Annual Information Form for the year ended as at March 31, 2023, as well as in the Risk Factors and Uncertainties section of the Companys Managements Discussion and Analysis for the third quarter ended December 31, 2023 and elsewhere in the Companys filings with the Canadian securities regulators, as applicable.

Although we have attempted to identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking information, there may be other risk factors not presently known to us or that we presently believe are not material that could also cause actual results or future events to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking information. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. No forward-looking statement is a guarantee of future results. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information, which speaks only as of the date made. The forward-looking information contained in this press release represents the Companys expectations as of the date of this press release (or as the date they are otherwise stated to be made) and are subject to change after such date. However, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation or undertaking to update or revise any forward-looking information whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws in Canada. All of the forward-looking information contained in this press release is expressly qualified by the foregoing cautionary statements.

About mdf commerce inc.

mdf commerce inc. enables the flow of commerce by providing a broad set of software as a service (SaaS) solutions that optimize and accelerate commercial interactions between buyers and sellers. Our platforms and services empower businesses around the world, allowing them to generate billions of dollars in transactions on an annual basis. Our eprocurement, ecommerce and emarketplaces solutions are supported by a strong and dedicated team of approximately 650 employees based in Canada and in the United States. For more information, please visit us at mdfcommerce.com, follow us on LinkedIn or call at 1 877 677-9088.

About KKR

KKR is a leading global investment firm that offers alternative asset management as well as capital markets and insurance solutions. KKR aims to generate attractive investment returns by following a patient and disciplined investment approach, employing world-class people, and supporting growth in its portfolio companies and communities. KKR sponsors investment funds that invest in private equity, credit and real assets and has strategic partners that manage hedge funds. KKRs insurance subsidiaries offer retirement, life and reinsurance products under the management of Global Atlantic Financial Group. References to KKRs investments may include the activities of its sponsored funds and insurance subsidiaries. For additional information about KKR & Co. Inc. (NYSE: KKR), please visit KKRs website at www.kkr.com. For additional information about Global Atlantic Financial Group, please visit Global Atlantic Financial Groups website at www.globalatlantic.com.

Source:

mdf commerce inc.

www.mdfcommerce.com

Contact:

For mdf commerce media inquiries:

Brigitte Guay, Director  Corporate Communications

514 702-9658

brigitte.guay@mdfcommerce.com

For KKR media inquiries:

Liidia Liuksila

212 230-9722

media@kkr.com

This press release shall not constitute an offer to purchase or a solicitation of an offer to sell any securities, or a solicitation of a proxy of any securityholder of any person in any jurisdiction. Any offers or solicitations will be made in accordance with the requirements under applicable law. Shareholders are advised to review any documents that may be filed with securities regulatory authorities and any subsequent announcements because they will contain important information regarding the Arrangement and the terms and conditions thereof. The circulation of this press release and the Arrangement may be subject to a specific regulation or restrictions in some countries. Consequently, persons in possession of this press release must familiarize themselves and comply with any restrictions that may apply to them.
CALGARY, ALBERTA, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Marksmen Energy Inc. (TSXV: MAH) (Marksmen or the Company) announces that, further to its news release dated April 24, 2024, it has terminated its previously announced non-brokered private placement of up to 20,000,000 units of Marksmen at a price of $0.015 per unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to a maximum of $300,000, and that it now intends to complete a non-brokered private placement of up to 30,000,000 units of Marksmen (Units) at a price of $0.01 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of up to a maximum of $300,000 (the Offering). There is no minimum Offering. The Units will be comprised of one (1) common share (Common Share) and one (1) share purchase warrant (Warrant) of Marksmen. Each whole Warrant entitles the holder thereof to purchase one Common Share for $0.05 expiring two (2) years from the date of the closing of the Offering. The Warrants will include an acceleration provision whereby if the Company's Common Shares trade at a price greater than $0.10 for a period of 20 consecutive trading days, Marksmen may accelerate the expiry of the Warrants.



Marksmen may pay a cash commission or finder's fee to qualified non-related parties of up to 8% of the gross proceeds of the Offering (up to $24,000) and broker warrants (the Broker Warrants) equal to up to 8% of the number of Units sold in the Offering (up to 2,400,000 Broker Warrants). Each Broker Warrant will entitle the holder to acquire one Common Share at a price of $0.05 per Broker Warrant for a period of one (1) year from the date of issuance.

In the following order, assuming the maximum Offering, Marksmen intends to use the proceeds of the Offering to: (i) pay the expenses of the Offering and commissions ($24,000 (8%)), (ii) undertake projects as recommended by its consultant Apex Global Engineering Inc. (Apex) to optimize production of all wells in Pickaway County, Ohio ($120,000 (40%)); (iii) undertake a technical review and pursue farm-in drilling opportunities in Central Alberta also presented to Marksmen by Apex ($125,000 (42%)); and (iv) the remainder for working capital ($31,000 (10%)).

The Offering is being offered to all of the existing shareholders of Marksmen who are permitted to subscribe pursuant to the Existing Security Holder Exemption. This offer is open until June 24, 2024 or such other date or dates as the Company determines, and one or more closings are expected to occur, with the first closing anticipated for on or about May 17, 2024 or such other date or dates as the Company determines.

Any existing shareholders interested in participating in the Offering should contact the Company pursuant to the contact information set forth below.

The Company set May 9, 2024 as the record date for determining existing shareholders entitled to subscribe for Units pursuant to the Existing Security Holder Exemption. Subscribers purchasing Units under the Existing Security Holder Exemption will need to represent in writing that they meet certain requirements of the Existing Security Holder Exemption, including that they were, on or before the record date, a shareholder of the Company and still are a shareholder as at the closing date. The aggregate acquisition cost to a subscriber under the Existing Security Holder Exemption cannot exceed $15,000 unless that subscriber has obtained advice from a registered investment dealer regarding the suitability of the investment.

As the Company is also relying on the Exemption for Sales to Purchasers Advised by Investment Dealers, it confirms that there is no material fact or material change related to the Company which has not been generally disclosed. In addition to offering the Units pursuant to the Existing Security Holder Exemption and the Exemption for Sales to Purchasers Advised by Investment Dealers, the Units are also being offered pursuant to other available prospectus exemptions, including sales to accredited investors. Unless the Company determines to increase the gross proceeds of the Offering, if subscriptions received for the Offering based on all available exemptions exceed the maximum Offering amount of $300,000, Units will be allocated pro rata among all subscribers qualifying under all available exemptions.

Completion of the Offering is subject to regulatory approval including, but not limited to, the approval of the TSX Venture Exchange. The Common Shares, Warrants and Broker Warrants issued will be subject to a four month hold period from the date of the closing of the Offering.

It is expected that insiders of the Company will participate in the Offering.

The Company also announces the resignation of Dale Burstall, as a director and Corporate Secretary of Marksmen. "On behalf of everyone at Marksmen, we want to thank Dale for his commitment and service to Marksmen, and its shareholders, for more than a decade as counsel, a director, Corporate Secretary and multi-committee member and we wish him all the best in the future," said Archie Nesbitt, President and Chief Executive Officer of Marksmen.

For additional information regarding this news release please contact Archie Nesbitt, Director, and CEO of the Company at (403) 265-7270 or e-mail ajnesbitt@marksmenenergy.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.

This news release may contain certain forward-looking information and statements, including without limitation, the closing of the private placement, statements pertaining to the use of proceeds, and the Company's ability to obtain necessary approvals from the TSX Venture Exchange. All statements included herein, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information and such information involves various risks and uncertainties. Marksmen does not undertake to update any forward-looking information except in accordance with applicable securities laws. There can be no assurance that such information will prove to be accurate, and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such information. A description of assumptions used to develop such forward-looking information and a description of risk factors that may cause actual results to differ materially from forward-looking information can be found in Marksmens disclosure documents on the SEDAR+ website at www.sedarplus.ca.
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Launched on May 08 in participating stores, Dennys Canada is excited to release the full details of their latest seasonal menu. For a limited time, guests will be treated to a choice of mouth-watering menu items such as the Berry Waffle Slam (New), BBQ Bacon Chicken Sandwich (New), Brownie Sundae with Oreo Pieces (New), Cinnamon Sugar Pancake Puppies (New), Berry Stuffed French Toast Slam and the Grand Slamwich.









For over 70 years, Dennys Restaurants has been a place where people can come in, sit down and connect. The beloved brand has affectionately become known as a place within the community where you can have the usual or try something new. Releasing new seasonal features allows Dennys to take advantage of quality and seasonality, while constantly working to evolve their menu. Guests can enjoy fulfilling, flavoursome dishes that are current and exciting but can also have all the comfort of Dennys diner classics.











We continually strive to provide our guests with the perfect dining experience, combining new menu items with the diner classics they know and love, shares Deborah Gagnon, President & Chief Operating Officer of Dennys Canada. Dennys prides itself on always having something for everyone to enjoy, at good value with great guest service.











To find the full details of the dishes available on Dennys latest seasonal feature menu and the participating locations, please visit https://www.dennys.ca/promotions/feature-menu/.



ABOUT DENNYS CANADA



Dencan Restaurants Inc., headquartered in Vancouver and owned by Northland Properties Corporation, currently operates and franchises 74 Dennys restaurants across Canada. Part of the highly regarded worldwide Dennys organization, Dencan Restaurants Inc. has a well-deserved reputation for high-quality food and guest satisfaction. From fluffy pancakes to crispy bacon, to juicy burgers, to something from the Fit Fare Menu, guests will always find delicious value and variety.



More information can be found at www.dennys.ca or on social @dennyscanada.

Photos accompanying this announcement are available at:

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/ff9beb73-4770-414b-9f77-c6bdd3181f9d

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/48b72720-a592-45b8-baa9-b4cefb985d49

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/61f55e3f-6674-44c6-8710-5f937393a907

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/4a298b44-e4af-4513-9d48-f3339984bf43

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/e7fe548e-8b92-43df-b744-be600e95aeb8

https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/772f0b1d-544c-4696-a080-7a2b6fda3445
Almonty Industries Inc. ("Almonty" or the "Company") (TSX: AII / ASX: AII / OTCQX: ALMTF / Frankfurt: ALI) announces that it plans to extend, in the aggregate, the term of 700,000 outstanding share purchase warrants (the "Insider Warrants") that were due to expire on February 19, 2024, by one year. On February 13, 2024, the Board of Directors of the Company approved to extend the Insider Warrants held by Lewis Black and Dr. Thomas Gutschlag to February 19, 2025, subject to Toronto Stock Exchange ("TSX") and shareholder approval. Lewis Black and Dr. Thomas Gutschlag are insiders of the Company.

During December 2019 through February 2020, the Company conducted a private placement whereby it closed, in three tranches, 2,047,244 units which consisted of 2,047,244 shares and 2,047,244 share purchase warrants, exercisable at a price of $0.75 per share with a three-year term. Of the 2,047,244 warrants issued, 1,020,000 expired, 327,244 were exercised and 700,000 remain outstanding which were due to expire on February 19, 2023. During 2023, the Company received TSX approval and shareholder approval at its annual general meeting held on June 26, 2023, to extend the expiry date of those warrants to February 19, 2024. Pursuant to Section 608(a) of the TSX Policy Manual, amendments to warrants held by insiders require disinterested shareholder approval. The Company will be seeking disinterested shareholder approval to the extension of the Insider Warrants at its upcoming annual general meeting on June 28, 2024.

The amendment of the Insider Warrants is considered a related party transaction within the meaning of Multilateral Instrument 61-101 - Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions ("MI 61-101"). As such, the Company would 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 number of warrants being amended by insiders will not exceed 25% of the fair market value of the Company's market capitalization.

Additionally, the Company announces that it plans to extend the term of 714,285 outstanding share purchase warrants held by one individual (the "Warrants") due to expire on May 11, 2024, to May 12, 2025. On May 11, 2022, the Warrants were issued in connection with a private placement which were exercisable for a period of two years at a price of US$0.84 per share. The extension of the Warrants is subject to TSX approval and the approval of the Australian Securities Exchange. The Australia Securities Exchange requires shareholder approval to the extension of these Warrants, which shareholder approval will also be sought at the Company's annual general meeting being held on June 28, 2024.

Other than the extension of the expiry date for the Insider Warrants and the Warrants, all other terms and conditions remain unchanged and are in full force and effect.

About Almonty

The principal business of Toronto, Canada-based Almonty Industries Inc. is the mining, processing and shipping of tungsten concentrate from its Los Santos Mine in western Spain and its Panasqueira mine in Portugal as well as the development of its Sangdong tungsten mine in Gangwon Province, South Korea and the development of the Valtreixal tin/tungsten project in north western Spain. The Los Santos Mine was acquired by Almonty in September 2011 and is located approximately 50 kilometres from Salamanca in western Spain and produces tungsten concentrate. The Panasqueira mine, which has been in production since 1896, is located approximately 260 kilometres northeast of Lisbon, Portugal, was acquired in January 2016 and produces tungsten concentrate. The Sangdong mine, which was historically one of the largest tungsten mines in the world and one of the few long-life, high-grade tungsten deposits outside of China, was acquired in September 2015 through the acquisition of a 100% interest in Woulfe Mining Corp. Almonty owns 100% of the Valtreixal tin-tungsten project in north- western Spain. Further information about Almonty's activities may be found at www.almonty.com and under Almonty's profile at www.sedar.com.

Legal Notice

The release, publication or distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and therefore persons in such jurisdictions into which this announcement is released, published or distributed should inform themselves about and observe such restrictions.

Neither the TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

Disclaimer for Forward-Looking Information

When used in this press release, the words "estimate", "project", "belief", "anticipate", "intend", "expect", "plan", "predict", "may" or "should" and the negative of these words or such variations thereon or comparable terminology are intended to identify forward-looking statements and information. These statements and information are based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date that statements are made and reflect Almonty's current expectations.

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 Almonty to be materially different from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements, including but not limited to: any specific risks relating to fluctuations in the price of ammonium para tungstate ("APT") from which the sale price of Almonty's tungsten concentrate is derived, actual results of mining and exploration activities, environmental, economic and political risks of the jurisdictions in which Almonty's operations are located and changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, forecasts and assessments relating to Almonty's business, credit and liquidity risks, hedging risk, competition in the mining industry, risks related to the market price of Almonty's shares, the ability of Almonty to retain key management employees or procure the services of skilled and experienced personnel, risks related to claims and legal proceedings against Almonty and any of its operating mines, risks relating to unknown defects and impairments, risks related to the adequacy of internal control over financial reporting, risks related to governmental regulations, including environmental regulations, risks related to international operations of Almonty, risks relating to exploration, development and operations at Almonty's tungsten mines, the ability of Almonty to obtain and maintain necessary permits, the ability of Almonty to comply with applicable laws, regulations and permitting requirements, lack of suitable infrastructure and employees to support Almonty's mining operations, uncertainty in the accuracy of mineral reserves and mineral resources estimates, production estimates from Almonty's mining operations, inability to replace and expand mineral reserves, uncertainties related to title and indigenous rights with respect to mineral properties owned directly or indirectly by Almonty, the ability of Almonty to obtain adequate financing, the ability of Almonty to complete permitting, construction, development and expansion, challenges related to global financial conditions, risks related to future sales or issuance of equity securities, differences in the interpretation or application of tax laws and regulations or accounting policies and rules and acceptance of the TSX of the listing of Almonty shares on the TSX.

Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions management believes to be reasonable, including but not limited to, no material adverse change in the market price of ammonium para tungstate (APT), the continuing ability to fund or obtain funding for outstanding commitments, expectations regarding the resolution of legal and tax matters, no negative change to applicable laws, the ability to secure local contractors, employees and assistance as and when required and on reasonable terms, and such other assumptions and factors as are set out herein. Although Almonty has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual results, level of activity, performance or achievements to differ materially from those contained in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause results, level of activity, performance or achievements not to be as anticipated, estimated or intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements will prove to be accurate and even if events or results described in the forward-looking statements are realized or substantially realized, there can be no assurance that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, Almonty. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements and are cautioned that actual outcomes may vary.

Investors are cautioned against attributing undue certainty to forward-looking statements. Almonty cautions that the foregoing list of material factors is not exhaustive. When relying on Almonty's forward-looking statements and information to make decisions, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events.

Almonty has also assumed that material factors will not cause any forward-looking statements and information to differ materially from actual results or events. However, the list of these factors is not exhaustive and is subject to change and there can be no assurance that such assumptions will reflect the actual outcome of such items or factors.

THE FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS PRESS RELEASE REPRESENTS THE EXPECTATIONS OF ALMONTY 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 ALMONTY MAY ELECT TO, IT DOES NOT UNDERTAKE TO UPDATE THIS INFORMATION AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME EXCEPT AS REQUIRED IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509336940/en/

Contact

Lewis Black

Chairman, President and CEO

Telephone: +1 647 438-9766

Email: info@almonty.com
VANCOUVER, May 10, 2024 - Monumental Energy Corp. ("Monumental" or the "Company") (TSXV: MNRG) (FSE: ZA6) (OTCQB: MNMRF) is pleased to announce that it has increased its strategic investment in New Zealand Energy Corp. (TSXV: NZ) ("NZ").

Pursuant to NZ's $5,000,000 non-brokered private placement completed on May 9, 2024 (the "Private Placement") (see NZ's news release dated May 9, 2024), Monumental acquired an additional 293,333 common shares of NZ at a price of $0.75 per share for a total subscription price of $220,000. Together with Monumental's initial investment in December 2023, the Company holds a total of 1,293,333 common shares of NZ which represents approximately 8.63% of NZ's issued and outstanding common shares.

Maximilian Sali, VP Corporate Development and Director of Monumental comments:

"Since our initial investment at the end of last year, NZEC has made great progress in terms of preparation for oil well workovers at Copper Moki commencing in the second half of May, as well as the Tariki-5 gas development well scheduled for August. NZEC just closed an upsized $5M private placement with a lead order from Charlestown Energy Partners, LLC, which demonstrates the caliber of their assets and the promise of significant near-term progress with their proven and committed leadership team. Monumental now holds nearly 1.3M shares at an average cost base of $0.46, showing that Monumental has already seen significant value from this strategic investment. I look forward to NZEC's continued progress."

According to NZ's news release, the net proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to advance NZ's plans regarding the Tariki field, where development well Tariki-5 is planned for August 2024, the Copper Moki field, where production well repairs are under way, the Waihapa field, and for general working capital purposes.

Further information about New Zealand Energy Corp. is available at www.newzealandenergy.com and www.sedarplus.ca

Monumental also announces that it has received the funds in full in relation to the closing of the "Turi Option Agreement Reassignment" to Summit Nanotech.

About Monumental Energy Corp.

Monumental Energy Corp. is an exploration company focused on the acquisition, exploration, and development of properties in the critical and clean energy sector. The Company has an option to acquire a 75% interest and title to the Laguna cesium-lithium brine project located in Chile. The Company holds a 2% net smelter return royalty on Summit Nanotech's share of any future lithium production from the Salar de Turi Project. The Company has an option to acquire a 100% interest in the Jemi HREE project located in Coahuila, Mexico near the Texas, USA border. The Company owns securities of New Zealand Energy Corp.

On behalf of the Board of Directors,

/s/ "Michelle DeCecco"

Michelle Dececco, Chief Executive Officer and Director

Email: michelle@monumental.energy

Contact Information:

Maximilian Sali, VP Corporate Development & Director

Email: max@monumental.energy

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.

Forward Looking Information

This news release includes certain statements that constitute "forward-looking information or statements" within the meaning of applicable securities laws, which may include, without limitation, statements relating to NZ's intended use of proceeds of its recently completed private placement, and other statements relating to the technical, financial and business prospects of the Company, its projects and other matters. All statements in this news release, other than statements of historical facts, that address events or developments that the Company expects to occur, 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 may differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on numerous assumptions regarding present and future business strategies and the environment in which the Company will operate in the future, including the price of metals and oil and gas, the ability to achieve its goals, that general business and economic conditions will not change in a material adverse manner and that financing will be available if and when needed and on reasonable terms. Such forward-looking information reflects the Company's views with respect to future events and is subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the risks and uncertainties relating to the interpretation of exploration results, risks related to the inherent uncertainty of exploration and cost estimates and the potential for unexpected costs and expenses and those other risks filed under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca. While such estimates and assumptions are considered reasonable by the management of the Company, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive and regulatory uncertainties and risks. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in forward looking statements include, but are not limited to, continued availability of capital and financing and general economic, market or business conditions, failure to secure personnel and equipment for work programs, adverse weather and climate conditions, risks relating to unanticipated operational difficulties (including failure of equipment or processes to operate in accordance with specifications or expectations, cost escalation, unavailability of materials and equipment, government action or delays in the receipt of government approvals, industrial disturbances or other job action, and unanticipated events related to health, safety and environmental matters), risks relating to inaccurate geological assumptions, failure to maintain all necessary government permits, approvals and authorizations, failure to obtain surface access agreements or understandings from local communities, land owners or Indigenous groups, fluctuation in exchange rates, the impact of viruses and diseases on the Company's ability to operate, capital market conditions, restriction on labour and international travel and supply chains, decrease in the price of rare earth elements, lithium, cesium and other metals, decrease in the price of oil and gas, loss of key employees, consultants, or directors, failure to obtain and/or maintain community acceptance (including from the Indigenous communities), increase in costs, litigation, and failure of counterparties to perform their contractual obligations. The Company does not undertake to update forward-looking statements or forward-looking information, except as required by law.

SOURCE Monumental Energy Corp.
Leclerc fell out with departing race engineer

Growing unrest between Charles Leclerc and his race engineer has led to the departure from the role of the latter at Ferrari.

Charles Leclerc, Miami GP 2024

 Ferrari

That's the claim of authoritative Italian media sources, as the Maranello team announced that Leclerc's race engineer since 2019, Xavi Marcos, is moving to other important company programs .

Alessandra Retico, a Formula 1 correspondent for La Repubblica newspaper, claims that more than a few times in recent years, and also in the last race in Miami, Leclerc was not entirely satisfied with his race management .

It seems there was some nervousness between the two, like when last year in Austin he (Leclerc) punched the steering wheel following a call from Marcos, who has been at Ferrari for a decade.

This year in China, there was a misunderstanding between them when Marcos suggested Leclerc go back to his original trajectory in a certain part of the Shanghai track, the journalist added.

Leclerc reacted with some bewilderment, not understanding what was being asked of him.

And in the pages of La Gazzetta dello Sport, correspondent Salvo Sardina claims many fans have been criticising certain communication difficulties and his (Marcos') apparent lack of reactivity in key moments .

As of Imola next weekend, where a key car upgrade is being introduced for Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, the former will now be working with new race engineer Bryan Bozzi.

Until Miami, Bozzi was Leclerc's performance engineer.

The surprise news came on the same day that Ferrari not only tested the Imola upgrade at Fiorano, but also trialled proposed new 'mudguards' in collaboration with the FIA to help reduce spray in wet conditions.

(GMM)
ASUS has revealed that it will be announcing the next iteration of its ROG Ally handheld gaming PC on June 2.

The company revealed a handful of details regarding the device through its ROG Pulse stream with hosts Jake Kulinski and Whitson Gordon. Gordon revealed that the device will be named ROG Ally X and that it will be offering extra features over the current generation ROG Ally for the more demanding user.

Whitman stressed that the Ally X is neither a minor spec bump nor a completely new generation of the Ally, but somewhere between the two. This means it will share the same Ryzen Z1 Extreme chip and the 120Hz VRR display with the standard ROG Ally 2023.

However, the company is promising several improvements with the Ally X. The biggest change will be the inclusion of a much larger battery. Speaking to The Verge, ASUS Senior Vice President Shawn Yen said that the battery will be a lot more than just a mere 30-40% improvement without getting into specifics. Yen also suggested that the Ally X will be able to more than double the current worst case battery scenario of the Ally 2023.

ROG Ally 2023

Whitson Gordon also announced other changes on the stream, which include increased system memory from the current 16GB as well as more storage. The M.2 2230 slot will also be swapped for a more common M.2 2280 slot for easier upgradability. There was also mention of upgraded ports; considering the Ally 2023 had a single USB-C port, it's possible the Ally X has two. ASUS has also moved the ill-positioned microSD slot so your cards won't die from the exhaust heat.

Among other hinted improvements are changes to the controls, with easier interchangeability for the joysticks. Finally, it seems the Ally X will come in an all-black color option, although the design seems unchanged otherwise.

ASUS will also be upgrading the company's Armoury Crate SE software to version 1.5, which features an improved design that makes it easier to use and more attractive. This updated version will also be coming to the existing ROG Ally 2023 in the future, which will continue to be supported by the company.

The ROG Ally X will be officially launched on June 2 and will likely feature prominently in the company's Computex 2024 lineup in Taiwan. Pricing is said to be higher than the current Ally 2023, which would continue to be on sale alongside the new model.

Source 1  Source 2
Samsung released the One UI 6.1 update for the Galaxy S22 series in South Korea earlier this month, which was halted in a day due to a bug. The rollout was resumed with a new build recently in Korea and has now expanded to other regions.

The One UI 6.1 for the Samsung Galaxy S22, Galaxy S22+, and Galaxy S22 Ultra is rolling out in Europe and could be released in other countries soon. The update comes with firmware version S90xBXXU9EXE1 but doesn't come with the May 2024 Android security patch.

If you live in Europe and haven't received the One UI 6.1 update on your S22/S22+/S22 Ultra, you can check for it manually by heading to the phone's Settings > Software update menu.

Via
Moscas restaurant isnt the kind of New Orleans-area tourist destination you stumble upon by accident.

The long-standing Italian joint is a 30-minute drive outside the city, located on the edge of a large swath of forest on the West Bank of the Mississippi River. The squat white building looks more like an illegal fireworks store than a place youd stop for dinner.

I first heard of the restaurant by way of advice from a stranger on an airplane: Oh, you live in New Orleans? Youve gotta go to Moscas Italian. Its run by the Mafia.

As an equal fan of spaghetti and The Sopranos, I was sold.

I showed up at Moscas at 7:30 p.m. on a Wednesday night with my friend Alex, 20 minutes late for our required dinner reservation. (Id forgotten that cash, too, is required, adding a stop at the ATM.)

Although the restaurant closes at 8, our server was gracious: All us girls work together, so you need something, you just give ones of us a shout, she said with a wink, in an accent that sounded part Louisiana and part Long Island.

As soon as she turned around, I pushed the menus aside. I informed Alex that Id already chosen our four-course dinner after rigorous googling, and would instead be regaling him on the history of organized crime in New Orleans.

Carlos Marcello, center, leaves federal court July 1, 1970, with a team of attorneys. Marcello, long reputed to be the head of the Mafia in the South, was fighting a two-year federal prison sentence for striking an FBI agent in 1966.Bettmann Archive

The backstory of Moscas

Moscas was first opened in 1946 by Provino and Lisa Mosca, Italian immigrants who relocated to New Orleans from Chicago after their daughter fell in love with a Louisiana fisherman.

The husband and wife originally planned to open their restaurant in a corner bar near the city, but the deal fell through, according to a 2010 profile in the New Yorker. Instead, an acquaintance named Carlos Marcello, with whom they shared mutual friends in Chicago, offered to rent them a white shack on the West Bank. They accepted.

Marcello soon became a regular at the restaurant, meeting with family and business associates in the dimly lit dining room. His friendship with the Moscas extended beyond an affinity for their chicken cacciatore, however.

Marcello, who by the late 40s had taken complete control of New Orleans illegal gambling network, would come to be known as the most influential and sinister racketeer boss in Louisiana.

When he was finally convicted in January 1982 and sentenced to seven years in prison by a federal judge after an FBI investigation into bribery and labor racketeering  after decades of suspected extortion, narcotics distribution and alleged involvement in the assassination of John F. Kennedy  it was one of the Mosca children who represented him in federal court.

The Federal Bureau of Investigations map shows American Mafia Bosses across the country in 1963. Carlos Marcello, landlord and regular at Mosca's Italian restaurant, is labeled in New Orleans.Federal Bureau of Investigations

Carlos Marcello, the feds, and the Kennedy assassination

What Carlos Marcello lacked in size he made up for in bravado.

The 5 foot, 4 inch Sicilian immigrated to New Orleans from French Tunisia as a toddler and began committing petty crimes not long after. He quickly learned it pays to have friends in high places.

After wriggling his way out of prison sentences for grocery store holdups and bank robberies, Marcello was arrested and charged with the sale of more than 23 pounds of marijuana in 1938.

This time, it was Louisiana Gov. Huey Long who cut his sentence short.

(Fellow mob-boss Frank Costello later told a federal grand jury that hed made a deal with Long to introduce slot machines in New Orleans for a yearly fee to the Long organization of $30 a machine, according to a 1980 Washington Post article.)

Marcello seemed untouchable.

He soon climbed the ranks of the Louisiana Mafia, skimming money from some of the largest casinos in the New Orleans area and wielding his extraordinary influence to run a crime syndicate that at one point raked in $1.114 billion annually, as reported by the New Orleans Crime Commission in 1964.

There were politicians, however, who operated outside the scope of Marcellos Gulf Coast reign: the Kennedys. But they couldnt pin anything on him just yet.

Senators of the Senate Rackets Committee and committee counsel Robert F. Kennedy appear during an investigation into organized crime and jukeboxes in 1959. On the stand, Carlos Marcello repeatedly invoked the Fifth Amendment.Library of Congress

When Robert F. Kennedy entered the office of attorney general in 1961, he pledged an all-out war against the Mafia. One of his first points of action was to deport Marcello to Guatemala, one of several countries in which the mob king held a forged passport.

There, Marcello is said to have slogged through the jungle in Gucci shoes, swearing he would get revenge, writes NBC News. Although Marcello managed to sneak back into the states, the whole fiasco left him irate and humiliated. Some historians argue he was even hungry for blood.

Reputed rackets kingpin Carlos Marcello glowers at photographers from behind his cigar as he leaves the Federal Court Building in New Orleans with his attorney, Michael Maroun, left, of Shreveport, Louisiana, on June 28, 1961. The court granted a 15-day delay in arraignment proceedings after Marcello pleaded innocent to a charge of illegally re-entering the country.Bettmann Archive

Marcello referred to President Kennedy as a dog ... and his brother Robert was the tail. The dog, he said, will keep biting you if you only cut off its tail, journalist Anthony Summers details in his book, Not In Your Lifetime: The Defining Book on the J.F.K. Assassination.

He wrote: The meaning was clear. Were John F. Kennedy to be killed, his brother would cease to be attorney general and the harassment of the Mafia would stop.

Several months later, on a sunny November day in 1963 in Dallas, Texas, Kennedys presidency was cut short by bullets to the back of his head and neck.

Lee Harvey Oswald is pictured in his mugshot after assassinating John F. Kennedy. Oswald was killed days later by mob-connected nightclub owner Jack Ruby, adding fuel to theories that JFK's murder was Mafia-influenced. (Hulton Archive | Getty Images)Getty Images

While a connection between shooter Lee Harvey Oswald and organized crime has long been speculated, nothing has been proven.

Marcello had the motive, means and opportunity to have President John F. Kennedy assassinated, though (we are) unable to establish direct evidence of Marcellos complicity, reported a 1979 House Select Committee on Assassinations.

The mob kings (cushy) downfall

In 1980, having shirked off federal indictments for decades  using only slightly more muscle than is required to swat away a relentless mosquito  Carlos Marcello appeared poised to enjoy his old age.

In the Gret Stet of Loosiana where boisterous politics and bizarre alliances are a way of life, Marcello, now 70, is still flourishing, wrote journalist George Lardner Jr.

Then Operation BriLab struck. Using an undercover insurance swindler named Joseph Hauser, the FBI was finally able to implicate Marcello in a number of bribes to union leaders and politicians across the country.

Carlos Marcello, aged 70, leaves federal court in New Orleans on Dec. 1, 1980, after a judge refused to halt prosecution in the FBI's "Operation BriLab" case.Bettmann Archive

At trial, Marcello was represented by criminal defense attorney Vinny Mosca. (Yes, the same Mosca whose family operates that little white-shacked Italian restaurant on the West Bank of the Mississippi, where Marcello had dined, drank and schmoozed for the last 30-odd years.)

Ultimately, Marcello was sentenced to a total of 17 years in prison: seven in the BriLab case, then ten more for attempting to pay off a Los Angeles Judge.

Youve led a life of crime, the record shows that, a Federal District Judge told Marcello while handing down the sentence, according to the New York Times. By any evaluation, I think it fair to say youre a bad man.

While serving at a Texas correctional facility, Marcello reportedly bragged to another inmate about the slaying of John F. Kennedy: Yeah, I had the son of a bitch killed. Im glad I did. Im sorry I couldnt have done it myself.

The FBI never questioned Marcello on this statement.

As went the seemingly charmed life of New Orleans top kingpin, he was released from prison early in 1989, when a court of appeals reversed his BriLab conviction.

In the comfort of his sprawling, white-pillared Metairie mansion, Marcello died on March 2, 1993.

It was odd to read the brief obituary and to see that old mans face and eerie stare, read a Washington Post op-ed a week later. What a sad irony, I thought, that in the same year America will mourn the 30th anniversary of the murder of President Kennedy ... Carlos Marcello died at home of natural causes at the age of 83.

Leftovers at Moscas

Finally, in the cozy dining room of Moscas Italian restaurant, our four-course meal arrives. As Alex and I dig in, my dramatic retelling begins to gain a mythological glow.

Can you believe this all happened in New Orleans? I exclaim, mopping up a bowl of red gravy with a chunk of bread.

Shrimp Mosca, chicken cacciatore and spaghetti with meatballs are staples at the iconic Mosca's restaurant.Emily Topping

Between mouthfuls of shrimp mosca and chicken cacciatore (by far the best dish), tales of mob bosses and snipers start to sound more like soap opera fodder than recent history. Besides, everyone knows the Mafia was all but squashed by the 1990s  especially in New Orleans.

Still, this quaint little restaurant harbors an undeniable cloak of nostalgia. Decadeslong regulars agree almost nothing has changed since it opened: not the wainscoted walls, nor the Louis Prima-heavy jukebox. Certainly not the menu.

Carlos Marcellos son still owns the building. The Moscas speak of Carlos as not only their landlord but their friend, and they say that in their dealings with him he was always a gentleman, writes New Yorker Magazine.

Of course, that was decades ago.

The dining room at Mosca's has remained mostly unchanged over the decades.Emily Topping

Suddenly lethargic from heavy cream and cabernet, we scrape our plates into boxes and head out. And then, on the 30-minute drive home, cradling warm boxes of leftover shrimp in my lap, I find an article on my phone.

As recently as 2014, a white sniper van with stolen plates was discovered by police in Metairie. It was owned by Joe Gagliano, the 55-year-old son of a reputed New Orleans mob underboss. Turns out he was previously caught running a multimillion-dollar organized crime ring on the coast of Biloxi.

His racket of choice? Skimming money from casinos.

Maybe in New Orleans, the past isnt so far away after all.
Roger Fortson, 23, a senior airman in the U.S. Air Force, died after being shot six times by a Florida sheriffs deputy just seconds after opening the front door of his off-base, Fort Walton Beach apartment.

Fortson was reportedly on a FaceTime call with his girlfriend on the afternoon of May 3, when an Okaloosa County sheriffs deputy responded to a disturbance call at his Fort Walton Beach apartment complex.

In response to demands from Benjamin Crump, the attorney representing the Fortson family, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden on Thursday released police body camera footage of the incident  and by the end of the 4 minute and 21 second clip, the deputy had fired six rounds at Fortson, fatally wounding him.

But questions of exactly what happened in those pivotal moments leading up to the shooting  and what disturbance police were responding to  have led to mounting public outrage.

In the footage, as the deputy arrives at the apartment complex, he can be seen entering the office, where he asks an unidentified man to explain whats going on.

In response, the man said: Im not sure. I was told to let her know if you guys come by, so Im going to give her a quick call.

When asked by the deputy if there was a fight going on, the man said, I was not present for that. Moments later, the deputy exits the office and approaches an unidentified woman in the parking lot, asking her, So, are they fighting or something?

She was saying that it happens frequently, but this time it sounded like it is getting out of hand, the woman replies.

When asked by the deputy which apartment shes referring to, the woman said, Im not sure, explaining that two weeks ago she heard what sounded like yelling and fighting, but wasnt sure where it came from.

However, when the deputy asks for the apartment number, she responds, 1401.

The deputy then directs the woman to go back to the parking lot to await a second deputy.

After arriving at apartment 1401, the deputy is seen banging on the apartment door  but he does not identify himself.

Thirty seconds later, the deputy bangs on the door again, this time yelling out, Sheriffs Office, open the door.

According to the footage, approximately 10 seconds after that, he bangs on the door a third time, once more yelling out, Sheriffs Office. Open the door.

Within seconds of that knock, Fortson opens his door and is immediately instructed by the deputy to step back. A gun is visible at Fortsons side, but it is not raised. Then shots ring out as the deputy fires six times at Fortson.

In an interview this week with NBCs Today show, Crump, who said Fortsons gun was a legally registered firearm, was asked if the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office admitted the deputy went to the wrong apartment.

The Okaloosa Sheriffs Department has not owned up to the fact that they went to the wrong apartment, Crump said. As if he did something wrong. As if he was committing some crime. He did nothing.

During a news conference Thursday, Aden insisted the deputy knocked on the correct door.

But Fortsons mother, Meka Fortson, said she has a lot of doubts.

Roger was the only person in his apartment, she told the Today show. They said they were answering to a disturbance  was he fighting himself?

In an interview with Military.com, Fortsons mother called her son, who has five siblings, a role model and said he had recently returned from a deployment and always wanted to serve his country, with dreams of becoming a pilot.

According to Aden, the deputy involved in the incident had been placed on administrative leave as the Florida Department of Law Enforcement investigates and the State Attorneys Office conducts an independent review.

All of us at the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office are saddened about the fatal officer involved shooting over the weekend, Aden said in a statement. At this time, we humbly ask for our communitys patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event.

Aden also made a promise to the Fortson family.

If the shooting is found to be unjustified, Aden said, their sons name will be fully vindicated, and justice will be served.




Haiti - Politic : The Multinational Mission is the greatest gift given to Haiti says Me Andre Michel





In a note, Me Andre Michel, leader of the radical opposition known as the "Democratic and Popular Sector" (SDP), said thank you to the Government of Ariel Henry and to Haiti's allies such as the United States, France and Mexico for their great diplomatic battle which led the United Nations Security Council to adopt in October 2023 the resolution on the intervention in Haiti of a Multinational Security Support Mission, October 2nd, 2023 https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-40642-haiti-flash-the-security-council-approves-the-intervention-of-a-multinational-force-in-haiti.html in support of the Haitian National Police (PNH) in his fight against armed gangs



"[...] Its a good thing for the population. Thanks to this international force, large and small businesses will be able to open their doors, the 'Madan Sara' will be able to carry out their activities, restaurants will resume their activities in the evening, people will be able to go anywhere in the country like Martissant, Marianie, Kanaran etc...



'Sa pral bey anpil.'



For more than 18 months, the SDP has been repeating one thing: without an international force, we will not be able to escape the yoke of gangs.



Today, Citizens who decided to leave their homes in Fontamara, Martissant, Carrefour Feuilles, Torcelles, Tabarre, Croix-des-Bouquets, Gressier, Santo, Kanaran, Pernier, Delmas, Bel Aire, Solino, Gran Ravine, Cite Soleil, Fort Senkle, Fort national, downtown, in Artibonite and in the rest of the country, we hope that they will one day return home.



[...] The SDP thanks the United Nations for authorizing this Multinational Security Support Mission. This is the greatest gift they can give to Haiti at this time."



HL/ HaitiLibre






















Haiti - North Miami : Haitian Heritage Month 2024 (Program)





In May, the city of North Miami celebrates Haitian Heritage Month with a series of events showcasing Haiti's resilience, artistry and heritage.



"I am delighted to invite everyone to celebrate Haitian Heritage Month in the great city of North Miami," said Estime-Irvin Deputy Mayor of North Miami. This is an opportunity to recognize the lasting legacy of the Haitian community and to embrace the richness of its historical contributions, its traditions, its art, its cuisine and its cultural expressions. North Miami is home to a very proud and vibrant Haitian-American community. I can't think of a better place to celebrate.



This Friday, May 10, 2024, at 5:30 p.m., dance enthusiasts of all levels are invited to the first of four Haitian Konpa dance classes led by D'Stylez, LLC, at MOCA Plaza, located at 770 NE 125th St., North Miami, FL.



Additional Haitian Konpa dance classes in North Miami are scheduled for May 14 at Katz Restaurant and Lounge, located at 738 NE 125th St.; Da Cave Miami, Tuesday, May 21, located at 13641 NW 7th Ave., and Sommelier Valley, located at 711 NE 125 St., Tuesday, May 28. These immersive cultural dance experiences are free and will begin at 6 p.m.



Arrive on an empty stomach to the Gourmet Kreyol Haitian Food Festival on Saturday, May 11, from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., at MOCA Plaza. Hosted by the City of North Miami and Commissioner Marleine Bastien, Miami-Dade County, District 2, the community is invited to indulge in a diverse offering of Haitian cuisine and cultural experiences for the whole family. This event features celebrity chefs, tastings, competitions, a children's zone, and a unique arts and crafts market. Entry is free. Advance registration is available at https://Gourmetkreyolfoodfest.eventbrite.com



Discover the entire Haitian Heritage Month program on: https://www.northmiamifl.gov/424/Celebrate---Current-Events (in English) or on https://www.miamiandbeaches.fr/activites/histoire-et-heritage/haitian-heritage-month (in French)



HL/ HaitiLibre


















Eco-friendly crab farm in E China sets example of efficient, high-quality aquaculture

15:38, May 10, 2024 By Wang Weijian ( People's Daily

A demonstration eco-friendly crab farm by the Taihu Lake in Wujiang district, Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province has completed a perfect transition - abandoning traditional practices using net enclosure, which featured high pollution and low economic return, and embracing high-quality and high-efficiency ecological aquaculture.

From a distance, the crab farm, which is located in Pujiangyuan, Qidu township of Wujiang district, appears like a picturesque rural park, but up close, it reveals itself as a hive of agricultural activity.

Photo shows the eco-friendly crab farm by the Taihu Lake in Pujiangyuan, Wujiang district, Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province. (Photo from the public account of Qidu township, Wujiang district on WeChat)

In the ponds, crab farmers are always seen clearing out aquatic weeds, while on the banks, technicians use mobile phones to pilot drones that disperse feed pellets over the water.

This eco-friendly crab farm was established, after net enclosure aquaculture facilities were banned in the Taihu Lake in 2019.

Zhang Jianliang, 53, has been engaged in crab farming for over 20 years. When he was younger, he once used net enclosure facilities on the Taihu Lake.

A few years ago, he contracted 100 mu (6.67 hectares) of crab ponds in the eco-friendly crab farm. "It's completely different from the past. It's tech-ish," he told People's Daily.

"This is an Internet-of-Things (IoT) automatic control system for aquaculture," said Zhang, pointing to a silver-white metal box on the shore.

He said the biggest concern in crab farming is low dissolved oxygen levels in the water, which could only be judged based on farmers' experience in the past.

He opened the metal box, and real-time parameters were all displayed on an electronic screen, including dissolved oxygen, pH, and water temperature.

For instance, the dissolved oxygen level, after being obtained by underwater sensors, will be automatically analyzed by the system. If it falls below a preset "red line," the system will automatically activate an oxygenation device to avoid oxygen depletion in the water.

The crab farm is all about technology. On the water surface, unmanned feeding boats cruise automatically. Under the water, IoT flow generators work to simulate a real lake environment to help crabs grow better.

According to Cao Jianzhong, an executive of the crab farm, the farm has invited experts from agricultural universities and enterprises to launch on-site training.

"With the use of technology, oxygenation and feeding have become more targeted. It saves labor, giving us more confidence," said Zhang.

In the past, net enclosure aquaculture in the Taihu Lake was completely at the mercy of the weather, and sometimes the farmers would shoulder losses, according to Zhang.

Today, in the eco-friendly crab farm, standardized farming keeps risks under control. It's easy for a farmer to earn 200,000 yuan ($27,678) to 300,000 yuan a year.

Photo shows a smart management platform of the eco-friendly crab farm by the Taihu Lake in Pujiangyuan, Wujiang district, Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu province. (Photo from the public account of Qidu township, Wujiang district on WeChat)

The crab farm covers a total planned area of 27,255 mu, with a 4,225 mu core area, generating an annual output value of around 400 million yuan.

For an aquaculture park of this scale, located along the shoreline of the environmentally sensitive Taihu Lake, how is environmental safety ensured?

On the eastern side of the farm, there are several water pools, which are covered by reeds and occasionally disturbed by waterfowl taking wing.

"Fine sand, zeolite, and limestone are paved at the bottom of these pools," said Xi Bin, a management staff member of the farm, adding that it is an ecological treatment system consisting of ecological trenches, ecological ponds, vertical-flow wetlands, and surface-flow wetlands.

Designed by the Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the system employs a compound artificial wetland tail water treatment technique to absorb and purify the aquaculture effluent.

"The treated water flows through an intricate network of pipes back into the individual crab ponds. None of it is discharged into the Taihu Lake," said Xi.

At 2 pm, technician Xu Junyu of the crab farm received a request for drone support from aquaculture farmer Zhou Shengliang via a smart platform. Xu soon made his way to Zhou's crab pond.

Deftly assembling the drone, Xu loaded a bag of feed pellets into the drone's hopper. With everything prepared, Xu issued commands from his phone, and the drone, equipped with both BeiDou and GPS navigation systems, took to the air over the crab pond.

"I've pre-programmed the speed, heading, and feeding density into the digital system for timed, quantified, and targeted feeding," said Xu. For a 30 mu crab pond, manual feeding would take at least half a day, but the drone could complete the task in just minutes.

To provide comprehensive services for aquaculture farmers, the crab farm has employed IoT, cloud computing, big data and other technologies to give aquaculture production a "smart brain."

The "smart brain", or the smart management platform, is located at an inspection and quarantine center on the eastern side of the crab farm. It has a huge electronic screen and integrates functions such as an overview of the entire farm, intelligent aquaculture management, quality control, and daily operations management. It is learned that crab ponds in the farm are installed with various sensors providing data to support scientific and targeted aquaculture.

The eco-friendly crab farm provides comprehensive supporting services. In a logistics and distribution center, there are various types of automated equipment. Crabs are fed into an automatic binding machine and bound in around 5 seconds; a conveyor line automatically sorts the crabs by weight.

Through an internet-enabled production and marketing model, the crab farm has guided and enabled aquaculture farmers and rural entrepreneurs to increase their incomes.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
(CNBC) A federal jury in New York on Thursday convicted an investor of insider trading in the stock of a shell company ahead of its announcement in October 2021 that it would merge with Trump Media. The investor, Bruce Garelick, had been on the board of directors of the publicly traded company, Digital World Acquisition Corp., at the time he was accused of sharing and exploiting nonpublic information with others about its plans to merge with then-privately held Trump Media, the owner of the Truth Social app.

To read this article:
Almost three-quarters, or 72 per cent, of the respondents estimated that the 27-country bloc should adopt a more uniform stance on foreign policy in order to enhance its credibility on the world stage.

THE EUROPEAN UNION should adopt a more uniform stance on foreign policy, according to the majority of respondents to a new values and attitudes survey by the Finnish Business and Policy Forum (Eva).

Only six per cent of respondents viewed that the union does not need a more uniform foreign policy stance to enhance its credibility.

Eva on Thursday interpreted the finding as an indication that the public is increasingly aware of problems in foreign and security policy decision-making in the EU. Achieving a more uniform stance in the policy realms, it acknowledged, would in practice necessitate a shift away from unanimity-based to simple or supermajority-based decision-making.

Over half, or 56 per cent, of the survey respondents duly voiced their support for shifting toward majority decisions and limiting the veto rights of individual member states. Fewer than one-fifth, or 17 per cent, of the respondents expressed their opposition to the idea.

An indication of the difficult nature of topics related to EU decision making is that over three-quarters (27%) did not comment on the proposal. One should also take into account that the question was formulated in a way that does not confine the shift to majority decisions exclusively to foreign policy, wrote Sami Metelinen, the managing editor at Eva.

In the EU, the unanimity requirement in decision making also applies to decision making on taxation, for example.

Pro-EU views in Finland have for the past two years remained at a significantly higher level than ever before since Finland joined the EU in 1995, according to the survey by Eva.

Almost two-thirds, or 65 per cent, of respondents stated that they have a positive view and 15 per cent that they have a negative view of the membership. Almost a fifth, or 19 per cent, of respondents said they have a neutral view of the membership.

Pro-EU views are more widespread than before for an obvious reason. The rise to the new level occurred in the spring of 2022, after Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine, wrote Metelinen.

Such views peaked in the autumn of last year at 68 per cent.

Views on Finlands Nato membership are similarly largely positive, with 76 per cent of respondents saying they view the membership positively. Nine per cent of respondents had a negative view and 14 per cent a neutral view of membership in the defence alliance.

The survey is based on responses given by 2,087 people to an online panel organised by Taloustutkimus on 1321 March. The results have a margin of error of two to three percentage points.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
Support for the Social Democrats jumped by 2.7 percentage points from the previous poll to 24.4 per cent, representing an almost 20-year high for what is presently the largest opposition party in the Finnish Parliament.

THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS and the Finns Party are the two biggest movers in the latest opinion poll commissioned by YLE .

The Finns Party, by contrast, saw its approval rating slip by 1.8 points to 15.6 per cent, marking the third consecutive month of waning support for the ruling right-wing populist party.

Taloustutkimus carried out the poll between 3 April and 7 May, a period that coincided with a parliamentary debate on restrictions on political and sympathy strikes, government decisions on additional cost-saving measures and the implementation of cuts in the general housing allowance.

Tuomo Turja, the research director at Taloustutkimus, told YLE on Thursday that the Social Democrats performed well throughout the polling period, winning over not only women but also blue-collar workers.

The SDP is doing very well to hold on to its own voters. Its additionally getting support from people who voted for the two other green-red parties. Also the Finns Party and National Coalition are parties that are losing support to it, he revealed.

Its current approval rating marks a 4.5-point improvement from the parliamentary elections held last spring and a new high since the second half of 2006, according to the public broadcasting company.

Support for the Finns Party is presently 4.4 points lower than it was three months ago and 4.5 points lower than its share in the previous parliamentary elections. The populist right-wing party was the only member of the ruling coalition to lose support.

Turja, though, reminded that the populist right-wing party is no stranger to significant swings in support, be it up or down.

The latest losses stem from a growing share of its voters  especially men and blue-collar workers  either weighing up their options or shifting their support to one of the Centre, the National Coalition or Social Democrats. The development appears to have been driven by the public discussion about the capacity of Minister of Social Affairs and Health Kaisa Juuso (PS) and the incident involving Timo Vornanen (PS), a 54-year-old Member of the Parliament from Joensuu.

Turja said the party performed the worst during the week following the shooting outside a nightclub in Helsinki.

Its rare that things like that increase support, he remarked, adding that one should not rush to attribute the decline entirely to the incident. The other weeks werent particularly good either for the Finns Party. For example, this week wasnt quite as bad as last week, but it wasnt significantly better either.

The National Coalition saw its approval rating rise by 0.7 points to 21.3 per cent, cementing its status as the second most popular party in Finland. Turja pointed out that such a rating is a solid result for the party with the premiership.

The National Coalition was on a downward trajectory early in the year, but it stopped in this poll, he added.

Elsewhere, the Centre saw its approval rating slide by 0.5 points to 11.5 per cent, the Left Alliance by 0.7 per cent to 8.8 per cent and the Green League by 0.6 points to 7.7 per cent. Support for the Christian Democrats crept up by 0.4 points to 4.0 per cent and support for Movement Now by 0.1 points to 1.8 per cent.

The Swedish Peoples Party is polling at 3.4 per cent for the second consecutive month.

When it comes to the Swedish Peoples Party, its obvious that many of the people whove voted for it before are continuing to weigh up their options, analysed Turja.

Taloustutkimus received responses from 1,820 of the 2,490 people it contacted for the poll. The results have a margin of error of 2.0 points.

Aleksi Teivainen  HT
A BOY from Caversham has written a book with his father who has undergone treatment for cancer.

Carsten Pleiser, 40, was diagnosed with stage four oesophageal cancer in October last year and has been through eight rounds of chemotherapy.

He had been receiving treatment from the Royal Marsden Hospital and while he was told last month that he was in remission, he is continuing immunotherapy treatment to try and prevent it from returning.

Mr Pleiser and his wife Alison, who live in Richmond Road, decided not to tell Sidney, six, the extent of his treatment and why because they wanted to try and create positive memories instead.

He said: One evening a couple of months ago, Sidney and I were sitting here on the couch, and he asked me if I could tell him a story. Usually, he wants me to make stories up from scratch, but I asked him if he wanted to make one up himself instead.

Sidney then set out what was to be the story in the book. He began talking about this little alien and I kept asking him what happened next and whether there was anything else and he kept going. He went on and on and in the end he came up with what was a really cool story.

That same evening we decided to put it into a book. I just found the idea quite pure  having a childs imagination and putting that into a book completely unedited, without any input from me.

So, the next morning, I basically looked out for how to do that. I had no idea how to do it as I had never published a book before. So, I looked up a course and then went on to find an illustrator.

They hired Mariana Diuh, who is based in Kyiv, Ukraine, and they worked on the story together.

Mr Pleiser said: We had so much fun developing it. We were laughing about it and thought about putting it in a book because then all his friends can read it.

Alison and I didnt do it because we want to make ourselves famous or rich. What we really wanted to do was give back to the Royal Marsden Hospital because theyve been my hospital for the last seven months and so thats where the proceeds are going.

The end result was A Sweet Journey Through Space: The Exciting Adventures of Chocolate, The Little Alien. The book follows Chocolate, who loves strawberry cake. But when his favourite bakery on Planet Bong runs out, he journeys to Earth in search of more.

Chocolate learns to appreciate its uniqueness and discovers kindness in unexpected places, to teach the reader about gratitude, friendship, and the joy of exploration.

Mr Pleiser said: Sidneys personality is running through it and includes some of the wacky things he says and also stuff he is learning about at The Heights, where he gos to school, so there are other animals in it, such as an African elephant.

We would then pass illustration drafts to Sidney and talk through the designs and he would say whether he would like this or that elephant and other stuff like that. He wanted them to have little chocolate belly buttons and wanted particular colours.

The Aliens also had to have antennae and the illustrator would then send back different pictures of what Chocolate was going to look like. One of them was square, which he didnt like at all. It looked like a chocolate bar which to him was not an Alien. He knew what he wanted.

Mr Pleiser, who runs an online design company, considers himself to be very fit and so his cancer diagnosis came as a shock.

He said: Last year Ive been climbing mountains, such as Mount Kilimanjaro and Mont Blanc. I found that I had lost a bit of weight but I felt healthy and I was going to the gym five times a week.

I never smoked in my life, never drank very much and led a healthy lifestyle. But then all of a sudden, I had this acid reflux symptom. I went to the see the GP and to start with it was thought that I was healthy. I kept on pushing for an answer and, after some tests, it turned out to be stage four cancer.

I was then bombarded with drugs for the last eight months because they thought I could cope with it but after doing the chemotherapy I found that I couldnt even walk more than 10,000 steps a day.

Mr Pleiser has been talking about his experiences on a YouTube channel to capture and share family life and the ups and downs of treatments.

He said: You feel a little bit scared about the next steps because you feel really safe when you are in this cycle of chemotherapy and you get three or four appointments coming up.

But, once its over, you want to know whats next, if anything is next. With a late-stage advanced cancer diagnosis, you dont know what youre going to get in the end.

Apparently, Ive responded to the treatment over the last eight cycles very, very well. My body coped very well with everything. Then we got the confirmation that theres no evidence of active disease at the moment. That kind of sounds good on paper but then you realise that everything in life is temporary.

So, I take it really with a neutral approach. Im not too excited about it. Im not too worried about it. I just take it as it is because thats the only way you can live with it. You have to accept that today is the day and tomorrow is tomorrow and were living in the moment now. Were hoping that the current regime with the two of the immunotherapy drugs Im on, will hopefully last quite a while and keep me at this stage for a while.

But you never know with cancer, you never know what youre going to get and you will have blips and there will be ups and downs.

Mr Pleiser says the diagnosis has meant he has changed his worldview and is focusing on his family to help him cope.

He said: Immediately I was really realising what life is all about and it came down to family and experiences and people, community, neighbours and friends. Love is all there is. So it almost like it gave me a new lease of life. I always see it as like cancer didnt happen to me, it happened for me.

Mrs Pleiser, 46, is vice-president international at the Hollywood Reporter and said that the journey has been tough on the family but the book has allowed them to support the hospital, with all proceeds being donated to it.

She said: Sidney doesnt know the extent of Carson's illness and he doesnt need to know. We just say daddys having treatment to heal from inside.

We wanted to give something back but also get Sidney involved in that process. So, the book seemed like a really good marrying of the two. The fact that he can see the good that you can bring from producing something like this is great.

It has been quite a journey but it makes you have a lot of gratitude for what you have. Its a legacy as well, because its something Carsten and Sidney did together.

 A Sweet Journey Through Space: The Exciting Adventures of Chocolate, The Little Alien costs 7.99 from Amazon.
On March 25, 2024, immediately following the first detection of H5N1 in dairy cattle in the Texas panhandle region, USDA and HHS began their work to understand the origin of the emergence and its potential impact in bovines and humans. USDA experts also took swift action to trace animal movements, began sampling to assess the disease prevalence in herds, and initiated a variety of testing activities to confirm the safety of the meat and milk supplies alongside federal partners. On April 1, 2024, Texas reported the first and only confirmed human H5N1 infection associated with this outbreak, after confirmation by CDC. On April 24, 2024, USDA issued a Federal Order, that took effect on April 29, to limit the movement of lactating dairy cattle and to collect and aggregate H5N1 test results to better understand the nature of the outbreak.

Since the detection of H5N1 in dairy cattle, the Federal response has leveraged the latest available scientific data, field epidemiology, and risk assessments to mitigate risks to workers and the general public, to ensure the safety of Americas food supply and to mitigate risk to livestock, owners, and producers. Today, USDA is taking a series of additional steps to help achieve these goals and reduce the impact of H5N1 on affected premises and producers, and HHS is announcing new actions through the CDC and FDA to increase testing and laboratory screening and testing capacity, genomic sequencing, and other interventions to protect the health and safety of dairy and other potentially impacted food items.

USDA

Today, USDA is announcing assistance for producers with H5N1 affected premises to improve on-site biosecurity in order to reduce the spread. In addition, USDA is taking steps to make available financial tools for lost milk production in herds affected by H5N1. Building on the Federal Order addressing pre-movement testing, these steps will further equip producers with tools they can use to keep their affected herds and workers healthy and reduce risk of the virus spreading to additional herds.

Protect against the potential for spread between human and animals. Provide financial support (up to $2,000 per affected premises per month) for producers who supply PPE to employees and/or provide outerwear uniform laundering, for producers of affected herds who facilitate the participation of their workers in USDA/CDC workplace and farmworker study.

Complementary to USDAs new financial support for producers, workers who participate in the study are also eligible for financial incentives to compensate them for their time, regardless of whether the study is led by federal, state, or local public health professionals.

Support producers in biosecurity planning and implementation. Provide support (up to $1,500 per affected premises) to develop biosecurity plans based on existing secure milk supply plans. This includes recommended enhanced biosecurity for individuals that frequently move between dairy farms  milk haulers, veterinarians, feed trucks, AI technicians, etc. In addition, USDA will provide a $100 payment to producers who purchase and use an in-line sampler for their milk system.

Provide funding for heat treatment to dispose of milk in a bio secure fashion. This will provide producers a safe option for disposal of milk. Heat treatment performed in accordance with standards set by FDA is the only currently available method considered to effectively inactivate the virus in milk. If a producer establishes a system to heat treat all waste milk before disposal, USDA will pay the producer up to $2,000 per affected premises per month.

Reimburse producers for veterinarian costs associated with confirmed positive H5N1 premises. This provides support to producers to cover veterinary costs necessarily incurred for treating cattle infected with H5N1, as well as fees for veterinarians to collect samples for testing. This can include veterinary fees and/or specific supplies needed for treatment and sample collection. Veterinary costs are eligible to be covered from the initial date of positive confirmation at NVSL for that farm, up to $10,000 per affected premises.

Offset shipping costs for influenza A testing at laboratories in the National Animal Health Laboratory Network (NAHLN). USDA will pay for the cost of shipping samples to NAHLN labs for testing. USDA will pay actual shipping costs, not to exceed $50 per shipment for up to 2 shipments per month for each affected premises. Testing at NAHLN laboratories for samples associated with this event (e.g., pre-movement, testing of sick/suspect animals, samples from concerned producers) is already being conducted at no-cost to the producer.

Taken together, these tools represent a value of up to $28,000 per premises to support increased biosecurity activities over the next 120 days.

Compensate producers for loss of milk production. USDA is taking steps to make funding available from the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP) to compensate eligible producers with positive herds who experience loss of milk production. While dairy cows that have been infected with H5N1 generally recover well, and there is little mortality associated with the disease, it does dramatically limit milk production, causing economic losses for producers with affected premises. USDA can support farmers with the ELAP program to offset some of these losses. This compensation program is distinct from the strategy to contain the spread.

Work with states to limit movement of lactating cattle. Additionally, USDA will work with and support the actions of States with affected herds as they consider movement restrictions within their borders to further limit the spread of H5N1 between herds to reduce further spread of this virus.

USDA will make $98 million in existing funds available to APHIS to fund these initiatives. If needed, USDA has the authority, with Congressional notification, to make additional funds available.

These additional measures build on a suite of actions USDA has taken to date. This includes implementation of the Federal Order to limit spread of the disease, coordinating with federal partners to share expertise and lab capacity, doubling down on our work with producers to practice good biosecurity measures, continuing to conduct investigations to determine how the virus is spread within and between farms, and analyzing and sharing sequences alongside validated epidemiological information.

The U.S. government is addressing this situation with urgency and through a whole-of-government approach. USDA is working closely with federal partners at FDA, which has the primary responsibility for the safety of milk and dairy products, by assisting with conducting lab testing at USDA labs. USDA is also working closely with federal partners at CDC, which has the primary responsibility for public health, by encouraging producer and industry cooperation with public health officials to get vital information necessary to assess the level of risk to human health.

Additional details on how producers can access and apply for the financial tools is forthcoming.

HHS

Today, HHS announced new funding investments through CDC and FDA totaling $101 million to mitigate the risk of H5N1 and continue its work to test, prevent, and treat H5N1. Although the CDCs assessment of the risk of avian influenza infection for the general public continues to remain low at this time, these investments reflect the Departments commitment to prioritizing the health and safety of the American public.

Public and animal health experts and agencies have been preparing for avian influenza outbreak for 20 years. Our primary responsibility at HHS is to protect public health and the safety of the food supply, which is why we continue to approach the outbreak with urgency. We stood up a response team which includes four HHS agencies  CDC, FDA, NIH and ASPR  which are working closely with USDA to:

Ensure we keep communities healthy, safe, and informed;

Ensure that our Nations food supply remains safe;

Safeguard American agriculture and the livelihood and well-being of American farmers and farmworkers; and

Monitor any and all trends to mitigate risk and prevent the spread of H5N1 among both people and animals.

Some examples of this work include:

CDC monitoring of the virus to detect any changes that may increase risk to people, and updated avian flu guidance for workers to ensure people who work with dairy cows and those who work in slaughterhouses have the guides and information they need in both English and Spanish.

CDC's ongoing discussions with multiple states about field investigations and incentives for workers who participate in these on-site studies. CDC has also asked health departments to distribute existing PPE stocks to farm workers, prioritizing those who work with infected cows. To help states comply with CDC recommendations, ASPR has PPE in the Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) available for states to request if needed.

FDAs close coordination with USDA to conduct H5N1 retail milk and dairy sample testing from across the country to ensure the safety of the commercial pasteurized milk supply. NIAID  a part of NIH - is also providing scientific support to this entire effort through six U. S. based Centers for Excellence for Influenza Research and Response, known as CEIRRs.

Today, in light of HHS ongoing commitment to ensure the safety of the American people and food supply, HHS announced additional resources to further these efforts through CDC and FDA:

CDC announced it has identified an additional $93 million to support its current response efforts for avian influenza. Building on bipartisan investments in public health, this funding will allow CDC to capitalize on the influenza foundation that has been laid over the last two decades, specifically where CDC has worked domestically and globally to prevent, detect, and respond to avian influenza.

These investments will allow CDC to bolster testing and laboratory capacity, surveillance, genomic sequencing, support jurisdictions and partner efforts to reach high risk populations and initiate a new wastewater surveillance pilot.

$34 million in Testing and Laboratory Capacity to: Develop and optimize assays that can be used to sequence virus independent of virus identification. Assess circulating H5N1 viruses for any concerning viral changes, including increased transmissibility or severity in humans or decreasing efficacy of diagnostics or antivirals. Support the ability of STLT Public Health Labs throughout the country to surge their testing abilities, including support for the additional costs of shipping human avian influenza specimens, which are select agents. Through the International Reagent Resource (IRR), support manufacture, storage, and distribution of roughly one thousand additional influenza diagnostic test kits (equaling nearly around one million additional tests) for virologic surveillance. The IRR would also provide influenza reagents for research and development activities on a global scale. This is in addition to current influenza testing capacity at CDC and in STLT public health and DOD labs, which is approximately 490,000 H5-specific tests. Address the manufacturer issue detected with current avian flu test kits. Initiate avian flu testing in one commercial laboratory.

$29 million in Epidemiology, Surveillance, and Data Analytics to: Scale up existing efforts to monitor people who are exposed to infected birds and poultry to accommodate workers at likely many more poultry facilities, as well as potentially workers at other agricultural facilities and other people (e.g., hunters) who may be exposed to species that pose a threat. Scale up contact tracing efforts and data reporting to accommodate monitoring of contacts of additional sporadic cases. Support the collection and characterization of additional clinical specimens through established surveillance systems from regions with large numbers of exposed persons to enhance the ability to detect any unrecognized cases in the community if they occur. Expand respiratory virus surveillance to capture more samples from persons with acute respiratory illness in different care settings. Support continuation and possible expansion of existing respiratory surveillance platforms and vaccine effectiveness platforms.

$14 million in Genomic Sequencing to: Provide bioinformatics and data analytics support for genomic sequencing at CDC that supports surveillance needs for enhanced monitoring. Expand sequencing capacity for HPAI in state-level National Influenza Reference Centers (NIRCs), Influenza Sequencing Center (ISC), and Pathogen Genomic Centers of Excellence.

$8 million in Vaccine Activities to: Analyze circulating H5N1 viruses to determine whether current Candidate Vaccine Viruses (CVVs) would be effective and develop new ones if necessary.

$5 million in STLT Jurisdiction/Partner Funding to: Support partner efforts to reach high risk populations.

$3 million in Wastewater Surveillance to: Initiate wastewater pilot to evaluate the use case for HPAI in up to 10 livestock-adjacent sites in partnership with state and local public health agencies and utility partners. Implement a study to evaluate the use of Influenza A sequencing in wastewater samples for highly pathogenic avian influenza typing. Initiate laboratory evaluation for HA typing and examine animal-specific markers in community wastewater to assess wildlife and livestock contribution and inform interpretation of wastewater data for action.



Additionally, the FDA is announcing an additional $8 million is being made available to support its ongoing response activities to ensure the safety of the commercial milk supply. This funding will support the agencys ability to validate pasteurization criteria, conduct surveillance at different points in the milk production system, bolster laboratory capacity and provide needed resources to train staff on biosecurity procedures. Additionally, these funds will help support H5N1 activities in partnership with state co-regulatory partners, who administer state programs as part of the federal/state milk safety system. It may also allow the FDA to partner with universities on critical research questions.

Additional Information:

To learn more about USDAs response to H5N1 in dairy cattle, visit https://www.aphis.usda.gov/livestock-poultry-disease/avian/avian-influenza/hpai-detections/livestock.

To learn more about CDCs response to H5N1, visit https://www.cdc.gov/flu/avianflu/mammals.htm.

To learn more about FDAs response to H5N1, visit https://www.fda.gov/food/alerts-advisories-safety-information/updates-highly-pathogenic-avian-influenza-hpai


By Aaron Ross and Giulia Paravicini

Friday May 10, 2024

Somalia's government has requested the termination of a U.N. political mission that has advised it on peace-building, security reforms and democracy for over a decade, according to a letter the foreign minister wrote to the Security Council.

The request for the departure of the 360-member United Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOLD) when its mandate expires in October took the mission by surprise, three U.N. officials told Reuters, asking not to be named.





The end of the political mission is separate to a U.N.-mandated African Union safe-keeping mission, currently comprising at least 10,000 soldiers, which is due to withdraw and hand over to the Somali state by the end of this year.



The three U.N. officials confirmed the authenticity of the May 5 letter, which was circulated on social media on Thursday. Somali officials did not respond to requests for comment.

'MORE ASSERTIVE' STATE

In the letter, Minister of Foreign Affairs Aimed Moa Fiji did not give reasons, saying only that the government believes "it is now appropriate to transition to the next phase of our partnership".

A Somali presidential adviser confirmed the authenticity of the letter and said Somalia no longer needed support from the U.N. to coordinate with the international community as was the case under UNSOM.



"UNSOM played a critical role, but now it outlived its usefulness," the adviser said, adding that the mission also had a high annual cost of $100 million.

Matt Bryden, a Somalia analyst and co-founder of the Sahan think tank, noted that the federal government had previously accused UNSOM of interfering in internal affairs.

President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud has been moving to centralise authority through changes to the constitution and other reforms while UNSOM has been trying to strike a balance between the federal government's agenda and the desire of individual states for more autonomy, Bryden said.



"We should expect more assertive and unilateral FGS (federal government of Somalia) initiatives with respect to constitutional revisions, federalism, and elections," Bryden said.

In a statement to Reuters, UNSOM said Somalia's request was "a testament to the work of UNSOM in support of the Somali authorities these past years".

Other U.N. offices, including humanitarian agencies, would continue to operate in Somalia, said UNSOM, which was created in 2013.

Reporting by Aaron Ross and Giulia Paravicini; Writing by Giulia Paravicini; Editing by Andrew Cawthorne


On May 7, The Mizoram Post , citing sources, reported that more than 40 Myanmar nationals had entered a village in southern Mizorams Lawngtlai district on 30 April from Paletwa in southern Chin State. According to the report, the asylum seekers fled after the Arakan Army (AA), an ethnic armed organisation at war with the Myanmar junta, tried to forcefully conscript them into its ranks.

While Mizorams home department is yet to confirm the influx, the reported development shows how an increasingly messy conflict landscape in western Myanmar can affect India by aggravating the refugee crisis along its borders and destabilising its cross-border economic interests.

Emerging frictions in southern Mizoram

Since the military overthrew the civilian government in Myanmar in 2021, thousands have fled across the border into Mizoram. According to a recent Economic Times report, the recent arrivals have put the official refugee figures at 34,332. Unofficial estimates stand at some 50,000. Most of the refugees are Chins who share close ethnic ties with the Mizos, which is why they have been given shelter in Mizoram.

However, the Mizoram government and civil society remain wary of the asylum situation, which has put additional stress on the states limited finances and public service infrastructure, especially along the border districts. There are also local concerns around an upsurge in cross-border narcotics smuggling because of the conflict next door.

Beyond these, stray incidents of violence between Myanmar nationals and locals have sparked tensions in southern Mizoram. In March 2023, Mara Thyutlia Pi, a local civil society body representing the Mara tribe in Siaha district, decided to seal the India-Myanmar border after accusing Chin armed groups of murdering three people from the adjoining Lawngtlai district who had crossed over and were found charred to death inside Myanmar.

Weeks later, they accused the Chin Defence Force (CDF)s Mindat unit of committing the murders and directed the group to hand over the accused to India. The Central Young Lai Association (CYLA), a civil society body representing the Lai tribe from the adjoining Lawngtlai district, also raised alarm bells about the whole situation.

Once again, in January, police arrested four Myanmar nationals for allegedly murdering a resident of Siaha town. The Mizo Zirlai Pawl (MZP), an influential Mizo civil society organisation, claimed that the accused belonged to Myanmars Rakhine State and had ties to the AA. While these are little more than one-off incidents, they have sparked xenophobic anxieties in certain pockets along the border in Mizoram.

New push factors for refugees

Besides refugees from Myanmar, southern Mizoram has also received asylum seekers from neighbouring Bangladesh. Beginning in November 2022, some 1100 Chin-Kuki people from the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region of eastern Bangladesh have fled across the border into southern Mizorams Lawngtlai district.

The refugees, belonging to the Bawm sub-tribe, were forced to enter India following fierce clashes between Bangladeshi security forces and a local ethnic armed group known as the Kuki-Chin National Front (KCNF). The current Mizoram government, led by the Zoram Peoples Movement (ZPM), has welcomed them. Yet, recent reports suggest continuing violence in CHT, which could lead to fresh influxes and greater pressure on border district administrations in south Mizoram.

Whats more, this January, some 276 soldiers from the Myanmar military fled across the border into Lawngtlai district after the AA cornered them. While they were eventually repatriated, the likelihood of similar trespasses in the future remains high as the civil war next door rages on.

Further, according to some reports in Burmese and Bangladeshi media, the AA is planning to settle people from Rakhine State currently living in Bangladesh in Paletwa, which it captured after a fierce battle with the Myanmar junta in January. The ethnic armed group is allegedly forcing local Chins to build settlements for the new arrivals and also serve in its ranks, forcing them to flee.

This has sharpened tensions with other powerful Chin armed groups. Among them, the Chin National Front/Army (CNF/A), which dominates the newly-established Chinland Council, sees the AA as trespassers in their territory. On the other hand, a separate set of Chin armed groups, organised under the Chin Brotherhood Alliance, has been working with the AA to consolidate their influence in southern and southeastern Chin State.

Need for stability

These conflicting political-military interests between different Chin groups and the AA could trigger fresh conflict right across the Indian border, which would force more people to flee to Mizoram.

Both sides would especially vie for control of Paletwa, a strategically important hub located just south of Mizorams Siaha and Lawngtlai districts, with large-scale investments in connectivity infrastructure under the India-funded Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit and Transport Project (KMMTTP). Whoever controls Paletwa will command strategic and economic leverage over other groups in western Myanmar as well as over India.

Even as the hydra-headed revolutionary war against the Burmese junta roils and fresh inter-group faultlines emerge along the borders, India will have to work with all groups in Chin and Rakhine States to ensure security and stability along the border, including ensuring the safety of civilians trapped in active conflict zones. New Delhi will also need to work with the Mizoram government to ensure that asylum seekers are protected.

India must also dial up pressure on the brutal military regime in Naypyitaw to stop attacking its own people and fueling an avoidable war along the India-Myanmar border. A federal democracy in Myanmar is in India's national interest.

Angshuman Choudhury is an Associate Fellow with the Centre for Policy Research, and focuses on Northeast India and Myanmar. The views expressed are personal.
Date: 10-05-2024

This Mothers Day, Kenstar rolled out a heartwarming campaign titled #InspiredByMoms, designed to celebrate the unwavering spirit and inspirational role of mothers in every facet of life. In an innovative twist, the campaign features a video that highlights how mothers are the true inspirations, even behind Kenstars trusted line of home appliances.

As part of the #InspiredByMoms initiative, Kenstar is taking an unprecedented step by inviting mothers from across India to contribute their ideas for the next generation of Kenstar products. Starting with mixers and microwaves, the campaign will leverage social media platforms to gather feedback and suggestions directly from mothers on the features they wish to see, ensuring their needs are at the forefront of product development.

On this occasion, Mr Sunil Jain, CEO, Kenstar stated that, "Mothers inspire every Kenstar product, ensuring our innovations celebrate and support the heart of every home this Mother's Day and beyond.

Neha Khullar, Head of Marketing at Kenstar mentioned that This Mothers Day, we are not just celebrating mothers, but actively engaging them in a dialogue to co-create products that truly resonate with their daily lives and needs. We believe this collaborative approach will lead to innovations that are both meaningful and practical.

Kenstar aims to make this campaign a cornerstone of their product development process, underlining the importance of user-centered design and acknowledging the critical role mothers play in shaping consumer preferences and needs. To participate, mothers can share their ideas and suggestions on Kenstars official social media page.

You can view the video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ey99dcxzdQ

Kenstar Instagram Handle: https://www.instagram.com/kenstarindia/

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
Indore (Madhya Pradesh0 [India], May 9: Kriti Nutrients Ltd, (BSE  533210; NSE  KRITINUT) the manufacturer of your favorite Kriti Cooking Oil and Soya Chunks, is embarking on a mission to celebrate everyday superheroes and raise awareness about the vital act of blood donation. Partnering with the Red cross blood donation call center, Kriti's "#SalutingEverydaySuperheroes" initiative shines a spotlight on the remarkable contributions of women, especially mothers, who demonstrate superheroic qualities in their daily lives.

The initiative is centered around acknowledging the incredible strength of women, especially mothers, and their ability to profoundly influence our communities. Let's uncover the superhero within every mother and create lasting change! Together, let's celebrate mothers' remarkable abilities, not just on Mother's Day, but each day.

More Than Just Cooking Oil: Empowering a Healthier Community

This digital campaign transcends the boundaries of the kitchen. Kriti's heartwarming short film, "Saluting Everyday Superheroes," unveiled for Mother's Day 2024, showcases the strength and resilience of women who selflessly donate blood. Through compelling storytelling, the short film underscores the life-saving significance of blood donation while celebrating the inherent superheroism in every mother.

Kriti's heartwarming short film, Saluting Everyday Superheroes, unveiled for Mother's Day 2024, showcases the strength and resilience of women who selflessly donate blood.

"We're incredibly proud to honor these everyday superheroes who give the gift of life," says Umesh Sathaye, Vice President of Kriti Nutrients Ltd. This initiative aims to raise awareness and encourage more people to join this noble act.

Join the Movement: Blood Donation Camps Across Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan

The campaign extends its reach beyond the digital realm. In collaboration with the Red cross blood donation call center, Kriti will organize blood donation camps across Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh. These camps aim to provide accessible avenues for individuals to engage in blood donation. As a gesture of gratitude, certificates will be awarded to blood donors during these events.

Be a Part of the Change: Get Involved with #SalutingEverydaySuperheroes

Kriti Nutrients Ltd. cordially invites you to celebrate and empower the everyday heroes within your community. Here's how you can contribute:

Spread Awareness: Share the "#SalutingEverydaySuperheroes" short film on your social media platforms and encourage others to explore the significance of blood donation and mother's recognition.

Be an Everyday Superhero: Recognize and celebrate mothers as everyday superheroes, where blood donation is just one aspect of the initiatives we have undertaken to honor them.

Join the Conversation: Utilize #SalutingEverydaySuperheroes on social media to express your views on blood donation and nominate the women you admire as everyday heroes.

Together, let's embrace the spirit of compassion and gratitude as we honor the superheroes in our midst and strive to create a healthier, more resilient community.

"#SalutingEverydaySuperheroes" film, please visit:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Va95HHtEyVw

Disclaimer: This article is a paid publication and does not have journalistic/editorial involvement of Hindustan Times. Hindustan Times does not endorse/subscribe to the content(s) of the article/advertisement and/or view(s) expressed herein. Hindustan Times shall not in any manner, be responsible and/or liable in any manner whatsoever for all that is stated in the article and/or also with regard to the view(s), opinion(s), announcement(s), declaration(s), affirmation(s) etc., stated/featured in the same.
Mumbai/ New Delhi, Air India Express on Friday cancelled around 75 flights due to cabin crew shortage and operations are expected to normalise by Sunday, an official said, a day after a section of the cabin crew called off their strike, that had resulted in significant operational disruptions. AI Express cancels 75 flights on Friday, expects normal ops by Sunday: Official

The revenue losses caused due to the flight cancellations and compensation to passengers are anticipated to be around 30 crore, the official told PTI.

The strike by a section of the cabin crew since Tuesday night that resulted in cancellation of more than 170 flights was called off on Thursday evening and the airline also withdrew termination letters issued to 25 striking cabin crew.

The official, on the condition of anonymity, said that around 75 flights have been cancelled for Friday and the number is less than 100 on Thursday.

On Saturday, the number of flight cancellations are expected to be around 45-50, the official added.

The airline, on Thursday afternoon, said it has cancelled 85 flights or around 23 per cent of the total daily capacity.

The Tata Group airline, which operates around 380 flights daily, has curtailed operations in the wake of the strike, as part of efforts to minimise disruptions. Since Tuesday night, the carrier has cancelled more than 260 flights.

On an average, the airline operates 120 international flights and 260 domestic services daily, while there are fewer flights on some days.

Another official said the cabin crew who were on strike are joining back and the airline is extending support to them for medical checkup and securing fitness certificate, which is required before they can resume duty.

The official also said that most international flights are in the evening time and the operations on that front are expected to be better from Friday onwards with availability of more cabin crew.

The officials said operations are being restored in a gradual manner and normalcy is expected by Sunday.

After the strike was called off on Thursday, the airline had said it will help to swiftly restore flight schedule and also apologised to passengers who were impacted by the flight disruptions.

Many cabin crew members had reported sick to protest against alleged mismanagement at the airline and lack of equality in treatment of staff.

Air India Express which is in the process of completing the merger of AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India, with itself has around 6,000 employees, including over 2,000 cabin crew.

The carrier has a fleet of 73 planes.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai was raised in Chennai. The top boss at Google studied from IIT Kharagpur and eventually moved to USA. Reflecting on his childhood, Sundar Pichai said that it had a huge impact on his work ethics as he learnt things that he still follows as the CEO of the tech giant. Sundar Pichai who has been the Google CEO since 2015 said, My parent always emphasised learning and knowledge and it is what in some ways with its mission. It always resonated very deeply within me. I felt this quest for learning and knowledge, it is also what this company is about too. Sundar Pichai said artificial intelligence has been a key focus of the Google parent since 2016, back when ChatGPT-maker OpenAI was in its infancy.(Bloomberg)

He also asserted that he never takes technology for granted as he talked about his school days when he first experienced the impact of a phone.

He said, I grew up in a middle-class family. I perceived our lives through the arrival of gadgets. We waited five years for a telephone, it was a rotary phone. But when it came to our home, it changed our lives. I remember getting our first television and suddenly being able to watch sports.

He added, I used to bike a long way to school, there was no gear in the bike and I had to go uphill. After many years I got a bike with gears and Im like Wow! What a dramatic difference. I never took technology for granted. Ive always been optimistic about how technology can make a difference.

The Google boss also talk about how Google Search is still relevant in the age of AI and said, People are trying to solve problems in their day-to-day lives. A lot of our products integrate in a way that provides value for our users. The way Google is approaching AI drives innovation, adds choice in the market. Thats how I think about it. The challenge for everyone and the opportunity is: How do you have a notion of whats objective and real in a world where theres going to be a lot of synthetic content? I think its part of what will define search in the next decade ahead.
OpenAI may announce its artificial intelligence-powered search product on May 13, news agency Reuters reported citing people in the know. This date has also been reported by Bloomberg and the Information who claimed that Microsoft-backed OpenAI is working on a search product to compete with Google and AI search startup Perplexity. OpenAI could have chosen the date to announce their product ahead of the start of Google's annual I/O conference, where the tech giant is reportedly set to unveil several AI-related products. OpenAI logo is seen in this illustration. OpenAI is working on a search product to compete with Google and AI search startup Perplexity, it was earlier reported. (Reuters)

What we know about OpenAI's search product?

The search product by OpenAI is an extension of its flagship ChatGPT product. Using it, ChatGPT will be able to pull in direct information from the Web and include citations, it was reported. This comes as experts have said that ChatGPT struggles to provide accurate and real-time information from the Web. OpenAI earlier gave it an integration with Microsoft's Bing for paid subscribers only.

OpenAI attempted to bring updated and real-world information in to ChatGPT, called ChatGPT plugins earlier as well. But the product was retired in April, as per a help center posting on OpenAI's website.

Could the new OpenAI search product also use images?

Yes, Bloomberg reported that the product could also use images alongside written responses to questions wherever theyre relevant. This means that if you asked ChatGPT how to install an appliance, the results could include results that illustrate the task clearly.
Airwallex has held talks with several Middle Eastern sovereign wealth funds to raise capital as the payment platform startup prepares to join global peers in expanding into the region. Tencent-Backed Startup Courts Middle Eastern Wealth Funds

The company has in recent weeks held discussions with Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Mubadala Investment Co. and Saudi Arabias Public Investment Fund, Chief Executive Officer Jack Zhang said in an interview with Bloomberg News.

Additional investment helps to continue to fuel Airwallexs growth, particularly for our regional expansion plans as well as AI-driven product innovation, Zhang said. The company is cashflow positive and has half a billion dollars in the bank, he said.

Founded in 2015 in Melbourne, Australia, the firm provides services including cross-border end-to-end payments and finance solutions for customers. Its raised $902 million from backers including Tencent Holdings Ltd., and is valued at $5.6 billion, according to its website.

Airwallex, which has over 20 offices around the world, plans to start operations in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia in the first phase of its Middle Eastern expansion, and eventually expand into Qatar and Bahrain.

It competes with the likes of PayPal Holdings Inc. and Revolut Ltd., which already operate in the region. Zhang expects the firm to be able secure a license in the UAE in six to 12 months, while approval in Saudi Arabia could could take up to 18 months.

I think in the last few years the regulatory landscape is getting more transparent and we felt the timing is right for us to come, he said. A lot of our competition is already here so we are also playing a bit of a catch up game.

Airwallex is already in talks with several fintech firms in the region to help them expand. The company can also help international companies looking to enter the Middle East by providing them a single payments platform, Zhang said.

Airwallex, which acquired an online payment business license in China last year, is counting on growing ties between the Middle East and Beijing to boost its business in the region. The firm has 60 licenses and permits globally, in markets including Australia and New Zealand, Europe, Hong Kong, Singapore, the UK and the US.

We are the second only foreign payments company regulated in China after Paypal, Zhang said. And being an Australian firm gives us a unique angle to facilitating these partnerships between Beijing and this region.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates put up posters at Brandenburg Gate in Berlin to spread awareness about global health progress. The billionaire posted a video in which he was seen putting up posters along with young activists at the international organisation ONE sharing some amazing news of global health progress. Bill Gates, co-chairman of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, delivers a keynote speech on the closing day of the Global Solutions Summit in Berlin.(Bloomberg)

With the video, Bill Gates wrote, In Berlin, I got to work with my friends from ONE to spread the word about some amazing news of global health progress. When it comes to fighting disease, saving lives, and lifting people out of poverty, there are few tools more powerful than developmental cooperation."

In the video, Bill Gates can be seen carrying a brush and a bucket in his hand as he sticks a poster on the wall. The poster reads, Child mortality has been cut in half. He can then be seen passing the brush to social media influencer Aminata Belli, who also puts up more posters in the city.

Watch the video below:

The organisation said that through the campaign it is aiming to showcase the successes of development policy and at the same time warning of further financial cuts."

Bill Gates noted that child mortality worldwide halved between 1990 and 2019 and called it one of the most significant achievements the global community has ever achieved". He also praised Germany saying that the country's "strength as a driving force in global health and development is needed now more than ever.
The Karnataka government, for the first time, has decided to pay 3,000 each to 16 lakh agricultural families involved in small and marginal farming to compensate for the loss of their livelihood due to drought, Revenue Minister Krishna Byre Gowda said on Thursday. Drought relief: Karnataka govt to pay  3,000 each to small and marginal farming families

Also Read - Bengaluru rains: Intense pour leads to waterlogging and traffic jams at night

With the rains picking up in the state, he also said that the government has designed measures to prevent loss of life due to lightning strikes. "There are about 16 lakh families of small and marginal farmers involved in dry farming. It has been decided to give 3,000 each to these families to compensate for the loss of their livelihood due to drought, and officials have been directed to take action in this regard immediately," Gowda said.

While speaking to reporters here, he said, "This will be paid to farmers from both SDRF and NDRF funds, and also funds from the state government. It will be about 460 crore. Officers have been directed to work this out. This is being done for the first time. But, there is a provision for it in the drought manual."

Karnataka had declared 223 out of 240 taluks as drought-hit; 196 of them were categorised as severely drought affected. Noting that all together about 4,300 crore would be credited to the accounts of the farmers in the state as drought relief, the minister said it may take 20 days to complete this process, and already about 3,000 crore has been deposited to the bank accounts of over 32 lakh farmers.

He said, "After going to the Supreme Court and the legal fight, so far about 3,454 crore has come (from the Centre) as drought relief, which the government has started depositing into the bank accounts of farmers from last Monday itself. And so far, the relief has been completely been deposited to the accounts of 32.12 lakh farmers."

Together, from the first and second installments, so far 3,000 crore has been deposited to the bank accounts of the farmers through Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT), he added. Noting that the second installment of relief is yet to be deposited to the accounts of about 1.5 lakh farmers, he said it is in the verification stage due to minor technical issues. "Once it is cleared, relief would have gone to over 33 lakh farmers' accounts," he added.

Apart from this, it has been decided that compensation would be distributed for rain-fed and irrigated crops which were not included in the drought relief list in some taluks, despite them being eligible, he said. About 3 lakh eligible farmers would get the relief of 400-500 crore in total.

"The process has started and this will be done within 10 days after verification by Deputy Commissioners of the districts," he added. Responding to a question on whether the drinking water scarcity has reduced due to rains, the minister said, "It has not reduced, but chances of it aggravating are fewer. Drinking water is being supplied through tankers to 270 villages and through private borewells to 594 villages." "In urban areas, supply is done through tankers to 150 wards and through private borewells in 29 wards," he said, adding that things seem to be under control.

Stating that there are reports predicting good rains in the state this year, Gowda said most parts of the state are likely to get above-normal rains this time. From April till now, 17 persons have died due to lightning strikes. Last year, this number was 68, he said, adding that certain preventive measures have been designed in this regard, but the government has not been able to implement it due to the Lok Sabha polls and Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has arrested the prime accused in the case related to the 2022 murder of Karnataka BJP Yuva Morcha member Praveen Nettaru in Bengaluru. Nettaru was hacked to death by two bike-borne attackers in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district's Bellare village on July 26, 2022. (iStock)

ALSO READ | Karnataka man chops off minor girl's head, takes it with him for calling off marriage

The accused, Mustafa Paichar was arrested by NIA officials from his hideout in Karnataka, said sources.

Nettaru was hacked to death by two bike-borne attackers in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district's Bellare village on July 26, 2022.

ALSO READ | Water-purifier technician in Bengaluru gropes woman after entering her house, arrested: Report

He was hacked to death in Bellare village of Sullia Taluk allegedly by Popular Front of India 'Killer Squads' or 'Service Teams'.

NIA took over case in August 2022. A total of 21 persons, including the absconders, have so far been chargesheeted by the NIA under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Indian Penal Code and Arms Act. As per the NIA, the PFI has been indulging in such targeted 'hate killings' with the aim of driving a communal wedge and spreading communal hatred with its ultimate objective of establishing an Islamic Rule in India by 2047.

ALSO READ | Bengaluru's Mantri Square mall seized for not paying property tax: Reports

In September 2022, the Central government declared PFI as "unlawful association" and temporarily banned the organisation for five years under the UAPA act.
A woman in Bengaluru was sexually harassed by a technician who ventured into her house to install a water purifier, reported The Times of India. A case has been registered in Begur police station and police arrested the accused. Water-purifier technician in Bengaluru gropes woman after entering her house(AP)

Also Read - Bengaluru's Mantri Square mall seized for not paying property tax: Reports

According to the report, a 30-year-old woman in Begur wanted to get water purifier-related work and raised a service request to the company. After multiple reminders, the company sent a technician to the house of the woman.

The woman who was alone in the house opened the door for the technician and explained him the issue with the water purifier. After learning that there was nobody in the house, he asked her to turn down the main switch to reinstall the water purifier.

He then started touching her inappropriately and groped her while she was working in the kitchen. The woman then pushed him out of the kitchen, locked herself in and dialled a friend nearby for help. By the time the friend arrived, he started attacking her from outside the kitchen. However, they both confronted him, and he fled after being slightly injured.

However, the woman reached out to the police and filed a case against the accused. The police got the technician's details from the company, but when they called, the accused did not respond. On Wednesday, he was traced, and an investigation is ongoing.
The Congress in Haryana on Friday submitted a memorandum to governor Bandaru Dattatreya seeking the dismissal of the minority BJP government in the state. Since the governor was away in Telangana, the Congress leaders submitted the memorandum to his office in Haryana. (HT Photo)

The memorandum signed by Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda was delivered at Haryana Raj Bhawan by deputy CLP leader Aftab Ahmed and chief whip Bharat Bhushan Batra in the assembly. Since the governor was away in Telangana, the Congress leaders submitted the memorandum to his office.

Also Read | Haryana political crisis: CM Saini accuses Congress of misleading people, JJP MLAs meet Khattar

It is crystal clear that the number of MLAs opposing the BJP government was 45 as against 43 MLAs supporting the government. This shows that the government has lost the confidence of the majority of the MLAs in the present House, said Ahmed and Batra after visiting the Raj Bhawan.

The two Congress leaders said after three Independent MLAsSombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Gollen (Pundri) and Dharam Pal Gonder (Nilokheri)who were supporting the BJP government backed out, the number of the opposition MLAs was 45 in the 88-member House with Congress having 30 legislators, the JJP having 10 MLAs and four Independent MLAs, which included Meham MLA Balraj Kundu and lone INLD MLA Abhay Chautala.

Also Read | Haryana crisis: After seeking floor test, JJPs Dushyant Chautala faces rebellion

Kundu on Friday also wrote to the governor stating that since chief minister Nayab Saini-led government has lost its majority in the House, the governor should summon the House for a floor test.

If the present government fails to prove its confidence, the governor may impose Presidents rule, the Independent MLA from Meham wrote. Chautala had also written to the governor on Thursday seeking imposition of Presidents rule in the state.

In view of the facts placed before you, you are requested to exercise your constitutional authority to dismiss the minority government immediately and order fresh elections under the Presidents rule and uphold the democratic values, said the Congress memorandum.

Hooda had told HT that the Saini-led government was trying to indulge in horse-trading. If the BJP claims that they have the majority, then it only means that they intend to indulge in horse-trading, Hooda added.

The Congress memorandum said ideally the chief minister should resign on moral grounds. But this government is unabashedly seeking shelter under sheer technicalities or unconstitutionalities by claiming that they have the majority, the memorandum said.

If the excellency does not dismiss the minority government immediately, Vidhan Sabha should be convened. The chief minister be directed to seek a vote of confidence on the floor of the house. Affording an opportunity to this minority government to gather support through illegal and democratic methods will put the technicalities above the spirit of democratic principles. Your prompt protection in this matter will restore the faith of the people in our democratic system and enhance the dignity of your high office, the memorandum reads.

JJP leader and former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala had on May 8 written to the governor that it was evident that the incumbent government no longer commanded a majority in the legislative assembly.

The JJP is not extending support to the present government and is open to supporting any other political party for government formation, the JJP letter said. Dushyant, however, could face rebellion in the JJP as former minister Devender Babli on Friday said Dushyant cannot seek a floor test on behalf of JJP MLAs, claiming that eight out of 10 JJP MLAS were against him.

Saini on Thursday said there was no danger to the government. He said he has the numbers and is ready for the floor test if required.

Is Dushyant having the numbers? But we have the numbers. I won the floor test and if required, I will do it again. There is no threat to the government, Saini said on Thursday.

People aware of the matter said rebel JJP lawmakers were expected to challenge Dushyants leadership over the next three to four days. They added that three JJP lawmakers met former chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday to primarily work out a strategy to break the JJP.

The rebel lawmakers said they would decide whether to support the BJP government when a non-confidence motion is brought. Before the floor test, we will change our legislature party leader. We will make a decision on whom to support when the non-confidence motion is moved, said a rebel lawmaker.

Four of the rebel lawmakers are believed to be in touch with the BJP leadership while Dushyant still has the backing of Amarjeet Dhanda, Anoop Dhanak, who is undergoing treatment in Gurugram, and Naina Chautala. Family members of other two lawmakers Ram Karan Kala and Ishwar Singh have joined the Congress.

Babli called Dushyant a villain and added that the latters family had made the JJP a private limited company. The party [JJP] is named after Jannayak... [the late former deputy prime minister] Devi Lal... but Dushyant has become a villain. JJPs eight lawmakers and the Haryana public are against him because of his arrogance and dictatorship. He used to question us whenever we attended any social function organised by other party leaders. After becoming deputy chief minister, he remained busy with other works and distanced himself from party lawmakers. The voters elected us. We are lawmakers and not bound labourers. Dushyant and his father Ajay Chautala, the JJP chief, are using rough language against us in public but they cannot suppress our voice. Dushyant and his mother Naina Chautala had contacted me during the 2019 assembly polls when the Congress denied me a ticket, and I told them that I could not fight on their ticket but they persuaded me.

He said Dushyants behaviour changed when he came to power and now the entire cadre and eight lawmakers are against him. He has to pay the price for his misdeeds, Babli added.

JJP general secretary Digvijay Singh Chautala said the legislators were standing with Dushyant and dismissed Bablis claims as false and baseless.

The BJP has 40 members, support of two independent MLAs and Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party. That takes it to 43, two short of the majority mark of 45 in the assembly which currently has a strength of 88.

In reply to a question, the Congress chief whip said the party would seek a fresh mandate from the people of the state rather than forming a jod-tod ki sarkaar. Party sources said the Congress was opposed to forming the government with the support of the JJP, a party facing widespread protests from farmers.
A day after the Congress and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) stepped up efforts to topple the BJP government in Haryana and wrote to governor Bandaru Dattatreya, JJP MLAs led by former minister Devender Babli, who represents Tohana, said they will replace Dushyant Chautala as the legislature party leader and stake claim to the party. The development assumes significance in view of the oppositions demand for summoning the assembly session to introduce a no-confidence motion. A day after Jannayak Janata Party legislature party leader Dushyant Chautala wrote to governor Bandaru Dattatreya seeking a floor test, he is facing rebellion from JJP MLAs, who claim he did not take them on board and they want him to step down. (HT file photo)

Also read: Haryana political crisis: CM Saini accuses Congress of misleading people

Babli said Dushyant had written to Dattatreya, demanding a floor test on behalf of JJP MLAs. When eight of the 10 JJP legislators are against Dushyant, how can he write to the governor without meeting them? Babli said.

Dushyant has the support of only his mother, Badhra MLA Naina Chautala. The rest of the MLAs are in favour of changing him. He should resign as legislature party leader otherwise the other MLAs will sack him. We have the support of eight MLAs. After the 2019 assembly poll result, Dushyant supported the BJP and ran a government for four-and-a-half years. As deputy CM, he enjoyed a majority of portfolios and now he wants to topple the BJP government. How did his ideology change? Now he is backing the Congress that he used to term as his biggest enemy, Babli said.

Rebels to meet soon

Sources close to rebel JJP MLAs said they will be meeting soon to challenge Dushyants leadership. They said that Thursdays meeting of three JJP MLAs with former chief minister and Karnal BJP Lok Sabha candidate Manohar Lal Khattar was held to discuss this issue. The rebel MLAs are of the opinion that they will run the party after staking claim on it by following the path of former deputy prime minister Devi Lal, the sources said.

The rebel JJP MLAs said that they will decide whether to support the BJP government or vote against it when a non-confidence motion is brought in the assembly.

Before the floor test, we will change our legislature party leader. We will take a decision on whom to support when the no-confidence motion is introduced, said another rebel JJP MLA, requesting anonymity.

Of the 10 JJP MLAs, Babli, Barwala legislator Jogi Ram Sihag, Narnaund MLA Ram Kumar Gautam and Narwana MLA Ram Niwas Surjakhera are leading the rebellion and are in touch with the BJP leadership. However, Dushyant still has the support of Julana MLA Amarjeet Dhanda, Uklana MLA Anoop Dhanak, who is undergoing treatment at Medanta Hospital in Gurugram and his mother Naina Chautala. The family members of the other two MLAs, Ram Karan Kala and Ishwar Singh, have joined the Congress.

Jannayak to khalnayak

Babli alleged that Dushyant had become a khalnayak (villain) and his family had made the JJP a private limited company. The party has used the Jannayak word from Devi Lal but Dushyant has become Khalnayak. Eight JJP MLAs and the people of Haryana are against him because of his arrogance and dictatorship. He used to question us whenever we attended any social function organised by other party leaders. After becoming deputy chief minister, he remained distanced himself from party MLAs. The voters elected us, we are MLAs not bonded labour. Dushyant and his father and JJP chief, Ajay Chautala, use rough language against us in public but they cant suppress our voice, Babli said.

When contacted, JJP general secretary Digvijay Singh Chautala said that the party legislators were standing with Dushyant and such claims are false and baseless.

In the 90-member assembly, two seats are vacant, of which Karnal is headed for by-elections on May 25.

The BJP has 40 members, and has the support of two independents  Nayan Pal Rawat from Prithla and Rakesh Daulatabad from Badshahpur  and Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party. That takes it to 43, two short of the majority mark of 45 in the assembly that currently has a strength of 88.

The Congress has 30 lawmakers, the JJP 10, and the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) one. In addition, one independent legislator, Balraj Kundu from Meham, is also against the government.
The Punjab government on Friday told the Punjab and Haryana high court that the nomination filing process of radical Sikh preacher and NSA detainee Amritpal Singh for the June 1 Lok Sabha elections is being facilitated at Dibrugarh jail in Assam. Radical Sikh preacher Amritpal Singh, who is a detainee under the National Security Act and jailed in Dibrugarh, Assam, wants to contest as an Independent candidate from the Khadoor Sahib Lok Sabha constituency on June 1. (HT file photo)

Punjab deputy advocate general Arjun Sheoran told a high court bench of justice Vinod S Bhardwaj that the documentation process is complete after his lawyers and proposer met him in Dibrugarh jail on May 9. The nomination papers will be submitted to the Khadoor Sahib returning officer by his proposer in the next three days, Sheoran told the court.

The submissions were made during the hearing of a plea filed by the Waris Punjab De chief, seeking to prevent any hurdle in the filing of his nomination papers as an Independent candidate.

Amritpal is behind bars along with 10 others from his outfit since April last year. They were detained following a crackdown on the Waris Punjab De by the Centre and Punjab on March 18, 2023. Booked under the National Security Act (NSA), Amritpal was arrested on April 23, 2023, in a Moga village after almost a month-long chase since his escape on March 18, 2023. Last month, the Punjab government re-invoked NSA against all of them.

Once documents are submitted, the Central Jail, Dibrugarh, superintendent will administer the oath to the detenue according to the provisions of law and the certificate of oath would be submitted to the returning officer. The oath is administered once nominations are filed.
Hours after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief Arvind Kejriwal till June 1, party leader Atishi on Friday said that it was the victory of truth, democracy and the Indian constitution. AAP workers were also seen celebrating the decision outside party headquarters in Delhi. (Kejriwal/Facebook)

Speaking during a press conference, Delhi minister Atishi said, Today's Supreme Court verdict of granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal has proved that the truth has won, democracy has won, and the Constitution of the country has won. Whenever our Constitution was threatened, the Supreme Court has come to protect it. Even today, Supreme Court's decision to grant interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal to participate in election campaigns will protect our country's democracy.

On Friday, the Supreme Court decided to grant bail to Kejriwal until June 1 in the Delhi excise policy case because of the ongoing general elections. The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had argued against giving any special treatment to political leaders for election campaigning, but the court rejected their arguments. We are passing an order giving him interim bail till June 1, the court said.

The AAP leader also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stating that they were trying to destroy democracy. She said, The dictatorship of BJP has left no stones unturned to destroy democracy and the Constitution of India. But, I would like to thank the Supreme Court because whenever there has been a danger to democracy, the Supreme Court has protected the Constitution and democracy. He (Arvind Kejriwal) will come out of jail today. We are waiting for the orders and then, bond will be submitted to Tihar jail. We are hoping that Arvind Kejriwal will have dinner at his home today.

Several AAP and INDIA bloc leaders expressed joy over the Supreme Court's decision. AAP workers were also seen celebrating the decision outside party headquarters in Delhi.

Party workers danced, distribute sweets and raised slogans like Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal ji choot gaye.

In a post on X, Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, who has been campaigning in place of Delhi CM, wrote, Hanuman ji ki jai. This is the victory of democracy. It is the result of the prayers and blessings of millions of people. Many thanks to everyone.

Supreme Court's decision comes amid the ongoing general election as the voting in Delhi is set for May 25, while in Punjab, it's scheduled for June 1.

AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj also noted that the bail was granted under exceptional circumstances, adding that it was extraordinary for anyone to get bail in the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) within 40 days. I think there is some divine intervention and super powers of the universe that have some design. I think him (Arvind Kejriwal) coming out on bail will be a game-changer for the INDIA alliance.

Delhi Minister and AAP leader Gopal Rai says, "There is a wave of happiness in the entire country. SC's decision has shown a ray of hope. The entire country is thankful to the SC. The fight against dictatorship and to save democracy & constitution will be strengthened after the release of Arvind Kejriwal..."

Kejriwal, currently in jail, is the third member of the AAP to be arrested in the case. His former deputy, Manish Sisodia, has been in custody since February 2023. Another AAP member, Sanjay Singh, got bail in April after being in custody for six months.

INDIA bloc leaders

West Bengal chief minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee said in a post on x, I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections.

Congress leader Rajeev Shukla hailed the SC judgement adding that the decision was taken considering democracy and elections.

Samajwadi Party leader Rajkumar Bhati said, The news of Arvind Kejriwal getting (interim) bail is encouraging and a matter of relief for the INDIA alliance. Not just for leaders of INDIA alliance, it is a matter of celebration for voters as well. This decision will strengthen the position of the INDIA alliance in (Lok Sabha) elections.

Further Congress leader Pawan Khera welcoming the intervention by SC said, We hope that the former chief minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren also gets due justice.

The case against Kejriwal was registered after claims of irregularities in the excise policy. It all began when Delhi's Lieutenant Governor recommended an investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in July 2022.

Delhi Congress interim chief Devender Yadav said, We have been saying that BJP and its leaders have caged establishments of democracy. Because of this, sitting CMs were sent to jail. I appreciate the Supreme Court's order of granting (interim) bail to Arvind Kejriwal. This will boost the faith of people in democracy.

Attacking BJP and the Narendra Modi government, CPI MP Binoy Viswam said, It is a blow on the face of Narendra Modi and the BJP government. For months, they tried to tarnish the image of the Delhi CM. This court verdict is a verdict in the right direction. The democratic traditions of our country would certainly welcome it and this is going to give momentum to the INDIA alliance. This is a political setback for the authoritarian political style of the BJP... All these cases are bogus. They have nothing to do with the truth. All of them are politically motivated. This verdict says that the Supreme Court stands in the favour of truth, not in the favour of political autocracy.

NDA leaders on Kejriwal's bail

BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that it was clear that Kejriwal was involved in the Delhi liquor scam since the bail had only been granted till June 1, which is until the Lok Sabha elections are over.

Delhi BJP President Virendra Sachdeva said, "He has been granted bail for the election campaign till June 1 but what after that. Getting interim bail does not mean that you have been proven innocent. It will not affect the elections, BJP will win all 7 seats of Delhi."

Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Nipuram said, "Instead of jail or bail, first he should be removed from the CM post. How can an accused run the government from jail?"
At least nine flights were diverted from Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) to Jaipur late Friday evening due to a sudden dust storm amid adverse weather conditions in Delhi-NCR and adjoining areas, including thunderstorms and rain. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a dust storm advisory, advising people to stay indoors and avoid non-essential travel. At least nine flights have been diverted from Delhi's Indira Gandhi International (IGI) Airport to Jaipur on late Friday evening. (Representational Image)

Residents are urged to stay indoors, secure their windows and doors and refrain from unnecessary travel, the weather agency said in the advisory.

The IMD advised people to find safe shelters and avoid seeking cover under trees. Squally winds with speeds of 60-70 kmph were predicted for Friday night. The maximum temperature recorded in the day was 39 degrees Celsius.

Areas expected to be affected include Loni Dehat, Hindon Air Force Station, Ghaziabad, Indirapuram, Chhapraula, Noida, Dadri, Greater Noida, Gurugram, Faridabad, Manesar, Ballabhgarh, as well as Gohana, Gannaur, Sonipat, Rohtak, and Kharkhoda in Haryana, and Baraut, Bagpat, and Khekra in Uttar Pradesh, as per the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

The Delhi Traffic Police issued a traffic alert for Dharam Marg and Janakpuri due to the blockage of a road at B2 Janakpuri caused by a large fallen tree. In a statement posted on X, commuters were urged to steer clear of the affected area.

Due to the city's strong winds, several trees collapsing in various locations were reported. Earlier forecasts from the weather department indicated generally cloudy skies on Friday, with potential dust storms, thunderstorms, and isolated instances of light rain accompanied by hailstorms.

The IMD advised the public in the national capital to stay indoors, ensuring all windows and doors are tightly shut, and avoiding unnecessary travel if feasible. Additionally, they warn against seeking shelter under trees, as they could pose heightened risks during the storm.
Indian law does not permit parole to convicts solely for maintaining relationships with live-in partners, the Delhi high court has said. A live-in partner cannot claim the fundamental right to expand their family when the convict is legally married and has children from that marriage, it added. The court said the 2018 Delhi Prison Rules do not cover live-in partners. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The law in India as well as the Delhi Prison Rules do not permit grant of parole on the ground of maintaining conjugal relationships, that too with live-in partners. In other words, a live-in-partner, when the legally wedded wife of the convict is already alive and they already have three children, cannot claim to have a fundamental right to have a child from her live-in-partner who is a convict, within the parameters of law and prison rules, Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma said in a 27-page judgment on Wednesday.

The court added that allowing parole for parenthood or conjugal relations with a live-in partner, while the convict remains married with children, would establish a precedent contrary to legal principles.

Granting parole on the ground to have a child or to maintain conjugal relationships with a live-in partner, where the convict already has a legally wedded wife and children born out of that wedlock, would set a harmful precedent, said Justice Sharma.

Regarding the specifics of the case, the court said that the 2018 Delhi Prison Rules do not cover live-in partners within the definition of family members eligible for parole.

As far as the Delhi Prison Rules, 2018 are concerned, the word spouse, as mentioned in Rule 1201, would imply only a legally wedded husband or a wife, being its strict and precise interpretation, and it would exclude any live-in partner from its ambit since a live-in partner cannot fall under the definition of spouse. Thus, the live-in partner of the petitioner herein, who lacks legal recognition as a wife or a spouse cannot be held to fall within the scope of the definition of family under Delhi Prison Rules, the court noted.

The judgment came on a plea of a convict who sought parole on the grounds of consummating his marriage with his wife. The convict, represented by advocate Ansh Makkar, said that his clients court custody prevented them from consummating their marriage even though they had been married for three years.

The Delhi Police, represented by additional standing counsel Anmol Sinha, contested the claim arguing that the petitioners purported spouse was, in fact, a live-in partner and not his legally wedded wife.

The court then dismissed the plea, highlighting the lack of full disclosure regarding his marital status and children. It noted that the convict failed to reveal his previous marriage and offspring, undermining the credibility of his parole request.
In a scathing attack on the opposition, chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said the Congress, the SP and the BSP never gave respect to Maharaja Suheldev Rajbhar (the then king of Shravasti) who killed Ghaznavid general Ghazi Saiyyad Salar Masud only for the vote bank as they feared losing the votes of Masuds devotees. Yogi Adityanath addressing a public meeting at Mahasi in Bahraich on May 10. (Sourced)

Addressing a public meeting at Mahasi in Bahraich, Yogi recalled the previous assembly election when the public elected Sureshwar Singh as MLA from Mahasi, leading to the formation of BJP government in the state.

Following this, PM Modi and the state government not only constructed the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya but also took decisive measures to curb the influence of mafia elements who were sowing seeds of chaos and disorder, he added.

On the occasion, he appealed to people to support BJP candidate from Bahraich Lok Sabha seat Anand Kumar Gond. He also paid homage to the land of Maharaja Suheldev and freedom fighter Raja Balbhadra Singh as he greeted the gathering on the auspicious occasions of Akshaya Tritiya and Parshuram Jayanti.

The CM said that a government that respects peoples emotions, protects interests and integrates development initiatives should be chosen repeatedly.

He further said the Saryu canal project, initiated by the then government in 1972, remained pending for 45 years. However, after the BJP government came to power in 2017, the project was successfully completed.

Consequently, 14 lakh hectares of land is getting water from the Saryu river for irrigation. He highlighted that the previous governments only formulated schemes but failed to ensure that the benefits reached the underprivileged.

Incumbent MP Akshayabar Lal Gond, BJP candidate Anand Kumar Gond, BJP district unit chief Brijesh Pandey, MLAs Anupama Jaiswal, Sureshwar Singh, MLCs Pragya Tripathi, Gaurav Verma, Jitendra Tripathi and Sanjay Dwivedi were present at the event.
LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said here on Friday that the Bharatiya Janata Party always stood by the honour and self-respect of doctors. In Uttar Pradesh, under the leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the One District One Medical College scheme was going on at a rapid pace, he said. Dy CM Brajesh Pathak at IMA function at IMA Bhawan in Lucknow on Friday. (Sourced)

Pathak was addressing a meeting of doctors held to gather support for BJP candidate and defence minister Rajnath Singh, running for a third term from Lucknow. The meeting was organised by the Indian Medical Association (IMA) Lucknow at IMA auditorium, River Bank Colony. Pathak said, Now the state government is working to make modern medical facilities available in every district.

Lucknow Metropolitan president Anand Dwivedi said that Lucknow MP Rajnath Singh was concerned about how the middle and poor classes could get better medical facilities. As per the instructions of the defence minister, a large scale health fair was being organised in Lucknow. Free sanitary pads were being distributed to women. To improve the health of the common man, a large number of open gyms had been set up in parks at the ward level.

Senior BJP leader Neeraj Singh said that the state government had resolved the problems and difficulties of doctors from time to time. Ever since the Bharatiya Janata Party government came to power at the centre and in the state, doctors must have seen positive change. Mentioning the development works of Rajnath Singh, he said that construction of 104 km outer ring road would speed up the development of Lucknow. Big industries and hospitals would be established and Lucknow would become an employment hub.

The BJP leaders called upon doctors and the entire medical fraternity to cast their votes on May 20 to help defence minister Rajnath Singh win the election with a huge margin.

In another event, minister of state for defence, Government Of India, Ajay Bhatt said that social media volunteers played a very big role for any party as they worked to spread the message of the good work and initiatives of government, educating people about government policies and schemes within a short time by creating content.

Speaking at a Samvad programme held at IMRT Business School, Gomti Nagar, he said, Under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi, India has become self-reliant in the field of defence . Brahmos missile will soon be produced in Lucknow. DRDO lab has been established in Lucknow too.
Three people were killed, and 33 others were injured when a truck ferrying labourers from Lakhimpur Kheri rammed into a roadside tree in Pilibhit, in the wee hours, on Friday. The labourers were on their way back after working in Meerut, senior police officials said. For representation only (HT FIle Photo)

Pilibhit superintendent of police (SP), Avinash Pandey told the media that the incident occurred under the Gajraula police station. He said that a preliminary investigation suggested that the mishap took place as the driver fell asleep at the wheel and lost control.

Pilibhit district magistrate, Sanjay Kumar Singh, confirmed three people, including the driver, Surjeet Singh, and two women identified as Shabina and Reshma, died on the spot in the incident while 33 other labourers travelling in the same truck were injured.

He said that the injured have been admitted to the Pilibhit district hospital, where the condition of two people was stated to be critical.

He said a traffic jam of around two km was caused as the road got blocked due to the accident. He said the blockage was cleared by removing the truck from the scene.

Pilibhit chief medical officer (CMO) Alok Kumar said that all injured people are being treated on a priority basis at the district hospital and the two persons, who are critical, could be referred to a higher centre for further treatment.
In Mumbai's Virar, three women were arrested after they attacked and abused police personnel outside a bar in a drunken state. The three have been identified as Kavya, Poonam and Ashwini.

The incident took place in Gokul Township, a residential area on Mumbai's outskirts, where the police were responding to complaints of drunk women creating a disturbance outside a restaurant bar.

The three have been identified as Kavya, Poonam and Ashwini.

As per reports, the women engaged in an argument with other customers at the bar and were asked to leave by the staff. After which, they began creating a ruckus.

In a viral video on social media, the women can be seen attacking the police officers along with verbally abusing them and assaulting them.

As per reports, one of the women bit the hand of a woman bouncer and tore her uniform. They also manhandled the policemen. They bit one of the policemen on his wrist and also hit him on the head with a bucket.

One woman among the three was seen trying to pacify the situation and calm the other two down.

As per ANI, a case was registered under IPC sections 353,323,325,504, 506 and all three women were arrested.

They were produced in Vasai court on Monday and sent to 1-day of judicial custody.

NCMIndia Council For Men Affairs, posting the video on X, said, This is from Pankha Fast Bar & Lounge located in Vasai, #Virar in Palghar district of Maharashtra.

It added, Kavya Pradhan bite in the hand of lady Police constable Utkarsha Vanjari and ripped her uniform. She also attacked constable Morley on his head with a bucket and bite in his wrist. Ashwini Patil plucked the hair of the lady police and tore the T-shirt of the lady bouncer. Name of the third girl is Poonam who was little less violent than the other two.
MUMBAI: It was around midnight on August 15, 2018, around five years after rationalist Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants, when the case was cracked by a Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) team, quite by a stroke of luck. Pune, India - August 19, 2019: Eve of the 6th Death anniversary candel march in Dr. Narendra Dabholkar at Vittal Ramji Shinde Bridge in Pune, India, on Monday, August 19, 2019. (Photo by Rahul Raut/HT PHOTO)

The ATS team was questioning Sharad Kalaskar, an accused arrested in its then ongoing investigation into a haul of arms and ammunition at Nalasopara, when he allegedly blurted out that he and his associate Sachin Andure had shot Dabholkar, stumping his interrogators. Andure was also in the ATS detention back then, according to sources familiar with the investigation into Dabholkars murder. The Nalasopara cache was allegedly meant for carrying out attacks in different parts of the state to coincide with important festivals.

Also Read | Who was Dr Narendra Dabholkar, activist shot dead in 2013?

Kalaskars interrogators immediately alerted the additional director general of police, Atul Chandra Kulkarni.

To cross-check their versions, the ATS conducted a preliminary verification through officers who were familiar with the Dabholkar case, while Kulkarni called up the Central Bureau of Investigations lead investigator in the Dabholkar probe, who was then at the agencys Navi Mumbai office. The CBI had taken over the case from the Pune police in June 2014 on the Bombay high courts order but was yet to identify Dabholkars suspected shooters.

The CBI officer then grilled Kalaskar and Andure at length to verify if they were stating the facts, sources said. Once the officer ostensibly confirmed the authenticity of the alleged revelations, he alerted his superiors in the agencys Delhi headquarters.

Also Read | 2 convicted of rationalist Narendra Dabholkars murder

The CBI, which is known for its meticulous and process-driven investigations, decided to put Kalaskar and Andure through another test before taking them in custody, sources said. With Kulkarnis permission, the CBI took Kalaskar and Andure to Pune to do a reconstruction of the murder. Kalaskar and Andure could explain to the CBI how they had allegedly carried out the killing of Dabholkar at Punes Omkareshwar Bridge, having arrived on a bike after reaching the city by bus.

After running a few more checks, the CBI decided to take Kalaskar and Andure into its custody. The agency arrested Andure on August 18, 2018, accusing him of being Dabholkars shooter. On September 3, 2018, it took Kalaskars custody from the ATS with a courts permission. The CBI had claimed Andure and Kalaskar had allegedly been indoctrinated back in 2012. In the weeks before the murder, they underwent arms training and recced the target, among other things.

Andure told the CBI after his arrest that weeks prior to the murder, he had heard of Dabholkar as a target for the first time for his "anti- Hindu" views in a conspiracy meeting held in Kolhapur. There were seven other participants in that meeting. Andure later, however, allegedly tried to opt out of the Dabholkar assignment, on grounds of lack of confidence and practice, after which he and Kalaskar were both made to undertake a fresh round of practice with pistols in Aurangabad, according to the CBI.

On Friday, a special court for Unlawful Activities (Prevention Act) cases in Pune convicted and sentenced Andure and Kalaskar to life imprisonment, and fined them 5 lakh. The court acquitted three others, including the key accused, Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, in the Dabholkar murder case. The court said that the prosecution had proved the charges of murder and conspiracy against Andure and Kalaskar.

The CBI alleged during the trial that Tawade had hatched the criminal conspiracy to commit Dabholkars murder due to the latters work against superstitions. Dabholkar had been the force behind the Anti Superstition Bill, 2005, which was eventually passed by the Maharashtra state legislature on August 24, 2013, through an ordinance after his death.

A CBI official said the agency will review the courts order and decide if it wants to appeal the three acquittals.
The Pratapgarh police nabbed three criminals after an encounter with the miscreants at Tavankalpur canal culvert, early on Friday. For representation only (HT File Photo)

Those arrested miscreants were identified as Muslim, 24, of Mandhata, Saddam, 23, of Changhaipur, and Arbaz Ali, 23, of Raniganj.

The trio was involved in looting a bike and shooting an uncle-nephew duo on Monday night in Changhaipur area of Delhupur, in Pratapgarh. However, two other aides of the miscreants managed to escape.

Three miscreants looted the bike of Mohd Sameer of Changhaipur while he was near the bridge at Bakulahi River. The looters opened fire at Satyam Singh and his nephew Vipin Singh, when the duo came to Sameers rescue, resulting in injuries to them. The duo was admitted to SRN Hospital in Prayagraj. ADG, zone, Bhanu Bhaskar, visited the injured and issued instructions for the early arrest of the accused.

The SWAT (special weapons and tactics) team was carrying out a checking drive near Tavankalpur canal when five persons on two bikes were asked to stop. However, the group opened fire on the police team. The police team also retaliated, resulting in injuries to three of them, while two managed to escape. Three country-made firearms and ammunition were recovered from them.

Those who fled were identified as Ainul Ali and Shahbaz.

SP, Pratapgarh, Satpal Antil, said that questioning of the trio revealed that the five had looted a bike and shot at two persons on Monday night in Delhupur.

Satyam Singh and Vipin had chased the looters when Sameer raised an alarm following the loot.
In a significant twist in ongoing Prajwal Revannas sexual harassment case, the National Commission for Women (NCW) stated that a woman had approached them claiming that she was forced to file a complaint against the Hassan MP, who is alleged of sexual abuse and kidnap. Prajwal Revanna case: Woman was forced to complain against accused, says NCW

Multiple media reports also said that the woman has also sought protection for her family and complained that she has been receiving threats from multiple phone numbers.

Also Read - Kumaraswamy on Prajwal Revanna sex scandal: 'Where are 2900 victims?'

One woman approached the NCW to file a complaint against three people who were dressed in civilian clothes, and she claimed that they had introduced themselves as Karnataka police. She also complained that she received many calls from unknown numbers asking her to file a complaint against the accused. It has come to the light that the woman was forced by a group of individuals to the complaint under harassment charges, stated NCW.

Meanwhile, NCW has also refuted reports about 700 women filing complaints to the commission against Prajwal Revanna. In an X post, the official handle of NCW wrote, NCW would like to state that 700 women have not made any complaints to NCW regarding the Prajwal Revanna case. Some media channels are falsely reporting this.

Prajwal Revanna, who fled the country, is yet to return to India, and the special investigation team (SIT), which is probing his case, has already arrested his father and JDS MLA HD Revanna under sexual abuse and kidnap charges.

However, JDS second-in-chief and uncle of Prajwal Revanna, HD Kumaraswamy, alleged the Congress government's involvement in the SIT investigation and demanded a fair probe into the case. He also met Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and submitted a memorandum urging for an "impartial probe" into the case.

He attacked the Congress government and said they are misusing the power. The Congress is saying that there are 2900 victims but where are they? The government is just missing its powers.
Three passengers were killed and six others injured in an accident near Dheku village on Pune-Mumbai Expressway on Friday, said officials. Wrecked remains of a truck, that hits two vehicles due to break failure on the Pune-Mumbai Pune expressway, in Bhor Ghat on Friday. (ANI)

The accident occurred at around 4am after a truck going on the expressway lost control due to break fail and hit two vehicles, a car and a tempo carrying poultry birds.

The deceased have been identified as Sudama Dhula Gorad, Nirmala Sudama Gorad, both from Maan in Satara district, who were in the van and Sunil Shivaji Tote, a resident of Basav Kalyan, Karnataka.

Ajinkya Sudam Gorad, Vaibhav Sudam Gorad, both from Maan in Satara district; Satish Shivaji Panchal, Japhar Rais, Arif and Afroz (full names not known) were injured in the accident.

A team of local police and state highway police rushed to the spot and shifted injured people to MGM Hospital Komote Panvel. The bodies of the deceased were sent to rural hospital for further procedure.

Police said vehicular movement was disturbed for some time. However, by using cranes, police cleared the highway and resumed traffic movement within an hour.

The police were in the process of filing a case in the incident.
An unidentified man fired one round of shot into the air and fled when a policeman approached him over his suspicious behaviour at Maskarnis Colony in Talegaon Dabhade at around 11 pm on Thursday, said police officials. Talegaon Dabhade police have filed a case under Sections 380, 455, 34 of the IPC and other relevant sections. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

As per the complaint filed by sub-inspector Shyam Rajaram Shide, 57, while checking the progress of construction of his house, he noticed a masked man near a locked bungalow. When Shinde approached the accused, he failed to give satisfactory answers. Soon, the accused and his associates fled from the spot and to avoid police action, openly fired a shot in the air.

Talegaon Dabhade police have filed a case under Sections 380, 455, 34 of the IPC and other relevant sections.
Gujarat Board 10th Result 2024 Live: The Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board has announced the GSEB SSC Result 2024 today, May 11. Students who appeared in the examination can check their results on the GSEB website at gseb.org when released, using their exam roll number. Direct link to check Gujarat Board 10th Result 2024 ...Read More

Along with the results, other details such as overall pass percentage, gender-wise percentage, and district-wise performance will also be shared.

In 2023, an overall pass percentage of 64.62% was recorded in the GSEB SSC exams. Surat was the highest-performing district with a pass percentage of 76.45%. Over 4 lakh students passed the examinations last year.

This year, the GSEB 10th examination was conducted from March 11 to March 22, 2024, across the state at various exam centers.

It may also be mentioned here that the students can also get their results by sending their seat number on WhatsApp number 6357300971.



Follow the blog for the latest updates on Gujarat Board SSC results 2024 results, pass percentage and more.
TN SSLC Result 2024 Live: The Directorate of Government Examinations, Chennai has announced Tamil Nadu 10th Result 2024 on May 10, 2024. TN SSLC results was declared at 9.30 am today. The official websites to check TN 10th results are tnresults.nic.in, dge.tn.gov.in and results.digilocker.gov.in. This year around 8 lakh candidates have appeared for the Class 10 board examination. ...Read More

Direct link to check TN SSLC Result 2024

Also Read: TN 10th Result 2024 Live Updates

To check the scores, candidates can follow the steps given below.

Visit the official website of TN Results at tnresults.nic.in.

Click on TN SSLC Result 2024 link available on the home page.

A new page will open where candidates will have to enter the login details.

Click on submit and download the page.

Keep a hard copy of the same for further need.

The students who have appeared for the 10th examination can also check their results in their respective schools. The Board will also send result via SMS to the mobile number that is mentioned in the affidavit submitted by their schools and to individual candidates to the mobile number provided while applying online. For more related details candidates can check the official website of DGE, TN.
Vivek Oberois house in Mumbai comes with a perfect blend of rustic imperfections, modern aesthetics and quirky charm. The actor recently gave a glimpse of his abode in the city which is designed as a Goan farmhouse with over a century old vintage bed, and a cow for a pet. (Also read: Janhvi Kapoor's childhood home in Chennai: You can now live at the first house Sridevi bought; see inside pics) Vivek Oberoi stays with his wife Priyanka Alva and two kids.

The actor gave a tour of his house in Mumbai in the latest episode of Urban Company Reels to Rooms. The house has been designed in the style of a Goan farmhouse -- which is a reflection of his and his wife Priyanka Alva's lives.

A peek into his house

In the video, Vivek starts the tour by introducing his pet cow, Kamadhenu, sharing how the presence of the cow adds a rustic village charm to his place. This is more her house than mine. The aroma of a cowshed gives you a feel that within this city, you are living in your own little village, he said. (Read: HT City Vibe of 25: Vivek Oberoi's letter to his 25-year-old self: Neither success nor failure is bad)

He says he always wanted his house to reflect his personality, as he mentioned, I work in a world of make belief where everything is superficial but when I walk back from the world to my home, I am not the actor Vivek Oberoi, I am just me.

He goes on to walk us through his residence which comes with a lot of wooden furniture, elegant chandeliers, a huge wall portrait of Goddess Lakshmi, and a touch of greenery with indoor plants. And thats how his home gets its farmhouse vibe.

Vivek shared that the idea behind it was to stay true to sustainability. The idea was that this home should come from me and Priyanka, and what it represents is our life. When we bought this house, we wanted it to reflect Goa. Everything that you see outside, inside is the essence of a farmhouse, he said.

Tour of bedroom and living area

Taking the viewers into his living room and bedroom, Vivek showed off his collection of antiques, which he has collected from around the globe. The most special thing in the area is the antique bed in his bedroom, which came from Priyankas family.

Recounting the history, he said, This bed has been in Priyankas family for half-a-century and maybe even longer than that. So, I love it because my earliest memory as a 4-year-old is sleeping in a bed like this and feeling cozy and secure while listening to stories from my dadi.

In fact, the most interesting aspect of the house is how it blends the outdoor world into the indoor world, and Vivek gave an example of the same by pointing out tall, lush trees that frame his houses expansive windows. Concluding the tour in his backyard, he admitted a fondness for its rustic imperfections, such as exposed pipes and a tap, appreciating their quirky charm.

He concluded the tour in the backyard of his house, saying that the space has exposed pipes and a tap. And he has embraced them all as he doesnt mind the imperfections. We like this quirkiness and madness, he ended.

Vivek is known for his work in projects such as Saathiya and Omkara. He was last seen in the web show, Indian Police Force.
In the ongoing legal saga between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, new allegations have emerged that the former may have influenced her children to "avoid" spending time with their father during visits. These claims were detailed in court documents filed by Tony Webb, a security guard who previously worked for the former couple, as per People magazine. (Also Read  Angelina Jolie's lawyers slam Brad Pitt's NDA request as abusive in winery case: Report) Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt were together for over 12 years(Shutterstock)

Webb, who worked for Jolie from 2000 to 2020, alleged that he was contacted by a Jolie aide named Michael Vieira, who attempted to prevent two bodyguards from testifying in Jolie's custody battle with Pitt.

According to Webb's statement, Vieira asked him to dissuade the bodyguards from testifying, emphasising that they had signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with Jolie.

Despite the NDAs, one of the bodyguards, Ross Foster, expressed his intention to testify about statements he allegedly overheard from Jolie, encouraging the children to avoid spending time with Pitt during custody visits, as per People magazine.

Responding to these allegations, Paul Murphy, an attorney for Angelina Jolie, dismissed Pitt's attempts to equate common NDAs with an attempt to cover up his actions.

Murphy emphasised that the case was about power and control, with Jolie seeking separation and health for the family.

In their defence, Pitt's lawyers submitted Webb's declaration to illustrate that Jolie herself had utilised NDAs in the past, undermining her objections to signing them in the context of their legal dispute over their French winery, Chateau Miraval.

The legal battle between Jolie and Pitt has been marked by accusations and counter-accusations, with each party attempting to sway the court in their favour.

Pitt's lawyers accused Jolie of turning the business dispute into a sideshow about family court matters, while Jolie's lawyers suggested that Pitt feared the release of sealed documents related to their custody battle.

The allegations of Jolie allegedly encouraging the children to avoid Pitt during visits add another layer of complexity to the already contentious legal proceedings between the Hollywood exes.
NEW YORK  In a famous Twilight Zone episode from the early 1960s, a bloodthirsty World War II commander stationed in the Philippines finds himself transported into the body of a Japanese lieutenant and, to his horror, expected to help kill an entrapped and wounded American platoon. HT Image

What you do to those men in the cave, will it shorten the war by a week, by a day, by an hour? he pleads to a Japanese officer. How many must die before are satisfied?"

For the show's host and writer, Rod Serling, World War II was a trauma he would re-imagine often.

Serling, born 100 years ago this December, served in the 11th Airborne Division in the Philippines and received a Bronze Star for bravery and a Purple Heart for being wounded. He left the war with lasting physical and emotional scars and, like such fellow veterans as Joseph Heller and Kurt Vonnegut, with a will to find words for what had happened. He wrote war-related scripts for Playhouse 90 and other early television drama series and for at least two other Twilight Zone stories, including one in which an Army lieutenant can predict who will die next by looking into his soldiers' faces.

Serling's First Squad, First Platoon, a fictionalized take on the war that he worked on and set aside while attending Antioch College, has now been published for the first time. It appears this week in the new edition of The Strand Magazine, which has unearthed pieces by Ernest Hemingway, Mark Twain, John Steinbeck and many others. First Squad, First Platoon is broken into five vignettes, each dedicated to a fallen peer.

"Serling wrote this story in his early twenties, yet it carries a maturity beyond his years," Strand managing editor Andrew Gulli writes. Its a powerful, unvarnished look at war in all its brutality  an unforgettable study of ordinary people in an extraordinarily hellish situation."

Nicholas Parisi, author of the 2018 biography "Rod Serling: His Life, Work, and Imagination," helped edit the story. Daughters Jodi Serling and Anne Serling each contributed brief forewords. Jodi Serling wrote that the war opened up dark horizons of terror" for her father and left him gut-wrenching memories that influenced his writing and awakened him at night, sweating and screaming inconsolably. Anne Serling told The Associated Press that First Squad, First Platoon reminded her of his innocence when he joined the military.

"My reaction was particularly painful because when I read the story, I was writing a memoir about my dad and reading the letters he wrote from training camp before he was sent to the Pacific," she said. He was just barely 18 when he enlisted and sounded like a kid at summer camp in his letters to his parents. He was asking for gum, candy, underwear . Like all of the kids we send into the horror of war  he didnt know what was waiting on the other side.

Amy Boyle Johnston, author of the 2015 book Unknown Serling, found the story while looking through Serling's papers at the University of Wisconsin. Serling, who died in 1975, had yet to start a family when he wrote First Squad, First Platoon. But he was already thinking about the next generation, including a dedication to his yet-unborn children urging them to remember a semblance of the feeling of a torn limb, a burnt patch of flesh" and the hopeless emptiness of fatigue were as much part of war as uniforms and flags, honor and patriotism.

Parasi says that First Squad, First Platoon" was an early sign of Serling's ironic touch. One soldier is shot dead as he admires a wooden statuette of Jesus, and another  a true story  is killed by a food relief package.

In the opening section of First Squad, Cpl. Melvin Levy is introduced as the squad's resident comedian, whose usual barrage of jokes had been silenced by the ongoing starvation that threatened to kill them all. But as Levy slept weakly in the mud, dreaming of pastrami and other treats back home, he is startled by the sound of motors  airplanes clearly marked as American. Levy shouts with delight as more than 100 heavy boxes of K-rations fall from on high, fatally unaware that one will land right on him.

"The heavy crates were smashing into the earth close to their holes. Men started shouting in alarm," Serling writes. Levy just stood where he was, waving his arms and shouting. Sergeant Etherson pulled at him from behind, trying to get him down in a hole. But Levy was oblivious to all around him except the food which poured down.

'Its raining chow, boys . . . its raining chow,' his shrill voice pierced the air."

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
New Delhi, Filmmaker Tarsem Singh's Dear Jassi will serve as the opening film for the 2024 edition of the Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles . HT Image

The film gala, which will run from June 27 to 30, will screen 20 films, including seven narrative features, twelve shorts, and one docu-series with a diverse line-up of films from India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Pakistan and the United States, a press release said.

"Dear Jassi" has toured various film festivals across the globe and follows Jassi, a Canadian-born Indian girl who falls in love with Mithu, a rickshaw driver from a lower social class. The movie features Pavia Sidhu and Yugam Sood in the lead roles.

Tamil superstar Vijay Sethupathi's "Maharaja" will be bringing the curtains down on IFFLA. Directed by Nithilan Saminathan, the movie is an action-packed thriller about a group of men seeking revenge with twisted turns along the way.

Saminathan, along with the film's cast and producer, will attend the premiere in LA.

The festival will also screen "Kill", an upcoming action thriller from filmmaker Nikhil Nagesh, and the Sundance winner "Girls Will Be Girls", which is the maiden production venture of actor-couple Ali Fazal and Richa Chadha.

The line-up includes award-winning filmmaker Christo Tomys film "Undercurrent", which explores the powerful themes of female solidarity; a tender love story "Ben and Suzanne, A Reunion in 4 Parts", written and directed by Shaun Seneviratne; and "A House Named Shahana" by Leesa Gazi.

Besides, IFFLA will host a special screening of two episodes of documentary series "Defiance: Fighting the Far Right", which shines a light on an extraordinary protest movement led by young British Asians in the late 70s and early 80s to oppose anti-immigrant rhetoric and assaults. The documentary is produced by Riz Ahmed and Rogan Productions.

The festival is also launching IFFLA Industry Day, the first-of-its-kind, day-long forum for South Asian film and TV executives and creatives sharing their stories within this underrepresented community, on June 28.

IFFLA Industry Day will spotlight exciting South Asian voices, while attendees will have educational opportunities to hear first-hand expert advice from industry professionals. The pinnacle event of Industry Day is 'Launch Pad: A Pitch Competition' the winner of which will receive a USD 10,000 development grant.

"The eclectic lineup covering most of the vast and diverse South Asian regions, including the diaspora, is directed by a majority of incredibly talented first-time filmmakers debuting with their works.

"The lineup organically reveals some of the themes such as solidarity and resilience, tender love, and familial violence, inherent to the South Asian communities around the globe," said IFFLAs Artistic Director Anu Rangachar.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Pranit Hatte, known for her performance in the Marathi series Karbhari Laybhari allegedly experienced discrimination at a hotel. The actor was denied accommodation based on her gender. Pranit took to her Instagram handle and revealed how the hotel staff refused to give her a room for being transgender. (Also read: Krutika Deo recalls getting 10 in alms during Taali shoot) Pranit Hatte opened up on being denied hotel room for being transgender.

Pranit Hatte reveals gender discrimination at hotel

The actor posted a video in Marathi about the incident. Pranit said that despite booking the accommodation in advance, the hotel denied giving room to her for being a trans woman. The actor expressed frustration over last-minute booking cancellation by Hotel Pooja International. The Karbhari Laybhari actor stated that despite sharing the document with the hotel authorities, they refused to give the room on grounds of gender preference. In the video, the Marathi artist also said sarcastically that the transgender community should be directed by people on where they can go and stay. Pranit also opined that she was doing nothing wrong by staying there for her work. Her Instagram post was captioned as, Rooms got rejected because of the GENDER ........ disgusting.

Netizens slam hotel for gender-discrimination

Fans expressed disappointment over the gender discrimination faced by Pranit. A netizen commented, Cant believe its 2024 and this is still happening. Another user wrote, Just called up and confronted the Hotel. They must be ashamed of themselves for sure now. Thanks for sharing the sad incident... (folded hands emoji). A fan commented pointed out, File the case against HOTEL. it's cost ur dignity and Fundamental rights to live in dignity. A user pointed out, Violation of Trans gender act 2019 ( protection of Trans person ) While a netizen captioned his comment as, Complaint in nearby police station. It is an offence to reject on the basis of gender as per constitution .

Pranit often shares her pictures and videos on Instagram. The actor has spoken for the transgender community in the past.
Actor Chiranjeevi received the Padma Vibhushan award on Thursday in Delhi. The awards ceremony was attended by his wife Surekha, children Ram Charan and Sushmita, apart from daughter-in-law Upasana Konidela. Minister of Home Affairs Amit Shah also hosted a dinner at his residence for the Padma awardees post the ceremony. (Also Read: Ram Charan turns makeup artist for Chiranjeevi, Upasana asks father-in-law 'what's common between' her, Klin Kaara) Chiranjeevi and Ram Charan greet Amit Shah at Padma awards.

Chiranjeevi, Ram interact with Amit Shah

Chiranjeevi and Ram were caught in a candid moment at the ceremony when they were spotted interacting with the minister. In the picture, Chiranjeevi can be seen all smiles as he shakes Amit Shahs hand as Ram looks on. ANI also shared a video of the Padma awardees chatting away at the dinner hosted at the ministers residence. Upasana, Ram and Sushmita can be seen talking to each other and relishing the food.

Chiranjeevi returns to Hyderabad

Chiranjeevi returned to Hyderabad on Friday evening and spoke to the press at the airport. He said, I would like to thank everyone from my directors and co-stars to producers for having a hand in me getting a Padma Vibhushan today. Its years of hard work, and Im glad the government recognised that. Putting aside my philanthropic ventures, the people who love me got me here.

Over the years, numerous Tollywood celebs have expressed their opinion that the late actor-politician Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) deserves a posthumous Bharat Ratna. When asked about the same, he replied, I also believe NTR deserves a Bharat Ratna, just like MGR (MG Ramachandran). I hope the government considers it, and I look forward to it becoming a reality.

Upcoming work

Chiranjeevi is currently working on Mallidi Vassishtas socio-fantasy film Vishwambhara with Trisha Krishnan as his co-star. The films shooting is in progress and itll release for Sankranthi next year. Ram is shooting for Shankars Game Changer with Kiara Advani. He has also said yes to projects helmed by Buchi Babu Sana and Sukumar.
Heeramandi has become one of the most talked about OTT shows ever since its release. Although the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial received mixed reviews, yet the performances and grandeur have been lauded by cinephiles. Actor Ali Fazal recently took to his Instagram handle to congratulate his wife Richa Chadha on Heeramandi. (Also read: Heeramandi budget, cast fees revealed; know who got paid the most for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic show: Report) Ali Fazal praised Richa Chadha's performance in Heeramandi.

Ali Fazal gives thumbs-up to Heeramandi

Ali praised Richa for her acting skills while portraying Lajwanti (Lajjo) in the epic series. He shared a reel consisting of a series of pictures and video clips, featuring him and Richa. The couple appeared to be enjoying happy moments from film events, vacations, and their wedding photoshoots.

Ali captioned his post as, Only a fool would not take Lajjo and fly away !! ( Lajjo check) You are simply the best and i feel so lucky i get to share my notes with you in person .. congratulations partner on this mad success of #heeramandi . Youve risen way way way above the norm you always do. See you soon! @therichachadha !!

Richa Chadha reacts to Ali Fazal's fan post

Richa reacted to Ali's sweet post and wrote, Am lucky (heart emoji) luckiest girl alive (heart emoji) thank you. Saba Pataudi also commented, He's SO right!! (clapping and heart emojis) YOU Nailed it beautifully. FAB (perfect emoji) And more power to U!! Btw @alifazal9 I love the coat :)). Sutapa Sikdar wrote in her comment, Masha allah! How both of you are glowing!!! A netizen also commended on Richa's performance and posted, @therichachadha the heera performance of heermandi you were sooooooo good cant wait for you to share notes on how you cracked it . Keep inspiring (heart emoji).

About Heeramandi

Heeramandi's title is based on the red-light district called Heeramandi in Lahore, which is currently located in Pakistan. The series is set during the Indian independence movement in the 1920s-40s, under the British Raj. The narrative showcases the power struggle between courtesans, Nawabs, and British officials during the colonial era. Heeramandi is available for streaming on Netflix India.

Ali Fazal's upcoming projects

Ali will be next seen in the crime-action series Mirzapur 3. The show also features Pankaj Tripathi, Shweta Tripathi Sharma, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Shekhar Gaur and others in crucial roles. The series is expected to release in 2024.

Richa and Ali are also expecting their first baby this year.
OTT releases to watch this weekend: Theres a lot to pick from this weekend right in the confines of your home. From mystery thrillers to exciting adventures, theres something for everyone in various languages. Take a look at whats on offer this weekend on OTT platforms like Prime Video and SonyLiv. (Also Read: Heeramandi budget, cast fees revealed; know who got paid the most for Sanjay Leela Bhansali's epic show: Report) OTT releases to watch this weekend: From movies to shows, there's something for everyone.

Aavesham - Amazon Prime Video

Jithu Madhavans Malayalam film Aavesham tells the story of Aju (Hipzster), Bibi (Mithun) and Shanthan (Roshan), three young students who arrive in Bengaluru from Kerala to pursue aeronautical engineering. When they face issues due to the college bully Kutty (Midhutty), they seek the help of a famous gangster called Ranga (Fahadh Faasil) whom they meet at a bar. But what happens when they quest for vengeance backfires on them?

Undekhi (Season 3) - SonyLIV

Headlined by Harsh Chhaya, Surya Sharma, Anchal Singh, Ankur Rathee, Dibyendu Bhattacharya, and others, season 3 of this much-lived series continues to focus on the Atwals family, who are forced to reclaim their power. The shocking death of a dancer at a family event leads to chaos, and Papaji planning to announce his succession plans only adds to the melee.

Cooking Up Murder - Netflix

Catch up on a docuseries if thats more your style, and give movies and shows a skip. This new docuseries, Cooking Up Murder: Uncovering the Story of Cesar Roman, tells the tale of a Spanish chef who has been accused of using fake identities and a web of secrets to climb their way to success.

Doctor Who - Disney+ Hotstar

Ncuti Gatwa of Sex Education fame takes the mantle of being the new Doctor Who. He is the fifteenth doctor, leading this series helmed by Russell T Davies. Millie Gibson will be joining Ncuti as his companion, Ruby Sunday, on this time-traveling adventure.

Pretty Little Liars: Summer School - JioCinema

This edge-of-the-seat horror, thriller, drama is centered around a group of teenage girls whose lives are upended when a mysterious assailant begins tormenting them. If the name of the series sounds familiar, its because its adapted from the Sara Shepherd novels of the same name, which also inspired the hit TV series.
Telugu actor Vijay Deverakonda turned 35 on May 9 and his fans couldn't have asked for a better return gift on the actor's birthday as he announced his second collaboration with director Rahul Sankritriyan. The film, tentatively titled VD14, is expected to go on floors in September. We have learnt that the film's writing is over and has entered the pre-production stage this month. Vijay Deverakonda

Also Read: Vijay Deverakonda birthday: Decoding the Rowdy phenomenon

Talking to us, Rahul reveals that Vijay for the first time will be seen playing the role of a village boy. The actor has so far always played a city character and will be seen in a new avatar.

"This is a rural character, which people have never seen Vijay in a rural character before. Vijay has done all Urban characters so far. In this, you will see Vijay in a completely new avatar as a rural guy and that too as a Rayalseema guy. Rayalseema is a particular region in Andhra Pradesh, which has some exclusive characteristics to it. Be it the slang or weather conditions, the culture, everything is going to be very different," says Rahul.

The filmmaker further shares that Vijay will play the role of a horseman.

Particularly through this film, I will present the authentic Rayalseema culture, which I felt that being the guy from the same region. I don't think it has ever been portrayed in films correct aesthetically, says Rahul, adding that Vijay is currently undergoing hard training. "Be it the slang or body language, he's prepping to get it all right. Just like how we showed in the poster, he is a horseman in the film," he adds.

Vijay was last seen on the big screen in Family Star. Besides VD14, Vijay announced another project on his birthday. He will also be seen in director Ravi Kiran Kola's film, tentatively titled SVC59. He also gave an update about his film with Jersey director Gowtam Tinnauri, which is currently being shot in Vishakhapatnam.
Theres something particularly appealing about jetting off to a new destination under the summer (Tuscan) sun, whether it is waddling down European cobblestone sidewalks with a gelato or going to a burnout retreat somewhere scenic. As we dive into the peak summer, most travellers are either already escaping the extreme temperatures for somewhere sublime or the rest revelling in the exultant joy of travel planning when the temperatures start evening out. For the latter, we are rounding up some intriguing intel from online travel booking behemoths, predicting some of the most popular trends that dominate this summer. With countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka extending visa-free entry and more predicted to follow, cities across Southeast Asia are attracting the most number of Indian tourists.

Accommodation: Premium homestays are on the rise

While homestays observed a big boom in 2023, according to MakeMyTrips Summer Travel Trends 2024 report, an average rate of Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 7,000 per night continues to comprise of around 45% of all homestay booking. While this category continues to remain a budget, and not to forget more culturally immersive, options for Indian travellers, homestays, alongside villas are recording the highest growth for properties with tariffs around & over 20,000 per night

This indicative premiumization trend is highlighted further as the highest growth is being recorded in the Rs. 10,000 to Rs. 15,000 per night tariff category.

International tourism: South Asian destinations rival some newcomers

With countries like Thailand and Sri Lanka extending visa-free entry and more predicted to follow, cities across Southeast Asia are attracting the most number of Indian tourists. Phuket, Singapore, Bali, Bangkok, and Kuala Lumpur dominated MakeMyTrips Top 10 (international) search and booking trend category, nodding to their supremacy. Among the newcomers, Baku (Azerbaijan), Almaty (Kazakhstan), and Nagoya (Japan) are experiencing substantial growth in search querieswhich potentially can steal some of the footfall from popular cities.

Wellness: Trantra retreats, Vedic psychology and water-centric vacationing gain momentum

A notable 83% of travellers agree that proximity to water instantly induces relaxation, while 38% of Indian travellers express keen interest in water-centric vacations. As travellers embrace these water-centric experiences, a surge in activities like floating yoga, water sound baths and snow meditation can easily be anticipated.

Domestic destination: Goa continues to impress domestic and international visitors, Srinagar and Udaipur follow

Goas reputation as the leader among domestic destinations in the past years is poised to remain consistent, unveiled MakeMyTrip, followed by Srinagar and Udaipur in terms of the highest growth in searches as compared from Mar-Apr 2023 to Mar-Apr 2024. While Goa ticks all the essential summer travel check boxes for Indian travellers, its international appeal for sundowners became evident from Pinterests summer travel report 2024 which revealed a 270% in searches for Goa nightlife.

Gen Z spotlight: Marking their first paycheck for international travel and budget road-tripping with friends

While cost has been a determining factor for young travellers, many of todays Gen Z population are earmarking their first paycheck for a trip abroad. Skyscanner reveals an astonishing 81% choose to plan their first overseas adventure after landing their first job or receiving their first paycheck. Another wholesome trend that Pinterest spotted is Gen-zers inclination to forge deeper connections with friends through intimate, budget-friendly road trips, with searches growing for What do bring on a road trip (+66%), Places to go with friends list (+50%), Nature with friends (+50%) and more.

Europe on them mind: EU lures Indian travellers with the possibility of obtaining a 2 to 5-year visa

With the newest potential to obtain a multi-entry Schenegan visa, EU destinations are dominating summer itineraries. According to Skyscanner, Indian Gen Z travellers are drawn to Europe's vibrant cultures and historical landmarks, with over 40% listing it as their top destination. Europe is a highly aspirational destination and at Thomas Cook, we have been witnessing a strong 30% uptick in demand for Summer 2024. Indians are quintessential value seekers and with just one Schengen visa, the allure of a multi-country trip is hard to refuse!, said Rajeev Kale - President & Country Head, Holidays, MICE, Visa - Thomas Cook (India) Limited.
At least 12 Maoists were killed and two security personnel injured on Friday in a fierce encounter that lasted over eight hours in the jungles of Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, delivering a blow to the rebels in their core zone in the Bastar region, which is also used by their top leaders to escape into the neighbouring states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. The encounter is a sign of the continued push of security forces to take on insurgents, with the number of Maoists killed exceeding 100 already this year, thrice as much as 2023s full-year tally. Across Chhattisgarh, 21 civilians have been killed by Maoists already in 2024 compared to 41 killed in all of 2023. (ANI)

Officials said the encounter took place in a forest near Pedia village, which falls under Gangaloor police station, about 10km away from where security forces killed thirteen Maoists on April 2. It was carried out by a joint team of around 800 state police personnel, including the District Reserve Guard (DRG), special task force (STF), and Bastariya Batallion, as well as Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite guerrilla unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (COBRA). The operation was planned after an intelligence input indicated the presence of a prominent Maoist leader in the forests of Pedia.

We have information that 12 bodies of Maoists have been recovered so far from the encounter site and a combing operation is still going on, said deputy inspector general of police (south Bastar) Kamalochan Kashyap.

The encounter took place three days after polling for all 11 Lok Sabha seats in Chhattisgarh ended on May 7.

The operation was planned following an intelligence input of a prominent Maoist leader located in the forests of Pedia, approximately 55km from the district headquarters of Bijapur. A fierce encounter started with the Maoists around 9am after they fired at the security personnel. The encounter ended around 5pm, Kashyap said.

He added that the combing operation was still underway in the area and efforts were on to bring the bodies of the Maoists to the nearest security camp. Police also recovered at least 12 weapons from the encounter site, including a Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) launcher, a 12 bore rifle and multiple muzzle-loading rifles. The two security personnel who were injured have been shifted to Bijapur district hospital.

A senior police officer said the area is a core zone of Maoists in the Bastar region and is also part of an escape route used by top rebel leaders to escape from Chhattisgarh to Telangana and Andhra Pradesh during times of increased pressure from security forces. There was specific information about the presence of a senior commander after which a security team was sent. We will know whether a senior Maoist was killed once the identity is established most likely on Saturday, the officer said.

Fridays encounter is part of a clear uptick in aggression from security forces in Bastar in south Chhattisgarh since December 2023 when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) came to power in the state. At least 103 Maoists have been killed till May 10 this year alone, more than the 22 and 30 killed in all of 2022 and 2023, respectively. In the biggest anti-Maoist operation in recent decades, the security forced killed 29 rebels in Kanker district on April 16.

The operations have benefited from an infrastructure push since December last year that has seen the creation of 17 new forward camps in what are considered core Maoist-controlled areas. The camps have multifold benefits, officers have said. They have eased civilian outreach in these areas, allowed forces to react more quickly to intelligence inputs because they need less time to reach encounter spots, and facilitated easier intelligence gathering.

On April 22, Union home minister Amit Shah said that under Prime Minister Modis leadership a systematic campaign to end Maoism had taken place. At an election rally in Jharkhand on Friday, Shah said the BJP government at the Centre was conducting a decisive fight to end Maoism in the country.

But there have been repercussions of the new aggression on the ground. Across Chhattisgarh, 21 civilians have been killed by Maoists already in 2024 compared to 41 killed in all of 2023. Three of the civilians killed this year have been politicians associated with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Deputy chief minister and state home minister Vijay Sharma on Friday confirmed the encounter was carried out by a team of state police and central forces in the jungles of Pedia and warned that the rebels must lay down arms.

In the last month, a series of encounters was carried out by security forces. We are ready for talks with Maoists and we want the youths to put down their arms and take part in development activities. If the Maoists do not lay down their arms, they will be removed from Bastar, Sharma said.

Experts believe that the continuous encounter in the deep jungles of Bastar will definitely impact the ability of Maoists to recruit more people.

Pedia was once a hotbed of Maoists in Bastar. Senior leaders of Maoists used to conduct meetings in the Pidia jungle. Security forces conducting an operation in that jungle is a big achievement. I believe that these encounters will surely have an adverse impact on the recruitment drive of Maoists, said RK Vij, former director general of police in Chhattisgarh.
A special court in Maharashtra on Friday convicted two men for the murder of rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in Pune but acquitted three others, almost 11 years after the grisly crime shocked the country and sparked suspicions of a wider conspiracy targeting leftist activists, journalists and atheists. Rationalist Narendra Dabholkar. (HT PHOTO)

Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, who allegedly shot Dabholkar while he was on a morning walk in Pune on 20 August 2013, were sentenced to life imprisonment. The three other accused, Virendrasinh Tawade, Sanjiv Punalekar and Vikram Bhave, were acquitted for lack of evidence, said additional sessions judge PP Jadhav.

The murder of Dabholkar, a well-known anti-superstition crusader, was the first in a chain of similar killings of three other rationalists and activists: Communist Party of India leader Govind Pansare in Kolhapur in February 2015, Kannada-language scholar MM Kalburgi in Dharwad in August 2015, and journalist Gauri Lankesh in Bengaluru in September 2017.

But the acquittal of the men the investigators charged as the masterminds of the murder deals a blow to the investigation into the alleged wider conspiracy hatched by right-wing groups to target the four victims.

The judge said though Tawade was charged as the conspirator in the case and there was ample scope for suspicion, the prosecution failed to convert the suspicion into evidence, which is why he was acquitted of all charges. In the case of Bhave and Punalekar, even if there is scope for suspicion, there is no evidence, and therefore, both have been acquitted of all charges for want of evidence, the judge said

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which took over the case in 2014, had claimed that a long-standing enmity between Dabholkar  whose organisation Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra) often targeted fringe groups  and the right-wing Sanatan Sanstha was the motive behind the murder.

All five accused were linked to the Sanstha in CBIs charge sheet.

However, after the verdict was announced, the Sanatan Sanstha disassociated itself from Andure and Kalaskar, saying they are Hindutva activists but have never been involved with the organisation. The group admitted Bhave was a member, and alleged that Virendrasinh Tawade belonged to another right-wing organisation called Hindu Janajagruti Samiti, while Punalekar is an advocate who takes up cases of Hindutva activists.
Four people were arrested on Thursday after three men were killed in a gang war in Shivamogga, the police said on Thursday while suspecting the reason to be a deep-seated animosity. The incident took place on Wednesday evening near the Janata Mutton Stall in Lashkar Mohalla (File Photo)

Shivamogga additional SP Anil Kumar said the incident took place on Wednesday evening near the Janata Mutton Stall in Lashkar Mohalla. The deceased were identified as Shoeb (35), resident of Tunga Nagara, Mohammed Ghouse (30), resident of Doddapete in Shivamogga and Mohammed Yasin (36). Yasin succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment in Shivamogga city hospital.

Police said that Shoeb and Ghouse were hacked to death allegedly death by Yasins gang in Shivamogga city on May 8.

Kumar said: This incident took place due to an old rivalry. The gang of eight-ten people armed with lethal weapons came on five bikes and attempted to murder Yasin, who was near a mutton stall. In retaliation, Yasins gang attacked them, killing Ghouse and Shoeb. They occurred at around 6pm on Wednesday, and we have clues about the accused. Meanwhile, Yasin, who was seriously injured during the incident, died on Thursday evening.

An investigation into the matter is underway. Two separate cases were registered at Kote police station under IPC Section 302 (murder). We have arrested four people, and efforts are on to nab other accused, who are at large, he added.

The incident occurred within the jurisdiction of the Kote Police Station in Shivamogga.

Shivamogga district superintendent of police Mithun Kumar personally oversaw the examination of the crime scene, underscoring the seriousness with which authorities are treating the matter. BJP MLA and former home minister Araga Jnanendra visited the area where the incident took place.
New Delhi, An eight-year-old girl who was allegedly kidnapped from south Delhi was also sexually assaulted, police said on Friday. 8-year-old girl kidnapped from south Delhi was also sexually assaulted: Police

The accused in the case, Mohammad Umar , a resident of Mehrauli was arrested on Tuesday, police said.

After the girl was rescued and reunited with her family, she was sent for a medical examination where she told that Umar had sold her nose ring and bought her some clothes and some food items for himself, they said.

"She informed that the accused had changed her clothes and also sexually assaulted her once. Later, as per the mandate, the victim's medical examination was conducted at AIIMS. The MLC confirmed sexual assault and slight abrasion on the upper body," said the officer, adding that the victim hails from Nepal and can only recognise her mother in the family.

The matter came to light on May 6 when the police received a PCR call regarding the kidnapping of a girl from south Delhi. The police examined CCTV footage from Bapu Park, Uday Chand Marg, Kotla Mubarakpur, Gurudwara Road, South Extension -1, Pilanji village, and other places.

The accused was traced and nabbed from the slum area of Andheria Mod and the girl was rescued. During interrogation, he told the police that he crafts toys for kids and had come to Kotla to collect glass. He noticed the girl there and kidnapped her.

"Based on the investigation and local information, we found that the accused is not an offender or has any history. He has been staying in the same place for the past 15 years. But we are investigating the matter from every angle," police said.

As per the victim's family's complaint, an FIR was registered earlier under section 363 of the Indian Penal Code , they said.

"We have initiated the process of adding sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act " a police officer said.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
High decibel electioneering, tall claims, accusations and an all-out tussle for power have not been the hallmarks of elections in Odisha in the recent past. The ongoing assembly and Lok Sabha polls in the state have morphed into an exciting political battle that is drawing attention to the electoral exercise and evoking sharp response from people in the state. Naveen Patnaik is battling to retain power for the sixth time in the state. (Representative file photo)

With the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) putting up a spirited fight to retain power in the state for a sixth consecutive time and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have set its sights on wresting the state, the election campaign has piqued the interest of even those ambivalent to the polling exercise and the drama that ensues.

The voters who have been accustomed to low-key rallies, a chief minister who is known for speaking less are now witness to a campaign that has turned into a high voltage drama. On the one hand are BJPs big rallies addressed by fiery orators, grand road shows and aggressive canvassing and on the other are rallies with CM Naveen Patnaik, asserting his relevance and hold on the state. While he still does not speak much, his supporters as well as his opponents keep an eye out for his statement, usually a few words, that are released by is his trusted aide VK Pandian.

Also Read:All isnt well with BJD, the blame lies within

Political watchers in Odisha claim that the last time the state witnessed an intense clash between opponents and an electrifying contest was in 1990 when Biju Patnaik became the CM following the huge mandate that the Janata Dal-led combine won.

While the combine won 129, BJD alone won 123 seats in the 147-seat assembly, a record that remains unbeaten till date. The election catapulted Patnaik, a former pilot, into the league of political giants.

The next exciting contest was in 2000, when Naveen contested the first state election, after the formation of the Biju Janata Dal in 1997. While there was sympathy and affection for Biju Babus son, the governance deficit during the Congress years had created space for the entry of a new player.

The foreign-returned, French speaking Naveen Patnaik was far from the quintessential son of the soil. But his faltering Odia, charismatic disposition and earnestness saw him win the election with just 68 seats and put him on the path to becoming the longest serving CM.

Now in his silver years, Patnaik is battling to retain power for the sixth time. But the BJP, a former ally, is unsparing. A political watcher in the state quipped that the outcome would depend on whether Patnaiks popularity can withstand being dragged down by his aide Pandians unpopularity.
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi took a scathing jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday, claiming the latter has sought help from industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Referring to PM Modi's accusation that the Congress had been silent over the two industrialists because of an alleged clandestine deal, Gandhi said the BJP stalwart mentioned "Adani-Ambani" in his speech after ten years. Indian National Congress party leader and candidate for Raebareli constituency, Rahul Gandhi. (AFP)

"In 10 years, Narendra Modi never mentioned the names of Adani and Ambani. He gave thousands of speeches in 10 years but he never took their names. When someone gets scared, he takes the names of people who, he thinks, can save them," Rahul Gandhi said.

Rahul Gandhi said Narendra Modi took the name of his two friends because the INDIA bloc cornered him.

"So, Narendra Modi took the names of two of his friends (and said) - 'Save me, the INDIA alliance has cornered me, I am losing. Adani-Ambani, save me'," he said, mocking PM Modi.

Referring to PM Modi's charge that the Congress had accepted a tempo-load of money to keep mum, Rahul Gandhi said the BJP leader had personal experience with tempo.

"That is why Narendra Modi took their names. He even knows how Adani sends money in a tempo. The Prime Minister has personal experience of the tempo. Now, BJP, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will attempt to divert your attention. For the next 10-15 days they will try to divert your attention...Don't get distracted," he added.

Rahul Gandhi said Narendra Modi works for only 22 industrialists.

Gandhi was speaking at a rally in Kannauj -- from where Akhilesh Yadav is contesting the elections.

Earlier this week, referring to Rahul Gandhi's oft-repeated allegation of crony capitalism, Narendra Modi said Rahul Gandhi was soft on "Adani-Ambani" because of a secret deal.

"For five years, the Congress's Shehzada kept repeating one thing. But when the Rafale issue faded, he switched to targeting five industrialists, especially Ambani and Adani. However, once the elections were announced, he stopped attacking them. I want to ask from Telangana soil, let the Shehzada announce, how much has been lifted from Ambani-Adani. Has tempo loads of notes (currency) reached the Congress? What deal has been arrived at, that abusing Ambani-Adani has stopped overnight," he said.

With inputs from ANI, PTI
The festival of Akshaya Tritiya is being celebrated across India on Friday. Symbol of good luck, success and fortune, the auspicious day is celebrated by millions of Hindus and Jains. In Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on Friday, devotees offered prayers and took a holy dip in the Sarayu River on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.(REUTERS)

Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to X(formerly Twitter) and extended his wishes to the people of the country. He wrote, "Warm wishes to all the families of the country on Akshaya Tritiya. I hope that this auspicious occasion that inspires charity brings new energy and enthusiasm in the lives of all of you."

In Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya on Friday, devotees offered prayers and took a holy dip in the Sarayu river on the auspicious occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

ALSO READ| Bank holiday today: Are banks closed for Akshaya Tritiya 2024? Check city-wise list

How people celebrate Akshaya Tritiya

The word "Akshaya" means "never diminishing" and "Tritiya" refers to the third lunar day. The day is believed to bring good fortune and success. So people like to set up new businesses, perform marriage ceremonies, make investments like buying gold and real estate property on this day.

To mark the auspicious day, people offer prayers in temples, engage in almsgiving, and spiritual practices. In some parts of India, the day is also known as 'Akha Teej'.

Importance of Akshaya Tritiya

According to the Hindu calendar, Akshaya Tritiya is celebrated on the third day of the Shukla Paksha in the month of Vaisakh. It is believed that both the sun and the moon are at their planetary best alignment on this day.

As per the Hindu scriptures, the day marked the end of the Satya Yuga and beginning of the Treta Yuga. The festival of Akshaya Tritiya also marks the birth anniversary of Lord Parashurama, the 6th incarnation of Lord Vishnu who is a prominent God in the Hindu religion. To mark the occasion, thousands of people observe fast and pray Lord Vishnu to bring prosperity.

Hindus believe that on this day, during Mahabharata time when the Pandavas were forced to live in forests, Lord Krishna gave Draupadi a Patra (container) in which food appeared in large quantities.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has not only declared that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not return to power, but also gave a deadline to implement one of the key promises of his party  filling up 3 million vacancies in the government and public sector by August 15. Sunita Kejriwal, wife of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, greets people during a roadshow in New Delhi. (Sanchit Khanna/ HT Photo)

Gandhis announcement is aimed to boost the partys campaign and comes after he tried to counter the PMs charges that the Congress got tempo loads of cash from the Ambani and Adani groups. The Congress deadline also stems from the previous experience of announcing cut-off dates for rolling out sops in Karnataka and Telangana.

But today, all eyes would be on the Supreme Court whether it gives interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal.

Recruitment drive to start by August 15: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said the INDIA bloc, if voted to power at the Centre, will begin the process of filling up 3 million vacancies by August 15.

In a post on X, Gandhi said, Youth of the country! The government of INDIA is going to be formed on June 4 and we guarantee that by August 15, we will start recruitment for 30 lakh vacant government posts. Dont get misled by Narendra Modis false propaganda, stick to your issues. Listen to INDIA, Choose jobs, not hate.

Elections are slipping from his (PM Modi) hands. He has made up his mind to do drama in the next four to five days. He will divert your attention. Modiji had promised to deliver 2 crore jobs but in actuality he implemented wrong GST policies and demonetisation. Government is working for Adanis, we are pledging to start the process of filling 30 lakh vacant government jobs by August 15, he said in a video message.

Rahul continues to attack Modi over Adani

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday accused PM Modi of giving several infrastructure projects such as ports, airports and defence contracts to businessman Gautam Adani over the last 10 years, and promised to distribute money among the poor if the Opposition INDIA bloc is voted to power in the ongoing general elections.

Narendra Modi ji worked for people like Adani. For 10 years, Narendra Modi ji gave the countrys airports, ports, infrastructure, defence industry and all to Adani, the Wayanad MP alleged at an election rally in Medak parliamentary constituency of Telangana.

Gandhis remarks came a day after Modi at a poll rally in Telangana asked why the Congress MP had stopped abusing Adani and Ambani in his attacks and whether his party received maal (money) from them in return. Hours later, however, the Congress leader hit back and dared Modi to initiate a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to find whether businessmen Adani and Ambani sent black money to his party.

Arvind Kejriwal

The Supreme Court on Friday is likely to pass on order on the petition seeking interim bail for Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) national convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the liquor excise policy case. The top court, during the hearing on the petition on Tuesday, said it did not want Kejriwal to discharge his official duties if he was released on interim bail in view of the election. The court later reserved the order.

Haryana crisis: Opposition wants floor test, BJP says its ready

The Congress and the Jannayak Janata Party (JJP) on Thursday stepped up efforts to topple the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana and wrote to governor Bandaru Dattatreya even as chief minister Nayab Singh Saini exuded confidence about his administration being safe despite losing the backing of three independent lawmakers this week.

Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the Congress sought an appointment with the governor to apprise him about the current political situation and alleged that the BJP government was trying to indulge in horse-trading after being reduced to a minority.

On moral grounds, it (BJP) should resign. Presidents Rule should be imposed...we are demanding fresh elections in the state, he said.

Former deputy chief minister Dushyant Chautala wrote that it was evident that the incumbent government no longer commanded a majority in the legislative assembly.
The Supreme Court on Friday gave interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal who has been incarcerated since March 21. The Enforcement Directorate opposed the bail pleading there was no precedent of a person being released solely for election campaigning. Dismissing the argument, the apex court said the matter cannot be " put into a simple, straightjacket like that". Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal (AFP)(HT_PRINT)

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, passing the order, commented on ED's delay in arresting Arvind Kejriwal. The court also appeared to be questioning the timing of the arrest.

The Supreme Court pointed out that the Enforcement Directorate registered an ECIR against Arvind Kejriwal in August 2022 and he was arrested on March 21 this year.

"In August, 2022, ED registered ECIR...he was arrested in March...for 1.5 years he was there...arrest could have been afterwards or before, whatever it is. 21 days here or there should not make any difference," the court said, per Live Law.

The Supreme Court has ordered chief minister Arvind Kejriwal to surrender before the police and go back to jail on June 2.

Follow Live Updates

Arvind Kejriwal's counsel had urged the court to grant him bail till June 5. The court declined the request.

Shadan Farasat, the lawyer of Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal, said the court hasn't put any conditions on his campaigning.

"The court said they are releasing Mr Kejriwal on an interim release/bail until June 2, and there are no conditions on what he can say and what he cannot say during the campaigning process and while he is out in these 20-22 days. We are hoping that this order is uploaded today, and then we will update the appropriate procedure for his release," he said.

Arvind Kejriwal is in jail in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the liquor policy case. He was arrested after the Delhi high court refused to grant him protection from arrest saying the Enforcement Directorate had no other option but to arrest him because he hadn't been cooperating with the agency.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court said that Kejriwal wouldn't be allowed to work as the chief minister of Delhi if it were to release him on interim bail.

With inputs from PTI, ANI
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal came out of Tihar Jail seconds before 7pm on Friday after spending around 50 days in custody in a money-laundering case linked to the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy. Feeling very good being here. I said I will return soon. Here I am, Kejriwal, clad in a grey t-shirt, said to the cheers of his party workers  all prepped to welcome him. Thanking Lord Hanuman for the blessings, Kejriwal announced that he would visit Connaught Place's Hanuman Temple on Saturday at 11am and then hold a press conference at the party office at 1pm. Arvind Kejriwal's first address after coming out of Tihar jail. (Hemani Bhandari)

Arrangements were made at Tihar gate number 3 but Kejriwal was released from gate number 4 from where he came to gate no 3 and addressed the supporters.

As he reached his Civil Lines residence, he again interacted with his supporters and said he will join a rally on Saturday.

The Supreme Court granted interim bail to the Aam Aadmi Party convener in view of the Lok Sabha election. The Supreme Court passed the order of Kejriwal's interim bill around 2pm. The jail authorities processed the order once it reached the jail and after completing the formalities released Kejriwal.

According to the bail conditions, Kejriwal will not visit the CM office, or the Secretariat, will not discharge any chief ministerial duty and will come back to jail on June 2.

Here is the video of Kejriwal coming out of Tihar jail

I only have one appeal: Kejriwal's first speech outside jail

Kejriwal thanked Supreme Court judges for granting him interim bail. "I have only one appeal to all of you that we will have to save the country from dictatorship," Kejriwal said.

Kejriwal left Tihar in his own convoy and was accompanied by wife Sunita Kejriwal, daughter Harshita and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak.

Celebrations began among party workers after the interim bail order was given. AAP supporters distributed sweets, danced to dhol beats and raised slogans like "Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal ji choot gaye", "Modi ji ja rahe hain, Kejriwal ji aa rahe hain," and "Dekho dekho kon aaya, sher aaya sher aaya".
Arvind Kejriwal News Highlights: The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in connection with the money laundering case associated with the alleged Delhi excise policy scam. Earlier, the top court, during the hearing on the petition on Tuesday, said it did not want Kejriwal to discharge his official duties if he was released on interim bail in view of the election. The court later reserved the order....Read More

Also Read: Supreme Court says it may pass interim order on Arvind Kejriwal's bail on May 10

"Suppose we grant you interim bail on account of elections. Then if you say you will attend office, it may have a cascading effect. If we give you interim bail, we don't want you to perform official duties as somewhere it will lead to a conflict of interest. We don't want your interference at all in the working of the government," the bench told Kejriwal's counsel Abhishek Singhvi.

However, the Enforcement Directorate opposed Kejriwal's bail plea and said no leniency should be shown to Kejriwal because of the election and granting interim bail to him would amount to creating a separate class for politicians. It also filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court vehemently opposing any special treatment for political figures due to the ongoing general elections.

Also Read: ED opposes Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail

Kejriwal had been in judicial custody in Tihar Jail since his arrest on March 21. The Supreme Court issued a notice to the ED on April 15 concerning Kejriwal's plea and sought their response. On April 9, the high court upheld his arrest, citing his repeated refusal to join the investigation and attend summonses.

The matter pertains to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now-scrapped liquor excise policy for 2021-22.
The Supreme Court is expected to pronounce its verdict on Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail today. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal leaving a Delhi court. (PTI/File)

Earlier this week, a bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna, told the Enforcement Directorate's counsel, Additional Solicitor General SV Raju, that it may pass the order on interim relief to the Aam Aadmi Party chief on Friday.

Here are 10 points on Arvind Kejriwal's interim bail:

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court told Arvind Kejriwal's lawyer that if it were to give interim bail to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, he would not be allowed to work as the chief minister of Delhi. Arvind Kejriwal's lawyer told the court he would steer clear of files linked to the Delhi excise policy. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing ED, opposed the court's suggestion of the interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal. He questioned how a chief minister can be treated differently than a common man. "How can a chief minister be treated differently from an aam aadmi? There can't be any deviation only because he is a chief minister. Would campaigning for elections be more important?" he had told the bench. The agency said an interim bail to Kejriwal would set a wrong precedent. Earlier, the Supreme Court questioned the Enforcement Directorate for taking two years to probe the case. The Enforcement Directorate claimed in the court that Kejriwal had stayed in a 7-star hotel in Goa at the expense of a person who allegedly accepted illegal money for AAP's election campaign in the state. Arvind Kejriwal's counsel has raised an objection to the affidavit filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposing his interim bail. His legal team claimed the affidavit betrayed blatant disregard of legal procedures. Arvind Kejriwal moved the Supreme Court last month against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate, after the Delhi high court upheld the move saying the agency had no other option as the chief minister hadn't been joining the probe. AAP leaders, including Manish Sisodia, Arvind Kejriwal and Sanjay Singh, are accused of accepting kickbacks in return for formulating a liquor policy favourable to certain businessmen and politicians. The policy was scrapped in 2022 after Delhi LG VK Saxena recommended a CBI probe. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21, in connection with a money laundering probe linked to the Delhi liquor policy case. He is currently in Tihar Jail under judicial custody.

With inputs from ANI
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will increase the reservations of Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and end the one granted to Muslims in Telangana if it comes to power, Union home minister Amit Shah said on Thursday, adding that the Lok Sabha elections are a contest between vote for jihad and vote for vikas (development). Union home minister Amit Shah aalong with BJP Yadadri Bhuvanagiri candidate Boora Narsaiah Goud greet the gathering during a public meeting for the Lok Sabha Polls in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri on Thursday. (ANI)

Addressing a rally in Bhongir parliamentary constituency of Telangana, Shah accused the Congress of fighting elections by telling lies.

The Congress wants to fight elections by speaking lies. They say that if Prime Minister Narendra Modi comes, he will finish the reservation. Prime Minister Modi has been leading this country unanimously for the last 10 years, but he did not end the reservation. However, the Congress party has robbed the reservations of SC, ST and OBC by giving 4 per cent reservation to Muslims, he said.

Asserting that a vote for BJP in Telangana will help the BJP achieve its goal of 400 seats, he said: In 2019, the public of Telangana gave us four seats. This time, we will win more than 10 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana. This double-digit score in Telangana will make PM Modi cross 400 seats... Make BJP victorious on more than 10 seats. We will end the Muslim reservation and increase the reservation of SC, ST, and OBCs.

The BJP has repeatedly raised the issue of the existing Muslim reservation in Telangana, calling it unconstitutional. During a public meeting in March, chief minister A Revanth Reddy said that the ruling Congress in the state would protect the 4% reservation for Muslims in education and employment. Neither Shah nor Prime Minister Narendra Modi can scrap the 4% Muslim quota started by the then Congress CM, the late YS Rajasekhara Reddy, in the undivided state, he had said on March 15.

The former BRS government in the state had also refused to do away with the reservation amid criticisms from the BJP

The former BRS government in the state had also refused to do away with the reservation amid criticisms from the BJP. The 4% Muslim reservation is not on the basis of religion. That is on the basis of socio-economic status, then state minister KT Rama Rao said in November.

Voting for all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing elections, with the day of counting and declaration of results scheduled for June 4.

Taking a jab at the Congress, Shah said that the ongoing election is a war between two slogans  Vote for Jihad and Vote for Vikas (development).

He added: It is also a fight between the welfare of one family and welfare of the entire nation; between Prime Minister Narendra Modis Indian guarantee and Rahul Gandhis Chinese guarantee.

He further slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for not fulfilling his promise of granting a crop loan waiver for farmers. He promised to extend financial assistance of 15,000 to farmers but he didnt fulfil that. He promised education loans of 5 lakh to students without guarantee but he didnt. He didnt give a Scooty to girl students as promised, and he didnt open International Schools in every taluka, he said.

Asserting that Modi ji does what he says, but the guarantees of Rahul baba (Gandhi) dont last even till sunset, the Union minister said: The Congress party also halted the construction of Ram Mandir for 70 years. In just five years, PM Modi won the case, performed the Bhoomi Pujan and did the Pran Pratishtha ceremony... PM Modi abrogated Article 370 so that the Tricolour will keep flying high in Kashmir till eternity...

During the rally, Shah also referred to the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM), the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) and the Congress as ABC of appeasement.

These parties dont allow the celebration of Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17. These people want to run Telangana on the basis of Sharia and Quran, he said.

Since the formation of Telangana state in June 2014, the BJP has been demanding the celebration of September 17 as the Hyderabad Liberation Day stating that it was on this day that the Telangana region was liberated from the Muslim ruler Mir Osman Ali Khan, the seventh Nizam, and merged with India. The BRS government, however, celebrates it as Telangana Merger Day.

Taking strong exception to Shahs remarks, former MLC and Telangana Congress election management committee convener Kapilavai Dileep Kumar said that democracy would plunge into crisis if the BJP was voted to power again.

If the BJP gets 400 seats, it would usurp all the powers of the states and even control the gram panchayats. It would definitely do away with the reservations, he said.

Kumar, however, added that the BJP wont even get 200 seats. There is every possibility that the Congress would come to power at the Centre, he added.
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal will soon walk out of Tihar Jail as the Supreme Court has granted him interim bail till June 1. On June 2, Kejriwal will have to surrender and go back to jail as per the bail condition. Kejriwal's interim bail means he will be able to campaign for the Aam Aadmi Party and the INDIA bloc for the rest of the phases of the election. Delhi will go to the polls on May 25 and Punjab on June 1. Arvind Kejriwal gets 21-day interim bail which will end on June 1.(HT_PRINT)

Here's what Kejriwal can't do in these 21 days: Bail conditions

1. No CM duty: Kejriwal will not perform any duty of the chief minister of Delhi. He shall not visit the chief minister's office and Delhi Secretariat.

2. No comment on liquor probe: Kejriwal will not be able to make any comments about his role in the money laundering case linked to the Delhi excise policy in which he was arrested.

3. Surety bond: Kejriwal shall furnish bail bonds of 50,000 with one surety of the like amount for release from Tihar jail to the satisfaction of the jail superintendent.

4. Won't sign official files: Kejriwal will not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

5. Arvind Kejriwal will not interact with any witnesses or have access to official files connected with the case.

6. Kejriwal's interim bail will not be created as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case.

There is no restriction on Kejriwal's campaigning for election.

The Supreme Court said Kejriwal has not been convicted yet despite serious accusations being levelled against him. Interim bail of 21 days will not make any difference, the top court said as the Enforcement Directorate opposed to the interm bail saying that there is no precedence of a political leader getting bail for campaigning for the election. The Supreme Court said the holistic and libertarian view is justified in view of the Lok Sabha elections and Kejriwal with no criminal antecedents is not a threat to society.
The annual Char Dham Yatra 2024 began with the opening of Kedarnath temple on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya Friday. The ceremony was performed amid recital of bhajans and Har Har Mahadev chants at the revered shrine of Lord Shiva. Additionally, flowers were showered on the devotees standing in the queue by choppers. Portals of Chardham pilgrimages namely Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri and Yamunotri opened for public in May. (File)

Read here: Portals of Kedarnath Dham opened for devotees

Ahead of the opening of the temple, the abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers, according to the president of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple Committee.

Meanwhile, the doors of Yamunotri and Gangotri Dham will be opened later in the day while, the portals of Badrinath shrine will open to the public on May 12.

The online registration for the annual pilgrimage of the four holy shrines of Uttarakhand, commenced last month on the tourism department's portal, the officials said.

Every year, lakhs of devotees visit these high-altitude holy shrines, which remain shut for around six months during the winter months every year. The yatra usually commences from April/May to October/November.

The holy shrines hold profound spiritual significance in Hinduism. It is believed that one should pay obeisance at these temples in a clockwise direction. Hence, the pilgrimage starts from Yamunotri, proceeds towards Gangotri, onto Kedarnath, and finally ends at Badrinath.

Read here: Kedarnath Temple opening date announced

How to register for Char Dham Yatra?

The devotees can register themselves online on the designated website for the Char Dham Yatra of the Uttarakhand tourism department at registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in

1) Visit the official Char Dham yatra registration website at registrationandtouristcare.uk.gov.in

2) Click on the Register or login button.

3) Enter the required details including name, contact number, email id, etc.

4) Complete the registration by entering the OTP sent to the registered mobile number.

5) After this, a new dashboard would appear, where the individual can add details of tour such as travel dates, number of tourists, shrines to visit and more.

6) Once the registration is complete, a unique registration number will be sent to the registered mobile number, and further can download the registration letter for the Char Dham Yatra.

Other ways to register:

Apart from the website, the visitors can register themselves via the TouristCarer Tarakhand smartphone app. Another way to register is to text Yatra to 8394833833 on WhatsApp. The Department of Tourism has also offered a registration service by dialing the toll-free number 0135-1364.

The Uttarakhand Tourism Department has also set up registration counters in Rishikesh and Haridwar, where pilgrims may visit for offline registration. The pilgrims may visit any booth with the necessary paperwork, such as a voter ID, passport, Pan card, or Aadhar card.

About the shrines:

1. Yamunotri: The Yamunotri Dham shrine is located in a narrow gorge at an altitude of 3,293 metres close to the source of river Yamuna . The temple opens on Akshaya Tritiya (May) and closes on Yama Dwitiya (the second day after Diwali) for the winters. The actual source of the Yamuna is a little ahead of the temple at an altitude of about 4,421 metres.

2. Gangotri: Gangotri Dham, considered the origin of river Ganga (Gaumukh), is located on the right bank of the Bhagirathi at an altitude of 3,140 metres above sea level.

Read here: Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Gangotri Dham set to welcome pilgrims in May

3. Kedarnath: At a height of nearly 3,500 metres above sea level, Kedarnath, one of the 12 jyotirlingas of Lord Shiv, is located near the Mandakini river in Rudraprayag district.

4. Badrinath: One of the holy char dhams of Lord Vishnu, Badrinath is considered as Vaikunth (abode of Lord Vishnu) on Earth. Located at an elevation of around 3,100 m, in the Garhwal Himalayas, on the banks of the Alaknanda river, this sacred town lies between Nar and Narayana mountain ranges. The temple is believed to have been established by sage Adi Shankaracharya in the 8th century.
Bastar: Twelve Maoists were killed in gunfight with Chhattisgarh Police and security personnel in Bijapur district on Friday, officials aware of the matter said. (Representative Photo)

Officials said that the gunfight took place in a forest near Pidia village under Gangaloor police station limits when a team of security personnel was out on an anti-Naxal operation.

Police also recovered 12 arms, including a Barrel Grenade Launcher (BGL) launcher, one 12-bore rifle and muzzle-loading rifles from the incident spot. The bodies of the Maoists are yet to be identified, said officials.

According to officials, a joint team of state police, including the District Reserve Guard (DRG), Special Task Force (STF), Bastariya Batallion and Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and its elite guerilla unit Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) was out for operation on Thursday night.

The operation was planned following intelligence input from a prominent Maoist leader located in the forests of Pida, approximately 55 kilometres from the district headquarters of Bijapur. 12 bodies of Maoists have recovered so far from the encounter site and the combing operation will continue, said deputy inspector general of police, South Bastar, Kamalochan Kashyap.

The gunfight started at around 9am and lasted till 5pm on Friday, he added.

On April 16, the security forces gunned down 29 Naxalites in an encounter in the Kanker district of the state.

Including the recent killings, overall, 99 Maoists have been killed in the first four months of 2024 alone in gunfights with the security forces. Meanwhile, in counter-reaction from the Maoists, 21 civilians were killed by the insurgents in 2024, and 41 civilians were killed in 2023.

Deputy chief minister and state home minister Vijay Sharma congratulated the team and said, In the last month, a series of encounters were carried out by security forces. This time, the encounter took place in the jungles of Pidia. It was a successful encounter in Bijapur and I congratulate the security forces for the success.

He added that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government has a clear policy about the Maoists.

We are ready for talks with Maoists and we want the youths to put down their arms and take part in development activities. We want development in the interior villages of Bastar and if the Maoists will not lay their arms they will be removed from Bastar, said Sharma.

RK Vij, former director general of police, Chhattisgarh, said that the continuous encounter in the deep jungles of Bastar will have a deep adverse impact on the recruitment of Maoists.

Pidia was once a hotbed of Maoists in Bastar. Senior leaders of Maoists used to conduct meetings here. Security forces conducting an operation in that jungle is a big achievement. I believe that these encounters will surely have an adverse impact on the recruitment drive of Maoists, said Vij.
NEW DELHI: Chinas new ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, who arrived in New Delhi on Friday to fill a position that was vacant for nearly 18 months, has said he will work to deepen understanding and friendship between the two sides and restore cooperation in various fields. Xu Feihong noted that it was a great honour to be appointed by President Xi Jinping as Chinas envoy to India, and said the two countries are important neighbours (X/China_Amb_India)

Xus remarks, made in an interview with Chinas state-run CGTN news channel, came against the backdrop of the military standoff in Ladakh sector of the Line of Actual Control (LAC) that has taken bilateral ties to a six-decade low. The relations are yet to recover from the fallout of a brutal clash between border forces of the two sides at Galwan in June 2020 that killed 20 Indian soldiers and at least four Chinese troops.

The Chinese embassy was without an envoy since October 2022, the longest such gap in ambassadorial postings since 1976, reflecting the downslide in relations.

HT first reported that Xu, 60, could arrive in New Delhi as early as mid-May.

On his arrival in New Delhi, Xu was greeted at the airport by officials from the protocol division of the external affairs ministry, the dean of the diplomatic corps, Ambassador Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam of Eritrea, Chinas charge daffaires Ma Jia and other diplomats from the Chinese embassy.

Asked during the CGTN interview about his priorities, Xu referred to the consensus forged by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and President Xi Jinping and said he will work to enhance understanding and trust between the two sides, restore exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and create favourable conditions for a sound and steady bilateral relationship.

I will do my best to deepen understanding and friendship between the two peoples, expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields and improve and advance the bilateral relationship, Xu said, adding that he hoped to have the support of the Indian government.

Xus remarks were devoid of any mention of the border standoff, which has resulted in India and China arraying more than 50,000 troops each in Ladakh sector. After dozens of rounds of diplomatic and military talks, the two sides havent been able to address friction points at Demchok and Depsang, where troops remain deployed close to the LAC. Earlier, the talks resulted in troops being withdrawn from the north and south banks of Pangong Lake, Gogra and Hot Spring.

The Indian side has linked the situation on the LAC to the overall bilateral relationship, with external affairs minister S Jaishankar saying there cannot be normalisation of ties without peace and tranquillity on the border. He has also accused China of violating several agreements and protocols on border management.

In marked contrast, Chinas leadership has said the border issue should be placed in its appropriate place in the overall ties while the two sides take forward relations in other areas such as trade.

Xu noted that it was a great honour to be appointed by President Xi as Chinas envoy to India, and said the two countries are important neighbours and the worlds biggest emerging markets. As President Xi Jinping said, if China and India speak with one voice, the whole world will listen. If the two countries join hands, the whole world pays attention, he said.

Responding to a question on how he sees bilateral relations going forward in light of frequent mentions of China-India strategic rivalry in the neighbourhood and beyond, Xu said Xi and Modi had agreed that both countries are cooperation partners, not competitors, and we reached an important common understanding that our two countries are each others development opportunities, not threats. This, he said, should serve as fundamental guidelines for the growth of bilateral ties.

Xu said the world today is facing profound changes and multiple global challenges such as climate change, food and energy crisis, and weak economic recovery. China and India hold similar positions on these issues and closer communication and coordination on global and regional affairs will not only bring opportunities to both countries and to the world, but also add stability and positivity to international relations, he added.

It is not yet clear when Xu, the 17th Chinese ambassador to India, will present his credentials to the President.

Xu, a member of the Chinese Communist Partys committee of the foreign ministry and an assistant minister of foreign affairs, has served as 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.
New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday criticised Congress over its senior party leader Mani Shankar Aiyars remarks praising Pakistan and said that Congress had become an apologist of Pakistan and Pakistan-based terror. (Representative Photo)

Slamming the Congress for its party leaders remarks, BJP leader and Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, Be it Mani Shankar Aiyar or Sam Pitroda, it shows a pattern of the Congress ideology and policies. Rahul Gandhis Congress party has become an apologist for Pakistan, and Pakistans terrorism. Today again there will be an attempt from Congress to distance themselves from Mani Shankar Aiyars remarks.

Aiyars statement suggesting that India should engage in diplomatic dialogue with Pakistan, respecting its nuclear capabilities, sparked controversy.

In a video clip of his interview with YouTube channel Chill Pill which went viral, Aiyar can be heard saying that Pakistan is a sovereign and respected nation and India must engage in dialogue with it.

India should give respect to Pakistan as it has an atom bomb! If we dont give them respect, theyll think of using an atom bomb against India, he had said.

He said that if India started respecting Pakistan, they would not think about detonating a bomb.

Responding to this, Chandrasekhar said, Aiyar is doing Public Relations (PR) for Pakistan. He is suggesting that India should be fearful of Pakistan and respect Pakistan. This is the new Bharat. It will not be scared by anyone.

Chandrasekhar further alleged that the Congress party is taking support from Pakistans terror-linked political parties like the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) and Popular Front of India (PFI) in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The Pakistani foreign minister has also officially recently supported Rahul Gandhi, he added.

I say with all the responsibility in my command that the Congress party today acts like, behaves like, talks like an apologist of Pakistan and Pakistan-based terror, and Mani Shankar Aiyars statement is one clinching evidence of this pattern of Congress behaviour towards Pakistan, Chandrasekhar said.

Meanwhile, distancing itself from Aiyars remarks, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that Aiyar does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever.

Also Read: Unacceptable: Congress distances itself from Sam Pitrodas racist remark

The party and indeed the entire nation recalls with pride that in December 1971 Pakistan was broken and on May 18, 1974, Indias nuclear capability, Khera added.

Congress also said that the interview given by Aiyar was several months ago, which surfaced recently and alleged that the revival of the video was an attempt by the BJP to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modis daily goof-ups.

Khera shared a clip from the external affairs minister S Jaishankars interview with Smita Prakash and alleged that Jaishankar is advising India to be afraid of China. In the clip, Jaishankar can be heard saying that China is a bigger economy and we as a smaller economy, shall we go pick a fight with them?

Aiyar dismissed the resurfacing of the video featuring his remarks on Pakistan, stating that it is an old video being circulated to distract as the BJPs election campaign falters. The Congress veteran pointed out that it was filmed several months ago and refused to engage in the BJPs game.
The Congress is engaged in a conspiracy to eliminate the Hindu faith, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said a Lok Sabha an election rally in Nandurbar, Maharashtra on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses a public meeting for the Lok Sabha elections, in Nandurbar, Maharashtra, on Friday.(PTI)

He accused the Congress of spreading lies regarding job reservations and the Constitution.

Religion-based quotas

Raising the issue of religion-based quotas, he said such measures were against the intentions of the architect of the constitution, Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar. Providing quota benefits on basis of religion is against the very values and principles enshrined in the Indian Constitution, he said.

The hidden agenda of the Congress is to rob you of your quota and give it to Muslims, Modi told the crowd at the Lok Sabha election rally in Nandurbar.

The Congress government in Karnataka included all Muslims in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category overnight and gave them reservation, he said.

He also said Congress never bothered about welfare of Adivasis.

Prime Minister Modi's ruling BJP has repeatedly accused the Congress of being anti-Hindu and appeasing Muslims.

The latest such exchange came after a study conducted by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) showed a decline of nearly 8% in the share of Hindus in the overall population from 1950 to 2015, and an increase of 43% in the proportion of Muslims during the same period.

The Prime Minister has in past spoken out against religion being the basis of providing reservations.

In an interview with Times Now, the Prime Minister said that the poor in the country include all Hindus, Christians, and Parsis and all should get the benefits of reservations.

"I have never said that Muslims won't get reservations. All I'm saying is that religion cannot be the basis of providing reservation. Poor in the country include all Hindus, Christians, and Parsis; all should get the benefits of reservations. Dalits and tribals for long have faced injustice for thousands of years, and there is a special reason that the makers of our constitution have taken the right decision, and we are grateful for that. No political party opposes this," the PM said.

Modi was campaigning in support of his party's candidate and Member of Parliament (MP) Dr Heena Gavit in Nandurdar. Gavit defeated Congress candidate and former state minister KC Padavi in the Last Lok Sabha election. This time, she is aiming to become a three-time winner from Nandurbar.
Union Home minister Amit Shah has slammed the Congress party and INDIA bloc leaders for their remarks against Indian interests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. Recently, Jammu & Kashmir National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah warned India about Pakistan's nuclear weapons before considering any move to take back PoK. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has also made remarks on PoK. Union Home Minister Amit Shah (PTI)

"Today Mani Shankar Aiyar is threatening us, he is asking us to respect Pakistan because they have an atomic bomb. A few days ago, Farooq Abdullah asked us to not talk about PoK because Pakistan has an atomic bomb," said Amit Shah while addressing a public rally in Jharkhand's Khunti.

"I want to tell INDI alliance leaders that PoK belongs to India and no one can take it away from us. Instead of talking about integrating PoK with India, Congress threatens us with an atomic bomb... Our Parliament has passed a proposal with majority votes that PoK is a part of India. By talking about the atom bomb, they are questioning PoK. BJP's stand is very clear. Every inch of land of POK belongs to India and it shall remain so," said Shah.

ALSO READ| Mani Shankar Aiyar's respect Pakistan remark prompts BJP's Rahuls ideology' jab

National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah reacted to defence minister Rajnath Singh's assertion of taking back PoK from Pakistan. Abdullah warned that Pakistanis were not wearing bangles and possessed atom bombs which would be used against India.

On Friday, remarks of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar on PoK went viral. In a video clip, Aiyar urged India to respect Pakistan as the latter possessed nuclear bomb. He warned that if India didn't respect Pakistan, they would think of using atom bomb against India.

They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a madman decides to drop a bomb on Lahore, it wont take eight seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar, said Mani Shankar Aiyar.
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Thursday stopped the YS Jagan Mohan Reddy-led government in Andhra Pradesh from disbursing over 14,000 crore in direct benefit transfer (DBT) to the beneficiaries of various welfare schemes till May 13, when the southern state will go to simultaneous Lok Sabha and assembly elections. The YSR Congress party (YSRCP) has expressed deep concern over the continued obstruction of Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) schemes by the Election Commission. (PTI)

The Commission came to know that the state government is contemplating to disburse assistance to the beneficiaries, by transferring funds to banks on May 11 and 12, which is very close to the date of polling, that is May 13. It may overlap with Silence Period under Section 126 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, ECI undersecretary Sanjay Kumar said in a communication to states chief secretary KS Jawahar Reddy.

Kumar said it had come to the commissions notice that the YSR Congress Party-led government was contemplating crediting 14,165.66 crore into the accounts of the beneficiaries of six DBT schemes on May 10 and 11 even though the amount was released long ago.

The ECI official pointed out that Jagan had released an amount of 6,394 crore under YSR Asara scheme on January 23 with a click of the button; 78.53 crore under YSR Kalyanamasthu and Shaadi Tohfa on February 28; 708.68 crore under Jagananna Vidya Deevena on March 1; 1,294.59 crore towards farmers input subsidy on March 6; 5,060.49 crore under YSR Cheyutha on March 7; and 629.37 crore under YSR EBC Nestham on March 14.

It is clear from the dates provided that these announcements of fund transfers under six schemes were in public function by pressing of the button, much prior to the model code of conduct (MCC) was imposed on March 16, Kumar said.

Under a DBT scheme, funds generally get transferred to the beneficiaries within 24 to 48 hours. The official said that ECI received specific inputs and complaints that the Jagan government had not transferred the money to the beneficiaries under the aforesaid schemes, though the DBT assistance was announced much before the imposition of model code of conduct.

The Commission felt that the transfer of money, which should have been actually transferred much prior to imposition of MCC as announced publicly by the government, now very close to poll day is violative of provisions of MCC, Kumar said, adding the disbursement of money at this stage had the propensity to influence the level playing field and will benefit the party in power.

According to the model code, the party in power, whether at the Centre or in the state, shall not use its official position for the purposes of its election campaign. The MCC guidelines also mandate that from the time the elections are announced by the ECI, ministers and other authorities shall not announce any financial grants in any form or promises thereof.

However, the benefits to eligible beneficiaries shall not be held up for longer, although the state government has delayed it by roughly five months also, Kumar said.

The official further asked the state government to provide factual status on the inputs received to the ECI, along with reasons for delay in actual transfer explained in clear terms by May 10.

The government must ensure that much delayed transfer of funds to banks for onwards transfers of benefits to eligible beneficiaries under above mentioned six schemes are not delayed till end of poll process on June 6, Kumar said. Also, to maintain level field, it shall be ensured that said proposed transfers, if any, be done after May 13.

The YSRCP expressed deep concern over the continued obstruction of DBT schemes by the EC. The YSRCP strongly objects to the reasons provided by the EC.

In a statement, the party said as per the records, a total amount of 14,169 crore is earmarked for disbursement across six schemes. Out of this,  4,737 crore has already been successfully deposited directly into the accounts of the intended beneficiaries. However, the remaining  9,432 crore is currently being withheld by the EC due to complaints filed by the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), it said.
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a fresh charge sheet before a Delhi court in the excise policy-linked money laundering case, naming BRS leader K Kavitha as accused. Reports suggest that the prosecution complaint has been filed before Delhi Rouse Avenue Court under sections 45 and 44(1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). Bharat Rashtra Samithi leader K Kavitha named as accused in fresh charge sheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate.

A similar complaint against Delhi chief minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal is expected to be filed next week, reported PTI.

Read: SC releases Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail, tells him to surrender on June 2

This is the sixth supplementary charge sheet by the ED in this case in which it has arrested 18 people so far including AAP leader and former Delhi deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh and others. Sanjay Singh was granted regular bail sometime back.

The court will hear the arguments of the probe agency on the issue of taking cognisance of the seventh chargesheet on May 13.

The ED filed its money laundering case on August 22, 2022, taking cognisance of the CBI FIR that was lodged on August 17, 2022.

Read: Arvind Kejriwal bail: What Supreme Court said on timing of AAP chief's arrest

The central probe agency arrested Kejriwal from his official residence here on March 21 under the PMLA while K Kavitha, the MLC daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was taken into custody from Hyderabad on March 15.

The Supreme Court said on Friday granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 while imposing a slew of restrictions on him as part of the bail conditions.

The court asked Kejriwal to not sign any official file unless absolutely necessary to obtain the Lieutenant Governor's sanction during the 21-day interim bail period.

A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, "He shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat."

"He shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi," the top court said.
NEW DELHI: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed a fresh charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy probe, naming K Kavitha, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader and daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao, as an accused among other alleged associates, people familiar with the development said. BRS leader K Kavitha was arrested in March in the alleged Delhi liquor policy case and is in judicial custody (PTI FILE)

Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was granted interim bail on Friday, has not been named in the latest charge sheet  seventh in the case so far by ED. Officials said a separate supplementary , charge sheet will be filed against Kejriwal by next week.

Kavitha was arrested on March 16 from her residence in Hyderabad. Five days later, on March 21, the financial crimes probe agency also arrested Kejriwal alleging that a conspiracy was hatched by him, Kavitha and former deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia to benefit a South Group of businessmen and politicians in the Delhi excise policy 2021-22. She is currently lodged in Tihar jail.

Also Read: SC releases Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail, tells him to surrender on June 2

The federal agency alleges that Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leaders received around 100 crore in bribes from the South Group and that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal used his position to utilise proceeds of crime worth about 45 crore in AAPs election campaign in Goa in 2022.

The charge sheet against Kavitha, officials stressed, has been filed under sections 45 and 44 (1) of prevention of money laundering act or PMLA before a special court in Delhi within the stipulated period of 60 days from her arrest.

The court will hear arguments on cognisance of charge sheet on May 13.

Apart from her, others named in the charge sheet include Chanpreet Singh, who allegedly managed AAPs funds sourced from kickbacks in excise policy during the Goa assembly elections 2022; Damodar Prasad Sharma and Prince Kumar (employees in a firm allegedly used for routing of funds) and Arvind Kumar Singh (creative head of India Ahead news channel). These four individuals were earlier named in a charge sheet filed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is conducting a parallel corruption probe in the excise policy in July 2023.

ED has so far arrested 18 accused persons including AAP leaders Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Sanjay Singh and BRS leader K Kavitha; filed seven charge sheets against 34 individuals and entities; and submitted thousands of documents as evidence in the court in the excise policy probe.

An ED officer said K Kavitha orchestrated a deal with CM, Delhi  Arvind Kejriwal and then deputy CM and the excise minister, Manish Sisodia, wherein she, along with other members of the South Group, paid them kickbacks through a string of intermediaries and middlemen. In exchange for kickbacks paid to the leaders of AAP, Kavitha had access to the policy formulation and was offered provisions to ensure a favorable position to her.

According to ED, there was a conspiracy by some of the big political leaders of various political parties to use proxies, dummies and web of exchanges/transactions to conceal their involvement.

The South Group comprising of businessman Sarath Reddy, politician Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and K Kavitha got nine zones out of 32 in Delhi under new excise policy. The policy was brought out with an extraordinarily high 12% profit margin for wholesalers and almost 185% profit margin for the retailers. As a scheme, 6% out of the 12% margin was to be collected back from the wholesalers as kickback to the leaders of AAP, ED has alleged.

The South Group, however, paid this kickback of 100 crore in in advance to Vijay Nair (AAPs then communications in-charge), who was managing this scheme and conspiracy on behalf of the leaders of the AAP, according to a second officer. In lieu of this advance kickback payment, Nair ensured the South Group secured stakes in wholesale businesses as they had no hold/base in Delhi liquor business.

The Delhi governments 2021-22 excise policy aimed to revitalise the citys flagging liquor business. It aimed to replace a sales-volume based regime with a license fee one for traders, and promised swankier stores, free of the infamous metal grilles, ultimately giving customers a better buying experience. The policy also introduced discounts and offers on the purchase of liquor, a first for Delhi.

The plan, however, came to an abrupt end, with Delhis lieutenant governor Vinai Kumar Saxena recommending a probe into alleged irregularities in the regime. This ultimately resulted in the policy being scrapped prematurely and being replaced by the 2020-21 regime, with AAP alleging that Saxenas predecessor sabotaged the move with a few last-minute changes that resulted in lower-than-expected revenues.
Beed: Close your eyes and conjure the image of an Indian village with Dickensian poverty, and you may find yourself at Kathoda, 28 kilometres from the unremarkable town of Beed in Marathwada. Arid ridges of dried up mud mark the agricultural fields, and travelling on the unpaved roads can take anything up to an hour-and-a-half to traverse 20 kilometres. The only spot of colour under the harsh sun are the blue-and-black and pink-and-yellow plastic water drums and containers that line the roads, a testament to Marathwadas acute water scarcity. Unrest among the regions sizeable Dalit and Muslim voters and the consolidation of the Maratha votes have suddenly turned the contest in parched Beed into a high-stakes poll battle. (Raju Shinde/ht)

The dams are dry, the reservoirs are dry and every morning the district magistrates despatch one tanker of brackish water to each village of 200 families and above. The highlight of the day then is how much water a family can collect for themselves. Last monsoon as against the average rainfall of 566 mm, Marathwada received only 409.3 mm.

Full coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024

Of the eight dams and reservoirs that supply drinking water to Beed district, four have no water, two have less than 3.57% of water stock while the remaining two have 13.43 and 22.04% of the water stock. With the monsoon another five weeks away, farmers are struggling to avail fodder and water for their cattle, says Dwarkatai Waghmare, a resident of Kathoda. In her early 50s, Dwarakatai was a sugar cane cutter until a few years ago. The village of about 200 families has over 70 koyatas (pairs of cane cutters) who migrate to sugarcane fields in western Maharashtra for six months of the year for harvesting. Over 60% of cane cutters who work in the sugar bowl of Maharashtra are from Beed.

Dwarkatai draws up a list of issues that impact their daily life  from lack of health care and education facilities to scarcity of water and large-scale migration of the male folk. But the big issue in this election for her is something else, she says, pointing to a photograph of Dr BR Ambedkar hanging inside her house. She is convinced that BJP, should it win handsomely, will scrap the Constitution.

The Constitution gave us the right to live with dignity. It has given us the reservation for which other castes are now struggling even years after Independence. The government has shut down zila parishad schools affecting our fundamental right to education. We will keep all this in mind when we go to vote on May 13, she says fiercely, utterly convinced by the secret message behind the BJPs Abki baar 400 paar (This time, well cross 400) slogan.

The real issues of unemployment, education, atrocities against cane-cutters have all taken a backseat, says Ashok Tangade of Jagar Pratisthan, a non-governmental organisation that works for social equality. The election will be fought on the issue of caste and religion instead.

The Beed Lok Sabha constituency was the BJPs stronghold in senior leader Gopinath Mundes lifetime.

Munde, a Wanjari tribal, and Pramod Mahajan, a brahmin, were the two men responsible for the rise of the BJP in what was once a Congress-minded state. His younger daughter Pritam is the sitting MP from Beed but was ditched by the party this time, in favour of his elder daughter Pankaja.

His nephew Dhananjay is an MLA from Nationalist Congress Party, Ajit faction, and is a sitting minister in the state government. While the compulsions of the ruling coalition mean that her cousin will support her campaign, fact also is that the two cousins are estranged especially after Dhananjay Munde contested against her in the 2019 assembly elections and defeated her, which resulted in long political wilderness. In addition to the ambiguity between the two cousins, Pankaja Munde is also dogged by reports of her sister Pritams so-called non-performance as MP that led to the BJP replacing her.

The central leadership was not happy with the performance of the sitting MP who failed to utilise her funds. The implementation of the central schemes was poor and she failed to implement infrastructure projects in the constituency as well, said a BJP leader from the district, requesting anonymity.

Unrest among Beeds sizeable Dalit and the Muslim voters and the consolidation of the Maratha votes have suddenly turned the Beed contest into a challenging one for Pankaja Munde. She is up against Bajrang Bappa Sonawane, a Maratha from the NCP-Sharad Pawar faction.

The Maratha community, which accounts for about 700,000 voters in the constituencymainly comprising cane cutters, farm and construction labourers who struggle financially. For years they stood by the Munde family but this year, for the first time, they have consolidated as a vote bank after Manoj Jarange-Patils 8-month-long reservation stir, says an NCP (SP) leader from the district.

Across the state that sends the second-highest number of parliamentarians to the Lok Sabha, the unrest among the regions most-dominant community  Marathas make up about a third of the states population and a majority of the states chief ministers have come from the group  is among the biggest issues in these elections. This discontent is directly connected to the years-long agitation for the Maratha quota that appeared to have come to a head last year. And nowhere is this dichotomy more apparent than in Beed, once considered among the strongholds of the BJP but where the partys campaign appears to be stuck between the demands of the Maratha community and the consequent anger among another vote bank of the party  the other backward classes (OBCs)

The Maratha stir

The demand for quotas by Marathas is decades old, but in 2018, the state government granted 16% reservation in the face of sweeping protests that paralysed the state and saw large marches from the hinterland to Mumbai. It was later slashed to 13% in jobs and 12% in education by the Bombay high court. But in 2021, the Supreme Court quashed the move.

The current crisis began last year, when protesters demanding OBC status for Marathas was lathicharged by the police in Jalna  the site of the hunger strike by Jarange-Patil. Under pressure, chief minister Eknath Shinde announced that Marathas from the central Maharashtra region can access reservation under the OBC category if they produce a certificate from the Nizam era classifying them as Kunbi.

But the order  which opened the window for quotas for the community  left all sides unhappy. The Maratha groups said they wanted reservations without any stipulation, and not just for the eight central Maharashtra districts. The OBC and Kunbi groups feared their quotas would be eaten into by the fresh entrants.

Kunbis get reservation in the OBC category while Marathas come under the general category. Jarange-Patil and some Maratha outfits say that until the Nizam rule was dismantled in September 1948 in central Maharashtra, the Marathas were considered Kunbis, and were effectively OBCs.

Jarange-Patil, who is not contesting the elections but is addressing some rallies, has repeatedly gone on hunger strike, but has been convinced by the government to call it off each time. At the heart of the crisis is the fact that many Marathas feel that their political dominance isnt matching their social and economic status, and are resentful of the advances made by some other communities.

But the flare-up of emotions and protests among the Marathas has also sparked strong consolidation from other communities, especially OBC groups who have dug in their heels. This has meant some embarrassing moments for the BJP, which is managing an unwieldy coalition of three parties in Maharashtra as Maratha and OBC leaders within the government have publicly sparred. OBC leaders have organised their own protests, saying they wont give up their share of reservation for anyone else and the government should consider giving the Maratha quota from the open category.

This fault line is deep in Beed. If the Lok Sabha constituency has 700,000 Maratha voters, there are also 900,000 OBC voters, including 375,000 Wanjari voters from Mundes own community, 275,000 Muslim voters and another 250,000 scheduled caste (SC) voters.

Stirring this pot was Prime Minister Narendra Modis campaign speech this week, where he said the Congress and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) will cancel reservations and give them to Muslims, a claim that has greatly upset local Muslims who have traditionally voted for the Munde family.

The PMs reference to the inclusion of Muslims among the OBC categories in neighbouring Karnataka, ruled by the Congress, has also upset the Marathas who have been seeking reservation under the OBC quota on similar grounds, said local political analyst Vasant Beed. However, Modis speech could also see a consolidation of OBCs and forward class voters who account for over 9 lakh votes in the constituency and this could help Munde, he added.

Everything has become muddied, complains Beed-based advocate KS Pandit who is affiliated with the Congress. If the Marathas and Muslims are disturbed over the issue of reservation being raked up, the scheduled caste voter is anxious over the perception that the BJP would change the Constitution to drop reservation altogether. Voters are also upset about the stranglehold over power and resources by one family and their community, the Wanjaris, he added.

Pankaja Munde said she was confident of defending her family turf.

Modijis rally was a grand success, it will help me win by a big margin, she said. While it is true that the consolidation of a particular community (Marathas) is an issue in this election, they also know that I have always stood for their interest, she added.

Mundes optimism also stems from the fact that five of the six sitting MLAs in Beed Lok Sabha constituency, including Dhananjay Munde, are from the ruling alliance. The sole MLA who supports her opponent Sonawane is the Beed MLA Sandeep Kshirsagar from NCP (SP). The sitting MLAs control cooperative sector organisations with which thousands of voters are associated. This gives an edge to the candidate who has the support of maximum MLAs, said Vasant Munde.

But Manish Tokale, president of Jagar Pratishthan, has a different view. Usually that may be the case but in this particular election, people have been telling the sitting BJP and NCP (Ajit Pawar) MLAs to not force them to vote for their candidate. The voters have seemingly made up their mind on the basis of caste and religious equations, he says.

Mundes opponent Bajrang Sonawane turns the argument around and says any campaigning on caste and religious lines is being done by her and the BJP. They have done nothing in the last ten years. People are upset, farmers are upset, and the Marathas are upset. Pankaja tai may be the daughter of a tall leader, and may have legacy on her side, but my father was a farmer and I too proudly represent that legacy.

This is the 22nd in a series of election reports from the field that look at national and local issues through an electoral lens.
Xu Feihong, China's new ambassador to India, arrived in New Delhi after an 18-month vacancy in the position. In his remarks to CGTN, Xu pledged to deepen understanding and friendship between India and China and restore cooperation across various fields. His appointment follows a period of strained relations, exacerbated by the Ladakh standoff. He highlighted shared interests in global challenges and expressed optimism for enhanced communication and coordination. Xu's appointment signifies efforts to recalibrate China-India relations amidst regional dynamics. Dig deeper Xu Feihong noted that it was a great honour to be appointed by President Xi Jinping as Chinas envoy to India, and said the two countries are important neighbours (X/China_Amb_India)

More news on India-China ties: India set to deploy 3 Naval ships to South China Sea, vessels reach Singapore

The Trinamool Congress (TMC) plans to approach the Election Commission of India (ECI) against Rekha Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women (NCW) following the sting video on Sandeshkhali that surfaced on May 4. While the NCW urged action against TMC workers for threatening women, the TMC accuses the BJP of orchestrating the controversy. Sandeshkhali has been embroiled in allegations of sexual assault involving TMC members, leading to arrests and investigations, with political rhetoric intensifying ahead of elections. Dig deeper

The Latest News

Protest in Tripura over fuel crisis; CM writes to Centre Dig deeper

Victory of truth, democracy: AAP, INDIA bloc leaders hail Kejriwal's interim bail granted by SC Dig deeper

India News

YSRCP fan will be switched off on May 13, double engine govt will win: Pawan Kalyan Dig deeper

Congress apologist for Pakistan: BJP slams Mani Shankar Aiyars remarks Dig deeper

Global Matters

Hillary Clinton accuses campus protestors of being ignorant of Mideast and US history: Propaganda is not education Dig deeper

US spices body offers clarity as ban on Indian products sparks concerns Dig deeper

Sports Goings

The Lucknow Super Giants suffered a humiliating 10-wicket defeat at the hands of the Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. LSG skipper KL Rahul expressed his despair following the loss, while team owner Sanjeev Goenka criticized Rahul publicly for the team's subpar performance. However, Goenka faced backlash for his behavior from fans who deemed it inappropriate to publicly scold Rahul. Meanwhile, LSG's social media activity dwindled after the defeat, with only one message promising a comeback. In a show of support, Naveen-Ul-Haq, a right-hand bowler for the Super Giants, posted a heartwarming picture with Rahul on Instagram, indicating solidarity amidst the controversy. Dig deeper

Thats all we have at this hour in our Evening briefing. Catch you tomorrow morning
New Delhi: The Delhi high court on Friday sought a response from the Enforcement Directorates (ED) on Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavithas plea seeking bail in the money laundering case in connection with the alleged irregularities in the Delhi liquor excise policy 2021-22. Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K Kavitha (File Photo)

Justice Swarana Kanta Sharma of the high court issued a notice in Kavithas plea and scheduled the matter for May 24.

Kavithas plea before the high court painted a picture that the members of the ruling party at the Centre have orchestrated a conspiracy against her with the active connivance of the ED despite there being no substance in the allegation of her involvement in the now-scrapped excise policy scam.

The plea highlighted that the investigation that is being conducted by the ED is compromised and is not being carried out to find the untainted truth but to further political agenda.

Kavitha approached the high court on Thursday after a trial court rejected her bail application on Monday. The court also extended her judicial custody in the ED case till May 14 and in the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) custody till May 20.

Kavitha, the daughter of former Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao, was arrested by the ED on March 15 and subsequently remanded to CBI custody until March 23. The CBI then arrested her on April 11.

The trial court ruled that there appeared to be a prima facie case indicating Kavithas involvement in the commission of the offence of money laundering in relation to the Delhi excise policy case.

From the aforesaid statements, the involvement of the applicant in the acts of payment of kickbacks to government functionaries in order to gain illegal benefits in the Excise Policy 2021-22 formulation and implementation, prima facie appears to be made out. It further appears that the applicant was in charge of the share of Arun Pillai in M/s Indospirits and involved in the conspiracy of policy formulation, kickback scheme and the final profits generated/PoC laundered through M/s Indospirits, special judge Kaveri Baweja noted.

The trial court also rejected Kavithas contention that the case against her was based on the statement of approvers, co-accusors and associates, which were unworthy of reliance and held that the question of credibility and reliability of the witnesses could only be tested during the trial.

During the high courts hearing on Friday, Kavitha, represented by senior advocate Vikram Chaudhary, urged the court to expeditiously decide her application, saying that though she had directly approached the Supreme Court challenging her arrest, the top court declined to pass any interim relief and had given her liberty to file a bail application.

Chaudhary stressed that the top court had further directed the lower courts to expeditiously decide her bail applications. He said the probe agency had already responded to the BRS leaders bail application before the trial court.

Countering Chaudharys contention with regards to the probe agencys response before the trial court, the ED, represented by special counsel Zoheb Hussain, however, sought time to file a reply.

This is a new practice, Zoheb said.

Rebutting the courts findings, Kavitha in her petition before the high court asserted that the ED is conducting a completely biased investigation and has been implicated based on certain statements of a few persons who have given incriminating statements against her.

She claimed that the trial courts order had been passed based on surmises and conjectures and was unreasonable and urged the high court to intervene.

The BRS leader further alleged that the ED has been adopting highly coercive tactics and third-degree measures in connection with their purported probe and is eliciting false statements from other witnesses by threatening to place them and their family members under arrest. The ED is not conducting a fair investigation in line with the procedural safeguards under the law and will go to any extent to further the political agenda of the party in power at the Centre, the plea read.

The petition added that the supposedly independent ED and the CBI are acting hand in glove with the members of the ruling party and with the sole image of tarnishing her reputation.

The political masterminds are well aware that if the petitioner can be connected to the alleged scam, it will bring her, and by logical implication, her father, the erstwhile Honble Chief Minister of Telangana, into disrepute. The political mileage gained from such actions was sought to be used in the state elections scheduled in 2023 and presently in the ongoing general elections. This is the sole and singular motive of the purported investigation. This is political propaganda at its shameful lowest, even by the not-so-high standards in Indian politics, the plea read.

Kavitha was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on April 11, while she was lodged in Tihar Jail under judicial custody in the parallel case registered by the ED. She was arrested by the ED on March 15 in the money laundering case and was sent to judicial custody on March 26.

The agencies have alleged that Kavitha is one of the key persons involved in arranging and providing kickbacks of approximately 100 crore to the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to get favourable provisions added to the now-scrapped policy.

The CBI had earlier on April 6 interrogated Kavitha in Tihar jail after obtaining permission from the court. However, according to the CBI, she did not give satisfactory replies to their questions and gave evasive answers despite being confronted with the evidence.
NEW DELHI: The government on Friday said the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act has been notified through a gazette notification and will be enforced from May 10, with the law aimed at pushing jointness among the three services. The Act will empower the government to notify the setting up of inter-services organisations (ISOs), including joint services commands, (AFP FILE)

The Act will empower the government to notify the setting up of inter-services organisations (ISOs), including joint services commands, and bestow powers on heads of such organisations to act against personnel from any of the three services to ensure discipline and effective discharge of duties.

With the notification, the Act will empower the heads of ISOs and pave the way for expeditious disposal of cases, avoid multiple proceedings and will be a step towards greater integration and jointness among the armed forces personnel, the defence ministry said in a statement.

The Bill was passed by Parliament during last years monsoon session and received the Presidents assent on August 15, 2023.

The Act empowers commanders-in-chief and officers-in-command of ISOs to exercise control over service personnel serving under them for maintenance of discipline and administration, without disturbing the unique service conditions of each individual service, the statement added. Such personnel were thus far governed by the respective laws of the three services - the Army Act, 1950, the Air Force Act, 1950, and the Navy Act, 1957.

The development comes amid a renewed push for theaterisation, a long-awaited military reform for the best use of the militarys resources to fight future wars. Last year, defence minister Rajnath Singh described the bill as an important step towards integration and jointness among the armed forces to face future challenges.

The existing legal framework of the armed forces thus far had its limitations when it came to tri-services matters as officers of one service lacked the authority to exercise disciplinary and administrative powers over personnel belonging to another service. For instance, a three-star general heading a joint command could not act against air force or navy personnel serving under him.

The lack of such powers had a direct impact on command, control and discipline, as previously reported by HT.

The law will improve the functioning of ISOs as they will be able to work with greater independence because of much-needed powers being vested in their commanders, Lieutenant General Satish Dua (retd), a former Chief of Integrated Defence Staff to the Chairman, Chiefs of Staff Committee, had earlier said.

Meanwhile, a two-day conclave of heads of tri-services institutes, chaired by chief of defence staff General Anil Chauhan, concluded on Friday, with the meet focused on promoting jointness and integration.
Amid the ongoing political crisis in Haryana, where three independent legislators withdrew their support to the state BJP government, taking away its majority, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini on Friday accused the Congress of misleading people. Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini (HT file photo)

The MLAs  Randhir Golan from Pundri, Dharmpal Gonder from Nilokheri and Sombir Singh Sangwan from Dadri  withdrew their support on Tuesday and declared that they will campaign for the Congress in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Here are latest updates:

(1.) Saini, who has repeatedly stressed that his government is safe, said that the grand old party should write to the Governor informing about the number of MLAs who are supporting the opposition. He also recalled the floor test he won in March, days after succeeding BJP colleague Manohar Lal Khattar in the top post.

Also Read: Why the Congress may not go for the kill in Haryana

(2.) Minister Ranjeet Singh Chautala sought to draw a link between elections and the MLAs' action. People leave when they realise they won't be getting ticket for polls. Many will come with us as well, he said. All 10 Lok Sabha seats in Haryana will poll on May 25, and the state will elect its next government in October.

(3.) Meanwhile, three legislators from the BJP's former ally, Jannayak Janta Party (JJP), met ex-CM Khattar at the residence of Panchayat Minister Mahipal Dhanda on Thursday. They are: Devender Singh Babli, Jogi Ram Sihag, and Ramniwas Surjakhera.

(4.) Dhanda, however, claimed that the meeting was not related to politics. The JJP leaders, he said, came to enquire about the well-being of his ailing nephew.

(5.) Both the Congress and JJP have demanded that the Saini government either resign on moral grounds or undergo a floor test. The BJP-JJP partnership, which began in October 2019, ended in March this year.

(With agency inputs)
The world is set to witness a very, very stormy churn, and, therefore, India must continue to have a stable and mature leadership, according to External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar. External affairs minister S Jaishankar. (HT File Photo)

I think that today, one of the biggest choices which the Indian voters have to make is in this situation, whom do you trust to lead the government? Jaishankar told PTI in an exclusive interview.

Also Read: Jaishankar nails Justin Trudeau lies over Hardeep Singh Nijjar killing

The Lok Sabha polls are currently underway, and voting has been held for three out of seven phases. The BJP-led ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is up against the Congress-led opposition INDIA bloc. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP won single-party majority in both 2014 and 2019 elections.

PM Modi, who is seeking a hattrick of wins to the top post, has repeatedly stressed in his speeches that the INDIA bloc, if elected to office, will have a new Prime Minister" in each year of its five-year term. The opposition alliance is yet to reveal its PM face, and there is a lack of consensus over who that leader will be.

Jaishankar, meanwhile, elaborated on the need for a mature and stable leadership.

Multiple conflicts, tensions, and divides. With all these variables that I am putting to you, I am painting to you, actually, a very, very stormy international scene for the balance of the decade, the ex-foreign secretary said.

The combination of all of this today, poses a kind of a picture of great churn, and on top of it the competition is sharpening, Jaishankar added.

To back his assertion, the External Affairs Minister cited the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, the Israel-Hamas conflict, pirate attacks in the Arabian Sea and Red Sea, and China-Taiwan tensions.

The United States, however, is becoming less and less dominant, the BJP leader argued.

The United States is still the premier power. But, for a variety of reasons, you can say, the next lot of powers are so much closer to the United States than they used to be. Also, the US itself has changed its posture vis-a-vis the world, he stated.
Former Haryana minister Devender Singh Babli on Friday questioned the capacity under which Dushyant Chautala wrote to governor Bandaru Dattatreya demanding a floor test, saying they will replace the latter as the leader of the Jannayak Janta Party (JJP) legislature wing and stake claim over the party. Babli said Chautala cannot seek the test on behalf of JJP lawmakers, claiming that eight out of 10 of them are against him. JJP leader Dushyant Singh Chautala. (HT PHOTO)

Dushyant has only the support of his mother...Naina Chautala while the rest of the lawmakers favour changing him as JJP legislature party leader. He should resign. Otherwise, the other lawmakers will sack him, Babli said a day after the Congress and JJP stepped up efforts to topple the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Haryana and wrote to Dattatreya.

After the 2019 assembly polls, he [Dushyant Chautala] extended support to the BJP and was part of the government for four and a half years...now he is seeking to topple the BJP government. ...Dushyants ideology has changed...he is now talking about supporting Congress, whom he used to term the biggest enemy, said Babli.

JJP withdrew support to the then Manohar Lal Khattar government in March, prompting the BJP to appoint Nayab Singh Saini as the chief minister.

People aware of the matter said rebel JJP lawmakers were expected to challenge Dushyant Chautalas leadership over the next three to four. They added three JJP lawmakers met Khattar on Thursday to primarily work out a strategy to break JJP.

The rebel lawmakers said that they would decide whether to support the BJP government when a non-confidence motion is brought. Before the floor test, we will change our legislature party leader. We will make a decision on whom to support when the non-confidence motion is moved, said a rebel lawmaker.

Four of the rebel lawmakers are believed to be in touch with BJP leadership while Dushyant Chautala still has the backing of Amarjeet Dhanda, Anoop Dhanak, who is undergoing treatment in Gurugram, and Naina Chautala. Family members of other two lawmakers Ram Karan Kala and Ishwar Singh have joined the Congress.

Babli called Dushyant Chautala a villain and added that the latters family had made the JJP a private limited company. The party [JJP] is named after Jannayak... [the late former deputy prime minister] Devi Lal... but Dushyant has become a villain. JJPs eight lawmakers and the Haryana public are against him because of his arrogance and dictatorship. He used to question us whenever we attended any social function organised by other party leaders. After becoming deputy chief minister, he remained busy with other works and distanced himself from party lawmakers. The voters elected us. We are lawmakers and not bounded labourers. Dushyant and his father Ajay Chautala, the JJP chief, are using rough language against us in public but they cannot suppress our voice. Dushyant and his mother Naina Chautala had contacted me during the 2019 assembly polls when the Congress denied me a ticket, and I told them that I could not fight on their ticket but they persuaded me.

He said Dushyant Chautalas behaviour changed when he came to power and now the entire cadre and eight lawmakers are against him. He has to pay the price for his misdeeds, Babli said.

JJP general secretary Digvijay Singh Chautala said the legislators were standing with Dushyant Chautala. He dismissed Bablis claims as false and baseless.

The BJP has 40 members, and the support of two independents and Gopal Kanda of the Haryana Lokhit Party. That takes it to 43, two short of the majority mark of 45 in the assembly which currently has a strength of 88. The Congress has 30 lawmakers, the JJP 10, and the Indian National Lok Dal one. One independent legislator has not made his position clear.
In a development that may have significant implications for both the ongoing general elections and the political landscape of Delhi, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered the release of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail until June 1 in the excise policy case, rejecting the Enforcement Directorate (ED)s contention that the release for political campaigning would amount to preferential treatment to politicians, and underlining the importance of elections in a democracy. Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal addresses supporters after release from Tihar Jail in New Delhi on Friday. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

The bench, however, was particular that he not perform his duties as chief minister in this period.

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta resorted to a holistic and libertarian view while noting that although serious charges of money laundering have been levelled against the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) chief, he has not been convicted, does not have criminal antecedents and is not a threat to society.

Kejriwal walked out of Tihar jail at 6.55pm on Friday and said: I want to thank all of you. Crores and crores of people across the country prayed for me. I want to thank the Supreme Court because of whom Im standing here with you. I just have one request to make with all of you we should together save the country from dictatorship. Im fighting and protesting against dictatorship with everything I have. But the 140 crore people have to fight against dictatorship.

Lok Sabha elections are the most significant and an important event this year, highlighted the bench, adding these elections supply the vis viva (living force) to a democracy. Given the prodigious importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution (ED) that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country, it added, underscoring that the peculiarities of the case and surrounding circumstances warranted a holistic view.

It also emphasised that the power to grant interim bail is commonly exercised in a number of cases considering the facts of each case. This case is not an exception, said the bench.

Reacting to the court verdict, Delhi BJP chief Virendra Sachdeva said that the grant of interim bail does not mean Kejriwal was declared innocent. Sometimes even criminals are released on parole, and this is a legal process, so it does not prove that Kejriwal, who was the main culprit in the multi-crore liquor scam, is innocent today, he said, and accused AAP leaders of misleading the people of Delhi.

The AAP, meanwhile, said Kejriwals release will pave the way for big changes in the country.

Addressing a press conference at the party office, AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said, Kejriwal being granted interim bail after 40 days is no less than a miracle. There is also a divine hint that the prevailing conditions are going to change in the country. His release will pave the way for big changes in the country.

The court directed that Kejriwal be released on interim bail until June 1, with certain conditions, including refraining from official duties during this period and signing any file unless necessary for obtaining approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. Ordering the AAP chief to surrender before the Tihar jail authorities on June 2, the bench also directed him not to issue public statements about his role in the excise case or interact with any witness or access official files connected with the case.

The timing of Kejriwals release holds particular significance . His presence on the campaign trail could potentially energise the AAPs base and reinvigorate his partys electoral prospects in Delhi and Punjab where polling is scheduled for May 25 and June 1 respectively. Kejriwal was arrested by ED on March 21.

In its eight-page order, the top court shot down EDs argument that bail to Kejriwal would undermine the principle of equality before law regardless of a persons political status. It dismissed the agencys analogy comparing Kejriwal to other people, noting that the petitioner before it is the CM of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties participating in 18th Lok Sabha General Elections. It also pointed out that his arrest came almost 19 months after the investigation began.

The investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested, as noted above, on 21.03.2024. More importantly, the legality and validity of the arrest itself is under challenge before this Court and we are yet to finally pronounce on the same...once the matter is sub-judice and the questions relating to legality of arrest are under consideration, a more holistic and libertarian view is justified, in the background that the 18th Lok Sabha elections are being held, held the bench.

The order noted that a number of legal pleas and issues have been raised, including the scope and violation of Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002, in Kejriwals petition challenging his arrest by ED. While the hearing is yet to conclude, the court decided to examine the question of interim bail due to the prolonged proceedings.

As the appeal is pending before us, we do not think it would be proper for us to direct the appellant  Arvind Kejriwal to approach the trial court for interim bail/release. This may not be apt in view of the legal issues and contentions that are under examination and consideration before us, said the order.

Before the order was formally released on Friday evening, the court at 2 pm told the counsel appearing for the two sides that it has decided to grant Kejriwal interim bail until June 1.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta and additional solicitor general SV Raju, appearing for ED in the case, objected to the temporary bail, saying there should be equitable treatment for all but the bench brushed aside the opposition.

21 days will not make any difference. Let us not draw parallels with any other case. ECIR (the first complaint) was registered in 2022. He was arrested in March 2024... For 1.5 years he was there...He could have been arrested before or after also. Whatever it is... 21 days here or there should not make any difference, the bench told the law officers.

At this point, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represents Kejriwal, requested the bench to extend the interim bail period until June 4 when the Lok Sabha elections results will be out. The bench, however, denied this request.

On Thursday, ED filed an affidavit vehemently opposing any special treatment for political figures due to ongoing general elections while adding that bail for the purpose of poll campaigning would set a dangerous precedent, undermining the rule of law and equality before the law.

If bail were to be granted to politicians for the purpose of election campaigning, the agency asserted, it would create a loophole where no politician could ever be arrested or remain incarcerated in a country like India where elections are a recurrent phenomenon throughout the year.

During previous hearings, the top court had signalled a potential interim bail for Kejriwal considering the ongoing general elections but expressed reservations about allowing him to perform his official duties as the CM during the bail period, citing possible conflicts. On Tuesday it reserved its judgment on the interim bail while indicating that the arguments in the main case could continue in July when the Supreme Court reopens after the summer break. The top court closes for summer break on May 20.

The case stems from allegations of irregularities in Delhis excise policy, which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began probing following a recommendation by Delhis LG in July 2022. Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody, is the third AAP leader arrested in this connection. Sisodia has been in jail since February 2023, and Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was granted bail by the top court in April this year after six months of custody.

ED, in its submissions before all courts, has accused the CM of being the kingpin and key conspirator of the alleged corruption in the 2021-22 Delhi excise policy, adding he acted in cahoots with ministers of his cabinet and other AAP leaders for seeking benefit from some businessmen involved in the liquor business.

Kejriwal, on April 10 had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Delhi high courts order passed the previous day, upholding his arrest by the ED on the ground that the federal agency had sufficient evidence at this stage which pointed out towards the guilt of the AAP national convenor for the commission of the offence of money laundering in relation to the excise policy case. The high court had added that Kejriwal cannot be allowed to take the plea of political vengeance ahead of the Lok Sabha elections after choosing to skip nine ED summonses issued to him over the previous six months, since the law does not allow any special privilege to a CM or any other person in power.

Challenging the high court order, Kejriwal contested his arrest, labelling it as illegal and an unprecedented assault on the pillars of democracy, besides condemning the EDs actions as a glaring display of highhandedness by the agency.

The CMs plea argued that his arrest not only violates his personal rights but also undermines the democratic fabric of the nation, portraying his arrest as an unprecedented attempt to undermine the principles of free and fair elections and federalism. The Delhi CM painted the money laundering case against him as a calculated move by the ruling central government to suppress its political opposition, particularly AAP, and its leadership.
In a major decision, Kerala's two major temple boards, Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and Malabar Devaswom Board (MDB), which manage the majority of temples in the state, banned the use of oleander (Arali) flowers in their sacred rituals considering the toxic contents in the flowers. According to some studies, oleander, a tough and pretty shrub, grows well in tropical and subtropical areas.(Unspalsh)

Also read: Kerala guv Arif Mohammad Khan visits Ayodhya's Ram Temple, bows down before deity

The president of the TDB, P S Prasanth, announced the decision regarding the news regulations for offerings in the temples under its jurisdiction after a meeting was held after concerns arose about the toxic nature of these flowers, which could harm humans and animals.

He said that oleander can be used for puja, but devotees should offer Tulsi, Thechi and Rosa flowers for prasad offerings in the temples. The decision has been taken to avoid the possibility of Arali flowers reaching the hands of devotees directly from the temple.

"It has been decided to completely avoid using Arali flowers in the naivedya and prasad offerings in temples under the TDB. Instead, other flowers like tulsi, thechi (Ixora), jasmine, jamanti (hibiscus), and rose will be used," news agency PTI quoted Prasanth as saying.

Also read: West Nile virus spreads in Kerala

Further, MDP president M R Murali has said the use of Arali flowers for rituals has been restricted in wake of their toxic content. "Although the Arali flower is not widely used in rituals in temples, its use is banned considering the safety of devotees. Studies have found that the flower contains toxic substances," he told PTI.

The TDB is entrusted with the task of administering 1,248 temples in Travancore, while MDB administers over 1,400 temples under its jurisdiction.

The decision came after a woman in Alappuzha died recently after allegedly consuming Arali flowers and leaves from her neighbourhood. There were also tragic reports of a cow and calf dying in Pathanamthitta two days ago after eating oleander leaves.

Also read: Flash strike by truck drivers affects LPG supply in Kerala

According to some studies, oleander, a tough and pretty shrub, grows well in tropical and subtropical areas. The studies suggest that inside their leaves and flowers, oleanders have cardenolides, which can affect the heart of animals and humans, making it beat stronger.

(With inputs from agencies)
JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Thursday accused the Congress government in Karnataka of misusing its powers in the Prajwal Revanna case. Demanding a fair probe by the BJP-led Central government, the former Karnataka chief minister asked the Congress where were the 2900 women who had been allegedly abused by his nephew in the purported explicit videos. Prajwal Revanna is the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) candidate from the Hassan Lok Sabha seat, which went to polls on April 26 in the second phase of the ongoing general elections (PTI file photo)

Around 2900 purported explicit videos, in which Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna could allegedly be seen abusing women, were in circulation across Karnataka. The Congress government in the state has formed a Special Investigation Team to probe the videos. They have also issued a helpline number for the alleged victims of Revanna.

On Thursday, a delegation of the JD(S) met with Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and submitted a memorandum urging for an "impartial probe" into the case.

"We have submitted before the Governor all the developments that have taken place in this case till now. We requested him to urge the Central government to conduct a fair inquiry into this case," HD Kumaraswamy, Prajwal Revanna's uncle and HD Revanna's brother, was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

The former Karnataka chief minister accused the Siddaramaiah government of misusing its powers.

"Where is the investigation going? What is Revanna's role in this? Why have they arrested Revanna? The state government is misusing the power. Where are the victims? Congress is saying there are more than 2900 victims, but where are they?" Kumaraswamy asked.

The party has asked the Governor to have the state government recommend a CBI probe into the matter. It claimed the SIT was influenced and misguided by the Karnataka government.

Earlier this week, HD Kumaraswamy claimed that over 25000 pen drives containing the alleged videos were distributed across the state ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. He blamed Congress DK Shivakumar for hatching a conspiracy to frame HD Revanna and Prajwal Revanna.

DK Shivakumar, meanwhile, claimed HD Kumaraswamy was behind the distribution of pen drives. He called him the "king of blackmail".

HD Revanna was arrested by the SIT earlier this month in a kidnapping case linked to the purported videos. Prajwal Revanna is reportedly abroad. The authorities have issued a Blue Corner notice to find out his whereabouts.
Ahead of polling on all 17 Lok Sabha seats in Telangana, scheduled for May 13, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi travelled in a state-owned Road Transport Corporation (RTC) bus, with party leader and Telangana chief minister A Revanth Reddy accompanying the Wayanad MP on Thursday. Rahul Gandhi and Telangana CM Revanth Reddy travelling in bus (ANI)

The leaders boarded the bus at Dilsukh Nagar in state capital Hyderabad, after addressing a public rally in the IT hub. During the journey, Gandhi interacted with passengers and sought feedback on the grand old party-led Telangana government's Mahalakshmi free bus travel scheme, rolled out in December last year, just days after the party ousted the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) from office.

The Congress leaders also distributed brochures about the party's Panch Nyay scheme for the Lok Sabha polls.

The passengers, meanwhile, were seen recording videos of Gandhi and Reddy, and taking selfies with them.

In May last year, ahead of assembly elections in neighbouring Karnataka, another state where the Congress formed government  it replaced the BJP there  travelled in a bus in Bengaluru and interacted with passengers.

The free travel scheme was first announced in Karnataka, and, following its successful implementation there, was promised in Telangana.

Of the 17 Lok Sabha segments in Telangana, nine are currently held by the BRS, while the BJP holds four. The Congress won on three seats, and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi won Hyderabad for the fourth consecutive time.

On Monday, as many as 96 parliamentary constituencies across 10 states and Union territories will go to polls, with total 1717 candidates in the fray. This will be the fourth leg of the seven-phase general elections, which began on April 19. Voting for the second and third phases was conducted on April 26 and May 7; for the fifth, sixth, and seventh rounds, polling will be held on May 20, 25, and June 1.

The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4.
In a strong-worded letter to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday expressed deep concern over his recent statement questioning the integrity of the electoral process. The letter admonished Kharge for his attack on the credibility of the electoral processes, which the poll body deemed as potentially detrimental to voter participation. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. (PTI File Photo)(HT_PRINT)

Commission fully respects the right to free speech and considers it to be the privilege of political parties and their leaders to correspond and communicate with each other. However, the Commission has a responsibility to act against developments which have a direct impact on delivery of its core mandate of conduct of elections in its entirety till delivery of results, the ECI said.

Read: In a letter to Modi, Kharge says will explain Congress manifesto in person

On Tuesday, Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the leaders of various parties of the opposition INDIA bloc, questioning the alleged discrepancies in the voting data released by the Election Commission. Kharge urged the INDIA bloc leaders to raise their voice against such alleged discrepancies, for "our only objective is to protect the culture of a vibrant democracy and the Constitution".

Several opposition parties have raised questions about the delay in releasing the polling data by the EC.

Sharing his letter on X, Kharge said, "My letter to the leaders of INDIA parties, regarding the discrepancies in the voting data released by Election Commission of India and non-publishing of registered voters."

Kharge's letter to leaders of the INDIA bloc was deemed highly undesirable by the ECI. Terming the Congress president's assertions as an "aggression on vitals of live election operations," the Election Commission asserted that such baseless allegations are aimed at sowing confusion and disrupting the smooth conduct of the electoral process.

The Commission categorically rejected Kharge's contentions, dismissing them as insinuations and innuendos lacking any factual basis. It asserted that there have been no lapses or deviations in the collection and dissemination of voter turnout data, providing detailed point-by-point rebuttals to refute Kharge's claims.

"Through innuendos and insinuations, the contents of the post, tend to create disharmony in respect of the delicate space of election management, can plant doubts in the mind of the voters and political parties and potentially creates an anarchic situation, when you said "could this be an attempt to doctor the final results?" which this Commission hopes, you do not have any intention of," it said.

Commission has found your communication placed in public domain in the middle of the ongoing election process as highly undesirable and one that appears designed to create confusion / misdirection / impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections which is the mandate of ECI under the constitution, the letter said, advising the Congress chief to exercise caution and refrain in making such statements.
A Kerala court on Friday convicted a 27-year-old man for trespassing into the home of a 23-year-old woman and stabbing her to death in 2022. The incident took place on October 22, 2022. (Representative file photo)

The Thalassery additional district court found Shyamjith guilty of entering the home of the woman in Panoor in Kannur district when her family members were not present and killing her in a fit of rage for rejecting his advances.

Also Read:Two held for murder in Rohini

The incident took place on October 22, 2022, when the womans family members had gone to their ancestral home to attend post-death rituals of a relative.

Eventually, it was her mother who found her body lying in a pool of blood inside a bedroom at the home when she came looking for her.

The Panoor police were able to apprehend Shyamjith within hours following the incident as he was seen on CCTV visuals near the home of the victim.

Weapons including a hammer and a knife were recovered by the police as well.

The trial in the case began on September 21, 2023, and proceeded swiftly. While there were no actual eyewitnesses to the incident, the police relied on strong scientific and circumstantial evidence to frame the charges against the lone accused.

The court is expected to pronounce its sentence for the convict in the case on Friday afternoon.
Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar sparked a row with his statement on Pakistan, prompting a sharp attack by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Aiyar said that India should engage in a diplomatic dialogue with Pakistan with respect because it has atomic bombs. Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar(Photo: Pardeep Pandit/HT Photo)

In an interview clip that went viral, Mani Shankar Aiyar can be heard calling Pakistan a respected nation. He further says that Pakistan has an atom bomb, which it can use if not treated with respect.

In an interview with Chill Pill, Mani Shankar Aiyar said: "They are also a sovereign country (Pakistan). They are a respected nation. You can talk tough with them (Pakistan). But start the dialogue. You are walking with a gun which yielded you nothing. Tensions are escalating. And if a mad person comes there, what will happen to the nation?

They have an atom bomb. We also possess the atomic bomb. But if a mad person detonates a bomb at Lahore station, within eight seconds, eight moments, its radioactivity will reach Amritsar, he added.

Mani Shankar Aiyar said Pakistan could use its atomic bombs.

So you should prevent the use of atomic bombs. But, if you start a dialogue with them (Pakistan) and encourage them (by considering them as), then they should start thinking about their atomic bomb. But if you snub them, then a mad person will come and detonate the bomb. Then what will happen?

Taking a veiled jibe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Mani Shankar Aiyar said that there have been no efforts to reach out to Pakistan over the last 10 years.

"We must understand that to become the 'Vishwaguru' (global leader), it is important to show that we are working rapidly to solve (all the bilateral issues) with Pakistan. There has been no effort (on the part of the government) to ( reach out to Pakistan) in the last ten years," he added.

Lambasting Congress for Aiyar's remarks, union minister and BJP leader Rajiv Chandrasekhar said that his comments reflected the ideology of the grand old party.

"Rahul's Congress ideology" is fully visible in these elections. Support to and from Pakistan including offering to give up Siachen, support to and from domestic terror-linked organizations and people like SDPI, Yasin Malik. Rampant Corruption and loot of money meant for the poor. Racism, divisiveness and ignorance of Sam Pitroda. Appease the Muslim community at the cost of all others including SC, OBC, and ST who have been denied progress for decades. MOU and alliance with the Chinese Communist Party. Dividing people, Lies, Abuse and fake guarantees to mislead the poor and vulnerable. Today Congress' episode stars Manishankar Iyer," he posted on X.

Shortly after Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks made political waves, the Congress party distanced itself with the comments made with regarding Pakistan.

The INC said in a statement, Indian National Congress dissociates itself completely from and disagrees totally with some remarks made by Mr. Mani Shankar Aiyar few months back which have been revived today by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modis daily goof ups. Mr Aiyer does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever.

"The Indian National Congress and indeed the entire nation recalls with pride that in Dec 1971 Pakistan was broken and an independent Bangladesh emerged thanks to Indira Gandhi's decisive and determined leadership and the valour of our armed forces."

(With inputs from PTI)
Ahmedabad Police on Friday said that they have detected a Pakistan link days after several schools in Gujarat's largest city received bomb threat emails. Police earlier said that the threatening emails originated from a Russian domain. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

Initially, it was discovered that the emails originated from a Russian domain, specifically from an email address, tauheedl@mail.ru".

However, further probe revealed a connection to a military cantonment in Pakistan. The emails were traced back to an individual, Tohik Liyakat, who was operating under the name Ahmed Javed, according to Sharad Singhal, Joint Commissioner of Police (JCP), Ahmedabad Crime Branch.

Also Read | Centre calls for detailed SOP, monitoring of emails to combat hoax bomb threats

Investigation conducted by another agency also found that the said individual was involved in spurious activities, JCP Singhal further stated.

On May 6, a day before voting for the Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat, at least 14 schools in Ahmedabad got threatening emails. However, after conducting thorough searches, the police did not find any suspect or explosives at any of the schools.

Some of the schools that received the threat messages included Asia School in Gurukul, Anand Niketan in Thaltej, Delhi Public School (DPS) Bopal, HBK School in Memnagar, Zebar School in Thaltej, Cosmos Castle International School on SG Road, and two Kendriya Vidyalayas in Chandkheda and Shahibaug Cantonment, etc.

Some of these schools also served as polling stations for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah both voted in the city. The latter is the sitting Member of Parliament (MP) from the nearby Gandhinagar parliamentary seat and is seeking a re-election from the constituency.

The Gujarat incident came days after similar emails were sent to more than 100 schools in Delhi and neighbouring cities. The Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) issued an official statement calling emails a "hoax."

(With ANI inputs)
New Delhi A sharp increase between the initial and final voting percentage in the first and second phases of the parliamentary elections has led to apprehensions in the mind of the electorate, according to an application filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Election Commission of India (ECI) to disclose the authenticated figures of votes polled across all polling stations on its website. The application has sought an authenticated record of voter turnout from the poll body.(AFP)

The application moved by Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) in a pending matter on Thursday also took exception to the unreasonable delay shown by ECI in disclosing the data on votes polled. The detailed data for first phase voting was disclosed 11 days after voting on April 19 and that for the second phase, 4 days after the voting on April 26, the petition said.

Full coverage of Lok Sabha Election 2024

Soon after voting for the two phases ended, ECI issued a press release giving tentative voter turnout across 21 states and union territories to be 60% in first phase and 60.96% for second phase as of 7 pm. The revised data published on April 30 recorded an increase of nearly 6 percentage with the total voting figures for the two phases being 66.14% and 66.71%, it added.

To be sure, provisional voting percentages published by the ECI changed from polling day to later in the election (before the counting of votes) even in the 2019 Lok Sabha election. In a May 10 press note, ECI published a timeline of ECIs press releases on provisional voting percentages for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. This shows that in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, ECIs two press notes on provisional voting percentages were published 5-7 days apart in each phase, with the highest difference between the two provisional figures 3.4 percentage points in the second phase of the 2019 election. However, the second provisional figure for the first phase polls in 2024 was published 11 days after the poll.

Also Read | Lok Sabha Election 2024: Malkajgiri constituency with highest voter count set for triangular contest

The application, filed by advocate Prashant Bhushan, also said: ECI not releasing absolute number of votes polled, coupled with the unreasonable delay in release of votes polled data, has led to apprehensions in the mind of the electorate about the sharp increase between initial data and data released on April 30.

Asking EC to put these apprehensions to rest, the application further added, In order to uphold the voters confidence, it is necessary that ECI be directed to disclose on its website scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part- I (Account of Votes Recorded) of all polling stations which contains the authenticated figures for votes polled, within 48 hours of the close of polling.

The application asked the court to direct the poll panel to put out the authenticated record of voter turnout by uploading on its website scanned legible copies of Form 17C Part-I (Account of Votes Recorded)of all polling stations after each phase of polling. It also sought a tabulation of the constituency and polling station wise figures of voter turnout in absolute numbers and in percentage form for the current general elections. In addition, the application urged the ECI to disclose the candidate-wise result of counting which is recorded as per Part- II of Form 17C.

ADR filed the application in a pending petition filed by it in 2019 raising concerns over the electronic voting machines (EVM). The fresh application, which is likely to be mentioned for hearing next week, said that the inordinate delay in the release of final voter turnout data coupled with the unusually high revision and the absence of disaggregated constituency and polling station figures has raised public suspicion on the correctness of the data put out by EC.

The application has opened a new front of attack against the EC which is already battling concerns from political parties -- including the Trinamool Congress, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) and the Congress -- over polling data.

On May 7, the Congress chief wrote a letter to leaders of the INDIA bloc, alleging discrepancies in the voting data released by the poll body. The ECI hit back on Friday rejecting the charges of mismanagement and delay in the release of voter turnout data in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections and termed Kharges allegations unwarranted, without facts and reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion.

The data on turnout available so far shows that the turnout in 280 PCs (all PCs outside Jammu and Kashmir) that have voted so far is 66.1%, 2.7 percentage points less than the in 2019. In absolute terms, 326.7 million people have voted in these 280 PCs, 3% more than in 2019. A PC-wise analysis shows that in the 266 PCs for which this comparison is possible (all PCs excluding those in Jammu and Kashmir and Assam whose boundaries have been redrawn since 2019) turnout percent has decreased in 200 PCs. Of these 200 PCs, 167 PCs have registered a decline of more than 2 percentage points, 71 of more than 5 percentage points, and seven of more than 10 percentage points. In absolute terms, turnout has declined in 95 PCs. Among these 95 PCs, absolute turnout has declined by more than 2% in 63 PCs, by more than 5% in 30, and by more than 10% in five. To be sure, this analysis is based on first and second phase data as published by ECI in press release on April 30, but phase 3 data as updated on ECIs Turnout App up to 6:30 PM on May 10. The number of PCs with a decline in turnout can decrease if turnout is revised higher for phase 3.
The portals of Kedarnath Dham, one of the twelve Jyotirlingas of Lord Shiva, were opened for the devotees on the auspicious occasion of Akshay Tritiya on Friday. Devotees arrive to offer prayers at the Kedarnath Temple after its portals opened, (PTI)

Also Read: Char Dham Yatra 2024: How to register for pilgrimage and other details

Uttarakhand chief minister Pushkhar Singh Dhami was present along with the numerous pilgrims from across the country at the holy shrine during the ceremonial opening of the temple after remaining closed during the winter season.

The ceremony was performed amid recital of bhajans and Har Har Mahadev chants. Additionally, flowers were showered on the devotees standing in the queue by choppers.

Along with the Kedarnath Dham, the portals of Yamunotri temple, the revered source of the Yamuna river and Gangotri temple will be opened later today. Meanwhile, the Badrinath Dham, considered as Vaikuntha (Lord Vishnu's abode) on Earth, will be opened at 6 am on May 12.

CM Dhami also offered prayers on the opening of doors at Kedarnath Dham along with his wife Geeta Dhami Earlier on Friday, he extended warm wishes to the devotees arriving for the darshan at the holy shrines. He wished the pilgrims a safe and fulfilling journey while expressing hope that the event would be completed with joy and enthusiasm, as in previous years.

Also Read: Kedarnath Temple opening date announced | Check details here

Ahead of the opening of the temple, the abode of Lord Shiva was decorated with 20 quintals of flowers, according to the president of the Badrinath-Kedarnath temple Committee. The five-faced idol of Baba Kedar, the Panchmukhi Doli, which is carried from its winter abode at Ukhimath's Omkareshwar temple to Kedarnath, reached Kedarnath Dham amid the beating of traditional drums and the devotional tunes played by the Army Band at 4.45 pm on Thursday.

The idol, which is carried by barefoot Badrinath-Kedarnath Temple Committee (BKTC)volunteers on their shoulders every year, will be worshipped before the temple's portals are opened for devotees.

At a height of nearly 3,500 metres above sea level, Kedarnath temple is located near the Mandakini river in Rudraprayag district in Uttarakhand. On November 15, 2023, the doors of the temple were closed ahead of the winter season, and the event was witnessed by two thousand five hundred pilgrims.

Char Dham Yatra 2023

With over 20 lakh registrations for the Yatra so far, this year's Chardham Yatra is expected to attract a record number of devotees, further boosting Uttarakhand's tourism industry and promoting the spiritual and cultural heritage of the region on a global scale.

Also Read: Badrinath, Kedarnath, and Gangotri Dham set to welcome pilgrims in May

Char Dham yatra broke an all-time record last year with the number of pilgrims who undertook the pilgrimage crossing the 5.6 million mark. In 2022, over 4.6 million pilgrims had visited the four revered Himalayan shrines. The holy shrines hold profound spiritual significance in Hinduism.

Meanwhile, 245 pilgrims had died during the Char Dham journey due to health ailments and other issues last year. Of 245 pilgrims,120 deaths were reported on the Kedarnath Dham Yatra route, 46 deaths on the Badrinath Dham route, 30 deaths on the Gangotri Dham route and 39 on the Yamunotri Dham route.
Lucknow Professor Radha Krishna Dhiman, director of the Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS), Lucknow, was honoured with the Padma Shri award In a grand ceremony at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Thursday . This recognition highlights his substantial contributions to medical science, particularly in gastroenterology, hepatology and public health. During the Covid -19 pandemic, Dr. Dhimans leadership in Uttar Pradesh was crucial. (HT FILE)

Dr. Dhimans career is marked by significant achievements. He pioneered the countrys first Doctorate in Medicine (DM) programme in hepatology at PGIMER, Chandigarh. He established innovative liver disease treatment programmes, including liver ICU and transplantation. He also played a key role in implementing a cost-effective hepatitis C treatment algorithm in Punjab, leading to the launch of the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme (NVHCP), which offers free diagnosis and treatment for viral hepatitis.

During the Covid -19 pandemic, Dr. Dhimans leadership in Uttar Pradesh was crucial. He chaired the UP State Advisory Boards on Covid -19 management and Covid -Associated Mucormycosis (CAM), overseeing the rapid establishment of a state-of-the-art Covid hospital and development of innovative telemedicine solutions. His efforts in strategic planning and implementation significantly impacted UPs Covid -19 response, earning international recognition.

Additionally, Dr. Dhiman has been a strong advocate for organ donation, contributing to the success of organ pledging in Chandigarh and raising awareness through public campaigns and educational initiatives.
Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said he was ready to debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on public issues but expressed scepticism about the latter's willingness to participate in such a discourse. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed his readiness to engage in a debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on public issues.(PTI)

Rahul Gandhi was addressing an event titled Rashtriya Samvidhan Sammelan in Lucknow when he was asked about the letter from a senior journalist and two former judges urging the Congress leader and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to participate in a public debate on the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

"I am 100% ready to debate with the Prime Minister on public issues on any platform," Gandhi asserted. "But I know him, he will 100% not debate with me."

Read: 'Adani-Ambani, save me': Rahul Gandhi takes jibe at Narendra Modi

Former Editor of 'The Hindu' newspaper N Ram, former Supreme Court judge Madan Lokur and former Delhi High Court Chief Justice A P Shah on Thursday asked the two leaders to participate in a public debate on a non-commercial and non-partisan platform, saying they have only heard allegations and challenges from either side but no meaningful responses.

They argued that in today's digital age, where misinformation abounds, such a debate is essential to ensure an informed electorate capable of making meaningful choices at the ballot box.

To this end, we believe that citizens would hugely benefit by hearing directly from our political leaders through a public debate on a non partisan and non commercial platform. It would be ideal if the public heard not just the questions of each side, but also the responses, the letter said.

Read: PM Modi's claim on Rahul Gandhi's 'silence' on Adani-Ambani debunked

"A public debate such as this would, therefore, set a great precedent, not just by educating the public, but also in projecting the true image of a healthy and vibrant democracy," it added.

The three urged Modi and Gandhi to nominate a representative for the debate if either of them is unavailable to participate.
A comment from Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole regarding the Ram Temple has come to light triggering a fresh row as the Congress leader said after the INDIA bloc comes to power, a purification of the Ram Mandir will be held by four shankaracharayas. PM Modi acted against protocol in the construction of the temple and the INDIA government will rectify those, Nana Patole said. The Congress did not attend the consecration ceremony of the Ram Temple held on January 22 saying that the construction of the temple was not complete. Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole said the Congress will establish Ram Darbar in the Ayodhya temple after coming to power.(PTI)

The Congress leader said Ram Darbar will be established in the temple. "It is not Lord Ram's idol there, but the child form of Ram Lalla. Narendra Modi has acted against protocol in Ram Temple construction. We will do it through rectifications and religion," Nana Patole said.

A 51-inch tall Ram Lalla idol, showing Ram as a five-year-old, sculpted by Mysuru's Arun Yogiraj was established in the temple ahead of the January 22 ceremony.

"This is not what I am saying. The four Shankaracharyas said this that proper rituals were not followed. What we are saying is that we will do it according to what the Shankaracharays said. In our Sanatan dharma, we shave our head when someone in the family dies but Narendra Modi didn't do it," the Congress leader said.

Before taking part in the pran-pratishtha ceremony, PM Modi performed a special 11-day ritual during which he slept on the floor and ate only fruits and coconut water. The prime minister also undertook a spiritual journey as he visited Maharashtra's Kalaram temple, Andhra Pradesh's Veerabhadra Temple, Kerala's Guruvayur Temple and Thriprayar Shree Ramaswami Temple and Tamil Nadu's Ranganathaswamy Temple.

A major row erupted ahead of the consecration ceremony as Uttarakhand Shankaracharya called the Ram Mandir incomplete. He said the pran-pratishtha of the idol should not be conducted in an incomplete temple but later clarified that he was not criticising anyone.
New Delhi The Supreme Court on Friday closed proceedings in a petition filed by former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren, who sought interim bail on the grounds that there was a prolonged delay by the Jharkhand high court in deciding his appeal against his arrest by the Enforcement Directorates (ED) arrest in January. The apex court noted that the high court has already rendered a decision on May 3 rejecting Sorens challenge to his arrest. The court, on April 29, issued a notice to ED on Sorens petition seeking interim bail in a money laundering case lodged by the agency in connection with an alleged land scam in Jharkhand. (PTI)

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta pointed out that following the high courts decision to dismiss his petition last week, Soren filed an appeal which was likely to be taken up by the Supreme Court next week.

Also Read | Ex-Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren moves Supreme Court against arrest

While senior counsel Kapil Sibal, representing Soren, pressed that the present petition be taken up along with the appeal against the high court order, the court said that it would rather draw the curtain on this plea while allowing Soren to present all his contentions in his appeal against the high courts rejection order.

The bench assured Sibal that he will have a full opportunity to argue his case, including any arguments regarding the legality of his arrest and the subsequent proceedings, when the appeal is taken up at a future date.

The court, on April 29, issued a notice to ED on Sorens petition seeking interim bail in a money laundering case lodged by the agency in connection with an alleged land scam in Jharkhand. In his plea, Soren also cited the ongoing general elections while pointing out the high court had failed to deliver its order on his challenge to the ED arrest despite reserving its judgment on February 28.

But three days later, the high court dismissed Sorens plea, noting that he cannot wriggle out of the mess he created for himself, adding there is an abundance of documents that lay a foundation for the arrest and remand of the petitioner to police and judicial custody.

A day later, Soren filed an appeal against the May 3 high court order in the apex court, amid the approaching elections phase in the state on May 13. Sibal also mentioned the matter before Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud on May 6, requesting an expedited consideration of Sorens appeal. Sibal emphasised the urgency of the matter in light of the imminent election phase in Jharkhand.

Sorens appeal against the high court order is expected to be heard by the top court on May 13.

The alleged scam pertains to usurping prime landed parcels, including a 4.55 acre defence land at Morabadi Mouza at Ranchi, and a land parcel of 7.6 acres at Hehal, Ranchi  both valued at over 74 crore at the current market price, besides several other land parcels  by the accused persons by making fake deeds using manufactured identities and falsifying original land records at Circle Offices and Registrar of Assurances (RoA), Kolkata and Circle Offices in Jharkhand, according to the ED charge sheet. Overall, ED has recovered documents related to at least 27 properties of which alleged fake deeds were created by the accused people.

Sorens arrest happened minutes after he resigned as chief minister of the state.

ED has claimed that it has evidence that the JMM leader is the key beneficiary in alleged land-related irregularities in Ranchi, where a network of brokers and businessmen were allegedly working over the years to create fake deeds of landed parcels by forging records in the registrar offices and further selling them off. He has denied the charges.
The Supreme Court on Friday ordered releasing Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on interim bail until June 1 in the Delhi excise policy case due to the ongoing general elections, rejecting the Enforcement Directorate (ED)s arguments against any special treatment to political leaders for poll campaigning. Arvind Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody, was the third AAP leader to be arrested in the excise policy case. (Facebook | Arvind Kejriwal)

We are passing an order giving him interim bail till June 1, a bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said, indicating a detailed order will be issued later in the day.

Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta and additional solicitor general SV Raju, appearing for ED in the case, objected to the temporary bail, saying there should be equitable treatment for all. But the bench brushed aside the opposition. The law officers urged the bench to impose conditions on Kejriwal that he would not speak about the excise policy case when out on bail.

At this point, senior counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who represents Kejriwal, requested the bench to extend the interim bail period until June 4 when the Lok Sabha elections results are out. The bench denied the plea.

Mehta intervened to submit that the court order must also indicate that he would surrender before the Tihar jail authorities on June 2 and that there would be no extension of the bail period.

Agreeing, justice Khanna said: On 2nd June, he will surrender. The bench then rose, indicating the detailed arguments on Kejriwals petition challenging his arrest by ED on March 21 and subsequent remand will be heard in July after the court reopens following the summer break.

The developments come amid the ongoing general election, with polling in Delhi scheduled for May 25 and in Punjab on June 1.

On Thursday, ED filed an affidavit opposing any special treatment for political figures due to the election. It said that bail for poll campaigning would set a dangerous precedent, undermining the rule of law and equality before the law.

If bail were to be granted to politicians for election campaigning, the agency said, it would create a loophole where no politician could ever be arrested or remain incarcerated in a country like India where elections are a recurrent phenomenon throughout the year.

During previous hearings, the court signalled a potential interim bail for Kejriwal considering the election but expressed reservations about allowing him to perform his duties as the chief minister during the bail period, citing possible conflicts.

The case stems from allegations of irregularities in the excise policy, which the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) began probing following a recommendation by Delhis Lieutenant governor in July 2022.

Arvind Kejriwal, who is in judicial custody, was the third Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader to be arrested in the case. His former deputy, Manish Sisodia, has been in jail since February 2023. AAP Rajya Sabha member Sanjay Singh was granted bail in April after six-month custody.

ED had urged the court not to release Kejriwal on bail by treating politicians as a class different from ordinary citizens. The court acknowledged Kejriwals unique position as both the chief minister and the AAP convener during the polls, describing it as an extraordinary situation warranting consideration for interim bail.

The court raised concerns about the potential ramifications of allowing Kejriwal to sign official files while on interim bail. We do not want you to be performing your official duties. It would lead to conflict. You have continued [as the chief minister] and that is your choice. We are not dealing with that issue. But today, it is not a question of legality but propriety... We do not want any interference in the working of the government. It will have a cascading effect, the bench had told Singhvi.

Singhvi initially objected to the proposed condition, emphasising his clients democratic and political rights. He later agreed that Kejriwal would refrain from signing files during the bail period if the Lieutenant Governor were not to stall any governments proposal, citing the absence of the chief ministers signature.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in a big relief. A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta passed the order after it heard both sides earlier. The interim bail has been granted in view of the ongoing Lok Sabha election -- though the Enforcement Directorate opposed it and said campaigning for the election was not a constitutional right. An interim bail till June 1 means Kejriwal will be out of jail when Delhi votes on May 25. On June 2, Kejriwal will have to surrender. He will be in jail on June 4, the counting and the result day. Chief minister Arvind Kejriwal leaving a Delhi court. (PTI/File)(HT_PRINT)

Arvind Kejriwal interim bail: Follow LIVE updates

The detailed order mentioning the bail conditions will be uploaded by evening.

Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 in a money laundering case linked to the now-scrapped excise policy. The interim bail means he would walk out of Tihar jail after over a month.

When will Kejriwal walk out of Tihar?

The formalities take some time and Kejriwal may not actually walk out of Tihar today but Kejriwal's lawyer Shadan Farasat said they will be trying for Kejriwal's release today itself. The interim bail order has no restriction o his election campaigning, Farasat said.

Why Kejriwal granted 21-day interim bail: What Supreme Court said to ED

The ED opposed the interim bail for electioneering and said there are no such precedents available that a politician was granted interim bail for his campaigning. The Supreme Court reasoned that granting 21-day interim bail to Kejriwal would not make much of a difference.

The Supreme Court bench on Tuesday hinted at granting interim bail to Kejriwal so that he can campaign for the elections. It said if interim bail were granted, Kejriwal would not be allowed to discharge any official duties as the chief minister. Kejriwal's counsel Abhishek Manu Singhvi first opposed it but later agreed.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing ED, told the bench at an earlier hearing that there can't be any deviation only because Kejriwal is Chief Minister and asked if the Supreme Court is carving out exceptions for politicians.

"How can a Chief Minister be treated differently from an aam aadmi? There can't be any deviation only because he is a chief minister. Would campaigning for elections be more important?" he had argued. The top court said elections are held once in every five years.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, speaking on India's relations with the United States, said that the upward trajectory of the India-US ties was not at all impacted by the allegations levelled against India regarding the country's links to a failed assassination plot. External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar (PTI)

He said to PTI on Thursday, I do not think the fundamental course of the upward trajectory of India-US is impacted by this at all. I think that today, we have such a strong strategic convergence with the United States, including contributing to the global comments, maintaining peace and stability, driving the international economy, diversifying production, creating new supply chains, moving onto new technologies.

In November last year, the US accused an Indian national of plotting to kill Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York. After the US made the accusations, India set up a committee to investigate the information provided in the case. Pannun, who is wanted in India for terrorism, is a citizen of both the US and Canada.

The United States brought to our attention certain information in good faith because we also believe some of it has implications for our own system. We are investigating it.

Jaishankar said that despite the allegations, the relationship between India and the US remains strong.

I think, today, we have such a strong strategic convergence with the United States. I think the India-US account is a very, very solid one, he said.

Jaishankar reiterated his stance on Canada hosting extremist and separatist nationals. He said, What we have seen, to our regret, has been the direction of Canadian politics, where separatists and extremist forces, many of whom openly advocate violence, have been given political space in that country. And there are people in positions of prominence today in Canadian politics who actually espouse that kind of separatism and extremism. Whenever we have taken this up with the Canadians.. it is not a new issue... It has been going on almost for ten years, and they keep saying, oh 'we have freedom of speech'.

Relations between India and Canada soured after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau accused Indian government agents of being involved in the killing of pro-Khalistan activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. Nijjar was shot outside a gurdwara in Surrey, a suburb of Vancouver, in June 2023.

Read Here: India says Canada yet to provide evidence of its involvement in Nijjar killing

Jaishankar said that there were problems in the India-US relations in the past blaming the left-wing ideology. There was a kind of left-wing ideology in this country which said let us not do too much with the US. It goes back to the Nehruvian-Krishna Menon time period. I think it went all the way till 2014. Maybe Atal ji's (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) government was an exception, but otherwise pretty much there were self-imposed constraints in our dealing with the US.

However, he said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi doesn't share such views.

PM Modi doesn't share those and we have seen actually a much more robust, much more whole-hearted relationship with the US which is actually showing results on the ground.

Talking about India's evolving approach to foreign politics under PM Modi, Jaishankar said that the country was focused on Bharat comes first motto.

When we look at an issue, we look at it from the point of view of Indian national interest. And if that Indian national interest means taking pressure, offending other countries or pushing back, we are prepared to do it. We are, for example, very, very focused on trying to get UN Security Council membership. This was not the case earlier. In fact, there was a time when, you know, the position of our government was that first let them accommodate China and then our turn will come.

He also said that India was also majorly focused on issues relating to national security.

Not only positioning wise, but in terms of friends and partners who will contribute to our national security and also in terms of the border infrastructure where there has been quite a remarkable transformation. The quality of the infrastructure today allows us to deploy troops on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in a manner which we could not have done earlier.

He added, Every country wants good relations with its neighbours, but today our relations with China are not normal because peace and tranquility in the border areas has been disturbed. We continue to discuss it with the Chinese side, and I would say that we need to resolve those issues if the relationship is to come back to normal.
Hungarian-Chinese school in Budapest fosters friendship and cultural understanding

(People's Daily App) 16:32, May 10, 2024

Founded in 2004 in Budapest, the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school is the only full-time school in Europe that teaches in Chinese as well as the local language. Over the past two decades, the school has witnessed the blossoming friendship between China and Hungary. In 2009, Xi Jinping, then Chinese vice president, visited the school. This January, Xi replied to a letter from students at the school, encouraging Hungarian youth to learn more about China and become envoys of the China-Hungary friendship.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
The United States on Thursday dismissed Russia's allegation that the country was attempting to interfere in India's ongoing Lok Sabha election. US State Department's spokesperson, Matthew Miller told the media that the country doesn't involve "ourselves" in Indian elections. US State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.(Youtube)

"No, of course, we don't involve ourselves in elections in India as we don't involve ourselves in elections anywhere in the world. Those are decisions for the people of India to make," he said.

Miller was questioned by a journalist on the recent claims made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova, who issued a statement regarding the Washington Post article alleging RAW's involvement in an alleged plot to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannun.

Zakharova told reporters in Moscow, Regular unfounded accusations by the United States against New Delhi... we see that they groundlessly accuse not only India but also many other statesof violating religious freedoms are a reflection of the United States' misunderstanding of the national mentality, the historical context of the development of the Indian state and disrespect for India as a state.

She further alleged that the US was trying to unbalance the internal politics in India in order to influence the ongoing general elections. Describing it as a colonial mentality, Zakharova said, "The reason is that they try to unbalance the internal political situation in India in order to complicate the (ongoing) general parliamentary elections. That is part of meddling into India's internal affairs."

Miller further refrained from commenting on the Washington Post article.

He said, There is a publicly returned indictment that contains alleged facts. They are allegations until they're proven before a jury that anyone can go and read. I won't speak to them here because of course it's an ongoing legal matter and I'll leave it at that.

On Thursday, US Ambassador to India Eric Garcetti said that the Biden administration is satisfied with the accountability it has demanded from India regarding the alleged plot to kill Pannun.

Garcetti said, When I was referring to a relationship that might have bumps along the road, this would be potentially the first big fight in a relationship. And so far, knock on wood, I would say the administration is satisfied with the accountability that we've demanded on this, because this is a red line for America, for our citizens.

(With inputs from PTI)
Pune, A special court for UA cases in Maharashtras Pune is likely to pronounce on Friday the verdict in the murder case of anti-superstition crusader Dr Narendra Dabholkar. Verdict by Pune court in Narendra Dabholkar murder case likely on Friday

Dabholkar , a well-known rationalist, was shot dead while on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge here on August 20, 2013. Five persons have been named as accused in the case.

Additional sessions judge A A Jadhav of the special court for cases under the Unlawful Activities Act is likely to pronounce the judgement on Friday, said special public prosecutor Prakash Suryawanshi on Thursday.

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defence examined two witnesses during the trial.

The accused were opposed to Dabholkar's crusade against superstition, the prosecution had stated in its final arguments.

Pune police initially probed the case. The Central Bureau of Investigation took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court, order and arrested Dr Virendrasinh Tawade, an ENT surgeon linked to the Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016.

According to the prosecution, Tawade was one of the masterminds of the murder.

Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawade and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar's organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti , it claimed.

The CBI first named fugitives Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as the shooters in its charge sheet.

But later it arrested Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar, and claimed in a supplementary charge sheet that they had shot Dabholkar.

Subsequently, the central agency arrested advocate Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave as alleged co-conspirators.

During the trial, advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar, one of the defence lawyers, had questioned the CBI's flip-flop over the shooters' identity.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 120 B , 302 , relevant sections of the Arms Act, and section 16 of the UA.

While Tawade, Andure and Kalaskar are in jail, Punalekar and Bhave are out on bail.

Dabholkar's murder was followed by the murders of three other rationalists/activists in the next four years: communist leader Govind Pansare , Kannada scholar and writer M M Kalburgi and journalist Gauri Lankesh .

It was suspected that the culprits in these four cases were linked to each other.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
On May 8, I was in Vijayawada to witness the NDA roadshow led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi of BJP along with alliance partners N Chandrababu Naidu of Telugu Desam and Pawan Kalyan of Jan Sena on M G road. For a party which drew nil in both the 2019 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the toast of the show and town as the electorate from neighbouring districts Guntur and Rajamundary thronged in large numbers to have a glimpse of their leaders. With the entire MG road turned into a party zone, the roadshow made it amply evident that in the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly election polling day on May 13, the state will go NDA positive with BJP reopening its account with better numbers and higher voting percentage. Vijayawada: Prime Minister Narendra Modi with JanaSena party President and actor Pawan Kalyan and Telugu Desam Party (TDP) President N Chandrababu Naidu during an election roadshow for the Lok Sabha elections, in Vijayawada.(PTI)

Read: Congress trying to eliminate Hindu faith, give job quotas to Muslims, says Narendra Modi

Credible internal election surveys indicated that the NDA alliance should bag some 19 out of 25 Lok Sabha seats with TDP grabbing the lions share of 13 seats followed by BJP with four and Jan Sena Party with two and Jagan Reddys YSRCP confined to five seats only. The Congress party is expected to bag one seat only in Lok Sabha. Unlike the last time when the TDP, BJP and Jan Sena fought election separately in 2019, the three parties representing dominant communities of Andhra--Rajus, Kamma, Kappu--are a force to reckon this time as Rajus, who are land holders and industrialists, are backing the BJp, Kammas are repesented by Chandrababu Naidu and Kappus are traditionally behind Pawan Kalyan and his big brother Chiranjeevi. It is quite electorally auspicious that megastar Chiranjeevi was awarded the Padma Vibhushan by the Modi government on Thursday evening with his quite and unassuming son Ram Charan and his wife in attendance.

Read: On derogatory words on PM Modi, Maldives minister says, Wont happen again'

This mood in favour of NDA will also get reflected in the Assembly elections with surveys indicating that the TDP will form the state government with a clear majority of 105 seats and alliance bagging no less than 126 seats. The ruling Jagan Reddy party will be confined to some 47 seats and Congress will be bagging some two seats. As per estimates, the BJP will get five Assembly seats with higher voting percentage and hence reopen its Assembly account with the voter crystallizing in favour of TDP and NDA in the forthcoming elections.

In the Parliamentary elections, the BJP is expected to bag Tirupati, Narasapuram, Rajahmundary and Araku seats with a decent chance in Anakapalli. PM Modi had a humongous rally in Rajampet on Wednesday but the money power and resources of the Jagan Reddy party candidate outmatches the BJP candidate. In Andhra Pradesh, the money accompanies the voter slip to the electorate with numbers varying from 1500 to 5000 per voter depending on the financial clout of rich Andhra Pradesh. BJP President Jagat Prakash Nadda is holding a roadshow for the BJPs candidate in Tirupati on May 11, the last day of campaigning.

After I talked to a number of people on the streets in and around Vijayawada, the support for TDPs Chandrababu Naidu was evident as his arrest last September in a corruption case have evoked a strong anti-Jagan sentiment and has pushed the TDP narrative to a electoral wave in favour of Naidu. Internal surveys indicate that the NDA alliance will get a total of 52 per cent voter percentage in its favour while Jagan partys reduced to 40 per cent share in the forthcoming Lok Sabha and Assembly elections. It seems that the new voter and youth are inclined towards the NDA while the elder electors, especially beneficiaries of social welfare schemes, are preferring the YSRCP of Jagan Reddy. Both state employees and unemployed are dissatisfied with the present regime with the business community, particularly the rich gold merchants, are hoping for a change in the government. The economic impact of state capital Amaravati is very much visible in erstwhile Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts with undercurrent wave intensifying in favour of Chandrababu Naidu after he released the manifesto promising free bus travel and free gas cylinder schemes to woo the women voters.

Currently many parts of Andhra Pradesh are undergoing severe drinking water crisis, and water tap to every house scheme is silently showing impact on voters psyche in favor of NDA.

The much hyped and anticipated YSRCP manifesto failed to attract attention as it contains no new schemes and neither a redressal mechanism for further implementation of existing schemes. The bad condition of the road network and retrogressive mode in development is impacting on voters choice and will woo the voter in favour of NDA. While PM Modi continues to rule the hearts of majority Hindu voters, the involvement of Jagan Reddy party in conversions to Christianity in coastal Andhra has also polarized the voter in favor of the NDA. The electoral situation in Telangana is no different as the Lok Sabha election seems to be a direct fight between the BJP and Congress with BRS confined to margins as the public elects a national leader. The mood in Telangana seems BJP positive with both PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah holding big rallies and roadshows in the erstwhile Nizam dominion. With Congress openly wooing the Muslims in the state, the election has polarized with majority in favour of PM Modi and his Viksit Bharat campaign. The high voltage campaign of BJPs Madhavi Latha has pushed the party very much into a contest with AIMIM Asaduddin Owaisi but given the strength and committed voting patterns of Muslim minorities in favour of winning candidate against the BJP, the Hyderabad result should be a tight match.

While the BJP will add to the voting percentage and improve on the 2019 Lok Sabha results of four seats, it will be interesting to see whether the national party is able to match the money power of local satraps. However, the BJP is expected to put up a winning performance in Secunderabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Mahbubnagar, Zaheerabad and Malkajgiri with contest in Chevella, Nagarkurnool, Hyderabad, Adilabad and Warangal constituencies. Home Minister Amit Shah has put the BJP seat numbers at 10 out of 17 in Telangana but a lot depends on the voter counter-polarization as the minorities have decided to consolidate against the BJP.

While the BJP will add to its Telangana numbers and open the account with a four or a sixer in Andhra Pradesh, the party and its apex leadership is very confident of returning to power. The massive work ethics and energy displayed by top leaders led by PM Modi has simply tired the INDI alliance with regional partners simply focusing on saving their forts. PM Modi is out of Delhi for the next four days culminating in the roadshow and filing of nomination in Varanasi on May 14. The commitment shown by the BJP leadership and the erratic campaigning by the INDI alliance clearly indicates who is winning the 2024 elections. Bets are only on the NDAs victory margin on June 4.
A special UAPA court in Maharashra's Pune convicted and sentenced two men to life imprisonment and acquitted three in the murder case of Dr Narendra Dabholkar. At the age of 67, Dabholkar, an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead while on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge on August 20, 2013. Dr Dabholkar, was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants in Pune on August 20, 2013. (HT FILE)

Additional Sessions Judge (Special Court) P P Jadhav read out the order regarding the assassination case, awarding life imprisonment and a fine of 5 lakh to accused Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar. As per the probe carried out by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Andure and Kalaskar had shot Dabholkar.

While two accused were convicted, the special court ended up acquitting key accused Virendrasinh Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave for want of evidence. According to the prosecution, Tawde was one of the masterminds of the murder.

During the investigation, the accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 120 B (conspiracy ), 302 (murder), relevant sections of the Arms Act, and section 16 (Punishment for terrorist act ) of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA.

Who was rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar?

Dr Narendra Dabholkar was a physician, activist, rationalist and author based in Maharashtra. He was the founder and president of Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, aimed at eradicating superstitious practices from the state. He spent 12 years as a medical practitioner and later became a social worker with the aim of eradicating superstition and black magic practices.

Through the course of his career as an activist, Dabholkar campaigned against superstition, tantriks and holy men who promised miracle cures to ailments. He was also critical of many godmen across the country, and played a crucial part in drafting the Anti-Jaadu Tona Bill (Anti-Superstition and Black Magic Ordinance).

Narendra Dabholkar was killed on August 20, 2013, when he was out on a morning walk in Pune. Four rounds were fired at him from a point blank range. Two bullets hit his head while one hit his chest, killing him instantly.

A probe by the CBI revealed that his murder was planned by a Hindu group called Sanatan Sanstha. Virendrasinh Tawde was termed as the prime accused of the assassination, and had a direct link to the religious group. He was also termed as the mastermind of the attack.

While there was pushback against the Anti-Superstition bill in the state assembly, it was cleared by the Maharashtra cabinet a day after his death. After making 29 amendments to the bill, it was finally passed as an ordinance in December 2013.

(With inputs from PTI)
Maldives foreign minister Moosa Zameer said on Thursday that he held discussions with his Indian counterpart S Jaishankar regarding the possibility of President Mohamed Muizzu's visit to New Delhi very soon. This comes as the two nations held diplomatic talks in an effort to mend strained ties. New Delhi, May 9 (ANI): External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar meets with Maldives Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer, in New Delhi on Thursday. (ANI Photo)(Moosa Zameer-X)

On derogatory remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the minister said the government was making sure such incidents were not repeated.

Zameer further defended President Muizzu's decision to visit China after his win in the elections and not India. He said that previously, discussions were held with New Delhi over the visit to India but was pushed back considering the 'convenience' of both sides.

"The president visited Turkey as well as China. I think that mainly for convenience because obviously, we did discuss with Delhi about a visit. But for the convenience of both sides, we thought it might be okay for us to delay it a little bit," he said.

Further, he said that during his discussions with India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, they talked about organising Muizzu's visit to New Delhi very soon.

"So, in fact, even today, with my discussions with the External Affairs Minister, we are discussing the President's visit to Delhi very soon. Hopefully," he said. He also made it amply clear that there is no military pact with China.

Zameer clarified, I don't think there is any military pact with China. One thing the President of Maldives has clearly said is that we are not bringing in any foreign militaries in the Maldives, no, we are not.

Further, Jaishankar and Zameer discussed debt relief measures for Maldives during their talks. The foreign minister said that the economic cooperation with India has been an "integral part of the Maldivian economy".

He also distanced his government from the derogatory remarks made against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, saying that it was not the stance of the Muizzu government and proper action was taken to make sure that it is not repeated.

I think if you have seen, like you said, we have said that it's not the stand of the government or it's not the view of the government. And we believe it shouldn't have been done. And then we are taking proper action to make sure that this doesn't repeat, Zameer said.

With inputs from ANI
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday dropped a hint about changing the name of Akbarpur, in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Panch Pran' (five pledges), which include removing vestiges of slavery from the face of India. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath (Sourced)

According to an official release on May 9, Yogi Adityanath hinted at changing the name of Akbarpur, saying that all the signs of colonialism must be eradicated from the city.

Uttering the name of the city leaves a bad taste in the mouth. Rest assured, all these things will change. We must eradicate all remnants of colonialism from our nation and honour our heritage, the Uttar Pradesh chief minister said on Thursday, reported the Times of India.

If the Modi government secures a third term in the Lok Sabha election, the state administration will submit a proposal to Centre to alter Akbarpur's name, TOI reported, quoting a government spokesperson.

Not just Akbarpur, but multiple areas in UP such as Aligarh, Azamgarh, Shahjahanpur, Ghaziabad, Firozabad, Farrukhabad, and Moradabad are being considered for renaming.

After becoming the chief minister in 2017, Yogi Adityanath ordered renaming of multiple roads, parks, buildings and intersections across the state. Many of them were renamed after former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

In Lucknow alone, one can traverse Atal Bihari Vajpayee Road, navigate through Atal Chauraha, access the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Conference Centre, cross Atal Setu, and arrive at Atal Bihari Kalyan Mandap.

The iconic Mughalsarai railway station, which is the fourth busiest junction in the entire country, also saw its name change to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Junction recently. Just before the 2019 Kumbh Mela, the state government rechristened Allahabad to Prayagraj in order to reclaim the city's historic identity.

The municipal bodies of Aligarh recently passed a resolution to rename the city as Harigarh. A similar proposal was made to change the name of Firozabad to Chandra Nagar and Mainpuri to Mayapuri.
Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday reacted to Uddhav Thackeray's 'traitor' barb, saying it's them (Uddhav Thackrey) who have betrayed and abandoned the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

Read here: Those speaking Pakistan's language should be charged with treason, sent to jail: Shinde

"The words used for me are applied to them. In 2019, they abandoned the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray...They sold the ideology of their father. They committed a sin and the public will never forgive them...In 2019, they betrayed their friend and the people of Maharashtra. They betrayed the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray," news agency ANI quoted Shinde as saying.

The Maharashtra CM further accused Thackeray of being greedy. He claimed out of greed, he ditched the old ally with the same ideology and went to form a government with Congress and NCP.

"When we contested elections together, Shiv Sena and the BJP had the same ideology. People believed that there would be an alliance government, and that is why they voted. But out of greed for the CM post, they went ahead with Congress and Sharad Pawar. This is betrayal...I don't use the kind of words they use. Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe didn't teach me that..." he added.

Read here: Kalyan: Eknath Shinde stakes out home turf through son Shrikant

Shinde's reaction came hours after Shiv Sena (UBT) leader and Rajya Sabha MP Priyanka Chaturvedi took a Bollywood jibe at Shinde, saying that `my father is a traitor' should be written on the forehead of chief minister's son Shrikant Shinde.

While addressing a rally in Ghatkopar, Chaturvedi said, "There was a Hindi film where `mera baap chor hai' (my father is a thief) was written on the son's hand. Similarly, `mera baap gaddar hai' (my father is a traitor) should be written on Shrikant Shinde's forehead."

Shrikant is the sitting MP and Shiv Sena candidate from Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency.

Calling it a highly inappropriate statement coming from a woman MP, Sanjay Nirupam claimed it was Uddhav Thackeray who became a 'Maha Gaddar' after he betrayed the BJP to join the MVA partners Congress and undivided Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) (in October 2019).

"If she truly believes her statement, then Aditya Thackeray's forehead should say 'Mera Baap Maha-Gaddar Hai'. His father had committed a treachery of Balasaheb Thackeray's ideals by joining hands with the Congress, which the former opposed all his life," Nirupam said.

Read here: Eknath Shinde: Thackerays sat at home, cheated people out of natural alliance

Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena in June 2022, toppling the MVA-led Maharashtra government under chief minister Uddhav Thackeray.

(With inputs from agencies)
He is one of the top stars in the Telugu film industry but he is also a passionate politician who is on an ambitious mission in 2024. JanaSena party founder and president, Pawan Kalyan, has formed a compelling alliance with Chandrababu Naidus Telugu Desam Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party for the Andhra Pradesh assembly elections 2024. He is clear that alliance partners dont need to agree on all issues but the common goal now for TDP, BJP and JanaSena is to unseat Jagan Mohan Reddy and YSRCP (YCP) from power. In this exclusive chat with HindustanTimes, JanaSena president Pawan Kalyan talks about the upcoming elections. Janasena Party President and actor Pawan Kalyan addresses the supporters during a roadshow for the Lok Sabha polls, in Vishakapatnam. (ANI Photo)

What are the major issues you are focusing on this election?

PK: We want to primarily restore democracy in Andhra Pradesh. Jagan has been having a one-man rule, destroying institutions, engaging in vendetta politics and so on. We want to ensure the personal liberties and fundamental rights of citizens. For instance, who is taking responsibility for the 30000 missing women in the state. We want to focus on reviving the brand of Andhra Pradesh and ensure balanced development and welfare. We want to create wealth, build capital and expedite the Polavaram project. We want to ensure strong law and order in the state.

Read: Chiranjeevi bats for Pawan Kalyan ahead of AP elections: It hurts us when he's targeted but

Where do you think the YSRCP government has failed?

PK: The YCP governments three top failures have been this - firstly, turning the youth of Andhra Pradesh into a demographic disaster. There is high unemployment and the state has turned into a drug capital. There is an increase in crime rate also. The government has confined the creativity and ambition of the AP youth to a mere volunteer job of a 5000 giveaway, which is lower than daily wage of NREGA.

Secondly, the government has cheated women by monopolising alcohol instead of putting a ban on alcohol. Jagan Reddy has created a wealth of 41000 crores at the cost of the health and lives of millions of people.

Thirdly, Jagan has created chaos and an environment of fear and uncertainty in the state. Jagans Land Tilting Act; the three capital confusion; investors leaving AP; Polavaram project not taking off; threatening government employees, (including IAS/IPS), and issuing letters against the CJI, are some of his major failures.

You have spoken against the BJP earlier but then decided to form an alliance with TDP and BJP. What is the rationale behind this decision?

PK: For JanaSena, the welfare of the State comes first. Post the states bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh has already lost a lot and is starting from scratch. The YCP rule has almost killed any leftover hopes of the people of Andhra Pradesh. No section of people in the state was spared, be it farmers, fishermen, teachers, women, youth, government employees, the business community, etc. Andhra Pradesh cannot afford another five years of YCPs destructive rule. Hence, JanaSena initiated the alliance with the TDP and BJP.

Similar to that of the JP Movement in the 70s, Andhra Pradesh needs the coming together of everyone to save the state from the draconian rule of YCP.

JanaSena has always been very vocal and clear about its stand on all key issues and also its coalition partners.

Read: Allu Arjun sends best wishes to Pawan Kalyan ahead of AP elections: I've always been proud of the path you have chosen

Jagan has alleged that the BJP-TDP-JanaSena alliance will remove all the welfare measures he has put in place and the people will suffer if the alliance comes to power. What is your response?

PK: Jagan is not the first CM to create welfare measures - welfare is part of Indian governance at every level. The state directive principles clearly state the role of the state in providing welfare measures to the people in the state.

Unlike Jagan who is creating welfare by taking huge loans and borrowings, the BJP-TDP-JanaSena alliance will focus on both welfare and development. I support the double-engine government.

We will create more development and more wealth and more welfare. No section of the society will be left out. We are promising free bus travel for women, three free gas cylinders each year, monthly financial assistance of 1,500 to women aged 18-59 years, the creation of 20 lakh jobs in five years, pensionary benefits and much more.

Do you think if the alliance comes to power, the Special Status request for Andhra Pradesh will be granted by the centre ?

PK: The alliance focuses on both development and welfare of Andhra Pradesh. Modi jis focus is on Viksit Bharat 2047 and we will ensure AP is also part of that growth story and the state becomes a key contributor to Vision 2047.

Being a part of NDA, our state leadership will have more opportunities to bring in all kinds of incentives, welfare measures, development activities to AP from the Centre. From building our seaports to leveraging the blue economy through the Sagar Mala project, we will tap into the Centres funds for SMART Cities Mission and take advantage of schemes such as AMRUT and PRASAD for creating sustainable towns, satellite towns, etc.

We will ensure through schemes like PLI, Make In India and Digital India we will make Andhra Pradesh competitive in the country both in the services and manufacturing sectors. In the process, we envision to create 20 lakh jobs, including startups, in the next 5 years.

We have not made any mention of Special Status in our manifesto, but our efforts and vision are bigger and beyond just getting Special Status. We are here to make our state into Atmanirbhar Andhra Pradesh and be a part of the 2047 vision.

As a politician, what would you like to do for the people of Andhra Pradesh if you come to power?

PK: Firstly, I want to create strong law and order. Secondly, we need to invest in the youth of the state. We need a skill census carried out in the state to better understand the aspirations of the youth.

We want to ensure we give everyone a good quality of life  Vidhya Vydhyam Upadhya Insurance Balamyna Chatam. I want to create an environment where peoples personal liberties and fundamental rights are not violated and every citizen has an opportunity to grow, develop and prosper.

The BJP is seen as anti-minority by many. Will this not affect the alliance and votes in AP?

PK: The Muslim community has never faced any issues because of BJP, TDP and JanaSena. The Muslims are a strong community whose contribution is valuable to both the state and the nation. Muslims like any other people from other religions will be treated with the same respect, dignity and this country is theirs as much as anyone elses. No second thoughts on this.

Some pseudo-intellectuals are pushing Western thought and an environment of anxiety is being created by the INDIA bloc, especially in the election season.

The Congress has always been appeasing minorities and keeping them poor and using them as just a vote bank. Congress said that the Ayodhya Ram Mandir will lead India into communal riots, but Modiji has ensured no such thing happened and both communities (Hindus and Muslims) were happy. Today, both Muslims and Hindus are getting benefitted from the economy.

Muslims in India do not need any certificate from any political party about their status in society. Muslims should not fall for the appeasement politics of Congress and Allies - Muslims must become part of the growth story of India and they must be part of developmental activities.

Unlike Jagan Reddy, who stopped the Shadi Dulhan scheme, removed scholarships, and didnt support Muslim youth in becoming entrepreneurs, the JanaSena, TDP and BJP will ensure Muslims in AP have a great future both in terms of their welfare and development.

Lastly, what is your poll prediction?

PK: My prediction is this - the Kutami (alliance) is winning in AP and NDA at Centre. We are forming the government. There is not a silent anti-YCP wave- its loud, clear and people are going to come out on 13th May in huge numbers and switch off the YCP fan in Andhra Pradesh.
Its no wonder Salma Sultan got the jitters at the start of every news bulletin. Anything could go wrong, you know, she says, laughing.

Scripts were typed, for instance, on rusted machines that displaced letters from time to time. And so a line that went something like Purane zamane mein auraton ko parde mein bandh rakha jata tha (In the olden days, women were kept behind curtains) became Purane zamane mein aurato ko bandara kha jata tha (In the olden days, women would be eaten up by monkeys).

I was on air when that line came up on the teleprompter, says Sultan, laughing. I glanced at it, realised in a fraction of a second that it was wrong, and thankfully said the right line.

Sultan, now 76, worked with Doordarshan (DD) for three decades, from 1967 to 1997, and was among the first news presenters on Indias TV screens, inviting viewers to listen to aaj ka samachar (the news of the day).

Her generation was trained to use a monotone, a blank expression and minimum cadence; very different from the laughing, familiar, leaned-in anchors of today (and the shouting, near-violent ones).

She was only 20 when she started; she would see DD, officially launched in 1965, expand to cities across the country, then hive off into its own corporation, separating from All India Radio (AIR) in 1976.

As it grew, it was always looking for fresh content. Among those who pitched shows to DD at this time was Rajiv Mehrotra, then a student at St Stephens College in Delhi. His show, Youth Forum, was picked up in 1971. It was aimed at the English-speaking youngster and explored a range of subjects, from theatre and literature to what it is like to be in love.

At the time, anchoring fetched him a princely sum of about 75 per broadcast, he says.

Rajiv Mehrotra on an episode of his popular talk show, Conversations.

He then moved into news presenting, reporting, filmmaking. It was a time of great freedom, vitality and comradery, says Mehrotra, now 71 and founder and managing trustee of The Public Service Broadcasting Trust, which supports young documentary filmmakers.

Among the most dramatic events that Mehrotra reported on was the astronaut Rakesh Sharmas journey into space, in April 1984. Only two correspondents, one each from Doordarshan and AIR, were allowed into the USSR to report on the launch of the Soyuz T-11. We were strapped into Mi-6 helicopters, broadcasting live while scanning the skies for the capsule. To be able to share in the unfolding history, the excitement and suspense, was a huge privilege, he says.

Back at headquarters, six months later, all eyes would be on Sultan, as she made one of the most difficult broadcasts of her life. Clips that still circulate online show the dazed young presenter announcing that Indira Gandhi had been gunned down.

We were taught to be objective, to never express our feelings. But when something as devastating as this happens I think it reflected in my face, she says.

Former Doordarshan news presenter Salma Sultan, with the trademark rose in her hair.

***

From 1977 to 1983, as Doordarshan began to expand its educational and cultural programming, Siddhartha Basu started making documentary films for the broadcaster.

His first, Life Before Birth, was a science feature. I was working with a small agency called Television News Features. I did my own research, worked on scripts and voiceovers, directed. We did our own animation too, says Basu, 69.

He moved on to join the Taj Group as a cultural coordinator. At the time, former colleagues were creating a pilot for an independent programme, a quiz-based game show, and had seen him emceeing a hotel event. One of them called one afternoon and asked if I was in a suit  and I was because that was the dress code at work  and asked if I would come over for 10 minutes and introduce the pilot.

About a month later the ex-colleague called again, to say that Doordarshan had picked up the show and wanted Basu to host it. Quiz Time opened in the primetime Sunday 9 pm slot, in 1985.

For all its popularity, it was an ultra-shoe-string production, he says, laughing. It was shot in various auditoriums. But Barry John designed the sets, Loy Mendonsa composed the music. It had higher production values, better content than was the norm, and national participation too.

Basu would go on to host quiz show after quiz show, each defined by his warm, encouraging, energised demeanour. Over decades, there would be India Quiz, Mastermind, University Challenge, Indias Child Genius, and now, after a 20-year gap, Quizzer of the Year (on SonyLiv).

***

The next generation of youth icons on TV would not come from DD.

Many of them came from two competing music channels: MTV and Channel [V]. These platforms aimed to be cool, colourful, informal. Their VJs or video jockeys wore ripped jeans and tees, or anything else they felt like; their hair might be unkempt chic or covered by a hat. Scarves floated about; wristbands abounded.

In an India where children still listened to their parents and assumed every hour after school was homework time, this breed of youngsters  Nonie and Trey, Luke Kenny, Nikhil Chinapa and Amrita Arora  were a riveting anomaly.

They introduced top-10 lists, discussed rock and metal  and there was that pose, hands clasped in front, shifting from leg to leg, head to one side. Then the internet stormed in, a new millennium dawned, screens shrunk and went personal, and it all changed again.

***

As they look back, these presenters of yore, little confessions emerge.

When it came time to shoot, the lights were so hot, especially in summer, that it made a suit unbearable, Mehrotra says, laughing. I was often wearing a pair of shorts below the formal shirt, jacket and tie.

The teleprompter was operated manually in the early years, says Sultan, and the text always scrolled either too fast or too slowly. I would often gesture desperately outside the frame for the operator to slow it down.

Its exciting to see how the medium has been democratised, Mehrotra adds. But with that democratisation come risks and responsibility. The camera used to be proof that something was true; today, it is so easy to make it lie.
A mother's love is like no other as it is an endless well of strength, courage, compassion and the fuel that enables us to do the impossible hence, the bond with one's mother transcends words, time and distance and to celebrate the comfort, safety and unwavering support that we find in our mothers' arms, Mother's Day is celebrated annually in May. A mother is not just a person; she is the heartbeat of the family, the anchor of our souls whose arms are made of tenderness and her heart is stitched with love so to celebrate this challenging unpaid job of motherhood, Mother's Day is marked to show love, appreciation and recognition for her irreplaceable role in a family. Mother's Day 2024: Date, history, significance and celebration (Image by johnniedavid12412 on Freepik)

Date:

In many countries, including India, Mother's Day falls on the second Sunday of May every year and this year the celebration will fall on May 12, 2024.

History:

The history of Mother's Day dates back to ancient times but the modern observance of the holiday began in the early 20th century. As per ancient roots, the ancient Greeks and Romans celebrated festivals honouring mother goddesses such as Rhea and Cybele and these celebrations were held in the springtime and were dedicated to fertility and motherhood.

Early Christian celebrations of the 16th century had early Christians in England celebrating a day called "Mothering Sunday." It was a time when people returned to their mother church, which was the main church or cathedral in their area and on this day, families would come together and children would present flowers or small gifts to their mothers.

In the United States, the origins of Mother's Day can be traced back to the efforts of Julia Ward Howe, an abolitionist and suffragette. In 1870, she wrote the "Mother's Day Proclamation," calling for women to unite for peace and disarmament.

The modern Mother's Day as we know it, was championed by Anna Jarvis, an American social activist. After her own mother's death in 1905, Jarvis campaigned to establish a national holiday to honour mothers as she wanted to create a day for individuals to express their love and gratitude to their mothers.

In 1914, President Woodrow Wilson signed a proclamation designating the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day in the United States and this official recognition led to the widespread celebration of Mother's Day in the country. Since then, Mother's Day has been adopted by various countries around the world but while Anna Jarvis is often credited as the founder of Mother's Day, she later became a vocal critic of the holiday due to its commercialisation.

Anna Jarvis initially envisioned Mother's Day as a day of personal and heartfelt appreciation, where people would honour their own mothers with sincere sentiments and acts of kindness. As Mother's Day gained popularity, Jarvis became increasingly disillusioned with its commercialisation and felt that the true meaning of the holiday was being overshadowed by the sale of greeting cards, flowers and other gifts.

Jarvis actively protested against the commercialisation of Mother's Day and organised boycotts, threatened lawsuits and spoke out against the exploitation of the holiday for profit. She even campaigned for the abolition of Mother's Day altogether.

Jarvis reportedly spent much of her later life and personal funds fighting against the commercialisation of Mother's Day and became bitter and disheartened by what she saw as the corruption of her original intentions for the holiday. Despite her efforts, Jarvis was unable to halt the commercialisation of Mother's Day however, her campaign drew attention to the issue and sparked ongoing discussions about the balance between genuine appreciation and commercial motives in celebrating the holiday.

While Anna Jarvis's campaign against the commercialisation of Mother's Day did not achieve its intended outcomes, it highlighted the importance of preserving the genuine sentiment behind the holiday and the potential pitfalls of excessive commercialisation.

Significance:

Mother's Day serves as a reminder of the immeasurable value of mothers and motherhood as it is a day to express love, appreciation and recognition for the selfless devotion and unconditional love that mothers provide throughout their lives hence, holds significant importance for various reasons. Mother's Day is a special occasion dedicated to honouring and appreciating mothers and mother figures as it provides an opportunity to express gratitude for their love, sacrifices and unwavering support, celebrate the beautiful and essential role of motherhood, recognise the immense impact mothers have on their children's lives, their families and society as a whole and serves as a reminder to spend quality time with family and strengthen the bond between mothers and their children.

It provides an occasion for family members to come together, express love and appreciation and create cherished memories, acknowledges and appreciates the influence and guidance that mothers provide, recognises mother's role in shaping their children's values, character and overall development. Mother's Day offers a dedicated moment to express gratitude and thankfulness for the selfless acts of love, care and nurturing that mothers provide every day.

It is an opportunity to show appreciation for the countless ways in which mothers enrich our lives. Mother's Day allows for reflection on the deep bond between a mother and her children, providing an occasion to cherish and honour the unique and irreplaceable connection that exists within the mother-child relationship.

Celebrating mothers on Mother's Day contributes to their emotional well-being. It validates their role and efforts, promoting a sense of fulfillment, pride and happiness in their important role as mothers.

Celebrations:

Mother's Day celebrations vary across different cultures and countries but they often involve several common elements like it is customary to give gifts to mothers and mother figures on Mother's Day where these gifts can include flowers, cards, chocolates, jewellery or personalised items. The gifts serve as tokens of love, appreciation and gratitude or people may celebrate Mother's Day by gathering with their families and this can involve having a special meal together, going out for a family outing or organising a small gathering or party to honour mothers.

Spending quality time with mothers is an essential aspect of Mother's Day. Activities may include going for a walk, having a picnic, watching a movie together or engaging in other shared interests and hobbies or people can express their love and appreciation for their mothers through special gestures like writing heartfelt letters or cards, preparing breakfast in bed or doing chores or tasks to give mothers a break from their regular responsibilities.

Mother's Day is not only about biological mothers but also about honouring all mother figures and this includes stepmothers, grandmothers, adoptive mothers and other women who have played a significant maternal role in one's life. In some communities, Mother's Day is celebrated with public events or gatherings and these can include concerts, parades or special programs dedicated to honouring mothers and celebrating motherhood.

Mother's Day can also be a time for reflection and remembrance, particularly for those whose mothers are no longer alive so people may visit cemeteries or create tributes to honour and remember their mothers' memory. Ultimately, Mother's Day celebrations revolve around expressing love, appreciation and gratitude towards mothers and mother figures and the specific activities and traditions may vary but the underlying sentiment remains the same  to honour and celebrate the immeasurable impact of mothers in our lives.
Mother's Day 2024: Mother's Day is celebrated with a whole lot of pomp and grandeur all over the world. Mothers are our first love and the ones who have our back till the end. They are loudest cheerleaders and our shoulder to cry on in difficult times. A mother and a child grow a bond of love even before the child arrives in the world. Mothers teach us the power of unconditional love and we can never imagine our lives without them. They wrap us within the bubble of their strength, love and power and we are safe within it. Mothers are meant to be celebrated every day of our lives. Every year, a special day is dedicated to our mothers and the unconditional love that they shower on us. This year Mother's Day will be observed on May 12.(Unsplash)

ALSO READ: Mother's Day 2024: Date, history, significance and celebration

This is the day to shower the most important woman of our lives with a lot of love and pampering. This is the day to celebrate them for who they are and make a lot of memories. But there is confusion regarding the dates of Mother's Day because it is celebrated twice a year. Here's all that you need to know about it.

ALSO READ: Mother's Day 2024: 10 self-care tips every mom must follow for health and happiness

Why is Mother's Day celebrated twice a year?

Well, Mother's Day is not celebrated twice a year, but there is a confusion regarding the same. It is based on the way many countries observe Mother's Day. Originally, Mother's Day is observed on the second Sunday of the month of May every year. This year Mother's Day will be observed on May 12. Countries such as United States, Canada, Australia, and most of Europe follow this date for celebrating Mother's Day. India also follows the international schedule followed by the United States and Canada and celebrates Mother's Day on the second Sunday of May.

However, in some cases, Mother's Day is often confused with Mothering Sunday. Mothering Sunday is observed on the fourth Sunday of Lent  three weeks before Easter Sunday celebrations. The day is observed for the people to return to their mother church for a special service. With time, Mothering Sunday came to be celebrated as Mother's Day in many countries as a way of respecting a mother's love. This year, Mothering Sunday was observed on March 31.
In the wake of pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca admitting in a UK court that its Covid vaccine can cause blood clots in rare cases, a group of doctors on Thursday expressed deep concern over the safety of the Covishield vaccine manufactured by the Serum Institute of India. (Also read | Covishield rolled back; should those jabbed with it need to worry? Experts answer) When the COVID-19 vaccines were being administered, not many people were aware that it was being done without the completion of phase-3 trials. (FILE PHOTO)(HT_PRINT)

At a press conference, the doctors, under the banner of the Awaken India Movement (AIM), urged the government to review the science behind all Covid vaccines and audit their commercialisation as well as implementation of active surveillance and monitoring mechanism to ensure vaccine adverse events are identified as early as possible.

"The government has wholly ignored the rising number of cases of tragic deaths post-Covid vaccination all the while and continues to promote Covid vaccines as 'safe and effective', without scientific investigation and invoking epidemiology," Dr Tarun Kothari, a radiologist and an activist, said at the press conference.

The world is learning about a side effect of the Covid vaccine called Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS), he said.

When the COVID-19 vaccines were being administered, not many people were aware that it was being done without the completion of phase-3 trials. Administration of COVID-19 vaccines was started without the manufacturers having complete information and data on the possible short-term or long-term side effects, or fatalities, said Dr Sujata Mittal, a gynaecologist and oncologist.

There is an already low awareness around vaccine injuries, especially in India, she said.

Thousands of women reported abnormalities in their menstrual cycles, which was confirmed much later as a side effect of the vaccine in a study published in September 2022, she added.

"The Awaken India Movement (AIM) has been collecting details of Covid Vaccine deaths covered by media/social media in India and sharing them with various high authorities of the country since 2021, when the vaccination began. The government has failed to respond to our repeated requests to investigate deaths and debilitation from adverse effects of vaccination," Dr Kothari said.

The AIM urged the government of India to compensate all the victims of Covid vaccines, including their family members, through a mechanism that involves vaccine manufacturers as well.

"We also demand establishing fast track courts and vaccine courts to provide swift justice to the vaccine injured and their families," Dr Mittal said.

Besides, active surveillance and monitoring mechanisms should be implemented to ensure vaccine adverse events are identified as early as possible and early treatment protocols must be created and widely publicised so that lives can be saved, she stated.

"Review science behind all Covid vaccines and audit their commercialisation," Dr Kothari said.

The United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca has started global withdrawal of its COVID-19 vaccine, which was provided in India as 'Covishield' in partnership with the Serum Institute of India, days after it admitted to rare side effects of blood clotting and lowering of platelet counts.

The withdrawal has been initiated due to a surplus of available updated vaccines since the pandemic, the company said in a statement.

In India, the company's partner Serum Institute of India said it has stopped the manufacturing and supply of additional doses of Covishield since December 2021 while reiterating that it had disclosed all rare to very rare side effects, including TTS, in the packaging insert in 2021.

AstraZeneca had partnered with Oxford University to develop the COVID-19 vaccine, which was sold as Vaxzevria in Europe.
When buying an appliance, especially a large one like an air conditioner (AC), most buyers tend to opt for a product from a good brand. And for good reasons. What work in its favour are factors like reliability, overall performance and customer support. A good AC to consider would be a Voltas AC and that too 3 star one. Let's go deeper. Best 3 star Voltas AC: Buying a product from a good brand like Voltas always has its benefits.

Choosing a 3 star AC model can prove to an advantage on multiple fronts. Firstly, it reflects higher energy efficiency. That translates to reduced electricity bills while minimising environmental impact. Secondly, these units often maintain optimal cooling performance without excessive power consumption, ensuring a balance between comfort and sustainability. Lastly, their affordability and cost-effectiveness make them a prudent long-term investment for both residential and commercial settings.

Voltas, a leading AC brand in India, has earned acclaim for their blend of innovation, reliability and performance. Renowned for their cutting-edge technology, Voltas units deliver efficient cooling even in challenging climates. The brand's commitment to quality ensures durable products with excellent longevity, backed by comprehensive customer support. With a wide range of models catering to diverse needs, Voltas ACs stand out as a trusted choice for dependable cooling solutions in homes and offices alike.

We have put together a list of four Voltas AC.

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC epitomises efficiency and comfort with its advanced features. Utilizing copper condenser coils, it ensures superior heat transfer for optimal cooling performance while enhancing durability. Its 4-in-1 adjustable mode offers versatile operation tailored to varying preferences and weather conditions. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it purifies the air, maintaining a cleaner and healthier indoor environment. The 2023 model of Voltas inverter AC, exemplified by the 183V Vectra Prism design in white, combines modern aesthetics with cutting-edge technology, making it a stylish and reliable choice for cooling needs.

Specifications of Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star:

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 183V Vectra Prism, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Energy-efficient inverter technology for reduced power consumption May be relatively expensive compared to non-inverter models Copper condenser coils ensure efficient heat transfer and durability Installation and maintenance costs could add to the overall expenditure

The Voltas 1 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC delivers efficient cooling with its innovative features. Featuring a copper condenser, it ensures excellent heat transfer and durability for long-lasting performance. Its 4-in-1 adjustable mode offers flexibility in cooling preferences to suit varying climates and user needs. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it purifies the air, maintaining a cleaner and healthier indoor environment. The 2023 model, characterized by the 123V Vectra Elegant design in white, combines style with functionality, making it an ideal choice for smaller spaces seeking reliable and energy-efficient cooling solutions.

Specifications of Voltas 1 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC:

Capacity: 1 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 123V Vectra Elegant, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Energy-efficient inverter technology for reduced power consumption Smaller capacity may not be suitable for larger rooms or spaces Copper condenser coils ensure efficient heat transfer and durability Initial investment might be higher compared to non-inverter models

Also read: Best AC brands in India (May 2024): Beat the heat with top 7 AC brands like Lloyd, LG, Samsung & more

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC stands out for its efficient cooling and advanced features. With a durable copper condenser, it ensures optimal heat transfer for consistent performance and longevity. The 4-in-1 adjustable cooling feature provides customizable comfort levels to adapt to changing weather conditions. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it enhances indoor air quality by capturing dust particles and allergens. The 2023 model, featuring the sleek 183V Vectra Platina design in white, combines modern aesthetics with reliable functionality, making it a top choice for cooling larger spaces with efficiency and style.

Specifications of Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC:

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 4-in-1 Adjustable Cooling, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 183V Vectra Platina, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Energy-efficient inverter technology for reduced power consumption Initial investment may be higher compared to non-inverter models Versatile 4-in-1 adjustable cooling mode for personalized comfort Installation and maintenance costs could add to the overall expenditure

The Voltas 2 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC offers robust cooling performance and advanced features for larger spaces. Its copper condenser ensures efficient heat transfer and durability, while the 4-in-1 adjustable mode allows for personalized cooling preferences. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it improves indoor air quality by capturing dust particles and allergens. The 2023 model, featuring the elegant 243V Vectra Elite design in white, combines style with functionality, making it a reliable choice for cooling sizable rooms with efficiency and sophistication.

Specifications of Voltas 2 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC:

Capacity: 2 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 243V Vectra Elite, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Powerful cooling capacity suitable for larger rooms or spaces Higher initial investment compared to smaller capacity models Energy-efficient inverter technology for reduced power consumption Requires more space for installation, may not be suitable for compact areas

5. Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC exemplifies efficiency and versatility with its cutting-edge features. Its copper condenser ensures superior heat transfer and durability, while the 4-in-1 adjustable mode provides adaptable cooling options for diverse climates. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it maintains cleaner indoor air quality by capturing dust particles and allergens. The 2023 model of Voltas 1.5 Ton AC, featuring the sleek 183V Vectra Pride design in white, blends contemporary aesthetics with reliable performance, making it an ideal choice for cooling mid-sized spaces with both style and functionality.

Specifications of Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC:

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 183V Vectra Pride, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Energy-efficient inverter technology for reduced power consumption Initial investment might be higher compared to non-inverter models Versatile 4-in-1 adjustable mode for customized cooling options Installation and maintenance costs could add to the overall expenditure

Also read: Best 5 star split AC in India: Top 9 options for efficient cooling and energy savings this year

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC presents a blend of efficiency and adaptability with its innovative features. Its copper condenser ensures efficient heat transfer and durability, promising long-lasting performance. With a 5-in-1 adjustable mode, it offers a wide range of cooling options to suit various preferences and environmental conditions. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it purifies the air, maintaining a healthier indoor environment. The 2023 model, adorned in the elegant 183V Vertis Emerald design in white, exemplifies contemporary style and reliable functionality, making it an ideal cooling solution for medium-sized spaces.

Specifications of Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC:

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 5-in-1 Adjustable Mode, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 183V Vertis Emerald, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Versatile 5-in-1 adjustable mode offers customized cooling options Initial investment may be higher compared to non-inverter models Copper condenser ensures efficient heat transfer and durability Installation and maintenance costs could add to the overall expenditure

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC stands out for its efficient cooling and innovative features. Equipped with a durable copper condenser, it ensures excellent heat transfer and long-lasting performance. Its 4-in-1 adjustable mode allows for personalized cooling options, catering to different preferences and weather conditions. With an anti-dust filter, it maintains cleaner indoor air by capturing dust particles and allergens. The 2023 model, featuring the sleek 183V Vectra Prime design in white, combines modern aesthetics with reliable functionality, making it an ideal choice for cooling medium-sized spaces with efficiency and style.

Specifications of Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC:

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 183V Vectra Prime, Colour: White

Reasons to buy Reasons to avoid Energy-efficient inverter technology for reduced power consumption Initial investment might be higher compared to non-inverter models Versatile 4-in-1 adjustable mode for customized cooling options Installation and maintenance costs could add to the overall expenditure

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star Fixed Speed Split AC offers reliable cooling performance and essential features for comfortable indoor environments. With a copper condenser, it ensures efficient heat transfer and durability. The LED display provides easy monitoring and control of settings, enhancing user convenience. Equipped with an anti-dust filter, it purifies indoor air by capturing dust particles and allergens, promoting healthier breathing. The 2023 model, boasting the elegant 183 Vectra Elegant design in white, combines functionality with simplicity, making it a suitable choice for cooling mid-sized spaces with efficiency and style.

Specifications of Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Fixed Speed Split AC:

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Coil: Copper

Special Features: LED Display, Anti-dust Filter

Model Year: 2023, Design: 183 Vectra Elegant, Colour: White

Reasons to avoid Reasons to buy Reliable cooling performance with fixed-speed operation Higher energy consumption compared to inverter models LED display for easy monitoring and control of settings Limited flexibility in adjusting cooling settings compared to variable-speed units

Also read: Best inverter AC: Top 10 worthy options to give your home a cool and comfortable feel for the summer ahead

Top 3 features of best 3 star Voltas ACs:

Best 3 Star Voltas AC Capacity Cooling Power Special Feature Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 1.5 Ton Inverter 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode Voltas 1 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 1 Ton Inverter 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 1.5 Ton Inverter 4 in 1 Adjustable Cooling Voltas 2 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 2 Ton Inverter 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 1.5 Ton Inverter 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 1.5 Ton Inverter 5-in-1 Adjustable Mode Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC 1.5 Ton Inverter 4-in-1 Adjustable Mode Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Fixed Speed Split AC 1.5 Ton Fixed Speed LED Display

Best value for money 3 star Voltas AC:

Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC with the 183V Vectra Platina

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC with the 183V Vectra Platina model offers the best value for money. With its optimal capacity and energy efficiency, it ensures effective cooling while keeping electricity bills in check. Its versatile 4 in 1 adjustable cooling feature and anti-dust filter ensure customized comfort and improved air quality, making it a wise investment for long-term cooling needs.

Best overall 3 star Voltas AC:

Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC in the 183V Vectra Prism

The Voltas 1.5 Ton 3 Star, Inverter Split AC in the 183V Vectra Prism model stands out as the best overall product. With its durable copper components and energy-efficient inverter technology, it ensures reliable cooling with reduced power consumption. The 4-in-1 adjustable mode allows for personalized comfort, while the anti-dust filter maintains cleaner indoor air. Its modern design and efficient performance make it a top choice for cooling needs.

How to buy 3 star Voltas AC?

To buy a 3 Star Voltas AC, first, assess your cooling needs and room size. Research various models online, considering features like capacity, energy rating, and special functions. Compare prices from authorized dealers or online retailers. Ensure proper installation by hiring a certified technician for optimal performance and warranty coverage.

FAQs on best 3 star Voltas AC

What does the 3 star rating signify for Voltas ACs?

The 3 star rating indicates the energy efficiency of the AC unit, with higher stars representing greater efficiency and potential savings on electricity bills.

Are all 3 star Voltas ACs inverter models?

No, Voltas offers both inverter and fixed-speed models with 3 Star energy ratings, providing options to suit different preferences and budgets.

Do 3 star Voltas ACs come with a warranty?

Yes, most 3 star Voltas ACs come with a manufacturer's warranty covering various components. The duration and terms may vary depending on the specific model and region.

What special features are available in 3 star Voltas ACs?

Depending on the model, 3 star Voltas ACs may include features such as adjustable cooling modes, anti-dust filters, sleep mode, timer function, and advanced air purification technologies.

Also read: Best inverter AC: Top 10 picks for efficient cooling, energy savings, and performance excellence

Also read: Best AC brand in India: Choose from leading air conditioner brands like LG, Carrier, Blue Star and more, top 10 picks

Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
As summer reaches its peak, finding relief from the scorching heat becomes essential. Panasonic's inverter AC emerges as the ideal solution for combating rising temperatures efficiently and affordably. Renowned for its innovative technology and reliable performance, Panasonic's range of inverter air conditioners stands out as the top choice for cooling needs. Upgrade your cooling game with the best Panasonic inverter AC.

Panasonic's inverter AC excels at providing rapid and consistent cooling while maintaining energy efficiency. By adjusting compressor speed according to cooling demand, these units consume less power compared to traditional AC, resulting in significant energy savings. This not only helps reduce electricity bills but also contributes to environmental sustainability.

Moreover, Panasonic's inverter AC offers precise temperature control, ensuring optimal comfort in any room. With features like advanced air purification, dehumidification, and quiet operation, they provide a refreshing and peaceful indoor environment, perfect for relaxation during hot summer days.

We've curated the top 7 options of Panasonic inverter ACs from Amazon to simplify your search for the perfect cooling solution. With our carefully selected choices, you can easily find an AC that meets your requirements without any hassle. Stay cool and comfortable all summer long with Panasonic's innovative inverter technology, offering relief from the hot and humid summer days.

Considering an upgrade for your home cooling? Look no further than the Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi inverter Smart Split AC. Crafted with a copper condenser for enduring performance, this 2024 model offers more than just cooling; it's a holistic climate solution. With its 7-in-1 convertible feature and True AI Mode, it adapts effortlessly to your preferences, ensuring optimal comfort year-round. Say goodbye to airborne pollutants with its PM 0.1 air purification filter, delivering crisp, clean air with every breeze. Seamlessly control settings from anywhere via Wi-Fi connectivity, adding a touch of modern convenience to your lifestyle. In classic white, its sleek design complements any interior.

Specifications of Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Cooling Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Efficiency Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Wi-Fi Connectivity: Yes

Convertible Mode: 7 in 1

Air Purification: PM 0.1 Filter

Model: CS/CU-SU18ZKYWT

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient Initial cost might be high Wi-Fi connectivity Installation may require professional help PM 0.1 air purification May not be suitable for very large spaces Durable copper condenser Advanced features may not be necessary for all users

2. Panasonic 1.5 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Experience the pinnacle of home cooling innovation with the Panasonic 1.5 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC. Setting new standards, it's India's first Matter Enabled RAC, ensuring seamless integration with your smart home ecosystem. This 2024 model boasts a sleek white design, effortlessly blending into any decor. With a durable copper condenser and 7-in-1 convertible functionality, it adapts to your cooling needs with ease. Harness the power of True AI and 4-way swing for precise temperature control and even air distribution. Breathe in pure, fresh air with the PM 0.1 filter, ensuring your comfort and well-being. With Wi-Fi connectivity, manage your AC anytime, anywhere.

Specifications of Panasonic 1.5 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Model: CS/CU-NU18ZKY5W

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 5 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Special Features: Wi-Fi Connectivity, Inverter Technology, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter, Matter Enabled RAC

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient Initial cost might be high Wi-Fi connectivity Installation may require professional help PM 0.1 air purification May not be suitable for very large spaces Durable copper condenser Advanced features may not be necessary for all users Matter enabled RAC

3. Panasonic 2 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Upgrade your cooling experience with the Panasonic 2 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC. This 2024 model redefines comfort with its powerful cooling capabilities and intelligent features. With a robust copper condenser at its core, it ensures long-lasting performance and energy efficiency. Enjoy customizable cooling with the 7-in-1 convertible feature and True AI Mode, adapting effortlessly to your preferences. The PM 0.1 air purification filter ensures clean and fresh air circulation, enhancing your indoor air quality. Manage and control your AC conveniently from anywhere with the built-in Wi-Fi connectivity. In a sleek white design, it blends seamlessly with any decor, adding a touch of modernity to your space.

Specifications of Panasonic 2 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Model: CS/CU-SU24ZKYWA

Capacity: 2 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Special Features: Wi-Fi Connectivity, Inverter Technology, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Powerful cooling Initial cost might be high Wi-Fi connectivity Installation may require professional help PM 0.1 air purification May not be suitable for very small spaces Durable copper condenser Advanced features may not be necessary for all users 7-in-1 convertible feature

Also Read: Best Panasonic 1.5 ton AC: Top 8 picks to keep your home cool and nippy for the scorching heat ahead

Meet the Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC, a blend of sophistication and functionality designed to elevate your cooling experience. This 2024 model boasts a sleek white design, seamlessly integrating into your home decor. Featuring a robust copper condenser, it ensures efficient cooling and durability for years to come. Enjoy customised comfort with its 7-in-1 convertible feature, adapting to your cooling needs effortlessly. The PM 0.1 air purification filter guarantees clean and fresh air, promoting a healthier indoor environment. With a hidden display, it adds a touch of elegance while maintaining a clutter-free look. Bring home the perfect combination of style and performance with Panasonic's commitment to innovation and reliability.

Specifications of Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC

Model: CS/CU-SU18ZKYTK

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 3 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Special Features: 7-in-1 Convertible, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter, Hidden Display

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Efficient cooling Limited energy rating compared to higher models 7-in-1 convertible feature Higher initial cost PM 0.1 air purification May not be suitable for very large spaces Hidden display Advanced features may not be necessary for all users Durable copper condenser

Also Read: Best 1 ton split ACs: Top 10 picks with inverter technology that are efficient and energy-saving

5. Panasonic 1 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Meet the epitome of smart cooling solutions, the Panasonic 1 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC. This 2024 model seamlessly integrates innovation and efficiency to redefine your comfort experience. Its standout features include a copper condenser for durability and optimal cooling, alongside a 7-in-1 convertible mode with True AI Mode, ensuring personalised comfort throughout the day. Enjoy enhanced air distribution with the 4-way swing feature, promoting uniform cooling in every corner. The PM 0.1 air purification filter guarantees fresh, clean air, while the built-in Wi-Fi connectivity allows for convenient control via your smartphone. Enhance your cooling game with Panasonic's commitment to excellence, reliability, and cutting-edge technology.

Specifications of Panasonic 1 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Model: CS/CU-NU12ZKY4W

Capacity: 1 Ton

Energy Rating: 4 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Special Features: Wi-Fi Connectivity, Inverter Technology, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode, 4 Way Swing, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient Higher initial cost Wi-Fi connectivity May not be suitable for very large spaces PM 0.1 air purification Advanced features may not be necessary for all users 7-in-1 convertible feature True AI mode

6. Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Looking for the latest in cooling technology? Look no further than the Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC. This 2024 model redefines comfort with its blend of innovation and efficiency. With a durable copper condenser, it ensures reliable performance and effective cooling, promising enduring comfort even during scorching summers. Its standout feature, the 7-in-1 convertible mode with True AI Mode, intelligently adjusts to your preferences, guaranteeing optimal comfort throughout the day. Experience unparalleled air distribution with the 4-way swing feature, ensuring consistent cooling in every corner of your space. Breathe in fresh, purified air thanks to the PM 0.1 air purification filter. Plus, with built-in Wi-Fi connectivity, managing your AC is effortless; control it from anywhere using your smartphone.

Specifications of Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Model: CS/CU-NU18ZKY4W

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Energy Rating: 4 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Special Features: Wi-Fi Connectivity, Inverter Technology, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode, 4 Way Swing, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient Higher initial cost Wi-Fi Connectivity May not be suitable for very small spaces PM 0.1 Air Purification Advanced features may not be necessary for all users 7-in-1 Convertible Feature

Also Read: Best inverter AC: Top 10 picks for efficient cooling, energy savings, and performance excellence

Presenting to you the Panasonic 1 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC, your coolest companion yet! This 2024 model isn't just about chilling; it's about elevating your chill game to new heights. With its tough copper condenser, it's built to keep you cool for the long haul. But wait, there's more! It's 7-in-1 convertible mode with True AI Mode is like having a personal climate wizard, ensuring you're always in the comfort zone. And the 4-way swing feature? It's like a cool breeze doing a dance around your room, reaching every nook and cranny. Plus, with the PM 0.1 air purification filter, you'll be breathing fresher air than a mountain breeze.

Specifications of Panasonic 1 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

Model: CS/CU-NU12ZKY5W

Capacity: 1 Ton

Energy Rating: 5 Star

Condenser Type: Copper

Special Features: Wi-Fi Connectivity, Inverter Technology, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode, 4 Way Swing, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter

Colour: White

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient Higher initial cost Wi-Fi connectivity May not be suitable for very large spaces PM 0.1 air purification Advanced features may not be necessary for all users 7-in-1 convertible feature True AI mode

Also Read: Experience refreshing comfort with the 5 best Panasonic 1 ton ACs as the summer season has arrived

Top 3 features of the best Panasonic inverter ACs:

Best Panasonic Inverter AC Cooling Capacity Energy Efficiency Special Features Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Connectivity, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode Panasonic 1.5 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC 1.5 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Connectivity, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode Panasonic 2 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC 2 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Connectivity, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC 1.5 Ton 3 Star 7-in-1 Convertible, PM 0.1 Air Purification Filter, Hidden Display Panasonic 1 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC 1 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Connectivity, 7-in-1 Convertible, PM 0.1 Filter Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Connectivity, 7-in-1 Convertible, PM 0.1 Filter Panasonic 1 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC 1 Ton 5 Star Wi-Fi Connectivity, 7-in-1 Convertible, True AI Mode

Best value for money Panasonic inverter AC:

Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

The Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC shines as the best value for money choice. With its perfect blend of efficiency and innovation, it offers top-notch features without breaking the bank. From its Wi-Fi connectivity for convenient control to the 7-in-1 convertible mode and PM 0.1 air purification filter ensuring optimum comfort and clean air, every penny spent on this AC is an investment in comfort and quality. Upgrade your cooling experience without compromising on your budget with the Panasonic 1.5 Ton 4 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split ACit's the smart choice for savvy shoppers.

Best overall Panasonic inverter AC:

Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC

The Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC stands out as the best overall choice. Combining advanced technology with reliable performance, it offers an unparalleled cooling experience. With a perfect balance of cooling capacity and energy efficiency, it ensures optimal comfort while keeping energy costs in check. Its special features like Wi-Fi connectivity, 7-in-1 convertible mode, and True AI Mode elevate convenience and customization to new heights. From its durable copper condenser to its innovative design, the Panasonic 1.5 Ton 3 Star Wi-Fi Inverter Smart Split AC reigns supreme as the ultimate choice for discerning customers seeking top-tier performance and value.

How to find the best Panasonic inverter AC?

To find the best Panasonic inverter AC, follow these simple steps. Start by researching different models available in the market and consider your cooling needs, room size, and budget. Check energy efficiency ratings and compare features like Wi-Fi connectivity, convertible modes, and air purification filters. Reading customer reviews will help gauge performance and reliability. Visit stores to see ACs in person and compare prices across different retailers. Ensure the AC comes with a warranty for added peace of mind. By making an informed decision based on your research, you'll find the perfect Panasonic inverter AC to keep your home cool and comfortable.

FAQs on the best Panasonic inverter AC:

What size Panasonic inverter AC do I need for my room?

The size of the AC depends on the room's dimensions. A general guideline is 1 ton for rooms up to 120 square feet, 1.5 tons for 120 to 180 square feet, and 2 tons for larger rooms.

Are higher star ratings better for Panasonic inverter ACs?

Yes, higher star ratings indicate greater energy efficiency. A higher star rating means lower electricity consumption, ultimately saving you money on your energy bills.

What are the advantages of Wi-Fi connectivity in Panasonic inverter ACs?

Wi-Fi connectivity allows you to control your AC remotely through a smartphone app, offering convenience and flexibility in managing your cooling preferences.

What is the benefit of a 7-in-1 convertible mode in Panasonic inverter ACs?

The 7-in-1 convertible mode enables the AC to operate in multiple capacities, adapting to varying cooling requirements and maximising energy savings.

Do Panasonic inverter ACs come with a warranty?

Yes, Panasonic inverter ACs typically come with a warranty, providing coverage for manufacturing defects and ensuring peace of mind for your investment.

Disclaimer: At Hindustan Times, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Hindustan Times has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
A woman is accused of bullying another person with the same name as her own on Instagram. Reportedly, Katherine Asplundh, formally Driscoll, who married a billionaire heir, pressured another woman with the same moniker as her married name and asked her to sell her Instagram handle - a move that violates the platforms terms of service. When refused, Asplundh reportedly bombarded the other woman's Instagram DM with a flurry of texts. Soon, the incident came to light, and she received severe backlash from social media users. Following this, she deleted her Instagram account. The image shows Katherine Asplundh, who allegedly bullied another woman with the same name on Instagram. (Instagram/@Katherine Asplundh)

Dailymail shared an Instagram video showing the text exchanges between the two women. Katherine Asplundh, formerly Driscoll, has since deleted her Instagram account, after hundreds of fans stole other versions of her newlywed name, wrote the outlet.

Check out the video here:

Since being shared some 14 hours ago, the video has collected more than 3.8 lakh views - and the numbers are still increasing. The share has further accumulated nearly 3,800 likes.

What did Instagram users say about this post?

I just know his family is pissed about this negative publicity two seconds after she said 'I do', wrote an Instagram user.

I would definitely take that girl's money. Its Instagram. Who cares? At least shes offering money lol, posted another.

Entitled, entitled, entitled, expressed a third.

Way to ingratiate yourself with your new in-laws. Not, added a fourth.

Such spoiled, privileged audacity! Get a life! joined a fifth.

According to the New York Post, social media users dug deeper into Katherine Asplundhs other social media platforms. They found an old TikTok video (now deleted) where she is reportedly seen mocking those women who get excited to change their name on social media after getting married.

Something that low-key bothers me is when girls get married, and its not even like 10 minutes after they do their vows, and theyre like Oh! Going on my Instagram! Let me change my last name already, Asplundh said in a video, according to the Daily Mail, cited the New York Post.
A woman from Ahmedabad in Gujarat placed an order for a paneer tikka sandwich from a restaurant through a food delivery app. However, upon receiving her order, she was shocked to discover that the restaurant delivered a non-veg sandwich instead of the vegetarian one she had ordered. The woman said that she has never consumed non-vegetarian food in her life.

Nirali, who is a vegetarian by choice, ordered her dinner from Pick Up Meals by Terra on May 3. After having a few bites of the sandwich, she noticed that the paneer was unusually hard. She initially assumed it to be soya, but it turned out to be chicken, according to a report by India Today.

I have never consumed non-vegetarian food in my life. It was a shocking and dreadful experience, the woman told India Today.

The woman has filed a complaint against the restaurant with the Deputy Health Officer of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation. She also demanded a 50 lakh compensation.

After her complaint, the food department slapped a fine of 5,000 on the restaurant. However, she feels that this fine is not enough.

The incident was very dreadful, and it cant be reversed. 5,000 fine is not enough, and I will go to the consumer court, she affirmed.

I couldve asked for more, but even that wouldnt have served justice to what I felt, she continued.

Nirali told the outlet that she is doing this for the youth who experience similar incidents but are unaware of their rights.
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) says that International Space Station (ISS) is the third brightest object in the sky and easy to spot if you know when to look up. If you are a space enthusiast and would like to see the ISS pass overhead, then we have a piece of good news for you. You can actually see it with your naked eyes this month from Chennai skies. Yes, you read that right. The ISSs window to the world is pictured from the Nauka Multipurpose Laboratory Module. (NASA)

According to NASA, you can see the space station from May 8, 2024, through May 23, 2024. The ISS was visible for seven minutes today at 7:09 pm. It appeared 10 above SW and disappeared 10 above NNE.

And if you missed it today, then you can watch it tomorrow at 5:02 am. The ISS will be visible for six minutes.

You can also spot the ISS on May 12 during the early hours. It will be visible at 4:14 am for four minutes straight. The ISS will appear at 10 above N and will disappear at 10 above E. And if youre not an early riser, then you can watch it at 7:08 pm. It will be visible for four minutes. The ISS will appear 10 above W and will disappear 10 above NNW.

The ISS will also be visible on May 13 and 14 at 5:00 am and 4:14 am, respectively. On May 13, the space station will be visible for six minutes and on May 14, it will be visible for just three minutes.

On May 13, it will appear 10 above NW and will disappear 10 above SSE, while on May 14, it will appear 59 above ESE and will disappear 10 above SE.

So, block these dates on your calendar and dont miss out on this fantastic opportunity.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman sent social media into a frenzy when he unveiled a video showing him in a conversation with his own deepfake. A journalist recently added to the chatter when she interviewed this AI-generated version. Expectedly, the video went viral and prompted various responses, including a reaction from Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma. The image shows LinkedIn co-founders deepfake being interviewed by a journalist. Vijay Shekhar Sharma reacted to this viral clip. (X/@emilychangtv)

Career milestone today for the first time, I talked to a deepfake, I mean, Reid Hoffmans digital twin. Whaddya think?! journalist Emily Chang wrote as she shared a video of the interview on X.

Resharing the post, Sharma added, So Digital Twins. Will that be a legit new term for your AI version?

Take a look at the journalists interview with the AI here:

Since being shared a few hours ago, the post has collected more than 6,400 views. The share has accumulated nearly 50 likes. It is also being retweeted by many.

Why did Reid Hoffman create his digital twin?

My latest experiment is creating an AI-generated version of myself. Its not because I want another meI actually thought I wouldnt like doing this. But I was curious about testing the capabilities of a digital twin, the LinkedIn co-founder stated in a blog post.

He added that he wanted to test what is possible and positive from this application of the technology, which makes many people uncomfortable.

A powerful technology has arrived. Its important to be aware and thoughtful as we go intoand work to shapethe future, he added towards the end of the blog.

Reid Hoffman co-founded the professional networking site LinkedIn in 2003. He sold LinkedIn to Microsoft for $26.2 billion in cash in 2016 and joined Microsoft's board in 2017. He has a masters degree in philosophy from Oxford University. He also holds a bachelors degree with distinction in symbolic systems from Stanford University.
In the midst of a diplomatic row, India has withdrawn all its soldiers from Maldives, the island country's government said in an official statement. Indian troops were withdrawn from Maldivian territory shortly before the May 10 deadline set by the latter's president, Mohamed Muizzu earlier. Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu(File photo)

President Muizzu, widely seen as a pro-China leader, had set May 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the Indian military personnel from his country. The withdrawal of Indian military personnel was one of the key promises of Muizzu's government during his presidential campaign last year.

Heena Waleed, president's office's chief spokesperson, confirmed to the media that the last of the Indian soldiers stationed in Maldives had been repatriated, without giving an exact number of troops. She added details about the number of the soldiers stationed would be disclosed later.

Maldives had earlier said in a government statement that 51 out of the total number of Indian troops stationed in the country were repatriated to India on Monday. The government earlier announced the presence of 89 Indian soldiers in the Maldives, citing official documents.

After Muizzu set the May 10 deadline, India agreed to withdraw its troops from the country before the last date to avoid any conflicts.

At a media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the first and the second batches of the Indian personnel returned to India and "now deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place" to operate the three Indian aviation platforms.

This development comes just a day after India's External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with his Maldivian counterpart Moosa Zameer. The two leaders had extensive talks on bilateral ties and regional security issues of India and Maldives.

Zameer said that the two foreign ministers also discussed the possibility of President Muizzu making a visit to New Delhi very soon.

The Maldives is Indias key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region and occupies a special place in its initiatives like SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy of the Modi government.

(With inputs from PTI)
Palestinian militant group Hamas said early Friday that its delegation attending Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Cairo had left the city for Qatar, adding the "ball is now completely" in Israel's hands. Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip (REUTERS)

"The negotiating delegation left Cairo heading to Doha. In practice, the occupation (Israel) rejected the proposal submitted by the mediators and raised objections to it on several central issues," the group said in a message to other Palestinian factions, adding it stood by the proposal.

"Accordingly, the ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation."

State-linked Egyptian outlet Al-Qahera News reported Thursday that representatives of both camps left Cairo after two days of negotiations aimed at finalising a ceasefire deal in the seven-month war in the Gaza Strip.

Efforts by Egypt and other mediators, namely Qatar and the United States, "continue to bring the points of view of the two parties closer together", the outlet added, citing a high-level Egyptian source.

ALSO READ| Benjamin Netanyahu says if Joe Biden halts the ammunition, Israelis will fight with their fingernails

Hamas said Monday that it had accepted a ceasefire proposal put forward by mediators.

The deal, the group said, involved a withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, the return of Palestinians displaced by the war, and the exchange of hostages held by militants for Palestinian prisoners detained in Israel, with the aim of a "permanent ceasefire".

Netanyahu's office at the time called the proposal "far from Israel's essential demands", but said the government would still send negotiators to Cairo.

Israel has long been resistant to the idea of a permanent ceasefire, insisting it must finish the job of dismantling Hamas.
Toronto: Canadas spy agency has accused India of engaging in hostile foreign interference and espionage activities in the country. This allegation was contained in the Public Report 2023 issued by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) this week. A Canadian flag flies in front of the Peace Tower on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. (REUTERS)

The report stated, Major perpetrators of foreign interference and espionage in both Canada and the West include the Peoples Republic of China, the Russian Federation, the Islamic Republic of Iran, and India. In 2023, these states and their intelligence services continued to engage in a variety of hostile foreign interference and espionage activities to advance their objectives and interests.

The introduction from CSIS Director David Vigneault delved into the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Surrey, British Columbia, on June 18 last year. He referred to the statement by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in the House of Commons on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder. The Prime Minister stated that the protection of Canadian citizens and the defence of Canadian sovereignty were fundamental. He stated that the governments top priorities were for law enforcement and security agencies to ensure the continued safety of all Canadians, and for all steps to be taken to hold perpetrators of this murder to account, Vigneault wrote.

The report stated that prior to Trudeaus statement Vigneault and then National Security Intelligence Adviser, Jody Thomas travelled to India to discuss the matter with their counterparts.

In response to the serious allegations, Director Vigneault stated that Canada and its allies require accountability from the Government of India concerning its potential involvement in the murder of a Canadian citizen on Canadian soil, the report stated.

It also said after deterioration in the bilateral relations between Canada and India, low-sophistication cyber activities against Canada by India-aligned non-state cyber actors were observed but there was no indication that the Government of India was responsible for these cyber incidents.

Interestingly, in its 2018 public report, released in June 2019, it had warned that there has been an increase in observed threat activity in the country related to support for Khalistan including attacks targeting India.

The agency found that within Canada threat-related activities primarily targeting India and committed by a small number of Canada-based extremists who support violent means to establish an independent state within India have continued. This, it stated, had been mostly at a low level after its peak in the mid-1980s. However, it noted that recently there has been an increase in observed threat activity, wherein Canada is being used as a base to support this view as well as attacks targeting India.

These activities, it stated, constituted a threat not just to the target country, India, but also one to the security of Canada. Todays threat environment is global. We have an obligation to fully investigate threat activities in Canada directed outside our borders, the report affirmed, adding that Canada must contribute to the international communitys efforts to prevent violent attacks from happening in any country.

However, those warnings were absent from later reports and the matter is not addressed in the latest version.
Toronto: A private members motion which includes allusion to an Indian link to the killing of pro-Khalistan figure Hardeep Singh Nijjar on June 18 last year, has been passed by Canadas House of Commons. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks at Parliament's Question Period in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, on May 1. (REUTERS)

The motion titled Political Interference, Violence or Intimidation on Canadian Soil was moved by Indo-Canadian MP Sukh Dhaliwal on February 12. It was seconded by several MPs, including eight Indo-Canadians.

It was passed on Wednesday with 326 votes for and none against. Those who voted for its included Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, several Cabinet ministers, and leader of the opposition Conservative Party Pierre Poilievre.

The motions text stated it wants the House of recognise that recent events, including the credible allegations of a link between agents of the Government of India and the killing of a Canadian citizen, Hardeep Singh Nijjar, at a place of worship on Canadian soil, are examples of rising forms of intimidation, threats, and interference from countries such as India, China, Russia, Iran, and others.

Nijjar was killed on June 18 last year in Surrey, British Columbia. The principal organiser in the province for the secessionist group Sikhs for Justice (SFJ), Nijjar was considered a terrorist in India though those allegations were not tested in a Canadian court. His killing impacted bilateral ties after Trudeau stated in the House on September 18 that there were credible allegations of a potential link between Indian agents and the murder.

In a post on X on Monday, Dhaliwal said his motion will hold to account any person or agents of a foreign state undermining our democratic institutions, engaging in acts of violence, or intimidating diaspora communities in Canada.

The motion had been opposed by the leading Indo-Canadian organisation, the Canada India Foundation (CIF). In a letter to Dhaliwal last month, its Board of Directors stated, This motion if passed will be one more initiative in a lengthy list of provocations that will damage the Canada-India relationship. As an organisation keen to see our bilateral issues resolved, we are concerned that the disproportionate influence exercised by a violent minority continues to cast a shadow on our domestic politics and foreign policy, CIF noted.
India on Friday voted in favour of a draft UN General Assembly resolution that said Palestine is qualified and should be admitted as full member of the United Nations and recommended that the Security Council reconsider" the matter favourably. The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine. (Reuters)

The 193-member General Assembly met in the morning for an emergency special session where the Arab Group resolution Admission of new Members to the United Nations, in support of the State of Palestine's full membership in the UN, was presented by the United Arab Emirates, as Chair of the Arab Group in May.

The resolution got 143 votes in favour, including by India, nine against and 25 abstentions. The UNGA hall broke into an applause after the vote was cast.

The resolution determined that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter of the United Nations and "should therefore be admitted to membership in the United Nations.

It recommended that the Security Council reconsider the matter favourably, in the light of this determination.

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 was later shifted to Ramallah in 2003.

Earlier this month, Indias Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj had said that while Palestines application for membership at the UN was not approved by the Security Council because of the veto in the UNSC, 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 Palestines endeavour to become a member of the United Nations will get endorsed".

An annex to the resolution said that the additional rights and privileges of participation of the State of Palestine will be effective as of the 79th session of the General Assembly that begins in September this year.

These include the right to be seated among member states in alphabetical order; the right to make statements on behalf of a group, including among representatives of major groups; the right of members of the delegation of the State of Palestine to be elected as officers in the plenary and the Main Committees of the General Assembly and the right to full and effective participation in UN conferences and international conferences and meetings convened under the auspices of the General Assembly.

Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to UN organs.

In April, Palestine had 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.

Last month, the US had vetoed a resolution in the Security Council on the Palestinian bid to be granted full membership of the United Nations. 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 UK 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, United Kingdom and United States.

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.
Israel prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, defying the international pressure to halt the Gaza war, has said that his country will "stand alone" against Hamas if it is "forced to stand alone". Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AFP)

"As the Prime Minister of Israel, the one and only Jewish State, I pledge here today, from Jerusalem, on this Holocaust Remembrance Day, if Israel is forced to stand alone, Israel will stand alone. But we know we are not alone, because countless decent people around the world support our just cause. And I say to you we will defeat our genocidal enemies," he said.

Netanyahu addressed the nation soon after United States President Joe Biden said that the US would not provide offensive weapons to Israel for its assault on Rafah in the ongoing war against Hamas.

Read more: Israel hits Rafah despite US warning on arms transfers

In a fiery speech marking Israel's annual Holocaust memorial day, Netanyahu said that no nation stepped up to help their country when Jewish people were left defenseless 80 years ago. Eighty years ago, in the Holocaust, the Jewish people were totally defenceless against those who sought our destruction. No nation came to our aid, he said.

"Today, we again confront enemies bent on our destruction. I say to the leaders of the world, no amount of pressure, no decision by any international forum will stop Israel from defending itself," he said.

Netanyahu added, "If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails."

Over the past week, thousands of residents in Rafah have received phone calls, SMS messages, air-dropped flyers, and media broadcasts urging them to evacuate to humanitarian zones outside the city, likely before a major attack by the Israeli military.

On May 5, Hamas fired a barrage of rockets from the area of the Rafah border crossing and near an area where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in tents.

(With inputs from ANI)
By Karen Lema Philippines calls for expelling of Chinese diplomats as South China Sea row escalates

MANILA, - The Philippines' national security adviser called on Friday for Chinese diplomats to be expelled over an alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral, in a significant escalation of a bitter row over the South China Sea.

China's embassy in Manila had orchestrated "repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation", with the objective of sowing discord, division and disunity, Eduardo Ano said in a statement.

Those actions "should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned without serious penalty", he said.

China's embassy in Manila did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the call to expel diplomats. The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The two countries have been embroiled in a series of heated standoffs this past year in disputed areas of the South China Sea as the Philippines, emboldened by support from the United States and other allies, steps up activities in waters patrolled by China's coast guard.

China has accused the Philippines of trespassing and of treachery, while Manila has scolded Beijing for what it says is a policy of aggression and dangerous manoeuvring.

The expelling of diplomats could intensify a row that has so far seen heated exchanges, diplomatic protests and the ramming and water-cannoning of Philippine ships at two disputed shoals in the South China Sea.

Ano was referring to a news report this week of an alleged leak of a call between a Chinese diplomat and a Filipino admiral discussing a dispute over the South China Sea, which carried a transcript that showed the admiral agreeing to concessions with China.

According to the transcript published by the Manila Times, a Philippine admiral had agreed to China's proposal of a "new model", where the Philippines would use fewer vessels in resupply missions to troops at the Second Thomas Shoal, and notify Beijing about missions in advance.

Reuters has not heard the reported phone conversation and could not verify the contents of the published transcript. The report said the conversation had taken place in January and the transcript was provided by a "ranking Chinese official", which it did not name.

'INTERFERENCE OPERATIONS'

Ano said he backed the defence minister's call for the foreign ministry to take appropriate action against embassy officials, who he said claimed to have recorded an alleged phone conversation in violation of Philippine laws, including its anti-wire tapping act, as well as serious breaches of diplomatic protocols.

"Those individuals in the Chinese embassy ... and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately," he said.

China's foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said on Wednesday the embassy in Manila had released details about "relevant communications" between the two countries on managing the situation at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, where the Philippines has for stations troops at a grounded warship.

Lin did not elaborate on what details or communications were released, but said "facts are clear and backed by hard evidence that cannot be denied."

"The Philippines has insisted on denying these objective facts and seeks to mislead the international community," Lin added.

China has long been vexed by the Philippines' stationing of a small group of marines at the Second Thomas Shoal aboard a warship that it intentionally grounded 25 years ago.

Beijing has repeatedly said the Philippines had agreed to tow that ship away, which Manila has rejected.

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.
Prince Harry may have made a sartorial choice to convey a hidden message to his beloved brother and archnemesis, Prince William, and his father, King Charles III, per royal expert. TOPSHOT - Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex waves as he arrives to attend a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, at St Paul's Cathedral in central London, on May 8, 2024. (Photo by JUSTIN TALLIS / AFP)(AFP)

The occasion was the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, held at St Pauls Cathedral, where Prince Harry was observed donning his KCVO Neck Order and Starawarded for services to the monarchy.

This honour is part of the Royal Victorian Order, a highly esteemed chivalric order.

Tom Quinn, a royal author, interprets Prince Harrys decision to wear the medal as a meaningful gesture towards his family, his enduring commitment and service to the Crown, and to send a message to royals that you can revoke his Frogmore cottage, his security, harm his dignity but you can't take this!

ALSO READ| Prince Harry joins Dianas family at St Pauls Cathedral service just a stones throw away from King Charles III

Wearing this was Harrys way of reminding his family: Royal expert

Tom Quinn, speaking with The Mirror, remarked, Harry was seen wearing his Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order medal at St Pauls Cathedral for the Invictus service. The medal was given to Harry in 2015 by his late grandmother Elizabeth II for services to the monarchy.

Wearing this was Harrys way of reminding his family that his grandmother valued his contribution, even if his father and brother do not. Wearing the KCVO neck and star was also Harrys way of pointing out that hes not the bad boy hes portrayed as being by his father and brother, Quinn elucidated.

The royal author reflected on the possibility that Prince Harrys attire bore a more defiant undertone amidst the ongoing familial tensions.

Its Harrys way of saying he still supports the monarchy despite the way he feels he has been treated. Perhaps more importantly, wearing the medal is Harrys way of saying Youve taken everything else from me, but you cant take this!, he added.

The knighthood was conferred upon Prince Harry by Queen Elizabeth II in a private Buckingham Palace ceremony in 2015, acknowledging his service to the monarchy and bestowing upon him the title of Knight Commander of the Royal Victorian Order (KCVO).

The Duke also displayed his Afghanistan Service Medal and the Golden, Diamond, and Platinum Jubilee medals.

ALSO READ| Kate Middleton can meet Prince Harry during UK visit if only

King won't meet his younger son

His choice to wear these decorations came to light following the news that King Charles had not scheduled a meeting with his son during his UK visit due to full programme.

A representative for the Duke stated, In response to the many inquiries and continued speculation on whether or not the duke will meet with his father while in the UK this week, it unfortunately will not be possible due to His Majestys full programme.

The duke of course is understanding of his fathers diary of commitments and various other priorities and hopes to see him soon.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy dismissed the head of the state guards after allegations that two members were involved in a plot to assassinate him, Al Jazeera reported. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky(AP)

Zelenskyy fired the former leader of the state guards, Serhiy Rud, on Thursday, Al Jazeera reported, adding that the decision came after the State Security Service (SBU) said earlier this week that it had uncovered an assassination plot against Zelenskyy and other important officials.

However, there is no official word yet on Rud's successor, according to the report.

According to SBU, two men, both colonels in the state guard, had planned to take Zelenskyy hostage and later assassinate him, Al Jazeera reported.

Other important officials, including SBU head Vasyl Maliuk and Kyrylo Budanov, the military intelligence agency's head, were also said to be targets of the foiled plot.

Two Ukrainian security officials were detained for planning to assassinate President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, CNN reported citing the country's State Security Service (SBU).

ALSO READ| 2 Ukrainian security officials held for plotting President Zelenskyy's assassination, says Kyiv

Two colonels in Ukraine's government protection unit were accused of carrying out "subversive activities against Ukraine in exchange for financial compensation", and both were charged with treason, and one of them was also charged with preparing a terrorist act, Ukraine's Prosecutor General's office said Tuesday.

The prosecutor's office said one of the suspects received two drones and ammunition from Russia's State Security Service (FSB), which they intended to transfer to another accomplice to carry out an explosion.

The SBU said it had 'foiled' the "actively developing plans" to assassinate Zelenskyy and other senior Ukrainian officials, including the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, and the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov."

Russia did not officially react to the allegations of the SBU, which alleged that the two bodyguards had shared sensitive information to the Federal Security Service (FSB).

In recent months, Zelenskyy's administration has faced many difficulties and has shaken up some key positions as progress in Ukraine's conflict with Russia stalls out and officials face corruption accusations, Al Jazeera reported.

Earlier in February, Zelenskyy appointed Oleksandr Syrskyii as the new army chief after dismissing General Valerii Zaluzhny from the post.
United Nations and European officials Friday condemned attacks against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in east Jerusalem, which have forced it to temporarily close its headquarters. Traces of a fire are visible as an ultra-Orthodox Israel man walks past the headquarters of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). (AFP)

"I condemn the recent attack on UNRWA Headquarters in East Jerusalem. Targeting aid workers and humanitarian assets is unacceptable, and must stop," UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on X, formerly Twitter, referring to Thursday's attack.

Earlier Germany's foreign ministry called out the "escalation of violent protest" and said on X that "Israel must ensure the protection of UN facilities and personnel in the occupied Palestinian territories".

"The UN need to be able to serve their important mandate in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem," the ministry added.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said the bloc also "strongly condemns the attack".

"It is Israel's responsibility to ensure the safety of humanitarian workers. UNRWA is an irreplaceable lifeline to millions in Gaza and the region," he said in a post on X.

Also on X, French diplomat Catherine Colonna called for the headquarters to be protected following the "unjustifiable violence" and said that the UNRWA "must be able to carry out its mission".

- Site closed -

UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini announced Thursday the temporary closure of the site after Israelis set fire to its perimeter in the latest in a series of attacks.

While there were no casualties, he said the blaze caused extensive damage to the outdoor area.

It came after two months of protests by "Israeli extremists" outside the compound, with one earlier this week turning violent when demonstrators threw stones, he said.

A spokesperson for UNRWA, Juliette Touma, told AFP on Friday that the site remains "closed until proper security is restored" and said it was unknown how long that would take.

The Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were among those who had already condemned the arson attack.

Germany is a key supporter of Israel, offering staunch backing since the October 7 attack by Hamas that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

But as the conflict has ground on, Berlin has increasingly voiced criticism, calling for more humanitarian aid to be allowed into war-ravaged Gaza.

UNRWA, which coordinates nearly all aid to Gaza, has been in crisis since January, when Israel accused about a dozen of its 13,000 Gaza employees of being involved in the October attack.

That led many nations, including top donor the United States, to abruptly suspend funding to the agency, threatening its efforts to deliver aid in Gaza, although several have since resumed payments.

An independent review of UNRWA, led by French former foreign minister Colonna, found some "neutrality-related issues" but said Israel had yet to provide evidence for its leading allegations.

Created in 1949, the agency employs around 30,000 people in the Palestinian territories, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.

Gaza's bloodiest-ever war began following Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel has conducted a retaliatory offensive that has killed more than 34,900 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.
Israelis are ready to fight with their "fingernails", Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday in a thinly veiled rebuff to U.S. President Joe Biden's warning that arms supplies could be withheld over a planned operation in Gaza. Amidst tensions with the U.S. and long-time ally Joe Biden over arms supplies, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says they are ready to invade Rafah. (AP Photo)(AP)

Israel's long-threatened move against Rafah, where it says thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of the hostages they seized in an Oct. 7 attack are ensconced among more than a million war-displaced Palestinians, began this week with the evacuation of some civilians followed by limited incursions.

The Biden administration has said it cannot support a major Rafah invasion in the absence of what it would deem a credible plan to safeguard non-combatants. Israel has said victory in the seven-month-old conflict is impossible without taking Rafah.

ALSO READ| 2024 US presidential election: Donald Trump to Joe Biden, a look at the contenders

Netanyahu warns of solo action in Gaza

The Netanyahu government had kept silent over reports that Washington was holding back a shipment of aerial bombs - until, on Wednesday, Biden went public with the measure, saying it was part of a U.S. warning to the Israelis not to "go into Rafah".

"If we must stand alone, we shall stand alone," Netanyahu said without referring specifically to the U.S. announcement.

"If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails," he said in a video statement. "But we have much more than our fingernails, and with that strength of spirit, with God's help, together we shall be victorious."

But Netanyahu said in an interview on U.S. television he hopes he and Biden can overcome their disagreements over the Gaza war. "We often had our agreements but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them," Netanyahu said on the "Dr. Phil Primetime" show.

"I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country," he said.

ALSO READ| Joe Bidens campaign roasts Trump using Kendrick Lamars diss track Euphoria: I hate the way you

Netanyahus War Cabinet signals unyielding stance amidst US arms supply concerns

The conservative prime minister's comments in the video statement were echoed by the other two voting members of his war cabinet - Defence Minister Yoav Gallant and centrist former Defence Minister Benny Gantz - although none said explicitly that a deeper sweep of Rafah would be ordered.

"I turn to Israel's enemies as well as to our best of friends and say - the State of Israel cannot be subdued," Gallant said in a speech. "We will stand strong, we will achieve our goals - we will hit Hamas, we will hit (Lebanon's) Hezbollah, and we will achieve security."

Gantz voiced appreciation for what the Israeli military has described as unprecedented U.S. support and supplies in the war.

"Israel has a duty, in terms of national security and morality, to keep fighting in order to return our hostages and end the Hamas threat against southern Israel," he said on X. "And the United States has a moral and strategic duty to extend to Israel the tools that are necessary for this mission."

In parallel to the public dispute, the United States has been trying to shepherd along Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated talks between Israel and Hamas that would free some hostages.

ALSO READ| New York City woman choked with a belt and sexually assaulted on Bronx street: Watch

Those have stumbled on Hamas' demand for an end to the Gaza war. Israel is willing to enter a ceasefire only. Negotiators on Thursday left the latest meetings in Cairo without a deal, and Israel said it would proceed with its planned Rafah operation.

The chief Israeli military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, said in a briefing that the armed forces had sufficient munitions for Rafah "and other operations that are planned".
Amidst reports of Angelina Jolie attempting to poison her six children's relationship with husband Brad Pitt, the actress' lawyer had made a strange appeal to her ex-husband as the legal battle escalates. Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt separated soon after the flight incident.

According to a Daily Mail report, the actor was told to "let her go" by Jolie's attorney Paul Murphy on Friday.

The Hollywood actress was pushing her kids to avoid her estranged husband when she had custody of them following their split, as court filings filed at LA Superior Court by Pitt's side.

Angelina was received full custody of the children in 2016. However, Brad was granted equal custody of their kids in 2021.

Meanwhile, Murphy said: Jolie looks forward to the day when he is finally able to let her go.

Also Read: Angelina Jolie's lawyers slam Brad Pitt's NDA request as abusive in winery case: Report

A look at Brad Pitt's relationship with his kids

It is assumed that three eldest children, Pax, Maddox and Zahara, hardly have nay ties with Pitt.

Nearly three years ago, Pax hurled abuses at his father in an Instagram post, calling him awful human being who terrified his children.

Moreover, the actor no longer attempting to change custody arrangements for his three children under the age of 18 following a lengthy legal battle that failed.

Pitt is accused of sandbagging Jolie by responding to documents that her team claims were intended to provoke a publicity event.

According to Jolie's legal team, the new court battles involve Pitt asking Jolie to sign an NDA as part of an agreement to sell her piece of vineyard they used to co-own. Murphy called the actor's move "shameful" and a cover-up of his abuse of Jolie to display his "power and control".

Jolie sold the vineyard to billionaire Yuri Sheffler, who is the owner of the Stoli company. Following this, Pitt argued that she had violated the deal to give him the right of first refusal.

What went wrong between Jolie and Pitt?

A source close to the case revealed that Tony Webb, a former bodyguard who submitted the declaration, witnessed Piit's alleged attack on Jolie and the kids when they were on a private plane in 2016, leading to an end of the couple's marriage who exchanged vows in 2014 and filed for divorce in 2016

The insider further said that Webb is on Pitt's payroll and currently working for the same security crew whose other members ignored Pitt's behavior that day.

Earlier this year, Jolie's counsel claimed that the marriage involved physical assault. However, Pitt has rejected all allegations and his denial was described as "gaslighting" in the court documents.

Pitt was not charged after an investigation by the FBI into the flight incident.
A Delta Airlines flight bound for Atlanta, Georgia, from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was forced to declare an emergency on Thursday. The Boeing 757-200 landed safely at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport following an issue with the nose landing gear. The emergency was declared ahead of the landing at Atlanta Airport for air traffic control to prioritise the handling of the plane's descent, a spokesperson for the airline said. A Delta Boeing 757-200 was forced to declare emergency before landing in Atlanta following a landing gear issue(AFP/ Representational Image)

Delta's Boeing aircraft declares emergency ahead of landing

Delta Flight 1435 was forced to declare an emergency upon receiving a notification that the plane's nose landing gear may not have been down, per Fox 5. The outlet adds that the air traffic control tower was able to confirm that the landing gear was down. With 199 passengers, four flight attendants, and two pilots aboard, the Boeing aircraft landed safely without any injuries.

Due to bad weather conditions, the flight had been delayed. Delta officials said that the plane was towed to the gate, according to the outlet. However, the passengers were safely deplaned as usual. A spokesperson for the airline released a statement that read:

The Delta flight crew enacted their extensive training to manage an indication of a potential nose landing gear issue, as nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and crew. The flight landed safely and was towed to an arrival gate out of an abundance of caution.

The incident comes just weeks after another Delta Boeing 757-200 bound for Atlanta was forced to declare an emergency due to a flap disagree before making a safe landing at the destined airport. This is an uncommon occurrence but is a part of extensive flight crew training to manage through safely. Nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and people, a Delta spokesperson said at the time, per Fox 5.
A U.S. federal appeals court on Friday upheld the conviction of Steve Bannon, a former top adviser to former President Donald Trump, for defying a subpoena from the congressional panel that investigated the Jan. 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Steve Bannon appears in court in New York, Jan. 12, 2023. A federal appeals court has upheld the criminal conviction of Donald Trump's longtime ally for defying a subpoena from the House committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit on Friday, May 10, 2024, rejected Bannon's challenges to his contempt of Congress conviction. (Steven Hirsch/New York Post via AP, Pool, File)(AP)

The ruling brings Bannon a step closer to serving a four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress, but he can still mount additional appeals.

Bannon was convicted in 2022 of two misdemeanor counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over documents or testify to the House of Representatives committee that investigated the Capitol riot.

He has been allowed to remain free during his appeal.

Bannon, a key figure on the American right, argued on appeal that his lawyer advised him he did not have to comply with the subpoena and therefore he did not intend to commit a crime.

Bannon's argument would "hamstring Congress's investigatory authority," by making it more difficult to prosecute witnesses who spurn congressional investigations, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit found.

A lawyer and spokesperson for Bannon did not immediately respond to requests for comment. He can appeal the ruling to the full D.C. Circuit court and the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Democrat-led House panel investigated Trump's efforts to subvert the 2020 election results, which culminated on Jan. 6, 2021 when a mob of his supporters breached the Capitol in an attempt to stop the formal certification of the vote.

The committee sought information from Bannon, who predicted on a podcast the day before the riot that "all hell is going to break loose tomorrow."

Bannon refused to cooperate with the committee's probe, which he attacked as politically motivated.

Former Trump trade adviser Peter Navarro is currently serving a four-month prison sentence for defying a subpoena from the same committee.
Amidst the ongoing debate over Barron Trump's political role at the RNC convention as a delegate from Florida, former President Donald Trump revealed that his youngest son likes to give him advice on politics. Don Jr., Eric, and Tiffany will join Barron during the Milwaukee conference, which will see in attendance 41 at-large Sunshine State delegates, including four members of the Trump family.(AFP)

This development comes at a time when the former president is facing a hush money trial in New York court, where former adult star Stormy Daniels has made bombshell revelations about her alleged affair with Trump. Barron has been chosen as Florida delegate to the RNC, which will take place on July 15 at Fiserv Forum in Wisconsin. It will be a big day as delegates will pick the Republican Party's nominees for president and vice president for the 2024 presidential race.

Speaking with Kayal and Company on Philadelphias Talk Radio 1210 WPHT, Trump boasted that his son has been a great student and he loves politics.

Hes a little on the tall side. I will tell you, hes a tall one, but he is a good-looking guy. And hes really been a great student. And he does like politics. Its sort of funny," the presumptive GOP nominee said.

"Hell tell me sometimes, Dad, this is what you have to do'," he said.

Also Read: Donald Trump ridiculed for getting son Barron's age wrong: Dear Lord, if Biden had done that

Which college will Barron Trump attend?

Calling Barron a good person, Trump said his son is now a senior in high school and he will be going to college soon. And you know, a lot of, a lot of these choices of colleges are changing because you see whats going on in the last month.

Melania's only child with Trump, Barron, was mainly kept out of the spotlight during his childhood and his father's stint in office. However, he has sparked worldwide curiosity since turning 18-year-old in March.

Don Jr., Eric, and Tiffany will join Barron during the Milwaukee conference, which will see in attendance 41 at-large Sunshine State delegates, including four members of the Trump family.

Speculations are rife about Barron's college choice. According to The Daily Beast, NYU was his top pick, although Trumps are yet to announce the final decision.

Earlier, Donald Trump had complained that his ongoing Manhattan trial would prohibit him from taking part in Barron's graduation. He is accused of manipulating business documents to hide a $130,000 hush money payment made to Daniels to stay mum about their alleged affair.

Judge Juan Merchan, who is supervising the case, allowed the GOP leader to attend the May 17 event.
The defence team for former US President Donald Trump has said that pornstar Stormy Daniels story on the alleged sexual encounter with Trump keeps on changing because it never happened. Former U.S. President Donald Trump sits next to an image of "Think Big", book by Bill Zanker and Donald Trump, during his 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 9, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg(REUTERS)

Susan Necheles, Trumps defence attorney, spearheaded the cross-examination of Daniels following her extensive testimony on Tuesday. The defences request for a mistrial, citing the testimony as unnecessary and prejudicial, was overruled by the presiding judge.

During the interrogation, Necheles highlighted a 2018 statement signed by Daniels, which refuted any encounter with Trump.

ALSO READ| Trump hush money trial: Most heated moments from Stormy Daniels' bombshell testimony

Daniels faces tough questions in Trump hush-money trial

Daniels acknowledged her signature but disclaimed authorship. Another statement denying a sexual relationship with Trump was also presented, stating, Im denying this affair because it never happened.

Daniels said that Trumps former attorney, Michael Cohen, pushed her to the edge to sign that document.

She negated any direct financial requests from Trump, clarifying, I never asked for money from anyone in particular. I asked for money for telling my story I was asking for money from publications to sell my story, to get the truth out.

Daniels conceded to selling her story for nearly $1 million, tied to her book deal for Full Disclosure, valued at $800,000, though she claimed not to have received the full amount.

When probed about her book, Daniels revealed that it chronicled her life from age two onwards, yet she presumed the Trump-related content would be the primary focus for readers. Discrepancies arose when Daniels recounted the alleged 2006 encounter differently in court than her initial disclosure and book narrative.

ALSO READ| Donald Trump lawyer grills Stormy Daniels, says she sought to profit off story of sex

Daniels made up the story: Trump's team

Necheles confronted Daniels with a past interview with In Touch, alleging, You told In Touch a completely different story, to which Daniels replied, admitting there were some parts in the middle I didnt remember.

She defended that In Touch left out a lot of stuff because they couldnt fact-check it. The article, penned in 2011, remained unpublished until post-2016 election.

The defence accused Daniels: You made it up

No, Daniels replied.

Daniels described the location of the alleged encounter, mentioning the obstructive presence of Trumps bodyguard. However, Necheles countered with a Vogue interview where Daniels had clearly stated there was absolutely no threat during the encounter.

Necheles questioned Daniels awareness of the charges against Trump in Alvin Braggs case, to which she said no, adding he indicted for a lot of things.

Necheles posited that the inconsistencies in Daniels story stemmed from a non-existent affair and a motive to monetize the narrative. The affair never happened.

Prosecutor Susan Hoffinger, during re-direct, elicited Daniels admission of entering a non-disclosure agreement and accepting $130,000 as hush money, primarily for safety, contradicting her earlier intent to profit from the story.

ALSO READ| Donald Trump is likely to skip Barron's graduation ceremony because of

Daniels remarked, Were all happy to take the money. Its just a bonus.

Hoffinger inquired if fear influenced Daniels NDA compliance and her hiding in plain view strategy.

Daniels cited a lawyer friend who once told her, If youre out in the open, youre safer.

Daniels 2018 lawsuit against the former president challenged the validity of the NDA due to Trumps missing signature.

Trump had pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records.
Former US President Donald Trump's youngest son, Barron Trump, who recently turned 18, has sparked debate by taking on the role of a Florida delegate at July's Republican National Convention. The move was shocking rather than welcoming for many political enthusiasts, who are now wondering about Barron's intentionswhether he is stepping into a major political role to further his father's legacy or simply becoming a part of what critics often deride as his father's circus. Barron Trump with POTUS (Source: AFP)

Barron Trump becomes Florida delegate at RNC

Barron, a high school senior who is expected to graduate in the next couple of months, is on the list of at-large delegates who will represent Florida at the convention. The convention will allow delegates to officially choose the party's candidate for the presidency at the convention in Wisconsin. Which is going to be Donald Trump of course.

Also read: Prince Harry faces betrayal' blow on UK trip as King snubs him to honour William with

According to multiple reports, Barron is following in his siblings' footsteps, including brothers Donald, Jr., and Eric, as well as sister Tiffany. "We have a great delegation of grassroots leaders, elected officials and even Trump family members." Said Evan Power, the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida. "Florida is continuing to have a great convention team, but more importantly, we are preparing to win Florida and win it big, he added to his statement.

Trump, who has been dealing with the hush money trial in court, has been primarily focused on his hearings these days. The judge in the case recently allowed him to attend Barron's graduation by not scheduling a trial on the day after Trump reportedly whined about missing his wife Melania's birthday. Melania Trump, who has largely remained out of the public eye recently, has extended the same privacy to their son Barron as well. However, Barron's entry into politics has left many questioning the parents' decision to involve their child in politics at such an early age.

Also read: Hailey Bieber is already over six months pregnant, and Justin has most thrilling reaction

Barron Trumps entry into politics sparks debate

"He's now fair game to the media. I'm actually surprised. I thought Melania Trump would do everything to prevent this, but if Barron, now an adult, personally made the decision to participate in his father's circus, so be it." A user commented on the news on X (formerly twitter). Ill be honest, he looks way too much like his criminal father for me to cut him any slack. wrote another, pointing out the eerie similarity between the son and father duo in terms of looks.

Joining the list of Trump siblings as Delegates are Kimberly Guilfoyle, the fiancee of Donald Trump Jr., and Michael Boulos, who is the husband of Tiffany Trump. The convention event will take place from July 15 to 18 in Milwaukee. Trump also posted a video on his social media platform, Truth Social, praising his son and his entry into the RNC.

The 18-year-old son of Trump and Melania, their only child in over two decades of marriage, is not an unfamiliar face to the media. He has often garnered attention for his resemblance to Trump and mainly for his height of 6ft 7in. Barron has been attending a private ever since the family moved to Palm Beach Florida.

One of Trumps campaign members told ABC News that Barron is "very interested in our nation's political process". Many voters claimed that Barrons entry in politics is fair game citing, Barron Trump is fair game. I repeat fair game. Dont care. You came for Chelsea at 13. You went after the Obama girls as children & still are attacking them. This anchor baby deserves nothing less.

Barron Trump is going to be a Republican delegate. We need to treat him with all of the care and respect the Republicans showed Ashley and Hunter Biden, added another.
Former US Secretary of States Hillary Clinton slammed the pro-Palestine protests at campuses across the country, suggesting that young demonstrators dont know very much about the history of the Middle East or the US. Appearing on the MSNBC show "Morning Joe" on Thursday, Hillary Clinton claimed that she has met several youngsters over the last few months, adding that "I have had many conversations" with them.(AP)

Appearing on the MSNBC show "Morning Joe" on Thursday, Clinton claimed that she has met several youngsters over the last few months, adding that "I have had many conversations" with them.

They dont know very much at all about the history of the Middle East, or frankly about history, in many areas of the world, including in our own country.

Clinton then went on to talk about Yasir Arafat, the former leader of the Palestinian Authority, and the Camp David Summit in 2000. She said that young people "don't know" that the Palestinians would already have their own state if Arafat had agreed to an agreement mediated by her husband President Bill Clinton.

Terming his refusal as one of the great tragedies of history, she claimed that Arafat "wanted" to sign the deal but was "pretty sure he'd be killed" by Hamas terrorists.

Also Read: 'Super predator' Hillary Clinton heckled by Palestine supporters over Gaza deaths

Clinton asserts propaganda is not education

Clinton, who has faced wrath of pro-Palestine supporters in the past, stated that campus protestors may have fallen to pro-Hamas "propaganda" on social media or in their classrooms since they are receiving information that frequently contains a hidden "agenda" or without "any kind of context."

Explaining that "propaganda is not education", she said that propaganda, whether on TikTok or in the classroom, is the exact antithesis of education. Anybody who is teaching in a university, or anyone who is putting content on social media, should be held responsible for what they include and what they exclude, she stressed.

The former first lady further said that what is being projected on TikTok about "what's going on in the Middle East is woefully false".

She called on professors and said that they "need to do a better job" in assisting young generation understand how to "filter" and evaluate information on global events.

Clinton faces backlash

Meanwhile, Clinton came under fire on social media over her comments about ongoing demonstrations on university campuses. Clinton, a professor at Columbia University, was slammed for underestimating the abilities of students.

Young people have better things to do than speak to Hillary Clinton, a textbook contemptuous, cold hearted politician, one X user wrote.

A second user wondered, How many young people does she speak to.

Hi Hillary, I taught Joe Saccos Palestine to my first year students this semester. Do you want to know what they all said? Why didnt we know this? Why was this kept from us?" one more chimed in. These students know and thats why they are protesting. It doesnt require a PhD, just humanity.

Around 1,200 Israelis were killed after Hamas launched a surprising attack on Israel last October. Following this, Israel launched a war against Hamas, killingat least 34,000Palestinians, as per the Hamas-run Gaza Ministry of Health.
Philadelphia police cleared an anti-Israel encampment at the University of Pennsylvania on Friday, May 10. The cops in riot gear removed and arrested over 30 pro-Palestinian protesters after 16 days of demonstrations on campus. The protesters were given a two-minute warning at around 6 am to exit the premises before the cops wearing tactical gear began taking down their tents. Police detain a protester on the University of Pennsylvania campus, in Philadelphia, on Friday, May 10, 2024. (Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer via AP)(AP)

Cops arrest anti-Israel protesters at UPenn campus

About 30 minutes after the cops stormed into the UPenn campus, the majority of the protesters either fell back or were taken into custody, per NBC10. Nearly three dozen students refused to leave as they remained around the Ben Franklin statue. However, the cops then approached them, removing the protesters one at a time.

Although the demonstrators refused to leave by linking arms while chanting, they were effectively led away by authorities without any violent outbursts. One of the students named Rishi, told the outlet, Our plan is to stay here and escalate. We're not leaving, adding, This encampment has not caused harm to any single student at all.

Revealing the details of the on-campus arrests, a spokesperson for UPenn said, At approximately 5:30am this morning, Penn Police, with support from the Philadelphia Police Department, took steps to remove the unauthorized encampment on College Green.

Protestors were given multiple warnings that they were trespassing and offered the opportunity to voluntarily leave and avoid citation. Those who chose to stay did so knowing that they would be arrested and removed, the spokesperson added.

What did the University of Pennsylvania say?

After cops disbanded the anti-Israel encampment that had been erected at the campus over two weeks ago, the University released a statement saying, Today, the University issued mandatory temporary leaves of absence for six students in accordance with our policies and pending the results of the Center for Community Standards and Accountability disciplinary investigations.

These actions are a result of the Universitys continuing response to the unauthorized encampment on College Green. We vehemently reject the characterization of students organizing within the Gaza Solidarity Encampment as 'exceptional threats' to campus safety, the statement added.
In a move seen as a pointed response to Prince Harry's recent actions, the Palace has just announced a special status for Prince William. The prestigious role, which many believed was reserved for Harry, is considered a major blow for the Duke of Sussex, who has faced criticism for his public pronouncements about the Royal Family. A royal expert describes it as a "kick in the teeth," especially after the Duke returned to the UK for his Invictus Games commitments, with hopes of a family reunion seeming completely off the table. TOPSHOT - Britain's King Charles III (L), Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales (2L) and Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex walk behind the coffin of Queen Elizabeth II, adorned with a Royal Standard and the Imperial State Crown and pulled by a Gun Carriage of The King's Troop Royal Horse Artillery, during a procession from Buckingham Palace to the Palace of Westminster, in London on September 14, 2022. - Queen Elizabeth II will lie in state in Westminster Hall inside the Palace of Westminster, from Wednesday until a few hours before her funeral on Monday, with huge queues expected to file past her coffin to pay their respects. (Photo by Daniel LEAL / POOL / AFP)(AFP)

Also read: Hailey Bieber is already over six months pregnant, and Justin has most thrilling reaction

Prince Harry faces brutal reality for betraying royals

The Duke of Sussex who stepped down from his royal duties back in 2018 to start a new life in California, US with his wife Meghan Markle and two kids Archie and Lilibet was reportedly left "in tears" following Palaces new announcement. The royal expert claims that Harry was delivered a kick in the teeth after King Charles, presented Prince William with the newly opened military honour.

As per Quinn Harry felt deeply hurt by the timing of the announcement, describing it as a kick in the teeth moment. "King Charles' announcement that Prince Harry is being stripped of his role as Colonel-in-Chief of the Army Air Corps is a real kick in the teeth for the son who always felt marginalised and underrated.

Also read: Taylor Swift turns demonic with daring costume change in Paris for TTPD Eras tour

Harry returns to the UK for Invictus

The Duke has made his trip back to his hometown to celebrate the 10th anniversary of his Invictus gaming. There were rumours and speculations for months that he may reunite with his estranged family, particularly his ailing father Charles. However, he was disappointed to learn that King Charles was too busy to see him during his trip.

To make matters worse, just hours after it was announced that the reunion would not take place, the Palace confirmed that William would be appointed Colonel-in-Chief of the Air Force Corpsa title that many thought would go to Harry, given his distinguished service with the Corps in Afghanistan.

Prince William to receive the title of Colonel-in-Chief

Speaking exclusively to the Mirror, Tom Quinn emphasises that those within the palace walls are well aware of how the timing of awarding William with the honour would deeply affect Harry emotionally. It's not hidden from anyone that Harry expressed a desire to see his father again during an interview with Good Morning America. However, not only did the King not have time to meet him, but he even organised a tea party, which is seen as an effort to discourage royals who might support Harry during the Invictus event.

The expert claims, Harry is said to have been in tears when he heard. He continued, "But they have decided the gloves are off and that Harry needs to realise that when you betray the family, you don't just escape the things you hated doing as a working royal. You also lose the things you loved."
Prince Harry and his spouse Meghan Markle on Friday landed in Nigeria for their 3-day tour. The royal couple first met with the school children in the African nation as the Duchess of Sussex took a selfie with them, while the Duke raised his arms in the air and smiled as a group of students from Wuse Lightway Academy in Abuja attempted to photograph wife. Britain's Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and his wife Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, walk out after meeting the students at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria, May 10, 2024.( REUTERS/Akintunde Akinleye)

In his speech, Harry recalled memories of his sufferings following the death of his mother Princess Diana, reported Daily Mail.

As the school is supported by Harry and Meghan's Archwell Foundation, the pair talked about mental health. Harry reflected on his pain, saying "when you lost a loved one in your family and you don't know who to turn to or who to speak to."

Harry and his brother Prince William were aged 12 and 15, respectively when Diana died in 1997 in Paris following a car accident.

Emphasising on mental stigma, the Duke said many people don't like to talk about it because "it's invisible". "But guess what? Every single person in this room - the youngest, the oldest - every single person has mental health," he stressed.

Harry interacted very deeply with the school kids as he said: If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you going to do? Are you going to check in on them? Are you going to ask them if they're OK? Because it's OK not to be OK.

Also Read: Prince Harry 'happy to be back in UK' but THIS reality check leaves him shocked

Britain's Prince Harry (L), Duke of Sussex, and Britain's Meghan (R), Duchess of Sussex, meet with children during their visit at the Lightway Academy in Abuja on May 10, 2024 as they visit Nigeria as part of celebrations of Invictus Games anniversary. (Photo by Kola SULAIMON / AFP)(AFP)

Meghan reveals why she married Prince Harry

The Duke then handed over the mic to Meghan who stated that she married Harry not just because he's so smart, but he always speaks the truth.

Meghan, who was wearing a flowing coral dress for the occasion, told the assembled students that she can see herself in each of them and advised them to "be honest with each other".

"So it is a complete honour to have our first visit to Nigeria, be here with all of you. There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you're taking care of yourselves (and) your mental health," she added.

The couple boarded the British Airways flight to Abuja together after a surprise reunion at London Heathrow's VIP Windsor Suite on Thursday, when Meghan landed from Los Angeles.

Their visit to Nigeria comes after Harry stated that it was 'wonderful' to be back in the UK this week to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games. He arrived in London on Tuesday to attend competition-related events, including a Thanksgiving ceremony.
Amid his ongoing tour of the Scilly Isles, Prince William opened up about Kate Middleton's health following her cancer diagnosis. Britain's Prince William, Prince of Wales, known as the Duke of Cornwall when in Cornwall, looks on during a visit to St. Mary's Harbour, the maritime gateway to the Isles of Scilly, to meet representatives from local businesses operating in the area, Isles of Scilly, May 10, 2024. Ben Birchall/Pool via REUTERS(via REUTERS)

Speaking with BBC during his visit to St Mary's Community Hospital, William said Kate "is doing well", and quipped that his kids were "very jealous" of his trip.

He, however, added that he will bring George, Charlotte and Louis to Cornwall later in the year. William received a letter from matron Lynda McHale, written by her granddaughter, that wished Kate and King Charles well amidst their cancer recoveries.

The Duke of Cornwall couldn't resist buying the South West's most famous savoury treat, implying that he would be taking some of the culinary souvenirs home for his family.

William, 41, has resumed his royal duties while Catherine is undergoing treatment for abdominal cancer.

The Prince was spotted disembarking a boat called The Pegasus, which sported the Duke of Cornwall flag, when he touched down at St Mary's marine harbour, clearly in good spirits and mentioning that he had already taken a morning swim.

Also Read: Kate Middleton and Prince William going through hell amid stormy times says close friend

Prince William purchases five classic Cornish pasties for his very upset family

As he walked down the water's edge, William wore fashionable sunglasses, a brown blazer with matching shoes, and his favourite navy chino trousers.

He praised the 'glorious' weather before heading to the On the Quay cafe, where he purchased five classic Cornish pasties for 5.50 each, as per Daily Mail.

During his visit to cafe, he asked the staff, "What's selling quickest this morning?" He was told about the pasties.

The Prince quickly decided to buy some, saying "They smell delicious. Makes your mouth water."

My family is very upset I'm here without them, he mentioned, adding that The children will kill me if I don't go home later.

William also met with officials from local businesses on the harbour and spent some time interacting with healthcare workers at the hospital .

This is William's first formal trip to the Isles of Scilly after receiving the title of Duke of Cornwall, which he bears alongside his Prince of Wales title.

Catherine disclosed in March that she was undergoing "preventative chemotherapy" after physicians discovered she has cancer following her abdominal surgery in January. She has not resumed royal duties until now.

Meanwhile, King Charles returned to public service this week after being diagnosed with an unidentified form of cancer in February.
The United States has said that the investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an ongoing legal matter and yet to be proven before a jury. The US State Department said it "won't speak" until "allegations are proved" before a jury. Notably, India-designated terrorist, Pannun holds American and Canadian citizenship. Khalistani terrorist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun(AP)

"There's a publicly returned indictment that contains alleged facts or allegations. Until they're proven before a jury that anyone can go and read, I won't speak to them here because, of course, it's an ongoing legal matter, and I'll leave it at that," spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a State Department briefing on Thursday (local time), reported news agency ANI.

Pannun is known for his anti-India remarks and has made provocative statements, including death threats against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home minister Amit Shah, external affairs minister S Jaishankar and India's National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

A 52-year-old Indian, Nikhil Gupta, is accused by the United States of involvement in the alleged attempt to kill Pannun.

ALSO READ| India determines which non-citizens can enter: United States on Australian journalist's visa

The US Justice Department had claimed that an Indian government employee recruited Indian national Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman for allegedly assassinating Pannun.

Gupta is currently in custody in the Czech Republic. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, 2023, under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic.

A Czech court has ruled that the country can extradite Gupta to the US, a Czech-based media outlet Seznam Zpravy reported, citing judicial database Infosoud.

Meanwhile, Indian authorities are doing their own separate investigation into the allegations over Pannun's alleged murder plot. Recently, India's external affairs ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that a high-level inquiry committee set up by New Delhi to look into inputs provided by the US on the alleged plot was still probing the case.
The new film 'Seed of the Sacred Fig' is set to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival later this month; however, its Iranian director, Mohammed Rasoulof, may not be able to attend.

Rasoulof has been sentenced to eight years in prison, as well as a fine, confiscation of his property, and flogging, by an Iranian court.

The verdict was handed down by the 29th branch of the Islamic Revolution Court and confirmed by the 36th branch of the Aina Court of Appeals, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The director's lawyer, Babak Paknia, announced the news in a post to X on Wednesday, revealing the court had found Rasoulof's public statements, films, and documentaries "were examples of collusion with the intention of committing a crime against the country's security."

While his sentencing comes ahead of the Cannes film festival, it remains unclear whether authorities in Iran will allow Rasoulof to travel to France for the highly anticipated event.

It seems more and more unlikely by the day.

Rasoulof has long been one of the Iranian film industry's most outspoken critics of Tehran's hardcore regime, and he has consistently paid the price for it over the years.

In July 2022, he was arrested for merely signing a petition calling on security forces to show restraint in relation to widespread protests, but was released on a temporary basis in February 2023 due to health issues.

Rasoulof has been under house arrest ever since.

Last year, he was invited to Cannes to serve on its Un Certain Regard Jury, but again, he was forbidden from leaving Iran.

Allegedly, Rasoulof is facing mounting pressure from the Iranian government to withdraw 'Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree' from the Cannes festival altogether.

The film centers on Iman, an investigation judge in the Revolutionary Court in Tehran, who struggles with mistrust and paranoia as nationwide politically motivated protests intensify.

Selected to compete for the Palme d'Or at the 2024 Cannes Film Festival, Rasoulof's work will get its world premiere in May 2024.
Donald Trump's former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis referred to his boss as a "madman in a circular room screaming"  and that was hardly the end of his disdain, according to an upcoming book.

The retired four-star Marine general lasted only a year after joining the Trump administration in 2017. He quit over Trump's decision to yank American forces out of Syria.

"You're going to have to get the next secretary of defense to lose to ISIS. I'm not going to do it," Mattis told the Atlantic he responded to Trump. "I had no choice but to leave."

Mattis' assessment of the former president as a screaming madman was bared by Tom Bossert, Trump's homeland security adviser, as recounted in the book "The Situation Room:The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by journalists George Stephanopolous and Lisa Dickey.

Bossert also pointed out that Trump hated to go to Situation Room military breifings because he thought generals should come to him, according to the book, which is due out next week.

"You couldn't get Mattis into the White House," Bossert reportedly told the authors in the book, a copy of which was obtained by the Guardian.

"Anybody with sense  somebody like Mattis or [former Secretary of State Rex] Tillerson  they immediately shunned and stayed away from Trump," he said.

The book also reveals that Trump ordered aides to create books of chyrons  basic descriptions of the news that appear at the bottom of TV newscasts  in order to simplify the stories of the day for him.

The authors called it "surely one of the most prosaic tasks ever required of the highly trained intelligence officers serving in the White House," the Guardian noted.

The book's latest on Mattis is part of his long-festering view of Trump.

He was quoted by Washington Post editor and Watergate journalist Bob Woodward in his 2020 book "Rage" as calling Trump "unfit" and "dangerous" because he has "no moral compass."

Mattis also complained in a 2020 letter to the Atlantic that Trump was the "first president in my lifetime who ... tries to divide us" and accused him of "making a mockery of the Constitution."

Trump was relieved when Mattis left his administration.

"I gave him a new life, things to do, and battles to win, but he seldom 'brought home the bacon,'" Trump wrote afterward on social media." I didn't like his 'leadership' style or much else about him, and many others agree. Glad he is gone!"
Cornell University President Martha Pollack has announced her resignation after a major donor accused her of antisemitism and a "misguided" diversity program.

Pollack has also been attacked by critics for harsh penalties against six pro-Palestinian student protesters during a school year school year when Pollack launched a campus free-speech initiative.

One of the university's key contributors threatened earlier in January to withdraw funds unless Pollack stepped down and Cornell abandoned its diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Pollack, who has been president of the university since 2017, has insisted that stepping down was not influenced by the polarized political atmosphere on campus or allegations of mishandling campus demonstrations.

"I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: This decision is mine and mine alone," she wrote in a university-wide email.

She called leading the institution an "amazing privilege," but said it's time for a "new chapter" in her life. Continuing to delay her retirement is "not in the university's best interest," Pollack noted.

Jon Lindseth, the donor who threatened to cut off funding, also urged the Board of Trustees to reconsider its "misguided commitment" to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), arguing that it has brought "disgrace" upon the Ivy League institution

Lindseth, a Cornell graduate from the class of 1956, voiced his alarm over the "diminished quality of education offered lately by my alma mater because of its disastrous involvement with DEI policies that have infiltrated every part of the university."

He alleged that threats had been made to Jewish students and support expressed for Hamas, and blamed the university's progressive ideology, according to The Daily Mail.

Pollack had previously reported his allegations to the FBI, highlighting that "nothing is more important than the safety of our communities, and we will not tolerate violence motivated by hate and extremism."

Cornell President Martha Pollack announces she'll retire next month. Pollack had said the '23-'24 academic year would have a pro-expression/academic freedom theme. Post-Oct. 7, like on many campuses, free speech controversies have proliferated instead. https://t.co/6cfsTQrVsQ pic.twitter.com/2bo45pj7Or  Alex Morey (@1AMorey) May 9, 2024

Pollack, who will end her term on June 30, is the fourth Ivy League president to step down in the last six months amid unrest on campuses amid protests regarding the Israel-Hamas war.
A convicted scammer from Maine who claimed to be an Irish heiress is one step closer to being extradited to the U.K..

Marianne Smyth, 54, who also posed as a psychic, satanist, and cancer patient, is suspected of swindling $170,000 from victims in Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2010, according to the Associated Press.

Smyth was arrested in Bangor, Maine, earlier this year, in connection with eight charges of theft and fraud orchestrated through her years-long elaborate schemes overseas, during which she allegedly stole money from victims she had promised to invest.

On Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge John Nivison ruled there was sufficient evidence to send Smyth back to the U.K. to face the allegations, The New York Times reported.

"The evidence presented regarding Ms. Smyth's interactions with and transactions involving the individuals... is sufficient to sustain the four fraud charges and the four theft charges that are the subject of the extradition request," Nivison wrote in his ruling, according to the AP.

The final decision on Smyth's extradition hangs on U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken.

Smyth  who also operated under the aliases Marianne Clark, Mair Ellis, and Lucia Bella, among others  previously spent two years in jail for stealing tens of thousands of dollars from her American producer friend, Johnathan Walton, the outlet reported.

If convicted on the charges in the U.K., Smyth faces up to 80 years in prison.
The former CEO of Fat Brands Inc., a restaurant franchising company with subsidiaries including Fatburger, Johnny Rockets and Fazoli's, has been indicted along with others in a $47 million fraud scheme, authorities announced Friday.

Andrew A. Wiederhorn, the former CEO and current controlling shareholder of Fat Brands, a publicly traded company, was indicted Thursday along with former CFO Rebecca D. Hershinger, outside accountant William J. Amon, and the company itself, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

Fat Brands, which acquires or develops then franchises restaurant concepts including Fatburger, Johnny Rockets, Hurricane Grill and Wings, Yalla Mediterranean, and Ponderosa and Bonanza Steakhouses, is based in Beverly Hills, Calif.

With the assistance of Hershinger and Amon, Wiederhorn allegedly received $47 million in shareholder loans and concealed them from the IRS and the SEC.

Wiederhorn allegedly began disguising payments to himself in the form of shareholder loans approximately 30 years ago, when he was CEO of the Wilshire Credit Corporation (WCC). He forgave some $65 million in debts he owed WCC, and resolved a previous grand jury investigation into that matter by pleading guilty in 2004 to the payment of illegal gratuities and filing a false federal tax return.

According to the indictment, the IRS has been trying to collect personal income tax and trust fund taxes Wiederhorn owed personally and as a responsible party for multiple business entities since as far back as 2006. Amon, of the advisory firm Anderson, provided tax advisory services to Wiederhorn , Fat Brands, and Fat's former affiliate, Fog Cutter Capital Corporation (FOG), the successor corporate entity to WCC.

Beginning in 2016, the IRS assessed Wiederhorn penalties for FOG's failure to pay trust fund taxes, and by 2021, Wiederhorn's unpaid personal income tax liability to the IRS totaled approximately $7,743,952.

From 2010 to 2021, Wiederhorn allegedly had employees of FAT and FOG distribute approximately $47 million to him for his personal use and benefit. Wiederhorn, Amon, Hershinger and others disguised the distributions as shareholder loans, failing to disclose it as compensation to the IRS and the SEC.

"These disbursements were used to fund the purchase of private-jet travel, vacations, a Rolls Royce Phantom, other luxury automobiles, jewelry, and a piano," according to the indictment.

"Wiederhorn, posing as both 'lender' and 'borrower,' caused defendant FAT and FOG to extend to him and then 'forgive' tens of millions of dollars in distributions made in the fraudulent form of loans - all while paying no income tax on these distributions and, in fact, using them to generate net operating losses to provide defendant FAT with financially beneficial tax treatment," the indictment alleges.

While Fat Brands initially claimed to cooperate with the investigation, after board members communicated with government investigators, Wiederhorn allegedly removed every director other than himself in March 2023, and appointed a majority of non-independent directors under his control.

"This defendant, the former CEO of a publicly traded company, is alleged to have engaged in a long-running scheme to defraud investors and the United States Treasury to the tune of millions of dollars," Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said in a statement. "Instead of looking out for shareholders, the defendant allegedly treated the company as his personal slush fund, in violation of federal law. The Corporate and Securities Fraud Strike Force of my office focuses on rooting out corporate malfeasance by corporate insiders, and we will continue to protect the public by bringing these important prosecutions."

Wiederhorn is charged with one count of endeavoring to obstruct the administration of the Internal Revenue Code, six counts of tax evasion, and one count of false statements and omission of material facts in statements to accountants in connection with audits and reviews.

Both Wiederhorn and Hershinger are charged with four counts of wire fraud, two counts of false statements and omission of material facts in statements to accountants in connection with audits and reviews, and one count of certifying faulty financial reports.

Wiederhorn, Hershinger and Fat Brands are charged with two counts of extension and maintenance of credit in the form of personal loan from issuer to executive officer.

Hershinger is also charged with one count of making false statements to federal investigators, including denying that company funds were being used to pay Wiederhorn's personal American Express bill.

Amon is charged with four counts of aiding and assisting the filing of false tax returns.

Officials are encouraging investors who believe they were the victims of crimes alleged in the indictment to contact the Department of Justice about the case at USACAC.Wiederhorn.FATBrands@usdoj.gov.

"The allegations contained in the indictment against Mr. Wiederhorn show that he is a serial tax cheat. His actions over decades hurt not only his company and its shareholders, but also every American taxpayer," said Special Agent in Charge Tyler Hatcher, IRS Criminal Investigation, Los Angeles Field Office. "Failing to honestly and accurately report income shortchanges Americans, and places undue strain on honest taxpayers. CI is committed to investigating this sort of criminal behavior to ensure accountability and equity in the tax system."

Brian Hennigan of Hueston Hennigan LLP, Counsel for FAT Brands Inc., issued the following statement:

"Today FAT Brands was informed that it has been indicted on two violations of SOX 402 for arranging approximately $2.65 million in loans to Andy Wiederhorn.These charges are unprecedented, unwarranted, unsubstantiated, and unjust. They are based on conduct that ended over three years ago and ignore the Company's cooperation with the investigation."

"FAT Brands will take all necessary action to defend itself, while seeking a just resolution to these charges. Since becoming a public company, FAT Brands has grown to at a remarkable pace to encompass 18 brands with $2.5 billion in global sales and 2,300 locations worldwide, benefitting franchisees and investors alike. The Company will continue executing on its operating plans and growth strategy."

--with reporting by TMX
After deliberating for hours early Friday morning, the Shenandoah County school board in Virginia voted to restore the names of three Confederate officers to schools in the district.

The recent vote reversed a decision made four years ago after George Floyd's killing ignited calls for racial justice nationwide.

In July 2020, during the pandemic and protests, the board voted 5-1 in a virtual meeting to change the names of two schools - Ashby-Lee Elementary and Stonewall Jackson High - to align with an anti-racism resolution, according to The New York Times.

The anger was palpable in rural Virginia as people flooded school board meetings and criticized the name changes, calling the move hasty and lacking in transparency.

Many expressed deep resentment over the marginalization, perceiving it to be a forced cultural change.

Following a vote that resulted in a tie in 2022, the name changes remained final. But those fighting against the change vowed to revive Stonewall Jackson.

And on Friday, he was.

Tom Streett, one of the board members, told the Times,

"When you read about this man-who he was, what he stood for, his character, his loyalty, his leadership, how godly a man he was-those standards that he had were much higher than any leadership of the school system in 2020."

The predominantly white county, like many others across the U.S., has reversed such decisions made back in 2020, even going as far as scaling back or removing curriculum entirely that focuses on the country's racial history.

Politicians continue to push back against "critical race theory,' with some schools restoring mascots previously deemed racially offensive.

Marty Helsey, a 73-year-old farmer who served one term, was the only voter in 2020 who opposed dropping the Confederate names.

"They cannot let it go," Helsey said before the vote on Friday.

"It's been four years! The Civil War only lasted four years!"

Three Shenandoah County board members who voted in 2022 to keep the new school names have decided not to run for reelection this year.

Aliyah Ogle, 14, whose mother was one of two Black people in her class, has scrapped plans for attending the school herself next year.

"Jackson died fighting for slavery," said the 14-year-old.

"Had he won, I would not be allowed to attend public school, and I would not be speaking here today."

Those who advocated for the old names insisted that they hadn't witnessed the racism at Stonewall Jackson that others spoke about.

"Some people say they take offense to the school names," stated Fred Neese, 69, a poultry farmer.

"I'm offended that they're disparaging the good names of our ancestors. I'm offended that the previous board was not straightforward with the people."
A Missouri state lawmaker made an irritated call for rolling back protective child labor laws in her state, characterizing kids as spoiled and calling them "lazy."

After decades of laws increasingly protecting children from the often grueling and sometimes dangerous conditions of child labor, more states are attempting to help fill worker shortages in arenas like agriculture with kids. That has resulted in a concerning uptick in injuries and even death.

GOP Missouri state Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch spent a large portion of her comments promoting the proposed rollback in the legislature earlier this week boasting about her own experiences working fulltime as a child, beginning at the age of 9.

She accused children who don't work of instead "playing video games" and "joining gangs."

Toalson Reisch grumbled: "Free healthcare, free food, free this, free that, free, free, free ... I started work at age 9 ... These kids of today are lazy ... Get a job!"

GOP Missouri lawmaker Rep. Cheri Toalson Reisch says child labor laws should be rolled back because her constituents are raising lazy children who join gangs instead of working fulltime at age 9 like she did.  pic.twitter.com/1cJUrQaL3Q  Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) May 9, 2024

The proposed change in Missouri child labor regulations would eliminate current work permit requirements for Missouri children aged 14 and 15 that now must be signed by shool officials  but only if they believe the young workers can handle both the job and their schoolwork.

It would also allow children to work until 10 p.m. each night throughout the entire year, which is not allowed by federal law.

Studies have found that children can be exposed to toxins on the job, can suffer cuts and burns, fractures, eye loss, amputations when working with machinery, electrocutions and even death. They're far more vulnerable than adults because of their lower muscle mass and marked lack of experience.

A study by the U.S. Department of Labor found last year that an increasing number of employers were violating child labor laws, resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines against major slaughterhouse and meatpacking cleaning companies.

At least three teenage workers were killed last Decrember and this year in farming accidents in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Iowa.
Outbound Hotels, the pioneering hotel brand redefining adventure lodging in America's great outdoor destinations, unveils its latest addition: Outbound Stowe, nestled in the picturesque beauty of Stowe, Vermont. Following the success of its predecessors in Jackson Hole, WY, and Mammoth Lakes, CA, Outbound Stowe aims to encapsulate Vermont's outdoor charm. With a soft opening scheduled for early July 2024, guests can immerse themselves in the tranquility and adventure of Stowe's landscape. Bookings for stays at Outbound Stowe will be available starting May 1, 2024 for stays beginning early July, 2024

.Just a few miles from town and a short ride to Mt. Mansfield, Outbound Stowe is situated on an expansive property with a mix of cozy room types with modern amenities; the region's largest outdoor pool; nestled alongside the tranquil West Branch Little River; and direct access to Stowe's Recreation Path. With 73 rooms across 15 types, the property caters to diverse traveler preferences. Guests can choose to stay in a range of accommodations from suites to cabins and an 8-person cottage. Plus a loft suite in a cleverly converted event barn. Drawing from a New England design heritage, the property features minimal exterior ornamentation and simple, utilitarian lines, complemented by Vermont woodworking traditions. Evoking a wholesome, playful ambiance, the design employs a vibrant yet balanced color palette, with primary colors like red, blue, and yellow harmonizing with secondary greens and oranges. Celebrating local artisans, the spaces showcase fine arts and crafts rooted in the region's heritage, leaning heavily into a cheerful, unexpected color palette unique to the market.

Adding to the excitement, Eastside, Outbound Stowe's signature bar and kitchen concept developed in partnership with Folkart Management, will have its soft opening in late August, offering guests a casual dining experience infused with local flavors and ambiance. Eastside is where Stowe meets for fun, approachable, and delicious craft cocktails, local beer, and griddled favoritesa destination blending the quality of Boston or New York's culinary scene with the laid-back mountain vibes defined by the Outbound brand. Signature menu items include the Outbound Special smash burger and Katsu-San Sando panko crusted chicken sandwich, as well a delicious Vermont Maple Eclair made with local Runamok Maple Syrup, accompanied by a selection of craft cocktails, like Zero Day, a twist on the old fashion made with Runamok Maple Bitters, and local brews such as Von Trapp Dunkel and Fiddlehead IPA.

As Outbound Stowe joins the growing collection of properties, including The Virginian Lodge in Jackson Hole, WY, and Outbound Mammoth in Mammoth Lakes, CA, guests can also anticipate the launch of Outbound Yosemite in summer 2025, showcasing the continued expansion of Outbound Hotel's unconventional lodging in outdoor destinations.
Placemakr , a flexible-use hospitality and multifamily operator, today announced a major expansion across Texas with four new property launches, bringing the company's total operations to over 800 units in the state. The expansion includes the acquisition of Placemakr Downtown Austin, formerly named 3Waller, a 259-unit property in the heart of downtown Austin, marking the 6th property acquisition for Placemakr. The expansion also includes Placemakr's first smaller property launch (24 units) as part of a new brand concept, "Hosted by Placemakr." Lastly, Placemakr will also manage its first two exclusively residential properties in Texas. With these launches, Placemakr is investing in Texas as a destination for both work and play, where the tech scene continues to grow.

Placemakr Downtown Austin, will operate as one of the company's core line of apartment-style hotels, providing a blended experience of home and hospitality for short-term and extended-stay travelers. This property combines the best of East Austin and downtown in the lively Rainey Street area with close proximity to the Convention Center. The building features fully furnished studio, 1-bedroom, and 2-bedroom units; and amenities such as an outdoor pool, fitness center, guest lounge, co-working space, and a communal kitchen with dining and entertaining space. CBRE's Austin office, led by Charles Cirar and Colin Cannata advised Placemakr on its acquisition, and the seller, Transwestern Development Company, was represented by JLL. Placemakr Downtown Austin is open for bookings beginning May 8th.

Our expansion in Central Texas is a pivotal moment in our journey towards redefining home and hospitality. At Placemakr, we envision a future that is flex-use, seamlessly blending home and hospitality through technology; the launch of these properties is a testament to that commitment. In an ever-evolving landscape, we remain focused on creating spaces that adapt to the needs of tomorrow, working alongside innovative ownership groups and partners. Our expansion in Central Texas showcases our commitment to this area and our belief in its future as a major hub for business and leisure. Jason Fudin, CEO and Co-founder of Placemakr

The company is also announcing its newest property concept, Hosted by Placemakr, a line of buildings with less than 75 units per property offering a seamless tech experience and 24/7 virtual support. Littlefield Lofts, Hosted by Placemakr, will be the first property under this brand and will lean on the brand's signature experience of blending home and hospitality within a single building. This property is located in the heart of downtown Austin, overlooking historic 6th Street, and is open for bookings now.

In San Antonio, Placemakr is assuming management of two new residential properties, bringing its signature experiences to the residents of these multifamily buildings. The '68 and 1221 Broadway join Placemakr's San Antonio portfolio, which also includes The Maverick, Powered by Placemakr, an apartment-style hotel already in operation.

For more information on Placemakr's new Texas properties or to book your stay, please visit www.placemakr.com .

About Placemakr

Placemakr is a tech-enabled operating company and real estate investor. The company transforms multifamily properties into a unique blend of apartment living and hospitality and has been the pioneer of this flexible living asset class. Placemakr's innovative tech-enabled platform provides an unmatched experience for its guests and residents, combining the advantages of apartment living with the services and reliability of a hotel, all within a single building. Placemakr's thoughtfully curated spaces in carefully selected neighborhoods offer guests and residents the flexibility to stay for a night, a year, or any duration in between. Visit placemakr.com to learn more.
The Vietage by Anantara announces the introduction of a second railway carriage, which will operate a daily return journey between Nha Trang and Quy Nhon commencing its first journey on 15th May 2024.

Building on the resounding success of the existing carriage running every day between Da Nang and Quy Nhon, the new custom-designed addition will connect the renowned coastal city of Nha Trang served by Cam Ranh International Airport, offering timeless luxury travel experiences through South-Central Vietnam.

Heralding a new age of slow and sustainable travel, the five-hour journeys meander through the picturesque Vietnamese countryside, transporting guests into a world of glamour and nostalgia with all the comforts of modern luxury.

12 reservation-only seats in private booths of two blend sleek modern interiors with inspiration from Indochina, along with big picture windows to admire the stunning views. A trendy sit-up bar gives guests the chance to watch some mixology in action as the on-board hosts create rail-inspired cocktails and mocktails, while relaxation time beckons in the dedicated spa area for 15-minute head and shoulder treatments on the go.

An exclusively-curated and sumptuous afternoon tea experience takes guests on a culinary adventure, including poached Bai Dai Lobster and Da Lat Caviar to whet the appetite, a tea tower with selection of home-made finger sandwiches, pastries, cakes and traditional scones with all the trimmings. An artisanal cheese and charcuterie platter rounds off the occasion. A dedicated vegan menu is available to excite all plant lovers.

Refreshments come in the form of a distinctive tea selection from the Vietnamese tea brand Epicurean Sao, ethically-sourced local coffee from La Folliet, plus free-flowing wines, cocktails, beers, mocktails and soft drinks.

An a la carte menu also offers premium wines and champagnes for pre-order while caviar fans can purchase extra portions on board.

Catch a glimpse of water buffalo, Vietnams national animal, as the train makes its way through the countrys landscape, along with a plethora of lotus ponds, rice paddies and plenty of flora and fauna. Striking stretches of coastline fronting the East Sea and expansive bays are also not to be missed, after which the train heads more inland into the mountainous province of Phu Yen, which is home to one of the countrys Champa people communities and many historical points of interest.

While not visible from the railway itself, the train passes nearby Vietnams oldest lighthouse, Mui Dien, which sits at the easternmost point of the country making it the first place to witness the sunrise. Continuing its northerly track through the provinces capital city of Tuy Hoa, Vietnams longest wooden bridge, Binh Thanh Bridge at 800 metres in length, is a gateway to some other local notable landmarks.

Guests travelling from Nha Trang to Quy Nhon can enjoy combination accommodation experiences with Anantara Quy Nhon Villas for a luxury beachside retreat. For the ultimate Vietnam itinerary, jump on board The Vietage by Anantara running from Quy Nhon to Da Nang and enjoy the charming Hoi An Ancient Town with a stay at Anantara Hoi An Resort.

A one-way ticket aboard The Vietage by Anantara between Nha Trang and Quy Nhon costs US$ 420 per person, including luxury afternoon tea, a 15-minute head and shoulder treatment, free-flowing wines, cocktails, beers, mocktails, soft drinks and a selection of local tea and coffee.

The Vietage by Anantara departs from Nha Trang every afternoon arriving at Dieu Tri station in Quy Nhon in the evening. It then continues up to Da Nang arriving after midnight. Running in the opposite direction, The Vietage by Anantaras additional carriage departs from Da Nang every morning, arriving at Dieu Tri station in Quy Nhon in the early afternoon and then onto Nha Trang for a mid-evening arrival.

The Vietage by Anantara contributes to the Dollars for Deeds programme, in which US$ 1 per ticket is donated by us and guests are at liberty to make their own contribution. Donations are given to The Kianh Foundation, a not-for-profit charity providing a full-time, customised, special needs curriculum for children with disabilities in the Quang Nam Province of Central Vietnam.

For further information, please contact The Vietage by Anantara team on +84 256 368 6168, or at [email protected].

About Minor Hotels

Minor Hotels is a global hospitality group operating over 540 hotels, resorts and residences in 56 countries, pursuing its vision of crafting a more passionate and interconnected world. As a hotel owner, operator and investor, Minor Hotels fulfils the needs and desires of today's global travellers through its diverse portfolio of eight hotel brands  Anantara, Avani, Elewana Collection, NH, NH Collection, nhow, Oaks and Tivoli  and a collection of related businesses. Minor Hotels is rapidly accelerating its global growth ambitions, aiming to add more than 200 hotels by the end of 2026.

Minor Hotels is a proud member of the Global Hotel Alliance (GHA), the world's largest alliance of independent hotel brands, and participates in the GHA DISCOVERY loyalty programme.

For more information, please visit minorhotels.com and connect with Minor Hotels on Facebook and LinkedIn.

Mark Thomson

Director of PR & Communications

+66 (0)2 365 7678

Minor
Williamsburg, Virginia  Newport Hospitality Group (NHG) proudly announces the promotion of three exceptional individuals to the role of Vice President, as unveiled during the company's recent Leadership Conference, "Together We Thrive, held in Richmond, Virginia. These appointments reflect Newport's commitment to nurturing talent from within and fostering a culture of growth and development.

"At Newport Hospitality Group, we take pride in delivering superior owner returns, exceptional guest experiences, and rewarding hospitality careers," said Wayne West III, President of Newport Hospitality Group. "These advancements underscore Newports commitment to promoting from within and reaffirm our dedication to cultivating a culture of excellence. We are thrilled to see Tim, Ron, and Kirsten stepping into their new roles, and we are confident that their contributions will continue to elevate Newport Hospitality Group to new heights of success."

Tim Hayes, recognized for his exceptional financial acumen, steps into the role of Vice President of Financial Analysis. With a track record of success, Tim's profound understanding of financial strategies will be pivotal in guiding NHG's financial initiatives to new heights, contributing significantly to the company's continued growth trajectory.

Ron Baker, renowned for his extensive engineering expertise and innovative approach, assumes the position of Vice President of Engineering and Ancillary Services. Ron's wealth of experience will play a vital role in overseeing NHG's engineering operations, ensuring the highest standards of quality and efficiency across all facets, further cementing NHG's reputation for excellence.

Kirsten Mosco, with a wealth of experience in marketing and branding within the hospitality sector, has been appointed as Vice President of Media and Communications. Kirstens strategic insights and creative vision have already made a significant impact on NHG's brand narrative and communication strategies. Her leadership will further bolster NHGs presence in the industry, contributing to the companys ongoing success and position as a market leader.

Please join us in congratulating Tim, Ron, and Kirsten on their well-deserved promotions. Their accomplishments exemplify NHG's commitment to excellence and the growth of its talented team members.

About Newport Hospitality Group

Established in 1991, Newport Hospitality Group is a leading hotel management company specializing in midscale and full-service hotels. NHG oversees hotel operations for brands such as Hilton, Marriott, Hyatt, Choice, and IHG, in addition to independent properties. Committed to excellence, NHG delivers exceptional outcomes for property owners, memorable guest experiences, and rewarding careers in the hospitality industry. Our comprehensive range of services includes new hotel development and acquisitions, targeted local market sales strategies, meticulous revenue management, strategic purchasing, and transformative capital renovation projects. Learn more nhghotels.com.
In an era where artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping industries, the hospitality sector stands at the forefront of a profound transformation. As hoteliers, embracing AI may initially spark a mix of curiosity and caution. Questions about the integration of AI within the deeply human-centric realm of hospitality are not just expectedthey are essential. These inquiries reflect a dedication to preserving the warmth and personal touch that defines our industry while exploring new technological frontiers.

This critical examination of AI is more than a precaution; it's a vital part of navigating our technological future. It invites us to challenge the status quo, dissect the very fabric of how services are delivered, and reimagine the possibilities of guest interaction. This isn't just about automation or data processing; it's about fostering a mindset shift where innovation enhances human connection rather than replacing it. By questioning, we learn.

By learning, we evolve. By evolving, we are better positioned to blend the best of technology with the timeless art of hospitality, ensuring that every innovation we adopt enriches the experiences we provide and celebrates the unique essence of the human touch.

This dialogue about AI is not just necessaryit's a gateway to redefining excellence in our industry.

Lets dive into this dialog and answer some key pain points and concerns.

1. How does incorporating AI into my hotel operations improve the guest experience beyond what we already provide with human staff and current technology?

It's completely understandable to question the impact of AI on guest experiences, especially when you already have a dedicated human staff and effective technology in place. Many hoteliers might be concerned about whether AI can truly add value without diminishing the personal touch that is so crucial in hospitality.

Action and Impact: Incorporating AI into your operations can enhance the guest experience by enabling a level of personalization and efficiency that is difficult to achieve with human capabilities alone. For example, AI can analyze vast amounts of data from guest interactions and feedback to tailor services and offers precisely to individual preferences. This could mean offering personalized room settings, such as lighting and temperature, automatically adjusted based on a guest's past preferences, or suggesting activities and services that align with their interests.

AI can also streamline operations, reducing wait times and improving accuracy in services like booking and billing. For instance, AI-powered systems can quickly process check-ins and check-outs, allowing guests to avoid long lines and spend more time enjoying their stay. Additionally, AI can help anticipate and manage inventory needs or maintenance issues, ensuring that everything runs smoothly during a guest's visit.

Expert Tip: Focus on starting with AI applications that complement your staff's efforts, such as deploying AI for repetitive tasks like scheduling and basic customer inquiries. This not only improves operational efficiency but also frees up your staff to focus more on providing that irreplaceable human touch. Moreover, integrating AI with staff training programs can enhance their roles rather than replace them, creating a more dynamic and skilled workforce that can leverage AI tools to deliver exceptional service.

2. Can AI truly replicate the personalized touch and intuition that experienced staff members bring to guest interactions?

This is a valid concern, particularly in an industry where intuition and personal touch are cornerstone elements of guest satisfaction. Many hoteliers worry that AI might dilute the authentic interactions that define their brand and guest experiences. The aim of AI, however, is not to replicate human intuition but to complement and enhance the capabilities of your staff.

Action and Impact: AI can handle and analyze large volumes of data more quickly and accurately than humans, which can be leveraged to augment the insights staff use to make decisions. For example, AI tools can gather and analyze feedback from multiple channelssuch as social media, direct feedback, and online reviewsto create a comprehensive view of guest preferences and expectations. This information can empower your staff by providing them with detailed insights that are not immediately obvious or accessible through regular interactions.

Moreover, AI can automate routine tasks and responses, freeing up your staff to focus more on creating memorable, personalized guest experiences. For instance, AI chatbots can manage simple inquiries like requests for towels or room service orders, while your human staff can engage guests in more meaningful ways, using their intuition and personal skills to elevate the guest experience.

Expert Tip: Focus on implementing AI tools that support decision-making rather than replace it. For instance, AI-driven analytics can suggest which guests might appreciate a room upgrade based on past behavior and preferences, but the final decision and personal touch should come from a staff member. This approach allows staff to use their interpersonal skills and intuition to make the guest feel uniquely valued, while AI provides the data needed to make these interactions as impactful as possible. This combination of human and machine capabilities is where the true potential of AI in hospitality lies.

3. How do I ensure that AI systems won't compromise guest privacy or security by collecting and analyzing their data?

Concerns about guest privacy and data security are particularly pressing in todays digital age, where data breaches and misuse can severely impact trust and reputation. Its natural for hoteliers, who prioritize guest confidentiality and trust, to be cautious about implementing new technologies that handle sensitive information.

Action and Impact: To ensure that AI systems do not compromise guest privacy or security, it is critical to implement robust data protection measures. Start by choosing AI solutions from reputable providers who comply with international data protection regulations, such as GDPR in Europe or CCPA in California. Its also essential to be transparent with your guests about the data you collect and how it is used. This can be done through clear privacy policies that inform guests about their data rights and the security measures in place to protect their information.

Moreover, regularly training your staff on data privacy and security best practices is crucial. They should understand how to handle guest data securely and be aware of the potential risks and mitigation strategies related to AI and data management.

Expert Tip: I recommend using AI systems that incorporate advanced encryption and anonymization technologies to protect guest data. These systems can analyze data patterns without needing to store sensitive information in a way that could be exploited. Additionally, consider implementing AI systems that require minimal personal data to operate. For example, instead of systems that track detailed personal preferences, opt for those that focus on enhancing operational efficiency, like energy management or predictive maintenance. This reduces the risk associated with data breaches while still leveraging the benefits of AI technology.

4. What happens if there's a glitch or malfunction in the AI system? Will I be left scrambling to manage guest complaints and operational disruptions?

It's perfectly understandable to worry about the reliability of new technologies, particularly when they play a crucial role in the daily operations of your hotel. The fear that a technical issue could lead to operational disruptions and guest complaints is a valid concern that many hoteliers share when considering the integration of AI systems.

Action and Impact: To mitigate the risks associated with potential AI system malfunctions, it's essential to have robust contingency plans in place. Begin by working with AI technology providers who offer strong support and service level agreements (SLAs) that guarantee quick response times and minimal downtime. Ensuring that your staff are well-trained in both using the AI systems and in executing manual processes when needed is also crucial. This dual capability ensures that your team can continue to deliver excellent service, even when the technology is down.

Furthermore, regularly scheduled maintenance and updates of the AI systems can prevent many issues from arising. Proactive monitoring of the systems can also help detect and resolve potential glitches before they affect operations.

Expert Tip: One great strategy is to start implementing a layered approach to AI integration. This means not relying solely on AI for any critical operation without having a human backup or parallel system. For example, while an AI might handle initial guest service inquiries through chatbots, there should always be an option for guests to speak directly with a staff member if they prefer or if the AI fails to resolve their issue. This approach not only ensures operational continuity during technical difficulties but also maintains a high level of guest service satisfaction by providing personal interaction options.

5. How can I justify the significant upfront investment required for implementing AI technology when there is no guarantee of a tangible return on investment?

Investing in new technology, especially something as potentially transformative as AI, involves significant costs and risks, which can understandably be a major concern. The uncertainty about the return on investment (ROI) can make the decision even tougher, especially when the benefits are not immediately quantifiable.

Action and Impact: To address these concerns, it's important to approach AI implementation with a strategic mindset. Start by identifying specific operational areas where AI can deliver measurable improvements, such as energy management, personalized guest experiences, or operational efficiency. Conduct a pilot project in a controlled environment to monitor the impact and quantify the benefits. This smaller-scale implementation can provide a clearer picture of potential ROI and help build a case for a broader roll-out.

Additionally, consider AI solutions that offer scalability and flexibility, allowing you to start small and expand as you see tangible benefits. This phased approach not only mitigates risk but also helps manage the costs associated with a full-scale implementation.

Expert Tip: I suggest using detailed predictive analytics to justify the investment in AI. These tools can simulate various operational scenarios and predict outcomes based on current data trends, providing a more concrete understanding of potential returns. For example, predictive analytics can forecast how AI-driven upgrades in customer service or energy savings can reduce costs and increase guest satisfaction, directly impacting your bottom line. This approach allows you to make more informed decisions and tailor AI solutions to your specific business needs and financial constraints.

6. In an industry where hospitality is paramount, how do I prevent AI from creating a cold, impersonal atmosphere that turns guests away?

Its entirely valid to worry about maintaining the warmth and personal touch that are essential in the hospitality industry, especially when introducing technology like AI. The concern that technology might create an impersonal atmosphere is a common one among hoteliers who pride themselves on providing a welcoming and intimate guest experience.

Action and Impact: The key to integrating AI without sacrificing personal touch is to use it as a tool that enhances, rather than replaces, human interaction. Focus on deploying AI in ways that free up your staff from routine tasks, allowing them more time to engage personally with guests. For example, AI can handle efficiency-driven tasks like room assignment optimization and basic guest inquiries through digital interfaces, while your staff can focus on delivering personalized service and attending to more complex guest needs.

Additionally, carefully design the interaction points where AI meets your guests. Ensure these are user-friendly and enhance convenience rather than creating barriers. For instance, AI-driven check-in kiosks should be intuitive and quick, but staff should be readily available to assist anyone who prefers human interaction or needs help.

Expert Tip: Focus on implementing AI systems that learn from guest interactions to continuously improve the personalization of services. For example, AI can track preferences for room temperature, dining habits, and frequent requests to tailor the guest's experience in future stays. Furthermore, training AI systems to recognize when to escalate a query to a human staff member can prevent guests from feeling frustrated by technology. This blend of automated efficiency and human oversight ensures that the guest experience remains warm and personalized, aligning with the highest standards of hospitality.

7. Will relying too heavily on AI alienate certain demographics of guests who prefer more traditional, human-centered service?

It's important to recognize and respect the preferences of all guests, including those who value traditional, human-centered service. The concern that integrating AI might alienate these guests is valid, especially in a service-oriented industry like hospitality where personal touch is highly prized.

Action and Impact: To ensure that AI integration does not alienate any guest demographic, it's crucial to maintain a flexible service model that accommodates different preferences. Offer guests the choice between engaging with AI-driven services and interacting directly with staff. For example, while implementing AI for efficiency in check-ins, room service, or information provision, always ensure that there is an easy and obvious way for guests to opt for human interaction if they prefer.

Moreover, communicate clearly about the benefits and functionalities of AI tools to help guests understand how these technologies can enhance their stay without compromising the personal touch they may value. Training your staff to assist guests in navigating these new technologies can also help in making these interactions smoother and more reassuring.

Expert Tip: It is important to conduct regular interactive surveys and feedback sessions to gauge guest reactions to AI implementations. This feedback can guide adjustments in how technology is used within your hotel. For example, if certain demographics show a strong preference for human contact over AI interaction in specific services like concierge or personal assistance, you could tailor the use of AI to back-office operations or support functions instead. This approach ensures that the adoption of AI is responsive to guest preferences, maintaining a balance between innovation and traditional values of hospitality.

8. How do I navigate the ethical implications of AI replacing human jobs within my hotel, potentially contributing to unemployment and economic disparity?

The concern about AI replacing human jobs and contributing to unemployment is a significant ethical issue, particularly in the hospitality industry which traditionally relies heavily on human labor. This is a real worry for many in the sector, from employees who may feel threatened by job loss to managers who must balance efficiency gains with social responsibilities.

Action and Impact: To address these concerns, it is important to focus on using AI as a tool to augment rather than replace human work. Implement AI in areas that can enhance employee performance and job satisfaction by removing mundane and repetitive tasks, thereby allowing staff to focus on more valuable and rewarding aspects of their work. This not only improves operational efficiency but also boosts employee morale and job satisfaction.

In addition, consider investing in employee training and development programs that help your staff adapt to new technologies and roles. This approach not only mitigates the impact of technological displacement but also equips your workforce with future-proof skills that can increase their employability and advancement opportunities within the evolving landscape of the hospitality industry.

Expert Tip: One success factor is to start focusing on the concept of "AI and humans in collaboration." For example, AI for data-driven decision-making and predictive analytics to enhance the guest experience, while humans provide the irreplaceable personal touch that defines hospitality. Additionally, consider implementing reskilling programs that train employees to work effectively alongside AI technologies, such as managing AI systems or interpreting AI-driven insights for strategic decision-making. This not only helps in retaining employees but also in creating a more resilient and adaptable workforce.

9. Can AI truly understand and adapt to the nuances of cultural differences and preferences among diverse guest demographics?

Understanding and respecting cultural differences is crucial in the global hospitality industry, where guests from diverse backgrounds expect services that cater to their specific cultural preferences. The concern that AI might not fully comprehend or adapt to these nuances is understandable and reflects a commitment to providing culturally sensitive and personalized guest experiences.

Action and Impact: To ensure AI systems can effectively adapt to and respect cultural differences, its important to develop and train these systems with diverse datasets that include a wide range of cultural nuances and preferences. This requires collaboration with experts in cultural studies and linguistics to tailor AI behaviors and responses appropriately. Additionally, feedback from guests can be instrumental in continuously improving AI understanding and performance.

Deploy AI tools in a way that they are regularly updated and refined based on guest interactions and feedback. This dynamic approach allows the AI to learn and adapt over time, improving its capability to handle cultural nuances more effectively. Furthermore, ensure that AI implementations are always supervised by culturally competent staff who can intervene and provide the necessary personal touch when needed.

Expert Tip: Focus on leveraging advanced AI technologies like natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning to enhance the AIs understanding of cultural contexts. For instance, NLP can be utilized to interpret and respond to language use that varies significantly across cultures, such as indirect communication styles or specific idiomatic expressions. Additionally, integrating AI with a feedback loop where guest preferences and cultural nuances are continually fed back into the system helps in refining AI responses and ensuring they remain sensitive and appropriate. This approach not only improves the guest experience but also ensures that AI is a tool for enhancing cultural understanding rather than a barrier.

10. What assurances can AI providers offer regarding the transparency and accountability of their algorithms, especially in areas like pricing, recommendations, and decision-making?

Your concerns about the transparency and accountability of AI algorithms are indeed critical, especially when these technologies influence key areas such as pricing, recommendations, and decision-making. In the hospitality industry, where fairness and trust are paramount, understanding how decisions are made by AI systems is essential for maintaining guest confidence and operational integrity.

Action and Impact: To address these concerns, demand transparency from your AI providers about how their algorithms operate. Providers should be able to explain in clear terms how their systems make decisions, what data is used, and how it is processed. Insist on systems that allow for easy access to and interpretation of algorithmic decisions. This kind of transparency is crucial not only for ensuring ethical operations but also for complying with regulatory requirements that may apply to your operations.

Its also beneficial to implement governance frameworks that monitor and evaluate AI decisions. These frameworks should include regular audits by independent third parties to assess the fairness and accuracy of the AI systems. By establishing these checks, you can ensure that the AI systems are used responsibly and are continuously aligned with your hotels ethical standards and guest service expectations.

Expert Tip: I recommend adopting AI systems designed with 'explainable AI' (XAI) capabilities. XAI is a growing field that focuses on creating AI systems whose actions can be easily understood by humans. This is particularly important in sensitive areas such as dynamic pricing and personalized guest recommendations. By using XAI, hotels can better justify the decisions made by AI, providing reassurance to guests and regulatory bodies alike that the AI's decision-making processes are fair, unbiased, and aligned with the hotel's values. This level of transparency not only builds trust but also enhances your ability to oversee and control how AI impacts your operations.

Conclusion

As I continue to explore the vast landscape of artificial intelligence in hospitality, it's understandable that some skepticism and concerns remain. AI is a complex and evolving field, and its integration into the fabric of our industrya domain inherently built on human connectionsnecessitates careful consideration and thoughtful implementation.

While the potential of AI to enhance guest experiences and operational efficiency is clear, the journey of understanding and utilizing this technology is ongoing. It's a collaborative effort, one that thrives on shared insights, diverse perspectives, and a collective commitment to learning and adaptation. This is not just about adopting technology; it's about adapting our mindset and practices in ways that truly benefit our guests and the future of hospitality.

If you are a hotel owner or manager still weighing the potential of AI, or if you have unanswered questions and lingering doubts, I encourage you to reach out. Let's dive deeper into these conversations together. By sharing our experiences, challenges, and successes, we can forge a path that respects the valued traditions of our industry while embracing the innovative solutions that AI can offer. Together, we can transform uncertainty into opportunity and skepticism into strategic success, ensuring that our advancements in AI are as thoughtful and effective as the guest experiences we aim to enrich.

Feel free to reach out on LinkedIn or email me at [email protected]. Let's turn the possibilities of today into the achievements of tomorrow.

Are Morch

Digital Transformation Coach

Are Morch, Digital Transformation Coach

View source
In the rapidly evolving landscape of hospitality revenue management, artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged not just as a tool, but as a potential co-pilot. Where it started out as handling complex data analysis, forecasting, and giving recommendations for the decision-making process, it soon moved to automation and finally contextualization. As AI technology advances, the hospitality industry must consider how to best integrate these tools with human expertise to enhance both operational efficiency and guest satisfaction. To become a collaborator or a displacer. This shift prompts an essential question: Will AI soon take the steering wheel in revenue management, signalling the end for human revenue managers?

It depends. Smaller less complex hotels will be the first ones where there is no need for a revenue manager. Pricing and Inventory Management can be indeed fully automated. The role of a revenue manager already has evolved / needs to evolve to focus more on-demand generation. For medium-sized hotels or small hotel groups, it is about doing more with less. Revenue managers can overlook many more hotels as technology does the heavy load of automating and gathering insights. Larger hotels will still require a strategist to focus on all Revenue and Profit drivers. That is even if technology evolves to automate all revenue-generating areas.

Currently, doing research on the topic and most of the experts I talked to indeed think that the position of Revenue Manager will disappear in the next 5 years (replaced by AI tools and/or integrated with other hotel functions such as Commercial). Now, I believe there is still a human angle needed that AI / GenAI cannot replace, and that the experimentations and communication/influence elements. So to answer the question straightforward: Is Artificial Intelligence going to replace Revenue Managers? Yes. Is Revenue Management at a tipping point and need to evolve to remain relevant? YES!

Pablo Torres Director at Teduka

First thing I've done - of course- is ask Chat GPT. AI itself "believes" that it will not fully replace humans as It can not match human insight and intuition or adaptability to crisis scenarios, neither has interpersonal and leadership skills. Besides this humble approach from AI itself, my personal view is that revenue managers, as we know them, will definitely disappear. Why? because with the full implementation of AI, there will be no need to manually extract data from excel, or read and interpret Power BI graphs. "All" a revenue manager will have to do, eventually, is decide the strategy, and supervise it's done correctly. This is a change that has been happening for millennia: machines replacing manual work because they are more efficient. The big change happening with computing is that it replaces not manual but mental labour. And there is where the change of paradigm lays: Coping with the fact that an AI can take better decisions, faster, than any human. Embracing it, and being able to make the most out of it. Those who fully comprehend how AI can support their strategic efforts, will be the winners in this scenario.

Simone Puorto Founder | CEO | Futurist

I would word it differently. Let's ask ourselves what the future of AI revenue managers in the "age of human co-pilots" will look like. IMHO, AI is expected to handle most revenue management tasks in the next few years, with humans contributing their unique "magic touch." Consider the U.S. stock market, where approximately 70% of all trading volume is conducted through algorithmic tradingeven amidst the market's vast complexities. By comparison, the hospitality industry presents a much simpler landscape. Currently, the main challenge is that most data are compartmentalized within property management systems. However, this barrier is likely temporary. As soon as AI models become seamlessly integrated into our technological frameworks, the role of revenue managers will evolve predominantly into overseeing these AI systems. Or, to borrow a phrase from Kurt Cobain of Nirvana, we'll soon, whether we like it or not, "serve the servers."

Kelly McGuire Principal Travel & Hospitality, ZS

The right way to think about AI for the near future now is as a co-pilot, enhancing and enableing humans so they can focus on human-centric tasks, like reasoning, extrapolating, and hypothesizing. I don't see AI replacing a human revenue manager, but I do see it enabling a dramatic change to the tasks the revenue manager must do today, and probably even job description itself. Remember, AI is largely a black box. Given the volume of data and the complexity of the algorithms, it can be very difficult to understand where recommendations or outputs have come from if you don't have some expertise in the domain. This will increasinly be the role of the revenue manager.

AI systems effortlessly perform tasks associated with human cognitive functions, and rather than reducing jobs, AI applications seek to enhance employment opportunities. The hotel industry is one of the most promising business sectors that can leverage the power of AI. This is due to the ongoing processing of vast amounts of data to better understand the underlying demand patterns. AI is also a growing opportunity to improve business practices and enhance myriad touch points throughout the guest journey. We need to remove the mystery of a technology that has been a part of our daily lives since the evolution of the internet and the smartphone. The development teams at IDeaS created a system that could not only withstand the intricacies of the hospitality business but also deliver statistically proven results. Their mission was clear: to optimize automation with the right type of user interaction, eliminate user error, and create a framework where the RMS can dynamically respond to changing conditions. It's an exciting time to be at the forefront of revenue science, providing our users with more confidence in the system's decisions and more time back in their day while driving a better customer experience in their hotels.

Every RM will have a companion!!! here is the deal. Staffing is the new luxury. Owners will check: Human or AI? If human they will ask: Which human? A human that can do AI or USES AI to their advantage. But not just any AI. An AI that works for the human, enhacning their own capabilities - ie replacing their weakneeses as strength and supercharging strength. It will be conversational based...this also means, many RMs will not be standing anymore as those that embrace it, will make it in the long run. .... My advise: You are good at excel, Now get good at AI!

Max Starkov Hospitality & Online Travel Tech Consultant

A predictive AI-powered Revenue Management System (RMS) with real-time market, travel demand and comp set analytics, website and digital marketing analytics, and online reputation/consumer sentiment data feeds to optimize performance can achieve a near-perfect real-time pricing in response to market dynamics. The question is: will such an AI-powered RMS become a collaborator or a displacer of human revenue managers? Collaborator: Full-service 3-5 star hotels make roughly five million pricing decisions every year (IDEAS), it is not humanly possible for human revenue managers to do their job without the support of an automated RMS system. Due to the complexity of the hotel product and marketplace, an automated RMS cannot handle the revenue management without the strategic input by human revenue managers. Displacer: Budget, economy and lower midscale properties can entrust their revenue management to a fully automated AI-powered RMS, fully integrated with the property PMS and CRS, plus use of an outside RM consulting firm to provide the strategy and periodic tactics, corrections and analysis.



Now is the time to convince management and ownership that only a cloud AI-powered revenue management system (RMS) can help the property maximize revenues and successfully compete in the super complex post-crisis marketplace.

Harald Bindeus Commercial Leader | Marketing, Revenue Management, Sales |

I do not anticipate the demise of human Revenue strategists soon. The daily activities of a RM may change and many entry-level positions will be eliminated. Even the fastest Formula 1 car needs a driver. The AI will still need human input to configure the system and provide input. The RM is also the person translating the decisions of the RMS for the other stakeholders. AI is not at a point to make decisions based on empathy or feelings. Output is stricly based on logic. Customers of hotels are not other computers, but humans and the emotional connection with customers is still very much relevant in high-end properties. ( people will not remember what you said, but how you made them feel ) - and humans will have the advantage in this area for a considerable time. After all, that is why Captain Kirk and not Mister Spock was in charge of the Enterprise. With the advances of AI, the RM will be freed from manual aspects of the job and the required skill set will tilt towards more of a technical background with a solid business expertise. The focus will shift towards strategic distribution and the creation of a Commercial Strategy discipline.

Related article by Harald Bindeus

Diego Fernandez Perez De Ponga Corporate Director Revenue Management Palladium Hotel Group

On the other hand, I think revenue managers need to be closer to people, much like the commercial departments are. Let me ask you a question: Is anyone considering replacing sales directors with AI? No, and why not? Because AI cannot replace human-to-human interactions. So, if you want to sleep well, please add a strategic layer to your Revenue Manager role and become more sociable.

Related article by Diego Fernandez Perez De Ponga

I remember the potential threat posed by Business Intelligence to Revenue Managers was a hot topic at the first industry event I ever attended 6 years ago. Back then Revenue Managers spent a fair share of their time manually compiling data from various sources into a single, giant, Excel sheet that could be analysised for optimisation. As BI solutions became more widespread, some feared that their roles would become redundant. Fast forward to today and it's clear that BI solutions have actually become the Revenue Manager's best friend by automating the mundane, freeing up valuable time for the more strategic work. In the next few years, I expect AI to have a similar impact on revenue management. With the ability to analyse vast amounts of data and identify patterns, AI-powered tools can make accurate predictions about future demand. At Lighthouse, we have introduced "smart summaries," a popular feature that utilizes GenAI. The role of the Revenue Manager is ever evolving, lately I'm starting to see more Commercial Strategists and Total Profit Managers on LinkedIn. With the help of AI applications, "Revenue Managers" will be able to drive success for the hotels they manage in a more efficient and effective manner.

Related article by Niki Van den Broeck

Ira Vouk Hospitality Technology and Revenue Management consultant

As you may be aware, AI has been utilized in data analysis for decades. AI algorithms are best used to quickly sort through large amounts of data and draw important conclusions for optimal decision-making but human input and human decision-making are still required. RMSs are inherently using AI since their inception so it's really nothing new for them. And lately, they have been experimenting with the adoption of GenAI for contextualizing. While some RMS vendors are still struggling with adopting LLMs for this purpose, others have made significant progress in that direction. I'm convinced we have witnessed ample evidence of the necessity for collaboration between humans and machines in the area of revenue and profit optimization, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon. AI is not yet powerful enough to completely displace revenue managers.

Oleksii Kapichin Revenue Management Expert

AI can quickly analyze large amounts of data, generate unbiased decisions and explain them, suggest possible outcomes of different strategies, etc. However, for AI to be of any value, it must have quality historical, forward-looking, and real-time data about specific hotels and markets. Let's face it: currently, hotel data is spread between old and new PMS, RMS, BI systems, Excel spreadsheets, notes from revenue meetings, etc. Let's assume AI has relevant data; revenue managers will still make final decisions because they know what kind of data was fed to AI and how and what to ask. AI needs good data and quality prompts to be useful to revenue managers. Let's also remember that revenue managers build relationships with clients and suppliers, negotiate deals, and handle the human side of the business in a way that AI simply can't. AI is just a tool and should be viewed as such. The future of revenue management involves a combination of AI tools and skilled revenue managers who can use them effectively.

Without question, AI is destined to reshape revenue management. It will empower every revenue manager to make faster, more informed pricing and distribution decisions, uncovering new opportunities in real-time  outside of mere rate changes. For non revenue-experts, it will also contextualise suggestions, removing the need to justify every decision to management. And, of course, it will automate the repetitive and take personalisation to a new level as properties seek to grow guest satisfaction, loyalty and returns. In spite of these advancements, however, accommodation businesses will remain deeply rooted in HI  human intelligence. We're a people-driven industry and SiteMinder research shows that travellers prefer hotel experiences that involve genuine human connection.



While AI can enhance data processing, it lacks the essential human qualities of intuition, ethical judgement, creativity, empathy and deep contextual understanding  the traits of our industry's leaders. Human revenue managers not only need to make data-based decisions, but consider the broader impact of those decisions on their brand  and communicate them, too.



Yes, AI will make revenue managers more effective, and make revenue-driving capabilities accessible to all, but as to who will be making tomorrow's final decisions, hoteliers are set to keep their hands placed firmly on the wheel.

There has been much speculation and concern about whether AI will take away jobs from human employees, including in revenue management. At Oracle Hospitality, we believe AI and other technological tools work best in conjunction with humans. A critical difference between machines and humans is that machines arent yet particularly good at creating strategies. What machines do well is to create predictions and probabilities. They can enhance our human efforts by doing what the human brain cannot, such as real-time pricing and demand management, but the human component - especially when it comes to setting and executing a revenue strategy - is essential. For instance, AI can provide real-time information and related recommendations using guest data such as previous purchases, room and dining preferences, and personal interests. Staff can then efficiently offer the presented, targeted upsell offers at check-in and provide a more tailored service for guests. While AI has the power to replace tactical pricing and demand management with real-time forecasting and predictions, it cant replace executive functions like execution, measurement, and strategy management. Successful revenue executives will know how to work with and harness AI, and they will be in demand for hospitality companies for some time to come.
Hilton to Open First Curio Collection by Hilton Property in Thailand at the End of 2024



Located in the heart of Bangkok's prime Sukhumvit shopping district, KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton marks Hilton's inaugural project with SC Asset Corporation PCL

Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of an agreement with SC Asset Corporation PCL to introduce KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton, marking the lifestyle brands debut in Thailand and the brands growing presence in South East Asia. Scheduled to open at the end of 2024, the new-build hotel will join Hiltons expanding portfolio of hotels in Thailand, where it currently operates 13 properties across five brands, with nine more in the pipeline.

We are thrilled to embark on our partnership with SC Asset Corporation PCL to unveil KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton, said Clarence Tan, senior vice president, Development, Asia Pacific, Hilton. "Thailand shines as a premier global destination, with Bangkok as the world's most visited city. Steeped in cultural heritage and widely recognized for its unique attractions, Thailands appeal continues to endure among travelers from all around the world. Thailands first Curio Collection underlines our commitment to working with our valued owner partners to leverage our diverse brand portfolio to drive growth and performance in key markets across the region. We look forward to a future of shared success, as we continue to bring authentic and remarkable experiences closer to lifestyle travelers."

Curio Collection by Hilton is Hiltons global portfolio of hand-picked hotels that immerses guests in one-of-a-kind moments in the worlds most sought-after destinations. No two hotels are alike and each hotel evokes a bespoke story through its distinctive architecture and design, exceptional dining experiences, and meticulously curated activities. Guests have the opportunity to experience the charm of independent hotels while enjoying the perks of Hiltons guest loyalty program. Launched a decade ago, Curio Collection by Hilton will continue to provide guests with even more ways to enjoy spirited adventures, as the brand celebrates first-in-market debuts worldwide. Now with more than 150 hotels in operation, the brand is anticipated to open more than 20 new properties in 2024. Recent additions in South East Asia include La Festa Phu Quoc, Curio Collection by Hilton, marking the brands debut in Vietnam.

Inspired by the word chroma which alludes to intensity of hues, KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton aims to evoke a sense of color, vibrancy, and splendor. Guided by this philosophy, it is poised to satisfy guests curiosity to explore surprising discoveries through distinctly local offerings where heritage and modernity interplay.

Situated along Sukhumvits vibrant shopping belt, the hotel enjoys a prime location close to prominent retail destinations including Emporium, EmQuartier, and the recently unveiled EmSphere. Shopping malls and department stores such as Terminal 21 Bangkok, Times Square Building Mall and Robinson Department Store are also a stones throw away. In addition to being conveniently located near Bangkoks Skytrain stations, Phrom Phong and Asoke, the hotel is also a short walk from Benchasiri Park, ideal for travelers who wish to unwind in nature.

Advertisement



Each Curio Collection by Hilton has its own story to tell, and we are delighted to now offer guests in Thailand the ability to experience independent hotels that are destinations unto themselves. We are excited to celebrate this milestone opening in Thailand, where guests can experience meaningfully curated services and rituals amid a grand sense of arrival, said Alexandra Jaritz, senior vice president, Brand Management, Asia Pacific, Hilton. Our newest lifestyle addition, KROMO, invites guests to explore a world of unexpected surprises and hidden wonders through meticulously crafted experiences.

KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton will feature 306 thoughtfully curated rooms and suites, each fitted with a three-fixture bathroom. Rooms start from 32 square meters, each designed with unique expressions of Thai culture. KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton will feature three world-class dining concepts, including an all-day dining restaurant, a creative social dining space and a bar. The hotel will also offer a fitness center as well as indoor and outdoor pools when it opens.

We are incredibly heartened to commence our inaugural partnership with Hilton by bringing the Curio Collection by Hilton brand to Thailand. Hilton is an award-winning brand well known for providing world-class offerings and exceptional stays, and we are confident that KROMO, Curio Collection by Hilton will enhance Bangkoks appeal as a lifestyle destination and set new standards of hospitality in Thailand when the hotel opens, said Nuttaphong Kunakornwong, chief executive officer, SC Asset Corporation PCL.
Outlook for 2024 Remains Positive for the UK Hospitality Industry



Travel was the single biggest change in exports in the first quarter of 2024, helping contribute to GDP growth.

Trade statistics from the Office for National Statistics show that both import and export of travel services increase in Q1 2024. Travel exports was the largest growth category, increasing by 700 million.



Kate Nicholls, Chief Executive of UKHospitality, said: Todays GDP figures are an indication that we are beginning to see the light at the end of a long tunnel for the wider economy, which will hopefully embolden consumer confidence and, in turn, improve the fortunes of hospitality businesses.

These figures also make clear the importance of travel and tourism as an export product, which was the single biggest positive change in this data.

However, hospitality GDP remained flat in the first quarter and that is reflective of the cost challenges the sector continues to face. We need to see the cost burden for the sector rebalanced and reduced so businesses have the ability to invest in their business and grow.

Harnessing the potential of hospitality, tourism and travel, both at home and abroad, can really deliver on the economic ambitions of the nation, and its crucial the Government recognises the strategic importance of our sector.

All of this can combine to give businesses the confidence and financial headroom they need to invest in their businesses, which will drive economic growth, create jobs and encourage regeneration of our towns and cities.
Meet the Money 2024 Presentations Now Available



Some of the insightful presentations included observations on the current economy, insurance and investment advice tailored for hospitality, boutique hotel investment patterns, the Lodging Industry Investment Council's Top 10, and the state of the hospitality industry in 2024.

The 31st edition of Meet the Money 2024 national hotel finance and investment conference was held May 6-8 at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott. Some of the insightful presentations included observations on the current economy, insurance and investment advice tailored for hospitality, boutique hotel investment patterns, the Lodging Industry Investment Councils Top 10, and the state of the hospitality industry in 2024.

To download these free presentations, please go to www.hotellawyer.com, click on the RESOURCE CENTER tab of the website, and then scroll down and select Hotel Industry Publications.

Or you can just click here to get the following presentations from the Meet the Money conference:

City National Rochdale Economic Update. Paul Single, Senior Economist and Managing Director of City National Rochdale, gives an overview of current economy and shares CNRs economic outlook.

What Every Hotelier Needs to Know About Insurance and Controlling Costs. Jackie Collins, Senior Director / VP, Hospitality Practice for Gallagher, shares insights on insurance tailored specifically for the hospitality industry.

Boutique Hotel Transaction Patterns. Ariela Kiradjian, Co-Founder, Partner & COO of the Boutique Lifestyle Leaders Association, explores the dynamic investment landscape of independent boutique hotels.

AHLA Update 2024. Troy Flanagan, Executive Vice President of External Government Affairs and Industry Relations for the American Hotel & Lodging Association, shares AHLAs report on the state of the industry for 2024.

2024 LIIC Top Ten. Michael Cahill, CEO and Founder of Hospitality Real Estate Counselors (HREC), presents the 2024 Lodging Industry Investment Counsel (LIIC) Top Ten which reveals the challenges and investment trends identified through an annual survey of LIIC members.

U.S. Lodging Industry H1 2024. Daniel H. Lesser, Co-Founder, President, & CEO of LW Hospitality Advisors, examines the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for the U.S. Hotel Industry in 2024.

Finding the Right Expert & Introduction to ISHC. Kristie Dickinson, Managing Director/EVP of CHMWarnick, gives an overview of the services provided by the International Society of Hospitality Consultants.

Lodging Performance Outlook 2024. Luigi Major, MAI, a Managing Director of HVS Americas, gives an update on hotel performance, valuation metrics and construction costs for 2024.

Rising Above Rates: Successful Deal Strategies in a Cash Constrained Market. Jonathan Falik of JF Capital Advisors and Guy Maisnik, Vice Chair of JMBMs Global Hospitality Group, lead a panel of industry experts discussing innovative approaches for hotel developers and investors to make deals happen in a challenging economic environment.

About Meet the Money

For over 30 years, Meet the Money has created an energetic environment to forge relationships, negotiate deals, and gain an in-depth understanding of hotel investment and finance. Our national hotel conference attracts heavy hitters and offers an opportunity for productive, one-on-one networking with them.
Chicago, IL (60637)

Today

Mainly cloudy. A few peeks of sunshine possible. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 68F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Cloudy skies this evening. A few showers developing late. Low 56F. Winds NNE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
China allows the import of Hungarian fresh cherries that meet relevant requirements

Global Times) 16:33, May 10, 2024

China's General Administration of Customs (GAC) announced on Friday that it has allowed, effective immediately, the import of Hungarian fresh cherries that meet relevant requirements.

It is part of the achievements during Chinese top leader's state visit to Hungary from Wednesday to Friday, during which the two sides have elevated ties to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership and reached a number of deals in cooperation involving the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), finance, green development, agriculture, tourism and culture.

As China's imports of fresh cherries jump significantly, it is expected that Hungarian fresh cherries will gradually claim a foothold in the fast-growing Chinese market, an industry insider said.

Last year, China's cherry trade reached 351,200 tons, up 77.69 percent from the reading in 2019, data from Chinese research firm Zhiyan Consultancy showed. Among these, China imported 348,100 tons of fresh cherries. And the country roughly consumes 22.7 percent of the global cherry output in 2022, the world's largest market.

In addition to Hungary, about 11 countries and regions have also obtained quarantine access qualification for cherry exports to China to date, including Chile, the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Argentina.

Observers also said the expanding agricultural trade could be a new growth point in driving the overall trade between China and Hungary, who are each other's major trading partners. Currently, China is Hungary's largest trading partner outside of Europe, while Hungary is one of China's main trading partners in the Central and Eastern European region. Hungary is also one of the Central and Eastern European Countries (CEEC) with the largest number of agricultural product export permits to China.

According to the joint statement on the establishment of an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era released by China and Hungary on Thursday, the two sides recognized the huge potential in agricultural cooperation between them and the sound progress made under the framework of the China-CEEC agricultural cooperation mechanism.

The two sides have vowed to utilize the China-Hungary high-level working group on agriculture and other mechanisms, in order to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation between agricultural enterprises of both sides, widen market access, promote the cooperation of "small and beautiful" projects, and strengthen cooperation in areas such as animal health and joint research and development of deep processing technologies for agricultural products.

China's GAC has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on animal and plant quarantine for import and export with the Hungarian Ministry of Agriculture during the top leader's visit.

The bilateral trade volume between China and Hungary in 2023 reached $14.52 billion, an increase of 73 percent compared with that in 2013, according to the China-Hungary Investment and Cooperation Report.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
This coming Mothers Day, we celebrate and honor mothers of all types  those who gave birth, raised, and inspire us every day. But lets not forget the remarkable mothers and mother figures in the workforce who juggle their professional responsibilities with their families. Pluxee Gifts allow your company to recognize mothers in your teams with joyful moments on this special day.

According to the September 2023 Labor Force Survey conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), women's labor force participation rate stands at 53.4 percent. This statistic underscores the Philippines' commitment to closing gender gaps and facilitating better access to employment opportunities for all women, particularly mothers who frequently encounter obstacles in fulfilling their potential at work.

The push for flexible work arrangements provides additional support for mothers to engage in paid labor while contributing to their familys needs, making it easier to attend to their professional responsibilities and domestic activities.

Pluxee Philippines offers a meaningful way to honor the tireless efforts of people who grow your organization. With a diverse range of Pluxee Gifts tailored to meet varying preferences, every working mother and mother figure in your workforce is sure to feel valued and celebrated this Mothers Day.

Rewarding the mothers who shape your company

Pluxee, formerly known as Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services, is a digital-first brand with a rich heritage in employee experience and engagement. Here are some ways Pluxee Gifts can help you celebrate moms and show them appreciation for their service:

Much-needed self-pampering

This Mother's Day, show your employees they deserve some well-deserved pampering. Pluxee Gift Credits allow them to unwind and recharge with a relaxing self-care day. They can get a fresh new look with a haircut at David's Salon or Fix Bench Salon or get their fitness on with a session at Anytime Fitness. For the ultimate relaxation experience, they can use the credits to indulge in a luxurious spa session at Nurture Tropical Spa in Tagaytay.

Pluxee Gift Credits are non-expiring digital gift certificates that make rewarding safe and convenient. It comes in the form of credits that are sent to the Pluxee Philippines app, which can be used at over 10,000 merchants and online stores. The beauty of Pluxee Gift Credits is their flexibility  they can be partially redeemed, shared, and any remaining credit can be used for future self-care needs, ensuring recipients get the most out of their gift.

Dine-out experience with family

Recipients can treat their families to a delightful dining experience this Mother's Day. With the Pluxee Gift Card, they can choose from all-time favorite fast food chains like Max's Group (Maxs Restaurant, Yellow Cab, Krispy Kreme), Viva Food Group (Botejyu, Wingzone, Papermoon), Dominos Pizza, and Chowking.

Craving something a little different? Pluxee Gift Cards can also be used at popular buffets like Cabalen and Tong Yang, allowing them to indulge in a wider variety of cuisines and spend quality time with loved ones over a delicious spread. The Pluxee Gift Card is a digitally powered physical card that can be used instantly with no activation required. Gift codes may be converted to Pluxee Gift credits in the Pluxee Philippines app.

Healing journey for you and your loved ones

Sometimes, the best gift is a chance to escape everyday. With Pluxee, you can help your employees plan a memorable getaway for them and their loved ones. They can use any of the Pluxee services to experience the thrills of amusement parks like Enchanted Kingdom or Sky Ranch, creating lasting memories with laughter and excitement.

For a more luxurious retreat, they can use Pluxee Gift codes for stays at prestigious hotels like Conrad and Taal Vista Hotel. If they're feeling adventurous, they can use their Pluxee Gift credits to plan their dream vacation with the help of Sole Destinations, the perfect opportunity to unwind and explore new destinations.

Well-deserved shopping trip

Let them snag those outfits or shoes they've been eyeing! With Pluxee, you can reward your employees with Pluxee Gift codes or SM Gift Pass Choice, both accepted at any SM Store and affiliates like Bench, H&M, Uniqlo, and Forever 21, giving them the flexibility to shop at their favorite brands.

Appreciating the ones who strive to give us a bright future goes beyond those who gave birth to us. Mothers all over the world get this special day once a year wherein we can show how grateful we are for all their sacrifices and efforts. Make Mothers Day like no other by creating joyful moments with Pluxee Gifts.

Want to know more about how Pluxee can elevate your employee experience in a manner unique to your organization? Sign up at bit.ly/PluxeePartnerClient. If your organization is an SME that prefers to shop digital gift certificates online, visit shop.pluxee.ph  registration is easy and preferential rates for business accounts are available.
Overseas Filipinos sacrifice a lot the moment they decide to leave the Philippines to work abroad, and even when they return home and search again for livelihood. Just like in the case of 33-year-old Estrellita Evale, a former domestic helper who worked in the Middle East for three years, before coming back home for good.

Evale could not help but shed a few tears as she recalled her experience working abroad, away from her loved ones. I always wanted to go home because I missed my family, she shared.

Upon choosing to come home to stay, she arrived to find that pandemic-related restrictions were still in place, making it a challenge for Evale to find a way to earn a living. By some stroke of fate, a friend introduced her to the reloading business of TPC.

I invested my own money to become a load retailer. I was manning the canteen of my sister, and I observed that a lot of people were looking for Smart or TNT load, thats why I took that opportunity, she said.

Telepreneur Corp. or TPC is a leading direct selling company of network load. Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continues to strengthen its partnership with TPC through Muenchen by providing livelihood opportunities, training sessions, and supporting other activities of load resellers or retailers.

Aside from her loading business, Evale also hustles on the side to make a living. But her loading business helps to pay part of her rent, electric bills, and daily necessities.

Because of her perseverance, Evale eventually became a top load dealer under TPC. And earlier this year, Evale also won a motorbike during a TPC event supported by Smart, which she sent to her family to help in their transportation needs in the province.

Our partnership with TPC and Muenchen has enabled us not only to improve customer experience by making load accessible, but also to help provide sustainable livelihood to many Filipinos, said Chito M. Franco, Consumer Sales VP and Head of Key Accounts at PLDT and Smart.

PLDT and Smarts partnership with organizations like Muenchen and TPC supports the PLDT group's continuing contribution to the United Nations SDGs, particularly SDG 1: No Poverty and SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth. It is also aligned with the PLDT groups broader goal to promote technologies that can help boost livelihood opportunities among Filipinos, leaving no one behind.
In todays fast-paced world where almost everyone is either working or studying, the role of smartphones has become more important as life centers on it.

Staying connected is as vital as nurturing relationships for both people on the go and for individuals who communicate with the world through their smartphones.

The convenience devices offer contributes to why many individuals are consistently online, striving to keep pace with life's demands.

The newest vivo Y100 comes into the picture to meet the needs of on-the-go people like employees, content creators, and students.

The vivo Y100 ensures that you're always equipped, wherever you are and whenever you need to tackle significant tasks. It's a great companion for those caught in their busy schedules.

Optimizes productivity for employees

Meetings are pivotal for employees, especially for managers like Alex overseeing projects.

Picture Alex, deep into a day brimming with strategy sessions. Her team is on the brink of launching a major project, and today's meetings are paramount for finalizing the plan.

Midway through the first session, Alex notices her vivo Y100's battery diminishing. She relies on her phone for emails, project files, and client communication.

During a brief 15-minute break, Alex utilizes the phone's 80W fast charging to swiftly replenish its battery. By break's end, her phone is charged enough to last through the remaining meetings.

Fast charging ensures Alex remains connected and productive, alleviating the stress of a dying battery. Indeed, the vivo Y100 empowers users to stay connected and productive throughout the workday, aiding in project success.

Fuels content creators' creativity

Unleash creativity with the vivo Y100, tailor-made for content creators like Jordan.

Imagine Jordan, a fashion photographer, amid a day-long photoshoot. When his vivo Y100's battery percentage goes low, he swiftly charges it between shoots.

The 80W fast charge keeps him on schedule, capturing photos and updating social media promptly. Fast charging proves vital for Jordan's productivity, ensuring his phone matches his creative pace.

Throughout the day's shooting, the vivo Y100's battery guarantees uninterrupted productivity, enabling content creators to fully leverage their smartphones, even during extended sessions.

Supports students' academic needs

Smartphones are necessary tools for students, aiding in note-taking, research, presentations, and project completion. Consider Mia, a university student waking up to find her phone's battery nearly depleted, with a crucial presentation looming.&

With 80W fast charging, she powers up her vivo Y100 while getting ready. The phone's 5000mAh battery ensures it lasts through her presentation and beyond.

Fast charging proves indispensable for students like Mia, requiring their devices at a moment's notice for critical academic tasks.

With the vivo Y100, gone are the days of enduring lengthy charging times. You can go from 0 to 80 percent battery in just half an hour, saving valuable time to tackle academic responsibilities.

Additionally, the vivo Y100 offers Overnight Charging Protection, allowing for all-night research and projects without worry of overcharging. The system intelligently manages charging stages for safe and slow battery aging.

Experience uninterrupted connectivity and productivity with the vivo Y100. It is now available at vivo stores and kiosks nationwide, and online platforms like Shopee, TikTok, and Lazada. The price starts at Php 12,499 with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB storage, expandable to 1TB.

Do not miss out and visit the vivo website today to learn more about vivos newest addition to their Y Series lineup!
With its shared mission of consumer protection for a safer and secure digital economy, the Department of Information and Communication Technology (DICT) through its sub-agency Cybercrime Investigation and Coordination Center (CICC), conducts a joint learning session among the investigators of the CICC, the first of its many initiatives to provide safer and more secure cyberspace for millions of Filipinos in cooperation with GCash, the countrys top finance app.

CICC Executive Director USec. Alexander Ramos (6th from left) together with the GCash teams

Held at the CICC hub in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig, the event was graced by key officials and leaders from the National Privacy Commission (NPC) National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). They were joined by leaders from GCash who highlighted the e-wallets best practices in cybersecurity as a vital component of digital financial services. This includes an in-depth discussion on the different innovative products of GCash, and how the e-wallet prioritizes the safety of its users through its GSafeTayo campaign along with the launch of its newest security measures on the app.

GCash also sheds light on the importance of data privacy and the different steps being taken to ensure strict data privacy compliance and improve customer trust and loyalty. To help Filipinos become more well-informed and financially secure individuals, GCash also had a comprehensive discussion on the common cases of fraud as well as GCashs initiatives enhancing its security and fraud prevention on the app.

Through these partnerships, GCash and its partners also aim to leverage their strengths and enhance cyber capabilities while promoting financial inclusion.

We reaffirm to the public that we are continuously maximizing our efforts concerning the cyber security of millions of Filipinos. Thus, we form partnerships such as this that can help boost the governments initiatives in reducing cybercrime, said CICC Executive Director Usec. Alexander Ramos.

With Trust and Security as a top priority for GCash, it also underscored its continuous efforts to innovate its financial services and products, and to deliver more streamlined processes for identifying and mitigating potential risks, ensuring its platform is compliant, safe, and secure.

GCash allows users to access digital financial solutions beyond their purchasing power as it is an easy way to pay bills, buy goods and services, send or receive money wherever you are, grow your savings, avail of insurance products, and invest in stocks, among others with just a few clicks. But more than the convenience, GCashs products and services were also engineered to boost customer protection by adding trust and security features to every product and service it offers. For one, the DoubleSafe security feature that safeguards users against unauthorized transactions by using the Face ID authentication process which cannot be manipulated or duplicated.

GCashs suite of financial services enables the underserved and unserved access to financial services with greater convenience, safety, and security  anytime and anywhere, said Associate Vice President for Commercial Sales Macky Limgenco II.

True to the companys vision of Finance for All, GCash head of executive escalations Rox Samin also said that the e-wallets products are designed for both the banked and unbanked. While it is clear that technology helps pave the way for a more financially inclusive society, GCash knows the importance of educating users about safer use of cyberspace, especially financial services.

GCash, as the biggest digital ecosystem in the country, is in a perfect position to boost the data privacy of users against online scams. This partnership with our key partners from the government will only push GCash further to bring an even more secure and seamless experience. With these GCash updates, users can rest assured that their money is in safe hands, said GCash Head of Data Privacy Atty. Rob Real.

While it is crucial for fintech giants such as GCash to strengthen its initiatives to combat online scams, GCash Head of Legal Pursuance and Counsel Attorney Dino Regalario also emphasizes the need to extend digital literacy initiatives and programs to help educate more Filipinos on some of the most common types of scams and how they can protect themselves better against fraudulent activities.

As cyber criminals elevate their illegal tactics to scam users, GCash also reminded Filipinos to keep being vigilant and become more aware of different online scams and fraudulent activities such as phishing scams where criminals impersonate legitimate organizations via email or text, smishing; a text-enabled scam where cybercriminals send malicious links often disguised as account notices, prize notification, job offers, among others, love scam or online dating scam, online gambling scam, investment scam, loan scam, sextortion, and identity theft.

Through its continuous collaboration with top law enforcement agencies in the country, GCash and its partners also blocked over 4.1 million accounts from January 2022 to June 2023 due to fraudulent transactions and other malicious activities.

At GCash, we believe that constantly building partnerships with the authorities is a key factor in strengthening the defenses of our platform to safeguard users from all kinds of cybercrime. We are honored to continue this collaboration as this will directly contribute to creating digital-resilient and secured cyberspace in the Philippines, said GCash Chief Risk Officer Ingrid Berona.

Adding to GCashs mission to strengthen the fight against scammers and fraudsters, GCash Advocacy Legal Counsel Attorney Mark Anthony Amurao also reiterates the e-wallets full support for the passage of the Anti-Financial Account Scamming Act (AFASA Bill) which is aimed at combatting the surge of scams including money mules involving e-wallets, banks, and other financial institutions. Once enacted into law, GCash will now have authority and power to act on suspicious transactions detected on the app without having to undergo a complex process of securing the identity of the involved accounts. This will give us border solutions to boost anti-scam mechanisms.

For more information, please visit www.gcash.com
There was a time, not so long ago, when an exhibition of 20th-century British still life would have seemed  how can I put this politely?  not the most exciting prospect. On the continent, artists such as Picasso used the genre of still life, with its focus on everyday objects (flowers, pots and pans), as the starting point for some of the most radical paintings of the 20th century. Yet even British artists have tended to deride British Modern Art as timid and provincial, politely lagging behind the European and American avant gardes.

Chichesters Pallant House Gallery, however, has been at the hub of a major reassessment of British Modernism over the past two decades, with exhibitions that have revived the reputations of near forgotten figures such as John Minton and Glyn Philpot, while turning the perceived and much-scorned gentility and quirkiness of this kind of art into very bankable virtues. Judging on past form, future exhibitions in this substantial survey will include many surprising works, while making intriguing connections between past and present.

Its current exhibition, The Shape of Things, sets out its stall by contrasting historical classics with cutting-edge contemporary works. And if you think paintings of domestic clutter can hardly be cutting edge, youre immediately proved wrong by Gordon Cheungs glitched collages in which digitally sourced images appear to slide off the paper. British-Israel artist Ori Gerscht plays on the idea of still life as a meditation on the fleeting nature of reality, as conceived by the 17th-century Dutch painters who established the genre with their studies of fading flowers and rotting fruit. His digitally enabled images of the kind of vases painted by the much loved 20th century Italian artist Giorgio Morandi being shot to pieces with an air rifle, bring a very 21st-century twist to that time-honoured notion.

Yet more arresting than either is Still Life with Joint of Beef on a Pewter Dish (1750-60) by the Chichester artist George Smith  one of the first British painters to focus substantially on still life. The viscerally precise textures of the yellowed fat and the starkly lit greying meat immediately compel. It is, however, accompanied by a caption framing it as an implicit call to patriotism with its validation of solidly English fare. Yet the gutsy physicality of the work renders such explanations superfluous. The fact that the content is pretty much exactly what it says in the title points up one of the great strengths of still life as a form: its matter-of-factness. Once youve got past the historical context, what you see is pretty much what you get.

Certainly, those 17th century Dutch flower painters may have had the transitory nature of sensual pleasure and the vanity of human ambition at the forefront of their minds when looking at everyday objects, and its undoubtedly true that we can learn a great deal about the histories of trade and colonialism from looking at their paintings. Yet for 20th-century artists, still life was first and foremost a way to explore the basics of visual language, form, colour, texture, space and form without breaking the bank. The scale of the works tends to be modest; the subjects are whatevers to hand. Though this show provides more than enough contextual information, you dont need to read too much of it to get the point.

While Picasso and Braque were using the contents of Parisian cafe tables, including bits of collaged newspaper, to take visual reality apart in their Cubist still lives, their British contemporaries took a gentler approach, looking to earlier French movements such as Post-Impressionism and Fauvism. If Spencer Gores perfectly pleasant Still Life with Apples (1912) feels painfully in thrall to Cezanne and Gauguin, and Vanessa Bells superficially Matisse-like Vase of Flowers (1917) resembles an inflated childrens book illustration, there is much that delights. The Scottish colourist JD Fergussons The Blue Lamp (1920) has a zinging freshness with its looping crimson ellipses, while the thickly encrusted surfaces of Harold Gilmans The Cup and Saucer (1915) make these modest vessels feel palpably present.

Theres a sense of greater confidence, a less slavish looking towards Europe, in a room focusing on British Surrealism. Edward Wadsworths Bright Interests (1928) makes a great poster image for the exhibition with its oddball arrangement of objects, including a conch shell and a ball of wool tied up with ribbon, placed on a seaside promenade. Yet it lacks the sinister edge Magritte or Max Ernst would have brought to the subject. Paul Nashs small Dead Spring (1929), with its dead plants, severely framed architectural elements and painfully constrained mood  a response, were told, to his fathers death  feels a properly convincing piece of English surrealism. Generally, indeed, theres nothing in this room that isnt an outright pleasure to look at  unless its Black and White (1932), Dod Procters drably conventional study of an ermine muff and a pair of evening gloves. The fact that everyones engaged in essentially the same activity  looking at arrangements of objects on a tabletop  lends a sense of coherence and communality to these pieces, though most of the artists were unknown to each other.

The inclusion of Barbara Hepworths exquisitely elegant Conoid, Sphere and Hollow III (1937), an arrangement of severely abstract white marble forms, begs the question of whether sculpture has a place in still life, even if the work is inspired by domestic objects as it is here. Still life has traditionally been about capturing the effects of light and texture, rather than creating new forms  as sculpture inevitably does. Yet the works presence provides an opportunity to reflect, as does Jann Haworths Donuts, Coffee Cups and Comic (1962) which presents its subjects as soft toys on a real-life tabletop in a room devoted to still life and post-war consumerism  which is largely taken up with Pop Art.

open image in gallery Gordon Cheungs glitched collages make digitally sourced images seem as if they are sliding off the paper ( Gordon Cheung )

The divide between painting and sculpture breaks down in works such as Love (2007) by Haworths former husband, the pop artist Peter Blake, in which the paintings arrangement of toys and other quirky ephemera continues as real objects on a shelf below the painting. In David Hockneys iconic Tea Painting in the Illusionistic Style (1961), the canvas is shaped in imitation of the object depicted: a Typhoo tea packet with a naked man seeming to float across it; a reminder of Hockney at his vital early best.

This lively exhibition only loses pace in its final room on still life today  although not because the exhibits lack quality. I particularly liked Wild Food (2012) by Anthea Hamilton, one of several Black British artists who are drawn into what might otherwise feel too cosily a white British story. Her photo-still life of what looks like sliced yam and burdock leaves is printed onto a silk kimono draped on a traditional Japanese wooden rack. Wolfgang Tillmanss huge Hampstead Still Life (2018) is a truly monumental image of freesias in a vase seen against a window. All the same, the sense of an umbilical link to the traditions of still life painting and its sense of a shared aesthetic enterprise, which was still very evident in much of the Pop Art work, now feels long gone. But then it is in the very nature of the genre that all things must pass.

Until Oct 20. pallant.org.uk
Mogadishu, Somalia (PANA) - The UN independent human rights expert on Somalia on Thursday called on authorities to step up efforts to address the countrys complex and serious security challenges
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

TikTok is teaming up with the National Literacy Trust (NLT) to place BookTok Bookshelves in 11 UK areas that need a boost in literacy levels.

Cities like Birmingham, Blackpool, Bradford, Doncaster, Manchester, Middlesborough, Newcastle, Nottingham, Peterborough, Stoke and Swindon will get 20 BookTok Bookshelves starting with around 100 books each.

The shelves will be placed in areas which see a lot of children over 13, like youth clubs and community centres.

TikTok will be paying for the books and shelves while NLT youth volunteers will help by choosing the books that will go on the shelves, along with promoting the campaign among peers.

NLT has said they will recruit and train around 50 youth volunteers from 20 communities for the initiative.

BookTok is a section on TikTok which has grown extremely popular in the last few years for driving sales for books and developing and sustaining an interest in reading among its young audience.

This sub-community features users who make videos talking about and reviewing books they are reading and their thoughts on literature as a whole. While the genres are varied, BookTokers usually tend to favour young adult fiction, particularly fantasy and romance.

TikTok and NLT are working together to harness the appeal of TikTok and its ability to connect and inspire young people, to motivate reading for pleasure, striving to boost literacy levels by increasing access to books across the UK, said Ali Law, TikToks director of public policy and government affairs, UK and Ireland.

open image in gallery The BookTok community features users who make videos talking about and reviewing books they are reading and their thoughts on literature as a whole ( Getty Images )

Recent NLT research showed that one in 12 children aged five to 18 do not own a book of their own, and less than three in 10 children aged eight to 18 read daily.

As a charity, we strive to boost literacy levels across the UK, particularly in our most disadvantaged communities, by increasing access to books and reaching people where they are  and in a way that feels meaningful to them, said Jason Vit, head of local areas for the NLT.

We know the appeal of brands like TikTok for the young people we want to support.

Through this partnership we can tap into their interests and create opportunities to inspire and encourage reading among their peers; the benefits of which our research shows extend to all areas of their lives.

NLT aims for each bookshelf to be different, with a range of different themes and interests curated specifically for the interests of community by the volunteers.

The first bookshelf in Nottingham will have titles from homegrown and international author talent, like Malorie Blackman, Holly Jackson, Hafsah Faizal, Neil Gaiman and Alice Oseman.

The idea is for young people, who may otherwise struggle to access books of their own for financial or other reasons, to borrow a book which appeals to them, share it with a friend who might enjoy it, too, and return it to the bookshelf for another young person to enjoy, said Vit.

We hope the BookTok Bookshelves will increase young peoples appetite for reading and therefore the demand for books, forming part of a reading ecosystem that includes schools, libraries and bookshops.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Musician and sought-after model Windows95Man is competing in the Eurovision 2024 final, and looks set to prove himself as one of the most entertaining performers of the night.

On the Eurovision website, he is described as a sweet and pleasant individual, he is a bit of a shy nerd during the daytime, but when he puts on his uniform, the infamous defunct operating system T-shirt and denim hotpants combo, he transforms into a superman!

Along with his friend Henri Piispanen, Windows95Man will perform No Rules!, a bombastic techno-infused song that sees him emerging from a denim-wrapped egg in the middle of the stage.

Clever staging and camera angles seems to suggest that Windows95Man is nude during the performance, but dont fret, hes fully covered.

Finland will perform 17th on the night, after Serbias TEYA DORA and before performances by Portugal, Armenia, Cyprus and Switzerland. The final is being held at the Malmo Arena in Sweden, who are hosting following their 2023 win with Loreens Tattoo.

Windows95Man is facing stiff competion, including from favourites Croatia (Baby Lasagna), Ireland (Bambie Thug) and Italy (Angelina Mango).

( TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima )

Read our Q&A with Windows95Man and Henri and get to know them ahead of the contest:

Tell us about your song No Rules

Because this is my first song ever, we had three minutes to tell people about my art, so this is really a song for Eurovision. Its a dream, I never thought we would make it through to the final, so this is amazing.

How are you feeling about representing Finland in the Eurovision Song Contest?

Were motivated! Ive been inspired by past contestants which have been really brave. We just want to have fun, to let go.

Henri: Theyre different stories, and I think in any Finnish person, inside lives this craziness, and if you just open it up... were quite shy people, but inside lives this crazy beast.

( TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima )

Are there any other contestants you love this year?

Its been such a rollercoaster of emotions and there are so many, we think its really fresh this year, and everyone just keeps getting better after each show. Olly Alexander, Bambie, and Alyona and Jerry were amazing, we had goosebumps all over. Eurovision is all about the show, and to see the performances... its very special.

The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 final takes place on Saturday 11 May and will be broadcast from 8pm on BBC One and BBC iPlayer.

You can follow live updates, news and video via The Independents liveblog.
Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Get our The Life Cinematic email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Elizabeth Hurley has addressed the reaction to her 22-year-old son directing her in an on-screen intimate scene, after the situation was branded weird.

The Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery star acts out a dramatic sex scene with another woman in her son Damiens directorial debut, Strictly Confidential.

In the thriller, Georgia Lock plays a woman called Mia who returns to the Caribbean island of St Kitts on the anniversary of her friend Rebeccas death. As she investigates Rebeccas apparent suicide, Mia is pulled into a web of sex, lies, and murder.

Elizabeth, 58, who plays Rebeccas mother, has faced backlash for agreeing to have her son direct her in intimate Strictly Confidential scenes.

Speaking to The One Show, the actor revealed she thinks reactions to the sex scene set up have been demented.

Elizabeth claimed she and her son didnt even think about the sex scene before shooting because the film was low budget and they had to shoot fast.

Damien had about six or seven scenes to film that day. This was just one of them, she said.

open image in gallery Elizabeth Hurley and Damian Hurley ( Getty Images for Lionsgate and Grindstone )

People have made a fuss. Its not like he sneaked into my bedroom with a camcorder, the star added.

It was on a set, there were like 100 people on set and everyone know [sex scenes] theyre not actually sex to shoot.

Any kind of intimate scene, its just technical.

Damian is Elizabeths son with the late film producer Steve Bing, who died by suicide in 2020.

Earlier this month, the model and director told the Sunday Times that directing his mother in the films sex scene felt totally normal.

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free

I was speaking to a lot of my friends who are also [the] second generation of parents in the industry, he said.

They say exactly the same thing: that things to outsiders that may seem totally strange and extraordinary, for us well just have grown up with in everyday life.

open image in gallery Elizabeth Hurley in scenes shot by her son, Damian, in new film Strictly Confidential ( Lionsgate )

He added that Elizabeth taught him about sex at a ludicrously young age, and was more like a sibling to him than a parent.

He also said the pair were so comfortable on set that they shunned the usage of an intimacy coordinator.

Strictly Confidential has received disappointing reviews since its US release last month.

According to Varietys reviewer Dennis Harvey, the film starts out looking like an erotic thriller-mystery, then descends into a series of flashback-laden explication monologues more apt for Dynasty than Agatha Christie.

Ahead of its UK release on 13 May, The Guardians Peter Bradshaw gave Strictly Confidential one star and called the film a softcore sex drama.
Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Brian Wilson has been placed in a court conservatorship to manage his personal and medical decisions by a judge in Los Angeles.

The Beach Boys founder, 81, has what his doctor describes as a major neurocognitive disorder.

At a hearing on Thursday (9 May), Los Angeles superior court judge Gus T May approved the petition filed by Wilsons family and inner circle after the death of his wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, in January.

She had previously been handling most of his work and affairs.

During the brief hearing, May said: I find from clear and convincing evidence that a conservatorship of the person is necessary.

He added that evidence shows that Wilson consents to the arrangement and lacks the capacity to make healthcare decisions.

open image in gallery Brian Wilson performing in Los Angeles in 2015 ( Kevin Winter/Getty Images )

May appointed two of Wilsons longtime representatives, publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard, as his conservators. There were no significant objections raised.

Two of Wilsons seven children, Carnie and Wendy Wilson from the singing group Wilson Phillips, asked through their attorney that all the children be added to a group text chain about their father and that they all be consulted on medical decisions. The judge granted the stipulations.

A doctors declaration filed with the petition in February said Wilson has a major neurocognitive disorder, is taking medication for dementia and is unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.

When Ledbetter Wilson died in January, Wilson paid tribute to her on social media.

Writing on X/Twitter, the God Only Knows songwriter said: My heart is broken. Melinda, my beloved wife of 28 years, passed away this morning.

Our five children and I are just in tears. We are lost. Melinda was more than my wife. She was my savior. She gave me the emotional security I needed to have a career.

Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members) Sign up

Enjoy unlimited access to 100 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 4 month free trial (3 months for non-Prime members) Sign up

She encouraged me to make the music that was closest to my heart. She was my anchor. She was everything for us. Please say a prayer for her. Love and Mercy Brian.

In 2014, Wilson and Ledbetters relationship was retold in the biopic Love & Mercy, which starred Paul Dano as the young Wilson and John Cusack and Elizabeth Banks as the older Wilson and Ledbetter.

The film chronicled Wilsons struggles with mental illness, as well as his complicated relationship with his therapist and legal guardian Dr Eugene Landy (Paul Giamatti). Ledbetter eventually helped free Wilson from Landys control.

Additional reporting by agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

The woman who allegedly inspired the stalker character in Baby Reindeer is not happy about her interview with Piers Morgan.

Earlier this week, Morgan interviewed Scottish lawyer Fiona Harvey, who said she wanted to set the record straight about details related to the show, which Netflix and the shows creator and star Richard Gadd have said are real.

The interview was aired on Morgans YouTube show Uncensored on Thursday (9 May), and viewers immediately questioned the ethics surrounding the broadcast.

Harvey has now said she she felt used by Morgan, who she said placed a heavy emphasis on the thousands of emails she allegedly sent Gadd.

In the interview, Morgan can be seen grilling Harvey about Netflix and Gadds claim that the real Martha sent a staggering 41,071 emails, 744 tweets, 46 Facebook messages, 106 pages of letters and 350 hours of voicemail.

Harvey said she sent less than 10, replying: Thats simply not true. If somebody was sending somebody 41,000 emails or something, theyd be doing how many a day? Lots.

Reflecting on the interview, Harvey told Daily Record: I wouldnt say I was happy. It was very rapid to try to trip me up. He did it fast paced to catch me off guard. It seemed to me that I was set up. I feel a bit used.

Netflixs Baby Reindeer follows a comedian as he is relentlessly harassed and stalked by Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning) for more than four years.

Immediately after its release on 11 April, the series became a word-of-mouth sensation and is on course to be one of the streaming services most-watched shows, alongside heavyweights Stranger Things and Bridgerton.

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free

Morgans interview was met with consternation when the broadcaster announced the world exclusive on Wednesday (8 May).

He wrote on X/Twitter: The real-life Martha from Baby Reindeer breaks cover and gives me her first TV interview about the smash hit Netflix show. [She] wants to have her say & set the record straight. Is she a psycho stalker?

open image in gallery Piers Morgan interviewed real Martha on Uncensored ( Piers Morgan )

The posts replies section was flooded with messages from users calling the interview irresponsible and unethical due to the fact that Gadd himself told The Independent that the real person who inspired Martha to be mentally unwell.

This is exploitation of a person who is in a vulnerable position. Clearly unethical, one person wrote, with another adding: This guy has absolutely no shame! Others branded the decision to interview Harvey disgraceful and absolutely vile.

The Independent has contacted Morgans Uncensored for comment.

Morgans announcement arrived hours before Gadd, Gunning, co-star Nava Mau and series director Weronika Tofilska participated in a panel discussion about the show in Los Angeles.

The event was held to stir up interest among TV awards voters in Hollywood. Both Gadd and Gunning are strongly expected to receive Emmy and Golden Globe nominations in the forthcoming awards race.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Miranda Cosgrove says she reflected on her own terrifying experience with a stalker after watching the hit Netflix series Baby Reindeer.

The iCarly and Despicable Me actor, 30, went through the ordeal in 2016 when a man was found dead in the backyard of her Hollywood Hills home.

The man had set himself on fire before fatally shooting himself. Cosgrove was not at home at the time, but it emerged he had been stalking her for some time.

He had previously shot at a woman who resembled Cosgrove as she drove past the home.

In a new interview with Bustle, Cosgrove recalled later meeting the woman the man had mistakenly targeted at a charity event.

This girl came up to me, and she was like, I didnt know if I should tell you this here or how to say this, but Im actually the girl that was at your house that got shot at, Cosgrove remembered.

open image in gallery Miranda Cosgrove in Pacific Palisades, California in May 2024 ( Getty Images for Netflix )

She added that the pair managed to find humour in the situation, saying: She seemed like she processes things in a similar way that I do. She said shed just gone through a breakup the night before and was going to her friends house because she was so distraught.

When they brought her into the Hollywood Police Station to ask what he looked like and how it all happened, the detectives were like, Start from the very beginning. What happened? And she was like, Well, he broke up with me last night, and she started telling them all about her breakup.

Cosgrove went on to make clear that the traumatic incident still affects her, and said she still spends much of her time at her familys home in Downey, California.

Thats another reason why I go back and forth to my parents house so much, she said. I just dont feel super safe in that house. For two years after it happened, I wouldnt really stay there. Then I got into a relationship and because that person was there with me, I was less scared. But I dont really like being there on my own that much.

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free

Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days New subscribers only. 8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled Try for free

Her ordeal has drawn comparisons to Richard Gadds viral Netflix drama about his stalker experience. Cosgrove said that after watching Baby Reindeer, she was impressed by Richard Gadds willingness to act out his own trauma.

I feel like if that were me, having to go back through your most terrible experiences and then try to act them [out], thatd be so hard, said Cosgrove.

Yesterday, Piers Morgan spoke to Fiona Harvey, the 58-year-old lawyer on whom the stalker character of Martha in Baby Reindeer is allegedly based.

The Independents Ryan Coogan writes that the interview was another example of irresponsible sensationalism from a man who desperately wants to stay in the spotlight.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A Chinese zoo has been accused of charging customers money to see pandas that are actually just dogs painted black and white.

Taizhou Zoo, in the eastern Chinese coastal province of Jiangsu, unveiled a new exhibition featuring panda dogs at the start of May. Visitors were charged 20 yuan (2.22) to see the new attraction.

But those who travelled to the zoo claimed the animals were actually chow chows, a dog breed known for its thick double coat of fur from northern China, and said the dogs had been dyed black and white to resemble pandas.

According to Chinese state media outlet The Global Times, lawyers said inevitably the visitors will feel disappointed and deceived upon discovering the truth about the exhibit.

The small pandas are actually dyed chow chow dogs ( ViralPress )

A worker at the zoo denied accusations of false advertising, telling the outlet: This is just a new display we offer to visitors.

We are not charging extra. The wording featuring chow chow dogs is correct and exactly describes what they are, so we are not cheating our visitors.

A zoo spokesperson also defended the panda exhibit, adding: People also dye their hair. Natural dye can be used on dogs if they have long fur. There are no panda bears at the zoo and we wanted to do this as a result.

It is not the first time a Chinese zoo appears to have tried to fool visitors with this trick.

This is what a real panda cub looks like ( AP )

In 2010, in the neighbouring province of Henan, a park in the city of Zhengzhou bought four dyed chow chows and a golden retriever, dyed to resemble a tiger, from a pet market in Sichuan as an attempt to attract visitors, according to a report from Reuters.

And last year, Hangzhou Zoo, south of Jiangsu, was forced to deny claims some of its bears were people in costumes.

It came after a clip of a Malaysian sun bear - named Angela - walking on its hind legs went viral in July and sparked speculation that the animal was a human being in a badly-fitting bear suit.

A member of the zoos staff said at the time: Our zoo is government-run, so that kind of situation would not happen.

The temperature in the summer is nearly 40 degrees, if you put on a fur suit, you certainly couldnt last more than a few minutes without lying down.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A popular South Korean YouTuber has been arrested for fatally stabbing a rival on a live stream over an online feud.

The victim was live streaming on YouTube to his nearly 4,000 subscribers from outside a Busan court, where he had come for a hearing, when the suspect came up behind and stabbed him.

Police arrived at around 10am on Thursday and found the victim in cardiac arrest. He was taken to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead about an hour later.

The suspect fled the scene in a rented car but was arrested soon after in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang province.

Neither the victim nor the suspect have been named.

Police suspect the attack was premeditated, Korea JoongAng Daily reported.

The suspect, who has around 8,000 subscribers on YouTube, had reportedly purchased a sharp weapon from a supermarket the day before and rented a car.

After the attack, he posted in the community section of his channel: I apologize to my subscribers who have cared for me and supported me. But I couldnt possibly forgive someone who tried to destroy other peoples happiness. I wont make excuses. I will take responsibility for my actions.

The YouTubers, both in their 50s, had a rivalry going back almost three years having fallen out over unresolved legal conflicts, according to the news report.

They had arrived at the court to attend a trial over complaints of physical assault and reputational damage by the victim.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Indias Supreme Court has granted temporary bail to jailed Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, allowing him to campaign in the ongoing national election in a major boost to the opposition alliance.

Mr Kejriwal became the first sitting chief minister to be arrested in the history of independent India on 21 March, just a month before the elections kicked off.

The arrest of Mr Kejriwal  a vocal critic and main rival in Delhi of prime minister Narendra Modis party  was largely seen as politically motivated, with the US State Department and Germany reacting to his detention by calling for India to follow due process.

The Indian government has denied using investigative agencies to harass Mr Modis political rivals, saying they operate independently.

On Friday, the Supreme Court granted Mr Kejriwal temporary bail until 1 June, the final day of voting in the worlds largest election, which is being held across seven phases.

Mr Kejriwal will have to surrender back into custody on 2 June.

The Delhi leader was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate, Indias main financial crime-fighting agency, over accusations that his party and state ministers accepted 1bn rupees (9.5m) in bribes from liquor contractors nearly two years ago.

Mr Kejriwal and his Aam Aadmi Party have denied the charges against him and denounced his arrest as illegal.

open image in gallery Arvind Kejriwal was arrested on 21 March ( AFP via Getty Images )

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had opposed the move to grant bail to Mr Kejriwal, saying any special concession to him will amount to anathema to the rule of law and equality.

The bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said Mr Kejriwal would be allowed to campaign in the election but he cannot take part in official duties during these 22 days.

The ED on Friday argued that there was no precedent on person being released for campaigning.

Justice Khanna responded: Lets not put it into a simple, straightjacket like that. We are passing the order.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested in a late-night swoop by police on 21 March after he skipped nine summons by the Enforcement Directorate. He was the third leader of the AAP to be jailed over the partys now-scrapped alcohol sales policy.

The ED alleges that the party favoured certain liquor barons through a policy introduced by Delhis state administration in 2021 in exchange for kickbacks.

His arrest sparked protests by supporters of the opposition, who called it an act of political vendetta by Mr Modi ahead of the election in which Mr Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party are seeking a rare third term.

open image in gallery Sunita Kejriwal, wife of the jailed Aam Admi Party leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, greets her supporters ( AP )

The poll has been marred by wider accusations that Mr Modis party is using the countrys investigating agencies to hurt rivals and stifle critics.

Mr Kejriwals AAP party is part of a broad opposition alliance called INDIA, the primary challenger to the BJP, and his release is being seen as a significant boost to its prospects.

A spokesperson for the Indian National Congress, another major opposition party in the alliance, said: We welcome the intervention by the SC in granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee said Mr Kejriwals release will be very helpful in the context of the current elections and that she was very happy with the news.

Holding a press conference after the judgement was given, AAPs education minister Atishi, who goes by one name, said: Today, there is a dictatorial government in this country. There is a government that is trying to finish the opposition.

This [Kejriwals bail] is a triumph of democracy, she added.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Japan plans to add large fin whales to its commercial hunting list almost five years after it resumed whaling along its coast.

The Fumio Kishida government supports the sustainable hunting of large fin whales to promote the countrys traditional food culture, chief cabinet secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi said.

Whales are an important food resource and we believe they should be sustainably utilised just like any other marine resources, based on scientific evidence, Mr Hayashi told reporters on Thursday.

Whale meat was an affordable source of protein for the poor Japanese in the years after the Second World War, with annual consumption peaking at 233,000 tonnes in 1962.

But it was quickly replaced by other meats and, according to the Fisheries Agency, supply has fallen to just about 2,000 tonnes in recent years.

Now, efforts are underway to increase whale meat consumption to about 5,000 tonnes to keep the industry afloat.

Yuuka Fujikawa from Hokkaido has hardly seen whale meat sold at supermarkets. Ive actually never tried it myself, she said.

I want more people to appreciate the taste of whale, said Hideyuki Saito, from Saitama prefecture. I want it to be more popularised.

Japan currently allows the sale of three whale species  Brydes, minke and sei. They were added to the catch list in 2019 after the country ended 30 years of what it called "research whaling", a cover for the commercial hunting of the mammal that was banned by the International Whaling Commission in 1988.

Tokyo left the commission and resumed snaring whales for trading.

Now, the Fisheries Agency proposes to add fin whales to the catch list after stock surveys showed sufficient recovery of the species in the North Pacific.

The agency is seeking public opinion on its draft proposal until 5 June before a review meeting in mid-June.

The plan isnt meant to increase whale meat supply and whalers who catch fin whales do not necessarily have to meet a quota, an agency official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The agency has set a combined catch quota of 379 for the three other whale species for this year.

Last year, Japanese whalers caught as many as 294 minke, sei and Brydes whales, less than 80 per cent of the quota and fewer than the number once hunted under the research programme in the northwestern Pacific and the Antarctic.

Additional reporting by agencies
New York, US (PANA) - The UN General Assembly on Friday convened again in New York for an emergency special session on the Gaza crisis and overwhelmingly passed a resolution which upgrades Palestine's rights at the world body as an Observer State, without offering full membership
Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump solicited a $1bn donation from oil executives during a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort last month, a new report reveals

Oil executives met with Mr Trump to discuss environmental regulations when the former president vowed to reverse many of President Joe Bidens policies if elected, The Washington Post reports. He then asked for a $1bn donation to his 2024 presidential campaign from the attendees, according to the outlet.

Donald Trump pictured speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He reportedly invited oil executives to the property last month, seeking a $1bn donation ( Getty Images )

As he asks oil executives for money at Mar-a-Lago, Politico reported the same oil giants are also drafting executive orders for the former president to sign if he returns to the White House. The outlet cited six lawyers and lobbyists familiar with the matter.

Politico also revealed that one drafted order would reverse Mr Bidens pause on natural gas export permits. The president issued that pause in January as his administration further evaluated the industrys impacts on the climate crisis.

Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for Mr Trumps 2024 campaign, told The Independent that Mr Trump opposes Mr Bidens environmental policies.

Joe Biden is controlled by environmental extremists who are trying to implement the most radical energy agenda in history and force Americans to purchase electric vehicles they cant afford, Ms Leavitt said in a statement. President Trump is supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied that climate science is legitimate and that the climate crisis is real. He has called the climate crisis a make-believe problem and nonexistent, despite the fact that experts across the globe overwhelmingly agree the planet is warming due to human-controlled factors.

Mr Trumps call for campaign funding from these oil giants comes amid something of a financial crisis for the former president.

In March, a New York court ordered Mr Trump to pay a bond of more than $464m after losing a civil fraud trial earlier this year. His lawyers said Mr Trump faced the practical impossibility of coming up with the money before the states deadline.

Mr Trump eventually paid the $175m bond in his New York civil fraud case after an appeals court granted him a 10-day extension and slashed the $464m value by more than half. He secured the bond through the Knight Specialty Insurance Company.

However, New York Attorney General Letitia James has since called the bond into question, raising concerns that the company isnt authorised to do business in the state. Mr Trumps legal team called her concerns a waste of time during a court hearing on the matter in late April.
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

At Monday nights Met Gala, the person whose name was on everyones lips didnt even walk the red carpet. His designs did, though. The event served as a comeback for the controversial fashion designer John Galliano, a man effectively exiled from the industry in 2011 after making a number of racist and antisemitic remarks. But based on the sheer number of stars wearing his designs, you wouldnt have known.

From Kim Kardashians controversial corseted silver gown, designed by Galliano for Maison Margiela, to his viral creations for Gala co-chairs Bad Bunny and Zendaya (who wore two Galliano looks for the occasion), the 63-year-old designers presence was noted. Gwendoline Christie and Adrien Brody also wore his designs, as did Ariana Grande, who performed for the guests in one of his couture catwalk looks.

Galliano is a name most people have heard of, regardless of whether they work in fashion. To some, he is the Central Saint Martins wunderkind whose graduate collection, Les Incroyables, propelled him to the top of the industry, prompting him to start his own namesake label. To others, he is the subversive sartorial genius who revived Givenchy and Dior, with talent rivalled only by that of his fellow CSM graduate, the late Alexander McQueen. A select few may know him simply as the man behind Carrie Bradshaws iconic newspaper dress.

But many more will know him for his dramatic fall from grace. In 2011, Galliano had a series of racist outbursts in Paris. On one occasion, he was filmed telling a group of nearby diners at a restaurant: I love Hitler. People like you would be dead. Your mothers, your forefathers, would all be f***ing gassed. On another evening, he called a nearby diner an Asian b******.

After the clip surfaced, Galliano was fired from Dior, where hed been working as creative director, and was found guilty of racism and antisemitism by a Paris court. He was rightly shunned. A comeback has been made in incremental steps. Following two years in exile, during which time he sobered up and sought counselling with Rabbi Barry Marcus, formerly the senior minister of Londons Central Synagogue, Galliano was invited to be a designer-in-residence at Oscar de la Renta. Then, in 2014, he joined Maison Margiela, where he oversaw the creative direction of the house to fairly low-level fanfare. At least until recently.

January marked the first time in over a decade that one of Gallianos shows had garnered the kind of frenzied fervour elicited by his work at Dior and Givenchy. His spring 2024 couture Margiela show was, quite simply, a marvel. Models wore prosthetics and corsetry, which contorted their bodies as they performed  rather than merely walked  down the runway in flesh-like garments that defied sense and sensibility. Waists were cinched to impossible proportions. Headpieces came with full facemasks and goggles. Gowns were fitted with pubic hair. It was dystopian, destructive, and deliciously decadent. Vogue described the collection as a more staggering, shockingly 100 per cent Galliano experience than fashion has enjoyed for years, while AnOther magazine said it would forever change fashion.

His last Margiela show was a huge success because it was pure Galliano and zero Margiela, says Kerry Taylor, author of Galliano: Spectacular Fashion and founder of Kerry Taylor Auctions. It was the most beautiful show in Paris.

If John Galliano were welcomed back to the fashion industry, it could signify a shift in attitudes towards forgiveness and second chances Kamilla Jones, lecturer in fashion, business and management at the University of East London

Since then, Gallianos clothes have been worn by an increasing number of A-list celebrities  Miley Cyrus wore Margiela to the Grammys; Kendall Jenner also chose the brand for the Vanity Fair Oscar party.

If John Galliano were welcomed back to the fashion industry, it could signify a shift in attitudes towards forgiveness and second chances, says Kamilla Jones, lecturer in fashion, business and management at the University of East London. I dont think Galliano departed permanently, but rather took a break. His potential return might suggest that some in the industry have faith in his rehabilitation and artistic abilities, notwithstanding his previous scandals.

In the case of celebrity post-cancellation comebacks, it can be difficult to discern between paying lip service and offering up genuine contrition. After the 2011 outbursts, Galliano issued an apology, stating I know that I must face up to my own failures and that antisemitism and racism have no part in our society. Since then, he has addressed his behaviour in several interviews, telling Vanity Fair in 2013: Its the worst thing I have said in my life, but I didnt mean it, adding that he was grateful that the incident had forced him to examine himself. In 2015, he expressed further contrition in a talk with Rabbi Marcus at a synagogue in London, telling the audience: I am an alcoholic. I am an addict. This is in no way an excuse. We alcoholics and we addicts are not responsible for our disease. However, I do take complete responsibility for my recovery and making amends.

Its also this exact sentiment that Kevin Macdonald chooses as an opening to his recent documentary, High & Low  John Galliano, which charts the designers rise and fall and rehabilitation. It was a disgusting thing, [a] foul thing that I did, he says in the film. It was just horrific. Rabbi Marcus also features in the documentary, explaining how he educated Galliano on the Jewish faith and history through a series of regular meetings.

All signs point to Gallianos apology being more than a mere formality, but scepticism undoubtedly remains, particularly in an industry that seems more willing than most to sideline bad behaviour. Alexander Wang, for example, was accused of sexual assault in 2021. After denying wrongdoing, Wang issued a statement promising that he will do better, before returning to the runway the following year. Elsewhere, there are the design houses themselves: Dolce & Gabbana, Gucci and Balenciaga are among the major labels to have been embroiled in accusations of racism. Either fashion is more forgiving  you can hide behind a beautiful garment more easily than you can, say, on a screen  or people simply get away with more. Of course, in the case of Galliano, timing adds another troublesome layer to his return, with antisemitic incidents in the UK reaching an all-time high last year following Hamass attack on Israel and the bombing of Gaza.

open image in gallery John Galliano in the documentary High & Low  John Galliano ( Mubi )

Gallianos return, then, is complex. Regardless, it is happening, partly because he has the support of industry behemoth Vogues editor Anna Wintour. She is known to oversee which Met Gala guests wear which designers, and was said to have originally wanted the museums exhibition to be themed around a Galliano retrospective instead of the Costume Institutes archives. This years theme, ultimately, was Sleeping Beauties: Awakening Fashion. Wintour was also one of many leading industry figureheads to sing the designers praises in Macdonalds film.

I wasnt surprised that he dressed so many stars, Macdonald tells me. A lot of people get very carried away with the idea that theres some conspiracy in the upper reaches of fashion, with Anna Wintour controlling everything. Anna clearly wants to help John because she sees him as a brand and thinks hes incredibly talented. I dont think theres any mystery about that. Theres no financial gain for her. If anything, involving her in the documentary was a risk, because LVMH [the luxury goods company behind Louis Vuitton, among others] is one of her most important advertisers.

The fact that Macdonald managed to recruit such a bevy of high-profile talking heads for his film  Kate Moss, Naomi Campbell and Charlize Theron all feature  is a testament to Gallianos talent, and perhaps an indication of an industry eager for him to return. There is, after all, a major creative vacuum in fashion right now, one that Galliano once filled. In January, Matthew Williams stepped down from Givenchy, which, like Dior, is owned by LVMH; we have yet to find out who will be designing the fashion houses spring 2025 collection, which will be shown in Paris in September. As The Times reported, Galliano is not currently down for his usual slot for Margiela at Paris Couture Week in June. I personally would be delighted if he returned to Givenchy, says Taylor. Galliano would have the wonderful haute couture atelier to work with again, with the ability to turn his dreams into realities.

open image in gallery John Galliano walks the runway at the end of the Dior show as part of the Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2011 event at Musee Rodin on 5 July 2010 ( Getty )

It would also mark an industry first, given that, within the haute couture industry, houses seldom rehire their creative directors. This would spell an interesting departure from the norm, and there is no doubt that Gallianos advocates and detractors will be watching closely to see what newness he could bring to the label after his first tenure there, says Caroline Alexander, senior lecturer in fashion at the Kingston School of Art.

Macdonald, however, remains sceptical of such a move, given that Gallianos addictions were fed by the intensity of his work at Dior. I think hes trying to keep his life more lowkey, he says. He knows that his obsessive tendencies could lead him back to an unhealthy place. He likes being at Margiela because its on a smaller scale, and he gets artistic freedom. Thats not to say that if a deal were on the table, he wouldnt take it. One thing I do know is that John would very much like to have his own label back, to have his name back. Currently, the Galliano label belongs to LVMH. Until Macdonalds documentary, in which it participated, the brand has stayed fairly silent on all things to do with the designer.

I was surprised that they were as cooperative as they were, says Macdonald. But I think its very obvious they realise that the John era at Dior was the great era, and maybe they were so willing to talk to me and air their dirty laundry because they feel like it might be the best way to make him come back.

One thing I do know is that John would very much like to have his own label back Kevin Macdonald, director of High & Low  John Galliano'

Perhaps part of the excitement around Galliano speaks to a wider issue within the fashion industry. Its no secret that todays young British designers face an inordinate number of financial and logistical hurdles, particularly post-Brexit. As an established name, albeit a tainted one, Galliano may have more creative freedom than most. I cant think of another artist in any field who has had such a remarkable comeback after such a catastrophe, adds Macdonald. And he hasnt just come back with a second-rate career; hes now at the top of the tree of fashion again. I think thats partly to do with the fact that fashion is a pretty boring place, and John is anything but boring. People are just responding to what John has always done, and is doing better than he has for a long time.

It will also inevitably stir up nostalgia for a bygone era in British fashion, when Galliano and McQueen were in the upper echelons of the industry, staging historic shows and creating collections that have only grown in stature as the years have gone by.

Their heyday was the most exciting time in fashion, when it meant the most to people and had a reach as global as it had ever been, says Macdonald. He adds, though, that he doesnt think a major conspiracy is at work  one that is designed to return Galliano to glory. Its so not who [he] is, he says. He is someone who shoots from the hip. He wants to carry on doing what he does best.

High & Low  John Galliano is streaming on Mubi
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Gemma Collins has revealed her mother is currently in intensive care after she was rushed to hospital when she stopped breathing last week.

The TV personality was told to prepare for the worst when her mother, Joan Collins, fell ill. Adding that the experience had been extremely tough.

The 43-year-old posted the update on her Instagram stories as she told her 2.2 million followers, I just want to be real with you.

My mums really ill at the minute, shes in intensive care. Its been a hell of a time, she continued.

Collins, who has consistently documented how close the pair are as mother and daughter, went on to share pictures of the two together as she captioned the posts with details of the terrifying ordeal.

So last week I had the shock of my life when my mum stopped breathing, I called an ambulance and was told to prepare for the worst, and would I like to resuscitate her, she wrote.

Its been extremely tough, but she is stable now and hopefully she will be much better soon. No day is promised so make every day count.

She concluded her update as she added, She is on the mend, thank God.

The Only Way is Essex star had previously opened up about her mothers breast cancer diagnosis last year when she appeared naked along with other celebrities in ITVs The Full Monty to raise money for charity to support cancer awareness.

open image in gallery Gemma Collins fights back tears as she opens up on mothers breast cancer diagnosis. ( The Full Monty/ITV )

Collins fought back tears as she admitted her mother had found it too much to be a part of the show.

The thought of my mum, my best friend, having cancer blew my world apart. I am so lucky to sit here today and my mums breast cancer is in remission. I am doing this for my mum to show her what an absolute queen she was.

open image in gallery The reality star shared the update with her Instagram followers ( Instagram/@gemmacollins )

The GC also took the opportunity to criticise the media for speculative coverage of the state of her relationship with her long-term partner and fiance Rami Hawash.

Its business, and Im all for a bit of business. But it really affects my partner. Its not nice for him, he has to see the mags, I know its all BS and Im obviously Im really hardened to it because its my job and Ive kind of got used to it.

Hawash orchestrated a lavish proposal for the star in February. The businessman organised a seaplane to fly in hundreds of roses from Male, the capital of the Maldives where the two were on holiday and her favourite movie, The House of Gucci, was played on the beach.
Sign up to our free Living Well email for advice on living a happier, healthier and longer life Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter Live your life healthier and happier with our free weekly Living Well newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Gemma Collins has revealed that doctors advised her to terminate a pregnancy after it was discovered her unborn child was intersex.

The former The Only Way is Essex star is currently telling her life story on the podcast series Everything I Know About Me.

In the second episode of the show, released on Thursday (9 May), Collins, 43, spoke about being encouraged to end a pregnancy in her early 20s, amid a difficult relationship with her unnamed then-boyfriend.

I got pregnant, which was a real shock  it wasnt planned, she said. I was like, Oh, Im pregnant, and he was like, he had this really funny look about him. I just remember him not being there, he wasnt interested.

After discovering that her boyfriend had been cheating on her, Collins recalled feeling really heartbroken, because I was pregnant, and he was having an affair. Thats a lot to deal with at [that] age.

However, she faced more difficulties when doctors raised concerns after a pregnancy scan.

When I went to the doctors they said to me, Somethings not right, Collins said.

open image in gallery Gemma Collins ( Getty Images for Thirty8 London )

It could only happen to me. Not only has the stockbroker boyfriend met someone else, and is already off... They said to me, Your baby, could be, from looking at it, a hermaphrodite.

The term hermaphrodite is considered outdated now, with intersex being the accepted term for a human with both male and female biological traits, including chromosomes, internal organs and genitals.

In 2021, the University of Manchester reported that approximately 1.7 per cent of the global population is intersex, with up to 1.1 million people in the UK alone being intersex. This means that being intersex is as common as being a twin.

The Towie star continued: You could imagine, I didnt know what the word was, I had to look it up. Id never been taught about hermaphrodites  didnt know what they were! Didnt know they existed!

So that was a real shock. I can remember coming out, and they advised me: You need to have a termination because this babys not gonna be right.

Collins has repeatedly discussed her desire for a family, and in 2020 revealed that shed miscarried years prior, after not knowing shed been pregnant.

She is currently engaged to her long-term partner Rami Hawash, and has expressed hopes of having a child together in the future.

If you have been affected by the issues raised in this story, the NHS signposts to support through this page. Or you can speak to someone in confidence at the British Pregnancy Advisory Service, the UKs largest abortion provider, by calling 03457 30 40 30 or emailing info@bpas.org
Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more Stay ahead of the curve with our weekly guide to the latest trends, fashion, relationships and more SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

The Duchess of Sussex has been more than happy to show off her husband, the Duke of Sussex.

On Friday 10 May, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry attended the first stop of their Nigeria visit, where the two spoke at the mental health summit with the local nonprofit the GEANCO Foundation, supported by the couples Archwell Foundation at the Lightway Academy in Abuja.

Meghan and Harry will be in the country for three days to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Invictus Games, which Harry founded back in 2014.

During the couples visit, they were also able to watch the children at the school showcase their talents, with the students putting on a dance and showing Meghan and Harry the robots theyve built in a STEM class.

The duke and duchess also gave speeches, with Harry going first and touching on the topic of mental health. If I say mental health do you know what it means? he began, while asking the students and staff members to raise their hands.

In some cases around the world, in more than you would believe, there is a stigma when it comes to mental health. Too many people dont want to talk about it because its invisible. Its something in our mind that we cant see. Its not like a broken leg, its not like a broken wrist.

He continued: Its something that we are still relatively unsure of. But guess what? Every single person in this room, the youngest, the oldest, every single person has mental health. So therefore, you have to look after yourself to be able to look after other people. And other people have to be able to look after themselves, to look after you. Thats the way it works. And there is no shame to be able to acknowledge that today is a bad day, okay?

Following his speech, Meghan couldnt help but show off how much she loves her husband. She told the crowd: You see why Im married to him? before starting her own speech. Its so inspiring because he speaks the truth.

Her speech also touched on mental health, as she noted that there is no shame in any aspects of their lives, no matter what theyve specifically gone through.

Every single one of you has a story. We all have our story. And theres no shame in any single one of your stories. Even on the hardest days or darkest days, everything is a pillar of your strength by each of you being there, she said. Your teachers see that in you. And we see that in you.

Meghan also took the opportunity to mention the couples young daughter, three-year-old Princess Lilibet.

Interestingly, so does our daughter, Lili; shes much tinier than you guys, about to turn three, her speech continued.

A few weeks ago, she looked at me and saw her reflection in my eyes. She said: Mama, I see me in you. Now, she was talking literally, but I held onto those words in a different way. I thought, yes, I do see me in you, and you see me in you. But as I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Victorian homes reign as the most sought-after period property style, according to a website.

Data from Rightmoves keyword tool indicates that Victorian era houses, with their ornate designs and grand features, are the most commonly searched for period properties among home buyers.

Georgian properties are the second most searched-for style, with Edwardian homes placed third.

Searches for Tudor properties were the fourth most popular, with the keyword Regency ranked in fifth place.

Post-pandemic, we did see a slight spike in interest for Georgian properties Matt Thompson, Chestertons

Rightmoves property expert Tim Bannister said: Home hunters continue to be captivated by the character and charm of properties that we see in period dramas.

Victorian homes remain particularly popular, characterised by their historic charm, solid construction, and spacious interiors. Youll often find Victorian houses in some of the most desirable locations which include convenient access to schools and transport links.

While period properties often boast charm and character, some home buyers may find they need to factor in renovation costs.

Matt Thompson, head of sales at London-based estate agent Chestertons, said: Londons property market boasts a great number of Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian houses with each architectural style having its own fanbase.

It is worth noting that, post-pandemic, we did see a slight spike in interest for Georgian properties as buyers were driven to find a house style that has a reputation for being more spacious and could accommodate a home office more easily.

Rightmove analysed searches from January to April 2024 for the research.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A man who crashed a stolen police vehicle, survived gunfire from 11 police officers and then drove off and crashed another police cruiser  all while wearing handcuffs in a hospital gown  is in no mental capacity to appear before a judge right now, his lawyer said Friday.

The chaotic chain of events involving at least five law enforcement agencies began when Gary Porter, already wanted on a felony theft warrant, was discovered passed out in a chicken coop on Monday, arrested and taken to a hospital for evaluation, police said.

Paris Police Chief Mike Dailey then took him to jail, and had stepped out of the pickup truck to escort him inside when Porter somehow slipped his handcuffs from behind his back, moved into the driver's seat and drove off. The chief jumped onto the truck's running board to try to stop him, but was thrown to the ground, authorities said.

A chase ensued, joined by officers from Norway, Oxford and Paris, sheriffs deputies and state police in a mostly rural part of Maine about 48 miles from Portland, police said. They eventually deployed spike mats that blew the tires and caused Porter to crash into a ditch.

A bystanders video captured at least part of the gunfire at that point: With his hands still in cuffs, Porter circles around the truck and jumps into another police vehicle in full view of officers. Shots ring out as he climbs into the second cruiser with his back to police and takes off again. The video shows him swerving and driving away.

Authorities said he crashed again a short distance from there. By the end, 11 officers ultimately fired their weapons, and Porter was struck once by an officer's bullet. Police didn't say that any officers were hit.

Maine State Police spokesperson Shannon Moss said initially, without providing more detail, that officers confronted Porter and gunfire was exchanged. That was in a statement on behalf of all of the law enforcement departments involved.

But the departments involved didn't release key details of the confrontation, including whether Porter obtained a weapon or fired it. They also didn't information about the extent of injuries. The Office of the Maine Attorney General said Friday that Porter was shot, treated and released from a hospital.

Porters initial court appearance on two counts of theft, assault on a police officer, escaping custody, eluding police and violation of bail was set for Wednesday, by video conference from the Cumberland County Jail, but his defense said the medication he was given made him mumble and unable to keep his eyes open. He had another opportunity on Friday, but his attorney Justin Leary, said he still wasn't fit to go before a judge.

I dont think hes mentally equipped right now to go forward, Leary said. A mental examination was requested and Porter was scheduled to return to court on May 15.

The bystander who recorded the video of the roadside confrontation in Paris, Linda Marie Mercer, said she had arrived on the scene to see a truck in the ditch and numerous police vehicles alongside it. She said she heard gunfire and saw officers shooting into the truck. She thought the person in the truck might have been killed  the officers appeared to relax.

But the video shows what happened next: Porter, still cuffed and in a white hospital gown, ignored shouts of put your hands up! and climbed into an SUV that had been left with its driver's door wide open. More bullets flew as he drove away.

Eleven officers are on administrative leave following the shooting, authorities said. It was the largest number of police officers to discharge their guns in a single incident in recent memory in the state, said Brian MacMaster, a long-time investigator for the attorney generals office, whos now retired after a career that began in 1969.

Its standard practice for officers to be placed on administrative leave after using deadly force in Maine. Officers are generally off duty for about a month before being evaluated and allowed to return, MacMaster said.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A police dog helped solve the murder of a drug dealer who was stabbed multiple times by a gang during a raid on his home for drugs and money.

Monty found 8,000 in cash hidden in the headboard of a bed belonging to 30-year-old Olsi Kuka, who died in the incident at his north London home in May 2022.

The discovery of the money, described as vital evidence, was used to convict five men, who had failed to find the cash hidden in the headboard of a bed during the raid.

Chief Inspector Neil Rawlinson said.The violence used in this attack was calculated, vicious and unrelenting. The five men had planned to rob Olsi and were prepared to use any force necessary in order to get what they wanted.

We are thankful for the work of our police dog Monty, who was able to find vital evidence that helped secure a successful conviction

Olsi Kuka was found in his bed with multiple stab wounds (Metropolitan Police/PA) ( PA Media )

During a trial at the Old Bailey, a jury heard the group all travelled to Mr Kukas home address shortly before 3am on 11 May 2022.

Wearing Covid masks, they were split into two Mercedes cars that parked outside before the group forced entry into the flat and attacked Olsi, stabbing him numerous times.

They then ransacked his flat, searching for drugs and money they believed Olsi had in his property - but missed the crucial 8,000 in cash.

The victims cousin, Alush Kuka, who was living in the flat in Whetstone, north London, was also injured during the frenzied attack.

A post mortem examination concluded that Mr Kukas stab wounds had been caused by at least two different knives. There were also four metal ball-bearings found in his scalp consistent with being shot by an air weapon.

Reuben Bernard, 19, of Wootton, Northampton, was convicted of murder last year. Daige Ramsey, 25, of Winchester Road, east London and Santana Thompson, 21, of Aldriche Way, Waltham Forest were convicted of manslaughter last week at the Old Bailey.

Ozan Seran, 28, of no fixed address, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Bulent Bakir, 27, of Old Road, Enfield, was convicted of conspiracy to rob.

All five will be sentenced at a later date.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A British man accused of masterminding an arson plot on a Ukraine-linked business in London after allegedly being recruited as a Russian spy has appeared in court.

Dylan Earl has been charged under the National Security Act 2023 - the first case to involve alleged offences under the new spy legislation.

Four other men, Paul English, Nil Mensah, Jake Reeves and Dmitrijus Paulauska have also been charged in connection with the case.

Earl is accused of undertaking fraudulent activity, research and reconnaissance of targets, and attempting to recruit individuals to materially assist a foreign intelligence service carrying out UK-related activities, prosecutors say.

Court documents show he is alleged to be connected to the terrorist group the Wagner Group.

He appeared at Londons Old Bailey on Friday via video link from HMP Belmarsh wearing a grey prison-issue tracksuit, where he spoke only to confirm his name and date of birth.

The 20-year-old, from Leicestershire, is accused of organising and paying for an arson attack on two units on an industrial estate Leyton, east London on 20 March.

He was joined in court by Paulauska, 22, who appeared in person wearing a navy shirt. He spoke only to confirm his name and confirm he understood his bail conditions - which include a curfew and surrendering his passports.

The three other defendants, English, Mensah and Reeves, did not attend the brief hearing. The case was adjourned until 4 October for a pre-trial hearing.

Dmitrijus Paulauska (left) and Jake Reeves at a previous hearing at Westminster Magistrates' Court last month ( PA )

Earl is alleged to have targeted businesses which were linked to Ukraine in order to benefit the Russian state, according to the Crown Prosecution Service.

The blaze required 60 firefighters to bring it under control and the alleged target of the fire is labelled as Mr X in the charges.

In a statement last month, the CPS said: Included in the alleged activity was involvement in the planning of an arson attack on a Ukrainian-linked commercial property in March 2024.

Two further men, Paul English, 60, and Nii Mensah, 21, have also been charged with aggravated arson in connection with this case.

Another man, Jake Reeves, 22, has been charged with agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service as well as aggravated arson.

A fifth man, Dmitrijus Paulauska, 22, has been charged with having information about terrorist acts.

Reeves and Paulaska previously appeared at Westminster Magistrates Court last month where they were not required to enter pleas. Reeves was remanded in custody and Paulaska was granted conditional.

The National Security Act, which became law in December last year, is legislation to toughen laws on hostile acts against the UK, including espionage, interference in our political system, sabotage, and assassination.

Earl is charged with aggravated arson and assisting a foreign intelligence service contrary to section three of the act. While Reeves is accused of aggravated arson agreeing to accept a material benefit from a foreign intelligence service, also contrary to the new act.

English and Mensah are both charged with aggravated arson reckless as to whether life will be endangered, contrary to section one of the Criminal Damage Act 1971.

Paulauska is accused of having information about terrorist acts, contrary to section 38B of the Terrorism Act 2000.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The mastermind behind a bungled armed robbery that resulted in a police officer being gunned down in the street was jailed for life on Friday.

Pc Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead on her daughters fourth birthday after she and a colleague interrupted a raid at Universal Express travel agents in Bradford, West Yorkshire, in November 2005.

She and Pc Teresa Milburn, who were both unarmed, were shot at point-blank range after four men had just carried out the robbery.

At the time of her death, she had only been an officer for nine months and didnt have a chance to get away from the gunman.

Piran Ditta Khan, 75, who has been found guilty at Leeds Crown Court of the murder of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky ( West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )

Almost two decades on, the gangs ringleader, Piran Ditta Khan, became the last of the seven men involved in the robbery to be convicted in April this year.

He was arrested in Pakistan after spending 15 years on the run, and was extradited back to the UK to stand trial. The 75-year-old was found guilty of two counts of possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life and two counts of possession of a prohibited weapon. He pleaded guilty to robbery.

On Friday, he was sentenced at Leeds Crown Court to life with a minimum term of 40 years for the murder of Beshenivsky.

The court heard that although Khan did not leave the safety of a lookout car throughout the raid, he played a pivotal role in planning it and knew loaded weapons would be used.

Prosecutors said this made him guilty of Beshenivskys murder as surely as if he had pulled the trigger himself.

CCTV of Pc Sharon Beshenivsky moments before she was shot ( West Yorkshire Police/PA Wire )

During the trial, jurors heard Khan was the only one of the group who was familiar with Universal Express and had used them in the past to send money to family.

Khan told jurors he did not know that a robbery was going to be carried out, or that weapons were going to be taken.

He claimed he was owed 12,000 by Universal Expresss owner and that debt collector Hassan Razzaq, who was later convicted of manslaughter over Beshenivskys death, had offered to help get his money back. Prosecutors said there was no evidence of this.

CCTV cameras had captured the chilling moment the two police officers were gunned down in the street, after her killer began firing indiscriminately as he ran away.

The court heard Beshenivskys injury was immediately fatal. Pc Milburn, who activated her personal radio and called for help as she was coughing up blood, survived her injuries after hospital treatment.

Sharon Beshenivsky was shot dead during a raid on a travel agents ( PA Media )

Passing sentence, judge Mr Justice Hilliard said: You intended that the weapons should be used to kill if necessary to do so and added that he was part of a planned enterprise and shared murderous intent.

Beshenivksys family said her murderers conviction marked the end of a tortuous 19-year journey of seeking truth and justice, but no punishment could compensate for her death.

In a statement, they said: November 2005 was the start of an almost 19-year journey. A journey seeking the truth and justice for Sharon, who was not just a police officer, but a loving mum, wife, daughter, sister, and a friend to many.

That was the day the lives of our family and those close to Sharon changed forever. As well as Sharons friend and colleague Teresa, and her family.

No prison sentence could ever compensate us for Sharons life and our loss, but we will move forward knowing that justice has been served.
TNN News, May 4, 2024

Mateen Hafeez

Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) officials intercepted consul general of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, Zakia Wardak, at the Mumbai airport recently and recovered 25 kg of gold worth Rs 18.6 crore that she was allegedly trying to smuggle into India from Dubai.

The incident occurred on April 25 and a case of gold smuggling under the Customs Act, 1962, has been registered.

The gold has been seized under a panchnama.Wardak was not arrested as she enjoys diplomatic immunity, sources said. Under the law, if the amount of smuggled gold is valued above Rs 1 crore, the suspect is arrested and faces criminal prosecution. Sources said Wardak had a diplomatic passport, issued by the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

Responding to a query sent by TOI, Wardak said: I was surprised and concerned by the accusations and need to look into this matter further. I believe youre aware of the recent personal challenges Ive faced while working to support the consulate and embassy. Currently, I am away from Mumbai seeking medical assistance.'This is perhaps the first case in the city in recent times where a senior diplomat of a foreign country has been intercepted at an airport in a smuggling case, officials said.

Sources said DRI had got specific information about Wardak and deployed around a dozen personnel at the airport.Wardak (58), accompanied by her son, flew to Mumbai from Dubai on an Emirates flight around 5.45 pm. The duo used the green channel, indicating they were carrying no goods that needed to be declared to customs. They were walking towards the airport exit when the DRI officials stopped them.

The two passengers were carrying five trolley bags, one hand bag, one sling bag and a neck pillow.But their baggage did not carry any tags or marks, indicating their diplomatic status. Sources said.

But their baggage did not carry any tags or marks, indicating their diplomatic status. Sources said that the DRI officials asked the passengers whether they were carrying any dutiable goods or gold on their person and they replied in the negative. Their bags were examined and cleared. It was only after Wardak was taken to a separate room for a physical pat-down check by a woman officer that the gold was discovered. The gold bars were concealed in her customised jacket, leggings, knee caps and waist belt.

The DRI officials recovered 25 yellow coloured metal bars, each weighing a kilogram, hidden in the customised clothing worn by Wardak. No contraband was found on her son.

Sources said a government approved valuer was called to verify the purity of the bars. The government valuer issued a certificate saying they were 24 carat gold bars weighing one kg each. They were collectively worth Rs 18.6 crore. When officials asked Wardak if she was carrying any documents to show legitimate possession of this foreign origin gold, she could not produce anything.

The gold bars and jackets were sealed and a panchnama carried out before Wardak was allowed to leave.Wardak was appointed consul general of Afghanistan in Mumbai under the erstwhile President Ashraf Ghanis govt. The Ghani govt was overthrown in August 2021 by the Taliban. Though the Taliban regime is not officially recognized by India, the erstwhile Afghan diplomatic corps continue to operate their missions in Mumbai and Hyderabad providing consular, educational and commercial assistance to Afghan nationals .

The Afghan embassy in Delhi was shut down, but India has reopened its embassy in Kabul and dispatched humanitarian aid to the war-torn country. Officially, the Indian govt continues to work with diplomats appointed by the previous Afghan govt.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two climate protesters have broken the glass around the Magna Carta as they called for the UK government to commit to emergency plans.

The Just Stop Oil activists were pictured hammering the protective glass around the 13th century document in the British Library on Friday morning.

Reverend Dr Sue Parfitt, 82, an active Anglican priest, author, and retired psychotherapist from Bristol, and Judy Bruce, 85, a retired biology teacher from Swansea then glued themselves to the cabinet.

The pair held signs which read The government is breaking the law, and could be heard saying: Is the government above the law?

The Great Charter is an essential foundation for the contemporary powers of Parliament.

The Just Stop Oil activists were pictured hammering the protective glass around the 13th century document ( Just Stop Oil )

Ms Parfitt said: The Magna Carta is rightly revered, being of great importance to our history, to our freedoms and to our laws. But there will be no freedom, no lawfulness, no rights, if we allow climate breakdown to become the catastrophe that is now threatened.

We must get things in proportion. The abundance of life on earth, the climate stability that allows civilisation to continue is what must be revered and protected above all else, even above our most precious artefacts.

A Metropolitan Police spokesperson said: At 10.52 police were called to the British Library to reports of Just Stop Oil activists trying to damage the Magna Carta.

Officers arrested two people on suspicion of criminal damage, both of which are currently in custody. The damage caused was to the protective case and not the exhibit itself.

The group say are demanding the UK government commit to an emergency plan to end the extraction and burning of oil, gas and coal by 2030.

Just Stop Oil said the action on Friday coincided with the governments climate policy being been ruled unlawful for the second time by the UK high court this week.

( Just Stop Oil )

The ruling was made as there is not enough evidence that there are sufficient policies in place to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Energy secretary Claire Coutinho will now have to draw up a revised plan within 12 months to ensure that the UK achieves its legally binding carbon budgets and its pledge to cut emissions by more than two-thirds by 2030.

The climate campaigners also added that they took action after the North Sea Transition Authority announced the offer of 31 new oil and gas licences under the 33rd oil and gas licensing round.

A Just Stop Oil Spokesperson said: Clause 39 of the Magna Carta is one of four clauses still enshrined in UK common law, a so-called golden passage, that states: No free man is to be arrested, or imprisoned, or in any other way ruined, except by the lawful judgement of his peers or by the law of the land.

Contrast that with civil law as it stands in 2024, where corporations are buying private laws in the form of injunctions that circumvent the peoples rights to a trial by jury for speaking out against the crimes of oil companies.

Earlier this week, a poll of hundreds of the worlds top climate scientists revealed 77 per cent believed global tempertures will reach 2.5C above pre-industrial levels.

Additionally, 43 per cent believe it will be more than 3C. 

It is the biggest threat humanity has faced, with the potential to wreck our social fabric and way of life. It has the potential to kill millions, if not billions, through starvation, war over resources and displacement, said James Renwick, at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand.

Protester Ms Bruce said: This week 400 respected scientists- contributors to IPCC reports, are saying we are woefully unprepared for whats coming: 2.5 or more degrees of heating above pre industrial levels.

Instead of acting, our dysfunctional government is like the three monkeys: see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing- pretend weve got 25 years.. We havent! We must get off our addiction to oil and gas by 2030  starting now.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Army has issued an update on the Household Cavalry horses who were injured after they bolted from Buckingham Palace and rampaged through London last week.

Five people were injured after seven service horses  one of which was covered in blood  ran loose through the Strand, smashing into vehicles and bringing parts of the capital to a standstill.

Two of the horses in particular were understood to have been seriously injured sparking an outpouring of concern across the UK.

However, an Army spokesperson has now suggested that both Vida and Quaker are making good progress  but warned that the recovery process can be unpredictable.

Healing can be a slow and unpredictable process, but the soldiers and horses injured in the incident in Westminster on 24th April are making remarkable progress.

They are receiving the best care possible and have our very best wishes  something were heartened to see is shared by millions of people around the country, they said.

Household Cavalry horses Vida (grey) and Trojan (black) bolt through the streets of London near Aldwych (Jordan Pettitt/PA) ( PA Wire )

The good news comes after widespread public concern for the animals, one of which was visibly bleeding as it galloped through the streets of the capital.

Nic De Brauwere, Head of Behaviour at Redwings Horse Sanctuary, told The Independent that the situation for the bleeding horse may not have been as serious as it looked.

I think its important to recognise that the amount of blood that you see is probably a very thin layer of blood smeared, he said.

It was probably a couple of small blood vessels that were injured and they can bleed quite profusely when the adrenaline is up.

The animals were spooked by noise from a building site (Jordan Pettitt/PA) ( Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire )

The incident began on the morning of 24 April, when the horses were spooked by the noise from a nearby building site. This prompted them to throw off their riders and run.

What followed was a dramatic rampage through London that left several people injured and saw the animals run into a taxi and a tour bus.

Roland, a worker for the tour bus company, Toot Bus, said: I saw horses come from the bus station in front of Victoria run around in a frenzy.

People were running around to avoid them  it was total mayhem.

All of the people involved in the incident are expected to make a full recovery.

Household Cavalry taking part in the annual inspection ( Jonathan Brady/PA Wire )

The horses belong to the Household Cavalry and following their capture they were returned for medical attention.

There were five horses. They have all been recovered. Three of them are fine, two of them are unfortunately in a relatively serious condition and obviously we will be monitoring that condition, the defence minister James Cartlidge told Sky News on 26 April.

The animals have been closely monitored since then and the latest update suggests that there will be a happy ending for all involved.

Our horses receive the highest standards of care, and those that did not undergo surgery are expected to return to duty in due course, the British army said in another statement on Twitter (X).

We want to thank everyone who has shown such kindness and concern towards our soldiers and horses.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The earliest possible date for flights to Rwanda to begin is 24 June, government lawyers have told the High Court.

It comes as Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he will scrap the Rwanda deportation plan straight away if he wins power, and vowed an end to the unquenchable Tory desire for shortcuts.

The Labour leader attacked Rishi Sunaks approach to the small boats crisis, calling it gimmicks, not serious government, as he set out his partys own plans to crack down on people-smugglers.

The schedule for deportation flights has been revealed in documents relating to the civil service unions legal challenge against the scheme. Government lawyers had previously told the court that the earliest date on which an asylum seeker would be deported to Rwanda would be between 1 and 15 July. They have now updated this, saying that flights will start in the week commencing 24 June.

They told the judge: We are instructed that this is the earliest possible date for the first removals, and that the decision on the precise date will be based on operational considerations and progress over the coming weeks.

The civil service union, the FDA, has launched a legal challenge against the governments plan to detain asylum seekers and fly them to Rwanda. The union is worried about what could happen if civil servants were told by ministers to break international law when carrying out the deportations.

Prime minister Rishi Sunak has made stopping the boats a key pledge ( PA Wire )

Their case against the government is scheduled to be heard in the High Court in the first week of June, but government lawyers have tried to move the hearing forward in an apparent bid to ensure that the flights get off the ground.

Mr Justice Chamberlain, the judge in the case, refused to change the timetable to suit the government. He said that the government lawyers update on the planned dates for the flights was not a clarification but was in fact a change of position.

Mr Sunak has previously pledged to get flights to Rwanda in the air by July, No ifs, no buts.

Sir Keir said on Friday that he expected the government to deport asylum seekers to Rwanda this summer, saying: They will get flights off the ground  I dont doubt that.

He added that Mr Sunak is likely to get a couple of hundred migrants to Rwanda before the election for party management.

But, asked by The Independent what would happen to those deported to Rwanda in the coming months once Labour scrapped the plan, he said Labour is not interested in repatriating people.

The Home Office has also agreed to amend parts of the published Safety of Rwanda policy after charity Asylum Aid pointed out inconsistencies between the policy and the act itself.

The government confirmed that caseworkers will need to consider whether an individual asylum seeker would be personally safe in Rwanda, if they try to challenge their removal.

The Home Office, however, disagreed with Asylum Aids second challenge to the policy, which argued that an individual could rely on the grounds that Rwanda might send them to another country. This clash sets up another legal challenge against Mr Sunaks deportation plan, which will be brought by the charity.

Sir Keir unveiled a counterterror-style small boats plan on Friday that he said would replace gimmicks with graft. He pledged to scrap the Rwanda scheme and to partly fund a new border unit to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesperson Alistair Carmichael MP said: Everyone has lost track of how many times Rishi Sunak has given a date for these pointless flights.

The country gave up on this policy long ago, and nobody will be cheering millions of pounds being spent on these flights.
Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Independents social affairs correspondent, Holly Bancroft, has won an Amnesty International award for her reporting on the fate of Afghan soldiers who fought with UK forces.

Her powerful joint investigation with Sky News and Lighthouse Reports uncovered evidence that soldiers who were trained, paid by and worked shoulder-to-shoulder with the British Army were left to face torture and death at the hands of the Taliban.

The story was chosen as winner of the written news category at the Amnesty International UK Media Awards 2024 on Thursday.

The investigation proved for the first time that the troops  known as the Triples  had been paid by the British government and had been systematically denied help by the UK after the fall of Kabul in 2021.

Read the full article here

Afghan soldiers who had fought with British forces were denied relocation after the fall of Kabul ( Supplied )

As a result of the reporting, the Ministry of Defence has begun a review of 2,000 resettlement applications and an amendment was tabled to the Safety of Rwanda Bill to try and prevent asylum seekers who helped UK forces from being deported to Rwanda.

Ms Bancroft said: We are really pleased to win this award and hope that this recognition will increase pressure on the government to review all cases of Triples commandos who they rejected for UK relocation.

Ministers promised to look again at 2,000 cases following our reporting and we are still waiting to see the results of this review.

Ms Bancroft worked to track down many former soldiers, speaking to more than 100 of these individuals and documenting what had happened to them since the Taliban takeover.

Most had applied to the UKs Afghan relocation scheme (ARAP) but had been rejected or received no response, and were living in deep hiding in Afghanistan. By gathering as much evidence as possible, the investigation was able to verify to a high degree of certainty 24 cases of harm, six of which were murders.

Riaz Ahmadzai, who had worked with British forces, was among those killed by the Taliban ( Supplied )

In one emotional interview, the father of Riaz Ahmadzai  a former Triple  told how his son had been shot dead while out buying groceries, despite being promised safety by the Taliban.

Riaz got killed because of this previous work with British forces. For trusting British forces, he paid the price with his life, Mr Ahmadzais father said.

Sacha Deshmukh, Amnesty International UKs chief executive, said: The events of this year serve as a potent reminder that journalists and media workers continue to be threatened, prosecuted and even killed for speaking truth to power. It is clear that nowhere is truly safe for a journalist speaking truth to power right now.

Holly Bancroft was among those praised for her tireless efforts to truly make an impact on the world ( The Independent )

However, amid the global threats to press freedom, tonights media awards winners and finalists have all proven that we will not be silenced. Their tireless efforts truly make an impact on the world, and if brave media workers continue to document, investigate, and share the stories of those who often have no voice, change will happen.

The Independent editor-in-chief Geordie Greig said: Brilliant reporting by Holly in The Independent has been recognised by Amnesty for her ability to pinpoint injustice and to force politicians to listen and to act.

This is what campaigning journalism does best: to agitate against wrong decisions and acts. I am so proud of Holly for her incisive reporting with a determination to bring about change.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The Government has said it wants a deeper understanding of the specific risks of artificial intelligence (AI) before proposing any new laws to regulate the sector.

Technology minister Viscount Camrose said there is a real advantage to waiting for the right moment rather than moving quicker and risking legislating too narrowly.

His remarks came as peers pressed for the Government to support the Artificial Intelligence (Regulation) Bill.

A new body, known as the AI Authority, would be established under the Bill tabled by Conservative peer Lord Holmes of Richmond.

We know the impact AI is already having on our creatives, on our IP (intellectual property), on our copyright across all of that important part of our economy Lord Holmes

The Bill would require the authority to push forward AI regulation in the UK and assess and monitor potential risks to the economy.

Security, fairness, accountability and transparency are among the principles that the AI Authority must take into consideration, according to the Bill.

The Government believes a non-statutory approach provides critical adaptability but has pledged to keep it under review.

Lord Holmes said: Its clear when it comes to artificial intelligence its time to legislate, its time to lead and we know what we need to do, we know what we need to know to legislate.

We know the impact AI is already having on our creatives, on our IP (intellectual property), on our copyright across all of that important part of our economy.

Viscount Camrose said the Government has continued to make progress on its regulatory approach to AI, including moves to provide continuous examination of the risks.

He said: On legislation specifically, the Government is not ruling out new law in future but we believe our non-statutory approach is still the right approach for now while we continue to build the understanding needed to inform any future legislation based on a more comprehensive assessment of the benefits and risks of this fast-evolving technology.

While the Government does not support the Bill, I hope noble Lords will continue to contribute their valuable expertise in this area as our regulatory approach evolves.

Ulster Unionist Party peer Lord Empey said he feared the Government was losing momentum on the issue rather than maintaining its push to be a world leader.

He said: It does seem to me  with the ministers statement  that we have slipped back now, the European Union has set out its stall and, if were not going to have the legislative framework, then I think we need to know that.

And I just hope the Government will reflect that the position the Prime Minister adopted at the beginning of this process, I thought, was innovative, positive and good for the United Kingdom as a whole, but I fear that the loss of momentum in fact means we will be slipping back down at a very rapid rate.

Viscount Camrose said he did not accept the characterisation of a loss of momentum and pointed to the UK co-hosting the forthcoming AI Seoul Summit.

He said: I think moving very, very quickly to legislation  its always been the Governments position that its better to have a deeper understanding of the specific risks of AI across each sector and across all sectors before legislating too narrowly, and that theres a real advantage to waiting for the right moment to have judicious legislation that addresses specific risks rather than blanket legislation that goes to all of them.

The Bill received a third reading in the Lords and will now seek to secure time in the House of Commons to be considered further.
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

James Cleverly has been mocked for appearing to forget his own governments policy to welcome Syrian asylum seekers.

The Home Secretary shared a 2015 article in which Labours shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper called for Britain to take in 10,000 refugees from Syria during the 2015 European migrant crisis.

After Ms Cooper and Sir Keir Starmer made a major speech on Labours asylum policy, Mr Cleverly used the article to suggest she could not be trusted with stopping the boats.

James Cleverly appeared to forget his past support for the resettlement of Syrian refugees ( PA Wire )

When Keir Starmer talks about illegal migration, this is who he wants to be the home secretary, he said on X/Twitter.

But users of the social media platform quickly pointed out that just days later Mr Cleverly himself welcomed government plans to take in twice as many refugees as Ms Cooper had called for.

Responding to Mr Cleverlys post, the shadow home secretary said: Er, James This is your governments policy to help 20,000 Syrian refugees, announced just after this article!

Which four days later you welcomed.

In a statement at the time, Mr Cleverly said: I welcome David Camerons announcement that the UK will provide sanctuary to thousands more Syrians currently in refugee camps. It is right and proper that we prioritise the help to these people rather than those already in safe countries in mainland Europe or those who might otherwise turn to traffickers who have a vested interest in using more dangerous routes.

Yvette Cooper pointed out that Mr Cleverly had supported welcoming even more refugees than she called for ( Sky News )

As the humanitarian crisis overflowed to Europe in 2015, Ms Cooper said that if every town in the UK accepted just 10 families each, then the UK could offer nearly 10,000 vulnerable Syrian refugees a place to live in peace and safety.

Days later then prime minister Lord Cameron said Britain would resettle 20,000 refugees fleeing the Syrian civil war.

Meanwhile the European Union voted to back a plan to relocate 120,000 refugees in the continent through a quota scheme which Britain will not take part in.

It came as Sir Keir set out his post-election plans to tackle smuggling gangs bringing thousands of migrants to Britain in small boats. The Labour leader declined to commit to "stopping the boats" as he set out his partys plans to tackle cross-Channel migration.

The Labour leader said crossings needed to be reduced "materially" and he would "like it to come down completely", but added he would not put a "false number" on his plans.

Sir Keir Starmer set out Labours immigration plans alongside Dover MP Natalie Elphicke, who defected from the Tories on Wednesday ( Getty Images )

Speaking in Deal, Kent, on Friday, Sir Keir said a Labour government would expand counter-terror powers to cover people-smuggling gangs and create a new Border Security Command to co-ordinate efforts to halt the crossings.

In a message to smuggling gangs, he said: "These shores will become hostile territory for you - we will find you. We will stop you. We will protect your victims with the Border Security Command. We will secure Britains borders."

He also reiterated his commitment to scrap the Governments Rwanda policy "straight away", saying it was a "gimmick" he had no interest in pursuing.

But asked what would happen to any people deported to Rwanda in the coming months, he said Labour was "not interested in repatriating people".
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Sir Keir Starmer has refused to rule out letting Nigel Farage into Labour Party, but joked that he would be the last person wanting to join his party.

The Labour leader was introduced by former Tory MP Natalie Elphicke ahead of a major speech on immigration just days after her defection.

Sir Keir said it is great to have you to Ms Elphicke, whose shock decision to cross the floor of the House of Commons sparked fury among Labour MPs.

Sir Keir Starmer said Nigel Farage would not ( AP )

Asked how broad a church he is willing to oversee as Labour leader, Sir Keir said: This changed Labour Party ought to be a place where reasonably minded people, whichever way they have voted in the past, feel that they can join in our project to change the country for the better.

It is an invitation, and we should be less tribal in the pursuit of a better country, and invite people to our party to join in our project of national renewal.

He extended an invitation not just to Labour voters, but all those who have backed other parties in the past.

Pressed specifically on whether he would welcome Mr Farage, who is currently the honorary president and owner of right-wing Reform UK, Sir Keir said: He is the last person that would want to join this Labour Party.

Keir Starmer said Labour would carry as many people with us as possible when asked whether Nigel Farage could join ( Getty Images )

I am not going to list names but Nigel Farage would not want to join. Sir Keirs spokesman on Wednesday refused to rule out letting Mr Farage into the party in the wake of Ms Elphickes defection.

But he added: There is a serious point. That if we are to renew our country we do need to ensure we carry as many people with us as possible and I genuinely think most reasonably minded people across the country do want a better country for their families and communities.

After Ms Elphickes defection, shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told The Independent he has spoken to Conservative MPs who are contemplating a defection to the Labour Party because of the division and incompetence in Mr Sunaks government.

But the shadow health secretary insisted that Labour will not take just any Tory MP. Referencing Mr Sunaks predecessors short term in office, he noted: If Liz Truss were to want to cross the floor, and I dont imagine she would, I would rather take the lettuce.

Tory MPs are panicking over who could be next to walk out of their party as their once mighty majority of 80 continues to dwindle towards 30.

Tory MPs have mocked Labours welcoming of Ms Elphicke, who was considered right-wing even on the Tory benches.

The Labour leader, who became an MP in 2015 after a career as a barrister and a stint as director of public prosecutions, said he may be less tribal because he came into politics so late in life.

Sir Keir was then asked whether he was extending an invitation to all Conservative MPs who are unhappy with the government to enter defection talks.

Well, that would be a long list, he joked.

He added: I am sure there are many other Tory MPs feeling defeated by this government. I dont know what the latest is on the list of those standing down, but it is pretty high.

They can see for themselves this is a government that is out of ideas, out of road, out of steam and what we need is change.

It came as Sir Keir declined to commit to "stopping the boats" as he set out his partys plans to tackle cross-Channel migration.

The Labour leader said crossings needed to be reduced "materially" and he would "like it to come down completely", but added he would not put a "false number" on his plans.

Speaking in Deal, Kent, on Friday, Sir Keir said a Labour government would expand counter-terror powers to cover people-smuggling gangs and create a new Border Security Command to co-ordinate efforts to halt the crossings.

In a message to smuggling gangs, he said: "These shores will become hostile territory for you - we will find you. We will stop you. We will protect your victims with the Border Security Command. We will secure Britains borders."

He also reiterated his commitment to scrap the Governments Rwanda policy "straight away", saying it was a "gimmick" he had no interest in pursuing.

But asked what would happen to any people deported to Rwanda in the coming months, he said Labour was "not interested in repatriating people".
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Labour will divert millions of pounds earmarked for Rwanda deportation flights to set up a new body to tackle criminal smuggling gangs, Sir Keir Starmer will announce today.

In a keynote speech laying out the partys plans to end the Conservatives talk tough, do nothing approach to Channel crossings, the Labour leader will promise new powers to clamp down on smugglers and hundreds of specialist investigators.

And in a warning to those behind small boat crossings, Sir Keir will say: These shores will become hostile territory for you.

Despite Rishi Sunak repeatedly promising to stop the boats, arrivals across the Channel this year are at a record high. The prime ministers flagship Rwanda scheme is set to deport the first migrants to Kigali this summer, but has shown no sign of deterring migrants since passing into law.

Now, Labour is planning to divert some of the 75m allocated to the scheme to fund a new Border Security Command, which it says will be modelled on the office for security and counterterrorism.

The party will also install a new so-called border security commander to work across intelligence agencies to protect the UKs border.

And Labour will hire hundreds of intelligence agents and cross-border police officers to support the Border Security Command and tackle smuggling gangs.

At a speech on the Kent coast, days after the defection of Dover MP Natalie Elphicke, Sir Keir will reiterate Labours commitment to scrap the beleaguered Rwanda scheme.

The Labour leader will say: Rebuilding our asylum system has become a test of political strength, a trial of leadership to resist the voices who fundamentally do not want to rebuild a functioning asylum system.

Its become a question of whether you can prioritise, at all times, the politics of practical solutions, and reject the politics of performative symbols  the gimmicks and gestures.

Sir Keir will attack the rank incompetence of the Conservatives on immigration, accusing Mr Sunak of creating a permanent backlog of asylum seekers by refusing to process their claims.

Even if they have absolutely no right to be here they cannot be removed, billing the taxpayer for expensive hotel accommodation  the government has achieved the complete opposite of what they claim, he will say.

Sir Keir will add: A Travelodge amnesty, handed out by the Tory party that, if nothing else, is warmer and safer than spending winter under canvas near a beach in northern France. If you dont think thats what the gangs are telling the people they exploit  you dont know them.

Among the measures set to be proposed by Sir Keir are new border control stop and searches, building on powers created in 2000 by the Terrorism Act, along with new financial investigation powers and search and seizure warrants targeting organised immigration crime.

Meanwhile the new Border Security Command would bring together agencies including the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and MI5.

Some 8,826 migrants have arrived in the UK after crossing the Channel so far this year, provisional Home Office figures show.

This is up 32 per cent on this time last year, when 6,691 migrants were recorded, and a 14 per cent rise compared with the same period in 2022 (7,750).

Campaigners warned that the current asylum system is in meltdown and is only going to get worse unless urgent changes are made.

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said whoever is in government must focus on ensuring fairness in the system above anything else, adding: The Illegal Migration Act must be scrapped immediately, along with plans to ship people off on a one-way ticket to Rwanda.

Instead of wasting time on legislation that bans the right to asylum and dehumanises people who simply need safety, there must be a fair, efficient and humane asylum system.

And Refugee Action chief executive Tom Naor Hilton said: Whoever makes up the next government, they must end this hostile environment and build a refugee protection system that respects peoples right to claim asylum, creates safe routes to reach the UK, and tackles the racism that lies at the heart of immigration policy.

Home secretary James Cleverly said: "Rather than starting the flights and stopping the boats, Sir Keir Starmer's big new idea is an amnesty for all illegal immigrants, scrapping our Rwanda plan even if it's working.

Nobody believes Keir Starmer wants to control our borders when he previously said immigration controls are 'racist' and blocked the deportation of violent sexual offenders. Actions speak louder than words, Keir Starmer will never be on the side of the British people."
Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Labour will scrap the Rwanda deportation plan straight away if it wins power, Sir Keir Starmer said as he vowed an end to the unquenchable Tory desire for shortcuts.

The Labour leader attacked Rishi Sunaks approach to the small boats crisis as gimmicks, not serious government and set out the partys own plans to crack down on people smugglers.

In a major speech in Dover, for which he was introduced by the defected Tory MP Natalie Elphicke, Sir Keir promised to end Westminsters talk tough, do nothing culture over the issue.

Keir Starmer with shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, ex-Tory MP Natalie Elphicke, left, and Labours Dover parliamentary candidate Mike Tapp ( Getty Images )

He promised a new politics on everything from small boat crossings to the economy, saying: The character of politics will change, and through that, we will deliver higher growth, safer streets, an NHS back on its feet, more opportunity in your community, cheaper bills in your home, and secure borders for our nation.

And he unveiled the partys plans to replace the Rwanda policy with a new approach to small boat crossings that will secure Britains borders.

Sir Keir took aim at his critics on the left, saying that turning a blind eye to channel crossings is the complete opposite of a progressive and compassionate position.

And he attacked the gesture politics of the Conservatives, listing the Rwanda scheme alongside a series of plans reportedly considered by the party.

Starmer set out his partys plans to tackle small boats in a speech two days after Elphicke defected from the Tories to Labour ( PA )

Sir Keir said floating walls, marine fencing, sound cannons, jet skis and wave machines in the Channel were all examples of gimmicks, with the Rwanda plan just the latest example.

He said: Let me spell it out again. A scheme that will remove less than 1 per cent of arrivals from small boat crossings a year cannot and never will be an effective deterrent.

Its an insult to anyones intelligence and the gangs that run this sick trade are not easily fooled. As well as promising to scrap the policy, Sir Keir confirmed not a single flight to Rwanda will take off if he wins a general election.

Sir Keir is promising to use new counterterrorism powers to tackle people-smuggling gangs. He has also promised a new Border Security Command which would bring together agencies including the National Crime Agency, Immigration Enforcement and MI5.

Sir Keir said: This is about leveraging the power and potential of dynamic government, based on a counterterrorism approach which we know works.

An end to the fragmentation between policing, the border force and our intelligence agencies, a collective raising of standards, so that border protection becomes an elite force, not a Cinderella service, an essential frontline defence that communities like this can depend upon.

The unit would also benefit from new powers, expanding on those already used to combat terrorists, including enhanced stop-and-search powers and the ability to seize items before an offence has taken place.

Starmer has promised to scrap the Rwanda policy straight away if Labour wins power ( PA Wire )

Labour will also use 75m of funding earmarked for Rwanda deportation flights to hire hundreds of new specialist investigators to work across the UK and Europe to tackle people smuggling.

One of the key promises in Sir Keirs speech was to restart processing asylum claims, which has stalled under the Conservatives and created what Labour calls a perma-backlog of arrivals.

The Labour leader said there are thousands of migrants from countries including Bangladesh, India and others with which Britain does not need returns agreements to deport those arriving in small boats.

Bangladesh is a classic example, why are people who come here from Bangladesh not being processed, sitting here and not going back? he said.

Sir Keir said quickly processing asylum claims would ensure those from safe countries could be returned more quickly, which is said would be the biggest deterrent.

Its a pointless exercise and you go back where you started, he added.

Sir Keir was also asked about the role of safe and legal routes for asylum seekers in reducing the number of asylum seekers crossing the English Channel.

He highlighted routes for arrivals from Afghanistan and Hong Kong, but said his focus was on tackling people smuggling gangs as the most effective way to lower the number of Channel crossings.

Despite laying out the plans and saying he wanted to see the number of arrivals fall materially, Sir Keir declined to commit to "stopping the boats" altogether. He said he would not put a false number on his plans.

Addressing the governments Rwanda plan becoming law, Sir Keir said: They will get flights off the ground  I dont doubt that. He added that Mr Sunak is likely to get a couple of hundred migrants to Rwanda before the election for party management.

But, asked by The Independent what would happen to those deported to Rwanda in the coming months once Labour scrapped the plan, he said Labour was not interested in repatriating people.

Rishi Sunak has promised to stop the boats, but crossings are at a record high this year ( PA Wire )

In a message to smuggling gangs, he said: These shores will become hostile territory for you  we will find you. We will stop you. We will protect your victims with the Border Security Command. We will secure Britains borders.

Ms Elphicke told the audience of party supporters in Deal on Friday that her old boss Mr Sunak had "failed to keep our borders secure".

She said Labour would provide a fresh approach to the issue that puts at its heart a commitment to border security.

Concluding the speech, Sir Keir said: An asylum system  rebuilt. The criminal gangs  smashed. The exploitation of some of the most vulnerable people in the world  prevented.

An end to the chaos. A turning of the page. A politics returned to service, and a careful, patient, determined renewal of our country with Labour.

That is the future you can choose. That is what a serious government can deliver.

Home secretary James Cleverly said: "Rather than starting the flights and stopping the boats, Sir Keir Starmers big new idea is an amnesty for all illegal immigrants, scrapping our Rwanda plan even if its working.

Nobody believes Keir Starmer wants to control our borders when he previously said immigration controls are racist and blocked the deportation of violent sexual offenders. Actions speak louder than words, Keir Starmer will never be on the side of the British people."
 Close 'Failed' asylum system offers 'false hope' to migrants, Starmer says

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Keir Starmer has unveiled a counter-terror style small boats plan that will replace gimmicks with graft by scrapping the Rwanda scheme.

He has vowed to partly fund a new elite border unit as he set out his plans to stop small boats crossing the Channel.

In a speech at Dover, the Labour leader accused the Conservatives of operating a Travelodge amnesty by housing asylum-seekers in hotels rather than processing their claims.

He was accompanied by new Labour MP Natalie Elphicke, who has slammed the Tories approach on boats just days after defecting from the party.

Speaking about her admission, he said the move represents the mood of the country as Rishi Sunak is clinging on by his fingernails to power.

During the press conference, the opposition leader hasnt ruled out letting Nigel Farage join the Labour Party.

It comes after as government lawyers have confirmed the first deportation flights as part of the Rwanda scheme could take off in June.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A man has been left unable to walk after contracting a deadly flesh-eating bacterial infection after strolling barefoot across a beach .

Brent Norman, from Charleston, South Carolina , is an avid rambler and has spent his life by the ocean.

The health-conscious man, who walks upwards of 15,000 steps, regularly wanders along the sandy shoreline between Sullivans Island and Isle of Palms.

But while embarking on his usual journey last week, Mr Norman stepped on a shell, which wasnt uncommon given the lesser visibility of rocky terrain during high tides.

The way the tides were pretty high, I unfortunately stepped on several seashells, he told local news station WCIV. Ive grown up on beaches all my life and stepped on probably over 10,000 shells.

In the days that followed, Mr Norman began feeling pain radiating from his foot, which quickly developed into a feeling that a nail had been driven through the area.

After a week of increased swelling and agonising pain in his foot, I was no longer walking, he said.

Brent Normans feet swelled after coming into contact with the flesh-eating bug ( WCIV )

On Thursday, Mr Normans lower limb looked unsightly, and he finally took himself to the emergency room, where he was greeted by medical staff that frantically sprung into action.

Everyone behind the check-in counter, their eyes were about double the size they normally were, he said. I could tell people were uncomfortable sitting around me looking at it.

After inspecting his foot, Mr Normans doctor gave him a bombshell diagnosis: his foot was infected with vibriosis  caused by the vibrio bacteria.

[The nurse] lanced it, removed the debris from in there, and then they gave me an antibiotic shot and then also pills that Im taking for two weeks, he said.

Mr Norman had likely contracted the salt tolerant bacteria by stepping on a shell in the ocean.

The foot was infected with vibriosis ( WCIV )

Some infections caused by vibrio lead to necrotising fasciitis, a severe infection in which the flesh around an open wound dies.

While there are 12 species of vibrio, only one is known to be flesh-eating, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The public health agency said that the bacteria is responsible for an estimated 80,000 illnesses and 100 deaths in the United States every year.

Most cases stem from eating raw or undercooked seafood or exposing an open wound to sea water, the CDC states. Infections are most common during the warmer months between May and October.

Despite the ordeal, Mr Norman said he has no qualms about heading back to the beach once his foot has healed.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two Virginia high schools will restore their Confederate names, marking a major U-turn following a change in the wake of the the killing of George Floyd in 2020.

The Shenandoah County School Board voted five to one to approve a motion to reinstate the names of Stonewall Jackson High and Ashby-Lee Elementary in the small town of Quicksburg.

Confederate generals Robert E Lee and Thomas Stonewall Jackson, and cavalry commander Turner Ashby inspired the schools names.

Quicksburg residents have been embroiled in a heated debate on whether it is appropriate for the schools to be named after American Civil War icons from the Old South.

Now, members of the board have cast their votes five to one in favour of reinstating the original names, marking the first U-turn of its kind in the US.

Shenandoah County is almost 93 per cent white, according to the latest US census data from July 2023.

George Floyds killing in May 2020 sparked a summer of civil unrest as race relations where thrust into the spotlight across the US. Confederate status in public spaces were toppled  including one of General Robert E Lee.

Protestors over George Floyds killing ( AP )

Ralph Northam, a former Democratic Governor, wrote to the Shenandoah County School Board lobbying for the change of school names and removal of Confederate-related iconography.

Three days later, the schools were renamed to foster an inclusive school environment for all, according to a six-member panel. Stonewall Jackson High became Mountain View High, and Ashby-Lee Elementary as Honey Run Elementary.

The haste of the decision sparked uproar from some of Quicksburgs residents, who slammed the name change as undemocratic and a destruction of the states heritage.

A 2022 vote on the matter failed by a tied 3-3 vote - but the three who voted against the move have since been replaced on the school board.

These groups hold historical significance, the pro-name change group Claim the Names wrote in a letter to the school board, adding that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our communitys heritage and respect the wishes of the majority.

They added that, if necessary, theyd raise the funds to reinstate the schools original name  including the changing of school signs.

Neil Thorn is a part of group Claim the Names, which is vehemently against the name change. He warned that a U-turn will indelibly damage our communitys reputation.

The naming of these schools was not incidental but reflected the segregated policies of the time, he said in a statement.

The people who suffered through this are not past strangers - they are people we know, they are our friends and neighbours, he concluded.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Family and friends of the three surfers killed in Mexico say they are frustrated at those claiming the men were reckless for traveling in remote Baja California  when actually the region has attracted surfers from southern California, and all over the world, for decades.

They have been doing what so many surfers have been doing for years, said Kara, who was friends and neighbors with Callum Robinson, an Australian who lived in San Diego.

Callum, 33 and his brother Jake Robinson, 30, along with their friend, Carter Rhoad, 30, of San Diego, were shot in the head execution style by alleged car thieves on a surfing trip to Baja, according to Mexican authorities.

Kara spoke to Callum and Jakes mother, Debra Robinson, after their deaths and told her how shed personally camped about 10 times in the exact location where the men were reportedly staying when they were killed  and how she had traveled even further down the peninsula to more remote areas with only two other women with her.

Kara and her friends on a trip to Baja California, Mexico ( Kara )

[Their mom] told me that it was so comforting to know that it was something I had done many times, Kara, who asked for her last name not to be published, told The Independent.

The 35-year-old said Ms Robinson told her that in the day since her sons disappearance she had encountered people who were insinuating that her boys should have known better or that they were doing something they shouldnt have.

I think its important to her that people understand that they werent doing anything wrong, or that they were being irresponsible, she said. This was a situation of just pure evil and lack of value for human life.

The parents of the brothers friend Carter Rhoad have not yet publicly spoken. The 30-year-old was set to get married in August after proposing to his girlfriend last year. The couples engagement from July 2023 was the final post on the American surfers Facebook page.

His heartbroken fiancee and many of the trios loved ones have since talked with a man who went through a similar tragedy and are taking comfort in his words.

The couples engagement from July 2023 was the final post on the American surfers Facebook page ( Carter Redd Rhoad/Facebook )

Further south down the peninsula, Ron Gomez Hoff, who is known as Baja Gringo, is at the heart of information sharing for the region.

His Facebook group TalkBaja, which began as an online forum when he moved to the area over 20 years ago, and is where news of the surfers disappearance first broke when the Australians mother posted a plea for help.

The Facebook group TalkBaja is where news of the surfers disappearance first broke when the Australians mother posted a plea for help ( TalkBaja )

Hoff says its his own personal experience of being attacked in 2011, in which he and his Mexican wife were left for dead, that has connected him to the surfers grieving loved ones.

I have spoken to dozens and dozens of their family members  including the fiancee of the American, Carter, and its just heart wrenching, he told The Independent. It got to me. Because it made me relive what we went through.

Following the murders of the surfers, he wrote an editorial for TalkBaja about his own horrific experience, detailing how he was beaten unconscious with a crowbar and how the men slit his wifes throat and tossed her off the cliff in a case of extreme violence near his home in San Quintin, Baja California. Miraculously, both of them survived  and because of the community they found in Baja, they stayed.

Ron Gomez Hoff and his wife Cristina ( Ron Hoff )

Mr Hoff told The Independent that many people, including those who knew the three surfers best, have told him they read the editorial and appreciated him sharing his experience.

Some of them have reached out to me and told me, you do understand what were going through, he said.

And yeah, sadly, I do.

It was tough to deal with. These poor people, I know what theyre going through. I wish I could provide words to comfort them, he added. To lose them this way, tragic. Unless youve gone through this, you cant imagine.

The tragic murders of the foreigners made headlines across the world, shining a light on the Baja peninsula where surfers and visitors are aware of the violence, but are still reeling from the shocking tragedy  a contrast to the stunning place with stunning idyllic remote beaches they travel to as an escape.

Driving near Punta San Jose, Baja California ( Kara )

For Kara, who lived just two blocks from Callum, a drive down to Baja, something she does multiple times a month, is her favorite thing.

You get to go and experience a different culture, you get past Tijuana and suddenly youre on that stretch in between Rosarito and Ensenada and its such beautiful cliff sides and the most stunning beauty  and thats when you can just leave everything behind. Its my favorite thing.

The surfer from Missouri has lived all over the world, including a remote area of Western Australia, settled in San Diego about six years ago.

She admitted to The Independent that the murders have left her rattled and she cant shake the thought that it could have been her.

If I had known Callum and the guys were there, I wouldve joined them, she said, explaining that she was in Baja on the Friday before the men vanished, and had texted Callum, but they had already moved on from their current spot, so she decided to stay at K38, a famous surf break.

About a week after the three men failed to check into a local Airbnb and their families could not get in contact with them, their bodies were found on 3 May down a well in a remote area miles from where they had reportedly set up camp in Punta San Jose.

Callum and Jake Robinson were reported missing after travelling from California to Mexico on 27 April. Their bodies were found a week later ( 9News/Instagram )

Kara said that over the years, Punta San Jose has become more dangerous with roadside robberies but it hasnt stopped surfers from going there.

She explained she wouldve felt comfortable going with two vehicles and more people  especially Callum, Carter and Jake, who she described as strong and smart men who had their wits about them.

Shes close with many of Carters friends, who previously lived in Guatemala and spoke Spanish fluently, leading many to believe he wouldve been able to speak the language if needed.

Carter Rhoad previously lived in Guatemala and spoke Spanish fluently ( LinkedIn/carterrhoad )

Kara added that as a surfer, you are aware of elements of danger but you go in cautious, keep your head on you, dont drive at night, set up camp, and pay the rancher to stay on his land - which affords safety, she explained.

Surfers dont wanna live in fear - the thing that brings us life, the new waves that hardly anyone knows about - thats what excites us, she said.

Every surfer Ive talked to - whether they knew them or not, many did not, it feels so close to home.

After what happened to her friend Callum, Carter, and Jake, who were such a big part of the surf community, Kara said other surfers are terrified.

A demonstrator holding a bodyboard written in Spanish They just wanted to surf and they were executed ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

One of her friends told her, this changes how we do Baja, because we had this illusion of safety, she explained.

Kara said shes hesitant to go back to Baja right now, but believes she will never go back to Punta San Jose.

I just dont think I could  itd be too hard after knowing what happened there, she said.

On Tuesday, Callum and Jakes mother gave a moving tribute to her sons at a beach in San Diego.

Our hearts are broken and the world has become a darker place for us, Ms Robinson said, fighting back tears. They were young men enjoying their passion of surfing together.

Tearful mother of Australian surfers killed in Mexico: 'The world has become a darker place for us' ( Australia TV )

She noted that her son Callum considered the United States his second home, and that Jake loved surfing so much that, as a doctor, he liked to work in hospitals near the beach.

Jakes passion was surfing, and it was no coincidence that many of his hospitals that he worked in were close to surfing beaches, she said.

Choking back tears, Ms Robinson conveyed a final message that coincided with her sons adventurous lifestyles.

Live bigger, shine brighter, and love harder in their memory, she said.

Debra Robinson paid tribute to her sons in an emotional speech in San Diego ( AP )

The Baja California peninsula, a place visited for its stunning beaches and epic surf breaks, includes two Mexican states, Baja California, which borders the US state of California, and Baja California Sur, which is home to resort city Cabo San Lucas on the southern tip.

Theres nowhere you can go in the world today thats totally safe, Mr Hoff added, explaining that its about being prepared the best you can, doing your research, and just being familiar with the area.

But in Baja, where most of the region is extremely remote, there are factors working against each other  youve got smaller police forces with limited budgets, and then the fact that the vast majority of the peninsula is so remote with few paved roads, and theres no cell signal in most places. You can drive hundreds of miles without even seeing a gas station.

Baja California, Mexico ( Shutterstock / sabine_lj )

The drive along Highway 1 from Tijuana to San Jose del Cabo is over 1,000 miles and is a two-lane road that is often not paved. Side roads are at your own risk, Mr Hoff says as many are washed out or some have changed routes leading people to even more remote areas.

Chief state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade Ramirez said on Sunday that she believed the alleged killers, three men who have been arrested, drove by and saw the surfers pickup truck and tents, and wanted to steal their tires. But when (the foreigners) came up and caught them, surely, they resisted, she added. After shooting and killing the men, their bodies were dumped in a well. The truck was found burnt out with the hubcaps still on.

Mr Hoff said the tragic murders are nothing new to the local people and that there are hundreds of murders or disappearances of Mexicans in the region that are never solved.

But when its a foreigner, he finds there is pressure from their home countries and outrage on social media for arrests to be made swiftly, which was done in the case of the surfers, and also his case back in 2011.

Something shifted with this event, and I think it has to do with the amount of coverage it has gotten, Mr Hoff said.

Locals here are saying finally someone is understanding what were going through. Someone is shining a light on what is happening.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A teenager babysitting for her neighbour was stabbed to death nearly 50 years ago, with her killer finally found thanks to advances in DNA testing.

Police in Colorado Springs were called out to reports of a possible suicide on 7 February 1977. When they arrived at the property, they found 14-year-old Maria Loraine Honzell.

She had not taken her own life, but had been stabbed multiple times in her chest and neck while the children she was looking after were sleeping nearby.

14-year-old Maria Loraine Honzell was found stabbed to death in Colorado Springs in 1977 ( Colorado Springs Police Department )

Despite a thorough investigation and a DNA sample being collected from blood on her clothes, no match was found and the case went cold.

In 2019, new DNA analysis tools were used to find a match, and her killer was located: William Charles Kernan, Jr, who had died in 2010.

Ive been on the phone probably once a week for the last five years, calling, and they have come through for us, the victims brother David Honzell told reporters this week.

His sister was found in the master bedroom of the apartment by the neighbour who shed been babysitting for at around 11.20pm that night in 1977.

After an autopsy, the El Paso County Coroners Office ruled her death as homicide from multiple stab wounds to her chest and a prominent stab wound to her neck.

The Colorado Springs Police Department conducted a thorough investigation, which included numerous interviews, reports, and collection of evidence, the department said in a press release.

At the time, a suspect had not been identified. However, CSPD did not cease to follow leads and pursue other investigative strategies.

Colorado Springs Police Department now believe William Charles Kernan, Jr, who died in 2010, killed the 14-year-old ( Colorado Springs Police Department )

DNA testing technology has progressed in recent years, with new items of evidence submitted to the Colorado Bureau of Investigation helping to build a male DNA profile.

Despite submitting samples for various potential suspects, no match was found.

Then in 2019, CSPD approached Parabon NanoLabs to run genetic genealogy DNA analysis using blood found on Ms Honzells blue jumpsuit.

That team used genetic clues to come up with a profile that then matched William Charles Kernan, Jrs DNA. He had died in 2010.

Confirmation DNA was unable to be collected as the suspect was cremated and had no living biological relatives, CSPD said. Mr Kernan was identified as a student at a local college and an acquaintance of the woman Maria Honzell had been babysitting for on the night of her murder.

Investigators found that Mr Kernan had been to the apartment complex a few times before.

An old photo of William Charles Kernan Jr ( Colorado Springs Police Department )

The Fourth Judicial District Attorneys Office then reviewed the case and, despite the lack of confirmation DNA, determined that Mr Kernan was the killer.

The family and friends of Maria Honzell have waited over 47 years to get justice for Maria, Colorado Spring Police Department said in a statement.

Through years of analysis and investigation, CSPD is proud to finally provide answers to Marias loved ones.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Drakes Toronto mansion has been targeted by a second intruder in two days amid his growing feud with rapper Kendrick Lamar.

Police said the intruder attempted to access Drakes Bridle Path property at around 3:30pm on Thursday before an altercation with security guards occurred ahead of officers arriving at the scene.

The man, who is believed to be in his 20s, was then taken to hospital for treatment. Paramedics told CP24 that the injuries were serious but not life-threatening.

Police have not said what charges, if any, will be laid.

The incident happened just one day after another intruder tried to break into Drakes mansion before they were led away in handcuffs. Police said the man was apprehended under the Mental Health Act.

Drakes Toronto mansion ( CP24 )

The two intrusions followed a drive-by shooting at the Toronto property, which took place on Tuesday. When officers arrived, they discovered that a security guard, who has not been named, had been shot in the chest and was unconscious.

The guard is understood to have been standing outside the gates in front of the property when he was shot at around 2am. He was later transported to a local hospital with serious injuries.

One suspect fled the scene in a vehicle, police said. Officials could not confirm whether Drake was home at the time of the shooting but said that the rappers team is cooperating with the investigation.

Police are now trying to work out if the shooting is in any way connected to Drakes ongoing feud with fellow rapper Kenrick Lamar.

Just days before the shooting, Lamar used an image of Drakes lavish property in cover art for his new diss track against the rapper.

The Los Angeles-born rapper then created three diss tracks about Drake in just 36 hours.

Lamars fans have also been engaging in the feud, with several different parts of Drakes neighbourhood being renamed after Lamar on Google Maps over the weekend.

Police are investigating if the incidents are related to the ongoing feud between Kendrick Lamar (left) and Drake ( AP )

A representative for Google said: Our team is constantly monitoring [Google] Maps for suspicious activities. Were aware of this issue and are actively removing policy-violating contributions.

The rap battle was sparked by First Person Shooter, Drakes collaboration with J Cole last October, which took aim at Lamar.

In recent weeks, the pair have been trading diss tracks at a rapid rate, with Drake accusing Lamar of domestic violence and Lamar, in turn, accusing Drake of having a secret daughter and being a bully.

In another song, titled Not Like Us, released 4 May, Lamar calls Drake a certified paedophile and makes multiple references to alleged interactions with younger women.

Toronto Police inspector Paul Krawczyk said it is too early to tell if the feud is related to the shooting.

The Independent has contacted Toronto Police and representatives of Drake for further information.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Four flight attendants have been arrested and charged in connection with a years-long scheme to smuggle millions of dollars worth of drug money from New York City to the Caribbean.

The US Attorneys office estimated that the defendants smuggled approximately $8m in bulk cash from the US to the Dominican Republic over a period of many years. Charlie Hernandez, 42, Sarah Valerio Pujols, 42, Emmanuel Torres, 34, and Jarol Fabio, 35, were arrested on Wednesday.

They are each charged with one count of operation of an unlicensed money transmission business, which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and one count of entering an airport or aircraft area in violation of security requirements, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years.

According to prosecutors the defendants knowingly smuggled large amounts of illicit money linked to the sale of narcotics, including fentanyl, from the US and took advantage of airport security checkpoints by using their trusted positions as flight attendants at the John F Kennedy International Airport, in New York.

This investigation has exposed critical vulnerabilities in the airline security industry and has illuminated methods that narcotics traffickers are utilizing, said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Special Agent in Charge Ivan Arvelo.

Todays announcement should serve as a warning to all airline personnel: HSI New York will not tolerate employees attempts to abuse their power for the sake of transporting illicit goods.

The defendants smuggled large amounts of illicit money linked to the sale of narcotics, including fentanyl, from the US and took advantage security checkpoints at JFK International Airport ( Getty Images )

All four of the defendants worked as flight attendants for different international airlines that operate between New York and the Dominican Republic. Each was a Known Crewmember with TSA that allowed them to pass through security checks with less scrutiny, prosecutors said.

The investigation noted the help of a cooperating witness, who told law enforcement about the methods which were used in the significant money laundering operation at the airports.

The methods included corrupting flight attendants, like the defendants, who worked routes between New York City and the Dominican Republic, the witness said.

In exchange for a fee  which generally amounted to a small percentage of the amount of money that they would be smuggling  the defendants allegedly accepted bulk cash from members of the operation in New York, got it past airport security via the special security lane, and passed it off to other members of the operation in the Dominican Republic.

US Attorney Damian Williams said: As alleged, these flight attendants smuggled millions of dollars of drug money and law enforcement funds that they thought was drug money from the United States to the Dominican Republic over many years by abusing their privileges as airline employees.

Todays charges should serve as a reminder to those who break the law by helping drug traffickers move their money that crime doesnt pay.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Surveillance footage has captured Karen Read and her police officer boyfriend in a Boston bar just hours before she is accused of running him over with her car and leaving him to die in a snowstorm.

In the footage, shown in court at Ms Reads murder trial on Thursday, the professor is seen embracing and kissing John OKeefe at CF McCarthys in Boston on the night of 28 January 2022.

OKeefe had been out celebrating the acceptance of his niece, who he had custody of, into private school, jurors at Norfolk Superior Court heard.

He was seen enjoying bottles of Bud Light with friends before Ms Read joined in later, sipping a vodka tonic.

The couple appear to be in good spirits, embracing and kissing each other at the bar.

Just hours later, OKeefe was found dead in the snow outside a fellow police officers house in the early hours of 29 January 2022.

Now, Ms Read  a financial analyst and former Bentley University professor  is on trial charged with second-degree murder and manslaughter.

Prosecutors allege that, after going to some bars, she dropped OKeefe off at the home of retired detective Brian Albert for an after party.

There, she allegedly intentionally ran him over with her black Lexus SUV while intoxicated and fled the scene.

However, Ms Reads attorneys have claimed that she is being framed by police as part of a vast conspiracy and cover-up.

Footage shows Karen Read embracing and kissing her boyfriend, John OKeefe ( AP )

Her attorneys claim OKeefe was actually beaten up by people at the after-party and thrown outside, arguing that his injuries were consistent with a severe beating, rather than with being struck by a car.

An autopsy found that OKeefe had several abrasions on his right forearm, two black eyes, a cut on his nose, a two-inch laceration to the back of his head and multiple skull fractures. Hypothermia was also a contributing factor in his death.

Ms Reads defence has also argued that a law enforcement official who investigated the case has personal ties to the family of Mr Albert. OKeefes body was found in the snow outside Mr Alberts home.

During the trial, witnesses have given their accounts of the night OKeefe died, with witness statements revealing that Ms Read and OKeefe met a friend, Jennifer McCabe, at a local bar on the evening of 28 January.

When the bar closed, the group were invited to the home of Brian and Nicole Albert.

Ms Read told investigators that she dropped OKeefe off at the Alberts home and went home because she had stomach problems.

In the early hours of 29 January, Ms McCabe said Ms Read called her in distress. The finance professor said she had tried to contact OKeefe and could not reach him, Ms McCabe told authorities.

They later met up with another friend, Kerry Roberts, who received similar calls from Ms Read.

Defendant Karen Read sits at the defense table during her trial ( AP )

Ms Roberts told police Ms Read called and said her boyfriend was dead, claiming he may have been hit by a snowplough. Ms McCabe also told police Ms Read asked her: Could I have hit him?

The group then said they found OKeefe lying unresponsive in the snow in front of the Alberts home. Ms Roberts began CPR, and Ms McCabe called the police.

After paramedics arrived, witnesses said Ms Read repeatedly asked if her boyfriend was dead. Responding troopers also observed Ms Read had a broken taillight.

Several first responders have testified that Ms Read told them loudly and repeatedly at the scene that she hit him, though she never said with her SUV.

Another witness, a police officer who was among the first on the scene, testified that Ms Read said it was her fault and that she was responsible  although she didnt say how she was responsible.

Prosecutors have argued that Ms Read and OKeefes relationship had been on the rocks prior to his death amid allegations that he was cheating and tensions over the two children in OKeefes care  his orphaned niece and nephew.

But OKeefes friends at the first bar testified in court that the couple seemed content and affectionate with one another that final night.

Meanwhile, Rebecca Trayers, the bartender at the last bar they visited, testified that no one in the group seemed overly drunk.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Police have released bodycam footage of the fatal shooting of an Air Force airman at his Florida home after his family alleged that an officer responded to the wrong address.

US Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot on 3 May 2024 by a deputy from the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office in Fort Walton Beach, Florida.

During a news conference on Thursday, Fortsons family claimed that the deputy went to the wrong apartment and did not announce himself to the service member when he banged on the mans door at the Elan Apartments by ARIUM.

On Thursday afternoon, the sheriffs office released four minutes of bodycam footage worn by the officer.

In the clip, the officer, who has not been identified by the department, is seen banging on the mans home three times and shouting Sheriffs office open the door twice.

Mr Fortson comes to the door and opens it. The officer then asks the man to step back and after seeing a firearm, immediately shoots him six times. Its unclear in the bodycam footage if Fortson indeed had a gun in his hand. After he was shot, the officer yelled at him to drop the gun. Fortson then replied with Its over there and said, I dont have it.

The deputy then radios to alert nearby police officers that shots have been fired at the residence and to request that emergency medical services respond to the scene. The Air Force member was taken to a nearby hospital where he died from his injuries.

The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office released bodycam footage in the shooting of Air Force service member Roger Fortson on Thursday ( Okaloosa County Sheriffs Department )

Speaking at a news conference, Sheriff Eric Aden maintained that the deputy did knock on the correct door and that any statements made by the family and Ben Crump, the famed civil rights attorney retained to represent them, are inaccurate.

The deputy has been placed on paid administrative leave until a formal investigation into the matter and an administrative review are complete, per standard protocol.

Mr Crump told reporters at a separate news conference on Thursday that Fortson heard a knock at the door and replied Who is it? but did not get a response. He then said the service member heard a second knock and tried to look through the peephole to see who it was but it appeared as though someone had tried to cover it up.

The man then went to retrieve a firearm, which he legally had in his possession, the attorney said. When he returned, the deputy had busted through the door and was in the apartment, Crump said.

That narrative differs from whats shown in the bodycam footage.

Fortsons girlfriend was on the phone with him at the time of the shooting, the attorney continued. Once he was shot, she said she could see him on the ground saying I cant breathe.

The mans family has called for a formal investigation into the matter. Sheriff Aden said that he has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to conduct the investigation, a step that is typical in such shootings. The state attorneys office will conduct an independent review.

Proving wrongdoing in the case could be difficult as most police policies allow officers to use force if theyre presented with a firearm.

Chantimekki Fortson, the airmans mother, appeared at the Thursday news conference clutching onto a framed Air Force portrait of her son and sobbing onto a friends shoulder.

Chantimekki Fortson, mother of Roger Fortson, a US Air Force airman, holds a photo of her son during a news conference regarding his death, along with family and Ben Crump ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

She described the service member as intelligent and compassionate.

Where we come from, you dont end up where Roger ended up, she said, speaking of her sons military accomplishments.

An Air Force spokesperson said Fortson had entered the service in November 2019. He was stationed in a special operations squadron based on Hurlburt Field, an air base in Okaloosa County.

His decorations included an Air Medal with C Device, meaning hed served in combat, and an Air Force Achievement Medal.

Ms Fortson demanded that the sheriffs department tell the truth about her son and clear his reputation, which she said has been tarnished by the sheriffs departments revelations.

I know my son did not do anything to you guys, she said.

The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office has faced criticism in the past.

Last year, a sheriffs deputy shot at an unarmed and handcuffed man after mistaking the sound of an acorn hitting his cruiser for a gunshot. The office determined that the deputy had used excessive force but he was cleared of criminal wrongdoing.

The deputy resigned while he was under investigation.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two hikers have been found dead on Californias Mount Whitney after they climbed the highest mountain in the lower 48 states and never returned to camp.

The Inyo County Sheriffs Department responded to a call about two overdue hikers on May 7 around 8.30pm PST from a person who had been hiking with the pair and had waited for them at their base camp.

The departments search and rescue team immediately launched a search of the 14,505ft mountain using a helicopter and foot teams. Authorities later recovered their bodies.

The two have been identified as 28-year-old Andrew Niziol and Patty Bolan, 29, by the neighbouring Tulare County Sheriffs Department, according to The Sacramento Bee.

The pair had intended to descend from the Notch, a critical point of the climb and ski or snowboard down the right side of the mountain to Upper Boy Scout Lake, where they had set up their camp.

Andrew Niziol (right) and Patty Bolan in an Instagram post from early May 2024 ( Supplied )

The pair appeared to be dating, according to Instagram posts from their accounts. In one post, Niziol described how the couple had climbed Mount Shasta days before heading to Mount Whitney.

This is the kind of living Ive dreamed about for 15 years, Niziol wrote in a post under a photo of him and Bolan. Ive finally surrounded myself with people to share these types of experiences with and I couldnt be more thankful.

A spokesperson for the Tulare County Sheriff-Coroners Office said that the couples bodies are currently in their custody and examinations are scheduled for next week.

Californias Mount Whitney ( Getty Images/iStockphoto )

Officials do not currently have a preliminary manner of death for the two.

The mountain has many potential natural hazards, according to the US Forest Service. Those include, high altitude, steep terrain, snow and ice on the trail, high winds, lightning storms and severe winter weather.

According to the US Forest Service, conditions on the mountain currently include patches of snow, with a part of a trail becoming almost completely covered in snow.

Andrew Niziol (right) and Patty Bolan in an Instagram post. The couples bodies were later recovered after they did not return to their camp at Mount Whitney ( Supplied )

Mount Whitney is the eleventh-highest peak in the US, with the top ten all located in Alaska. It sits between the Sierra Nevada Mountains and the Inyo National Forest, around four hours north of Los Angeles.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Dozens of young Venezuelan women have denounced a woman called Rebeca Garcia, who they claim has been harassing, stalking and threatening them over multiple years.

The case has now gone viral on social media in Latin America, in part because of the overwhelming response to the victims accounts and pleas for justice in the country where officials have claimed that harassment between women doesnt exist.

Ms Garcia, who is now being referred to as the Venezuelan Baby Reindeer by Latin American media, has been accused of sending hundreds of inappropriate emails to her victims, breaking into their residences, and publishing a book on Amazon detailing false encounters and fantasies with multiple women.

Over the years, her victims have reported her to Venezuelan authorities without success, claiming officials dismissed the case under the pretexts that Ms Garcia has obvious mental deterioration and that harassment between women doesnt exist.

One of the first victims to speak out against Ms Garcias alleged harassment was the Venezuelan makeup artist Anny De Trindade, who claims that she has called me from different phone numbers, written on Instagram, insists on sending me gifts to my work and even painted graffiti near where she lives.

In her thread, Ms Triande shared screenshots of emails Ms Garcia has sent her detailing crude sexual acts she wants to engage in with her and saying she will regret treating me this way.

Rebeca is a woman who has dedicated her life to harassing innocent women, wrote Ms Triande. I am sick and tired of the law protecting her just because she is a woman.

Claudia Aguirrezabal, another victim under the username @cocoaguirre, claimed that Ms Garcia came almost daily to my building, filled my entire street with graffitis with my name, my last name, my username and sent her hundreds of messages a day. She claims that the harassment worsened in 2020, and took a turn for the worse after she broke into her building and jumped on top of her car asking to be let in.

[During the pandemic] we were able to keep the situation under control, Ms Aguirrezabal wrote. However, after Covid restrictions lifted, the police refused to physically remove Garcia from Aguirrezabals house and said they could only ask Rebeca to leave, since (in their words) they could not stop her because of her obvious mental deterioration. Ms Aguirrezabal claims that Ms Garcia has been hospitalized in the past, but always resumes her harassment once she is out.

In the screenshots that Aguirrezabal shared of Garcias emails, the alleged stalker sends her pictures from inside her apartment complex with the caption The killer is inside the house. In another email, Ms Garcia tells Ms Aguirrezabal if somebody is touching you, I am going to kill them as that is disrespectful to us and our relationship.

Ms Aguirrezabal maintains that, even though they went to the same school, they were five years apart, and she never met, spoken or had a relationship with Ms Garcia.

Ms Garcia has also written a 518-word book titled libro para cocoaguirre [book for cocoaguirre] in which she details sexual fantasies and false encounters with her victims.

In it, she writes about waiting outside of Ms Aguirrezabals house to see her car arrive. She also talks about wanting to crash a party Ms Aguirrezabal and her friends were attending that weekend before going into a tirade against Ms Aguirrezabal and her friends asking God to let her see them again and then saying she wants them to get away because she has humiliated herself enough for them.

It is a problem that has no end and [that I have felt] has no solution, Ms Aguirrezabal wrote. It has been 7 years of fear of going out alone, of having to hide, of having to explain why my name is written all over my street, of being afraid.

A majority of Ms Garcias alleged victims, who have gone to the El Hatillo Police in Caracas, the Scientific, Criminal and Criminalistic Investigations Corps (Cicpc) and the Ministry of Internal Relations, have faced obstacles due to Ms Garcias alleged psychiatric disorders.

Furthermore, they have failed to file official complaints because of Ms Garcias gender in the past. According to Ms Aguirrezabal, the officer in charge at the Venezuelan Public Ministry told her and Ms Trindade that there is no law protecting harassment of women against women when they tried to file another complaint.

However, on Tuesday, after the threads went viral on X, the prosecutors office started investigating Ms Garcia for sexual harassment and death threats. The Federal Public Prosecutors Office had already received four formal complaints, mostly from women and children.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A Florida man has spoken out after he was attacked by two sharks off the coast of the Bahamas, revealing that it felt like a punch.

Marlin Deere Wakeman, 24, was at the Flying Fish Marina on Long Island in the Bahamas on 26 April when he slipped and fell from a dock and landed in the shark-infested ocean.

When I ended up in the water, I pretty much knew what was going to happen, Mr Wakeman told reporters in Florida on Thursday, saying that the waters are sometimes so crowded with sharks that you could almost walk on their heads.

Next thing he knew, he was under attack from two sharks.

He grabbed me, pulled my head underwater and then let go of me, he said of the first shark bite to his knee. I got really lucky he didnt head shake or hold on for a while.

Another shark then bit his shoulder, he said.

At that point, the adrenaline kicked in and Mr Wakeman pulled himself back onto his boat.

I had so much adrenaline going through my body that it was like a fight or flight kind of thing, he said. I got back into the boat and kind of assessed what happened and looked at my leg. It wasnt really bleeding yet. It was kind of, you know, all mangled.

He said that it felt like a punch when the shark bit his shoulder, adding: You really dont feel the teeth going in.

Marlin Wakeman, 24, seen having treatment (left) after being attacked by two sharks in the Bahamas ( ABC News 10/WPLG/CNN/Marlin Wakeman )

After getting to safety, Mr Wakemans friend texted his father to let him know what had happened.

As a parent, I can tell you that time really does stand still, Rufus Wakeman said on Thursday. Everything in the periphery goes to a blur. Its the worst type of text you can get.

He knew a surgeon at St Marys Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, and so flew his son there for treatment.

Mr Wakeman underwent stitches for his injuries, with doctors saying it was amazing that he had managed to keep all of his limbs. His stitches came out on Thursday.

Marlin Wakeman seen shortly after he was attacked by two sharks on 26 April 2024 ( ABC News 10/Marlin Wakeman )

Doctors said that one of the bites was dangerously close to an artery, meaning things could have ended very differently.

The fact that there are 20 sharks in there and you were able to get out of there and still have a leg is amazing, Dr Robert Borrego, the surgeon who treated Marlin, told him at Thursdays press conference.

The surgeon estimated that the sharks which bit Mr Wakeman were between seven and eight feet long, judging by the size of the bite marks.

Despite the lucky escape, photos show Mr Wakeman smiling throughout much of what he described as a pretty crazy experience.

While he is still on crutches for now, he has vowed to head back to the Bahamas as soon as he can.

Maybe Ill have some nightmares here and there, but I think Ill be all right, he said.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two skiers were killed and one rescued after an avalanche in the mountains outside Salt Lake City in Utah, officials say.

A rescue team responded on Thursday morning to the avalanche near Lone Peak in the Wasatch Range, according to Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera.

One of the skiers caught up in the avalanche was able to dig out and was rescued and taken to hospital.

A rescue team in a helicopter were able to confirm that two skiers, aged 23 and 32, had been killed. Officials have not released their names.

The sheriff said that the conditions on the mountain were not safe enough to attempt a recovery of the bodies on Thursday, and that if the weather improves another attempt will be made on Friday morning.

He added that the skier who was recovered is believed to have raised the alarm and that investigators were speaking with him at the hospital to get more details on what happened to the men.

.Several agencies, including the Unified Fire Authority, Draper Fire, Sandy Fire, the National Forest Service and the Unified Police Department of Salt Lake, were all involved in the operation.

According to The Salt Lake Tribune, the rescued skier walked to an ambulance after being airlifted from the mountain and the vehicle left without emergency lights or sirens.

Around two feet of snow is reported to have fallen in the area in recent weeks, but it is not clear what the covering was like on Lone Peak.

The town of Alta, Utah, sits below Snowbird in Little Cottonwood Canyon 9 May 2024 ( AP )

Most avalanches happen between December and April, but they can happen at any time of year, including during the spring when melting snow can cause issues.

In March 2024, 14 people were caught in avalanches in Utah, according to the Utah Avalanche Center.

The Lone Peak wilderness area is in the Wasatch Range, southeast of Salt Lake City. It is popular with hikers and skiers alike, with the United States Forest Service describing some of the terrain as very rugged.
The latest headlines from our reporters across the US sent straight to your inbox each weekday Your briefing on the latest headlines from across the US Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

A woman is suing Hawaii s tourism authority following the allegedly preventable snorkelling death of her husband.

Ray Johnson, 64, developed trouble breathing while snorkelling off a beach in Maui, Hawaii .

The Michigan father-of-four was helped ashore by a friend, as he remained responsive and even talked, wife Patti said. Just moments later, Mr Johnson passed away right in front of her.

A coroner officially ruled that he died by drowning , according to Mrs Johnsons lawsuit. But the widow was left with a sinking feeling when she received the results of the post-mortem.

It didnt make sense when I received the autopsy report that just said drowning, she recently told ABC 7.

I was watching him come in. When youre drowning, I dont think youre making your way in. I dont think youre talking to the people youre with.

Mr and Mrs Johnson had been married for 38 years. Since his death on 25 February, 2022, theres barely a minute in my life that goes by that I dont think about him, the devastated widow said.

Patti Johnson blames the state of Hawaii for her husbands death ( Fox News )

Now, Mrs Johnson is suing Fairmont Kea Lani resort, the Hawaiian Tourism Authority and Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Rather than drowning, she suspected her husbands death could be due to a condition called rapid onset pulmonary edema (ROPE).

Mrs Johnsons attorney, Jay Stuemke, claims that its impossible for an autopsy to determine if someone died by drowning or ROPE, despite the coroners ruling.

Resistance to inhalation sets off this negative pressure in your lungs, and then your bodily fluids start to intrude into this really delicate mechanism, Dr Philip Foti, an Oahu pulmonologist, told the Associated Press.

Between 2009 and 2018, ROPE  a form of hypoxia, or asphyxiation, a persons lungs fill with bodily fluid, resulting in a difficulty in breathing  was linked with 206 Hawaii drownings, according to a study conducted by the state Department of Healths Snorkel Safety Sub-Committee.

Mrs Johnsons lawsuit cited the studys author, who wrote that probably most snorkel-related fatal drownings were attributable to ROPE.

Ray Johnson passed away aged 64 ( Patti Johnson )

It also stated a number of risk factors can contribute to ROPE deaths, including the physiological effects of recent air travel.

Waiting just three days before snorkelling in the ocean can dramatically reduce the risk of developing the condition, according to Dr Meilan Han, a respiratory health specialist at the University of Michigan.

The pressurised environment of an aircraft cabin may affect the permeability of the lungs membranes, thus, increasing the chances of an individual developing ROPE, Mrs Johnsons attorney told Fox News.

Ray shouldve been told that he was at particular risk of this for a variety of reasons, including the fact that hed just flown in, he added.

Mrs Johnson believes that had Hawaiis tourism authority notified the couple about the complications of the condition, they would have drunk Mai Tais for a couple days around the pool.

She has begun printing small cards with details about ROPE in order to try to educate tourists about the conditions, where the state of Hawaii and the tourism industry have purportedly failed.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Two former political associates of Representative Henry Cuellar have pleaded guilty to conspiring to help the Texas Democrat launder more than $200,000 in bribes and agreed to assist federal prosecutors in their criminal investigation.

Colin Strother, Mr Cuellars former chief of staff and campaign manager, and Florencia Rendon, a business consultant who was close to Mr Cuellar, struck plea deals in March to ensure their cooperation in a Department of Justice (DoJ) investigation into Cuellar and his wife, court documents unsealed this week revealed.

Mr Cuellar and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, have been charged with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico, in exchange for advancing the interests of the country and the bank in the US.

Mr Strother and Mr Rendon were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering from Mexico in connection to the alleged scheme. Prosecutors allege that the two came up with the idea for the alleged scheme in 2015 after learning that the bank was struggling.

Both men agreed to plead guilty to the charge. Mr Strother, 50, faces up to five years in prison, while Mr Rendon, 73, faces up to 20 years.

Investigators said Mr Rendon and Mr Cuellar were at a conference in Mexico City in 2015 when they hatched a plan to draft fake consulting contracts with the bank for $15k per month where Mr Rendon would funnel most of its proceeds to Ms Cuellar.

Mr Rendon would send $11,000 per month to Mr Srother, who then transferred monthly payments to the Cuellars of $10,000. Between March 2016 and February 2018, Mr Strother transferred more than $200,000 to the Cuellars, according to the plea agreement.

According to the indictment against the Cuellars, Ms Cuellar performed little or no legitimate work in exchange for payment.

Attorneys for Strother and Rendon did not immediately return email and telephone messages seeking comment.

Henry Cuellar is accused of accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes ( Getty Images )

In addition to bribery and conspiracy, Mr Cuellar and his wife face charges including wire fraud conspiracy, acting as agents of foreign principals and money laundering.

If convicted, they face up to decades in prison and forfeiture of any property linked to proceeds from the alleged scheme.

The couple surrendered to authorities last week and were briefly taken into custody. They made an initial appearance before a federal judge in Houston and were each released on a $100,000 bond.

Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas, Mr Cuellar said last week. Before I took action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm."

Mr Cuellar maintains that he and his wife are innocent.

With additional reporting for the Associated Press
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

One of Donald Trumps chief White House aides sobbed on the witness stand while testifying at his hush money trial as she remembered her former boss firing her from his administration after what she called a regretful youthful indiscretion.

Madeleine Westerhout is one of two key Trump administration figures who have testified in his case in Manhattan, where the former president is charged with falsifying business records as part of an alleged cover up to keep the story of a sexual encounter with Stormy Daniels hidden from voters in the lead up to the 2016 presidential election.

I feel like I learned a lot from that experience and I have learned a lot since then, said Ms Westerhout, who dabbed her eyes with a tissue during her testimony on Thursday.

Ms Westerhout, who served as Mr Trumps executive assistant in the first few years of his administration, was reportedly fired in August 2019 after telling reporters that she has a better relationship with Mr Trump than his daughters.

It was too bad, Mr Trump said at the time. He called her a very good person and he wished her well.

She later wrote about her experience at the White House in the book Off the Record: My Dream Job at the White House, How I Lost It, and What I Learned.

On Thursday, as her voice was breaking, she said she wrote the book to share with the American people that the man that I got to know I dont think hes treated fairly and I wanted to tell that story.

A courtroom sketch depicts former White House aide Madeleine Westerhaut testifying during Donald Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan on 9 May. ( REUTERS )

Prosecutors have relied on testimony from former Trump Organization employees to show how cheques for his then attorney Michael Cohen were cut from Trump Tower in New York, then sent via FedEx to Washington DC, where Mr Trump would sign them from the White House.

Those cheques included monthly instalments to Cohen to reimburse him for the $130,000 he wired to Ms Daniels attorney as part of a nondisclosure agreement that would ensure her silence about her alleged sexual encounter with Mr Trump in 2006.

On Thursday, Ms Westerhouts testimony detailed how FedEx envelopes would be mailed to Mr Trumps bodyguards home address in Washington DC, and then handed over to Ms Westerhaut at the White House.

The cheques came in a FedEx envelope, so I opened the envelope and inside was a manila folder with a stack of cheques, she said.

She then gave those cheques to Mr Trump to sign.

I dont recall how frequently but it was consistent. Maybe twice a month, she said.

Sometimes there was one, and sometimes a stack half an inch thick, she said.

Invoices, pay stubs, ledger entries and company accounting software showed that those cheques to Cohen were labelled as legal expenses, which Manhattan prosecutors argue concealed the true nature of the payments, which was part of a so-called hush money scheme to unlawfully influence the 2016 election by keeping potentially politically compromising stories away from voters.

That scheme became more urgent after the release of a 2005 tape that captured Mr Trump bragging about grabbing womens genitals.

The release of the Access Hollywood tape prompted Republican officials with the Republican National Committee to have conversations about how, if necessary, they could replace him as a candidate if it came to that, according to Ms Westerhout, who worked for the RNC before she was brought into the administration in 2017.

A courtroom sketch depicts former White House aide Madeleine Westerhaut testifying during Donald Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan on 9 May. ( AP )

The tape did not impact Mr Trumps relationship with his wife Melania, according to Ms Westerhout.

I believe they have a relationship of mutual respect. I just found their relationship really special, and he really cares a lot about her opinion, she said.

Under cross examination from Mr Trumps attorneys, she said Mr Trump never once made me feel like I didnt belong there and was a really good boss.

I just found him very enjoyable to work for, she said.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trumps former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen  who is now a central witness in his New York hush money case  is expected to begin his hotly-anticipated testimony in the trial on Monday, according to reporting by NBC News.

The former attorney is a key part of the prosecutions case against the former president, who is on trial charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in order to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels in a bid to influence the 2016 presidential election.

According to prosecutors, Cohen paid Ms Daniels $130,000 to prevent her from going public with a potentially damaging story about an alleged affair she had with Mr Trump back in 2006. The bid to silence her was part of a larger catch-and-kill scheme that Cohen has admitted to participating in with Mr Trump and former tabloid publisher David Pecker in order to improve Mr Trumps image in the lead-up to the 2016 election.

Mr Trump later repaid Cohen for the hush-money payment but allegedly misrepresented those payments as part of his attorney retainer.

Mr Trump denies having an affair with Ms Daniels and maintains that the payments to Cohen were for legal services.

Cohen is a central figure in the prosecutions case and his testimony is likely to last several days given Mr Pecker  another prominent witness  testified across four days in the case.

Michael Cohen, a former lawyer for Donald Trump, in court at the former presidents civil fraud trial in October. He is expected to testify in the New York criminal trial next week ( Getty Images )

As Mr Trumps former lawyer and fixer, Cohen was one of the closest people to the situation at the heart of the case and was in the rare position of being a confidante to the former president for seven years.

His testimony is expected to shine a light on Mr Trumps intentions in concealing the hush money payments as part of his non-existent retainer. Cohen gave similar testimony before Congress in 2019.

But whether or not the jury finds Cohen credible is likely to be a key question in the case.

Under cross-examination, the former presidents defense team is expected to hound Cohen about his history of lying  likely pointing to the former lawyer pleading guilty to lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Russia, his disbarment and the time he spent in prison for tax evasion.

The defence team may also point to Cohens recent social media tirade against the former president to paint the former lawyer as a scorned ex-employee.

Former US president Donald Trump watches as Stormy Daniels is questioned by defense attorney Susan Necheles ( REUTERS )

So far the jury has heard from other key witnesses who have testified about Cohens role in the case.

FormerNational Enquirer boss Mr Pecker admitted to participating in the catch-and-kill scheme with Mr Trump and Cohen in order to suppress negative stories that could hurt the then-presidential candidates reputation.

Former Trump aide Hope Hicks also testified to the behind-the-scenes chaos that occurred when Mr Trumps shocking comments about women in an Access Hollywood tape were made public days before the election.

Rhona Graff, a former assistant to Mr Trump, testified to seeing Ms Daniels in Trump Tower while a former managing director at First Republic Bank testified to working with Cohen about opening two limited liability companies  one that eventually would be used to pay Ms Daniels the $130,000 payment.

This week, Ms Daniels took the stand and offered detailed testimony about her alleged sexual encounter with the former president and accepting the $130,000 payment from Cohen years later.

Though she faced a grilling from Mr Trumps defense team under cross-examination, Ms Daniels remained controlled and stood by her account on the stand.

Now, Cohen will likely be one of the final witnesses for the prosecution before Mr Trumps defence begins its case.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Michael Cohen was once so close to Donald Trump that he said he would take a bullet for him.

In the seven years since professing his unwavering loyalty, the former lawyer and fixer has suffered his own very public downfall and criminal conviction, and has now been recast as the star witness in the Manhattan district attorneys hush money case against the former president.

It is a role that Cohen both relishes  as a reformed truth-teller who enthusiastically pulls back the curtain on the alleged murky dealings of Trumpworld  and reviles.

Before he testified in the trial, some of those close to Cohen told The Independent that he faced significant risks by taking the stand against his former boss.

His family and Michael are still under risk because of Mr Trumps hateful attacks and what he does on social media, said Lanny Davis, Cohens friend and legal advisor, who is not involved in the hush money trial.

Cohen is a wounded human being who fears for his family, Mr Davis added.

The former lawyer cannot have been unaware of the profound significance of his testifying for the prosecution against Mr Trump at the first-ever criminal trial of a US president, which could yet see the defendant sentenced to a jail term at a time when he is campaigning for a return to the White House.

Michael Cohen pictured with Donald Trump at a campaign stop in Ohio ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The pair have since been reunited at Mr Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan ( Reuters )

Mr Trump is accused of 34 counts of falsifying business records over payments made to porn star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about their alleged affair ahead of the 2016 election. Cohen, who at that point was Mr Trumps attorney and fixer for a decade, said that he delivered the payments, totalling $130,000, to Ms Daniels  and did so at the direction of the former president.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied the affair but admitted on Twitter in May 2018 that he had reimbursed Cohen for the sum.

In taking the stand, Cohen once more found himself face-to-face with the man he now describes as a cheat, con man  and more recently, Von S***zInPantz.

Since their relationship imploded in 2018, Mr Trump has verbally attacked his one-time confidante again and again. He disparaged Cohen from the White House and has continued ever since on social media, branding him a liar, sleazebag and rat to his nearly seven million Truth Social followers.

Mr Trump has assailed Cohens credibility, pointing out that his former lawyer pleaded guilty in federal court to lying to Congress about a Trump Tower project in Russia. The former president also highlighted that Cohens bid to reduce his court-ordered supervised release was rejected by a judge, who suggested that the disbarred lawyer had perjured himself over tax evasion claims.

Stormy Daniels, pictured in 2018. Mr Trump allegedly paid her $130,000 to keep quiet about an affair ahead of the 2016 election. Mr Trump has denied the affair ( AP )

But Mr Trumps posts about Cohen also attracted the attention of prosecutors in the hush money trial, who used the evidence to bolster accusations that the former president had violated his gag order.

Cohen declined to discuss specifics of the trial with The Independent.

But in a text message in April, he wrote that, in the face of Mr Trumps attacks, he was feeling stronger than I ever imagined, adding that the truth will prevail. (He has since issued a self-imposed gag order on himself ahead of his testimony.)

But despite this show of bravado, Cohen previously confessed that he didnt want to testify in the hush money case but was compelled to by subpoena. His decision to tell the truth has taken a toll, he claimed.

Cohen said that he had received emails, social media posts and texts from Trump-supporting haters.

Lanny Davis, Cohens former legal adviser and friend, pictured in 2018. He is not involved in the ongoing criminal case in Manhattan but told The Independent that Cohen is under risk ( AFP/Getty )

I just got one, he said on a March episode of Mea Culpa, the regular podcast he started in 2020. F*** you, traitor, snitch and all-around c*** sucker.

Cohen also brought up the disturbing messages on Political Beatdown, another podcast that he co-hosts. Earlier this month, Cohen accused Mr Trump of blowing the dog whistle by which he meant igniting the MAGA, right-wing group.

Why does my life need to be threatened on a daily basis? he wondered aloud on the show.

Public property records show that Cohen still has a home in a Trump-branded building in Manhattan. In December, he acknowledged owning property in the luxury residence  despite his fractious relationship with the former president  and tweeted that he would move from the building when Im ready.

A source with knowledge of the matter told The Independent that he is not currently living in that apartment.

Mr Davis speaks with Cohen after he testified to the Senate Intelligence Committee on Capitol Hill on 26 February 2019, where he unveiled information that is now being used in the hush money case ( Getty )

Cohen is married to Laura Shusterman and has two adult children, Samantha and Jake. Samantha Cohen, a Penn graduate-turned-digital creator with a podcast of her own, has spoken about how their lives were upended by her fathers exile from Trumpworld.

The level of hatred and vitriol thrown at us terrifies me, Samantha Cohen told Vanity Fair in 2020. I get that people are angry. I get that people hate Trump. But think about the effect that has on a person, on their family, on the people who love them.

And its not just immediate family. Mr Davis, who joined the former fixers legal team in 2018 after meeting him through a mutual friend, is under a security risk and threats just like everybody else who was involved with Michael Cohen, he said.

Mr Davis, former special counsel to president Bill Clinton, emphasized just how serious the situation is for Cohen and his family but declined to discuss specific threats, fearing that to do so would exacerbate the problem.

Mr Trump at the Manhattan criminal courthouse on 26 April 2024. He has pleaded not guilty and has denied any wrongdoing in the hush money case, the first-ever criminal trial of a US president ( AP )

He decided to tell the truth after lying for Donald Trump for 10 years, Mr Davis told The Independent. He recalled Cohens explosive testimony to Congress where he displayed the checks he had written to Ms Daniels, a moment that arguably lit the match that has ended up in Mr Trumps hush money trial five years later.

Cohen himself pleaded guilty to tax evasion, lying to Congress, and campaign finance violations in August 2018 and served three years, largely in home confinement. To this day, he is on supervised release.

He paid his price, Mr Davis said. Michael is fearful to this day. But hes standing up and telling the truth.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Rudy Giuliani has been suspended from his radio show for peddling false claims about the 2020 presidential election live on air.

WABCs billionaire owner John Catsimatidis, who is also a Republican donor, told The New York Times that he had axed the former New York City mayor from The Rudy Giuliani Show and the radio show has been cancelled because he failed to comply with the stations policy around the election.

Mr Catsimatidis said that Mr Giuliani had been given repeated warnings before his ousting.

Were not going to talk about fallacies of the November 2020 election, Mr Catsimatidis told the outlet.

We warned him once. We warned him twice. And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it.

In the end, the former personal attorney to Donald Trump gave him no other choice but to suspend him, he said.

The final blow came on Thursday, when Mr Giuliani tried to speak about election-related issues live on air, prompting station employees to cut him off, The New York Times reported.

Now, his ousting from the show that aired every weekday and on Sunday, Mr Giuliani has lost one of his main ways of communicating with the public as well as a source of income.

Mr Giuliani only earned advertising revenue from the show and was not paid a salary.

Rudy Giuliani speaks to reporters at a press conference in December 2023 ( AP )

The loss of income for the man formerly known as Americas mayor before becoming synonymous with pushing election conspiracies comes after he filed for bankruptcy in December.

As well as his financial woes, Mr Giuliani is also facing multiple criminal charges after being indicted on charges of attempting to overturn the results of the 2020 election in Georgia and Arizona.

The trained attorney has also been disbarred in Washington DC and New York.

In an emailed statement to The Independent, Giuliani said he learned of his firing from the story in The New York Times and claims he was unaware of a policy against him speaking out about the 2020 election.

How can you possibly believe that when Ive been regularly commenting on the 2020 election for three and a half years, and Ive talked about the case in Georgia incessantly ever since the verdict in December, Giuliani said.

Even if such a policy did exist, he stated that it was violated so often that it couldnt be taken seriously.

He called the directive a clear violation of free speech and said hed be addressing the subject at-length during an 8pm livestream.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon could soon be heading to jail after a federal court of appeals upheld his contempt of Congress conviction for failing to testify about the January 6 Capitol riot.

In a ruling on Friday morning, a three-judge panel with the Washington DC Court of Appeals denied Bannons appeal.

As both this court and the Supreme Court have repeatedly explained, a contrary rule would contravene the text of the contempt statute and hamstring Congresss investigatory authority, Judge Bradley Garcia wrote.

Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannons other challenges to his convictions have merit, we affirm.

The ruling puts Bannon closer to facing his four-month jail sentence, which was on pause while the appeal played out.

A Washington DC jury convicted Bannon back in July 2022 with contempt of Congress after he failed to comply with a congressional subpoena related to the January 6 2021 Capitol riot.

In 2021, the investigating committee asked him to testify and produce documents related to the riots, but he refused to do so, according to the Washington DC US Attorneys office.

Bannon was sentenced to four months in jail and handed a $6,500 fine in October 2022.

His sentence was put on hold after his legal team appealed the conviction.

Steve Bannon, pictured speaking at the 2024 Conservative Political Action Conference, lost his appeal to overturn his contempt of Congress conviction ( Getty Images )

In their appeal, Bannons legal team argued the former-Trump aide did not willfully reject the subpoena, claiming he was only following the advice of his lawyers by not responding to it. But the appeals court didnt buy this argument.

Bannon still has legal options, however. His attorney, David Schoen, told The Independent Bannon will appeal to the full panel of judges serving in the capitals highest court. He could also petition the US Supreme Court to hear his appeal.

The Independent has contacted Bannons attorney and the Washington DC US Attorneys office for comment.

Peter Navarro, a fellow aide to Mr Trump, was also charged with contempt of Congress after failing to comply with a subpoena for the 6 January investigation. He was sentenced to four months in January and began his sentence in March after the Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal.

Bannon is also expected in court this September for his New York fraud trial.

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Braggs office has accused him of duping donors into sending funds to build a wall along the US-Mexico border, arguing Bannon used the money for his personal gain instead.

In the case, Bannon is charged with money laundering, conspiracy, fraud.

He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The trial was originally set to begin this month but was pushed back because of Mr Trumps hush money trial, which is being presided over by the same judge: Justice Juan Merchan.
Blog Archive: Oct 2024 (60) Sep 2024 (149) Aug 2024 (155) Jul 2024 (155) Jun 2024 (150) May 2024 (153) Apr 2024 (149) Mar 2024 (155) Feb 2024 (145) Jan 2024 (156) Dec 2023 (155) Nov 2023 (150) Oct 2023 (155) Sep 2023 (150) Aug 2023 (155) Jul 2023 (155) Jun 2023 (150) May 2023 (155) Apr 2023 (150) Mar 2023 (155) Feb 2023 (140) Jan 2023 (155) Dec 2022 (156) Nov 2022 (150) Oct 2022 (155) Sep 2022 (150) Aug 2022 (155) Jul 2022 (154) Jun 2022 (150) May 2022 (155) Apr 2022 (150) Mar 2022 (155) Feb 2022 (140) Jan 2022 (156) Dec 2021 (156) Nov 2021 (150) Oct 2021 (155) Sep 2021 (150) Aug 2021 (155) Jul 2021 (155) Jun 2021 (150) May 2021 (155) Apr 2021 (150) Mar 2021 (155) Feb 2021 (140) Jan 2021 (155) Dec 2020 (155) Nov 2020 (150) Oct 2020 (158) Sep 2020 (150) Aug 2020 (130) Jul 2020 (124) Jun 2020 (120) May 2020 (124) Apr 2020 (120) Mar 2020 (124) Feb 2020 (116) Jan 2020 (125) Dec 2019 (126) Nov 2019 (120) Oct 2019 (124) Sep 2019 (120) Aug 2019 (125) Jul 2019 (124) Jun 2019 (120) May 2019 (123) Apr 2019 (121) Mar 2019 (124) Feb 2019 (112) Jan 2019 (125) Dec 2018 (126) Nov 2018 (120) Oct 2018 (124) Sep 2018 (121) Aug 2018 (124) Jul 2018 (125) Jun 2018 (120) May 2018 (124) Apr 2018 (121) Mar 2018 (124) Feb 2018 (112) Jan 2018 (123) Dec 2017 (124) Nov 2017 (124) Oct 2017 (141) Sep 2017 (135) Aug 2017 (138) Jul 2017 (137) Jun 2017 (134) May 2017 (138) Apr 2017 (135) Mar 2017 (139) Feb 2017 (129) Jan 2017 (143) Dec 2016 (135) Nov 2016 (138) Oct 2016 (142) Sep 2016 (128) Aug 2016 (133) Jul 2016 (136) Jun 2016 (138) May 2016 (164) Apr 2016 (311) Mar 2016 (348) Feb 2016 (320) Jan 2016 (348) Dec 2015 (314) Nov 2015 (338) Oct 2015 (363) Sep 2015 (358) Aug 2015 (399) Jul 2015 (374) Jun 2015 (331) May 2015 (337) Apr 2015 (319) Mar 2015 (320) Feb 2015 (271) Jan 2015 (286) Dec 2014 (254) Nov 2014 (238) Oct 2014 (287) Sep 2014 (267) Aug 2014 (259) Jul 2014 (260) Jun 2014 (238) May 2014 (241) Apr 2014 (228) Mar 2014 (240) Feb 2014 (217) Jan 2014 (263) Dec 2013 (226) Nov 2013 (254) Oct 2013 (256) Sep 2013 (252) Aug 2013 (263) Jul 2013 (261) Jun 2013 (251) May 2013 (250) Apr 2013 (221) Mar 2013 (193) Feb 2013 (164) Jan 2013 (157) Dec 2012 (155) Nov 2012 (240) Oct 2012 (526) Sep 2012 (411) Aug 2012 (394) Jul 2012 (284) Jun 2012 (229) May 2012 (213) Apr 2012 (213) Mar 2012 (253) Feb 2012 (269) Jan 2012 (298) Dec 2011 (273) Nov 2011 (219) Oct 2011 (204) Sep 2011 (201) Aug 2011 (236) Jul 2011 (217) Jun 2011 (211) May 2011 (206) Apr 2011 (215) Mar 2011 (215) Feb 2011 (186) Jan 2011 (215) Dec 2010 (107) Nov 2010 (98) Oct 2010 (55)
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden need to woo over Nikki Haleys former voters, given that polling shows the two candidates running neck-and-neck. The existence of a significant amount of double haters who dislike the fact that theyre being asked to show up, once again, for the same two men from 2020 only makes this issue more severe.

But this week showed that both men will face an uphill struggle.

On Wednesday, Haley joined a chorus of Republicans  including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Mitt Romney  when she assailed Biden on Twitter/X for his decision to withhold arms from Israel.

An American president siding with Iran over one of our strongest allies is unforgivable, she tweeted. Israel didnt start this war, Hamas did. Withholding ammunition helps our enemies win and puts American lives at risk, including the hostages still held in Gaza.

Despite serving as Trumps ambassador to the United Nations, Haley always had a more traditional George W Bush-style approach to foreign policy, which includes supporting allies like Israel. In 2017, she notably stood alone and vetoed the United Nations resolution that requested the Trump administration rescind its recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital.

During the Republican primary debates, she fiercely criticized businessman and political gadfly Vivek Ramaswamy for not wanting to provide aid to Israel.

Biden has made deliberate attempts to reach out to Republican voters who dont want to cast a ballot for Trump. After Haley suspended her campaign, Biden said, I want to be clear: There is a place for [her voters] in my campaign. Last month, Bidens campaign launched an ad that said Haley voters should save America. Join us.

Having Haley call out Biden on his Israel policy might make it more difficult for the president to make the case that they are natural allies, despite whatever objections they have to Trump.

Haleys criticisms came as Democratic senators who have wanted Biden to do more to hold Israel accountable praised his decision to withhold military aid and progressive members of the Squad defended it. The president doesnt usually rely on the left flank of his party for defense, and this reversal of fortunes shows just how perilous the politics of Israel and Gaza are  especially as those same Democrats become more critical of Bidens previously unconditional support for Israel.

Former vice president Mike Pence, who said he would not endorse Trump, has also assailed Biden.

Pences home state of Indiana held its Republican primary on Tuesday. Trump overwhelmingly won the primary, which was unsurprising to most people. Nevertheless, an interesting development did come out of it: Despite the fact that Haley ended her campaign two months ago, she still garnered almost 22 per cent of the vote.

She did best in Marion County, the home of the capital city of Indianapolis, where she earned 35 per cent of the vote. She also earned 34 per cent of the vote in neighboring Hamilton County.

This comes after Pennsylvania held its primary a few weeks ago. Haley received only 16.6 per cent of the vote, but she performed well in the so-called collar counties that include the suburbs of Philadelphia. She earned 19 per cent in Bucks County; 25 per cent in Montgomery County; 25 per cent in Chester County; and 23 per cent in Delaware County.

The fact Trump has failed to wrangle the Republican coalition  and so voters are casting ballots for someone who is no longer seriously pursuing the presidency  shows just how unpopular of a nominee he is.

At the same time, some important caveats exist. Indiana had an open primary, meaning independents and Democrats could also participate. Trump could very well be doing much better with actual Republicans. And many of those voters who picked Haley will probably already fall into the Biden-sympathetic camp, meaning that Bidens moves on Israel likely will not move them that much.

The fact Haley has refused to endorse Trump more than two months after dropping out shows she also has not specifically signaled for her voters to come home to the Republican party.

At the same time, the fact that she is still putting out statements excoriating Biden shows she still sees herself as a future Republican player and does not want people to perceive her as a conservative dissident.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Donald Trump has been uncharacteristically quiet on what is likely to be one of the biggest foreign policy issues of his second term, should he win in November. But in the few interviews and statements he has given on Israel and the war in Gaza, the former president has shown signs that he may be cooling in his support for the longtime US ally.

In two recent interviews, the former president spoke about how he had been disturbed by images and videos showing civilians bearing the brunt of the onslaught and called for an end to the war.

Youve got to get it over with, and you have to get back to normalcy, he said in an interview with The Hugh Hewitt Show that aired Thursday, adding that he wanted Israel to get back to peace and stop killing people.

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

His comments come a week after he made similar statements to Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom .

I think Israel made a very big mistake, he told the newspaper I wanted to call and say dont do it. These photos and shots. I mean, moving shots of bombs being dropped into buildings in Gaza. And I said, Oh, thats a terrible portrait. Its a very bad picture for the world. The world is seeing this  every night, I would watch buildings pour down on people.

Palestinians wounded in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip are brought to Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, Monday, March 25, 2024. ( AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah )

Attempting to read between the lines on Mr Trumps often-wandering remarks on any topic is an imperfect science, at best. The Trump campaign has denied the interview represents a change in policy, while Richard Grenell, an intelligence official in the Trump administration whom the former president has described as called an envoy, described Mr Trumps comments as pretty clear in response to a query from The Independent.

In the days after the brutal attack, which killed 1,200 people and saw more than 200 taken hostage, Mr Trump offered his enthusiastic backing for Israels retaliatory offensive in Gaza.

But his recent comments, coming after more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed, have been interpreted as a sign that Mr Trumps previous unyielding support for Israel is not guaranteed.

One of the journalists who conducted the interview, a right-wing Israeli settler named Ariel Kahana, said Mr Trumps comments shocked us to the core.

Both US presidential candidates, Biden and Trump, are turning their rhetorical backs on Israel, he wrote. Trump effectively bypassed Biden from the left, when he expressed willingness to stop this war and get back to being the great country you once were. Theres no way to beautify, minimize or cover up that problematic message, he continued.

If the images of large civilian casualties coming from Gaza are shaping Mr Trumps foreign policy plans, it wouldnt be the first time.

In 2017, during his first term, Mr Trump took the extraordinary decision to launch airstrikes against Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in response to deadly chemical weapons attacks that killed more than 100 people, including many children.

Nikki Haley, US ambassador to the UN, with photos of victims killed in chemical weapons attacks as she speaks during an emergency session at the UN about Syria in 2017 ( Getty )

It was an act that his predecessor, Barack Obama, had resisted throughout his presidency, fearing that a direct strike on Assad could drag the US more directly into the civil war there. It was also somewhat unexpected, coming from a candidate who had pitched himself as non-interventionist and America first.

Following the strikes, numerous Trump administration officials recounted that the then-president had been moved to act after seeing what he described as horrible images of children suffering from the after-effects of the nerve agent used by Syrian forces.

Mr Trump himself frequently referenced the young victims of the chemical attacks in justifying his response.

When you kill innocent children, innocent babies, babies, little babies, with a chemical gas that is so lethal  people were shocked to hear what gas it was  that crosses many, many lines, beyond a red line, he told a news conference at the White House.

Donald Trump speaks as Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman, Army Gen. Mark Milley looks on after getting a briefing from senior military leaders in the Cabinet Room at the White House on October 7, 2019 in Washington, DC. ( Getty Images )

Mr Trump is no dove, and his claims of being a non-interventionist president were belied by his escalation of bombing across the Middle East. As president, he claimed to have implemented a loosening of the rules of engagement in the US-led air campaign against Isis, a campaign that caused thousands of civilian casualties.

As president, Mr Trump was renowned for his prolific cable television viewing, often watching hours a day and forming policy around what he saw. Shocking images from Syrias war motivated him to take drastic action, in a departure from his previously held views. It is not beyond the realm of possibility, then, that his exposure to masses of videos of death and destruction in Gaza might push him into a more arms-length policy when it comes to Israel.

The former president has other, still personal reasons for not embracing Israels war. While he is fond of declaring that he fought for Israel like no president ever before  pointing to the controversial decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and his administration brokering the Abraham Accords  he has privately expressed anger at the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu for perceived disloyalty after he congratulated Joe Biden for his 2020 election win.

He was very early  like, earlier than most. I havent spoken to him since. F**k him, Mr Trump told journalist Barak Ravid.

His early comments on the Hamas attack included barbed criticism of Mr Netanyahu for failing to anticipate such an operation.

He was not prepared. He was not prepared, and Israel was not prepared, Mr Trump said.

Following criticism from many within his own party, Mr Trump would later correct his tone and offer his support for the prime minister, but it did not go unnoticed.

Trump and Netanyahu together in 2020 ( Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Long before his interview with Israel Hayom, Mr Trumps former national security advisor John Bolton offered a warning to supporters of Israel regarding a potential second term.

Anybody who thinks that hes going to be pro-Israel as he was in his first term could well be in for a surprise, Mr Bolton told the New York Times. Like everything else for Donald Trump, support for Israel he saw as a political plus for him. And if he ever saw it as not a political plus, the support would disappear.

Much of Mr Trumps reluctance to talk about the issue is likely a deliberate policy of strategic silence  his opponent, president Biden, is losing support from independents and his own party for his handling of the conflict. The former president can say nothing and benefit from the split among Democrats on the issue.

But if he wins in November, Mr Trump would be unable to run for president again. The political considerations that may have played a part in his backing Israel would all but disappear, and US foreign policy would instead be decided by his id.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

As Donald Trumps hush money trial draws to a close after five weeks of testimony, the former president is facing a daunting possibility: that he could see the inside of a jail cell.

Mr Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records to conceal a $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels before the 2016 presidential election, to ensure her silence about an alleged sexual encounter in 2006.

Mr Trump denies both the liaison and the charges against him.

With the jury set to begin its deliberations in a matter of days, Mr Trump could soon his learn his fate.

If convicted, he could face up to four years in prison on each of the 34 Class E felony counts.

But what would his imprisonment look like?

Jailing an ex-commander-in-chief would involve major planning, requiring a workaround for his Secret Service detail as well as plans for where he might be held and what he might eat.

A mere 11 miles from Manhattans criminal courthouse lies the infamous Rikers Island: a sprawling 413-acre penitentiary with a reputation for violence and unsanitary conditions.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said earlier this month that Rikers is ready to receive Mr Trump, if required.

Trump speaks to reporters outside the courtroom on Tuesday 7 May, flanked by his attorney Todd Blanche ( Getty )

While experts predict either could be a feasible option, Martin Horn, the former commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction (NYCD), said it is likely he would initially be sent to a holding pen behind the court.

I suspect that the first thing would be to lock him up [in one of the pens] to cool his heels for a couple of hours, Mr Horn told The Times.

The judge would lock him up for four hours, or six hours.

For longer sentencing, Rikers Island would be the more appropriate option.

The facilities are not designed for lock-ups surpassing 12 hours, however, as they lack showers and medical examiners.

The catering might also not be up to the billionaires taste either, with just cheese and baloney sandwiches on offer, the ex-NYCD commissioner said.

New York Justice Juan Merchan would also be entering uncharted waters if he decides to jail Mr Trump as the Secret Service provides the former president with round-the-clock security.

Mr Horn believes that the court may be developing some sort of workaround given that armed personnel are typically prohibited in those areas.

Rikers West Facility, a suite of 12 structures with six to seven cells a piece, was built to keep prisoners with contagious diseases apart from others.

It could be a fitting area to hold Mr Trump, Mr Horn suggested.

An aerial view of the notorious Rikers Island Prison ( AP )

Each cell is air-conditioned, its larger than the typical cells and its equipped with its own shower so a person doesnt have to leave for a shower, he said.

It has a commode and a wash basin as well as a bed and a desk.

In addition, each of these cells has what I would describe as an anteroom attached to it that is separated from the cell by a security glass window so the inmate can be observed at all times.

In September, Mr Trump was said to have begun asking sources about what prison life might be like, according to Rolling Stone, apparently preparing to take the threat seriously.

The presidential candidate would likely have to swap his courtroom attire of a blue suit and coloured tie for a prison uniform, along with regulatory underwear instead, a spokesman for the NYCD said.

However, as per the departments list of permissible items, Mr Trumps family could send him a suit jacket to wear (although it cannot be blue), a tie, two white handkerchiefs and four pairs of trousers.

He would not be allowed any styling products for his famous blonde mane of hair, however.

Hair products? I dont think so. Thats contraband, baby! Sarena Townsend, former head of internal affairs at Rikers, told The Times.
Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The judge presiding over Donald Trumps criminal hush money trial in Manhattan has instructed prosecutors to tell Michael Cohen to stop talking about the case and the former president.

Mr Trumps attorneys have repeatedly urged New York Justice Juan Merchan find a way to gag the former presidents one-time fixer turned sworn nemesis and shameless critic.

Cohen, who paid Stormy Daniels $130,000 to silence her story about having sex with Mr Trump in 2006, is a key witness in the case against the former president. Mr Trump is accused of reimbursing his former attorney the $130,000 in a series of payments falsely lableled as legal expenses. He is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records and has pleaded not guilty.

Cohen is now expected to testify in the trial on Monday. He isone of two final witnesses for the prosecution in a trial stretching into a fourth week of testimony.

In court on Friday, defense attorney Todd Blanche told the judge that Mr Trumps former lawyer is becoming a real problem throughout the trial.

Cohen continues to speak publicly about this trial and President Trump, including in a recent TikTok video wearing a white T-shirt with a picture of President Trump behind bars and announcing that hes running for Congress, Mr Blanche told Judge Merchan.

Donald Trump speaks to reporters next to his attorney Todd Blanche inside a criminal courthouse in Manhattan on 10 May. ( Getty Images )

Mr Blanche said he wants Cohen prohibited from talking about the case, just like Trump is.

Its becoming a problem every single day that president Trump is not allowed to respond to this witness, but this witness is allowed to continue to talk, Mr Blanche said.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass dismissed the defences argument, arguing that prosecutors have no control over what they do, and we have repeatedly, repeatedly, asked the witnesses to do that.

Not just Mr Cohen. All the witnesses, he added. If Mr Blanche is asking the court to order the people not to do something, we have already done that.

The judge found a compromise: prosecutors should tell Cohen that the judge is telling him to be quiet.

I will direct the People to communicate to Mr Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about Mr Trump or anything else related to this case, Judge Merchan said. That comes from the bench.

While Cohen has now been asked to stop commenting on the case, Mr Trump continues to face a gag order that blocks him from publicly attacking trial witnesses, the jury, court staff and their families.

To date, the former president has been fined $10,000 for routinely violating this order through attacks on social media, links on his campaign website and comments in media interviews.

On Monday, while handing down a 10th penalty, Judge Merchan warned the former president that issuing $1,000 fines for each offense is not a strong enough deterrent  and that any future violations could result in jailtime.

Michael Cohen attends Donald Trumps civil fraud trial in New York in October 2023 ( AP )

The magnitude of such a decision is not lost on me, the judge told him. But at the end of the day I have a job to do, and part of that job is to protect the dignity of the justice system.

Your continued violations  threaten to interfere with the administration of justice, and constitute a direct attack on the rule of law.

That warning came just days before Cohens anticipated testimony on Monday, following years of sparring between the former president and his former attorney on both social media and in person.

Several of Mr Trumps gag order violations involved his apparent threats to Cohen, who previously testified against the former president in his civil fraud trial, where he compared Mr Trump to a mob boss who instructed him to grossly inflate the values of his net worth and assets.

Cohen has already pleaded guilty to crimes central to the hush money case in New York; in 2018, he agreed that he sent monthly invoices to Mr Trump as part of a retainer agreement that didnt exist, and that the monthly invoices [he] submitted were not in connection with any legal services he had provided in 2017 but for reimbursements for a hush money scheme with Ms Daniels.

Mr Trump is charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records in connection with that scheme in an alleged effort to hide politically damaging stories about his affairs to keep his chances of winning the 2016 election afloat.

Donald Trump speaks to members of the media outside the courtroom on 10 May ( EPA )

In the trials opening statements, Mr Blanche claimed that payments to Cohen were merely for legal services rendered. The invoices were processed, somebody at Trump Tower signed off on them, and they were recorded as such in a ledger, he argued.

What on earth is a crime? What is a crime about what I just described? Mr Blanche said last month. The 34 counts  are really just 34 pieces of paper.

Those 34 counts include not just the checks but the ledger entries and invoices that created them.

Cohen submitted each invoice pursuant to the retainer agreement, according to documents shown in court. Pay stubs to Cohen described each check as payments for his retainer. Invoices entered into the companys accounting software list each payment as a legal expense.

Ledgers from Mr Trumps personal checking account and the Donald J Trump Revocable Trust  which handled the former presidents assets while he was in office  recorded the payments to Cohen as a legal expense, according court documents.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Pope Francis has urged Italians to have more children as Europe is hit by tumbling birthrates.

Talking on Friday, the Pope called for long-term policies to help families and warned that the countrys demographic crisis was threatening the future.

The number of births is the first indicator of the hope of a people, Francis told an annual gathering of pro-family groups. Without children and young people, a country loses its desire for the future.

It was Franciss latest appeal for Italy  and beyond that Europe  to invert what he has called the demographic winter facing many industrialised countries.

Italys birth rate, already one of the lowest in the world, has been falling steadily for about 15 years and reached a record low last year with 379,000 babies born.

With the Vaticans strong backing, the right-wing government of prime minister Giorgia Meloni has mounted a campaign to encourage at least 500,000 births annually by 2033, a rate that demographers say is necessary to prevent the economy from collapsing under the weight of Italys ageing population.

Francis called for long-term political strategies and policies to encourage couples to have children, including an end to precarious work contracts and impediments to buying homes, and viable alternatives so women dont have to choose between motherhood and careers.

The problem of our world is not children being born: it is selfishness, consumerism and individualism which make people sated, lonely and unhappy," Francis said.

Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni delivers her speech during a conference on birthrate ( Copyright 2023 The Associated Press. All rights reserved )

Francis is expected to continue emphasising his demographic call during the upcoming 2025 Holy Year, which has hope as its main theme. In the official jubilee decree, or papal bull, that was given on Thursday, Francis called for a new social covenant among Christians to encourage couples to be open to having children.

Elsewhere in Europe, Greece has recorded the lowest number of births in 92 years, according to the most recent data, driven by the debt crisis that led to years of austerity and emigration, and changed attitudes among the young.

Greeces fertility rate is one of the lowest in Europe: some villages have not recorded a single birth in years.

Its government is planning to unveil new measures to boost birthrates.

The plan includes cash benefits for families, affordable housing for young people, financial incentives for assisted reproduction, and incorporating migrants into the workforce, according to officials drafting the initiatives including the family minister.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Greta Thunberg has accused Israel of artwashing its reputation at the Eurovision Song Contest after she joined pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a boycott of the event.

The 21-year-old joined a Stop Israel march in Malmo, Sweden, where thousands protested Israels inclusion in the competition over accusations the Israeli military was committing genocide in Gaza - something it strongly denies.

Israeli act Eden Golan, whose emotional song Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, thought to be a reference to the Hamas attacks on Israel, will take part in the final on Saturday evening.

Artwashing describes the use of artistic performance to distract from perceived negative actions by people, groups, governments or countries.

Thunberg said: People from all over Sweden are gathering in Malmo this week, where Eurovision is taking place, to protest against Israels participation in the competition.

Eden Golan of Israel performs the song Hurricane during the second semi-final at the Eurovision Song Contest ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Yesterday we were tens of thousands people flooding the streets of Malmo. We will not accept that a country currently committing genocide is allowed a platform to artwash themselves.

The world cannot remain silent in a genocide. Everyone who can must use their voice and speak up against Israels crimes and occupation.

Israel has denied any accusations of genocide, which is a specific crime when certain acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

It claims it has the right to defend itself following the attacks launched by Hamas in October that saw more than 1,000 Israelis killed and kidnapped.

Swedish police said an estimated crowd of 10,000 to 12,000 pro-Palestinian protesters who marched through Malmo on Thursday were very peaceful.

People carry Israeli and Swedish flags during a pro-Israel demonstration to pay tribute to Israel's Eurovision participant Eden Golan ( TT )

The demonstrators, who were condemning Israel taking part in Eurovision amid the conflict in Gaza, walked through the streets of Malmo from Stortorget to Molleplatsen.

Police said nine people were warned about disturbing the public order and one man was arrested after allegedly carrying a knife and some tools in his bag.

Golan, 20, was congratulated by Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu who said he was proud of the young performer.

During the semi-final, Golan was applauded and cheered by the audience, while dressed in a flowing sand-coloured dress.

That marked a change from Golan being booed during rehearsals on Wednesday, and reportedly facing shouts of free Palestine in the arena.

Police face pro-Palestinian protesters in Malmo during the Eurovision semi-final on 9 May 2024 ( TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima )

The events organiser said it would not censor the audience and encouraged the crowd to attend in the spirit of the contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being united by music.

Golan said she was going to continue to show up and perform and remind everyone that we are here to stay - and is reportedly surrounded by security when travelling from her hotel to the contest venue.

Meanwhile, Rishi Sunak hit out at the demonstrations saying they were wrong and called the push for a boycott of Israel unfair.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: The Prime Minister thinks that these protests are wrong and some of the scenes weve seen have been outrageous.

We remain steadfast in our support for Israel and its right to self defence and its right to prevent a terror attack such as we saw from ever happening again.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Vladimir Putin has reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as the countrys prime minister after being reelected himself, the conclusion of an election period widely dismissed as a sham for offering Russians no real option for political change.

A relatively unknown figure outside of Russia, Mr Mishustins low-key political presence in the Kremlin  and therefore lack of any threat to Mr Putins total grip on power  is likely his main qualification for the role, experts have suggested.

The 58-year-old technocrat is one of a number of Russian officials sanctioned by Western countries following Russias invasion of Ukraine.

Mr Putin formally began his fifth presidential term this week, and on Tuesday Mr Mishustin submitted his cabinets resignation. His candidacy to return as prime minister has now been submitted by Mr Putin and the State Duma is set to hold a session on Friday to consider and clear it, said Vyacheslav Volodin, the speaker of parliaments lower house.

The lower house is required to approve the candidacy of the prime minister under the constitutional changes approved in 2020. The appointed prime minister then submits candidacies for cabinet members.

Mr Mishustins approval is seen as mere proforma in a parliament that is heavily controlled by the Kremlin. Most cabinet members are also expected to keep their jobs and their reappointments are expected shortly.

A former head of Russias tax service, Mr Mishustin has avoided media interviews and remained largely invisible when it comes to both domestic and international matters.

He was first appointed as the head of government in January 2020 before the pandemic gripped the world, replacing Mr Putins close aide Dmitry Medvedev.

Experts say that like with Mr Medvedev before him, Mr Mishustin is appreciated by Russias president for his loyalty above all else. At times he has been shown on Russian television fielding questions from Mr Putin on government tasks and deadlines  a bizarre mock display of government accountability.

Last month, Mr Mishustin submitted an annual report to parliament and said his government had faced "very complicated" conditions but succeeded in adapting Russias economy to Western sanctions and delivering on targets set by Mr Putin, to whom he referred 67 times in official excerpts of his speech.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Ukraine has sent in reinforcements and evacuated thousands of civilians as Russian forces seek to open up a new front in their invasion by advancing towards Ukraines second-biggest city, Kharkiv, which sits around 25 miles from the Russia border.

Ukraines defence ministry reported that Russian troops had tried to break through defensive lines near a small town called Vovchansk, close to the border, at about 5am  after Moscows forces had spent the night shelling the area with highly destructive guided aerial bombs.

A secondary attack was also reported, closer to Kharkiv but along the border, near the town of Oliinykove. Footage posted by DeepState, a Ukrainian war tracker, showed several Russian vehicles in flames near Oliinykove.

Ukrainian military officials have for weeks been warning that Russia was amassing tens of thousands of soldiers on the Russian side of the border in preparation to launch an assault.

And as long-delayed US military aid started to arrive in Ukraine, officials and analysts predicted that Russian forces would try to grab as much land as possible while they still hold an artillery advantage, with the ratio estimated to be seven Russian shells to every Ukrainian one.

But the attack constitutes the first Russian ground assault in the direction of Kharkiv in almost two years. Ukrainian forces liberated the wider Kharkiv region in September 2022, a few months after the Russians invaded. Since then, the fighting has largely been contained to the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions to the east and south.

Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky attends a joint press conference with Slovakias president Zuzana Caputova (not pictured) in Kyiv ( Reuters )

Employees of the State Emergency Service extinguishing fires of private houses destroyed by a shelling in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine ( National Police of Ukraine/AFP v )

Russia has begun a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this direction, Ukraines president Volodymyr Zelensky told a news conference in Kyiv. Now there is a fierce battle in this direction.

Mr Zelensky has said Russia could be preparing a big offensive push this spring or summer. Kyivs forces were prepared to meet Fridays assault, but Moscow could send more troops to the area, he told reporters.

As of now, these attacks have been repulsed, [while] battles of varying intensity continue, the defence ministry said. To strengthen the defence in this part of the front, reserve units have been sent.

The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, said that not a single metre had been lost in the attack, adding: The enemy group does not pose a threat to Kharkiv  its forces are sufficient only for provocations in the northern direction.

But a senior Ukrainian military source, who declined to be named, said that Russian forces had pushed 0.6 of a mile inside the Ukrainian border near Vovchansk. Updates provided by DeepState appear to corroborate this claim.

Tamaz Gambarashvili, head of the Vovchansk military administration, told a local radio station that residents were being evacuated from the border town. Only a few thousand of Vovchansks pre-war population of 17,000 remain in the area after more than two years of war.

Now we are evacuating the population, Mr Gambarashvili said. The majority of people leave by their own transport. But at the same time, together with the humanitarian centre, we organise the removal of those locals who do not have their own cars.

View more

The attack was carried out by a small group of infantrymen under the cover of armoured vehicles, the ministry said.

This type of assault has become common all along the front line, as the significant presence of reconnaissance and attack drones makes heavier-duty offensives too risky.

Mr Gambarashvili added that at least two civilians had been killed and five more were injured during heavy Russian shelling of border settlements.

All the enemy can do is to attack in certain small groups  you can call them sabotage and reconnaissance groups, or something else  and test the positions of our military, he said on television. Ukrainian officials believe that those carrying out these infantry-led, small-scale attacks are not capable of reaching, or overcoming, a city such as Kharkiv.

Russian president Vladimir Putin, speaking earlier this year, suggested that Moscow would seek to create a buffer zone between Russia and Ukraine.

I do not exclude that we will be forced at some point, when we deem it appropriate, to create a certain sanitary zone in the territories today under the Kyiv regime, Mr Putin said. The Russian presidents remarks came after pro-Ukrainian Russian fighters broke across the border in the area, from Ukraine into the Russian region of Belgorod, where they attacked Russian soldiers. Kyiv has stepped up its strikes on Belgorod this year.

Ukrainian military officials said that, by carrying out these fresh attacks near Vovchansk and further north near Oliinykove, Russian forces had been aiming to push Ukrainian troops as far back as six miles (10km) inside Ukraine as part of an effort to create this buffer zone.

A former Ukrainian officer who runs the open-source intelligence group Frontline Insight, and who is known to have close ties to the Ukrainian military, said the buffer zone would make it harder for Ukraine to target valuable military assets in Belgorod.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Apache helicopter gunships carry out strafing runs in support of troops on the ground storming Russian positions. A series of fortified trenches have been cleared in fierce close-quarter combat, and a counterattack repulsed with the use of drones and missiles.

The mission, Swift Response, is being carried out by British-led forces in Estonia as part of Natos biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, ranging from the Baltics to the Balkans. It comes amid an increasingly heated confrontation with Moscow following Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

There have been repeated warnings from the opposing sides, Nato and Moscow, of a potential conflagration. What is unfolding in Estonia are the opening salvoes of what a modern conflict between great powers would be like with the Western alliance making a stand on its eastern flank.

The stakes cannot be higher. President Putin has raised the possibility of nuclear weapons being used several times, as he has ratcheted up the rhetoric of warnings to the West since the start of the Ukraine war. The Nato response appears to be prepare for the worst, hope for the best while watching what the Kremlin does next.

Standing on a muddy field in Nurmsi in northern-central Estonia  a two-hour tank drive from the Russian border  Brigadier Giles Harris, the commander of British forces in the Baltic, has no doubt about the imperative of dealing with the clear and present threat from the Kremlin.

Its very urgent. Im not going to second guess what may or may not happen, but as military personnel our job is to be ready. There is no point in waiting to be ready, we should get ready now. And whats playing out in Ukraine provides us with the lessons that we need to learn, he says.

Apache helicopters from the 3 Regiment Army Air Corps support ground troops of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment ( Cpl Aaron J Stone )

Our mindset is regardless of whether its today or tomorrow, or next year, we must be as ready as we can, we must make ourselves as ready as we can. We are prepared to defend every inch of Estonian land if necessary. In the minds of the soldiers, the strategic purpose and context in which were doing this training has definitely changed [from regular exercises]. The fact that we are doing this so close to Russia brings it home why its so important to be here.

More than 90,000 troops from all 32 Nato member states are taking part in Exercise Steadfast Defender, of which Swift Response is a part, with drills including air assaults, armour manoeuvres and fire support taking place in locations including Estonia, Sweden, Poland, North Macedonia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova.

Brigadier Mark Berry, commander of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, in which the Parachute Regiment is a leading part, wanted to stress that the exercise was not just a show of force.

I dont consider any of the activities my soldiers conduct is ever a show. My role is to make sure that soldiers have the right training opportunities and feel ready and prepared to work together with allies or on their own, he says.

We do of course, send messages to whoever will listen. We want to make clear that our forces are ready ... [that] theyre capable of working with each other. In any specific time frame, when we are training we are looking for lessons from conflict zones, anywhere that has a lesson we can take.

Paratrooper from the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment in Estonia ( Cpl Aaron J Stone/MoD )

For Lieutenant Colonel David Lambert of the Army Air Corps this is a landmark moment.

The training taking place is genuinely as realistic as it gets, he says. There is no artificiality in this. Its just as good training from the lowest level all the way to the top. We are ready to fight today.

What is happening in Ukraine is being analysed and used to calibrate the war games, from multiple ways to use drones and cyberwarfare, to countering mass advances of the type used by Russian forces in battles like the meat grinder of Bakhmut in the Donbas.

There are lessons in avoiding casualties as well. An example is the very large numbers of Russian commanders who have been killed in Ukraine. Kyiv claim a tally of 13: the Kremlin acknowledges seven.

One reason for this, according to analysts, is that the senior Russian officers often made themselves conspicuous targets by staying in one place with their vehicles  linked with antennas  parked together next to them.

Soldier from 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers Corps ( Cpl Aaron J Stone/MoD )

Nato forces in the exercise are practising not being static at one position for too long, being mobile and ensuring that logistics are adequate and looking out for signs of being tracked by the enemy. Another means of avoidance being tried out is to move command and control of operations further back while ensuring that communications are maintained.

Troops from 16 Air Assault and other forces fighting Britains wars abroad have had their most recent experience of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fighting a war in Europe presents different types of challenges, making exercises like Swift Response vital.

Different dynamics have led to different tactics.

The Weapons Mounted Installation Kit (WMIK) personnel carriers were much favoured by mobile British units including Special Forces. But their open tops and light armoured protection made them particularly vulnerable to roadside bombs and they were phased out of operations.

They have had a new lease of life with the Parachute Regiment. One reason is that they are light enough to be carried by transport aircraft or Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and can thus be rapidly deployed if, for instance, there is a Russian incursion across the border.

Standing next to a WMIK at Nurmsi, Corporal Ashis Thami said: Of course we know what happened in Afghanistan. But we find it very useful in this kind of place to move around and provide force protection. We are told we must be ready for different wars in different times and I think that is right.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Watch a view from a camp for displaced people in Rafah on Friday 10 May.

As Israeli forces gather on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city, Palestinians fear another Nakba, when 700,000 of them were permanently driven from their homes at the creation of Israel in 1948.

Many people in Rafah, where over one million have been sheltering as Israel pounds the Gaza Strip in its war with Hamas, have been displaced several times over as the anniversary of the Nakba, or catastrophe, approaches on 15 May.

Israeli military strikes have killed at least 60 people and wounded 110 others across the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, the territorys Hamas-controlled health ministry said.

The United Nations, Gaza residents and aid groups say further Israeli incursions into Rafah will result in a humanitarian catastrophe.

Israel says it must hit Rafah to defeat thousands of Hamas fighters it says are holed up there. But the city is also a refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled combat farther north.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

David Cameron says he is not really interested in halting the UKs weapons shipments to Israel despite the US suspension earlier this week.

His comments came as his US counterpart, Anthony Blinken, said Israel lacked a credible plan to protect some 1.4 million Palestinian civilians trapped in Rafah, the southernmost city in Gaza, ahead of an imminent Israeli ground offensive.

Mr Blinken also warned an Israeli attack could create an insurgency by failing to kill all Hamas fighters in the southern Gazan city.

Ahead of the offensive - Israeli tanks have already entered through the nearest crossings into Rafah, where they have now split the city into sections ready to invade - both the US and UK have faced calls to cease arming Israel.

The US announced it had suspended at least one shipment of weapons to Israel, including 1,800 900 kg bombs, earlier this week, before US President Joe Biden said he would halt further shipments if Israel proceeded with its plan to attack Rafah.

But Lord Cameron, speaking on Sunday morning, remained firm that the UK would not follow the US lead.

An Israeli tank moves near the Israeli-Gaza border, as seen from southern Israel ( Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. )

Though he said the UK does not support an Israeli offensive in Rafah, because he has not seen a plan from the Israelis concerning how to protect people, Lord Cameron insisted that halting weapons shipments was a needless political exercise.

Just to simply announce today that we will change our approach on arms exports, it would make Hamas stronger and it would make a hostage deal less likely, he said, adding that he was not really interested in message sending through political moves like ending weapons sales.

He pointed to the fact that the UKs weapons shipments to Israel account for just one per cent of their total military support, compared to 68 per cent for the US.

He said he wanted instead to focus on hammering away every day on getting humanitarian aid into Gaza.

The United Nations human rights chief warned on Sunday that many of those residing in Rafah have nowhere to go as he emphasised the worsening humanitarian situation in the Strip.

Israel has ordered those remaining in the area to move away but Volker Turk said there was no safe place left in Gaza.

More than 300,000 Palestinians in Rafah have already fled to camps in central and western Gaza, but those areas have been hit by airstrikes since the evacuation notices were given.

A boy looks on as Palestinians prepare to flee Rafah after Israeli forces launched a ground and air operation in the eastern part of the southern Gaza city ( REUTERS )

The latest evacuation orders affect close to a million people in Rafah, he said in a statement. So where should they go now? There is no safe place in Gaza!

These exhausted, famished people, many of whom have been displaced many times already, have no good options.

He said a full-scale offensive could have a catastrophic impact  including the possibility of further atrocity crimes.

I can see no way that the latest evacuation orders, much less a full assault, in an area with an extremely dense presence of civilians, can be reconciled with the binding requirements of international humanitarian law and with the two sets of binding provisional measures ordered by the international court of justice, he said.

The UN warned just yesterday that much of the food supplies for southern Gaza would run out by the end of the weekend while Israel keeps the two border crossings in the region closed.

Both the Rafah and the Kerem Shalom crossings, the former from Egypt and the latter from Israel into Gaza, have been vital conduits for humanitarian aid.

But after Israeli tanks rolled through the crossings at the start of the week, they have been closed, meaning those in Gaza have been left to survive on what had already been delivered to the Strip.

The Israeli military announced on Sunday it had opened a new humanitarian aid crossing in coordination with the United States.

The crossing, called Western Erez, was opened in the northern Gaza Strip in order to transfer humanitarian aid, the military said in a statement.

But it is unclear when the crossing will become fully operational and how much aid will be delivered through the crossing.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The few remaining hospitals in Rafah are at 250 per cent capacity, while food and fuel are running out, the United Nations has warned, as heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants moves towards the centre of Gazas border city.

Crucial aid crossings remain inaccessible, meaning supplies of food, medicines, tents and blankets are dwindling. The World Food Programme will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday and there are no tents, blankets or bedding to set up new locations for displaced people, said Georgios Petropoulos, an official with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Rafah.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) told The Independent there could be just three days of fuel left to power hospitals, water supplies and sanitation. This could see hospitals shut down critical operations and bring to a halt trucks delivering aid across south and central Gaza.

The UN and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israeli assault on Rafah  on the border with Egypt near the main aid entry points  would cripple humanitarian operations and lead to a bloodbath. More than 1.4 million Palestinians  half of Gaza's population  are sheltering in Rafah, most of them displaced multiple times from other parts of the strip. Israel has defended its offensive, despite facing global pressure to stand down, saying it is vital in its battle to eliminate Hamas.

The Israeli military said Kerem Shalom crossing was open from its side and that 200,000 litres of fuel were allowed to cross on Friday. But the UN said it was too dangerous for workers to reach the crossing on the Gaza side to retrieve the aid due to Israels incursion and the ensuing fighting with Hamas.

Dr Richard Brennan, of the WHO, said the fighting is crippling the healthcare system, and the response to a humanitarian crisis that in many ways is the worst we have ever seen.

Right now its a catastrophe on top of a catastrophe, and there is a massive degradation in the hospitals, he told The Independent.

Volunteers from the World Central Kitchen cook meals to be distributed to needy Palestinians in Rafah ( AFP via Getty Images )

Only a third of Gazas hospitals and primary healthcare facilities are still operational. In Rafah only two are working  and they are at 250 per cent bed capacity .

The main hospital, Al-Najjar, which became a major referral centre, is now closed because it is not accessible and in the path of the fighting, said Dr Brennan.

It was the main hospital providing dialysis for patients  and had several hundred kidney patients relying it.

Dr Marwan al-Hams, director of Al-Najjar hospital, said they had to evacuate the facility when they found out it was located in the middle of Israels red zone and combat zone.

He said the sick, wounded and displaced people sheltering there panicked  among those who had to be evacuated were renal-failure dialysis patients who were moved under bombardment.

We have set up a field hospital in the city centre, he told The Independent while on the move.

Another emergency doctor, who asked not to be named for security reasons, at the European Gaza Hospital, north of Rafah, said they were dealing with absolute carnage amid a steady flow of blast victims.

The most distressing thing has been seeing little toddlers with massive head wounds, with skull fractures, who are absolutely distraught and distressed with the pain and suffering, he added in a voice note to The Independent.

They have sheer fear in their eyes from what they've been exposed to.

Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah ( AP )

The residents of Rafah are bracing themselves for a long-promised full-scale Israeli assault of the border town which was, for so long, known as the last refuge in Gaza.

Israel has launched a ferocious bombardment of Gaza and a siege in retaliation for Hamass bloody rampage on south Israel on 7 October  an attack during which around 1,200 people were killed and another 250 taken hostage, including children.

Since then, Palestinian health officials say Israels bombings have killed nearly 35,000 people, the vast majority women and children. Restrictions on aid, and the security situation has led to a manmade famine, the UN has warned, with Dr Brennan saying that potentially a quarter of all children in Gaza aged between six months to five years are experiencing acute malnutrition.

There are concerns hunger will only increase after Israeli troops captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, forcing it to shut down. Rafah was the main point of entry for fuel and supplies.

Hamish Young, the senior emergency coordinator in Gaza for the UNs child agency Unicef, said they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for supplies.

For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, he added.

The WHOs Dr Brennan said that in three decades of manning humanitarian responses he had not seen a displacement crisis like that currently in Gaza.

Ive been working in this field 31 years  I can tell you every one of the toughest and most experienced veterans who have stepped foot into Gaza say there are aspects of this crisis that are the worst they have ever seen, he added.

The UNs agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said more than 110,000 people have fled Rafah.

Some have erected new tents camps in the city of Khan Younis  which was half-destroyed in an earlier Israeli offensive  and the town of Deir al-Balah, where aid agencies said they had also been overwhelmed by the influx of wounded and displaced.

Those who are still in Rafah told The Independent they do not know where to run.

They do not know if they should move from the west or middle area of Rafah. The areas that were not identified as safe or dangerous places, there is no space to pitch tents, Ahmed said.

Israels closest ally and biggest supplier of weapons, the US, has withheld some weapons deliveries as the Biden administration says it cannot support a major Rafah invasion in the absence of what it would deem a credible plan to safeguard non-combatants.

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to push ahead with the controversial ground assault with or without US arms, saying we will fight with our fingernails if needed in a defiant statement late on Thursday. He maintains that victory in the seven-month-old conflict is impossible without taking Rafah.

In an interview on the Dr Phil Primetime show on Thursday, Mr Netanayhu said he hoped he and Joe Biden could overcome their disagreements over the Gaza war. We often had our agreements but weve had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them, he added.
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his country is willing to stand alone and fight with our fingernails in the war on Gaza, a thinly-veiled rebuttal to ally Joe Bidens warning that the US could stop supplying him with arms.

The US president has urged Mr Netanyahu not to go ahead with a planned ground invasion of Rafah, where over 1.3 million Palestinians have sought refuge from Israels bombardment of the Gaza Strip. The UN and aid charities say such an assault would have dire consequences for the refugees there.

The Israeli government had not responded to reports that Washington was holding back a shipment of bombs until Mr Biden went public on Wednesday saying the measure was a US warning to the Israelis not to "go into Rafah".

Mr Netanyahu responded in a statement on Thursday, saying: If we must stand alone, we shall stand alone.

"If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than our fingernails, and with that strength of spirit, with Gods help, together we shall be victorious."

Israel has said that victory in its seven-month-old war on Gaza would not be complete without invading Rafah, where it claims thousands of Hamas fighters and potentially dozens of the hostages they seized on 7 October are located. Hamas and other allied groups are still holding some 100 of the 250 captives they took during that attack on southern Israel, as well as the remains of about 30.

The Gaza war has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians, including 15,000 children, left most of the Strip reduced to rubble, displaced over 80 per cent of the population and pushed it to the brink of starvation. The refugees in Rafah arrived in the southern city after Israel designated it a safe area for the Palestinians facing destruction of their homes and communities in Gaza City in the north.

Israels top military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, appeared to downplay the practical impact of any holdup in US arms supplies. The army has munitions for the missions it plans and for the missions in Rafah too, he said, adding: We have what we need.

In a separate interview on US television, Mr Netanyahu suggested he maintained good relations with Mr Biden but that Israel will do what we have to.

"We often had our agreements but we have had our disagreements. We have been able to overcome them," he said on the Dr Phil Primetime show.

"I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country.

Responding to Mr Bidens decision to withhold the arms shipment, Mr Netanyahus national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir put up a post on X with a heart emoji between the words "Hamas" and "Biden."

He and other ultra-nationalist members of Mr Netanyahus coalition want a largescale Rafah operation and have threatened to bring down the government if that doesnt happen.

Additional reporting by agencies
For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

The UN General Assembly will vote on Friday on a resolution to grant membership to Palestine, a longstanding pursuit for the Palestinians that has faced staunch resistance from Israel and its allies.

The draft resolution has been put forward by the UAE in its capacity as the Arab Groups chair for the month, and includes a call for the Palestinians to be given new rights and privileges within the UN. Palestine has been a UN non-member observer state since 2012.

The final text of the draft has been reached after amendments were made to try and alleviate the concerns of key member states, including the US, Russia and China.

Nonetheless, the US said late on Thursday that the Biden administration opposes the draft resolution, which still requires the approval of the UN Security Council before a state of Palestine could be granted full General Assembly membership.

Under the UN Charter, prospective members must be deemed "peace-loving. The draft resolution does not explicitly say that Palestine is a peace-loving state in the General Assemblys judgement  instead, simply that the body determines that it qualifies for membership. It recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favourably.

On 18 April, the US vetoed a widely-backed council resolution that would have made Palestine a full member. During the vote, Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the other 12 council members voted in favour.

Robert Wood, US deputy ambassador to the UN, suggested American opposition to the resolution was based on a question of due process.

"Weve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that," Mr Wood said. "We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the UN is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position."

But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, three Western diplomats told the Associated Press.

The Palestinian UN mission in New York, in a letter to UN member states, said the adoption of the resolution would be a step towards a two-state solution in the Middle East.

It said it would "constitute a clear reaffirmation of support at this very critical moment for the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent state."

The renewed effort to secure full Palestinian membership in the UN comes amid a growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, one that may only be compounded further by an expected Israeli ground offensive into the refugee city of Rafah.

The humanitarian crisis confronting Palestinians in Gaza, coupled with the reported death toll of over 34,000 individuals in the territory, has drawn widespread condemnation in numerous Security Council and General Assembly sessions.

According to diplomats, Russia and China, which have called on Israel to cease its action in Gaza, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be UN members  with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

The first draft conferred on Palestine the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the assemblys sessions and UN conferences on equal footing with member states.

The final text in the draft has dropped the language that called for putting Palestine on equal footing with member states.

And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.

Additional reporting by agencies
Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A rare and intense solar storm will present one of the best opportunities of the year to see the aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere this weekend, agencies have forecast.

The Northern Lights will be visible on Friday and Saturday as far south as Liverpool in the UK, while also reaching more than a dozen US states. Depending on the intensity of the solar activity, there is a small chance that sightings will be possible throughout the UK.

The celestial event comes as a result of at least four coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun, which will see large amounts of plasma and magnetic flux emitted from our closest star.

Where skies are clear and provided dark enough skies, sightings are expected to develop following the CME arrival across the northern half of the UK, with a chance that aurora may become visible to all parts of the UK and similar geomagnetic latitudes, the Met Office noted in an update.

Aurora activity may remain enhanced after this given the potential for further Earth directed CMEs in the coming days.

The best time to view the Northern Lights is typically just after sunset or just before sunrise.

open image in gallery Clear skies are forecast throughout the majority of the UK and Ireland just after sunset at 9pm on 10 May, 2024 ( Met Office )

Weather across the British Isles is set to be close to ideal for viewing the auroras on Friday and Saturday, with the Met Office forecasting clear skies across most of the UK and Ireland just after sunset.

The best weather will be in Scotland and the northern parts of England and Ireland, where the aurora borealis will be most visible.

The Met Office also issued an X-ray radio blackout alert for Friday as a result of the intense solar weather, which could impact radio communications for about an hour.

open image in gallery Aurora forecast for 10-11 May, 2024, from NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center ( NOAA )

In North America, the aurora borealis will cover all of Canada and stretch to several US states, including North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, New Hampshire, New York, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

Anyone further south may also get an opportunity to witness the phenomena if the skies are clear.

The aurora does not need to be directly overhead but can be observed from as much as 1000 kilometres away when the aurora is bright and if conditions are right,stated the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations (NOAA) Space Weather Prediction Center, which classified the latest solar storm as a level G4, representing the second highest level.

Several coronal mass ejections (CME) will quite likely reach Earth and lead to highly elevated geomagnetic activity, NOAAs forecast stated. Watches at this level are very rare.
Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Apple has issued an apology after a new advertisement of its thinnest-ever iPad Pro model, showing the destruction of musical instruments by an industrial crusher, sparked global outrage.

Apple said it missed the mark with the advertisement titled Crush released on Wednesday on its YouTube channel.

The one-minute and eight-second ad showed a range of creative tools such as a camera, a guitar, a piano, and paint being destroyed by an industrial crusher amid high-pitched whirring.

It also shows a television screen and several camera lenses along with paint boxes being crushed. The crusher lifts in the end to reveal the new iPad, symbolising its thinness.

The new updates mark the biggest upgrade to the iPad line-up in several years, as Apple looks to reignite interest in its long-running tablet computer range.

Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and were sorry, Ad Age magazine said, citing the iPhone makers apology.

The companys spokesperson has not issued any comment directly addressing the apology.

The ad has been dubbed as insensitive for destroying the biggest celebrated forms of the human experience. Social media users condemned the unwelcome departure from Apples historic positioning of its brand as nonconformist, human friendly, and an antidote to a dystopian and colourless world.

Several popular celebrities called out the ad as tone-deaf.

American cartoonist James Kochalka said: Im definitely the target audience for the new iPad Pro but this ad is tone-deaf and insulting to artists of every kind. We think of our tools with reverence and respect, and enjoy a healthy dialogue with them. Our tools are like trusted companions on the journey of art.

Actor Hugh Grant also condemned the ad, saying it showed the destruction of the human experience courtesy of Silicon Valley.

Filmmaker and actor Justine Bateman, who has served as an adviser to SAG-AFTRA on AI issues, replied to Apple CEO Tim Cooks tweet saying: Truly, what is wrong with you?

If you thought THIS IPad ad was weird, you should have seen the first cut where they lined up all your favourite characters and shot them, actor, writer and producer Luke Barnett wrote.

The new iPad Pro will include a high-quality OLED display for the first time, as well as Apples new, own-made, top-of-the-range M4 chip, which the company says means the new devices are 50 per cent faster than the previous generation and ten-times faster than the original iPad Pro model.

Apple senior vice president of hardware engineering, John Ternus, said the new Pro pioneers our most advanced technologies, and pushes the limits of what an iPad can be, adding that the new device was the iPad weve always dreamed of making.

It will go on sale next week alongside a new version of the iPad Air, which will be sold in its traditional 11-inch size, as well as in a new 13-inch model.

Additional reporting from agencies
Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A supplier for Nasa urged the space agency to conduct more safety checks before the highly-anticipated first launch of its Starliner spacecraft  which is set to take off as soon as next week  before something catastrophic happens.

ValveTech, a contractor that supplies Nasa with valve components for the rocket that lifts the Starliner aircraft, warned against the imminent launch on May 17.

The last launch, slated for 6 May, was scrubbed two hours before takeoff due to a valve issue.

The Starliner is designed to transport people to and from the International Space Station as well as other low-Earth-orbit destinations.

As a valued Nasa partner and as valve experts, we strongly urge them not to attempt a second launch due to the risk of a disaster occurring on the launchpad, ValveTech president Erin Faville said in a press release.

According to media reports, a buzzing sound indicating the leaking valve was noticed by someone walking by the Starliner minutes before launch. This sound could indicate that the valve has passed its lifecycle, Ms Faville wrote.

She urged Nasa to re-double safety checks and re-examine safety protocols to make sure the Starliner is safe before something catastrophic happens to the astronauts and to the people on the ground, Ms Faville added.

This is the latest bout of bad news for Boeing, which has made repeated headlines recently over its aircraft defects.

The contractor then turned to a separate issue, brought up in a federal court November 2023 decision. A Boeing subcontractor, Aerojet Rocketdyne, was sued by a supplier, ValveTech, and a lengthy court battle ensued. That ended with the subcontractor being found in violation of a non-disclosure agreement, but did not disclose trade secrets.

An initial press release stated that the Aerojet value was not qualified to the right specifications and not evaluated to ensure safety protocols. Faville questioned how Nasa, Boeing and Aerojet could have qualified the value for a mission without the history.

However, ValveTech released another statement and downplayed some of the calls.

Some media outlets have misquoted or misrepresented comments I made in a news release issued earlier this week, Ms Faville said in the second release. What I said was that NASA needs to re-double safety checks and re-examine safety protocols to make sure the Starliner is safe before trying to launch the Starliner again.

As a valued NASA partner, it would make no sense and not be in my companys interest to end this mission, Faville added. It is unfortunate that some of my comments were taken out of context to imply otherwise.

This article was amended on May 13, 2024. An earlier version of this story did not specify that the problem with the value is not on the Starliner spacecraft but the rocket that launches the aircraft. Further details about a previous lawsuit were also added, as were additional quotes to clarify Ms Favilles request.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

One winner of Eurovision 2024 can be revealed already: the airline flying the most to the Continents leading cultural event.

Aviation revenue economics expert Oliver Ranson has identified the carriers that are touching down most frequently at Malmo, the Swedish city hosting the song contest, as well as nearby Copenhagen  a short train ride away.

In his analysis, Mr Ranson writes: Malmo has its own airport but there are not so many flights. In run-up to the grand final Wednesday to 3pm on Saturday there will have been 33 flights into Malmo, against 1,125 into Copenhagen.

Most Eurovision passengers travelling by air will fly into Copenhagen.

I evaluated all the arriving flights at both airports from every country participating in Eurovision this year to establish the airlines who are most committed to the contest.

There are other routes, but I doubt that [SAS Scandinavian Airlines] SK936 arriving from San Francisco or [Air China] CA877 from Beijing will be packed with Eurovision fans.

The official Eurovision airline, easyJet, reaches only fifth place  enough to earn seven points, under the scoring system adopted for the fiercely contested competition.

Immediately above it is arch-rival Ryanair, winning eight points for helping to deposit people beside the Baltic.

The Lufthansa Group, including the German national airline, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss is in third place and scores nine.

Second best overall: Norwegian, which has 20 flights coming in from the UK alone. It earns 10 points.

Top place, and douze points, goes to SAS Scandinavian AIrlines  the home town airline, which encompasses Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

In sixth and seventh places are two other multi-national groups: Air France-KLM and IAG, owner of British Airways.

Mr Ransom also has praise for the one African airline in the chart: Down in the diadora league (non-scoring part of the table), honourable mention must go to Ethiopian Airlines, who operate a wide-body.

Their usual 315-seat 787 operating fifth-freedom from Addis Ababa has been up-gauged to a 321-seat 777 for the Friday and Saturday only.

The writer predicts the actual Eurovision winner will be Windows95man from Finland.

Read our full Malmo city guide
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

A Boeing 737 passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing just minutes after taking off.

It is the fourth incident to plague the aircraft maker in three days as potential passengers wrestle with the idea of whether to fly in these models.

Flight 166, a 737 jet operated by United Airlines, took off from Fukuoka Airport in south-western Japan on Friday morning, heading for Guam, an island territory in the western Pacific.

The flight was due to last just under four hours but the passenger plane, carrying 50 holidaymakers, was forced to land back at Fukuoka Airport shortly after taking off.

The plane landed back on the tarmac at Fukuoka around 11.45am local time (3.45am UK time) due to a wing flap that was found to be malfunctioning.

No injuries were reported, but it is the latest in a series of incidents involving Boeing planes that appear to be undermining consumer faith in the models.

On Thursday, 190 people were evacuated from a Boeing 737-800 after its tyres burst when it came into land at Gazipasa airport near the Mediterranean coastal town of Alanya.

open image in gallery A Boeing plane's tire exploded during landing at Turkey airport ( Abdulkadir Uraloglu )

The aircraft, belonging to Turkey-based Corendon Airlines, was pictured on Friday with its front wheels and landing gear crumpled underneath.

The incident happened just hours after a Boeing 737-300 skidded off the runway and caught fire during a take-off in Senegal.

Footage showed terrified passengers fleeing the burning plane, which had been carrying 78 people.

And on Wednesday, a Boeing 767 cargo plane was forced to make an emergency landing at Istanbul Airport after its front landing gear failed.

Footage showed the nose of the aircraft sliding across the runway, sending sparks and smoke into the air.

open image in gallery A Boeing 737-300 skidded off the runway and caught fire during a take-off in Senegal late on Wednesda ( AviationSafety/X )

There is no proof that Boeing is responsible for these incidents, but they have compounded problems the company is already facing concerning safety.

The USs Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said at the start of the week it had opened an investigation into the company after workers at a South Carolina plant falsified inspection records on certain 787 planes.

Current CEO Dave Calhoun announced in March he would be stepping down at the end of this year in a management overhaul, with share prices plunging.

In a statement on 787 quality, Boeing said: In 13 years of service, the global 787 fleet has safely transported more than 850 million passengers on more than 4.2 million flights.

A 787 can safely operate for at least 30 years before needing expanded airframe maintenance routines. Extensive and rigorous testing of the fuselage and heavy maintenance checks of nearly 700 in-service airplanes have found zero evidence of airframe fatigue.

Under FAA oversight, we have painstakingly inspected and reworked airplanes and improved production quality to meet exacting standards. We are fully confident in the safety and durability of the 787 Dreamliner.
Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Thanks for signing up to the

Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }} {{ message }} {{ /verifyErrors }} {{ ^verifyErrors }} Something went wrong. Please try again later {{ /verifyErrors }}

Air safety 2023: Accidents and fatalities at record low  that was the headline for the first article I wrote this year.

Only two fatal accidents had occurred during the previous 12 months. Both of them involved propeller aircraft on domestic flights. Each of the 86 deaths was a tragedy, but for comparison the same number of fatalities occurs in an average of 35 minutes on the worlds roads.

Two dramatic events early in the new year actually emphasised the extraordinary degree of safety built into modern jet aircraft. On 2 January an Airbus A350 landing at Tokyo Haneda airport burst into flames after striking a coastguard jet that had strayed onto the runway. While five aboard the smaller plane died, all 379 people aboard the Japan Airlines passenger jet successfully evacuated.

Three days later, an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max took off from Portland, Oregon on a routine flight to Ontario in California. The plane, a Boeing 737 Max 9, climbed above 16,000 feet  higher than the summit of Mont Blanc. Suddenly, according to the National Transportation Safety Board, the left mid exit door plug departed the airplane.

An employee of the National Transportation Safety Board examines the stricken Alaska Airlines plane ( NTSB/AFP via Getty Images )

Miraculously, while various passengers possessions also departed the airplane, all 177 passengers and crew remained aboard flight AS1282 until the aircraft landed back at Portland.

These terrifying incidents rest very differently in the minds of the travelling public. The Tokyo event revealed the professionalism of the Japan Airlines crew and the safety features of the latest Airbus jet.

But the Portland incident shone a light on shortcomings in the way Boeing builds its planes. All Boeing 737 Max 9s with the same door plug arrangement were grounded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Inspections revealed loose hardware and bolts that needed additional tightening on in-service aircraft.

We have to be better

Although they are flying again, the deepening investigation has revealed some shocking shortcomings about Boeings manufacturing and inspection processes.

We are not where we need to be, said Stan Deal, then president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, 10 days after the Alaska Airlines scare. To that end, we are taking immediate actions to bolster quality assurance and controls across our factories.

Two weeks later, with the planes allowed back in the skies, he apologised for what he called the quality escape and said: Our long-term focus is on improving our quality so that we can regain the confidence of our customers, our regulator and the flying public.

We have to be better. We have to deliver perfect airplanes each and every time.

Recent events have led to big changes in the top roles at Boeing ( Getty Images )

The trouble is, the more the flying public finds out about practices at Boeing, the more anxious passengers may fret. Early in February, Mr Deal pledged to end traveled work  whereby components with known flaws were allowed on the production line, to be fixed as the plane was assembled. Many people were shocked that they had ever been allowed.

The FAA has slowed the planned production rate of Boeing 737 Max jets, which is feeding into higher fares and less choice for UK passengers; Ryanair is cutting back its summer schedule due to slow deliveries of the plane.

Attention has now spreading to other aircraft  notably the 787 Dreamliner, a long-haul favourite with many airlines and passengers. A whistleblower, engineer Sam Salehpour, said excessive force was applied to fit panels together on the 787 assembly line  raising the risk of fatigue that could cause it to break apart.

Boeing robustly rejected his claims during a long media briefing.

Shocking and needless tragedies

The planemaker finds itself in the extremely uncomfortable position of prospective passengers  aided by the media  feeling hypersensitive about almost any incident involving a Boeing aircraft.

In April, for example, an Air Canada Boeing 737 Max flying from Mexico City to Vancouver made a routine emergency landing (yes, there is such a thing, and they are common) in Boise, Idaho. A warning light suggested a possible cargo hold problem. Such an event would probably have gone unreported had an Airbus been involved. But so deep is interest in Boeing, that any story with its name attached is guaranteed prominence.

On 9 May two further incidents involving 737s occured. A 30-year-old plane left the runway after aborting take-off due to a hydraulic failure, and caught fire in Dakar, Senegal. Some passengers and crew were injured in the evacuation of the Transair jet.

At Gazipasa airport in southern Turkey, a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800 burst a tyre on landing. The pilots ordered an emergency evacuation.

Stan Deal need no longer feel at the mercy of a feverish media. On 25 March he retired immediately, and was replaced by Stephanie Pope. On the same day, the CEO of Boeing, Dave Calhoun and the companys chair, Larry Kellner, said they would leave by the end of the year.

Mr Calhoun will have been at the top for less than five years. He took up the role in 2020 after the previous CEO, Dennis Muilenburg, left the company. Then, as now, the Boeing 737 Max was at the centre of a storm about safety. But it was an even darker time for the company, with evidence emerging of catastrophic decisions at Boeing that led to the loss of 346 lives.

Dave Calhoun, who will be leaving his job as Boeing CEO at the end of 2024 ( The Associated Press )

The Boeing 737, first launched in 1967, is the worlds most successful aircraft. More than 11,000 have been delivered. But the Max 8 version was involved in two shocking and needless tragedies.

On 29 October 2018, a faulty sensor triggered an anti-stall system that caused Lion Air flight 610 to crash shortly after take-off from Jakarta. All 189 passengers and crew died.

Less than six months later, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was lost, along with 157 lives, in similar circumstances. After the second crash, it emerged that Boeing had installed software that had the power to defy pilots and force the aircraft to plunge to the ground while pilots struggled in vain for control. All Boeing 737 Max aircraft were grounded for 20 months while safety enhancements were made.

The plane re-entered service in December 2020  including at Ryanair, which is by far the biggest European customer for the Max. The aircraft is at the heart of its plans to dominate the continents skies. Yet in January the airlines chief executive, Michael OLeary, revealed the airline had complained loudly about faults on newly delivered Boeing 737 Max aircraft  including a spanner found under the floor on one jet.

We do a 48-hour check on every aircraft when its delivered into Dublin, he told The Independent. Coming out of Covid, we were taking aircraft deliveries and finding lots of small defects and things not fitted correctly.

It is not acceptable that aircraft get delivered at less than 100 per cent.

A bouquet of flowers beside debris at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 in 2019 ( Getty Images )

Yet Mr OLeary has been supportive of Boeings soon-to-be-outgoing CEO, Dave Calhoun, and is hungry for more of his aircraft. So much so, that after United Airlines warned it might not take up its order for 737 Max 10s, the Ryanair boss said that he would gladly buy them instead.

Passenger confidence

How confident, though, can passengers be after the succession of revelations about the Max programme? Some passengers used to vow, if it aint Boeing, I aint going. That rings hollow now.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the McDonnell Douglas DC10 jet was involved in a series of crashes, some due to design flaws. As passengers actively chose airlines that did not have the plane in their fleet, orders for the DC10 dried up.

Yet four decades on, aviation is far safer  and, it appears, passengers are unconcerned about the Max variant of the 737. When it reentered service, many airlines offered the option for worried travellers to switch to other aircraft free of charge. There were almost no takers.

Even after the Alaska Airlines episode, Michael OLeary said there had been no pushback from passengers concerned about flying on Ryanairs all-Boeing 737 fleet.

It is possible that some potential customers have quietly moved to airlines that use only Airbus A320 series jets for short-haul flights  such as British Airways, easyJet and Wizz Air.

But for anyone who cares to check the stats: Ryanair is the safest airline in the world in terms of the number of passengers carried without a single fatal accident. The only aircraft type it flies? The Boeing 737.

Which airlines use the Boeing 737?

Top 10 operators of all versions of the aircraft

Southwest 209 United 163 Ryanair 146 American Airlines 59 Flydubai 57 Alaska Airlines 52 Tui 42 Air Canada 40 Copa (Panama) 29 Gol (Brazil) 27

Source: Boeing.com
Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy

Wizz Air passengers who arrived back in the UK from Jordan almost 24 hours late claim a technical delay was compounded by post-Brexit red tape.

The airline rejects the assertion but says it will pay delay compensation.

Flight W9 5304 from Amman on 5 May was due to depart from the capital at 3.45pm local time and arrive at Luton airport at 7.45pm.

On the previous flight the Airbus A321 had suffered a burst tyre, which had been repaired.

But as passenger Nick Smith describes, the schedule soon unravelled.

We boarded as normal and took our seats, but then waited on the tarmac for far longer than usual.

After around 40 minutes the pilot announced they were still waiting on authorisation to fly  due to the fact a UK-based technician or engineer needs to sign off the approval for the plane to depart. But there is no one available to do so at this time. He explained that it needs to go via Dubai then back to us.

Two more hours passed with passengers in their seats while the plane waited by the terminal. My partner was chatting to staff and was told of a post-Brexit issue of needing a UK-based engineers approval. They said this had never happened to them before  in the past they have been able to seek approval from any EU-based engineer.

Because of the delay, the pilot then announced the aircraft would have to fly via Budapest, the home of Wizz Air, to change crew  who would otherwise to exceed their legal working hours.

But three hours after the scheduled departure time, passengers were told the plane would have to stay overnight in Amman.

The process of finding hotels was complicated by the need to go back through immigration to get exit stamps voided.

Finally, at 9.30pm, a scrum of around 200 people queued for buses to the main airport hotel, where some queued for over an hour to be assigned rooms.

Under UK air passengers rights rules, the stranded travellers were entitled to an evening meal  but had problems getting food. It had been six hours at this point, Mr Smith said. Hotel staff directed us towards a cafe which only had three people working and not enough to deal with a sudden influx of guests. We had to use our own money  no vouchers or anything like that was given to passengers. And many people did not have any local currency left due to the fact they had not budgeted to spend an extra night in Jordan.

Only breakfast was offered the following day, said Mr Smith. The plane then departed an hour late, bound for Luton.

On the subject of post-Brexit engineering credentials, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, EASA, says: A maintenance organisation approved by an EASA Member State or EASA cannot perform any maintenance on UK-registered aircraft.

But a Wizz Air spokesperson rejected the suggestion that Brexit had played a part in the delay.

They said: Due to a technical issue, we unfortunately had to reschedule the flight in question to the following day. All passengers were informed of the change and provided with overnight accommodation.

Wizz Air will pay 350 per person in flight delay compensation, as specified by UK air passengers rights rules.
Dialysis patients evacuated from one of Rafahs main hospitals have been moved to the Nasser Hospital in nearby Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli ground troops withdrew a month ago.

Patients and staff at the Abou Youssef al-Najjar Hospital were forced to evacuate on Wednesday 8 May as Israels operation in Rafah intensified.

The hospital was one of the key medical centres receiving the wounded in Israeli strikes in the southern Gaza city.

Nasser Hospital is in bad shape after Israeli forces raided the medical centre in recent months, and hundreds of bodies were found buried outside.
Israels ambassador to the United Nations shredded the UN Charter whilst giving a speech at the General Assembly.

Gilad Erdan shredded a tiny version of the Charter in a mini paper shredder whilst on the podium in protest at the Assemblys resolution to urge the recognition of a Palestinian state.

The General Assembly voted 143 to 9 in favour of urging the Security Council to recognise Palestine, 25 countries abstained.

At the moment, Palestine is recognised as an observer state in the United Nations.

Only the Security Council can decide on full recognition of a state in the UN.
Israeli delegates were seen laughing during a UN vote to reconsider and support the full membership of Palestine into the bloc.

The UN General Assembly voted overwhelmingly to pass the resolution for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member.

The assembly recommended the UN Security Council reconsider the matter favourably, with 143 countries voting in support, 9 against with 25 abstaining.

It comes as more than 100,000 Palestinians have fled the city of Rafah this week, according to the UN, as Israel prepares to carry out an offensive in the region.
Pro-Palestine students and activists clashed with riot police during a demonstration in Amsterdam on Thursday evening (9 May).

According to a police statement, riot police units were deployed to prevent escalation after demonstrators tried to block a police bus.

Police said that three protesters were arrested for insult and incitement.

The violence came after police broke up a protest by pro-Palestinian activists at the University of Amsterdam on Wednesday.

After police ended a blockade on university grounds, hundreds of demonstrators moved to a nearby square to continue protesting late into the evening, demanding an end to the war in Gaza.
Cairns total housing output is expected to grow by nearly 30pc in 2024, according to a trading update from the housebuilder before its AGM on Friday.

The company expects to complete 2,200 new homes this year.

It also reported that its current total closed and forward order book has a net sales value of more than 1.05bn.

The order book includes more than 2,750 new homes,

Over 1,000 of these units will be delivered next year and beyond, the company reported.

Cairn pointed to the exceptionally high demand backdrop for these homes, driven by state supports, a more favourable mortgage market, limited supply and its focus on first-time buyers.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 10th May 2024

Cairn has also agreed commercial terms with an Irish university to deliver 500 beds in a development located beside the campus.

This follows a new government initiative with long-term funding to boost the supply of affordable student housing.

It has also been granted planning permission for around 1,500 new homes through the Large-scale Residential Development (LRD) and Strategic Development Zones (SDZ) planning processes.

Cairn said its first three forward fund transactions with a number of different state-supported counterparties are expected to deliver almost 1,300 social and affordable new homes.

Parkside in Dublin 13 is expected to close in the short term, with 368 new homes available at this site. The other two sites are expected to be ready in the second half of the year.

Cairn reaffirmed its guidance for 2024 and expects to deliver 2,200 units this year.

Operating profit is anticipated to be around 145m.

Last year, Cairn recorded an operating profit of 113.4m.

We are pleased that our housing output will grow by nearly 30pc this year and our forward order book of in excess of 1bn is a testament to the exceptional demand for our homes, chief executive Michael Stanley said.

What is equally pleasing is that the broader industry is ramping up completions and government initiatives are working.

Davy analyst Colin Sheridan wrote in a note to investors that the extent of visibility provided in the order book provides a high level of confidence in company forecasts.

Revenues rose 8pc to 666.8m last year as the house builder delivered a record 1,741 new home sales. More than 2,100 new homes also started construction in 2023, up 21pc from the previous year.
Irelands largest private landlord Ires Reit has reported that revenues were down 3.9pc in the first three months of the year.

In a trading update ahead of the companys AGM today, Ires said that the decline followed the impact of asset disposals in the second half of 2023. It added that the proceeds from the disposals were used to repay higher cost debt.

Occupancy levels rose to 99.5pc in the first quarter of 2024, up from 99.4pc at end of 2023.

The Dublin-listed firm, which has a portfolio of 3,734 apartments and houses, pointed to exceptional demand for rental accommodation in Ireland.

Rental income margin in the first quarter remained in line with same period last year, while rent collections were in excess of 99pc.

The companys loan-to-value ratio rose to 44.7pc at the end of March, from 44.3pc at the end of December last year. This increase was driven by the payment of the companys final dividend in the period.

Occupancy rates across our portfolio continue to be in excess of 99pc, demonstrating the high-quality nature of our assets in attractive locations, and driven by our market leading digital operating platform, Ires chief executive Eddie Byrne said.

"We continue to believe the medium-term outlook for both the PRS [private rental sector] in Ireland and the Ires portfolio remains positive, underpinned by strong levels of demand which far outstrip supply, he added.

At todays AGM, the Ires board will also recommend that shareholders approve the appointment of two Vision Capital nominees, Richard Nesbitt and Amy Freedman, as directors.

Last month, Ires Reit and rebel shareholder Vision Capital agreed terms for an effective truce following Visions campaign against the private landlord earlier this year.

The terms of the agreement also saw Vision withdraw resolutions it had tabled for inclusion at todays meeting and instead will undertake to vote in favour of resolutions recommended by the board at general meetings over the next year.

Mr Byrne also pointed to the companys ongoing strategic review.

We are continuing to conduct a thorough and comprehensive strategic review at pace, which is attempting to unlock the inherent value contained with the Ires operating platform and maximise value for shareholders, he said.

In a statement in January, the board announced that a review would take place to consider a full range of strategic options to maximise value for shareholders.

These include consolidation, mergers, a review of the company as a listed Reit, the sale of the entire issued capital of the company and the sale of assets and returning value to shareholders.

Last month, Ires Reit reported that an accelerated sale of the companys portfolio would prove challenging in the short-term due to current market conditions. This included a sale to occupiers or to social providers, such as the government.

The country's biggest private sector landlord pointed to historically low levels of liquidity in European real estate assets, including in Ireland.
Airline is considering legal action against IAA decision to cap winter seat numbers, says CEO

Visits to see Santa in Lapland could be hit by Dublin Airport passenger cap

Flights to visit Santa in Lapland and ski trips could be among the seasonal holidays hit next winter due to the cap on passenger numbers at Dublin Airport, according to the chief executive of Aer Lingus, Lynne Embleton.

Earlier this week the Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) announced it is said that its imposing a cap of 14.4 million seats at Dublin Airport for the coming winter season, which runs from October to March. Its the first time such a cap has been imposed by the IAA.

Ms Embleton said the winter seat cap could affect the travelling public, especially for so-called ad-hoc flights.

These are things like flights to Lapland taking kids to see Santa, ski charters and sporting events  both taking fans to sporting events, but also the teams themselves, she warned. This is an unnecessary impact on the economy and on the Irish public and its time that we had action.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 10th May 2024

The Aer Lingus boss said the airline is considering legal action against the IAAs winter decision. Ryanair has also said it would consider its legal position in face of the winter cap.

While theres been a decision by the IAA on the winter capacity, that sets a precedent for what may happen next summer, she added. We have growth we want to do for 2025. Then the seriousness of this issue and the magnitude of the impact manifests itself as we get into next year.

Dublin Airport, operated by the DAA, is subject to an overall annual limit on passenger numbers which caps it at 32 million. Thats due to a planning condition attached nearly 20 years ago to the construction of Dublin Airports Terminal 2.

The DAA is currently in the process of trying to raise that cap to 40 million by way of a planning application for a wider infrastructure development plan.

Ms Embleton said the passenger cap is one of the most significant issues the airline is facing.

It hasnt been well managed, she said, as Aer Lingus parent IAG issued first-quarter results. The DAA should have acted a lot sooner. They should have made an interim planning application by now. Dublin Airport is really important national infrastructure. Were at a point where the passenger cap will increasingly likely impact the economy and the travelling public in just a few months time.

She confirmed that the airline will consider legal action against the IAA decision in relation to winter.

Importantly, there now needs to be urgent action to resolve this [overall planning cap], she said. Id like to see more leadership from the government now on this topic. There needs to be proper action taken on this issue.

She added: I believe that government intervention is required. The form of that intervention, I dont think Im best placed to describe. But I dont think we can have a situation now where national infrastructure and the interest of the economy and the travelling public are seriously harmed.

The DAAs infrastructure planning application that includes a push to raise the annual cap to 40 million passengers could take years to be decided.

The DAA, headed by CEO Kenny Jacobs, has said it would consider an interim planning application for a smaller increase in passenger numbers if such a decision could be processed quickly.

Aer Lingus is also in the throes of trying to reach an agreement on pay with its pilots. The Labour Court is currently considering submissions from the airline and the pilot union on the issue before issuing a recommendation.

The delay in reaching a pay agreement has already seen Aer Lingus lose out on the delivery of the first ever Airbus A321XLR jet, which is now going to IAGs Iberia.

A second XLR was due to be delivered to Aer Lingus later this year.

IAG chief executive Luis Gallego said that the group needs to have certainty about the returns its investments will generate.

In the case of Aer Lingus now, we need to have cost certainty, he said. We have 14 XLRs [on order for IAG], so we need to take a decision still about the others. The only thing that is clear is that this first aircraft wont go to Aer Lingus.
Post-tax profits at the private ambulance service owned by mortgage campaigner David Hall increased by 60pc to 977,700 last year.

New accounts filed by Mr Halls Lifeline Ambulance Service Ltd show that it recorded post-tax profits of 977,700 in the 12 months to the end of June 30, 2023, and this followed post-tax profits of 609,505 in the previous year.

Commenting on the companys performance, Mr Hall said revenues increased by 10pc to 11m last year.

The company has performed very well in the year up to July 2023. I purchased 20 new ambulances recently and three new organ-transplant vehicles, he said.

On the increase in profits last year, Mr Hall added: There was an increase in the need for our services at various times during the year. Healthcare is very busy presently. Last year we transported 24,000 patients and travelled four million kilometres. We also provide the co-ordination and transport for all organ transplants in Ireland.

Mr Hall confirmed the HSE remains the companys biggest client.

We have been successful in securing new contracts from the HSE in their recent tender process, which began last year, and have been successful in eight hospitals so far, he said.

He added, however, that the HSE has changed the structure of hiring private ambulance companies this year, and this will have a negative impact on activity and revenue, I expect, as the HSE prioritises cost savings.

The business currently employs 185 staff.

The profits last year take account of non-cash depreciation costs of 841,567.

The post-tax profits last year resulted in the company having accumulated profits of 2.5m at the end of last June. The companys cash funds more than doubled from 441,703 to 1.03m.

The directors are listed as David Hall, Susan Wiseman and Tony OBrien, who is a former director general of the HSE.

Asked about the role Mr OBrien plays in the firm, Mr Hall said: Tony provides strong strategic and governance oversight and chairs our senior management team meetings.

Directors overall pay last year almost doubled to 843,197 due to a large hike in pension contributions.

Pay to directors was made up of remuneration of 365,965 and pension contributions of 477,232.

The remuneration was at the same level as 2022, while the pension contributions increased sharply from the 77,232 paid out in 2022.
The Government should consider how best to deploy existing workers, says the NCPC. Photo: Getty

Ireland needs to ramp up use of modern construction methods, and deploy more domestic workers, in order to tackle the labour shortage in the construction sector, according to the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council (NCPC).

In its latest bulletin the council, which makes recommendations to the Government, says the employment permit system is only part of the solution in getting enough workers in order to reach our housing targets.

Use of employment permits only increases pressures on our already over-constrained housing market, the NCPC points out, and Ireland is competing with other countries which are also experiencing a severe shortage of construction workers.

In the longer-term, it is therefore critical that we also increase emphasis on other solutions, such as ramping up the adoption of Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and engaging more of our domestic workforce in construction.

MMC, which includes offsite construction techniques such as factory assembly, can speed up the delivery of projects by between 20pc and 60pc.

The Government should also consider how best to deploy existing workers, and find the right balance between residential versus commercial building, and between constructing new dwellings and retrofitting.

Currently, Irelands labour market is very tight, acting as a constraint on our ability to meet housing targets, the councils bulletin says.

In the last quarter of 2023, constructions share of total employment was just over 6pc, which means it is one of the few sectors with fewer employees now than it had during the Celtic Tiger era, even though the population and labour force are much larger now.

While the number of construction workers has more than doubled since 2013, such was the initial decline following the financial crash that there are still 29pc fewer now than in 2006.

Occupational groups that relate to the construction sector, such as skilled trades, have also seen a decline since the crash.

Construction is one of the few examples of a sector that has not expanded  in terms of numbers employed  since 2001, the NCPC says.

Given the recent population growth rate, this suggests an obvious question: is this sector simply too small to meet the current demand for housing?
TikTok will begin labelling content created using artificial intelligence (AI) when it is uploaded from outside the platform.

The social media company said this is an attempt to combat misinformation from being spread.

AI enables incredible creative opportunities, but can confuse or mislead viewers if they dont know content was AI-generated, it said in a statement.

Labelling helps make that context clear  which is why we label AIGC made with TikTok AI effects, and have required creators to label realistic AIGC for over a year.

The move is part of an overall effort by the tech industry to provide more safeguards for AI usage.

In February, Meta announced it was working with industry partners on technical standards that will make it easier to identify images and eventually video and audio generated by AI tools.

The efforts would include Facebook and Instagram users seeing labels on AI-generated images that appear on their social media feeds.

Google said last year that AI labels are coming to YouTube and its other platforms.

A push for digital watermarking and labelling of AI-generated content was also part of an executive order that US president Joe Biden signed in October.

TikTok said that it is teaming up with the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity and will use its Content Credentials technology.

The company said the technology can attach metadata to content, which it can use to instantly recognise and label AI-generated content.

TikTok said its use of the capability started yesterday on images and videos, and will be coming to audio-only content soon. Over the upcoming months, Content Credentials will be attached to content made on TikTok, which will remain on content when downloaded.

This will help identify AI-generated content that is made on TikTok and help people learn when, where and how the content was made or edited. 

TikTok said it is the first video-sharing platform to put the credentials into practice and will join the Adobe-led Content Authenticity Initiative to help push the adoption of the credentials.

TikTok is the first social media platform to support Content Credentials, and with over 170 million users in the United States alone, their platform and their vast community of creators and users are an essential piece of that chain of trust needed to increase transparency online, Dana Rao, Adobes executive vice president, general counsel and chief trust officer, said in a blog post.
Between a 1960s-themed Doctor Who double bill, the raucous return of The Young Offenders, and Bambie Thugs feat of qualifying for the final of the Eurovision Song Contest, theres plenty to keep you entertained this weekend.

The Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and Ruby (Millie Gibson) are kitted out in the necessary clobber for a trip back to the 1960s to meet The Beatles. Photo: Bad Wolf/BBC

Friday

BBC iPlayer, from midnight; BBC1, Saturday, from 6.20pm

Lets be honest about something: VPNs are a fact of life. Loads of people use them every day to get around geo-blocking, so theres no point in pretending they dont.

The BBCs new Doctor Who co-production deal with Disney, which has added millions to the budget, means episodes of Ncuti Gatwas first full season gets a simultaneous global launch on the iPlayer in the UK and Disney+ in the US at midnight, followed by the usual Saturday screening on BBC1.

This opening double bill sees the Doctor and companion Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) first landing on a planet of space babies, and later zipping back to the 1960s to meet The Beatles.

SUGAR

Apple TV+

If youve been following this series, youll know that last weeks episode had one of the biggest WTF? twists in television history. In this penultimate episode, Sugar (Colin Farrell), fearing for the safety of his friends, attends a clandestine gathering where he learns a dangerous secret, and the truth about Olivia.

NERVES OF STEEL

RTE1, 8.30pm

Filmed over two years in Emerald Park in Ashbourne, Co Meath, this behind-the-scenes documentary follows the trials and tribulations of building Europes longest intertwining rollercoasters.

THE TWELVE: CINDERELLA MURDER

More4, 9pm

The engrossing Belgian courtroom drama, which has already spawned a less effective Australian version starring Sam Neill, returns for a second season. This time, a woman and her father are on trial in Antwerp for the murder of his partner.

The Young Offenders - Season 4 trailer

THE YOUNG OFFENDERS

BBC1, 9.30pm

The much-loved comedy is back after a gap of four years, but Jock (Chris Walley) is largely absent from the opening episodes. Hes stuck in a prison in Colombia, the result of him and friend Conor (Alex Murphy) unwittingly getting involved in a farcical drug-smuggling operation. Its a riotously funny return.

SUITS

BBC1, 11.20pm

Such is the British obsession with Meghan Markle, the glossy legal drama that brought her stardom receives its first ever showing on the BBC  four years after the series ended. Will Piers Morgan be watching?

Saturday

Bambie Thugs odds are 12/1. Photo: EBU/Sarah Louise Bennett

EUROVISION SONG CONTEST

RTE1/BBC1, 8pm

Even those of us who couldnt be bothered watching the Eurovision in any year have to feel a little sorry for Bambie Thug. Theyre the first Irish act to make it to the final since 2018, and it happens to be in a year when a large number of viewers are likely to tune out in protest against Israel being allowed to take part.

As usual, Marty Whelan is our man in the commentary box in Malmo, while Graham Norton does the honours for the BBC. At the time of writing, the odds on Ireland winning are 12/1, with Croatia the favourite at 11/8.

Read more Cork man who grew up with Bambie Thug tips unique artist to win Eurovision

BETTANY HUGHES TREASURES OF THE WORLD

Channel 4, 7pm

Think Egypts pyramids are ancient? Theyre practically a new build compared to the 7,000-year-old palace in southeast Turkey the historian visits. It actually predates writing.

SPY/MASTER

BBC4, 9pm & 9.45pm

The middle double bill of the excellent espionage drama. Now that Victor (Alec Secareanu) has made his desire to defect known and is holed up in an CIA safe house, the Russians, East Germans and Romanians are all out to get him. Back home, his family fear the wrath of Ceaucescu.

HANCOCK

BBC4, 10.40pm

A real gem from the drama vaults: the 1991 Screen One film charting the final eight years in the life of Tony Hancock. Alfred Molina is superb as the troubled comedy star, and theres terrific support from Frances Barber and Mel Martin as his two wives, Freddie and Cicely.

Sunday

STARDUST

RTE1, 9.30pm

Showing on consecutive nights, this major three-part documentary by Maire Kearney, who made Whistleblower: The Maurice McCabe Story, focuses on the Stardust nightclub fire and the 43-year search for justice undertaken by the families of those killed.

This first episode delves into the days and weeks before the fire. Mondays looks at the aftermath and the official response, and Tuesdays brings the story up to date with the emotional verdict.

THE BAFTA TELEVISION AWARDS

BBC1, 7pm

Its a bit crazy that the final season of The Crown has somehow ended up with four nominations at the TV Baftas but theres plenty of good Irish talent nominated, including Corks Eanna Hardwick who is up for Best Supporting Actor for his role in The Sixth Commandment.

HUDSON & REX

Alibi, 7pm & 8pm

Judging by the global popularity of this Canadian series, partnering a detective with a dog is always a winning recipe. This is the sixth season.

THE RESPONDER

BBC1, 9pm

Theres a little respite from the intensity as Chris (Martin Freeman) helps a confused man (Kevin Eldon) in pyjamas who wants to know where the sun has gone.

ROB AND RYLANS GRAND TOUR

BBC2, 9pm

Television commissioners fondness for throwing together a couple of celebrities and letting them loose on a gimmicky jaunt continues as Rob Rinder and Rylan Clark follow in the footsteps of Lord Byron, beginning in Venice.
Henry Walsh: Will any European candidate fight farmers cause in Brussels?

We need to think very hard about who we vote for in the upcoming elections

Overall, as the elections loom on June 7, it is difficult to know which candidates would do the most good on behalf of our region, our communities and for agriculture. Photo: Hany Marzouk

Henry Walsh Fri 10 May 2024 at 09:55

I recently attended an IFA meeting in Claremorris to meet, listen to and question some of our MEP candidates.
Autism campaigner Adam Harris has accused Mattie McGrath of dog whistling to conspiracy theorists after the TD claimed in the Dail there had been an explosion of autism.

The Taoiseachs brother, Mr Harris, who is chief executive and founder of autism charity AsIAm, accused the Tipperary deputy of spreading dangerous misinformation about autism spectrum disorder (ASD).

Is it any wonder the stigma that autistic people suffer when such dangerous misinformation is spouted in the Dail? Mr Harris, who has Aspergers syndrome, wrote on social media.

Mr Harris response came after Mr McGrath mentioned him by name in the Dail, saying: There must be a need for understanding the explosion of autism.

Mr McGrath spoke of his own late brother, whom he described as a paediatrician of some renown. He said that when his brother came home from Africa in the 1990s it was the first he heard of autism, dyspraxia or dyslexia.

He said his brother was a champion of children from all over the country who was also at the time questioning what is causing all of this.

It is so tough and early diagnosis is so important but we must examine why, Mr McGrath said.

The last time I raised this here I was berated by a certain Mr Harris, not the politician, but the other guy from AsIAm. I think Adam is his name.

Adam Harris, brother of Taoiseach Simon, is CEO of national autism charity AsIAm

Mr McGrath added that his own late brother was very concerned something was causing it adding when I was going to school we did not see these issues.

There were some issues but nothing like the amount there are now, Mr McGrath said, adding that he salutes every school that has autism rooms and services.

Addressing Mr McGraths comments, Mr Harris wrote on X: Never mind explaining the right language or facts but dog whistling to conspiracy theorists at autistic peoples expense is below the belt Mattie McGrath.

Following the post, Mr Harris told the Irish Independent that Mr McGraths comments were incredibly ignorant.

Not alone are they not rooted in fact or reality  they are playing to conspiracy theorist views which are deeply hurtful and create barriers for autistic people in day to day life, he said.

Ignorance is no defence when information is readily available including from organisations such as AsIAm.

Mr McGrath was contacted for comment.
Nicola Hanney on surviving ex-garda Paul Moodys four-year campaign of abuse: The way he saw it, I was pregnant with his child, so I was his property now
The organisers of the Eurovision Song Contest have denied audio coming from the audience was censored, amid online speculation the sound of booing was muted during Israels performance in last nights semi-final.

After a public vote, Israels Eden Golan secured a place in the competitions grand final in Malmo on Saturday.

During the performance, TV viewers could hear cheers from the spectators in the Swedish arena. However, videos circulating on social media featured the sound of some audience members booing.

In a statement, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said Swedish broadcaster SVT did not censor sound from the arena audience.

Just like in all major TV productions with an audience, SVT work on the broadcast sound to even out the levels for TV viewers, the EBU statement said. This is solely to achieve as balanced a sound mix as possible for the audience; and SVT do not censor sound from the arena audience, it added.The same principle applies to all competing performances and opening and interval acts. The EBU and SVT encourage all audiences to attend in the spirit of the Contest, embracing its values of inclusivity, celebrating diversity and being United By Music.

Reports also said people walked out of the arena during Eden Golans performance.

There was heavy security around the arena for yesterdays event as thousands gathered in Malmo to protest against Israels involvement.

In a press conference after the event, a reporter asked Ms Golan about her participation in the competition.

Have you ever thought that by being here, you bring risk and danger for other participants? the reporter asked.

A moderator at the conference said Israel did not have to answer the question, which prompted the Netherlands entry Joost Klein to ask why not?.

In response to the original question, Ms Golan said: I think we are all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and united place for everyone, and I think its safe for everyone.
A man in his 20s is due in court today following an incident in Dublin on Thursday evening.

Gardai responded to an incident following reports regarding the alleged activities of a man in the Grand Canal area of Dublin 2, a spokesperson said.

"An Garda Siochana continue to carry out enquiries into the exact nature of this incident and to attempt to independently verify the concerns, they said.

It is understood the incident took place in front of Bord Gais Energy Theatre.

The man failed to engage with gardai at the scene and was arrested under the Public Order Act.

He was taken to a Garda station in the Dublin region and has been since charged with a number of public order offences.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 10th May 2024

He is due to appear before the Criminal Courts of Justice in Dublin today.

"An Garda Siochana would appeal to any person in the Grand Canal Square area of Dublin 2 between 5pm and 6pm, who directly observed a male acting in a concerning manner, or who has direct knowledge of any incident occurring in the area, or who has any video footage of an incident that occurred to contact Pearse Street Garda Station at 01-6669000, a spokesperson added.
Xinjiang's Kuqa ramps up efforts to preserve, utilize historical resources

16:43, May 10, 2024 By Yang Mingfang, Li Yanan ( People's Daily

Kuqa city in Aksu prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, was known as Kucha in ancient times. It was an important transportation hub along the ancient Silk Road.

As one of the historical and cultural cities that boast the longest history and richest historical and cultural relics in Xinjiang, Kuqa is hailed as an "open-air museum."

An old residential house is being renovated in a historical and cultural block in Kuqa, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. (Photo/Zhou Peng)

In recent years, the city has leveraged its local features and adopted innovative approaches to promote the protection and utilization of its historical resources, managing to preserve its historical charm while effectively utilizing its resources.

With a history of over 2,000 years, Kuqa is home to numerous historical, artistic, and scientific treasures, including ancient dwellings and old buildings. The local government has been committed to the restoration of culturally significant old houses.

In 2023, Kuqa launched a campaign to "save the old houses," in which Tsinghua Heritage Institute for Digitization (THID), a Beijing-based institute focusing on conservation, interpretation, presentation, digitization and communication of cultural heritage, conducted a comprehensive survey of all ancient dwellings in the old towns of the city.

The campaign invited renowned Chinese experts in cultural heritage conservation to train local traditional craftsmen, so as to improve their skills, pass down traditional techniques and provide support to the restoration and preservation of ancient dwellings.

He Yan, a cultural heritage conservation expert and THID director, told People's Daily that the campaign has been joined by more than 150 local traditional craftsmen since its launch.

A performance is staged near a scenic spot in Kuqa, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. (People's Daily Online/Yuan Huanhuan)

"This campaign follows the principle of minimal intervention, using original craftsmanship and materials for restoration. It also adopts targeted repair methods based on the value, cultural environment, and historical significance of each old house," He explained.

Gen-Zer Yusupjan Asen returned to his hometown after graduating from university last year. Upon learning about the campaign, he immediately signed up for it as he had learned woodworking from his father since childhood.

"As witnesses to history and carriers of culture, ancient dwellings bear the historical memory of ethnic integration. It was my first formal experience in old house restoration, and I realized that it is quite challenging to repair houses, especially ancient dwellings. We needed to ensure safety while preserving the traditional patterns, designs, and styles," said Yusupjan Asen.

In Sakesake neighborhood, Kuqiairike community of Kuqa, there is a Kucha Alley, which exudes the folk charm of ethnic minorities at every turn, such as the umbrellas made of Etles silk hung above residential houses and the vibrantly patterned doors of these houses, drawing in visitors from near and far.

Kuqa boasts five historical and cultural blocks, and since 2023, the city has ramped up efforts to upgrade them. Taking a "renovation without demolition" approach, the city revitalized these historical areas by improving basic infrastructure like water and power supply, while also cultivating hubs for cultural tourism and shopping.

Photo shows Kuqa, Aksu prefecture, northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. (People's Daily Online/Hu Qingming)

Mairan Nur runs a grocery shop in the Kucha Alley. "The environment here has really improved. There are more tourists nowadays. Coffee shops and bubble tea shops have opened up, and many locals have set up stalls or businesses right outside their houses," Mairan Nur told People's Daily.

Kuqa sanam, an ethnic music and dance widespread among the Uygur people in Kuqa, has been listed as a national-level intangible cultural heritage item. It is a demanding dance with stringent requirements. In the 1990s, as the older generation of dancers passed away, the inheritance of this art form encountered challenges.

Local authorities redoubled their efforts to protect intangible cultural heritage, emphasizing the importance to identify, study, preserve, and inherit these traditions. This rekindled enthusiasm and passion for learning and performing the dance among the youth. In 2012, Nasir Nusur, a folk dancer from Kuqa, was recognized as a national-level representative inheritor of Kuqa sanam. To date, he has trained over 500 apprentices, breathing new life into this precious dance art.

This is just one example among many. In recent years, Kuqa has made tremendous efforts to preserve its intangible cultural heritage. The region now boasts 146 intangible cultural heritage items, including two at the national level, and there are over 500 inheritors of them. Local authorities have boosted the enthusiasm of these inheritors through dedicated funding, performances, and subsidies. Additionally, a master-apprentice model is attracting more and more young people to join the ranks of cultural preservation.

(Web editor: Chang Sha, Liang Jun)
Traffic on the Bay Bridge was at a standstill Thursday night as emergency crews responded to the crash involving at least two vehicles. Chris Carlson/Associated Press

A crash between an SUV and a pickup truck on the lower deck of the Bay Bridge caused the closure of four of the five lanes for more than an hour on Thursday night, creating a traffic backup across the span and into San Francisco.

The collision occurred around 9:20 p.m. just west of the Treasure Island off ramp. For just over an hour, only the far left lane was open and traffic on eastbound I-80 backed up beyond the 7th Street off ramp in San Francisco. The Central freeway also was affected by the traffic jam.

At around 10:40 p.m., officials reopened all the lanes.
Plans being made to source sites as tent city cleared in Dublin

Tents along the Grand Canal being removed as people were transferred to centres. Photo: Collins

The Government has said it will put an urgent focus on finding suitable sites for accommodation of asylum-seekers to avoid a repeat of tented encampments that have twice been cleared in Dublin city in the past week.

HSE properties, land owned by the Department of Defence and sites previously ruled out for housing are among the state-owned sites to be considered, a meeting of Taoiseach Simon Harris and agencies involved in the asylum system was told yesterday, on a day in which an encampment of migrants in around 100 tents was dismantled along the Grand Canal.

The tents had been erected close to where the previous tent city had grown for a year outside the International Protection Accommodation Office on Mount Street, before it was cleared last week.

At the meeting, the Taoiseach was adamant a silo approach by government departments  whereby the problem is largely left to Roderic OGormans integration officials  is to stop now.

A spokesman said the urgent focus would be on freeing up more state land for accommodating arrivals.

This would even include sites scoped out by the Land Development Agency for housing, but not thought suitable for such development.

A particular target appears to be brownfield sites close to the city centre because that is where arrivals want to congregate.

A source close to the multi-agency meeting after the Grand Canal operation early yesterday morning said: There is acute consciousness that the feeling among migrants seems to be that the quickest way to get dealt with is to join such a setting.

There have been no legal efforts made at this point to ensure migrants remain in a designated location and they remain free to move.

The Department of Justice confirmed it was not looking at any such ideas.

There is also no evidence that migrants are co-ordinating the establishment of tented encampments in order to deliberately confront the Government, officials said.

Sources poured cold water on claims made in the Dail that clumps of tents had sprung up in Ringsend and East Wall less than six hours after the clearance of the Grand Canal site.

Both areas have proved to be flashpoints and gardai have acted promptly to move on migrants in tents in both locations, the Irish Independent was told.

Social Democrats TD Jennifer Whitmore told Tanaiste Micheal Martin that former tent settlements had been fenced off, but it was hardly possible to fence every street and road.

As Mr Martin attempted to explain the Governments new approach, she said: I hope you have a large supply of fences, Tanaiste.

A government commentator noted that there had been 40 tents at the Grand Canal after the bank holiday, rising to 100 on Wednesday, with 168 individuals present when the clearance was carried out yesterday.

He stressed the multi-agency move was humane and there had been no resistance, although one person requested medical aid, which was granted.

The tents were removed and will be disposed of, as their occupants were told once belongings were removed. They were taken to new facilities at Crooksling and Dundrum.

The pressure isnt stopping, said a spokesman for the Taoiseach, referring to the migrant flow.

We are seeing high numbers [of arrivals] and that will continue. The answer in the short term is state land. But the Taoiseach has sent a strong signal that tent cities will not be tolerated.

Sinn Fein spokesman Pearse Doherty said the Government was limping from crisis to crisis.

There was no coherent strategy or thorough plan, he claimed, suggesting that next week the State would be facing a similar situation with another 100 tents anywhere else across the city.

The Tanaiste replied that tent cities were not sustainable and not acceptable, adding: There is a plan resolutely to deal with tents wherever they arise.

The wider plan was to deal with the increase in numbers.

Applications are now being assessed in record time. The number of applicants from safe countries has fallen by 50pc, he said.

Theres a new system to respond quickly to any upsurge from one country. And theres been an almost 100pc increase in international protection staff since 2022.

Accommodation was being addressed as part of the strategy, he said.

However, the tent camps being seen in the city were not tolerable and Mr Martin said: Were going to continue to focus on it.
Health

Perimenopause: From pyjamas to pills, the range of treatments can be confusing. Are women getting the right information?
Jibin Mattathil Soman, staff nurse at Cork University Hospital, speaks about the impact of the housing crisis on nurses

Agents are doing pay per viewings of rental homes while nurses are being forced to couch surf due to the housing crisis, it has been claimed.

Jibin Mattathil Soman, a staff nurse at Cork University Hospital, told how nurses, many of whom arrive from abroad, often struggle for months to find accommodation.

He was speaking as delegates at the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) conference in Croke Park backed a motion calling for the union to lobby the Government for better and more appropriate housing plans  for frontline essential healthcare workers.

When Mr Soman arrived here from India, he lived in shared accommodation, but after getting married he found it difficult to find somewhere for his family. Eventually, a friend offered a room in his apartment.

I was searching for three or four months before I found a house for our family, he said. So it was six years back, but if you look at this time, even though people try for six months, seven months, you cant even say that they will get a house. Its very hard. People are in a very bad situation.

I can see many new nurses coming to Cork University Hospital trying very hard and then they are nearly crying for a house just to bring their kids, their family, to Ireland.

Mr Soman, who has been living in Ireland since 2017, said rent in big cities in India is about half what it is in Ireland.

He said when he arrived here, a two- or three-bedroom house with decent facilities cost around 1,400 or 1,500 a month.

If you look at this time, in 2023 or 2024, you cant even imagine that. If youre looking for a one-bedroom house just with a kitchen, with a bedroom, you have to pay 1,600 for an apartment. Its very common now. You cannot even find a house less than 1,500 anywhere in Cork at the moment, he said.

Mr Soman said a good house with three bedrooms that might suit a family with two or three children costs at last 2,000 a month.

It is very hard for a staff nurse working regular shifts to manage that amount of payment, he added.

Some agents are charging 60 to 80 per viewing for rented accommodation.

If nurses have to go for four or five house viewings, they are paying 360 or 400 for nothing, Mr Soman said.

He claimed some of these agents take commissions if they find suitable homes.

Everyone has at least one person sharing in their houses because thats the only way they can afford housing for renting, he added.

Reema Antony, a clinical nurse manager, said she recently heard of a nurse working night shifts at Mercy Hospital who is sleeping on a sofa in a living room.

Its so difficult. You have no privacy, no proper rest, she said.

Experienced nurses, Irish and international, are moving to places like Mallow because they can find accommodation more easily than they can near big hospitals, which affects staffing levels.

One nurse moved back to Kerry to live in her parents home because she could not afford rent, Ms Antony said.

Delegates at the INMO conference backed a motion calling for signs to be displayed in clinics and hospitals with an agreed number of nurses and midwives to meet safe ratios with patients.

The motion called for a revised approach to safe nurse and midwife staffing levels, with enforcement underpinned by legislation.

During a debate on staffing levels, Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions, said the world of nursing is pissed off.

However, the Tanaiste rejected concerns expressed over patient safety arising from a recruitment embargo in health.

Micheal Martin was told the INMO published the results of a members survey that found 70pc were concerned patient safety was at risk because of staffing shortfalls.

Sinn Fein finance spokesperson Pearse Doherty said 63pc had considered leaving their jobs in the last month and one in five had presented to their own doctors with stress.

He told Mr Martin that many young clinicians were moving abroad as a result and we need them here. Health staff were sitting interviews and then being told there was no job because of the recruitment embargo.

Mr Doherty said the Governments embargo was making matters go from bad to worse and preventing people abroad from moving home.

But Mr Martin said of the claimed worse outcomes: I dont accept that all. We need to focus on deployment and on outcomes.

He said there were 89,614 more health staff in Ireland than there were in December 2019.

This country has the second-highest number of working nurses per hundred thousand of the population in Europe, second only to Finland, he added.
'My wee boy wont sleep in his own room anymore' - young mother hits out at sentences to two brothers for sectarian attack

Victim and her son still living in fear as one thug jailed and second walks free from court

Danielle Skelton with her son

Niamh Campbell and Paul Higgins Fri 10 May 2024 at 13:00

The young Catholic mother subjected to a sectarian attack at her home in Lurgan last year has hit out at the sentences handed to the brothers behind the incident.
The Science Foundation Ireland boss became a household name as a key member of Nphet during the Covid pandemic

It was during the Covid pandemic that Professor Philip Nolan went from university academic to somebody whose every word was waited upon by government officials and the public each day.

The Dublin mans CV saw him become a person with huge influence at a time of national and local lockdowns.

He started out with a Bachelor of Science degree in physiology from University College Dublin (UCD) in 1988, going on to receive a primary medical degree in 1991.

He practised medicine before pursuing a career in academia, becoming a staff member at UCD in 1996.

While there, he received a UCD Presidents Research Award in 2000 and a UCD Presidents Teaching Award in 2002.

He was awarded a PhD in 2003 for research on controlling breathing and the cardiovascular system during sleep.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 10th May 2024

He was appointed registrar and deputy president of the university in 2004, a role he served in until 2011, when he left to become the president of Maynooth University.

At the outset of the Covid-19 pandemic in March 2020, Prof Nolan was appointed the chair of Nphets Irish Epidemiological Modelling Advisory Group (IEMAG), the organisation tasked with providing Nphet and the Chief Medical Officer with statistical advice.

Prof Nolan played a key role in the countrys Covid response as chair of the modelling group. The mathematical models provided by the group were an important element of the overall management of the pandemic response.

As chair of the group, Prof Nolan oversaw the work of experts from different fields across applied mathematics and statistics, and the modelling enabled the Government to prepare for future scenarios.

Read more Professor Philip Nolan unsure if he still has all WhatsApp messages from pandemic that may be useful to inquiry

He was present at the daily Nphet briefings on the response to the pandemic, provided updates on likely scenarios presented by the modelling and communicated future possibilities to the general public and Government.

The work of IEMAG provided projections on future daily case numbers, the effects of public health measures and the impact of vaccine rollout, allowing the country to take a data-led approach to the pandemic response.

Upon Prof Nolans appointment as Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) director general in October 2021, then higher education minister Simon Harris said he had been a constant and valued source of expertise in his Nphet role.

In May 2021, Prof Nolan entered a row over the sale of antigen tests in supermarkets. He responded to a social media post from supermarket chain Lidl and compared antigen tests to snake oil.

Can I get some snake oil with that? It makes for a great salad dressing with a pinch of salt and something acerbic, he posted on the social media platform X.

Stay safe when socialising outdoors over the next few weeks. Small numbers, distance, masks. These antigen tests will not keep you safe, he added.

Health Minister Stephen Donnelly said Prof Nolans post was not helpful and antigen tests would play a more important role in the following year of the pandemic.

Prof Nolan later clarified the post and said: The position on antigen testing is clear, its been clearly outlined by the Chief Medical Officer. It has its place.

Its not recommended in terms of self-administration of tests wherever they might be purchased.

In May 2021, Prof Nolan was admitted to the Royal Irish Academy. His citation described him as a distinguished researcher, teacher and administrator.

Upon his retirement from the role of president at Maynooth University after a 10-year term, tributes paid to Prof Nolan said he had provided visionary leadership.

He was credited with overseeing a university-wide reform of the undergraduate curriculum and a 20-year master plan for the Maynooth campus.

Last month, Prof Nolan said that he was unsure if he still had messages from the pandemic that could be useful to an inquiry into the handling of Covid.

I would hope that any Covid inquiry in Ireland is very different from the kind of Covid inquiry they are having in Britain, because they take that kind of adversarial or judicial approach, he said.

Prof Nolan has two daughters, Rachel and Aoife, with his wife Miriam.
Taoiseach Simon Harris has said he is satisfied that more accommodation options, like those provided to people who were camped at Grand Canal in Dublin, will come on stream soon.

Speaking to the media at Corrine Mart in Fermoy, Co Cork, he said that Ireland is facing a challenging situation as large numbers of people come to the country while there is constraints on providing accommodation.

This comes as more tents were erected along the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin overnight, less than 24 hours after an encampment was removed from the area.

About 30 tents have been pitched after asylum-seekers were moved to tented accommodation on State-owned sites yesterday.

Taoiseach Simon Harris with Fine Gaels Cork County Councillors, local election candidates along with Ireland South European candidate John Mullins pictured at Corrin Mart, Co Cork. Pic Darragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

The tents have been set up between McCartney Bridge and Leeson Street Bridge.

A lot of that will look like tents with sanitation on public sites, but a more safe environment for both a public health point of view and a legal point of view, the Taoiseach said.

Mr Harris said that outside of accommodation, other options at the Governments disposal are being examined so that a sustainable immigration policy can be put in place.

Amid some tensions, the Taoiseach said that it is important that the public is conscious that there are very vulnerable people coming to Ireland seeking protection.

He said that his governments responsibility is showing that there is rules in place and that its system is fair and firm.

Immigration has benefited this country, and it continues to benefit this country but people also want to know we have a rules-based system. They want to know when someone comes here that they can be processed quickly, that they can get a yes, if they get a yes they can make a contribution to Irish society. But equally, if they get a no the rules also work in relation to that, the Taoiseach said.

Mr Harris said that there is no update regarding the governments position on asylum seekers crossing into Ireland from the UK via Northern Ireland.

The factual position now is that the Minister will bring forward legislation to regularise the agreement that is already in place, the Taoiseach said.

He said the most important thing Ireland could do to successfully address immigration is have processing times which would ensure people get clarity and certainty in a swift manner.

Yesterday, a major effort got under way in the early hours to relocate 163 people to State-provided accommodation in Dublin. One of these sites was in Crooksling, with the other being the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.

The makeshift encampment had developed along the Grand Canal following the removal of a tent city on Mount Street, near the International Protection Office. Barriers were set up to prevent further pitching of tents.

Within six hours of yesterdays clearance, tents were erected in Ringsend and East Wall also.

Speaking at a press conference a short time after the clearance operation at the Grand Canal yesterday, Mr Harris said camps that developed would not be allowed to stay in place.

Those days are gone. Those days are over. Thats not going to happen and the Government is absolutely united in relation to this, the Taoiseach said.

Mr Harris insisted the barriers erected along the banks of the canal after the removal of tents were not a long-term plan.

The multi-agency response involves a number of different actions happening. It doesnt involve the long-term erection of barriers [to] parts of our city, but in the short term that can be a requirement.

In the Dail yesterday, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said the issue of tents would be dealt with wherever they arise.

Its not good for migrants, not good for asylum-seekers, nor for residents, or the general area. I think its just simply not acceptable, Mr Martin said. There is a plan resolutely to deal with tents wherever they arise.

Public Expenditure Minister, Paschal Donohoe said the Government was processing more International Protection (IP) applications and that more emergency accommodation was needed for those seeking protection.

In the short term, it's about the decision where we are putting more people into the parts of our Government to allow applications to be handled more quickly, he said on RTEs Morning Ireland.

"We've doubled the resources, we've tripled the number of cases that are being processed. As we are doing that, we need to provide more emergency accommodation.

Mr Donohoe said that while a plan was in place to establish 14,000 State-owned emergency accommodation beds and to introduce the EU migration pact, the response was happening while there were multiple wars in the world.

"I hope you have a large supply of fences, Tanaiste" - Jennifer Whitmore tells Micheal Martin as Grand Canal tents cleared

There is a plan in place, but this plan is in the context of a war in Sudan, wars in the Middle East, a war in Ukraine and now having more people moving across the world since World War Two, the minister said.

Mr Donohoe said that previously Ireland had seen 3,000 IP applicants per year looking for asylum here, but that number had more than doubled in 2024 so far.

He added: That is why, in the short term, what we are doing in processing and emergency accommodation is necessary. I believe that people such as those weve just talked about here should not be in tents in our streets or by canals.

We're going to have them in an alternative, but it is emergency accommodation, while we are building up the State-owned and run beds that the Government has committed to doing.

The Government has said it will put an urgent focus on finding suitable sites for accommodation of asylum-seekers to avoid repeated tented encampments.

HSE properties, land owned by the Department of Defence and sites previously ruled out for housing are among the sites to be considered, a meeting of the Taoiseach and agencies involved in the asylum system was told yesterday.

At the meeting, the Taoiseach was adamant a silo approach by government departments  whereby the problem is largely left to Roderic OGormans Department of Integration officials  was to stop now.

A spokesman said the urgent focus would be on freeing up more State land for accommodating arrivals.

This would even include sites scoped out by the Land Development Agency for housing, but not thought suitable for such development.

A particular target appears to be brownfield sites close to the city centre because that is where arrivals want to congregate.

A source said said of the encampments issue: There is acute consciousness that the feeling among migrants seems to be that the quickest way to get dealt with is to join such a setting.
This is people power: how student leader Laszlo Molnarfi forced Trinity into a climbdown over Gaza

Protests over Trinity College Dublins links with Israel achieved their goal of forcing the university to take action  with its leader inspired by previous student activism

Students protesting in the front square of Trinity College, Dublin. Photo: Frank McGrath

Saoirse Hanley Fri 10 May 2024 at 03:30

At the front of Trinity College Green, Palestinian flags were draped down the walls, and students perched on window ledges encouraged drivers on College Green to beep for Palestine.
Science Foundation Ireland is the statutory body in Ireland with responsibility for funding basic and applied research in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (Stem) with a strategic focus.

The agency was established in 2003 under the Industrial Development (Science Foundation Ireland) Act 2003 and is the national foundation for investment in scientific and engineering research.

Its investment focuses on academic researchers, who work in teams in an effort to generate new knowledge and applicable technology in Stem fields.

The Stem research carried out by Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) promotes and assists the development and competitiveness of industry, enterprise and employment in Ireland.

The majority (80pc) of Science Foundation Irelands funding is currently committed to basic research projects.

Approximately 50pc of its budget is committed to SFI Research Centres which perform Applied and Basic Combined research (ABC). Over 100m worth of investment in six new SFI Centres for Research Training was announced by the Government in April.

The SFI board is responsible for setting the broad strategy and policies of SFI and is responsible for the system of internal financial control and oversight responsibility for the activities of the organisation.

The board delegates to the management and sub-committees the responsibility for the implementation of these policies. It is currently made up of 11 scientists, consultants, academics and private sector leaders.

Board members are appointed by the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science. Patrick ODonovan holds this role since last months cabinet reshuffle. Government is represented on the board by Declan Hughes, assistant secretary general at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment.

SFIs executive committee is chaired by the director general, who is currently Professor Philip Nolan, who assumed the position on January 17, 2022.

As part of its major functions, the SFI board says it works to direct, support and evaluate the director general to ensure that the agency complies with all statutory and administrative requirements for the use of public funds.

Another major function of the board is to oversee and assure the agencys system of internal financial control, operations compliance and risk management. The executive committee also comprises of a senior management team.

The purpose of the executive committee is to assist the director general in carrying out responsibilities in managing and controlling the administration and business of SFI.
Actress and podcaster Hilary Rose is renowned for her star turn as put-upon matriarch Mairead in the quintessential Cork show

Apparently its massive in China, Hilary Rose, who stars in the series as put-upon matriarch Mairead, says. We met this lovely Japanese lady who became a fan, and she took photos of the locations by frame, travelled to Cork on her own, found the locations and then photographed her photo against [the locations]. We ended up contacting her to tell her it was amazing, and then she travelled all the way back to meet us. It was so random.
Air Force One landed at Moffett Field in Mountain View on Thursday night, with President Joe Biden arriving for two fundraisers. Michael Cabanatuan/The Chronicle

President Joe Biden arrived in Silicon Valley on Thursday evening to attend a couple of big-money fundraisers hosted by tech industry leaders.

Air Force One landed at Moffett Airfield in Mountain View around 7:30 p.m. The president walked about 200 feet to a helicopter without stopping to greet anyone or wave to onlookers.

On Friday, the president was scheduled to attend fundraising events at the homes of venture capitalist Vinod Khosla in Portola Valley and Marissa Meyer, former Yahoo CEO, in Palo Alto, according to multiple media sources. The White House did not confirm the hosts or locations.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Tickets to the Khosla event were to run from $6,600 to $100,000, a fundraiser told the Chronicle. Meyers event was to charge from $30,000 to $50,000, according to Puck News, and Gov. Gavin Newsom was expected to attend.

This is Bidens second visit to the Bay Area this year, following a February fundraising trip.

The Bay Area, and Silicon Valley in particular, is again shaping up to be a major fundraising destination for Biden as it was in 2020.

The president was expected to depart from the Bay Area on Friday with his next stop for more fundraising in Seattle.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Every childs room needs to be practical and cosy with a hint of magic... and a regular decluttering routine helps too

Every childs bedroom requires both practicality and fairy dust. The practical issues are standard  lighting, soft furnishings, storage and a bed  but magic is elusive.

Every parent wants something magical for their childs bedroom but most of them dont have an idea of what they want, says Lisa Marconi, interior designer and principal of Design Led.

They just want the child to be happy to hang out in the room.

Luring small children to their bedrooms is as much about respite for beleaguered parents as about pleasing the child, but creating an engaging space is a step in the right direction.

Blue moon rattan chair from Desser

The key thing is to have an element of whimsy, Marconi says. There are so many ways to do that. It doesnt have to be quirky decorations. I know a child whose bedroom has a hidden door.

I havent quite worked out how it works because hes only seven, but he wont stop talking about it.

If you can afford joinery, little hidey-holes are very popular, but building a nook can be expensive.

Some bunk beds come with the option of a tent and a slide, which turn the bed into a den, or you can buy a small tepee if the space allows.

Lisa Marconi. Photo: Ruth Maria Murphy

Prices range from Ikeas jolly Cirkustalt childrens tent (22) in traditional red-and-white stripes to an indoor tepee in classy colours from Little Dutch (around 130).

Be aware that, whatever you spend, your child may well be more interested in hiding in the cardboard box it came in.

Where children have additional sensory needs, their bedroom may be hugely important to them. Marconi is working on a home for a family with two children.

Both are autistic and one also has ADHD. Each requires a space where they can retreat after a demanding day at school, but their sensory needs are very different.

Wall decals from KL Wall Art

One of them wants a quiet space  calm, silent and quite monochrome  and the other winds down by making loads of noise and playing with noisy toys.

But they both love weighted blankets and they both need a really lovely safe spot thats all their own.

For sensory toys, she recommends Sensational Kids, an Irish social enterprise with a good online shop as well as other services.

Wall decals from One Trick Pony Design

The more vigorous of the children has requested a rainbow room. It could be absolutely horrendous, Marconi admits.

Im going to design a really cool 1970s rainbow stripe and everything that isnt rainbows is going to be neutral.

Where a child loves a strong colour  like purple  she recommends doing everything within your power to prevent them painting the walls.

Decals come off without any hassle when they change their mind.

If your child takes joy in flinging themselves from high places, a climbing wall is surprisingly inexpensive and easy to install.

Ive just installed one on the end of a bunk bed and it was just a matter of screwing in the hand-holds, Marconi says.

Indoor swings are also an option but you need to go into the ceiling above and check out the joists. They may need extra support.

Dream Forest wallpaper from Rebel Walls

If you can afford one good piece of furniture for a childs bedroom, Marconi recommends you invest in a decent bed.

Ive just bought a really nice bunk for one of my sons, she says. It has a double bed on the bottom, with a storage drawer beneath, and a single bunk above. I spent a long time looking for one that was aesthetically pleasing.

The Flick Triple Oak Bunk Bed costs 735 from Bunk Bed Ireland. Expect to pay an extra 339 or 429 for a pair of mattresses (the more expensive ones are higher spec) with delivery costing 90 nationwide or 50 in Dublin.

The bed is self-assembly. Delivery and assembly costs 150, but that service is only available in Dublin. For that kind of money, youd expect your child to be still sleeping in the bed when theyre 27 and cant afford to move out of home.

Eno Studio suspension lamp from Nedgis

One of Marconis favourite design classics for children is the Eno Studio Suspension lamp. Its a glass pendant light with a hole in the side to display small but precious objects.

At 389 from Nedgis, its a big outlay, but one that the child can grow up with and take with them when they venture into the wider world. Unless they break it along the way.

Marconi is the proud parent of two lovely boys, aged eight and 10.

They go through a lot of furniture and the only thing Im prepared to spend on is really beautiful lighting, she says. Even then

The elephant in the room is clutter. Ive failed, Marconi says. The whole place is a sea of Lego and I cant get on top of it. Its become a completely and utterly overwhelming thing that only ever seems to get bigger.

Cherry rug and flower bedding from Penneys

Most children have too many toys, says Hazel Burton, professional home organiser and owner of The Home Reset, a Dublin-based decluttering business established in 2022.

My clients feel overwhelmed and their children have so much they dont know what to play with.

Reducing the number of toys in a household is a delicate business. Many children identify deeply with their toys, including ones they rarely play with it.

If you get rid of anything without their permission, you lose their trust.

Her basic method is to rotate and donate. Favourite toys remain in circulation and others are stored in labelled boxes until the child has forgotten about them. When you unpack them, the child will be delighted to see them. The remainder go to charities.

My daughter is a teddy fanatic, so we operate a strict one-in-one-out system, Burton explains. Her old teddies go to the Dogs Trust and she loves that idea.

Childrens room interior design by Lisa Marconi. Photo: Ruth Maria Murphy

For toy storage, she likes Ikeas Kallax unit. This is a grid of cubes that can be fitted with doors, drawers, boxes and insets.

A 12 box frame (112 x 147cm) costs 115, with most inserts costing less than 20 each. Some cubes can be left bare for books or display.

Small items get lost in deep boxes and are better organised in a three-drawer insert.

Big toys go in big boxes and small things in small boxes, Burton says. But its a mindset change as well.

Some parents go to the toy shop on a weekly basis. If you only buy toys on birthdays and special occasions, you will accumulate less clutter.

Virtual consultations with The Home Reset start at 250. In-person decluttering sessions start at 450 but are individually priced, depending on what you need and where you live.

A one-off in-person design consultation with Design Led costs 400 (plus vat).

See designled.io, thehomereset.ie, sensationalkids.ie, bunkbed.ie
EXCLUSIVE | At the upper end of inappropriate behaviour: probe into bullying claims against Professor Philip Nolan

Research agency boss denies allegations made by five senior managers, amid no finding of breach of corporate governanceScience Foundation Ireland board to consider fact-finding investigation that said conduct fell short of bullyingFemale manager makes complaint: He has reduced me to tears at home and a feeling that I cant do my job properly.

Who is Philip Nolan?

Fionnan Sheahan Fri 10 May 2024 at 03:30

An investigation commissioned by a government agency has found the conduct of its high-profile boss was at the upper end of inappropriate behaviour and just below bullying.
Its not every day you wake up and realise youve become the spokesperson on antisemitism.

But what if you wake up and you realise that someone doesnt like or respect or tolerate you because of your religion or ethnicity?
Catherine Day, former secretary-general of the European Commission, has recommended a whole-of-government approach to the immigration crisis Ireland is enduring

An early morning operation to remove tents pitched by asylum-seekers along a stretch of the Grand Canal in Dublin. Photo: PA

The authorities removal of 100 tents from the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin is welcome and largely beneficial for everybody involved, including those seeking international protection who set up this impromptu campsite.

As Taoiseach Simon Harris recently stressed, we cannot permit such situations to linger in our capital and pose threats to public health and hygiene. The same approach must apply anywhere else in Ireland.

However, in welcoming the latest move, we must also acknowledge that this is reactive politics with elements of window-dressing as we are today four weeks away from the European Parliament and local council elections. The reality is that the removal of this encampment only emphasises the need to find a more efficient method of resolving a problem that is not going away any time soon.

In a special report for the Government in November, former European Commission secretary general Catherine Day urged that policy on the treatment of asylum-seekers be brought into the mainstream.

She noted that for more than 20 years, Ireland has relied on the system known as direct provision. This approach left aslyum-seekers in the shadows of Irish life. It has also been widely criticised nationally and internationally, with some predictions of future tribunals of inquiry and mass compensation claims.

The commitment in the 2020 Programme for Government to end direct provision is no longer feasible. Unforeseen events, including Russias invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, meant such action had to be deferred, but this deferral does not obviate the need to integrate successful asylum applicants into mainstream Irish life.

At the same time, we are awaiting the fulfilment of recent promises to process international protection applications within 90 days.

Any credible immigration system must include the expulsion of those who have not succeeded in applications to stay here.

The long delays in processing applications thus far are unacceptable, unfair to those involved and have constituted a major part of the malaise surrounding this issue. Anti-immigration elements have taken advantage of and fed on concerns that the Government is not in control of this issue.

A dishonourable realpolitik has been allowed to develop whereby Integration Minister Roderic OGorman and his officials have been given little real support from the rest of the Government to deal with an evolving situation. Ms Days recommendation amounted to a whole-of-government approach to the issue.

Irelands housing, health, education, transport and planning policies still do not include those people seeking refuge in future projections. This is in spite of the reality that many are likely to make their permanent homes here.

The failure to include a sizeable number of people in these core policies amounts to storing up many more problems for the future.
An early-morning operation to remove tents from a stretch of the Grand Canal in Dublin. Photo: PA

Multi-agency operatives cleared the Grand Canal of up to 100 tents that had been pitched over the past week by people who have chosen to seek asylum in Ireland.

Last week, the Government removed tents from the streets around the International Protection Office in Dublin and erected barriers to prevent their return.

Ireland is one of two EU countries that have an opt out clause under the Lisbon Treaty in relation to immigration and asylum policy. The other, Denmark, chose to invoke this arrangement in 2021.

Surely, in light of the numbers choosing to seek asylum in Ireland, serious consideration should be given to triggering this clause due to the lack of housing and support services available to cater for this increase in population.

The government response appears to be to refer these people to agencies that will provide them with tents, while then moving into the encampments and clearing the site.

Shambolic is not a strong enough word to describe the Governments response.

Eamonn OHara, Manorcunningham, Co Donegal

It appears the Poor Laws are still being used  on people seeking asylum

As your report illustrates, the way authority sees the poorer among us has changed little over time (Dublins tent city: Early-morning operation to remove 100 tents from Grand Canal completed, all asylum-seekers now relocated from area, Irish Independent, May 9).

The tent-dwellers along the canal were awoken and handed a note informing them they were committing an offence. If they refuse to move or return to stay in this area, they face being arrested and prosecuted.

The original Poor Laws were introduced to deal specifically with the homeless. The Vagabonds and Beggars Act stated: Suspected persons will be placed in the stocks and then shall be put out of town.

Despite the passing of 400 years, any difference in the treatment of the unfortunate by the blessed is purely superficial.

Jim OSullivan, Rathedmond, Co Sligo

Government must enact the Occupied Territories Bill as a matter of urgency

The dismay of some about the Trinity protest is overridden by what the protesters and their supporting academics have unearthed.

Trinity College Dublin, an erudite body supported by the Government, has investments that support illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Now, more than ever, this is truly shocking.

With its renowned Department of Middle East Studies, ascertaining where profits from such illegality can go was accessible.

Doubtless, TCD is not alone. There may be numerous other threads of co-operation with a regime that mercilessly oppresses Palestinians, involving innocent Israelis in the process.

The Irish Government also needs to review the headline it is setting.

In 2020, at its commencement, it dropped the Occupied Territories Bill (OTB), which covered the closely related issue of importing from illegal settlements.

It would have introduced the concept of identification of such illegal goods and enacted legislation for penalties to be paid here in Ireland.

The OTB gained majority support in the Seanad and Dail. In the 2020 general election, a large majority of voters supported parties and TDs committed to enact the bill. Its vetoing during negotiations for government formation was an astounding deficit in our democratic process.

The OTB is still on the order paper of the Dail and has passed seven of the 10 stages before enactment

Amid the catastrophe in the Middle East, the bill (2018) needs enactment in this Dail as a matter of urgency.

David Clinch, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin

Trinity students are not self-indulgent  they are helping to save lives

Christy Galligan describes the TCD students who recently set up a protest camp as self-righteous, over-indulgent, self-serving spoilt brats (Letters, May 9).

I beg to differ. Leaving aside Mr Galligans puerile anti-student prejudice, it is ridiculous to describe such an action as self-serving.

On the contrary, the students blocked access to a tourist site  temporarily  in protest against a continuing massacre of fellow human beings in Gaza. It was an act of empathy, a positive attribute that should be encouraged, not cynically sneered at.

More than 34,800 people have now been slaughtered by Israeli forces in Gaza, including over 14,500 children, and 78,000 people have been wounded and maimed.

Universities and other educational facilities in Gaza have been levelled, with large numbers of students and lecturers killed.

Whether or not people agree with their particular direct action, it cannot be denied that the Trinity students were acting to protect human life. It was an admirable gesture of solidarity as part of a global protest to end a nightmare.

Moreover, it was a very practical action that succeeded in forcing TCD to review its investments in Israeli firms with connections to the occupied Palestinian territories.

The world needs more people with the sincerity, empathy and awareness of those students in TCD. They should be commended for their action.

Fintan Lane, Lucan, Co Dublin

Lets hope Bambie Thug gives a final performance that shows Gaza solidarity

What a joke that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) uses the pretence that the Eurovision Song Contest is non-political in order to ban all expressions of solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza (Eurovision 2024: Organisers asked Bambie Thug to change secret ogham body markings before performance, Irish Independent, May 8).

Israel, which isnt even in Europe, is allowed to take part at a time when that country has invaded Gaza, killing tens of thousands of innocent civilians, yet no one is allowed to mention this.

What a pity, too, that Irelands Bambie Thug agreed to the EBUs injunction to remove their secret ogham body markings expressing solidarity with the Palestinians.

Fair play, though, to Swedish performer Eric Saade, who refused to bow to any such restriction and wore the pro-Palestinian keffiyeh during the opening act in the first semi-final.

Hopefully, in the final, Bambie will find a way of expressing Irish solidarity with the suffering people of Gaza, even if it means being barred from the contest by the discredited EBU.

John Glennon, address with the editor
The Taoiseach said the artist has been absolutely incredible performing on the global stage

Speaking at Corrin Mart in Fermoy, Taoiseach Simon Harris said that he is 'so proud' of what Bambie Thug has achieved. Pic Daragh Mc Sweeney/Provision

Bambie Thug is amongst the favourites to win the Eurovision Grand Final on Saturday night.

Taoiseach Simon Harris has wished Bambie Thug the best of luck in the Eurovision Grand Final, and suggested that Cork could host the event next year if the artist wins the song contest on Saturday night.

Speaking after meeting with Fine Gael representatives at Corrin Mart in Fermoy on Friday, the Taoiseach said that Bambie Thug has been absolutely incredible.

Im so proud of them as the Taoiseach of this country, on the world stage in front of a global audience doing Ireland proud, he said.

I wish Bambie Thug very good luck tomorrow night. I know the entire country will be rooting for them, and in particular Cork will be rooting for them.

We have a real chance and if we win the Eurovision, Im quite sure Cork would have a strong claim. And if Cork won it, then maybe Cork should host it.

Asked about the contest potentially taking place in the long-awaited Cork events centre, the Government leader said that he intends to bring discussion on additional funding for the proposed facility to a conclusion in the coming weeks.

This has gone on a very long period of time. Cork needs an events centre, he said.
A retired Dublin mother, who has been left without regular respite for her 31-year-old son since March, says she is elated to hear that the service will return to normal next week.

Siobhan Barrett, from Castleknock, said her son Sean, who is non-verbal and has Down syndrome, has been happily attending Ard Cuan on the Old Cabra Road for up to four nights a month for the past 15 years.

In early March, she got a call the night before Seans next scheduled night to stay over to tell her the respite had been cancelled.

When the same thing happened the next time, she asked if this was temporary and was told by management at the service that there would be no further respite until further notice.

This left them devastated as Ms Barrett said that, for Sean, the service was akin to going away on the plane on holidays.

The service was originally run by the Daughters of Charity on the Navan Road and, since their retirement, it has now been taken over by Avista St Vincents Centre.

Sean is picked up and brought into the service by a minibus, which he loves. He continuously talks about the staff who he absolutely loves, she said.

It has really upset Sean; he is very agitated, he is unsettled. He misses the service so much and its messed with his routine.

Sean only has an odd word or two, and she said the respite service has been a lifesaver for him, by giving him a chance to have his own space and get away from his normal routine at home with his mother.

After hearing the news yesterday that the service would be returning to normal, Ms Barrett said she was really elated. Sean is scheduled to stay overnight on May 20 and 21.

I was a bit wary saying it to Sean, but I have told him he will be back soon. It means everything to him, she added.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 10th May 2024

A spokesperson for the HSE said that from time to time, crisis situations arise which require an urgent interim response and unfortunately such a response may necessitate the postponement of some respite.

I am pleased to confirm Ard Cuan respite is scheduled to resume its normal delivery schedule next week, they added.

A spokesperson for Avista St Vincents Centre said: In March, a supported individual required urgent admission to Avistas Ard Cuan respite services on the Old Cabra Road for crisis respite support.

As a result of subsequent high-level safeguarding concerns, a decision was made by Avista to pause any further respite admissions.

Avista is not currently funded for emergency services. In exceptional circumstances, Ard Cuan acts as an emergency service for individuals in crisis.

Over the last ten weeks, Avista has worked with the HSE to ensure the individual in crisis is supported to the best of our ability and a resolution has been reached in recent days.

Ard Cuan will reopen for normal service provision on Thursday, May 16.
One of the cards designed by Aisling Howley, owner of Little Paper Mill

Aisling Howley and son Luke (9) with Triona Cussen, manager of the Down Syndrome Centre in Swords

A Dublin mum has launched end-of-year thank you cards for school SNAs after being inspired by her son.

Aisling Howley is the owner of Little Paper Mill, a greeting card company based in Skerries, and decided to release a number of cards dedicated to the work of SNAs.

Her son Luke (9) has always been involved in the Down Syndrome Centre in Swords, and the profits from the cards will support vital services for children with Down Syndrome and their families.

Aisling came up with the unique idea of the cards to raise funds ahead of the summer holidays. One card reads: To my lovely SNA, thank you for supporting me.

Today's News in 90 seconds - 10th May 2024

I thought this was a niche product to support SNAs and use it as a fundraiser. Hopefully, itll make a good bit of money for them, Aisling told the Irish Independent.

We were very lucky to get that support, but we do know theres not a lot of SNA support for other families.

The State services for children with Down Syndrome arent great at the moment. The Down Syndrome Centre provides a lot.

They sent an OT [Occupational Therapist] to give support in school, we shouldve got that from the State, but they didnt.

The SNAs are the biggest part. The teachers are brilliant, but the SNA is the one who looks after them on a day-to-day basis.

They help your child strive, the amount of effort and time they put in. Their hard work means so much to the family.

One of the cards designed by Aisling Howley, owner of Little Paper Mill

Aisling has praised the SNAs as, without them, she believes Luke wouldnt have been able to go to a mainstream school.

Luke was in the mainstream until this year, he wouldve got full time SNA support. He wouldnt have been able to go into mainstream unless he had that support, she said.

Hed have health issues, so hed need a little bit of support and hed need help interacting. Luke would have arthritis and a few other medical needs.

Hed need help in every aspect of school, we were very fortunate because we had two SNAs. Hed fully rely on them.

He loved mainstream, he recently moved into a special school in September. Mainstream provided a sense of community, a sense of belonging.

Its brilliant for the other students too, it teaches them about inclusion and about Down Syndrome. One of my nephews is in the school and hed tell us Luke was famous.

Now, even though hes moved, hes still a part of the community but if he never had that mainstream and those opportunities. Hes integrated into the community a lot better.

He was the first person in the school with Down Syndrome, so it was a real learning curve for them. Its lovely to see children being able to go into mainstream.
A family of six including a three-month-old baby was rescued by Clifden RNLI volunteers after being stranded on Omey Island.

Yesterday evening, May 9, at 6.15pm the volunteer crew were tasked by the Irish Coast Guard to assist a group who were cut off by the tide on Omey Island, in Connemara.

Follow Independent Galway on Facebook

Clifden's Atlantic 85 lifeboat was launched by volunteer Helm, Kenny Flaherty with Daniel Whelan, David OReilly and Shane Conneely as crew. Weather conditions were good with calm seas, and the lifeboat crew had no difficulty locating the walkers on the island.

The family, which included grandparents, a baby, two young children and their dog were found to be well and did not require medical assistance.

They were returned to the shore at Claddaghduff where Cleggan Coast Guard and additional lifeboat crew provided further assistance and ensured the family got back to their accommodation safely.

Speaking after the call-out, Clifden RNLI Helm Kenny Flaherty said: We would remind locals and visitors to always check tide times and heights before venturing out to Omey and to always make sure you have enough time to return safely.

If you do get cut off by the tide, it is important to stay where you are and not attempt a return to shore on your own as that may be when the danger presents and you get into difficulty. Always carry a means of communication and should you get into difficulty or see someone else in trouble, dial 999 or 112 and ask for the Coast Guard.
Arthritis Ireland highlights the negative impact on sufferers lives.

Pictured at the gardens of Malahide Castle is Ruth Levins from Drogheda who lives with lupus, an autoimmune disease that affects millions worldwide, including thousands in Ireland. Picture credit: Damien Eagers / Julien Behal Photography.

Arthritis Ireland and AstraZeneca Ireland have come together this World Lupus Day to call for people living with lupus to share their stories to increase visibility of the autoimmune condition and its impact on patients.

Lupus, also known as Systematic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE), is a complex autoimmune disease that is experienced differently by each person and causes a variety of symptoms, including skin rash, joint pain, swelling and fevers.

It is an often under recognised condition that can take many years to be diagnosed and disproportionately affects women within the 1545-year-old age cohort.

I don't let Lupus define who I am or how I live

Sharing her story to raise awareness on World Lupus Day is mother of two from Drogheda Ruth Levins, who describes the impact Lupus has on her life, and the life of her family.

I started feeling unwell at 16, it took two years of tests, different doctors and a lot of perseverance to get a diagnosis. Although it can be challenging, I have never let it hold me back. I don't let Lupus define who I am or how I live," she explains.  As a full-time working mum of two young kids, life is busy. I try to prioritise sleep as much as I can in order to limit flare ups.

She says over the years, she has learnt that lack of sleep and stress are two major contributors to her lupus flaring up.

"Im lucky that my lupus is well managed with the right medication for me and a wonderful medical team in Beaumont, she adds. I hope that by sharing my story this World Lupus Day, it will help more people in Ireland identify their symptoms, allowing them to get an early diagnosis and the right treatment.

Arthritis Ireland conducted a new survey to understand the impact of lupus and to know more about the day-to-day problems that affect those living with the disease.

90% of those surveyed indicated that lupus negatively impacts physical activity and their ability to exercise.

69% said lupus negatively impacts their family life and over 70% of those surveyed reported that the condition negatively impacts on their career, with many having to take prolonged time off work. Respondents also indicated a negative impact on their mental health due to their disease with anxiety (57%), loneliness (45%) and depression (36%) featuring strongly.

The results of this Arthritis Ireland survey clearly indicate the huge impact lupus has on the day-to-day lives of those living with the disease. As lupus predominately affects women between the ages of 15 and 45, it can have a significant impact on fertility and on family life in general, says Arthritis Ireland chief executive Grainne OLeary. There is a financial burden as well with many patients having to take time off work. At Arthritis Ireland, we provide support and resources for those living with lupus and through this campaign are aiming to increase awareness of the condition amongst the general public.
In California, the Real ID (facsimile at left) looks the same as the states identification card or drivers license (facsimile at right), except it has a golden bear on the top right corner. California DMV

The deadline for Californians to get a Real ID is now less than a year away  and state officials are reminding residents to apply sooner rather than later.

Starting May 7, 2025, travelers in the United States will need to present a Real ID  or a passport  to board a domestic flight. Real IDs comply with federal requirements, including verified proof of identification and residency, mandated by Congress in 2005 in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Implementation of the Real ID program has been delayed several times over the past few years because of the pandemic. But on Tuesday  exactly one year in advance of the deadline  the California Department of Motor Vehicles encouraged residents to apply for the new IDs as early as possible.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Time flies & so can you! the state agency said on X. Dont get left at the gate! Start your application today at REALID.dmv.ca.gov.

In California, the Real ID looks the same as the states identification card or drivers license, except it has a golden bear on the top right corner with a white star on the animals left flank.

Individuals with an ID that says federal limits apply will not be able to board a domestic flight or enter federal facilities  such as military bases, federal courthouses and other locations  after the May 7, 2025, deadline. All U.S. states, the District of Columbia and the five U.S. territories are issuing Real IDs.

As of this week, 17.4 million Californians had Real ID cards  about half of the 34.5 million state residents with drivers licenses or IDs, according to the DMV.

Applicants must visit a DMV location to sign up for one and present proof of identification, proof of California residency and a social security number.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Former rugby star Alan Quinlan and singer songwriter Aaron J Harte have thrown their weight behind this year's Darkness Into Light fundraiser.

All eyes will be firmly fixed on seven locations across county Meath during the early hours of tomorrow morning as the annual Darkness Into Light fundraiser makes its annual return.

The event, which has grown year on year, remains one of the countrys leading fundraisers in aid of suicide and self-harm prevention charity Pieta.

The Commons Loop, Duleek, St Marys National School, Johnstown Road, Enfield, Fairyhouse Racecourse, Pat's, Centra, Laytown, Moynalty Steam Threshing, Moynalty, Trim GAA Club and Navan Rugby FC are the seven locations where participants will line out in unison at 4:15am.

Follow Independent Meath on Facebook

In the region of 100,000 participants are expected at more than 230 official walks across four continents with many more taking part to fundraise in their own way.

Darkness Into Light first began in 2009, when 400 people took part in a walk in the Phoenix Park to raise money for Pieta.

Speaking at the launch, Darkness Into Light 2024 ambassador, Alan Quinlan, said: I am a huge supporter of Darkness Into Light and I am beyond proud to work with Pieta and Electric Ireland to support the campaign this year.

Mental health is a hugely important topic for me and every year myself and my family participate in what truly is the most important sunrise of the year and I look forward to taking part again this year.

To put into context the scale of services provided by Pieta and the ongoing need for donations, last year in Leinster alone, the charity provided almost 30,000 hours of therapy and saw over 4,000 clients across the province. The charity also supported almost 500 families and households bereaved by suicide across the province.

Pieta depends on the funds generated by Darkness Into Light, with over 85pc of the charitys annual income coming from public fundraising.

Pietas 300 qualified Therapists, Suicide Bereavement Liaison Officers and support staff across the country rely on this essential income to continue their lifesaving work.

Suzy Freeman, Head of Group Campaigns & Strategic Projects at Pieta said the importance of tomorrows event could not be understated.

With around 100,000 crisis calls and texts to our helpline last year, we are under pressure to make sure we can continue to provide this vital service and keep our promise to those in their darkest hours that there will always be somewhere for them to turn.

Together, with Electric Ireland's support and the collective efforts of our participants, volunteer committees and communities across Ireland, we can continue to shine a light on the importance of mental wellbeing and provide support to those in crisis.

Darkness Into Light is not just an event; it is a beacon of hope, guiding us towards a future where every individual feels supported and valued.

Pat Fenlon, Executive Director, Electric Ireland reiterated those sentiments, saying the occasion remained a vital source in furthering Pietas work while also raising awareness around mental health.

Electric Ireland is very proud of our ongoing support for Pieta and Darkness Into Light over the last twelve years of our partnership, he said.

Each year, we work with Pieta to create marketing and fundraising campaigns to promote awareness of this incredible event and encourage as many people as possible to participate and donate.

The power of Darkness Into Light is in its ability to bring hope and consolation to communities across the country and to raise much needed funds for the vital service provided by Pieta.

This movement reflects our values as an organisation and our determination to make the world brighter for our customers, staff and the communities we serve.
The 17th annual Milk Quality Awards, hosted by Aurivo, were held on May 7 to honour the commitment, dedication, and overall excellence in dairy farming.

A total of eight farms were awarded for their work in 2023, ranging from Champion of Sustainability to most improved SCC. Each of these farms have been recognised by Aurivo for factors such as their dedication to animal welfare, sustainable farming practices, and excellence in milk quality.

At the awards, the Overall Winner and Aurivo Champion of Sustainability was named as Dara Killeen.

Dara and Beatrix Killeen, of Bawnmore farm in Co. Galway, were chosen as the overall winner, and were honoured for their commitment to excellent milk quality and sustainability across all aspects of farming practice.

Sustainability is brought into everyday practice through milk-recording, the use of EBI and DBI indexes when making breeding decisions, participating in the National Genotyping Programme and protected urea use. The inclusion of clover and multi species swards has reduced the amount of chemical fertiliser used on farm. There is ample space for nature, with 10km of hedgerows, allowing biodiversity to flourish.

Follow Independent Galway on Facebook

Having been passed down for four generations, Bawnmore farm is a true family affair, with Dara relying heavily on the help and support of his parents Mary and Charlie, wife Beatrix, and two children, Isabella and Oliver. Dara began milking in 2019, leaving the world of sheep and beef farming behind, and now has 160 high EBI, cross-bred cows on 120 hectares.

He will now go on to represent Aurivo at the NDC and Kerrygold Quality Milk Awards, which seeks to celebrate excellence in milk suppliers.

Donal Tierney, Chief Executive of Aurivo, sincerely thanked the farms involved for their commitment, stating Without the hard work and dedication afforded to us by our farming families, Aurivo would not be able to produce some of the best quality dairy products in the world. It is an absolute pleasure to honour our awardees who have thrived despite a difficult 2023 that involved challenging weather and declining milk prices. As we continue into 2024, I look forward to our enduring partnerships that allow us to maintain producing the highest quality dairy products while simultaneously protecting and safeguarding the environment around us.

The seven other milk suppliers honoured for their excellence in dairy farming include:

Michael Marley, Excellence in Udder Health

Hailing from Templeboy, Co. Sligo, the Marley family have been farming for three generations. With 26 Holstein Friesian cows, Michael attributes his success in udder health to good hygiene practices, including clean mats; liming twice a day, and post-spraying. In addition, he prides himself on his attention to detail, watching closely for clots in filter socks.

Ian McKeague, Lowest TBC in Liquid Milk

Ian McKeague farms 100 Pedigree Holstein cows in Culdaff, Co. Donegal. The McKeague family have been farming since records began, and as such, have developed a surefire way to ensure their liquid milk contains the lowest TBC possible. The practice involves three hot and one cold wash after every four milkings with the auto washer maintaining consistency in the wash routine. Ians attention to detail and excellent hygiene practices guarantees low levels of bacteria in his milk.

Follow Independent Donegal on Facebook

Kevin Madden, Most Improved SCC

Kevin Madden has been honoured for the most improved somatic cell count on his farm in Roxborough, outside Roscommon town. He milks 110 Holstein Friesian cows with the help of his wife Lyndsey and son, Owen. Kevin attributes his improved SCC to strident milk-recording and hygiene practices including dipping clusters after each cow and stripping each cow every morning.

Follow Independent Roscommon on Facebook

Craig Finnerty, Highest Average Milk Solids

Craig comes from a first-generation farm in Ballinasloe, Co. Galway where he farms 70 Jersey-cross cows. Craig receives a helping hand from his father Paddy, mother Collette, wife Laura and his five boys, Jamie, Luke, Kyle, Charlie and Leo. Having secured the award for the highest average milk solids, Craig believes his success comes from the farms grass quality, grazing the right covers, a good baseline of stock, breeding the best quality cow, and a compact calving rate.

Vincent Diskin, Best New Entrant

Vincent took over his fourth-generation family farm near Tuam, Galway in 2015, making the decision to convert to dairy farming in the process. He now milks 60 high-EBI Holstein Friesians on his farm in which he lives with wife, Andrea and their three children, Luke, Keith, and Ella, as well as his father Paddy. Vincent credits his success to several factors including his attention to detail on grass, hygiene practices on the farm and a willingness to learn and adapt.

William McCollum, Best Northern Ireland Supplier

William has been farming at Carin Farm in Coleraine, Co. Derry for 50 years, now milking 300 Holsteins with his son Andrew. Having been recognised as the best Northern Ireland Supplier for 2023, William attributes his success to his strident focus on genetics, closely followed by optimal management to keep SCC low, as well as dry cow management. His aim is always to keep his cows in positive energy, resulting in high fat and protein.

Michael Gibbons, Lowest TBC in Manufacturing Milk

Michael, from Claremorris in Mayo, currently milks 40 Holstein Friesian cows. He is a second-generation farmer, having took over the farm from his father. During the 38 years Michael has been perfecting his craft, he has come up with a robust approach to lower TBC in manufacturing milk. This includes a strict hotwash routine of caustic and descale in place, ensuring the correct temperatures at the start of hot wash and discarding the water at the right temperature, having the right equipment for cooling the milk using a variable speed pump and plate cooler and regular inspections of the milking equipment.
Murphys Wholesaler Padraig Doran with Elaine Haughton from Courtown who was the lucky winner of Gala Retails Home or Away store promotion, winning a holiday voucher worth 4,000.

Elaine Haughton from Courtown, won the holiday as part of Gala Retail's promotion in celebration of 25 years of serving communities. Gala Retail has been delighting its customers from across the country, with the chance to win one of 25 holiday vouchers.

Running throughout February and March, the promotion offered shoppers the opportunity to enter by spending over 10 in any of the participating Gala Retail stores. Entrants had the chance to win one of 10 family holidays abroad, valued at 4,000 each, or one of 15 holiday vouchers for unforgettable Irish staycations, each worth 2,500.

Elaine entered the competition in her local Gala store and was one of the lucky shoppers who won one of 10 family holidays abroad.

We are delighted to kick start our 25th year in business with a huge thank-you to our loyal Gala shoppers. This giveaway is our way of expressing our gratitude and giving back to the community that has supported us throughout the years.

"From staycations in Ireland to fun filled, family adventures abroad, there are so many exciting opportunities and were thrilled to see our customers creating unforgettable memories with family or friends." said CEO of Gala Retail, Gary Desmond.

The Home or Away promotion, which ran from February 5 to March 17, received overwhelming participation and support from customers across the country.
Members of The Frisky Gypsys and Corner Boy who performed at the Shedfest at the Buffers Alley Grounds in 2023. (l to r)- Stephen Hamilton, Robert Kirkpatrick, Michael Sutherland, Conor Foran and Jordan Ryan. Pic: Jim Campbell

As one of Wexfords biggest outdoor music festivals, Shedfest will welcome Irish and international acts as well as some well-known local faces to this years festival.

Shedfest is set to take place at the Arena, Buffers Alley in Gorey on Saturday, May 11.

This is the 15th year of Shedfest and the line-up includes plenty of well-known acts from Wexford such as local DJ Ciano who has performed at Shedfest in previous years. His high energy set on the Wexbury stage was one of the highlights of last years Shedfest.

Wexfords The Hauring Jaysus are also set to perform their electric mix of folk pop fusion this year. Theyve sold out venues from Dublin to Limerick but this will be their first appearance at Shedfest.

1-4 to No Score are regular performers on the Wexford music circuit but this will be their debut performance at Shedfest. They have a huge following with their traditional Irish music playlist from The Hills of Donegal to Celtic Symphony.

Liam Byrne and the Pucas are back by popular demand and should be one of the highlights of the festival. They had Tago, outside stage hopping two years ago with their mixture of floor filling Irish anthems and pop and rock classics.

Springbreak one of Europes premier supergroup with hits from ABBA, The Boss, Britney Spears, Robbie Williams, The Killers, and Taylor Swift will also perform on the night. They have performed for such icons as Cher, U2 and Michael Fassbender.

Dublin based Riff Shop combines DJ and producer SteveO, Aaron Johnston on drums Sean on saxophone. They emerged from the Dublin nightclub scene eight years ago and now are regulars on the national and international circuit.

South African DJ Richard Saunders is making his Shedfest debut and brings an international flavour and eclectic music set to this years festival. Now based in Limerick he has quickly established himself on the Irish music scene.

There will be a taxi rank operating throughout the night and Vinnys food trucks will also be on site. Tickets are 35 and are now on sale online. Gates will open from 6p.m.

For more information, promotions and competitions, check out Shedfests social media platforms.
A Love Life sign on display during a previous Darkness Into Light walk in Inistioge, Co Kilkenny.

Inistioge will once again host a 'Darkness into Light' event on the morning of Saturday, May 11.

Each year the walk provides an opportunity for people to connect with their local community and to bring hope to people who have been impacted by suicide. The route takes walkers on a tranquil journey from Inistioge village, over the bridge and along the river Nore.

You can register at darknessintolight.ie

[When registering, choose County - Kilkenny then Venue  Inistioge].

In 2009, in the Phoenix Park in Dublin, 400 people set off on the inaugural Darkness Into Light 5km walk to raise funds for Pieta. From small beginnings, the movement has continued to grow, and now there are over 150,000 participants in Darkness Into Light each year.

Pieta is 85pc funded by fundraising events like Darkness Into Light. Since Darkness Into Light began, supporters have helped Pieta raise over 36 million. Consequently, Darkness Into Light directly contributes to enabling Pieta to provide services to people impacted by suicide and self-harm.

For further information about the Darkness into Light Inistioge walk please email John Gilsenan at info@inistioge.ie or call / text to 086 3840062.
The Duncannon Swimming World group who collected the bags for charity.

This is an annual event that Slimming World organises every spring, where we ask our members to donate their oversized clothes to charity, said Yvonne Byrne of Slimming World.

Slimming World groups across Ireland and the UK to help members do a spring clean, get rid of the old memories of bigger clothes and contribute to the Irish Cancer Society.

Each bag is worth between 25/30 to the Irish Cancer Society.

A huge thank you to all my members for their help and generosity, and to Paul Hughes from the Irish Cancer Society. Without them, this would not be such a huge success!! said Yvonne.
Young women in Wexford schools are being encouraged to pursue careers in technology as part of an initiative from Enniscorthy-based IT services provider Datapac. Launching its Pathways Inclusion initiative, which aims to expand access to technology careers through diversity and inclusion, Datapac visited Loreto Wexford where students were given insights into the companys work practises.

Aiming to encourage more women and young girls into technology roles by embarking on roadshows at local secondary schools, Datapac plans to widen the talent pool within the technology industry by targeting largely untapped talent groups. These include career-changers with transferrable skills and rich work experiences, and those seeking direct entry into the workforce after secondary education.

A partnership with Maynooth University, will see Datapac participate in the STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) Passport programme from September 2024 to provide mentorship to Transition Year girls, encouraging their pursuit of STEM careers and culminating in a level 6 STEM qualification.

Karen OConnor, General Manager, Datapac said, We believe that diversity and inclusion are essential for driving innovation and success in the technology sector. The modern technology landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, but a significant portion of the talent pool remains untapped due to outdated barriers to entry. To help address this inequality and evolve the narrative, Datapac is launching the Pathways Inclusion initiative as a movement towards greater industry-wide inclusivity.

Bronagh Murphy, HR Generalist, Datapac, added, This goes beyond merely attracting talent at the recruitment stage and looks to how individuals can be supported once they enter the industry, and through an investment in the root of the talent tree. Through our Pathways Inclusion initiative, we are committed to creating opportunities for individuals from all backgrounds to thrive in the industry and, in turn, create a vibrant and diverse technology talent pool in Ireland.
Phil Murphy will shave her head for Relay for Life at The Bullring at 3 p.m. on Saturday.

Generally instantly recognisable, with her high-vis vest and beaming smile, Wexford Tidy Towns stalwart Phil Murphy may be a little less recognisable after tomorrow as she undergoes a major style change for charity.

Tomorrow (Saturday) at 3 p.m., Phil will take a seat in The Bullring and have her head shaved in front of friends, family and passers-by in a bid to raise for Relay for Life and the Irish Cancer Society.

Its a cause thats close to Phils heart.

"I lost two amazing sisters and my beautiful mother to cancer, she said. I dont know any family that hasnt been affected by it in one way or another.

Phil has launched a GoFundMe campaign (which you can find here) with every penny going to Relay for Life. The fundraiser has already raised over 1,800 and shes hopeful that a few more will donate on the day and as they see her new style in person!

"Im a little bit nervous about it alright, Phil smiles. But the way I look at it, Im honoured to be able to do something. I have the choice to do this, my sisters didnt, and my hair will grow back hopefully.

All donations to the cause are gratefully received and everyone is welcome to come along and show Phil some support tomorrow (Saturday) at 3 p.m. in The Bullring.
Wicklow firms Cool Planet and Wildacres, along with Adam Harris, have triumphed at the Business & Finance ESG Awards, which took place in Dublins Mansion House last month.

The Business & Finance ESG Awards, in collaboration with Grant Thornton, celebrate the accomplishments of Irish businesses committed to Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG). Now in its third year, the Business & Finance ESG Awards continue to grow, reflecting the escalating significance of ESG practices in shaping sustainable business strategies.

The awards serve as a platform for companies to showcase their commitment to ESG principles and to contribute visibly to a greener future.

Remarking on his ESG Leader Award, Adam Harris Founder and CEO of AsIAm, said: "I am deeply honoured to accept the ESG Award on behalf of AsIAm, Ireland's Autism Charity. This award comes at a special moment as we mark 10 years of impact.

"Our vision is a society in which every autistic person is accepted as they are, equal, valued and respected. Today, AsIAm is a charity providing a wide range of supports to thousands of autistic people and families across Ireland whilst simultaneously working in partnership with businesses, employers, public services and communities across Ireland to grow understanding and acceptance of autistic people and break down the often invisible, accessibility barriers which deprive our community of the same chance.

"Whilst we are proud of our impact to date, we know we need to do so much more. We passionately believe in working in partnership with businesses to deliver leadership, impact and true inclusion. Over the past decade, some of Ireland's leading businesses have been central to our key achievements  from our Autism Friendly Towns Programme to our Community of Practice for Autism-Friendly Employers.

"Irish businesses have partnered to help us provide critical supports to our community which faces major barriers to accessing even basic support. Our ask today, he continued, is that we continue to work together, to grow our shared impact so Ireland is a place in which every autistic person enjoys equal opportunities.

The awards recognise standout winners across 20 categories, and included Wicklows CoolPlanet, which was awarded the ESG Company Award for SMEs and Wildacres, which won the award for Biodiversity Leadership in Business.
Wicklow filmmakers can now apply for The Arts Councils Authored Works funding programme, which includes a fund of up to 247,500 for one successful applicant.

The Authored Works programme aims to provide film artists with the creative and editorial freedom to make a feature-length authored cultural film work from a strong artistic point of view.

One film will be supported in 2024, with a total fund of up to 247,500 made available to the successful applicant.

This includes a production budget of 230,000 and further exhibition support of 17,500, which will be made available following the completion of the film and on submission of an exhibition strategy to be approved by the Arts Council. Only films that can be made within this budget will be considered.

The film must be completed to premiere at the Irish Film Institute, The Arts Councils exhibition partner, at an agreed date in 2026.

Applicants can apply online via artscouncil.ie, before the deadline on Thursday, June 6, at 5.30 p.m., and will be notified in July if they have been shortlisted.

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to discuss the details of their proposals with the selection panel, which is expected to be convened in July 2024.

Successful projects will be required to provide at least one Digital Cinema Print (DCP) for deposit in the IFI Archive as part of Authored Works' delivery requirements. This should be provided for within the budget of the application.
Emergency personnel respond to a vehicle plunge over the side of Highway 1 on Jan. 1, 2023, in San Mateo County. Attorneys for the driver, Dharmesh Patel, are seeking mental health diversion to avoid a trial and incarceration for their client, who had his family in the car and has been charged with three counts of attempted murder. San Mateo County Sheriff

No one argues that Dharmesh Patel suffered from a psychotic break when he drove his Tesla sedan off a Devils Slide cliff 16 months ago, miraculously surviving along with his wife and two young children.

What prosecutors and Patels defense attorney disagree on is his mental health diagnosis that led to the crash. Patels attorney and two experts have called it major depressive disorder with a single episode of psychotic features, while prosecutors and their expert have determined it to be schizoaffective disorder. While the disorders share overlapping symptoms, the differences have been at the heart of a three-day mental health diversion hearing that culminated Friday and carry massive stakes for Patel.

If San Mateo Superior Judge Susan Jakubowski finds mental health diversion appropriate, Patel would face two years of treatment out of custody under GPS monitoring. If he successfully completes the diversion program, his charges would be dismissed, and the case would disappear. If she rules against diversion, Patel could face seven years to life in prison on each of his three counts of attempted murder if convicted. Immediately he would return to his criminal prosecution and face a preliminary hearing.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

On Friday, Jakubowski said she would issue a ruling on June 20 after weighing a large volume of evidence.

I wouldnt be doing my job unless I took the time I need to go through this case, she said.

During closing arguments Friday, prosecutors argued that Patels proposed treatment plan in a diversion program was based on a flawed diagnosis and therefore he would not be successful and would pose an unreasonable public safety risk to the community. San Mateo County Deputy District Attorney Dominique Davis argued that Patel has a history of masking his symptoms and could do so again while being treated outpatient without proper safeguards.

She called the defense treatment plan: Lets let him out and lets figure it out later.

Meanwhile, Patels defense attorney told the judge his clients case is exactly why legislators passed the 2018 law that would send eligible mentally ill defendants to treatment versus prison, and Patel fit all the criteria.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

That was not him. It was 100% a mental health episode, Josh Bentley, Patels defense attorney, said in his closing arguments. Mr. Patel is a decent human being with zero criminal history. The law calls for this very exact situation, and it allows the court to divert.

He said he worried the judge would potentially be swayed by media coverage of the diversion hearing, but said the burden of her decision would be carried by the defendant, his relatives, his care team and himself.

Other attempted murder cases got mental health diversion, he reminded the judge.

The judge must determine whether Patel has a qualifying mental illness and if it contributed to his alleged crime. She must also determine whether Patel would be successful in treatment, and whether he presents a public safety threat, among other requirements.

Prosecutors charged Patel last year, alleging he intentionally drove his white 2021 Tesla Model Y, with his wife and children inside, off a cliff just south of the Tom Lantos Tunnels on Jan. 2, 2023. The family survived the 330-foot drop, but Patel, who has pleaded not guilty, his wife and 7-year-old child suffered serious injuries.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

At the time of the crash, Patel told investigators he pulled off Highway 1 to check on a possible flat tire, according to court records. Witnesses told CHP investigators the car veered off the cliff without braking. The doctors wife Neha Petal repeatedly told rescuers in the immediate aftermath of the wreck that her husband intentionally drove off the cliff and he had been experiencing mental health issues.

However, after those initial concerns voiced by Neha Patel, prosecutors said that she stopped cooperating with investigators and hired an attorney.

Last week, she spoke publicly for the first time since the crash and pleaded with the judge to allow her husband to receive mental health treatment rather than continue to be prosecuted. Wiping away tears, she spoke via Zoom and said she misses her best friend, and believes his mental illness is treatable and she wants her family back together. On Friday, she listened to the proceedings over Zoom, and her parents and relatives, along with her husbands family, sat in the courtroom in support of Dharmesh Patel. The defendant, dressed in a red, jail-issued jumpsuit, sat next to his attorney and watched quietly.

Two doctors hired by Dharmesh Patels attorneys diagnosed Patel with major depressive disorder with a single episode of psychotic features and testified that he should be sent to treatment.

The experts, who met multiple times with Patel, said he had been hearing footsteps and thought he was being followed in the weeks before the crash. He was preoccupied with world events, including the Jeffrey Epstein saga, the fentanyl crisis and the war in Ukraine, they said, and became worried his children would be sex-trafficked.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

However, the prosecutions expert psychologist diagnosed Patel with schizoaffective disorder, an illness similar to major depressive disorder with psychotic episodes that can be treated with antipsychotic medication.

Both disorders qualify for mental health diversion; however, the judge must also decide that Patel is likely to agree to a full treatment regimen, including taking prescribed medications, to qualify for diversion. The prosecution expert testified that Patel has shown a reluctance to take antipsychotic medication since the crash.

On Friday, Jakubowski asked Patels attorney numerous questions about the kind of treatment and monitoring Patel would submit to if she approved diversion. Prosecutors questioned how any violations by Patel would be handled.

In his closing statement, Bentley said Patel would enter a very intensive treatment program, overseen by the clinical director for forensic psychiatry at Stanford University. Patel has been verbally accepted into an outpatient program in San Mateo County, he said.

The law calls for this very exact situation and it allows the court to divert, he said, adding that legislators realized that not everyone who commits a crime is a criminal.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Davis started her closing statement posting a photo of the 330-foot cliff where the Tesla plunged off. She emphasized the cliff was the same height as Big Ben, the famed London landmark.

The only reason this is not statutorily excluded, Davis argued, is because everyone lived.  What he did should have led to the death of him and his three family members. A murder charge would not be eligible for mental health diversion.

The most frightening part is no one saw it coming, Davis said, arguing that another sudden psychotic episode could happen again, particularly because his treatment plan was tailored to an improper diagnosis.

While the pair of diagnoses have overlapping symptoms, Davis argued schizoaffective disorder involves two or more weeks of delusions or psychotic symptoms without the presence of a major depressive mood. Doctor notes, she argued, showed that Patel suffered from delusions as far back as the start of the war in Ukraine, in February 2022. Davis also pointed out doctor notes in the days following the crash where Patel and doctors recognized no mental health symptoms and argued such masking abilities could prevent a relapse from being discovered during his potential diversion.
Codling Wind Park, which recently announced a 25pc reduction in the number of turbines required for the project off the coasts of Greystones and Wicklow town, is holding public information meetings in Greystones on all the remaining Wednesdays and Thursdays this month.

In advance of submitting a planning application, a team from the project will be on hand at Iretons store, Killincarrick Road, Greystones, from 11am to 3pm daily on Wednesdays and Thursdays, starting from May 15.

The open information sessions will give members of the public a chance to explore the final designs of the offshore wind park, including turbine numbers and layout, learn about the Community Benefit Fund, and get a visual sense of the project using virtual reality headsets and video materials.

The project, which will be located approximately 13 to 22 kilometres off the County Wicklow coast between Greystones and Wicklow town is a 50/50 joint venture between Fred Olsen Seawind and EDF Renewables.

Project Director Scott Sutherland said he was looking forward to sharing details of the final design with members of the local communities and other stakeholders, ahead of submitting the planning application for the project.

This is one of the largest energy infrastructure investments ever seen in Ireland and a tremendously exciting one to work on, he said. As well as supplying over a quarter of Irelands 2030 offshore wind target, Codling Wind Park will support Irish energy independence, help stabilise the cost of electricity for Irish consumers and will displace 1.7 million tonnes of carbon. It will also help the country realise its enormous potential to become a world leader in offshore wind.

Through various rounds of public consultation, we have listened to the people of Wicklow, Ringsend and Poolbeg and incorporated their feedback into the design where possible. The reduction and layout of the reduced number of turbines was always key in that regard, he continued.

The design of the project has been informed by a range of inputs including geophysical, aerial and vessel-based surveys  some going back over 15 years  which have all fed into an extremely detailed Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report which forms a critical part of the planning application. Our aim at all times has been to protect the environment and mitigate any potential impacts as well as proactively enhancing it where possible.

As well as details of the turbine numbers and layout, Community Benefit Fund (CBF) of up to 200m will be established as part of the project to fund local community-based projects.

The aim of the fund, which will be administered by an independent Fund Administrator, as part of the Offshore Renewable Energy Support Scheme (ORESS), is to deliver economic, environmental, social, and cultural benefits to local community groups over a 20-year period.

Mr Sutherland said that the 10m per year fund, one of the biggest anywhere in the world, would not become available until after the project had received planning and begun construction, he urged community groups to consider what projects or initiatives they would like to benefit from the fund.

The Community Benefit Fund for this project will create lasting legacies for local communities near the project over the next 20 years. While the fund will not become operational until the construction phase of the project, we believe its very important for clubs, groups, and voluntary organisations to start their own preparation and planning, so they are fund-ready when the time comes.

The key thing to remember is that while Codling will provide the funding, the community will decide how it is spent. We want the community to start thinking now about what they will do with the funds, he said.

When developed, Codling Wind Park will be Irelands largest offshore wind farm. The project is expected to create over 1,000 jobs in the construction phase and 75 new, long-term jobs associated with its proposed operations and maintenance base.

Subject to it receiving planning permission and all other necessary permits and consents being received, Codling Wind Park could begin construction in 2026-27. Construction is expected to take two to three years to complete.
Director of Service and Social Development with Wicklow County Council, Michael Nicholson, Cllr Pat Kennedy and chairperson of the Ballinaclash Community Association, TJ Carter.

Cllr Pat Kennedy cutting the ribbon on the community hall, with Michael Nicholson of Wicklow County Council, and the Ballinaclash Community Association committee.

In a testament to community resilience and determination, the Ballinaclash Community Hall, which served as a primary school for 19 years until its closure in 1971, has undergone a remarkable transformation.

Originally opened in 1953, the hall has been a cornerstone of the Ballinaclash community for decades.

The Ballinaclash Community Association, with the support of Wicklow County Council and various professionals, secured grants for the renovation of the building. Under the expert guidance of Colin Byrne Construction, the hall has been transformed into a state-of-the-art facility that will continue to serve as the heart of the community for generations to come.

A reopening ceremony was held on Saturday last week, attended by members of the local community and representatives from Wicklow County Council.

Led by the late Mick Baker, who served as the principal, and dedicated teachers including the late Mr Egan, the school played a vital role in shaping the education and lives of generations of children until its closure. However, the spirit of the community endured, and in 1975, the Ballinaclash Community Association was formed, repurposing the old school as the focal point of their activities.

Over the years, the association has been a beacon of community engagement, hosting countless events including Christmas parties, birthday celebrations, and social gatherings for the elderly. One notable achievement is the establishment of the longest-running 45 card game group in Ireland, a tradition that continues to thrive to this day, with Martha Baker, wife of the late Mr Baker, still dominating the tables with her formidable skills.

In 1976, the association embarked on a transformative project to purchase land at the centre of the village, thanks to the efforts of the late Fred Phelan and the unwavering support of community members like Dora Nolan, Liam Clarke and Andy Byrne.

Through their dedication and fundraising endeavours, including a memorable car raffle, they raised 20,300 to secure the land, which was dedicated to the memory of Hugh McCarty.

He was born in Ballinaclash and became a beloved figure in Ballinaclash's history through his many achievements, including being a member of the committee that was responsible for the erection of the famous Parnell Monument on OConnell Street in Dublin.

As the doors of the newly renovated Ballinaclash Community Hall reopen, the association has said it will reaffirm its commitment to fostering community spirit and ensuring that the hall remains a vibrant hub for all residents.
Phillip and Thomas Emmet of Altidore Castle in Kilpedder both proudly attended the RDS Native Woodland Conservation award after being honoured as a national finalist.

The RDS Awards are Irelands National forestry awards and reward those who are at the forefront of the economic, environmental and community development of the forestry sector in Ireland.

The RDS Spring Agricultural and Forestry awards ceremony was held on May 2 in the RDS with a sit-down lunch and an address by the Minister of State for Land Use and Biodiversity Pippa Hackett. Altidore Castle was one of four finalists nominated in the Native Woodland Conservation award for their excellence in maintenance of native forests in a way that is beneficial to biodiversity.

The work we do in our woodlands is an essential part of keeping Altidore looking to the future while restoring the nature we have lost in the past said owner Philip Emmet. We were very happy to be nominated and to have that work recognised.

It's vital that private land as well as public land is used in an environmental way, said Thomas Emmet. Im happy to see private landowners being recognised as well as state funded public bodies. Its so important that private owners are encouraged and get equal opportunities of funding. The nomination has really energised us to continue to make native woodlands a priority.
Israels singer has insisted the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden remains safe for everyone amid protests against her participating as she made the final.

Eden Golan, 20, whose emotional Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel, performed at the second semi-finals on Thursday evening in Malmo Arena.

Earlier in the day, thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters walked across the streets of Malmo from Stortorget to Molleplatsen to show their support for Gaza and condemn Israel taking part in Eurovision amid the conflict.

The Netherlands act Joost Klein told Golan, who is representing Israel, to answer a question on whether she is comprising the safety of other contestants at a press conference.

A journalist asked: Have you ever thought that by being here you bring risk and danger for other participants and public?

Golan was told she did not have to answer the question, but Klein chimed in saying: Why not?

She said: I think were all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and and united place for everyone and so I think its safe for everyone and we wouldnt be here (if not).

The Israeli act also said she was overwhelmed with emotions and that she was super excited to go on stage once more, and share that of my love with everyone.

Earlier, when Klein was asked about if his song can unite people by music, he replied saying: I think thats a good question for the EBU.

Golan opened with a back bend, before launching into her song and received claps and cheers from the audience while dressed in a flowing sand-coloured dress.

Nemo of Switzerland, pictured, on Thursday. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

The events organisers had said they will not censor the audience after Golan was booed during rehearsals on Wednesday and there were reportedly shouts of free Palestine.

Switzerlands Nemo, whose operatic-pop song The Code is seen as one of the favourites to win on Saturday, made the final along with Klein, with his irreverent and silly Europapa, and Norways Gate with the folkish Ulveham.

Also making the final was Latvias Dons, Austrias Kaleen, Greeces Marina Satti, Estonias 5Miinust x Puuluup, Georgias Nutsa Buzaladze and Armenias Ladaniva.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), whose members approved Israeli broadcaster Kan, has taken a strong stance, as in previous years, against political messages at Eurovision and flags and symbols from non-competing countries.

Despite the position, Tuesdays first semi-final saw former Swedish contestant and opening act Eric Saade wear a keffiyeh pattern material, commonly used by people who want to show they are pro-Palestinian, on his arm.
Ukraine to allow some prisoners to shore up army as Russians push ahead

Convicts to be let replace exhausted soldiers at front as Russians advance

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a press conference in Kyiv. Photo: AP

Arpan Rai UK Independent Fri 10 May 2024 at 03:30







Ukraine is enlisting convicted prisoners into its army to fight the Russian invasion as Volodymyr Zelenskys government struggles to replenish manpower on the frontline.
Vladimir Putin marks Russias Victory Day parade with single tank for second year running

The lone tank was accompanied by armoured vehicles and saluting soldiers as it paraded in Moscows Red Square

A T-34 Soviet-era tank and other armoured vehicles drive along Red Square during Victory Day. Photo: Reuters

Athena Stavrou UK Independent Fri 10 May 2024 at 03:30







Vladimir Putin has marked Russias annual Victory Day celebrations with a single tank for the second year in a row as the war in Ukraine rages on.
A former quality manager for Spirit AeroSystems, Boeings largest supplier, and which builds much of the 737 Max aircraft, has claimed he was pressured to play down any defects he found when inspecting fuselages on the plane.
Image credit: Representational image from Facebook/NPCI

Mumbai/IBNS: India will again delay caps on market share for a popular digital payments method, benefiting Google Pay and Walmart-backed PhonePe as the authorities prioritise growth over concerns about market concentration, Reuters reported quoting its sources.

According to the Reuters report, the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI), the quasi-regulator, will extend by as much as two years a year-end deadline to cap at 30 percent the market share of any company processing payments via the Unified Payment Interface (UPI).

PhonePe's share of UPI payments has risen to 48.3 percent from 37 percent in April 2020, while Google Pay's share has declined to 37.4 percent from 44 percent, reported Reuters, citing NPCI data.

The two processed a combined 11.5 billion transactions in April, according to data.

NPCI and Google Pay declined to respond on the matter, while PhonePe did not respond to an email seeking comment, reports Reuters.

India launched UPI in 2016 but barred companies from charging for the instant digital payments service in an effort to promote online transactions and reduce the use of cash in the country's economy, which is the third-largest in Asia, as reported by Reuters.

NPCI, which has a regulatory mandate from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), announced the 30 percent cap in 2020 but later extended the deadline by two years to the end of 2024, according to reports.

The deadline will have to be extended again as it is not possible for PhonePe and Google Pay to reduce their market shares without hurting UPI payments growth, Reuters reported citing its sources.

A final decision on the extension will be communicated closer to the deadline, a source told Reuters.
Megan Fan Munce is a reporter on the climate team covering Californias home insurance crisis. She writes about the California FAIR Plan; State Farm non-renewals; pullbacks by other insurers such as Allstate and Farmers; policy initiatives from the California Department of Insurance; and how homeowners in the Bay Area and elsewhere are navigating the challenges.

Munce first joined the San Francisco Chronicle as part of the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship, spending her first year of the program at the Houston Chronicle. She grew up in San Jose before attending Northwestern Universitys Medill School of Journalism.
Mumbai: Leading auto manufacturer Tata Motors on Friday reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 17,407.18 crore in the final quarter of the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), a massive 222 percent YoY growth.

The company had reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 5,407.79 crore during the same period last year. Compared to the previous quarter (Q3FY24), profit soared 49 percent from Rs 11,666.07 crore in Q3.

The company earned revenue from operations of Rs 1.19 trillion, a 13.5 percent increase year-on-year (Y-o-Y) from Rs 1.05 trillion. When compared to the last month, revenue grew 8.6 percent from Rs 1.10 trillion.

In the month of April, Tata Motors registered a 12 percent growth in total domestic dispatches, amounting to 76,399 units compared to 68,514 units in April 2023.

Tata Motors subsidiary Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) continued its impressive financial trajectory in FY24, achieving another record-breaking quarter in Q4 FY24.

JLRs revenue stood at 7.9 billion British pounds for the quarter, an 11% increase from Q4 FY23 and a 6% rise sequentially.

JLR reported highest ever full-year revenue for FY24 at 29.0 billion British pounds, recording a 27% increase against the previous year.

Tata Motors' net profit for the entire fiscal year soared to Rs 37,764.33 crore, a significant jump from Rs 479.20 crore in FY23.

The company's revenue from operations also saw impressive growth, reaching Rs 4.35 trillion compared to Rs 3.43 trillion, indicating a 27% year-on-year increase.

P B Balaji, group chief financial officer, expressed satisfaction with the FY24 results, highlighting Tata Motors Group's highest-ever revenues, profits, and free cash flows.

He noted that the India business is now debt-free and projected to achieve net automotive debt-free status on a consolidated basis in FY25. Balaji expressed confidence in sustaining this strong performance in the future.

The company's board of directors proposed a final dividend of Rs 6 per ordinary share of Rs 2 each, comprising Rs 3 normal dividend and Rs 3 special dividend.
Photo courtesy: wikipedia.org

Google CEO Sundar Pichai has said that the majority of the layoffs in the company would happen in the first six months of 2024, during an all-hands meeting, media reported.

According to a report from CNBC, Pichai said this in response to questions from employees during the meeting.

Pichai was asked when employees could expect the "end to the uncertainty and disruption that layoffs create?".

"Assuming current conditions, the second half of the year will be much smaller in scale," Pichai told the employees present in the meeting.

He underscored that Google should take a "very, very disciplined" approach to hiring more employees throughout the year.

In 2023, Pichai had expressed his apologies in a memo to the staff.

"Over the past two years we've seen periods of dramatic growth. To match and fuel that growth, we hired for a different economic reality than the one we face today," he had said.

Recently, the company took action against 28 employees who participated in a sit-in protest opposing Google's involvement with the Israeli government on "Project Nimbus", a $1.2 billion cloud computing initiative.

Following the protest, nine demonstrators were arrested by the police after they occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian for more than eight hours.

The sit-ins, which occurred in New York and Sunnyvale, California, were orchestrated by "No Tech For Apartheid", a group that has been mobilizing Google employees against Project Nimbus since 2021.

In a blog post on April 18, Alphabet CEO Pichai had warned employees to not "use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics".

Pichai had said, "We have a culture of vibrant, open discussion that enables us to create amazing products and turn great ideas into action. That's important to preserve. But ultimately we are a workplace and our policies and expectations are clear: this is a business, and not a place to act in a way that disrupts coworkers or makes them feel unsafe, to attempt to use the company as a personal platform, or to fight over disruptive issues or debate politics. This is too important a moment as a company for us to be distracted."
Two children stand barefoot on cracked, parched soil in a dry riverbed in southern Bolivia. Photo Courtesy: UNICEF/Giacomo Pirozzi

2023 saw another climate record tumble, with Latin America and the Caribbean registering their hottest ever recorded temperatures, according to the UNs weather monitoring agency.

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) attributed the temperatures to a double whammy of El Nino and long-term climate change, leading to droughts and wildfires combined with extreme rainfall and hurricanes.

Unfortunately, 2023 was a year of record climatic hazards in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the agencys head, Celeste Saulo.

El Nino conditions during the second half of 2023 contributed to a record warm year and exacerbated many extreme events. This combined with rising temperatures and more frequent and extreme hazards due to human-induced climate change.

Exceptional and extreme

According to WMO, the 2023 mean temperature was the highest on record, 0.82C above the 19912020 average and 1.39C above the 19611990 baseline.

The year was exceptional for Mexico, where temperatures exceeded 45C, or 113F, at many weather stations, with a high of 51.4C (124.5F) on 29 August. It also experienced the fastest rate of warming in the region.

Extreme heatwaves affected central South America from August to December, with the mercury soaring in parts of Brazil to above 41C in August. Peru, Bolivia, Paraguay and Argentina all recorded their highest September temperatures. In Uruguay, the 2023 summer was the driest among the last 42 years on record.

Human, wildlife and economic losses

The extreme weather also claimed many lives, along with massive wildlife, ecosystem and economic losses.

The Category 5 Hurricane Otis in Mexico, for instance, resulted in dozens of fatalities and damages costing billions of dollars, while severe droughts disrupted river flow into the Panama Canal, paralysing international shipping.

There were also increased health risks due to exposure to heatwaves, wildfire smoke, sand dust and air pollution, leading to cardiovascular and respiratory problems.

At the same time, record temperatures in the Tefe Lake in the Brazilian Amazon killed over 150 dolphins.

Rising sea levels

WMO also warned of an acceleration in sea level rise.

The mean sea level increased at a higher rate than the global mean in the South Atlantic and the subtropical and tropical North Atlantic Oceans, threatening a large portion of the regions population living in coastal areas.

Glaciers too faced the climate brunt. The Echaurren Norte glacier in the central Andes mountains  a reference glacier  lost about 31 metres water equivalent from 1975 to 2023.

Source: WMO Droughts in Latin America and the Caribbean region between January and November 2023.

No respite in sight  Brazil flooding

In related developments, record rainfall over the past few weeks linked to El Nino caused unprecedented flooding in the southern Brazil, affecting over 850,000 people, and resulting in massive infrastructure and economic losses.

According to authorities in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, 78 people have so far been confirmed dead, a further 175 injured and 105 more missing. Almost 19,000 people have lost their homes and about 116,000 displaced.

UN ready to assist: UN chief

In a statement late on Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was deeply saddened by the loss of lives and damage caused by heavy rains and flooding in Brazil, extending his condolences and solidarity to all affected.

"The United Nations team on the ground stands ready to assist the people of Brazil at this difficult time", the statement continued.

"The Secretary-General notes that disasters such as this are a reminder of the devastating effects of the climate crisis on lives and livelihoods. He reiterates his call for swift international action to curb the chaotic effects of climate change.

There is no immediate respite in sight, WMO said in an update issued on Tuesday.

Much of Rio Grande do Sul has been hit by persistent, heavy rainfall since 27 April, according to national meteorological agencies and in some regions, downpours have exceeded 300 millimetres (mm) in less than a week.

In the Southern Brazilian municipality of Bento Goncalves, for example, the volume reached 543.4 mm.

Call to action

Against the worrying background, WMO called for increased investment and support for climate services, particularly in the health and disaster preparedness sectors, to address the escalating climate-related challenges faced by Latin America and the Caribbean.

It highlighted the need for greater resources for national meteorological and hydrological services to strengthen forecasts and early warnings, and integration of climate data in health surveillance to develop stronger public health response to emerging diseases.

The UN agency also urged adapting the health sector and improved decision making to strengthen resilience against climate change.
Photo courtesy: facebook.com/laysindia

New Delhi: Multinational snack manufacturer PepsiCo India has started trials to replace palm oil with a combination of sunflower oil and palmolein in its popular Lays chips, to sell its comparatively healthier version for Indian consumers.

A PepsiCo India spokesperson told Indian Express, PepsiCo is dedicated to producing high-quality, great-tasting products in every market where we operate. There are often different recipes for foods or drinks in different countries, which is attributed to several factors such as local preferences, manufacturing capabilities, ingredient availability and market dynamics.

Ingredients are listed on every product we sell in India, allowing consumers to make conscious decisions about their purchases. In this context, PepsiCo India initiated trials of a blend of sunflower oil and palmolein oil in certain parts of our portfolio last year, becoming one of the few players in the food industry in India to do so.

The largest manufacturer of beverages and snacks in the US uses heart-healthy oils like sunflower, corn, and canola oil in that country.

However, this initiative by the company makes it one of the first top food companies in India to take a step in favour of consumer health.

Meanwhile, social media health influencer Revant Himatsingka, popularly known as Food Pharmer, described PepsiCos trials to use healthier oil substitutes for palm oil in Lays chips a "big win" for India.

Palm oil is the most preferred choice for makers of snacks like chips, biscuits and other similar food items and is considered detrimental to heart health if consumed regularly and in large quantities.

Big win! Lay's India to reduce palm oil usage! Last month, I made a video showcasing how Lay's India uses palm oil but Lay's USA does not use Palm oil! After a lot of public pressure, Lays India has set a public statement that they have begun the process to replace palm oil in their Lays! Himatsingka said in a post on social media platform X.

Big win! Lay's India to reduce palm oil usage!



Last month, I made a video showcasing how Lay's India uses palm oil but Lay's USA does not use Palm oil!



After a lot of public pressure, Lays India has set a public statement that they have begun the process to replace palm oil in pic.twitter.com/qAJOUdNxhV  Revant Himatsingka Food Pharmer (@foodpharmer2) May 9, 2024

However, a spokesperson of the PepsiCo India told Moneycontrol that the trials for new oil blends use in its food products had been launched in 2023. "PepsiCo India initiated trials of a blend of Sunflower Oil and Palmolein Oil in certain parts of our portfolio last year, becoming one of the few players in the food industry in India to do so."
In frame: Prajwal Revanna | Photo courtesy: X/@iPrajwalRevanna

Bengaluru/IBNS: In a new twist to the Karnataka sex scandal , one of the complainants has claimed she was forced to file her complaint against suspended Janata Dal Secular leader Prajwal Revanna, media reports said.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) on Thursday said one of the women, who have lodged complaints, has said she was forced by a mob posing as cops to file a false complaint.

Former Karnataka Chief Minister and JDS state president HD Kumaraswamy has alleged the Special Investigation Team (SIT) is trying to extract false statements.

Prajwal Revanna has been caught in the middle of a massive row in Karnataka after some leaked explicit videos allegedly showed him sexually assaulting multiple women.

The 33-year-old leader, who is the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, went abroad, a day after polling took place in Karnataka's Hassan from where he is a candidate, and shortly after the videos began circulating online.

The alleged scandal came to light after a woman filed a complaint against Prajwal Revanna over sexual assault. She accused the JDS leader of sexually abusing her on several occasions between 2019 and 2022.

Meanwhile, Prajwal's father and JDS MLA H.D. Revanna was arrested in connection with a case pertaining to kidnapping of one of the victims in the sex scandal.
Photo courtesy: Screenshot grab

New Delhi/IBNS: In a potential controversial remark in the election season, Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar has said India's hostile neighbour Pakistan will not resort to bombings if they are shown respect.

Aiyar said India should take efforts to initiate dialogues with Pakistan in a bid to solve problems instead of flashing its nuclear capabilities.

In an interview, Aiyar says, "Pakistan is a sovereign country. It also has respect. India should talk to Pakistan. The weapons won't help. Pakistan has an atom bomb, so do we have. If a madman drops a bomb in Lahore, its radioactivity will reach Amritsar in 8 seconds."

"Pakistan won't think about bombing if India talks to them and pays them respect... If someone is Vishwaguru, he needs to show his efforts to solve problems related to Pakistan. All initiatives to make dialogues have stopped for the last 10 years," the Congress veteran was heard saying in the viral video.

Uncle Sam Pitroda Out



Mani Shankar Iyer is back with a Pakistan supporting statement.



Celebrations all over the BJP corridors. pic.twitter.com/KdbvSCTKcf  Sunanda Roy  (@SaffronSunanda) May 9, 2024

Slamming Aiyar's comment, Union Minsiter and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar said, "Congress party has become an apologist for Pakistan and Pakistan-based terror. Today again there will be an attempt from Congress to distance themselves from Mani Shankar Aiyar..."

#WATCH | Union Minister & BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar says, "Congress party has become an apologist for Pakistan and Pakistan-based terror. Today again there will be an attempt from Congress to distance themselves from Mani Shankar Aiyar..." pic.twitter.com/o7roq2u2OH  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Aiyar's comment comes after former Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah reminded India of Pakistan's nuclear capabilities.

"Remember, they (Pakistan) are also not wearing bangles. It has atom bombs, and unfortunately, that atom bomb will fall on us," Abdullah said as quoted by India Today.

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed Congress over national security during its regime.

Speaking at a rally in Jharkhand, Modi hit out at Congress for "weeping" on a global platform after terrorist attacks.

"Pakistan is now weeping and screaming for help," the Prime Minister said.

Modi's remark undoubtedly refers to the Indian Army's befitting reply to Pathankot and Balakot attacks with surgical strike and airstrike respectively.

Congress, the principal opposition party, has recently faced massive embarrassment over its now resigned Overseas chairperson Sam Pitroda's "racial analogy".

Speaking to The Statesman, Pitroda said, "... diverse country... where people on East look like Chinese, people on West look like Arab, people on North look like maybe White and people in South look like Africa."

His comments were heavily criticised by the BJP leaders including PM Modi who attacked Rahul Gandhi, saying the country "won't tolerate disrespect based on the colour of skin".

The Congress had distanced itself from the remark.
Photo courtesy: PIB

New Delhi/IBNS: The Hindu population in India are on decline while the minorities including Muslims, Christians and Sikhs are on the rise, a study by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) said, media reports said.

As per the report, the population share of Hindu, the majority religion, in India has gone down by 7.8% between 1950 and 2015.

The Hindu population has dipped from 84 percent to 78 percent.

On the other hand, the Muslim population grew from 9.84% to 14.09%, Christians rose from 2.24% to 2.36%, Sikhs grew from 1.24% to 1.85%, Buddhists from 0.05% to 0.81%.

However, the Jain and Parsi community, which are also a part of the minority population, have witnessed a dip in numbers.

While the Jain population dipped from 0.45% to 0.36%, Parsis declined by 85 percent from 0.03% to 0.0004%.

EAC-PM member Shamika Ravi said as quoted by The Indian Express, "The change in proportion of minorities as a share of the total population serves as a reliable proxy for the status of minorities in a country, which is fostered via policies including defining minorities, which itself is a rate practice globally."

The authors of the study said, as quoted by the media, "Indias performance is consistent with the larger global trends."

"Contrary to the noise in several quarters, careful analysis of the data shows that minorities are not just protected, but indeed thriving in India," they added.

The reason behind the increase in minority population can be varied including migration, conversation but the authors say, "We abstract away from the causes of this change and instead focus on the share of the minority population as a cumulative outcome measure of their well-being."

The authors say the change in the minority population in the country is an indicator of the well being of the country.

"A society which provides a congenial environment for the flourishing of minorities is more likely to witness an increase or stabilization in their numbers over a period of three generations," the authors said.

They added, "Conversely, a society which creates a hostile environment for minorities and/or denies them access to public goods and services is more likely to witness a decrease in their share of the overall total population. The nature and extent of change in the share of the minority population in a country is therefore a strong indicator of their relative wellbeing within a country."

Apart from India, Hindus as the majority religion saw a decline in its share by 3.6% in Nepal.
Photo courtesy: Facebook/Arvind Kejriwal

New Delhi/IBNS: The Supreme Court on Friday granted an interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case till June 1, when the last phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held, media reports said.

On March 21, the Delhi Chief Minister was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case from his official residence in Delhi.

The central investigative agency asserts that he played a central role in the scam and was directly implicated in soliciting kickbacks from liquor barons.

#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal gets interim bail till June 1



Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat representing Kejriwal says, "There is no restriction on his election campaigning. We will try for his release today itself." pic.twitter.com/k7miOKKo7V  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had said that Kejriwal would not be permitted to carry out his official responsibilities due to "may have a cascading effect" even if he is granted interim bail while in jail.

Kejriwal, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court the day after his petition contesting his arrest and custody was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on April 9.

After Kejriwal was arrested, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, had cried political vendetta by the country's ruling BJP accusing it of stopping the party supremo from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.

The seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, a union territory, wll go to polls on May 25. The results will be declared on June 4.

The counsel has denied interim bail to Kejriwal to June 5.

Reacting to the Supreme Court order, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee posted on X, "I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections."
Photo Courtesy: Facebook/Mamata Banerjee

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Friday welcomed interim bail granted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said it is helpful in the context of the current elections.

"I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections," she posted on X.

I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal @ArvindKejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections.  Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) May 10, 2024

The Supreme Court on Friday granted an interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case till June 1, when the last phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held, media reports said.

On March 21, the Delhi Chief Minister was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case from his official residence in Delhi.

The central investigative agency asserts that he played a central role in the scam and was directly implicated in soliciting kickbacks from liquor barons.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had said that Kejriwal would not be permitted to carry out his official responsibilities due to "may have a cascading effect" even if he is granted interim bail while in jail.

Kejriwal, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court the day after his petition contesting his arrest and custody was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on April 9.

After Kejriwal was arrested, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, had cried political vendetta by the country's ruling BJP accusing it of stopping the party supremo from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.

The seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, a union territory, wll go to polls on May 25. The results will be declared on June 4.

The counsel has denied interim bail to Kejriwal to June 5.
Representative picture of a drone from Pixabay not related to the incident

Ahmedabad/IBNS: A man has been arrested in Gujarat for spying for Pakistan Intelligence agency after falling victim to a honeytrap, media reports said.

Pravin Mishra, a resident of Bharuch, is accused of collecting information about the Indian Armed Forces and defence research firms and leaking them to ISI.

Mishra fell victim to honeytrap by an ISI operative posing as a woman named Sonal Garg, who claimed to work for IBM Chandigarh.

Mishra, who used to work in Hyderabad, shared some important information with ISI, police said.

A case has been filed against Mishra, the ISI operative and any other Indian official if involved.
Photo Courtesy: Arvind Kejriwal Facebook page

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar Jail just hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1.

Chanting slogans, Aam Aadmi Party leaders and party workers have assembled near the prison to welcome the leader as he was released from the prison.

Kejriwal sepnd 50 days in the prison.

The Supreme Court earlier in the day granted an interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case till June 1, when the last phase of Lok Sabha elections will be held.

On March 21, the Delhi Chief Minister was apprehended by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with the Delhi liquor policy case from his official residence in Delhi.

The central investigative agency asserts that he played a central role in the scam and was directly implicated in soliciting kickbacks from liquor barons.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court had said that Kejriwal would not be permitted to carry out his official responsibilities due to "may have a cascading effect" even if he is granted interim bail while in jail.

Kejriwal, who is lodged in Delhi's Tihar Jail, filed an appeal with the Supreme Court the day after his petition contesting his arrest and custody was dismissed by the Delhi High Court on April 9.

After Kejriwal was arrested, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which rules Delhi, had cried political vendetta by the country's ruling BJP accusing it of stopping the party supremo from campaigning in the Lok Sabha elections.

The seven Lok Sabha seats in Delhi, a union territory, will go to polls on May 25. The results will be declared on June 4.

The counsel has denied interim bail to Kejriwal to June 5.
Photo courtesy: Image posted by AAP on X

New Delhi/IBNS: Hours after the Supreme Court granted him bail, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail Friday evening, 50 days after he was arrested on corruption charges linked to the alleged liquor policy scam.

The Aam Aadmi Party supremo has been granted bail till June 1, the date for the final round of voting in the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

As he walked out of Tihar Jail's Gate No 4, Kejriwal was welcomed by a mob of flag-waving and slogan-shouting AAP workers, as well as his wife Sunita Kejriwal, and senior leaders like Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj.

In his first public comments after leaving jail, Kejriwal thanked "all the judges of the top court".

Eyeing the upcoming election in Delhi on May 25, he called on voters to "'save the country from dictatorship".

"I want to thank all of you... you showered me with your blessings. I want to thank the judges of the Supreme Court, it is due to them that I am in front of you. We have to save the country from dictatorship...," he said

Kejriwal also attributed his release to Lord Hanuman and said he planned to visit the Hanuman temple in Delhi's Connaught Place on Saturday morning.

The Delhi CM is set to surrender by June 2. The court turned down pleas to extend his bail but said it would hear arguments for extended relief next week.

His release means Kejriwal can now campaign for the AAP, and the INDIA bloc, in the ongoing election.

Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 in the Delhi liquor policy case from his official residence in Delhi.

The central investigative agency asserts that he played a central role in the scam and was directly implicated in soliciting kickbacks from liquor barons.

On Tuesday, the Supreme Court said that Kejriwal would not be permitted to carry out his official responsibilities due to "may have a cascading effect" even if he is granted interim bail while in jail.
Representative image/ courtesy: pixabay

Malappuram/IBNS: The Malappuram Cyber Crime Police has arrested a suspect believed to have distributed SIM cards to online trading fraudsters, whose act caused a substantial loss of Rs 1.08 crore to a single person, media reports said.

The accused -Abdulroshan (46), a resident of Delhi, was arrested from his rented accommodation in Karnataka's Madikeri.

The police recovered 40,000 SIM cards, 180 mobile phones and 6 biometric readers from his possession.

Mobile shops, which were working as part of Abdul's network, collected fingerprints of customers without their knowledge and used them to activate SIM cards for cyber fraud.

District Police Chief S Sasidharan said that an investigation was initiated based on a complaint lodged by a Malappuram resident who reported a loss of Rs 1.08 crore.

Investigation revealed that Abdulroshan facilitated the acquisition of SIM cards for a gang involved in extorting money through fraudulent online stock market websites.

The Malappuram resident came across one such link to a counterfeit stock market site on Facebook. Upon clicking the link, the person was enticed with lucrative offers and compelled to deposit money into various bank accounts.

Eventually, the victim realised that his investments were all in vain and he received no returns.
Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

New Delhi/IBNS: In a significant boost to its surveillance mechanisms along the Pakistan border, the Indian Army is set to receive the first Hermes-900 Starliner drone on June 18, media reports said.

The Hermes-900 known as the Drishti-10 drone will be supplied to Indian forces including Indian Army and Navy by Adani Defence Systems.

"The first of the two drones to be acquired by the Indian Army would be handed over to the force on June 18 in Hyderabad. The supplies are part of the deal signed under the emergency powers given to forces by the Defence Ministry," defence officials told ANI.

The Indian Navy received the first Hermes-900 delivery in January this year. The second one will be provided to the Army.

The third one would now be supplied to the Navy and the fourth one would go to the Army, media reports said.

The Indian Army has placed orders for two of these drones from the firm under emergency provisions that required the systems supplied by vendors to be more than 60 percent indigenous and be under the 'Make in India' in Defence.

The Indian Army is already operating the Heron Mark 1 and Mark 2 drones and has also placed orders for the Drishti-10 or the Hermes-900 drones under the last tranche of the emergency procurements approved by the government for the forces.
Photo Caption: UNICEF/Jose Daniel Urdaneta

The UN refugee agency (UNHCR) on Thursday reaffirmed its commitment to work with partners to address migration and forced displacement in the Americas.

UNHCR has renewed its call for a coordinated continental approach to the issue, as underscored during the ministerial meeting on the Los Angeles Declaration on Migration and Protection, held in Guatemala on Tuesday.

New approach

The landmark declaration aims to transform how the region manages migration and is based on the principles of solidarity, responsibility-sharing, international cooperation, and respect for human rights.

It was launched at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles, California, in June 2022 and has been endorsed by 22 countries. The Declaration is aligned with the Global Compact on Refugees, adopted by UN Member States in 2018.

Addressing the ministerial meeting, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi highlighted the personal stories and plight of hundreds of thousands of people making long journeys across the Americas in search of a better life.

Among them were people he met during a recent visit to the treacherous Darien border area between Panama and Colombia. Nearly 470,000 refugees and migrants undertook perilous journeys there in 2023 alone, according to UNHCR, with hundreds dying on the way.

Progress and challenges

Mr. Grandi stressed the significant progress achieved by various initiatives to address the urgent needs of refugees and migrants in the region and implement the Declarations objectives, urging increased efforts and coordination among all stakeholders.

Various initiatives are in place under the Los Angeles Declaration to build national capacity and provide safety and opportunities for displaced people and those on the move.

Regularization has benefited millions, UNHCR said, as have other efforts such as provision of humanitarian assistance, strengthening of asylum systems, greater socioeconomic inclusion, and the scale-up of resettlement and other legal pathways for migration.

Yet, challenges persist, requiring sustained efforts and innovative solutions to address the needs of the more than 23 million people displaced or in need of international protection in the Americas.

Wider issues than the Darien Gap

The Darien is only part of the picture, and the deep human tragedy it reflects will only grow unless we redouble our joint efforts to address underlying causes of displacement, consider protection needs, and prioritize solutions, Mr. Grandi said.

He called for more investment to build capacity for host communities and opportunities for displaced people in countries of origin, transit, destination, and return.

UNHCR said it would continue working with various stakeholders to enhance asylum and international protection policies, promote inclusion and integration efforts, expand resettlement and other lawful pathways, and provide support to host communities.

Declaration portal

In related developments, UN migration agency IOM provided technical support for the establishment of the new Los Angeles Declaration website, which was presented at the ministerial meeting.

The website is available in English and Spanish and provides access to the Declaration, as well as to additional resources, tools, and educational materials about migration in the region.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Baloch Student Council (BSC) Islamabad has claimed students of their province are facing harassment in Pakistan's Islamabad city.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club (NPC), BSC leader Ikram Baloch and other council members were quoted by Dawn News that Feroz Baloch, a student of Arid Agriculture University, Rawalpindi, was allegedly abducted on May 11 in 2022, when he was heading towards university library.

They said that despite filing court cases and protest demonstration, still there is no clue of Feroz.

They said his class fellow Ahmed Khan Baloch was also abducted from Balochistan after Feroz was kidnapped.

The demonstrators argued and warned they world protest over the failure of the authorities to trace the missing student despite passage of two years.

They said the BSC would distribute pamphlets in educational institutions followed by protest on social media X on Friday before holding protest demonstration outside the NPC against alleged enforced disappearance on Saturday, reported Dawn News.

They said people of the region are facing enforced disappearance for the past two decades.
Photo Courtesy: Wallpaper Cave

Unidentified terrorists blew up a private girl's school in Pakistan's North Waziristan district on Wednesday.

Police sources told Dawn News that militants first tortured the school watchman and later blew up two rooms of the school.

No casualty was reported in the incident.

Similar incidents were reported from Miral in May of last year when two government schools for girls were blown up.

Around 500 girls were enrolled in the two schools  Government Girls Middle School, Noor Jannat and Government Girls Middle School, Yunus Kot  which were targeted by the attackers around midnight, reported Dawn News.

Local sources said that it was the only private girls school in the area and its administration had received multiple threat letters in the past.
Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Pakistani administration is deploying troops in the Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) ahead of the May 11 protest, triggering protest and tension in the region.

However, the United Kashmir Peoples National Party (UKPNP) and the Joint Awami Action Committee (JAAC) have issued serious warnings to the administration against the use of any brutal force against peaceful protestors, reported ANI.

Both parties have released warnings that they will organize international protests and demonstrations if the administration uses any force against the protestors who are raising their legitimate demands.

Personnel from the Frontier Corps, Rangers, and Quick Response Force (QRF) of Punjab Province are currently present in the streets of the area.

According to a joint statement issued by the UKPNP and JAAC, the demonstrators are protesting and unjustified taxation, high electricity bills, uncontrolled inflation, severe shortages of essentials like and flour, reported ANI.
Photo Courtesy: Pixabay

At least seven accused, including one police constable, have been arrested over two gangrape cases in Pakistan.

City Police Officer (CPO) Sadiq Ali told media as quoted by The Nation that a 27-year-old girl who earns her living by decorating womens hands with henna reported to Violence Against Women Centre (VAWC) Multan that a girl (F) had called and asked her to reach to Fatima Jinah Colony where four men allegedly subjected her to gang rape.

They reportedly shot the video and threatened to put it on social media if the woman did not pay Rs100,000 to them.

In another incident, CPO told The Nation, a 21-year-old divorcee and mother of two kids from Rahim Yar Khan complained to Women police that she was residing at a girls hostel near Jalal Park in Multan city when she came into contact with a person Haris Jatt via a social media platform.

On May 5, Haris Jatt took her to the house of another person Adnan where she alleged that two men subjected her to rape and also shot video.

Women police had registered an FIR and arrested the two accused later.
Ranveer Singh is once again making headlines for his fashion game. Known for his eccentric fashion sense, the Bollywood actor who recently rubbished divorce rumours with Deepika Padukone, was spotted wearing high heels along with a Rs 2 crore diamond necklace to the Tiffany event he attended recently. Fans are quite impressed with the way he carried high heels. So much so, that they think he should soon be invited to Met Gala.

Ranveer Singh wears high heels and Rs 2 crore diamond necklace

X

Commenting on his look, fans said, "No one can carry it quite like him; he's absolutely rocking the look". Another one added, "No other bollywood actor can rock it like this". Someone praised his fashion sense, "Oh he looks incredible!! That's high fashion right there". Others thought, "Someone get him an invite to the MET gala!" Another one added, "Someone should invite him to Metgala". A fan even called him Lady Gaga of Bollywood.

Others thought he is already in his Don look. "This was closest to Don look tbh. Better than that announcement video", a fan said and another one added, "You know he is doing something right when he looks so masculine and sexy while wearing heels".

Also Read: Deepika Padukone Hits The Camera And Walks Away As She Returns From Babymoon With Ranveer Singh

Talking about the evolution of his style, the Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani at the event said, "Men have been adorning themselves with jewellery for time immemorial. It's something you do for yourself. Adorning yourself is a form of self love. When I entered my teens, became more expressive with my style, I'd wear a lot of junk jewellery, lot of silver. My personal journey with jewellery has also evolved over time. When you wear it, it should make you feel good. And that's really the bottom line."

On work front, Ranveer Singh and Deepika Padukone will both be seen in Rohit Shetty's Singham Again.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


Workers install solar panels on a home in Menlo Park. Rooftop solar could shield PG&E customers from rate hikes but new rules make it less economically advantageous. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle 2022

Clueless leadership

Wednesdays editorial on the PG&E fixed-fee plan shines a bright light on the dysfunction of California politics, led by the state Public Utilities Commission president who cant understand why its getting so much attention. This illustrates just how out of touch an unelected leader of an unaccountable state agency can be.

And what about our state legislators who voted AB205 into law apparently without even reading it? Most of them seemed surprised there was a fixed fee for utilities in it. But killing a bill in committee (AB1999) that would have limited the utility fee to $10 a month is inexcusable.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The commission had killed rooftop solar, despite state mandates to eliminate gas-powered cars and natural gas appliances in homes, while approving over 30% in electric rate increases in the past two years.

There has never been a better case for rooftop solar for all. Its the only way to protect ourselves from the plunder, greed and extortion by PG&E.

Lawrence Bothen, Pacifica

Make solar power equitable

The Chronicle editorial advocates for using all forms of renewable energy  including community solar  yet the California Public Utilities Commission has delayed its vote on the Access Program Tariffs and Community Renewable Energy Program until May 30.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The commissions decision will have major ramifications on the future of community solar  and in turn  for the future of equitable, affordable, reliable energy choice in California.

In March, the commission approved a watered-down version of a community solar programming structure that will not scale or provide meaningful benefits to citizens.

This flies in the face of a bipartisan, industry-wide proposal called the Net Value Billing Tariff that could take advantage of state and federal funding to bring more scalable and equitable renewable energy to California.

I urge the state Public Utilities Commission to work with all stakeholders to ensure that the best program is considered for all Californians.

Sarah Moon, co-founder, Fieldworks Power, San Francisco

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Wheres Newsom been?

The California Public Utilities Commission is appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom and, consequently, he is the only elected official with significant influence over its decisions.

Newsoms voice has not been heard regarding the decision on fixed fees for utilities and many other decisions by the commission. Most notably the commissions vote to radically change the compensation for home solar, which could result in the loss of thousands of solar jobs and the closure of hundreds of small businesses.

The governor needs to reclaim his environmental credentials and rein in the utility-loving Public Utilities Commission.

Tom Graly, Berkeley

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Kudos for monument

Regarding Northern California has new national monument land. Heres what its all about (California, SFChronicle.com, May 2): As a Lake County Supervisor, I could not be more glad that my communitys calls to expand Berryessa Snow Mountain National Monument have been heard.

Thank you, President Joe Biden, for taking action to expand the monument and protect Molok Luyuk, and to Sen. Alex Padilla, Rep. John Garamendi and other champions for their leadership.

The expansion includes Molok Luyuk, public lands on a ridge that were left out of the original monument designation in 2015. Now, the national monument includes sweeping viewpoints and an incredible diversity of plants and animals.

Protecting Molok Luyuk is a boon to locals who have long enjoyed visiting these lands, it will attract visitors who support local businesses, and it protects the rich heritage of the Robinson Rancheria Tribe for future generations. What a win for Northern California.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Eddie Crandell, chair, Lake County Board of Supervisors, Lakeport

Financial lessons

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

A new measure asks Should California high schoolers be required to take personal finance? Voters will decide.

It appears that we may demand more of our children than we do of our leaders.
As Mother's Day 2024 draws near, it's time to celebrate the powerful portrayal of mothers on screen by talented actresses. From the 80s to the present day, cinema has showcased a plethora of memorable mother roles. Let's take a look at some recent examples, such as Sushmita Sen's compelling performance in "Aarya" and Sridevi's unforgettable roles in "English Vinglish" and "Mom." These characters not only entertain us but also remind us of the strength and love embodied by real-life moms everywhere.



Mothers Day 2024: 6 Actresses Who Played Super Moms On Screen

1. Sushmita Sen In Aarya

X

Starring Sushmita Sen in the titular role, this series is an adaptation of the Dutch drama series Penoza. It revolves around Aarya, a strong and independent woman determined to safeguard her family. To avenge her husband's murder, she delves into the underworld and becomes involved with a mafia gang.

2. Sridevi In English Vinglish And Mom

Imdb

The iconic film features the legendary actress Sridevi in the lead role as Shashi Godbole, a middle-class woman grappling with English proficiency. During a visit to her sister in the United States, she decides to enroll in an English-speaking course. Through her journey of self-discovery and empowerment, Shashi earns respect and admiration from her family and classmates. "English Vinglish" is cherished for its poignant depiction of a mother's resilience and determination, resonating with audiences globally.



3. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Jazbaa

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan depicted the role of a steadfast lawyer and single mother who relentlessly battles to protect her daughter from harm.



4. Sakshi Tanwar in Mai

Netflix

As the synopsis reads, A grieving woman discovers the criminals behind her daughter's tragic death and turns merciless to get the real story.



5. Kriti Sanon in Mimi

Imdb

"Mimi" is a 2021 Bollywood film featuring Kriti Sanon in the lead role as Mimi. The story follows Mimi, a young woman hailing from a small Indian town, aspiring to become an actress. However, her journey takes an unforeseen twist when she agrees to become a surrogate mother for an American couple in return for financial compensation.



Also read: Mother's Day 2024: From The Sky Is Pink To English Vinglish, 7 Heartwarming Movies To Watch With Your Mom

6. Vidya Balan in Paa

Imdb

Vidya Balan portrayed the character of a single mother nurturing a child with progeria, highlighting the trials and sacrifices of parenthood.

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


The Tamil Nadu government has announced its decision to launch an investigation into police misconduct involving a group known as the 'Manjummel Boys.' This decision stems from an unsettling event that took place in 2006, which recently gained attention due to its depiction in a recently released Malayalam movie. The film, based on true events, portrays a group of young men from Manjummel, Kerala, who travelled to Kodaikanal. The plot thickens when they seek assistance from the local police after one of their friends becomes trapped in the infamous Guna Caves.

Tamil Nadu Government To Investigate Police Misconduct In 2006 Manjummel Incident

Instead of receiving immediate help, the group experiences mistreatment at the hands of some officers from the Tamil Nadu Police, who are shown in the film as initially refusing to aid in the rescue efforts. It was only after some time that an officer agreed to help the group and started the rescue operation.

Also Read: Manjummel Boys On OTT: Viewers Heap Praise On Malayalam Film, Call It A 'Must Watch'

Complaint And Call For Investigation

The trigger for the new investigation was a formal complaint lodged by V. Shiju, a former member of the Railway Conservative Committee from Nilambur. After hearing the grievances of the real-life 'Manjummel Boys', Shiju took their case to the Home Secretary of Tamil Nadu. Subsequently, the Tamil Nadu Director General of Police (DGP) ordered an inquiry into the allegations.

Also read: Manjummel Boys: Makers Land In Legal Trouble, Case Reportedly Filed Under Cheating Charges



In an interview with Mathrubhumi, Shiju disclosed that the actual experiences of the 'Manjummel Boys' were even more harrowing than depicted in the movie. According to him, not only were they subjected to severe mistreatment, but they were also allegedly robbed of their money by the police.

Despite the adversity, Shiju himself played a crucial role in the incident. He risked his life by entering the Guna Caves to rescue his trapped friend. His bravery did not go unnoticed, as he was later awarded the "Jeevan Raksha Padak" by the government in recognition of his courageous act.

The investigation initiated by the Tamil Nadu government marks a critical step towards addressing past injustices and ensuring accountability.

Tamil Nadu Government To Probe Police Miscoduct With Real 'Manjummel Boys'/X

As the probe moves forward, it will seek to shed light on the actions of the police during the 2006 incident and provide justice to those who suffered undue hardship during their time of need.

Also Read: Loved Malayalam Movie 'Manjummel Boys'? Here Is A Real-Life Guna Caves Rescue Story For You

Also Read: Here Is The Real-Life Story Behind Guna Caves That Inspired Malayalam Movie Manjummel Boys

For more news and updates from the world of OTT, and celebrities from Bollywood and Hollywood, keep reading Indiatimes Entertainment.


President Droupadi Murmu honoured Dr KS Rajanna, a devoted social worker, with the Padma Shri on Thursday. Despite losing his arms and legs to polio in childhood, Rajanna's resilience and determination have been exemplary.

A video capturing Rajanna's brief exchange with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah before receiving the Padma Shri was shared by BJP MP Tejasvi Surya on X.



ANI

Surya captioned the video, "Lost hands & legs to polio as a kid, doesnt give up, qualifies as mechanical engineer, goes on to win gold in paralympics, turns entrepreneur to give employment to many disabled people. He is Shri KS Rajanna from Karnataka, incredibly determined and resilient #PeoplesPadma."



Lost hands & legs to polio as a kid, doesn't give up, qualifies as mechanical engineer, goes on to win gold in paralympics, turns entrepreneur to give employment to many disabled people.



He is Shri KS Rajanna from Karnataka, incredibly determined and resilient #PeoplesPadma pic.twitter.com/NUrOsCg4lp  Tejasvi Surya ( ) (@Tejasvi_Surya) May 9, 2024

The video garnered 700K views on X, with users expressing admiration and praise for Rajanna. One user commented, "The real minorities in India are getting their due recognition," while another wrote, "Sir really I salute him from my bottom of the heart. Simply great person." A third user expressed, "Koti Koti Pranam to this Lion Soul... What a brilliant."

During the event, there was a moment when a soldier offered to help him, but Dr. Rajanna politely refused, showing his independence. Even though he lost his hands and feet as a child, he achieved a lot and helps others. He's an entrepreneur who employs many people and supports thousands of specially-abled people to be independent.

Who is Dr KS Rajanna?

Hailing from Bengaluru, Karnataka, Dr. KS Rajanna lost his limbs to polio at just 11 months old. Undeterred by his physical limitations, he learned to walk on his knees, turning his challenges into inspiration. Alongside his social work, Rajanna holds a diploma in mechanical engineering and has won a gold medal at the Paralympics. Through his own enterprise, he has provided employment opportunities to hundreds of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs).

ANI

Recognizing his contributions, the Karnataka government appointed him as the State Commissioner for the Disabled in 2013. Although his tenure faced a brief interruption, he was reinstated to the position, showcasing his continued dedication.



Honouring 132 heroes: Padma Awards recognize service to society

The Padma Awards ceremony saw 132 individuals honored for their remarkable contributions to society across various fields. Notable awardees include Vyjayantimala Bali (Padma Vibhushan), Konidela Chiranjeevi (Padma Vibhushan), former Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu (Padma Vibhushan), M Fathima Beevi (Padma Bhushan), Hormusji N Cama (Padma Bhushan), Mithun Chakraborty (Padma Bhushan), Usha Uthup (Padma Bhushan), and Kaluram Bamaniya (Padma Shri), among others.

ANI

President Droupadi Murmu presented the Padma Awards during the second civil investiture ceremony at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi, attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and other dignitaries.



.For more news and current affairs from around the world, please visit Indiatimes News.
A man in the UK known for his enormous beer can collection recently sold his outstanding collection for 25,000 (Rs 26.12 lakh). Nick West, 65, spent 42 years collecting a variety of unique and rare cans, totalling 10,300 at its peak. Initially, Nick chose to reduce his collection to 1,500 cans, valuing it at 25,000.

When did the man sell a part of his beer collection first?

Nick West sold his vast collection of beer | Image: SWNS

However, when he and his wife Deborah moved from Langford, North Somerset to Ledbury, Herefordshire two years ago, they were confronted with the reality of a restricted room in their new home.



(Also read: WTF! Shocking Video Shows Worker At Chinese Brewery Urinating In Beer Tank)

This forced Nick to sell the remaining 1,497 beer cans, leaving him with only three from his once-large collection. These last cans were sold to Italian merchants who made a special trip to get them.

What did they do to preserve the collection initially?

The couple initaially extended their home to accommodate the hundreds of cans | Image: SWNS

Reflecting on the process, Nick described the emotional difficulties of letting go of the culmination of almost four decades of collecting.



(Also read: German Brewery Creates Powdered Beer That Can Be Consumed Like Instant Coffee)

Initially, he and his wife had to extend their home to accommodate the hundreds of cans, eventually relocating to a larger Victorian home to properly display them. As they downsized, Nick sold a piece of the collection to fund his retirement and donated the remainder to Oakham Treasures in Portbury, Bristol.

How did the man continue selling his collection?

Despite leaving with his prized collection, Nick secured its legacy by selling it to collectors who will continue to treasure it.

Now, he only keeps his top three favourite cans. Initially, Nick sold 6,000 cans from his collection for $13,500 (about Rs 14 lakh). Later, he sold 1,800 cans to beer can sellers in Italy, earning an extra $12,500 (Rs 10 lakh).



What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Ramesh Pandey, an IFS officer, recently shared a rare glimpse of wildlife from Uttar Pradesh's Dudhwa Tiger Reserve on social media. Pandey shared a riveting video of the beautiful Tulli Puliya male tiger, popularly known as Rustom, gently wandering along a jungle road, trailed by safari jeeps at a safe distance.

What happens in the video?

Beautiful Tulli Puliya male tiger seen in the viral video | Image: X

The footage was accompanied by a message recommending viewers to keep a safe distance from the awe-inspiring beast, underlining the need of wildlife protection and respectful observation.



(Also read: Tigress Is Chilling In Jungle Stream Of Tamil Nadu's Mudumalai Tiger Reserve To Beat The Scratching Heat)

Tulli Puliya male! Better to keep a safe distance. VC: Raj Singh Xenon, reads the caption.

Tiger was seen walking peacefully | Image: X

How did people on the internet react?

The stunning sight of the Tulli Puliya male tiger sparked tremendous adoration on the internet, capturing the hearts of nature enthusiasts and animal lovers worldwide. Pandey's message was a heartbreaking reminder of India's vast biodiversity.

(Also read: Optical Illusion: Can You Spot Cats Hiding Among Tigers In 10 Seconds?)

In a similar vein, a touching film from the Panna Tiger Reserve captured the emotional attachment between a mother tiger and her offspring. Madhya Pradesh Tourism shared footage recorded by photographer Varun Thakkar of cute tiger babies rushing to snuggle with their mother.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
Beauty is very important to certain people. Over the last few decades, people have invested money and labor in beautification. Plastic procedures, fillers, and implants have become commonplace for people who want to feel more accepted in society. Every day, the fashion industry normalizes this type of lifestyle, and medical firms follow suit.

Who is the woman who underwent 4 lip surgeries?

Andrea Ivanova, a woman from Bulgaria, claims to have the world's largest lips | Image: Instagram

Andrea Ivanova, a woman from Bulgaria, claims to have the world's largest lips. She had surgery to make her lips larger than their natural size. She underwent six procedures in one day to attain the world's largest lips. Her doctors first declined to do the operation.



What did the surgeries cost the woman?

This operation cost her a whopping Rs 21 lakhs | Image: Instagram

This operation cost her a whopping Rs 21 lakhs. Her efforts to improve her physical appearance had a bad impact on her personal life. She discussed her challenges in finding a life companion.



(Also read: Mark Zuckerberg Step Foot In Gym '5 Months Post-Surgery', Internet Is Filled With Motivation)

She admitted that it was tough for her to find a man to marry. The 26-year-old social media star believes it is nearly impossible to be approached by a man about marriage or a relationship.

How did people on the internet react to her photos?

The photographs she uploaded on her Instagram account elicited conflicting comments. Most of her followers have expressed their concern for Andrea.

(Also read: Anything For Love? Man Pays For Three Wives' Plastic Surgery So They Have The Ideal Shape)

In the comments area, a follower wrote, "Frankly, I feel extremely awful for you. Do not do this to yourself. You should seek help from a psychologist. "This is not a bad thing." Another individual added, "This is a little too sick for me. Sorry."



Andrea's procedure was not without adverse effects. She overcame numerous challenges, but she has resolved to pursue her desire for beauty. According to the internet, her next goal is to obtain fillers for her nose. To achieve equilibrium in her facial characteristics, she chose to artificially enhance her nose.



Check her latest post here.

What do you think about this? Tell us in the comments.

For more trending stories, follow us on Telegram.
In the busy city of Bangalore, with its constant noise and fast-paced life, Kabeer Biswas set out to change how things worked for local deliveries. He wanted to make life easier for people and fix everyday problems. So, he came up with Dunzo, a clever idea that could sort out all sorts of tasks. It was born from Kabeer's love for new ideas and his drive to solve real problems. Dunzo wasn't just another delivery service; it was the result of a smart entrepreneur who wanted to shake things up and make life simpler for everyone.

The story of Kabeer Biswas demonstrates the transformative potential of an idea. He started his local delivery business with just a simple WhatsApp group, and his success soared, with his net worth reaching nearly $775 million (around Rs 6,400 crore) at one stage according to News18.

Meet Kabeer Biswas, Who Transformed A WhatsApp Group Into A Rs 6,400-Cr Company | ET

READ ALSO: Meet Anuradha Mahindra, Verve & Mans World Magazine's Founder & Anand Mahindra's Beloved Wife

Who is Kabeer Biswas founder of Dunzo?

Kabeer was born in 1984. Sadly, his father passed away when he was just 19 years old. Despite this loss, Kabeer inherited a significant amount of wealth from his father. This inheritance provided him with the financial freedom to explore various ideas and take risks without worrying about playing it safe. His mother was well-versed in his father's business, so she felt secure about Kabeer's future, allowing him to pursue his interests without concerns about her own well-being. As a result, Kabeer feels he has no dependents and can fearlessly experiment with the ideas that pique his interest.

Kabeer Biswas - Education

After completing his MBA in 2007, Kabeer began his professional career journey. He joined Bharti Airtel Limited and initially worked in rural NPD (New Product Development). Impressively, within just two years, he advanced to roles that focused on social, community, and location-based services.

After his stint at Videocon Telecommunications Limited, where he focused on New Product Development for about three months starting October 2010, Kabeer ventured into the realm of digital media with Y2CF Digital Media Private Limited. It was there that he founded Hoppr, a company later acquired by Hike in 2014.

READ ALSO: Meet Parth Jindal: Delhi Capitals Owner And His Impressive 600 Crore Net Worth

How A WhatsApp Group Which Turned Into A Rs 6,400-Crore Company

Armed with these diverse experiences, Kabeer embarked on his next venture, Dunzo, in January 2015. He started small, initially operating from a small WhatsApp group. Kabeer firmly believed that in businesses centered around delivery and logistics, even if not all systems were tech-based, superior customer service should always prevail. With this vision driving him, he set out to establish Dunzo as a reliable and efficient delivery service provider for people in need.

Dunzo's delivery services extend to major cities such as Bengaluru, Delhi, Gurugram, Pune, Chennai, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Hyderabad. While initially focusing on affluent areas in Bengaluru like Indiranagar, Koramangala, and the central business district, the overarching aim was to streamline daily tasks for users, making their lives easier.

Kabeer Biswas - Funding Raised via Dunzo

Dunzo made headlines in 2017 when it became the first Indian tech company to receive funding from Google. This marked a significant milestone for the company, which has since amassed a total of $700 million in funding by January 2022. In January 2022, Reliance Retail continued to support Dunzo with a substantial investment of $240 million.

Kabeer Biswas's main drive behind Dunzo was to help people save time. This hyperlocal delivery startup offers a convenient solution for transferring or delivering desired items or packages across different parts of the city with just a simple click.

Dunzos Financial Mess

Dunzo has faced challenges in meeting its employees' salaries, experiencing multiple delays over the past year. Additionally, the company reported a significant loss of Rs 1,800 crore in FY23, marking a 288 percent increase from the previous year. This financial strain has been compounded by the departure of several key executives, including co-founders and the finance head, which has further impacted the company's stability and operations.

READ ALSO: Meet SRH's Owner Kavya Maran, 'National Crush Of India' Whose Net Worth Is Over Rs 400 Crore

For the latest and more interesting financial news, keep reading Indiatimes Worth. Click here


Bandits, on Thursday night, invaded and abducted some students of the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTEC), Osara, Okene in Kogi State.

The gunmen, according to eyewitness report, entered the university around 9pm while the students were reading for their upcoming exams.

Advertisement

The source said that the bandits came in through the bush, went into three lecture halls and began to shoot into the air to scare the students.

They trapped the students inside the halls and started taking them; the school was thrown into total confusion as fear-stricken students in other halls scurried to safety, scampering in various directions.

By the time local security guards and the conventional security men at the gate engaged the bandits, they had already succeeded in abducting some students.

READ ALSO: Edo Police Nab Native Doctor, 2 Others Over Death Of Student

But the efforts minimised the damage as the attackers didnt go beyond the first three halls, the source said.

The students, the source said were preparing for their first-semester examination expected to commence on Monday, May 13, when the bandits struck.

An anonymous student said that he and some colleagues ran to the bush and hid there for more than an hour.

We only ventured out when everywhere became quiet, he said.

CUSTECs Vice Chancellor, Abdulraman Asipita, confirmed the incident but refused to give details of the number of students abducted.

I dont talk to journalists on incidents like this, but I want you to know that we are on top of the situation, he said, as stated by News Agency of Nigeria.
The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission has secured the conviction of Christopher Oluchukwu, a former commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, over his involvement in an employment scam.

In a statement posted on the commissions website on Thursday, Oluchukwu was found guilty on all nine counts filed against him at Katsina State High Court 3.

INFORMATION NIGERIA learnt that the defendant was alleged to have received amounts totaling N200,000, N300,000, and N400,000 from three individuals, falsely promising to secure NSCDC jobs for their children.

Advertisement

The statement partly reads: In the case filed by ICPC at the Katsina State High Court 3, the convict was accused of receiving the sum of N200,000:00, N300,000:00 and N400,000:00 respectively, from three individuals under the pretext of securing jobs for their children with the NSCDC.

READ MORE: NSCDC Arrests Suspected Ritualists For Alleged Gang Rape, Genital Mutilation In Niger

The victims had reported the matter to ICPC after the convict failed to procure the said job and refused to refund their money.

That you Christopher Oluchukwu Ugwubujo on or about 25th and 28th day of November 2014 within the jurisdiction of this Court while being a public officer with the NSCDC conferred a corrupt advantage upon yourself by obtaining a total sum of four hundred thousand naira (N400, 000. 00) from one for a job placement for her daughter into NSCDC and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act 2000.

Similarly, the trial judge pronounced that the sentences were to run concurrently. He also held that even though the defendant was at large (he jumped bail), his sureties should be arrested and kept in custody for further investigation.
The Nigeria Police Force has released detained reporter of Foundation for Investigative Journalism, identified as Daniel Ojukwu, on Friday.

The reporters release came after protesters stormed the force headquarters in Abuja, on Thursday, to demand his release.

It was gathered that Ojukwu regained freedom on Friday after spending 10 days in police captivity.

Advertisement

The just released journalist was said to have gone missing on Wednesday, May 1, when his numbers were switched off and his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends.

Meanwhile, twenty-four hours after he went missing, FIJ made a missing person report at police stations in the area where Ojukwu was headed.

Further, a media organization reportedly tracked the last active location of the journalists phones to an address in Isheri Olofin, a location FIJ now believes was where the police originally picked him up.

Ojukwus family subsequently got wind of his detention at Panti, where they were made to understand the authorities were accusing him of violating the 2015 Cybercrime Act.

The police gave FIJs lawyers and negotiators led by the publisher of SaharaReporters, Omoyele Sowore; chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists FCT Correspondents Chapel Jide Oyekunle; and Bukky Shonibare, chairman of FIJs Board of Trustees stringent bail conditions.

Recall that on Thursday, some Civil Society Organisations and journalists stormed the Force Headquarters in Abuja to demand the release of Ojukwu.

A banner demanding the release of Daniel Ojukwu during a protest at the Force Headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

The protesters include a legal practitioner, Deji Adeyanju; a Pro-democracy activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 general elections, Sowore; amongst others.

READ MORE: Protesters Storm Force Headquarters, Demand Release Of Detained FIJ Journalist

Announcing Ojukwus released via its website, today, FIJ said: Daniel Ojukwu, the FIJ reporter who was abducted by men of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General of Police, has regained freedom after 10 days in police captivity, the FIJ wrote on its website about Ojukwus release.

Ojukwu went missing on Wednesday, May 1, his numbers switched off and his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends.
The California Public Employeess Retirement System has a pension debt of nearly half a trillion dollars and is only 72% funded. Max Whittaker/Getty Images 2009

As California struggles to address its alarming budget deficit, big bills are coming due for retirement past benefits promised city, county and state workers.

Choking on unfunded pension and health care liabilities, cities like Carmel-by-the-Sea pay their pensioners more than active employees. While the average annual earnings of Carmels 99 workers are around $85,000, its 108 pensioners collect nearly $95,000 per year. Carmels combined pension and health care promises add up to nearly $100 million. This includes over $30 million in unfunded liabilities. Though this looks good in comparison to the nearby Monterey County city of Pacific Groves $66 million in unfunded liabilities, it still demands attention.

Sadly, San Jose faces $4 billion in unfunded pension and health care liabilities. San Francisco faces a staggering $7 billion. Californias total unfunded pension liabilities are an eye-watering $250 billion. At the heart of Californias pension crisis are defined benefit retirement programs.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

To fix its pension problems California should follow the lead of the federal government and private sector and shift from defined benefit programs to defined contribution, or 401(k)-type plans. Under defined benefit programs, cities and unions negotiate future pension and health care promises and then set aside funds to cover those liabilities. Much like Social Security, employees contribute a fraction of their paychecks to the retirement system. Unlike Social Security, where employers contribute 6.2% of wages, cities deposit an average of over 25% of their payrolls into Californias public pension funds.

Historically, a major risk for retirement funds is investment returns fail to meet pension and health care obligations. Budget holes faced by Carmel, Pacific Grove, San Jose, San Francisco and other cities, counties and special districts are partly the result of over-optimistic pension fund forecasts and overly generous taxpayer-guaranteed pension promises.

Remarkably, the average retirement benefit distributed by Californias public pension funds is nearly five times greater than comparable Social Security benefits. Furthermore, the California Rule gives retirees a legal right to public pension benefits even if a city can no longer afford them. Exploding pension costs are priority obligations, forcing municipalities strapped for cash to boost taxes or sacrifice funding for infrastructure, maintenance and public safety, or they have to dip into their financial reserves. City services suffer and future taxpayers are left on the hook. Unfunded liabilities compound a citys problems by sinking its credit worthiness. This can raise borrowing costs at precisely the time a city needs to issue bonds to meet pension obligations.

The pension crisis is not the fault of Californias public employees. Voters, taxpayers and state and local officials all failed to notice the revolution taking place in retirement benefits. The federal government and most private companies determined decades ago that defined benefit programs were unsustainable. They depend on complex and easily manipulated economic, demographic and actuarial variables. Consequently, a complete picture of pension and health care promises is often hidden until its too late. The result is unfunded liabilities.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Today, the federal government and most major companies have largely transitioned away from defined benefit programs to defined contribution plans. These plans clearly define periodic pension contributions that are deposited in their employees individual retirement accounts, typically matching a fraction of their savings. The cumulative value of an employees pension upon retirement is simply a function of their saving decisions, employer contributions and investment returns. This eliminates the risk of unfunded pension liabilities.

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

To avoid insolvency and turn unfunded liabilities into a historical footnote, municipalities must gradually shift from defined benefit programs to defined contribution plans. But because these 401(k)-type plans transfer investment risks from employers to employees, public unions are likely to resist. Fortunately, these objections can be overcome (and cities assured of retaining valued employees) by offering higher wages, and/or more generous matching. The major benefit is revealing the true cost of public services.
Former Rivers State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Prof Zacchaeus Adangor, has accused Governor Siminalayi Fubara, of undermining reconciliation efforts with his predecessor, Nyesom Wike.

INFORMATION NIGERIA reports that Adangor, who resigned from Fubaras cabinet in April, expressed concerns over the Fubaras commitment to peace and governance.

The former Attorney made led this out while speaking on Channels TVs Politics Today on Thursday.

Advertisement

He said: He (Fubara) is not the person people think he is, he is not a peacemaker.

Politically, I am loyal to Wike, there is no doubt about that. I wouldnt know whether he was angered by that or not. But as far as I remember, he (Fubara) was angry that I insisted on conducting a matter in accordance with the understanding of the law.

I never applied to work for Governor Fubara; I was invited to serve under him. Even after my first resignation on 14th of November, I never wanted to come back as a person but the President asked us to go back.

I will give you two instances to show that he (Fubara) is not the person people think he is, he is not a peacemaker, Adangor explained.

READ MORE: Im Focused On Good Governance, No Political Crisis In Rivers  Fubara

I have been on leave of absence from Rivers State University, thats my place of primary assignment. When I resigned on the 24th of April 2024, Fubara thought I would return to the university but I am aware that he had directed the management of the university not to allow me return to the university. That cannot be a decision taken by a person of peaceful disposition.
Solomon Buchi, a writer and social media critic, recently took to Twitter to address Nigerians.

In his tweet, he stated that if you have the ability to leave Nigeria, you should do it without hesitation.

He further emphasised that as a Nigerian, its not necessarily you travel to the United Kingdom, the United States, or Canada, but can instead visit other African countries such as Ghana, Botswana, and Kenya.

Advertisement

He also explained the reason for his statement by lamenting the fact that Nigeria has become an unlivable environment to be in.

He bemoaned that Nigeria is not a nation where things are set up to make anyone succeed.

READ MORE: Research Reveals 80% Of Gym Goers Are Career Prostitutes  Actress Lolo1

On his X account, he tweeted,

if you can afford to leave Nigeria, please do. It doesnt have to be the UK, US, or Canada. You can explore other African countries, Ghana, Botswana, Kenya. Nigeria is becoming an unlivable place. That is not a place where things are set up to help you flourish.

SEE POST:
The Federal Capital Territory High Court, sitting in Abuja, has imposed travel ban on the immediate-past minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, his daughter, Fatimah, and son-in-law, Jalal Hamma.

It was gathered that Justice Sylvanus Orji ruled that they must not travel out of the country pending the conclusion of their N2.7bn fraud trial.

Recall that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, arraigned the former minister and his family, on six counts, over alleged N2.7bn fraud.

Advertisement

The anti-graft agency alleged that Sirika abused his office by awarding a consultancy N1.3bn contract for the Nigerian Air Start-up to Tianero Nigeria Limited.

The commission said, by so doing, the ex-minister acted contrary to Section 19 of the Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Act, 2000.

In another count, the anti-graft agency alleged that on or about August 18, 2022, in Abuja, Sirika did use your position to confer unfair advantage upon Al Buraq Global Investment Limited, whose alter ego, Fatima Hadi Sirika and Jalal Sule Hamma, are your daughter and son-in-law respectively, by using your position to influence the award to them, the contract for the Apron Extension at Katsina Airport for the sum of N1.498,300,750.00.

In count three, the EFCC accused Sirika of criminal breach of trust while being the Minister of Aviation and in such capacity as a public officer on or about August 18, 2022, in Abuja, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court.

READ MORE:

The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to them.

Following a bail application by the defence counsel, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN), the defendants were each granted bail in the sum of N100m with two sureties in like sum.

The judge said one of the sureties must own a landed property with valid land titles within the Federal Capital Territory.

Justice Orji ruled: I admit the first, second and third defendant to bail in the sum of 100m each with two sureties of like sum.

One of the sureties must have a landed property within the Federal Capital Territory. The defendants must not travel outside the country.

Any of them who is unable to fulfil the bail conditions will be remanded in the correctional centre.

The trial was subsequently fixed for June 10, 11 and 20.
Lead counsel to Yahaya Bello, former Kogi State Governor, Abdulwahab Mohammed, on Friday, asked a Federal High Court in Abuja to give him four weeks to search for his client.

Mohammed added that the ex-governors whereabouts remain unknown.

Addressing the court shortly after a ruling which insisted on the arrest of his client, Mohammed said Bello has deep concerns about his safety.

Advertisement

His words: My lord, this has to do with his right to life. If someone has a genuine concern about his life, it ought to be considered.

At this stage, we dont know where the defendant is. Therefore, subject to the convenience of this court, we will be asking for a reasonable time.

My client does not have any problem answering to this charge. We ask for a reasonable time to enable us to access him.

My lord, we will ask for four weeks.

Mohammed also prayed the court to stay further proceedings in the criminal charge.

However, Emeka Nwite, Presiding Judge, refused to stay the proceedings.

I am shocked to my bone marrow that despite the ruling, the senior lawyer made this application.

Notwithstanding this flagrant abuse of court process, in view of section 306 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, this court shall not stay proceedings in this charge, Nwite said.

READ ALSO: N2.7bn Fraud: Court Slams Travel Ban On Ex-Aviation Minister, Daughter, Son-in-law

Addressing the senior lawyer, the judge said: You, as a counsel ought to advise him correctly. Is he the only former Governor that has been invited or charged by the EFCC?

How many people have been killed by the EFCC? This is a matter that has attracted the attention of the whole world, the judge stated.

If he reports himself and anything untoward happens to him, the EFCC will be held accountable.

The law is very clear that an accused is presumed innocent. This is merely a charge, an allegation that has not been proved.

It is for you to advise him properly. Bring him here and prepare yourself. This is only an allegation that has not been proved.

In his submission, Rotimi Oyedepo, counsel to the EFCC, said his client, as a law abiding organisation, would not take any illegal action against the defendant.

He noted that the agency earlier undertook not to execute the arrest warrant should the defendant voluntarily submit himself for trial.

Speaking to the defence lawyer, Oyedepo said: The EFCC will not kill your client. We have never killed anyone before.

But my lord, Adoke collapsed in their custody, Bellos lawyer retorted light-heartedly.

Nwite subsequently adjourned the matter till June 13 for arraignment.

The EFCC is seeking to arraign Bello on 19 counts bordering on alleged money laundering, breach of trust and misappropriation of funds to the tune of N80.2 billion.


No less than five suspected rapists have been arrested by the police in Nasarawa State.

The suspects were apprehended in the Karu and Doma Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the State.

They were among the 33 suspects arrested for various crimes committed across the 13 LGAs of the state.

Advertisement

The State Commissioner of Police, Umar Nadada, made this known in Lafia on Thursday while parading the suspects.

He mentioned their offences to include rape, armed robbery, kidnapping, banditry, impersonation, among others.

The CP particularly mentioned the case of a suspect who allegedly defiled two girls between the ages of 13 and 14 years old respectively but was arrested following painstaking efforts by officers of the command.

He said, Recently, police operatives attached to the Mararaba A Division arrested one Victor Jonathan, AKA Korea, for defiling two girls between the ages of 13 and 14 years.

READ ALSO: NSCDC Arrests Suspected Ritualists For Alleged Gang Rape, Genital Mutilation In Niger

Preliminary investigation revealed that the girls were sent on an errand. While on their way back; the suspect conspired with his friend and forcefully took the girls to an uncompleted building located at Angwan Gwari, Kabayi Area of Karu LGA where he had unlawful carnal knowledge of them.

Nadada further paraded another suspect who allegedly raped a 17-year-old girl in the Karu LGA of the state.

Also, police operatives arrested one Stephen Arigu Namo, M, of Tudun Wada, Mararaba following a complaint that the suspect visited the house of one Sale Magaji at Aku Village, Base one Mararaba under the guise of delivering his 17-year-old daughter from a spiritual problem, but ended up having unlawful carnal knowledge of her, he said.

He added that the suspect had confessed to the crime and he is currently being investigated by officers of the command.

While noting that other suspected rapists were arrested in the Doma LGA of the state, the CP explained that he had directed that all the 33 suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Lafia, after which, they would be charged to court for prosecution


Rivers State Governor, Siminialayi Fubara is planning to pull down the States House of Assembly quarters, Martin Amaewhule, a factional Speaker of the Assembly, has posited.

Amaewhule made the allegation while addressing journalists in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on Thursday.

According to him, the assembly quarters do not require any form of renovation.

Advertisement

Information Nigeria reports that Fubara had on Thursday visited the quarters during an inspection of ongoing projects in the State.

He disclosed that he came to the Assembly quarters to see the condition of some of the structures and if there will be need for renovations after the election of a new Speaker.

Is assembly not part of my property? Is anything wrong going to check how things are going on there?

You are aware of the development, we have a new speaker and I went there to see for myself how things are for myself because there might be a few things that I may do there for the good of our people, Fubara had said.

READ ALSO: Millions Will Enjoy Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road  Affected Beach Owner Backs FG After Property Was Demolished

However, Amaewhule said the legislators did not call for the help of the Governor, adding that the quarters are in perfect condition.

The factional speaker stated that the assembly quarters were built by the administration of Nyesom Wike, former Governor of the State, and commissioned in 2022.

Our governor demolished the house of the assembly complex and plans are underway from what we are seeing to again demolish the River state house of assembly quarters.

The quarters you have here are one of the best in the country. As you can see, there is nothing wrong with any of the buildings.

All the buildings are in perfect condition. We have no issues. We have not called on the governor for any form of help.

The River state house of assembly quarters was built for members of the Rivers assembly, and not for the executive arm of government, Amaewhule said.

On Wednesday, Fubaras loyalist and lawmaker representing the Bonny constituency, Victor Jumbo, was elected as the factional Speaker of the Rivers Assembly.
Bill which seeks to increase the salaries and allowances of judicial officers, has scaled second reading at the Senate.

The Thursday resolution followed its consideration and debate on a bill titled: A bill for an act to prescribe the salaries, allowances and fringe benefits of judicial office holders in Nigeria and for related matters (2024).

Advertisement

Deputy Majority Leader of the Senate, Ashiru Yisa, sponsored the Billl

Senator Yisa in his lead debate said remuneration was needed to reflect the contemporary socio-economic realities of the times.

He argued that the proposed legal framework would bring about significant improvement in the welfare, capacity, and independence of the judiciary, which have remained contentious issues of public discourse over the years.

In his contribution, the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jibrin, thanked President Tinubu for proposing a Bill to increase the salaries and allowance for Judicial Officers in the country.

Barau said: I joined the President of the Senate to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for bringing forward this Bill. This is very important and he has done well, not only for the judiciary but for the entire nation.

Mr. President, by the nature of the judicial officers, they dont agitate. They cry in silence, and they dont speak out. Other workers agitate, and they stage protests. But the judiciary doesnt talk; they cry in silence.

Now, the president of the country has spoken for them. What he did is something laudable and we are applauding him here. Because a country that didnt take its judiciary in a very important passion is doomed.

And when you want to take the judiciary seriously, you have to take the remuneration of the judiciary staff seriously. That is very important, and that is what he has done. They have stagnated for several years.

What the President has done should be supported and we will give him more support to continue to work on this kind of trajectory for the development of the nation. So, Mr. President, I joined you and other colleagues to commend President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

READ ALSO: Reps Halt Implementation Of 0.005% Cybersecurity Levy

Senator Mohammed Monguno, said improving the welfare of judges will insulate them from corruption and ensure they deliver just and fair judgments.

On his part, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu said: No right-thinking Nigerian will not think that it is right to keep the judiciary comfortable. I want to thank the executive for deeming it fit to increase the salaries of judges at all levels.

Senators later approved that the bill be read for a second time when it was put to voice vote by Akpabio.

Akpabio thereafter referred the Bill to the Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, and Legal Matters for further legislative input and to report back in four weeks.

Recall that the House of Representatives, in March, passed the bill which provides a monthly package of N5.39 million for the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Olukayode Ariwoola.

The executive bill also provides a total package of N4.21 million for Justices of the Supreme Court, while the president of the Court of Appeal is to earn a total monthly package of N4.48 million.

Information Nigeria reports that Justices of the Court of Appeal are to earn a total monthly package of N3.73 million, while the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, President of the National Industrial Court, Chief Judge of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court, Grand Khadi FCT Sharia Court of Appeal, President of Customary Court of Appeal, Chief Judge of State High Court and Grand Khadi of State Sharia Court of Appeal and President of State Customary Court of Appeal are to earn a monthly package of N3.53 million.

Other allowances not embedded in the total monthly package include leave allowances, estacode per night of $2000 when applicable, duty tour allowances when applicable, severance gratuity of N80.78 million after successful completion of tenure as well as an option of motor vehicle loan to be repaid before the expiration of tenure.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had in a letter read by Senate president, Godswill Akpabio, proposed a salary increase for judicial officers in the country.

Tinubu argued that the bill would promote the independence and capacity of the Nigerian judiciary system.
Ifedayo Olarinde, aka Daddy Freeze, a controversial television figure, has urged Nigerian women to see their husbands as heads rather than partners.

In contrast to Western traditions, which view the husband as a partner, African, Middle Eastern, Christian, and Islamic traditions view the husband as the head of the family.

READ MORE: E-Money Reacts To Reports Of Police Probe Over N1.2Bn Dispute With Lagos Firm, Sets Record Straight

Advertisement

Speaking in a video message shared via his Instagram account, the OAP said,

Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Fulani, and Efik traditions as well as Christian and Islamic traditions, all say the man is the head of the house. In the Western world, your husband is your partner.

Your husband is not supposed to be your partner, he is your head, but be careful who you submit your headship to

Watch video below
A neighbor was shaken after a mother ran outside her home holding her 2-year-old, on the 1600 block of North 29th Street. The child, Diora Porter-Brown, had been accidentally shot in the head on July 27, 2023. Read more

It was a case that left a family in shambles, a prosecutor in near silence, and a veteran defense attorney at her wits end.

Twanda Harmon, 54, was set to be sentenced Friday morning for her role in the accidental shooting death of her 2-year-old granddaughter. It was a warm afternoon last July when Harmons 14-year-old grandson, who has an intellectual disability, found her loaded gun in an upstairs drawer and fired it, striking his cousin, Diora Porter-Brown, in the back of the head.

Advertisement

Dioras mother ran outside and into the streets of Brewerytown, carrying her bleeding child in her arms, pleading for help. She and her toddler were rushed to Temple University Hospital, but Dioras injuries were severe. She died at 12:36 p.m.

When I was at the hospital and my daughter was pronounced dead, all I wanted was to be held by my mom, Dafeara Porter said Friday.

But her mother was in police custody. She was later charged and pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and endangering the welfare of children. She has been held at the County Correctional Facility since that day.

On Friday morning, Porter asked Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara McDermott for mercy for her mother.

I am hurt more than anything, she said through tears. I really need my mom.

McDermott cut her off. She had heard enough, she said, and ordered Harmon be sentenced to nine to 23 months in jail, plus two years probation, and said she should be released Friday on time served.

There are not two sides in this case, the judge said.

Only family.

Assistant District Attorney Alison Neveil did not object.

Harmons family erupted in cheers. They collapsed into themselves, crying words of thanks and prayers. They said they never wanted Harmon to spend a day in jail, and do not blame her for what happened.

Shes suffered enough, said one family member.

Harmon, a mother of five, was raised in Philadelphia. The wounds in her life run deep. The youngest of three children, she was sexually abused as a child, and dropped out of school in 10th grade.

Her mother died of a heart attack when Harmon was just 18, and four years later, her father was killed in a homicide. Harmon found his body.

She has endured physical and emotional abuse through her life. She has been raped and shot at, and suffers from PTSD and depression.

The trauma of her life, she said, led her to hide various weapons through her house  guns, knives, bats.

I decided no one was ever going to rape me again, she told a psychological examiner, according to McDermott.

It was one of those guns that her grandson found.

David Smiley Porter, Harmons husband of 36 years, had been in hospice care for the last month. All she kept saying in the weeks leading up to Friday, the family said, was to tell him to hold on. Hold on.

He died Thursday.

Porter said the district attorneys office only contacted her once throughout the case  on the day before the sentencing. She refused to speak with them, she said, because she was grieving the death of her father, and was upset with how the case had been handled.

Harmons defense attorney, Mary Maran, was exasperated.

I wish everything had been different for this family, she told the judge. They are as good and deserving as any family in the city of Philadelphia.

It was all she could bring herself to say.

The family left the courthouse quietly Friday morning, walking out into the wind and rain. They would be able to pick up Harmon from the jail that afternoon. They would tell her that her husband was gone. They would lay him to rest. And they would take her to see her granddaughters grave for the first time.

All together, they would finally be able to grieve. To heal  as much as one ever could.
[Philadelphia]  is known as the cradle of American liberty, wrote George Franklin in 1920. So it was quite in keeping with the tradition of this city to have given a stirring welcome to the Indian revolutionists who paraded the streets on Sunday, Sept. 5, with their Republican flags and banners of red, gold and green.

This passage appeared in Franklins essay, Philadelphia Rings the Liberty Bell of India in the Independent Hindustan: A Monthly Review of Political, Economic, Social and Intellectual Independence of India.

Advertisement

The Liberty Bell, where the freedom fighters congregated, is the first stop on the Revolution Remix walking tour by the Philly-based South Asian American Digital Archive. As the tour progresses, participants hear the stories of Amar Gopal Bose, the South Asian Philadelphian entrepreneur who started the Bose Corporation (of sound system fame), and Anandibai Joshee, the first South Asian woman to become a doctor and who studied at the Womans Medical College of Pennsylvania.

These stories, among others, are part of SAADAs mission to shed light on the underwritten histories of South Asian immigration in the U.S., specifically in Philly.

When the walk gets to the Race Street Pier, the guide pulls out an article from The Inquirer, dated Dec. 25, 1903. The headline reads: While Christians sing Peace on Earth, Lascars on Tanker at Point Breeze Will Cry Allah Il Allah, Because the Day Is Their Sabbath.

That year, SAADA executive director Samip Mallick said to The Inquirer, Eid and Christmas happened to correspond  And so the story talks about the shift workers on the dark side of Philadelphia cooking a special meal for Eid.

While Christians in this Christian city are dining  the Mohammedans will partake of their staple food, rice and currie , the article reads before explaining the cooking procedure. The result is said to be a most savory mess that is a favorite of not only the dusky seamen, but of their fellow tars of other nationalities.

The Inquirers mention of South Asian seamen called laskars or lascars (mainly from the present-day territories of India and Bangladesh) working on British and European ships goes back to the mid- to late-1800s. There was an uptick around the 1910s when the British started using steam ships and used their colonial laborers to do the really awful industrial work in the belly of the steam ships, said historian and filmmaker Vivek Bald, whose book Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America formed the historical basis for the new documentary In Search of Bengali Harlem, which he codirected with the films protagonist Alaudin Ullah.

It was really grueling work  And these men were essentially finding ways to jump ship in the United States  there was a demand for their labor because of [World War I], said Bald, an associate professor at MIT. The men started to build these clandestine networks in the 1910s to help other ship workers to jump ship and to find work on shore.

I call it kind of like an underground railroad, said actor and comedian Ullah, whose father, one of these seamen, moved to New York Citys Harlem in the 1920s, where a large community of Bengali men settled after marrying African American and Puerto Rican women.

His fathers story forms the spine of the documentary that premiered on PBS America Reframed last night. They felt Harlem was a place of refuge. Yes, its got a reputation of being wild, crazy, and violent  drugs, said Ullah, an alum of New Hope s Solebury Boarding School. But [this] was during the Harlem Renaissance. My father talked about going to the Palladium and seeing Coltrane.

Once the Bengali men jumped ship, theyd often travel to the Midwest, taking up jobs in steel mills in Youngstown, Ohio, or the auto industry in Detroit. But one of the main steel mills where a lot of the ship jumpers worked was at Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pa., or the shipyards in Chester, Bald said.

Inquirer journalists would report on the laskars food habits and rituals  taking note of their goat sacrifices, prayer practices, and hairstyles. One of the strangest religious ceremonies ever witnessed in this city took place yesterday on board the German steamer Guthenfels when a live sheep was sacrificed in accordance with the rites of their faith in the presence of a crew of lascars, reads a report from May 1906.

It is then that you start seeing in the census records, entire groups of men from this population of ship workers, Bald said. In places like Harlem, often the men were categorized as Black. In Bethlehem, most of these South Asian men were working alongside immigrants from Eastern Europe. And the Indians were classified as white.

The need to excavate this immigration history, Ullah said, is because there is little mention of it when we speak of South Asian history of America and, by default, American immigration history.

There is some writing on the North Indians who came to California in the early 20th century until the Immigration Act of 1917 (Barred Zone Act) was passed. And then there was just this assumption that no one was here until 1965, when the Immigration and Nationality Act was passed, Bald said. This act paved the path for highly skilled immigrants and professionals from India to come to the States.

That law was written to favor engineers and doctors and professionals. What gets lost in that understanding of the South Asian American story is that ... in that entire period between 1917-65, there was a sizable working class migration from South Asia to the U.S., but they were undocumented, Bald said.

When they were passing the Immigration Act of 65, my fathers friends wrote to [the] government saying, While its great that youre bringing in academics, please dont neglect the working class, the people who are coming from places like Bangladesh or [other] third-world nations that need America as a place where they can also have an opportunity, said Ullah, whose father worked in Indian restaurants in New York.

These men were essentially stateless, said Bald. Their homeland was under British colonial rule and the United States had passed racist anti-Asian immigration laws that rendered them illegal as soon as they set foot in the U.S.  It was African American and Puerto Rican communities that did welcome them, that lived up to the national promise of acceptance and inclusion.

For Ullah, his familys story is also one of finding community with African Americans and building solidarity. South Asians in many ways were rescued and nourished and nurtured by African Americans, so that they could become Americans with dignity, said Ullah.

In Search of Bengali Harlem is currently streaming on PBS World.

More information about SAADAs Revolution Remix walking tour can be found on its website.
A helicopter hovers over Mount Whitney during the search and recovery of two missing climbers, who were found dead this week. Inyo County Sheriff's Office

A pair of mountaineers reported missing after climbing Mount Whitney last week were found dead by searchers and recovered from the peak on a day later, according to the Inyo County Sheriffs Office.

The two climbers ascended and summited the peak on the morning of May 7 via the mountaineers route, according to a Facebook post from a third climbing partner. But the three climbers became separated on the descent down a perilously steep section near the mountaintop known as the Final 400.

The climbers who died were Patricia Bolan, 29, of Davis and Andrew Niziol, 28, of South Lake Tahoe, the Tulare County Sheriff's Office said Monday.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The climbers were experienced in the backcountry and had adequate gear for the climb, according to the third climber. They had planned to ski and snowboard back down to camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake at an elevation of 11,300 feet.

The third climber waited for them for hours  first at the bottom of a chute high on the mountain, then farther down at their camp  before contacting emergency searchers on the evening of May 7, he wrote in his post.

Searchers are seen on Mount Whitney, where the bodies of two missing climbers were found this week. Inyo County Sheriff's Office

After a foot search on May 8, the bodies of the two missing climbers were found high on the mountain by the Inyo County Search and Rescue Team. The exact location and the cause of death wasnt immediately clear; the bodies were recovered and transported to the Tulare County Coroners Office.

A more detailed report on the incident from searchers has yet to be made public.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Keep reading by creating a free account or signing in.
A Philadelphia jury sided against Exxon Mobil Corp. and awarded $725.5 million on Thursday to a former Pennsylvania man who contended he suffered from leukemia due to benzene exposure during his work starting in the 1970s as an auto mechanic and gas station attendant.

The award in Common Pleas Court was sizable for a suit filed by a single plaintiff not part of a class-action suit.

Advertisement

The jury recognized that it was a wrong thing for Mobil Oil to knowingly have what they knew to cause cancer in a product that people had to use in the workplace, in their vehicles, and just in their daily lives and not tell the public, said Andrew DuPont, attorney for Paul and Diane Gill, who filed suit against Texas-based Exxon Mobil in 2020.

Exxon Mobil said it would appeal the verdict.

This is an irrational verdict that we will ask the court to reverse before it becomes final, the company said in a statement e-mailed to The Inquirer. Beyond that request, we plan to exhaust all available appeals and are confident an appellate court will see the verdict for what it is. We are reviewing our next steps.

DuPont, an attorney with Philadelphia-based Locks Law Firm, said Paul Gills work exposed him to benzene-containing products such as solvents, degreasers, oils, and gasoline.

According to the suit, Gill worked at an ARCO station in Painted Post, N.Y., in 1974; an auto garage in Hamilton Valley, Pa., from 1975 to 1980; and at a dairy farm in Lindley, N.Y., from 1986 to 1994. Those jobs took place before Exxon and Mobil merged in 1999.

The suit said Gill worked directly and indirectly on a near daily basis with those products, exposing him to benzene, xylene, toluene, and other chemical compounds.

Gill, now 67, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in 2019. He suffered multiple symptoms and side effects as the result of the AML and treatments. The suit said the cancer was the proximate result of his exposure to the defendants benzene-containing products and the defendants wrongful conduct.

AML starts in the bone marrow and often quickly moves into the blood, according to the American Cancer Society. It can spread to other parts of the body including the lymph nodes, liver, spleen, central nervous system, and testicles.

The suit said that benzene had been known to cause cancer before 1964 and that there is no safe level of exposure. It accused Exxon Mobil of gross negligence, saying the company knew, or should have known, that people working with or in close proximity to benzene-related products could suffer from blood and bone marrow poisoning and damage, damage to DNA, chromosome damage, cancer, leukemia, and other blood and bone marrow disease and damage.

The suit also said that Gill did not know the nature and extent of danger he had exposed himself to over decades working as a mechanic or at service stations. But, it said, Exxon Mobil was aware and continued to make, market, and sell products with benzene without warning people who used those products, or put controls in place. Benzene-containing products should have come with warnings, instructions, and training, the suit said.

Gills illness caused him pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement, deformity, impairment, mental anguish, anxiety, humiliation, and increased susceptibility to infection, the suit said, preventing him from engaging in those activities from which he derives lifes pleasures.

Gills wife, Diane, was awarded $500,000.

Other attorneys representing Gill during the trial included Patrick Wigle and Rajeev Mittal of Dallas-based Waters Kraus Paul & Siegel.

In a similar case in Connecticut last year, a jury reached the opposite conclusion and ruled in favor of Exxon Mobil in a lawsuit brought by a widow who sought $40 million for her husbands injuries and eventual death from AML, according to the Hartford Business Journal. The husband, Nicholas Yoranidis, owned an Exxon Mobil gas station. Jurors there found his widow had failed to prove the products were defective or establish a connection to Nicholas Yoranidis condition.
Volunteer Wendy Greenspan (center) hands out stickers and Wawa gift cards to participants during an engagement activity hosted by POWER Interfaith, a religious advocacy organization, to educate members of the public about their plans to encourage Peco to increase its use of renewable energy outside of City Hall on Wednesday, May 8, 2024. POWER Interfaith is one of the groups that testified at the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission hearings in April 2024, which will help decide how Peco procures its energy supply. Read more

The nation is in the middle of a contentious transformation from fossil fuels to renewable energy.

Its a change either hailed by environmentalists for addressing climate change and public health or loathed by the oil and gas industry for killing jobs and being less reliable, efficient and affordable. And what the increase in renewables will mean for consumers pocketbooks is still unclear.

Advertisement

Locally, the latest battle played out before the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC), which every four years has to approve Pecos energy procurement, or default service plan (DSP), where the utility explains how it intends to buy electricity.

Pecos current DSP is set to expire next May.

 READ MORE: POWER Interfaith proposes the Peoples Energy Plan, pushing Peco to use more renewable energy

PUC hearings

In February, Peco filed its 1,235-page purchase plan with the regulators, essentially promising to do what it has been doing: obtaining the least expensive electric supply and purchasing 8% of its power from renewable sources, including 0.5% of solar energy generated within the state.

Peco is proposing no change to its procurement process used in its prior default service program, according to the companys filing. Its a move that the company said guards against price volatility.

The PUC held two days of hearings on Pecos DSP at the end of April. About 80 people testified, including members of the Energy Justice Advocates (EJA), a group that includes POWER Interfaith, Vote Solar, Clean Air Council, Sierra Club, Physicians for Social Responsibility Pennsylvania, and PennEnvironment.

In my opinion, these criteria are insufficient and outdated. No less important but missing in PECOs list of criteria are the safety and health of Pennsylvanians, as well as the urgent need to address our climate crisis, testified Howard Sherman, a Peco customer from Lansdowne.

For every hundred dollars that PECO spends on energy, it plans to spend 50 cents on solar. Wendy Greenspan

For every hundred dollars that Peco spends on energy, it plans to spend 50 cents on solar, Wendy Greenspan, a co-convener of POWER Interfaiths Peoples Energy Plan Campaign Group, said when she testified at the hearing.

Thats what Peco did in its last DSP four years ago. Thats what it plans to do in this DSP for the next four years.

Dueling points of view

According to the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission Climate Action Plan, the energy used in residential buildings in the Philadelphia area for everyday uses  heating, cooling, cooking, and electricity  accounts for about 19% of greenhouse gas emissions. The plan warned that significant action is needed in the residential building sector to implement energy efficiency, electrification, and clean energy measures.

The EJA contends that it wants Peco to play more of a leadership role in encouraging renewables, starting with the energy supply mix Peco plans to purchase, which is generated almost entirely by burning fossil fuel.

Why isnt Peco transitioning to more renewable energy? Greenspan asked. Many utilities across the country are. Why is Peco digging in its heels and resisting the use of renewable energy?

In response, a Peco spokesperson said: Our filing is designed to comply with Pennsylvania law and regulations, which require us to procure electricity at the least cost over time, through a prudent mix of energy purchases to ensure adequate and reliable service, as well as price stability. These rules and regulations are designed to protect customers, including our low- and moderate-income customers, from paying above-market prices for their energy use.

If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden Administration to reverse this decision. U.S. Sens. Bob Casey (D., Pa.) and John Fetterman (D., Pa.)

Oil and gas industry experts counter that the state is retiring fossil fuel generation too quickly, before the capacity to replace it is available, forcing job losses and threatening grid resilience and reliability as demand for electricity is rising.

When the Biden administration temporarily paused new approvals of liquefied natural gas exports, both of the states Democratic U.S. senators, Bob Casey and John Fetterman, issued a joint statement: If this decision puts Pennsylvania energy jobs at risk, we will push the Biden administration to reverse this decision.

Solar rising

Pennsylvania, a fossil fuel powerhouse, trails other states in terms of new renewable energy. Over the last decade, no states has grown more slowly, according to PennEnvironment Research & Policy Centers report Renewables on the Rise 2023:

Pennsylvania ranks a lowly 50th in the nation for percent growth in total solar, wind and geothermal generation since 2013, stated the report. It further explained: In the last decade, Pennsylvania has tripled solar production  most of this growth coming since 2019. Yet in contrast, the U.S. saw a 12-fold growth in solar power and the leading state, Texas, built out a whopping 90 times as much renewable power as Pennsylvania.

Texas built out a whopping 90 times as much renewable power as Pennsylvania. Renewables on the Rise 2023

However, the move to solar is growing, especially amid large users.

The city, which owns about 600 buildings, recently announced a contract to buy solar-generated electricity from Energix Renewables, which will supply about a quarter of its need.

Swarthmore and Haverford Colleges entered a Power Purchase Agreement that will bring a large-scale solar facility online in Kentucky and provide the colleges with renewable energy credits. The University of Pennsylvania also announced that it will be purchasing all the electricity produced from solar facilities..

 READ MORE: Philadelphia begins powering City Hall and the airport by a solar array 100 miles away

Peco has presented the commission and its customers with its preference for four more years of wasted opportunities. testified Karl R. Rabago of Colorabo-based Rabago Energy LLC. Rabago accused Peco of short-sightedness and looking at lowest price generation over addressing the long-term impact of climate change.

POWER Interfaith continues to sponsor public events, such as a trivia contest outside City Hall on Wednesday, to educate the public while awaiting the PUCs final decision on Pecos plan by October.
Delaware Countys Director of Emergency Services, Tim Boyce, was fired Friday morning after two employees had accused of him sexual harassment and ageism, county officials said.

Boyce, 60, had been on administrative leave since April 25, when county council members were notified by the state attorney generals office of an investigation into allegations that Boyce had groped and forcibly kissed a woman he had hired to be his executive assistant, according to County Council Chairperson Monica Taylor.

Advertisement

Efforts to reach Boyce were unsuccessful Friday. Boyce had run the Department of Emergency Services since 2016 and oversaw the countys 911 dispatch center.

The woman wrote in a complaint to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that on Jan. 30, Boyce called her into his office and pulled her toward him, grabbing her face and cheeks in an attempt to kiss her.

She said she turned her head, causing Boyce to kiss her neck instead while asking whether he could touch her backside. He then groped her as she walked away, she said.

The woman quit her job shortly after. She said she later confronted Boyce by text message, telling him she was disgusted that he had used his power as a predatory male and boss to take advantage of her.

According to the complaint, Boyce responded to that text by apologizing and saying he never intended to harm her.

In her complaint, the woman said Boyce routinely made sexually charged remarks to her, including saying she had a nice ass.

Another female employee of Boyces filed an EEOC complaint in January saying he had created a hostile work environment for her in favor of younger, more attractive female employees.

A lawyer representing both women, Mark Schwartz, said Friday he was frustrated that the county waited so long to act, despite the evidence he had presented months ago.

I will hold the Delco Council accountable for Tim Boyce, he said.

Schwartz said he is preparing to file a third complaint against Boyce with the EEOC on behalf of an employee who was subjected to a prolonged pattern of sexual harassment.

In a statement Friday, a spokesperson for the Delaware County Council said officials are committed to protecting our workforce and ... ensuring a fair and thorough examination of any complaints or allegations made by our county team.

The safety and security of every County employee is a vital priority of County Council and County management, the statement said. Harassment, discrimination, and retaliation are not tolerated at the county and council is committed to ensuring that the work environment is safe for all county employees.
The first floor of the three-story Paradigm Gallery in Old City. Read more

Start your day with the Philly news you need and the stories you want all in one easy-to-read newsletter

Friday, welcome. Today well see showers and temps in the mid-50s.

After a few years of First Fridays losing their sheen, gallery owners and artists report that the Old City art walk events are feeling vibrant once again. And two weeks in, the protest encampment at the University of Pennsylvania is still standing, but facing increasing pressure from both school and government officials to disband.

Advertisement

Heres what you need to know to start your day.

 Julie Zeglen (morningnewsletter@inquirer.com)

If someone forwarded you this email, sign up for free here.

First Fridays are back, baby.

 The Old City showcase  held on, you guessed it, the first Friday of every month  has long been a staple of Phillys arts and culture scene. Wander past Market along Second or Third Streets and you could expect to stumble upon a cool new exhibit, hear live music, or at least snag some free snacks from a gallery with wide-open doors.

 That liveliness dimmed in recent years, as some galleries moved elsewhere or closed when longtime owners retired. But efforts from a new crop of curators, including those behind Paradigm Gallery + Studio, which moved to a three-story space on North Third Street last year, have led to a sort of First Friday revival.

 Accessibility and highlighting new talent are key. As one local artist told The Inquirer: Philadelphia is having its Harlem Renaissance. Arts and culture reporter Earl Hopkins has the story.

P.S. Your next chance to join the party is Friday, June 7.

At the two-week mark of the pro-Palestinian encampment on University of Pennsylvanias campus, tensions remain high and little progress appears to have been made in negotiations between protesters and Penn officials. Heres where things stand now:

Encampment expansion: Protesters moved about a dozen tents to another section of College Green on Wednesday evening amid a 200-person rally.

Discipline for protesters: Six student protesters have been placed on mandatory leaves of absence from the school for participating in the encampment, including an international student who said she was evicted from on-campus housing.

Graduation plans: Penn announced heightened security measures for commencement on May 20.

A prominent voice: On Thursday, Gov. Josh Shapiro called on the university to disband the pro-Palestinian encampment to restore order and safety.

The Inquirers Beatrice Forman and Susan Snyder have the latest from the scene.

What you should know today

Welcome back to Curious Philly Friday. Well feature both new and timeless stories from our forum for readers to ask about the citys quirks.

This week, were resurfacing an explainer from last summer about the missing state flags on South Broad Street. See, back in 2000, the Republican National Convention was coming to town. The city wanted to welcome the nations delegates with reminders of home  one flag per state, plus five U.S. territories, flying from Washington to Oregon Avenues. In 2016, the Dems came around, and the flags went up again.

Flash forward to 2024, and the flags are all gone. What gives? Heres the full explanation.

Have your own burning question about Philadelphia, its local oddities, or how the region works? Submit it here and you might find the answer featured in this space.

 Trivia time

The Philadelphia Phoenix, our pro ultimate frisbee team, let the internet vote for its new mascots name. Whatd they pick?

A) Scorch

B) Blaze

C) Birdy McBirdface

D) Fire

Think you know? Check your answer.

What we're...

 Watching: The spicy Middle Child v. Middle Child trademark debate unfolding on social media.

 Buying: Local flowers for mom (remember, Mothers Day is Sunday!) and gifts for baby showers at the Babies R Us sections coming to these Philly-area Kohls stores.

 Cheering: The Phillies, who are off to their best start since 1993.

 Unscramble the anagram

The 85th edition of this annual rowing event is happening this weekend in Pennsauken: _ _ Regatta.

ADVIL AD

Email us if you know the answer. Well select a reader at random to shout out here. Cheers to Debbie Bergen and Edel Howlin, two first-timers who solved Thursdays anagram: North Wildwood. The shore town is banning tents and cabanas from its beaches in a bid to fight beach erosion.

(This may have been the most popular anagram yet! Thanks to everyone who played along.)

Photo of the day

You can meet 11-year-old Parsley and his hard-working goat friends in our story about Amazing Grazings efforts to preserve Sycamore Woods. As it turns out, goats are a growing trend in eco-friendly land management.

Thats it from me this week. Have a great weekend, Philly!

P.S. Yesterdays newsletter included an error: La Colombe turns 30 this year, not 20. It was founded in 1994.

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.
Former President Donald Trump arrives to deliver remarks at a rally behind the Schnecksville Fire Hall in Schnecksville, Pa. on Saturday, April 13, 2024. Trump will speak in Wildwood, N.J., on Saturday. Read more

This Saturdays rally for former President Donald Trump isnt the first one being held in Wildwood, but its the first one on the Wildwood beach.

The former president held a rally at the Wildwood Convention Center in January 2020. The center wasnt available for this rally, so Mayor Ernie Troiano Jr. offered the beach.

Advertisement

But Wildwood, a Republican enclave and resort city on the southern end of the Jersey Shore, is used to hosting big events on the sand.

Troiano is anticipating about 25,000 people, which may sound like a lot for somewhere else, but for Wildwood, its nothing more than a busy weekend down here. Wildwood can see up to a quarter of a million people on the boardwalk on a normal busy summer night, he said.

Even if its 30 or 40 thousand, we have these kinds of crowds all the time, he added.

Where in Wildwood is the Trump rally?

The rally will take place on the beach at 3601 Boardwalk in Wildwood, which falls between East Lincoln and East Schellenger Avenues. The area can hold more than 30,000 people.

What time does it start?

Entry begins at noon and the event programming will start at 2 p.m. Attendees are advised not to arrive any later than 1:30 p.m. Trump is expected to speak about 5 p.m.

How can people attend?

Tickets have been available on a first come, first served basis on the Trump campaign website.

 READ MORE: Why Wildwoods mayor invited Donald Trump to use the beach for Saturdays rally

Will roads be shut down?

According to the Trump campaign, several roads will be closed near the event: East Spencer, East Spicer, East Garfield, East Lincoln, and East Schellenger Avenues.

Troiano expects heavy traffic.

Where can I park, and how else can I get there?

There is no designated parking for the event.

There is also parking at the Wildwood Convention Center, metered street parking on surrounding public roads, and nearby private lots behind the boardwalk shops along Ocean Avenue.

Parking close to the event will be difficult, and non-metered street parking can be found farther away from the boardwalk, Troiano said.

If I was coming, I would park as far away as I could and hop up onto the boardwalk and take a nice leisurely stroll down the boardwalk, the mayor said.

Uber and Lyft rides can drop off riders at the intersection of Atlantic and East Cedar Avenue, at 3515 Atlantic Ave.

Another option is hopping on the Wildwood tram, which starts running at noon and runs along the Wildwood boardwalk. A single ride costs $5.

What will security be like?

Attendees will be screened by the U.S. Secret Service, which provides protection for presidential candidates and former presidents. There are numerous prohibited items, such as umbrellas, selfie sticks, e-cigarettes, signs, and chairs.

How can I watch the rally from home?

C-Span will be streaming Trumps speech live at 5 p.m. Right Side Broadcast Network, a conservative media company, says it will begin streaming the event on YouTube at 1 p.m.

Will there be protesters?

U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone, Jr., a Democrat whose district is on the northern end of the Shore, will hold a news conference the day before the event to take aim at Trump on abortion rights more than 100 miles north of Wildwood at his Long Branch office.

He will be joined by Ed Potosnak, executive director of the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters, Anjuli Ramos, director of New Jersey Sierra Club, and Kaitlyn Wojtowicz, vice president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund of New Jersey. It will be livestreamed on Pallones Facebook page.

Troiano is expecting protesters the day of the event, and said there will be a place for them, despite initially joking that would be six to seven miles out to sea.
Parsley, an 11-year-old goat, ambled over to several children who gathered to watch his first day on the job.

He patiently let them pat him but soon had to get back to work munching on a bush. Parsley chewed away at leaves and branches that made their way to his four-compartment stomach to be fermented as if in a living wine barrel.

Advertisement

Parsleys one of my favorites and part of the same herd weve had for 11 years, said Bruce Weber, owner of Amazing Grazing LLC. My kids hand-raised them. Each one has a name. So, basically, they are pets.

Morton Borough, Delaware County, hired Webers herd of goats starting Wednesday to help clear out invasive vines, bushes, shrubs and trees that have engulfed six acres spread over two wooded lots. The children were let in only briefly until Weber set up. After that, the goats were off limits to people.

The borough opted for the more natural, and adorable, goat solution rather than herbicides. The Amazing Grazing herd are always up for a snack. Contained by solar-powered, low-voltage electric fencing, the goats will munch their way through the flora of the 4.9-acre Jacobs Park and 1.6-acre Sycamore Woods.

The 19 goats will dine on the two lots over three weeks, gobbling their way through English and poison ivies, poison oak and sumac, Japanese knotweed, and oriental bittersweet.

How the goats got hired

We wanted to make sure that not only are we preserving our green space but to make sure were enhancing it, as well, said William Stewart, borough manager.

Morton, at less than a square mile, has about 2,800 residents. The goats are part of the boroughs $180,000 Community Forest Management Plan funded by a Delaware County grant. The borough hired the herd thats based at Webers farm in Cochranville, Chester County, for $12,000.

Allen Lindenmuth, who lives next to Sycamore Woods, came out with other neighbors to greet the goats on their arrival. He was with his wife, Melissa, and their daughter, Addison, 2.

Our daughter is a big animal girl, Lindenmuth said. So when she heard the word goats, there was no way we werent coming tonight.

Goats are a growing trend

Mortons idea to use goats came from the Davey Resource Group, a horticultural and environmental services firm that the borough hired to create an urban forest management plan. Morton is also working with the Eastern Delaware County Stormwater Collaborative, a collection of municipalities trying to improve water quality in the Darby Creek watershed. The plan calls for identifying dead or dying ash trees on the lots. The trees have been attacked by the emerald ash borer, a destructive, metallic green beetle thats also devastated trees at Tyler Arboretum, also in Delaware County.

 READ MORE: Tyler Arboretum loses 900 ash trees to emerald ash borer, forced to close miles of public trails

Goats are increasingly recognized as a land management tool because they can access hard-to-reach terrain and do such a thorough job. For example, Friends of High School Park has used goats from the Philly Goat Project to control invasive species on that 11-acre Cheltenham park. The nonprofit Philly Goat Project is based at the Awbury Arboretums farm in East Germantown.

Goats offer an eco-friendly approach that aligns with the boroughs sustainability goals while effectively addressing invasive species challenges in a public-accessible setting, the Davey Resource Group wrote in its report to Morton officials.

How Parsley got his job

Weber began raising goats 11 years ago. A single pair produced the current herd of 35 on Webers 13-acre farm in Cochranville, Chester County. Weber, a facilities manager during the day, and his family tend to the goats, as well as quarter horses, pigs, chickens, and a donkey. He got the idea of renting out his goats when they began eating a dense row of multiflora rose, a thorny, invasive bush native to East Asia.

We had this fence row all the way in the back pasture. It was probably 30 foot wide and 20 foot tall, Weber recalled. And within a week it looked like a new fence. A lightbulb went off and [we] thought wed start something on the side for a little college fund. But the business just exploded. Its still a family business, part time on evenings and weekends.

Weber installs troughs for water for the goats on location and sets up tarps as temporary shelters. He checks the goats every night. He also scours an area in advance, clearing out plants, such as rhododendron, that are toxic to goats.

The goats, he said, will eat just about anything except stinging nettle. Theyll eat vines off trees down to the bark. They eat so voraciously that they stress invasive plants.

Those that do come back grow very sparse and manageable, Weber said. Its a great way to eradicate all your evasive stuff.

Mortons mayor, Amanda Hammock, and the borough council are officially welcoming the goats at noon Saturday at Mike Scioscia Field and will present them with the keys to the borough  making sure, of course, that the goats dont eat them.
A decades-old federal law banning convicted felons from possessing guns is unconstitutional, at least as applied to those convicted of nonviolent felonies, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled Thursday. Steve Prezant/Getty Images

A decades-old federal law banning convicted felons from possessing guns is unconstitutional, at least as applied to those convicted of nonviolent felonies, a federal appeals court ruled Thursday.

When the Second Amendment was added to the Constitution, the right to keep and bear arms was every citizens fundamental right, regardless of their past actions, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco said in a 2-1 ruling.

Several other appeals courts have upheld the law, and the issue may be headed for the Supreme Court. That court is due to rule shortly, in another California case, on the constitutionality of state and federal laws banning firearms possession by domestic abusers  those found by a judge to have attacked or threatened a partner or close family member.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Thursdays case started in 2020 when police in Inglewood (Los Angeles County) started to pull over a driver who had run a stop sign and allegedly saw a passenger, Steven Duarte, throw a handgun out of a window. Duarte had five previous felony convictions, one for illegal gun possession, but none involved violent acts, the court said.

A jury convicted him of violating the 1968 federal law that prohibits firearms possession by anyone who has been convicted of a crime punishable by more than a year in prison, a category that includes all felonies. The crime is punishable by up to 10 years in prison, or 15 years for those with records of violence, but Duarte was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison.

His appeal, like numerous current challenges to federal gun laws, relied on the Supreme Courts June 2022 ruling in the Bruen case. In a 6-3 decision striking down a New York law that prohibited carrying guns outside the home unless an individual could show a special need for self-defense, Justice Clarence Thomas said any restriction on possessing firearms is unconstitutional unless the government can show it is consistent with this nations historical tradition of firearms regulation, dating to the nations founding.

U.S. Justice Department lawyers argued that the ban on gun possession by convicted felons was supported by the Supreme Courts 2008 ruling that first declared a constitutional right to possess firearms for self-defense at home. In that 5-4 decision, Justice Antonin Scalia said the court did not intend to cast doubt on longstanding laws prohibiting the possession of firearms by felons and the mentally ill.

But the appeals court said the federal law was not sufficiently longstanding because it did not exist in the 18th and 19th centuries, when U.S. citizens generally had the right to possess firearms. The only groups who were substantially disarmed at the time were British loyalists, American Indians, slaves and freed Blacks, Judge Carlos Bea said in the majority opinion. And other gun laws from early U.S. history, he said, were aimed at those who were considered dangerous.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

We do not base our decision on the notion that felons should not be prohibited from possessing firearms, said Bea, joined by Judge Lawrence VanDyke. As a matter of policy, (the ban on gun ownership by convicted felons) may make a great deal of sense.

But the Second Amendment takes out of (our) hands  the power to decide for which Americans that right is really worth insisting upon, Bea wrote, quoting the Supreme Court. Duarte is an American citizen, and thus one of the people whom the Second Amendment protects. The Second Amendments plain text and historically understood meaning therefore presumptively guarantee his individual right to possess a firearm for self-defense.

In dissent, Judge Milan Smith said the Supreme Courts Bruen decision had reaffirmed that the Second Amendment right belongs only to law-abiding citizens. He quoted Justice Samuel Alitos comment, in a concurring opinion in the 2022 case, that the court was deciding only that the Second Amendment protects the right of law-abiding people to carry a gun outside the home for self-defense.

Smith urged the full appeals court to set the ruling aside and order a new hearing before an 11-judge panel. The court has already ordered such a hearing in a challenge to a California law banning possession of guns with magazines holding more than 10 cartridges.

The ruling was welcomed by Chuck Michel, president and general counsel of the California Rifle & Pistol Association, the states National Rifle Association affiliate.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

A nonviolent felon who has served his time should regain the fundamental right to keep and bear arms, Michel said. The standard for Second Amendment disarmament should be an individualized finding of dangerousness. Any other approach invites the government to arbitrarily disarm politically disfavored classes.

But Stanford Law professor John Donohue said it was a sad day for rational judicial decision-making.

Telling convicted felons that they are free to carry weapons now  indeed have a constitutional right to do so  is a terrible idea that will elevate crime, Donohue said by email. He said he hopes the Supreme Courts upcoming decision on gun possession by domestic abusers will correct the grotesque problems with Bruen.

Adam Winkler, a UCLA law professor, said the ruling shows the absurdity of basing constitutional standards on gun laws that existed two or three centuries ago.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
Xi's Europe trip boosts China-Central and Eastern Europe cooperation

Xinhua) 20:06, May 10, 2024

BUDAPEST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary on Thursday elevated ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, marking the most recent stride in China's effort to deepen cooperation with Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations.

The decision was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Hungary, the final stop of his three-nation swing across Europe.

It also came one day after China and Serbia decided to build a community with a shared future, an upgrade of their relations from the comprehensive strategic partnership established eight years ago.

The inclusion of Serbia and Hungary -- major countries in Central and Eastern Europe -- in Xi's first trip abroad for the year and his first visit to Europe in nearly five years underscores China's commitment to fortifying cooperation with the region.

During the talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban here on Thursday, Xi said that China-CEE cooperation has a strong internal momentum, expressing the hope that Hungary will continue to play an important role in promoting China-CEE cooperation for the benefit of their respective people.

China-Hungary relations are currently at the best period in history and their comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained high-level development. With deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields, the two countries have set a model for building a new type of international relations, Xi said.

Most CEE countries are emerging markets, holding substantial potential, notably in connectivity and energy investment.

By synergizing their strengths with China's since 2012, deeper cooperation has not only advanced their economic and social development but also fostered the European integration process.

This strategic alignment has been solidified by robust investment flows. From January to March 2024 alone, China's investment in CEE surged by 36.35 percent compared to the previous year, reaching about 450 million U.S. dollars. As of March 2024, the cumulative total of Chinese investment in the CEE region soared to 5.2 billion dollars.

Take Hungary as an example. In 2023, Hungary was able to attract a total of 13 billion euros (about 13.86 billion dollars) in foreign direct investment, of which about 8 billion euros (about 8.53 billion dollars) were from China, said Hungarian Minister for National Economy Marton Nagy in an interview with Xinhua.

The Hungarian side is looking forward to further cooperating with China in the fields of foreign trade, capital investment, infrastructure, logistics, artificial intelligence, and new energy, among others, he said.

That is also the case for Serbia. "During the past two years, China has emerged as the largest foreign direct investor in Serbia, bringing numerous benefits to the country," said Jelena Grubor Stefanovic, director of representative office of Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.

"Now Serbia has more opportunities to systematically focus its efforts on attracting investments from China in industry sectors with high added value like life sciences, digital economy, automotive industry, smart agriculture sector and green development," she said.

These investments, coupled with collaborative projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), such as the Belgrade-Budapest Railway and Port of Piraeus in Greece, continue to benefit the people in the CEE region.

The Belt and Road cooperation has provided Serbia with important opportunities to strengthen connectivity and promote economic development with neighboring countries, said Ivona Ladjevac, deputy director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Serbia.

Key infrastructure projects such as the Belgrade-Budapest Railway and the E763 highway have enhanced Serbia's status as a regional transportation hub, the expert said.

Xi's Europe visit unfolds as Washington is maneuvering to rally its allies in Europe to "de-risk" from China, and slow down the country's high-tech progress, alongside escalating protectionist rhetoric concerning the so-called "Chinese overcapacity" in clean energy sectors.

Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that China's enhanced cooperation with Serbia and Hungary has spurred local economic growth and uplifted living standards.

This success is a compelling example of the tangible benefits obtained from forging partnerships with China and progressing collectively, said Chen.

Such an achievement has also exerted a noteworthy inspirational and motivational influence on other CEE countries, she added.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils an updated budget plan on Friday that reflects a $27.6 billion deficit for the upcoming fiscal year. Rich Pedroncelli/Associated Press

California still faces a $27.6 billion budget deficit even after the state already cut $17 billion last month, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday during a news conference on his revised state spending plan.

Newsoms 2024-25 budget proposal totals $288 billion, significantly smaller than the $310.8 billion budget he signed into law last year. His proposal includes a $201 billion general fund, the part of the budget over which he and lawmakers generally have the most control.

The deficit Newsom announced Friday reflects tax revenue that has come in below projections he used to craft his initial budget plan, which he announced in January. The deficit remains stubbornly high even after he and California lawmakers approved a series of spending cuts and internal borrowing tricks to reduce the state budget deficit by about $17 billion in April.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

To close the shortfall, Newsom, a Democrat, wants to declare a budget emergency and withdraw money from the states reserves, a move Republicans have criticized. He wants to withdraw $3.3 billion from the fund in the upcoming fiscal year and $8.9 billion the next year.

Newsoms updated proposal marks the home stretch for his budget negotiations with the Legislature. Lawmakers must pass a budget by June 15, ahead of the July 1 start of the 2024-25 fiscal year.

In January, Newsom estimated the shortfall would be about $38 billion in the face of stock market declines and delayed tax collection in 2023 because of winter storms. But the Legislative Analysts Office, a nonpartisan office that provides fiscal advice to the Legislature, estimated in February that California actually faces a $73 billion deficit. Newsoms new number is not as high as the legislative analysts, but indicates that the states shortfall has grown since January. If lawmakers approve the reductions Newsom is proposing on top of the $17 billion theyve already cut, that will amount to nearly $45 billion in total budget reductions this year.

Californias budget outlook can fluctuate dramatically from year to year because the state relies heavily on taxes from its highest earners, whose income tends to rise and fall with changes in the stock market.

In recognition of Californias volatile tax revenue, Newsom wants to use this years budget process to address a $28.4 billion deficit projected for the 2025-26 year. Its typical for lawmakers to make spending plans for multiple years at once, but budgets planned for future years are not set in stone. Even if they agree with Newsoms plan, lawmakers will probably make adjustments next year depending on updated revenue projections.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Newsom wants to cut half a billion dollars from the middle-class scholarship program for people studying to become public school teachers, which would significantly reduce the amount of scholarship money available to those students. He also wants to cut nearly half a billion dollars from his children and youth mental health initiative, most of which would be cut from the 2024-25 budget.

His proposal would also pause a planned expansion of new childcare slots for low-income families, which would cut nearly half a billion dollars from the 2024-25 budget and nearly $1 billion from the 2025-26 budget.

Newsom is proposing an 8% cut to state government operations, in part by increasing state governments use of artificial intelligence, and eliminating 10,000 unfilled state positions. That would reduce state spending by about $760 million going forward.

Newsom said he would prefer not to make these cuts but that doing so was essential for the state to right-size its spending in light of lower tax revenue.

In their early budget action last month, Newsom and lawmakers already transferred several billion dollars from some funding sources  including one for clean energy projects  to fill shortfalls in other areas.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Newsom and lawmakers previous action also cut half a billion dollars for school facility construction, $336 million from the states welfare program, $300 million for a new immunology building at UCLA and about $200 million from a program to make watersheds more resilient to climate change.

They also delayed $1 billion in spending on public transit and rail lines, $550 million in preschool and kindergarten facilities grants, and $235 million in bridge housing funds for people battling drug addiction and mental illness.

Republicans criticized that early budget action, saying it relied too much on accounting tricks and didnt adequately rein in spending. Sen. Roger Niello, of Fair Oaks (Sacramento County), the top Republican on the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, pointed to one trick Democrats approved that would reduce the shortfall by $1.6 billion simply by accounting for state payroll a day later, pushing it into the next fiscal year.

That trick, which Niello called the mother of all gimmicks, and others could make it harder for Newsom and the other Democratic leaders who control the state Legislature to balance the budget in future years.

Republican lawmakers, predictably, slammed Newsoms proposal, though they have little say in the budget process in California because Democrats make up a supermajority of both chambers of the Legislature.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad
When the Exposure Draft of the Bill was released for consultation in late 2023, the Insurance Council made a submission to Treasury noting that the proposed drafting exposed product issuers to potential liability for non-compliance with the consent process, in circumstances where the product issuer is not required to be involved in (or aware of) the consent process, it said.
Who is Lance Lee?

Lee began his career in underwriting with Greenwich Transportation Underwriters, Inc. (GTU) in 2015 as an underwriting assistant. He spent almost nine years with the firm, climbing through the ranks with the roles of associate underwriter, commercial transportation underwriter, and lead-trucking underwriter trainer, before becoming assistant vice president for truck underwriting.
Program business is an industry that produces more than $80 billion in premiums every year, most of which is written by Target Markets members, said Anders. Carriers have increasingly looked to MGAs, like IPS, to provide expertise, innovation, and effective underwriting approaches in specific lines of business, helping them to grow and enter new markets. We believe by launching IPS, well be able to tailor unique insurance solutions for our clients needs through closer partnerships with their carrier partners and positively influence their impact on evaluation and management of risk.
With these appointments the team at ProLink Solutions goes from 15 to 21 people, a great marker of how much we have been able to expand in a year. The new appointments bring a mixture of fresh talent and industry experience which will strengthen the team in all areas, supporting our clients as demand continues to grow, and building on the excellent platform ProLink has developed so far, said Desmond Bonhan, managing director at BMS Re ProLink Solutions.
He also reiterated the governments commitment to maintaining Bermudas credit rating while continuing to work on social initiatives aimed at easing the financial burden on individuals and businesses. We remain steadfast in our commitment to our social agenda, striving to provide relief that alleviates the financial strain on numerous individuals and businesses, he added.
Federal workplace safety investigators are alleging that an East Boston window cleaning companys failure to inspect and replace damaged or defective equipment contributed to an employees fatal 29-story fall from a building in downtown Bostons financial district in October 2023.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) said it found that Sky Safety Inc. willfully exposed employees to fall hazards by not ensuring personal fall protection systems and a rope descent system workers used were in proper working condition at the 100 Summer Street work site.

Specifically, OSHA alleges that the company had not adequately inspected the rope and equipment for damage and other deterioration and did not remove defective components from service before each work shift and replace them.

OSHA said its investigation also determined that Sky Safety failed to adequately train employees on how to inspect ropes for maximum allowable wear, to recognize defects and conditions that warrant removal from service and on proper use of the rope descent system. The ropes used in the rope descent systems were not effectively padded or otherwise protected to prevent them from being cut or weakened.

OSHA cited Sky Safety for eight violations and proposed $447,087 in penalties, an amount set by federal statute.

OSHA said it cited Hi-Rise Inc.  Sky Safetys predecessor company  for exposing workers to similar fall-related and equipment hazards in May 2019 and in December 2013 at Boston work sites.

Sky Safety provides exterior and interior building commercial cleaning services.

Sky Safety has 15 business days to comply, request an informal conference with OSHAs area director, or contest the findings.

Topics Commercial Lines Workers' Compensation Business Insurance
The body of the last missing construction worker killed in the collapse of Baltimores Francis Scott Key Bridge in March has been recovered, officials announced Tuesday as demolition crews prepared to use explosives in the ongoing cleanup effort.

Officials said the crew of the Dali will remain on board the grounded container ship while crews conduct a controlled demolition to break down the largest remaining span of the fallen bridge.

The steel span landed on the ships bow after the Dali lost power and crashed into one of the bridges support columns on March 26. Since then, the ship has been stuck amid the wreckage, and Baltimores busy port has been closed to most maritime traffic.

Six construction workers were killed in the collapse. The body of Jose Mynor Lopez, 37, was recovered Tuesday, officials said in a statement that evening. All the victims were Latino immigrants who were working an overnight shift filling potholes on the bridge. Police officers were able to stop traffic moments before the collapse, but they didnt have enough time to alert the workers.

Lopez moved to the United States from Guatemala. During a vigil last month honoring the victims whose families were still awaiting closure, mourners used a crane to hoist a Guatemalan flag in his memory.

Officials said salvage divers located his body and alerted state authorities.

With heavy hearts, today marks a significant milestone in our recovery efforts and providing closure to the loved ones of the six workers who lost their lives in this tragic event, Maryland State Police Superintendent Col. Roland Butler Jr. said in a statement.

Controlled Demolition

The controlled demolition, which is expected to take place in the coming days, will allow the Dali to be refloated and guided back into the Port of Baltimore, officials said. Once the ship is removed, maritime traffic can begin returning to normal, which will provide relief for thousands of longshoremen, truckers and small business owners have seen their jobs impacted by the closure.

Officials previously said they hoped to remove the Dali by May 10 and reopen the ports 50-foot (15.2-meter) main channel by the end of May.

The Dalis 21-member crew will shelter in place aboard the ship while the explosives are detonated, said Petty Officer Ronald Hodges of the Coast Guard.

Engineers have been working for weeks to determine the best way to remove this last major piece of the fallen bridge. The explosives will send it tumbling into the water. Then a massive hydraulic grabber will lift the resulting sections of steel onto barges.

Video footage released by Coast Guard officials last week showed entire sections of roadway sitting on the ships deck.

Hodges said the crews safety was a top concern as officials considered whether they should remain on the ship during the demolition. He said engineers are using precision cuts to control how the trusses break down.

The last thing anybody wants is for something to happen to the crew members, Hodges said.

They havent been allowed to leave the Dali since the disaster. Officials said theyve been busy maintaining the ship and assisting investigators. Of the crew members, 20 are from India and one is Sri Lankan.

A spokesperson for the crew didnt immediately respond to an email seeking comment Tuesday afternoon.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the FBI are conducting investigations into the bridge collapse.

Danish shipping giant Maersk had chartered the Dali for a planned trip from Baltimore to Sri Lanka, but the ship didnt get far. Its crew sent a mayday call saying they had lost power and had no control of the steering system. Minutes later, the ship rammed into the bridge.

Officials have said the safety board investigation will focus on the ships electrical system, including whether it experienced power issues before leaving Baltimore.

Maryland leaders said last week that they plan to rebuild the bridge by fall 2028.

Photo: The collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge lay on top of the container ship Dali, Monday, April 15, 2024, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Julia Nikhinson)

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Training Development Construction
Google parent Alphabet has urged a London tribunal to block a mass lawsuit which accuses it of abusing its dominance in the online advertising market, in the latest case to focus on the search giants business practices.

The lawsuit seeks damages of up to 13.6 billion pounds ($16.9 billion) on behalf of publishers of websites and apps based in the United Kingdom, who say they have suffered losses due to Googles allegedly anticompetitive behavior.

Lawyers for Ad Tech Collective Action asked the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) to certify the case to proceed towards a trial at the start of a three-day hearing on Wednesday [May 8].

Google Faces EU Antitrust Charges Over its Ad Tech Business

Google, however, said the case was incoherent and did not explain how alleged anticompetitive conduct had supposedly caused losses to the publishers.

Ad Tech Collective Actions lawyer Robert ODonoghue said the London lawsuit was the latest in a series of major set-preferencing abuse cases involving Google.

The case comes amid ongoing probes by regulators into Googles ad tech business, including by Britains Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission, which ODonoghue said was concluding imminently.

ODonoghue also referred to two multibillion-euro fines levied on Google by the European Commission, over its online shopping search service and the requirement to pre-install Google Search and its Chrome browser on Android mobile devices.

Google is also fighting two lawsuits in the U.S., one brought by the Department of Justice and another by Texas and other states, accusing the company of anticompetitive conduct.

The company strongly rejects the underlying allegations against it, its lawyers said in court documents for the CAT case. Googles impact in the ad tech industry has been hugely procompetitive.

Ad Tech Collective Actions proposed lawsuit is the latest against a tech giant at the CAT, which already this year has certified a $3.8 billion case against Facebook parent Meta and a nearly $1 billion case against Apple.

(Reporting by Sam Tobin; editing by Mark Potter)

Related:

Topics Lawsuits InsurTech Tech
This edition of International People Moves details appointments at Aons Capital Advisory function and BMS Re.

A summary of these new hires follows here.

Aon Names Allen as Executive Managing Director of Capital Advisory

Insurance broker Aon plc announced that Will Allen has been named executive managing director of Capital Advisory within Aons Reinsurance Solutions.

Reporting to Kelly Superczynski, Aons global head of Capital Advisory, Allen will be responsible for sourcing capital from global organizations  including institutional funds and family offices  to support Lloyds of London programs, including Funds at Lloyds (FAL) and London Bridge structures, as well as risk transfer programs involving the London market and Aons broader client base.

Working within Aons Risk Capital structure, Allen will leverage expertise and capabilities from across Aon  such as its Strategy and Technology Group, Analytics team and Aon Securities  to develop comprehensive solutions for clients. He will also work with the firms Lloyds-focused specialists, such as the FAL team, to deliver global capital to support risk transfer and capital optimization programs.

Allen brings with him more than two decades of capital management experience to his new role, having built longstanding relationships with global capital providers, and with a recent focus on bringing capital into the insurance sector. He most recently served as chief executive officer of London Innovation Underwriters, a company he founded to deploy funds into the Lloyds market.

Wills appointment marks another step in Aons investment in its Capital Advisory capability and highlights the importance of the Lloyds market as a London home for global capital, Superczynski said.

Aon said Allens appointment marks another step in its commitment and investment in the Capital Advisory function, which aims to help clients manage volatility and build resilience through innovative capital optimization solutions.

***

BMS Re Hires 6 for MGA Business ProLink Solutions

BMS Re, the specialty reinsurance arm of the global broking group BMS, announced the appointment of six new hires to its dedicated MGA business, ProLink Solutions.

The hires include one executive vice president, Alicia Santocki; two senior vice presidents, Scott Fields and Stephanie Fick; two assistant vice presidents, Colin Curran, and Charles Ill; with Cora Cruz joining the team as an executive assistant.

Additionally, Brenda Martinez-Cox, assistant vice president, is being promoted to technical broker.

Santocki joins ProLink having previously been a partner and managing director of GMG assurance and vice chair of the data privacy team at Freeman Mathis & Gary, LLP. Fields previously worked as managing director of a captive management company in Atlanta, resuming his reinsurance career at ProLink Solutions. Fick most recently worked as a VP senior treaty underwriter at Swiss Re. Curran joins the team from Berkley Asset Protection, Cruz joins from ScotiaBank Equity Capital Markets, and Ill joins from Aon. Martinez-Cox is promoted to technical broker having joined BMS Re in January 2024 from Biberk Insurance Company.

With these appointments the team at ProLink Solutions goes from 15 to 21 people, a great marker of how much we have been able to expand in a year, commented Desmond Bonhan, managing director, BMS Re Prolink Solutions.

Founded within BMS Re in mid-2023, ProLink Solutions has rapidly become one of the largest brokers in the programs sector. ProLinks reach now encompasses programs worth nearly $6 billion of premium across more than 50 insurance carrier relationships. Among MGAs/MGUs, ProLink works with 20 of the largest programs and more than 80 program managers.

Topics Talent Insurance Wholesale Aon Human Resources
Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is considering a run for governor in 2026, wont announce his decision until after the November election, he told the Chronicle on Thursday. Damian Dovarganes/Associated Press

WASHINGTON  California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is considering a run for governor in 2026, wont announce his decision until after the November election, he told the Chronicle on Thursday.

Announcing ahead of the November election is premature, to be honest. I think we gotta get through 2024, Bonta said  a reference to many of his fellow Democrats who have already entered the race.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

California has some of the countrys most expensive media markets; the growing cast of candidates  former state Senate leader Toni Atkins, Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond and former state Controller Betty Yee  declared early, in part, to begin fundraising in earnest. There isnt a clear frontrunner for the gubernatorial race for the first time in two decades, a strategist previously said.

Bonta said his focus is on getting President Joe Biden reelected, helping Democrats win the majority in the House and keep the majority in the Senate.

The best audition for anything that I might want to do next is to do as good a job as I can in the role Im in, Bonta said. There will be a time to make a decision; that times not now.

Yet Bonta raised more money, $1.9 million, than the four top declared candidates in the second half of 2023. Because Bonta hasnt declared his candidacy, however, he is subject to stricter contribution limits than those who have opened gubernatorial campaign accounts.

As the top law enforcement official in the nations most populous state, Bonta is facing volatile campus protests, rising crime and questions surrounding the controversial arrest of a Los Angeles prosecutor who accessed police records.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Protests on campuses across the country have led to tough decisions for police departments and prosecutors. Demonstrators were arrested at San Diego State University, Cal Poly Humboldt, the University of Southern California and UCLA. No charges have been filed yet, according to the Appeal.

Bonta, who has largely stayed quiet about the issue, said his goal is to have peaceful, law-abiding protests. People exercising their free speech rights with full volume and amplification, but also not breaking any laws in the process.

He said the tradition of civil disobedience is one that he learned from his parents, who fought for voting rights and against the Vietnam War on campuses in the 1960s.

Part of civil disobedience and peaceful protests over the years has been a knowledge that youre breaking the law and a willingness to be arrested and to draw attention to your cause, he said. The hope is to continue to have peaceful protests where people speak out, and everyone is safe, no one is discriminated against and no one is hurt.

While there hasnt been widespread police violence against student demonstrators reported in California, police at UCLA launched flares over the encampment and shot rubber bullets into the crowd May 2, the Los Angeles Times reported. Authorities told the newspaper that a man was struck in the chest with a rubber bullet after California Highway Patrol officers told protesters to stop throwing objects at them. The campus announced a police consulting firm will review the police response.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But Hussam Ayloush, executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations Los Angeles, called for Bonta to investigate the police response to the UCLA protests as well.

Bonta said he has sent guidance to police departments reminding everyone what students are allowed to do; that should not be infringed upon, interfered with with violence or excessive force or any use of force.

Use of force may be justified, but only in self defense or defense of others and only in a proportionate response to the force used by a demonstrator, Bonta said.

Weve been very firm and clear about our commitment to justified uses of force only, appropriate uses of forces, he said.

Arrests of protestors have also been handled in different ways by jurisdictions.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Local prosecutors have a great deal of prosecutorial discretion when it comes to charging protesters, Bonta said. Prosecutors have chosen to drop charges or charge protesters with misdemeanors like trespassing and vandalism, while others have charged them with felony burglary.

Bonta said his team has been monitoring those cases and would get involved if theres an abuse of discretion; if someone is charged and it abuses the discretion because theres no basis for it.

So far, his office hasnt received any reports of abuse by prosecutors.

Meanwhile, Bontas office is also under scrutiny for its efforts to investigate instances in which police use deadly force against unarmed people, a responsibility it took on beginning in 2021.

His office has concluded nine investigations, none of which resulted in charges. An additional 45 cases, dating to August 2021, are ongoing.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Were ready, willing and able to charge on any case where the facts justify it, and we will continue to do it, Bonta said. We take them as we see them. We apply the law to the facts and we make a decision based on that.

Bonta said hes not reticent to charge, even with the high bar for doing so, but that hes also not gung ho to charge if the facts arent there.

He has, however, filed high-profile charges against one law enforcement official.

Bonta filed felony charges against Los Angeles County Assistant District Attorney Diana Teran on April 24, alleging that she improperly used confidential information about sheriffs deputies.

He told the Chronicle that his office found evidence that Teran violated the penal code multiple times. There were other incidents for which his office decided not to charge at this time, he said.

And while Bonta is a vocal Biden supporter, he said hes also ready to litigate if Donald Trump retakes the presidency. Im fighting for a Biden administration, but we cant be caught flat-footed if that doesnt pan out, Bonta said.

Then-Attorney General Xavier Becerra filed more than 100 lawsuits against the Trump administration for its policymaking that he argued violated federal law, and Bonta said he would do the same.

California took a very important and critical role in 2016 to 2020. We will do that again, if necessary, to protect our people, our values, our resources, our future, Bonta said.
The Biden administration intends to require hospitals to meet minimum cybersecurity standards after a single hack exposed the data of 100 million Americans.

We look to putting in place minimum cybersecurity standards for hospitals in the near term, Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology, said in an interview at the Bloomberg Tech Summit in San Francisco on Thursday. Neuberger didnt spell out the timeline in which the administration plans to push out the rule.

The proposal may extend beyond hospitals too. The administration intends to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking in coming weeks to bring in minimum cybersecurity requirements for entities that receive money from Medicare and Medicaid, according to a US official, who asked not to be named to discuss sensitive plans. That would be followed by a period of public comment, the official said.

The announcement follows a February hack against Change Healthcare, a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc., that snarled billions of dollars of payments to doctors and hospitals, delayed patient care and saw hackers make off with patient medical data of as many as one in three Americans.

The intrusion at Change  a central node in the health-care system that carried terabytes of data for doctors, pharmacies, insurers and the government  demonstrated the way a single point of failure can compromise a nationwide industry. The breach tilted some clinics into financial peril and potentially reduced UnitedHealths profits this year by as much as $1.6 billion.

During the early weeks of the attack, medical billings were 20% lower than normal, Neuberger said, adding, thats 20% fewer procedures.

In parallel to pushing out rules for hospital cybersecurity, the Biden administration intends to offer free training to 1,400 small, rural hospitals across the country, according to Neuberger. She said the training will become available in the next few weeks.

The health-care sector has been a recurrent target of criminal hackers, who have encrypted computer networks and stolen sensitive data in lieu of extortion payments. On Wednesday, Ascension, one of the countrys largest chains of Catholic hospitals, said it was investigating a cybersecurity incident on some of its network systems.

There has been a disruption of clinical operations, and we continue to assess the impact and duration of the disruption, Ascension said, in a statement posted on its website Thursday. The nonprofit chain was investigating if any sensitive data was impacted by the incident.

Ascension didnt immediately respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, UnitedHealth Chief Executive Officer Andrew Witty told US lawmakers that intruders got in through a server that didnt have multifactor authentication  a basic cybersecurity measure  and got access to a hoard of health and personal data.

Witty expressed an openness to mandatory cybersecurity standards during his testimony. But there is likely to be resistance.

The American Hospital Association, which represents health industry interests, has previously vowed to oppose any effort to impose such mandates, arguing that fines or Medicare payment cuts would drain hospitals of the resources they need to fend off cyberattacks.

The primary source of cyber risk exposure facing the health-care sector originates from vulnerabilities in third-party technology and service providers, not a hospitals primary systems, the association said, in response to queries from Bloomberg News about Neubergers remarks. The AHA supports a sector-wide approach to cyber resiliency. We will continue to work with policymakers on an approach that doesnt result in unfunded mandates and a focus on the entire critical critical infrastructure of the health-care sector.

UnitedHealth is still trying to determine why its computer systems were left vulnerable, Witty told lawmakers. The company has said the full extent of that breach will take months to assess, leaving Americans in the dark about what private medical data may have been exposed, but that it paid a $22 million ransom to protect patient information.

Photograph: Anne Neuberger, deputy national security advisor for cyber and emerging technology; Photo credit: Leigh Vogel/UPI/Bloomberg

Copyright 2024 Bloomberg.

Topics Cyber
Texas landowners along the U.S.-Mexico border who have experienced damage caused by border property crime can now file for reimbursement of up to $75,000, attorney general Ken Paxton announced this week.

Texas lawmakers last year approved a law to create the Landowner Compensation Program, which provides compensation to damage to real property on agricultural land caused by trespass in connection with a border crime. Legislators allocated $18 million to the program.

Landowners can be reimbursed for repair costs not covered by other sources, such as to a damaged fence or barn. Landowners must file claims within 90 days of the incident causing the damage. If multiple incidents occur on any given day, landowners must complete separate applications for each incident.

The damage will need to be documented in a written law enforcement agency report to be eligible for compensation, the attorney generals office said.

Illegal aliens crossing the Texas-Mexico border at Joe Bidens invitation leave behind a trail of destruction that harms Texas agricultural land, Paxton said in the statement. This program will provide needed relief to Texans whose property is damaged by foreign aliens waved into the country by the federal government. I am glad to help the farmers and ranchers on our borderlands who bear the costs of Bidens destructive policies.

Landowners who have been denied a claim through their insurer must submit the denial letter. If the insurance covered part of the damage, landowners should submit the award letter.

More information about the program can be found here.

Topics Texas Fraud Talent New Markets Property
Washington Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler issued a cease-and-desist order and fined Fred Meyer Stores Inc. $100,000 for selling insurance without state authorization.

Fred Meyer stores reportedly sold the GUARD Protection Plan, issued by Mack Camera & Video Service, to a consumer in Washington. That consumer filed a complaint with the Office of the Insurance Commissioner about the service contract, alleging claim delay and misrepresentation.

The OIC determined that the GUARD plan, which Fred Meyer sold from 2016 to 2022, constitutes a service contract and insurance. The company received $40 from Mack Camera & Video Service per contract sold at Fred Meyer stores, according to the OIC.

Service contract providers must register with Kreidlers office to do business in Washington state. Fred Meyer is not licensed to sell insurance.

Fred Meyers parent company, The Kroger Co., declined to provide the total number of GUARD products sold to Washington consumers, the amount Fred Meyer received from GUARD sales, or what service contractor would be providing service contracts after its contract with Mack ended, according to the OIC.

The order was filed on May 1. The retail chain has 90 days to request a hearing. If a hearing is not requested, the fine will be due within 30 days.

In addition to the Fred Meyer fine, Kreidlers office issued $22,000 in fines in April for violations of state insurance laws and regulations.

The other fines and reported offenses included:

American Guarantee & Liability Insurance Company, New York, N.Y.; fined $2,500. The company applied incorrect rating factors in nine instances in 2022.

Olga Radutskiy, Pronto Insurance Agency, Bellevue, Wash.; fined $1,000 and placed on probation. Radutskiy failed to produce financial records and documents upon request from the OIC.

Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest, Portland, Ore.; fined $2,500 Kaiser failed to timely file four large group negotiated rate filings.

Esurance Insurance Company, Northbrook, Ill.; fined $15,000 Esurance assigned incorrect protection classes to 1,139 home insurance policies, with a financial impact of $86.217. The company waived $5,531 in undercharges and made reimbursements for $80,686 in overcharges.

Forethought Life Insurance Co., Batesville, Ind.; fined $1,000 Forethought filed Medicare Supplement Insurance rate filings more than a month after the May 31 deadline in 2022.

Since 2001, Kreidler has assessed more than $41 million in fines, which are directed to the states general fund to pay for state services.

Topics Washington
A judge on Friday forced the Hawaii attorney generals office to turn over to lawyers involved in the hundreds of lawsuits over last summers Maui wildfires all documents, interviews and data collected by the outside team hired to investigate the disaster.

Attorneys representing plaintiffs suing over the August fires filed a motion last month asking a judge to compel the state provide them with the material gathered by the Fire Safety Research Institute, which was hired by the state to investigate.

The state refused, saying disclosing the records would jeopardize and hinder the investigation. In court documents opposing the motion, the state called the request premature, baseless and frivolous, and asked a judge to order that attorneys fees be paid to the state for defending against the motion.

Soon after the deadliest U.S. wildfire in more than a century ripped through the historic town of Lahaina and killed 101 people, Hawaii Attorney General Anne Lopez announced hiring outside investigators. Last month Lopez and representatives from the Fire Safety Research Institute released a report on the first phase of the investigation, which said the head of the emergency management agency dragged his heels about returning to the island amid the unfolding crisis, while a broad communications breakdown left authorities in the dark and residents without emergency alerts.

During a Friday hearing on the island of Maui, state Deputy Attorney General David Matsumiya told Judge Peter Cahill the state is concerned that releasing information could prompt the six people who havent been interviewed yet to change their stories.

Cahill balked.

Do you really believe thats going to be happening? he asked, clearly upset. And so what if they change their stories? Arent they entitled to?

Cahill seemed to indicate concerns with the investigation, including whether people interviewed were advised that they werent obligated to answer questions.

By the way, the taxpayers are paying for this, the judge continued.

Lopez said last month the investigation contract was initially not to exceed $1.5 million, but because they are behind schedule, the contract was extended. According to an updated contract, the cost increased by $2.5 million, not to exceed a total of $4 million.

The judges order is of grave concern, the attorney generals office said in a statement after the hearing.

The independent, objective fact-finding process and analysis is critical to determining what county and state agencies must do to ensure that a tragedy like this never happens again, the statement said. Premature release of these materials may allow external factors to influence the analysis.

The attorney general is reviewing options and will soon decide on an appropriate course of action.

Cahill told Matsumiya he understands the states concerns, but not giving the information to the attorneys would delay litigation. The investigation is important, and it was a wise investment to hire an outside agency given the state lacks a fire marshal, he said, but its also important that people have their day in court.

Cahill noted there are some 400 lawsuits involving thousands of plaintiffs.

Its frustrating the process of litigation, Cahill said, which is also a truth-seeking mechanism.

David Minkin, an attorney representing Maui County, suggested to the judge that the investigative process was tainted.

Investigators showed up in Lahaina, said were here from the AGs office and started talking to people, without informing them of their rights, he said.

Matsumiya said the state is trying to protect the integrity of the investigation, which is designed to create a better future for Lahaina, and all of those people in Lahaina.

But Cahill responded that the past in this case, given whats occurred on this island, needs to be taken care of as well, and that litigation will determine whether there were any legal breaches of duty.

During a separate hearing later Friday to discuss coordination of the lawsuits, Cahill said a handful of lawsuits are scheduled to go to trial in November.

Photo: A destroyed neighborhood in Lahaina on Aug. 18.

Copyright 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Topics Lawsuits Catastrophe Natural Disasters Wildfire
May 10, 2024 (Investorideas.com Newswire) US President Joe Biden's reported fresh China tariffs will trigger short-term market volatility, warns the CEO of one of the world's largest independent financial advisory and asset management organizations.

The warning from deVere Group's Nigel Green comes as various media outlets, including Bloomberg which first broke the story, are reporting that Biden is set to announce new tariffs on China as soon as next Tuesday targeting strategic sectors including electric vehicles, semiconductors and solar equipment, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Existing levies are expected to also be maintained. The news builds on the President's calls last month to extend tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminium.

Nigel Green comments: "The imposition of tariffs on these critical sectors signals a potential disruption to global supply chains.

"Companies heavily reliant on imports from China for components like batteries and solar cells are likely to face increased costs, impacting their profit margins.

"This uncertainty can be expected to lead to a knee-jerk sell-off in stocks of companies directly involved in these industries, such as green-tech, as investors seek to mitigate risk."

He continues: "In addition, China will retaliate - as it did when Trump imposed tariffs and it hit back with levies on US agricultural goods.

"This adds another layer of uncertainty to the equation - which markets loathe - therefore increasing the likelihood of turbulence."

In the longer term, Chinese companies, faced with the prospect of increased tariffs on their exports to the US, are likely to explore alternative strategies to mitigate the impact.

One such strategy involves exporting their products to third-party countries not affected by the tariffs before re-exporting them to the US. This tactic, known as transshipment or tariff engineering, allows Chinese firms to circumvent the tariffs by exploiting loopholes in trade regulations.

"The use of workarounds by Chinese companies may exacerbate tensions between Washington and Beijing, potentially leading to further escalations in trade disputes," says the deVere Group CEO.

"Should the US government become aware of such tactics, it may respond by imposing additional measures to close loopholes and strengthen enforcement mechanisms.

"This tit-for-tat cycle of retaliatory actions and countermeasures could further unsettle financial markets and undermine investor confidence in the stability of global trade relations."

Biden said last month that the US is standing up to China's "unfair economic practices and industrial overcapacityI'm not looking for a fight with China. I'm looking for competition, but fair competition."

The comments come as the incumbent and his opponent, Donald Trump, are both vying to be seen as tough on China ahead of the US election in November.

Nigel Green concludes: "The reports of new US tariffs on China, targeting strategic sectors is likely to cause short-term market volatility as investors digest the news and assess its wider implications.

"Should this come to pass, we would be surprised if this is not the start of a renewed trade war between the world's two largest economies."

e: george@priorconsultancy.co.uk

t: +44 207 1220 925

Twitter: @PriorConsults

deVere Group is one of the world's largest independent advisors of specialist global financial solutions to international, local mass affluent, and high-net-worth clients. It has a network of offices around the world, over 80,000 clients and $12bn under advisement.

More Info:

Disclaimer/Disclosure: Investorideas.com is a digital publisher of third party sourced news, articles and equity research as well as creates original content, including video, interviews and articles. Original content created by investorideas is protected by copyright laws other than syndication rights. Our site does not make recommendations for purchases or sale of stocks, services or products. Nothing on our sites should be construed as an offer or solicitation to buy or sell products or securities. All investing involves risk and possible losses. This site is currently compensated for news publication and distribution, social media and marketing, content creation and more. Disclosure is posted for each compensated news release, content published /created if required but otherwise the news was not compensated for and was published for the sole interest of our readers and followers. Contact management and IR of each company directly regarding specific questions.

More disclaimer info: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Disclaimer.asp Learn more about publishing your news release and our other news services on the Investorideas.com newswire https://www.investorideas.com/News-Upload/

Global investors must adhere to regulations of each country. Please read Investorideas.com privacy policy: https://www.investorideas.com/About/Private_Policy.asp
Election fever seems to be clashing with silage fever as the sun finally came out and temperatures have climbed giving rise to a surge in growth.

It is a breath of fresh air to see the country finally greening up properly. It is just a pity that the view will be masked by every available telegraph pole plastered with corry board signs as the new season of Who Wants To Be An MEP looms.

Election candidates have already been coming into overdrive on social media, many it would seem would turn up to the opening of a wheelie bin if they thought it was a photo opportunity and a chance to shake a few hands with voters. No doubt the agricultural shows over the next few weeks will be awash with hopefuls.

As a farmer, I wont be fooled that easily, as the agricultural community has had a rough ride in the EU over the last few years.

Candidates are promising to change the world, deliver for all of us and the old die hards trying to remind us of all their great achievements representing us in Europe.

I would much rather a candidate with a bit of honesty that would hold the hand up and admit Irish MEPs have failed farmers across Europe and especially here in Ireland with the nitrates reduction.

Im not trying to sound negative, and I am certainly not anti-EU as I believe we are stronger together as a continent, but Ireland needs a much stronger voice in the EU parliament and Brussels needs a good kick up the backside.

Every other continent in the world is prioritizing food security while tackling climate change, while the EU aspires to be one big nature park, hopeful that it can get its claws into Ukranian food production once they are welcomed into the EU.

I am for them becoming a member, but there is one big roadblock, and that is the very fact that the Common Agricultural Policy budget is not big enough to include Ukrainian farmers.

The ballot paper I will be handed is still wide open as to where my preferences will lie, so should any hopeful candidates want to interrupt my valuable time over the next few weeks, consider what I want as a farmer.

Can you guarantee no further reductions to the nitrates derogation, continued access for live exports to mainland Europe, greater emphasis on food security within the EU, an increased effort in addressing climate change without impacting farmers' incomes, and if, as a candidate, you are not willing to work, as hard as farmers do, to ensure you deliver on those issues, then there's no need to stop me for a handshake and photo. If I wanted selfies with a tourist, I would have grabbed a few while I was in Paris!

With all that said, I sincerely do hope we send out our best team to represent us in the EU Parliament, as with some fine-tuning, the EU could become great again.

It is a land of opportunity, where neighbouring countries can work together and people can move freely, a continent where standards are higher and culture is envied by tourists.

Back on the farm, our own little candidates are getting excited for their ventures out to shows. There is a daily routine now of walking heifers with some taking to the halter like they have been doing it before they were born.

It is honestly like washing kids before bed when it's bath day for the heifers; some just want to play and are bouncing with joy when they go back to bed, while other heifers just look at me as if to say, just get on with it mom if you must.

With warmer days, the spring-born show heifers have now been clipped, and the show cows are settled in their routine.

Breeding season is at its peak now, with our AI tech calling twice daily. It has become really simple with the Datamars collars, which are working a treat, and we can view all the heats on the phone app, knowing exactly what time each cow has come on heat and deciding whether we will serve her am or pm.

We are using predominantly beef semen. All surplus heifer calves have now been sold, and any retained heifer calves have been weaned off milk and eating 2kg3kg of an 18% nut daily with ad-lib access to straw. We will increase the nuts to 4kg in time.

We served the maiden heifers earlier this year, and the weather was absolutely against getting any sort of decent conception rates, especially for fixed-time AI combined with sexed semen.

I have heard of some very poor conception rates on heifers this year, so we decided to scan all of ours and see where we stood; thankfully, over 65% held to first service, with over 75% now in calf to AI and the remaining empty heifers have been PGd and separated so we will AI them as soon as they are on heat.

Thankfully, our junior champion from Expo is confirmed in calf along with Georgie's Unix heifer, which won at the National Dairy Show. Some exciting calves due for next year, so the main focus now will be to grow those heifers on well over the summer and help them develop into nice cows.


In 1896 Sigmund Freud coined the term psychoanalysis. The Austrian neurologist put sexual matters at the heart of his new science  believing that sexual desire drove most human behaviour, albeit unconsciously.

Freuds labelling of fundamental sexual doctrine  such as drive, libido, stage, desire, and quest  normalised sexual terminology at a time when it was a taboo in western society.

Darian Leader says psychoanalysis was once famous for seeing sex in everything: physical and psychical symptoms, for instance, were explained in terms of unconscious sexual desires.

Sex was also believed to shape personal relations and the wider social dramas of war, politics, and culture.

Leader is a is a practicing psychoanalyst working in London and a founding member of the Centre for Freudian Analysis and Research (CFA).

The research centre was founded in 1985 with the aim of promoting and developing psychoanalysis, through teaching seminars and study groups, told from a Freudian perspective.

But isnt Freud so last century?

Since Freuds time psychoanalysis has become a very complicated field with lots of different traditions, Leader explains from his office in north London.

Some are conservative and out of date, while others are much more alert to current debates about gender and sexual orientation.

Nevertheless, for people who read Freud, there is still a valuable source of insight in his work to help us understand what drives human behaviour and how the mind works.

The British psychoanalyst, whose previous books include Freuds Footnotes (2000) and Why We Cant Sleep (2019), claims Freuds ideas about how children first come to think about sex are, in fact, still very relevant and accurate.

Freud believed the childs earliest ideas about violent sex often happens before they even recognise the existence of a vagina.

The act of love, [Freud] wrote, is seen as an act of violence, and so the sexual activity of the future becomes not a promise but a threat, Leader writes in Is It Ever Just Sex?.

The main argument his book presents is that sex is never simple or straightforward.

There is an age-old idea that sexuality is a smouldering animalistic force within us, desperate for release, yet restrained by social forces.

But there is little evidence to support such claims, Leader believes. What pushes us to seek sex results more from social processes than from innate biological ones, he says.

Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud believed the childs earliest ideas about violent sex often happens before they even recognise the existence of a vagina.

By the 1970s what the psychologists studying sex had mostly agreed on, was that when people experienced the urgency of sexual desire, it was often caused by fear, threat, or anxiety, says Leader.

Culturally, every 15 to 20 years, the popular representation of sex tends to change. And what we have seen relatively recently with sex [in western culture] is an emphasis on pleasure for the sake of pleasure.

But choice and pleasure are not the only factors that play a role in sexual relations, Leader points out.

Could sex, for instance, be a coping mechanism to combat negative emotions we feel when we are unhappy, uneasy, agitated, anxious, or lonely?

Leaders latest book tries to answer complex questions like these. Sometimes he points to statistics.

We learn, for example, that the global use of internet pornography surges late on Sunday night and continues through Monday. Leader says the timing is not coincidental.

As the pleasures and freedoms of the weekend fade away, porn provides many with a distraction and a fantasy from real world troubles. He also points out that during the pandemic, anxiety and porn use became closely connected.

By the end of March 2020, for instance, there were already 1.8m logged searches for coronavirus porn, says Leader. This shows that the very things that we are afraid of, can be transformed into frameworks for arousal.

In her book Dopamine Nation (2021), the American psychiatrist, Anna Lembke, noted how the internet promotes compulsive overconsumption, not merely by providing increased access to drugs old and new, but also by suggesting behaviours that otherwise may never have occurred to us.

Effects of pornography in young people

Leader takes a similar view. Especially when assessing the effects of pornography in young people.

In my own practice I often encounter youngsters (10- to 12-year-olds) who have been very disturbed by stuff that they have seen involving incest and extreme violence, he says.

A few decades ago, this material probably would not have really been accessible to people of that age.

Leader claims many people use pornography as a way of allowing themselves to divorce sex from meaning.

In addition to making porn more readily available than ever, the internet has also widened the social net for of those we can seek to have sex with.

He mentions the hook-up culture of hit-and-run sex that online apps has facilitated so widely in recent years.

Like pornography many of these apps (but of course not all of them) encourage the idea that you can have purely sexual transactions between human beings that wont have effects in terms of loss, grief, heartache, says Leader.

What I find, though, with the people I work with, is that these hit and run sexual encounters do produce the sensations of loss, and sometimes depression and depletion, that are traditionally linked to the effects of emotional attachments in relationships.

Leaders book provides us with an array of quirky real-life sex stories from his clients undergoing treatment in psychoanalysis.

We read, for instance, about the sexual escapades of a London city trader, a high court judge, and a high-class escort respectively.

This goads the author into discussing the theory of so-called sex addiction. He cites the work of sex therapist, Jack Morin.

When we speak of sex addiction (not a term I use, but others do) often what the person is addicted to is not having sex [per se] but battling with the feelings that having sex produces in them, says Leader. So the battle with themselves is actually the addiction.

Leader says we should never underestimate how our childhood experiences and environment shape our sexual life, later, as adults.

You could argue that sex takes us back to all of the things that have been so painful to give up as children, he says. Being touched. Being scraped. Having pressure put on skin and muscle.

He then turns to the role power plays in sexual relations. He believes if someone is deprived of the power in their everyday life, sex may end up being the only space where this becomes momentarily possible.

There is no equality in sex, but rapid shifts in power are a fundamental part of most peoples sexual practice, he explains.

You can link that to early life, where we often lack power. Where adults with larger, and more powerful bodies, effectively keep us in a constant state of dependence.

We often hear people say: It was just sex, it didnt mean anything. But Leader points to the irony of such throwaway catchphrases.

In fact, this just shows how important meaning is to the whole process, he says. And yet, measuring that meaning is difficult, even impossible.

We often hear that we live in enlightened times, that everyone can talk about sex, and we live in a sex positive culture, but this is something that only really exists on the surface level.

In various segments of society, sex is still considered a more punishable offence.

That is why many people will feel a great sense of relief after sex  its as if they have miraculously managed to avoid some terrible punishment.
Last October Margaret Doyle, 93, sat in her favourite armchair in her living room and had a chest X-ray while looking out at the familiar view of her backyard.

For me it was wonderful, she says. Id been dreading having to go into hospital and sit in a cold corridor for God knows how long waiting for an X-ray.

Margarets home X-ray, carried out within three hours of being ordered by her GP, came courtesy of the HSEs community-based mobile X-ray service, which helps older patients avoid hospital emergency departments. Operating on a pilot basis since 2022, the service has been available in every county since March 1, 2024 for older patients in nursing homes, community facilities, and in their own homes.

With all types of X-ray available  including chest, hip/pelvis, knee, wrist, and shoulder  Kilkenny-based GP Dr Frank Chambers says the service captures a broad spectrum of ailments. I started using it in mid-2023 and Ive used it for 30 patients aged 75 and upwards. Its another investigation point that helps us keep patients in the community. Post-covid, a lot of older people dont want to go to hospital.

And it can be hard to mobilise these patients as their fragility evolves, [making it] a major challenge to bring them to a primary care centre or to hospital.

Margarets daughter Joan encountered exactly this challenge. Its a two-person job for me to get Mam to hospital. If I go park the car, shes not able to walk from the car park to the hospital. And I cant drop her at the door and leave her because she frets and I just wouldnt do it. Its doable, but Id have to organise a second person to go with me.

Aside from patients not needing a medical card to avail of the free HSE-funded service, Dr Chambers loves how fast and efficient it is. I can order an X-ray for a patient on an encrypted e-referral system set up by the HSE, and I can get it done on the same day. The radiographer will attend the patient in their home or nursing home, and I can get the results within hours.

Dr Frank Chambers GP

Dr Chambers, whose 12-GP practice orders about one mobile X-ray weekly, says: Without leaving their home environment, it gives patients and their carers confidence and a safety net that they dont have pneumonia or a deeper problem going on. If there has been a fall its great to know theres no fracture.

Last August both Mary Frances Robinson and her 89-year-old dad, Bob Williams, were in no fit state for him to attend hospital for a chest X-ray. I wasnt mentally ready to go into a hospital, nor was my dad. Wed buried my mam just five days earlier  shed been in hospital for a month.

When Bobs GP said a portable X-ray could be done at home, Mary Frances was stunned.

I cant describe the relief, knowing this could be done. In the previous week, Dad had begun to deteriorate with coughing. He was very prone to chest infections and now he was very tired and lethargic. He was on antibiotics but I felt he wasnt responding.

I said to my dad, You wont believe this, but a portable X-ray is coming out to the house. He took it in his stride whereas I was in awe. And so relieved that this would give us  at home  a complete picture of what was going on with my dad, if the antibiotics were working, if it was pneumonia.

Within 35 minutes of the refrigerator-shaped X-ray unit arriving at the house, the X-ray was done in the hallway of their Kilkenny home. There was no A&E, no waiting around, and no multiple people where Dad would be susceptible to other infections. We were in our own home, and afterwards, Dad was able to waddle back to bed, relax, and have tea and a biscuit.

And the X-ray showed he had an infection but was responding to antibiotics, so he didnt need to go to hospital.

The late Bob and Ann Williams with daughter Mary Frances Robinson

Bob Williams passed away a month later. He died of heart failure but I think he died of a broken heart. He adored my mam, they were very much in sync with one another, says Mary Frances, who will always be grateful that on that August day her dad was spared so much.

HSE operational performance and integration division national director Joe Ryan confirms that over 9,000 patient examinations have been carried out for residents in nursing homes and community facilities as part of the mobile X-ray service up to the end of March 2024.

For the vast majority of these patients  94%  a diagnosis was provided that prevented a transfer to hospital, says Ryan, adding that the average age of people using the service is 83.

Joe Ryan of HSE

During March, the first month of its national rollout, 638 patients were visited in nursing homes, community care facilities and private houses. In 614 of these cases, a hospital transfer was avoided  saving on 1,228 ambulance journeys to hospitals because the mobile X-ray service came to the patient.

The radiographer arrives on-site, an X-ray examination takes place in the [patients] own room and a report is shared with the referring doctor within four hours.

Therefore, older patients are getting the right care, in the right place, at the right time, says Ryan.
One person leans close to anothers ear, covers their mouth with their hands, and begins whispering excitedly. The other persons eyebrows shoot up as they listen intently, before rushing off to spread the news further.

This is how gossip has always travelled along the office grapevine, and according to Dr Elena Martinescu, a behavioural scientist who studies the psychology of gossip at Vrije University in Amsterdam, its entirely to be expected.

Whenever humans come together, there will be gossip, she says.

A 2019 University of California study found that we gossip for an average of 52 minutes every day. Before we tut-tut at this finding, Martinescu says that it isnt necessarily a bad thing.

Gossip is one of the ways in which we share information about others. It allows us to learn about other people based on their past behaviour, so that we can decide if we want to interact with them in the future, she says. Our own observations are always going to be limited, so its helpful to take what others have seen and heard into account too.

Gossip can also help us to understand social norms. Hearing how people talk about the behaviour of others teaches us what is and isnt acceptable and we then modify our own behaviour accordingly, says Martinescu.

HR consultant and founder of hrbuddy.ie Damien McCarthy agrees that gossip can be beneficial but warns of its negative impact.

It can signal an open and welcoming workplace and show camaraderie among a team, he says. But when it becomes negative or malicious, it can end up damaging the workplace environment.

Work and organisational psychologist Leisha Redmond McGrath explains the difference between the two types of gossip.

A colleague gets engaged and one persons reaction is to say: I heard so-and-so got engaged. How exciting! Another person says: Did you see her ring? Its tiny! Both of these comments could be regarded as gossip, but one comes from a place of kindness that encourages social bonding, while the other promotes comparison and judgement, which isnt good for anyone.

The difference between the two isnt always easy to recognise. Gossip can be pro-social, in that its intended to help other people, but it can also deliberately set out to smash someones reputation, says Martinescu. People who are practised at gossip know how to package it so that it masks their true motivation.

Damien McCarthy. Picture: Alison Miles/OSM PHOTO

Good or bad intentions

Redmond McGrath has tips on how we can learn to read between the lines. Ask yourself why the gossiper is sharing this information, she says. Are they trying to put someone down or elevate themselves? Would they speak about the person in the same way if the person were right in front of them? These questions will help you to decide if the gossip crosses the line from information sharing to something more toxic.

We may also be able to tell the difference between the two types of gossip by noticing how listening to it makes us feel.

Malicious gossip creates a bad working environment, says Martinescu. People withdraw from those around them because they worry about how they will be perceived and how their words and actions might be twisted.

Toxic gossip undermines trust, says Redmond McGrath. If people talk about others, we cant help but wonder if they talk behind our back too. This makes us reluctant to share any personal information and affects our capacity to form strong bonds and friendships at work. It can also affect our performance as we dont feel safe to express our whole selves.

McCarthy adds other potential knock-on effects. Gossip can lead to an erosion of morale and hurt feelings and reputations, he says. It can increase anxiety among employees as rumours circulate, division as people take sides, and a failure to retain people as good employees leave the company because of an unhealthy work environment.

He urges organisations to put policies in place to discourage gossip that hurts an employee. These policies need to be as clear as possible, giving examples of negative gossip so that people understand what it is, he says. They should also explain why gossip is controlled by outlining its effects on employee relationships, esteem, and company attrition. And to show how seriously the company take the issue, there should be penalties for workers who routinely engage in negative gossip.

A strong stance on gossiping must be balanced with workers right to talk freely.

Employees still have the right to talk about workplace topics such as wages, hours and working conditions, says McCarthy. Their environment should also be one in which they are comfortable chatting and engaging in harmless banter.

Redmond McGrath advises organisations to accompany the introduction of anti-gossip policies with training. This can be a really effective way of starting a conversation, she says. It gives everyone an understanding of the damage that gossip can do and can also provide them with skills they can use and the steps they can take to stand up against it.

If gossip is particularly prevalent in your organisation, Martinescu urges you to consider why this might be so.

Whats happening in that environment, she asks. Is it very competitive? Is there a lot of uncertainty? Gossiping can be an alarm signal drawing attention to a problem that needs to be addressed.

One way of addressing it could be to provide avenues for workers to air their grievances. Another is for managers to communicate that they are available to talk about any problems relating to the workplace.

Open channels of communication help to limit gossip, says McCarthy.

Dr Elena Martinescu, a behavioural scientist who studies the psychology of gossip at Vrije University in Amsterdam. Picture: Nathan Clarke

Avoid joining in

Employees can take a stand against gossip. This isnt always easy as no one wants to set themselves apart from the group, says Redmond McGrath. But we shouldnt feel that we have to partake in malicious gossip. We can simply stay quiet or say something about not feeling comfortable talking about others in that way before changing the subject. Most people dont want to be part of a toxic conversation and theyll follow our lead.

Martinescu also advises us to pay close attention to our own gossiping tendencies. If we hear gossip, we need to think about whats driving it, she says. We should only share something that has a positive intent behind it.

She sympathises with those who become the subject of office gossip. This can be a painful position to be in, she says. It can lead to people withdrawing into themselves and away from the group.

Rather than suffering in silence, Redmond McGrath recommends that we look for support if this happens to us. Chat to a colleague or, if you feel strong enough, address it with the person who started the rumour, she says. If you decide on the latter, bring a third party along with you, maybe another colleague or someone from HR. Just remember; being subjected to gossip can be a form of bullying, especially if its sustained and has negative intentions or consequences.

Martinescus research has shown her that gossip is a double-edged sword and her advice is to treat it as such.

Gossip can be a really useful resource, bringing us information and clarity about the environment and people around us and highlighting both existing and potential problems, she says. But it can also be driven by harmful motivations that are designed to do damage. We need to be aware of this so that we can decide how we react and what we should do with the gossip that comes our way.
GRIEF is a mind-body experience, and understanding it can help us manage it.

There is no script with grief. It is a unique experience for everyone, says Eric Clarke, a lecturer at the RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, who has a special interest in death, dying, and bereavement.

The five stages of grief as outlined by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross are: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.

We may think that these stages happen in a linear way, that we go through these steps to reach a destination, but its not the case, says Clarke. Its more like we take a squiggly line through the stages. And thats OK, thats your experience. It doesnt mean that youre not grieving the right way.

With loss, well experience a huge range of emotions: sadness, anger, irritability, depression, fear, helplessness, relief and guilt, and, of course, well go through the if onlys and what ifs, says Clarke. Its about how we adapt to our loss, thats the grief work.

With grief, we can feel fine one minute and like we cant do anything the next  the grief overwhelms us.

Margaret Stroeb and Henk Schut, from Utrecht University in the Netherlands, termed this the dual-process model of grief, by which we oscillate between loss-oriented and restoration-oriented phases.

Following a loss, most people will be able to function on some level, says Clarke. They will return to work, parent their children, and go through life, but, sometimes, the grief can come crashing in to their train of thought out of nowhere.

People describe this as a fog or a preoccupation that comes unexpectedly.

But why does this happen? Our brain sees loss as a threat to survival and can kickstart our fight-or-flight response, says Galway-based clinical and behavioural psychologist Dr Diana Bast.

When were in fight-or-flight mode, we are trying to survive, which can cause changes in our behaviour, our memory, and our sleep. This can lead to a type of brain fog, where we struggle to make sense of whats happening. This is a natural reaction to loss.

Stuck in grief

According to the American Brain Foundation, when we are in fight-or-flight mode, our brain creates new connections between nerves and strengthens or weakens existing connections, depending on the duration and degree of the emotional response.

The ability to tweak neural connections helps our brains deal with traumatic events like loss by forming new neural connections based on these experiences. This helps individuals adapt to new situations or environments.

Again, this process is our brains normal reaction to grief. But where people experience prolonged stress or grief, the brains nerve growth and memory will reduce and fear increase as it operates in survival mode.

If this continues long-term, it can affect memory, decision-making, attention span, and how we interact with the world.

While grief doesnt necessarily shrink, your life gets bigger as you have new experiences and meet new people. There is no set timeline, of course, but most people will eventually adjust to their loss, says Clarke. However, 8-9% of people can get stuck in their grief, whats called prolonged grief disorder. This is tricky to diagnose, but if someone is struggling to process their grief and appears stuck in the sadness of it, they may need professional intervention.

As well as the mental effects, extreme grief can also impact us physically, says Clarke.

It can make us feel sleepier, more lethargic, more forgetful, and affect our ability to absorb new information.

Broken heart syndrome

A 2023 University of Arizona study on the impact of grief on heart function showed that long-term, severe grief can cause a significant jump in blood pressure. This increased blood pressure can be a risk factor in cardiac events.

The studys lead, Mary-Frances OConnor, said the research was inspired by the idea that someone could die of a broken heart.

Indeed, broken-heart syndrome is also known as stress cardiomyopathy and can be caused by physical or emotional stress, like the kind of stress people experience after the loss of a loved-one. In the time immediately following loss, your body will release higher-than-normal amounts of cortisol, the stress hormone. Over a long period, elevated stress can lead to increased blood pressure and impact your heart rate.

Practices like journaling, light exercise, meditation, crafting, and counselling can all help us manage our grief and convince our brain that were feeling calmer and more secure.

It can be difficult at first, but Bast says its important to rediscover yourself in the face of loss and to have new experiences.

Take these steps gradually. It can make sense to avoid doing certain things as they may trigger feelings of sadness, but dont bury those feelings.

Grief is complicated, and so many things can trigger memories and feelings. By limiting your life, you will only prolong the grief youre feeling.

Mindfulness can be a gentle way to heal your brain, to switch off that fight-or-flight mode, she says. Acknowledging our feelings and checking in on ourselves is also helpful.

You adjust to your loss and become used to it, says Clarke. In many cases, your deceased loved-ones memory will persist very strongly; they are physically gone, but never truly forgotten. And thats OK. We shouldnt hide away from that.

To contact the Irish Hospice Foundations bereavement support line, call 1800 80 70 77, Monday to Friday, 10am to 1pm.
The exterior of a former Tenderloin hotel where the city runs a managed alcohol program on Eddy Street in San Francisco. The program costs the city about $5 million a year. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

For a small slice of San Franciscos homeless population that struggles with severe alcohol addiction, nurses offer treatment not in a pill, but in a shot of vodka or a glass of beer.

It may sound counterintuitive, experts say, but it helps keep people off the streets and out of emergency rooms, jails  or the morgue.

San Francisco set up a managed alcohol program four years ago as a way to care for vulnerable homeless people who drank excessive amounts of alcohol and were among the citys highest users of emergency services.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Since its creation, the program, which started out with 10 beds, has served 55 clients, according to officials from the Department of Public Health. The now 20-bed program, which costs about $5 million per year, operates out of a former hotel in the heart of the Tenderloin. Nurses dispense regimented doses of vodka and beer to participants at certain times of day based on care plans.

Such programs dont focus on sobriety, experts say, but rather on improving participants overall health while decreasing hospital stays and calls to police.

The exterior of a former Tenderloin hotel where the city runs a managed alcohol program on Eddy Street in San Francisco. Nurses at the facility dispense regimented doses of vodka and beer to participants at certain times of day based on care plans. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

But the citys efforts came under scrutiny this week, after the chair of the board of a local nonprofit that pushes abstinence shared posts on social media accusing the city of wasting millions of taxpayer dollars on a program that gives booze to homeless people struggling with alcohol addiction.

Adam Nathan, the CEO of an AI company and chair of the Salvation Army San Franciscos advisory board, said on X that providing free drugs to drug addicts doesnt solve their problems. It just stretches them out. Wheres the recovery in all of this?

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The social media skirmish was the latest flare-up in an increasingly tense debate about San Franciscos use of harm reduction, which focuses on cutting negative health effects of alcohol and drug use rather than requiring people to stop using. As homelessness and overdose deaths have continued to plague the city, critics have excoriated San Franciscos attempts at harm reduction, saying they only enable addiction and despair.

Abstinence groups such as the Salvation Army have ridiculed the city for spending public funds on initiatives that provide drug users with overdose-reversing drugs, clean needles and foil for methamphetamine and fentanyl consumption.

Even Mayor London Breed in February said that harm reduction was not reducing the harm but making things far worse. That stance puts her at odds with her own public health department, which staunchly stands by harm reduction as an integral part of the agencys system of care. Breed recently tried to open abstinence-only housing for formerly homeless people near Chinatown but scrapped the proposal amid neighborhood backlash.

Are we just going to manage peoples addictions with our taxpayer dollars in perpetuity forever? It seems like thats basically what were saying, said Tom Wolf, who is in recovery for heroin addiction. I think we should be spending that money on detox and recovery.



But Shannon Smith-Bernardin, a professor at the UCSF School of Nursing who helped create the managed alcohol programs in San Francisco and Alameda County, explained that the goal is to stabilize participants alcohol use so theyre not binge drinking or stopping drinking and having seizures and then  start figuring out whats next.

The exterior of a former Tenderloin hotel where the city runs a managed alcohol program on Eddy Street in San Francisco. The program also offers participants medications and therapy to reduce alcohol cravings. Gabrielle Lurie/The Chronicle

The program also offers participants medications and therapy to reduce alcohol cravings.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The controversy erupted Tuesday night after Nathan claimed on X that he stumbled upon an old hotel in SOMA where kegs were set up to give out free beer to the homeless. Nathan continued that it was set up so people in the program just walk in and grab a beer, and then another one.

Officials from Salvation Army San Francisco referred questions to Nathan, who told the Chronicle on Thursday that he felt the lack of public knowledge about the program reflected the fact that San Franciscos public health department is worried about how the program will be perceived by the public, and that to me was validated by the reaction to what I tweeted. His initial post garnered more than 3,000 likes, and more than 13,000 people took part in a poll asking whether they supported such a program. More than 80% of X users who responded to the poll indicated they were opposed.

Public health officials countered that the claims made in Nathans posts misrepresented the program and misled the public.

Alcohol is dispensed by a nurse and unhoused people who arent in the program may not walk into the facility to get free alcohol, according to a statement from the public health department. The program is run out of a former Tenderloin tourist hotel that has a bar, but the on-site taps are inoperable and unused, the statement continued.

Nathan also criticized the use of millions of city dollars to fund the program.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The Salvation Army has itself been accused of wasting taxpayer money. BART paid the nonprofit $350,000 for a program to tackle surging homelessness on trains, but only one person received services, according to a scathing report from the transit agencys inspector general.

But San Francisco public health officials found that the city saved $1.7 million over six months from the managed alcohol program in reduced calls to emergency services, including emergency room visits and other hospital stays. In the six months after clients entered the managed alcohol program, public health officials said visits to the citys sobering center dropped 92%, emergency room visits dropped more than 70%, and EMS calls and hospital visits were both cut in half.

Previously, the city reported that just five residents who struggled with alcohol use disorder had cost more than $4 million in ambulance transports over a five-year period, with as many as 2,000 ambulance transports over that time.

The San Francisco Fire Department said in a statement that the managed alcohol program has has proven to be an incredibly impactful intervention at reducing emergency service use for a small but highly vulnerable population.

The citys public health department is working to get some of the program costs reimbursed through MediCal, according to a spokesperson.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

San Francisco public health officials launched the managed alcohol program during the early days of the pandemic, as the city worked quickly to get homeless residents  more than half of whom struggle with a drug or alcohol addiction  into hotel and motel rooms.

Public health officials were concerned that the isolation and quarantine mandates would prevent access to alcohol, leading to potential withdrawal. Detoxing from alcohol is particularly dangerous and can cause hallucinations and seizures that turn fatal.

We were trying to figure out how to keep people who are homeless alive during COVID, recalled Smith-Bernardin, but also work with them around their medical needs.

In an October presentation, public health staff pointed to one story of a 38-year-old man suffering from addiction and psychotic disorder. He reportedly had more than 36 ER visits over nine months with high blood alcohol content. In the nine months after joining the program, that number fell to just six ER visits.

Program officials said that nurses assess patients and typically dispense the equivalent of one to two drinks three to four times per day  doling out either 1.7 ounces of vodka or liquor, 5 ounces of wine, or 12 ounces of beer.

In addition to offering medication and therapy, the program provides cultural outings and life skills classes, according to the public health departments presentation.

The department of public health said that some participants have been discharged from the program for a higher level of care, other housing or a recovery program. Officials said several participants died after voluntarily leaving the program as a result of their end-stage alcoholism.

While such programs are rare in the United States, they are more common in other countries, including Canada, Portugal and the U.K. And experts say such programs provide stability and support to homeless people who cycle from the streets to emergency rooms and jail.

In Canada, where managed alcohol programs have operated for more than a decade, more than 40 programs are currently in place, according to the University of Victorias Canadian Institute for Substance Use Research.

A 2022 study of Canadas managed alcohol programs found that participation reduced the risk of death and resulted in fewer hospital stays for individuals with unstable housing and severe alcohol addiction.
Several Irish islands can claim connections to royalty, though of a homegrown kind. Tory Island, County Donegal, for years had its self-styled king, the late Patsy Dan Rodgers. With his sailors cap, ear stud, and twinkle in his eye, he was an unforgettable character if you met him. Great Saltee, County Wexford, had a resident king too, one of the Neale family. Turbot Island, County Galway, was another to have a king: John Wallace who died in 2009 aged 95, was described as a grand old man, hale and hearty.

Inishcottle, County Mayo has a familial connection to Princess Grace of Monaco through her cousins. Her grandfather was born in the nearby village of Drimurla in 1857 before emigrating to Philadelphia in 1887 and starting a business. In 1961, after her three-day state visit with her husband Prince Rainier to Ireland her extended tour saw the princess visit Westport where she met 70 of her cousins at a reception. The royal party then moved on to Inishcottle where she met several of her cousins.

The late Princess Grace, pictured in 1976 when she paid a visit to the Kelly family homestead in Mayo. Image: Maxwell Archival Picture

The last day of her visit centred around a fishing trip on Clew Bay and the island visit. Her cousin Paddy Quinn told a recent TG4 documentary that, when word of the visit filtered through to the islanders: In the best way that we could, my mother prepared a huge white trout on a lovely silver plate. The Quinn family has long been associated with boatbuilding and to this day a fine pier stands as a reminder to a vibrant fishing tradition.

The paparazzi descended on the island but mainly failed to infiltrate the party. She was a lovely person and was very interested in myself and my brother and our boatbuilding business, said Paddy. Last year the visit was commemorated with the unveiling of a sculpture of the princess in Newport.

The 23-acre Inishcottle is part of the group of islands in the centre of Clew Bay and is close to the shore, though the island has been connected by a causeway since the 1930s which also connected Inishnakillew closer to the mainland. The population peaked at 45 in 1911 before declining over the years to the current three.

The same Paddy Quinn in an interview with RTE in the early 1980s appealed for the upgrading of the rudimentary causeway which was in a poor state of disrepair and very vulnerable to the vagaries of the weather. The two children living on Inishcottle sometimes had to wade across to the island because of the conditions.

Without this service they cannot hope to have any of the general communications that we as people accept for granted on the mainland. At times on the island we are completely cut off. You have to make your arrangements to suit the tide, he said.

He said in that interview that the sea can come over the causeway and smash across it cutting off Inishcottle on a whim. The road was eventually upgraded and a concrete barrier added at Inishnakillew.

The windy road that leads west from the Westport to Newport road affords a tremendous view of many of Clew Bays reputed 365 islands, an exaggeration of course, but an absolutely allowable indulgence. The millionaires retreat of Inishturk lies opposite with a chain of much bigger islands retreating out to sea: Clynish, Inishbee, Islandmore. Southwards, dozens of more islands under Croagh Patrick adjacent to Bartragh Strand. Northwards, the eye is lost in the water-world, overwhelmed.

Various spellings of the island have been given over the centuries including Inish Cottal, Inis Coitil and Innish Cuttel. The origin of the name is unclear. The Cuttle in question may be someones name, a corruption of an Irish word, or even named for the cuttlefish which is found in Clew Bay. The cuttlefish looks like and is related to the octopus and squid, and lives on the sandy seafloor of Clew Bay from shallow areas out to depth, writes Irish Marine Life.

How to get there: Take the L5432 5km north of Westport, County Mayo, for about 4km. Cross on to Inishnakillew and then Inishcottle by causeway.

Other: TG4.ie: Grace Kelly: Banphrionsa Mhaigh Eo; rte.ie/archives/2022/0328/1288876-clew-bay-causeway

irishmarinelife.wordpress.com
French officials have warned the Irish Government of a new intensity to Russian disinformation online, which they claim is posing a real threat to the integrity of the upcoming European Parliament elections.

French officials have also said that current, and potential, MEPs are a clear target and said that in France, and elsewhere in Europe, there are documented links between Russia and political parties on the far-right.

In a high-level diplomatic briefing to the Department of Foreign Affairs, the French Government said a Russian disinformation network, Portal Kombat, which it publicly outed last February has since extended to a total of 19 EU countries, including Ireland.

As reported in the Irish Examiner last Monday, this involves a dedicated website in Irish, with English translation, containing various news with a Russian-slant and a good number of Irish-interest stories.

They include an item about Ireland, and other EU countries, about to recognise the Palestine State. There are also various stories on uncontrolled immigration in Ireland as well as a battle between illegal immigrants from Ireland and Irish nationalists in Dublin.

There are also stories on Satanavision  referring to Eurovision  with Bambie Thug singled out for special mention over their satanic ritual.

French officials accept that the websites, all variations of Pravda.com, are mainly for the consumption of Russian people in Europe but said that some of the stories could get circulated more widely via troll farms or hundreds of thousands of bot, or automated, accounts.

French officials said that while the amount of content has decreased on the websites, the amount of social networks transmitting them have increased.

Threat to elections

We are concerned ahead of the European election  and the local elections in Ireland [on June 7]  and we really believe that theres a new intensity, a clear Russian origin, and a real threat for the integrity of the European election to come," an official said.

They believe that political representatives in France and in Europe are being targeted by this disinformation and cited recent high-profile cases of MEPs, their assistants or their staff, being linked with Russian or Chinese intelligence.

French officials said there were documented links between the far-right Front National in France and Russia.

What is true for them is true also for other far-right movements in Europe, one official said. Clearly, in our view, they are particularly prone to be receptive to this kind of disinformation.

The French dossier followed an investigation by a dedicated agency in France  Viginum  charged with tackling disinformation and foreign interference in public debate.

In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said: Disinformation campaigns by foreign actors that seek to undermine our democratic values, principles and the core functioning of our democracies are completely unacceptable.
A Cork man who was required by an order granted under the Domestic Violence Act to have no contact of any kind with his partner shouted at her from a passing car  You fucking rat. You watch.

The 28-year-old man accused of breaching the order has now pleaded guilty to the offence at an in-camera hearing of Cork District Court where the parties cannot be identified.

He pleaded guilty to a second breach where he contacted her by sending text messages to her.

Sergeant Gearoid Davis said the texts were sent in June and July last year and the incident where he shouted from the car occurred on August 3, 2023. The accused was a passenger in the car when he shouted at the woman, who took it as a threat to her at the time.

Frank Buttimer solicitor said the accused was serving a sentence of eight months for unrelated offences. The man is putting his time in prison to good use and is keen to rehabilitate, the solicitor said.

As for the relationship between the accused and his partner, Mr Buttimer said: Even though there were these road bumps on the way, they wish to get their relationship back on track.

The woman at the centre of the case said she wanted to support her partner and said she was in good contact with him.

She said they both had drug difficulties at the time.

Mr Buttimer said there were very significant improvement in matters between the parties.

The judge put the man on a one-year peace bond but also imposed a total sentence of four months on him for the domestic and other unrelated offences.

I had a look at the text messages. They are inappropriate and should not have happened. The second matter (shouting from the car) is more serious.

I hope the two of you can put your difficulties behind you. I hope you can both stay off drugs. Be kind to each other, Judge Dorgan said.
A convicted scammer who claimed to be an Irish heiress and who is accused of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from several alleged victims should be extradited to the UK, a federal court in the US has ruled.

Marianne Smyth, who accusers say has also fashioned herself as a witch, a psychic and a friend to Hollywood stars, has been in a Maine jail waiting to learn if she will be extradited.

She faces allegations that she stole more than 170,000 dollars (135,000) from people from 2008 to 2010 in Northern Ireland.

US magistrate judge John Nivison ruled on Thursday that there is sufficient evidence to certify her extradition to the UK to face charges.

The evidence presented regarding Ms Smyth's interactions with and transactions involving the individuals... is sufficient to sustain the four fraud charges and the four theft charges that are the subject of the extradition request

Judge Nivison wrote that she will be in custody of the US Marshals Service pending a decision on extradition by US secretary of state Antony Blinken.

A lawyer for Smyth, who has declined to comment in the past, did not respond to phone calls and emails on Thursday.

The judges ruling that she should be extradited could help bring about the end of a bizarre saga in which alleged victims have painted Smyth as a master of disguise and a veteran travelling grifter.

Smyth faces four counts of fraud by abuse of position under the UK Fraud Act of 2006, and four counts of theft in violation of Northern Irelands Theft Act of 1969, Judge Nivison wrote.

Authorities overseas have said Smyth stole money that she had promised to invest and arranged to sell an alleged victim a home but took the money. A court in Northern Ireland issued arrest warrants for her earlier this decade.

Judge Nivison wrote that she will be in custody of the US Marshals Service pending a decision on extradition by US secretary of state Antony Blinken (Evelyn Hockstein/Pool Photo via AP)

The evidence presented regarding Ms Smyths interactions with and transactions involving the individuals is sufficient to sustain the four fraud charges and the four theft charges that are the subject of the extradition request, Judge Nivison wrote.

Smyths victims included Johnathan Walton, a podcaster who warned others about her. Smyth was found guilty of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from Mr Walton and spent about two years in jail.

The two had grown close in Los Angeles, and Smyth told Mr Walton she was due an inheritance of seven million dollars from her wealthy Irish family, but Smyths story began to fall apart when Mr Walton learned she was jailed for stealing 200,000 dollars from a travel agency she worked for.

Walton used his podcast to gather tips from Smyths other accusers. Some of those accusers said Smyth started a fake charity and others said she posed as everything from a cancer patient to Jennifer Anistons best friend.

Smyth, who is in fact American, was found and arrested in Maine in February.
Israeli forces bombarded areas of Rafahon Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed US president Joe Biden's threat to withhold weapons from Israel if it assaults the southern Gaza city.

A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned.

Israel has submitted to mediators its reservations about a Hamas proposal for a hostage release deal, the official said.

"If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails," Netanyahu said in a video statement, "But we have much more than our fingernails."

In Gaza, Palestinian militant groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad said their fighters fired anti-tank rockets and mortars at Israeli tanks massed on the eastern outskirts of the city.

Residents and medics in Rafah, the biggest urban area in Gaza not yet overrun by Israeli ground forces, said an Israeli attack near a mosque killed at least three people and wounded others in the neighbourhood.

Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike on buildings near the separating wall between Egypt and Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Tuesday (Picture: AP Photo/Ramez Habboub)

Video footage from the scene showed the minaret lying in the rubble and two bodies wrapped in blankets.

An Israeli air strike on two houses in the Sabra neighbourhood of Rafah killed at least 12 people including women and children.

Among the dead was a senior commander of the militant Al-Mujahedeen Brigades, and his family, and the family of another group leader, medics, relatives and the group said.

Israel says Hamas militants are hiding in Rafah, where the population has been swelled by hundreds of thousands of Gazans seeking refuge from the bombardments that have reduced most of the coastal enclave to ruins.

In the United States, the White House repeated its hope that Israel would not launch a full operation in Rafah, saying it did not believe that would advance Israel's aim of defeating Hamas.

"Smashing into Rafah, in [President Biden's] view, will not advance that objective," spokesperson John Kirby said.

Kirby said Hamas had been pressured significantly by Israel and there were better options to hunt down what remains of the group's leadership than an operation with significant risk to civilians.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

Displaced Palestinians arrive in central Gaza after fleeing from the southern Gaza city of Rafah in Deir al Balah, Gaza Strip, on Thursday(Picture: AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on October 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.

Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yet against a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons."

Israel's ambassador to the United States said the decision to withhold weapons from Israel over Rafah sends the "wrong message" to Hamas and the country's foes.

"It puts us in a corner because we have to deal with Rafah one way or the other," Ambassador Michael Herzog told a Carnegie Endowment for International Peace webinar.

The Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations, chief armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said.

Israeli armed forces have already killed 50 Palestinian gunmen in east Rafah and uncovered several tunnels, Hagari said. Hamas had no immediate comment.

Talks End

In Cairo, delegations from Hamas, Israel, the U.S., Egypt and Qatar had been meeting since Tuesday. The talks in Egypt's capital made some headway but no deal was reached, according to two Egyptian security sources.

Izzat El-Risheq, a member of Hamas' political office in Qatar, said the Hamas delegation had left Cairo, having reaffirmed its approval of the mediators' ceasefire proposal. The plan entails the release of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza and a number of Palestinians jailed by Israel.

Palestinian bedouins inspect the site of demolished tents and shacks on the outskirts of the West Bank town of Duma Thursday. (Picture: AP Photo/Nasser Nasser)

Hamas blames Israel for the lack of agreement, and its Al-Aqsa TV's Telegram account said the group would not make any concessions beyond those in the proposal it had accepted.

Israel has said it is open to a truce, but has rejected demands for an end to the war.

US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said Washington continued to engage with Israel on amendments to a ceasefire proposal, adding work to finalize the text of an agreement was "incredibly difficult".

Medical sector collapsing

Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in East Jerusalem, causing extensive damage to the outdoor areas but no casualties, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini wrote on X. There was no immediate comment from Israeli police.

"Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk," Lazzarini wrote, adding he had decided to close the compound until security is restored.

On Tuesday, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, cutting off a vital aid route and forcing 80,000 people to flee the city this week, according to the United Nations.

People block a road as they try to stop the trucks, carrying humanitarian aid, to enter in the Gaza Strip in an area near the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and Gaza, in southern Israel, in Kerem Shalom, Thursday (Picture: AP Photo/Leo Correa)

Israel kept up tank and aerial strikes across Gaza and tanks advanced in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, forcing hundreds of families to flee, residents said. The Israeli military said it was securing Zeitoun, starting with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 militant targets.

Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza was packed with people who had fled Rafah in recent days. Palestinian medics said two people, including a woman, were killed when a drone fired a missile at a group of people there.

The closure of the Rafah crossing with Egypt has prevented the evacuation of the wounded and sick and the entry of medical supplies, food trucks and fuel needed to operate hospitals, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.

The only kidney dialysis centre in the Rafah area had stopped operating due to the shelling.

"The entire medical sector has collapsed," said Ali Abu Khurma, a Jordanian surgeon volunteering at Al Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah.

United Nations aid chief Martin Griffiths said that for three consecutive days, "nothing and no one has been allowed in or out of Gaza."

"It means no aid. Our supplies are stuck. Our teams are stuck. Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed, and we are prevented from helping them. This is Gaza today, even after 7 months of horrors," Griffiths posted on X.
Hope was fading on Friday for 44 construction workers buried for days in the rubble of a building that collapsed in South Africa.

Authorities say rescuers are now faced with the challenge of moving thousands of tons of concrete with heavy machinery to see if there are any more survivors.

The death toll rose to nine after a worker who was in a critical condition died in the hospital, authorities said.

Of the 28 workers rescued from the site, 21 were in critical condition or had life-threatening injuries following Mondays collapse of the five-story apartment complex that was under construction.

Rescue personnel search the site of a building collapse in George, South Africa (Jerome Delay/AP)

With fears that the final death toll could exceed 50, authorities in the city of George on South Africas south coast said large earth-moving equipment had arrived and rescue teams were removing huge slabs of concrete and rubble to reach deeper into the wreckage.

City authorities said it was still a rescue rather than a recovery operation, but no survivors have been located or brought out since Wednesday.

Despite the introduction of large machinery, rescue techniques will still be applied meticulously and sensitively by the highly skilled and experienced disaster management team, the city said in a statement.

It also revised the number of missing from 38 to 44 after determining that there were more construction workers at the site than previously thought.

New information provided by the construction company showed there were 81 workers when the building came crashing down, not 75 as authorities had initially announced, it said.

More than 600 personnel are involved in the rescue operation, with many brought in from nearby towns and cities.

George, which is about 400km (250 miles) east of Cape Town, is a small city known as a holiday and golfing destination.

Authorities say multiple investigations are under way into the cause of the collapse, including by police, the provincial government and the national department of labor.
Indias Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to a top opposition leader who was arrested nearly seven weeks ago in a bribery case.

Opposition parties had called the arrest a political move by Prime Minister Narendra Modis government against his rivals during a national election.

Arvind Kejriwal, the leader of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Mans Party, is the chief elected official in the city of New Delhi and one of the countrys most influential politicians of the past decade.

The court ordered Mr Kejriwals release on interim bail, enabling him to campaign in the countrys national election until the voting ends on June 1, his lawyer said.

Opposition leaders hailed the court verdict.

It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections, said Mamta Banerjee, the top elected official of West Bengal state.

Supporters of the Aam Aadmi Party, or Common Mans Party, celebrate at their party office after the Supreme Court granted interim bail to their leader Arvind Kejriwal, in New Delhi, India (AP Photo/Dinesh Joshi)

However, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, a leader of the ruling party, said the courts decision did not mean that Mr Kejriwal has been exonerated in the bribery case. He will have to go back to jail on June 2 as pre-trial court proceedings are still taking place.

Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said in their order on Friday that the national election was an important event. They rejected the prosecuting agencys plea that their decision would put Mr Kejriwal in a beneficial position compared with ordinary citizens.

They did, however, impose some conditions on Mr Kejriwal for granting interim bail.

He will not be allowed to visit his office and some decisions he makes as chief minister of New Delhi must be approved by the capitals governor. Also, he cannot interact with any witnesses in the case, they said.

Mr Kejriwal was arrested by the federal enforcement directorate, Indias main financial investigation agency, on March 21.

The agency, controlled by Mr Modis government, accused Mr Kejriwals party and ministers of accepting one billion rupees (9.6 million) in bribes from alcohol contractors nearly two years ago.

A supporter of the Aam Aadmi Party distributes sweets as he waits with others for the release of the party leader Arvind Kejriwal from Tihar Jail in New Delhi (Altaf Qadri/AP)

The arrest triggered days of protests by party activists supported by other opposition parties.

Mr Kejriwal, who has remained New Delhis chief minister, has denied the accusations. His party is part of a broad alliance of opposition parties called INDIA, which is the main challenger to Mr Modis governing Bharatiya Janata Party in Indias six-week-long general election, which began last month.

Mr Kejriwals case was the first time that a chief minister in India was arrested while in office. His arrest, which occurred before the start of the election, dominated headlines for weeks.

His lawyer, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, said he was a serving chief minister and not a habitual offender and deserved to be released to campaign.

Mr Kejriwals deputy, Manish Sisodia, was also arrested in the case earlier, weakening his partys campaign in national elections.

The enforcement directorate opposed his bail, saying that releasing Mr Kejriwal to campaign would indicate that there were different judicial standards for politicians and other citizens.

The right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right, it said, adding that Mr Kejriwal is not a candidate in these elections.

Mr Kejriwals party is the main challenger to Mr Modis governing BJP in the Indian capital New Delhi and Punjab state where voting will take place on May 25 and June 1 respectively.

The national elections that started on April 19 are due to conclude on June 1. Votes will be counted on June 4.

While the federal agency accused Mr Kejriwal of being a key conspirator in the bribery case, the opposition parties said the government was misusing federal investigation agencies to harass and weaken its political opponents. They pointed to a series of raids, arrests and corruption investigations of key opposition figures.

Mr Kejriwal called his arrest a political conspiracy to prevent him from campaigning, and accused the Enforcement Directorate of manipulating investigative agencies for political motives.

Mr Modis party denies using law enforcement agencies to target the opposition and says the agencies act independently.

Mr Kejriwal, a former civil servant, launched the Aam Aadmi Party in 2012. He promised to rid the Indian political system and governance of corruption and inefficiency.

The partys symbol  a broom  and its promise to sweep the administration of graft struck a chord with Delhi residents, fed up with runaway inflation and slow economic growth.
Anti-apartheid demonstrators march through the traffic on the UC Berkeley campus on April 17, 1985. Ron Tussy/AP

When he addressed 60,000 people at the Oakland Coliseum in 1990 after his release from prison, Nelson Mandela credited California activists for pushing the UC system to divest from companies with ties to South Africa  a pivotal moment in the fight against the countrys racist apartheid system.

Today, pro-Palestinian student activists are drawing inspiration from that same movement, which successfully pressured the UC to divest $3.1 billion from companies doing business in South Africa.

Much like before, campus activists today are demanding that universities divest from companies doing business with Israel. Theyve notched some progress, with Sacramento State this week becoming the states first public university to align its investment policy with demands from pro-Palestinian student demonstrators. Officials said the school will refrain from investing in companies that profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights. Two UC campuses are negotiating with campus activists to tweak other policies in exchange for dismantling protest encampments on campus.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

But both the UC and CSU systems have issued statements saying they will not change their investment strategies because of demonstrator demands.

I dont support divestment, Gov. Gavin Newsom said flatly when asked Friday about the protesters' demands. He declined to comment on Sacramento States agreement with protesters, saying he hadnt yet been briefed on what exactly they had agreed to, but planned to learn more later that afternoon.

Leaders reluctance drives home the ways in which the pro-Palestinian movement is different from its anti-apartheid predecessor, starting with the most important one: There was near-unanimous opposition to South African apartheid.

Now, Americans are split. A February Pew Research poll found 31% of Americans said their sympathies were mostly or entirely with the Israelis, 16% with the Palestinians and 25% were equally with both. Among respondents under 30, 33% backed the Palestinians, 14% the Israelis and 21% equally supported both.

There was real consensus around the issue of apartheid, said Doug McAdam, a professor of sociology at Stanford University and author of Deeply Divided: Racial Politics and Social Movements in Post-War America.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Nobody favored it. There werent pro-apartheid student groups counter-protesting. There werent clashes between anti- and pro-apartheid groups on campus, McAdam said. Theres a lot more conflict and violence in the present than there was in the 80s.

Anti-aparthied protesters scramble to erect shanties blockading entrances to California Hall on the UC Berkeley campus on March 31, 1986. Catharine Krueger/AP

A generation ago, protesters rallied around anti-apartheid leaders like Mandela, who were lionized during star-studded anti-apartheid albums and in songs by leading musicians of the era including Peter Gabriel and The Specials.

Now, few iconic leaders have captured mainstream attention in a media environment that is more splintered than the one that existed four decades ago. Instead of courting and clamoring for media attention, many pro-Palestinian demonstrators have shunned mainstream journalists who could be helping them broaden their appeal. Complicating their challenge is that in todays social media-influenced landscape, many activists hide their identities, fearful of being doxxed or harassed by political opponents.

In the 1980s, most Americans were getting their news and information from three centrist (television) networks and a host of centrist daily papers. Were not in that world anymore, McAdam said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

McAdam, who was an anti-Vietnam War demonstrator as a college student and active in the Occupy Wall Street movement at Stanford, recalled that everybody was willing to talk (in previous movements). Nobody was wearing masks, scarves, etc. Ive never seen that on U.S. campuses.

The online vitriol could be having a chilling effect on the movement, discouraging some from participating for fear of the blowback they might receive online or in person.

Campus administrators and political leaders are largely ignoring students divestment demands.

That wasnt the case a generation ago.

A spectrum of elected leaders that would be unthinkable in these polarized times, from Republican California Gov. George Deukmejian to Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, supported the South African divestment movement. East Bay Rep. Ron Dellums led a congressional effort to divest from South Africa. Lt. Gov. Leo McCarthy was arrested at an anti-apartheid protest.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The then-Berkeley Mayor Gus Newport was arrested alongside comedian Whoopi Goldberg and several students during an April 1985 sit-in on the UC Berkeley campus.

State Sen. Nancy Skinner, a Berkeley City Council member at the time, was also arrested during an April 1985 demonstration alongside Pedro Noguera, then the UC Berkeley student president-elect.

Now, many state leaders  particularly Democrats have remained mum on divestment. Instead, many offer anodyne statements calling for calm on campuses, fearful to offend either young voters who are generally siding with the Palestinians or older ones who tend to favor Israel.

Like today, student demonstrators in 1985 gathered on the steps of UC Berkeleys Sproul Hall. At one point, police drove them away and cleared an encampment they had set up. Administrators instituted a camping ban in response to the students actions, and threatened students with arrest if they violated it. University officials accused students of doing extensive and costly damage to nearby Eshleman Hall.

Unlike the UC Berkeley protests today, many demonstrators were arrested. The Chronicle reported that 625 people, including politicians, professors and students, were arrested in April 1985 for protesting in Sproul Plaza and outside University Hall, the UCs systemwide administration building at the time.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Tents and banners line a pro-Palestinian protest encampment outside UC Berkeleys Sproul Hall on May 7, 2024. Noah Berger/Special to the Chronicle

When UC regents met at the Lawrence Hall of Science near campus to discuss divestment that May, about 300 police officers and 900 demonstrators amassed outside the meeting in the surrounding hills.

It was either sit down peacefully, sing a song or get bashed in by a baton, Staci Nesbitt, a 21-year-old senior at UC Santa Cruz, told the Chronicle at the time, adding that she was disappointed she hadnt been arrested.

Deukmejian, who served as a regent, left the meeting by helicopter. He and other regents didnt decide on divestment at that meeting, but later voted to divest the universitys holdings in companies with ties to South Africa. In 1986, California became the largest government in the U.S. to require divestment of South Africa-related investments  $11 billion at the time.

David Sanders, who was a graduate student at UC Berkeley in the mid-80s, recalled attending a talk by Bishop Desmond Tutu, one of the movements leaders.

It was an incredible experience to hear him talk, said Sanders, who now teaches biology at Purdue University and serves on the City Council in West Lafayette, Ind. He had immense respect from everyone at the time.

Sanders recalls walking through crowds of protesters in Sproul Plaza while pursuing his doctorate in biochemistry. He didnt have enough time between running experiments to help organize the protests, but he would attend when he could to hear what the demonstrators had to say.

I thought this was an important endeavor, said Sanders, a Democrat who has since run unsuccessfully for Congress in his Republican-leaning district. I heard what people were saying and I agreed. I was on the same page.

The protests he sees at U.S. universities today differ in part because they dont seem as clearly focused on divestment as the ones he observed in the 80s. They were also far less controversial.
1371138342::cfb49c8e-2422-11e5-99a3-d7f5c6e8b241

A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more.
A group of UC Berkeley law school graduates wear T-shirts reading UC DIVEST during Friday's commencement ceremony at the Greek Theatre. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

Fridays UC Berkeley law school commencement ceremony began with an offstage speaker offering a cautionary note: Disruptions of any kind are not acceptable and will not be tolerated.

The law school has for the entire school year been a crucible of controversy involving attitudes and action over the Israel-Hamas war and the boundaries of free speech.

That tumult continued Friday as 692 students gathered to receive their diplomas at an often cacophonous ceremony at the Greek Theatre in Berkeley.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The warning was ignored as soon as the law schools dean, Erwin Chemerinsky, opened the ceremony. Several students silently stood and turned their backs on Chemerinsky, taking off their black gowns to reveal white shirts that spelled out UC Divest.

One of the students was Malak Afaneh, who drew national headlines in April when she stood in the backyard of Chemerinsky and law professor Catherine Fisk during a dinner celebrating soon-to-be graduates and started reading a speech protesting the war in Gaza. Fisk tried to take the mic from her, and Chemerinsky asked her to leave. Video of the incident went viral, leading to conversations about the boundaries of free speech.

Before the dinner, caricatures of Chemerinsky, depicting his hands holding a bloody knife and fork, captioned No dinner with Zionist Chem while Gaza starves were posted around the law school and on social media.

That was only the latest time that the law school had been in the public spotlight for something other than educating future lawyers.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

In October, law professor Steven Davidoff Solomon accused student groups of antisemitism for refusing to invite speakers who support Zionism. He made a bold suggestion to law firms in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece: Dont Hire My Anti-Semitic Law Students.

Some of that fallout began before the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the ensuing war in Gaza.

UC Berkeley organizations, led by Law Students for Justice in Palestine, adopted bylaws in August 2022 saying they would not host pro-Zionist speakers, who describe Israel as a Jewish state, and would support a boycott of goods made in Israel. The policy was endorsed by nine of about 100 groups in the 1,100-student law school, and Solomon said 11 more groups now support it.

In November, the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, a Zionist organization, filed suit, accusing the law school of promoting antisemitism by allowing the policy. In March, the Republican-controlled House Labor and Workforce Committee announced an investigation into allegations of antisemitism at UC Berkeley.

All of those open wounds bled into Fridays ceremony.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest the Israel-Hamas war during UC Berkeley law school commencement Friday at the Greek Theatre. Jessica Christian/The Chronicle

In an acknowledgement in the commencement program, the class of 2024s co-presidents wrote that they were initially going to write a series of platitudes about perseverance and overcoming generalized notions of adversity  then we promptly realized that would be boring. To be quite honest, for many in the class of 2024, that was rough.

The commencement was equally rough at times.

Twenty minutes into the ceremony, several audience members stood up as Chemerinsky introduced professor Talha Syed, the faculty member chosen by the graduating students to speak. Audience members chanted, Divest! We will not stop, we will not rest! for several minutes. The vast majority of audience members booed them. Many yelled, Sit down! and Let them graduate.

About 10 minutes later, as Chemerinsky tried to introduce the commencement speaker, U.S. Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar, a different group of audience members stood up and chanted, Free Palestine and other calls for divestment. Again, audience members booed. The demonstrators continued chanting through Prelogars 25-minute speech.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Private security guards approached the demonstrators, but one told another that he had received an order to stand down, and they backed off. The demonstrators remained throughout the ceremony. Afterward, Chemerinsky thanked Prelogar for her perseverance in delivering her speech.

Reaction to the demonstrations among those who came to support graduating friends and family was a mix of frustration, resignation and curiosity. One woman sitting in front of a group of demonstrators, who asked not to be identified, said, I was trying to meditate and sit with my thoughts as they kept chanting.

Another woman, Arlene, an 80-year-old who traveled from Oregon to see her grandson graduate, said the demonstrations were disruptive, but I ignored them. I always think that half of these protesters dont know what theyre actually protesting about. She declined to give her last name.

Noah Armstrong, an MBA student from Texas Tech University who traveled to Berkeley to watch his friend graduate, was happy the demonstrators didnt chant while the graduates names were called. Afterward, he said he spoke with some of the demonstrators to try to learn more about their point of view.

But Armstrong was sure of one thing. If a protest like this had happened in Texas? Oh, it would get shut down right away.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Chemerinsky handed out diplomas to students as they crossed the stage, shaking their hands and embracing a few, as the line proceeded without incident. Afaneh unfurled a Palestinian flag as she crossed the stage to cheers.
City College of San Francisco trustees were expected to appoint the schools 10th chancellor in 12 years on Thursday night amid disagreements over how to resolve challenges facing the school. Stephen Lam/The Chronicle

City College of San Francisco trustees were expected to appoint the schools 10th chancellor in 12 years on Thursday night, and one of the three contenders for the interim position was a former chancellor who pleaded guilty to felony misuse of funds in 2011, the Chronicle has learned.

The former chancellor, Philip Day, could not immediately be reached for comment. City College trustees did not comment because they dont discuss search processes as a matter of policy.

As of Friday, the trustees had not announced their selection.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Also under consideration for the job were Mitchell Bailey and Rosa Perez, who are both education consultants. Bailey served from 2016 to 2022 as a vice chancellor in the San Mateo Community College District, which oversees three colleges. Perez served as chancellor of the San Jose-Evergreen Community College District from 2005 to 2010.

Sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed the candidates names to the Chronicle but asked not to be identified because they were not authorized to speak. The newspaper granted them anonymity under its confidential sources policy.

Bailey also served as the chief of staff to Ron Galatolo, the ex-chancellor of the San Mateo Community College District, who is battling multiple felony counts of misusing public funds. During her tenure in San Jose, Perez came under scrutiny over some of her expenses, but an investigation by an independent law firm found them to be legitimate.

City College is seeking a new leader because Chancellor David Martin, although embraced by the fiscally pragmatic trustees who hired him, found opposition in the newer, union-backed majority that opposes the faculty and class cuts Martin imposed. He expects to leave when his contract expires on June 30 and has lined up a new job in Placer County.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Thursday nights agenda listed two actions for the trustees' closed session: appointing an interim chancellor and public employee dismissal/discipline/release. Its unclear whether the trustees voted to fire Martin and pay him severance as required under his contract, or allow him to serve out his contract.

The trustees pushback against the chancellors efforts to keep college spending in line with revenue led the Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges to sanction City College in January. The schools financial outlook is also expected to get worse next year without a significant enrollment boost.

The scenario makes it difficult to attract a new, permanent leader, the sources said. On April 25, the trustees approved hiring a Washington, D.C., search firm, ABG, but authorized no budget for it. Board President Alan Wong did not respond to a request for comment about the expected cost of the search.

Sources said the search for a permanent chancellor could take at least a year and that the trustees identified interim candidates without help from a search firm. The new interim chancellor will be the colleges sixth temporary leader since 2012.

Day was chancellor of City College from 1998 to 2008. In 2011, he admitted that he had diverted $100,000 intended for the college into campaigns for bond measures. As part of a legal deal, Day pleaded guilty to three felony counts, paid $30,000 in fines and was sentenced to five years of probation. State law prohibits using public funds for political purposes.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Days lawyer, Cris Arguedas, said at the time that the charges against Day would be reduced to misdemeanors after the former chancellor paid the fines and restitution to City College,

As for the crime itself, no money was used for the benefit of Phil Day, she said. It was all used for the benefit of City College.

During Baileys tenure with the San Mateo district, he served under Galatolo, who has pleaded not guilty to more than 20 felony counts of misusing public funds, including allegations that he awarded construction contracts in exchange for gifts, benefits and free work on his personal properties.

There have been no allegations of wrongdoing against Bailey. His boss was placed on administrative leave in 2019 and was fired in 2021. The case is making its way through San Mateo County Superior Court.

Bailey did not return requests for comment.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Perez stepped away from her duties with the San Jose-Evergreen district in 2009, citing her health, according to coverage at the time in the Silicon Valley Business Journal.

A 2009 story in the San Jose Mercury News reported that the college district had hired a law firm for an independent investigation because Perez had charged the district and its foundation for lavish perks that included overnight stays at San Joses luxury Fairmont Hotel, a tour of El Salvador and airfare to Scotland.

The newspaper also found that in the four years after Perez took over, her salary has jumped 48 percent to $293,000 a year. The salary of Perezs partner, a district administrator hired two months after Perez got the top job, rose by 35%.

The Business Journal reported in May 2010 that the investigation had largely cleared her of allegations of financial improprieties. But the firm that conducted the probe expressed concerns that Perezs joint ownership of a home with an employee under her supervision potentially violated conflict of interest laws.

Perez said she believes the allegations against her were racist and homophobic, as she is a lesbian. She said she paid out of her own pocket to visit El Salvador, in order to learn more about students who were deported there. Although she did not personally pay for the Scotland trip, she said it was educational in nature because low-income youngsters were connected with social services that enabled them to succeed in the long run.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Regarding the shared property with an employee, Perez said that, although the rules have changed, it was not considered illegal.
The driver of a 2009 Toyota Venza lost his life in a motor vehicle accident on N.C. 16 North in Millers Creek on May 9.
By Debbie Passey, The University of Melbourne | 

(The Conversation)  Algorithms have become integral to our lives. From social media apps to Netflix, algorithms learn your preferences and prioritise the content you are shown. Google Maps and artificial intelligence are nothing without algorithms.

So, weve all heard of them, but where does the word algorithm even come from?

Over 1,000 years before the internet and smartphone apps, Persian scientist and polymath Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi invented the concept of algorithms.

In fact, the word itself comes from the Latinised version of his name, algorithmi. And, as you might suspect, its also related to algebra.

Largely lost to time

Al-Khwarizmi lived from 780 to 850 CE, during the Islamic Golden Age. He is considered the father of algebra, and for some, the grandfather of computer science.

Yet, few details are known about his life. Many of his original works in Arabic have been lost to time.

It is believed al-Khwarizmi was born in the Khwarazm region south of the Aral Sea in present-day Uzbekistan. He lived during the Abbasid Caliphate, which was a time of remarkable scientific progress in the Islamic Empire.

Al-Khwarizmi made important contributions to mathematics, geography, astronomy and trigonometry. To help provide a more accurate world map, he corrected Alexandrian polymath Ptolemys classic cartography book, Geographia.

He produced calculations for tracking the movement of the Sun, Moon and planets. He also wrote about trigonometric functions and produced the first table of tangents.

Al-Khwarizmi was a scholar in the House of Wisdom (Bayt al-Hikmah) in Baghdad. At this intellectual hub, scholars were translating knowledge from around the world into Arabic, synthesising it to make meaningful progress in a range of disciplines. This included mathematics, a field deeply connected to Islam.

The father of algebra

Al-Khwarizmi was a polymath and a religious man. His scientific writings started with dedications to Allah and the Prophet Muhammad. And one of the major projects Islamic mathematicians undertook at the House of Wisdom was to develop algebra.

Around 830 CE, Caliph al-Mamun encouraged al-Khwarizmi to write a treatise on algebra, Al-Jabr (or The Compendious Book on Calculation by Completion and Balancing). This became his most important work.

At this point, algebra had been around for hundreds of years, but al-Khwarizmi was the first to write a definitive book on it. His work was meant to be a practical teaching tool. Its Latin translation was the basis for algebra textbooks in European universities until the 16th century.

In the first part, he introduced the concepts and rules of algebra, and methods for calculating the volumes and areas of shapes. In the second part he provided real-life problems and worked out solutions, such as inheritance cases, the partition of land and calculations for trade.

Al-Khwarizmi didnt use modern-day mathematical notation with numbers and symbols. Instead, he wrote in simple prose and employed geometric diagrams:

Four roots are equal to twenty, then one root is equal to five, and the square to be formed of it is twenty-five.

In modern-day notation wed write that like so:

4x = 20, x = 5, x2 = 25

Grandfather of computer science

Al-Khwarizmis mathematical writings introduced the Hindu-Arabic numerals to Western mathematicians. These are the ten symbols we all use today: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 0.

The Hindu-Arabic numerals are important to the history of computing because they use the number zero and a base-ten decimal system. Importantly, this is the numeral system that underpins modern computing technology.

Al-Khwarizmis art of calculating mathematical problems laid the foundation for the concept of algorithms. He provided the first detailed explanations for using decimal notation to perform the four basic operations (addition, subtraction, multiplication, division) and computing fractions.

This was a more efficient computation method than using the abacus. To solve a mathematical equation, al-Khwarizmi systematically moved through a sequence of steps to find the answer. This is the underlying concept of an algorithm.

Algorism, a Medieval Latin term named after al-Khwarizmi, refers to the rules for performing arithmetic using the Hindu-Arabic numeral system. Translated to Latin, al-Khwarizmis book on Hindu numerals was titled Algorithmi de Numero Indorum.

In the early 20th century, the word algorithm came into its current definition and usage: a procedure for solving a mathematical problem in a finite number of steps; a step-by-step procedure for solving a problem.

Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi played a central role in the development of mathematics and computer science as we know them today.

The next time you use any digital technology  from your social media feed to your online bank account to your Spotify app  remember that none of it would be possible without the pioneering work of an ancient Persian polymath.

Correction: This article was amended to correct a quote from al-Khwarizmis work.

Debbie Passey, Digital Health Research Fellow, The University of Melbourne

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.
The aurora borealis, also knows as the northern lights, is visible above Lake Berryessa early Saturday after a rare, severe solar storm reached Earth on Friday afternoon. Carlos Avila Gonzalez/The Chronicle

The effects of a rare, severe solar storm returned late Saturday and early Sunday, giving California another chance to see the aurora  the luminous, colorful bands of light commonly known as the northern lights.

Photographers across the Bay Area shared photos of the northern lights providing a spectacular display Friday night. Those who missed it got another chance to see the phenomenon Saturday night, as the geomagnetic storm continued  hitting peak visibility between 2 and 5 a.m. Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.

Officials at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which forecasts space weather events, said Friday that the G5 geomagnetic storm had reached Earth around 4 p.m. Friday. NOAA said it was the first observed G5 event since the Halloween storms of 2003, which caused blackouts in Sweden and damaged transformers in South Africa.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

On Saturday, NOAA issued another G4-G5 geomagnetic storm watch, which could mean another night of aurora viewing. The agency said that storm watches at the G4-G5 level were very rare.

The source of the storm has mostly been a large, complex sunspot cluster that is 17 times the diameter of Earth, NOAA said in an X post.

While officials said predicting exactly whether and when the aurora will be visible from Northern California and the Bay Area is difficult, the expected intensity of this storm means the chances are better than usual.

When we get a more intense geomagnetic storm, then the aurora, which are usually confined to high latitudes in the polar regions extends down to lower latitudes to regions like California, said Ian Cohen, a chief scientist who studies heliophysics at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

Ryan Wyatt, senior director of the Morrison Planetarium at the California Academy of Sciences, said on Friday that he was hopeful the colorful lights would be visible in the Bay Area.

This is certainly the most promising set of conditions Ive seen in my 17 years in San Francisco, he said.

On Friday, several people reported seeing the the colorful skies late Friday night and early Saturday morning. The best time to see the aurora Saturday night is likely again in the 10 p.m. to 3 a.m. window, according to space weather forecasts.

Experts all said that getting out of and away from city lights will give space weather enthusiasts the best chance at seeing the lights.

Youll want to find a clear, dark location with a good view of the northern horizon  not too many trees and certainly as few lit buildings as possible, Wyatt said.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

When the aurora moves further south the first thing that is visible is whats known as red aurora, which is caused by a different species in the atmosphere reacting to incoming particles than the more common green aurora, Cohen said. This red aurora would most likely look more like a red haze  similar to what a wildfire or city glow may look like  on the northern horizon.

Aurora-gazers should be sure to bring their smartphones along, as their cameras can sometimes capture the auroras hues better than their own eyes, according to Brent Gordon, chief of the space weather services branch at the Space Weather Prediction Center.

With new technology and our phones, weve been seeing some amazing aurora shots even further south, he said. So things that the human eye cant see, your phone can.

The phenomenas impact is potentially more than a visual spectacle. Space weather can interfere with satellite and radio communications and even the electric grid.

Advertisement Article continues below this ad

The National Weather Service posted a warning that this storm could cause widespread voltage control problems, disrupt GPS navigation and radio frequencies and even spacecraft operations.

For the energy system, electric fields generated by solar activity can flow along transmission lines and cause hot spots and other issues that could lead to blackouts, according to the California Independent System Operator, or CAISO, which runs the states grid.

Regional grid reliability coordinators were monitoring the system and no problems had emerged as of Friday afternoon, CAISO spokesperson Anne Gonzales said.

Jack Lee and Julie Johnson contributed to this report.
Montreal (Special to Informed Comment; Feature)  Antisemitism is making the headlines. The Israeli Prime Minister describes as antisemitic the accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and even American students who are calling for a ceasefire. What Israel is doing does in fact provoke antisemitic acts against synagogues, Jewish schools and even individual Jews. It is therefore important to understand what antisemitism is, what it is not, and how it can be distinguished from anti-Zionism.

Although anti-Jewish acts in Europe date back more than a thousand years, since the 19th century the term antisemitism has been used to describe a hatred of Jews as a race, a concept that was instrumental in the expansion of colonialism. Racism was then considered legitimate, and even scientific. It asserted the inferiority of all Jews, Africans, Asians and others. This racism led to the massacres of millions of people in the Belgian Congo at the turn of the 20th century, the genocides that Germany committed at the same time in Southwest Africa (Namibia today), and then, barely thirty years later, in Europe, exterminating millions of Jews, Slavs, Roma and other sub-humans. antisemitism is therefore a form of racism.

Antizionism, on the other hand, is a rejection of Zionism, a political movement that emerged in Europe towards the end of the 19th century. Its founder, Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), was concerned about antisemitism and aimed to create Der Judenstaat, a state for the Jews. Zionism, which emerged at a time when ethnic nationalism and the right of peoples to self-determination were in full swing (Greece, Germany, Italy, etc.), asserted that the Jews constituted a people or a race apart who, never being able to integrate into the European society, needed a state for themselves.

The movement encouraged colonisation of Palestine and set up institutions such as the Jewish Colonial Trust (1899) and the Palestine Jewish Colonisation Association (1924). This settlement campaign, which created a separate economy and society under the British mandate, marginalised and even sought to replace the local population. It provoked resistance that would have arisen in the same way had the Palestinians been colonised and mistreated by the French or the Chinese. Opposition to Israel and Zionism, its founding ideology, is therefore political in origin.

From the outset, Zionism was a revolt against traditional (rabbinic) Judaism, which evolved around the world for nearly two thousand years. The new movement divided the Jews and fomented opposition, both religious and political. Moreover, it persists to this day. Ultra-Orthodox Jews can be seen at anti-Israel demonstrations alongside progressive activists from Jewish Voice for Peace or Independent Jewish Voices. One need only recall the Jewish demonstrations last November at the Statue of Liberty in New York calling for freedom for the Palestinians.

It follows that Zionism, like all nationalism, divides the group in whose name it claims to act. Jews opposed to Zionism is as normal a phenomenon as Quebecers or Catalonians opposed to political independence. Many Jews welcomed the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, others denounced it. Today, it is the tragedy of the Palestinians that makes this division among Jews even deeper.



Kaufmann Kohler, d. 1926, rabbi, president of Hebrew Union College, Cincinnati, promoter of Reform Judaism, and prominent anti-Zionist. He co-authored the 1885 Pittsburgh Platform that proclaimed, We recognize, in the modern era of universal culture of heart and intellect, the approaching of the realization of Israel s great Messianic hope for the establishment of the kingdom of truth, justice, and peace among all men. We consider ourselves no longer a nation, but a religious community, and therefore expect neither a return to Palestine, nor a sacrificial worship under the sons of Aaron, nor the restoration of any of the laws concerning the Jewish state. Photo public domain.

What encourages antisemitism is the conflation of Jews with Israel, of Judaism with Zionism. This is regularly done by Israel and pro-Israel Jewish and Christian organisations. Israel promotes this association by declaring itself The State of the Jewish People, even though half the Jews do not live there, and more and more young Jews reject it. Moreover, Israels allies around the world use this amalgam to stifle criticism of Israel by labelling it antisemitic.

Those who declare their solidarity with Israel as Jews reinforce this amalgam and, no doubt in spite of themselves, fan the flames of antisemitism. It is true that Israel has become central to the identity of many Jews, who mistake their political choice  to support a state in West Asia  for a commitment inherent in Judaism (see the recent film Israelism). But it is essential to avoid the trap of racist generalisations by associating all Jews with Zionists, particularly since the vast majority of Zionists nowadays are Evangelical Christians.



NB A French version of this essay appeared in La Presse.
( Tomdispatch.com )  Persisting in his support for an unpopular war, the Democrat in the White House has helped spark a rebellion close to home. Young people  least inclined to deference, most inclined to moral outrage  are leading public opposition to the ongoing slaughter in Gaza. The campus upheaval is a clash between accepting and resisting, while elites insist on doing maintenance work for the war machine.

I wrote the above words recently, but I could have written very similar ones in the spring of 1968. (In fact, I did.) Joe Biden hasnt sent U.S. troops to kill in Gaza, as President Lyndon Johnson did in Vietnam, but the current president has done all he can to provide massive quantities of weapons and ammunition to Israel  literally making the carnage in Gaza possible.

A familiar saying  the more things change, the more they stay the same  is both false and true. During the last several decades, the consolidation of corporate power and the rise of digital tech have brought about huge changes in politics and communications. Yet humans are still humans and certain crucial dynamics remain. Militarism demands conformity  and sometimes fails to get it.

When Columbia University and many other colleges erupted in antiwar protests during the late 1960s, the moral awakening was a human connection with people suffering horrifically in Vietnam. During recent weeks, the same has been true with people in Gaza. Both eras saw crackdowns by college administrators and the police  as well as much negativity toward protesters in the mainstream media  all reflecting key biases in this countrys power structure.

What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic, Martin Luther King, Jr., said in 1967. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.

Disrupting a Culture of Death

This spring, as students have risked arrest and jeopardized their college careers under banners like Ceasefire Now, Free Palestine, and Divest from Israel, theyve rejected some key unwritten rules of a death culture. From Congress to the White House, war (and the military-industrial complex that goes with it) is crucial for the political business model. Meanwhile, college trustees and alumni megadonors often have investment ties to Wall Street and Silicon Valley, where war is a multibillion-dollar enterprise. Along the way, weapons sales to Israel and many other countries bring in gigantic profits.

The new campus uprisings are a shock to the war system. Managers of that system, constantly oiling its machinery, have no column for moral revulsion on their balance sheets. And the refusal of appreciable numbers of students to go along to get along doesnt compute. For the economic and political establishment, its a control issue, potentially writ large.

As the killing, maiming, devastation, and increasing starvation in Gaza have continued, month after month, the U.S. role has become incomprehensible  without, at least, attributing to the president and the vast majority of Congressional representatives a level of immorality that had previously seemed unimaginable to most college students. Like many others in the United States, protesting students are now struggling with the realization that the people in control of the executive and legislative branches are directly supporting mass murder and genocide.

In late April, when overwhelming bipartisan votes in Congress approved  and President Biden eagerly signed  a bill sending $17 billion in military aid to Israel, the only way to miss the utter depravity of those atop the government was to not really look, or to remain in the thrall of a dominant death culture.

During his final years in office, with the Vietnam War going full tilt, President Lyndon Johnson was greeted with the chant: Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today? Such a chant could be directed at President Biden now. The number of Palestinian children killed so far by the U.S.-armed Israeli military is estimated to be almost 15,000, not counting the unknown number still buried in the rubble of Gaza. No wonder high-ranking Biden administration officials now risk being loudly denounced whenever they speak in venues open to the public.

Mirroring the Vietnam War era in another way, members of Congress continue to rubberstamp huge amounts of funding for mass killing. On April 20th, only 17% of House Democrats and only 9% of House Republicans voted against the new military aid package for Israel.

Higher learning is supposed to connect the theoretical with the actual, striving to understand our world as it truly is. However, a death culture  promoting college tranquility as well as mass murder in Gaza  thrives on disconnects. All the platitudes and pretenses of academia can divert attention from where U.S. weapons actually go and what they do.

Sadly, precepts readily cited as vital ideals prove all too easy to kick to the curb lest they squeeze big toes uncomfortably. So, when students take the humanities seriously enough to set up a protest encampment on campus and then billionaire donors demand that a college president put a stop to such disruption, a police raid is likely to follow.

A World of Doublethink and Tone Deafness

George Orwells explanation of doublethink in his famed novel 1984 is a good fit when it comes to the purported logic of so many commentators deploring the student protesters as they demand an end to complicity in the slaughter still underway in Gaza: To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them, to use logic against logic, to repudiate morality while laying claim to it.

Laying claim to morality, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) has, for instance, been busy firing media salvos at the student protesters. That organizations CEO, Jonathan Greenblatt, is on record flatly declaring that anti-Zionism is antisemitism  no matter how many Jews declare themselves to be anti-Zionist. Four months ago, ADL issued a report categorizing pro-Palestinian rallies with anti-Zionist chants and slogans as antisemitic events. In late April, ADL used the antisemitic label to condemn protests by students at Columbia and elsewhere.

We have a major, major, major generational problem, Greenblatt warned in a leaked ADL strategy phone call last November. He added: The issue in the United States support for Israel is not left and right; it is young and old We really have a TikTok problem, a Gen-Z problem The real game is the next generation.

Along with thinly veiled condescension toward students, a frequent approach is to treat the mass killing of Palestinians as of minimal importance. And so, when New York Times columnist Ross Douthat wrote in late April about students protesting at Columbia, he merely described the Israeli governments actions as failings. Perhaps if a government was bombing and killing Douthats loved ones, he would have used a different word.

A similar mentality, as I well remember, infused media coverage of the Vietnam War. For mainline news outlets, what was happening to Vietnamese people ranked far below so many other concerns, often to the point of invisibility. As media accounts gradually began bemoaning the quagmire of that war, the focus was on how the U.S. governments leadership had gotten itself so stuck. Acknowledging that the American war effort amounted to a massive crime against humanity was rare. Then, as now, the moral bankruptcies of the political and media establishments fueled each other.

As a barometer of the prevailing political climate among elites, the editorial stances of daily newspapers indicate priorities in times of war. In early 1968, the Boston Globe conducted a survey of 39 major U.S. newspapers and found that not a single one had editorialized in favor of an American withdrawal from Vietnam. By then, tens of millions of Americans were in favor of such a pullout.

This spring, when the New York Times editorial board finally called for making U.S. arms shipments to Israel conditional  six months after the carnage began in Gaza  the editorial was tepid and displayed a deep ethnocentric bias. It declared that the Hamas attack of October 7 was an atrocity, but no word coming anywhere near atrocity was applied to the Israeli attacks occurring ever since.

The Times editorial lamented that Mr. Netanyahu and the hard-liners in his government had broken a bond of trust between the United States and Israel, adding that the Israeli prime minister has been deaf to repeated demands from Mr. Biden and his national security team to do more to protect civilians in Gaza from being harmed by [American] armaments. The Times editorial board was remarkably prone to understatement, as if someone overseeing the mass killing of civilians every day for six months was merely not doing enough to protect civilians.

Learning by Doing

The thousands of student protesters encountering the edicts of college administrations and the violence of the police have gotten a real education in the true priorities of American power structures. Of course, the authorities (on and off campuses) have wanted a return to the usual peaceful campus atmosphere. As military strategist Carl von Clausewitz long ago commented with irony, A conqueror is always a lover of peace.

Supporters of Israel are fed up with the campus protests. The Washington Post recently featured an essay by Paul Berman that deplored what has become of his alma mater, Columbia. After a brief mention of Israels killing of Gazan civilians and the imposition of famine, Berman declared that ultimately the central issue in the war is Hamas and its goal the eradication of the Israeli state. The central issue. Consider it a way of saying that, while unfortunate, the ongoing slaughter of tens of thousands of children and other Palestinian civilians doesnt matter nearly as much as the fear that nuclear-armed Israel, with one of the most powerful air forces in the world, is in danger of eradication.

Pieces similar to Douthats and Bermans have proliferated in the media. But they dont come to grips with what Senator Bernie Sanders recently made clear in a public message to the Israeli prime minister: Mr. Netanyahu, antisemitism is a vile and disgusting form of bigotry that has done unspeakable harm to millions. Do not insult the intelligence of the American people by attempting to distract us from the immoral and illegal war policies of your extremist and racist government.

College protesters have shown that they will not be distracted. They continue to insist  not flawlessly, but wonderfully  that all peoples lives matter. For decades, and since October in a particularly deadly fashion, the U.S.-Israel alliance has proceeded to treat Palestinian lives as expendable. And that is exactly what the protests are opposing.

Of course, protests can flicker and die out. Hundreds of U.S. campuses shut down in the spring of 1970 amid protests against the Vietnam War and the American invasion of Cambodia, only to become largely quiescent by the fall term. But for countless individuals, the sparks lit a fire for social justice that would never be quenched.

One of them, Michael Albert, a cofounder of the groundbreaking Z Magazine, has continued with activist work since the mid-1960s. A lot of people are comparing now to 1968, he wrote in April. That year was tumultuous. We were inspired. We were hot. But here comes this year and it is moving faster, no less. That year the left that I and so many others lived and breathed was mighty. We were courageous, but we also had too little understanding of how to win. Dont emulate us. Transcend us.

He then added:

The emerging mass uprisings must persist and diversify and broaden in focus and reach. And hey, on your campuses, again do better than us. Fight to divest but also fight to structurally change them so their decision makers  which should be you  never again invest in genocide, war, and indeed suppression and oppression of any kind. Tomorrow is the first day of a long, long potentially incredibly liberating future. But one day is but one day. Persist.

Persistence will be truly essential. The gears of pro-Israel forces are fully meshed with the U.S. war machinery. The movement to stop Israels murderous oppression of Palestinians is up against the entire military-industrial-congressional complex.

The United States spends more on its military than the next 10 countries combined (and most of them are allies), while maintaining 750 military bases overseas, vastly more than all of its official adversaries put together. The U.S. continues to lead the nuclear arms race toward oblivion. And the economic costs are stunning. The Institute for Policy Studies reported last year that 62% of the federal discretionary budget went to militarized programs of one sort or another.

In 1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., described this countrys spending for war as a demonic, destructive suction tube, siphoning tremendous resources away from human needs.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

With transcendent wisdom, this springs student uprising has rejected conformity as a lethal anesthetic while the horrors continue in Gaza. Leaders of the most powerful American institutions want to continue as usual, as if official participation in genocide were no particular cause for alarm.

Instead, young people have dared to lead the way, insisting that such a culture of death is repugnant and completely unacceptable.

Copyright 2024 Norman Solomon

Via Tomdispatch.com
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lancaster Resources Inc. (CSE:LCR) (OTCQB:LANRF) (FRA:6UF0) (Lancaster) a leader in critical mineral exploration, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Vincent Chen, CPA, as an independent director to its Board of Directors, effective May 9, 2024.

Vincent brings a wealth of expertise and a robust background in accounting and corporate development within the mining sector. He began his distinguished career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the mining assurance team in Toronto, where he earned his Chartered Professional Accountant designation. Following his tenure at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vincent joined Yamana Gold Inc. (now Pan American Silver), serving as a Senior Analyst on the corporate reporting team.

Most recently, Vincent held the position of Senior Associate of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at Forbes & Manhattan, a prominent family office and merchant bank focused on the global mining and resource sector. He has continued to shape the industry landscape through his current role as a strategic consultant for various junior mining companies, including Emerita Resources Corp., Halcones Precious Metals Corp., and Lithium Ionic Corp.

Vincent is a proud alumnus of the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, where he graduated with Honours in Accounting.

We are thrilled to welcome Vincent Chen to the Board," said Penny White, President & CEO of Lancaster Resources. "His experience and strategic insight into the mining industry will be invaluable as we continue to develop our lithium and gold assets. Vincent's leadership in corporate development and investor relations will undoubtedly contribute to our mission of elevating our standing in the gold and critical minerals sectors."

"I am very excited and proud to join the Board of Directors here at Lancaster, notes Vincent Chen. It is impressive what the leadership team has accomplished in such a short period of time in New Mexico. I am focused on the opportunities ahead and committed to help navigate a successful path forward for our projects and shareholders. I am truly excited to work with the team here."

Vincent's appointment reflects Lancaster Resources' commitment to strengthening its leadership and strategic capabilities to enhance shareholder value and propel the company's growth in the mining industry.

About Lancaster Resources Inc.

Lancaster Resources (CSE:LCR | OTCQB:LANRF | FRA:6UF0) is engaged in exploring lithium, and other critical minerals. Its Alkali Flat Lithium Project, in Lordsburg, New Mexico, USA, spans ~5,200 acres and comprises 260 mineral placer claims which cover the heart of the Alkali Flats playa near Lordsburg, Mexico where Lancaster is exploring a below-surface lithium brine target. Lancasters goal at Alkali Flat is to produce Net-Zero Lithium through the use of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology and solar power. Lancaster is also collaborating to deploy advanced satellite hyperspectral acquisition, geospatial data aggregation, and AI-driven predictive modelling services exploration.

Lancasters project portfolio includes 100% ownership of the Piney Lake Gold Property in Saskatchewan and rights to acquire 100% of the Trans-Taiga Lithium Property located within the James Bay lithium district of Quebec. Lancaster also holds a 100 percent interest in the Catley Lake and Centennial East Uranium projects in the Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lancaster has also retained a minority interest in Nelson Lake Copper Corp., after a spin-off to Lancaster shareholders earlier this year. Guiding Lancaster's journey is a skilled management and technical team with collective involvement in over 40 gold discoveries and endowed with extensive experience in the creation of lithium brine targets and the exploration and development of exploration projects across Canada, the American West, Mexico, and South America.

Penny White, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lancaster Resources Inc.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Tel: 604 923 6100

www.lancaster-resources.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events, or Lancasters future performance. The use of any of the words could, expect, believe, will, projected, estimated and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Lancasters current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, the ability of Lancaster to execute its exploration plans, ability to enter into a long form agreement for the acquisition of the Trans Taiga Lithium Property, retain key personnel, identify, acquire, explore, and develop high-quality mineral-rich properties and integrate sustainable energy sources and innovative technologies for climate-positive resource production constitute forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking information.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof. Lancaster disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.
The United States announced Tuesday it had brought back two dozen Western citizens, half of them Americans, from Islamic State prison camps in northeastern Syria where tens of thousands have languished.

The repatriation is the largest ever of US citizens and comes as rights groups warn of dire conditions in the camps still in use some five years after the ultra-violent extremist movement lost its last territory in Syria.

In a complex operation involving US agencies, Kuwait and pro-US Kurdish fighters, the United States repatriated 11 US citizens, including five minors, as well as a nine-year-old non-US sibling of an American, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said.

The United States in the same operation facilitated the repatriation of six Canadian citizens, four Dutch citizens and one Finnish citizen, eight of them children, he said.

"The only durable solution to the humanitarian and security crisis in the displaced persons camps and detention facilities in northeast Syria is for countries to repatriate, rehabilitate, reintegrate and, where appropriate, ensure accountability for wrongdoing," Blinken said in a statement.

After the repatriation, around 25 Americans remain in the camps, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said.

The United States has long pushed European governments that produced more militants to step up and bring back their nationals -- often children of the fighters.

Most European countries have done so but slowly and despite initial reservations, especially in countries with a history of jihadist attacks at home such as France and Britain.

The Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, who helped US forces crush the Islamic State movement that once controlled vast swathes of Syria and Iraq, administer the camps and confirmed the latest repatriation.

But Kurdish administration official Faner al-Kaait called foreign countries' repatriation efforts "insufficient" and urged the international community to seek "comprehensive" solutions to the issue.

The Kurdish fighters are holding more than 56,000 detainees with alleged or perceived links to the Islamic State group.

According to a recent Amnesty International report, some 29,000 children are held in the two largest camps, representing "the highest concentration of children arbitrarily deprived of their liberty anywhere in the world."

- Seeking return to US -

Blinken did not identify the people who were repatriated.

The New York Times and National Public Radio said the repatriated Americans, who landed at New York's John F. Kennedy airport, included a woman and her nine children.

Brandy Salman was married to a Turkish man who took the family to IS territory in Syria, possibly by deceptively telling them they were going camping, according to media reports. The husband was killed and the family sent to camps.

The other repatriated American was reported to be the son of a former IS member who himself was sent back in 2020.

Abdelhamid Al-Madioum, a naturalized American originally from Morocco, had cooperated by giving information on the Islamic State and says he hopes to counsel others against extremism, according to court documents.

He had located his two sons in Syria -- one a US citizen and one his sibling without US citizenship -- and wants them to be raised by his grandparents in Minnesota as he serves prison time, according to the Star Tribune of Minneapolis.

Both Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have warned of deteriorating conditions at the camps and questioned the legality of prolonged detention of people, especially children, without charge.

"Detention based solely on family ties is a form of collective punishment, which is a war crime," Human Rights Watch said in its report last year.

The group said that children had been dying at Al-Hol, the largest camp, of preventable diseases, hypothermia and tent fires as well as by drowning in sewage pits.

The only country that has been repatriating people in large numbers is neighboring Iraq, which last month brought back 700 people from Al-Hol.

burs-sct/sst
Qatar called on the international community on Wednesday to prevent a "genocide" in Rafah following Israel's seizure of the Gaza city's crossing with Egypt and threats of a wider assault.

In a statement the Gulf state, which has been mediating between Israel and militant group Hamas, appealed "for urgent international action to prevent the city from being invaded and a crime of genocide being committed".

Israel struck targets in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday after seizing the main border crossing with Egypt. Israel has vowed for weeks to launch a ground incursion into Rafah, despite a clamour of international objection.

The attacks on the southern city, which is packed with displaced civilians, came as negotiators and mediators met in Cairo to try to hammer out a hostage-release and truce deal in the seven-month war.

Qatar, which has hosted Hamas's political office in Doha since 2012, has been engaged -- along with Egypt and the United States -- in months of behind-the-scenes mediation between Israel and the Palestinian group.
Guinea-Bissau's President Umaro Sissoco Embalo has said he will not extradite the former leader of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, who is the subject of an international arrest warrant over possible crimes against humanity.

A special UN-backed court in the CAR's capital Bangui said last month it had issued an arrest warrant for Bozize as part of a probe into possible "crimes against humanity" committed by his presidential guard between 2009 and 2013 at a civilian prison and a military training facility.

Bozize, 77, seized power in the CAR in a 2003 coup before being overthrown 10 years later.

He now heads the country's main rebellion and has been in exile in Guinea-Bissau since March 2023.

"I'm not going to extradite him because there is no agreement between our two countries to that effect. Unless Bozize himself decides to go elsewhere," Embalo said late Tuesday, ahead of a trip to Moscow.

"I was really surprised by the arrest warrant issued against him by the Central African authorities. It's not what I expected, because it's not what (Central African) President (Faustin Archange) Touadera and I said," he told journalists.

The alleged crimes include murder, enforced disappearance, torture, rape and other inhumane acts, according to the Special Criminal Court (CPS), a hybrid jurisdiction located in Bangui with Central African and foreign magistrates.

The international warrant was issued on February 27, according to the CPS, which was set up in 2015 with UN sponsorship.

The court is in charge of investigating war crimes committed since 2003 in the country, which has endured civil wars and authoritarian regimes since independence from France in 1960.

Bozize was sentenced in absentia in September to forced labour for life for conspiracy, rebellion and murder.
Human Rights Watch on Wednesday accused an Islamist armed group and an ethnic militia of killing at least 45 civilians in separate attacks in January in central Mali, a region plagued by communal violence.

Fighters from the Al-Qaeda-linked coalition Group for the Support of Islam and Muslims (GSIM) "killed at least 32 civilians, including three children, and set fire to over 350 homes" in attacks on the villages of Ogota and Ouembe on January 27, HRW said.

At the beginning of January, Dozo militiamen -- traditional hunters consisting mainly of ethnic Bambara -- had killed 13 civilians and abducted 24 others in the villages of Boura and Kalala, which is predominantly ethnic-Fulani, according to HRW.

"These attacks occurred amid recurrent tit-for-tat killings and communal violence in central Mali," the NGO added.

HRW said January's attacks were "apparent war crimes" and called on the Malian authorities to "urgently investigate the abuses".

Mali has since 2012 been plunged into turmoil by independence and Salafist insurgencies in the north.

The centre of the country has become a hotbed of violence since 2015, with the emergence of jihadist groups led in particular by the firebrand Fulani preacher Amadou Koufa, who has largely recruited from among his own community.

The violence has spilled over into neighbouring Burkina Faso and Niger

Clashes have increased between the Fulani, who are mainly herders, and the Bambara and Dogon, largely farmers, leading to the formation of ethnic self-defence groups.

The deteriorated security context, remote locations and a lack of reliable information mean that attacks often take a long time to confirm.

The Malian armed forces have stepped up operations in the centre of the country in recent months, along with Russian paramilitary group Wagner.

They are also accused of numerous abuses against civilians, particularly the Fulani.

"The Malian transitional government's failure to hold Islamist armed groups and ethnic militias to account only emboldens abusive forces to commit further atrocities," said Ilaria Allegrozzi, senior Sahel researcher at HRW.
Russian President Vladimir Putin held talks with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan on Wednesday, the Kremlin said, after Yerevan had for months distanced itself from Russia.

Yerevan, traditionally allied to Russia, has for months criticised its ties to Moscow, angry that Russian peacekeeping forces did not intervene during an Azerbaijani offensive to retake Nagorno-Karabakh last year.

"On our bilateral relations, they are developing quite successfully," Putin told Pashinyan, who visited Moscow as part of the Eurasian Economic Union summit, in a video published by the Kremlin.

The talks were held five months after Armenia joined the International Criminal Court (ICC), obliging it to arrest Putin should he set foot on Armenian territory.

Putin said that "we always, first and foremost, pay attention to economic cooperation" and did not mention the tensions.

Pashinyan had for months made increasingly critical comments on Armenia's ties to Russia and was in Moscow for the first time since the tension.

Moscow had accused the small mountainous country of trying to rupture a decades-long partnership.

Armenia had boycotted a summit by a Moscow-led security alliance at the end of 2023 over what Pashinyan described as the bloc's failure to fulfil its security obligations.
Sudanese shop owner Ishaq Mohammed has been trapped in his home for a month, sheltering from violence in El-Fasher, the last major city in the country's vast Darfur region not under paramilitary control.

For more than a year, Sudan has suffered a war between the army, headed by the country's de facto leader Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), commanded by his former deputy Mohamed Hamdan Daglo.

Experts have warned the northeast African country is at risk of breaking apart.

According to the United Nations, Sudan "is experiencing a humanitarian crisis of epic proportions", with famine threatening and more than 8.7 million people uprooted -- more than anywhere else in the world.

Among the war's many horrors, Darfur has already seen some of the worst. Now, experts and residents are bracing for more.

"We're living in constant terror," Mohammed told AFP by telephone, as the UN, world leaders and aid groups voice fears of carnage in the North Darfur state capital of 1.5 million people.

"We can't move for the bombardments," Mohammed said.

The RSF has seized four out of five state capitals in Darfur, a region about the size of France and home to around one quarter of Sudan's 48 million people.

"We're under a total siege," another resident, Ahmed Adam, told AFP in a text message that got through despite a near-total communications blackout in Darfur.

"There's no way in or out of the city that's not controlled by the RSF," he said.

For months, El-Fasher was protected by a fragile peace.

But unrest has soared since last month when the city's two most powerful armed groups -- which had helped to keep the peace there -- pledged to fight alongside the army.

Since then, El-Fasher and the surrounding countryside have seen "systematic burning of entire villages in rural areas, escalating air bombardments... and a tightening siege", according to Toby Harward, the UN's deputy humanitarian coordinator for Sudan.

- 'Large-scale massacre' warning -

At least 23 communities in North Darfur have been burned in apparent arson, Yale University's Humanitarian Research Lab found in a report last week.

The war's overall death toll, however, remains unclear, a factor "that captures just how invisible and horrific this war is", Tom Perriello, US special envoy for Sudan, told a congressional committee on May 1.

While figures of 15,000-30,000 have been mentioned, "some think it's at 150,000", Perriello said.

UN experts reported up to 15,000 people killed in the West Darfur capital El-Geneina alone.

Members of the non-Arab Massalit ethnic group in El-Geneina last year were targeted for killing and other abuses by the RSF and allied militias, forcing an exodus to neighbouring Chad, which the UN says is hosting more than 745,000 people from Sudan.

The International Criminal Court, currently investigating ethnic-based killings primarily by the RSF in Darfur, says it has "grounds to believe" both sides are committing atrocities in the war.

As El-Fasher is home to both Arab and African communities, an all-out battle for control of the city causing massive civilian bloodshed "would lead to revenge attacks across the five Darfur states and beyond Darfur's borders", said Harward.

In late April, United States ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield warned that El-Fasher "is on the precipice of a large-scale massacre".

Eyewitnesses report fighting "is now inside" the nearby Abu Shouk camp, established 20 years ago for people displaced by ethnic violence committed by the Janjaweed militia, which led to ICC war crimes charges.

The Janjaweed later evolved into the RSF.

"Everyone who hasn't managed to leave is trapped at home," camp resident Issa Abdelrahman told AFP.

"People are running out of food, and no one can get to them."

- Eating grass -

According to UN experts, the RSF has repeatedly besieged and set fire to villages and displacement camps in Darfur.

Their siege of El-Fasher has halted aid convoys and commercial trade, Harward said.

Shortages have also hit the El-Fasher Southern Hospital -- the city's only remaining medical facility, where personnel are "completely exhausted", a medical source told AFP.

Requesting anonymity for fear of both sides' well-documented targeting of medics, the source said "some doctors haven't left the hospital in over a month", tirelessly treating gunshot wounds, bombardment injuries and child malnutrition.

The Darfur region was already facing widespread hunger, but now "people are resorting to consuming grass and peanut shells", according to Michael Dunford, the World Food Programme's regional director for Eastern Africa.

Yet it is difficult for them to flee.

UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said encirclement of El-Fasher by armed groups and restrictions on movement along key roads "are limiting families from leaving".

Early this year the RSF declared victories across Sudan, but the army has since mounted defences in key locations.

The RSF has for months threatened an attack on El-Fasher but has held off, in large part due to the locally brokered truce.

They also seem to have been deterred by "heightened international demands and warnings," according to Amjad Farid, a Sudanese political analyst and former aide to ex-civilian prime minister Abdalla Hamdok.

But these warnings are "falling on deaf ears", Harward says.

With the US having announced an imminent resumption of peace talks in Saudi Arabia, Farid said the RSF has focused anew on El-Fasher.

"These are negotiations the militia cannot enter from a position of weakness," Farid told AFP.
A series of attacks by Sudanese paramilitary forces in the western region of Darfur raise the possibility of "genocide" against non-Arab ethnic communities, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

The paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF), along with allied militias, have been widely accused of ethnic cleansing, crimes against humanity and war crimes in their war with the regular army, which began in April 2023.

The war has killed tens of thousands, including up to 15,000 in the West Darfur town of El-Geneina, according to UN experts.

The area is the focus of the 186-page HRW report "'The Massalit Will Not Come Home': Ethnic Cleansing and Crimes Against Humanity in El-Geneina, West Darfur, Sudan."

It describes "an ethnic cleansing campaign against the ethnic Massalit and other non-Arab populations".

From late April until early November of last year, the RSF and allied militias "conducted a systematic campaign to remove, including by killing, ethnic Massalit residents", according to HRW.

The violence, which included atrocities such as mass torture, rape and looting, peaked in mid-June -- when thousands were killed within days -- and surged again in November.

Local human rights lawyers said they had tracked a pattern where fighters targeted "prominent members of the Massalit community", including doctors, human rights defenders, local leaders and government officials.

HRW added that the attackers "methodically destroyed critical civilian infrastructure", primarily in communities consisting of displaced Massalit.

Satellite imagery showed that since June, predominantly Massalit neighbourhoods in El-Geneina have been "systematically dismantled, many with bulldozers, preventing civilians who fled from returning to their homes", HRW reported.

HRW said the attacks constitute "ethnic cleansing" as they appeared to be aimed at "at least having them permanently leave the region".

The context of the killings further "raises the possibility that the RSF and their allies have the intent to destroy in whole or in part the Massalit in at least West Darfur, which would indicate that genocide has been and/or is being committed there", it added.

- 'Large-scale atrocities' -

HRW called for an investigation into genocidal intent, targeted sanctions on those responsible and urged the United Nations to "widen the existing arms embargo on Darfur to cover all of Sudan".

The International Criminal Court, currently investigating ethnic-based killings in Darfur, says it has "grounds to believe" that both the paramilitaries and the army are committing "Rome Statute crimes", which include war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

And in December, the United States said that Sudan's rival forces have both committed war crimes in their brutal conflict, accusing the RSF of ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.

Over half a million Sudanese have fled the violence from Darfur into Chad, according to the latest UN figures.

By late October, 75 percent of those crossing the border were from El-Geneina, HRW said.

Around 400 kilometres (250 miles) east of El-Geneina, all eyes are currently on El-Fasher in North Darfur, the only state capital not under RSF control.

The United States has warned of a disaster of "epic proportions" if the RSF proceeds with an expected attack, as residents fear the same fate of El-Geneina will befall them.

"As the UN Security Council and governments wake up to the looming disaster in El-Fasher, the large-scale atrocities committed in El-Geneina should be seen as a reminder of the atrocities that could come in the absence of concerted action," said HRW executive director Tirana Hassan.
The verdict in the trial of Thomas Kwoyelo, a former commander of the Lord's Resistance Army militia accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity, will be delivered on July, a Ugandan court said Thursday.

He is being tried by the International Crimes Division (ICD) of the high court in northern Gulu in what is regarded as the first war crimes trial in Uganda.

Kwoyelo faces 78 counts and is accused of brutal civilian murders during a 20-year conflict in northern Uganda.

Believed to be in his fifties, he has denied all claims against him.

"The defence counsel Caleb Alaka has closed the defence hearing in the Thomas Kwoyelo case and judgement has been fixed for 12th July," the court communications officer Sheila Wamboga told AFP Thursday.

Kwoyelo is not among the top LRA commanders, some of whom -- including rebel supremo and former altar boy Joseph Kony -- are wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for rape, slavery, mutilation, murder and forcibly recruiting child soldiers.

The LRA was founded in Uganda in the 1980s with the aim of establishing a regime based on the Ten Commandments.

Kwoyelo joined the militia in 1987, and was arrested in March 2009 in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) during a sweep by regional forces against LRA rebels who had fled from Uganda two years earlier.

He was put on trial in July 2011 before the ICD, but was released two months later on the orders of the Supreme Court which said he should be released on the same grounds as other fighters who were granted amnesty after surrendering.

The prosecution appealed the decision and he went on trial again last month.

- Driven out of Uganda -

According to court documents, "all attacks by the LRA which took place in Kilak County, Amuru District between 1987 and 2005, the subject of charges in this indictment, were either commanded by him or were carried out with his full knowledge and authority."

His lawyer Caleb Alaka told AFP Kwoyelo "has been consistent that he is innocent and looking forward to the court ruling".

After the LRA was driven out of Uganda, it spread across the forests of the DRC, the Central African Republic, South Sudan and Sudan.

In 2021, Dominic Ongwen, a Ugandan child soldier who became a top LRA commander, was sentenced by the ICC to 25 years in prison for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The civil war effectively ended in 2006 when a peace process was launched, but the LRA's founder Kony has evaded capture.
What sources provide reliable information on the number of civilian and military casualties in a conflict? How are these figures collected, sorted and interpreted? This is the subject explored by our partners from Asymmetrical Haircuts in this new podcast, with guests from Airwars, Every Casualty Counts and Omeria, three organisations renowned for their work on these counts that counts, for the victims families and for the fight for justice.

Recommended reading Yemen: a decade of war with no sign of justice
Today's press conference for the much-awaited South Korean sci-fi fantasy film Wonderland, directed by Kim Tae Yong, left fans and netizens alike in awe, especially with the appearance of lead actors Park Bo Gum and Bae Suzy.

The film, which explores a virtual world facilitating reunions with departed loved ones through artificial intelligence, boasts a star-studded cast including Jung Yu Mi, Choi Woo Shik, and Tang Wei. Scheduled for release on June 5, Wonderland has already captured the imagination of many.

However, it wasn't just the premise of the film that had tongues wagging; it was the impeccable fashion sense of its lead stars that stole the show.

Park Bo Gum and Bae Suzy's outfits were not just mere clothing choices; they were a testament to their undeniable chemistry on and off-screen.

Bo Gum donned a sharp, pinstriped navy blazer layered over a light shirt, paired with distressed denim. Suzy, on the other hand, opted for a classic dark navy blazer that perfectly complemented Bo Gums ensemble, completing her look with similar jeans.

YOU MIGHT LIKE: Park Bo Gum, Suzy Display Chemistry in 'Wonderland' Stills + Movie To Exhibit Magic of Love & Loss

The duo's fashion coordination added an extra layer of allure to their already captivating presence, leaving attendees and viewers mesmerized.

The internet erupted with admiration and excitement as images from the press conference flooded social media platforms. Korean fans, in particular, couldn't contain their enthusiasm, expressing their adoration for the pair's stunning appearance.

Comments flooded forums and social media threads, with users praising Bo Gum and Suzy's visual chemistry and suggesting they are the perfect on-screen couple.

NETIZENS' COMMENTS

Here's what fans are saying:

'Both are so pretty' 'Did you dress accordingly on purpose? It's pretty haha' 'Their smiles are similar. It suits them well haha.' 'Oh, it suits you well' 'The chemistry between the two is better than I expected haha Drama writer/director, please film something!!!' 'I feel like we have good chemistry.' 'The two have good chemistry' 'Wow, this is a restaurant with great visuals. As soon as I saw it, it's been a while since I've seen something like this... haha.' 'The chemistry is so good, even the clothes are pretty.' 'They match so well  Can't wait for the movie' 'They look great together'

The overwhelming response from fans only serves to heighten anticipation for Wonderland's premiere next month, where audiences are eager to witness the magic that Park Bo Gum and Bae Suzy undoubtedly bring to the screen.

READ ALSO: Park Bo Gum, Bae Suzy's New Movie 'Wonderland' Unveils First Trailer, Release Date

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Joana Cabigas.
Ryu Jun Yeol spoke out on his stance regarding the issue surrounding his past relationships.

During the press conference of his upcoming K-drama "The 8 Show," the actor, along with his co-stars Lee Yeol Eum, Park Hae Joon, Chun Woo Hee, Park Jung Min, Bae Sung Woo, Moon Jung Hee, and Joo Young Lee, along with director Han Jae Rim, answered the questions from the media about the anticipated series.

However, one of the questions asked of Ryu Jun Yeol was about his reaction to the previous controversy. The 37-year-old actor revealed his thoughts about the issue for the first time.

Ryu Jun Yeol, who maintained his silence at the height of the "transit love" controversy with Han So Hee and Hyeri, explained why he chose to remain quiet about the official statements released by the two actresses.

"In the midst of issues related to my personal life, various posts were posted on social media against my will at the time, so rather than responding to each and every one of them, I thought it would be best to remain silent and deal with the resulting criticism."

The actor added that the criticism made him reflect on himself, and that he saw this as an opportunity to contemplate on his actions.

However, Ryu Jun Yeol didn't elaborate much on the issue "because it is a personal matter," and would like to delve more into his new K-Drama "The 8 Show."

Han So Hee - Ryu Jun Yeol - Hyeri Controversy: A Recap

To recall, the actor and Han So Hee were spotted during a vacation together in Hawaii.

At the time, both of their agencies shared that the two went to the country for different purposes: the "My Name" star was on vacation with friends, while Ryu Jun Yeol went on a photoshoot project.

However, dating rumors blew up after Ryu Jun Yeol's ex-girlfriend, Lee Hyeri, shared a cryptic post on Instagram, which others believe was pertained to the rumored relationship.

Amid the issue, Han So Hee confirmed that she was indeed dating Ryu Jun Yeol. She explained in a post how she and the actor met, pointing out that it was not a transit love.

In the wake of the scandal, Ryu Jun Yeol maintained his silence and was also called out by Han So Hee for keeping tight-lipped about the issue.

"I am also frustrated about the fact that one person involved in this matter is maintaining silence."

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Flores
Bae Sung Woo returns to K-drama through the Netflix series "The 8 Show."

The controversial actor, who went on hiatus after being involved in a drunk driving incident, graced the stage to join fellow co-stars Ryu Jun Yeol, Chun Woo Hee, Park Jung Min, Lee Yeol Eum, Park Hae Joon, Moon Jung Hee, and Lee Joo Young, together with screenwriter and director Han Jae Rim, at the press conference.

Ahead of the show's official premiere, Bae Sung Woo greeted the media with an apology, expressing his regret regarding his actions.

In a report, Bae Sung Woo bowed his head as a sign of apology and briefly responded to the 2020 drunk driving issue.

According to him, he had some apprehensions that his previous issue would have an effect on the upcoming K-drama.

"I worried about impacting my colleagues due to personal issues."

Expressing his deep regret, he apologized for the disturbance that it caused people.

"I worked diligently on this project, hoping to minimize disruption for everyone involved. I deeply apologize for any inconvenience caused."

The 51-year-old actor made headlines in November 2020 after he got booked by the police for drunk driving.

At that time, Bae Sung Woo was caught driving under the influence after drinking with an acquaintance in Gangnam, Seoul.

During the investigation, it was found out that his blood alcohol level reached the point where authorities needed to revoke his license.

In addition to this, he was also fined 7 million KRW, or around 6,400 USD, on charges of violating the Road Traffic Act.

The controversy also led him to step down from his lead role in "Delayed Justice" and be replaced by top star Jung Woo Sung.

'The 8 Show' Cast and Where to Watch

An adaptation to the Naver webtoons "Money Game" and "Pie Game," "The 8 Show" is an upcoming psychological thriller K-drama that showcases the story of eight individuals who are experiencing financial struggles and were invited to a secret game.

However, they realized that they were trapped inside an eight-story vicinity where they had to participate in a sweet yet dangerous high-stakes game.

Their mission is to survive the death-defying challenges to claim the coveted cash prize.

"As time passes, award money accumulates indefinitely," a phrase flashed on the official trailer.

Following the release of an intriguing teaser, "The 8 Show" release date is set for May 17.

The eight-part episode K-drama is available exclusively on Netflix.

Meanwhile, the upcoming psychological thriller series will be Bae Sung Woo's first K-drama in four years.

Aside from this, viewers will get to see more of the actor as he headlines upcoming K-dramas such as "Light Shop" with Ju Ji Hoon and Park Bo Young.

IN CASE YOU MISSED : Netflix Drops the First Trailer for 'The 8 Show' Featuring the Star-Studded Cast

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article

Written by Geca Flores
At the '60th Baeksang Arts Awards' held at COEX in Gangnam-gu, Seoul on the 7th, Go Yoon-jung, who established herself as a representative actress in her 20s, was at the center of attention with her unrealistic beauty in person.

On this day, Go Yoon-jeong captured everyone's attention as she perfectly wore a sparkling off-shoulder dress like a star in the night sky.

Appearing in a black sequined dress, radiating alluring charm, the dress contrasted with her fair skin, making her stand out even more.

In particular, in the photo released online after the awards ceremony, her small face and fair skin were illuminated, creating a halo-like effect, drawing admiration from many.

Go Youn Jung's IG story update, with the Baeksang awards bts pic.twitter.com/cX4amsj7zo  Bu-yoenie  (@Misskwitty1) May 9, 2024

Meanwhile, the Disney+ drama 'Moving' starring Go Yoon-jung achieved the feat of winning several awards, including the grand prize, in the TV category at the Baeksang Arts Awards.

READ ALSO: Go Yoon Jung Drama 'Resident Playbook' to Delay Premiere - What Happened?

In a photo showing Go Yoon-jung sitting with Ryu Seung-ryong, the intimate atmosphere between the two was felt, and her beauty stood out even more.

Go Yoon-jung's unrealistic beauty and solid acting skills make her shine even more, and her presence shined even brighter at the Baeksang Arts Awards that day.

Her photos and her real-life beauty are receiving enthusiastic responses online, and we are looking forward to her future activities.

NETIZENS' REACTIONS

Here's what fans are saying:

'Meanwhile, is this beauty real?...'

''I've never seen anyone with such fair skin...'

' i love my best father daughter duo so much'

'Beauty unmatched our Younjung'

'Her eyes are shining'

'She is literally glowing'

'Splendid shimmering glowing'

'dream skin'

'SHE'S SO PRETTY '

With her unforgettable appearance at the Baeksang Arts Awards and the success of 'Moving', fans are eagerly anticipating Go Yoon-jung's next projects.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT: Go Yoon Jung Reportedly Chosen As New NH Bank Endorser After Han So Hee

For more K-Drama, K-Movie, and celebrity news, keep your tabs open here at KDramaStars.

KDramaStars owns this article.

Written by Joana Cabigas.
Family and friends gather for a vigil to remember Rebecca Contois in Winnipeg on Thursday, May 19, 2022. A judge is expected to hear from an officer who led the search of a Winnipeg landfill for the partial remains of one of four victims of admitted serial killer Jeremy Skibicki. THE CANADIAN PRESS/John Woods




Friday, May 10, 2024 - Embakasi East Member of Parliament Paul Ongili alias Babu Owino, has blasted controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna, terming him as a useless barrister who has nothing to offer Kenyans.

In a social media post on Thursday, Owino stated that though Miguna has an LLB degree, he is a schizophrenic man who has no understanding of what he says and his actions should be ignored.

What does Miguna know? He doesn't know what I know.

"I can tell you without fear of contradiction that I beat him in all matters.

"Miguna's issue should be treated with a conspiracy of silence, those who listen to Miguna will never believe him, and the few who believe him will never be convinced.

"For those who will be convinced by what he says will never understand, because of his schizophrenic nature," Babu said.

In an interview with internet personality Oga Obinna on Monday, Miguna said the legislator was a criminal who had committed many crimes.

Miguna further said Babu threatened the lecturers and lacked the discipline to be the governor of Nairobi as he lacked governance skills.

"Another Criminal who has committed many crimes before.

"Drama is not governance and that is all he knows.

"He is not even disciplined. Because he has a degree after threats to lecturers.

"Babu knows nothing about governance. He can't be governor, Miguna said

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Eleven people were injured, four of them seriously, after a Boeing passenger plane came off the runway during takeoff from Dakar International Airport early Thursday, May 9, its operator said.

The Air Senegal flight was bound for the Malian capital Bamako and had 78 passengers onboard, airport management company, LAS, said in a statement.

Images taken during the night and published by local media and on social networks showed the plane in an overgrown area with first aiders surrounding an injured person. Smoke and flames are also visible near the aircraft.





The Boeing 737/300 had been chartered from privately owned Transair, LAS said.

The jet came off the runway during its takeoff phase around 1:00 am (0100 GMT), it said.

Eleven people were injured, four of them seriously. Six other passengers were taken for medical check-ups inside the airport.





The transport ministry said in a separate statement that two pilots and four cabin crew were onboard.

It gave slightly different numbers saying there were 79 passengers and 10 injured, including a pilot.

Blaise Diagne airport at Diass, 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Senegalese capital Dakar, reopened shortly after midday, its operator later announced.





We inform you that Blaise Diagne international airport has reopened, said LAS, made up of Turkish group Limak, the publicly-owned airport operator AIBD and another Turkish entity, Summa.

Airport operations have resumed as normal.

The transport ministry said the Bureau of Investigation and Analysis had opened an inquiry to determine the cause of the accident.





US manufacturer Boeing is also mired in problems, including safety concerns after two 737 MAX crashes within five months and another scare involving the aircraft over Alaska in January.

The incident in Senegal comes a day after a Boeing 767 Fedex cargo plane touched down at Istanbul airport without its front landing gear which failed to open, though nobody was hurt, the US Federal Aviation administration said.

Watch video below.
EQS-Ad-hoc: Accentro Real Estate AG / Key word(s): Financing/Real Estate

ACCENTRO announces result and status of negotiations on 'no action letters' with a group of major bondholders of the 2020/2026 bond and the bondholder of the 2021/2029 bond



10-May-2024 / 20:33 CET/CEST

Disclosure of an inside information acc. to Article 17 MAR of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014, transmitted by EQS News - a service of EQS Group AG.

The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.





ACCENTRO announces result and status of negotiations on "no action letters" with a group of major bondholders of the 2020/2026 bond and the bondholder of the 2021/2029 bond

Berlin, 10 May 2024  ACCENTRO Real Estate AG (the "Company) announces that a group of major bondholders of the 2020/2026 bond (ISIN DE000A254YS5 / WKN A254YS, "2020/2026 bond"), which in total account for approx. 41,6 % of the bond capital, have signed a no action letter.

Essentially, the no action letter is intended to preclude a termination of the bond due to a breach of the limitation on net financial indebtedness set out in the bond terms and conditions and the agreed reporting obligations as well as corresponding enforcement. In addition, the no action letter contains the following main provisions: The provision of certain third-party validations as a prerequisite for validity, the Company's obligation to meet certain milestones, including certain obligations to prepare a restructuring solution to be negotiated with the respective bondholders in the upcoming months, and a provisional term until 14 July 2024.

The negotiations with the bondholder of the 2021/2029 bond (ISIN DE000A3H3D51 / WKN A3H3D5, "2021/2029 bond") on a corresponding no action letter are constructive and positive. However, it has not yet been possible to reach a final agreement on all commercial and legal issues.

The Management Board and the Company's advisors are working intensively to bring the negotiations with the bondholder of the 2021/2029 bond to a successful conclusion and implement the agreement in principle in a singed no action letter in due time.

Notifying person:

Thomas Eisenlohr, Head of Investor Relations

Phone: +49 (0)30 887181272

eisenlohr@accentro.de

Berlin, 10 May 2024

The Management Board

ACCENTRO Real Estate AG

Kantstrae 44/45

D-10625 Berlin

ISIN: DE000A0KFKB3 / DE000A3H3D51 / DE000A254YS5

Stock exchange: Frankfurt Stock Exchange, regulated market (Prime Standard) / Luxembourg Stock Exchange




Friday, May 10, 2024 - Embattled Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Mithika Linturi has claimed that he faced adversity because of his alignment with President William Ruto amid his ongoing impeachment plans.

Appearing before the committee probing his impeachment on Thursday, an emotional Linturi recounted the challenges he and his family endured for supporting President William during the previous administration of Uhuru Kenyatta.

The CS, who is facing impeachment over the fake fertilizer scandal, disclosed how the former regime evicted him from his residence, allowing others to occupy it.

"I was kicked out of my own house, which I spent money to build for six years.

"People were given protection to occupy my house forcefully because there was nothing I could do.

"The only mistake I made was to support a presidential candidate who did not find favour in that administration, Linturi said.

It is not clear why Linturi made such remarks since he is facing impeachment for being a merchant of impunity behind the sale of fake fertilizer in the country.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Friday, May 10, 2024 - Detectives have launched investigations into the brutal murder of city businesslady and Ohangla fanatic Sheila Wegesha.

Sheilas body was discovered lying in a pool of blood in the bedroom by her 18-year-old daughter on Thursday, May 9, at around 1 PM.

She had a deep cut on the throat.

It is believed that she was killed in the morning hours.

Sheilas husband, who is currently on the run, is said to have left the house past midnight on Wednesday without saying anything to the other family members who were present.

He reportedly left his car and vanished.

Wegeshas daughter told police that she had prepared lunch for her mother and went to wake her up when she realized she was dead.

The slain Businesslady was popular in the Ohangla circles.

Detectives have launched a manhunt for Sheilas husband.

He is a well-established businessman and the Director of Light Uriri Academy located in Migori.

It is alleged that before Sheila was murdered, he had confronted her after he found out that she had an affair with 2 Nigerian men.

They even had a scuffle at a club in Nairobis Umoja Estate which they co-own.









The Kenyan DAILY POST.
Friday, May 10, 2024 - Jack Bambo, the director of Light Uriri Academy in Migori, has been arrested in Nairobi in connection with his wife's death.

Jack stabbed his wife multiple times after he found out that she was having extra-marital affairs.

Going by social media photos and videos, Jack Bambo, also known as JB, appeared deeply in love with his wife Sheila Wegesha.

Almost all of his photos depicted him holding her.

However, amidst the joyous imagery, there was one unsettling post from Jack.

It featured somber music and the caption 'My Death.' Another caption read I love you today, I love you tomorrow, Even in death.

The couple appeared perfect on social media but behind the scenes, their marriage was rocked with infidelity claims.

It is alleged that Jack found out that his wife had an affair with two Nigerian men.

Below are photos of the businessman, who now faces murder charges.

















































The Kenyan DAILY POST.




Friday, May 10, 2024  Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has moved to justify the heavy tax imposed on agricultural products being exported to Uganda.

This comes amidst protests from Kenyans, who have termed the tax as punitive and unjustifiable.

However, Museveni stated that it was a deliberate move on his part.

He remarked that as a move to protect Uganda's interests, his administration would continue taxing consumer goods.

Additionally, goods that help in production and industrialization would continue to be exempted from import tax.

There is no import tax on select categories such as pharmaceuticals, machinery, and raw materials used for input into manufacturing or development projects, Museveni remarked on Ugandas tax policy.

The issue on the table is the import of consumer goods, which are not medicines, machinery, raw materials, or intermediate products, and our taxation on those items is deliberate.

Museveni termed the move to continue taxing consumer imports as a strategic tax policy to develop an independent, integrated, and self-sufficient economy.

On how Uganda would have a self-sufficient economy, Museveni promised to protect traders working in pharmaceutical, machinery, and raw materials used for input into manufacturing of development projects.

Museveni further added that export tax on those products will also be negligible.

The move by Uganda is likely to hurt the Kenyan economy as the East African Community (EAC) is one of the countrys largest trading partners.

Additionally, Kenyas exports to Uganda are largely consumer goods with the list dominated by animal, vegetable fats and oils, and cleavage products.

Other top exports to Uganda are; salts, soap, sugar, and mineral fuels.

In April, Uganda imposed an extra Ksh3 tax for every kilogram of Irish potatoes being exported to the country.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Thursday, May 9, 2024 - US President Joe Biden has announced he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orders a major invasion of the city of Rafah.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres, Biden told CNNs Erin Burnett referring to 2,000-pound bombs that Biden paused shipments of last week.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities  that deal with that problem, Biden said.

Biden's announcement that he was prepared to condition American weaponry on Israels actions amounts to a turning point in the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas.

The president has come under extraordinary pressure, including from members of his own party, to limit shipments of arms to Israel amid a humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

An impending invasion of Rafah, the city in southern Gaza where more than a million Palestinian civilians have been sheltering, alongside protests by Pro-Palestinian students across the country ahead of the November presidential elections, appears to be the reason for Biden's shift in stance towards Israel.

Were not walking away from Israels security. Were walking away from Israels ability to wage war in those areas, Biden said.

Biden said while the US would continue to provide defensive weapons to Israel, including its Iron Dome air defence system, other shipments would end should a major ground invasion of Rafah begin.





Were going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently, he said. But its, its just wrong. Were not going to  were not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.

Bidens public linking of American weapons shipments to Israels conduct could widen a rift between himself and Netanyahu, with whom he spoke by phone on Monday. That conversation came as Israel ordered the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians from Rafah and launched strikes near border areas of the city.

Biden said Israels actions in Rafah had not yet crossed a red line of entering heavily populated zones.

They havent gone into the population centres. What they did is right on the border. And its causing problems with, right now, in terms of  with Egypt, which Ive worked very hard to make sure we have a relationship and help, he said.

He said he had conveyed to Netanyahu and other Israeli leaders that American support for operations in population centers was limited.

Ive made it clear to Bibi and the war cabinet: Theyre not going to get our support if in fact, they go on these population centres, he said.

Later, Biden described warning Netanyahu about the risks of becoming bogged down in Gaza, likening it to the American experience in Afghanistan and Iraq.

I said to Bibi, Dont make the same mistake we made in America. We wanted to get bin Laden. Well help you get Sinwar, he said, referring to the Hamas leader in Gaza. It made sense to get bin Laden; it made no sense to try and unify Afghanistan. It made no sense in my view to engage in thinking that in Iraq they had a nuclear weapon.

Biden's strong support for Israel has generated protests and anger, including on college campuses and at his events, where signs have labelled him Genocide Joe.

Asked about the demonstrations, Biden said Wednesday: Absolutely, I hear the message.

But he warned against protests that veer into hate speech or antisemitism.

There is a legitimate right to free speech and protest. Theres a legitimate right to do that, and they have a right to do that, he said. But theres not a lesson legit legitimate right to use hate speech. Theres not a legitimate right to threaten Jewish students. There is not a legitimate right to block peoples access to class. Thats against the law.




Friday, May 10, 2024 - The police have vehemently defended former Migori Governor Okoth Obado in the cold-blooded murder of university student Sharon Otieno.

This is after they insisted that Obado was not at the scene of Sharon Otieno's murder.

Appearing before Justice Cecilia Githua, investigations officer Nicholas Ole Sena said his investigations did not show Obado took part in the kidnapping of Sharon and journalist Barrack Oduor.

Ole Sena explained to the court that they lacked evidence to substantiate claims that Obado was present during Sharon's murder.

"The investigation was that the deceased was abducted and then killed, we don't have any knowledge or evidence that he participated in the killing of Sharon," he said.

Obado's legal team, led by seasoned lawyers Kioko Kilukumi and Rodgers Sagana, further questioned if their client gave the green light to hold the meeting that ended with Sharon's death.

The investigating officer told the court that his probe did not unearth any evidence that Obado knew about the meeting.

In his testimony, he revealed that Obado was in Azimio Leader Raila Odinga's home when the crime was committed.

Ole Sena said the opposition chief and Obado were reportedly in a meeting.

"I confirm that he was in Raila Odinga's place from 5pm to about 9pm," he said.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Friday, May 10, 2024  President William Rutos UDA has threatened to publish a list of Governors whom it alleges have been diverting county funds to finance political activities.

In a statement yesterday, UDA Secretary General Cleophas Malala alleged that counties led by ODM governors had been financing Opposition Chief Raila Odinga's political activities using public funds.

Malala said that the ruling party had evidence to back up these claims.

In reality, ODM Counties are being mismanaged by corrupt, incompetent, and inept Governors who are getting full protection from the ODM party itself, we will be providing evidence of how Governors are using County funds to fund private political activities of their Party Leader Raila Odinga, stated Malala.

Further, UDA condemned the ODM Party, accusing it of being aggressive towards civil servants, from Nyanza.

According to Malala, ODM was targeting high-ranking civil servants and selling vitriol to destabilise them.

We have noted ODMs penchant for attacking civil servants, particularly in the Nyanza region, the higher the position the more virulent the attacks, stated Malala

Malala also defended the ruling party, stating that the government had not been using its power to destabilise the opposition as alleged by ODM earlier in the week.

ODM in an official statement had alleged that UDA was using rebels to instigate chaos at opposition events.

UDA's position was delivered after ODM on Wednesday expelled Uriri MP Mark Nyamita whom it accused of being a UDA agent.

This was after chaos erupted at two separate functions in the Nyanza region where the supporters of Nyamita and Migori Governor Ochilo Ayacko engaged in a fight forcing police intervention.

ODM in its statement signed by Secretary General Edwin Sifuna alleged that UDA had a hand in the chaos.

The Kenyan DAILY POST




Friday, May 10, 2024 - Controversial lawyer Miguna Miguna has accused Nairobi County Governor Johnson Sakaja of looting Nairobi more than ex-governors Mike Sonko and Evans Kidero.

In an exclusive interview with internet personality Oga Obinna, Miguna said though Kidero was a big thief, Sakaja was looting more than him and Sonko combined.

The General termed Sakajas leadership as the worst, describing him as the most corrupt governor in Kenyas history.

"Sakaja is orchestrating the worst governance disaster in the republic of Kenya. He is the worst performing governor," Miguna said.

However, in an interview with NTV last week, Sakaja affirmed that his administration is on the right track.

The county boss expressed gratitude to Nairobi residents for electing him, acknowledging that his tenure in office over the past two years has been marked by a range of emotions.

Sakaja elaborated that he had been granted a five-year mandate, emphasizing that with time, all aspects would align accordingly.

The county chief asserted that his administration has achieved significant progress and success during his tenure in office.

The Kenyan DAILY POST






Thursday, May 9, 2024 - One Remi has claimed that some Kenyan women are setting up Nigerian men by pretending to love them only to falsely accuse the men of crimes and get them arrested and deported.

Some Kenyan women are scamming Nigerian men, pretending to love them, even to the extent of marriage only for the women to wrongly accuse the men and then get them arrested and deported, the X user wrote on Thursday.
China, Hungary elevate ties to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership

Xinhua) 07:59, May 10, 2024

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary decided Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.

The decision was announced during the talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary, ushering in a new and important opportunity for the development of bilateral relations, Xi said.

Elaborating on the decision during a joint press conference with Orban, Xi said he and Orban agreed that China and Hungary have always been good friends that trust and support each other as well as good partners that seek win-win cooperation over the years. It is natural for the two countries to further upgrade relations and enrich bilateral cooperation.

The two sides should take the establishment of the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era as an opportunity to inject new and strong impetus into bilateral cooperation and create a better future for the two peoples, Xi said.

China-Hungary relations are currently at the best period in history and their comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained high-level development. With deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields, the two countries have set a model for building a new type of international relations, Xi said during the talks with Orban.

Hungary is welcomed to be China's companion on its path to Chinese modernization, which will surely bring more opportunities to Hungary and other countries in the world, Xi said.

China is willing to jointly forge greater synergy in development strategies with Hungary, make good use of mechanisms such as the China-Hungary Inter-Governmental Belt and Road Cooperation Committee, promote orderly cooperation in fields including infrastructure and green energy, complete the construction of the Hungary-Serbia Railway on schedule, and actively expand cooperation in emerging areas such as clean energy and artificial intelligence, Xi said.

In order to enrich the China-Hungary all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, the two sides are committed to enhancing synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Hungary's "Eastern Opening" policy, said a joint statement on the establishment of the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era released by the two countries.

Leveraging mechanisms and platforms such as the Belt and Road Cooperation Promotion Center, the two sides will pursue deeper and more substantive progress in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, jointly ensure the safety and security and smooth progress of relevant cooperation projects between the two countries, and strive for more fruitful results in practical cooperation, the statement said.

The two sides should continue supporting the teaching of both countries' languages, Xi said during his talks with Orban.

China is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and coordination with Hungary, advocate an equal and orderly multi-polar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, safeguard international fairness and justice, promote global governance in a more just and equitable direction, and make positive efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.

Hailing Europe as an important pole in a multi-polar world and an important partner on China's path toward Chinese modernization, Xi said it is hoped that Hungary will take the opportunity of taking on the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of this year to promote the steady and sound development of China-EU relations.

The cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) has a strong internal driving force, Xi said, expressing hope that Hungary will continue to play an important role in promoting the China-CEEC cooperation to better benefit people of various countries.

For his part, Orban told Xi that his visit once again demonstrates the profound friendship and huge potential between Hungary and China, and is of great historical significance to Hungary and Hungary-China relations.

Hungary supports China in safeguarding its core interests and legitimate rights, and has adhered and will adhere to the one-China principle, said Orban.

The Hungarian government "reaffirms that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China. Hungary opposes all forms of separatist activities at breaking the unity of China," said the joint statement released Thursday.

His country does not identify with the rhetoric of so-called "overcapacity" or "de-risking." China's development is an opportunity rather than a risk for Europe, and Hungary is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and cooperation with China to jointly safeguard world peace and stability, said Orban during his talks with Xi.

The two leaders had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis.

Xi stressed that China has always been committed to promoting peace talks and is willing to continue working with relevant parties to make positive efforts to realize peace at an early date.

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Across China: University collaboration boosts NE China's industrial development

Xinhua) 20:09, May 10, 2024

CHANGCHUN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- At the bustling workshop of Hongqi, China's iconic sedan brand, in Changchun, capital of Jilin Province in the northeast, the rear floorboard of an EH7 model was successfully crafted using a single die casting process.

This new technique has boosted car body production efficiency for Hongqi, known as "red flag," a brand under China's leading automaker FAW Group Co., Ltd., by over threefold.

The development of this die casting process stems from cooperation between the automaker and prominent higher education institutions in the province, such as Jilin University and the Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Two decades following China's strategy to revitalize the northeast region, the three provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning are set to embark on a new journey aimed at enhancing quality development, with pivotal support from academic institutions.

Home to over 250 higher education institutions, the country's northeastern region boasts a dozen or so elite universities that have consistently contributed to national strategies and regional revitalization, ranging from China's first nuclear submarine and recoverable satellite to the Long March carrier rocket series and the self-developed large passenger aircraft C919.

In a fresh initiative, provincial education departments have partnered with their counterparts in science and technology to establish a platform that fosters collaboration between academic experts and industries, with the aim of turning research findings into tangible products.

As a result of the platform, in 2023, a seed fund of 10 million yuan (approximately 1.41 million U.S. dollars) and factory workshops spanning 3,300 square meters were designated in Jilin to facilitate the commercialization of a smart chassis technique capable of enabling lateral movement or spin turns for vehicles.

According to Jin Liqiang, a professor of automotive engineering at Jilin University, the technique was developed as early as 2017 but had remained on the cusp of commercialization.

In 2023, universities in Jilin undertook nearly 1,300 projects related to the application and services of research results, culminating in the signing of over 450 technology transfer contracts. Heilongjiang Province backed 150 significant research initiatives, spurring enterprises to invest 526 million yuan in R&D.

Meanwhile, universities in Liaoning completed the commercialization of over 7,600 scientific and technological research results, with contract value reaching nearly 4.03 billion yuan.

Furthermore, professors and doctoral students were organized to visit enterprises and offer "one-on-one" technical advice and consultation.

Shi Zhaohui, an official of the department of science and technology of Heilongjiang, said such collaborations can help solve issues hindering the commercialization of scientific and technological achievements, generating huge economic and social benefits.

Over the past five years, the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) has collaborated with the Beidahuang Group for the application of various AI technologies on the region's rich black soil, covering areas such as remote sensing, pest and disease detection, and weed recognition, to achieve automated farming.

"We have been continuously promoting the interdisciplinary studies between agriculture and industry, deepening research and application of big data and AI, and fostering agricultural development," said Jin Jing, deputy director of the HIT Institute for Artificial Intelligence.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
In the north, the MNJTF (Multinational Joint Task Force) has, since 2015 played a major role in destroying Boko Haram and other Islamic terrorist groups in Borno State. Boko Haram translates to western education is forbidden. The group was originally inspired by the success of the Taliban in Afghanistan.

MNJTF strength varies from 7,500 to 10,000 troops and maintains bases and camps near Lake Chad in northern Borno state and concentrates on hunting down and killing Islamic terrorists. MNJTF has taken the lead in containing local ISIL (Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant) groups, mainly ISWAP (Islamic State West Africa Province) and blocking the Islamic terrorist efforts to once more control territory in the region.

Increasing violence by Boko Haram and Islamic terrorists in neighboring countries led to the creation of the MNJTF, which consists of troops from Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Benin, and Nigeria. At first the MNJTF was used mainly inside Nigeria but by early 2017 MNJTF was spending most of its time clearing Boko Haram out of border areas, especially the Lake Chad coast. Each member country assigns some of their best troops to the MNJTF. Because of that Boko Haram has suffered heavy losses trying to deal with the MNJTF. This played a role in the 2016 Boko Haram split that turned Boko Haram operating near Lake Chad into ISWAP. MNJTF concentrated more and more on the areas around Lake Chad and has been successful at curbing ISWAP operations there.

Recently the Nigerian Air Force has been using its ground attack aircraft to carry out frequent air strikes against ISWAP during April and early May. Soldiers enter an area hit by an air strike as quickly as possible to count the dead, capture the wounded and pursue the survivors and walking wounded. Badly wounded men are often carried away and would often not survive a rapid pursuit. The dead are searched to obtain identification and any useful information in the form of documents or stored on cell phones or laptop computers. The fleeing terrorists often leave behind large quantities of equipment and supplies, including motorcycles, trucks, large amounts of grain and grinders to turn the grain into flour. Documents recovered, and interrogations of captured terrorists and local civilians, sometimes reveal that a major supply base for Islamic terrorists in the region was captured.

ISWAP is the sole survivor in a civil war among Islamic terrorist factions that took place in the northern Sambisa Forest. This remote and thinly populated area has long been a refuge for bandits and currently Islamic terrorists. There is still violence in the far north caused by Boko Haram and Islamic terrorists. Some battles between Boko Haram and ISWAP fighters left over a hundred dead. Most of these skirmishes were less deadly.

Another new problem in the north is the nomadic Fulani, who have long skirmishes with farmers and each other over access to water and grasslands for their herds in northeastern and Central Nigeria. The Fulani are armed, mainly with AK-47 assault rifles and not much ammunition. The Fulani have learned how to use the AK-47 in single shot mode, which requires the user to quickly release the trigger after one of two shots. The nomadic Fulani have long lived frugal lives along with their cattle in the relatively dry Sahel region. The Sahel forms a transitional region between the dry Sahara Desert to the north and the humid savanna region to the south. The Sahel is a semi-desert area south of the Sahara Desert that covers much of northern Africa from the Atlantic Ocean to the east coast of Africa.

A growing Fulani population and the need for more cattle to support more Fulani meant the Fulani needed more grazing land and water. The only major source of water in northeastern Nigeria is the Niger River, which makes its way through several countries, including Sudan, Chad, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Nigeria. West of the Niger River, there is a lot less water and more competition between the Fulani herders and farmers occupying and working arable land south of the Sahel.

Most Nigerians want a long standing compromise with the Fulani to survive but the radical Islamic terrorist minority among the Fulani were unconcerned with such un-Islamic compromises and were willing to burn the entire nation down to prove their point. The Fulani violence has been escalating for years and overall has killed five times as many Christians as Boko Haram. Thats because the majority of Nigerians the Fulani attack are Christians. With Boko Haram in the north, the Christians are a minority who are quick to leave when threatened and move to the Christian south. Boko Haram killed as many Christians as they could catch but most northern Christians were not eager to become martyrs. In Central Nigeria the Christians are defending their ancient homeland and livelihoods from invaders.

In 2023 Nigerian President Tinubu backed a compromise plan between the Moslem Fulani and the Christian and Moslem farming communities south of the Sahel that the Fulani nomads were moving into. Tinubu had problems getting all factions of the Fulani to cooperate.

When the Christians fight back against aggressive Fulani or Islamic terrorists, the Islamic terrorists take heavy losses and are often driven away while the more numerous Fulani remain. This is why there is this north-south religious divide in Nigeria and several other African nations. Islam had been slowly moving south in Africa for over a thousand years when the Europeans showed up and moved inland early in the 18th century. The Europeans, like the Arabs before them, had no resistance to the many local diseases, especially in areas with more rainfall. The advancing Arabs married into the local tribes and slowly developed immunity to the local diseases.

Since 2020 the Islamic terrorist violence has declined while tribal violence grew to be the largest source of violent deaths in central and northern Nigeria. The Islamic terror groups were not just fighting to expand the territory they controlled. This was not about conquest but staying alive. Most of the violence could be described as banditry on a large and growing scale. By 2024 violence throughout Nigeria had become endemic, especially in the northeast, where nearly five million people were suffering from severe and growing hunger. Similar but less severe problems were felt by nearly 40 million Nigerians. The government denied the extent of the problem and did so from the capital or other major cities where the food shortages were minimal. You had to go out into the countryside to witness the full extent of the crisis. The government advised foreigners to avoid such areas because they werent safe.

By 2024 the Christians in northeastern Adamawa state had rebuilt 87 churches destroyed by Boko Haram after 2014. Boko Haram came and went while the more numerous Christian communities prevailed. The problems with Boko Haram can be traced back to 2004 when Islamic violence in the northeast began as protests and escalated into larger and persistent problems. The violence became so extensive and intense that there are still millions of refugees plus substantial economic damage in northeastern Borno and Adamawa States, where it all began.

There seems to be no end in sight because of the corruption among local government and tribal leaders. For a while some competent leadership in the security forces reduced the violence but that did not last. Historically local police and the national armed forces have been crippled by corrupt and inept leadership. All this when a small group in northeastern Borno State calling themselves Boko Haram sought to emulate the Taliban in Afghanistan and impose order using Islamic law and ruthless violence. This activity grew for a decade until 2014 and appeared unstoppable. It took over a year for the government to finally muster sufficient military strength to cripple but not destroy Boko Haram.

This did not get much media attention outside Africa, even though in 2014 Boko Haram killed more people than ISIL did in Syria and Iraq. The main reason for Boko Haram gains in 2014 and 2015 were corruption in the army, which severely crippled effective counterterror efforts. By itself Boko Haram was too small to have much impact on a national scale but the inability to deal with this problem put a spotlight on the corruption that has hobbled all progress in Nigeria for decades.

A new president, Bola Tinubu, was elected in 2023 and made considerable progress in reducing corruption. This included dealing with growing instances of tribal feuds and similar violence throughout the country. This has been especially bad down south in the Niger River Delta oil-producing region. Violence against oil facilities continues, in part because local politicians and business leaders were part of the oil theft business.

Northern Moslems want more control over the federal government and the oil money. In northern and central Nigeria, you have increasing violence as nomadic Moslem herders move south and clash with largely Christian farmers over land use and water supplies. For the last few years these tribal feuds have killed more people than Boko Haram. The situation is still capable of sliding into regional civil wars, over money and political power. Corruption and ethnic/tribal/religious rivalries threaten to trigger, at worse, another civil war or at least more street violence and public anger.






Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Ukraines parliament has passed a bill that would enable some prisoners to fight in the armed forces as the military faces a critical personnel shortage and Russian forces continue to advance on the battlefield.

The move marks a U-turn in Ukraines approach to the matter. Kyiv had long opposed the measure and had repeatedly criticised Moscow for mobilising prisoners to fill its army ranks.

The legislation would need to be signed by the chairperson of parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy before becoming law.

The parliament has voted yes, MP Olena Shuliak, head of Zelenskyys party, said in a Facebook post.

The draft law opens the possibility for certain categories of prisoners who expressed a desire to defend their country to join the Defence Forces, she said.

Mobilisation would be voluntary and open only to certain categories of prisoners, she said. Only prisoners with under three years left to serve on their sentence may apply, she said. Any prisoners who are mobilised would be granted parole rather than a pardon.

Among those not eligible to serve include those found guilty of sexual violence, killing two or more people, serious corruption and former high-ranking officials, Shuliak said.

Russia has recruited prisoners to serve on the front lines since the first days of its invasion in February 2022, initially offering presidential pardons for six months of service.

Ukraine recently toughened measures against military service draft dodgers and lowered the age at which men can be drafted from 27 to 25.






Thursday, May 9, 2024 - Iran has warned its adversaries the US and Israel that it could be pushed into building a nuclear weapon if Israel threatens its existence.

We have no decision to build a nuclear bomb but should Irans existence be threatened, there will be no choice but to change our military doctrine, said Kamal Kharrazi, an adviser to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, on Thursday, May 9.

In the case of an attack on our nuclear facilities by the Zionist regime, our deterrence will change, he was reported as saying by Irans Student News Network.

Khamenei, who has the final say on Nuclear projects, banned the development of nuclear weapons in a fatwa, or religious edict, in the early 2000s, saying it is haram, or forbidden in Islam.

But in 2021, Irans then-intelligence minister said Western pressure could push the Islamic republic to seek nuclear weapons.

Iran is enriching uranium to up to 60 percent purity, whereas weapons-grade uranium is enriched to about 90 percent. If the current nuclear material on hand were enriched further, it would suffice for two nuclear weapons, according to an official yardstick by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The confrontation between Iran and Israel erupted into open confrontation in April, after a suspected Israeli strike on Irans embassy compound in the Syrian capital, Damascus, which killed seven members of Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two generals who led the elite Quds Force in Syria and Lebanon.

Iran retaliated by launching about 300 missiles and drones against Israel.






Thursday, May 9, 2024 - A Kentucky woman went on a wild shooting rampage, killing her husband and her own sister before she was killed by her brother in a shootout, police said.

Angela Gosser, 56, is accused of driving to her brothers house on Friday, May 3 in Jamestown with a gun and forcing her way into the home.

Her brother, Darryl Wilson, 58, was home at the time, and according to a press release from the Kentucky State Police, he had a gun too.





Police said the two siblings got into a shootout that ended with Gosser dead.

Wilson was injured and taken to a hospital with life-threatening injuries, police said.

According to police, the extent of Gossers crime spree only became apparent when authorities were called to her sister, Jennifer Wilsons, home for a welfare check.

Jennifer Wilsons family said they werent able to get in touch with her and were concerned for her safety, according to the press release.





When authorities arrived at the home in Russell County, they made a grisly discovery.

Troopers and deputies found Jennifer Wilson sitting in the drivers seat of a Toyota Camry with apparent fatal gunshot wounds to the head. Police said they believe that before the incident at her brothers house, Gosser came across Jennifer Wilson and shot at her multiple times through the cars passenger side  leaving her for dead.

According to the Lexington Herald-Leader, Gossers husband, Larry Gosser, was also found shot and killed on Friday evening.



Larry Gosser was a retired Sergeant with the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife after 16 years of service, according to Wilson Funeral Home records.

Police told local station WKYT that Larry Gosser was working on a tree on his property in western Pulaski County when his wife opened fire on him, killing him.

Right now, that is open for investigation. We are still working with detectives and looking for leads. They are back there working to find the end of it, Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones told WKYT.

According to his obituary, Larry Gosser was an avid fisherman and hunter who loved the outdoors, loved his animals and most of all loved spending time with his family and friends.

Investigators have not yet announced a motive for the killings.
At the heart of medicine lies humanity. This narrative documents a personal story where I felt deeply connected to this principle as a first-year medical student.

I felt nervous and unsure as I was about to practice medical interviewing with a standardized patient. The scenario was unfamiliar to many of us, involving the care plan for a patient (Chris) with stage 4 metastatic lung cancer. Together with his partner (Jordan), they were in the office to discuss transitioning his care from the hospital to home, where he could spend the remainder of his time with his family. From the moment I sat down, I was captivated by this real, raw, and deeply human conversation.

Chris recounted the stages of his journeythe diagnosis, surgery, recurrence, and the tremendous toll that chemotherapy has taken on his body. I never expected to find comfort in clutching onto a cold, steady toilet before chemo, shared Chris. Jordan, breathing in tandem and never letting go of Chriss hands, conveyed his support through tender gestures and gazes.

Compared to previous exercises, this encounter posed a unique challenge to my ability to establish rapport, demonstrate compassion, and connect with patients on a personal level. During this exercise, I discovered the great power and value of silence, giving space for emotions and introspections to unfold. In those moments, I delved deeper into Chriss journey, understanding his fears and witnessing the depth of his love for his partner and family. These insights were not gleaned through questions and answers but through respecting their shared decisions and the emotional undercurrents that words could barely capture.

I just want to go home, spend time with Jordan and my children, and have a good Manhattan, Chris said with a touch of humor. Despite the emotional weight of our conversation, Chris occasionally infused it with warmth and humor, which added even more dimensions to the interaction. I felt deeply privileged that Chris entrusted me with such intimate end-of-life discussions. His attention to everyday details added a poignant depth to his narrative, reaffirming that medicine is fundamentally about embracing the human experiencehonoring each individuals humanity, values, and aspirations.

During our feedback session, I asked Chris whether he felt traumatized by having to disclose his difficult journey and very personal decisions. While admitting the inherent difficulty in revisiting such a journey, Chris mentioned that he found liberation rather than trauma in sharing his choice to forego further treatment and prioritize cherished moments with his loved ones. Later on, Jordan commented that when I acknowledged his role as a supportive partner, it made him feel visible, vital, and bigger than the cancer itself. This revelation struck me with surprise and gratitude, highlighting the profound impact that compassionate words from health care professionals can have on patients and their loved ones.

When the session ended, I rushed out the door to ask Chris if I could give him a hug. I would like to extend my sincere gratitude to Chris and Jordan for participating in medical education and letting me experience something magical and transformative. Despite being a simulation, this was the first time where I personally engaged in a discussion on the profound topic of end-of-life care. As I reflect on this insightful, emotional, and inspiring experience, I am filled with a renewed sense of purpose and commitment to embodying compassionate care and honoring humanity and connections in my future training and career.

Ellie Qian is a medical student.
The Publicity and Advocacy Advisor for the National Population and Housing Census 2024 has revealed that technical challenges in the Computer Aided Personal Interview (CAPI) machines delayed the enumeration exercise today May 10th 2024.

He says some machines somehow slipped through the process without the relevant software being properly installed.

Mr. Alfred Musamali adds that enumerators are also facing logging in challenges because they are not accustomed to the new technology.

Uganda is holding the first digital national census that will run for ten day till May 19 2024 under the theme It matters to be counted

Mr. Musamali is optimistic is not too late to bridge up the gaps.

The consolation, though, is that we are working round the clock to overcome all these challenges. We, in addition, have two weekend days ahead during which many of you may still remain at home to be counted so it is not yet too late. But in case that is still not possible kindly empower any responsible and knowledgeable person remaining at home, such as the secondary school student on holiday, to provide us with the information. Once again, we thank you for your enthusiasm but request for your further patience. He noted
Member of Parliament (MPs) on Parliaments Public Accounts Committee have criticized charges imposed on patients at Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital, arguing that the facility is collecting only Shs 7Bn in revenue annually, compared to around Shs 31Bn annual budget the facility receives from the Government.

The Public Accounts Committee is scrutinizing the December 2023 Auditor Generals reports.

Committee chairperson Muwanga Kivumbi asked the Hospital administrators to provide the breakdown of costs charged on patients, and wondered if the revenue collected is worth having the facility continue charging Ugandans.

According to the hospital Administrators, women who have normal delivery on the Gold card are charged Shs1M, while normal delivery under Platinum is Shs2.5M, the C-Section under silver is Shs1.3M, while holders of the gold card that undergo C-section are charged Shs2.5M,

Patients on gold cards are charged Shs2.5M, while the VIP platinum costs Shs4M for patients who have C-section.

The committee chairperson Muwanga Kivumbi then wondered what would happen if Government instead boosted the Hospitals budget by the amount of revenue collections and have Ugandans complete the payment of the loan used to build the hospital, which is 129.220Bn acquired from the Islamic Development Bank.

However, Executive Director at Mulago Specialized Women and Neonatal Hospital Dr. Evelyn Nabunya said the decision for the facility to charge Ugandans was taken by Cabinet, which also ordered for the establishment of a Waiver Committee to deal with cases of Ugandans who cant afford rates charged by the Hospital.
Financial institutions have asked the government to innovate and mobilize resources to support the growth of Small and medium enterprises (SME).

The Retail Banking Director at Absa Bank Uganda Musa Jallow says supporting the growth of small and medium enterprises is the answer to both economic growth and Job creation across the country where the majority of the population is composed of young people.

 SME is the background of this economy and when SME cough and sneezes Uganda will catch cold, they deserve to grow to become better and stronger, they also deserve a partner not only in logistics but in finance too. Jallow said.

Jallow While officiating at the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Absa Bank and DHL to grow opportunities for SMEs says data indicates that Small and medium enterprises represent a significant share of the countrys economy, as they constitute about 90% of the private sector.

He therefore asked credit institutions to partner with the government to innovate ways of funding SMEs sustainably.
1 of 1

Seaside to Cityscape: Women's Summer Footwear Essentials

khaskhabar.com : , 10  2024 12:05 PM
Green Party TD Brian Leddin has criticised "celebrity candidates" for the European elections, arguing that "serious" politicians should be elected instead.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter) earlier this week, Leddin said that "it matters who we send to represent us" in the European Parliament elections, and implied that celebrity candidates are not viable options.

Leddin, a current Limerick Mayoral candidate, said this in reponse to a post from fellow Green Party member and MEP candidate Senator Pauline O'Reilly, who had said that the first hustings for the Midlands-Northwest boiled down to "Greens versus the self-declared Far Right".

The European elections are serious elections. It matters who we send to represent us in the European Parliament. We can send celebrity candidates to Brussels or we can send serious candidates such as my colleague @paulinegalway in Midlands Northwest. https://t.co/pd6hqDbv8h  Brian Leddin TD (@BrianLeddin) May 6, 2024

The European Parliament elections are taking place in less than a month on June 7, with Ireland set to send 15 MEPs to Brussels.

The elections have been seen as a lower priority for political parties, with many feeling the need to employ well-known personalities, given the vast geographical areas the constituencies cover. This has led several well-known faces to put themselves forward for election, with high-profile candidates expected to do better in big constituencies where they might not be known locally.

The 'celebrity' candidates running for MEP positions in the Midland North-West elections includes former RTE presenter Ciaran Mullooly, former presidential candidate and Dragons Den judge Peter Casey and former jockey and Dancing With The Stars winner Nina Carberry.

In Dublin, well-known radio presenter Niall Boylan is standing for election.
EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum is thrilled to announce the arrival of a new exhibition, Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain, a unique heritage project to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the national membership charity: Irish in Britain.

Since opening on 11th April, this landmark exhibition has shed light on the personal stories, struggles, and triumphs that have shaped the Irish community in Great Britain over the past five decades.

Included is the story of Seamus McGarry from Johnstown. He moved to London in the 1960s where he became a community leader and played a part in the story to support the Guildford Four.

The exhibition features contributions from esteemed Irish cultural figures such as actors Siobhan McSweeney, Adrian Dunbar, Aisling Bea, broadcaster Terry Christian, musician Jah Wobble, and Moth Poetry Prize Winner Laurie Bolger, who has composed a bespoke poem for the exhibition. 'Look Back to Look Forward' promises to offer a compelling narrative of the Irish experience in Britain.

Volunteers from the Irish community in Britain received specialised training to ensure the preservation of at-risk testimonies from the last half-century, capturing the sacrifice, joy, challenges, and vital role played by the Irish in modern Britain.

Nathan Mannion, Head of Exhibitions and Programmes at EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, commented, Look Back to Look Forward: 50 Years of the Irish in Britain is an incredibly timely exhibition that charts the highs and lows of British-Irish relations since the early 1970s from the perspective of the Irish community in Great Britain. As the rate of Irish emigration to Britain declines, and the Irish diaspora there matures, it has never been more pressing to record and celebrate the stories of those who have made it what it is. This is an exhibition not to be missed!

Brian Dalton, CEO of Irish in Britain, said, There has never been a more important time to celebrate our diaspora history and we are very proud to bring these stories home to Ireland after a successful tour of Britain. With the help of community volunteer historians and our member organisations, we have faithfully captured the stories and individual histories that have shaped the last 50 years of the Irish in Britain, creating a research and educational legacy for generations to come.

Aileesh Carew, CEO & Museum Director of EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum, remarked Visitors to this exhibition will be able to see the dramatic contrast in the experiences of the Irish community in Great Britain from the 1970s to the present day through the dozens of photos featured and hear about their experiences in their own words, through the oral histories featured. It is a truly remarkable snapshot in time.

Selected Themes

Home, Family, Identity - Finding Home: Explore the journey of thousands of Irish emigrants who sought to establish a sense of home in a foreign land, navigating challenges and traditions while grappling with the complexities of identity and integration.

Work - Building Britain, Building Lives: Explore the integral role of Irish migrants in postwar Britain, contributing to the nation's workforce, despite facing discrimination and adversity.

Culture: Discover the enduring influence of Irish music, dance, and literature on British society, from traditional Irish dance classes to the iconic performances of musicians with Irish roots.

Activism: Learn about the pivotal role played by Irish clubs and societies in Britain, providing support and solidarity to migrants amidst social and political challenges.

A number of events will be taking place in conjunction with the exhibition. To find out more and book tickets click here: https://epicchq.com/event/
Bruce Springsteen, The Boss, is making a welcome return to the Marble City this weekend for a one-night special in UPMC Nowlan Park.

For those lucky enough to get their hands on the hottest tickets in town, their next step is deciding how to get to and from the gig. Below we take a look at the options:

How do I get there and home?

The best course of action is always to plan your journey well in advance. Organisers have "strongly advised" the use of public transport to get to and from the gig, and have also stressed that as the gig is a Sunday, to check public transport timetables prior to setting off.

Kilkenny is well served with buses and trains, so weigh up which option, if any, suits you best. Either option should leave concert-goers with less than a 10-minute walk from the stadium.

Your ticket for the concert should tell you which route to enter the stadium, with blue, red and yellow routes. Gigoers with blue route tickets should enter via the Hebron Road, red route via O'Loughlin Road, and yellow route (wheelchair users) via the Hebron Road.

TRANSPORT

Q: How do I get to UPMC Nowlan Park?

A: We strongly advise the use of public transport.

Bus and Rail transport options can all bring you within 10 minutes walk of the stadium. Plan your journey online from anywhere in Ireland to UPMC Nowlan Park via the journey planner found on www.transportforireland.ie.

Access routes include the following:

BLUE ROUTE: Hebron Road

RED ROUTE: OLoughlin Road

YELLOW ROUTE: Hebron Road (Wheelchair route)

Q: Can I travel to the stadium via public transport?

A: Yes indeed. UPMC Nowlan Park is well served by public transport. Bus and Rail transport options can all bring you within 10 minutes walk of the stadium. Plan your journey online from anywhere in Ireland to UPMC Nowlan Park on transportforireland.ie

Plan your journey to & from UPMC Nowlan Park based on the following:

Add at least 1.5hours to your usual car journey time to avoid being late.

You are strongly advised to arrive early and use public transport as traffic delays are inevitable. www.transportforireland.ie can help you plan your route

UPMC Nowlan Park is well served by public transport  Bus & Rail will bring you less than a 10-minute walk to the ground. Details are available at buseireann.ie & irishrail.ie

Q: How do I get to the venue from the Bus/Train station?

A: Please check your ticket, it will have reference to a route colour code. There will be signage to direct patrons to the appropriate entrance to your seating or standing area. Follow the coloured route directions as indicated on your ticket.

Please show respect to local residents when making your way to and from the event.

Q: Will there be any road restrictions or closures when travelling to the stadium?

A: Yes. Certain roads may be closed or restricted to resident access in and around the venue before and after the show. Please follow the direction of Gardai and security staff.

Q: I need to get past the traffic cordons on the day of the concert. What can I do?

A: You must contact Kilkenny Garda Station directly in exceptional circumstances to gain access inside the cordon. Telephone - (056)7775000

PARKING

Car parks close to Nowlan Park include O'Loughlin Gaels GAA Club, McDonagh Junction Shopping Centre, and Kilkenny County Council Car Park off Maudlin Street.

Over 1,000 parking spaces are available at MacDonagh Junction, which will be operating on a pre-booked basis only for 11 from 4pm - 1 am.

Concert goers are reminded that the area around Nowlan Park is residential and are urged to park responsibly.
The launch will take place on Wednesday evening of a new book about a Kilkenny man who was interned on Spike Island during the War of Independence.

Towards the end of 1920, as the War of Independence was intensifying across Ireland the British authorities sanctioned the use of internment against suspected republican activists. In the first six months of 1921 over 4000 people were detained in internee camps at Spike Island and Bere Island in County Cork, The Curragh, County Kildare, Ballykinlar, county Down and at other holding centres and jails around the country.

Tom Ryan, from Bonnybrook, near Thomastown, was arrested on February 5, 1921. He was interned for ten months from February to December, most of the time at Spike Island in Cork Harbour. During his time in jail he kept a diary, which has survived into the present day and is now a unique historical document from that period.

In a new book, As a souvenir of Spike Island  The Tom Ryan War of Independence diary and archive, which will be launched by Duchas - Tullaherin Heritage Society at Thomastown Community Centre on May 15, William Murphy recreates Ryans life as a political internee from the information contained in the diary and from a small collection of other prison-related documents which Ryan saved after his release.

The diary is one of the most complete and detailed of its kind to have survived. It is a historically rich contemporary source which affords a unique understanding of the experience of one individual internee, over the course of the relatively long period he spent in prison.

Because Ryan was interacting constantly with the other prisoners, and they were all subject to the same prison regime, the diary can also been used uncover intimate information, at a broader level, about this important group of people within the independence movement. All aspects of their imprisonment are covered from the routine happenings of their daily lives to the major political events of that year.

When Pat Whyte from County Clare, was shot and killed by a prison sentry at Spike Island on May 31, Ryan was close-by and his description of the tragic event is the only one recorded. The riot which erupted there in mid-October was one of the most extensive to have taken place at the time. Ryan took part and again his description in the diary is unique.

The Ryan prison archive, which lay forgotten for many years and has only been rediscovered in recent times, allows a close reconstruction of his life as a War of Independence internee, and of republican internment more generally, during this pivotal period.
Up to 200 older people from across Ireland have gathered in Kilkenny for the Age Friendly Ireland National Older Peoples Councils (OPC) Convention, addressing the pressing issue of the technology gap experienced by older demographics.

The national annual convention at the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel  held today and tomorrow (May 9 and May 10)  will tackle concerns surrounding online banking, a cashless society, and automated customer service helplines; offering potential solutions to bridge this divide.

The event, attended by Minister Mary Butler, TD, Minister of State for Mental Health and Older People at the Department of Health, the Older Peoples Councils and 31 local authority representatives, will feature discussions from panel speakers including;

Aine Flynn, Director of the Decision Support Service and Mark Harrington, National Manager, Healthy Age Friendly Homes.

Garret Doocey, Assistant Secretary from the Department of Transport with responsibility for Land Transport, Investment and Public Transport Policy will be discussing transport supports such as the travel assistance scheme, JAM card, Wayfinding centre and accessibility improvements to bus shelters, buses, age-friendly car parking and Age Friendly train stations.

Philip Hogan, CEO of Cliffrun Media, a Dublin-based technology company specialising in technology solutions for older individuals such as the ACORN Age-Friendly Smart Tablet, will be demonstrating technology that supports ageing.

Diarmuid Angland, a Department of Finance specialist, who is leading the development of a National Payments Strategy, will outline the meaning of digital inclusion and the implications of a cashless society.

The convention will include seven workshops, panel discussions and the opportunity to network and share learnings.

Hosted by the Kilkenny Age Friendly Programme and Kilkenny County Council in partnership with Age Friendly Ireland in Meath County Council, this years theme, Ageing with Independence, underscores Age Friendly Irelands commitment to building environments conducive to the well-being of older adults. There are approximately 806,300 people aged 65 and over living in Ireland.

Speaking at the convention, Kieran Kehoe, Chief Executive of Meath County Council and host to Age Friendly Ireland Shared Servicesaid: This is the only conference of its type in Ireland that harnesses the collective voice of older people and brings that wisdom directly into local government, and to the multiple stakeholders involved in the Age Friendly strategic response to demographic change. There is a huge value for local government officials having this direct connection to the citizen voice.

Catherine McGuigan, Chief Officer of the Age Friendly Ireland Shared Service emphasised the vital role of open dialogue among older individuals, local authorities, and the Government. She said: Older people are not a homogenous group, and it is essential that we hear from the collective voice so that older people themselves can co-design solutions to challenges. Over the past 15 years, they have done exactly that  and thousands of innovative initiatives have been implemented based on their recommendations. Thats the core principle that underpins everything we do in Age Friendly Ireland and the key reason why we hold this annual convention.

Ms McGuigan added that there are technological solutions to support independence as we age such as telecare which includes personal alarms, pendants/watches with 24-hour monitoring and smart home packages.

Speaking on behalf of the Older Peoples Councils, Ita Healy, Chair of the National Network of Older Peoples Councils said: New policies are forthcoming that will tackle some of our concerns, including the National Payments Strategy, which aims to resolve the issue of services not accepting cash payments. Support for choice in payment is widespread.

Safeguarding is an issue when payments can only be made online and older people must rely on neighbours, friends and family members to make their payments and access their personal information. At the recent NGO forum meeting, the safeguarding element was flagged especially for domestic abuse victims as cash is often essential for them to get away from their situation. People in all walks of life need the choice to use cash when and where they want to.

Hosted in Kilkenny for the first time in its 15-year history, Lar Power, Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council said: We are delighted to host this years National Older Peoples Convention in Kilkenny, there is immense work being done by the KilkennyOlder Peoples Council to further the mission of making Ireland a great place to grow old. I would encourage anyone who wants to have their voice heard to join their Older Peoples Council. Its an opportunity to engage with your local authority and to remind them about agreed programmes of work.

Anne Marie Shortall, Age Friendly Kilkenny Programme Manager added: In Kilkenny, we strive to make our county a place where older people are valued for their wisdom, experience and contributions to an inclusive society and community. Our programme is ambitious but so too is the need to change how we think about ageing and how we collaborate to deliver improvements in supports and services for older people. This annual gathering provides an opportunity for the national shared service to collaborate on how best to broach this change.

Hosted in Kilkenny for the first time in its 15-year history, Lar Power, Chief Executive of Kilkenny County Council said: We are delighted to host this years National Older Peoples Convention in Kilkenny, there is immense work being done by the KilkennyOlder Peoples Council to further the mission of making Ireland a great place to grow old. I would encourage anyone who wants to have their voice heard to join their Older Peoples Council. Its an opportunity to engage with your local authority and to remind them about agreed programmes of work.

Anne Marie Shortall, Age Friendly Kilkenny Programme Manager added: In Kilkenny, we strive to make our county a place where older people are valued for their wisdom, experience and contributions to an inclusive society and community. Our programme is ambitious but so too is the need to change how we think about ageing and how we collaborate to deliver improvements in supports and services for older people. This annual gathering provides an opportunity for the national shared service to collaborate on how best to broach this change.

Convention attendees called for older people to join their local Older Peoples Council to ensure their voice is part of the conversation as the population ages. For more information on Age Friendly Ireland visit agefriendlyireland.ie.
Stuff reports:

MPs from both major parties are calling for political debate to cool, after a Te Pati Maori MP said the Governments changes to Oranga Tamariki showed a mission to exterminate Maori.

The MP for Te Tai Tokerau, Mairiameno Kapa-Kingi, made the comments during Wednesdays general debate. Speaking about the removal of Treaty principles from the Oranga Tamariki Act, she said this showed the Government wanted to remove Maori children from their whanau, iwi and hapu.

This Government will not waver in its mission to exterminate Maori, she said. 

Radio NZ also reported:

Kapa-Kingi repeated her comments about extermination on Morning Report and said that previous words she used like colonisation, seemed to fall on deaf ears. If [extermination is] the word that has people sit up and take notice of what it feels like for our mokopuna and our whanau, what it sounds like, the tone of the discussion on a daily basis in the house.

So this MP thinks colonisation and extermination are interchangeable terms.

While it is good the media are finally covering what she said, she is still getting little pushback.

There are some people who push a theory called the Great Replacement Theory which is that white people in Europe and the US are being replaced by non-white immigrants as a deliberate policy to eliminate the white race.

Anyone who says such a thing is labelled a far right conspiracy theorist, and generally will be shunned by all media outlets.

What Kapa-Kingi said is the equivalent on the left of the Great Replacement Theory. Yet all she gets is a story mildly saying some have criticised her language.

Kapa-Kingi seems to be implying she just uses the term extermination as hyperbole. Apart from the insult that does to people who have faced actual extermination via government policy, consider what the likely impact is on some people who hear her rhetoric.

If you genuinely believe the Government is set on exterminating your race, then violent resistance would be morally justified. So her words are effectively an incitement to violence. You cant say that the Government wants to exterminate 600,000 New Zealanders, and expect that the only response is for people to sign a petition.

Share this: Facebook

Twitter

LinkedIn

Reddit

WhatsApp

More

Pinterest

Print

Tumblr


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.
A man charged in the hazing case of former University of Missouri student Danny Santulli pleaded guilty to six months in jail Friday, according to the Columbia Missourian.

Ryan Delanty, of Ballwin, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor hazing and supplying alcohol to a minor as part of a plea agreement. In addition, Delanty will spend six months on house arrest.

He originally pleaded not guilty to charges of felony hazing, felony assault and supplying liquor to a minor. A jury trial was scheduled to begin on May 21.

Delanty will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. May 24. Boone County prosecuting attorney Roger Johnson said there will likely be statements from the Santulli family at the sentencing.

Success! An email has been sent to with a link to confirm list signup. Error! There was an error processing your request.

Santulli was hospitalized for nearly eight months with injuries caused by alcohol poisoning after a Phi Gamma Delta fraternity "pledge-dad reveal" party in October 2021. He is now unable to walk, talk or see.

Court documents say Delanty was Santulli's "pledge dad." According to court documents, on the night of the party, Delanty allegedly texted another person that his son was "dead." He said he left Santulli when the person asked him what he did to him.

Delanty and Thomas Shultz, of Chesterfield, were the first two of 11 men charged with felony hazing back in June 2022.

Aside from Delanty's case, cases remain ongoing for four of the men charged. Six of the men accepted plea deals with the state that included shock detention sentences.
The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and China discussed issues related to the Korean Peninsula on the margins of a multilateral security dialogue in Japan earlier this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

The talks between Lee Jun-il, director general for North Korean nuclear affairs, and Liu Xiaoming, China's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, took place Thursday in Tokyo on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), an annual public-private security dialogue forum, the ministry said.

They "exchanged their assessments on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and opinions on ways to address" the peninsula issues, the ministry said in a press release, without providing further details.

North Korea's evolving nuclear and weapons developments and its growing military cooperation with Russia were most likely high on the agenda at their talks. China is the North's longtime ally and largest economic benefactor.

The NEACD is a Track 1.5 security forum that brings together government officials and civilian experts of the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

North Korea did not attend this week's NEACD, Seoul's foreign ministry said in a release. North Korea last attended the meeting in 2016, represented by Choe Son-hui, now serving as the North's foreign minister.

On Friday, Lee held talks with his U.S. counterpart, Jung Pak, who was also in Tokyo to attend the NEACD, and had a broad discussion on North Korea's nuclear and other related issues, Seoul's ministry said.

They "agreed to continue close coordination as they stand firmly by the shared goal toward the complete denuclearization of North Korea," the ministry said.

They also agreed to keep a close watch on the North's possible additional provocations, including the potential launch of another spy satellite, and prepare against any attempts by the North to change the status quo in the Yellow Sea, based on the staunch South Korea-U.S. combined defense posture.

The officials shared the understanding of the need for China to play "a constructive role" in the Korean Peninsula issues and agreed to continue communications with Beijing at all levels.

Aside from the two-way meetings with China and the U.S., Lee also held a trilateral gathering with Pak and their Japanese counterpart, Hiroyuki Namazu, director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Japan's foreign ministry, to discuss North Korean threats.

During the two-day forum, Lee highlighted South Korea's efforts to bring the North to the path toward denuclearization as its nuclear and missile ambitions remain the biggest risk undermining the regional peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific.

Lee also explained to the participants the impact of the deepening unlawful cooperation between Russia and North Korea on the security on the Korean Peninsula and in Europe, and called for the international community's attention to North Korea's dire human rights situations. (Yonhap)
We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on!

Go to form
In a poignant moment on the latest episode of Mnet's "I-LAND2," SOMI, the multi-talented K-pop artist, bared her soul, reflecting on the emotional toll of her past failures and offering heartfelt advice to contestants facing similar challenges.

As the episode unfolded, SOMI, serving as a mentor, shared a touching exchange with the contestants. Amidst the tension of impending eliminations, she reached out with empathy, recalling her own journey as a hopeful teenager navigating the cutthroat world of survival audition shows.

With a sincerity that resonated deeply, SOMI confessed:

"I failed to make my debut as TWICE as well. I hold immense love for the members of TWICE, but I couldn't shake the overwhelming jealousy I felt toward them. I honestly felt so jealous of them."

Her words struck a chord with the contestants, who echoed similar sentiments of frustration and longing for success. From Huko's poignant admission of feeling lost after witnessing peers debut to the shared yearning for a chance to prove themselves onstage, SOMI's confession fostered a sense of solidarity among the aspiring idols.

IN CASE YOU MISSED THIS: Is Somi in Trouble? Knetz Question the Legality of GLYF's Marketing Tactics

Yet, amidst the shared struggles, SOMI offered a beacon of hope. Encouraging the contestants to channel their passion and determination, she reminded them of the power they hold to shape their destinies.

"Let the world know why you have to be the one, okay?" she urged, infusing her words with a blend of empathy and unwavering resolve.

Meanwhile, Jeon Somi, a former member of I.O.I turned soloist, recently shared her emotional journey of being bullied as a biracial child in South Korea.

In a broadcast appearance, she recounted facing isolation and mistreatment in school, including incidents of bullying such as having her belongings vandalized and being made an outcast by classmates. She even considered plastic surgery to fit in better.

Despite the hardships, Somi persevered and eventually gained acceptance, becoming a beloved figure in the K-pop industry. She reflects on her struggles and the eventual triumph of being recognized as the "Nation's Center" in the group I.O.I, symbolizing acceptance and approval from the Korean public.

You can watch the full video here.



YOU MIGHT BE ALSO INTERESTED IN: Jeon Somi 2.0? Discover the Multicultural Idol Believed to Shake Up the K-Pop Industry

For more K-Pop news and updates, keep your tabs open here at KpopStarz.

KpopStarz owns this article.

Written by Cassidy Jones.
China has invested 11.5 billion yuan (about 1.62 billion U.S. dollars) this year to support programs that provide employment to people in need as a form of relief, the National Development and Reform Commission said Thursday.

The investment, which was jointly issued with the Ministry of Finance, has been used to support more than 2,700 work-relief programs and generated 250,000 jobs for rural residents.

The work-relief programs are aimed at people in need of employment, especially rural residents who have been lifted out of poverty, vulnerable individuals prone to return to poverty, and migrant workers returning to their hometowns. The programs are designed to help them find work at their locales.

The commission urged local governments to speed up the initiation process of the work-relief programs in order to boost employment and increase incomes for local people.

Zarazeno pa 10.05.2024 03:05:50 Vydano Zdroj scio.gov.cn Original english.scio.gov.cn/pressroom/2024-05/10/content_117178601.htm lang en
Just a day after a security guard was shot and almost killed in a drive-by shooting at Drake's mansion in Toronto, another man was arrested for trying to break into the rapper's home. As this is happening, Drake is also in the middle of a feud with Kendrick Lamar, fueling speculation that he may be behind the attack.

In this latest incident involving Drake's mansion, a man was detained by Toronto police after he allegedly tried to break into the rapper's home. The mansion was recently cordoned off as police were trying to investigate the drive-by shooting, but this did not stop the man from trying to break in.

The man failed to gain access to the embattled rapper's home as he was stopped by security guards who then handed him over to the police. Drake's guards are still on high alert following the shooting, as one of them is still critically injured from the attack the day before.

Police are still investigating the shooting, with Drake's team cooperating with the Toronto police in the investigation, according to Yahoo! News.

"This is no different than any other investigation. It's maybe more high profile because there's more people here, but we treat it like any other incident," Inspector Paul Krawczyk with the Toronto Police Service's Integrated Gun and Gang Task Force told reporters. "We'll be using all our resources. Our teams will be doing as much as they can to investigate this."

Man Who Tried To Break Into Drake's Toronto Mansion Had Nothing To Do With Shooting

In a statement by Toronto Police to Sky News. they stated that the incident happened on Wednesday and "officers were called after a person attempted to gain access to the property."

READ MORE: Drake's Mansion in Toronto Attacked, Security Guard Critically Injured Amid Kendrick Lamar Feud

"The person was apprehended under the Mental Health Act, and they were taken to receive medical attention," police added, hinting that there is a possibility that the man who tried to break into Drake's mansion while security was on high alert had mental health problems. The man was stopped at the gate by security.

Police also confirmed that the attempted break-in has "nothing to do with the investigation from" the shooting. Police also did not specify the exact location of where the man tried to enter.

Investigation About Attack on Drake Mansion the Day Before Still Ongoing

So far, the drive-by shooting attack on Drake's mansion is still being investigated, with the suspects still at large and their identities still not known to the public. It was not known if Drake himself was in the mansion when the attack happened, but it was reported that he is uninjured.

Toronto police have also admitted that they are well aware of the feud between Drake and Kendrick Lamar and have not ruled out Lamar's involvement yet. The two rappers have recently intensified their feud and have been dropping diss tracks against one another at a higher rate than previously.

As for the security guard, he was rushed to a hospital and is in critical condition. He was shot in the chest.

READ MORE: Madonna Breaks Records with Massive Free Concert in Brazil That Drew 1.6 Million People

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Media is 'connecting violence' to Drake-Kendrick feud, says writer | Canada Tonight - CBC News
Mexican authorities have identified a man suspected of three murdered surfers, including two Australian brothers and an American, near Ensenada, Mexico.

The suspect, a Mexico man, Jesus Gerardo' N.', also known as "El Kekas," was apprehended in relation to the occurrence, according to the Baja California Attorney General's Office.

The victims, Jake and Callum Robinson from Australia and Jack Carter Rhoad from San Diego, were reported missing at the end of April while on a surfing trip near Ensenada.

Their disappearance prompted an investigation by the Baja California Attorney General's Office, Fox 5 reports.

On May 3, three bodies were discovered in La Bocana, approximately 130 miles south of San Diego, in a 50-foot well.

The victims were identified as the missing surfers by their relatives.

Mexican authorities suspect that the victims were killed during an attempted robbery of their truck for its tires.

Jesus Gerardo' N.' and two others have been arrested, while two additional suspects are being sought in connection with the killings.

READ NEXT: American, 2 Australians Killed in Mexico Tire Theft Attempt

Court Testimony Reveals Chilling Details

In court proceedings in Ensenada, Mexico, a man's girlfriend, Ari Gisel Garcia Cota, testified that her boyfriend confessed to three murdered surfers during a botched robbery.

According to her testimony, Gerardo admitted to the murders upon his return from the victims' campsite, saying, "I f***ed up three gringos."

Garcia further revealed that Gerardo fitted her car with tires stolen from the victims' truck the morning after the alleged murders.

The truck was later found burned, with its wheels removed, according to Daily Mail.

While authorities initially believed the killings resulted from a robbery gone wrong, questions have been raised about the robbery theory.

Photographs of the burnt-out truck showed that the wheels were still on the vehicle when it was set on fire, casting doubt on the motive.

Criminal psychologist Tim Watson-Munro suggested that the killings might have stemmed from a robbery attempt that escalated due to resistance from the victims.

However, he acknowledged the possibility of other explanations and highlighted the lawless nature of the region.

Legal Proceedings and Future Hearings

Jesus Gerardo, facing charges related to the disappearance of the surfers, appeared in court wearing an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

His girlfriend's testimony implicated him in the killings, although he has not yet entered a plea.

The charges against him are expected to be upgraded to murder, ABC noted.

The court heard details of the prosecution's case, including evidence collected from the crime scene and witness testimony.

Despite ongoing investigations, questions remain about the circumstances of the killings and the involvement of other individuals.

A Mexico man, Jesus Gerardo, remains in custody until his next court hearing scheduled for November 8.

Meanwhile, authorities continue their efforts to uncover the full extent of the tragedy and bring justice to the murdered surfers and their families.

READ MORE: Missouri Man Confesses to Attempting Wife's Murder Over Medical Debt

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Bodies of three surfers who went missing in Mexico identified, suspects in custody - From CBS Mornings
The migration crisis is not just giving headaches to the US, but Mexico as well, and the country is seeking to ease this problem by imposing travel restrictions on people from certain countries, particularly Peru.

Peruvian nationals will be required to apply for a visa to enter Mexico, according to the country's official gazette on Friday. This was announced amid a recent surge of migrants from Peru and these travel restrictions will begin to take effect in 15 days.

As Reuters noted, Mexico had previously eliminated visa requirements for citizens of Peru back in 2012. People were allowed to stay in the country for up to 180 days, but migrants trying to get to the US-Mexico border have been using this to their advantage, thus leading to the massive spike in Peruvian migrants coming into the North American country.

There has been a "substantial" increase in the number of Peruvians entering Mexico "whose profile does not fit that of the genuine visitor or tourist and present inconsistencies in their documentation," said the Mexico Interior Ministry. However, this is not the first time Mexico has done this, as they also imposed travel restrictions on other countries whose citizens are trying to get to the US.

Currently, Mexico has been diverting a lot of migrants and impeding their attempts to head to the US-Mexico border in order to discourage them. This is often done by catching migrants and sending them by bus to the south, near the Mexico-Guatemala border.

Peru Migrants Trying To Get To Mexico Before Visa Restrictions Get Implemented

There is still a 15-day period before the visa restrictions will begin to take effect, but for Peruvian migrants trying to reach the US-Mexico border, it has now become a race against time as they must now get to Mexico before that even happens.

READ MORE: Pope Francis Sides With Peru Villagers Whose Lands Are Getting Stolen by a Catholic Group

One of these migrants, Julia Paredes, spoke with the Associated Press, She is currently making a perilous land journey to make it to Mexico in less than 15 days.

"I had to treat it as an emergency," she told the AP. She previously failed to make it to the US last month after US Border Patrol agents busted a smuggling operation that tried to get her and 100 others through the border. Despite this, she is not giving up.

US Applauds Mexico Imposing Visa Restrictions on Peru

Meanwhile, the United States was quite happy with Mexico's latest moves to try and curb the migrants trying to get to the country.

During a meeting of top diplomats from about 20 countries in the Western hemisphere this week in Guatemala, several senior US officials lauded Mexico over the move, as well as its crackdown on air travel from Peru. US officials also called the visa requirements "an important tool to jointly confront illegal migration."

Mexico previously did this to Venezuela. restricting air travel from the country, and according to ABC News. the number of Venezuelans coming into Mexico plummeted in January 2022. However, this only made things worse overall as more Venezuelans tried going through the dangerous Darien Gap with the air travel restrictions being implemented.

READ MORE: Peru President Dina Boluarte Requested To Be Removed from Office by Lawmakers Over Rolex Scandal

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Migrants from Peru, Mexico, Colombia try to cross border | International News | English News | WION
Deputies responding to a disturbance call in a Florida apartment complex mistakenly entered the wrong unit, resulting in the fatal shooting of Senior Airman Roger Fortson, a Black US Air Force airman.

The incident occurred on May 3 in Fort Walton Beach, where Fortson, aged 23, was stationed at the Special Operations Wing at Hurlburt Field.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump, representing Fortson's family, stated that Fortson was on a Facetime call with a woman when he heard knocking at his door.

Despite his attempts to identify the visitor, he received no response, AP News reports.

Moments later, Fortson retrieved his legally owned gun, fearing for his safety.

As he walked back through his living room, Florida police forcefully entered the apartment and fatally shot him six times, according to Crump's statement.

Crump emphasized the need for transparency in the investigation and the immediate release of bodycam footage to provide clarity on the events leading to Fortson's death.

He highlighted the alarming witness statement suggesting that law enforcement entered the wrong apartment, raising serious questions about the circumstances surrounding Fortson's death.

READ NEXT: US Air Force Member Self-Immolates at Israel Embassy in Protest of Palestine

Response from Authorities

The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, responsible for the incident, has not yet responded to requests for comments on Crump's claims.

The sheriff's office recently faced scrutiny following an incident involving a deputy who resigned after firing his weapon multiple times detained a suspect, according to Military.com.

US Airman Fortson, a member of the 4th Special Operations Squadron, was stationed at Hurlburt Field, where his duties included loading the gunship's cannons during missions.

The deputy connected to the shooting has been placed on administrative leave while an inquiry is conducted, as announced by Sheriff Eric Aden.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the local State Attorney's Office are conducting separate investigations into the incident. However, details about the disturbance call that prompted Florida police to visit the apartment building remain undisclosed.

Witnesses corroborated claims that Florida police entered the wrong apartment, adding urgency to demands for the immediate release of bodycam footage.

Sabu Williams, president of Okaloosa NAACP, expressed concerns about the incident and stressed the importance of understanding what transpired.

Continued Scrutiny

Fortson's untimely death bears similarities to previous cases involving the fatal shootings of Black individuals by law enforcement officers.

Crump, known for his advocacy in cases of police violence against Black people, seeks accountability and transparency in Fortson's case, echoing similar efforts in other high-profile cases.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement, along with the State Attorney's Office, is conducting a thorough investigation into the shooting, Komo News noted.

Meanwhile, the community awaits answers regarding the circumstances that led Florida police to Fortson's home, highlighting the importance of transparency and accountability in law enforcement actions.

The tragic incident has ignited discussions about police accountability and the need for reforms to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

As investigations proceed, Fortson's family and community members remain vigilant in their pursuit of justice for the fallen US airman.

READ MORE: US Soldier Detained in Russia on Theft Allegations

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Attorney Ben Crump raises questions in deadly Florida officer-involved shooting - From WEAR Channel 3 News
Delegates from around the United States are gearing up for the Republican Convention in Wisconsin, where they will officially nominate the party's candidate for president.

Among them is Barron Trump, the 18-year-old son of former President Donald Trump and Melania Trump.

Despite his previous avoidance of the public eye, Barron's name surfaced recently as he was selected as one of the at-large delegates from Florida.

Barron Trump's Political Debut

The Republican Party of Florida has chosen Barron Trump to be one of the 41 at-large delegates representing the state at the national convention.

This decision marks Donald Trump's son's first significant foray into the political arena, as he has largely focused on his studies and maintained a low profile, BBC reports.

His selection comes amidst concerns about his father's ongoing legal issues, notably the "hush money" trial in New York City.

However, the judge overseeing the trial has granted Donald Trump permission to attend Barron's high school graduation on May 17.

Barron Trump currently attends a private high school near the Trump family's Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida.

He is the only child shared by the former president and his wife, Melania Trump.

Additionally, Barron will be joined by his half-siblings - Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Tiffany Trump - as part of the Florida delegation to the convention.

Eric Trump has been designated as the delegation chair, and he is responsible for nominating his father for the presidential candidacy.

According to a campaign official, Donald Trump's son has shown a keen interest in the nation's political process, indicating a potential future involvement beyond his upcoming role as a delegate.

READ NEXT: Trump Trial: Witnesses Confirm His Signature on Cohen Reimbursement Checks

Barron Trump's Emergence in Florida Politics

In a significant move, Barron Trump, the youngest child of former President Donald Trump, has been selected as one of Florida's at-large delegates to the Republican Convention. This decision highlights Barron's gradual emergence into the political spotlight as he prepares to graduate from high school next week.

Florida GOP chairman Evan Power expressed confidence in the state's delegation, emphasizing the presence of grassroots leaders, elected officials, and Trump family members, according to Fox News.

Despite his relatively private life compared to his older siblings, Barron Trump found himself thrust into the public eye last month due to his father's trial in New York.

The trial's proceedings prompted a request from Donald Trump's legal team for a break to attend Barron's graduation, which was granted by the presiding judge.

The Trump family's influence extends beyond Barron's nomination, with Eric Trump leading the Florida delegation alongside party officials.

Florida, a crucial battleground state, has historically favored Donald Trump, and the state party has rallied behind his presidential aspirations, Yahoo! News noted.

Notably, the party's decision to remove a loyalty pledge requirement signals strong support for Trump's candidacy, even in the face of potential competition from within the party, such as Governor Ron DeSantis.

In addition to Trump family members, the Florida GOP has endorsed several prominent supporters of the former president as at-large delegates to the convention.

This diverse lineup includes individuals like Kimberly Guilfoyle, Donald Trump Jr.'s fiancee, and former state Attorney General Pam Bondi, underscoring the party's alignment with Trump's political agenda.

READ MORE: Biden Commends Microsoft's $3.3 Billion Investment on Former Foxconn Site

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Barron Trump to serve as Florida delegate at RNC - From TODAY
Chinese ambassador arrives in India to assume office

Xinhua) 20:09, May 10, 2024

NEW DELHI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong arrived in New Delhi on Friday to assume office, according to the website of the Chinese Embassy in India.

Xu, the 17th Chinese ambassador to India, said in an interview earlier that his priorities are deepening understanding and friendship between the two peoples, expanding exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and improving and advancing the bilateral relationship.

Officials from the Protocol Division of Ministry of External Affairs of India, dean of diplomatic corps, ambassador of Eritrea to India, and officials from the Chinese embassy greeted Xu and his wife at the airport, according to the embassy.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
The Joe Biden administration is poised to implement a new regulation aimed at tightening access to asylum along the US-Mexico border, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The regulation, expected to be issued imminently, seeks to reduce illegal crossings by requiring migrants to undergo an initial asylum screening to determine if they should be barred from asylum and swiftly deported.

The proposed rule, announced by the Joe Biden administration on Thursday, targets illegal immigrants deemed a public safety or national security threat, the New York Post reports.

It enables officials to apply for statutory denials of asylum earlier in the process, during the initial screening stage, which typically occurs within days of arrival at the border.

This expedited process would focus on individuals posing risks to national security or public safety.

A senior official from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) emphasized that while the rule would likely impact only a small population, it would provide a crucial tool for swiftly removing individuals deemed security risks, thereby enhancing border security and saving taxpayer resources.

Additionally, the administration announced revised guidance allowing asylum officers to consider whether applicants could relocate within their home countries as an alternative to seeking asylum in the United States.

READ NEXT: Biden and Trump to Visit US-Mexico Border on Same Day

Administration Calls for Congressional Action

DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas reiterated the administration's commitment to addressing the immigration system's shortcomings, emphasizing that congressional action is essential for comprehensive reform.

Despite implementing various measures, including last year's broader asylum rule, which made illegal immigrants ineligible for asylum under certain conditions, the administration recognizes the need for systemic changes.

While the proposed rule represents a targeted approach to immigration policy, it has drawn criticism from Republican lawmakers who accuse the administration of failing to address broader immigration issues effectively, according to Fox News.

House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Mark Green labeled the rule as politically motivated and insufficient in addressing the root causes of illegal immigration.

However, the administration contends that its actions demonstrate a commitment to US-Mexico border security and enforcement, citing over 720,000 removals or returns of illegal immigrants since May 2023.

Despite ongoing partisan debates, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed support for the administration's use of executive action to address immigration challenges in the absence of bipartisan legislation.

Concerns and Advocacy

While the proposed rule seeks to expedite the asylum process, concerns have been raised regarding its implementation challenges and potential implications for migrants' legal representation.

Some immigration advocates worry that the accelerated screening process may limit migrants' access to counsel and due process rights, Politico noted.

Progressive lawmakers have called for broader executive action to protect undocumented individuals and address systemic issues in the immigration system.

Meanwhile, efforts to revive bipartisan immigration legislation remain stalled, prompting calls for the administration to explore administrative solutions to the ongoing crisis.

The Joe Biden administration navigates complex immigration challenges; the proposed rule represents a targeted effort to address security concerns at the US-Mexico border while acknowledging the need for comprehensive legislative reform.

READ MORE: Biden Criticizes Japan, India as 'Xenophobic' Post-PM Visit

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Biden to unveil new asylum rules for the border - From WFAA
Two US fighter planes, F/A-18F Super Hornet jets, recently flew over the capital of Guyana, Georgetown, on Thursday. However, Venezuela was not very happy about this as the two countries are in the midst of a border dispute over the Essequibo territory, an oil-rich stretch of jungle that legally belongs to Guyana but Venezuela claims.

While Venezuela's military might is massive compared to Guyana's, the United States and NATO are backing the Guyanese, with the UK previously sending a warship to conduct military exercises with its former territory in South America.

Guyana confirmed that the two US fighter planes flew over Georgetown, and its government noted that the flyover was a demonstration of the close military cooperation between the country, which was oil-exporting South America, and the United States.

The Guyanese government explained that this "exercise seeks to deepen the ongoing security cooperation between our two countries" but did not mention if this is related to the Essequibo dispute it has with Venezuela. The US also did not mention Essequibo or Venezuela in its statement regarding the flyover.

US Marine Corps Maj. Gen Julie Nethercot visited Guyana for talks just a day after the flyover and stated that she is talking to Guyana regarding deterring aggression, defeating threats, and rapidly responding to crises."

Amid its posturing with the US to deter any attack from Venezuela, Guyana is also waiting for a decision from the World Court to throw out Venezuela's claim regarding the region. However, Venezuela has already said that it would not recognize the court and will ignore its decision whenever it is handed down.

Venezuela Angry Over US Showing Solidarity With Guyana

Shortly after the military exercise, Venezuelan Defense Minister Gen. Vladimir Padrino released a statement and warned the US that it increased security risks in South America and the Caribbean, according to Venezuelan news agency TeleSUR.

READ MORE: Venezuela Troop Build-Up Near Border Violates International Law, Warns Guyana

"We already warned about the threat to regional peace posed by the presence of the aircraft carrier USS George Washington in the Caribbean. They now announce the deployment of F-18 aircraft to fly over Georgetown and its surroundings," Padrino said in a statement. "The Bolivarian National Armed Forces strongly rejects these repeated provocations by the Southern Command, sponsored by the government of Guyana, which has assumed the role of a new US colony."

"Our Comprehensive Aerospace Defense System remains activated in the event of any attempt to violate Venezuelan geographic space, including our Essequibo territory Alerts," he added.

Venezuela Might Become a Pariah in South America Should It Invade Guyana's Territory

Venezuela has already increased its troop presence near its border with Guyana's Essequibo region. However, Newsweek pointed out that an invasion might be a bad move for the Bolivarian regime.

Nicolas Maduro, who is friends with Brazil President Lula at the moment, might lose more and more allies as Lula himself has slammed Maduro over his recent moves, such as his repression of the Venezuelan opposition. Brazil has also increased its military presence near its borders with Venezuela and Guyana in case conflict actually happens. Should Venezuela invade Essequibo, Lula might turn his back on Maduro, and other countries, including Colombia, might follow suit.

READ MORE: Guyana Culture: Essequibo Identifies More as Guyanase and Not With Venezuela

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

WATCH: Guyana-Venezuela land dispute worries locals - AP Archive
A tragic incident unfolded in Burbank, as Karyn Lombardo, a cherished kindergarten teacher at Bret Harte School, lost her life in a confrontation with her adult son, California man Kyle Lombardo.

The altercation, which resulted in a California teacher's death, occurred at their family residence on North Avon Street on Tuesday evening.

Police responded to the scene, where Karyn was found unconscious and later pronounced deceased, Fox News reports.

Following the incident, prosecutors filed a murder charge against Kyle Lombardo, alleging that he was involved in the altercation that led to his mother's death.

The 25-year-old Kyle reportedly lived with his parents and had a close relationship with his mother, who had dedicated over 30 years to educating children in the Burbank Unified School District.

Attorney Jimmy Chu, representing Kyle Lombardo, conveyed that the tragic event was the unintended consequence of a confrontation between a son and his beloved mother.

Chu indicated that the altercation did not involve the use of a weapon and emphasized Kyle's deep affection for his mother.

READ NEXT: California Homeless Man Brutally Attacks Women, Leaving One in Coma

Community Mourns Loss

A California teacher's passing has left a profound impact on the Burbank community, where she was revered for her dedication and warmth as an educator.

The outpouring of grief was evident as a makeshift memorial adorned with flowers and personal notes continued to grow outside Bret Harte Elementary School, where Karyn had left an indelible mark.

Fellow educators, former students, and parents alike remembered Karyn Lombardo for her kindness and compassion, with many crediting her for inspiring careers in education, according to KTLA5.

The superintendent of the Burbank Unified School District, John Paramo, praised Karyn's significant contributions to the district, acknowledging the widespread mourning her loss has triggered.

Family Speaks Out

Vince Lombardo, a California teacher's husband, expressed devastation over his wife's untimely demise, recounting his last conversation with her shortly before the tragic event.

Vince described Karyn as a loving and compassionate individual who dedicated herself to her family and students.

He highlighted Karyn's unwavering commitment to helping others, including their son, a California man, who grapples with mental health challenges.

The Lombardo family's ordeal has prompted reflections on the challenges of accessing adequate mental health support, particularly for adults with developmental disabilities.

Vince Lombardo voiced frustration over the limitations of the current system, emphasizing the need for more comprehensive assistance for individuals like his son.

As legal proceedings unfold, a California man remains in custody, facing charges related to his mother's death.

While the circumstances surrounding the altercation are still under investigation, authorities continue to explore potential factors, including mental health considerations.

The Burbank community, reeling from the loss of a California teacher, stands together in mourning and in our pursuit of justice for the revered educator.

Her impact on the countless lives she influenced throughout her distinguished career will be a legacy.

READ MORE: Florida Police Allegedly Enter Wrong Apartment, Fatally Shoot US Airman

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Ross Key

WATCH: Son of beloved Burbank elementary school teacher charged with her murder - From KTLA 5
UPDATE: Easton shooting of 19-year-old not a random act, cops say

Authorities in Easton are searching for suspects after a 19-year-old was shot on a city street Thursday evening, police announced.

The man was found at the corner of 10th and Lehigh streets around 5:30 p.m. Thursday, after police were dispatched to a shooting scene nearby, Easton Police said. He was transported to an area hospital for treatment of wounds that are not believed to be life-threatening, police said.

No other information was immediately released.

Anyone with any information is asked to contact city detectives at 610-250-6780 or the tipline at 610-250-6635.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.
MBABANE  A woman who has been denied a learners licence because she has a hearing impairment will not take the rejection lying down.

Sanelisiwe Magongo went through all the stages of obtaining a drivers licence. However, when she had to go through the testing stage, she was told that she could not get the learners licence. In a letter that is addressed to the Department of Motor Registry, through MTM Ndlovu Attorneys, Magongo is demanding that the matter be addressed within seven days.

The Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity was also made aware of the matter, as similar concerns were raised by her lawyer. According to a correspondence dated April 30, 2024 and received between May 3 and 4, 2024 by the government departments, Magongo, who has had a hearing impairment since birth, enrolled in a driving school and completed the course.

Test

She sought to be issued with a learners licence as per procedure. She stated that she approached the Weigh Bridge in Matsapha on April 10, 2024. Disturbing as this is, she instructs that, at the Weigh Bridge, she was directed to conduct a test on her hearing, which she advised, she duly complied with what seemed as clear as a day, reads the correspondence.

Upon her return on April 17, 2024, she was told point blank that she would not be issued with the learners licence due to her hearing impairment.

Her attorney, through the correspondence, pointed out that the denial to issue Magongo the drivers licence was in total violation of her right as enshrined in the Constitution of Eswatini, that of protection against discrimination.

It was also pointed out that the same was against the provisions of the Road Traffic Act of 2007, particularly Section 27(1) (h), which specifically states that deafness shall not, of itself, be deemed to be a ground for disqualification for the granting of a learners licence. We are, therefore, instructed to demand, as we hereby do, that you do issue to our client, the said learners within seven days of receipt of this correspondence. Be advised that we hold strict instructions to institute legal proceedings against you in lieu of compliance, further reads the correspondence.

Violation

Magongo has sought legal services and reported her plight to the Commission on Human Rights and Public Administration/Integrity. Different organisations also pointed out that the act of denying Magongo the learners licence was in violation of the countrys Constitution and was discriminatory to people with disabilities. They mentioned that the Road Traffic Act was in favour of people with hearing impairment being issued drivers licences.The Federation Organisation of the Disabled in Swaziland (FODSWA) President, Bongani Makama, said to deny Magongo the drivers licence was discriminatory and an infringement of her rights.

Failed

Makama said there were many people with hearing impairment who were issued drivers licences. He said FODSWA failed to understand how different was Magongos case that she was denied a drivers licence. We have deaf people who are driving in the country, regardless of their level of hearing. When you drive, there is no need for ears; you need eyes to look at mirrors and see the road. Surely, she is being denied for something else, not her disability, he said.

The president mentioned that the Act granted people with a hearing impairment the liberty to drive, therefore, it was foul for a government department to go against the law and the Constitution of the country. He said it would be acceptable if Magongo had issues with her sight, but also stated that even people who were partially sighted were allowed to drive. As a movement, we condemn this, especially if it is done by an institution that we believe should understand and be accommodative to disabilities. If hearing was so much of a requirement when driving, people would not be driving with their headsets or blasting music, he said.
UPDATE: Latest aurora forecast after Northern Lights were visible from the Lehigh Valley

A strong solar storm headed toward Earth could produce northern lights in the U.S. and potentially disrupt communications this weekend.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a rare geometric storm watch  the first in nearly 20 years. The watch starts Friday and lasts all weekend.

Much of Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey are above the view line that indicates the southern extent  weather permitting  of where aurora might be seen on the northern horizon overnight Friday into Saturday, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center.

The red view line that encompasses most of Pennsylvania and northern New Jersey indicates the southern extent of where aurora might be seen on the northern horizon overnight Friday-Saturday, May 10-11, 2024, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Space Weather Prediction Center.NOAA

Viewing conditions in the Lehigh Valley, however, are expected to be poor, the National Weather Service says.

At Lehigh Valley International Airport outside Allentown, rain is forecast Friday into Friday night, mainly before 9 p.m.

There really isnt much clearing, maybe late tonight, weather service meteorologist Eric Hoeflich told lehighvalleylive.com from the regional forecast office in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Its going to be completely overcast until about midnight or so.

Aurora, where visible, can be seen throughout the night, and some break in the clouds is expected overnight in the Lehigh Valley, Hoeflich said. The geomagnetic storm is expected to last through Sunday, offering another potential shot at viewing Saturday night, but cloudy conditions are once again forecast, he said. Additionally, the Space Weather Prediction Centers view line for aurora overnight Saturday into Sunday moves farther north compared to Friday-Saturday, excluding all of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as of Friday morning.

NOAA said the sun produced strong solar flares beginning Wednesday, resulting in five outbursts of plasma capable of disrupting satellites in orbit and power grids here on Earth. Each eruption  known as a coronal mass ejection  can contain billions of tons of solar plasma.

Large sunspot groups and strong solar flares led to the issuance of SWPC's first G4 Watch since 2005... pic.twitter.com/oi55cTPXhP  NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 9, 2024

NOAA is calling this an unusual event, pointing out that the flares seem to be associated with a sunspot thats 16 times the diameter of Earth. An extreme geomagnetic storm in 2003 took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa.

The latest storm could produce northern lights as far south in the U.S. as Alabama and Northern California, according to NOAA.

By MARCIA DUNN

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to lehighvalleylive.com.

Kurt Bresswein contributed to this report. Reach him at kbresswein@lehighvalleylive.com.
A prison sentence was handed down to a recently retired Garda Sergeant at a sitting of Portlaoise District Court.

Former Garda Sergeant Ciaran Whelan (52) with an address C/O Store Street Garda Station, Dublin was in court charged with seven counts of unauthorised use of a garda covert car which would have been used by the Divisional Drugs Unit based at Store Street Garda Station in Dublin for intelligence gathering.

The court was told the defendant had argued that he brought the car, which couldnt be parked at Store Street Garda Station due to the sensitive nature of the work it was used for, on the 350km round trip to his home to keep it safe.

This car was not an unmarked car but was a covert car. It was used for observing or gathering intelligence in a covert way. Store Street Garda station is in a very high traffic criminal area in the sense that it was a very busy district, and the Garda station was cheek by jowl with criminality going on in the environsif a person was to park a covert vehicle in and around Store Street Garda station it could compromise the effectiveness of that vehicle, the court was told.

The court heard authorisation from a District Officer or Chief Superintendent would have been required to take the car out of the garda district. The court was told the issue was investigated by GSOC on foot of a protected disclosure.

The defendant had told a previous court sitting that there had been issues with finding a suitable parking space for the car near the station.

At the previous court sitting, he said Superintendent Tomas Gormley, who had been his superior, may have been mistaken in saying there was designated parking for the car or a second vehicle used for similar work. The defendant had said it was up to us to find parking for both of them.

Judge Andrew Cody said at that sitting the defendant had said Superintendent Gormley asked him 15 or 20 times over the six to seven months to get the car away from the station and Superintendent Gormley didnt care where he put it so long as it got away from the station. He said he was told in no uncertain terms to move the car without offering a location where to park it.

The defendant told the previous court sitting that he tried everything but couldnt find a suitable location to park the car.

He said he would leave his private car at the station and take this car home and he knew it could be seen as taking some sort of advantage. He said there was no evidence of one cent of diesel being unaccounted for nor is there one cent of toll charges being unaccounted for. He said he was saving mileage on his own car but wasnt getting it for nothing he was paying for the diesel and paying for the toll bridge, explained Judge Cody.

Superintendent Gormleys evidence was clear that there was no authority, express or implied, to have this vehicle at the toll bridge on these dates. Sergeant Whelan agreed that there was no express authority but there was implied authority by virtue of the instruction of Superintendent Gormley to park the vehicle elsewhere other than the Garda Station and Sergeant Whelan believed that his only option was to park the vehicle at his home some 175kms from Store Street Garda Station and to do so involved the car being driven on a 350 km round trip, said Judge Cody.

The charges, which were prosecuted under Section 112(1) of the Road Traffic Act, took place at the Motorway Toll Bridge, Fatyharnagh, Mountrath on October 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 and 30 in 2020 when the defendant was a serving member of An Garda Siochana.

The prosecution was taken by the DPP and the Garda Siochana Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

Details of the case had been heard before Tullamore District Court last March and Judge Andrew Cody finalised the case at Portlaoise District Court on Thursday.

Investigating officer Martin Wynne of the Protected Disclosures Unit at GSOC travelled to the M7/M8 Toll Plaza on December 2, 2020 and collected CCTV footage of the defendant travelling through the toll bridge.

He then asked Chief Superintendent Patrick McMenamin to nominate someone who could identify the driver and Superintendent Tomas Gormley, who was in charge of the Divisional Drugs Unit in Store Street at the time of the offending, was nominated. He was shown nine clips of CCTV and positively identified the defendant in eight of them.

Judge Cody noted that the defendant admitted he hadnt told any gardai at Store Street station that he was taking the car home.

There could be only one reason why Sergeant Whelan did not tell his Superior Officer or any other member of An Garda Siochana stationed in Store Street Garda Station that he was driving home this vehicle and that is that he knew that he had no authority to do so, he said.

Having considered the evidence in its totality, I am satisfied that there were no grounds upon which Sergeant Whelan could reasonably conclude that there was no alternative but that he was required to take this vehicle home with him.

Accordingly, the court is satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Sergeant Whelan was driving the particular vehicle without lawful authority in the dates in question, and accordingly convicts Sergeant Whelan on all charges, said Judge Cody.

Defence Counsel David Staunton BL said his client had been a member of An Garda Siochana for 29 years. He said he was attested in October 1994 and had served in Cavan and Monaghan before serving in Galway and then in Dublin.

He said the defendant had a long involvement in drug units within An Garda Siochana and had been involved in significant high profile investigations. He said the defendant was in court supported by his wife.

Mr Staunton said the defendant has no previous convictions and he asked the court to take into account his long service and duty to the public.

Judge Cody noted the accused had retired from An Garda Siochana on April 26, 2024. He said the defendant as a garda had a duty to uphold the law.

He said An Garda Siochana must have the trust and confidence of the public. A position of trust comes with responsibilities and he must be above suspicion or reproach, he remarked.

I do not accept that this was an offence where there was no gain, he said.

Judge Cody estimated that the car would have travelled approximately 1,000km per week. He said over a year that would be 40,000 kms and consequently 40,000kms less mileage on his own vehicle. This, he said, amounted to a gain for the defendant and a loss to the State.

The defendant was not entitled to a discount for an early plea as the case was contested, Judge Cody explained. He said the court had some sympathy for the defendant in that he had served the State. The judge also acknowledged that prison will not be easy for him given his background.

He sentenced the defendant to four months in prison with the final two suspended. He also imposed a three year driving disqualification. Recognisance was fixed in case of appeal. The case was appealed before the end of the court sitting.
The European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland brought its Use Your Vote European Elections 2024 Roadshow to Portlaoise on Tuesday, May 7, to promote voter turnout in the Midlands-North-West constituency in the European elections, which are less than one month away.



The special stop-off was also to mark the move of counties Laois and Offaly from the Ireland South to the Midlands-North-West constituency for the 2024 European elections. CONTINUE READING BELOW PHOTO

Fionnuala Croker, head of office (acting) at the European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland; Thomas Cosby, whose Stradbally sheep farm hosts Electric Picnic; and Aoife Moore, executive librarian, Portlaoise Library and Europe Direct Information Centre. Photo: Gareth Chaney



For the 2024 European elections, counties Laois and Offaly are joining Longford, Roscommon, Westmeath, Leitrim, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, Donegal, Cavan, Monaghan, Kildare, Meath and Louth to make up the Midlands-North-West constituency.



The European Elections 2024 Roadshow is part of the EPLOs nationwide Use Your Vote campaign for which events took place in Portlaoise to demonstrate the impact the EU has on the daily lives of people living in Ireland and why they should vote in the European elections.



Speaking from Portlaoise, head of office (acting) of the European Parliament Liaison Office in Ireland, Fionnuala Croker, said: The European Parliament Liaison Office has launched a nationwide campaign to encourage people to vote in the European elections on 7th June. We chose Portlaoise as one of the roadshows four nationwide destinations to mark the new developments for the Midlands-North-West constituency, including the transition of Laois and Offaly to the Midlands-North-West constituency for the 2024 European elections, and the extra seat thats going to the Midlands-North-West constituency.



As part of our roadshow we hosted a public information event in partnership with The Wheel. It featured EU funding success stories from the local community and presentations from the Irish National Contact Points for various EU funding programmes so that people could learn more about the EU funding pathways available to their organisation.





For more information about the Use Your Vote campaign, visit www.elections.europa.eu.
The HSE has issued a public health alert in relation to the measles at the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise.

Our team is aware that members of the public may have come into contact with measles while attending the Emergency Department in the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise on specific dates during specific times, a spokesperson said.

We wish to advise that members of the public may have come into contact with measles while attending the Emergency Department in the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise: between 13:00 and 18:00 on Friday 26th April 2024 or between 14:40 on Sunday 28th April 2024 and 18:00 on Monday 29th April 2024

This alert relates to those who attended the Emergency Department in the Midland Regional Hospital Portlaoise during the specific times outlined above.

Be alert for symptoms of measles for 21 days from date of contact.

If you were born in Ireland before 1978, or had measles illness, or received two MMR vaccines, you are probably immune. Make sure that you and your family are up to date with MMR vaccine.

The HSE said the Department of Public Health team is working with the hospital and all necessary public health actions are being taken.

We are advising:

Be aware of signs and symptoms of measles for 21 days from the time of possible exposure. These include:

Cold-like symptoms such as a runny nose, sneezing and a cough

Sore red eyes

A temperature of 38 degrees Celsius or above

Followed by:

Rash, which usually appears on the head and neck first and spreads to the rest of the body

If you develop these symptoms, please isolate yourself from others and seek medical advice.

Phone ahead before attending any healthcare setting to let them know that you have these symptoms, so they can make necessary arrangements to prevent potential further spread to others, the HSE advised.

If you are not vaccinated against measles with two doses of MMR, please contact your GP during normal working hours to discuss whether you require vaccination. If you were born in Ireland before 1978 or had measles, you are unlikely to require vaccination, as you are probably immune.

The best way to protect yourself and those around you against measles is by MMR vaccination. Please make sure that you and your family are up to date with MMR vaccines. This can be arranged with your GP.

Children should receive their first dose of MMR vaccine at one year of age and a second dose in junior infants at 4-5 years of age.

For those who may have missed their vaccination when younger, there is a free catch-up MMR option available from participating GPs.

Further information about measles is available at: https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/measles/
Google maps technology has been criticised for taking traffic from the motorway through Johnstown village.

Local councillor Fintan Brett asked if Google could be contacted to seek a mechanism to warn truck drivers that certain rural roads are unsuitable.

Cllr Fintan Brett

He told a Naas Municipal District meeting that walls that are 300 years old are being damaged by the vehicles.

Read more Kildare news

He said a sign put up by residents seeking to deter the drivers was taken down by Kildare County Council.

According to KCC, Google maps is operated by a private company and is one of a number of navigation services in operation.

KCC official Mark McLoughlin said the reporting mechanism used is primarily to address errors and does not have a feature to address whether roads are suitable for certain vehicle types. Nor can it distinguish the type of vehicle being driven.

He said it is up to road users to assess the suitability of a road as well as any weight restrictions that may be in place of planning conditions regarding haulage routers.
Inspector Carla Curry spoke at the latest County Leitrim Joint Policing Committee meeting during which she gave details of crime updates in Leitrim for the last quarter and revealed that in March, during a joint operation with the RSA, a driver was stopped and a large quantity of cocaine costing in excess of 35,000 was discovered.

She also revealed that three travelling criminals were arrested in Carrick-on-Shannon for handling counterfeit notes and "had attempted to pay for goods in four businesses in the town and were involved in similar instances in Longford."

Two suspects were charged and one is a juvenile who is being dealt with by the juvenile liaison system.

She said that on April 19, a number of searches were carried out in Manorhamilton and Carrick-on-Shannon under warrant in relation to an investigation into suspected fraud and money laundering. A number of items were seized and a file is currently being prepared for the DPP.

On January 11, a suspect stole a vehicle outside a residential property and was later apprehended in Dublin and charged with six counts of dangerous driving, three counts of endangerment, among other charges.

In January also, there were a number of thefts from shops and, using CCTV footage, a suspect is to appear before the courts.

She also revealed that a male appeared before Carrick-on-Shannon district court in January charged with 17 instances of theft-related offences and received a two month detention.

She said there were 16 instances of drug seizures in Leitrim in the last quarter involving small quantities of cannabis and cocaine.

In March, a house in Ballinamore was searched and a quantity of cash and cannabis found with two suspects identified and investigations ongoing.

During a report on crime statistics, she revealed that burglaries are down 35% from 20 to 13 from figures last year and theft from MPVs instances rose by four from three last year to seven this year.

Insp Curry continued that theft from other property is down three from ten to seven, and assault causing harm instances are down two from 11 to nine.

Minor assault cases also reduced this year from 14 last year to 13 this year.

Sexual offences went from two to zero this year and public order offences went up 10 from 22 to 32 this year.

Insp Curry said that this was down to "the proactive patrols that are being taken in relation to tackling public order whereby fines on the spot are being issued".

Possession of drugs for sale or supply went up by two and the number of fatal traffic collisions still stands at zero.

She said that drug driving arrests were up 34% from last year from eleven to 32 incidents.

Leitrim Gardai team

She also noted that in Leitrim there are 77 Gardai, 20 Sergeants and three Inspectors, with ten Garda support staff.

There are six detective Gardai and one detective sergeant with eight Gardai in the Divisional Protective Services Unit (DPSU) and one DPSU sergeant, and three in the drugs unit.
A total of 163 people have been moved to State-provided accommodation following the dismantling of a makeshift migrant camp along a Dublin canal.

Irish premier Simon Harris described the multi-agency operation as a Team Ireland response.

More than 100 tents had been erected along the Grand Canal as the Irish Government continues to fail to provide accommodation to all male asylum seekers.

The multi-agency operation to clear the tents began at approximately 6.00am on Thursday.

By approximately 8am, all the tents had been removed using a truck with a crane arm.

The asylum seekers who had been living in the makeshift encampment were told it was an offence to stay on the canal and that they would be taken by five buses to official accommodation.

Many of the men lined up for the buses while their tents were marked before being disposed of for health and safety reasons.

Fifteen of the international-protection applicants were moved to the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum, while 148 were accommodated at the Crooksling site.

The Irish Government said both sites have robust, weather-proof tents and other services including toilets, showers and 24-hour onsite security.

A senior HSE official was involved in the planning of the operation and a Safetynet mobile health unit also assisted.

One person was referred for medical attention.

Fences were erected around the stretch of the Grand Canal where the tents had been pitched to prevent another encampment.

The encampment on the waterway emerged shortly after more than 200 asylum seekers were cleared from a similar makeshift camp at the nearby International Protection Office in Mount Street last week.

The Irish Government said Thursday mornings operation involved the Irish police service, Dublin City Council, the national health service, the Departments of Integration and Justice as well as a waterway authority.

Speaking at a press conference a short time after the operation, Mr Harris thanked the agencies involved in both operations.

He said: It was not acceptable to me or to Government that there would be any source of tacit acceptance that what was happening at Mount Street was just okay, because it never was.

And it became very close  and closer than many people may even realise  to becoming a real public health emergency.

He said he had no doubt other issues would arise in future but added that the multi-agency response would continue.

The days of people saying, thats not my issue, thats for that department, thats for that agency  I dont want to hear it.

This is Government. This is Ireland. This is Team Ireland.

Mr Harris said there would be a continued comprehensive response to the refugee accommodation crisis.

He said there would not be a situation where another camp would be allowed to stay for weeks or months, adding: Those days are gone. Those days are over. Thats not gonna happen and the Government is absolutely united in relation to this.

Asked if the Government would continue to block off public spaces with fences, Mr Harris said: The multi agency response involves a number of different actions happening.

It doesnt involve the long-term erection of barriering off parts of our city, but in the short term that can be a requirement.

He would not define what he considered to be short term but said he would not expect it to be months.

Noting there was a range of public order offences that applied to the encampment, Integration Minister Roderic OGorman said Irish police An Garda Siochana took a humane approach to the encampment given that the asylum seekers had not yet received an offer of accommodation.

A statement from the Government said: The purpose of the operation is to ensure the safe movement of people seeking international protection from the tents on the Grand Canal to International Protection Accommodation Service (IPAS)-designated accommodation.

The site was later cleaned by Waterways Ireland at an estimated expense of 13,500 euro.

Two other individuals who were discovered in the encampment but not identified as international protection applicants were said to have been provided with couples accommodation by the Dublin Regional Homelessness Executive.

Labour leader Ivana Bacik, who is a TD for the area, said she hoped the alternative accommodation was appropriate and secure.

I have been calling on the Taoiseach to address this situation. Its clearly inhumane and unsustainable to see individuals with no option but to sleep in tents with no sanitation facilities, no security, she said.

I am glad to see alternative accommodation has been made and we will be pressing the Government to ensure that it is safe and secure accommodation.

I want to commend all the local residents and volunteers who gave such support to the individuals here. It was a very calm presence along the canal.

It couldnt have been allowed to continue because it was inhumane to the individuals.
There will be an operation to clear the latest makeshift migrant camp along a canal in Dublin, the housing minister has said.

It comes after approximately 30 tents were erected along the Grand Canal one day after a major multi-agency action removed 163 asylum seekers from an encampment just metres down the waterway.

Last week, a similar action saw roughly 290 other international protection applicants removed from a camp near the International Protection Office.

Taoiseach Simon Harris said the encampments emerging in the city will not be allowed to fester.

He said the encampment on Mount Street that lasted months should not have happened and was not acceptable.

Mr Harris said: Im determined to bring a whole-of-government approach in relation to addressing the very significant challenges this country is currently facing regarding migration and accommodation relating to that.

I inherited a very challenging situation. Ive been Taoiseach for around a month and since then Ive convened multi-agency group on two occasions.

Weve seen very significant progress made in terms of around 450 people who were living in tents at Mount Street and Grand Canal being provided with safer, better accommodation and access to sanitation.

A public health emergency on Mount Street in many ways being averted. We also have to be honest with people, the situation around accommodation is extremely challenging.

He said he expects more accommodation for asylum seekers to become available soon.

I think we do need to look at all of the levers at the states disposal in terms of what its sustainable migration policy looks like, he added.

So, yes, were working on accommodation on a daily basis, on a several-times-a-day basis, and I do expect to see more responses coming on stream.

We will not have a situation where these encampments are allowed to fester, go on for weeks and weeks and months and months, as was the case on Mount Street. Thats not acceptable to me.

Issues will arise, tents will appear and the Government will work with agencies on a multi-agency approach, none of this siloed stuff, to resolve these issues.

On Friday, Darragh OBrien said there had been a meeting involving the Taoiseach on the matter on Thursday night.

He said: Weve been very clear that that is not where we want to see people.

We dont want to see asylum seekers in tents, thus an operation will be put in place between our departments to move those tents on and move the people on to safe and secure accommodation  thats what we intend to do.

Mr OBrien was speaking to reporters alongside Integration Minister Roderic OGorman at an event in Hollystown, Dublin.

Mr OGorman said the key issue has been the availability of accommodation but this has improved within the last two weeks.

More than 1,800 asylum seekers are without an offer for State-provided accommodation.

Asked about the long-term plan for accommodating asylum seekers, the integration minister said there was a need to move away from over-reliance on commercial providers.

He added: Were acutely aware we need to do more.

At a separate event in Dublin, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said that it is not reasonable to ask any country, including Ireland, to find suitable accommodation for every person seeking international protection.

Speaking in Dublin on Friday, Mr Donnelly said: We cant have a situation in the capital city or indeed in any city in the country, where we have large tented encampments popping up.

Its not something that can go on and the Government is quite right on moving to address that. Were dealing with a situation in Ireland, similar to a situation across much of the Western world, where we have quite rightly taken in about 100,000 people fleeing Russias invasion of their country (Ukraine).

They have been welcomed here, they are welcomed here and were doing exactly the right thing for those people. At the same time, the number of people seeking international protection has gone up from  it used to be about 2,000 to 3,000 a year  it went up to nearly 9,000 last year, projections of 14,000 or 15,000 or more this year.

Thats the level of demand that Ireland is dealing with, its a level of demand being dealt with right across Europe. Its simply not reasonable to expect any government, be it the Irish government, be it a different government, or indeed any country to be able to simply absorb so many people without there being issues.
A Hunger Games-obsessed ex-prisoner has been locked up indefinitely for the senseless killing of an elderly mobility scooter rider five days after his release.

Lee Byer was psychotic when he stabbed 87-year-old Thomas OHalloran in the neck and chest in Greenford, west London, in August 2022.

He later wrote repeatedly about a Hunger Games scenario in which he was required to meet contestants and then fight or attack, the Old Bailey was told.

Five days before the killing, Byer, who had a string of convictions, was released from Wormwood Scrubs, having served a full 12-year sentence for robbery.

Prosecutor Gareth Patterson KC told the court: Technically, he was on bail when he was released in August 2022, so these offences were committed while on bail. Some months later that allegation was discontinued.

From accounts from his mother and brother, there was odd behaviour but at that stage the full nature and degree of his mental illness had not been diagnosed.

The 45-year-old, of no fixed address, denied murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter by diminished responsibility and having an offensive weapon.

The pleas were accepted by the prosecution after mental health reports found Byer was psychotic, hearing voices, suffering from paranoid delusions and paranoid schizophrenia.

In a televised sentencing on Friday, Judge Mark Lucraft KC handed him a hospital order with restrictions.

The judge said it was a senseless and savage killing of a much-loved man with no provocation and no rational motive.

He noted concerns over Byers mental health were raised in 2020 when there were reports he was hearing voices and tried to take his own life.

On behalf of the OHalloran family, grandson Dennis Lintern, condemned Byer for his horrendous act of cowardice.

Mr Lintern described his grandfather as a gentle, loving, man who spent his life working and helping everyone he could.

He said: He was minding his own business doing what he loved, playing his accordion to make people smile and enjoy his music which he had done for many years.

In mitigation, Satyanand Beharrylal KC said that Byer displayed a questionable reality when he wrote his defence statement in 2023 referencing the Hollywood series about a violent dystopia.

Since then, he has expressed regret for what happened and apologises for it, the defence lawyer said.

Mr OHalloran was originally from Co Clare in Ireland and was well known in the Greenford community where he busked to raise charity funds for Ukraine.

On the afternoon of August 16 2022, he was seen on CCTV footage waving from his mobility scooter as he headed home with his accordion and Ukraine collection box.

Mr Patterson said: His path took him past this defendant, who was walking the streets in possession of a large knife.

Mr OHalloran, for his part, was unarmed and of course, at the age of 87, he in no way posed any kind of threat to anyone.

Yet Tom OHalloran was attacked and stabbed repeatedly by the defendant.

Mr OHalloran suffered two stab wounds to the heart, one to the back and three to the neck.

A young man who happened to be passing saw Mr OHalloran trundling forward in his scooter before he came to a stop and slumped in his chair.

The victim was able to tell the young man that he had been stabbed.

Police and paramedics rushed to the scene, but despite their best efforts Mr OHalloran bled to death at the side of the road.

Mr Patterson said that money in the victims charity collection box and wallet were untouched.

Investigators found CCTV footage of Mr OHalloran, a retired maintenance man, and Byer heading towards the passageway where the attack happened.

When Byer emerged from the passageway, he had a bread knife in his gloved hand.

As he made his way back to his mothers house, Byer was caught on camera depositing a knife handle in a drain.

Forensic analysis found the victims blood on the handle, although the blade was never found.

CCTV images of the suspect were released in the media and Byer was identified by prison officers.

The gloves Byer wore during the attack were similar to those issued to prisoners at Wormwood Scrubs which the defendant was known to habitually wear.

After being arrested at his mothers house on August 18, Byer told police: I was in prison, I was in prison, so it is impossible what you are talking about.

Receipts for clothes worn by the defendant were found at his home as well as a knife set with handles similar to the one found in the drain.

The burnt remains of Byers yellow and blue trainers were found in a fire in the garden.

In police interviews, he denied being the suspect caught on CCTV and claimed it was a case of mistaken identity.

Byer had 15 previous convictions for 30 offences dating back to when he was aged 13.

They included a robbery at a jewellers with hammers, supply of A drugs offences and having a prohibited firearm.

He was later convicted of harassment, battery and breaching a restraining order, leading to his recall to prison in 2020.

It meant that he had to serve the entirety of his 2021 sentence of 12 years for robbery and was released on August 11 2022.
MBABANE - The much-anticipated Joint Negotiations Forum (JNF) between Public Sector Unions (PSUs) and the Government Negotiations Team (GNT) failed to take off on Wednesday as scheduled.

This is because the Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Service, Sipho Tsabedze, as the governments Chief Negotiator, together with other government officials, walked out of the meeting before it could be opened by the JNF chairperson. This is according to the Swaziland National Association of Teachers (SNAT) Secretary General (SG), Lot Vilakati. The GNF followed a petition and a picketing by the leadership of the PSUs recently, calling for the JNF to be reconvened. The PSUs include SNAT, Swaziland Democratic Nurses Union (SWADNU), National Public Service and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), and Swaziland National Association of Government Accounting Personnel (SNAGAP).

In a statement issued by Vilakati, Tsabedze did not wait for the JNF chairperson to open the meeting, where he allegedly pointed out that, as government, they had a mandate not to meet with SNAT President Mbongwa Dlamini, because he was allegedly dismissed by the Teaching Service Commission (TSC). According to Vilakati, this was despite the March 21, 2024 Industrial Court ruling in favour of Dlamini, where TSC was ordered to start afresh the disciplinary action.

The court set aside the verbal and written decision of August 23 and 24, 2023, respectively, to dismiss the SNAT President from work, Vilakati said. He stated that Tsabedze alluded to the fact that they were aware of the judgment, but government would allegedly not abide by court orders but would await an instrument from the TSC, confirming the reinstatement of the president. Vilakati said after the adjournment of the meeting, they resolved to urgently report the matter of the unforeseen behaviour of the GNT to the Commissioner of Labour, to intervene in the deadlock as per Section 82 of the Industrial Relations Act of 2000 (as amended). In the same vein, he said they also resolved to meet Prime Minister (PM) Russell Dlamini to report on what was unfolding at the JNF. Vilakati went on to assure members that they would be kept abreast of other developments regarding the subject matter.

Issues

We are aware that government is buying time, instead of addressing critical issues such as the protracted salary review, allowances, and cost-of-living adjustment (CoLA) for civil servants, he said. Furthermore, he shared that the SNAT president would form part of the Education International (EI) delegation to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) congress and would be reporting to the congress about the state of union bashing in the country and the absence of collective bargaining, as per Convention 87 and 98 as ratified by the country on April 26, 1978.

Adding, SWADNU SG Mayibongwe Masangane shared the same sentiments and confirmed that the GNT walked out of the meeting. Masangane said this happened even before the chairperson could officially open the meeting. He said Tsabedze told them that government had a position regarding Dlaminis presence in JNF.

Masangane shared that they were allegedly told that, if Dlamini was available in the JNF, they would not be part of the meeting. According to Masangane, Tsabedze said they were not concerned about the court rulings as government, when Dlaminis employer, the TSC is still not ready to comply with the judgment recently issued.
Global Times: Hungary's strategy of connectivity stands out in today's increasingly divided world: scholar





BEIJING, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hungary-China cooperation will continue to expand in the future, and the visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping to Hungary will help accelerate the development of bilateral relations and EU-China relations, Gladden Pappin, President of Hungarian Institute of International Affairs, told the Global Times in an exclusive interview.

Chinese President Xi is paying state visits to France, Serbia and Hungary from May 5 to 10. The visits are 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.

Amid the shifting international landscape, President Xi's visit to Europe will play a crucial role in restoring normal links between West and East, Pappin told the Global Times.

The visit to Hungary is particularly noteworthy given the strong ties between Budapest and Beijing, which began to deepen with the announcement of Hungary's Eastern Opening in 2010. Hungary and China recognize the importance of connectivity, and in this light Hungary has become a keystone state for connecting West and East, according to the expert.

During meetings in Budapest, the key areas of focus will likely include deepening ties with Hungary and improving relations with the EU. President Xi's visit to Budapest is an indication that Hungary's strategy of connectivity stands out as distinctive and important in today's increasingly divided world, said Pappin.

Since the beginning of this year, leaders and senior officials from several European countries have visited China. Pappin said that European leaders see the importance of good relations with China, even if they are sometimes reluctant to admit it.

Regular trade and exchange also continue despite the rhetoric of "decoupling" and "de-risking" in some European countries. "What is important is for the reality of strong East-West connections to be reflected in high-level interactions, which serve to help the exchanges that occur at the levels of business and the economy generally," said Pappin.

Pappin said that the Hungarian approach to China is part of the country's broader connectivity strategy, which advocates for pursuing mutually beneficial and strong relations with as many countries as possible. Hungary opposes the bloc formation and views these approaches as against its national interests.

"Hungary's viewpoint is born of centuries of experience at the gateway of East and West, and we recognize in particular that Europe stands in need of strong connections with the rest of the world. The European economy has been built on the basis of active connections with the rest of the world, and within that context Hungary has been urging peaceful global cooperation with a special urgency," said Pappin.

Both the Hungary-China and Europe-China relationships have the potential to benefit all parties, which is why Hungary has been working to strengthen both, according to the expert.

China became Hungary's largest source of foreign investment and largest trading partner outside the European Union last year. Hungary signed the memorandum of understanding over China's Belt and Road Initiative in June 2015, becoming the first European country to establish a Belt and Road working group with China.

Pappin also noted that Chinese investments, like the establishment of battery and electrical vehicle factory, are delivering capital and jobs to Hungarian communities. They also help drive economic growth in the country to close the gap between western Europe and central Europe.

Hungary-China cooperation will continue to expand in the future, and the visit by President Xi will help accelerate bilateral cooperation, said Pappin, noting that while Hungary hopes that Europe's approach to China will improve, it will continue to promote strong ties between the two sides.

SOURCE Global Times

10 may 2024 at 03:46

News published onand distributed by:
Vincent Chen Joins Lancaster Resources Board of Directors, Bolstering Expertise in Corporate Development





VANCOUVER, British Columbia, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Lancaster Resources Inc. (CSE:LCR) (OTCQB:LANRF) (FRA:6UF0) ("Lancaster") a leader in critical mineral exploration, is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Vincent Chen, CPA, as an independent director to its Board of Directors, effective May 9, 2024.

Vincent brings a wealth of expertise and a robust background in accounting and corporate development within the mining sector. He began his distinguished career at PricewaterhouseCoopers in the mining assurance team in Toronto, where he earned his Chartered Professional Accountant designation. Following his tenure at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Vincent joined Yamana Gold Inc. (now Pan American Silver), serving as a Senior Analyst on the corporate reporting team.

Most recently, Vincent held the position of Senior Associate of Corporate Development and Investor Relations at Forbes & Manhattan, a prominent family office and merchant bank focused on the global mining and resource sector. He has continued to shape the industry landscape through his current role as a strategic consultant for various junior mining companies, including Emerita Resources Corp., Halcones Precious Metals Corp., and Lithium Ionic Corp.

Vincent is a proud alumnus of the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University, where he graduated with Honours in Accounting.

"We are thrilled to welcome Vincent Chen to the Board," said Penny White, President & CEO of Lancaster Resources. "His experience and strategic insight into the mining industry will be invaluable as we continue to develop our lithium and gold assets. Vincent's leadership in corporate development and investor relations will undoubtedly contribute to our mission of elevating our standing in the gold and critical minerals sectors."

"I am very excited and proud to join the Board of Directors here at Lancaster," notes Vincent Chen. "It is impressive what the leadership team has accomplished in such a short period of time in New Mexico. I am focused on the opportunities ahead and committed to help navigate a successful path forward for our projects and shareholders. I am truly excited to work with the team here."

Vincent's appointment reflects Lancaster Resources' commitment to strengthening its leadership and strategic capabilities to enhance shareholder value and propel the company's growth in the mining industry.

About Lancaster Resources Inc.

Lancaster Resources (CSE:LCR | OTCQB:LANRF | FRA:6UF0) is engaged in exploring lithium, and other critical minerals. Its Alkali Flat Lithium Project, in Lordsburg, New Mexico, USA, spans ~5,200 acres and comprises 260 mineral placer claims which cover the heart of the Alkali Flats playa near Lordsburg, Mexico where Lancaster is exploring a below-surface lithium brine target. Lancaster's goal at Alkali Flat is to produce Net-Zero Lithium through the use of direct lithium extraction (DLE) technology and solar power. Lancaster is also collaborating to deploy advanced satellite hyperspectral acquisition, geospatial data aggregation, and AI-driven predictive modelling services exploration.

Lancaster's project portfolio includes 100% ownership of the Piney Lake Gold Property in Saskatchewan and rights to acquire 100% of the Trans-Taiga Lithium Property located within the James Bay lithium district of Quebec. Lancaster also holds a 100 percent interest in the Catley Lake and Centennial East Uranium projects in the Athabasca basin in Saskatchewan, Canada. Lancaster has also retained a minority interest in Nelson Lake Copper Corp., after a spin-off to Lancaster shareholders earlier this year. Guiding Lancaster's journey is a skilled management and technical team with collective involvement in over 40 gold discoveries and endowed with extensive experience in the creation of lithium brine targets and the exploration and development of exploration projects across Canada, the American West, Mexico, and South America.

Penny White, President & Chief Executive Officer, Lancaster Resources Inc.

[email protected]

Tel: 604 923 6100

www.lancaster-resources.com

The Canadian Securities Exchange has not reviewed, approved nor disapproved the contents of this news release.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information. These statements relate to future events, or Lancaster's future performance. The use of any of the words "could", "expect", "believe", "will", "projected", "estimated" and similar expressions and statements relating to matters that are not historical facts are intended to identify forward-looking information and are based on Lancaster's current belief or assumptions as to the outcome and timing of such future events. Actual future results may differ materially. In particular, the ability of Lancaster to execute its exploration plans, ability to enter into a long form agreement for the acquisition of the Trans Taiga Lithium Property, retain key personnel, identify, acquire, explore, and develop high-quality mineral-rich properties and integrate sustainable energy sources and innovative technologies for climate-positive resource production constitute forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by forward-looking information.

Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information. The statements made in this press release are made as of the date hereof. Lancaster disclaims any intention or obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities laws.





10 may 2024 at 08:00

News published onand distributed by:
CANADA AND ALBERTA INVEST NEARLY $66 MILLION TO SUPPORT AFFORDABLE HOUSING





ENOCH CREE NATION, AB, May 10, 2024 /CNW/ - The governments of Canada and Alberta are providing nearly $66 million to help build 335 new affordable housing units and 129 shelter beds for those in housing need across Alberta. This investment is cost-matched by both governments thanks to the Canada ? Alberta Bilateral Agreement under the National Housing Strategy.

The funding, delivered through the Affordable Housing Partnership Program (AHPP), will support a range of initiatives, including the development of new affordable housing for Indigenous elders, seniors, families, newcomers, and women and children. Other projects will include specialized housing and support for vulnerable Albertans who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, are fleeing domestic violence, and/or struggling with mental health and addiction issues.

The announcement was made in Enoch Cree Nation today by the Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages and Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre, alongside Jason Nixon, Alberta Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services, and Chief Cody Thomas, Chief of the Enoch Cree Nation.

Funding has been provided for the following 8 projects:

$25 million for Enoch Cree Nation to build a mixed-income elders lodge on the reserve.

for Enoch Cree Nation to build a mixed-income elders lodge on the reserve. $21.2 million for the Metis Nation of Alberta to construct housing for people recovering from addictions in Edmonton .

for the Metis Nation of Alberta to construct housing for people recovering from addictions in . $9.5 million to Trochu Housing Corporation to build seniors housing in Trochu .

to Trochu Housing Corporation to build seniors housing in . $4 million to the Lethbridge Housing Authority to build a homeless shelter in Lethbridge .

to the Lethbridge Housing Authority to build a homeless shelter in . $2.2 million for Concept Investment Partners to build affordable, accessible housing for older Albertans in Lethbridge .

for Concept Investment Partners to build affordable, accessible housing for older Albertans in . $1.9 million for HeARTh Social Profit Company Incorporated to convert a hotel into supportive housing for people recovering from addiction in Red Deer .

for HeARTh Social Profit Company Incorporated to convert a hotel into supportive housing for people recovering from addiction in . $1.6 million to build affordable housing in Lake Louise .

to build affordable housing in . $340,000 to the Winnifred Stewart Association to build permanent supportive housing in Edmonton .

Quotes:

"The National Housing Strategy demonstrates that when Governments and local organizations work together to support housing ? anything is possible. Hundreds of Albertans seeking refuge will benefit from these projects, providing them with a safe, affordable home and a better quality of life." ? The Honourable Randy Boissonnault, Member of Parliament for Edmonton Centre, Alberta and Minister of Employment, Workforce Development and Official Languages

"Through long-term collaboration with our non-profits, housing providers, and community partners, we are ensuring we can deliver new, innovative, and sustainable housing solutions that address local needs. Together, we're making sure Albertans have a place to lay down roots, a place to raise their families and most importantly, a safe and affordable place to call home." ? Jason Nixon, Minister of Seniors, Community and Social Services

"Enoch Elder's Lodge stands as a testament to our collective commitment to honouring and supporting our elders, ensuring they have a place where their wisdom is cherished, and our community thrives. This has been a priority for our Nation for decades, and a key pillar for our Council since taking office in 2023. I am pleased to see the Provincial and Federal government come together in this way, and I believe this can be the first of many Elder's Lodges on First Nation lands across Turtle Island. With this $25 million funding commitment, we embark on a journey to construct a sanctuary where generations connect, stories are shared, and the legacy of our elders endures." ? Chief Cody Thomas, Enoch Cree Nation

Quick facts:

Canada's National Housing Strategy ( NHS) is an $82+ billion plan to give more Canadians a place to call home. Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly at http://www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed.

NHS) is an $82+ billion plan to give more Canadians a place to call home. Progress on programs and initiatives are updated quarterly at http://www.placetocallhome.ca. The Housing Funding Initiatives Map shows affordable housing projects that have been developed. As of September 30, 2023 , the Government of Canada has committed over $38.89 billion for the creation of almost 152,000 and repair of over 241,000 homes. These measures prioritize those in greatest need, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and women and children fleeing violence. NHS is built on strong partnerships between the federal, provincial, and territorial governments, and continuous engagement with others, including municipalities, Indigenous governments and organizations, and the social and private housing sectors. This includes consultations with Canadians from all walks of life, and people with lived experience of housing need. All NHS investments delivered by the federal, provincial, and territorial governments will respect the key principles of NHS that support partnerships, people, and communities.

, the Government of has committed over for the creation of almost 152,000 and repair of over 241,000 homes. These measures prioritize those in greatest need, including seniors, Indigenous Peoples, people experiencing or at risk of homelessness, and women and children fleeing violence. The Affordable Housing Partnership Program (AHPP) is part of Alberta's Stronger Foundations affordable housing strategy to support an additional 25,000 households by 2031 ? an increase of more than 40 per cent. In December 2022 , Alberta's government launched the Affordable Housing Partnership Program to build and renovate more affordable housing units across the province. This program partners with local organizations, governments, and housing providers to build housing that meets the needs of the community it will serve. AHPP is cost-matched through the Canada ? Alberta Bilateral Agreement under the National Housing Strategy. The first round of funding for the Affordable Housing Partnership Program closed January 11, 2023. The program will open again to applications this spring. A 10-year agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of Alberta was signed on March 8, 2019. The agreement will invest $678 million ? $339 million from the Government of Canada and $339 million from the Government of Alberta ? to protect, renew and expand social and community housing in Alberta .



Additional Information:

Visit Canada.ca/housing for the most requested Government of Canada housing information.

housing information. CMHC contributes to the stability of the housing market and financial system, provides support for Canadians in housing need, and offers unbiased housing research and advice to all levels of Canadian government, consumers and the housing industry. CMHC's aim is that everyone in Canada has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook.

has a home they can afford and that meets their needs. For more information, follow us on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and Facebook. To find out more about the National Housing Strategy, please visit www.placetocallhome.ca.

SOURCE Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC)

10 may 2024 at 15:30

News published onand distributed by:
Keeping Canadians safe from wildfires





WEST KELOWNA, BC, May 10, 2024 /CNW/ - Last year, Canada's wildfire season was the most destructive on record. Communities across the country were devastated, with thousands of Canadians being forced to flee their homes and leave everything behind. But first responders answered the call. They selflessly risked their lives to save others, and thousands of volunteers across Canada stepped up to provide help to their neighbours and communities in need.

Budget 2024 is about restoring fairness for every generation. That means taking climate action, protecting our communities, supporting our brave firefighters, and ensuring future generations don't foot the bill for the costs of inaction.

Today, the Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, highlighted measures included in Budget 2024 to support volunteer firefighters, bolster Canada's wildfire preparedness, and help Indigenous communities respond to emergencies.

Here's what we're doing:

Doubling the Volunteer Firefighter and Search and Rescue Volunteer Tax Credits , which will increase from $3,000 to $6,000 for 2024, saving volunteer firefighters up to an additional $450 per year.

, which will increase from to for 2024, saving volunteer firefighters up to an additional per year. Investing $800,000 more to expand firefighting capacity. This funding will help the International Association of Fire Fighters expand their training program for structural firefighters to respond to wildfires that impact urban areas. This builds on existing funding to support the federal government's commitment to train 1,000 wildland firefighters.

Indigenous communities are often located in remote areas, where there is a higher risk of natural disasters. Budget 2024 announces investments in partnership with Indigenous Peoples to save lives and better protect communities against wildfires. We are:

Investing over $145 million to help First Nations communities prepare for emergencies. This includes developing community-specific plans to respond to natural disasters and builds on the $260 million announced in the 2023 Fall Economic Statement to support wildfire response activities on First Nations communities.

This includes developing community-specific plans to respond to natural disasters and builds on the announced in the to support wildfire response activities on First Nations communities. Providing $20.9 million for fire prevention in First Nations communities. This funding will support the First Nations Fire Protection Strategy, 2023 to 2028 by distributing fire alarms and fire extinguishers to home and community facilities on reserve, as well as assisting fire-related education programs.

This funding will support the First Nations Fire Protection Strategy, 2023 to 2028 by distributing fire alarms and fire extinguishers to home and community facilities on reserve, as well as assisting fire-related education programs. Committing $9 million to help support Indigenous governments directly affected by the 2023 wildfires in the Northwest Territories . This funding will help Indigenous partners reimburse expenses incurred when they were providing cultural supports to community members during the 2023 wildfire season.

The investments highlighted today will be critical in building a safer, more resilient Canada. We're taking bold climate action, protecting our communities, and making sure that Canada's volunteer firefighters get the support they deserve ? and these are just some of the things included in Budget 2024. Alongside these measures, we're growing our economy, building more homes, investing in health care, and creating good-paying jobs so that every generation can get ahead.

Quotes

"Climate change is here, and we're making sure our communities are ready. With Budget 2024, we're investing in emergency management, supporting our dedicated volunteer firefighters, and making sure Canadians have what they need to stay safe. We will stay resilient; we will stay united; and we will get through this, together."

? The Rt. Hon. Justin Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada

"Last year was the worst wildfire season in Canadian history, and climate change is only causing more frequent and more extreme wildfires. That's why in Budget 2024, we are investing in the first responders who keep us safe, and in the tools communities, including Indigenous communities, need to protect Canadians from wildfires."

? The Hon. Chrystia Freeland, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance

"As we prepare for another potentially severe wildfire season, it's more important than ever that we support those who are on the frontlines. With the increased tax credit for volunteer firefighters and search and rescue volunteers, and the commitment to increase firefighting capacity and support at-risk Indigenous communities, we are adapting to the new reality of climate change."

? The Hon. Harjit S. Sajjan, President of the King's Privy Council for Canada, Minister of Emergency Preparedness and Minister responsible for the Pacific Economic Development Agency of Canada

Quick Facts

Canada's 2023 wildfire season resulted in over 235,000 people being evacuated from their homes. By September 2023 , 297 evacuation orders had been issued nationally. This included those for more than 95 Indigenous communities ? more than the four previous years combined.

2023 wildfire season resulted in over 235,000 people being evacuated from their homes. By , 297 evacuation orders had been issued nationally. This included those for more than 95 Indigenous communities ? more than the four previous years combined. On May 9, 2024 , Government of Canada officials provided an updated seasonal outlook for the 2024 wildfire season. Higher-than-normal temperatures are expected nationwide for the spring and summer, setting the stage for the possibility of another active wildfire season and other incidents of extreme weather. The warmer than normal temperatures last winter and drier than usual conditions may result in some regions ? particularly British Columbia and the Prairies ? experiencing early, above normal, fire activity.

, Government of officials provided an updated seasonal outlook for the 2024 wildfire season. Higher-than-normal temperatures are expected nationwide for the spring and summer, setting the stage for the possibility of another active wildfire season and other incidents of extreme weather. The warmer than normal temperatures last winter and drier than usual conditions may result in some regions ? particularly and the Prairies ? experiencing early, above normal, fire activity. Since 2019, the Government of Canada has invested over $800 million for initiatives that support wildland fire response, prevention, and mitigation.

has invested over for initiatives that support wildland The Government of Canada's Budget 2024 was tabled in the House of Commons by the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance on April 16, 2024 .

Associated Links

This document is also available at https://pm.gc.ca

SOURCE Prime Minister's Office

10 may 2024 at 16:49

News published onand distributed by:
A LIMERICK man convicted of the manslaughter of a PSNI officer who was apprehended by gardai earlier this year is to challenge his extradition to Northern Ireland.

Christopher Shane Frane, who is originally from west Limerick, was sentenced to a minimum of six years for the manslaughter of a police officer in 2013 and was given an indefinite custodial sentence until he can show that he is no longer a danger to the public.

The 36-year-old was apprehended by gardai in February - nearly two weeks after the PSNI said he had breached the conditions of his temporary prison release by absconding from the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

At the High Court in Dublin this Friday, his lawyer Leanora Frawley BL said indefinite custodial sentences are the Northern Irish equivalent of "imprisonment for public protection (IPP)" sentences which proved highly controversial in the UK.

Prisoners, she said, could end up serving life terms for relatively minor offences. IPPs were abolished in the UK following a 2012 ruling by the ECHR that they were unlawful but judges in Northern Ireland can still impose indefinite sentences.

Ms Frawley said Frane has served his six-year sentence but remains subject to the indeterminate portion until he is no longer considered to be dangerous. Under the law, it is up to the prisoner to rebut the presumption that he is a danger, Ms Frawley said.

The barrister asked for a senior counsel to be appointed to argue the "novel and complex point" as to whether Frane's extradition should be refused on human rights and constitutional grounds.

READ ALSO: Limerick man 'in a fog' after being told he had four blockages to his heart

Harriet Burgess BL, for the Minister for Justice, said there is extensive case law in this jurisdiction on indeterminate sentences but the State is not opposing the application for a senior counsel.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott granted the application and adjourned the case until June 26 for hearing.

Frane was arrested in Dublin on February 1 this year on foot of an extradition warrant issued by the Police Service of Northern Ireland where he is deemed to be unlawfully at large from prison since January 17.

Frane had pleaded guilty to a number of charges including the manslaughter of Constable Philippa Reynolds.

Ms Reynolds (27) was the back seat passenger in a police patrol car that was struck by a stolen Toyota Landcruiser driven by Frane in February 2013 in Derry.

She was killed instantly.
THREE third-level institutions in the Mid-West are involved in a campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs, among its students.

Mary Immaculate College, University of Limerick (UL) and Technological University of the Shannon were involved with the initiative, along with the Mid-West Regional Drugs and Alcohol Forum, gardai, Road Safety Authority and HSE.

There are about 30,000 students across the three institutions in the Mid-West and with the housing crisis, more and more students are driving to classes.

READ MORE: Limerick accordion player Derek Hickey to be awarded highest accolade in Traditional Irish Music

Its important that they are aware of the roadside drug test and what it can mean for them if they take a substance and drive. Our main concern is about student safety and the safety of others, but its also about bringing awareness to the longer-term implications, said Dr Eva Devaney, Healthy UL, Substance Use and Gambling, who took a lead role in the initiative.

Emily Rosenkranz, student welfare officer, UL told the Limerick Leader: We want students to be aware that depending on the substance and the person, drugs can last in your system longer than you think. A drug driving conviction can affect you getting a visa to travel to some countries and future job opportunities."

"An immediate impact of a conviction is being put off the road for a year and may mean you cant finish your college course.
NURSING home residents will be able to vote wherever they are registered in the upcoming elections in June.

At the meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District, Cllr Jerome Scanlan asked about arrangements for people in nursing homes to cast their votes.

It was explained that if they are registered voters in the nursing home and special voter forms are completed, they can be facilitated to vote there and a ballot box is taken to the nursing home.

However, if the person remains registered at their home address, their vote is only valid in their home area, but they must make arrangements to go there to vote.

READ MORE: Limerick's Sister Enda lives on in Malaysian hearts

Cllr Liam Galvin told the meeting: There should be a means for people resident in nursing homes to vote in the place where they are registered - they should be allowed to vote in the nursing home for their own area.

The point was made that if someone is in a nursing home outside their own electoral area, they cant vote for their local representatives at home.

The facility should be available in the nursing home for them to vote in their place of origin, Cllr Galvin said.

There are 22,709 registered voters in the Newcastle West area.
THERE is a Darkness into Light walk close to everyone in Limerick, who wishes to take part early this Saturday morning, May 11, with the west, south, east of the county and city covered.

Organisers in Pallasgreen, Kilmallock, Newcastle West, Kildimo, Hospital, Glenbrohane, Anglesboro, Knocklong and Limerick city have been busy putting the final touches for the annual event to raise funds for Pieta.

Tens of thousands across the country and abroad will take part in walks which provide an opportunity for people to connect with their local community and to bring hope to people who have been impacted by suicide.

One of the newest Darkness into Light events in Limerick is in Pallasgreen after it took over the mantle from Murroe, - which hosted many successful walks - last year.

Ger O'Connell (pictured above), one of the organisers of the Pallasgreen event, said this year's theme is hope.

We do hope that our actions on the most important sunrise of the year on May 11 will continue to raise awareness and hope in the global fight against suicide and self-harm, said Ger.

He was delighted to announce their two ambassadors - Caroline Stokes and Rob O' Donnell - both mental health advocates who are doing great work in this sector.

Ger says the starting point is in the astro pitch at Pallasgreen GAA Club at 4.15am. They will march as one in the beautiful countryside amid the dawn chorus and sunrise. A large hope sign in front of the Mass rock in the grotto of Nicker church awaits the walkers.

Log onto darknessintolight.ie for more information.

READ MORE: 'Cities and towns in Ireland could learn a lot from Limerick'

Ger said the event would not be a success without the services of many people volunteering and giving up their time so early in the morning.

He paid tribute to and thanked stewards, Irish Red Cross, gardai, Limerick City and County Council, Pallasgreen-Templebraden Community Council, Fr Tomas O'Connell, Audrey and Pat O'Dwyer, Tomas O'Connor, Mike O'Riordan, and their ambassadors Caroline Stokes and Rob O' Donnell, fellow organisers and everybody who will take part in Pallasgreen's second Darkness into Light.

It all began back in 2009 in the Phoenix Park when 400 people set off on the inaugural 5km walk to raise funds for Pieta. Now there are over 150,000 participants each year. It has raised over 36 million to enable Pieta to provide services to people impacted by suicide and self-harm. Log onto darknessintolight.ie
A DOG rescue in Limerick have issued a heartfelt plea for a forever home for a "super affectionate" Jack Russel.

Molly Moos Westie Rescue shared pictures on social media of Lucy, "a beautiful and extremely sweet 6 year old female Jack Russell Terrier", whose owner has passed away.

"Meet Lucy who came into our care when her owner passed away, she was so sad but has started to adjust to her new circumstances and her little personality is beginning to shine," the rescue posted.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Molly Moos Westie Rescue (@mollymooswestierescue)

According to the rescue, Lucy is quiet and "super affectionate", well-behaved indoors and in the car, and fully toilet-trained.

This cute pup is quite happy in the company of other dogs, "but would rather have her new best friend(s) all to herself," the rescue said.

Read More: PICTURES - Children's Run for Fun 2024 Lights Up University of Limerick

"Lucy's ideal home would be where there is someone home for a good portion of the day, maybe a retired couple or person. She enjoys a quiet life, so no small children".

If you think Lucy's new home could be with you, you can DM Molly Moos Westie Rescue to enquire.
MBANGWENI  His Majesty King Mswati III has encouraged Christians to pray against hypocrisy and for believers to be revived by the Holy Spirit every day.

This message was delivered by Prince Mshengu who was representing the King. He told the congregants that as Jesus was ascending to heaven, they had the responsibility to ensure that they preached the Word of God. He made an example of a relay race, wherein one has to take the baton to the next person until it reaches the finishing line. He said the Lord had left them with the Holy Spirit, which was supposed to guide them. The King further appreciated Christians for their continuous prayers for light.

He quoted the book of Matt-hew, about Jesuss ministry in Galilee, where he ministered to the public, working miracles, going through all the cities and towns of the area, preaching the gospel as well as healing every disease. The King said Jesus looked back and told his disciples that the harvest was plentiful, but the labourers were few, adding that they were supposed to pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out labourers.

The message was also echoed by Ume- ngameli Lindiwe Dlamini, who quoted the book of Acts 1: 5 to 8, wherein Jesus told his followers that they were going to be witnesses of the work He had done. She shared that believers were supposed to go out and preach about the Word of God and get people to follow God. She told the pastors that they were not supposed to stay in one place and preach the same people every day, but to go out and preach the Word of God.

Fighting

She said nowadays, pastors are in courts over land and fighting over congregants, because they have lost their main mandate. She said the mandate was that of preaching the Word throughout the world. Reverend Canon Dlamini preached about the apostles return to Jerusalem, after Jesus ascension. He read from the book of Acts 1: 12 to 14. He stated that there were people who only attended national events and did not go to church.

Canon said his message to them was that they must return home. The reverend shared that just like the apostles went back to Jerusalem after following Jesus while on earth; those who had fallen into sin were supposed to repent. Entertainment was provided by various artists during the event, including Gospel sensation Sabelo Matse.
Lynne Holsapple |

Lincoln University of Missouri (LU) has relaunched its partnership with the Missouri Growers Association (MGA), aiming to support farmers by providing essential industry insights and resources to foster farming innovations and improve profitability. Through funding from LU, the collaboration seeks to revitalize MGA's efforts in catering to the needs of Missouri growers and specialty crops producers, including minority and limited resource farmers.

The collaboration with LU will sustain the organization while delivering quality educational opportunities to farmers. MGA members will benefit when they attend workshops and farm tours sponsored by LU and promoted by MGA, explained Dr. Touria Eaton, state horticulture specialist at LU.

She continued, By improving the production of the individual farmers, we will improve the horticultural industry in Missouri, which is the main goal of the LU Horticulture Program. By supporting MGA, LU will make an impact by enhancing the education of Missouri farmers and by improving the connection of farmers with each other and with government and nongovernment organizations, Eaton said. Research-based information is needed for farmers to improve their production and income. LU has the resources and personnel to meet those needs.

MGA membership provides many benefits, including access to the associations farm tours, educational workshops, conferences and social networking events. Membership for the first year is free, courtesy of LU. Members also receive a complimentary copy of the Midwest Vegetable Production Guide for Commercial Growers and free admission to the Great Plains Growers Conference, an annual event that draws attendees from Missouri, Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas, South Dakota and other Midwestern states.

Missouri Growers Association President Gabrielle Branstetter teaches a group of preschoolers how to grow lettuce with hydroponics at an event on April 29, 2024.

With LUs support, a new board has been formed, and several activities are planned for upcoming months, including an MGA members meeting at the Baker Creek Spring Planting Festival in Mansfield on May 13. The event will feature a presentation by Gabrielle Branstetter, MGA president. Branstetter was recently hired by the LU Horticulture Program to serve as an area educator and to support the association and the MGA-LU partnership. The members meeting and presentation will take place on the second floor of the restaurant at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds on Monday, May 13, at 9:00 a.m. Admission to the festival is free, and LU will cover the cost of parking passes for MGA members. Parking passes must be reserved ahead of time by emailing Branstetter at branstetterg@lincolnu.edu.

Branstetter shared, Less than 2% of the American population is involved in agriculture, and even fewer are involved in the commercial production of fruit and vegetables. Specialty crops producers need MGA to be a voice at the state level The collaboration between LU and MGA will improve the production of individual farmers and improve their livelihood.

In addition to receiving funding and assistance from LU, MGA also collaborates with horticultural specialists and extension agents from LU, the University of Missouri, the Missouri Department of Agriculture and the United States Department of Agriculture. Founded and led by Missouri farmers, the organization was originally named the Missouri Vegetable Growers Association. MGA has offered networking and educational opportunities to farmers and specialty crops producers statewide since 1991. To learn more about MGA and find out how to get involved, please visit moveggrowers.org or contact Branstetter at branstetterg@lincolnu.edu.
Stock Market News

Economic Data - Recession is over with a bang - but will voters forgive the government for years of economic disappointment? 10-05-2024 00:23



Stock News headlines are gathered from financial news sources around the web. Views and opinions on each item are from their respective authors and website. They are not opinions of LiveCharts.co.uk
WASHINGTONThe Biden administration is preparing to raise tariffs on clean-energy goods from China in the coming days, with the levy on Chinese electric vehicles set to roughly quadruple, according to people familiar with the matter.

Higher tariffs, which Biden administration officials are preparing to announce on Tuesday, will also hit critical minerals, solar goods and batteries sourced from China, according to the people. The decision comes at the end of a yearslong review of tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump on roughly $300 billion in goods from China.

Whether to adjust the Trump-era levies divided Biden economic advisers for years, with trade officials pushing for higher duties and others like Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen calling for lowering tariffs on consumer goods. But signs that China was ramping up exports of clean-energy goods prompted broad concern in Washington, where officials are trying to protect a nascent American clean-energy industry from China.

Officials are particularly focused on electric vehicles, and they are expected to raise the tariff rate to roughly 100% from 25%, according to the people. An additional 2.5% duty applies to all automobiles imported into the U.S. The existing 25% tariff on Chinese electric vehicles has so far effectively barred those models, often cheaper than Western-made cars, from the U.S. market. Biden administration officials, automakers and some lawmakers worry that wouldnt be enough given the scale of Chinese manufacturing.

Bloomberg earlier reported that the administration is planning to announce higher tariffs next week. Administration officials cautioned that the timing of the announcement could change. A White House spokesman declined to comment.

A spokesman for the Chinese foreign ministry denounced the Biden administrations plans in a briefing on Friday, saying the tariffs have disrupted trade between the two countries. China will take all necessary measures to defend its rights and interests," the spokesman said.

The upcoming presidential rematch is shaping Bidens decision. As Trump campaigns for a return to the White House, the former president has said he is considering imposing tariffs of 60% or more on all Chinese importsa move likely to escalate the trade war with Beijing he started in his first term. Trump has warned that the U.S. auto industry would face a bloodbath" if he loses in November, and he has pledged to impose stiff tariffs on Chinese-made vehicles that are imported into the U.S. US-China

In the race to win swing states like Pennsylvania and Michigan, Biden has promised to protect American industry and workers from foreign competition. Campaigning in Pennsylvania last month, Biden said he would significantly raise tariffs on steel from China.

These are strategic and targeted actions that are going to protect American workers and ensure fair competition," Biden said at the time.

The trade moves are weighing on U.S.-China relations. The two superpowers have spent months trying to stabilize diplomatic relations after years of acrimony over Taiwan, Russias invasion of Ukraine and access to advanced technology.

As its broader economy slumps, Chinese officials are leaning into clean-energy production in a bid to stimulate overall growth. In a trip to China last month, Yellen repeatedly warned Chinese officials against the strategy, saying that the rest of the world will take steps to counteract a wave of inexpensive Chinese exports that undercut their own industries.

China is too large to export its way to rapid growth," she told officials in Guangzhou, a metropolis in Chinas industrial south. The European Union is also weighing raising tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles.

Chinese officials have publicly dismissed Western criticisms about their export practices, and last month Beijing slapped a levy on imports from the U.S. of a widely used chemical.

Trying to bar the most affordable electric vehicles from the U.S. market will put pressure on another Biden administration goal: reducing carbon emissions to mitigate the worst effects of climate change. The U.S. is pouring hundreds of billions of dollars into developing clean-energy industries in the U.S., but the Biden administration is trying to do so independently of Chinathe global leader in clean-energy manufacturing.

Write to Andrew Duehren at andrew.duehren@wsj.com and Andrew Restuccia at andrew.restuccia@wsj.com
Air India Express has begun to see improvements in its operations since Friday, as cabin crew members return to work following the end of a disruptive strike.

The strike, which started on May 7 night, led to the cancellation of over 170 flights but was resolved by May 9 evening.

In response to the resolution, the airline also rescinded termination letters that had been issued to 25 of the striking cabin crew members.

Also Read | Accel and Fireside will no longer invest in online-only D2C brands in India

A spokesperson for the Tata Group-operated airline, which typically runs approximately 380 flights daily, said that normal operations are expected to resume within the next couple of days. The return of the cabin crew has been facilitated by the airlines support in obtaining the necessary fitness certificates required for them to resume duties.

The official noted a significant improvement is expected starting Friday, particularly for international flights which predominantly take place in the evening. On a typical day, Air India Express operates 120 international and 260 domestic flights, though this number varies.

Also Read | IDBI Bank share price Today Live Updates : IDBI Bank Stocks on the Rise Today

Impact on Flight Schedules The recent strike forced the airline to cancel 85 flights on Thursday, representing about 23 per cent of its total daily capacity. With the strike now over, the airline has committed to quickly reinstating its regular flight schedule and has issued apologies to passengers affected by the disruptions.

The strike was initially prompted by some cabin crew members reporting sick in protest over what they claimed was poor management and unequal treatment of staff at the airline.
OpenAI is poised to announce a new artificial intelligence-driven search product this coming Monday, sources close to the development revealed. The launch date, while tentative, marks a significant step in OpenAI's ongoing rivalry with Google, the current leader in search technology, according to Reuters.

Reports from Bloomberg and the Information indicate that the Microsoft-supported OpenAI has been developing a search tool aimed at competing not only with Alphabets Google but also with Perplexity, a promising AI search startup. This new venture is expected to enhance the capabilities of OpenAI's ChatGPT, allowing it to fetch real-time information from the web and include citations in its responses, the report added.

OpenAI declined to comment on the upcoming announcement, Reuters reported.

The timing of the announcement could be strategic, possibly occurring just a day before Google's annual I/O conference. At this event, Google is anticipated to introduce a series of AI-centric innovations, as per the report

OpenAI's initiative extends its ChatGPT functionality, which currently leverages the company's advanced AI models to deliver human-like text responses. Despite being touted as a revolutionary tool for online information retrieval, ChatGPT has faced challenges in providing accurate, up-to-date web content. To mitigate this, OpenAI previously integrated the service with Microsoft's Bing search engine for premium users. In contrast, Google has been enhancing its search engine with new generative AI features, the report added.

Meanwhile, Perplexity AI, established by a former OpenAI researcher and valued at $1 billion, has made headway by offering a search interface that uniquely presents citations and images along with text responses.

The startup reported having 10 million monthly active users as of January, as per Reuters.

Following its late 2022 debut, ChatGPT quickly became the fastest application to achieve 100 million monthly active users. However, Similarweb notes that the global traffic to ChatGPTs website has experienced fluctuations over the past year, only recently stabilising to match its peak in May 2023. Amidst this backdrop, OpenAI is under increasing pressure to broaden its user base.

In an earlier effort to update ChatGPT with real-time web information, OpenAI introduced ChatGPT plugins. However, this feature was discontinued in April, as stated on OpenAI's help centre page.
New Delhi: Tata Group airlines Air India and Vistara on Friday stepped in to support their sister network Air India Express, as the low-cost carrier continues to cancel flights amid network disruptions following mass sick leave by over 100 cabin crew members.

On Friday, Air India Express cancelled 120 flights and operated 246 flights, an official aware of the development said. He added that Vistara operated two flights and parent company Air India operated 20 flights for Air India Express, in order to support the network.

On 9 May, the airline cancelled 85 flights and operated around 283 flights. Broadly, the airline is curtailing its network by around 20% until it stabilizes its network by 13 May.

The airline has asked its customers to check their flight status before heading to the airport. If their flight is cancelled, or delayed beyond 3 hours, they may opt for a full refund or reschedule to a later date without any additional fees.

Also read: Air India Express cuts daily flights as mass sick leave hits operations

The airline has been facing a severe network disruption, as over 100 cabin crew called in sick in the evening of 7 May, just before their rostered flight duty, resulting in severe disruption to the operations of the airline. This caused cancellations of more than 90 flights on 8 May.

The cabin crew members late on 9 May ended their protest, and the airline is gradually rostering them back to duties, and it will be a while before operations normalize.

The sudden sick leave was primarily taken by senior cabin crew members, resulting in severe disruption. The company, which employs around 2,000 cabin crew members, has asked the staff to reach out to the airline for discussing their grievances related to the merger with AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India.

While the airline had terminated on 8 May the employment of around 25 cabin crew members who had reported sick under a "pre-meditated" plan, it reinstated them on Thursday after a conciliation meeting.

"This will help us swiftly restore our flight schedule and fulfil our commitments to our guests. We sincerely apologise to those inconvenienced by these unintended disruptions. It is not in keeping with our usual service standards, and we will review it internally to ensure accountability," an Air India Express spokesperson said.

Air India Express was acquired by the Tata Group, along with Air India, in a government-led strategic divestment programme in January 2022. The airline is currently undergoing an integration exercise with AIX Connect, formerly AirAsia India.

Simultaneously, there is also a transformation taking place within the Air India group, which will bring a more domestic focus for Air India Express and a more international approach for the merged entity of Air India and Vistara.

"There are concerns among senior cabin crew members about their roles, positions in the company as it is merging with AIX connect. There are changes that are taking place to bring a more corporate culture at Air India Express, in line with that of AIX Connect and the transition has also made Air India Express a domestic and international airline, not just international as was the case earlier. These are some of the issues," one of the officials aware of the development told Mint.

Merger issues are not new for the Tata Group-backed airlines. Last month, Vistara had to cancel several flights due to shortage of pilots.

As per the latest data from the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, AIX Connect has a 5.8% stake in the domestic aviation market and independently, Air India Express is the third-largest Indian carrier for the international traffic to and from India. For October-December 2023, the airline had a market share of 7.1% and carried 1.2 million passengers. While it is a major carrier for the west Asia region, it is also expected to expand its network under the broader group synergy exercise with its parent company Air India.
Apple apologized on Thursday after an ad for its latest-edition iPad caused an uproar for showing an industrial press crushing objects linked to human creativity, infuriating artists.

Social media users immediately criticized the ad, which was posted on X by Apple CEO Tim Cook, as painfully tone-deaf at a time when the creative community is worried about its future with the emergence of generative AI.

"Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it's incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world," Apple's vice president of marketing Tor Myhren told Ad Age.

"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry."

The company also said it won't air the ad on television as planned.

Set to the song "All I ever need is you" by Sonny and Cher, the one-minute ad titled "Crush" sees the pile of creative artifacts -- including a guitar, piano and paint cans -- explode under the pressure of Apple's press.

At the end, the press pulls back and reveals Apple's latest tablet, the iPad Pro, touted as ultra-thin.

"The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley," wrote actor Hugh Grant on X in response to Cook's tweet.

Hollywood director Reed Morano urged Cook to "read the room," calling the ad "psychotic."

The ad harked to viral TikTok videos of industrial presses and other machines that are watched by millions on the platform.

Many critics said the ad betrayed Apple's iconic 1984 commercial that launched the first Mac computer and depicted the company as a hammer-throwing rebel against a monolith big brother.
Chartered accountants (CAs) are increasingly facing stiff competition from STEM graduates in getting into consulting firms that are becoming heavily dependent on technology for client service and regulatory compliances, said industry executives. STEM refers to science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Consulting firms executives said that for large, listed companies with diversified and complex operations, technology is an integral part of finalising annual accounts in two to three weeks after the end of the financial year.

In addition, with the government and its myriad departments going digital big-time, companies and their consultants are also being towed into the digital paradigm.

This has enhanced the demand for STEM graduates, who have the skills that matter now and are becoming an essential part of advisory teams amid a changing tax compliance landscape.

Who is building STEM teams

EY, for example, said it has built a strong team of STEM graduates over the past four years, who now account for about 10% of its 5,500 strong workforce in India.

Also read: A unique number for chartered accountants tells tales about the economy

As tax administration goes digital in India and businesses seek better tax governance and risk management, integrating technology into the tax function is critical," said Sameer Gupta, national tax leader at EY India, adding that it streamlines processes, improves efficiency, and reduces errors in tax compliance. Tech integration in taxation is a must for businesses navigating today's complex, multiple regulatory landscape."

Consulting companies are taking great interest in technology talent as technology is becoming increasingly important in providing consulting solutions, said Jamil Khatri, co-founder and CEO of Uniqus Consultech, which offers consulting services in the areas of environment, social and governance (ESG), and financial reporting.

Pointing out that having STEM graduates comprise 15% of his companys workforce results in more holistic solutioning for clients, Khatri said, As the nature of services provided by consulting becomes more diverse, the talent pool is expanding beyond the traditional CA and MBA qualifications."

Impact of digital governance

Meanwhile, over the past few years, tax administration has become heavily technology-oriented with the interface between businesses and regulatory authorities moving to the digital mode.

Also read: The scramble for CAs is becoming a mad rush

The Centres indirect tax administration collects information about transactions at various points in the supply chain and matches data to ensure that tax credits claimed by businesses are genuine and that there is no sale without invoice or invoice without supply of goods.

The Income Tax department has deployed technology heavily in tax administration. The corporate affairs ministry has upgraded the statutory filing portal and centralised the registration and winding up of businesses. The increasing coordination among regulatory agencies, too, necessitates businesses to measure up and be error free in their statutory filings.

Gupta said EY is investing in building artificial intelligence capabilities, which will help both its people and clients. For successful consulting business, the right mix of finance and science professionals and use of technology is becoming critical. By harnessing the collective strengths of these diverse skill sets, we are empowering our teams to deliver cutting-edge solutions," said Gupta.

EY, which has a large tax practice in India, has now deployed an enterprise-level technology platform called EY India tax platform to help its clients with their entire tax lifecycle compliances. Indirect tax-related consulting and compliance worksuch as for goods and services tax (GST) and customsnow account for about 25% of EYs tax practices topline, the firm said.
Beijings newfound focus on a housing glut marks a sea change in how senior officials view Chinas festering property crisis, setting the stage for rescue efforts that could range from unprecedented easing for home buyers to billions in state spending to buy up unsold projects.

Chinese policymakers passing mention last week of plans to consider policy to digest existing housing inventory" has been a much-parsed phrase in recent days, with analysts stressing it marks the first time in a long-running real-estate downturn that top officials have publicly broached the subject of excess apartment supply. They said another part of the studyto optimize policies on new housing supply"suggests the government wants more public-housing options.

Its the first time the Politburo signaled that reducing housing inventory and improving policies for new supply are a key focus," said Bruce Pang, JLL chief economist for Greater China.

The good old days of Chinas housing market with spectacular growth is over," he said. Thats why policymakers believe that unlocking growth potential by blending something old, something new could hold the most promise."

Chinas heavily indebted property sector remains in a yearslong slump, with major developers sales in decline and thousands of partly built housing developments in limbo across the country, hard hit by a liquidity crunch and a lackluster economic recovery from the pandemic.

The Politburo meeting last week and moves by a handful of cities to ease home-buying restrictions have been rare welcome news for the sector, which this week tipped the Hang Seng Mainland Properties Index into the green for the year. The index, a gauge of major listed developers in China, remains near a decade low.

Policymakers didnt offer details about what a new housing policy might look like. At the very least, officials appear to be brewing a new wave of [property] stimulus measures," Daiwa analyst William Wu said. The new narrative" on property, he said, looks similar to a destocking policy from a 2016 Politburo meeting that led to state help in rebuilding shanty towns.

It doesnt mean the government will directly intervene and buy houses all of a sudden, but the phrasing did raise market expectations," Wu said.

UOB analysts Jieqi Liu and Damon Shen estimated that the government could allocate up to the equivalent of $277 billion for property acquisition, roughly equal to 17% of all new home sales in 2023.

Some analysts predict new details will emerge in July, when senior Communist Party members meet to discuss Chinas strategic direction and economic plans for the next five years. But already, a recent trend of easing home-buying curbs has accelerated, with several major cities relaxing rules this week, including two that removed all restrictions on buying second homes.

One potential outcome is bolstered policies to control housing supply, in the same vein as recent curbs on the sale of landbanks in cities with a surplus of unsold housing, Morningstar analyst Jeff Zhang said. As prior measures failed to contain the inventory increase, government will likely ramp up policies," he said.

Another could be policies to boost housing trade-in programs to spur fresh demand.

Zhengzhou, the capital of Henan Province, has become an early frontrunner in trade-in initiatives, with a local state-owned company last month beginning to buy up old apartments and offering residents subsidies for some home-buying costs. Shenzhen, Chinas third-most populous city, recently set up a platform allowing residents to sell homes with the help of brokers and buy new ones from developers participating in the program.

Analysts disagree on whether the digest" phrase suggests the central government would play a greater role than local governments in buying excess housing inventory.

HSBC economists said in a research note that Beijing could set up a national platform to absorb housing oversupply, then sell or rent properties in a controlled manner over time to resolve the housing crisis. Given the depth and length of the correction and the weak finances of many local governments, we think a top-down approach by Beijing policymakers may be needed," they wrote.

ANZ analyst Zhaopeng Xing called that possibility unlikely, saying that precedent and a wide geographical variation in property policy make stimulus the responsibility of local governments.

If buying happens, its going to be big spending for local governments," Xing said.

Write to Sherry Qin at sherry.qin@wsj.com and Jiahui Huang at Jiahui.Huang@wsj.com
LOBAMBA  Access to contraceptives and reproductive health information by children as young as 12 years old divided senators and led to a heated debate.

The heated debate occurred during a Senate sitting after Senator Lorraine Nxumalo moved a motion without notice. The senator moved that the minister of Health should investigate why, despite the interventions by government; there were persistent and unabated social ills, such as, but not limited to, teenage pregnancies and new HIV infections among the youth.

The senator also moved that the minister of Health should submit a report to Senate within 21 days of the adoption of the motion. Before she could continue to elaborate on her motion, Senator Lizzie Nkosi said she felt that the motion was not only limited to the Ministry of Health, given that it did not specify which social ills it referred to.

Requested

However, Senate President Lindiwe Dlamini requested that the senators give Nxumalo a chance to elaborate on her motion and stop interrupting her. This was because several senators wanted to interject, while she was still moving the motion. Before she could point out the gaps that led her to move the motion, Nxumalo stated that some interventions had been implemented by government to prevent teenage pregnancies as well as HIV infections.

She first highlighted that a sizeable population of the country could access public health facilities without travelling long distances.

She added that the country had a national Sexual Health and Reproductive (SRH) Policy. This policy compels government to create an enabling environment that ensures the availability and accessibility of family planning services. She lauded the policy for addressing youth-friendly services.

Adolescent

Some clinics in the country have a youth corner, where adolescent girls from 12 to 18 years can access SRH services and that is commendable, she said. She went on to state that the youth corners offer these services to the young girls. Nxumalo added that government provides contraceptives or family planning services to the populace, including adolescent girls and young women. The senator added that the national SRH Policy explains that government will ensure the availability of all the commodities to young girls and women without any cost. She, however, pleaded with government to try and close the gaps that affect the delivery of these services.

She said one of the gaps was that adolescent girls could not access all the family planning technologies in rural clinics. Nxumalo said some clinics had oral contraceptives. The adolescents cannot take the oral contraceptive every day, especially in front of their parents. This is because the parent will then ask why are they taking contraceptives and the problem begins there, she said.

Contraceptives

Nxumalo urged the Ministry of Health to close this gap by ensuring that all forms of contraceptives were available for adolescents and young women.

The senator noted that the national SHR Policy also speaks to the inclusion of health education in schools. She explained that it is meant for children to be able to protect themselves from pregnancy and HIV and AIDS. After children are educated about the danger of engaging in sexual intercourse and HIV and AIDS, some do not heed that advice. It is for that reason we have an option outlined by the SRH Policy, she said.

She mentioned that during health education in schools, the learners never get the information that was said would be provided by the policy, but they were only taught about hygiene. The senator said the country was doing a lot to counteract the social ills, but the gaps were taking the country backwards and also affecting the future of children because they ended up falling pregnant and dropping out of school, as well as contracting HIV and AIDS. Before the senators could start debating the motion, the Senate president reminded them that as they made their submissions, they should remember their obligation to protect the family and the dignity of human rights.

This is because while Nxumalo was debating, some senators could not sit still as it could be observed that they were itching to say something. As the Senate president opened the floor, nine senators showed interest. Senator Zabeni Shiba said he was concerned that children as young as 12 years old were allowed to access contraceptives. He said he feared that taking contraceptives may affect their reproductive system. The Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), Thulisile Dladla, said there was a need to note the surge in teenage pregnancies in the country. She raised concerns about the side effects of contraceptives, among other devices, that should be accessible to children as young as 12 years old.

Impregnate

Are we not saying men should impregnate children as young as 12 years old because the Ministry of Health provides contraceptives and they would have been taught at school how to protect themselves? she asked. Senator Fezeka asked if children were taught about family planning and where the country was going in terms of traditional and general values. What are we saying if we teach these children about family planning, what are we teaching them? Are we saying that we are permitting them to engage in sexual intercourse?

Every one of us is a parent here and it pains me that as Parliament we are saying children as young as 12 years old should use contraceptives and other devices to prevent pregnancy, she said. The senator said if the Minister of Health, Mduduzi Matsebula, should close the gaps in the SRH services, Senate, among other stakeholders, should ensure that they did not spread something that would catch up with them in the long-term.

We have the issue of GBV and most of them are young people in relationships with older people. I will ask that senators look at it with the eyes of a parent. We are parents here. We are here to build the country, with our religion and customs at the forefront. Let us emulate good practices from foreign cultures, not things that have already started to bite the enablers. We grew up knowing that only a married woman engages in sexual intercourse, not children, she said.

Nxumalo clarified that her motion was not encouraging older people to have sexual relations with underage girls. The motion is not saying children should go and have sex because the law is clear that no one should engage in sexual activities with someone below the age of 18. We are discussing a national policy. I did not take it from the back of my head, she said. The Attorney General (AG), Sifiso Khumalo, urged Nxumalo to allow the other senators make their submissions, and then she would respond once they were done.

Senator Stukie Motsa also raised another point that there were vending machines strictly for family planning services. I am afraid that children as young as 12 years old do not get these and what measures are we putting in place? The issue of teenage pregnancy is serious, she said. Meanwhile, Senator Gelane Dlamini stressed the need for parents to know what their children were taught in school. She said she was concerned if children used the information they got correctly or it they exposed themselves to vulnerabilities such as teenage pregnancy.
Seven directors from a finance company were charged with defrauding Axis Bank of 22.29 crore, according to a statement from a Mumbai police official on May 9, PTI reported.

A criminal case involving charges of cheating, forgery, and breach of trust was lodged at the Cuffe Parade police station following court orders. The complaint, leading to the FIR, was filed by a 43-year-old assistant vice president of Axis Bank, PTI reported.

"Directors of Better Value Leasing and Finance Limited Company conspired with each other between March 2016 and March 2020 and did not repay loans they had taken from Axis Bank. The firm had transactions with Axis Bank since 2005 and had taken loans from time to time," the FIR mentioned.



"The accused persons did not repay the interest or principal amount to the bank. The loan amount borrowed by the directors was used for other reasons apart from running the company's business. The accused also used fraudulent invoices to cheat the bank," the official said quoting the FIR.

In April, Axis Bank became the fourth-largest lender by market capitalisation in India, surpassing Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd. This shift occurred after Kotak Mahindra Bank's stock fell by 10 per cent, a decline triggered by directives from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which prohibited the bank from acquiring new customers via digital channels and issuing new credit cards.
Punjab National Bank (PNB), one of India's major state-run lenders, is set to complete a significant share sale to institutional investors within the next six months, Chief Executive Officer Atul Kumar Goel has said.

The move is part of an effort to bolster the bank's capital reserves, Goel told Reuters in an interview.

In December, the bank's board approved a plan to raise 75 billion rupees (approximately $898 million) through equity capital. This capital increase will be achieved through a Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), which targets institutional investors and does not extend offers to the general public, Reuters reported.

"For the QIP, we are trying to get all the approvals, but within six months we will try to raise the money from the market," Goel told the newswire.

The announcement comes at a time when banks across India are seeking to enhance their capital bases to accommodate an increasing demand for loans. This trend is reflected in the activities of other major banks, including the State Bank of India, which is also considering raising equity capital.

Looking ahead to the financial year 2025, Goel forecasted that PNB's loan growth would hover between 11% and 12%, a slight increase from the 11.2% year-on-year growth observed from January to March. The bank also aims to boost its deposit growth to 9%-10% for the fiscal year, up from nearly 7% growth in the previous quarter, he told Reuters.

On the corporate front, Goel highlighted a robust loan pipeline of approximately 1 trillion rupees, with 600 billion to 700 billion rupees already sanctioned.

Amid these developments, PNB reported more than doubling its net profit in the January-March period, aided by a decrease in loan-loss provisions. The bank is focused on further improving its asset quality in the 2024-25 fiscal year, with bad loan recoveries expected to reach around 180 billion rupees. Goel also aims to reduce the gross and net non-performing asset ratios to below 5% and 0.5%, respectively, by March 2025, as per the report.

In terms of expansion, PNB plans to open an additional 150 branches this fiscal year, Goel said.

Furthermore, Goel mentioned that Indian banks are poised to provide feedback on a central bank proposal that seeks to tighten regulations for infrastructure project loans.

He reassured that the proposed guidelines would not adversely affect project financing and that the bank would be capable of adhering to these new rules if implemented.
New Delhi: Companies specializing in in-vitro fertilization (IVF) services in India, including Birla Fertility and IVF, Indira IVF, Cloud Nine Hospitals, and Nova IVF Fertility, are firming up their expansion strategies to cater to growing demand.

According to analysts, the IVF industry will clock compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 16-18% over the next five years, driven by a surge in medical tourism, and increase in health conditions contributing to infertility. The industry is set to double in size by the end of this decade, they added.

An estimated 25-30 million couples are currently grappling with infertility issues, and companies are ramping up their plans to tap this big opportunity.

Ernst & Young expects India's IVF market to grow to $1.45 billion by 2027 from $793 million in 2020 at a CAGR of 15-20%. Allied Market Research estimates the industry to surpass $4.67 billion by 2032 at a CAGR of 18.08%.

There is robust demand from both rural and urban areas, but the coverage in India is still low, and the need of the hour is to bridge the gap of accessibility to tap that demand, service providers said.

The industry will grow at 15% annually. In India there are around 30 million couples requiring the treatment, but only 1-2% of them actually seek treatment, so, there is a huge gap," Abhishek Aggarwal, chief business officer, Birla Fertility and IVF, said in an interview.

The CK Birla group company is planning to invest 500 crore to expand its network of fertility centres from 37 currently to 100 over the next 4-5 years.

The company on Monday announced the acquisition of ARMC IVF, a chain of fertility centres based out of Kerala.

Also Read: Mint Explainer: What falling total fertility rate will mean for India

Meanwhile, Udaipur-based Indira IVF, one of the biggest fertility chains in the country, is also eyeing a big opportunity, and has been increasing its capital expenditure to expand its presence.Over the next five years, with a budget of 900 crore, we aim to expand both internationally and in India through merger and acquisitions, as well as partnerships," Kshitiz Murdia, co-founder and chief executive, Indira IVF, said in an interview. It has 130 centres at present, and is set to build its network in tier II and III cities.

In India, our goal is to increase our fertility centres to 300 within the next three years and establish 30-35 mother and child care hospitals over five years, The upcoming centre in Pune, will be commissioned within three months," added Murdia.

The firm is also planing to increase its presence in overseas markets with 15-20 new centres. We will be opening 7-8 fertility centres, each, in Nepal and Bangladesh, besides exploring opportunities in other South Asian countries, as well as Africa."

Also Read: The population puzzle: What Indians feel

Recently, Nova IVF Fertility had also announced its plans to add 32 centres in India by the end of this year, from around 78 at present. The company had acquired Wings IVF, an IVF chain based in Ahmedabad, last year.

Shobhit Agarwal, chief executive, Nova IVF FertilityCentres, said: "In both rural and urban settings, the demand for IVF services is shaped by unique yet converging factors. Urban areas witness increasing infertility rates due to lifestyle changes, delayed parenthood, and environmental factors. Meanwhile, rural communities often face limited access to fertility specialists and comprehensive reproductive healthcare."

Since Asia Healthcare Holdings took over Nova IVF Fertility in 2019, it has grown from 18 centres to 78 across 54 cities. We have almost half the centres present across the tier 2 regions, and recently expanded into newer regions like Guwahati, Agra, Erode, Warangal Bareilly among the others. We are planning to grow at 40% in FY25, the company has been growing at a CAGR of 32%," he added.

Regulations and challenges

The IVF industry is intensely competitive with specialized companies as well as multi-specialty hospital chains offering services, alongside a few local and unorganized players.

Though 50% of the Indian market is unorganized play, the organized market comprises three segmentschains focusing only on fertility issues; corporate hospital chains offering fertility services; and single, large doctor practices.

In 2023, the government had implemented stricter regulations for assisted reproductive technology (ART), frequently used to address infertility via IVF. The move was aimed at addressing the proliferation of illegal IVF centres, and curb illicit and unnecessary procedures, to safeguard unsuspecting couples from exploitation.

All stakeholders in the field encounter considerable obstacles due to widespread lack of awareness and societal stigma surrounding fertility issues, said experts, emphasizing the importance of recognising infertility as a legitimate medical concern.

Affordability also remains a significant challenge for the industry due to inadequate insurance coverage and a shortage of skilled professionals in certain specialized fields, they said. These factors continue to hinder service delivery, they added.

However, a positive development emerged in 2023, when Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority mandated comprehensive coverage for all intending parents, and surrogate mothers who were undergoing fertility treatments.
New Delhi: Crypto giants Binance and Kucoin that left India after a regulatory blockade are set for a comeback, after the global exchanges applied for registration and compliance in the country.

In December, India's Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) called for blocking web addresses of a number of global crypto firms which were not registered in the country, over concerns that some of them may be misused for money-laundering.

On Friday, FIU said that it has lifted Kucoins suspension after the exchange paid a fine of around $42,000, and is processing Binances application.

We are yet to decide on the quantum of fine to be levied on Binance, and the process is likely to take some time," said Vivek Aggarwal, director of FIU, which comes under the finance ministry. "They have gotten registered with us, as part of a two-step process. The second step is to complete compliance proceedings after an order from FIU. Kucoins proceeding has been concluded, and they are now as compliant as an Indian virtual assets service provider (VASP)," Aggarwal said after meeting 46 VASPs on Friday.

Also read: India to block Binance, 8 other crypto platforms, slaps notices

Compliance rules

Crypto exchanges must register with regulators and comply with the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), 2002 legislation, and FIU directives to be allowed to operate in India.

While many exchanges deregistered Indian users and stopped local operations after the FIU action in December, Binance, Kucoin and a handful of others chose to apply for compliance, Aggarwal said. Among others, the exchanges are required to appoint a principal compliance officer with a local address and contact details. Aggarwal, however, clarified that the officer has no requirement to be in India."

Indian crypto exchanges, however, do not expect any immediate impact from the global ones resuming India operations. Kucoin has just begun collecting tax on crypto trades in India, but the taxation compliance is yet to be certified. This is a significant operation, and will need quite some time to be normalized into operations. There would not be an overnight impact on the way we have been operating," said Rajagopal Menon, vice-president of marketing at homegrown crypto exchange, WazirX.

Also read: FIU action bodes ill for local crypto exchanges

Traffic concerns

A second industry executive associated with homegrown crypto exchanges said on condition of anonymity that once Binance returns, local exchanges may see a dip in traffic.

We have to remain cognizant of the fact that Binance is the worlds largest cryptocurrency exchange, with the highest liquidity reserves and the number of listed tokens on the exchange. Once they complete full compliance and resume operations, there will undeniably be a dip in traffic on the local exchanges in India," the executive added.

The ban on Binance, the world's largest crypto exchange, in particular, was seen as setback for Indias crypto exchanges. On 9 January, Mint reported that global exchanges were the biggest sources of cryptocurrency token liquidity for these exchanges, and the formers suspension was expected to dry up liquidity.

Exchanges, however, were optimistic of an uptick in business, with WazirX and CoinDCX, Indias two largest cryptocurrency exchanges, stating at the time that the suspension would likely redirect more users to Indian exchanges. Interestingly, this also coincided with a surge in Bitcoin priceswhich has since cooled off. Indian exchanges including the ones above claimed multi-fold increases in user registrations.

Limited impact

However, despite the ban on Binance and a surge in Bitcoin prices, local exchanges saw limited impact on their daily trading volumes. As of 1 March, daily trading volumes on WazirX and CoinDCX were still down by 93% and 85% respectively, from their peaks exactly two years ago.

To be sure, the introduction of 30% tax on profits, and a 1% tax deducted on source on every crypto trade, triggered a drastic decline in crypto investments in India.

On this note, however, Aggarwal said that FIU registration does not necessarily imply legitimacy."

The legitimacy debate has been ongoing ever since the tax announcements in India. Many perceived that the implementation of tax was giving legitimacy to crypto businesses. The same debate came in when Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Combating Financing of Terrorism (CFT) frameworks were put in place. These are nothing but safeguards built on our mandatesthe legitimacy will come from licensing. This piece, which will come from a crypto regulation, is still missing. Policymakers and the Indian government will decide that. FIUs mandate is not to give the crypto industry legitimacy," he added.
With the swift rise of digital transformation, the engineering research and development (ER&D) industry continues to thrive as companies embrace digital trends.

ER&D is the process of turning ideas into tangible products, services, and processes.

Now, this segment is evolving from just design and deployment to include maintenance, regular updates, and continuous data analytics.

This has extended the product life cycle significantly, offering monetization opportunities for product companies. It has also expanded business prospects for ER&D firms.

In this rapidly evolving landscape, India assumes a pivotal role, positioned at the forefront of technological innovation and disruption.

It emerges as a prominent global hub for ER&D, leveraging its abundant talent pool and competitive cost structure to gain a significant foothold in the industry.

According to NASSCOM, revenue from ER&D in India is projected to reach US$ 41 billion (bn) by 2023. This will be driven by a steady increase in digital ER&D spending. This trend highlights the scope for growth in this sector in the years to come.

Bearing this in mind, we compare two players in this space - KPIT Tech and Tata Elxsi.

Background

Tata Elxsi

Tata Elxsi is amongst the worlds leading providers of design & tech services across industries.

Its operations can be classified into two business divisions, i.e., software development and services and systems integration and support.

The software development and services (accounting for 87% of total revenues in the financial year 2023) division is the most significant business component, comprising 3 focus verticals: transportation (37.4%), media & communications (36.1%), and healthcare (13.5%).

The system integration and support services (13% of total revenue) are an important component of the companys end-to-end product life cycle services  right from conceptualisation to maintenance services.

The key customers of the system integration and support division are from the manufacturing, aerospace, government, education, automotive, and information technology firms.

The primary markets for Tata Elxsi are the developed economies of the US, mainland Europe, Japan and Asia Pacific, with the US contributing 42.5% to the total revenue in the financial year 2023, Europe 34.4%, and India 17.0%.

KPIT Technologies

KPIT is a global technology company catering to the automotive and mobility ecosystem, making software-defined vehicles a reality.

Over the years, it has developed into a leading automotive software provider in embedded automotive software.

The primary markets for KPIT Tech are the developed economies as well, with Europe leading the pack (51.8% of total revenues), followed by the US (29.8%), and Asia (18.4%).

Revenue Growth

View Full Image ...

KPIT Tech has clocked in higher revenue growth over the last four years. Its 4-year-CAGR stands at 48.7% whereas, Tata Elxsis stands at 18.4%.

KPIT Tech caters to the transportation segment alone. Within this, the passenger cars (82% of total revenue in the financial year 2023) and commercial vehicles (balance 18%) segment both have grown at a healthy pace, contributing strongly to revenue growth.

Unlike KPIT Tech, Tata Elxsis performance is based on transportation, healthcare, and media. While transportation and healthcare have been growing at a healthy pace, the media vertical has been lagging behind.

Online media streaming companies face profitability challenges due to the rising costs of acquiring and producing content, coupled with the fragmentation of the streaming market. Generating revenue through advertising in this fragmented landscape is challenging.

Profitability

A company's profitability is best reflected in its operating margin, which is the operating profit (earnings before interest depreciation tax - EBIDTA) divided by earnings.

Simply put, it measures how much profit a company makes on one rupee of sales from its core operations (before interest and depreciation).

A higher operating margin is usually a result of two things - either the company is generating higher revenues or is keeping a tight lid on its costs.

View Full Image ..

Tata Elxsis operating margins have been consistently higher and have grown at a faster rate than KPIT Techs.

Tata Elxsi has reported an average margin of 30.1% over the last five years, whereas KPIT Tech margins averages out to be 19.1% over the same period.

Revenue Per Employee & Attrition

For IT companies, employees are undoubtedly their biggest assets.

The revenue of IT companies is directly proportional to the efficiency of their employees. The more efficient employees are, the more revenue a company would make given that they are able to win projects.

Revenue per employee represents how much money a company makes on one employee. In a way, it is a measure of an employee's efficiency.

Another employee-related metric that is of paramount importance for IT companies is the attrition rate. This reflects the number of employees leaving the organisation with respect to the employees working in the company.

Let's see how Tata Elxsi and KPIT Tech perform on these crucial parameters.

For the year ended March 2023, Tata Elxsi and KPIT Tech had a total headcount of 11,864 and 10,297 employees, respectively.

Based on these numbers, Tata Elxsi's revenue per employee turns out to be 2.7 m which is a little lower than 3.3 m KPIT Tech makes on every employee.

It seems that either KPIT Tech employees are more efficient, or the company negotiates better terms with its clients for every employee it deploys on the project.

On the attrition front as well, KPIT Tech does a better job than Tata Elxsi.

In the financial year 2023, Tata Elxsi reported an attrition rate of 17.3%. For the same year, KPIT Techs attrition stood at 15%.

Dividend

Dividend measures the additional income an investor can make, other than the appreciation in the value of the share. The higher the ratio, the better the return for the shareholders.

Most mature IT companies generate a lot of cash as the capital expenditure to grow is minimal. And so they tend to be dividend paymasters.

View Full Image ...

The five-year average dividend yield is a little different for both companies with Tata Elxsis being higher at 1.5% compared to KPIT Techs at 0.9%.

However, both Tata Elxsi and KPIT Techs dividend yield is lower than the current industry average of 2.12%.

Return on Equity

Return on equity (RoE) is one of the most meaningful indicators of a company's profitability and efficiency.

An excellent tool for analysing the returns of a company, it tells you the amount of money a company can generate on the shareholder capital invested (shareholders equity).

View Full Image ...

The 5-year average for KPIT Tech stands at 17.6%, far lower than Tata Elxsis which stands at 33.6%.

However, the number for KPIT Tech seems to be moving up, following the uptick in profitability (indicated by the operating margin).

A higher number indicates that KPIT Tech is generating more returns by employing its capital efficiently.

Valuation

The most common and effective ratio for comparative analysis and valuation is the price to earnings (PE) ratio.

The PE ratio uses the company's earnings to find the value a shareholder is willing to pay for one rupee of earnings.

View Full Image ..

The PE ratio for Tata Elxsi currently stands at 55.7. This is close to its 5-year average of 58.9. This indicates the stock is fairly valued. However, it is trading much higher than the current industry PE of 28.5.

The PE ratio for KPIT Tech is 70.5, which is much higher than its 5-year average of 51.7 and the current industry PE of 28.5. This indicates the stock is overvalued.

Bright Prospects

Automakers are eyeing substantial revenue from software-enabled services, particularly with the rise of electric vehicles (EVs) and autonomous vehicles (AVs).

By 2030, the global automotive software and electrical and electronic components (E/E) market is projected to hit US$ 462 bn, growing at 5.5% annually.

This growth is driven by the increasing demand for advanced driver-assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving (AD) sensors, particularly LiDAR, cameras, and radars.

Original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) are focusing on software content to enhance vehicle capabilities and profitability.

Research and development (R&D) investment is surging in vehicle software implementation to offer personalised digital experiences and generate new revenue streams.

The industry is transitioning to centralized E/E architecture, leading to a rise in demand for software, especially for electric vehicles (EVs) and premium comfort features.

Major investments are directed towards connected, autonomous, shared, and electric (CASE) technologies and architectural changes for self-driving vehicles.

By 2030, automotive software spending is anticipated to reach US$ 43 bn.

The global healthcare sector is rapidly embracing digitalisation, with digital healthcare and diagnostics leading the way. This shift offers cost control, market expansion, and the integration of AI for enhanced data and image analysis.

Tata Elxsi or KPIT Tech: Which is Better?

With a strong outlook and solid fundamentals in place, the long-term view of Tata Elxsi and KPIT Tech seems bright.

While KPIT Techs revenue growth is two times that of Tata Elxsis, Tata Elxsis margins are higher. This makes it a stronger and more efficient player in comparison to KPIT Tech.

Stronger margins has led to higher RoEs for Tata Elxsi, giving investors more bang for their buck.

Moreover, while KPIT is a pure-play automotive design led company, Tata Elxsi enjoys relatively diversified revenue base catering to automotive, healthcare, and media sectors.

However, both companies enjoy large-scale operations and established presence across geographies.

From a valuation perspective, the shares of KPIT Tech are trading at a premium to the shares of Tata Elxsi.

Disclaimer: This article is for information purposes only. It is not a stock recommendation and should not be treated as such.

This article is syndicated from Equitymaster.com
In its latest report, domestic brokerage firm Emkay Global has initiated coverage on diagnostic stocks such as Dr Lal Path Labs, Metropolis Healthcare, and Vijaya Diagnostics.

The brokerage emphasised that the Indian healthcare landscape post pandemic is poised to capitalise on structural tailwinds such as heightened consumer awareness, favorable demographics, rise in lifestyle related diseases, and substantial public sector investments in infrastructure.

According to the brokerage, the country's healthcare expenditure, currently at only 3% of GDP, has historically lagged behind global counterparts due to higher 'out of pocket' expenses (51%), and lower health insurance penetration (39%).

However, with diagnostics representing approximately 7% of the healthcare industry, there's significant potential for growth as India focuses on enhancing spending on essential healthcare services.

Despite competition from branded hospital diagnostics chains and hyperlocal standalone centres, Indian specialised diagnostics chains have managed to increase their market share from 15% to 18% over the past five years. With competitive intensity reducing after emergence of the new normal post pandemic, the brokerage believes Indian organised diagnostics chains stand at the cusp of inflection.

"Additionally, tempered expectations following the significant run-up during the pandemic now present investors with an unassailable opportunity to participate in the burgeoning healthcare industry via organized diagnostics chains," the brokerage added.

Tempered expectations present an opportunity Valuation multiples for diagnostics companies expanded significantly (1.5x vs. LTA) during the pandemic. However, post Covid, multiples have reverted to their historical average as they grappled with finding the new normal, given Covid-based revenues shrinking faster than expected.

Diagnostics chains offer quick scalability and higher profitability and are asset-light, thereby commanding higher multiples versus larger peer hospitals. However, following normalisation of growth post pandemic, the EV/EBITDA premium of diagnostics has reduced from 2x to a mere 23% pre-Covid to post-Covid, Emkay noted.

Target price The brokerage has assigned a 'buy' rating to Dr Lal Path Labs, setting a target price of 2,800 per share. Dr Lal Path Labs is the undisputed market leader in the diagnostics space.

The brokerage suggests that the company's exceptional track record in executing strategies, along with its asset-light business model, strong brand reputation, and specialised testing capabilities, will continue to enhance its market dominance.

It expects the company to clock a sales CAGR of 12% over FY2426E, with the margin remaining flat owing to network expansion and branding-related investments.

Similarly, a 'buy' rating has been assigned to Metropolis Healthcare with a target price of 2,200 per share. MHL has been able to transition from being a challenger regional operator into the third-largest pan-India diagnostics chain, leveraging its specialised offerings and brand loyalty with the medical fraternity.

According to the brokerage, the company's tiered strategy and aggressive network expansion plan will fortify its leadership position in focus cities as well as expand coverage in seeding and other cities.

Furthermore, the brokerage has assigned an 'add' rating to Vijaya Diagnostics, setting a target price of 725 per share. Highlighting the company's distinctive business model, the brokerage noted that it has effectively addressed the fundamental challenge of achieving profitable scalability in the diagnostics industry.

Elevated upfront capex and high attrition convolute the radiology segment in terms of scale-up, unlike pathology, where most organised and online players scramble for market share.

Vijayas higher concentration of B2C revenues (94%), strong brand equity in home markets, and skew towards radiology (35% of the business) are likely to support industry-best margins, whereas aggressive network expansion in Pune and Kolkata will keep return ratios muted, as per the brokerage.
Shares of Intellect Design Arena cracked 15.5 percent in intra-day deals on Friday after the company reported weak earnings for the quarter ended March 2024 (Q4FY24).

The Chennai-based fintech company reported a 6.6 percent year-on-year (YoY) decline in its net profit at 85 crore in Q4FY24 as against 91 crore in the corresponding quarter last year. The firm informed that its net profit was without considering the one-off exceptional item of MAT credit write-off of 12.51 crore.

Meanwhile, its total revenue for the quarter under review fell 1.4 percent YoY to 612 crore on the back of the termination of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) contract. On the operating front, its Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) margins were flat at 22.2 percent YoY (and up 130 bps QoQ), the muted margin was due to 15 percent YoY increase in employee expenses.

The stock shed as much as 15.5 percent to its day's low of 864.35. It is now 28 percent away from its peak of 1,198.80, hit on March 15, 2024. However, it has still soared 89 percent from its 52-week low of 457.60, hit on May 11, 2023.

In the last one year, the stock has delivered multibagger returns of 124 percent, outperforming benchmark Nifty 50 which has risen 20 percent during this period. However, it is up just 3.6 percent in 2024 YTD. The stock has lost 17.5 percent in May so far, extending losses for the third straight month. However, it rose 23 percent in February and 7.6 percent in January this year.

Among other details, the companys board has also recommended a final dividend of 3.50 per share of the face value of 5 for the financial year ended March 31, 2024.

Intellect Design Arena has the worlds largest cloud-native, API-led microservices-based multi-product platform for Global leaders in Banking, Insurance, and Capital Markets.

The company's revenues and margins were affected by the termination of the GeM contract, but this decision should improve future margins as the contract was not favourable for the company's profitability, according to ICICI Securities. The company also had a strong deal pipeline for the end of FY24, with 18 digital transformation deals in Q4FY24. The brokerage firm reported the company projected a 15% revenue growth for FY25, adjusted for the GeM exit.

The company further informed that its eMACH.ai technology suite drove growth with 16 new customers, while 18 global financial institutions adopted its platforms and products in Q4. In total, 52 new customers selected Intellect's digital offerings, including 16 major contracts, and 54 global financial institutions are now using the company's platforms and products.
The Nifty closed at 21957.5, up by 0.44% for the day. Throughout the day, the Nifty reached a high of 22131.3 and a low of 21950.3. The Sensex traded between 72946.54 and 72366.29, closing 0.36% higher at 72404.17, which was 260.3 points above the opening price.

In terms of performance, the Nifty Midcap 50 outperformed the Nifty 50, closing 1.12% higher. Similarly, small cap stocks outperformed the Nifty 50, with the Nifty Small Cap 100 ending at 15995.7, up by 111.05 points and 0.69% higher.

Looking at the returns of the Nifty 50 over different time periods, it has seen a decline of 1.87% in the last 1 week, a decline of 3.07% in the last 1 month, an increase of 2.03% in the last 3 months, an increase of 13.54% in the last 6 months, and an increase of 20.42% in the last 1 year.

The top gainers in the Nifty index were Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 4.48%), NTPC (up 2.73%), Power Grid Corporation Of India (up 2.57%), Hero Motocorp (up 2.36%), and JSW Steel (up 2.28%). On the other hand, the top losers in the Nifty index were Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.67%), Cipla (down 1.42%), LTI Mindtree (down 1.08%), Infosys (down 1.02%), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.92%).

The Bank Nifty ended at 47487.9, reaching an intraday high of 47868.7 and a low of 47313.35. The performance of the Bank Nifty over different time periods shows a decline of 3.03% in the last 1 week, a decline of 3.16% in the last 1 month, an increase of 5.7% in the last 3 months, an increase of 8.26% in the last 6 months, and an increase of 9.48% in the last 1 year.

In the trading session on May 10, 2024, the top gainers in the Sensex were NTPC (up 2.80%), Power Grid Corporation Of India (up 2.63%), Asian Paints (up 2.28%), ITC (up 1.88%), and Bharti Airtel (up 1.76%). On the other hand, the top losers in the Sensex were Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.62%), Infosys (down 0.95%), Wipro (down 0.79%), HDFC Bank (down 0.74%), and Mahindra & Mahindra (down 0.73%).

In the Nifty, the top gainers were Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 4.48%), NTPC (up 2.73%), Power Grid Corporation Of India (up 2.57%), Hero Motocorp (up 2.36%), and JSW Steel (up 2.28%). The top losers in the Nifty were Tata Consultancy Services (down 1.67%), Cipla (down 1.42%), LTI Mindtree (down 1.08%), Infosys (down 1.02%), and Kotak Mahindra Bank (down 0.92%).

In the Nifty MidCap 50, the top gainers were UPL, Polycab India, Astral, Coforge, and Aditya Birla Capital. The top losers were Godrej Properties, ACC, Indian Hotels Company, L&T FINANCE, and Bharat Forge.

In the Nifty Small Cap 100, the top gainers were IIFL Finance, Manappuram Finance, Hindustan Copper, JBM Auto, and Tejas Networks. The top losers were Arham Technologies, IRB Infrastructure Developers, Piramal Pharma, Rox Hi Tech, and Birlasoft.

Moving to the BSE, the top gainers were Jindal Worldwide (up 8.31%), Honeywell Automation India (up 8.23%), UPL (up 7.71%), Endurance Technologies (up 7.40%), and JSW Energy (up 7.36%). The top losers were IRB Infrastructure Developers (down 4.63%), Clara Industries (down 3.56%), Home First Finance Company India (down 3.51%), Birlasoft (down 3.06%), and Sobha (down 2.99%).

Lastly, in the NSE, the top gainers were Vijaya Diagnostic Centre (up 9.95%), Honeywell Automation India (up 8.25%), Master Components (up 8.10%), Endurance Technologies (up 7.98%), and UPL (up 7.60%). The top losers were Arvind & Company Shipping Agencies (down 6.41%), Viviana Power Tech (down 5.00%), Sungarner Energies (down 4.99%), Arham Technologies (down 4.98%), and Jai Balaji Industries (down 4.87%).
We are seeing a lot of new ways to invest money as investors seek new and attractive investment options. Agri-investment is one of them. Agri investment platforms allow you to invest in the agriculture sector and earn a tax-free income.

But before you jump in and blindly go ahead, you need to explore the risks and rewards associated with such investments. This article digs deeper into the potential benefits and hidden risks to help you make an informed decision.

What are these platforms all about? Agriculture income has been tax-free in India due to various reasons. Unpredictable climatic conditions, uncertainty of harvest and seasonal variations are a few of the reasons behind the same.

Considering it to be an opportunity, a few agri-investment platforms have come into the picture. They allow retail investors to invest in agriculture opportunities and earn a tax-free income.

Working on a fractional model, these investments allow investors to invest money starting from 5,000 and may go up to 15 lakhs. While allowing diversification in the investment portfolio, they also offer investors significant returns higher than traditional investment options making it a lucrative investment option.



Also Read: TGIF Agribusiness IPO: Check GMP, subscription status on day 2, issue size, key details to know

How do these platforms work? A retail investor makes an investment in these platforms via the website or mobile app in an online mode. Usually, he or she may be asked to sign the LLP (Limited Liability Partnership) agreement and complete authentication.

The investments are pooled from all the investors and invested further. For example, these may be further invested to lease agricultural land or invest in projects related to agriculture.

Now, the product is sold and revenue is generated. After deducting certain expenses such as salaries, rent, raw material costs, etc., the rest is distributed among the investors.

Investors usually earn fixed returns specified in the LLP agreement which was signed at the time of making investments.



Also Read: Skymet predicts normal monsoon, boosts hopes for India's agriculture-dependent economy

Risks involved Investment in agricultural schemes like these is not always sunshine and rainbows. It comes with its share of risks and uncertainties.

Firstly, profits are not assured. Though they may guarantee fixed returns, if the firm incurs losses, you will have to incur them as a partner. Weather uncertainties can result in loss of produce which may lead to a high risk of losing returns on investments.

Then, these platforms are not regulated by SEBI or RBI. So, there is no authority to control or monitor the activities of such platforms.

In 1990, the Anubhav Plantations scam case was a major financial scandal. Returns were guaranteed and investors were lured to make investments. However, the scheme collapsed due to several reasons in 1997-98 leaving multiple investors losing their money.

Recently, SEBI has banned agri-investment platform Growpital from collecting money from investors.

Benefits of agri investing Diversification of portfolio: Investment in such projects allows you to diversify your portfolio. It further helps in reducing overall risk by spreading investments across different sectors.

Investment in such projects allows you to diversify your portfolio. It further helps in reducing overall risk by spreading investments across different sectors. Tax-free income: As agricultural income is not taxed, returns from these schemes are not taxed as well.

As agricultural income is not taxed, returns from these schemes are not taxed as well. Fixed returns: Usually, these platforms promise a fixed return as mentioned in the contract which is another reason to invest. Who regulates these platforms? Currently, these agri-investment platforms are operating in a bit of a shady area. They are not directly controlled or monitored by authorities like SEBI (Securities and Exchange Board of India) or RBI (Reserve Bank of India). These agri-investment platforms act as facilitators,

providing investors with a platform to invest money. Hence, the regulation of these schemes is still in question.



Also Read: Along with incomes, agri needs an investment push

Some platforms Growpital

FAAB Invest

Kisaan Parivar

KrishiFunds

Farm Chakra There are several platforms that allow you to put money into agricultural projects and make tax-free income. However, it is recommended to perform detailed research before investing in such platforms.

Here are certain questions you can ask them before investing your money:

Would you still get guaranteed returns if an LLP incurs a loss as mentioned in the agreement?

Can you have access to their financial statements?

Who manages the platform/investments and what qualifications/experience do they possess?

Do they have a background or record of controversies if any?

How would the LLP resolve any dispute that might arise? Risks Weather risk: Agriculture is dependent on weather. While the farms of these platforms might use advanced technology, it would be wise to consider the impact of weather on crop production.

Liquidity risk: While platforms might honour your redemption requests within a few days, however, as agricultural produce is harvested in batches, investors might have to wait for the next batch to hit the market before they can get their money back. It is important to keep that in mind as well.

In conclusion, though these investments offer lucrative returns, it is not advisable to invest blindly. Tax-free returns shouldn't be the only reason to invest money. Purchasing such investments involves high risk as returns are not guaranteed and you may even lose your capital invested.

Hence, these platforms are recommended only for those folks who understand the workings of these schemes and have a high-risk appetite.
We, Indians, hold our traditions and cultural beliefs very close to our hearts, finding significance in the rituals that shape our lives. The auspicious festival of Akshaya Tritiya, falling on the third day of the Hindu month of Vaishakha, carries a sacred message of prosperity and success. Hence, purchasing gold on this day is considered to bring good returns in the long run. Traditionally associated with gold purchases, this festival has evolved into a day for forward-thinking investments.

Initially, people turned to gold for financial growth, transitioning from physical holdings to gold ETFs and bonds. Real estate is now undergoing a similar transformation. No longer confined to traditional house purchases, fractional ownership of commercial real estate is now emerging as the preferred choice. This shift signifies a new era of investment strategies, where the benefits of fractional ownershipaccessibility, diversification, and potential for higher returnsare leading to increased investor interest.



Also Read: Real Estate: How fractional ownership is redefining the rules of investing for small investors?

As we honour tradition while embracing innovation, Akshaya Tritiya is recognized as a symbol of development and an auspicious day to seize the opportunity of investing in a brighter future. Here are some factors you should consider when investing in real estate.

Residential vs. commercial properties One of the fundamental decisions that investors need to make is whether to invest in residential or commercial properties. Residential properties cater to both homeowners and investors looking for rental income. However, residential properties may pose challenges in tenant management and offer lower rental yields compared to commercial properties.

A recent industry report indicates that there has been an increase between 13 and 33 percent in housing prices over the last three years across seven major cities, whereas prices of commercial real estate markets have witnessed a significant appreciation of 15 percent for the same period.

Commercial properties, such as grade A office spaces offer good rental yields ranging between 8-9 percent as compared to 2-3 percent across residential properties. This allows investors to benefit from verified tenants and eliminate certain risks associated with residential properties.



Also Read: Building your FY 2025 portfolio? Here are 5 real estate investment options

Fractional ownership opportunities As we know, Akshaya Tritiya holds significance for long-term real estate investments. This day is deemed ideal for acquiring items of value, with a belief in their potential to bring prosperity and good fortune. Moreover, the current shift in the real estate investment scene in India mirrors a "mutual fund" moment, marked by regulators confidence in fractional ownership of commercial real estate.

Regulatory backing from SEBI for Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs), including the establishment of guidelines for Small and Medium REITs (SM REITs), signifies a turning point for investors and has further boosted their confidence. These developments democratise real estate investment, allowing retail investors to participate in high-value properties through fractional ownership. With a reduced minimum investment threshold to INR 10 lakhs, real estate investment becomes more accessible, aligning with the spirit of the festival as a day of prosperity and abundance.

Benefits of investing through the fractional ownership route Fractional ownership of real estate allows the investor with a variety of returns, including regular income, asset security, liquidity, tax advantages and ease of ownership, among others. This is a great alternative for investors who are interested in income-yielding investments as well as those who would like to benefit from capital appreciation.



Also Read: Income tax strategies for real estate investors: Maximising deductions and minimising liabilities

Navigating regulatory and legal frameworks Real estate transactions involve complex regulatory and legal frameworks that vary depending on the location and type of property. Investors must ensure compliance with all legal requirements and conduct due diligence to verify the authenticity of property titles, approvals, and ownership records. Seeking professional assistance from legal experts or real estate advisors can help investors navigate these complexities seamlessly.

Evaluating long-term growth potential While short-term gains may be enticing, investors should prioritise long-term growth potential when investing in real estate. Assessing factors such as infrastructure development, urbanisation trends, and demand-supply dynamics can provide insights into the future appreciation potential of the property. Investing in emerging markets or growth corridors with robust economic fundamentals can yield substantial returns over the long term.



Also Read: What legal obligations exist for landlord access to rented premises?

In summary, investing in real estate during Akshaya Tritiya offers a compelling opportunity for individuals seeking to grow their wealth and secure their financial future. Implying on these measures, investors can make informed decisions and capitalise on the auspiciousness of this occasion to voyage on a successful real estate investment journey.
The Australian government has recently tightened the norms for international students applying for a visa to enter the country, and the new rules will come into force from Friday, May 10. As per the updated regulations, the minimum threshold amount needed as savings to enter the country on a student visa has been increased substantially.

The financial capacity requirement has been updated to align with a proportion (75 per cent) of the national minimum wage, Australia's Department of Home Affairs and Immigration stated in a press release. This means the international students are required to have 75 per cent of the national minimum wage as savings. The government has imposed new guidelines to ensure a minimum standard of living for foreign students studying in Australia.

Also read: Tesla lays off over 16,000 employees; many face H-1B visa deadline: 'Feels like a bad dream The government's statement further reads, This proportion considers that students are out of course session for 25 per cent of the year. During this time, they may return home or have access to unrestricted work.

The Australian government has raised the minimum savings amount required for entry into the country on a student visa.

Indian students aspiring to study in Australia, as well as those who are already pursuing academic degrees in the island country, must show that they have at least A$29,710 ( 16,29,964) in savings, to be eligible for a student visa, which equals 75 per cent of the national minimum wage. We will assess applications lodged before May 10, 2024, under the financial capacity requirements in effect at the time of application, the press release further noted.

Also read: UK visa review on May 14 to have a far reaching impact on international students from India The development came just days after the authorities tightened student visa rules to reduce the overall inflow of migrants. The last hike pertaining to minimum saving adjustments was made seven months ago. Previously, an increase from A$21,041 ( 11,54,361) to A$24,505 ( 13,44,405) was imposed in October last year.

Australia's Home Affairs Minister Clare ONeil said the nation is significantly reducing migration levels outside of war or pandemic. He noted that Australia is in the middle of the biggest drop in migration numbers in its history.
The announcement of the Class 12 exam results by the Gujarat Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board (GSEB) on May 9 showed a remarkable achievement: prisoners serving life sentences in Lajpore Central Jail of Surat successfully qualified in the Gujarat Board examinations.

Overall, 82.45 per cent of students qualified the examinations this year, 17-18 per cent more than the last year.

Also read: GSEB HSC 12th result Highlights: Gujarat Class 12th result OUT at gseb.org. Check steps to download scorecard here GSEB Chairman Banchhanidhi Pani told newswire ANI that last time 27 schools had a 100% result. "This time 127 schools registered the same result. 1034 students registered A1 grade and 8983 students registered A2 grade."

From Lajpore jail, a total of 9 students appeared for the Class 12 exams, all of whom have cleared the exam, leading to a pass percentage of 100%.

"In Surat's Lajpore jail, there are a total of 9 students who appeared for the Class 12 examination. All of them have passed. Lajpore jail's passing percentage is 100%," Lajpore jail Superintendent Jashu Desai said, as quoted by ANI.

Netizens reacted to the news on social media platform X formerly Twitter, with a mix of responses. Some users drew analogies with the jailed former Deputy Chief Minister of Delhi, Manish Sisodia.

Also read: Today's IPL Match: GT vs CSK - wholl win Gujarat vs Chennai clash on May 10? Fantasy team, pitch report and more On user stated, Thank god its not from Tihar in Delhi, otherwise Aapiyas would have claimed that Manish sisodia has revolutionised education in jail as well. Another user commented, Thats better passing percentage than Kejriwal's delhi school model.

A third user remarked, Even Gujarats prison has better education system than Delhi. Another user posted, Irony. Those children who pass the exams to serve the nation, no police, no cameraman covers them.

Also read: Lok Sabha elections 2024 Phase 3 voting today: Full list of 93 seats voting in third phase Meanwhile, this year saw schools in Kumhariya and Rajkot outperforming, while the performance of students from Bodeli schools experienced a decline. Morbi district emerged as a top performer in terms of district-wise GSEB Class 12 results. Notably, boys outperformed girls this year, with a pass percentage of 82.53% compared to 82.35% for girls.
US Ambassador Eric Garcetti hailed the democracy in India at an event on Friday and said he was confident that "10 years from now India is going to be a vibrant democracy as it is today in terms of free and fair elections". He added, "They [Indians] like us more than we [Americans] like ourselves."

Speaking at an event organised in Washington by the Council on Foreign Relations, Garcetti said he has been "impressed with certain things they [Indians] do that are better than us [Americans]."

He said that during election times in India, there are people who check trucks to make sure that nobody has cash going around. "There's probably walk-in money, as they call it in some cities here in the United States, Philadelphia, that's like a tradition where cash kind of gets you votes and things like that. So, I've been impressed with certain things they do that are better than us," the US diplomat was quoted by PTI as saying.

When asked about the status of democracy in India, Garcetti said, "Again there's things that probably are worse and there's things that are better. They have a law, you can't go more than two kilometers to vote. So there''ll be one guy who lives in the mountains as a monk (at) someplace. They will walk for two days to bring the voting machine, execute the vote."

He, however, added there are things that "we keep our eyes on. And I just disagree that we don't speak out about them."

"You have a lot of leaders there who have come worked, been educated here, have an affinity. There's a huge positive polling of Americans. I told the president before the state visit that Americans poll better in India than Americans do in America. They like us more than we like ourselves. That's rare in the world today," Garcetti said, adding that Poland is the only other country that comes close.

"This is a huge advantage for the US," he said. He added, "If you look at history in India, there's not been some golden era where everybody's rights have been respected.

"America's role is to stand up for the principles and the values that we have, to never retreat from those and talk about them. But is the relationship only that and those points of conflict? Absolutely not. It would be bad diplomacy, it would be bad policy. But in my heart, 100 percent, I believe, not only will this still continue to be one of the world's most vibrant democracies," Garcetti said.

"I 100 percent believe we can trust this relationship. It's going to be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century, the US and India together," he said.
The Opposition parties, including Congress and Trinamool Congress, on Friday, welcomed the Supreme Court's decision to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case and hoped that the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, will also get due justice.

A Supreme Court bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta granted Kejriwal bail till June 1 and asked him to surrender on June 2.

Hope PM introspects: Pawan Khera We welcome the intervention by the Supreme Court in granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal. We also hope the Prime Minister gets enough time after June 4, when he becomes the former prime minister of India, to introspect, sitting in Sabarmati Ashram, the kind of politics he indulged into. We also hope that the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, also gets due justice, said Pawan Khera in a video message.

More than a miracle, says AAP AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said that getting interim bail in 40 days (after arrest) is more than a miracle.

Through SC, it is a hint from God that whatever is happening in India, a change is needed in that. Arvind Kejriwal has the blessings of Lord Bajrangbali, and today, he will come out of jail. I think it's not an ordinary thing, and he is coming out of jail for a big purpose, which is an extraordinary thing, said Saurabh Bharadwaj.

Very Happy, says Mamata Banerjee I am very happy to see that Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections, said West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Wave of happiness: Balbir Singh Punjab AAP leader Dr Balbir Singh said there is a wave of happiness among our party workers. I thank the Supreme Court for this judgement. The people of Punjab are ready to give a befitting reply with their votes. We will win 13/0 in Punjab, ANI quoted Singh as saying.

Victory of People: MP Pramod Tiwari Welcoming the SC decision, Congress MP Pramod Tiwari told News18, Efforts were made that Jharkhand CM and Delhi CM don't campaign in Lok Sabha Elections. But now, Delhi CM can campaign for the remaining period. This is not a victory of AAP or India alliance, but the victory of the people of India.

Difficult to justify ED's opposition: Majeed Memon TMC leader Majeed Memon said that it was very difficult to justify or appreciate ED's strong opposition to bail. Speaking to News18, Memon said, I don't know whether ED had personal animosity with Kejriwal. Why should the man be kept in custody when he is yet to be found guilty. Of course, PMLA does impose some restrictions as regards personal liberty to an arrested person. Naturally, SC has been very conscious in asking repeated questions to ED that he is a chief minister and why do they want him to be behind bar.

In a post on X, Memon said, Kejriwals release on interim bail by SC is hailed as victory of Rule of law over political abuse of Central investigating agencies, [sic].

SC order will boost faith in democracy: Devender Yadav We have been saying that BJP and its leaders have caged establishments of democracy. Because of this, sitting CMs were sent to jail. I appreciate the Supreme Court's order of granting (interim) bail to Arvind Kejriwal. This will boost the faith of people in democracy, PTI quoted Delhi Congress interim chief Devender Yadav.

He will go back to jail: Manjinder Singh Sirsa BJP leader Manjinder Singh Sirsa told ANI that, It is clear from the Supreme Court judgement that he has been granted bail for elections only. He will have to go back to jail after June 1.
Amid an ongoing war of words with Canada, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said that freedom of speech does not mean freedom to support separatism.

In an interview with PTI on Thursday, Jaishankar said that the Canadian government, by allowing political space to Khalistani separatist elements, is sending a message that its vote bank is "more powerful" than its rule of law.

"We cannot, for the good relations, overlook that," said the minister.

"If you have people whose presence there is itself on very dubious documents, what does it say about you? It actually says that your vote bank is more powerful than your rule of law," the minister told PTI.

"In any rules-based society, you would imagine that you would check people's background, how they came, what passport they carried, etc," said the minister, wondering how people with dubious backgrounds are being allowed to enter and live in Canada.

The external affairs minister also said that Canada's response to India's concerns was that it had freedom of speech.

"Whenever we have taken this up with the Canadians..it is not a new issue... It has been going on almost for 10 years, and they keep saying, 'Oh, we have freedom of speech'."

Emphasising that India also has freedom of speech, the minister added, Freedom of speech does not mean freedom to threaten foreign diplomats. Freedom of speech does not mean this kind of space which is also given to people of various dubious backgrounds -- people associated with organised crime and so on.

Earlier this week, reacting to the criticism of the Justin Trudeau-led Canadian government after three people were arrested in connection with the murder of India-designated terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, Canada's Immigration Minister Marc Miller said that Jaishankar was entitled to his opinion.

Moreover, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly stated that their job was to protect Canadians. She also stood by Canada's allegations that a Canadian was killed on Canadian soil by Indian agents.
The Supreme Court, in granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal in the excise policy case, on Friday set five conditions, one of which prohibits the Delhi Chief Minister from contacting any witnesses involved in the case.

In a major relief to Kejriwal, the apex court bench comprising Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta has granted the Delhi Chief Minister 21 days of interim bail until June 1, enabling him to campaign during the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

The court asked Kejriwal to surrender on June 2.

Here are the Supreme Court's five conditions

1. Before being released from jail, Arvind Kejriwal must furnish a personal bond of 50,000.

2. The Delhi Chief Minister is prohibited from visiting both the Chief Minister's Office and the Delhi Secretariat.

3. He is obliged by a statement made on his behalf, ensuring that he does not sign official files unless it is deemed necessary and required for obtaining clearance approval from Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena.

4. Kejriwal is prohibited from making any comments regarding his involvement in the Excise Policy case.

5. He is barred from interacting with any witnesses involved in the case or accessing official files related to the proceedings.

Delhi Elections Arvind Kejriwal's release ahead of voting in Delhi's Lok Sabha seats will boost the morale of Aam Aadmi Party workers. The party is contesting four out of seven Lok Sabha seats in alliance with the Congress. The grand old party is contesting on three seats.

Victory of people, says Kejriwal's wife Sunita Hanuman ji ki jai. This is the victory of democracy. It is the result of the prayers and blessings of millions of people. Many thanks to everyone, Delhi Chief Minister's wife Sunita Kejriwal posted on X.

Arvind Kejriwal News LIVE Updates AAP celebrates The AAP leaders and workers started celebrations soon after the apex court decision, with AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj saying, "The development is a 'sign from God' for the country."
Following the British pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca's admission in a UK court that its Covid vaccine can cause blood clots in rare cases, a group of concerned doctors from the Awaken India Movement (AIM) has highlighted safety issues with the Covishield vaccine, produced by the Serum Institute of India.

Addressing a press conference on Thursday, the medics called on the Indian government to reevaluate the science behind all Covid-19 vaccines and to ensure rigorous monitoring and surveillance of vaccine-related adverse events, newswire PTI reported.

Tarun Kothari, a radiologist and activist, criticized the government's approach at the presser, and said, "The government has wholly ignored the rising number of cases of tragic deaths post-Covid vaccination all the while and continues to promote Covid vaccines as 'safe and effective', without scientific investigation and invoking epidemiology," he said, as quoted by PTI.

The doctors expressed concerns that the public was largely uninformed about the administration of Covid-19 vaccines without complete phase-3 trial data, which would detail potential short and long-term side effects, or the possibility of fatalities.

Sujata Mittal, a gynaecologist and oncologist, emphasized the low awareness of vaccine injuries in India and noted that many women reported menstrual irregularities as a vaccine side effect, a fact only confirmed by studies much later.

Kothari revealed that AIM has been documenting and reporting Covid-19 vaccine-related deaths since the vaccine rollout began in 2021, but the government has yet to respond to their appeals for a thorough investigation into these deaths and other severe adverse effects, the PTI report added.

The group also called for the establishment of fast-track and specialized vaccine courts to expedite justice for those harmed by vaccines. Mittal advocated for enhanced surveillance and monitoring systems to detect vaccine adverse events swiftly, along with the development and widespread dissemination of early treatment protocols to save lives.

Meanwhile, in response to safety concerns, AstraZeneca has started a global withdrawal of its Covid-19 vaccine, known as Vaxzevria in Europe and Covishield in India, citing a surplus of more updated vaccines available since the pandemic's peak.

The Serum Institute of India also announced it halted the production and supply of additional Covishield doses as of December 2021, stating that all rare side effects, including TTS, had been disclosed in the vaccine's packaging insert the same year, the report further added.
AI or artificial intelligence has become talk of the town across the world since OpenAI launched ChatGPT in November 2022. With its ability to analyze vast amounts of data and provide actionable insights, AI has become indispensable in informing policy decisions and addressing pressing challenges faced by world leaders.

During the G20 Summit 2023 hosted by India, the member nations have chosen to adopt a "pro-innovation" regulatory approach, aiming to maximize the benefits of AI while mitigating the associated risks. Similarly, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also discussed the AI integration with Bill Gates.

In another significant event, AI is expected to take the center stage as Pope Francis is all set to discuss the challenges posed by artificial intelligence at this year's Group of Seven (G7) leaders' summit. The pope this year warned against the "perverse" dangers of AI and renewed a call for worldwide regulations to harness it for the common good.

Experts believe that the G7 Summit will provide an ideal platform to delve into the complexities of AI, thereby enhancing global understanding of the realities surrounding artificial intelligence.

The summit will take place in the southern Italian region of Puglia from June 13-15 that will bring together the leaders of the United States, Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Canada and Japan, as well as a few specially invited guests.

Visakh ST, Chief Technology Officer of Simplify3X said AI systems are subject to security flaws, biased algorithms, and data breaches just like any other technology. Hence, robust software testing solutions have been specifically designed to help mitigate any external threats associated with the rising technology, he stated.

Deeper insights into the system's behaviour can be obtained using specialized tools and techniques created for AI. The G7 Summit is the ideal venue to discuss the intricacies of AI to further inform the global public on the realities of artificial intelligence, ST told Livemint.

Citing an example of Statista report, Tushar Dhawan, Partner at Plus91labs said the global AI market in India is projected to achieve a CAGR of 17.94% through to 2030, and surpass USD5.47 billion in 2024. He also highlighted the inherent limitations of AI like the accuracy of output, while saying why humanizing AI is essential.

"To increase the reliability of AI, constant technological breakthroughs are necessary. Our goal is to improve AI's capabilities through constant innovation, stringent testing procedures, and human oversight. I think the G7 Summit serves as the perfect forum to discuss the complexities of AI, he said.

The future hinges on integrating such cutting-edge solutions to mitigate vulnerabilities and fortify data defenses, said Dr. Romel Bhattacharjee, Senior Analyst - Technology Research & Advisory at Aranca.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar jail on Friday after spending 50 days behind bars following the Supreme Court's order granting him interim bail in a money-laundering case related to the now-repealed Delhi excise policy. He was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in connection with the alleged liquor policy scam.

The Delhi chief minister received a warm welcome from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and supporters as he walked out of prison.

Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal, Punjab Chief Minister and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann, party leaders Atishi and Saurabh Bhardwaj, and AAP general secretary Sandeep Pathak accompanied Kejriwal when he was released.

Also Read | Arvind Kejriwal granted interim bail in excise policy case: Here's why Beginning with slogans of 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', 'Vande Mataram' and 'Inquilab Zindabad', the Delhi chief minister said, "I am fighting against dictatorship with all my might, but 140 crore people (of the country) will have to come together to fight against it."

Also Read | No visit to CM's office: SC's five interim bail conditions for Arvind Kejriwal Addressing party workers, the AAP national convenor said, I am feeling great to be with you. I had told you that I would come out soon... First of all, I want to pay obeisance to Lord Hanuman. I am among you because of the blessings of Lord Hanuman."

The Delhi chief minister further said, Tomorrow at 11 am, we will go to the Hanuman Temple at Connaught Place and at 1 pm, we will address a press conference at the party office.

I want to thank you all. Crores of people of the country sent their blessings to me. I want to thank the Supreme Court because of which I am here," he added.

Also Read | SC grants interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in excise policy case Reacting to the CM's release, senior AAP leader Gopal Rai said, ...Dictatorship will come to an end in this Lok Sabha election..
Days after Sam Pitroda sparked controversy with his 'African' remark, party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar courted a fresh stir by saying, Pakistan is a respected nation that also possesses an atom bomb.

The clip of Aiyar's remark in an interview with Chill Pill went viral on social media, on Friday.

They are also a sovereign country (Pakistan). They are a respected nation. You can talk tough with them (Pakistan). But start the dialogue. You are walking with a gun, which yielded you nothing. Tensions are escalating. And if a mad person comes there, what will happen to the nation? They have an atom bomb. We also possess the atomic bomb. But if a mad person detonates our bomb at Lahore station, so within eight seconds, eight moments, its radioactivity will reach Amritsar, reported ANI, quoting Aiyar.

With his remarks on Pakistan, Aiyar, who is no stranger to controversies, has given Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fresh ammunition to attack Congress.

Meanwhile, BJP leaders have launched a scathing attack, saying Congress' 'Pakistan prem' doesn't seem to stop.

"Pakistan Prem" BJP's national spokesperson, Shehzad Poonawalla, said that Mani Shankar Aiyar, who is close to the 'first family', is displaying the muscle and strength of Pakistan on behalf of the Congress party.

He (Aiyar) says that Pakistan should be respected and talks should be held with them - the same Pakistan that keeps sending terrorists to our country...Now, when incidents like Pulwama take place, a befitting reply is given. Now 'Congress ka haath' is being seen with 'Pakistan ke saath'. This is another example of the same, Poonawala told ANI.

Also Read: The problem with Mani Shankar Aiyar

"Should go to Pakistan" Slamming Congress, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that Congress is rattled after seeing the certainty of huge defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to ANI, he said, Those who don't have trust in the Indian military, which has the most capable ammunition in the world, instead of residing in India, they should go to Pakistan.

"Their hearts reside in Pakistan" Union Minister Anurag Thakur also said that Congress leaders stay in India, but their hearts reside in Pakistan. What courage does Pakistan have? India knows how to give a befitting reply, he told ANI.

Reflects Congress ideology Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar posted on X (formerly Twitter) that Aiyar's remark reflect Congress ideology.

Meanwhile, the Congress party has distanced itself from Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks, saying he doesn't hold any official position.

In a post on X, Congress leader Pawan Khera said, Indian National Congress dissociates itself completely from and disagrees totally with some remarks made by Mani Shankar Aiyar few months back which have been revived today by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modis daily goof ups. Aiyer does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever.
A Delhi court ordered the framing of sexual harassment charges against former WFI chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh on Friday  drawing cheers from star grapplers Sakshi Malik and Bajrang Punia. The development comes more than a year after top wrestlers levelled sexual exploitation and intimidation charges against the six-time BJP MP. Delhi Police had filed a charge sheet against Singh and former WFI assistant secretary Vinod Tomar in the case in June last year.

Prima facie the court has framed the charges today. Except for one case, they have framed charges in the remaining cases. I welcome the decision of the judiciary and now doors have opened for me the former WFI chief said.

Charges will be framed formally on May 21 under sections sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 354A (sexual harassment), and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC. Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (ACMM) Priyanka Rajpoot said there was sufficient evidence to frame charges. The court however discharged Singh in a complaint filed by one of the six women wrestlers.

ALSO READ: Use of force to outrage modesty: Delhi Court charges BJP MP Brij Bhushan Singh for sexual harassment of female wrestlers This is a big victory for the struggle of women wrestlers. The daughters of the country have had to go through such difficult times, but this decision will provide relief. Those who trolled women wrestlers should also be ashamed. Satyamev Jayate, tweeted Punia.

...We thank the honorable court. We had to sleep on the streets for many nights in the heat and rain, had to give up on our stable careers, only then have we been able to take a few steps forward in the fight for justice. Heartfelt gratitude to those who showered love and blessings and may God bless those who trolled and said bad things. Long live Mother India, added a post from Malik.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday after the Supreme Court granted interim bail till June 1. Tata Motors reported a three-fold jump in consolidated net profit (to 17,528.59 crore) in the final quarter of FY24. Meanwhile Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu insisted that the Gaza war would continue with or without US support.

Here are the latest updates: Kejriwal exits Tihar jail Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday evening  some 50 days after he was detained by the Enforcement Directorate. The Supreme Court had granted the AAP chief interim bail till June 1 in order to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Workers and leaders of his Aam Aadmi Party gathered outside the prison complex to welcome Kejriwal. The CM left Tihar in his convoy, accompanied by his wife Sunita Kejriwal, his daughter Harshita and AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sandeep Pathak.

Kejriwal will have to surrender and go back to prison on June 2.

Tata Motors Q4 results Tata Motors reported over three-fold jump in consolidated net profit to 17,528.59 crore in Q4FY24. The company had posted a consolidated net profit of 5,496.04 crore in the same quarter of the previous fiscal. Total consolidated revenue from operations stood at 1,19,986.31 crore, as compared to 1,05,932.35 crore in the year-ago period.

Indian military withdraws from Maldives India withdrew its final batch of military officials from the Maldives on Friday  a day ahead of the repatriation deadline set by President Mohamed Muizzu.Relations between the two countries have become increasingly strained after the pro-China leader sought to reduce dependence on New Delhi. The Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives had been operating and maintaining two helicopters and Dornier aircraft gifted earlier.

India and the Maldives had agreed to withdraw the remaining Indian troops before May 10 following four round of meetings of the India-Maldives High Level Core Group. The last meeting was held in New Delhi on May 3.
(Adds context in paragraphs 4-5 and 10-13)

May 10 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Friday called for Congress to give regulators more power to oversee the growing nonbank mortgage industry, which she said presented unique risks to financial stability.

Yellen spoke during a meeting of the Financial Stability Oversight Council, a regulatory body she chairs and which was created after the 2007-2009 financial crisis. It is tasked with managing risks to the financial system.

The council, whose members head other top financial regulators, voted unanimously to approve publishing a report and related recommendations on the issue.

THE TAKE

Regulators are moving to cover what they say is a gap in their power to address risk in what is now a large and growing majority of the mortgage market.

The proposal unveiled on Friday includes a recommendation that Congress establish an industry-financed fund to provide liquidity to failing nonbank mortgage services, addressing a problem that industry pointed to at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

KEY QUOTE

"Put simply, the vulnerabilities of nonbank mortgage companies can amplify shocks in the mortgage market and undermine financial stability," Yellen said in prepared remarks.

"We need further action to promote safe and sound operations, address liquidity risks, and promote continuity of servicing operations when a servicer cannot perform its critical functions."

CONTEXT

While they offer some advantages over traditional lenders, nonbanks also present unique challenges, according to Yellen.

Nonbanks can have high leverage, short-term funding and be more exposed than banks to fluctuations in the values of mortgage servicing rights and housing prices, as well as changing interest and delinquency rates, she said.

The failures of nonbanks could harm borrowers and leave the federal government to take on servicing obligations, with larger disruptions in the sector possibly restricting mortgage lending, according to Yellen.
Akshay Tritiya 2024: Precious metals gold and silver carry immense significance in Hindu religion and their purchase on Akshay Tritiya is considered as auspicious. On the occasion of Akshay Tritiya, people who are looking to purchase gold and silver today, and are sceptical about Akshay Tritiya Muhurat timings. Take a look at the city-wise Akshay Tritiya 2024 Muhurat timings mentioned below.

Akshay Tritiya 2024: Muhurat to buy gold and silver As it is considered auspicious to buy precious metal on this day, take a look at the city-wise timings to purchase gold and silver, as reported by Hindustan Times.

In New Delhi, people can buy gold between 5:33 am and 12:18 pm.

For people in Gurugram, Akshay Tritiya Shub Muhurat timings are from 5:34 am to 12:18 pm.

In Chennai, Shub Muhurat timings are from 05:45 am to 12:06 pm.

People in Jaipur can buy gold and silver on Akshay Tritiya from 5:42 am to 12:23 pm.

In Hyderabad timing to purchase gold is from 5:46 am to 12:13 pm.

For people in Mumbai, Shubh Muhurat timing to buy gold and silver jewellery is between 6:06 am and 12:35 pm.

In Noida, people can buy gold and silver from 5:33 am to 12:17 pm.

In Pune, people can buy gold and silver from 6:03 am to 12:31 pm.
The Biden administration said Israel may have used US weapons in its war against Hamas in ways that are inconsistent with its obligations under international law, stepping up criticism of a key ally.

The highly anticipated State Department report stopped short of declaring that Israel had broken international obligations in ways that would have forced a pause on the supply of US weapons and ammunition.

Its reasonable to assess that US weapons have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm, the department said in the report, using an abbreviation for international humanitarian law.

The nature of the conflict in Gaza makes it difficult to assess or reach conclusive findings on individual incidents, it added.

The findings were included in a report that was sent to Congress Friday. Some Democratic legislators have pressed the Biden administration to suspend shipments of military aid to Israel over its handling of the war.

The report comes after the White House in February ordered the Secretary of State to get credible and reliable assurances from countries receiving weapons from the US, including Israel, that theyre being used in a manner consistent with international humanitarian and human rights law.

President Joe Biden around that same time had blasted Israels Gaza campaign as over the top. That criticism has grown, particularly over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus threat to expand operations in Rafah, where about 1 million Palestinians are sheltering.
A large number of students from India who are planning to go to the UK this year for their higher studies may have a reason to worry.

There is a speculation that migration advisory committee (MAC)  in its report of review of post study work (PSW) visa on May 14  may discontinue the much sought-after visa that enables international students to work across sectors for two years just like the natives.

This visa is one of the key incentives for international students to study in the UK. Let us understand the issue in more detail.

What is the MAC review? MAC stands for migration advisory committee that is tasked with the job of reviewing post study work visas. This visa, if axed, will deprive international students from India, and elsewhere, of continuing to stay in the UK after their studies have finished. So, this is likely to have a far-reaching impact.

When will the decision come? The deadline for submitting the report is May 14. This is the rapid review commissioned by the Home Secretary James Cleverly on March 11 this year.

In the letter written by Cleverly, he mentioned that in 2023 only 32 percent of international graduates switching into work routes earned a salary above the general threshold with just 16 percent earning over 30,000  which means that the vast majority of those completing the Graduate route earn less than the median wage of graduates.

What is the post study work visa? The visa introduced in July 2021 after a hiatus of around 10 years allows international students to work in any job  related to the studies carried out or not -- without having to require sponsorship or work permit from the employer.

This means one can search and work in any job just like a citizen without any restrictions. The validity of this visa is two years.

How does it impact Indian students? In 2023, Indian students were issued 1.20 lakh student visas (out of 4.57 lakh total visas issued across all the countries). The number of visas issued in 2023 was 250 percent higher than 2019, i.e., before the PSW came into force.

So, the spike in the number of students from India can be attributed to the introduction of PSW visa in 2021.

According to one British Council report, India is the largest source of Graduate route participants among students from all over the world, and saw 68 percent growth in 2023.

Why is the UK government cracking down on immigrants? This is part of the larger plan to cut down on growing migration in the United Kingdom. The Rishi Sunak-led right-wing government has been continually cracking down on the surge in migrant workforce.

In January 2023, the British government phased out dependent visas for students which now prevents international students from bringing family members to the country. The only exception to the rule is the students studying for a research programme such as PhD or post-doctoral studies.

In fact, in March 2023, migrant care workers were also barred from bringing their partners and children to the country.

The new visa restrictions also stopped international students from switching out of the student route into work before completing their studies.

Why is the UK government also deporting some immigrants to Rwanda? Under the Rwanda Asylum Plan, all illegal immigrants will be deported to Rwanda, a small country in Central Africa. Under an arrangement between the UK and Rwanda, illegal immigrants will be sent there for processing, asylum and resettlement.
The American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) on Friday informed in a letter that both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have concluded that consumption of spices treated with ethylene oxide (ETO) is safe. The statement came after Hong Kong and Singapore took action against several spice variants manufactured by Indian spice brands MDH and Everest Food Products.

Hong Kong had last month suspended sales of three spice blends made by MDH  Madras Curry Powder, Sambhar Masala Mixed Masala Powder and Curry Powder Mixed Masala Powder  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.

According to reports, the health authorities in Singapore and Hong Kong found cancer-causing pesticide ethylene oxide" in these masalas above the acceptable limits.

US spice body offers clarification On Friday, the US spice body ASTA wrote to Spices Board of India Secretary Dr KG Jagadeesha, offering clarification on the recent reports about ethylene oxide usage in spices exported to the US.

It said, "The American Spice Trade Association (ASTA) has become aware of recent media reports on the rejection of Indian spices from Singapore and Hong Kong due to the presence of ethylene oxide (ETO) residues."

"In light of these recent developments, we are reaching out to offer clarification on ETO and food safety regulations pertaining to spices imported into the United States," news agency ANI reported, citing the letter.

The letter added that the ethylene oxide is currently permitted for use on spices in the US "and prohibiting this critical treatment method has the potential to result in serious unintended implications regarding compliance of Indian spices with US food safety regulations."

It said ethylene oxide is an approved antimicrobial fumigant in the US. "Moreover, both the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have concluded that consumption of spices treated with EtO is safe," ASTA's letter read.

MDH and Everest products are hugely popular in India. They are also sold in Europe, Asia and North America. '

According to Reuters, the companies refuted allegations and said they are safe.

However, India's top food regulator, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), asked state food commissioners to collect samples of major spice brands from their manufacturing units across India to test for the presence of ETO.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal seems to have a busy Saturday -- just a day after receiving an interim bail in connection with the Delhi Excise Policy case. Soon after walking out of the Tihar jail on Friday, Kejriwal said he would go to Hanuman Temple at Connaught Place "to seek the blessings of Lord Hanuman" at 11 am on Saturday.

Kejriwal will then hold a press conference at the party office at 1 pm. Later, "in the evening, I will participate in a roadshow in South Delhi, along with Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann," Kejriwal said.

The Supreme Court granted interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal on May 10, in connection with the Delhi Excise policy "scam" case. The interim bail was granted till June 1. The Delhi chief minister will have to surrender himself on June 2.

Kejriwal was earlier lodged in Tihar jail. He was in the judicial custody in connection with a probe into the alleged scam in the Delhi Excise policy case. The Enforcement Directorate had arrested him on March 21.

Kejriwal, the national convenor of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), was granted interim bail till June 1 so as to allow him to campaign for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024.

While granting him interim bail, the Supreme Court was quoted by Live Law as saying, "The appellant  Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to the society."

The Supreme Court bench had added that a "more holistic and libertarian view is justified" as the investigation in the case has remained pending since August 2022, when ED registered the ECIR [an internal document for the ED to record evidence], and the legality and validity of Kejriwal's arrest are themselves pending challenge.

During his first interaction after walking out of the jail, Kejriwal said, "Today, I have come out due to the blessings of Lord Hanuman and the prayers of crores of people of the country."
Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was released from Tihar jail on Friday evening, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1 in connection with his alleged role in the liquor policy case.

The top court asked Kejriwal to surrender on June 2, two days before the scheduled announcement of the results of the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The release assumes significance as it comes right in the middle of Lok Sabha elections. While three phases of polling are over, four more phases are scheduled to take place on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1.

Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is in power in Delhi and Punjab  two states where the elections are scheduled in the remaining phases. Seven Delhi seats and 10 Haryana seats will vote in the fifth phase on May 25. The 13 seats of Punjab will vote in the sixth phase on June 1.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) arrested Kejriwal in the alleged Delhi liquor excise policy scam on March 21.

'Moral Booster for AAP' Out on bail, Arvind Kejriwal has ample time to campaign for Delhi and Punjab seats in the next few weeks. In Delhi, the AAP is contesting elections in alliance with the Congress party. The AAP got four of the seats in Delhi while the Congress has fielded candidates in the remaining three seats as per the seat-sharing deal. In Punjab, the party is contesting 13 seats on its own.

Clearly, AAP cadres will be re-energised with Kejriwals release in election season. The workers will leave no stone unturned during the campaign. Arvind Kejriwal is not just the poster boy of AAP, but he is also among the opposition leaders who are of national prominence.

"This is the victory of truth...I thank the SC for coming forward to save the Constitution and democracy. Arvind Kejriwal will come out of Tihar Jail this evening and I am sure he will address the people of Delhi and the country," Delhi minister and senior AAP leader Atishi Marlena told news agency ANI.

Kejriwal addressed a gathering soon after the release on Friday evening and shared his schedule for May 11.

INDIA bloc welcomes Kejriwal's release The release has been welcomed by many leaders within the INDIA bloc parties, including the Samajwadi Party and the Congress. "We welcome the intervention by the Supreme Court in granting interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal," Congress leader Pawan Khera said. "We hope the ex-Chief Minister of Jharkhand, Hemant Soren, also gets due justice," Khera said.

Kejriwal is among the two opposition chief ministers who have been in jail in the election season. The other chief minister Jharkhand's Hemant Soren resigned before being arrested, but Kejriwal didnt. Trinamool Congress leader and West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee also welcomed Kejriwal's release.

Being the AAPs top star campaigner, Kejriwal will directly lead the campaign in Delhi and Punjab where his party is in power.

Impact Player, Arvind Kejriwal Analysts say, keeping in mind Arvind Kejriwals style of campaigning, he might make the Lok Sabha contest difficult for the BJP, at least in Delhi.

It remains to be seen what idioms Kejriwal uses during his campaigns, but as a leader, he has the ability to make the contests in Delhi very tough for the BJP, said Rahul Verma, political analyst and fellow, Centre for Policy Research (CPR).

One of the bail conditions for Kejriwal is that he cannot speak about the Delhi liquor policy case or discuss the allegations against him while he is out.

Also Read: AAP names jailed leaders Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia as star campaigners for Lok Sabha polls in Gujarat

In its political campaign so far, the AAP has been raising Arvind Kejriwals arrest as an issue and earning some sympathy due to it, according to observers. And with his release due to interim bail, days ahead of Lok Sabha elections in Delhi and Punjab, Arvind Kejriwal might as well be the impact player in about 21 days of campaigning left before he has to surrender again on June 2.

In cricket parlance, impact player allows one substitute player per team to play an active part in matches with bat or ball during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) season.

Delhi Voting Pattern Looking at the last two Lok Sabha elections, Delhi has shown a split voting pattern. This means while voters have backed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in two general elections  2014 and 2019, the same voters elected the AAP repeatedly in assembly elections since 2015.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP had won all the seven seats of Delhi. In Punjab, the Congress had won eight seats, the Akali Dal won two seats, the BJP won two seats and the AAP won only one seat in the 2019 general elections.
Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradesh's Ratlam constituency, sparked a political row over his two wives remark on Thursday. Those who have two wives will get 2 lakh if the grand old party comes to power, he said while addressing an election rally in Ratlam.

He also spoke about the Mahalaxmi Scheme announced in the Congress manifesto for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, which says, one woman from every poor household will get 1 lakh annually.

Under the Mahalaxmi scheme, the Congress will provide 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. The amount will be directly deposited into the bank account of the eldest woman in the household. In the event of her absence, it will be transferred to the account of the eldest member of the family, the manifesto reads.

An objectionable comment State BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja slammed the Congress party over Bhuria's two wives statement, asking the Election Commission of India to take action on the matter. In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the BJP leader wrote, What an objectionable comment

made by Congress's Ratlam candidate Kantilal Bhuria about the head of the country, who represents 140 crore people of the country...Such is the cheap thinking of Congress...Election Commission should take cognizance and take action, said Saluja.

The BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala also criticised Bhuria, stating that the Congress aimed to offer incentives to individuals whose personal law permits multiple marriages.

"Kantilal Bhuria of Congress discloses the perverted variant of "jitni aabadi utna haq" scheme/guarantee of Congress. It's not about women samman but treating women like an object......Disgusting," he posted on the microblogging site.

Congress says, If you practice multiple marriages - you can get Rs1 lakh per wife .. if you have two wives - 2 lakhs .. so on .. 4 wives, then you can calculate...Kantilal Bhurai wants to give a guarantee to those whose personal law encourages multiple marriages and wants to incentivise more population of its vote bank, he added.

Kantilal Bhuria, contesting on the Congress ticket, will fight against BJP's Anita Chauhan, the wife of MP's Forest Minister Nagar Singh Chauhan. Ratlam goes to polls on Monday, May 13.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has not fielded any candidate in three Lok Sabha seats of Kashmir for the first time in about three decades.

Srinagar, one of the three seats of Kashmir, is voting in the fourth phase today. The other two seats  Baramulla in the north and Anantnag-Rajouri in the south  will vote on May 20 and May 25, respectively.

The Lok Sabha Elections 2024 are the first general elections in Jammu and Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution in August 2019 by the BJP-ruled centre that stripped its special status. The government also downgraded the erstwhile state into two Union Territories  Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

There are five Lok Sabha seats in J&K  two in Jammu and three in Kashmir. The two seats of the Jammu division  Udhampur and Jammu  that voted in the first two phases had prominent BJP candidates in the fray. Union Minister Jitendra Singh contested from his seat in Udhampur while Member of Parliament Jugal Kishore Sharma sought re-election from the Jammu seat.

NC, PDP & BJP proxies

In the absence of the BJP candidates, the two regional parties of Kashmir  the J&K National Conference and the J&K People's Democratic Party (PDP) are pitted against each other in the three seats of Muslim-majority Kashmir.

There are other parties too  former separatist leader Sajad Lones J&K Peoples Conference (PC), Altaf Bukharis J&K Apni Party and former chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azads Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP). But the NC and the PDP have called these parties proxies fielded by the BJP.

In first Lok Sabha election post Article 370 stripping, BJP not in the fray in 3 seats. Explained in 5 points

Former chief minister Omar Abdullah, for example, is contesting from Baramulla seat where he is up against PDPs Fayaz Mir and Sajad Lone, the PC chief. Abdullah has openly called Lone a BJP proxy, a charge that the PC chief has denied.

Similarly, in Anantnag-Rajouri seat, where former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti is up against NCs Mian Altaf, the Apni Partys Zaffar Iqbal Manhas is being seen as a proxy fielded by the the BJP.

In Srinagar, NC leader Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi and PDPs Waheed Parra are contesting against Apni Partys Mohammad Ashraf Mir.

The Apni Party, formed in 2021 reportedly with the BJPs support, and Peoples Conference, often seen close to the Centre, are supporting each other in the contest.

Both NC and PDP are INDIA bloc partners but have decided to contest elections to three Kashmir seats separately. The two parties supported Congress candidates in both the seats of Jammu, though. The BJPs decision to skip the electoral battle in Kashmir came after the NC and the PDP decided to contest separately.

No rush for lotus to bloom in the Valley Some reports suggest that the BJP has decided to stay away from direct contest in Kashmir because it wants the two regional parties  the NC and PDP  to contest against each other and thus prepare ground for Assembly Elections scheduled to be held later this year. J&K has been administered by Lieutenant Governor (L-G), Centres appointee, since 2018.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had held a rally in Srinagar in March. The public meeting was his first in Kashmir since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019, indicating BJP's preparations in Kashmir.

But over the following weeks, it became amply clear that BJP will not field candidates. It was the Union Home Minister Amit Shah who first indicated, during a rally in Jammu on April 16, that the saffron party might not contest in Kashmir. He said that the party was not in a hurry to see the lotus bloom in the Valley.

We are not going to conquer Kashmir as projected by our adversaries. We want to win every heart in Kashmir, he said in the rally. Shah urged voters not to back the NC, the PDP or Congress candidates in the contest.

BJPs J&K chief Ravinder Raina had called the party's decision to skip the election was part of a broader strategy. Sometimes decisions are made to achieve a big goal. The BJP would support 'patriotic' parties in the Valley, Raina said in a press conference in Jammu in April.

Abdullah, in an interview with Hindustan Times, called BJPs decision surprising since the BJP had fielded candidates before. I can understand if they had not contested in the Valley before. But, they contested all three seats in 2019. Then, why not in 2024? he asked.

Anti-Muslim stand In 2019 general elections, the BJP contested all the seats in Jammu and Kashmir  winning two seats of Jammu and one of Ladakh, but all its candidates lost deposits in the three Kashmir seats.

The reason is much deeper than what it looks, the former chief minister said. One part, he said, is the absence of any support for them on the ground here." It is also the fact that putting up Muslim candidates here will make their anti-Muslim stance in the rest of the country a little difficult to sell. And, you cannot put non-Muslim candidates in the overwhelmingly Muslim majority seats in Kashmir, Abdullah said in the interview.

BJP behind the scenes The NC won all three seats in the Kashmir division in the 2019 elections. The BJP can seek votes on the abrogation of Article 370 elsewhere in the country. But drumming up support on the issue in Kashmir is very difficult, said a local trader in downtown Srinagar, who does not want to be named.

Abdullah alleged that the BJP is contesting the election in Kashmir from behind the scenes. I am categorical in my assertion that the BJP may not have a symbol in this election, but make no mistake they are very much part of the election process just from behind the scenes. They are propping up their proxies wherever they can. Otherwise, where was the need for the BJPs J&K president to come to north Kashmir and tell his workers that we will let you know in a few days as to whom to support, he told Hindustan Times.

Anantnag-Rajouri seat While Srinagar and Baramulla are Muslim-dominated seats, many had expected BJP to make some inroads in Anantnag-Rajouri seat after the addition of areas from Poonch and Rajouri regions of Jammu in the seat, formerly known as Anantnag.

In fact, it was the BJP, PC, Apni Party and Democratic Progressive Azad Party that approached Election Commission seeking deferment of polls in the seat from May 7 to May 25. The NC and PDP had questioned the demand seeking deferment of polls
Congress leader P Chidambaram on May 10 questioned the silence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over Rahul Gandhis demand of enquiry into the Prime Ministers allegation that the grand old party had received tempo loads of black money from industrialists Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani.

The silence of the two leaders is ominous, said the former Union Minister, Chidambaram.

The Hon'ble Prime Minister had made a very serious allegation: that two prominent industrialists have tempo-filling quantities of cash, and they were delivered to the Congress party. Coming from the Hon'ble Prime Minister, this allegation has to be viewed with utmost seriousness. Mr Rahul Gandhi has demanded an enquiry by the CBI or ED. The demand for an enquiry is absolutely justified, Chidambaram said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on May 10.

The former Union Home Minister was referring to PM Modi questioning the sudden silence of Congress leaders on (Mukesh) Ambani and (Gautam) Adani in this (Lok Sabha) election.

Addressing an election rally earlier this week, PM Modi asked if the Congress was receiving "tempo loads of black money" from Ambani and Adani. Since the Rafale issue grounded, they started talking about five industrialists. Then, they started talking about Ambani and Adani. I wish to ask the Shehzada (Rahul Gandhi) of the Congress from the soil of Telangana, how much black money have they received from Adani, Ambani? Modi asked in a rally in Telangana on May 9.

Responding to PM Modi's allegations, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had demanded a probe by central investigating agencies. Chidambaram called the demand justified.
NEW DELHI : The multi-billion-dollar direct selling industry has now come in the crosshairs of the central government, with the department of consumer affairs (DoCA) planning to scrutinize their regulatory compliances and prepare a list of rule violators, three people aware of the matter said.

Several measures are also being put in place to increase vigilance against violation of direct selling rules and other unscrupulous practices by the fast-growing industry, the people added.

All firms operating in India through direct selling must provide a customer care number, and details of their management with a valid email address and phone number," the first person said. Besides, they will have to put a consumer redressal mechanism in place."

These rules will become mandatory after a thorough analysis of direct-selling firms' compliances and violations by the DoCA.

Also read: The good, bad, and ugly of direct selling firms in India

The Consumer Protection Act 2019 provides safety to consumers regarding defective products, dissatisfactory services, and unfair trade practices. The key objective of the Act is to protect the rights of consumers by establishing authorities for timely and effective administration and settlement of consumer disputes.

Action planned against unscrupulous direct sellers

The department has noticed that a significant number of direct selling firms, including premier category firms, are involved in unscrupulous practices to promote their products among consumers, which is a cause for concern," the second person said, adding that the DoCA plans to scrutinize complaints filed against direct selling companies to analyse the violations of the Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, 2021.

Based on the assessment of these complaints, an action plan will be devised to ensure that errant firms comply," the second person said. Failure to do so will result in disciplinary action against them as per the provisions enacted in the Consumer Protection Act.

Common unethical practices indulged in by direct selling firms include misrepresentation of products, pyramid schemes, high-pressure sales tactics, exaggerated income claims, failure to protect consumer data, among others.

If required, the rules will be made more stringent to prevent consumers from being exploited by the tricky schemes of direct selling firms," the third person said. All three people spoke on condition of anonymity.

Queries emailed to the consumer affairs secretary and spokesperson of the ministry remained unanswered till press time. Representatives of the Indian Direct Selling Association (IDSA) declined to comment on the matter.

What are the direct selling rules?

The Consumer Protection (Direct Selling) Rules, notified in December 2021, state that such companies must make a self-declaration confirming their compliance with the provisions of these rules and asserting that they are not involved in any pyramid scheme or money circulation scheme.

Pyramid scheme refers to a fraudulent business model that recruits members via a promise of payments or services for enrolling others into the scheme, rather than supplying investments or sale of products.

Also read: Govt notifies consumer protection rules, sets 90-day compliance deadline

Ram Khanna, a representative of ConsumerVoice, a non-government organisation working in the field of consumer awareness, said that if any firm violates the guidelines, the government is duty-bound to enforce those norms with due diligence.

The ground reality is that officers at the bottom often pave the way for defaulters through various means," Khanna said. The rules for direct selling need to be strictly followed, as consumers are being rampantly exploited and these firms are not even afraid of the law."

The consumer affairs ministry is also set to launch a podcast that will help raise awareness about such malpractices through a storytelling format to explain the experiences of fraud victims and the resolution of their problems.

According to estimates released by the IDSA, the Indian direct selling industry witnessed growth of over 12%, recording a gross industry turnover of 21,282 crore in 202223.

Total sales increased by 2,252 crore compared to 2021-22, which was partially impacted by the pandemic. The compounded average growth rate (CAGR) of the direct selling industry stood at 8.3% from 2019-20 to 2022-23, according to IDSA.

In India, around 8.6 million people are actively self-employed in the direct selling industry, as stated in the IDSA report.
Just minutes into a clandestine dash across Chinas southern border, Lu Yuyu found himself struggling for breath. He was trekking through damp farmland to skirt a checkpoint, but the mud coated his legs and slowed him down. His chest felt as if it might burst, so he hunched over to rest.

His guide had no patience. Fearing detection by border guards, the guide grabbed Yuyu by the arm and dragged him forward. They trudged onward, step by step, through their hourslong journey into Laos. Yuyu wasnt giving up. The activist blogger in his mid-40s had already spent four years in custody for his work documenting social unrest.

Leaving China and not living in fear was my only choice, he said.

Two months later, Lu Siwei would try to make a similar escape, following a similar route. The two men didnt know each other, but beyond sharing a surname, they had other similarities. Siwei, who was 50 at the time, had also run afoul of the ruling Communist Party in his work as a lawyer taking on politically sensitive cases.

His wife and daughter had already left for the U.S. in 2022, and he was determined to find some way to join them. My thought was: Get out first and deal with things later, he said.

Authorities had blocked both men from leaving the country as a way to penalize their activism. Both no longer saw a future in China under leader Xi Jinping, whose tightening of political controls left almost no room for dissent. Both spent weeks plotting a way past Chinas border controls and through to Thailand, where they hoped they could fly to North America.

Only one of them would succeed.

They joined a growing number of Chinese citizens trying to relocate abroad, whether to seek new opportunities or evade political persecutionpart of the growing throngs around the world pursuing asylum in North America and Western Europe.

UNHCR, the United Nations refugee agency, counted nearly 121,000 Chinese seeking asylum in mid-2023, up from roughly 15,400 at the end of 2012, the year Xi took power.

Chinas remote, mountainous boundaries with Vietnam and Laos offer many opportunities for slipping past border checkpoints and patrolswith help from locals and smugglers, at the right price. For years, these areas have been the favored jumping-off point for Uyghur Muslims fleeing government pressure in northwestern China, and North Korean refugees who sneak into China in hopes of getting to South Korea.

Chinese authorities have stepped up efforts to stem the outflow of activists and dissidents, in some cases retrieving those captured by law enforcement in Beijing-friendly countries.

Would-be escapees can make it with planning, misdirection and surprise, said Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watchs Asia division, but the willingness of countries like Laos and Cambodia to accommodate Chinas repatriation requests creates a dangerous gauntlet that dissidents need to run to reach freedom.

This account of the two Lus escape attempts is based on interviews with both men, as well as with activists, humanitarian workers, officials and others who tried to help them.

Yuyu: Provoking trouble Lu Yuyus decision to leave was years in the making.

A son of a farmer in the southern province of Guizhou, he struggled with his studies and drifted from job to job as a migrant worker before finding his voice by becomingas he calls ita record-keeper, publishing online tallies of protests, strikes and other forms of public unrest in China.

His data helped activists and academics monitor social tensions, but also drew government scrutiny. He was detained in 2016 and later jailed for picking quarrels and provoking trouble, a vague charge that Chinese authorities often use to prosecute dissidents.

After his release from prison in 2020, Yuyu struggled to find work. His landlord asked him to move, citing pressure from authorities. Police regularly summoned him for meetings. After he moved to the northeastern city of Dandong, officers traveled some 1,300 miles from Guizhou to check on him.

The constant scrutiny and bleak prospects wore Yuyu down. Id either go to jail, or Id go crazy, he said.

He didnt have a passport and authorities blocked his application for one. Sneaking across the border at the time was nearly impossible with the governments Covid-19 containment policies, which included close monitoring of peoples movements.

When China started lifting its Covid restrictions in late 2022, Yuyu saw an opening.

He first traveled to the southern Chinese region of Guangxi in April 2023, in part to test how quickly police caught on to his movements. Tapping savings and borrowing from friends, he pooled together the equivalent of 100,000 yuan, or almost $14,000, mostly in U.S. dollars. He went on hikes to build up his stamina.

Siwei: Exit ban Around the same time, Lu Siwei was pondering his journey.

Siwei began his career as an insurance lawyer. In 2013, the year after Xi took power, he branched out to represent a family whose home was being forcibly demolished. His peers started referring more politically sensitive cases to him, and authorities came to target him as a human-rights lawyer.

In late 2019, he attended a gathering of activists, academics and lawyers, where they discussed politics and social issues. Weeks later, he was stopped at the border while trying to travel to Hong Kong to attend a legal seminar. Police subsequently called him in for more than 10 hours of questioning.

Undeterred, he went back to representing people caught up in politically sensitive cases, including a Hong Kong pro-democracy activist who was detained by Chinese authorities in 2020 while trying to flee to Taiwan.

In January 2021, judicial authorities revoked Siweis legal license, accusing him of making improper remarks online that severely damaged the image of the legal profession. Border officials again stopped him from leaving later that year when he tried to travel to the U.S. for a visiting fellowship.

Siwei and his family resolved to get out. His wife and their daughter left first for the U.S. His police minders suggested his exit ban might be removed in the spring of 2023, but it remained in place.

He devised a rough route going through Vietnam and Laos to Thailand, where he would take a flight to the U.S. Despite the exit ban, he applied for and received a Laotian visa in June, but otherwise didnt plan his escape in detail. The idea, he said, was to stay flexible and seize opportunities as they emerged.

Yuyu: Border troubles Lu Yuyu set off in May.

One Saturday evening, he booked a ticket for a flight the next morning to Xishuangbanna, a rural prefecture on the border with Laos. He bought a new SIM card for his phone, hoping to make it harder for police to track him.

In Xishuangbanna, he took a car from the airport to the border area, where people smugglers said they would get him into Laos for roughly 10,000 yuan (about $1,400 at current rates). That night, he followed a pair of guides as they moved by car, trekked on foot and rode a motorcycle in the darkthrough farmland and tropical vegetation and up steep slopesbefore Laotian handlers picked him up.

In Laos, the smugglers refused to accept U.S. dollars. He spent a couple of days in a local village trying to scrounge up Chinese yuan to pay them, and eventually had to ask a friend in Canada to transfer the money.

The next step was a car ride to the Laotian capital of Vientiane. Yuyus handlers told him to let them deal with any situation that came up, and not to show any fear or panic. At the very first police checkpoint, officers asked to see his identification paperswhich he didnt have.

I was very nervousit could be game over, he said. But he stuck to the playbook, saying nothing while his handlers did their work. The officers eventually waved the car through, after the handlers slipped them a bribe.

Four more checkpoints, several rest stops and more than 20 hours later, Yuyu arrived in Vientiane. He took a couple of days to recuperate and find a local boatman to ferry him across the Mekong River into Thailand. The ride would be short but risky, with border guards patrolling the river.

Siwei: Border troubles Lu Siweis journey began in July.

He traveled from his home city of Chengdu to Yunnan, where he paid 20,000 yuanabout $2,800to a smuggler who helped him sneak past border patrols and fences into Vietnam, by motorcycle and on foot, over several hours.

He made it to Hanoi and laid low while his wife sought help from Bob Fu, a pastor and founder of ChinaAid, a U.S.-based rights group, who agreed to support Siweis journey to America.

After a car ride to the Vietnam-Laos boundary, Siwei hopped onto a motorcycle with a local who brought him across the border, where another car waited to take him to the Laotian capital. His next step was to catch a train the next day to Thailand, accompanied by two activists from ChinaAid.

He knew that leaving Laos by rail meant going through immigration checks. Siwei had his visa for Laos and another for the U.S. that he had secured in 2018. He didnt have one for Thailand, which was required at the time, but as a Chinese national he could get one on arrival. He didnt anticipate any problems.

On the morning of July 28, he went to the Thanaleng train station, near the Laotian-Thai border. An immigration official studied his passport, told him to wait, and went away. Siwei sensed something was wrong, but it was too late to back out. The official returned and directed Siwei into an office.

I knew then that I was in trouble, he said.

Officers handcuffed and questioned Siwei, saying his Laos visa was fake. He insisted that his visa was legitimate and revealed his plan to travel to the U.S., figuring that there was no point in lying. When he refused to unlock his two mobile phones, he said an officer hit him several times and tightened the handcuffs around his wrists.

I was really scared. I was alone, with nothing on me and unable to speak their language, he recalled. He gave in and unlocked his phones. He managed to text his wife, telling her that he was being detained. Laotian authorities confiscated his laptop, phones and more than $10,000 worth of cash, mostly in U.S. dollars. He wouldnt see the cash again.

Yuyu: Over the Mekong Yuyu made his break for Thailand in the early evening of May 12. He and his boatman slinked into the metal craft, just a couple of feet wide.

Just as they were about to set off, a rainstorm rolled in and sent border guards running for shelter. The boat glided across the river undetected. Within minutes, he stepped onto Thai soil.

Yuyu first went to Bangkok to meet up with his wife, who had stayed behind in China and flew in to join him. The couple moved around Thailand, renting various apartments to throw off any pursuers.

The couple marked Yuyus birthday in June by treating themselves to some pizza. The following month, he went on social media to tell his supporters that he had left China but remained in danger. He said that if he ran into any trouble, a friend was ready to publicize it.

Siwei: In detention Officers put Siwei into a car, a scene captured on video by a ChinaAid member, and drove him to a nearby airport, where they held him for a night before transferring him to an immigration jail. His cell, less than 130 square feet in size and sometimes shared with others, had a toilet in one corner and bamboo mats to sleep on. Steady rain outside kept it cold and damp.

According to Safeguard Defenders, a rights watchdog, the Chinese Embassy in Laos sent a letter, dated Sept. 11, conveying a request from Chinas Public Security Ministry for Laotian authorities to hand over Siwei to face charges of illegally crossing the border.

Siweis wife and rights activists started raising the alarm on his detention, hoping to deter Laos from deporting him. More than 80 rights groups issued a joint statement voicing concern over his detention, and U.K.-based activists held a demonstration in front of the Laotian Embassy in London. A group of U.N. experts urged the Laos government to let him reunite with his family.

In Washington, Rep. Chris Smith (R., N.J.), chairman of the Congressional-Executive Commission on China, called on the U.S. charge daffaires in Laos to raise Siweis case with local authorities.

While other instances of Chinese nationals being repatriated by Laos to China typically unfolded within days or weeks, Siweis detention stretched into a month, and then beyond. We have never seen anything like it, said Peter Dahlin, founder of Safeguard Defenders, who was coordinating efforts to lobby for Siweis release.

Through patchy conversations with prison guards, sometimes through translation apps, Siwei found out that lawyers and activists outside were working to get him out. That knowledge, he said, gave him faith that he would be freed.

Yuyu: Waiting in fear In Bangkok, with help from rights activists and humanitarian groups, Yuyu submitted papers to the U.N. refugee agency and sought asylum in Western countries. After weeks of phone calls, emails and interviews, he was granted refugee status. The Canadian government agreed to take him in.

On his last day in the city, Yuyu spent several hours in detention at an immigration jail as punishment for entering Thailand illegally. He had a moment of panic when some Chinese police officers came in at one point. Yuyu put on a mask to hide his face. Apparently they were there to look for other detainees.

Yuyu and his wife left Bangkok on Sept. 25 on a Korean Air flight bound for Incheon airport, outside Seoulthe first of two stops to Calgary.

Only after his flight took off from Incheon the next day did Yuyu relax. I didnt have to wait in fear any more, he said.

Siwei: Forced repatriation Two days before Yuyu stepped on the plane, on Sept. 23, Laotian officers brought Siwei to a group of Chinese officials. Only then did he realize that his escape attempt was over.

During the handover, Siwei asked for his personal items to be returned. A Laotian officer slapped him, he said.

Later that day, Fu, the activist pastor, received a tip that Laotian authorities planned to send Siwei back to China. By the time the U.S. Embassy in Laos sent diplomats to the airport in Vientiane in hopes of locating him, it was too late. Siwei was already back in China at a detention center.

Weeks later, after it became clear that Siwei had been sent back, the U.S. State Department condemned what it called his forced repatriation.

Chinese authorities accused Siwei of illegally crossing the national border, an offense punishable with fines and a jail sentence of up to one year. He was later released on bail. Prosecutors havent proceeded with the charge and no trial has been set. Siwei, now 51, believes that authorities left the charge in place as a way to keep him in check.

Siwei has struggled to find work since his release. He borrowed money to rent an apartment and hopes to find work as a paralegal.

He said he doesnt regret his escape attempt. I cant really say for sure what happened, whether they discovered me ahead of time, were just waiting for a lucky break, or caught me by chance, he said.

In Calgary, Yuyu said he is brushing up his English and settling into his new home. The 46-year-old launched a new project to track social unrest in China, scouring Chinese social media for posts about protests and publishing his findings on platforms like X and YouTube.

He credits his escape to good fortune. Whether we can get out, it all depends on luck. There were simply too many variables, and too many risks, he said. We can only count on heavens will.
Where are the islets of Langerhans?" is a trick question that pops up from time to time in quizzes. The answer is to be found not in atlases of geography, but rather in those of anatomy, for the so-called islets are in fact clusters of cells scattered through the pancreas. There they synthesise and release a range of hormones, including insulin, which regulates glucose levels and thus metabolism.

The islets insulin producers are called beta cells. (Cell types alpha, gamma, delta and epsilon perform other tasks.) They are the only bodily sources of that hormone. So, if their number declines, trouble looms. And decline it does, in the condition known as type-1 diabetes. This happens when, in a phenomenon called autoimmunity, the bodys own immune system attacks its complement of beta cells, wiping out as many as 80%.

Without an alternative supply of insulin, someone with type-1 diabetes will die. (In type-2 diabetes, insulin continues to be produced but the bodys cells acquire resistance.) Supplementary insulin can be administered by injection or via a device called an insulin pump. But a better way might be to replace the missing beta cells and somehow protect them from immune attack.

A few lucky patients do indeed have their beta cells replacedby transplantation from human donors. And Vertex Pharmaceuticals, a firm in Boston, is testing beta cells grown from stem cells for the same purpose. But neither approach includes immune protection. This means both require the administration of immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the rejection that follows any transplant, let alone one where autoimmunity is at play. One of the sessions at this years meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Denver therefore looked into how transplanted beta cells might be made hypoimmunogenicin other words, invisible to a patients immune system.

Sonja Schrepfer, who works for the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and also at Seattle-based Sana Biotechnology, proposes a twofold approach, to deal with the fact that the immune system has two arms. One, the adaptive arm, is the basis of tissue rejection. This adaptive arm can recognise the signature of selfness" provided by an individuals HLA proteins. These molecules contain so-called hypervariable regions, which differ from individual to individual. If the immune system comes across non-self HLA proteins, it recognises the cells displaying them as interlopers and attacks, using shock troops called killer T-cells and antibodies.

The first part of Dr Schrepfers approach is therefore to prevent the production of HLA proteins in laboratory-grown beta cells destined for transplant. This can be done by editing two genes involved in their production, theoretically rendering the cells in question invisible to the adaptive arm.

Lack of HLA proteins does, however, bring a cell to the attention of immunitys other arm, the innate system. Its troops are called NK (natural killer) cells and macrophages, and one of the red flags it reacts to is an absence of any sort of HLA. It can, however, be warded off by over-expression of a protein called CD47, something that Dr Schrepfers team also achieved by genetic manipulation of their beta cells.

It seems to work. In an experiment whose results were announced just before the meeting, the team first induced diabetes in a laboratory monkey and then injected their modified beta cells into one of its muscles. The diabetes went away, and stayed away for more than six months. Now they have moved on to people. In a trial about to start at Uppsala University Hospital, in Sweden, human versions of the modified cells will be transplanted into the forearm of a single patient.

Disrupting beta cells HLA expression is not the only possible approach to deflecting the adaptive immune system. Hasna Maachi of the Technical University of Munich, in Germany, described to the meeting how she and her mentor, Matthias Hebrok, are trying to develop an alternative. This introduces a third party, called a suppressor cell, to do the warding off.

Suppressor cells talk" to the killer T-cells, and calm them down. Dr Hebroks group is therefore working with Wendell Lim of UCSF, who is engineering suppressor cells specifically activated by a protein on the surface of beta cells, to devise some beta-cell protection. In this case there is no need to build in a level of protection against the innate immune system, since it will not notice anything wrong.

The Hebrok group is also, Dr Maachi explained, working on a way to turbocharge beta cells. This involves a protein called MAFA, which regulates expression of the insulin gene. Suppressed levels of MAFA are a symptom of type-1 diabetes, so boosting its presence seemed a promising approach. So far, the researchers have shown that raising MAFA levels in beta cells derived from stem cells seems to increase the amount of insulin produced.

Figures presented by Lori Sussel of the University of Colorado suggest that type-1 diabetes affects one in 500 Americans. The global average may be closer to one in 1,000. That is both a great deal of human suffering and a tempting market for whoever can come up with something which resembles a cure, rather than a treatment. Though there is a way to go yet, hypoimmunogenic beta cells might, just possibly, bring that closer.

 2024, The Economist Newspaper Limited. All rights reserved. From The Economist, published under licence. The original content can be found on www.economist.com
Air conditioning becomes reliable solution in homes and offices during the peak summer months. Carrier is a globally recognized leader in air conditioning, and offers some of the most efficient and innovative split AC units designed to tackle the heat effectively. Choosing the right Carrier split AC can ensure not only a cooler environment but also a more energy-efficient and cost-effective operation. Carrier's range of split ACs is renowned for their durability, advanced cooling technology, and environmental friendliness, making them a top choice for those looking to invest in a high-quality air conditioning system.

Through the medium of this article, we take you through the top six Carrier split AC models that are perfect in terms of performance, features, and user satisfaction. From models equipped with the latest inverter technology to those boasting features such as air purification systems and ultra-quiet operation, Carrier offers a variety of options to cater to diverse needs and preferences. Whether you are aiming to enhance comfort in a compact apartment or looking for a solution to maintain a pleasant atmosphere in a bustling office space, these Carrier split ACs promise to deliver top-tier performance and comfort during the sweltering summer months.

1. Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

The Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC integrates advanced Flexicool technology, allowing flexible control over cooling and energy consumption, reducing usage by up to 50%. Its powerful performance is ideal for mid-sized rooms, providing efficient cooling even at 52-degree Celsius. The high-density filter and auto cleanser ensure a clean air supply, while the copper condenser enhances durability and maintenance ease, making it a smart choice for both home and office.

Specifications of Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

Type: Inverter Split AC

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Cooling Technology: Flexicool Convertible 6-in-1

Energy Rating: 3 Star, ISEER Value: 3.85

Air Flow: 450 CFM

Features: High Density Filter, Auto Cleanser, Insta Cool

Condenser Coil: Copper with Aqua Clear Protection

Warranty: 10 Years on Compressor, 5 Years on PCB

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-saving with Flexicool Convertible technology 3 Star rating may not be the most energy efficient Suitable for high ambient temperatures up to 52C May be pricier compared to basic models

2. Carrier 1.5 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

This Carrier 1.5 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC excels in energy efficiency and adaptable cooling capabilities. Its 5-star rating assures significant energy savings, while the innovative 6-in-1 convertible technology allows customization of cooling based on personal needs, making it highly efficient even during extreme temperatures. Enhanced with a dual filtration system, it ensures cleaner air, while the robust build and advanced features like the Refrigerant Leakage Detector and Auto Cleanser add to its appeal.

Specifications of Carrier 1.5 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

Type: Inverter Split AC

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Cooling Technology: Flexicool Convertible 6-in-1

Energy Rating: 5 Star, ISEER Value: 5.13

Air Flow: 580 CFM

Features: Dual Filtration with HD & PM 2.5 Filter, Auto Cleanser

Condenser Coil: Copper with Aqua Clear Protection

Warranty: 10 Years on Compressor, 5 Years on PCB

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Top-notch energy efficiency with a 5-star rating Higher upfront cost due to advanced features Superior air quality with HD & PM 2.5 filters

Also read:Best Lloyd Inverter AC for your space: Top 7 efficient options to cool down your space this summer

3. Carrier 1 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC (Copper, Convertible 6-in-1 Cooling,Dual Filtration with HD & PM 2.5 Filter, Auto Cleanser, 2024 Model,ESTER Exi, CAI12ES5R34F1,White)

The Carrier 1 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC is perfect for smaller spaces, offering top-tier energy efficiency with a 5-star rating. Its Flexicool technology allows users to tailor cooling output and save significantly on energy. With a cooling capacity that stands strong even in extreme temperatures up to 52C, this unit guarantees comfort without compromise. Additional features like the dual filtration system ensure a cleaner, healthier indoor atmosphere, making it an ideal choice for those prioritizing both functionality and environmental impact.

Specifications of Carrier 1 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

Type: Inverter Split AC

Capacity: 1 Ton

Cooling Technology: Convertible 6-in-1 Cooling

Energy Rating: 5 Star, ISEER Value: 5.05

Air Flow: 380 CFM

Features: Dual Filtration with HD & PM 2.5 Filter, Auto Cleanser

Condenser Coil: Copper with Aqua Clear Protection

Warranty: 10 Years on Compressor, 5 Years on PCB

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Exceptional energy efficiency with 5-star rating May not be sufficient for rooms over 110 sq ft Advanced filtration improves indoor air quality Initial higher cost compared to lower-star models

Also read: Best Blue Star split AC: Top 10 stellar picks for effortless cooling in your home or office

4. Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Fixed Speed Split AC (Copper,Auto Cleanser, Economic Sleep Mode, High Density Filter for Dust Filtration, 2023 Model,ESTER Ex CAS18ES3R33F0,White)

The Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Fixed Speed Split AC combines affordability with reliable performance, making it a great choice for those on a budget. This model offers robust cooling capabilities, effective even at high ambient temperatures of 52-degree Celsius, with a 5200 watts cooling capacity. It features a high-density filter for dust filtration, auto cleanser, and economic sleep mode to enhance user comfort and air quality. The copper condenser coil ensures durability and minimal maintenance, securing its role as a steadfast addition to any mid-sized room.

Specifications of Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Fixed Speed Split AC

Type: Fixed Speed Split AC

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Cooling Capacity: 5200 watts, Cools at 52C

Energy Rating: 3 Star, ISEER Value: 3.85

Air Flow: 700 CFM

Features: High Density Filter, Economic Sleep Mode, Auto Cleanser

Condenser Coil: Copper with Aqua Clear Protection

Warranty: 5 Years on Compressor, 1 Year on product

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Cost-effective with sturdy performance 3 Star rating, less energy-efficient than higher-rated models Effective cooling up to 52-degree Celsius ambient temperature Fixed speed compressor less adaptable to variable cooling needs

Also read:Best 1.5 ton split AC: Choose from our top 10 models for your next purchase this summer season

5. Carrier 2 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC (Copper, Convertible 6-in-1 Cooling,Dual Filtration, Auto Cleanser, 2023 Model,ESTER Exi -CAI24ES5R33F0 ,White)

The Carrier 2 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC excels in cooling larger spaces efficiently, thanks to its versatile 6-in-1 convertible technology that adjusts cooling intensity while optimizing energy usage. Its impressive 5-star energy rating ensures maximum efficiency, significantly reducing electricity bills. Equipped with advanced features such as dual filtration, which includes HD and PM 2.5 filters, this AC ensures the air quality is pristine, enhancing comfort and health. The robust design, combined with a range of user-friendly functions like the Follow Me and Auto Restart, positions this AC as an ideal choice for those seeking superior climate control in expansive areas.

Specifications of Carrier 2 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

Type: Inverter Split AC

Capacity: 2 Ton

Cooling Technology: Convertible 6-in-1 Cooling

Energy Rating: 5 Star, ISEER Value: 5.05

Air Flow: 700 CFM

Features: Dual Filtration with HD & PM 2.5 Filter, Insta Cool, Auto Cleanser

Condenser Coil: Copper with Aqua Clear Protection

Warranty: 10 Years on Compressor, 5 Years on PCB

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Exceptional energy efficiency with 5-star rating High initial cost due to advanced features Suitable for large rooms with 700 CFM air flow May be oversized for smaller spaces

6. Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC (Copper, PM 2.5 Filter, CAI18ES3R30F0, 2021 Model, White)

The Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC offers a practical solution for mid-sized spaces, balancing performance with energy efficiency. It utilizes a variable speed inverter technology that adjusts cooling based on heat load, which ensures energy is used judiciously. The ACs ability to cool even at extremely high temperatures is a standout feature, making it reliable during intense heat waves. With a PM 2.5 filter, it also focuses on delivering cleaner air, enhancing the comfort of your living or working environment.

Specifications of Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC

Type: Inverter Split AC

Capacity: 1.5 Ton

Cooling Technology: Inverter technology

Energy Rating: 3 Star, ISEER Value: 3.8

Features: PM 2.5 Filter, Auto Restart, Turbo Mode

Condenser Coil: Copper

Warranty: 1 year on product, 1 year on condenser, 10 years on compressor

Reasons to Buy Reasons to Avoid Energy-efficient inverter technology 3 Star rating, less efficient than 5-star models PM 2.5 filter ensures cleaner, healthier air Less advanced features compared to higher models

Also read: Best 1 ton split AC for your home in 2024: Top 10 options from top AC brands in India

Best 3 features of the top Carrier split ACs

Best Carrier Split AC Cooling Technology Energy Efficiency Special Features Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC Flexicool Convertible 6-in-1 3 Star, ISEER Value: 3.85 High Density Filter, Auto Cleanser Carrier 1.5 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC Flexicool Convertible 6-in-1 5 Star, ISEER Value: 5.13 Dual Filtration with HD & PM 2.5 Filter Carrier 1 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC Flexicool Convertible 6-in-1 5 Star, ISEER Value: 5.05 Dual Filtration with HD & PM 2.5 Filter Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Fixed Speed Split AC Fixed Speed Compressor 3 Star, ISEER Value: 3.85 Economic Sleep Mode, High Density Filter Carrier 2 Ton 5 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC Flexicool Convertible 6-in-1 5 Star, ISEER Value: 5.05 Dual Filtration, Insta Cool Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star Inverter Split AC Inverter Technology 3 Star, ISEER Value: 3.8 PM 2.5 Filter, Turbo Mode

Best value for money

Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

The Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC offers an excellent balance between price and performance. Despite its 3-star rating, it features advanced Flexicool technology, which allows adjustable cooling capacities and energy savings, making it a cost-effective option for moderate climates and regular usage. This model combines essential features with an affordable price point, making it accessible for those looking for efficient cooling without breaking the bank.

Best overall product

Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC

The Carrier 1.5 Ton 3 Star AI Flexicool Inverter Split AC is the best overall product in this lineup. It boasts Flexicool technology, which adjusts the cooling power based on the heat load, efficiently managing energy use and maintaining comfort. With additional features like a high-density filter and auto cleanser, it ensures a clean and fresh indoor environment, making it an ideal choice for both home and office settings.

How to Find the Right Smartphone Under  20,000

Finding the right Carrier split AC for your home or office involves several considerations to ensure you select a model that meets your specific cooling needs, efficiency requirements, and budget. Heres a guide to help you make the right choice:

1. Assess Room Size: The size of the room is crucial in determining the appropriate AC capacity. Carrier split ACs typically range from 0.75 ton to 2 tons. For a room measuring 100 to 150 square feet, a 1.5 ton AC is typically adequate, while larger spaces may require a 2 ton unit. Use Carrier's guidelines or consult with a HVAC professional to determine the correct size.

2. Consider Energy Efficiency: Look at the Energy Star rating of the AC. Carrier offers models ranging from 3-star to 5-star ratings, with higher stars indicating better energy efficiency. While 5-star models are more expensive upfront, they can lead to significant savings on your electricity bills over time, especially in regions where the AC is used extensively.

3. Examine the Cooling Technology: Carrier offers innovative technologies such as Flexicool and inverter compressors which allow the AC to adjust cooling output based on the rooms temperature and the heat load. This not only improves comfort but also enhances energy efficiency. Decide if features like these align with your climate control needs.

4. Check Additional Features: Carrier ACs come with various features that can enhance user experience, such as:

Air Quality Improvements: Models with PM 2.5 filters or high-density filters help improve indoor air quality.

Smart Features: Some models include Wi-Fi connectivity for remote management through a smartphone.

Durability: Features like anti-corrosion coatings on the condenser and evaporator units extend the lifespan of the AC under challenging environmental conditions.

5. Budget Considerations: Set a budget before you start shopping. While its tempting to go for cheaper models, remember that features like higher energy ratings and advanced technology can offer long-term savings and reliability, which might justify a higher upfront cost.

6. Warranty and After-sales Service: Check the warranty offered with the AC. Carrier typically offers a substantial warranty on the compressor and other components. Also, consider the brands reputation for after-sales service in your area, as regular maintenance is key to the longevity and efficiency of your AC.

7. Installation Requirements: Finally, ensure that the installation requirements of the AC match the logistics of your home or office space. Some units might need specific placements or additional stabilizers due to voltage fluctuations in your area.

FAQs

Question : What is Flexicool technology in Carrier ACs?

Ans : Flexicool technology in Carrier ACs allows users to adjust the cooling capacity of the AC, optimizing energy consumption based on different needs and conditions.

Question : How does the energy star rating affect my AC's efficiency?

Ans : The energy star rating indicates the energy efficiency of an AC unit. Higher ratings (4 or 5 stars) mean better energy efficiency, leading to lower electricity bills.

Question : Can Carrier ACs operate efficiently at high temperatures?

Ans : Yes, Carrier ACs are designed to operate efficiently even at ambient temperatures as high as 52C, ensuring effective cooling during extreme heat.

Question : What are the benefits of a PM 2.5 filter in an AC?

Ans : A PM 2.5 filter helps remove particulate matter of size 2.5 micrometers from the air, improving indoor air quality and providing healthier breathing conditions.

Question : What should I consider when choosing a split AC capacity?

Ans : Consider the size of the room where the AC will be installed. A 1.5 Ton AC is generally suitable for mid-sized rooms (111 to 150 sq. ft), while larger or smaller rooms might require different capacities for efficient cooling.

At Livemint, we help you stay up-to-date with the latest trends and products. Mint has an affiliate partnership, so we may get a part of the revenue when you make a purchase. We shall not be liable for any claim under applicable laws, including but not limited to the Consumer Protection Act, 2019, with respect to the products. The products listed in this article are in no particular order of priority.
MOSCOW  A program to help local forest owners learn more about healthy forest practices will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on May 24 at the Latah County Fairgrounds at 1012 Harold St. in Moscow.

The Thinning and Pruning Field Day will include presentations on the fundamental concepts of thinning and pruning and financial and technical assistance to help forest owners improve their stands.

The program features a thinned stand, a pruned stand and demonstrations of manual and mechanical pruning tools, chainsaw safety and forest genetics.
Paradise Lodge No. 17 Ancient Free and Accepted Masons of Moscow donated a total of $3,000 to six local school districts to alleviate student lunch debt.

According to lodge secretary Tim Helmke, checks were delivered to Potlatch, Moscow, Genesee, Kendrick-Juliaetta, Troy and Whitepine school districts. The money is primarily aimed at helping elementary school students.
Steelhead Americas believes a wind farm near Kamiak Butte County Park wont impact the local landmark as much as some anticipate, and believes it will do more good than harm to the region.

The Portland, Ore., company confirmed its commitment to working with Whitman County officials. It also ensured voices of county residents are being heard.

We hear what everyone says and empathize and feel that this is a concern, Project Developer Shane Roche said. Thats why we are working with the county to keep this local, so as we work through the permitting process we can do our best to mitigate the concerns of the community.

The business is part of a much larger corporation, Vestas-American Wind Technology, which is the market leader in the North American wind industry, according to its website.

Steelhead Americas plans to install 45 wind turbines to generate an estimated 200 megawatts of clean energy or power to around 90,000 homes. According to its website, the $300 million project would produce $40 million in tax revenue for Whitman County in its 30-year lifespan.

It would create 250 construction jobs and 30 long-term jobs to maintain the wind farm. The company plans to apply for permits by the end of this year in hopes of becoming operational by 2026.

The proposed location west of Kamiak Butte and south of Washington State Route 272 was chosen for its wind-generation capabilities, but also for landowners willing to partner, Roche said. He added theres a growing need for power production across the nation.

Were here because theres a huge appetite for energy in the U.S., Washington, even Whitman County, Roche said. We want to see Whitman County have the opportunity to become a leader in affordable clean energy generation.

He said the project has a large potential for the region, by providing income for the county and power to the state, and protecting farmland by working directly with private landowners.

Were dedicated to preserving family farms, Roche said. Some here have had the land in their family since before Washington was a state and were going to help keep their land for generations to come.
Black U.S. airman fatally shot by police at home in Florida

Washington, May 10 (UNI) A black U.S. airman was fatally shot last week at his own apartment by police in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, local media reported on Thursday.



Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot multiple times by a sheriff deputy as soon as he answered the door of his apartment on May 3, holding what appeared to be a handgun pointed down toward the floor, according to a video taken from the body camera worn by the deputy.
It is with fond remembrance that we share the passing of Michael Allen Miller. Mike passed peacefully Sunday, April 28, 2024, at St. Joseph Regional Medical Center in Lewiston. He was 69. Mike was born at Gritman Memorial Hospital in Moscow on May 17, 1954, to Floyd and Mable Miller. Mike was raised in Juliaetta and there he attended Kendrick High School until joining the U.S. Army.

Mike served in the U.S Army for six years and while in the Army he achieved his high school diploma and became a specialist in helicopter maintenance and repair. Mike served in Korea for a year of his service and then was stationed in Alaska. After leaving the Army, Mike made his career as a forester, working for the Idaho Department of Lands for 18 seasons. He loved being in the woods and enjoyed the solitary life where he mapped locations of abandoned mines, fought forest fires and maintained trials. Toward the end of his career Mike worked for a short time with the City of Moscow before setting up a home in Kendrick and working at the Hillbilly Bar and Grill before retiring to Lewiston.

Mike enjoyed watching NASCAR and was a member of the VFW. He was very proud of his time in the service and enjoyed working closely with pilots to make sure the helicopters stayed safe and flew right!
Colombo, May 10 (UNI) Sri Lanka will hold presidential elections between September 17 and October 16, the country's Election Commission said in a statement.

"By virtue of the powers vested in the Election Commission to fix the date for the election, it will hold the presidential election between 17th September 2024 and 16th October 2024," the statement said on Thursday.

The commission said it will call for the nominations to hold the presidential election within the specified timeframe in terms of the provisions of Sri Lanka's Constitution and the Presidential Elections Act.

Ada Derana reported earlier that the commission is authorised to accept applications from candidates to run in the presidential elections after July 17.

According to the country's constitution, elections in Sri Lanka must be held before November this year. Gotabaya Rajapaksa won the last presidential election in 2019, but resigned in July 2022 amid protests and was succeeded by Ranil Wickremesinghe.

The president of Sri Lanka is elected for a term of five years and a maximum of two terms.

UNI/SPUTNIK AKS
Check out our latest E-Edition

Accessible anytime and anywhere on your desktop, tablet and smart phone devices. The Lodi News e-Edition is enhanced with the latest digital tools, including RSS feeds, social networking and much more.

Check out our latest E-edition!
Nominations are being sought for the Sixth annual Roscommon / Longford Garda Youth Awards, in association with Longford and Roscommon County Councils who are sponsoring the initiative again this year.



The Roscommon / Longford Garda Youth Awards celebrate outstanding young people between the ages of 13 and 21 years. An Garda Siochana, Roscommon/Longford, in conjunction with Longford and Roscommon County Councils recognise that a lot of good work is being done by young people in every community in these two counties.



The nomination process is now open and An Garda Siochana in Longford and Roscommon are inviting the public to nominate a young person or group of young people they know, who were committed to making a difference to their Community during the last year.



Chairperson of the Roscommon / Longford Youth Awards Inspector David Cryan commented that the Garda Youth Awards celebrates outstanding young people and recognises the good work being done by these individuals,

Having been involved in the Awards for the last four years, I never cease to be amazed and inspired by the resilience displayed by the young people of Counties Roscommon and Longford who strive to make the lives of people in their local Communities better despite often dealing with personal adversity themselves. Roscommon/Longford winners have also been successful winning National Awards each year and I would encourage members of the public to nominate someone whom they know in their locality.



Nominations can be made under any of the 4 categories:



Individual Award  Making a positive contribution to their Community, making it a better place to live in.



Group Award  Two or more young people making a positive contribution to their Community, making it a better place to live.



Special Achievement Award  Overcome difficult circumstances, defied all the odds and whose commitment deserves recognition.



Community Safety Award  Through a crime prevention or safety initiative/innovation, have made their Community a safer place to live in.



Last year, Alana Coughlan of Legan, was the worthy winner of the Individual category. Alana gives up her time freely and dedicates this time between Community Games, the Bea Masterson Drama Group, the Darkness into Light annual walk and also helping to promote Youth Suicide Prevention.

Also read: Huge turnout in north Longford for Moyne CS 50th anniversary celebrations

Winners of the Group category in 2023 went to Granard Youth Club. This group of outstanding young people organised a 5K walk to help raise much needed funds for the refugees fleeing the Ukrainian War. Over 3,500 was collected and this group demonstrated the value of Community.

PICTURES | Longford youngsters honoured at Garda Awards ceremony



A Special Recognition Award was presented to Oran Hourican who attends Moyne Community School, Longford. Oran is a shining light in his local community through his charity fundraising and helping others, all while dealing with his own personal challenges. Oran was born with cerebral palsy and has required frequent hospitalisation and has received treatment in the US and is part of an advocacy group trying to get the same medical services available here in Ireland.

PICTURES | Longford first past the post in style stakes at memorable Punchestown race day



Gardai will be distributing nomination forms to schools, youth groups and voluntary organisations right across the counties of Longford and Roscommon via email in the coming weeks. These forms may also be requested from Roscommon.GardaYouth Awards@garda.ie or may be downloaded on the Garda website and also from the Longford and Roscommon Local Authority websites.



Nomination Forms can be emailed to Roscommon. GardaYouthAwards@garda.ie or can be posted to The Community Policing Unit, Boyle Garda Station, Co. Roscommon. All nominations must be received by 5pm on Friday, June 21, 2024.

MAIN PHOTO CAPTION: At the launch of the sixth Roscommon / Longford Garda Youth Awards were l to r; Roscommon County Council Chief Executive Shane Tiernan; Superintendent John Fitzgerald, Roscommon District; Inspector Paddy McGirl, Longford District; Ms. Janine Bartley, Community Safety Coordinator, Longford County Council; Chief Superintendent Ray McMahon, Roscommon/Longford Division; Inspector David Cryan, Chairperson of the Roscommon/Longford Youth Awards.

PICTURES | Longford youngsters recognised for selflessness at Garda awards
Housing shortages in Ireland have been well documented and highlighted. But everyday here in Longford, I meet people with disabilities who are facing a deeper, silent housing crisis that doesnt have the commitments or resources from government and local authorities to address them.



Working with Irish Wheelchair Association across the midlands, my colleagues and I regularly meet people who are living in unsuitable housing that is dangerous and damaging to their health.

We meet young people who cannot figure out a plan for where they will live when their parents get older. And we meet parents who are struggling to care for their adult children and are worried about the future.



But what choice do they have? Finding housing that is wheelchair liveable is impossible across Ireland, let alone in Longford.

Today if you go onto any property website looking for wheelchair liveable accommodation in Longford you will find next to nothing.



Yes a property might be accessible meaning it is possible for a wheelchair to get in the front door, but it doesnt mean a wheelchair user could live there; use the bathroom, kitchen, bedroom. This is why social housing is so vital for people with disabilities, because there are no private rental options there for them.



Irish Wheelchair Associations latest national Home Truths campaign is hoping to keep accessible housing on the agenda for local authorities and local politicians. There are many committed individuals in our local authorities who work hard to make sure people with disabilities are included in local housing rollout.



But overall, as government and local authorities remain committed to building more and more houses, people with disabilities remain excluded. Unfortunately a report published in January by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters found that Irelands provision of independent living and inclusion in the community has worsened in recent years.



The committee was reporting on Irelands performance under the UN treaty that Ireland signed in 2018, United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. At a time when Ireland is building houses at historic levels it is shocking to see opportunities for independent living and accessibility being squandered and missed.



Successive governments have failed to deliver on its own commitments to provide housing options that are accessible and adaptable, for people with disabilities, across our communities. For example, according to the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People 2002-2027, people with disabilities have the right to live independently with supports, but the strategy has not been implemented or funded adequately.



For people reading this who have a disability or support a person with a disability, there is always hope when it comes to housing. Irish Wheelchair Associations Home Truths campaign is a time to refocus on accessible housing, figure out what you need and find the support you need to make a plan. The process may be slower and much harder than it should be, but there is support along the way.



It is important to apply for social housing to be included on your local authority housing list. Your local authority will have those details. Irish Wheelchair Associations supports many of our members around housing applications as do many other disability organisations. Ask as many people for advice and help as you can. No-one can do it alone.



It is also important that when our local politicians call to our doors in the coming weeks looking for our vote, that we raise issues of accessible housing with them. What are they doing? How can they help?



Access to independent living, with independent living supports and wrap-around services, is a right for disabled people who need it. Or what is the alternative?



Three years ago a report from the Ombudsman found over 1,300 people in their thirties, forties and fifties who are living in nursing homes for elderly people, because of their disability and the lack of any wheelchair liveable accommodation for them. Independent living is a critical pillar of our society and our government and local authorities need to make this happen.

Also read: Forsa members serve notice of industrial action at Longford's St Christopher's Services
Extensive consultation with community groups throughout County Longford have resulted in a call for all county councillors to have real and meaningful engagement with local community groups.

They have identified a range of needs and while some are specific to their municipal district across the county there is a demand for more effective communication with their local representatives.



Key themes emerging from the consultation is a lack of information and knowledge about existing initiatives and future plans from the Council. There is real frustration that actions and initiatives commence without clear information, consultation and engagement with local residents and a sense that there is no consideration of the impact on the local community, example of such is current work on Battery Road, Longford town.

Communities have identified the need to utilise existing premises and properties to be developed for community use e.g. training hubs, digital hubs and youth facilities. They noted the need to ensure that all community and public facilities are accessible to all and either free to use or a reasonable community rate applied.



They are also seeking the development of Community Integration Teams in each municipal district to welcome, engage and support new residents to their areas.

Across the county there are concerns for public services and a call to ensure that services  health, waste management, mental health supports, supports for older people  are not only maintained but enhanced.

Further, across the county there is a clear desire to improve the environment and a call for initiatives to support communities to achieve this.



There is a concern about young people and ensuring that there is not only a wide variety of supports and facilities but also initiatives to actively engage them in decision making structures.

Community organisations play a crucial role in ensuring that the voices of all members of society are heard and considered in decision-making processes.



By participating in Public Participation Networks (PPNs), these organisations advocate for the needs and concerns of their communities, contribute valuable local knowledge and expertise, across the voluntary and community, social inclusion and environmental sectors.



Community groups want elected members to acknowledge the value of the hard work done by Longford PPN and all its member community groups by securing improved resources with additional staff and appointments made at higher grades in recognition of the work being done, and with increased network funding.

PPN groups are also represented on key decision-making bodies of the county council. County Longford PPN community groups recently met in each municipal district to agree what it is they would like to see from their county councillors during the next five year term.



The detailed results of these meetings are now available online at www.longfordppn.ie

Siobhan Cronogue, PPN Coordinator said that by actively engaging with community organisations through PPNs, policymakers and decision-makers can better understand the needs and priorities of their constituents, leading to more informed and inclusive decision-making.

Ms Cronogue added, This participatory approach not only helps to build trust between citizens and government institutions but also enhances the overall quality and effectiveness of public policies and services. Ultimately, by empowering communities to have a say in the decisions that affect them, PPNs contribute to the promotion of democracy, social cohesion, and sustainable development.



Tess Murphy, PPN Secretariat Rep stated that the European Union (EU) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) both recognise the importance of citizen participation in fostering transparent, accountable, and inclusive governance.



She continued, In fact, the EU has established guidelines for promoting active citizenship and participatory democracy at the local level, emphasising the importance of engaging with civil society organisations to strengthen democratic processes. With this in mind all 575 PPN community groups are looking forward to working together with elected representatives in delivering the identified actions over the next five years.



This local election presents an opportunity for elected officials to ensure there is meaningful engagement with Longford citizens to meet their needs and ensure that County Longford is a place where all can thrive and flourish.

For further information on PPN MD Election Mandates please visit www.longfordppn.ie or contact Siobhan Cronogue on 087 261 5583 or email scronogue@longfordcoco.ie
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 10 2024

Watch AAMs awe-inspiring aircraft take off to perform practice flybys over Republic all day Friday, May 24th.

This Memorial Day Weekend kicks off the American Airpower Museums summer with our Legends of Airpower WWII Warbirds, and their performance in the Bethpage Federal Credit Union Jones Beach Air Show. AAMs legendary warbirds including the WWII B-25 Mitchell bomber, North American P-51D Mustang, Grumman TBM-3E Avenger Torpedo Bomber, and Curtiss P-40M Warhawk Flying Tiger, will take to the skies over Republic Airport on Friday, May 24th, (practice day) plus Saturday to Sunday, May 25th/26th, for the Jones Beach Air Show. Additional aircraft will be in the air including AAMs WWII North American AT-6 Trainers, Vietnam era AT-28D Nomad and our Cold War era L-39 Jet Fighter/Trainers.

Military aviation enthusiasts will not miss AAMs WWII C-47 80th Anniversary D-Day Living History Experience, as WWII Airborne reenactors interact with our visitors on Saturday, May 25th. Throughout the weekend, visitors will be enthralled as US Navy Blue Angels, USAF A-10 Warthogs and the ever-popular Skytypers, take off and return at Republic. Blue Angels practice on May 24th too! So, if youre not going to Jones Beach, there is simply no better place to be than on AAMs ramp, right off New Highway. Witness hours of awe-inspiring aviation action, as our warbirds and US military aircraft take off and land from our flight line Saturday and Sunday. You wont be able to get much closer than that!

Watch AAMs awe-inspiring aircraft take off to perform practice flybys over Republic all day Friday, May 24th. Get up close and personal with these historic bombers and fighters of yesteryear! Then join us at AAM to catch even more aerial action Saturday and Sunday, as our warbirds lift off to perform in the air show! Flight experiences are also available each day on one of AAMs AT-6 Texans, plus our red WACO Biplane! Park for FREE in AAMs lot or along New Highway. Food and Ice Cream trucks are available onsite. AAM is also open Monday, Memorial Day, closing at 4:00 p.m.

According to AAM President Jeff Clyman, the goal for this three-day extravaganza is two-fold. To honor the men and women of the Greatest Generation who built, maintained and piloted the iconic warbirds of yesteryear, in a bold defense of freedom during WWII, as well as active-duty military, reservists and the national guard, who continue this mission today. Clyman said that public support strengthens AAMs mission to educate the next generation about American military aviation history, and will also help maintain the Museums iconic aircraft. Help keep em flying, he added.

As a special promotion, every paying Museum guest (18 and over) Friday through Monday, is entitled to win a Cockpit USA made in the USA leather flight jacket. Cockpit USA, sponsor of the American Airpower Museum, is official supplier to the United States Air Force of A-2 leather flight jackets! Various genuine leather flight jackets and other militaria specially priced and on sale all weekend, can be purchased at AAMs gift shop!

Museum hours are 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (Monday 4:00 p.m.). Tickets and preregistration not required. Regular admission is $15 for Adults, $12 for Seniors and Veterans and $10 for children ages 3 to 12. Three days of action guaranteed to thrill aviation fans of all ages. Dont forget your cameras or smart phones. American Airpower Museum at Republic Airport, Hangar 3, 1230 New Highway, Farmingdale, NY 11735, (631) 293-6398, www.americanairpowermuseum.org
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 10 2024

Simons was the founder East Setauket-based Renaissance Technologies, a quantitative hedge fund, and had served as the chair of the math department at Stony Brook University from 1968 to 1978.

On Friday, May 10, Stony Brook University President Maurie McInnis announced that Jim Simons, prominent Long Island billionaire, hedge fund manager, mathematician, and philanthropist, has passed away at the age of 86 in New York City.

Simons was the founder East Setauket, New York-based Renaissance Technologies, a quantitative hedge fund, and had served as the chair of the math department at Stony Brook University from 1968 to 1978. Later, in 2006, he and his wife Marilyn notably donated $25 million to the school, the largest donation ever to a SUNY institution at the time.

"It is with profound sorrow that I share that our dear friend and cherished member of the Stony Brook community Jim Simons passed away this morning," a statement released by McInnis read. "From his role as chairman of the math department, to his years of leadership on the Stony Brook Foundation Board of Trustees, to his transformational generosity, Jim forever impacted Stony Brook. Our university is infinitely better because of Jim, and his passing leaves an enormous hole in the hearts of all who were fortunate to know him."

"Please join me in keeping his wife Marilyn and family in your thoughts," he continued. "We will be celebrating Jims remarkable and lasting impact in the coming months and will share information as it becomes available."

Simons has been described as the "greatest investor on Wall Street" and "the most successful hedge fund manager of all time," and Bloomberg put his net worth at $29.4 billion as of 2023, making him number 52 at the time among the world's richest individuals. He is a graduate of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley.

Simons was known for his studies on pattern recognition and as the founder of the Simons Foundation - which supported math and science research, with the top benefactor being Stony Brook University, his wife's alma mater - and was on the boards of the Stony Brook Foundation, the MIT Corporation, and the Simons Laufer Mathematical Sciences Institute in Berkeley. He was also chaired the boards of Math for America, the Simons Foundation, and Renaissance Technologies.

In recognition for his contributions to mathematics and philanthropy, asteroid 6618 Jimsimons was named in his honor in 2016.
Local News

By Chris Boyle Published: May 10 2024

Rally for Passage of the Bill Supported by All Downstate District Attorneys Held at the Site of an Alleged Drug-Impaired Crash that Killed a Pedestrian.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney was joined today by Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark and Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz in calling for the passage of the Deadly Driving Bill during a rally held in the Bronx at the site where a 67-year-old grandfather was struck and killed by an alleged drugged driver while he was crossing the street in September 2023. Also joining the three District Attorneys were the Coalition to Protect New Yorkers from Drugged Driving and families of victims killed by drugged drivers and community members.

No one is immune from becoming a victim of a drugged driving crash. This Mothers Day weekend, there will be needlessly empty seats at family tables because of people killed by the preventable crime of impaired driving. In this case, Mr. Mohammed Rahman was walking to a mosque to lead evening prayers when he was struck and killed by an alleged drugged driver, said District Attorney Tierney. The way the law stands now, drivers who are obviously impaired by a drug cannot be arrested and prosecuted for operating a vehicle if the substance that they are on is not listed in a specific section of the Public Health Law. This is dangerous and it must be changed. I thank District Attorney Clark, District Attorney Katz, and all the downstate district attorneys for their support on this bill and for joining me in calling for our New York State legislators to close the loopholes.

Drivers cannot get behind the wheel if they are impaired by alcohol or any type of drug because they risk the lives of other drivers and pedestrians, as well as their own, said Bronx District Attorney Darcel D. Clark. Passing this legislation will give us more tools to hold dangerous drivers accountable and ultimately make our streets safer.

We are experiencing an epidemic of vehicular violence in New York State, said Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz. In 2022, 70 people lost their lives in Queens County due to a vehicular collision. Last year, 89 people died in vehicular collisions. Today, a police officer can observe an obviously impaired driver and that person cannot be arrested and prosecuted unless we can name and prove which specific drug is causing the impairment and that drug appears on the public health law list. Oftentimes, all a driver needs to do at the scene is refuse a drug test to avoid any accountability. Working with our fellow district attorneys, legislators, and safety advocates, we have crafted legislation that will end this madness. This bill fixes a major loophole in our vehicle and traffic law and will make New York a safer place for us and for our children.

No matter your position on the decriminalization and legalization of recreational marijuana use, we should all be able to agree that rampant drugged driving presents a clear and present danger to our roadways, fellow motorists, and pedestrians, said Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon. And while my office does all it can to hold those who drive impaired and commit vehicular violence accountable in the courtroom, glaring inadequacies in our states laws combined with a severe lack of Drug Recognition Experts across New York state have allowed far too many who drive under the influence and endanger the lives of our loved ones to do so without consequence. The Deadly Driving Bill will empower police and prosecutors alike to better hold impaired drivers accountable for jeopardizing the lives of themselves and all around them and I proudly join my fellow District Attorneys in calling for the passage of this commonsense and pro-public safety legislation.

Drugged driving is a serious and growing problem that must be addressed to save lives, said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. New York needs to enact a more common-sense approach to evaluating impairment and so, like the National Transportation Safety Board and my colleagues, I support modernizing our laws to make enforcement more effective while protecting drivers rights.

Getting behind the wheel while impaired threatens the safety of every New Yorker, from pedestrians to cyclists to other drivers, said Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, Jr. I welcome additional tools to hold dangerous drivers accountable and thank the Bronx and Suffolk County District Attorneys Offices for their work on this important issue.

Last year was one of the deadliest years on Nassau County roadways because of reckless drunk and drugged driving, said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. Drugged drivers are escaping accountability every day because of archaic impaired driving laws, and they are putting the lives of New York residents at risk, said Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly. I fully support Suffolk County District Attorney Tierneys legislative efforts to bring our drugged driving laws in line with the rest of the country, close these dangerous loopholes, and give law enforcement another necessary tool to keep drug-impaired drivers off our roads.

The use of drugs and alcohol has skyrocketed post-COVID and its likely that more people than ever before are driving while under the influence, said Family and Childrens Association, President/Chief Executive Officer, Dr. Jeffrey Reynolds. An impaired driving arrest, while unpleasant, can be the milestone event that interrupts a progressively destructive pattern of risky behaviors, facilitates entry into addiction treatment and paves the road to recovery before someone is injured or killed. We need laws that hold people accountable, prevent senseless deaths and protect public health.

Drunk and drugged driving are 100 percent preventable and claim far too many lives across the United States annually, and New York is no exception, said Senior Vice President of Traffic Safety for the Foundation for Advancing Alcohol Responsibility (Responsibility.org) and Director of the National Alliance to Stop Impaired Driving (NASID) Darrin Grondel. As we continue to see alarming increases in drugged driving and poly-substance impaired driving, we urge the NY legislature to immediately pass S3135/A174. This measure will provide increased safety protections to all New Yorkers by removing a dangerous loophole in the current law that allows impaired drivers to escape arrest and prosecution.

Current New York State law does not allow an individual to be arrested and prosecuted for operating a vehicle while impaired by a substance that is not listed in Section 3306 of the Public Health Law. This means that in order to prosecute someone for drugged driving, the current law first requires law enforcement to identify the specific drug that the driver ingested, and then they must also ensure that the specific drug that they identified is listed on the Public Health Law list. However, hundreds of impairing substances are not on the Public Health Law list such as Dust-Off computer cleaner, Xylazine (also known as tranq), and newly created synthetic drugs.

The list requirement loophole means that a driver can avoid responsibility and prosecution by not disclosing to law enforcement what drug they ingested and refusing an identifying test. According to data from the Institute for Traffic Safety Management and Research (ITSMR), of the drivers that were evaluated, refusal of chemical testing doubled from 11% to 22% from 2018 to 2022, meaning more impairing substances could not be named by law enforcement. Thus, these drivers are not held responsible causing them to sidestep drugged driving license repercussions and avoid intervention, treatment, or behavior modification to prevent the driver from driving drugged again.

District Attorney Tierney collaborated with Senate Sponsor John Mannion and Assembly Transportation Committee Chair Bill Magnarelli to lead a bipartisan effort close the loopholes by creating the Senate Bill S.3135 and Assembly Bill A.174, also known as the Deadly Driving Bill, which uses the best scientifically supported tools available to make New Yorks drugged driving law a model for the rest of the country.

According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), as of 2022, New York was one of only 4 states that still use a list for drugged driving. In January 2023, NTSB sent letters to the Governors of these states, including New York, with Safety Recommendation H-22-044 supporting impaired driving charges for all drugs that impair driving, without reference to a list. The proposed Deadly Driving Bills definition of drug in the Vehicle and Traffic Law meets the NTSB recommendation.

In January 2024, District Attorney Tierney traveled to Albany to urge lawmakers to promote the passage of the Deadly Driving Bill. He was joined by impaired driving victims families, community members, district attorneys, lawmakers, traffic safety advocates, criminal justice professionals, and members of the Coalition to Protect New Yorkers from Drugged Driving.

All roadway fatalities in New York have increased, including impaired driving fatalities. But the rate of increase in drug-involved fatalities has outpaced drinking driver fatalities in the last five years. Drug-involved fatalities have increased 35% between 2018 and 2022. The raw number is also higher than alcohol and represents 23% of the total number of roadway fatalities in the state. Further, according to ITSMR, there has been an 87% increase in the number of drivers in fatal crashes testing positive for at least one drug on the Public Health Law Section 3306 list in the decade ending in 2022. The number does not include drugs that are not on the Public Health Law list or that were not tested for.

Drugged drivers threaten the lives of random and innocent roadway users of every age, gender, ethnicity, and economic status every day in every community in New York State. The Deadly Driving Bill does not create new crimes, but instead, makes existing law workable. The bill does not expand law enforcements ability to make car stops. It does not roll back cannabis legalization and it does not create a per se drugged driving charge that would be based only on the driver having a specific amount of a drug in the drivers bloodstream. Current scientific research does not support a per se statute because drugs work differently than alcohol in the body. Blood levels do not correlate to impairment the same way. Instead, the revised law would continue to require a showing of actual impairment using the best training and scientific tools available, not just the presence of a substance. When impairment from any substance can be seen, the driver must be prohibited from driving.
The entry of the IDFs 401st Brigade combat team into Rafah on May 7. (IDF)

President Biden upped his sharp rhetoric against Israel widening its operation in Rafah on May 8. I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities  that deal with that problem, Biden said to CNN. The statement came one week after reports first emerged that the US had paused a shipment of munitions for Israel.

The shipment involved 1,800 of 2,000 lb. bombs and 1,700 of 500 lb. bombs. We are especially focused on the end-use of the 2,000-lb bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza. We have not made a final determination on how to proceed with this shipment, a US official told Al-Monitor on May 8. Subsequent statements by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and by President Biden to CNN illustrated that the pause in this shipment could be a prelude to a cut-off of more munitions. The administration has said that while it opposes an operation in Rafah, it is particularly concerned about Israel providing a plan for protecting the civilians that live in southern Gaza City.

This crisis built with Israel as the IDF continued operations in eastern Rafah. Israels IDF Spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on May 9 that the IDF has sufficient munitions for the operations it has planned. Israel is currently not only fighting in Gaza, but it has also been carrying out airstrikes against Hezbollah in Lebanon in response to seven months of Hezbollah attacks. The operations in eastern Rafah began on the evening of May 6 and the IDF is concentrating on securing the areas it took over. This includes the Rafah crossing, an old airport in Gaza that hasnt functioned for decades, and the eastern side of the Salah al-Din road. Around 50 terrorists were eliminated between May 8 and 9, and 10 tunnel shafts were found in Rafah, according to the IDF.

The IDF said several soldiers were moderately injured due to an explosion of a booby-trapped shaft in eastern Rafah. The soldiers were evacuated to the hospital to receive medical treatment. IDF troops from the 401st armored brigade and the Givati brigade have been operating in sectors in eastern Rafah. Both units have extensive experience over the last seven months dealing with the unique threats they face in Gaza.

Additionally in the Zaytun neighborhood of northern Gaza, the IDF sent elements of the Nahal infantry, as well as the Carmeli brigade reserve infantry and Yiftah reserve armored brigade to clear terrorists from the area. This area is southeast of Gaza City, and the IDF has cleared it twice before. It abuts the Netzarim corridor that the IDF controls across Gaza, and Hamas has sought to increase attacks on the corridor. The operation began with a series of intelligence-based aerial strikes on approximately 25 terror targets, including military structures, terror tunnels, observation posts, sniper posts, and additional terror infrastructure, the IDF said in a statement. Zaytun is reflective of the IDFs tactic of entering areas, clearing them, and quickly leaving. The IDF did the same thing in this area in November 2023 and again in the third week of February 2024. If the IDF has to re-enter the same area three times in six months of ground operations, this raises questions about whether this tactic is working and how quickly Hamas is able to return to these areas and rebuild its strength.

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).
China voices strong dissatisfaction, opposition to U.S. military aid package

Xinhua) 20:15, May 10, 2024

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the United States' passing of a military aid package containing multiple negative clauses related to China, said a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Friday.

The package disregards the principles of market economy and fair competition, suppresses companies from other countries under the pretext of "national security," and is a typical act of unilateralism and bullying, said the spokesperson.

It also threatens to impose unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction over normal economic and trade exchanges between China and other countries, which is blatant economic coercion, according to the spokesperson.

"The U.S. side should respect China's concerns and legitimate rights and interests, and restrain from implementing negative clauses concerning China," the spokesperson said, adding that China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
Norwegian Dawn has its inaugural cruise call in Gibraltar

The Norwegian Dawn cruise ship from Norwegian Cruises visited Gibraltar on Wednesday 8th May.

The Norwegian Dawn arrived at Gibraltar Port at 12:00hrs from Valencia, Spain and departed later on that evening to Malaga, Spain at 21:00hrs.The vessel has a max capacity of 2,340 passengers and was carrying a total of 2,289 passengers on this occasion over its 14 decks.

CEO of the Gibraltar Tourist Board, Kevin Bossino was welcomed on board the Norwegian Dawn and exchanged plaques with the vessels captain, Asen Gyurov.

Minister for Tourism, the Hon Christian Santos MP said: We are delighted to welcome Norwegian Dawn on its inaugural call to Gibraltar. I also had the pleasure of welcoming its sister ships the Norwegian Star and the Norwegian Viva late last year. It is always great to have new cruise ships visiting Gibraltar as it demonstrates the importance of our port and gives us the opportunity to showcase what we have to offer as a prime tourist destination to these new visitors.
Even the biggest companies have been caught up in social-media backlashes, from Adobes tone-deaf software smile correction to Googles embarrassing and wrong AI tool. But I didnt think much of a potential controversy when I watched Apples ad for the new iPad Pro at its Let Loose event this week. Boy, was I wrong about that.

The Crush! advert tries to get across the perennial Apple concept that the iPad Pro is such a capable and versatile creative tool that you can do almost anything with it. It does this in an amusingly literal way: By showing the physical embodiments of numerous creative activitiesmusical instruments, books, cameras, art supplies, sculptures, games machines, and charactersbeing physically crushed down by a hydraulic press until only the iPad is left. (This has the happy side-effect of also referencing the M4 Pro being preposterously flat.) Its a cute bit of work:

Sadly a number of members of the creative community did not find Crush! cute, and are in fact up in arms about it, having as is traditional taken to Twitter to vent their feelings. AppleInsider reported on the first wave of complaints, which included claims it is extremely distasteful and lacks any respect for creative equipment and mocks the creators. One especially delicate viewer described the ad as heartbreaking, uncomfortable, and egotistic.

Thats just Twitter, you might protest. (To which I would of course reply, I think you mean X.) But serious people think this too. Mashable reckons the ad essentially flips AI-weary creatives the birdgoodness me, the word essentially is doing a lot of heavy lifting in that headlineand TechCrunch did an op-ed describing Crush! with an apparently straight face as disgusting.

Does your child like music? They dont need a harp; throw it in the dump. An iPad is good enough, writes TCs Devin Coldewey, tangibly growing angrier as he types. Do they like to paint? Here, Apple Pencil, just as good as pens, watercolors, oils! Books? Dont make us laugh! Destroy them. Paper is worthless. Use another screen.

And if those arent big enough names, the bad guy from Paddington 2 is all in as well. Beloved actor Hugh Grant called the advert The destruction of the human experience, and I know actors are prone to extreme reactions but come on.

The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley. https://t.co/273XB3CfnF  Hugh Grant (@HackedOffHugh) May 8, 2024

It was all enough for Apple to issue a rare apology, succinctly admitting that it had missed the mark with this video, and were sorry. And as a result, the ad wont be shown on TV. I understand Apples response, but it shouldnt have come to this.

Take a deep breath

First up, we can be pretty sure that Apple didnt destroy any priceless Stradivarii for the advert: Apple hasnt commented on how the ad was made, but it looks a lot like a lot of it was done with CGI, and any bits that arent CGI will be cheaply produced props. This isnt like that time Kurt Russell smashed a 145-year-old acoustic guitar on the set of a movie.

Also, nobody is being mocked, except possibly people who look like that bulging-eye emoji. The ad is very obviously about claiming to empower creative people through technology. It would be insane to mock the products intended market. (If Apple did want to mock creatives it would have shown a bearded hipster being squashed in a machine while drinking an expensive coffee and claiming he liked hydraulic presses before they were cool.)

More importantly, the symbolism of the advert is absolutely not that physical objects and analog creative pursuits have no value and should be replaced by an iPad. Apple is telling us the iPad Pro is a versatile and capable digital device that can do lots of things, likely alongside analog creative tools, and also by the way its really thin. It isnt that complicated.

Think about it. Does Apple feel like the sort of bleakly amoral disruptor startup that would happily throw the creative industries into an AI-powered shredder? Or does it feel like a nearly half-century-old corporation run by baby boomers with a thing for beautiful physical objects and an embarrassing obsession with pop groups? Musicians, filmmakers, photographers, designers Apple loves to hold up the creative professions as its platonic customer and the template for a fulfilling careerand when it portrays those professions, it does so with Apple products integrated with exactly those physical objects that got chucked in the crushing machine.

Look, Apple has plenty of faults, but those faults do not include wanting to mock, destroy, or mechanize the creative professions. It doesnt want you to throw your harp in the dump. It just wants to sell some iPads.
Critical conversation with Health Minister to reduce burden of malaria on citizens of Uganda

10 May 2024



This week, Malaria Consortiums team in Uganda and Chief Executive, Dr James Tibenderana, engaged in key discussions with Ugandas Ministry of Health on partnership approaches to accelerate progress towards eliminating malaria in the country.

Uganda Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Acheng (front centre), with Dr James Tibenderana (front third from left), Dr Godfrey Magumba (front second from right) and other stakeholders at a meeting at the Ministry of Health, Uganda, May 2024

Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Acheng, met with Dr Godfrey Magumba, the East & Southern Africa Programmes Director for Malaria Consortium, and Dr Tibenderana, to discuss the introduction of new malaria preventative measures including seasonal and perennial malaria chemoprevention, alongside the introduction of the malaria vaccine, as well as the development of a new elimination strategy.

Health Minister, Dr Jane Ruth Acheng, expressed her enthusiasm for developing a new malaria strategy, which shifts the focus from reduction to elimination and eradication. She stated, With the strong political support from the president and parliament, now is the ideal time to develop and implement a robust malaria elimination and eradication strategy. We are eager to begin this vital work immediately.

In 2022, the World Health Organization reported an estimated 12.7 million malaria cases and over 17,556 estimated deaths in the country. Dr Tibenderana emphasised the significant impact of malaria reduction both on the health of the population and on Ugandas development, noting, Each step we take towards eliminating malaria not only enhances public health but also bolsters Ugandas economy. Indeed, every 10 percent reduction in malaria burden leads to an approximate 0.3 percent increase in GDP growth. This correlation underscores the profound economic benefits of effective malaria control measures.

The discussions taking place this week highlight the critical value of strategic partnerships and collaborations in tackling one of the worlds deadliest diseases. As Dr Tibenderana noted in a recent blog post, reaching malaria elimination requires a concerted effort from diverse partnerships, harnessing collective expertise and resources, to fully address the complexity of the challenge.

Related content

23 April 2024 Malaria Consortium honoured by Ugandan government for contribution to combat malaria
The Massachusetts cannabis industry has drifted into uncharted waters.

With a Marthas Vineyard dispensary and the islands only licensed cannabis growing facility expected to close, state regulators are left with a tricky question: how to transport marijuana between the mainland and the island through federal waters and air space.

While Massachusetts voters legalized cannabis more than seven years ago, the federal government has taken no similar action.

Without a company growing marijuana on Marthas Vineyard, the islands supply of legal cannabis products will eventually dry up, cutting off both recreational smokers and the islands 230 medical marijuana patients.

Theres a lot of people who depend on (the cannabis businesses) on the islands, both for medical consumption and for adult use as well, Cannabis Control Commission Acting Chair Ava Callender Concepcion said Thursday.

The only company licensed to grow marijuana on Marthas Vineyard, Fine Fettle, has shut down its farm, company president Benjamin Zachs told the Vineyard Gazette and the Marthas Vineyard Times last week.

He estimated the companys medical and recreational dispensary in the town of West Tisbury had enough stock to stay open until the fall.

Vineyard medical marijuana patients may be cut off

The question of how marijuana would be shipped to the island raised conflicts between the states cannabis industry and federal law. And the possibility that medical marijuana patients, in particular, could be cut off from the supply chain set off an all hands on deck conversation for state regulators, Concepcion said during a commission meeting Thursday.

It wasnt something we anticipated in terms of the access to product, she told reporters after the meeting. The implications would be significant if were not able to give those patients let alone all the consumers who are currently on the island, or who may frequent the island during the summer months, access to cannabis.

Commission lawyers have contacted a variety of state and federal agencies for guidance, including the Massachusetts State Police, Department of Justice, Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Coast Guard and the Steamship Authority, which runs ferry service to the islands.

Zachs blamed regulatory challenges and financial troubles for the pending closure.

State law requires cannabis growers to test their products. Most companies do so at independent laboratories. But the absence of such a facility on the island meant Fine Fettle had to prop up its own testing system to avoid shipping products to mainland labs over federal waters.

For us, while Marthas Vineyard is in Massachusetts, its like a whole other state with a whole other regulatory structure, Zachs told the Gazette.

Connecticut-based Fine Fettle also has a dispensary in Rowley and will open another this month in West Springfield.

The closure of its Marthas Vineyard pot shop will leave one other cannabis retailer on the island  Island Time, in the town of Vineyard Haven.

Nantucket has two dispensaries.

Other states work around federal cannabis laws

The questions the commission faces are not unheard of.

Multiple other states  commission staff mentioned California, Maine, New York and Alaska  have provisions addressing the transport of marijuana to islands through federal waters.

Commissioners directed their staff to prioritize both licensing new cannabis businesses on the Vineyard and Nantucket and any changes of ownership should Fine Fettle seek to sell its island operations.

Commissioners also said they aimed to consult with local leaders on the Vineyard and host a hearing there in the coming weeks.

Were not inventing the wheel, Commissioner Kimberly Roy said. Other jurisdictions have done it. But if we do nothing, youre going to have 234 patients with no access to medical cannabis on the island.
Debasish Roy Chowdhury at Project Syndicate:

Indians tend to fetishize elections, which now wholly define their self-imagination as a democratic society, obscuring other institutional necessities. The carnivalesque quality of the worlds biggest electoral process hides a bitter truth: this years elaborate exercise in offering the franchise to 970 million people has all the hallmarks of a despotic election. The voting is not overtly rigged (as in Russias farcical polls), but the playing field is tilted decisively in favor of the ruling party. The chances of an electoral upset have not been eliminated, just sharply minimized.

More here.
Comedy legend James Gregory died Wednesday, May 8, at the age of 78.

Known since the 1980s to fans as The Funniest Man in America, Gregory died from cardiac complications, according to a post to the late comedians Facebook.

According to the comedians website, Gregory was about to head on tour in the southeastern United States, where he was especially popular.

He brought laughter and joy to countless lives, leaving an indelible mark on the world of comedy and those who loved him, the post reads. James followers were addicted to seeing him live as many customers attended his shows dozens of times over his 41-plus years in comedy.

Born in Lithonia, Georgia on May 6, 1946, Gregory was the first of his family to graduate high school.

At 36, he broke into comedy after participating in a comedy night in the basement of the Atlanta-area restaurant, Excelsior Mill in 1986.

As a successful salesman with a knack for entertaining audiences, he believed he might have the makings of a comedian, the Facebook post reads. Within a year, he was the first performer to take the stage at the new Punchline comedy club in Atlanta. As the comedy boom of the 1980s expanded, James quickly worked his way to headliner status.

Though often considered a southern comedian, Gregory never used the term in his performances. The late comedian was known for bringing his down home, common sense of humor across the country, the post reads. Gregory was also committed to treating comedy as a professional business venture.

The way I see it, youre not just my audience. Youre my customers, an excerpt from his upcoming autobiography reads, according to the Facebook post.

The book, called A Bushel of Beans and a Peck of Tomatoes: The Life and Times of The Funniest Man in America, will be published in November 2024.

Funeral services have yet to be determined. Gregorys family has asked for privacy during this time.
A trio of men are facing a series of charges in connection with a February 2024 armed robbery of a cash courier in Swansea in which they are accused of robbing the courier at gunpoint, zip-tying and pepper-spraying the man, and burning the vehicle they had stolen to flee the scene, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levys office announced.

Steven Madison, 38, of Bridgewater; Christopher White, 37, of Raynham; and Quentin McDonald, 35, of Brockton, are all charged with one count each of robbery interfering with interstate commerce, arson of property used in or affecting interstate commerce, and conspiracy. Madison and White are also charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to Levys office.

All three men made an initial appearance in federal court on Thursday and were detained pending a hearing on May 13.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 19, two men were seen on video stealing a U-Haul van in Abington. Later, an armed courier working for a company transporting cash for cannabis companies arrived at a Swansea bank with more than $436,000 in cash to deposit.

Prosecutors say the stolen U-Haul pulled up next to the courier and a man wearing a mask and a camouflage vest exited the van and pointed a gun at the courier before zip-tying the mans hands behind his back. Another masked man then got out of the van and loaded the cash into the U-Haul, according to prosecutors. The pair tried to disarm the courier and forced him into the back seat of his own car, pepper-sprayed him and shut the door.

Surveillance footage shows the courier was able to free one hand from the zip-tie and fired his gun four times in the direction of the U-Haul as it drove off before calling 911, Levys office said.

After leaving the bank, the men are accused of driving the U-Haul to another location in Swansea where they met up with another man driving an SUV. Prosecutors say the men moved the cash they stole from the courier into the SUV, burned the U-Haul and fled the area.

A trio of men are accused of burning a U-Haul they stole after an armed robbery, according to acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levy.U.S. Attorney's office

Investigators say they identified Madison, White and McDonald as the men involved in the robbery and arson.

In a search of Madisons residence in Bridgewater Wednesday morning, investigators found $5,000 or more in cash in various amounts throughout the house, a Rolex watch worth nearly $50,000, a gun, ammunition and a sweatshirt similar to the one seen worn during the robbery, according to Levys office.

Investigators also searched Whites home in Raynham, where prosecutors say they found zip-ties, a gun, ammunition and a black mask similar to the one worn during the robbery.

Prosecutors say Madison and McDonald have previously been convicted of masked armed robbery, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon and unlawfully possessing a firearm. White has prior convictions for larceny and receiving stolen property, according to Levys office.

If convicted, Madison and McDonald could face up to 60 years in prison, while White could face a sentence of up to 45 years.
The shift from plant-based to synthetic, chemical drugs has resulted in the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced, Anne Milgram, head of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, said this week.

On Thursday, the agency released its 2024 National Drug Threat Assessment, showing fentanyl and methamphetamine are currently responsible for nearly all of the countrys fatal overdoses. These drugs are manmade and chemical-based, versus heroin and cocaine, which originate from plants.

In 2022, the U.S. saw 107,941 drug-related deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the last year complete data is available.

Read more: Worcester had the highest opioid overdose death rate in state as of 2023

Much of the DEAs new report focuses on the activity of the Mexico-based Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels, global criminal enterprises that have developed global supply chain networks and rely on companies in China to supply the precursor chemicals and pill presses necessary to manufacture synthetic drugs.

They operate clandestine labs in Mexico where they manufacture these drugs, and then utilize their vast distribution networks to transport the drugs into the United States, Milgram said. They rely on associates in the United States to distribute the drugs at a retail level on the streets and on social media.

Here are three major takeaways from the DEAs 2024 National Drug Threat assessment:

Fentanyl is the deadliest drug the U.S. has ever faced

Fentanyl killed nearly 38,000 Americans in the first six months of 2023, the report said, and law enforcement seizures, in both powder and pill forms, are at record levels.

Seizures of fentanyl powder by the DEA have nearly doubled over the last two years, while seizures of fentanyl pills have almost tripled.

In 2023, DEA forensic laboratory analysis showed that approximately 7 in 10 fake pills contain a potentially deadly dose of fentanyl (approximately 2 milligrams), the report stated.

Cartels started diversifying their offerings to make fentanyl more appealing to a wider range of people, the DEA said. That strategy includes multicolored pills known as rainbow fentanyl, which first appeared in 2022.

Xylazine is increasingly present in fentanyl

Last year, 30% of fentanyl powder seized by the DEA contained xylazine, or tranq, a dangerous veterinary tranquilizer that is increasingly contaminating the drug supply. Its unresponsive to Narcan and can cause necrotic wounds on the body that can lead to amputation in the most severe cases.

The DEA says xylazine makes fentanyl even deadlier, and more addictive.

Read more: Why Western Mass. is being disproportionately harmed by tranq

In Massachusetts, the presence of xylazine is increasing, as well. Statewide, of 486 drug samples tested between Jan. 1-March 31 through Brandeis Univeristys Street Check program, 42% were found to contain xylazine (205 out of 486 samples), the highest percentage the state has seen yet.

Digital drug dealing: Social media is extending the cartels reach into U.S. communities

Drug enforcement has been made more difficult by social media, a tool that extends the cartels reach across the U.S. and worldwide.

The DEA report said drug sales can be enabled by encrypted and open messaging applications and social media, used by cartel members and street dealers alike to advertise, arrange delivery, and get paid quickly, all on a single device, and with minimal exposure.

Related news: Feds move to reclassify marijuana: What does it mean for Massachusetts?

This new age of digital drug dealing has pushed the peddling of drugs off the streets of America and into our pockets and purses, the report said.

Dealers and buyers often use emojis, numeric codes or coded language to communicate drug availability and interest, according to the DEA. Social media allows dealers to post photos and prices, share sales locations via map location pins, and deliver drugs to customers through ride-share applications.

Street crews and gang members also recruit new members using social media platforms, the DEA said.
Wrentham officials are warning residents that their drinking water tested positive for E. coli earlier this week and although they can use it now without boiling it, they should get rid of anything containing water from Tuesday or earlier.

Thursday afternoon, the towns water system was notified that a water sample collected on Tuesday, May 7 from the towns Well #5 tested positive for E. coli, a fecal indicator, Town Manager Kevin Sweet and Director of Public Works Brian Antonioli wrote in a notice.

Fecal indicators are used to detect ground water sources that may be susceptible to fecal contamination which may contain harmful viruses or bacteria, officials wrote. They are microbes that in water, can cause illnesses and are a special health risk for infants, the elderly and the immunocompromised.

Once town officials learned of the positive E. coli sample, they turned off the well, the notice said.

 Read More: A Mass. river turned white with wastewater. Now the responsible company is paying up.

Water from Well #5 is usually pumped from the ground and disinfected with chlorine to kill any viruses and bacteria like E. coli, according to town officials. The chlorinated water is whats delivered to residents.

The chlorinated water was also collected and tested Tuesday, and did not test positive for E. coli, officials said. However, the towns chlorine disinfection system is not certified by the states Department of Environmental Protection under new rules, therefore the town has to alert water customers, collect more samples wait for the results, and inspect our water system to determine if a risk of fecal contamination exists, town officials stated.

What should Wrentham residents do?

Wrentham residents dont need to boil their water, officials stated. But, they should throw away all ice, beverages, formula and uncooked food products made with tap water on or before Tuesday, May 7.

Even though the well with the fecal indicator is no longer in use, the United States Environmental Protection Agency requires us to provide you with this Notice and the following information on fecal indicators, the town stated.

Residents who are concerned about diarrhea, cramps, nausea or headaches  symptoms the microbes could cause  should reach out to their doctor, officials said. Residents can also call the EPAs Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791 for guidelines on how to lessen their risk of an infection.

What else is being done?

After Well #5 was taken out of service and kept away from the water system, the water was pumped to waste in order to take five follow-up samples, officials wrote.

We are in contact with MassDEP who is evaluating the actions we are taking to ensure safe water is being delivered to you, officials wrote. If a risk of contamination exists, you will receive additional notification.
In November 2021, part of the Hoosic River, running from the Berkshires into Vermont and New York, turned a cloudy white after an improper wastewater discharge from a limestone product facility in Adams.

The incident, which was followed by dozens of other subsequent discharges in 2022 and 2023, is currently being resolved in federal court via a settlement between state officials and Specialty Minerals Inc., Attorney General Andrea Campbell announced last week.

It wasnt the first time the 76-mile Hoosic River changed color. Nearly two decades earlier, the river ran red.

In November 2021, Specialty Minerals Inc. in Adams violated the federal Clean Water Act and Massachusetts laws by discharging cloudy wastewater into the Hoosic River, which turned the river white, the state Attorney General's Office says.Courtesy

On July 2, 2002, an Adams paper mill discharged an undetermined volume of three red dyes into the river, the Bennington Banner reported at the time.

A resident in Pownal, Vermont described it as blood red.

It was the brightest red youve ever seen in your life, Frank Burdick told the Bennington Banner, according to newspaper archives.

Local health officials said the river appeared as though it was dyed with food coloring.

After the dye discharge, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection issued a cease-and-desist order to the now-defunct Curtis Fine Papers after a process meant to eliminate color from paper manufacturing discharge failed, the Banner reported.

Within days, the Vermont Health Department identified two of the three red dyes polluting the Hoosic River as non-hazardous, but continued to maintain a health watch. New York health officials more intensely messaged that one of the identified dyes could cause skin or eye irritation in high concentrations.

The Bennington Banner reported that residents were warned not to draw drinking or irrigation water, swim, or fish for consumption in the Hoosic River until its color returned to normal.

Ultimately, all three dyes were determined to be non-toxic.

The dye spill launched a kerfuffle between state agencies over untimely notification  New York officials claimed they werent informed about it by MassDEP until two days later.

Because of the communication issues between states, the Banner reported, residents in Pownal, Vermont, and Hoosick, New York, werent notified of the originating accident at the Adams paper mill for two-to-three days.

Today, the Massachusetts section of the Hoosic River is designated as a class B water body  a habitat for fish, other aquatic life, and wildlife, including for their reproduction, migration, growth and other critical functions, and for primary and secondary contact recreation.
Vermonts Sen. Bernie Sanders announced on Monday he will run for reelection, four years after his last presidential run and 17 years after he served in the House of Representatives.

The announcement by Sanders, an independent, virtually guarantees that he will return to Washington D.C. for a fourth Senate term.

It also pushes aside speculation the 82-year-old senator will retire at a point when critics have put a spotlight on the ages of Americas leaders in Congress and the White House.

Despite that, Sanders views and accomplishments have challenged mainstream narratives and inspired millions of Americans, including members of The Squad, to get involved in politics and, in his words, start a political revolution.

Before he entered Congress, Sanders was an activist and organizer. He served as mayor of Burlington, Vt., from 1981 to 1989, according to the 2020 edition of his book Outsider in the White House.

Here are some recent highlights of Sanders long career in public service.

Opposition to the Iraq War

A point brought up during the 2016 and 2020 elections when Sanders ran for president, was his opposition to the Iraq War  partcularly when it was compared to the Democratic and Republican nominees.

I listened very carefully, and I concluded that they were lying through their teeth, Sanders said during a debate in February 2020, NBC News reported. And I not only voted against that war, but I helped lead the opposition... I didnt believe them for a moment. I took to the floor. I did everything I could to prevent that war.

Then-Democratic U.S. Sens. Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden both voted to authorize the war while Sanders, then in the House of Representatives, voted against it.

While not in government, now-former President Donald Trump also supported the Iraq War, but started to criticize it after the invasion in 2003, according to a CNN fact check.

The Speech

The spotlight on Sanders during the Obama years began with an eight-and-a-half-hour filibuster of what became the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, criticizing the tax deal between Vice President Biden and then-Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell in 2010, NPR reported in 2019 during the 2020 election.

The deal extended the Bush-era tax cuts that lowered the estate tax threshold for the mega-wealthy. Sanders argued that most Americans were on his side and thought, like him, billionaires need more tax breaks, NPR wrote.

I do not want to see our young kids  my children and grandchildren  have a lower standard of living than their parents, Sanders said later in the filibuster, which can be viewed here on C-SPAN.

That is not what America is about. What I think we have to do is defeat this proposal. I think we have to urge our fellow Americans to stand and say no to tax breaks for those who dont need it, Sanders continued. I think we have to work in a very serious way about creating the millions and millions of good-paying jobs that this country desperately needs.

The deal passed despite the filibuster.

Then-Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nevada, told NPR that after the speech that the calls to offices, after a couple hours of the speech, they couldnt get in, and the Senates website was overwhelmed with traffic, while Sanders name and speech were trending on Twitter, now known as X.

Ran for president twice

Sanders national profile rose after he announced he was running for the Democratic nomination for president of the United States ahead of the 2016 election. That year, his major opponent was Clinton, the former U.S. secretary of state.

Sanders lost to Clinton, who went on to lose to Republican nominee Donald Trump.

Sanders won 1,831 delegates, according to The New York Times.

Democrats from U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, of Massachusetts, to former party head Donna Brazille claimed the primary was rigged for Clinton to win and led to Sanders dropping out, The Washington Post reported in 2017.

The Vermont senator ran again against a larger slate of other Democratic hopefuls going into the 2020 election, including former Vice President Biden. The party consolidated, leaving Sanders with Biden to face off just as the COVID-19 pandemic began its havoc in spring 2020, CNN reported.

Sanders lost to Biden, who beat Trump in November 2020 and succeeded him as president.

Sanders won 1,119 delegates, more than any other candidate combined and excluding Biden, NBC News reported. Sanders won Vermont and New Hampshire and several western states, including California, according to NBC News.

Sanders had a broad platform focused on such issues as expanding healthcare (which evolved into Medicare for All), tackling climate change, campaign finance reform, raising the minimum wage, increasing regulation on Wall Street, and lifting those in poverty, among several other issues, according to Outsider in the White House.

Labor supporter

Sanders has been a longtime vocal and active supporter of organized labor in the United States.

Appearances on cable news and speeches have reflected his support for unions. He has joined striking workers, or expressed solidarity with, the United Auto Workers, Disneyland Resort staffers, Amazon employees and even hotel workers in Los Angeles during the largest hotel worker strike in modern U.S. history, according to the Los Angeles Daily News.

This has also come during a time when there has been a growing emphasis on labor in the United States in the wake of both the Great Recession and Occupy Wall Street.

Sanders labor politics have also been part of the changing times.

The 2016 election saw an increased focus on terms like populism and democratic socialism, both usually directed towards Sanders rhetoric and politics, the latter of which he has admitted to believing.

The Democratic Socialists of America went from 6,500 members in fall 2014 to 8,500 by election day 2016, which they credit to Sanders prominence, according to the organizations website.

Longest serving independent in Congress in U.S. history

Sanders is one of three senators currently registered as independents. The other longstanding independent senator is fellow New Englander Angus King Jr. of Maine, while Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, I-Arizona, became an independent in 2022.

The Vermont senator is also the longest-serving independent member of Congress in American history, having served 16 years as neither a Republican or a Democrat, according to his website.

In both of his runs for the presidency, Sanders has changed his party registration to run as a Democrat. No independent has won the presidency since George Washington, though the last president who was neither a Republican or a Democrat was Millard Fillmore between 1850 and 1853, according to the White House website.
MassLive recently asked readers to identify people who are leaders from the Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community throughout the state, working to make a difference in politics, education, business, the arts or another area of interest.

Profiles of these leaders will be published through AAPI Heritage Month in May. These are people our readers have identified as inspirational, who may be doing good acts for their communities. They are being recognized for their accomplishments, leadership and commitment to inspire change.

Kimberly Truong. Photo courtesy Kimberly TruongKimberly Truong

Kimberly Truong

Age: 28

Community: Lowell

Her story: Kimberly Truong views her career in healthcare as more than a job  she calls it a privilege.

Truong was in her second year studying optometry, or the health of peoples eyes, when she was introduced to community health. The field is comprised of patients, she said, of underserved, immigrant, or low socioeconomic backgrounds.

She completed several rotations at community health centers in the Boston and Greater Boston area while finishing school. After graduating, Truong said her time at the important health safety net medical centers made her feel compelled to keep working in community health.

Now, Truong is looking to continue her community health field training. She will start a residency program in July at DotHouse Health in Dorchester with a focus on community health, ocular disease and primary care.

Truong said optometry has deepened her passion for service as she improves her patients every day and overall quality of life.

With the diverse community she serves, Troung feels inspired to improve clinical care, and to unify that care for patients across their health providers of all medical fields.

In her words: Maintain consistency while pursuing any goals and aspirations. I find that although passion, hard work, and drive are important, consistency is what determines the trajectory of ones success.

Were always open to hearing about more inspiring people. If youd like to suggest someone else who should be recognized, please fill out this form.
Countless cicadas from Brood XIV are expected to emerge next summer in Cape Cod and Long Island. Although these winged insects arent usually found near beaches, theres something special about these areas that attracts more than just vacationers.

This brood, which pops from underground every 17 years, is expected to show up in Georgia, Kentucky, Indiana, Massachusetts, Maryland, North Carolina, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, according to cicadamania, a website that tracks the insects.

This is a USDA Forest Service map showing, county-by-county, where periodical cicada broods of the United States are located, and when they can next be expected to emerge.US Forest Service

For John Cooley, an entomologist at the University of Connecticut, the insects arrival near Cape Cod and Long Island is odd since cicadas usually thrive in forests and soil, not in sandy beaches, he told CBS Boston.

Read More: 5 maps showing where the periodical cicadas will be around the US

But, the type of forest trees found on Cape Cod and Long Island could explain Brood XIVs presence on the eastern peninsulas.

Cicadas require relatively intact forests, or forest patches in a mosaic, according to Cooley. Specifically, the insects like edgy forests, ones that grow near open fields, power lines, highways or rivers tend to draw in the insects. Many of these types of forests exist in Long Island and Cape Cod.

Edge trees are kind of filled out on one side, and not so much in the way of lower branches on the other, Cooley wrote.

Although the exact reason behind the cicadas affinity for edgy forests is still unknown, Cooley suspects its because these types of environments have a higher density of the pencil-sized twigs cicadas use for laying eggs.

Jamie Pinero, a professor of tree fruit entomology at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, hypothesized that Brood XIVs presence near Cape Cod and Long Island has to do with female cicadas preference to reproduce in scrub oaks.

In the eastern part of the United States, three species of periodical cicadas have coexisted for centuries, each occupying a different part of the forest dominated by different tree species, Pinero wrote in an email to MassLive.

Cicadas from Brood XIV are seen occupying parts of forests dominated by scrub oaks in Cape Cod and Long Island. To Pinero, this serves as an example of habitat preference and resource partitioning.

In ecological terms, niche partitioning is a process where natural selection leads competing species to use resources differently, or occupy different niches, within a habitat, he said.

Scrub oaks prefer acidic, nutrient-poor, sandy, gravelly soils that are full of sunlight, Pinero said.

Female cicadas prefer to lay their eggs in scrub oak and other plants that dont secrete resin, like pine trees, according to Pinero.

The [cicadas] that exist in Cape Cod are going to continue to reproduce in Cape Cod, Pinero said. Its more about the type of plant available. They like it, I mean its not just because of the sandy soil. Sandy soil is the basis for the plants to grow and they really like these trees the scrub oak.
Divers are searching the Saugus River Friday after discovering a van in the water around 7 a.m., police said.

Saugus police received a 911 call from a person driving on Ballard Street around 11:30 p.m. Thursday reporting they saw taillights in the water. Police and firefighters went to the area and, along with State Police dive teams, searched the river overnight.

Around 7 a.m., divers found a van in the water, Kelli OHara, a spokesperson for Saugus Police said.

But, due to the tides and sediment in the Saugus River, divers are still trying to determine if there is a person in the vehicle, Saugus Police said.

An investigation into the incident is ongoing, police said.
A 19-year-old Fitchburg man is facing a murder charge in connection with a fatal stabbing outside a Leominster apartment complex on Tuesday, according to Worcester County District Attorney Joseph D. Early Jr.s office.

Juan Diaz Contreras faces the murder charge in connection with the killing of 20-year-old Robert Wright-Day, Earlys office said in a statement. He was arrested at his home on Thursday.

Two other men  Edgar K. Perez-Tuero, 21, of Gardner, and Christian Joel Santiago, 19, of Leominster  were arrested in connection with the stabbing and now face assault and battery charges, according to Earlys office.

All three men are expected to be arraigned in Fitchburg District Court on Friday.

Leominster police went to the Riverside Village Apartment complex on State Street just before 1 a.m. on Tuesday, where they found Wright-Day with a stab wound. Wright-Day was taken to Leominster Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
To read live updates from the trial on Monday, May 13, click here.

The trial of Karen Read, a Mansfield woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John OKeefe, resumes on Friday with witness testimony.

Read, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of OKeefe, who was found cold to the touch and unresponsive on Jan. 29, 2022, outside of a home in Canton.

Norfolk prosecutors charged Read after his death and stated that she struck OKeefe with her SUV while driving intoxicated. Reads attorney, David Yannetti, said during the trials opening statements that her car never struck OKeefe and that others are to blame for his death.

Jurors heard Wednesday and Thursday from friends of OKeefe who went out drinking at two bars in Canton on Jan. 28, 2022.

Witnesses last week from the Canton Fire Department testified that Read said I hit him, I hit him. Oh my God, I hit him on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022.

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.

 Read more: 4 takeaways from Karen Read trial: texts, taillight damage and first witnesses

Testimony concludes  4 p.m.

Prosecutors finished questioning Brian Albert, who owned the home John OKeefe was found outside, just before 4 p.m. Friday.

The defense will cross-examine him when testimony resumes Monday morning.

Brian Albert: A very chaotic, unbelievably chaotic morning  3:30 p.m.

Brian Albert followed his wife Nicole Albert in the witness chair Friday afternoon.

A 30-year member of the Boston Police Department, he had traveled in the days before John OKeefes death to New York City for the funeral of a police officer killed in the line of duty. Both Kevin Albert, Brians brother and a Canton police detective, and Brian Higgins, an ATF agent and friend of Brian Alberts, also attended the funeral.

The trio drove back together from New York City after the funeral on Jan. 28, 2022. After retrieving his car, Brian Albert told Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, he and Higgins met at the Hillside Pub in Canton for food and drinks.

Albert said he spoke by phone around that time with his wife, who told him a group had gathered at the Waterfall Bar & Grille. Albert said he joined the group; Higgins followed about half an hour later.

John OKeefe and Karen Read joined the group around 11 p.m., Albert said. The two had met once or twice prior, Albert said, but he knew OKeefe was a Boston police officer. He also said he knew OKeefe was friends with his brothers Chris and Kevin Albert and Jennifer McCabe, Nicole Alberts sister.

Although I didnt know him well, I considered him to be a friend and our relationship was good, Albert said. I considered him to be someone I could hang out with and have a good time with.

The group had a fun night, Albert said. Everybody was in a great mood. People were getting along. It was friends and family. It was a great night.

Before leaving the bar, Albert said they discussed plans to return to the Albert home to celebrate his son, Brian Jr., whose birthday was the next day.

Anybody who was there was welcome to come by if they wanted to, Albert said.

A group convened at the home, including Higgins, McCabe and her husband Matthew. Albert said Brian Jr. was also there with two friends. His nephew Colin Albert was present for a brief period of time but departed before the other guests, Brian Albert said.

Karen Read and John OKeefe were not there, Albert testified. They never entered my house, he said.

On the morning of Jan. 29, Albert said, his sister-in-law Jennifer McCabe burst into the Alberts bedroom between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. She was very upset, almost hysterical, he recalled.

Albert described to Lally a very chaotic, unbelievably chaotic morning.

He said he, his wife and the McCabe couple spoke with police; he called Higgins, believing it was important for him to know what was going on and what had happened; and he spoke with his sister-in-law who had stopped by the home for Brian Jr.s birthday.

Everybodys reaction that morning was utter shock, Albert said.

Nicole Albert returns to witness stand after break  2:20 p.m.

Testimony resumed Friday afternoon with defense attorney Elizabeth Little again pressing Nicole Albert about the morning of Jan. 29, when John OKeefe was found unresponsive on the Albert familys lawn.

We did not go outside because we had no idea what was going on outside, Albert told Little.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally also asked Albert if the phone calls from her sister, Jennfier McCabe, woke her up.

Did you speak to Jennifer McCabe on the phone at any point that morning prior to her coming into your room, Lally asked.

I did not, Albert said.

Lally also returned focus to Alberts cellphone records, which Little asserted showed phone calls of seven and nine seconds between McCabe and Albert. Albert also agreed with Lally that she had no way of differentiating whether the records showed a call that was answered or a call that went to voicemail.

Lally also asked Albert about her pet dog Chloe and the May 2022 incident in which Chloe injured another dog and a person.

We had gone over to their house to apologize for what had happened and offered to pay any bills that they may have had for any injury to the dog or anything, Albert said. And after we just decided that we thought the best thing to do was try to rehome it because I just didnt want anything like that to happen again.

Defense continues to scrutinize Nicole Albert  1 p.m.

Defense attorney Elizabeth Little pressed Nicole Albert on whether she purposefully declined to mention certain people who were at her home the night of Jan. 28, 2022, in her initial interviews with Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor, the cases lead investigator.

Little particularly focused on Alberts nephew Colin Albert, who she testified was leaving her home at 34 Fairview Road as the group returned from the Waterfall Bar & Grille. Colin Albert is one of the people the defense has asserted were involved in John OKeefes death.

You didnt want your kids or your nephew to have to tell the police what they saw, what they heard and what they did that night? Little asked.

Thats not true, Nicole Albert responded.

But you never told Trooper Proctor about Colin Albert, Little said.

I didnt mention Colin because I didnt consider him as part of the group that was hanging out after the Waterfall, because he left as soon as I walked in, Nicole Albert said. I didnt even think of him.

Just before breaking for lunch at 1 p.m., Little questioned Albert on phone calls the defense said Albert received from her sister, Jennifer McCabe, on the morning of Jan. 29.

Little said records indicated there were two phone calls lasting seven and nine seconds between Albert and McCabe. Albert said she never picked up a phone call from her sister that morning and woke instead when McCabe burst into her bedroom.

Nicole Albert testifies on decisions to move, rehome pet dog  12:50 p.m.

Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally asked Nicole Albert about her familys former pet dog, Chloe, a German Shepherd mix. The defense has raised a theory that the dog attacked John OKeefe inside the Alberts home the night OKeefe died.

Lally also asked if OKeefes death in Jan. 2022 contributed to the Alberts decision to sell their home in April 2023. It had no relation to what happened, Nicole Albert said.

The kids were getting older. We were looking to possibly downsize, she testified, later adding: We had reached out to a Realtor at the end of 2021.

In response to questions from Elizabeth Little, one of Reads lawyers, Albert said Chloe had incidents of biting other dogs. In one May 2022 incident, Chloe had gotten out of the Alberts backyard and was in an altercation with another dog. Two women were injured separating the dogs.

Soon after, the Alberts found Chloe a new home. Under questioning, Albert pushed back on Littles phrasing that the family got rid of the dog.

I did not get rid of my dog, I rehomed my dog, Albert said. Shes in Vermont If she was ever needed for anything, we know where she is.

Nicole Albert, wife of Brian Albert, describes night of Jan. 28  11:45 a.m.

Nicole Albert, the wife of Brian Albert, took the stand. The couple owned 34 Fairview Road in Canton, where OKeefe was found the morning of Jan. 29, 2022. Theyve since moved to Norwood, she said.

Under questioning from Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, Nicole Albert discussed the events of Jan. 28.

A large group had gathered at the Waterfall Bar & Grille in Canton that night. Nicole Albert said she had met John OKeefe a few times but didnt know him well when he joined the group at the Waterfall. Shed never met Read and neither Read nor OKeefe had been to their home before.

Alberts son, Brian Jr., was turning 23 at midnight and was home with two friends. As they left the bar, Albert said, she invited her sister, Jennifer McCabe, back to her home to celebrate.

She said there was no developed plan for others to join in the celebration, but she would have had no problem if anyone sitting with us wanted to come.

Her nephew, Colin Albert, also came to the home. They were joined by Brian Higgins, a friend who worked as an ATF agent, McCabe and her husband, Matthew.

Higgins left the home around 1:30 a.m., the McCabe couple and Brian Albert Jr.s friends left before 2 a.m., and Nicole and Brian Albert Sr.s daughter left afterwards.

McCabe had invited OKeefe and Read, but they never came to the home, Nicole Albert said.

I wasnt aware they were coming, she said.

Nicole Albert said she and her husband awoke the morning of Jan. 29 when Jennifer McCabe burst into their bedroom. McCabe was one of two friends with Read when they found OKeefe on the Alberts lawn.

Hes out in the snow, McCabe told the Alberts. Nicole Albert said she was confused and initially unsure to whom McCabe referred.

Albert said McCabe told her, The police are here and they want to talk to you.

Prosecutors move to throw blogger known as Turtleboy out of the courtroom  11:05 a.m.

Judge Cannone approved a motion from prosecutors to remove Aidan Kearney, the blogger known as Turtleboy, from the courtroom for certain witnesses based on arguments that his presence would have a chilling effect on their testimony.

Kearney has been indicted on witness intimidation charges related to the Read case. He is accused of encouraging his legions of online followers to harass witnesses.

Kearney has blogged extensively about the trial on his website TB Daily News. He argues he has a First Amendment right as a journalist to cover the Read trial.

Cannone excused the jury while she heard arguments on Kearneys presence.

The Commonwealth is creating a circus, Kearney tweeted from the courtroom as his attorney, Timothy Bradl, argued unsuccessfully for Cannone to dismiss the prosecutions request.

The Commonwealth is creating a circus.  Aidan Kearney (@DoctorTurtleboy) May 10, 2024

Cannone named more than a half-dozen witnesses whose testimony Kearney will not be able to hear in person. Among them were Christopher Albert, who testified earlier this week, his son Colin Albert, and lead investigator Michael Proctor.

Defense questions Julie Alberts relationship with lead investigators sister  10:15 a.m.

Defense attorney David Yannetti continued Friday to press Julie Albert about her relationship with Courtney Proctor, the sister of Michael Proctor, the state trooper who investigated OKeefes death. This was one key subject of her testimony Thursday.

Albert agreed she has known the Proctor family for a long time. Courtney Proctor is a good friend, Albert said.

Yannetti questioned Albert on phone calls she had with Courtney Proctor in the months following OKeefes death  allegedly 67 calls between Feb. 1, 2022, and Sept. 6, 2022.

In subsequent questions from Norfolk Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally, Albert said that would be less often than she speaks with other friends on the phone.

The jury is now excused for a 15-minute break.

Testimony resumes  9:25 a.m.

Testimony has resumed at Norfolk Superior Court in the trial of Karen Read.

After a sidebar, a private conversation between attorneys and presiding Judge Beverly Cannone, Julie Albert returns to the stand after testifying Thursday. She is the wife of Chris Albert, a friend of John OKeefe.

On the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, OKeefe was found unresponsive outside the home of Brian Albert, Chris Alberts brother. OKeefe was brought to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
A 30-year-old Michigan man traveled to the Satanic Temple headquarters in Salem with guns, ammunition and homemade bombs, according to U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Michigan Mark Totten.

Luke Terpstra, of Grant, Michigan, was indicted Tuesday. He has been charged with transporting an explosive with the intent to kill, injure, or intimidate individuals or to unlawfully damage or destroy a building. He also faces a separate charge that he illegally possessed a destructive device.

Officials said Terpstra traveled to Massachusetts with the weapons in September 2023. He had built several devices that he characterized as bombs, according to the indictment charges.

The Salem Police Department said the fall trip mightve been for planning purposes. As of January, there was no indication that he had any local help or that he acted with any accomplices, police said.

In December, Tottens office said Terpstra was telling others he had the bombs because he wanted to blow up the Satanic Temple. Officials found Terpstra had items used to make improvised explosive devices in January, including plastic container with coins attached to it and a piece of cannon fuse coming out of the lid; numerous metal carbon dioxide (CO2) cartridges; PVC pipe; ammonium nitrate; and hobby fuses.

On the one hand it is gratifying that our federal and local partners were able to thwart Terpstra. On the other, it is terrifying that he walked in our midst planning such violence, the Salem Police Department wrote in January, adding thatan attack such as Terpstra was planning keeps us up at night.

The Satanic Temple, which opened its first official headquarters in Salem in 2016, and its members dont view Satan as an evil figure, but as one who dared question authority. The group mostly advocates for the separation of church and state and is known for attempting to get its one-ton goat-headed idol statue put next to the 10 Commandments monument on public grounds.

Another man, Sean Patrick Palmer, 49, of Perkins, Okahoma, was arrested and charged in April after officials said he threw a pipe bomb at the temples main entrance.
A 49-year-old Perkins, Oklahoma, man accused of throwing a pipe bomb at The Satanic Temple in Salem last month was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston, acting U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts Joshua S. Levys office said in a statement.

Sean Patrick Palmer was indicted on one count of using fire and an explosive to damage and attempt to damage a building used in interstate or foreign commerce. Palmer was arrested and charged on April 17, more than a week after the pipe bomb was found at the temple on April 8, Levys office said.

Palmer made an initial appearance in federal court in the Western District of Oklahoma on April 18, where he was ordered held, according to Levys office. He is set to be brought back to Massachusetts to face charges, though prosecutors have not said when he will appear in federal court in Boston.

At about 4:14 a.m. on April 8, a man wearing all black and a tan-colored tactical vest and gloves approached The Satanic Temple in Salem and threw a pipe bomb at the main entrance, according to Levys office.

The bomb, identified as an improvised explosive device or IED, partially blew up and caused a minor fire and related damages to the exterior of The Satanic Temple, which also functions as an art gallery.

The pipe bomb appeared to have been constructed from a section of plastic pipe covered with metal nails, which were attached to the pipe with tape, according to charging documents. The inside of the pipe was filled with a powder-like substance, which investigators preliminarily determined was smokeless gunpowder.

A single human hair was reportedly found on the pipe bomb containing the DNA profile of a white Caucasian male, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office.

A six-page handwritten note was found in a flower bed next to where the pipe bomb was found. The letter is addressed, Dear Satanist, and reads in part, Elohim send me to fight crybaby satan, but want me to make hard effort so no one dies. I obey. Elohim is a Hebrew word for God, according to an affidavit filed in federal court.

Prosecutors think Palmer was also responsible for vandalism at the temple in September, where white spray paint referencing bible verses was found on the property. There is a reference in the note to a peaceful message being delivered to the temple seven months prior to the incident, according to the affidavit.

Investigators obtained surveillance footage that reportedly identified a black Volvo sedan registered to Palmer that drove erratically in the vicinity of the temple before and after the bombing, the U.S. Attorneys Office said.

They also found a photograph of Palmer, a caucasian male, posted to social media showing him wearing a tan-color tactical vest like the one worn by the suspect in the surveillance footage.

Charging documents also state that Palmer purchased PVC pipe on April 3 that matched the pipe used to construct the bomb from a home improvement retailer in Oklahoma.

If Palmer is convicted of the charge, he faces a prison sentence of up to 20 years, according to Levys office.

The temples mission is to encourage benevolence and empathy, reject tyrannical authority, advocate practical common sense, oppose injustice and undertake noble pursuits, according to its website. The Salem property, which opened in 2016, serves as the official headquarters for The Satanic Temple.

Its members dont view Satan as an evil figure, but as one who dared question authority, MassLive reported. The group mostly advocates for the separation of church and state and is known for attempting to get its one-ton goat-headed idol statue put next to the 10 Commandments monument on public grounds.

Material from previous MassLive stories was used in this report.
Prosecutors and Machester, N.H., police on Thursday vowed to continue their search for Harmony Montgomery even after her father, Adam Montgomery, was sentenced to more than five decades in prison for her murder.

New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati, speaking to reports after a judge handed down a sentence of 56 years to life in prison for Adam Montgomery in connection with Harmonys murder, addressed the offer he made to Adam Montgomery that the state recommend a lesser sentence in exchange for information about the whereabouts of his daughters body.

Whether the defendant ever chooses to reveal that information to anyone or not, that is his choice. That doesnt mean that the search will stop or that the Manchester Police Department and their partners are [not] going to follow up on leads that come in, he said. But right now, we were really hoping that he would be able to share that information, be willing to do that. And he chose not to. Thats his right.

Manchester police conducted a search just two weeks ago for the girls body in the area where prosecutors believe she may have been dumped. Agati did not say specifically where the search was conducted but prosecutors have previously said they believe the girls body may be in the Revere/Saugus area.

Manchester Police Chief Allen Aldenberg also spoke to reporters, saying Montgomery passed up the opportunity to do one decent good thing in his life on Thursday by failing to disclose where his daughters body is located.

Well keep working hard to do our part to locate Harmony and bring her home, he said. Its not a fun day for Manchester PD. Were not going to go back and be all smiles.

Im thankful for the process and grateful to be where were at. Its been a long road, Aldenberg said, referencing the years-long quest to find the girl, who was not reported missing until 2021.

Harmony Montgomery, shown at age 5, of Manchester, N.H., has not been seen for more than two years. (National Center for Missing & Exploited Children)

Agati said he expected Montgomery to appeal his convictions, and that prosecutors intended to press forward on a pair of weapons trials against Montgomery despite the lengthy prison sentence handed down.

Adam Montgomery was accused of beating and killing Harmony on Dec. 7, 2019, while the family was living in their Chrysler Sebring. Harmony had several bathroom accidents in the car and Montgomery yelled and hit her in the head, according to prosecutors.

Montgomery admitted to two of the lesser charges in the case on Feb. 7: falsifying physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. Montgomery did not appear in court during his trial, nor was he present when the jury delivered the verdict.

Attorney Caroline Smith, who represented Montgomery, said her client did not need to show remorse because he maintains his innocence despite being found guilty.
Police arrested protesters at a pro-Palestine demonstration at MIT Thursday as rally-goers clashed with officers, according to reporters and others at the scene.

The university began issuing suspensions Wednesday for students who were part of the encampment on MITs Kresge Lawn protesting the war in Gaza, WBUR reported. It is unclear how many students were suspended or what specifically they were suspended for.

On Thursday, police and pro-Palestinian protesters near MITs Stata Center got into physical altercations, WBUR reported. There were about 50 officers on the scene, including MIT, Cambridge and Massachusetts State Police.

A group of protesters was arrested, according to WBZ-TVs Beth Germano, but it is unclear how many or whether they were students. Some were taken away from the scene with their hands bound by zip ties, WBUR reported.

One video of the scene shows police officers bringing a protester to the ground and kneeling on top of him. In another, an officer can be seen pushing back protesters.

Who do you serve? Who do you protect? the demonstrators can be heard chanting.

MIT officials previously gave the encampment protesters until 2:30 p.m. on Monday to clear off the universitys lawn. They cited student safety as the key reason for the intervention, especially given the threat of outside interference and potential violence. But on Tuesday, the encampment remained.

MIT, Cambridge and state police did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the arrests Thursday afternoon.

Students from Emerson College, UMass Amherst and Northeastern University have also been arrested at pro-Palestinian encampment protests in the last few weeks.
MIT Police arrested 10 pro-Palestinian protesters at the university early Friday morning as they cleared an encampment that had been established weeks prior on the schools Cambridge campus to protest its ties to Israel, a spokesperson confirmed.

Police arrived at the encampment on Kresge Lawn, which students had subbed the Scientists Against Genocide Encampment, or SAGE, around 4 a.m. Friday and entered the encampment roughly 20 minutes later after warning protesters they were planning to do so, according to a timeline of events published by The Boston Globe.
A tractor-trailer carrying about 15 million bees rolled over on Interstate 95 in Clinton Thursday night, Maine State Police said in a statement.

The tractor-trailer rolled over in the area of I-95 northbound, near mile 141, around 7 p.m. on Thursday, the department said in a statement. It was hauling about 15 million bees.

The driver was taken to the hospital after complaining of pain, Maine State Police said. The bees were mostly contained as first responders worked to save them.

The truck was headed to Washington County, where the bees were set to pollinate blueberry fields, State Police said.

The crash shut down the right lane of the highway throughout the night, according to the statement.
Art isnt just for humans, its for robots, too, and one artist wants Boston Museum of Fine Arts visitors to witness robot dogs try their hands  er, paws?  at painting.

The dogs, which are from Boston Dynamics, are part of artist Agnieszka Pilats newest exhibit: Heterobota: The Language of Tomorrow. The exhibit premieres May 10 as part of the museums MFA Late Nites series, according to MFA website.

Museum attendees can witness two robot dogs, named Basia and Omuzana, paint on a large canvas during the MFA Late Nite between 8 p.m. to midnight, according to the museums website.

The exhibit, which will be held in the Druker Family Pavilion, aims to test audiences threshold for machines to exist outside of servitude and to develop their creative pursuits, according to Pilats website.

While futuristic for our current time, the artwork produced by the robots represents a basic stage of machine-made painting, her website reads. As the first paintings made semi-autonomously by robots, the shapes, patterns and mistakes they make reflect this moment in technological history.

Although the final painting wont be presented at the MFA, Pilat said the importance of the exhibit lies in what it represents: AI in its infancy, before the technology becomes widely used, the Boston Globe reported.

The essence of the show is to show people that this is young technology; this represents a moment, Pilat told the Boston Globe.

Its kind of imperfect, she said, a bit like kids finger-painting.

Were so excited to work with Agnieszka and Boston Dynamics to present this fascinating project, which bridges art and technology, Kristen Hoskins, director of public programs at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, told MassLive in a statement.

Tickets for MFA Late Nite cost $15 for members, $20 for nonmembers in advance and $25 for both members and nonmembers at the door, according to the museums website.
Twice a year, hundreds of visitors flock to Clinton for an opportunity to hike over the top of the Wachusett Dam and gaze over the Wachusett Reservoir.

For guests eager to be one of the first to walk over the dam in 2024, the first Wachusett Dam Day of the year is Saturday, May 11, from 2-5 p.m.

With predictions of a hot and humid summer and most of the state bouncing back from torrential downpours earlier this week, folks attending Dam Day may be relieved to know the weekends weather is perfect for taking a walk outside.

Saturdays forecast predicts a high of near 57 degrees with partly sunny skies and winds between 7 and 10 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Guests will have the option of participating in a 1-mile guided walk along the North Dike from gate 39 leading to the Wachusett Dam at 12:30 p.m., ahead of the official 2 p.m. opening.

Mostly sunny skies are in the forecast for Clinton Dam Days, May 11, 2024. Len Melisurgo | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

Gate 39 is located at the intersection of South Meadow Road and Route 110.

This open hillside walk along the Wachusett Reservoir offers interesting views and points of interest while featuring the history of its construction, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation website. Participants can explore the area around the dam on their own after the hike until the top walkway opens at 2 p.m.

Read more: 10 dam things to do while visiting the Wachusett Dam in Clinton

The dam is only open once in the spring and once in the fall, so if visitors miss the spring showing, they only have one more chance to hike across for the rest of the year. The fall date has not yet been announced.

Visitors at Dam Day at Wachusett Dam on October 13, 2019.

Before you go:

To get to the dam, plug 265 Boylston St. Clinton into your GPS.

Visitors can park along routes 70 and 62 in Clinton. Parking is also allowed about a mile away at Clinton Middle School or Clinton High School.

There is a limited number of reserved spots for people living with disabilities at the entrance to the promenade, according to the states website. Call the Wachusett Reservoir Ranger Station at 978-365-3800.

Visitors can walk across the top of the dam, from one side to the other and down to the grounds below on the land side of the dam, which are open year-round from sunrise to sunset.

Department of Conservation and Recreation rangers are typically on hand to provide information about the agencys watershed protection program during Dam Day.

Backpacks, briefcases and large bags will not be allowed due to security, according to the Dam Day page on the states website.

Dam Day at Wachusett Dam on October 13, 2019.

Other items may be subject to search.

Dogs are also not allowed at the top of the dam and there are no restrooms on the property.

About the Wachusett Dam:

The Wachusett Dam was completed in 1905.

At the time, it was the largest gravity dam in the world. The walkway to the top of the dam closed to the public in the 1990s due to water supply security and public safety concerns.

The Wachusett Reservoir provides water to metropolitan Boston and holds about 65 billion gallons of water. It is the second-largest body of water in the state.
An attorney for Karen Read, a Mansfield woman charged in the death of her Boston police officer boyfriend, John OKeefe, spent Thursday morning cross-examining two of the states witnesses about their relationships with police investigators in the murder case.

Read, 44, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of OKeefe, who was found cold to the touch and unresponsive on Jan. 29, 2022, outside of a home in Canton.

Jurors heard Wednesday and Thursday from friends of OKeefe who went out drinking at two bars in Canton on Jan. 28, 2022. Married couple Michael and Katherine Camerano said Wednesday that the couple seemed normal, affectionate and they did not detect any tension between Read and OKeefe at C.F. McCarthys.

 Read more: Karen Read and John OKeefe were lovey-dovey night before his death, witness says

On Thursday, Chris and Julie Albert took the stand. Both were at the Waterfall Bar & Grille on Jan. 28, 2022, the second bar that OKeefe and Read went to that night.

Chris Alberts brother is Brian Albert, a retired Boston police officer and homeowner of 34 Fairview Road, where OKeefes body was found outside the following morning, covered in snow and with severe blunt trauma to his head.

Norfolk prosecutors charged Read after his death and stated that she struck OKeefe with her SUV while driving intoxicated. Reads attorney, David Yannetti, stated during the trials opening statements that her car never struck OKeefe and that others are to blame for his death.

Under direct examination from Norfolk County Assistant District Attorney Adam Lally on Thursday, Chris Albert said that OKeefe bought a home on the same street he lived on in 2017 and that they had a good relationship and were friends.

Chris Albert said he saw Read on Jan. 28, 2022, walk into the bar with a glass hidden beneath her jacket with clear liquid and that he found it amusing.

OKeefe went to the bar to order a beer and everyone was having a good time, Chris Albert said.

 Read more: Friends of John OKeefe testify about night before his death at Karen Read trial

Scenes from Karen Read trial on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Here: Witness Christopher Albert is testifying. (David McGlynn/NY Post)David McGlynn/NY Post

When Yannetti began questioning Chris Albert, he asked about the connections the Albert family has to Canton. Chris Albert said he was recently elected to the towns Select Board, that his brother, Kevin Albert, works for the Canton Police Department, and that his family moved to Canton when he was young.

You would agree that your entire family has deep roots in the town of Canton?, Yannetti asked.

I guess, Chris Albert said.

Yannetti projected a photo that showed Chris Albert and Cantons former police chief, Kenneth Berkowitz, together at a fundraising event for Chris Albert during his select board campaign.

Berkowitz, the police chief at the time of OKeefes death, found pieces of broken taillight outside of 34 Fairview Road a week after OKeefes body was discovered, according to Yannetti during the trials opening statements last week. The first Canton police officers who arrived on the scene on the morning of Jan. 29, 2022, did not find pieces of broken taillight that morning, according to their testimony last week.

A photograph shown during the trial of Karen Read on Thursday, May 9, 2024. Shown are former Canton Chief of Police Ken Berkowitz, left, and Chris Albert at a campaign fundraiser.Law & Crime/Pool camera

Chris Albert agreed that he was a childhood friend of Canton Police Lt. Michael Lank, one of the police officers who responded to 34 Fairview Road on Jan. 29, 2022. He also agreed that he had previously met Massachusetts State Police Trooper Michael Proctor before an investigatory interview.

When Julie Albert took the stand, Yannetti questioned her relationship with Courtney Proctor, the sister of Michael Proctor, the state trooper who investigated OKeefes death.

Do you deny that you are very close with Courtney Proctor? Yannetti asked.

No, Julie Albert said.

She said she provided child care for Courtney Proctors two children in 2019.

Scenes from Karen Read trial on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Norfolk County Superior Court in Dedham, Mass. Here: Witness Julie Albert is testifying. (David McGlynn/NY Post)David McGlynn/NY Post

Yannetti questioned whether she denied speaking with Courtney Proctor 67 times on the phone between Feb. 1, 2022, and Sept. 6, 2022. She responded she could not recall the exact number of times.

Reads attorney handed Julie Albert a piece of paper with phone records and asked about a 12-minute phone call between Julie Albert and Courtney Proctor on Feb. 1, 2022  the day of Reads arrest.

Yes, I see it, Julie Albert said. I just dont recall, it was a long time ago.

Presiding Judge Beverly Cannone ended questioning shortly after, and by 12:30 p.m., jurors were dismissed for the day.

Testimony will resume on Friday morning and the trial is expected to last another four to six weeks.

 Read more: Blood in Solo cups, bias claims: Karen Reads lawyers put police on trial

During testimony on Monday and Tuesday, Reads attorneys questioned why blood samples collected at the scene where OKeefes body was found were placed into red Solo cups and brought to the police station in a brown paper bag. Her attorneys also probed relationships between Canton Police Lt. Michael Lank, one of the first police on the scene, and members of the Albert family, who are witnesses in the case.

Brian Albert, also a Boston police officer, was the homeowner of 34 Fairview Road when OKeefes body was found on the front lawn.

Opening statements began April 29 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 previously said that three men in the Canton house on the night of OKeefes death had a motive and the means to attack him.

 Read more: 4 takeaways from Karen Read trial: texts, taillight damage and first witnesses

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.
Worcester police released a photo and description of a man suspected in connection with the shooting death of Bob Nuah on Allendale Street on April 13.

Lino Menjivar, 30, of 23 Jefferson St., aka L, is wanted for armed assault to murder, carrying a firearm without an LTC, carrying a loaded firearm and discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a building, according to a wanted poster the department released Thursday.

He was described by police as 5 feet 5 inches with black hair, brown eyes and face tattoos.

Menjivars last known location is in Virginia, however his exact whereabouts are unknown at this time, police said. USE CAUTION, A FIREARM WAS USED AND HAS NOT BEEN RECOVERED. MENJIVAR SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND DANGEROUS.

Officers found Nuah unresponsive around 2:20 a.m. after they were called to Allendale Street by the citys ShotSpotter system, which alerts police to sounds of gunfire, Worcester police said previously. They tried to aid him medically, but he was declared dead shortly after he arrived at a hospital.

Nuah was killed a short distance from his home, according to The Telegram & Gazette. He was well-known and loved in Worcester, his sisters told the newspaper. On Monday, there was a makeshift candle memorial for Nuah at Fuller Family Park.

Nuah was a 2018 graduate of Worcesters Claremont Academy high school and was studying to become a dental assistant when he was killed, the Telegram & Gazette reported. He was also an active member of Greendale Peoples Church in Worcester.

Nuah had five siblings, the newspaper reported. He leaves behind his mother, an older brother and younger twin brothers in addition to his sisters, cousin and other family and friends.

Bob was a loving person, kind, Princess Nuah told the Telegram & Gazette. Knowing Bob is loving Bob, Rita Nuah added.Anyone with information about the shooting is asked to send an anonymous tip to Worcester police at 274637 or worcesterma.gov/police. You can also call Worcester police detectives at (508) 799-8651.

Nuah is one of several people who have been killed in Worcester since the beginning of the year. Sadrac Metellus was arrested for fatally stabbing a woman on Feb. 14 and was ordered held without bail the next day. On March 5, Chasity and her 11-year-old Zella Nunez were killed in a shooting in the area of Englewood Avenue and Lisbon Street, with two men in custody. A 14-year-old, Sterling Baptiste Jr., was killed on April 26, with at least two other teenagers in custody.
With President Joe Biden facing heat from the left and right for his threat to withhold offensive weapons from Israel, one Massachusetts lawmaker has some advice for the White House.

In a post to X, formerly Twitter, U.S. Rep. Jake Auchincloss said there must be no daylight between Israel and the United States on security, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyaus government gears up for a possible all-out assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip.

For Israel, U.S. materiel is necessary to dismantle Hamas, a barbaric terrorist cult that wont honor a ceasefire, and to deter attacks from other terrorist groups, Auchincloss, D-4th District, who is Jewish, and a staunch defender of Israel, wrote in a lengthy statement.

Tension between friends must not become an opening for enemies. pic.twitter.com/pyg8y5pr9b  Rep. Jake Auchincloss  (@RepAuchincloss) May 9, 2024

Biden, in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, said that the U.S. was still committed to Israels defense and would supply Iron Dome rocket interceptors and other defensive arms but that if Israel goes into Rafah, the last major Hamas stronghold, were not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells used, in such an incursion, the Associated Press reported.

Biden acknowledged that civilians have been killed in Gaza by the type of heavy bombs that the U.S. has been supplying -- his first validation of what administration critics have been loudly protesting, even if he still stopped short of taking responsibility.

Bidens threat to hold up artillery shells expanded on earlier revelations that the U.S. was going to pause a shipment of heavy bombs, the AP reported.

The White Houses announcement raised alarms in Israel, which is still reeling more than seven months after a Hamas sneak attack claimed the lives of 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and saw hundreds more taken hostage.

Israels counterattack, meanwhile, has seen 34,844 Palestinians killed, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilian and combatant casualties.

If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone, Netanyahu said in a video message for Israels Independence Day on Thursday, the Washington Post reported.

The Democratic presidents pronouncement earned him a rebuke from both his right and left flanks, with lawmakers pointing out the recent, overwhelmingly bipartisan vote to approve billions of dollars in foreign aid to Israel.

U.S. Rep. Brad Schneider, D-Ill., said in a Thursday statement that he was deeply concerned about the decision as well as the Presidents comments about withholding security assistance to Israel, according to Axios.

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., teamed up on a letter demanding details about the decision by weeks end, Axios further reported.

In his Thursday statement, Auchincloss urged Biden and Netanyahu to take several steps to ease the strain between the two countries, including [offering] an actionable plan for governance in Gaza that ensures Israeli security and Palestinian humanitarian needs.

Tensions between friends must not become an opening for enemies, Auchincloss said.
SPRINGFIELD  The New England Farm Workers Council sold three buildings on Main Street and two parking lots last week, continuing to chip away at what started as a $1.8 million debt owed due to the misuse of federal funds.

The sales price was $250,000, according to documents filed with the Hampden County Registry of Deeds. That included Grahams Package Store, a vacant storefront with a sign identifying it as the Board of Trade Block and Paramount Pizza. The three-building complex is described in paperwork as 1645-1663 and 1655 Main St. The parking lots are around the corner at 19-23 Lyman St.
AMHERST  A new chancellors decision this week to send police to clear a student protest at the University of Massachusetts Amherst campus is bringing both calls for his removal and sympathy from supporters.

It also led the universitys commencement speaker, Colson Whitehead, a novelist twice awarded the Pulitzer Prize for fiction, to announce his decision to back out of speaking at next weeks graduation ceremony.
A Mayo man living in Co Kilkenny brought some west of Ireland culture to the banks of the Nore by building a traditional Achill curragh in aid of two charities.

Proud Achill man Pat Sweeney alone with Pat Comerford from Ballyragget, Co Kilkenny and other friends formed the charity Pulling Together to Save Lives and built a traditional Achill curragh in aid of Teac Tom Mental Health Services helping to prevent suicide and Achill RNLI saving lives at sea.

Teac Tom provide mental health services in Laois and surrounding areas, while Achill RNLI ensure safety off the shores of the west coast of Mayo.

Neither of the two Pats or their friends had ever built a currach before but nine months ago they decided to build one based on the design of an Achill currach.

It was difficult to find plans to build a currach as generally the craft is handed down from father to son so the two men went to Achill to study and measure a currach and set to work. What is unique about the midlands Currach is that it is built with nine or ten kinds of timber but a traditional Achill currach is made of yew wood while the midlands currach is mostly made of oak, teak, Irish walnut amongst others.

Over the last couple of months the men have been busy putting the currach together and it will be soon ready to launch and put into the water. The seats of the boat are carved with the names of the builders in Irish by Aaron Purser, Burren Woodcraft, Co Carlow with an extra seat planned for Cairde friends.

The public launch of the Currach will be held in The CastleArms Hotel, Durrow, Co Laois on June 7 at 8pm with an opportunity for the public to have a look at this unique piece of carpentry and workmanship and meet the lads for a chat.

The plan is then to take to the water. First with a row in the River Barrow from July 5 to 7 and then the currach will head west and see how it survives the waters of the Atlantic around Achill Island on July 19.

A big group from Kilkenny and Laois plan to travel to Achill to take the currach on the water and they also look to attend the Inishturk Regatta.

The currach supports three rowers but with the aim to raise funds for charity, people are invited to take turns to row with them to raise some funds for these essential services.

More information is available on their Facebook page Pulling Together To Save Lives and donations can be made on www.idonate.ie.
WE have a fiction bookclub at our bookshop Tertulia in Westport, and our choice last month was James, by Percival Everett, which was published in April by Mantle. Ahead of publication, it was already receiving rave reviews, with many claiming it was the book to watch out for in 2024.

Everett is an American writer, and his last book, The Trees, was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. James is a retelling of Mark Twains Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, first published in 1885  but this time the story is told from of the slave Jim.

Jim is Miss Watsons slave, and Miss Watson watches over Huck (Huckleberry Finn), whose father is abusive and absent most of the time. Jim overhears that Miss Watson is planning to sell him and separate him from his wife and child. He escapes to Jackson Island to hide out and decide what to do.

Huck follows him there. Jim tells him, I had to run fo she done it. But you got a family, says Huck. Don mean nuffin ifn you a slave, comes the reply.

And so begins the heartbreaking story of Jims life in bondage. As a slave, he has no voice, no right to exist, no right to be with his family. Before escaping, he would give lessons to slave children in how to speak the slave dialect. White man must never hear them speaking as they, the white people, do. They must never know that Jim can read or write.

Huck and Jim set off downriver in Missouri, a slave state, heading for the free state of Illinois. Civil war is breaking out, and they meet soldiers heading to fight.

They have many adventures and near misses. They meet con artists and are forced to be part of their tricks. Jim is re-enslaved and escapes. He wants to write his story, and he steals a book from a theatrical company that saves him but then enslaves him again as part of its Black Minstrel Show. He has a pencil another slave gave him, but then he witnesses the slaves execution for stealing that pencil. He wonders at Hucks youthful sense of adventure, which remains throughout all that is happening to them  saying that hes envious of it, to tell the truth, to be able to feel that in a world without fear of being hanged to death, or worse.

There are many twists and turns to the story, some wholly unexpected. The story is not new to us, of course, in that this is a retelling  but the recounting of the tale from the perspective of what it was like to be a slave just blew me away. I am reminded of the pages power to reveal truths. The cruelty is heartbreaking; the inhumanity is heartbreaking. We see Jims ability to survive and in so doing to discover his own truth.

I can only agree with those other reviews: This is a must read for 2024.

Whales and Whales

Skein Press is a small publishing house based in Dublin that publishes thought-provoking stories not commonly featured in the literary arts in Ireland. I have featured some their stunning publications previously, and now Im delighted to introduce another.

Skeins latest book is a poetry collection entitled Whales and Whales, by Luisa Castro, translated by Keith Payne. It was first published in 1988 and is considered one of the most pivotal collections in contemporary Galician poetry. This is the first English translation.

Whales and Whales was written in post-dictatorship Spain, originally in Galego, a language which had previously been marginalised. This version has both English and Galego.

The collection reflects a time when people who had come to the cities to fill the new car factories and fish canneries while their children  like this poet  attended university and discovered who they were in this new emerging society. Disarmingly vulnerable and intensely liberating, these poems reveal the dreams and awakenings of a young girl becoming a woman in a society yet to learn how to accommodate her, says the blurb.

Apparently, Luisa Castro typed these poems on her white Olivetti Lettera 35 in her flat in Santiago de Compostela. They are beautifully surreal at times, but they also tell her story. Her father fished in the icy waters of the Atlantic, and she opens with Im all at sea out here. Irelands as far away as you are, as this heart that doesnt love you / Todo me da voltas. Irlanda esa lonxe coma ti, equidistantes do meu corazon que non vos ama.

Luisa Castro is the author of nine collections of poetry and six novels. She has been awarded the King Juan Carlos Prize, The Hiperion Prize and the Herralde Prize among others. Once director of the Cervantes Institute in Naples, Bordeaux, she is currently director of the Cervantes Institute in Dublin.

 Tertulia will hold bookclub meetings on two evenings this month  Thursday, May 23, at 7pm, and Sunday, May 26, at 5pm  to accommodate members who can not make one of the dates. This month, the club is reading Enter Ghost, by Isabella Hammad, a story about the West Bank. All are welcome.



Brid Conroy and her husband, Neil Paul, run Tertulia bookshop at The Quay, Westport.
European election candidate, Saoirse McHugh, has called on all local authorities and farming bodies to plan for climate change.

The Midlands North West candidate urged the bodies to make climate resilience central to their development plans, or risk leaving themselves exposed to disasters.

The weather is getting wetter and much less predictable and is therefore more likely to cause disruption to peoples lives, she told The Mayo News.

She continued: We had solid rain from September last year until a few weeks ago, floods not draining, machines couldnt get into fields. There was lots of politicians out calling for emergency supports, but very few willing to try and prepare for what these new, unpredictable weather systems will cause.

MET Eireann has reported that rainfall throughout the last 30-year period is up 7 percent on the previous period, and this looks set to continue as global temperatures rise. Ms McHugh has warned that the real threat is in the extreme weather that climate change can bring.

So far in Ireland we have escaped the killer heat waves and droughts that have hit other parts of Europe, but were completely unprepared for if they do arrive. A three-month drought could put our water systems and agriculture under serious pressure because we dont have the infrastructure in place, she said.

The former Green Party member said this kind of weather must be planned for in the long term with meaningful community engagement.

She added: That means looking at water tables, soft engineering for flood management and county development plans. It means having clear and honest conversations with communities about which direction things are heading and how we can best prepare for that. The good news for Ireland is that we have so far avoided extreme weather events, we have a temperate climate, were not very densely populated and are a relatively wealthy country, so theres a lot we can do.

A study by The European Central Bank has linked extreme weather shocks to food price increases which are contributing to the current cost of living crisis, something Ms McHugh believes we could see more of.

She explained: Unfortunately, we import so much of our food from areas like the south of Spain, which have been experiencing major droughts. If harvests are impacted, food prices will rise. Theres a lot we can do with our food systems here in Ireland to reduce dependency on imports, and we need to move on that while we can.

Data from the EUs Copernicus Climate Change Service show that April 2024 was globally warmer than any previous April on record, making it the eleventh month in a row where this record has been broken, a worrying development which Ms McHugh claims is not being taken seriously enough.

I think were way past mincing around with this. The changes have to happen, and the only way to make them happen quickly is if they can improve peoples material conditions. State owned renewables can reduce energy costs, state funded retrofitting can make housing more affordable and available, there are ways to make it work.

We cant let conspiracy theories or polluting lobbies slow down climate action anymore, weve already lost too much time. Making us resilient can make life better in so many ways through shorter commutes, good jobs and more natural areas so theres so much to gain by acting now, she concluded.
A man has been jailed for 15 months for his role in assisting a teenager in an assault which left a young man with a catastrophic brain injury.

The victim, Kean Doherty was 19 at the time of the assault. A 16-year-old boy who cannot be named for legal reasons carried out the attack and was known to Paul Burgess (43), who has now been jailed for assisting the teenager.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Burgess assisted the boy by driving with him to the area, where Burgess pushed Mr Doherty against railings, then forced him to the ground before striking him.

The assault happened on December 28, 2018 at Ballyvaughan Lane, Lucan, Co. Dublin.

At the time of the assault, Mr Doherty had been released from the National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH) to spend Christmas with his family. He was being treated at the hospital after sustaining serious head and brain injuries following a road traffic accident in June 2018.

Mr Doherty was taken to hospital following the assault, which exacerbated the injuries he sustained in the road traffic accident.

The teenager who carried out the attack received a formal caution and was dealt with under the youth diversion scheme, the court heard.

Mr Doherty's mother Samantha read a powerful victim impact statement to the court, in which she said her son suffered a catastrophic brain injury following the assault.

She said the family had been excited Kean was coming home for Christmas and were overjoyed by his progress at the NRH.

Ms Doherty described arriving at the scene and her son being taken to hospital. She said it was like deja vu for the family, as Kean was treated in the hospital where he suffered a stroke due to brain clots following the attack.

We had to sit and watch our son fight for life over the actions of others, she said, adding that the family prepared for a funeral while praying for a miracle.

Burgess (43) pleaded guilty to a count of assisting an offender on December 28, 2018.

After hearing the facts, Judge Martin Nolan adjourned the case overnight to consider his verdict. He then handed Burgess a 15-month sentence, saying he had put Mr Doherty in a position of danger where he was attacked.

Judge Nolan said Burgess had no idea of the vulnerability of Mr Doherty and had not intended for this to occur. Judge Nolan said: Im sorry to have to imprison him (Burgess) because I think hes a decent man, but in this case, he deserves it.

The court heard Burgess drove with the teenager to the lane. After getting out of the car, he pushed Mr Doherty onto railings, then swept his feet from under him, forcing him to the ground.

The teenager then got out of the car and struck Mr Doherty around four times. Burgess helped Mr Doherty to sit up against the railings before he left the scene with the boy.

Burgess, of Mount Bellew Green, Lucan, Co. Dublin attended his local garda station voluntarily the following day after gardai sought information on the assault.

He told gardai he went with the boy to look for the person who tried to take the teenager's bike. After Mr Doherty was pointed out as someone who had been involved, Burgess said he got out of the car, grabbed Mr Doherty and spoke to him.

Burgess has five previous convictions, all for road traffic offences.

Dominic McGinn SC, defending, said Burgess was a hard-working family man who went to the gardai when he realised there was an investigation and recognised, in hindsight, that he should not have acted as he did.
by Ray Schultz , May 9, 2024

Gannett has unloaded more New Mexico publications, selling Alamogordo Daily News, Carlsbad-Current Argus and Ruidoso News to El Rito Media LLC.

Last week, Gannett signed a deal to sell The Farmington Daily Times to Ballantine Communications Inc., effective June 1.

Gannett has sold several small publications around the country as it seeks to reduce costs.

El Rito Media publishes two other newspapers in the state, Rio Grande Sun and Artesia Daily. Gannett still owns one New Mexico paper, Las Cruces Sun-News, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.

Gannetts mission is to empower and enrich communities across the country, and our business decisions are driven by our commitment to best serve them, Michael Anastasi, VP of local news for Gannett, said last week, according to The Farmington Daily Times.

Anastasi adds, We are grateful for the support of our readers and advertisers throughout the years and thank our employees for their dedication and hard work.
by Colin Kirkland , May 9, 2024

As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to spread across industries and headlines, it can be difficult to track and understand the overall AI landscape.

This is why LinkedIn has partnered with parent company Microsoft to offer a detailed overview of the growing impact of AI, especially among marketers.

The report, which surveyed 31,000 people across 31 countries, shows that use of generative-AI technology has almost doubled over the past six months, with 75% of global knowledge workers using AI tools in daily tasks.

Nine in ten users say AI helps them save time, over 80% say it helps them focus on their most important work, be more creative, and enjoy their work more, which is feedback that aligns with what tech giants like Meta have been pitching around their emerging generative-AI ad tools  to fulfill mundane tasks so workers have more time to strategize.

advertisement advertisement

However, while this may be true in some cases, workers are still concerned about being replaced by the development of AI tools. Almost 80% of AI users bring their own AI tools to work, especially at small and medium-sized companies. But over half of people who use AI at work are reluctant to admit using it for their most important tasks and worry that doing so makes them look replaceable.

Many of these people (68%) bring AI tools to their jobs because they struggle with the pace and volume of work; 46% feel burned out. The report suggests that without company-wide AI adoption, company data may be at risk.

But leaders who are extremely familiar with AI plan on implementing company-wide integrations over the next five years. Between 40% and 50% of these leaders are expecting to redesign business processes from the ground up with AI and anticipate orchestrating and training a team of AI bots.

Based on LinkedIn user data, AI skills are becoming more crucial to employers. Two-thirds of leaders say they wont hire anyone without AI skills, while 71% say theyd rather hire a less experienced candidate with AI skills than a more experienced candidate without them.

LinkedIn data points included in the report also show a massive spike in user-interest surrounding AI. In the past six months, the use of LinkedIn Learning courses designed to build AI aptitude has jumped 160% among non-technical professionals, with roles like project managers, architects, and administrative assistants.

The professional social media network has also seen 142 times more LinkedIn members adding AI skills like ChatGPT and Copilot to their profiles, with writers, designers, and marketers topping the list.

Marketers are interested for good reason, the report suggests. Two of the top ways B2B marketers say they plan to use generative AI this year include increasing efficiency to focus on higher value work (55%) and creating optimized and engaging content that resonates with target audiences (51%).
by Ray Schultz , May 9, 2024

Brands that advertise with only a small number of publishers are cutting themselves off from valuable search traffic.

Thats the view from Yext, a digital presence platform. It claims that marketers who harness the power of an extended publisher network see 186% more clicks on Google.

Those that restrict themselves to a few  say, Google, Apple or Facebook  do not see that performance.

Indeed, over 17% of a typical locations website traffic came from non-Google publishers.

Its been a common misconception in the industry that limiting information management to a few major publishers is enough to win in organic search, says Christian J. Ward, EVP and chief data officer of Yext.

Ward adds, Our research clearly shows the importance of showing up consistently and accurately across a broad network for stronger discoverability. Companies who are showing up across all search engines, AI tools, social media, and other emerging channels will be best positioned to win.

advertisement advertisement

Just how did Yext come up with this idea? It analyzed 620,000 global locations across 15 industries observed in its platform.

Yext claims that brands using less than 50% of its network, consisting of over 200 publishers, saw the least amount of Google traffic. Those that utilize 50-75% drew a 95% increases in clicks from Google.

This qualifies as a sales pitch, but there may be a grain of truth in it: brands with the widest reach will likely pull the most clicks.

The other claims may have to be taken on faith.
by Colin Kirkland , May 9, 2024

Roblox shares plummeted more than 20% in trading Thursday after the metaverse gaming company cut its annual bookings forecast, signaling a downturn in in-game spending and uncertain economic outlook in the video-gaming industry as a whole.

The company lowered its full-year bookings guidance to between $4 billion and $4.1 billion, down from $4.14 billion to $4.28 billion.

Its second-quarter bookings forecast of $870 million to $900 million was also below estimates.

We want to be very transparent, conservative, and responsible, which is why we made the very difficult internal decision to adjust our guidance, said Roblox founder and CEO David Baszucki during Thursday's investor call.

The number of hours that gamers ages 13 and up spent on Roblox grew 19% in the first quarter, marking the lowest growth rate for the company in two years. Its average daily active users increased 17% to 77.7 million, which also marks the lowest growth rate since the company went public in 2021.

advertisement advertisement

Roblox CFO Michael Guthrie commented that the low growth rate was not unusual, taking into account the onboarding of older gamers who take time to get used to a new platform.

The results align with a larger trend in the video-gaming industry, which saw an estimated 0.6% growth in 2023, compared to 8% in 2020, according to research firm Newzoo. Lower engagement is expected to keep growth in the PC and console market below pre-pandemic levels through 2026.

We want to be optimizing not just short-term improvements in bookings and DAU, but long-term platform health as well, added Baszucki.

Over the past three quarters, Roblox has aimed for efficiency, making layoffs and slowing hiring, which has helped the company reduce capital expenditures by nearly 50% this quarter compared to last year. The company also generated more free cash flow ($191.1 million) in Q1 than in all of 2023.

To diversify its revenue, Roblox also began testing video ads at the end of 2023, giving revenue sharing opportunities to developers who feature ads in their virtual worlds. Now the company has introduced video ads displaying content from major brands and agencies like Walmart, Warner Bros., and Dentsu.

The company plans on providing forecast for ad revenue in 2025 and expects the business to add to its growth in the following two years.
by Teresa Buyikian , May 9, 2024

When your name is Duck Donuts, and youre founded on the shores of Duck, North Carolina, all of your branding pretty much has to be duck-related.

From Ollie the cartoon Duckbassador to employees known as members of the flock and its Quack Gives Back fundraising arm, the 150 unit donut chain is more than a little committed to its brand ID. So when it was time to create a new SMS-based customer loyalty program, of course it had to be on-duck... um, on-brand.

Thus Duck Donuts has partnered with mobile engagement platform Vibes to launch QuackChat, its new SMS and mobile wallet rewards program. The program will send direct mobile messages to its registered members, where they can opt in for alerts about new flavors, freebies, LTOs, special promotions and other events, with the ability to save offers to their mobile wallets, simplifying redemption.

advertisement advertisement

SMS and mobile-first loyalty programs are gaining traction in the restaurant industry.

We quickly learned mobile marketing was a great solution [for reaching our customers], with open and read rates of text messages at 98% and 70%, Duck Donuts CEO Betsy Hamm told Marketing Daily.

The chain aims to have 100,000 QuackChat members by the end of the year.

At Duck Donuts, we are focused on building our community, loyalty and brand awareness through an integrated marketing and communications strategy," said Hamm. QuackChat is a tactic that complements our email marketing, website, organic and paid social media efforts, and more.

Looking toward the future, Hamm commented Consumers are consuming news and information digitally and it is important for brands to be maximizing their digital presence to stay top of mind to guests. A big focus for 2024 is revamping our online ordering platform to provide a better experience for our guests.

New QuackChat members will receive a free welcome donut of their choice offer with purchase upon registering. Customers can register by texting DOZEN to 50282 to join. The offer can be then saved to the users mobile wallet for later use at a register or kiosk.
by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, May 10, 2024

A federal judge has dismissed X Corp's lawsuit against Israeli company Bright Data, which allegedly scraped and sold publicly available data that users had posted to the tech platform X, formerly Twitter.

The ruling, issued Thursday by U.S. District Court Judge William Alsup in the Northern District of California, marks the second time Bright Data has prevailed in a dispute with a social media platform. Earlier this year, Bright Data defeated a similar lawsuit brought by Meta Platforms.

Thursday's ruling stems from a lawsuit brought last July by X Corp., which accused Bright Data of using automated tools to collect data about tweets, and also selling both the scraped data and data-scraping tools. The complaint included claims that Bright Data violated X Corp.'s terms of service, and that it effectively misappropriated X Corp's data.

Alsup said in his ruling that even if X Corp. could prove Bright Data violated X's contractual terms by scraping data, X Corp. would also have to show how it was harmed by the scraping to prevail on that claim.

advertisement advertisement

"Under California law, '[a] breach of contract without damage is not actionable," he wrote, quoting from prior cases. "X Corp. has not alleged any damage resulting from access through unauthorized means, Alsup added.

Alsup also found that federal copyright law overrode X Corp's claims relating to Bright Data's alleged sale of data that had been publicly posted by users.

X Corp's claims would upend the careful balance Congress struck between what copyright owners own and do not own, and what they leave for others to draw on, Alsup wrote.

He added that X Corp.'s theories would give the company de facto copyright ownership in copyrighted content that X users designated for public use.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia, May 09, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Harvard University -- Eight years into Vision 2030, Saudi Arabia has made significant strides with digital innovations and enhanced access to quality care. Strategic investments in infrastructure, technology, and talent, have led to advancements revolutionizing patient care delivery and elevating the standards of healthcare locally. These efforts have notably raised the average life expectancy, reduced mortality rates, and enhanced overall well-being across the Kingdom.



Advertisement
What is Adenomyosis or Bulky Uterus?

Adenomyosis or Bulky Uterus is a benign (not life-threatening) condition of the uterus in which the cells that normally line the inside of the uterus (endometrium), grow into the muscle layer (myometrium) of the uterus.

Adenomyosis is only found in women who are in their reproductive years. This is because the hormone estrogen is required to develop this condition and it eventually goes away after menopause when the level of estrogen in the body drops.

Even after invading the myometrium tissue, the endometrial cells continue to function as they would, during each menstrual cycle. The endometrial cells thicken, break down and result in menstrual bleeding. This results in thickening of the uterine walls and diffuse enlargement of uterus and heavy periods. Though Adenomyosis is not life-threatening, frequent pain and heavy periods can affect a womans quality of life.

The symptoms are noticed either during pregnancy or after having children. The prevalence is estimated to be 20% to 30% in the general female population.

About 30% to 50% of women with Adenomyosis have no symptoms.

Advertisement

The causes of Adenomyosis are not yet understood, but the disease typically disappears after menopause.

Surgery: Incisions made in the uterus during surgery such as Cesarean Section or removal of fibroids may promote the direct invasion of the endometrial cells into the wall of the uterus.

Incisions made in the uterus during surgery such as Cesarean Section or removal of fibroids may promote the direct invasion of the endometrial cells into the wall of the uterus. Uterine inflammation: An inflammation of the uterine lining during childbirth or surgical procedures on the uterus might cause a breakage in the usual boundaries of cells that line the uterus and result in cells from inner layer to be embedded into the muscle layer of the uterus.

An inflammation of the uterine lining during childbirth or surgical procedures on the uterus might cause a breakage in the usual boundaries of cells that line the uterus and result in cells from inner layer to be embedded into the muscle layer of the uterus. Developmental: It is speculated that the endometrial tissue is deposited within the uterine muscle in the developmental stages when the uterus is formed in the fetus and this endometrial tissue proliferates in the adult years resulting in Adenomyosis.

It is speculated that the endometrial tissue is deposited within the uterine muscle in the developmental stages when the uterus is formed in the fetus and this endometrial tissue proliferates in the adult years resulting in Adenomyosis. Stem cell invasion: It is speculated that bone marrow cells stem may invade the uterine muscle wall and cause Adenomyosis.

Advertisement

Heavy or prolonged menstrual bleeding.

Painful periods. There is severe cramping or sharp, stabbing pelvic pain before and during menstruation (dysmenorrhoea). The pain may last throughout your period and worsen as you get older.

Pain during sex.

Bleeding in between periods.

Tenderness and swelling in lower abdomen.

Blood clots during menstrual bleeding.

A pelvic examination : This physical test is performed to determine if your uterus is swollen or tender. Most women with Adenomyosis have a uterus that is two or three times the normal size.

: This physical test is performed to determine if your uterus is swollen or tender. Most women with Adenomyosis have a uterus that is two or three times the normal size. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the uterus : This test is done if the doctor is unable to confirm a diagnosis using an Ultrasound. The MRI scan is done to obtain high resolution images of the uterus. An MRI uses a magnet and radio waves to produce detailed images of your internal organs.

: This test is done if the doctor is unable to confirm a diagnosis using an Ultrasound. The MRI scan is done to obtain high resolution images of the uterus. An MRI uses a magnet and radio waves to produce detailed images of your internal organs. Ultrasound: This test uses sound waves to produce moving images of your uterus. This test is helpful in diagnosing the condition and also ruling out the possibility of tumors within and on the uterus.

Adenomyosis usually goes away after menopause, so the treatment may depend on how close you are to your menopausal period. The treatment options for Adenomyosis include:

Anti-inflammatory Drugs: Your doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, such as Ibuprofen and Naproxen to control the pain. These medicines are taken two to three days before your menses begin and continued throughout your period. These medicines help to relieve the severe spasmodic pain and also reduce the menstrual flow. However, you should not use these medications if you are pregnant.

Your doctor may prescribe anti-inflammatory medications, such as Ibuprofen and Naproxen to control the pain. These medicines are taken two to three days before your menses begin and continued throughout your period. These medicines help to relieve the severe spasmodic pain and also reduce the menstrual flow. However, you should not use these medications if you are pregnant. Hormone Medications: Birth Control pills (oral contraceptives) which contain combined oestrogen and progesterone hormones, or progesterone only contraceptives may be used to help control increased oestrogen levels that may be causing heavy bleeding and severe pain associated with Adenomyosis. Hormone patches or intra uterine devices may also be used.

Advertisement

Hysterectomy: Removal of uterus is advised if your pain is very severe and your menopausal period is many years away. During the surgery the ovaries are usually not removed. It is only used in severe cases and in women who do not plan to have any more children.

is advised if your pain is very severe and your menopausal period is many years away. During the surgery the ovaries are usually not removed. It is only used in severe cases and in women who do not plan to have any more children. Endometrial Ablation: In this procedure the endometrium or lining of the uterine cavity is removed or destroyed. This technique will not work if the endometrial cells have invaded the muscle layer of uterus very deeply. This is performed as an outpatient procedure and has a quick recovery time.

In this procedure the endometrium or lining of the uterine cavity is removed or destroyed. This technique will not work if the endometrial cells have invaded the muscle layer of uterus very deeply. This is performed as an outpatient procedure and has a quick recovery time. Uterine Artery Embolization: Uterine Artery Embolization involves cutting off the blood supply to the affected area. With the blood supply cut off, the Adenomyosis shrinks in size.

Since the causes of Adenomyosis are not yet known, there are no known preventive measures.

Adenomyosis is not a life-threatening illness. There are many treatments available to help alleviate your symptoms. Moreover, Adenomyosis does not affect your fertility levels much and goes away on its own after you reach your menopause.
  Trusted Source

Genome-wide analysis in over 1 million individuals of European ancestry yields improved polygenic risk scores for blood pressure traits



Go to source Trusted Source



Approximately 1.28 billion adults aged between 30 and 79 years globally are affected by hypertension, the majority (two-thirds) living in low- and middle-income countries! #bloodpressure #hypertension #genetic #medindia

Study Details and Outcome

Advertisement

Advertisement

Genome-wide analysis in over 1 million individuals of European ancestry yields improved polygenic risk scores for blood pressure traits - (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38689001/)

More than 30% of adults globally suffer from hypertension, a major controllable risk factor for cardiovascular disease and mortality. Hypertension is characterized by either high systolic blood pressure (SBP) and, or high diastolic blood pressure (DBP) levels ().Blood pressure (BP) demonstrates a strong heritability, with numerous genome-wide association studies (GWAS) emphasizing its intricate structure and the effect of multiple genes.A major progress has been achieved by the scientists in a study at the Queen Mary University of London, in comprehending the genetic elements that impact blood pressure . This study has been published in the journal Nature Genetics by researchers led by Queen Mary University of London and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) to understand how blood pressure is influenced by the genetic traits.The study is one of the most extensive genomic studies on blood pressure to date. It incorporates information from more than 1 million people, providing a foundation for scientists to enhance their comprehension of how blood pressure is controlled.The results have contributed to enhanced polygenic risk scores (PRSs), resulting in more accurate predictions of blood pressure levels and hypertension risk.The researchers identified more than a hundred new regions of the human genome, also known as genomic loci, that seem to impact the individual's blood pressure. A total of over 2,000 independent genetic signals associated with blood pressure had been identified, showing that blood pressure is a highly intricate characteristic influenced by numerous genetic variants.The researchers integrated four extensive datasets from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of blood pressure and hypertension to gain insights into the genetics of blood pressure. Upon detailed analysis of the data, they identified more than 2,000 genomic loci associated with blood pressure, revealing 113 novel regions. Furthermore, the analyses highlighted numerous previously unidentified genes that influence blood pressure. These findings could lead to the identification of new drug targets and contribute to the progress of precision medicine for the early identification and prevention of hypertension.The researchers utilized these analyses to compute polygenic risk scores, which integrate the impacts of all genetic variations, to forecast blood pressure and hypertension risk. In particular, these scores indicate that individuals with the highest genetic risk exhibit average systolic blood pressure levels approximately 17 mmHg higher than those with the lowest genetic risk, along with a 7-fold rise in hypertension risk. Consequently, these polygenic risk scores are capable of distinguishing between patients based on their risk of hypertension and expose significant clinical variances in blood pressure.Helen Warren, Senior Lecturer in Statistical Genetics at Queen Mary University of London and senior last author of the study said, We have now revealed a much larger proportion of the genetic contribution of blood pressure than was previously known,. Warren added, We are making our polygenic risk scores data publicly available. There are many different potential applications of genetic risk scores, so it will be exciting to see how our blood pressure scores can be used to address more clinically relevant questions in the future.Patricia Munroe, Professor of Molecular Medicine at Queen Mary University of London, and another senior author of the paper, said, This large study builds on over 18 years of blood pressure GWAS research. Our results provide new resources for understanding biological mechanisms and importantly new polygenic risk scores for early identification and stratification of people at risk for cardiovascular diseases.Polygenic risk scores have the probability to be a valuable tool in precision medicine. However, a wider range of genomic data is required for them to be widely applicable in routine healthcare. Initially, the collected data focused on individuals of European descent, due to the limited availability of diverse datasets at the beginning of the study. Subsequently, the researchers discovered that the polygenic risk scores could also be utilized for individuals of African descent, a group that has historically been underrepresented in genetic research. This finding was verified by analyzing data from the National Institute of Health's (NIH) All of Us Research Program in the United States, which aims to establish one of the largest biomedical data repositories and expedite research efforts to enhance human health.Approximately 30% of adults residing in the United Kingdom are affected by high blood pressure, medically referred to as hypertension. This condition often has a hereditary aspect, indicating that genetics play a role in its development, alongside environmental factors like consuming excessive amounts of salt, leading a sedentary lifestyle, smoking, and experiencing stress. The constant elevated blood pressure levels can result in detrimental effects on the heart and blood vessels, thereby amplifying the individual's susceptibility to heart disease , kidney disease, stroke , and various other health complications.The research integrated existing genetic information from the UK Biobank, a comprehensive biomedical database with data on genetics and health from around 450,000 UK individuals; the International Consortium for Blood Pressure, which pooled data from 300,000 individuals across 77 cohort studies; and the Million Veteran Program by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which included information from 220,000 individuals. Furthermore, data from Vanderbilt University Medical Center's BioVU biorepository, involving 50,000 individuals, was also included in the study.This comprehensive study encompassing more than one million European individuals led to the identification of more than 2000 BP signals from known and new loci (locations). This study helped the creation of PRSs that captured substantial interindividual variation in BP traits. The PRSs are accessible to the research community worldwide and can be used for further investigations on BP.Source-Eurekalert
  Trusted Source

Wraparound implants represent new approach to treating spinal cord injuries



Go to source Trusted Source

Innovative Spinal Cord Treatment: Promising Results and Future Prospects



The device provides 360-degree spinal cord monitoring without invasive procedures. #spinalinjury #medicalinnovation #medindia

Revolutionizing Spinal Cord Monitoring and Treatment through Advanced Implant Technology

Advertisement

Advertisement

Wraparound implants represent new approach to treating spinal cord injuries - (https://ibcces.org/learning/wraparound-implants-represent-new-approach-to-treating-spinal-cord-injuries/)

A new method for treating spinal injuries may be on the horizon with the development of a miniature, flexible electronic device that encircles the spinal cord. Crafted by a collaboration of engineers, neuroscientists, and surgeons from the University of Cambridge, these devices are capable of capturing nerve signals traveling between the brain and spinal cord. Differing from existing techniques, the Cambridge devices provide a comprehensive view of spinal cord activity by recording 360-degree information ().Experiments conducted on live animal and human cadaver models demonstrated that the devices could stimulate limb movement and circumvent total spinal cord injuries, even in cases where communication between the brain and spinal cord had been entirely severed.Most current approaches to treating spinal injuries involve both piercing the spinal cord with electrodes and placing implants in the brain , which are both high-risk surgeries. The Cambridge-developed devices could lead to treatments for spinal injuries without the need for brain surgery, which would be far safer for patients.While such treatments are still at least several years away, the researchers say the devices could be useful in the near-term for monitoring spinal cord activity during surgery. Better understanding of the spinal cord, which is difficult to study, could lead to improved treatments for a range of conditions, including chronic pain, inflammation and hypertension . The results are reported in the journal Science Advances.The spinal cord is like a highway, carrying information in the form of nerve impulses to and from the brain, said Professor George Malliaras from the Department of Engineering, who co-led the research. Damage to the spinal cord causes that traffic to be interrupted, resulting in profound disability, including irreversible loss of sensory and motor functions.The ability to monitor signals going to and from the spinal cord could dramatically aid in the development of treatments for spinal injuries, and could also be useful in the nearer term for better monitoring of the spinal cord during surgery.Most technologies for monitoring or stimulating the spinal cord only interact with motor neurons along the back, or dorsal, part of the spinal cord, said Dr Damiano Barone from the Department of Clinical Neurosciences, who co-led the research. These approaches can only reach between 20 and 30 percent of the spine, so youre getting an incomplete picture.By taking their inspiration from microelectronics, the researchers developed a way to gain information from the whole spine, by wrapping very thin, high-resolution implants around the spinal cords circumference. This is the first time that safe 360-degree recording of the spinal cord has been possible  earlier approaches for 360-degree monitoring use electrodes that pierce the spine, which can cause spinal injury.The Cambridge-developed biocompatible devices  just a few millionths of a metre thick  are made using advanced photolithography and thin film deposition techniques, and require minimal power to function.The devices intercept the signals travelling on the axons, or nerve fibres, of the spinal cord, allowing the signals to be recorded. The thinness of the devices means they can record the signals without causing any damage to the nerves, since they do not penetrate the spinal cord itself.It was a difficult process, because we havent made spinal implants in this way before, and it wasnt clear that we could safely and successfully place them around the spine, said Malliaras. But because of recent advances in both engineering and neurosurgery, the planets have aligned and weve made major progress in this important area.The devices were implanted using an adaptation to routine surgical procedure so they could be slid under the spinal cord without damaging it. In tests using rat models, the researchers successfully used the devices to stimulate limb movement. The devices showed very low latency  that is, their reaction time was close to human reflexive movement. Further tests in human cadaver models showed that the devices can be successfully placed in humans.The researchers say their approach could change how spinal injuries are treated in future. Current attempts to treat spinal injuries involve both brain and spinal implants, but the Cambridge researchers say the brain implants may not be necessary.If someone has a spinal injury, their brain is fine, but its the connection thats been interrupted, said Barone. As a surgeon, you want to go where the problem is, so adding brain surgery on top of spinal surgery just increases the risk to the patient. We can collect all the information we need from the spinal cord in a far less invasive way, so this would be a much safer approach for treating spinal injuries.While a treatment for spinal injuries is still years away, in the nearer term, the devices could be useful for researchers and surgeons to learn more about this vital, but understudied, part of human anatomy in a non-invasive way. The Cambridge researchers are currently planning to use the devices to monitor nerve activity in the spinal cord during surgery.Its been almost impossible to study the whole of the spinal cord directly in a human, because its so delicate and complex, said Barone. Monitoring during surgery will help us to understand the spinal cord better without damaging it, which in turn will help us develop better therapies for conditions like chronic pain, hypertension or inflammation . This approach shows enormous potential for helping patients.The research was supported in part by the Royal College of Surgeons, the Academy of Medical Sciences, Health Education England, the National Institute for Health Research, and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI).Source-Eurekalert
  Trusted Source

Call for safeguards to prevent unwanted hauntings by AI chatbots of dead loved ones



Go to source Trusted Source



Despite concerns, nearly anyone with internet access can recreate a deceased loved one using AI. #digitalafterlife #ethicalAI #medindia

Challenges and Risks in the Digital Afterlife Industry: Insights from Cambridge Researchers

Navigating the Ethical Terrain of AI-Driven Digital Afterlife Services

Advertisement

Advertisement

Call for safeguards to prevent unwanted hauntings by AI chatbots of dead loved ones - (https://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/call-for-safeguards-to-prevent-unwanted-hauntings-by-ai-chatbots-of-dead-loved-ones)

University of Cambridge researchers caution that artificial intelligence facilitating text and voice interactions with deceased loved ones could pose psychological risks and potentially result in digital "haunting" if lacking proper design safety standards ().These AI chatbots , known as "Deadbots" or "Griefbots," mimic the language patterns and personality traits of the deceased based on their digital traces. Several companies are already providing such services, introducing a novel form of "postmortem presence."AI ethicists from Cambridges Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence outline three design scenarios for platforms that could emerge as part of the developing digital afterlife industry, to show the potential consequences of careless design in an area of AI they describe as high risk.The research, published in the journal Philosophy and Technology, highlights the potential for companies to use deadbots to surreptitiously advertise products to users in the manner of a departed loved one, or distress children by insisting a dead parent is still with you.When the living sign up to be virtually re-created after they die, resulting chatbots could be used by companies to spam surviving family and friends with unsolicited notifications, reminders and updates about the services they provide  akin to being digitally stalked by the dead.Even those who take initial comfort from a deadbot may get drained by daily interactions that become an overwhelming emotional weight, argue researchers, yet may also be powerless to have an AI simulation suspended if their now-deceased loved one signed a lengthy contract with a digital afterlife service.Rapid advancements in generative AI mean that nearly anyone with Internet access and some basic know-how can revive a deceased loved one, said Dr Katarzyna Nowaczyk-Basinska, study co-author and researcher at Cambridges Leverhulme Centre for the Future of Intelligence (LCFI).This area of AI is an ethical minefield. Its important to prioritise the dignity of the deceased, and ensure that this isnt encroached on by financial motives of digital afterlife services, for example.At the same time, a person may leave an AI simulation as a farewell gift for loved ones who are not prepared to process their grief in this manner. The rights of both data donors and those who interact with AI afterlife services should be equally safeguarded.Platforms offering to recreate the dead with AI for a small fee already exist, such as Project December, which started out harnessing GPT models before developing its own systems, and apps including HereAfter. Similar services have also begun to emerge in China.One of the potential scenarios in the new paper is MaNana: a conversational AI service allowing people to create a deadbot simulating their deceased grandmother without consent of the data donor (the dead grandparent).The hypothetical scenario sees an adult grandchild who is initially impressed and comforted by the technology start to receive advertisements once a premium trial finishes. For example, the chatbot suggesting ordering from food delivery services in the voice and style of the deceased.The relative feels they have disrespected the memory of their grandmother, and wishes to have the deadbot turned off, but in a meaningful way  something the service providers havent considered.People might develop strong emotional bonds with such simulations, which will make them particularly vulnerable to manipulation, said co-author Dr Tomasz Hollanek, also from Cambridges LCFI.Methods and even rituals for retiring deadbots in a dignified way should be considered. This may mean a form of digital funeral, for example, or other types of ceremony depending on the social context.We recommend design protocols that prevent deadbots being utilised in disrespectful ways, such as for advertising or having an active presence on social media.While Hollanek and Nowaczyk-Basinska say that designers of re-creation services should actively seek consent from data donors before they pass, they argue that a ban on deadbots based on non-consenting donors would be unfeasible.They suggest that design processes should involve a series of prompts for those looking to resurrect their loved ones, such as have you ever spoken with X about how they would like to be remembered?, so the dignity of the departed is foregrounded in deadbot development.Another scenario featured in the paper, an imagined company called Parent, highlights the example of a terminally ill woman leaving a deadbot to assist her eight-year-old son with the grieving process.While the deadbot initially helps as a therapeutic aid, the AI starts to generate confusing responses as it adapts to the needs of the child, such as depicting an impending in-person encounter.The researchers recommend age restrictions for deadbots, and also call for meaningful transparency to ensure users are consistently aware that they are interacting with an AI. These could be similar to current warnings on content that may cause seizures , for example.The final scenario explored by the study  a fictional company called Stay  shows an older person secretly committing to a deadbot of themselves and paying for a twenty-year subscription, in the hopes it will comfort their adult children and allow their grandchildren to know them.After death, the service kicks in. One adult child does not engage, and receives a barrage of emails in the voice of their dead parent. Another does, but ends up emotionally exhausted and wracked with guilt over the fate of the deadbot. Yet suspending the deadbot would violate the terms of the contract their parent signed with the service company.It is vital that digital afterlife services consider the rights and consent not just of those they recreate, but those who will have to interact with the simulations, said Hollanek.These services run the risk of causing huge distress to people if they are subjected to unwanted digital hauntings from alarmingly accurate AI recreations of those they have lost. The potential psychological effect, particularly at an already difficult time, could be devastating.The researchers call for design teams to prioritise opt-out protocols that allow potential users terminate their relationships with deadbots in ways that provide emotional closure.Added Nowaczyk-Basinska: We need to start thinking now about how we mitigate the social and psychological risks of digital immortality, because the technology is already here.Source-Eurekalert
In 1950, on the fifth anniversary of the end of the Second World War, the Declaration of 9th May, also known as the Schuman Declaration, laid the foundations of the European project.



The Declaration aimed to prevent future war by establishing a strong Union of European states since "world peace cannot be safeguarded without the making of creative efforts proportionate to the dangers which threaten it."



Seventy-four years later, the European Union, which now consists of 27 Member States, vigorously defends democracy, freedom, the rule of law, and fundamental rights at both the EU and international levels.



When global peace and security are at stake, the EU's role is crucial for the preservation of international stability.



Greece, as one of its oldest members, has been contributing for more than four decades to achieving European unification, enlargement, and integration.



It is the duty of all European states, with the Schuman Declaration as a legacy, to continue to work towards promoting social cohesion, citizens' well-being, and ensuring Europe's standing as an essential player in the international community.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Friday stressed the importance of public service during his commencement address to South Carolina State University, a historically Black college.

"Class of 2024, we need your service to the nation, so find ways to make change," Austin told the graduating class of about 250. "To contribute. And to be a part of something bigger than yourself."

Austin's call to service comes amid a yearslong recruiting slump as the military service branches desperately try to fill the ranks. That difficulty in recruiting is due to a confluence of issues, such as young Americans struggling to meet the qualifications for service and low unemployment, but also because the military is grappling to figure out how to pitch service to Gen Z as it comes of age.

Read Next: Florida Airman Was Shot by Deputy Within Seconds of Opening Apartment Door, Body Cam Footage Shows

Black Americans enlist in disproportionately high numbers, but Black troops are also less represented in the senior ranks. Austin has used his stature as the first Black defense secretary to speak directly to students about his own story and inspire them to public service, such as a similar speech he gave last year to graduates at Fayetteville State University near Fort Liberty, North Carolina.

On Friday, Austin, who grew up in Thomasville, Georgia, during the South's Jim Crow era, said that in those "ugly days," he was among the first Black teenagers to integrate into what was a whites-only school in Georgia.

"I doubt that the people trying to keep me out of that school imagined that they were blocking the education of a future four-star general and Cabinet official. We don't have one American to spare," he said. "We don't have one citizen to squander. And that means that we need to keep working together to knock down barriers, to level the playing field, and to let everybody compete to win."

Black recruits are overrepresented in the enlisted force, making up nearly one-quarter of new Army recruits in 2023, service data shows. Overall, Black Americans make up roughly 14% of the general population.

Meanwhile, only about 6% of top brass are Black officers across the military, according to data from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

That has begun to change, at least at the highest echelons of the military. Austin rose to be a four-star Army general and the head of U.S. Central Command during a four-decade military career.

Austin now serves as the civilian leader of the Pentagon alongside Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Charles "C.Q." Brown, who is also Black -- the two highest military offices outside of the president.

Meanwhile, the services have made some progress in their recruiting efforts in recent years. But the Pentagon is having trouble finding applicants qualified for service, as defense officials estimate only 23% of young Americans can meet enlistment standards.

Those standards include being below a certain body fat percentage and passing the military's SAT-style entrance exam, as well as scoring high enough to qualify for specific roles.

All of the services, as well as the secretary, have worked to portray military service as appealing to the youngest generation eligible for recruitment.

"Now, you're graduating in challenging times. Divided times," Austin said. "But so many things still bring us together as Americans. Our Constitution. Our democracy. The rule of law. The new Beyonce album."

Related: Austin Recounts Childhood Struggles with Racism in University Address Focused on Military Inclusion
The Department of Veterans Affairs paid senior executives at its headquarters $10.8 million in incentive bonuses last year -- funding meant to keep employees in critically understaffed positions -- and now it faces issues recouping the money, the department's top watchdog said in a report Thursday.

The amount is $1 million more than the department acknowledged last September when Secretary Denis McDonough said 170 senior executives at the VA's Central Office in Washington, D.C., erroneously received $9.7 million in bonuses under a retention bonus program authorized by the PACT Act.

The department inspector general's report found that 182 senior executives at VA headquarters received the nearly $11 million in bonuses, ranging in size from about $39,000 to more than $100,000 for each of seven executives in the Veterans Health Administration, or VHA.

Read Next: Florida Airman Was Shot by Deputy Within Seconds of Opening Apartment Door, Body Cam Footage Shows

According to the report, the under secretaries for health and benefits proceeded with the awards despite the concerns of the department's human resources officers and other staff.

VA Inspector General Michael Missal found that Under Secretary for Health Dr. Shereef Elnahal failed repeatedly to tell McDonough about the bonuses for VHA senior executives, while at the same time keeping him apprised of payments to field employees. His counterpart at the Veterans Benefits Administration, or VBA, Under Secretary Joshua Jacobs, provided McDonough memos describing plans to pay the bonuses -- known as critical skills incentives, or CSIs -- to senior executives at the headquarters, as well as field offices.

Elnahal approved 148 bonuses, while Jacobs signed off on 34.

"The OIG found the award of CSIs to nearly all VHA and VBA central office executives lacked adequate justification and was inconsistent with the PACT Act and VA policy. This was due, in part, to breakdowns in leadership and controls at multiple levels of VA," the report stated.

The PACT Act was signed in August 2022 to expand health care and benefits for millions of veterans sickened by exposure to burn pits and other environmental pollutants while serving overseas in support of U.S. operations.

The legislation authorized the VA to hire or provide incentives for employees in hard-to-fill posts, such as human resources, information technology, law enforcement and housekeeping, to ensure the department had sufficient staff to support the influx of veterans newly eligible for health care and benefits.

Under the legislative provisions, the VA has paid out more than $20 million in incentive payments to employees, including roughly half to the senior executives in its central office.

The inspector general noted that McDonough was not aware that nearly all VHA executives at the headquarters had been awarded bonuses until Sept. 13, when the VA's chief financial officer, Jon Rychalski, told him. The secretary announced a week later that the department would cancel the payments, recoup the money and have the inspector general investigate the matter.

At the time, VA Press Secretary Terrence Hayes said the department planned to work with executives to recoup the money, pledging to establish repayment schedules to ensure that no employees faced economic hardship as a result.

In its report, however, Missal said that clawing back the money presents a challenge, given that much of it already has been spent. Although an investigation into the recovery process was beyond the scope of the probe into the critical skills incentive bonuses, at least two senior executives retired from the Veterans Benefits Administration as a result, the report noted.

Emails between VA Chief of Staff Kimberly Jackson and Principal Deputy Under Secretary for Benefits Mike Frueh, obtained by Military.com through a Freedom of Information Act request, show the level of despondency and frustration felt by senior executives over the botched payments.

One senior executive said recoupment occurred without their awareness, "resulting in massive debt."

"I cannot express my frustration and disappointment enough. Having the CSI pulled was an issue, especially given the disparity between the treatment of [central office] staff and field leadership. That money had been a blessing initially, and earmarked to cover medical [expenses] which insurance doesn't cover. Instead, it has now become a curse," one senior executive, listed as [Senior Executive Service] 2, was quoted as saying.

"I don't mind when the organization makes mistakes, but what high-performing organization treats their employees this way?" asked another senior executive, [Senior Executive Service] 1, after noticing their paycheck had been docked to recoup taxes paid on the bonuses.

In the report, the inspector general made eight recommendations to officials, noting the department needed to resolve potential conflicts of interest and improve oversight of critical skills incentives and that McDonough should "take whatever administrative actions, if any, he deems appropriate related to the personnel involved."

In response, VA officials quibbled with the report's language but concurred with all eight recommendations. According to the VA's response, the department's Office of Accountability and Whistleblower Protection plans to work with the Office of General Counsel Ethics Specialty Team to determine whether disciplinary or nondisciplinary action will be taken against those involved.

The VA also will appoint officials to review critical skills incentive payments and examine the department's need for employees in high-demand jobs.

In a statement following the report's release Thursday, Hayes said critical skills incentive bonuses are "critical to retaining and hiring VA public servants, especially at a time when we're delivering more care and more benefits to more veterans."

"We will continue to work to ensure that everyone who receives a CSI meets the criteria to do so," Hayes said in an email. "We will make sure that we are utilizing it effectively, correctly, and as responsible stewards of taxpayer money."

VA officials announced Wednesday that Rychalski is leaving the department. They did not provide a reason for his departure, but said he is moving to another federal position.

Under Secretary for Memorial Affairs Matt Quinn announced earlier this month he will leave on May 23 after three years to spend more time with family.

Quinn is in charge of the third arm of the VA, the National Cemetery Administration, which did not award any critical skills incentives authorized under the PACT Act because officials "did not believe they had a justifiable reason to do so."

Hayes said the VA plans to revise and update its policies on bonuses to ensure that all future critical skills incentive benefits are "awarded appropriately."

"Secretary McDonough has made clear from the beginning that he takes responsibility. As soon as VA identified this error, we immediately took steps to address it -- and we reported the matter to the inspector general for review. We commit to veterans that we will learn from this error and fix it, as we have already begun to do," Hayes wrote in an email Thursday.

Related: VA Plans to Cut 10,000 Jobs This Year on Medical Side of the House
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...
Samsung has been working on developing its own graphene-based battery for years, and finally, the day of its release is here! Samsungs graphene-based battery promises to revolutionize the way we power our devices.







(when is samsungs graphene battery going to be released)

Graphene is a two-dimensional material that has the potential to offer several advantages over traditional batteries. For example, it has a high energy density, meaning that it can store more electricity in less space. It also has excellent temperature stability and has a lower rate than traditional batteries. These features make graphene a promising technology for use in mobile devices.

However, there are still some challenges that need to be overcome before graphene-based batteries can be widely used. One of the biggest challenges is scaling up the production process to meet the demands of a large number of smartphones. Another challenge is making sure that the battery has enough capacity to meet the needs of users who want to use their devices all day long without having to recharge them frequently.

Despite these challenges, Samsung has made significant progress in recent years. The company has already started producing small-scale graphene batteries for its own devices, and it has even started testing graphene-based batteries in smartphone models. Samsung has also announced plans to develop a larger-scale graphene battery that will eventually replace current lithium-ion batteries in many smartphones.

Its worth noting that graphene-based batteries are not yet available for purchase by consumers at this time. However, Samsung has said that they plan to release their own graphene-based battery as soon as possible. This means that consumers will eventually be able to buy and use graphene-based batteries from one of the worlds leading tech companies.







(when is samsungs graphene battery going to be released)

In conclusion, Samsungs graphene-based battery represents an exciting development in the field of battery technology. While there are still challenges to overcome before graphene-based batteries can be widely used, Samsungs progress suggests that this technology could revolutionize the way we power our devices. As the technology continues to evolve, we can expect to see more innovations in the future.

Inquiry us
Vice premier invites more foreign brands to enter China

Xinhua) 20:16, May 10, 2024

SHANGHAI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing on Friday encouraged more international brands to establish a presence in China and take advantage of the country's development opportunities.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said at the launch ceremony for this year's China Brand Day events that China will work tirelessly to implement opening-up at a high level, continuously expand market access for enterprises, and provide equal footing for both domestic and foreign-invested companies.

China also supports domestic firms in actively participating in cooperation and competition in the global market, and in improving the quality of their products, he said.

He noted that the Chinese government will also intensify law enforcement to ensure fair competition and strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights to create an improved business environment.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
The Twins have signed reliever Austin Brice to a minor league deal, according to an announcement from their Double-A team in Wichita (X link). Its the second time Brice has landed with the Minnesota organization. He finished last season with their Triple-A club in St. Paul.

Brice never got a major league call from the Twins. He returned to minor league free agency at the start of last offseason and inked a non-roster deal with the Phillies. The 31-year-old only pitched twice in the Philadelphia organization before he was released on April 7. He lands another opportunity a month later, although hell at least begin his second Minnesota stint in Double-A.

A former ninth-round pick of the Marlins, Brice has pitched in parts of seven MLB seasons. His best year came in 2019, when he turned in a 3.43 ERA with a league average 23.1% strikeout rate in a career-high 44 2/3 innings. Brice increased his strikeouts the following season after being traded to the Red Sox. Yet his walks also spiked and he allowed nearly six earned runs per nine innings. Brice struggled again the following season and was twice sent through waivers.

His most recent MLB action came via a four-game stint with the Pirates in 2022. He spent all of last season in Triple-A between the Arizona and Minnesota organizations. Brice struggled at the top minor league level, allowing a near-7.00 ERA. Some of that damage came in a disastrous three games for the D-Backs affiliate in Reno  one of the toughest places to pitch in affiliated ball  but he also managed only a 5.54 mark over 37 1/3 frames for St. Paul.
DETROIT -- A physician convicted of authorizing more than 3,000 illegal prescriptions for opioids has been sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice. Dr. Lawrence Sherman, 75, of Shelby Township was convicted in a jury trial last year on 20 charges related to the unlawful diversion of prescription drugs from March 2020 to June 2021.

During the time in question, Sherman worked part-time at the Tranquility Wellness Center which was first located in Dearborn before moving to St. Clair Shores. While working at the clinic, Sherman authorized prescriptions for Oxycodone, Oxymorphone, and Oxycodone-Acetaminophen 10-(Percocet), which prosecutors say have a high street value.

More than 270,000 doses of prescription opioids were authorized by Sherman and those pills have a street value of more than $6.3 million, the DOJ says.

My office will not waver in its commitment to aggressively identify, investigate, and prosecute doctors and other health care professionals who feed the opioid epidemic by writing illegal opioid prescriptions, said U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison. Health care professionals have both an opportunity and a duty to help address the terrible impact the opioid epidemic has had on our community, but Dr. Sherman chose to only make it worse.

Evidence presented at the trial showed Sherman conspired with multiple other defendants to provide the prescriptions to patients that did not have a legitimate medical need for the pills. The patients were typically brought to the clinic though patient recruiters/marketers according to prosecutors. The clinic only accepted cash for services and did not charge patients for services received, but only for the quantity, type, and dosage of prescription opioids they received.

The center also charged for the creation of fraudulent medical records for the patients.

After receiving cash for the prescriptions and records, both controlled and non-controlled maintenance medications were billed to health care benefit programs by pharmacies. Billings for medically unnecessary prescription drug medications and maintenance medications exceeded $500,000, according to the DOJ.

The sentencing of Dr. Sherman highlights the FBIs ongoing efforts against medical professionals who are using their position to line their own pockets while ultimately contributing to the opioid crisis, said Cheyvoryea Gibson, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Michigan. His actions endangered countless lives, which goes against the oath he took as a doctor. We remain committed to investigating health care fraud and holding those who exploit their positions accountable.

The other defendants in the scheme, Janeice Burrell, Angelo Smith, Akeyla Bell and Peter Burrell all previously pleaded guilty and have been sentenced.
MACOMB COUNTY, MI -- A 35-year-old Warren man has been charged in connection with a fatal hit-and-run.

Savion Jones is accused of hitting and killing 65-year-old James Suveges with his Dodge RAM on 11 Mile Road near Hoover Road on May 4.

Suveges was walking in the crosswalk, officials said. Jones briefly stopped near the scene, but as other vehicles stopped to help, he left, according to prosecutors.

Jones was charged with failure to stop at the scene of accident resulting in serious Injury or death, a five-year felony. He is also being charged as a habitual offender.

A hit-and-run isnt merely an accident; its a deliberate act of callousness. When a driver chooses to flee instead of rendering aid, they are compounding their guilt with cowardice, leaving behind shattered lives, said Macomb County Prosecutor Peter J. Lucido.

Jones was arraigned in 37th Warren District Court by District Court Judge Michael Chupa. Bond was set at $200,000.

A probable cause hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. on May 23.
LANSING, MI  Some prisoners incarcerated by the Michigan Department of Correction could have a shot at reducing the length of their prison sentence if they actively work and succeed at improving themselves while imprisoned.

Lawmakers introduced a new bipartisan bill in the state Senate Tuesday, May 7, that would create productivity credits in the state prison system, allowing some prisoners a chance to earn days off their total sentence if they participate and successfully complete MDOC-approved educational and vocational programs.
SAULT STE. MARIE, MI -- A six-person jury convicted a Sault Ste. Marie woman on a charge of assault and battery after the woman cut the hair of a 9-year-old girl without permission. Rhonda Deuman, 57 was found guilty by the jury in 91st District Court on April 23, according to a press release from Chippewa County Prosecuting Attorney Rob Stratton.

During the trial, the jury heard testimony from a young African American/Native American child and her mother, Stratton said. In their testimony, the two explained the cultural significance of the girls hair and that it was not being cut for several reasons.

Deuman was accused of cutting the childs hair without permission and Stratton argued that the act was an assault of the girl as she had been robbed of the experience of having her first haircut. Both the child and her mother were teary-eyed during their testimony while explaining how much of an impact the incident had on both of them, Stratton said.

A date for sentencing was not provided in Strattons announcement.
ANN ARBOR, MI  Ricks American Cafe is figuring out what is next for the nightclub if a developer demolishes its building in Ann Arbor.

Aware of a proposed high-rise that would take over 611 Church St., Ricks is actively engaged in discussions with Chicago-based developer Core Spaces, according to Chriss Hesse, general manager and partner with Ricks American Cafe.
PORTAGE, MI -- Sirens rang out as employees at Campbell Auto Supply, 7418 S Westnedge Avenue, reported a coworker trapped under a shelving unit to 911.

Our store got hit pretty bad by the storm, the caller said.

Bear with me, weve got a lot of calls coming in, Im just trying to get this categorized for you, said the dispatcher.

911 calls released by Kalamazoo County Central Dispatch depict the fear and confusion from residents in the moments after a tornado struck the city of Portage on Tuesday, May 7. Despite being and EF2-level tornado, there were no deaths and minimal minor injuries, police said.

The 10 calls obtained by MLive all contain reports of damage or injury from the tornado. The calls were all received between 6:04 and 6:08 p.m.

At 6:06 p.m., a resident near West Long lake reported a funnel forming over the water.

Its up in the air, circling, she said.

Some residents were driving when the tornado touched down at 5:55 p.m., taking shelter in a nearby business or hunkering down in their cars.

RELATED: Reported tornado tears apart strip mall as employees watch from inside

Theres a line down and theres a tree down behind my car, a caller on stuck on Portage road told 911 dispatchers. I have four kids in the car with me.

Others emerged from their basement to find their neighborhood destroyed.

A tornado hit the houses. ... Its the whole back half of the neighborhood, a caller on Timbercreek Court said. The whole neighborhood is out right now trying to make sure everyone is OK.

Up to 16 people had non-severe injuries at the Pavilion Estates mobile home community. Entire homes were picked up and tossed into the road and on top of other homes. Trees blew through cars and homes.

RELATED: Drone video shows likely tornado destruction at Michigan mobile home park

A woman is stuck in the middle of the median ... it looks like a tornado hit here and shes got a broken leg, said a caller on Romence Road. I dont know what to do for her.

Dispatchers urged callers to prioritize their own safety as they surveyed the damage around them.

Inside the FedEx shipping facility at 6701 Portage Road, one caller reported 30 to 40 people stuck.

Do you know if people are injured? the dispatcher asked.

I dont know, Im looking for them right now, the caller inside the building replied.

Early reports from county officials said roughly 50 FedEx employees were trapped inside the collapsed building. Police later said that was inaccurate, and everybody made it out of the destroyed building before police even arrived.

RELATED: False report of 50 trapped at FedEx building after tornado came from officials error

Help is coming as soon as possible, dispatchers assured callers. City officials asked people to stay off the roads as first responders met standstill traffic throughout the city.

All major and secondary roads in Portage are now open, although some minor roads remain closed, per city officials. Crews are still working to collect tree branches and debris placed at curbs throughout the city.

RELATED: Sort debris from Portage tornado into 5 piles at curb, city says

Damage assessment teams from Kalamazoo County Emergency Management may take several days to document tornado damage in the area, according to the National Weather Service.

For more on Tuesdays tornadoes in Portage, click here.
Michigans softball team is moving on to the Big Ten semifinals.

The second-seeded Wolverines exploded for 10 runs in the fifth inning for a 10-0 run-rule victory over No. 10 seed Maryland on Thursday at Bob Pearl Field in Iowa City.

Michigan junior Lauren Derkowski and Marylands Courtney Wyche, who threw over 130 pitches Wednesday in the Terrapins 3-1 nine-inning win over No. 7 seed Penn State in their tournament opener, were locked in a pitchers duel until the fifth.

The Wolverines (39-16) scored 10 runs with just three hits in the inning. After loading the bases, they scored their first six runs on three walks, an RBI single, a hit by pitch and a sac fly.

Freshman Avery Fantucci delivered the final blow with a pinch-hit grand slam.

Meanwhile, Derkowski tossed a two-hitter, walking three and striking out three. The Michigan ace improved to 17-8 and lowered her ERA to 2.74.

RELATED: Former in-state prep standout flourishing for red-hot Michigan softball

The team advances to face either No. 3 seed Rutgers or No. 11 seed Wisconsin at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

Michigan needed a spark offensively after being limited to one total run in its final two regular season games against Ohio State last week. It had just two hits against Wyche in the first four innings, but Ella McVey opened the fifth with a single. Wyche then struggled with her control and was pulled after walking three straight batters.

The Wolverines are searching for their first conference tournament title since 2019.
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Bihar: 13 arrested so far in NEET-UG question paper leak case
Abhishek Sahu covers HR and Education (Careers) at Moneycontrol. He can be reached at Abhishek.Sahu@nw18.com and @Abhishek44sahu.
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Andhra Pradesh Lok Sabha elections 2024: A look at key parties and contests
Follow us on:

Mr Kejriwal orchestrated timing of his own arrest, says BJP LS candidate Bansuri Swaraj
Lok Sabha Elections 2024: The INDIA bloc has geared up campaigning as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav are holding joint election rallies in Kannauj and Kanpur today.

Addressing a gathering in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, Congress MP and candidate from Wayanad & Raebareli, Rahul Gandhi, asserted, "I can confidently state, in writing, that the INDIA Alliance and Akhilesh Yadav will emerge victorious here. Uttar Pradesh is on the brink of witnessing a formidable surge from the INDIA Alliance. Mark my words, the BJP is destined to suffer its most significant setback in the nation right here in Uttar Pradesh. The state often sets the tone for the entire country's political landscape. The people of Uttar Pradesh have decisively chosen to usher in change, not just here but across India. The public's resolve is firm."

Akhilesh Yadav, the President of the Samajwadi Party and the party's candidate from the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency, stated, "The significant developments in Kannauj are all thanks to the efforts of the SP community. Anyone who has traversed the highways here knows that they are the creation of the Samajwadis. Despite this, we have never sought recognition for these infrastructural advancements. I am confident that the people of Kannauj will respond to those individuals who are attempting to create barriers between us and them."
You are already a Moneycontrol Pro user.

OK
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Prajwal Revanna sexual harassment case: Woman complainant was under pressure to file 'fake case', claims NCW
*We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies.

Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy

*I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age

I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl

I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites

I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS

Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue.

I Accept
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Telangana Lok Sabha elections 2024: A look at key parties and contests
Murder in Mahim Review: The webseries does a fair job at portraying everyday homophobia and the dehumanization of the queer community
USER CONSENT

We at moneycontrol use cookies and other tracking technologies to assist you with navigation and determine your location. We also capture cookies to obtain your feedback, analyse your use of our products and services and provide content from third parties. By clicking on 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies and other tracking technologies. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy.

*We collect cookies for the functioning of our website and to give you the best experience. This includes some essential cookies.

Cookies from third parties which may be used for personalization and determining your location. By clicking 'I Accept', you agree to the usage of cookies to enhance your personalized experience on our site. For more details you can refer to our cookie policy

*I agree to the updated privacy policy and I warrant that I am above 16 years of age

I agree to the processing of my personal data for the purpose of personalised recommendations on financial and similar products offered by MoneyControl

I agree personalized advertisements and any kind of remarketing/retargeting on other third party websites

I agree to receive direct marketing communications via Emails and SMS

Please select (*) all mandatory conditions to continue.

I Accept
FIIs shed over $2 billion in equities in first six sessions of May
Go First revival in further jeopardy as the airline may lose airport slots, international flying rights
Follow us on:

MC Investigates: How elaborate FPI scams groom, persuade people to give away crores of rupees
Follow us on:

What the AMFI nos. mean for equity markets: 5 key takeaways
Follow us on:

Softbank eyes a piece of LINE app, Sony Group aims for Infocom buyout, Airbnb's gloomy forecast and more
Morning Scan: All the big stories to get you started for the day
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Novavax shares soar on license deal with Sanofi at lofty valuation
Follow us on:

Price war among chip makers in China on cards, says top player SMIC
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Tata Motors earmarks Rs 43,000 crore for product development, new technologies during FY25
Rachita Prasad heads Moneycontrols coverage of conventional and new energy, and infrastructure sectors. Rachita is passionate about energy transition and the global efforts against climate change, with special focus on India. Before joining Moneycontrol, she was an Assistant Editor at The Economic Times, where she wrote for the paper for over a decade and was a host on their podcast. Contact: rachita.prasad@nw18.com
Follow us on:

Welsh first minister says he hopes Tata Steel to hold talks with Port Talbot workers soon
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

12 Naxalites killed in encounter with security forces in Chhattisgarhs Bijapur
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

False narratives of minority under threat exposed: PM Modi on report showing Hindu population decline
China issues plan for control of key parasitic diseases

Xinhua) 20:18, May 10, 2024

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese authorities have issued an action plan on the goals and timetable for the control and elimination of key parasitic diseases in the next few years.

The plan for the period 2024 to 2030, issued by 15 government departments including the National Disease Control and Prevention Administration, stipulates that by 2025, more than 50 percent of counties with echinococcosis prevalence should meet epidemic control standards.

By 2025, the incidence rate of kala-azar in key counties should be controlled to below 1 per 10,000, and by 2025 and 2030, the infection rates of liver fluke in key provinces should be cut by more than 5 percent and 15 percent, respectively, according to the plan.

The country's Outline of Healthy China 2030 has proposed that by 2030, all counties will basically have controlled the prevalence of key parasitic diseases such as echinococcosis.

To achieve the prevention and control targets, the plan specifies targeted prevention and control strategies and measures, including strengthening the control of infection sources and enhancing the management of intermediate hosts.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

US Ambassador Eric Garcetti dismisses concerns about democracy in India
Shuli Ren is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering Asian markets. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Mark Gongloff is a Bloomberg Opinion editor and columnist covering climate change. Views are personal, and do not represent the stand of this publication.
Follow us on:

Arvind Kejriwal Bail: Amritpal Singh now asking for bail to contest election, SG Tushar Mehta tells SC
Kejriwal getting bail from SC is a huge sign of winds of change: Reactions pour in after Delhi CM gets interim bail; here's who said what
Follow us on:

'Looked Putin in the eyes and...': What PM Modi said on Russia-Ukraine war
Follow us on:

Modi-Yogi freed UP from mafia and terrorists, turned it into 'uttam pradesh', says Pushkar Singh Dhami
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

What Maldives foreign minister's visit means for India amid Male's pivot to China
Danish Khan is the editor of Technology and Telecom. He was previously with the Economic Times and has tracked the sector for 13 years.
Best cities to find a job in the US
Follow us on:

Google CEO Sundar Pichai reacts to Microsoft's Satya Nadella as AI race heats up: 'Not play to someone elses dance music'
Follow us on:

US teens, expelled for 'blackface', get $1 million compensation. They were wearing acne cream
Follow us on:

China's new ambassador to India Xu Feihong arrives in Delhi. Who is he?
Follow us on:

Israeli military says it has weapons it needs for Rafah ground operation
OTHERS

OTHERS

Follow us on:

My Account

or

or

Hello, Login

All

Pfizer agrees to settle more than 10,000 Zantac cancer suits
Follow us on:

The United States is expected to announce a new $400 million package of weapons for Ukraine
Follow us on:

Ukraine says Russia has launched an assault to breach defences in northeastern Kharkiv
Invite your friends and family to sign up for MC Tech 3, our daily newsletter that breaks down the biggest tech and startup stories of the day
A Global War Regime New Left Review

The liberal international order is slowly coming apart The Economist

Climate

Pandemics

When antibiotics fail: More people seek bacteriophage therapy in Georgia JAM News

China?

Philippines, US simulate mock invasions in largest ever war games Al Jazeera

Re-inscribing propositions: historic cartography and Philippine claims to the Spratly Islands (PDF) Territory Politics Governance.

In fiery speech, Aussie defense chief urges support for extraordinary AUKUS subs Breaking Defense

The Koreas

Commentary: A surprise South Korean boom is going unnoticed Channel News Asia

What is a friendship marriage? From pals to platonic partners, Japanese couples embrace unions without romance or sex South China Morning Post

India

Syraqistan

European Disunion

Dear Old Blighty

The Bank of England used the inflation crisis to boost the wealth of the wealthy, but did nothing at all to control inflation Funding the Future

New No-So-Cold War

Biden Administration

2024

FBI watching if US support for Ukraine will spur Russian risk taking in 2024 election CNN

Groves of Academe

Digital Watch

Supply Chain

An Evaluation of the Safe Port Obligation in the Light of Smart and Autonomous Ships (PDF) NUS Centre for Maritime Law Working Paper. [T]he widespread adoption of such [smart and autonomous vessels] will necessitate the development of smart ports equipped with complementary advanced technologies, infrastructure, and processes to accommodate them safely. This need is especially critical in the context of the charterers contractual obligation only to send the vessel under charter to safe ports. This strict obligation will likely compel charterers to avoid sending any smart and/or autonomous ships under charter to ports that cannot safely accommodate them.

Our Famously Free Press

A Call From the Journalism Academy for an External Review at The New York Times Literary Hub

Class Warfare

The Rise of Monopolies & Oligopolies Manufacturing.net. Note the source.

If You Build It, Will They Come? The New Atlantis

The Diaper Revolution Splice Today

Antidote du jour (via:

See yesterdays Links and Antidote du Jour here.
Yves here. Despite many pretenses, very little in finance is new, much the less innovative. Paul Volcker still looks correct in calling the ATM the only bank invention in his lifetime. In Econned, we mentioned that virtually all of the features of modern finance were found in Ur in 1788 BC, such as venture capital, loan syndications and sales, secured lending, and derivatives. But bank havens, also known as offshore, were not on that particular list. Hudson fills in that gap by describing the key elements of these hidden money caches and naming ancient analogues

By Michael Hudson, an American economist, a professor of economics at the University of MissouriKansas City, and a researcher at the Levy Economics Institute at Bard College. He is a former Wall Street analyst, political consultant, commentator, and journalist. You can read more of Hudsons economic history on the Observatory. Produced by Human Bridges

A discussion of the origins of urbanization may provide some insight into the character of modern social problems by highlighting the long historical dynamic at work. It may not be out of place here to point out that antistates are well known in the modern world, above all in what the U.S. Federal Reserve Board classifies as eleven offshore banking centers. Five such enclaves are in the Caribbean: Panama, the Netherlands Antilles (Curacao), Bermuda, the Bahamas, and the British West Indies (Cayman Islands). Three enclavesHong Kong, Macao, and Singaporewere founded to conduct the China trade. The remaining three are Liberia, Lebanon, and Bahrain at the mouth of the Persian Gulfthe island which Bronze Age Sumerians called Dilmun when they used it to trade with the Indus valley and the Iranian shore.

Nothing would seem more modern than these offshore banking and tax-avoidance centers. They are the brainchildren of lawyers and accountants in the 1960s seeking to weave loopholes into the social fabricto provide curtains of secrecy (privacy) to avoid or evade taxes, and to serve as havens for illgotten earnings as well as to facilitate legitimate commerce.

Whereas modern nationstates enact laws and impose taxes, these enclaves help individuals evade such regulations. And whereas nationstates have armies, these centers are the furthest thing from being military powers. They are antibodies to nationhood, yet more may be learned about Ice Age, Neolithic, and even Bronze Age gathering and meeting sites by looking at these modern enclaves than by examining classical citystates such as Athens and Rome.

Timeless Features of Entrepots

They Lack Political Autonomy

Instead of being politically independent, the modern offshore banking centers and free trade zones are small former colonies, e.g., the Caribbean islands as well as the Chinese entrepots. The Grand Cayman Island was a Jamaican dependency until 1959, when it chose to revert to its former status as a British crown colony so as to benefit from what remained of imperial commercial preferences. Liberia and Panama are U.S. dependencies lacking even their own currency system (both use the U.S. dollar). Hong Kong did not gain title to its own land until Britains leases expired in 1997. Panama did not gain control of its canal until 1999.

In sum, whereas political theorists define the first characteristic of modern states (and implicitly their capital cities) as being their ability to enact and enforce laws, offshore banking centers are of no political significance. In the sense of being sanctuaries from national taxes and law authorities, such enclaves are in some ways akin to the biblical cities of refuge. If they are not sanctuaries for lawbreakers in person, they at least provide havens for their bank accounts and corporate shells.

They Occupy Convenient Points of Commercial Interface Between Regions

Typically, entrepots are on islands or key transport navels such as the Panamanian isthmus. They are separated as free ports politically, if not physically, from their surrounding political entities. They often are centers of travel and tourism (business meetings) and for gambling. In antiquity they typically were centers for sacred festivals or games such as were held at Delphi, Nemia, the Corinthian Isthmus, or Olympia (whence our modern Olympic games originated in a sacred context).

They Enjoy Sacred (or Legal) Protection Against Attack

Although Delphi and Olympus were landlocked (as was Catal Huyuk), they were centrally located for their local regions. They served as religious and cultural centers, whose festivals and games could be conveniently attended by the Hellenic population at large. Even visitors who were citizens of mutually belligerent citystates enjoyed sanctuary. Of course, todays enclaves no longer claim sacred status, except for the Vatican and its Institute for Religious Works promoting money-laundering functions1. Their commercial focus has become divorced from the religious setting associated with international commerce down through medieval Europe with its great fairs. And indeed, their attraction is especially to wealthy individuals avoiding the tax laws and criminal codes of their own homeland.

They Are Militarily Safe

Although todays enclaves rarely have armies of their own, they are militarily safe. Thanks to their unique apolitical status, and indeed to their ultimate dependence on larger powers, their neighbors have little motive to attack them and every reason to use them as business channels and even for government transactions such as arms dealing, money laundering, and related activities not deemed proper behavior at home. The resulting commerce thrives free of regulations and taxes, conducted in militarily safe environments without the cost of having to support standing armies, and hence less need to levy taxes for this purpose, or to monetize national war debts.

They Are Politically Neutral Sites

To create such enclaves has been an objective of mercantile capital through the ages. It patronizes the worlds politically weakest areas as long as they do not do what real governments do: regulate their economies. The search for neutral territory expressed itself already in the chalcolithic epoch, many millennia before private enterprise developed as we know it. The result of this impetus is that neolithic towns such as Catal Huyuk, Mesopotamian temple cities such as Nippur, island entrepots such as Dilmun, the Egyptian Delta area, Ischia/Pithekoussai, and the biblical cities of refuge share the following important common denominator with todays offshore banking centers: Instead of being centers of local governing, legal, and military power, they were politically neutral sites established outside the jurisdictions of local governments.

They Create Forums for Rituals of Social Cohesion

Whether the status of these urban sites was that of sanctified commercial entrepots or amphictyonic centers, they provided a forum for rituals of social cohesion to bolster their commerce. These rituals included the exchange of goods and women (intermarriage)commerce and intercourse in their archaic sexual meaning as well as in the more modern sense of commodity exchange.

I have cited above the archaic practice of conducting trade via island entrepots. The sacred island of Dilmun/Bahrain in the Persian Gulf represents historys longest lasting example of such an enclave. It served as an entrepot linking Sumer and Babylonia (whose records refer prominently to the merchants of Dilmun) to the Indus civilization and the intervening Iranian shore. Its status as a sacred as well as commercial center may have been promoted by the fact that its waters were a source of pearls, prized as sacred symbols of the moon (being round, pale, and associated with deep water). It also seems to have served as a highstatus burial ground for prosperous individuals, or at least for parts of their bodies. LambergKarlovsky2 reports that there are more fingers and other limbs than full skeletons, as the Sumerians partook piecemeal in the islands sanctity (although some commentators believe that this may be simply the result of grave robberies through the centuries3). In any event, these social and commercial virtues helped make Dilmun one of the most expensive pieces of Bronze Age real estate, not unlike modern Bahrain.

They Facilitate Commercial Development

The sacred status of such entrepots facilitated commercial development in ways that did not abuse Bronze Age sensibilities, much like the sacred status of temples did when they became the major economic and textile production centers. While creating the economic conditions and organization of largescale enterprise within traditional social values and order, Bronze Age institutions provided leeway so as not to stifle commercial development with overcentralized control. This may be part of the reason why trade was conducted outside the city gates. The philosophy was to create mixed economies in which institutional and private sectors each had their proper role.

_____

1. David A. Yallop, In Gods Name: An Investigation into the Murder of Pope John Paul I, 1984, pp. 92-94.

2. C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky Dilmun: Gateway to Immortality, Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Jan 1982, 41(1), pp. 45-50.

3. P.R.S. Moorey, Where did they bury the Kings of the IIIrd Dynasty of Ur? Iraq, 46, 1984, pp. 118.
Yves here. This post covers how the focus of geopolitics as a discipline has changed over time, and in particular, that the postmodern version, critical global geopolitics seriously discounts the geo as in geography, bit.

I infer, and readers are invited to correct me if warranted, that more than in many disciplines in social science, theres a strong element of reflexivity in geopolitics, that beliefs and sentiment, which often translates into ideology (here among the professionals, as in pundits, academics, pertinent officials), influence practice.

By Dr. Vladislav B. Sotirovic, Ex-University Professor, Research Fellow at Centre for Geostrategic Studies, Belgrade, Serbia

For the overwhelming majority Western political analysts, journalists, scientists, etc., the disappearance of the USSR in 1990/91 was symbolized overdramatically by the physical destruction of the Berlin Wall followed by the removal/destruction of status/monuments devoted to the communist leaders and communist ideology. This geopolitical change called for a new world order in international relations (IR) and, in fact, heralded global peace, international democracy, and worldwide security and stability in foreign affairs after the Cold War 1.0 (19491989). The period of the Cold War was a historic period lasting from the time of the establishment of the NATO pact in 1949 to the destruction of the Berlin Wall in 1989. During that time, global politics was structured around a binary political geography that opposed US-led global capitalism to Soviet-type communism. Nevertheless, although the world did not face during that time a direct military confrontation (like in 1962 during the Cuban Crisis) between East and West, the period of the Cold War 1.0 witnessed serious economic, financial, military, political, and primarily ideological rivalries between at that time two (nuclear) superpowers (USA and USSR) and their allies (NATO and Warsaw Pact).

According to the well-known concept of the end of history which reflects the end of Cold War 1.0, the global battle of the previous forty years  in the Western propaganda eyes, the final battle between (Western) liberties and (Eastern) Evil Empire  was over (at least for some time). The world seemed unified under the New World Order (directed by Washington). Immediately after 1989, any combination of multipolarity of the post-Cold War 1.0 order in IR was understood as a real danger to global security.

However, from the point of critical geopolitics, it was suggested that the world would soon miss stability in IR which existed during the Cold War 1.0 due to the military, political, and ideological opposition by two superpowers and their allies. In other words, according to those critics, the New World Order after 1989 will lose the clarity and stability that the Cold War 1.0 era had. Therefore, the post-1989 world concerning the IR, according to, for example, S. P. Huntington, was going to be a more jungle-like world of foreign affairs and of multiple dangers for global security with hidden traps, unpleasant surprises, and moral ambiguities. A new mantra in IR started after 11/9 (2001) when US President George W. Bush put clear lines of good and evil on the global political map.

During the Cold War 1.0, the free capitalistic world was fighting against the non-free communist world (particularly if someone lived in the promised land of the USA). The promised West demonstrated the inevitability of countries falling under devil communism like dominos (a domino effect) unless the USSR was contained behind the Iron Curtain. Nevertheless, after 1989, some political theorists offered new visions of global politics based on chaos and fragmentation claiming the threats and dangers from many corners around. Such critical global geopolitics became incorporated into the imagined geography of G. W. Bushs proclaimed the War on Terror after 11/9 when the US administration sharply divided the world into two halves meaning that each state was either for the USA or for the terrorists. It was, in fact, no in-between space. From a wider perspective, the use of geographical imaginaries in forming global political models (like those two during and post-Cold War 1.0) is usually understood as geopolitics.

From the point of human geography as an academic discipline, it understands geopolitics as an element of the practice and analysis of statecraft that considers geography and spatial relations both of which play a crucial impact in the process of making IR. The political reality concerning IR has to take seriously into consideration certain frameworks of laws of both geography and politics: concerning geography, distance, proximity, and location as they are understood to influence the development of political action (for instance, war). From the very points of geopolitical arguments, the impact of geography on politics is founded on the geophysical reality but not on ideology. It seems in historical practice that geographical science is going to have predictable impacts on political action.

Such above-presented arguments are challenged by those who claim that geographical relationships and entities are specific to historical and cultural environments. That means the nature of the influence of geography on political events can change.

We have to keep in mind that the term geopolitics was historically first used by the Swedish political scientist Rudolf Kjellen in 1899. Nevertheless, the term was not very much used before the early 20th century. However, the British geographer and political strategist Halford Mackinders promotion of the study of geography as an academic discipline to assist statecraft stimulated the view that geopolitics can influence geographers to offer a way in which they could influence the IR. In essence, geopolitics as an academic research discipline is dealing with the question of which geographical factors can shape IR. Basically, these geographical factors include the continental space followed by the distribution of physical landscape and human resources. Concerning geographical research, some territories are predicted to be easier or harder to defend. In addition, the notion of distance affects politics and some topographical features can significantly participate in the security efforts of the state but as well as may also lead to its security vulnerability.

It can not be ever forgotten that the issue of security was all the time and is going to be in the future fundamental to the study of geopolitics. It, basically, means the maintenance of the state in the face of threats, usually from external powers (aggression from outside). The crucial point is that geopoliticians claim that they can support the concept of national (state) security by explaining the effects of a countrys (and around) geography and that of potential conquerors, on future power-political relations. In other words, the experts in geopolitics have to be able to predict which areas could make a state stronger, helping it to rise to prominence, and which might leave it vulnerable. The geopoliticians argue that geography is the most important factor in IR for the very reason it is the most permanent one. Subsequently, the study of geopolitics is considered to be of a very practical nature and the most objective one regarding IR. From that point of view, it is quite separate from political theory.

Usually, geopoliticians present the world and IR as one closed system founded on interdependent relations between political actors, basically independent states. Accidentally or not, the interest in geopolitics as an academic discipline that can explain the world and the system of IR happened at a time when the entire world was explored by Western imperialistic colonists. Therefore, now the world has become available for the territorial and economic expansion of the nation-states. Soon, around 1900, the West European policy of colonialism reached its height. In principle, colonialism is understood as the rule of a nation-state (or other political power) over another, occupied and subordinated territory and its people. Originally, geopolitics was understood as the study that explains and even legitimates the policy of colonization and making overseas empires. Practically, before 1945 geopolitics in many cases was offering a way for nation-states to protect their territorial possessions at the time (before the process of de-colonization) when the empty lands (and terra incognita) became ultimately occupied by the West European (and other) states and powers.

From the very pan-global perspective, the best-known geopolitical thesis is of the British Mackinder  Heartland Thesis. According to the thesis, the Asian Heartland is a pivotal area of global geopolitics. Who controls this area provides a chief position in world politics and, therefore, global domination. This Pivot Area is surrounded by the Outer Rim of the lands divided into two territories: 1) Inner or marginal crescent; and 2) Lands of outer or insular crescent). If not resistance from the area of the Outer Rim, which is proximate to the Heartland, some occupying power could quite easily come to control first Europe and then the world. According to Mackinders thesis from 1919, the precondition to command Heartland is to rule East Europe. However, whoever rules Heartland commands the World Island which is a precondition to rule over the World.

Mackinders geopolitical analysis of world politics, nevertheless, had a very practical task  to assist British global colonial imperialism. In other words, he suggested to the British policymakers to be wary of powers that are occupying the Heartland, and should establish a buffer zone around the territory of Heartland in order to prevent the accumulation of power in the future that might challenge the hegemony of the British Empire within both Inner and Outer Crescents. Mackinders geopolitical reasoning had a certain influence on both British foreign policy and popular imagination. Nevertheless, not all geopoliticians agree with Mackinders conclusion that the location of global power is the land as, for instance, the US geopoliticians Mahan, instead of the power of the land, promoted the concept of the power of the sea while later others promoted the significance of air power. Nonetheless, each of these three groups came up with different core areas from which political, military, and economic dominance can be imposed.

The notion of geopolitics after WWII was quite negative as in many eyes it was associated with Nazi Geopolitikpolicies of territorial occupation, expansionism, Lebensraum, colonization, holocaust, and war atrocities. Practically, during the Cold War 1.0, geopolitics, as expressed in pure spatial (geographical) models, became obsolete and out of use at least in its original form. Nevertheless, the Western (American) theory of the Domino Effect (chain reaction of states falling to the communists, like a row of falling dominoes) was in essence connected with the factor of territory (geography) as the spread of communism/socialism was seen not as a complex political process of adaptation and conflicts but primarily as a direct result of proximity to a territory ruled by the USSR. The process of chain reaction would not stop, according to this theory, until it reached the last standing domino (the USA), and made future political action appear inevitable unless proactive action like a pre-emptive strike is done.

However, after 1989 appeared new approaches to geopolitics usually called critical geopolitics. For all of them, the common issue is the refusal of the objectivity and timelessness of the effect of geography on certain political processes including IR. Differently from traditional geopoliticians, supporters of critical geopolitics are taking into consideration a wide spectrum of factors that influence political action and IR. Additionally, traditional geopolitics is criticized for the reason that it takes into consideration only the state or primarily the state as chief or even only player in international politics especially at the time of Turbo Globalization after 1989/1990 when, clearly, other actors and powers are involved both at the sub-state level (like ethnic, regional, or place-based groups), and at the supra-state level (such as transnational corporations or international organizations like NATO, EU, UN, ASEAN, NAFTA, BRICS, OPEC, Arab Union, African Union, Council of Europe, etc.).

It has to be stressed that critical geopoliticians are particularly interested in questioning the language of geopolitics, or in other words, the so-called geopolitical discourse. For geopoliticians, discourse is a way of talking about, writing, or otherwise representing the world and its geographies. The discourse is simply seen as a way of representing the world  the way that is, in fact, shaping the reality of the world, rather than just being a way of presenting a reality that exists outside of language. Linguistic expression can be a problematic issue as language is metaphorical and, therefore, firstly understood differently by the listeners/readers and secondly directing the opinion of others. All the time exists a choice of words, expressions, and metaphors and the type of terms used affects the meaning of what is being described. For instance, the members of some organizations can be described as terrorists or freedom fighters. To properly understand the character and aims of their political activity, therefore, very much depends on the used linguistic description of them. As a consequence, there is a politics of language.

Critical geopolitics is founded on postmodern concerns with the politics of representation. For the supporters of such an approach, political geography is not a collection of indisputable facts but, instead, is about power. It means that political geography is not an order or facts but, instead, geopolitical orders are created by top individuals and chief institutions and then imposed worldwide. Political geography is the product of cultural context followed by political motivation. One of the focal points of critical geography today is that it examines the question of why international politics are usually understood from the point of space or simply through the eyes of geography. Consequently, critical geopolitics seeks to uncover the politics involved in writing the geography of global space. This process is called geo-graphing (writing about earth/land) to use the process of geographical reasoning in the practical service of political and other powers.

Critical geopolitics is not so much interested in classical geopolitical problems like the true effects of geography on international relations (like whether land, sea, or air powers are the most influential). Rather, critical geographers investigate whose models of international geography are used, and above all, whose interests these models serve. For them, power essentially depends on knowledge and, therefore, the knowledge has a crucial impact on political action. Examples of how science (knowledge) can be used in politics are the cases of Mackinder who wanted to help maintain British overseas imperial colonies and, therefore, its hegemony over world affairs, and Mahan, a naval historian, who was interested in building up the US Navy to assist the creation of the US Empire.

Supporters of critical geopolitics tend to analyze the impact of geography in any description of the world or its parts from a political viewpoint  for instance to describe or predict a foreign policy of some nation-state is, in fact, to be engaged in geopolitics. Any geopolitical description can influence political perception. For instance, knowledge of other regions and the character of their inhabitants described in a particular political-ideological way can be significant for political action  using constantly the terms Evil Empire or Devil Axis to describe some country and its political leadership, serve to legitimate its own foreign policy and military actions.

The focal claim by the supporters of critical geopolitics is that conventional, or traditional geopolitical arguments are too much of a pro-geographical nature. Contrary to the traditional geopoliticians, their colleagues in critical geopolitics prefer to reduce the factor of space and place (that means not being crucially concerned with understanding and analyzing geographical processes) to concepts or ideologies. Ideology, from the very perspective of critical geography, can be understood as a meaning that serves to create or/and maintain relationships of domination and subordination, through symbolic forms. Regarding international politics, critical geopolitics argues that geopolitics is not simply linked to the function of describing or predicting the shape of IR. However, geopolitics has to be focal to how identity is formed and supported in contemporary (multi- and hybrid) societies.

In conclusion, we can say that geopolitics continues to be a powerful form of geographical reasoning, but used in support of powerful political interests. Geopolitics can create moral maps of the world, and locate enemies to the nation-state. However, critical geopolitics is a significant challenge to the traditional geopolitical imagination of IR and global politics which offers another way to imagine alternative connections between different human groups in the world.

 Vladislav B. Sotirovic 2024

Personal disclaimer: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.
Medical journal reveals over 6,500 Australian doctors received payments from Big Pharma companies

Pharmaceutical companies have paid more than AU$33 million ($21.7 million) over three years to over 6,500 doctors in Australia to promote their products and services.

Pharmaceutical companies offer payments to doctors and other healthcare professionals to promote their products. These payments are listed as consultancy fees and speaker fees and can also cover travel and accommodation expenses. Until recently, these payments were not fully disclosed, according to the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA), which published a research letter on May 6.

In 2016, Medicines Australia, the main industry association representing pharmaceutical companies in the country, updated its code of conduct to require members to disclose payments made to doctors and the amounts involved. (Related: RIGGED MEDICINE: Report finds nearly 60% of U.S. doctors received payments totaling over $12 billion from Big Pharma firms between 2013 and 2022.)

Since 2019, a centralized database on the Medicines Australia website has allowed people to search for information about individual doctors and the payments they received. The database includes payments for things, like registration fees, travel costs and fees for service (including grants and in-kind support), but not for food, beverages or research.

This information is updated every six months and remains accessible for three years.

The 2019-2022 cross-sectional analysis

The MJA conducted an analysis covering the period from November 2019 to October 2022. The data included details, such as the date of payment, the name and practice address of the healthcare professional, the nature of the service or event, and the payment amount. Each doctor's information was cross-referenced with their listing on the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) website.

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.

Additional details, such as specialty and gender, were also recorded. The number of practitioners in each medical specialty was sourced from the AHPRA 2020-2021 Annual Report. The study was granted an exemption from formal ethics approval by the University of Melbourne Human Research Ethics Committee.

The analysis revealed that more than 6,500 doctors  comprising almost five percent of all registered medical practitioners in Australia had received payments from pharmaceutical companies. Around 63 percent of the doctors  around 4,000  were men.

These payments  totaling over AU$33 million, varied widely in size from AU$36 ($24) to almost AU$300,000 ($197,226).

Hematologists and oncologists received the highest payments at AU$6.13 million ($4.03 million), followed by cardiologists at AU$3.69 million ($2.43 million) and endocrinologists at AU$2.8 million ($1.84 million).

Conversely, rheumatology had the highest proportion of doctors receiving payments at almost 70 percent, while neurosurgery, emergency medicine and medical administration had the lowest proportions.

Among pharmaceutical companies, noted to have made the highest total payments were Novartis at nearly AU$3.69 million ($2.43 million), AstraZeneca at over AU$2.6 million ($1.71 million) and Bayer at more than AU$2.5 million ($1.64 million).

MJA investigation likely underestimating payments Big Pharma made to Australian doctors

The analysis acknowledged potential underestimation of pharmaceutical company payments since not all companies were represented by Medicines Australia. It also highlighted the exclusion of payments for food and beverages from reporting requirementsdespite their prevalence at pharmaceutical industry events.

Findings from studies from the United States suggested that such payments can influence prescribing patterns and raise healthcare costs, particularly in the fields of hematology and oncology. Public awareness of these payments is limited and their disclosure could impact trust in the medical profession, according to the American Economic Association.

The MJA report recommended that Australian doctors reflect on their relationships with the pharmaceutical industry and consider whether accepting such payments aligns with public expectations. They advocated for greater transparency in reporting payments and suggested linking payments with AHPRA numbers to facilitate the identification of recipients.

Watch this video that talks about how much Big Pharma is paying doctors.

This video is from the Daily Videos channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Pharmaceutical industry is deceiving doctors while utterly failing to make significant contributions to treating chronic disease.

DEPOPULATION PAYOFF: ACOG received $11.8 million from the HHS to encourage pregnant women to get vaccinated.

PHARMA FLASHBACK: Pfizer shelled out $2.3B to settle civil and criminal charges in 2009.

Groups that aggressively lobbied for COVID jab mandates were funded by, you guessed it: PFIZER.

Big Pharma payola scandal erupts in Australia, takes down six corrupt officials and Australian Premier Berejiklian.

Sources include:

TheEpochTimes.com

MJA.com.au 1

MJA.com.au 2

AEAWeb.org

Brighteon.com
NYC Mayor Eric Adams wrongly accuses Columbia University visitor of being an outside agitator during Gaza solidarity protest

Intel sources have reportedly leaked information to journalists that during the first days of the Gaza solidarity protest at Columbia University , the wife of a convicted terrorist was on campus , mingling with the student protesters.

"We're learning tonight that the wife of an indicted terrorist was on the campus," said CBS host Laura Coates in a tweet citing City Hall sources and referring to Nahla Al-Arian, 63 years old and a retired fourth-grade teacher from Tampa Bay, Florida, whose father's family is originally from Gaza.

The next two mornings, New York City Mayor Eric mentioned her presence at Columbia University and said it was a crucial part of his decision to authorize the military-style raid on the building because she was there as an "outside agitator" directing the protest.

"One of the individuals' husband was arrested for and convicted for terrorism on a federal level," Adams said on MSNBC.

"I knew that there was no way I was going to allow those children to be exploited the way they were being exploited and many people thought that this was just a natural evolution of a protest. It was not. These were professionals that were here," Adams told CBS. He followed up with an interview on NPR stating that Al-Arian's presence at Columbia was the reason he allowed the violent raid.

Al-Arian, whose life has been a nightmare for the past seven months as her relatives in the embattled enclave die one by one and her ancestral homeland gets flattened by violent attacks, actually went to Columbia to join her two journalist daughters who visited the encampment.

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.

"I tagged along And I wanted to see those kids. I felt so down," she said. "I was crying every day for Gaza, for the children being killed, for the women, the destruction of my father's city, so I wanted to feel better, you know, to see those kids. I heard a lot about them, how smart they are, how organized, you know?"

She was on the campus for less than an hour, sat and listened to part of a teach-in and shared some hummus with her daughters and students. When she left the school and New York to visit her grandchildren in Virginia, she felt good that people cared about the suffering and deaths being inflicted on her family in Gaza.

"I felt much better when I went there because I felt those kids are very well informed, very well educated. They are the conscience of America. They care about the Palestinian people who they never saw or got to meet," she said. (Related: More than 2,100 people arrested during Gaza solidarity protests at universities and colleges nationwide.)

Al-Arian says Adams is wrong about her husband

Al-Arian pointed out that the information publicly stated by Adams about her husband, Sami Al-Arian, is wrong. Sami is a former computer engineering professor and prominent Palestinian activist.

On Feb. 20, 2003, Sami was arrested and indicted on 53 counts of supporting the armed resistance group Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), and the charges could have put him in prison for multiple life sentences, plus 225 years. It was a centerpiece case of the administration of former President George W. Bush's domestic "war on terror." He was charged with conspiracy to kill or maim persons abroad, yet the prosecutors openly admitted he had no connection to any violence.

His trial did not go well for federal prosecutors. In December 2005, following a six-month trial, a jury acquitted him on eight of the most serious counts and deadlocked 10-2 in favor of acquittal on the other nine. The judge made clear he was not pleased with this outcome and the prosecutors were intent on relitigating the case. Al-Arian had spent two years in jail already without any conviction.

In 2006, he pleaded guilty to one count of providing nonviolent support to people the government alleged were affiliated with the PIJ to agree with a plea deal. He would serve a short sentence and with his residency revoked, get an expedited deportation. At no point during the governments trial did the prosecution provide evidence he was connected to any acts of violence. For the next eight years following his release from prison in 2008, he was kept under house arrest. Amnesty International raised concerns that he had been abused in prison and he faced the prospect of yet another lengthy, costly court battle.

"This case remains one of the most troubling chapters in this nation's crackdown after 9-11," Jonathan Turley, his lawyer, wrote in 2014 when the case was officially dropped. "Despite the jury verdict and the agreement reached to allow Dr. Al-Arian to leave the country, the Justice Department continued to fight for his incarceration and a trial in this case. It will remain one of the most disturbing cases of my career in terms of the actions taken by our government."

Visit IsraelCollapse.com for more news related to the ongoing war in Gaza.

Watch this video from videographer Lincoln Karim as he goes on the scene at the anti-war, pro-Palestine student protest at Columbia University.

This video is from the AllTheWorldsAStage channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Israel wants U.S. National Guard deployed against anti-Israel protesters at American universities.

Intolerant Zionists now controlling all on-campus speech  no defending innocent Palestinians allowed.

Columbia crackdown led by university prof doubling as NYPD spook.

Sources include:

TheIntercept.com

APNews.com

Brighteon.com
ADL calls for warrantless FISA spying on U.S. students, peace activists

America's Zionist continent is so upset that American students and teachers are protesting Israel's genocide in Gaza that its members have begun begging Congress to allow FISA to spy on all of them without a warrant.

In a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Democrat Leader Hakeem Jeffries, the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, a cohort of Jewish entities that includes the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), asked for Congress to reauthorize Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) via House Resolution 7888, also known as the "Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act."

"The signatories on this letter constitute major American Jewish organizations whose memberships represent the diverse swath of American Jewry and who have forged consensus on two critical matters: (1) the safety and security of the State of Israel; and (2) the need to protect Jews in the U.S.  indeed, all Americans  from terrorist threats."

In other words, the American Jewry believes that protesting an illegal, genocidal war constitutes "terrorism," when the Constitution calls it protected free speech under the First Amendment.

"Section 702 allows the U.S. Intelligence Community to collect communications from foreign terrorists and other overseas adversaries who use U.S. service providers," the letter continues.

"This intelligence allows the U.S. to combat terror at home and, additionally, to help protect our strategic partners including the State of Israel. Maintaining this critical authority in a form that does not reduce its operational value is all the more essential after October 7, as terrorist perpetrators are still at large and plotting further harm to the Jewish State and abroad."

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.

(Related: Did you know that the Zionist creeps at the ADL use hidden microphones to spy on Americans inside their own homes?)

October 7 is the new 9/11

Just like the 9/11 false flag terror attack before it, Oct. 7, 2023, is the catalyst through which the Zionist lobby hopes to completely stamp out the First Amendment once and for all, using the excuse that free speech is a "terrorist" threat to the Jewish State of Israel.

Those running Israel  they also run the United States  are hoping that you will be so outraged over "babies in ovens" and "mass rapes" that you agree to sacrifice your rights on the altar of Zionism. This isn't 2001, though, so it is a much harder sell  something the Zionists failed to calculate in the information age.

As such, they are melting down en masse over the fact that most of America does not support the Netanyahu regime's murderous actions in Gaza, nor do Americans support having their hard-earned money shipped off to Israel, Ukraine and elsewhere to prop up international Zionism.

"In the U.S., indications of foreign involvement in domestic antisemitism events in the wake of October 7 highlight the need for the Executive Branch to retain this vital tool," the letter continues, playing the "antisemitism" card for added effect.

"When antisemitic threats are surging to historically high levels and foreign adversaries are communicating their intent to undertake attacks on Jewish and American interests, the U.S. government needs adequately calibrated tools to carry out its responsibility to protect its population."

The letter concludes with a plea for both major political parties, Democrats and Republicans, to join hands in favor of passing the 2024 equivalent of the PATRIOT Act, which was enacted after 9/11 under the same false pretext of stopping "terrorism," i.e., any activity or speech of which the Zionist lobby disapproves.

If you want to help stop the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations from steamrolling the First Amendment, you must start sending your own letters and emails to Congress opposing HR 7888, along with any other such legislative efforts to silence free speech.

The full list of signatories on the pro-HR 7888 letter to Congress include:

Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations

ADL (Anti-Defamation League)

American Jewish Committee

B'nai B'rith International

Combat Antisemitism Movement

Hadassah, the Women's Zionist Organization of America

Jewish Federation of North America

Jewish Women International

Rabbinical Assembly

Secure Community Network

StandWithUs

Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America

"It's embarrassing seeing Israel dictate what happens in America," wrote an X user about the audacity of the Jewish lobby to make this kind of demand. "Sounds like they are putting Israeli interests above American interests."

"The ADL is a huge part of the program that sends U.S. police to Israel to be trained with the IDF," wrote another. "Not sure what that has to do with 'anti-defamation' unless it's to put the beatdown on people who protest or question their primacy  oh, wait..."

Another wrote that activists should routinely check their smartphones for the presence of a hidden app called "Pegasus" that the Zionist lobby uses to spy on their targets.

The ADL and all other organizations like it must be removed from the United States if the nation stands any chance at survival. Learn more at Fascism.news.

Sources for this article include:

Twitter.com

NaturalNews.com
What do cigarette addiction, alcoholism and mRNA vaccines all have in common?

If you are wondering what cigarette addiction, alcoholism and mRNA vaccines have in common, you can stop wondering now. They all cause chronic inflammation, cancer , respiratory strain and early death. Did you know that smoking cigarettes can cause cancer nearly anywhere in the body? It's true. By combining ammonia, bleach, formaldehyde and pesticides in commercial cigarettes, the lethal smoke causes chronic inflammation, while the nicotine constricts blood vessels, putting a major strain on the heart and central nervous system.

Also, a mountain of research reveals that drinking three or more alcoholic drinks daily heightens the risk of pancreatic cancers, stomach cancer and prostate cancer. All alcoholic drinks fall under this umbrella, including white and red wines, beer and liquor.

Then there are the bloody "spike protein" stabs that 270 million Americans rushed out to get the second they became available, though not one single clinical study proved them safe or effective. That's because they are the polar opposite, as they are ineffective and dangerous. In fact, Dr. Charles Hoffe, a British Columbian medical doctor, ran PET/CT scans on cancer patients who had received the Pfizer mRNA booster shot just eight days prior, and what he found will blow your mind.

Dr. Hoffe discovered the rapid progression of T-cell lymphoma, a dramatic increase of gastrointestinal lesions, and a turbo-effect of spreading of cells in the lymph nodes under the arms near the armpits. Also known as turbo-cancer, the cause is spike proteins clinging to the inner walls of blood vessels, depositing in vital organs and coming together to form strange, fibrous, rubbery white clots throughout the human body and brain.

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.

In other words, spike proteins from mRNA jabs are carcinogens that literally feed cancer, propelling it to multiply exponentially to invade the rest of the body. Meanwhile, spike protein turn OFF genes that fight cancer, so the injected people are burning the candle at both ends.

Got carcinogens? mRNA jabs, cigarettes, alcohol drive chronic inflammation, heart strain, cancer

One important health factor many medical doctors fail to address properly is chronic inflammation and its root causes. Because so many (nearly all) prescription medications and vaccines, including the flu shots and COVID jabs, cause horrific, chronic and acute inflammation, doctors are reluctant to discuss and solve the inflammation problems for their patients. Tack on the fact that tens of millions of Americans are overweight, drink, smoke, get vaccines regularly and eat processed, conventional toxic food all day, every day of their shortened lives.

This chronic inflammation is possibly the number one killer in the world, silently working behind the scenes, where there's no visible injury or "invader," and where healthy body parts break down and suffer from a wide range of chronic, preventable diseases and disorders.

Understand that cigarette smoke promotes chronic inflammation, and regular alcohol use and abuse is directly linked to inflammation and chronic diseases. This is well-established. So is the scientific, evidence-based FACT that COVID gene-therapy injections form spike proteins in heart cells, causing irregular heart contractions and full blown cardiomyopathy. For the past 3 years, scientists and doctors have been documenting SERIOUS INJURIES to the heart muscle (myocarditis) and inflammation of the sac around the heart (pericarditis) for COVID "vaccine" recipients.

Tune your internet dial to NaturalMedicine.news for more tips on how to use natural remedies for preventative medicine and for healing, instead of succumbing to Big Pharma's so-called "vaccinations," that are just as dangerous and harmful to your health as cigarettes and alcoholism. #ChronicInflammationTriggers

Sources for this article include:

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com
Court to hear arguments that regulation of firearm silencers is unconstitutional

In a lawsuit with the potential to advance greatly the cause of state nullification of unconstitutional federal law, a three-judge panel is hearing arguments in Paxton v. Dettelbach over the issue of home-built firearm suppressors, or silencers.

(Article by Bob Adelmann republished from TheNewAmerican.com)

From the lawsuit:

The National Firearms Act of 1934 (NFA) was amended in 1968 to regulate (for the first time) the making of firearm suppressors for non-commercial, personal use in Texas. But Defendants [including U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and Steven Dettelbach, the director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, or ATF] cannot demonstrate any historical tradition that can be analogized to any feature of the NFAs regulatory regime that applies to the making of firearm suppressors for non-commercial, personal use in Texas. Therefore, the statutes establishing that regulatory regime, and Defendants rules and practices implementing and enforcing that regulatory regime, are unconstitutional.

The question before the panel is whether a Texan (three of whom are named as plaintiffs in the suit) must first apply for permission from the ATF to build, in his own garage, using his own materials, a suppressor, which he intends only for his own personal use. Must he not only make an application, but pay the $200 fee required under the NFA?

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton filed the suit after the Texas Legislature passed a bill requiring him to challenge the federal law. It was initially denied because, according to the judge, the plaintiffs failed to allege a substantial risk of prosecution based solely on the desire to do something the [federal] government has prosecuted in the past. [Their] fear of prosecution is imaginary or speculative at best  and insufficient for  standing.

The issue of standing is being presented on appeal to that three-judge panel. Assuming the state and its three citizens can show that they have standing to bring the challenge, then the real issue can be debated: Can the state of Texas override a federal law?

In 2021, Texas adopted a law declaring that a firearm suppressor that is manufactured in this state and remains in this state is not subject to federal law or federal regulation, including registration.

The ATF said no. That law conflicts with federal firearms laws and regulations, [and therefore] federal law supersedes [it]. All provisions of the Gun Control Act (GCA) and the National Firearms Act (NFA)  continue to apply to [all gun dealers] and other persons in Texas.

That was enough to generate the initial complaint. In the appeal the plaintiffs wrote:

In other words, the district court held that the Individual Plaintiffs could not challenge the NFA requirements unless they broke the law or had already been targeted for potential prosecution. Because the Constitution does not put plaintiffs [in a position of having to make] such a zero-sum choice, the district court erred.

Once the issue of standing is resolved, the lawsuit may move forward.

As a side note: Dean Weingarten the journalist with Ammoland who has been following this case closely, said:

It is difficult to understand why the heavy regulation in the United States was put into effect. Silencers are seldom used in crime. They have significant benefits to protect hearing, reduce sound pollution, aid in training and are more and more being used in the military. They have obvious advantages for defense of the home and for hunting. Those who wish the population disarmed likely want to keep silencers heavily regulated precisely because of the many advantages of the devices.

Read more at: TheNewAmerican.com
ABSURD AND DANGEROUS: Hope Has No Borders opens hotline to pair illegal immigrants with Colorado families

A Denver organization has set up a new hotline that will pair illegal immigrants with families in Colorado who are willing to host them in their homes.

The Hope Has No Borders (HHNB) organization began pairing migrant workers and their families with hosts in late 2023. With the help of the charity nonprofit United Way, HHNB has expanded its operations and accelerated the pairing by way of the hotline. (Related: Denver to shell out an additional $3.2M in taxpayer dollars to "temporarily" house 200 illegals.)

Erin Lennon is one of the many hosts HHNB has paired with immigrants. Lennon, through the organization's pairing process which asks questions to find a perfect match for a home, welcomed a Chilean family of four to stay with her and her son. She was the first person in the program to host a migrant family.

HHNB is currently looking for host families in Denver and 26 other counties in Colorado who are willing to sign up to host so-called "migrant families."

"Hope Has No Borders is a nonprofit that was formed out of a grassroots movement of community members that became really active in trying to assist migrants back in early November, when there began to be a huge influx of buses dropping people in our city," HHNB Executive Director Jenifer Kettering said in an interview.

While the migrants are housed, Kettering noted that HHNB will be providing case management resources. For the host families, the organization provides financial allowances for essentials such as food and to help manage the payment of utility bills.

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.

Kettering noted that prospective hosts will be interviewed regarding their lifestyle, what type of housing they can provide and how long they will be willing to open up their properties to the migrants.

"It can be a room in your house, it could be an Airbnb that has some periods of low occupancy and you're willing to open it up for that period of time. It can be for a week, for respite and emergency situations. It could be for three months or a year, however long you want to negotiate," Kettering added.

HHNB putting local families in harm's way

However, HHNB may be putting local families in danger. Illegal immigrants are not exactly a peaceful bunch.

In New York City (NYC), many local residents are reportedly wanting to relocate as the surge in illegal immigrants continues to strain city resources.

They want to leave due to high crime rates, high cost of living and the declining standard of living  all of which are made worse by the rising amount of resources being allotted to care for the increasing immigrant population.

Authorities have blamed the soaring crime and violence on growing numbers of so-called "asylum seekers" coming to NYC with undeclared connections to Latin American street gangs, a number of which are known for drug smuggling, human trafficking and murder.

For instance, an illegal alien stabbed a fellow immigrant over a dispute involving a woman in a shelter in NYC. The victim, identified as 24-year-old Dafren Canizalez, was rushed to the nearby Harlem Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The suspect, 26-year-old Moises Coronado, attempted to flee but was caught by security and taken into custody.

Follow InvasionUSA.news for more news about the migrant crisis in the United States.

Watch the video below about a Denver city official begging illegal aliens to move to other American cities as they have run out of jobs and resources to provide for them.

This video is from the Puretrauma357 channel on Brighteon.com.

More related articles:

Denver official BEGS illegals to agree to be diverted to other cities because they're out of resources and people will "suffer."

Report finds Denver taxpayers are footing skyrocketing costs to feed illegal immigrants.

TRAITORS: Democrats in Denver suggest hiring illegals for government jobs amid financial strains and layoffs in the city.

As city reaches "breaking point," officials in sanctuary city Denver begin EVICTING illegals from overcrowded shelters.

Illegal immigrant charged with VEHICULAR HOMICIDE in Colorado had already been deported FOUR TIMES.

Sources include:

100PercentFedUp.com

KDVR.com

Denver7.com

Brighteon.com
Mises.org: The FBI and CIA are enemies of the American people

Joe Rogan and Tucker Carlson sat down for a three-hour-plus discussion on the Joe Rogan Show last week, covering everything from UFOs, to religion and artificial intelligence. But perhaps the most important topic they covered was the insidious and dangerous role played by the US regimes intelligence agencies in America.

(Article by Ryan McMaken republished from Mises.org)

Specifically, Carlson suggested the CIA continues to lobby for keeping the JFK files secret, possibly because the CIA had a role in the assassination. Tucker also brought up how the FBIs second-in-command was responsible for taking down Richard Nixon. Carlson described how intelligence agencies hold immense power within Congress because members of Congresswho are generally disreputable people with many secretsare terrified of being blackmailed. After all, in a post-Patriot Act world of nearly unrestrained spying by the US regime, there is no privacy in America.

Ill let you, dear readers, listen to the full interview and make up your mind for yourselves as to the details of the discussion.

What I want to highlight here, however, is how remarkable it is that two major media figuresRogan and Carlsonare announcing to their millions of listeners and readers that organizations like the CIA and the FBI are despicable agencies committed to undermining the legal and constitutional institutions of the United States.

This is long overdue.

Deep-state agencies like the CIA and the FBI have for far too long been considered reputable organizations just trying to keep us safe or somehow defend the United States from alleged foreign threats. Conservatives have long been among the worst offenders. Libertarians know this well, and have observed for decades the breed of small-government conservatives who one minute claim the government cant do anything right and then the next minute simp for heroic CIA and FBI agents. People such as these have long checked their critical thinking skills at the door as soon as the discussion turns to the regimes spy agenciesor the Pentagon, for that matter. This is not to say that Leftists are guiltless on this. While historically it was the Left that actually made some efforts to expose intelligence agencies and their crimes in the 1970s, that is now ancient history. The Left in 2024 has rarely met a regime spook it didnt like. This was made explicit last month when Adam Westbrook and Lindsey Crouse declared in The New York Times that the Deep State is actually kind of awesome.

The job of opposing these contemptible enemies of freedom at Americas intelligence agenciesespecially the FBI and CIA and NSAfalls to the minority of Americans who actually care about law and human rights enough to seek true restraints on regime power. Those of us in this minority must never miss an opportunity to disparage, doubt, question, and generally express loathing for these organizations and for every single agent and employee at these agencies who collects a taxpayer-funded salary.

A Danger for Many Decades

Since at least the early 1960s, many have understood that the post-war intelligence agencies have posed an especially dangerous threat to the people of the United States. For example, exactly one month after Kennedys assassinationsurely, just a coincidence!former president Harry Truman expressed alarm about the CIAs meddling in domestic affairs. He wrote in The Washington Post: For some time I have been disturbed by the way CIA has been diverted from its original assignment. It has become an operational and at times a policy-making arm of the Government. This has led to trouble and may have compounded our difficulties in several explosive areas. ...I never had any thought that when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak and dagger operations.

Then as now, however, The Washington Post was an arm of the deep state and the editor buried Trumans op-ed on Page A11. The CIA was outraged enough by the column, however, that CIA director Allen Dulles lied and claimed that Truman had been quite astounded when he saw his own article and that the whole thing was really the work of a Truman aide.

This bizarre attempt by CIA operative to retract Trumans article was nonetheless contradicted by Truman himself who reiterated in a 1964 letter that Truman had only intended the CIA to be an informational service for the president, and that [I]t was not intended to operate as an international agency engaged in strange activities. Truman would later tell an interviewer that [I]f Id known what was going to happen, I never would have [created the CIA.]

Of course, Truman may have known about many of the CIAs strange activities by the late 1950s, such as MKULTRA, and related mind control experiments with LSD and other drugs. The CIA was known to drug the agencys victims against their will, such as seven black inmates in Kentucky who were were fed double, triple and quadruple doses of LSD for 77 straight days. One might also mention the very suspicious case of Frank Olson, a bioweapons expert who was given LSD by CIA agents without his knowledge. Olson later fell to his death from a hotel window in 1953. The agency lied about drugging Olson for 22 years.

The CIA faced some scrutiny in the wake of the Vietnam war as the Left began to rein in the deep state which had spent years attempting to destroy American opponents of the war through a variety of dirty tricks. Yet, the agency had hardly been reformed by the time the USs war on terror was launched in late 2001. The CIA returned to its illegal medical tortureassuming it had ever stoppedwith new medical experiments on regime prisoners. Documents uncovered by the ACLU have shown that CIA doctors are still used to provide a veneer of scientific legitimacy to CIA torture programs. In the age of vaccine passports, this alliance between doctors and the CIA should alarm any defender of human rights.

In spite of all this, the CIA continues to fail spectacularly at its original mission of collecting useful information. The CIA failed to see the Iranian Revolution coming. The CIA was clueless about Soviet Missiles shipped to Cuba in 1962. The CIA believed the Soviet Union was an economic powerhouse in the 1980s. And, of course, the CIA let 9/11 happen right under its nose.

Given all this, even conservative stalwarts have seen the light on the CIA in recent years. The late Angelo Codevilla, for example, penned a 2020 article calling for breaking up the CIA. The CIA, Codevilla notes, is now so ideologically partisan, so obsolete, and its record of failure so undeniable, that the agency is now inherently dangerous and low-value.

End the FBI

The CIA isnt alone in its war on American freedom and decency, however. The FBI is almost equally dangerous, which is why Codevilla also calls for the FBI to be restricted to law enforcement.

Unknown to many Americans, the FBI doesnt even consider itself to be a law enforcement agency anymore. The FBI is now a national security agency, and that means the FBI is an arm of the American spy regime. This, of course, is why the Department of Justice can now be used for blatantly political purposes such as when the FBI spied on candidate Donald Trump in 2016.

Here at mises.org, weve already reported on the mixture of abuse and incompetence that characterizes the FBI. The FBI expends countless hours tracking down harmless enemies of the regimesuch as little old ladies prosecuted for the January 6 riotwhile ignoring real criminals like Larry Nassar. Nor surprisingly, local police will tell you its the state and local police who do the real work of tracking down real criminals, and then the FBI swoops in to take the credit.

Moreover, the history of the FBI lends substantial plausibility to Tucker Carlsons claim that intelligence agencies are in the business of blackmailing members of Congress. This is a known tactic employed by J. Edgar Hoover during this 48-year reign at the FBI. Hoover, of course, was lauded for decades as a hero, but in reality, he was, in the words of historian Beverly Gage, a one-dimensional tyrant and backroom schemer who strong-armed the rest of the country into submission...the most influential federal appointee of the twentieth century. Hoover and his army of compliant FBI agents spied on anyone and everyoneespecially elected officials and other public figureswho might be useful as a target for blackmail.

So, what to do with these agencies?

There is nothing that these agencies do that could justify their continued existence. Both agenciesneither of which in their present forms are authorized among the enumerated powers of the US constitutionwere sold to the taxpayers as agencies to be used only against hardened criminals and foreign dictators. Today, these organizations spend their time exploiting the taxpayers for ever larger budgets, for ever more power to spy on Americans, and new ways to trick those same Americans into supporting the regimes latest wars.

They are, simply put, the regimes secret police, devoted to building the regimes power. One answer is to eviscerate their budgets, repeal their enabling legislation, and encourage aggressive lawfare against the regime in retribution for these agencies many crimes. Thats probably a best-case scenario. Other scenarios likely require the bankruptcy of the regime, or perhaps its dissolution. That is likely to come with substantial and negative economic effects in the short term. Unfortunately, many Americans are still enthralled to these organizations thanks to relentless state propaganda that tells us this American version of the KGB exists for our own good. Abolition will clearly take time. Now is a good time to start.

Read more at: Mises.org
NY Home Depot deploys guard dog to protect shoppers from aggressive migrants and thieves in the parking lot

For more than two years, New York has been experiencing a surge in migrants. These illegals crossed the border and were bused into sanctuary cities such as the Big Apple. However, very little federal aid has been directed to said states, local government executives have complained.

Migrants must wait six months after applying for asylum before receiving a work permit. There is also a 60-day shelter stay limit in place for migrant families. Since spring 2022, over 194,000 migrants have received care in New York. The city still currently houses nearly 66,000 migrants in its shelter system. Just last week, more than 1,500 more migrants arrived in the Big Apple.

With nothing to do and just depending on government assistance, many asylum seekers (with backgrounds and places of origin unchecked) loiter in the city and resort to theft and other crimes. In fact, a branch of Home Depot in a NYC suburb recently hired security guards and a guard dog to patrol the parking lot and deter aggressive migrants from harassing shoppers and thieves from breaking into cars.

"It's more about omnipresence," one guard said, explaining that the company was contracted a few weeks ago. "It's not like we let them go bite anyone or anything." The guard claimed that it was not just about the migrants who were there that they were hired, but "because of a myriad of other things too, like people breaking into cars, that kind of stuff," he said. The New York Post re-visited the guarded New Rochelle Home Depot branch and found that the lot was now quiet and no migrants loitered there as when the news outlet visited earlier.

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.

Meanwhile, seven miles away in Throgg's Neck, the Bronx, at least 30 male migrants hovered at the doors of another Home Depot. According to reports, apart from illegals, people roaming around were day laborers looking for local contractors for work. However, some of the loiterers aggressively confront shoppers, selling them fake Apple Airpods or soliciting tips for lifting items from shopping carts into cars.

"You come out and you're a woman by yourself, they literally leech onto your wagon, and you're like, 'No, I don't need any help,'" one worker said. "And when they're following you to your car, it's unnerving." She said a female supervisor saw one of the men washing his privates with a water bottle in the lot and that several women have called customer service to complain that migrants robbed them of purses or phones. One customer told the Post how she had to pull out pepper spray when a migrant refused to back off when her husband told him that they didn't need his help.

Mayor Adams wants to expedite work permits for illegals

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been a defender of New York's decades-old sanctuary city status, which prohibits city authorities from asking questions about a person's immigration status however, in the past few months, he has started calling out the federal government for assistance in the worsening migrant crisis in the Big Apple.

He admitted that the city is at its breaking point as residents have been confronting him about how immigrant crimes have affected the lifestyle and security of New Yorkers, following January's brutal Times Square attack on two policemen that saw most of the suspects freed on bail within hours of their arrests. (Related: Mayor Eric Adams calls for modifications to sanctuary city policy as NYC struggles to accommodate nearly 200,000 new migrants that are overrunning the city.)

Now Adams is doubling down on his push for the federal government to speed up work permits for more migrants. "If you can work from Ukraine, then you should be able to work from South and Central America, and we call on that to take place," Adams said.

He asked the federal government to expand temporary protected status to migrants from a wider range of countries so that they can get work permits faster. "At the heart of this is the right to work," Adams said. "People should have the right to provide for their families and continue to pursue the American dream."

Critics think that giving work to illegals does not guarantee a decrease in the crime rate in the city.

Meanwhile, some of the asylum seekers have taken to selling candy on the subway, including children. Adams had his people post fliers outside migrant shelters, warning them that selling items on the subway and streets is illegal and children should be in school.

"We see families trying to do whatever they can to get by, and then they have to move every 60 days and theyre at high risk of losing whatever work they did find. So, its not surprising to see families do things like sell candy to get by," Kathryn Kliff, of the Legal Aid Society said.

Check out OpenBorders.news to read more stories related to the Biden administration's illegal immigration policies and the worsening migrant crisis.

Sources for this article include:

NYPost.com

Fox5NY.com
Mitt Romney admits TikTok ban was about CENSORING pro-Palestine content

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) recently admitted that the underlying motivation behind the congressional push to ban TikTok in America is to censor the "overwhelming" pro-Palestinian content on the popular Chinese-owned social media platform.

Speaking at the McCain Institutes 2024 Sedona Forum alongside Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Romney stated that the bipartisan support for the ban stems from the proliferation of pro-Palestinian content on TikTok.

Romney also claimed that the surge in Palestinian content on TikTok has contributed to reshaping public narratives and garnering widespread advocacy for Palestine. (Related: TikTok ban bill could lead to broader surveillance and censorship by the U.S. government.)

"Some wonder why there was such overwhelming support for us to shut down potentially TikTok or other entities of that nature. If you look at the postings on TikTok and the number of mentions of Palestinians relative to other social media sites, it's overwhelmingly so among TikTok broadcasts," said Romney.

Romney argued that the emotional images, reports and footage of Israel's indiscriminate bombing of Gaza and Palestinian territories circulating on social media platforms, especially on TikTok, contributed to Israel's failure to "control the narrative" about the Israel-Hamas war.

"The world is screaming about Israel, why aren't they screaming about Hamas?" Romney asked Blinken. "'Accept a ceasefire, bring home the hostages.' Instead, it's the other way around, I mean, typically the Israelis are good at PR. What's happened here? How have they, and we, been so ineffective at communicating the realities there and our point of view?"

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.

In response, Blinken pointed to the democratization of news, particularly through social media, as a factor in shaping public perceptions.

"Social media has dominated the narrative," Blinken said. "And you have a social media ecosystem environment in which context, history, facts get lost, and the emotion, the impact of images dominates. And we can't discount that, but I think it also has a very, very, very challenging effect on the narrative."

TikTok ban not the answer to the escalating pro-Palestinian protests

Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY), who co-sponsored a recent bill to ban TikTok in a foreign aid package signed in April, echoed the statement. Lawler argued that there is a coordinated effort to incite protests on college campuses. He blamed influential social media platforms like TikTok and Instagram for manipulating the beliefs of certain groups of students.

"It also highlights exactly why we included the TikTok bill in the foreign supplemental aid package because you're seeing how these kids are being manipulated by certain groups or entities or countries to foment hate on their behalf and really create a hostile environment here in the U.S.," said Lawler.

However, critics argued that this twisted reasoning only infringes upon First Amendment rights and does not address the root causes of the conflict and the legitimate grievances of protesters.

"Romney's comments betray a general bipartisan disinterest in engaging Israel's conduct in Gaza on its own terms, preferring instead to complain about protesters, interrogate university presidents, and, apparently, muse about social media's role in boosting pro-Palestinian activism," wrote Ben Metzner for the New Republic. "As Israel moves closer to a catastrophic invasion of Rafah, having already banned Al Jazeera in the country, Romney and Blinken would be wise to consider whether TikTok is the real problem."

Metzner suggested that the reluctance to engage with Israel's actions in Gaza and the tendency to blame social media for activism reflect a bipartisan disinterest in addressing the substantive issues at hand.

Watch this clip from the McCain Institute's recent Sedona Forum panel with Romney and Blinken discussing Israel losing the narrative in Gaza and its connection to the banning of TikTok.

This video is from the CreeperStatus channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

TikTok ban, Teslas Chinese partnerships mark new phase in brewing U.S.-China data security war.

TikTok pressured to ban all truth and push only official narratives.

8 Other Chinese apps that could be affected by the TikTok ban.

Hypocrisy? Biden cheers ban on TikTok while he uses 'influencers' to boost his sagging campaign.

Republicans call for TikTok ban due to pro-Palestine content surpassing views of pro-Israel posts.

Sources include:

LifeSiteNews.com

NewArab.com

CommonDreams.org

TheNewRepublic.com

Brighteon.com
Parks Canada offers free admission throughout the year  but only for MIGRANTS

Parks Canada has announced a program providing newcomers and new Canadian citizens free admission to all of Canada's national parks and historic sites throughout the year, while other Canadians continue to pay.

"Using the Institute for Canadian Citizenship's Canoo mobile app, enjoy free admission to all places administered by Parks Canada across the country for one full year. Visit one of Canada's national historic sites, each telling a unique story to piece together the defining moments in the story of Canada," Parks Canada posted on its official website.

"Get back to nature and unwind amidst the spectacular scenery in Canada's national parks and marine conservation areas. Celebrate your arrival in Canada or your citizenship with great Canadian experiences. Check out some of the most awesome places in Canada. We look forward to welcoming you!"

The initiative, titled "Free Admission for Newcomers to Canada and New Canadian Citizens," applies to all parks in Canada from British Columbia to Newfoundland and Labrador. The initiative places no restrictions on the number of visits or the duration of the free access. (Related: Canadian government plans to accept more refugees from Gaza amid record-high immigration and food bank dependency.)

"Admission to all national parks, national historic sites and national marine conservation areas operated by Parks Canada will be provided free of charge," Parks Canada wrote.

However, the initiative clearly states that the free admission only applies to newcomers and new Canadian citizens.

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.

In other words, other Canadian residents will still be charged the full price of CA$151.25 ($110.33) for a season pass for families of up to seven members or CA$75.25 ($54.89) for an individual pass. These passes are also valid only on federally-owned parks and does not cover visits to certain sites. For example, a day visit to Banff National Park, an iconic destination in Alberta and Canada's oldest national park, still costs CA$11 ($8.2).

Federal government sparks outrage for giving newcomers free access to Canada's parks

News of the new initiative limited to migrants and new citizens sparked outrage from Canadians who took to social media to express their discontent.

Some questioned why all citizens don't receive free admission, arguing that they, too, contribute through taxes and should benefit equally from the country's natural treasures.

"Why do we even pay taxes? What is the benefit to living in Canada?" an Instagram user asked.

Meanwhile, others suggest that such free admission for migrants is unfair to retired citizens, who have also contributed to the upkeep of the parks throughout their working lives but are not included in the free admission policy.

"So wrong. Why don't retired people get free passes? They paid for the parks most of their working lives."

"So we pay taxes to benefit immigrants, not the citizens who live and work here and pay the taxes," another Instagram user said. "What a backwards country."

Some mocked the identity of Canada as a welcoming nation. "Welcome to Canada, home to everyone but Canadians."

Watch this Fox News report on a recent chaotic episode at the U.S.-Canada border involving a "fiery" vehicle explosion.

This video is from the News Clips channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

NYC migrant crisis: Central Park being considered as HOUSING for migrants.

Venezuelan migrant family regrets coming to the U.S. as American Dream becomes too difficult to reach for illegals.

The SOROS EFFECT: The insidious Merchant of Migrants funds war and chaos around the world that sends millions of migrants straight to the USA.

America sees 550% increase in illegal immigrants coming in from Canada.

Sanctuary City New York spent over $5 billion in taxpayer money the previous fiscal year to provide services for ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

Parks.Canada.ca

TorontoSun.com

Brighteon.com
Poll finds 41% of voters believe CIVIL WAR could break out in America within the next five years

A recent Rasmussen poll reveals that more than four in ten American voters believe a civil war could break out in the United States within the next five years

According to the survey conducted among 1,105 likely voters in April, 41 percent of respondents believe a civil war will "likely" happen, 49 percent consider it "unlikely" and 10 percent are "uncertain." Out of the 41 percent, 16 percent deem it "very likely." The results also reveal a stark partisan divide, with 54 percent of Republican voters, 35 percent of Democratic voters, and 32 percent of independent voters foreseeing the possibility of civil conflict.

Recent political developments have also affected voter perceptions of civil war.

A notable 37 percent of voters believe that a victory by President Joe Biden in the 2024 presidential election would increase the likelihood of a civil war, while 25 percent hold the same view regarding a potential triumph by former President Donald Trump. Meanwhile, a majority of Trump voters from the 2020 election (53 percent) believe there would be an impending civil war, particularly if Biden were to win the coming presidential election. (Related: Sarah Palin warns of SECOND CIVIL WAR if political persecution of Donald Trump continues.)

Demographic factors also play an important role in varying levels of apprehension among different racial groups.

For instance, Black (46 percent) and Hispanic (51 percent) voters are more concerned about the possibility of another civil war that White voters (39 percent). Additionally, income levels appeared to influence perceptions, with individuals earning over $200,000 annually being the least likely to anticipate civil strife soon.

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.

Fictional and non-fictional events fuel the possibility of civil war

These findings reflect the anxieties of approximately 106 million Americans who foresee the possibility of civil war amid escalating tensions across college campuses nationwide, where clashes erupt between pro-Palestine demonstrators, law enforcement, conservative groups and pro-Israel counter-protesters.

The unrest gripping U.S. campuses highlights a growing divide between conservatives and liberals.

Students across numerous schools have organized protests against Israel's actions in Gaza, urging their institutions to sever ties with companies supporting the conflict. Meanwhile, conservative figures have condemned these demonstrations as radical, Marxist and antisemitic.

Moreover, the popularity of Alex Garland's dystopian political action film, "Civil War," adds more fuel to the possibility of civil unrest. The movie, which portrays a fractured America descending into violent chaos with Texas and California joining forces against an authoritarian government in Washington, D.C., has resonated with secessionist groups across the country. The specter of civil war looms large against the backdrop of a divisive presidential race between Biden and Trump.

Daniel Miller, a proponent of Texas secession since 1996 and the president of the Texas Nationalist Movement, sees the movie as stoking discussions around "Texit," Texas' hypothetical exit from the union, by tapping into collective anxieties about national disintegration. Miller, who views it as a plausible depiction of societal breakdown, argued that the portrayal of a president flouting democratic norms resonates today.

Louis Marinelli, the head of Yes California, which advocates for a radical overhaul of the political system, warned the public: "The coming American civil war will be fought between the people of this country based on ideology. We have two diverging and incompatible sets of values in this country that can no longer coexist."

Head over to CivilWar.news for more stories like this.

Watch the full conversation between Steve Quayle and the Health Ranger Mike Adams about the fall of America from invading migrant forces.

This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

The catalyst for the next US civil war?

Elitist one-percenters behind brewing cultural civil war in America.

Steve Quayle: Blue states want total CIVIL WAR in America.

Texas lieutenant governor discusses possibility of civil war breaking out over migration crisis.

Battle lines are being drawn for the coming CIVIL WAR  look who stands with Texas.

Sources include:

BigLeaguePolitics.com

DailyMail.co.uk

Brighteon.com
House Judiciary Committee report reveals tensions between Meta and Biden admin over COVID-19 censorship

A report by the House Judiciary Committee (HJC) has revealed tensions between Big Tech company Meta Platforms and the Biden administration over censorship matters related to the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19).

The HJC report released on May 1 contained documents the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) earlier elaborated on. Per the report, Meta executives viewed their interactions with the Biden White House as a "knife fight." This description followed President Joe Biden accusing the company founded by Mark Zuckerberg of "killing people" with its inadequate censorship of COVID-19 misinformation in July 2021.

Meta COO Sheryl Sandberg and Meta President of Global Affairs Nick Clegg expressed frustration by means of WhatsApp messages, with Clegg describing the White House's behavior as "highly cynical and dishonest." The discourse also touched upon the controversy of the lab leak theory, with Zuckerberg querying whether to publicly acknowledge the White House's pressure to censor discussions around it.

Further tension was highlighted when former White House Digital Strategy Director Robert Flaherty suggested Facebook "change the algorithm" to favor corporate news over conservative outlets, as indicated in documents reviewed last August.

Flaherty made the suggestion in an April 2o21 call between the White House and Facebook, according to the HJC's report. He characterized legacy publications as "authoritative" while calling conservative sources "polarizing," according to the transcript reviewed by the DCNF. (Related: COLLUSION: Biden regime ordered Facebook to tweak algorithms to suppress Republicans.)

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.

Flaherty asked at the time: "If you were to change the algorithm so that people were more likely to see [the New York Times], [the Wall Street Journal or] any authoritative news source over Daily Wire, Tomi Lahren, polarizing people. You wouldn't have a mechanism to check the material impact?"

Flaherty also demanded that Meta CENSOR Tucker Carlson

The White House official asked that question after an unnamed Meta executive brought up the possibility that public figures' speech may lead to more vaccine hesitancy. The executive referenced Lahren, the host of "Tomi Lahren is Fearless" on OutKick, who posted that she didn't plan to get the COVID-19 injection.

In April 2021, the White House also pressured Meta to censor a video produced by former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. According to a document from Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry released during his time as the Pelican State's attorney general, the censorship arose from Carlson  now with his own Tucker Carlson Network  saying "vaccines don't work." An injunction from a federal judge noted that the said video did not breach the Facebook platform's policy.

Questions about the validity of certain censorship efforts by the White House were also raised, particularly concerning the British Center For Countering Digital Hate's (CCDH) "Disinformation Dozen" report released in March 2021. Dr. Sherri Tenpenny, Dr. Joseph Mercola, the late Dr. Rashid Buttar and independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were included in the CCDH's list of 12 disinfo purveyors.

The CCDH's Disinfo Dozen report was used by the White House to encourage censorship on Meta's platforms Facebook and Instagram. But emails previously obtained by the HJC suggested that Meta doubted the accuracy of the British nonprofit's findings.

Head over to Censorship.news for more similar stories.

Watch Mike Benz explaining how the Biden administration pressured Meta to censor information about the COVID-19 injection in the clip below.

This video is from the GalacticStorm channel on Brighteon.com.

More related stories:

Social media BLACKOUT: Facebook and YouTube CENSOR victims of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine.

Victims of AstraZenecas COVID-19 injections were CENSORED by Facebook and YouTube, inquiry reveals.

ORWELLIAN: Amazon CENSORED books critical of COVID-19 injection at Biden admins behest.

Facebook censors report on study about breast milk being found with mRNA particles from COVID-19 vaccines.

Government data shows COVID-19 vaccines HARM the immune system  Facebook admits it was wrong to label it "misinformation."

Sources include:

YourNews.com

DailyCaller.com

Brighteon.com
Trade organizations of China, Kenya ink deal to foster business ties

Xinhua) 21:23, May 10, 2024

NAIROBI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Hunan Sub-council, dedicated to developing business cooperation with other countries, signed an agreement on Friday with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) to promote trade and investments.

The cooperation framework agreement was signed on the sidelines of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Africa (Kenya) 2024, which is currently underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Wu Shuguang, vice president of the CCPIT Hunan sub-council, said that a partnership with the Kenyan trade lobby will spur the flow of capital, manufactured goods and technology between China and East Africa's largest economy.

According to Wu, China-Kenya diplomatic and economic ties are flourishing, and both sides will benefit from sharing best practices in growing the digital economy and adopting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

KNCCI President Eric Rutto said that by signing a deal with the CCPIT Hunan sub-council, Kenya anticipates an increase in the volume of goods exported to China.

"Expanding and diversifying Kenya's export base is critical to economic stability, hence the need to establish strong trade relations with China, which has a higher potential to import from Kenya," Rutto said.

Kenya is ready to trade with China in diverse areas like precision agriculture, establishing local assembly plants, value addition of farm produce and leather processing, he added.

In addition, Rutto said that economic ties with China should revitalize the manufacturing sector, healthcare, e-commerce, mining, education, finance and infrastructure development in Kenya.

"We pledge to ensure that the agreements forged today translate into tangible opportunities for our business communities," Rutto said.

Kenya is hosting the three-day expo, featuring matchmaking forums, exhibitions, seminars and networking among senior officials, investors and entrepreneurs from both sides. The expo, concluding on Saturday, has attracted enterprises from manufacturing, textiles and clothing, infrastructure, farm machinery, energy and ICT sectors.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
Nature publication: Researchers find arctic region 10,000 years ago warmer than today

Early Holocene was warmer 10,000 years agoArctic ice melted.

(Article by P Gosselin republished from ClimateDepot.com)

The European Institute for Climate and Energy (EIKE) presents its latest climate video at its Youtube channel.

Examined today is a paper appearing in the journal Nature Communications titled: Seasonal sea-ice in the Arctics last ice area during the Early Holocene

The authors looked at sea ice in the region of the Lincoln Sea, bordering northern Greenland and Canada, will be the final stronghold of perennial Arctic sea-ice in a warming climate.

According to the paper, Modelling studies suggest a transition from perennial to seasonal sea-ice during the Early Holocene, a period of elevated global temperatures around 10,000 years ago.

The researchers have found marine proxy evidence for the disappearance of perennial sea-ice in the southern Lincoln Sea during the Early Holocene, which suggests a widespread transition to seasonal sea-ice in the Arctic Ocean.

Seasonal sea-ice conditions were tightly coupled to regional atmospheric temperatures, the authors stated.

Read more at: ClimateDepot.com
Left-wing filmmaker Steven Spielberg is actively involved in directing Joe Bidens reelection campaign because its all THEATER

Legendary film director Steven Spielberg is helping President Biden with his reelection campaign, and although he may not be known for his political prowess, hes actually a pretty good choice for the role because Biden's whole campaign is really nothing more than theater.

The director of hits such as Raiders of the Lost Ark and ET has been tasked with providing strategy for Biden at the Democratic National Convention, which will take place from August 19 to 22 in Chicago. It will be attended by more than 5,000 delegates from every state and territory in the U.S. Since he has already been assured he will be re-nominated and his current Vice President, Kamala Harris, will continue in her role, the Democratic party will use the convention as a chance to convince voters the senile president can handle the job for another four years.

The longtime supporter of Biden has been preparing by meeting with the organizers of the event and is expected to give advice on the best way to convey the presidents successes and his vision for the country to help people understand his ideas for a potential second term.

Steven wants to be as helpful as possible to the president, a source commented. He believes this is one of the most important elections in the nations history.

Spielberg also helped with the Biden campaign in 2020, which was held virtually during the pandemic. Although the director made a film for the Obama campaign in 2008, he is not expected to do so for Biden this time around.

Spielberg has been a major donor to Democrat candidates for many years, giving millions of dollars overall to both candidates and political action committees. He's also a big supporter of Israel.

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.

He was one of several A-listers who took part in a Biden fundraiser hosted by interior designer Michael Smith in L.A. last year that saw Biden raking in another $15 million for this campaign war chest.

Spielbergs friend and former business partner at DreamWorks, Jeffrey Katzenberg, is serving as a co-chair for the Biden campaign. Katzenberg hosted a fundraiser for Biden in his home last December and is expected to co-host another one in June that may feature former president Barack Obama.

Biden might have more cash, but Trump is leading in the polls

The Biden campaign currently has a significant cash advantage over the Trump campaign as the former president deals with legal problems. The RNC and Trump campaign reported a fundraising total of $65.6 million in March, bringing his available campaign spending to $93.1 million, but the Biden campaign reportedly had $192 million at the same time.

However, Trump is taking the lead in the polls nationally as well as seven big battleground states, which means that he could be in a prime position to regain the presidency regardless of his campaigns finances.

Many voters have reservations about how Biden has been handling the economy and the border crisis, both of which are expected to be top issues for voters when they go to the polls in November.

A poll that was recently released by CNN revealed that Trump currently enjoys 49% of American voters support in a head-to-head matchup against Biden, while the current president has just 43% of support.

The poll also found that 61% of Americans believe that Bidens presidency has been a failure so far, up from the 57% who considered the first year of his administration to be a failure when polled in January 2022. With such abysmal numbers, Biden will certainly be hoping the support of his Hollywood friends will be enough to overcome his disadvantage.

Sources for this article include:

RT.com

HollywoodReporter.com

DailyWire.com

CNN.com
Geomagnetic storms are set to hit Earth this weekend after the Sun recently incurred solar storms in the form of solar plasma and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The solar storm train, dubbed "series of solar storms," is projected to strike our planet in the next few days, according to reports. This means that highly energized solar particles can potentially disrupt our radio and satellite signals.

Furthermore, the collision between the solar storms and Earth's magnetic field can also lead to auroras in the United States, as far south as Illinois and Oregon. The said solar storms occurred as a result of increased solar activity in recent days amid the current Solar Cycle 25. Previous estimates suggested the cycle could reach its solar maximum as early as 2024, instead of the year 2025.

Solar Storm Alert

In its solar storm alert in recently, the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) on Thursday, May 9, reported the occurrence of major solar eruptions associated with CMEs, solar flares, and solar radiation storms. With this, the solar storms can cause interference or disruption to Earth's technology, including radar, satellite communications, and the Global Positioning System (GPS).

Based on additional reports as of Thursday, Earth is bracing for a solar storm impact from three CMEs this weekend, as solar activity levels reached an all-time high in the past 24 to 36 hours. One of the most significant developments from the Sun is the growth and integration of sunspot regions 3664 and 3668. In addition, multiple solar flares were also produced from the CMEs.

In 2023, intensifying solar storms from our Sun, as seen in recent years, have led to the emergence and spread of an unconfirmed threat online about an "internet apocalypse." Based on social media posts, it will be caused by a looming solar superstorm in 2025. However, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has not issued any official warnings about the said threat.

Also Read: Solar Storm from Sun's Atmospheric Hole Releases Geomagnetic Storm to Hit Earth on August 3

Geomagnetic Storm Threat

A geomagnetic storm pertains to the major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere, the latter being a region dominated by the planet's magnetic field. This phenomenon occurs when there is a significant exchange of energy between solar winds traveling through space and the space environment surrounding Earth, according to the SWPC.

In the past, geomagnetic storms caused radio and satellite signal disruptions in different regions of the world, including Australia and Asia. In 2003, a series of solar storms consisting of CMEs and solar flares occurred from mid-October to early November. The storm resulted in various disruptions worldwide including a power outage in Sweden and satellite communications blackouts.

NASA explains when CMEs reach our magnetic field, which creates geomagnetic storms, it send current throughout Earth's magnetic layer that sends particles to the North Pole and the South Pole. These particles interact with oxygen and nitrogen which lead to the formation of atmospheric phenomena of auroras.

Related Article: Solar Storm Alert: Geomagnetic Storm to Hit Earth Soon Following New Year's Eve Solar Flare [SWPC]
As Brazil rescue searches for missing people, the latest report showed at least 100 people died from deadly flooding in the country.

Brazil has been battered by challenging weather conditions and storms. The country is vulnerable to severe weather threats, including drought and wildfires. People in the affected areas should keep updated with the weather and be advised to keep away from flooding.

Brazil Deadly Flooding Risks

According to a weather report, southern Brazil suffered from significant flooding. The death toll reached over 100 people, while 400 municipalities were reportedly affected, especially in the town of Porto Alegre and nearby areas.

In terms of damaged communities, the news report shows that over 61 homes were affected or destroyed.

Due to flooding threats, over 160,000 people evacuated, particularly in parts of the state of Rio Grande do Sul. Authorities raised concerns about the potential rise of deaths, as search and operations continued.

Another concern is the impact on drinking water. The report warns of contaminated water, which could bring health risks due to diseases.

Most residents suffered from widespread power outages, with no internet or signal. Additionally, people traveling this week, particularly with boats, are warned of potential electric shocks from damaged power lines.

Emergency personnel and the military were deployed in the affected areas to help with affected residents and deliver relief efforts.

Brazil has suffered from extreme weather events due to human-driven climate change. Recently, prolonged drought hit Amazon forests, including wildfires. Meanwhile, climate change can cause intense and frequent storms.

Also Read: Southern Brazil Deadly Flooding: 55 People Died While 70,000 Evacuated

Flooding and Evacuation Safety in Brazil

People in low-lying areas are vulnerable to severe flooding, including communities near streams or rivers. Homeowners should keep updated with the latest forecasts in Brazil, particularly for affected areas.

When evacuation occurs or flood water rises, it is important to evacuate into secure areas to prevent potential life dangers.

A battery-powered radio is helpful when power outages occur and allows homeowners to stay alert for stormy outlooks.

Additionally, homeowners can consider storing emergency kits if they become stranded or evacuated. Three-day supplies are life-savers during disasters in which road access is challenging. Having an emergency evacuation bag is also advisable.

Homeowners should keep canned goods and bottled water for family members. They should store them in areas away from pets or flooding.

Battery-powered flashlights and power banks are essential during a widespread power outage or when people need to charge their phones.

Furthermore, medicine kits are crucial if any family members are injured or need medicine maintenance. When the storm or floodwaters finally abate, homeowners should be careful when returning home. Damaged electrical wirings or falling debris are likely.

Related Article: Brazil Savanna-Like Biome Weakens Resistance to Drought, Wildfires Due to Climate Change, Report Warns

For more similar, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
Heavy rains might hit southern U.S., particularly in Texas. People can expect challenging weather, including flooding risks.

This week, people in flood-prone areas are the most vulnerable to severe and extreme flooding. Additionally, motorists should check the road conditions before traveling to prevent hazardous travel.

As reported by the National Weather Service (NWS) on May 9, vehicle-related flooding fatalities account for 50%. Motorists are advised to avoid floodwaters or wait until the weather improves.

The NWS Weather Prediction Center warns of dangerous flash flood concerns in the Mid-South. Meanwhile, heavy rains can unload in the Southeast.

The second week of May could be challenging in the U.S., especially in the central portions, with a chance of isolated tornadoes and hail. Limiting outdoor plans is advisable, particularly in flood-prone areas.

Southern US and Northeast Weather Outlook: What Can People Expect This Week?

People with travel plans should reconsider this week's weather due to potential heavy rains and renewed flooding. Northeastern Texas residents are at risk of heavy rains and flash floods, particularly in portions of Interstate 10 to Interstate 20.

On the weekend, rounds of rain are forecast in Kansas City, Denver, and Houston. Meanwhile, a less humid outlook could unload in Memphis, Miami, and Jacksonville, with two to four inches of rain possible.

From the weekend to early next week, renewed flooding and local flash flood threats can occur in the following areas:

Waco

San Antonio

Houston

Shreveport

Montgomery

Savannah

Jacksonville

Tampa

In Houston, the recent advisory warns of scattered storms this week. Homeowners should stay alert for potential severe forecasts affecting portions of north Interstate 10. There is also a risk of damaging winds and large hail.

Additionally, the rainy outlook could continue until next week. Commuters should keep alert for rounds of showers and thunderstorms in the following areas:

Lubbock

Austin

San Antonio

Houston

Corpus Christi

Odessa

Lubbock

Oklahoma City

For Austin and San Antonio residents, large to very hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes are likely. Areas of dense fog in Interstate 35 and the Coastal Plains are also at risk.

Also Read: Summer and Spring Beach Recreation: 5 Tips to Keep Safe From Hotter Temperatures

Central U.S. Weather Forecast: Where Will Severe Weather Unload?

The latest weather report warns of severe weather risk in the central U.S. People should keep alert for challenging weather outlooks, with threats of hail, isolated tornadoes, and flash floods.

Severe weather conditions can hit Dallas, College Station, Mobile, Atlanta, Charleston, Atlanta, Wilmington, Raleigh, Richmond, and Washington.

When the daily commutes are not essential, commuters should stay at home or stay alert for troublesome weather conditions.

Additionally, storing emergency kits at home is the best option to prepare for a poor weather outlook.

Related Article: Gulf Coast Weather Forecast: Widespread Damaging Winds, Lightning Strikes Likely to Threaten Midweek

For more similar stories, don't forget to follow Nature World News.
African elephants are Earth's largest walking animals which can be found in multiple countries across the continent of Africa, including in Kenya, Botswana, and Zimbabwe. In recent years, this elephant species Loxodonta africana has been a subject of various scientific research, including about the large mammal's preference for food and its ability to give each other elephant specific calls or names.

Elephants have long been considered by scientists as relatively intelligence and sociable animals. Although they can be aggressive despite having the title of being "gentle giants," elephants also have close-knit social structures that resemble human families. These elephant communities are headed by matriarchs and can be a multi-generational herd, a testament to the animal's uniqueness.

While studies before have determined that elephants use vocalizations through loud noise and large ears as gestures to communicate, it remains unclear if these are the only modes of elephant communication. To address this knowledge gap, a new research paper revealed that African elephants also use defecation, urination, and secretion to greet their kin or fellow kin members.

African Elephant Defecation

The study was published in the journal Communications Biology on Thursday, May 9, where scientists found that inter-species greetings among L. africana individuals are also possible through African elephant defecation, urination, and secretion. The research paper led by the University of Vienna in Austria said that elephants have an unusual way of saying hello: by using their feces.

The paper selected semi-captive African savannah elephants as samples for the research to determine multi-modal communication and greeting behavior of the animals. The team confirmed that elephants have greeting rituals, involving the combination of physical and auditory gestures, as well as bodily chemicals like from feces, urine, and sweat from sweat glands.

Based on their findings, the gentle giants use their excretory system to greet each other 71% of the time, based on the cases examined by the University of Vienna researchers and their colleagues. In particular, the authors of the paper studied the vocalizations and the gestures of nine elephants at Jafuta Reserve in Zimbabwe between November 2021 and December 2021.

Also Read: Elephants Choose Their Food: New Research Reveals Individual Variation and Preferences

Elephant Communication

In addition, the researchers observed that the wild animals they sampled flap their large ears and produce sound from their trunks to greet each other. This is not the first time that elephants were observed communicating using physical gestures and vocalizations. However, the discovery of African elephants using the excretory system is scientifically remarkable.

The University of Vienna study shows that elephant communication is possible in ways that may seem unconventional to humans, which also use a combination of communication methods. According to experts, the excretory system is responsible for removing the body's excess and waste products in the form of feces, urine, and sweat, in order to maintain homeostasis.

Related Article: Elephant Names: New Study Reveals African Elephants Give Each Other 'Specific Calls'
Sorry, something doesn't look right.

Something seems unusual about your device or browser. Please contact support.
Tamil Nadu bans 23 'dangerous' dog breeds

I

n the wake of a Rottweiler dog attacking a five-year-old girl in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu Animal Husbandry Department on Thursday banned any import, breeding, or sale of 33 breeds of dogs that have been termed "dangerous" for people.

According to the Animal Husbandry Department statement, the dog breeds that are banned are Tosa Inu, Fila Brasileiro, American Bulldog, Caucasian Shephard, Kangal Shepherd Dog, Terriers, Mastiffs, Tornjak, Cane Corso, Wolf Dogs, Akbash, Pitbull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier, Dogo Argentino, Boerboel, Central Asian Shepherd Dog, South Russian Shepherd Dog, Japanese Tosa and Akita, Rottweiler, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Canaria, Moscow Guard, and Bandog.

It stated that the dogs in the above list should undergo sterilisation surgery immediately to prevent reproduction.

The Union Animal Husbandry Department has already recommended bans on various dog breeds, including Rottweilers, Pitbulls, American Bulldogs and others considered dangerous. It has directed the state governments and Union Territories to ensure that licenses are not given for the sale, breeding, and keeping as pets of such dogs that are dangerous to human lives.

 Tamil Nadu bans 23 'dangerous' dog breeds

 Post your comments

 Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Vijay Raaz opens up on his chemistry with Ashutosh Rana: 'Just being ourselves in real life'

A

cclaimed actor Vijay Raaz, who will be seen in the series 'Murder in Mahim', has talked about his chemistry with co-star Ashutosh Rana, describing it "as if we're just two friends hanging out."

Vijay said: "The ease of working with Ashutosh is remarkable. Our bond feels so natural, almost as if we're just two friends hanging out. Collaborating with such a talented actor undoubtedly makes the job smoother."

Scheduled for release on May 10, the psychological thriller is adapted from a critically acclaimed book by author Jerry Pinto. It delves into a murder mystery set against the backdrop of Mumbai's underbelly while also exploring the reconciliation of a lost friendship.

Vijay added: "Playing a police officer role had a unique impact on me. Such roles instil confidence in me, and it's always a matter of pride. Working alongside Ashutosh in 'Murder in Mahim' is particularly meaningful."

"It's not just about the role; it's about showing the bravery and honour of police officers, which makes me feel really good about it."

Directed by Raj Acharya, 'Murder in Mahim' is all set to release on May 10 on JioCinema Premium.

 Vijay Raaz opens up on his chemistry with Ashutosh Rana: 'Just being ourselves in real life'

 Post your comments

 Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Musician King is all set to make his debut at the 77th Cannes Film Festival

S

inger-songwriter and rapper King is all set to make his debut at the prestigious 77th Cannes Film Festival, gracing the red carpet along the French Riviera.

King has belted out hit tracks such as 'Maan Meri Jaan', 'Tu Aake Dekhle', 'Oops', and the recent track 'Bumpa', featuring global pop sensation Jason Derulo, who said that King and he co-wrote the song, blending styles to ensure the vibe connects with listeners worldwide.

Apart from King, actresses Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Aditi Rao Hydari, and Sobhita Dhulipala will be seen attending the iconic event, which will be held from May 14 to May 25.

Also in attendance will be Aastha Shah, who will walk the Cannes red carpet as the first Indian content creator with Vitiligo, and Ankush Bahuguna, who is the first Indian male beauty content creator to debut at the event.

 Musician King is all set to make his debut at the 77th Cannes Film Festival

 Post your comments

 Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Ashutosh Rana doesn't 'compete with co-actors', he 'complements' them

K

nown for his powerful performances in mainstream and offbeat films, Ashutosh Rana is now being seen in the Jio Cinema murder mystery series 'Murder in Mahim'.

Interacting with the media, the actor said he doesn't believe in competing with his co-actors, rather he believes in complementing them.The actor delved at length on working with capable actors such as Vijay Raaz on the show. He said, "I believe in complementing my fellow actors. If one believes in this, then there is no competition to prove oneself better than the others. A good actor should complement his co-stars and not compete with them."Talking about the series, which is based on a Jerry Pinto novel, the actor said, "It is a murder mystery that starts with a crime. Through my character Peter Fernandes, you will get to know the journey from death to life."Continuing, he said, "A murder happens in the show and through that murder you will get to know the issues of Mumbai at that time. The effect on society, family relations, generation gap, all these facets are touched upon in the show."Talking about his character, Peter Fernandes, Rana said, "There are two kinds of journalists, those who are journalists by profession and the others who are journalists by nature. The journalist at the centre of the murder mystery belongs to this category, but he has taken an early retirement. When the murder takes place, however, it is he who solves the mystery."Set in the backdrop of a murder at Mahim station, the series follows Peter's involvement in the inquiry into this diabolical act. The stakes rise when his own son, Sunil, becomes a suspect in the case. The show started streaming on Jio Cinema from May 10.

 Ashutosh Rana doesn't 'compete with co-actors', he 'complements' them

 Post your comments

 Found this article helpful? Spread the word and support us!
Download Now

The News-Gazette mobile app brings you the latest local breaking news, updates, and more. Read the News-Gazette on your mobile device just as it appears in print.




Postal worker Barbara Bridges as opponents of USPSs plan for the Mattis Ave post office held a Save the Post Office rally at 5 p.m. Tuesday, prior to the Postal Services 6 p.m. public input meeting. The rally was at the Eternal Flame sculpture on the U of I quad, right across Wright Street from the YMCA where the USPS meeting was being held. On UI campus in Urbana on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
Pradipta Ghosh, M.D., sat down in her office at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine and considered a request from the other side of the world.

Ghosh, a professor in the Departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, received an email from Dennis McGonagle, Ph.D., professor of investigative rheumatology at the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom. It began an international collaboration, one that uncovered a previously overlooked COVID-related syndrome and resulted in a paper in eBioMedicine, a journal published by The Lancet.

McGonagle asked if she was interested in collaborating on a COVID-related mystery. "He told me they were seeing mild COVID cases," Ghosh said. "They had vaccinated around 90 percent of the Yorkshire population, but now they were seeing this very rare autoimmune disease called MDA5 -; autoantibody associated dermatomyositis (DM) in patients who may or may not have contracted COVID, or even remember if they were exposed to it."

McGonagle told of patients with severe lung scarring, some of whom presented rheumatologic symptoms -; rashes, arthritis, muscle pain -; that often accompany interstitial lung disease. He was curious to know if there was a connection between MDA5-positive dermatomyositis and COVID-19.

DM is more common in individuals of Asian descent, particularly Japanese and Chinese. However, Dr. McGonagle was noting this explosive trend of cases in Caucasians." But that's the least of the problem. Because he said, 'Oh, and by the way, some of these patients are progressing rapidly to death.'" Pradipta Ghosh, M.D., Professor in the Departments of Medicine and Cellular and Molecular Medicine, UC San Diego School of Medicine

Ghosh is the founding director of the Institute for Network Medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine, home to the Center for Precision Computational Systems Network (PreCSN -; the computational pillar within the Institute for Network Medicine). PreCSN's signature asset is BoNE -; the Boolean Network Explorer, a powerful computational framework for extracting actionable insights from any form of big-data.

"BoNE is designed to ignore factors that differentiate patients in a group while selectively identifying what is common (shared) across everybody in the group," Ghosh explained. Previous applications of BoNE allowed Ghosh and her team to identify other COVID-related lung and heart-afflicting syndromes in adults and children, respectively.

As a rheumatologist, McGonagle specializes in inflammatory and autoimmune conditions. His expertise, combined with the computational power of the Institute for Network Medicine, proved to be an excellent collaboration for probing the post-pandemic upsurge in inflammatory and autoimmune diagnoses. Ghosh said that McGonagle's roster of patients, all within the U.K.'s National Health System (NHS), helped to facilitate the investigation.

"The NHS has a centralized health care database with comprehensive medical records for a large population, making it easier to access and analyze health data for research purposes," Ghosh explained.

Ghosh and McGonagle put together a team to probe what they found was indeed an entirely new syndrome. The UC San Diego team included Saptarshi Sinha, Ph.D., interim director of PreCSN, who was a co-first author on the paper, along with Paula David Ramos, M.D., who was conducting research fellowship in experimental rheumatology, at the Leeds Institute of Rheumatic and Musculoskeletal Medicine. The UC San Diego team also included two PreCSN-affiliated students, Ella McLaren, an undergraduate student and aspiring physician-scientist, and Sahar Taheri, a graduate student in the Jacobs School of Engineering Department of Computer Science and Engineering.

The study began with McGonagle lab's detection of autoantibodies to MDA5 -; an RNA-sensing enzyme whose functions include detecting COVID-19 and other RNA viruses. A total of 25 patients from the group of 60 developed lung scarring, also known as interstitial lung disease. Ghosh noted that the lung scarring was bad enough to cause eight people in the group to die due to progressive fibrosis. She said that there are established clinical profiles of MDA5 autoimmune diseases.

"But this was different," Ghosh said. "It was different in behavior and rate of progression -; and in the number of deaths."

Ghosh and the UC San Diego team explored McGonagle's data with BoNE. They found that the patients who showed the highest level of MDA5 response also showed high levels of interleukin-15.

"Interleukin-15 is a cytokine that can cause two major immune cell types," she explained. "These can push cells to the brink of exhaustion and create an immunologic phenotype that is very, very often seen as a hallmark of progressive interstitial lung disease, or fibrosis of the lung."

BoNE allowed the team to establish the cause of the Yorkshire syndrome -; and pinpoint a specific single nucleotide polymorphism that is protective. By right of discovery, the group was able to give the condition a name: MDA5-autoimmunity and Interstitial Pneumonitis Contemporaneous with COVID-19. It's MIP-C for short, "Pronounced 'mipsy,'" Ghosh said, adding that the name was coined to make a connection with MIS-C, a separate COVID-related condition of children.

Ghosh said that it's extremely unlikely that MIP-C is confined to the United Kingdom. Reports of MIP-C symptoms are coming from all over the world. She said she hopes the team's identification of interleukin-15 as a causative link will jump start research into treatment.

University of California San Diego co-authors are all noted above.

This work was supported in part by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leeds Biomedical Research Centre (BRC), and in part by the National Institutes for Health (NIH) grant R01-AI155696 and pilot awards from the University of California Office of the President Research Grants Program Office (R00RG2628, R00RG2642 and R01RG3780) to Pradipta Ghosh. Saptarshi Sinha was supported in part by R01-AI141630 (to Pradipta Ghosh) and in part through funds from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI) Intersect Fellowship Program for Computational Scientists and Immunologists.
Areas at risk for malaria transmission in Africa may decline more than previously expected because of climate change in the 21st century, suggests an ensemble of environmental and hydrologic models.

The combined models predicted that the total area of suitable malaria transmission will start to decline in Africa after 2025 through 2100, including in West Africa and as far east as South Sudan. The new study's approach captures hydrologic features that are typically missed with standard predictive models of malaria transmission, offering a more nuanced view that could inform malaria control efforts in a warming world.

Most of the burden of malaria falls on people living in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, where health infrastructure is incomplete and malaria control programs have stalled over recent years. Because it is spread by mosquitoes, malaria is also one of the most prominent climate-sensitive diseases. For example, changes in rainfall could expand or restrict the geographic range of mosquitoes and the availability of standing water that they need to breed, particularly in Africa where the climate is already rapidly shifting. However, most attempts to predict the impact of climate change on malaria have only represented surface water using precipitation, ignoring other important hydrologic features such as river inflow.

Instead of relying on one model, Mark Smith and colleagues apply an ensemble of global hydrological and climate models to predict malaria transmission in Africa on a continental scale. They incorporated hydrologic metrics such as surface runoff and evaporation, paying special focus to densely populated areas near large-scale river networks such as the Nile. Compared to precipitation-based models, the ensemble method predicted these changes in area will be more widespread and more sensitive to differing future scenarios of greenhouse gas emissions. "As [new] data sources become increasingly available, we will benefit from their explicit incorporation in projections of hydrological processes to explain physically realistic malaria transmission risk at scales that can inform national operational malaria control strategies," Smith et al. conclude.
Standard of care treatment for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is safe and effective for adults over 80, according to a study published in Blood Neoplasia. For roughly a quarter of patients, this treatment can durably prolong survival.

AML is an aggressive and often deadly form of blood cancer that can be difficult to treat. For older adults with AML, the conventional treatment consists of a medication called venetoclax combined with a hypomethylating agent (HMA), also known as VEN-HMA. AML treatment is often intensive and can significantly suppress the immune system and put one at risk of other health complications. As a result, some adults with AML, especially those of advanced older age, may be considered ineligible to receive treatment at all and be recommended to pursue palliative care.

Our study reveals that a significant portion of these patients at the extremes of older age still derive benefit from the VEN-HMA regimen  which is the standard of care for older AML patients and those who are ineligible to receive intensive chemotherapy. While acknowledging it certainly isn't for everyone, we hope our findings encourage health care providers to thoughtfully explore all treatment avenues for elderly patients with AML, rather than prematurely resorting to HMA alone, best supportive care, or hospice care." Justin Watts, MD, hematologist at the University of Miami Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, in Miami, Florida, and study's corresponding author

Researchers sought to understand overall survival and remission rates among octo- and nonagenarians (those 80-90 and older) who received VEN-HMA treatment to determine its effectiveness. They analyzed electronic medical records from 154 patients with AML treated with VEN-HMA for the first time between March of 2015 and April of 2022 across six medical institutions in the United States and Italy. Participants had a median age of 82 (range 80-92) and 69% were male. Seventy-seven percent of patients included in the study were newly diagnosed, 10% had relapsed or refractory AML, and for 14%, disease status was unknown.

Sixty-seven percent of patients started treatment with the standard dose and treatment schedule of VEN-HMA, and 72% of the cohort had subsequent modifications of their venetoclax dose or schedule after cycle 1 (e.g., reduction in venetoclax duration). Across the cohort, patients were administered a final median venetoclax dose of 400 mg for 21 days, repeated every 35 days. Patients who demonstrated a response to treatment received a final median venetoclax dose of 200mg of Venetoclax for 21 days, in 35-day cycles.

Approximately 20 to 25% of all treated patients experienced prolonged survival, which encompassed roughly 40% of those who responded to treatment. Median overall survival was 8.1 months, and for those who responded to treatment, it was 13.2 months. At just under eight months follow-up, 23% of patients remained in remission, while 20% were still receiving treatment. Death rates within 30 and 60 days of treatment were 8.5% and 17%, respectively, comparable to VIALE-A.

For patients with newly diagnosed AML without a prior myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS), 73% achieved complete remission or complete remission with incomplete count recovery (CRc), a classification given when a patient's leukemia cell counts are undetectable, but blood cell counts have not fully returned to normal levels. For patients who achieved CRc, those who received a final venetoclax duration of 14 days or less per cycle had a better average survival time (median of 24.0 months).

Patients whose cancer cells had a mutation in TP53  a protein vital to preventing abnormal cell growth  exhibited poorer overall survival. Patients with a mutation in the NPM1 protein had very favorable survival, and, interestingly, patients with K/NRAS or FLT3-ITD mutations did not have inferior survival compared to those without.

Notably, this treatment regimen can lead to myelosuppression, reducing the bone marrow's ability to produce healthy blood cells and weakening the immune system. Older patients, especially those over 80, may be more vulnerable to experiencing myelosuppression, and because of this, researchers suggest reducing the dose and duration of treatment for those at increased risk. "A second major theme here is that treating this patient population requires adjusting the dosage and duration of VEN-HMA," explained Dr. Watts. "Unlike typical adult AML cases, these patients exhibit lower tolerance to Venetoclax, suggesting that they may benefit from a reduced dosage."

This study is limited by its retrospective format. Further, the median follow-up duration was approximately 7.7 months, and researchers acknowledge their data may have been stronger if this was extended.

Researchers said they plan to study the optimal dose and treatment schedule for this population to further enhance health outcomes. They want to explore the relationship between minimal residual disease (MRD) and molecular subtype on venetoclax exposure and ultimately stopping venetoclax in a subset of durably responding patients. Researchers said they are also interested in developing a better understanding of how treatment affects quality of life.
In a recent study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers identified venom toxins in African spitting cobras responsible for local dermonecrosis.

Snakebite is a neglected tropical disease, mainly affecting rural communities in Latin America, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. An estimated 138,000 deaths occur due to snakebites annually. Severe local pathology is often observed at the bite site after viper envenoming, which results from hemorrhagic, cytotoxic, or myotoxic venom toxins. Envenoming by elapid snakes leads to neurotoxic muscle paralysis with no tissue damage.

However, envenoming by cobras, mainly African spitting cobras, causes little neurotoxicity but rapid and severe swelling and tissue destruction, often leading to necrosis. Cytotoxic three-finger toxins (CTx) are the most abundant in many cobra venoms and are associated with dermonecrotic pathology. CTx can disrupt cell membranes and induce pore formation, leading to cell death. Phospholipases A 2 (PLA 2 ) are the second most abundant in several cobra venoms.

Intravenous antivenom therapy is the current treatment for snakebite envenoming. However, several limitations restrict its clinical utility, such as limited efficacy due to toxin variations, low affordability, and severe adverse reactions. Further, treatment initiation in a clinical setting is delayed due to poor hospital accessibility in rural tropical areas where snakebites are prevalent. Thus, new therapies are needed to overcome these limitations.

Study: Dermonecrosis caused by a spitting cobra snakebite results from toxin potentiation and is prevented by the repurposed drug varespladib. Image Credit: Craig Cordier / Shutterstock

The study and findings

In the present study, researchers identified the venom toxins responsible for dermonecrosis caused by African spitting cobras. First, mice were intradermally challenged with African spitting cobra venom. Mice received doses from the West and East African forms of Naja nigricollis, the black-necked spitting cobra. The resultant dermonecrotic lesions were analyzed 72 hours later.

The lesions were heterogeneous, with a white region of tissue damage surrounding the dark necrotic center. Further, hematoxylin and eosin staining revealed conspicuous histological differences between macroscopically dark and white areas. Samples from the dark lesions showed extensive damage to all layers of the skin; the epidermis was lost, while the hypodermis and dermis were severely damaged.

Contrastingly, white lesions showed an inflammatory infiltrate in the dermis and hyperplasia of the epidermis. Next, the team quantified the cytotoxic potency of the venom constituents using the immortalized human epidermal keratinocytes. Cells were exposed to crude venom, two purified PLA 2 s (acidic and basic), four purified CTx (CTx1, CTx1v, CTx3, and CTx4), or combinations. Crude venom significantly reduced cell viability.

African spitting cobra venoms cause heterogenous dermonecrotic lesions in vivo. Groups of mice (n = 3) were injected intradermally with two doses of spitting cobra venom and after 72 h the resulting lesions were excised for macroscopic quantification of damaged areas and histological assessment. (A) Representative macroscopic image of a skin lesion induced by 100 g of venom from West African (Nigeria) N. nigricollis, in which a dark central area (D) of necrosis is observed surrounded by a white area (W) of skin damage. (BD) Representative light micrographs of sections of the skin of mice injected with PBS or West African N. nigricollis venom. (B) Skin injected with PBS showed a normal histological appearance including the epidermis (E), dermis (D), hypodermis (H), panniculus carnosus (P) and adventitia (A). (C) Light micrograph of a section of skin corresponding to a dark area of venom-induced damage. All skin layers were affected, with loss of epidermis (arrow) and skin appendages in the dermis. A proteinaceous hyaline material was observed (*). (D) Light micrograph of a section of the skin corresponding to a white area of damage from a mouse injected with venom. There was an increase in the thickness of epidermis (hyperplasia; arrow) and inflammatory infiltrate in the dermis. Thrombi (T) were observed in some blood vessels. (E) The area of dermonecrotic lesions caused by N. nigricollis (West African, Nigeria [NGA]; East African, Tanzania [TZA]) venoms at different doses. Bars show the mean area of the total lesions (T) in comparison to the dark central areas (D) of greatest intensity, and error bars represent the SD from the mean. Scale bar in (BD) represent 100 m.

While all four CTx reduced cell viability, CTx3 was the most potent. The two PLA 2 s alone or in combination were not sufficiently toxic. Additional experiments revealed that mice receiving the CTx plus PLA 2 combinations had developed lesions similar in size to those induced by crude venom; this suggested that these two toxin groups recapitulate most of the crude venom effects.

The team speculated that inhibiting one of the two groups may reduce venom-induced dermonecrosis. As such, they repeated the experiments using varespladib, a PLA 2 inhibitor. Varespladib was preincubated with the venom or purified constituents before the intradermal challenge. The co-injection of varespladib and crude venom significantly decreased lesions from 52 mm2 to 2.6 mm2. Likewise, varespladib and CTx plus PLA 2 combination reduced lesions to 5.5 mm2.

Further, to mimic a realistic scenario, mice were intradermally injected with the venom, followed by varespladib injection at 0, 15, or 60 minutes later at the same site. There was a significant decline in lesion sizes compared to venom-only controls in all conditions. However, the most substantial reduction occurred when the inhibitor was injected immediately after the venom challenge.

Although the therapeutic potency decreased with longer delays between venom and varespladib injections, lesion size reductions were still significant. Notably, when varespladib was administered intravenously, no significant reductions in lesion sizes were observed, even when injected immediately after the challenge. Finally, the team investigated the effects of varespladib on venom-induced myotoxicity. Myotoxicity was induced by injecting the venom intramuscularly.

Muscle damage was assessed by quantifying plasma creatine kinase (CK) activity three hours later. The researchers noted significant reductions in plasma CK levels when varespladib and venom were co-injected. They also explored whether this efficacy was retained with delayed administration of varespladib through intravenous and intramuscular routes. This showed significant reductions in plasma CK levels via both routes, regardless of immediate or delayed treatment.

Conclusions

In sum, the study characterized the pathology of dermonecrosis caused by N. nigricollis venom in mice. Although CTx was predominantly responsible for in vitro cytotoxicity, the combinations of CTx and PLA 2 were necessary to replicate the cytotoxic potency of the crude venom. Further, the team demonstrated that varespladib co-injection inhibited lesion formation; besides, varespladib did not inhibit CTx activity, supporting that using inhibitors against a single toxin family could reduce local envenoming severity.
Experts in mycobacterial diseases at National Jewish Health, in collaboration with local health departments and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are investigating a potential outbreak of a highly drug-resistant mycobacterium (germ) after U.S. patients who traveled to Mexico for stem cell injections became sick. Genetically identical Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies massiliense infections following stem cell injections at various clinics in Mexico prompted this investigation. Early results of the study were published today in the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), and additional cases are being evaluated.

"As a world-renowned referral center for patients with mycobacterial diseases, we see patients from all over the country, and we noticed a trend of patients getting this particular infection after stem cell injections were performed outside the U.S. We performed whole genome sequencing of isolates from these patients, and we found they were genetically identical. We then notified the state health department and the CDC," said pulmonologist Charles Daley, MD, senior author of the study and chief of the Division of Mycobacterial and Respiratory Infections at National Jewish Health.

Mycobacterium abscessus is a highly drug-resistant, difficult-to-treat nontuberculous mycobacterium. We want the public to be wary that mycobacterial infections can come from unapproved stem cell injections. Also, clinicians seeing patients with infections in skin, other soft tissues or bone and joints should be aware of mycobacteria, specifically Mycobacterium abscessus, as a possible cause and notify their local health authorities if confirmed." Minh-Vu H. Nguyen, MD, infectious diseases physician at National Jewish Health and lead author on the study

"We want to make sure clinicians are diligently looking out for this strain from the outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus subspecies massiliense infections," said Dr. Daley.

The CDC issued a warning for U.S. residents who have procedures abroad as they may be at risk for infection, blood clots in the legs and lungs, and even death. Experts urge patients to talk with their doctor about these risks before traveling outside of the country for health care.
In a recent study published in the Nutrients, a group of researchers assessed the effectiveness of Vitamin D3 supplementation in reducing intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-related mortality through a meta-analysis of 13 randomized clinical trials.

Study: Effect of Vitamin D3 Supplementation on Severe COVID-19: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized Clinical Trials. Image Credit: Oldesign/Shutterstock.com

Background

At the end of 2019, COVID-19, caused by the highly contagious severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus, quickly escalated into a global pandemic, impacting healthcare systems worldwide. By February 2024, over 7 million deaths had been reported.

COVID-19 can cause severe respiratory issues, including acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), particularly in older patients with comorbidities like cardiovascular disease. Vitamin D, known for its immunomodulatory effects, has been suggested to reduce severe COVID-19 outcomes by regulating immune responses and reducing inflammation.

Further research is needed to establish the efficacy of Vitamin D3 supplementation in improving clinical outcomes for COVID-19 patients across diverse populations and variants.

About the study

The present analysis adhered to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Literature searches were conducted in PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials as of 15 February 2024 using keywords related to Vitamin D and COVID-19, focusing on severe cases.

The inclusion criteria were restricted to control-compared randomized clinical trials (RCTs) that examined the impact of vitamin D3 supplementation on patients with severe COVID-19. Studies not in English or lacking relevant endpoints like hospitalization length, ICU admissions, or mortality rates were excluded.

For data extraction, continuous data presented as medians or percentages were converted into means or whole numbers using established statistical methods to ensure uniformity across studies.

The quality of the studies was rigorously assessed using the Cochrane Collaborations tool, which evaluates aspects like randomization, blinding, and bias, categorizing them into low, high, or unclear risk.

Statistical analysis was performed using R, calculating relative risks and mean differences with 95% confidence intervals to determine the effects of vitamin D3 supplementation. The heterogeneity of results was assessed with I2 statistics, interpreting various levels of heterogeneity and its impact on the meta-analysis.

Potential publication bias was evaluated through funnel plots and regression tests, ensuring the robustness of the findings. The significance level was set at p < 0.05, emphasizing the precision of the statistical evaluation.

Study results

The search for relevant literature on the impact of Vitamin D3 supplementation on COVID-19 outcomes initially yielded 1,222 articles, which were narrowed down after removing duplicates and irrelevant studies such as meta-analyses, systematic reviews, and non-human studies.

The selection was further refined to include only RCTs written in English that focused on severe COVID-19 cases, resulting in 13 articles that qualified for in-depth analysis.

These studies varied in their control group setups: five included a placebo, four had no supplementation, and four used a standard dose of Vitamin D3. The studies included diverse demographics and were conducted across several countries, including Spain, Brazil, Switzerland, Mexico, Egypt, Russia, France, Argentina, Belgium, Iran, and Croatia.

The risk of bias in these studies was thoroughly assessed, and four were found to have a high risk of bias, while the others showed relatively low risk. This risk assessment was crucial for ensuring the reliability of the meta-analysis results.

The analysis of the effect of Vitamin D3 supplementation revealed mixed results. While there was no significant difference in the length of hospitalization for COVID-19 patients between the supplementation and control groups, the supplementation did show a 27% reduction in ICU admissions. However, it did not significantly affect the length of ICU stays.

Regarding respiratory support, Vitamin D3 supplementation did not significantly alter the number of cases requiring supplemental oxygenation or the duration of such oxygenation.

In terms of mortality, the supplementation did not significantly affect overall mortality rates. Still, it was associated with a 44% reduction in deaths related to COVID-19, suggesting a potential benefit in the most severe cases.

Finally, the publication bias analysis using funnel plots and regression tests generally indicated an absence of bias across most outcomes. However, there was a notable exception for the number of ICU admissions, where publication bias was detected.

Conclusions

To summarize, the meta-analysis of 13 randomized clinical trials found that Vitamin D3 potentially reduces ICU admissions and COVID-19-related mortality but does not significantly impact hospitalization length, ICU stay, supplemental oxygen requirements, or overall mortality.

These results align with some studies highlighting Vitamin Ds benefits against severe COVID-19, though others report no substantial effects. The analysis revealed publication bias, suggesting the underrepresentation of smaller studies with negative outcomes.
Democrat Lucas Kunce is trying to pin reproductive care restrictions on Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.), betting it will boost his chances of unseating the incumbent in November.

In a recent ad campaign, Kunce accuses Hawley of jeopardizing reproductive care, including in vitro fertilization. Staring straight into the camera, with tears in her eyes, a Missouri mom identified only as Jessica recounts how she struggled for years to conceive.

"Now there are efforts to ban IVF, and Josh Hawley got them started," Jessica says. "I want Josh Hawley to look me in the eye and tell me that I can't have the child that I deserve."

Never mind that IVF is legal in Missouri, or that Hawley has said he supports limited access to abortion as a "pro-life" Republican. In key races across the country, Democrats are branding their Republican rivals as threats to women's health after a broad erosion of reproductive rights since the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, including near-total state abortion bans, efforts to restrict medication abortion, and a court ruling that limited IVF in Alabama.

On top of the messaging campaigns, Democrats hope ballot measures to guarantee abortion rights in as many as 13 states  including Missouri, Arizona, and Florida  will help boost turnout in their favor.

The issue puts the GOP on the defensive, said J. Miles Coleman, an election analyst at the University of Virginia.

"I don't really think Republicans have found a great way to respond to it yet," he said.

Abortion is such a salient issue in Arizona, for example, that election analysts say a U.S. House seat occupied by Republican Juan Ciscomani is now a toss-up.

Hawley appears in less peril, for now. He holds a wide lead in polls, though Kunce outraised him in the most recent quarter, raking in $2.25 million in donations compared with the incumbent's $846,000, according to campaign finance reports. Still, Hawley's war chest is more than twice the size of Kunce's.

Kunce, a Marine veteran and antitrust advocate, said he likes his odds.

"I just dont think were gonna lose," he told KFF Health News. "Missourians want freedom and the ability to control their own lives."

Hawley's campaign declined to comment. He has backed a federal ban on abortion after 15 weeks and has said he supports exceptions for rape and incest and to protect the lives of pregnant women. Missouri's state ban is near total, with no exceptions for rape or incest.

"This is Josh Hawley's lifes mission. Its his familys business," Kunce said, a nod to Erin Morrow Hawley, the senator's wife, a lawyer who argued before the Supreme Court in March on behalf of activists who sought to limit access to the abortion pill mifepristone.

State abortion rights have won out everywhere they've been on the ballot since the end of Roe in 2022, including in Republican-led Kentucky and Ohio.

An abortion rights ballot initiative is also expected in Montana, where a Republican challenge to Democrat Jon Tester could decide control of the Senate.

On a late-April Saturday along historic Main Street in St. Charles, Missouri, people holding makeshift clipboards fashioned from yard signs from past elections invited locals strolling brick sidewalks to sign a petition to get the initiative on Missouri ballots. Nearby, diners enjoyed lunch on a patio tucked under a canopy of trees in this affluent St. Louis suburb.

Missouri was the first state to ban abortion after Roe fell; it is outlawed except in "cases of medical emergency." The measure would add the right to abortion to the state constitution.

Larry Bax, 65, of St. Charles County, said he votes Republican most of the time but signed the ballot measure petition along with his wife, Debbie Bax, 66.

"We were never single-issue voters. Never in our life," he said. "This has made us single-issue because this is so wrong."

They won't vote for Hawley this fall, they said, but are unsure if they'll support the Democratic nominee.

Jim Seidel, 64, who lives in Wright City, 50 miles west of St. Louis, also signed the petition. He said he believes Missourians deserve the opportunity to vote on the issue.

"I've been a Republican all my life until just recently," Seidel said. "It's just gone really wacky."

He plans to vote for Kunce in November if he wins the Democratic primary in August, as seems likely. Seidel previously voted for a few Democrats, including Bill Clinton and Claire McCaskill, whom Hawley unseated as senator six years ago.

"Most of the time," he added, Hawley is "strongly in the wrong camp."

Over about two hours in conservative St. Charles, KFF Health News observed only one person actively declining to sign the petition. The woman told the volunteers she and her family opposed abortion rights and quickly walked away. The Catholic Church has discouraged voters from signing. At St. Joseph Parish in a nearby suburb, for example, a sign flashed: "Decline to Sign Reproductive Health Petition!"

The ballot measure organizers turned in more than twice the required number of signatures May 3, though, and now await certification from the secretary of state's office.

Larry Bax's concern goes beyond abortion and the ballot measure in Missouri. He worries about more governmental limits on reproductive care, such as on IVF or birth control. "How much further can that reach extend?" he said. Kunce is banking on enough voters feeling like Bax and Seidel to get an upset similar to the one that occurred in 2012 for the same seat  also over abortion. McCaskill defeated Republican Todd Akin that year, largely because of his infamous response when asked about abortion: "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down."
In a recent meta-analysis published in the journal Nature, researchers collate, analyze, and discuss the results from over 2,938 published observations to elucidate the global change drivers contributing highest to global surges in infectious diseases, both amongst humans and other non-human organisms. Their study reveals that biodiversity losses, species introductions, climate change, and chemical pollutants directly or indirectly increase infectious disease risk. Contrasting previous reports, deforestation and forest fragmentation play minor, generally insignificant roles in observed host-parasite interactions. Surprisingly, urbanization was found to be associated with reductions in infectious disease risk.

These findings provide important insights into infectious disease determinants and partially explain increased contagious disease prevalence worldwide. They can be used to inform disease management and surveillance policy globally and help policymakers make informed decisions on the most efficient investment of human resources in improving disease outcomes in the future.

Study: A meta-analysis on global change drivers and the risk of infectious disease. Image Credit: Francesco Scatena / Shutterstock

The impacts of anthropogenic changes on global health

A crowning glory of modern human society includes the advances in healthcare and disease management. Unfortunately, reports and scientific publications reveal that emergent infectious disease prevalence is rising at an alarming rate both in human and non-human host-parasite interactions. Previous research suggests that socioeconomic, environmental, and ecological drivers of global change, most of which are anthropogenic, are significantly associated with these observed surges in disease risk. However, these studies usually focus on one or a few drivers, lacking a holistic overview of which drivers have the most significant impacts and, therefore, need the greatest investment to manage.

Although there are many individual studies on infectious disease risk and environmental change, as well as syntheses on how some drivers of ecosystem change affect infectious diseases, formal meta-analyses are lacking examining how infectious diseases of plants, animals and humans are modified across global change drivers.

About the meta-analysis

In the present meta-analysis, researchers aimed to collate and analyze available literature on the associations between global, usually anthropogenic-mediated, drivers of change and host-parasite interactions across plants, animals, and humans. They further attempt to elucidate the relative magnitude of each drivers impact on global infection risk and whether these associations are generalizable or context-dependent. To achieve this, researchers collected publications from three scientific literature repositories, namely the Web of Science, PubMed, and Scopus, pertaining to any of five global change drivers  biodiversity, landscape transformations, climate change, chemical pollution, and species introductions.

Studies were included irrespective of publication type (book chapters, grey literature, conference proceedings, and reviews), or language (non-English publications were translated to English during the screening process) as long as the work was peer-reviewed and drew concise conclusions on the impacts of the global change driver of interest on a pathogen/parasite. Data collection involved extracting any global change disease endpoint metrics (e.g., variance, standard deviation), defining the subcategory of the global change driver, the relevant host and pathogen species, and any other quantified host or pathogen traits. Obvious spelling mistakes were hand-corrected prior to their incorporation into the meta-analysis pipeline.

In cases where a single pathogen could infect multiple, closely related hosts, the various hosts were replaced by a manual assignment of a higher taxonomic order. Given that some hosts and parasites have undergone taxonomic revisions since their respective study publications, the Global Names Resolver platform (Encyclopedia of Life) was used to correct and update any such revisions.

The meta-analysis was conducted in R software (v.4.2.2) using multiple multilevel mixed-effects models. Since the data was observed to have numerous effect sizes (and sometimes included multiple, non-independent observations within the same study), all included mixed-effects models were corrected using study-level and observation-level random effects, followed by a robust variance estimator.

We first estimated the overall grand mean and the total heterogeneity explained by the random effect terms. Second, to test for the effects of broad global change drivers on disease, we conducted a meta-analytical model with global change driver as the moderator. Third, to test whether global change driver subfactors differentially affect disease, we conducted a meta-analytical model with the subfactors of global change drivers as the moderator. Fourth, we sought to test for context dependencies of the effects of global change drivers on disease.

Publication-specific biases were evaluated using funnel plots, multilevel meta-regions, the publication year, and a moderator variable (the latter doubles up as a test for time-lag bias).

Study findings and conclusions

The literature screening process identified 972 publications comprising 2,938 observations of 1,006 parasite species, 480 host species, and 1,497 host-parasite interactions. Encouragingly, every continent (except Antarctica) was well represented in the final dataset, with more than 20 field studies per country per identified driver for both high-income and low- to middle-income countries (LMIC). The only exceptions with six and three LMIC publications were chemical pollution and introduced species, respectively.

The results of this meta-analysis highlight biodiversity losses, chemical pollution, climate change, and invasive/introduced species as the most important determinants of rising global disease risk. These findings were found to be consistent across both human and non-human host-parasite diseases, albeit in a highly context-dependent manner.

End points from parasites with complex life cycles, such as macroparasites and vector-borne pathogens, decreased more with habitat loss/change, increased more with biodiversity change, and responded less strongly in response to introduced species compared with end points from parasites with simple life cycles, and ectoparasites increased more in response to introduced species compared with endoparasites.

Despite individual publications suggesting that deforestation and forest fragmentation were major drivers of global infection risk, the current meta-analysis reveals that these drivers play minor, often insignificant roles in observed disease prevalence. Surprisingly, urbanization was found to be associated with reductions in infectious disease risk, albeit the mechanisms underpinning these observations require additional research before urbanization can be considered an anti-disease strategy.

In summary, the present meta-analysis identifies and highlights the global change drivers contributing most significantly to rising disease prevalence across plants, non-human animals, and humans. This, in turn, provides policymakers with the knowledge required to allocate limited resources to attain ideal disease risk mitigation worldwide.
Heather Crivilare was a month from her due date when she was rushed to an operating room for an emergency cesarean section.

The first-time mother, a high school teacher in rural Illinois, had developed high blood pressure, a sometimes life-threatening condition in pregnancy that prompted doctors to hospitalize her. Then Crivilare's blood pressure spiked, and the baby's heart rate dropped. "It was terrifying," Crivilare said.

She gave birth to a healthy daughter. What followed, though, was another ordeal: thousands of dollars in medical debt that sent Crivilare and her husband scrambling for nearly a year to keep collectors at bay.

The Crivilares would eventually get on nine payment plans as they juggled close to $5,000 in bills.

"It really felt like a full-time job some days," Crivilare recalled. "Getting the baby down to sleep and then getting on the phone. I'd set up one payment plan, and then a new bill would come that afternoon. And I'd have to set up another one."

Crivilare's pregnancy may have been more dramatic than most. But for millions of new parents, medical debt is now as much a hallmark of having children as long nights and dirty diapers.

About 12% of the 100 million U.S. adults with health care debt attribute at least some of it to pregnancy or childbirth, according to a KFF poll.

These people are more likely to report they've had to take on extra work, change their living situation, or make other sacrifices.

Overall, women between 18 and 35 who have had a baby in the past year and a half are twice as likely to have medical debt as women of the same age who haven't given birth recently, other KFF research conducted for this project found.

"You feel bad for the patient because you know that they want the best for their pregnancy," said Eilean Attwood, a Rhode Island OB-GYN who said she routinely sees pregnant women anxious about going into debt.

"So often, they may be coming to the office or the hospital with preexisting debt from school, from other financial pressures of starting adult life," Attwood said. "They are having to make real choices, and what those real choices may entail can include the choice to not get certain services or medications or what may be needed for the care of themselves or their fetus."

Best-laid plans

Crivilare and her husband, Andrew, also a teacher, anticipated some of the costs.

The young couple settled in Jacksonville, in part because the farming community less than two hours north of St. Louis was the kind of place two public school teachers could afford a house. They saved aggressively. They bought life insurance.

And before Crivilare got pregnant in 2021, they enrolled in the most robust health insurance plan they could, paying higher premiums to minimize their deductible and out-of-pocket costs.

Then, two months before their baby was due, Crivilare learned she had developed preeclampsia. Her pregnancy would no longer be routine. Crivilare was put on blood pressure medication, and doctors at the local hospital recommended bed rest at a larger medical center in Springfield, about 35 miles away.

"I remember thinking when they insisted that I ride an ambulance from Jacksonville to Springfield  'I'm never going to financially recover from this,'" she said. "'But I want my baby to be OK.'"

For weeks, Crivilare remained in the hospital alone as covid protocols limited visitors. Meanwhile, doctors steadily upped her medications while monitoring the fetus. It was, she said, "the scariest month of my life."

Fear turned to relief after her daughter, Rita, was born. The baby was small and had to spend nearly two weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. But there were no complications. "We were incredibly lucky," Crivilare said.

When she and Rita finally came home, a stack of medical bills awaited. One was already past due.

Crivilare rushed to set up payment plans with the hospitals in Jacksonville and Springfield, as well as the anesthesiologist, the surgeon, and the labs. Some providers demanded hundreds of dollars a month. Some settled for monthly payments of $20 or $25. Some pushed Crivilare to apply for new credit cards to pay the bills.

"It was a blur of just being on the phone constantly with all the different people collecting money," she recalled. "That was a nightmare."

Big bills, big consequences

The Crivilares' bills weren't unusual. Parents with private health coverage now face on average more than $3,000 in medical bills related to a pregnancy and childbirth that aren't covered by insurance, researchers at the University of Michigan found.

Out-of-pocket costs are even higher for families with a newborn who needs to stay in a neonatal ICU, averaging $5,000. And for 1 in 11 of these families, medical bills related to pregnancy and childbirth exceed $10,000, the researchers found.

"This forces very difficult trade-offs for families," said Michelle Moniz, a University of Michigan OB-GYN who worked on the study. "Even though they have insurance, they still have these very high bills."

Nationwide polls suggest millions of these families end up in debt, with sometimes devastating consequences.

About three-quarters of U.S. adults with debt related to pregnancy or childbirth have cut spending on food, clothing, or other essentials, KFF polling found.

About half have put off buying a home or delayed their own or their children's education.

These burdens have spurred calls to limit what families must pay out-of-pocket for medical care related to pregnancy and childbirth.

In Massachusetts, state Sen. Cindy Friedman has proposed legislation to exempt all these bills from copays, deductibles, and other cost sharing. This would parallel federal rules that require health plans to cover recommended preventive services like annual physicals without cost sharing for patients. "We want  healthy children, and that starts with healthy mothers," Friedman said. Massachusetts health insurers have warned the proposal will raise costs, but an independent state analysis estimated the bill would add only $1.24 to monthly insurance premiums.

Tough lessons

For her part, Crivilare said she wishes new parents could catch their breath before paying down medical debt.

"No one is in the right frame of mind to deal with that when they have a new baby," she said, noting that college graduates get such a break. "When I graduated with my college degree, it was like: 'Hey, new adult, it's going to take you six months to kind of figure out your life, so we'll give you this six-month grace period before your student loans kick in and you can get a job.'"

Rita is now 2. The family scraped by on their payment plans, retiring the medical debt within a year, with help from Crivilare's side job selling resources for teachers online.

But they are now back in debt, after Rita's recurrent ear infections required surgery last year, leaving the family with thousands of dollars in new medical bills.

Crivilare said the stress has made her think twice about seeing a doctor, even for Rita. And, she added, she and her husband have decided their family is complete.

"It's not for us to have another child," she said. "I just hope that we can put some of these big bills behind us and give [Rita] the life that we want to give her."

About this project

"Diagnosis: Debt" is a reporting partnership between KFF Health News and NPR exploring the scale, impact, and causes of medical debt in America.

The series draws on original polling by KFF, court records, federal data on hospital finances, contracts obtained through public records requests, data on international health systems, and a yearlong investigation into the financial assistance and collection policies of more than 500 hospitals across the country.

Additional research was conducted by the Urban Institute, which analyzed credit bureau and other demographic data on poverty, race, and health status for KFF Health News to explore where medical debt is concentrated in the U.S. and what factors are associated with high debt levels.

The JPMorgan Chase Institute analyzed records from a sampling of Chase credit card holders to look at how customers' balances may be affected by major medical expenses. And the CED Project, a Denver nonprofit, worked with KFF Health News on a survey of its clients to explore links between medical debt and housing instability.

KFF Health News journalists worked with KFF public opinion researchers to design and analyze the "KFF Health Care Debt Survey." The survey was conducted Feb. 25 through March 20, 2022, online and via telephone, in English and Spanish, among a nationally representative sample of 2,375 U.S. adults, including 1,292 adults with current health care debt and 382 adults who had health care debt in the past five years. The margin of sampling error is plus or minus 3 percentage points for the full sample and 3 percentage points for those with current debt. For results based on subgroups, the margin of sampling error may be higher.

Reporters from KFF Health News and NPR also conducted hundreds of interviews with patients across the country; spoke with physicians, health industry leaders, consumer advocates, debt lawyers, and researchers; and reviewed scores of studies and surveys about medical debt.
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Friday said 15 NBFCs, including Tata Capital Financial Services and Revolving Investments, have surrendered their certificates of registration due to various reasons.

Nine Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFC) have ceased to be legal entities due to amalgamation, merger, dissolution, or voluntary strike-off.

These are Tata Capital Financial Services, Tata Cleantech Capital, Naperol Investments, USG Financial Services, Urja Capital, Vandana Dealers, ABRN Finance, Jodhani Management, and JDS Securities.

The RBI further said six NBFCs surrendered their certificate of registration after exiting from Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFI) business.

These were Vian Growth Capital, Drap Leasing and Finance, Jewel Strips, Revolving Investments, Anshu Leasing, and A V B Finance.

The certificates of registration were granted to them by the RBI.
Winsol Engineers IPO Allotment Status: The share allotment of the Winsol Engineers IPO, which was open for public subscription between May 6 and May 9, is likely to be finalised today evening, May 10, Friday. Once finalised, investors who have been allotted the IPO will start receiving debit messages from banks in the evening today. The Winsol Engineers IPO allotment status can be checked on registrar Kfin Technologies Ltds portal.

The Winsol Engineers IPO has received a whopping response from investors. On the final day of bidding on Thursday, the Rs 23.36-crore SME IPO received an overwhelming 682.14 times subscription, garnering bids for 1,41,44,83,200 shares as against 20,73,600 shares on offer.

The retail category has received a whopping 780.15 times subscription, while the non-institutional investor (NII) category got a robust 1,087.81 times subscription. The qualified institutional buyers (QIBs) has also got a strong 207.23 times subscription.

The share allotment will likely be finalised on May 10, while the listing will take place on May 14 on the NSE SME.

The price band of the IPO was fixed at Rs 71-Rs 75 per share.

How To Check Winsol Engineers IPO Allotment Status Online

Step 1: Visit Kfin Technologies Ltds portal

Step 2: Select IPO Name Winsol Engineers from the drop-down menu

Step 3: Enter PAN number, application number or DP ID

Step 4: Click on Search Button

Now, your Winsol Engineers IPO allotment status will be displayed on the screen.

Winsol Engineers IPO GMP Today

According to market observers, unlisted shares of Winsol Engineers Ltd continue to trade Rs 200 higher in the grey market as compared with its issue price. The Rs 200 grey market premium or GMP means the grey market is expecting a whopping 266.67 per cent listing gain from the public issue. The GMP is based on market sentiments and keeps changing.

Grey market premium indicates investors readiness to pay more than the issue price.

About Winsol Engineers IPO

The Winsol Engineers IPO is entirely a fresh issue of 31.15 lakh shares. Its price band was set at Rs 71 to Rs 75 per share.

For investors, the minimum lot size for an application is 1,600 shares. The minimum amount of investment required by retail investors is Rs 1,20,000. The minimum lot size investment for HNI is 2 lots (3,200 shares) amounting to Rs 2,40,000.

Beeline Capital Advisors Pvt Ltd is the book running lead manager of the Winsol Engineers IPO, while Kfin Technologies Limited is the registrar for the issue. The market maker for Winsol Engineers IPO is Spread X Securities.

Winsol Engineers Ltds revenue in FY23 rose 7.64% and its profit after tax (PAT) jumped 377.66 per cent.

Winsol Engineers Limited, incorporated in December 2015, is a company that provides integrated engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning services for Balance of Plant (BoP) Solutions for both solar and wind power generation firms.

The companys core services for BoP Solutions include foundation work, substation civil and electrical work, and right-of-way services.
The Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) has announced the results for the Combined Competitive (Preliminary) Examination 2023 . Aspirants who appeared in the CCE exam can visit the official website of the Assam Public Service Commission at apsc.nic.in and download the APSC CCE preliminary 2023 result. It is to be noted that candidates will have to key in their login credentials, such as their registration number and password, to access and download the APSC CCE prelims 2023 result.

In addition to that, the commission has also released the APSC CCE prelims 2023 exam merit list on the official website. The merit list will be available in the PDF format. Following the APSC CCE Prelims result, candidates who passed the Assam APSC CCE prelims exam 2023 will have to appear in the next stage of the examination, which is the APSC CCE mains exam 2023.

The Combined Competitive (Main) examination, 2023 is tentatively scheduled to be conducted in June or July 2024. The admit card and the exam schedule for the APSC CCE Mains examination will soon be issued by the commission on the official website, apsc.nic.in. Talking about the exam pattern, the APSC CCE Mains exam will consist of two parts, namely the descriptive-type written papers and the interview (personality test).

The written test will include six papers. Out of this, one paper focuses on essay writing, while the remaining five cover topics related to general studies. The maximum marks for each paper are 250, and candidates will be given a duration of 3 hours to complete each paper. It is important to note that those who qualify for the main examination will only move on to the interview round, which carries 275 marks.

APSC CCE Prelims 2023: How to Check the Results

Step 1: Candidates need to visit APSCs official website at apsc.nic.in.

Step 2: Then, look for and click on the Result of the Combined Competitive (Prelims) Examination 2023 link available on the homepage.

Step 3: Key in your credentials, such as your registration number and password, and log in.

Step 4: Once done, the Assam APSC CCE prelims result 2023 will be displayed on the screen.

Step 5: Check carefully and save a copy of the result and merit list PDF.

Step 6: Take a printout of the same for future use.

Meanwhile, the Assam APSC CCE prelims exam 2023 took place on March 18 in two shifts. The CCE Prelims General Studies Paper 1 exam took place in the first shift, from 10 AM to 12 PM, while the General Studies Paper 2 exam was conducted in the second shift, from 2 PM to 4 PM.

Under this recruitment drive, the commission is aiming to fill up a total of 235 vacancies in Assam Police Services, Assam Civil Services, and other departments of the Assam Public Service Commission.

Stay Informed With Live Updates On TN 10th Result 2024 . Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
Parents of Indian students, who have been caught in the middle of the pro-Palestine movement on campuses, are a worried lot as universities in the United States turn into battlegrounds.

Fearing their safety and possible deportation in case they are found involved in the protests, several parents have asked their children to return home to India as classes have moved online.

A Mumbai-based parent, whose daughter was enrolled in University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where the pro-Palestine protests escalated into violence and saw numerous arrests, told News18 that he has asked her to not get involved. I have requested my daughter to not get involved, no matter how much she supports the cause. Being so far away from home, the stakes and risks are too high, he said.

Though there have been no reports so far of arrested international students being deported or changes being made to their visa status, both parents and students are wary of taking risks  particularly after a Republican Senator recently advocated that visas of such students should be revoked.

Watching the turmoil unfold halfway across the world, another parent of a student enrolled in Columbia University is thinking of asking their daughter to return to India if the situation doesnt get better.

With classes and exams going online, I asked my daughter to leave campus for a week and go somewhere safer. If the situation doesnt de-escalate and classes remain online, Ill just tell her to come to India early and finish the term from here, the parent, also based in Mumbai, said.

Columbia University in New York was the first institution that gained widespread media attention after several students were arrested by the local police for protesting.

International students in the US are granted an F-1 visa that is valid only for the duration of their education in the US. Indian parents are worried about the possibility of these visas being revoked if their children are arrested, resulting in them being deported from the US. Moreover, a criminal record, in case of arrest, may hinder their visa renewing application to get an H1B (work visa) to continue working in the US after graduation.

I have just asked my son to keep his head down and finish off the term quietly. No need to get involved in situations that can compromise his safety, said the father of an Indian student pursuing an undergraduate course at Emory University.

Another parent whose son is studying on a scholarship at University of North Carolina is worried about the implications of an arrest on cancelled financial aid and subsequent deportation by the college.

A parent from Lucknow, whose son is studying at the University of Chicago, has been disturbed by the violence seen across colleges in the US and has since been taking a daily update on whats happening on campus to ensure his son was safe.

The first thing I do every morning is check what happened in the US to make sure the situation hasnt drastically changed. I never would have expected this to happen in the US, its so disheartening.

With the summer break approaching in most universities  from some time before mid-June for three months or more  parents feel the situation may de-escalate.

Summer break is coming up. I just hope nothing major happens till then so my daughter can come home soon. Her safety is the most important thing. She wants to get involved and be a part of the protests, but my job is to keep reminding her of the risks and future effects, said a parent from Delhi whose daughter studies in George Washington University.

Both parents and students News18 spoke to have requested not to be identified.

At present, most encampments have been taken down by the police and student protests are being dispersed. In retaliation, students have begun protesting outside the houses of college trustees while some have planned to stage a walkout at the graduation commencement ceremony.

Stay Informed With Live Updates On TN 10th Result 2024 . Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: How to Check Step 1: Go to mahresult.nic.in, the official website. Step 2: Select the notification link Maharashtra SSC/ HSC result 2024 from the homepage. Step 3: In the designated fields, enter the students roll number and mothers name. Step 4: To submit it, click the View Result button. Step 5: The Maharashtra SSC or HSC scorecard will be displayed on the screen. Step 6: For future reference, take a print of the Maharashtra SSC/ HSC result 2024.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: No Toppers List Unlike past years, the toppers lists for the Maharashtra Board HSC, SSC Results are not to be released this year. However, crucial details such as pass percentages and other key factors will be provided in addition to the results.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: Stream-wise Performance in 2023  Science: 96.09%  Arts: 84.05%  Commerce: 90.42%  Business courses: 89.25%

Maharashtra Board Result 2024: Passing Criteria Candidates will have to secure 35 per cent in each subject and overall to pass the MSBSHSE HSC and SSC exams. Those who are unable to secure the minimum marks will likely have to appear in the supplementary exam.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: Over 12K Schools Recorded 100% Pass Rate in 2022 In 2022, 12,210 schools received 100 per cent passing grades, while 29 received 0 Per cent

Maharashtra Board Result 2024: How to Check MSBSHSE HSC Result via SMS? Step 1: Go to your inbox and type an SMS in the format: MHHSCSEAT NO. Step 2: Then send the message to 57766. Step 3: The Maharashtra HSC/12th result will be sent on the same number.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: How to Check Via DigiLocker? Step 1: Visit digilocker.gov.in or open the DigiLocker app on your mobile phone. Step 2: Select the Maharashtra board option and then select class 10 (SSC), class 12 (HSC) results. Step 3: Fill in the required information and proceed. Step 4: The result will appear on the screen.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: When Were Exams Held? The Maharashtra SSC examinations were held from March 1 to 26 this year while the HSC exams were conducted from February 2 to March 19.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: Keep Admit Card Handy Students of MSBSHSE who are awaiting their classes 10 and 12 results will need their admit cards to check their scorecards as they contain their roll number which is needed to check marks.

Maharashtra Board Result 2024: Date and Time According to media reports, the results for the Maharashtra Boards class 10 (SSC) and class 12 (HSC) are anticipated to be released by this week. However, the MSBSHSE hasnt confirmed the date. Once the results are available, students who sat the exam can check them at msbshse.co.in and mahahsscboard.in.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: List of Websites Once out, Maharashtra board students can check their results from the following websites:  mahahsscboard.in  mahresult.nic.in  hscresult.mkcl.org  hsc.mahresults.org.in

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: What is Passing Marks? Students must obtain a minimum of 35% marks in each subject, encompassing both theory and practical exams, whether main or optional.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: What to do if Unhappy With Marks? Students who are not happy with their marks can apply for recounting or verification of marks. Students will have to submit self-attested copies of their mark sheets online on the MSBSHSE portal

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: Details to Check on Online Scorecard  Class  Students Name  Roll Number  Mothers Name  Fathers Name  District/School Code  Group Code  Subject-wise theory marks  Subject-wise practical marks  Total Marks  Maximum marks  Result / Division

Maharashtra SSC Result 2024: Pass Percentage Over The Years 2023  93.83% 2022  96.94%, 2021  99.95%, 2020  95.30%, 2019  77.10%, 2018  89.41%.

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: Number of Students This year, around 26 lakh candidates appeared for the Maharashtra 10th and 12th board exams. The Class 10 exams were conducted from March 1, 2024, to March 26, 2024, while the Class 12 exams were administered from February 21, 2024 to March 19, 2024.

Maharashtra Introduces Dress Code for School Teachers; T-shirts, Jeans Not Allowed The Maharashtra government has introduced a dress code for school teachers in the state, disallowing them to wear t-shirts, jeans or any other shirt having designs and pictures. The teachers can now use the prefix Tr before their names, reported PTI.

Maharashtra SSC Result 2024: Division Wise Pass Percentage in 2022 Konkan  99.27% Kolhapur  98.50% Latur  97.27% Nagpur  97% Pune  96.96% Mumbai  96.94% Amravati  96.81% Aurangabad  96.33% Nashik  95.90%

Maharashtra HSC, SSC Result 2024: Over 12,000 Schools Recorded 100% Pass Rate in 2022 In 2022, 12,210 schools received 100 per cent passing grades, while 29 received 0 Per cent
The Directorate of General Education, Tamil Nadu (TN DGE) is expected to announce the results for the Class 10 board exams soon, with reports suggesting a release date of May 10. While an official announcement is pending, students can anticipate accessing their scorecards via the official result website at tnresults.nic.in. Alternative websites such as dge1.tn.nic.in, dge2.tn.nic.in, and dge.tn.gov.in will also provide access to the official result announcement.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live Updates

Additionally, students will have the option to download their results through the SMS facility and Digilocker application. Accessing the result from the official website will require login credentials including date of birth and registration number. Following the declaration of results, students can collect their TN Class 10 result mark sheets from their respective schools.

Tamil Nadu 10th Results 2024: Passing Marks

Students are required to score a minimum of 35 per cent marks in aggregate to qualify for the Tamil Nadu 10th board exams 2024. Moreover, they need to score at least 35 marks out of 100 in every subject to pass the TN SSLC exam 2024. For subjects involving practicals, candidates must obtain 15 out of 25 in the practical assessment and 20 marks out of 75 in theory.

Tamil Nadu 10th Results 2024: Heres How To Download

Step 1: Candidates need to visit the official website of the Tamil Nadu board at tnresults.nic.in.

Step 2: Look for and click on the Class 10 result link available on the webpage.

Step 3: Upon clicking, students will be redirected to a new window.

Step 4: Key in the required credentials along with other additional information in the designated space and submit.

Step 5: Once done, your Tamil Nadu 10 Result 2024 will appear on the screen.

Step 6: View and save a copy of your TN class 10 results for future needs.

The Tamil Nadu class 10 (SSC) board exams for 2024 were conducted between March 26 and April 8 at various exam venues. The exam was held in a single shift for 3 hours from 10 AM to 1:15 AM.

Stay Informed With Live Updates On GSEB HSC Results 2024 , Kerala Board Results , Karnataka SSLC 10th Result 2024 , CG Board Results And Assam Board Results . Stay ahead with all the exam results updates on News18 Website.
TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: How to Know If One Has Passed the Exam? Students scoring 35 per cent marks overall and in every subject is considered to have passed the exam. While checking the marksheet, it would be marked as P which means indicates their passing status.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: 100% Result at Over 4000 Schools This year, a total of 4105 schools received perfect scores, with 1364 being government schools.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Top Performing Districts This year, Ariyalur has been ranked as the top performing district, with Sivagangai coming in second and Ramanathapuram coming in third.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Provisional Marksheet By providing their roll number and birthdate, students may access their class 10 online marksheets on the official website, dge.tn.gov.in. It should be noted that these mark sheets are provisional in nat

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Over 8.18 Lakh Students Passed 8,94,264 students appeared for the class 10 SSLC exam 2024 of which 4,47,061 were girls and 4,47,203 were boys. A total of 8,18,743 students passed the exam.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Subject Wise Pass Percentage  English  99.15 per cent  Language (Tamil)  96.85 per cent  Maths  96.78 per cent  Science  96.72 per cent  Social Science  95.74 per cent

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Girls Outperformed Boys In 2023, girls yet again outperformed boys, with an overall pass percentage of 94.53 per cent, compared to 88.58 per cent for boys. This year, 4,22,591 girls and 3,96,152 boys passed the TN SSLC exam.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Details to check on scorecards Students do not have to just download the mark sheet directly, they will have to get it corrected in case of any error. The class 10 certificate also acts as proof of birth and further academic progress. Thus, it is critical to ensure details mentioned on it are correct. Details to check   Name  Personal Details  Exam dates, school name  Total  Percentage and Grade Calculation  Pass/ Fail status

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Websites to Check Result Students who appeared for the exams can check their results at the official websites:  tnresults.nic.in  dge.tn.gov.in.  dge1.tn.nic.in  apply1.tndge.org  dge2.tn.nic.in  apply1.tndge.org

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: How to Check Result Via Digilocker Step 1: Visit DigiLocker app at digilocker.gov.in or download it from the Play Store. Step 2: Click on the Sign up button to create an account. Step 3: For existing users, log in to the account using credentials. Step 4: Then search and click on the Tamil Nadu Board of Secondary Education option. Step 5: Key your Class 10 roll number, date of birth, and other details. Then click on the Get Document button. Step 6: The TN SSLC Result will appear on the screen. Step 7: Download and keep a printout of the result for future needs.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: 91.55% Pass This years TN SSLC total pass percentage is 91.55 per cent, which is higher than the 91.39 per cent recorded in the previous year.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Result Link Activated

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Declared!

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Passing Rate of Schools in 2022 1. Government Schools  87.45% 2. Government-aided schools  92.24% 3. Private Schools  97.38% 4. People studying in Secondary Schools  91.58% 5. Girls Schools  94.38% 6. Boys Schools  83.25%

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: What Will be Required to Check Result? The Tamil Nadu Class 10 results can be checked by entering:  Board exam registration number  Date of birth

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: How to Check Scores Online Step 1: Go to the Tamil Nadu Board official website tnresults.nic.in Step 2: On the homepage, click on TN 10th result link 2023. Step 3: On the redirected page, key in the exam roll number and date of birth. Step 4: Post submitting the details, class 10th mark sheet 2023 will open up on the screen. Step 5: Go through the same and cross-check the details. Step 6: Take its printout for future reference.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Grade Vs Marks Grade Grade Point Marks A1 Grade Point 10 91-100 marks A2 Grade Point 9 81-90 marks B1 Grade Point 8 71-80 marks B2 Grade Point 7 61-70 marks C1 Grade Point 6 51-60 marks C2 Grade Point 5 41-50 marks D Grade Point 4 31-40 marks E1  21-32 marks 21  20 marks and below

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Re-Evaluation Students who are not satisfied with their scorecard can opt for re-evaluation or re-verification. Detailed information about this will be available at the official website soon after the results are out.

TN SSLC 10th Result 2024 Live: Passing Criteria To pass the Tamil Nadu Class 10th exams, students need to score at least 35 out of a possible 100 marks in each theory subject as well as 35 per cent as an overall average. Candidates must get 15 marks out of 25 in the practical assessment for subjects that require practicals and 20 marks out of 75 in the theory papersread more
The Adilabad (ST) Lok Sabha constituency is one of 17 parliamentary constituencies in Telangana. This seat is reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates and comprises part of the Adilabad district. Seven Assembly segments currently fall under the Adilabad (ST) Lok Sabha seat. Of these, the BJP currently holds four (Sirpur, Adilabad, Nirmal and Mudhole), while the BRS holds two (Asifabad-ST and Boath-ST) and the Congress holds one (Khanapur-ST).

Sitting MP  Soyam Bapu Rao (BJP)

Candidates  Atram Sakku (BRS), Godam Nagesh (BJP) and Atram Suguna (Congress)

Voting Date  May 13, 2024

Political Dynamics

Overview: Its an interesting triangular contest in Adilabad this time with the Congress fielding newcomer and popular tribal teacher Atram Suguna against seasoned politicians like BJPs Godam Nagesh and BRSs Atram Sakku.

Its an interesting triangular contest in Adilabad this time with the Congress fielding newcomer and popular tribal teacher Atram Suguna against seasoned politicians like BJPs Godam Nagesh and BRSs Atram Sakku. As per local sources, the competition may boil down to Congress vs BJP in this seat, with the former holding the edge given Atram Sugunas strong connect with the local population as well as her clean political slate.

The BJP is banking on its development agenda and the appeal of PM Narendra Modi while the Congress is highlighting the speed at which the Revanth Reddy government fulfilled its Assembly election promises. The BRS, meanwhile, claims it is the only party that can truly represent the interests of Telangana.

Congress Pins Hopes on Adivasi Leader: The Congress has won the Adilabad-ST seat eight times so far, but its last Lok Sabha victory here came way back in 2008.

The Congress has won the Adilabad-ST seat eight times so far, but its last Lok Sabha victory here came way back in 2008. Since then, despite being the party at the Centre that created the state of Telangana, the Congress has struggled to get a foothold in the constituency.

It stood third in 2019 and second in both 2014 and 2009.

The grand old party has handpicked firebrand Adivasi leader and former government schoolteacher Atram Suguna to regain its lost bastion.

With the nomination, Suguna has become the first Adivasi woman to contest from the tribal heartland constituency.

She resigned from her position as the district secretary of Human Rights Forum (HRF) to make her electoral debut.

Political observers say the Congresss choice this time is spot on since 49-year-old Suguna is popular among women and youth and had been in the thick of action during the statehood movement.

In 20 years of social service, she has worked with the community on issues like farmer suicides, tribal rights and developing facilities for students.

She is known to be a daughter of the soil with two decades of community activism to her credit and is adept at conversing with voters across demographics about their issues.

BJP Faces Internal Rift: The BJP had opened its account in Adilabad in 2019 when Soyam Bapu Rao won on a saffron ticket after jumping ship from the BRS. He had defeated closest rival and BRS candidate Godam Nagesh by 58,560 votes.

The BJP had opened its account in Adilabad in 2019 when Soyam Bapu Rao won on a saffron ticket after jumping ship from the BRS. He had defeated closest rival and BRS candidate Godam Nagesh by 58,560 votes. In a dramatic twist five years later, the BJP has ignored sitting MP Soyam Bapu Rao in favour of Godam Nagesh who recently switched over from the BRS.

Godam Nagesh had won the Adilabad seat as a BRS candidate in the 2014 elections, marking his entry into the Lok Sabha for the first time. Despite the Modi wave across India, the BJP had stood fourth in that election in Adilabad given the fervour over the imminent creation of Telangana.

The BJP now is hoping to be the first party since 1999 to score consecutive victories in Adilabad.

A major positive sign for the saffron party in Adilabad is that it won four Assembly seats that fall within this Lok Sabha constituency in the 2023 Telangana Assembly elections  Sirpur, Adilabad, Nirmal and Mudhole.

It, however, faces certain challenges from within. Outgoing MP Soyam Bapu Rao is said to be sulking at being denied the ticket and sources say has been missing from campaigning events for Nagesh.

Modi Appeal Evident: In stark contrast to the 2014 elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a huge factor in these elections in Adilabad.

In stark contrast to the 2014 elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a huge factor in these elections in Adilabad. The sentiment on the ground seems to suggest that more than the candidate, it is the popularity of PM Modi that may pull voters to the BJP.

A number of factors explain this sentiment, prime among them PM Modis schemes for the ST population across India and BJPs outreach to the tribal communities.

The BJP is banking on the fact that it chose a member of the Adivasi community, Droupadi Murmu, to be the President of India and is also emphasising on schemes such as the PM Janjati Adivasi Nyaya Maha Abhiyan.

Another Modi initiative the BJP hopes would play to its electoral advantage among tribals is the Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor which aims to improve rail infrastructure, connectivity, and economic progress in tribal regions.

As per reports, the construction of the Ram Mandir in UPs Ayodhya has also boosted the Prime Ministers popularity in Adilabad. There is said to be much enthusiasm towards the Ram Temple in rural hamlets.

BRS: The BRS has won the Adilabad seat twice  2004 and 2014. Its 2014 winning candidate Godam Nagesh is now the BJP candidate.

The BRS has won the Adilabad seat twice  2004 and 2014. Its 2014 winning candidate Godam Nagesh is now the BJP candidate. In fact, since being displaced from power in Telangana by the Congress in last years Assembly elections, several influential leaders have left the party in areas like Adilabad, Nirmal, Mudhole and Asifabad.

BRS, which ruled the state for about a decade since its emergence, is low on morale in Adilabad and the rest of Telangana following its 2023 defeat.

The arrest of its founder and former Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Raos daughter K Kavitha on the eve of poll dates announcement also dented cadre spirit here.

Though the BRS has officially struck up an alliance with the BSP, some sections of voters believe that the BJP and BRS may have a post-poll understanding.

Adivasis vs Lambadas: The tussle between the Adivasi Gond community and the Lambada Banjaras sub-section is the main election factor in the Adilabad seat, which borders Maharashtra.

The tussle between the Adivasi Gond community and the Lambada Banjaras sub-section is the main election factor in the Adilabad seat, which borders Maharashtra. The Adivasis allege that the Lambadas are migrants from Maharashtra who have ended up prospering with Scheduled Tribe reservations even though they are listed as Backward Class in Maharashtra.

The Adivasi Gonds have been demanding the removal of the Lambadas from the ST list while the latter are naturally opposed to it.

With all three major candidates in the fray belonging to the Adivasi Gonds, the votes of this influential community are likely to be scattered between the three, leaving the Lambadas to play king or queen makers.

As per political observers, Congress candidate Atram Suguna may enjoy some advantage when it comes to Gond votes since she was a key figure in protests demanding the removal of Lambadas from the ST list.

Conversely, this means a section of the Lambadas may not vote for her due to her role in the anti-Lambada agitation.

Women Voters: Women voters (8,42,888) in Adilabad outnumber the men (8,02,882) making it an important segment to woo in the elections.

Women voters (8,42,888) in Adilabad outnumber the men (8,02,882) making it an important segment to woo in the elections. As things stand, women voters seem to favour Congress candidate Atram Suguna since they relate to the popular tribal teacher and her inspiration story of rising in public life despite suffering child marriage at the age of 13.

But the BJP can also count on the women vote-bank here primarily due to Prime Minister Narendra Modis pro-women and pro-tribal schemes like the Ujjwala scheme, Matru Vandana Scheme and PM Jan Man. The construction of hundreds of toilets under the Swachh Bharat Mission is also a major pull for the party in Adilabad.

The party can also claim the Women Reservation Bill to its credit.

Key Constituency Issues

Demand to Reopen CCI Factory: The Cement Corporation of India (CCI) factory in Adilabad has been non-operational since November 5, 1998.

The Cement Corporation of India (CCI) factory in Adilabad has been non-operational since November 5, 1998. It is located on the outskirts of Adilabad town, on 772 acres of land, and includes a 170-acre township with around 400 quarters.

The plant supplied cement to the Marathwada and Vidarbha regions of Maharashtra, as well as North Telangana.

The plant stopped production due to lack of working capital and was scheduled for closure in 2008 with employees offered voluntary retirement.

However, the factory still has all the necessary facilities to reopen, including 48 million tons of limestone deposits, water supply, and power supply.

Locals in Adilabad have been demanding that making the plan operational again would help supply cement to North Telangana and Maharashtra, as well as solve the unemployment issue in the constituency.

Delay in Adilabad-Armoor Railway Line: The Adilabad-Armoor broad-gauge railway line has been a long-pending demand with not much movement since being approved by the Centre in 2017. Rs 2,800 crore was allocated for the project and the Telangana government agreed to contribute 50% of the total project costs.

The Adilabad-Armoor broad-gauge railway line has been a long-pending demand with not much movement since being approved by the Centre in 2017. Rs 2,800 crore was allocated for the project and the Telangana government agreed to contribute 50% of the total project costs. Locals say the line will help Adilabads industrial corridor develop by supporting the trade of limestone, cotton, manganese, and soy.

They add that it will be useful for the regions socio-economic development, as it will connect new areas to the capital of Telangana and New Delhi.

Airport Demand: Adilabad has also been long waiting for an airport since the nearest one, the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, is 196km away. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad is around 304km from Adilabad.

Adilabad has also been long waiting for an airport since the nearest one, the Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport in Nagpur, is 196km away. The Rajiv Gandhi International Airport in Hyderabad is around 304km from Adilabad. The Airports Authority of India (AAI) has been positively responding to the state governments requests for an airport in Adilabad.

As per reports, the airport in Adilabad will be developed on an existing site, or brownfield, and will require 122 acres in the first phase and 175 acres in the second phase.

Forest Rights Act: While the FRA may not be a hot button issue, several tribal families in Adilabad are still waiting for titles or pattas on their land claims.

While the FRA may not be a hot button issue, several tribal families in Adilabad are still waiting for titles or pattas on their land claims. Considered a milestone in redressing the historical injustice done to Scheduled Tribes and other traditional forest dwellers, the Forest Rights Act 2006 aims to recognise forest rights of such communities living in forests for generations.

Adilabad is one of the 53 core FRA constituencies.

According to government data, the FRA claim disposal rate in the last five years has come down from 87.72 per cent to 84.44 per cent.

Uniform Civil Code: After the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and the construction of a Ram Mandir at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, a central UCC is the only remaining promise among the BJPs holy trinity of election promises. BJP-ruled Uttarakhand has already enacted its own Uniform Civil Code and speculation is rife that the saffron party may follow suit in other states or at the Centre in its third term.

After the abrogation of Article 370 in J&K and the construction of a Ram Mandir at the Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, a central UCC is the only remaining promise among the BJPs holy trinity of election promises. BJP-ruled Uttarakhand has already enacted its own Uniform Civil Code and speculation is rife that the saffron party may follow suit in other states or at the Centre in its third term. While the Uttarakhand UCC had kept tribal communities of its ambit amid much political controversy, tribal groups in Telangana and other states are wary at the prospect of a central UCC.

With the Law Commissions consultation on the UCC going on, some tribal groups have demanded that they be kept out of the statute while opposition parties have accused the ruling BJP of taking up the issue as a poll gimmick.

Sources say that while the issue of UCC is not a much discussed one in Adilabad, some tribal activists have been apprehensive and are reiterating in the election season that the community be kept out of the speculated UCC.

Voter Demographics

Social composition

SC  15.2%

ST  21.9%

Religious composition

Buddhist  0.93%

Muslim  11.7%

Geographic composition

Rural voters  79.1%

Urban voters  20.9%

Major Infra Projects in Adilabad

Ambari-Adilabad-Pimpalkhuti Line: In March this year, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated and dedicated to the nation the newly electrified Ambari-Adilabad-Pimpalkhuti railway line.

In March this year, PM Narendra Modi inaugurated and dedicated to the nation the newly electrified Ambari-Adilabad-Pimpalkhuti railway line. The project is part of the Mudkhed-Pimpalkhuti electrification works which is spread across 182km and was sanctioned in 2017-18 at Rs 206 crore.

The Ambari-Adilabad-Pimpalkhuti section is a 58km stretch completed at a cost of Rs 70 crore.

Nizamabad-Adilabad Railway Line: The 125-km Nizamabad-Adilabad railway line will connect the Adilabad and Nizamabad districts with the Nirmal district, which has limited railway connectivity.

The 125-km Nizamabad-Adilabad railway line will connect the Adilabad and Nizamabad districts with the Nirmal district, which has limited railway connectivity. The line will also connect Adilabad to the Kazipet-Balharshah main line near Gadchendur, allowing trains to operate without passing through the Balharshah junction.

The electrification of this section of the line will allow for seamless rail connectivity from Adilabad to Hyderabad, Secunderabad, Bengaluru, and Nagpur.

Patancheruvu (Nagalapalli)-Adilabad Line: The Patancheruvu (Nagalapalli)  Adilabad is a 317-km long railway line that will connect several new and unconnected areas in Northern Telangana.

The Patancheruvu (Nagalapalli)  Adilabad is a 317-km long railway line that will connect several new and unconnected areas in Northern Telangana. The line is estimated to cost around Rs. 5,706 crore and will provide rail connectivity to towns such as Ichoda, Neradigonda, Dhanur, Nirmal, Balkonda, Armoor, Bodhan, Rudrur, Nasrullabad, Banswada, Nizamsagar, Alahadurg, Sangareddy, and Patancheruvu.

The line will also pass through agriculturally developed areas, which will help farmers from Medak, Siddipet, Nizamabad, and Nirmal market their produce.

Critical Care Block: In October 2023, PM Modi had laid the foundation stone of 20 critical care blocks (CCBs) under the Pradhan Mantri  Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, including in Adilabad district.

In October 2023, PM Modi had laid the foundation stone of 20 critical care blocks (CCBs) under the Pradhan Mantri  Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission, including in Adilabad district. These CCBs will have complete arrangements for dedicated isolation wards, oxygen supply and infection prevention and control.

Widening of Adilabad-Bela Section of NH35: The Adilabad-Bela section of NH-35 in Adilabad district is being widened to two lanes with paved shoulders at a cost of Rs 490.92 crore. The project is 32.97km long. and

The Adilabad-Bela section of NH-35 in Adilabad district is being widened to two lanes with paved shoulders at a cost of Rs 490.92 crore. The project is 32.97km long. and The existing road is being widened to four lanes with two-lane service roads on either side in built-up areas. The right of way (ROW) will be between 45 and 60 metres throughout the project.

Gadchandur-Adilabad Railway Line: This is a new broad-gauge line in the Adilabad district of Telangana and the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra.

This is a new broad-gauge line in the Adilabad district of Telangana and the Chandrapur district of Maharashtra. The line will be about 71km long and cost an estimated Rs 1,278 crore.

It will start at the south end of the existing Gadchandur stations loop line and connect to the Adilabad stations north side loop line.

The line will provide rail access to backward areas in both districts and is expected to increase freight transportation.

The Railway Ministry has approved the Final Location Survey (FLS) for the line, but the Railway Board has not moved forward yet due to low traffic projections, high capital costs, and poor return on investment.

Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor: The Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor is a Rs 70,000 crore initiative to improve rail connectivity and infrastructure in tribal-dominated regions of India.

The Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor is a Rs 70,000 crore initiative to improve rail connectivity and infrastructure in tribal-dominated regions of India. The initiative is part of the 2023-2024 budget and aims to help tribal communities, promote socio-economic growth, and address connectivity gaps.

Earlier this year, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that under the Janjatiya Gaurav Corridor initiative, the Railways has sanctioned new lines between Odisha and Telangana.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
As Srinagar will vote on May 13 in the Lok Sabha elections, union home secretary Ajay Bhalla and other top security and intelligence officials will be visiting the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir on Saturday.

According to sources, Bhalla will review the security preparations for the voting day and is also likely to assess the readiness for the Amarnath Yatra during a series of meetings.

He will also hold multiple meetings with security forces, J&K police, and administration, where the director general of police, the CRPF chief, and other top officials will brief him about the security situation in the union territory.

Various forces and the J&K police have prepared presentations to brief the top home ministry official about the security preparedness for May 13. All senior officials have been deployed on the ground, and they have been given charge of security in different districts.

Tense areas have deployments of different forces along with J&K police, with reinforcement in case of any attack. Sources have confirmed that all ground commanders have been asked to keep a check on terrorist movements, especially in the Jammu area, which recently saw an attack on Indian Air Force personnel this month.

Additionally, there was an exchange of fire between security forces and terrorists in the Sinai Top area of Poonch on Friday. Officials suspect that this is the same group that targeted an air force convoy last Saturday.

The Srinagar Lok Sabha constituency will go to polls on Monday, May 13, followed by the Baramulla and Anantnag-Rajouri seats on May 20 and May 25, respectively. The votes will be counted on June 4.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
Home turf of Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik, the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency  going to polls in the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 13  will witness a battle between two turncoats.

In this high-stakes battle, all eyes will be on Bhrugu Baxipatra of the BJD and Pradeep Panigrahy of the BJP. While Baxipatra was the vice-president of the saffron partys state unit until last week, Panigrahy was expelled from the ruling party.

A traditional Congress stronghold in the past, the BJD has won this seat since 2009. But, Panigrahys entry complicates matters and turns this into a prestige battle due to the growing influence of the BJP in the district. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already campaigned in the constituency, where he told people if they bring the BJP to power in the state, he will ensure that the next CM is a son or daughter of Odisha.

In 1996, former prime minister PV Narasimha Rao had contested from Berhampur and defeated Janata Dal candidate and queen of the erstwhile Khallikote royal family V Sugnana Kumari Deo by a margin of more than one lakh votes.

Known as the silk city of Odisha, Berhampur in Ganjam district is in the southern part of the state. It is among the 21 parliamentary constituencies and includes the entirety of the Gajapati district and a part of the Ganjam district. It has seven assembly segments  Chhatrapur (SC), Gopalpur, Berhampur, Digapahandi, Chikiti and Mohana (ST) in Ganjam district, along with Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district. It is presently represented by BJD MP Chandra Sekhar Sahu.

For the state, which has simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and Vidhan Sabha, this will be the first phase of polling. The state is gearing up for simultaneous assembly and parliamentary elections making for an interesting contest.

In the 2019 general elections, Sahu bagged the seat on a BJD ticket with a lead of 94,844 and a share of 44.84 per cent votes. Baxipatra, who was contesting on a BJP ticket came second with 35.26 per cent vote share while V Chandra Sekhar Naidu of the Congress got a vote share of 14.41 per cent. In the assembly polls, the BJD won five seats while the BJP and Congress bagged one seat each. Here, the BJD had a vote share of 43.8 per cent, followed by the BJP with 33.7 per cent and the Congress at 11.7 per cent.

BJP on an upward trend

The Berhampur battle is set to be a close one as the BJP has fielded Panigrahy, who is a three-time MLA from the Gopalpur assembly constituency. Also a former minister in the state cabinet, he was once a close aide of Patnaik and, before being expelled, looked after the Ganjam district as well as affairs in the CMs Hinjili assembly seat.

Assuming the role of the BJDs Ganjam president in 2015 positioned him as a key figure in overseeing the partys operations in the district. But, he fell out with the party when he voiced concerns to Patnaik over the lack of involvement of elected leaders in Covid management. Following this, Panigrahy came under scrutiny for allegedly accepting money on behalf of Akash Pathak, the son of former IFS officer Abhay Pathak, purportedly in exchange for job opportunities.

The BJP candidates daughter was even set to marry Akash Pathak at the time. Despite these allegations, he consistently dismissed them as a targeted campaign orchestrated by certain influential factions within the BJD. His subsequent dismissal from the party was attributed to alleged anti-people activities and subsequent arrest on corruption charges.

Panigrahy was in jail for seven months. In March, however, his organisational skills and hold over political affairs in Ganjam earned him a BJP ticket. Despite being a controversial figure, his popularity stems from his work in the Ganjam district over the years.

He is described as a good orator who has a strong bond with the masses. He has carried out an energetic campaign with the pitch  Etha ra leka chhi da e deba (This time, will end the chapter)  calling for the people to move beyond Patnaik. Despite corruption allegations against him, his support base remains robust.

In April, the newly minted BJP leader demanded security from the Odisha chief electoral officer (CEO) stating that the state government has withdrawn his cover. He said there were reports of murders in Ganjam every day and questioned how one can fight elections in such a situation.

The BJD, meanwhile, approached the CEO complaining that Panigrahy was allegedly threatening government officials to secure their support for the BJP. The partys state unit has been mounting attacks on the CM for allegedly being inaccessible. It is marketing the double engine government model and is hopeful of a favourable outcome in both the elections.

The BJP benefits from the large number of leaders and workers that have switched over from the BJD and the Congress. Panigrahy alone brings considerable influence to the table. Another prominent face that recently switched to the BJP and will have an impact in Berhampur is Sidhant Mohapatra, a star face from Odia cinema, who has also served as the MP between 2009 and 2019.

The BJP is expected to continue on an upward trend, as its vote share roughly doubled between 2014 and 2019 while knocking the Congress down to third place. The party has been eyeing this BJD bastion for a while now and has successively improved its electoral performance each time. In the 2009 elections for Berhampur, the BJP only had a vote share of 11.1 per cent, which rose to 17.5 per cent in 2014, which more than doubled in 2019 to 35.7 per cent.

A similar trend is visible in the assembly elections. In 2009, it stood at 14.1 per cent of the vote share, which increased to 16.1 per cent in 2014, and almost doubled to 33.7 per cent in 2019. This rise for the BJP has largely come at the expense of the Congress, whose vote share dropped from 32.4 per cent in 2009 to 11.7 per cent in 2019. If such a growth trajectory continues in 2024, the BJP may come close to defeating the BJD, whose vote share in 2019 stood at 45.6 per cent.

This upward trend also indicates the impact of the Modi factor, which remains prevalent in this election as well, especially among young voters. The prime minister is a popular figure, making the BJP the second largest party in this constituency.

Enhanced highway access, improved welfare delivery and, particularly, PM Awas Yojana, Ujjwala, Kisan Samman Nidhi and free ration for the poor, have ensured a degree of credibility. The BJP is banking on this performance, wooing voters with an exuberant campaign and banking on anti-incumbency against the BJD.

Another factor in favour of the BJP is that a significant chunk of the Congress vote share in 2019 may be up for grabs this time around. The grand old party has fielded Rashmi Ranjan Patnaik, a lesser known leader in the region as opposed to 2019 candidate Naidu.

Naidu is also in the fray as an independent candidate, further dividing Congress votes, but the party has a stronghold in the ST-reserved Mohana constituency with an MLA.

BJD on a shaky throne

While the BJP is hoping to storm this BJD fortress, the ruling party is playing its own chess moves to keep the national juggernaut at bay. The party has nominated Baxipatra as its candidate; he formerly represented the BJP in the 2019 polls, securing second place and losing to Sahu by 94,844 votes.

After serving the BJP for 24 years, Baxipatra was miffed at not receiving a ticket this time. The BJD turned him over to its side and handed him the Lok Sabha ticket on the same day, hoping for a transfer of BJP votes to its fold. He had bagged 3,48,999 votes in 2019.

One significant challenge for him is that he was campaigning for years in the constituency on behalf of the BJP, and his switch to the BJD only a month ago has confused party workers and voters alike. They are faced with the call to campaign for someone they vehemently opposed in the previous election. There is a reported lack of coordination and enthusiasm in his campaign at the ground level.

By eating into BJP votes through Baxipatras nomination, bolstered by four MLAs in the constituency from Chhatrapur (SC), Berhampur, Digapahandi and Chikiti, the BJD hopes to retain its 2019 vote share and to retain the seat in what is proving to be a tough battle. The anti-incumbency factor against the ruling party is also a concern as the BJD has been in power in Odisha for the past 24 years.

There are, however, a number of positives. The BJDs formidable stronghold in Berhampur is owed to the fact that it is in Patnaiks native district. In fact, for him, this battle is about prestige as it pertains to his home turf. The chief minister is known for lending an ear to the people and solving their problems from time to time. Therefore, the regions emotional attachment with the veteran leader cannot be underestimated.

The state governments welfare schemes have also made a mark. The government has reportedly not adopted the Ayushman Bharat and has its own health scheme for the people. The Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY) guarantees free treatment in any government hospital with no limits and limits of Rs 10 lakh for women and Rs 5 lakh for men in private hospitals, each year.

In Berhampur, the benefits have been visible to a considerable degree. The government has also come up with schemes involving interest-free loans for the youth and farmers.

A major chunk of Christian voters (11.34 per cent) also lean towards the BJD even as the BJP has made its own outreach efforts. The BJD is also aiming for tribal votes, competing with the Congress on that front.

Here are the key issues of the Berhampur Lok Sabha constituency:

Water scarcity: Local residents are facing an acute water shortage every year. Residents of Surala village are the most affected, as women have to trek for at least 3 km in search of water. Several measures were taken to supply drinking water to the area, but all of them failed. Two projects, one at Badi Chowk in 2015 and the other at Surala hospital in 2020, were installed by the rural water supply and sanitation department. Both failed to deliver potable water to the peoples homes.

Local residents are facing an acute water shortage every year. Residents of Surala village are the most affected, as women have to trek for at least 3 km in search of water. Several measures were taken to supply drinking water to the area, but all of them failed. Two projects, one at Badi Chowk in 2015 and the other at Surala hospital in 2020, were installed by the rural water supply and sanitation department. Both failed to deliver potable water to the peoples homes. Water contamination: Even the water that is being supplied to the residents is contaminated and unfit for drinking. According to reports, the water in Berhampur has been found to have more pH and turbidity. The two mega projects at Badi Chowk and Surala Hospital supply water unfit for consumption due to high salinity. While there are three borewells, even that water is not fit for consumption. There are many tube wells too, but the water supplied through them is high in salinity and can only be used for washing purposes.

Even the water that is being supplied to the residents is contaminated and unfit for drinking. According to reports, the water in Berhampur has been found to have more pH and turbidity. The two mega projects at Badi Chowk and Surala Hospital supply water unfit for consumption due to high salinity. While there are three borewells, even that water is not fit for consumption. There are many tube wells too, but the water supplied through them is high in salinity and can only be used for washing purposes. Road connectivity: Connectivity and condition of roads is on the decline. Delays in construction, lack of funds, corruption and other issues have led to a pathetic condition, so much so that the residents are now fed up. The main road in Prem Nagar was dug up seven years ago when a 2.6-km road along with drainage was undertaken in 2017 by the World Bank-funded Odisha Disaster Recovery Project. The drainage work remained incomplete as the World Bank withdrew, but the road is still dug up. People have staged protests against the local administration but in vain.

Connectivity and condition of roads is on the decline. Delays in construction, lack of funds, corruption and other issues have led to a pathetic condition, so much so that the residents are now fed up. The main road in Prem Nagar was dug up seven years ago when a 2.6-km road along with drainage was undertaken in 2017 by the World Bank-funded Odisha Disaster Recovery Project. The drainage work remained incomplete as the World Bank withdrew, but the road is still dug up. People have staged protests against the local administration but in vain. Traffic congestion: Due to bad roads, traffic congestion has increased and the number of accidents has gone up. During the monsoon, the roads get water logged, causing a number of mishaps each year and compounding traffic congestion. It also leads to some areas turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other health hazards.

Due to bad roads, traffic congestion has increased and the number of accidents has gone up. During the monsoon, the roads get water logged, causing a number of mishaps each year and compounding traffic congestion. It also leads to some areas turning into a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other health hazards. Shortage of doctors: For more than a decade, Berhampur has faced a shortage of doctors despite the presence of medical colleges and government hospitals in the region. The MKCG Medical College and Hospital, despite being the referral hospital for 10 southern districts, is unable to provide proper healthcare due to a shortage of doctors. According to reports, 160 out of a total sanctioned 488 posts are vacant but thats not all. Senior doctors are unofficially absent from duty for long periods of time as they prefer to practise privately in Bhubaneswar or Cuttack. There is no accountability to this effect, which has affected patient care while people have also alleged corrupt practices between the administration and the doctoral staff.

For more than a decade, Berhampur has faced a shortage of doctors despite the presence of medical colleges and government hospitals in the region. The MKCG Medical College and Hospital, despite being the referral hospital for 10 southern districts, is unable to provide proper healthcare due to a shortage of doctors. According to reports, 160 out of a total sanctioned 488 posts are vacant but thats not all. Senior doctors are unofficially absent from duty for long periods of time as they prefer to practise privately in Bhubaneswar or Cuttack. There is no accountability to this effect, which has affected patient care while people have also alleged corrupt practices between the administration and the doctoral staff. Tribal issues: Tribal communities in Berhampur form around 18 per cent of the total population, making them a potent force in the elections. Political parties often offer up various schemes and freebies as well as promises of development, which are not taken up after the elections. The regions tribal settlements suffer from underdevelopment, isolation, and a lack of basic necessities. Discrimination and violence are the major challenges in the region and, moreover, their rehabilitation during development work is also neglected. Due to this, many tribal families are left with nothing.

Voter demographic ( as per 2011 Census)

Total Voters (recent estimate): ~15.67 lakh

Urban voters: 30.98%

Rural voters: 69.02%

Literacy Rate: 57.72%

Social Composition

SC: 15.88%

ST: 17.96%

Religious Composition

Hindu: ~79%

Christian: 11.34%

Muslim: 2.2%
A 16-year-old girl was brutally killed in Karnatakas Kodagu district allegedly by her fiance after their proposed marriage was put off as she was a minor. The 32-year-old accused chopped off the girls head and took it along with him before fleeing the crime scene, police said on Friday.

The body of the accused, identified as Prakash, was later found hanging near his house in Kodagus Somwarpet, police said adding that the girls severed head is yet to be located.

Police told News18 that Prakash got engaged to victim Meena, who just cleared her Class 10 exams, at Surlabbi village on Thursday.

However, someone informed the Child Helpline number and officials from the Child Welfare Department reached the girls house and counselled both the families saying that if they went ahead with the marriage, it would attract provisions of the POCSO Act and Child Marriage Act.

Both families then agreed that only after Meena attained the age of 18 she would be married to Prakash.

The officials and the grooms family then left the place.

However, at around 5.30 pm on Thursday, Prakash returned to Meenas house and assaulted her parents before dragging the girl outside for about 100 metres.

He then chopped off her head and threw away her body. Prakash then fled the scene with Meenas severed head, police said.

The victims parents were admitted to a hospital where her mother was treated for her injuries. Her father did not receive any visible cut injuries, police said.

As per police, the exact motive of the murder is yet to be ascertained, and all efforts are being taken to nab the accused

A case has been registered against the accused under Sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 302 (murder) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act, police said.

According to the police, the girl was aware of her engagement with the accused, which was fixed by her family only.

The victim has three sisters and two brothers and she was the youngest.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1. Kejriwal left the jail premises accompanied by his wife Sunita Kejriwal, his daughter Harshita and senior AAP leaders including Bhagwant Mann, Atishi, Saurabh Bhardwaj and Sandeep Pathak.

Standing through the sunroof of a car, Kejriwal then addressed AAP workers and supporters amid slogans of Jail Ke Tale Toot Gaye, Kejriwalji Chhoot Gaye.

Beginning with slogans of Bharat Mata Ki Jai, Vande Mataram and Inquilab Zindabad, the Delhi CM thanked the people for their blessing and expressed gratitude to the judges of the Supreme Court for granting him bail.

VIDEO | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal (@ArvindKejriwal) comes out of Tihar Jail after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1 earlier today.(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/dv5TRARJn4) pic.twitter.com/8awecigsMf  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 10, 2024

It feels good to be amongst you all. I had promised to come back soon and here I amI have a request, we have to save the country from dictatorship. I am fighting against it with all might, but 140 crore people (of the country) will have to come together to fight against it, he said.

The Delhi CM said he will visit the Hanuman Temple at Connaught Place at 11:00 am on Saturday to pay obeisance to the deity, following which he will address a press conference at the party office at 1:00 pm.

Kejriwal Receives Traditional Welcome At Home

Later in the evening, after the Delhi CM reached home, he was received with garlands by his parents. His mother welcomes him into the house by performing traditional aarti.

Kejriwal then sought his parents blessing by touching their feet.

The chief minister reached his residence in the Civil Lines area around 8.20 pm from the prison complex.

Celebrations at the AAP Office

Clad in yellow T-shirts, AAP supporters danced to dhol beats and fed each other sweets at the party office in New Delhi on Friday as they celebrated the Supreme Courts decision to grant interim bail to Kejriwal in a money laundering case.

#WATCH | Firecrackers being burst outside Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwals residence, following his release from Tihar Jail.The Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1. pic.twitter.com/zXu3cg6eTK  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

Slogans like Jail ke taale toot gaye, Kejriwal ji chhoot gaye, Modi ji ja rahe hain, Kejriwal ji aa rahe hain, and Dekho dekho kon aaya, sher aaya sher aaya rent the air at the AAP office.

Many supporters carried posters with slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi written on them.

Describing the interim bail as a blessing of Lord Hanuman to his devotee Kejriwal, AAP leaders said his release from judicial custody will pave the way for big changes in the country.

At a joint press conference at the party office, senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj said, Kejriwal being granted interim bail after 40 days is no less than a miracle. There is also a divine hint that the prevailing conditions are going to change in the country. His release will pave the way for big changes in the country.

In posts on X, several other AAP leaders including Gopal Rai, Sanjay Singh, Atishi as well as the chief ministers wife Sunita Kejriwal, welcomed the development.

We are all ready to face every challenge. We will end dictatorship, Singh wrote in his post and shared a picture with Delhi CM.

            pic.twitter.com/SEpxuvQ19C Sanjay Singh AAP (@SanjayAzadSln) May 10, 2024

Kejriwals release from jail, however transient, is expected to give a boost to the AAPs Lok Sabha campaign in Delhi where polling is scheduled for May 25, with its foremost leader hitting the hustings.

Kejriwals First Roadshow Tomorrow

Kejriwal will participate in a roadshow in South Delhi on May 11 along with his Punjab counterpart Bhagwant Mann. This will be Kejriwals first roadshow after walking out of Tihar Jail on Friday.

AAP has fielded Sahi Ram Pahalwan from the South Delhi parliamentary constituency. Under a seat-sharing arrangement between the Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), the former has fielded candidates from three Lok Sabha seats in Delhi while the latter is contesting from the remaining four.

INDIA Bloc Leaders Welcome Kejriwals Interim Bail

Opposition leaders also welcomed the interim bail given to the AAP leader by the Supreme Court, saying the fight to save democracy will now be with more intensity.

Congress leader Pawan Khera hoped former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren also get due justice.

We welcome the intervention by the Supreme Court in granting bail to Arvind KejriwalWe also hope that the prime minister gets enough time after June 4, when he becomes the former prime minister of India, to introspect sitting in Sabarmati Ashram the kind of politics he has indulged in, he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee also welcomed the Supreme Court order, saying I am very happy to see that Shri Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections. Sharad Pawar, who heads the NCP (SP), said the country remains steadfast in the pursuit of democracy.

I welcome the interim bail order granted to the chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal by the SC. India remains steadfast in the pursuit of democracy, Pawar wrote on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi called it a big win for Kejriwal.

And big win for Arvind Kejriwal ji as SC steps in to grant him interim bail. The bid to silence the opposition by BJP is backfiring on them. We Wont be silenced, wont bend, wont give in come what may. Bharat is watching, India is winning! Jai Hind! she wrote on X.

Another Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said justice and relief to Kejriwal against the dictatorial regime in the country was a huge sign of winds of change.

BJPs Reaction

Getting interim bail does not mean Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was declared innocent in the alleged multi-crore liquor scam, Delhi BJP president Virendra Sachdeva said.

Sachdeva said that while the BJP respects the top courts decision, AAP leader are once again misleading the people of Delhi and betraying them.

Sometimes even criminals are released on parole, and this is a legal process, so it does not prove that Kejriwal, who was the main culprit in the multi-crore liquor scam, is innocent today, he said.

AAP has no local issues for the elections because as a state government, they have done nothing in the last 10 years, so they created a stir in the name of Kejriwal being jailed and are now trying to create a deceptive atmosphere of coming out of jail, which the people of Delhi will not buy. BJP candidates will win all seven seats in the upcoming elections, he added.

BJPs candidate from the South Delhi constituency and Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly, Ramvir Singh Bidhuri said, Kejriwal got bail for election campaigning and would have to return to jail after that.

He is an accused in the multi-crore liquor scam and therefore will have to return behind bars on June 2, Bidhuri stated.

SCs Conditional Bail To Kejriwal

In a major relief to the AAP national convenor, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him interim bail for 21 days to campaign for the ongoing Lok Sabha election.

A bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta said Kejriwal, arrested in the money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam, will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2.

June 1 is the last day of the seven-phase Lok Sabha election. Votes will be counted on June 4.

Granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would not amount to granting of privilege or special status to politicians, the apex court said while observing that the AAP leader has no criminal antecedents and is not a threat to society.

Setting him free for 21 days to campaign for the remaining phases of the Lok Sabha elections after 50 days of custody, the court rejected the submission of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that granting the relief for Lok Sabha campaigning would create a separate class of politicians.

The top court, however, barred the AAP leader from visiting his office or the Delhi secretariat and signing official files unless absolutely necessary for obtaining the lieutenant governors approval.

While imposing a string of bail conditions on Kejriwal, the apex court directed him to furnish bail bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the jail superintendent.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday slammed the Congress for raising question mark on Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and asserted that every inch of it belonged to India and no force can snatch it.

Mani Shankar Aiyar is telling us to respect Pakistan as it possesses an atomic bomb. Few days ago, INDIA alliance leader Farooq Abdullah said do not talk about PoK as Pakistan has an atomic bomb. I want to tell the Congress and INDIA alliance that PoK belongs to India and no force can snatch it, Shah said at an election rally in Jharkhands Khunti.

He said, I do not know what has happened to the Congress. A resolution was passed unanimously in Parliament that PoK is part of India. You (Congress) are now putting a question mark on PoK by talking about the atom bomb. BJPs stand is clear that every inch of PoK belongs to India and it will remain with India.

He said Congress preserved Article 370 for 70 years but Prime Minister Narendra Modi ensured its abrogation.

Urging people to vote for the BJP, Shah said the JMM-led alliance in Jharkhand was neck-deep in corruption.

JMM-led alliance indulged in Rs 300-crore land scam, Rs 1,000-crore mining scam, Rs 1,000-crore MNREGA scam, Rs 40-crore liquor scam. We will not allow the JMM-led alliance to digest poor peoples money, he said.

Referring to the recovery of about Rs 350 crore from the premises linked a Rajya Sabha MP from Jharkhand and Rs 35 crore from the domestic help of an official linked to Congress Minister Alamgir in Jharkhand, he said the money belonged to people of Jharkhand which was being looted by Rahul Babas party but will be given back to the masses.

He accused the JMM and Congress of doing vote-bank politics.

Congress created obstacles in building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya for 70 years whereas PM Modi constructed the temple in five yearsRahul Baba did not come to Ram Mandir consecration as he was afraid of his vote bank, he said.

I want to ask Rahul Gandhi why the Congress failed to appoint any tribal President during its rule, he said while taking a jibe at the grand old party and INDIA alliance.

Shah said under the Congress regime, Maoists exercised rights on jal, jungle and jameen (water, forest and land) in Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. After you made Modi Prime Minister, he wiped out the Maoist menace and ushered in development, he said.

The Home Minister said the credit of freeing Jharkhand and Budha Pahad from the clutches of Maoists goes to BJP and PM Modi.

He said it is the BJP regime that ensured respect and dignity for tribals and the Prime Minister has already announced to celebrate the 125th birth anniversary of tribal icon Birsa Munda as Janjatiya Gaurav Varsh in 2025.

Birsa Munda waged a war against the British and its effect reverberated across India, but the Congress and JMM governments did not give tribals their due, he said.

Now, the tribal population faces the biggest threat from infiltrators who are building homes in tribal villages and marrying local girls. If anyone can stop them, it is only the BJP, he said.

Under Prime Minister Modi, the tribal welfare budget was enhanced to Rs 1,33,000 crore from Rs 29,000 crore in the previous Congress regime, he said and added that 40,000 teachers will be appointed for Eklavya Model schools across the country. A total of one lakh children are enrolled in 740 such schools, he said.

The Home Minister emphasised that Rs 88,000 crore under DMFT (District Mineral Foundation Trust) was being spent across the country for development of tribal areas.

The Modi government is building 10 tribal museums in various parts of the country at a cost of Rs 200 crore, he said.

Shah urged people to vote for BJP candidate and Union Minister Arjun Munda. The minister is contesting against Congresss Kalicharan Munda whom he had defeated by a slender margin of 1,445 votes in the 2019 elections. Khunti will go to polls on May 13 alongwith Lohardaga, Sinbhum and Palmu seats.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
The Election Commission of India on Friday responded to a letter written by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge this week to the opposition INDIA blocs leaders. The poll body rejected all the allegations related to delays in the publishing of data for the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

In its 21-page letter, the poll body said that utterances from the president of a national political party attacking the very credibility of the electoral steps and processes could have a negative impact on voter participation and could be seen as a means to deter an elector from exercising their franchise and/or demoralizing the huge number of election staff and machinery.

The commission rejected Kharges insinuations and allegations and advised him to exercise caution and refrain from making such statements.

You have, however, omitted to take note of the fact that data of deployment, utilization of EVM and the voter turnout, by design, is a stack which is added up from below, ie. polling station wise. Therefore, various forms designed under the Conduct of Election Rules, 1961, in particular Form 17 C, detail the votes polled and exact number identifying each EVM used and a copy of the same is made available to each of the authorised polling agents, the ECI said.

The ECI found it surprising that Kharge chose to make an insinuation that is there an issue with the EVM.

A trend of irresponsible statements attacking or attempting to degrade the credibility of the elections in terms of men and material by a National Political Party is disconcerting, it said.

The commission also reminded the Congress chief that the basic building block of the data and the numbers are in the categorical possession of the party through its field functionaries and candidates.

It said, The bonafides of any suspicion raised by you, should necessarily flow from data analytics that you may have undertaken using the available polling station data in your possession. In your statement, no such detail is available. Record also does not reflect that the candidate fielded by INC and/or their authorised agents, raised these concerns at close of poll

It is unusual for the ECI to indulge in a communication not meant for it, particularly during elections.

As you are also aware, during the election period, Commission scrupulously avoids commenting on political parties and takes the hard hitting of several public questions and accusations on its own shoulders as it believes in a respectful collaborative equation with all political parties, so critical for healthy Indian democracy. However, Commission has found your communication placed in public domain in the middle of the ongoing election process as highly undesirable and one that appears designed to create confusion/misdirection/ impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections which is the mandate of ECI, the poll body said.

In an open letter to allies, Khrage on Tuesday raised six questions as well to which the ECI responded individually.

My letter to the leaders of INDIA parties, regarding the discrepancies in the voting data released by Election Commission of India and non-publishing of registered voters.Sharing the text of the same  2024 Lok Sabha elections is the fight to save Democracy and the pic.twitter.com/cwIokvYlIo  Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 7, 2024

Kharge said the delay in publishing the final voting percentages for the first and second phases raises serious doubts on the quality of data. Citing media reports, he also termed it extremely disconcerting that even the final registered voters list from the third phase onwards was also not released.

The ECI also listed 2019 figures and how the turnout numbers were updated later. In one of the cases, the poll body said that in the second phase of polling, held on April 18, 2019, the turnout announced on the same day was 66% but revised five days later to 69.43%.

The commission also cited examples from the 2021 assembly elections in Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu. In Kerala, the turnout announced on the poll day was 69.95% which improved to 76% days later. In Tamil Nadu, the data improved from 64.92% to 73.6%.

This time, for the first phase, the ECI said the turnout was 70% at 7 pm and revised it to 64% by midnight. Later, the poll body said the turnout was 66.14%. Similarly, in the second phase, the numbers were revised from 60.96% to 66.71%. For the third phase, the ECI announced at 8 pm that the turnout was 61.45% and revised it to 64.4% by around midnight and later to 65.68%.

It is incorrect assertion about any delay and denied upfront. The Commission, on its own motion and to facilitate public at large, has created Voter Turnout App which is available in public domain for anybody to download where voter turnout of every PC (to the level of assembly segments/constituency), every State and every Phase of election are displayed live. The Voter Turnout App displays estimated approximate voter turnout on poll day every two hours (9:30 am, 11:30 am, 1:30 pm, 3:30 pm, 5:30 pm), then it displays live updation of estimated approximate voter turnout from 7:00 pm onwards till mid-night, as further reports are received from the field, the ECI said.

The Voter Turnout App is largely a public facilitation measure and may be subject to usual issues of technical functionality at times, it said.

Normally, after the arrival of parties and scrutiny of documents by returning officers, in the presence of all candidates and observers, about poll day proceedings, complaints, and concerns, the returning officers proceed to update polling station-wise exact voter turnout data.

After complete data entry, the returning officers publish that data which is instantly visible on voter turnout app updating approximate data published till mid-night of poll day. This process takes P+1 or P+2 days depending on constituencies and arrival schedules of polling parties due to geographical and weather conditions, the commission added.

The ECI said that this data may further get updated for any constituency where repolling is being conducted on the conclusion of the process and arrival of parties which normally can take up to four additional days.

Thus, there is no delay in publication of data for a constituency or a State on voter turnout application. Issuance of press note on 30th April 2024 was nothing but presenting the data already displayed and available in App live. It is thus not a delay, the ECI said in reply to one of the questions raised by the Congress leader.

Speaking to News18, BJP sources said that the ECI had shown the mirror to Kharge, and demolished the canards that he and the ecosystem has been trying to spread.

In brief, the commission has stated that polling data is available in real-time, and therefore the Congress charge that its release was delayed is absurd, they said.

The sources said that no actual contesting candidate of the Congress or the INDIA bloc raised the issue either of unavailability of final polling data (through Form 17C) or the electoral rolls. Kharge had entirely concocted this charge on his own, they alleged.

The ECI in its letter has also exposed the combined agenda of Congress and its ecosystem where they through mysterious news articles tried to cast doubts on Indias elections, they said.
Actor Kangana Ranaut, in an exclusive interview with CNN-News18, recalled how Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president JP Nadda informed her about her candidature for the Lok Sabha polls from Himachal Pradeshs Mandi.

In 2019, there was possibility to contest But this time, when there were rumours about me contesting, I called [Home Minister and senior BJP leader] Amit Shah jis office. I asked them about the rumours about me getting the Chandigarh, Mathura or Mandi seat. He told me that you are fighting the Lok Sabha polls and we will let you know from where, said Ranaut.

ALSO READ | Kangana Misfires During Election Rally, Targets BJPs Tejasvi Surya Instead Of RJDs Tejashwi Yadav

It was BJP president JP Nadda ji who finally informed me. He asked me how soon can you come to Delhi? We are announcing your name, she said.

According to Ranaut, she is the least political in her family. My family is more into politics. They are more aware of the detailsOn an average, I am travelling 300 km a dayThe aggressive campaign is also taking toll on me. I am a little unwell today alsoI am eating anything these days. This is completely different from any other career, she said.

#Exclusive | I am the least political person in my family, my mother was ecstatic after knowing I was contesting elections. There is so much to be done for people: #BJP's candidate from #Mandi @KanganaTeam speaks with @DhantaNews #LokSabhaElections2024 #BJP #HimachalPradesh pic.twitter.com/02u27KIIR7 News18 (@CNNnews18) May 10, 2024

VISION FOR MANDI

There is no place for my vision There are so many things which need to be done on a large scale. But basic things are missing. My primary focus is necessities. The roads are in bad condition, schools and hospitals need work, she said.

In the Lok Sabha elections, national issues matter, whereas in case of Assembly polls, local issues are key. The Lok Sabha polls are held on the perception of the leader. People want Modi ji as the PM. Even Congress leaders are saying that aayegi to Modi sarkar hi, said Ranaut.

Women are thrilled with the reservation. Modi ji is a favourite. Accounts, toilets, gas and reservation have been given. I urge voters to cast their votes to strengthen democracy, she said.

ALSO READ | Opinion | Kangana Ranauts Political Emergence: A Challenge to Bollywoods Status Quo

ON THE OPPOSITION ATTACK

What credentials does my opponent, Congresss Vikramaditya, have? People will give me an opportunity this time. He is a minister in the state government, but what has he done? He needs to be questioned. I was attacked first and I am not going to take things lying down, she said.

Commenting on the Oppositions attack, Ranaut said, I need to call out their sexism. They are saying things like I dont look good without make-up, etc. What are these things? I need to call them out. Why do women need to qualify as per their beauty standards? Do I look that bad? We need to condemn this. I did the same in the film industry.

Mandi is my home Regardless of whether I become an MP or not, I will stay here only, she signed off.
Ahead of the fourth phase of the polls. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit Telanganas Narayanpet and Hyderabads LB Stadium to address public meetings on Friday. PM Modi will also conduct a roadshow in Odishas Bhubaneshwar, later in the day.

BJP national president JP Nadda held a roadshow in Haryanas Panchkula on Friday, as a part of the partys poll campaign.

On the other hand, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi are set to address meetings in Uttar Pradeshs Kannauj and Kanpur on Friday.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi is also expected to address people in Telanganas Kamareddy and Tandur on May 10.

In other news, repolling is correctly underway at four booths in Madhya Pradeshs Betul seat and two booths in Bihars Khagaria seat.

LATEST UPDATES ON LOK SABHA ELECTION 2024 LIVE

Hitting out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday said Modi and his cabinet colleague Amit Shah are worried after the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections and they started abusing the Congress party.

Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee on Friday filed his nomination papers from Diamond Harbour Lok Sabha constituency. The TMC second-in-command is contesting for a third consecutive term from the seat in West Bengals South 24 Parganas district.

On Lok Sabha elections, BJP MP Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh said, The party has stood by me. The party gave the election ticket to my son in my place. If the party had given the ticket to someone else then it could have been said that the party did not stand by me.

BJP president JP Nadda held a roadshow in Haryanas Panchkula.

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP president JP Nadda (@JPNadda) holds a roadshow in #Panchkula, Haryana.#LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/50tsxkqDCs  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 10, 2024

Union Minister & BJP candidate from Mumbai North Lok Sabha seat, Piyush Goyal held a roadshow in the constituency Sharad Pawar can see that they are going to lose in Baramati. After that there will wont be much which will remain of their party as only 2-4 people will be left in it, said Goyal on NCP-SCP.

Addressing a public meeting in Maharashtras Nandurbar, PM Narendra Modi said, Ye maha aghadi, aarakshan ke maha bakshan ka maha abhiyaan chala rahi hai, whereas to protect the reservation of SC, ST and OBC, Modi aarakshan ke maha raksan ka maha yagya kar raha hai. I have been challenging Congress for the last 17 days, I had asked them to give it in writing that they wont cut the reservation of SC, ST and OBC into pieces and give one piece to Muslims, but they arent replying. Congresss silence on my challenge shows they have a hidden agenda.

Speaking on on Haryanas political developments, AAP candidate from Kurukshetra Lok Sabha seat Sushil Gupta said, The entire state knows that the government has lost the majority. The Governor should immediately call the House, if not, then, the Governor should dismiss the state government. The Election Commission should conduct elections.

BJP candidate from Jharkhands Dumka Lok Sabha seat Sita Soren filed her nomination.

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP candidate from Jharkhands #Dumka Lok Sabha seat Sita Soren files her nomination.#LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/oskUo1DYFr  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 10, 2024

A polling station was set up for the first time in the remote hamlet of Burudmal under the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. This polling booth is situated 35 km away from Bhor town in the Velhe Taluka of Maharashtras Pune district.

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: A polling station was set up for the first time in the remote hamlet of Burudmal under the Baramati Lok Sabha constituency. This polling booth is situated 35 km away from Bhor town in the Velhe Taluka of Maharashtras Pune district. pic.twitter.com/LFNOBEuE9p Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 10, 2024

On Rahul Gandhi & Akhileshs joint public rally in Kannauj on Friday, UP Minister & BJP leader Swatantra Dev Singh said, The people of Uttar Pradesh have rejected Congress and Samajwadi Party. They never formed the government in the state based on their popularity. No one even notices their roadshow. BJP will win all 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh.

BJP candidate from Chandigarh seat Sanjay Tandon held a roadshow in the constituency on Friday.

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: BJP candidate from Chandigarh seat Sanjay Tandon (@SanjayTandonBJP) holds a roadshow in the constituency. #LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/n147TvqRQz) pic.twitter.com/yrLAUKtqTn  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 10, 2024

Repolling is currently underway on Friday at two polling booths in Bihars Khagaria Lok Sabha seat, amid tight security arrangements. The voting began at 7 am at booth numbers 182 and 183, falling under the Beldaur assembly segment of the Khagaria parliamentary constituency, and will continue till 6 pm. Repolling was ordered at these polling booths as voting was disrupted on account of the vandalisation of EVMs on May 7 during the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections.

Naib Tehsildar Rajesh Kumar Dubey in Madhya Pradeshs Betul said, As per the direction of ECI, we are applying ink on the middle finger. We have motivated the people of the village and have informed those who reside outside that they should come and vote.

Repolling at four booths in Madhya Pradeshs Betul is underway. Tight security is in place.

VIDEO | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Repolling at four booths in Betul, Madhya Pradesh, is underway. Tight security is in place. #LSPolls2024WithPTI #LokSabhaElections2024(Full video available on PTI Videos  https://t.co/dv5TRARJn4) pic.twitter.com/LTITezagXQ  Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) May 10, 2024

Congress candidate from Mandi Lok Sabha seat Vikramaditya Singh filed his nomination.

To create a festival-like environment on the day of voting, poll authorities in Srinagar district have prepared 32 theme-based polling booths that are colour-coordinated as per its message. Polling booths in pink, red, blue have been prepared as per their theme i.e women voters, PwD voters and young voters. Eight polling booths have also been set up to go with its theme of environmental sustainability.

Congress leader and party Lok Sabha candidate from Wayanad and Raebareli seat Rahul Gandhi and CM Revanth Reddy traveled in an RTC bus after the Jana Jathara Sabha.

The Election Commission (EC) on Wednesday ordered repolling at four booths in Madhya Pradeshs Betul Lok Sabha seat on May 10 after electronic voting machines were damaged when a bus ferrying them and polling personnel post-voting caught fire.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
Maharashtra Congress Chief Nana Patole on Friday stoked a fresh controversy after he said that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya would be purified by the Shankaracharyas if the oppositions INDIA bloc came to power in the Lok Sabha polls.

Patole claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi didnt follow the right rituals before performing the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Ram Lalla at the Temple as Shankaracharyas, the biggest priests in the Hindu religion, vented their disagreement with it.

We are going to purify Ram Mandir in Ayodhya after INDIA Alliance comes to power. Shankaracharyas were opposing this (Pran Pratishtha), all the four Shankaracharyas will purify the Ram Temple. Ram Darbar will be established in that place. It is not Lord Rams idol there, but the child form of Ram Lalla. Narendra Modi has acted against protocol in Ram Temple construction. We will do it through rectifications and religion, he told media persons on Wednesday.

Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole says, We are going to purify Ram Mandir in Ayodhya after INDIA Alliance comes to power. Shankaracharyas were opposing this (Pran Pratishtha), all the four Shankaracharyas will purify the Ram Temple. Ram Darbar will be established in pic.twitter.com/MfkSFoD4IR ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

When probed further on the mode of purification, Patole said that the Shankaracharyas will lead the Pran Pratishtha ceremony in a way that is acceptable as per Hindu customs.

The Congress leader claimed that the Shankaracharyas objected to the way the consecration ceremony was performed at the Ram Temple, but the BJP and Prime Minister ignored it.

Patoles remarks have triggered a fresh row, with Pramod Krishnam, who quit the grand old party recently over its anti-Sanatan stand, slamming the Congress leader for insulting and derogatory remarks.

This is an absurd and ridiculous statement. By taking Lord Rams name, one becomes pure. All our sins get washed away by taking his name. What does Congress want to say by purification?, Krishnam asked.

He also advised the Congress to first get rid of their hatred against Lord Ram before talking about purification.

If Congress pursues such rhetoric, this will spell doom for the party, he added.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
Three phases of Lok Sabha elections are over and the BJP has changed its poll strategy quietly. An election that started with Ram Mandir being the central theme was followed by Muslim Quota in Karnataka  an issue Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been consistently raising in his election rallies.

However, as the election is about to enter the fourth phase, the BJP has smartly changed gears. Instead of staying with the Congress did not attend January 22 Ram Mandir Pran Pratishtha, BJP masterfully began making noise around reservation. The reason is clear: polling is entering seats that are the heartland of Mandal politics.

RAM TO RESERVATION

It was early April and PM Modi was addressing an election rally in Uttar Pradeshs Pilibhit. Hitting out at the Congress, he said: The Congress made several efforts so that the Ram temple is not constructed. But when the people of the country made such a beautiful temple by contributing every penny and when the temple people forgave all your (Congress) sins and invited you for the pran pratishtha, you insulted Lord Ram by rejecting the invitation and expelled leaders, who attended it, for six years. Ever since, BJPs top leadership  including Home Minister Amit Shah and party president JP Nadda  have been harping on the same note.

But the BJP smoothly shifted tact to reservation, choosing the issue of Muslim quota in Congress-ruled Karnataka. Addressing a rally in Zaheerabad some time back, PM Modi vowed that as long as he is alive, he will not allow the Indian Constitution-mandated reservations for the SC/STs and BCs to be distributed to Muslims at any cost.

The first opposition casualty was Lalu Prasad Yadav whose party RJD, while in power with JDU, brought Indias first caste census. He stepped into BJPs trap by defending religion-based quota, saying: Reservation toh milna chahiye Musalmano ko, poora (Muslims must get full reservation).

BJPs campaigner-in-chief didnt lose any time to target the INDIA bloc. He (Prasad) is saying Muslims should get reservation, and not just reservation, he says Muslims should get full reservation. What does this mean? This means they want to snatch away reservations from SC, ST and OBC communities and give it to Muslims.

NEHRU RESURRECTED, PITRODA BROUGHT BACK

As the INDIA bloc failed to counter BJPs new poll narrative, government sources cited how Indias first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was also against the idea of reservation. They cited an old newspaper clipping that read, Inaugurating an all-India ex-criminal tribes conference here yesterday, Mr Nehru said that he was against the reservation of jobs for members of the Scheduled Tribes because it tended to create an inferior complex in them.

NEWSPAPER CLIPPING

The Congress, meanwhile, was trying to get out of the controversy created by Sam Pitroda through his racist remarks  a faux pas that forced him to step down as the Head of the Overseas Congress. Sensing an opportunity, BJP unofficially released another dated footage of Pitroda where he is seen strongly advocating against any reservations in premiere education institutes like Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institute of Management (IIMs).

The BJP took to X and posted: The stance of Sam Pitroda, Rahul Gandhis mentor and political advisor, against reservations in IITs and IIMs, confirms their disdain for the marginalised. However, the Congress is unreasonably enthusiastic in extending reservation to Muslims, based on religion, in violation of the Constitution.

While the Opposition had the first-mover benefit in suggesting the BJPs real intention for 400 paar was to change the Constitution and undo reservation benefits, the BJP  as of today  seems to have minimised the damage. Instead, it has turned the tables on the opposition bloc on the same issue just as the election enters Mandal heartland.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
With the deadline looming over Hyderabad being the shared capital of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the leadership of both states are raking up the issue in their campaigns for simultaneous Assembly and Lok Sabha elections.

As per the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, Hyderabad was to be the joint capital of the two states for 10 years from June 2014 to June 2, 2024, after which it would be the capital of Telangana alone, as the city is located inside its territory.

While Telugu Desam Party (TDP) says it would develop Amravati  its chosen capital when it comes to power  Bharati Rashtra Samithi (BRS) says if the BJP comes to power at the Centre, it may amend the AP Reorganisation Act, and turn Hyderabad into a Union Territory.

What is AP Reorganisation Act?

The state of Andhra Pradesh was bifurcated in 2014 for creation of Telangana. The Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Bill, 2014 was introduced in Lok Sabha on February 13, 2014 by home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde.

The newly formed state of Telangana will comprise the following districts of Andhra Pradesh: Adilabad, Karminagar, Medak, Nizamabad, Warangal, Rangareddi, Nalgonda, Mahbubnagar, Khammam and Hyderabad.

Andhra Pradesh and Telangana will have a common capital, Hyderabad, for 10 years. After this period, Hyderabad shall be the capital of Telangana only. The central government will constitute an expert committee to recommend a new capital for Andhra Pradesh within 45 days of this Bills enactment.

After the bifurcation, Andhra Pradesh will have 11 seats in Rajya Sabha, and Telangana will have 7. In Lok Sabha, Andhra Pradesh will have 25 seats and Telangana will have 17 seats. The total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly for Andhra Pradesh will be 175 and for Telangana will be 119.

What are the Leaders Saying?

YSRCP MP YV Subba Reddy and close aide of Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy said Hyderabad should continue as the joint capital until the state has its own capital. Reddy, however, insisted that Visakhapatnam should be developed as the administrative capital of the state.

Jagan is believed to have deferred his Visakhapatnam plans as he is currently focusing on winning the Assembly elections, as per a report in The Indian Express.

The opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) claimed YSRCP leaders wanted to retain Hyderabad as Andhra capital due to the illegal assets they owned in the city. TDP state president K Atchen Naidu said, as quoted by The Indian Express, Jagan destroyed Amaravati, the capital city announced by the TDP, but there is no progress in converting Visakhapatnam into the administrative capital. Actually, they dont have any plans to build a capital city. The indecision is only because they have illegal assets and properties amassed in Hyderabad that they want to protect, and are also afraid of losing the coming elections.

Meanwhile, BRS KT Rama Rao has said, as quoted by Hindustan Times, The BJP is conspiring to make Hyderabad a Union Territory to gain control over Telangana. The Congress has no courage to stop it. If the BRS gets at least a dozen MP seats in Telangana, it can counter the moves of the BJP and protect the interests of Hyderabad. The BJP has rejected KTRs claim.

Another BRS legislator and former state minister T Harish Rao has said there is a conspiracy to continue Hyderabad as the common capital for 10 more years after June 2.

What was Jagans Decentralisation Plan?

After winning the 2019 Assembly elections with 151 seats, Jagan floated the idea of decentralisation development plan, according to which, Andhra Pradesh would have three capitals  Amravati as the legislative capital, Kurnool as the judicial capital and Visakhapatnam as the administrative capital.

The YSRCP stressed that it was against the idea of having one capital and neglecting other cities in the state.

But the governments plan faced a roadblock, with hundreds of farmers, who gave up their lands under the TDP regime for the development of the capital city at Amravati, filing petitions in the Andhra Pradesh High Court against YSRCP.

The Jagan government then decided to scrap the decentralisation law in November 2021, with the CM saying in the Assembly that YSRCP will introduce a better and comprehensible bill.

On March 3, 2022, the Andhra Pradesh High Court directed the state government to develop the (erstwhile) proposed capital as envisaged under the previous TDP government, and set a deadline of six months to develop the city.

The YSRCP government challenged the HC order in the Supreme Court. The matter is still pending in the court.

Jagan in January announced that Visakhapatnam will be the new executive capital, which was also the partys pitch for the Assembly polls. He went on to say that his swearing-in ceremony would be held in Visakhapatnam, adding that his government would invest Rs 1.05 lakh crore to develop it into a global city.

Whats TDP Plan for Amravati?

After the bifurcation exercise in May 14, 2014 and winning 106 of the 175 seats in Andhra Pradesh, TDPs Chandrababu Naidu promised to develop Amravati, a land covering Vijayawada, Guntur, Tenali and Mangalagiri areas (VGMT), as the state capital.

His master plan included larger Amravati capital the Krishna and Guntur districts, and transforming the region into a financial district like Hyderabad.

Spearheading the initiative, the Naidu government pooled about 34,000 acres of land from farmers in 29 villages, which were earmarked as capital city area through the land pooling scheme (LPS). As per the scheme, farmers would get some portion of the developed land as plots.

Despite the reservations in 2014, Naidu pitched the plan to investors, and began building the capital. The situation changed for the TDP government when Jagan Mohan Reddy came to power.
Are search engines not capable enough to identify and remove non-consensual intimate images (NCII)? Apparently, not. Tech giants Microsoft and Google have told the Delhi High Court during an appeal filed by them against last years ruling that Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are not perfect, and are in the process of being developed.

The high court asked the tech giants to file a review petition of the single-bench order on April 26, 2023 that had directed them to employ the already existing mechanism with relevant hash-matching technology.

The division bench of acting Chief Justice Manmohan and Justice Manmeet Pritam Singh Arora said, This court is of the view that the appellants should file a review petition and bring these facts to the notice of the learned single judge. In the event the appellants are aggrieved by the order passed by learned single judge in the review petitions, the appellants will be at liberty to seek revival of the present petitions. It further clarified that in case Google and Microsoft file a review petition before the single-judge bench, it will not be dismissed on grounds of delay.

What Microsoft and Google Told Court?

Senior advocate Arvind Nigam appearing for Google said search engines are a different cup of tea. Nigam clarified that he was appearing for the search engine Google, and not YouTube, which has accepted the single judge benchs order.

If it is removed by the hosting platform it will not show up in the searchIm the bridge to the place where the content is; the content is not with meThe more permanent method according to the statute is a direction to the hosting platforms to remove such content. The learned single judge has unfortunately saddled search engines with the requirement of significant social media intermediaries, Nigam said, as quoted by The Indian Express.

Nigam explained that an automated algorithm may not be able to read what appears identical to the human eye. He said in cases of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM), the technology exists because the computer recognises the child. But for NCII, the AI is not good enough to figure out consent.

Google is voluntarily using its systems to detect and remove copies of such content from image search, but the photos can be easily modified and evade detection via current hash-matching technology, he added.

Google had previously told the court that the legality of non-consensual intimate images depends on the context in which it was captured or shared while Child Sexual Abuse Material is universally illegal, reported The Hindu. Due to this, non-consensual intimate content may appear on the internet despite efforts to prevent it from happening, clarified Google.

Advocate Jayant Mehta, appearing for Microsoft, said, as quoted by Scroll.in, To say that you [search engines] are required to do it today otherwise your immunity is gone [under the Information Technology rules], that cannot be. It is work in progress. I am endeavouring to reach it. But to say that I must do it today is not fair.

What was the April 2023 Court Order?

The April 2023 order was passed in a plea of a woman seeking to block certain sites carrying her intimate images and register an FIR against a man who she allegedly acquainted himself with her through social media.

The April 2023 judgment stated, They cannot be allowed to avoid their statutory obligations by stating that they do not have the necessary technology, which is patently false as has been exhibited during the course of hearing.

The single judge had stated, Non-Consensual Intimate Images abuse, which includes revenge porn, violates the right to privacy and causes psychological damage to the victim.

The single judge had asserted that search engines were obligated to observe due diligence while discharging their duties under Rule 3 of the IT Rules, including making reasonable efforts to prevent hosting, displaying, uploading or sharing of any information that is invasive of another persons privacy and violates any law for the time being in force, or they will lose the protection from liability accorded to them under Section 79 of the IT Act.

What are Non-Consensual Intimate Images?

Non-consensual intimate images are the intimate pictures of a person uploaded on the internet by a third party without the consent of the one who is in the photo.

Google and Microsoft can remove URLs from appearing on their platforms (Google Search and Bing) by de-indexing them but the solution fails in the absence of a URL.

If an individual chooses to share their own intimate images with someone, for example, through sexting, this does not give the recipient the right to distribute the content. The non-consensual sharing of consensual images is a peer-related form of sexual exploitation and is in fact the most frequently reported type of NCII abuse.

Another reason why an offender gets an NCII is for sextortion in which the person demands sexual favours or money or other benefits under the threat of sharing intimate images or videos.

Laws Against NCII

Section 354C of IPC tackles voyeurism, penalising the act of watching or capturing the image of a woman in a private act without her consent. This section addresses the violation of privacy in the digital age, where such acts can include placing cameras in private spaces or circulating intimate images without consent. The punishment for voyeurism can extend up to three years of imprisonment and a fine. However, the offence is bailable.

A pertinent example would be the case of Shivam Sharma v. State of MP and Anr., wherein the accused shared intimate pictures of the victim with her father without her consent. The court observed that these facts made out a prima facie offence under the Section.

As per the National Crime Records Bureau, there were 1,513 cases of voyeurism in 2021. The state with the most cases was Maharashtra (210), followed by Andhra Pradesh (159) and Odisha (148). The city with the most cases was Mumbai (73), followed by Delhi (22), Hyderabad (18) and Chennai & Kolkata (17 each).

The gender-neutral Section 66E of the Information Technology Act, 2000 applies in case of violation of privacy intentionally or unknowingly, capturing, publishing or transmitting the image of a private area of any person without his or her consent.

Under circumstances of violating privacy means (i) he or she could disrobe in privacy, without being concerned that an image of his private area was being captured; (ii) any part of his or her private area would not be visible to the public, regardless of whether that person is in a public or private place.
With voter turnout largely dismal in all three phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha Election, a small constituency in Assam, sharing its border with Bangladesh, shone on May 7, reporting an estimate 92% voter attendance  the highest among all 14 seats in the state.

So, is high turnout an anomaly in Dhubri? Lets look at the general trend in the constituency.

The general voter turnout in all three phases was an estimated 66.1% in Phase 1, 66.7% in Phase 2, and 65.58% in Phase 3. Assam, where all 14 constituencies have voted, registered a voter turnout of 81.56%, which is much higher than the national average.

Among Dhubris 11 assembly segments, two  Gauripur and Birsing-Jarua  saw turnouts of a little over 94%.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha election, Dhubri registered a turnout of 90.66%, even as the countrywide turnout stood at 67.4%. Dhubris was the highest among all the 543 parliamentary constituencies across India. AIUDFs Badruddin Ajmal retained the seat, receiving 718,764 votes. Congress Abu Taher Bepari received 492,506 votes and AGPs Zabed Islam received 399,733 votes.

In 2014 Lok Sabha election, Dhubri registered a turnout of 88.48%, more than 22 percentage points higher than the national average of 66.4%. Badruddin Ajmal defeated Congress candidate Wajid Ali Choudhury by a margin of 2,29,730 votes. He received a total of 43.27% of the votes. Badruddin received 5,92,569 votes, while Wajid Ali Choudhury, who came second, received 3,62,839 votes. BJP candidate Debomay Sanyal, who came third, received 2,98,985 votes.

How Delimitation Brought Drastic Changes in Dhubri?

Being Assams western-most constituency, Dhubri has a large minority community. The seat includes areas bordering Bangladesh to the west. After delimitation, several Muslim-majority belts of neighbouring Barpeta, which was also earlier a Muslim-majority constituency, have been made a part of Dhubri to the east.

The Dhubri parliamentary constituency currently has over 26 lakh voters, which is the highest among all the 14 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Out of the total electors, more than 85% are Bengali-speaking Muslims. The second-most populous constituency after Dhubri is Darrang-Udalguri, which has 21.87 lakh voters.

Aminul Islam, AIUDF MLA from Mankachar under Dhubri Lok Sabha seat, said, as mentioned in an Indian Express report, 7.84 lakh voters from old Barpeta have been moved to Dhubri, of which more than 7 lakh are Muslims.

Why is the Turnout Consistently High?

Dhubri shares a 141.9 km border with Bangladesh, and 80% of its voters are Muslims of Bengali origin. As per the Indian Express report, there is a fear among the people about the citizenship status, which could be one of the reasons for high voter turnout since the past two Lok Sabha elections.

According to the Election Commission of India, a category of D-Voters (Doubtful Voters) was introduced in 1997. D-Voters were those whose citizenship was doubtful or in dispute. Till December 2023, over 2.44 lakh D-Voter cases were referred to Foreign Tribunals in Assam over the citizenship. Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma told the Assam Assembly in February that there are 96,987 D-Voters.

Data shows there are 27,858 D-Voters in Dhubri.

Many also fear the National Register of Citizens (NRC), which has been in abeyance since 2019. Some Bengali-speaking Muslim voters think if they dont vote, their names will be removed from the electoral roll. It is a misconception quite rampant among less educated people, The Indian Express report mentioned quoting an expert.

Also, young voters turning up in record numbers shows there is a feeling of disenchantment among the youth with certain policies of the present dispensation, as per a report in Moneycontrol.com, quoting a guest faculty at National Law University and Judicial Academy, Guwahati.

The contest in Dhubri is a close one between sitting three-time MP Badruddin Ajmal of the AIUDF and prominent Assam Congress leader and MLA from Sarupathar, Rakibul Hussain. Zabed Islam of the Asom Gana Parishad (AGP), a BJP ally, is also in the fray.
Air India on Friday said it will start additional flights to Amsterdam, Copenhagen, and Milan as the airline expands its operations to meet rising demand.

From 22 June 2024, Air India will operate daily non-stop flights from Delhi to Amsterdam Schiphol and Delhi to Milan Malpensa, increasing frequency on the two key routes from 4x weekly and 5x weekly, respectively.

Additionally, Air India will add another flight on the Delhi-Copenhagen route, taking the frequency on the route to 5x weekly, it said in a release. This will be effective from July 1.

The airline will launch daily, non-stop flights to Zurich from June 16.

Air India CEO & MD Campbell Wilson said the expansion of the global route network continues to be a key priority for the airlines ongoing transformation journey. The increased frequency to Europe demonstrates this as well as the growing demand for travel between India and Europe.

Once all the new and additional flights are operational, Air India will be having 80 weekly flights to and from seven points in Europe  Amsterdam Schiphol, Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Milan Malpensa, Paris CDG, Vienna and Zurich.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was in judicial custody in the Delhi liquor policy case, till June 1, bringing much-needed relief for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) workers and supporters in the midst of a charged Lok Sabha election battle. Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate on March 21 and has been in custody since then.

The bench noted that the case was registered in August 2022 and the chief minister was arrested only in March 2024  after nearly one-and-a-half years. August 2022, the ED registered the ECIR. He was arrested in March 2024. For one and a half years he was there. Arrest could have been even afterwards or before. Then, 21 days here or there should not make any difference, the court noted.

Amid opposition that the agency had evidence against Kejriwal and election campaigning must not be a criterion for considering grant of interim bail, the court had observed that it was dealing with the case of an elected chief minister and not a habitual offender, and the general elections take place only once in five years.

During the hearing on May 7, the bench orally suggested that if indeed interim release was directed, Kejriwal would not be allowed to perform official duties, as that would have a cascading effect.

As Kejriwal and the AAP heave a momentary sigh of relief, News18 takes a look at the various kinds of bail provisions and what distinguishes them.

First, what is bail?

In legalese, bail refers to the legal mechanism that reconciles an accuseds right to freedom with the public interest of ensuring their appearance in court for trial. It primarily involves releasing an accused from custody on the condition that they will appear in court at a later stage. Criminal offences in India are categorised as bailable and non-bailable crimes.

What are the kinds of bail?

There are five kinds of bail provisions in India: Regular, Anticipatory, Interim, Default, and Medical.

Regular Bail: In case of regular bail, a court can order the release of a person suspected to have committed an offense, with the condition that they do not obstruct the course of justice. This may involve executing a bond with sureties. When a person is arrested for a bailable offence, they have the right to be released as per Section 436 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The maximum period of detention for an undertrial is also defined under which, if an accused  during the investigation  has been detained for a period equal to 50 per cent of the maximum imprisonment term for the offence, they shall be released upon executing a bond, with or without sureties. However, in vases of non-bailable offences, the granting is purely discretionary and can be availed only if a strong case is presented. Some grounds on which bail can be granted for non-bailable offences are if the accused is below or at 16 years of age; if the accused is a woman; or if the accused is ill.

Anticipatory Bail: If an individual anticipates being charged with a non-bailable offence, they can seek anticipatory bail under Section 438 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). The application for such a bail should be filed in the High Court or Sessions Court having jurisdiction over the alleged crime. Anticipatory bail is sought before arrest and, if granted, it means the police can no longer arrest the individual.

There are certain conditions that must be met for the grant of anticipatory bail. These are:

a) Reasonable Apprehension: This means there should be justified fear that the accused may be arrested in connection with the case for which anticipatory bail is being sought.

b) Bailable offence

c) Pre-Arrest Application: The application for anticipatory bail must be submitted before the arrest takes place.

d) Not a habitual offender

e) No departure from country without court nod

Interim Bail: Seen as temporary relief, interim bail is granted during the pendency of an application for anticipatory or regular bail. It is conditional and can be extended based on the circumstances. If the interim bail expires and the accused fails to meet the requirements for its continuation or pay the necessary amount, their right to freedom is revoked, and they may be taken into custody once again. Interim bail is essentially a stop-gap arrangement until a final decision is made on the bail application.

Default Bail: According to Section 167 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), when a person is arrested and the investigation cannot be completed within 24 hours, they must be presented before a Magistrate. The Magistrate can then authorise their detention for a maximum period of 15 days, even extending it if need be. However, Section 167(2) of the CrPC specifies that in cases involving offenses punishable by death, life imprisonment, or imprisonment of at least 10 years, the detention period cannot exceed 90 days. For other offences, the limit is 60 days. If the police or investigating agency fails to file a chargesheet or complaint within the specified period, the accused is entitled to default bail.

Medical Bail: This is granted solely on medical grounds in cases where a persons health requires immediate medical attention or specialised treatment.

What kind of bail did Kejriwal get?

The Delhi chief minister has been granted interim bail till June 1. The Aam Aadmi Party leader can campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, but will have to surrender on June 2  two days before the results. He can also not take charge of the chief ministers office.

Stay informed with live updates on the latest Supreme Court order regarding the grant of Interim Bail To Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case.
The Supreme Court has granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1, paving the way for his release nearly two months after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case linked to a controversial liquor policy. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader will likely campaign in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, but has to surrender on June 2  two days before the results. He will not perform chief ministers duties during this period.

Kejriwal could walk out of jail as early as Friday night if the bail order reaches Tihar, where he is lodged, by 7pm, according to sources, in what could be a big boost to his partys morale. The courts decision earlier in the day was welcomed by political allies of the AAP, including the Congress, the Shiv Sena (UBT) and the Trinamool Congress, among others. Kejriwals counsel said the court had imposed no restriction on his campaigning.

But Kejriwal will not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat, according to the courts order. He will not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, and will have to furnish a Rs 50,000-bail bond. Also, the Delhi CM is will not make any comment with regard to his role in the present case and will not interact with any of the witnesses and/or have access to any official files connected with it.

In the court on Friday, Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta argued that there was no precedent of a person being released for campaigning. But the bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta said that 21 days [the period of bail] will not make any difference, and asked the EDs counsel not to draw parallels with any other case.

The top court noted that the liquor policy case was registered in August 2022 and the Delhi CM was arrested only in March 2024, after nearly one and half years. Appearing for Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi had sought relief till June 5, a day after the votes are counted on June 4. However, the top court refused that request.

SG Mehta also cited Khalistani separatist Amritpal Singhs case, who approached the Punjab and Haryana High Court to file his nomination for polls. Replying to Mehtas argument, Justice Khanna said, Its different. The mention was made hours after Punjabs AAP government informed the court that the state had facilitated Singh, currently detained under the National Security Act (NSA), to file his poll papers.

During a previous hearing on May 3, the court had hinted at granting relief to Kejriwal, but said he would not be able to perform his CM duties out on bail.

On March 21, Kejriwal was arrested in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam. Before him, his former deputy, Manish Sisodia, and party leader Sanjay Singh, who too is out on bail, were arrested in the same case. ED, which probes financial crimes, says the now-scrapped Delhi liquor policy by the AAP government involved corruption and kickbacks.

The AAP says its leaders are targeted by the Centres ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as part of an effort to muzzle opposition voices through probe agencies. Federal ministers deny such accusations and say probe agencies are independent.

Stay informed with live updates on the latest Supreme Court order regarding the grant of Interim Bail To Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case.
Becoming a mother is a natural phenomenon, and an employer has to be considerate and sympathetic towards women staffers, the Bombay High Court said on Friday, while quashing a communication issued by the Airport Authority of India (AAI) denying maternity leave to an employee on the ground that she already had two children.

A division bench of Justices A S Chandurkar and Jitendra Jain said women who constitute almost half of the segment of our society have to be honoured and treated with dignity at places where they work to earn their livelihood.

Whatever the nature of their duties, vocation and workplace, women must be provided all the facilities to which they are entitled, it added.

The bench quashed a 2014 communication issued by the AAI, Western Region Headquarters, which refused maternity leave to an employee, citing that she already had two children.

To become a mother is the most natural phenomenon in the life of a woman. Whatever is needed to facilitate the birth of a child to a woman who is in service, the employer has to be considerate and sympathetic towards her and must realise the physical difficulties which a working woman would face in performing her duties at the workplace while carrying a baby in the womb or while rearing up the child after birth, the court said.

The court passed its judgment on petitions filed by the Airports Authority of India Workers Union and Kanakavali Raja Armugam alias Kanakavali Shyam Sandal, challenging two communications issued by the AAI, Western Region Headquarters in 2014 rejecting Kanakavalis application for maternity leave benefit as she already had two children.

The communications stated that the woman was ineligible for maternity leave as per the AAI Leave Regulations 2003.

The woman was first married to Raja Armugam, an employee of the AAI, and after his death, she was given a job on compassionate grounds.

The woman, in her plea, said she had one child from her previous marriage, and after her first husbands death, she remarried, and two children were born from the wedlock.

The woman had not availed of maternity leave during the birth of her first child from her first marriage and had sought the benefit for the third childbirth, which the AAI rejected.

The second child was born in 2009 in the interim before she got appointed on compassionate grounds.

The AAI said under the Maternity Leave Regulations, it is clear that Kanakavali already had two surviving children at the time of the third childbirth, and therefore, she was not eligible for maternity leave.

The bench said Article 42 of the Constitution of India provides that the State shall make provision for securing just and human conditions of work and maternity relief.

Article 42 speaks of just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.

The right to reproduction and childrearing has been recognised as an important facet of a persons right to privacy, dignity and bodily integrity under Article 21. Article 42 enjoins the State to make provisions for securing just and humane work conditions and maternity relief, the court said.

The bench said as per the AAIs Maternity Leave Regulations, a woman employee can avail of maternity leave twice in her service period.

The objective of this Regulation is to give maternity leave benefits and not to curb the population. The condition of two surviving children is subjected so that the maximum times a female employee can benefit is only twice. This is to ensure that the organisation is not without the services of the employee for more than two times, the court said.

The bench noted that since the petitioner had not availed the maternity leave benefit when she had her first child, she was eligible for the benefit when she had her third child.

It added that the benefit of maternity leave and the conditions imposed were drafted keeping in mind the normal circumstances, where a female employee marries only once and gives birth.

The bench said the regulations should be interpreted liberally.

The role of the court is to understand the purpose of law in society and help the law achieve its purpose. When social reality changes, the law must change too, the bench said.

It said the objective of the Maternity Leave Benefits Regulation is to offer protection to a woman, and its importance has to be seen from the point of a woman employees health.

The court quashed the AAIs communications denying the woman maternity leave benefits and directed the authority to grant her the same within eight weeks.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
In todays digest, News18 brings you the latest updates on Arvind Kejriwals interim bail, Mani Shankar Aiyar triggers row with Pakistan remark and other top stories.

Arvind Kejriwal Gets Interim Bail Till June 1 In Big Relief For AAP, But Cant Perform CM Duties

The Supreme Court has granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1, paving the way for his release nearly two months after his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a money-laundering case linked to a controversial liquor policy. READ MORE

Respect PakistanThey Have Atom Bomb: Mani Shankar Aiyar Triggers Massive Row, BJP Lambasts Congress

No stranger to controversy, veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has triggered a fresh row by claiming that India should respect Pakistan because it has an atom bomb. The statement has led to massive outrage, with BJPs Shehzad Poonawalla saying that Congress love for the neighbour is never-ending. READ MORE

Can Negatively Impact Voter Turnout: Poll Panel Raps Mallikarjun Kharge On Voter Turnout Data Remark

Stay informed with live updates on the latest Supreme Court order regarding the grant of Interim Bail To Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case.
Women from West Bengals Sandeshkhali are being compelled to withdraw their complaints by TMC workers given the ongoing Lok Sabha polls, the NCW has claimed, seeking an inquiry from the Election Commission in the matter.

Multiple purported videos of Sandeshkhali women shared by the TMC on Thursday claimed that a local BJP leader made those women sign blank papers, which were later filled up as complaints of sexual assault.

The women in those purported videos claimed they were asked by BJP worker Piyali Das to appear in person at the local police station and relate their ordeal before the National Commission for Women (NCW) team, which had visited Sandeshkhali to take stock of the ground situation.

The women went on to allege that they never intended to file sexual assault complaints but were later surprised to find such complaints filed in their names allegedly in the wake of the blank papers they were made to sign by Das.

In a letter to the EC, the womens rights panel has requested the poll body to look into the matter on priority basis and ensure that women are not compelled to withdraw their complaints due to the threat from TMC workers.

It has come to the notice of the Commission that the women of Sandeshkhali are being compelled to withdraw their complaints by TMC workers as they are the ruling party in West Bengal during General Elections, 2024, the womens panel said.

The TMC party workers are instilling fear among the women of Sandeshkhali to suppress the victims from coming forward with their complaints potentially impacting the fairness of the election process in the area, the NCW claimed.

The Commission requested the EC to look into the matter on priority and ensure that women are not compelled to withdraw their complaints due to the threat from TMC workers.

Furthermore, the Election Commission may direct the authorities to take appropriate measures.

In a different set of videos shared by the TMC, women were heard expressing their wish to withdraw those complaints and alleged that the BJP was issuing threats and monetary compensations after they voiced their reconsidered desire.

PTI did not individually verify the authenticity of the videos which have been put out in the public domain so far.

Stay informed with live updates on the latest Supreme Court order regarding the grant of Interim Bail To Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case.
The National Commission for Women (NCW) chief Rekha Sharma on Friday wrote to the Election Commission of India (ECI), expressing concern over reports that several women in Sandeshkhali, who were sexually assaulted by associates of Sheikh Shahjahan, are being forced by Trinamool Congress (TMC) workers to withdraw their complaints.

The party workers are instilling fear among the women of Sandeshkhali to suppress the victims from coming forward with their complaints. potentially impacting the fairness of election process in the area, the letter by the NCW stated.

In the letter, Sharma urged the election body to address the matter with priority, stating, Ensure that women are not compelled to withdraw their complaints due to the threat from TMC workers.

The NCW letter follows the announcement by the Trinamool Congress that it will lodge a formal complaint with the Election Commission against Sharma for misusing her position and being one of the main instigators of the Sandeshkhali issue after several women alleged that they were misled by local BJP leaders into filing sexual assault complaints against TMC leaders.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) had recommended President Droupadi Murmu to consider imposing Presidents rule in West Bengal due to reported atrocities against women and violence in Sandeshkhali.

West Bengal minister and TMC spokesperson Shashi Panja alleged that the NCW chairperson acted with political bias regarding the Sandeshkhali allegations and encouraged women in the area to make false accusations of sexual atrocities.

On Thursday, the TMC shared multiple purported videos of women from Sandeshkhali, alleging that a local leader from the saffron party had made them sign blank papers, which were later filled out as complaints of sexual assault. The women in these videos claimed that they were instructed by local BJP worker Piyali Das to personally visit the local police station and recount their experiences to the NCW team, which had visited Sandeshkhali to assess the situation.

The women further alleged that they had never intended to file complaints of sexual assault but were surprised to discover such complaints filed in their names, allegedly as a result of the blank papers they were asked to sign by Das.

(With inputs from PTI)

Stay informed with live updates on the latest Supreme Court order regarding the grant of Interim Bail To Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case.
The upward trajectory of India-US relations has not been impacted at all by allegations of an Indian link to a foiled assassination plot, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

In November, the US charged an Indian national with conspiring to murder Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.

In an exclusive interview with PTI late Thursday, Jaishankar said the fundamentals of India-US ties are very robust and the allegations have not impacted the relations.

The United States brought to our attention certain information in good faith because we also believe some of it has implications for our own system, he said.

We are investigating it. But I do not think the fundamental course of the upward trajectory of India-US is impacted by this at all, the external affairs minister said in the freewheeling conversation at PTIs headquarters.

Days after Washington alleged the Indian link to the plot, India instituted a high-level inquiry committee to look into the inputs received from the US in the case.

Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.

Last month, The Washington Post named an Indian official for allegedly plotting to assassinate Pannun. Days later, India said the report made unwarranted and unsubstantiated imputations on a serious matter and that an investigation into the case was underway.

Listing various areas of cooperation, Jaishankar said, I think, today, we have such a strong strategic convergence with the United States.

In his remarks, he cited driving the international economy, diversifying production, creating new supply chains, ensuring peace and stability and collaboration in the domain of high technology as shining examples of India-US ties.

I think the India-US account is a very, very solid one, he said.

Jaishankar also said there was a problem in the relationship in the past.

There was a kind of left-wing ideology in this country which said let us not do too much with the US. It goes back to the Nehruvian-Krishna Menon time period. I think it went all the way till 2014, he said.

Maybe Atal jis (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) government was an exception, but otherwise pretty much there were self-imposed constraints in our dealing with the US, he said.

Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not share those views.

PM Modi doesnt share those and we have seen actually a much more robust, much more whole-hearted relationship with the US which is actually showing results on the ground, he added.

The minister also highlighted the assertive approach in Indias foreign policy under the prime ministers leadership.

When we look at an issue, we look at it from the point of view of Indian national interest. And if that Indian national interest means taking pressure, offending other countries or pushing back, we are prepared to do it, he said.

We are, for example, very, very focused on trying to get UN Security Council membership. This was not the case earlier. In fact, there was a time when, you know, the position of our government was that first let them accommodate China and then our turn will come, he said.

So, we are very clear, Bharat comes first, Jaishankar said the Modi government is also very focused on issues relating to national security.

Not only positioning wise, but in terms of friends and partners who will contribute to our national security and also in terms of the border infrastructure where there has been quite a remarkable transformation, he said.

The quality of the infrastructure today allows us to deploy troops on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in a manner which we could not have done earlier, he said.

The Modi government is also very focused on getting for the country the resources, the best practices, the technologies that it believes are important for national development, according to the minister.

We are also much more conscious of our culture, civilization, heritage, and traditions than previous governments. We project it much more confidently, he said.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
The newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to India arrived in New Delhi on Friday, ending an 18-month-long suspense over the appointment of the new head of the Chinese Mission in Delhi.

Xu Feihongs appointment comes at a critical time in China-India relations, as both countries are working to resolve a prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh. With a diplomatic career spanning 37 years, Xus journey has seen him in various roles and countries, including as ambassador to Afghanistan from 2011 to 2013 and Romania from 2015 to 2018.

Before his India appointment, Xu was assistant minister for financial and administrative affairs in the countrys foreign ministry. Xus appointment seems a well-thought-out decision by the Chinese Government. As a Chinese diplomat, most of his postings have been in the Western world. His only previous posting in South Asia was as ambassador to Afghanistan. He holds a bachelors degree in law and joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China in 1987.

As the new ambassador, Xu Feihongs primary task in India will be to enhance mutual understanding and trust between China and India, which has been on a freefall since the Galwan Clash of 2020. However, the bilateral trade between the two countries has been growing significantly. The first half of 2023 saw the total India-China trade reaching $57.48 billion, up 62.7% year-on-year, which is a significant increase in recent years, but heavily tilted in Beijings favour.

Direct flights between India and China have not resumed since the Covid-19 pandemic. Indian students have been severely affected by visa bans imposed by China. The visa bans, which were a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, have impacted many Indian students, particularly those studying medicine, leading to prolonged academic periods and financial strain.

Upon arrival at New Delhis International Airport, the New Head of the mission of the Chinese embassy was received with a diplomatic protocol. Officials from the Protocol Division of the Ministry of External Affairs and Dean of Diplomatic Corps in Delhi, Ambassador of Eritrea to India Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam with several officials from the Chinese embassy, welcomed him. His predecessor was Sun Weidong, who was promoted to foreign vice-minister after completing his India tenure in October 2022. Feihong will be treading a fine balance with both India and China looking to restore normalcy along the border while continuing the momentum in trade and other aspects of bilateral ties.

Catch Highlights of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website.
Akshaya Tritiya, commonly known as Akha Teej, is a crucial Hindu festival that is considered sacred. The term Akshaya refers to something perpetual or never fading. Any spiritual acts undertaken on this day, such as Japa, Yajna, Pitra-Tarpan, or Dan-Punya, are thought to offer immortal benefits that will last endlessly.

ALSO READ: Happy Akshaya Tritiya 2024: Best Wishes, Messages, Greetings, Images, and WhatsApp Status to Share on Akha Teej

According to the Drik Panchang, Akshaya Tritiya will be celebrated on the third day or Tritiya Tithi of Shukla Paksha in the month of Vaishakha, which falls today on Friday, May 10 this year. Similar to Dhanteras and Diwali, Akshaya Tritiya is deeply significant in Hinduism. In particular, Lord Vishnu and Goddess Lakshmi are worshipped during Akshaya Tritiya.

The occasion is said to bring good fortune and success. Most people buy gold on this day because they believe that doing so will bring them fortune and money in the future. Being an Akshaya day, it is believed that gold purchased on the event will never diminish and will continue to grow or be appreciated.

This year, Akshaya Tritiya will create a combination of favourable yoga for some zodiac signs. Reportedly, Dhan Yoga will occur on May 10 this year and it will benefit three zodiac signs by making them affluent. In addition, a Gajakesari Yoga will also occur in Taurus as a result of the Moon and Jupiters conjunction. The Sun and Venus in Aries will form Shukraditya Yoga.

The conjunction of Mars and Mercury will create Dhan Yoga, Saturns placement in Aquarius will create Shash Yoga and Mars in Pisces will create Malavya Raj Yoga. All these yogas will offer significant benefits to three zodiac signs, which are:
Akshaya Tritiya, also known as Akha Teej, is an important Hindu and Jain spring festival. It falls on the third day of the Shukla Paksha of the month of Vaisakha. As per the Gregorian calendar, this date falls sometime between April and May. This year, Akshaya Tritiya is being celebrated today on Friday, May 10.

In Hindu mythology, there are various beliefs and legends about the festival. One of the popular legends says on this day Lord Kuber was appointed as the treasurer of heaven. Akshaya Tritiya also coincides with Parshuram Jayanti, the birth anniversary of Lord Parshuram, the sixth incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

In Jainism, Akshaya Tritiya commemorates the day when the first Tirthankara, Rishabhanatha, ended his one-year asceticism by drinking sugarcane juice poured into his cupped hands by King Shreyans.

Akshaya Tritiya is believed to be the auspicious day to buy gold, finalise deals, start a new venture, or make investments. According to estimates by The Hindu BusinessLine, jewellery sales on Akshaya Tritiya in 2023 increased by 40 per cent despite high gold prices.

Here are some greetings, messages, WhatsApp and Facebook statuses for Akshaya Tritiya 2024:

Akshaya Tritiya Wishes

May the blessings of Goddess Lakshmi bring you wealth and prosperity. Happy Akshaya Tritiya!

Happy Akshaya Tritiya! May this day bring you new beginnings and endless possibilities.

Sending you my heartfelt wishes for a joyous and blessed Akshaya Tritiya. May this day bring you good fortune, success, and happiness.

May Lord Vishnu bless you with wealth and prosperity on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya.

Wishing you a very happy and prosperous Akshaya Tritiya! May this auspicious day bring you happiness, success, and abundance in all areas of your life.

Akshaya Tritiya Greetings

May this day of Akshaya Tritiya bring you good luck and success that never diminishes. Happy Akshaya Tritiya!

Let us celebrate the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya with joy and happiness. May this day be filled with prosperity and good fortune for you.

As you celebrate Akshaya Tritiya, may you be blessed with good fortune and prosperity.

May it be a new beginning of greater prosperity, success, and happiness. Happy Akshaya Tritiya!

Sending you my heartfelt wishes for a joyous and blessed Akshaya Tritiya. May this day bring you good fortune and happiness.

Akshaya Tritiya Messages

I wish you not just a day but a lifetime of eternal fortune and prosperity. Happy Akshaya Tritiya!

May the divine blessings of Lord Kubera, the God of Wealth, shower upon you on this Akshaya Tritiya and bring abundance and prosperity in your life.

On Akshaya Tritiya, may you be blessed with the courage, strength, and determination to achieve all your goals and aspirations.

Let us pray to Lord Vishnu on this Akshaya Tritiya to remove all the obstacles from our path and bring success and prosperity into our lives.

As you celebrate Akshaya Tritiya, may your heart be filled with gratitude for all the blessings that have come your way. Have a blessed day!

Akshaya Tritiya WhatsApp and Facebook Status

May Lord Vishnu bless you on this auspicious day of Akshaya Tritiya, and may it be a new beginning of greater prosperity, success, and happiness in your life ahead.

The Sanskrit word akshaya means the one that never diminishes. May this day of Akshaya Tritiya bring you good luck and success that never diminishes. Happy Akshaya Tritiya!

Lets embrace the spirit of generosity on this Akshaya Tritiya and share our blessings with others. Happy Akshaya Tritiya to all.

On this Akshaya Tritiya, lets pray for the well-being of our loved ones and spread happiness all around.

Akshaya Tritiya is the day of eternal prosperity. May you be blessed with endless success and wealth.
Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Aditi Rao Hydari will soon be seen attending the Cannes Film Festival 2024. As brand ambassadors of LOreal Paris, the actresses will grace the red carpet and network on a global stage with some of the biggest stars in the world.

Aishwarya Rai Bachchan is a Cannes regular and her red carpet looks grab headlines for days. Aishwaryas Cannes red carpet looks are talked about even years later at other prestigious events. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has become a talking point after this years Met Gala even though the actress did not attend the elite fashion event. This happened because Zendaya and Mindy Kalings dresses were compared to Aishwaryas previous Cannes looks.

Now, fans are excited to see what fashion goals Aishwarya will serve this year. Last year, the actress stunned in a custom Sophie Couture gown. Aishwaryas Dolce and Gabbana black gown look for Cannes 2022 is talked about even today. In 2016, Aishwarya paired her ivory gown with bright purple lipstick and left everyone surprised. One of the most popular fashion moments of the actress dates back to 2002 when she graced the red carpet in a yellow saree with Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Leela Bhansali.

As for Aditi Rao Hydari, the actress has been receiving praise for her portrayal of Bibbojaan in Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Heeramandi. Expressing her excitement over her upcoming Cannes appearance, she said, I am thrilled to embark on this journey to the esteemed Festival de Cannes as the spokesperson for LOreal Paris.

She added, I strongly advocate that women should confidently embrace their unique selves and I truly resonate with the theme of this year, Many Ways to be an Icon. For me, being an icon isnt about fitting into a mould; its about embracing ones unique journey and inherent worth. It is an honour to be aligned with a brand that has consistently championed the cause of womens empowerment, fostering confidence and growth in every facet of their lives.

The Cannes Film Festival will begin on May 14 and end on May 25. As per the festivals official website, the closing ceremony, where the best film of the year will be awarded, will take place on May 25. This will be the 77th edition of the Festival. It will be held at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres on the French Riviera. Meryl Streep, George Lukas and Demi Moore among others are some of the A-listers who will be gracing the Festival.
Akshay Kumar will once again headline the highly anticipated The Entertainers Tour. The programme is all set to take place this year, starting in August in Australia. Apart from Akshay, celebrities like Nora Fatehi, Disha Patani, Sunil Grover, Elnaaz Norouzi, Sonam Bajwa, and Stebin Ben will be accompanying.

The last season happened in North America in 2023 and was spectacularly successful. This year, The Entertainers tour will return in August. Once again, Akshay Kumar will be headlining it. Once again, these celebrities will deliver stellar performances to a live audience, leaving an imprint in the global arena. The second season of the world tour will happen in Melbourne and Sydney.

Apart from this, on the work front, Akshay Kumar has finally started shooting for Jolly LLB 3. In a candid video shared by a fan on social media, the Bollywood star was seen enjoying a volleyball game with Railway players in Ajmer amid a shoot. A video of the same recently went viral.

The first Jolly LLB film was released in 2013. Its sequel hit theatres in 2017. The first film featured Arshad Warsi and Saurabh Shukla in the lead roles. In the sequel, Akshay Kumar replaced Arshad Warsi. He was also joined by Huma Qureshi.

Reportedly, in the third installment, Akshay Kumar and Arshad Warsi will be seen at loggerheads, whereas Saurabh Shukla will reprise his role as a judge. Its basically Jolly vs. Jolly, and the entire cast is excited to start shooting for this ambitious film for the Jolly LLB franchise. The team is still contemplating two titles titled Jolly LLB 3 or Jolly vs. Jolly, and a call on the same will be taken closer to the announcement, a source previously told Pinkvilla.

Earlier, in an interview with the Hindustan Times, Arshad explained the reason behind going MIA in Jolly LLB 2. I have no idea. I have a feeling the makers wanted to upscale the film. I remember I told Subhash (Kapoor, director) also, You should do it with Akshay. If you want to show a crowd in a courtroom, with me it will be 500; with Akshay, you will get 5000. Somewhere, the production people realised, Lets get a bigger star. People liked to see me, so I am back. People will enjoy seeing me and Akshay, he said.

Jolly LLB 3s release date has not been announced as of now. Apart from Jolly LLB 3, Akshay also has Sarfira, Housefull 5, Welcome to the Jungle, coming up.
Ananya Panday has come a long way in showbiz, with rich commercial films to her credit. Since her debut in 2019, she has been trying her best to prove her acting prowess, overcoming initial criticisms to establish herself as a versatile talent in the film industry. As she clocks 5 years in the industry today, mommy Bhavana Pandey couldnt be more proud. She took to her social media handle to give her a shoutout and pen an emotional note.

Sharing a video montage of Ananya with her films, Bhavana wrote, You make us so proud From Studentof the year 2 to Kho Gaye Hum Kahan! Its been a wonderful journey !!! #shineon #gratitude Thank you Ayu @_ananyapandayfanpage_ and all the ananians for thamazinggg edits..

Ananya Panday was last seen in Kho Gaye Hum Kahan, which turned out to be a massive breakthrough for her. The actress earned widespread fame and won multiple accolades for her performance as Ahana in the film.

Making her debut with Karan Johars Student of the Year 2, Ananya Panday gained a strong foothold in the industry. She earlier spoke with PTI and shared, I always wanted people to take me seriously as an actor. She said her approach to roles and choices has evolved with her personal growth, stating, Its not that it (choices) changed after Gehraiyaan. Im in my 20s; Im growing up, and there are different things that Im relating to. According to her, this transformation in choices is akin to a ripple effect.

In the interview, Ananya revealed having a wish list of collaborators and discreetly manifesting her desire to work with specific individuals. However, she underscored that nothing works like good work, emphasising her commitment to focusing on the quality of her projects.

Now, Ananya Panday is all set to make her Ott debut with the web series Call Me Bae. She has already started shooting and often shares glimpses from the set.

Apart from this, Ananya is currently in the news for her rumoured breakup with Aditya Roy Kapur. A close friend of the two actors told the Bombay Times that That they broke up almost a month ago. They were going quite well, and the breakup came as a shock to all of us. They are cordial with each other. Ananya is trying to move on; of course, theres hurt. She is spending time with her new furry friend. Aditya is also trying to deal with the situation maturely.
Amid the ongoing legal battle between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, new allegations have surfaced which claim that the Salt actress has been influencing her children to avoid spending time with their father during the visits. The couple share six children together, namely, Maddox Jolie-Pitt (22), Pax Jolie-Pitt (20), Zahara Jolie-Pitt (19), Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (17), Vivienne Jolie-Pitt (15) and Knox Jolie-Pitt (15). According to People Magazine, these allegations were made public in court by Tony Webb, a security guard who previously worked for the former couple between 2000 and 2020. He filed detailed documents with the court.

According to the report, Tony Webb alleged that he was contacted by Angelina Jolies aide, Michael Vieira, who tried to prevent two bodyguards from testifying in Jolies custody battle with Pitt. He revealed that Michael Vieira tried to dissuade the bodyguards from testifying and emphasised that they had signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with the actress. Webb also revealed that, despite the testaments, one of the bodyguards, named Ross Foster, has expressed his desire to testify against the actress after he overheard her encouraging children not to spend time with Pitt during their custody visits.

After hearing the allegations against Angelia Jolie, Paul Murphy, an attorney for Angelina Jolie, dismissed Pitts attempts to equate common NDAs with an attempt to cover up his actions. He added that the actress has been seeking separation to safeguard the health of her family. In their defence, Pitts lawyers submitted Webbs declaration to illustrate that Jolie herself had utilised NDAs in the past over the issue of their French winery, Chateau Miraval.

After the couple filed for separation in 2016, Pitts lawyers have accused Jolie of turning the business dispute into a slideshow about family court matters. Jolies lawyers, on the other hand, suggested that Pitt feared the release of sealed documents related to their custody battle. Her lawyers also revealed that these allegations against Pitt have encouraged their children to avoid Pitt during visits. The couple has been involved in a long legal battle for the custody of their children.
After a two-year friendship, Ankita Lokhande Jain and Vicky Jain began dating in 2018. And in April 2021, the couple tied the knot in a traditional wedding ceremony in Mumbai. The actor has often expressed her desire to become a mother and according to Bigg Boss 17 contestant Navid Sole, she has already thought of a bunch of baby names. In fact, during her stint in the reality show, she and Vicky left their fans exhilarated when she took a test after experiencing symptoms of early pregnancy.

Now, in an exclusive chat with News18 Showsha, Ankita reveals that she and Vicky often discuss babies even though there might still be some time before she embraces motherhood. We always talk about babies. Children are the future of our relationship. Ive nothing to hide when I get asked about wanting to have children. Bachche toh honge hi kabhi na kabhi. We dont know when well have children but we definitely do talk about it. And when I talk about babies, I feel really good, she smiles.

Further, she has already made plans for how she wants to give her future children a glimpse of her married life with Vicky. And this is why, Ankitas social media game has become stronger as she wants it to be a virtual library of all the endearing moments she has and continues to share with her husband.

She tells us, I want to create so many memories for our babies. I always tell Vicky that when we grow old, our babies can see our videos and pictures and say, Achcha, mamma aur papa aise the. That will be something very interesting. I want them to watch every video that Ive recorded and posted.

The Pavitra Rishta actor also shares that AnVi Ki Rasleela, the annual Holi extravaganza in the Lokhande-Jain household, was conceptualised out of her desire to freeze their happy memories for posterity.

I make sure that every festival that we celebrate should have our families and friends in it so that when we look at them after 20 years, I want us and our babies to think about the amazing life weve lived! Thats how AnVi Ki Rasleela was born. We thought of hosting it every year so that our children can also see the memories that weve captured, she remarks.

A while back, Ranbir Kapoor shared that Alia Bhatt writes e-mails to their daughter Raha every day. And it seems like Ankita has similar plans. I keep sending Vicky our old pictures and my memory is so sharp that I remember every single detail about them. Im going to feed all of them into an email address and when my kids turn 18, Ill give them the password. They will have so many things to watch. Ive seen my own wedding video so many times. I still see my pheras and cry. Creating memories is a very important part of our lives, she adds.
Jason Shah is currently enjoying the success of his recently released show, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar. In the Sanjay Leela Bhansali directorial, Shah played the role of a British cop named Cartwright. While his power-packed performance has been getting praise from the audience, the show has also received polarising reviews.

The actor in a new interview, the actor opened up about the negative reviews and said that those reviews are equally important. In an interview with DNA, Jason said, I think its a good thing to listen when someone has a different opinion about your work. We should listen to those more than just the flattery or the praise, because there we can find places where we can explore something that we didnt try. Maybe that person does have an angle that we have not seen due to our lack of perspective.

He further added that he pays more importance to constructive criticism than to people who say, you have done a great job. He said, You need to be aware of someone who has a different angle. I want to ask them why they think like that.

He shared, We are used to being applauded and told, bhai kya shot diya (what a shot you have given). But I want to listen to the guy who tells me, thoda aise kar leta toh aur mazaa aata (had you done it differently, it would have been better). When you listen to that opinion, you improve, and something great can come up.

Meanwhile, Jason Shahs Heeramandi also stars Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Richa Chadha, Sanjeeda Shaikh, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal Mehta, Farida Jalal, Fardeen Khan, Shekhar Suman and Adhyayan Suman in key roles. It explores the various aspects of a womans trials and tribulations.

Recently, Jason also opened up about shooting the rape scene with Mallikajaan aka Manisha Koirala. The actor admitted that he was hesitant before the sexual assault scene and mentioned that he was being cautious especially when he was supposed to slap Mallikajaan.

I was hesitant. The fighter master wanted me to slap her in a more realistic manner but I was very careful, I was watching my actions. I even flicked her nose ring off in one scene, it got that close. Thats what I was telling the fight master that if we are not in coordination, I might end up hurting her, and obviously, she is an older woman, so it is my responsibility and I had to take care, he told Filmibeat OTT.

Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar is currently streaming on Netflix.
Jeremy Allen White will put on his chefs apron for the third time, taking viewers to another culinary fest. The actor is ready to star in the upcoming third season of the American comedy-drama The Bear. The Emmy Award-winning series revolves around a talented chef Carmen Berzatto who is forced to run his familys local sandwich shop after exiting from the fine-dining world. With the first two seasons striking the right chords with the masses, The Bear is returning on Hulu for season 3 on June 27. Along with the release date announcement, FX Productions also unveiled the official teaser of the show.

The Bear 3s cryptic teaser gives the audience no inkling about the plot. The clip begins with Jeremy Allen Whites Carmen Berzatto aka Carmy entering a restaurant kitchen in the middle of the night. He is all alone, wearing a chefs outfit as the clock behind him shows 3:10 am. As he opens a parcel, the camera zooms into his blue eyes, passes through them and zooms out behind his back. Soon there is a shift of scenes as viewers witness the Chicago skyline, high-rise buildings and Lake Shore Drive. Jeremy Allen Whites grim expressions indicate he is bothered over an issue.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by The Bear (@thebearfx)

Social media users were gripped with anticipation and intrigue after the teaser was made public. An excited fan commented, Yayyy Cant Wait To Feel My Blood Pressure Get High And Get Headaches From The Anxiety This Show Gives Me!!! This needs to be a weekly thing, suggested another. Seated. Hulu is scared because its not June 27 yet. But I am simply too seated to care, read a third remark. Many shared the sentiment of being unable to wait any longer to binge-watch the series.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Calvin Klein (@calvinklein)

Earlier, FX Productions chairman John Landgraf confirmed that all the episodes of The Bear Season 3 will be released on the same day, reported Variety. Season 2 showed how the kitchen crew transformed Carmys family restaurant into an upscale dining hotspot. Besides Jeremy Allen White, the gastronomical series also stars Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Abby Elliott, Lionel Boyce, Matty Matheson, Liza Colon-Zayas, and Ayo Edebiri in important roles.
Karan Johar is known for his exceptional filmmaking skills. Throughout his illustrious career spanning decades, he has crafted numerous successful films that continue to resonate with audiences today. With a focus on romance and drama, his cinematic endeavours have left a lasting impact on Bollywood. Recently, Johar took to social media to express gratitude towards industry stalwarts Shah Rukh Khan and Aditya Chopra, sharing a throwback photo as a token of appreciation for their unwavering support.

Karan Johar took to Instagram to share a monochrome photo from the sets of Kabhi Alvida Naa Kehna. The still shows the filmmaker sitting on a bench with Shah Rukh Khan and Rani Mukerji, who appear to be having a discussion. Karan and Shah Rukh were dressed in winter attire, while Rani was seen in a lehenga with a shawl wrapped over her and her head resting on the bench. Sharing the photo, Karan wrote a heartfelt message thanking Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan for inspiring him to become a filmmaker.

Being a bystander to such incredible talent has been my hugest learning curve. I look back with indelible memories and gratitude. Not a single day I havent thanked the universe, Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan for convincing me that I could be a storyteller and attempt to direct my childhood dreams on celluloid, he wrote.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by Karan Johar (@karanjohar)

Earlier in an interview with PTI, Karan Johar mentioned that producer Aditya Chopra and superstar Shah Rukh Khan are the two pillars who helped him shape his career in cinema. It was also part of my destiny to have met Aditya Chopra and Shah Rukh Khan. Two pillars, two reasons why I sit here today. They acknowledged something about me that I didnt see in myself. I will always be grateful to them for that. The rest was a lot of just passion I may have been as sincere as I was. But what happens when you dont have people who are in powerful positions like that? You can make it entirely on your own still because your belief system can be strong enough to combat all odds, the filmmaker said.

Karan Johar has assisted and played a minor role in Aditya Chopras successful 1995 film Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, which starred Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol. Three years later, both actors played leads in Karans debut directorial, Kuch Kuch Hota Hai.
Kriti Sanon is a fashion icon and there is no doubt about it. The actress has repeatedly proved that she can slay any outfit with her style. On Friday evening, Kriti was snapped by the paparazzi at the Mumbai airport when she impressed all with her casual look.

In the pictures that have now surfaced on social media, Kriti Sanon can be seen walking out of the airport. She sported blue denim shorts and paired them with a white tank top and blue shirt. She tied her hair into a bun and opted for minimal makeup. Kriti further assured her comfort by opting for white shoes. Needless to say, the actress looked as cool as ever. Check out the pictures here:

On the work front, Kriti Sanon was recently seen in Crew in which she shared the screen with Tabu and Kareena Kapoor Khan. Released in March this year, the film is set in a financially struggling airline sector and follows the lives of these three flight attendants  in-flight supervisor Geeta Sethi (Tabu), senior flight attendant Jasmine Rana (Kareena Kapoor) and junior flight attendant Divya Bajwa (Kriti Sanon). However, their destiny places them in terrible situations and they get entangled in a web of lies and deception.

Crew received an average response from the audience and grossed a little over Rs 100 crore worldwide.

Next, Kriti will soon be seen in the crime thriller Do Patti. In this movie, Kriti will reunite with Kajol after their 2015 film Dilwale. Kriti announced the film last year when she revealed that Do Parri will also be her first film as a producer.

Thrilled to announce DO PATTI! Alongside three very strong-headed, inspiring, and immensely talented women, Monica, we couldnt have found a better platform than Netflix to tell this story! @netflix_in Superrr duperr excited to reunite with Kajol maam after 8 years! @kajol. Kanika  Ive always loved your writing, and Im so happy to be co-producing my first with you! Ufff, this is a special one! @kanika.d @kathhapictures. This one is going to be a thrilling game with a lot of heart! A first for Blue Butterfly Films, @bluebutterflyfilmsofficial, she wrote.

The teaser of Do Patti was recently released and it has left audiences even more excited for the film. It will be released on Netflix later this year.
Salman Khan is undeniably one of the biggest superstars of Indian cinema. There is no denying the fact that he has created a record of giving 17 consecutive 100 crore films in the domestic market, including his latest release, Tiger 3. The actor who was recently part of the headlines due to a shooting incident outside his house surprised his fans on Instagram, when he shared a new picture of himself.

On Friday, Salman Khan took to his social media handle and dropped a snap, in which he can be seen looking sharp in a Pink polo T-shirt. Sporting a light stubble and a blue cap, the actor dished out a suave look in style. He wrote the caption, Being Human.

Take a look:

Weeks after a shooting incident outside of his residence, Salman Khan had travelled to London. UK MP from Brent North constituency Barry Gardiner shared photos with Salman on X (formerly Twitter), taken at Wembley Stadium. In the pictures, they stood inside Wembley Stadium, chatting and posing for the camera. Salman wore a black T-shirt, jacket, jeans, dark sunglasses and black shoes.

Sharing the photos on social media, Brent wrote, Tiger is Alive and is in London. A pleasure to welcome @BeingSalmanKhan to Wembley today.

Salman has been making public appearances in Mumbai too. The actor made his way to the premiere of Sanjay Leela Bhansalis Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar with tight Y+ security. His personal security increased after two men fired gunshots outside Salmans Galaxy Apartments on April 14. The attackers have been nabbed and investigation is underway. Although Salman has not reacted to the firing, his father Salim Khan told India Today, Whats there to talk about ye jaahil log jo kehte hain maar denge tab pata lagega na (These illiterate people say youll learn your lesson when well kill you). Weve been given extra police protection. Theyve (Mumbai Police) assured protection for us and our friends. If theyve arrested two people today, that means theyre on it.

Salman recently went to Dubai with increased security. Less than a week later, he was spotted enjoying a belly dance performance by actress Elnaaz Norouzi in Dubai. Salman was there to launch a gym equipped with his Being Strong Fitness Equipment range.

On the work front, Salman Khan

will soon be seen in Sikander with Rashmika Mandanna. The news was announced on Thursday morning. The film will be directed by A.R. Murugadoss and will be released next Eid. Theres a strong story that results in an outflow of drama and emotions. The wholesomeness that the script has to offer is what has excited both Salman and Rashmika for the film, and the duo is all excited to take it on floors in June, a source told Pinkvilla.
Sanjay Leela Bhansalis first web series, Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar, debuted on Netflix on May 1. One aspect that has consistently garnered praise is the diverse range of roles portrayed by the actors. Sonakshi Sinha, essaying the character of Fareedan, particularly stands out for her portrayal of a complex and nuanced role. She is seen mostly as a negative character with a deep-rooted past. In a recent interview, Sonakshi opened up about the kind of work she wants to do and revealed that she is not comfortable with kissing scenes.

Speaking to E-Times, Sonakshi said, Im on my 35th film now and I still stand there! A good actor will always get work. In my entire career, I dont think I have lost out on anything that has had a kissing scene or intimate scene.

She added, Ive always made it clear to my director, the filmmaker with whom Im working that This is something Im not comfortable doing. It is totally up to you. If you still want to go ahead with me, if you think as an actor, I would bring something to the table, I will do the film but find a way around that, lets work it out or you are very free to go to someone else who is comfortable doing that.

In a recent interview, Sonakshi also opened up about her career choices in the past. Speaking to Zoom TV, she said, As an artist, you have a responsibility. There are a lot of people who look up to you. I do stand by the fact that yes I was young and was getting the opportunity to be a part of some very big films. Nobody in their right mind would have said no at that point in time. So I did them, but yes, certain things did feel off even then. Then you grow and people notice it, talk about it and bring it to your attention. Its criticism, but its constructive.

Set against the backdrop of Indias war for independence, Heeramandi tells the story of a few courtesans from Lahore, addressing themes of love and liberty. In addition to Sonakshi, Richa Chadha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Manisha Koirala, Sanjeeda Sheikh and Sharmin Segal play significant roles in the Netflix series.

Meanwhile, Sonakshi Sinha will next be seen in Aditya Sarpotdars Kakuda. This horror comedy, produced by Ronnie Screwvala, will also star Riteish Deshmukh and Saqib Saleem in key parts.
Bollywood actor Vicky Kaushal was spotted at the Mumbai Airport on Friday morning. The actor, sporting his Chhaava look, was seen rushing to the departure gate to board his flight. However, in his hurry, the actor did not realise that a man was already standing in the queue to enter the airport. Vicky accidentally cut the line and proceeded to present his documents to enter the airport. As soon as Vicky realised his mistake, he apologised to the fellow flyer.

However, it is the fellow passengers reaction to the incident that has gone viral. In the video shared by a paparazzo, the man did not mind Vicky cutting the queue and also asked him to complete his process before him. Vicky and the man also had a quick chat before the actor thanked him and rushed into the airport. Watch the video below:

Vicky has been busy with Chhaava for months now, The film is directed by filmmaker Laxman Utekar, known for movies like Kriti Sanon starrer Mimi (2021), Luka Chuppi (2019) and more. Utekar and Vicky Kaushal will work together once again after their previous venture, the comedy romance Zara Hatke Zara Bachke (2023).

The upcoming film, Chhava, is reported to be a period drama, where Kaushal will share the screen with Rashmika Mandanna. According to sources, Kaushal is set to portray the role of Chhatrapati Sambhaji Maharaj, the eldest son of the Maratha Empires founder, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. The film is expected to delve into Sambhaji Maharajs bravery, sacrifice, and wartime strategies while incorporating an emotional love story between him and his wife.

His look from the sets had leaked online recently. The actor was seen walking through a forest while sporting long hair and a big beard.

Apart from this, Vicky Kaushal also has Bad Newz with Triptii Dimri and Ammy Virk. Sharing the announcement on his Instagram handle, Karan wrote, Get ready for the most entertaining hungama  a hilarious once in a billion situation awaitsa comedy inspired by true events!! #BadNewz IN CINEMAS 19th July 2024!
Actress Sonali Bendre is an actress who has successfully overcome cancer. Even today she is working proficiently in the film industry like before. The actress initially revealed her cancer diagnosis six years ago. During that time, the 49-year-old openly discussed her condition and the path to recovery, motivating countless people and giving other survivors hope. In a podcast for Humans of Bombay, the actress who made a comeback to the big screen on May 3 with the much-awaited ZEE5 series The Broken News 2 openly discussed her struggle with cancer and how she handled the moment that changed her life.

According to a recent interview Sonali stated, I was given a cancer diagnosis while filming a reality show. It was quite startling. I questioned how I could develop cancer. I initially believed the cancer to be quite tiny, but as the tests progressed, we learned that it was not a little illness when we went to the doctor, had the tests done, and had the cancer identified. My husband and my doctor looked pale when the PET scan was performed.

Sonali added, A PET scan revealed the location of cancer cells within your body as well as the extent of their spread. My PET scan results showed that the cancer had grown throughout my body to the point that it resembled a Christmas tree.

After hearing this she attempted to ignore it by going to sleep. However, even after she woke up, nothing changed. Her husband decided to take her abroad for further treatment, and they left without her child. During this period she used to have a lot of quarrels with family and was getting agitated.

Bendre also said, While receiving treatment, I lost my temper with the doctors. They told me I had only a thirty per cent chance of surviving. How could the physicians say that I wondered? I asked them repeatedly, How could I have cancer?

She became quite irate with the doctor after he gave her a thirty per cent chance of surviving. She now realises that he was speaking truthfully and was correct. Since there is still social stigma associated with talking about cancer, Sonali talked about how important it is to talk about it. The intense treatment was like a nuclear strike to her body. Her body was destroyed and then reconstructed in every way.

She lost her hair as a result of the chemotherapy, and the actress captured it on camera. She described how difficult it was because she felt deeply about her hair. It makes sense that the hair loss would eventually come back, but emotions and conceit are illogical. She was proud of the way her hair looked. At the time, the actress had endorsed every hair product. She struggled to break that attachment with her hair and let it go.

You take it out on the person you met when youre not ready to accept something. However, looking back, I realise that they were merely being honest with me. The truth cannot be altered by anyone. She added.

After receiving a stage four metastatic cancer diagnosis in 2018, Sonali had therapy in a hospital located in New York City, She declared herself to be in remission and returned to India in January 2019. Bendre has expressed her gratitude for having friends and family to support her and for having access to quality medical care, both of which have been essential to her rehabilitation. She has been an outspoken supporter of cancer awareness and care since her recovery, and she recently shared a touching Instagram post in honour of Cancer Survivors Day in 2021.

Sonali, who has acted in films such as Sarfarish, Hum Saath Saath Hain, and Duplicate, among others, is showcasing her strength and endurance in the face of hardship as she prepares for the release of The Broken News 2. The show, which stars Jaideep Ahlawat and Shriya Pilgaonkar, promises an exciting investigation of the cutthroat journalism industry.
In todays fast-paced and ever-evolving job market, employers are not just interested in hiring candidates with degrees from prestigious institutions like the Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) or the Indian Institutes of Management (IIM), they now prioritise hiring candidates with specific skill sets.

Despite the widespread recognition of IITs for academic excellence and coveted placement opportunities, recent worrisome reports have revealed that they are not delivering as per their ranking and perception. Thousands of students dream of attending IITs every year, but only 20-25 per cent are fortunate enough to pass the JEE Advanced exam. Those who secure admission pursue academic excellence and eagerly await the placement season, with an eye on big-ticket jobs.

However, the 2024 placement season has been described as lacklustre by IIT students. This is a worrying situation in IIT-Bombay, which is ranked third among engineering institutes in India by NIRF. According to the Global IIT Alumni Support Group, nearly 36 per cent of students were unable to secure jobs for the 2024 placements. Although IIT-Bombay contested this report, stating that only 6.1 per cent of students remained unplaced, the situation is still concerning.

The Global IIT Alumni Support Group data shows that nearly 30-40 per cent of IIT students are still unplaced in the top-ranked eight older IITs like Bombay, Delhi, Kanpur, and others, while around 50-60 per cent of students are still unplaced in the 15 newer IITs like BHU (Varanasi), Ropar, and others.

The unemployment crisis in India is particularly acute among educated youth. The cost of an engineering degree remains at Rs 8-10 lakh, yet the placement rate remains around 30 per cent. Furthermore, there is an influx of MBA degree holders entering the market, even though the demand has dropped by 55 per cent this year. This raises the question of the value of a college/university degree.

Being highly educated is no guarantee of employment in India, as the International Labor Organisation (ILO) report reveals. Nearly 83 per cent of those unemployed in India are young, and among these unemployed young Indians, nearly 66 per cent are educated. According to the ILO report, the youth unemployment rate has increased with the level of education, with the highest rates among those with a graduate degree or higher. On the other hand, those without university degrees or even school dropouts have a higher employment rate. Several highly educated youths have set an example by choosing the path of niche entrepreneurship, proudly titling it MBA Chaiwalas and Chatwalas.

Despite the promise of creating 100 million jobs through the flagship Make in India initiative, the expected job creation did not materialise in the last 10 years. Raghuram Rajan, the former governor of the Reserve Bank of India, has emphasised the need to make the workforce more employable and create jobs. Every year, around 7-8 million young Indians enter the workforce, but many remain unemployed.

It is a proven fact that our youth with higher education degrees are not well-skilled. One of the main reasons why skills are more important than higher degrees is because they are directly applicable to the job at hand. A candidate with a degree may have a broad understanding of a subject, but without the specific skills needed to perform the job, they may struggle to succeed. On the other hand, a candidate with the right set of skills, even if they dont have a higher degree, may be able to hit the ground running and perform exceptionally well. For example, gig skill courses like digital marketing and beauty-wellness are available for around Rs 30,000 to 50,000 and have a placement scope of over 90 per cent.

Gig economy offers a shot

The gig economy in India is vibrant, skill-driven and bucking the unemployed youths. According to a report by gig work platform Taskmo (which has over 7,50,000 gig workers registered), youth participation in the gig economy has increased an astounding eightfold between 2019 and 2022, with most of the young people coming from tier-I and tier-II cities.

In 2022, a projection report by NITI Aayog on the gig economy predicted a higher demand for skilled gig workers in the future. Areas such as digital marketing, social media management, logistics, healthcare, and beauty-wellness will be in high demand, reflecting the diverse needs of employers and the evolution of the job market. The gig workforce is expected to expand to 23.5 million by 2029-30, from 7.7 million in 2021-22.

Its fascinating to see that a professionally trained gig worker, such as a hairdresser, can earn more than an MBA or IITian. Jawed Habib, a hairstylist expert entrepreneur, is an excellent example of this. With his global exposure, hes inspiring young people to envision beauty wellness as a profession of the future.

Its important to note that having a higher degree is no longer the only way to get hired or advance in a career. Employers are increasingly looking for candidates with specific skills that are directly applicable to the job and can help the company succeed. Therefore, its crucial to focus on market-driven gig skill sets.

The writer is Co-Founder and MD, of Orane International, a Training Partner with the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Network Member of India International Skill Centres, an initiative of GoI. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely that of the author. They do not necessarily reflect News18s views.
When the newly elected councillor of Leeds, Mothin Ali, exulted with an Allah Hu Akbar, this one is for Gaza instead of God save the King, many Britons went beyond just politely clearing their throats.

Some have begun speaking up.

The old and much-reviled adage that demography is destiny is being dusted out of private drawers. Europe, not just the United Kingdom, may not be the same much longer.

When Dutch politician Eva Vlaardingerbroek expressed the same emotion with some extremely jarring figures, YouTube promptly censored it. The full speech is still thankfully available on X, and it tears to shreds the perversity of generations of liberal politicians and globalist bureaucrats of the European Union sitting in Brussels  a city which today comprises 70 per cent migrants from Africa and the Middle East  of urging Europeans to cheer becoming a minority in their own countries.

Here it is! The full speech I gave at #CPACHungary that the establishment is losing its absolute mind about.I spoke the forbidden truth: The Great Replacement is no longer a theory  its reality. White Europeans are being replaced in their own countries at an ever pic.twitter.com/L33UE3P6tv  Eva Vlaardingerbroek (@EvaVlaar) April 27, 2024

India has known this Great Replacement for centuries. We have experienced it by being at the wrong end of the sword, not to Europes extent by suicidal political correctness. Although, self-proclaimed secular parties like the Congress have done their darnest best to tell Hindus that it is their duty to submit to the will of the minority, to whitewash genocides of the past and present, and to cheer appeasement of a lot who are determined to usurp them in their own land in the future.

A new study by the Prime Ministers Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM) has come as a timely wake-up call. The study has found that the Hindu population in Indias demography shrank by 7.8 per cent between 1950 and 2015, while Muslims grew by nearly 4.5 per cent in the same period.

Unsurprisingly, minority Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Christians have been almost wiped off Muslim-majority Pakistan and Bangladesh.

This study backs with irrefutable numbers an instinctive anxiety that millions of Indians have been experiencing. It also exposes three widely uttered lies of so-called liberals to distract from the subject.

First, minorities are oppressed in India.

Which fortunate oppressed group has grown at the cost of its dwindling persecutors?

Which oppressed group can marry four times, grab any land at ease citing the Waqf Act, behead its fascist persecutors in public, and set entire cities on fire because its prophet has been insulted?

Second, Hindus are majoritarian and intolerant. The questions above need only be reframed to get to the truth. The population figures speak for themselves.

Those born in Hindu families like lawyer Prashant Bhushan fight for illegal Rohingya immigrants to be settled here; ones like Harsh Mander want to brand Hindus as the sole perpetrators of riots in the eyes of the law even when Muslims go on a killing spree; or Hindu touts and leaders who facilitate fake papers for infiltrators, thus ushering a demographic disaster.

And the third and most insidious lie is that Hindus have nothing to fear from Islamisation. After all, it is 80:20, right?

No, wrong.

It is skewing close to 70:30 already. Also, India was dismembered just 77 years ago because wherever Muslims got the demographic upper hand, they refused to coexist with others and severed that limb from India. Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh were created from what was Bharat. We nearly lost Kashmir till Narendra Modi removed the biggest secessionist tools, Article 370 and Article 35A, in one go.

It does not take long to change a nations destiny by overwhelming its demography. Christian Turkey, Egypt, Syria and other such nations fell in a matter of decades. It took just three decades for Lebanon to go from a prosperous Christian nation to a violence-torn Islamic one.

I was born and raised in Lebanon, which used to be the only Christian country in the Middle East. We were open-minded, we were fair, we were tolerant, we were multicultural. We had open borders, we welcomed everyone into our country. Muslims used to send their children to our universities, because we had built the best universities in the Arabic world. We had built the best economy of the Middle East, even though we did not have oil. In 1965, National Geographic magazine had on its front cover, Lebanon, Eden of the Middle East, says Lebanese-American writer and activist Brigitte Gabriel. Unfortunately, all that began to change. We got our independence in the early 40s. But by the 60s and 70s, Christians had become the minority and Muslims became the majority in Lebanon. As the Islamic population grew, the nation became less and less tolerant. The problem was contained till we began to accept a wave of Palestine refugees. They put their heads together with the Muslims of Lebanon and declared jihad on the Christians.

Gabriel, now an ardent Donald Trump supporter, recalls radical Islamic Palestinians blowing up her home in 1975.

The world buzzes with billions of such real, bleak stories. Statistics of the new study press the coldness of the amputation knife on Bharats flesh again. It is time to wake up and disarm the ones holding the sharp steel which can carve a dark destiny.

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.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) on Friday, calling it as fake, and accused the party of campaigning with a convict from the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts case for the sake of votes.

On Thursday, the BJP alleged that Iqbal Moosa alias Baba Chauhan, a convict of the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts who served ten years in jail, was observed campaigning for MVA northwest candidate Amol Kirtikar on Wednesday.

The Prime Minister made the comment while addressing a public gathering in Maharashtras Nandurbar.

On one side there is Congress which says Modi teri kabr khudegi and on the other side, there is this fake Shiv Sena that talks about burying me alive. Even while abusing me, they take full care of appeasement. Will you abuse me the way your vote bank likes?, PM Modi said.

PM further stated: Now these fake Shiv Sena people are taking the bomb blast convict with them for campaigning In Bihar, they are roaming around with a person serving a jail sentence for fodder theft on their shoulders, in Maharashtra they are roaming around with a bomb blast convict on their shoulders.

On Thursday, Uddhav Thackeray objected to Prime Minister Modi calling him a nakli santaan (fake child) during an election rally in Telangana. Thackeray stated that he would not tolerate the insult to his parents.

In a rally in Telangana, the PM said he wants to ask the nakli santaan of Balasaheb. Modiji should fight me, but if you insult my parents I will not tolerate it, Thackeray said said at an election rally in Shrirampur.

The Shiv Sena (UBT) chief stated that Modi did not have an issue with seeking his signature during nominations in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, but was now attacking his party.

(With agencies inputs)

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
In a fresh twist to the intriguing sequence of events in Haryana politics, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini addressed the media on Friday along with three sitting Jannayak Janata Party MLAs. The CM said that the Opposition was misleading the people.

Digging in his heels amid claims by the Congress and the JJP that his government was in a minority after three Independent MLAs in their support switched sides, Saini called on the Opposition to come clean on the number of legislators who are with them and state the same in writing to the governor Bandaru Dattatreya.

Top Updates on Haryana Political Crisis

 A delegation of Congress leaders is set to meet Haryana governor Bandaru Dattatreya on Friday, May 10. States former chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government is in minority, and they welcome Dushyant Chautalas statement of supporting Congress.

 A delegation led by Deputy CLP leader Aftab Ahmed, and B B Batra, chief whip CLP, and other Congress leaders is likely to meet the governor.

 The grand old party had on Thursday written to governors office, seeking time for its delegation to meet on Friday. In the letter, the party said that it wants to present a memorandum regarding the present political situation in the state.

 As JJPs Dushyant Chautala mounted pressure on the Nayab Singh Saini government for a floor test, unconfirmed reports indicated a hush-hush meeting between three JJP MLAs and former CM Manohar Lal Khattar at minister Mahipal Dhandas residence in Panipat.

 A report in Times of India stated that Mahipal Dhanda denied any such meeting was held. However, the report added that its sources said the JJP trio of Devender Babli (Tohana), Ramniwas Surjakhera (Narwana) and Jogi Ram Sihag (Barwala) werent the only ones creating room for BJP to manoeuvre itself out of a potentially tight spot. JJP had issued a show-cause to these three MLAs the previous day over alleged anti-party activities, the publication stated.

 Meanwhile, J P Nadda, the national president of JJPs former ally BJP, will hold a roadshow in Haryanas Panchkula from DC Model School, Sector 7, to light point between sectors 7 and 8 from 11.50 am. He will also address a rally at 5.10 pm at Ram Lela Ground, Sector 27, Chandigarh.

 On May 7, the Haryana government suffered a big jolt after three independent MLAs withdrew support from the Nayab Saini government, pushing the dispensation into a minority. The three MLAs were Randhir Golan from Pundri, Dharmpal Gonder from Nilokheri and Sombir Singh Sangwan from Charkhi Dadri. All of them decided to extend support to the Congress.

 However, the BJP appeared confident of retaining power, with former chief minister Manhora Lal Khattar claiming that several leaders of the Congress and the JJP were in touch with his party.

 The development came amid the Lok Sabha polls and within two months after Nayab Saini took over as CM, replacing Khattar.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
No stranger to controversy, veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has triggered a fresh row by claiming that India should respect Pakistan because it has atom bomb. The statement has led to a massive outrage, with BJPs Shehzad Poonawalla saying that Congress love for the neighbour is never ending.

Congress love for Pakistan is old. Hes the same Mani Shankar Aiyar who went begging to Pakistan to remove Narendra Modi as Indias prime minister. Many Congress leaders have been giving clean chit to Pakistan on 26/11, Pulwama and Poonch attacks. For them, the one who sends terrorists is respectable, while the Indian Army is sadak ka goonda, Poonawallah said while lashing out at Aiyar.

This is all because Pakistan has been continuously tweeting in support of Congress. So this thought is not just of Mani Shankar Aiyar, but the entire Congress. This is simply an experiment for vote bank amid ongoing polls, he added.

Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party MP Ravi Kishan said that Mani Shankar Aiyar should get himself treated somewhere. At a time when Pakistan is collecting food grains for itself and is facing food crisis, Aiyar wants to give them respect. He should get himself treated somewhere. This is not the India of Congress. Now, India is very powerful. This is the India of PM Modi, he said.

Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar, who is contesting against Congress leader Shashi Tharoor from Thiruvananthapuram seat, said that the ideology of Rahul Gandhis Congress is fully visible in these elections. Support to and from Pakistan, including offering to give up Siachen, he added.

Rahuls Cong "idealogy" is fully visible in these electionsSupport to and from Pakistan incldg offrng to give up Siachen Support to and from domestic terror-linked organizations and people like SDPI, Yasin Malik Rampant Corruption and loot of money meant for poor pic.twitter.com/UABONLzNFN  Rajeev Chandrasekhar (Modiyude Kutumbam) (@Rajeev_GoI) May 10, 2024

Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the Congress is rattled as it is certain of losing 2024 Lok Sabha elections, while Union minister Anurag Thakur claimed that Congress leaders stay in India but their hearts reside in Pakistan.

The reactions came after a video of Mani Shankar Aiyar went viral on social media. In the clip, the Congress leader can be heard saying, India should respect Pakistan because it has a nuclear bomb. If we do not respect them, they will think of using atom bomb against India. India, which is showing muscular policy, should not forget that Pakistan also has muscle (nuclear bomb) in Kahuta (Rawalpindi).

They have atom bombs. We have them too, but if a madman decides to drop a bomb on Lahore, it wont take eight seconds for the radiation to reach Amritsar, he warned. The statement was reportedly made last month. However, it went viral in May.

The Congress leaders remarks came days after PM Narendra Modi and Defence Minister Rajnath Singhs ghar me ghus kar maarenge warning. The leaders had said that the Indian forces would enter Pakistan to kill anyone who escapes over the border.

Amid the backlash, the Congress dissociated itself from Aiyars remarks, saying they have been revived by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from PM Modis daily goof ups.

Aiyar does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever, Congress media department chairperson Pawan Khera said on X. Disagreeing totally with the remarks made by Aiyar some months ago, Khera said it is an old video.

Later, Aiyar too issued a clarification, saying that his old video was being dredged up because the BJPs Lok Sabha campaign is faltering.

It is obvious from the sweater I am wearing that my comments to Chill Pill were made in the winter several months ago. They have been dredged up now as the BJPs election campaign falters. I refuse to play their game, the Congress leader said in a statement.

Interested persons may please read the relevant passages in my two books released by Juggernaut last year, Memoirs of a Maverick and The Rajiv I Knew, he added.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
Interview: Hungary's BRI cooperation with China opens up prospects: former PM

Xinhua) 22:17, May 10, 2024

BUDAPEST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is "a fantastic initiative that opens up good prospects" for cooperation with China, former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy has said.

This has many facets, including cultural and research cooperation, but a very important aspect is economic cooperation, Medgyessy told Xinhua during a recent interview, adding that as cooperation with China moves forward, it helps "achieve all that we have envisioned."

In projects including the Belgrade-Budapest railway line, "I see a lot of opportunities," he said, stressing that connectivity and regional integration into the commercial networks and the system of trade relations are very valuable.

Currently, Hungary and China engage in comprehensive strategic cooperation, and the future looks bright, he said.

Medgyessy said the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school project, which was launched during his term in office, has helped an increasing number of Hungarian students travel to China and learn about Chinese culture.

Such exchanges provide opportunities for people of the two countries to get to know each other and learn about each other's culture, which "far exceeds traditional economic, cooperative and other types of relations," he said.

In a world full of regional conflicts, it is very important for major countries to think about how to cooperate, find common solutions, and extend globalization, he said.

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath suggested on renaming Akbarpur on Thursday, while adding that there was a need to put an end to the signs of slavery and honour the countrys heritage. Akbarpur is named after the third Mughal emperor, Akbar.

While addressing a poll rally for the Akbarpur Lok Sabha seat in Ghatampur, the CM said, The mere mention of Akbarpur often evokes hesitation. All of this will change. We must put an end to the signs of slavery and honour our heritage.

He further said that the region needs to be integrated with the mainstream of development and for that active participation through voting in the ongoing national campaign is essential.

Terrorists are being glorified and mafias encouraged, Adityanath alleged in an apparent attack on his opponents. He also said that there was a conspiracy underway to grant the rights of Scheduled Castes, Tribes, and Backward Castes to minorities.

The UP CM also accused the UPA government, supported by the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party then, of recommending giving Muslims six per cent reservation from the share reserved for the backward classes on the basis of the Ranganath Mishra Committee.

Congress has consistently engaged in divisive politics, fostering division within the nation and actively promoting terrorism and separatism in various regions. Congress has once again promised to give such reservations in its manifesto this time, he said.

(with PTI inputs)

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
Google DeepMind has unveiled the third version of its AlphaFold Artificial Intelligence (AI) model that aims to help scientists target disease more effectively and create medications.

As per Googles blog post and a paper published in the journal Nature the AlphaFold 3 is a revolutionary model that can predict the structure and interactions of all lifes molecules with unprecedented accuracy.

Researchers can use the AlphaFold 3 AI model for free. It will allow the scientist to test various structures made of DNA, RNA, and Proteins with an aim of providing predictions about how these substances may interact. Using AlphaFold 3 for doing this type of predictive modeling might reduce expenses and improve research.

To build AlphaFold 3s potential, Isomorphic Labs, a sister company to Google DeepMinds is already collaborating with pharmaceutical companies to apply it to the real-world drug design challenges, and ultimately, developing new life-changing treatments for patients.

Apart from that, Google DeepMinds also launched a new AI tool, the AlphaFold Server that will help scientists make new hypotheses to test in the lab, speeding up workflows and enabling new innovations.

Senior Research Scientist at DeepMind, John Bumper said, Its going to be very important how much easier the AlphaFold server makes it for the biologists- who are experts in biology, not computer science, more complex cases, as per Reuters.

In 2020, the company launched the AlphaFold 2 which achieved a significant milestone in the prediction of a protein structure. According to Google, millions of scientists used the AlphaFold 2 model worldwide to make innovations in fields such as malaria vaccines, enzyme design, and cancer treatments.

Google says that AlphaFold 3 takes us beyond proteins to a broad spectrum of molecules which could lead to the development of more innovative technologies to speed up medicines design and genomics research.

The tech giant in their blog stated,  The impact of AlphaFold3 and AlphaFold Server will be recognized through how they empower researchers and scientists to speed up discovery across open questions in biology and new lines of research.
The history of our world is a fascinating yet mysterious topic of the subject, one that reveals the secrets of our ancient world, giving us a glimpse of what was or what could have been. Researchers have discovered a 2,500-year-old helmet made of metal, which is believed to be used in a cult practice.

As per the reports of the Live Science website, the helmet was discovered in Croatia within an Illyrian burial mound. It is believed to be an offering in a cult practice. The ancient artefact was found encased in a stone structure inside a burial mount at the Gomile archaeological site.

According to Hrvoje Potrebica, an archaeology professor at the University of Zagreb and the excavations leader, it occurred between the 4th to the end of the 6th century BC. More reports state that the Gomile site consists of several burial mounds and is situated near the Zakotorac village, located close to the Adriatic Sea. Potrebica further stated, Each mound contains multiple graves and each grave contains multiple burials.

The ancient Greek records mention a community of people known as the Illyrians, who are believed to have lived in the region during the same era as the ancient helmet. As per more information, the Illyrians lived in different tribes and even had kingdoms, however, the Romans conquered them through many wars happening between 229 and 168 BC.

The conservation process for the helmet is still awaited but Potrebica is positive that it seems to be in perfect condition. The archaeologists found the helmet attached to a stone structure, separated from the other graves in the burial mound. Because of that, it is believed to be a votive offering to deceased ancestors or part of some cult practice related to the whole mound and not [a] particular individual or a grave, said Potrebica.

Domagoj Perkic, a member of the excavation team said that if it was used in a battle, it might have affected the enemy psychologically. He said, Just try to imagine a warrior with a shiny helmet on his head, in the sun, on the eve of a battlethat moment alone causes awe in the enemy.
Mothers Day is one of the important celebrations across the globe. Marked annually with much enthusiasm, the day holds an emotional significance. From organising surprise parties to gifting unique presents and more, each of us plans something exceptional to make the day extra special for our mothers. This year, Mothers Day will be celebrated on Sunday, May 12. The event is marked annually on the second Sunday of May. However, there has been occasional confusion about whether it occurs twice a year. Mothering Sunday, a related celebration, adds to this intricacy as Mothers Day is celebrated on different days in more than 40 countries across the world.

Difference between Mothers Day and Mothering Sunday:

Mothers Day: The occasion is not celebrated twice a year but there are variations about how its observed in different countries. In many countries, including the United States, Canada, Australia, and most parts of Europe, Mothers Day is celebrated on the second Sunday of May. In India, Mothers Day aligns with the international schedule and is celebrated on the second Sunday of May, along with other foreign countries. Former US President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday in May to be celebrated as Mothers Day. The history of Mothers Day dates back to the spring celebration to honour Goddess Rhea, the mother of gods in ancient Greek civilization. Anna Jarvis celebrated Mothers Day privately in 1907 to mark her mothers birthday. In 1908, she organised a church service that drew in as many as 407 children and mothers.

Mothering Sunday: Mothering Sunday is celebrated three weeks before Easter Sunday in the United Kingdom, Costa Rica, Georgia, Samoa and Thailand. It was originally a day for people to return to their mother church for a special service. Over time, it evolved into a day to honour mothers, similar to Mothers Day. In 2024, Mothering Sunday was observed on March 31.

Hence, Mothers Day is not officially celebrated twice a year globally; the convergence of Mothering Sunday and Mothers Day in some countries can create the impression of dual celebrations, particularly for those countries, and cultures that observe both traditions.
The Great Wall of China is one of the most amazing pieces of architecture and the largest man-made project in the world. The Wall extends 5 km north of Shanhai Pass, a fortress built in the Ming Dynasty, where it juts (to stick out further than the surrounding surface) into the sea. At this fortress, the Great Wall starts or ends, depending on how the people look at it, and from here, it stretches to Lop Lake (the second largest inland lake in China) in the west. This lake is situated along an arc that roughly delineates the southern edge of Inner Mongolia  a length of approximately 8,850 km. This part of the wall is known as Laolongtou or Old Dragons Head because it resembles a long dragon dipping his head drinking water from the sea. Old Dragons Head extends about 23 m out into the Bohai Sea and was built in 1579 during the Ming dynasty. The Ming Dynasty ruled China from 1368 AD (Anno domini) to 1644 AD.

Many false claims have been made regarding The Great Wall of China. There were claims that it is the only man-made structure visible from space. This belief existed for nearly 300 years. In 1754, English scientist Rev William Stukeley first suggested that the Great Wall of China may be visible from the Moon due to its massive length. Similarly, in the 19th century, Italian astronomer Giovanni Schiaparelli observed large channels on Mars. These were mistranslated into English as canals.

NASAs Apollo mission, however, disproved this false claim. Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon, was asked in many interviews if he saw the wall. Armstrong said that he saw no man-made structures from the lunar surface and only saw continents, lakes and scattered spots of white on blue. The Apollo 12 Lunar Module Pilot and the fourth person to walk on the Moon, Alan Bean, also made a similar claim. Alan said, The only thing you can see from the Moon is a beautiful sphere, mostly white, some blue and patches of yellow, and every once in a while some green vegetation. No man-made object is visible at this scale.
Falling from a height of 33,000 feet after an aeroplane bombing and still surviving the crash without using a parachute might sound like the plot of an action film. But for Vesna Vulovic, this was a reality. Vesna was a flight attendant on board a Jat Airlines flight on January 26, 1972, when a suspected briefcase bomb brought down the plane over the mountains of Czechoslovakia, now called the Czech Republic. The bombing is believed to have been done by Croatian nationalists. All passengers and four crew members died in the bombing and the crash, except Vesna who miraculously survived. This made her the first and the only person to survive a 33,000-foot fall without a parachute.

The investigation found that during the bomb explosion, Vesna was trapped in a food cart at the planes tail section. When the flight crashed, its tail section landed on the snow which cushioned the impact. Additionally, Vesnas doctors mentioned that she had very low blood pressure, which likely made her lose consciousness at the onset of the blast and prevented a heart attack. In a 2017 interview with Aviation Security Magazine, Vesna said, I should never have been an air hostess in fact. I had a lot of coffee to drink before my interview so that when I had my medical exam I passed.

Vesna was discovered by villager Bruno Honke, who heard her screaming amid the wreckage. Honke was trained as a medic during the Second World War and he was able to keep Vesna alive until rescuers arrived.

The flight attendant suffered from a fractured skull, two crushed vertebrae, a broken pelvis, multiple broken ribs and fractures in both legs. She was temporarily paralysed from the waist down by the fall but soon made a recovery. She always maintained her last memory of the flight was of greeting passengers and the next thing she remembered was waking up in the hospital.

Vesnas survival story made her a national hero and bought global fame. After her full recovery, she wanted to return to work and joined a desk role at Vat Airlines. She was fired in the 1990s for taking part in anti-government protests during the breakup of Yugoslavia. She stayed active in politics till her old age. In a 2008 interview with the New York Times, she said, I am like a cat  I have had nine lives. But if nationalist forces in this country prevail, my heart will burst. Vesna died in 2016, at the age of 66 in her home city, Serbian capital, Belgrade.
Have you ever wondered what a blue lobster would look like? Experts from Oxford Universitys zoology department have revealed that the chance of catching a blue lobster has been estimated at about one in two million. But, this feat was recently achieved when a fisherman found this unique creature on the southern Cornish coastline in the UK. It was spotted by Chris Puckey, who discovered the crustacean in one of his traps near Polperro village on Sunday, May 5. The extraordinary lobster has grabbed the eyeballs of many around the world, as people have been excited to know the reason for its unusual colour.

Chris Puckey has attracted a lot of media attention due to the unique colour of the lobster. As per reports by the BBC, the main reason behind the electric blue hue of the recently found lobster is due to a genetic anomaly that leads to excessive production of a specific protein in its body. Andrew Hebda, who is curator of zoology at the Museum of Natural History in Nova Scotia, previously told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation that a lobster is like a painting. She added that it doesnt look like the usual lobster that is often found in the sea. The colours have been suppressed due to a genetic mutation.

After discovering the lobster, Puckey took it to Jacqueline Spencer, a fishmonger and owner of Kittys Lobster, Crab and Seafood Shack, which serves locally caught seafood in Polperro. She told the BBC that earlier they had decided to return it to the sea, but they feared that it might be eaten by other predators. As a result, Puckey and Spencer decided to donate the lobster to a nearby aquarium for its protection. She further said that the fisherman has gotten a good price for the unique lobster.

This is not the first time that an extraordinary lobster has been found. Last year, in September, a couple in Boston found a rare periwinkle blue lobster in Marblehead. They found it after a storm hit the area. But, the couple ultimately decided to put the lobster back in the ocean because they worried about bad luck with the incoming storm.
Two teenagers from California, previously expelled from a Catholic high school due to allegations of blackface, have been granted $1 million (approximately Rs 8 crore) and reimbursement for their tuition fees. Following a legal battle, a Santa Clara County court ruled in favour of the teens on two counts related to breach of oral contract and lack of due process. The legal battle began in August 2020 after photos of the boys wearing green acne treatment masks from 2017 surfaced online, which were misunderstood as blackface. Later, they were expelled from Saint Francis High School in Mountain View. The court supported the teens on certain claims, but they lost on three others, including breach of contract, defamation and free speech violation. The plaintiffs had filed a case three years after the incident, claiming that the masks were used for acne treatment, not intended to mock anyone.

The controversial selfie featured the boys wearing dark green acne masks, which were apparently misunderstood as blackface. However, a separate photo revealed that they had previously worn white masks as well. The case was filed during the same time when the Black Lives Matter protests were happening following the tragic death of George Floyd. As per reports, the teenagers had applied acne masks in support of their friend struggling with severe acne. However, they would have never imagined their gesture would lead to such consequences three years later.

According to Los Angeles Times, now that the court ruled in favour of the boys, referred to as AH and HH in the lawsuit, they will each receive $500,000 (approximately Rs 4 Crore) from the school. Additionally, they will also be reimbursed $70,000 (approximately Rs 58 lakh) for tuition fees.

An attorney representing the students, Krista Baughman said, This case is significant not only for our clients but for its groundbreaking effect on all private high schools in California, which are now legally required to provide fair procedure to students before punishing or expelling them. The jury rightly confirmed that Saint Francis High Schools procedures were unfair to our clients and that the school is not above the law.

Saint Francis High Schools representatives stated that while they respectfully disagree with the jurys decision, they are considering additional legal options, including appealing the verdict. On the other hand, AHs family thanked the jury and the court system for providing justice to their boys and families. They believe this verdict clears their names of allegations they never committed.
The college farewell marks the end of an academic journey. It brings together students for a final celebration where joy and sorrow intertwine. This occasion allows students to reminisce on countless memories while also creating new ones. They enjoy each others company, laugh, cry, eat, and take pictures together. Some even take the stage to perform dance routines or sing their favourite songs. Be it a wedding, freshers, or farewell, Haryanvi songs are a must. Just like this one video of a group of Delhi Universitys girls dancing to Sapna Choudharys Jale 2 song at their college farewell has surfaced online and left the netizens impressed. The video is receiving praise from viewers.

In the now-viral video, a group of Delhi Universitys Kamala Nehru College girls, donning sarees, set the stage on fire with their energetic dance to the peppy beats of Sapna Choudharys Jale 2 song. Their dance steps and on-point expressions have won the hearts of audiences and netizens alike. The video was shared on an Instagram account named @exploring_eyes_07. The video featured an overlay text that reads, POV: Urge to dance on Haryanvi song at a college function.

Also Read: Ex-NASA Scientist Lisa Kalteneggers Explores Extraterrestrial Life In Her New Book, Alien Earths

Watch the viral farewell dance video of Delhi Universitys girls.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by @exploring_eyes_07

Also Read: Bengaluru Driver Decorates Autorickshaw With Balloon on Daughters Birthday, Wholesome Pic Goes Viral

The Instagram Reel was shared a week ago and since then it has amassed lakhs of views and likes and numbers are still increasing. Many appreciated the dance and even shared their thoughts in the comments section of the post. Some also reacted with heart and fire emoticons. Haryanvi song hits different, commented a person. Outstanding, you guys set the stage on fire, appreciated a second. Best performance, wrote a third. Both sing and dance hit differently, expressed a fourth. KNC girls you rock, lauded a fifth.
Airport altercations have become all too common. A recent instance unfolded at Delhis Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI), where a woman engaged in a dispute with Lufthansa ground staff after being refused boarding. Captured on camera by the passenger herself, the footage shows her confronting the staff regarding the denial of boarding.

What followed next was a heated argument between one of the ground staff members and the woman. The brief clip, now viral, shows her insistence on the necessity of taking the direct flight. Meanwhile, the Lufthansa staff member summoned security and attempted to explain the airlines regulations to the passenger.

In the footage, one can see the ground staff leaving her cubicle and asking a fellow staff member to call security. Meanwhile, the passenger, recording the video, persistently asks for an explanation from the staff. I am telling you very politely. I am calling security, the staff member tells the passenger.

While filming, the passenger urges the staff to address her concerns. In response, the Lufthansa staff member said, What you are doing, that is anyway not allowed. (Pointing out at her camera.)

You cannot take the direct flight. If you want to know the rules, go to the German embassy, she added. When asked if she was aware of the travelling rules, the passenger said, No, but I am travelling for the last four years.

The video ends with the ground staff calling security. I have already called security. Maam please wait, you wont travel, the staff added.

Watch:

Kalesh b/w Air lufthansa crew & a passenger for Delhi  Munich  Toronto flights with return ticket (Full context in Clip) pic.twitter.com/BO4szehD10 Ghar Ke Kalesh (@gharkekalesh) May 8, 2024

The reason why the passenger was denied to board remains unclear.

Since its posting, the video has amassed over four lakh views. Meanwhile, an X user tagged Lufthansa Airlines in the post. The individual wrote, @lufthansa @Lufthansa_India any action?? To this, Lufthansa Airlines replied, Hi Harpreet, we are investigating this case and are in contact with the people involved.

At the same time, many others also chimed in to express their concerns and reactions.

Reacting to the video, a user commented, This happens when Airlines are overbooked and they find a way out by such unethical means to pin down on the customer to throw them out (so they do not board the flight) so that the airlines do not get caught of overbooking when everyone shows up.

That attitude she is carrying, she misunderstood herself with immigration officer I doubt. Check passport/visa, Print tickets and take baggage thats all she is supposed to do, a comment read.

What is your perspective on the situation depicted in the video?
Ever been on a never-ending plane journey, squeezed into a cramped seat and wishing for a more comfortable seat? Well, it seems like someone might have discovered the perfect solution for more legroom. A recent video captures a woman stretched out comfortably inside an overhead luggage compartment on a Southwest Airlines flight scheduled from Albuquerque, Mexico to Phoenix, US on May 6. The clip which was originally posted on TikTok, features the unidentified woman sleeping peacefully in the storage space, while the people can be heard laughing hysterically in the background. The motive behind this unconventional use of the overhead bin as an improvised bed and how she initially reached the top remains a mystery.

Neither the woman nor the airline has responded to the viral video yet. After New York Post shared the video on Instagram, it quickly went viral and garnered over 34,000 views. Interestingly, this isnt the first instance of someone being found sleeping or hiding in a flights luggage compartment, similar incidents have happened with other airlines in the past. Social media users in the comments section are wondering whether the woman was a passenger or a crew member.

View this post on Instagram A post shared by New York Post (@nypost)

Reacting to the clip, a user joked, Her: WHO TF WAS THAT GIRL YOU WERE TALKING TOO? Him: The flight attendant asking me if I wanted water.

Another wrote, Well hello there.

The homeless are used to sleeping in boxes all thanks to the democrats, a comment read.

An individual shared, They allow white people to do whatever they want.

One more added, This is why we cant have nice things.

Earlier, a flight attendant of Southwest Airlines decided to pull a prank by hiding in the overhead bin before passengers boarded. An unexpected incident was captured by a stunned passenger named Veronica Lloyd and she shared the clip on X. Reportedly, the incident, captured by Lloyd while she was returning home to Pennsylvania, happened before the planes doors were closed. In the footage, the unnamed female attendant is seen initially lying on her side before rolling into her stomach.

I cant get over how weird I find this. @SouthwestAir please get it together pic.twitter.com/bEHkMMgGXU Veronica Lloyd (@Disko_InVERNo) July 29, 2019

Describing the unusual act as a joke, the airline clarified that the flight attendant jumped down from the compartment 10 minutes later. She then continued with her duties as usual and ensured the flight proceeded without any interruptions.
China is ready to work with India to accommodate each others concerns and find a mutually acceptable solution to specific issues through dialogue at an early date, Beijings new envoy to New Delhi Xu Feihong has said, remarks that came against the backdrop of the prolonged military standoff in eastern Ladakh.

An Assistant Minister ranked official, Xu, 60, appointed by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the sensitive job, said he regards his posting in New Delhi as an honourable mission and a sacred duty to improve and advance the bilateral ties. It is an honourable mission and a sacred duty. I will do my best to deepen understanding and friendship between the two peoples, expand exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and improve and advance the bilateral relationship, Xu told PTI and Chinas state-run CGTN-TV in a media interaction here before leaving for New Delhi to take up his posting.

China is ready to work with India to accommodate each others concerns, find a mutually acceptable solution to specific issues through dialogue at an early date, and turn the page as soon as possible, Xu said without elaborating further. Xu previously served as Chinas Ambassador to Afghanistan and Romania, besides senior cadre-level postings in the ruling Communist Party of China (CPC).

He succeeds veteran Chinese diplomat Sun Weidong, who completed his tenure in October 2022. He is currently Chinas Vice Foreign Minister. Xus appointment comes after an unusually long delay of 18 months amid strained relations between the two countries over the Ladakh military standoff. Relations between the two countries hit a low except for trade ever since the eastern Ladakh border standoff erupted on May 5, 2020, following a violent clash in the Pangong Tso (lake) area. The two sides have so far held 21 rounds of Corps Commander-level talks to resolve the standoff.

India is pressing the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) to disengage from the Depsang and Demchok areas, maintaining that there cannot be restoration of normalcy in its relations with China as long as the state of the borders remains abnormal. According to the Chinese military, the two sides so far agreed to disengage from four points, namely the Galwan Valley, the Pangong Lake, Hot Springs, and Jianan Daban (Gogra).

As he set to take over his posting in New Delhi, Xu was candid and hopeful about resolving the present deadlock in bilateral ties. I noted Prime Minister Modis comments on the importance of China-India ties, and the Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson responded to that right afterwards, Xu said. In his recent interview with Newsweek magazine, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Indias relationship with China is important and significant.

The Chinese side always believes that China-India ties should not be defined by any single issue or area; the boundary question is not the entirety of the relationship. Speaking at the Indian Council of World Affairs in September 2014, President Xi Jinping said that we must not focus our attention only on differences and forget about our friendship and cooperation, still less should we allow the differences to stand in the way of our development and interfere with the overall growth of bilateral relations, Xu said.

On how he viewed his appointment after a considerable hiatus, Xu said, It is my great honour to be appointed by His Excellency President Xi Jinping as the 17th Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Peoples Republic of China to the Republic of India. I look forward to, and I trust that I will have, the support and assistance from the Indian government and friends from all sectors as I work to perform my ambassadorial duties, he said.

Xu also said cooperation and coordination between India and China on global and regional affairs would not only bring opportunities to both but also have an important positive impact on a reasonable international order. The world today is experiencing profound changes unseen in a century. We face multiple global challenges such as climate change, food and energy crises, weak economic recovery and so on, Xu said. Closer communication and coordination on global and regional affairs will not only bring opportunities to both countries and the world but also add stability and positivity to international relations. It will have an important positive impact on the development of a fair and reasonable international order, he said.

Stay informed with live updates on the latest Supreme Court order regarding the grant of Interim Bail To Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal in the money laundering case.
Space to Khalistani separatist elements, the Canadian government is sending a message that its vote bank is more powerful than its rule of law, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

In an exclusive interview to PTI late Thursday, Jaishankar said India respects and practices freedom of speech, but that does not equate with freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, extend support to separatism or allow political space to elements advocating violence.

The external affairs minister also wondered how people with dubious backgrounds are being allowed to enter and live in Canada, referring to Khalistani supporters among the Sikh migrants from Punjab.

In any rule-based society, you would imagine that you would check peoples background, how they came, what passports they carried etc, he said.

If you have people whose presence there was itself on very dubious documents, what does it say about you? It actually says that your vote-bank actually is more powerful than your rule of law, he said.

The Indian diaspora in Canada is about 1.8 million strong and there are another one million Non Resident Indians residing in the country. The Indian diaspora, mostly of Sikh ethnicity, is considered an influential bloc in Canadas politics.

Ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus allegations in September last year of the potential involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

New Delhi rejected Trudeaus charges as absurd. India has been maintaining that the main issue has been that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistani elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

It is not so much a question of running out of options. What we have seen to our regret has been the direction of Canadian politics where separatists, extremists forces, many of whom openly advocate violence have been given political space in that country, Jaishankar said.

And there are people in positions of prominence today in Canadian politics who actually espouse that kind of separatism and extremism, he said.

Jaishankar said India cannot overlook the issue for the sake of good relations.

Whenever we have taken it up with the Canadians, and it is not a new issue  it has been going on almost for 10 years; they keep saying, oh we have freedom of speech, he said.

We also have freedom of speech in our country. But freedom of speech does not mean freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, freedom of speech does not mean the kind of positions and the kind of activities which people in Canada are doing which does harm to our country because of its support for separatism, he said.

And freedom of speech does not mean this kind of space which is also given to people of various dubious background  people associated with organised crime and so on, he said.

His remarks came in response to a question on how India plans to deal with challenges emanating from Canada and whether the options for New Delhi are running out.

We cannot for the sake of good relations overlook that, he said during the freewheeling interview at PTIs headquarters.

In the last few months, India has been expressing concerns over the security of its diplomats in Canada and calling on Ottawa to ensure that they are able to carry out their responsibilities without fear.

There have been instances of pro-Khalistani elements threatening to harm Indian diplomats.

Days after Trudeaus allegations last September, India asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity. Canada subsequently withdrew 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

India has been asserting that its core issue with Canada remains that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country.

Last week, Canadian authorities charged three Indian nationals with the murder of Nijjar. It is reported that they entered Canada on student visas.

On Thursday, India said Canada has not provided any specific evidence or information in the case yet.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that India continued to remain concerned about the security of its diplomatic representatives in Canada and expect Ottawa to ensure that they are able to carry out their responsibilities without fear.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
India has withdrawn all its soldiers from the Maldives, the government here has said, ahead of the May 10 deadline set for the complete withdrawal of Indian military personnel from his country.

President Mohamed Muizzu had set May 10 as the deadline for the withdrawal of the Indian military personnel from his country. Repatriation of some 90 Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives was a key pledge of the pro-China leader during his presidential campaign last year.

The final batch of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives have been repatriated, confirmed Heena Waleed, Presidents Office Chief Spokesperson told Sun.mv news portal. She added details about the number of the soldiers stationed would be disclosed later. The Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives to operate and maintain two helicopters and Dornier aircraft India gifted earlier.

Earlier, the Maldives government announced that 51 of these soldiers were repatriated to India on Monday. The government earlier announced the presence of 89 Indian soldiers in the Maldives, citing official documents. India and the Maldives had agreed to withdraw the remaining Indian troops before May 10. During a weekly media briefing on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the first and the second batches of the Indian personnel returned to India and now deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place to operate the three Indian aviation platforms.

Welcomed FM @MoosaZameer of Maldives this afternoon.My remarks at our talks: pic.twitter.com/T8t64bQxLT  Dr. S. Jaishankar (Modi Ka Parivar) (@DrSJaishankar) May 9, 2024

READ MORE: India-Maldives Ties Based On Mutual Interests, Reciprocal Sensitivity: Jaishankar Tells Visiting FM Zameer

The development came as Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer visited India. He met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday. They had extensive discussions on bilateral ties and regional security issues The relations between the two countries came under severe strain after Muizzu insisted on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel operating three military platforms in the island nation.

In his opening remarks during the meeting with the visiting foreign minister, Jaishankar told Zameer that the development of ties between India and Maldives is based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity of the two countries. The Maldives is Indias key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region and occupies a special place in its initiatives like SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy of the Modi government. As close and proximate neighbours, the development of our ties is based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity. As far as India is concerned, these are articulated in our Neighborhood First Policy and SAGAR Mission, he said.

Catch Highlights of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website.
The last batch of Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives have been repatriated, the government of President Mohamed Muizzu has said, a day ahead of the May 10 deadline set by him for their complete withdrawal from the archipelagic country.

The relations between India and the Maldives came under severe strain after Muizzu, seen as a pro-China leader, insisted on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel operating three military platforms in the country by May 10.

Repatriation of some 90 Indian military personnel stationed in the Maldives was a key pledge of Muizzu during his presidential campaign last year.

The first batch of Indian military personnel was withdrawn from Maldives in early March, followed by the departure of the second batch in April, totalling 51 soldiers.

Although all Indian military personnel have withdrawn from the country, Male has not provided the final count, the media here reported.

The last batch of Indian soldiers stationed in the Maldives have been repatriated, Heena Waleed, Presidents Office Chief Spokesperson told Sun.mv news portal on Thursday.

The Indian military personnel were stationed in the Maldives to operate and maintain two helicopters and Dornier aircraft India gifted earlier.

During their tenure here, they contributed to infrastructure maintenance, leveraging helicopters and other resources generously provided by the Indian administration to the Maldives, the state-run PSM News channel reported.

On Monday the Maldives government announced that 51 of these soldiers were repatriated to India in two batches.

The government earlier announced the presence of 89 Indian soldiers in the Maldives, citing official documents.

India and the Maldives had agreed to withdraw the remaining Indian troops before May 10 following four rounds of meetings of the India-Maldives High-Level Core Group. The last meeting was held in New Delhi on May 3.

At a media briefing in New Delhi on Thursday, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the first and the second batches of the Indian personnel returned to India and now deputation of competent Indian technical personnel has taken place to operate the three Indian aviation platforms.

The withdrawal of the Indian military personnel came as Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer visited India. He met External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday. Jaishankar conveyed to Zameer that the development of India-Maldives ties is based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity.

Ahead of his first official visit to India, Zameer expressed gratitude to the Government of India for its full support in withdrawing Indian troops from the country, following the request of the Maldives government.

This initiative proves the strong relations between the two countries and ensures that any such issue faced by both countries can be resolved through dialogue and diplomacy, Minister Zameer told Mihaaru News.

The Maldives is Indias key maritime neighbour in the Indian Ocean Region and occupies a special place in its initiatives like SAGAR (Security and Growth for All in the Region) and the Neighbourhood First Policy of the Modi government.

Explore the detailed schedule and key constituencies of the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections Fourth Phase
The Israeli security cabinet voted last night to approve the expansion of its military operation in Rafah, local media reports said on Friday, amid growing international outcry over the countrys war to eliminate Hamas in Gaza. According to The Times Of Israel, the expansion is viewed as measured, aiming not to exceed what the US considers a major operation.

President Joe Biden this week made it clear that the US would halt certain offensive weapons shipments to Israel if it entered into the population centers of Rafah due to concerns over the one million-plus civilians sheltering there. The Israeli media reports said the expansion would be limited enough to avoid upsetting one of its closest allies. Meanwhile, some still believe that the latest Israeli move could be seen as a step too far.

READ MORE: Who Are Israels Main Weapons Suppliers And Who Has Halted Exports?

A massive ground attack

Hostage negotiating?

The security cabinet also voted to instruct Israels hostage negotiating team to continue its efforts to try and reach a hostage deal by putting together a new proposal in the hopes of reaching a breakthrough, according to US-based Axios. It was reported that far-right ministers Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich voted against the decision but were outnumbered.

After negotiators left truce talks in Cairo without a deal, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Friday that an Israeli ground attack in Rafah would lead to an epic humanitarian disaster. A massive ground attack in Rafah would lead to (an) epic humanitarian disaster and pull the plug on our efforts to support people as famine looms, Guterres said during a visit to Nairobi, adding that the situation in the southern Gaza city was on a knifes edge.

A massive ground attack in Rafah would lead to an epic humanitarian disaster.The international community must speak with one voice for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, the immediate & unconditional release of all hostages, and a massive surge in life-saving aid.  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 10, 2024

Over 100,000 people to flee

We are actively engaged with all involved for the resumption of the entry of life-saving supplies  including desperately needed fuel  through Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings, he said. This concern comes as Heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and caused over 100,000 people to flee north, a United Nations official said Friday.

Over a million Palestinians have fled to Rafah to escape fighting elsewhere, with many packed into UN-run shelters or squalid tent camps. The city on the border with Egypt is also a crucial hub for bringing in food, medicine, fuel and other goods. The UNs Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, known as OCHA, says about 110,000 people have fled Rafah and that food and fuel supplies in the city are critically low. Georgios Petropoulos, an OCHA official working in Rafah, said the two main crossings near the city remain closed, cutting off supplies and preventing the movement of humanitarian staff.

Nothing and no one has been allowed in or out of #Gaza for 3 consecutive days.Lets be clear: humanitarian operations cant run without fuel. Civilians in Gaza are being starved and killed, and we are prevented from helping them, underscored @UNReliefChief. His statement  UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) May 10, 2024

Even if there were assurances to us being able to pass through a corridor, the proximity so close to a military involved in fighting is just not acceptable for something that has to be a humanitarian zone, he said. The UNs World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday unless more aid arrives, Petropoulos said. He said about 30,000 people were leaving Rafah daily in search of safety, but that humanitarian workers had no supplies to help them set up camp in a new location. We simply have no tents, we have no blankets, no bedding, none of the items that you would expect a population on the move to be able to get from the humanitarian system, he said.

(With agency inputs)
In a sickening incident, a masked assailant used a belt to strangle a woman unconscious on a street in New York, before dragging her between two cars where he allegedly raped her.

The video of the horrifying attack, which has gone viral, shows the man trailing the woman as she walks along the sidewalk. Within seconds, he brandishes a belt, wrapping it around her neck, choking her, and swiftly pulling her to the ground, knocking her unconscious.

The attacker is then seen dragging her between two parked vehicles, where the sexualt assault is said to have taken place

NEW: New York City police are investigating a brutal attack and s*xual assault that happened in the Bronx45-year-old woman was followed by a man who put a belt around her neck, causing her to lose consciousness on May 1 around 3 a.m. The man then dragged her behind a car and pic.twitter.com/Q96XOffwvQ  Unlimited Ls (@unlimited_ls) May 9, 2024

The disturbing incident happened on Bronx Street last week, on May 1 around 3 am.

According to a report in the New York Post, the man fled the scene following the attack and had not been caught as of Thursday. The New York Police Departments Special Victims Unit is leading the investigation into this violent sexual assault.

However, according to police sources, the victim has ceased cooperating with authorities.

As per The Washington Post report, authorities confirmed that the woman was taken to a nearby hospital after the incident, and is currently in stable condition.

Additionally, the police indicated their suspicion that the man and the woman are familiar with each other, with the man having prior knowledge of her daily routine
Congress leader Kantilal Bhuria, while discussing the partys Mahalaxmi scheme on Thursday, said that men with two wives would receive financial aid of Rs 2 lakh if the party is elected to power.

Bhuria, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Madhya Pradeshs Ratlam constituency, made the statement during an election campaign in the state.

After the Congress government comes to power, Rs 1 lakh will be credited in the account of every woman, which is promised in our manifesto. Those who have two wives will be getting Rs 2 lakh, the Congress leader told the crowd.

Former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijaya Singh and the partys state unit chief Jitu Patwari were also present at the gathering when Bhuria made the controversial comments, India Today reported.

As outlined in its manifesto, under the Mahalaxmi scheme, the Congress will provide Rs. 1 lakh per year to every poor Indian family as an unconditional cash transfer. The amount will be directly deposited into the bank account of the eldest woman in the household. In the event of her absence, it will be transferred to the account of the eldest family member.

In a scathing response to Bhurias statement, BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja called upon the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take action on the matter.

Taking to social media platform X, the BJP leader wrote, What an objectionable comment made by Congresss Ratlam candidate Kantilal Bhuria about the leader of the country, who represents 140 crore people Such is the cheap thinking of Congress Sometimes juice, sometimes syrup, two weddings today, naked? This is their terminology

Bhuria, contesting on the Congress ticket, will face BJPs Anita Chauhan, the wife of Madhya Pradeshs Forest Minister Nagar Singh Chauhan, in the upcoming election in Ratlam on May 13.

Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling concluded on April 19, followed by the second phase on April 26, and the third phase on May 7. The final phase for the state is set for May 13, covering eight constituencies. Vote counting will take place on June 4.

Catch Highlights Of Lok Sabha Election 2024 Phase 3 Voting In Karnataka And Gujarat on our website. Get the latest updates, polling trends, result dates and more.
Neuralink faced a problem with the implant in its first human patient that reduced the amount of data it could capture from his brain, the company said in a blog post after 100 days of clinical trial of the first participant.

Earlier this year, the first human patient received an implant from the brain-chip startup founded by Elon Musk. Initial results showed promising neuron spike detection. Noland Arbaugh, 29, who was paralyzed below the shoulder after a diving accident, made waves online in March when he was seen playing chess on his laptop and moving the cursor using the Neuralink device. However, not all things are going as planned. The chip implanted in the brain of its first human patient had some issues a few weeks after the surgery.

READ MORE: Video: Elon Musks Neuralink Brain Chip Enables Paralysed Patient To Play Chess With His Mind

Weve just passed 100 days since the first participant in our clinical trial received his Neuralink implant. Read our latest progress update here: https://t.co/7lckGYCK1H Neuralink (@neuralink) May 8, 2024

During his first-ever research session, Noland set a new world record for human BCI cursor control of 4.6 BPS (bits-per-second). He has subsequently achieved 8.0 BPS and is currently trying to beat scores of the Neuralink engineers using a mouse (~10 BPS). The Link is able to distinguish left and right clicks and allows cursor control sufficiently precise to select targets similar in size to the smallest icons and buttons on a laptop screen. The ability to select small targets using multiple click types allows Noland to use applications and play games on his laptop that were not possible with his mouth stick, the company said.

In the weeks following the surgery, a number of threads retracted from the brain, resulting in a net decrease in the number of effective electrodes. This led to a reduction in BPS. In response to this change, we modified the recording algorithm to be more sensitive to neural population signals, improved the techniques to translate these signals into cursor movements, and enhanced the user interface, it added.

The US Food and Drug Administration had given the company clearance last year to conduct its first trial to test its implant on humans, a critical milestone in the startups ambitions to help patients overcome paralysis and a host of neurological conditions. Last September, Neuralink said it received approval for recruitment for the human trial. The study uses a robot to surgically place a brain-computer interface (BCI) implant in a region of the brain that controls the intention to move.

Neuralink earlier said that its initial goal is to enable people to control a computer cursor or keyboard using their thoughts alone. The company was valued at about $5 billion last June. However, four US lawmakers in late November asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether Musk had misled investors about the safety of its technology after veterinary records showed problems with the implants on monkeys.

(With agency inputs)
Washington has suspended a shipment of heavy, bunker-busting bombs to Israel, weapons Israeli forces have used in their war against Hamas militants that has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

President Joe Biden also publicly warned Israel for the first time, in a CNN interview on May 8 that the U.S. would withhold arms supplies if Israeli forces carry out a threatened assault on the Gaza city of Rafah, given this could endanger the lives of hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians there.

The US has long been by far the largest arms supplier to its closest Middle East ally, followed by Germany  whose strong support for Israel reflects in part atonement for the Nazi Holocaust  and Italy. Two countries, Canada and the Netherlands, have halted arms shipments to Israel this year over concern they could be used in ways violating international humanitarian law  causing civilian casualties and destruction of residential areas  in Gaza.

Most of Gazas dead from Israeli bombardments and ground offensives have been civilians, international rights groups say. Israel says it does not target civilians, accusing Hamas militants of hiding among them, which the militants deny.

Following are some details of Israels weapons suppliers.

UNITED STATES

The suspended arms delivery to Israel consisted of 1,800 2,000-pound (907-kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs worth tens of millions of dollars, according to U.S. officials. The decision arose from concerns about the end-use of the 2,000-pound bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings (like Rafah), one U.S. official said.

However, billions of dollars worth of U.S. arms remain in the pipeline for Israel, including tank rounds and munitions that convert dumb bombs into precision weapons, although the approval process has slowed, Senator Jim Risch, top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on May 9.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has stopped short of concluding in a pending, highly critical report to Congress on Israels conduct in Gaza that it has violated the terms for its use of U.S. weapons, Axios reported on May 9.

In 2016 the U.S. and Israel signed a third 10-year Memorandum of Understanding covering the 2018-2028 period providing for $38 billion in military aid, $33 billion in grants to buy military equipment and $5 billion for missile defense systems. Israel received 69% of its military aid from the U.S. in the 2019-2023 period, according to a March fact sheet issued by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

Israel is the first international operator of the U.S. F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, deemed the most technologically advanced fighter jet ever made, and had taken delivery of 36 of 75 F-35s on order as of last year, paying for them with U.S. assistance.

The U.S. has also helped Israel develop its Iron Dome short-range rocket defense system, developed after the 2006 war between Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah. The United States has repeatedly sent Israel hundreds of millions of dollars to help replenish the systems interceptor missiles.

Washington has helped fund the development of Israels Davids Sling system, designed to shoot down rockets fired from distances of 100 km to 200 km (62 miles to 124 miles) away.

GERMANY

German defense export approvals for Israel rose nearly tenfold to 326.5 million euros ($351 million) in 2023 compared with 2022 as Berlin treated permit requests as a priority after Hamas Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.

However, since the start of this year, as international criticism of Israels war in Gaza mounted, the German government appears to have approved considerably fewer exports of war weapons to Israel. Deliveries worth just 32,449 euros have so far been allowed, the economics ministry said on April 10 in response to a query in parliament from a left-wing lawmaker.

Germany primarily supplies Israel with components for air defense systems and communications equipment, according to the German press agency dpa, which first reported the 2023 figures.

Weapons exported included 3,000 portable anti-tank weapons and 500,000 rounds of ammunition for automatic or semi-automatic firearms. Germany provided about 30% of Israels military aid in 2019-23, according to SIPRI figures.

ITALY

A Foreign Ministry source confirmed on May 9 that Italy had halted new export approvals since the start of the Gaza war. Everything stopped. And the last orders were delivered in November, the source told Reuters.

Under Italian law, arms exports are banned to countries that are waging war and those deemed to be violating international human rights. In March, Defense Minister Guido Crosetto had said Italy has continued to export arms to Israel but that only previously signed orders were being honoured after checks had been made to ensure the weaponry would not be used against Gaza civilians.

In December alone, Italy sent 1.3 million euros worth of arms to Israel, triple the level of the same month in 2022. Italy provided 0.9% of Israels imported arms in 2019-23, according to SIPRIs report, reportedly including helicopters and naval artillery.

BRITAIN

Britain is not one of Israels bigger suppliers. Unlike the U.S., Britains government does not give arms directly to Israel but rather licenses companies to sell  often components into U.S. supply chains, such as for F-35 jets.

Last year, Britain granted export licenses to sell at least 42 million pounds ($52.5 million) of defense equipment to Israel  mainly munitions, unmanned air vehicles, small arms ammunition and components for aircraft, helicopters, and assault rifles.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak told parliament on Thursday that Britain ran one of the worlds strictest licensing control regimes in which it periodically reviewed advice on Israels commitment to humanitarian law. With regard to export licenses, following the most recent assessment, it is unchanged, he said.

Some left-wing opposition parties have called on the government to revoke the export licenses in the face of Gazas soaring death toll, and to publish the legal advice used to reach the assessment that arms exports could continue.
UPDATE

May 10, 2024 12:35 PM CDT

A Maine man who admitted trying to kill three police officers with a machete in a terrorist attack near New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve 16 months ago was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Thursday. After the attack, which left one officer with a fractured skull, Trevor Bickford told authorities that he had studied radical Islamic ideology and decided to wage jihad against US officials. The judge cited the 20-year-old's age and history of mental illness as reasons for leniency from federal sentencing guidelines that recommended a life term. He also recounted how Bickford's mother had repeatedly sought help from police and hospitals as she saw her son's descent into mental illnesses that have been diagnosed to include schizoaffective bipolar disorder, the AP reports.

Jan 2, 2023 2:39 PM CST

A man accused of attacking police with a machete near New York's Times Square on New Year's Eve was arrested on charges of attempting to murder police officers, authorities said Monday as they continued to investigate whether he was motivated by Islamic extremism. Trevor Bickford, 19, also faces attempted assault charges from the attack that injured two officers at the edge of the high-security zone where throngs of new year's revelers were gathered, the New York Police Department said in a news release. Bickford, who lives in Wells, Maine, remained hospitalized Monday with a gunshot wound to the shoulder from police fire during the confrontation.
The Supreme Court sided with a music producer in a copyright case Thursday, allowing him to seek more than a decade's worth of damages over a sample used in a hit Flo Rida song. The 6-3 decision came in a case filed by Sherman Nealy, who was suing over music used in the 2008 song "In the Ayer," by the rapper. It also was featured on TV shows like So You Think You Can Dance. Nealy's suit says he didn't know his former collaborator had signed a deal with a record company while he was in prison that allowed the sampling of the song Jam the Box. He sued in 2018 for damages going back to the song's release, the AP reports.

Copyright law says suits must be filed within three years of the violation, or the point when it's discovered. The record company, Warner Chappell, argued that means Nealy would only be entitled to three years' worth of royalties at most. The question of how far back damages can go has split appeals courts, and it's one that industry groups like the Recording Industry Association of America called on the Supreme Court to decide. The opinion handed down Thursday was written by Justice Elena Kagan and joined by Justices Sonia Sotomayor, Ketanji Brown Jackson, John Roberts, Brett Kavanaugh, and Amy Coney Barrett.

"There is no time limit on monetary recovery. So a copyright owner possessing a timely claim is entitled to damages for infringement, no matter when the infringement occurred," Kagan wrote. An attorney for Nealy, Wes Earnhardt, said the opinion gives clarity on an important issue, per the AP. Dissenting Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote that the majority sidestepped the important question: whether Nealy's claim was valid to begin with, or whether copyright holders should have to show some kind of fraud in order to sue over older violations. The dissenters said the suit should have been dismissed.

(More copyright infringement stories.)
In 2020, two California high school students were expelled from their Bay Area Catholic school after photos from 2017 emerged in which they were accused of donning blackface. The photos went viral amid nationwide protests over the death of George Floyd while in police custody, and other students and parents at St. Francis High School pressured the school to discipline the boys for what they saw as a racist stunt, Fox News reports. The students and their parents sued the school, saying what the boys have on in the photo, taken when they were 14 and at a sleepover, is actually a green acne mask that darkened and appeared black, the Palo Alto Daily Post reports. This week, a jury awarded them more than $1 million in total.
We no longer have to read between the lines to understand why Miss USA Noelia Voigt suddenly resigned this week . The first title holder in the pageant's history to voluntarily step down accuses Miss USA CEO and President Laylah Rose of disparaging her and ignoring a case of sexual harassment in a resignation later obtained by NBC News . "There is a toxic work environment within the Miss USA organization that, at best, is poor management and, at worst, is bullying and harassment," the 24-year-old writes. She claims Rose, who began running the organization last year, was often uncommunicative, "cold and unnecessarily aggressive," at one point telling someone "she hoped I would get hit in the face by a baseball at an event where I would throw out the first pitch."

Voigt says she was constantly threatened with disciplinary action, "including taking away my salary, for things that were never discussed with me and, if it related to a public-facing post for example, were causing no issue other than not meeting her personal preference." Voigt also refers to an alleged case of sexual harassment at an event in Florida. She says she was left alone in a car with a man who "made several inappropriate statements to me about his desire to enter into a relationship with me." She says Rose later told her engaging with others at public appearances was part of Miss USA's role. Voigt claims the stress of all this aggravated a pre-existing condition and she is now experiencing "heart palpitations, full body shakes, loss of appetite, unintentional weight loss, loss of sleep, loss of hair, and more."

In a statement, Rose says "I take these allegations seriously" and "the well-being of all individuals associated with Miss USA is my top priority." Rose also bullied and harassed Miss Teen USA UmaSofia Srivastava, who resigned two days after Voigt, sources tell the New York Post. The outlet claims the abuse reached a point that Srivastava's parents refused to allow Rose to speak with their daughter. Rose had allegedly been posting under the title holders' names on social media, among other things. Voigt, Srivastava, and Miss USA social media manager Claudia Michelle, who resigned May 3 citing "workplace toxicity and bullying," decided they would quit as a group in protest, per the Post. (More Miss USA stories.)
A Florida deputy shot Senior Airman Roger Fortson multiple times before ordering him to drop his gun, body cam footage released by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office shows. The footage shows that after the 23-year-old opened the door with a lowered firearm in his hand, the deputy told him to "step back" but opened fire immediately, giving him no time to respond, Military.com reports. After the fatally injured man was on the ground, the deputy shouted "drop the gun." Fortson replied, "I don't have it." "It's over there," he told the deputy. Fortson, who had been shot six times, later died in a hospital.

Wrong apartment? The footage contradicts some of the account given by lawyers including civil rights attorney Ben Crump, the New York Times reports. Crump said the deputy burst into the wrong apartment without knocking or announcing himself. The footage shows that the deputy announced himself the second time he knocked. It also shows that a woman who said there had been a domestic disturbance directed the deputy to Fortson's apartment, No. 1401. Crump said his information came from Fortson's girlfriend, who had been on FaceTime with him when the deputy arrived. "We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment," his family said in a statement.
The head of public relations at China's biggest search engine may be out of a job after posting a series of videos that were seen as glorifying overwork and the harsh treatment of subordinates. Baidu exec Qu Jing caused a PR crisis for the company with the videos posted last weekend on Douyin, TikTok's Chinese counterpart, the Guardian reports. "If you work in public relations, don't expect weekends off," she said in one video. "Keep your phone on 24 hours a day, always ready to respond." In another, she said she was so busy that she forgot her older son's birthday and what grade her other son was in at schoolbut she didn't regret it because she "chose to be a career woman,' reports CNN.

'I'm not your mother.' In other videos, Qu boasted that she had the power to make sure anyone who complained about her "won't find another job in the industry." She criticized one employee for refusing to go on a 50-day work trip during the pandemic, the South China Morning Post reports. "Why would I take the employee's family into consideration? I am not her mother-in-law," she said. "I'm not your mother, either. I only care about results."
Want to know where America's dogs are "living their best lives"? Zillow and BARK have looked at the data and found that Dallas ranks No. 1 among the US' most "dog-obsessed" cities. To figure out where people and their pups are thriving, the two companies looked at Zillow data for pet-friendly apartments in the nation's 25 largest cities, as well as at BARK data on subscribers to its Super Chewer and BarkBox services. As it turns out, Dallas wasn't the only Texas metropolis that's popular with poochestwo other cities from the Lone Star State made the top 10. Read on for the list, along with the most prevalent breeds and most popular names in each city:
A zoo in China has come under fire for painting dogs to look like giant pandas and making visitors pay to see them. The fluffy black and white Chow Chows appear in an exhibit that opened at the Taizhou Zoo in Jiangsu province this month with a cover charge of less than $2, per Sky News. The so-called "panda dogs" were dyed to look like pandas, with black and white bodies, black spots around their eyes, and black ears, because the zoo doesn't have any actual pandas, Today reports. Other zoos in China have been accused of trying to pass off dogs as wolves or African cats, NBC News reports. But the Taizhou Zoo says it didn't intend to deceive anyone. It says the "panda dogs" were clearly labeled.
UPDATE

Jul 2, 2024 11:38 AM CDT

A US woman who allegedly claimed to be an Irish heiress and scammed victims out of tens of thousands of dollars has been extradited to the UK to face charges there, reports the AP. Marianne Smyth allegedly stole more than $170,000 from victims in Northern Ireland from 2008 to 2010 before moving to the US. She had been in custody in Maine.

May 10, 2024 12:14 PM CDT

An American woman dubbed the "Queen of the Con" is facing extradition to the UK to stand trial for what is said to be one of many alleged fraud schemes carried out over decades. Marianne 'Mair' Smyth, 54, previously served time in California after she was found to have scammed a TV producer out of nearly $100,000. The victim, Johnathan Walton, launched a podcast, "Queen of the Con: The Irish Heiress," in which he sought to warn others of her exploits. He told stories of Smyth posing as Jennifer Aniston, an NHL coach, and a cancer patient, per the Guardian. He also claimed Smyth had convinced five people to hand over $172,000 while working as a mortgage adviser in Northern Ireland around 2009.
"In recent weeks, our staff have been conducting increased patrolling in response to issues with groups of young people fighting or intimidating people.

"Police want to emphasise that this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable and we will utilise all tools available to us to identify and hold youth offenders to account."

Western Springs College, in a message to parents, to "organise students to take alternative routes or make other arrangements" from the New Lynn station, the NZ Herald reported.

"Just been informed by my boys kura [sic] 'to avoid using New Lynn bus/train station... and find/use alternative routes that avoid going through that area,'" a parent posted on a local community Facebook group on Thursday.

"Passing on the information as we have heard how many negative things have happened recently at that particular station... Not sure why or what information they've been provided that they had to urgently inform us but would rather more people know about it so no innocent bystanders/tamariki get hurt IF something was to happen."

The community could expect increasing numbers of officers patrolling the area in the coming weeks, police said.

"Police take this sort of offending seriously and we will continue to respond to these incidents urgently," the spokesperson added.

Whau ward councillor Kerrin Leoni told Newshub more support is needed to stop a recent spike of young people fighting in the area.

"The extra security and police is the ambulance at the bottom of the cliff," she said.

"Prevention work is the most important thing to do. To get into high schools and provide those services."

Leoni said having more Maori and Pasifika wardens would also be a step in the right direction.

"We know they can connect really well with our communities. That supportive role, in a way, can be more appropriate to address some of these situations."
Fairbanks, AK (99701)

Today

A mix of clouds and sun this morning followed by increasing clouds with showers developing this afternoon. High 44F. Winds NE at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 40%..

Tonight

Cloudy with occasional rain showers. Low 32F. Winds S at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.
TDT | Manama

The Daily Tribune  www.newsofbahrain.com

The General Secretariat of the League of Arab States yesterday unveiled the official logo for the upcoming 33rd Arab Summit in Manama on May 16.

Symbolising the unity and collaboration among Arab nations, the summit logo integrates the emblem of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Royal Crown emblem, in striking gold alongside the emblem of the Arab League.

Below the emblem, the phrase Bahrain Summit is prominently featured. Across various streets and roads in the Kingdom, banners adorned with the newly unveiled slogan have been erected, serving as a visual testament to Bahrains forthcoming role as host of the prestigious summit.
A man was found dead inside a burning Camden County home Thursday afternoon after police were able to rescue a woman from from the flames, authorities said.

Officers from the Waterford Township Police Department were called to a house on Cooper Folly Road in town at 1:13 p.m. and saw heavy smoke rising from it as they arrived, according to a release from the department.

They were able to enter the home, found a woman inside and quickly got her out, police said. They went back inside to get a man who was supposedly trapped but were unable to find him.

Firefighters were able to extinguish the blaze and found the man, identified Thursday evening as 89-year-old James Lucas, dead inside, the department said.

The woman police were able to safely get out of the home was taken to a local hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries, officials said.

Five officers were taken to area hospitals to be treated for smoke inhalation and two of them were transferred to Temple University Hospital in Philadelphia for additional treatment, police said.

Two Waterford Township firefighters who sustained burns while putting out the fire were also taken to a local hospital.

As of 7 p.m., the cause of the fire was still under investigation.

Please consider supporting NJ.com with a voluntary subscription.

Chris Sheldon may be reached at csheldon@njadvancemedia.com.
A 38-year-old man used an app to try to meet a 12-year-old boy for sex while a 66-year-old man used a different app to attempt to have sex with a 12-year-old girl at a Jersey Shore house, authorities allege. The children in the chats, however, were undercover detectives.

Those details are included in criminal complaints for two of the four men charged in a sting in Cape May County in which investigators posed as children to look for people trying to sexually exploit minors.

William B. Peraria, of Somers Point, began have explicit online conversations on on Doublelist on April 6 with someone he thought was a 12-year-old girl, the court document said. Peraria agreed to meet the person with whom he was talking with in Ocean City.

When Peraria arrived later that day, he was arrested and charged with attempted sexual assault, endangering the welfare of a child and attempted obscenity.

Separately, Kristofer Laud, of Woodbine chatted on Grindr the same day with an undercover officer posing as a 12-year-old boy, authorities said. Laud also agreed to meet in Ocean City and was arrested when he showed up at what he thought was the boys house, according to court papers. Laud was charged with endangering the welfare of a child.

In addition, Jeffrey K. Dragon, 37, of Pitman, was charged with endangering the welfare of a child, attempted sexual assault, attempted luring and attempted obscenity.

Marc Anthony Carroll, 34, of Voorhees, was charged with attempted luring, endangering the welfare of a child and attempted criminal sexual contact.

Attorney information wasnt immediately available for any of the men.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com.
NCT Dream is heading out on their largest tour ever, so you cant miss out on seeing them live.

Their The Dream Show 3: Dream()scape tour will begin in the U.S. on Sept. 12 in Los Angeles and will wrap up on Sept. 26 in Chicago.

While in the U.S., they will perform at the UBS Arena in Belmont Park, N.Y. on Sept. 21.

They will then head to Europe and the U.K. for three more shows before ending their tour.

Before tickets go on sale to the public, there will be a Weverse fan club presale beginning on May 16 at 3 p.m.

The general sale will then begin on May 17 at 3 p.m. through Ticketmaster.

If you are unable to get tickets through the general sale, there will be tickets to purchase on secondary market websites, such as StubHub, Vivid Seats, TicketCity and SeatGeek.

The cheapest ticket available for their New York show, before fees at the time of publication, is $178 on Vivid Seats.

First-time Vivid Seats users can save $20 on ticket orders over $200 by entering promo code NJ20 at checkout.

A complete list of NCT Dreams tour dates are available here.

More upcoming K-pop tours

NCT Dream are not the only K-pop artists heading out on tour this year.

Here are a few more upcoming tours you wont want to miss: Tomorrow X Together, Stray Kids, IU and ITZY.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Nicole Iuzzolino can be reached at niuzzolino@njadvancemedia.com. Have a tip? Tell us at nj.com/tips.
ExxonMobil will close a large research facility in Hunterdon County as part of a plan to consolidate its corporate research operations at its Houston headquarters.

Most of the employees at the Exxon Mobil Research and Engineering division will be offered jobs at the new facility in Texas. The Clinton Township campus, along with a research facility in Ontario, Canada, will close as part of the consolidation, which will be done in phases that will continue until 2028, according to a report by Bloomberg.

We are incredibly disappointed to learn that ExxonMobil has chosen to close this facility over the next few years, Clinton Township Mayor Brian Mullay said in a statement. We will work closely with our partners at Hunterdon County Economic Development & Tourism, the NJ Highlands Council and ExxonMobil to ensure that the developable portion of the property continues to contribute to our areas economic success and that the ecologically critical areas are preserved to protect our environment.

In October 2022, ExxonMobil informed the township it had partnered with Prologis do a feasibility study that looked at redeveloping a portion of the property as a warehousing complex. The idea met was met with opposition from the community, according to Clinton Township Council meeting minutes.

In September of last year, Joe Wong, a commercial portfolio manager for ExxonMobil, told the township council that the company was not going to expand beyond the 150 acres that make up its current campus. It last underwent an expansion there in 2017.

The facility employs between 500-600 and pays $3.5 million a year in property taxes, Wong said during a presentation before the council.

Don Carpenter, president of Independent Laboratory Employees Union - United Steel Workers Local 09009, said the union the decision impacts over 100 of its members who work at the facility.

As of right now, none of the unionized workers at the site have been oered relocation or continued employment within the company, however the union will be entering into bargaining with ExxonMobil over the eects of this unfortunate decision, Carpenter said.

ExxonMobil told NJ Advance Media it is committed to meeting our obligations under the collective bargaining agreement and expects to have further dialogue with them on this announcement.

Hunterdon County Board of Commissioners Director Jeff Kuhl said the board was disappointed to learn about ExxonMobil Corp. plans to close its Clinton Township facility.

Hunterdon County and ExxonMobil Corp. have enjoyed a long-standing relationship and we valued ExxonMobil Corp. not only as a large employer but also as a partner and supporter of many local community events, Kuhl said. We wish that management would reconsider the move ... Hunterdon County will continue to work with the state of New Jersey to develop new options for the site that benefit residents and the local economy.

The closures of the Clinton Township and Ontario facilities will affect about 700 employees, according to Bloomberg. ExxonMobil previously announced plans to cut costs by about $15 billion by 2027.
By Susan Guardia

My son Evan often came home from school in tears. From the young age of five, he was bullied by classmates. Like every mother, my impulse was to hold him close. Like every parent, I want my child to be safe, healthy, and happy at all timesand I want to protect them when I think those things are at risk.

Now I look back on those days with longing. They were almost easy compared to my day-to-day life today.

Evan is in prison. Its been a few years since his arrest and incarceration, and I still wake up every morning wondering if he is alive. Evan struggles with depression and anxiety as well as addiction after years using drugs to self-medicate.

Prisons fail miserably at rehabilitation, let alone mental illness and substance abuse treatment. They are cold and hard, and so are the staff -- from the guards to the nurses -- who ignore cries for help and have rendered incarcerated people essentially voiceless.

I am on edge every day because too many times, I have had to step in to beg for him to receive care. I have demanded medical attention for a vascular condition that hes had since childhood. I have sounded the alarm when he has suicidal ideations. These calls have, in no uncertain terms, saved my sons life.

But our communication comes at a price -- literally. I spend about $50 every month on calls and electronic messages, commonly referred to as emails, though they hardly resemble emails as we experience them in the free world. To start, I have to pay 35 cents per message, and even more if I want to attach a photo. It all adds up quickly, and for many families, it becomes cost prohibitive.

All-in-all, New Jersey families pay over $15 million each year to stay in touch with incarcerated loved ones. Most of this goes to the states prison telecom vendor ViaPath (formerly Global Tel Link), though the state does collect kickback on electronic messages. As the sole provider, ViaPath can charge exorbitant rates and we have no choice but to pay them.

Almost every family with an incarcerated loved one has stories about the sacrifices they make to afford prison communication. For many, the sacrifice is extreme. One out of three families go into debt just to cover the cost of staying in touch.

We should not allow corporations to prey on New Jersey families in this way, and certainly should not allow the state to reap benefits. Beyond being morally shameful, it works against public safety. Community ties are an invaluable source of support for incarcerated people that studies show promote positive behavior on the inside and improve their chances at success when they come home, which 95% will do.

New Jersey lawmakers have an opportunity to correct this travesty while strengthening families and promoting public safety this session. Senator Brian P. Stack (D-Hudson) and Assemblywoman Carmen Theresa Morales (D-Essex) introduced S2525 and A3988, which would make all prison and jail communication across the state free. If passed, New Jersey would become the sixth state to embrace such policy, following California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Minnesota.

Mothers have the ability to sense when somethings not right with their childrenphysically, psychologically, or emotionally. We also know when theres something not right in our state policy. This Mothers Day, do right by us so that we can do right by our children, no matter where they are.

Susan Guardia is a mother and activist from Tinton Falls, NJ.
What gag order?

Donald Trump critics are leaning into the free advice former White House spokesman Ari Fleischer has for the former president in his criminal hush-money trial.

Thats because it basically amounts to this: Go ahead, break the courts gag order.

He needs to explain why hes conflicted, Fleischer said on Fox News, where he works as a contributor.

He doesnt explain how or why. He needs to say that the judges daughter works for a Democratic political consulting firm that does anti-Trump business. He needs to explain it, otherwise its just an assertion with no proof. And if the president, if hes gonna say it, back it up, he said.

When pressed by another host whether that violates the gag order, Fleischer doubled down.

When the judge is conflicted you can still explain how and why and, I think, comply with the gag order, he said.

Hopefully Trump will continue to get his legal advice from Fox contributors, Trump critic Ron Filipkowski quipped on X.

Hopefully Trump will continue to get his legal advice from Fox contributors. They are always on the money with these things. https://t.co/NTtPZrI4kn  Ron Filipkowski (@RonFilipkowski) May 10, 2024

Thats because while Trump is allowed to talk about the judge, hes not allowed to talk publicly about the judges family  including his daughter.

Trump has already been fined for violating the gag order 10 times and was threatened with jail time if he continued after the judge argued the maximum $1,000 fine wasnt doing the trick.

What Fleischer, who isnt an attorney, was referring to and what Trump has already suggested without evidence in a past social media post, is that Judge Juan M. Merchan was kowtowing to his daughters interests as a Democratic political consultant.

Trump claimed that Merchans daughter, Loren Merchan, whose firm has worked on campaigns for President Joe Biden and other Democrats, had recently posted a photo on social media depicting her obvious goal of seeing him jailed.

In a statement, a spokesperson for New Yorks state court system said that claim was false and that the social media account Trump was referencing no longer belongs to Loren Merchan. It appears to have been taken over by someone else after she deleted it about a year ago, court spokesperson Al Baker said.

The account on X, formerly known as Twitter, is not linked to her email address, nor has she posted under that screenname since she deleted the account. Rather, it represents the reconstitution, last April, and manipulation of an account she long ago abandoned, Baker said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
The woman at the center of Donald Trumps criminal hush-money trial, Stormy Daniels, is taunting the former president in real-time.

And in more ways than one.

Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Oh...wait. Nevermind. Daniels posted to X after her second day on the stand.

Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Oh...wait. Nevermind.  Stormy Daniels (@StormyDaniels) May 9, 2024

There are two things at play: The question of whether Trump will actually take the stand in his trial and whether hell violate the courts gag again and potentially be sent to jail for it.

The judge in his case rejected a request from Trumps attorneys Thursday to allow the former president to respond publicly to Daniels testimony. Trump isnt allowed to speak about witnesses in the case over fears of witness tampering as part of his gag order.

Trump has already violated the gag order 10 times and has been fined $1,000 for each offense. The last time he was fined, the judge warned that he may decide to put Trump behind bars since the fines didnt seem to be enough to keep him from overreaching.

And its unknown whether Trump will take the stand.

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 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.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
China Brand Day 2024 events underway in Shanghai

Xinhua) 22:20, May 10, 2024

Visitors attend the launching ceremony of the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

SHANGHAI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China Brand Day 2024 events kicked off in Shanghai on Friday as the country continues its efforts to promote brand building.

The events, themed "better quality, bright future for Chinese brands," comprise of an opening ceremony, a forum on China's brand development, a China brands exposition and other brand-building activities.

The exposition is being held both online and offline. The offline segment covers an area of nearly 70,000 square meters.

"Brands not only carry people's yearning for a better life, but also reflect the comprehensive level of a country's economic development," said Wu Hao, a senior official with the National Development and Reform Commission.

"Strengthening brand building is of great significance for promoting high-quality development and promoting Chinese-style modernization," Wu added.

The events are being jointly held by the National Development and Reform Commission, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the China National Intellectual Property Administration.

Established in 2017, China Brand Day is celebrated on May 10 every year, and aims to increase society's awareness of brand development and create a sound atmosphere for brand building.

People visit the booth of CSCEC during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

A visitor walks past a BYD Yangwang U9 on exhibition during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

People visit an exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Visitor look at a Xiaomi SU7 car on exhibition during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

People walk past an installation of 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Visitors look at a demonstration model of CRRC electrified highway and mine transportation system on exhibition during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

A visitor experiences a vehicle on exhibition at the booth of Dongfeng Motor during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Visitors look at an explosion-proof intelligent refueling robot on exhibition at the booth of Sinopec during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

(Web editor: Zhao Tong, Zhong Wenxing)
Longtime Donald Trump loyalist Steve Bannon could be headed to jail soon.

A court on Friday upheld his four-month jail sentence from 2022 after he defied a subpoena from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Bannon has been allowed to stay free pending his appeal.

Bannon was convicted in July 2022 of two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to sit for a deposition and the other for refusing to provide documents.

U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols Nichols handed down the sentence after saying the law was clear that contempt of Congress is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of at least one month behind bars. Bannons lawyers had argued the judge couldve sentenced him to probation instead. Prosecutors had asked for Bannon to be sent to jail for six months.

In my view, Mr. Bannon has not taken responsibility for his actions, Nichols said before he imposed the sentence. Others must be deterred from committing similar crimes.

The House panel had sought Bannons testimony over his involvement in Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Bannon has yet to testify or provide any documents to the committee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Our journalism needs your support. Please subscribe today to NJ.com.

Matt Arco may be reached at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
Six-day (Tuesday through Sunday) print subscribers of the Watertown Daily Times are eligible for full access to NNY360, the NNY360 mobile app, and the Watertown Daily Times e-edition, all at no additional cost.

If you have an existing six-day print subscription to the Watertown Daily Times, please make sure your email address on file matches your NNY360 account email. You can sign up or manage your print subscription using the options below.
Work continues on the critical upgrade for a vital transport corridor for our sub-region.

Many have lamented the fact that when the North Devon Link Road was originally planned it was scheduled to be a dual carriageway.

No one is quite certain as to how or why it was downgraded all those years ago to provide the current two and three-lane carriageway.

It could be that some mandarin in the Department of Transport felt that this change would not greatly influence the outcome for our region.

How wrong was that judgement?

Whilst the road itself does provide an economic and social corridor, we all know how challenging a route it is. There have sadly been far too many road accidents and fatalities.

Strict speed controls and cameras have helped to reduce this.

Nevertheless, it is an unpredictable journey which has left many of us frustrated.

It is not the greatest welcome for our tens of thousands of holiday visitors and a miserable end to their holiday when queuing up on the return journey.

Both district councils and many of our senior politicians made it their top priority to ensure that the road should be upgraded. This tough battle was with both the Department of Transport and the Treasury.

There was never any question about the need for the upgrade. This was all about prioritising the funds.

Eventually, however, the budget was awarded for this and at least part of the original vision for the road was set in motion. We have all lived with the disruption caused by the construction work.

The long-term gain has been recognised by everyone, which has helped to contain any frustration.

The main contractors inevitably experienced unanticipated difficulties, which meant that the budget costs started shooting up.

It proved impossible to find additional funding and therefore a modified scheme was agreed as a compromise.

The expectation of completion was further affected by the almost unprecedented bad weather we have experienced over the last six months.

Constant rain is the greatest enemy of a groundworks contractor.

Site stabilisation cannot be achieved, vital machinery cannot operate and the working conditions for the contractors are utterly miserable.

This is, however, the first piece of luck we have had.

For many road schemes that were just starting, these adverse weather conditions proved almost impossible to manage and delayed both the start and planned finish dates.

It is fortunate for us that many of the sections of road for our scheme were sufficiently well advanced for these weather impacts to be minimised.

There will be some delays but not nearly as bad as many other major highway schemes.

The second piece of luck we have had is that the scheme is nearing completion.

It is quite simply the case that if the project had not started, the chances of delivering it now would be extremely remote.

There is a brutal construction skills shortage which is being experienced across the country. There are also huge problems with cost escalation.

Undoubtedly, the greatest problem is the shortage of skilled labour.

An industry expert has calculated that the UK needs to hire 500,000 people to meet demand for both schemes that are under way or schemes which are critical to our national posterity, such as the Lower Thames Crossing, the expansion and upgrade of the National Grid and the work on the Stonehenge tunnel.

High profile projects that are still under way are hoovering up available labour.

HS2 alone employs two per cent of the UKs entire construction workforce.

Preparations for the new nuclear power station Sizewell C are already in recruitment.

Hinkley C is not yet finished and is now employing around 10,000 workers against the original total estimated staff requirement of 6,000.

In practice, because of the persistent delays on this project, it could be 2030 before work is completed.

There is still a national priority to finish the Thames Tideway Tunnel.

Into the mix now, also, we have to take account of the ongoing requirements from Babcock in Plymouth to upgrade naval capabilities for new MoD contracts.

Recruitment has also just started for the battery factory just outside Bridgwater.

It is estimated that this will need around 2,000 workers.

All this comes at a time when the construction industry is recovering.

In 2008, the workforce was over 2.6 million.

Since then it has lost around 465,000 workers for a variety of reasons.

All of this means that this chronic shortage will continue.

This is where we have had a huge slice of luck.

The work on the North Devon Link Road will be completed but if it had started four years later, then we might very well still be wondering if and when it would ever start.

We should record that you make your own luck.

The work done by our public sector to secure this project and see it through is the reason why we are in this great position.

We know that the chance of there being any new money is extremely unlikely as the government coffers are bare.

The challenge for us now is to ensure that we use this opportunity to fully benefit our economy and our communities.

This is not just an opportunity to travel out of the region a bit quicker.
A Braunton man has become a poignant symbol of the impact of the hepatitis C blood scandal that rocked the nation in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s.

Diagnosed with hepatitis C in 2004, Paul Jewels attributes his condition to a blood transfusion he received in 1983 during chemotherapy treatment for cancer at the age of 37.

Now at 78, the former chartered surveyor who had his own practice, hopes the result of the inquiry on May 20 will offer some sort of accountability and compensation for thousands, including himself, who were given infected blood during transfusions.

The contaminated blood scandal, which affected more than 30,000 individuals in the UK, involved the administration of treatments tainted with HIV and hepatitis C.

This resulted in around 3,000 lives being lost, a number that continues to grow.

The virus includes flu-like symptoms, feeling tired all the time, loss of appetite, and feeling/being sick.

However, many people have the infection without realising it.

After concerns were raised by those directly impacted by the scandal, the government eventually bowed to mounting pressure and initiated an inquiry.

During the period from the 1960s to the 1980s, there are allegations that prison facilities in the United States made substantial sums of money by selling the blood of prisoners.

It wasn't until 1985 that comprehensive measures, such as heat-treating Factor VIII products, were implemented to eradicate the HIV virus.

Furthermore, routine screening for hepatitis C in UK blood donations did not start until 1991, exacerbating the spread of the infection during that period.

Recalling his journey, Paul spoke of the gradual onset of symptoms, including debilitating fatigue and pain, which went undiagnosed for years.

Despite persistent visits to doctors, his condition was often incorrectly diagnosed as depression until a locum physician finally ordered tests, which revealed the correct diagnosis.

Paul recalls sitting down with the doctor in 2004.

He said: Paul, can I ask you some questions?

He asked if Paul used drugs, if he was gay and if he had ever had a blood transfusion. Paul said no to drugs and no to being gay but said that he had been given a blood transfusion in 1983.

Then the doctor told him he had hepatitis C.

Paul said he was shocked but also relieved because he finally knew he wasn't imagining things.

After that, Paul joined a group that helps people affected by the contaminated blood scandal in England.

He also talked to lawyers about what happened to him.

Paul said: I've been telling the doctors for a long time there was something wrong with me but it took years to finally get a diagnosis.

Doctors in North Devon offered Paul a new treatment which managed to eradicate his hepatitis C.

The scandal, now recognised as one of the biggest medical disasters in history, prompted the inquiry, which has been chaired by Sir Brian Langstaff.

The inquiry has shed light on the catastrophic failures that led to this tragedy, said Paul.

He spoke to Collins Solicitors, who are currently acting for over four hundred of the victims and their families.

The solicitors believe that compelling new evidence has now been uncovered shedding light on this scandal and the efforts they say were made by the Department of Health to keep matters under wraps.

The solicitors have said: We hope that at long last, this Report will lay bare the facts that led to the biggest treatment disaster in the NHS history. Many infected and affected people have waited over 40 years for the facts to be exposed and for public recognition of the terrible suffering that has been caused. People are dying every week from the effects of this scandal. The Inquiry itself has taken six and a half years to arrive at its findings, such was the enormity of the task.

Well wait to see what the Report says before passing judgement on its findings. But whatever is recommended, we very much hope to receive a full and unequivocal apology from Government to all victims and their families for the obfuscation and denials that successive governments, members of the civil service and medical professionals were responsible for over the years, as the horrors of the contaminated blood scandal came to light.

We also want the Government to implement all the recommendations that were set out over two years ago in Sir Robert Francis Compensation Framework without any further delay.

The Government needs to act swiftly  there can be no further excuses once Sir Brians report is published.

Only then will we feel we have received the justice we deserve.

Paul said: It's a massive thing, and it's about time someone was held accountable.

Despite enduring years of illness and undergoing treatment, and suffering several strokes more recently, Paul remains hopeful for justice and closure.

He emphasised the need for accountability from pharmaceutical companies and government officials implicated in the scandal.

Paul, who is a remarkably positive man given the ordeal he has been through, said: I want the government to acknowledge their mistakes and take responsibility. People's lives have been shattered, families torn apart. We deserve answers and compensation for the years of suffering.

Away from the scandal, Paul has kept a positive outlook on life.

He trains therapy dogs that visit schools and hospices, including North Devon Hospice.

His first dog was Gozo who sadly passed, but now he is currently training PJ, who is seven months old.

He said he finds joy and purpose in training dogs as therapy animals, a passion that has led him to bring these furry companions into schools and hospices.

ABOVE: At North Devon Hospice

Through their gentle presence and affectionate nature, these therapy dogs offer comfort and companionship to those in need.

Paul has witnessed firsthand the positive impact these animals have on individuals facing difficult circumstances, whether it's helping children feel at ease in a school setting or providing solace to patients in hospices.

Despite his own health challenges, Paul remains dedicated to sharing the love and support of his therapy dogs with others.

Paul hopes that by sharing his story, people will understand the importance of holding those responsible for the contaminated blood scandal accountable.

Just like the victims of the post office scandal fought for justice, Paul believes that speaking up about wrongdoing can lead to positive change.

He wants others to see that even in the face of adversity, it's essential to stand up for what's right and demand accountability from those who caused harm.

Ultimately, Paul's hope is that his story will inspire others to advocate for justice and ensure that similar tragedies are never repeated.

As he waits for answers from the inquiry, he hopes it will also bring closure for him.

Paul told the Gazette: I am not angry or bitter - I am not that sort of person. I do believe that there should be some accountability for the sake of my family!
VALPARAISO  Oh Oysters, come and walk with us! the walrus sings in Lewis Carrolls famous poem. Blue Point sold over 80,000 oysters last year, executive chef and owner Edward Luick recounts proudly, and theres more shucking to come.

Blue Point is celebrating its eighth anniversary  it opened May 4, 2016  with a special $8 tasting menu.

When I walked into the oyster and sushi bar Thursday, I lamented to Luick that I dont know much about oysters.

Thats fine, Luick told me: when first starting out his restaurant in downtown Valparaiso, neither did he.

When I first opened this place, I had never eaten an oyster, Luick said. Now I can tell the difference between all of them and whether theyre from the east or west coast.

The latter variety are a little more salty, a little bit fishy, Luick notes, while their east coast brethren are sweeter, brinier and brassy.

And Blue Points horseradish sauce will top it all off and put some hair on your chest, Luick boasted.

The oysters are on the special anniversary menu, which runs through Saturday evening, along with Blue Points other signature specialties: crab cakes, jumbo shrimp cocktail and lobster bisque, which was poured over the meat from a tin saucepan.

The bisque is made from a house stock, Luick said, and while he was careful not to divulge the little things he adds to make it his own recipe, Luick did note he puts sherry and a touch of Prunelle, a French liquor, into the soup to give it a silkier, delicate taste.

I can confirm that the bisque had a nice finish, which was a nice complement to the cream flavor. But the crab cakes were the highlight for me: a nice, meaty patty that came with wasabi and sriracha tartar sauce.

While he was also hoping to fill a niche in Northwest Indiana  the Region lacked any kind of seafood restaurant or oyster bar in 2016, Luick noted  what made fish so appealing, from a culinary perspective, is that it can be the base of cuisine that has a world flair, he said.

With fish and seafood, you can incorporate anything, Luick said. Italian, French, Asian, Latin; I have backgrounds in all those (cooking styles).

Originally from Miller Beach on the south shore, Luick spent over two decades as a cook in various Northwest Indiana restaurants before deciding to open his own.

While it hasnt always been smooth sailing for the seafood spot  like everyone else, Luick and his team struggled during the pandemic  the chef cited his long experience in the industry as having instilled in him the ability to serve with consistency and enthusiasm.

The clientele we have developed here is out of this world, Luick said. I have a wonderful staff, talented kitchen service. Im blessed to be in this business.

Starting next week, the restaurant will also have new summer hours: Blue Points kitchen will be open from noon until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and then 11-9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The bar will stay open until 2 a.m.
After having a gun thrust in his face while delivering milk in Gary and talking his way out of getting shot, Region musician Robert Rolfe Feddersen quit the job and made a fateful call to the legendary record producer Steve Albini, taking him up on an earlier offer to work with him at any time.

Feddersen, an independent musician who regularly plays venues around Northwest Indiana, recorded a single and five albums with Albini, including an unfinished record that was one of the last Albini ever recorded.

Albini, who recorded many acclaimed albums from indie and alternative rock acts like Nirvana, the Pixies, the Breeders, Jason Molina, the Magnolia Electric Co., Veruca Salt, the Jesus Lizard, Bush, PH Harvey, Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, died this week of a heart attack at the age of 61.

"Steve was a genius," Feddersen said. "He was the purest and most unadulterated soul the music world has ever witnessed. I loved recording with him. It was the greatest experience of my life recording with Steve Albini."

Crown Point-based Feddersen, who helmed the 1990s band Loudmouth and was on the gold soundtrack for the movie "Varsity Blues," recorded the albums "American Loser," My Terri Ann," "Pepper in his Heart" and "The Distance" with Albini at his Electrical Audio studio in Chicago. They also recorded eight songs from his forthcoming album "Radioville," most recently recording tracks in February.

He plans to record the final two songs with Albini protege Jon San Paolo and release the new record next year. It's a rock, blues and folk album named after an actual Northwest Indiana town, a small unincorporated community in Pulaski County.

Feddersen first met Albini and recording the anthem "Win or Die Trying" for the Chicago White Sox, a team he's a huge fan of that adopted the grinder ball rule "win or die trying" when it won the World Series in 2005. He sent it over to the legendary host Steve Dahl, who played it on the air. Dahl said he liked the song but not the production and that it needed somebody like Steve Albini to record it and make it sound good.

"It was a tale of two Steves," Feddersen said. "Albini had an assistant who was listening to the Steve Dahl show and told him they were talking about him on the air and wanted him to record a song. So Steve Albini called into the radio show and hooked up a recording session."

Dahl booked a 10-hour session at Electrical Audio and they completed and finished the song  a hard rock anthem  in two hours.

Albini was impressed with Feddersen's preparation and professionalism.

"I like to be prepared going into the studio and that tracked really well with him," he said. "It was an easy process. When we were finished, Steve Albini told me I could record with him anytime."

Feddersen had been a little intimidated. He previously recorded with producers who put out albums for bands like Tool, the Melvins, Queens of the Stone Age, Five Finger Death Punch, Disturbed and Megadeth.

Albini produced some of the most acclaimed albums of all time, including Nirvana's "In Utero," The Pixie's "Surfer Rosa" and PJ Harvey's "Rid of Me." He worked with a murderer's row of acclaimed and influential artists like Urge Overkill, Slint, Superchunk, the Jon Spenser Blues Explosion, Man or Astro-man?, Joanna Newsom, Bonnie "Prince" Billy, Helmet, Fugazi, Hum, Low, Pansy Division and Flogging Molly.

"He was known for being very opinionated, very curt and a little curmudgeonly," he said. "He was very professional. He was a great storyteller. He turned me on to Hot Doug's."

Albini ordered Thai hot dogs and duck fat fries from the celebrated Hot Doug's. After it closed, he brought in Black Sabbath burgers from the acclaimed heavy metal burger joint Kuma's Corner.

Feddersen kept Albini's offer to record his work in the back of his mind since he had been so efficient and fun to work with. But in 2012, he took a break from playing music for a living. He was delivering milk in Gary for Clover Crest Dairy when two men robbed him.

"I almost died," he said. They had a gun and demanded cash. They didn't believe there was no cash on the truck so I gave them the cash I had. One of the guys said to shoot me. I told them I only do this to support my music and tried to relate to them talking about music. It worked. They let me go. I hopped in my milk truck, quit my job and called Steve Albini and told him I want to make a record with you."

Albini gave him a copy of the underground comic "Reid Fleming, the World's Toughest Milkman," joking the toughest milkman was either him or Reid.

They recorded the album "American Loser," in which Feddersen transitioned from his earlier hard rock sound to a more folk style influenced by John Prine and Bob Dylan.

"He was down to business and said, 'Let's make a record,'" he said. "He was warm and empathetic and heard me out and then we went forward with it."

They recorded the album in three days, mixing it on the third day.

Albini generally did not give artists too much guidance as he wanted them to be themselves and have their own unique individual sound, Feddersen said.

"He records you as you sound," he said. "He doesn't want you to sounds like the Cars or someone else. He wants you to sound like how you sound."

He had a vast microphone collection, a Neotek mixing console and an intuitive sense for how to mix in the guitars and vocals, Feddersen said. He always insisted on being called a sound engineer and not a producer.

"What he told me is he doesn't produce the sound, he just gets everything in place and you produce the music," Feddersen said. "The music's coming out of you, not coming out of him."

They frequently worked together, even recording an interview together for NTS Radio in the United Kingdom. A friendship blossomed over time.

"We had huge sense of comfort with each other," he said. "There was an unspoken feeling we all know what we're doing here, we all love this and we all are excited to be here."

They often talked about and bonded over their wives, both of whom have disabilities. They asked how things were going and progressing and what they were doing to help.

"We had a mutual admiration," he said. "We loved our wives and felt it was a privilege to have them in our lives and be able to help them and that nobody could do a better job."

Albini also often talked about musicians he admired.

"He'd mention other artists in conversation like if you were recording a bass part, he'd say Kim Deal was a great bass player who played with a pick and talk about the amp she used," he said. "It was day-to-day things he'd talk about. It was very easy and natural to have a conversation with him."

Albini was huge advocate for independent music.

"He liked that I played music for a living independently without a record label, booking agent or publicist," he said. "He admired my DIY work ethic. He was a huge advocate of independent musicians making at living at it."
Jennifer McCormick, the Democratic nominee for Indiana governor, believes she has a viable plan for ending two decades of Republican control of the executive branch of state government.

Ironically, it relies on Republicans and former Republicans, like McCormick, disaffected with the direction of the Donald Trump-era GOP turning away from Trump-endorsed U.S. Sen. Mike Braun, the Republican gubernatorial nominee, and partnering with Democratic voters "to restore common sense" in the Hoosier State.

"Hoosiers across the state and across the political aisle are tired of extremism and refuse to turn Indiana over to the extremism and chaos that Mike Braun represents," McCormick said. "Hoosier values reflect those of common sense, civility and bipartisanship. Let's bring this back to our great state."

A memo provided to The Times by McCormick's campaign details exactly how the former state superintendent of public instruction  who was elected statewide as a Republican in 2016 with more votes than Gov. Eric Holcomb but changed her party affiliation in 2021 to Democratic  hopes to do it.

In part, McCormick anticipates a significant portion of Republican primary voters, 60% of whom did not vote for Braun, will be open to supporting a candidate, even a Democratic candidate, determined to take a "moderate, bipartisan approach" to leading the state.

"Braun faced a messy and expensive Republican primary  the most expensive in state history  where members of his own party turned against him, spending millions of dollars on ads attacking his record of shipping jobs overseas, increasing taxes, and failing to address the crisis at the border, and went on the attack in debates to make sure Hoosiers knew about his record," the memo says.

In contrast, the memo observes, "Jennifer's experience as an educator and her independent track record have allowed her to earn support from across the aisle and win statewide."

On specific issues, McCormick's memo identifies three Indiana concerns she plans to prioritize, while noting Braun has, to this point, mostly relied on hot-button national topics, like the U.S.-Mexico border and China policy, to rev up his supporters.

McCormick, who would be the state's first female governor, will emphasize reproductive rights in her campaign by seeking to undo or modify the state's near-total abortion ban approved in 2022 by the Republican-controlled General Assembly.

"Protecting reproductive rights has proven to be galvanizing for voters from all parties in even some of the reddest states, including Kansas, Kentucky, and Ohio, and Hoosiers' disapproval of the states current restrictive ban could play a major role in turnout in Indiana this November," according to McCormick's memo.

The memo chides Braun for welcoming the U.S. Supreme Court decision reversing Roe v. Wade, which legalized abortion nationwide in 1973, and for expressing interest in the nation's high court similarly allowing states to set their own policies on other seemingly long-settled issues, such as interracial marriage.

McCormick's campaign also plans to emphasize her support for public education in connection with McCormick's experience as a teacher, principal and superintendent at Indiana schools, along with her four years as head of the Indiana Department of Education.

Specifically, McCormick will offer solutions to Indiana's teacher shortage, resist efforts to end collective bargaining for teachers, reduce the diversion of state funds from public schools to charter schools and private school vouchers, and work to preserve rural school districts, according to her campaign memo.

"Throughout her time as the state superintendent, she fought extreme voices in the legislature who were looking to defund public education in favor of unaccountable private schools. She was also a fiscal conservative who protected tax dollars and ensured money went where it was supposed to go  the classroom," the memo says.

Finally, McCormick is planning to highlight economic and workforce development as key issues in her campaign for governor, just as Holcomb, the term-limited Republican incumbent, has during his eight-year tenure as governor.

In that vein, the memo details how McCormick will criticize Braun for voting in the Senate against major federal jobs programs, including the CHIPS and Science Act, sponsored by U.S. Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., that are poised to bring billions of dollars in technology investments to the Hoosier State.

"She will reject the divisive culture war issues that have cost the state money and would make businesses less inclined to make Indiana their next home," the memo says.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, chairman of the Democratic Governors Association, is among those who thinks McCormick might just have a winning strategy for becoming Indiana governor.

"As a lifelong educator, Jennifer has spent decades advocating for public schools and ensuring teachers, students and districts had the resources they needed to thrive. Jennifer has always been an independent voice for Indiana, and is focused on bringing both parties together to fully fund public education, restore fundamental freedoms, and bring back good-paying jobs and businesses across the entire state," Walz said.

In contrast, Indiana Republican Party Press Secretary Griffin Reid contends this is another chapter in McCormick's "streak of misleading Hoosiers by saying and doing anything to get elected."

"The fact is Jennifer McCormick is another liberal Democrat running to promote the Biden agenda in Indiana. Time and again, Hoosiers have rejected extreme Democrats like Dr. McCormick, and we intend to work with Mike Braun to ensure the result is the same this November," Reid said.

Libertarian Donald Rainwater also is competing against McCormick and Braun at the Nov. 5 general election for a four-year term as governor.

Rainwater won 11.4% of the vote in the 2020 governor's race due in part to some Republicans abandoning Holcomb over his COVID-19 prevention policies.

Gallery: Take a virtual tour of Indiana's state parks Brown County State Park Chain O' Lakes State Park Charlestown State Park Clifty Falls State Park Falls of the Ohio State Park Fort Harrison State Park Harmonie State Park Lincoln State Park McCormick's Creek State Park Mounds State Park O'Bannon Woods State Park Ouabache State Park Pokagon State Park Potato Creek State Park Prophetstown State Park Shades State Park Shakamak State Park Spring Mill State Park Summit Lake State Park Tippecanoe River State Park Turkey Run State Park Versailles State Park White River State Park Whitewater Memorial State Park
In a combative cross-examination Thursday, Stormy Daniels battled the former presidents lawyers as they attacked her account of a sexual encounter with Donald J. Trump in a Nevada hotel.

Susan Necheles, a lawyer defending Mr. Trump in his criminal trial, spent almost three hours delving into Ms. Danielss memories of that 2006 night in Lake Tahoe, as well as suggesting that Ms. Danielss desire to tell her story was motivated only by money. Eventually, Ms. Necheles went straight to the point.

You made all this up, right? she asked.

Ms. Daniels responded forcefully: No.

At the conclusion of the day, Mr. Trumps lawyer, Todd Blanche, asked Justice Juan M. Merchan whether he would modify a gag order to let Mr. Trump respond publicly to Ms. Danielss testimony. The judge denied the request and Mr. Trumps second motion this week for a mistrial.

The former president is accused of falsifying business records to hide a $130,000 payment to Ms. Daniels just before the 2016 election, a payment meant to silence her story. Mr. Trump, 77, has denied the charges and says he did not have sex with Ms. Daniels. If convicted, he could face prison or probation.
Apple doesnt make mistakes often and seldom apologizes, but on Thursday, its head of advertising said the company had erred in making a new iPad commercial that showed an industrial compressor flattening tools for art, music and creativity.

Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and its incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world, said Tor Myhren, the companys vice president of marketing communications, in a statement provided to the publication AdAge. Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and were sorry.

Mr. Myhren said Apple would no longer run the ad on TV.

The company had faced a barrage of criticism from designers, actors and artists who saw the ad as a metaphor for how Big Tech has cashed in on their work by crushing or co-opting the artistic tools that humanity has used for centuries.

They found the crushing of a trumpet, piano, paints and a sculpture particularly unnerving at a time when artists fear that generative artificial intelligence, which can write poetry and create movies, might take away their jobs.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead said Thursday that he would not give the commencement address at the University of Massachusetts Amherst on May 18 as planned, citing the administrations decision to call the police on campus protesters.

I was looking forward to speaking next week at UMass Amherst, Mr. Whitehead wrote on the social network Bluesky. But calling the cops on peaceful protesters is a shameful act. I have to withdraw as your commencement speaker. I give all my best wishes and congratulations to the class of 24 and pray for the safety of the Palestinian people, the return of the hostages, and an end to this terrible war.

Michael Goldsmith, a representative for Mr. Whitehead, said the author had no further comment.

The school said that the ceremony would proceed without a commencement speaker.

We respect Mr. Whiteheads position and regret that he will not be addressing the Class of 2024, Ed Blaguszewski, a spokesman for the University of Massachusetts Amherst, said in a statement.
Hillary Clinton on Thursday criticized campus protesters, saying young people dont know very much about the history of the Middle East.

I have had many conversations, as you have had, with a lot of young people over the last many months now, she said on the MSNBC show Morning Joe on Thursday. They dont know very much at all about the history of the Middle East, or frankly about history, in many areas of the world, including in our own country.

Ms. Clinton then went on to imply that young people dont know that had Yasir Arafat, the former leader of the Palestinian Authority, accepted a deal brokered by her husband, President Bill Clinton, the Palestinians would already have a state of their own. Its one of the great tragedies of history that he was unable to say yes, she said.

The comments, made in response to a sprawling question about radicalization on university campuses from the host, Joe Scarborough, were criticized on social media by those who said that Ms. Clinton, a professor of international and public affairs at Columbia University, was underestimating students capacity.
Her elaborate schemes, among them posing as the heiress to an Irish fortune, swindled people out of huge sums and left Marianne Smyth with two felony convictions.

Now Ms. Smyth, 54, an American, will most likely be extradited to Northern Ireland to face eight separate accusations of theft and fraud there, a federal court ruled on Thursday, saying there was sufficient evidence to sustain the charges. She will be turned over to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, pending a final decision on her extradition by the U.S. secretary of state, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Maine.

Ms. Smyth became known as the Irish heiress after one of her former victims, Johnathan Walton, started a podcast in 2021 about his experience. The two became close friends after meeting in 2013, and Mr. Walton, a reality television producer, said that Ms. Smyth had claimed to be from a prominent Irish family.

But she was facing money problems, she told him, and was battling relatives in Ireland over an inheritance worth tens of millions of dollars. Sympathetic, Mr. Walton lent her money and the use of his credit card, an amount that totaled more than $63,000.
The police cleared a pro-Palestinian encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology early on Friday and arrested 10 demonstrators, after days of escalating tensions on the Cambridge campus.

About 4 a.m., police officers gave demonstrators a 15-minute warning to leave the tent encampment, then began loading people into police vehicles. The arrests, which occurred while about a dozen other protesters chanted from a nearby sidewalk, appeared largely peaceful.

In a letter to the M.I.T. community Friday morning, the universitys president, Sally Kornbluth, called the encampments removal by police a last resort and said the ongoing disruption had made its continuing presence increasingly untenable.

We did not believe we could responsibly allow the encampment to persist, Dr. Kornbluth wrote. We did not take this step suddenly. We offered warnings. We telegraphed clearly what was coming. At each point, the students made their own choices. And finally, choosing among several bad options, we chose the path we followed this morning  where each student again had a choice.
A pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Pennsylvania has expanded, as students wrap up exams and the university finalizes its plans for graduation ceremonies on May 20.

A post on social media by an account associated with the Penn encampment said the expansion on Wednesday night was in response to the administrations continued bad-faith negotiations over demands that the university divest from financial support for Israel.

Steve Silverman, a spokesman for Penn, declined to comment on the activists assertion that the university was not negotiating in good faith.

For nearly two weeks, the protesters have been occupying the west side of a green space in front of College Hall, the oldest building on campus. On Wednesday night, after a march that brought a large group of students and Philadelphia activists to College Hall, protesters expanded the encampment to the east side of the green space, moving the metal barriers that had been erected to mark the boundaries of the protest space.
A partisan battle in Ohio has stalled an effort by state lawmakers to ensure that President Biden is on the ballot in the state this November, teeing up what could be an expensive and protracted legal battle ahead of this years election.

Ohio was one of three states that had warned the Democratic Party that Mr. Biden could be left off the ballot because the Democratic National Convention would take place after certification deadlines for presidential nominees. This is usually a minor procedural issue, and states have almost always offered a quick solution to ensure that major presidential candidates remain on the ballot.

Alabama, for example, resolved the issue with little fanfare last week, when the State Legislature overwhelmingly passed a law granting an extension to the deadline accommodating the late date of the Democratic convention, which is scheduled to begin Aug. 19. Election officials in Washington State also signaled that their state would accept a provisional certification of Mr. Bidens nomination.

Legislation similar to the law adopted in Alabama was proposed in the Republican-dominated General Assembly in Ohio but stalled out ahead of a Thursday deadline given by Frank LaRose, the Republican secretary of state, to change the law. Mr. LaRose has said that the legislature could still resolve the issue with an emergency vote.
Former President Donald J. Trump on Thursday assailed President Biden for threatening to halt weapons supplies to Israel, and he repeatedly turned to castigating American Jews who support Mr. Biden, suggesting that they were betraying their religious and cultural identity.

Outside the Manhattan courtroom where he is on trial for charges related to a campaign sex scandal cover-up in 2016, Mr. Trump called Mr. Bidens policy on Israel disgraceful. Then, he told reporters that any Jewish person who had voted for Mr. Biden should be ashamed of themselves.

Asked about Mr. Bidens comments by a local television station in North Carolina, he instructed American Jews  a substantial majority of whom are liberal  not to vote for Mr. Biden in November. If youre Jewish, and you vote for him, I say, shame on you, he told Spectrum News 1 North Carolina.

And in a video posted to social media in which he also invoked a rally and march in Charlottesville, Va., in 2017, where white supremacists carrying tiki torches chanted Jews will not replace us, Mr. Trump claimed that Mr. Biden hated the Jewish people. He added: If Jewish people are going to vote for Joe Biden, they have to have their head examined.
Under mounting pressure to offer a justification for the fatal police shooting of a U.S. Air Force senior airman in his own apartment last week, a Florida sheriff on Thursday released body camera footage of the deadly encounter.

The footage shows Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, answering the door of his apartment in the Florida Panhandle and immediately being shot by a deputy from the Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office. The video also shows that Airman Fortson was holding a gun, and the authorities have maintained that the deputy reacted in self-defense.

The release of the footage came amid growing questions from the airmans family and their lawyers  including Ben Crump, who has represented the family of George Floyd  who had accused the deputy of entering the wrong apartment, of not knocking or announcing himself and of bursting through the door.

Some of those accusations appeared to be undercut by the body camera video. The lawyers said they were based on information from Airman Fortsons girlfriend, who had been on a video call with him during the episode. They did not dispute that Airman Fortson was armed but said that he had every right to be as a legal gun owner in his own home.
Celebratory gunshots rang out in the capital of the Central African nation of Chad on Thursday night after its military ruler, President Mahamat Idriss Deby, was declared the winner of a highly scripted presidential election on national television.

Two hours before the official broadcast, a resounding victory had been claimed by his main challenger, Succes Masra, the opposition leader who has been the countrys prime minister since January, after he returned from exile abroad and made a deal with Mr. Deby.

But the preliminary results announced by Chads National Elections Management Agency depicted a resounding victory for the other side. Mr. Deby, it said, won 61 percent of the vote, and Mr. Masra 18.5 percent.

Nine people were killed after the celebratory volleys were fired in Ndjamena, the capital, according to several local media reports, including four children from the same family. This was despite a ban on gunfire and parades, according to an internal message from the army that was circulating in Chad on Thursday.
The Japanese American Citizens League, one of the oldest and largest Asian American civil rights organizations, called on Thursday for a negotiated cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war, following months of pressure from younger members who believed the group had a duty to advocate for Palestinians.

The organizations leaders and some older members were reluctant to take a position on the war, in part because of the leagues longstanding ties with prominent Jewish civil rights groups in the United States. In the 1970s, the American Jewish Committee was the first national organization to endorse the push by Japanese Americans for reparations for their incarceration during World War II.

But younger members of the Japanese American group said that Palestinians were suffering from human rights violations and that their organization had long stood up for such victims.

The league, in a statement on Thursday, pointed to the conflicts staggering death toll of Palestinians and Israelis and the immense and continuous humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

As a group dedicated to safeguarding the civil liberties of not only Japanese Americans but all individuals subjected to injustice and bigotry, the group said, we must denounce these egregious human rights violations.

The organization did not call for an unconditional cease-fire, but instead said it wanted Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement and urged President Biden to advance such negotiations.

The rift within the league was another example of how the Israel-Hamas war has cleaved cultural, academic and political institutions far beyond the Middle East, and not just among groups with direct ties to the region. As in many organizations, the divide within the league has mostly been along generational lines.

In its cease-fire statement, the group did not address one of the young activists primary demands: cutting ties with Jewish organizations they labeled Zionist. David Inoue, the leagues executive director, said in an interview on Thursday that the group was not considering that option.

Thats not how we work in coalition, Mr. Inoue said. I think its inherently unfair for anyone to make demands like that.
The main United Nations agency that aids Palestinians, known as UNRWA, said on Thursday that it would temporarily close its headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem for the safety of its staff after parts of the compound were set on fire following weeks of attacks.

This evening, Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter of the UNRWA Headquarters in occupied East Jerusalem, said the leader of the agency, Philippe Lazzarini, on social media.

The fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas of the compound, Mr. Lazzarini said, but there were no injuries to workers there from UNRWA or other U.N. agencies. He added that some of the workers had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up.

On Friday, Israeli police said in a statement that an investigation was started on suspicion of a brush fire ignition next to the UNRWA facility and that preliminary findings suggested it was started by minors and was therefore not subject to criminal prosecution. It offered no further details, but said the investigation was still going on.

The attack put the lives of U.N. staff at serious risk and comes two days after protesters threw stones at staff members at the compound, Mr. Lazzarini said.

Protests by Israeli settlers calling for UNRWAs closure have been continuing for months. On several occasions, Israeli extremists threatened our staff with guns, Mr. Lazzarini said in Thursdays social media post, adding that under international law, it is Israels responsibility as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times.

Many Israeli officials have called for years for UNRWA to be dismantled, and the agency lost funding from some donor countries earlier this year after Israel accused a dozen of its employees of being involved in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on Oct. 7. An independent review commissioned by the U.N. and released in April found that Israel had not provided any evidence to support its further accusations that many UNRWA staff members are members of terrorist organizations.
Dear listeners,

For todays Amplifier, your proprietor Lindsay Zoladz graciously lent me the keys for a little tour of Africa to celebrate some of the continents guitar greats. It was prompted by my recent profile of Mdou Moctar, the axeman from Niger who has built up a following with a tight band and stunning solos that can sound somewhere between vintage psychedelia and the so-called desert blues  a modern update of the African rhythmic and harmonic traditions that underlie so much popular music in the West, including the blues (and rock, and jazz, and R&B ).

But honestly, any excuse is a good one to delve into this music and explore some of the characters behind it. Theres Ali Farka Toure, the Malian poet of the guitar, who learned from exposure to American bluesmen like John Lee Hooker but bristled at the idea that he was anything but an African purist. Theres Orchestra Baobab, whose songs are evidence of how musical styles pingpong around the world and can continue to evolve after returning home. And Oliver Mtukudzi, a force for justice and human rights who put music in service of his message.

When I interviewed Moctar, much of our conversation was about politics. His latest album, Funeral for Justice, is a take-no-prisoners assault on the legacy of colonialism in Africa, which includes the struggles of the Tuareg, a historically nomadic ethnic group in the Sahara region that are divided by national borders. Political statements are scarce in American pop music these days, but they are a vital part of many of the tracks here, in ways that can be direct or oblique.

This playlist is an assortment of some of my favorites, but is by no means meant as an exhaustive list, musically or geographically. If youre new to this, I hope it can help you get started on a lifetime of exploration.
At the heart of the dispute between President Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu over invading Rafah is a larger disagreement about what Israel can reasonably hope to accomplish against Hamas.

In todays newsletter, Ill lay out the conflicting views of Biden and Netanyahu and summarize The Timess latest coverage of the war.

Israels view

To Netanyahu and his aides, the destruction of Hamas is a vital goal. Israels military has already made progress, having dismantled at least 18 of Hamass 24 battalions since the Oct. 7 attacks. But Hamass top leaders and thousands of fighters have survived, many evidently fleeing to tunnels under Rafah.

Allowing a cornered enemy to escape violates basic precepts of military strategy, Israeli officials believe. Ending the war without clearing out Rafah is like sending a firefighter to extinguish 80 percent of the fire, Benny Gantz, a member of Israels war cabinet and Netanyahus chief political opponent, has told U.S. officials. The Wall Street Journal editorial board, which tends to support Netanyahu, has called Rafah the crucial city for the terrorist groups future.
The word reconnoiter has appeared in three articles on NYTimes.com in the past year, including on July 14 in He Was Spinning Vinyl. She Spun His World Around by Rosalie R. Radomsky:

Do you like vinyl? asked Nasir Cedell Qadree as he walked up to her in the Union Market district of Northeast Washington, trying to plug Byrdland Records, a nearby vinyl shop where he spent Saturday afternoons spinning funk, soul, boogie, disco and house music. Mr. Qadree, 38, primarily works as a managing partner of Zeal Capital Partners, a venture capital firm he founded, which focuses on investing in diverse management teams. I do, she said. Why do you ask? He was encouraged by her more-than-one-word reply. Im spinning vinyl at 2 p.m., he said. You should come by. They then locked eyes, took off their Covid masks and smiled. Ms. Louvouezo, 37, a single mother whose son Myel, now 7, was away for the weekend, quickly called her friend. They decided to reconnoiter at Byrdland before lunch.

Daily Word Challenge

Can you correctly use the word reconnoiter in a sentence?

Based on the definition and example provided, write a sentence using todays Word of the Day and share it as a comment on this article. It is most important that your sentence makes sense and demonstrates that you understand the words definition, but we also encourage you to be creative and have fun.

If you want a better idea of how reconnoiter can be used in a sentence, read these usage examples on Vocabulary.com. You can also visit this guide to learn how to use IPA symbols to show how different words are pronounced.

If you enjoy this daily challenge, try our vocabulary quizzes.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Friday announced a global $500 million fund-raising effort to help diversify its base of support and ensure its financial future in a period of transformation for the film industry and the nonprofit cultural sector.

Both are going through radical business model shifts right now due to changing audience habits and revenue streams, Bill Kramer, the chief executive of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, said in an email. As a nonprofit, and like any healthy organization or company, the academy needs a sustainable and diverse base of support to allow for solid long-term planning and fiscal certainty.

Announced during a news conference in Rome hosted by the Italian film studio Cinecitta, the campaign is called Academy100, in honor of the 100th Oscars ceremony in 2028. The academy plans to use about $300 million of the new funds to bring its endowment to $800 million; the remainder will go toward operating expenses and special projects.

The academy currently has an annual operating budget of about $170 million, 70 percent of which comes from its Oscars broadcast deal with Disney and ABC, which runs through 2028. About $45 million of the operating expenses are used by the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures.
They have provided some of the more quotidian testimony in a trial populated by porn stars and presidents: a series of witnesses who have discussed such matters as FedEx labels, Sharpie usage and stapling protocol.

But each of those witnesses has provided a link in the chain of custody of the 34 business documents at the heart of the case against Donald J. Trump, whose trial is completing its fourth week on Friday.

Mr. Trump is accused of disguising those records as payments for legal services to cover up a reimbursement to Michael Cohen, his former lawyer and fixer. Mr. Cohen in 2016 had paid $130,000 to Stormy Daniels, an adult film actress, to bury her allegation of a sexual encounter with the former president.

Such witnesses, known as custodial witnesses, are used to authenticate documents and events that have not otherwise previously been agreed to  stipulated, in legalese  by prosecutors and defense lawyers.
When in Rome, do as New Yorkers do.

That was the apparent strategy of Mayor Eric Adams, who, in the first of a three-day trip to Italy, adopted the same frenetic pace he keeps in New York City  all while keeping the news media at arms length.

His first stop was the Colosseum, and Mr. Adams, accompanied by a deputy mayor of Rome, went below the surface to see the construction site of a Metro station there. Then, in quick succession, Mr. Adams met another deputy mayor of Rome; participated in a series of round-table discussions with Nobel Peace Prize laureates; and then met the mayor of Rome, Roberto Gualtieri.

Only one of those four events was open to the press, leaving much of what he said, heard or learned to his recollections, delivered at a virtual media briefing.

By 7 p.m., the mayor still had three more events on his schedule, including a tour of the famed Sistine Chapel and Vatican Museums, and a speech by Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Vicar General of His Holiness for Vatican City.
There are birders who have been counting the days since March 25. And also April 2.

On those days a peregrine falcon laid the first and last of several eggs in a nest that is both private and closely watched in Lower Manhattan. The nest is private because it is on a windowless ledge of an office building that towers over South Street and Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.

The nest is closely watched because what happens there can be seen on Falcon Cam, a video feed from a camera above the nest. An urban naturalists reality TV, the writer Lenora Todaro called the feed.
Rudolph W. Giuliani was suspended by WABC radio on Friday and his daily talk show was abruptly canceled after the station said he violated its policy by trying to discuss discredited claims about the 2020 presidential election on air.

John Catsimatidis, the billionaire Republican businessman who owns the station, said he had made the decision after Mr. Giuliani refused to avoid the topic despite repeated warnings.

Were not going to talk about fallacies of the November 2020 election, Mr. Catsimatidis said in a brief phone interview. We warned him once. We warned him twice. And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it.

So, Mr. Catsimatidis continued, he left me no option. I suspended him.

Mr. Giuliani, a former New York City mayor, was one of the leading figures in former President Donald J. Trumps attempts to contest and overturn the 2020 election results. He was Mr. Trumps personal lawyer at the time and helped coordinate legal challenges to Mr. Bidens victory in several states in a bid to keep Mr. Trump in office.
Faculty members at The New School in Manhattan this week set up what may be the first professor-led pro-Palestinian encampment on a college campus since the Israel-Hamas war has prompted waves of protests at schools across the country.

The New Schools urban campus in Greenwich Village lacks the open spaces and green lawns of other universities that have been the site of protest encampments, so the professors set up their camp inside the lobby of a university building on Fifth Avenue.

On Thursday afternoon, eight tents were visible on the same spot where some of the schools students had previously set up a lobby encampment for several days. The university called in the police last week to remove it and arrest the student protesters.
University commencement season in New York City started on Friday, in a climate that was anything but normal.

Turmoil over protests related to the Israel-Hamas war is seemingly everywhere. At N.Y.U., dozens of graduate student workers are threatening to withhold grades if the university does not remove police officers from campus. At the Fashion Institute of Technology, the police made more than 50 arrests on Tuesday after breaking up a pro-Palestinian student encampment there.

At City College, Fordham University, The New School and Columbia, the police have made arrests after being called in by administrators to clear out pro-Palestinian student encampments and end other demonstrations.

The police barricades that still remain outside many college buildings are a visceral reminder of the intense divisions on campus, a marked contrast with the usual festive mood around the city each May, when thousands of students walk the city streets in their robes and regalia.
Hunger strikes are typically the third act of political protest, the point at which the conventional provocations, having failed to yield the desired result, push the most impassioned closer toward martyrdom. The eruptions that have marked campus life around the country these past several weeks have entered this phase at Princeton University, where, on Tuesday, about a dozen students occupying a corner of Cannon Green were on the fifth day of a fast in solidarity with the idea of Palestinian liberation.

What the university is making abundantly clear is that they would rather let students starve than enter a dialogue, David Chmielewski, one of the strikers, a soft-spoken senior, told me.

Princeton retains the most patrician air of the Ivies  especially on a warm afternoon in May with a flowering 500-acre campus distinguished by what F. Scott Fitzgerald called a lazy beauty. On Nassau Street, which runs parallel to campus on the northern edge, you can buy a Patek Philippe watch from a 112-year old jeweler that maintains a branch in Palm Beach. Princeton has been less responsive to student demands around the war in Gaza than some of its peers. On Monday, the universitys president, Christopher Eisgruber, spoke for the first time with a group of students and faculty about divestment and disassociation from Israel, a meeting that lasted only an hour, and one that the objectors found unproductive.

The discussion had followed a sit-in that began on April 25 and then the occupation of an administrative building four days later, where 13 students were arrested. The hunger strikers have said that they will continue to limit themselves to water until the conversations around disentangling from Israel become substantive and the university allows students who have been arrested back on campus, dismissing the disciplinary charges against them.
We dont yet know if H5N1 bird flu will spill over from animals to infect a large number of humans. Based on the few cases of transmission so far, the World Health Organization has expressed concerns that infection in humans can cause severe disease with a high mortality rate.

But already it has wrought devastation upon so many lives. The deaths of millions of birds and mammals around the globe in the last few years directly and indirectly from this outbreak should be enough to spur urgent action to stop the spread of the virus, as well as remind us of the role humans play in the proliferation of infectious diseases.

Its my belief that humans have an obligation to the nonhuman life we share this planet with to mitigate the harm weve enabled this virus to cause. Our unsustainable activities  factory farming, climate-warming emissions and habitat destruction, to name a few  have helped turn bird flu from a natural phenomenon into an anthropogenic disaster. But even if you dont share that conviction, it is still in our best interest to keep this virus from spreading.

Disease has always been part of avian natural history. Wild birds are routinely exposed to mild viruses, but are seldom killed by them. Humans, however, have introduced factors that favor disease: A warming climate can weaken avian immune systems, and infections spread more easily when birds come into more frequent contact while sharing what little habitat remains.
During the 2016 Republican campaign, watching Donald Trump shoulder his way past his more pious rivals for the nomination, I remarked on the platform then known as Twitter: If you dislike the religious right, wait till you meet the post-religious right.

This apothegm has often been quoted back to me, and this month Compact magazines editor, Matthew Schmitz, quoted it in order to offer a critique. My one-liner captured a widely shared assumption that Trumps rise signaled the birth of an irreligious right animated by white racial grievance, he wrote. But thats not how history has played out, Schmitz said:

It is clear now that this assumption was wrong. The old religious right may have suffered a fatal blow in 2016. But what succeeded it was not a post-religious racialist party, as some feared and others hoped. On the contrary: Donald Trump attracted higher rates of support from minorities than had the previous Republican nominee, Mitt Romney. As the Republican pollster Patrick Ruffini has noted, between 2012 and 2020, Hispanic support for the G.O.P. increased by 19 points, African American support by 11, and Asian American support by 5. Since Trumps emergence, the parties have become less  not more  racially polarized. Meanwhile, religiosity has become a more powerful predictor of voting habits. Evangelicals, Catholics, and Black Protestants all supported Trump at higher rates in 2020 than in 2016, even as Trumps support fell among atheists and agnostics. Pundits who once warned that Trumps G.O.P. was preparing to establish white supremacy now are more likely to denounce its ambitions as Christian nationalist. Whatever else one makes of this charge, it implies an acknowledgment that a post-religious right has failed to materialize.

All this is drawn from a First Things profile of J.D. Vance, the junior senator from Ohio, whom Schmitz portrays as a potential spokesman for a new religious populism, distinct from the George W. Bush-era religious right but no less influenced by Christian faith.

I recommend the piece, and I entirely agree with Schmitz that Trump-era conservatism can have a religious face and that relative to expectations in 2015 and 2016, the white-identitarian side of Trumps political pitch has ended up having less influence on American political alignments than the pan-ethnic and class-based aspects of his appeal. And Trumps transactional approach to culture-war issues ended up delivering more for the religious right than might have been expected, yielding the stronger alignment in 2020 (and probably 2024) that Schmitz describes.

But when Schmitz says a post-religious right has failed to materialize I have to strongly disagree. There are various forms of post-Christian conservatism that are clearly more potent today than they were 10 or 20 years ago  as you would expect in a nation where Christian affiliation and observance have substantially declined and where the Republican Party has been dominated for almost a decade by a man whose personal faith a perspicacious writer once described as a form of Norman Vincent Peale-ian positive thinking in which the Christian residue has curdled into pagan disdain. (That writer was Schmitz.)
In a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland this week, the Republican senator Josh Hawley demanded a federal investigation into dark money groups subsidizing pro-terrorist student organizations holding anti-Israel protests on college campuses. He cited Politico reporting linking big liberal philanthropies to some pro-Palestinian organizers. Open Society Foundations, for example, founded by the oft-demonized George Soros, has given grants to the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, which has an active university presence. Hawley noted that an I.R.S. ruling denies tax-exempt status to organizations that encourage their members to commit civil disobedience, calling nonprofit funding for the groups behind the anti-Israel demonstrations almost certainly illegal.

Even if Garland doesnt act on Hawleys request, the attorney general in a second Donald Trump administration probably would. Thats one reason I fear that the backlash to the pro-Palestinian campus movement  which includes lawsuits, hearings and legislation  could help Republicans wage war on progressive nonprofits more broadly.

If they do, the right would be following a well-worn authoritarian playbook. In addition to repressing critical voices in academia and the media, the autocratic leaders Trump admires have regularly tried to crush the congeries of advocacy groups, think tanks, humanitarian organizations and philanthropies often referred to as civil society. Hungary, for example, passed what it called the Stop Soros law, which criminalized helping refugees and migrants apply for asylum. More recently, Hungary enacted a sovereignty law, which, as a report from the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace put it, offers the ruling party and the Secret Service vast powers to accuse and investigate any groups or individuals that influence public debate and may have had foreign training or contact for any part of their work.

That Carnegie report, written by Rachel Kleinfeld and published in March, offers a stark warning that something similar could happen here. In fact, Kleinfeld argues, its already started.
INTERNATIONAL

An article on Thursday about an escalation in Britains diplomatic feud with Russia misidentified the agency Britain accused of a pattern of malign activity in Britain and Europe. It is the Federal Security Service, or F.S.B., which is Russias domestic intelligence agency, not its foreign intelligence service. The error was repeated in a capsule summary and a picture caption.

NATIONAL

An article on Sunday about the City College of New Yorks decision to end pro-Palestinian protests on campus misstated the day that the pro-Palestinian encampment on the quad at the City College of New York started. It was April 25, not April 18.

An article on Thursday about tornado clusters misspelled in one instance the surname of a professor at the University of Louisiana Monroe. He is Tyler Fricker, not Frick.

BUSINESS

An article on Thursday about General Motorss decision to stop making the Chevrolet Malibu misstated the year that the Malibu SS was introduced. It was in 1964, not four years after the Malibu. In addition, the article misidentified the location car was produced. It is the Fairfax district of Kansas City, Kan., not in Fairfax, Kan.
Keep an eye on the skies on Saturday night for what could be another dazzling display of nature  or not, depending on your location and weather conditions.

An unusual amount of solar flare activity means that the aurora borealis, or the northern lights, could continue to appear over the weekend.

The solar storm was a level 5 on Friday, which gave some star gazers a clear view of streaks of green, purple and red that arced across the skies. Those conditions are expected to continue, Mike Bettwy, the operations chief of the Space Weather Prediction Center, said on Saturday.

It should be fairly similar to what we saw last night, maybe not as widespread but fairly close, Mr. Bettwy said.
This article is part of our Design special section about water as a source of creativity.

In the middle of Milan Design Week last month, in the middle of the Bagni Misteriosi  a historic bathing complex in the Porta Romana neighborhood  the Italian luxury shipbuilder Azimut Yachts hosted an unusual exhibition. It was a celebration of the companys latest offering: the Seadeck 6, which made its debut last year and features interiors by the design team of Matteo Thun and Antonio Rodriguez.

Having been lowered into the facility by crane, the nearly 60-foot vessel was set afloat in an outdoor swimming pool. There it bobbed, traversed by hordes of well-coiffed guests while a concealed apparatus shrouded it in bursts of atmospheric steam. Surreal, elegant, not a little absurd, it was a scene straight out of Fellini, with overtones of Werner Herzogs boat-hoisting epic Fitzcarraldo.

But the thing that made it most unusual? Azimut wanted to make this the most sustainable boat on the market, Mr. Rodriguez said. We tried to do that.
This article is part of our Design special section about water as a source of creativity.

On May 3, Zeyrek Cinili Hamam, a 500-year-old public bathhouse, reopened in Istanbul after a 13-year, $15-million-plus restoration. Named for its original cobalt-and-turquoise cladding (cinili is the Turkish word for tiled), the hamam is the jewel of the Zeyrek district, a historic neighborhood in Istanbul that is now a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Visitors can enjoy a traditional Turkish bath under soaring domes pierced with star-shaped skylights that send shimmering rays into the rooms. A typical hourlong bath costs 95 euros (about $101) and includes an exfoliation scrub and a massage accompanied by the soothing sound of water splashing into marble basins.

Just as in Ottoman times, anyone who can afford the entrance fee is welcome, regardless of faith, class or profession.

Restoring the bathhouse, which was built from 1530 to 1540, was Bike Gursels self-described obsession. Fourteen years ago, as a board member of the Marmara Group, a privately held real estate investment firm, Ms. Gursel decided a classical Turkish hamam was just the thing to diversify the companys offerings.
The police literally gripped me up and took me off the premises, he said.

Mr. Muhammad was taken to the corner of 34th and Walnut streets, where he joined a group of protesters who were chanting and trying to block police vans from leaving. His video shows a group of roughly 40 protesters on College Green standing a few yards from a line of police in riot gear.

The arrests came a day after Gov. Josh Shapiro said it was past time for Penns administration to clear the encampment. Over the last 24 hours at the University of Pennsylvania, the situation has gotten even more unstable and out of control, he said, speaking at an unrelated news conference near Pittsburgh.

The governor, a Democrat, is a nonvoting member of Penns board of trustees.

In a letter sent Friday morning to Penns staff, the interim president, J. Larry Jameson said that extraordinary circumstances had forced the administrations hand. He added that a university ID card would be needed to enter the campus green. Passion for a cause cannot supersede the safety and operations of our university, he wrote.

Mr. Jameson became Penns interim president late last year after his predecessor, Elizabeth Magill, resigned in the wake of harsh criticism of her testimony at a congressional hearing. In the hearing, Ms. Magill and the presidents of Harvard and M.I.T. were accused by Republicans of failing to crack down on campus antisemitism.

In a statement after the arrests on Friday morning, the executive committee of Penns chapter of the American Association of University Professors condemned what it called repressive action by the schools administration and a cowardly, shameful attempt to silence and punish speech.
Arizona State University has put the chief of its campus police department on paid administrative leave, two weeks after dozens of people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment there.

The decision came after complaints were filed related to the actions of the chief, Michael Thompson, in late April, when the campus police broke up the demonstration. School officials said on Friday that the universitys general counsel was reviewing the complaints, but they did not provide further details about the allegations or who had filed them.

At least 20 Arizona State students were among the people arrested after they refused to leave the campus. The students were temporarily suspended, and have since filed a lawsuit against the Arizona Board of Regents, which governs the states public university system. The suit, filed in Federal District Court in Arizona, argues that the school violated their First Amendment rights.

There were also reports that the police had removed some womens hijabs during the arrests. Those reports were being reviewed by the general counsels office, the university said in a statement last week.
Police officers at the University of Arizona in Tucson removed an unauthorized encampment on campus early Friday, hours before the schools scheduled graduation ceremony, school officials said.

The encampment structure, reportedly made from wooden pallets and other debris, was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. on Thursday against campus policy, the school said in a statement.

Officials said that they warned the protesters to remove the encampment and disperse, but the warnings were ignored.

This evening, police vehicles have been spiked, and rocks and water bottles have been thrown at officers and university staff, school officials said. Those who have violated the law are subject to arrest and prosecution. University officials have taken action to ensure the safety of Centennial Hall convocation attendees.
The president was livid. He had just been shown pictures of civilians killed by Israeli shelling, including a small baby with an arm blown off. He ordered aides to get the Israeli prime minister on the phone and then dressed him down sharply.

The president was Ronald Reagan, the year was 1982, and the battlefield was Lebanon, where Israelis were attacking Palestinian fighters. The conversation Mr. Reagan had with Prime Minister Menachem Begin that day, Aug. 12, would be one of the few times aides ever heard the usually mild-mannered president so exercised.

It is a holocaust, Mr. Reagan told Mr. Begin angrily.

Mr. Begin, whose parents and brother were killed by the Nazis, snapped back, Mr. President, I know all about a holocaust.

Nonetheless, Mr. Reagan retorted, it had to stop. Mr. Begin heeded the demand. Twenty minutes later, he called back and told the president that he had ordered a halt to the shelling. I didnt know I had that kind of power, Mr. Reagan marveled to aides afterward.
President Biden began a fund-raising swing through California and Washington on Friday, courting an elite subset of donors in a string of campaign events hosted by wealthy backers.

Mr. Biden planned two campaign receptions on Friday outside San Francisco, the first at the Portola Valley home of Vinod Khosla, a billionaire Silicon Valley venture capitalist, followed immediately by a second in Palo Alto hosted by the former chief executive of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer.

Tickets to the fund-raiser hosted by Mr. Khosla were being offered for $6,600 to $100,000 each, according to reporting by Puck. A reporter from the White House press pool traveling with the president estimated that taken together, more than 100 people attended the two events.

Mr. Khosla has been a vocal supporter of Mr. Biden and has donated heavily to Democrats during the current election cycle. Mr. Biden is expected to make two more appearances in the Seattle area on Friday evening and on Saturday, with senior staff at Microsoft and Amazon among the hosts mentioned on invitations sent by the Biden campaign for the Saturday event.
The Biden administration said on Friday that it would compensate dairy farmers for cooperating with its efforts to limit the spread of the bird flu virus, part of a series of expansive measures aimed at containing an outbreak.

The payment system amounted to one of the most forceful actions taken so far by agriculture officials who have raced to keep up with the spread of the virus among dairy cows. Farm owners have been reluctant to allow state and federal officials access to cows and workers exposed to or infected by the virus, and are fearful of the financial consequences of infected herds and contaminated milk.

Under the so-called indemnity program, farms would receive up to $28,000 to protect workers and cover costs incurred treating and testing sick cows. Producers may also receive payments for lost milk production on farms with confirmed bird flu cases.

Farm workers who agree to participate in government-led studies will also be compensated for their time.
Happy Weekend! Youve made it through a week of dramatic Stormy Daniels testimony, a brain worm and a failed attempt to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson. Today were covering a different trip Trump took to court  and well meet an unlikely surrogate for the Biden administrations Gaza outreach.

Donald Trump was running for president and leading in the polls. He was spending lots of time in New York. And he had a nagging legal problem that had landed him in court.

I speak, of course, of Trumps 2015 summons for jury duty.

Not long after he clashed with Megyn Kelly on a debate stage  and made a crude comment about her in the aftermath  Trump showed up at State Supreme Court in Lower Manhattan on Aug. 17, 2015. He had a backlog of jury summonses he hadnt responded to, and it was time to make it right.

My colleague Rebecca Davis OBrien has been thinking a lot about this episode, in light of Trumps current status as a criminal defendant in the courthouse just down the block from the one where he appeared nine years ago.
The Biden administration is set to announce new tariffs as high as 100 percent on Chinese electric vehicles and additional import taxes on other Chinese goods, including semiconductors, as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter.

The move comes amid growing concern within the administration that Mr. Bidens efforts to jump-start domestic manufacturing of clean energy products could be undercut by China, which has been flooding global markets with cheap solar panels, batteries, electric vehicles and other products.

The long-awaited tariffs are the result of a four-year review of the levies that President Donald J. Trump imposed on more than $300 billion of Chinese imports in 2018. Most of the Trump tariffs are expected to remain in place, but Mr. Biden plans to go beyond those by raising levies in areas that the president showered with subsidies in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

That includes Chinese electric vehicles, which currently face a 25 percent tariff. The administration is expected to raise that to as much as 100 percent in order to make it prohibitively expensive to buy a Chinese E.V.
The Academic Senate at the University of California, Los Angeles, failed to come to a vote on Friday on whether to formally rebuke the schools chancellor, Gene Block, after pro-Palestinian demonstrators were attacked for hours last week without police intervention and more than 200 protesters were later arrested as their encampment was dismantled.

The virtual meeting was attended by several hundred members of the Senate, which includes all faculty members who meet certain criteria. Only members of a smaller group known as the Legislative Assembly, which consists of representatives selected by campus departments, would have been allowed to vote on a no-confidence resolution and a censure resolution.

A vote of no confidence in Mr. Block would have been the harsher of the two measures.

For many of us, we feel strongly that the actions and inaction of our chancellor warrant a vote of no confidence, said Carlos Santos, an associate professor of social welfare who represents the Luskin School of Public Affairs in the Assembly, before the meeting. We feel strongly that its critical that we go down in history as centering our students safety, first and foremost.

But after more than three hours of discussion, much of it devoted to parliamentary procedure, the meeting ended without a vote. The group will take up the issue again at its next meeting, on May 16.
With fireworks, a marching band, celebrity congratulations and a drone show, the University of Southern California on Thursday tried to smooth over the weeks of tumult that have cleaved its campus and upended its traditional commencement with a hastily assembled party for its graduates.

There were no protesters or any direct mentions of the recent turmoil in the tight one-hour ceremony at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. Jimmy Kimmel, the late night TV host, said in a videotaped greeting that this class has been through a lot.

But he did not get into specifics, and for most of the audience of about 20,000 graduates and their relatives, the evening was notable for its departure from the angst of the past month.

The party was held in lieu of the typical pomp and pageantry-filled commencement at the campus. It took place three weeks after the university canceled a speech by its valedictorian, who is Muslim, which touched off intense campus protests. The school dropped its main stage commencement, saying it could not provide the level of additional security that would be needed.
Discontent over the war in Gaza had been building for months at Trinity College Dublin, but what had been a rumble last week suddenly became a roar. News broke that Trinity had demanded a heavy sum from the student union after protests had blocked tourist access to the Book of Kells, a major attraction for paying visitors.

Trinitys request for about $230,000 enraged students and brought a surge of media attention, and last Friday some anti-war demonstrators set up an encampment like those at American schools.

Irish lawmakers worried that the university was trying to stifle independent protest, and there were offers of help from lawyers and pro-Palestinian groups. The university closed parts of its campus that day, citing security concerns.

As the campus dispute became a national one, Trinity, Irelands oldest and most prestigious university, agreed on Monday to negotiate with pro-Palestinian demonstrators. Capping several head-spinning days, Trinity agreed first to abandon some Israeli investments, a step that nearly all U.S. colleges and universities have so far resisted, and then said on Wednesday that it would look into divesting from all such investments.
The Chinese leader, Xi Jinping, received a gift of fine cognac at the Elysee Palace in Paris and was cheered in Belgrade by Serbians waving Chinese flags, albeit most of them were bused-in government workers.

And by the time he left Hungary on Friday at the end of a six-day European tour, the clouds over his countrys relations with the West looked much less dark, at least from Chinas perspective.

Mr. Xi told President Emmanuel Macron of France that relations would be as vibrant and thriving as springtime. At his next stop, he said the tree of China-Serbia friendship will grow tall and sturdy. In Hungary, Mr. Xi told Prime Minister Viktor Orban that their countries were poised to embark on a golden voyage.

The Chinese state-run news media, never less than glowing about Mr. Xi, went to strenuous lengths to present his European meetings as a triumph.
For a few weeks, after extraordinary international pressure and warnings of an imminent famine in the Gaza Strip, Israel announced new steps to increase humanitarian aid and more supplies entered the territory.

But the flow of aid, the vast majority of which goes through two border crossings in southern Gaza, has come to a near-total stop this week, first closed off by Israel and then further restricted, officials say, by Egypt.

Israel shut down the Kerem Shalom crossing after a Hamas rocket attack nearby killed four Israeli soldiers last Sunday. The next day, Israeli forces seized and closed the Gaza side of the other crossing, at Rafah on the Egyptian border, as part of what they have described as a limited military operation against Hamas, and raised the Israeli flag over the crossing.

Although Israel has reopened Kerem Shalom and some fuel has gone into Gaza from there, humanitarian aid like food and medicines has not been allowed through the crossing since last Sunday, according to Scott Anderson, a senior official at UNRWA, the main U.N. agency that aids Gaza.
Just a few weeks ago, Israel, under extraordinary international pressure to respond to warnings of imminent famine in the Gaza Strip, announced new steps to increase humanitarian aid.

But after an Israeli military incursion into the southern city of Rafah this week, the flow of aid has come to a near-total stop, first closed off by Israel and then further restricted, officials say, by Egypt.

Aid officials warned that essentials like food and medicine were running dangerously low, threatening to worsen an already dire humanitarian crisis.
Manal al-Wakeel and her extended family of 30 people thought they were going home.

Displaced from their home in Gaza City months ago, Ms. al-Wakeel and relatives began packing their bags on Monday and preparing to dismantle their tent in Rafah, at the southern edge of the Gaza Strip.

Hamas had announced that it had accepted a cease-fire proposal from Qatar and Egypt, leaving many Gazans thinking that a truce was imminent. Their joy was short-lived; it soon became clear that Hamas was not talking about the same proposal endorsed days earlier by Israel, which said the two sides remained far apart.

Instead, Israeli warplanes dropped leaflets in eastern Rafah telling people to flee and move to what Israel called a humanitarian zone to the north, as the Israeli military bombarded the area. Gazan health officials say that dozens have been killed since Israels incursion into parts of Rafah this week.

We thought that day a cease-fire was possible, said Ms. al-Wakeel, 48, who helped the aid group World Central Kitchen prepare hot meals.

She and her family had been sheltering near the Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, in an area battered by Israeli airstrikes and ground combat. The director of the hospital, Dr. Marwan al-Hams, said on Monday that it had received the bodies of 26 people killed by Israeli fire, and treated 50 who were wounded. The hospital was evacuated the next day.

So rather than return home, on Tuesday night Ms. al-Wakeel, her husband, her 11 children and other relatives found a semi-truck that would take them and their belongings, including suitcases of clothes, pots and pans and tents, for 2,500 shekels  about $670  in search of another place to stay.
The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly adopted a resolution declaring that Palestinians qualify for full-members status at the United Nations, a highly symbolic move that reflects growing global solidarity with Palestinians and is a rebuke to Israel and the United States.

The resolution was approved by a vote of 143 to 9 with 25 nations abstaining. The Assembly broke into a big applause after the vote.

But the resolution does not mean a Palestinian state will be recognized and admitted to the United Nations as a full member anytime soon. The Assembly can only grant full membership with the approval of the Security Council, and, if history is a guide, the United States would almost inevitably wield its veto power to kill such a measure, as it did in April.

Even though a majority in the General Assembly have long supported Palestinian statehood, the resolution was the first time the body had voted on the issue of full membership. The resolution declares that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations under its charter rules and recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter with a favorable outcome.

The resolution was prepared by the United Arab Emirates, the current chair of the U.N. Arab Group, and sponsored by 70 countries. The United States voted no, along with Hungary, Argentina, Papua New Guinea, Micronesia and Nauru.

The vast majority of countries in this hall are fully aware of the legitimacy of the Palestinian bid and the justness of their cause, which faces fierce attempts to suppress it and render it meaningless today, said the U.A.E. ambassador, Mohamed Abushahab, as he introduced the resolution on behalf of the Arab Group.
Ox Horn, a sprawling research and development complex built by Huawei in Shenzen, China, features 12 towns and 100 separate buildings, all inspired by European architecture.

If someone were to be teleported in the middle of Ox Horn and made to guess where they were, China would probably be at the bottom of their answer list. Thats because the Chinese tech giants new campus is heavily inspired by European architecture, including both replicas of well-known Western landmarks and buildings heavily influenced by various European architectural styles. Completed in 2019 at a cost of a whopping $1.5 billion, Ox Horn houses Huaweis main research and development offices and features its own tram transportation system, but has come under fire for its obvious European inspiration.

Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Ox Horn features a stunning replica of Germanys Heidelberg Castle complete with a pristine replica of its Old Bridge, as well as dozens of other iconic buildings from cities like Verona and Bologna, Bruges, Oxford, and Paris. It is designed to accommodate over 25,000 people and is said to be so large that a single lap around it in the companys proprietary tram takes 22 minutes.

Huawei has always been very secretive about its technology and R&D, so Ox Horn isnt open to the public, although it would certainly draw crowds from all over the world. Apart from the stunning replicas of European historical buildings, there are hundreds of fountains to admire, a beautiful man-made lake complete with black swans, and even a small forest.

But despite its undeniable visual appeal, Ox Horn has attracted criticism in China because of its obvious European inspiration.

I dont like Huaweis campus design, Domus Chinas editor-in-chief Yu Bing said. All landmark buildings around the world have their own growing environment. Architecture should not be created without its regional culture. Even if Huaweis campus copied all the European architecture, it could not copy the local environment, scenery, and folk customs, nor could it copy the local delicacies and specialties. It is just a puppet building without spiritual conception.

Chinas appetite for European culture and architecture was dubbed Duplitecture and took off in the 1990s when the Chinese government relaxed its rules on private property ownership. A popular example of duplitecture in China is the gated community of Tianducheng, which features replicas of Paris Eiffel Tower, Arc de Triomphe, and European-style villas.
During the month of May, camel riding is such a popular pastime at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spots in Chinas Kumtag Desert that local authorities use camel traffic lights to avoid traffic jams.

One of the last things you would expect to find in the middle of a desert is a functional traffic light, but you can find several of them in the sand dunes of the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Lake Nature Park, in northwestern Chinas Gansu Province. During the annual holiday at the beginning of May, thousands of people flock to these natural tourist spots and engage in a variety of activities, the most popular of which is undoubtedly camel riding. In 2023, there were around 2,400 camels available for riding, as well as tens of thousands of tourists per day at the Mingsha Mountain and Crescent Spring scenic spots alone, which resulted in serious traffic congestion problems. Luckily, local authorities came up with an ingenious solution  camel traffic lights.

As bizarre as using traffic lights in the middle of a desert might seem, it does make some sense. In 2023, on the first day of May, Mingsha Mountain received over 10,000 visitors, and their number grew to 20,000 in the following days of the Spring holiday. Many of them walked along the ancient Silk Road, but a few thousand opted to take in the scenery on camelback, and this created traffic jams along the popular route.

By installing traffic lights that signaled when camels had to stop to allow pedestrians to cross, the problem was partially solved. When the green camel light is on, camels can pass; when the red camel light is on, camels stop to let pedestrians pass first.

Luckily, in Gansu Provinces Kumtag Desert, camel jams will no longer be a problem thanks to these ingenious camel traffic lights. The problem is that theyve now become somewhat of a tourist attraction in what is an already overcrowded tourist spot.



It is expected that more than 240 million Chinese people will travel nationwide during the May Day holiday this year, many of them flocking to popular scenic spots. Some of these get so crowded during this period that they have to issue public announcements urging tourists not to come because there simply isnt any more room for them.
Art boosts rural vitalization in Xuancheng, E China's Anhui

People's Daily Online) 10:59, May 10, 2024

Photo shows installation artworks in Xicun village, Ningguo city, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of CPC Ningguo municipal committee)

Multiple traditional villages in Xuancheng city, east China's Anhui Province, have transformed from obscurity into popular tourist destinations thanks to an artistic revitalization effort.

Six years ago, Xuancheng began infusing art into rural development efforts in villages like Xicun in Gangkou township, Ningguo city, a county-level city under administration of Xuancheng. The aim was to use local traditions and customs to boost rural areas, empower local industries and improve living conditions. Three years later, the program expanded to over 20 villages.

Today, Xuancheng has piloted the "art village" concept in over 85 traditional villages, with Xicun serving as a prime example of how art can drive rural revitalization.

"Xicun was little known to the outside world before 2016," said villager Xu Xinhong. "Now its ubiquitous art elements attract an increasing number of tourists."

In Xicun, art and fashion seamlessly blend into everyday life. The village hosts an array of vibrant artistic venues, a performance stage in the shape of a giant guitar, a photography corridor, bamboo sculptures in various shapes, and vivid wall paintings that evoke childhood memories.

After being designated a "beautiful courtyard" pilot zone in 2016, Xicun invited artists to paint murals, which quickly became a draw. On weekends, cars queue for kilometers to enter.

According to Wang Derun, the leader of the village's flower-drum opera troupe, performances of the local opera are held every weekend at a theater in the village. Wang proudly noted that the theater is often packed with spectators during major performances.

Photo shows handicrafts integrating flower-drum opera masks and ceramic art in Xicun village, Ningguo city, east China's Anhui Province. (Photo courtesy of the publicity department of CPC Ningguo municipal committee)

The troupe also offers flower-drum opera experience programs, inviting young people to discover the captivating charm of traditional culture.

To sustain its artistic bloom, Xicun built Anhui's first "idyllic complex" starting in 2017, with 20 farming-themed sculpture sites. Vacant houses were repurposed into nostalgic attractions like 1980s-style photo studios and VR halls.

Additionally, Xicun has built an artistic brand that hinges on photography. In October 2018, a national photography exhibition on rural China, the first of this kind, was held in the village. During the activity, Xicun was designated "the first photography village in China."

Xicun has earned several distinctions: it was recognized as the first art village in China, the first village to have a village-level flower-drum opera troupe, the first village livestream and internet celebrity incubation base, the first village designated as a 3A-level scenic area, and the first village to focus on night tours in Anhui Province.

Art has brought a new look to Xicun and attracted more young people to devote themselves to its development. The once "hollow village," which previously suffered a big loss of its young workforce, is getting back its hustle and bustle.

In February last year, Li Yichun visited Xicun and was captivated by its lucid waters and lush mountains. Li, who had been engaged in hotel management for over a decade, invested 6 million yuan ($847,290) to build a bed-and-breakfast hotel.

"My hotel started trial operation in October last year. During this year's five-day May Day holiday, my hotel had a full house of guests every day," Li said.

With its picturesque rural scenery, exquisite B&B hotels, and diverse agritainment facilities, Xicun has rapidly developed its cultural tourism industry. Offering a variety of visitor experiences, the village welcomes over 300,000 tourists annually during peak seasons and generates more than 6 million yuan in annual tourism revenue.

(Web editor: Hongyu, Liang Jun)


Las Cruces Plans to Hire Travel PR Partner Wed., Oct. 9, 2024 Visit Las Cruces, which is the convention and visitors bureau of New Mexicos second largest city, wants a PR firm to help position it as a premiere tourism destination.
Morty Matz

In the early 1960s New York was in the midst of an egyptology craze. Everything Egyptian was hot and trendy. Everyone was talking about mummies, tombs, hieroglyphics and Cleopatra haircuts. And I came up with an idea to get my client, the popular news radio station WINS 1010, on the everything-Egyptian radar screen.

I planned a stunt, a staple of the PR guys repertoire in those days -- like wrapping the pinup girl Bettie Page in sausage to promote, well, sausage.

So I contacted a curator and expert in Egypt at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and asked him to write, in hieroglyphics, a certain phrase I thought up. Next I went over to a dealer in headstones near Riverside Chapel on the Upper West Side. I gave him a copy of the hieroglyphic the expert had written for me and asked him to carve it onto a slab of granite measuring three feet by three feet, Aswan granite that actually came from Egypt. It was no problem. He quickly did the job for a couple of hundred bucks.

The next day I gave the granite, now wrapped in a big towel, to two salesmen from WINS 1010 and instructed them to hail a cab from the 42nd Street airlines terminal to 666 Fifth Avenue, about 10 blocks away, where I would be waiting to hail it. I told them to leave the slab in the cab when they got in. They carried out their mission with James Bond precision.

Once in the cab I discovered the granite slab and immediately told the driver to head for the police precinct on West 54th Street so that, like the good citizens we were, we could turn in the lost property.

As the cabbie carried the granite into the precinct, I ran to a phone and called all the newspapers and television stations in town. I alerted the media that a valuable piece of something from an Egyptian tomb had been lost and found in a taxicab.

Within minutes the desk sergeants telephone was ringing off the hook. Photographers were pulling up outside the precinct. My work done for the time being, I slipped into the shadows and went back to my office at WINS 1010.

I had launched a media frenzy. The Daily News, which back then sold more than a million copies a day, headlined its story Mystery on W. 54th St. and ran a picture of a cop examining the tablet with a magnifying glass. Television news ran the story and showed the stone. Even a WINS 1010 news reporter covered it.

The lost stone was the talk of the town. Who lost such a valuable artifact? everyone wondered.

But my client, WINS 1010 had yet to appear in the story. The two salesmen from the station asked me what the punch line would be. But I held the answer close.

The next day the New York Times brought an Egypt expert from the Brooklyn Museum to the police station to examine the stone and translate the hieroglyphics. The rest of the press concentrated on finding its owner, speculating it was probably an absent-minded professor now out thousands of dollars. Meanwhile, the cabbie waited to see if he would get some kind of reward.

The expert from the Times confirmed that the granite was indeed from Aswan. But he claimed the writing was gibberish and indecipherable, admitting it might be a dialect he did not know.

So, as we entered the third day of press coverage, the mystery of West 54th street deepened. Meantime, no one in the media had connected the artifact to WINS 1010, the client who was paying me to get its name in the papers.

Late that day, I called a friend on the city desk at the News. Playing dumb, I told him I did not understand what all the fuss was about with that hieroglyphics business. I informed him that two salesmen from WINS 1010 had purchased the stone as gift for its station manager, Hap Anderson as a coffee table.

The sharp assistant city editor asked me the right question, namely what was the translation of the hieroglyphics. I told him I knew what it said and swore I could get an expert from the Metropolitan Museum of Art to back me up.

I told him it said, Everybodys Mummy Listens to WINS 1010.

My editor friend cracked up and said he was sending a fotog to the station. The story got big coverage for a fourth day, especially in the News. I was uncovered as the mastermind, which was good for my growing business.

WINS 1010 is today a highly successful all-news station. The stunt became part of New Yorks journalism folklore. But the stations iconic place in history is forever embedded in Aswan granite.

***

Morty Matz, who has practiced public relations for 65 yearsand who still represents clients to this dayis due to turn 100 years of age on July 23, 2024. Morty is credited with inventing the Nathans Famous Hot Dog Eating Contest and the five-borough New York City Marathon. He has performed PR services on behalf of many illustrious figures and organizations, including politicians, real estate developers, lawyers, district attorneys, unions, high-end restaurants and socialites.
Sinn Fein TD Martin Browne has raised the decision to change the use of the new community nursing home for Nenagh with Minister Mary Butler.

The Tipperary Sinn Fein TD requested speaking time with the Minister, referring to the decision as a prime example of robbing Peter to pay Paul at the cost of the elderly people in the area and the residents of St Conlons.

Teachta Browne said: Plans were announced to repurpose the new 50-bed community nursing unit in Nenagh to operate instead as a privately-run step-down facility in order to take pressure off University Hospital Limerick.

It appears that the Minister believes that it is appropriate to deal with a shortage of beds in one area of the Mid-West by transferring the shortage elsewhere in the region at the cost of older people.

The hope and optimism that was generated through the prospect of moving into the new unit has now been snatched away by this announcement, which has been done with no meaningful engagement.

This is another example of the elderly being expected to shoulder the burden of a health system that appears to put them last while it struggles with the consequences of the disastrous reconfiguration of services in the Mid-West.

I raised these issues with Minister Butler.

During our engagement the Minister again mixed her commitments as the Department of health has done concerning when the unit would be handed back should the decision go ahead. It is after a year? Could it be up to 18 months as I was told in reply to a Parliamentary Question? When the 96 bed unit in UHL opens? What about what the recommendations of the review after 12 months may be? Which will it be? Verbal guarantees are not enough.

This decision has not been thought through.

Furthermore, the Minister also presented her argument in terms of an either/or choice  the continued scenes we are witnessing at UHL or the removal from the people of Roscrea of the new 50-bed unit.

That is an unfair case to put to those in need of this unit. Resolving the capacity issues in the Mid-West and at UHL is the governments responsibility  it should not be used as a tool to pressure acceptance of this decision.

In its original purpose, the new unit would help prevent presentations at UHL, as does St Conlons.

The ministers response to the justifiable fear that if the keys to the new unit are not handed over to staff at St Conlons they will never get it back from the private sector, was not acceptable.

Verbal guarantees dont work anymore, especially in light of the downgrading and closure of other facilities in recent times.

I received a commitment to better engagement locally on this, but the key problem remains.
An Irish man man convicted of the manslaughter of a PSNI officer who was apprehended by gardai earlier this year is to challenge his extradition to Northern Ireland.

Christopher Shane Frane, who is originally from west Limerick, was sentenced to a minimum of six years for the manslaughter of a police officer in 2013 and was given an indefinite custodial sentence until he can show that he is no longer a danger to the public.

The 36-year-old was apprehended by gardai in February - nearly two weeks after the PSNI said he had breached the conditions of his temporary prison release by absconding from the Northern Ireland Prison Service.

At the High Court in Dublin this Friday, his lawyer Leanora Frawley BL said indefinite custodial sentences are the Northern Irish equivalent of "imprisonment for public protection (IPP)" sentences which proved highly controversial in the UK.

Prisoners, she said, could end up serving life terms for relatively minor offences. IPPs were abolished in the UK following a 2012 ruling by the ECHR that they were unlawful but judges in Northern Ireland can still impose indefinite sentences.

Ms Frawley said Frane has served his six-year sentence but remains subject to the indeterminate portion until he is no longer considered to be dangerous. Under the law, it is up to the prisoner to rebut the presumption that he is a danger, Ms Frawley said.

The barrister asked for a senior counsel to be appointed to argue the "novel and complex point" as to whether Frane's extradition should be refused on human rights and constitutional grounds.

Harriet Burgess BL, for the Minister for Justice, said there is extensive case law in this jurisdiction on indeterminate sentences but the State is not opposing the application for a senior counsel.

Mr Justice Paul McDermott granted the application and adjourned the case until June 26 for hearing.

Frane was arrested in Dublin on February 1 this year on foot of an extradition warrant issued by the Police Service of Northern Ireland where he is deemed to be unlawfully at large from prison since January 17.

Frane had pleaded guilty to a number of charges including the manslaughter of Constable Philippa Reynolds.

Ms Reynolds (27) was the back seat passenger in a police patrol car that was struck by a stolen Toyota Landcruiser driven by Frane in February 2013 in Derry.

She was killed instantly.
The now rare and charismatic Common Swift has managed to buck the trend in Offaly with their nesting numbers remaining on par with that of the 2017 nest census following a repeat census in summer 2023.

In 2017 Offaly County Council commissioned BirdWatch Ireland to complete the first ever full-county swift nest census. After a gap of five years both organisations teamed up again in 2023 to assess the current situation and the results are very positive.

Ricky Whelan Biodiversity Officer at Offaly County Council explains Swifts are small migratory birds that travel from Southern Africa each spring to their nest sites in Europe and further east. They are slightly larger than the more familiar Swallow and often mistaken as so, however the Swifts body and wings are slate-grey lacking the white underparts of a

Swallow and has characteristic sickle-shaped wings and a blunt forked-tail. Swifts nest in buildings where they can find access to a small cavity where they will construct a tiny nest cup and raise their young. They are site-faithful meaning they return to the exact same nest annually, this can give rise to problems when buildings are altered or even demolished meaning large nest colonies can be lost overnight.

Swifts, due to declines across their range are considered a bird of conservation concern in Ireland and it is for this reason that much effort is being made locally and nationally by local authorities, wildlife conservation bodies, voluntary groups and individuals to change their faith. Swifts have shown an almost 60% decline in Ireland in less that two decades that is why the recent survey results in Offaly are overwhelmingly positive.

Below soaring swifts

Brian Caffrey Survey and Monitoring Lead at BirdWatch Ireland said We repeated the methods we used in the 2023 survey as in 2017, making the results directly comparable. We were delighted to see numbers remain almost constant in Offaly following the 2023 survey.

The survey results showed that 162 active nest sites were identified in 2023 compared to 2017 when 165 were identified, albeit a small decline, this figure represents nothing close to the level of declines previously observed and forecast. Of the 20 Offaly localities surveyed Birr, Banagher and Tullamore came out as the top spots for nesting swifts with 32, 30 and 25 nests being recorded respectively with an increase of 9 recorded in the wider Birr area. Birr takes forward the bragging rights having seized the swift hot spot title from Banagher.

However, all is not positive with notable declines and losses from a number of localities. Edenderry had 9 fewer nests compared with 2017, Shinrone was down 5 nests leaving only 1 remaining and maybe most notable was the single nest at Clonmacnoise was not located in 2023. This nest achieved international fame in past years amongst swift experts for being one of the lowest swift nests ever recorded.

Ricky Whelan reflected on what has been going on behind the scenes in Offaly to retain its nesting Swift population Its not luck that got us here, since the 2017 survey there has been a concerted effort to actively protect Swift nest sites and create new and permanent nestsites for them in Offaly. Collaborations between the Offaly County Council Heritage Officer, Birdwatch Ireland, Tidy Towns groups, individuals and building owners have resulted in existing sites being protected, new specialised nest boxes being installed and increased awareness built. Swifts will feature as conservation priority in the upcoming Offaly Biodiversity Action Plan due to be published by the end of the year.

Swifts return from Africa in the first weeks of May so keep your eyes to the skies and try spot them before theyre gone south again from early-August.

The 2023 report together with the 2017 report can be found on the Offaly County Council website biodiversity section.
Slotegrator's White Label Casino service offers a seamless solution for launching online casinos, simplifying the setup and operation.

Slotegrator, a leader in iGaming solutions, reveals the benefits of its White Label Casino service, a comprehensive solution designed to streamline the launch and operation of online casinos. This service provides technical support and covers legal and business needs, making it an ideal choice for new and existing operators.

Comprehensive Solutions for Online Casinos

Slotegrator stands out in the iGaming industry by offering White Label solutions that simplify the complexities of starting an online casino. This approach allows entrepreneurs to bypass the extensive time, financial investment, and specialized knowledge typically required to launch a gambling platform from scratch.

Understanding White Label Solutions

A White Label product is created by one company but branded and sold by another, allowing the latter to save time and focus on business growth. Slotegrator's White Label Casino not only includes a custom website and gaming content but also integrates essential business components like financial structures, banking, merchant accounts, and player support, underpinned by a valid gambling license.

What's Included?

Slotegrator's package encompasses:

A robust gambling platform with integrated Partnergrator and Moneygrator systems.

A customized, brand-focused website.

A diverse library of gaming content.

Complete legal infrastructure, including legal and technical support.

A sublicense allows the operator to offer gaming services legally under Slotegrator's license.

This full-service solution addresses every aspect of running an online casino, ensuring operators can focus on customer acquisition and market growth.

Ideal Candidates for White Label Solutions

The White Label model is perfect for ambitious entrepreneurs eager to launch their gambling projects quickly. It's trendy among seasoned operators who understand market demands and wish to rapidly deploy new offerings without the burdens of developing a platform independently.

Advantages of Opting for White Label Solutions

Legal and Business Framework : Operators benefit from immediate legal operation without the hassle of paperwork or compliance checks, leveraging Slotegrator's existing structures and licenses.

: Operators benefit from immediate legal operation without the hassle of paperwork or compliance checks, leveraging Slotegrator's existing structures and licenses. Secure and Diverse Payment Integration : Payment solutions are tailored to the operator's target markets, supporting a variety of currencies and payment methods, including cryptocurrencies.

: Payment solutions are tailored to the operator's target markets, supporting a variety of currencies and payment methods, including cryptocurrencies. Advanced Technological Infrastructure : Avoid the complexities of building a gambling platform from scratch. Slotegrator's solution includes cutting-edge gaming software equipped with all the necessary features for operation.

: Avoid the complexities of building a gambling platform from scratch. Slotegrator's solution includes cutting-edge gaming software equipped with all the necessary features for operation. Quality and Efficiency: With extensive experience in software provision, Slotegrator ensures that the online casino runs smoothly and has continuous updates and support.

Partnership Process

Ataur Rosul Abeer, a sales manager at Slotegrator, outlines the partnership process, emphasizing the swift and efficient setup  often just three months from concept to launch. This includes everything from company incorporation, sublicensing, website design, game and payment integration, to final launch preparations,

He explains.

About Slotegrator

Since its inception in 2012, Slotegrator has established itself as a pivotal player in providing software and business solutions for the iGaming industry. Focusing on integrating game content and payment systems, Slotegrator supports the launch and operation of online casinos and sportsbooks, offering a comprehensive portfolio and expert consulting services in license acquisition and business structuring.
In Q1 2024, SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator handled over 13 billion in monthly bets, marking a significant growth.

During the first quarter of 2024, SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator reached a new high, processing over 13 billion in monthly bets. This represents a 30% increase over the past six months, demonstrating the platform's escalating popularity and efficacy.

Record-Breaking Performance

The SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator has surpassed previous financial thresholds and expanded its brand reach globally. With more than 13 billion euros in bets processed monthly, the platform has shown a remarkable growth of 30% in just half a year. This surge in usage underlines its effectiveness and the growing trust of global gaming brands. Currently, the aggregator supports 1,052 brands worldwide, marking an addition of 112 brands since the previous quarter.

Expanding Global Reach

With a strategic eye on expansion, SOFTSWISS has been intensifying its efforts in Latin America. Appointing renowned personalities like Rubens Barrichello highlights the company's commitment to the region. This focus is further supported by the inclusion of native Portuguese-speaking account managers, ensuring that the needs of the Latin American market are met with precision and understanding.

Enhancing Player Engagement

The SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator is not just about handling bets; it's also focused on enriching the player experience. The recent introduction of live game tournaments through its Tournament Tool is a testament to its dedication to player engagement. These tournaments keep players interested and actively participating, helping client brands maintain a dynamic gaming environment.

SOFTSWISS Game Aggregator Q1 2024 Performance Overview Info Details Total Monthly Bets Handled 13 Billion Growth in Last Six Months 30% Total Brands Supported 1,052 New Brands Added This Quarter 112 Focus Market Latin America New Features Live Game Tournaments via Tournament Tool Total Number of Games 20,000 Game Providers Added 35% increase, Totaling 263 Top 3 Games Retro Tapes, Gates of Olympus, Sweet Bonanza Top 3 Crypto Games Wild Spin, Limbo, Plinko Anniversary 15th, Special Gifts for New Clients

Consultative and Supportive Role

Under the leadership of Gregory Penkov, the Head of Sales, SOFTSWISS has taken a consultative approach to client interactions. The team's involvement extends beyond traditional support to actively participating in promotional campaigns. By increasing the budget for these promotions, SOFTSWISS has been able to enhance the reach and effectiveness of marketing efforts, directly contributing to the success of its clients.

Celebrating Growth and Diversity

In Q1 2024, SOFTSWISS also celebrated reaching a milestone of 20,000 games available on its platform. The number of game providers has increased by 35% compared to last year, now totaling 263. This expansion has enriched the diversity of content available to players, offering popular titles like Retro Tapes, Gates of Olympus, and Sweet Bonanza alongside top crypto games such as Wild Spin, Limbo, and Plinko.

A Milestone Anniversary

As SOFTSWISS celebrates its 15th anniversary, it continues to innovate and offer special incentives for new clients interested in leveraging the robust Game Aggregator platform. These offerings underline SOFTSWISS's commitment to growth and customer satisfaction as they continue to lead and transform the iGaming landscape.

With its comprehensive suite of services and a strategic focus on market-specific needs, SOFTSWISS is set to continue its trailblazing trajectory in the iGaming industry, making it an indispensable partner for gaming enterprises worldwide.
Thiruvananthapuram: Rubbishing the rumours surrounding Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's foreign trip, the ruling CPM party in Kerala defended him, likening it to God's rest after creating the universe in six days; they drew a parallel to the Biblical story.

Responding to the controversies revolving around the CM and his family's almost three-week-long foreign tour, CPM central committee member AK Balan said the Chief Minister did not go to space; he simply took a break in Indonesia, which, according to the veteran leader, is only 60 km away from Pygmalion point (Indira point) in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. He said Pinarayi Vijayan went abroad to relax after enduring unimaginable strain due to administrative and party duties.

"What's the problem for you in allowing him a rest? He went to a place within calling distance. Everything being spread about this is a myth," Balan told reporters.

He said the Chief Minister conducted the Nava Kerala Sadas programme, travelling across the state for 30 days, and later addressed election rallies for at least four hours a day for one month.

"Even God rested for one day after creating the universe in six days. That day is Sunday. Are you saying that the Chief Minister can't even do that?" Balan said, drawing from the theological narration in the Old Testament of the Bible where it is written that after creating the universe in six days, God rested on the seventh day. He further clarified that the Chief Minister did not go to outer space.

"Isn't this a country within a reachable distance where one can answer our call? Campbell Bay, the southern village of India in Andaman Nicobar, is three degrees of longitude farther than Kanyakumari. It is only 60 km from its southern tip, Pygmalion point (Indira point), to Indonesia," Balan said.

According to the National Maritime Foundation, the distance between Indira Point in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Banda Aceh in Indonesia is just 80 nautical miles.

"If you call Pinarayi Vijayan, it is a place where he can be heard," Balan said, questioning the doubts being repeatedly raised about the CM's foreign tour despite clarifications.

Responding to a query about the reported allegations by KPCC chief K Sudhakaran regarding Vijayan and his family's foreign visit being an extravaganza, Balan said the Chief Minister himself has clarified that it was a private trip.

Balan stated that the Chief Minister has a monthly income of Rs 92,000. Sudhakaran had criticised the CM over the trip and sought to know why he was taking his family members along.

"I suspect that it is a sponsored trip. Even if it is a sponsored trip, why is Vijayan keeping everything a secret? Why is he evading responsibility," Sudhakaran had asked.

CPM state secretary M V Govindan on Wednesday said Vijayan embarked on his overseas trip at his own expense after getting requisite permissions from the party and the Central government.

Vijayan actually took a break after the intense Lok Sabha poll campaigning in Kerala and decided to travel abroad with his family, he had said. The CM and his close family members left for various foreign destinations on May 6.

(With PTI Inputs)
Duluth, Minnesota (OpEdNews) May 10, 2024: The self-styled conservative journalist David Brooks devotes his new column "How to Create a Society That Prizes Decency" (dated May 9, 2024) in the New York Times to highlighting the black theologian Howard Thurman's 1949 book Jesus and the Disinherited:

Click Here

Now, in my recent OEN article "Rabbi Shai Held on the Heart of Jewish Life" (dated April 27, 2024), I note, "Of course, you do not have to interpret the historical Jesus as God become incarnate or as the Messiah to see him as a Jewish prophet - and as a talented storyteller":

Https://www.opednews.com/articles/Rabbi-Shai-Held-on-the-Hea-Biblical-Studies_Biblical-Theology_Judaism-Jewish_Life-Purpose-240427-843.html

For discussion of the historical Jesus, see Paula Fredriksen's book Jesus of Nazareth: King of the Jews (Alfred A. Knopf, 1999).

Now, Brooks frames his discussion of Thurman's book Jesus and the Disinherited as providing President Joe Biden with clues as to how he can save the soul of America, which, according to Brooks, "is still plagued by enmity, distrust, isolation, willful misunderstanding, ungraciousness and just plain meanness."

According to Brooks, Thurman's emphases in his book can help the American "people recognize one another's full dignity" because "national transformation must flow from a tide of personal transformations" - a tide of personal transformations in "both those who dominate and those who are disinherited."

Now, perhaps for understandable reasons, Brooks' emphasis on how the American people need to recognize one another's full dignity does not prompt him to mention that, on April 8, 2024, the Vatican issued the Declaration of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith titled "Dignitas Infinita: On Human Dignity":

Click Here

Five years in the making, the title of this document highlights human dignity. In the Second Vatican council (1962-1965) in the Roman Catholic Church, the Latin title Dignitatis Humanae highlighted human dignity in the council's landmark Declaration on Religious Freedom (1965).

For a recent English translation of that landmark document, see the book Vatican II: The Essential Texts, edited by Norman Tanner, S.J. (Image Books, 2012, pp. 299-318, translated by John Coventry, S.J.).

Now, in the Vatican's new 2024 document, paragraphs 1 through 32 are devoted to exploring, in theory, the dimensions of human dignity - before taking up certain specific discussions of practices that need to be addressed within the terms of human dignity in paragraphs 33 through 66. The document includes an introductory section (paragraphs 1-9) and a concluding section (paragraphs 63-66) and four major sections, each of which has certain subsections:

1. "A Growing Awareness of the Centrality of Human Dignity" (paragraphs 10-16);

2. "The Church Proclaims, Promotes, and Guarantees Human Dignity" (paragraphs 17-22);

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Either this nation shall kill racism, or racism shall kill this nation." (S. Jonas, August, 2018)

"A Vote for 'ABBB' (Any Body But Biden) is a Vote for Trump and Republo-Fascism" (S. Jonas, March, 2024)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Theodore Roosevelt speaking from a car in Milwaukee Wisconsin on Oct. 14%2C 1912.webp.

(Image by Wikipedia (commons.wikimedia.org), Author: Author Not Given) Details Source DMCA



The most successful 3rd Party candidate in U.S. history: prevented his former Vice-President from winning re-election as President.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Voting for Jill Stein," or Cornel West, or any one of three candidates of three different parties the names of which all begin with the word "Socialist," has once again become a topic of conversation among various elements of the "Left" in the United Sates. Some leftists, including myself, think that voting for a "left" third party candidate is not a good idea (actually that it is a really horrible idea), particularly in the upcoming election. It is now well-known that one of the two major party candidates has made it very clear that if elected he will rip up the bourgeois-democratic Constitution adopted in 1789 and amended 27 times since and replace it an off-the-cuff fascist version of his design. Actually, the basis of Trumpfacism not an off-the-cuff version. The "rearrangements," shall we say, begin with something called "Project 2025" produced by the Heritage Foundation, and go on from there. Trump's own version, provided for us at length, in the vernacular rather than in a semi-formal, almost academic document that "2025" is (Trump, a man of very limited education/reading, couldn't do "academic" even if he wanted to), is openly revealed in a lengthy recent interview with TIME Magazine.

Whether or not voting for a Third-Party candidate can help one or 'tother of the two major party candidates win goes back at least as far as the 1912 election. In that year, Teddy Roosevelt, who had been a Republican Vice-President and then President (upon the assassination of William McKinley) was unhappy with the policies of his Republican successor, William Howard Taft. He ran independently on the "Bull Moose Party" ticket and received about 27% of the vote (higher, by the way, than Taft's 24%). (His platform, as it happened, included a proposal for National Health Insurance, modeled in part on what Great Britain's Labour Party was proposing at the same time. A version of British NHI --- the National Health Service --- was implemented on July 1, 1948. Obviously, there is nothing close to it in the US.) So, Teddy did help to defeat Taft in a big way in the 1912 election. In 1948, the Progressive Party candidate Henry Wallace got about 2,000,000 votes but Truman won anyway.

Coming closer to our own time, in the 2000 election, in Florida alone Ralph Nader got about 90,000 votes. With a margin of 535 votes in Florida, and a HUGE boost from a Republican-dominated Supreme Court, G.W. Bush won Florida's electoral vote, won the Presidency, and went on to "9/11," the expansion of the "Afghanistan War," and "Iraq." To this very day Nader and his defenders/acolytes do not place responsibility for any of the subsequent events at his feet. (This time around, fearing Trump fascism, Mr. Nader is urging people to vote for Biden, not any third-party candidate.)

Which brings us down to 2024. Considering third party candidates, Jill Stein ran on the Green Party ticket in both 2012 and 2016. In the five "swing states" that gave Trump his 2016 victory, Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, his total winning margin was about 75,000 votes. That happened to be the number of votes that Dr. Stein got in those states. What does that show? Absolutely nothing definitive. But hey. IF they had gone to Clinton instead, they MIGHT have thrown the election to her. We will never know, of course.

Dr. Stein is running for the Green Party nomination again. As it happens, I like Jill Stein. How could I not? We graduated from the same medical school, 15 years apart. (I'm the older one.) But as many of my readers already know, along with many other observers I think that the country is headed for disaster (from the perspective of maintaining some form of bourgeois Constitutional democracy) if Trump is elected, along with the Party that he has totally taken over (with the full cooperation of most of the leading lights in and financial supporters of that Party). This picture of Trumpacism represents reality for most observers. Nevertheless, Dr. Stein is hoping to run again, on the Green Party ticket, and there are other left-wing political figures, like Prof. Cornell West, who would like to do the same thing, either on the Green Party ticket or some other one.

(I am not dealing with RFK Jr. In terms of both his policies and what effect he might have in the General Election, he is a total wild-card. I do have to say, if it looks like he would take more votes away from Trump than either Dr. Stein or Prof. West or whom-have-you would take from Pres. Biden, I say: "Run, Bobby; Run.")

And so, I will now turn to an edited (for length) list of "why I will vote for Jill Stein" comments (in quotation marks), sent around on an open list-serve, with a comment or two from me. Interestingly enough the list begins with the following statement: "Granted, a vote for Jill may be a vote for Trump, but it is a lot more than that. It is so much more important than that, so I will vote for Jill anyway for the following reasons." Readers can make what they will of that one. My comments on the positions below are in parentheses.

1. "Who wants to vote for genocide? Genocide Joe cannot be morally justified as he has also supported every US imperialist war, costing millions of innocent lives. Now he is burying children alive in rubble. Or burning them alive. Who can vote for that?" (Well, actually it is the Israeli Nationalists who are in the process of destroying Gaza [a topic on which I have written extensively], but, at least up to right now, the U.S. has been supplying much of their weaponry. But if one is to vote for Trump, has there ever been any indication that he would not be an even stronger supporter of Israeli Nationalism [like he was in moving the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem which he did] as Biden has been to date?)

2. "Granted that Trump is a liar, a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, an arch-capitalist, a wannabee dictator, a Zionist, a disgusting man. But he did not kill anywhere near the innocent folks that Biden killed when he had the chance. Peace activists cannot choose a polite genocidalist over an obscene pretender." (Let's see. The Biden Administration has been pushing the Two-State Solution [admittedly with no success], which Trump showed no interest in when he was President. And Trump is indeed "a liar, a racist, a sexist, a homophobe, a wannabee dictator, a disgusting man," none of which Pres. Biden is. Nuff said there.)

3. "Jill Stein tells the truth, which neither major corporate party leaders do. Biden lies for all the wars, present and past. I want to vote for truth. Without truth, democracy is impossible. Election campaigns can be about education or mis-education." (I agree on that one. And yes, indeed. Both major parties lie, but the Trumpublicans do it much more, and much more dangerously, than the Democrats do.)

4. "Biden claims the election is about democracy. That is a lie. We do not have a democracy." (Well, we do have a bourgeois/capitalist democracy which in my view is better than a dictatorship. But Trump and democracy, even of the bourgeois-capitalist kind?

Again, see "Project 2025" and his recent interview in TIME magazine.)

5. "Trump says he will be a dictator. But he will not succeed." (Well, there are alternate views on that one. Dictator for a day [ha, ha, ha]? The first thing he would do on Day One would be to extend his dictatorship for a day, then another, then another . . . Mass demonstrations? Just wait until Trump unleashes his version of the Nazi Brown-shirts on any anti-Trump demonstrators.)

6. "Elections every 4 years are not the most effective way to get desired policies. All great changes were won in the streets and suites. They were only ratified by elections." (Ah yes. And the mass organizations needed to implement these actions are where?)

7. "When our political system of two corporate parties rigs our choice between Hermann Goering and Heinrich Himmler, it is time for leftist political rebellion. Jill Stein is leading that rebellion." (I will let that ahistorical one stand by itself.)

8. "Trump will not be allowed to push the nuclear button. The Pentagon will not let him. When he was making irrational threats, General Milley told Putin to disregard Trumps ranting. Fox News accused Milley of treason, but nothing came of it. Instead, Fox News was sued and their top guy fired." (Wishful thinking. What are the chances that Trump will appoint a General Milley as Chairman of the Joint Chief? The pardoned felon Michael Flynn is a much more likely choice for Trump.)

9. "If Americans prioritize domestic issues over genocidal wars, how is that qualitatively different than 1934 Germans who supported Hitler for domestic perks." (Like the Autobahns. But, did Mussolini really make the trains run on time? Well, no.)

10. "Genocide Joe is squandering the US treasury on wars, which defund social programs or increase the national debt which is a gigantic giveaway in interest to big banks that bribe Congress." (And Trump's different program is???)

11. "The Democrats need Trump. Without a bogyman, the corporate Dems won't be able to scare voters to vote a false lesser of evils. Biden is running on a platform of 'I am not Trump' so he does not need to promise doing much for anyone." (Actually, before making a statement like this, one should take a look at the 2020 Democratic Party platform, a likely model for 2024. With a divided Congress, and a Republican-run Supreme Court appearing as a Third Branch of the legislature, the Dems. have not been able to do all of that stuff, but at least they're not hyping "Project 2025.")

12. "The corporate tycoons that finance candidates are not dumb. They hire intellectual prostitutes to dream up ways to bamboozle voters. But workers are not stupid either. The Green Party is absolutely necessary to mobilize the working class against the sham democracy we are subjected to." (Oh, does that mean just like the Green Party mobilized workers in 2016 and 2020?)

13. "The Democrat establishment has not put Trump in jail where he belongs, possibly on purpose. Quo Bono? [Who benefits?] The corporate Dems need Trump on the loose to suit their nefarious corporate and military interests. However, the Dems may jail him at the last minute if their calculations change." (The way the trials are going, or rather not going, I wonder just how that would happen.) "If he is jailed, we need not fear voting for Jill." (Not true. Eugne Debs ran from prison in 1920 and in a much smaller voting population got about 1 million votes. With his election-fixing apparatus in full swing, Trump could win from prison.) "It is expected that his trials and appeals will not be over before the elections. If Trump is elected, he will be confronted with trials during his term, which will tend to reduce his outrageous policies."

My comment here: Actually, if Trump were to be re-elected, as soon as possible, in one way or another, he would shut down every single legal action against him, criminal or civil, with remarkable speed. Trump is not in prison because: Merrick Garland moved with the speed-of-molasses; Trump has a Republican-in-his-pocket in Florida; Trump has a Supreme-Court-majority-in-Washington in his pocket; District Attorney Willis in Atlanta made a very bad decision concerning her personal life; and assuming conviction in New York City, the appeals process will keep him out-of-prison until after the election. As for the other, Federal, actions against him, they would be dropped by the Trump "Justice" Dept. quicker than you can say --- whatever you would choose to say.

And so, dear reader, a "Lucky 13" (of the multiple vote-for-Jill arguments) are here presented. They present a compilation of many of the arguments that are being used to rationalize the candidacies of Dr. Jill Stein and a variety of other "left-wing" candidates. (I put "left-wing" in quotes, because the Number One objective for left-wingers, in the view of many of us, now must be to prevent Trump, supported by his Fascist-Trumpublicans, from becoming President again.) Progressive third-party candidates in the swing states, running on a platform as laid out in part above, that is, Biden-must-be-defeated-because-of-if-nothing-else-his-policy-on-Israel-Palestine (which seems to be changing, slowly to be sure), could very well tip the election to Trump, just as may have happened in 2016.

(Article changed on May 10, 2024 at 1:51 PM EDT)


Hammer

(Image by Pixabay: succo) Details DMCA



The idea of operating within the law has been the hallmark of civilized societies for some time and has certainly been the hallmark of what modern democracy has come to mean. The idea is to build societies based on laws and not the personal whims of leaders. We have always been told to look down on societies based on the cult of personality as less civilized.

In modern-day America, we find ourselves confronted with a dual conundrum. One presidential candidate who thumbs his nose at all social mores and domestic laws and another who flaunts international law (and some would say, domestic laws) in what appears to be a single-minded mission to support an ally, Israel, regardless of international law or humanitarian consequences.

Law

It is hard to comprehend a definition of law that has morphed into something that can be applied only to those who are out of favor with those in power, or those who have limited power, or those with no power at all, while those in powers see themselves as above those laws, as exceptional. If that is the case, then we ordinary people who clearly have either limited power or no power of any consequence are the only ones who must remain law-abiding while those in power continue to make the rules and laws to favor themselves while using law to provide a way of justifying their control of everyone else.

And what is that power? In our modern world power often ultimately translates into wealth, although social, political or military status often enters into the equation.

In the face of such power, the pretense of a modern civilization based on any real concern for human rights or even democracy is exposed. In the US such abuses of power make it abundantly clear that the supposed power and responsibility of citizenship is only an illusion.

And just as Donald Trump has pretty much ignored the law for much of his life, including his presidency, with very little accountability or consequence, in fact, perhaps reshaping the laws to his desires, we now find Joe Biden currently operating in a similar fashion in regard to international law, in his support and protection of Benjamin Netanyahu and what Netanyahu is doing to an entrapped Palestinian population in Gaza.

Political Risks

At risk is the future of this nation as a democracy. For any system of governance to work effectively, it must have the willing support of the dominant economic system. If the economic system begins to take priority, the system of governance becomes a device to support that economic system, and the governance becomes subservient as a tool to be used by the economic system. In the US, democracy is the system of governance, to be supported by the economic system, currently, capitalism. In such a system, capitalism must be secondary to a robust democracy. But in reality, capitalism, in this nation, has taken precedence over democracy over the last several decades to the point that now the politics of our so-called democracy is dominated by money and has been corrupted by that money, with true democracy struggling to survive. The best example of this is the current extreme income inequality.

I might add that of the three modern economic systems, communism, socialism and capitalism, all but capitalism are premised on democracy as a form of governance. I might also add that any system can devolve into a dictatorship if not carefully protected and preserved.

In current times, we as a nation, have taken this skewed definition of democracy into the world. We have conflated democracy and capitalism as though they are synonymous, so that when we say it is our desire to spread democracy in the world, we are really supporting the spread of free market capitalism, which supports the economically powerful of the world and holds little promise for the ordinary people.

The 2024 Presidential Election

Joe Biden is willingly risking losing the 2024 presidential election in service to Benjamin Netanyahu. The strange consequence of such a loss is that the winner would be Donald Trump, the preferred US president for Netanyahu. That is the Donald Trump who has clearly stated that he would dismantle much of the structure of what remains of US democracy should he win the election.

This is an echo of the 2016 presidential election in which Hillary Clinton and the Democrats bet the farm on stopping the popular candidacy of Bernie Sanders who might have begun to put some controls on the primacy of free market capitalism, to make it more supportive of the goals of a democracy again. With this shift the election became a choice between two candidates, both of whom support the dominant structure of governance by free-market capitalism. The Democratic Party and Hillary Clinton chose the flag of the corporate democrats and in the process lost, not only the support of many former democrats, but also the presidency to Donald Trump. Furthermore, that fateful choice meant that she did not even have any coattails, losing the entire nation to what had been a nearly defunct Republican Party.

Thus, the slide toward running the nation as a corporation began with Trump as the CEO and profit and power being the goal, free market capitalism on steroids.

Next Page 1 | 2 | 3

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
Over the past 10 years, author Renee Watson has become a leading light in the world of young peoples literature, winning awards and praise for such works as The 1619 Project: Born on the Water, co-authored by Nikole Hannah-Jones, and a series of books about a character named Ryan Hart, a Black girl growing up, as did Watson, in Northeast Portland.

Her new novel, skin & bones, is Watsons first book written for adults. It focuses on Lena, a 40-year-old Black woman living in Portland, and her community of family, friends and co-workers. Watson takes the reader inside Lenas specific concerns, including her emotions regarding raising her daughter, her awareness of how others react to her weight, and her complicated relationships with loved ones.

But the novel also takes a cue from Lenas job as director of diversity, equity and inclusion for Multnomah County libraries, and weaves in vignettes about the history of Black people in Oregon, their achievements, and the discrimination and racist policies that are part of the states past.

Relatable and enlightening, skin & bones will also have particular appeal to Portland-area readers, thanks to Watsons grounding her characters in the city, with mentions of Rose City bridges spanning the Willamette River, the Portland Art Museum, Oaks Amusement Park, Joe Browns Carmel Corn at the Lloyd Center Mall, Farrells Ice Cream Parlour, and more familiar spots, some long gone, and others still around.

I wanted Portland to be a character, Watson, 45, said during a recent interview. I really think we are who we are in part because of the places that we grew up.

Watson, who divides her time between Portland and New York, also writes in skin & bones about changes in the city, how so-called urban renewal policies contributed to the decline of traditional Black communities, and gentrifications role in pricing out Black families and businesses in North and Northeast Portland.

In one moment in the book, for example, Lena reflects that being on Mississippi Avenue makes me nostalgic. There is no remnant of what it used to be, but I remember.

Lena recalls when the street had blocks of boarded-up buildings, and men who stood around in groups, like birds huddled on a power line  Feared by folks who didnt know better, loved by every elder who needed help carrying her Safeway bags inside, every elder who needed an arm to lean on while climbing the stairs of her old porch when the banister just wasnt enough.

Watson said she had memories of witnessing gentrification in the areas she knew from her youth.

It was heartbreaking to watch, she said of the early 2000s, when Alberta Street started to change and evolve. I remember being quite torn about it, because in so many ways it was lovely to be able to walk a short distance from my home, and go to a coffee shop, or have restaurants right there. But when I realized my neighbors were being pushed out, and white folks were moving in, not to be part of the community, Watson said, but to change it  that was hurtful.

And then I moved, Watson said. And so, every time I come back, Alberta and Mississippi Avenue, Woodlawn, everywhere, has changed so much. My landmarks are gone. The nostalgia of it is there, but also the notion of what happens when the community is dispersed, and no longer are you seeing yourself in the neighbors, and the folks around you. You have to go farther out to even find a place to get your hair done, or to find a church that sings the songs you want to sing. All of that cultural stuff was already hard to find in Portland, but it was in Northeast Portland, for sure, when I was growing up. And now for it not to be there anymore, its a bit painful. But I am hopeful, because now we are explicitly having these conversations, and I know there are some efforts to bring healing and restoration.

Watson emphasized that shes not leaving childrens literature, but added that, having spent years having conversations with young people about intersectionality, and self-love, she wanted to talk to the parents, and the aunties, and the teachers who are raising the children Ive been talking to, and ask the adults to think about what we have inherited that needs to be let go of, and what are we giving to our young people.

With that in mind, Watson said, she didnt want to have the character of Lena representing Black people in Portland, but instead to fill skin & bones with many characters, to show different perspectives, generational perspectives. The older folks feel one way, and the younger folks feel a certain way.

It was important to write about the rich community that Lena belongs to, Watson said, because community and sisterhood, whether its by blood or choice, is an anchor in my life. I know that I am who I am today because of the women who love me, and nurture me, and who taught me, and raised me. I think thats how we survive this hard world, to have people who love us to the point of critique. I was also trying to show that love is complicated, and its hard. Its not the fluffy pink hearts and rainbows, and all that. Youve got to put in some work, and sometimes its going to cause you to say some things that are hard to say, but when you know its coming from someone who deeply loves you, I think its a little easier to hear.

It was also significant, Watson said, that Lena is a librarian, a profession that has become politicized amid current controversies surrounding books in schools and libraries, and cases of community members objecting to books they deem divisive, offensive or inappropriate.

Several of my childrens books have been banned or challenged, Watson said. I think that sometimes fiction mirrors reality, and sometimes reality impacts the fiction. Lena was a librarian always, but I revised the novel in the midst of everything thats happening right now. I definitely added some new things to bring that to the forefront, and to name what is going on.

When people object to books about characters who are Black, members of the LGBTQ+ community, or from marginalized groups, Watson said, it sends a disturbing message.

I feel like reading is a way to listen, and to take in someone elses story, Watson said. We dont just read to get affirmation of our experiences. Hopefully, were also reading to learn, and to grow, and learn about someone else.

Stories connect us, Watson said. And so, when you say to a whole group of people that their stories dont matter, you also say that they dont matter. You erase them.

Such silencing Watson said, is painful, and I think whats sad is that, especially with young people, if youre banning books from them, you are saying its OK to not listen to people, and you dont have to listen to people who are different from you.

With skin & bones, Watson said, I wanted to make space for Black Portlanders, for Black folks in the Pacific Northwest. I think our stories get lost. I dont know if we can understand or appreciate our present if we dont know our past.

Renee Watson will be at Powells Books, 1005 W. Burnside St., in conversation with Shalanda Sims, at 7 p.m. Monday, May 13.

 Kristi Turnquist covers features and entertainment. Reach her at 503-221-8227, kturnquist@oregonian.com or @Kristiturnquist

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
Police have arrested a suspect in the shooting that killed a man in the Lloyd District on Sunday.

David Lee Carter, 54, of Portland, faces a charge of second-degree murder in the killing of 45-year-old Bruce Ozelle Glass, the Portland Police Bureau said in a statement.

Glass was shot around 4 a.m., police officials said. The officers who responded found him dead at the scene, according to police officials. The shooting occurred in the parking lot of a 7-Eleven on Northeast Weidler Street one block from Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, according to a store employee. A coworker reported hearing multiple gunshots fired in a parked vehicle and saw someone flee on foot.

His death marked the 27th of 28 homicides in Portland so far this year.

Carter has a criminal history that dates to 1989, when he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree assault. Carter has been convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in 1997, 2018 and 2022; first-degree burglary in 1991; and unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2022, court records said.

Carter is in custody at the Multnomah County Detention Center. He is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday afternoon.

 Tanner Todd covers crime and public safety. Reach them at ttodd@oregonian.com, or 503-221-4313.
The old bank door sticks a bit when you push it open, just enough to make you wonder whether youre in the right place. Inside the half-lit atrium, now home to sneaker consignment shop Bridge City Soles, most of the merchandise has been cleared away for the night, save for a long row of right-foot-only Yeezy Foam Runners, the bygone Adidas collaboration that look like mutant Crocs.

But the Above GRND sign is hanging outside, and the new cafes co-owner, Ahlam Osman, already texted to confirm the address, noting that the 18 free parking spaces in the lot. So you walk past a lawn chair and a forgotten ladder, around a pair of Pop-a-Shot-style arcade games until you find a dark staircase, and climb.

At first glance, the cafe at the top of those stairs looks like any other in Portland, with white walls, tall coffee grinders, a La Marzocco espresso machine, house plants, neon signs, a celebratory balloon arch and Taylor Swift on the speakers.

But look closer, and some of those details show Above GRND in a different light. The balloons on the arch rise from white to beige to brown. Shelves hold retro Air Jordans and an East African cookbook. The mostly female clientele lounging on teal couches and wicker chairs wear shawls and head scarves. And the espresso machine doesnt just turn out oat milk cortados and vibrant green matcha, but banana milk lattes as well, a staple flavor in Somali cuisine.

And with the sun dropping below the West Hills, theres another big difference: At this time of night, most Portland cafes are already closed.

I was born and raised in Portland, and a lot of my free time is spent at coffee shops, Osman said. I love the idea of cafes being places where you can work, study, but also catch up with a friend or meet new people, a community hub.

Above GRND, which opened earlier this spring, is Portlands first Somali-run cafe. But it doesnt serve strong, spiced coffee boiled in big pots or served in decorative cups the way it might be in Somalia. Instead it presents similar flavors in the context of a modern cafe, placing its trio of young, Portland-born owners as part of a recent diversification trend in the citys once-monocultural coffee scene. And in a town where even the restaurants are mostly closed by 10 p.m., it stays open late.

According to Osman, 22, tea and coffee are integral parts of Somali culture, with steaming cups of each forming big parts of any gathering with family or friends. But when she visited coffee shops around town, I was usually the only black or brown person there, Osman said.

I was looking for a space for people who look like me, Osman said. Then I thought, What if I can create that space for them?

Mehamed Ali and Ahlam Osman, two owners of Above Grnd Coffee lounge in Northwest Portland, Oregon, prepare coffee drinks on Tuesday, April 30, 2024Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

Around that same time, Osmans brother, Abdulrahim, 25, and his friend, Mehamed Ali, 26, heard about an opportunity to take over the mezzanine at Bridge City Soles, a 9-month-old sneaker consignment shop and streetwear retailer. Like many young Portlanders, the friends are inveterate sneaker heads, buying, selling, training and lining up for the latest releases from Nike and its Jordan Brand.

The location felt right. Bridge City Soles sits a few blocks from Deadstock, former Nike footwear developer Ian Williams destination cafe in Old Town/Chinatown, where baristas stencil cocoa powder Air Jordans into each mocha. And in March, Oregon lawmakers set aside $2 million to help turn the surrounding Old Town/Chinatown neighborhood into a footwear and apparel hub with buildings for manufacturing, housing and office and retail space.

I heard about the space downstairs, so I reached out to (Abdulrahim), Ali said. He let me know that his sister had been wanting to open a coffee shop for some years. I was just like, We gotta get on this space, lets just put it in motion. And brick by brick, we put it together.

Above GRND  pronounced above ground  is a family affair. When I arrived, the youngest Osman brother (there are 11 siblings in all) is preparing matcha lattes and cardamom elixirs behind the bar. Climbing the stairs to the cafe behind me is Nafisa Fai, the Washington County commissioner and current chair of the national Somali American Elected Officials Network.

Those two used to babysit my kids, says Fai, pointing to Osmans sister and cousin, who are chatting on a couch in the corner.

Between sips of an iced banana milk latte, Fai called the cafe inspiring for the local Somali American community and beyond.

Some kids might not see themselves as a business person, Fai told Ahlam Osman, a leader in the Muslim green movement with political aspirations of her own, including a potential upcoming run for Portland City Council.

But to see what you guys created, it gives them hope, especially when your parents grew up either not going to school, or being in the war, or surviving refugee camps, then coming here, Fai continued. The path to wealth and business development isnt always clear.

Above Grnd Coffee lounge in Northwest Portland, Oregon, pictured on Tuesday, April 30, 2024Sean Meagher/The Oregonian

For the three owners, building a space that young people would want to visit meant getting the ambiance right.

We are Somali American, but were also young, said Ahlam Osman. I didnt want our brand to be too focused on our identity. Instead, I wanted to show our culture through our recipes, like our banana milk latte. We eat a lot of bananas, and bananas are Somalias number one fruit export.

Somali coffee beans have been hard to come by, she said. Right now, the cafe uses beans from Upper Left Roasters, but theyre working with Kim Dam of Portland Ca Phe on a house roast featuring Vietnamese Arabica, beans that have the strong flavor Somalis prefer.

So far, food options are limited. But the partners have discussed bringing in matcha, chai and strawberry pastries; serving savory items like sambusas, the Somali take on samosas; or perhaps making malawah, the crepe-like pancakes often spread with butter and honey.

Another way Above GRND stands out: The cafe is open until 11 p.m. daily, a rare late-night hangout in Portland that doesnt serve alcohol.

For Abdulrahim Osman, creating a judgment-free hub was one of the goals of the cafe.

When youre 14, 15, 16 (years old), you want to be out late, but youre not allowed to, he said. But youre welcome to come here, drink coffee, tea. We offer chess games, anything to help you get your mind right.

Though Ahlam Osman struggled to find her place in Portlands majority white coffee scene while attending Madison (now McDaniel) High School, many of the citys most notable new cafes and coffee roasters are more diverse.

In addition to Deadstock (408 N.W. Couch St. #408) and Portland Ca Phe (2815 S.E. Holgate Blvd. and 2601 N.E. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.), notable small businesses owned and operated by people of color include the Filipino American Kalesa (722 N. Page St.), concha and cortado specialists Cadejo (804 N.W. Couch St.) and an Egyptian take on cardamom coffee at Tov (3639 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.), which recently moved from its double decker bus to an old Starbucks location nearby.

When Ali and the Osmans look at Portlands old guard coffee scene, they see owners who were supported by their parents, if not directly financially, at least through imparted business acumen.

We have the opportunity to live our parents dreams, said Abdulrahim Osman. I mean, what if our parents wanted to open a coffee shop, but they had 10 or 11 kids, and theyre afraid to take that risk? I dont blame them for not achieving a business, or not supporting us. Im actually grateful for that.

And its sweetened when you figure it out on your own, Ali said.

MORE INFO

Where: On the mezzanine above Bridge City Soles, 419 N.W. Broadway

When: Open 9 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily

Phone: 971-813-8515

Website: abovegrndcoffee.com; @abovegrndpdx

 Michael Russell; mrussell@oregonian.com

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
Expect a battle of the brains on Fridays episode of Jeopardy Masters, when Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut and James Holzhauer compete. Groce is currently at the top of the leaderboard, Raut is in second, and Holzhauer is in third.

(No cable or satellite? You can stream Jeopardy Masters via Fubo, which offers a free trial.)

The Jeopardy Masters tournament brings together six high-ranked Jeopardy! veterans, who, in each hour-long episode, compete in two games, with three players competing in each game.

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 players are Raut, a cognitive and behavioral scientist from Vancouver, Washington; Groce, a writer and television personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; Holzhauer, the Las Vegas-based self-described Final Boss of Jeopardy!; Mattea Roach, a writer and podcast host from Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York; and Amy Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California.

The Friday, May 10 episode will feature a competition between Amodio, Schneider and Roach. and another round, with Groce, Raut and Holzhauer facing off.

Jeopardy Masters continues with Games 7 and 8 at 8 p.m., Friday, May 10, on ABC.

 Kristi Turnquist covers features and entertainment. Reach her at 503-221-8227, kturnquist@oregonian.com or @Kristiturnquist

Our journalism needs your support. Please become a subscriber today at OregonLive.com/subscribe
Two backcountry skiers were killed and one was rescued after they were swept up and buried in an avalanche Thursday in the mountains outside of Salt Lake City that occurred after several days of spring snowstorms, authorities said.

A rescue team went to the area mid-morning after the avalanche was reported near Lone Peak in the Wasatch Range southeast of Salt Lake City, Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said. One of the skiers, who was able to dig himself out of the snow, was rescued and taken to a hospital, Rivera said. She said she believed he was the one who called for help. Officers were speaking with him at the hospital to get more information about what happened, the sheriff said.
Andrew Wiederhorn, who spent 14 months in federal prison for his role in a spectacular business scandal in Portland two decades ago, was indicted for a second time Friday on charges he fraudulently extracted $47 million from the restaurant conglomerate he now controls, according to a federal indictment.

A grand jury in the Central District of California issued the indictment against Wiederhorn alleging the Portland native took the money from Fat Brands Inc, and Fog Cutter Capital Group Inc., between 2010 and 2021, characterizing them as shareholder loans, according to the indictment. The companies then forgave the debt.
At her home overlooking the Willamette River, veteran Oregon political consultant Carol Butler primed some of the states most influential Democrats Thursday afternoon as they waited to hear from Americas first lady.

Jill Biden has a tulip named for her, Butler told those gathered, including Gov. Tina Kotek and wife Aimee Kotek Wilson. The first lady was a high school cheerleader. And some of Bidens favorite treats are french fries and martinis.
The Chateau at the Oregon Caves in southwest Oregon has been closed since 2018. Now, a group of preservation and tourism agencies is trying to rally support to fund structural improvements and reopen the historic lodge.

The six-story chateau, completed in 1934, is in the base of Cave Creek Canyon near the entrance to the Oregon Caves.

The lodge has 23 overnight rooms, a 1930s era diner, gift store and formal dining room. It was designed by architect Gust Lium with mostly local building materials, including the lobbys stone fireplace and the exterior siding of Port Orford cedar. Part of nearby Cave Creek actually diverts into the chateau and flows through the dining room.

The Oregon Caves Chateau is also the only lodge in the National Park System with its original, Arts & Crafts style furniture. Sue Densmore, executive director of the Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau, said the chateaus assets include hundreds of pieces of whimsical, rare and iconic Monterey furniture. Known for its colorful, hand-painted Mexican floral designs, Monterey furniture was popular among movie stars in the 1930s.

An Oregonian photo from 1937 of the chateau and two Lincoln Zephyrs from Portland in foreground.Oregonian file photo

Another claim to fame: The View-Master was first conceived at the chateau in 1938.

Oregon inventor William B. Gruber visited the Oregon Caves and brought his own unique version of a stereo camera to capture the caverns interior. His invention used two Kodak Bantam Specials mounted together on a tripod.

Oregon postcard publisher Harold J. Graves happened to be visiting the caves at the same time and was curious about Grubers double camera. That evening over dinner at the chateau, the new friends devised plans for the View-Master. The device was introduced at the 1939 Worlds Fair in New York.

In 1987, the Oregon Caves Chateau received a National Historic Landmark designation. Its one of only 17 such sites in Oregon.

But over the years, the chateau struggled to meet modern hotel needs. Densmore said too many cell phones plugged in at the same time would knock out electricity to the whole building. The six-story lodge had no elevator to assist guests with mobility needs.

Oregon Caves Chateau. Attractions outside the caves at Oregon Caves National Monument, near Cave Junction in southern Oregon's Josephine County, as seen in 2015.Terry Richard/Staff

In 2018, the chateau closed for an $8.6 million project to update wiring and plumbing and bring the building up to Americans with Disability Act standards.

Densmore said the Friends initially planned to contribute an additional $4 million toward the project, specifically toward preservation of the lodges original doors and furniture and reopening the lodges balconies.

But by 2020, the project to update the chateau had exposed bigger problems with the buildings structural foundation.

An additional $4.5 million was allocated by the National Park Service for an immediate stabilization project, Densmore said, working to protect it from the elements and decrease any further degradation until additional funding is secured.

And while the immediate stabilization work continues, plans to reopen the chateau have stalled.

On Thursday, a coalition of groups held a media briefing to drum up support for the funding. They represented the Friends of the Oregon Caves and Chateau, Travel Southern Oregon, the National Parks Conservation Association, Restore Oregon, Visit Grants Pass, and the Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce, which serves the towns of Cave Junction, Wilderville and Kerby.

And how much more funding is needed? The panel during Thursdays briefing didnt provide an estimate. The National Park Service website states only that numerous structural issues were discovered in the building that require significant work to correct.

We dont have the number, Densmore said. We are working on creating the number.

Suffice to say, its a lot. Millions.

So many millions, the Friends and National Park Service are looking at ways to break up the stabilization project into phases.

Oregon Caves Chateau. Attractions outside the caves at Oregon Caves National Monument, near Cave Junction in southern Oregon's Josephine County, as seen in 2015.Terry Richard/Staff

Densmore did say the Friends hope to raise $20 million toward that first phase of the project for exterior stabilization of the building. Shes hopeful that a show of community support for the chateau will place its preservation higher on the National Park Service to-do list.

Despite the plural name, the Oregon Caves  nicknamed the marble halls of Oregon  is in fact a single cave that stretches roughly 15,000 feet underground. Its open to exploration on one of several kinds of tours, from family-friendly to adventurous, led by park rangers between late March and early November.

In 2022, about 73,000 visitors toured the Oregon Caves, according to Megan Pugh, executive director of the Illinois Valley Chamber of Commerce.

A guided tour at the Oregon Caves National Monument and Preserve leads through an ancient marble cave system, found beneath the Siskiyou Mountains in southwest Oregon. Jamie Hale/The OregonianJamie Hale/The Oregonian

Those visitors spent an estimated $6.8 million in the communities around the cave. Reopening the chateau, she said, would bring more overnight visitors and be an important economic boon to the area.

The closure of the chateau removed 30 full-time jobs as well as a host of associated contracts such as food vendors and local artisan creations that were made available within the gift shop, Pugh said. Without the seismic stabilization, this historic monument will only remain a relic. Generations will be told of a once glorious era at a luxury park lodge, rather than an experience to be had by future generations.

-- Samantha Swindler covers features for The Oregonian/OregonLive and Here is Oregon. Reach her at sswindler@oregonian.com.

Our journalism needs your support. Subscribe today to OregonLive.com.
For the second year in a row, Mothers Day weekend is expected to bring hot temperatures to the Portland area, and Multnomah County health officials are warning people to take precautions when they try to cool off.

The National Weather Service forecasts a high of 90 degrees on Friday and similar temperatures Saturday. Sunday is expected to bring some relief, however, with a daytime high of 79 degrees. Most of the rest of the state will see temperatures from the mid 70s to the high 80s, with things heating up to west of the Cascades but cooling off towards the coast, according to meteorologist Tyler Kranz.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) warning issued a stark caution to Congress this week, highlighting the alarming ease with which individuals can acquire illicit pills, drawing a concerning parallel to the convenience of ordering food through smartphone apps.

During a session with the House Appropriations subcommittee, DEA Administrator Anne Milgram emphasized the ubiquitous nature of smartphones in households, noting that within mere clicks, individuals can have pills delivered, akin to popular food delivery services like Uber Eats or pizza deliveries.

DEA Warns of Easy Access to Illicit Pills

Milgram expressed grave concern over the loss of 22 American teenagers aged 14 to 18 every week due to illegal drug use, labeling it a national tragedy.

She highlighted a pressing issue: the DEA's year-long wait for work visas from Mexico to investigate drug cartels sending illicit pills to the U.S. brought by drug cartels, which are contributing to teen deaths in the country.

DEA agents, combating Mexican drug cartels' massive fentanyl shipments to the U.S., face delays of up to eight months in securing their work visas.

This delay, revealed during a House appropriations subcommittee hearing in Washington, D.C., raises questions about Mexico's commitment to curbing the flow of this synthetic drug, implicated in over 70,000 American overdose deaths last year.

U.S. Rep. Hal Rodgers of Kentucky, chair of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, and Science, commented on the strained relationship, citing obstacles like visa delays and unresolved warrants by Mexico.

Rodgers said, "When the DEA encounters obstacles such as difficulties in obtaining visas in a timely manner to operate in Mexico and there are outstanding warrants the Mexican government fails to act upon."

U.S. Rep. Matt Cartwright of Pennsylvania emphasized the urgency, linking the fentanyl distribution chain from China to Mexico, ultimately claiming lives in the U.S.

Cartwright elaborated, "This is where the rubber hits the road when we talk about the distribution of fentanyl into this country. It's coming from China, it's going to Mexico, it's coming here, and it's killing our kids."

Action Against Drug Cartels

DEA Administrator Anne Milgram informed subcommittee members on Tuesday that 13 agents and intelligence analysts assigned to monitor the two major transnational criminal groups responsible for exporting fentanyl to the U.S. are awaiting approval from Mexico to enter the country.

She emphasized the DEA's commitment to collaborating globally against this threat, echoing FBI Director Christopher Wray's call for increased cooperation.

Milgram highlighted the impact of delays, citing one visa pending for eight months, emphasizing the cost of prolonged waiting periods for national security.

Mexico holds significance in combating not just fentanyl but also other illicit substances like heroin, methamphetamine, cocaine, and marijuana.

The DEA's strategy involves building cases worldwide, targeting Asian suppliers of precursor chemicals, Mexican cartels operating fentanyl labs, and entities laundering drug profits.

Milgram underscored the prevalence of fentanyl in illicit pills, a factor contributing to thousands of American deaths annually. She reported significant DEA seizures last year, including 79 million fake pills and 12,000 pounds of powdered fentanyl.

Requesting increased funding from Congress, Milgram emphasized the need for more resources to bolster DEA efforts against drug trafficking into the U.S.
I want to remind everyone out there again of the gathering tomorrow night  Friday night, 10 May 2024  in honor of the contributions of George L. Mitton. The event will take place at 7 PM in the large room upstairs at Legacy Village, 4146 North University Avenue, Provo, UT 84604.

A new book has been published in connection with this event, under the title Joseph Smith and Our Preparation for the Lords Final Judgment.

Early last evening, my wife and I observed a photo shoot in Salt Lake City for the Interpreter Foundations rapidly approaching theatrical film Six Days in August. The shoot involved the films Joseph Smith (Paul Wuthrich, reprising his role from Witnesses) and its Brigham Young (John Donovan Wilson), and was the first step toward creating movie posters and social media and other key art for the film.

From there we went to a performance by the Utah Opera of Jules Massenets 1894 opera Thais. I thought that I had seen Thais once before, many years ago, but I realized within about the first sixty seconds that I had not.

I was surprised by it, and surprised at how much I enjoyed it. (Of course, almost everybody is familiar with its famous violin Meditation.) To a small extent, I enjoyed it because of its setting in fourth-century Egypt, a place (though not especially a time) with which Im very familiar. I first went to Egypt in January of 1978, we lived in Egypt from the summer of 1978 to the summer of 1982, and we have visited Egypt more times since then than I can count  most recently late last October and this past January.

But I want to offer a few comments on the opera and on its performance last night. It is the story of Thais, a superstar courtesan in Alexandria, and of a devout Christian named Athanael, who had apparently known her when they were both quite young. A monk of Antinoe (or Antinoopolis) in the Western Desert  years ago, I had the opportunity to visit the venerable and remote monastery of St. Antony in the Eastern Desert and to make repeated visits to the distant monasteries of Wadi Natrun in the Western Desert  Athanael is determined to convert her from her overt devotion to Venus to his rigorous form of Christianity, and thus to save her soul. He succeeds, but, in the end, he seems to have lost his own.

I begin with the very last scene, which  unsurprisingly to those who have been following my blog for any length of time  strongly caught my attention. Just a few months after her repentance and conversion, Thais is dying, and Athanael realizes that he cant bear the thought of losing her. He comes to her convent and confesses his love for her, essentially renouncing his Christianity and asceticism, begging her to live:

Non! le ciel . . . rien nexiste . . . rien nest vrai que la vie et que lamour des etres. . . . Je taime! No! Heaven . . . nothing exists . . . nothing is true but life and the love of (human) beings. I love you!

Here are the final words of Thais, spoken on her deathbed. I have omitted the interjections and pleadings of Athanael:

Et la voila laurore! . . .

Et les voila les roses de leternel matin! . . .

Le ciel souvre! Voici les anges et les prophetes . . .

et les saints! Ils viennent avec un sourire,

les mains toutes pleines de fleurs! . . .

Deux seraphins aux blanches ailes planent dans lazur,

et comme tu las dit, le doux consolateur posant

sur mes yeux ses doigts de lumiere!

Ah! en essuie a jamais les pleurs! . . .

Le son des harpes dor menchante!

De suaves parfums me penetrent!

Je sens une exquise beatitude,

Ah! Ah! Une beatitude endormir tous mes maux! . . .

Ah! le ciel! Je voix Dieu!

And here is a slightly free English translation, partially but not entirely my own, of her final words:

And here is the dawn! . . .

And there the roses of eternal morning! . . .

Heaven is opening! Here are the angels and the prophets . . .

and the saints! They come with a smile,

their hands all full of flowers! . . .

Two seraphim with white wings soar in the azure (sky)

and, just as you said, the gentle Comforter places

on my eyes his fingers of light!

Ah! dries them forever of tears! . . .

The sound of the golden harps enchants me!

Gentle fragrances pierce my soul!

I feel an exquisite beatitude,

Ah! Ah! A beatitude that puts to rest all my pains! . . .

Ah! Heaven! I see . . . God!

Whether Massinet or his librettist Louis Gallet (or the Nobel-laureate Anatole France, on whose 1890 novel Thais, which I have not read, the opera is based) invented her final words out of pure imagination, or whether they are based on the final words of others, I do not know. But some will recognize that they strongly resemble many accounts of so-called death-bed visions. The ecstatic references to light, music, beautiful scents, welcoming heavenly beings, peace and exquisite happiness . . . These are textbook elements of such accounts.

Other thoughts occurred to me last night, as well. It is the physical rigors of her several months of guilt-induced penance that ultimately kill Thais, and I thought how belief in Christs atonement without such demanding penitence would have made for a happier ending. The Restored Gospel stresses repentance, but it doesnt demand self-flagellation or self-destruction. And a non-celibate, non-monastic form of Christianity would have allowed Athanael to marry Thais, whom he clearly loved and who seems possibly to have loved him, as well. There should not be an absolute gulf between loving God and feeling affection or love for Gods children. Athanaels frustrated love may have destroyed him, and their suffering was unnecessary.

But I was especially put off by one particular modern misreading of the story, evident in both the program notes and the audiences reaction:

In the program notes, religious hypocrisy is identified as one of the operas themes. But I absolutely do not see Athanael as a hypocrite. To me  and I would appreciate readers perspectives on this  a hypocrite is someone who publicly professes a principle or a set of principles but, privately, either doesnt really believe in them or regularly, consciously, deliberately, and rather blithely violates them. Examples would include a politician who trumpets his commitment to family values but who engages regularly in secret trysts with his mistress and, while claiming to be pro-life, pays for her abortion. Or a politician who campaigns on her deep concern for the poor and the downtrodden but who gives nothing to charity and who exploits and mistreats her cleaning lady.

Athanael, however, is portrayed in the opera as genuinely pious, authentically and deeply religious, albeit tormented by a deep attraction to Thais. That attraction emerges only after he has gone to Alexandria in what seems to have been a sincere effort to retrieve her from a life of ostentatious devotion to superficial sensuality. As he takes her to the desert area of his monastery and her destined convent, driving her mercilessly and demanding that she punish her body in penance, she collapses. It is then that he recognizes her inner purity, her goodness and the utter sincerity of her conversion:

Ah! des gouttes de sang coulent de ses pied blancs. La pitie semeut en mon ame! Pauvre enfant! Pauvre femme! Jai trop prolonge cette epreuve! Pardonne-moi, o ma sur, o sainte Thais! O sainte, tres sainte Thais! Ah, drops of blood drip from her white feet. Pity moves my soul. Poor child! Poor woman! Oh holy Thais, oh my sister !  I have prolonged this hard trial too long! Forgive me. [He prostrates himself. Weeping, he kisses her bleeding feet with adoration.] Oh holy, most holy Thais!

Plainly, this isnt mere lust. Moreover, yielding to a powerful temptation after strenuous resistance to it does not seem to me an example of mere hypocrisy, but simply of human weakness and fallibility.

The audience, however, didnt react properly on the  I believe  three occasions when Athanael prays for the strength to resist the powerful temptation of Thaiss charm and beauty. Each time, there were titters of laughter. Im assuming that those who laughed didnt believe his prayers to be sincere, that he was merely a lustful man paying lip service to his professed beliefs. But this seems to me completely misguided. The opera itself portrays him as deeply disturbed after taking Thais to the convent and returning to his own monastery. His fellow monks worry about him; for weeks he doesnt eat, he doesnt drink, and he rarely speaks. He confesses his torment to his superior at the monastery, who provides no real help but simply bids him farewell and walks out. It is only then that Athanael leaves his monastery to visit the dying Thais, to confess his guilty love and to implore her to live.

I wondered what the audiences laughter signified: Are modern people simply incapable of taking an oath or a vow seriously? Do we deride and mock the notion of moral restraint and moral effort? Do we no longer believe in the possibility of human goodness, or of genuine human efforts to attain it. I was, honestly, very bothered by that laughter.

I was shocked today to hear from a friend of the death of former Utah Congressman Chris Cannon: Former Utah Rep. Chris Cannon dies at age 73 One of Chriss younger brothers was a missionary companion of mine  more than once, actually  in Switzerland, and I came to know his entire remarkable family shortly after I returned. In fact, for a brief time, Chris and I lived with several others in a house at the southwest corner of the BYU campus that has long since been razed and, fittingly, replaced by an expanded parking lot for Brick Oven Pizza.

Chris was a good man. He made a mark, and he will be missed.
In a move to address critical gaps in financial literacy among Ghanas youth, Absa Bank Ghana has unveiled its Money Matters Initiative. Launched at a well-attended event in Accra, the event aims to equip junior and senior high school students with essential financial knowledge and skills to navigate todays complex economic landscape.



The Money Matters initiative addresses an urgent need for enhanced financial education in Ghana. It offers a curriculum developed in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service, the Young Investors Network, and the National Banking College. This curriculum includes practical financial skills like budgeting, saving, and investing.



Financial literacy is about more than just understanding numbers; it is about making informed financial decisions that can transform lives, said Adolph Kpegah, the Interim Managing Director of Absa Bank Ghana, at the event launch. The programme is designed to demystify financial concepts, making them accessible and relatable to young minds.



The initiative seeks to reach 60,000 students in 300 schools across four regions. Its goal is to foster a generation well-versed in financial matters, capable of making informed decisions that contribute to personal economic stability.



The programme adopts an interactive approach to learning, using real-life scenarios to engage students actively. This method aims to make financial concepts accessible and relevant, ensuring that students can apply their knowledge practically.



Tracy Tetteh, one of the participants from St. Johns Grammar SHS described the programme as very relevant and important to the youth.



This programme by Absa is very relevant because it teaches us not only about financial literacy but the importance of saving and managing our monies so that we can secure our future and this Ithink its very important for young people to learn, she said.



For his part, Agbedanu Woelorm, a final year student at Presec Legon, commended Absa Bank for this initiative which has exposed the youth to the complicated world of money and finance. The knowledge gained from such programmes helps you to make informed choices and also make us more financially responsible to save towards our future, he said.



With the launch of the Money Matters Initiative, Absa Bank Ghana has reaffirmed its commitment to empowering the nations youth with the financial acumen necessary for success.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Telecel Mobile Financial Services Ltd, operators of Telecel Cash, in partnership with Cellulant, a leading technology company, has announced the availability of Telecel Cash as a convenient payment method for Google Play users in Ghana.



This integration enables Telecel Cash customers to seamlessly purchase apps and services directly from Google Play, enhancing their digital experience.



This initiative is part of a broader effort to expand payment options and improve transaction ease for Google Play users, especially in regions where the use of traditional credit cards is uncommon. By incorporating Telecel Cash, Telecel Ghana and Cellulant are providing a seamless, secure, and convenient payment method tailored to the needs of the Ghanaian market.



Richard Gesimba, Vice President, Cellulant Checkout Business Unit, highlighted the significance of the collaboration. "Our partnership with Telecel Ghana aims to innovate and deliver payment solutions that address the evolving needs of African consumers. This integration makes it easier for them to access a world of apps and content on Google Play without traditional banking facilities." He noted.



Philip Amoateng, Director for Telecel Cash, emphasized the benefits for customers. The inclusion of Telecel Cash as a payment option on Google Play significantly enhances our service offerings. It offers our customers a straightforward and secure way to enjoy all the features and capabilities that Google Play has to offer. We are committed to enhancing our customers' digital experiences and ensuring they can access global digital content with ease.", he added.



Google Play, a digital distribution service operated and developed by Google, is the official app store for the Android operating system. It allows users to browse and download applications developed with the Android software development kit and published through Google.



The availability of Telecel Cash as a payment method on Google Play is expected to boost the platform's usage in Ghana, where mobile money has become a dominant force in financial transactions.



This also demonstrates Telecel Ghanas commitment to enhancing customer experience and expanding digital accessibility.







Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Hollard Ghana, the country's favourite insurer, has honoured Richard Della Strauss-Ashiaby, the valedictorian from the University of Media, Arts and Communication-IJ (UniMAC-IJ), with the Hollard Prize during the 2nd Congregation held in Accra.



To commemorate this remarkable achievement, Roswitha Adjoa Amoako, Head of Group Business at Hollard Life, presented Richard with the Hollard Prize, including a laptop, a citation, and a cash prize during the ceremony.



Speaking after the event, Cynthia Ofori-Dwumfuo, Group Head of Marketing and Corporate Affairs, commended Richard on his notable feat.



"We are thrilled to join in celebrating Richard Della Strauss-Ashiaby on his well-deserved award as the overall best-graduating student from the University of Media, Arts and Communications-IJ. At Hollard, we believe in the power of education to transform lives and shape the future. By supporting talented individuals like Richard, we are investing in the next generation of leaders who will drive positive change in our society, thus enabling better futures", she stated.



Commenting on the award, the recipient, Richard, expressed his deep gratitude, saying, "I am truly humbled about this award, not only for the just-ended ceremony but also for the long-term partnership between Hollard and UNIMAC-IJ. I hope this award will inspire students to strive for excellence and positively impact their fields. Thank you, Hollard Ghana, for this incredible opportunity".



Since its inception in 2022, the Hollard X Academia program has significantly improved the lives of numerous students and fostered a culture of excellence and innovation. This comprehensive initiative, which includes the Hollard Prize, Scholar Programme, Streetwise Finance engagement sessions, and Corporate Experience, is a testament to our commitment to investing in the next generation of leaders.



Anatasia Nana Aba Acquah, Gwendy Tetteh, Joshua Seidu Adams, and Sandra Kumah are some of the past beneficiaries of the Hollard Prize since its inception.



About Hollard Ghana



The countrys favourite insurance group is Hollard Ghana, with subsidiaries Hollard Insurance and Hollard Life Assurance. The group combines its deep local knowledge of the market, having previously operated in Ghana for 25 years as Metropolitan Insurance, with the world-class expertise of an international insurance brand in 18 countries worldwide. With feet firmly planted on Ghanaian soil but headquartered in South Africa, Hollard delivers innovative insurance solutions customised to the unique risks Ghanaians face. Hollard offers various life and general insurance products, including funeral, personal accident, motor, business, travel, home, and more, and can be reached via 0307000599. Beyond various nationwide office branches and Hollard 2U franchise shops, Ghanaians can find Hollard at Shell Fuel Station Welcome Shops, Melcom stores and online at www.hollard.com.gh, www.melcom.com/hollard-insurance and www.jumia.com.gh for all their insurance needs.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The running mate of the presidential candidate of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, has stressed the need to harness the potential of the 24-hour economy to generate employment opportunities and maximise benefits for a wide range of individuals in the country.



She said the NDC had identified unemployment as a top priority and it believed that the 24-hour economy policy was crucial to addressing the issue.



Misinformation

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang made the remarks when she represented former President John Dramani Mahama at a symposium organised by the Centre for Ethical Governance and Administration (CEGA).



The symposium brought together experts to discuss the business and economic impact of the 24-hour economy policy, with the goal of promoting understanding and paving the way for implementation under the next NDC administration.



Other speakers at the symposium included labour expert and alternative dispute resolution practitioner, Austin Gamey; a Senior Lecturer at the University of Ghana Business School, Prof. Lord Mensah; a Financial Economist, Dr Bernard Tetteh Dumenya; a former Director-General of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Ghana Police Service, Commissioner of Police (COP) Bright Oduro (retd), and the National Communications Officer of the NDC, Sammy Gyamfi.



Flexible approach

Prof. Opoku Agyemang cautioned against misinformation and emphasised the need for a flexible approach to address the country's challenges, as the current system was unsustainable.



"It is important to note that this conversation is just starting, and we are in the era of all kinds of information, misinformation, so be careful not to be swayed to other things," she said.



Other countries

The Executive Director of CEGA, Prof. Ohene Adjei, highlighted the success of the 24-hour economy concept in countries such as the United States of America (USA), Germany and the United Kingdom (UK), and stressed the need to move beyond the traditional working arrangements of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.



Brothers at war

For his part, Prof. Mensah cited the timeliness and potential of the 24-hour economy initiative to reduce reliance on foreign imports and increase household incomes.



Not political promise

The National Communications Officer of the NDC said the 24-hour economy strategy was an imperative for the country's development, and the time for its implementation was now.



Mr Gyamfi said the 24-hour economy was not just a political promise but a well-thought-out plan that had been developed through various engagements with experts.



He gave an assurance that the strategy was not a political campaign promise but a product of honest and deep thinking. Mr Gyamfi highlighted the benefits of the 24-hour economy to include the reduction of waiting times for government services such as passports and documents from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA).



He also stressed that the strategy would triple job opportunities in institutions and ensure that the economy operates 24 hours around the clock. "The 24-hour economy is for everyone, and everyone will benefit from it," Mr Gyamfi emphasised.



Mr Gyamfi expressed confidence in John Mahama, the NDC's flag bearer, to deliver on the 24-hour economy promise. Describing Mr Mahama as a nation builder, the Communication Officer of the NDC said he believed the former President had the vision and expertise to implement the strategy to transform Ghana's economy.



Taking tough decisions



Dr Tetteh-Demanya indicated that the 24-hour economy concept had the potential to improve resource utilisation, reduce waste and streamline the countrys debt burden. He indicated the need for the next government to take tough, unconventional economic decisions to implement the strategy.



Security implications

For COP Oduro, he stressed the need for adequate security measures to support the implementation of the 24-hour economy concept. The former CID boss highlighted the need for adequate resources, regular training and wider publicity to ensure police security and visibility.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Climate change and illegal mining, popularly known as Galamsey, are the greatest threats facing the production of cocoa, Ghanas leading foreign exchange earner.



In a panel discussion hosted by Graphic Online on its YouTube social media network, dubbed Your Ghana, My Ghana', the experts said changes in rainfall patterns and global warming render planning in the cocoa sub-sector challenging, while indiscriminate prospecting for gold illegally by artisanal miners also affect the cultivation of the cash crop.



The two-member panellists, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD), Joseph Boahen Aidoo, and the General Secretary of the Ghana Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Edward Kareweh, discussed cocoa production in Ghana and its attendant issues on the theme: Will Cocoa be part of Ghanas future.



Rainfall patterns

Mr Aidoo lamented that even though the nations greenhouse emissions and carbon footprint were practically insignificant, global warming had adversely affected rainfall patterns making planning for the crop extremely difficult.





At times when we dont expect rains, they come. When you want rains, they dont come. Thats for the cocoa. In 2020, the whole of June, July and August there was no rain at all.



Then from October ending, November, December, January and February, it was raining. Can you imagine? January, February and it was raining as if we were in June, July, he recalled.



Galamsey

On the issue of galamsey, the COCOBOD CEO stressed that the emboldened activities of the perpetrators had rendered many water bodies surrounding cocoa farms unsafe for farmers.



We commissioned the Ghana Irrigation Development Authority (GIDA) to do a pre-appraisal assessment for us and in the report they brought, almost all the rivers were contaminated, and you cannot use that milky muddy water to do anything with cocoa.



You cannot use it for spraying. These days farmers have to transport water from their homes in tricycles making farming very expensive, Mr Aidoo stated. Explaining the science behind the process, he said the stomata of the leaves, which regulates gas exchange between the plant and environment, would be blocked by mud in the water leading to the eventual death of trees.



He added that the issue of climate change could be tackled to a significant extent through irrigation but due illegal mining and the choking of rivers by silt, collecting water in the rivers surrounding cocoa farms would do more damage.



Either that or youll have to be changing your filters more frequently and farming would be coming very expensive. And you cannot also use boreholes because they are not reliable. Any country depends on surface running waters. We cant do same here because of galamsey, Mr Aidoo added.



Decision time

The General Secretary of GAWU, Edward Kareweh, stated that the entire nation had a decision to make with regards to cocoa  whether we still wanted to have the crop as the nations foreign exchange earner or we look to other sources.



This country, once upon a time, was not a leading producer in cocoa. It was brought from somewhere. It was not even part of our environment. It was brought in, we planted, nurtured it and today, we are a major producer of cocoa, he said.



Mr Kareweh intimated that the galamsey menace was not only destroying cocoa but the future of the country as a whole. He said although COCOBOD had a role to play in mitigating the issue, the external factors, which were beyond the regulators domain had to be addressed first.



COCOBOD cannot stop galamsey. Theyll chase them away. COCOBOD doesnt own the rivers and dont have the authority or capacity to stop people from mining in the rivers. It is just outside their mandate, which is facilitating the production of cocoa so long as the right conditions are put in place for them, he said.



The GAWU General Secretary called for the establishment of a bank, which would be financing and lending money to the cocoa production regular and the entire sub sector.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The United States & Peru share a commitment to democracy, humane migration management, regional security, and inclusive economic growth. At our inaugural High-Level Dialogue, co-led by Vice Foreign Minister Camino & @DeputySecState, we continued advancing this shared agenda. -BAN pic.twitter.com/BDN5a1ZkBs
The Awoamefia of Anlo State, Torgbui Sri III has thrown his weight behind Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, and urged him to focus on the good works he is doing for Ghana.



The Awoamefia made this remark at his palace in Anloga when the Minister paid him a courtesy call on Wednesday, 8th May, 2024.



Torgbui Sri was delighted to see his son, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, popularly called NAPO and encouraged him to continue working hard and effectively serve the populace.



I am solidly behind you and I want you to keep being focused. What is ahead of you is greater and so do not be distracted by anything, the Awoamefia told Dr. Opoku Prempeh.



The Energy Minister also recalled the long-standing father-son relation between Torgbui Sri and himself.



He further recounted the beautiful and cordial relationship between his grandfather, Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, and Torgbui Sri on which basis the Asantehene once visited the Awoamefia.



I have enormous confidence in Ghanas future, where the political class and traditional authorities work together harmoniously for the advancement of the growth and prosperity of the people, Dr. Prempeh expressed.





Source: Peacefmonline.com/Ghana









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The businessman charged alongside the Minority Leader, Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, for allegedly causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state in an ambulance deal, has told the High Court that his company dropped out of the ambulance transaction as soon as Big Sea signed the contract for the supply of the vehicles with the government.



Richard Jakpa, is the Executive Chairman of Jakpa Business Limited (JBL), an agent representing Big Sea, the company the prosecution claims supplied unfit ambulances to the state.



Mounting the witness box, Mr Jakpa, who was led by his lawyer, Thaddeus Sory, explained that by a contract between the government and Big Sea, which sought to get Big Sea to supply 200 ambulances and other accessories to the state, JBL was never a party to the contract.



Contract



He further told the court that the government ceased dealing with JBL after signing the contract with Big Sea, adding that it was, therefore, the mutual understanding between Big Sea, JBL and government that after the signing of the contract between Big Sea and the government, JBL's relationship with government would no longer exist and that it was only Big Sea and JBL which had a relationship.



JBL, therefore, did not sign as the supplier of the contract. The contract made no provision for JBL to undertake any obligations in respect of the 200 ambulance vehicles delivery arrangement.



The contract also did not make any provision for the payment to JBL of any funds arising out of the transaction involving the 200 ambulances by government from Big Sea, he said in his witness statement read in open court yesterday.



No responsibility



As a result of this, he said JBL owed no responsibility to the government regarding the delivery of the ambulances to government by Big Sea whether in terms of quantity or quality.



He added that even if Big Sea had any obligations related to the contract for the 200 ambulances, such an obligation would only arise in the context of JBL's obligations to Big Sea as its agent.



Such an obligation, he said, would also, only be referable to the agency agreement between Big Sea and JBL but not to the contract for the purchase of the 200 ambulances since the contract covering the ambulance deal to the state was between Big Sea and the government.



The case has been adjourned to Tuesday, May 14, this year at the court presided over by Justice Afia Serwah Asare-Botwe.



Not guilty



Mr Jakpa and the Minority Leader have been accused of causing financial loss of 2.37 million to the state in a deal to purchase 200 ambulances for the country between 2014 and 2016.



They have pleaded not guilty to counts of wilfully causing financial loss to the state, abetment to wilfully causing financial loss to the state, contravention of the Public Procurement Act and intentionally misapplying public property.



Per the A-Gs facts accompanying the charge sheet, in 2009, while delivering the State of the Nation Address, the then President, Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, indicated that new ambulances would be purchased to expand the operations of the National Ambulance Service.



Jakpa, who is a local representative of Big Sea General Trading Limited, a company based in Dubai, subsequently approached the Ministry of Health with a proposal that he had arranged for finance from Stanbic Bank for the supply of 200 ambulances to the government.



Parliament approved the financing agreement between the government and Stanbic Bank. According to the facts, on November 19, 2012, a former Director of Ministry of Health, wrote to the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) seeking approval to engage Big Sea through single sourcing for the supply of the 200 ambulances.



They added that on August 7, 2014, Dr Forson wrote to the Bank of Ghana for letters of credit covering 3.95 million for the supply of 50 ambulances in favour of Big Sea. The letters of credit were accordingly released to Big Sea.



The facts said 30 ambulances were purchased at a sum of 2.37 million but all were found not to have met ambulance specifications and therefore not fit for purpose.

Source: graphic.com.gh









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The Commissioner-General of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA), Julie Essiam, has urged resident persons to take advantage of the Voluntary Disclosure Programme (VDP) to regularise their tax issues with the authority, ensure compliance and avoid sanctions.



She emphasised the importance of tax compliance and said it was not a new measure. Ms Essiam said it had existed in the tax laws although its implementation had not been effected until recently when the country started receiving information on foreign accounts held by resident Ghanaians in other jurisdictions.



She said the GRA, through the support of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) had refined its processes and structures to ensure effective implementation of the tax compliance measure.



Ghana is one of the five African countries approved by the OECD to share information on financial accounts of resident persons.



Legal basis

Explaining the legal basis for taxation in an interview with the Daily Graphic in Accra, Ms Essiam cited Article 174(1) of the 1992 Constitution which says that taxation could only be imposed under the authority of an Act of Parliament.



She said resident persons were required to disclose all their income sourced in the country and abroad, as failure to comply may result in sanctions, including criminal prosecution, penalties and administrative non-compliance penalties.



Ms Essiam said the nation's tax system had evolved over the years, from a territorial concept to a worldwide system. She said that repeal of previous Income Tax laws such as the NLCD 78, SMCD 5 and Act 592, which were replaced by the current Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896), introduced a global system of taxation for resident persons.



As a result, Ms Essiam said, the current Income Tax Act, 2015 (Act 896) taxed the total income of resident persons, including foreign-sourced income. Resident persons under Act 896 include individuals, companies, trusts and partnerships that meet specific criteria.



The Commissioner-General further mentioned conditions for an individual to be considered a resident for tax purposes to include citizens with a permanent home in Ghana residing in the country throughout the year.



Government employees or officials posted abroad and citizens temporarily absent from Ghana for not more than 365 continuous days but maintain a permanent home in Ghana also qualify as resident citizens.



By definition of the tax law, any Ghanaian or individual who lives in the country for 183 days in any 12-month period is also classified a resident Ghanaian. However, incomes of Ghanaians permanently residing abroad are not covered under the policy.



Ghana, she said, had joined international efforts to combat tax evasion and avoidance, including global forums on transparency, exchange of information for tax purposes and multilateral convention on mutual administrative assistance in tax matters (MAC).



Urging compliance with tax laws, Ms Essiam emphasised the importance of Section 74 of the Revenue Administration Act, 2016 (Act 915) as amended which allows residents to disclose previously undisclosed income held abroad without facing sanctions.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has emphasized the need for collective effort in the fight against illegal mining activities, popularly known as "galamsey."



Dr. Bawumia noted that no individual or administration can entirely combat the menace and emerge victorious, without the combined effort and commitment of other stakeholders.



Speaking at the Ghana Mining Vision by the University of Energy and Natural Resources in Sunyani on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, Dr. Bawumia pointed out that the fight against illegal mining has not been won yet and should be of concern to all Ghanaians, stressing the importance of a united front in tackling the issue effectively.



"We cannot continue to pretend the fight has been won; indeed, we have barely scratched the surface and committed to doing more to keep our other, very precious resources that spar with mining like water bodies, safe for all," he said.



"Our solemn pledge as a government is to ensure we stay consistent with this pledge and harness existing potentials to reap the full benefits of building a very resolute small-scale mining sector that will be admired not only in the sub-region but globally," he said



The NPP flagbearer expressed the need for sustainable solutions that prioritize the long-term well-being of Ghana's natural resources and environment - a call he committed his government to, should he be elected President.



For the menace to be addressed effectively, Dr. Bawumia said there should be cooperation among all stakeholders, including government agencies, mining companies, communities, and citizens, to address the challenges posed by illegal mining and ensure the sustainable development of Ghana's mining 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.

Featured Video
Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, the flagbearer and leader of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP), has announced his intentions of establishing a Minerals Development Bank.



According to Dr. Bawumia, the minerals bank will be established when he is elected President in the upcoming December Presidential and Parliamentary elections.



Vice President Bawumia mentioned that the initiative is a Bawumia-led governmental project that is aimed at providing financial support for mining projects in the country.



Dr. Bawumia made his intention known to patrons who graced the 3rd Annual Transformational Dialogue on Small Scale Mining in Ghana at the University of Energy and Natural Resources in the Bono Region.



Dr. Bawumia underscored the need to establish a Minerals bank, noting that, it will prevent the practice of foreign mining companies exporting all their earnings.



Dr. Bawumia said, We also want to, as I said, in collaboration with the relevant state institutions like MIIF, PMMC, the Bank of Ghana, the private sector and others, we want to establish a minerals development bank to finance viable local mineral projects and to mitigate foreign financing of local mining projects, which leads to heavy smuggling of the produce afterwards.



The Vice President Dr. Bawumia noted that, Ghana loses so much financial resources to the foreign mining companies because the country does not have the requisite logistics to process all the minerals we have in Ghana.



According to Dr. Bawumia, the establishment of the minerals bank will help to create more local based mining companies that will compete with the other international mining companies across the globe.

Source: Kobina Darlington/peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Akosua Asaa Manu, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for the Adentan Constituency, has issued a firm rebuttal to the National Democratic Congress' (NDC) assertions regarding President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo's alleged obsession with former President John Mahama.



In a recent interview on Onua FM, Manu dismissed the NDC's claims as baseless and labelled them as a "non-starter.



During the radio interview, Kozie Manu challenged the feasibility of the NDC discontinuing ongoing projects initiated by the Akufo-Addo administration should John Mahama be elected in 2024. Highlighting flagship programs like the "One District, One Factory" initiative and the Free Senior High School program, she explained that these interventions could cease, even as she underscored their significance in driving economic growth and providing access to basic education for young Ghanaians.



Expressing concerns over the potential repercussions of a Mahama presidency, Kozie cited previous declines in the agriculture sector, trade deficits, and low GDP experienced during his tenure. In contrast, she emphasised the NPP government's achievements, including robust economic growth, thriving agricultural initiatives, infrastructure development projects, and social welfare programs.



Comparing Vice President Dr Bawumia's track record to Mahama's presidency, Kozie asserted Dr Bawumia's strong candidacy for the upcoming presidential election, citing his proven leadership and transformative policies. She expressed confidence that Ghanaians will overwhelmingly support Dr Bawumia's bid for the presidency.



Addressing energy challenges in parts of the country, Kozie acknowledged existing issues but noted improvements under the Akufo-Addo administration. She highlighted localised challenges, such as temporary disruptions due to infrastructure projects like the Dodowa road construction, while reaffirming the government's commitment to resolving such issues.



Akosua Manu concluded by reiterating President Akufo-Addo's concerns about the potential dangers of a Mahama presidency to Ghana's progress. She emphasised that the NPP government has a proven track record of effective governance and is committed to advancing the welfare of all Ghanaians, making it the preferred choice for the nation's future. Kozie also explained that the opposition has consistently demonstrated their inability to build and develop the country.

Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Council of State member, Sam Okudzeto has asserted that, former Sanitation Minister, Cecilia Dapaah is not obligated to explain the source of the millions found in her home.



The former President of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) said no law bars people from keeping monies in their homes.



If you come and you find money with me, do I owe you any duty to explain to you to whose money when nobody has complained that I have stolen his money?



You Ghanaians are not honest people, the number of people, all these huge buildings that they are building, who has asked them where they got the money from, nobody does, he said in an interview on Accra-based TV3.



The legal practitioner said if anybody has evidence that Madam Dapaah stole the money, then a complaint must be made.



So you just pick on one individual and you want to make it as if she was just an extraordinary rogue who has stolen money when you dont even have any evidence that she has stolen money, he stated.



Mr Okudzeto argued that Cecilia Dapaah cannot be convicted based on circumstantial evidence.



Do the laws convict people on circumstantial evidence? When you go to the criminal court you must establish the issues beyond all reasonable doubt, that is what the criminal law says. The criminal law is not based upon suspicion or mere allegation, he added.



Meanwhile, the Director of Programmes and Policy Engagement at the Centre for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana), Dr Kojo Pumpuni Asante has said Madam Dapaah must explain to Ghanaians the source of her wealth in contention.



He stated thatx, Cecilia Dapaah was a Minister at the time when the money was found in her house and that increased her responsibility to provide a clear and transparent explanation for the money to demonstrate that it was legitimately obtained.



Dr Asante believes the failure on the part of the former Minister to clarify matters and clear her name has partly led to the delay in getting to the bottom of the issue.









Source: adomonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Former President and flag bearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), John Dramani Mahama, has urged all eligible voters, especially, first-timers who encountered challenges on the first day of the nationwide limited voters registration exercise not to give up.



It wasnt a good start to the registration exercise today, but be encouraged to register for change. Dont let the frustrations stop you from visiting the Electoral Commission (EC) office and the selected Electoral Areas again tomorrow to be registered, he said.



Mr Mahama said this in a post on his Facebook wall to encourage all eligible voters who could not register at the start of the voter registration exercise, which started last Tuesday, due to technical challenges to do so.



Ghana needs your vote on December 7. Get registered to vote Mahama and the NDC, he said.



Recall

The voter registration exercise took off after 12 noon last Tuesday following a system failure which thwarted the start of the exercise across the country. Many of the registration centres, primarily limited to the district offices of the EC, recorded minimal figures as many prospective registrants had left by the time the registration system was fixed.



Before then, scenes of chaos and frustration had characterised the registration centres over the malfunctioning system, which prompted a high-level technical meeting of the EC to resolve the issue.



Prospective registrants who were left frustrated by the situation had to leave the centres without going through the processes to get their names onto the voter register.



EC

A statement issued by the EC attributed the situation to technical challenges with internet connectivity in a number of our centres. It said the challenge was eventually resolved, and that the registration exercise is proceeding smoothly in almost all the registration centres nationwide.



The Director of Electoral Services at the EC headquarters, Dr Serebour Quaicoe in an interview said the technical challenges had been resolved and the exercise was going on smoothly.



He said the exercise is for 21 days and the commissions target is to register 623,000 eligible persons, reiterating that the exercise was meant for persons who have turned 18 and others who could not register the last time (2023).



Visit

Visits to some registration centres by the Daily Graphic, in the Greater Accra Region revealed that the exercise was going smoothly. The running mate of the flag bearer of the NDC, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, who visited the Ayawaso West Wuogon Centre and the University of Professional Studies, Accra, yesterday expressed satisfaction about the exercise.



However, she bemoaned last Tuesdays technical challenges that nearly marred the start of the exercise.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
The next New Patriotic Party (NPP) government will introduce new special policies and programmes in the agriculture and energy sectors to reduce the high cost of food and electricity in the country, the Vice-President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, has disclosed.



He explained that the high cost of food and electricity which had become major concerns to many Ghanaians needed special innovations and interventions to address. Dr Bawumia, who is the flag bearer of the NPP, was speaking at a meeting with members of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs and the clergy in Sunyani on Wednesday as part of his campaign tour in the region.



Agriculture

"My government will invest more in commercial farming, mechanised and irrigation agriculture to reduce the high cost of food and boost the country's economy. "To me, food is critical, so I want to see a lot more commercial, mechanised and irrigated agriculture", he said.



The NPP flag bearer said it was a fact that the government had improved the country's agriculture, industrialisation and infrastructure.



Solar system

Dr Bawumia said under his presidency, the country would move from liquid and gas in the generation of electricity to solar power to reduce the high cost of electricity. He was accompanied by the National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Stephen Ayensu Ntim, Chairman of the National Campaign Team, Dan Kwaku Botwe, some ministers of state, Members of Parliament (MPs) and some party faithful.



"Let's move away from the constant increases in food and electricity prices that we don't have control over in the country and become independent in power generation. We have the technology and free sunlight to generate enough power," Dr Bawumia said.



He said if he was elected in the December general election, he would work towards the production of 2,000 megawatts of solar power, which he said was half of the country's consumption.



Dr Bawumia said it was possible to produce more than his proposal because two different private companies had shown interest in the investment.



Performance



Dr Bawumia said the NPP government had performed significantly better in the development of the country more than any other government in the history of the country. He explained that the party had more development packages to be executed, and urged the public to vote for the NPP to continue its unfinished business.



Commendation

The President of the Bono Regional House of Chiefs, Osagyefo Oseadeeyo Agyeman Badu, commended the government for completing the Sunyani Airport rehabilitation programme and the upgrading of the Sunyani Regional Hospital to a teaching hospital.



However, he called on him to facilitate the construction of the second phase of the airport and invest more in the Sunyani Teaching Hospital to meet a teaching hospital status.

Source: graphiconline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

Featured Video
Maybe youve heard this before, but theres a plan to put hundreds of apartments into the former Dixie Cup plant in Wilson Borough.

Skyline Investment Group of New York City has submitted a $160 million plan for 405 apartments at the plant off 25th Street. Its the latest in a succession of apartment, condominium and warehouse plans for the property thats been vacant for more than 20 years.

Not only does Skyline principal Brian Bartee have confidence in the Dixie Cup plan, hes already eyeing the vacant Kmart and LA Fitness properties as future housing sites.

If were successful in doing this, Im really strongly considering making a further investment into Wilson Borough, Bartee said Wednesday.

So why is he confident when other plans have failed?

He said hes investing up-front money to make the plan more feasible. In February, Skyline had contaminated soil removed from the site along with 11 5,000-gallon underground tanks -- tanks once full of wax as part of the disposable cup-making process. Cups havent been made at the plant since the 1980s. It was a logistics and warehouse facility until the early 2000s.

Lehighvalleylive.com file photo of the abandoned Dixie Cup factory in Wilson Borough.Andrew Doerfler

Skyline spent more than $400,000 to pay back taxes and is seeking a historic designation for the site through the National Park Service.

A deal is in place for Skyline to buy the property this month from owner Joseph Reibman.

We spent millions of dollars to navigate these waters, Bartee said.

Plans call for about 300 one-bedroom apartments and 100 two-bedroom apartments, he said. Rents will come in around $1,900 a month, he said.

On the first floor will be a high-end, pet-friendly bar. The bar will be run in-house. It will be comparable to bars run by Bark Social, which are open in Philadelphia, Bethesda and Baltimore in Maryland and Alexandria, Virginia.

The bar will serve, beer, wine, cheese, light fare and cold sushi. There arent plans for a full-service restaurant on site, Bartee said, but the bar will cater to dog walkers who want to stop in from the nearby trail.

The iconic Dixie Cup replica on the roof is too heavy and needs to come down, Bartee said. The cup will be refurbished and put on display for the public at a plaza along the bike trail, he said.

We will take it down, fully restore the cup and turn that whole frontage into a public amenity so people can be in the presence of the cup, feel it, touch it, Bartee said. It will be a draw to the area.

The cup weighs about five tons, Bartee said. In its place, Skyline will build a replacement cup out of fiberglass for the roof, Bartee said.

Skyline is looking for the borough, Northampton County and the Wilson Area School District to agree to a tax-increment financing plan. Under the plan, Skyline would issue public bonds to cover some of the development costs.

The borough, county and school district would agree to keep the propertys assessed value for tax purposes at its current pre-development level for up to 20 years. Once the bond is paid off, the property value would rise to what its worth after development. If the bond is paid off before 20 years, the tax financing program would end early, Bartee said.

Bartee said the project would create 150 jobs, including 40 jobs that would remain once construction is completed.

Without the TIF, the project might stall, Bartee said.

He said Skyline has agreed to contribute $1 million to Northampton County for affordable housing. Skyline is in negotiations with the borough and school district for similar financial incentives that might convince borough council and the school board to sign off on the tax plan.

Bartee said Skyline is responsible for making payments on the bonds if the project fails.

Bartee said he became interested in the project while visiting his mother, who relocated to the Lehigh Valley from New York. His brother is a student at Lehigh University, Bartee said.

The more he visited, the more he wanted to resurrect the plant.

I think its a fantastic building and a great story, Bartee said. Its so important to so many people.

Bartee confirmed the borough planning commission has endorsed requests for some zoning variances. He anticipates more government meetings soon to address the zoning issues, the tax plan and ultimately to approve the project.

And if all goes well, he might move on to the Kmart and LA Fitness properties.

That whole district, you could turn it into something really beautiful and make it a draw for business professionals, Bartee said.

Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com.
A 38-year-old Lancaster County woman was arrested and charged with several counts of animal abuse after police said she had six dogs, including five puppies, living in unsanitary conditions on the side porch of her condemned home, according to charging documents.

Amanda Kinnard, of Columbia, Lancaster County, is charged with six counts each of the following offenses: neglect of animals  vet care, cruelty to animals and neglect of animals  shelter/protection, according to online court records.

Kinnards mother, Tammy, contacted Katherine Hogan, a Humane Society Police Officer employed with the Pennsylvania Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA), on Sept. 18, 2023, and said Kinnard received five pitbull puppies. Hogan had seized three dogs from Kinnards home  on the 100 block of South 8th Street  in May 2023, the affidavit said.
Jerry Seinfeld issued an apology to Howard Stern after doubling back and clarifying recent comments made about the iconic radio personality.

This all started when he was on the recent episode of David Spade and Dana Carveys Fly on the Wall podcast that dropped on May 8, where Seinfeld brought up Stern while discussing the state of comedy and podcasting.
By Julia Terruso, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman called President Joe Bidens threat to withhold military aid to Israel deeply disappointing, the latest criticism he has levied at the president over his handling of the war in Gaza.

On Wednesday, Biden announced on CNN that he would halt some shipments of bombs and artillery into Israel if the country invaded the city of Rafah.

Fetterman, a Democratic senator from Pennsylvania, reposted the news on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. Hard disagree and deeply disappointing, the senator said.

It comes a day after Fetterman went on Fox News and more softly criticized the Biden administrations caution toward supplying arms should there be an invasion.

FILE - Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, 2023)AP

Hes been very supportive of Israel, but I dont agree with him on everything. For example ... I dont think we should be withholding any munitions and I think we should be sending them immediately, Fetterman said. Israel is in this kind of war; I have no conditions, I never have, and I cant imagine I ever will.

Fetterman has built a reputation for telling it as he sees it but criticism of a vulnerable president up for reelection by one of his partys own senators in a swing state is unusual.

Fetterman has been the most outspoken Democratic advocate for Israel in the Senate, a position thats angered some progressives in his party who saw him as aligning with their movement, including those who want to see a cease-fire in the conflict.

In Bidens interview on Wednesday, he acknowledged that some American weapons were used to kill civilians in Gaza and said that he would halt some shipments of American weapons to Israel if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a major invasion of the city of Rafah, Hamas last major stronghold in Gaza.
By MICHAEL CASEY, The Associated Press

Police early Friday dismantled a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and moved to clear protesters from the University of Pennsylvanias campus in Philadelphia, hours after police tear-gassed protesters and took down an encampment at the University of Arizona.

In Cambridge, Massachusetts, video showed police roaming through the MIT encampment, and organizers said about 10 students had been detained. Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but were dispersed by 6 a.m.

At the University of Arizona, campus police in riot gear fired tear gas late Thursday at protesters before tearing down an encampment that included wood and plastic barriers on campus. In a statement, the University of Arizona said it made the decision because the encampment violated school policy.

A structure made from wooden pallets and other debris was erected on campus property after 5 p.m. in violation of the policy, the school said in a statement. University officials issued warnings to remove the encampment and disperse. The warnings were ignored.

Demonstrators retreat along University Boulevard in a cloud of teargas as law enforcement officers use chemical ammunition to clear an encampment off the University of Arizona campus, Friday, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az. (Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP)AP

The school also said that police vehicles were spiked, and rocks and water bottles were thrown at officers and university staff.

In Philadelphia early Friday, police detained people who were at an encampment that has been in place at the University of Pennsylvanias campus for more than two weeks. Officers moved in after giving pro-Palestinian protesters a warning to leave campus or face possible arrest.

Tensions have ratcheted up in standoffs with protesters on campuses across the United States and increasingly in Europe. Some colleges cracked down immediately, while others have tolerated the demonstrations. Some have begun to lose patience and call in the police over concerns about disruptions to campus life and safety.

The pro-Palestinian protest movement began nearly three weeks ago at Columbia University in New York City. It has since swept college campuses nationwide, with more than 2,500 people arrested.
By Chris Palmer, The Philadelphia Inquirer (TNS)

Pennsylvania has an insufficient number of public defenders in nearly every county, according to a new report from a University of Pennsylvania law professor, hampering the states ability to fulfill its Constitutional obligation to provide adequate representation for criminal defendants who cant afford a lawyer.

Paul Heaton, the reports author, analyzed nearly 1 million criminal court dockets covering a six-year period and concluded that there should be about 1,200 public defenders employed in county courthouses across the state. But there are only about 850 public defenders currently working, Heaton found  a shortfall of about 30%. And some form of deficit exists nearly everywhere, Heaton found, with just six of the states 66 public defenders offices employing enough lawyers to adequately cover a typical annual caseload.

Montgomery, Bucks, and Delaware Counties are among those with notable staffing shortages, the report said, although many of the most disproportionately under-resourced counties are in central and northern Pennsylvania.

The Montgomery County courthouse in Norristown. (Jessica Griffin/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS)TNS

I expected in general there to be a shortfall, Heaton said in an interview. One of the big questions I had, though, is whether wed find that basically everywhere.

The reports release this week came as budget discussions are underway in legislative halls across Pennsylvania, and as agencies  including defenders offices  seek to lobby officials for funding.

Last year, state lawmakers for the first time allocated $7.5 million for indigent defense rather than leaving counties to cover the costs  making Pennsylvania the 49th state to provide some form of statewide money to public defenders. Gov. Josh Shapiro called the longstanding lack of state dollars a shameful distinction, and he has said that he will seek to raise the allocation to $10 million in the budget for the next fiscal year.

Still, advocates have long contended that such an investment is not enough. The Defender Association of Philadelphia  the largest indigent defense organization in the state, with about 230 attorneys  has a budget of more than $60 million, about 90% of which is provided by City Council.

Keisha Hudson, the citys chief defender, said Philadelphia received about $144,000 from the states new funding pool, which the office is looking into using for attorney training. She said shes unaware of any chief defender in the state saying they received enough money to hire additional attorneys, and she plans to ask City Council for an additional $15 million for her offices budget in the next fiscal year.

We have a need here for increased attorney staffing, she said.

How did the report reach its conclusions?

Heaton, a professor at Penns Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, began his research by reviewing about 1 million dockets from adult criminal courts in Pennsylvania between 2016 to 2022. About half of those cases were assigned to public defenders, he said.

He then sought to determine how much time  and, ultimately, how many attorneys  it would take to adequately represent clients in those 500,000 cases. His analysis relied on estimates included in a national study released last year that sought to quantify how long it should take attorneys to complete various types of cases. A first-time DUI, for example, was estimated to require 19 hours of attorney time, while a murder case with a potential life sentence was estimated to require 286 hours of work.

Heaton calculated an ideal staffing level for each county based on its caseloads and case types from the dockets, then compared those figures to the real number of attorneys in each office.

Only two counties appear clearly within acceptable workload levels, he wrote, while five others appear within the range of normal workloads. Philadelphia and Chester County were among those that met the acceptable standards.

By contrast, more than 50 counties had expected workloads that exceeded 3,000 hours per lawyer per year  a level far beyond the billable hours expected at even the most demanding law firms, Heaton wrote.

Even after adjusting some underlying assumptions, he wrote, we can have a high degree of confidence that current public defender staffing levels are constitutionally inadequate in three-quarters of the states public defender offices.

What are the implications?

The report had some limitations, which it acknowledges. When calculating its ideal staffing levels, for example, it did not include juvenile cases, and couldnt fully account for lawyers who spent significant portions of their time working as supervisors or on other matters outside the daily churn of criminal court. Hudson, of Philadelphia, said her office handles around 4,000 juvenile cases, 13,000 probation matters, and has 10 attorneys dedicated solely to litigating appeals.

The report also does not dive deeply into potential solutions, though it mentions increasing resources and funding for indigent defense. Still, Heaton said his findings were weightier than simply identifying where attorneys are most overworked.

Failing to provide adequate representation is an abdication of a core Constitutional principle, he noted. And, perhaps more concretely, lawyers who are spread too thin can make mistakes that compromise the quality of their work and impact their clients cases  sometimes leading to wrongful convictions.

The system relies on two parties advocating effectively against one another to reach a just resolution, Heaton said, and If one side is so underequipped that it cant do its job, I think that raises real questions about whether the truth-finding can operate as intended.

2024 The Philadelphia Inquirer, LLC. Visit at inquirer.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
As a mom, grandmother and great-grandmother, I figure Ive used the words dont do that 1.8 million times. These days I find my disillusioned self wanting to throw open the window and scream those words across the world.

We Boomers are running out of time to ensure our grandchildren face a future better than our past.

Lets start with racism. It breaks my heart to sit here in May 2024 and hear young people describe racism they endure in the school district where I pay taxes.

I was a young teen in 1960 when Ruby Bridges, a 6-year-old, became the first African American child to integrate an all-white elementary school in the South. A lot of decades have passed. A lot of children have shared classrooms. I thought we had become smarter. I thought we had progressed.

I thought we had learned from Dr. King. I thought we had hurdled a barrier when we elected President Obama. I was naive.

These many years later Im forced to worry that my handsome, thoughtful, intelligent Black great-grandson might be treated differently than other students in his school. I hope Im wrong. I fear that Im not.

24 1 / 24 Cumberland Valley School Board hold special meeting

I also fear for young people whose religion makes them targets.

Israel became a country just months after I arrived on this earth. I cant remember a time when tension hasnt existed in and around its borders. But this latest war is horrifying. The death toll is astounding.

Please pause for a moment this Mothers Day weekend and consider how many mothers in Israel and Palestine are mourning. Their pain is common, even while their countries are at odds.

When will we ever learn that skin color or religion or who we love does not change the fact that we are all humans who feel and love and suffer?

When I was in my 20s, students protested, just as they are doing now on many college campuses. In my younger years, I viewed the Vietnam War protests as young America against Americas older generations. We didnt hate our elders; we just disagreed.

What is happening now, however, seems different. Protestors still hate war and death and starvation and destruction, but they translate that into hating people. Their hatred of bombs becomes hatred of Jews.

Its a brutal, twisted simplification.

We expand hate in so many directions. I dont like your actions becomes I hate you. I dont like your words is translated as I hate you.

I dont like what you wrote in your book evolves into book bannings or you cant speak in my middle school.

I dont like your lifestyle translates to you cant read story books to young kids whose parents accompany them to a library event.

This Mothers Day is a perfect time to shout, Stop hurting children. No matter whose they are. No matter who or where or if they worship. No matter how they dress. No matter where they live. No matter who they love. Just stop it.

Mothers demand better.

NANCY ESHELMAN: columnist1@verizon.net
Every year, PennLive provides several photo galleries of students unique styles across the commonwealth but for a second year in a row viewers will have the chance to catch it all live here at PennLive.com.

This event gives parents, grandparents or even family friends the opportunity to check out their students stylish outfits live as they make their way into prom for the 2024 season.

The PennLive red carpet livestream event returns for another week as we head to the Red Lion hotel in Harrisburg on Friday night for the Dauphin County Technical school prom.

On Saturday, we will end the weekend with a return to the Penn Harris Hotel for the Cedar Cliff high school prom.

PennLives Kaylyn Greene will be our host as she greets students dressed in their stylish attire. You can subscribe to PennLive here and access more coverage of central Pennsylvania high school proms and much more, all year long.

Tune into our site later today and tomorrow for posts to watch both Dauphin County Technical school and Cedar Cliff high school red carpet live.
Time is running out to take advantage of Costcos special promotion for new members. Through Sunday, May 12, new members who sign up for Costcos $60 Gold Star membership through StackSocial will receive a $40 Digital Costco Shop card.

Additionally, those whose membership has been expired for more than 18 months will also qualify for this special deal. But dont waste any time because this deal expires Sunday, May 12.

What does the deal include?

A Gold Star Membership includes a FREE Household Card and allows you to purchase products for your home and family. Its also valid for one year at any Costco location worldwide and at Costco.com. With the Gold Star membership program, you unlock perks like online and in-store shopping, gas savings and the warehouse retailers 100% satisfaction guarantee. Plus you score the $40 Digital Costco shop card that gets you additional savings.

Costco may just be one of Americas favorite places to shop. Being able to go to one store and get just about anything, from luxury wine to appliances to outdoor playgrounds to books to clothing...the big box store has everything you could need. Even their tech and digital photo shop is amazing. Need new glasses? Stop by their Vision Center. And you get all this at a marked down price!

Ashley Dill covers the online shopping industry, writing about commerce. She can be reached at adill@pennlive.com.
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. Israeli forces bombarded areas of Rafah on Thursday, Palestinian residents said, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed U.S. President Joe Biden'sthreat to withhold weaponsfrom Israel if it assaults Rafah in the south of Gaza Strip, Reuters reports.

A senior Israeli official said late on Thursday that the latest round of indirect negotiations in Cairo to halt hostilities in Gaza had ended and Israel would proceed with its operation in Rafah and other parts of the Gaza Strip as planned, the report adds.

Netanyahu responded to Bidens ultimatum about halting delivery of U.S. weapons.

"If we must, we shall fight with our fingernails," Netanyahu said in a video statement. "But we have much more than our fingernails."

Biden on Wednesday issued his starkest warning yetagainst a full ground invasion in Rafah, telling CNN that: "I made it clear that if they go into Rafah...I'm not supplying the weapons."

According to CNN, last week, Biden signed off on a pause of 3,500 bombs to Israel that administration officials feared would be dropped on Rafah.

Israeli armed forces spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said that the Israeli military has the munitions it requires for operations in Rafah and other planned operations.

On May 7, Israeli tanks seized the Gaza side of theRafah border crossingwith Egypt. On May 9, Israeli forces massed tanks close to built-up areas of Rafah.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The Secretary General of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Lazar Comanescu emphasized the importance of improving cooperation among the member countries of the organization, welcoming the Armenian initiative "Crossroads of Peace" in this context.

In the interview with Armenpress the Secretary General of BSEC paid attention to the circumstance that the Armenian Crossroads of Peace initiative deserves to be carefully examined.

The interview has addressed the activity of BSEC which has been running for more than 30 years, the successes of the organization, the organization and efficiency of cooperation between member states within its framework, the attitude towards the "Crossroads of Peace" initiative published by the RA Government, and other issues.

- BSEC has been running for more than 30 years. To what extent has the Organization succeeded in deepening and expanding the interaction of Member States, especially in fostering their economic cooperation?

-BSEC is the oldest, largest and the only full-fledged inter-governmental Organization in the Black Sea region, that serves the interest of and aiming at fostering interaction and harmony among its thirteen Member States through further developing their bilateral and multilateral cooperation. It deals with major topics, such as trade and development, agriculture, energy, ITC, science and technology, tourism, transport, environment, etc., providing the Member States a diverse platform for cooperation. I would add, in this context, that the mere fact of gathering around the same table on a regular basis, countries, some of which having even serious sensitivities to each other, and encouraging them to join multilateral projects and/or conclude agreements, is a strong proof of BSEC s important role in deepening and expanding the interaction among its Member States.

- How is the sectoral cooperation developing in the framework of the BSEC Organization? Are there any success stories that you can present to the people in the wider Black Sea region?

-In its more than three decades of existence, BSEC achieved many projects, concluded several agreements and Memoranda among its Member States, as well as with other regional and international actors or organizations. Some achievements worth mentioning would be the establishment of the BSEC Green Energy Network, the BSEC Regional Cooperation Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, the Network of Liaison Officers on Combating Crime, the Network of Liaison Officers on Emergency Assistance, the adoption of the BSEC Climate Change Adaptation Strategy for the Black Sea, Memoranda of Understanding in the fields of education, culture, science and technology, tourism, etc. Furthermore, BSEC approved in December 2023, its new road map for the coming years namely the updated BSEC Economic Agenda -Towards a sustainable future of the wider Black Sea area. You may access the text here.

- Last December you participated in the Ministerial Meeting of Landlocked Developing Countries in Yerevan. As you may know, the international community will gather in Kigali for the Third UN conference for Landlocked Developing countries. Several landlocked countries are also members of BSEC, and the Organization is actually actively cooperating with the UN regional commissions in the field of transport connectivity. In this regard, what is the role that this Organization can play in addressing the needs of the Landlocked Developing Countries, especially in promotion of a better, more inclusive, equitable and non-discriminatory regional connectivity?

-As an organization the membership of which includes land locked countries, BSEC has been actively cooperating with the UN relevant bodies particularly in the area of transport and connectivity with a view to promoting concrete solutions.

The BSEC Organization highly appreciates the International Communitys efforts to address some of the most pressing concerns of the Landlocked Developing Countries. While attaching great importance to the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), we have actively participated in important International Meetings dedicated to landlocked developing countries such as the UNECE Inland Transport Committee (ITC) held in Geneva and the Conference International Road Transport: Driving Resilience and Prosperity, organized in Tashkent by the Association of International Road Carriers of Uzbekistan (AIRCUZ) and the International Road Transport Union (IRU). And last but not least in the Ministerial Meeting of Landlocked Developing Countries held in Yerevan last December.

- Realizing the importance of regional and cross-border connectivity for lasting peace and stability in the South Caucasus region and beyond, the Government of Armenia has developed and announced its Crossroads of Peace initiative, which aims at developing communications between Armenia and neighboring countries, on the basis of sovereignty and national jurisdiction, as well as principles of equality and reciprocity, thus potentially linking the Gulf, the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, bringing enormous trade benefits to all countries of our region. What is your assessment of this ambitious project?

-For BSEC it is obvious that there is no real alternative to Cooperation, both economic, cultural and political as a means to coping with the various challenges of the region. Experience so far had clearly shown that strong economic relations and cooperation, be it bilateral or multilateral, has not only been beneficial in terms of economic development but it has also helped promoting stability, mutual understanding and good neighborly relations, i.e., security. These were the principles laid down at the foundations of BSEC. Furthermore Better Connectivity in its wider sense is one of BSECs top priorities. Economic Cooperation, which is the very raison dtre of this Organization, both in economic and political terms cannot be really achieved without establishing effective connectivity between its Member States. It goes by itself that any initiative that is in line with the above, respectively with the common interest of the Member States should be welcomed. So is the case with the Armenian Crossroads of Peace initiative which deserves to be carefully examined. The forthcoming Armenian CiO of BSEC may offer a good opportunity in this respect.

- Armenia will take over the Chairmanship of this Organization in a few months. What are your expectations from the incoming Armenian Chairmanship in Office?

-Let me first express my high appreciation for the cooperation with Armenia which, since the very beginning, has been one of the most active Member States of BSEC. My appreciation as well for the activity of its Permanent Mission to our Organization.

I trust that the forthcoming Armenian BSEC Chairmanship will be a productive and successful one and will bring up new dynamism and efficiency to the activity of the Organization and to its project and result oriented drive.
Trump blew a gasket and went on a rage-fueled tirade about the judge outside the courthouse after his mistrial motion was rejected.

Trump said:

Which everybody saw what happened today. I dont think we have to do any explaining. Im not allowed to anyway, because this judge is corrupt. Hes a corrupt judge. This judge, what he did and what his ruling was is a disgrace. Everybody saw what happened today. Hes a corrupt judge and hes totally conflicted and I got to get back on the campaign trail. Im not supposed to be here.

We are so innocent. Theres never been anything like it. Read every single analyst, legal analyst, Im innocent and Im being held in this court with a corrupt judge whos totally conflicted. Take a look at his conflict. Its a disgrace to the city of New York, to the state of New York and to the country.

Video:

An outraged Trump doing his best Dante from Clerks impression, "He's a corrupt judge and totally conflicted. I have to get back on the campaign trail. I'm not supposed to be here." pic.twitter.com/8NPxNTr1hS  Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) May 9, 2024

Trump was outraged because he lost two motions in court. He lost a motion to exempt Stormy Daniels from the gag order, and then he lost a motion for a mistrial based on Danielss testimony about spanking the ex-president with a magazine.

Trump is outraged that he cant control the narrative about what is happening in the court room, but his whining about the judge comes off as the complaints of a defendant who is coming to the realization that he is about to be convicted.

The former president and his lawyers appear to be setting the stage for an appeal of his potential criminal conviction, and Trumps tirade was one of the of the few moments in his remarks about the trial that wasnt about his campaign, but the fate that could be awaiting him before the end of the month.

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.

[wpedon id=344887 align=center]
Trump, through his legal team, requested that Judge Merchan exempt Stormy Daniels from the gag order so that he could attack her. The judge denied the request.

Prosecutors argued that exempted Daniels or other witnesses would be dangerous to them and their families.

Prosecutor Chris Conroy said, The fact that witnesses are brave enough to come in here under subpoena  shouldnt expose them to this defendants barrage of threats that will put them and potentially their families in danger.

Judge Merchan agreed with prosecutors and denied the motion to modify the gag order, The reason why the gag order is in place to begin with is precisely because of the nature of these attacks, the vitriol. These were very real, very threatening attacks on potential witnesses.

Donald Trumps frustration that he cant use his platform to intimidate witnesses is growing. A big part of Trumps defense strategy was to unleash harassment and threats on anyone who would testify against him at the trial. Judge Merchan isnt going along with it, because of the ex-presidents long record of attacking anyone involved with his trial.

Witnesses would not be safe if the gag order was modified. Trump is a threat to those who are involved in this trial, and the fact that he pushed for this motion signals that the former president is getting close to his breaking point and an explosion could soon be coming.

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.

[wpedon id=344887 align=center]
YEREVAN, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The eighth Aurora Prize for Awakening Humanity was awarded Thursday evening to Dr. Denis Mukwege, a world-renowned gynecological surgeon and human rights activist from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), according to a statement from Aurora humanitarian initiative.

Dr. Mukwege is the president of Panzi Hospital and Foundation in the DRC, which he founded in 1999 to address the systemic issue of maternal healthcare and maternal mortality. Amidst ongoing conflict and critical healthcare needs stemming from war, the hospital has become one of the worlds preeminent treatment centers for survivors of sexual violence in conflict.

In recognition of his courageous work and dedication to improving human rights for all, the Aurora Prize Selection Committee revealed their decision after conferring during a three-hour closed session. The Laureate receives a $1,000,000 award and a chance to continue the cycle of giving by supporting local grassroots leaders helping people in need.

Dr. Mukwege has dedicated his life not only to caring for women and girls suffering from the brutality of sexual violence, but also fiercely advocating for their rights, said Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Co-Founder of the Aurora Humanitarian Initiative. Aurora is honored to support Dr. Mukweges mission to help those in need, demand justice for the victims of sexual violence in war, and bring the perpetrators to justice.

Dr. Mukwege and his staff have helped to care for more than 80,000 survivors of sexual violence since the hospitals inception. The hospital not only treats survivors with physical wounds, but also provides legal aid, socio-economic reintegration, and psychosocial services to its patients. Dr. Mukwege has been fearless in his efforts to increase protections for women and to advocate that those responsible for sexual violence be brought to justice, including the Congolese government and militia groups laying siege to eastern DRC. He was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2018.

Dr. Mukwege embodies the very spirit of humanitarianism, tirelessly advocating for a society where sexualized violence as a weapon of war is eliminated. His unwavering commitment to lifting survivors from despair and leading them onto the path towards a better future is truly moving, said Lord Ara Darzi, Chair of the Aurora Prize Selection Committee and Co-Director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College London. As the 2024 Aurora Prize Laureate, his legacy of healing and compassion continues to inspire us all.

On Thursday evening, Mukwege accepted the Aurora Prize in Los Angeles in honor of all the people in the world who are working to fight for gender equality and against rape as a weapon of war.

At this moment, I reflect on the power of Gratitude in Action exemplified by so many of the women Ive treated. These women stand up again after being subjected to extreme violence, and not only reclaim their own strength, but also extend a helping hand to others in need. I recall one patient whose case deeply affected our staff. After she was treated, she trained to become a nurse. She said she was doing it because she wanted to aid others like her, stated Dr. Mukwege.

In 2024, major conflicts have driven massive humanitarian needs, with the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs estimating 300 million people will need aid this year. Almost one child in every five around the world is living in or fleeing from conflict zones.

We are meeting today at a crucial time to dedicate our attention and resources to individuals risking their lives to care for those who are suffering, said Dame Louise Richardson, a member of the Selection Committee and president of the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Dr. Mukwege and so many others, through their extraordinary courage and commitment, inspire each of us to create a world where we recognize and act on our shared humanity.

Guests at the Aurora Prize Ceremony also honored the contributions of two other shortlisted Aurora Humanitarians:Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, a human rights advocate who has been fearlessly defending the most vulnerable communities in Bahrain and the MENA region, and Nasrin Sotoudeh, a prominent Iranian human rights defender.
Helping Hands has a new resource in place for teenagers in need, with a direct connection to Portland, Oregon, and a local family that lost a 13-year-old boy to an inoperable brain tumor in 1982. Emphasis is on helping young people deal with loss.

Dougy Turno, who grew up in Aiken, is the namesake of the Dougy Center, a Portland facility dedicated to providing "grief support in a safe place where children, teens, young adults, and their families can share their experiences before and after a death," as noted in the facility's website.

Helping Hands, in turn, has established a partnership with the Oregon facility, officially known as Dougy Center: The National Grief Center for Children and families. The new program now being offered locally is L.Y.G.H.T.  Listening and Led by Youth in Foster Care: Grief, Hope, and Transitions.

Sessions are held on every other Tuesday at St. John's United Methodist Church from 5 to 6:30 p.m., and the first session was May 7  National Foster Care Day  with four teens on board. Helping guide the sessions are Tiiu Goode, lead facilitator; Shi'Tavia Johnson, co-facilitator; and Rysheeka Bush, providing clinical support. Helping Hands' CEO is Monica Jeffcoat.

"Grief sometimes is a relative term," Bush said, "and sometimes we think of grief as loss, like you've lost a thing, but for our children, sometimes they've not just lost people, but they've lost their clothing, or sentimental items  things that are important to them  so what we have is a focused peer group for youth who suffer from grief and loss. It is not just a person  anything you feel of value, that was important to you, that you now no longer have."
The Upside of Downs Aiken will hold its 2024 Aiken Buddy Walk on Sunday, Oct. 13, on the quad on the campus of USC Aiken, 471 University Parkway. Check-in begins at 1 p.m. and the walk begins at 3:21 p.m. Registration is free. For more information or to volunteer, visit charity.pedgeit.org/aikenbuddywalk. Read moreToday's events for Oct. 13
COLUMBIA  South Carolinas legislative session came to a chaotic close following last-minute votes on a litany of bills, including a controversial ban on gender-affirming care for minors, a monument to a Black icon of the Civil War and limits on childrens ability to access pornographic material.

All of that was overshadowed by an eleventh hour vote by Republican hardliners to kill a top priority of legislative leadership and Gov. Henry McMaster.

With just several minutes left until the 5 p.m. hard deadline May 9, the conservative South Carolina House Freedom Caucus used a basic procedural maneuver to kill a sweeping state health agency restructuring bill that had been in the works for months  leaving members of the Senate incensed.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, Freedom Caucus chairman Rep. Adam Morgan, R-Taylors, told reporters afterward.

Plenty of other things did happen on the sessions final day.

The House and Senate struck a deal to form a committee to commemorate Robert Smalls, a South Carolina congressmen and a Civil War hero, with a memorial on the Statehouse grounds. They finalized legislation to prohibit minors from accessing pornographic content online. And they passed a controversial ban on gender-affirming care for transgender teenagers that the American Civil Liberties Union has described as harmful and unconstitutional.

But while the 2024 session is over on paper, state lawmakers leave Columbia with numerous major priorities still unresolved and the expectation they will find themselves back in the Statehouse within a month to finish up.

A proposal to reform the way South Carolina selects judges  lawmakers top priority this session  remains in purgatory after the House and Senate were unable to come to an agreement by the 5 p.m. deadline.
An iconic circular home at the north end of Sullivans Island that was known as the Wedding Cake House for its tiered layers has been demolished amid deterioration, making way for a new three-story residence.

The property at 3209 Marshall Blvd., owned for years by Peter and Lillian Tezza, was sold in early 2023 for $4.5 million to Sullivans Point LLC. Pat Marr, managing member with the investment group, plans to build a 4,000-square-foot residence with a 270-degree ocean view  a luxury amenity thats hard to come by on Sullivans.

Marr said he understands that the now-razed home was revered from the outside, but the interior of the structure was neither livable nor workable after being abandoned from about 2019 to 2023.

When we got it under contract, there were animals, raccoons living in there, he said. It was covered in mold and the walls were exposed on the inside.

Even the stucco was crumbling.

The house had structural issues that the former owners grandson, Peter Trey Tezza III, said his grandparents had wanted to fix before moving out in 2019. But one leak led to others, and the repair bill soon totaled more than $1 million.

Around that time, his grandfather suffered a series of health issues and upfitting the house with an elevator and other necessities only added to the expenses.

We moved out in 2019 as the house was supposed to be repaired, Tezza said. We kind of left not knowing it was never going to be stayed in again.

The vacant dwelling next to Breach Inlet was demolished May 8, and Marr is moving forward with plans to get the new home on the market in the next 60 days.

The investor worked to keep the iconic structure intact, he said, but inevitably he had two choices, both requiring demolition: build the same 2,000-square-foot home or a bigger, sturdier replacement.
Pop-Up Picks is a recurring series in The Post and Couriers Food Section that previews an upcoming pop-up breakfast, lunch or dinner and the chefs behind it.

The owners of a cult-favorite Washington, D.C., burger restaurant that started as a pop-up will be spending Memorial Day weekend in Charleston. Along with their luggage, Ghostburger founders Josh and Kelly Phillips and chef Vincent Badiee will be bringing a pair of new burger recipes.

Ghostburger, whose burgers have been served to President Joe Biden in The White House, will host a four-day pop-up at Meeting at Market at The Charleston Place May 23-26.

In addition to its standard slate of burgers, cheesesteaks and milkshakes from restaurants in Washington, D.C., Arlington, Va., and Dubai, Ghostburger's Charleston pop-up menu will feature a few Lowcountry-specific items.

Exclusive to the pop-up will be the Charlie Burger, with house-made pimento cheese, fried pickles, red onions, micro broccoli greens and jalapeno mayonnaise. A nod to the upcoming Spoleto Festival USA, the Yellow Submarine, will feature chilled shrimp, an heirloom yellow tomato, toum, zhoug and fennel pickle slaw on a long roll.

"I'm taking inspiration from different places that we visit," said Ghostburger chef Badiee, a former Eleven Madison Park chef who takes pride in how he sources ingredients. "It's about the relationships and staying local."
ABU DHABI, MAY 10, ARMENPRESS. The 13th edition of AIM Congress (Annual Investment Meeting) concluded with resounding success after three days of dynamic discussions, innovative exhibitions, and fruitful networking sessions at ADNEC. With the support of UAE Industry of Advanced Technology and the Abu Dhabi Department of Economic Development as lead partners, AIM Congress 2024 convened global investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to explore and leverage new opportunities.

Under the theme "Adapting to a Shifting Investment Landscape: Harnessing New Potential for Global Economic Development", AIM Congress 2024 provided a robust platform for delegates to delve into the evolving dynamics of investment across distinctive pillars: FDI, FPI, SMEs, Startups, Future Cities and Digital Economy.

"The resounding success of Annual Investment Meeting is a testament to the UAE's steadfast commitment to fostering a dynamic and inclusive business environment. This event underscores the UAE's position as the preferred business hub for the world, offering unparalleled opportunities for collaboration and growth. The participation of esteemed international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UN Tourism), the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies (WAIPA), World Economic Forum, and others highlights the pivotal role AIM Congress plays in contributing to global economic development. Their presence reflects the significance of AIM in facilitating meaningful dialogue, knowledge exchange, and partnership-building initiatives that transcend borders and propel sustainable growth. Together, we can leverage the insights and partnerships forged at AIM Congress 2024 to navigate the complexities of the global economy and build a brighter future for generations to come, said His Excellency Dr. Thani bin Ahmed Al Zeyoudi, Minister of State for Foreign Trade.

Reflecting the event's significance, 138 high-level dignitaries graced AIM 2024, joining 12,427 visitors hailing from 179 countries. The congress featured a staggering 412 dialogue sessions, offering a comprehensive exploration of investment trends, challenges, and opportunities. With insights from more than 927 speakers, including industry pioneers, policymakers, and thought leaders, AIM Congress 2024 fostered a rich exchange of ideas to drive sustainable economic growth on a global scale.

"As we close AIM Congress 2024, I extend heartfelt appreciation to all participants, speakers, and organizers whose unwavering dedication contributed to the remarkable success of this event. It has been a privilege to witness the vibrant exchange of ideas, insightful presentations, and groundbreaking innovations that have defined these past few days. AIM continues to serve as a pivotal platform, uniting leaders from diverse sectors to address pressing challenges and seize emerging opportunities in business, finance, and governance. From navigating challenges to embracing the latest trends in investments, technology, and innovation, our discussions have illuminated pathways towards a future of sustainable economic development. As we embark on the journey ahead, I am confident that the partnerships formed will fuel economic growth and foster new avenues of prosperity worldwide. Let us remain steadfast in our commitment to collaboration and innovation, as we strive to build a more resilient, sustainable, and inclusive global economy, said Dawood Al Shezawi, President of AIM Global Foundation and AIM Congress.

In line with AIM's tradition of catalyzing strategic partnerships, AIM 2024 witnessed the signing of 43 memoranda of understanding (MoU) among governmental entities, financial institutions, and private sector firms. These agreements spanned diverse sectors, from finance and technology to healthcare and education, underscoring the role of the congress in fostering cross-border cooperation and investment.

The event also hosted 8,130 B2B meetings, allowing delegates to forge valuable connections, explore potential collaborations, and catalyze business opportunities across diverse sectors and geographies.

Additionally, the congress hosted 3 high-level roundtable meetings, facilitating focused discussions on critical investment themes and strategies. Through these deliberations, participants explored avenues for collaboration and innovation to navigate the complexities of the contemporary investment landscape.

The exhibition segment of AIM Congress 2024 showcased cutting-edge innovations, products, and services from a global array of 352 exhibitors from 71 countries. Through interactive displays and demonstrations, participants gained firsthand insights into the latest advancements shaping the future of various industries. The Investment Destination presentations highlighted burgeoning regions across the globe, while Startups and Unicorns highlighted the future of technology across different fields such as finance, agriculture, medicine, and others.

As AIM Congress 2024 draws to a close, the lasting impact of this year's congress is evident in the relationships cultivated, agreements solidified, and insights exchanged. Looking forward, AIM Congress is poised for an even greater impact in 2025. With a steadfast commitment to sustainable economic development, AIM is committed to elevating the platform, empowering stakeholders to embrace emerging opportunities and navigate the ever-evolving investment landscape with renewed vigor. AIM Congress 2025 promises to be bigger, better, and bolder, as it continues the journey towards shaping a more prosperous and inclusive global economy.
Back in 2019, Joker managed to make over $1 billion at the global box office and earn itself 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture and a Best Actor win for Joaquin Phoenix. I recall respecting the movie for Phoenixs performance and the inspired idea to paint him as a Scorsese-style Read moreJoker: Folie a Deux
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:40:42

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 630 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Three Ships Beauty - a fast-growing effective, transparent, and natural skincare brand - has raised $2.5M USD led by BDC Capital's new Thrive Venture Fund with participation from strategic angel investorsTORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / The award-winning brand will use the additional funding to further expand in the US market, invest in brand and growth marketing, and strengthen the team with strategic hires to continue scaling retail and e-commerce growth.Three Ships Co-Founders Laura Burget and Connie Lo."This is huge for Three Ships and we're just so excited," says Connie Lo, co-founder of Three Ships Beauty. "Thanks to this funding from Thrive, we can expand our market reach and build more awareness around the products people already love. And with the right team in place, there's no limit to what we can achieve together." "We're so grateful for investors like BDC's Thrive Venture Fund who not only believe in our mission but share our values," adds Laura Burget, co-founder of Three Ships Beauty. "We have great products that really work, and our customers love them. Now we can grow that awareness and make natural, effective skincare accessible to more people." "It has been truly remarkable to witness Three Ships Beauty's impressive growth, expanding customer traction and recognition in the North American market," said Mona Minhas, Partner, Thrive Venture Fund. "The company's evolution to date, coupled with their steadfast commitment to improving transparency and sustainability in the skincare industry, fills us with anticipation for their next exciting phase of growth.'' Three Ships Beauty has become synonymous with natural-skincare innovation and efficacy. With a commitment to transparency and sustainability, every product is created with science-backed, plant-derived ingredients, free of fillers or chemicals, and packaged in 100% recyclable materials.In 2023, Three Ships expanded its distribution to Whole Foods locations across North America and achieved profitability with an impressive 65% growth in total revenue. To start off 2024, they unveiled First Light Vitamin C + Caffeine Eye Cream - one of their most highly requested products - selling one unit every 30 seconds on launch day.Connie and Laura were listed in Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2022, and received the EY Entrepreneur of the Year in Ontario (2022), and RBC Canadian Women Entrepreneurs of the Year (2021). Their appearance on CBC's Dragons' Den further solidified their status as pioneers in the Canadian entrepreneurial scene, garnering widespread national attention.ABOUT THREE SHIPS BEAUTYFounded by Connie Lo and Laura Burget, Three Ships Beauty has become an effective, natural, sustainable skincare brand focused on transparency and transforming the clean beauty space. From farm to shelf, each product includes science-backed plant-derived ingredients, no fillers or chemicals, and is housed in 100% recyclable packaging. Better for the planet and better for the skin, Three Ships promises to deliver uncomplicated skincare backed by natural ingredients and real science. Their impressive products and successful launches have led them to continuous product sell-outs, including their 6x sell-out hero product, Skin Hero Bio-Retinol Serum, and 8x sell-out best-seller, the Dew Drops Serum. Continuously choosing upcycled ingredients, innovative packaging, and a commitment to fulfill a circular economy, Three Ships has met the standard of sustainable and eco-friendly skincare every step of the way.About BDC CapitalBDC Capital is the investment arm of BDC, Canada's bank for entrepreneurs. With over $6 billion under management, BDC Capital serves as a strategic partner to the country's most innovative firms. It offers businesses a full spectrum of capital, from seed investments to growth equity, as well as fund investments, supporting Canadian entrepreneurs who have the ambition to stand out on the world stage. Visit bdc.ca/capital Contact DetailsAll My Friends Agency Sarah Lindenberg+1 647-200-1820 sarah@ allmyfriendsagency.com Company WebsiteSOURCE: Three Ships Beauty
AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw has been reappointed for a further two years. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman.

Australias top cop, AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw, has been reappointed for a further two years.

Mr Kershaw was first appointed in October 2019, coming to the federal force following a stint as the Northern Territory police commissioner.

This is my 10th year of being a police commissioner, and while the AFP has achieved extraordinary results, we have never been more resolute in entrenching those outcomes to help keep Australians safe and protect Australias interests, Mr Kershaw said.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus announced on Friday that Mr Kershaws term would be extended until October 2026.

Commissioner Kershaw has made an extraordinary contribution to our community with a policing career spanning more than 30 years, Mr Dreyfus said.

His contribution to law enforcement in Australia reflects the highest standards of the AFP values of integrity, commitment, excellence, accountability, fairness, trust and respect.

AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw has been reappointed for a further two years. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman.

During Mr Kershaws time in the top job, the AFP has made more than $45bn worth of drug seizures, and he said he was intent on dismantling high-level organised crime.

The AFP was instrumental in Operation Ironside  a global organised crime sting that used the encrypted ANOM application.

Next month marks the third anniversary of Operation Ironside, the biggest organised crime disruption in the southern hemisphere, Mr Kershaw said.

Operation Ironside has severely weakened organised crime in this country and those who target Australia from offshore.

To date, 392 people have been charged with more than 2300 offences under the operation.

He said he was intent on dismantling high-level organised crime. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Martin Ollman

Mr Kershaw also described the protection of young people, through the AFP-led Australian Centre to Counter Child Exploitation, as a top priority.

Over the last four years, the AFP has charged more than 748 people with 6487 child-exploitation-related offences.

Under Operation Dolos  a multi-agency task force  investigators have returned $65m to victims of cybercriminals.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:42:21

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 404 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

HOLLYWOOD, FL / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Amplus AC, a trustedair conditioning company in Hollywood FL , is excited to announce the expansion of its service coverage to include neighboring areas. With a commitment to providing top-notch air conditioning solutions, it has long been recognized as a reputable name in the industry.Residents and businesses in the newly covered areas can now rely on Amplus AC for a range of air conditioning solutions, including installation, repair, and maintenance. With a team of skilled technicians, the company is poised to deliver efficient and effective services tailored to the unique requirements of each customer.Whether it's ensuring that homes stay cool during the sweltering summer months or providing businesses with climate control solutions for optimal productivity, the company is equipped to handle a variety of air conditioning needs. From minor repairs to full system installations, customers can trust them to deliver prompt and reliable service.The decision to expand service coverage comes at a time when reliable HVAC services are in high demand, particularly in regions like Miami where extreme temperatures are common. By reaching out to surrounding areas, the company hopes to fill a crucial gap in the market and provide much-needed relief to those in need of a dependableair conditioning contractor in Miami FL .Expanding service coverage to include surrounding areas aligns with their vision of becoming the go-to HVAC provider for communities across South Florida. By extending its reach, the company aims to forge lasting relationships with customers and become a trusted partner in their quest for comfort and convenience.As the company continues to grow and expand its reach, it remains committed to its core values of integrity, reliability, and excellence. With the addition of new service areas, the company looks forward to building strong relationships with customers and becoming a trusted partner in their journey towards better indoor comfort.For more information about Amplus AC and its expanded service coverage, please visit https://amplusac.com/ or contact 954-9207575.About Amplus AC:Amplus AC is a leading air conditioning company serving Hollywood, FL, and surrounding areas. With a focus on quality, professionalism, and customer satisfaction, the company offers a range of HVAC services, including installation, repair, and maintenance. With years of experience in the industry, it is committed to providing efficient and effective solutions to meet the diverse needs of its customers.Contact Details: Amplus AC Mike Perez, +1 954-920-7575 Mikep@ amplusac.com SOURCE: Amplus AC
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 23:55:37

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 483 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

[NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES]CALGARY, AB / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Asia Green Biotechnology Corp. ("Asia Green" or the "Company") (CSE:ASIA) announces that, further to its news releases dated April 17, 2024, April 26, 2024, and May 8, 2024, the Management Cease Trade Order ("MCTO") issued by the Alberta Securities Commission ("ASC") on May 08, 2024, remains in effect.The MCTO prohibits the CEO and CFO of the Company from trading in the securities of the Company until such time as it has filed the following continuous disclosure documents (collectively, the "Documents"):the Company's Annual Audited Financial Statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, as required by section 4.2 of National Instrument 51-102 - Continuous Disclosure Obligations ("NI 51-102"); and the Company's Management Discussion & Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023, as required by section 5.1(2) of NI 51-102. CEO and CFO certificates relating to the Audited Annual Financial Statements, as required by NI 52-109.The Corporation is still working with its auditors and expects that the Documents will be filed by May 27, 2024, and that interim Q1 2024 financial statements will be filed by May 30, 2024.During this period of default, the Company will continue to satisfy the provisions of the alternative information guidelines as required by National Policy 12-203 - Management Cease Trade Orders. In particular, the Company reports that there have been no changes that would otherwise be required to be disclosed pursuant to Part 10, items (a) to (d) of Policy 12-203.Asia Green confirms that, other than as disclosed in prior press releases and material change reports, there have been no material business developments since the filing on November 29, 2023, of the Company's latest interim financial reports for the three-and-nine-month periods ended September 30, 2023.For further information, contact:Asia Green Biotechnology Corp.David Pinkman (CEO) T: 403 863-6034 E: david.pinkman@asiagreenbiotechnology.com Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information Forward-looking statements - Certain information set forth in this news release may contain forward-looking statements that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are often, but not always, identified by words such as "believes", "may", "likely", "plans", or similar words. Forward- looking statements included in this news release include statements with respect to activities in Zimbabwe. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the control of the Corporation, including, but not limited to the impact of general economic conditions, industry conditions, currency fluctuations, and dependence upon regulatory approvals. The Corporation does not assume any obligation to update the forward-looking statements to reflect changes in assumptions or circumstances other than as required by applicable law.SOURCE: Asia Green Biotechnology Corp.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 01:00:13

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 696 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

KELOWNA, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / Avant Brands Inc. (TSX:AVNT)(OTCQX:AVTBF)(FRA:1BU0) ("Avant" or the "Company"), a leading producer of innovative and award-winning cannabis products, announces the planned departure of Mr. David Lynn, the Company's Chief Operating Officer, effective July 5, 2024.Since 2018, Mr. Lynn has been instrumental in the construction and scale-up of the Company's operating facilities, developing Avant's incredible team of 175+ employees, while leading the domestic and international sales strategies. Additionally, Mr. Lynn has cultivated a strong leadership team that will assume his operations, sales, and export-focused responsibilities. Avant greatly appreciates his dedication and significant contributions, which have been foundational to our year-over-year revenue growth.Norton Singhavon, Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Avant Brands commented: "David has been a key player in our success, helping to streamline our operations and prepare us for future growth. Additionally, we are very pleased to see the succession plan implementation occurring, ensuring a smooth transition. Going forward, we are well-positioned for continued innovation and growth, thanks to the solid groundwork established by David's leadership, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavours." Additionally, in the Management Information Circular, dated April 5, 2024, the Company's Board of Directors nominated Mr. Michael Blady for re-election. The Company announces that Mr. Blady will not stand for re-election at the upcoming Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2024.About Avant Brands Inc. Avant is an innovative, market-leading premium cannabis company. Avant has multiple operational production facilities across Canada, which produce high-quality, handcrafted cannabis products based on unique and exceptional cultivars.Avant offers a comprehensive product portfolio catering to recreational, medical, and export markets. Our renowned consumer brands, including BLK MKT, Tenzo, Cognoscente, flowr and Treehugger, are available in key recreational markets across Canada. Avant's products are distributed globally to Australia, Israel and Germany, with its flagship brand BLK MKT currently being sold in Israel. Additionally, Avant's medical cannabis brand, GreenTec, serves qualified patients nationwide through its GreenTec Medical portal and trusted medical cannabis partners.Avant is a publicly traded corporation listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX: AVNT) and accessible to international investors through the OTCQX Best Market (OTCQX: AVTBF) and Frankfurt Stock Exchange (FRA: 1BU0). Headquartered in Kelowna, British Columbia, Avant operates in strategic locations including British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario.For more information about Avant, including access to investor presentations and details about its consumer brands, please visit www.avantbrands.ca For further inquiries, please contact:Investor Relations at Avant Brands Inc.1-800-351-6358 ir@ avantbrands.ca CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION:This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements relating to Avant Brands Inc.'s future performance, growth prospects, strategic initiatives, and anticipated outcomes. Forward-looking statements are often identified by terms such as 'may', 'will', 'should', 'expect', 'anticipate', 'could', 'intend', 'target', 'project', 'estimate', 'believe', 'predict', 'potential', 'plan', 'objective', 'contemplate', 'seek', 'aim', 'continue', 'budget', 'forecast', 'projections', 'outlook', 'strategy', 'priority', 'goal', 'aim', 'pursue', 'on track', 'initiative', 'expand', 'maintain', 'monitor' and similar expressions or their negatives.These forward-looking statements are based on certain assumptions, including but not limited to, the current regulatory environment, market conditions, and Avant Brands Inc.'s business strategies. However, forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in consumer preferences, regulatory changes, market competition, and the impact of geopolitical events.Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of assumptions, risks, and uncertainties is not exhaustive. Forward-looking statements are inherently uncertain and may not prove to be accurate. Accordingly, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, as there can be no assurance that the plans, intentions, or expectations upon which they are based will occur.The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this release, and Avant Brands Inc. undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws.SOURCE: Avant Brands Inc.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:40:47

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 569 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Larry Kellner Departs Following Factory Carelessness, Airline Incidents  But Now The Oil Giant Wants Him On Its Safety Committee!FALLS CHURCH, VA / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / In a case of corporate elitists' blindness at best, and ineptitude in governance at worst, Exxon Mobil Corporation's directors have renominatedLawrence "Larry" Kellner , who is also the departing Chairman of the crisis-plagued Boeing Company, to their own board.Kellner, a former Continental Airlines Chairman/CEO, left the now-defunct (merged with United) company in late 2009 and joined Boeing's board of directors in 2011. He was elevated to chairman in late 2019, and his tenure has been marked with failures both financial and reputational.As anyone who follows air travel news knows, Boeing has likely endured the worst year of any U.S.-based corporation due to numerous troubling safety incidents, with the penultimate occurrence in January, when a door plug blew off an Alaska Airlines flight at 16,000 feet, imperiling passengers and crew.In addition to that high-profile episode, Kellner has presided over a cascade of devastating headlines related to Boeing's quality and safety record. It's gotten so bad that now every airliner performance glitch, regardless of the responsible party, is nowheadlined as a "Boeing plane" incident .Yet, inexplicably, ExxonMobil wants Kellner to serve another year on its board, which he joined in 2023. As a result, National Legal and Policy Center, a shareholder in both Boeing and Exxon, is calling for fellow investors to vote against Kellner for the energy company's annual meeting on May 29."It's incredible to have to even ask, but after the last five years-plus that Boeing has had, Larry Kellner is properly leaving its board - so why do Exxon directors think he deserves a seat with them?" said Paul Chesser, director of NLPC's Corporate Integrity Project. "Is this about strong governance to protect shareholder assets, or just keeping the social club together until something catastrophic happens - like what just happened at Boeing?"Earlier this week NLPC filed aproxy memowith the Securities and Exchange Commission which further explained why it believes Kellner has no business serving on a corporate board at this time, much less the largest U.S.-based energy company in the world. Kellner, along with exiting CEO Dave Calhoun, were supposed to be the leadership pair to improve Boeing's performance after the firing of previous CEO Dennis Muilenburg. Instead the company's performance only worsened, with its stock price being almost halved since Kellner took over as Chairman.NLPC also released ashort videoon Thursday that highlights Boeing's mishaps under Kellner's leadership, and questions why ExxonMobil would want to keep him on its governance team. The oil giant's board, in exhibiting the ultimate in tone-deafness, even plans to keep Kellner on the company's safety committee!"There's a reason Larry Kellner is leaving Boeing's board, and that reason is failure," Chesser added. "Exxon is not in business so it can provide soft landings for mediocre executives. Nonetheless his colleagues put him on the proxy ballot for the board, so our fellow shareholders should do the right thing and vote against him." ###For more information or to schedule an interview with Paul Chesser, contact Dan Rene at 202-329-8357 ordrene@ nlpc.org Please visit http://www.nlpc.org Founded in 1991, the National Legal and Policy Center promotes ethics in public life through research, investigation, education and legal action.SOURCE: National Legal and Policy Center
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:40:56

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 440 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

PORT VILA, VANUATU / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / CWG Markets' standout participation at MONEY EXPO MEXICO, held recently at Centro Citibanamex in Mexico City, showcased the company's innovative concepts and breakthrough services in the financial sector. This prestigious event brought together global financial industry elites and innovators, providing an ideal platform forCWG Marketsto demonstrate its commitment to pushing the boundaries of financial services. Innovative Concepts and Breakthrough ServicesThroughout the expo, CWG Markets captivated attendees with its advanced solutions and services, highlighting a keen insight into the future trends of the financial industry. The company's presence was marked by a dedication to innovation and excellence in a rapidly changing financial landscape, resonating strongly with industry peers and clients.Spanning two days, the expo facilitated vibrant discussions on financial market dynamics, investment strategies, and the latest technological advancements in finance. CWG Markets leveraged this opportunity to engage with clients, partners, and industry peers, sharing valuable insights and deliberating on the future challenges and opportunities within the financial sector.CWG Markets' participation in the Mexico Financial Expo underscores its role as a visionary company, constantly seeking to explore and expand the frontiers of the financial world. Company representatives expressed their enthusiasm, stating, "Participating in such a pivotal event was exhilarating. It provided us with a fantastic platform to unveil our innovative ideas and services and to connect with other professionals who are equally passionate about transforming the future of finance." The expo wasn't just about showcasing achievements; it was a forum for exchanging ideas with other industry leaders and innovators. Such interactions are crucial for staying ahead in the competitive and ever-evolving financial sector. CWG Markets capitalized on networking opportunities to forge lasting partnerships that drive industry-wide transformations.Resounding Success and Future PlansAs the expo's activities wind down, both participants and attendees are taking stock of the invaluable knowledge and networking opportunities it offered. For CWG Markets, the event was a resounding success, further cementing its status as a pivotal player in the global financial community. The company is eager to continue its journey of innovation and excellence, contributing significantly to the development and growth of the financial industry worldwide. CWG Marketsremains steadfast in its journey of innovation and excellence. The expo served as a stepping stone, fueling the company's drive to explore new horizons and contribute meaningfully to the ongoing evolution of the financial industry. With a firm focus on customer-centric solutions and a penchant for embracing emerging technologies, CWG Markets is poised to continue making waves and shaping the future of finance on a global scale.Contact DetailsCWG Markets Will+60 1-800-81-9380complaint@ cwgmarkets.com SOURCE: CWG Markets
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:41:01

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 812 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

PORT VILA, VANUATU / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Dubai's 2024 Trading Influence Awards recently became the epicenter of celebration for the global trading community, with CWG Markets clinching the prestigious award for the "Best Online Trading Service." This triumph not only underscores CWG Markets' exceptional contribution to the online trading sector but also reflects the company's unwavering commitment to excellence and innovation.The Grand Night in Dubai: 2024 Trading Influence Awards UnveiledSet against the dazzling backdrop of Dubai, the 2024 Trading Influence Awards emerged as a beacon for the financial industry, bringing together industry leaders, innovators, and professionals from across the globe. It was more than an awards ceremony; it was a dynamic showcase of groundbreaking ideas, cutting-edge technologies, and the collaborative spirit that defines the essence of the trading industry. CWG Marketsshone amidst this distinguished gathering, earning recognition for its outstanding online trading services. This accomplishment not only solidifies its position as a leader in the field but also sets the stage for a new era of excellence in the competitive world of online trading.The Pinnacle Achievement: "Best Online Trading Service Award"The pinnacle of CWG Markets' success at the 2024 Trading Influence Awards was undoubtedly the receipt of the "Best Online Trading Service Award." This accolade stands as a tribute to the company's unwavering dedication to providing a superior trading experience for its clients.Known for its robust and user-friendly platform, CWG Markets goes beyond the conventional to offer traders a comprehensive suite of tools and resources. The platform boasts advanced technology that ensures seamless trading, real-time market insights for informed decision-making, and a customer service team that is not only supportive but instrumental in helping traders navigate the markets confidently and efficiently.A Platform Redefining StandardsCWG Markets has carved a niche for itself with its commitment to excellence in the online trading sector. The platform's user-friendly interface is designed to cater to both novice and experienced traders, providing a seamless and intuitive experience. The advanced technology integrated into the platform ensures that traders have access to cutting-edge tools, contributing to an environment conducive to success in the ever-evolving financial markets.Real-time market insights are a hallmark of CWG Markets, offering traders the information they need to make informed decisions. This commitment to empowering traders with knowledge is a key factor that sets CWG Markets apart in the competitive landscape.Additionally, the customer service team at CWG Markets plays a pivotal role in ensuring the satisfaction and success of traders. With a supportive and responsive approach, the team stands ready to assist clients, providing a level of service that goes beyond expectations.Gratitude and Aspirations: CWG Markets Responds to the AwardUpon receiving the "Best Online Trading Service Award," a spokesperson for CWG Markets expressed heartfelt gratitude. "They are honored to receive this award, which stands as a testament to our team's hard work and dedication to excellence. At CWG Markets, they are committed to empowering their clients with innovative tools and exceptional service to help them succeed in the competitive world of online trading." The recognition at the 2024 Trading Influence Awards serves as a motivating factor for CWG Markets to continue enhancing its services and setting new standards in the industry. This acknowledgment not only celebrates past successes but also fuels the company's aspirations for the future.Enduring Commitment: Quality, Innovation, and Customer SatisfactionCWG Markets' triumph at the 2024 Trading Influence Awards is not merely a momentary acknowledgment but a reflection of its enduring commitment to quality, innovation, and customer satisfaction. The "Best Online Trading Service Award" is a symbol of the company's dedication to excellence, and it positions CWG Markets as a trailblazer in leading the online trading industry toward new horizons.As the financial landscape continues to evolve, CWG Markets remains poised to adapt and innovate. This award serves as a testament to the company's ability to navigate challenges and consistently deliver exceptional services to its clients.Leading the Way into the Future of Online Trading CWG Markets ' triumph at Dubai's 2024 Trading Influence Awards signifies not only a recognition of past achievements but also a commitment to shaping the future of online trading. The company's dedication to providing a superior trading experience, coupled with its innovative approach and unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction, sets a benchmark for the industry.As CWG Markets looks ahead, the "Best Online Trading Service Award" serves as a reminder of the responsibility to continue leading the way, setting new standards, and empowering traders to navigate the complexities of the financial markets with confidence. The triumph in Dubai is not just an accolade; it's a proclamation that CWG Markets is at the forefront of the online trading industry, ready to embrace the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.Contact DetailsCWG Markets Will+60 1-800-81-9380complaint@ cwgmarkets.com SOURCE: CWG Markets
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:00:29

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 554 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

The rapidly growing Dennis & Co. Auto Group continues to expand its franchised dealership network by acquiring a premier New Jersey-based dealership, powered by a new strategic investment partnership.WEST NYACK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Dennis & Co. Auto Group expanded its dealership network by purchasing New Jersey-based Hawthorne Chevrolet from owner Steve Barna. A strategic investment partnership with two-time NASCAR Cup Champion Kyle Busch fueled the company's most recent acquisition."We are excited to add a third Chevy store to our portfolio while partnering with a true champion to drive our growth," said Brian Dennis, Dennis & Co. CEO and Founder. "For 97 years, Hawthorne Chevy has provided generations of customers with value-driven sales and service. We are honored to take on and continue to build this legacy."The acquisition of Hawthorne Chevy leverages our Dennis & Co. sales, service, and customer development methodologies. We focus on treating people the way they want to be treated and providing our customers with the best service and care. We are proud and honored to add the proven Hawthorne Chevy staff to our company."The partnership with Kyle Busch is a natural. His commitment to family, excellence, and performance aligns perfectly with the beliefs that drive the growth of our dealership group. And the alignment with Chevrolet-with Kyle driving the Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 in the NASCAR Cup Series for Richard Childress Racing-made the partnership even more exciting." Driving a Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 for Richard Childress Racing, Kyle Busch is in his 20th year of full-time competition in NASCAR's top division, the NASCAR Cup Series. Since making his NASCAR Cup Series debut in 2005, Busch has grown into one of the most accomplished drivers in NASCAR's modern history. He has won some of NASCAR's most prestigious races, including the Brickyard 400 (2015 and 2016), Southern 500 (2008) and Coca-Cola 600 (2018). Busch has 63 wins in the elite NASCAR Cup Series and is one of only two active multi-time champions."My longtime association with motorsports has given me a deep appreciation of the importance of a total team effort," said NASCAR Champion Kyle Busch. "I am excited to establish this partnership with Brian and the Dennis & Co. team, and I'm eager to embrace this opportunity. Meeting our many customers and fans makes me proud to be a member of the Hawthorne Chevy family." The dealership continues to operate as Hawthorne Chevrolet and is part of Pearl River, New York-based Dennis & Co. Auto Group. Tom Shanley, an automotive industry leader, and veteran General Manager, will lead all operations for Hawthrone Chevrolet, emphasizing serving the store's customers and local community while continuing the Hawthorne tradition of excellence.About Dennis & Co. Auto GroupBrian Dennis founded Dennis & Co. in 2006 with a single dealership, Riverdale Chrysler Jeep, and has steadily grown the company into a major automotive dealership network in the Metropolitan New York region. The platform has a diversified portfolio of leading automotive brands across 16 locations, including Buick, Cadillac, GMC, Chevrolet, Ford, INFINITI, Kia, Volkswagen, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, and Fiat. The group also owns and operates a used-only dealership, two collision centers, and a dedicated GM ADI parts business. The group has 1,000+ employees and serves its customers to the highest sales and service standards.Contact InformationTom ShanleyExecutive Managertshanley@ hawthornechevrolet.com 973-427-1560SOURCE: Dennis & Co.View the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 15:00:36

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 452 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

GUILDFORD, UK / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Andrew Storer was born 24.05.1980 in Guildford, UK, into a caring family that valued education and entrepreneurial spirit. His father, Clyde Storer, was a fairly strict and fair person, as an employee of a bank branch, he loved absolute order and did not make comments twice. His mother, Arlene Storer, was a homemaker and Andrew's best friend who always supported him.Childhood and EducationAs a child, Andrew developed an interest in finance and investing. His passion began from an early age, when he often played economic games and followed financial news. At Guildford County School he proved himself to be a bright and motivated student.After successful studies at secondary school, Andrew moved to London and attended Imperial College London, where he studied Mathematics with Statistics for Finance. His passion for finance became more pronounced and he became actively involved in student financial clubs and activities.University and First Steps in CareerAfter successfully graduating from college, Andrew enrolled at City University of London, where he became deeply involved in studying finance and investing. His academic achievements and ambitions did not go unnoticed, and he was invited to train at Alliance & Leicester as an accountant.Career and DevelopmentFollowing a successful internship, Andrew joined Alliance & Leicester as Head of Accounting Department. Andrew Storer is characterized not only by his outstanding financial skills, but also by his strong commitment to public values. His leadership skills, integrity and ability to motivate his team have made him a respected leader in his industry. His performance and impressive abilities have led him to his current position as the owner and founder of a large investment company, Compire Group.Achievements and AwardsOver the course of his career, Andrew has received numerous awards and recognitions for his contributions to the field of finance. His expertise is often sought after in the business community and he is a frequent speaker at private business conferences and events.Compire GroupCompire Group was founded by Andrew on March 13, 2023 to change the world of crypto investing by offering the simplest and most effective earning solutions. Andrew has created a mechanism that allows you to earn passive income anywhere in the world. Under his leadership, the company became one of the leading players in the investment industry, and Andrew gained a reputation as a consummate financial strategist.Media Contact:Andrew Storer https://compire-group.com/ support@ compire-group.com Disclaimer: The information provided in this press release is not a solicitation for investment, nor is it intended as investment advice, financial advice, or trading advice. It is strongly recommended you practice due diligence, including consultation with a professional financial advisor, before investing in or trading cryptocurrency and securities.SOURCE: Compire Group
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 11:03:04

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 634 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC, a nationally recognized law firm, notifies investors that a class action lawsuit has been filed against Harbor Diversified, Inc. ("Harbor Diversified" or "the Company") (OTC PINK:HRBR) and certain of its officers.Class Definition:This lawsuit seeks to recover damages against Defendants for alleged violations of the federal securities laws on behalf of all persons and entities that purchased or otherwise acquired Harbor Diversified securities between May 10, 2022 and March 29, 2024, inclusive (the "Class Period"). Such investors are encouraged to join this case by visiting the firm's site: bgandg.com/HRBR Case Details:According to the Complaint, Harbor Diversified describes itself as "a non-operating holding company that is the parent of a consolidated group of subsidiaries, including AWAC Aviation, Inc. (AWAC'), which is the sole member of Air Wisconsin Airlines LLC (Air Wisconsin'), a regional air carrier. Harbor is also the direct parent of three other subsidiaries: (1) Lotus Aviation Leasing, LLC (Lotus'), which leases flight equipment to Air Wisconsin, (2) Air Wisconsin Funding LLC (AWF'), which provides flight equipment financing to Air Wisconsin, and (3) Harbor Therapeutics, Inc. (Therapeutics'), which is a non-operating entity with no material assets." The Complaint alleges that Harbor Diversified made materially false and/or misleading statements because the Company misrepresented and failed to disclose the following adverse facts pertaining to the Company's business, operations, and prospects, which were known to Defendants or recklessly disregarded by them. Specifically, Defendants made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that:(1) Harbor Diversified's financial statements from May 9, 2022 to the present were misstated due to improper revenue recognition;(2) Harbor Diversified lacked adequate internal controls; and(3) as a result, Harbor Diversified's statements about its business, operations, and prospects were materially false and misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all times.The truth began to emerge, according to the Complaint, on March 29, 2024, when Harbor Diversified filed with the SEC a current report on Form 8-K in which it announced that certain of its previously-issued financial statements would need to be restated as a result of improper revenue recognition. Further, Harbor Diversified disclosed a material weakness in its internal controls that has the company's management evaluating "appropriate remediation actions." On this news, according to the Complaint, the price of Harbor Diversified stock fell by $0.28 per share, or14.25% , to close at $1.73 on April 1, 2024.Therefore, the Complaint further alleges that as a result of Defendants' wrongful acts and omissions, and the precipitous decline in the market value of the Harbor Diversified's common shares, investors have suffered significant losses and damages.What's Next?A class action lawsuit has already been filed. If you wish to review a copy of the Complaint, you can visit the firm's site: bgandg.com/HRBR or you may contact Peretz Bronstein, Esq. or his Client Relations Manager, Nathan Miller, of Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC at 332-239-2660. If you suffered a loss in Harbor Diversified you have until July 8, 2024, to request that the Court appoint you as lead plaintiff. Your ability to share in any recovery doesn't require that you serve as lead plaintiff.There is No Cost to YouWe represent investors in class actions on a contingency fee basis. That means we will ask the court to reimburse us for out-of-pocket expenses and attorneys' fees, usually a percentage of the total recovery, only if we are successful.Why Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman:Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLC is a nationally recognized firm that represents investors in securities fraud class actions and shareholder derivative suits. Our firm has recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for investors nationwide.Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.CONTACT: Bronstein, Gewirtz & Grossman, LLCPeretz Bronstein or Nathan Miller,332-239-2660 | info@ bgandg.com SOURCE: Bronstein, Gewirtz and Grossman, LLC
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 04:50:30

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 421 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

NEW ORLEANS, LA / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC ("KSF") and KSF partner, former Attorney General of Louisiana, Charles C. Foti, Jr., remind investors that they have until June 24, 2024to file lead plaintiff applications in a securities class action lawsuit against Lincoln National Corporation (NYSE:LNC), if they purchased or otherwise acquired the Company's securities between November 4, 2020 and November 2, 2022, inclusive (the "Class Period"). This action is pending in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.What You May DoIf you purchased securities of Lincoln National and would like to discuss your legal rights and how this case might affect you and your right to recover for your economic loss, you may, without obligation or cost to you, contact KSF Managing Partner Lewis Kahn toll-free at 1-877-515-1850 or via email ( lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com) , or visit https://www.ksfcounsel.com/cases/nyse-lnc/ to learn more. If you wish to serve as a lead plaintiff in this class action, you must petition the Court byJune 24, 2024 .About the LawsuitLincoln National and certain of its executives are charged with failing to disclose material information during the Class Period, violating federal securities laws.On November 2, 2022, post-market, the Company released its 3Q 2022 financial results, disclosing a net loss of $2.6 billion for the quarter, compared to a net income of $318 million for the third quarter of 2021 the previous year, due to "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," and that the Company "incurred a $634 million goodwill impairment to the life insurance business." On this news, the price of Lincoln's shares fell by $17.27, or 33.2%, to close at $34.83 per share on November 3, 2022, on unusually heavy trading volume.The case is Meade v. Lincoln National Corporation, et al., No. 24-cv-01704.About Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCKSF, whose partners include former Louisiana Attorney General Charles C. Foti, Jr., is one of the nation's premier boutique securities litigation law firms. KSF serves a variety of clients - including public institutional investors, hedge funds, money managers and retail investors - in seeking recoveries for investment losses emanating from corporate fraud or malfeasance by publicly traded companies. KSF has offices in New York, Delaware, California, Louisiana and New Jersey.To learn more about KSF, you may visit www.ksfcounsel.com Contact:Kahn Swick & Foti, LLCLewis Kahn, Managing Partner lewis.kahn@ksfcounsel.com 1-877-515-18501100 Poydras St., Suite 960New Orleans, LA 70163SOURCE: Kahn Swick & Foti, LLC
Indigenous leaders allege Resources Minister Madeleine King did not adequately consult with them prior to her fossil fuel expansion announcement

Sixty-two Indigenous leaders from regional towns in the Torres Strait and cities including Melbourne, Perth and Darwin have said Madeleine King (right) is "not welcome" without consultation with their communities. Source: AAP

A controversial plan to expand gas drilling during the climate crisis has triggered an uproar among First Nations communities, farmers, and within the Labor Party itself.

Alleging there was a lack of consultation prior to the release of the Albanese Government's Future Gas Strategy, Indigenous leaders have signed a declaration telling its architect Resources Minister Madeleine King she is not welcome in the dozens of towns and cities they want to protect from drilling.

Gomeroi elder Polly Cutmore told Yahoo News the united statement from 62 community leaders from around Australia was just the beginning in their fight against Labors gas plan. Were coming together, she said on Friday morning.

Kings gas plan has also sparked a rebellion within the Labor Party itself  six backbenchers told the ABC it took them by surprise. "I feel like I was blindsided by this announcement and would have preferred more consultation," Labor MP for Higgins Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah told the broadcaster.

Many of the MPs are in left-leaning seats which could be threatened at the next election by the Greens - a party that advocates for a ban of all new fossil fuel projects in Australia  a message that aligns with warnings from the United Nations Secretary-General that doing so is necessary to avoid the worst of climate chaos

The Greens responded to the gas announcement by accusing Labor of having slammed its foot on the gas and thrown any climate credibility out the window. Its environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said, Theyve utterly caved in to the fossil fuel lobby. Labor simply cant be trusted on climate and the environment.

Related: Concern after Albanese's coal decision: 'Fearful for my kids'

Gomeroi elder Polly Cutmore urged Resources Minister Madeleine King (right) to meet with her in June 2022. Source: Michael Dahlstrom / AAP

Government urged to put people over gas exports

Kings office was contacted for comment on Thursday by Yahoo News after Cutmore told this publication she had felt disrespected by the minister during an interview with the ABC - but it is yet to receive a response. She accused King of not taking up offers to meet with Gomeroi elders since she was elected to office two years ago  something Cutmore sees as a snub.

Cutmore initiated the declaration  that King is not welcome in the dozens of communities that don't want any more gas projects  at the Common Threads Indigenous conference on Thursday. It has been signed by the 62 Traditional Owners from across Australia, declaring King would need to seek consent from them if she wants to enter their communities.

Frustrated leaders accused the Resources Minister of formulating her partys Future Gas Strategy without consulting the Indigenous communities whose land would be exploited for its reserves of methane  a gas more than 28 times as potent as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.

Without proper consultation and free, prior and informed consent, Minister King is not welcome in our communities, the declaration warns.

While Australia continues to suffer from gas shortages and high energy bills, Australia allows energy companies to profit by exporting approximately 80 per cent of the fossil fuel overseas. In the declaration, the Indigenous leaders call on the government to shift from prioritising the export industry over the people.

Our lore as First Nations people must be respected. To us, air and water rights are fundamental and exist concurrently with our human rights, it continues.

Don McKenzie called expansion of gas drilling "madness". Source: Michael Dahlstrom

Why King wants to expand fossil fuel drilling

King has been a vocal supporter of the gas industry, controversially celebrating the industrys export achievements with the Prime Minister on April 19, the same day the Great Barrier Reef was declared to be experiencing record coral bleaching due in part to climate change.

In a statement that coincided with the release of the Future Gas Strategy on Thursday, King said the fossil fuel was essential and there was a need for continued exploration, investment and development.

The Strategy makes it clear that gas will remain an important source of energy through to 2050 and beyond, and its uses will change as we improve industrial energy efficiency, firm renewables, and reduce emissions, she said.

Farmer labels gas plan 'sheer madness'

Don McKenzie, a farmer in the northern NSW town of Coonamble has been fighting gas drilling for over a decade. He told Yahoo the government's renewed support for the gas industry is "terribly worrying". He warned there was no way the government could limit the worst impact of climate change if it continues to expand gas drilling.

"It's pretty clear that what the problem is these days is the gas industry has so many people entrenched in the halls of bureaucracy that we've got no chance," he alleged.

When it comes to politics in general he believes, "It doesn't matter what anyone says, the gas industry has the politicians buy the nuts. They just squeeze and say, we want this and they get it."

Albanese promises millions to fight climate change

The Albanese governments gas announcement was one of several that focused on regional Australia this week. The Prime Minister was spotted trading the comforts of his home city of Sydney for Rockhampton, where he joined King and donned a 10 gallon hat, embracing his inner cowboy at Beef Week 2024.

Anthony Albanese (right) joined Madeleine King (right) at Beef Week in Rockhampton where he announced new money to help farmers fight climate change. Source: Madeleine King

And while he appeared to be clearly enjoying himself, he was also there for serious business, telling farmers he was taking the impact of climate change seriously. And to prove it he announced the budget would include an investment of more than $500 million for the Future Drought Fund.

In an opinion piece that coincided with the event he acknowledged climate change is already impacting food production and profitability.

Natural disasters are becoming more frequent and severe, whether it be floods, or droughts, or cyclones, he wrote in an article first published in the Courier Mail. We want to help farmers and regional communities to prepare for the next drought. We have to help build climate resilience.

Love Australia's weird and wonderful environment? Get our new newsletter showcasing the weeks best stories.
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 21:41:20

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 345 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

New Expert Advisor Utilizes Advanced Grid Trading Strategy to Enhance Trading Efficiency and ProfitabilityDUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / In an exciting development for forex traders and financial technology enthusiasts, Avenix Fzco has officially launched Majestic EA, its state-of-the-art Expert Advisor for the MetaTrader 5 platform. This innovative trading software is designed to revolutionize the way traders engage with forex markets, offering an advanced grid trading strategy combined with superior automation capabilities.Majestic EA's introduction into the market comes at a time when traders are increasingly seeking automated solutions that can offer precision, reliability, and ease of use. The software's grid trading approach allows for the execution of multiple trading positions at varying price levels, providing significant opportunities for profit while managing potential risks. This method proves especially effective in capturing gains in a fluctuating forex environment.Majestic EA, an advancedforex robotfor MetaTrader 5, features several key functionalities to enhance forex trading. It operates 24/7, ensuring that no profitable trading opportunities are missed due to downtime. Additionally, it offers customizable strategies, allowing traders to adjust trading parameters and risk levels according to their individual preferences and goals. The system also performs real-time market analysis, automatically adapting its strategies to optimize trading effectiveness in response to market conditions.The launch is accompanied by a promotional offer, slashing the price of Majestic EA from $8,000 to $4,000. This initiative is aimed at making advanced trading technology accessible to a broader audience, from novice traders to seasoned professionals. More details can be foundhere .Majestic EA is more than just a tool; it represents a pivotal shift in automated forex trading. By handling complex trading strategies and decision-making processes, Majestic EA allows traders to focus on refining their strategies and scaling their trading operations.About Avenix FzcoAvenix Fzco is a leader in developing forex trading solutions that combine innovation with user-friendly interfaces. The company is dedicated to providing tools that traders of all levels can use to increase their trading accuracy and efficiency. For more information about Majestic EA, visitmajesticea.com Contact DetailsAvenix Fzco Robert Swantonsupport@ majesticea.com SOURCE: Avenix Fzco
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 19:01:03

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 504 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

ROLLING HILLS ESTATES, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Platinum Learning Nursing CE, a provider of continuing education (CE) for healthcare professionals, has announced a new lineup of programs designed to meet the educational needs of registered nurses (RNs), licensed vocational nurses (LVNs), licensed psychiatric technicians (LPTs), and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs).These programs cover a wide range of topics essential for maintaining competency and staying up-to-date with the latest advancements in healthcare.Focus on Registered Nurses (RNs)Registered nurses play a vital role in the healthcare system, providing care to patients in various settings. To maintain their licensure, RNs in most states, including California, are required to complete a certain number of CE credits every renewal period as mandated by the California Board of Registered Nursing (BRN).When searching for RN license renewal CE providers, Platinum Learning Nursing CE stands out with its comprehensive curriculum and engaging learning formats. Their CE programs for RNs address a variety of relevant subjects, including:Medical-Surgical NursingCritical Care NursingPediatric NursingGeriatric NursingMental Health NursingLeadership and ManagementLegal and Ethical Issues in NursingThe programs are designed to be informative and engaging, featuring interactive modules, case studies, and self-assessments to reinforce learning.Addressing LVN License Renewal in CaliforniaLicensed vocational nurses (LVNs) are an essential part of the healthcare team, working under the supervision of RNs and physicians to provide direct patient care. In California, LVNs are mandated to complete 30 CE hours for each license renewal cycle. The company offers a comprehensive selection of CE programs specifically tailored to the needs of LVNs in California, encompassing topics directly relevant to LVN license renewal in California, such as:Basic Nursing SkillsMedication AdministrationWound CareInfection ControlCommunication and CollaborationDocumentation and ReportingThese programs are developed to ensure LVNs meet the California Board of Vocational Nursing and Psychiatric Technicians (BVNPT) requirements for license renewal.Continuing Education Opportunities for Other Healthcare ProfessionalsThe company also caters to the educational needs of licensed psychiatric technicians (LPTs) and advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs). LPT programs address mental health assessment, crisis intervention, and psychopharmacology, while APRN programs delve into areas like primary care, family practice, and acute care.ConclusionPlatinum Learning Nursing CE's commitment to providing high-quality, accessible CE programs empowers healthcare professionals across various disciplines to enhance their knowledge, skills, and abilities. This focus on continuing education fosters better patient care, improved healthcare outcomes, and a more competent healthcare workforce.For any press-related queries or additional details, please mail to support@ platinumlearningce.org or visit https://www.platinumlearningce.org/ About Platinum Learning Nursing CEPlatinum Learning Nursing CE is a dedicated provider of continuing education programs for healthcare professionals, including registered nurses, licensed vocational nurses, licensed psychiatric technicians, and advanced practice registered nurses. Their mission is to empower nurses and other healthcare providers with the knowledge and skills necessary to deliver exceptional patient care. Their programs are developed by industry experts and adhere to the latest guidelines and regulations set forth by regulatory bodies.SOURCE: Platinum Learning Nurse CE
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 01:20:11

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 1037 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Department of Commerce, Consuls, Industry, and Businesses Participate in Trade-Focused EventPORT HUENEME, CA / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / World Trade Week was established in 1935 by President Roosevelt and was created to recognize the importance and benefits of global trade to the local and national economy. This year, the Port of Hueneme welcomed trade partners from around the world with a focus on "Supply Chain and AI" that included Department of Commerce officials and local elected officials as well as business leaders and consuls in attendance to share information focused on the current state of the supply chain, the economy, and artificial intelligence.11th World Trade Week Event hosted at the Port of Hueneme The Port's 11th annual World Trade Week event was held on May 2, 2024 at the FATHOMWERX lab located at the Port of Hueneme and welcomed almost 100 people from around the globe with an interest and involvement in international trade.Drew Rodriguez, Public & Community Relations Senior Representative at the Port of Hueneme, was this year's emcee. Oxnard Harbor District President Celina Zacarias welcomed attendees by stating that international trade is important to the Port of Hueneme and to the region."It is my distinct honor to be here to celebrate World Trade Week and its connection to us all here in Ventura County," President Zacarias said. "We are gathered here at the Port of Hueneme-the birthplace of the FATHOMWERX technology lab-to continue to explore the world trade and supply chain landscape and its interconnection to technology and its potential for the Ventura County region." Celina Zacarias, President of the Oxnard Harbor District Board of Harbor Comissioners, giving welcoming remarks. Kristin Decas, CEO & Port Director, provided an overview of port operations, the current state of the supply chain, an update on the Port's international trade partners, and the economic impact the Port has on the region."Happy World Trade Day!" Decas declared before jumping into her presentation about the Port. "We just came back from a trade mission and had quite an amazing experience in both South Korea and Japan," she said. "We signed two MOUs (memorandum of understanding) and these MOUs really homed in not only on economic development, customer relations, building business, but importantly, about building green corridors and sustainability and moving towards a footprint of decarbonization." Kristin Decas, Port of Hueneme CEO/Port Director, providing port update. Trade updates from the Port's global partners from the countries of Mexico, Lithuania, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom shared key information about how their country's traditional exports and emerging markets are fostering growth and investment opportunities.Ambassador Ricardo Santana, Consulado de Mexico en Oxnard, said: "Our ongoing trade partnership continues to grow. For us, the Port is very important because of its location-strategically situated on the Central Coast of California for its infrastructure with the modern docks, storage facilities, and railway access. In 2022, bilateral trade between Mexico and California amounted to $73.7 billion dollars." Mantas Zamzickas, Commercial Attache of Lithuania to the USA, Consulate General of Lithuania in Los Angeles, said: "The Port of Klaipeda is the biggest in Lithuania and started a collaboration with the Port of Hueneme just last year. Hopefully, in upcoming years, the (trade) numbers will increase." Sean Kagan, Senior Trade Policy Advisor, British Consulate-General Los Angeles, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, said: "The U.S. is the U.K.'s largest export market for goods and services, so it is a really important trade relationship for the United Kingdom. U.S./U.K. bilateral invest is worth over $1.5 trillion-supporting more than 2.7 million jobs. It's great to be at a port where you can see that happening. You can see the goods coming in." Betty Young, Business Development Officer, Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said: "We are here to connect international companies to meet many of the rising opportunities in this market and in growing sectors. Hong Kong can facilitate new opportunities in innovation and technology, medical and healthcare, sustainability, and creative." Trade Updates from Global Partners (Left to Right) Ambassador Ricardo Santana, Consulado de Mexico en Oxnard; Mantas Zamzickas, Commercial Attache of Lithuania to the USA, Consulate General of Lithuania in Los Angeles; Sean Kagan, Senior Trade Policy Advisor, British Consulate-General Los Angeles, Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office; and Betty Young, Business Development Officer, Hong Kong Trade Development Council. A special pre-recorded welcome message of Grant T. Harris, Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Industry & Analysis, was shared with attendees: "Enhancing supply chain resiliency is central to our work at the Department of Commerce," he said. "Together, with industry partners like the Port of Hueneme, we are working to address and get ahead of supply chain issues facing American businesses. By building stronger and more resilient supply chains, we will strengthen U.S. economic competitiveness, protect our national security, and support good paying jobs in communities across the country." This year's keynote speaker was Caroline Kaufman, Industries Team Lead in the Office of Supply Chain Services and the International Trade Administration, which is a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce.Keynote Speaker Caroline Kaufman, Industries Team Lead in the Office of Supply Chain Services (SCS), International Trade Administration, a bureau of the U.S. Department of Commerce, delivering speech. "The Department recognizes the critical role that maritime services and ports such as the Port of Hueneme play in ensuring strong supply chains and the smooth movement of goods throughout the United States and around the world," Kaufman said. "The Department of Commerce has one overarching goal: That goal is to improve America's economic competitiveness. Ports are a critical piece to the resiliency equation." After a lunch break, Richard Swanson, a Senior Advisor for the Office of the Regional Director - Pacific South Network, U.S. & Foreign Commercial Service, International Trade Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Maryanne Burke, Director of the U.S. Commercial Service for the U.S. Export Assistance Center office located at the Port of Hueneme, provided a regional update, discussed the District Export Council of Southern California, and shared foreign direct investment information.The Role of AI In International Trade
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 01:10:12

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 420 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Raleigh Siding Company has been voted the #1 Best Siding Contractor in Raleigh, NC, for the third consecutive year. With expertise in vinyl, James Hardie, cedar, and advanced composite siding, they serve Raleigh and surrounding areas. Their commitment to quality, customer satisfaction, and community involvement sets them apart. Homeowners can trust Raleigh Siding Company for exceptional siding solutions and unmatched service.RALEIGH, NC / ACCESSWIRE / May 9, 2024 / Raleigh Siding Company, the leading provider of top-quality siding solutions in Raleigh and the surrounding communities, is proud to announce that they have been voted the #1 Best Siding Contractor in Raleigh, North Carolina, for the third year in a row. This remarkable achievement is a testament to their unwavering commitment to excellence, customer satisfaction, and delivering exceptional siding services to homeowners throughout the Research Triangle area. https://raleighsiding.net/ With a strong presence in Raleigh, Durham, Cary, Chapel Hill, Apex, Fuquay-Varina, Holly Springs, Garner, Morrisville, Knightdale, and Wake Forest, Raleigh Siding Company has become a household name synonymous with quality, reliability, and professionalism. Their team of highly skilled experts specializes in a wide range of siding materials, including James Hardie siding, cedar siding, advanced composite siding and vinyl siding, ensuring that every homeowner can find the perfect solution to enhance the beauty and durability of their home."We are thrilled and honored to be recognized as the #1 Best Siding Contractor in Raleigh for the third consecutive year," said Finn O'Connor, Manager of the Raleigh Siding Company. "This achievement is a reflection of our team's dedication, expertise, and passion for transforming homes and exceeding customer expectations. We take immense pride in delivering top-notch siding solutions that not only enhance the aesthetics of our clients' homes but also provide long-lasting protection and value." Raleigh Siding Company's success can be attributed to their extensive range of siding options, meticulous siding installation processes, and unparalleled customer service. Their experts are well-versed in the installation and replacement siding, ensuring that every project is completed with precision and attention to detail. From the initial consultation to the final walkthrough, Raleigh Siding Company prioritizes open communication and customer satisfaction, making the entire process seamless and stress-free for homeowners.In addition to their exceptional siding services, Raleigh Siding Company is committed to giving back to the community. They actively participate in local initiatives and support charitable organizations, demonstrating their dedication to making a positive impact beyond the realm of home improvement.Contact Information:Brendan MonahanCEObrendan@ raleighseocompany.org (919) 230-1776SOURCE: Raleigh Siding CompanyView the original press release on newswire.com
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 22:26:17

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 890 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

VANCOUVER, BC / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Skeena Resources Limited (TSX:SKE)(NYSE:SKE) ("Skeena" or the "Company") reports interim financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2024. The interim financial statements and management's discussion and analysis ("MD&A") are available on Skeena's website and have been posted under the Company's profile on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and EDGAR at www.sec.gov Skeena is also pleased to announce the publication of its Environmental, Social, and Governance ("ESG") report for the 2023 calendar year. Skeena made significant positive contributions last year across economic, environmental, social, and governance areas. We continue to create value for our shareholders, broader stakeholders and First Nation partners by continually evaluating our substantial ESG efforts and associated performance. The ESG report outlining these positive contributions is available on Skeena's website here.About SkeenaSkeena Resources Limited is a Canadian mining exploration and development company focused on revitalizing the Eskay Creek and Snip Projects, two past-producing mines located in Tahltan Territory in the Golden Triangle of Northwest British Columbia, Canada. The Company released a Definitive Feasibility Study for Eskay Creek in November 2023 which highlights an after-tax NPV5% of C$2B, 43% IRR, and a 1.2-year payback at US$1,800/oz Au and US$23/oz Ag.On behalf of the Board of Directors of Skeena Resources Limited,Walter Coles Randy Reichert Executive Chairman President & CEOContact InformationInvestor Inquiries: info@ skeenaresources.com Office Phone: +1 604 684 8725Company Website: www.skeenaresources.com Qualified PersonsIn accordance with National Instrument 43-101 Standards of Disclosure for Mineral Projects, Paul Geddes, P.Geo., Senior Vice President, Exploration & Resource Development, is the Qualified Person for the Company and has prepared, validated, and approved the technical and scientific content of this news release. The Company strictly adheres to CIM Best Practices Guidelines in conducting, documenting, and reporting the exploration activities on its projects.Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statementsCertain statements and information contained or incorporated by reference in this press release constitute "forward-looking information" and "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of applicable Canadian and United States securities legislation (collectively, "forward-looking statements"). These statements relate to future events or our future performance. The use of words such as "anticipates", "believes", "proposes", "contemplates", "generates", "targets", "is projected", "is planned", "considers", "estimates", "expects", "is expected", "potential" and similar expressions, or statements that certain actions, events or results "may", "might", "will", "could", or "would" be taken, achieved, or occur, may identify forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. Specific forward-looking statements contained herein include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the results of the Definitive Feasibility Study, processing capacity of the mine, anticipated mine life, probable reserves, estimated project capital and operating costs, sustaining costs, results of test work and studies, planned environmental assessments, the future price of metals, metal concentrate, and future exploration and development. Such forward-looking statements are based on material factors and/or assumptions which include, but are not limited to, the estimation of mineral resources and reserves, the realization of resource and reserve estimates, metal prices, taxation, the estimation, timing and amount of future exploration and development, capital and operating costs, the availability of financing, the receipt of regulatory approvals, environmental risks, title disputes and the assumptions set forth herein and in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2023, its most recently filed interim MD&A, and the Company's Annual Information Form ("AIF") dated March 28, 2024. Such forward-looking statements represent the Company's management expectations, estimates and projections regarding future events or circumstances on the date the statements are made, and are necessarily based on several estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable by the Company as of the date hereof, are not guarantees of future performance. Actual events and results may differ materially from those described herein, and are subject to significant operational, business, economic, and regulatory risks and uncertainties. The risks and uncertainties that may affect the forward-looking statements in this news release include, among others: the inherent risks involved in exploration and development of mineral properties, including permitting and other government approvals; changes in economic conditions, including changes in the price of gold and other key variables; changes in mine plans and other factors, including accidents, equipment breakdown, bad weather and other project execution delays, many of which are beyond the control of the Company; environmental risks and unanticipated reclamation expenses; and other risk factors identified in the Company's MD&A for the year ended December 31, 2023, its most recently filed interim MD&A, the AIF dated March 28, 2024, the Company's short form base shelf prospectus dated January 31, 2023, and in the Company's other periodic filings with securities and regulatory authorities in Canada and the United States that are available on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca or on EDGAR at www.sec.gov Readers should not place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made and the Company does not undertake any obligations to update and/or revise any forward-looking statements except as required by applicable securities laws.SOURCE: Skeena Resources Limited
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 23:30:47

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 475 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

StakedGain Secures $500,000 in Seed Funding, Advancing the Future of Decentralized Crypto InvestmentsMELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / In a notable advancement for decentralized finance (DeFi), StakedGain is thrilled to announce the successful closure of a $500,000 seed funding round. This substantial investment underscores the venture capital community's confidence in StakedGain's innovative approach to DeFi and its potential to redefine the cryptocurrency staking landscape.A New Era for Crypto Investment: Multi-Chain Support and Flexible Staking OptionsAt the core of StakedGain's mission is the commitment to revolutionize the DeFi space with its sophisticated multi-chain staking platform. By supporting more than 10 blockchain networks, including Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible chains and various Layer 2 solutions, StakedGain is not just pushing the boundaries of DeFi but is also connecting a previously fragmented ecosystem.The standout feature of the platform, multi-chain staking, allows users to engage with a diverse set of blockchain networks. This capability enables them to leverage their assets across different protocols to maximize returns. Such an approach not only enhances liquidity and efficiency within the DeFi market but also opens a myriad of opportunities for both novice and seasoned investors.Additionally, StakedGain is proud to offer flexible staking options that meet the varying needs of its users. From fixed-term staking for those who prefer stability and predictable returns, to dynamic strategies that permit early withdrawal or re-staking to seize market opportunities, StakedGain ensures its platform remains accessible and adaptable for all.Driving Crypto Innovation with Advanced TechnologyThe successful seed funding round is a testament to StakedGain's robust technology, user-friendly interface, and innovative staking solutions. The platform is designed to lower the entry barrier for newcomers to DeFi while providing sophisticated tools and features that fulfill the requirements of experienced traders and investors.As StakedGain continues to evolve and expand its offerings, the future of decentralized finance looks increasingly promising. With a clear roadmap and the backing of influential investors, StakedGain is well-positioned to lead in the DeFi revolution, creating a more inclusive, efficient, and interconnected financial ecosystem.Join the Movement: StakedGain and the Future of FinanceThe journey is just beginning for StakedGain, and the platform is eager to welcome users to be part of this transformative experience in decentralized finance. By embracing innovation and focusing on user empowerment, StakedGain is not just pioneering a new wave of financial solutions-it's setting the stage for a future where finance is truly decentralized, accessible, and aligned with the needs of its users.As StakedGain charts its course through these exciting times, it invites everyone to join in on this promising venture. With its multi-chain staking capabilities and flexible options, StakedGain is crafting a new narrative for DeFi, one that promises to enrich and empower its community like never before.Contact Details:Website link: https://www.stakedgain.com/Company name: StakedGain FinanceContact person: Alex RobertsEmail: support@ stakedgain.com SOURCE: StakedGain Finance
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 15:15:19

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 928 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Walgreens is expanding its specialty pharmacy services and investing in its capabilities as the company further grows its core pharmacy business to improve patient outcomes and provide greater value to payers and partners.Originally published by Walgreens Boots AllianceWalgreens Specialty Pharmacy combines existing specialty assets, fully integrates AllianceRx and represents the company's latest step to leverage its neighborhood pharmacies into fast-growing areas of healthcareInvestments include new Gene & Cell Services Pharmacy and Innovation CenterDEERFIELD, IL / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Walgreens is expanding its specialty pharmacy services and investing in its capabilities as the company further grows its core pharmacy business to improve patient outcomes and provide greater value to payers and partners. The company today introduced Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy, a holistic offering that expands access to care for patients with complex, chronic conditions and enables partnerships that drive profitability for Walgreens' pharmacy business. The company is also making investments that will transform its specialty pharmacy offerings, including gene and cell therapy services.Under the new business, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy has an unmatched offering and is the only specialty pharmacy in the market with the following services and assets at scale:Gene and Cell Services Pharmacy and Innovation Center - a dedicated 18,000-square-foot center in Pittsburgh, PA, with services and capabilities for these emerging therapies, including innovative solutions for managing the complexity of the supply chain, logistics and financing as well as clinical and social needs management to ensure success for patients and partners.Four central specialty pharmacies - each holding several national pharmacy accreditations - where pharmacists and care teams across the country work together to dispense highly complex medications and help patients manage chronic or rare diseases and conditions. These pharmacies hold distinctions in oncology and rare/orphan conditions and offer patients and caregivers clinical services that drive engagement, adherence and outcomes.Nearly 300 community-based specialty pharmacies across the nation - more than any other pharmacy. These specialty pharmacies are strategically located near medical office buildings and health systems, closely aligning care provision with local physicians, offering patients access to specialty medications faster than the industry average, as well as services like injection training, medication side-effect management and financial assistance coordination for medications.More than 1,500 specialty-trained pharmacists, 5,000 patient advocacy support team members and dedicated Specialty360 teams that support all specialty condition and therapies.A growing roster of 240 limited distribution drugs, including 40 narrow networks and 12 exclusive limited distribution drugs.Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy is focused on breaking through healthcare system silos, bringing convenient access to hard-to-find medications and critical adherence support. Building upon the deep, trusted relationships Walgreens pharmacists have with providers and communities, the model enables more comprehensive care to ultimately help payers better manage specialty costs.Accelerating Walgreens growth in one of the fastest-growing market segmentsSpecialty medications today account for more than 50% of prescription drug spend in the U.S.[1] due to the increasing prevalence of chronic disease. There is a need for disease management solutions that are treated by specialty drugs. To advance solutions, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy enables patient access to specialized treatments through a newly formed integrated care model, driving cost savings and efficiencies in care by uniting the company's pharmacy teams and distribution network across providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers, health plans and payers."With approximately $24 billion in annual enterprise specialty revenue, Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy is the largest independent provider that offers the industry's most robust specialty capabilities not vertically aligned with a pharmacy benefit manager," said Rick Gates, chief pharmacy officer, Walgreens. "We have the flexibility to contract dynamically with any payer. We can partner directly with pharmaceutical manufacturers to facilitate products to market, including limited distribution drugs, and coordinate closely with providers to ensure patients experience a smooth start to treatment." Walgreens is building on its decades of experience serving the specialty pharmacy needs of commercial, Medicaid, Medicare, and other government and private payers. The company provides services or access to nearly all pharmacy benefit managers and major health plans- as well as alternative payment and service models that help health plans and PBMs differentiate themselves for their clients and members.Delivering an integrated care model to patients who need it mostEffective August 1, 2024, AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy will become Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy. Patients of AllianceRx Walgreens Pharmacy and Walgreens community-based specialty pharmacies now have access to resources that will build upon the expert care they already receive from their specialty pharmacist, including clinicians with key disease state expertise, nutritionists and care nurses. Specialty patients can also view their entire prescription profile at Walgreens, including their retail prescriptions."When a patient must confront a life-changing, serious health challenge and begins therapy for a chronic or complex condition, our pharmacists are right there to guide and care for them throughout their healthcare journey -from helping them order and take their medication to identifying financial assistance opportunities and working with their doctor and insurance plan to make sure they're receiving the most coordinated care," Gates said.In addition, Walgreens has seen consistent growth through its wholly owned subsidiary Shields Health Solutions, the nation's premier health system-owned specialty pharmacy accelerator. Shields specialty model provides integrated care solutions for local health systems and specialty pharmacy patients, working with over 1,000 hospitals across 45 states. The Shields business will continue supporting health systems specialty pharmacies, which complement Walgreens newly enhanced specialty pharmacy offerings.The launch of Walgreens Specialty Pharmacy is the company's latest initiative aimed at expanding the role its pharmacy teams play in patients' lives and bringing their clinical expertise to help payers, providers, pharmaceutical manufacturers and partners deliver critical healthcare. It also further suppor
PR-Inside.com: 2024-05-10 15:15:20

Press Information





Published by

ACCESSWIRE News Network

888.952.4446

e-mail

http://www.accesswire.com







# 822 Words

ACCESSWIRE News Network888.952.4446

Company Focused on Top-Line Growth and Business EfficienciesTORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / May 10, 2024 / Wi2Wi Corporation (Wi2Wi) today announced its unaudited financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. The company reported revenues of $1.508 million, showing similar revenue performance vs Quarter 4 2023, but showing a revenue decrease vs Quarter 1 2023.Key Financial HighlightsWi2Wi has a top priority to deliver significant improvement in revenue growth by rebuilding its network of manufacturing reps and distribution partners for the frequency control business. In addition more sales reps will be added to the direct sales team. During Quarter 1 Wi2Wi made progress in consolidating more of its operations to the Middleton, WI location in order to reduce cost and gain efficiency.Ted Clark, the newly appointed CEO stated, "By expanding our sales footprint, we believe that we have an excellent opportunity to generate additional business within our current tier 1 customer base as well as drive new business in a number of related industry/government sectors. We will do this while relentlessly focusing on cost reduction and flawless execution throughout all of our business functions." With a company culture built on quality and customer satisfaction, Wi2Wi continues to focus on delivering outstanding products and services, fostering strong customer relationships, and achieving operational excellence. With a clear strategic vision and a renewed focus on delivering top-line growth, Wi2Wi is well-positioned to accelerate business improvement.3 Months ending March 31, 2024 Overview (Unaudited)(In thousands of U.S. dollars)Quarter 1 2024 Quarter 1 2023 Revenue$ 1,508 $ 1,840Net income (loss)(362 ) (233 )Net cash provided by (used in) operations(145 ) (119 )Total assets7,031 8,518Cash on hand636 1,273Total current liabilities1,399 1,217Shareholders' equity3,615 5,047Detailed and historical financial information is available here.Investor & Media ContactTed Clark, Chief Executive Office+1-469-545-3423 ted_c@ wi2wi.com About Wi2Wi CorporationWi2Wi is a specialized electronic component supplier with expertise in all aspects of frequency control devices as well as in wireless technologies. Wi2Wi's Precision Devices brand of products has earned a premier spot in numerous key markets including avionics, aerospace, industrial equipment, government, and the US military. Wi2Wi's frequency control products are best-in-class and of the highest quality.Founded in 2005, Wi2Wi's headquarters, design center and state-of-the-art manufacturing facility are located in the heart of America's industrial belt in Middleton, WI. Wi2Wi can deliver specific solutions using its in-house design and manufacturing expertise, as well as leveraging many tier-1 global partnerships with numerous industry leading silicon and wireless technology suppliers.Wi2Wi has partnered with best-in-class sales leaders. The company uses a global network of manufacturer's representatives to promote its products and services, and has partnered with world class distributors for the fulfillment of orders all of which augment a US-based direct sales team.Wi2Wi is extremely proud to serve hundreds of the world's top companies with its made-in-America products.Forward-Looking Statements: This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including management's assessment of future plans and operations, and the timing thereof, that involve substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond the Company's control. Such risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, risks associated with the ability to access sufficient capital, the impact of general economic conditions in Canada, the United States and overseas, industry conditions, stock market volatility. The Company's actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these forward-looking statements and, accordingly, no assurances can be given that any of the events anticipated by the forward-looking statements will transpire or occur, or if any of them do so, what benefits, including the amount of proceeds, that the Company will derive there from. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect the Company's operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website ( www.sedar.com) . Forward-looking statements are made based on management's beliefs, estimates and opinions on the date the statements are made and the Company undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements and if these beliefs, estimates and opinions or other circumstances should change, except as required by applicable law. All subsequent forward-looking statements, whether written or oral, attributable to the Company or persons acting on its behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. Furthermore, the forward- looking statements contained in this news release are made as at the date of this news release and the Company does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by applicable securities laws.Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.SOURCE: Wi2Wi Corporation
The World Food Prize Foundation (WFPF) has named two scientists, Geoffrey Hawtin and Cary Fowler, as the 2024 World Food Prize Laureates.

Both scientists were instrumental in creating a back-up vault of the worlds crop seeds to protect global food security,

According to a statement published on Thursday, the two scientists were announced by WFPFs president, Terry Branstad, at a ceremony in the United States of America. The event was hosted and presided over by the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.

The World Food Prize is bestowed to individuals for recognition of their achievements in the fight against hunger and food insecurity  one of the most pressing issues of our time, the statement quoted Mr Blinken as saying.

The official said the awardees, Messrs Hawtin and Fowler, have made extraordinary contributions towards this cause and both have done critical work to advance global crop biodiversity, conserving over 6,000 varieties of crops and culturally important plants which has had a direct impact in addressing hunger around the world.

The organisers noted that this years awardees were chosen by the World Food Prize Laureate Selection Committee for their longstanding contribution to seed conservation and crop biodiversity.

This is the 20th year the Department of State has played a role in this announcement and we are honoured to be able to support the World Food Prize Foundations recognition of Dr. Fowlers and Dr. Hawtins work, Mr Blinken 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

The World Food Prize

The World Food Prize is an international award that honours individuals who have improved the quality, quantity or availability of food worldwide.

The prize was founded by Norman Borlaug, recipient of the 1970 Nobel Peace Prize, for his work that contributed to increases in agricultural outputs which was termed the Green Revolution.

Since then, the foundation said, the prize has been awarded to 53 distinguished individuals during the Norman Borlaug International Dialogue. The Dialogue, also known as the Borlaug Dialogue, is a week of events dedicated to an issue surrounding food insecurity or hunger each year.

According to the statement, this years awardees will share a $500,000 cash prize award for their work to preserve the worlds heritage of seeds.

It said both men played key roles in establishing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which today holds 1.25 million seed samples of more than 6,000 plant species in an underground facility in the Arctic Circle.

The repository, often referred to as the Doomsday Vault, opened in 2008 and stands as the last line of defence against threats to global food security, including pandemics and climate catastrophes, the organisers noted.

Comments

In his remarks, Gebisa Ejeta, chair, World Food Prize Laureate Selection Committee, said the awardees (Hawtin and Fowler), realised early in their careers the immense value and heritage of our crop genetic resources.

In choosing these two visionaries, the Selection Committee recognized the importance of this long-term thinking and planning for facing climate change and other existential threats, and for the example it sets and the wisdom it imparts in all of us on how we may collectively mobilise the equitable use of the rest of our global endowments to ensure food security for all, Mr Ejeta said.

On Thursday, the WFPF said Messrs Fowler and Hawtin have played pivotal roles in the development of the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture, or Plant Treaty, which was adopted in 2001, to facilitate the global movement of plant genetic resources.

By codifying international agreements and mechanisms for the sharing of seeds, the treaty laid the foundations for the Svalbard seed vault, the WFPF said.

The vault was the brainchild of Dr. Fowler, who wrote to Norways Ministry of Foreign Affairs to ask them to consider establishing such a facility during his time at CGIAR, the worlds largest publicly funded agricultural research organisation, the statement said.

Mr Fowler, who began his career in 1978 as programme director at the National Sharecroppers Fund in North Carolina, was quoted to have said, While creating a global seed vault might seem logical now, people told me at the time that the idea was crazy.

Weve since managed to collect and preserve the diversity of all of the major crops, including, for example, 150,000 types of wheat now in storage. But we need more collections, particularly of indigenous crops from regions such as Africa, because the diversity of these hardy crops is the raw material for plant breeding improvements.

Im hoping the World Food Prize will inspire investments in this kind of transformational R&D which is going to be necessary for food and nutrition security for 10 billion people by 2050, he added.

Mr Hawtin spent much of his early career and risked his life collecting, preserving and protecting species of legumes such as chickpeas and faba beans from Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Turkey.

These collections, according to the statement, helped to establish the genbank managed by the International Centre for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA). When civil war broke out in 1975, he was responsible for moving collections of plant genetic material six times, across a mined road and under weapons fire, from Lebanon to Syria.

Mr Hawtin, a former Director General of the International Plant Genetic Resources Institute (IPGRI), now part of the Alliance of Bioversity International and CIAT, said: The genetic diversity of crops and their relatives is as important to biodiversity as it is to food security, and much of it is as endangered as pandas and rhinos.

In receiving this honour, Mr Hawtin said he would like to make a call to arms for urgent and sustained funding for the more than 1,700 genebanks around the world that are working tirelessly to make sure the material that farmers and plant breeders need is conserved and remains available.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Airtel Africa incurred $89 million in loss after tax for the year ended 31 March 2024 in contrast to an after-tax profit of $750 million twelve months earlier after a long-standing currency crisis in its largest market, Nigeria, left the bottom line battered.

Nigeria contributes 30 per cent of the wireless operators revenue, according to the companys financial reports released on Thursday, with East Africa, Francophone Africa and the telcos mobile money business accounting for the rest.

Nigerian naira, which continues to face recurrent foreign exchange headwinds after a dollar scarcity, reaching back to pre-pandemic days, came to a head in March.

The local unit plunged to its record low after a second devaluation of the currency in seven months in January.

At $5 billion, turnover was slightly weaker by 5.3 per cent as all key revenue sources, except mobile money revenue, fell.

Airtel Money, the groups fastest-growing unit, contributed 20 per cent more to the revenue pool than a year ago.

The mobile money unit has been esteemed as the brightest spot in the telcos business, with talks around spinning it off into an independent entity already at an advanced stage.

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

The mobile money business, which has witnessed considerable transformation following the success of its payments unit Smartcash across the continent, is on course to launch an initial public offer of $4 billion any moment soon, Bloomberg reported in March.

Earnings for Airtel Africa took a hit from a $1.1 billion derivative and foreign exchange losses in Nigeria, which, alongside a jump in finance costs to $482 million, triggered a loss before tax of $63 million.

Airtel Africa incurred $1.2 trillion in loss due to foreign currency translation differences, which surged by 235.7 per cent yearly.

The total comprehensive loss for the year stood at $1.3 billion compared to a $397 million gain in 2023.

Key initiatives include the reduction of US dollar debt across the business and the accumulation of cash at the HoldCo level to cover the outstanding debt due fully, said CEO Olusegun Ogunsanya.

We will continue to focus on reducing our exposure to currency volatility, he added.

Airtel Africa is currently undertaking a share repurchase programme as it seeks to splurge $100 million on buying back its own shares, which it hopes will strengthen the valuation of its stock.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Sydney woman Marley spent eight days in a Bali hospital after contracting dengue fever at the end of last month. Source: Supplied

Aussies heading to Indonesia during the upcoming tourist high season are being warned of a sudden surge of dengue fever cases in the country. Sydney woman Marley has just returned home after becoming one of the many travellers to have contracted the virus in recent months.

The 24-year-old told Yahoo News she spent eight days in a Bali hospital, admitting she had no choice but to "stay calm" during the "scary" health experience as she was travelling solo. "I had a lot of body aches, my joints were really sore which was weird. And then I was sweating but really cold, which was crazy," the 24-year-old said, adding a local doctor confirmed she had contracted the virus from a mosquito bite.

Aussie suffered 'waves' of sickness in boat ambulance

After being diagnosed, physicians told Marley they needed to move her from Gili Trawangan to Bali to adequately monitor her health, but the tourist was forced to hold off as she hadn't heard back from her insurance company.

After receiving confirmation that her medical costs would indeed be covered, she was taken on a three-hour boat and ambulance journey between islands.

"The doctors organised an ambulance boat to get me there and then I got in an ambulance to get to hospital... [the sickness] came a lot in waves, the fever and chills," she said. "It was very scary. I have never been in an ambulance or anything before, I haven't really had any health problems when I've been overseas."

The Sydney woman was transported from Gili Trawangan to Bali via boat. Source: Supplied

Her severe dehydration and low white blood cell count  a result of her immune system being compromised  caused her gums to bleed and her eyes to become bloodshot, with Marley calling her symptoms "feral".

How to prevent dengue fever while travelling

There is no treatment for dengue fever but patients frequently need to be monitored in hospital because they become severely dehydrated. Often medical staff will connect patients to IV drips and encourage rest until the fever passes.

There is a vaccine, which Marley got before her travels, but the best preventative measure is to use "lots and lots" of insect repellent  something the Aussie was slack on.

"Be really vigilant with with your mozzie repellent, definitely wear a lot of bug spray... I didn't use it which was so stupid," she admitted. "Wearing long, flowy clothes and avoiding stagnant bodies of water helps too, there's always heaps of mosquitos out."

"I wouldn't wish dengue on any person ever," she said.

There has been over 60,000 cases of dengue fever reported in Indonesia so far in 2024. The WA Health Department has issued a warning to travellers heading overseas after 138 of the state's cases recorded this year were acquired in the country.

While most people experience mild or no symptoms, one in 20 develop severe dengue which can result in shock, internal bleeding and even death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised the Nigerian government to enforce regulations on global cryptocurrency trading platforms in the country.

The IMF suggested that the platforms be registered or licensed in the country.

The Fund made the recommendation in its latest staff report, released on Thursday, following the conclusion of its 2024 Article IV consultation with Nigeria.

Earlier in February, the Nigerian government shut down the operations of Binance and other crypto-asset trading platforms.

According to the IMF, these platforms should adhere to the same regulatory standards applied to traditional financial intermediaries, based on the principle of same activity, same risk, and same regulation.

Highlighting the importance of Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) measures, the IMF emphasised the need for effective supervision to ensure compliance among crypto trading platforms and other virtual asset service providers.

Staff recommends that global crypto trading platforms be registered or licensed in Nigeria and subject to the same regulatory requirements applicable to financial intermediaries following the principle of same activity, same risk, and same regulation. Moreover, the authorities should ensure the application of AML/CFT preventive controls by crypto trading platforms and other virtual asset service providers through effective AML/CFT risk-based supervision, the report read.

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

The IMF encouraged the CBN to develop an explicit and transparent FX intervention strategy, which sets out a volatility metric and threshold that would trigger an intervention.

The global institution also recommended that interventions should be conducted through an auction mechanism at market-based rates, with announcement of intervention amounts and rates.

Such interventions should be symmetrical and temporary, which would also help preserve reserves. Interventions should not be used as a substitute for required macroeconomic policy adjustment needed to restore internal and external stability, it said.

The IMF expressed concern about the potential impact of legislative amendments to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Act, saying that certain provisions in the current draft bill, such as the establishment of a Coordinating Committee for Monetary and Fiscal Policies chaired by the Minister of Finance, could weaken the autonomy and governance of the central bank.

Several elements in the current draft Bill as disclosed in the public domain would, if enacted, significantly weaken the institutional framework and its independence, e.g., the envisaged Coordinating Committee for Monetary and Fiscal Policies chaired by the Minister of Finance could undermine the autonomy of the CBN and its Monetary Policy Committee, which is separately chaired by the Governor of the CBN. The draft bill also does not include recommendations by the Safeguards Assessment, the report read.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Creative Industry Group has called on Nigerians to reaffirm their commitment to preserving and promoting the nations rich cultural heritage through music.

Its President, Felix Duke, said in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Lagos that music is not just an art form but a reflection of our collective identity.

According to him, it has become imperative to take proactive measures to preserve the songs of yesteryears.

He underscored the importance of cherishing our musical history, stating, Music tells our story as a people in the most beautiful way. It can transport us to different times, where we can hear the challenges and joys of those periods.

Our musical heritage is intertwined with our identity as Nigerians, and we must ensure its preservation for future generations. Nigerias diverse musical landscape encompasses genres such as highlife, apala, and fuji, each with its unique blend of influences and heavy reliance on local instruments.

Mr Duke appreciated musicians who had preserved and elevated the countrys unique musical traditions to global acclaim.

Among these revered figures stands Sir Shina Peters, a maestro whose groundbreaking fusion of Juju and Afrobeat gave birth to the iconic genre known as Afro Juju. With albums like Ace and Shinamania, he transcended ethnic, cultural, and language barriers, captivating audiences with his infectious rhythms and soul-stirring melodies.

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

Similarly, the late Osita Osadebes mastery of Highlife music left an indelible mark on the Nigerian music landscape. His timeless hit, Osondi Owendi, not only entertained but also conveyed profound messages about the complexities of life, resonating with audiences across generations.

He also said that Onyeka Onwenus One Love stands as a testament to the unifying power of music, fostering national unity through its stirring melodies and heartfelt lyrics.

On the other hand, according to him, Christy Essien Igbokwes Seun Rere and Mike Okris Hear Your Mama are cherished classics that inspire and uplift listeners with their messages of value and resilience.

In the realm of love songs, the duo of King Sunny Ade and Onyeka Onwenu delivered a purer rendition of love with their timeless hit, Wait for Me, touching the hearts of listeners with heartfelt sincerity.

And who can forget Felix Libertys Ifeoma, a timeless anthem that still gets people dancing and singing along to their loved ones at parties, embodying the essence of romance and affection, he said.

He said that the legacy of these musical icons serves as a reminder of the power of music to transcend boundaries, unite communities, and celebrate the nations diversity.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Outlaw King, Victony, has joined forces with Grammy-nominated artiste Asake to deliver their latest track, Stubborn.

This sombre yet musing track is the first single from Victonys highly anticipated summer 2024 album, Stubborn.

The song is a seamless culmination of the rich sounds of Afro-fusion that both Victony and Asake are known for. The two go back and forth on the music, trading ballads and showcasing their lyrical excellence.

The accompanying music video captures scenes of Victony and Asake performing the song in a retrospective and captivating look at childhood and family.

In a statement about the collaboration, Victony remarked, This single is more than just music; its an anthem that speaks to resilience and the power of doggedness. Working with Asake on Stubborn was an exhilarating experience. Despite challenges, our shared passion for music and refusal to give up shines through in this track.

Best known for his global crossover hit Soweto featuring Don Toliver and Rema, Stubborn not only showcases Victonys musical maturity and range as an artiste but also highlights his influential role in shaping this rising generation of African talent and contributing to the global ascent of Nigerian music.

Growth

With a recent sold-out show in Uganda and a rapidly growing international fanbase, Victony continues to soar as one of Africas brightest musical exports.

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

His impact is evident; he currently ranks as the third most streamed Nigerian artiste on Spotify in 2024. Victony officially kicked off his music career in 2017 with the release of his mixtape, The Outlaw King. He started as a rapper and later honed his skills and developed a more dynamic artistry that allowed him to blend the sounds of R&B, Trap, and Afropop to express the extent of his versatility.

He rose to stardom with his viral 2022 single Soweto, which featured Rema and Don Toliver and garnered over 61 million views on YouTube.

Asake, on the other hand, debuted in the industry in September 2022 with the album Mr Money with the Vibe, which broke the record for the biggest opening day for an African album on Apple Music at the time.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Chads state election body said interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby has won the 6 May presidential election outright with over 61 per cent of the vote, citing provisional results, even as his main challenger declared himself the winner.

Chads junta has become the first of the coup-hit countries in West and Central Africa to stage a return to constitutional rule via the ballot box, but some opposition parties have cried foul over vote-rigging concerns.

With tensions running high, large numbers of security forces deployed at major intersections in the capital NDjamena ahead of the results announcement.

National Election Management Agency chief Ahmed Bartichet said Mr Deby had secured 61.3 per cent of the vote  comfortably over the 50 per cent needed to avoid a run-off.

He said Mr Debys prime minister and top opposition candidate Succes Masra, 40, had won 18.53 per cent.

Just before the ceremony, Mr Masra claimed victory in a live broadcast on Facebook and called on security forces and his supporters to oppose what he called an attempt to steal the vote.

A small number of individuals believe they can make people believe that the election was won by the same system that has been ruling Chad for decades, 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

To all Chadians who voted for change, who voted for me, I say: mobilise. Do it calmly, with a spirit of peace, he said.

What happens next is unclear.

The disputed results cap a fraught electoral period marked by the killing of opposition figure Yaya Dillo, the rejection of prominent opposition figures from the candidate list, and other issues that critics say have compromised the credibility of the process.

While Mr Masra drew larger-than-expected crowds on the campaign trail, analysts had widely predicted that the victor would be Deby, who seized power when rebels killed his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby, in April 2021.

Post-election protests are possible, though the threat of police repression could dissuade many people from taking to the streets, Crisis Group experts said ahead of the vote.

The election is being closely watched from abroad.

While other juntas in the insurgency-torn Sahel region, including Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger, have told Paris and other Western powers to withdraw and turned to Moscow for support, Chad remains the last Sahel state with a substantial French military presence.

Security and the economy have been key campaign issues.

One of the worlds least-developed countries, Chads meagre resources have been stretched thinner by multiple shocks including climate change-fuelled heatwaves and a refugee crisis linked to the civil war in Sudan.

Mr Deby, 40, gained power as the president of the Transitional Military Council on 20 April 2021 when his father, the late Chadian President Idriss Deby, died in action while commanding troops in the Northern Chad offensive.

He had served as the second in-command of the military for the Chadian Intervention in Northern Mali (FATIM).

(Reuters/NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Nigerian journalists and members of some Civil Society Organisation (CSOs), on Thursday, assembled at the Nigerian Police Force Headquarters in Abuja to protest the continuous detention of a journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ), Daniel Ojukwu.

The protesters arrived at the Force Headquarters along Shehu Shagari Way at around 9 a.m., chanting solidarity songs and carrying placards, demanding the unconditional release of Mr Ojukwu who has been in police detention for more than a week.

Some of the inscriptions on the placards were Free Daniel Ojukwu, Journalism is not a crime, Protect Human Rights, Respect Freedom of Expression and Nigeria Police, Stop Impunity.

The protesters were led by the Chairperson of FIJ Board of Trustees, Bukky Shonibare; Human Rights Activist and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, and Human Rights Lawyer, Deji Adeyanju.

Police officers gathered to ensure that the protest was orderly and peaceful.

Protesters present demands

Speaking at the scene, Ms Shonibare, who read out a statement jointly signed by some CSOs and media organisations in Nigeria, said the protest was organised to demand the unconditional release of Mr Ojukwu, who was arrested and detained for carrying out his constitutional duties as a journalist.

Ms Shonibare noted that Mr Ojukwus arrest was unlawful, unconstitutional, immoral and should not happen in any democratic society

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

She expressed concern about the escalating attacks on press freedom, which she said is shrinking the Nigerian civic space.

Ms Shonibare emphasised the critical role of a free press and public participation in upholding democracy.

The CSOs denounced the silencing of journalists and civic actors who hold power accountable, citing violations of constitutional provisions guaranteeing freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

The mischievous interpretation and hyper-application of laws, especially the Cybercrimes Act of 2015 which has now been amended, and the abuse of power and public institutions are all draconian tactics deployed to further shrink Nigerias fragile civic space. These tactics have no place in a democracy, where accountability and transparency in governance are essential, part of the statement said.

The CSOs accused state actors of mischievous interpretation and hyper-application of the Cybercrimes Act which has been described as the latest tool to gag the media.

They threatened to sustain the protest until Mr Ojukwu is released.

The statement was signed by Enough is Enough Nigeria; Nigeria Network of NGOs (NNNGO); Invictus Africa; Accountability Lab Nigeria; Public and Private Development Centre (PPDC); Global Rights; International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR); and Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID).

Others are Dataphyte; Gatefield; BudgIT Foundation; WikkiTimes; Hope Behind Bars Africa; Partners West Africa; Media Rights Agenda; International Press Centre; TheCable; Premium Times; Digicivic Initiative; the Foundation for Investigative Journalism (FIJ) and BONews Service,

The Human Rights Journalism Network Nigeria (HRJN) and Kebetkache Women Development & Research Centre also endorsed the statement.

Held despite meeting bail conditions

Also speaking, Mr Sowore said the police have continued to detain Mr Ojukwu despite the journalist meeting his bail conditions.

The former presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) said he and other civil society leaders explored means of securing the journalists release, and that their meeting with senior police officers resulted in them presenting one surety.

We presented the highest official of the NUJ in Abuja, and after verifying his property and place of work, they said they have now jacked the bail conditions to two directors who are civil servants with landed properties in Abuja, he said.

It is an oxymoron for somebody to ask an investigative journalist to present corrupt people that he has been investigating. Our position is that he has not committed any crime. It was the position of his employer that we should present a surety, and as of now, we are yet to get any civil servants for his bail.

The Deputy Director, Centre for Journalism, Innovation and Development (CJID), Busola Ajibola, also called on President Bola Tinubu to promptly order Mr Ojukwus release as proof of his administrations respect for democracy and the rule of law.

If you think the journalist has erred on the side of ethics, the right thing to do is to charge them in court, not abduct or detain them for days.

It is very important for the (President) Bola Tinubu administration to respond to this issue because  one of the fundamental anchors of democracy is a free press, she said.

Police Address protesters

Responding to the protesters demands, the Commissioner of Police in charge of Federal Cooperation, Vungmoh Kwaimo, said legal action would be taken to ensure justice is served both the petitioners and the detained journalist.

He said: We have heard all your demands, this will be communicated to the appropriate authority, and I can assure you that our Inspector-General of Police will definitely take steps to ensure the liberation of Daniel Ojukwu or if it means charging him accordingly, Mr Kwaimo said.

The police officer, who arrived at the scene of the protest at about 10 a.m., urged the demonstrators to disperse so their protest is not hijacked by hoodlums. The protesters rebuffed him.

At 10:31 a.m., the FCT Commissioner of Police, Ben Igweh, arrived and spoke to journalists.

He said as the commissioner in charge of the Federal Capital he would speak with the police authorities and ensure justice is served.

Every Nigerian including the journalist is entitled to his rights and privileges, Mr Igweh said.

I am the commissioner of the FCT. Every other office including (that of) the IGs are under me, so I can assure you that I will go there from here, he said.

Shortly after the commissioners speech, Ms Shonibare enjoined protesters to retreat from the police headquarters siince the Force had promised to look into their grievances.

The Police said they have heard us and they will meet with the appropriate authorities to ensure his release, let us all go to our different places, she pleaded.

Following her plea, the protesters left the venue at about 10.45 a.m.

Background

Mr Ojukwu, the FIJ journalist, had gone missing last week Wednesday with his telephone number switched off and his whereabouts unknown to family, friends and colleagues.

He was later tracked to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, in Lagos, where he was held incommunicado and detained for days.

However, last Sunday, the police moved the journalist to the Nigerian Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) in Abuja, where he is currently being held.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Chairman of Bali Local Government Council in Taraba State, Dauda Dakka, has explained why the council stopped some workers salaries.

About 100 workers, in a statement on Wednesday, accused the chairman of stopping their salaries since January.

The chairman of the National Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) in the area, Abdulmumuni Isa, confirmed the claim.

However, Mr Dakka told PREMIUM TIMES in Jalingo on Thursday evening that the claim was absolutely false and mischievous.

He accused the local NULGE of insincerity in the issue. It is regrettable that a union that should uphold the principles of accuracy is involved in spreading incorrect information, Mr Dakka said.

He said he inherited the issue when he assumed office, and only 37 persons were affected.

When I assumed office, I inherited this problem, and upon inquiry, I discovered that most of the affected individuals were relatives of deceased or retired staff, and the replacement was done in collaboration with NULGE.

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

Some individuals retired or transferred their service, and instead of removing their names from the payroll, the account numbers of their relatives were fraudulently substituted for their own, making it challenging for banks to pay them.

When we uncovered this, we ordered the compilation of all affected persons, and out of the 37 names discovered in the fraudulent act, names of eight genuine local government staff mistakenly found their way on the list and are also being affected.

In February this year, I officially wrote to the Local Government Service Commission, and they provided the names of the affected persons, promising to rectify the issue.

It is unfortunate that the problem was not rectified in the payment of last months salaries, and I am still following up on the issue to ensure its resolution, he said.

Mr Dakka alleged that many ghost workers are still receiving salaries in local governments across the state.

As a result, he asked NULGE officials in the state to help fish out and eliminate the ghost workers in the local government system.

He then appealed to the affected staff to remain calm because steps were being to address the problem.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Some 110,000 people have left Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip since the Israeli army started advancing on the city.

The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on Friday.

@UNRWA estimated around 110,000 people have now fled Rafah looking for safety, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said in a post on the X platform.

But nowhere is safe in the #GazaStrip & living conditions are atrocious, the post continued. The only hope is an immediate #Ceasefire.

The Rafah border crossing to Egypt remains closed to humanitarian aid deliveries, according to the Palestinian border authority.

While, the Israeli army said that troops were still deployed in the east of the city of Rafah and in Al-Saitun in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

In Rafah, the army had located several tunnel entrances. During battles on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing to Egypt, several terrorist cells were eliminated.

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

The Israeli air force also attacked several areas in the Rafah area from which rockets and mortar shells had been fired at Israel in recent days.

The Kerem Shalom border crossing, which serves as an important crossing point for humanitarian aid into the blockaded coastal strip, was also targeted.

In al-Saitun, the army eliminated several terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure, it was also reported. The air force had attacked around 40 targets in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.

Earlier, on Monday, the Israeli military had called on residents of the eastern part of Rafah to leave the area.

More than 1 million internally displaced persons are said to be living in Rafah.

Israels Western partners, above all the United States, have urgently warned the Israeli government against a large-scale military operation in Rafah due to the expected dramatic humanitarian consequences.

Following the massacres in Israel on 7 October, Israel wants to completely destroy the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, whose leaders it suspects are hiding in tunnels under Rafah, where Israeli hostages are presumably also being held.

(dpa/NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, Shehu Buba, has said the implementation of the 0.5 per cent cyber crime fee on transactions was not meant to punish Nigerians but to protect national security and the Nigerian economy.

Mr Buba, the senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District, stated this in a statement on Thursday.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, directed banks operating in the country to start charging a cybersecurity levy on transactions.

The payment of the levy is a provision in the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024.

Following the enactment of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024 and under the provision of Section 44 (2)(a) of the Act, a levy of 0.5 per cent (0.005) equivalent to half per cent of all electronic transactions value by the business specified in the Second Schedule of the Act is to be remitted to the National Cybersecurity Fund, which the Office of the National Security Adviser shall administer.

Many Nigerians have criticised the levy on the ground that the CBN is attempting to impose another tax on Nigerians.

The House of Representatives on Thursday directed the Central Bank of Nigeria to halt the implementation.

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

The resolution was sequel to a motion of urgent public importance moved by the Minority Leader of the House, Kingsley Chinda.

In his statement, Mr Buba said the cybersecurity transaction levy is put in place to protect and relieve ordinary citizens, particularly the poor.

The senator said the amendment of the cybercrime bill was considered by the two chambers of the National Assembly before it was passed and subsequently signed by the president.

The committee also underwent a transparent public hearing process, receiving contributions from various stakeholders. Both Houses of the National Assembly unanimously passed it before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed it into law he said in the statement.

He explained that the provisions for the cybersecurity levy ought to have been implemented since 2015 but it was delayed due to unclear interpretations and applications.

The Cybercrimes Act of 2015 has provisions for imposing a cybersecurity levy since its enactment, but the vagueness of Section 44 led to different interpretations until the 2024 amendments. The levy is 0.5%, equivalent to half a per cent of the value of all electronic transactions by businesses specified in the Second Schedule to the Act.

The amendments addressed crucial gaps in the Act and empowered the nation to implement the National Cybersecurity Programme effectively. They also seek to realign and empower the country to combat the inadequate funding and disruptive effects of cyber threats on national security and critical economic infrastructures, he added.

Mr Buba commended the office of the National Security Adviser and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) for initiating the implementation of the Act.

FIND THE FULL PRESS STATEMENT BY THE SENATE COMMITTEE BELOW.

THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA

SENATOR SHEHU BABA UMAR CHAIRMAN, SENATE COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL SECURITY & INTELLIGENCE

National Assembly Complex: Three-Arms Zone P.M.B 141, Garki-Abuja Room 2.15, Senate Building, National Assembly, Abuja

PRESS RELEASE

1)My attention has been drawn to controversy in a section of the media regarding the pronouncement by the Central Bank of Nigeria on the implementation of the Cybersecurity levy as provided for in the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) (Amendment) 2024.

2) This statement would not have been necessary but for the fact that the amendments of the CYBERCRIMES (PROHIBITION, PREVENTION, etc.) ACT (2015), was midwifed by this Committee which I chair in robust collaboration and synergy with ICT and Cyber Security Committee of the Senate and the need to put issues. This is also for the need to put things in right perspectives so as to avoid fallacy of hasty generalization.

3) It should be noted that the amendments meticulously carried out was done in the over all interest of this country in view of the burning desire to salvage this country from seemingly unending security situation in the country hence the need to address specific critical gaps in the Act so as to realign and empower the Nation towards effectively implementing the National Cybersecurity Programme.

4) Equally, the Committees action on the amendments was informed by the poor funding and the disruptive impact of the current and emerging existential cyber threats against national security and critical economic infrastructures.

5) The CYBERCRIMES (PROHIBITION, PREVENTION, etc.) ACT (2015) which the Committee amended has adequate provisions for the imposition of cyber security levy since its enactment in 2015.The sole issue that stalled it implementation had been the vagueness of the provision of section Section 44 of the Principal Act which hitherto led to different interpretations until these well-intentioned amendments in 2024.

The Principal Cybercrime Act 2015 also provided the legal framework for the coordination, enforcement, and implementation of the national cybersecurity policy and strategy, critical information infrastructure protection, substantive and procedural legal measures on enforcement of directives on cybersecurity breaches, reporting, investigation of cyber-attack and cybercrime incidences and prosecution of offenders for deterrence purposes.

6) The complexity in interpreting and applying certain provisions of the Cybercrime Act 2015 however stifled national cybersecurity efforts in the face of well-organised cyber syndicates and well-funded terror adversaries.

7) It is on record that the current Cybercrime Act 2024 amends the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act.No. 17, 2015 to correct some consequential words that were inadvertently omitted in the Act, most specifically, Section 44 of the Principal Act as amended where the ambiguity on the said levy was demystified thereby putting it a levy of 0.5% (0.005) equivalent to a half percent of all electronics transactions value by the business specified in the Second Schedule to this Act It is also on record that there are many undefined clauses, phrases and words, including 0.005 which were the initial ambiguities not well defined in the principal Act and are now resolved in the new law. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, these provisions on cybersecurity levy have been there in the principal Act since 2015 but the nation could not implement it due to vagueness in interpretations and applications. It is customary that a public hearing is held before every Bill is passed and the amendment of Cybercrime Act 2024 was not an exception. There was proper participation of people from all spheres of human endevour that witnessed the process. To lend credence to the transparency of the process, the Bill was unanimously passed, as it has been the law and tradition, by the two chambers of the National Assembly. Let me reiterate again, that the paucity of funds and non-prioritisation of the National Cybersecurity Programme is a major impediment to its implementation in the face of growing domestic cybercrime, global cyber-attacks and other existential terror threats.

8. Implementing a cybersecurity levy should be a matter of national urgency in the same category as the national food security emergency recently declared by His Excellency President Bola Tinubu.

9. It is urgently imperative to fund the security of Nigerias Critical National Information Infrastructure (CNII), counter-terrorism and violent extremism, strengthen National Security and protect digital economic interests, and fully implement the National Cybersecurity Programme through the operationalisation of the National Cybersecurity Fund by all regulators and businesses specified in the Act.

10. I am confident that judicious use of cybersecurity levy will enhance the Nations capability to assess, implement, update and advance the security of national critical economic infrastructure and protect the Nations cyberspace across all cybersecurity domains.

11. The protection, security, and sustainability of Nigerias active engagement in cyberspace depends on the readiness to fund and diversify the cybersecurity engagement roadmap envisioned by the current administration and the support of my colleagues at the National Assembly.

12. It is on record that Nigerias Cyber Threat Profile extends far beyond cybercrime, with other major cyber threats as classified under the National Cybersecurity Strategy. 13. If we must survive as a nation, the current weak approach to enforcing national cybersecurity directives must be re-examined and prioritized among other considerations.



14. The country must fund its cybersecurity and counter-terrorism programme not by foreign aid. Nigeria is facing multi-dimensional security challenges which pose existential threat and require extensive funding to resolve. The country must be committed to its ownership of national cybersecurity and counter-terrorism programmes for greater national stability.

15. Our legislative commitment demands that we work together with the other arms of government towards institutional accountability and inclusive engagement that should form the necessary common values for the success of the cybersecurity programme and counter-terrorism measures.

16. I commend both the Office of the National Security Adviser and the Central Bank of Nigeria for initiating the process for the operationalisation of the cybersecurity levy. it is not in dispute that news of the proposed implementation of cyber security levy has generated uproars in some sections of the country, the advantages that come with it far outweigh the disadvantages.

17. It is instructive to note that despite having directed the commercial Banks to implement the provisions of the Cybercrime (Amendment)Act 2024, in order that the law has human face as intended, the actors in the chains of implementation introduced several exemptions which have not ib initio been contemplated by the law as follows:

I. Loan disbursements and repayments II. Salary payments III. Intra-account transfers within the same bank or between different banks for the same customer IV. Intra-bank transfers between customers of the same bank V. Other Financial Institutions instructions to their correspondent banks VI. Interbank placements VII. Banks transfers to CBN and vice-versa VIII. Inter-branch transfers within a bank IX. Cheque clearing and settlements, X. Letters of Credits XI. Banks recapitalisation-related funding  only bulk funds movement from collection accounts XII. Savings and deposits, including transactions involving long-term investments such as Treasury Bills, Bonds, and Commercial Papers. XIII. Government Social Welfare Programmes transactions e.g. Pension payments XIV. Non-profit and charitable transactions, including donations to registered non-profit organisations or charities, XV. Educational institutions transactions, including tuition payments and other transactions involving schools, universities, or other educational institutions XVI. Transactions involving banks internal accounts such as suspense accounts, clearing accounts, profit and loss accounts, inter-branch accounts, reserve accounts, nostro and vostro accounts, and escrow accounts.

18. Its instructive to note that the exemptions provided above have watered down whatever inconveniences the law may impose on ordinary Nigerians and businesses.

19. To this end therefore, mandate of our Committee is not only to make laws but those that are in alignment with the yearnings and aspirations of Nigerians.

20. On behalf of the Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence, I humbly wish to seek for the support of all Nigerians on the policy as it has been made for the maximum benefit of the citizenry which will crystalize in the shortest possible time.

21. On behalf of the Senate and Distinguished Colleagues, I express my deep appreciation to the leaders and representatives of MDAs at the federal and state levels, and all stakeholders that contributed to the success of this effort. Thank you.

Senator Shehu Buba Umar Chairman,

Senate Committee on National Security and Intelligence

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


A group, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Solidarity and Development Forum, has rejected the call for the removal of Governor Siminalayi Fubara Rivers State from office.

It also asked the partys Caretaker Committee Chairman in the state, Tony Okocha, to resign his position.

The forum stated this during a press conference in Abuja on Thursday.

Mr Okocha had on Wednesday called for the removal of Mr Fubara from office following the lingering political crisis in Rivers State House of Assembly.

Itll be foolhardy for us to sit down and see someone way less than Mr President insult him under our very nose.

To that extent, in consultation with my party, we are directing APC members who are in the Assembly to commence the impeachment of Governor Sim Fubara immediately.

And if they dont do that, theres what they call party discipline, and we shall invoke that section of the constitution and deal decisively with them, 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

Convener of the forum, Kabir Matazu, condemned Mr Okochas call, describing it as a deliberate ploy to destabilise the government and sow chaos in the state.

He accused Mr Okocha of displaying disrespect for President Tinubu, who he said had previously appealed for all parties involved to uphold the status quo and pursue peaceful resolutions.

It will be unfair and unwise for any party member or individual not to resonate in the same frequency with our president. It is very disheartening to witness Chief Tony Okochas unguided utterances, which not only disregard the presidents call for peace but also pose a threat to the stability and progress of our beloved party.

We are appalled by the chairmans unguided fervour and lack of understanding of the complex challenges facing Rivers State. His actions are a dent in the respectable image and good representation of what our party stands for.

It Is evident to everyone that Chief Tony Okocha has lost sight of the vision and principles of the APC, as his misguided loyalty has compromised the integrity and status of our party, he stated.

Mr Matazu called on Mr Okocha to resign from his position immediately, warning that his continued stay in office would only exacerbate party tensions and destabilise the state.

According to him, the chairmans misguided loyalty is tarnishing the image of the party.

He said all status quo must be maintained because the crisis posed a threat to the countrys democracy.

Mr Matazu commended Mr Fubara for heeding President Tinubus call and demonstrating unwavering commitment to inclusive governance.

He said the president has made efforts to foster a government free from nepotism and marginalisation for progress and unity in Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the forums co-convener, Igwe Ude-Umanta, condemned the impeachment call, saying it is unjustifiable and detrimental to democracys foundation.

By calling for the impeachment of Governor Fubara without justifiable cause, Mr Tony has not only undermined the unity and cohesion of our party but also endangered the foundation of our democratic system, he said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Dangote Cement company has launched a malaria intervention programme for host communities in Okpella, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State.

With the launch, the cement manufacturing company has begun to administer free anti-malaria treatments to residents in host communities.

This was disclosed in a statement on Thursday, 9 May.

According to the Group Head of Sustainability, Dangote Cement Plc, Igazeuma Okoroba, the programme was initiated to improve access to quality health care in host communities.

Mrs Okoroba described the relationship between the company and host communities as robust while noting that the goal is to bring health care closer and reduce the risk of malaria among the people.

She said: Todays campaign in Okpella, therefore, aims to engage our communities, bring health care close to where people live, and address factors that increase malaria risk while demonstrating our corporate social responsibility.

As we observe, a significant portion of the population lacks access to vital healthcare services. Dangote Cement PLC aims to bridge this gap by addressing disparities in our host communities.

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

We believe that healthy people are the foundation for healthy economies, and for this reason, countries are taking decisive actions to counteract health challenges. Our target for this campaign is Edo State.

Beneficiaries speak

A beneficiary of the programme, Adiza Aliu, said the programme has improved her access to healthcare.

She said after being diagnosed with malaria, officials of the programme gave her drugs and mosquito net free of charge.

She said, They asked me to be sleeping under the net to prevent malaria. Look at the drugs they gave me. I didnt pay any money.

Another beneficiary, Innocent Valentina, said the initiative is alleviating the suffering of the people as regards healthcare.

Eliminating malaria

Also speaking, the programmes General Manager for training and development, Sunday Adodua,

stated that with the programme, malaria could be eliminated if residents comply with instructions.

He said if people use judiciously anti-malaria tools given to them, the disease could be eliminated.

The essence of this programme is to make life more meaningful for the people of our host communities who are vulnerable in terms of finance and resources to afford good medical establishments for treatment.

Mr Adodua also noted that Dangote Cement has a robust CSR programme for host communities, which has been ongoing for a year.

Currently, Nigeria contributes about 27 per cent of the global burden of the disease, the highest in Africa. It also accounts for about 31.3 per cent of deaths from malaria, the largest globally.

The disease, which is caused by tiny parasites called Plasmodium, is responsible for 11 per cent of maternal deaths and 25 per cent of deaths in infants.

Also, the National Malaria Elimination Programme (NMEP) reported that Malaria accounts for 60 per cent of outpatient visits to health facilities across the country and 30 per cent of childhood deaths.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Air Vanuatu has been particularly affected in recent times by disruption of tourism activity due to cyclones, liquidators say.

Melbourne woman Adara Brooks is 31 weeks pregnant and said she may not be able to get home until the end of the month as Air Vanuatu faces voluntary liquidation. Source: Nine

A heavily pregnant woman is among Australians stranded in Vanuatu as the country's national airline is placed into voluntary liquidation. On Thursday it emerged that all international flights scheduled on Air Vanuatu until Sunday had been cancelled, as the government "reviewed" the airline's future.

In a statement to media, Air Vanuatu confirmed international firm Ernst and Young (EY) had been "appointed to assist the Vanuatu government" in operations moving forward. Merely hours after the announcement, on Friday morning Ernst and Young formally announced the embattled airline had been placed into voluntary liquidation, leaving hundreds of travellers stranded and staff in the lurch.

"Air Vanuatu is critical to the people of the Republic of Vanuatu and a strategically important business to the nation," EY's Morgan Kelly told media.

Air Vanuatu affected by disruption of tourism

"Our team is working closely with management to ensure continuity of service to customers and to ensure services continue as seamlessly as possible. The outlook for the airline is positive, despite pressures on the broader industry, and we will be focused on securing the future of this strategically vital national carrier."

Air Vanuatu has been particularly affected by disruption of tourism activity due to cyclones, Kelly added.

He admitted that the process had happened "very, very quickly" but was unable to reveal how many travellers had been affected. "We have to ground the fleet to make sure the fleet's compliant with international regulations," Kelly told Today. "We're going to reach out to all affected travellers today and try to rebook them as soon as possible."

Air Vanuatu has been placed into voluntary administration, stranding hundreds of Aussies on the island nation and leaving staff in the lurch. Source: NCA Newswire

Seven-month pregnant Aussie among travellers stranded

One woman who is stranded on the island hotspot, Adara Brooks, is 31 weeks pregnant. Brooks said she and her husband Tyler were about to head to the airport when they received the news that their flights had been cancelled. The next flights out of the country, she explained, are almost several weeks away.

"The next flight out is like at the end of the month, in two weeks or something," she told Today. "We found out yesterday through our [hotel] reception. We were going to go and jump on our transport, to get to our flight, and they let us know that it was cancelled.

"We hadn't had an email yet, no correspondence."

Insurance won't cover stranded travellers

Brooks said she was concerned about her remaining children at home in Melbourne, and for her health given how far along she is in her pregnancy.

"We are definitely pretty keen to get home," she said. "We have two little toddlers at home as well. We are keen to get home as soon as we can." The family are now likely to be "out of pocket thousands" as their travel insurance may not front the associated costs.

"Because they've gone into liquidation, there's fine print in most insurance policies that don't cover liquidation or administration," Brooks said.

DFAT weighs in

Air Vanuatu, which is owned by the Vanuatu government, had long been dealing with issues affecting its services including flight delays and cancellations. Speaking to Yahoo News Australia, a spokesperson from the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it was "aware of reports".

"The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is aware of reports that Air Vanuatu and related codeshare flights have been cancelled or re-scheduled all flights over the coming days," a spokesperson told Yahoo.

"Vanuatu continues to be serviced by a number of international airlines. Australians affected by the travel delays should contact their travel agent or travel insurance company. Australians in need of emergency consular assistance should contact the Australian Governments 24-hour Consular Emergency Centre on 1300 555 135 (within Australia) or +61 2 6261 3305 (from overseas)."

The Australian Government does not track the number of Aussie citizens, permanent residents, or their immediate families in locations overseas. DFATs travel advice for Vanuatu states that international flights can be impacted at short notice by aircraft issues and recommends travellers obtain comprehensive insurance before they leave the country.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Bandits on Thursday night invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTEC), Osara, Okene in Kogi State, and abducted some students.

An eyewitness account indicated that the bandits swooped on the university around 9.00 p.m. while the students were reading for their upcoming exams.

The source said that the bandits came in through the bush, went into three lecture halls and began to shoot into the air to scare the students.

They trapped the students inside the halls and started taking them; the school was thrown into total confusion as fear-stricken students in other halls scurried to safety, scampering in various directions.

By the time local security guards and the conventional security men at the gate engaged the bandits, they had already succeeded in abducting some students.

But the efforts minimised the damage as the attackers didnt go beyond the first three halls, the source said.

According to the source, the students were preparing for their first semester examination expected to commence on Monday, 13 May, when the bandits struck.

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

A student, who craved anonymity, said that he and some colleagues ran to the bush and hid there for more than an hour.

We only ventured out when everywhere became quiet, he said.

When contacted, CUSTEC Vice Chancellor, Abdulraman Asipita, a professor, confirmed the incident but refused to give details of the number of students abducted.

I dont talk to journalists on incidents like this, but I want you to know that we are on top of the situation, he said.

Efforts to reach the Commissioner of Police in Kogi State, Bethrand Onuoha, were not successful.

Jerry Omodara, a retired comodore and states Security Adviser, could equally not be reached for comments as calls to his line were not picked nor returned.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Daniel Ojukwu, the detained journalist with the Foundation for Investigative Journalism(FIJ) has regained freedom.

Mr Ojukwu was released by the police on Friday afternoon after spending nine days in detention.

FIJ Founder, Fisayo Soyombo, confirmed his release to PREMIUM TIMES on Friday.

In a statement also confirming Mr Ojukwus release, the chairperson of the Board of Trustees of FIJ, Bukky Shonibare, said the platform was taking advice from our lawyers and will explore all legally permissible means to seek justice for Daniel Ojukwu.

The statement noted that Ojukwu was abducted by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector-General of Police on Wednesday, 1 May 2024.

The journalists detention triggered criticisms of the worsening press freedom in less than a year of President Bola Tinubus administration.

Saddening and primitive as they are, moments like this are a refreshing reminder of the potency of a united public to hold power to account, it added.

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

The platform hoped its planned legal actions would prevent a recurrence of such blatant abuse of power and attack on press freedom.

It acknowledged the significant effect of the media pressure and, more importantly, Thursdays protests by civic actors in modifying what had been a deliberate misuse of state power by the police.

The statement thanked local and international media organisations, civil society organisations, activists, lawyers, and active citizens whose efforts have helped secure the freedom of our reporter, Daniel Ojukwu.

Journalists abduction

PREMIUM TIMES reported how Mr Ojukwu went missing last Wednesday, 1 May, with his phones switched off and whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends. The following day, FIJ made a missing person report at police stations in the area where he was headed.

Mr Ojukwus family and employer would later find out that he was abducted by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Inspector General of Police, and held incommunicado at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti in Lagos.

The reporter was on Sunday transferred to the Nigerian Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) in Abuja, Federal Capital Territory (FCT), where he was detained for an additional five days.

The police spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said the journalists arrest was based on a petition written against him, accusing him of violating the Cybercrimes Act, a well-known law that the Nigerian authorities have constantly used to suppress press freedom.

The petition was in relation to a story authored by Mr Ojukwu, revealing how the senior special assistant to former president Muhammad Buhari on sustainable development goals (SSAP-SDGs), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, was said to have paid N147 million to a restaurant for the construction of classrooms in Lagos.

In March, the Nigeria Police Force National Cybercrime Centre (NPF-NCCC) invited and grilled the Chairperson of FIJs Board of Trustees, Bukky Shonibare, in Abuja during which they mentioned the story.

However, the police never invited Mr Ojukwu or any other FIJ staffer except for Ms Shonibare, Mr Soyombo told PREMIUM TIMES last Saturday, adding that Ms Shonibare honoured the police invitation when she was invited.

Stringent bail conditions, protest

Human rights activist and a presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC), Omoyele Sowore, said Mr Ojukwus initial bail condition had been met but the police refused to release him.

As soon as the conditions were met, the police shifted position adding more stringent conditions, he said.

We presented the highest official of the NUJ in Abuja, and after verifying his property and place of work, they said they have now jacked the bail conditions to two directors who are civil servants with landed properties in Abuja, he said at a protest on Thursday.

It is an oxymoron for somebody to ask an investigative journalist to present corrupt people that he has been investigating. Our position is that he has not committed any crime. It was the position of his employer that we should present a surety, and as of now, we are yet to get any civil servants for his bail.

Nigerian journalists and civil society organisations staged a peaceful protest at the Nigerian police headquarters in Abuja on Thursday.

Speaking at the scene of the protest, chairperson of FIJ Board of Trustees, Bukky Shonibare, who read out a statement jointly signed by some CSOs and media organisations in Nigeria, threatened to sustain the protest until Mr Ojukwu is released.

The mischievous interpretation and hyper-application of laws, especially the Cybercrimes Act of 2015 which has now been amended, and the abuse of power and public institutions are all draconian tactics deployed to further shrink Nigerias fragile civic space. These tactics have no place in a democracy, where accountability and transparency in governance are essential, part of the statement said.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Superior Council of the Judiciary in Milan, Italy, has demoted Fabio De Pasquale, a deputy prosecutor at the Court of Milan, after he was found to have failed to exhibit impartiality in the long-running OPL245 corruption case involving energy groups Eni and Shell in Nigeria.

The Superior Council of the Judiciary is the body that allocates jurisdiction and guarantees the autonomy and independence of ordinary magistrates.

A Milanese media outlet reported De Pasquales demotion on Thursday.

The OPL 245 saga, also referred to as the Malabu scandal, centres around $1.1 billion paid by oil giants, Shell and ENI, through the Nigerian government for the acquisition of the lucrative oil asset.

Malabu Oil and Gas Limited, a firm incorporated in Nigeria for the purpose of acquiring the OPL 245 asset, was first awarded the oil assets by the Sani Abacha regimes petroleum minister, Dan Etete, under controversial circumstances in 1998.

In a chain of convoluted back-and-forth events, the assets were later transferred to oil giants, Shell and Italian Eni, after paying $1.1 billion based on a 2011 agreement brokered by the Nigerian government. Prosecutors in Nigeria and Italy alleged that a chunk of the money ended up in accounts controlled by Mr Etete and passed to Nigerian officials as bribes.

But an Italian court, in March 2021, acquitted Shell, Eni and their executives in relation to the Malabu scandal.

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

In November 2022, PREMIUM TIMES reported that an appeal court in Milan, Italy, rejected Nigerias $1.1 billion compensation request against Eni and Shell in civil proceedings relating to the controversial Malabu oil deal.

A Nigerian court also recently dismissed charges relating to the Malabu saga against a former Attorney-General of the Federation, Mohammed Adoke, who, on behalf of the Nigerian government helped to strike the 2011 settlement deal that led to the payment of $1.1 billion by Eni and Shell.

Complaints and verdict

There had been complaints about Fabio De Pasquales conduct in the handling of the case at the Italian Ministry of Justice.

In July 2021, Mr Adoke accused De Pasquale and his colleague, Sergio Spadaro of unlawful acts of Intimidation/threat to life, forgery of documents amongst others in the Malabu scandal trial.

Deciding on the complaints against De Pasquale, an assembly of the Superior Council of the Judiciary comprising magistrates said, De Pasquales absence of the prerequisites of impartiality and balance is therefore demonstrated, having repeatedly exercised jurisdiction in a manner that was neither objective nor fair with respect to the parties as well as without a sense of proportion and without moderation.

The grounds of the decision, taken by a majority with 23 votes in favour (4 abstentions), including that of the vice president of the Superior Council of the Judiciary, Fabio Pinelli, is the negative opinion on the actions of De Pasquale who represented the public prosecution in the Eni/Nigeria trial.

The trial ended with the acquittal of all the accused for not having committed the crime.

Also in Nigeria, Mr Adoke was discharged and acquitted after the prosecution admitted it lacked sufficient evidence linking him to the alleged crimes.

As part of the sanction, De Pasquales semi-directive prosecuting functions, was not confirmed by the Superior Council of the Judiciary.

On the other hand, the obstinacy demonstrated in all the places in which he was called upon to illustrate his actions is suitable to demonstrate how the conduct implemented by De Pasquale far from being contingent and occasional, represents a modus operandi consolidated and intimately connected to his way of understanding the role held, therefore projecting a negative prognostic judgment on the possession of the prerequisites of impartiality and balance also for the purposes of confirmation, in the magistrate in semi-managerial functions.

During the disciplinary debate, it was recalled that it was not the high professional profile of Doctor De Pasquale that was called into question but the issue of balance.

There were four abstentions. The non-confirmation resolution was thus approved with 23 votes in favour.

Mr Adokes complaint

The Italian justice ministry had ordered a probe into the conduct of two prosecutors  Messrs De Pasquale and Spadaro in the Malabu suit involving energy groups Eni and Shell in Nigeria.

In Mr Adokes petition through his lawyer, Femi Oboro, he accused Messrs De Pasquale and Sergio of unlawful interference with the administration and perversion of the course of Justice.

the Public Prosecutors acted maliciously and unprofessionally to the detriment of our client despite the fact that he was not a direct party to the criminal prosecution and was not on trial before the Milanese Court, the complaint against the two prosecutors which was addressed to the Italian ministry of justice said.

Dr Sergio Spadaro commenced the exposition of the case for the prosecution by engaging in misleading interpretation and deliberate reconstruction of the role played by our client in his official position as the Attorney General of the Federation in the implementation of the Settlement Agreement of 30 November 2006 between the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) and Malabu Oil and Gas Limited which was the substratum of the OPL 245 Resolution Agreements of 2011.

Furthermore, it is obvious from the testimony that Dr. Sergio Spadaro was mischievously guiding the court to arrive at a predetermined conclusion by mischievously withholding critical information, facts and evidence that exonerate our client of the allegations of corrupt practices in respect of the OPL 245 Settlement Agreement, Mr Adokes petition disclosed in 2021.

Background

The Malabu scandal involved the transfer of about $1.1 billion by Shell and ENI through the Nigerian government to accounts controlled by a former Nigerian petroleum minister, Dan Etete.

From accounts controlled by Mr Etete, about half the money ($520 million) went to accounts of companies controlled by Aliyu Abubakar, popularly known in Nigeria as the owner of AA oil

Anti-corruption investigators and activists suspect he fronted for top officials of the Goodluck Jonathan administration as well as officials of Shell and ENI.

The transaction was authorised in 2011 by Mr Jonathan through some of his cabinet ministers and the money was payment for OPL 245, one of Nigerias richest oil blocks.

The oil resources of the OPL 245 license have remained undeveloped since the controversies began.

Eni initiated international arbitration proceedings against Nigeria in September, alleging the government has breached its obligations by refusing to let the firm develop the license, which has now expired this May.

A Milan court in March 2021 acquitted the oil companies and their former executives of wrongdoings.

The prosecutors were accused of failing to file with the trial documents a video shot by a former Eni external lawyer, which they said was relevant to the case.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday rejected a request by a former governor of Kogi State Yahaya Bello to stop his trial in an N80 billion fraud case.

Mr Bello urged the judge, Emeka Nwite, to stay his trial, citing a pending appeal filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) concerning contempt proceedings against its head, Ola Olukoyede.

But, in his ruling on Mr Bellos application on Friday, the judge said, The application cannot be entertained unless the defendant is present in the court. In the absence of the defendant in court, the motion on notice filed by the complainant can only be conducted if the defendant is in court.

Coming hard on Mr Bello and his lawyer, the judge said the former governor was trying to undermine the judicial process by choosing to stay away from court in flagrant disregard of court orders.

You are the one who is misleading the defendant. What is your fear? How many people have you heard that the EFCC killed? The EFCC is a law-abiding agency. Is your client the only past governor that has been invited by the EFCC? Bring him to court and I will entertain your applications, the judge said.

Bello surrenders

Following the courts refusal to halt his trial, Mr Bello has pledged to turn himself in for arraignment.

The former governors lawyer, Abdulwahab Mohammed, undertook to provide his client before the court on 13 June for arraignment.

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

Mr Mohammed, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said he gave the undertaking because the court rejected Mr Bellos request to stay proceedings in the suit instituted by the EFCC.

The defence lawyer argued that Mr Bello had no intention to undermine the courts authority but was concerned about his safety in EFCC custody.

All my client needs is just an assurance for the safety of his life which has been under threat for some time in Abuja, Mr Mohammed told the judge.

He requested four weeks to produce the former governor before the court.

EFCC lawyer, Rotimi Oyedepo, a SAN, did not object to Mr Mohammeds request on behalf of his client.

Thereafter, the judge adjourned the suit until 13 June for Mr Bellos arraignment.

On 17 April, the court issued a warrant of arrest against Mr Bello, but his lawyer Mr Mohammed, argued that another court in Kogi State had restrained EFCC from arresting or detaining the former governor.

On 18 April, Mr Bellos scheduled arraignment before Mr Nwite in Abuja was stalled due to the defendants absence from court.

Mr Bello, 48, who left office as governor on 27 January, faces 19 counts of money laundering at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The anti-graft agency has since declared Mr Bello wanted, while the Nigeria Immigration Service put the former governor on its watchlist.

Mr Bello, 48, who left office as governor on 27 January, faces 19 counts of money laundering at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

In the charges, EFCC accused him, his nephew Ali Bello, Dauda Suleiman and Abdulsalam Hudu (said to still be at large) of conspiring to convert the total sum of N80 billion public funds to personal use in February 2016.

The commission alleged that Mr Bello and others reasonably ought to have known that the money forms part of the proceeds of your unlawful activity  criminal breach of trust.

EFCC also alleged in another count that Mr Bello, between 26 July 2021 and 6 April 2022, in Abuja, aided a firm, E-Traders International Limited, to conceal the aggregate sum of over N3 billion (N3,081,804,654) in account number 1451458080 domiciled in Access Bank Plc.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


President Bola Tinubu, on Friday, announced the conferment of Nigerias second highest national honour, the Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), on the Awujale of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, to mark the monarchs 90th birthday celebration.

The president announced this at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, during the commissioning of the Oba Sikiru Kayode Adetona School of Governance Studies and the presentation of a book, titled, Reinventing Governance in Nigeria: The Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona Model.

The President, represented by the Vice President, Kashim Shettima, said the monarch deserved the second highest honour in the land because of his contribution to nation-building and meritorious service to humanity.

Mr Tinubu noted that the numerous contributions of the Ijebu monarch to national development, particularly in the education sector, had expanded the sector for optimal delivery through various donations and endowments.

He described the monarch as a forthright and exceptional character who stood his ground and confronted injustice in all ramifications.

He also commended him for his role in ensuring the return of democratic governance in Nigeria.

Mr Tinubu noted that the Oba Sikiru Adetona School of Governance Studies would be taken over and managed by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Kuru, Jos.

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

Because Kabiyesi Adetona has honoured our country and humanity with his many years of meritorious service, I, therefore, on this occasion of his 90th birthday ceremony, confer on him the second highest national honour of Grand Commander of the Order of Niger (GCON), the president said.

In his remarks, Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, described the Ogun monarch as a living legend and a phenomenon whose reign has been a monumental success and a pride to the entire Ijebuland and the state at large.

According to the governor, the monarch represents the beauty and the candour of the ancestral heritage of the Ijebu people.

He said the monarchs passion for governance and accessible commitment to education led him to institute the Oba Sikiru Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance in the Department of Political Science of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye.

This initiative has led and given birth to the establishment of the world-class Oba Sikiru Adetona School of Governance, the first of its kind in Sub-Saharan Africa.

He also championed the Ijebu Development Board on poverty eradication that has become a model in the entire country, Mr Abiodun said.

Also speaking, the Pro-Chancellor of the University, Toyin Ashiru, a professor, said that the establishment of the School of Governance was aimed at fostering dialogue among scholars, policymakers and practitioners on matters of governance, leadership and public service.

He noted that it would serve as a hub for research, knowledge sharing and capacity building to equip people with needed skills for effective governance.

The Vice Chancellor of the institution, Ayodeji Agboola, noted that the Awujale had contributed to the development of the school through the donation of offices, lecture and seminar rooms, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) materials and Library.

He assured that the vision and mission of the School of Governance Studies would be pursued to make it a centre of excellence in good government and leadership in Nigeria and sub-Saharan Africa.

In a lecture, titled, Changing Nigerias Governance Narrative, the occupant of the Oba (Dr.) Sikiru Kayode Adetona Professorial Chair in Governance, OOU, Akinsola Agagu, a professor, noted that since independence, Nigeria has grappled with democratic crisis, corruption, mismanagement, ineptitude, and insecurity, among others.

He observed that the situation led to the non-achievement of dividends of independence in the country.

He attributed the governance and development crises in the country to the absence of a seamless intersection of democratic politics and legal culture.

He stressed that the continuous political crisis was due to the flawed culture, thereby reducing politics to a lawless and amoral vocation.

To change the narrative and put the country on the right track, Mr Agagu said, public-spirited individuals in all facets of life were urgently needed.

He also said that patriotism, concern for the people, vision, honesty, transparency and accountability as well as impeccable character, as exemplified by Mr Adetona, should be the hallmark of those in positions of leadership.

Responding, the monarch appreciated the people for their support and for honouring him with their presence. He prayed for peace in the families, state, and the country.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


No fewer than 40 National Assembly members may be forced to vacate their seats for concurrently holding memberships of the National Assembly, ECOWAS Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament and collecting emoluments from all.

Some of the legislators who are members of either the ECOWAS Parliament, the Pan-African Parliament or both, include the deputy senate president, Jibrin Barau, who is also the Acting Speaker of ECOWAS sixth legislature, Ali Ndume, Natasha Uduaghan, Mustapha Saliu; deputy spokesperson, House of Representatives, Philip Agbese, and Mshelia Haruna.

The development follows a suit filed at the Federal High Court, Abuja, against the legislators by the Association of Legislative Drafting and Advocacy Practitioners (ALDRAP).

ALDRAP is a non-governmental organisation that seeks to promote transparency and accountability in governance through public interest litigation, advocacy and policy engagements.

In an earlier formal complaint, the body called on the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, to declare the seats of the affected lawmakers vacant for belonging to multiple Parliaments at the same time and collecting multiple emoluments.

When Mr Akpabio failed to act on the complaint, the body served a pre-action notice to the Senate President and copied the Clerk of the National Assembly, indicating their readiness to seek judicial redress if the call was not heeded.

In the letter dated 8 April and signed by its secretary, Tonye Clinton Jaja, the body warned that in the event that the leadership of National Assembly failed to comply with its request within seven working days from the date of the letter, it shall commence a lawsuit to seek the interpretation at a court of law.

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

In the alternative, the body offered to draft for enactment two bills for domestication of both the international instruments establishing both the ECOWAS Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament respectively.

They insisted that the practice of serving both bodies violated section 68(1) of the Nigerian constitution and Article 18, Supplementary Act of the ECOWAS Parliament, 2017, which prohibited a serving member of another Parliament serving with it and collecting emoluments on both ends.

In its prayers before the Federal High Court, Abuja, ALDRAP prayed the court to determine whether having regard to Section 68 (1) (a) of the 1999 Constitution (as altered), any member of the National Assembly who wished to take a seat at the ECOWAS Parliament and/or the Pan-African Parliament, ought to first resign from the National Assembly.

Other prayers in the groups originating summons included: In the alternative, whether having regard to Section 12 of the 1999 Constitution (as altered), the provisions of the ECOWAS Parliament legislation, which allocates 35 seats to Nigeria, has not yet become legally operative within Nigeria, considering that both the National Assembly and state Houses of Assembly have not subjected the said parliament to the legislative procedure prescribed under Section 12.

An order of this Court directing the 5th defendant (Clerk of the National Assembly) to immediately discontinue the payment of salaries and all forms of remuneration to all the 40 lawmakers who were recently inaugurated as either members of the Sixth Assembly of the ECOWAS Parliament and/or the Pan-African Parliament.

The group also prayed the court to order the 6th defendant (INEC) to immediately conduct bye-elections within 30 days from the date of the vacancy to fill all 40 vacant seats at the National Assembly.

ALDRAPS major argument is that, in accordance with the letter and spirit of Section 68 (1) of the 1999 Constitution, it is a distraction and disservice to the constituents of the 40 legislators in question, whom they elected to represent their federal constituencies, to abandon them and go and function as legislators of the ECOWAS Parliament and the Pan-African Parliament respectively.

Inauguration of ECOWAS Parliament

Recall that the Chairman of The Authority of Heads of State and Government of ECOWAS, President Bola Tinubu had, on 4 April, inaugurated the Sixth Legislature of the ECOWAS Parliament following the end of the Fifth Legislature on 8 March, 2024.

The inaugural session of the Sixth Legislature was convened by the Chair of The Authority, pursuant to Article 28 of the Supplementary Act on the Enhancement of the Powers of the ECOWAS Parliament of 2016.

The ceremony formally marked the commencement of the business of the legislature, and saw the swearing in of 97 members of the new legislature at the seat of Parliament in Abuja, the capital city of Nigeria.

While delivering the opening speech of the inaugural session, Mr Tinubu had pledged his support for the enhancement of powers of the Community Parliament and the establishment of direct universal suffrage processes for the election of its members.

Following the inauguration, members of the ECOWAS Parliament (The House of Representatives of the Peoples of the Community) subsequently elected members of the new Bureau to exercise its function as the governing organ of the Sixth Legislature of the Community Parliament.

The members of the new Bureau included First Deputy Speaker,

(Nigeria), Second Deputy Speaker, Adjaratou Traore Coulibaly (Cote dIvoire), Third Deputy Speaker, Alexander Afenyo-Markin (Ghana) and Fourth Deputy Speaker, Billay Tunkara (Gambia).

Meanwhile Mr Jibrin, leader of the Nigerian delegation and Deputy President of Nigerias Senate, is currently serving as Acting Speaker of the Sixth legislature pending the election of a substantive Speaker of the Parliament.

The position of substantive speaker of the parliament, allocated to the Republic of Togo, remains vacant as all members of the Togolese delegation to the Community Parliament were absent at the inaugural session.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The United Nations General Assembly Friday voted by a wide margin to back a Palestinian bid to become a full UN member.

The assembly also called on the UN Security Council to favourably reconsider the request to have a Palestinian state become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member  a move that would effectively recognise a Palestinian state  after the United States vetoed it in the UN Security Council last month.

The assembly adopted a resolution on Friday with 143 votes in favour and nine against  including the US and Israel  while 25 countries abstained. Nigeria and all other African countries voted for it except Malawi which abstained.

In December, Malawi also abstained from a vote calling for a cease-fire in Gaza.

Most African countries and the African Union have always supported the Palestinian cause and backed a two-state solution to resolve the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Several countries that voted for Palestines admission believed their vote counted for the protection of civilians, especially women and children, and for upholding legal and humanitarian obligations in Gaza.

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

Fridays vote does not give Palestine full UN membership, but recognises it as qualified to join, Al Arabia reports. Palestine still needs the UN Security Council to approve its application with the US still expected to veto it when the matter is retaken to the council.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on 18 April that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent.

The NBC reports that US Deputy Ambassador Robert Wood made it clear that the Biden administration opposed the assembly resolution.

Weve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that, Mr Wood said Thursday.

We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the UN is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.

Under the UN Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be peace-loving, and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval.

READ ALSO: UN General Assembly to vote on granting palestine increased status

Palestine became a UN non-member observer state in 2012.

The assemblys resolution on Friday determines that the state of Palestine is qualified for membership  dropping the original language that in the General Assemblys judgement it is a peace-loving state.

It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favourably.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


President Bola Tinubu has commended the inauguration of Nigerias largest lithium processing plant in Lafia, Nasarawa State, hailing it as a clear indication of the countrys attractiveness for foreign investment.

President Tinubu made the remarks on Friday in Abuja during a meeting with Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State, who was accompanied by Hi Yongwei, chairman of Avatar New Energy Materials Company Limited, and Zhenhua Pei, chairman, Canmax Technologies.

Avatar, a Chinese firm, built the lithium processing plant which produces about 4,000 metric tonnes daily while Canmax Technologies, a renowned Chinese firm responsible for over 30 per cent of global battery material production, announced a new investment of $200 million for another lithium processing plant in Nasarawa State.

Welcoming the inauguration of the plant and the announcement of new investment plans, President Tinubu urged the Chinese firms to prioritize environmental protection, community engagement, and corporate social responsibility initiatives as integral parts of their operations.

There are other aspects of lithium that you are exploring in the country, especially in battery production. Nigeria is a huge market for solar panels. Africa is a major consumer of solar technologies. I do not see why these panels and batteries cannot be produced here. The labour is cheaper. Our youths are vibrant and skilled. Our people are brilliant and adapt to new technology. The economy is increasingly more vibrant, and Nigeria is dependable. We have the consumption capacity and a surplus of steady-handed citizens with gifted minds and an innate drive to work and produce.

You must not leave the community in ruins as you explore for our high-grade minerals. You must be concerned with cooperation and always care for the community.

We are caring partners. We want your investments to succeed so that you can expand further. Whenever you call on us, we will help you. You can, in mutually-beneficial collaboration with us, dominate the solar panel market as part of a revolution in Africa and the West African sub-region.

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

You can always promote the interest of China and Nigeria as the best place in Africa to do business. We are preparing to produce in this country the solar technologies that the entire continent will use, the president said.

President Tinubu also applauded Governor Sule and the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, for their dedication to ensuring environmental protection and value addition by mining firms operating in the country.

The Governor of Nasarawa State and the Honourable Minister of Solid Minerals, Dele Alake, also share in these congratulations.

It is a great joy to have you (the Chinese executives) in Nigeria. It is part of our campaign that Nigeria is open for business. We congratulate your courage in believing in us and the inauguration of the new factory.

I can assure you that we will continue to give you the necessary support and encouragement. This is an opportunity for you to help tell the rest of the investment world that Nigeria is solid and open for business, the President said.

In his remarks, Governor Sule thanked the president for his unflinching support toward solid mineral development in the country and for sending Senate President Godswill Akpabio to represent him at the inauguration.

The company that we just commissioned today in Nasarawa is a 500-million-dollar turnover company. They are happy, and they have seen enough potential to mine lithium in the region for the next 15 to 20 years, the governor said.

In his remarks, Mr Alake said the ministry has embarked on proactive measures to address the risks posed by abandoned mines across the country, left behind by colonialists in the 1950s and 1960s.

We are in the process of putting in place remedial measures, converting some of them into constructive uses, like farming and irrigation.

To ensure that companies operating in this sector no longer abandon the mines after they have finished operations, it is part of our requirements that for licencing fresh applicants, there must be concrete remediation plans that are viable and working before any application is approved for mining, he said.

The minister also said applicants seeking mining licences must demonstrate a commitment to enhancing local value across the entire mining value chain, aligning with the governments agenda to promote indigenous participation and economic empowerment.

Your Excellency, in a nutshell, permit me to revel in the belief with conviction that under your leadership, with all the policy initiatives you have put in place, there is nowhere else for Nigeria to go but forward. Forward ever and backward never, the minister said.

In separate remarks, the Chinese executives described their investments in Nigeria as worthwhile and pledged to adhere to mining regulations while fulfilling their corporate social responsibilities to host communities.

Ajuri Ngelale

Special Adviser to the President

(Media & Publicity)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Central to our concerns is the importance of responding to current geopolitical dynamics in our region and, indeed, in the world, in a manner that protects our sovereignty. American global hegemony has come under challenge from many countries and rising powers such as Russia, China and India, and as it is chased out of countries hitherto under its control, it has been on the search for new abodes for its military adventurism.

Last week, some of us wrote an open letter to the President and the leadership of the National Assembly drawing their attention to information we have received that Nigeria was in discussions with the United States and France, which are seeking our countrys permission to establish military bases in it. We strongly advised against it. We also launched a signature campaign on www.change.org seeking the support of all patriotic Nigerians  Sovereign Declaration: United Against Military Bases in Nigeria. The campaign is on-going and we continue to solicit for your support. Three days after the release of our open letter, the Federal Government responded through the Minister of Information that it: is aware of false alarms being raised in some quarters alleging discussions between the Federal Government of Nigeria and some foreign countries on the siting of foreign military bases in the country. We urge the general public to totally disregard this falsehood. The Federal Government is not in any such discussion with any foreign country. We have neither received nor are we considering any proposals from any country on the establishment of any foreign military bases in Nigeria.

The American and French governments have also denied seeking military bases in Nigeria. We applaud governments direct denial as the best possible response, as it is not going to publicly accept that it has indeed been in discussions with these countries. Our goal should be theirs, that we will not accept that our sovereignty would be compromised by foreign nations. Nonetheless, we know enough to remain vigilant.

Central to our concerns is the importance of responding to current geopolitical dynamics in our region and, indeed, in the world, in a manner that protects our sovereignty. American global hegemony has come under challenge from many countries and rising powers such as Russia, China and India, and as it is chased out of countries hitherto under its control, it has been on the search for new abodes for its military adventurism. West Africa has also been in turmoil. The return of the military to power in Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso and Niger have been accompanied by a patriotic and organised campaign against France as the architect of the underdevelopment of Francophone countries and a saboteur of the battle against violent extremism in the Sahel. Since 1990, a striking 78 per cent of the 27 coups in sub-Saharan Africa have occurred in Francophone states, where France has had a strong say in their affairs. No wonder the recent coup makers in these countries moved fast to keep the French at bay by expelling them.

Historically, French colonial rule established political systems designed to extract valuable resources to its benefit, while using repressive strategies to retain control after independence. The British did the same. The difference was that while the United Kingdom quickly learnt to give up on maintaining the colonial system after independence, France persisted in nurturing and sustaining it. The French were very elaborate in retaining neo-colonial tools such as the CFA franc, which is pegged to the euro and guaranteed by France, as the currency in Francophone West Africa. The foreign reserves of these countries are also kept by France, under terms that favour the French economy. France also forged defence agreements that saw it regularly intervene militarily on behalf of unpopular pro-French leaders to keep them in power. In many cases, this behaviour strengthened the hand of corrupt and abusive figures such as Chads former President Idriss Deby, President Paul Biya of Cameroon and former Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore.

On Francafrique, the Wagner approach was to devote years in bombarding Francophone Africa with images  through Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Twitter and other outlets  that France was actively providing arms to jihadists to keep terrorism active. Prigozhin used his Internet Research Agency (IRA), an online troll farm, and the Association for Free Research and International Cooperation (AFRIC), for the work.

Worse still, the relationship between many French political leaders and their allies in Africa was often corrupt, creating a powerful and wealthy elite at the expense of African citizens. Francois-Xavier Verschave, a prominent French economist, coined the term Francafrique to refer to a neo-colonial relationship hidden by the secret criminality in the upper echelons of French politics and economy. Although recent French governments have sought to distance themselves from Francafrique, there are constant reminders of the problematic relations between France, French business interests and Africa, including a number of embarrassing corruption cases.

Meanwhile, the Russians have made their move into the region through the controversial Wagner Group leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who died in August 2023 when his plane was blown off the sky. He had built populist bridges into Francophone Africa. His talents included developing elaborate and sophisticated ways of weaponising the deep history of Francafriques terrible maintenance of its colonial grip on the governments and resources of Francophone Africa for its interest, while pretending to propose liberation. The purpose has been to introduce in its stead Russian neo-colonial control of the said countries, through the instrumentality of installing military dictatorships. His method has been through deliberate and sustained manipulation by means of the social media. The geopolitical agenda then became in substituting Russian and maybe Chinese for American and French neo-colonialism.

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

On Francafrique, the Wagner approach was to devote years in bombarding Francophone Africa with images  through Facebook, WhatsApp, TikTok, Twitter and other outlets  that France was actively providing arms to jihadists to keep terrorism active. Prigozhin used his Internet Research Agency (IRA), an online troll farm, and the Association for Free Research and International Cooperation (AFRIC), for the work. Today, there is informational dominance in Francophone Africa that terrorism remains because of France and the solution is to bring in the Russians.

A number of sophisticated social media influencers emerged to lead the advocacy for Russia as the solution to the concerns in the region. They include Nathalie Yanm (@Nath_Yamb), Kemi Seba (@KemiSeba), a French citizen originally from Benin Republic, and a French lecturer, @FranklinNyamsi, with Cameroonian roots. They lead the social media campaign and have also been active in facilitating the Russia-Africa summits. Over the past five years, they have succeeded in making the strong association between the idea that France must be thrown out, which all patriotic Africans support, and that Russia is the way forward. Kemi Seba, who recently tore up his French passport, has argued that turning to Russia is a tactical move to support African countries as they send France packing and not a strategic move because they do not want to replace French with Russian, Chinese or Turkish neo-colonialism. The risk is that once the Russians take hold, they would be in no hurry to leave. Africans must rise to the imperative that the objective of combating neo-colonialism must be for autonomy, not for a replacement of neo-colonial powers. I am particularly concerned about the presentation of military vanguardism as the pathway to salvation, especially as the current generation of African youth have no experience or knowledge of the negative consequences of military dictatorship.

I conclude on the note that Nigeria has missed the opportunity to be a founding member of BRICS, that has been seeking doors for our countries to opt out of neo-colonial control. We need to get back into that conversation as soon as possible. In finding a way forward, we must not abandon our foreign policy approach of non-alignment and the pursuit of our national interests based on the maintenance of our sovereignty and autonomy.

The fact of the matter, however, is that in spite of considerable funding and troops, the French and American-led international response to Islamist insurgencies in the Sahel region has failed to enable West African governments regain control of their territories. This has been clearly stated by the junta leaders in Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali. The people of these countries accept this assessment and therefore support the military as an alternative.

Yet, for all of the mistakes France has made in its dealings with its former colonies in Africa over the years, the instability that Francophone states are currently experiencing cannot be solely laid at its door. During the Cold War, the UK and the United States, as well, helped prop up a number of dictators in return for their loyalty, from Daniel Arap Moi in Kenya to Mobutu Sese Seko in what was then Zaire, and is now the Democratic Republic of Congo. The strong relationship between coups and the former colonial power was also much less prevalent in previous eras. Four of the countries that have seen the highest number of coups attempts since 1952 are Nigeria (eight), Ghana (10), Sierra Leone (10), and Sudan (17), which all experienced British rule.

I conclude on the note that Nigeria has missed the opportunity to be a founding member of BRICS, that has been seeking doors for our countries to opt out of neo-colonial control. We need to get back into that conversation as soon as possible. In finding a way forward, we must not abandon our foreign policy approach of non-alignment and the pursuit of our national interests based on the maintenance of our sovereignty and autonomy.

A professor of Political Science and development consultant/expert, Jibrin Ibrahim is a Senior Fellow of the Centre for Democracy and Development, and Chair of the Editorial Board of PREMIUM TIMES.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Karl Vrecko said he has rescued dozens of drivers on the track after they were mislead by GPS devices.

The Hyundai driver was stuck on the 4WD track after his GPS device indicated it was only a simple 'cut through road'. Source: Facebook

A motorist knew he had "messed up" when he found himself driving his small Hyundai alone on a dirt track with deep ridges and steep inclines, despite his GPS promising the quicker route was simply a "cut through road".

On Wednesday evening 4WD rescuer Karl Vrecko received a rescue call from the man saying he had found himself stuck. The rescuer knew the exact location the driver was describing, with this not the first time a driver has required assistance on the same stretch of road between Wangong and Whittlesea, towns situated north of Melbourne.

"The road is actually in worse condition than it shows on the GPS and it has turned into a 4WD track but it's still signposted as a road," the owner of towing service Roseey 4X4 Recovery told Yahoo News.

"It catches so many people out on this road in Mount Disappointment where it looks just like a normal dirt road until it gets to a point where you're going downhill and there is no reversing out at that stage," he said. The incident happened on the corner of South Mountain Road and Clarkes Road.

"Thankfully old mate knew he messed up and stopped before causing damage to his car and gave me a call to come get him after work... [it was a] GPS stitch up again!"

It took Karl Vrecko two hours to rescue the driver from the 4WD track. Source: Facebook

4WD track catches out dozens of drivers

The promise of shortening a 25 minute route has left dozens of drivers stranded in the last two years since Vrecko has provided towing services, with drivers often ill-equipped in the terrain.

It took two hours to tow the Hyundai off the track, with Vrecko having to complete the end of the rescue in the dark. He warned others to be mindful of the location, advising people to use major roads over any enticing shortcuts.

Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@yahoonews.com.

You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
Our national anthem instructs us to help our youth the truth to know, in love and honesty to grow. So while we may have squandered the legacy bequeathed us, its not too late to modify our behaviour and lifestyle to germinate and warrant a future Nigeria of new elites.

The title of this Public Service Announcement (PSA) is a quote belonging to a dear brother, Akeem Akande. My friend would repeat those three words, often out of frustration. I would ponder on it. New elites ke? What is he talking about? Then, one day, it connected.

While the discourse about leadership in Nigeria rages on, the potential merits of a new elite class warrants exploration.

The pillars of every society, from civic to social to cultural and politics, particularly capitalist societies, are bolstered by its elites and middle class. They are the custodians to whom so much has been bestowed, with the expectation to give even more back. Now, although the Nigerian middle class has been emaciated to the condition of kwashiorkor, the Nigerian elite class has continued excel as the weakest link.

Prior to the EFCCs search for the belligerent ex-governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, some weeks back, the anti-corruption institutions attempt to arrest their suspect, morphed into a dramatic siege outside his house in Abuja. With the help of his recently appointed shadow as governor of Kogi State, the self-proclaimed White Lion scuttled into hiding like a proverbial thieving rat. How can an ex-governor be missing? Only in Nigeria! What is a drama without a stage? Days later reports began circulating that the same EFCC had arrested the ex-minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, for an alleged N8 billion fraud.

In spite of this, the chief anti-graft officer, Ola Olukoyede, mounted the stage and declared to Nigerians that he will resign if he failed to prosecute Yahaya Bello. This begs the question: Is Bello the only suspect on his to-do list, so why the posturing?

I recently came across a story on Facebook about the decayed structure of Eric Moore Junior High School in Surulere. Immediately, many began pointing fingers at the Lagos State government. But where are the alumni of Eric Moore? Historic institutions such as Harvard, Wharton, Yale, OxBridge and the likes have been sustained for decades by the philanthropic donations of former students  a culture we have also seen replicated by some alumni groups in Nigeria for their alma mater. We need new elites.

African billionairism is the disease commonly termed poverty mentality. It starts from grass and pivots with riches. It is the mindset of a billionaire who pays 10 years of advance tuition to a foreign school for his offspring, while the children of his state continue to languish in penury. It is the mindset of our billionaires who prefer to donate their riches to educational institutions in developed countries, while Nigerias education continues in decay.

Quite recently again, what was supposed to be a brief call to veteran thespian, Mama T (Taiwo Ajai-Lycett), to wish her good luck in her upcoming London production of Awo  The musical, pirouetted into a much longer banter. We bemoaned the lack of collaboration in the theatre industry, primarily caused by the paucity of funds and a comatose Arts Council. Theatre is the canvas from which all other creativity emerges. Its the oratory of present, past, and future. How could the country of Herbert Ogunde, Duro Ladipo and Tunde Kelani be saddled with a theatre space that is deprived of funds? Where are our elites?

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

Prior to calling Mama T, I had just read Lasisi Olagunjus latest article, Sending Ooni of Ife to Tinubu. In that article, Olagunju lamented the deplorable state of the Ibadan-Ife road. He considered whether the Ooni, Oba Enitan Adewusi, had notified President Tinubu that the N78.9 billion contract awarded by his predecessor in 2019 is resting peacefully in the crowded graveyard of Muhammadu Buharis broken promises ?

The first week of May was yet another eventful week in Nigerian news. By now, we must be accustomed to weird and bemusing videos of government officials in a myriad of compromising situations. However, the 10 minute performance by Minister of Works, Dave Umahi, tops the charts of the maximally dysfunctional. In the video, an erring contractors attempts to seek clarification about the contract in front of him, was punctuated with foul- language from the senior government official, coupled with indignant threats from Mr Minister that he would get the locals (thugs) to deal with you (contractor). Are these our elites?

The twinned incivility and avaricious nature of our elite class is the red oil that continues to stain the white pallets of our national flag. We deserve a new set of elites!

Our avalanche of problems points to a society led by successive dysfunctional leaders, guiding us to a continuous downwards spiral. That dysfunction is the recipe that breeds a pureed brand I call African billionairism.

African billionairism is the disease commonly termed poverty mentality. It starts from grass and pivots with riches. It is the mindset of a billionaire who pays 10 years of advance tuition to a foreign school for his offspring, while the children of his state continue to languish in penury. It is the mindset of our billionaires who prefer to donate their riches to educational institutions in developed countries, while Nigerias education continues in decay. It is the folly of living and looking out of the tinted bulletproof windows of opulent mansions at the slums across the road. The mindset of agba baller who doesnt know the difference between money and wealth.

The other recurring response was, Where are those new elites? Well, believe it or not, weve birthed them and are still producing more of them. They are the majority, largely unspoilt and uncorrupted. They are our grandchildren currently being educated in primary schools across the country.

African billionairism is cognitive dissonance, short-sightedness, ignorance, and self-loathing. We need new elites.

Theres a general notion in Nigeria that everything in the West is made possible by their government. Kindly disabuse yourself of such fallacy. Culture, civic, and learning institutes in the global north were built by their billionaires. Infrastructures such as libraries, museums, schools, and even bridges, oil pipelines, and scientific research were made possible by the larcenous excesses of capitalist egos. Yet, pilfering African billionaires are accursed with a desperation for Western validation and applause, and this, without putting in their shift. Imagine for a minute if just three of our billionaires were to adopt our fractured educational infrastructure as their collective vanity project?

This article was first presented in a five minute video monologue, which has evoked deep introspections. Writer and journalist, Toyin Akinoshos response, What are we doing and what have we done?!, is the existential question that should dominate our societal discourse. It is no longer about how we got here; it has to be about how we progress from here. About the seriousness of our desire and passion to reshape the Nigerian narrative, since we know that this current inanity cannot and must not continue. We need new elites should be a call out on every billboard from Lagos to Kafanchan.

The other recurring response was, Where are those new elites? Well, believe it or not, weve birthed them and are still producing more of them. They are the majority, largely unspoilt and uncorrupted. They are our grandchildren currently being educated in primary schools across the country.

Our national anthem instructs us to help our youth the truth to know, in love and honesty to grow. So while we may have squandered the legacy bequeathed us, its not too late to modify our behaviour and lifestyle to germinate and warrant a future Nigeria of new elites.

Ireti Bakare-Yusuf is a broadcast journalist and columnist.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Bosun Tijani, the Executive Vice Chairman and Chief Executive of the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Aminu Maida have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia Solutions and Networks Nigeria. The deal, sealed earlier this week, is to train young Nigerians on latest 4G/5G radio and transmission technologies at the Nigerian Communications Commissions Digital Parks.

Nokia Nigeria would be setting up a fully functional 5G/4G test lab, leveraging their latest radio and transmission technologies. This collaboration advances the vision to enhance the capacity and skills-set of Nigerians, by equipping them with contemporary skills and knowledge needed to adapt to the rapidly evolving telecommunications industry.

In tune with the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economys goal to drive digital literacy and build a pipeline of technical talents across Nigeria, Nokia Nigeria would also set up an entrepreneur learning programme where it would deliver high-quality vocational trainings to 200 Nigerian students chosen from across the six geo-political zones of Nigeria.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Federal Capital Territory Internal Revenue Service (FCT-IRS) has sealed a hotel, a school and three business premises in the capital city for tax evasion.

The FCT-IRS Acting Director, Legal Services, Festus Tsavsar, who led the enforcement team, explained that the closure of the premises was in line with a court order obtained by the IRS.

The sealed premises are Residency Hotels, Deo Gratias International School, Rural and Urban Homes Ltd, Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company.

Mr Tsavsar explained that the hotel and business premises contravened FCT tax laws by refusing to file their annual returns, in spite of issuing several notices, including a court summons.

Today we went out to execute the Court Orders, which ordered the FCT-IRS to seal off the premises of defaulting taxpayers that were brought before it.

We have been able to effectively comply with the court order by sealing off the premises as directed.

We went to Deo Gratias International School located in Games Village, Kaura, and sealed it off.

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

The offence they committed was refusal to file their annual returns in spite of many notices, including a Court Summon but the school management refused to comply.

We are at their premises and the management refused to attend to us; and refused to open their doors, in spite of many calls for them to do so to enable us to enforce the court order, he said.

He expressed concern over the continued refusal by the schools management to comply with the tax law.

According to him, the action is simply tax evasion which is a criminal offence.

He added that to worsen the case, the management had changed their name to DGIS College to evade tax payment.

This is also a criminal offence.

The school has not been paying their taxes at all and also refused to file their annual returns since establishment, he said.

From the school, the team proceeded to Residency Hotels, at 4, Port Harcourt Crescent, Area II, Garki, which was also sealed for not filing annual returns.

From there we went to seal off Rural Urban Homes Ltd in Utako and two business premises residing in Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, namely Trevari International Company and Phenomenon International Company, Mr Tsavsar said.

He warned the affected business owners against any attempt to unseal the premises and advised them to go to the court to obtain a court order before they could do so.

If they go against the court order and unsealed the premises by themselves, they have committed a criminal offence, and the court will order their arrest.

They will be prosecuted in line with the tax law, particularly Section 81 of Personal Income Tax Law and upon conviction they will be jailed for six months in addition to a fine, he added.

Mr Tsavsar equally warned that FCT-IRS would go after all tax defaulting companies and individuals, and advised taxpayers to comply with existing tax laws, pay their taxes and file their annual returns.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Kogi State Government on Friday deployed security operatives and hundreds of local hunters into the bush on the trail of bandits that invaded and abducted university students Thursday night.

The abductors had invaded the Confluence University of Science and Technology (CUSTEC), Osara, Okene, trapping some students in their classes.

Nine students have been reported missing so far after the invasion.

Kingsley Fanwo, the Commissioner for Information, told journalists in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, that the combined effort is to rescue the abducted students.

Hundreds of local hunters, who understand the terrain, as well as the conventional security agents, are currently combing the area to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted students who were kidnapped from their classrooms.

So far, nine students have been reported missing and we hope to rescue them as soon as possible.

We wish to assure students, parents and the entire people of Kogi that the government is on top of the situation and all the abducted students will be rescued alive.

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

Governor Usman Ododo has also directed that security agents be positioned around all tertiary institutions in the State, he said.

The commissioner commended the local hunters and other security agents who rose stoutly to engage the kidnappers on the night of the invasion.

According to him, their gallantry and dedication ensured that the kidnappers did not have a field day.

Mr Fanwo said that the state government would spare nothing toward ensuring that all the students abducted were safely rescued and reunited with their families.

We wont submit to terror. We shall prevail by Gods grace, he said.

NAN reports that the bandits on Thursday night invaded CUSTEC and abducted the students.

An eyewitness account indicated that the bandits swooped on the university around 9.00 p.m. while the students were reading for their upcoming exams.

The source said that the bandits came in through the bush, went into three lecture halls and began to shoot into the air to scare the students.

The bandits thereafter started grabbing the students trapped inside the three halls.

NAN also reports that the school was thrown into total confusion as fear-stricken students in other halls scurried to safety in different directions.

Brave local security guards and the conventional security men at the gate were said to have engaged the bandits, though they were able to abduct some students.

That effort minimised the damage as the attackers did not go beyond the first three halls.

The students were preparing for their first semester examination expected to commence on Monday, 13 May when the bandits struck.

(NAN)

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The decision by Ibrahim Shema, a former governor of Katsina State, to dump the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) took long in arriving.

Mr Shema became critical of the PDP, especially in his home state, in the build-up to the 2023 general election.

Immediately after the presidential election and Bola Tinubu was declared winner, Mr Shema publicly asked Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate, to accept the results and move on. But even before that, Mr Shema had only one leg in the party.

When the PDP suspended Mr Shema and some top party members for alleged anti-party conducts, he threatened to quit the party if the sanction was not reversed. The party later lifted the suspension but only well after the ultimatum given by Mr Shema.

Shema, Katsina and 2023

Mr Shema (governor from 2007 to 2015) worked against the PDP in Katsina State in the 2023 elections for several reasons.

His media team, in a statement by Olawale Oluwabusola, said Mr Shema was relegated to the background by the party, among other allegations.

But beyond that, three other ssues played a key role in Mr Shemas decision.

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

Mr Shemas trouble in the PDP began in 2019 when he lost grip of the party to Yakubu Lado, who defeated his anointed ally in the partys governorship primaries.

But it was not complete darkness for Mr Shema as he managed to make another ally, Salisu Majigiri, the running mate to Mr Lado in the election they eventually lost to Aminu Masari of the APC.

In 2023, Mr Lado again clinched the partys ticket but refused to pick any of Mr Shemas loyalists as his running mate. Instead, he settled for Ahmed Yaradua, a former managing director of the National Inland Waterways (NIW), who is also seen as an Abuja politician who would bring little or no value to the governorship contest.

With that decision by Mr Lado, Mr Shema and his loyalists withdrew their support and a war for the soul of the party began with Mr Lado, who is a former local government chairman, House of Representatives member and senator.

Another issue that informed Mr Shemas decision to work against his party was the joining of the party by Mustapha Inuwa, the immediate former Secretary to the State Government who left the APC after he failed to clinch the governorship ticket.

Messrs Shema and Inuwa, who both worked under the late Umaru Yaradua when he was governor, are sworn enemies. Throughout Mr Shemas eight years as governor, Mr Inuwa stridently criticised his policies and programmes. Mr Inuwa later left the PDP and took an active part in the formation of the APC in the state. He served as the partys first substantive chairperson.

When Mr Inuwa rejoined the PDP and Mr Lado found a new friend and political associate in him, Mr Shema apparently felt irritated. His aides told PREMIUM TIMES he decided to leave instead of flocking with strange bedfellows like Mr Inuwa who flocked into the party.

Politics at work

But Mr Shema is not a greenhorn in politics. Facing the challenge of Mr Lados financial muscles and Mr Inuwas grassroots political connections as well as the gang up against him by aggrieved party members who felt he didnt make efforts to reach out to them, Mr Shema looked beyond the PDP and built bridges.

In APC, he found Dikko Radda, who was fighting his own long political battle. With Mr Inuwa and the other aggrieved APC politicians fighting him, Mr Radda was also looking for another political pillar to lean on.

He found solace in Mr Shema.

The former governor surrendered his political machinery to the APC candidate but he himself remained in the PDP. On social media, Mr Shemas loyalists promoted Mr Radda and the APC and there were allegations that they voted for Mr Radda in the general election.

Before the elections, the Katsina State Government announced the withdrawal of the case of alleged misappropriation of N11 billion instituted against Mr Shema and some of his appointees. The case had been in court since 2016 but Mr Shema had consistently denied any wrongdoing, saying he was merely being politically persecuted.

One of Mr Shemas staunchest allies, Bashir Tanimu, was appointed commissioner of finance while another ally, Ibrahim Dankaba, was appointed executive director of the Katsina State Small Town and Water Sanitation Agency (STOWASSA).

New light for Katsina PDP?

The third issue that triggered Mr Shemas departure from the PDP was the way he was treated by the national leadership and presidential candidate of the party, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2023 elections.

Those familiar with the matter said he was completely ostracized and kept out of decision-making. I can tell you that Oga (Mr Shema) was seriously and consistently disrespected, one aide said, asking not to be named because he does not have his boss permission to discuss the matter in the media. They even fixed rallies without informing or inviting him. It was unbelievable that they could do that to a former governor with a huge political followership and influence. I think they miscalculated. So why should he remain loyal to such a party?

Mr Shemas official departure from the PDP may bring an end to the ongoing crisis in the state chapter of the opposition party. But the party may now find it harder to return to winning ways.

The party in Katsina has been without a substantive state executive council due to the face-off between factions loyal to Messrs Shema and Lado. The state chapter has thus been run by a caretaker committee since before the elections.

With Mr Shemas exit, the PDP can now tread on one leadership path with Messrs Inuwa and Lado as party leaders.

However, the exit of the former governor will affect the party as many influential members will follow him to his new party, the APC.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


Terrorists have killed at least 20 residents including men, women and children in a village in north-west Nigeria, in an attack that lasted over two hours.

During the attack on Bilbis community, the terrorists also injured seven residents who are now receiving medical attention, residents told PREMIUM TIMES.

They rode on their motorcycles and circled the community, blocking all entries and exits, a resident of Bilbis, who sought anonymity for security reasons, told PREMIUM TIMES over the phone. They came fully prepared.

He said the terrorists did not try to kidnap anyone as they shot indiscriminately.

Some of those killed were scampering for safety when they were shot while others were shot in their homes.

Most of the women killed where killed in their houses because when there is attack, sometimes only the men run to the bush. After killing some men, the terrorists also went into the houses and shot at others, he said.

Lawal Bilbis, another resident, said the security situation in the area has deteriorated due to collective silence

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

Were silent, our leaders are equally silent. If only were serious about voicing our plights, the situation would have improved. But its a group of terrorists now who are ruling us and we cant do anything about it, he said in Hausa Language.

PREMIUM TIMES gathered that the Islamic funeral prayer for the deceased was conducted on Friday.

The police spokesperson in the state, Yazid Abubakar, did not respond to an SMS while his phone was unreachable.

Terrorists operating in north-west Nigeria have been unleashing mayhem on residents for over a decade leading to the death or displacement of hundreds of thousands of people.

The attacks in Zamfara State especially in Tsafe, Zurmi, Maradun, Anka and Bungudu areas have increased in recent weeks despite the efforts of security officials.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


As part of its ongoing commitment to a thriving 24-hour economy, the Lagos State Government is set to establish five additional power hubs across the metropolis. These hubs will provide residents with an alternative source of clean energy.

The state government said that these additional power hubs earmarked would complement the six solar POCs (proof-of-concept solar), a technology that involves testing a solar energy systems feasibility, giving Lagosians better power supply alternatives.

The commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Biodun Ogunleye, disclosed this on Wednesday during the 2024 Ministerial press briefing, which the Special Adviser also attended to the governor on Mineral Resources, Engr. Abiola Olowu held at the Bagulda Kaltho Press Centre, Alausa, Ikeja.

He stressed that renewable energy is the cornerstone of the governments clean electricity plans for Lagos. Mr Ogunleye added that a plan was to develop one-gigawatt grid-scale solar energy capacity for the clean Lagos electricity market.

He said over ten sites have been considered for the one-gigawatt solar grid-scale project, including the Egbin terminal plant site, Ikorodu, Badagry, Agbara, Ogudu, and others.

Gas tubes, too

Aside from this, the commissioner disclosed that the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has distributed over 10,000 gas tubes to petty traders in Lagos to reduce their dependence on firewood and other unclean sources.

He said: We have distributed over 10,000 gas tubes to the residents to abandon other unclean energy. We believe this source is better and healthy for the traders and other Lagosians patronising them.

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

While we are encouraging this, the government will intensify enforcement to curb the haphazard establishment of gas plants and shops in the state. This is to ensure that everyone adheres to safety.

The commissioner added that the Lagos state government would be partnering with the Federal Government to ensure gas and fuel stations do not cause harm to the people in the state. We want to ensure that our people are safe in Lagos.

The commissioner, meanwhile, disclosed that the government would be embarking on other research to discover new mineral resources that could boost Lagoss revenue annually.

He noted that the discovery of oil in Lagos assisted the state in joining the oil-producing states and receiving derivation from the federal government.

The commissioner said: Between 2018 and 2019, the state government received N131 million from the Federal Government as part of oil derivation.

Also, between 2020 and 2021, the Lagos state government received N3.78 billion.

But asset owners have been having problems. If they cannot produce, there will be no money or Lagos. The state government is engaging them to ensure that they return to the field. We hope that before the end of the year, they will find new technical partners and can go back to production.

Share this: Twitter

Facebook

WhatsApp

Telegram

LinkedIn

Email

Print


The Global IoT Chips Market is where companies sell tiny chips that are specially made for smart gadgets like thermostats, fitness trackers, and security cameras. These chips are super important because they help these gadgets connect to the internet, process information, and talk to each other. They're like the secret sauce that makes smart gadgets work smoothly together.

BOSTON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- According to the latest research study, the demand for Global IoT Chips Market expected to grow from $186.1 billion in 2022 to reach $375.5 billion by the end of 2028 at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% from 2023 through 2028.

The report gives an overall view of how many IoT chips are used globally and delves into what companies are making them and their strategies. It covers the years from 2023 to 2028, starting with 2022 as a base. It predicts the money expected to be earned during this time, broken down by factors like chip usage, power consumption, location, and industry. Additionally, it discusses the major trends pushing the market forward and potential obstacles slowing it down. The report addresses current market conditions, especially considering the impact of COVID-19 and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. It wraps up with detailed profiles of key companies in the market.

Advancements in sensor technology are making IoT chips more popular in healthcare. For example, Circular introduced its "Circular Ring" IoT chips in 2022. These chips have strong security features and allow users to track sleep and monitor health using a companion app. In Japan, semiconductor companies like Micron Technology are investing billions to improve chip manufacturing with support from the government. Additionally, the European Chips Act aims to boost the EU's chip production, doubling its global share to 20% by providing incentives for chipmakers to build plants in the region.

For further insights and findings about the Global IoT Chips Market, click here to gain a comprehensive understanding of its details and discoveries.

The Global IoT Chips Market is driven by factors such as:

Growing Demand for IoT-based Vehicles.: means that more and more people want cars that have Internet of Things (IoT) technology. This means they're looking for vehicles with features like internet connection, live data tracking, remote troubleshooting, and other smart functions that make driving safer, easier, and more efficient. Government Support, Funding and R&D Related to IoT.: means that the government gives money and help to develop and use Internet of Things (IoT) technologies. This can involve giving funds to research projects, helping startups and businesses financially that work on IoT, creating rules for how IoT should work, and improving the infrastructure needed for IoT to work well. Government support is important because it makes innovation faster, helps the industry grow, and deals with issues like keeping IoT devices safe from hackers and making sure they can all talk to each other easily.

Request a Sample Copy of the Global IoT Chips Market

Report Synopsis

Report Metrics Details Base year considered 2022 Forecast Period considered 2023-2028 Base year market size $186.1 billion Market Size Forecast $375.5 billion Growth Rate CAGR of 14.3% for the forecast period of 2023-2028 Segment Covered Hardware, Power Consumption, End-use Industry Regions covered North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Rest of the World (RoW) Countries covered U.S., Canada, Mexico, U.K., Germany, France, Russia, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Denmark, Hungry, China, India, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Latin America, Middle East, Africa Key Market Drivers Growing Demand for IoT-based Vehicles

Government Support, Funding and R&D Related to IoT

Segmentation Analysis of Global IoT Chips Market:

By Hardware-



When discussing IoT hardware, it refers to various components that enable device functionality. These components encompass processors, akin to the brains, sensors for gathering data such as temperature or movement, integrated circuits (ICs) managing multiple tasks, and additional elements like memory and logic devices for storing and processing data. Collectively, these elements collaborate to ensure the proper operation of IoT devices.





When discussing IoT hardware, it refers to various components that enable device functionality. These components encompass processors, akin to the brains, sensors for gathering data such as temperature or movement, integrated circuits (ICs) managing multiple tasks, and additional elements like memory and logic devices for storing and processing data. Collectively, these elements collaborate to ensure the proper operation of IoT devices. By Power Consumption-



When discussing power consumption in IoT devices, the focus is on the amount of energy they require. These devices fall into three categories based on their power usage: those consuming less than 1 watt, those using between 1 and 5 watts, and those exceeding 5 watts. This classification aids in assessing the efficiency of the devices and determining the necessary power for their effective operation.





When discussing power consumption in IoT devices, the focus is on the amount of energy they require. These devices fall into three categories based on their power usage: those consuming less than 1 watt, those using between 1 and 5 watts, and those exceeding 5 watts. This classification aids in assessing the efficiency of the devices and determining the necessary power for their effective operation. By End-Use Industry-



When it comes to which industries use IoT devices, there are a few main ones. These include healthcare, where IoT helps with things like monitoring patients. Then there's consumer electronics, like smart TVs and watches. Automotive uses IoT for things like navigation and remote vehicle monitoring. Building automation involves smart systems controlling things like lights and temperature. Industrial settings use IoT for tasks like monitoring machinery. And there are other industries too, like banking (BFSI), wearable tech, retail, oil & gas, and aerospace & defense, all finding ways to use IoT to improve their operations.





When it comes to which industries use IoT devices, there are a few main ones. These include healthcare, where IoT helps with things like monitoring patients. Then there's consumer electronics, like smart TVs and watches. Automotive uses IoT for things like navigation and remote vehicle monitoring. Building automation involves smart systems controlling things like lights and temperature. Industrial settings use IoT for tasks like monitoring machinery. And there are other industries too, like banking (BFSI), wearable tech, retail, oil & gas, and aerospace & defense, all finding ways to use IoT to improve their operations. By Region-



When considering the usage of IoT, attention is given to various global regions. In North America , this encompasses the U.S., Canada , and Mexico . Europe consists of countries such as the U.K., Germany , and France , among others. In the Asia-Pacific region, notable countries include China , India , and Japan . The rest of the world includes regions like Latin America , the Middle East , and Africa . Each region implements IoT technology uniquely to enhance connectivity and efficiency within their specific contexts.

This report on global IoT chips market provides comprehensive insights and analysis, addressing the following key questions:

1. What is the projected market size and growth rate of the market?

The global market for IoT chips was projected to grow from $186.1 billion in 2022 to $375.5 billion in 2028, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.3% during the forecast period 2023-2028.

2. What are the key factors driving the growth of the market?

The key factors driving the growth of the IoT chips market include growing demand for IoT based vehicles, incorporation of government policies and initiatives towards smart city projects, and growing demand of connected wearable among customers.

3. What segments are covered in the market?

Global IoT chips market is segmented based on hardware, power consumption, end-use industry, and region.

4. By End use, which segment will dominate the market by the end of 2028?

By the end of 2028, the consumer electronics segment will continue to dominate the global IoT chips market. The segment will show a dominating position till the end of 2028, owing to the growing usage of smart and multimedia devices, increasing utilization of tablets and smartphones, cloud computing development, and improvements in IoT security.

5. Which region has the highest market share in the market?

North America holds the highest market share in the global IoT chips market. United States and Canada are significant contributors to the global IoT chips market. Presence of major market players, strong technological infrastructures, and rising investments by the U.S. government for implementing IoT solutions in industrial applications are boosting the demand for market growth in the region.

Some of the Key Market Players Are:

ANALOG DEVICES INC.

BROADCOM

INFINEON TECHNOLOGIES AG

INTEL CORP.

MEDIATEK INC.

NORDIC SEMICONDUCTOR

NXP SEMICONDUCTORS

QUALCOMM TECHNOLOGIES INC.

STMICROELECTRONICS

TEXAS INSTRUMENTS INC.

Directly Purchase a copy of the report with BCC Research.

For further information or to make a purchase, please get in touch with [email protected].

About BCC Research

BCC Research provides objective, unbiased measurement and assessment of market opportunities with detailed market research reports. Our experienced industry analysts' goal is to help you make informed business decisions, free of noise and hype.

Contact Us

Corporate HQ: 50 Milk St. Ste 16, Boston, MA 02109, USA

Email: [email protected],

Phone: +1 781-489-7301

For media inquiries, email [email protected] or visit our media page for access to our market research library.

Data and analysis extracted from this press release must be accompanied by a statement identifying BCC Research LLC as the source and publisher.

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2183242/BCC_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE BCC Research LLC
April was wet, but as grape growers say, April showers bring May bud break. We recorded 4.96 inches of rain in April at our Fosterville vineyard through the 28th. The weather was warm at times and cold at times, fairly typical for spring in the Finger Lakes. The warm temperatures in early March pushed the vines along some, but April sort of put vine awakening back on a more normal path.

We experienced some hard freezes on the mornings of April 25-26; temperatures went down around 26 to 27 degrees throughout the Finger Lakes. In our vineyards, we did not see any damage as the grapevine buds had not yet opened up and begun growing. Cornell's Finger Lakes Grape Program staff was out checking with growers and vineyard managers to see if any early-awakening varieties of vines were affected. Grapevine buds remain dormant during the winter months, then as the daylight hours increase and the temperature rise, vines begin to awaken from their dormant state. First the scales that cover the buds fall off, then the bud starts to swell as sap moves up from the vine roots. Then the bud breaks open and the leaves start to appear. This is a critical stage as the leaves unfurl and turn green, water is in the new shoots and, if a hard freeze occurs, the green tissue will freeze and die. Last year we experienced a bud break about two weeks early, then on May 18, we saw a hard prolonged freeze that damaged many vineyards in the Finger Lakes, especially toward the southern ends of the lakes. Lets see what Mother Nature throws at us this year.

The New York Wine and Grape Foundation this year undertook a vineyard survey, the first since 2011. Knowing the number of vineyard acres in New York state is very important for legislative priorities, winery business decisions and marketing strategies for New York grape growers and winemakers. The grape growing and winemaking industry is a large part of the New York state economy, especially in the more rural farm areas of the state. According to the most recent study, the New York wine industry generates an annual economic impact of $6.65 billion! With more than 450 wineries in New York, we are the third-largest wine-producing state in the country behind California and Washington, and were getting close to Washington! According to WineAmerica (the national wine industry association) wine dates back to 6,000 B.C. in the country of Georgia. Today, the total value of the U.S. wine industry based on a 2022 survey is about $276 billion, which is a serious part of our country's economy!

The total solar eclipse came to the Finger lakes on April 8, with some clouds and some clear skies, and in our winery, we saw lots of visitors from all over the Northeast (New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York City). It was a very busy weekend before the eclipse, and although we didnt see too much at our winery of the eclipse itself, it got really dark very quickly, with birds flying to roost and bats coming out in the middle of the afternoon. Then, as quickly as it got dark, daylight returned, and eight minutes after the eclipse ended the sun broke through the clouds at our place. Oh well  it was a lot of fun anyway, and lets hope we have clear skies for the next eclipse to touch New York state, which according to NASA will be May 1, 2079.

Mothers Day is coming quickly on Sunday. Many Finger Lakes wineries will have special events to celebrate the day. Its a great time to take Mom wine tasting here in the Finger Lakes and enjoy some cool climate world class wines! At CJS Vineyards we will be offering Mothers a complimentary wine tasting, please call ahead to make a reservation! Its always a good idea to check ahead to see what your favorite local wineries are planning and what their hours will be.
The Association, ever faithful to the principles established by its founders Nelly and Marcel Tilloy, has been shining and standing solidly on its values since 1954, traveling the world in more than 65 countries and 580 properties from one stop to another on the Routes du Bonheur.

PARIS, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 12, 1954, the Relais de Campagne is born: eight properties located between Paris and Nice unite under the slogan 'La Route du Bonheur'The Road to Happiness. They would write the first chapter in the history of the Association, a meaningful movement that inspires its guests to discover the world in the most beautiful of ways.

To view the Multimedia News Release, please click:

https://www.multivu.com/players/uk/9266751-relais-et-chateaux-celebrates-70th-anniversary/

The History of Relais & Chateaux

Starting in 1960, Relais de Campagne expands outside of France with its first European properties.

In 1974, Relais de Campagne merges with Chateaux Hotels to become Relais & Chateaux. That same year, the association creates Relais Gourmands to highlight gastronomy within its properties.

In 1975, Relais & Chateaux welcomes its first properties in the USA, Canada and Japan.

By 1992, Relais & Chateaux expands its global footprint to 40 countries.

In 2014, Relais & Chateaux presents its Vision with 20 commitments at UNESCO, pledging to preserve the world's cuisines, share its passion for beauty and taste and promote a more humane world.

Today, in 2024, the Association, presided by Laurent Gardinier, gathers 580 unique properties throughout the world, owned and operated by independent entrepreneurs who are passionate about their craft and deeply committed to forging warm, lasting relationships with their guests.

Relais & Chateaux also brings together a network of the most Michelin-starred restaurants in the world: we count 376 Michelin Stars, including 40 Green Stars, a symbol of the Association's excellence in gastronomy and the desire to protect, promote and enhance the richness and diversity of local cuisines and hospitality traditions all over the world.

More than a brand, Relais & Chateaux represents a profound philosophy: to create a better world through cuisine and hospitality.

Contacts:

Lars Seifert, Chief Communications Officer, [email protected]

Isabelle Gueguen, Head of PR & Influence, [email protected]

Video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbiAjifGTeo

Logo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2084329/4682442/Relais_et_Chateaux_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Relais et Chateaux
Chris Huskilson appointed Chief Executive Officer

OAKVILLE, ON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. (TSX: AQN) (NYSE: AQN) ("AQN" or the "Company") announced today that the Board of Directors has appointed Chris Huskilson as Chief Executive Officer with immediate effect. Mr. Huskilson, who has been Interim CEO since August 2023, will continue as a member of the Board. Mr. Huskilson's CEO appointment has been made following a thorough search conducted by the Board with the support of a nationally recognized search firm.

Kenneth Moore, the Chair of the Board, said, "The Board is extremely pleased to have selected Chris based on the progress being made at this important time in the Company's history. Chris has both a tremendous track-record and significant industry experience, making him well-suited to lead AQN as it continues its strategic transformation into a pure-play regulated utility. The Board and Chris continue to work on the longer term CEO succession plan."

Mr. Huskilson said, "After serving as Interim CEO for the last nine months, I am more convinced than ever that we are on the right path. I see opportunity throughout the business to improve our consistency and profitability as we look to successfully execute on the sale of our renewables business and focus on our regulated utilities as a stand-alone business."

First Quarter Financial Results

The Company also announced today financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024. All amounts are shown in United States dollars ("U.S. $" or "$"), unless otherwise noted.

"In the first quarter, we continued our efforts to simplify the business and transition towards a pure-play regulated strategy, which included successfully winding down our international non-regulated development activities and our North American development joint venture," said Mr. Huskilson. "Our renewables results came in on target and we continue to make progress on the sale with an unchanged timetable. Although I am pleased to see growth in our Regulated Net Utility Sales and Divisional Operating Profit1, we have more work ahead to reduce our cost structure and focus on the Regulated Services Group as a standalone business."

Mr. Huskilson continued, "It was also a busy quarter on the capital front, having closed approximately $2.3 billion in financing transactions. We appreciate investor confidence in the Company and the work we are doing to create long-term value for shareholders."

First Quarter Net Utility Sales and Net Energy Sales 1 of $519.9 million , an increase of 6%;

of , an increase of 6%; First Quarter Adjusted EBITDA 1 of $344.3 million , an increase of 1%;

of , an increase of 1%; First Quarter Adjusted Net Earnings 1 of $95.6 million , a decrease of 20%; and

of , a decrease of 20%; and First Quarter Adjusted Net Earnings1 per common share of $0.14 , a decrease of 18%, in each case on a year-over-year basis.

All amounts in U.S. $ millions except per share information Three months ended March 31 2024 2023 Change Revenue $ 737.1 $ 778.6 (5) % Regulated Services Group Revenue 636.6 688.2 (7) % Renewable Energy Group Revenue 100.1 90.1 11 % Net earnings (loss) attributable to shareholders (89.1) 270.1 (133) % Per common share (0.13) 0.39 (133) % Cash provided by operating activities 130.7 34.2 282 % Adjusted Net Earnings1 95.6 119.9 (20) % Per common share 0.14 0.17 (18) % Adjusted EBITDA1 344.3 341.0 1 % Regulated Services Group Divisional Operating Profit1 257.0 245.7 5 % Renewable Energy Group Divisional Operating Profit1 86.3 95.2 (9) % Adjusted Funds from Operations1 189.2 208.1 (9) % Dividends per common share 0.1085 0.1085  Long-term Debt 9,089.7 7,849.0 16 %

1 Please refer to "Non-GAAP Measures" below for further details.

First Quarter 2024 Highlights

Regulated Divisional Operating Profit growth from new rate implementations and recovery of investments  The Regulated Services Group recorded year-over-year growth in Divisional Operating Profit of 5% (see "Non-GAAP Measures" below). This increase is primarily due to the implementation of new rates and recovery of investments made at the CalPeco, Empire Oklahoma, and Granite State Electric Systems, as well as improved wind production at Empire Electric.

 The Regulated Services Group recorded year-over-year growth in Divisional Operating Profit of 5% (see "Non-GAAP Measures" below). This increase is primarily due to the implementation of new rates and recovery of investments made at the CalPeco, Empire Oklahoma, and Granite State Electric Systems, as well as improved wind production at Empire Electric. Update of new renewable energy facilities within the Renewable Energy Group  During the first quarter, the Company purchased the remaining 50% equity interest in the Sandy Ridge II Wind Facility.

During the first quarter, the Company purchased the remaining 50% equity interest in the Sandy Ridge II Wind Facility. Over $2.3 billion of financing transactions closed, including successful remarketing of senior notes, underpins investor confidence in AQN  The first quarter of 2024 was busy on the financing front for AQN. Successful initiatives included: Issuance of approximately $850.0 million of Senior Notes  On January 12, 2024 , Liberty Utilities Co. completed an offering of $850.0 million of senior notes. Net proceeds of the offering were used to repay indebtedness. Issuance of approximately $305.5 million of Securitized Utility Tariff Bonds  On January 30, 2024 , Empire District Bondco, LLC completed an offering of approximately $305.5 million of securitized utility tariff bonds to recover previously incurred qualified extraordinary costs associated with the February 2021 extreme winter storm conditions experienced in Texas and parts of the central U.S. and energy transition costs related to the retirement of the Asbury generating plant. Remarketing of 1.18% Senior Notes due 2026  On March 28, 2024 , the Company successfully remarketed its $1,150.0 million of previously-issued senior notes related to its green equity units. The proceeds from the remarketing were used, as an interim step prior to settlement of the purchase contracts issued as a component of the green equity units, to purchase a portfolio of treasury securities maturing on June 13, 2024 , and funds generated upon maturity of the treasury portfolio are expected to be used on June 17, 2024 to settle the purchase contracts.

 The first quarter of 2024 was busy on the financing front for AQN. Successful initiatives included: Progress on business simplification strategy  During the first quarter, the Company continued to execute on its previously-stated goal of simplifying the overall business. These initiatives included purchasing the 50% interest previously owned by Ares in Liberty Development Energy Solutions B.V. and Liberty Development JV Inc., which the Company had used as its non-regulated development platform, selling its interest in three development solar assets in Spain to Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc, and selling its 100% equity interest in the 74.9 MW thermal facility in Windsor Locks, Connecticut .

 During the first quarter, the Company continued to execute on its previously-stated goal of simplifying the overall business. These initiatives included purchasing the 50% interest previously owned by Ares in Liberty Development Energy Solutions B.V. and Liberty Development JV Inc., which the Company had used as its non-regulated development platform, selling its interest in three development solar assets in to Atlantica Sustainable Infrastructure plc, and selling its 100% equity interest in the 74.9 MW thermal facility in . Quarterly Adjusted Net Earnings per share growth offset by simplification and growth funding - For the quarter, the Company's Adjusted Net Earnings per share were down $0.03 year over year, with growth in the Company's regulated business offset by the winding down of the Company's development joint venture, increased interest expense to support growth, and a resumption of tax credit recoveries to a more normalized run rate versus the same period in the prior year (see "Non-GAAP Measures" below).

AQN's unaudited interim consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2024 and management discussion and analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (the "Interim MD&A") will be available on its website at www.AlgonquinPower.com and in its corporate filings on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.com (for Canadian filings) and EDGAR at www.sec.gov/edgar (for U.S. filings).

Earnings Conference Call

AQN will hold an earnings conference call at 8:30 a.m. eastern time on Friday, May 10, 2024, hosted by Chief Executive Officer, Chris Huskilson, and Chief Financial Officer, Darren Myers.

Date: Friday, May 10, 2024 Time: 8:30 a.m. ET Conference Call: Toll Free Dial-In Number 1 (800) 715-9871

Toll Dial-In Number 1 (647) 932-3411

Conference ID 2875788 Webcast: https://edge.media-server.com/mmc/p/obfgqcep

Presentation also available at: www.algonquinpower.com

About Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. and Liberty

Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp., parent company of Liberty, is a diversified international generation, transmission, and distribution utility with approximately $18 billion of total assets. AQN is committed to providing safe, secure, reliable, cost-effective, and sustainable energy and water solutions through its portfolio of generation, transmission, and distribution utility investments to over one million customer connections, largely in the United States and Canada. In addition, AQN owns, operates, and/or has net interests in over 4 GW of installed renewable energy capacity. AQN's common shares, preferred shares, Series A, and preferred shares, Series D are listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN, AQN.PR.A, and AQN.PR.D, respectively. AQN's common shares, Series 2019-A subordinated notes and equity units are listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbols AQN, AQNB, and AQNU, respectively.

Visit AQN at www.algonquinpower.com and follow us on Twitter @AQN_Utilities.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements included in this news release constitute ''forward-looking information'' within the meaning of applicable securities laws in each of the provinces and territories of Canada and the respective policies, regulations and rules under such laws and ''forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (collectively, ''forward-looking statements"). The words "will", "target" and "expects" (and grammatical variations of such terms) and similar expressions are often intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Specific forward-looking statements in this news release include, but are not limited to, statements regarding: long-term value creation for shareholders; the Company's pursuit of a sale of its renewable energy business, including the timetable therefor; and the use of proceeds from financing activities. These statements are based on factors or assumptions that were applied in drawing a conclusion or making a forecast or projection, including assumptions based on historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments. Since forward-looking statements relate to future events and conditions, by their very nature they require making assumptions and involve inherent risks and uncertainties. AQN cautions that although it is believed that the assumptions are reasonable in the circumstances, these risks and uncertainties give rise to the possibility that actual results may differ materially from the expectations set out in the forward-looking statements. There can be no assurance that a sale regarding the Company's renewable energy business will occur, or that any of the intended benefits and aims of any such transaction will be realized. Forward-looking statements contained herein are provided for the purposes of assisting in understanding the Company and its business, operations, risks, financial performance, financial position and cash flows as at and for the periods indicated and to present information about management's current expectations and plans relating to the future and such information may not be appropriate for other purposes. Material risk factors and assumptions include those set out in AQN's Annual Information Form and Annual Management Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December 31, 2023, and Interim MD&A, each of which is or will be available on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. Given these risks, undue reliance should not be placed on these forward-looking statements, which apply only as of their dates. Other than as specifically required by law, AQN undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements to reflect new information, subsequent or otherwise.

Non-GAAP Measures

AQN uses a number of financial measures to assess the performance of its business lines. Some measures are calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("U.S. GAAP"), while other measures do not have a standardized meaning under U.S. GAAP. These non-GAAP measures include non-GAAP financial measures and non-GAAP ratios, each as defined in Canadian National Instrument 52-112  Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures Disclosure. AQN's method of calculating these measures may differ from methods used by other companies and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other companies.

The terms "Adjusted Net Earnings", "Adjusted Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization" (or "Adjusted EBITDA"), "Adjusted Funds from Operations", "Divisional Operating Profit", "Net Utility Sales" and "Net Energy Sales", which are used in this news release, are non-GAAP financial measures. An explanation of each of these non-GAAP financial measures can be found in the section titled "Caution Concerning Non-GAAP Measures" in the Interim MD&A, which section is incorporated by reference into this news release, and a reconciliation to the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measure, in each case, can be found below. In addition, "Adjusted Net Earnings" is presented in this news release on a per common share basis. Adjusted Net Earnings per common share is a non-GAAP ratio and is calculated by dividing Adjusted Net Earnings by the weighted average number of common shares outstanding during the applicable period.

Reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to Net Earnings

The following table is derived from and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated statement of operations. This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Adjusted EBITDA and provides additional information related to the operating performance of AQN. Investors are cautioned that this measure should not be construed as an alternative to U.S. GAAP consolidated net earnings.





Three months ended



March 31 (all dollar amounts in $ millions)

2024

2023 Net earnings (loss) attributable to shareholders

$ (89.1)

$ 270.1 Add (deduct):







Net earnings attributable to the non-controlling interest, exclusive of HLBV

9.4

14.4 Income tax expense (recovery)

(11.3)

24.7 Interest expense

102.5

81.9 Other net losses1

10.6

3.5 Unrealized loss on energy derivatives included in revenue

10.7

 HLBV prior period adjustment within equity income

8.5

 Pension and post-employment non-service costs

3.4

5.0 Change in value of investments carried at fair value2

158.3

(179.4) Gain on derivative financial instruments

(0.1)

(2.2) Loss on foreign exchange

11.9

1.4 Depreciation and amortization

129.5

121.6 Adjusted EBITDA

$ 344.3

$ 341.0

1 See Note 16 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements. 2 See Note 6 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

Reconciliation of Adjusted Net Earnings to Net Earnings

The following table is derived from and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated statement of operations. This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Adjusted Net Earnings and provides additional information related to the operating performance of AQN. Investors are cautioned that this measure should not be construed as an alternative to consolidated net earnings in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

The following table shows the reconciliation of net earnings to Adjusted Net Earnings exclusive of these items:





Three months ended



March 31 (all dollar amounts in $ millions except per share information)

2024

2023 Net earnings (loss) attributable to shareholders

$ (89.1)

$ 270.1 Add (deduct):







Gain on derivative financial instruments

(0.1)

(2.2) Other net losses1

10.6

3.5 Loss on foreign exchange

11.9

1.4 Unrealized loss on energy derivatives included in revenue

10.7

 HLBV prior period adjustment within equity income

8.5

 Change in value of investments carried at fair value2

158.3

(179.4) Adjustment for taxes related to above

(15.2)

26.5 Adjusted Net Earnings

$ 95.6

$ 119.9 Adjusted Net Earnings per common share

$ 0.14

$ 0.17

1 See Note 16 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements. 2 See Note 6 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements.

Reconciliation of Adjusted Funds from Operations to Cash Provided by Operating Activities

The following table is derived from and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated statement of operations and consolidated statement of cash flows. This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Adjusted Funds from Operations and provides additional information related to the operating performance of AQN. Investors are cautioned that this measure should not be construed as an alternative to cash provided by operating activities in accordance with U.S GAAP.

The following table shows the reconciliation of cash provided by operating activities to Adjusted Funds from Operations exclusive of these items:





Three months ended



March 31 (all dollar amounts in $ millions)

2024

2023 Cash provided by operating activities

$ 130.7

$ 34.2 Add (deduct):







Changes in non-cash operating items

54.5

164.8 Production based cash contributions from non-controlling interests

4.0

9.1 Adjusted Funds from Operations

$ 189.2

$ 208.1

Reconciliation of Net Utility Sales and Regulated Services Group Divisional Operating Profit to Revenue

The following table is derived from and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated statement of operations and consolidated statement of cash flows. This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Divisional Operating Profit and Net Utility Sales and provides additional information related to the operating performance of AQN. Investors are cautioned that these measures should not be construed as an alternative to revenue in accordance with U.S GAAP.

The following table shows the reconciliation of Net Utility Sales and Regulated Services Group Divisional Operating Profit to revenue:



Three months ended

March 31 (all dollar amounts in $ millions) 2024

2023 Revenue





Regulated electricity distribution $ 305.9

$ 316.0 Less: Regulated electricity purchased (97.9)

(125.6) Net Utility Sales - electricity1 208.0

190.4 Regulated gas distribution 234.0

271.1 Less: Regulated gas purchased (96.0)

(137.7) Net Utility Sales - natural gas1 138.0

133.4 Regulated water reclamation and distribution 85.0

87.4 Less: Regulated water purchased (3.9)

(3.8) Net Utility Sales - water reclamation and distribution1 81.1

83.6 Other revenue2 11.7

13.6 Net Utility Sales1,3 438.8

421.0 Operating expenses (207.5)

(196.9) Income from long-term investments 7.9

10.3 HLBV4 17.8

11.3 Divisional Operating Profit1,5 $ 257.0

$ 245.7

1 See Caution Concerning Non-GAAP Measures. 2 See Note 18 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements. 3 This table contains a reconciliation of Net Utility Sales to revenue. The relevant sections of the table are derived from and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statement of operations and Note 18 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements, "Segmented Information". This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Net Utility Sales and provides additional information related to the operating performance of the Regulated Services Group. Investors are cautioned that Net Utility Sales should not be construed as an alternative to revenue. 4 Hypothetical Liquidation at Book Value ("HLBV") income represents the value of net tax attributes monetized by the Regulated Services Group in the period at the Luning and Turquoise Solar Facilities and the Neosho Ridge, Kings Point and North Fork Ridge Wind Facilities. 5 This table contains a reconciliation of Divisional Operating Profit to revenue for the Regulated Services Group. The relevant sections of the table are derived from and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statement of operations and Note 18 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements, "Segmented Information". This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Divisional Operating Profit and provides additional information related to the operating performance of the Regulated Services Group. Investors are cautioned that Divisional Operating Profit should not be construed as an alternative to revenue.

Reconciliation of Net Energy Sales and Renewable Energy Group Divisional Operating Profit to Revenue

The following table is derived from and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated statement of operations and consolidated statement of cash flows. This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Divisional Operating Profit and Net Energy Sales and provides additional information related to the operating performance of AQN. Investors are cautioned that this measure should not be construed as an alternative to cash provided by operating activities in accordance with U.S GAAP.

The following table shows the reconciliation of Net Energy Sales and Renewable Energy Group Divisional Operating Profit to revenue:



Three months ended

March 31 (all dollar amounts in $ millions) 2024

2023 Revenue1





Hydro $ 9.3

$ 8.2 Wind 63.7

56.1 Solar 5.7

5.3 Thermal 5.9

9.1 Total Non-Regulated Energy Sales $ 84.6

$ 78.7 Less:





Cost of Sales - Energy2 (0.7)

(1.1) Cost of Sales - Thermal (2.8)

(6.7) Net Energy Sales 3,4 $ 81.1

$ 70.9 Renewable Energy Credits5 14.1

9.9 Other Revenue 1.4

1.5 Total Net Revenue $ 96.6

$ 82.3 Expenses & Other Income





Operating expenses (39.0)

(32.7) Development costs (8.6)

(4.0) Other operating costs (previously referred to as administrative costs) (6.0)

(3.7) Dividend, interest, equity and other income6 20.5

29.7 HLBV income7 22.8

23.6 Divisional Operating Profit3,8,9 $ 86.3

$ 95.2

1 Many of the Renewable Energy Group's power purchase agreements include annual rate increases. However, a change to the weighted average production levels resulting from higher average production from facilities that earn lower energy rates can result in a lower weighted average energy rate earned by the division as compared to the same period in the prior year. 2 Cost of Sales - Energy consists of energy purchases in the Maritime Region to manage the energy sales from the Tinker Hydro Facility which is sold to retail and industrial customers under multi-year contracts. 3 See Caution Concerning Non-GAAP Measures. 4 This table contains a reconciliation of Net Energy Sales to revenue. The relevant sections of the table are derived from and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statement of operations and Note 18 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements, "Segmented information". This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Net Energy Sales and provides additional information related to the operating performance of AQN. Investors are cautioned that Net Energy Sales should not be construed as an alternative to revenue. 5 Qualifying renewable energy projects receive renewable energy credits ("RECs") for the generation and delivery of renewable energy to the power grid. The RECs represent proof that 1 MW-hr of electricity was generated from an eligible energy source. 6 Includes dividends received from Atlantica and related parties (see Notes 6 and 13 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements) as well as the equity investment in the Stella, Cranell, East Raymond and West Raymond Wind Facilities. 7 HLBV income represents the value of net tax attributes earned by the Renewable Energy Group in the period primarily from electricity generated by certain of its U.S. wind and U.S. solar generation facilities. Production tax credits ("PTCs") are earned as wind energy is generated based on a dollar per kW-hr rate prescribed in applicable federal and state statutes. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Renewable Energy Group's eligible facilities generated 1,199.9 GW-hrs representing approximately $33.6 million in PTCs earned as compared to 1,055.6 GW-hrs representing $29.6 million in PTCs earned during the same period in 2023. The majority of the PTCs have been allocated to tax equity investors to monetize the value to AQN of the PTCs and other tax attributes which are the primary drivers of HLBV income offset by the return earned by the investor. Some PTCs have been utilized directly by the Company which has lowered its overall effective tax rate. 8 Certain prior year items have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation. 9 This table contains a reconciliation of Divisional Operating Profit to revenue for the Renewable Energy Group. The relevant sections of the table are derived from and should be read in conjunction with the unaudited interim condensed consolidated statement of operations and Note 18 in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements, "Segmented Information". This supplementary disclosure is intended to more fully explain disclosures related to Divisional Operating Profit and provides additional information related to the operating performance of the Renewable Energy Group. Investors are cautioned that Divisional Operating Profit should not be construed as an alternative to revenue.

SOURCE Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp.
TORONTO, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Allied Gold Corporation (TSX: AAUC) herein announces the results of the votes held at the annual meeting of shareholders for the election of directors and the appointment of auditors. Detailed results of the votes are presented below.

Voting results for the election of directors are as follows:





Votes By Poll

Outcome of Vote Votes For Votes Withheld (1) John Beardsworth Carried 100,672,763 (100.00%) 3,100 (0.00%) (2) John Begeman Carried 100,672,863 (100.00%) 3,000 (0.00%) (3) Pierre Chenard Carried 100,467,152 (99.79%) 208,711 (0.21%) (4) Justin Dibb Carried 100,672,863 (100.00%) 3,000 (0.00%) (5) Richard Graff Carried 100,672,713 (100.00%) 3,150 (0.00%) (6) Peter Marrone Carried 100,672,713 (100.00%) 3,150 (0.00%) (7) Daniel Racine Carried 100,672,863 (100.00%) 3,000 (0.00%) (8) Jane Sadowsky Carried 100,672,413 (100.00%) 3,450 (0.00%) (9) Dino Titaro Carried 96,987,616 (96.34%) 3,688,247 (3.66%)

Voting results for the appointment of KPMG LLP as auditors are as follows:

Outcome of Vote Votes By Poll Votes For Votes Withheld Carried 101,324,097 201,861 (99.80 %) (0.20 %)

About Allied Gold Corporation

Allied Gold is a Canadian-based gold producer with a significant growth profile and mineral endowment which operates a portfolio of three producing assets and development projects located in Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, and Ethiopia. Led by a team of mining executives with operational and development experience and proven success in creating value, Allied Gold aspires to become a mid-tier next generation gold producer in Africa and ultimately a leading senior global gold producer.

SOURCE Allied Gold Corporation
BRISTOL, Tenn., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc. (NYSE: AMR), a leading U.S. supplier of metallurgical products for the steel industry, today announces the upcoming departure of Roger Nicholson, the company's executive vice president, chief administrative officer, general counsel and secretary. As approved by Alpha's board of directors on May 8, 2024, Nicholson will leave the company effective May 31, 2024 after four and a half years of service.

"I want to thank Roger for his significant impact on the company over the last several years," says Andy Eidson, Alpha's chief executive officer. "He has brought his sharp legal skills and decades of coal industry experience to bear on behalf of Alpha and we have benefited from Roger's counsel to our board and management team. Alpha would not be the company it is today without Roger's contributions, and we wish him the very best in his future endeavors."

On May 8, 2024, Alpha's board also approved the appointment of Mark Manno to serve as executive vice president, general counsel and secretary, effective June 1, 2024. He will oversee the company's legal, land and safety departments in addition to serving as general counsel and secretary to the board of directors. The company's president and chief operating officer, Jason Whitehead, will assume oversight of the environmental department as well as all human resources functions of the company.

"We are excited to welcome back Mark Manno, a proven leader who will be a valuable addition to this outstanding team," Eidson said. "I look forward to working with Mark to continue strengthening Alpha for the future."

About Alpha Metallurgical Resources

Alpha Metallurgical Resources (NYSE: AMR) is a Tennessee-based mining company with operations across Virginia and West Virginia. With customers across the globe, high-quality reserves and significant port capacity, Alpha reliably supplies metallurgical products to the steel industry. For more information, visit www.AlphaMetResources.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on Alpha's expectations and beliefs concerning future events and involve risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from current expectations. These factors are difficult to predict accurately and may be beyond Alpha's control. Forward-looking statements in this news release or elsewhere speak only as of the date made. New uncertainties and risks arise from time to time, and it is impossible for Alpha to predict these events or how they may affect Alpha. Except as required by law, Alpha has no duty to, and does not intend to, update or revise the forward-looking statements in this news release or elsewhere after the date this release is issued. In light of these risks and uncertainties, investors should keep in mind that results, events or developments discussed in any forward-looking statement made in this news release may not occur.

INVESTOR & MEDIA CONTACT: EMILY O'QUINN

[email protected]

[email protected]

(423) 573-0369

SOURCE Alpha Metallurgical Resources, Inc.
"Bidzina's Law," the latest White Paper by Robert Amsterdam, details the case of George Bachiashvili and the alleged state capture of the country's institutions by ruling party leader Bidzina Ivanishvili.

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Democracy in Georgia is at a "critical juncture," according to a major new report, which was launched at a public event in London earlier this week.

In this new white paper titled "Bidzina's Law: The State Capture of Georgia," Robert Amsterdam, the international lawyer representing George Bachiashvili, highlights how Georgian Dream founder Bidzina Ivanishvili has weaponized the Georgian judicial system to target his political and personal opponents, infringing on due process and rule of law, and driving Georgia away from its European aspirations.

The white paper presents the issue of eroding judicial independence through the lens of the case brought against Ivanishvili's former employee, George Bachiashvili, to expose a larger problem of state capture taking place throughout the country. Bachiashvili faces criminal charges related to a cryptocurrency investment from more seven years ago - charges which Amsterdam insists are "wholly false and unsubstantiated."

The publication of the white paper on the Bachiashvili comes on the heels of Georgian Dream's decision to re-introduce a Russian-style "foreign agents" law, which prompted widespread street protests in the capital Tbilisi in late April.

"Through this foreign agents law and persecutory cases like the attack on Bachiashvili, Ivanishvili is dragging Georgia away from the path of Euro-Atlantic integration and toward a much darker future that will more closely resemble the authoritarian vagaries of Vladimir Putin's Russia, where the state apparatus is routinely used to settle personal scores and silence political opposition," said Amsterdam.

The white paper notes that this case is unique and historic in that it is the first time that Ivanishvili is the direct claimant before the courts, meaning he would have to step forward and testify and be cross examined on a wide range of issues. Amsterdam argues that the Western response to this case and to Ivanishvili's attacks on democratic governance should be met with a stronger response.

"Through their continued inaction, all of Georgia's Western allies are allowing Ivanishvili to buy control of Georgia and turn it into his personal fiefdom. We must act with determination, along with the overwhelming public will of the Georgian people, to halt this farce," said Amsterdam. "The Georgian Dream party is creating a nightmare for the Georgian people as their hard-won democracy is being corrupted and overthrown by greed and the personal ambitions of the richest man in Georgia."

The white paper, "Bidzina's Law," can be downloaded at robertamsterdam.com and amsterdamandpartners.com.

Robert Amsterdam is the founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, an international law firm with offices in London and Washington DC.

James Kimer

President

Media Theory

[email protected]

This release was issued through WebWire. For more information, visit http://www.webwire.com.

SOURCE Amsterdam & Partners LLP
The 2024 Arizona Voters' Agenda findings highlight a clear call for leadership and sustainable solutions

PHOENIX, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Center for the Future of Arizona (CFA) today unveiled key findings on the views of voters regarding state spending issues as part of its ongoing reveal of the 2024 Arizona Voters' Agenda. Through nonpartisan survey research of Republican, Democratic, and independent/unaffiliated voters of all ages, the Voters' Agenda identifies what likely voters agree on and prioritize. The new findings demonstrate voter support for investments in key areas that can support growth, such as transportation infrastructure and childcare assistance. Additionally, voters are firmly against cuts to K-12 education, public safety, and healthcare in efforts to balance the state budget.

Arizona voters are calling for proactive and strategic preparations for Arizonas future growth.

"Arizona voters are calling for proactive and strategic preparations for Arizona's future growth," said Dr. Sybil Francis, Chair, President, & CEO of CFA. "There is a consensus across the political spectrum around topics related to planning and effective spending to support our anticipated growth and maintain a high quality of life."

In all, 87% of the electorate agrees with the following statement, "Arizona is expected to reach 8 million residents by 2030 and 9 million by 2040. It will take higher levels of planning and preparedness to ensure we have the resources and infrastructure to support that growth and maintain our high quality of life." This includes support among 84% Republicans, 88% independent/unaffiliated voters, and 89% Democrats.

Enhancing transportation infrastructure is one way to support planning for Arizona's anticipated growth. The statement, backed by 90% of voters, emphasizes this approach: "A robust transportation infrastructure system, including investments in our freeways, streets, and transit throughout the State of Arizona, is critical to moving people, goods, and services throughout the state and essential to our long-term economic success."

Additionally, 77% of all voters believe Arizona should invest more in childcare assistance programs for qualifying families, highlighting the connection between accessible childcare and growing the workforce engagement and success of Arizona families. This finding aligns with previous surveys conducted by CFA, which found that a significant portion of Arizonans reported being hindered in pursuing further education or returning to work due to the lack of affordable childcare.

Read more

SOURCE Center for the Future of Arizona
The leading Nordic data center business achieves multiple new accolades.

REYKJAVIK, Iceland , May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- atNorth , the leading Nordic colocation, high-performance computing, and artificial intelligence service provider, today announced widespread industry recognition including shortlisting's in the `Excellence in Data Centre Europe Award 2024' category at the Datacloud Global Awards and the `Energy Efficient Partnership of the Year' category at the Energy Awards.

The Datacloud Global Awards celebrate excellence in the data center and cloud industry, recognizing outstanding achievements, innovation, and leadership across various categories. From pioneering technology solutions to sustainable practices, these awards highlight the trailblazers and visionaries driving the digital transformation landscape forward.

atNorth's continuous commitment to developing the most advantageous solutions for its clients has led the business to be recognized for its efforts in energy efficiency, data center excellence and as a leader in the data center industry.

Additionally, atNorth's CFO & Deputy CEO, Eva Soley Gubjornsdottir has been shortlisted in the `Diversity and Inclusion Champion of the Year' category at the Women in Green Business Awards, illustrating the commendable ethos of atNorth's business as a whole, as it champions fairness and the greater good - both internally and at the core of its service provision.

"We are delighted to be acknowledged in a variety of categories across multiple awards," says Eva Soley Gubjornsdottir, CFO & Deputy CEO, at atNorth. "As we remain committed to our vision of `more compute for a better world', this recognition inspires us to continue to advocate for best practice within our business and the industry as a whole."

The news follows atNorth's recognition in TechRound's Sustainability60 campaign, at the UK Green Business Awards and the Tech Capital Awards. The business has also recently announced Anna Kristin Palsdottir as Chief Development Officer and Jorgen Larsson as Director of Hyperscale Operations as the business continues to scale to meet the increasing demand for its services.

About atNorth

atNorth is a leading Nordic data center services company that offers sustainable, cost-effective, scalable colocation and high-performance computing services trusted by industry-leading organizations. The business acquired leading High-Performance Computing (HPC) provider, Gompute, in 2023 enabling a compelling full stack offering tailored to AI and other critical high-performance workloads.

With sustainability at its core, atNorth's data centers run on renewable energy resources and support circular economy principles. All atNorth sites leverage innovative design, power efficiency, and intelligent operations to provide long-term infrastructure and flexible colocation deployments. The tailor-made solutions enable businesses to calculate, simulate, train and visualize data workloads in an efficient, cost-optimized way.

atNorth is headquartered in Reykjavik, Iceland and operates seven data centers in strategic locations across the Nordics, with additional sites to open in Helsinki, Finland and in Denmark in Q4 2024, as well as its tenth site ready for operation in Kouvola, Finland in 2025.

For more information, visit atNorth.com or follow atNorth on LinkedIn or Facebook.

Press Contact:

Caroline Brunton

Kite Hill PR for atNorth

+44 (0) 7796 274 416

[email protected]

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/atnorth/r/atnorth-shortlisted-for-datacloud-global-awards--the-energy-awards-and-the-women-in-green-business-a,c3976912

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/18907/3976912/2788817.pdf Release https://news.cision.com/atnorth/i/eva-soley-press,c3298304 Eva Soley press

SOURCE atNorth
CHARLOTTE, N.C., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Bank of America today announced that it recently learned of an unsolicited "mini-tender" offer made by Tutanota LLC (Tutanota) to Bank of America shareholders to purchase up to 1 million shares of Bank of America common stock at $40.00 per share. The offer price of $40.00 per share is conditioned on, among other things, the closing price per share of Bank of America's common stock exceeding $40.00 per share on the last trading day before the offer expires. This means that unless this condition is waived by Tutanota, Bank of America shareholders who tender their shares in the offer will receive a below-market price. Tutanota can extend the offer for successive periods of 45 to 180 days, in which case payment would be delayed beyond the scheduled expiration date of Friday, May 31, 2024.

Bank of America recommends that shareholders do not tender their shares in response to Tutanota's offer because the offer requires that the closing stock price for Bank of America common stock exceed the offer price, and the offer is subject to numerous additional conditions, including Tutanota obtaining financing for the offer. There is no guarantee the conditions of the offer will be satisfied. Shareholders who have already tendered their shares may withdraw them at any time by providing notice in the manner described in the Tutanota offering documents prior to the expiration of the offer, which is currently scheduled for 5:00 p.m., New York City time, on Friday, May 31, 2024, unless extended.

Bank of America does not endorse Tutanota's unsolicited mini-tender offer and is not affiliated or associated in any way with Tutanota, its mini-tender offer, or the offer documentation.

Because Tutanota's mini-tender offer is for less than 5 percent of Bank of America's outstanding shares, it is not subject to many of the disclosure and procedural requirements of Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) rules that are designed to protect investors. Tutanota has made similar unsolicited mini-tender offers for stock of other public companies, as well as a prior offer for Bank of America common stock in 2021. The SEC has cautioned investors about mini-tender offers, providing guidance to investors at https://www.sec.gov/investor/pubs/minitend.htm.

Bank of America encourages brokers and dealers, as well as other market participants, to review the SEC's letter regarding broker-dealer mini-tender offer dissemination and disclosures at https://www.sec.gov/divisions/marketreg/minitenders/sia072401.htm and the NASD Notice to Members 99-53 issued in July 1999 regarding guidance to members forwarding mini-tender offers to their customers, which can be found at https://www.finra.org/sites/default/files/NoticeDocument/p004221.pdf.

Shareholders should obtain current market quotations for their shares, consult with their broker or financial advisor, and exercise caution with respect to Tutanota's mini-tender offer.

Bank of America requests that a copy of this news release be included with all distributions of materials relating to Tutanota's mini-tender offer related to Bank of America's common stock.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's leading financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 69 million consumer and small business clients with approximately 3,800 retail financial centers, approximately 15,000 ATMs (automated teller machines) and award-winning digital banking with approximately 57 million verified digital users. Bank of America is a global leader in wealth management, corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business households through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations across the United States, its territories and more than 35 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE: BAC).

For more Bank of America news, including dividend announcements and other important information, visit the Bank of America newsroom and register for news email alerts.

www.bankofamerica.com

Investors May Contact:

Lee McEntire, Bank of America

Phone: 1.980.388.6780

[email protected]

Jonathan G. Blum, Bank of America (Fixed Income)

Phone: 1.212.449.3112

[email protected]

Reporters May Contact:

Bill Halldin, Bank of America

Phone: 1.916.724.0093

[email protected]

SOURCE Bank of America Corporation
Elite Battery Competition is a partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy and Stellantis

CHICAGO, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Colorado School of Mines & Arapahoe Community College team has been named the Battery Workforce Challenge (BattChallenge) Year One champion, leading the way in the three-year collegiate competition. Second place was awarded to The Ohio State University & Columbus State Community College team, while The University of Alabama & Shelton State Community College team took third place. Teams were judged on the design of their electric vehicle battery pack at the competition.

Year One of the competition focused on the design of the EV battery pack. The teams' focus spanned from the granular level of cell characterization and testing to the broader scope of pack-level design, encompassing thermal, mechanical, and electrical considerations, while upholding stringent safety standards.

"We are energized by the collective efforts, dedication, and ingenuity demonstrated by the students in year one," said Michael Berube, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Sustainable Transportation and Fuels in the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). "Together, we're preparing a skilled workforce needed to support industry's transition to electrification and a sustainable energy future."

The BattChallenge is an elite public-private partnership and North American collegiate engineering competition sponsored by DOE , Stellantis, and it is managed by Argonne National Laboratory .

The BattChallenge began in 2023 and features 12 North American university engineering teams , each partnering with a local community college. The teams were selected through a competitive process to secure a spot in the program. Students receive firsthand experiential learning and work closely with industry experts to tackle one of the most relevant real-world engineering challenges facing the automotive industry today.

"This remarkable talent of the students is clearly shown in this competition and matches perfectly toward our mission of building the battery workforce of the future," said Micky Bly, Stellantis' senior vice president and head of Global Propulsion Systems. "Stellantis is proud to support this initiative and encourage students to receive valuable real-world experience in the automotive EV space."

The next year of the competition (year two of the three) is geared towards building and testing the battery pack. Students will make revisions and improvements to their year one design and begin assembling the battery into their vehicle. Teams will receive a Ram ProMaster electric van from Stellantis for the remainder of the competition. In the final year, teams will integrate the battery pack into their vehicle and conduct comprehensive road tests.

The 2024 Ram ProMaster EV was introduced earlier this year and is designed specifically for electrification, featuring a unibody design that efficiently incorporates the production battery pack. The work van is suited to perform commercial activities, and this application serves as an exciting opportunity for students to design batteries for bigger vehicles.

At the year one finale which took place at the Palmer House Hilton in Chicago on May 9, dozens of engineering and sponsor-related category awards are given out, plus industry-provided prize money totalling $100,000. Perhaps the most prestigious take-away is the invaluable real-world experience for students working with industry leaders and launching their careers. The series culminates in 2026.

Additional BattChallenge sponsors include: American Battery Technology Company, BASF, Eaton, AVL, Dana Corporation, MathWorks, Analog Devices, Inc., and Gamma Technologies.

Battery Workforce Challenge

The collegiate competition is part of DOE's broader Battery Workforce Challenge Program, which also includes regional training with vocational and community colleges; STEM youth education; and an online tool for career and technical education. The program is dedicated to cultivating a diverse cohort of skilled engineers, technicians and workers to propel domestic battery technology forward.

Follow the Battery Workforce Challenge on social media: LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/battery-workforce-challenge/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/battchallenge/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BattChallenge

Follow the U.S. DOE:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/eeregov/

Follow Stellantis:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/Stellantis

Media Contacts:

Kimberly DeClark, Argonne National Laboratory, [email protected] , 202-441-0096

Dan Reid, Stellantis, [email protected] , 248-202-7697

SOURCE Battery Workforce Challenge
NEWARK, N.J., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Newark Public Schools proudly welcomed esteemed technology visionary, Bill Gates. Mr. Gates toured the school to witness firsthand its groundbreaking implementation of Khan Academy and the pilot implementation of Khanmigo, an innovative educational tool.

First Avenue School emerged as the District's leader in leveraging technology to enhance student learning. Through the integration of Khan Academy, particularly in Mathematics, the school has transformed its instructional approach, aligning skills with the curriculum to support personalized learning paths for students.

Khan Academy's data-driven platform empowers teachers to gather insightful data, enabling them to tailor individualized learning experiences for students. This approach not only reinforces essential skills but also challenges learners to excel, fostering a dynamic and engaging educational environment.

In addition to Khan Academy, First Avenue School is piloting the use of Khanmigo, an Artificial Intelligence (AI) tool designed to support educators and students in grades 5-8. With Khanmigo, educators can access recommended student problems, analyze class trends, and streamline administrative tasks, ultimately saving valuable time and enabling focused attention on student needs.

"First Avenue School's pioneering use of Khan Academy and Khanmigo epitomizes our pledge to harnessing technology to empower every student with personalized learning experiences across the District. By embracing innovation, the school leadership team from the North, principal and school administrators, teachers and staff are preparing our students to be the digital citizens the world needs. And in doing so across the city, we are transforming education in Newark," said Superintendent Len.

The visit by Mr. Gates underscores the Gates Foundation's commitment to supporting innovative educational initiatives like Khan Academy, which has garnered widespread acclaim for its transformative impact on education worldwide.

About Khan Academy:

Khan Academy is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing free, world-class education for anyone, anywhere. Through its online platform and resources, Khan Academy empowers learners of all ages to master essential skills and achieve their academic goals.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation:

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a global philanthropic organization committed to addressing pressing challenges in health, education, and poverty alleviation. Founded by Bill and Melinda Gates, the foundation strives to create meaningful impact through strategic investments and partnerships.

About Newark Public Schools:

The Newark Public Schools is the largest school district in New Jersey and dates back to 1676. The District currently enrolls over 39,000 students in 63 schools. After more than two decades of state operation and upon return to local control in 2018, the District has opened 9 new schools under Superintendent Leon's leadership with an additional portfolio of new options to be announced in the coming months and years. The Newark Board of Education serves as a beacon of educational excellence, dedicated to nurturing the potential of every student. With a commitment to innovation, inclusivity, and fostering a love for learning, the District continues to shape future generations and make a positive impact within the community.

For media inquiries, please contact:

Nancy J. Deering, Acting Communications Director

[email protected]

SOURCE Newark Board of Education
Intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive rolls off production line in C China

Xinhua) 08:18, May 10, 2024

A worker tries the AI voice interaction system of an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

Workers inspect an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

This photo shows the head-up display of an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

Workers check the performance of an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

A worker inspects an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

A worker inspects an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

This photo shows an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive rolling off the production line in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

This photo shows the driving cabin of an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

A staff worker checks video monitoring of an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

This drone photo shows an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive (R) in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province, May 9, 2024. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Most Cayuga County-area board of education elections will be uncontested this year.

Out of the nine districts in the Cayuga-Onondaga BOCES region, only three districts have school board races with more candidates than available seats.

There were four local districts with contested races in 2023, five in 2022 and three in 2021.

The statewide voting day for school board candidates, budget propositions and any other district propositions is Tuesday, May 21.

Here the candidates who are running for local school board races:

 The Auburn Enlarged City School District Board will have three three-year seats up for grabs, but only two candidates, Melissa Deyneka and Noel Romeo, submitted petitions in time to be on the ballot. Incumbent Matteo Bartolotta did not file in time, but has launched a write-in campaign. Board President Ian Phillips is not seeking reelection in order to run for the New York State Assembly, and five-term incumbent Salvatore "Sam" Giangreco is also not pursuing another term.

 The Cato-Meridian Central School District has four people vying for two open seats. Incumbent Jenny Kyle is running again, along with Eric Peckham, John Simons and Amanda Vallee.

 The Jordan-Elbridge Central School District has one person, Jeff Poor, running for a single three-year term. Incumbent William Yard is not seeking another term.

 The Moravia Central School District has three candidates vying for two three-year seats. Incumbent Neil Stevens will be on the ballot, and Jody Marnell and Kira Minnoe are running as well.

 The Port Byron Central School District has two familiar races pursuing two three-year seats, with President Melinda Quanbeck and fellow incumbent Joseph Verdi both running.

 The Skaneateles Central School District has three candidates running for three three-year slots: President Danielle Fleckenstein, Vice President Amanda Nugent and fellow incumbent Kerry Brogan.

 The Southern Cayuga Central School District has three people vying for two three-year spots. Incumbent David Harvatine is pursuing a seat, along with Christopher Howe and Robert H. Jetty II.

 The Union Springs Central School District has three candidates pursuing three three-year terms. Incumbents Jeffrey Culver and Carol Quill are running, as is Matthew Loveless.

 The Weedsport Central School District has one five-year seat available, and President Chad Mitchell is seeking reelection.
TOLEDO, Ohio, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Block Communications, Inc., (BCI) a privately held diversified media holding company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio, issued a public statement acknowledging the filing of a lawsuit against the Company, and certain of its shareholders and directors, by Allan Block, the Company's Chief Executive Officer and the Chairman of its Board of Directors.

Speaking on behalf of the Company, Jodi Miehls, BCI's President and Chief Operating Officer, said that while the Company cannot comment on pending litigation, "I can assure our customers, business partners, and the communities we serve across the country that our dedicated employees remain committed to continuing to deliver the highest quality services and products in the areas of journalism, broadband internet, video services, television broadcasting and telecommunications."

Ms. Miehls continued, "Block Communications has earned a well-deserved reputation for being first in customer service across diverse business units. That proud tradition of service will continue without interruption."

About Block Communications, Inc.

Block Communications is a 124-year-old privately held diversified media company headquartered in Toledo, Ohio with operations in cable television/broadband internet, commercial telecommunications, newspaper publishing and television broadcasting. The company owns and operates Buckeye Broadband, its cable/broadband system serving Northwest Ohio and Southeast Michigan; Telesystem, an integrated communications provider serving commercial customers across the country; two daily metropolitan newspapers, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and The Blade in Toledo, Ohio; and multiple television broadcast stations, among other businesses. For more information, visit www.BlockCommunications.com.

SOURCE Block Communications, Inc.
BEIJING, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Hungary late Wednesday, the final destination of his European tour. Chinese Ambassador to Hungary Gong Tao (Gong) shared his views on the significance of the visit in an interview with Global Times (GT) reporter Wang Wenwen, reviewing the development of bilateral relations and the prospect of cooperation between the two countries in the future.



GT: This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary. Despite the changing international situation, the relationship between China and Hungary has continued to develop steadily, and in 2017, the two countries officially established a comprehensive strategic partnership. What do you think is the key to the success of the China-Hungary relationship?



Gong: Hungary was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and the relationship between the two countries has weathered storms and stood the test of time. In recent years, under the strategic guidance of the leaders of the two countries, China-Hungary relations have maintained robust growth. Our two countries have had close high-level exchanges, deepened political mutual trust, made fruitful and solid progress in cooperation in various fields, and brought tangible benefits to the two peoples. China and Hungary have developed a comprehensive strategic partnership. They always respect each other's independently chosen development paths and domestic and foreign policies, firmly support enhanced connectivity, and advocate for a world of multipolarity and inclusive economic globalization. The two countries firmly oppose decoupling and bloc confrontation. They are good friends and partners, stand for mutual trust and win-win cooperation. They are on the path to national development and rejuvenation, and support maintaining world peace and stability. Looking ahead, the cooperation opportunities and prospects in various fields such as economy, trade, finance, innovation and culture between China and Hungary are limitless and broad.



On the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries, President Xi's state visit to Hungary comes at the invitation of President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. This visit sends a strong signal to further promote bilateral relations. This milestone visit will elevate bilateral relations to a new height, open a new chapter in China-Hungary friendship and cooperation, inject impetus into China-EU relations, and provide elements of stability and positive energy to a turbulent world.



GT: Hungary is the first European country to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China, and we have seen fruitful results in China-Hungary cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Last year, the Third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF) was held in Beijing, and the construction of the BRI has entered a new stage of high-quality development. Could you introduce what new characteristics and directions China-Hungary cooperation under the BRI will have in the future?



Gong: China and Hungary are steadfast partners in promoting cooperation under the BRI. Hungary is the first European country to sign a Belt and Road cooperation document with China. Prime Minister Orban has attended the BRF in China three times in a row, and President Xi has met with him multiple times. Under the strategic guidance of the leaders of both countries, the BRI and Hungary's Opening to the East policy are closely aligned, unleashing strong vitality and creating a number of high-quality cooperation projects. The 10 years of BRI cooperation between the two countries can be described as a golden period of rapid development in economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. In the future, the two sides will continue to promote high-quality joint construction of the BRI in key areas such as digital economy, green development, and information technology.



The two sides will further strengthen policy communication and coordination, rely on mechanisms such as the inter-governmental Belt and Road cooperation committee, the China-Hungary Economic Joint Committee, and e-commerce working groups to enhance strategic alignment. The two sides will actively explore new areas of cooperation and strengthen cooperation in new energy vehicles. They will also jointly create a model of win-win cooperation in the automotive industry chain between China and Europe, support the innovation of more high-quality financial products by financial institutions in both countries to provide strong support for cooperation, encourage the opening of more direct flights for passengers and cargo, and construct a land and air "Silk Road." The two sides will continue to deepen people-to-people exchanges, expand cooperation in education, culture, science and technology, tourism, and local areas, encourage exchanges between young people in both countries, promote mutual understanding between the people of the two countries, and enhance mutual understanding.



GT: The new energy industry chain, including electric vehicles and power batteries, has been the focus of recent investment by Chinese enterprises in Hungary. Why has Hungary become a bridgehead for the investment of Chinese enterprises in Europe?



Gong: Due to the friendly relations between China and Hungary and the favorable investment environment in Hungary in recent years, more and more Chinese enterprises have made Hungary their first choice for investment in the EU. The automotive industry is one of the pillar industries of Hungary's economy, and more than 14 of the world's top 20 automakers have established complete vehicle manufacturing plants and auto parts production bases in Hungary. In 2016, the Hungarian government also specifically formulated the development plan for electric vehicles, which provides a good foundation for the development of the electric vehicle industry in Hungary. At the same time, China has the advantages of advanced technology, broad market and high maturity in the global new energy industry. Both sides have complementary advantages and great potential for cooperation. Hungarians from all walks of life highly welcome Chinese enterprises related to electric vehicle industry chain to invest in Hungary, and they believe that the relevant investment and cooperation will further consolidate the foundation of Hungary's long-term economic growth, strengthen Hungary's position in the global transformation of electric vehicles, and enable Hungary to maintain its advantageous position in international competition.



GT: How has Hungary been able to maintain a consistently positive stance toward China? What changes might Hungary's role as the EU rotating presidency bring to China-EU relations?



Gong: The Hungarian government has always adhered to an independent domestic and foreign policy, staunchly supporting East-West connectivity.



China appreciates Hungary's commitment to being a force for peace and stability in Europe under complex international circumstances, valuing Hungary's efforts to eliminate disturbances and pressures to deepen cooperation with China. The mutually beneficial cooperation between China and Hungary in various fields has benefited the people of both countries. Moreover, it has also strongly demonstrated that China represents an opportunity, not a challenge, and a partner, not a competitor, to Europe.



In the second half of this year, as Hungary takes over the rotating presidency of the EU, we hope that Hungary will encourage the EU to view China's development in a rational and friendly manner, adopt a more positive and pragmatic policy toward China, strengthen China-EU strategic communication, create more positive expectations for mutually beneficial cooperation, and promote the continuous, stable, and healthy development of China-EU relations.



GT: Starting March 14, China has implemented a visa-free policy for ordinary passport holders from Hungary and five other countries. Hungary will also issue long-term visas to Chinese citizens visiting the country for investment and business cooperation. Could you elaborate on the implementation of these measures and their impact on China-Hungary economic, tourism cooperation, cultural and people-to-people exchanges?



Gong: China and Hungary respect, understand, and appreciate each other. Following China's announcement of the visa-free policy for Hungary and other countries, Foreign Minister Szijjarto immediately announced on behalf of the Hungarian government the facilitation of issuing five-year, multiple-entry visas for Chinese citizens on business trips. This is another concrete manifestation of the high-level development of China-Hungary relations. These measures have further facilitated the movement of people between the two countries. Recently, Air China increased the number of direct flights from Beijing to Budapest, and China Southern Airlines will soon launch direct flights from Guangzhou to Budapest. The economic, tourism and cultural exchanges between China and Hungary will become smoother.



In terms of Chinese language teaching and studying in China, Hungary has always been at the forefront among European countries. Hungary hosts five Confucius Institutes and one Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school, while China has 12 universities offering Hungarian language majors. Both sides also have cultural centers in each other's countries. On the eve of last year's Spring Festival, President Xi personally replied to students from the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school, encouraging the Hungarian youths to learn more about China and become envoys of the China-Hungary friendship. I believe that the youth of both countries will become the driving force in promoting China-Hungary friendship, passing down the traditional friendship from generation to generation.

SOURCE Global Times
NEW YORK, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global cancer diagnostics market size is estimated to grow by USD 12.63 bn from 2023-2027, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 11.3% during the forecast period.

For more insights on the forecast market size and historic data (2017 - 2021) - Buy Report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Cancer Diagnostics Market 2023-2027

Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 11.3% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 12626.21 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 11.18 Regional analysis North America, Europe, APAC, and Rest of World (ROW) Performing market contribution North America at 43% Key countries US, Canada, China, Germany, and France Key companies profiled Abbott Laboratories, Agilent Technologies Inc., Astellas Pharma Inc., Becton Dickinson and Co., bioMerieux SA, Bristol Myers Squibb Co., Eli Lilly and Co., F. Hoffmann La Roche Ltd., General Electric Co., GlaxoSmithKline Plc, Hologic Inc., Illumina Inc., Merck KGaA, Myriad Genetics Inc., Novartis AG, Pfizer Inc., QIAGEN NV, Quest Diagnostics Inc., Siemens AG, and Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.

Market Driver

The global cancer diagnostics market is witnessing significant growth due to the investment in R&D for innovative diagnostic devices. Novel approaches, such as nanoparticle-based cancer theranostics using gold nanoparticles, combine therapeutic and diagnostic agents for effective tumor monitoring and drug response understanding. Key players like The NCI, Illumina, Guardant Health, OverC, Quest Diagnostics, Haystack Oncology, Blue Earth Diagnostics, and MRD testing are pioneering this field. Technologies like Radiopharm Theranostics, SPECT, Magnetic resonance imaging, Positron emission tomography, Optical imaging, and Mammography are utilized in diagnosing various cancers, including Cervical, Blood, Skin, Kidney, Pancreatic, Ovarian, Liver, Aggressive types, and Colorectal. Diagnostic procedures are provided in hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, and public hospitals, while instruments and IVD testing are essential for imaging-based and biopsy techniques. GE Healthcare and Cancer patients also contribute to this market.

Market Challenges

The cancer diagnostics market encompasses various aspects, including the identification of cancer through biomarkers, diagnostic imaging procedures, and tumor biopsy in private diagnostic laboratories and centers. Key biomarkers are proteins derived from cancerous tumors, which aid in disease progression assessment and treatment outcomes prediction. Advanced technologies and skilled specialists drive up the initial cost of biomarker development. Cancer screening types, such as colorectal and prostate cancer, are crucial for early detection, reducing mortality rates. Unhealthy lifestyles, alcohol use, and tobacco use contribute to cancer incidence, necessitating public awareness and screening procedures. Genetic testing is another essential diagnostic tool for identifying cancer risk and guiding treatment options. Companies like GE Healthcare provide instruments and consumables for IVD testing and imaging-based diagnostics. Diagnostic testing in hospitals and endoscopic examinations, surgery, and genetic tests further expand the market scope.

Research report provides comprehensive data on impact of trend, driver and challenges - Request a sample report!

Segment Overview

This cancer diagnostics market report extensively covers market segmentation by

End-user

1.1 Hospitals

1.2 clinics

1.3 Diagnostic laboratories

Type

2.1 IVD

2.2 Imaging

2.3 LDT

Geography

3.1 North America

3.2 Europe

3.3 APAC

3.4 Rest of World (ROW)



1.1 Hospitals-

The hospitals and clinics segment, valued at USD 6.05 billion in 2017, saw continuous growth until 2021. Factors like increasing cases of chronic cancer and the presence of skilled professionals significantly fueled segment revenue in 2021. Moreover, the global market's growth was bolstered by the rise of chronic diseases such as cervical, head and neck, lung, skin, and colorectal cancers, alongside the availability of proficient medical experts proficient in precise diagnosis using various rapid diagnostics devices.

The cancer diagnostics market continues to expand, driven by advancements in genetic testing, screening procedures, and public awareness. Genetic tests, such as those offered by Illumina and Guardant Health, play a crucial role in identifying the genetic predisposition to various cancers, including breast, colorectal, lung, prostate, and skin. Early detection through methods like mammography, endoscopy, X-rays, ultrasound, computed tomography, SPECT, magnetic resonance imaging, positron emission tomography, and optical imaging is essential for reducing mortality rates. Unhealthy lifestyles, alcohol use, tobacco use, and diabetes contribute significantly to the prevalence of aggressive cancers like cervical, blood, kidney, pancreatic, ovarian, liver, and aggressive forms of breast, lung, and prostate cancer. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) advocates for public awareness campaigns and encourages the use of advanced diagnostic tools like radiopharm theranostics and MRD testing, which employ PSMA and other targeted markers for accurate diagnosis and treatment planning. Key players in the market include OverC, Quest Diagnostics, Haystack Oncology, and Blue Earth Diagnostics, offering a range of services from biopsy to imaging and molecular testing. These advancements in cancer diagnostics not only improve patient care and satisfaction but also contribute to cost savings by enabling early detection and effective treatment.

For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2023-2027) and historic data (2017-2021) - Download a Sample Report

Research Analysis

The Cancer Diagnostics Market encompasses a range of services and solutions aimed at identifying various types of cancer in their early stages. This market includes private diagnostic laboratories and centers that utilize advanced diagnostic imaging procedures to examine patients for potential cancerous tumors. Public hospitals also play a significant role in cancer diagnostics, offering cancer screening programs for conditions such as colorectal, skin, kidney, pancreatic, ovarian, and liver cancer. Consumables, technology, and screening types are integral components of the cancer diagnostics market. Laboratory tests, including MRD testing using proteins like PSMA, serve as essential tools for disease progression assessment and treatment planning. Biomarkers, which can indicate the presence or absence of cancer, are also crucial in diagnostic testing. Key players in the market include Haystack Oncology and Blue Earth Diagnostics, offering innovative solutions to improve cancer diagnostics and patient outcomes. The integration of technology and advanced screening methods continues to drive growth in the cancer diagnostics market.

Market Research Overview

The Cancer Diagnostics Market is a significant sector in the healthcare industry, prioritizing early detection and precise diagnosis of various cancer types. This market involves the use of advanced technologies such as imaging modalities, biomarker tests, and genetic screening. The primary goal is to identify diseases in their initial stages, enabling effective treatment and improving patient outcomes. Centers and laboratories play a crucial role in this process, providing diagnostic services and consulting with healthcare providers. The diagnostic process can involve a combination of techniques, including colonoscopy, MRI, PET scans, and biopsy procedures. Genetic testing and personalized approaches are also gaining popularity in cancer diagnostics. The market is driven by increasing incidences of cancer, technological advancements, and growing awareness and demand for early and accurate diagnosis. However, challenges such as high costs and ethical considerations remain. The future of cancer diagnostics lies in the integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning to enhance accuracy and efficiency.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation

End-user

Hospitals



Clinics



Diagnostic Laboratories

Type

IVD



Imaging



LDT

Geography

North America



Europe



APAC



Rest Of World (ROW)

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Company Landscape

11 Company 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
Largest and most advanced Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) facility in Kenya commissioned by H.E. The President of Kenya , Dr. William S. Ruto

Over 5,000 new jobs created with US$ 50 million investment into CCI Tatu City

CCI announces commitment to create another 5,000 jobs with second CCI call centre at Tatu City

Commissioning of CCI's BPO facility took place during Elevate Africa Conference at Tatu City

TATU CITY, Kenya, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- CCI Global, Africa's leading outsourcing firm, proudly announces the grand opening of its Tatu City Call Centre. This new five-story building inside Tatu City, the 5,000-acre Special Economic Zone on Nairobi's doorstep, represents a US$ 50 million investment into the Kenyan BPO industry. The state-of-the-art facility is Kenya's largest call centre, promising to invigorate the nation's economy by creating over 5,000 new job opportunities in the short term.

H.E. The President of Kenya, Dr. William S. Ruto (bottom centre), at the commissioning of the CCI Tatu City Call Centre. The new five-story building inside Tatu City represents a US$ 50 million investment into the Kenyan Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry. The state-of-the-art facility is Kenyas largest call centre which promises to invigorate the nations economy by creating over 10,000 jobs. Also in attendance were leaders from business and government, including US Ambassador Meg Whitman; Rishi Jatania, CEO of CCI Kenya; Stephen Jennings, Founder & CEO of Rendeavour; Martin Roe, CEO of CCI Global; and Greg Pearson, CEO and co-founder of GREA (credit: Rendeavour).

At the commissioning of the CCI Tatu City Call Centre by H.E. The President of Kenya, Dr. William S. Ruto, CCI announced the creation of a second CCI building at Tatu City, with the commitment to double CCI Kenya's call centre workforce to 10,000. These roles span a spectrum of positions, from call centre agents to managerial roles, solidifying Kenya's status as a premier hub for Business Process Outsourcing.

Rishi Jatania, CEO of CCI Kenya, reaffirmed the company's commitment to the region, stating, "This launch represents a significant step forward in our mission to provide top-tier BPO services while contributing to Kenya's socio-economic development. We believe in the potential of this region and are excited to set the gold standard for BPO operations in Africa."

The launch of CCI's Tatu City Call Centre by took place during the esteemed Elevate Africa Conference, a three-day event at Tatu City uniting industry leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders from around the world. Themed "The Next Chapter of Innovation," the Elevate Africa Conference serves as a pivotal platform for visionary discourse and collaboration across the BPO industry.

"CCI's Tatu City Call Centre makes a significant contribution to the development of the BPO industry, which is growing rapidly in our cities, and will create a million jobs for Kenyans alone in the next few years," said Stephen Jennings, Founder & CEO of Rendeavour, the owner and developer of Tatu City. "With the right management, technology, international access and enabling ecosystem, Kenyan BPO workers excel on a global scale."

At the heart of CCI's expansion lies a US$ 50 million investment in CCI Tatu City's development, reflecting a portion of CCI Global's US$ 150 million investment in Kenya since 2016. With a track record of investments exceeding US$ 2 billion across Africa since 2006, CCI reaffirms its dedication to driving economic empowerment on a continental scale.

Martin Roe CEO of CCI Global, stated, "I am pleased to affirm Africa's prominence as a top destination for call center operations, with Kenya emerging as a standout choice. Our decision to expand across Kenya reflects our profound confidence in the country's thriving BPO industry and its capacity for sustained growth.

As we continue our journey in Kenya, contributing to its economic advancement and providing meaningful employment opportunities, I am thrilled to announce a significant milestone: the upcoming launch of another new CCI building in Tatu City.

This strategic move follows the resounding success of our existing operations, which have already reached full occupancy. This expansion reinforces our strong commitment to Kenya."

As CCI embarks on this transformative journey, it remains steadfast in its mission to combat unemployment and drive socioeconomic progress in Nairobi and beyond. Strategic partnerships with organizations like CareerBox Africa enable the provision of digital skills training programs, empowering unemployed youth, particularly young women, to upskill young people for work in the BPO industry.

Buildings Sustainability - Kenya's Largest Call Centre Will Run on 96% Renewable Energy

The new five-story Tatu City contact centre in Kenya, developed by GREA as part of the ENEO development, will operate almost exclusively on 96% renewable energy  with solar panels to be installed, natural air corridors, and self-shading walls to almost totally mitigate the Co2 emissions involved in the call centre's energy production and consumption. The new facility has received two awards from The African Property Awards, and EDGE Green Building and Sustainability Excellence Associate (SEA) certifications for environmental responsibility.

"Eneo at Tatu Central represents the pinnacle of BPO facilities, combining state-of-the-art amenities with green design principles and community involvement, to create a sustainable, dynamic, and thriving community hub," said Greg Pearson, CEO and co-founder of GREA, the developer of Eneo at Tatu Central.

Female Empowerment in Kenya

The construction of CCI Tatu City had a socio-development focus, with the involvement of a female construction team, Buildher - a non-profit social enterprise in Kenya that equips disadvantaged young women with accredited construction skills and gives stable employment on urban development projects in Kenya. A cohort of 30 females worked on-site during construction and fit-out of CCI Tatu City, setting a new benchmark for women in the built environment in Africa.

The Buildher project aims to create financial prosperity for Kenyan women, change male attitudes, and promote gender equality within the African construction industry. The Buildher project is run by the CCI Tatu City developer Gateway Real Estate Africa.

About CCI Global

Tatu City now marks CCI's 17th international contact centre, with call centres across Kenya, Egypt, South Africa, Ethiopia, Ghana, and Rwanda.

CCI Global serves well-known companies from North America, UK, Australia, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, outsourcing their business processes to Africa, mainly customer service divisions. The company has a headcount of 15,000+ staff and serves over 80 companies across telecoms, media, mobile technology, financial services, hospitality, and healthcare.

As a firm that focuses on impact-sourcing , CCI works predominantly with large English-speaking companies to bring international roles to Africa to support job creation and digital skills development in African regions struggling with high unemployment.

About Tatu City

Tatu City is a 5,000-acre new city on Nairobi's doorstep with homes, schools, businesses, a shopping district, medical clinic, nature areas and recreation for more than 250,000 residents and tens of thousands of day visitors. Tatu City's schools educate thousands of students daily, a range of homes suits all incomes and more than 78 businesses thrive in the country's first operational Special Economic Zone. Located 30 minutes from Westlands, Tatu City represents a new way of living and thinking for all Kenyans in a live, work and play environment that is free from traffic congestion and long-distance commuting.

More than 78 local, regional and global businesses are operational or under development in Tatu City's business-friendly location, including CCI Global, Heineken, Karcher, Dormans, Copia, Cooper K-Brands, Grit Real Estate Income Group, Twiga Foods, Freight Forwarders Solutions, ADvTECH, Friendship Group and Davis & Shirtliff. Business benefits at Tatu City SEZ include VAT zero-rating, import and stamp duty exemptions and 10% corporate tax for the first 10 years.

Tatu City is a development by Rendeavour, Africa's largest new city builder with 30,000 acres of visionary projects in growth trajectories across Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

For more information about Rendeavour, please visit: https://www.rendeavour.com/

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2409717/CCI_Tatu_Call_Centre.jpg
Visionary leader of the Oberkotter Foundation dies at 88, leaving a lasting impact

PHILADELPHIA, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mildred L. Oberkotter, an extraordinary individual who dedicated her life to empowering children who are deaf or hard of hearing, passed away on May 9, 2024, in her home in Moss Beach, Calif. With her unwavering commitment and visionary leadership, she inspired thousands of children to believe that their dreams could come true.

Honoring Mildred L. Oberkotter, 1935-2024, a woman who inspired thousands of children who are deaf that their dreams could come true.

Born on May 18, 1935, in Los Angeles, Mildred affectionately known as Mildie faced profound deafness from a young age. In a time when hearing technology was nascent, her parents, Paul and Louise Oberkotter, defied the odds by embracing a communications approach to give her every opportunity to reach her full potential.

Mildie's parents believed that she could communicate through spoken language, and they sought out hearing specialists and resources to support her development. This early pursuit became the impetus for establishing the Oberkotter Foundation , which Paul and Louise would form 50 years later to support families and increase access to critical resources without needing to relocate or send their child away to boarding school.

Under Mildie's visionary leadership as a trustee, the Oberkotter Foundation flourished, making an indelible mark on the field of deaf education. Since its inception, the Foundation has provided more than $500 million to programs throughout the United States in support of its mission and created 25 new Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) programs.

The Foundation also produced the acclaimed documentary series " Dreams Spoken, " which has reached millions of parents and professionals worldwide. These films showcased the remarkable achievements of children who are deaf or hard of hearing, reinforcing the message that early intervention and appropriate support can transform lives.

In 2015, Mildie's visionary approach helped launch Hearing First , an initiative of the Oberkotter Foundation. Hearing First provides information, resources, education, and community connections to support families and the professionals who serve them so that children with hearing loss have the opportunity to learn to listen and talk.

In addition to Mildie's work with the Foundation, she worked at the Lexington School for the Deaf in New York and served on the boards of Weingarten Children's Center and AG Bell organizations that work to ensure people who are deaf and hard of hearing can learn to listen and talk.

The Oberkotter Foundation, under the continued guidance of dedicated trustees, will continue the work of bringing Mildred's vision to life. "Mildie left us a clear vision for where the Foundation should go and what it should achieve," said Dr. Teresa Caraway, Oberkotter Foundation CEO. "And as we enter this new chapter of the Foundation, we will bring her vision to life in new and exciting ways. Her legacy is not only what she has done but also what will be built on the foundation that she so carefully laid."

For more information about the celebration of Ms. Oberkotter's life, please visit www.oberkotterfoundation.org/celebrating-mildred-oberkotter .

In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing (AG Bell) , an organization that provides programs and support for children with hearing loss, from cradle to career, or to the Weingarten Children's Center , a non-profit school in Redwood City, CA, that teaches Listening and Spoken Language (LSL) to children who are deaf or hard of hearing.

ABOUT THE OBERKOTTER FOUNDATION

The Oberkotter Foundation helps families ensure their children who are deaf or hard of hearing have opportunities to reach their full potential through Listening and Spoken Language (LSL). The Foundation is committed to advancing science and innovation that will improve access to quality audiological and LSL services for children with hearing loss so that they develop age-appropriate listening, talking, and literacy skills.

Since 1985, the Foundation has provided over $500 million in funding to improve listening, spoken language, and literacy outcomes for children with hearing loss and their families.

For more information about the Oberkotter Foundation, visit www.oberkotterfoundation.org .

SOURCE Oberkotter Foundation
Adalimumab-aaty will be priced at an 85% discount to HUMIRA  (adalimumab)

Branded and unbranded versions of Celltrion USA's adalimumab biosimilar help provide more affordable options for patients

JERSEY CITY, N.J., May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Celltrion USA announced today that adalimumab-aaty, the company's high-concentration (100 mg/mL) and citrate-free formulation biosimilar to HUMIRA  (adalimumab), is now available at a low wholesale acquisition cost (WAC). Adalimumab-aaty will be priced as WAC list price at an 85% discount to the current WAC list price of HUMIRA. Adalimumab-aaty is also available from Celltrion USA under the brand name YUFLYMA, which launched in July 2023 and is available at a 5% discount to the current WAC list price of HUMIRA.

Adalimumab-aaty is approved for the treatment of eight conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis, and hidradenitis suppurativa.

"Access to medications in the U.S. has become increasingly complex, and there is so much value that biosimilars add with competition in the marketplace," said Thomas Nusbickel, Chief Commercial Officer at Celltrion USA. "The availability of branded and unbranded versions of adalimumab-aaty will improve the accessibility of adalimumab biosimilars in the U.S., providing economic benefits for patients and the overall healthcare system."

Adalimumab-aaty is available as 40 mg/0.4mL, 80 mg/0.8mL and 20 mg/0.2mL.

IMPORTANT SAFETY INFORMATION[1]

This important safety information also applies to YUFLYMA (adalimumab-aaty)

SERIOUS INFECTIONS

Patients treated with adalimumab-aaty are at increased risk for developing serious infections that may lead to hospitalization or death. Most patients who developed these infections were taking concomitant immunosuppressants such as methotrexate or corticosteroids.

Discontinue adalimumab-aaty if a patient develops a serious infection or sepsis.

Reported infections include:

Active tuberculosis (TB), including reactivation of latent TB. Patients with TB have frequently presented with disseminated or extrapulmonary disease. Test patients for latent TB before adalimumab-aaty use and during therapy. Initiate treatment for latent TB prior to adalimumab-aaty use.

Invasive fungal infections, including histoplasmosis, coccidioidomycosis, candidiasis, aspergillosis, blastomycosis, and pneumocystosis. Patients with histoplasmosis or other invasive fungal infections may present with disseminated, rather than localized, disease. Antigen and antibody testing for histoplasmosis may be negative in some patients with active infection. Consider empiric antifungal therapy in patients at risk for invasive fungal infections who develop severe systemic illness.

Bacterial, viral, and other infections due to opportunistic pathogens, including Legionella and Listeria.

Carefully consider the risks and benefits of treatment with adalimumab-aaty prior to initiating therapy in patients with chronic or recurrent infection.

Monitor patients closely for the development of signs and symptoms of infection during and after treatment with adalimumab-aaty, including the possible development of TB in patients who tested negative for latent TB infection prior to initiating therapy.

Treatment with adalimumab-aaty should not be initiated in patients with an active infection, including localized infections.

Patients over 65 years of age, patients with co-morbid conditions and/or patients taking concomitant immunosuppressants (such as corticosteroids or methotrexate), may be at greater risk of infection. Discontinue adalimumab-aaty if a patient develops a serious infection or sepsis. For a patient who develops a new infection during treatment with adalimumab-aaty, closely monitor them, perform a prompt and complete diagnostic workup appropriate for an immunocompromised patient, and initiate appropriate antimicrobial therapy.

Drug interactions with biologic products: In clinical studies in patients with RA, an increased risk of serious infections has been observed with the combination of TNF blockers with anakinra or abatacept, with no added benefit; therefore, use of adalimumab-aaty with abatacept or anakinra is not recommended in patients with RA. A higher rate of serious infections has also been observed in patients with RA treated with rituximab who received subsequent treatment with a TNF blocker. There is insufficient information regarding the concomitant use of adalimumab-aaty and other biologic products for the treatment of RA, PsA, AS, CD, UC, PS, and HS. Concomitant administration of adalimumab-aaty with other biologic DMARDs (e.g., anakinra and abatacept) or other TNF blockers is not recommended based upon the possible increased risk for infections and other potential pharmacological interactions. A higher rate of serious infections has been observed in RA patients treated with rituximab who received subsequent treatment with a TNF blocker.

MALIGNANCY

Lymphoma and other malignancies, some fatal, have been reported in children and adolescent patients treated with TNF blockers, including adalimumab products. Postmarketing cases of hepatosplenic T-cell lymphoma (HSTCL), a rare type of T-cell lymphoma, have been reported in patients treated with TNF blockers, including adalimumab products. These cases have had a very aggressive disease course and have been fatal. The majority of reported TNF blocker cases have occurred in patients with Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis and the majority were in adolescent and young adult males. Almost all of these patients had received treatment with azathioprine or 6-mercaptopurine concomitantly with a TNF blocker at or prior to diagnosis. It is uncertain whether the occurrence of HSTCL is related to the use of a TNF blocker or a TNF blocker in combination with these other immunosuppressants.

Consider the risks and benefits of TNF blocker treatment including adalimumab-aaty prior to initiating therapy in patients with a known malignancy other than a successfully treated non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC), or when considering continuing a TNF blocker in patients who develop a malignancy.

In controlled portions of clinical trials of some adalimumab products, more cases of malignancies have been observed compared to control-treated adult patients.

Non-melanoma skin cancer (NMSC) was reported during clinical trials for patients treated with adalimumab products. During the controlled portions of 39 global adalimumab clinical trials in adult patients with RA, PsA, AS, CD, UC, PS and HS, the rate (95% confidence interval) of NMSC was 0.8 (0.52, 1.09) per 100 patient-years among adalimumab-treated patients and 0.2 (0.10, 0.59) per 100 patient-years among control-treated patients. Examine all patients, particularly those with a medical history of prior prolonged immunosuppressant therapy or psoriasis patients with a history of PUVA treatment, for the presence of NMSC prior to and during treatment with adalimumab-aaty.

In clinical trials of some adalimumab products, there was an approximately threefold higher rate of lymphoma than expected in the general U.S. population. Patients with RA and other chronic inflammatory diseases, particularly those with highly active disease and/or chronic exposure to immunosuppressant therapies, may be at a higher risk (up to severalfold) than the general population for the development of lymphoma, even in the absence of TNF blockers.

Postmarketing cases of acute and chronic leukemia were reported with the use of a TNF blocker in RA and other indications. Approximately half of the postmarketing cases of malignancies in children, adolescents, and young adults receiving adalimumab were lymphomas; other cases represented a variety of different malignancies and included rare malignancies usually associated with immunosuppression and malignancies that are not usually observed in children and adolescents.

HYPERSENSITIVITY

Anaphylaxis and angioneurotic edema have been reported following administration of adalimumab products. If an anaphylactic or other serious allergic reaction occurs, immediately discontinue administration of adalimumab-aaty and institute appropriate therapy.

HEPATITIS B VIRUS REACTIVATION

Use of TNF blockers, including adalimumab-aaty, may increase the risk of reactivation of hepatitis B virus (HBV) in patients who are chronic carriers. In some instances, HBV reactivation occurring in conjunction with TNF blocker therapy has been fatal.

Evaluate patients at risk for HBV infection for prior evidence of HBV infection before initiating TNF blocker therapy.

Exercise caution in prescribing TNF blockers for patients identified as carriers of HBV and closely monitor such patients for clinical and laboratory signs of active HBV infection throughout therapy and for several months following termination of therapy.

In patients who develop HBV reactivation, stop adalimumab-aaty and initiate effective antiviral therapy with appropriate supportive treatment. The safety of resuming TNF blocker therapy after HBV reactivation is controlled is not known. Therefore, exercise caution when considering resumption of adalimumab-aaty therapy in this situation and monitor patients closely.

NEUROLOGIC REACTIONS

Use of TNF blocking agents, including adalimumab products, has been associated with rare cases of new onset or exacerbation of clinical symptoms and/or radiographic evidence of central nervous system demyelinating disease, including multiple sclerosis (MS) and optic neuritis, and peripheral demyelinating disease, including Guillain-Barre syndrome.

Exercise caution in considering the use of adalimumab-aaty in patients with preexisting or recent-onset central or peripheral nervous system demyelinating disorders; discontinuation of adalimumab-aaty should be considered if any of these disorders develop.

There is a known association between intermediate uveitis and central demyelinating disorders.

HEMATOLOGIC REACTIONS

Rare reports of pancytopenia including aplastic anemia have been reported with TNF blocking agents.

Adverse reactions of the hematologic system, including medically significant cytopenia, have been infrequently reported with adalimumab products.

Consider discontinuation of adalimumab-aaty therapy in patients with confirmed significant hematologic abnormalities.

HEART FAILURE

Cases of worsening congestive heart failure (CHF) and new-onset CHF have been reported with TNF blockers. Cases of worsening CHF have also been observed with adalimumab products.

Exercise caution when using adalimumab-aaty in patients who have heart failure and monitor them carefully.

AUTOIMMUNITY

Treatment with adalimumab products may result in the formation of autoantibodies and, rarely, in the development of a lupus-like syndrome. If a patient develops symptoms suggestive of a lupus-like syndrome following treatment with adalimumab-aaty, discontinue treatment.

IMMUNIZATIONS

Patients on adalimumab-aaty may receive concurrent vaccinations, except for live vaccines.

It is recommended that pediatric patients, if possible, be brought up to date with all immunizations in agreement with current immunization guidelines prior to initiating adalimumab-aaty therapy.

No data are available on the secondary transmission of infection by live vaccines in patients receiving adalimumab products.

The safety of administering live or live-attenuated vaccines in infants exposed to adalimumab in utero is unknown. Risks and benefits should be considered prior to vaccinating (live or live-attenuated) exposed infants.

ADVERSE REACTIONS

The most common adverse reactions in adalimumab clinical trials (>10%) were: infections (e.g., upper respiratory, sinusitis), injection site reactions, headache, and rash.

INDICATIONS

Adalimumab-aaty is a tumor necrosis factor (TNF) blocker indicated for:

Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA): reducing signs and symptoms, inducing major clinical response, inhibiting the progression of structural damage, and improving physical function in adult patients with moderately to severely active RA

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA): reducing signs and symptoms of moderately to severely active polyarticular JIA in patients 2 years of age and older

Psoriatic Arthritis (PsA): reducing signs and symptoms, inhibiting the progression of structural damage, and improving physical function in adult patients with active PsA

Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS): reducing signs and symptoms in adult patients with active AS

Crohn's Disease (CD): treatment of moderately to severely active Crohn's disease in adults and pediatric patients 6 years of age and older

Ulcerative Colitis (UC): treatment of moderately to severely active ulcerative colitis in adults

Limitations of Use: Effectiveness has not been established in patients who have lost response to or were intolerant to TNF blockers

Effectiveness has not been established in patients who have lost response to or were intolerant to TNF blockers Plaque Psoriasis (Ps): treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis who are candidates for systemic therapy or phototherapy, and when other systemic therapies are medically less appropriate

Hidradenitis Suppurativa (HS): treatment of adult patients with moderate to severe hidradenitis suppurativa

Please see full Prescribing Information including Boxed Warning for adalimumab-aaty

About adalimumab-aaty[1]

Adalimumab-aaty is an unbranded version of YUFLYMA (CT-P17, biosimilar adalimumab). YUFLYMA is a recombinant fully human antitumour necrosis factor  (anti-TNF) monoclonal antibody. YUFLYMA is FDA-approved for the treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, plaque psoriasis and Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Following the launch of 40mg/0.4mL in July 2023 and 80mg/0.8mL in December 2023, additional dosage form of 20mg/0.2mL was launched in the U.S. in March 2024.

About Celltrion USA

Celltrion USA is Celltrion's U.S. subsidiary established in 2018. Headquartered in New Jersey, Celltrion USA is committed to expanding access to innovative biologics to improve care for U.S. patients. Celltrion currently has five biosimilars approved by the U.S. FDA: INFLECTRA (infliximab-dyyb), TRUXIMA (rituximab-abbs), HERZUMA (trastuzumab-pkrb), VEGZELMA (bevacizumab-adcd) and YUFLYMA(adalimumab-aaty) as well as a new biologic ZYMFENTRA. Celltrion USA will continue to leverage Celltrion's unique heritage in biotechnology, supply chain excellence and best-in-class sales capabilities to improve access to high-quality biopharmaceuticals for U.S. patients. For more information, please visit: www.celltrionusa.com/

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENT

Certain information set forth in this press release contains statements related to our future business and financial performance and future events or developments involving Celltrion that may constitute forward-looking statements, under pertinent securities laws.

These statements may be identified by words such as "prepares," "hopes to," "upcoming," "plans to," "aims to," "to be launched," "is preparing," "once gained," "could," "with the aim of," "may," "once identified," "will," "working towards," "is due," "become available," "has potential to," the negative of these words or such other variations thereon or comparable terminology.

In addition, our representatives may make oral forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the current expectations and certain assumptions of Celltrion's management, of which many are beyond its control.

Forward-looking statements are provided to allow potential investors the opportunity to understand management's beliefs and opinions with respect to the future so that they may use such beliefs and opinions as one factor in evaluating an investment. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and undue reliance should not be placed on them.

Such forward-looking statements necessarily involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties, which may cause actual performance and financial results in future periods to differ materially from any projections of future performance or results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Such Risks and uncertainties may include, among other things, uncertainties regarding the launch timing and commercial success of Celltrion in the United States; the uncertainties inherent in supply chain, manufacturing, research and development, and the possibility of unfavorable new clinical data and further analyses of existing clinical data as it relates to Celltrion products; intellectual property and/or litigation/settlement implications; decisions by the FDA impacting labeling, manufacturing processes, safety, promotion, and/or other matters that could affect the availability or commercial potential of Celltrion products; and uncertainties regarding access challenges for our biosimilar products where our product may not receive appropriate formulary access or remains in a disadvantaged position relative to competitive products; and competitive developments. A further description of risks and uncertainties can be found in Celltrion's Annual Report.

Although forward-looking statements contained in this presentation are based upon what management of Celltrion believes are reasonable assumptions, 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. Celltrion undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements if circumstances or management's estimates or opinions should change except as required by applicable securities laws. The reader is cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements.

Trademarks

HUMIRA is a registered trademark of AbbVie Biotechnology Ltd.

YUFLYMA is a registered trademark of Celltrion, Inc., used under license.

References

[1] Adalimumab-aaty U.S. prescribing information

US-YUF-24-00007 04/24

Contacts

Sarah Amundsen

[email protected]

+1 920-946-0918

SOURCE Celltrion USA
ANKARA, Turkiye, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Chairperson of the Digital Technologies Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) - Digital Technologies Business Council and the Founder of Cerebrum Tech, Recep Erdem Erkul, PhD, was appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea in Sivas.

Sivas Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea Erdem Erkul (on the left), Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Turkiye Yeondoo Jeong (on the right)

Technology entrepreneur R. Erdem Erkul, PhD, was appointed as the Honorary Consul of the Republic of Korea in Sivas. Erkul received the appointment certificate from the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to the Republic of Turkiye Yeondoo Jeong, at the ceremony held at the embassy building in Ankara.

Expressing his gratitude to Ambassador Jeong for entrusting the duty to him on behalf of the Republic of Korea, Mr.Erkul stated that the relationship between the two countries has been getting stronger every year since the first establishment of diplomatic relations in 1957. Erkul also mentioned that he takes pride in contributing to the development of the commercial and cultural relations of the two countries with the professional experiences he has gained working for non-governmental organizations and top international private sector companies.

Erkul is a respected technology entrepreneur known for his work in non-governmental organizations in the Republic of Turkiye and the Republic of Korea and his work for the development of the technology sector.

Between 2014 and 2018, Erkul served as a director and company spokesperson at Samsung Electronics Turkiye, the Republic of Korea's technology giant, taking part in various R&D and innovation projects between the two countries.

Erkul founded the new-generation technology company Cerebrum Tech in 2021, and one of its six offices worldwide is located in Seoul, the capital of the Republic of Korea. He also has been serving as the Chairperson of the Digital Technologies Business Council of the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DEIK) for two terms, currently.

Photo - https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/2409757/Cerebrum_Tech.jpg

SOURCE Cerebrum Tech
PARIS, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On the evening of May 4, the "Sino-French Gastronomy Carnival" began along the Seine River in Paris, France. This carnival was supported by the Chinese Embassy in France and the World Federation of Chinese Catering Industry and is one of the highlights of the 2024 Sino-French exquisite cultural exchange activities. It featured French and Chinese culinary displays, culinary cultural exchanges, and artistic performances, and was attended by over 70 important guests from the cultural and culinary fields of both China and France. The "Charm of Jiangsu" food culture exchange exhibition, brought by the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism, impressed the locals.

Guests appreciate the Chinese tea performance.

Jiangsu Province is home to a rich historical legacy, and its unique culinary culture has become a significant representation of Chinese culture on the international stage. In 2019 and 2021, UNESCO recognized Yangzhou and Huai'an as Cities of gastronomy. Additionally, UNESCO put "Chinese Traditional Tea-making Techniques and Related Customs", which includes Suzhou Biluochun Tea, Nanjing Yuhua Tea, and Yangzhou Fuchun Tea Snacks Production Techniques, on its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2022.

At the event, the French guests were greatly impressed by Jiangsu's Biluochun green tea. They appreciated its rich aroma, deep cultural significance, and the exquisite traditional tea-making techniques used to produce it. The Jiangsu-style tea snacks provided by the Overseas Practice Base of Yangzhou University's School of Tourism and Culinary Arts also offered the guests a delightful combination of flavors. Additionally, the micro-documentary series "Jiangsu Culture" highlighted Huaiyang Cuisine, while the tea-themed travel guide "Jiangsu Glimpses" showcased Jiangsu's culinary and tea culture through a diverse range of visual images and multiple languages.

Jiangsu is a well-known tea region and a center of tea culture in China. In recent years, it has organized various events to promote tea globally. These events include themed promotions such as "Tea and the World" and "Tea and the World: Elegant Gathering in Jiangsu". This year marks the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France, and the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism plans to continue using food and culture as bridges to promote cultural exchanges and mutual understanding between two countries. It will also continue to showcase the charm of Jiangsu globally.

SOURCE Jiangsu Provincial Department of Culture and Tourism
NEW YORK, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The global chatbot market size is estimated to grow by USD 3193.3 million from 2023-2027, according to Technavio. The market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 29.59% during the forecast period.

For more insights on the forecast market size and historical data (2017 - 2021) - Buy Report

Technavio has announced its latest market research report titled Global Chatbot Market 2023-2027

Report Coverage Details Base year 2022 Historic period 2017 - 2021 Forecast period 2023-2027 Growth momentum & CAGR Accelerate at a CAGR of 29.59% Market growth 2023-2027 USD 3193.3 million Market structure Fragmented YoY growth 2022-2023 (%) 26.49 Regional analysis North America, APAC, Europe, South America, and Middle East and Africa Performing market contribution North America at 37% Key countries US, China, Japan, UK, and Germany Key companies profiled 247.ai Inc., Acuvate, Aivo, Alphabet Inc., Amazon.com Inc., Artificial Solutions International AB, Avaamo Inc., Botsify, Creative Virtual Ltd., eGain Corp., Inbenta Holdings Inc., International Business Machines Corp., Kore.ai Inc., Microsoft Corp., Oracle Corp., ServiceNow Inc., Zoom Video Communications Inc., Conversica Inc., Meta Platforms Inc., and OpenAI L.L.C.

Market Driver

Chatbots have become an integral part of omnichannel communication, connecting users with businesses through various platforms. Microsoft Bot Connector, for instance, links bots with channels like Skype, email, and more. The digital age has significantly transformed interactions, with Meta's messaging apps (Messenger and WhatsApp) sending 60 billion messages daily. Banking notifications from Bank of America and food orders from Burger King are just a few examples of how users engage with businesses via Facebook Messenger bot apps. The chatbot industry thrives on keywords such as online shopping, product selections, comments, recommendation algorithms, nearby stores, opening hours, contact information, upcoming products, Instacart, OpenAI's ChatGPT technology, AI language tools, conversational experiences, messaging channels, messaging services, social networking sites, and APIs. Self-learning chatbots, powered by Generative models, Natural Language Processing (NLP), GPT-4, and AI advancements, offer personalized customer intent solutions. Audio/voice bots and IT and ITeS sectors also leverage chatbot technology, making it an essential tool for businesses.

Market Challenges

The chatbot market faces challenges including low awareness in developing countries, lack of standardization, and concerns over security and privacy. Telecom, healthcare, and financial organizations, among others, utilize chatbots for customer service, AI technology, and natural language processing. Key players include messaging facilities, standalone and website chatbots, voice recognition, and chatbot developers. Messenger applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger are popular platforms. Chatbots handle customer queries, provide instant service, and offer actionable insights, enhancing user experience and customer satisfaction. However, the market growth is hindered by concerns over data security and working hour limitations for customer service employees.

Research report provides comprehensive data on impact of trend, driver and challenges - Request a sample report!

Segment Overview

This chatbot market report extensively covers market segmentation by

End-user

1.1 Retail

1.2 BFSI

1.3 Government

1.4 Travel and hospitality

1.5 Others

Product

2.1 Solutions

2.2 Services

Geography

3.1 North America

3.2 APAC

3.3 Europe

3.4 South America

3.5 Middle East and Africa



1.1 Retail- The chatbot market is experiencing significant growth in various sectors, including telecom, healthcare, and financial organizations. Customer service activities are being revolutionized through artificial intelligence technology, with messaging facilities and natural language processing at the forefront. Open AI chatbots and standalone chatbots are being integrated into websites and messenger applications to provide instant service and actionable insights for consumers.

Telecom companies are utilizing chatbots to handle customer queries efficiently, reducing the workload on customer service employees during peak hours. In healthcare, chatbots are used for patient consultations and appointment scheduling, providing 24/7 assistance and improving user experience. Grocery outlets are also adopting chatbots to enhance customer experience, enabling users to place orders and receive mobile alerts for updates and in-store purchases.

Voice recognition technology is being used to create a more personalized and seamless interaction between users and chatbots. Chatbot developers are continuously improving AI and NLP software applications to provide prompt relevant answers to user intents, meeting market requirements and delivering correct information to enterprises and leads. Messaging applications like WhatsApp, WeChat, and Facebook Messenger are becoming essential chatbot interfaces, enabling businesses to engage with their customers effectively and efficiently. In conclusion, chatbots are transforming customer experience touchpoints across various industries, providing instant service, actionable insights, and a more personalized user experience. User intent is being promptly addressed, and enterprises are benefiting from the ability to provide correct information and leads to their customers, even outside of working hours. For more information on market segmentation with geographical analysis including forecast (2023-2027) and historic data (2017-2021) - Download a Sample Report

Research Analysis

The Chatbot Market is experiencing significant growth due to advancements in Artificial Intelligence technology, particularly in the realm of Generative Models and Natural Language Processing. OpenAI's GPT-4 is leading the way with its self-learning capabilities, enabling chatbots to provide prompt relevant answers to user intents. These AI-powered chatbots are revolutionizing customer service activities in various industries, including financial organizations and grocery outlets. Messaging facilities equipped with NLP software applications are becoming the new customer experience touchpoints, allowing for consumer analytics and enhancing user experience. OpenAI's chatbot interface is setting new standards for virtual assistants, providing a more human-like interaction and understanding user prompts to deliver accurate and relevant responses. APIs are making it easier for businesses to integrate these advanced chatbots into their systems, further expanding their reach and utility. Self-learning chatbots are the future of customer service, offering a more efficient and effective solution for businesses and consumers alike.

Market Research Overview

In the dynamic and evolving landscape of technology, chatbots have emerged as a prominent solution for businesses seeking to enhance customer engagement and streamline operations. The Chatbot Market is characterized by a diverse range of applications, from customer service and support to marketing and sales. These intelligent agents employ Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies to understand and respond to user queries, providing a personalized and efficient experience. The market is further propelled by the increasing adoption of messaging apps and social media platforms, which serve as the primary channels for chatbot deployment. The Chatbot Market is expected to grow significantly in the coming years, driven by the continuous advancements in AI and the increasing demand for 24/7 customer support.

Table of Contents:

1 Executive Summary

2 Market Landscape

3 Market Sizing

4 Historic Market Size

5 Five Forces Analysis

6 Market Segmentation

End-user

Retail



BFSI



Government



Travel And Hospitality



Others

Product

Solutions



Services

Geography

North America



APAC



Europe



South America



Middle East And Africa

7 Customer Landscape

8 Geographic Landscape

9 Drivers, Challenges, and Trends

10 Company Landscape

11 Company 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
BELLEVUE, Wash., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Evergreen Home Loans, a comprehensive home loan provider offering origination, funding, and servicing in the Western U.S., as well as being licensed in 11 states, has been recognized at the 2024 Puget Sound Business Journal's Corporate Philanthropy Awards. This marks the fourth consecutive year that Evergreen Home Loans has received this honor.

The Corporate Philanthropy Awards celebrate top corporate citizens who have significantly contributed to their communities through philanthropic efforts. This prestigious event highlights the impactful work accomplished by all honorees in supporting various causes across the region.

"Our commitment to enriching our local community is extremely important to us," said Don Burton, Founder and CEO of Evergreen Home Loans. "Receiving this recognition honors our team's efforts and our belief that even small acts of kindness can create ripple effects of change."

The company rankings were unveiled on May 10th, 2024, and featured in the print edition of the Puget Sound Business Journal.

To discover more about Evergreen Home Loans or explore career opportunities, please visit www.evergreenhomeloans.com and www.evergreenhomeloans.com/why-evergreen/mortgage-jobs.

About Evergreen Home Loans With offices across seven Western statesArizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and WashingtonEvergreen Home Loans also holds licensing to originate loans in Colorado, Texas, and Wyoming. For over three decades, Evergreen has provided the local communities with affordable home financing solutions, focusing solely on home lending. An A+ rated entity by the Better Business Bureau and a proud affiliate of the Washington Mortgage Bankers Association and Mortgage Bankers Association, Evergreen Home Loans offers a diverse portfolio of loan products including FHA and VA, Conventional, Jumbo, USDA loans, refinancing, and construction financing options. Further details are available at www.evergreenhomeloans.com. Evergreen Home Loans is a registered trade name of Evergreen Moneysource Mortgage Company NMLS ID 3182. Visit www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org for individual and company license information.

Media Contact:

Selah Terwilliger

Senior Marketing Manager

[email protected]

(425) 400-8831

SOURCE Evergreen Moneysource Mortgage Company dba Evergreen Home Loans
After Wells College announced that it will close at the end of this semester, Dr. Heather MacAdam's patients at the campus medical center had higher blood pressure than normal.

MacAdam, the medical director at the Community Medical Center in Aurora, told The Citizen this week it has been flooded with calls from patients worried it would close along with the college, forcing them to find new doctors. But the center, which is located at 18 Wells Road on the grounds of the private college, plans to keep its doors open even after Wells closes its own, she said.

"I've been nothing but positive and reassuring," she said. "We do not want the patients and community to feel fearful that they're not going to be able to access their primary care provider."

Hearing those words lowered a few blood pressures, MacAdam said. The center has almost 2,000 patients, an average of 30 a day, some she has been seeing since joining it in 1998.

The facility has provided care to Wells students since 1962, and community members since 1974. It also has contracts for medical services with the Moravia and Southern Cayuga school districts, and 12 local fire departments. Concern for those patients and the community is one reason MacAdam has been at the center for more than 25 years.

"That's the job satisfaction of primary care. Your patients become your family and you become part of their family," she said.

"That's just what I love. I don't want to see other patients, I want to see those that are like my family to me."

MacAdam, who owns the practice through Family Care Medical Group in Syracuse, has spoken with Wells attorneys about taking ownership of the center's building. The college's lawyers warned her of the possibility of the New York State Education Department and the state attorney general's office getting involved, she said, but she hasn't spoken with anyone from either department.

The center finds itself in a similar position to Peachtown Elementary School, which is also on the Aurora campus and wants to continue operating after the college closes.

MacAdam said she and Alyssa Binns Gunderson, Peachtown's head of school, are looking into legal representation.

"With the attorney general getting involved, it's not just a simple matter of a transfer of real estate. It's a lot more complicated than that, apparently," MacAdam said.

The college said on its website that it is working with the attorney general's office, along with the center and the elementary school, on a "long-term solution" while both continue as normal.

Despite the potential for complications, MacAdam is optimistic she will be able to take over the building and keep the center open. Wells President Jonathan Gibralter has given his verbal support for MacAdam taking ownership of the building, she said, and Aurora Mayor Jim Orman has also expressed support. Their backing is encouraging, MacAdam added.
ORLANDO, Fla., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- EverSmith Brands, a leading business-to-business franchise platform in the commercial facilities sector, is excited to announce the appointment of Ken Hutcheson as its new Chief Executive Officer, effective May 6, 2024.

With a robust network of ~290 franchised locations across the US, Canada and South Africa, EverSmith Brands has been consistently outpacing industry growth with an impressive ~9% CAGR over the past few years, solidifying its position as the go-to partner for comprehensive facility maintenance solutions.

Ken Hutcheson brings to the table a wealth of experience, most recently as President of EverSmith's Landscaping and Snow Segments, U.S. Lawns and its Canadian sister brand, Clintar. He was responsible for leveraging their combined strengths for enhanced market presence and operational efficiency. With nearly three decades of experience leading U.S. Lawns, Ken has demonstrated exceptional leadership and a deep understanding of the facility services industry, making him the ideal candidate to lead EverSmith Brands into its next phase of growth.

Commenting on his appointment, Ken expressed his excitement about the opportunity to drive EverSmith Brands' continued expansion and build upon its legacy of success. "I am honored to lead EverSmith Brands as we embark on this exciting journey," said Ken. "With our aligned values, dedication to franchise owners, and proven model for success, I am confident that we are well-positioned for continued growth and innovation."

"Under Ken's visionary leadership, we're poised to enter an exciting new chapter of growth and service excellence," said Tom Silk, Operating Partner overseeing EverSmith Brands. "Our commitment to providing outstanding support to our franchise partners remains unwavering, and we are confident that Ken is the right person to elevate our offerings to even greater heights."

As EverSmith Brands continues to expand its footprint and invest in the latest technology and best practices, the company is dedicated to maintaining the highest standards of service that customers and franchisees have come to expect.

For more information about EverSmith Brands, please visit www.eversmithbrands.com.

About EverSmith Brands

EverSmith Brands is a platform of strong and growing business-to-business franchised brands, dedicated to serving the commercial facilities sector. A portfolio company of The Riverside Company, EverSmith Brands encompasses Clintar, KitchenGuard, MilliCare, and U.S. Lawns, each known for their commitment to excellence and customer satisfaction

Media Contact:

Stacy Leger

Director of Marketing, Landscape and Snow Segment

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE EverSmith Brands
NEW YORK, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Fenix Nickel Co., the US owner of Guatemalan nickel producers Compania Guatemalteca de Niquel (CGN) and Compania Procesadora de Niquel de Izabal, S.A. (PRONICO) declares its backing for the Solidarist Miners Association of El Estor (AMSE), which has urgently appealed for U.S. support as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Guatemala.

More than 500 Guatemalan ex-employees from El Estor have urged the U.S. to assist in reopening the Fenix nickel mine, aiming to re-employ over 1,700 workers and alleviate the pressures driving them towards the U.S. border. AMSE has highlighted the severe hardships faced by the workers due to the mine's shutdown, compelling many former employees to seek employment in the United States, often with tragic outcomes, including deaths during perilous journeys north.



The association stresses that restarting the Fenix mine operations is critical not only for the local economy but could also significantly curb the flow of illegal immigration to the United States. Despite the removal of US sanctions on CGN and Pronico, the entities operating the mine, there remains a baffling delay in the mine's reopening.



"We kindly seek the support of the U.S. Government in our dialogue with the Guatemalan authorities to expedite the issuance of these essential export licenses. This action will ensure the mine's rapid reopening and the re-employment of its workforce," stated a spokesperson for AMSE.



Expressing gratitude to Secretary Blinken for his attention to this pressing matter, AMSE underscores the mutual benefits that reopening the mine would bring to both Guatemala and the United States.

SOURCE Fenix Nickel Co.
Srivastava, a cardiologist and stem cell pioneer, has served in the top leadership role at Gladstone Institutes since 2018; he's recognized as one of the Bay Area's most revered executives.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The San Francisco Business Times has named Gladstone Institutes President Deepak Srivastava, MD, as one of the Most Admired CEOs among Bay Area businesses and nonprofits. In an article now appearing in the weekly publication, Srivastava is noted for his inspiring leadership style and ability to successfully navigate both the nonprofit research landscape and the startup biotech world.

Deepak Srivastava, MD, a cardiologist and stem cell pioneer, has served in the top leadership role at Gladstone Institutes since 2018; He's recognized as one of the Bay Areas most revered executives in the latest issue of the San Francisco Business Times.

Srivastava has led Gladstone since 2018, the third president in the organization's history. But he's played an instrumental role at Gladstone for nearly 20 years, having joined as director of the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease in 2005. In addition to serving as president, Srivastava is a senior investigator at Gladstone, running a 20-person lab focused on gene networks that guide the development of the heart; his lab's discoveries have shed new light on genetic drivers of heart disease and uncovered novel strategies for repairing heart damage.

Srivastava also is director of the Roddenberry Stem Cell Center at Gladstone and holds the title of Robert W. and Linda Mahley Distinguished Professor. Additionally, he is a professor at UC San Francisco and an attending physician in pediatric cardiology at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals.

"Deepak is a natural leader who very quickly engendered the trust and respect of all the faculty and administration here at Gladstone," says Robert Mahley, MD, PhD, president emeritus and founder of Gladstone, and a senior investigator in the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease. "He's leading a group of highly motivated people, including some of the most brilliant scientists in the world, which is not a job for just anyone. And he's able to do that successfully while also engaging with the larger scientific world and the Bay Area community."

Gladstone, known for its explicit focus on disease research, is composed of five deeply interconnected institutes specializing in the areas of cardiovascular disease, neurology, virology, immunology, and data science and biotechnology. The organization's more-than 600 biologists, chemists, engineers, and data scientists bring a deeply mechanistic understanding of how the human body works and what goes wrong in disease. But they don't stop there; driven by the potential to save human lives, they work to advance their discoveries into the clinic in the form of new treatments or even cures.

Among Srivastava's most admirable leadership qualities, says Mahley, are his ability to build momentum around the organization's disease-focused mission and create consensus among Gladstone's diverse team of scientists and staff: "He solicits opinions and is exceptionally good at listening. He works to ensure a very inclusive leadership."

A key to Gladstone's success has been Srivastava's ability to identify and recruit extraordinary talent, including two scientists, Shinya Yamanaka, MD, PhD, and Jennifer Doudna, PhD, who subsequently received Nobel prizes for their discoveries in stem cell biology and gene editing, respectively.

On top of this, Srivastava has a keen sense of how to translate scientific findings into therapies that will benefit patients. In 2016, he joined with fellow Gladstone scientists and local venture capitalists to launch Tenaya Therapeutics, a biopharmaceutical company that's advancing cardiovascular discoveries made at Gladstone. The company, focused on regenerative medicine and drug discovery for heart failure, now has multiple programs in clinical stages. Srivastava serves on Tenaya's board of directors and chairs the scientific advisory board.

"The Bay Area is a beacon for the world's business elite, so to be named among the San Francisco Business Times' most admired leaders is one of the best compliments I could receive," Srivastava says. "I feel grateful every day that I have the opportunity to lead Gladstone during this pivotal time for human health. Very few places in the country have Gladstone's caliber of science, the collaborative culture, and the resources we have to change the future of medicine. It's so much more than a job to me. It's the potential to save lives."

Srivastava has laid out ambitious plans for the future growth of Gladstone, with goals to add considerable lab space and hundreds of new scientists, as well as expanded capabilities in AI and clinical translation.

"We're living in an extraordinary time for science and medicine," Srivastava says. "Advances in genetic engineering, AI, and stem cell biology are changing what's possible for human healthand, for the first time, it's realistic to contemplate cures, not just treatments. Gladstone is at the forefront of this revolution, and I have never been more hopeful about the future we can create."

The San Francisco Business Times will honor Srivastava at its Most Admired CEOs gala on May 16.

About Gladstone Institutes

Gladstone Institutes is an independent, nonprofit life science research organization that uses visionary science and technology to overcome disease. Established in 1979, it is located in the epicenter of biomedical and technological innovation, in the Mission Bay neighborhood of San Francisco. Gladstone has created a research model that disrupts how science is done, funds big ideas, and attracts the brightest minds.

CONTACT: Kelly Quigley,

[email protected]

SOURCE Gladstone Institutes
12th annual Hatch Off brings organic skincare business to Detroit

DETROIT, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The winner of the 2024 Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest by TechTown has been crowned! G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs is the winner of the 12th annual Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest, taking home the $100,000 grand prize from Comerica Bank to open the brick-and-mortar business of their dreams.

As the winner of the 2024 Hatch Off, G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs will receive technical assistance from TechTown and its partners, in addition to the $100,000 business grant from Comerica Bank, to kickstart and open a brick-and-mortar business in Detroit, Hamtramck or Highland Park.

G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs was crowned the winner of the 12th annual Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest, taking home the $100,000 grand prize from Comerica Bank during the Hatch Off event on Thursday, May 9, at the Wayne State University Industry Innovation Center in Detroit.

G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs is a certified woman- and minority-owned business based in Detroit, specializing in natural, organic body scrubs. They provide jobs, training and mentorship to underserved individuals, especially women who have been victims of domestic violence and human trafficking, as well as returning citizens.

Owner and founder of G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs, Tiffany Cartwright, launched her business in 2018 after losing her job. As a new mom determined to soothe her daughter's eczema without harsh products, Cartwright turned to the kitchen to concoct a solution with natural ingredients that would not be harmful to the skin, and G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs was born.

With the $100,000 business grant from Comerica Bank, Cartwright plans to set up shop for her G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs storefront in the Rosedale Park community.

This year, the three runner-up finalists were also awarded a $10,000 grant to assist with the opening of their storefronts, courtesy of TechTown's Small Business Support Hub grant from the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.

"TechTown is incredibly proud of G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs on this remarkable entrepreneurial feat and well-deserved win. We're thrilled to be part of their continued business journey and have the utmost confidence that each of these Top 4 businesses will add a unique vibrancy to Detroit's small business landscape," said Christianne Malone, assistant vice president for economic development at Wayne State University and TechTown Detroit's chief program officer. "TechTown's commitment to nurturing entrepreneurship doesn't end with the Hatch Off; incubating Detroit's small businesses is a year-round endeavor supported by our entrepreneurial and technical assistance programs that provide ongoing support to our winning alumni and top finalists."

Throughout the 2024 Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest, public vote determined which businesses advanced in the competition, narrowing 10 semi-finalists down to four finalists. After more than 13,500 votes were cast, the four finalists  G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs, Harry Rich Clothier, Khana and Roller Skate Detroit  were selected by and introduced to the public.

A second round of public voting opened on May 1 and concluded at tonight's event after all the finalists pitched their business ideas live to a panel of judges and an audience of their community, families and peers. Top of Form

After a close race determined by public votes and the judges' deliberation, G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs was crowned the winner at the Hatch Off event on Thursday, May 9, at the Wayne State University Industry Innovation Center in Detroit.

"Comerica Bank recognizes the dedication and grit of every finalist that advanced to this stage of the competition. It is truly commendable, a testament to the bright future in store for each of these businesses entering Detroit's small business economy," said Steve Davis, Comerica Bank Michigan Market President. "With the invaluable support of the TechTown team, the Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest continues to serve as an exceptional avenue for fostering success in small businesses by facilitating their access to crucial capital and technical guidance, enabling them to flourish and thrive. Comerica Bank extends its congratulations to G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs, we look forward to witnessing their entrepreneurial journey unfold and the value they will contribute to this hotspot for small businesses."

With this year's investment, Comerica Bank and the Comerica Charitable Foundation will have committed more than $1.1 million to Hatch Detroit in direct funding since 2012.

As the winner of the 12th annual Comerica Hatch Detroit Contest by TechTown, G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs joins previous winners La Feria (2012), Sister Pie (2014), Meta Physica Massage (2016), Baobab Fare (2017), 27th Letter Books (2019), Little Liberia (2022) and Bouncing Around the Motor City (2023).

To learn more about G.L.A.M. Body Scrubs, visit HatchDetroit.com.

This year, Comerica Bank is celebrating 175 years of serving its communities, making it Michigan's longest-serving bank. Comerica was founded in 1849 in Detroit during a time when all banks in the city were exclusive to the business community. This was the motivation behind Comerica's decision to gear its banking for the people and for those who wanted to secure their personal and financial future. Since its inception, Comerica has grown in Michigan and throughout the country by focusing on the customer first and offering personal, small business and commercial banking services, as well as wealth management services.

Comerica Bank, a subsidiary of Comerica Incorporated, has served Michigan longer than any other bank with a continuous presence dating back 175 years to its Detroit founding in 1849. It is the largest bank employer in metro Detroit and has approximately 4,500 employees (FTE) statewide. With one of the largest banking center networks in Michigan, Comerica nurtures lifelong relationships with unwavering integrity and financial prudence. Comerica positively impacts the lives of Michigan residents by helping customers be successful, providing financial support that assists hundreds of charitable organizations, and actively participating in Detroit's downtown revitalization. Comerica Incorporated (NYSE: CMA) is a financial services company strategically aligned by three business segments: The Commercial Bank, The Retail Bank, and Wealth Management. Follow on Facebook: www.facebook.com/Comerica, X (formerly known as Twitter): @ComericaBank and Instagram: @comerica_bank.

TechTown Detroit , Wayne State University's entrepreneurship hub, is a nonprofit business service organization that provides programs, education and resources for early- to growth-stage small businesses and tech entrepreneurs. By building bridges for entrepreneurs to succeed, TechTown is accelerating an inclusive economy for Detroit and Southeast Michigan. Since its inception, TechTown has supported more than 6,000 companies, which created 2,340 jobs and raised more than $408 million in startup and growth capital. For more information, visit techtowndetroit.org.

Hatch Detroit supports both existing and new retail initiatives in the cities of Detroit, Hamtramck and Highland Park. Hatch Detroit was founded in 2011 to give residents and aspiring entrepreneurs an opportunity to have a voice in neighborhood retail development and joined TechTown Detroit's suite of entrepreneurial programs and services in 2022. Beyond the Contest, Hatch Detroit provides funding, exposure and mentoring in support of its alumni entrepreneurs. With support from Hatch Detroit, 50 alumni have opened businesses. They employ over 500 people and have invested over $10 million in economic development. To learn more, visit hatchdetroit.com .

SOURCE Comerica Bank
BEIJING, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- China and Hungary decided Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era during Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to this Central and Eastern European country, which experts say is a result of fruitful cooperation between the two sides and carries significance to China-Europe relations.

The announcement was made after Xi held talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. They jointly witnessed exchange of cooperation documents and met with the press.

The China-Hungary relationship is now at its best in history, Xi said earlier on Thursday when meeting with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest.

The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.

Xi arrived in Budapest on Wednesday, on the last leg of his three-nation European trip. Xi previously visited Hungary 15 years ago.

He was warmly welcomed by Orban and his wife at Budapest Airport upon arrival. The Hungarian Air Force sent fighter jets to escort Xi's plane after it entered the country's airspace.

Ju Weiwei, deputy director of the Central and Eastern Europe Office, Institute of European Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Thursday that elevate bilateral relations to all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership in the new era is a big achievement of bilateral relations and is a result of fruitful cooperation between China and Hungary in all aspects such as infrastructure, investment and culture as well as respect for each other's core interests and the solid basis of public opinion in both countries.

"This has positive significance to future China-Europe relations and cooperation between China and Central and Eastern Europe," said Ju.

Both Chinese and Hungarian experts believe mutual respect and a cooperative approach with no ideological strings attached have played decisive roles in bilateral relations.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of China-Hungary diplomatic relations. Hungary was one of the first countries in the world to establish official relations with China.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto said in a recent interview with the Global Times that it's a great honor that the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishment of diplomatic ties with a presidential visit. He believes that this is positive feedback showing that China and Hungary are on the right track and this is very important to Hungary.

Mutual respect

Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit, Xi said when meeting with the Hungarian president.

Szijjarto told the Global Times that mutual respect, which is currently missing in international politics, is a really strong and stable basis for the successful cooperation between China and Hungary.

Over the years, China-Hungary cooperation has been developing in a steady manner. In 2015, Hungary became the first European country to join the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. In 2017, the bilateral relationship was elevated to a comprehensive strategic partnership. The Hungary-Serbia railway that is under construction is the flagship project of the BRI in Central and Eastern Europe.

On world affairs, China and Hungary often share similar stances. Despite being an EU member state and a NATO member, Hungary has remained committed to not sending any weapons to Ukraine.

Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center of John von Neumann University and chief advisor to the governor of the Central Bank of Hungary, told the Global Times that the relationship between Hungary and China is getting increasingly close because they think similarly about international relations.

"Hungary seeks cooperation with countries based on its own national interests. It recognizes that pragmatic cooperation can bring promising prospects while confrontation and sanctions can only bring lose-lose scenarios and be exploited by those with ulterior motives," Ju told the Global Times.

Bridge linking East and West

In 2010, Hungary began implementing the "Opening to the East" policy, underlining the fact that the wind is blowing from the East in the world economy.

In recent years, Hungary has become a major logistics hub for China-Europe trade. Hungary is also Europe's electric vehicle hub  Chinese EV maker BYD announced in late 2023 that it will build its first European electric vehicle production base in Hungary and the plant will produce EVs and plug-in hybrids for the Europe market.

Hungary's connectivity strategy makes it a key country to connect West and East. Experts also believe that Hungary can play a facilitating role in bridging China and Europe.

"Hungary is special among the EU. It does not oppose the bloc every time when it comes to China-related issues, but it has played a special role in China-Europe relations. Hungary is a partner China should seriously cooperate with," Sun Keqin, a research fellow at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told the Global Times.

On July 1, Hungary will take over the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. Foreign Minister Szijjarto believes Hungary can use the opportunity to influence the EU's policy toward China.

"We will be able to share with our European colleagues in a very credible manner how helpful, how useful and how profitable it can be to work together with China," Szijjarto told the Global Times in the interview.

SOURCE Global Times
BEIJING, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Budapest on Wednesday for a state visit to Hungary. In an exclusive interview with the Global Times, Levente Horvath, director of the Eurasia Center at John von Neumann University, said that this visit is an important opportunity as the two countries celebrate the 75th anniversary of establishing diplomatic relations. He noted that Hungary is expected to play a positive role in China-EU relations during its upcoming EU presidency.

Horvath highlighted that in the past 14 years, since the Hungarian government announced the "Open to the East" policy, trade and economic cooperation between Hungary and China have developed at an accelerating pace. He noted that the two countries now enjoy strong and positive economic cooperation.

The Hungarian scholar pointed out that in the emerging multipolar world order, not only Western countries, but also nations like China, Russia, and India will be significant players. Hungary aims to diversify its international relations and seeks greater economic cooperation. He summarized Hungary-China relations with five points, particularly in terms of connectivity under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).

"First of all, there is political connectivity," Horvath said, noting that political cooperation between the two countries has grown stronger in recent years, marked by frequent high-level interactions. "Almost every month, there is a ministerial-level meeting between the two sides," he added.

The second aspect is trade. In the past 14 years, especially since the "Open to the East" policy began, Hungary's exports to China have doubled, while imports from China have tripled, Horvath stated.

Additionally, Hungary is an important partner in the BRI, and the Budapest-Belgrade railway has become a major infrastructure project. "We hope that during these meetings, there will be other announcements about cooperation in infrastructure, like railway stations or railroads," Horvath said.

Financial and people-to-people connectivity have also strengthened. "We already have five Confucius Institutes in Hungary, and this year, China plans to open the China Cultural Center," he said.

"If we look at EU members, we can see very strong economic cooperation," he said, citing examples like German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's visit to China with numerous CEOs, and French President Emmanuel Macron welcoming Xi in France in recent days.

Leaders from other countries, including Spain, the Netherlands, and Belgium, also visited China to discuss economic cooperation, and "the president and prime minister of Italy are planning to go to China," he said.

"We can see that despite their criticism of China, EU members are seeking stronger economic cooperation with the country," Horvath said, emphasizing that Hungary has a different way of thinking by not interfering with the internal policies of China and other countries.

As Hungary is set to take over the rotating EU presidency in July, Horvath believes the country could change the bloc's mindset about "de-risking" with China. History shows that "de-risking" or "decoupling" is never the best approach for the future.

"Cooperation is the best way, according to history," he said, emphasizing the importance of learning from the past.

"About 40 or 50 years ago, when Japan became the second-largest economic and technological power, some Western countries were afraid of Japan. Now some are afraid of China," Horvath said. "Eventually, they agreed on cooperation, and now we see that Japanese and South Korean cars don't destroy our markets. So, we don't need to be afraid of Chinese cars."

Top executives at BMW and Volkswagen warned the EU against imposing import duties on Chinese electric vehicles (EVs), saying it could jeopardize the bloc's Green Deal plan and harm automakers importing cars from China, Reuters reported on Wednesday.

The Hungarian scholar argued that EVs represent the future and that Chinese automakers have strong cooperation with German car companies.

"As I travel frequently to China, almost every month, I see many high-quality Chinese EVs with advanced technology and innovations," he said, noting that investments by Chinese companies in Hungary will lead to healthy competition.

Horvath also emphasized that China and Europe share a common interest in cooperation. The Hungarian government has a similar perspective on international relations, akin to China's.

"We also share the Eurasia connectivity concept, so Europe and Asia should connect. We also promote mutual respect and peace, and oppose war," he said.

"We hope Russia and Ukraine can sit down and discuss their issues peacefully. China also seeks mutual respect, peace, and opposes war," Horvath said.

During its EU presidency, Hungary hopes to influence the bloc's thinking about China, as the country aims to ensure that the EU remains an essential pillar of the multipolar world, the Hungarian scholar concluded.

SOURCE Global Times
MIAMI, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hart Business Consulting (HBC), a high-level business and accounting consulting firm, is breaking into the U.S. market with an innovative and disruptive proposal, positioning itself as a cutting-edge leader in the sector.

HBC stands out for its team of highly qualified and experienced professionals. Recently, they announced the collaboration with Carlos Cerezo Arribas , a renowned entrepreneur and visionary in the personal and business finance market, as an ambassador of the firm.

The exceptional talent of HBC's team plays a crucial role in the firm's rapid growth and its position as a strategic partner for U.S. companies and entrepreneurs.HBC stands out for offering comprehensive and personalized solutions, designed to meet the specific needs of each client, maximizing their potential and leading them to resounding success.

With a clear expansion vision and an unwavering commitment to growth, HBC seeks to establish itself as an indispensable partner for U.S. companies looking to optimize their operations, maximize their profits, and achieve their financial goals with the utmost efficiency.

HBC's wide range of services covers all the financial and accounting needs of its clients, from detailed analysis reports determining the optimal strategy to implement, to full assistance in business creation in any state in the United States.

As announced by its team, HBC is now offering services such as:

Business Incorporation Service: Full assistance in creating businesses in any state in the United States.

Accounting and Tax Management: Comprehensive management of accounting and tax obligations, ensuring compliance with all laws and regulations.

Strategic Tax Planning: Design of personalized tax strategies to optimize companies' tax burden.

Mergers and Acquisitions Advisory: Expert support in mergers, acquisitions, and joint ventures processes.

Audit Services: Independent evaluations of companies' financial and accounting situation.

HBC's strength lies in its exceptional human team, composed of highly qualified and experienced professionals, who provide comprehensive and personalized advice with the highest quality. Among them stands out a top-notch legal team, made up of corporate and accounting lawyers, who guarantee excellence in advice and compliance with current regulations.

HBC is committed to offering high-quality services at competitive prices. Its focus on excellence and customer satisfaction make it the ideal choice for companies and entrepreneurs looking to optimize their operations, maximize their profits, and achieve their financial goals with the utmost efficiency.

With an innovative proposal, a clear vision, and an exceptional human team, HBC is now positioning itself as a benchmark in the business and accounting consulting sector in the United States.

HBC is ready to accompany its clients on their path to success, providing them with the tools and advice necessary to navigate safely and efficiently in the complex business environment.HBC is much more than a business and accounting consulting firm; it is a strategic ally for the growth and prosperity of your business.

ABOUT HBC

Hart Business Consulting (HBC) is a consulting and accounting company with a comprehensive set of services, including accounting, tax optimization, labor management, and documentation management. HBC offers personalized solutions tailored to the needs of each client.

Contact:

Paula Henderson

561-768-4444

[email protected]

SOURCE Hart Business Consulting (HBC)
VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. (the "Company") - (TSX: ITH) (NYSE American: THM) today announced that it has filed its unaudited first quarter Financial Statements and associated Management Discussion and Analysis and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three-month period ended March 31, 2024.

Shareholders can obtain copies of the Company's unaudited first quarter Financial Statements and associated Management Discussion and Analysis and Form 10-Q on SEDAR+ at: www.sedarplus.ca, EDGAR at www.sec.gov and on the Company's website at: www.ithmines.com. The Company will also provide hard copies of these documents, free of charge, to shareholders who request a copy directly from the Company.

About International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.

International Tower Hill Mines Ltd. has a 100% interest in its Livengood Gold Project located along the paved Elliott Highway, 70 miles north of Fairbanks, Alaska.

On behalf of

International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.

(signed) Karl L. Hanneman

Chief Executive Officer

This news release is not, and is not to be construed in any way as, an offer to buy or sell securities in the United States.

SOURCE International Tower Hill Mines Ltd.
PITTSBURGH, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "During a workout preparation session, I needed a way to transport pre-workout water and post-workout fluids without carrying separate containers," said an inventor, from Sachse, Texas, "so I invented the THERMO REVOLVER. My design would combine the functions of multiple, thermos-style containers."

The patent-pending invention provides a means of carrying multiple liquids within the same thermos-style container. In doing so, it allows for convenient container consolidation and temperature preservation. As a result, it eliminates the hassle of carrying multiple travel beverage containers and it saves time and effort. The invention features a portable and versatile design that is easy to use so it is ideal for travelers, students, individuals in the workforce, construction workers, campers, military personnel, exercise enthusiasts, and other individuals needing to carry multiple liquids. Additionally, it is producible in design variations.

The original design was submitted to the Dallas sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 22-DAL-466, InventHelp, 100 Beecham Drive, Suite 110, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9801, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
PITTSBURGH, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- "I wanted to create a new tool that would easily release a push-to-connect fitting from a pipe or tube," said an inventor, from Merkel, Texas, "so I invented the OLD MAN TOOL. My design would ultimately prevent stress and strain on an individual's hands and wrists, which would enhance comfort."

The patent-pending invention provides quick and easy removal of push-to-connect plumbing fittings. In doing so, it eliminates the need to manually squeeze plastic collars and disconnect tongs. As a result, it saves time and effort, and it reduces stress and strain on the hands. The invention features a compact and adjustable design that is easy to use so it is ideal for plumbers and laborers, especially older individuals or those with compromised hand strength. Additionally, it is producible in design variations.

The original design was submitted to the National sales office of InventHelp. It is currently available for licensing or sale to manufacturers or marketers. For more information, write Dept. 22-CTK-8174, InventHelp, 100 Beecham Drive, Suite 110, Pittsburgh, PA 15205-9801, or call (412) 288-1300 ext. 1368. Learn more about InventHelp's Invention Submission Services at http://www.InventHelp.com.

SOURCE InventHelp
Beijing (Gasgoo)- MotionSilicon recently announced a collaboration with arm China. Leveraging the Arm Cortex-R52 and advanced Cortex-R series platforms supplied by arm China, MotionSilicon will utilize its exceptional technical R&D capabilities to develop high-security, high-real-time processor chips to meet the urgent demands of the automotive market for efficient, reliable, and secure control functions.

Photo credit: MotionSilicon

Established in November 2021, MotionSilicon is headquartered in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, with R&D centers in Shenzhen and Chengdu cities. The company holds multiple independent intellectual property rights and has successfully passed various automotive regulations certifications. MotionSilicons products cover domain controllers, zone controllers, subsystem controllers, integrated sensors, actuators, and other automotive core control applications, collaborating with automakers and Tier1 suppliers to comprehensively upgrade vehicle E/E architectures.

The energy-efficient, high-performance Arm Cortex-R52, along with more advanced Cortex-R series platforms can meet the rapidly growing demands of the automotive industry for functional safety and real-time design flexibilitysaid arm China.

The duo aims to deepen their technical cooperation and jointly develop more competitive high-performance automotive chips, promoting the vigorous development of the automotive industry ecosystem based on the arm architecture.
Taught by full-time, nationally recognized faculty and researchers, this first-rate online master's program is now accessible to more people.

LAWRENCE, Kan., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- At KU, we recognize how family and work commitments, health or mobility limitations, and other responsibilities can create barriers to education and career advancement. With the goal of creating degree programs that are accessible to everyone with the ambition to succeed, KU's Master of Public Administration (MPA) is now 100% online.

A group of public administrators discuss community issues in a meeting room.

This MPA program is offered through the KU School of Public Affairs & Administration, which was recently ranked in the top 26 overall best public affairs programs in the nation and No.1 in local government management by U.S. News & World Report. Our online courses are taught by the same highly regarded faculty and expert instructors and meet the same rigorous educational standards as our on-campus programs  but they offer more flexibility for students to study whenever and wherever is most convenient. This online program is accredited by the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA).

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the job outlook for social and community service managers is projected to grow 9% from 2022 to 2032. When you earn a master's degree online from KU, you'll be part of a community that focuses on practice- and research-informed coursework, peer-to-peer learning, and public sector collaboration to prepare students for successful careers. By the end of your coursework, you will be ready to lead and manage in public governance; participate in and contribute to the public policy process; analyze, synthesize, think creatively, and make decisions; articulate and apply public service perspectives; and communicate and interact productively with a diverse and changing workforce and citizenry.

Earning your Master of Public Administration (MPA) online from KU prepares you to manage and lead public-serving organizations, especially at the state and local levels. This program specializes in the ethics, knowledge, critical thinking, and professional skills needed to serve diverse communities, combining theoretically grounded coursework and practical application to produce graduates who can lead, innovate, and problem-solve in public and nonprofit settings.

Graduate certificates are also available and taught by the same award-winning faculty as the MPA program. These two certificates  city and county management and public and nonprofit management  allow students to broaden their knowledge in a specific area and learn the most up-to-date theory and techniques used in practice. These certificate programs are a great way for public administration professionals to enhance their skills while earning credit that can count toward the full MPA degree.

Through Jayhawk Global, the university's education innovation center, KU plans to offer many more online degree opportunities, giving more students the chance to earn a globally recognized degree that signals prestige, quality, and career readiness.

About the University of Kansas

The University of Kansas is a major comprehensive research and teaching university. Its mission is to lift students and society by educating leaders, building healthy communities, and making discoveries that change the world.

For more information contact:

Sydney Bannister

[email protected]

785-864-2143

SOURCE University of Kansas
Retailer Returns to Syracuse Community With Latest Store Opening on May 10th

NEW YORK, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- LensCrafters , part of EssilorLuxottica and one of the largest optical retail brands in North America, announces the opening of the company's newest store in Cicero, New York on May 10th. LensCrafters was previously located in Great Northern Mall which closed in December 2022. The new store, located at 38003 Route 11, will reinforce the company as a trusted optical retail leader in the region.

LensCrafters Cicero

"This latest opening in upstate New York is part of LensCrafters' continued dedication to serve all communities in North America," said Alfonso Cerullo, President of LensCrafters. "The new location in Cicero will make it more convenient to offer customers access to important products and services around eye care and vision solutions."

At the core of LensCrafters approach to overall eye health is how the brand embraces the latest technologies. LensCrafters digital eye exam uses state-of-the-art equipment to map the eye's unique characteristics, allowing for highly accurate assessments. "Eye health is an essential part of everyday life, and eyewear plays a leading role in individual style and expression," says Cerullo. "LensCrafters is committed to being the trusted optical retailer for customers and patients that want a comprehensive, high-quality eyecare and eyewear experience in the communities we serve."

From a comprehensive digital eye exam to shopping for the perfect frame, the new location will showcase a wide assortment of designer eyewear brands and styles that include Burberry, Dolce & Gabbana, Persol, Versace, Prada, and many more. The premium store experience will leverage a wide range of tools to afford customers more opportunities to meet their needs. Customers can customize Ray-Ban and Oakley frames, and virtually try-on any frame thanks to the Virtual Mirror technology through LensCrafters' Smart Shopper interactive in store tool.

The new location will be equipped with high-resolution digital screens and led-walls displaying eyewear and campaigns to allow customers an immersive experience. Interactive applications installed both on iPads and touch screens showing prescription lenses will simulate prescription lens features and effects for better vision.

About LensCrafters

LensCrafters, the leading optical retailer in North America, was founded in 1983 and currently operates over 1,000 stores in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico. With a mission of helping people look and see their best, LensCrafters has a passion for vision care and offers the best selection of the latest trends in eyewear from leading designer brands as well as incomparable personalized service from Doctors of Optometry located at or next to its stores. LensCrafters opened its first Macy's location in April 2016 and currently has five flagship stores in New York City, San Francisco, Palo Alto and Toronto, the first flagship in Canada that opened in July 2023. The brand's trusted doctors and associates continue to make an impact by giving the gift of vision through the company's partner efforts with OneSight EssilorLuxottica Foundation , providing access to quality vision care and glasses in underserved communities worldwide. LensCrafters is currently the number one contributor to OneSight in North America. For more information, visit www.lenscrafters.com .

Media Contact:

Alexa Anello:

[email protected]

SOURCE LensCrafters
MIAMI, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Miami-Dade County Commissioner Kionne McGhee is proud to announce a major economic development initiative that will significantly benefit the South-Dade community. In response to recent inquiries regarding the economic viability of the proposed Costco development on a County-owned site held by the Miami-Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD), Commissioner McGhee outlined the substantial positive impact and economic benefits this project brings to District 9.

"This development will not only add the site to the County tax roll but also create local jobs and deliver lasting economic benefits to residents in the West Perrine Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) and surrounding neighborhoods," said Commissioner Kionne McGhee.

"The site in question, acquired by the County for approximately $2.7 million in 2003, has remained unused by WASD, providing no value to the community for over two decades. In a strategic move to revitalize the area and boost economic growth, a leading South Florida developer proposed to purchase the site and build a Costco store. This development will not only add the site to the County tax roll but also create local jobs and deliver lasting economic benefits to residents in the West Perrine Community Redevelopment Area (CRA) and surrounding neighborhoods," said Commissioner McGhee.

An independent economic impact study conducted by Miami Economic Associates, a firm with over 40 years of experience in Miami-Dade County, estimates that the ten-year cumulative economic benefit from the project exceeds $217 million. This includes benefits from sales tax, real estate taxes, employment, and gasoline savings.

The developer agreed to purchase the site for $8.1 million, which is higher than the assessed value established by the county property appraiser. Contrary to third-party comparisons, the developer's purchase price is based on the actual value of the property and not on comparables near the airport or within transit-oriented developments.

In addition, the developer has committed to providing 5,000 free memberships to individuals in the area earning less than $50,000 per year. The developer has entered into a memorandum of understanding with WASD to provide expertise at no profit for the development of 400 units of attainable housing for WASD employees on another County-owned site.

Commissioner McGhee emphasizes that Costco, known for paying the highest wages in the retail industry, must maintain consistency in wage rates among its stores and cannot comply with the Mayor's request for a specific wage rate for this new store.

"This project represents a transformative opportunity for our community and the CRA," added Commissioner McGhee. "It's time to move beyond politics and unlock the potential of this underutilized site for the greater good of our residents."

Contact

Brandace Dean

[email protected]

SOURCE Miami-Dade County
NEW YORK, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 9th, Momcozy, a global leader in mother and baby care, hosted a heartwarming event at Babylist Beverly Hills as part of its "Momcozy Village" campaign. This initiative emphasizes the belief that "it takes a village to raise a mother," focusing on building strong support networks that are crucial for mothers navigating the complexities of modern parenthood. The event also marked a significant milestone in Momcozy's ongoing collaboration with Babylist, a leading platform in the maternity and baby industry.

Momcozy Village at Babylist Beverly Hills

The exclusive event unfolded from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM, starting with a warm welcome and an opportunity for attendees to explore Momcozy's innovative product range, including the launch of the new Mobile Style Breast Pump. The atmosphere was charged with excitement as the event brought together key opinion leaders, dedicated Momcozy users, journalists, licensed marriage and family therapist Gayane Aramyan and Dr. Colette Wiseman, an MD and IBCLC to engage in meaningful conversations about the support systems that form the backbone of the "Momcozy Village."

Aramyan facilitated a powerful presentation which illuminated the barriers that come between mothers and meeting their needs. After, she explored the impacts of mom guilt and led a guided meditation for participants to further explore it. The presentation was followed by a memorable group photo session symbolizing the strong connections formed. The event concluded with the distribution of specially prepared VIP gift - Momcozy Village Supply Box, leaving attendees with lasting memories and a stronger sense of community.

Since June 2023, Momcozy's collaboration with Babylist has significantly enhanced the brand's market presence, launching over 20 featured products ranging from breast pumps to home textiles. In March 2024, this partnership was further solidified with the opening of the Momcozy section at the Babylist Beverly Hills Showroom & Shop, which has improved product visibility and customer interaction.

To learn more about Momcozy's innovative products and the "Momcozy Village" campaign, you can visit their Facebook group, an online community where moms connect and support each other. Join the community in supporting every mother's journey with innovative solutions and a committed support network.

About Momcozy

Since 2018, Momcozy has been bringing the best in comfort to mothers with wearable breast pumps, nursing bras, and other mom-care products. Endorsed by 3 million mothers in over 60 countries, Momcozy is a companion to women from pregnancy to early motherhood. With continuous innovation and a commitment to creating cozy designs born from love, Momcozy is growing in reach and impact to make moms' lives easier around the world.

SOURCE Momcozy
5th Annual "Are You O-K+" Campaign Breaks Engagement Records

WASHINGTON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Association of Kidney Patients (AAKP), the oldest and largest independent kidney patient consumer organization in the United States, announced the overwhelming success of its 2024 "Are You O-K+" campaign, which marked May 1 (5.1) as National High Potassium Awareness Day. The 2024 event exceeded all prior engagement records, reaching a national audience of more than 8 million comprised of kidney patients, families and care partners, kidney professionals, and the public.

Since 2020, AAKP has invested in the talent, databases, targeting technologies, and communications platforms necessary to simultaneously conduct multiple national patient engagement campaigns through its Center for Patient Research and Education. AAKP Executive Director Diana Clynes stated, "The 5th Annual 'Are You O-K+' campaign recognizing National High Potassium Awareness Day set a new 24-hour benchmark for AAKP's capacity to reach millions of Americans through integrated and targeted traditional grassroots outreach tactics combined with sophisticated social media and email marketing platforms. AAKP will leverage the insights we gained as well as lessons learned from this campaign across our other national and state- level education and advocacy campaigns throughout 2024."

As a national patient advocacy organization, AAKP defines kidney disease as both a national healthcare and workforce issue because its consequences for people include disability, job loss, economic dependency, and premature death. Over three million U.S. adults have experienced high potassium (hyperkalemia), and among those, over 48 percent had chronic kidney disease (CKD) and/or heart failure. AAKP believes high potassium is a critical health issue that warrants far greater prioritization from federal government health officials and the U.S. Congress. High potassium has devastating impacts and negatively affects overall health, lives, livelihoods, and economic security. The cost of care when a patient is impacted by high potassium poses significant costs to the healthcare system, insurers, including Medicare, and taxpayers.

Kidney patients are at an increased risk for hyperkalemia due to their decreased kidney function and an inability to excrete excess nutrients. Among these patients, potassium can accumulate to toxic levels, leading to serious health issues that may include an irregular heartbeat, heart attack, temporary paralysis, or even death. By using the scientific symbol for potassium, "K+," along with the familiar phrase "Are You Ok," this campaign is recognizable and empowers those with kidney diseases to monitor their potassium levels. A potassium level of 5.1 may be considered a sign of high potassium, making May 1 (5.1) a crucial date for annual awareness.

This awareness day was founded by the AAKP to bring the important topic of high potassium to the forefront of kidney patients' minds. Since 2020, AAKP has been educating millions of people about the risks of hyperkalemia and the availability of innovative treatments to prevent the most devastating impact of this condition. For this year's awareness campaign, AAKP continued to vigorously expand its reach and educational resources so kidney patients, their medical teams, and allies across the kidney community could support this national grassroots movement to continue to mark May 1 (5.1) as National High Potassium Awareness Day. The AAKP thanks its national patient volunteers for the spectacular use of their social media networks which led to our most successful campaign year to date and extends its appreciation to AstraZeneca for their continued support of this educational campaign.

"AstraZeneca is proud to continue its collaboration with the American Association of Kidney Patients on the 5th annual National High Potassium Awareness Day to help empower patients to take action on managing potassium levels. It is imperative to equip patients living with high potassium with the knowledge and resources necessary to make informed decisions alongside their provider and improve their overall well-being," said Jay Sabbah, Executive Director, Marketing, AstraZeneca.

To access more potassium education, visit https://bit.ly/AAKPHighPotassium and www.areyouok.org . AAKP's 2024 "Are You O-K+" live event from May 1 is currently available OnDemand . To learn how to get involved in 2025 campaign efforts, visit @AreYouOk5Point1 on Facebook, X, and Instagram.

Since 1969, The American Association of Kidney Patients has been a patient-led organization driving policy discussions on kidney patient care choice and medical innovation. Over the past decade, AAKP patient advocates have helped advance lifetime transplant drug coverage for kidney transplant recipients (2020); the Presidential Executive Order on Advancing American Kidney Health (2019); new job protections for living organ donors under the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) via the U.S. Department of Labor (2018); and Congressional legislation allowing HIV-positive organ transplants for HIV-positive patients (2013). Follow AAKP on social media at @kidneypatient on Facebook, @kidneypatients on X, and @kidneypatients on Instagram, and visit www.aakp.org for more information.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Jennifer Rate

Director, Communications and Digital Operations

[email protected]

(813) 400-2394

SOURCE American Association of Kidney Patients
Info-Tech Research Group has published a new blueprint that guides organizations on strategically deploying ChatGPT to boost productivity. The latest resource offers organizations actionable, research-backed steps for enhancing operational efficiency and decision-making accuracy using generative AI while mitigating its inherent risks.

Info-Tech Research Group's "Use ChatGPT Wisely to Improve Productivity" blueprint outlines five key generative AI biases that organizations and IT leaders must understand when considering integrating ChatGPT into their operations. (CNW Group/Info-Tech Research Group)

TORONTO, May 10, 2024 /CNW/ - Generative AI tools like ChatGPT promise to reshape traditional workflows by streamlining tasks, automating research, and freeing up valuable time for other critical work. However, the implementation of such powerful technologies requires careful consideration of both their potential benefits and inherent risks. In response, Info-Tech Research Group, the global IT research and advisory firm, has published its latest research, Use ChatGPT Wisely to Improve Productivity, which offers IT leaders strategic insights and best practices for leveraging ChatGPT to enhance productivity while also addressing the risks associated with AI deployment.

Info-Tech's latest research highlights the widespread popularity of Gen AI among users, even amid growing concerns about its reliability. While the firm does not recommend relying solely on ChatGPT, especially for tasks requiring nuanced or authoritative content, it does suggest that the tool can serve as a valuable source for inspiration and initial idea generation.

"For several years, we've been studying productivity and asking whether tools and automation have rendered it a pointless pursuit. The rapid adoption of generative AI, inspired mostly by ChatGPT, brings the conversation to a head because the prevailing thought is that you're most productive if you can get the AI to do your work for you," says Barry Cousins, distinguished analyst and research fellow at Info-Tech Research Group. "Use ChatGPT wisely, and you'll accelerate toward your most effective and productive self. The AI is your muse, there to help you reflect on external inputs of your own experience, character, and discernment as you explore your own conclusions. The AI is the fool, the court jester, and you wear the crown."

Organizations are encouraged to exploit AI's capability to quickly generate engaging content on diverse topics. However, the firm advises that it is important to exercise caution and examine ChatGPT's output to ensure accuracy and appropriateness, fostering a responsible and diligent approach to AI deployment.

Info-Tech's recent blueprint outlines five key generative AI biases that are crucial for organizations and IT leaders to understand when considering the integration of ChatGPT into their operations:

1. Sample Bias: ChatGPT's database does not fully represent the global population, often skewed by the lower scholarly standards of web-based sources.

2. Programmatic morality bias: The developers introduced subjective artificial "morality" within the AI based on their own assumptions, influencing its responses and potentially compromising its neutrality.

3. Ignorance bias: The software has a natural bias against learning and reflection. Therefore, ChatGPT is inadaptive and incapable of learning from failure or change.

4. Overton Window bias: AI may manipulate content to fit within socially acceptable norms at the expense of truth, occasionally producing content that is deliberately untrue or misleading.

5. Deference bias: People have placed an unwarranted amount of trust in ChatGPT. Many users took the ChatGPT assertions as "good enough" and chose not to validate the responsive and articulate content out of convenience.

Despite these challenges, Info-Tech's blueprint maintains that ChatGPT offers a new era of digital efficiency, equipping organizations with a potent tool to streamline workflows, foster collaboration, and unlock new levels of productivity. It's also essential to recognize that ChatGPT's insights are limited to data available up to specific dates, which can introduce a bias toward historical perspectives that may affect the relevance and accuracy of its outputs. The firm advocates for a balanced approach that leverages ChatGPT as a creative and efficient muse that requires diligent verification of its outputs to ensure they meet current and future operational standards.

For exclusive and timely commentary from Barry Cousins, an expert in artificial intelligence, and access to the complete Use ChatGPT Wisely to Improve Productivity blueprint, please contact [email protected].

Info-Tech LIVE 2024

Registration is now open for Info-Tech Research Group's annual IT conference, Info-Tech LIVE 2024, taking place September 17 to 19, 2024, at the iconic Bellagio in Las Vegas. This premier event offers journalists, podcasters, and media influencers access to exclusive content, the latest IT research and trends, and the opportunity to interview industry experts, analysts, and speakers. To apply for media passes to attend the event or gain access to research and expert insights on trending topics, please contact [email protected].

About Info-Tech Research Group

Info-Tech Research Group is one of the world's leading research and advisory firms, proudly serving over 30,000 IT and HR professionals. The company produces unbiased, highly relevant research and provides advisory services to help leaders make strategic, timely, and well-informed decisions. For nearly 30 years, Info-Tech has partnered closely with teams to provide them with everything they need, from actionable tools to analyst guidance, ensuring they deliver measurable results for their organizations.

To learn more about Info-Tech's divisions, visit McLean & Company for HR research and advisory services and SoftwareReviews for software buying insights.

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].

For information about Info-Tech Research Group or to access the latest research, visit infotech.com and connect via LinkedIn and X.

SOURCE Info-Tech Research Group
GREAT NECK, N.Y., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- QQ Nails & Spa celebrated the grand opening of its newest location at 16 Great Neck Rd, Long Island, New York, marking a significant milestone for the beloved beauty brand. As a premier nail and spa salon franchise, QQ Nails & Spa boasts 28 locations and over 500 employees. Serving over 140,000 customers per year, QQ Nails & Spa's commitment to exceptional service and holistic well-being has positioned it as a leader in the industry.

Grand Opening

Esteemed guests, including Great Neck Mayor Ted Rosen; Councilwoman Christine Liu; Nassau County's Deputy Director, Meng Li; Nassau County Legislator, Mazi Melesa Pilip; Director of Human Resources and Compliance at the Nassau County Board of Elections, Gina Sillitti; and Deputy Mayor Pamela Marksheid attended the event.

Mayor Rosen expressed excitement for QQ Nails & Spa's presence in Great Neck, highlighting the village's welcoming environment for businesses. "We're committed to delivering professional nail care in a welcoming atmosphere that invites both relaxation and connection. Today, we open our doors to you, hoping to be a place where beauty and friendships flourish," emphasized Ericka Patricio as she welcomed guests to experience their vision firsthand.

QQ Nails & Spa endeavors to offer top-tier nail and spa services, aiming to become an indispensable part of the community. The grand opening event highlighted beauty, community spirit, and entrepreneurial zeal, with guests relishing exclusive offers and indulging in QQ Nails & Spa's exceptional services.

QQ Nails & Spa eagerly anticipates serving the Great Neck community with exceptional beauty services. The grand opening was made possible through the dedication of management team Ericka Patricio, Joey Fei, and John Jiang, who are excited to bring their vision to life in Great Neck.

SOURCE QQ Nails & Spa
NEW YORK, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Quantzig, a leading analytics and advisory firm, is revolutionizing the food and beverage industry with its innovative marketing analytics solutions. Through a recent case study, Quantzig showcases its expertise in driving strategic marketing decisions and delivering tangible business outcomes for clients in the food and beverage sector.

In a dynamic market landscape where consumer preferences and trends are constantly evolving, businesses in the food and beverage industry face significant challenges in effectively reaching their target audience and maximizing ROI on marketing investments. Quantzig's comprehensive marketing analytics solutions offer a game-changing approach to addressing these challenges, enabling companies to gain deep insights into consumer behavior, optimize marketing strategies, and drive sustainable growth.

The case study highlights Quantzig's collaboration with a leading food and beverage manufacturer, where the firm leveraged advanced analytics techniques to enhance the client's marketing effectiveness and drive business performance. By analyzing diverse data sources including sales, product, promotions, competitor, and weather data, Quantzig provided actionable insights that empowered the client to optimize marketing spend, launch successful new products, and strengthen future marketing strategies.

"We are thrilled to showcase our success in delivering impactful marketing analytics solutions for the food and beverage industry". "In today's competitive market environment, data-driven decision-making is more critical than ever. Our advanced analytics capabilities enable companies to unlock the full potential of their marketing efforts, drive consumer engagement, and achieve sustainable business growth."

Quantzig's expertise in marketing analytics extends across various industries, including retail, healthcare, BFSI, and manufacturing, among others. With a focus on innovation and excellence, the firm remains committed to empowering businesses with actionable insights and strategic guidance to navigate the complexities of the modern business landscape.

For more information on Quantzig's marketing analytics solutions and to explore the complete case study, visit Quantzig website.

About Quantzig:

Quantzig is a global analytics and advisory firm with a strong presence in the market, serving clients across industries with innovative solutions and deep domain expertise. The firm specializes in providing cutting-edge analytics and strategic insights to help organizations drive growth, optimize performance, and achieve their business objectives.

For media inquiries or to schedule an interview, please contact:

Quantzig

US: +1 630 538 7144

Canada: +1 647 800 8550

UK: +44 208 629 1455

India: +91 806 191 4606

Website: www.quantzig.com

SOURCE Quantzig
The biotech company continues to offer hope to systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients globally by sharing the latest developments of its proprietary novel fusion protein drug Telitacicept

YANTAI, China, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- RemeGen Co. Ltd. ("RemeGen" or "the Company") (9995.HK, SHA: 688331), a commercial-stage biotechnology company, is celebrating World Lupus Day 2024, which falls on May 10, by sharing the latest developments of the world's first approved dual-target new fusion protein drug Telitacicept (RC18). RemeGen continues to raise global awareness of lupus, highlighting its impact on millions of people living with the disease around the world.

Dr. Jianmin Fang, CEO of RemeGen, commented, "On World Lupus Day, it is vital that we continue to advocate for improved safe and effective treatments for lupus. On this day every year, RemeGen not only underscores the seriousness of this disease, but also demonstrates how we can fight it together through global solidarity and technological advancement. Our mission is to change the lives of people living with lupus, and our development of Telitacicept is more than just a medical breakthrough, it brings hope to millions of people around the world."

Lupus, an autoimmune disease that cannot be completely cured, often causes long-term damage to organs. Referred to as "incurable cancer," lupus's clinical manifestations vary, including large areas of rash, extended days of fever, pain, kidney damage, respiratory and nervous system involvement, among others. SLE can be life-threatening and has a poor prognosis but with the gradual improvement of treatment technology, the 10-year survival rate of SLE patients has gradually increased from less than 50% to between 60% and 70%, marking the transformation of SLE from an acute and highly fatal disease to a chronic and controllable disease.

RemeGen's Telitacicept is at the forefront of SLE treatment globally

Research and development of new drugs for the treatment of SLE has proven to be extremely challenging but RemeGen persevered for over thirteen years for that from 2008 to 2021. In March 2021, Telitacicept was approved in China, becoming the world's first dual-target biological new drug approved for the treatment of SLE. The drug can simultaneously inhibit two cytokines in the human body, a B-lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), and is characterized by new targets, structures, and mechanisms, and has shown huge best-in-class potential.

For most lupus patients, steroids are still the go-to treatment, but these drugs often cause adverse side effects such as obesity, hirsutism, hypertension, hypokalemia, and gastric ulcers, among others. SLE mostly occurs in young women aged 18-45 and long-term use of steroids can have significant negative impacts on patients. As the world's first dual-target biological new drug approved for the treatment of SLE, the approval of Telitacicept marks a significant breakthrough in the global treatment of the disease. Data from the Phase III confirmatory clinical study of Telitacicept in the treatment of SLE showed that the SLE responder index (SRI) of the 160mg dose group was significantly higher than that of the placebo control group (82.6% vs 38.1%) making it the most efficient treatment for the disease.

Telitacicept was included in the National Medical Insurance Drug List in China in January 2022 and was successfully renewed at the end of 2023. In December 2023, key Phase lb clinical study results for this indication were published in the Annals of The Rheumatic Diseases (ARD), the journal with the highest impact factor in rheumatology. In the United States, the indication of Telitacicept for the treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus has been approved by the FDA for fast track designation and a global multi-center Phase III clinical study has been approved by the European Union and CDE, respectively, and is advancing rapidly.

Join RemeGen this #WorldLupusDay by sharing on social media to #MakeLupusVisible in 2024 and beyond.

About RemeGen Co. Ltd.

Founded in 2008, RemeGen (9995.HK, SHA: 688331) is a leading biopharmaceutical company in China committed to providing solutions to the unmet clinical needs of patients suffering from life-threatening illnesses. RemeGen has research laboratories and offices throughout China and the United States. The company is committed to discovering, developing, and commercializing innovative and differentiated biologic drugs of significant clinical value in the key therapeutic areas of autoimmune, oncology, and ophthalmic diseases. For more details, please visit: www.remegen.com

About Telitacicept (RC18)

Telitacicept (RC18) is RemeGen's proprietary novel fusion protein for the treatments of autoimmune diseases. It is constructed with the extracellular domain of the human transmembrane activator and calcium modulator and cyclophilin ligand interactor (TACI) receptor and the fragment crystallizable (Fc) domain of human immunoglobulin G(IgG). Telitacicept targets two cell-signaling molecules critical for B-lymphocyte development: B-lymphocyte stimulator (BLyS) and a proliferation-inducing ligand (APRIL), which allows it to effectively reduce B-cell mediated autoimmune responses that are implicated in several autoimmune diseases.

SOURCE RemeGen Co., Ltd
PROVIDENCE, R.I., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Rhode Island Energy, a subsidiary of PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), has announced it reached an agreement on new five-year contracts with the Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA), AFL-CIO, Locals 310 and 310B, and Brotherhood of Utility Workers (BUW), which currently represent 526 employees.

"We value each of our employees and their dedication to serving our customers and are proud of the positive partnership between our unions and company leadership. These contracts are the result of our ongoing collaborative efforts," said Greg Cornett, president of Rhode Island Energy. "I am pleased that company and union leaders worked together to reach an agreement. We look forward to continuing our shared commitment to provide safe, reliable, sustainable and affordable energy to our customers and communities across Rhode Island."

The agreements, which extend existing contracts and will now be in effect from May 12, 2024, through May 11, 2029, both include 3% annual wage increases each year of the contracts for all employees represented by Locals 310 and 310B.

About Rhode Island Energy

Rhode Island Energy provides essential energy services to over 770,000 customers across Rhode Island through the delivery of electricity or natural gas. Our team of 1,300 employees is dedicated to helping Rhode Island customers and communities thrive, while supporting the transition to a cleaner energy future. Rhode Island Energy is part of the PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL) family of companies addressing energy challenges head-on by building smarter, more resilient, and more dynamic power grids and advancing sustainable energy solutions. For more information visit www.RIEnergy.com and stay connected on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Note to Editors: Visit our media website at www.pplnewsroom.com for additional news about Rhode Island Energy and PPL Corporation.

Media Contact: Evelyn Garcia, [email protected], 401.799.7000

SOURCE PPL Corporation
Beijing (Gasgoo)- On May 9, NOVAUTO announced the completion of Pre-B round financing, which raised for the company hundreds of millions of yuan.

Photo credit: NOVAUTO

Investors of this financing round include Zhongan Capital, a scientific innovation fund set up by Wuxi citys Liangxi district, Longding Capital, Tianzhi Investment, Shaanxi Automobiles intelligent automobile fund, and iFLYTEK Venture Capital.

NOVAUTO said that the funds from this round will be used to develop a new generation of large model inference chips, expand existing revenue streams, and further expand industry partnerships.

NOVAUTO is a provider of edge artificial intelligence (AI) chips, offering high-efficiency computing solutions with AI computing chips at its core for various edge intelligence scenarios. The company aims to become a leader in edge AGI computing.

Its products have been widely deployed in important customers in the intelligent driving, smart power, smart mining, and other fields, achieving tens of millions of yuan in revenue in 2023.
FlexFactory platform for oligonucleotides, an integrated solution to boost efficiency and speed of pharmaceutical manufacturing to meet market demand

SHANGHAI, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Ribobay Pharma, a leading Chinese biopharmaceutical contract research, development, and manufacturing organization (CRDMO) and a spin-off company of General Biol (Anhui) Co., Ltd, will provide cGMP-level oligonucleotide (oligo) CRDMO services to the world using Cytiva's first FlexFactory platform for oligo manufacturing.

It is scheduled to commence manufacturing in June and expects to produce several hundred kilograms of pharmaceutical oligo per year, bringing increased reliability, speed, and efficiency to the development of novel therapies.

Ribobay Pharmas site in Anhui, China for oligonucleotide production

Jingui Yong, General Manager of Ribobay Pharma, says: "With the support of Cytiva, we will rapidly expand our oligo CRDMO business by manufacturing high-quality and diversified innovative drugs, as well as new vaccine adjuvant (CpG-ODNs) for global customers. We look forward to building on synergies and creating more value with our collaborators."

With the FlexFactory platform, Ribobay Pharma can better serve their customers, providing process development support, optimization, method development, pilot production services, and customized manufacturing services.

Allen Li, President of Cytiva in China, says: "It's an honor to work with Ribobay Pharma to roll out our very first FlexFactory platform for oligos. We will continue facilitating more Chinese companies to navigate the global market, and ultimately help improve the accessibility of life-changing therapies for global patients."

Due to its rapid development cycle, impressive success rate, low side effects, and lasting effectiveness, oligo drugs are now being applied far beyond rare diseases. They're tackling chronic conditions like hyperlipidemia, hepatitis B, and diabetes, with over 1500 research pipelines around the globe.

However, turning oligo drugs into commercially available products requires technology accumulation and validation, presenting high barriers in quality control and production processes. Due to the lack of industrialization and factory construction experience, large-scale production faces considerable challenges.

The collaboration between Cytiva and Ribobay Pharma is an agile response to market needs and developmental bottlenecks. Cytiva provides Ribobay Pharma with one-stop integrated services, from factory design to equipment and technologies that enable cGMP manufacturing.

Learn more about Cytiva's FlexFactory platform.

FlexFactory is a trademark of Global Life Sciences Solutions USA LL or an affiliate doing business as Cytiva.  2020-2024 Cytiva.

About Cytiva

At Cytiva, our mission is to advance and accelerate the development of therapeutics. With nearly 15 000 associates in more than 40 countries, we're driven to use our expertise and talent to achieve better flexibility, capacity, and efficiency for our customers. Our broad and deep portfolio of tools and technologies, global scale, and best-in-class service provides critical support from discovery to delivery, for customers spanning researchers, emerging biotech, large-scale biopharma and contract manufacturers.

Please visit https://cytiva.com for more information.

About Ribobay Pharma

Ribobay Pharma (Anhui) Co., Ltd. was established in August 2021 as the spin-off company of General Biol (Anhui) Co., Ltd. which has been providing a full range of solutions and raw materials to the global biomedical industry for a decade. Focusing on the CXO field of therapeutic oligonucleotides, Ribobay Pharma provides one-stop CRDMO services to global institutes for oligo drug development and commercialization. Please visit http://www.ribobay.com/en/ for more information.

SOURCE Cytiva
STOCKHOLM, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Skanska has received a supplemental award under a contract with an existing client to build a data center in Arizona, USA. The supplemental award is worth USD 150M, about SEK 1.6 billion, which will be included in the US order bookings for the second quarter of 2024.

The project consists of a single-story data center, totalling approximately 22,700 square meters.

Work is underway and is scheduled for completion in the second quarter of 2025.

For further information please contact:

Daniela Arellano, Communications Director, Skanska USA, tel +1 213-317-4977

Andreas Joons, Press Officer, Skanska Group, tel +46 76 870 75 51

Direct line for media, tel +46 (0)10 448 88 99

This and previous releases can also be found at www.skanska.com.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

https://news.cision.com/skanska/r/skanska-signs-supplemental-award-for-data-center-in-arizona--usa--for-usd-150m--about-sek-1-6-billio,c3976133

The following files are available for download:

https://mb.cision.com/Main/95/3976133/2787004.pdf 20240510 US data center Arizona

SOURCE Skanska
Following Pressure from Teamsters, Legislation Passes Both Chambers

MONTPELIER, Vt., May 9, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Teamsters commended the Vermont Senate today for passing the Vermont PRO Act (S. 102), legislation that would make it easier for both private and public sector workers to unionize by expanding the right to form a union to historically marginalized workers. The Vermont PRO Act also protects employees from anti-union captive audience meetings and simplifies union elections in the public sector through majority sign-up. The state House of Representatives passed the legislation earlier this week with 115 of 150 members voting in favor of the bill.

"Vermont passed the Vermont State Labor Act in the 1960s with a goal of protecting the rights of workers and the public. This is a work in progress, which will be strengthened by the Vermont PRO Act," said Curtis Clough, President of Local 597 in Barre. "This legislation is a game changer for workers and Governor Phil Scott must sign it into law immediately."

Ahead of the votes in the House and Senate, Local 597 worked with other unions in Vermont and ran a public pressure campaign demanding that state lawmakers vote on S. 102.

"We are pleased that Vermont lawmakers heard us loud and clear when we said they needed to take up this legislation immediately," said Tom Mari, Secretary-Treasurer of Joint Council 10. "With strong bipartisan support, Governor Scott must make this the law of the land in Vermont."

Chartered in 1939, Teamsters Local 597 represents over 900 workers in diverse trades such as package delivery, freight, dairy processing, public transit and school bus services, building material and wire and cable manufacturing, police services and municipal highway maintenance. For more information, visit teamsterslocal597.net.

Contact:

Daniel Moskowitz, (770) 262-4971

[email protected]

SOURCE Teamsters Local 597
"The investment trend in Thailand is still very strong, especially in our key target sectors that lay the foundation for the Thai economy in the long term and continue to grow at very high rates," said Mr. Narit Therdsteerasukdi, Secretary General of the BOI. "This is reflecting Thailand's potential and increased investor confidence and shows that all is in place for 2024 to be a golden year for investment in Thailand."

The sector that saw the highest value of investment applications in the first quarter was the electronics and electrical appliances (E&E) industry with an investment value of USD 2.09 billion. Most projects are for the production of printed circuit boards (PCB), the production of wafer fabrication for power electronics, and the production of smart electronic products and smart electrical appliances.

The four other sectors that saw the highest investment value were automotive and parts (USD 578 million), petrochemicals and chemicals (USD 480 million), digital (USD 475 million), and agriculture and food processing (USD 361 million).

The quarter saw the number of foreign direct investment (FDI) applications grow 130% to 460 projects worth a total investment value of USD 4.6 billion, an increase of 16% on year. The economies and territories that made the top five FDI application sources in terms of value were Singapore, with USD 1.1 billion, China (USD 942 million), Hong Kong (USD 722 million), Taiwan (USD 543 million), and Australia (USD 467 million), respectively. The investment applications from Singapore topped the rankings mostly due to large investments by Singaporean affiliates of Chinese PCB manufacturers.

In terms of the location of the investments, Thailand's central region was the area of choice for 300 projects with a combined value of USD 2.6 billion.

* 1 USD is approximately equal to 36.8 THB

ABOUT THAILAND BOARD OF INVESTMENT LOS ANGELES OFFICE

Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) is a government agency under the Office of the Prime Minister. Our roles and responsibilities are promoting and facilitating foreign direct investment (FDI) into Thailand. We are the professional contact point for companies, providing them with useful investment information, business support, and investment incentives including tax and non-tax incentives.

BOI Los Angeles office's area of responsibility includes the West Coast U.S. and Mexico. Our services are free of charge and customized to help foreign businesses succeed in Thailand.

For more information, please visit www.boi.go.th

SOURCE Thailand Board of Investment
Dickinson's research background coupled with her successful executive leadership at one of the largest, most complex medical schools will help drive major initiatives and research priorities at a time of rapid growth

BAR HARBOR, Maine, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Mary Dickinson, Ph.D., an internationally recognized geneticist, developmental biologist and bioengineer who has pioneered the understanding of human disease through advanced imaging technology, has joined The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) as the inaugural executive vice president and chief scientific officer. Dickinson will lead JAX's research enterprise, overseeing scientific strategy and operations to build on JAX's unique strengths in genetics and genomics.

"I'm exceedingly confident that Mary's broad leadership experience supporting basic science, translational research, innovation and commercialization at a premier medical school will help take JAX to new heights," said JAX president and CEO Lon Cardon, Ph.D., FMedSci. "With this critical appointment of our chief scientific officer, our team is well-poised to lead major advances on our strategic plan and research priorities in 2024 and beyond."

Dickinson's connection with JAX runs deep, rooted in her lifelong immersion in the genetics community and her longstanding history of collaboration with JAX faculty and researchers. With extensive, highly recognized research using mice to study cardiovascular disease, particularly congenital birth defects, Dickinson has a profound appreciation of the JAX mission to improve human health and is an enduring champion of rare disease research.

"JAX has long been known as a world leader in research innovation, genetic mechanisms and models for disease," said Dickinson. "JAX is far and away distinct from so many institutions in this space, but at the same time integrated within the biomedical community in a way that's really unique for an organization, bridging these communities and advancing precise genomic solutions for disease treatments and cures worldwide."

With a global outlook, Dickinson recognizes the powerful role JAX plays in empowering the biomedical community to accelerate discovery for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, autoimmune diseases, and addiction. "JAX wants to help people make a difference for as many people as possible, from those in rural Maine to Tokyo," said Dickinson. "There are not many places really positioned to do this and be in their truth about it. I'm thrilled and so proud to be joining JAX, especially at such a pivotal time for research."

Dickinson comes to JAX from Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) where she most recently served as the senior vice president and dean of research. At the helm of Baylor's research mission for the last four years, Dickinson partnered with nearly 30 chairs and center directors at one of the largest and most complex medical schools to achieve a 37% growth in sponsored awards. Under her leadership, Baylor saw nearly $700 million in awards in 2023.

In addition to running a thriving research program and lab, Dickinson served as the co-principal investigator of the renowned NIH-funded Knockout Mouse Phenotyping Program (KOMP), a collaboration with the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium with sites at JAX, BCM, and University of California, Davis. She brought invaluable expertise to KOMP, particularly by advancing imaging technology to expand the ability to capture high-resolution data driving early-stage organ development and providing critical insights into the regulatory networks that govern these events. Earlier in her career, she also worked with companies such as Zeiss to improve imaging tools for researcherswork that enabled her team to discover that mechanical forces can regulate genetic programs thought only to be controlled by cell-to-cell signaling.

Dickinson earned her bachelor's degree from Vanderbilt University, doctorate from Columbia University and carried out her post-doctoral fellowship at California Institute of Technology. Dickinson has authored more than 150 manuscripts, holds several patents and disclosures for new microscope technologies, and has received numerous awards. She was appointed as the Kyle and Josephine Morrow Endowed Chair in 2014, was elected a fellow of the American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, and served as the inaugural chair of the faculty senate at Baylor when it was formed in 2015. She became the associate dean for research in 2017 and dean for research in 2019. In 2023, she was elected to the Society for Developmental Biology Academy and received the Orbus Pictus award from the International Society for Transgenic Technology. Most recently, she was recognized with the lifetime honor of being elected a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

About The Jackson Laboratory

The Jackson Laboratory is an independent, nonprofit biomedical research institution with a National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Center and more than 3,000 employees in locations across the United States, Japan and China. Its mission is to discover precise genomic solutions for disease and to empower the global biomedical community in the shared quest to improve human health. For more information, please visit www.jax.org.

SOURCE The Jackson Laboratory
Miami and Las Vegas are gearing up for the most relevant tax education conference for the Hispanic community, featuring distinguished guest Charles P. Rettig, former IRS Commissioner.

MIAMI, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- @newconceptpr - Renowned as the "Tax Master," Carlos Ramirez EA (Enrolled Agent) MBA, President and Founder of the Latin American Business Institute LABITAX, and an iconic figure in the world of tax education, presents the USA TAX CONVENTION for the third consecutive year.

Carlos Ramirez EA, founder of USA Tax Convention

Carlos Ramirez's has poured his life's work into perfecting this convention, establishing it as the epicenter of knowledge for the Spanish-speaking tax community in the United States. In 2024, the USA Tax Convention will have two editions: the first in Miami Convention Center from June 5th to 7th, and the second in Las Vegas from September 18th to 20th, each edition setting new standards of excellence and knowledge.

Originally from Quito, Ecuador, Carlos's journey is a testament to perseverance and dedication. Arriving in the United States in the 1990s marked the beginning of a remarkable evolution from bold aspirations to tangible achievements. Facing the challenges of his time with limited digital resources, Carlos embarked on his tax journey humbly and tenaciously. Armed with knowledge, a few forms, a calculator, a mini portable photocopier, and an unwavering will to succeed, he traversed the streets of Florida, offering his services and trying to help community members on managing and filing their taxes. This initial effort, filled with challenges and rejections, forged his character as a professional, teaching him to be resilient in his craft. Each opened door was of great value, as it presented an opportunity to connect personally, understand each taxpayer's unique concerns, and establish a bond based on trust and mutual respect. This personal and direct approach not only allowed him to build a solid client base but also deepened his understanding of the needs and difficulties faced by individuals and families when navigating the tax system, ultimately beginning a journey of constant learning that led him to discover his passion and commitment to tax education.

With over three decades of experience in the tax field, Carlos Ramirez EA, MBA, NTPI is a pioneer in training and educating thousands of Hispanic tax professionals, tirelessly sharing all his knowledge and experience.

In 2013, he founded the Latin American Business Institute (LABITAX) in response to the Hispanic community's need for quick, easy, and straightforward access to all the evolving knowledge and information required for such a complex topic known as taxes. His experience as an immigrant has given him a deep understanding of the challenges Latinos face in the tax realm. Which ties to his commitment to guiding them in their development as tax preparers, from the basics of tax preparation to achieving the most prestigious Enrolled Agent (EA) designation. This educational journey not only enhances his students' technical skills but also empowers them to advance in their tax careers, providing them with the necessary tools to thrive in a highly competitive and constantly evolving environment.

Carlos affirms that the progress of his students is the barometer of his own effectiveness as an educator, as he describes in the phrase he often mentions, "Your success in the tax industry is my priority." His mentoring impact is evident in the autonomy and confidence his students develop, enabling them not only to secure a safer financial future for themselves but also to contribute significantly by providing essential and well-informed services to the community. As these professionals progress, they become pillars of their own communities, often acting as a bridge between the complexities of the US tax system and Spanish speakers navigating it. Carlos's dedication to teaching transforms lives, creating a chain of knowledge and empowerment that extends far beyond the classroom.

With expertise in national and international taxes for individuals and corporations, Carlos Ramirez is an undisputed leader in the tax industry and the host of USA TAX CONVENTION.

"USA Tax Convention in Miami is the must-attend event for all tax professionals and those seeking excellence in this field, as it will feature renowned speakers such as Charles P. Rettig, the former IRS Commissioner, Tom Gorczynski EA, USTCP specializing in federal taxes and representations before the IRS, and the renowned lawyer and CPA Alvaro Acevedo Jr., specializing in international tax advice, among others. In addition, attendees will be able to connect with outstanding experts and build solid relationships with colleagues from all over the country. This year, for the first time, we are bringing USA TAX CONVENTION to the west coast of the country in Las Vegas in September," said Carlos Ramirez.

His commitment to the continuous education of Latinos has led him to create a Facebook group called 911TaxPro with over 8,000 tax professionals, as well as a YouTube channel @CarlosRamirezEA, with over 167,000 subscribers and over 20 million total views. Carlos Ramirez, who besides being an Enrolled Agent holds a Master's in Business Administration, a Bachelor's degree in Accounting, and is a member of the NAEA and NATP, combines his academic experience with a palpable commitment to his community, demonstrating that knowledge is power and that education is key to success in any field.

About Carlos Ramirez

He is a prominent Enrolled Agent (EA), holding a Master's in Business Administration and a Bachelor's in Accounting, with over 30 years of experience in the tax sector. He is the president and founder of the Latin American Business Institute (Labitax) and USA Tax Convention. With a solid academic background, Carlos has distinguished himself for his expertise in national and international taxes for individuals and businesses. His commitment to continuous education is reflected in his work and active participation in professional organizations such as the NAEA and NATP. His impact on the Spanish-speaking community extends through his YouTube channel, which boasts over 167 thousand subscribers and more than 20 million views. To learn more, visit @CarlosRamirezEA .

About USA Tax Convention

It is the most important tax conference for Latinos in the USA. Organized for the third consecutive year by Carlos Ramirez EA, an expert with over three decades of experience in national and international taxes. This event brings together professionals, experts, and industry leaders to discuss, analyze, and share the latest trends, regulations, and best practices in tax matters at both national and international levels. To learn more, visit: @usataxconvention

CONTACT

NEW CONCEPT PR

Fabiola Malka

305.915.2577 / [email protected]

SOURCE USA Tax Convention
ATLANTA, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- More than a century after Titanic's tragic maiden voyage, the stories of love, heroism, sacrifice, courage, and loss born from that fateful night endure. Now, E/M Group and RMS Titanic, Inc. are honored to bring these stories to Warsaw, Poland when TITANIC: The Artifact Exhibition opens on September 1st, 2024 at the SOHO ART CENTER.

RMS TITANIC, INC. (PRNewsfoto/RMS Titanic, Inc.)

Seen by over 35 million people globally, the Exhibition respectfully tells the story of Titanic and her passengers and crew through authentic artifacts and an immersive environment of carefully recreated notable ship interiors that allow visitors to gain unparalleled insight into the poignant human stories of those aboard.

Titanic was known as the Ship of Dreams, and passengers embarked on their journey for countless reasons, spanning from leisure to aspirations for a brighter future, and the connections extended across the world, including Poland. At the Exhibition, guests can learn more about the incredible story of Leah Aks. Leah Aks, a native of Warsaw and young mother traveling onboard Titanic with her infant, Frank Philip or "Filly" planned to join her husband in Norfolk, Virginia. Although separated during the sinking, mother and child reunited onboard Carpathia after Leah recognized the sound of Filly's cries. Moving and powerful, guests can expect to learn more about the Polish connections aboard Titanic.

"We are thankful for the opportunity to bring Titanic and her stories to Warsaw," said Jessica Sanders, CEO of E/M Group and President of RMS Titanic, Inc. "The Exhibition will provide guests with the chance not only to emotionally connect with the genuine artifacts and stories of the passengers and crew, but also with individuals who held strong ties to Poland."

SOHO ART CENTER, located in the Kamionek neighborhood of Warsaw, presents cultural exhibitions and is part of a vibrant community. For more information, visit www.titanic.pl.

Visit emgroup.com for more information and news about future venue openings.

For media requests, please contact: Wendy Perez ([email protected])

About E/M Group

Experiential Media Group, LLC (E/M Group), located in Atlanta, GA, is a world leader in the development and display of exhibitions that educate, entertain, and inspire audiences of all ages.

About RMS Titanic, Inc.:

RMS Titanic, Inc.'s (RMST) mission is to preserve the legacy of Titanic's maiden voyage, subsequent sinking, and the memory of the passengers and crew through comprehensive educational programs, innovative exhibitions, research and recovery initiatives, wreck site imaging and analysis, and ongoing Titanic collaborations. RMST was granted salvor-in-possession rights to the wreck of Titanic and is the only company permitted by law to recover artifacts from the wreck site. RMST has recovered and conserved more than 5,500 artifacts since 1987 and is an affiliate of E/M Group.

SOURCE E/M Group, LLC
WASHINGTON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Delegation of the European Union to the United States honored three Americans for their important contributions to the transatlantic relationship Thursday with the 2024 Transatlantic Bridge Awards. The ceremony at the residence of Belgian Ambassador to the U.S. Jean-Arthur Regibeau marked Europe Day, May 9, which honors the signing of the Schuman Declaration in 1950 and the beginning of what is today the European Union.

The 2024 honorees  Ambassador Wendy Sherman, President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark, and Yale Professor Timothy Snyder  received the third annual Transatlantic Bridge Awards for their accomplishments in fostering closer cooperation and mutual understanding between Europe and the United States.

"The vitality of the transatlantic relationship so often relies on the hard work, dedication and leadership of people in all walks of life who are committed to seeing it thrive," European Union Ambassador to the United States Jovita Neliupsiene said. "Our honorees this year embody core EU-U.S. values in the realms of foreign affairs, international business, and academia. All of them have fostered deeper public understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing Europe and the U.S. and enriched the transatlantic partnership in the process."

Ambassador Wendy Sherman has been a strong advocate for the enduring importance of the EU-U.S. relationship throughout her long career in Washington. As the U.S.'s chief nuclear negotiator, she worked closely with EU Member States during talks with Iran, cooperation that led to a breakthrough moment in the negotiations and demonstrated the value of EU-U.S. unity on nuclear non-proliferation goals. More recently, as Deputy Secretary of State, she championed stronger EU-U.S. ties in joint talks on China and the Indo-Pacific. Ambassador Sherman's efforts have shown that the EU can truly be America's "partner of first resort" and have deepened the diplomatic and security architecture linking the European Union and the United States.

President and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Suzanne Clark is at the forefront of the EU-U.S. relationship in the realm of trade and business and a fierce advocate of free enterprise. She has encouraged the U.S. and EU Member States consistently to work together to address major challenges like the post-pandemic economic recovery, energy sustainability, changes to the multilateral trading system, and responding to China's unfair business practices. Under her leadership, the U.S. Chamber has facilitated important discussions with the EU on trade cooperation and been a solid partner for the EU and its Member States.

Professor Timothy Snyder of Yale University is an outspoken defender of democracy who has worked tirelessly to set the record straight in the face of disinformation surrounding Russia's war of aggression in Ukraine. In books, articles, and on social media, Professor Snyder has debunked the false narratives Russia uses to justify the war and rallied support for core EU values: the defense of peace, freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law.

Photographs from the ceremony are available here.

SOURCE Delegation of the European Union to the United States
The travel insurance market has grown due to rapid growth in tourism, convenient shopping due to online comparison sites, and travel rules & regulations are the major factors that drive the growth of the global travel insurance market.

PORTLAND, Ore., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Allied Market Research published a report, titled, "Travel Insurance Market by Insurance Cover (Single-Trip Travel Insurance, Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance, and Long-Stay Travel Insurance), Distribution Channel (Insurance Intermediaries, Insurance Companies, Banks, Insurance Brokers, and Insurance Aggregators), End User (Senior Citizens, Education Travelers, Business Travelers, Family Travelers, and Others), and Age Group (1-17 Years Old, 18-30 Years Old, 31-49 Years Old, and Above 50 Years): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031, and Region (North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and LAMEA): Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032.". According to the report, the travel insurance industry generated $16.8 billion in 2023 and is anticipated to generate $106.8 billion by 2032, witnessing a CAGR of 20.1% from 2023 to 2032.

Request Research Report Sample & TOC: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-sample/1610

(We are providing report as per your research requirement, including the Latest Industry Insight's Evolution, Potential and COVID-19 Impact Analysis)

208  Tables

67  Charts

381  Pages

Prime determinants of growth

Rapid growth in tourism, convenient shopping due to online comparison sites and travel rules and regulations primarily drive the growth of the travel insurance market. However, lack of awareness regarding travel insurance policy hampers the market growth. On the contrary, expansion of products and services and new technological developments in the travel insurance industry is expected to provide lucrative opportunities for the market growth during the forecast period.

Report coverage & details:

Report Coverage Details Forecast Period 20232032 Base Year 2022 Market Size in 2022 $16.8 billion Market Size in 2032 $106.8 billion CAGR 20.1 % No. of Pages in Report 381 Segments covered Insurance Cover, Distribution Channel, End User, Age Group, and Region. Drivers Rapid growth in tourism Convenient shopping due to online comparison sites Travel rules and regulations Opportunities Expansion of products and services New technological developments in the travel insurance Restraint Lack of awareness regarding travel insurance policy



Buy This Report (381 Pages PDF with Insights, Charts, Tables, and Figures) @ https://bit.ly/3CkKQOF

The long-stay travel insurance segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period.

By insurance cover, the single-trip travel insurance segment held the largest market share in 2022, accounting for more than three-fifths of the travel insurance market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to its comprehensive coverage for a single journey, including trip cancellations, medical emergencies, and baggage loss, providing travelers with peace of mind. However, the long-stay travel insurance segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 23.8% from 2023 to 2032, owing to the increasing number of long-term travelers seeking comprehensive insurance coverage for extended stays abroad.

The insurance aggregators segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period.

By distribution channel, the insurance intermediaries segment held the largest market share in 2022, accounting for nearly one-third of the travel insurance market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to its wide network, personalized services, and strong customer relationships, which cater to the diverse needs of travelers efficiently. However, the insurance aggregators segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 23.0% from 2023 to 2032, owing to its ability to offer a wide range of insurance options from different providers, providing customers with greater choice and convenience in selecting suitable policies.

The business travelers segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period.

By end user, the family travelers segment held the largest market share in 2022, accounting for nearly one-third of the travel insurance market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to the rising number of families opting for travel insurance to protect their loved ones against unforeseen events such as medical emergencies and trip cancellations. However, the business travelers segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 22.6% from 2023 to 2032, owing to the increasing globalization of businesses, rising frequency of business trips, and the need for comprehensive coverage against travel-related risks for employees on corporate travel.

The 18-30 years old segment to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period.

By age group, the 31-49 years old segment held the largest market share in 2022, accounting for more than one-third of the travel insurance market revenue and is estimated to maintain its leadership status throughout the forecast period, owing to its active participation in travel activities, higher disposable income, and a growing awareness of the importance of travel insurance, especially for longer trips. However, the 18-30 years old segment is projected to manifest the highest CAGR of 23.0% from 2023 to 2032, owing to the increasing number of young travelers seeking adventurous and experiential travel experiences, leading to a higher demand for travel insurance among this demographic.

Get Customized Reports with your Requirements: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/request-for-customization/1610

Asia-Pacific region to maintain its dominance by 2032.

By region, the Europe segment held the largest market share in terms of revenue in 2022, accounting for nearly two-fifths of the travel insurance market revenue, owing to the region's robust tourism industry, high awareness about travel risks, and the availability of a wide range of travel insurance products tailored to different traveler needs, which is boosting the growth of the market in this region. The Asia-Pacific region is expected to witness the fastest CAGR of 22.1% from 2023 to 2032, owing to the increasing awareness about travel insurance, rising disposable incomes, and a growing number of outbound travelers, particularly from countries like China and India, driving the demand for travel insurance policies in the region.

Leading Market Players: -

American International Group, Inc.,

Assicurazioni Generali S.P.A.

Aviva

AXA

Zurich

Just Travel Cover

PassportCard

Trailfinders Ltd.

Staysure

Insurefor.com

The report provides a detailed analysis of these key players of the travel insurance 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 countries. The report is valuable in highlighting business performance, operating segments, product portfolio, and strategic moves of market players to showcase the competitive scenario.

Inquiry before Buying: https://www.alliedmarketresearch.com/purchase-enquiry/1610

Key Benefits for Stakeholders

This report provides a quantitative analysis of the market segments, current trends, estimations, and dynamics of the travel insurance market analysis from 2022 to 2032 to identify the prevailing market opportunities.

The market research is offered along with information related to key drivers, restraints, and opportunities.

Porter's five forces analysis highlights the potency of buyers and suppliers to enable stakeholders make profit-oriented business decisions and strengthen their supplier-buyer network.

In-depth analysis of the travel insurance market segmentation assists to determine the prevailing market opportunities.

Major countries in each region are mapped according to their revenue contribution to the global market.

Market player positioning facilitates benchmarking and provides a clear understanding of the present position of the market players.

The report includes the analysis of the regional as well as global travel insurance market trends, key players, market segments, application areas, and market growth strategies.

Travel Insurance Market Key Segments:

By Age Group

Above 50

117 Years Old

1830 Years Old

3149 Years Old

By Insurance Cover

Single-Trip Travel Insurance

Annual Multi-Trip Travel Insurance

Long-Stay Travel Insurance

By Distribution Channel

Insurance Intermediaries

Insurance Companies

Banks

Insurance Brokers

Insurance Aggregators

By End User

Senior Citizens

Education Travelers

Business Travelers

Family Travelers

Others

By Region

North America (U.S., Canada )

(U.S., ) Europe (UK, Germany , France , Norway , Netherlands , Spain , Italy , Switzerland , Finland , Belgium , Russia , Sweden , Austria , Rest of Europe )

(UK, , , , , , , , , , , , , Rest of ) Asia-Pacific ( China , Japan , Australia , Hong Kong , South Korea , Malaysia , Singapore , New Zealand , Rest of Asia-Pacific )

( , , , , , , , , Rest of ) LAMEA ( Brazil , Argentina , Rest of Latin America , Middle East , Africa )

Trending Reports in BFSI Industry (Book Now with 10% Discount + Covid-19 scenario):

Business Travel Accident Insurance Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Type, by Application, by Distribution Channel: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2023-2032

Single Trip Travel Insurance Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Distribution Channel and End User: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Business Travel Insurance Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Coverage Type, Distribution Channels and Application: Global Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2021-2030

Asia-Pacific Travel Insurance Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Distribution Channel, Insurance Cover and End User: Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2016-2022

Europe Gadget Insurance Market Size, Share, Competitive Landscape and Trend Analysis Report by Coverage Type, Device Type, Sales Channel and End User: Regional Opportunity Analysis and Industry Forecast, 2022-2031

About Us:

Allied Market Research (AMR) is a full-service market research and business-consulting wing of Allied Analytics LLP based in Wilmington, Delaware. Allied Market Research provides global enterprises as well as medium and small businesses with unmatched quality of "Market Research Reports Insights" and "Business Intelligence Solutions." AMR has a targeted view to provide business insights and consulting to assist its clients to make strategic business decisions and achieve sustainable growth in their respective market domain.

We are in professional corporate relations with various companies and this helps us in digging out market data that helps us generate accurate research data tables and confirms utmost accuracy in our market forecasting. Allied Market Research CEO Pawan Kumar is instrumental in inspiring and encouraging everyone associated with the company to maintain high quality of data and help clients in every way possible to achieve success. Each and every data presented in the reports published by us is extracted through primary interviews with top officials from leading companies of domain concerned. Our secondary data procurement methodology includes deep online and offline research and discussion with knowledgeable professionals and analysts in the industry.

Contact:

David Correa

1209 Orange Street,

Corporation Trust Center,

Wilmington, New Castle,

Delaware 19801 USA.

Int'l: +1-503-894-6022

Toll Free: +1-800-792-5285

UK: +44-845-528-1300

India (Pune): +91-20-66346060

Fax: +1-800-792-5285

[email protected]

Logo: https://mma.prnewswire.com/media/636519/Allied_Market_Research_Logo.jpg

SOURCE Allied Market Research
BEIJING CHINA-GERMANY FORUM FOR INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENTChina-Germany (China-Europe) Hidden Champions 2024 Will Kick Off

BEIJING, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- On May 6, 2024, the press conference on BEIJING CHINA-GERMANY FORUM FOR INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT -- China-Germany (China-Europe) Hidden Champions Forum 2024 (Hereinafter referred to as the Forum 2024) was held at China-Germany Plaza in Shunyi District of Beijing.

The Forum 2024 will be held at the Beijing China-Germany International Conference and Exhibition Center in Shunyi District from May 12 to 14, 2024. The event is co-sponsored by the Shunyi District People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the International Economic Senate (IES), and the Network for International Cooperation on Technology Commercialization (NICTC), and the International Cooperation Center of the National Development and Reform Commission (ICC-NDRC) and Asia Digital Group serve as its strategic partners.

The press conference was hosted by Zhou Jinghui, head of the Shunyi Bureau of Economy and Information Technology and chairperson of the Management Committee of the Beijing China-Germany International Cooperation Industrial Park (hereinafter referred to as the Industrial Park). Du Yue (Deputy Head of Shunyi District People's Government of Beijing Municipality), Ren Zhiguang (Executive Director of the Forum from IES), and Ding Kai (Chief of Mechanism Cooperation Division, ICC-NDRC) attended the press conference and delivered speeches. Additionally, Zhang Zhang (NICTC Executive Director-General) and Zhu Dongfang (President of Asia Digital Group) participated in the conference.

It is reported that the Forum 2024 will include the Opening Ceremony & Plenary Sessions, a Roundtable on Innovation-driven Development between German Enterprises and Industrial Park, New Energy and Intelligent Vehicle Industry Development Forum, "Digital Intelligence in Shunyi" China-Germany (China-Europe) Cooperation and Development Forum, and China-Germany (China-Europe) Hidden Champions Economic and Technological Exchanges and Cooperation Forum. Concurrently, the Forum 2024 will host activities such as the Shunyi Tour for Hidden-Champion Entrepreneurs and the China-Germany (China-Europe) Economic and Technological Interaction Area.

The Forum 2024 will pool global resources to better facilitate the cooperation in multiple fields like economy, technology and more from a higher and broader perspective, and to create an event for German and other European businesses to come together in Beijing and exchange ideas on technological innovation, industrial development, talent flow and information.
Beijing (Gasgoo)- In the fourth month of 2024, Chinas new energy passenger vehicle market achieved a respective 33.5% and 30% year-on-year surge in production and wholesale volumes, which stood at 802,000 vehicles and 785,000 units, according to data provided by the China Passenger Car Association.

Notably, 39.9% of the total passenger vehicles wholesaled in April were new energy vehicles (NEVs), up 6 percentage points from that of a year ago. NEVs made up 53.6% of the monthly wholesales made by China's indigenous brands, and the numbers came in at 31.5% for luxury vehicle brands and only 6.8% for mainstream joint-venture brands in the country.

Powertrain-wise, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) accounted for 59% of the total Apr. wholesale volume in China, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) at 32%, and range-extended electric vehicles (REEVs) at 9%.

Photo credit: BYD

In April, a total of 11 passenger car models achieved a monthly wholesale volume exceeding 20,000 units, 8 of which were NEVs, including the top 6 ones. BYD's Song continued to lead the pack with 80,860 units wholesaled last month, followed by the BYD Qin with 51,170 units, the BYD Seagull with 34,832 units, the BYD Destroyer 05 with 32,800 units, Teslas Model Y with 31,962 units, and Model 3 with 30,205 units.

Overall, Chinas new energy passenger vehicle market demonstrated robust growth in April. With a diverse lineup of NEVs, the market continues to expand, with 14 NEV makers selling over 10,000 vehicles, accounting for 86.6% of total new energy passenger vehicle wholesale volume. BYD maintained its leadership position with 312,048 NEVs wholesaled last month, and Tesla China followed with a monthly figure of 62,167 units.

Photo credit: AITO

As to retail performance in April, Chinas NEV market realized a 28.3% year-on-year jump in retail sales, which amounted to 674,000 vehicles.

NEVs accounted for 41.6% of the total retail volume of passenger cars in the past month, which climbed up 11.7 percentage points from the same period last year. To be specific, 66.8% of the passenger cars retailed by Chinas indigenous brands in April were NEVs. Meanwhile, NEVs constituted 22.6% and 7.5% of luxury brands and mainstream joint ventures retail volume.

Chinas mainstream indigenous brands dominated the NEV market last month with a 64% share, up 2 percentage points from a year ago. Joint-venture brands NEV market share slipped 0.8 percentage points year on year to 4.3%, while Chinese NEV startups holding an 11.8% share, which indicated a 0.5 percentage points growth year-on-year.

Photo credit: Tesla

The US electric vehicle rockstar Tesla witnessed a 2.6 percentage points decline in April, holding 4% of China's NEV market.

In the fourth month of this year, a total of 115,000 NEVs were exported by automakers in China, representing a 26.8% increase year-over-year and accounting for 27.9% of the total passenger car export volume. BEVs made up 78.8% of the total NEV exports in April.

BYD (41,011 units), Tesla China (30,746 units), and SAIC MOTOR Passenger Vehicle (6,048 units) were the top 3 exporters of NEVs in the past month.
ROCHESTER, N.Y., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Despite some media reports claiming otherwise, ValveTech Inc. did not call for NASA to permanently stop the Starliner launch. The company's president warned of safety concerns that need to be addressed before retrying the launch.

"Some media outlets have misquoted or misrepresented comments I made in a news release issued earlier this week," said ValveTech President Erin Faville. "What I said was that NASA needs to re-double safety checks and re-examine safety protocols to make sure the Starliner is safe before trying to launch the Starliner again."

"As a valued NASA partner, it would make no sense and not be in my company's interest to end this mission," Faville added. "It is unfortunate that some of my comments were taken out of context to imply otherwise."

ValveTech supplies 14 valve components to vendors for the Starliner CST-100 spacecraft, which is designed to carry humans and scientific research to and from low-Earth orbit, including the International Space Station.

About ValveTech Inc.

Founded in 1986 and headquartered in Phelps, N.Y., ValveTech (valvetech.net) is a women-owned, and family operated business that designs and manufactures valves and other components for aerospace and military applications. ValveTech's products are used in the International Space Station, James Webb Telescope, V-22 Osprey and other demanding applications. ValveTech is ISO 9001-registered and AS9100-certified.

SOURCE Hastings Law Office, P.C.
LONDON, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- ViewSonic Corp., a leading global provider of visual solutions, today announced that its ambitious targets for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). This milestone underscores ViewSonic's commitment to environmental sustainability and its proactive role in combating climate change.

Near-Term Target for Climate Action

ViewSonic aims to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across its entire value chain by 2050. ViewSonic's targets for achieving net-zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050 have been validated by the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi).

ViewSonic has committed to significantly reducing its carbon footprint by targeting a 42% reduction in absolute Scope 1 and 2 GHG emissions by 2030, from a 2021 baseline. The company also aims to reduce Scope 3 GHG emissions from purchased goods and services and the use of sold products by 42% within the same timeframe. These targets align with the SBTi's stringent criteria to keep global temperature increase to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels, consistent with the most ambitious aim of the Paris Agreement.

Long-Term Vision for Net-Zero

In pursuit of broader environmental goals, ViewSonic aims to achieve net-zero GHG emissions across its entire value chain by 2050. This long-term commitment is part of ViewSonic's strategy to integrate sustainability into all aspects of its operations and business ethos.

"Receiving SBTi validation for our GHG emissions reduction targets is a testament to our dedication to creating a more sustainable future," said James Chu, CEO of ViewSonic. "As a technology leader, we believe it is our responsibility to lead by example in the transition to a low-carbon economy. These validated targets not only reflect our commitment but also set a clear and science-driven path for our climate action strategy."

Innovative and Sustainable Solutions

The commitment to sustainability is further supported by ISO 14064 certification, affirming the rigorous approach to reducing greenhouse gas emissions. ViewSonic excels in creating energy-efficient products, highlighted by their EPEAT Silver-certified ViewBoard interactive displays and commercial displays, and ENERGY STAR Most Efficient 2024 recognized monitors. ViewSonic also leads in eco-friendly innovation with lamp-free LED and laser projectors, which contain no mercury and significantly reduce environmental impact. For more information on ViewSonic's efforts and commitments, visit our ESG initiatives at ViewSonic's ESG webpage.

About ViewSonic

Founded in 1987 in California, ViewSonic is a leading global visual solutions provider with a presence in over 100 countries. The company leverages over 35 years of expertise in visual technology to deliver a comprehensive portfolio of hardware, software, content, and services. ViewSonic offers a wide range of products, with screen sizes spanning from 5 inches to a massive 760 inches. This includes interactive displays, large format displays, LED displays, pen displays, monitors, projectors, SaaS, AI services, interactive content, and more. This innovative ecosystem empowers education, workplaces, and individuals to foster creativity, collaboration, and seamless learning. ViewSonic focuses on designing products that deliver optimal performance and customer satisfaction while integrating sustainable production practices and upholding comprehensive environmental, social, and governance standards. The company's goal is to enable customers to "See the Difference". Learn more at www.viewsonic.com.

SOURCE ViewSonic
VANCOUVER, BC, May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Wheaton Precious Metals Corp. ("Wheaton" or the "Company") announces that the nominees listed below were elected to the Board of Directors at the 2024 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders, including the addition of Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan, or Venkat, who joins the board effective today. Detailed results of the vote for the Board of Directors of the Company are shown below.

"With his impressive track record of exemplary leadership and success in the mining industry, we are pleased to welcome Venkat to our Board of Directors," said George Brack, Chair of the Board of Wheaton. "Venkat brings a wealth of experience, strategic insight and a strong dedication to sustainable growth, which will be invaluable to Wheaton as we venture into our next phase of expansion. We look forward to working closely with Venkat and benefiting from his contributions to our board discussions and decision-making process."

2024 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders Voting Results

Nominee Votes For % For Votes Withheld % Withheld George L. Brack 324,783,866 98.27 % 5,717,692 1.73 % Jaimie Donovan 327,626,678 99.13 % 2,874,880 0.87 % R. Peter Gillin 313,193,110 94.76 % 17,308,448 5.24 % Chantal Gosselin 318,747,803 96.44 % 11,753,755 3.56 % Jeane Hull 327,216,498 99.01 % 3,285,060 0.99 % Glenn Ives 328,571,567 99.42 % 1,929,991 0.58 % Charles A. Jeannes 325,495,940 98.49 % 5,005,618 1.51 % Marilyn Schonberner 324,115,890 98.07 % 6,385,668 1.93 % Randy V.J. Smallwood 329,605,299 99.73 % 896,259 0.27 % Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan 328,191,419 99.30 % 2,310,139 0.70 %

The following special matter was also approved by shareholders at the 2024 Annual and Special Meeting of Shareholders:

the ordinary resolution to approve the appointment of Deloitte LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm, as auditors of the Company was carried with 94.42% of the votes cast in favour of such resolution; and

as a special matter, the non-binding advisory resolution accepting the Company's approach to executive compensation was carried with 94.14% of the votes cast in favour of such resolution.

Srinivasan Venkatakrishnan  New Director

Mr. Venkatakrishnan is a Corporate Director and an experienced mining executive who brings a wealth of mining and financial experience, gained through his vast experience of leading global mining businesses, in a career that has spanned across 17 countries and six continents. Mr. Venkatakrishnan has a proven track record of leading multinational organizations - including major publicly listed companies - through periods of challenging and transformative change. He is currently the Chair of Endeavour Mining plc. and a director of BlackRock World Mining Trust plc. He was also, until March 31, 2024, a Director of Weir Group Plc. Previously, Mr. Venkatakrishnan served as CEO of Vedanta Resources plc from 2018 to 2020 and was CEO of AngloGold Ashanti Limited between 2013 to 2018, having previously been Chief Financial Officer of the business from 2005, and of Ashanti Goldfields Limited from 2000. In his early career, he was a Director with Deloitte in London, leading corporate restructurings on behalf of both corporates and financiers. Mr. Venkatakrishnan is a past board member of the World Gold Council, International Council on Mining and Metals, Business Leadership South Africa, the Chamber of Mines of South Africa and a past member of the Financial Review Investigation Panel of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.

SOURCE Wheaton Precious Metals Corp.
MILPITAS, Calif., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zepp Health Corporation ("Zepp" or the "Company") (NYSE: ZEPP), a global leader in smart wearables and health technology, today announced that it has received a letter from the New York Stock Exchange (the "NYSE") dated April 30, 2024, notifying Zepp that it is below compliance standards due to the trading price of Zepp's American depositary shares (the "ADSs").

Pursuant to Section 802.01C of the NYSE's Listed Company Manual, a company will be considered to be below compliance standards if the average closing price of its security as reported on the consolidated tape is less than US$1.00 over a consecutive 30 trading-day period. The Company has six months (the "Cure Period") following receipt of the notice to regain compliance with the minimum share price requirement. The Company can regain compliance at any time during the Cure Period if on the last trading day of any calendar month during the Cure Period the Company has a closing share price of at least US$1.00 per ADS and an average closing share price of at least US$1.00 per ADS over the 30 trading-day period ending on the last trading day of that month. In the event that at the expiration of the six-month Cure Period, both a US$1.00 per ADS closing share price on the last trading day of the Cure Period and a US$1.00 per ADS average closing share price over the 30 trading-day period ending on the last trading day of the Cure Period are not attained, the NYSE will commence suspension and delisting procedures.

Zepp Health has advised the NYSE of its intention to cure the deficiency within the applicable cure period and is considering all available options in this regard, which may include, if necessary, effecting a reverse share split, subject to board and shareholder approval.

The NYSE notice has no immediate effect on the listing of the Company's ordinary shares on the NYSE, subject to the Company's compliance with the NYSE's other continued listing requirements, and does not affect the Company's ongoing business operations or its reporting obligations under the rules of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

About Zepp Health Corporation

Zepp Health Corporation (NYSE: ZEPP) is a global smart wearable and health technology leader, empowering users to live their healthiest lives by optimizing their health, fitness, and wellness journeys through its leading consumer brands, Amazfit, Zepp Clarity and Zepp Aura. Powered by its proprietary Zepp Digital Management Platform, which includes the Zepp OS, AI chips, biometric sensors and data algorithms, Zepp delivers cloud-based 24/7 actionable insights and guidance to help users attain their wellness goals. To date, Zepp has shipped over 200 million units, and its products are available in more than 90 countries and regions. Founded in 2013 as Huami Corp., the Company changed its name to Zepp Health Corporation in February 2021 to emphasize its health focus with a name that resonates across languages and cultures globally. Zepp has team members and offices across North America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific regions.

Safe Harbor Statement

This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are made under the "safe harbor" provisions of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "will," "expects," "anticipates," "future," "intends," "plans," "believes," "estimates," "confident" and similar statements. Statements that are not historical facts, including statements about the Company's beliefs and expectations, are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve inherent risks and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement, including but not limited to the following: the cooperation with Xiaomi, the recognition of the Company's self-branded products; the Company's growth strategies; trends and competition in global wearable technology market; changes in the Company's revenues and certain cost or expense accounting policies; governmental policies relating to the Company's industry and general economic conditions in China and the global. Further information regarding these and other risks is included in the Company's filings with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission. All information provided in this press release and in the attachments is as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement, except as required under applicable law.

For investor and media inquiries, please contact:

In China:

Zepp Health Corporation

Grace Yujia Zhang

Email: [email protected]

Piacente Financial Communications

Tel: +86-10-6508-0677

Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Zepp Health Corp.
May 14 event will expand Zum's team in preparation for 2024-25 school year

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., May 10, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Zum , which was recently awarded a $30 million, five-year transportation contract from Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD), will host a third hiring event for school bus drivers on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Courtyard Marriott (401 Storke Road, Goleta, CA 931170.

Zum, which was recently awarded a $30 million, five-year transportation contract from Santa Barbara Unified School District (SBUSD), will host a third hiring event for school bus drivers on Tuesday, May 14, 2024, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Courtyard Marriott (401 Storke Road, Goleta, CA 931170.

Zum is hiring 46 school bus drivers to serve the families of Santa Barbara beginning in the 2024-25 school year. Certified drivers are encouraged to attend, as well as anyone considering a new career as a school bus driver. Zum pays for training and certification for those who are not yet certified.

Zum offers competitive wages, guaranteed hours and modern benefits for all drivers and staff. Additionally, Zum provides top-of-the-line buses, equipment and technology to enhance safety and comfort for students and drivers and make drivers' day-to-day jobs easier and more enjoyable. Advanced training and certification programs include extensive ongoing training in transporting students with diverse needs and disabilities.

"We have been busy building our team of bus drivers in Santa Barbara ahead of the 2024-2025 school year, and we look forward to meeting existing drivers and those looking for a new career at this event," said Ritu Narayan, Founder and CEO at Zum. "Drivers are at the heart of what we do at Zum, and we're excited to deliver safe, reliable transportation to this welcoming school community."

Zum is a "Great Places to Work" certified company. Anyone interested in driving or who knows someone interested that cannot attend one of Zum's hiring events can apply here .

Zum manages and operates student transportation in Massachusetts, Maryland, California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, and Tennessee with significant operations launching this year in Nebraska, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Connecticut and Missouri. To learn more about how Zum is working with thousands of schools across the nation to deliver safe, reliable and modern student transportation, please visit Zum's website .

About Zum:

Zum has modernized student transportation, the nation's largest mass transit system, and developed sustainable ways to charge the grid. Zum's robust operations and integrated end-to-end cloud-based platform provides a modern student transportation service for school districts purpose-built around the needs of kids and the expectations of modern families. Zum provides one seamless, real-time interface for parents, drivers, schools, districts, administrators, and operators to transport children safely and with increased visibility and personalized care. Always investing in the wellbeing of communities, Zum is also the only carbon neutral student transportation provider in the nation with plans to go Net Zero with its transition to EV electric buses. Zum is available nationwide, serving more than 4,000 schools across the U.S. Learn more at www.ridezum.com .

CONTACT:

Jenny Mayfield, Vice President of Communications - [email protected]

SOURCE Zum
Image: Matt Rourke (AP)

As those famous rock n rollers once crooned, you cant always get what you want. Thats especially true for personalized license plates. Plates cant display something vulgar about a social movement group you dont agree with, creepy or sexual references, drug or criminal references and, often, negative things about the current sitting president. An Ohio driver is suing the state, claiming his free speech is being violated.

Jeffrey Wonser of Licking County, Ohio, is suing the states Bureau Of Motor Vehicles over the phrase F46 LGB. The Bureau however rejected his application for the plate as Clevleand.com explained:



...it implied that some could perceive it to mean F*** the 46th president of the United States, Joe Biden, while LGB could stand for Lets Go Brandon, a joking term that has come to have a similar meaning among some American conservatives.

ADVERTISEMENT

This isnt the first time that Wonser has tried getting this license plate. The Bureau says it denied the application for Wonsers plate multiple times in 2022. Even though it was denied, Wonser and his attorney Brian Bardwell swear the plate has no meaning even though his suit  in all of its 18 pages  doesnt exactly say why he chose the phrase. He shoots down other interpretations of the phrase, like saying its a dig at the LGBTQ community, but still Wonser and Bardwell still wont exactly say what the phrase means.



We are deliberately not saying... The message can be whatever people want it to be, he said. Whats clear, Bardwell said, is that the BMV is arbitrary in how it enforces its policies, established under a similar lawsuit that led to a legal settlement in 2003.

Wonser is now suing the Bureau, claiming the denial is a violation of his First and Fourteenth Amendment rights and has caused him to suffer economic and emotional injuries. Not sure how not getting a vanity license plate could hurt anyones feelings hard enough that they suffer economic losses, but he seems like a very sensitive guy.

Story continues

Wonser and his lawyer are playing the whataboutism card essentially saying the Bureau picks and chooses what plates it whats to approve. His suit points to examples of vanity plate phrase approvals like FDT and FU TRMP. The suit also claims the Bureau rejected the plate of a BMW E46 owner who submitted EFORTY6, which the was interpreted as F*** 46 and subsequently rejected.



The Ohio DMV reserves the right to reject any plates that it feels are in poor taste or are offensive. Wonser can claim his plate is open to interpretation all he wants, but the DMV is smarter than that, according to News5Cleveland:

KIABOYZ, 5UCK IT, I H8 TOL, AND FOX SAKE were among the more than 700 license plate requests rejected in 2023. People do things backwards, and substitute 5's for Ss to get through, Ohio BMV registrar Charlie Norman explained. Norman oversees the team that he says scours the darkest depths of the internet to keep up with the times and learn what some of these requests mean. The committee is pretty good, and they catch a lot, he said. Its really a fraction of a percent [that dont get approved.] 99.5% of personalized plate requests are approved.



His claim of First Amendment and Fourteenth Amendment violations probably wont hold much water. Both Amendments refer to laws against speech and states making laws that run counter to the U.S. Constitution, but there are no laws in place that are being violated here. The state, however, does have an interest in what speech is being displayed on the license plates it issues for official purposes. Nevada, for instance, rejects plates that hate on Californians.

Anyway, best of luck with your lawsuit and hurt feelings in the future Wonser

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Jerusalem, May 10 : The Israeli army will continue its operation in the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah "as planned," after the talks on the Israel-Hamas truce held in Egypt's Cairo collapsed, an Israeli official told the media.

Meanwhile, a Xinhua news agency covering the developments reported mass Israeli troops stationed on the border with Rafah.

The unnamed Israeli official confirmed on Thursday that the Israeli delegation has left Cairo after talks with Hamas, the US, Egyptian, and Qatari negotiators on a deal to end the hostilities and secure the release of hostages in Gaza, Xinhua news agency reported.

The official did not elaborate on whether Israel will expand the offensive to more areas in Rafah at the southern end of Gaza, where about 1.2 million internally displaced Palestinians were taking refuge.

According to Israel's state-owned Kan TV news, the talks were halted due to Israel's ongoing ground assault on Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet was scheduled to meet later on Thursday to discuss the continuation of the Rafah operation.

Commenting on US President Joe Biden's decision to pause some shipments of weapons to Israel if it deepens its assault on Rafah city, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said it has enough weapons to continue operations in Gaza.

"The IDF has armaments for the operations it is planning, also for the operation in Rafah," IDF Spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a statement.

"We have what we need," he stressed.

"The US has so far provided security assistance to Israel and the IDF in an unprecedented manner," Hagari added, noting that "even when there are disagreements between us -- we resolve them in closed rooms".
Kiev, May 10 : Russian missile and drone attacks two days ago heavily damaged two hydroelectric power plants in Ukraine, Ukraine's state-run hydropower generating company Ukrhydroenergo said.

"Two hydroelectric power plants are out of operation," Ukrhydroenergo said on Thursday in a post on Telegram, not specifying locations.

Ukraine's overall hydroelectric power generation has suffered big losses in the recent attacks, it added as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

The company said it would take "considerable efforts" and "significant financial resources" to repair and restore the destroyed facilities.

On Wednesday, Russia fired 55 missiles and 21 drones in an attack that targeted power generation and transmission facilities in six Ukrainian regions, according to Ukrainian authorities.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and China's leader, Xi Jinping, at a welcoming ceremony at the Third Belt and Road Forum in Beijing in October. Sergei Savostyanov/Pool/AFP/Getty Images

China is trying to make its economy less reliant on the West.

These efforts could boost the Chinese economy but also prepare it for an invasion of Taiwan.

Self-reliance has helped the Russian economy stay afloat amid the invasion of Ukraine.

China is taking steps to make its economy less reliant on the West, and it could have both economic and military motivations for doing so.

In recent years, China has invested billions to boost its production of semiconductor chips, electric vehicles, batteries, and solar panels. Over the past year, Southeast Asia overtook the US and Europe as China's largest export market. The Chinese government has also decreased its holdings of US Treasurys, taken steps to reduce its reliance on Western food imports, and has worked to improve its energy security.

ADVERTISEMENT

Experts told Business Insider that from an economic perspective, these efforts could both provide a short-term boost to China's slumping economy and help it prepare for long-term geopolitical tensions with the West. But these strategies could also help it accomplish another objective: preparing the country for war.

"Reunifying Taiwan with the mainland is one of Xi Jinping's clearest aspirations, and it only makes sense that, if he's trying to game it out, he would want to do so in a way that minimizes the exposure to the Chinese economy," Vivek Chilukuri, a national-security expert at the Center for a New American Security, told Business Insider.

But some experts say that if an attempt to reunify by force was around the corner, they'd expect a few other signals.

"China's operating under the assumption now that tensions with the United States and the West are quite severe and unlikely to recede anytime soon," Scott Kennedy, an expert on China's economy at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, told BI. "At the same time, doing that is still quite different from preparing for an actual war and what would come after."

Story continues

It's not just about war: China has several other reasons to invest in its economy

Growth in China's economy has slowed as the country grapples with a real-estate debt crisis, high youth unemployment, an aging population, and reduced demand for its exports. And while China reported GDP growth in April that beat expectations, these challenges are expected to persist. The country's big investment in clean-energy technology, in particular, is intended to boost its economy. It's worth noting, however, that some are skeptical of the accuracy of Chinese economic data.

At the same time, China is building up its military at a rapid rate and is expected to have the forces needed to seize Taiwan in a few years  China has long claimed the island as its own. In the event that China does invade or blockade, it'd probably have to deal with the sanctions and trade restrictions of the US and other countries, which gives the country all the more reason to shore up its domestic industries.

It's possible that China could be taking some lessons from Russia, which took steps to shore up its resources prior to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022. While Russia's economy has taken a toll since then, Russian efforts to boost its domestic food supply and diversify its trade partners have helped it stay afloat and minimize the impact of Western sanctions  and Chinese imports of Russian oil have played a key role in this. Self-sufficient production of critical commodities such as oil, natural gas, and wheat has also aided Russia, in addition to a large defense sector that's helped supply its military.

While China may have been accelerating efforts in recent years to "de-risk" its economy, Chilukuri said this process started as long as a decade ago. He pointed to the country's "Made in China 2025" policy, launched in 2015, which was intended to make China the global leader in the manufacturing of key technologies such as chips and EVs.

De-risking efforts such as these would ultimately leave China better-positioned in the event of an invasion or blockade of Taiwan or an unforeseen development such as a pandemic. But Chilukuri said he thought much of China's recent manufacturing push was about getting its economy back on track after the country's zero-COVID policy brought it to a halt  and caused some in China to lose trust in Xi Jinping and his government.

"The fundamental trade that China's made with its people is you give up your aspirations for human freedom in exchange for sustained historically unprecedented economic growth," he said. "And Covid, I think, shook the confidence of a lot of people in China that that deal was going to be fulfilled."

That's why, even if an invasion or blockade doesn't happen anytime soon, growing tensions and loosening trade ties with the West could give China plenty of motivation to invest in its economy.

Despite its precautions, a seizure of Taiwan could still have a 'disastrous' impact on China's economy

China already has some experience in asserting its dominance over a territory and navigating blowback from the West.

In 2020, China passed a national-security law for Hong Kong that eroded the city's freedoms, autonomy, and democracy and led to the arrest of pro-democracy activists. In response, the US issued sanctions against 11 Chinese and Hong Kong officials, and some US companies left the city.

Some believe China's intervention in Hong Kong served as a test case for how it would approach a takeover of Taiwan. If China follows the Hong Kong model, it may threaten Taiwan into capitulation without having to invade.

The other ways China may try to take control include a naval blockade that circles Taiwan and cuts it off from the rest of the world. An invasion is a third possibility  though some disagree on the likelihood and timing of this option.

In recent years, China has staged provocative military exercises around the island. What's more, Xi Jinping has told the Chinese military to prepare for war and said that reunification with Taiwan is inevitable. Some experts think a war could be on the horizon.

But not everyone thinks a Chinese military move is necessarily imminent. Kennedy said that if China was actively preparing for a near-term invasion of Taiwan, there were a few things he might expect to see first.

First, he said China would begin preparing its citizens for war.

"You would see a steady drumbeat of propaganda preparing people for conflict and for potentially substantial economic sacrifices," he said.

Second, Kennedy said he'd expect to see China invest more heavily in materials such as carbon fiber, which has a variety of military applications.

Third, he'd also expect to see many Chinese diplomats, businesspeople, and students start returning to China, as well as significant movements in Chinese financial assets in an effort to avoid future sanctions.

Kennedy said that as long as the US and Taiwan didn't cross any of China's "red lines," the chance of a war involving Taiwan was "quite low." He said those red lines included a Taiwan referendum on its statehood and the placement of significant US and Western military assets in Taiwan.

If China does invade, the global economic impact would be huge, and despite its efforts to secure its economy, China would probably be far from unscathed.

"Any action against Taiwan would be disastrous for China's economy," Chilukuri said. "But China's shown that it's willing to bear a considerable cost for ideology."

Read the original article on Business Insider
Jerusalem, May 10 : Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a video statement that the Israeli forces will continue their attacks in Gaza despite the US threat to halt some weapon shipments.

"If Israel is forced to stand alone -- Israel will stand alone," said Netanyahu in a public speech made on Sunday's Israeli Holocaust Memorial Day and posted on his official X account on Thursday.

The Israeli Prime Minister added that "no amount of pressure" will stop Israel from "defending itself" as quoted by Xinhua news agency report.

During a CNN interview on Wednesday, US President Joe Biden said that he would halt some shipments of US weapons to Israel if Netanyahu launches a major invasion of Rafah, the southernmost city of the Gaza Strip where more than one million Palestinians are taking refuge.

"We're not walking away from Israel's security. We're walking away from Israel's ability to wage war in those areas," Biden added.

The US President admitted that Israel used US bombs on civilians in Gaza.

"Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centres," Biden said.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin said on Wednesday that the US had already paused "one shipment of high payload munitions" to Israel.

The US has sent hundreds of shipments of weapons to Israel since the ongoing conflict broke up on October 7, 2023, according to reports from US news outlets.
Kiev, May 10 : Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola have discussed Ukraine's European integration and security issues.

At the talks, Zelensky said on Thursday that Ukraine has fulfilled all the necessary conditions for starting accession talks with the European Union next month, according to the Presidential press service.

For her part, Metsola said she was optimistic that EU member states will adopt the negotiating framework for Ukraine in June, Xinhua news agency reported.

The European Parliament will help Ukraine in "all possible ways" to move along the European path, Metsola stressed.

Zelensky and Metsola also discussed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, the EU's defence support for Kiev, and the high-level conference on peace slated for mid-June in Switzerland.

Metsola arrived in Kiev earlier on Thursday.
Tehran, May 10 : Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Nasser Kanaani has condemned the threats by a group of US lawmakers against the International Criminal Court (ICC) intending to prevent the tribunal from issuing arrest warrants against senior Israeli officials.

He made the remarks on Thursday in a post on social media platform X while reacting to warnings by pro-Israel US Congressmen that any arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials would encounter US retaliation, Xinhua news agency reported.

Kanaani also slammed recent threats by several US Republican Senators against the ICC to impose sanctions should the tribunal take any such action.

The Spokesman said that through "exerting pressure" on the ICC, these US Congressmen sought to grant Israeli officials and military commanders immunity for their "war crimes" against Palestinians, which is a "shameful and worrying" move.

He described the threats as "ugly interferences" that would set a "dangerous precedent" for contradicting the ICC's "objectives and philosophy of prosecuting and punishing war criminals".

Israel's military said on Tuesday that it had started "a precise counterterrorism operation" in Rafah city in the south of the Gaza Strip and assumed "operational control" over the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing, a vital point for humanitarian aid to enter the enclave.

The development in Rafah is the latest escalation in the current Palestinian-Israeli conflict that has persisted for seven months in Gaza.
Prayagraj, May 10 : The Allahabad High Court (HC) has overturned the acquittal of two murder suspects by a trial court in Gorakhpur, 43 years ago and sentenced both to life term.

In response to a government appeal, Justice Rajiv Gupta and Justice Shiv Shanker Prasad reversed the acquittal of Pyare Singh and Chhotku, convicting them under Section 302 (murder) and other relevant sections.

The court directed the Chief Judicial Magistrate of Gorakhpur to ensure the arrest of both accused and their transfer to jail to serve their sentences.

The case dates back to September 22, 1978, when a person named Ganga was killed, leading to an FIR against seven people in Gorakhpur the following day.

The High Court heard the plea and noted in its verdict, "After considering the facts and circumstances of the case and examining the findings recorded by the trial court in the acquittal of accused Pyare Singh and Chhotku, we are of the view that the trial court has not examined the evidence led by the prosecution in the right perspective. The prosecution has fully established the guilt of the accused on the basis of evidence led at the stage of trial. The acquittal of the accused Pyare Singh and Chhotku is consequently reversed."
Pilibhit, May 10 : A three-year-old leopardess in Uttar Pradesh's Pilibhit district was killed by village locals with sticks and sharp-edged agriculture tools after it attacked them while they were working in their agricultural fields, a forest official said.

Three people suffered injuries in the attack by the feline, forest officials said.

The incident took place in Rampur village.

An autopsy conducted by veterinary officers, Deepak Verma and Suresh Chandar, said the cause of death was due to severe brain haemorrhage and excessive blood loss due to deep cuts on the feline's head and elbow.
Cairo, May 10 : The delegations of Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the US left Egypt after talks for reaching a truce in the Gaza Strip hit an impasse, the media reported.

"The delegations participating in the Cairo talks left for consultations, while some points of disagreement remained unresolved," Egypt's state-affiliated Al-Qahera News TV channel report quoted an unnamed senior official as saying on Thursday.

The delegations arrived in Cairo on Tuesday to achieve a comprehensive truce in the conflict-stricken Gaza. Yet, no agreement has been reached despite some progress in the negotiations, Xinhua news agency reported.

Among the major disputes between the conflicting parties are the number and lists of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners to be released under a swap deal, as well as issues regarding Israel's partial withdrawal from Gaza to allow free movement of Palestinians in the enclave.

The talks stalled when the Israeli military launched an operation in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah crowded with more than one million internally displaced Palestinians and took control of the Palestinian side of the key Rafah crossing.

On Thursday, an Israeli source told Xinhua news agency that the Israeli army will continue its operation in Rafah "as planned" since the truce talks have collapsed.

Cairo, Doha, and Washington are seeking to broker a deal for a prisoner exchange and a second ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, following the first one that ended last November.

Persisting for seven months, the Israeli attacks on Gaza have so far killed more than 34,800 Palestinians and wounded over 78,400 others since the conflict broke out on October 7 last year, according to the Gaza health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught followed a surprise attack by Hamas on southern Israeli towns, in which about 1,200 Israelis were killed and around 250 others were taken hostage.
Baghdad, May 10 : A Shia militia in Iraq has claimed responsibility for drone and missile attacks on three sites in southern Israel.

The militia, known as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, said on Thursday in two online statements that its fighters launched at dawn a drone attack "on the Nevatim (military) base in Be'er Sheva" and two drones toward a vital site in Eilat, without providing additional details about the specific location targeted or any resulting casualties.

In a third statement, the militia claimed responsibility for another attack on Thursday morning when its fighters fired a long-range al-Arqab upgraded cruise missile on the Ashkelon oil port, giving no details of the specific location targeted or any casualties as well, Xinhua news agency reported.

The statements stressed that the attacks were carried out "in solidarity with the people in the Gaza Strip," and the militia pledged to persist in targeting "the enemy's strongholds".

Since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on October 7, 2023, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq has launched multiple attacks on Israeli and US bases in the region.
Beirut, May 10 : Lebanese Foreign Affairs Minister Abdallah Bou Habib has said that his country has asked for assistance from Qatar to evacuate Lebanese women from Gaza through the Rafah crossing.

"We requested Qatari assistance to get Lebanese women and their families out through the Rafah crossing, as they have been stuck since the start of the aggression on Gaza, despite all our previous attempts to bring them home," Bou Habib added on Thursday, according to a report by Lebanese National News Agency.

The Lebanese Foreign Minister made the remarks after meeting with Qatar's Ambassador to Lebanon, Saud bin Abdul Rahman Al-Thani, Xinhua news agency reported.

Meanwhile, Bou Habib praised Qatar's constructive role in helping Lebanon emerge from its presidential crisis.

Qatar is working through the five-nation group on Lebanon, which comprises Qatar, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, France, and the US, to help the country accelerate its presidential election and financial and economic reforms.

The position of Lebanese President has been vacant since the end of the term of former President Michel Aoun in October 2022.

The Parliament failed to elect a new President for the country in light of the division of political forces and the failure of the parliamentary blocs to agree on a consensual figure to assume the presidency.
Paris, May 10 : Two police officers were shot by a man in custody, who grabbed one of their service weapons, at a police station in Paris, local media reported.

The man was arrested on Thursday evening for domestic violence, as the BFMTV channel and the newspaper Le Parisien reported citing police sources.

The man grabbed the weapon and shot the two officers while police were trying to search him at the station, according to the reports.

One of the police officers was hit in the upper body and the other in the thigh.

The attacker was also reportedly injured when police officers fired back. All the injured were taken to hospital.

Police union UNSA said the staff at the affected station in the 13th arrondissement of Paris, on the left bank of the River Seine, were "in shock".

--IANS/DPA

khz
'We can do surgical strikes in Pak, but have no courage to talk to them': Mani Shankar Aiyar. Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi, May 10 : After Sam Pitroda's controversial statements, another veteran Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar has triggered a fresh row by saying that "India should give respect to Pakistan as it has atom bomb".

In an interview that has gone viral now, Aiyar says, "India should give respect to Pakistan as it has an atom bomb! If we don't give them respect, they'll think of using an atom bomb against India. India showing muscular policy should not forget that Pakistan also has muscle (atom bomb) at Kahuta (Rawalpindi)."

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla launched a blistering attack on Aiyar's remarks on India's relations with Pakistan. Accusing the Congress of maintaining close ties with Pakistan, he said, "Despite Pakistan's involvement in terrorist activities against India, Aiyar talks about respecting them."

He asserted that Aiyar's remarks exemplify Congress' ongoing affinity toward Pakistan, a nation known for harbouring and supporting terrorists targeting India.

The BJP spokesperson said, "When support came from Pakistan for the Congress, their leaders gave a clean chit to Kasab and Pakistan for 26/11. Shashi Tharoor used words with a language similar to Pakistan's for Kashmir. Many Congress leaders made statements regarding the Pulwama and Poonch terrorist attacks, and now Mani Shankar Aiyar, by standing with terrorists and supporting Pakistan, shows the Congress' hand with terrorists and Pakistan, and now another evidence of this has come to light."

Slamming Aiyar, BJP leader Major Surendra Poonia posted on X, "Mani Shankar Aiyyar is batting on behalf of ISI and wants India to sit in lap of Pakistan ! Why Congressis have so much love for Pakistan itas in their SYSTEM."

Aiyar's statement comes soon after the resignation of Congress overseas chief Sam Pitroda, a close aide of Rahul Gandhi, whose statements have embarrassed the grand old party.

Aiyar is also no stranger to controversy. He has been regularly making statements in favour of Pakistan and against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In 2015, Aiyar, during a panel discussion with a Pakistani anchor said that PM Modi has to be removed. "The first and the foremost thing is to remove Modi. Only then can the talks move forward. We have to wait for four more yearsa Bring us back to power and remove them..."

Again, very recently Aiyar took potshots at the Modi government during an event in Lahore. He said: "We have the courage to conduct surgical strikes against you, but we don't have the courage to sit across the table and talk."
Photo: Cliff Hawkins (Getty Images)

A 1,036-foot-long cruise ship sailed into New York Harbor last Saturday with a dead endangered whale pinned to the ships bow. While a cause of death hasnt been officially determined, investigators initial findings point toward a ship strike killing the 44-foot-long sei whale. Yet another incident to encourage sea creatures to attack pleasure crafts.



The MSC Meraviglia was returning to the Big Apple after a cruise to Bermuda. One wonders how could the ships crew not realize that they were dragging a massive whale, however while the Sei whales can weigh up to 50 tons, the Meraviglia weighs over 171,000 tons. Its no contest. NOAA is examining the whales carcass to determine if the whale was dead before it ended up on the bow or killed by it. The New York Times reports:

The investigation is continuing, but preliminary results  broken bones in the whales right flipper; tissue trauma along its right shoulder blade; a full stomach and decent layer of blubber  all pointed toward the animal having been in otherwise good health when it was likely struck and killed by the ship, said Robert A. DiGiovanni, the chief scientist of the Atlantic Marine Conservation Society, which is leading the investigation.

ADVERTISEMENT

Sei whales are an endangered species with an estimated population of at most 80,000. NOAA estimates that commercial whaling operations killed 300,000 sei whales for their meat and oil during the 19th and 20th centuries. Since whaling has been completely outlawed in the 1980s, ship strikes have been the most significant threat to whales. MSC Cruises told USA Today:

We are deeply saddened by the loss of any marine life. We have comprehensive measures in place to help avoid collisions, such as training all our deck officers with the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (ORCA) and we follow regulations designed to protect whales and other marine life. This includes altering itineraries in certain regions to avoid whales and we will continue to evaluate and update our procedures with our partners and the authorities.

Story continues

According to the International Whaling Commission, large vessels striking whales often go unnoticed and unreported as a result. The change in mortality rate caused by ship strikes is significant enough to be the difference between a species extinction and survival.



Massacring marine wildlife makes it even more difficult to stomach the notion of spending a vacation on a cruise ship. This is on top of cruise lines covering up sexual assault, having ships burst into flames and pumping out carbon dioxide on a scale comparable to a small industrialized nation.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Washington, May 10 : German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has assured Washington that Berlin is prepared to play a leading security policy role in Europe and will provide the military capabilities to do so.

"Let us - the US and Germany together - shape a future with all those who stand up for freedom, peace and the rules-based international order," Pistorius said in a keynote speech at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington on Thursday.

Germany is a steadfast ally and is able and willing to fulfil its role in the alliance and global politics, Pistorius said.

The Minister said that Germany was in the midst of a military build-up process and had abandoned the restraint it had long cultivated - as in the supply of weapons to war zones.

He said he wanted to address the fact that Germany had abandoned compulsory military service and said that "times have changed." He spoke of a "mistake" and said: "I am convinced that Germany needs some kind of military conscription."

The Europeans are also aware that the US is focussing its attention on the Indo-Pacific and must respond to China's armament, aggressive economic policy and striving for geopolitical dominance. Germany is determined to make a contribution to a rules-based order there too, he said.

"I am convinced that only together, America and Europe can keep the West strong, defending it against Russia's expansionist ambitions and other actors' hunger for power and supremacy," said Pistorius.

"My message to you today is: Just like we did in other key moments in our transatlantic partnership, such as the Berlin airlift, the Marshall Plan or the reunification of Germany, let us seize this transatlantic opportunity, once more," he added.

The Marshall Plan was a US programme that helped European nations rebuild their economies after World War II. Germany particularly benefited from it.

--IANS/DPA

sd/svn
Seoul, May 10 : The top nuclear envoys of South Korea and China discussed issues related to the Korean Peninsula on the margins of a multilateral security dialogue in Japan earlier this week, Seoul's foreign ministry said on Friday.

According to the ministry, the talks between Lee Jun-il, Director General for North Korean Nuclear Affairs, and Liu Xiaoming, China's special representative on Korean Peninsula affairs, took place Thursday in Tokyo on the sidelines of the Northeast Asia Cooperation Dialogue (NEACD), an annual public-private security dialogue forum, Yonhap news agency reported.

They "exchanged their assessments on the recent situation on the Korean Peninsula and opinions on ways to address" the peninsula issues, the ministry said in a press release, without providing further details.

North Korea's evolving nuclear and weapons developments and its growing military cooperation with Russia were most likely high on the agenda at their talks. China is the North's longtime ally and largest economic benefactor.

The NEACD is a Track 1.5 security forum that brings together government officials and civilian experts from the two Koreas, the United States, China, Japan and Russia.

It was not immediately known whether the North or Russia attended this week's NEACD. The last time North Korea attended the meeting was in 2016, represented by Choe Son-hui, now serving as the North's foreign minister.

On Friday, Lee held talks with his US counterpart, Jung Pak, who was also in Tokyo to attend the NEACD, and had a broad discussion on North Korea's nuclear and other related issues, Seoul's ministry said.

They "agreed to continue close coordination as they stand firmly by the shared goal toward the complete denuclearisation of North Korea," the ministry said.

They also agreed to keep a close watch on the North's possible additional provocations, including the potential launch of another spy satellite, and prepare against any attempts by the North to change the status quo in the Yellow Sea, based on the staunch South Korea-US combined defence posture.

The officials shared an understanding of the need for China to play "a constructive role" in the Korean Peninsula issues and agreed to continue communications with Beijing at all levels.

Aside from the two-way meetings with China and the US, Lee also held a trilateral gathering with Pak and their Japanese counterpart, Hiroyuki Namazu, director general for Asian and Oceanian affairs at Japan's foreign ministry, to discuss North Korean threats.
Hyderabad: Thanks To Arshi Skin and Hair Clinic For Contributing 30 Lakhs Worth Of Immunity Medicine - Nandamuri Balakrishna.(Photo: Ramana M/IANS). Image Source: IANS News

Amaravati, May 10 : Two of Tollywood's leading actors are in the fray for the May 13 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.

Amaravati, May 10 (IANS) Two of Tollywoodas leading actors are in the fray for the May 13 Assembly elections in Andhra Pradesh.

While Pawan Kalyan, who heads the Jana Sena Party, is trying once again for his maiden electoral victory, Nandamuri Balakrishna is aiming to score a hat-trick.

Pawan Kalyan, who lost both the Assembly seats he contested in 2019, is testing his fortunes this time from Pithapuram in Kakinada district in coastal Andhra.

Balakrishna, son of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) founder and former chief minister N. T. Rama Rao (NTR), is seeking re-election from Hindupur in Sri Sathya Sai district in Rayalaseema region.

Glamour has been a part of every election in Andhra Pradesh since 1983 when legendary actor NTR took a plunge into politics, altering the political scene of the region.

Balayya, as Balakrishna is popularly known, faces a tough battle this time from Hindupur, which was once represented by his father.

Like in 2014 and 2019, he is locked in a direct fight with the YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) candidate. This time the ruling party has fielded a woman candidate -- Tippegowda Narayana Deepika.

He made his cinematic debut at the age of 14 with the 1974 Telugu film aTatamma Kalaa. The 63-year-old has acted in more than 100 movies.

Balayya, who is the brother-in-law of TDP president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, made his electoral debut on a winning note from Hindupur in 2014. He defeated his nearest rival B. Naveen Nischal of YSRCP by 16,196 votes.

In 2019, despite the YSRCP wave across the state, Balayya retained the seat, defeating Shaik Mohammed Iqbal, a retired police officer, by 18,028 votes.

Iqbal, who was later made a member of the Legislative Council by YSRCP, recently joined TDP.

This time Congress party has fielded Mohammad Hussain Inayatullah. However, the contest is likely to be between Balayya and Deepika.

Deepika is from the backward class and the wife of YSRCP leader Venugopal. YSRCPas Rayalaseema coordinator and state minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy is guiding her in the campaign.

As BC and Muslim voters are considered a deciding factor in more than 2.10 lakh voters, the YSRCP is trying to garner the support of both sections.

Since TDP has an alliance with the Jana Sena Party and Bharatiya Janata Party, the TDP camp is confident that Balayya will retain the seat with a comfortable margin.

Balakrishna, a Kamma, is also banking on the support from BCs and Muslims. His wife and daughters are also campaigning for him.

Hindupur is one of the key Assembly seats being targeted by YSRCP. Deepika hopes that the welfare schemes of the YSRCP government will give the party its first victory in Hindupur, which has remained a fortress of TDP since 1983. TDP never lost an election from here ever since P. Ranganayukulu was elected from here in 1983.

NTR had a special bond with Hindupur. He won the seat thrice, became chief minister twice and served as leader of the opposition once.

In 1985, he contested three seats (one each in coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema and Telangana) and was elected from all three. He vacated two others and represented Hindupur.

In 1989, NTR contested again from Hindupur and retained the seat. He won for a third consecutive term from Hindupur in 1994, when he led TDP back to power with a landslide victory.

NTRas death in 1996, a few months after his son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu led the revolt to become the chief minister, resulted in the by-election and his eldest son Nandamuri Harikrishna was elected as TDP candidate. Though NTRas family members did not contest the 1999, 2004 and 2009 elections, the party retained the seat.

NTR and his wife Basvatarakam had seven sons and four daughters. However, none of them could become his political successor and it was NTRas son-in-law Chandrababu Naidu who took up the mantle and successfully owned the political legacy of the TDP founder.

NTR had named his fourth son Balakrishna as his political heir but he had confined himself to campaigning for the party. Like most of his siblings, Balakrishna had backed Naidu in the coup against NTR in 1995 citing the growing interference of NTRas second wife Lakshmi Parvathi in party affairs and administration.

Ever since the TDP's formation, Balakrishna always campaigned for it in every election but never entered the electoral battle. He finally took a plunge into electoral politics in 2014 from Hindupur.

Balakrishna is also the father-in-law of Chandrababu Naiduas only son Nara Lokesh.
Ahmedabad, May 10 : The Crime Branch has uncovered a Pakistani link to the bomb threats which targeted 38 schools in Gujarat's Ahmedabad on May 6, officials said on Friday.

The officials said that this incident has links in Pakistan and a Russian server was used to create a sense of panic and fear in the city. The threat mail was sent from a Russian domain (.ru). More information is awaited.

The threatening emails received a day before the May 7 Lok Sabha polls caused widespread panic among the public.

The Crime Branch, Cyber Crime unit, Special Operations Group, and Ahmedabad Police launched an investigation soon after the threats. Despite the alarming nature of the threats, no suspicious or explosive materials were discovered after thorough inspections by bomb disposal squads and canine units.

Director General of Police Vikas Sahay had said that the threats were a hoax and encouraged voters to proceed to the polls without fear.

This incident follows a trend of hoax threats similar to those received by over 130 schools in the Delhi-NCR area.

Officials said that the threatening emails which prompted heightened security measures across Delhi-NCR on May 1 originated from a Russian domain. The email address used, sawariim@mail.ru, indicated its Russian origin. However, officials said that the perpetrators may have used a masked IP address.
Los Angeles, May 10 : Nearly 900 members of the University of California (UC) faculty and staff have been calling on Gene Block, chancellor of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), to resign over the university's response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

"We will not stand by as our students are assaulted and silenced," said the group in an online petition, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We remain committed to protecting our students' safety and their right to protest, assemble, and speak freely."

A total of 895 people from the 10-campus public university system have signed the petition as of Thursday night. Of them, 642 are from UCLA.

In the petition, the group said that they demand that UCLA recommend all legal charges be dropped and grant full amnesty to all students, staff and faculty involved in the encampment and peaceful protest.

"Following the violent and aggressive police sweep of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment on May 2, 2024, resulting in more than 200 students, faculty, and staff arrested while peacefully protesting, it has become obvious that Chancellor Block has failed our university," said the petition.

UC faculty and staff members also demand that UCLA issue a report within 30 days to fully disclose all investments so that students may understand how the university prioritises their finances and call on UCLA to divest from all military weapons production companies and supporting systems.

In a message to its members earlier this week, the UCLA Academic Senate, representing the university's faculty, said: "Recent events that transpired on our campus deeply dismayed and disappointed many faculty, staff, students and alumni."

The UCLA Academic Senate said it will hold an emergency meeting on Friday to consider a no-confidence resolution and a censure resolution of Block, who has been chancellor of UCLA since 2007.

UCLA's Undergraduate Students Association Council also passed a resolution on Tuesday night calling for the resignation of Block if he does not meet the demands of the Palestine Solidarity Encampment, according to Daily Bruin, the university's student newspaper.
Mumbai, May 10 : Actress and fashionista Sonam Kapoor takes pride in representing the country's rich heritage, history, and diversity on global platforms.

The actress said she tries to highlight the country's heritage.

"If I had to represent India in one way or another, I would highlight the country's diversity and resilience. The fact that we have such a strong cultural heritage and ancient civilisation means that whatever is made in India has great value," she said.

Sonam said: "It is a multicultural place where people from many faiths live together in harmony, and representing that is of utmost importance."

"Besides being the land of yoga and spiritualism, for which India is renowned in other parts of the world, it is also celebrated for its music and artisanal craftsmanship. It is the realm of jewellery and embroidery," she added.

"Most notably, numerous haute couture and luxury houses have their clothing intricately embroidered in India."

Sonam uses her social media platform to champion Indian craftsmanship.

The actress said: "When you have a platform, there is a responsibility to put your most authentic self forward; you must represent your truest self and not a facade. When you have the right moral values and worldviews, it is interesting to see how people appreciate that and attach themselves to it."

In terms of acting, Sonam is gearing up for 'Battle for Bittora'.
Heatwaves in Antarctica may cause more ice loss and sea level rise. Image Source: IANS News

Canberra, May 10 : The Australian government should consider the purchase of a second Antarctic vessel to boost research on the continent, a Senate inquiry has found.

The Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications made 16 recommendations in a report published on Thursday to ensure that science remains the top priority of the Australian Antarctic Division (AAD), Xinhua news agency reported.

After it was revealed that the budgets within the AAD were poorly managed, the inquiry was launched in August 2023, the findings of which were supported by the governing Labor Party, opposition Coalition and Greens Party.

The committee identified problems with the RSV Nuyina, the AAD's Antarctic Icebreaker, as a microcosm of the issues facing the agency.

The 528 million Australian dollars (349 million USD) RSV Nuyina has not completed a dedicated scientific voyage since coming into service in 2021, instead being used for resupply missions and has been plagued by technical problems.

The inquiry called for the government to boost funding to allow the RSV Nuyina to spend up to 300 days a year at sea -- up from 200 currently -- and recommended a business case be developed for the acquisition of a second ship to focus mainly on logistics.

It found that Australia has not conducted a dedicated marine science voyage to Antarctica or the Southern Ocean for five years.

The committee heard evidence that the number of scientists at Australia's Antarctic bases has fallen by more than half over the past decade.
Bengaluru, May 10 : Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has clarified that there was no involvement of Deputy CM D.K. Shivakumar or himself in the probe of the alleged sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna, the JD(S) MP and Lok Sabha candidate from Hassan.

Former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy had alleged that the SIT was trying to force victims to file complaints by threatening to fix them in prostitution cases. He had also met the Governor and demanded the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe.

The National Commission for Women (NCW) said on Thursday that one of the woman complainants in the case had claimed that she was forced by a group of people claiming to be police, to lodge a false complaint after being threatened with harassment.

Speaking to reporters in Mysuru on Friday, CM Siddaramaiah said, "We believe in our police and we also trust them. Let the SIT conduct a probe lawfully and submit its report."

"I had handed over the probe of many cases to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The BJP government in its tenure had not handed over any case to the CBI. The BJP addressed the CBI as the 'Corruption Bureau of Investigation'. Former PM H.D. Deve Gowda called it the 'Chor Bachavo Investigation'. Now, they are preferring the CBI," CM Siddaramaiah stated.

"We are not interfering in the probe. I have trust in the SIT investigation. It is going on the right track. Earlier, our police handled the cases efficiently. But, I won't tell them to go against the law," he stated.

"The scandal does not have any international link. The link is being brought to demand the CBI probe. SIT comprises our police. We should have faith in our police officers. All the criminal cases in the state are being investigated by them," said the CM.

"I handed over the cases such as IAS officer D.K. Ravi's suicide case, Lottery scandal, Minister K.J. George's case and Hindu activist Paresh Mesta's death case to the CBI. In no case, conviction has happened. That does not mean I don't trust the CBI agency. In this sex video scandal case, I trust the local police," CM Siddaramiah stated.

The CM clarified that there was no interference by Shivakumar or himself in the case.

When asked about JD(S) claiming that its MLA H.D. Revanna has been fixed even as he had no role, CM Siddaramaiah asked, "If there was no case why did H.D. Revanna apply for anticipatory bail? Why did the court reject his anticipatory bail if there is no case against him? If the FIR is false, why was the plea for anticipatory bail moved? I am an advocate. Are you one?" CM Siddaramaiah told the media.
New Delhi, May 10 : The Congress has distanced itself from party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks that 'India should respect Pakistan as it has an atom bomb'.

In an official statement on Friday, the party said, "The Indian National Congress dissociates itself completely from and disagrees totally with some remarks made by Mani Shankar Aiyar a few months back which have been revived today by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modias daily goof ups. Aiyer does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever."

Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera shared the statement and said, "The Congress and indeed the entire nation recalls with pride that in December 1971 Pakistan was broken and an independent Bangladesh emerged thanks to Indira Gandhi's decisive and determined leadership and the valour of our armed forces."

The statement read that almost exactly 50 years ago on May 18, 1974, under the leadership of Indira Gandhi, India's nuclear capability was announced to the world.

"The Indian National Congress has always believed that our decision-making should be guided by supreme national interest. The Congress spokesperson shared a video and said if old videos are to be used, here is a not-so-old video where the External Affairs Minister is publicly advising India to be afraid of China," the statement mentioned.

In an interview that has gone viral, Aiyar says, "India should give respect to Pakistan as it has an atom bomb! If we don't give them respect, they'll think of using an atom bomb against India."
May 10 : Shinda Shinda No Papa: A Heartfelt Journey of Family Bonds and Self-Discovery

Director: Amarpreet GS Chhabra

Star Cast: Gippy Grewal, Shinda Grewal, Hina Khan, Prince Kanwaljit Singh, Jaswinder Bhalla, Nirmal Rishi, Guri Ghuman, Raghveer Boli, Hardeep Gill, Seema Kaushal,

Harinder Bhulla

Rating: 3

"Shinda Shinda No Papa" takes audiences on a touching journey into the world of a frustrated father, Gopi (Gippy Grewal), and his mischievous son, Shinda (Shinda Grewal), as they navigate the complexities of family life. The film's narrative unfolds with Gopi's determination to instill discipline in his son, leading to a decision to return to their homeland, India, from Canada. However, upon their arrival, Shinda discovers his father's true intentions, sparking a battle of wills between the two.

At its core, "Shinda Shinda No Papa" is a story about the universal themes of family, love, and the quest for understanding. The screenplay, while occasionally wavering in consistency, manages to strike a chord with audiences by portraying real-life situations that mirror everyday struggles. Through the relationship between Gopi and Shinda, the film explores the complexities of parent-child dynamics, offering profound lessons about acceptance and communication.

The film's performances are a standout feature, with the authentic father-son duo of Gippy Grewal and Shinda Grewal delivering captivating performances. Shinda Grewal, in particular, showcases significant growth as an actor, elevating his performance from his previous work. Another highlight is the on-screen chemistry between Prince Kanwaljit Singh and Guri Ghuman, who add depth to the narrative.

Hina Khan makes a remarkable debut in Punjabi cinema, delivering a standout performance that sets her apart from other actresses. Her commitment to dubbing her own lines and her ability to embody her character with grace and glamour are commendable.

Director Amarpreet GS Chhabra's storytelling is innovative, injecting freshness into the narrative. While the film's introduction of characters may feel unsatisfactory for some viewers, Chhabra's overall direction is commendable. The music, particularly the use of background scores for Shinda's character, adds depth to the narrative and complements the storyline.

In conclusion, "Shinda Shinda No Papa" is a refreshing addition to Punjabi cinema, offering a heartfelt exploration of family bonds and self-discovery. Despite its occasional flaws, the film succeeds in delivering a touching and relatable story that resonates with audiences.
Screenshot

Dave Pasch surely knows about Dallas Mavericks center Daniel Gafford.

Yet for some reason, the veteran ESPN play-by-play announcer referred to Gafford as Gaffney in Thursday nights Mavericks-Oklahoma City Thunder playoff game.

Not just once, but several times.

Dave Pasch has referred to the Mavericks Daniel Gafford as Gaffney a few times on this ESPN broadcast. pic.twitter.com/SQKhfu7rtQ  Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 10, 2024



Granted, Gafford is not one of the NBAs superstars, not someone who drives ticket and merchandise sales and TV ratings. Hes a role player (11 points per game this season). But hes been around five seasons now. And he has played a key role for the Mavericks down the stretch since being acquired in a February trade with the Washington Wizards.

Gafford deserves better.

@DavePasch it is GAFFORD!! Put some respect on his name!! pic.twitter.com/UBHi67QLri   Go HOGS Go  (@meow4marjorie) May 10, 2024

So its a mystery how Pasch confused Gafford for Gaffney in Game 2. But fans took notice.

Dave Pasch calling Daniel Gafford Gaffney at least three times on this broadcast is pretty damn embarrassing.  Erik Slater (@erikslater_) May 10, 2024

Why is Dave Pasch continuously calling Daniel Gafford Gaffney Somebody help this man  JG (@The_Real_Grande) May 10, 2024

Dave Pasch keeps calling Daniel Gafford, Gaffney pic.twitter.com/TUv5Zgm4A8  Mr. Completing Side Quests (@JamielSale) May 10, 2024

ESPNs announcers are several tiers below TNTs. I normally dont hate Dave Pasch, but how many times is he going to call Gafford Gaffney before someone corrects him ?   Mark Matranga  youre grammar expert (@mark_matranga) May 10, 2024

Pasch joined ESPN in 2003. Hes earned high marks for his professionalism, someone who keeps the broadcast on track, although he and color analyst Bill Walton have had some memorable exchanges during games through the years.

But fans were right on Thursday. Its Gafford, not Gaffney. Heres betting thats a name Pasch never gets wrong again.

[Awful Announcing]
Kolkata, May 10 : With four phases of the Lok Sabha polls in West Bengal remaining, the Trinamool Congress seems to be heavily banking on perception-oriented campaigning to tide over the anti-incumbency factor.

When the Calcutta High Court's Division Bench cancelled 25,753 teaching and non-teaching jobs in state-run schools the Trinamool Congress leadership, including Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, accused a section of the judiciary of operating in a biased manner in the interest of a particular political party.

The Trinamool Congress' General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee described the Calcutta High Court verdict as 'order-fixing' and 'court-fixing'.

In fact, the Calcutta High Court's Division Bench of Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam recently admitted a petition filed by CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member and senior advocate Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya requesting the court to take suo motu cognisance of the anti-judiciary comments made by Mamata Banerjee in the last couple of days.

Political observers say that the exercise is aimed at projecting a section of the judiciary as "villains" with an understanding that the court verdict can be a major blow to the ruling party in the midst of polls.

As part of the same perception-oriented campaign, the judiciary was projected as a messiah after the apex court Division Bench, headed by Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud, put an interim stay on the order nixing jobs by the Calcutta High Court.

The Trinamool Congress leadership, including the Chief Minister, conveniently ignored the loaded observations of the Supreme Court that pertained to "systemic fraud" in the recruitment process.

They highlighted only the interim-stay and described the order as a "great relief".

Legal minds say that this is an attempt to deliberately misinterpret the top court's order where an "interim stay" is projected as "setting aside" of the order

Legal experts point out that the Supreme Court directed the West Bengal School Service Commission (WBSSC) to check out if there was any secondary material available to segregate valid appointments of the 25,753 people.

Legally this means that the future of the valid appointees will be secured only if the WBSSC can establish in court that it has been able to segregate the valid appointments through a justified method.

The second issue being highlighted by the ruling party is the successive sting-operation videos released recently where people can be seen and heard saying that the protests by Sandeshkhali women against sexual harassment by a section of Trinamool Congress leaders were orchestrated by the BJP in West Bengal.

In one of the videos, a local BJP leader Gangadhar Kayal was seen and heard saying that he was assigned to persuade some local women to orchestrate the movement, by Leader of the Opposition in West Bengal Assembly, Suvendu Adhikari.

Kayal was prompt in claiming that the video was fake and modulation of his voice was done using Artificial Intelligence. He also approached the CBI seeking an investigation in the matter.

The BJP leadership even challenged the Trinamool Congress to approach the court with the video.

However, the Trinamool Congress is heavily publicising the video to drive the perception that the Sandeshkhali protests were orchestrated by the BJP to give the ruling party and the state government a bad name.

In the second sting-operation video a couple of women from Sandeshkhali were seen claiming that they signed the sexual harassment complaints without understanding what was written there.

The Trinamool Congress is publicising that video and accusing the BJP of compromising with the dignity of women at Sandeshkhali for political gains.

While questions are being raised about the authenticity of these sting operation videos, observers point out that two important aspects are being carefully avoided by the ruling party in this perception-oriented campaign.

The first aspect is that the Calcutta High Court had ordered a CBI probe into the complaints of sexual harassment, illegal grabbing of land and extortion at Sandeshkhali only after detailed hearing on a number of PILs filed in the matter.

Although, the West Bengal government challenged that Calcutta High Court order in the Supreme Court, the latter refused to stay the order and even questioned why the state government had come as the petitioner for protecting the interests of some private individuals.

The second aspect is that while there were a large number of women protesting at Sandeshkhali the number of women featuring in the sting-videos is few.
Nandurbar : , May 10 (IANS) Assuring that the rights of SC, ST, and OBC communities would be protected under his leadership, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Friday, slammed Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) for trying to "divide and manipulate" reservation policies for its political gains.

"No matter how much effort they make, no matter how many lies they spread with anti-national forces, you have Modi's trust and Modi's guarantee. As long as Modi is alive, no one can touch the reservations for SC, ST, OBC. 'Vanchiton Ka Jo Adhikaar Hai, Modi Unka Chaukidaar Hai'," said PM Modi during his address at a campaign rally for BJP nominee Dr Heena Gavit in tribal-dominated Nandurbar.

Targeting Congress over the recent remarks made by its senior leader Sam Pitroda, PM Modi said: "One of Shehzada's gurus living in America has made an extremely unfortunate and racist remark on Indians... Those having complexion like that of Lord Krishna are considered 'African' by the Congress party. That's why they didn't want to accept Droupadi Murmu as the President of the country."

"I am not from a royal family like the Congress. I have grown up in poverty. I know how much you have suffered here," added PM Modi.

Without naming Sharad Pawar, Prime Minister Modi said: "A veteran leader of Maharashtra, who has been in politics for 40-50 years, has given a statement after the Baramati elections. They have become so frustrated and disappointed that they feel that if they want to survive in politics after June 4, then small political parties should merge with the Congress. This means that fake NCP and fake Shiv Sena have decided to merge with Congress.

"I would say that supporting us and winning is better than supporting Congress and losing after June 4. Your vote on May 13 will answer Congress and INDIA. Support us, and help Maharashtra embrace development," he appealed to the voters.
Seoul, May 10 : The science ministry on Friday expressed regret over the Japanese government's "pressure" over the Line messenger app, saying that Seoul would "strongly and sternly" take measures against Tokyo's move against the popular app developed by Naver, South Korea's biggest internet company.

Second Vice Science Minister Kang Do-hyun made the remarks a day after Japan's SoftBank confirmed it has been in talks with Naver over its capital relationship in LY Corp., the operator of Line messenger, Yonhap news agency reported.

Kang told reporters that his ministry "expresses regret over what is perceived as pressure on a Korean company to sell a stake," referring to an administrative guidance by Japan to LY over a data leak incident last year.

South Korea will "respond strongly and sternly to discriminatory measures against our company," Kang said, noting the government has been in close communications with Japan over the matter.

The government will respect Naver's decision, and if it decides to keep its stake in LY, the ministry will provide necessary help to Naver to strengthen its security system, Kang added.

LY is controlled by A Holdings, a 50-50 joint venture between Naver and SoftBank.

Kang also noted that SoftBank had practical management control over LY since 2019, citing the composition of LY's board. He also mentioned that Naver has been considering various possibilities regarding its stake in LY as it experienced difficulties implementing its technologies and business insights in the Japanese company.

Earlier Friday, Naver also confirmed it is in talks with SoftBank and is "open to all possibilities," including shedding its shares in LY.

In a statement, the Korean company said it "feels sorry" to LY users over the data leak incident and will work with LY and SoftBank to improve the service.

Naver CEO Choi Soo-yeon said last week Japan's measures are "quite exceptional," but the company will make a decision based on its mid-to-long-term business strategy.

In March and April, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications issued administrative guidance to LY, regarding the incident, urging it to decrease its financial dependence on Naver.

In November, LY explained that over 300,000 records of personal information of its users were leaked after Naver Cloud Corp., Naver's cloud computing affiliate, came under a cyberattack, as the two companies share a common authentication system.

Following the incident, LY has announced a set of measures aimed at strengthening its security, including separating its system from Naver and Naver Cloud.

On Wednesday, LY President Takeshi Idezawa said in a conference call via an English interpreter that his company has started to terminate its outsourcing relationship with Naver in the area of services and business domains.

Idezawa also announced that Shin Jung-ho, a key South Korean executive at LY, will step down from its board.

Shin, known as the "father" of Line in South Korea, was the only Korean national on LY's board.

Japan's actions drew criticism in South Korea, with many viewing them as an attempt to diminish foreign influence on the widely used online platform in the country.

Line, developed by Naver in 2011, had around 96 million monthly active users (MAUs) in Japan, or 78 per cent of the country's population, as of last year, according to Line Plus Corp., Naver's affiliate that operates the application in Korea.

The application is also popular in other Asian countries, with around 55 million MAUs in Thailand and 22 million in Taiwan.
New Delhi, May 10 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday ripped into MahaAghadi alliance of Maharashtra for their politics of opportunism and also gave a strong rejoinder to Shiv Sena leaders for demeaning and threatening statements against him.

PM Modi took the 'nakli sena' in their backyard and dared them to accomplish, what one of its leaders Sanjay Raut said a day ago.

Prime Minister assailed the Cong-NCP-Shiv Sena coalition while addressing a public rally in Nandurbar in Maharashtra.

Addressing the mega gathering, PM Modi said, "On one side, there is Congress which says 'Modi teri kabr khudegi' and on the other hand, there is this nakli Shiv Sena that talks about burying me alive. Even while abusing me, they take full care of their vote bank politics."

PM Modi further said that the soul of Balasaheb Thackeray would be writhing in pain seeing how a party that he founded, has gone haywire and is now seen siding with the anarchists and terrorists.

He also assailed the members of the INDIA bloc for keeping the corrupt leaders on a high pedestal and setting a bad precedent in the public sphere.

"It's because of their association with criminal elements that they talk about burying me," he pointed out.

Further hurling a challenge to the 'nakli sena', he said that it can never succeed in its 'evil designs'.

"They can't bury me either alive or even after death," said PM Modi, evoking loud chees from the crowd.

Notably, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut slammed the Prime Minister at a recent public rally and drew comparisons with Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and also made threatening statements.

Following this, the Shiv Sena leader came under heavy backlash from the BJP, which also lodged a police complaint for threatening remarks against PM Modi.

The complaint said that Raut's statements had the potential to create social unrest and communal rift and could also danger to the Prime Minister's life.
New Delhi, May 10 : In a big relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered him to be released on interim bail in the excise policy case till June 1.

A bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that the AAP supremo will have to surrender on June 2.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, said that a detailed order containing reasons for the decision will be uploaded later in the evening.

On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the grant of interim relief saying that a politician can claim no "special status" higher than that of an ordinary citizen and is as much liable to be arrested and detained for committing offences as any other citizen.

The affidavit filed by ED's Deputy Director stated that there is no principle that justifies giving differential treatment to a politician for campaigning over a farmer or a businessman who wishes to pursue his vocation.

No political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning even though Kejriwal is not the contesting candidate, said the affidavit, adding that even a contesting candidate is not granted interim bail for his own campaigning if he is in custody.

The ED contended that around 123 elections have taken place in the last five years and if interim bail is to be granted for campaigning, no politician can be arrested or sent to judicial custody since elections are all year-round phenomena.

In earlier hearings, the top court indicated that it may consider granting interim bail to the AAP leader in view of the ongoing general elections. It said this is an extraordinary situation and it is not that CM Kejriwal is a habitual offender.

Kejriwal had moved the apex court against the Delhi High Court's April 10 judgment, which dismissed his plea challenging the ED arrest.

The AAP chief was arrested on March 21 and has been in custody since then.
Manila, May 10 : The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said that one of the four Filipino sailors taken hostage by Iranian forces last month has been freed.

The DFA said the Philippines welcomes the "good news," adding that the sailor is expected to arrive in Manila later Friday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"We appreciate Iran's gesture," the DFA said in a statement, however, did not elaborate.

The Foreign Affairs Ministry further said the government is working to release and repatriate the remaining three hostages.

"We hope for their eventual speedy return to their homes and families," it added.

The four sailors were among the crew of a container ship, MSC Aries, seized by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf on April 13 as it passed the Strait of Hormuz.
Bengaluru, May 10 : Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar slammed former CM HD Kumaraswamy on Friday and said that he should set right his house before making allegations against others.

The state Congress President was answering media questions regarding Kumaraswamy accusing him of targeting former Prime Minister, HD Deve Gowda's family in the sex video scandal.

The leak of the videos allegedly showing JD(U) leader Deve Gowda's grandson and Kumaraswamy's nephew Prajwal Revanna sexually abusing women, has taken Karnataka by storm and triggered a political slugfest in the state.

Kumaraswamy has even demanded the sacking of Shivakumar from the Cabinet.

When asked about Kumaraswamy's demand to remove him from the Cabinet, Dy CM Shivakumar maintained, "I wish him all the best and good luck to him."

Dy CM Shivakumar further maintained that, 12th Century social reformer Basavanna preached that people should first set things right in their homes before trying to fix problems in society.

"Likewise he (Kumaraswamy) should first set right things in his home and address his shortcomings," he stated.

When asked about the National Commission for Women (NCW) receiving a complaint from a woman alleging that she was forced by a group of people to lodge a false complaint, Dy CM Shivakumar said, he did not know about it and he was not a party to it.

"I am happy that at least now the National Commission for Women has come forward regarding the matter. In the initial stage, the state Women's Commission played its role regarding the scandal. No point discussing it now. The police will take care of the matter," Dy CM Shivakumar stated.

Talking about the controversial remark by party senior leader Sam Pitroda, Shivakumar stated that the Congress stands by its ideology and the entire country stands united.

"The history of the Congress party is the history of the country," Shivakumar added.

Sam Pitroda found himself in a storm a day ago, over his controversial statements, the latest being his racist observation of the country's diversity.
Bengaluru, May 10 : Union Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday said that the trend of decline of the Hindu population in the country is the most worrying development.

Speaking to the media, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi said that the state and central governments should wake up and initiate action immediately to prevent this trend.

He said that there should be a comprehensive study regarding the decline of the Hindu population in the country.

"If the number of Hindus decline then over a period of time the democratic system itself will change. Bharat is the only secular country in the world. It is a secular state in true spirit. Secularism is in the blood of Indians and it is also ingrained in their character. It is going to be affected in future," Joshi said.

He said that the country has found unity in diversity while the country has ensured freedom to practice all religions and cultures and this heritage should continue.

"Though the nation is predominantly Hindu country, it has sheltered people of all religions. As the population of Hindus is on the decline it is a matter of utmost concern and the society and governments must contemplate over it," Joshi said.

According to the study titled 'Share of Religious Minorities  A Cross-Country Analysis (1950-2015) by a three-member committee, from 1950 to 2015, the Hindu population dipped from 85 per cent to 78 per cent while the Muslim population rose to 14 per cent from 10 per cent.
New Delhi, May 10 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday ripped into Maha Vikas Aghadi alliance of Maharashtra for their politics of opportunism and also gave a strong rejoinder to Shiv Sena leaders for demeaning and threatening statements against him.

PM Modi took on Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut's statement on burying him and dared the 'nakli sena' to accomplish their evil motives. He added that he has the blessings of 'matri-shakti' and they will save him from abuses.

Prime Minister assailed the Cong-NCP-Shiv Sena coalition while addressing a public rally in Nandurbar in Maharashtra.

Addressing the mega gathering, PM Modi said, "On one side, there is Congress which says 'Modi teri kabr khudegi' and on the other hand, there is this nakli Shiv Sena that talks about burying me alive. Even while abusing me, they take full care of their vote bank politics."

PM Modi further said that the soul of Balasaheb Thackeray would be writhing in pain seeing how a party that he founded, has gone haywire and is now seen siding with the anarchists and terrorists.

He also assailed the members of the INDIA bloc for keeping the corrupt leaders on a high pedestal and setting a bad precedent in the public sphere.

"It's because of their association with criminal elements that they talk about burying me," he pointed out.

Further hurling a challenge to the 'nakli sena', he said that it can never succeed in its 'evil designs'.

"They can't bury me either alive or even after death," said PM Modi, evoking loud chees from the crowd.

Notably, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut slammed the Prime Minister at a recent public rally and drew comparisons with Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb and also made threatening statements.

Following this, the Shiv Sena leader came under heavy backlash from the BJP, which also lodged a police complaint for threatening remarks against PM Modi.

The complaint said that Raut's statements had the potential to create social unrest and communal rift and could also danger to the Prime Minister's life.
Hyderabad, May 10 : Telangana Police registered a case against former actress and BJP leader Navneet Rana for her remarks against the Congress party during an election campaign in the state.

A case under Sections 171C (undue influence at elections) r/w 171 F (Punishment for undue influence), 171 G (False statement in connection with elections) and Section 188 (Disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) Indian Penal Code (IPC) was registered against her at Shadnagar Police Station in Rangareddy District.

Navneet Rana, who is a BJP candidate from the Amravati constituency in Maharashtra, had made the remarks while campaigning in Shadnagar town on May 8.

Police said the case was registered on a complaint by the Election Commissionas Flying Squad.

The MP had allegedly remarked that a vote for Congress party will be a vote for Pakistan.
CREDIT: WWE

This fall will mark a new era for WWEs TV rights, and this week, additional information on where RAW and Smackdown will air has been revealed.

First, it was reported on Wednesday that TKO, WWEs parent company, reached an agreement with USA Network to keep RAW on USA Network through the end of the year. The network has been the shows home for the majority of its run since its 1993 debut. But starting in January 2025, RAW will be moving to Netflix. The previous deal with USA Network was set to expire in October, leading many to wonder where the show would air for those three months.

Then, on Thursday, TVLine reported that Smackdown would be heading to the USA Network starting September 13, a full month earlier than the previously reported time of October.

Smackdown originally moved from USA to FOX in 2019, returning to its network TV roots as the show spent its first decade on UPN and the CW.

While the deal seemed to work well for both sides, FOX has plenty of other options on Friday nights to fill the void left by Smackdown, while USA Networks programming is WWE-centric mainly at this point in the networks lifecycle.

WWE president Nick Khan released a brief statement on Thursday about the move, re-affirming that the company will have multiple primetime specials on NBC.

NBCUniversal has been a tremendous partner of WWE for decades. We are excited to extend this longstanding relationship by bringing SmackDown to USA Network on Friday nights and look forward to debuting multiple WWE special events annually on NBC.

[TVLine]
Kolkata, May 10 : Over 23 per cent of total booths in eight Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal going for polls in the fourth phase on May 13 are highly sensitive, as per the office of Chief Electoral Officer (CEO).

Sources said that in the fourth phase, the eight Lok Sabha constituencies have 15,507 booths, of which 3,647 (23.51 per cent) are highly sensitive.

These eight constituencies are Baharampur in Murshidabad district, Birbhum and Bolpur in Birbhum district, Krishnanagar and Ranaghat in Nadia district, Bardhaman-Purba in East Burdwan district, and Bardhaman-Durgapur and Asansol in West Burdwan district.

CEO office sources said that the deployment of CAPF will proportionately be increased in the next four phases depending on the number of constituencies going for polls and, the number of sensitive and highly sensitive booths.

As per CEO office figures, a total of 596 companies of CAPF will be there in West Bengal at the time of the fourth phase of polls, out of which, 578 companies will be deployed on poll duty, while the remaining will be kept on reserve.

Again out of the 578 companies, 430 companies will be deployed at the polling stations, while the remaining 148 companies will be kept for the formation of quick response teams.

The CAPF companies will be assisted by 33,471 personnel from the state police.
New Delhi, May 10 : Zerodha's Co-founder and CEO Nithin Kamath on Friday said that the proposal by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) that investors' securities should directly go to their demat accounts, will significantly simplify the DP (depository participant) operations of stock brokers.

In its latest draft circular, SEBI suggested that it should be made mandatory to ensure that stock brokers segregate client's securities so that they are not at risk of being misused.

At present, the clearing corporation first credits payouts into the broker's pool account, which is then credited to the client's demat account.

"Today, when a client buys a stock, it gets credited to the broker pool account, and then the broker credits it to the customer. In the new way proposed, the shares will get directly credited to the customer's demat," Kamath wrote on X social media platform.

He said that even without this regulation, "we're probably the safest financial market in terms of the security of customer assets, given that everything is in the customer's own demat".

"This regulation will further enhance that".

A facility of direct delivery to investors has been available on an optional basis since February 1, 2001.

The proposed SEBI framework requires securities to be credited directly to the client's demat account by clearing corporations (CCs).

Additionally, CCs need to provide a mechanism for trading members or clearing members to identify unpaid securities and funded stocks under the margin-trading facility.
New Delhi, May 10 : The Delhi High Court has granted bail to Sanjay Kansal, an accused in a money laundering case, after he turned approver in a related CBI investigation.

Justice Amit Sharma ruled that the evidence provided by Kansal as an approver in the scheduled offence cannot be used against him in the ongoing proceedings under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

This decision stems from Kansal's status as a witness in the CBI case, following his pardon for the scheduled offences. His evidence in those proceedings, therefore, is not admissible in the PMLA case.

The court referenced a judgement from the Allahabad High Court which noted that while a pardon elevates an accused to the status of a witness, it does not imply absolute absolution in the predicate offence.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) had accused Kansal of laundering nearly Rs 50 crore as part of a conspiracy with other co-accused. Despite these allegations, Kansalas role did not appear to extend to managerial or key decision-making capacities within the implicated company, M/s SBBEL.

Justice Sharma pointed out that there was no assumption of Kansal's awareness that his actions involved proceeds of crime at this stage, particularly relevant to his bail consideration.

The court acknowledged Kansalas cooperation with the investigation and noted his prolonged incarceration of nearly 20 months since his arrest on August 25, 2022.

Given these circumstances, and considering the conditions of Section 45 of the PMLA, Kansal successfully demonstrated grounds for bail.
Kabul, May 10 : Afghanistan Acting Deputy Prime Minister on Political Affairs Mawlawi Abdul Kabir has accused the United States of violating the country's airspace, local media reported Friday.

The US drone operations are a problem because Afghanistan has no necessary equipment to stop the US operations, Tolonews quoted Kabir as saying.

The senior Afghan official made the remarks in a public meeting in the eastern Panjshir province on Thursday, Xinhua news agency reported.

In the meeting, Kabir also rebuffed the reported financial aid from Washington for allowing American drones to patrol Afghan airspace.
New Delhi, May 10 : While addressing a public meeting in Maharashtra's tribal district of Nandurbar on Friday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasised his party's focus on eradicating sickle cell anaemia from the country.

"Congress has never cared for tribal brothers and sisters. Sickle cell anaemia is a big threat in tribal areas. But Congress didn't pay much attention to this disease. It is the BJP that has launched a campaign to eradicate sickle cell anaemia from the root. So that no poor person is malnourished, we have also been concerned about this," said PM Modi.

Having spent a long time among the tribal communities in different parts of the country over the past many decades, PM Modi has stated earlier that the tribal society is "not just a government statistic" but a "matter of empathy and emotional concern" for the BJP.

It is also not for the first time that Prime Minister Modi was highlighting his strong resolve to eliminate the genetic blood disease which is more common in the tribal population of India and affects the lives of over 2.5 lakh children and their families each year.

Last July, while launching the Sickle Cell Anaemia Elimination Mission, he made it clear that the campaign for freedom from the hereditary disease - "which was not even an issue for the previous governments due to their indifference towards the tribal society" - will become the main mission of the 'Amrit Kaal'.

The government led by him, PM Modi assured, is working in a "mission mode" to liberate the tribal families - and the entire country - from Sickle Cell Anaemia by 2047 when the nation celebrates 100 years of independence.

This is being done by increasing the number of blood banks for patients requiring blood transfusions and opening new facilities for bone marrow transplantations.

PM Modi's deep understanding of the debilitating impact that Sickle Cell Anaemia has on the human body comes from intense interactions he had not just with the tribal communities but also world's leading experts since long before he became the Chief Minister of Gujarat.

"Even after I became the Chief Minister of Gujarat, I started many campaigns in this regard. When I visited Japan after becoming the Prime Minister, I met a Nobel laureate scientist there. I came to know that he had done a lot of research on sickle cell disease. I also sought his assistance in finding a cure for sickle cell anaemia," he said, last year.

PM Modi was referring to his 2014 meeting with Japan's stem cell pioneer and 2012 Nobel Prize winner Shinya Yamanaka at the Centre for iPS Cell Research and Application in Kyoto during which he expressed concern over the prevalence of sickle cell anaemia among tribal communities across India.

PM Modi and the top BJP leadership have also been mentioning about the government working tirelessly to eradicate many other serious diseases since coming to power in 2014.

This includes working towards completely eliminating tuberculosis by 2025 and making sure that cases of Kala-azar, malaria, leprosy and meningitis reduce by a significant number.
New Delhi, May 10 : The Supreme Court on Friday disposed of a plea filed by former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren seeking release in view of the elections.

A bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna said that Soren's prayer has become infructuous in view of the May 3 order passed by the Jharkhand High Court dismissing his plea against arrest.

The Bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, noted that the subsequent special leave petition filed by the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader (challenging the dismissal of his writ petition by the Jharkhand High Court against his arrest in connection with a money laundering case linked to an alleged land scam), including the prayer for interim relief, is scheduled for hearing on Monday.

On April 29, the top court issued a notice to the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Soren's plea seeking interim bail on the ground of delay in delivery of judgment by the Jharkhand High Court despite reserving an order on his petition challenging ED arrest in the last week of February.

After SC issued notice, the Jharkhand High Court pronounced its decision of May 3 and dismissed Soren's plea, saying that "there is an abundance of documents that lay a foundation for the arrest and remand of the petitioner to police and judicial custody."

Hemant Soren resigned from the Chief Minister's post on January 31, after the ED informed him that it was arresting him under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).
Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : The State BJP President K. Surendran, on Friday, asked the Election Commission (EC) to take action against the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) for coming out with a fake video which compromises the security of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Surendran said that the video came out on the official X account of the KPCC.

"Incidentally, this same video first came out in 2019 on the official account of KPCC. It says that money is being carried in helicopters which accompany PM Modi. Then it was proved that it is a fake video, but instead of apologising for the wrong, they (KPCC) have resorted to it again," said Surendran.

"We request the EC to intervene as not only does this compromise the security of the PM, but also portrays the defense forces in a poor light as these helicopters belong to the Indian Air Force," added Surendran.
Tel Aviv, May 10 : Hamas again mounted an attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and the far south of the Gaza Strip - the fourth such attack since Sunday.

Mortars were used in Friday's attack, the al-Qassam Brigades said on the Telegram messaging service.

Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) organisation, which is responsible for coordination with Palestinian civil authorities, posted on the X messaging service: "Hamas just fired at the Kerem Shalom, the main humanitarian aid crossing into Gaza."

The attack was the fourth time this week that Hamas had actively fired on the crossing point, it said.

"Hamas will do anything to prevent aid from reaching the people of Gaza," COGAT added.

Over recent days, Israeli protestors have again blocked aid convoys seeking to enter the Gaza Strip, saying that the deliveries are aiding Hamas in resisting Israeli forces.

--IANS/DPA

sd/svn
Cairo, May 10 : Egypt and the US have called for flexibility to reach a hitherto elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal between Hamas and Israel after an inconclusive round of negotiations in Cairo.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed during a phone conversation on Thursday night on the "importance of urging the parties to show flexibility" and make the necessary efforts to reach the deal, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly, so the US, Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators.

Shoukry and Blinken discussed the latest security and humanitarian situation in Gaza's southernmost city of Rafah, packed by refugees.

The Egyptian official warned against repercussions of Israeli military operations in Rafah, neighbouring Egypt, the spokesman added in a statement.

Earlier this week, Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, halting humanitarian aid deliveries via the facility into the heavily populated Gaza Strip.

Rafah is the last holdout for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Israel sees the city as Hamas' last stronghold.

--IANS/DPA

sd/svn
Kolkata, May 10 : A single judge bench of the Calcutta High Court, on Friday, ordered the immediate demolition of three party offices of the ruling Trinamool Congress which were constructed illegally on state government land.

A petition was filed at the bench of Justice Amrita Sinha alleging illegal construction of Trinamool Congress party offices on the land officially under the ownership of West Bengal Housing Infrastructure Development Corporation (WBHIDCO) at New Town in the Northern outskirts of Kolkata.

Justice Sinha sought the explanation of WBHIDCO authorities in the matter.

On Friday, WBHIDCO admitted in the court that those party offices were constructed illegally.

Thereafter, Justice Sinha directed the immediate demolition of these party offices.

She also questioned the WBHIDCO authorities on why the latter was unable to protect the land which is officially under their ownership.

"Don't you have legal provisions to prevent illegal constructions on your land?" Justice Sinha questioned.
Hamburg, May 10 : Police are investigating two women on suspicion of assault after a fight broke out in the crowd following a lecture about anti-Semitism at the University of Hamburg in northern Germany.

Several heckling incidents had already broken out during the talk entitled "Hostility towards Jews, anti-Semitism, anti-Zionism - current forms of anti-Jewish violence."

That led to an argument between the 56-year-old wife of the lecturer and several members of the audience after the end of the event on Wednesday, the police said in a statement published on Friday.

The lecturer's wife was punched in the face by a woman whom police described as a 26-year-old from Somalia. The older woman fought back with kicking and biting. Both women were injured in the altercation, according to police.

"While the 56-year-old had her facial injury treated on-site by an ambulance crew and later sought medical treatment on her own, the younger woman decided not to seek medical treatment for her injuries," the police added.

The police have initiated criminal proceedings against both women on suspicion of assault.

--IANS/DPA

sd/dan
Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : A court in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday ordered the CBI to reinvestigate the Jesna missing case.

The directive came after the father of Jesna approached the court with "fresh evidence" in the case.

Earlier, the CBI had submitted their final report on the case as they failed to find out what happened to her.

Father of Jesna had submitted in a sealed cover what he claims to be fresh evidence and wanted the court to order a reinvestigation.

After the CBI had pointed out that they were ready for a relook if there was new evidence and hence the court asked the CBI to reinvestigate the case and gave the necessary orders.

Jesna went missing from her home district in Pathanamthitta on March 22, 2018, while she was a second-year B.Com student.

The case was first probed by the Kerala Police, after which it was handed over to the Crime Branch wing and later to the CBI.
Hyderabad, May 10 : Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of spreading lies to 'misguide' and 'instigate' people.

Addressing a Press conference here, he said that it is unbecoming of a Prime Minister to indulge in 'petty and childish' talk.

Dubbing the PM 'johooton ke sardar' (leader of liars), the Congress leader asked why he was not talking about the election manifesto and what his government did during the last 10 years.

"They don't seek votes on their work. They only abuse Congress and twist the statements of the Congress," he said.

Kharge said 2-3 years ago, the BJP leaders used to say Congress was no competition to them. "Then why are you abusing Congress? It means you are scared. Only such people use this kind of language," he said.

"It appears Modi Ji loves the M word. He always speaks about Moghul, Mutton, Muslim League and Mangalsutra," he said.

He took strong exception to the Prime Minister's remarks that if Congress comes to power, it will snatch the Mangalsutra of women and alleged that he is speaking such a language to create disturbances and divide society.

"Nobody can dare to snatch Mangalsutra. Only a person like Modi can do it," Kharge remarked.

On the PM's recent remarks that Rahul Gandhi and Congress have stopped talking about Adani and Ambani because money is being transported to them in tempos, Kharge asked him why he was not using ED, CBI and IT to conduct raids and seize the money.

He claimed that Congress fulfilled five out of six guarantees given in Assembly elections and said one could not be implemented as the model code of conduct for Lok Sabha polls came into force.

"Whatever promises we made, be it in Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh or Telangana, we have fulfilled them," he said.

He reiterated that if the INDIA bloc comes to power, it will implement the Pehli Naukri Pakki scheme for youth and fill 30 lakh vacancies in government departments.

He said under Mahalakshmi yojana, women heads of poor families will be given Rs 1 lakh every year. Women will be provided 50 per cent reservation in government jobs.

He said the government will also strengthen laws related to unorganised sector and Gig workers. Justice will be done to farmers with a legal guarantee for MSP.

The Congress chief said the caste census will be done to know the facts about the status of various communities in different sectors like health, education, jobs and business opportunities.

He said the 50 per cent cap on reservation will be removed to do justice to all.

To a query about Mani Shankar Aiyar's reported statement about Pakistan being a nuclear power and suggesting talks with that country, Kharge said India is 100 times stronger than Pakistan. He mentioned that it was Indira Gandhi who divided Pakistan into two and it was during her rule that India conducted the first nuclear test.

When asked about political developments in Haryana, he said the MLAs will take a decision on whether to form a government or demand governor's rule. He made it clear that the high command would not interfere.

On the BJP leader's prediction that the Congress government in Telangana will collapse after the Lok Sabha elections, he remarked that they are speaking in frustration. He claimed that the Congress government is strong and will complete its term.
New Delhi, May 10 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, while out on interim bail, will not visit his office or the Secretariat, the Supreme Court said on Friday.

In its order granting him interim bail, the apex court said CM Kejriwal will not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/approval of the Lt Governor of Delhi.

"He will not make any comment with regard to his role in the present case, and he will not interact with any of the witnesses and/or have access to any official files connected with the case," said a bench, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna.

The bench, also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta, said that the grant of interim relief should not be treated as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case or the criminal appeal which is pending before the apex court.

After furnishing a Rs.50,000 bail bond with a surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent, CM Kejriwal would be released on interim bail in the excise policy case till June 1.

As per the SC order, the AAP supremo is required to surrender to jail authorities on June 2.
Gorakhpur, May 10 : Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said that opposition leaders, who seemed disheartened with the third voting phase, have begun commenting on Lord Ram.

"Some have deemed the Ram Temple 'useless,' while others question its public benefit. Those who support terrorists will undoubtedly feel bad about the Ram Temple," he said while addressing a rally in Gorakhpur.

The Chief Minister said: "Had the opposition, when in power, implemented stringent measures against those responsible for the terrorist attacks on Ram Janamabhoomi, similar to the current measures being implemented nationwide and against organised crime in Uttar Pradesh, then incidents like the terrorist attacks on Sankatmochan Temple could have been prevented."

He emphasised that the lenient approach towards terrorism had resulted in the loss of thousands of lives in these attacks.

The Chief Minister said that the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections has now reached a point where the opposition has conceded defeat.

"Congress, SP, and BSP have all acknowledged their loss. With three phases completed, elections have taken place for 285 seats, accounting for half of the country. I had the opportunity to visit nine states nationwide during the election campaign. A unified voice echoes throughout the country  "Ek Baar Phir, Modi Sarkar". For the nation and its people, 'Ramraj' is the solution to all problems, and this vision of Ramraj prompts them to choose the Modi government repeatedly."

Emphasising that under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, this vision of Ramraj is materialising across the entire nation, he said: "Today's India, led by Modi ji, upholds respect, security, development, and welfare for the underprivileged. Every household has access to clean water, electricity, and cooking gas."

He credited the "positive" transformation in the country not only to PM Modi but also to the electorate, as it was their votes in 2014 that enabled PM Modi to work wonders and pave the way for a new India.

Highlighting that significant strides have been made in welfare schemes, the Chief Minister said, "Today, 80 crore people in the country receive rations without bias."

He pointed out that 12 crore farmers now benefit from the Kisan Samman Nidhi, a stark contrast to the distressing conditions that previously led to farmer suicides.

Notable progress includes the construction of toilets in 12 crore households, the provision of LPG connections to 10 crore homes through the Ujjwala scheme, and the construction of four crore homes, with Gorakhpur alone witnessing the construction of one lakh houses.
Mumbai, May 10 : RASA Cabernet Sauvignon 2022, the flagship label of the Nashik-based Sula Vineyards, has become the first-ever Indian wine produced from this revered category of grapes to win a gold medal at the prestigious Global Cabernet Sauvignon Masters 2024.

The red wine was rated along with an array of other Cabernet Sauvignons priced under A30. As reported on the website of the competition organiser, the UK-based 'Drinks Business' magazine, gold medals were awarded to "a number of vibrantly fruity, gently oaked, well-balanced wines".

Among the winners from the wines, which, like the rest, were judged at a blind tasting by an independent jury comprising experts from all over the world, 'Drinks Business' highlights Kenwood Vineyards for its Jack London Cabernet Sauvignon from Sonoma in California ("unusually inexpensive at A27") and Sula Vineyards' RASA Cabernet Sauvignon ("at the more modestly priced A17.99").

The judges assessed scores of these robust and generally expensive red wines across price brands from around the world. The prices mentioned are those that are prevailing in the UK market. The current conversion rate of a pound sterling is Rs 104.63.

The award won by RASA marks the first time an Indian wine has received a gold medal at the Global Masters Awards in any category.

Interestingly, India's maturing wine industry is still not known for its Cabernet Sauvignon, the grape variety that is famously the backbone of the top wines of Bordeaux, France. The gold medal for RASA, though, will definitely make the world look at Indian Cabernet Sauvignons with greater interest.

The Cabernet Sauvignon, according to 'Drinks Business', "is an old variety, first mentioned in a written text in 1763-1777 as 'Petit Cabernet', but has certainly been around much longer. Its first mention as Cabernet Sauvignon was not until 1840."

The authoritative trade magazine goes on to mention that the grape variety's "parentage was discovered in 1996 at University of California-Davis, and was found to be a mating between Cabernet Franc and Sauvignon Blanc, both of which have been grown in France's Gironde for millennia."

Rajeev Samant, Founder-CEO of Sula Vineyards, responded by saying in a press statement, "Receiving this gold medal for our flagship wine during Sula's 25th anniversary year is deeply symbolic. It reaffirms our evolution from humble beginnings to an internationally recognised brand."
Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : After the Supreme Court on Friday granted Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal interim bail till June 1, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the verdict will have a bearing on the results of the Lok Sabha elections presently underway in the country.

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) supremo -- who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) on March 21 in the alleged Delhi liquor policy scam -- must surrender before the Tihar Jail authorities by June 2. The final round of the seven-phase elections is scheduled for June 1, while the results will be out on June 4.

"The interim bail to Kejriwal is a rude jolt to the BJP. This verdict is going to have a huge impact as the BJP is trying everything to destroy democratic values to hang on to power. They showed it by putting Kejriwal in jail on the eve of Lok Sabha polls," CM Vijayan said in a statement issued by his office.

"Instead of taking the people into confidence and facing the polls, The Modi government has used every undemocratic method, besides banking on communal issues, to silence the opposition. But this apex court verdict has played spoilsport to all such undemocratic ploys," the Chief Minister added.

CM Vijayan is presently on a private tour to Indonesia, Singapore, and the UAE. He will return on May 21.

"After the initial rounds of elections, the Modi government has realised that things are looking bleak. This latest judgment shows that the judicial process cannot be bypassed by the wrong deeds of the Modi government. This verdict also shows that central agencies like the ED are being used for political reasons," the statement said.

"We wish the release of Kejriwal will act as an impetus for the fight to uphold democracy," the Chief Minister said.
Patna May 10 : A day after Chirag Paswan claimed that PM Narendra Modi is strengthening reservations in the country, senior Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav asked the Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) chief to study history before commenting on the issue.

"There is no need for Chirag Paswan to comment on this issue. He is a prosperous Dalit, why doesn't he give up reservation? He is not aware of history and that is why he is with people having the mentality of BJP and RSS," Tejashwi Yadav said.

Tejashwi Yadav also suggested that Chirag Paswan should listen to the speeches of his father, late Ram Vilas Paswan.

"Chirag Paswan neither has complete information on reservation, nor is he aware of history. He should first get some information on the issue, listen to the speeches of his father Ram Vilas Paswan, only then will he see the real face of BJP," he said.

"In his speeches, Ram Vilas Paswan clearly said that the BJP wants to end reservation. Due to this, he even resigned from the Union Cabinet. Everyone knows it," Tejashwi Yadav claimed.

"If PM Modi stays in power at the Centre, there will be a threat to democracy and the Constitution," the former Deputy CM said.

"The BJP does not talk about the important issues, be it employment, or the welfare of the poor, farmers, and labourers. They don't care about these things," Tejashwi Yadav said.
(SUNDAY STORY) AIUDF is keen, but Assam Cong firm on keeping Ajmal out of INDIA. Image Source: IANS News

Guwahati, May 10 : Assam Congress president Bhupen Kumar Borah on Friday claimed that AIUDF chief Badruddin Ajmal is set to lose the election this time from the Dhubri Lok Sabha seat.

Borah told reporters here, "Badruddin Ajmal knows very well that people of Dhubri were not with him. He will definitely lose the polls this time. There is no doubt about that."

Congress MLA from Samaguri and former state minister Rakibul Husain contested against Ajmal from the Dhubri parliamentary constituency in the recently concluded polls. Political watchers have predicted a close contest between Husain and Ajmal in Dhubri and it is widely believed that the AIUDF chief may find it tough to win the seat again.

Meanwhile, Borah refused to comment on how many seats Congress may win in Assam in the Lok Sabha polls.

He said, "The voters have exercised their voting rights. We are hopeful for a good show; however, in democracy, we must always go with the people's mandate."

The Assam Congress senior leader also asserted that the BJP should not give a "certificate" of winning or losing to the opposition.

"We have not fought the polls with BJP's certificates," he added.
New Delhi, May 10 : The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) on Friday announced that it successfully concluded the pilot to upskill engineers in semiconductor fabrication technology, which was announced in partnership with the US-based semiconductor firm Lam Research, during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington DC in July 2023.

The pilot included Lam's Semiverse Solutions portfolio to train 32 MTech and PhD students at IISc's Center for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE).

Three students from the cohort have been offered placements at leading global semiconductor manufacturing companies.

"With three of the pilot's participants already placed in a global tier-1 semiconductor manufacturing companies, we are confident about the broad rollout of the course and its impact," Professor Srinivasan Raghavan, Chair of the CeNSE at IISc, said in a statement.

After the completion of the pilot, IISc and Lam Research have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the India Semiconductor Mission to scale the programme nationally. The plan is to upskill a targeted 60,000 engineers over the next 10 years via the broad rollout of Semiverse Solutions, the institute said.

As part of the pilot, students got the chance to train on SEMulator3D, a powerful 3D semiconductor process and integration modelling software that is part of the Semiverse Solutions platform.

The programme is used by the world's largest semiconductor companies, manufacturers, and foundries to model complete process flows and predict downstream ramifications of process changes that would otherwise require build-and-test cycles in the fab, the institute mentioned.

"We believe in the democratisation of specialised semiconductor knowledge and are excited to support the scaling of the semiconductor industry in India," said Rangesh Raghavan, Corporate VP and GM at Lam Research India.

Since 2014, Lam Research India has been a part of CeNSE's Industry Affiliate Programme (IAP) and is continuously engaging with the centre to collaborate on multiple innovative projects to advance the state of semiconductor technologies.
Kabul, May 10 : Unidentified armed men gunned down three people, including a mother and her two children, in Mahmud-e-Raqi city, the provincial capital of east Afghanistan's Kapisa province, provincial police spokesman Abdul Fateh Fayez said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday evening in Police District 1 of the city when unknown armed men opened fire on a mother and her two children, killing the three on the spot, and escaped the area, the official added, reports Xinhua news agency.

Police have launched search operations to bring the perpetrators to justice, the official added.

No group or individual has claimed the deadly attack yet.
New Delhi, May 10 : The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Friday filed its seventh chargesheet at a court here in connection with the money laundering case related to the alleged excise policy scam, naming Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader K. Kavitha and others as accused.

Other names that have surfaced are co-accused Chanpreet Singh, Damodar Sharma, Prince Kumar, and Arvind Singh.

Official sources said that the fresh prosecution complaint has been filed under Sections 45 and 44 (1) of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), and runs over 220 pages.

Sources also said that a similar complaint against Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was granted interim bail by the Supreme Court on Friday, is likely to be filed soon.

A total of 18 people have been arrested in the case so far, including Arvind Kejriwal, former Deputy Delhi CM Manish Sisodia, several AAP leaders, Kavitha, and others.
New Delhi, May 10 : Mahindra & Mahindra on Friday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MSDE) for the flagship Drone Didi Yojna, launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, to skill women to become drone pilots.

Under this partnership, Mahindra and MSDE will conduct two pilots at National Skill Training Institutes (NSTI) in Hyderabad and Noida to skill 500 women in batches of 20 each.

The 15-day curriculum, which has been approved by the Directorate General of Civil Aviation, will be conducted at these centres by RPTO (Remote Pilot Training Organisation) instructors, the company mentioned.

"The pilot under the Drone Didi Yojana represents a first-of-its-kind convergence of women, farming, and technology. We are delighted to provide technology training to grassroots women and ensure that agriculture is equipped for the future," Dr Anish Shah, Group CEO & MD, Mahindra Group, said in a statement.

The programme aims to train 15,000 women to operate drones for agricultural purposes such as fertiliser sowing, crop monitoring and seed sowing.

"This collaboration advances our mission of upskilling women for nation-building, particularly through the successful implementation of the Drone Didi programme in empowering women in emerging trades," said Atul Kumar Tiwari, Secretary, MSDE.

The learnings and outcomes from the Pilot project will help MSDE in scaling up the Drone Didi Yojana at identified NSTIs or ITIs across the country.

As a further support to the intent of the Drone Didi Yojana, Mahindra said that it will soon roll out this training for women at the companyas skilling centres at Zaheerabad, Telangana and Nagpur, Maharashtra.
Hyderabad, May 10 : A court here on Friday issued an arrest warrant against former Special Intelligence Bureau (SIB) chief T. Prabhakar Rao, the prime suspect in the phone tapping case.

The Nampally Metropolitan Magistrate court also issued an arrest warrant against Shravan Kumar, a senior executive of a vernacular media.

Accepting the Hyderabad Police's plea, the court issued the warrants against the accused who are absconding. Both are believed to be in the US.

The investigating team had filed a petition last month, requesting the court to issue arrest warrants under Section 73 of Criminal Procedure Code.

The case relates to alleged surveillance of opposition leaders and some businessmen by a team of police officers during the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) rule. The police recently named Prabhakar Rao and Shravan Kumar as accused in the sensational case.

It is now likely to apply for Red Corner notices against them.

The police have already arrested four police officers in the sensational case.

They include former Deputy Commissioner of Police (Task Force) P. Radha Kishan Rao, D. Praneeth Rao, Bhujanga Rao and Thirupathanna are the other accused police officers arrested in the case.

The phone tapping came to light in March when a case was registered with the Panjagutta police after a petition was filed by Additional SP, SIB D. Ramesh.

When the BRS was in power, then SIB chief Prabhakar Rao had allegedly constituted a team within SIB with his trusted aides, including DSP D. Praneeth Rao, for surveillance of rival political leaders and their families and dissidents within the ruling party.

Praneeth Rao was arrested after he allegedly destroyed hard disks and other data after Congress came to power.

Bhujanga Rao, Additional Superintendent of Police in Bhupalpally district and Tirupathanna, Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police, City Security Wing, Hyderabad City Police were arrested on March 23.

They had earlier served in SIB.

Radha Kishan Rao was arrested last month.
Pune, May 10 : A special court in Pune on Friday sentenced two persons to life terms, while acquitting three other accused in the sensational daylight killing of medico and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar in the city in August 2013.

Delivering the much-awaited verdict in the 11-year-old case that grabbed national headlines, Special Judge, UAPA cases, P. P. Jadhav found the two sharpshooters - Sharad B. Kalaskar and Sachin P. Andure - guilty and sentenced them to life imprisonment, plus a fine of Rs 5 lakh each, and an additional one year for failure to pay the fine.

Three others accused in the same case, Sanjeev Punhalekar, Dr Virendra Tawade, and Vikram Bhave, have been acquitted for lack of evidence, said a lawyer from the legal teams.

The children of the murdered medico, Hamid and Mukta, said that they were relieved that the killers were being punished, but they would challenge the acquittal of the other three in the Bombay High Court and the Supreme Court.

They also raised questions on how the investigators have still not caught the masterminds behind the killings and other lapses in the case with political ramifications, investigated by multiple agencies, including Pune police, the Crime Branch, and later, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The late Dabholkar was the founder-head of the influential Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (MANS) and carried out a massive crusade against superstitions, fake godmen/women, babas, tantriks, etc, that earned the ire of many including right-wing organisations.

Welcoming the verdict, Sanatan Sanstha spokesperson Chetan Rajhans said that the judgment has absolved the organisation of any involvement in Dabholkaras killing.

"In Dr Dabholkaras murder, our innocence has been proved today. It has also busted the aurban naxalsa conspiracy to malign the Sanatan Sanstha. After the claims pointing to the involvement of Hindu groups made by then Maharashtra CM Prithviraj Chavan, the government had clamped down on Hindu advocacy outfits," he said.

Around dawn on August 20, 2013, Dabholkar, 67, was on a morning walk near the Omkareshwar Bridge when he was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants, who were later identified as the sharpshooters Kalaskar and Andure.

Initially, the case was investigated by the Deccan police station and later the Pune Crime Branch, but with little or no headway, the Bombay High Court ordered it over to the CBI for probe in May 2014.

The CBI lodged a complaint, started its own investigations and identified ENT surgeon Tawade, the alleged mastermind behind the Dabholkar killing with purported links with the Sanatan Sanstha.

The CBI also named two absconders a" Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar a" as the alleged shooters but subsequently succeeded in nabbing Kalaskar and Andure who carried out the actual hit.

The CBI also arrested lawyer Sanjeev Punhalekar, and Vikram Bhave, (besides Tawade), and booked them for murder, and conspiracy to murder, as well as under the Arms Act and terror sections of the UAPA, in the first charge sheet filed in September 2016.

After more investigations, it filed supplementary charge sheets in February and November 2019.

During the long-winded trial, the prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defence examined two witnesses.

Dabholkaras killing was followed by a chain of murders of other prominent personalities like Left leader Govind Pansare (February 2015) in Maharashtra, and Prof. M.M. Kalburgi (August 2015), and journalist Gauri Lankesh (September 2017), both in Karnataka.
Mumbai, May 10 : Known for his powerful performances in mainstream and offbeat films, Ashutosh Rana is now being seen in the Jio Cinema murder mystery series 'Murder in Mahim'.

Interacting with the media, the actor said he doesn't believe in competing with his co-actors, rather he believes in complementing them.

The actor delved at length on working with capable actors such as Vijay Raaz on the show. He said, "I believe in complementing my fellow actors. If one believes in this, then there is no competition to prove oneself better than the others. A good actor should complement his co-stars and not compete with them."

Talking about the series, which is based on a Jerry Pinto novel, the actor said, "It is a murder mystery that starts with a crime. Through my character Peter Fernandes, you will get to know the journey from death to life."

Continuing, he said, "A murder happens in the show and through that murder you will get to know the issues of Mumbai at that time. The effect on society, family relations, generation gap, all these facets are touched upon in the show."

Talking about his character, Peter Fernandes, Rana said, "There are two kinds of journalists, those who are journalists by profession and the others who are journalists by nature. The journalist at the centre of the murder mystery belongs to this category, but he has taken an early retirement. When the murder takes place, however, it is he who solves the mystery."

Set in the backdrop of a murder at Mahim station, the series follows Peter's involvement in the inquiry into this diabolical act. The stakes rise when his own son, Sunil, becomes a suspect in the case. The show started streaming on Jio Cinema from May 10.
Aizawl, May 10 : Amid the Mizoram and Nagaland governments' strong opposition against border fencing along the India-Myanmar Border and scraping the Free Movement Regime (FMR) between the two countries, the influential Zo Reunification Organisation (ZORO) on Friday announced to launch agitation to protest the Central government's decision on the two issues.

After holding a meeting with Mizoram Chief Minister Lalduhoma, ZORO leaders announced that they would bring out peaceful rallies at Zokhawthar and Vaphai in Champhai district along the India-Myanmar border (in Mizoram) on May 16 to protest the Central government's decision to fence the border and scrap the FMR.

The ZORO, a leading and influential Mizo organisation, for the past many years seeks reunification of all people belonging to Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi tribes of India, Bangladesh and Myanmar under one administrative unit.

ZORO leaders said that Chief Minister Lalduhoma while talking to them, expressed optimism that the Centre would exempt the 510-km-long border of the India-Myanmar border with Mizoram from being fenced and would not scrap the FMR.

The British government while demarcating the borders earlier divided the Zo tribal communities in different countries, they said.

The FMR allowed citizens residing close to both sides of the border to move 16 km into each other's territory without a passport or a visa.

Mizo leaders said that the people belonging to Chin-Kuki-Mizo-Zomi tribes, who have common ethnicity, culture, language and tradition, residing on both sides of the border and if the fencing is erected or FMR is scrapped, the closeness and relationship between the communities would be impacted.

The Mizoram Chief Minister told the ZORO leaders that he had already discussed the fencing and FMR issues with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and requested them to maintain the 'status quo'.

Besides the Mizoram government and ZORO, various civil society organisations and student bodies have been strongly opposing the Centre's move to fence the India-Myanmar border and scrap the FMR.

The Mizoram Assembly on February 28 adopted a unanimous resolution opposing the Centre's decision to fence the India-Myanmar border and eliminate the FMR.

The Nagaland government and almost all organisations in the state are also against the border fencing and abolishing of the FMR.

The Nagaland Assembly also on March 1 unanimously passed a resolution urging the Centre to reconsider its decision to fence the India-Myanmar border and scrap the FMR between the two countries.

Citing the vulnerability of the 1,643 km unfenced India-Myanmar border spanning Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Nagaland, and Mizoram, the Central government has decided to fence the entire border and to scrap the FMR.

Of the four northeastern states, the process to erect fencing has been started along the border in Manipur.

So far, a 10-km-long stretch in Manipur's Moreh has already been fenced, and the work for another approximately 20 km along the state has also been sanctioned by the Union Home Ministry.
New Delhi, May 10 : Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was behind bars in the excise scam case for 40 days, was on Friday released from the Tihar Jail in Delhi, hours after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1.

Bail bonds of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent, as directed by the court, were submitted before he was released.

Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in the Delhi excise scam on March 21, was lodged in Tihar Jail No 2. He remained in ED custody till March 31 and was sent to judicial custody on April 1.

Kejriwalas wife Sunita, Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and senior AAP leaders, including Saurabh Bharadwaj, Gopal Rai, and Atishi among others and scores of workers were outside Tihar Jail when the CM was released.

AAP workers, carrying flags with Arvind Kejriwal's picture on it, raised slogans and distributed sweets.
Kolkata, May 10 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday attacked the Trinamool Congress and Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee for their opposition to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) at Ranaghat in West Bengal's Nadia district, a constituency dominated by voters belonging to the Matua community.

"A large number of people from the Matua community live here as refugees. Trinamool and Mamata Banerjee's opposition to CAA means they do not want the Matua brothers and sisters to get citizenship.

"That is why the Trinamool is mobilising the infiltrators to demonstrate against the CAA. I want to ask you, shouldn't CAA be implemented," Amit Shah said at the rally in support of BJP candidate and sitting MP, Jagannath Sarkar.

To recall, on March 11, the Centre notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules 2024, thus paving the way for enforcing the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), which seeks to grant Indian citizenship to persecuted Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists, Parsis and Christians who came to India from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan before December 31, 2014.

The news triggered celebrations among the members of the Matua community, a backward-class Hindu group that came to West Bengal as refugees from neighbouring Bangladesh.

Claiming that no one can stop the implementation of CAA, the Home Minister said, "Every genuine refugee will be granted citizenship through CAA and that is the promise of Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

Matuas constitute a substantial section of voters in Nadia, North 24 Parganas, and East Burdwan districts.

Amit Shah also accused Mamata Banerjee of spreading falsehood about the free rice being provided by the Centre.

"Five kg free rice is being provided by the Union government and Prime Minister Modi. But the Chief Minister is claiming that she is providing the free rice," he said.

The Home Minister also said that by abrogating Article Section 370 from Jammu & Kashmir, the Prime Minister has put an end to terrorism to a great extent in the region.

"Once the BJP comes to power in West Bengal, it will mean the end corruption, infiltration, and terror here as well," he claimed.
New Delhi, May 10 : Congress veteran Mani Shankar Aiyar urging the government to 'respect Pakistan' because of its atom bombs triggered a political storm on Friday.

Anticipating the fallout of Aiyar's statements in an election season, the Congress was quick to dissociate and distance itself from his remarks but the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to latch on to his objectionable remarks and trained guns at the grand old party for their "love" and purported "fondness" for the neighbouring nation.

Many BJP leaders took umbrage at Aiyar's 'eulogy' of Pakistan at the cost of India and said that this was a clear reflection of the Congress mindset as he was no ordinary leader but one among the party's policymakers.

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that it was Aiyar's personal views and also went on to say that today's India was 100 times stronger than before.

"Mani Shankar Aiyar has put his thoughts on Pakistan but today's India is 100 times more powerful than Pakistan," Kharge told media persons in Telangana and also recalled how the Indira regime fractured the neighbouring nation in two parts.

Congress Spokesperson Pawan Khera, in a video statement, said that the party distances itself completely from Aiyar's statements. He however pointed to BJP's deliberate digging of old videos to deflect attention from daily goof-ups by the Prime Minister. He also asked the BJP to explain, in what context EAM Jaishankar spoke about China.

He also made a reference to Indira Gandhi's strong leadership in bifurcating Pakistan into two in 1971.

After Aiyar's video went viral, Union Ministers and top BJP leaders have hit out at the Congress as well as Aiyar for his remarks.

Anurag Thakur said that this shows Congress leaders' "love" for Pakistan.

"They live in India but their hearts reside in Pakistan. This shows how Congress ideology works and how they align with foreign hands," he said.

Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar told media persons that Congress has become an 'apologist for Pakistan and Pakistan-based terror' and also trained guns at Rahul's leadership.

"'Rahul's Congress ideology' is fully visible in these elections. Support to and from terror-linked organisations and people like SDPI, Yasin Malik. Rampant Corruption and loot of money meant for the poor. Appease the Muslim community at all costs," he said.

BJP Spokesperson Rohan Gupta speaking to IANS said that Aiyar's comments can't be taken lightly.

"He is someone who drafted policies for Congress, he is no ordinary leader. His remarks reflect Congress's thought process and this shows how the party's love for Pakistan supersedes everything. People will not forgive them," he said.

Mani Shankar Aiyar made the "respect Pakistan" remark while speaking to a YouTube channel Chill Pill last month.

"You are roaming with a gun. Nothing could be resolved by that. Tensions only increase. They have an atom bomb. Yes, we also have. But talk to them. Give them respect," he had said.
Patna, May 10 : Rashtriya Lok Morcha (RLM) candidate Upendra Kushwaha filed his nomination from the Karakat Lok Sabha seat on Friday.

He was accompanied by a large number of supporters who had earlier assembled at the office of the District Magistrate-cum-Returning Officer in Sasaram, the district headquarter of Rohtas.

"I have no issues with anyone. I have come to Karakat only to work for its development. The people's enthusiasm is visible and I am getting support from people of all castes, religions and communities," Kushwaha said.

When asked about political opponents in this election, he said, "In Karakat, the contest is one-sided. There is no other angle in this. The people here have given me opportunities from 2014 to 2019. We have served the people with utmost honesty. The blessings of the public are with us and they will vote for the development of Bihar and the country."

"People are happy with the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last 10 years. Along with this, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has also done a lot of work for the development of the state and they like him. Therefore, all sections of society are with us and my victory is certain," Kushwaha said.

Asked about Bhojpuri actor Pawan Singh, he said, "He has no impact on us or the public. There is no point in him contesting the election. If he is in the BJP then its leaders have to worry about him."

Asked about his priority in case of victory, Kushwaha said, "If I become MP, then the Dalmia Nagar project is the first thing on my mind. Apart from this, there are a lot of ongoing and pending projects that I have to finish."
Jammu, May 10 : Days after an attack on an IAF convoy in J&K's Poonch district left one dead and a major security sweep was initiated, firing exchanges were taking place between security forces and terrorists in the district on Friday, officials said.

Officials said that firing exchanges started between the security forces and the terrorists in the Sinai Top area of Poonch.

"It is believed to be the same group of terrorists that attacked a vehicle of the Air Force on May 5 in which air warrior, Vikky Pahade, was killed and 4 other air warriors were injured. Since May 5, security forces have launched an operation in Poonch and Rajouri districts to trace the terrorists," an official said.

Security forces say that this group of terrorists is operating in a heavily forested area.

Police also released sketches of two terrorists who are believed to have carried out the attack on the Air Force vehicles. Security forces also released pictures of 3 terrorists taken out of a video clip captured by a CCTV camera. Top sources said these three terrorists are on the most wanted list of the security forces.
Bengaluru, May 10 : Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara has asked the National Commission for Women (NCW) to share information with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) regarding the victim woman who is receiving threats for filing a complaint against prime accused Prajwal Revanna in sex video case.

"We don't know who the person is. All questions will be answered by the SIT. If there are complaints or disturbances let the NCW talk to the SIT. The NCW can inform SIT, like how the State Commission for Women wrote to the government. The SIT authorities will initiate appropriate measures," Parameshwara told media persons.

When asked about when the SIT will track down Prajwal Revanna, the Karnataka Home Minister said: "We have appealed to the CBI to request the Interpol and other agencies to issue the Blue Corner notice. That is being done now. We have to wait regarding the information about Prajwal Revanna and in which country he is residing."

He said that former CM H.D. Kumaraswamy has been casting aspersions on the SIT probe from day one. The SIT is competent and it will come out with the truth, he added.

The NCW has directed the Karnataka Police to ensure the security to the complainant who is being threatened.

On Thursday, the NCW said that one of the woman complainants in the case had claimed that she was forced by a group of people to lodge a false complaint after being threatened with harassment.

"One woman complainant came to the Commission to register a complaint against three individuals dressed in civil uniform, allegedly introducing themselves as Karnataka Police officials and forcing her to give a false complaint," the NCW said.

The complainant has sought protection for her family, underscoring the seriousness of the situation, the NCW said, adding that it has asked Karnataka DGP Alok Mohan to provide appropriate security to the woman.

--IANS

mka/dan
Kohima, May 10 : The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (NSCN-IM) on Friday said that in the event of failure of the current talks (with the government) they are apprehensive of horrible human rights situation returning to 'Nagalim' -- the Naga dominated areas.

It said that the Naga people are convinced that the prolonged Naga political talks should be concluded honourably.

The Naga group said the Naga people under the banner of National Socialist Council of Nagalim stand firm on the historic Framework Agreement signed on August 3, 2015.

"In spite of all these commitments and agreements, the government of India is trying to backtrack and disown the Framework Agreement by creating situations through the agencies of its surrogate Naga factions, opportunists and the neighbouring peoples who are hostile to the cause of the Nagas," the NSCN-IM said in a statement.

It said that Nagas believe that this 'Framework Agreement' would certainly bring a durable peace in the land and a lasting relationship among people.

"It will also guarantee the security of India and the future of the Nagas. All rational people of both parties fear that betrayal of the Framework Agreement will amount to murder of peace and progress in the region, which they feel will be too costly."

The Naga outfit said that after decades of confrontations, the government of India and the NSCN finally resumed political talks in 1997, culminating in the signing of the historic 'Framework Agreement' on August 3, 2015.

"Our Ato Kilonser (Prime Minister) Thuingaleng Muivah reiterated the stand of the Nagas in the talks time and again, stating that 'the Nagas have neither been a part of the Union of India nor that of Burma (Myanmar) either by conquest or by consent. It is a case of resistance against invasion by India and Myanmar, pure and simple'. The Nagas were compelled to fight back the aggressor states in defence of their land, their national right and future," the statement said.

"In the signed Framework Agreement, acknowledging the independent nature of the Naga people, the Government of India officially recognised the uniqueness of Naga history," the Naga outfit claimed.

The NSCN (IM) appealed to all Churches to pray for the political talks with the government and also for the peace of Nagalim.

More than 90 rounds of meetings were held between the government and the Naga groups over the decades-old unresolved Naga political issue.

The NSCN-IM has remained unyielding on its demand for a separate flag and constitution for the Nagas as well as integration of Naga-inhabited areas spread over four northeastern states -- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, besides Myanmar.

The NSCN-IM said that the outfit's General Secretary and its chief negotiator, Thuingaleng Muivah has recently unequivocally stated that a solution without the Naga national flag and constitution would never be acceptable to the Naga people.
Amritsar, May 10 : Accompanied by External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, BJP candidate Taranjit Singh Sandhu filed his nomination from the Amritsar Lok Sabha constituency on Friday.

The diplomat-turned-politician, who is making his electoral debut, also held a roadshow with Jaishankar before filing his papers.

Exuding confidence that the former Indian Ambassador to the US will win the elections, Jaishankar said, "We have full confidence that the people of Amritsar will elect Sandhu and send him to Delhi. He will be a very good MP. He has been the most popular Ambassador of India."

"He has brought many laurels to the nation as a diplomat. He will now bring the same energy and enthusiasm for serving the Guru Nagari, Amritsar," Jaishankar added.

Starting his day before dawn, Sandhu first offered prayers at the Chhevin Patshahi Gurdwara before visiting the Ram Dham Mandir here.

Sandhu joined the BJP on March 19, almost two months after he wrapped up his term in office in Washington DC.

During his campaigns, Sandhu, a 1988-batch Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officer who shared a video of his interaction with US President Joe Biden during his stint as the US Ambassador, focused on addressing the issues of the farmers settled along the India-Pakistan border.

During his recent visit close to the Zero Line at Zirpur village in Amritsar district, Sandhu interacted with the local farmers and listened to their issues, besides sharing his vision to revamp the border areas.

Sandhu is the grandson of former Congress leader and Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) founder-member, Teja Singh Samundri.

His father, Bishan Singh Samundri, was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Guru Nanak Dev University in Amritsar. His mother Jagjit Kaur was the principal of the Government College for Women in Amritsar.

His grandfather quit the British Army to join the Independence and gurdwara reform movements.

Polling in Punjab's 13 Lok Sabha seats will be held in a single phase on June 1.
Patna May 10 : Reacting to Tejashwi Yadav's remarks on the 'history of the reservation', LJPR President Chirag Paswan on Friday said that the Bihar Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Tejashwi Yadav should worry about RJD and his candidates.

"The way he is concerned about me or the prime minister, if the same he had shown to the state then the tenure of RJD may not be known as a 'Jungle Raj'. I suggest him to take care of his party and his candidates so that they could save their deposit at least," Chirag Paswan said.

"Whatever is happening in our home or in our family is our concern. It is our personal matter. The issue in the elections is not what happened to Chirag Paswan's house. You keep saying that we have given jobs and we will give more jobs. Do you have any plans from where you will generate revenue for giving jobs? How can government revenue be increased?" he asked.

Calling Tejashwi his younger brother, Chirag Paswan said that it would have been better if Tejashwi had given attention to Bihar rather than him.

"He became Deputy Chief Minister. The experience is not achieved by sitting in air-conditioned rooms. Experience comes from going to the public. Tejashwi thinks that the public is with his lies, but they are not. The public knows everything," he said.

Earlier, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav said that Chirag Paswan does not know about the 'history of reservation'. He said that Chirag Paswan should listen to the old speeches of his father Late Ram Vilas Paswan.

Tejashwi Yadav said that Chirag Paswan does not remember what PM Modi had done to him. "The Prime Minister got Ram Vilas Paswan's statue shunted, vacated his house and snatched away the symbol of his party. There was a fight between uncle and nephew yet Chirag Paswan remains PM Modi's Hanuman. Under such circumstances, No one could stay with PM Modi," Tejashwi said.
Hyderabad, May 10 : Use of Hyderabad lingo to make an appeal to voters and 'Razakar' reference to target Owaisi's party AIMIM were the highlights of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech at a public meeting in this Telangana capital on Friday.

Addressing the public meeting at L. B. Stadium in support of BJP candidates for Hyderabad, Secunderabad and surrounding Lok Sabha constituencies, PM Modi took everyone by surprise by using some Hyderabadi words to appeal to people to vote for BJP and reject its rivals Congress, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM).

"Telangana bol raha hai Congress nakko, BRS nakko, MIM nakko. BJP koich vote dengey (Telangana is saying no to Congress, BRS, MIM. Will vote only for BJP)," PM Modi said amid huge applause by the crowd.

The PM said that while Hyderabad is a special city, the venue is even more special. He recalled that 10 years ago a grand public meeting was held at the same stadium and tickets were sold for entry.

"That was such a turning point that there was a storm from this soil turning disappointment into hope across the country. Today, once again this atmosphere shows what is the mood of Telangana," PM Modi said.

He claimed that wherever he went in Telangana, he witnessed an unprecedented "revolution". He exuded confidence that the results of Telangana will fill enthusiasm across the country.

Alleging that Congress and parties with the same thinking can do anything for appeasement, he said that AIMIM has been given a free run in Hyderabad.

"Neither Congress nor BRS celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day due to fear that their vote bank will be unhappy," he said and declared that BJP has decided to liberate Hyderabad from this fear.

He said the Centre has decided to celebrate Hyderabad Liberation Day on September 17 every year.

He claimed that the Congress party's strategy is to divide Hindus and make its vote bank happy. He reiterated that the Congress wants to snatch reservations from SCs, STs and BCs and distribute them on the basis of religion.

PM Modi also claimed that the impact of reservation on the basis of religion was seen in the elections of Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) as the seats which were due right of BCs were snatched from them. He alleged that Congress wants to implement the same model across the country.

He reiterated the allegation that ever since the Congress government was formed in Telangana, there has been buzz about RR tax. "One R of Hyderabad and one R of Delhi have made Telangana their ATM," he remarked.

The BJP leader told people that in Hyderabad they have to bear the burden of 'RRR'. "Here one R is Razakar. How this Razakar tax works is seen in old Hyderabad," PM Modi said.

Mentioning that the MP of AIMMIM represented Hyderabad for a long time, he claimed that there are no basic amenities in the constituency.

He also referred to the problem of flooding in Hyderabad during every rainy season and alleged that Congress and BRS never solved it.

Asserting that BJP is committed to rapid development of Telangana, he listed out works undertaken by his government in the state like setting up of the first AIIMS, four Vande Bharat, Central Tribal University, re-opening of closed fertiliser factory, Turmeric Board and NTPC power plant.

The Prime Minister said that his government is promoting Telangana as a major global capability centre.

"An aviation hub is coming up here. There will be the world's biggest MRO facility for aircraft engines. Telangana will also get the benefit of Atmanirbhar Bharat. From defence to biotechnology, green energy and electric mobility to Artificial Intelligence, the coming five years will be of rapid development in manufacturing and services sectors in Telangana," he said adding that huge employment opportunities for youth are being created here.

PM Modi said a vote for BRS will help the Congress party while a vote for Congress can't help form government at the Centre.

He appealed to people to elect union minister and state BJP President G. Kishan Reddy, who is seeking re-election from Secunderabad, BJP's Hyderabad candidate Madhavi Latha, Malkajgiri candidate Eatala Rajender, Chevella candidate Vishweshwar Reddy and Bhongir candidate B. Narsaiah Goud.
Bengaluru, May 10 : A day after the National Commission for Women (NCW) said that one of the woman complainants in the sex video scandal in Karnataka involving JD-S MP Prajwal Revanna claimed that she was forced by a group of people to lodge a false complaint in the case, the details of the complaint revealed some shocking details on Friday.

In her complaint to the NCW, the woman claimed that she was blackmailed by a group of people claiming to be attached to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to lodge a complaint against the JD-S MP from Hassan, Prajwal Revanna.

Prajwal Revanna is the grandson of former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, and son of JD-S MLA H.D. Revanna, who has been arrested for his alleged role in the kidnapping of a victim of the sex scandal involving his son.

Following the complaint lodged with the NCW, former Chief Minister and JD-S state President H.D. Kumaraswamy alleged that the SIT is going to the doorsteps of the victims and threatening them with prostitution cases if they don't file complaints against Prajwal Revanna, who is his nephew.

In her complaint to the NCW, the woman claimed: "On May 3 at about 5.30 a.m., I received a call from an unknown number claiming to be an officer with the SIT. The caller told me that if I ever intend to return to my hometown, I should lodge an FIR in Bengaluru against Prajwal Revanna. I refused to entertain their demand as I have no connection with the allegations levelled against him.

"Subsequently, on May 6 at about 1.15 p.m., I received a call from another unknown number and the person calling me claimed to be a member of the SIT constituted by the government of Karnataka. The said person told me that videos depicting my resemblance have been unearthed in relation to the sex scandal involving Prajwal Revanna and therefore, if I don't lodge a separate FIR against the MP, I would be arrested and falsely implicated in the case."

"Three persons in civil dress and claiming to be members of the SIT had also gone to my address and threatened my husband that our entire family will be arrested and implicated in multiple false cases if I do not cooperate with their demands and lodge an FIR against Prajwal Revanna," she alleged.

"On May 6, after receiving a call at about 1.15 p.m., I contacted my advocate. Hence, I am approaching the NCW for the redressal of my grievance," she said.

The complainant stressed that she has no grievance against Prajwal Revanna and she is being dragged into the case.

The woman also said that she is a law-abiding citizen with a family comprising her husband and two sons, and now she fears for their safety.

"I do not wish to be unnecessarily dragged into matters with which I have no connection. Therefore, I request for NCW's assistance so that I get justice," she claimed.

The complainant has also pleaded with the NCW to provide protection to her family.

Following the complaint, the NCW on Thursday issued a press note and asked Karnataka DGP Alok Mohan to ensure the complainant's safety.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Home Minister G. Parameshwara has appealed to the NCW to share information with the SIT which will look into the matter.
Thiruvananthapuram, May 10 : Kerala Inspector General of Police P. Vijayan, who was suspended from service in May 2023 and reinstated after six months, was finally promoted to the rank of Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) on Friday.

While he was reinstated later, his promotion, which was due, was kept in abeyance by the Pinarayi Vijayan government.

The IPS officer first felt the heat, when on April 26, 2023, he was first removed from the key post of head of the Anti-Terror Squad and also the chief of the Kerala Books and Publications Society, and subsequently, suspended.

At that time, no one had a clue of what had happened, but, it was later known that the charge against him was that he allegedly leaked crucial information to the media when Delhi resident Shahrukh Saifi, the accused in the Kozhikode train fire case, was brought from Maharashtra to Kerala in April last year.

The order of promotion was finally issued on Friday and he has been posted as the Director of the Kerala Police Academy.

Vijayan, who worked as a labourer when he was a student, cracked the Civil Service examination and through his hard work, became a hugely popular police official, where his efforts even won the accolades of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The senior police official was listed as one of the 100 people to take part in the 100th episode of Modias flagship programme, "Mann Ki Baat", but the state government failed to give him permission to participate.

--IANS

sg/vd
Patna May 10 : In a joint operation, Surat and Muzaffarpur Police have arrested an accused for threatening the former BJP spokesperson Nupur Sharma and a right wing leader named Updesh Rana on Friday.

The accused was identified as Mohammad Shahnawaz Ali, a native of Muzaffarpur but has been living in Nepal for the last 23 years.

The SHO of Sakra police station confirmed his arrest, saying that the joint team of Surat and Muzaffarpur Police raided a house belonging to the relative of the accused in Chakbadullah Paharpur area and arrested him at 4 am on Friday.

He said that the accused was involved in threatening the former BJP Spokespersons Nupur Sharma and Updesh Rana with dire consequences of killing them.

The Special Branch of Surat Police learned about his identity following the arrest of a cleric of a mosque named Maulana Sohel Abubakr Timol a few days ago. He revealed the identity of Mohammad Shahnawaz Ali.

The police sources said that Maulana Timol hatched the conspiracy to kill Nupur Sharma and Updesh Rana.

Mohammad Shahnawaz Ali was in contact with Maulana Timol for a long time. He had threatened many people through phone and WhatsApp calling. He was also in contact with some people in Pakistan through WhatsApp calls.

The Special Branch of Surat Police seized his mobile phone and is expecting more secrets likely to be revealed from it. The accused was produced in the district court on Friday and took the transit remand.

Mohammad Ali is originally from Bihar but he was born in Nepal. He has been living in Nepal for the last 23 years and was regularly visiting Bihar to meet his relatives.




An aerial drone photo taken on April 24, 2024 shows the Zhaozhou Bridge scenic area at night in Zhaoxian County, north China's Hebei Province. Built in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), the 1,400-year-old Zhaozhou Bridge stands over the Xiaohe River in Zhaoxian County, Hebei Province. It is the world's oldest single-arch bridge.

A combination of location, design and excellent construction are the main reasons why the bridge has withstood earthquake, flood and war for 1,400 years.

Along with such world-famous landmarks as the Forbidden City and the Great Wall, the bridge was listed into China's first group of national cultural heritage protection sites in 1961.

Nowadays, the Zhaozhou Bridge scenic area has been open to public for free, bringing numerous tourists into the county. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)





An aerial drone photo taken on April 25, 2024 shows tourists on the Zhaozhou Bridge in Zhaoxian County, north China's Hebei Province. (Xinhua/Wang Yuguo)
New Delhi, May 10 : A 63-year-old doctor was allegedly killed by robbers at his home in southeast Delhi's Jangpura area on Friday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Dr Yogesh Chander Paul who also had a private clinic in the Jangpura area.

Police said that a police control room (PCR) call was received at 6.50 p.m. at Hazrat Nizamuddin railways station regarding murder on the upper Ground floor of C-14, Jangpura Extension, Delhi following which a police team rushed to the spot.

"The deceased was a general physician. He lived at the above address with his wife Dr Neena Paul who is also a Delhi government doctor," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Rajesh Deo.

The DCP said that the dead body was found in the kitchen and the forensic team along with the crime team was called.

"There are also signs of robbery as rooms have been ransacked Prima facie, It appears that the accused persons robbed the house and brought fatality to Dr. Paul," the DCP added.
New Delhi, May 10 : A 63-year-old doctor was allegedly killed by robbers at his home in southeast Delhi's Jangpura area on Friday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Dr Yogesh Chander Paul who also had a private clinic in the Jangpura area.

Police said that a police control room (PCR) call was received at 6.50 p.m. at Hazrat Nizamuddin railways station regarding murder on the upper Ground floor of C-14, Jangpura Extension, Delhi following which a police team rushed to the spot.

"The deceased was a general physician. He lived at the above address with his wife Dr Neena Paul who is also a Delhi government doctor," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (southeast) Rajesh Deo.

The DCP said that the dead body was found in the kitchen and the forensic team along with the crime team was called.

"There are also signs of robbery as rooms have been ransacked Prima facie, It appears that the accused persons robbed the house and brought fatality to Dr. Paul," the DCP added.

An official privy to the probe said that Dr Paul's hands were tied and it is suspected that he was smothered to death.
Kolkata, May 10 : Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, who were in West Bengal on Friday to address separate election rallies, talked about why the BJP-led NDA must win 30 seats in West Bengal and over 400 seats in the entire country in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Addressing a rally in Birbhum in support of party candidate Debtanu Bhattacharya, Amit Shah said that BJP winning over 30 seats in West Bengal is necessary to free the people of the state from appeasement politics, illegal madrasas, and rampant corruption.

"The Trinamool Congress government in West Bengal is giving a free hand to infiltrators and religious fanatics. The ruling party is encouraging rampant corruption. There is no industrial development in the state. I want to tell BJP's leader of opposition Suvendu Adhikari that once we achieve our target of winning over 30 seats in Bengal, and 400 seats nationally, his next task will be to ensure the overall development of the state."

At another rally in Barrackpore in support of BJP nominee Arjun Singh, the Assam Chief Minister claimed that BJP winning 400 seats in the Lok Sabha polls is crucial to ensure that no Babri Masjid comes up on the Ram Mandir site in Ayodhya again.

"I want to tell 'Didi' (Mamata Banerjee) that this is a country of Hindus. We want to live in the country as Hindus because being a Hindu is a matter of pride," Sarma said.

In his speech at Birbhum, the Home Minister also took a subtle jibe at Mamata Banerjee and Trinamool General Secretary Abhishek Banerjee while referring to the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya.

"Both Mamata Banerjee and Abhishek Banerjee were invited to attend the 'Pran Pratishtha' ceremony. But they refused to attend the event just to please their dedicated vote bank. And everyone is aware of who constitutes the dedicated vote bank for the Trinamool," Amit Shah said.
Hyderabad, May 10 : The Election Commission of India has issued notice to the Congress' Telangana unit over some personal and derogatory remarks allegedly made by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy against Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) President K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Chief Electoral Officer Vikas Raj has sought an explanation from the party's state unit Vice President and Election Commission Coordination Committee Chairman G. Niranjan.

The notice was issued after BRS General Secretary M. Sreenivas Reddy lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against Revanth Reddy for making personal, threatening and demeaning remarks against the BRS leader in violation of the Model Code of Conduct.

Sreenivas Reddy alleged that Revanth Reddy, who is also the state Congress President, has been using demeaning, personal, derogatory and vulgar language while criticising the former Chief Minister during the public meetings in violation of the Model Code of Conduct, and requested the poll panel to take necessary action against him.

The CEO has asked Niranjan to submit the explanation/reply within 48 hours.

"In the event of no response from your side within the stipulated time, it will be presumed that you have nothing to say in the matter and appropriate action or decision will be taken without making any further reference to you, as per law established for violation of Model Code of Conduct during the General Election to Lok Sabha 2024," reads the notice.

On May 1, the Election Commission had barred KCR, as Chandrasekhar Rao is commonly known, from campaigning for 48 hours for making derogatory and objectionable statements against the Congress.

It took action after the CEO sent a factual report following a complaint by Niranjan that the BRS chief, at his press meet, made derogatory and objectionable statements against the Congress. After going through the contents of the complaint by Niranjan and KCRas reply, the Commission found that KCR not only violated the provisions of the Model Code of Conduct by making the objectionable and derogatory utterances on April 5 at Sircilla but he had also been violating the MCC provisions during the past elections.
Jaipur, May 10 : The Superintendent of Police in Rajasthan's Kota has warned that action will be taken against police personnel if he/ she is found making reels (short videos on social media) while donning a uniform.

An order issued on Friday by Kota SP Amrita Duhan read: "No police personnel will make a reel in a police uniform. If this is seen or if any reel comes to light, then departmental action will be taken against the police personnel."

Officials said that some police personnel of Kota city, including female cops, have been making reels and uploading them on social media in police uniform.
Amaravati, May 10 : Over 4.44 lakh employees on poll duty in Andhra Pradesh have cast their votes in the Assembly and Lok Sabha polls at Voter Facilitation Centres (VFCs) across the state.

According to Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) M.K. Meena, a total of 4,44,216 postal ballots were polled in 25 Lok Sabha constituencies while 4,44,218 ballots were polled in 175 Assembly segments.

The VFCs were set up in every Assembly segment.

The voting by postal ballot began on May 5 and came to an end on May 9.

The CEO said the employees in large numbers used the postal ballot facility. On May 9, the last day, 11,374 votes were polled in the Parliamentary constituencies while 11,370 votes were cast in Assembly segments.

The maximum number of postal ballots (22,650) were polled in the Nellore Lok Sabha constituency, while the Amalapuram (SC) recorded the lowest number of voting by postal ballots at 14,526.

The CEO said that the polled postal ballots are being sent to strong rooms.

Polling is scheduled in all Lok Sabha and Assembly constituencies on May 13.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has decided to have 100 per cent webcasting of the polling process in 14 constituencies.

District authorities in Anantapur, East Godavari and West Godavari districts decided to arrange 100 per cent webcasting.

The election authorities are setting up 28 model polling stations, equipped with all the facilities.

The CEO on Friday reviewed with all district election officers and SPs the arrangements to be made during the last 72 hours. He asked them to make all arrangements to ensure peaceful and smooth conduct of the polling without giving scope for re-polling. He directed the DEOs and SPs to strictly enforce rules with regard to the 48-hour silence period which comes into effect from 6 p.m. on May 11.

--IANS

ms/vd
Shillong, May 10 : : Meghalaya Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Friday asserted that the law would take its course regarding the allegation made against the current state Director General of Police (DGP), Lajja Ram Bishnoi, for using a bogus number plate.

Tynsong told reporters, "We were notified on Thursday afternoon that there was a bogus license plate. Thus, a case has been filed, and the inquiry has just recently begun. Thus, allow the investigation to begin and the law to follow its natural course."

A complaint was lodged against the Meghalaya DGP by former Assistant Inspector General of Meghalaya Police, G.K. Langrai, who claimed that Bishnoi had altered and misused the registration plate of his car.

Meanwhile, as Bishnoi will retire from police service this month, Tynsong asked the political parties to have their faith in the government's judgment and avoid casting aspersions on appointing the new DGP of Meghalaya.

He said that an appropriate person would be appointed by the state government for the DGP's position.

The Deputy Chief Minister added, "The government has already taken a decision and is awaiting EC's nod."

"We submitted the proposal to the EC two or three days ago. We are currently awaiting their clearance. Once we have confirmation, we will schedule the appointment," he said.
Jaipur, May 10 : A man was killed here on Friday as the car in which he was moving overturned after crashing into an electricity pole in the Statue Circle area here, the police said.

The deceased has been identified as Jai (24), son of Ravi Kumar, a resident of Delhi.

Jai was engaged in the hotel business.

A police officer said that the car -- which was speeding -- crashed into an electricity pole while trying to save a dog.

Jai was rushed to the SMS Hospital in a critical condition. He died during treatment in the hospital.

The police have handed over the body to the family members.
New Delhi, May 11 : A 34-year-old robbery case convict, who was out on parole, was shot dead by three unidentified assailants in east Delhi's Jafrabad area on Friday, police said.

The deceased was identified as Nazim, a resident of Chauhan Nagar in the Jafrabad area.

Deputy Commissioner of Police, Northeast, Joy Tirkey said that a police control room call regarding the incident was received at 7.30 p.m. following which a police team reached the spot.

"Nazim was shot multiple times by at least three boys and he died on the spot," he said, adding that Nazim had four criminal cases registered against him including murder, robbery, and NDPS Act in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

He was convicted in a robbery case and had come out on parole about a month ago.

"The motive behind the killing is yet to be ascertained and the crime and Forensic Science Laboratory teams are on the spot," the DCP said, adding that the police team tasked to crack the case is scanning CCTV cameras in the area to identify the culprits and apprehend them.
Nairobi, May 11 : United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has renewed a call for the global community to support action on the climate crisis and civil strife undermining the quest for peace, stability, and sustainable growth in Africa.

Guterres said at a briefing on the sidelines of the UN Civil Society Conference, which concluded on Friday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, that Africa remains the epicentre of climate emergencies despite its negligible contribution to the emission of planet-warming gases, Xinhua news agency reported.

"This continent is being blasted by extreme weather, turbocharged by a climate crisis it has done next to nothing to create: From lethal floods in the East to deadly droughts in the South," he added.

He stressed that Africa can overcome climatic vagaries once the continent receives a fair share of investments in renewable energy and other adaptation measures.

"Africa could be a renewables giant," Guterres said, noting that the continent is home to 30 per cent of the minerals critical to green energy transition and 60 per cent of the world's solar resources.

Stressing that the United Nations will press for climate justice in Africa, Guterres observed that the continent has received only two per cent of investments in clean energy in recent decades.

The UN Chief called on major economies to honour their commitment to finance climate action in Africa, while increasing their contribution to the newly established Loss and Damage Fund.

In addition, Guterres said the reform of multilateral development banks is urgent to enhance capital flows to climate action in developing countries, the majority of which are in Africa.

He urged the G20 nations to lead in slashing greenhouse gas emissions while accelerating a just global phase-out of fossil fuels that are responsible for worsening planetary warming.

African governments should establish ambitious national climate plans by next year to help attract investments required to enhance the resilience of communities on the front line of the climate crisis, he added.

On the ongoing conflicts in Africa, Guterres said the UN has rallied behind the African Union's call for silencing the guns and restoring peace in several hotspots, including Sudan, eastern Congo, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa.

The UN Chief called upon combatants in various African hotspots to abide by international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and ensure they have access to basic services.
Female samurai with cell phones and wi-fi turn feudal Japan upside down in Maggie Tokuda-Halls YA graphic novel The Worst Ronin, illustrated by animator Faith Schaffer, who is making her publishing debut. Sixteen-year-old Chihiro is seeking the assistance of a ronin as she embarks on a military mission in her fathers stead. When she meets her hero19-year-old ronin Tatsuoduring a brawl, Chihiro recruits her on her quest. But grumpy Tatsuo dislikes Chihiros sheltered nature, putting the two at odds as they set off on their journey. Tokuda-Hall and Schaffer spoke with PW about what each of them brought to the table during their collaboration, and their mutual love of badass girls with swords.

Where did the story for The Worst Ronin originate?

Maggie Tokuda-Hall: I saw a white guy talking about how, in order to research his book about Japanese things, he watched a bunch of anime and ate Pocky sticks. And I was like, Why do I feel like an imposter talking about my own heritage when this man is out here like this? It set me free to do whatever I wanted.

Did you always imagine The Worst Ronin as a graphic novel?

Tokuda-Hall: I think any story that involves hand-to-hand combat is best served in graphic novel form, and Faith has a great sense of blocking, so action scenes were always fun. And with the Swordtember thing [a month-long drawing challenge centering swords] that she had been doing, it felt like all the credentials were there.

Faith Schaffer: A friend who worked in publishing asked me if I was interested in pitching something back in February 2020, and then again later that year, and I was like, I cant write anything. Then I was approached to test for The Worst Ronin. I love designing swords and women in armor, so when this script came across my desk, I was like, I really want to work on this.

How has your debut experience been so far?

Schaffer: Its been interesting because Im the kind of person who, when I see work that Ive done, I cringe. But its fun to see a story come together from start to finish over many pages. I love working in series because I get to see how things progress over time. It has been nerve-wracking, though, reaching out to people and being like, Hey, you want to check out my book?

And Maggie, this is your second graphic novel. How did working with Faith on The Worst Ronin differ from your collaboration with Lisa Sterle on Squad?

Tokuda-Hall: Squad took place where I went to high school, so there were a lot of beats in it where I was like, Thats the quad. Thats the underpass where we would shoulder tap to get someone to buy us booze. Everything in Squad was the embodiment of something that I knew existed made manifest by Lisa. But with The Worst Ronin, it was a completely imagined place. People didnt have cell phones in feudal Japan, and we werent trying for historical accuracy, so it was cool to see something I had only imagined become this lived-in world.

 I think any story that involves hand-to-hand combat is best served in graphic novel form.Maggie Tokuda-Hall 

Why did you combine cell phones and wi-fi with a feudal Japan setting?

Tokuda-Hall: Cuz its cool, man.

Schaffer: It reminded me of Naruto because nothing around those characters is based on real history. Theyre doing ninja stuff in, like, the middle of the woods, but suddenly it cuts to them watching surveillance footage, and you go along with it because its cool.

Tokuda-Hall: When Im being serious about it, I say that I wrote The Worst Ronin for the Japanese American gaze. We exist in this world thats influenced by our heritage, but we dont have a relationship to Japan the same way our grandparents do. Im Yonsei [fourth-generation Japanese], so Japan is a foreign thing to me in a lot of ways. Creating a world that acknowledges the reality that I live inwhich is one with surveillance and cell phones and a constant awareness of what the public opinion isin this other place that Im told is important, but that I dont have a real understanding of, was a fun exercise. What would it look like if I represented my own heritage? Cell phones in feudal Japan.

Can you describe your collaborative process?

Schaffer: There was a lot of good direction about what Maggie wanted, and I was also allowed to go nuts with that. The coolest and most important note was how Maggie described color, and how the characters outfits could be more vibrantChihiro especially. Not only did that help set it apart from a realistic feudal Japan story, but it also helped me when I was laying out the book, so that I could make sure the characters were always standing out from the background. Maggie checked in at each interim stage of the process.

Tokuda-Hall: Kind of unofficially, most of the time. For a lot of publishing houses, when authors and illustrators are paired together, they separate us like church and state, which I totally understandwith all the personalities that exist in the creative world, I could see why thats a good protective measure to default to. But its my great pleasure to work with illustrators, and Im always so excited that theyre willing to work with me. When I want to check in, it isnt a surveillance thing so much as its me wanting to see drawings because Im impatient. Its always cool to peek under the rug and see how the sausage is madenot to mix my metaphorsbecause it always happens mysteriously away from me.

How did you craft Tatsuo and Chihiros disparate personalities and developing friendship?

Tokuda-Hall: I think all art has an element of self-portraiture to it. Ive been writing books for a long time, so I can relate to the weariness that Tatsuo has of doing something for a long time, and also being really frustrated about everything that comes with it. Tatsuo has an unwillingness to bend in the face of things that have been frustrating or that have genuinely hurt or traumatized her. It definitely reflects how Ive felt coming up through publishing. But I also have this deep idealism and belief that stories are so important, that they matter, and that justice is a real thing that human beings could potentially achieve. Chihiro represents the other side of my personality that says, Youre doing this for a reason. Its because you love children and you believe in a better future, and I want people like Chihiro to exist. Extreme idealism vs. extreme pragmaticism is always funny to me. Everything else was up to Faith.

Schaffer: Chihiro was fun to design because I wanted her to feel like a mix of sporty, but also a little spoiled, a little more girlish and frivolous because shes naive to what she might need on a long journey. To her, its just, Well, this is my favorite outfit, so Im going to wear it, and shes got the immaculate Ariana Grande high ponytail.

I wanted to give Tatsuo and Chihiro physical interactions throughout that showed how their relationship developed, so I started doing this thing where Tatsuo would grab Chihiros cheeks to make her shut up. It eventually goes from, Im going to kill you if you keep talking, to being an affectionate, playful thing. I also included Tatsuo doing something very similar to her best friend in a flashback. And then, as Chihiro develops her own confidence, I have her do the same gesture to Tatsuo toward the end of the book.

Tokuda-Hall: That was one of my favorite details. I was like, This is so accurate for the characters, but not at all what I had imagined. Its a testament to how awesome it is to work with illustrators, especially one with a background in animation. Animators just have a knack for gestures that tell an emotional story.

Did you encounter any challenges illustrating The Worst Ronin that you havent experienced working in animation?

Schaffer: Im a background designer, so the things Im drawing on the daily have to be really informative and precise for other people to work off of. I also only draw the same thing once or twice. When I was working on The Worst Ronin, though, I was like, I can cheat this corner, I can have this thing in this shot and not the next shot, who cares? And then I realized, Oh, I care. Because now I have to draw it over and over. Another thing is, in animation, I always work in the same dimensions, but for comics, Im breaking up pages into panels. I looked back at my favorite Sailor Moon manga layouts for reference, and I also laid out the whole book physically first; I thumbnailed it out in two sketchbooks so I could see how it looked by flipping the page to make sure I wasnt accidentally repeating the same layouts and that it flowed nicely.

Were there any other story elements that were enhanced or added by the art that didnt exist in the script?

Tokuda-Hall: I wrote The Worst Ronin with the intention of being funnyI was trying my bestbut theres a lot more comedy now. Faith added an almost slapstick edge that was perfect for the tone we were going for. When Tatsuo and Chihiro meet for the first time, Chihiro is being held at knifepoint and the face shes making is hilarious. Even though its a life-or-death situation, her expression is a cue to the reader that they dont need to be scared. Its a hard line to walk because even though its a story about grief, injustice, and war, its also a buddy comedy.

Schaffer: It was fun to push expressions and make them goofy. But I had to make sure I wasnt being goofy for the scenes that were heavy or full of grief. Color helped a lot; I would switch to more muted palettes and Id add a lot of blue or dark gradients for scenes that were a little heavier.

What are you working on now?

Tokuda-Hall: Right now, Im revising the script for the sequel to Squad.

Schaffer: Im not sure what Im working on next. The animation industry is a little unstable right now and I dont think its going to right itself anytime soon. Im just sort of figuring stuff out. Im going to pitch a childrens book by the end of the year, though, so, fingers crossed.

The Worst Ronin by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illus. by Faith Schaffer. HarperAlley, $26.99 May 21 ISBN 978-0-358-46493-8; $18.99 paper ISBN 978-0-358-46493-8
Anyone with a penchant for books with big scares and interesting monsters: beware. HarperCollins imprint Balzer + Bray is launching Tales from Cabin 23, a new middle grade horror series created by authors Justina Ireland and Hanna Alkaf.

The series kicks off on May 14 with The Boo Hag Flex, written by Ireland, followed by Alkafs Night of the Living Head in August. With a throughline of the traditional camp setting, each book will be written by a different BIPOC writer. First announced here, books three and four will be written by authors Yamile Saied Mendez and Darcie Little Badger.

Tales from Cabin 23 was inspired by both authors desire to see more horror stories that center marginalized communities and are accessible for readers. The canon of horror is changing, and the creators want the genres youngest readers to feel included, too. Were in a time where it feels like our kids deserve more. Alkaf told PW. We really wanted [to create] a series thats accessible, thats fun for them to read, and has the thrills and scares that theyre looking for. But its also coming from somewhere new that kids might not have heard ofor somewhere that kids have heard of all their lives and have never seen reflected in the books that theyre reading, she said.

A Not So Scary Start

Ireland and Alkafs friendship began online, during the beautiful time when Twitter was useful and helpful and people could collaborate, Ireland recalls. In 2020, during the Covid lockdown, Alkaf sent a tweet outlining exactly what she wanted: a Rick Riordan Presents style series, but for middle grade horror where every book would be by a different diverse author. Ireland spotted Alkafs tweet and was immediately onboard. The two were unknowing mutual fans: Ireland was an admirer of Alkafs middle grade work and Alkaf was stunned Ireland knew who she was. Together they began brainstorming how to bring their concept to life. With Ireland working from the U.S. and Alkaf in Malaysia, the pair learned to give one another grace while individual deadlines loomed and learned the ropes of pitching a series.

It was a bigger undertaking than I think either of us had really anticipated, Alkaf said. I've never had experience trying to make something like this happen. So it was a lot more back and forth than we thought.

After spending time working on pitch packets and coordinating with agents, the pair brought the concept to Irelands editor at HarperCollins, Jordan Brown, who immediately thought the collaboration made perfect sense. These were two authors who wed had experience publishing and whose skill and interests we knew pretty well, Brown said. It felt natural, Hanna and Justina getting together and conceiving a smart, sharp, middle grade horror anthology series that felt big and interesting and also nuanced.

The series will highlight marginalized writers and showcase how culture can introduce readers to new or unique scares. Irelands series starter features the interesting dynamics of the trailer park setting and Alkafs Night of the Head features a headless Malaysian beast.

We have to embrace readers from all across cultures, Ireland said. We have to show each other that at the end of the day we can all be terrified of the unknown.

In working on a collaborative series, Ireland and Alkaf wanted writers who could carry on their vision. The list of potential authors felt like a small one; Ireland noted that the pool of middle grade authors of color was sparse. But the pair were eager to find more writers who might be a cool addition to this little family were building, Alkaf said.

Yamile Saied Mendez will write the third series installment, titled The Visitors, scheduled for release in summer 2025. The fourth book, The Sinking House, will be written by Darcie Little Badger and will follow in summer 2026.

It [makes the series] more collaborative and interesting, because it allows the writers who were coming on to bring so much of their own stuff to the table, Brown said. Looking ahead, Mendez and Badger will be spotlighting Argentinian and Native American culture in their stories.

In collaborating on this series, the mission for its creators was clear: to offer a window into horror that readers may have not had before.

I just want it to continue on as a series for as long as it can, Ireland said. I want it to be one of those things that gets kids reading the way that Goosebumps did for us as kids and still does for many kids.

Alkaf added, I think people have always been interested in and open to loving horror. It's just that now were getting the opportunity to see it in ways that we havent seen it before.

The Boo Hag Flex (Tales from Cabin 23 #1) by Justina Ireland. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $15.99 May 14 ISBN 978-0-06328-782-2

Night of the Living Head (Tales from Cabin 23 #2) by Hanna Alkaf. HarperCollins/Balzer + Bray, $15.99 July 31 ISBN 978-0-06-328394-7
A group of families and librarians filed suit in federal court this week to block the implementation of new library material policies enacted by the Autauga-Prattville Public Library Board of Trustees in Alabama. Filed in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, the suit seeks a preliminary injunction blocking the library boards newly enacted policies and a declaration that the policies are unconstitutional.

Among the new policies challenged in the complaint are a provision that bars the library from purchasing new materials for patrons under 17 that include "obscenity, sexual conduct, sexual intercourse, sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender discordance"; a new library card policy that bars patrons under 17 from accessing materials that include any of those same themes; and a new review policy that would remove challenged books from library shelves while a review is conducted.

"The Selection Criteria Policy and Library Cards for Minors Policy each violate the First Amendment of the United States Constitution," the complaint states. "They are overbroad. They discriminate on the basis of content. And they are vague. Plaintiffs, who include library card holders injured by the policies, a local grassroots organization of library supporters and patrons, and a statewide organization of librarians and library supporters, therefore ask this Court to invalidate these violations of the First Amendment, to declare the policies unconstitutional and void, and to enjoin the Board from implementing or enforcing these policies."

The suit was filed by the grassroots advocacy group Read Freely Alabama, the Alabama Library Association, and a group of families, with support from Democracy Forward, a nonprofit legal organization that works with local communities around the country to challenge book bans. This is about who should get to decide what books our kids get to readparents or politicians, said Angie Hayden of Read Freely Alabama, in a statement.

The suit comes amid a months-long drama which saw allies of right wing group Clean Up Prattville take over the library board and abruptly fire the Autauga-Prattville Public Library director Andrew Foster. It also comes amid a statewide effort to bar librarians from associating with the American Library Association and a battle over new statewide library materials policies for public libraries.

In a statement, library leaders said that the battle in Prattville is a proxy for a broader attacks on libraries statewide.

The Autauga-Prattville Public Library Board of Trustees clear partnership with the Moms for Libertyadjacent Clean Up Alabama makes them the latest in a concerning trend of far-right efforts to suppress books that reflect perspectives they dont agree with in communities across the country, said Craig Scott, president of the Alabama Library Association, in a statement. As state legislators rush to expand on the policies put in place in Prattville, it is crucial that the courts make clear that in our democracy, you cannot discriminate or restrict the freedom to read.
Ilyon Woo. Simon & Schuster, $29.99 (416p) ISBN 978-1-5011-9105-3

Woo (The Great Divorce) seamlessly knits together an in-depth portrait of antebellum America and a thrilling account of an enslaved couples escape to freedom. In 1848, William and Ellen Craft, a dark-skinned cabinet maker and his wife, a light-skinned maid owned by her half-sister, escaped from Macon, Ga., to Philadelphia by hiding in plain sight. Ellen disguised herself as a young and wealthy, yet sickly, white gentleman, while William posed as her servant. Traveling more than 1,000 miles in four days on steamships, carriages, and trains, the couple experienced close calls (Williams employer searched their train before it left Macon, but did not recognize Ellen in her disguise and ran out of time before reaching William in the Negro car) and amusing ironies (two young women accompanying their elderly father swooned over Ellen). After the Crafts reached New England and joined the abolitionist lecture circuit, their former enslavers tried to reclaim them through the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, but the couple fled to Canada and then England. Throughout, Woo expertly portrays the gruesome details of slave auctions; the rigors of the antislavery lecture circuit, where protestors subjected speakers to the abolitionist baptism of rotten eggs and fist-sized stones; and the exploits of antislavery activists including William Still and Mifflin Wistar Gibbs. This novelistic history soars. Agent: Julie Barer, the Book Group. (Jan.)

Correction: An earlier version of this review incorrectly identified the author as a historian.
Space scientists are the boots on the ground of space exploration, and Purdues researchers are among the most elite.

Featured in First Lady Jill Bidens virtual Advent calendar, images of Cassiopeia A attributed in part to Danny Milisavljevics Purdue team, offer renewed interest with each analysis. (NASA, ESA, CSA, Danny Milisavljevic at Purdue University, Tea Temim at Princeton University, Ilse De Looze at UGent / image processing by Joseph DePasquale at STScI.)

Celebrate the wonder of space with this collection of the most recent and impactful news from Purdue Universitys space research labs.

Featured by the Association of American Universities, Phys.org, Universe Today and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, Brandon Johnsons work uses impact craters to further our knowledge of planetary bodies history and composition. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Robinos)

Icy impacts: Gauging thickness of ice on Europa brings science closer to finding possibility of life

Europa, one of Jupiters rocky moons, is home to huge saltwater oceans and thought to be a potential home to nonterrestrial life  but this search for life is dependent on scientists knowing the depth of the icy shell encasing Europas entire surface.

Brandon Johnsons lab has been able to determine the depth of that shell using his expertise in crater modeling.

Scientist: Brandon Johnson, associate professor of planetary science, Impact Cratering

Watch Video

Rover captures a Martian eclipse. Perseverance team lead at Purdue explains

The Perseverance rover recently captured images of a solar eclipse on Mars. In this video, Briony Horgan explains the science behind eclipses on Mars, Earth and other planets  and why Earths eclipses are particularly special.

Scientist: Briony Horgan, associate professor of planetary science; tactical science lead with NASA on the Mars Perseverance rover mission, Planetary Geology

Atmospheric scientist and cloud expert Alexandria Johnson creates clouds in her lab to study atmospheric phenomena on Earth and in faraway skies. (Purdue University photo/Kelsey Lefever)

Association of American Universities  Featured Research

Cloudy science, clear insights: Atmospheric scientist studies clouds causes and effects

Alexandria Johnsons expertise in cloud physics provides vital information to many fields, from the way microplastics are affecting weather patterns to the study of faraway exoplanets.

After the most powerful telescopes have reached across the universe, sometimes Johnsons ability to parse an exoplanets own densely clouded sky is the best way to see whats happening on the farthest of these celestial bodies.

If we want to understand these enshrouded exoplanets, we need to understand the clouds. That understanding gives us insights into the atmospheric chemistry at work, atmospheric circulations and the climate of these exoplanets, Johnson says.

Scientist: Alexandria Johnson, assistant professor of planetary science, Planetary Atmospheres; Cloud Microphysics

In the news

Popular Science: Where do all those colors in space telescope images come from? How scientists make vibrant spectacles out of grayscale blobs

Images of Cassiopeia A, captured by NASAs James Webb Space Telescope and attributed to Purdue associate professor Danny Milisavljevic and his team, continue to hold our imagination.

Related: See Professor Milisavljevic talk about exploding supernovae, why the JWST is special and capturing star stuff on camera on 60 Minutes in April 2023.

Scientist: Danny Milisavljevic, associate professor of physics and astronomy, Supernovae

Purdue University is proud to be the Cradle of Astronauts and to showcase its wide-ranging and historic relationship with space exploration on the Purdue in Space hub.

Bonus story

Boilermakers get rare opportunity to conduct research at the Mars Desert Research Station in Utah

For two-week terms, teams commit to living in a compact habitat in Utahs remote red dust desert  conserving their resources and conducting research designed to address real-life situations that future missions to Mars may face.

To have something like MDRS, where youre actually getting exposure to practical problems that some space missions would face, is a phenomenal opportunity, says Jesus Meza Galvan, a PhD student in aerospace engineering.

About Purdue University

Purdue University is a public research institution demonstrating excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities and with two colleges in the top four in the United States, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 105,000 students study at Purdue across modalities and locations, including nearly 50,000 in person on the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdues main campus has frozen tuition 13 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap  including its first comprehensive urban campus in Indianapolis, the new Mitchell E. Daniels, Jr. School of Business, and Purdue Computes  at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
May 8th is Galvez Day in Pensacola, Florida. A celebration of Bernardo de Galvez, commander of the Spanish force that defeated Britain at the 1781 Siege of Pensacola, it recalls the Spanish role in the American Revolution.

The day, however, should be more than a local holiday. It should be recognized throughout the nation as a reminder that the American Revolution was an international war in which Americans were only a portion of the combatants.

Though Spain was not officially a U.S. ally, the two nations had a common enemy in Britain. Spain joined the war in 1779 not to help the 13 newly independent states, but to advance its own interests. Spain hoped to win back territories it had lost in earlier wars such as Gibraltar, the gateway to the Mediterranean Sea, and the Floridas, where ships sailing home from Cuba to Spain had to pass.

Galvez, a career soldier, was appointed Governor of Spanish Louisiana in 1777. Even before Spain was a belligerent, he allowed arms to pass through New Orleans to the Americans, with only a shrug for any Briton who objected.

Once war was declared, Galvez began the Gulf Coast Campaign, a three-step assault on British West Florida, which covered the panhandle west to the Mississippi River.

In 1779, he led a group of Spanish regular army soldiers, local militia, free blacks, and a handful of Americans through the swamps to Baton Rouge, on the eastern, British side of the Mississippi. The town fell after a short siege.

In 1780, he gathered a joint land-sea force, supplemented by ships from Havana, to attack Mobile. Another brief siege followed, and a second chunk of West Florida passed to Spanish control.

Galvezs greatest triumph came the following year when another siege forced the British to surrender Pensacola and the remainder of West Florida.

Success didnt come easily. Pensacola was well-protected by batteries on the barrier islands guarding the entrance to Pensacola Bay.

When the first Spanish ship to enter the bay hit a sandbar, the Spanish naval commander balked. He wasnt going to risk getting his ships stuck, lying exposed to British cannon fire. Galvez insisted they move forward. He sent a letter to the naval commanders ship, asking those with honor and courage to follow him. A witness testified that Galvez promised to lead the way from his own vessel and show them that they had nothing to fear. He made good on his promise  the remaining ships followed him to safety inside the bay.

After passing the barrier islands, Galvez addressed his men. I, my sons, went alone to sacrifice myself, so as not to expose a single soldier to harm. Galvez was apparently both forgetful  he didnt sail a ship singlehandedly  as well as a skilled editor. Over time, he shortened his dramatic line to Yo solo  I alone  and added the phrase to his coat of arms. It became his motto.

Making landfall, the siege began. A few weeks later, it ended with the British commander surrendering the town of Pensacola and the colony of West Florida.

Since the Gulf Coast Campaign was a thoroughly Spanish operation with little American involvement, its easy to overlook its importance to the overall defeat of Britain. Yet, Britains loss of West Florida was dismaying to officials in London. After six long years of fighting, Britain was not only failing to conquer America, it was actually losing territory once considered loyal. Britain had, for the first time in the war, notes historian Kathleen DuVal, lost a colony that had not rebelled.

When an even more humiliating surrender followed at Yorktown, Virginia, in October 1781, British officials could no longer sustain the belief that winning the war was likely. They moved toward negotiating a peace that recognized American independence.

In the traditional story of America, the Revolution takes place in New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and the Carolinas, where hearty colonists beat back veteran red coats. But in reality, the Revolution also took place along the Gulf Coast.

The Revolution was fought by men from many different backgrounds for reasons that didnt include the creation of a new nation. As Galvez himself said, he commanded men of all conditions, nations, and colors, and he served at the pleasure of his king.

As we approach the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence in 2026, Americans are expecting a commemoration that embraces the diverse backgrounds of the wars participants and acknowledges its many different meanings.

Theres no better way to meet those expectations than by remembering Galvez and the Spanish victory that was also a victory for America.

David Head is an Associate Lecturer in the Department of History at the University of Central Florida and is a fellow with the Jack Miller Center.
The United Nations General Assembly is expected to vote Friday on one of the worst resolutions to come before that body  one that would confer upon the State of Palestine many of the rights and privileges reserved for member states. The U.S. and other U.N. member states should reject it.

The resolution is based on false premises, for one thing. It would also invite financial distress on the UN, throw chaos into the membership process of the General Assembly, and, most importantly, reward terrorism.

Considering the ongoing support for indiscriminate violence against Israeli civilians by the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, a majority vote of the General Assembly in favor of this resolution is tantamount to encouraging terrorism and endorsing hostility toward a fellow UN member state.

Among the false premises are the claim that the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations and should therefore be admitted to membership Although over 100 governments recognize the State of Palestine, this is a political determination. In truth, the Palestinian territories lack key characteristics of statehood, including a defined territory  its formal borders are subject to future negotiations with Israel  and a government that exercises sovereign authority over that territory. The Palestinian Authority arguably does not control the entirety of the West Bank, much less Gaza.

The second false premise in the resolution is the judgment that Palestine is a peace-loving state as required by Article 4 of the UN Charter for membership in the organization. In fact, the governing authorities of the State of Palestine, the Palestinian Authority and Hamas, are the furthest thing from peace-loving. Both are extremist organizations that actively encourage and reward terrorism against civilians. They indoctrinate hate among ordinary citizens to the point where they overwhelmingly support the terrorist atrocities committed on October 7, and their founding documents endorse the destruction of Israel.

So much for the UN Charter principles and purposes to maintain international peace and security and develop friendly relations among nations.

But there could also be other significant broader ramifications for the organization that should give all legitimate UN member states pause.

The resolution decides to confer many of the rights and privileges reserved for member states to the State of Palestine. As laid out in an annex to the resolution, among other privileges, the Palestinians would be granted the right to: be seated among the member states in alphabetical order; offer proposals and amendments; make statements; raise procedural motions; and stand for and be elected as officers in the General Assembly and its Main Committees.

In effect, the Palestinians would be member states except for the inability to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs and vote in the General Assembly. Depending on how the resolution is interpreted, they might, however, be able to vote in UN conferences and meetings. This is a dramatic elevation in status for the Palestinians, granting them the same standing as UN member states with two, albeit significant, exceptions.

Should the resolution be adopted, two U.S. laws prohibiting U.S. funding could be triggered.

One, adopted in 1994 in Public Law 103-236, prohibits funding if to any affiliated organization of the United Nations which grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.

This law would likely not apply. Although the resolution would confer many privileges of UN membership to the Palestinians, they would not be full members as the UN Charter requires the Security Council to recommend new members to the General Assembly. The Security Council has not made such a recommendation. In fact, it has rejected past proposals for Palestinian membership. Thus, while the resolution would confer most rights and privileges of membership to the Palestinians, they would not be called a member state.

However, a second law could apply.

U.S. Code Title 22, Section 287e states, No funds authorized to be appropriated by this Act or any other Act shall be available for the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states. This law was adopted in 1990 as Public Law 101-246.

The Biden administration will seek to continue funding by arguing that the Palestinians dont have the exact same standing as member states. But what if Donald Trump wins the presidency in November?

Regardless, congressional support for the UN is eroding for several reasons, including institutionalized anti-Israel bias. It already ended funding to UNRWA over its ties to Palestinian terrorism. Sympathy for the UN after a vote granting rights and privileges to the Palestinians might be in short supply. Indeed, Sen. Jim Risch of Idaho and 22 co-sponsors have already proposed amending U.S. law to ensure the funding prohibition applies in this instance.

The U.S. provides 22 percent of the UN regular budget and 25 percent of the peacekeeping budget  over $2 billion in 2023. Thus, in one rash moment, the General Assembly could deny the UN over a fifth of its total revenue.

The resolution also upends the membership process outlined in the UN Charter. In essence, supporters of the Palestinians are attempting an end run around the Security Council to grant the Palestinians quasi-membership. This is an assault on the authority of the Security Council. If this effort is successful, what is to stop the General Assembly from further infringement of Security Council authority?

More immediately, it will introduce potential chaos into the UN system. Although the resolution says that conferring these rights and privileges to the Palestinians is being done exceptional basis and without setting a precedent, the horse will have left the barn.

If the Palestinians can gain most membership rights without Security Council approval, why cant Kosovo or Western Sahara or Somaliland or Northern Cyprus?

What is to stop some avaricious country from using the UN to recognize the independence of Crimea or Esequibo or Kashmir with an eye toward annexing them in the future?

What is to stop governments from seeking to destabilize their adversaries by recognizing Kurdistan or Chechnya and seeking UN recognition?

Success would only require enough votes in the General Assembly. But the ramifications of such provocative actions wont stay in Turtle Bay.

If only to protect their authority, this resolution should elicit fierce opposition from the five permanent members of the Security Council (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom, and the United States). However, the potential impact on international peace and security is serious enough to justify opposition even absent selfish motivation.

The situation in Gaza has raised many concerns in the UN, but its time for a moment of lucidity. As noted by the U.S. this month, We also have long been clear that premature actions here in New York, even with the best of intentions, will not achieve statehood for the Palestinian people.

Indeed, conferring membership rights and privileges on the Palestinians would diminish odds for a negotiated peace between Israel and the Palestinians. Why would the Palestinians concede anything to Israel if intransigence and extremism leads to rewards rather than condemnation? And why would Israel accept a resolution imposed by the UN, not reached through direct negotiations?

The purported goal of the UN is to promote international peace and security. This resolution would, instead, undermine prospects for peace and reward extremism. If it passes, U.S. funding should be immediately cut. If the Biden administration will not follow through, Congress shouldas should the next President.

Brett D. Schaefer is the Jay Kingham Senior Research Fellow in International Regulatory Affairs in The Heritage Foundations Margaret Thatcher Center for Freedom.
Since 2017, the last time Canadas approach to national defense was updated through official government policy, a lot has changed.

Russia has doubled down on its 2014 invasion of Ukraine with a cruel war of attrition. China has articulated a desire to devour Taiwan  like it did Hong Kong  by 2027. And Iran has recently launched its first direct state-to-state strike against Israel in living memory.

The United States has known for years that the world is becoming darker and more dangerous, and a sequence of administrations, from Trump to Biden, have encouraged Americas northern ally to do more to support continental and western hemisphere defense.

Better late than never, Canada has answered  at least rhetorically.

Days ago, Canadian defense minister the Honourable Bill Blair released Canadas long-awaited Defence Policy Update, or DPU. It pledges to bring Canadian defense spending from a paltry 1.3% of national GDP to a much more respectable  but still short of NATO requirements  1.76% by 2029.

Despite falling short of the NATO target of 2% defense spending as a per centage of GDP, Canadas real economic contribution  the real measure of the nations value to the NATO alliance  is a solid 6th place among NATO allies, and growing due to the DPU. This is because Canadas economy is relatively large within the NATO club.

But as anyone who follows government policy knows, spending doesnt always equal impact. Thats where the DPU gets a few things right.

For example, Blairs DPU builds on the current Liberal governments previous commitment to invest $38B to enable a sweeping modernisation of the North American Aerospace Defense Command that keeps Canada and the United States safe from Russian aerial surveillance and attack. Given that Canada is an Arctic nation and borders Russia, this will go a long way to ensure North American technology and troops can keep our continent safe from Russian probing. Money spent here represents a real return-on-investment.

Also, the DPU underlines Canadas commitment to replacing its current fleet of approximately 80 F-18 Hornet fighter jets with the F-35 fighter-bombers that the United States and many allies have already committed to. On this one, Canada is coming in late after a decade of dithering, but better late than never for interoperability with the northern nations key allies.

The DPU also builds on Canadas presumed  and now concrete  commitment to replenish its fleet of ageing Victoria Class submarines. Prime Minister Trudeau even went so far as to claim the country was considering nuclear-powered submarines to meet future sub-surface defence and surveillance needs.

This would earn it credentials for joining the new AUKUS club - comprising Australia, the UK, and the US - for purposes of nuclear submarine and technology collaboration. Encouragingly, even without a commitment to nuclear subs, senior government sources in Canada have told me Canadas accession to the pacts tech-focused Pillar 2 is already in the works, partially on the strength of the recent NORAD and defense commitments made by Minister Blair and his predecessor, Anita Anand.

So far, so good. Is there a catch? Yes  theres always a catch. The bulk of defense spending announced in April doesnt kick in until 2026 and 2027. In other words, until after the next Canadian federal election, making the spending commitments ripe for backtracking.

Its equally true that despite these green shoots, there remains serious rot in the Canadian defense space, including soldiers turning to food banks to feed their families and having to buy their own gear while on deployment. Theres also a lack of clarity in the DPUs accounting for various initiatives and many analysts remain skeptical about the Canadas capacity to follow through on the various commitments outlined in the document.

But progress is progress, and progress is always welcome.

The United States should see Canadas new Defense Policy Update as a down payment toward a stronger Canadian defense posture.

America should see to it that Canadas words become actions and that deferred spending becomes real investment.

Matthew Bondy is a Senior Fellow with the Macdonald-Laurier Institute and the Center for North American Prosperity and Security.
Real Housewives of Beverly Hills couple Dorit Kemsley and Paul "PK" Kemsley have decided to separate.

ADVERTISEMENT

Dorit Kemsley, 47, and PK Kemsley, 56, announced their split in a joint statement Thursday after more than nine years of marriage.

"We as a couple have been subject to a lot of speculation about our marriage," the pair wrote. "We have had our struggles over the last few years and continue to work through them as two people who love each other and share two amazing children together."

"To safeguard our deep friendship and maintain a harmonious environment for our children we have made the mutual and difficult decision to take some time apart and reevaluate our relationship while we prioritize our children," they added. "We appreciate your love and support while we continue to do the work necessary throughout this journey."

Dorit and PK Kemsley married in March 2015 and have two children, daughter Phoenix and son Jagger.

Dorit Kemsley marked her wedding anniversary with PK in March by sharing a slideshow of photos from throughout their relationship.

"happy anniversary baby," she captioned the post. "i love you."

Dorit and PK Kemsley denied reports of separation in October 2023 but acknowledged they've "had some challenging years."

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

"We remain committed to working through these issues as a united couple for our family," the pair told People at the time. "We have not separated nor are we planning to do so. Rather, we are focused on healing, making changes and doing the things that many peoples have to do at some point in their marriage."

Dorit and PK Kemsley addressed issues in their marriage in RHOBH Season 13, which concluded in March. Dorit Kemsley said during the show's reunion that she and PK were doing "better than ever."
True Blood, Grey's Anatomy and Felicity alum Scott Foley says the character he plays in the political dramedy, The Girls on the Bus, was inspired by former small-town mayor, 2020 presidential candidate and current real-life U.S. Department of Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg.

ADVERTISEMENT

"I probably spent a dozen hours watching interviews, reading articles about him because it's interesting. Going from mayor to legitimate presidential candidate is a huge leap," Foley, 51, told UPI in a recent Zoom interview.

"And he did it, and I wanted to know how he did it, and I was very interested in that process."

Wrapping up its first season on Max Thursday, the show follows the road-trip adventures of Grace (Carla Gugino), Kimberlyn (Christina Elmore), Sadie (Melissa Benoist) and Lola (Natasha Behnam) -- journalists with different reporting styles and backgrounds -- as they cover the presidential campaigns of fictional Democratic candidates, including Foley's Midwest mayor, Hayden Wells Garrett.

Co-starring Griffin Dunne, Brandon Scott, Hettienne Park and Mark Consuelos, the series was executive-produced by Amy Chozick and loosely inspired by her election-campaign memoir, Chasing Hillary.

Foley, who is from Kansas, said he was inclined to like Garrett when he learned they had similar upbringings, but he hesitated to take the role when he learned he was widely known as "Hot White Guy" among members of the media on the show.

"I thought, 'How do I say "yes" to that?'" he laughed.

"I think I graduated from being 'guy in the bleachers.' I gotta have a name," Foley said. "For me, there's something interesting about starting out a character as the American ideal, if you will.

FOLLOW REALITY TV WORLD ON THE ALL-NEW GOOGLE NEWS!

Reality TV World is now available on the all-new Google News app and website. Click here to visit our Google News page, and then click FOLLOW to add us as a news source!

"There's something very honest about the Midwest, about the military, about small towns, about sort of 'the bootstrap' of it all, about aspirations that I think everyone can get behind."

Foley hinted that Garrett is harboring a dark secret about his success, and said he probably wouldn't vote for the fictional candidate if he were on a real ballot.

That's not to disparage Buttigieg's accomplishments or integrity in any way, he emphasized.

"I don't know what Buttigieg had to do to get to where he got," the actor said. "I like the way he talked. I like his policies. I like a bunch of stuff about him, but I don't know if he sold his soul. I have no idea."

After playing intelligence agents in dramas like Scandal and Whiskey Cavalier, the actor was happy to explore government machinations from a more comedic angle, both as an actor and a viewer.

"My wife [actress Marika DomiAczyk] and I watched all 10 episodes in two nights, and I turned to her at the end, and she goes, 'Oh, my God, it's so good!'" Foley said.

"I have a hard time judging my own stuff and I was like: 'Great! Oh, good. Thanks.'"

Foley is happy the show came out in a presidential election year when incumbent Joe Biden will once again face-off with his predecessor, Donald Trump.

He said the biggest lesson he learned while making the series was how much political candidates and the media need each other.

"The things that every candidate has to do, the lengths to which they will go to have an article written about them, to get an interview done, to have people talk about them is so important to any political campaign," he added. "For me, with what's going on now politically, it opened my eyes quite a bit."

Foley said he also hopes the show makes viewers consider how they consume media, whom they trust and what news outlets' motives are.

"This does raise a lot of really smart questions," he said. "It's sort of made clear to me how difficult it is for the media to be truly objective. We are all human."
The University of Georgia had 11 undergraduates selected as Boren Scholars in the spring of 2024, ranking them second in the nation as a top-performing institution for Boren Scholarships, according to a UGA Media Relations press release. The university also ranks second for total number of Boren Awards in 2024, which is the combined number of Boren Scholarships and Fellowships.
After 23 years, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation has arrested a suspect for the 2001 homicide of University of Georgia law student Tara Baker. The GBI arrested 48-year-old Edrick Lamont Faust of Athens on Thursday on charges of murder, two counts felony murder, one count aggravated assault, concealing the death of another, arson, possession of a knife during the commission of a felony, tampering with evidence and one count aggravated sodomy.
'If the NDA comes to power with 320-330 plus seats, then we could see some correction. We could possibly see a level of 19,500 to 20,000.'

'If the NDA comes to power with a majority of 400-plus, we could see the markets going to about 23,500-24,000 levels.'

'And from there we could see some correction because markets are expensive at this point of time and a correction is overdue.'

"When you're back for the third term, you are in a position to take some tough calls, which again the markets may not like in the short term. Like what happened after demonetisation," independent market expert Ambareesh Baliga tells Prasanna D Zore/Rediff.com.

Part 1 of the interview: 'Be In Cash; About Over 20-25%'

The India Volatility index, called VIX -- the index that gauges the fear factor among market participants -- has jumped almost 70 per cent from the week beginning April 29. What's contributing to this fear among market participants?

Whatever said and done -- as far as elections are concerned, if the outcome is already known, then you really will not call it elections -- the markets are discounting (that the National Democratic Alliance led by Bharatiya Janata Party leader Narendra Modi may get only) 320 plus, because of which we are seeing that sort of a movement (in India VIX, the fear index).

The street is now again talking about (the NDA tally) could be in the region of about 320 to 330, which anyway is good because that gives you a stable government, but at the same time it is lower than what the markets had discounted earlier (400 plus for NDA), and because of which you could have one correction (fall in the stock market).

What material change could 320-plus -- instead of 400-plus -- bring in for the reforms -- social, political or religious -- that the new government led by Narendra Modi would try to unleash?

When you're talking of 400-plus, there can be major changes which could be brought in quite easily. There is a talk of change in the Constitution. All those things will be a bit difficult if it (the NDA) gets less than 400.

I'm not saying that they'll not be able to take it through. They have done that in the past. You've seen what's happened to Article 370. Whatever changes are required, they (the new NDA government) may not be able to pull through (if they get 320-plus), but 400-plus will make it much easier.

Does the market want India's Constitution to be changed? Can one interpret it this way?

No. I'll explain that in a different way. When the market prefers a specific government or a leader, it goes the whole hog.

Whether we talk about demonetisation, which led to a major crack, no doubt at that point in time, but later on the market recovered (The Nifty cracked 5.5% between November and December 2016 but from January 2017 began scaling new highs).

Markets didn't believe that demonetisation was the right thing to be done because of which the formalisation of the economy happened to a very large extent.

The GST numbers to a large extent, the way it's growing today, is a fallout of the demonetisation because when you're formalising the economy, you are reporting your revenues which contributed to more number of people coming under the income tax ambit.

Finally, the market goes with the leader saying that whatever the leader is doing should be good for the long term growth of the country.

Is the market banking upon Modi getting 400 plus so that public sector banks, public sector enterprises, the brailways, etc, could be privatised?

(PSU) banks can see some more privatisation, especially the smaller ones. There was an announcement of privatisation of couple of these smaller PSU banks, but that never took off.

When we talk of possible privatisation of some PSU companies if you see the last three-four years, we have always been behind the schedule as far as the numbers (revenues earned because of divestment of the government's stake) are concerned.

Where do you think the markets could head in case the NDA reports 320-plus seats?

I'm going with an assumption that we could head to 23,300 (the Nifty closed May 7 at 22,300).

When you're back for the third term, you are in a position to take some tough calls, which again the markets may not like in the short term. Like what happened after demonetisation. But going ahead, they (the market) may like it in the longer term. They may see the benefits of it (whatever reforms the new prime minister will bring in after June 2024) coming in the longer term.

There could be certain tough decisions which the government may take and they can afford to take in the first year of their new regime. There are murmurs that the market should correct post elections if the NDA gets 320-plus, not 400-plus.

Even the NDA getting 400-plus is already discounted to a large extent. In that case, you could have one bump up and then the rest of the concerns will come in leading to a first tough year. It could be a year of tough decisions.

The best possible scenario is 23,500-24,000 (if the NDA bags 320-plus seats in Lok Sabha).

What major reforms do the market expects if Modi get a 400-plus kind of majority in the Lok Sabha?

I do see some sort of tinkering as far as the capital gains is concerned. Every investor has made enough money so the government may feel that it's time that they shared a bit more (as taxes).

When I talk of tinkering, I'm not talking of increasing (the rate of LTCG); it could be increasing of the holding period. There will not be a major change in corporate taxation.

As far as the infra spend is concerned, the government will expect more of private capex (capital expenditure) to happen than public capex (government spending on infrastructure).

What kind of themes should investors look forward to in case the NDA wins 400-plus or 320-plus seats?

The present themes (railways, defence, PSU banks and PSU enterprises) will continue.

The railways and the defence played out in the last 12 to 18 months. The question here is the order flows have been excellent because of which we have seen all these stocks becoming multi-baggers.

Now, the question is about delivery because the order books of most of these companies are full for the next couple of years. As per the current revenue these companies can expand capacity and possibly execute those orders in a shorter period.

But then to expand capacity takes time. It's not simple. Even large companies can't expand capacities 2x, 3x overnight (increase capacity which is double or thrice their existing capacity to produce).

The question of execution would come up possibly in this year. Looking at the delivery schedule for these defence and railway companies, I don't know as to whether they will get the similar sort of order flows going ahead.

Let me talk of a specific stock Cochin Shipyard. The company has already booked next eight years' revenue. Now will you place an order now for delivery after ten years?

Is the market prepared for a non-NDA government coming to power? Or, for a scenario where the NDA just goes past the simple majority mark of 272?

None of the market participants are expecting this sort of a scenario. But like what I already said in the beginning an election is an election.

We have seen this happening in 2004 (when the market was expecting then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the NDA coming back to power) and what happened after that? We saw a bloodbath (on May 17, 2004 the market fell 15.5%, one of the biggest cracks in percentage terms; soon after the markets recovered sharply as well).

Will there be a repeat of that bloodbath in case the NDA doesn't come back to power in 2024?

No doubt. You can write off 40-50 per cent of the index (Nifty or Sensex) easily if that happens. But the probability is very low.

As of now the worst possible scenario could be just a simple majority (272-plus for NDA).

Where do you see the markets heading if the NDA comes to power with a majority of 400-plus seats?

If the NDA comes to power with 320-330 plus seats, then we could see some correction. We could possibly see a level of 19,500 to 20,000.

If the NDA comes to power with a majority of 400-plus, we could see the markets going to about 23,500-24,000 levels. And from there we could see some correction because markets are expensive at this point of time and a correction is overdue.

Disclaimer: This article is meant for information purposes only. This article and information do not constitute a distribution, an endorsement, an investment advice, an offer to buy or sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or sell any securities/schemes or any other financial products/investment products mentioned in this article to influence the opinion or behaviour of the investors/recipients.

Any use of the information/any investment and investment related decisions of the investors/recipients are at their sole discretion and risk. Any advice herein is made on a general basis and does not take into account the specific investment objectives of the specific person or group of persons. Opinions expressed herein are subject to change without notice.
K Krithivasan, chief executive officer (CEO) and managing director (MD) of TCS, took home a salary of Rs 25.4 crore in 2023-24 (FY24), less than chief operating officer and executive director N Ganapathy Subramaniam.

Illustration: Dominic Xavier/ Rediff.com Image: Krithi Krithivasan, MD and CEO, TCS.

Krithivasan took charge as CEO on June 1, 2023.

The FY24 remuneration includes compensation for the full year, with his service as the companys global head for banking, financial services and insurance from April 1, 2023 to May 31, 2023, and as CEO and MD from June 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, according to TCSs FY24 annual report.

Subramaniam, who retires in May, received a remuneration of Rs 26.18 crore in FY24.

Subramaniams salary increased 8.2 per cent in FY24, and his ratio to the median remuneration stood at 346.2.

According to the annual report, the percentage increase in the median remuneration of employees in FY24 is 10.8 per cent.

There are 601,546 permanent employees on the company's rolls.

The average annual salary increase for TCS employees in India ranged from 5.5 per cent to 8 per cent, with top performers receiving a double-digit increment.

In the course of the year, the total increase ranged between 7 per cent to 9 per cent after accounting for promotions and other event-based compensation revisions.

Employees outside India received a salary increase ranging from 1.5 per cent to 6 per cent, said the company.

The increase in remuneration is in line with market trends in the respective countries.

"In order to ensure that remuneration reflects the company's performance, the performance pay is also linked to organisation performance, individual utilisation, and individual performance, said the annual report.
The top six auto brands are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

The Indian car market saw an increased consolidation in FY24, with the top six brands accounting for 92.6 per cent of domestic sales, while the bottom six could manage to garner a mere 2.9 per cent of the $4.2 million market.

The increase in market share was led by Mahindra & Mahindra, Toyota and Maruti Suzuki.

Based on data from the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers, in FY23 the share of the top six was 90.2 per cent, while the bottom six cornered 3.76 per cent of a $3.8 million market.

The top six auto brands are: Maruti Suzuki, Hyundai, Tata Motors, Toyota, Kia and Mahindra & Mahindra.

The bottom six are: Volkswagen India, Skoda, Nissan, Izusu, PCA Automobiles India (part of Stellantis, which holds the Citroen brand) and FCA (Fiat Chrysler Automobiles).

Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters

The impact of the consolidation is evident from the fact that as many as one- fourth of the car companies could not garner even 1 per cent of the market share.

These are Izusu, Nissan, PCA and FCA. Moreover, nine companies have fallen short of the 5 per cent market-share mark, which, many auto analysts say, is needed to have a viable business.

Many of the well-established global car makers saw a substantial drop in sales in the domestic market. One key reason for that is the lack of new models.

For instance, Honda saw a sales drop of over 5 per cent in FY24 and touched a market share of just over 2 per cent.

It is now pegging its hopes on the launch of its SUV, Elevate, in India in September last year.

Honda has been saddled with ageing models like the Honda City, which lost its market leadership.

Izusu, which had come to India with a big bang, sold only 515 vehicles in FY24 -- a drop of more than 47 per cent over the previous year.

Analysts say that the company's problem has been its expensive positioning and delays in bringing new models. And Nissan, which had earlier talked about hitting a market share of 5 per cent in 2020, went in the negative in FY24, with sales plummeting by 10 per cent, which brought its market share down to less than 1 per cent.

Volkswagen India has said recently that it would be looking at a 15 per cent growth in sales in India in CY 2024. However in FY24 its domestic sales grew by only 4.5 per cent.

Volkswagen group company, Skoda Auto India, has also moderated its ambition in the country and is now looking at a 5 per cent market share by 2030. However, its global CEO, Klaus Zellmer, has said this year that India will play a crucial role in its international expansion.

In FY24 its sales fell by around 15 per cent in the Indian market and its market share fell to 1.05 per cent.

Meanwhile, many of the companies are pushing for exports to make up for the low domestic sales. For example, Volkswagen India sold more cars abroad than in India, with exports going up by a substantial 62 per cent to hit over 44,000 vehicles in FY24.

Renault and Nissan are following the same tack, though their exports have fallen sharply this year.

Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff.com
Managing senior generals has proven to be quite a headache for General Asim Munir, even as he and his team of loyal henchmen labour hard to dispel the sense of unhappiness among the public about the army's overbearing presence and interference in matters 'civilian', notes Rana Banerji, who headed the Pakistan desk at RA&W.

IMAGE: Pakistan army chief General Syed Asim Munir Ahmed Shah, left, with US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken during his visit to the United States. General Munir was accompanied by Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, director general, ISI. Photograph: Kind courtesy Defence Insider/X

After allowing Lieutenant General Ayman Bilal Safdar to stay on for a grace period at Mangla after his resignation was approved by the prime minister, Pakistan's army chief General Syed Asim Munir has had to change his earlier order (April 18) for the posting of the corps commander, I Corps, Mangla.

It seems Adjutant General Lieutenant General Muhd Asim Malik indicated his unwillingness to go there, preferring to be considered for the command of X Corps, Rawalpindi as and when it falls vacant, as his father, Lieutenant General (retd) Ghulam Muhd Malik had served there as corps commander from June 1991 to October 1995.

Lieutenant General Nauman Zakaria, Armoured Corps (11th Cavalry) has now been posted as corps commander, Mangla.

In November 2022 when he was promoted as lieutenant general just as then army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa was retiring, Lieutenant General Zakaria had been posted as X corps commander, Rawalpindi, but as soon as General Asim Munir was appointed army chief, he changed this order and brought in Lieutenant General Shahid Imtiaz, Azad Kashmir Regiment, who was from the 22nd officers training scheme (OTS) course, as the X corps commander, Rawalpindi.

Shahid was seen as Asim Munir's 'trusted' favorite from the OTS stream (Munir hails from the 17th OTS course).

Lieutenant General Zakaria received a somewhat rough end of the stick then, being transferred as chief of logistics staff at General Headquarters (GHQ), where he has been cooling his heels since then.

IMAGE: Lieutenant General Nauman Zakaria (11th Cavalry) has been posted as corps commander, Mangla. Photograph: Kind courtesy X

As a major general, Nauman Zakaria commanded 9 infantry division, Kohat when it was temporarily re-located to Wana, South Waziristan during the 'Radd ul Fassad' counter terrorism operations in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in 2018-2019.

Thereafter, he was appointed director general, military operations (DGMO), a post usually earmarked for the most professionally competent and well regarded military officers in the Pakistan army.

He remained DGMO till November 2022 when he picked up his three star rank.

The Mangla change indicates that General Munir is being quite patient and considerate in accomodating irate officers from among his collegiate group of three star generals. Lieutenant General Muhd Asim Malik obviously enjoys a comfort level and rapport with the chief to make such a request.

He is believed to have turned down an offer even earlier, to hold a corps command when IV corps, Lahore fell vacant after the turbulent events of May 09, 2023.

If he does get Rawalpindi eventually, it would mean he is indeed very close and well trusted by General Munir.

Jockeying for postings at this level is likely to continue.

Lieutenant General Muhd Aqeel, Frontier Force Regiment (FFR), who was only recently promoted (November, 2023) and is currently inspector general, communications and information technology at GHQ, was in the running for the Mangla slot, being from the army chief's own Piffers (FFR) unit.

He may get a corps command soon as changes are due at the Bahawalpur (XXXI), Multan (II) and Rawalpindi (X) corps.

It is rumoured that General Munir is considering to assign a full-fledged lieutenant general in charge of the army's monitoring and supervision work at the Special Investment Facilitation Council.

Lieutenant General Sarfaraz, air defence, currently inspector general arms is apparently being considered for this post.

If it happens, this would be the third lieutenant general 'outsourced' to a quasi-civilian organisation, after Lieutenant General Munir Afsar at the National Database and Registration Authority and Lieutenant General Inam Haider Malik, chairman, National Disaster Management Authority.

The vacant slots resulting in the posts of principal staff assignments at GHQ could then be given to officers relieved of corps commands or by new promotions from the major general level.

For the moment though, the earlier announced promotion of Major General Omar Ahmed Bokhari, Baloch regiment, currently vice chief of general staff at GHQ, seems to have been kept in abeyance.

He may be promoted as the dust settles on the Mangla change or when the next set of retirements at the three star level occur in November, 2024. Lieutenant General Nadeem Anjum, director general, Inter Services Intelligence, (ISI), who is on an extension, may also phase out then.

All said and done, while not affecting the powerful 'primus inter pares' position of the army chief, managing the senior generals has proven to be quite a headache for General Asim Munir, even as he and his team of loyal henchmen labour hard to dispel the general sense of unhappiness among the common public about the army's overbearing presence and interference in matters 'civilian', a narrative festered so assiduously by the army's erstwhile protege, now incarcerated and an increasingly desperate Imran Khan.

Feature Presentation: Ashish Narsale/Rediff.com
'The karyakartas who wanted to contest were disappointed and it took some time to explain to them why we needed an alliance.'

IMAGE: Daggubati Purandeswari, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Rajahmundry candidate, with senior BJP leader Narendra D Modi, Jana Sena Party chief Pawan Kalyan at an election rally in Rajahmundry, May 6, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Andhra Pradesh is voting for both the state assembly and the Lok Sabha and hence it is more competitive than the ones who are voting only for the Lok Sabha.

Daggubati Purandeswari, one of N T Rama Rao's 11 children, has been a member of the Congress and is now in the Bharatiya Janata Party.

She has stayed away from Telugu Desam Party, a party her father founded, likely because she disapproved of the manner that her brother-in-law Nara Chandrababu Naidu dethroned NTR and took charge of the TDP in the 1990s.

The TDP is now an ally of the BJP, which Purandeswari heads in Andhra Pradesh.

"The alliance is between two political parties and not between a brother-in-law and his relative," Purandeswari tells Rediff.com's A Ganesh Nadar.

You have been in both the Congress and the BJP. What is the difference between the two parties?

You cannot compare two parties. Each party has their own way of operating. Being in the BJP I can tell you that this is a party that gives a lot of respect to its karyakartas who in turn work very hard for the party.

Was it easy to stitch an alliance with the TDP as Chandrababu Naidu is your brother-in-law?

The alliance is between two political parties and not between a brother-in-law and his relative. Both parties have their karyakartas who want to contest in all the seats.

The karyakartas who wanted to contest were disappointed and it took some time to explain to them why we needed an alliance at that time. We convinced them.

The three-party alliance has very good coordination. We have coordinating committees at the state level, district constituency level and assembly level. We work together at all times.

Will Naidu canvass for you?

Yes! He came twice to canvass for me. Pawan Kalyan also came twice.

IMAGE: Daggubati Purandeswari, extreme right, with Modi, Telugu Desam Party chief Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Pawan Kalyan at an election meeting in Palnadu, Andhra Pradesh. Photograph: ANI Photo

You are the BJP's state president and you are canvassing for votes for yourself.

Shouldn't you be canvassing across the state for your candidates and your allies' candidates?

I went across the state even before the elections were announced.

You are the iconic NTR's daughter. Do you think people vote for you because of that?

That is a major reason, but people also look at the candidate. How they conduct themselves in public life and what work they have done in the constituencies that they have earlier represented.

You have been an MP before. What you have done in your constituency?

When I was the MP of Bapatla the rice and channa exporters were suffering. I got the ban on exports lifted and the problem was solved.

It was not an individual problem, but a collective problem of the farmers. I like to work for the community.

When I was representing Visakhapatnam the port was being built. The people who had been ousted had not been rehabilitated.

I fought for that and got them all rehabilitated. These are the important ones; there are a lot more issues I have addressed.

You have been a central minister. Do you look at the whole country or do you concentrate your schemes in Andhra?

When I am a Union minister I look at the whole country though there is a tendency to favour one's own state.

When I was an MP I concentrated on my constituency.

Have you ever got angry in Parliament?

I am not a person who gets angry easily. Only once when I was a first time parliamentarian I was angry because I did not get a chance to speak about agriculture.

Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi was the minister then. Since I was a first time MP he did not think I could speak properly on the subject and this greatly upset me as he brushed me aside.

I got into an argument with him that day, but usually I don't get angry.

Photograph: A Ganesh Nadar for Rediff.com IMAGE: People listen to Daggubati Purandeswari at an election meeting.

Mr Modi came to canvass for you, do you enjoy a personal equation with him? Can you call him when you wish to talk?

I know him personally as I am a state president of the BJP.

He is the prime minister of the country. You cannot simply call him because you have his number.

Are you always available to your voters? Do they all have your mobile number? Do you answer all calls?

There are 16 lakh (1.6 million) voters in my constituency. It is not possible to give all of them my mobile number or answer all their calls. There is a mechanism to meet me, my doors are always open.

You can reach my people who in turn will inform me and I will solve their problem.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
In a diplomatic breakthrough, five of the Indian sailors on board an Israeli-linked vessel seized by Tehran were released on Thursday and have departed from Iran, the Indian embassy in Iran said.

IMAGE: Iran's Revolutionary Guards seized Israel-linked ship MSC ARIES on April 13. Photograph: Screen grab

The Indian Embassy, while sharing details of their release, thanked the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas.

"5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas," MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X.

The Israel-linked cargo ship was seized by Iran on April 13, with 17 Indian nationals onboard.

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized the container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and MSC Aries was last seen on April 12, sailing towards the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Dubai.
Emails threatening blasts sent to at least 36 Ahmedabad-based schools on the eve of the May 7 voting have been traced to Pakistan, the police said on Friday, labelling them as an attempt to spread fear among the people ahead of polling.

IMAGE: The dog squad and bomb disposal squad conduct a check at Delhi Public School which received a threat email in Noida on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Lok Sabha elections for 25 of the 26 seats in Gujarat were held in a single phase on May 7. The candidate in Surat has already won unopposed.

The emails were sent from mail.ru' domain, in which a man impersonating himself as Tauheed Liaquat sent them to all the schools with the aim of spreading fear among voters and Indian citizens, the Ahmedabad crime branch said in a press statement.

Liaquat had also assumed another identity as Hamad Javed. The person with these names was operating from Faisalabad district of Pakistan, Joint Commissioner of Police Sharad Singhal said.

The same person has created various identities on different social media platforms, one of them being that of Hamad Javed. These social media platforms are used to spread anti-India messages, rumours and fear among Indians, he said.

It is possible that the name was created to spread fear and rumour. But one thing is certain the mails were sent using mail.ru domain and the location was traced to the Faisalabad cantonment area in Pakistan, he said.

The name of this accused has also been revealed during a honeytrap investigation by another agency, the official said.

Further investigation is underway and agencies like the Intelligence Bureau (IB), Anti Terrorist Squad (ATS), National Technical Research Organisation (NTRO) and Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) have been contacted, Singhal said.

Several of the 36 schools that had received the threat email from the Russian domain mail.ru' were designated as polling booths.

The email was received on May 6, a day before the voting in the city where Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah exercised their franchise.

The content of the email was similar to the one sent to schools in Delhi recently. It was sent using the Russian domain mail.ru', and no explosive or anything suspicious was found after the schools were searched.

A technical surveillance was then initiated to trace the sender of the email, said the official.

The schools that received the threat email included DPS and Anand Niketan in Bopal, Udgam School on SG Highway, Calorx School in Ghatlodia, Kendriya Vidyalaya at Chandkheda and Army Cantonment on Airport Road.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said his party too has made mistakes and will have to change its politics in future.

IMAGE: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and party candidate from Kannauj seat Akhilesh Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh and others hold hands during the public meeting for the Lok Sabha elections, in Kannauj on Friday, May 10, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The remark came at an event in Lucknow where he accused Narendra Modi of being a monarch and not a prime minister, calling him a front for 'two-three financiers'.

Answering a question from a member of the audience at the event on the Constitution, the former Congress president said he was '100 per cent' prepared to take on Narendra Modi in a debate, but he knew that the prime minister will not agree.

"The Congress party will also have to change its politics in the coming times. This will have to be done. I also want to say that the Congress party has also made mistakes and I am saying this while being from the Congress party," he said in his speech.

However, he did not elaborate on what 'change' he felt the Congress needed.

The 'Samvidhan Sammelan' was organised by the Samruddha Bharat Foundation.

Gandhi claimed that the ruling BJP will be restricted to less than 180 seats in the Lok Sabha elections.

"I can give you in writing, if you want, that Narendra Modi is not going to be the PM again," he said, repeating the prediction he made at joint rallies in Uttar Pradesh earlier in the day with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav.

"Some people in politics only think of how to get power. I was born into it and have no interest in it. But for me it's just a tool to help public," he said.

He said 90 per cent of the population in India comprises of people from the SC/ST, OBC, Dalits, tribals, minorities and the poor from the general community who are not given equal participation.

He then repeated his call for a caste-based census.

"If the nation is to be strengthened, it cannot be done without including the 90 per cent. If you say that the 90 per cent will not come into bureaucracy, sports, media, judiciary and even beauty pageants, then what superpower will you make? Do you want to make 10 per cent of the population a superpower," he said.

He accused the prime minister of attacking the Constitution. "Modi ji is a king, I am telling the truth," Gandhi said.

"He is not the prime minister, he is a king. He has nothing to do with the Cabinet, Parliament or the Constitution. He is the king of the 21st century and is the front for two or three financiers who have the real power."

At the end of his address, Gandhi took three questions including one on a recent suggestion that he and the PM should take part in a debate.

"I am 100 per cent ready to debate with anyone, with the prime minister. But I know the prime minister will not debate with me," he said.

He added that party president Mallikarjun Kharge could also take part in a debate.

When asked about the Old Pension Scheme not being included in the party manifesto, Gandhi said the matter is 'open to consideration'.

Asked if the institutions privatised by the Modi government will be nationalised again, Gandhi said, "It will be difficult but we will not allow the blatant privatisation of big institutions."
The Election Commission on Friday reprimanded Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge over his allegations on voter turnout data, calling it an 'aggression' on the vitals of live conduct of elections and a deliberate attempt to spread confusion, and said it can have a negative impact on voter turnout.

IMAGE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addresses a public meeting in Malda on May 5, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The commission also said allegations in Kharge's letter to leaders of opposition parties on the 'delay' by the EC in sharing voter turnout data was an attempt to 'push a biased narrative' under the guise of seeking clarifications.

In a five-page response with a series of annexures, the poll panel rejected charges of mismanagement and delay in the release of voter turnout data in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections.

It termed Kharge's allegations 'unwarranted', 'without facts' and 'reflective of a biased and deliberate attempt to spread confusion'.

'Utterances from the president of a national political party attacking the very credibility of the electoral steps and processes can have a negative impact on voter participation and can be seen as a means to deter an elector from exercising their franchise and/or demoralizing the huge number of election staff and machinery which is mainly drawn from the respective state governments,' the EC told Kharge.

The poll panel said while Kharge was free to express concerns with leaders of other parties, making the letter public raised question marks on the intention.

It advised the Congress veteran to 'exercise caution' and 'refrain' from making such statements.

The Congress described as 'regrettable' the EC's 'approach' in addressing the issues raised by Kharge in his letter to the leaders of the opposition parties.

In a statement on 'X', All India Congress Committee general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the Congress president had raised 'perfectly legitimate' issues on which there have been widespread concern and comments.

"The approach of the Election Commission to addressing these issues is deeply regrettable," said Ramesh, the in-charge of the communications department of the Congress.

Senior party leader P Chidambaram also said the EC is not beyond criticism.

"When RBI, C&AG, Finance Commission and other bodies can be criticised, why does ECI think it should not be criticised?" he said.

The former finance minister called for a discussion in Parliament on the omissions and commissions of the Election Commission and said all political parties will share their experiences of contesting the elections under the current poll authority.

"Even T N Seshan was criticised. Why should the present three-member take offence?" Chidambaram asked.

He said Kharge had raised valid points in his letter and the commission could have refuted the same.

"...but why take exception to the letter?" Chidambaram wondered.

A delegation of opposition party leaders also met the top brass of the EC to raise its concerns over alleged poll code violations by BJP leaders and flagged concerns over the 'delay' in the release of voter turnout figures for the first two phases of the polls.

In its response, the EC condemned Kharge's statement in which he wondered whether the 'delay' in releasing voter turnout data was an 'attempt to doctor the final results'.

The poll panel said it found Kharge's letter, placed in the public domain in the middle of the ongoing electoral process, 'highly undesirable' and designed to create confusion, misdirection and impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections.

'Through innuendos and insinuations, the contents of the post tend to create disharmony in respect of the delicate space of election management, can plant doubts in the minds of voters and political parties and potentially create an anarchic situation when you said 'could this be an attempt to doctor the final results?' which this Commission hopes you do not have any intention of,' the EC said.

In a series of annexures, the poll authority also gave a factual matrix on changes in voter turnout trends during different phases of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and subsequent assembly elections.

It underlined that booth-wise voter turnout data is available with all contesting candidates and suggested that the Congress should have analysed the data before levelling allegations.

In his letter to Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders, Kharge had said that 'apart from the delay, the voter turnout data released by the Commission does not mention crucial yet related figures, such as the votes polled in each parliamentary constituency and in the respective assembly constituencies'.

He said if the voter turnout data was published within 24 hours of voting along with the crucial figures, then people would have known if the increase of '5%' had been witnessed across constituencies or only in constituencies where the ruling regime had not performed well in the 2019 elections.
A delegation of opposition party leaders on Friday met the top brass of Election Commission to raise its concerns over poll code violations by the ruling party leaders, and also flagged concerns over delay in release of voter turnout figures for the first two phases of the polls.

IMAGE: Congress leader and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi addresses the media with Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien and DMK leader T R Baalu after meeting with Election Commission officials, in New Delhi on Friday, May 10, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

At the meeting that came soon after the poll panel issued a strongly worded statement, in which it termed as 'regrettable' Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge's letter to opposition on the delay, the opposition leaders alleged that 'no meaningful action' has been taken by the EC to penalise those who are guilty in the ruling party.

Samajwadi Party leader Javed Ali, meanwhile, raised the issue of a 'red card' being issued by the Uttar Pradesh Police to people in the state, which they said is stopping many of them from exercising their franchise.

The delegation included Congress leaders Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Salman Khurshid, Trinamool Congress's Derek O'Brien, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam's T R Baalu, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha's Mahua Majhi, Communist Party of India's Binoy Viswam, and Ali among others.

A seven-page memorandum submitted by the opposition leaders said the ongoing election has witnessed the 'most egregious and blatant violations of electoral laws ever committed by those in the ruling party' adding that the violations are being made by 'those occupying the highest constitutional offices'.

"Despite documented evidence being catalogued and placed before this Hon'ble Commission, no meaningful action has been taken to penalize those who are guilty in the ruling regime," the opposition's memorandum said, adding that it has resulted in unchecked and brazen continuation of these violations.

Briefing the media after the meeting that lasted around 45 minutes, Singhvi said there was 'great trust deficit, question marks and a feeling of alarm and distress' on the poll panel not acting on opposition's complaints of model code violations against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

He said it was for the first time that the poll panel had sent a notice to party presidents and not the offenders, adding that they were not aware of any action being taken. He was referring to EC's letter to BJP president JP Nadda over complaints against Modi's Banswara speech.

"This is an irreversible window, it touched upon level playing field, it touches upon elections, it touched upon democracy and basic structure. Custodian of all these constitutional values is the Election Commission. If they don't act promptly, it will be a complete abdication of Constitutional duty," Singhvi said.

The Congress leader also hinted that the opposition parties may approach the Supreme Court with the issue.

"It is no joy for us to go to the Supreme Court and get directions saying why don't you decide. This is not the way a Constitutional functionary should function," he said.

Singhvi said the second issue raised was the 'non-publication or publication with extreme delay of the voter turnout percentages'.

"We are not given a stamp of approval by the published figures of the EC. We are told to calculate on our own because there is real time data available with the candidate or the voting app. That maybe so, but the stamp of approval of a published absolute figure and a percentage figure by the EC carries its own constitutional weight, we have asked for that," he said.

Amid the opposition's allegations, the Election Commission had asserted last week that booth-wise data of the 'actual number of votes polled' is available with the candidates soon after the voting ends.

They said copies of Form 17C, which contains the number of voter turnout, duly signed by the presiding officer and all present polling agents are shared with all present polling agents.

Sources said at the meeting, O'Brien spoke about the poll panel's statement just ahead of the meeting, and questioned its inaction in the complaints against Modi and Shah.

He said that the Model Code of Conduct has become the 'Modi Code of Conduct'.

Ali, meanwhile, raised the issue of Uttar Pradesh police issuing 'red cards' to a number of individuals banning them from going near polling booths.

He said the poll panel assured that no such cards will be issued in future.

The meeting came after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to leaders of various opposition parties on the issue of alleged 'discrepancies' in the voting data released by the Election Commission (EC).

In an unusual move, the EC on Friday responded to Kharge's letter to fellow Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) leaders that was also posted on X, and rejected his allegations that the EC had delayed releasing final voter turnout numbers for the first two phases of the Lok Sabha elections.

In a strongly worded letter, the EC said the utterances from president of a national political party is attacking the very credibility of the electoral steps and processes, and can have a negative impact on voter participation.
IMAGE: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addresses a roadshow in Raebareli, May 8, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

Polling for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election will be held on Monday May 13, 2024.

96 seats will go to the polls across 10 states.

Phase IV: Candidates' Financial Background

According to data collected by the Association for Democratic Reforms, of the 1,710 candidates analysed from the total 1,717 candidates in the fray, 476 are crorepatis.

Of these crorepatis, 65 are Bharatiya Janata Party candidates, while 56 belong to the Congress.

Phase IV: Candidates with Criminal Records

When it comes to criminal candidates, 360 candidates have declared criminal cases against them in the fourth round of elections.

274 candidates have declared serious criminal cases registered against them.

The maximum number of criminal candidates in the fourth phase belong to the BJP (40) followed by the Congress (35).

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday advised the Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar and Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasahbe Thackeray to join hands with Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde after Lok Sabha poll results instead of dying by merging with the Congress.

IMAGE: Prime Minister Narendra Modi being felicitated by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar during a public meeting during the Lok Sabha elections, in Pune. Photograph: ANI Photo

A big leader here who is active for 40-50 years is worried after polling in Baramati (Lok Sabha seat). He says that after June 4, smaller parties, in order to survive, will merge with the Congress, Modi said, without naming Sharad Pawar.

This means the nakli NCP and nakli Shiv Sena have made up their minds to merge with the Congress, Modi said, addressing an election rally in Nandurbar district of north Maharashtra.

But instead of dying by merging with the Congress, come to Ajit Pawar and Eknath Shinde, Modi said.

In the Nandurbar seat, the BJP has renominated incumbent MP Heena Gavi, who is pitted against Gowaal Padavi of Congress.

The constituency will go to polls in the fourth phase of the general elections on May 13.

In the next couple of years, several regional parties will associate more closely with the Congress. Or they may look at the option of merging with the Congress if they believe that is the best for their party, NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar had told The Indian Express.

Speaking at the rally, Modi also accused the Congress of conspiring to end Hindu aastha" (faith). The guru of Congress' 'shehzada' has told the US that Ram temple and Ram Navmi festivities are against the idea of India, he said, targeting Sam Pitroda, former chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress.

Pitroda on Wednesday resigned after stoking controversy with his remarks that cited ethnic and racial identities like Chinese, Africans, Arabs and Whites to describe the physical appearance of Indians.

Congress calls people with Lord Krishna's colour as Africans. So they didn't want Droupadi Murmu to be the President of India. Isn't it an insult of adivasis, he asked.

The PM said that the Congress' agenda is so dangerous that if it terms Ram temple construction and Ram Navami celebrations against the idea of India. They may say my going to temple is anti-India. See the Congress mindset, that in the land of Ram, a temple is anti-India.

These people organise sarkari Iftar and beautify graves of terrorists, he said.

In an apparent reference to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut's alleged comment about burying him in Maharashtra just like Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, Modi said, those from the duplicate Sena are speaking of burying him alive.

They have also got a bomb blast accused for election campaigning, he said, referring to the Uddhav Thackeray-led party. These people have lost public support and their political space has eroded. People of India are my security cover. These people can't bury me alive or dead," he said.

Providing quota benefits on the basis of religion is against the very values and principles enshrined in our Constitution, he said. As long as he is alive, Modi said, he won't let an "inch" of reservation of Dalits, adivasis and OBCs be taken away on the basis of religion.

Extending Akshaya Tritiya greetings to the people, he said, Your blessings to me on this occasion shows that a third term for me is guaranteed.

Modi said service to adivasis and deprived sections is like serving family members for him.

I am not like Congress' shahi parivar' but was raised in a poor family. Adivasis and the poor had suffered a lot in terms of lack of access to housing, electricity and water even after 60 years of independence. But my government has worked hard to improve their lives, said the BJP's star campaigner.

He said the Congress has no concern for adivasis and did nothing to eradicate sickle cell anemia, prevalent among tribals.

Modi said his government has initiated steps in that direction to secure the future generations of tribals.

He said the Congress knows it cannot match Modi over development. So it has opened a factory of lies on reservation and Constitution. Their ecosystem is filled with rumours, he said.

On the Constitution change rumour, it is nothing but a chor machaya shor' (thieves creating noise) situation for Congress. It wants to introduce reservations based on religion which is against the Constitution. Making such an attempt is like stabbing the maker of the Constitution in the back, he said.

Alleging that the Congress wants to replicate its Karnataka model across the country by snatching quotas from SC, ST and OBC and giving those to their minority vote banks, Modi cautioned people to be alert.

In Karnataka, the Congress turned Muslims into OBCs overnight and now it wants to snatch quotes from tribals and Dalits, he said.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi is running a maha abhiyan' (mega drive) to finish off quota while I am doing maha rakshan ka maha yagna' (grand ritual for protection) to save it, he said.

I have been challenging the Congress to give in writing that it will not end the SC and ST quota and give it to Muslims. But the Congress is not replying. They have a hidden agenda to loot your rights. But they are spreading rumours by being hand in glove with anti-national elements, he said.

Modi is the chowkidar' (watchman) to protect the rights of the deprived sections of society, he said.
Former Union Minister and the Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Ratlam in Madhya Pradesh Kantilal Bhuria on Thursday stirred controversy by saying those with two wives will get Rs 2 lakh if his party comes to power.

IMAGE: Kantilal Bhuria, Congress Lok Sabha candidate from Ratlam. Photograph: Kantilal Bhuria on Facebook

"If Congress comes to power, as our manifesto states, every woman will get Rs 1 lakh in her bank account. Women from each household will receive Rs 1-1 lakh. Those who have two wives will get Rs 2 lakh..." Bhuria said while addressing a poll rally in Ratlam.

The Congress party on April 5 released the manifesto 'Nyay patra' for the Lok Sabha elections 2024.

The Congress has promised to introduce the 'Mahalaxmi Scheme' in the poll manifesto which will provide Rs 1 lakh annually to the poor to alleviate poverty.

Meanwhile, Madhya Pradesh BJP spokesperson Narendra Saluja shared the clip of Bhuria's statement on X and tagged the Election Commission seeking action.

"What an objectionable comment made by Congress's Ratlam candidate Kantilal Bhuria about the head of the country, who represents 140 crore people of the country...Such is the cheap thinking of Congress...Election Commission should take cognizance and take action," Saluja said.

BJP national Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala also tore into Bhuria saying that the Congress wanted to give incentives to those whose personal law allows multiple marriages.

"Kantilal Bhuria of Congress discloses the perverted variant of jitni aabadi utna haq scheme/guarantee of Congress. It's not about women samman but treating women like an object......Disgusting, Congress says, If you practice multiple marriages - you can get Rs1 lakh per wife .. if you have two wives -Rs 2 lakhs .. so on .. 4 wives then you can calculate...Kantilal Bhurai wants to give a guarantee to those whose personal law encourages multiple marriages and wants to incentivise more population of its vote bank," he posted on X.

Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh are underway in four phases. The first phase of voting ended on April 19, followed by the second phase on April 26 and the third phase on May 7.
Nearly 11 years after rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar was shot dead in Pune, a special court on Friday convicted his two assailants and sentenced them to life imprisonment for the murder, and acquitted three others, including alleged key conspirator Virendrasinh Tawde, for want of evidence.

IMAGE: Rationalist and anti-superstition crusader Narendra Dabholkar. Photograph: Courtesy Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti/Facebook

Reading out the order in a packed courtroom, Additional Sessions Judge (Special Court) P P Jadhav, presiding over UAPA cases, said the prosecution had proved the charges of murder and conspiracy against shooters Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar.

The court sentenced them to life imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 5 lakh each.

The court acquitted three accused, ENT surgeon Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave, for want of evidence.

Dabholkar (67), an anti-superstition crusader, was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne men while he was on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune city on August 20, 2013.

The court observed that some sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), an anti-terror law, were invoked in the case, but due to the competent officer's negligence, these charges were not proved.

The judge said though Tawde was charged as the conspirator in the case and there was ample scope for doubt against him, the prosecution had failed to convert the suspicion into evidence, which is why he was acquitted of all charges.

"In the case of Bhave and Punalekar, even if there is scope for suspicion, there is no evidence, and therefore, both have been acquitted of all charges for want of evidence," the judge said.

Andure and Kalaskar were charged with shooting Dabholkar dead, and charges under sections 302 (murder) and 34 (common intention) were proved beyond doubt, he said.

The judge further said there is a provision for capital punishment and life imprisonment for these sections and asked the defence and prosecution to put forth their arguments.

Appearing for the accused, advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar said the case did not fall under the rarest of the rare category, to which public prosecutor Prakash Suryawanshi said the prosecution did not seek capital punishment.

After hearing the brief arguments, the judge sentenced Andure and Kalaskar to life imprisonment and fined them Rs 5 lakh each.

The judge also observed that some statements were made during the trial justifying Dabholkar's killing and said it was regrettable.

"It is pertinent to point out that any person's murder is an unfortunate thing. However, some statements came from the defence counsel during the trial justifying the act, which was regrettable, and the advocates of the accused should think about this," he said.

Reacting to the judgement, Dabholkar's daughter Mukta said the masterminds of the murder were still at large, and they would appeal against the order in the high court.

His son Hamid Dabholkar said if the masterminds of the killing were not brought to justice, such incidents would be repeated.

It is evident from the chargesheet that Dabholkar was murdered for ideological reasons, he said.

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses, while the defence examined two witnesses during the trial.

The Pune police initially investigated the case. The CBI took over the probe in 2014 following a Bombay High Court order and arrested Tawde linked to the Hindu right-wing organisation Sanatan Sanstha, in June 2016.

According to the prosecution, Tawde was one of the masterminds of the murder.

Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawde and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar's organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra), it claimed.

The CBI first named fugitives Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar as the shooters in its chargesheet. But later it arrested Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar and claimed in a supplementary chargesheet that they had shot Dabholkar.

Subsequently, the central agency arrested advocate Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave as alleged co-conspirators.

During the trial, advocate Virendra Ichalkaranjikar had questioned the CBI's flip-flop over the shooters' identity.

The accused were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 120 B (conspiracy ), 302 (murder), relevant sections of the Arms Act, and section 16 (punishment for terrorist act ) of the UAPA.

While Tawde, Andure and Kalaskar are in jail, Punalekar and Bhave are on bail.

Dabholkar's murder was followed by the murders of three other rationalists/activists in the next four years: communist leader Govind Pansare (Kolhapur, February 2015), Kannada scholar and writer M M Kalburgi (Dharwad, August 2015) and journalist Gauri Lankesh (Bengaluru, September 2017).

It was suspected that the culprits in these four cases were linked.
Granting interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal would not amount to grant of privilege or special status to politicians, the Supreme Court on Friday said, while observing that the Aam Aadmi Party leader has no criminal antecedents and is not a threat to the society.

IMAGE: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal addresses the party workers as he was released from Tihar Jail after the Supreme Court granted him interim bail in the Delhi excise policy case, in New Delhi on Friday, May 10, 2024. Photograph: Amit Sharma/ANI Photo

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, while granting interim bail till June 1 to Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam, rejected the submission of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) that granting the relief for Lok Sabha campaigning will create a separate class of politicians.

"We would reject the argument that the reasoning recorded by us in the paragraphs results in grant of privilege or special status to politicians. As observed in the paragraphs, several peculiarities of the case have weighed with us," it said.

It noted that the investigation in the case has remained pending since August 2022 and Kejriwal was arrested on March 21 this year.

"The appellant -- Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to society," the bench said.

It further said, "More importantly, legality and validity of the arrest itself are under challenge before this court and we are yet to finally pronounce on the same. The fact situation cannot be compared with harvesting of crops or plea to look after business affairs."

The top court highlighted that once the matter is sub judice and the questions relating to the legality of the arrest are under consideration, a more holistic and libertarian view is justified in the background that the 18th Lok Sabha general elections are being held.

"It is no gain saying that the General Elections to the Lok Sabha are the most significant and important event this year, as they should be in a national election year. Between 650-700 million voters out of an electorate of about 970 million will cast their votes to elect the government of this country for the next five years. General Elections supply the vis viva to a democracy," the bench said.

The top court added, "Given the prodigious importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving a premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country."

Noting that the court always takes into consideration the peculiarities associated with the person in question and the surrounding circumstances while examining the question of grant of interim bail and release, the bench said, "In fact, to ignore the same would be iniquitous and wrong."

It termed Kejriwal's failure to appear before the ED on nine summons as 'a negative factor' and said there are several other facets which are required to be taken into consideration while granting bail.

As soon as the bench assembled for pronouncing the order, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta pointed out that radical preacher Amritpal Singh, who is currently lodged in Assam's Dibrugarh jail under the National Security Act, has approached the government for contesting the elections.

"Now we have been approached by Amritpal Singh. That's our concern. I could not find any precedent to assist the court on this (interim bail for poll campaigning). A person is being released for election campaigning," he told the bench.

Justice Khanna told Mehta, "That's something entirely different. You can't compare it. Let us not put in a simple strait jacket like that."

The apex court said Kejriwal will have to surrender and go back to jail on June 2.

The matter relates to alleged corruption and money laundering in the formulation and execution of the Delhi government's now scrapped excise policy for 2021-22.
Being released from Tihar jail after 50 days on a 21-day interim bail granted by the Supreme Court, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal received a warm welcome from his family when he reached his residence on Friday evening.

Earlier, 55-year-old Kejriwal thanked the Supreme Court judges for granting him interim bail and the people for their blessings.

The Aam Aadmi Party national convenor, who has often flaunted his devotion to Lord Hanuman, said it was because of Him that he was out of jail.

As Kejriwal reached home, fire crackers were burst by the party workers to celebrate his release.

Kejriwal's wife Sunita Kejriwal and daughter, along with several senior AAP leaders including Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann and ministerial colleagues Atishi and Saurabh Bharadwaj among others were present outside the Tihar jail to welcome him.
The investigating agencies could not expose the masterminds behind the murder of rationalist Dr Narendra Dabholkar, and must introspect whether it was a mere failure or a 'deliberate inaction' due to the influence of any 'person in power', the trial court here said on Friday in its judgment.

IMAGE: Bollywood actor Naseeruddin Shah at the inauguration of the five-day art exhibition titled 'We are on Trial' commemorating the birth anniversary of social activist and rationalist Narendra Dabholkar on November 1, 2022 at Yashwantrao Chavan Centre, in Mumbai. Photograph: ANI Photo

The two assailants, who were convicted, were not the masterminds, Additional Sessions Judge P P Jadhav observed in the verdict.

The special court for Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act cases convicted assailants Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar in the 2013 murder case and sentenced them to life imprisonment, but acquitted alleged conspirators Dr Virendrasinh Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave for want of evidence.

In his order, judge Jadhav noted that there was evidence about motive for the murder against Tawde, and reasonable suspicion against Punalekar and Bhave regarding involvement in the crime.

But the prosecution failed to establish the same by converting the motive and suspicion into evidence, the order said.

As to Andure and Kalaskar, it was proved beyond reasonable doubt that they shot Dabholkar dead in Pune city on August 20, 2013, the court said.

The prosecution also failed to prove the offences under section 16 ('punishment for terrorist act') of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC against any of the accused, it said.

Except ideological differences, Andure and Kalaskar had no personal enmity or rivalry with Dr Dabholkar, the court noted.

'The murder is committed with very well prepared plan, which was executed by Andure and Kalaskar. Considering the economic and social status of both the convicts, they are not the masterminds....The mastermind behind the murder is someone else. Pune police we well as CBI has failed to unearth those masterminds. They have to introspect whether it is their failure or deliberate inaction on their part due to influence by any person in power,' the order said.

Reacting to the judgement, Hamid and Mukta Dabholkar, children of the slain rationalist, said it came after 11 years.

The verdict affirmed their faith in the Indian judiciary, the Dabholkar family said in a statement issued by the Andhashraddha Nirman Samiti (Committee of Eradication of Superstition, an organisation founded by Narendra Dabholkar).

The Samiti will challenge the acquittal of Virendrasinh Tawde, Sanjeev Punalekar and Vikram Bhave in the High Court, the statement added.

Sanatan Sanstha, the Hindu right-wing outfit to which some of the accused were linked, said in its reaction that a conspiracy to portray it as a supporter of 'saffron terror' had failed due to the acquittals, and convicts Andure and Kalaskar were not linked to the organisation.
One more rape case has been registered against Janata Dal-Secular MP and Lok Sabha poll candidate from Hassan Prajwal Revanna, taking the number of cases pertaining to the alleged sexual abuse of several women to three, police sources said.

IMAGE: Prajwal Revanna campaigning in Holenarasipura. Photograph: @iPrajwalRevanna on X

The first information report (FIR) was registered against Prajwal on May 8 in Bengaluru, according to sources in the Special Investigation Team which was constituted for a probe after a huge cache of explicit videos allegedly showing Prajwal sexually abusing several women became public.

A case has been registered under Indian Penal Code 376(2)(N), 376(2)(K), 354(A), 354(B), 354(C) and 506 of the IPC was registered.

These cases pertain to repeated rape, voyeurism, filming, demand for sexual favours, dragging by clothes, molestation and threatening.

The details of the victim have not been shared by the SIT sources.

Prajwal is the grandson of former prime minister and JD-S supremo H D Deve Gowda and stood for the April 26 Lok Sabha election in Hassan as the National Democratic Alliance candidate. His party had formed an alliance with the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2023.

Just before the election, the videos went viral on social media.

The first FIR pertains to molestation of his cook in Holenarasipura in Hassan.

Prajwal's father and Holenarasipura MLA H D Revanna is also an accused in the case. The second case pertains to raping a JD-S worker at gunpoint.

H D Revanna is already lodged in the Central Jail at Parappara Agrahara under judicial custody after a 20-year-old youth alleged that Revanna and his aide kidnapped his mother.

The youth said his mother had figured in one of the videos where she was allegedly tied and raped by Prajwal.

The Hassan MP is at large and is believed to be hiding abroad.

A Blue Corner notice of the Interpol seeking information on his whereabouts has been issued against Prajwal.

Whistleblower booked for sexual harassment

Meanwhile, a case of sexual harassment has been registered against Bharatiya Janata Party leader G Devaraje Gowda from Hassan, who had written to the saffron party leadership before it formed an alliance with the JD-S, flagging Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual abuse of several women, police said on Friday.

The FIR was registered against Devaraje Gowda, who is an advocate, on April 1 but it has come to light only recently after his whistleblowing in the Prajwal Revanna case.

Devaraje Gowda was the one who had alerted the BJP leadership last year about Prajwal Revanna's alleged sexual abuse of several women, and cautioned the saffron party not to give a Lok Sabha ticket to the JD-S MP from Hassan.

The BJP entered into an alliance with the JD-S last year.

Devaraje Gowda, who contested the 2023 assembly election against Prajwal's father and Holenarasipura MLA H D Revanna -- also accused in a case of molestation and another for abduction -- had blamed the Congress leadership in Karnataka for leaking the sexual abuse videos.

Devaraje Gowda has been booked on a complaint by a 36-year-old woman from Hassan district, who alleged that he molested her on the pretext of helping her sell her property.

The BJP leader was not available for comment.
Bharatiya Janata Party's Sandeshkhali leader Gangadhar Koyal on Friday moved the Calcutta high court, claiming that technology-aided videos mimicking his voice were being circulated in a bid to defame him, and prayed for security be provided to him by central agencies.

IMAGE: Ten victims of Sandeshkhali came to participate in an election campaign in support of BJP candidate from Bolpur Parliamentary constituency Priya Saha ahead of the upcoming Lok-Sabha polls outside Bolpur railway station in Birbhum district of West Bengal on April 18, 2024. Photograph: ANI Photo

The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal had earlier this week shared a video of an alleged sting operation featuring Koyal.

In the purported video, the veracity of which could not be confirmed by PTI, a man resembling Koyal was seen claiming that allegations of sexual abuse in Sandeshkhali were 'staged'.

Claiming that such purported videos were creating tension in Sandeshkhali and that he was apprehending a threat to his safety, Koyal sought an order by the court for granting him central force security.

The court of Justice Jay Sengupta is likely to hear the petition on Monday, a lawyer representing him, said.

Stating that he has already met CBI officials over the alleged use of his fake voice, Koyal also sought for a direction to the central agency to probe the matter.

The CBI is investigating alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas on an order of the Calcutta high court.

Meanwhile, as the TMC accused National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma of 'abusing her authority and being involved in a conspiracy' in Sandeshkhali, the NCW asserted that the women were coerced into retracting their complaints.

Stating TMC's intention to move EC against Sharma, West Bengal minister and TMC spokesperson Shashi Panja on Friday alleged that the NCW chairperson acted on 'political bias' over the allegations and 'encouraged women of the area to level false allegations of sexual atrocities'.

Later in the day, the NCW in a letter to the poll panel claimed that women from the riverine area were being 'compelled' to withdraw their complaints by TMC workers given the ongoing Lok Sabha polls and sought an inquiry from the Election Commission in the matter.

"It has come to the notice of the Commission that the women of Sandeshkhali are being compelled to withdraw their complaints by TMC workers as they are the ruling party in West Bengal," the women's panel said.

NCW chairperson Rekha Sharma, after visiting Sandeshkali in February, had recommended to President Droupadi Murmu that President's Rule be imposed in West Bengal over alleged atrocities on women and violence in Sandeshkhali.

Multiple purported videos of Sandeshkhali women shared by the TMC on Thursday claimed that a local saffron party leader made those women sign on blank papers which were later filled up as complaints of sexual assault.

The women in those purported videos claimed they were asked by local BJP worker Piyali Das to appear in person at the local police station and relate their ordeal before the NCW team which had visited Sandeshkhali to take stock of the situation.

The women later alleged that they never intended to lodge sexual assault complaints but were surprised to find such complaints filed in their names allegedly in the wake of the blank papers they were made to sign by Das.

Based on a complaint, police have filed an FIR against Das for coercing the women to 'file false complaints'.

The TMC spokesperson claimed that the BJP was trying to create an 'ecosystem' over allegations of atrocities in Sandeshkhali and that it was attempting to use various organisations for the purpose.

She alleged that although the BJP central leadership was regularly visiting West Bengal for poll campaigns, they have stopped talking about Sandeshkhali in the wake of the fresh developments from the ground.

"It is shameful that NCW has turned into BJP's commission. We had heard about the Pulwama conspiracy in 2019, and now we are witnessing how the BJP hatches a conspiracy to malign us and the people of the state," TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee said.

The rights panel requested the poll body to ensure that women are not compelled to withdraw their complaints due to threat from TMC workers.

The Commission requested the EC to look into the matter on priority and ensure that women are not compelled to withdraw their complaints due to the threat from TMC workers.

"The TMC party workers are instilling fear among the women of Sandeshkhali to suppress the victims from coming forward with their complaints potentially impacting the fairness of the election process in the area," the NCW claimed.

Since last Saturday, three videos have been released by a portal, with the first one showing a man who claimed to be a BJP mandal president in Sandeshkhali was heard saying that the leader of the opposition in the West Bengal assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, was behind the 'whole conspiracy'.

The second video was about women, who had earlier filed rape complaints, claiming that they were made to sign a blank paper by the BJP leaders and coerced to go to the police station.

The third video showed the BJP candidate from Basirhat constituency and Sandeshkhali protestor Rekha Patra claiming that she 'doesn't know the rape survivors who were taken to Delhi to meet the President'.

Reacting to TMC's claim, the BJP dubbed it baseless and accused them of circulating 'fake videos'.

"The TMC is using fake videos to change the narrative ahead of the polls. The TMC has the least regard for NCW or the dignity of the women of Sandeshkhali. All the videos released are fake and doctored," BJP state spokesperson Samik Bhattacharya said.

The riverine Sandeshkhali area -- situated on the borders of the Sundarbans, about 100 kilometres from Kolkata -- had been on the boil in February with protests over allegations of sexual abuse and land grab against now arrested TMC leader Shajahan Sheikh and his supporters.
On Thursday, May 9, 2024, Hungarians in Budapest used the beloved children's book character Winnie The Pooh to protest against Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to their country.

Over the years Winnie the Pooh has been used to represent -- and criticise -- Xi Jinping.

The comparisons started since 2013 when an image of Xi walking with then US president Barack Obama sparked comparisons between them and Winnie the Pooh.

As a result, Chinese officials have censored images of the cartoon bear.

Chinese social media users were also blocked from posting references to Winnie the Pooh in 2017.

In August 2018, Chinese censors banned the release of Christopher Robin, a film adaptation of A A Milne's beloved story about Winnie the Pooh.

On March 21, 2023, another film Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey written and directed by British film-maker Rhys Frake-Waterfield was removed at the last minute from theatres in Hong Kong and Macau.

IMAGE: A protestor dressed as Winnie the Pooh gestures as people gather to protest against Xi Jinping's Hungary visit. All Photographs: Bernadett Szabo/Reuters

IMAGE: Protestors walk with a protestor dressed as Winnie the Pooh.

IMAGE: A protestor dressed as Winnie the Pooh.

IMAGE: Protestors wearing shirts with images of Winnie the Pooh.

Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
BJP candidate Rajeev Chandrasekhar's wife and son who keep themselves far from the political limelight reveal what it is like to campaign for the first time.

IMAGE: Rajeev Chandrasekhar, the Bharatiya Janata Party's Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha candidate, during a roadshow from Vandithadam to Udiyankulangara. Photograph: Kind courtesy Rajeev Chandrasekhar/X

On a hot summer day in Thiruvanthapuram, Anju and Ved, Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar's wife and son casually look for seating in the hotel lobby.

They are unaccompanied, no political or hotel staff escorts them. The mother-son quietly find a sofa, order a hot and cold coffee and settle down without a whiff of importance that one expects from politicians, their families and staff.

In Thiruvanthapuram, the BJP's Rajeev Chandrasekhar is in a close contest with Congressman Shashi Tharoor and the CPI's P Raveendran -- it is Kerala's most watched fight in this election.

Mrs Chandrasekhar had travelled from their home in Bengaluru to campaign for her husband. Most of her campaigning was done separately, meeting groups of people, going door to door etc over three-and-a-half weeks.

In the last few days, she was joined by her son Ved, who worked for Cred for a year, then moved to Jupiter Capital founded by his father, and is soon moving to its subsidiary company that deals with deep tech.

Although Rajeev Chandrasekhar has been a Rajya Sabha MP since 2006, this is the first foray in a Lok Sabha election, the House of the People.

Like all candidates who have been braving the intense summer heat, Chandrasekhar had been out there seeking votes amongst the people since March 4. After his constituency voted on April 26, he moved to Delhi as one of the BJP's spokespersons during the campaign.

"Rajeev is driven by service. It is fabulous that he got this opportunity. He has converted this into a mission and ran a different kind of campaign," says wife Anju, adding that she herself was full of trepidation when she first stepped into the field.

The couple hails from Kerala, but built a home and life in Bengaluru. They met in the United States and had an arranged marriage. After Mr Chandrasekhar was handpicked to contest the high-profile seat which many believe could bring the BJP's first Lok Sabha victory in Kerala, they rented a flat in the city.

Both Chandrasekhar and Raveendran, the BJP and CPI candidates, could not vote because the former is a registered voter in Bengaluru and the latter in Kannur.

Photograph: Archana Masih for Rediff.com IMAGE: Anju Chandrasekhar with son Ved during the interview.

"My dad is extremely patriotic. He wanted to be an IAF pilot like his father, but couldn't because of his vision. He has always wanted to bring about change," says Ved, polite and relaxed as he sits beside his mother.

Educated abroad like his parents, Ved returned to India and has been working in Bengaluru.

The Chandrasekhars' daughter, Devika, is a lawyer in London, and was in constant touch with her brother and mother to keep herself informed about the going-ons of the campaign, sending messages at 4.30 am UK time to keep up with her father's poll debut.

"This was a new experience for all of us. I had never gone out asking for votes before. I can ask people to vote for Prime Minister Modi, but how do I tell people to vote for my husband? It was not easy at first, but I learnt quickly," says Anju Chandrasekhar.

She says even though their Malayalam is not perfect, both her husband and she can read and write the language.

"I told people in Malayalam, 'You have voted for one person for 15 years. Give him one chance and you will not be disappointed," says Mrs Chandrasekhar who is an admirer of the prime minister.

One of the things that she prayed for was Rajeev's health through the two gruelling summer months. "He lost his voice once, thankfully nothing besides that."

IMAGE: BJP supporters wave party flags during Rajeev Chandrasekhar's roadshow. Photograph: Kind courtesy Rajeev Chandrasekhar/X

Though Chandrasekhar joined the BJP in 2018, the family has continued to live in Bengaluru and has stayed away from the political spotlight.

"We haven't met any of the big BJP leaders, in fact we haven't met any politicians and do not have much of a connection with political life," says Mrs Chandrasekhar who speaks in a soft and calm voice.

"In the last 5 years, we have barely met dad, forget any other politicians," interjects Ved in good humour as mother-son laugh in a friendly chat, sharing their thoughts with relaxed ease.

"Life hasn't really changed because he is in politics, except that we don't see much of him. We are in Bangalore, away from the Delhi culture," continues Anju Chandrasekhar.

Her husband has followed a busy schedule especially after becoming a minister. The family hasn't taken a holiday together for three years which gives a sense of the tight ship run by the prime minister.

Chandrasekhar did not get time to attend his children's graduation overseas -- and when he comes home to Bengaluru for the weekend once in two-three months, there are always some political matters to attend to in the city.

He used to be a music buff, but doesn't find time for that any more, says his wife.

"There have been times I have called him before boarding a flight to Delhi and when I land, I come to know he has flown to Shimoga or Mizoram," says Ved with a laugh.

"But we love what he is doing. It is fabulous. His work ethic is such that there is no tomorrow," adds Mrs Chandrasekhar.

Photograph: Archana Masih for Rediff.com IMAGE: Anju Chandrasekhar with her son Ved.

Mother and son say that they understand the importance of Chandrasekhar's work which is his mission and want to give him all the space he needs.

"I would say it has been an adjustment for us; I wouldn't say it has been tough," says Ved who himself has had an informative experience campaigning for his father.

"People are hyper politicised in Kerala, say compared to Bengaluru, where many a times people don't even know their polling booth or their candidates."

"Everybody has a political opinion in Kerala and whether that opinion is based on fact, fiction or ideology is irrelevant," he continues.

Baffled about the spread of false information, especially on Manipur, through WhatsApp forwards, he says, "People get information from random WhatsApp forwards which should not be taken seriously, but here it was gospel truth."

The other revelation for him was the card carrying, die-hard voters of the two entrenched political formations in the state.

"As a son of a BJP MP, if the BJP is not doing what I see for my future or my constituency, I will not vote for them, but here whether a party delivers or not, the voters will support it," Ved says.

"I met a retired Congress voter who insisted on voting Congress without looking at the candidate's track record, development performance, vision for the future, data or logic. But when you talk to them point on point, they have no counter argument," says Ved.

At the same time, he was overwhelmed by the support for his dad, especially among the youth.

"He has a stellar track record, if I may say so myself, and that is what will make people vote for him."

And what if he is defeated?

"We don't speak about that, we focus on the goal. We will cross that bridge when we get there and if we get there," he says.

And if he wins, would he get a higher profile in Modi 3.0?

"Touch wood! All that we don't know yet," quips Mrs Chandrasekhar.

On the way out, she shares a family nugget that would be familiar with many of us who are on family WhatsApp groups.

Theirs is called the 'Chandrasekhars' where the most active member is Mr Chandrasekhar.

"He posts more than all of us and once got so annoyed because both kids were not posting back that he took them out of the group which left only Rajeev and me on the group!" she laughs.

"He sends a lot of funny stuff," says Ved giving a sense of of the family's posts in the digital meeting place that has unified friends, families and loved ones around the world -- which makes them seem just like any other family.

Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
'Whether she is in power or not, she always makes it a point to visit us. This is her best quality as a leader.'

Photographs: Umar Ganie for Rediff.com IMAGE: Mehbooba Mufti acknowledges the crowds during an election roadshow in Anantnag-Rajouri.

One word describes the election mood in Kashmir. Thanda (cold).

But when Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti hits the road, the thanda mood is transformed and thousands follow her to hear what she is saying.

Many youngsters are seen wearing the PDP bandana, and some of them climb on jeep tops to wave PDP flags to show solidarity with her.

As we leave her home in Srinagar with a group of supporters to reach our first destination, Awantipora in Anantnag district, we cross the Srinagar-Pulwama highway where 40 Central Reserve Police Force soldiers were martyred in February 2019.



To one's surprise there is no memorial at the spot where 40 jawans were martyred; the only sign is that there is heavy security in the area.

After passing the Srinagar-Pulwama highway, Mehbooba stops the convoy at Awantipora and gets down to make a speech where around 5,000 people assemble to hear her.

"Respond to New Delhi for its action in 2019 by voting on May 25," Mehbooba tells the voters amidst cheers, alluding to the Modi government's decision to revoke Article 370 five years ago.

Posters show her with the PDP's Srinagar candidate Waheed Ur Rehman Para alongside poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz's verse: 'Bol ki lab azaad hain tere, bol zaban ab tak teri hai'.

Mehbooba is contesting from Anantnag-Rajouri where elections were to be held on May 7 but were postponed to May 25.

The Election Commission of India heeded the requests of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Democratic Progressive Azad Party, the Apni Party and the People's Conference which argued that snowfall and landslides had blocked the Mughal road connecting Anantnag and Rajouri, making campaigning difficult.

Though Mehbooba opposed the move, the Election Commission rescheduled the election for May 25.

Anantnag, which comprises Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam and Anantnag districts, has 16 assembly constituencies.

Mehbooba is contesting against the Apni Party's Zafar Minhas and National Conference leader Altaf Ahmed. The BJP supports the Apni Party candidate.

IMAGE: The PDP motorcade winds its way through Tral.

The belief in her opponents is that there is a section of Kashmiris who blame her for the alliance with the BJP that ultimately led to the revocation of Article 370.

But on the ground her popularity seems to be intact in Anantnag.

Riyaz Dar, a first time voter and a supporter of Mehbooba, says, "I have seen Mehbooba coming to our hometown since childhood. Whether she is in power or not, she always makes it a point to visit us. This is her best quality as a leader. I don't see this in other Kashmiri political leaders."

After a short speech Mehbooba's convoy leaves for Tral.

'I am youth. I am PDP' posters greet Mehbooba as her convoy passes among Kashmiris eagerly waiting to catch a glimpse of her.

The convoy passes the 8th century Martand temple at high speed before reaching Tral.

When I walk around to check the mood of voters I only encounter silence.

"No one will speak to you on politics," says one shopkeeper. "This is Tral."

After I try to speak to a dozen more people, I realise the shopkeeper is right.

Tral is where the Hizbul Mujahideen's poster boy Burhan Wani operated from. He was the first Kashmiri terrorist to use social media before he was slain by the Indian Army in July 2016. His death led to massive protests across Kashmir.

Tral became synonymous with Wani and I guess outsiders like me with questions are unwelcome here.

Later, Mehbooba tells me why. "Nobody speaks in Tral because they feel if they speak they will be arrested. The situation is so bad that even if you post something on social media about power cuts the police will land at your house and tell you to remove the post or get ready to be booked under the Public Safety Act. This is the kind of surveillance happening here."

IMAGE: Mehbooba recites the fatiha along with her supporters during the roadshow.

Mehbooba asks the people of Tral not to fear as they have been wrongly labelled for years.

"Our children studying in other parts of the country become targets because of their identity, because of where they belong. We sell our lands, send our children to get good education and they end up being targeted," Mehbooba says in her speech.

"The people of Tral epitomise resilience and patience. Salute to the people of Tral for their unwavering support," she says, winding up her speech.

The campaign trail comes to a sudden end because the authorities have not granted her permission to visit other places on her schedule.

"I wanted to go to many places, but the administration did not give me permission. I don't know why, Mehbooba tells reporters before ending her roadshow.

"I wanted to campaign more, but unfortunately cannot."
The Congress is contesting 328 seats in the ongoing elections -- the lowest since Independence.

Photograph: ANI Photo

When the Congress was at its peak in 1957, nearly a third of all candidates contesting Lok Sabha elections belonged to the party.

Times change: This year less than 5 per cent candidates belong to the Congress, according to calculations based on data from Ashoka University, the Election Commission of India, and the party's Web site.

The Congress is contesting 328 seats in the ongoing elections -- the lowest since Independence. It works out to around 4.95 per cent of the more than 6,600 candidates in the first five phases of the seven-round elections.

The number is likely to decline as data for the last two phases come in. The party's lowest candidate share was in the 1996 elections -- 3.79 per cent (chart 1).

Before these elections, the Congress typically contested in more than 80 per cent of the constituencies, or in more than 400. It fielded candidates in 421 seats in 2019, 464 in 2014, 440 in 2009 and 417 in 2004 (its lowest absolute number of candidates before 2024).

The highest tally was in 1996 when the party put up candidates in 529 seats, but its percentage share declined largely because the number of nominees overall surged.

In the first Lok Sabha elections in 1951, the Congress contested on 479 of the 489 seats in the Parliament then.

The Congress accepting the seat-sharing demands of coalition partners, some party leaders not contesting elections, and the rejection and withdrawal of candidature in some instances limited the number of seats the party is competing in 2024, Business Standard reported earlier.

The party has given its allies in the INDIA bloc 101 seats, most of them in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar and Tamil Nadu.

More than 70 per cent of Congress candidates won elections in the 1950s, a trend that continued into the 1970s. Just 12.5 per cent of party candidates won the 2019 elections (chart 2).
Brattleboro, VT (05301)

Today

Sunny. High 68F. Winds NW at 10 to 15 mph..

Tonight

Mostly clear early followed by cloudy skies overnight. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 34F. Winds light and variable.
An upcoming conversation will present the results of a two-year effort to better understand and recognize the Bellows Falls petroglyph site.
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.

BRATTLEBORO  This summer is packed with projects being undertaken by the Department of Public Works.

"It's ambitious but we think we can get through it all this summer," Dan Tyler, director of public works, said at the Select Board meeting Tuesday.

Factored into the schedule are the budget, grant opportunities and other projects.

Brattleboro modernizes financial, asset management system BRATTLEBORO  A successful pitch from town staff resulted in adopting more modern financial 

Brattleboro is starting to implement the OpenGov asset management platform, which will help guide the department's planning. A recent town-wide pavement assessment also will provide more data for planning, budgeting and decision making, according to a memo from Tyler.

Tyler said the summer schedule shows "an emphasis" on sidewalk projects. A list identifies sections of Fairground Road, Clark Avenue, Linden Street and Western Avenue.

During the 2026 and 2027 construction season, the Vermont Agency of Transportation is expected to resurface all Class 1 roadways in town. That's set to include Putney Road, Main Street, Canal Street, Linden Street, High Street, Western Avenue and Vernon Street.

Excluded from the VTrans scope of work are sidewalks. Tyler said his department identified several sections of sidewalk along the routes that are in "poor condition and would ideally be replaced prior to the paving project."

Several other sections of sidewalks along Class 1 routes will need to be replaced, Tyler said. He suggested a section on Western Avenue from approximately Glen Street to Greenleaf Street would "make the most sense to contract," and could be covered by the capital roadway improvement line at a cost of about $250,000.

A repaving of the lower Birge Street neighborhood is planned after floodplain restoration work is completed in the area. Also, crack sealing and patching/overlay efforts are planned in various parts of town.

Grant funding is being sought to repave Greenleaf Street. If budgeting allows, sections of Black Mountain Road and Kipling Road could be paved as well.

Stormwater improvements continue to be focused on gravel roads, Tyler said. He described grant funding as continuing "to be strong for these projects."

Plans are being developed for the Brannen Street retaining wall and the Akely Road bridge, according to the memo. The projects are anticipated to be advertised soon.

Tyler said his team is still waiting grant approval from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to stabilize Williams Street due to an ongoing washout.

"This project is planned and can be advertised immediately upon receiving word," he wrote.

Much of the roadway improvement planning is being done in concert with the utility distribution and storage crew's plans, according to the memo. In addition to general distribution and collection system maintenance, the crew identified sections of water and sewer main on Greenhill Parkway that need to be replaced before paving can occur.

Brattleboro water treatment plant project delayed by year BRATTLEBORO  With supply chain issues delaying the major Pleasant Valley Water Treatment Fa

Upgrades at the Pleasant Valley Water Treatment Facility are scheduled to wrap up this summer. Construction of the new Retreat Sewer Pump Station is underway and is set to be completed this summer.

Tyler said the wastewater crew will be cleaning and maintaining the plant and pump station infrastructure this summer.

Asked for his opinion on the Western Avenue bike lanes that have ushered in complaints from the public, Tyler said the department looked at different alternatives via a scoping study and grant project through VTrans.

"There was a lot of community input," he said. "People were excited about it and I think there was a big push for us to implement it, and we did that too fast and it was kind of incomplete in places."

Tyler said the intent is to repaint the new configuration this summer. He also expects for VTrans to weigh in as it plans its paving projects.

"I think we need to give it another chance," he said. "It hasn't had a fair shake."

Some of the projects planned for summer might get bumped out to next spring, Tyler said.
You are the owner of this article.
A Michigan man arrested last month in Mandan in connection with the discovery of illegal drugs retrieved from a toilet pleaded not guilty Monday to possession with intent to deliver fentanyl and tampering with evidence.

James Sanders Jr., of Warren, Michigan, was denied a modification to bond restrictions. Defense attorney William Thomason requested that Sanders, who's in custody on a $10,000 bond, be allowed to leave the state until his trial. Thomason cited support of family back in Michigan, the fact that Sanders' girlfriend is pregnant with his child, and his relative youth, being 20 years old.

Assistant Morton County State's Attorney Chase Lingle opposed Thomason's motion, saying there's no guarantee Sanders would return for trial if he posted bond.

South Central District Judge Jackson Lofgren agreed with Lingle's position and denied the request.

Sanders was arrested in late March when law officers served a search warrant on a residence in the 400 block of First Street Southeast. The residence is where a person subject to unannounced searches as a condition of parole or probation is known to live, according to an affidavit.

The document states officers discovered a number of people inside, including Sanders, who was reportedly detained after being observed leaving a bathroom.

Officers searching the bathroom discovered a large quantity of suspected fentanyl pills in the toilet, according to the affidavit. The exact number of pills isn't disclosed, but the weight is reported as being approximately 50 grams. Previous reporting on fentanyl arrests reveals pills similar to those seized in Sanders' case weigh roughly a tenth of a gram apiece. Based on those calculations, the number of pills recovered would be roughly 500.

The affidavit states officers also discovered a large, undisclosed amount of money in a duffle bag inside the bedroom where the homeowner said Sanders was staying. The homeowner reportedly told investigators Sanders had been dropped off at the residence earlier that day with a duffle bag.

Sanders reportedly denied any knowledge of the drugs, telling officers he was eating food in the bathroom when they arrived and didn't know officers were in the home until he came out of the bathroom despite them announcing their presence as they entered the house, the affidavit said.

Sanders' trial is scheduled to begin July 23. If convicted on the most serious charge, he would face a potential sentence of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $20,000.
One of several air filters placed around Bellows Falls Union High School in Westminster to help with the PCB levels.
To the Editor: In response to the article "Housing feud prompts picket," in the May 11 Reformer, I am attesting to the character and commitmen
MANCHESTER  Manchester residents have been encouraged to lock up their trash, grill, and other items that may attract bears following repeat sightings of a large, limping black bear in downtown Manchester.

The injured bear is not the only one frequenting downtown Manchester  in fact, it is but one figure in a growing problem for the town and others like it.

The community as a whole has been dealing with multiple bears regularly spending time in town for the last few years now, explained Wildlife Biologist Jaclyn Comeau, who served as Black Bear Project Leader for the Vermont Department of Fish & Wildlife. This bear in particular has been on Game Warden Kyle Isherwoods radar since April, he said, with a call coming in about it every three or four days since.

Such encounters have historically been most frequent in rural areas, Comeau said, but thats changed in recent years. Now, busier and denser areas like downtown Manchester are seeing a spike in bear activity.

Ten years ago most of our bear issues were happening in really rural communities, Comeau said. Over the past four to five years weve been seeing a dramatic shift where towns like Manchester do tend to be the ones we hear from more frequently.

Bears have learned that there is a lot of easy to access food in these more heavily residential areas, she continued, so they are changing their behavior and keying in on those places.

Though the image of the limping bear has stirred the hearts of many in Manchester, officials say that its contact with humans poses a much bigger threat to the creature. Residents can play an important role in helping the bear recover by removing food sources and thus encouraging it and others to leave town.

Were heartened by the publics concern for this individual bear, Comeau said. If people feel motivated to do something to help it, they should focus on strategies to prevent attracting this bear and others into town.

The bears injury most likely resulted from an encounter with human-made structures, she wagered, but the odds are good that the creature can recover on its own. There is no way to treat an adult bear for a limb injury, and trying to do so would be more traumatic than letting the bear recover naturally, Comeau explained.

Unfortunately, she said, navigating busy roads in pursuit of human caused foods like garbage, birdfeeders and chickens poses a much greater threat to the bear's quality of life.

Weve got to figure out a better system for garbage storage, because what were doing now is not working, Comeau said.

Increasing bear activity is not just a problem in Vermont, but throughout bear country according to Comeau. Though Fish & Wildlife has historically focused on this kind of individual outreach, she agreed that more concerted efforts may be useful in combating this growing trend.

I do think there is a lot of value in communities starting to think more about the big picture, she said. We are starting to talk to larger entities to get them to start thinking of strategies that are more far reaching and can support residents and visitors.

There is no one-size-fits-all solution, Comeau said, but some communities throughout Canada and the northern United States have begun to embrace strategies like ordinances that mandate garbage storage and local support systems that help to educate residents and visitors.

Manchester would be a great place to start thinking about big picture strategies, she said. For most of those communities who have taken steps, they do see real, meaningful change.

You can learn more about how to prevent conflicts and be a good neighbor to Vermonts bears at: https://vtfishandwildlife.com/learn-more/living-with-wildlife/living-with-black-bears
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.

Lisa Jablow writes from Brattleboro. The opinions expressed by columnists and op-ed writers do not necessarily reflect the views of Vermont News & Media.
Residents from nearly 60 villages downstream have appealed to authorities for help.

The Sesan River, a tributary of the Mekong River, on May 3, 2024.

Authorities in Vietnam have stopped water flowing from a dam near the Cambodian border for two months, causing water levels in the Sesan River to drop or even run dry, affecting nearly 60 villages downstream in Cambodia, residents told Radio Free Asia.

The drop in the water level of the Sesan  a tributary of the Mekong River  has caused water shortages in the villages, made it hard to fish and affected the biodiversity of the river, they said. Its also hurt tourism to the area.

The problem is affecting 57 villages in four districts in Ratanakkiri province, northeastern Cambodia, and residents have appealed to the government to talk to officials in Vietnam to address the issue related to the Sesan Yali Dam, they said.

It wasnt immediately clear why Vietnam had stopped water from flowing through the Sesan Yali Dam, but residents said it does happen from time to time.

The authorities should coordinate with their counterparts in Vietnam so that this is no longer a problem, Ear Vuth, a representative of an indigenous community in the area, told RFA Khmer.

If the water in the river has a problem like this, tourists will not come to visit the area, he said. That in turn stops the villagers from earning income."

So far authorities have done nothing to solve the issue, Klan Yan, the chief of another village, told RFA.

"Recently, people are fishing using banned nets and sometimes electric shock at night, he said. As the local authority, I dont know who I have to talk to, and Vietnam is another country entirely.

RFA was not able to reach provincial governor Nhem Sam Oeun and Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology spokesman Chan Yutha, or the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia for comment.

Turning off the water for people living downstream in another country is against the law and international principles, said Leang Bunleap, the executive director of an organization called the 3 Rivers Protection Network, or 3SPN.

"We should request that the Vietnamese government open the water to a level appropriate to the natural flow, and If they close the dam gate, they should let us know in advance, he said. It is very important for us to  share information with each other in accordance with national and international principles for the common good."

Translated by Sum Sok Ry. Edited by Eugene Whong and Malcolm Foster.
Move comes amid concerns American-made technology was being used for military purposes.

A woman looks at a new iPhone 15 Pro and a Huawei Mate 60 Pro in Shanghai, China September 22, 2023.

The United States on Friday blacklisted 37 Chinese companies it said were buying American-made components to build spy balloons, drones and quantum computing facilities for the countrys military.

Among the 37 firms were 22 accused of participation in the quantum technology sector, 11 accused of ties to building spy balloons and four with alleged ties to the production of unmanned drones. Some also are believed to have shipped items to Russia for the war in Ukraine.

The sanctions bring the number of Chinese firms banned from dealings with American companies to 355 since the Biden administration took office in 2021, according to a statement from the U.S. Department of Commerce, which called the figure a record for any administration.

Alan Estevez, the under secretary of commerce for industry and security who has led the sanctions effort, said the blacklistings were due to significant national security concerns over how the firms were using American-made technology for military purposes.

Todays action is another decisive step in addressing challenges posed by the Peoples Republic of China and its military modernization, Estevez said. We must remain vigilant in our efforts to prevent entities such as these from accessing U.S. technologies that could be used in ways that harm our national security.

Alan Estevez, Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security, testifies about China, to the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Feb. 28, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (Jacquelyn Martin/AP)

Matthew Axelrod, the assistant secretary of commerce for export enforcement, said that China acquiring advanced quantum computing capabilities, which would provide computing power dwarfing current abilities, would provide Beijing with destabilizing capabilities.

Preventing Chinese companies from acquiring technologies that enable the  quantum, drone, and high-altitude surveillance programs is critical to protecting U.S. national security, Axelrod said.

Chinas Embassy in Washington did not respond to a request for comment.

Huawei licenses

The new sanctions follow a move by the Department of Commerce on Tuesday to revoke licenses from U.S. companies including Intel and Qualcomm that had allowed them to sell components to Huawei.

Under the Trump administration, Huawei was in 2019 added to a Department of Commerce list that requires American companies to obtain licenses before exporting any items to the company.

Intel and Qualcomm were both granted such licenses in 2020, also under then-President Donald Trump. Last month, though, Huawei unveiled its first AI-capable laptop, the MateBook X Pro, which is powered by an advanced processor produced by Intel.

Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement Matthew Axelrod of the U.S. Commerce Department, speaks during a news conference at the Department of Justice in Washington, Tuesday, May 16, 2023. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

That followed the release of the advanced Huawei Mate 60 Pro smartphone last year. Both products led to Republican lawmakers in the United States raising questions about export restrictions.

Leading Republicans, including Rep. Elise Stefanik, a contender for the vice presidential slot on the partys presidential ticket in November, praised the license revocations as a boon to national security and even claimed credit for making them happen.

I will continue to conduct critical oversight to ensure that the Bureau of Industry and Security takes its role as a national security agency seriously by adding more companies to the entity list and revoking additional licenses if needed, Stefanik said in a statement.

We cannot provide Communist China with any technology developed in the U.S. that would give them an advantage, she said.

Republican Conference Chair Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., during a hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, April 17, 2024. (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

But the move was less popular in Beijing, which has accused the United States of blocking Chinese companies from trading with American counterparts in order to disadvantage them competitively.

China resolutely opposes the United States overstretching the concept of national security and abusing export controls to suppress Chinese companies without justification, Chinas Foreign Ministry said.

Edited by Malcolm Foster
The senior U.S. official for North Korea met with her Chinese counterpart in Tokyo and expressed concern about the forcible repatriation of North Koreans from China, the U.S. State Department said.

During Thursdays discussions with Chinas Special Representative on Korean Peninsula Affairs Liu Xiaoming, Jung Pak noted North Koreas provocative and irresponsible rhetoric toward its neighbors, the department said in a statement.

She [Pak] also expressed continued U.S. concerns regarding the forcible repatriation of North Koreans, including asylum seekers, to the DPRK and called on Beijing to uphold its non-refoulement obligations, said the department. DPRK, or the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is North Koreas official name.

The U.N. principle of non-refoulement is supposed to guarantee that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and other irreparable harm.

Pak also stressed concern about Pyongyangs deepening military cooperation with Moscow, saying that Russias veto of a mandate extension for a U.N. panel that monitored North Korean sanctions would hamper efforts to implement U.N. Security Council resolutions, according to the statement.

Paks remarks came after international non-governmental organization Human Rights Watch published a report on Wednesday saying China had recently forcibly returned about 60 North Koreans.

The Chinese government forcibly returned about 60 North Korean refugees on April 26, putting them at grave risk of enforced disappearance, torture, sexual violence, wrongful imprisonment, forced labor, and execution, said HRW.

It cited Stephen Kim, the pseudonym of an underground missionary, as saying that the Chinese government had forcibly returned the North Koreans from Chinas Jilin and Liaoning provinces.

Kim told HRW that the Chinese authorities had apprehended at least 92 North Koreans since January but could not confirm whether anyone among the 92 was forcibly returned on April 26, adding that it was highly unlikely.

This round of forced returns came soon after North Korean leader Kim Jong Un met with Chinas third highest official, Zhao Leji, on April 13. HRW noted that the meeting had raised concerns among North Koreans in exile and rights activists that China might speed up forced repatriations of North Koreans.

Beijing routinely labels North Koreans as illegal economic migrants and forcibly repatriates them under a 1986 bilateral border protocol with Pyongyang.

Chinas foreign ministry said in October last year there were no North Korean defectors in China but North Koreans had illegally entered for economic reasons and that China always handled the issue according to the law.

HRW earlier reported that it confirmed China had forcibly returned more than 670 North Koreans since Pyongyang closed its northern border in early 2020. This includes more than 500 North Koreans on Oct. 9, 2023; 40 on Sept. 18, 2023; 80 on Aug. 29, 2023; and about 50 in July 2021.

In Tokyo, Pak also discussed North Korea with her South Korean and Japanese counterparts and underscored the importance of maintaining close trilateral cooperation in addressing issues around North Korea, including security threat, human rights and humanitarian challenges created by the North, the department said in a separate statement.

Edited by Mike Firn.
Anti-junta forces were meeting at a monastery when the junta attacked by air, witnesses say.

A junta aerial bombardment burned down a monastery in Kyaukhtu district of Saw township in Magway region on May 9, 2024.

Updated May 10, 2024, 04:31 p.m. EDT.

Myanmar junta airstrikes on a gathering of opponents of military rule killed 16 people, including a child, and injured 25, residents and an anti-junta militia member said on Friday.

The anti-military activists were meeting in a Buddhist monastery in Magway region when the aircraft attacked, said a resident of the area who identified himself as Ko Lin. A child was among the dead in the Thursday morning attack in Ah Kyi Pan Pa Lun village in Saw township, he said.

The monastery was hit with firebombs. Eleven or 12 people were caught in the fire, he told Radio Free Asia.

The dead had been cremated and the wounded were being treated, according to groups helping the victims.

Rescuers and residents told RFA that the death toll could rise, as several people remained missing and bodies had yet to be recovered.

"As far as I know, the number of deaths are increasing," said one rescue worker, who declined to be named due to security concerns. "There are still people who are missing, as we can't locate their bodies."

Military 'relentlessly' attacked

In images posted online, rebel fighters and residents can be seen gathering body parts amidst smoke and rubble. Many of the corpses could not immediately be identified, due to the damage caused to heads, limbs and torsos.

Other images showed charred trees, burning structures, and zinc plating scattered in the bombing.

A resident of the area who managed to escape unharmed and identified himself as Ko Lin said junta forces "relentlessly" shelled and fired on the site.

"Despite the bomb falling nearby, I remained unharmed," he said, adding that he had no opportunity to flee because "the sound of the plane came just as bullets hit the area."

RFA tried to contact the juntas spokesperson, Maj. Gen. Zaw Min Tun, by telephone for more details but he did not answer. RFA was also unable to reach Myo Myint, the junta's minister of social affairs and spokesperson for Magway region.

Hotbed of opposition

Myanmars central dry zone, made up of the Sagaing, Magway and Mandalay regions, has become a hotbed of opposition to military rule from the majority ethnic Burman community. Pro-democracy activists took up arms after the military overthrew an elected government in 2021, forming militias known as Peoples Defense Forces (PDF) and allied with ethnic minority insurgent groups that have been battling for self-determination in border regions for decades.

The anti-junta forces have been on the offensive since late last year, making significant gains in several areas.

The junta has used heavy firepower in its battles against PDF fighters in central Myanmar, at times leveling villages and killing numerous civilians, survivors have said.

Three attack runs

A member of Saw townships PDF said the jets attacked from an air base in Tada-U in Mandalay Division.

It seems that the members were being targeted when they were meeting in the monastery, but civilians were also there, said the militia member, who declined to be identified.

He said a jet made three attack runs over the village, dropping six bombs in all.

Thursdays attack on Ah Kyi Pan Pa Lun was the most deadly in the district since the war began, residents said.

According to data compiled by RFA, from the coup until the end of March 2024, military airstrikes and artillery fire have killed at least 1,677 civilians and injured 3,263 others.

Translated by RFA Burmese. Edited by Kiana Duncan and Mike Firn.

This story has been updated to include descriptions of the site after the bombing, as well as comments from rescue workers and residents who witnessed the attack.
Taiwanese authorities said 11 Chinese official vessels intruded into the so-called prohibited and restricted waters around Taiwans outlying Kinmen island, a record number entering its waters at one time.

On Thursday afternoon, seven Chinese vessels, including maritime patrol and fisheries ships, entered Kinmens restricted waters and conducted a maritime exercise there with three Chinese fishing boats, the Taiwanese coast guard said in a statement.

This group of ships was as close as 4 nautical miles (7.4 km) from Liaoluo Bay on Kinmen island, it said.

At the same time, another group of four Chinese coast guard ships entered prohibited waters south of Kinmen.

Prohibited and restricted waters are the tacit boundaries between Taiwans outer islands and Chinas mainland that both sides have been adhering to.

Prohibited waters refer to the territorial waters around Kinmen that extend about halfway to the Chinese coast, or roughly 4 km (2.5 miles) to the north and northwest. Restricted waters extend a little further, about 8 km (5 miles), to the south.

Prohibited and restricted waters around the island of Kinmen. (Taiwan Central News Agency)





Taiwans coast guard dispatched a total of six vessels to monitor and broadcast warnings to the two groups of Chinese ships.

The statement added Chinas activities seriously undermined cross-Strait peace, stability and navigation safety, as well as hurt the feelings of people on both sides of the Strait.

China has yet to respond to the allegation but the armed forces China Military Online website on Thursday posted a feature about what it called regular law enforcement patrols in waters near Kinmen.

Regular patrols

The 11 Chinese ships reportedly stayed for about 90 minutes in the area before heading back to Xiamen on Chinas side. This is the first time the Chinese coast guard has been joined by ships from other Chinese government agencies.

In February, both Taipei and Beijing said they would enforce the law in the waters between Kinmen island and Chinas mainland after an incident that resulted in the deaths of two Chinese men.

China has used the death of its two fishermen to effectively erase the prohibited and restricted boundaries around Kinmen, said Ben Lewis, an independent defense analyst based in Washington who has been tracking Chinese military movements.

The defense ministry in Beijing has recently said that it normalized law enforcement patrols near Kinmen, and this latest incursion is a natural extension of that normalization, Lewis noted.

Experts say in the run up to the inauguration of Taiwans new president, Lai Ching-te, on May 20, there will likely be more such incursions as China has always ramped up military activities ahead of Taiwans major political events.

Kinmen is less than 10 km (6.2 miles) from Chinas Fujian province coast and the restricted and prohibited waters serve as a means for Taiwan to ensure safety and security in a very busy waterway, according to Lewis.

Another analyst, Su Tzu-yun, a research fellow at state-run Taiwans Institute for National Defense and Security Research, explained that the boundaries around outer islands such as Kinmen and Matsu were originally set by Taiwan as defensive cordon lines to safeguard security and regulate maritime traffic and rather than to claim territorial sovereignty.

The Chinese side deliberately ignored Taiwans goodwill and demonstrated unilateralism, which is not conducive to peace in the Taiwan Strait, Su told RFA.

We shall remain vigilant but be careful not to overreact, he said, comparing Taipeis tactic to that of Finland in dealing with Russias invasions of its airspace. Taiwan should appeal to international law and public opinion for support, which would emphasize that the responsibility rests entirely with China.

Edited by Mike Firn and Taejun Kang.
Abdumanap Hakimjan was protecting farmers in Ghulja, which is now the center of a similar land dispute.

A worker walks behind a tractor during planting of a cotton field, as seen during a government organized trip for foreign journalists, near Urumqi in western Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, April 21, 2021.

A Uyghur official from Ghulja county in northwest Chinas Xinjiang region who went missing after opposing development on local farmland is serving a prison term for incitement, Radio Free Asia has learned.

News of the arrest and jailing of Abdumanap Hakimjan, deputy head of the Ghulja County Natural Resources Department, comes amid ongoing tensions over land in the county, where residents say Chinese developers are forcing them to hand over their farms for little or no compensation.

Hakimjan, who is in his 50s, was arrested and imprisoned in 2019, and is currently serving a 10-year sentence in Karabugra Prison in Kunes county, Ghulja county police officers and an anonymous official told RFA, when questioned about his status.

"You won't be able to contact him, claimed one officer, who said her police station is located next to the Natural Resources Department where Hakimjan used to work. He has been sentenced and taken to Kunes.

The officer who, like others interviewed for this report, declined to be named due to security concerns, told RFA she was unaware of the reason for Hakimjans arrest and referred further questions to higher-level authorities.

An officer who answered the phone at the Jelilyuz City Police Department in Ghulja confirmed that Hakimjan is serving time at a prison in Kunes. He is currently serving a sentence near Karabugra, he said. He was arrested due to political issues. I heard he was sentenced to 10 years.

Development measures

Beginning in the 2000s, Chinese authorities in Xinjiang instituted "development measures" carried out under the banner of "concentrating land in the hands of agriculturalists.

In practice, the policy permitted the appropriation of Uyghur farmland by migrants from China, leaving Uyghur farmers without a primary means of livelihood and forcing them to work as laborers on land they once tilled for themselves.

The situation prompted some Uyghur cadres in the Chinese Communist Party to protect the interests of the people they served, to the displeasure of their Chinese counterparts.

An undated photo of a building being demolished in Kasghar's Old City. (Courtesy RFE/RL)

An anonymous official with knowledge of the situation told RFA that in 2013, during Hakimjans tenure as deputy head of the Ghulja County Natural Resources Department, a Chinese company sought to purchase farmland along the Kash River to develop a tourist site that included office buildings and staff quarters.

The Uyghurs who owned the land met with Hakimjan to express their reluctance to sell it and frustration over the pressure they were facing to do so.

Two-faced official

In response, Hakimjan refused the Chinese companys land acquisition proposal, citing legal provisions that prohibited the construction of housing on farmland, the official said.

He assured the farmers that their concerns were valid and advised them to also report the situation to the head of the Natural Resources Department.

Hakimjans refusal angered Chinese leaders with close connections to the company, but they were unable to present an argument as to why his decision should be overruled.

Speaking to RFA, a disciplinary inspection officer with the Natural Resources Department confirmed that Hakimjans decision was justified, stating that it is absolutely forbidden to build residential buildings on cultivated land.

Nonetheless, the official said, Hakimjans actions ultimately led to his placement in a re-education camp in 2017, when authorities began conducting mass arrests of Uyghurs deemed to be opponents of Chinese rule, and his eventual sentencing in 2019.

Hakimjan was viewed as having condoned and encouraged disruptive collective behavior, which was used at his court judgment as evidence of his two-faced nature  a term used by the Chinese Communist Party to describe officials or party members who are either corrupt or ideologically disloyal to the party.

Ghulja land dispute

Confirmation of Hakimjans whereabouts follows the circulation on social media last month of a video showing unidentified people purportedly harvesting farmland belonging to Uyghur residents of Ghuljas Baytoqay and Chighliqmazar villages.

In the video, a woman claims that the land is being seized without the farmers consent and without compensation.

Residents of the two villages, situated along the Ili River, say they have garnered interest from Chinese companies since the 2000s. A surge in tourism development in the Uyghur region in recent years has brought several developers to the picturesque location, they say.

A dog is chained next to the site where a now demolished mosque used to stand in Karakax outside Hotan, Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China, April 29, 2021. (Thomas Peter/Reuters)

RFA Uyghur spoke with a source with knowledge of the situation who said that when residents saw their land being confiscated last month, they promptly reported it to the Ghulja County Natural Resources Department. But the source, who declined to be named citing fear of reprisal, said officials seemed indifferent to their concerns.

When RFA contacted the Ghulja County Natural Resources Department, an official confirmed that we did receive some complaints regarding farmland in Chighliqmazar, but said the matter was not under our jurisdiction.

However, the official said that the Land Administration Bureau, which investigates such cases, had refrained from intervening because the land in question is owned by Chinese companies.

Sold without consent

The source with knowledge of the situation told RFA that Chinese authorities had instructed residents to sell their land to the Chinese companies, promising them greater profitability than farming, but the residents had refused, saying it was integral to their livelihoods and identity.

Nonetheless, he said, village cadres confiscated the farmland and sold it to the Chinese companies at a reduced price, without obtaining consent from the residents.

A security officer on duty in Baytoqay, who said he had been stationed in the area to protect the land, confirmed that it had indeed been expropriated.

He said residents were being compensated, although he acknowledged that there was a dispute over the price.

The land is being utilized regardless of their consent, he said, adding that the Chinese companies have to proceed urgently.

The security officer said residents will receive 30,000 yuan (US$4,150) for their wheat fields and 60,000 yuan (US$8,300) for fields growing produce.

Translated by RFA Uyghur. Edited by Joshua Lipes and Malcolm Foster.
Detention of Labor Ministry reformer comes as Vietnam seeks U.S. trade preferences

A prominent reformer at Vietnams Labor Ministry was arrested last month and charged with leaking state secrets, state media reported Thursday.

Nguyen Van Binh, director general of the ministrys legal department, was arrested on April 24 and prosecuted for having deliberately disclosed State secrets under Article 337 of Vietnams Penal Code, according to Voice of Vietnam.

The 88 Project, a nonprofit focusing on free speech in Vietnam, said Binhs phone has been inactive since April 15.

While the state broadcaster did not give further details about the arrest, The 88 Project said Binhs arrest is part of a larger effort to crack down on human rights.

The arrest of Nguyen Van Binh is part of a new wave of repression sweeping through Vietnam, the group said in a report issued days before state media confirmed the arrest.

The group noted that Binh had been pushing the government to ratify International Labour Organization Convention 87  which gives workers the right to form unions.

Vietnam has only a single state-affiliated union, and foreign trade partners such as Canada have for years been pushing Hanoi to ratify the 75-year-old treaty.

Before his arrest, Binh, a lawyer and unionist who had worked at the ILO, had long pushed to improve worker rights.

The group linked Binhs arrest to Directive 24, a purported leaked Communist Party document that calls for prevent[ing] the establishment of labor organizations and deeper control of state security. The text was made public in March by The 88 Project, which termed it a war on human rights.

News of Binhs arrest came just one day after the U.S. Department of Commerce held a hearing to consider whether to recognize Vietnam's economy as a "market economy."

The upgrade would take Vietnam off a list of 12 countries, including North Korea and China, whose heavy state influence marks them as planned economies. Were it to be removed from the list, Vietnam would be able to access U.S. trade preferences.

U.S. steelmakers, among others, have opposed the move  as have advocacy groups who say the country has fallen far short of protecting workers rights. A decision is expected to be issued in late July.

At Wednesdays virtual public hearing, lawyers representing Vietnam argued that the country met all six of the Commerce Departments criteria, including the right to collective bargaining.

"Vietnam has demonstrated that its performance on these statutory factors is as good, or often better, than other countries that have previously been granted market economy status," said attorney Eric Emerson, Reuters reported.

But Human Rights watch disputed that claim, saying in a statement that Hanois labor laws fell far short of international standards.

Its patently false to claim that Vietnamese workers can organize unions or that their wages are the result of free bargaining between labor and management, said John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.

Not a single independent union exists in Vietnam and no working legal frameworks exist for unions to be created or for workers to enforce labor rights.

Translated by Anna Vu. Edited by Abby Seiff and Malcolm Foster.
TBILISI -- When protests in Georgia's capital against the country's "foreign agent" bill began last month, organizers originally planned to hold protests only on days when parliament took action on the bill, so as to conserve protesters' energy.



But after the parliament on April 17 passed on its first reading the bill -- which would require media outlets and NGOs to register as "pursuing the interests of a foreign power" if more than 20 percent of their funding comes from abroad -- many young protesters didn't want to rest.



"They stopped protesting and told people we should wait until the second reading," said Zviad Tsetskhladze, an 18-year-old first-year law student at Tbilisi State University. "But we, the new Generation Z, we didn't like this situation. So we started protesting by ourselves," he said.



He and other students began nightly marches from the university campus to the parliament, about 2 1/2 kilometers away. At first, other protest organizers discouraged the marches, Tsetskhladze said, worried that if not many people joined them then photos of meager protests would spread and create a narrative that the movement was dying. But the marches quickly gained popularity. "When we started to create big marches, [the other organizers] started to like us," he said.



And now, these young people -- mostly from Generation Z, which consists of people born roughly between the late 1990s and the early 2010s -- have become the defining element of Georgia's protests, providing energy, numbers on the streets, and, in some cases, inspiration for their elders.



In an essay for RFE/RL's Georgian Service, prominent novelist Zaza Burchuladze wrote that the movement should be called the "children's revolution." Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, a supporter of the protests, has repeatedly praised the country's "youth with fire in their hearts." "We will show the world what Georgia and its youth can do," she said in a recent speech. Foreign Agent Revisited After originally introducing the bill into parliament in March 2023, the ruling Georgian Dream party ending up withdrawing it after a widespread public outcry and mass street protests. A year later, the revival of what opponents call the "Russian law" has resulted in the most serious political crisis of Georgian Dream's 12-year rule and has sparked fears among pro-Western Georgians that the party may be trying to steer their country away from their European aspirations.



Previous Georgian protest movements have not been nearly so youth-dominated, said Vano Abramishvili, a program director at Caucasian House, a Tbilisi NGO that runs many programs directed at Georgian young people. "This is a very new phenomenon," he said.

Although there were also large numbers of young people at the "foreign agent" protests last year, that movement lasted only a matter of days and so the youth factor wasn't much commented on. But the ruling party noticed, Abramishvili said.



Following the 2023 protests, the government introduced several new youth-oriented policies, such as debt relief for student loans and a paid internship program. This time around, just a month before rolling out the "foreign agent" law again, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze announced a new four-year youth action plan. "They paid massive attention to young people," Abramishvili said. Now that young people are again demonstrating in large numbers -- apparently unmoved by the party's efforts -- Georgian Dream officials have scrambled to respond.



A pro-government rally organized by Georgian Dream featured a youth march, too -- led by Tsotne Ivanishvili, the teenage son of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the billionaire founder and still informal leader of Georgian Dream. The rally featured speeches by no fewer than five members of the party's youth wing. "You could see how artificially some of these youngsters were squeezed in," Abramashvili said.



Pro-government media has portrayed the youth protesters as naive and manipulated by their elders, in particular the opposition parties and NGOs that the law is meant to target. Kobakhidze went so far as to label the entire "Generation Z" as a "violent movement."



Getting the young people on side won't be easy for Georgian Dream. Polls have shown that younger people have significantly less trust in the ruling party than other age brackets. They also are significantly more likely to believe the country should strive for European integration: a March 2023 poll by the Caucasus Research Resource Center found that 93 percent of Georgians between 18 and 34 wanted their country to join the European Union, as compared to 82 percent of the population as a whole.



Helena Adamia, another first-year Tbilisi State University student, studying psychology, estimates that about half of the students at the university are participating in the protests. Most of them are driven by a "romanticized" view of Europe, she said. But she is a frequent protester, as well, and sees the demonstrations as fighting for Georgia's European future. While she doesn't agree with everything the EU does -- particularly what she sees as excessive support for Israel in its war in Gaza -- she thinks Georgia doesn't have any alternative to Europe.

"In our case, given Georgia's situation, the only way for us to move forward, for there to be any progress in our country, is to be part of the European Union," she said. Given Moscow's overbearing influence in the region, she said that: "Truly, it's Russia or Europe for us."



One value that is clearly on display in the youth protests, and which differentiates young Georgians from many of their peers in other countries, is a strong sense of patriotism.



Georgian flags are ubiquitous at the demonstrations, and singing the national anthem is common. During one recent student march, the group stopped midway for a break to sing the anthem. Adamia, wearing a lip ring and a Palestinian scarf, immediately put her hand to her heart and sang along.



Law student Tsetskhladze, who helped start the student marches, is one of the leaders of a youth group called Dafioni ("Sunset"), which has come to prominence during these protests. The group raised eyebrows at one early protest by having members swear an oath to "defend Georgia's statehood" and to "never be co-opted by the force that tries to transfer our country to our enemy, Russia."



Sunset's ideology could be described as "liberal nationalist or democratic nationalist," Tsetskhladze said. In Tsetskhladze's Facebook profile photo, he is wearing camouflage military gear, complete with a balaclava. "I love military stuff," he said. "Soldiers in Georgia, throughout our history, they are defending the country, not attacking."



"Gen Z is the most patriotic generation that has lived in our country since independence," Tsetskhladze said. Political Shift In many ways, the politics of today's Generation Z track those of their elders. Opinion polls consistently show that economic issues are at the top of their agenda, as with every generation in Georgia.



But in other important aspects, the young people protesting today represent a significant shift in political thinking.



Today's students have little memory of a time before when Georgian Dream -- which took power in 2012 -- ruled the country. That makes them less vulnerable to the ruling party's most common line of attack: associating any opponent with the former, and still widely unpopular, regime of Mikheil Saakashvili and his United National Movement (UNM) party.



"You cannot point your finger at them and say that they are UNM supporters or pro-Misha," said Abramishvili, using Saakashvili's nickname. "The only government these young people saw growing up was Georgian Dream, and they are making their own conclusions."



At the same time, most young Georgians get their information largely from social media, where news on the country is dominated by Western-funded media and NGOs run by liberal millennials or Gen Xers. These groups -- human rights organizations, watchdog organizations, and liberal media organizations -- control much of the mainstream narrative in Georgia, if not much direct political power.



Georgian media is polarized into pro- and anti-government, and the latter space "is completely taken over by these organizations. "It's like you cannot get a new voice [heard], because the space is completely full," said Gio Meskhi, a third-year political science student at the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs. "These NGOs have way more influence on young people than the government or actual political structures like parties," he said.



Although Meskhi opposes the "foreign agent" law, he has not been participating in the protests because he feels their agenda is "completely curated and manipulated by the leaders of the opposition [political parties] and the top dogs of the big NGOs," he said. "It's top-down, not bottom-up. They play on the ego of the youth to mobilize them."



Still, many young people distrust the country's political parties, both ruling and opposition. Surveys have shown that young Georgians are much more likely to feel that no political party represents them. Meskhi said he didn't know a single supporter of UNM at his university, even though that is still the most popular opposition party among Georgians as a whole. Opposition oriented students are more likely to support the libertarian Girchi (Pine Cone) or the staunchly pro-Western Droa (It's Time) parties, he said.



While Dafioni has a loose affiliation with UNM, Tsetskhladze said he still doesn't trust Saakashvili or any other opposition leader, believing them all to have "Soviet mentalities."
At a Europe Day celebration in Tbilisi, EU Ambassador Pawel Herczynski told a crowd of Georgians to "keep the course toward the EU." His comments come amid an ongoing crackdown on demonstrations against a so-called "foreign agent" bill, which protesters say will stifle civil society and hurt the country's bid to join the EU. A vocal critic of the controversial bill was detained by Georgian police at his home on May 9.
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.
I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

This is a special edition of the newsletter focused on Xi Jinpings Europe trip this week, including a country-by-country breakdown on what happened during his visits to France, Serbia, and Hungary.

In a trip that had many storylines, Chinese leader Xi Jinping is heading back to Beijing after a high-profile five-day European tour with stops in France, Serbia, and Hungary that allowed Beijing to shore up its footing in Central and Eastern Europe.

Heres why thats important.

Finding Perspective: While Xis trip dealt with everything from trade ties with the European Union to Chinas relationship with Russia amid the war in Ukraine, the tour can be boiled down to one overarching message from China: Xi leads a rising global superpower that cant be contained and its influence in Europe is here to stay.

The Chinese leader received opulent red-carpet welcomes in Paris from French President Emmanuel Macron and from China-friendly leaders like Serbias Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade and Hungarys Viktor Orban in Budapest.

In France, Macron looked to hammer home some tougher European positions on Ukraine and trade subsidies -- particularly over the ongoing EU probe into Chinese electric vehicles on the European market -- while still looking to charm Xi on other issues.

Ahead of the visit, Macron had argued in public statements for Europe to establish a more balanced trade relationship with China, and that issue was tackled on May 6 during three-way talks with Xi and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.

As Theresa Fallon, director of the Center for Russia Europe Asia Studies, told me ahead of the visit, this would allow for Macron to play good cop and von der Leyen to play bad cop in dealing with Xi.

However, Xi looked effective at deflecting concerns and driving a wedge between Macron and von der Leyen by either flatly denying any problems, misrepresenting Chinas position, or offering concessions that were only rhetorical.

In Belgrade and Budapest, meanwhile, Xi looked triumphant and received highly choreographed welcomes that reinforced Chinese messaging about deep divisions within Europe over how to engage with China.

Xi left both countries after announcing new strategic partnerships and investments that will further cement Chinas relevance in Central and Eastern Europe.

Why It Matters: Public opinion on China across much of Europe has soured dramatically in recent years, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe.

When Xi last visited Europe in 2016, he was warmly embraced in Prague by then-Czech President Milos Zeman amid a wave of high-profile investments and visits to the Czech Republic, Serbia, and Poland.

Poland has since slowed its engagement with Beijing, and the Czech Republic, under new leadership, has become one of Europes more hawkish governments on China. Only Serbia has continued to deepen its ties out of that 2016 grouping.

While that marked a notable step back in the region, along with the irrelevance of the 14+1 Chinese format for engaging with Central and Eastern Europe, this recent visit shows that China cant be blocked and that Beijing has plenty of new cards to play in its broader relations with Europe.

Reflecting this Chinese view, Renmin University Professor Wang Wen wrote in a recent column that the strategic scales look set to tilt in Chinas favor because Europe is eager for economic recovery more than ever.

Europe is having a rethink: After losing Russia, it can't afford to lose China, too, Wang wrote.

Three More Stories From Xi's Visit

1. France: Wining And Dining Can Only Go So Far

Macron, who has sought to develop Europe as a strategically autonomous military and economic power, tackled a host of issues with Xi, but was hoping that this independent line could shine through when discussing the war in Ukraine.

What It Means: During joint statements to the press, Xi announced that he backed Macrons call for an Olympics truce, which the French president saw as an opportunity to work toward a sustainable resolution [of conflicts] in the full respect of international law.

The comments and behind the scenes talks reportedly left some in Macrons circle cautiously upbeat that Xi could be receptive to curtailing some of Chinas backing for Russia amid the war in Ukraine.

But Xi also conceded very little, at least publicly.

He reiterated that China will not deliver weapons to Russia and would strictly control exports of dual-use equipment, both of which are positions that his government has already vowed to enforce.

Xi also made no acknowledgement of Western concerns that China is helping to keep the Russian economy running by giving it access to goods sanctioned by the West, and he then accused Washington and other Western countries of hypocrisy by fueling the conflict through weapons deliveries to Ukraine.

We oppose using the Ukraine crisis to cast blame, smear a third country, and incite a new Cold War, Xi said on May 6.

While some French officials may have walked away with some glimmers of hope, that assessment is not widely shared. As I reported ahead of Xis visit, EU officials said that China was looking to bargain its participation this summer in a peace conference on Ukraine as a way to pave the way for Moscow's participation in similar meetings in the future, one official told RFE/RL.

Xis true stance is also borne out in Russia and on the battlefield in Ukraine. A U.S. intelligence assessment said that, in 2023, about 90 percent of Russias microelectronics came from China, which Russia has used to make missiles, tanks, and aircraft. The same research said that nearly 70 percent of Russias approximately $900 million in machine tool imports in the last quarter of 2023 came from China.

2. Serbia: Reverence, Shared Grievance, And A Dose of Caution

Greeted by cheering crowds, Xi and Vucic praised their countries ironclad friendship with one another, as they signed 28 new cooperation agreements and announced a new deal that would deepen and elevate the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Serbia.

The Details: The visit to Serbia touched on both substance and symbolism.

Serbia under Vucic has remained solidly pro-Chinese and still looks to China for billions of dollars in investment, something that Vuk Vuksanovic, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, told RFE/RLs Balkan Service has turned Beijing into Serbias most important partner in the East at the moment, even surpassing Moscow now that Russian-Serbian ties are under constant scrutiny because of Ukraine.

The elevated strategic partnership reflects that trend, as does a new free-trade agreement signed before the visit that Vucic said would allow Serbia to export 95 percent of its goods duty-free to China.

Belgrade and Beijing also signed 28 documents that would continue to deepen their ties. While most of the agreements were vague and did not have dollar figures attached, they covered a range of issues, from ministerial exchanges to state media agreements, that chart a course for a larger Chinese role in the Balkan country.

When it came to the symbolism of the visit, Xi arrived on the 25th anniversary of NATOs accidental 1999 bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade. In an article published on May 7 by Politika, a Serbian newspaper, Xi said that NATO flagrantly bombed the Chinese Embassy, which will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples.

But Xi also decided to skip the former embassy site during his visit, which is now a large Chinese cultural center that also includes a memorial for the bombing.

While the Chinese Foreign Ministry used the occasion to criticize NATO, the move shows a cautious approach from Xi when it comes to exciting anti-Western bombast at home and abroad, where it could have overshadowed other aspects of his visit.

3. Hungary: A Risky Gamble That's Paying Off

Xi finished his Europe trip with a stop in another friendly nation, touching down on May 8 in Budapest, where he inked new investments and elevated Hungarys relationship with China to new heights.

What You Need To Know: Xis visit marks a capstone for Orbans embrace of China that positions Hungary as a bridgehead for Chinese influence in Central and Eastern Europe.

In an article in Magyar Nemzet, which is controlled by Orbans governing Fidesz party, Xi called for Hungary to lead the regions relations with Beijing and said that China wanted to work closely with Budapest on Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) projects. The Chinese leader also promised to speed up construction of a high-speed train line between Budapest and Belgrade that has been delayed for years.

During the visit, Xi and Orban also pledged to elevate their ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership -- a Chinese classification that denotes the highest possible type of relationship that Beijing can have with another country. Only Belarus, Pakistan, and Uzbekistan are labeled as all-weather partners.

The move is sure to further strain Hungarys already fraught relationship with Brussels, as will the 18 joint projects with China that were announced by Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto.

While the announcement of the deals lacked details, they would include a high-speed rail project to Budapests international airport from the city and a new rail line across the country to transport electric cars, batteries, and other products from Chinese factories planned to be built in eastern Hungary. Budapest and Beijing also vowed to cooperate on nuclear energy projects.

The focus on electric vehicles is noteworthy as Hungary is looking to Chinese investment to establish itself as Europes premier manufacturing hub for electric vehicles, batteries, and other new technologies.

Chinas electric vehicle giant BYD announced in December that it would build an assembly plant in Hungary, its first production facility in Europe. Great Wall Motor, another major Chinese electric vehicle maker, is also looking into building an even bigger factory in Hungary.

More From Xis Europe Trip

Taiwan and Kosovo: During his shared remarks with Xi, Vucic used the occasion to tie Serbias territorial claims with Kosovo to Beijings own claims over Taiwan.

Just as we have clear positions on the issue of Chinese integrity -- that Taiwan is China -- so they support the territory of Serbia without any reservation, Vucic said. Xi later said that China supports Serbias efforts to preserve its territorial integrity regarding Kosovo.

The Next Issue: Ahead of Xis visit and amid a slew of Chinese espionage and trade scandals in Europe, my colleagues and I looked at the spread of Chinese-made surveillance cameras from Dahua and Hikvision, two partially Chinese state-owned companies, across Central and Eastern Europe.

An RFE/RL survey of nine countries in the region shows that governments have purchased millions of cameras over the last five years, despite the devices security vulnerabilities and the manufacturers lax data practices.

No Presser: After their talks on May 9, Xi and Orban held what was billed as a news conference, but was instead just both leaders reading statements without taking any questions.

Xi famously avoids any unscripted media encounters. MTVA, a state-owned and financed Hungarian channel, had the exclusive broadcast rights to Xis visit, and my colleagues in RFE/RLs Hungarian Service were not granted accreditation from the Hungarian prime ministers office to attend.

Prime Time: As Xi arrived at Belgrade's airport on May 7, Serbias state-owned television station even interrupted a broadcast of the Eurovision Song Contest to make way for coverage of the welcoming ceremony for the Chinese leader.

One Thing To Watch

Now that Xis big Europe trip is a wrap, attention will turn to Russian President Vladimir Putins upcoming visit to China. The dates for the Russian leaders trip have not yet been confirmed, but Bloomberg quoted Kremlin sources saying that it would take place May 15-16.

Thats all from me for now. Dont forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every other Wednesday.
by CHIAO Yuan-pu

When it comes to music competitions, one in which Piotr ANDERSZEWSKI participated as long as 30 years ago is a topic of conversation to this day, but not because of the final rankings or winner.

At the age of just 21, he joined the Leeds Piano Competition in 1990, playing a classic of BEETHOVEN's later work, the Diabelli Variations. The audience and judges were stunned that he had chosen a strenuous, uningratiating piece for a competition, and even more so that he had played it so well. That easily brought him to the semifinals, where he did something no one would have ever expected. In the middle of WEBERN's Variations for Piano Op. 27, he became extremely dissatisfied with his performance and simply got up and left, in effect forfeiting.

At the time, he just felt that he was being honest. Since he had played brilliantly in the first two rounds, people focused on him despite his loss, pulling the limelight away from the winner and thus becoming the "unofficial" winner!

He sincerely explains, "It was really awkward for me; I would never have expected it to happen and felt quite confused. Because of what happened, I was invited to perform at concerts, but I didn't know how to handle it. I thought about not playing. But people eventually mature. The most important thing was that I still loved music. That's what helped me press on. It was my source of strength in the beginning and will be so to the end."

From his initial rise 30 years ago to his current status as a highly reputed pianist, he has indeed held on to that love for music. He has never sought fame or fortune and simply focused on meticulously doing his job, following convention in polishing his skill. He has not done very many recordings nor performs a wide variety at concerts, holding mainly to German, Austrian, and Eastern European work, but no matter what he plays, it always conquers and produces a lasting impression. He says, "I have just one method: endlessly torture myself with practice and think to get the ideas I need out of my head and into my work." His achievements are thus by no means luck. Every note he plays is the product of painstaking effort. Despite that, he also knows how to connect with the audience and is by no means full of himself. "Whenever I decide to learn a song, I have to first have ideas about it. But I don't want to just present my ideas; I want the listeners to be convinced of what I'm doing. It can't just be self-intoxication. There's only one way to accomplish that: I must force the execution of every detail and allow these ideas to manifest in each detail."

A lover of reading and film, he designs his music much like an author or director at work, using his own logic to produce overtones in the piece. Pieces to be played at this Weiwuying performance may be viewed as a summary of his whole life, as each has been assiduously tempered by him over the years. He will start with French Overture by BACH, who has been his main source of momentum over the past two decades. The piece is in his first album of work by BACH (1998). He not only is a student of composers and styles of different eras but has also thoroughly analyzed the harpsichord and fortepiano, the results of which he translates into contemporary piano. If you are there, you will certainly experience the excellence he has cultivated by doing so. Being both Polish and Hungarian, he has a special place in his heart for Eastern European composers. Polish composer Karol SZYMANOWSKI was also a remarkably skilled pianist who wrote a unique musical language for the instrument. Twenty Mazurkas Op. 50 contains a sense of both Polish culture and misty fantasy. It is a reproduction of a traditional classic through a contemporary vocabulary that listeners are sure to immediately fall in love with. ANDERSZEWSKI's album from the past of SZYMANOWSKI's work has won numerous major awards, and this challenge of new works is sure to shine just as brightly.

At the end of the concert, he will play BEETHOVEN's Piano Sonata No. 31, which he played in his first album (1996) and was the grand finale at his 2008 solo concert at Carnegie Hall, the recording of which has received wide acclaim. Famous for his performance of the Diabelli Variations, he has always been an ardent BEETHOVEN fan, especially the composer's later works. He says, "What first interested me about this song was the final fugue, especially the part with the inverted fugue theme. When all your energy is used up and youre collapsing, dying, you obtain new life. It's really moving." It's a piece that you never get bored of playing or listening to. So how does he interpret the piece now, after having played it since the beginning of his career? We will just have to wait and see!

Another piece to look forward to is one from his first album, WEBERN's Variations for Piano, the piece that brought him fame as described above. It is a work of exquisite skill and care, especially in the second movement, which jumps around from the highest and lowest registers, along with tricky, unexplainable dynamics, earning it a reputation as one of the most vexing and difficult piano pieces. He did not finish it 30 years ago during his competition but is now touring the world with it, and the only way you will hear what is so spectacular about it is by being there in person. After all, this concert at Weiwuying is his first and only, so don't miss it!
 (Lawrence Wong) 

https://archive.md/2024.05.08-121647/https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/05/08/lawrence-wong-in-his-own-words#selection-999.2-1865.10

2024  5  8 





Lawrence Wong



2024  5  8 



Lawrence Wong



??





Lawrence Wong

 18 







??

















 TikTok 

Lawrence Wong TikTok/





















 aukus 



Lawrence Wongaukus







Lawrence Wong



























;p4tpp cptpp



 20 

10%





 cmio

Lawrence Wong cmio 







Lawrence Wong20







 20 

 God Save the KingKimi Ga YoNegarakuMajulah Singapura ??

 4g  3g  3g 

Lawrence Wong





 4G  3G 

 607080















 4G 











 60 60

Lawrence Wong





https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/1cnujlu/the_economists_interview_with_lawrence_wong_free/

Spirilla_Huckleberry11

PAP  30 













8466 23



 40 50



CJCC





 POFMA





12







 PAP LW GCT  LHL 

Transcript Lawrence Wong in his own words.

https://archive.md/2024.05.08-121647/https://www.economist.com/asia/2024/05/08/lawrence-wong-in-his-own-words#selection-999.2-1865.10

May 8th 2024

Singapore's next prime minister sat down with The Economist

Editor's note: this article was created using transcription software and has been lightly edited for clarity

The Economist: Lawrence Wong, I just want to thank you so much for joining us, and agreeing to talk to The Economist. In a few days time, youre going to become Prime Minister of Singapore. Its a place thats been a huge success by being open, and a beneficiary of globalisation.

May 8th 2024

Editor's note: this article was created using transcription software and has been lightly edited for clarity

The Economist: Lawrence Wong, I just want to thank you so much for joining us, and agreeing to talk to The Economist. In a few days' time, you're going to become Prime Minister of Singapore. It's a place thats been a huge success by being open, and a beneficiary of globalisation.

Lawrence Wong: Very much so.

The Economist: Youve called it the improbable nation and a miracle

Lawrence Wong: We still are.

The Economist: So why don't you start by telling us how you see the geopolitical scene globally, and how that's going to affect Singapore.

Lawrence Wong: We are concerned because it is in a state of flux. The global order is shifting. The unipolar moment for America has ended. Yet it remains the pre-eminent power in a world that's transiting to a multipolar world. And this transition will be messy because we are seeing familiar signposts are fading, the established norms are eroding. People are searching for new bearings, but the new order is not yet established. I think it will be messy for quite a few years, maybe a decade or longer. And we will have to find our way all of us in the world, navigate through this very unpredictable environment, and hopefully steer the course of global developments towards a path of stability and peace rather than conflict and war.

The Economist: And when you look at us-China relations in the last 18 months or so there's been some effort to stabilise things. Can you give us a sense of whether you expect that stability to last? Or could there be moments of crisis or even more deterioration over the next few years?

Lawrence Wong: The fact that the two leaders met and provided some guard-rails to the relationship, and provided some stabilisation to the overall relationship has been very helpful. But the mutual suspicion and distrust between both sides remain. They are very deep. The underlying contradictions and tensions between the two national positions remain. And I dont see them being bridged anytime soon. So its not a stable equilibrium. I think theres a lot of possibilities for things to go wrong, for tensions to flare up. And it will require very careful management of the relationship. Because if things were to deteriorate sharply, I think itd be costly for both the us and China and for the rest of the world.

The Economist: And whats your assessment of where Chinas going under Xi Jinping? Do you think its going in the right direction?

Lawrence Wong: Well China is going throughat least lets talk about its economyits economy is going through several big structural adjustments. One, it can no longer rely on cheap labour inputs to get growth. Its reached a stage where it really needs innovation and productivity. And its really pushing hard on that front and investing more in advanced manufacturing. And thats one aspect of it shifting also away from real estate and property which has been a big part of its economy. And now shifting more of that investment into advanced manufacturing and driving it through more and more productivity and technology. Thats one big shift thats happening. They are worried that they will get old before they get rich. They are concerned about the middle-income trap and they want to push the economy forward.

The second major structural adjustment that they are going through is about sharing the benefits of growth. Because when China opened up, the economy took off, you know, tremendous uplifting for everyone. But they also saw some downsides of capitalism. Deng Xiaoping said, open the window, you get flies, they got more than flies. And they have been dealing with corruption, rent-seeking, inequalities over the last ten years. So they are keen to pursue a different model of growth, more balanced, they call it common prosperity. I mean, at the end of the day, all countries have to grapple with this issue, because in the end, growth has to be allocated between labour and capital. And I think Chinas basic orientation was to have more of that growth allocated towards labour, rather than capital or even private capital. But they have to get that balance right, because if they overdo it, then it would certainly dampen the animal spirits of private entrepreneurs, and it would make it difficult for them to reach that next stage of growth. And Im quite sure they are aware of trying to work out the appropriate balance.

The Economist: So youve described the economic scene in China, but the political scene if you were in Washington dc, they would describe China as an increasingly totalitarian system focused on security, focused on confrontation even, with America or contestation for supremacy. Do you accept that characterisation?

Lawrence Wong: Well, China certainly looks at the us as trying to contain and circle and suppress them and trying to deny them their rightful place in the world. Its not just the leadership who thinks like that. I think if you talk to a lot of the Chinese officials, they feel the same way. They feel that there is this containment to put China down. So there is that sense, and for every action, there will be an opposite reaction. And so China, you see, is trying to find ways to get out of that containment, to make sure that they become more technologically self reliant.

At the same timeI know they have been through phases in their development, they talked about standing up, getting rich, now getting strong. They see themselves as a strong country, their time has come and they want to be more assertive in their national interest, including the national interest overseas, but there too, China will have to learnas all big countries dothat if they overdo it, if they push their way around, coerce, squeeze or pressurise other countries, it will engender a backlash, including in the region. And thats why they cannot go too far. And they will have to learn that lesson. Its a lesson that all big countries go through. America goes through those lessons, too. I mean, in Mexico, they say, America is my best friend, whether I like it or not. Because when a big country deals with a small country, the big country often doesnt realise how imposing they are. And its very hard to find a happy balance between the two, the big and the small country at the same time.

The Economist: So youve described recently Singapores status as being neither pro-China nor pro-America. I wondered if you could talk about

Lawrence Wong: We are pro-Singapore.

The Economist: But pro-Singapore, thats right, how that position of standing between the two powers could be tested and come under strain. So one possibility, perhaps a probability is that the technology, sanctions and controls that America is using will be tightened even further. And they could even ask for a complete split of the two technology systems. How would Singapore deal with that? Half of your manufacturing exports are high tech, theyre closely connected to the Chinese manufacturing ecosystem. If there is a tech split, what will Singapore do?

Lawrence Wong: Well, first of all, a lot of these sensitive technologies lie in the hands of American mncs [multinational corporations] operating out of Singapore. And to the extent that the us were to widen its export restrictions, then we fully expect American companies to comply with the rules, not just in Singapore incidentally, but anywhere they operate in the world. And there are many other places in the world where the rules may not be complied with so strictly, but certainly if companies were to be in Singapore, then we expect them to comply fully with these export restrictions. We wish the export restrictions will be carefully calibrated because where there are security, national security concerns, those are very understandable.

But if you start expanding the yardwe talked about small yard, high fencesand the yard keeps getting bigger and bigger and it really ends up in a technological bifurcation, across many areas of the economy, I think that will be detrimental, not just for Singapore, but for us and for the whole world. You know, Ive said this before that we really have to care about how these sorts of economic tools are used for geopolitical purposes. In the military world, the security people are very mindful about collateral damage when you drop a bomb. Because you worry, you understand it causes harm on the other side, but you worry about retaliation, escalation, and all sorts of consequences, and you think very carefully. But when you start thinking about using economic and financial tools for geopolitical purposes, its not so straightforward to assess the collateral damage, and we dont have so much experience with it. And if were not careful, it will have profound implications for the global economy. But worse still, for global stability.

The Economist: And what did you think of the treatment of TikTok, where America has asked it to basically change its identity and ownership. Its a Singaporean headquartered company, its chief executive is a Singaporean citizen who served in the military that youve just described. And yet America appears to have rejected it as a Chinese proxy.

Lawrence Wong: Well its for America to decide how it wants to deal with TikTok, its Americas prerogative. But from our point of view, when it comes to social media, that doesnt count as national security. I mean, we have social-media companies operating from all countries, and they are here in Singapore, we dont see this as a national-security risk. But thats Singapores perspective.

The Economist: Lets look at another way that this position of standing between the superpowers might come under pressure. So Singapore has enforced sanctions against Russia, related to its invasion of Ukraine. Its quite possible that there will be a conflict over Taiwan over the next decade. And I wondered if you could foresee a situation where Singapore enforces sanctions against China over that conflict.

Lawrence Wong: It really depends on the nature of the conflict. With Ukraine and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, we were very clear, this was a very egregious breach of the United Nations Charter, a breach of territorial sovereignty and integrity. And if invasions like this can be justified on the basis of historical errors and crazy decisions, the world will be a much less safe place, and we will be very vulnerable. And thats why even though there wasnt a United Nations Security Council resolution, we decided to take steps and to impose sanctions, which we did. No other asean country has done this. Many other countries in the global south have not done this. But we decided to take this step, because it crosses and breaches some very fundamental principles, which we believe in and uphold.

We dont think that Taiwan is in the same situation as Ukraine. First of all, people try to draw parallels between the two. But in fact, they are fundamentally quite different because Ukraine is a sovereign country, but Taiwan, the vast majority of countries around the world have a One China policy. We have long upheld a One China policy and oppose Taiwanese independence, even before we established diplomatic relations with the prc. Its a long-standing position. And we are very careful when we conduct relationships with both China and Taiwan, that its consistent with our One China policy. And we do not allow ourselves to be made use of for any causes supporting Taiwanese independence.

So again, you asked a hypothetical question, if something were to arise in the Taiwan Straits or around Taiwan, we hope this doesnt happen. Because if all the parties understand the risk, and the red lines and recognise that this is quite different from UkraineI think the US administration certainly understandsthen perhaps we can have a good chance of upholding the status quo, and if any change were happen, it has to be done in a way thats peaceful and non-forcible. And these things will take time. Meanwhile, let us uphold the status quo and continue to have engagements and talks. That will be our preferred approach.

The Economist: Youve also said recently that Singapore is not an ally of America.

Lawrence Wong: We are not. We are a major security co-operation partner, the only one in the world.

The Economist: So what would you say to an American voter whos worried about America being overextended globally, and who asks, Why should Singapore receive American weapons, advanced security equipment, receive all the benefits of that, and yet its unable to call itself our ally?

Lawrence Wong: Because its a security and defence relationship that has proven mutually beneficial for both sides, spanning many, many decades. We appreciate fully how America has spilt blood and treasure to provide security for the region. We appreciate fully the security umbrella that America provides for peace and prosperity in this part of the world. And we lean forward to work very closely with the US: we provide access to our air and sea naval bases. We support their rotational deployments, we provide logistical support, we exchange intelligence. We not only purchase technology and military equipment, but we have a very productive two-way exchange of information in many areas of security and defence. And that has proven to be mutually beneficial for both sides.

The Economist: Could you ever imagine Singapore joining aukus?

Lawrence Wong: For now, aukus is only a grouping comprising allies. We are not an ally.

The Economist: How do these geopolitical tensions play out domestically here in Singapore? How do people feel about the tensions with China but particularly recently, the Middle East, where Singapore has a substantial Muslim population whos concerned about violence in Gaza? What would you say to people who are concerned about war in Singapore and to Singaporean citizens to reassure them?

Lawrence Wong: Its something that we pay a lot of attention to, because we are such a small country, and a very diverse population. And we are constantly, I would say, influenced by pressures from around the world. Because here in Singapore, you have a majority ethnic-Chinese population. We all have links with China. But we have to remind ourselves and also China, that we are Singaporeans. We do business on the basis of our national interests, not on the basis of our ethnic ties. But we also have a Malay population that will have links with countries in the region and with the global Ummah, the wider Islamic community. And we have an Indian population, which will have ancestral links, familial links with India.

So its a population that can vary. You can see how it can be easily swayed by these influences. Because the links we have, going back to these civilizations or larger countries are deep, they are emotional, they are cultural. And we want to maintain the links, the links make us who we are. We value these linkages. At the same time, we have to continually remind our peopleengage with Singaporeansthat we are Singaporeans. When we do things, it has to be on the basis of our national interests. And weve had to do that, through the various crises you highlighted Russia and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. That was a crisis which had a high level of economic impact for us, but relatively low level of emotional resonance. So we went out, explained

The Economist: I imagine Gaza is the opposite.

Lawrence Wong: Gaza was one where it had not so much economic impact, but a much higher level of resonancenot just with our Malay Muslim populationbut even for many Singaporeans, looking at the atrocities that damage the destruction and loss of innocent civilian lives. And again, weve had to go out, explain to our people, the positions that Singapore has taken and why we are doing certain things we have done, the resolutions that we participate in at the United Nations and how we are doing our part to participate in global relief efforts and how we continue to stand for a negotiated two-state solution and at the same time call for an end to hostilities.

Now, if something were to happen in South Asia, in Taiwan, in the South China Sea, it would be an incident which would have both high economic impact and high emotional resonance with our people. And this will be difficult to manage, clearly. And thats why for us, you know, the external events that happen seemingly far away, actually, they are happening right here at our doorstep. And we pay a lot of attention to whats happening around the world, to engaging our people, explaining to them what Singapores, what the governments position is and what our national interests are.

The Economist: Before we go on to talk more about Singapore and the Singapore model and how its changing; one last question on geopolitics. Singapores position is that it upholds international lawand thats the bedrock of your foreign policywhat do you think the state of international law is? Does it still work? The United Nations Security Council is divided, the enforcement of key treaties like the Law of the Sea, is not happening. Is that really still a reliable anchor for your foreign policy?

Lawrence Wong: Its under tremendous pressure but we have no other alternative, we have to keep on pushing away at it, plugging at it and working with like-minded countries to strengthen this rules-based multilateral order. We do it in different ways. For example, in the economic realm, wto is not working. I mean, weve been calling for the appellate body to function properly, for the restoration of the dispute resolution settlement mechanism and we sound like a broken record, like a lone voice in the wilderness, but we will keep calling for it

The Economist: The Economist agrees with you on that

Lawrence Wong: Thank you. But you know, there are other ways in which we can be helpful. wto; very hard to get multilateral initiatives working. While we work with like-minded countries, we had the p4 where we had initially Chile, New Zealand and Brunei, and that became the tpp. us opted out. But then we have the cptpp. Weve similarly worked on other trade initiatives. And now we are working on new initiatives around the digital economy. Because with the digital economy, you need new rules around data storage, data flows, data security. So we have a digital agreement with the UK, with Australia. We have one involving three countries, Chile, ourselves, and I think New Zealand. And then theres a queue of countries wanting to join. So I think if Singapore operates in this manner, we try to be constructive, we try to provide value, find like-minded countries to join us in small-scale platforms. And over time, we hope some of these can grow and other like-minded countries can join us. Thats how we can play a part in strengthening multilateralism in the world.

The Economist: Okay, well, lets turn to Singapore and the domestic scene and start with the economy. In your budget statement, not so long ago, you said we will no longer be able to achieve effortless growth in Singapore. Part of that is the trade environment is worse, but a big part of that is demographics where the number of working-age citizens in Singapore is expected to fall by several hundred thousand people over the next decade. So talk about that and also the role of migration; sometimes a controversial subject in Singapore. Presumably it means you need more migration.

Lawrence Wong: It does. I think the period of effortless growth is over not just because of labour, but really we are at such a high level of development now. And we will be expensive. I mean, you cant expect high wages and low cost. Wages and costs are two parts of the same coin. So we have high incomes, costs are high, we will have to keep on innovating, restructuring, and then pushing the productivity and innovation frontier to justify the premium. Thats what we have been doing all this while, which is why the economy today is very different from the economy even 20 years ago.

And its really about continuing to get cutting-edge investments into Singapore, pushing the frontier, doing new activities. At the same time being prepared to let non-viable businesses fade away so that resources can be freed up. Its very much the process of churn, which can be very disruptive to workers. But thats why weve also put in place a lot of efforts to help workers retrain, rescale and upskill. Now on labour itself, on labour inputs and immigration, we are an open economy and open society. We welcome foreign professionals to work in Singapore, but its controlled, because if its not controlled, I think we will be easily swamped. We cannot afford to be like the uae where the local residents are only less than 10% of the population. And they have a different compact because they use the oil and gas revenues to provide everything for their citizens. And in return, they just allow foreigners to come in freely. Thats not possible in Singapore.

The Economist: So you couldnt imagine a situation where citizens become a minority.

Lawrence Wong: Not at all. Not at all. Not at all. We will keep ourselves open but the floors will be controlled. We will ensure that foreign professionals come in. We welcome them. They add value to our economy, we ask them to adjust to our social norms. And its controlled and tiered at different levels, because there will be jobs that Singaporeans dont want to do, like construction. On the other hand, there will be new areas where talented professionals can come in and provide new skills. And therell be things in between where jobs that Singaporeans do, like health care and engineering, but we need more people. So given the different categories, we have a tiered level of controls. And we do that to ensure that immigrants come, we welcome them, foreign professionals come, they complement the Singaporean core, they add to our economy, they add to our society. And it ends up being a net plus for all of us in Singapore, thats our approach.

The Economist: One facet of migration into Singapore is the goal of maintaining a rough ethnic balance. I believe its called cmio; Chinese, Malays, Indians and Others

Lawrence Wong: Just as a shorthand, and its become a lot more varied now, because you have mixed marriages. And also cmio is really just a shorthand.

The Economist: So a question is why is that necessary? Why cant Singapore become a society that is post-racial, and it doesnt need to have this tacit target of the population mix.

Lawrence Wong: We would like to be, to evolve into a society where we become race-blind, but we are also very realistic about these things. These instincts of race are very primal, they are very emotive, and it can be stirred up at any point in time. Certainly, today, we are in a much better state than when we started out after independence, and when we had race riots in the past. But even so, during covid, in the three years, during covid, we had a spike of incidents that were race-related, just recently. And they were very sharp, very, very antagonistic type of incidents that got people stirred up.

The Economist: Give an example of one of those incidents for our global listeners?

Lawrence Wong: Well, you had incidents where people were targeted, because we put in placerestrictions to prevent the spread of the virus during the early days of covid, and people flouted some of the rules. But when somebody goes and they see somebody walking without a mask in a park, [and] its a person of a particular ethnic community, and then they will make racist remarks. It was spread online, for example. And this happened more than one time, it happened multiple occasions, when we let in arrivals from India, when India had a big wave of [covid]...there was a sharp reaction. So its not something that happened 20 years ago, it happened very recently. And its just a very stark reminderPeople are not racist in Singapore. I think, in many ways, we aspire towards the ideals that we recite in our pledge to be regardless of race, language, or religion. But these things are dormant, they just lie below the surface. And it only takes an incident, a bad actor, someone trying to stir things to cause the dormant virus to flare up again. And thats why we have to be vigilant and watchful.

The Economist: One of the events thats happened in the West is the rise of stronger identity politics, for ideological reasons, perhaps social media as well. Do you think thats a threat to Singapore?

Lawrence Wong: We do see some of it here in Singapore. Some people do get caught up with it. And so we take a very different approach in how we deal with issues of identity. Number one, like I said, its not about assimilating into one single identity. We allow people to embrace their own ethnic identities, whatever they are. And we ask them to keep that because thats precious, that makes us who we are. But we come together and we find ways to expand the common ground that we share together as Singaporeans. So its not about subtracting. Its about addition.

And a big part of being able to do that is by just bringing people together to have more engagements with one another face to face engagements, learning more about each others customs traditions, starting to appreciate and, beyond appreciation and understanding, respect one another. And then when there are differences, finding ways to accommodate and compromise because the differences will surely exist, and compromise cannot be a bad word, compromise cannot be an issue of dishonour, to my tribe or to my identity. Because if thats dishonour, then its all-out war. And you will have deep divisions between the different groups in Singapore. So we have gone for a very different approach since our very beginning, since independence. And that approach, I think, has worked well. In Singapore, people understand its different. Not every single group may get everything that they want. But by working together by engaging, by not accentuating our differences, but finding common ground, its an approach that has worked better for all of us.

The Economist: Another social change is how the views of the young have adapted and evolved in Singapore. And recently, you did a big consultation exercise called Forward Singapore in which you spoke to I think 200,000 Singaporeans in some way or another. And then the report concluded, among other things, that there have been discernible shifts in our youths mindset. This is a generation thats grown up with an enormously successful and prosperous Singapore. Perhaps you could give a sense of how their attitudes have changed compared to previous generations.

Lawrence Wong: In some ways, I am part of the generation I will be the first prime minister to be born after Singapores independence. All my predecessors sang two, if not three other national anthems. God Save the King, the Japanese Kimi Ga Yo, and briefly Malaysias Negaraku. Ive only sung one national anthem, Majulah Singapura, our national anthem. So the values, the principles that built today that enabled todays Singapore meritocracy, incorruptibility, racial harmony, the tripartism, the approach I spoke of earlierfinding common groundI think those are embedded deeply within me and also many young people I speak to. At the same time there are changes. And I think we, when we engage with young people whether around my age, post independence or younger, we do sense a change in their aspirations. And these are noble aspirations. I think young, many of the young people I engage with, like to strive and work hard for their own aspirations, but they would like to see a Singapore where we embrace broader definitions of success, where every job is respected, where there is a fairer wage for every job, and a greater sense of assurance and security for individuals to uplift themselves, and to bounce back through lifes inevitable setbacks. So these are things that we have distilled from our conversations, weve put it out together as part of what we call a Forward Singapore roadmap. And we are taking steps towards realising these goals.

The Economist: So youve described a Singapore that faces a high amount of churn in the economy in order to stay at the frontier globally, where theres a new generation of Singaporeans with different expectations. Lets turn to politics and talk about how politics is adapting and changing to reflect that youre part of a generation known as 4g, replacing or coming after 3g

Lawrence Wong: For a lack of a better word.

The Economist: Its not bad.

Lawrence Wong: Its just that weve only had three political changeovers in government.

The Economist: Just for clarity. For listeners. Its not a telecommunication spec. But tell us how the style, the governing style of 4g, your generation and your government, is going to be different from 3g.

Lawrence Wong: I think politics in Singapore has continuously evolved and will, has evolved and will continue to evolve. The days where the pap government or the pap was dominant in the 60s, 70s, even 80s under Mr Lee Kuan Yew, those days are over and we cant go back to that period. And if you look at politics, since then it has been evolving. Singaporeans themselves have evolved. Its an electorate thats highly educated, very sophisticated, very discerning with how they vote.

And while the majority today would like the pap to be in power, to be in government, they would also like to see more opposition voices in parliament. So the opposition presence in parliament is here to stay. Its quite clear. And I have also said that when I go into elections, I do not assume that the pap will automatically be returned to power. I do not assume that I will be the next pm after the elections. So this is the new reality of our political landscape, which means that as a governing, as a party, for me now as prime minister, eventually leading the party into elections, we will have to do our best to engage Singaporeans, we will have to do our best to involve them in decisions that they care deeply about, and in shaping our future, which is why weve started doing so in our Forward Singapore exercise, engaging Singaporeans a lot more, not just in hearing them out but we also are trying to find platforms where people can get involved in decision-making and and start shaping the future of our country together.

The Economist: Lee Kuan Yew said: Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. And theres always been a sense that Singapores post-independence leaders have been strong men, sometimes even the hard men. Do you see yourself as that kind of leader? Do you have iron inside you?

Lawrence Wong: I believe when push comes to shove and the time comes to take hard decisions, I will do so. So long as the decision is in the interest of Singapore and Singaporeans.

The Economist: The elements of it, which is sometimes forcing people to do what they dont want, sometimes being more abrasive with the public, do you see yourself in that mould? Or are you more of a listener?

Lawrence Wong: Well, I am who I am. I listen carefully to everyones views. When I go into a meeting, I do not start off assuming that I know all the answers. I want to get peoples insights. I want to get peoples perspectives, eventually thinking about what makes for the best decisions and outcomes for Singapore. And some of these decisions may not be the most popular decisions, but we may feel and we may have the conviction that they are the right ones to take. And therefore when those sorts of situations arise which Ive had to deal with during covid repeatedly or more recently having to raise the gst [Goods and Services sales tax] in the budget. And when these decisions arise, Singaporeans can be assured that I will be able to take the decisions in the best interest of Singapore and Singaporeans and explain to them why these difficult decisions are necessary.

The Economist: One part of your story is that you did not have an elite background in terms of the school you went to, you have a much more typical upbringing; you went to a local school? How important is that for your brand with ordinary Singaporeans?

Lawrence Wong: Well, my background is what it is. I mean, if its helpful if it makes it more relatable to Singaporeans so much the better. But I have no doubt. Like I said, just now, Singaporeans are discerning and wise voters, I have no doubt that at the end of the day, they will expect me to deliver on the things that they care about. Delivering a better life, delivering better standards of living for themselves and their children. And if my team, if myself, my team, we are unable to meet up to those high expectations. If we are unable to deliver those standards, and a better team arises, then Singaporeans will choose accordingly. I have no doubt about that.

The Economist: As I understand it, its likely that the outgoing Prime Minister Lee is going to continue to play the role of some kind, possibly in the cabinet. Could you talk about that, in particular address the concern that it might prevent 4G, the next generation from really finding its voice and exerting authority in Singapore.

Lawrence Wong: Well, this is a Singapore tradition. I mean, you dont find this commonly in other countries, but its a long-standing Singapore tradition, and weve found it very valuable. Each time we have a leadership transition, we dont just kick out all the older ministers and then have a complete new team come in. We value the more experienced ministers and we invite them to continue contributing in different ways, in their own ways. Weve done this with former prime ministers as well, its not the first timewhether its Mr Lee Kuan Yew, Mr Goh Chok Tong and Mr Lee Hsien Loong. And its never been a problem with sort of preventing the new prime minister from setting the tone of leadership and making his own decisions, and so I dont envisage any difficulties at all, with Lee Hsien Loong eventually becoming senior minister continuing to serve. The networks he has internationally will be very valuable. And I will use him accordingly in the best possible way. Because for me, as leader, I will have to find ways to harness the collective energies of all of my team, and also every Singaporean in order to give us the best chances for this little island to keep on shining ever more brightly in a dark and troubled world.

The Economist: And who will remain head of the pap, your party?

Lawrence Wong: Well, its also been a tradition that in time to come after the leadership transition, after the Prime Minister takes over in time to come, there will be a transition for the new prime minister to take over as Secretary-General of the party. So this will happen in the due course. Maybe we finish with one question.

The Economist: So why dont we finish with your legacy? If you were to serve as prime minister for a decade, at the end of that period, how would you have liked to change Singapore? What do you want to be different in ten years?

Lawrence Wong: Well, the starting-point as I said just now is that Singapore may have transformed tremendously in the last 60 years. But the reality is, we are still a very tiny little island in a vast and dangerous world, which is going to get more dangerous in the coming years. So weve always seen ourselves as the underdog. We will always be the improbable, unlikely nation forged only through the collective will of our people. What has happened in the last 60 years has been nothing short of a miracle. And my mission is to keep this miracle going for as long as I can. And to make sure our little red dot shines brightly for as long as possible.

The Economist: Lawrence Wong, thank you very much for joining us.

Lawrence Wong: Thank you.

Comments

https://www.reddit.com/r/singapore/comments/1cnujlu/the_economists_interview_with_lawrence_wong_free/

Spirilla_Huckleberry1 day agoEdited 1 day ago

The media blitz is in full swing. Elections are coming. Back in NUS it was well known amongst the profs that PAP has a big issue with the youths ( whom are now adults in their 30s). It had gotten so bad that some even talked to some of the ministers directly, and yes, the ministers themselves know. This has been several years back, and the still lack thereof action from either housing, overpopulation, working hours etc is enough for you to know what their priorities are. If you tell your boss an issue, and after years, its still not been fixed or half-assed, you already know how much you are valued. Life in SG is good if you are an employer or you are rich. Rich as in the ministers come and meet you for meals regularly kind of rich. They know that they are going to win. They know that they can shelter their most unpopular candidates and parachute new ones under a banner minister. All they need to do is just let this election cycle to play out, then parachute in their next general. Im probably wasting my time writing all of this, but this is also my last final shot before migrating. Just a small hope that we can still be saved. If things still dont improve thenOk lor, time to pack bag and experience that summer holiday the french love.

SmartTangerine8466

23 hr. ago

Best of luck to you and your new journey. I am seriously considering migration as well, would love to know more about how you came to this decision and what was the process like for you.

Starting to see less of a point being treated like a second class citizen for the rest of my adult life - having NS liability til Im 40 while new citizens strut in every year like its free real estate without having to sacrifice their youth to serve this nation, lack of policies that addresses the concerns and problems of the younger electorate. That was made very clear by the past few Budgets where clearly the focus was on the old and frail with all the hype about Pioneer and Merdeka generations. No mention of how to guide Singapore to navigate the next 50 years, just constant propaganda of government is monitoring and nothing significant being done.

Government also seemed to have completely given up on trying to get the local core birth rates up and are very much obviously getting new citizens from immigration.

I question the process of how new citizens are approved when I have so many anecdotal experiences of friends who are not of C category being denied citizenship and PR status despite attending sec sch, JC and Uni here and have settled down here, yet I see ex-colleagues of C category getting citizenship easily when theyve worked here for just a few years. Didnt even grow up here, prefers very much to stay within their own cliques, not integrating with locals.

Opposition and NCMPs have raised valid questions in Parliament but PAP being PAP just shuts them down in the name of maintaining social cohesion and order as per their usual holier-than-thou attitude.

And thats just the tip of the iceberg. People dont seem to realise that our system of governance has a serious flaw where if the incumbent goes rogue, they literally can bring this country to its knees with the amount of power and control they have over the resources and institutions in this country simply with the current laws we have in place. Examples like POFMA, control over state media, the shenanigan to parachute Halimah Yaacob in as President and so on. If the PAP wanted, they have the power to enact and pass any law they liked at any given time given their supermajority.

And I havent even touched on how this country has become a plutocracy. The so called meritocracy the government loves to espouse has been corrupted.

theony

12 hr. ago

Most of the interview doesn't really tell us anything new re: the PAP's attitudes, but I did find this exchange interesting:

The Economist: Lee Kuan Yew said: Whoever governs Singapore must have that iron in him. And theres always been a sense that Singapores post-independence leaders have been strong men, sometimes even the hard men. Do you see yourself as that kind of leader? Do you have iron inside you? Lawrence Wong: I believe when push comes to shove and the time comes to take hard decisions, I will do so. So long as the decision is in the interest of Singapore and Singaporeans.

It's very much a softer response than the PAP of the past and I wonder how it will play. I wonder if this is a deliberate approach or LW's character. I'm quite sure that GCT and LHL would have immediately answered in the affirmative, with the "for Singapore's benefit" thrown in.
Darkness Into Light, Pietas annual fundraising event to raise money for lifesaving suicide and self-harm support and sponsored by Electric Ireland, is back this Saturday, 11th May, at 4.15 a.m..

Four Roscommon towns  Boyle, Castlerea, Roscommon Town and Strokestown  will host official walks early on Saturday morning.

With 100,000 participants expected at more than 230 official walks across four continents and many more taking part to fundraise in their own way, Darkness Into Light 2024 will bring communities together for the most important sunrise of the year, beginning in darkness and continuing through to dawn, symbolising the journey from despair to hope.
May 10, 2024 UPDATE

A roundup of local and international news.

Newsflash

Newsroom, 10.05.2024, 19:46

Elections. The election campaign for the 9th of June local and European Parliamentary elections got under way on Friday across Romania. The Central Election Bureau has urged candidates to observe the relevant legislation, to preserve a balanced, honest and constructive approach to all communications and to refrain from misrepresenting and manipulating information. Throughout the campaign, all messages and slogans with discriminatory overtones, inciting to hatred and intolerance are prohibited, in addition to the use of any means and actions designed to slander or stir religious or ethnic hatred.

Trade deficit. Romanias trade balance deficit in the first three months of the year stood at almost 6.7 billion euros, 1.5% lower than in the same period in 2023, according to a report by the National Institute for Statistics published on Friday. The executive president of the National Association of Exporters and Importers from Romania, Mihai Ionescu, says the data show that Romania continues to live on debt. He said the representatives of the business community will submit a series of proposals to the government to help reduce the trade deficit. These include support for businesses to make here products now imported from abroad. The Association also proposes the reestablishment of a network of economic advisors abroad by creating 100 new jobs covering markets in Africa, Asia and Latin America.

Missiles. The USA approved the sale of Sidewinder Block advanced missile technology to Romania, in a deal worth 70 million dollars. The missile systems will provide advanced air-air capabilities for F-16s owned by the Romanian Air Forces. The procurement is part of a broader and long-term effort to modernize the Romanian Air Forces, a US Embassy press release reads. US Charge dAffairs, Michael Dickerson, said the deal is an excellent example of robust security and defence cooperation between Romania and the USA. In turn, Defence Minister Angel Tilvar said the access of Romanian Air Forces to state-of-the-art air-air military technology will give a significant boost to the security of Romanian and allied airspace, also increasing interoperability with similar structures of the US Army.

10 May. Romania celebrated three major historical events on 10th May. Three major events in the history of Romania are observed on May 10. In 1866, King Carol I was crowned the first monarch of the freshly created Kingdom of Romania. 11 years later, on May 10, 1877, Romania proclaimed its independence from the Ottoman Empire. On May 10, 1881, Romania officially became a monarchy. Between 1866 and 1947, May 10 was celebrated not only as Monarchy Day and Independence Day but also as the National Day of Romania. May 10 was declared a national holiday in 2015.

Olympic Games. Romanian wrestler Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu has qualified for the Paris Olympics after a series of wins at the World Olympic Games Qualifier for Wrestling in Istanbul. The Romanian competed in the 130-kg Greek-Roman category. This will be the fourth edition of the Olympic Games for Alexuc-Ciurariu, after the London Olympics of 2012, Rio Olympics of 2015 and the Tokyo Olympics of 2020. Two other Romanian wrestlers are still trying to secure qualification for the Olympic Games  Razvan Arnautu and Nicu Ojog. Romanias delegation includes 13 wrestlers, and its objective is to qualify at least 2 athletes for the Olympic Games. Alin Alexuc-Ciurariu is the second Romanian athlete to secure qualification after Andreea Beatrice Ana, who booked her tickets to the Paris Olympics in the 53-kg category at the Baku qualifier in April. So far, 83 athletes have secured qualification to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris in 12 Olympic events.
Election and Misinformation

Right ahead of the election campaign for the EU Parliament elections the European Commission launches a video clip about misinformation

A polling Station in Romania

Sorin Iordan, 10.05.2024, 13:50

The European Commission has kicked off an information campaign for citizens on the risks posed by misinformation and information handling by players from outside the European Union. The Brussels move comes after a survey it made over the social networks Facebook and Instagram, which it accuses of failing to comply with their obligations on fighting misinformation. In this context, the EU Executive has launched an audio-video clip to be broadcast on all the press channels in all the member states before the elections for the EU Parliament. The 30 second clip is advising the voters to have a critical attitude towards the content distributed by the online media, analyze and dont believe everything they read.

Voters must be aware the video and audio materials can contain fake or incomplete information especially at this time marked by the accelerated development of the AI programmes. Another piece of advice is that they should check information and rely on trusted sources, such as the main stream press and not on sites, blogs or other social media disseminating various opinions and rumors instead of verified information.

Last but not least, European citizens should avoid conveying unverified information so that they themselves may not become a misinformation channel. The informative clip, which is going to appear on media channels in Romania as well by the end of this month, comes against the election campaign for the local and EU Parliament election, which kicked off in Romania on May 10th. We recall that its for the first time when Romanians will be voting for their local administration and their favourite MEPs on the same day, June 9th.

For 30 days from now on, discriminatory messages and slogans or those inciting to hate and intolerance as well as other forms of defamation are strictly forbidden.

The Central Election Office is firmly recommending to election contenders to obey the general rules of the campaign have a balanced, sincere and constructive discourse and avoid distorted and manipulated information in order to be able to prevent the dissemination of fake news or other forms of derailment that may hinder the good functioning of the election process. The head of the Permanent Election Authority, Toni Grebla, has announced that roughly 21 million ballot papers have been printed, and that for the first time ever 900 polling stations will be set up in foreign countries upon the request of the Romanian communities living in those countries.

The official has also pointed out that Romanians also have access to the Code of Good Practices regarding Misinformation as well as the Guide for the Prevention and Combating Misinformation Actions Targeting Voters, available on the websites of the Central Election Office and the Permanent Election Authority.

(bill)
Romania and the Republic of Moldova celebrated Europe Day

On May 9, Bucharest and Chisinau celebrated peace and unity in Europe.

EU flag (Photo: EC)

Daniela Budu, 10.05.2024, 14:00

On May 9, Romania celebrated, along with the other European states, Europe Day, dedicated to peace and unity on the continent. This date also has a special historical significance for Romanians, as it marks State Independence Day. In the message conveyed on Europe Day, President Klaus Iohannis said that Europeans want to live in free societies, with a functional rule of law, where rights and freedoms are respected. According to him, the current challenges show us all the more clearly that we have a responsibility towards people to maintain peace on the continent, and the surest solution is to strengthen the European construction and strengthen the unity between our nations. In turn, the Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu recalled that, after joining the EU, Romania benefited from over 64 billion Euros from European funds, money it received in addition to the total amount it contributed to the EU budget. In an intervention on Radio Romania, Iulia Matei, ambassador and permanent representative of Romania to the EU, pointed out that unity is the key to a strong Europe.

Iulia Matei: If we look back a little, and especially in recent years, we can see that together we have achieved a series of results that we probably would have considered much more difficult to achieve, but also impossible. And here I am primarily thinking of the fact that the EU has become a stronger geopolitical actor. We proved that we are a reliable partner for Ukraine, in the context of the current Russian aggression, and we also made these essential historical decisions related to the opening of accession negotiations with Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova.

The Arch of Triumph in Bucharest was illuminated in blue on the evening of May 9, to mark Europe Day, and the EU Flag was projected on the facade of the Palace of Parliament. In the big cities, Europe Day was celebrated with military parades and artistic events. Both Europe Day and Victory Day were celebrated in Chisinau as well. President Maia Sandu, members of the government and Parliament laid flowers at the Eternitate Memorial, to commemorate those who fell in the Second World War. A special ceremony was also held in the square in the center of Chisinau, in the presence of the president and the European commissioner for budget and administration, Johannes Hahn, who is visiting the Republic of Moldova. May 9, 1945 was the first day of peace in Europe after the Second World War, about which no one can speak triumphantly, especially since we are witnessing a new war in Europe, said Maia Sandu in her speech from the Great National Assembly Square. She emphasized the benefits that integration into the EU will bring, one of the biggest guarantees being peace and national security.

Maia Sandu: We dont want to go somewhere, we want to stay at home and let the European Union be at home. Happy anniversary, European Union! Happy anniversary, European Moldova!

Europe Day is the day when we honor all those who value and defend the European Union, peace, stability and prosperity on our continent, including the citizens of the Republic of Moldova, said, in turn, the European Commissioner Johannes Hahn. (LS)
Tesla Inc. (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk has reaffirmed his company's commitment to growing its Supercharger network, just days after the entire team in charge of building it was sacked by the EV maker.

"Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500M expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year," Musk tweeted on X.

"That's just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher," he added.

In another tweet, Musk announced the formation of a new Tesla group called the 'Supercharger Community' on X. Musk is one of the group's current members of less than 10. Each new applicant must be accepted before joining the community.

On May 1, Musk informed the company's employees about the disbandment of a group of about 500 individuals responsible for constructing new Supercharger stations.

Tesla's Supercharger network is the largest public fast-charge network in the U.S.

Musk had said that the Supercharger network will continue expanding, albeit at a slower pace for new locations and a greater focus on bolstering existing sites.

He has also said that charging sites currently being worked on will be finished and that Tesla "will add additional Superchargers anywhere where there are gaps."

For comments and feedback contact: editorial@rttnews.com

Business News
When Stuart Hunt went off to war in 1943, the longtime San Diegan remembers having the same gung-ho, patriotic spirit as the millions of other young men who enlisted to serve in the Allied Forces during World War II.

But when he reluctantly returned to the battlefield again in 1950, as a forward observer during the Korean War, he was a changed man. In his autobiography Twice Surreal, the Rancho Bernardo veteran and onetime prisoner of war says he couldnt muster much enthusiasm for a second conflict.

I was one of those eager young people, ready to go fight for our country, willing to accept that my life was a number, disposable on the cheap, he wrote of World War II. But I am sure that, for many, after they see the horrors of war, the enthusiasm wears thin or disappears.

Hunt, who turns 94 on April 5, is one of the nations few surviving veterans who served in both World War II and the Korean War. On the wall in his home office, a glass case filled with ribbons and medals, including a Bronze Star, testifies to his bravery. But when he talks and writes about his experiences, he focuses more on the friends he lost and his own will to survive.

There is no glory in war, he said, and often .. you have experience it to fully understand it.

Hunt grew up in Montreal, a dual citizen with an American dad and Canadian mom. His father, Thomas Hunt, ran an airfield in Ontario and young Stuart learned to fly single-engine planes like the Tiger Moth before he was 15.

In August 1941, his father took a job with Ryan Aeronautical and the family moved to San Diego. Hunt, then 18, was sailing with a friend near Coronado when they heard about the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.

The U.S. Army Air Corps rejected his application because he lacked two years of college credits, so he signed up instead with the Royal Canadian Air Force. After more than a year of training, he was shipped overseas to serve as a flying officer in the U.K.s Royal Air Force.

Assigned as a tail-gunner to the No. 425 Alouette Squadron in Yorkshire, his crew flew four-engine Halifax Mark II and III bombers on daring night raids over Germany in 1944. Up to one-quarter of the planes that made the bombing runs over Frankfurt, Nurenberg, Berlin, Essen, Kiel and other cities never returned.

For self-preservation, you didnt make friends over there because the guy next to you would be gone the next day, he said.

A few weeks after Hunts 21st birthday, his squadron was assigned to bomb the city of Karlsruhe on April 24th, 1944. Hunt had such a bad feeling about the mission, he wrote a goodbye letter to his parents and arranged to have his things shipped home if he didnt return.

Sure enough, there were problems from the start, with ice on the wings, fuel problems and high winds. On the way home, a German fighter plane shot up the Halifaxs crew and set two starboard engines ablaze.

As the only officer on the plane, Hunt helped each man  some badly injured and one dying  parachute out before he leaped free, landing hard in the waters off the southwest coast of Holland.

With the help of the Dutch Underground, he and some other downed RAF and American pilots made it to Antwerp, and then south into Belgium before they were sent their separate ways and told to find their way to Spain on foot.

Eventually, the Germans caught up with Hunt hiding in a haystack on a farm near Brussels. He would spend the next 13 months as a prisoner of war, enduring extreme hardship and injuries that still trouble him today.

After weeks of interrogations at Belgiums St. Gilles Prison and various other places, Hunt was held for 36 hours in a prison camp with no name in Weimar, Germany. It wasnt until much later that he discovered it had been Buchenwald, the Jewish concentration camp. He doesnt like to talk about what he saw there.

I knew something was wrong, he said. I could see people walking in, but there were bodies going out in trucks.

From there he was sent to Stalag Luft 3 in Poland, where he was held with 2,000 others in a section of the camp reserved for British officers. He arrived just a few months after the famed Great Escape, where a British pilot organized a massive tunneling effort under the camp walls. Seventy-six men escaped, but only three made it to safety. Fifty were executed and conditions for prisoners were quite restrictive by the time Hunt arrived.

Germany was losing the war, Russia and Allied armies were closing in and food was scarce. To escape approaching forces, the Germans marched their under-dressed prisoners 52 miles west in blizzard conditions with no water and virtually no food. Three months later, the men were forced to march another 90 miles, once again in below-zero conditions.

Hunt remembers those months as the worst of his life. He struggled with dysentery and lost nearly 60 pounds. His feet were so damaged by frostbite that even today the nerve damage in his feet causes constant shooting pains.

On May 3, 1945, Hunt said he woke up at a prison camp in Lubeck and realized all the guards were gone. Minutes later, the British Second Army rolled in.

When Hunt returned to San Diego, he married the pretty blonde San Diego State co-ed hed begun dating before the war, Edith Bridget Darsey. They would have three daughters together and 70 happy years of marriage until her death last year.

After the war, Hunt worked as a stock and bonds trader. To make extra money for his growing family, he joined the National Guard. He figured it was worth the risk of being called up because the nation was weary of war.

But in 1950, the call came. Because the newly established U.S. Air Force was flush with pilots, Hunt and his fellow WWII retreads were assigned to Army artillery units as forward observers, which he describes as a polite phrase for cannon fodder.

Stationed in bunkers along the front lines in North Korea, Hunt called artillery missions at several battles against North Korean and Chinese forces. One of the most memorable and surreal experiences was the Battle of Heartbreak Ridge in September and October of 1951.

The month-long battle resulted in more than 3,700 American and French casualties and an estimated 25,000 North Korean and Chinese casualties. Not long after, Hunt was assigned to supervise the firing of the wars millionth high-explosive round.

When he finally returned home to his family in late 1952, Hunt knew he was done with war. For the good of his family, he asked for, and was granted, a discharge. Eventually he founded a security products company with Jim Horwood, who he met in officers training school in 1942 and remained close friends with until Horwoods death in 2008.

When Hunt started writing his memoir, which is available on Amazon.com, he decided to name it Twice Surreal. The name reflects his experiences in two wars as well as the unimaginable odds he overcame to survive.

I almost felt like everything that happened over there doesnt seem real, he said this week. If you read my book you can see why theres really no reason I should be sitting here right now.

videopam.kragen@sduniontribune.com
WASHINGTON  The easiest legislative pathway to weakening the Flight 3407 aviation safety measures is about to be blocked for the next five years.

Thats because House and Senate negotiators have agreed on a five-year bill to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, and that bill includes no significant changes to those flight safety provisions. In fact, the bill  which passed the Senate on Thursday and is on target to pass the House next week  actually includes several additional safety measures to address new concerns.

Now all airline passengers can breathe a sigh of relief, Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer said in an interview on Friday. The airlines lost their best chance here to weaken the Flight 3407 safety law, and they wont get another chance for five years.

The compromise FAA bill is the product of a convoluted legislative process where one key provision of that 2010 safety law  the part requiring new commercial pilots to have 1,500 hours of experience  faced threats on both sides of Capitol Hill.

The biggest threat emerged in the House last year, when the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee unanimously passed an FAA reauthorization bill that would have allowed pilots to substitute 250 hours of simulator time for time in the skies, up from the current level of 100 hours.

But then Rep. Nick Langworthy  a Republican who now represents Clarence, site of the Flight 3407 crash that claimed 50 lives in 2009  led a successful bipartisan effort to repeal that provision via an amendment on the House floor.

Efforts to trim back the so-called 1,500 rule then shifted to the Senate. Sen. John Thune, a South Dakota Republican, has long pushed for changes to the rule, which the airline industry says contributes to a pilot shortage. Schumer, however, vowed to block any FAA bill that tampered with the pilot experience requirement, so Thune quietly dropped his effort.

Scott Maurer, one of the leading members of the Families of Continental Flight 3407, said the families are pleased with the pending compromise legislation. The bill also preserves other parts of the Flight 3407 safety bill passed in 2010, which also bolstered pilot training and rest requirements.

Its good news for now, at least, said Maurer, who lost his daughter, Lorin, in the Flight 3407 crash.

'You folks changed aviation history': For Flight 3407 families, a commemoration and a celebration "You folks changed aviation history," John Kausner, who lost his daughter Ellyce in the crash of Continental Flight 3407 in 2009, said at a memorial service Monday. "I want you to hear that. I don't know how many hundreds of people went on to dinner tonight because of you folks."

Maurer, like Schumer, said the comprehensive FAA bill is always the easiest vehicle for legislators to use to change federal aviation policy, given that narrow stand-alone measures of any kind rarely move forward. So with the latest FAA bill about to become law, we shouldnt be dealing with a whole lot of headwinds, Mauer said.

The FAA bill includes $19.4 billion for airport improvement grants, and Schumer said some of that money almost certainly will come to Buffalo Niagara International Airport. In addition, it includes a number of safety measures designed to counter recent threats such as runway near-misses and faulty aircraft. For example, the bill:

Calls on the FAA to hire upwards of 3,000 more air traffic controllers while bolstering their training.

Requires the hiring of additional aircraft safety inspectors.

Instructs the agency to deploy the latest situational awareness technology available to reduce runway close calls.

Reforms the process for certifying the safety of new aircraft.

Forces airlines to include cockpit voice recorder equipment that can record up to 25 hours of pilot conversation.

The bill also includes a number of consumer protection measures.

For the first time, airlines will be required to refund passengers if a domestic flight is delayed more than three hours or if an international flight is delayed more than six hours. And the FAA bill includes Schumers proposal banning airlines from charging families more for sitting together on a plane.

Now families wont have to pay fees in order to fly together, said Schumer, who held a news conference in Buffalo last November to promote his proposal. They used to charge you extra if you wanted to sit next to your kid.

The FAA bill also allows for 10 additional round-trip flights daily at Reagan National Airport in Washington  and that move prompted senators from Maryland and Virginia to oppose the measure. They were the only senators to vote against the bill, which passed by an 88-4 margin.
Bytes Technology Group announced the appointment of Sam Mudd as its permanent chief executive officer on Friday, as it also welcomed two independent non-executive directors to its board.

The FTSE 250 company said Mudd would assume the role of CEO immediately, following a selection process led by chair Patrick De Smedt and an external search firm.

It said Mudd had more than two decades of leadership experience, previously serving as an executive director on the board since July last year, and holding the position of interim CEO since February.

Notably, Mudd had a decade-long tenure as Managing Director of Phoenix Software, acquired by Bytes in 2017, where she spearheaded significant organic growth contributing to the company's success.

The board also announced that Ross Paterson would join as an independent non-executive director and chair of the audit committee on 1 June.

Anna Vikstrom Persson would join the board on the same date as an independent non-executive director as well.

Bytes said it expected to confirm the release date for its preliminary financial results for the year ended 29 February shortly.

It also expected to conclude its investigation into the resignation of former CEO Neil Murphy, and would provide updates on its findings as relevant.

The board is delighted to confirm Sam as CEO. Her knowledge of our business, our customers and our vendors is second to none, said chair Patrick De Smedt.

As interim CEO and in her previous role as managing director of Phoenix, Sam has demonstrated her natural ability as a leader and her ambition to take BTG forward.

The board agreed that she was the outstanding candidate for the role and we are all looking forward to continuing to work closely with her to capitalise on the significant opportunity ahead.

At 0810 BST, shares in Bytes Technology Group were down 0.68% at 497.11p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.
In Charles Waters and Traci Sorell's transformative and compelling novel-in-verse, Mascot, six eighth-grade Honors English students with different backgrounds and beliefs debate the issue of Native mascots in class, while the same discussion plays out in their community. This middle-grade novel makes a complicated, emotionally charged issue accessible to a broad audience, and the evocatively written narrative is told through multiple, distinct perspectives.

Callie Crossland, a Cherokee Nation Citizen and descendant of enslaved Africans, is a recent transplant to Rye, Va., outside Washington, D.C. She makes it clear on one of her first days at Rye Middle School that the painting on the cafeteria wall depicting a "copper-toned, muscled, loincloth-clad, tomahawk-wielding caricature with Rye Braves Rule" is not "art." Franklin Keys is a Black student who believes high school football is the "backbone" of the community, and the football players are the "gladiators" of the town. Indian American Priya Bhatt, whose father is a White House journalist, reluctantly covers the Rye Braves--which, in her words, are "centered on objectifying a culture"--for the middle-school newspaper. Sean McEntire, a sixth-generation Rye resident and white, isn't much of a talker but loves how the Braves bring people together. Tessa Ostergaard, a white student who has been homeschooled for most of her education, is "privileged, ponytailed, and super sad about the way the world is going." And Salvadoran immigrant Luis Flores thinks the mascot is about "pride" and "belief in one's self." Franklin, Sean, and Luis are diehard Rye Braves fans--"Braves power, baby!"--while Callie, Priya, and Tessa see the sports program as "chants and gestures that show no honor for Native people... just racism."

The students have mixed emotions about their latest assignment: a "Persuasive Writing and Oration./ Subject: Pros and Cons of Indigenous Peoples as Mascots." Their teacher Ms. Williams, "much-needed melanin in a sea of white teachers," has paired up students and chosen which side they'll argue. Callie is paired with Franklin to argue in favor of the mascot. Franklin begins researching the history of mascots to "school Callie and her woke nonsense," but the harder he tries to disagree with Callie's view, the more he realizes she may be right. Tessa, also tapped to argue pro-mascot, can't help herself and bombards her partner, Luis, with anti-mascot information. Overwhelmed Luis thinks people are being too sensitive about this topic, and he's tired of it. Sean and Priya are tasked with arguing against Native mascots, but Sean fails to see the negative impact on Native youth, choosing to center himself instead--"I'm Irish. I'm not offended by the Boston Celtics...."

Meanwhile, at the high school, students are mobilizing to protest the school district's mascot, and collecting signatures to petition for it to be changed. Callie, Priya, Tessa, and Franklin create social media posts and flyers to help, gathering over 600 student signatures and more than 900 from the community. They submit the petition to the school committee right before winter break and hope that spring semester will bring the much-needed change they're fighting for.

A key theme in Waters and Sorell's Mascot is the importance of seeing oneself positively represented in media. Ms. Williams provides her students with books, poems, and short stories about and by Black and Brown people so that they can see themselves and each other. Waters (Can I Touch Your Hair?) and Sorell (We Are Grateful: Otsaliheliga) extend this theme with their choice to tell the story from multiple viewpoints. The students in Ms. Williams's eighth-grade English class, with their varying backgrounds, beliefs, and reactions to Indigenous peoples as a sports mascot, function as a microcosm of U.S. society. The story is told through vignettes, each character (including Ms. Williams) getting space to tell it from their perspective. Many points of view are represented: a Native person who feels smothered by the tomahawk chopping, chanting, and yelling; a Black person who is proud of their Blackness even in the face of other students calling him an "Oreo"; a poor white person who doesn't understand how they could be considered privileged when their parents "don't own squat"; a well-meaning white "ally" who does more harm than good. The varied first-person perspectives provide insight into both sides of the argument while also developing fleshed-out characters with distinct voices.

Mascot is not only about human rights and Native autonomy--it's also about low-income kids who shoulder the burden of their parents' financial struggles, lonely kids who wish they had a friend to spend time with, immigrant kids pressured by their parents to succeed, and teachers who face criticism and pushback from colleagues "wrapped up in their privilege." The authors' choice to use verse instead of prose to tell these stories makes the title accessible and gives Waters and Sorell the opportunity to creatively utilize white space, language, and sentence structure. Repetition, varied line spacing, and single-word sentences ("Mascots./ Deadlines./ Assignments./ School's stressful.") are all ways the authors create tension and express emotion without cluttering the plot with too many details.

Waters and Sorell bolster their well-researched narrative with facts about real-life sports teams' stereotypical mascots and the effects they have on both Native and non-Native people. Backmatter includes glossaries of Cherokee and Salvadoran Spanish words, as well as more information about mascots and resources for further action.

Mascot, with its multilayered, insightful narrative and diverse voices, reveals the nuances of an emotionally charged topic in a passionate, accessible way. --Lana Barnes
E.K. Johnston is the bestselling author of several YA novels including A Thousand Nights, which was shortlisted for the Governor General's Award. Pretty Furious (Dutton Books for Young Readers) is a "spiritual sequel" to her YA feminist title Exit, Pursued by a Bear.

Meredith Adamo is a YA author based in hot, humid North Carolina, but she's originally from Rochester, N.Y., which is her favorite place on the planet. Not Like Other Girls (Bloomsbury YA) is her debut novel and an Indie Next List pick.

Here, Johnston and Adamo discuss the "not like other girls" and "good girl" tropes, writing feminist novels for teens, and the fun coincidence that both their books feature prominent characters named Maddie.

E.K. Johnston: Okay, so first things first! What drew you to write "girl culture" as a thriller?

Meredith Adamo: I don't know if I knew when I first started drafting how strong of a theme it would end up being. I've always loved the teen sleuth genre, so I wanted to write the kind of mysteries I'd grown up reading. I also thought it'd be fun to play with the "not like other girls" trope because it's so contentious. But the way the threads ended up coming together through the main character Jo's emotional arc only started to become clear to me during my (endless) revisions.

I love how you delve into the "good girl" trope. What led you there?

Johnston: I had the idea a while ago, and I honestly don't remember how. I think I had some leftover feelings, not just from writing Exit, Pursued by a Bear but from how people responded to Exit. It's kind of a piecemeal book: my friends from high school, my anger, the forest in summer, and the idea that it takes so little to wreck a reputation. I wanted to write about girls who know there's something else out there and want to be better at fighting for it. And then I was like, "White privilege, the ultimate weapon."

Adamo: I love how the girls are allowed to feel their anger; one of the refrains that stood out to me across the narrations is them saying, "Well, I'm a good girl." And it's such a meaningful way to flip that role on its head, especially as the girls realize that people in their community overlook them, but also try to protect them when they're not asking for it--especially at the expense of others.

Meredith Adamo

(photo: Amanda Padbury)

Johnston: Exactly! I'm a crier, and so I have to be careful not to let "white woman tears" cause damage. I wanted to explore what happened when the girls weaponized themselves rather than being used as weapons. Is there a particular weapon Jo uses in your book that you were surprised by?

Adamo: Often when I talk about the "not like other girls" trope, I refer to it as a weapon that Jo used in the events before the novel. So, Jo starts the book as an outcast, but in her former life, she was that cool girl who only hangs out with guys. I viewed her "not like other girls" mindset as one that she used to protect herself from engaging with the misogyny and the pain she endured. To Jo, if she can wield this thing to protect herself, then it's proof she doesn't need to be friends with other girls, and that it's okay that she's being mistreated by guys because they see her as an equal. She ends up realizing early on this is not true.

Johnston: I feel that whole premise in my chest. And I was not only friends with guys in high school, but I was a people pleaser, and took a lot of crap I should not have. Teens these days have giant problems to worry about (politics, climate change, etc.), and the more personal problems get swept away for being less important. But they still exist, and it hasn't got any easier to deal with them.

Adamo: It's funny, because there were various points when I was reading Pretty Furious that I was thinking, "Wow, Jo could've used Maddie, Mags, Louise, Jen, and Jenny in her corner." So much of Not Like Other Girls is about Jo learning to recognize her experiences, and I think that your "good girls" go through something similar. It was moving to watch the girls struggle with how they've been perceived and how that differs from their actions and their desire to do the right thing. (And as a former "good girl" teenager who grew up Catholic and often bristled at the way others perceived me, I felt so seen by these characters.) I think it'll be so important for teens to see how these characters are allowed to grow and change their minds about how they exist in the world.

E.K. Johnston

Johnston: And I think that's one of the things that differentiates our books from each other (in the good way!): yours is plot first and mine is character first. I like how different our books are even though they are theoretically about the same thing. It's almost like teen girls aren't a monolith.

Adamo: I love that they're in conversation with each other and looking at some of these similar themes from totally different angles.

Johnston: A Tale of Two Maddies. They should use that for the article title.

Tell me about writing your Maddie, and how writing the Main Character is different from writing the Plot Driver.

Adamo: Maddie in Not Like Other Girls is also this "good girl" character--and Jo isn't exactly nice when she tells her as much. But where the girls in Pretty Furious look at their role as good girls and find a way to push back, Maddie wants to shed her good girl status completely. And I really wanted Maddie to feel like a real person, and not just another missing girl.

Johnston: I was going to say: two tropes for the price of one! What has been the hallmark of your debut experience so far?

Adamo: I think this is a little corny, but once I started realizing it was getting into the hands of actual teenagers, it just made every doubt and anxiety worth it. How do you feel Pretty Furious fits into your list of novels now? I can definitely see how it's a companion (of sorts) to Exit.

Johnston: I have this insistence on setting books in my town and high school whenever possible. Pretty Furious will be the fifth installment of what my editor calls "The E.K. Johnston Multiverse." I think it makes the setting feel more real, since I can tie it to real places. I think Pretty Furious is a bit less rose-colored glasses than my usual. Do you mine your history for inspiration, too?

Adamo: Oh, absolutely, I set Not Like Other Girls in my hometown of Rochester, N.Y., partly because it's the place I know best, but I think so many of my own complicated feelings at 17 feel really tied to it. I'm not sure if I'd say my book is necessarily a love letter to Rochester--that feels a little more earnest than my actual feelings--but grounding it in a real place with real locations brought it to life in a way I didn't expect.

Johnston: I think of Pretty Furious as kind of an instruction guide, though hopefully not too pedantic. I think teens have a better idea of the world, these days, but there's no easy instruction, and I wanted to provide something without requiring real people to get hurt.

Adamo: I think it's such a good point! I often talk about how I feel a sort of responsibility as a young adult author because I want readers to feel seen and respected and understood, while also showing that there's space for us to change and grow.
Asahi India Glass (AIS), headquartered in Gurugram, has revealed its collaboration with INOX Air Products. AIS holds a significant position in the automotive glass industry, commanding a combined market share of nearly 65% across various segments, including passenger vehicles, three-wheelers, commercial vehicles, and off-highway vehicles in India.

Under the partnership, AIS will source green hydrogen for its upcoming greenfield facility in Soniyana, Rajasthan, from INOX Air Products, a prominent manufacturer of medical and industrial gases in India. INOX Air Products will supply green hydrogen to fuel AIS' new float glass facility, which is poised to have a monthly capacity of up to 17,000 metric tons.

With a strong emphasis on sustainability, AIS intends to utilize green hydrogen to decrease CO2 emissions by 25,000 metric tons over a span of two decades from this plant. The upcoming facility, positioned as environmentally friendly, will depend on renewable energy for more than 95% of its energy needs, with only 5% sourced from thermal power.

AIS is committing Rs 1400 crore to establish this new float glass facility, scheduled to commence operations by the end of the calendar year 2025. The company's objective is to domesticate at least 70% of its float glass (essential for automotive glass production) needs within India, thereby boosting its 'Make-in-India' initiative.

The new greenfield facility in Soniyana, situated in Chittorgarh, Rajasthan, will serve AIS' current five glass processing plants across India, located in Bawal (Haryana), Patan (Gujarat), Chennai (Tamil Nadu), Roorkee (Uttarakhand), and Taloja (Maharashtra). AIS will persist in importing the remaining float glass from its joint venture partner, Asahi Glass Corporation, sourced from the latter's facility in Indonesia, and capitalize on the benefits of the India-Indonesia Free Trade Agreement.
The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) announced the successful completion of its pilot program aimed at upskilling engineers in semiconductor fabrication technology. The program was conducted in partnership with the US-based semiconductor firm Lam Research and was unveiled during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's state visit to Washington, DC in July 2023.

As part of the pilot, Lam Research's Semiverse Solutions portfolio was used to train 32 MTech and PhD students at IISc's Center for Nano Science and Engineering (CeNSE). The curriculum included training on SEMulator3D, a powerful 3D semiconductor process and integration modeling software that is part of the Semiverse Solutions platform. This advanced software is utilized by the world's largest semiconductor companies, manufacturers, and foundries to model complete process flows and predict downstream ramifications of process changes.

global semiconductor manufacturing companies. Professor Srinivasan Raghavan, Chair of CeNSE at IISc, expressed confidence in the program's impact, stating, "With three of the pilot's participants already placed in global tier-1 semiconductor manufacturing companies, we are optimistic about the broad rollout of the course and its potential". Three students from the pilot cohort have secured placements at leadingcompanies. Professor Srinivasan Raghavan, Chair of CeNSE at IISc, expressed confidence in the program's impact, stating, "With three of the pilot's participants already placed in global tier-1 semiconductor manufacturing companies, we are optimistic about the broad rollout of the course and its potential".

Following the pilot's success, IISc and Lam Research have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the India Semiconductor Mission to expand the program nationwide. The plan aims to upskill a targeted 60,000 engineers over the next decade by rolling out Semiverse Solutions broadly across the country.

Rangesh Raghavan, Corporate VP and GM at Lam Research India, expressed enthusiasm for supporting India's growing semiconductor industry, stating, "We believe in the democratization of specialized semiconductor knowledge and are excited to support the scaling of the semiconductor industry in India".

Since 2014, Lam Research India has been a part of CeNSE's Industry Affiliate Programme (IAP), continuously collaborating with the center on innovative projects to advance semiconductor technologies. The successful pilot underscores the potential for large-scale upskilling in the sector, aligning with India's broader goals for semiconductor manufacturing and technological innovation.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced that the company plans to invest over $500 million in expanding its Supercharger network, creating thousands of new charging stations in 2024. Musk shared the news in a post on X, emphasizing that the investment is solely for new sites and expansions, not covering the much higher operations costs.

The announcement follows recent updates from Tesla to its Australian customers regarding ongoing Supercharger network growth, as the company aims to address concerns about service quality after laying off hundreds of employees in its charging team. Tesla assured customers in Australia that the network would continue to expand and that locations under construction would be completed and operational soon.

charging infrastructure. This investment is particularly crucial amid a global slowdown in electric vehicle sales. Tesla's investment in the Supercharger network expansion is part of the company's broader strategy to support the adoption of electric vehicles by ensuring accessible and efficient. This investment is particularly crucial amid a global slowdown in electric vehicle sales.

In a separate development, Musk invited billionaire investor Warren Buffett to consider investing in Tesla. Responding to a suggestion on X that Buffett should sell his shares in Apple and invest in Tesla instead, Musk described it as an 'obvious move' for Buffett.

As Tesla faces challenges in the evolving electric vehicle market, the expansion of its Supercharger network is expected to bolster the company's position and support the growing demand for EV charging infrastructure.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  A fire at a home in Rossville injured four firefighters early on Friday morning.

The firefighters, who suffered minor injuries, were transported to Staten Island University Hospital in Princes Bay, according to a spokesman for the FDNY/EMS.

The blaze was reported at 1:11 a.m. for the second floor of a two-story, 20-by-50-foot home at 30 Johnson St. near Arthur Kill Road, the FDNY spokesman said.

About 60 firefighters and EMS personnel in 12 units brought the all-hands fire under control just under an hour later, at 2:06 a.m., the FDNY spokesman said.

The cause of the fire remains under investigation.

***

Want to stay up to date on breaking news or submit tips to our breaking news team if you see an emergency response on Staten Island?

-- Sign up for free breaking news text messages

-- Follow our Crime and Public Safety Facebook page

-- Email our breaking news team at breaking@siadvance.com.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y.  This almost 50,000-square-foot lot in St. George, where Stuyvesant Place and Richmond Terrace meet across from SIUH Community Park, has been a few different things. My research found that it was a Mobile gas station in 1952. It was surrounded by a hill, dotted with large Victorian homes along a cobblestone street, still present in 1969.

From the late 1990s to 2009, a donut shop called Country Donuts stood in this spot. Many ferry commuters and residents stopped by to enjoy the donuts until its close in 2009.

Well, today, it is quite a different story. Seven stories, to be exact. A tall new structure, slated to hold 77 residential units, has risen in the spot where the old Country Donuts was, changing the character of this corner forever.

The St. George Country Donuts was located at 160 Richmond Terrace, across from SIUH Community Park. It shut its doors for good in 2009. (Staten Island Advance/Jamie Lee) Staten Island Advance

A woman with a stroller pushes her youngster along the roadway on Stuyvesant Place, just off Richmond Terrace in St. George, a very dangerous maneuver in 1969. (Staten Island Advance)Staten Island Advance

The site of a new building going up at 160 Richmond Terr., St. George, is shown on April 20, 2022. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance

The shiny new building at 160 Richmond Terr., at Stuyvesant Place, is shown on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance

The shiny new building, at 160 Richmond Terr. at Stuyvesant Place, is shown on May 1, 2024. (Staten Island Advance/Jan Somma-Hammel)Staten Island Advance
First F-16 fighter jets from the West will arrive in Ukraine in weeks, top military source says

First F-16 fighter jets from the West will arrive in Ukraine in weeks, top military source says

The first F-16 fighter jets to be delivered from the West will arrive in Ukraine within weeks, says a high-ranking military source.

He said the aircraft were due to be supplied for the war against Vladimir Putins forces by June/July.

Ukraine has sought US-made F-16 fighter jets to help it counter Russian air superiority during more than two years of conflict.

The source did not say who would supply the jets.

But a number of countries in the West have offered to send these planes, with America having backed the move.

Britain has helped to train Ukrainian pilots.

The Netherlands last month handed over another three F-16 fighter jets to a training facility in Romania, where Ukrainian pilots and ground staff are being taught to fly and maintain the planes in battle.

The Netherlands has been one of the driving forces behind an international coalition to supply Ukraine with F-16s to strengthen its air defence against the Russian invasion.

America has backed sending the planes to Ukraine, with Denmark, Norway and Belgium also reportedly involved in the initiative.

Ukraines President Volodymyr Zelensky called the move a breakthrough agreement last year and said the planes would strengthen Ukraines air defences and help its counter-offensive against Russian forces.

But US officials have privately said the jets will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive after months of training, given the strength of the Russian air force and its defence systems.

The Dutch have promised to deliver a total of 24 F-16s for use in Ukraine.

Ukraine has also stepped up its drone warfare, using the unmanned aircraft to strike more than 900 miles deep inside Russia.

Military experts expect more Russian aircraft to be downed by Ukraine forces in coming weeks as more weapons arrive from the West.

Mr Zelensky has told how more military aid is being rushed to the frontline after America agreed a 48 billion package, Britain a further 500 million of support, and other allies are also providing more supplies to Kyiv.

Putins army chiefs are seeking to gain more territory before the military aid can reach Ukraine forces and as drier conditions have made advances easier.

Russian troops launched an armoured ground attack on Ukraines northeastern Kharkiv region early on Friday, advancing one kilometre near the border town of Vovchansk in an effort to create a buffer zone, a senior military source said.

The assault opens a new front in the war more than two years since Russias full-scale invasion.

Fighting in the border areas of the Kharkiv region continued and Kyiv has sent more forces to the area as reinforcements, the defence ministry said.

At approximately 5 am, there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armoured vehicles, the ministry said.

As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue.

A senior Ukrainian military source said that Russian forces were aiming to push the Ukrainian armed forces as far back as 10 kilometres (six miles) from the Russian border and that Kyivs forces were trying to hold them back.

Russian units have also been seizing more land in the Donetsk province of the eastern Donbas region.

But they have been suffering heavy losses, according to the Ministry of Defence in London.
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- In honor of those who have died, here is a compilation of obituaries posted on SILive. Viewing times and guest books can be seen here.

Katherine (Kay) Leahy (nee Molloy), 93, of Navarre, FL, originally from Staten Island, passed away on Dec. 30, 2023. Kay, a loving wife and mother of 4 children, retired in 1995 as an insurance biller for Egger Nursing Home. She enjoyed water aerobics, trips to Biloxi, Mississippi, and was a longtime parishioner of St. Teresas Church in Staten Island. Kay is survived by her three children, eight grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, and two sisters. A Memorial mass will be held at St. Teresas Church on May 21, 2024. Read the full obit on SILive.

Generative AI was used to help generate an initial draft of this article, based on data provided by Legacy.com.
Good afternoon and thank you for being here today. I would like to thank Caroline Diamond Harrison, Brian Laline, and the judges. I would also like to extend thanks to those families and friends who are here to support us today, both those currently here and those here in our hearts.

First, I dont know where my fellow honorees were when they got the call and how they reacted, but I can tell you where I was and what I was doing. I was taking a nap after a treatment. Brian called all excited and told me I was nominated a Woman of Achievement, and my response was Oh Brian, Ill hear from you, OK, bye.

He mustve asked himself, Who nominated this one?

Well, a moment later I was interrupting my husband on the phone saying, I was nominated Woman of Achievement and this is the real one.

You see, two years ago when the Advance did not have the Woman of Achievement awards because of COVID, the Advance asked for nominations for those who worked on the frontline to be recognized. I was proudly recognized as one and now my husband started calling me a Woman of Achievement.

I in turn told him I was not a Woman of Achievement. I was recognized by the Advance for working the front lines and so it went back and forth a couple of times. It ended when I said do I have a silver cup from the Advance, did the Advance send me a silver cup? No, I am not a Woman of Achievement and finally this discussion was dropped.

So when Brian called me, I knew this was the real deal. This was the real Women of Achievement. After I hung up that phone, I felt like such a fool but it didnt matter because now I was a real Woman of Achievement.

So now I sit here on a Sunday morning putting together my thank-yous, putting together my thoughts about the event and just reflecting on being a woman on Staten Island in general. Last night was the White House correspondents dinner. I watched Staten Islands current Golden Boy, Colin Jost, reference the Staten Island Advance six times. Colin started his career at the Staten Island Advance. I was excited as Im always excited hearing Staten Island referenced, except when they talk about the former landfill, the traffic and the red-light cameras.

How I got to be chosen a Woman to be Achievement Ill never know. When I look at my fellow nominees, Im in awe. I have been fortunate to know and work with some Women of Achievement. I admire them and I am inspired by them, but Im just doing my job. I spent almost 30 years at bedsides, nursing both in the hospital and the critical care unit. It was very rewarding but back-breaking work. I also served as a nurse at my husbands primary care office.

After volunteering for several years, I became the Executive Director of the Staten Island Heart Society. In the 12 years as Executive Director 250 AEDs have been donated and 8,000 people trained in CPR. When we were working with the New York City Council on the Beating Hearts Initiative, we were able to provide an additional 1500 AEDs and train almost 10,000 additional people in CPR in the outer boroughs.

The funds raised through that initiative permitted us to give back to the Staten Island community. A community that is blessed with a multitude of community-based organizations that we were fortunate to assist. Right now, we are working primarily on Staten Island giving out AEDs and teaching CPR. We travel in my CPR Mobile. With two sons, one in their 20s and one in their 30s. Im still driving a mom minivan, but I love it. I typically can be found to have two dozen mannequins in my van.

Another thing Im so proud of is that were training high school students in CPR before graduation. It is not a certified class but each student is taught CPR and then demonstrated on how they may use an AED. Count the number of schools, count the number of students and think about how many thousands more on Staten Island know CPR each year. It is amazing.

In conclusion I would like to extend my deepest congratulations to my fellow honorees. I only follow in the shadow of Barbara DAmora, Beverly Garcia Anderson, Jill ODonnell Tormey, Minnie Graham and Lynne Persing. Today is your day Ladies, its your day to be Queen of the Day. Enjoy it, enjoy your friends who are here to support you, enjoy your family and whatever you do never stop the work you d do on Staten Island, whether its what you currently do or something else, there is always something to be done.

Each day that we stand up and do something to help someone is a good day.

PS: I would like to give a special thanks to my family and friends that have supported my career. Most of them have volunteered at the Heart Society.
Israel has qualified for the grand final of the Eurovision Song Contest following a tense semi-final in Malmo today (9 May).

Earlier in the day, thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators took to the streets of the Swedish port city to protest the countrys participation in the competition.

Israels journey to the final on Saturday (11 May) means that further protests are now expected that day.

Latvia, Austria, the Netherlands, Norway, Greece, Estonia, Switzerland, Georgia and Armenia also went through following todays semi-finals

They join the 10 countries who qualified from the first semi-final on Tuesday (7 May): Serbia, Portugal, Slovenia, Ukraine, Lithuania, Finland, Cyprus, Croatia, Ireland and Luxembourg.

Those 20 qualifiers will compete in Saturdays final along with the big five who automatically qualify: the UK, France, Spain, Germany and Italy.

Israels Eden Golan reacts after qualifying for the final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest (TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty Ima)

Sweden also automatically qualifies as host, so the final will see a total of 26 countries compete to be crowned the Eurovision victor.

Pro-Palestinian groups have said that they plan to march again on Saturday. They have been calling for other countries to boycott the contest over Israels offensive in Gaza following Hamass 7 October attack.

Police estimated that between 10,000 and 12,000 people took part in todays demonstration, which saw Palestinian flags being waved through the historic Stortorget square. Among those in the crowd was the Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg.

Israels Eurovision entry, Eden Golan, was booed during a dress rehearsal on Wednesday. She was met with chants of Free Palestine and jeers by some members of the crowd.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has allowed Israel to enter this years song contest, despite the countrys ongoing attacks on Gaza.

The Palestinian death toll is believed to have reached 34,000 people.

Golan, 20, has told ITV News that she could not have asked for a better year to be representing my country. Ahead of the protests, BBC presenter Rylan Clark came to the defence of Eurovision.

Speaking from Malmo, Clark, who is hosting the BBCs coverage alongside Graham Norton and Scott Mills, told ITVs Good Morning Britain that the city is doing an amazing job of hosting.

The climate in the world at the minute isnt great and you know were not silly to not understand that theres a lot going on in the world, but I think in the Eurovision bubble its a song contest, its all about the music and thats what were here for, said the 35-year-old.

The city has done an amazing job, theres a lot of demonstrations happening and people have got the right to do that, but its just about the music.
Ondaatjes first published work was poetry, and he has since written fiction, poetry and non-fiction. The English Patient (1992) became his best-known work when it won the Booker Prize and was made into an Oscar-winning film by Anthony Minghella. At 80, he has published a collection that sways between poetry and prose the way much of his work has.

Michael Ondaatjes first poetry collection since Handwriting (1998) reflects on late light, long love and a treasury of reading. The poems are not without melancholy, but this is entwined with awareness of the rich accumulation of experience, replacing the conventional idea of ageing as diminution with a blazing and sensual testament to what is held close.

In Lock, the first poem in A Year of Last Things, a man approaches the end of his life. All he wants to carry in his pocket when he dies is torn-free stanzas / and the telephone numbers / of his children in far cities. These torn lines can remind us / how to recall.

To imagine Ondaatjes virtuosic capacity as the ability to leap between poetry and fiction is to ignore the way his poems are often novelistic, his prose poetic, and his writing often formally hybrid. His novels have a poems logic, with patterns and images recurring, rhyme-like, and an order described in the novel In the Skin of a Lion as very faint, very human. Running in the Family shuffles memoir, anecdotes, photos and poems as Ondaatje returns to his birthplace Sri Lanka to explore family myths and silences.

A Year of Last Things by Michael Ondaatje.

A characters description in his 1976 novel Coming Through Slaughter of jazz musician Buddy Bolden  we thought he was formless, but I think now he was tormented by order  evokes Ondaatjes own method. The beautiful looseness and capaciousness of these poems recall a jazz musician playing outside. Free verse lines meander and snap, narrative buoys a poems music like melody and poems move between keys with a breaking lines breath-like leap.

If a novel is a mirror walking down a road, as Hana in The English Patient says, quoting Stendhal, travelling and reflection are important to Ondaatjes poems, too.

A Bus to Fez compresses the history of friendship between a man and woman. She had often talked me out of things  a change in life, a foolishness, but equilibrium is found in mutual reserve: the two of us loved privacy, / had never shared the solitude within ourselves. She believes gentleness implied suffering thinking of a woman involved with one man for most of her life. The man, if it is the same poetic avatar who moves through these poems, has loved one woman for decades, so the comment is barbed. She imagines the two friends discovering each other, wildly in a hotel bed somewhere. Not just anywhere, either  in Carthage. She rises from her own fantasy as Dido, making of her companion a kind of Aeneas, who will never give her what she wants.
In thousands of cinemas around the world last weekend, movie-goers watched Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt reigniting a romance against the spectacular backdrop of Sydney Harbour, the Opera House and the Harbour Bridge in the Hollywood action comedy The Fall Guy.

A few months ago, it was Sydney Sweeney and Glen Powell falling in love around the same internationally famous landmarks in the romantic comedy Anyone But You.

Ryan Gosling is dragged across the Harbour Bridge in The Fall Guy. Credit: Universal

Within half a millisecond, everyone in the world knows where you are, film location manager Jeremy Peek said about Hollywoods fascination with the citys most famous tourist attractions. Its a snapshot: you show the Bridge, you show the Opera House, youre in Sydney. This is going to be fun!

Two more Hollywood blockbusters shot in Sydney and elsewhere in NSW will be in cinemas around the world this month - Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, set on the American west coast, has just opened. In a fortnight, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, set in a post-apocalyptic desert, will follow.
On-again, off-again discussions between the state government and Airtrain to end the private companys monopoly on public transport to Brisbane Airport are on again, with the transport minister confirming negotiations are back on the table.

Brisbane Times revealed in 2022 the state government was negotiating to bring Airtrains 35-year exclusivity agreement, signed by the Borbidge Liberal-National Coalition government in 1998, to a premature end.

It costs $21.90 to catch the Airtrain to Brisbane Airport from inner-city stations.

Those negotiations under former transport minister Mark Bailey broke down in November, but his successor Bart Mellish said on Friday the topic was  potentially  back on the table.

In terms of the contract itself  and getting out of that contract  it would have to be a commercial negotiation, he said.
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 In the magnificent autumnal sunshine, Luke Anedda carves a vast circle with his boat on the shimmering waters of Corner Inlet, trailing a long net in his wake. This is known, in commercial fishing parlance, as a shot  dropping a single net and then gathering it up in the hope of a plentiful catch. It is a practice that has become increasingly rare in Victoria. Corner Inlet in South Gippsland is the last bay or inlet anywhere in the state where commercial net fishing is allowed. Anedda is among just 18 commercial fishing licence holders at Corner Inlet. He fought to protect net fishing when the state Labor government appeared poised to phase it out as it sought to promote recreational fishing. Commercial fisherman Luke Anedda reeling in his catch at Corner Inlet. Credit: Jason South For almost 30 years, the inlets fishers adhered to voluntary limits to avoid overfishing. But when faced with the prospect of a commercial fishing ban, they pressed the state government to make their voluntary code mandatory. In doing so, they made unlikely allies of recreational fishers, some of whom had been hostile to the commercial sector for years.

Advertisement

The Corner Inlet industrys decision to lobby the government to formalise their code is widely known and has become local legend. But how they engaged recreational fishers to aid their cause is less known. And their shrewd allegiance underscores something deeper  the political clout and reach of the recreational fishing community. Next month marks four years since the code was made law, and the Victorian Fisheries Authority insists Corner Inlets fish stocks remain sustainable. Anedda is the fourth generation of his family to fish these abundant waters in South Gippsland, supplying his catch to Melbournes wholesale seafood market and directly to restaurants. Early this week, he launched his boat from Port Welshpool, searching for whiting and calamari above the fine seagrass on the ebb tide with the hills of Wilsons Promontory as the backdrop. When Anedda begins reeling in the net together with his deckhand, they seem to catch only brown seaweed. Deckhand William Wigg at work. Credit: Jason South But soon, they are unpicking fish from the net, tossing the bigger ones into a large box. He throws the small ones back into the water with a deft flick of the wrist.

Advertisement

This is the money fish, he says, holding the slender body of a long King George whiting in his gloved hand. And when they gather the end of the net against the nine-metre aluminium boat, it is teeming with fish  various whiting species, flathead, squid and leather jackets. Business is good. But it was only a short time ago that Corner Inlets fishing industry feared anglers, who fish mostly for fun using rods and lines, would spell the end for their businesses. There was good reason to worry. After the 2014 state election, the Victorian Labor government announced it would cease net fishing in Port Phillip Bay in favour of the recreational version to ensure anglers had plenty of fish available. Commercial nets were then banned in the Gippsland Lakes following the 2018 election. We were going to be next, Anedda says. There are no ifs, buts or maybes about it. Fishing industry insiders say net fishing at Corner Inlet would almost certainly have been banned were it not for the local commercial fishing industrys intervention.

Advertisement

Neville Clarke was among those leading the campaign. He has fished at Corner Inlet since 1984. In the early 1990s, boat and net technology improved markedly, allowing fishers to cover more area and bring in bigger catches. Corner Inlet is the last bay or inlet in Victoria where net fishing is still allowed. Credit: Jason South They realised fish stocks would suffer without limits. So, they adopted a voluntary code of conduct restricting each fisher to just two shots over a 24-hour period with their seine nets, which form a circular net wall underwater. Previously, they could take any number of shots with seine nets. The code became part of local fishing culture. It was unwritten law, Clarke says. While the government bought out net fishing licences in Port Phillip Bay and Gippsland Lakes, Clarke and Anedda decided to push for the state government to formalise their voluntary code in 2020. They made the canny, and on the face of it counterintuitive, decision to reach out to then Futurefish Foundation director David Kramer for help. His group, which is dedicated to protecting recreational fishing, had successfully lobbied the state government to ban nets in Port Phillip and Gippsland Lakes. Kramer, who now works at the Victorian Fisheries Authority, declined to comment.

Advertisement

But Anedda says Kramer supported their push to make their commercial fishing code mandatory at Corner Inlet, allowing them to present a united case to the state government. We couldnt get ourselves in front of a minister without Davids help. Kramer, the host of the former Channel 31 TV program Talking Fishing, clearly had the ears of senior figures in the government and its bureaucracy. During the 2018 election campaign, former premier Daniel Andrews made one of his few television studio appearances on Talking Fishing. He appeared again in 2022, in addition to many frontbenchers. Since it was elected in 2014, the Victorian Labor government has spent hundreds of millions of dollars courting the hobby fishing community. Last year, the state government distributed 60,000 Little Angler kits with free rods and tackle boxes to primary school children.

Advertisement
A second man accused of a brutal attack on a Perth grandmother, in a case that sparked a furore over the migration system, was released from federal detention in early 2020 when Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was minister for home affairs.

The man, Seyed Younes Tahami, is accused of joining fellow asylum seeker Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan in the aggravated assault and robbery on April 16 that left Ninette Simons, 73, suffering severe injuries that were shown in graphic images across the national media.

Tahami has been charged with aggravated assault occasioning bodily harm, aggravated robbery, aggravated home burglary, impersonating a police officer and detaining someone with intent to gain a benefit.

Federal records reveal a key government decision in January 2020 led Commonwealth authorities to release Tahami into the community after he had spent time in prison and immigration facilities, raising questions about why he was not kept in detention. There was no reason given for his release.
Half of the detainees released after Novembers landmark High Court ruling outlawing indefinite immigration detention do not have ankle bracelet monitors or curfews, according to data released on Friday just as the government fended off a separate challenge that would have freed an estimated 200 more detainees into the community.

In Melbourne, Immigration Minister Andrew Giles defended the board responsible for deciding if released detainees need ankle bracelets after the community summary revealed that only 76 of the 153 former detainees were wearing the monitoring devices and only 68 had curfews.

The Community Protection Board set up to advise the government on the released detainees is under fire, after it recommended that former detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan, 43, did not need an ankle monitor  a month before he allegedly assaulted Perth grandmother Ninette Simons on April 16.

Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne on Friday, Giles defended the board and its decision-making.
In 2024, going to prison in NSW for being gay is an unthinkable concept. For many, though, the unthinkable was a harsh reality.

As senior reporter Andrew Hornery writes today, NSW courts recorded up to 1000 convictions a year before homosexuality was finally decriminalised in 1984. Along with fines and prison, many suffered the ignominy of court-endorsed treatments  from electric shock and potent drugs to brain surgery  to cure their homosexuality, many of which are now considered medical quackery.

Jacquie Grant, a trans woman who was arrested on the streets of Kings Cross for dressing like a girl, today and in a police mugshot taken when she was 15 years old.

Hornery has spent several weeks talking to some who found themselves on the wrong side of the law in NSW, and an overwhelming message came through: an apology from the NSW government is wanted, and long overdue.

Hornery put that request to Premier Chris Minns earlier this week and by Friday was told the government would be more than willing to deliver an apology in parliament to coincide with the 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in our state.
Australia has long enjoyed a productive relationship with India. Each year, the country of 1.4 billion sends thousands of its best students, academics and business leaders to Australia. More than two-thirds of Australias exports to India are now tariff-free and the cultural ties, driven by cricket, food and education, have never been stronger.

But the actions of the Indian government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi are now putting some of that at risk.

First, there were the revelations last week that India was responsible for a nest of spies that attempted to steal information about Australias trade relationships, sensitive defence projects and airport security. Second, through Modis increasingly authoritarian turn against minority groups, critical media outlets and political rivals.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with Narendra Modi during the Indian PMs Australian visit last year. Credit: Getty Images

India was once seen as the great Asian democratic bulwark against another rising power: China. Now some of Delhis policies are increasingly reminiscent of Beijing.
Singapore: Indonesian police have caught six Chinese nationals and six suspected people smugglers who were believed to be attempting an illegal boat journey to Australia.

East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) police said on Friday that the group was discovered on Wednesday in waters near the city of Kupang, a roughly 500-kilometre journey from Australia.

Fishing boats in Indonesia. Credit: Sydney Morning Herald

The failed mission comes about a month after a separate group of Chinese successfully reached northern Western Australia and wandered into the Truscott airbase.

In February, 39 Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indian citizens also reached WA with Indonesian people smugglers. All the would-be immigrants from both ventures were rounded up in Australia and sent to Nauru for processing.
Warning: graphic content

London: The mastermind of an extreme body modification cult who performed dozens of irreversible mutilations on other men broadcast on his Eunuch Maker website has been jailed for life.

Marius Gustavson has been jailed for life. Credit: Facebook

Marius Gustavson, a 46-year-old Norwegian living in north London, was sentenced at the Old Bailey on Thursday for running the grisly and gruesome enterprise alongside six of his co-defendants.

Gustavson was described by prosecutors as an arch-manipulator of vulnerable men who raked in around 300,000 ($567,000) from the websites 22,841 members who paid to watch videos of his barbaric underworld surgeries and sexual torture on others, including those performed on a 16-year-old boy.
Apple apologizes for iPad 'Crush' ad after backlash



San Francisco, May 9 (AFP) May 09, 2024



Apple apologized on Thursday after an ad for its latest-edition iPad caused an uproar for showing an industrial press crushing objects linked to human creativity, infuriating artists.

Social media users immediately criticized the ad, which was posted on X by Apple CEO Tim Cook, as painfully tone-deaf at a time when the creative community is worried about its future with the emergence of generative AI.

"Creativity is in our DNA at Apple, and it's incredibly important to us to design products that empower creatives all over the world," Apple's vice president of marketing Tor Myhren told Ad Age.

"Our goal is to always celebrate the myriad of ways users express themselves and bring their ideas to life through iPad. We missed the mark with this video, and we're sorry."

The company also said it won't air the ad on television as planned.

Set to the song "All I ever need is you" by Sonny and Cher, the one-minute ad titled "Crush" sees the pile of creative artifacts -- including a guitar, piano and paint cans -- explode under the pressure of Apple's press.

At the end, the press pulls back and reveals Apple's latest tablet, the iPad Pro, touted as ultra-thin.

"The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley," wrote actor Hugh Grant on X in response to Cook's tweet.

Hollywood director Reed Morano urged Cook to "read the room," calling the ad "psychotic."

The ad harked to viral TikTok videos of industrial presses and other machines that are watched by millions on the platform.

Many critics said the ad betrayed Apple's iconic 1984 commercial that launched the first Mac computer and depicted the company as a hammer-throwing rebel against a monolith big brother.

The ad comes as ChatGPT and Dall-E creator OpenAI, as well as other AI giants, are facing lawsuits from artists and publishers saying that their material was used to train AI models without permission.
Chip giant TSMC's April revenue jumps 60% on-year



Taipei, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Taiwanese chip giant TSMC said on Friday that April revenue jumped nearly 60 percent on-year, riding a huge wave of demand for the advanced semiconductors used in AI hardware.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company controls more than half the world's output of chips, and supplies them for everything from Apple's iPhones to Nvidia's cutting-edge artificial intelligence hardware.

Consolidated revenue for April was "approximately NT$236.02 billion (US$7.2 billion)... an increase of 59.6 percent from April 2023", the firm said in a statement.

This compares with a 34.3 percent on-year jump in March.

The company said last month that first-quarter revenue increased 13 percent on-year to US$18.87 billion, and expects a 27.6 percent rise in the second.

The wild success of OpenAI's ChatGPT has sparked an AI gold rush, with demand surging around the world for the cutting-edge chips needed to train and run AI services.

TSMC dominates the global chip industry, and the bulk of its fabrication plants are based in Taiwan, a self-ruled island that is claimed by neighbouring China.

Beijing has said it would not rule out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its control, and has in recent years ramped up pressure by sending in record-breaking numbers of warplanes and naval vessels around the island.

The semiconductor supply chain is highly vulnerable to shocks, and concerned governments have lobbied TSMC to move more production away from Taiwan.

The United States in particular has made a huge push, passing the Chips and Science Act in 2022 to overhaul the semiconductor industry on American soil.

US Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday during a US House hearing on the department's budget that an invasion of Taiwan by China and a seizure of TSMC would be "absolutely devastating" to the American economy.

"Right now, the United States buys 92 percent of its leading edge chips from TSMC in Taiwan," she said. "They are vastly ahead of anything we are doing in the United States."



- Delays in US -



TSMC announced plans in April for a third factory in the United States, raising its total investment in the United States to US$65 billion.

Its US projects have faced obstacles in the past year, which the company had attributed to a lack of human resources, as making chips requires highly specialised skills.

But if successful, the TSMC fabs in Arizona would be the first time that super-advanced chips will be made on American soil, according to Raimondo.

This year, TSMC also launched a new US$8.6 billion plant in the southern Japanese island of Kyushu -- a coup for Japan as it vies with the United States and Europe to woo semiconductor firms with huge subsidies.

It is also planning another Japan facility in Kumamoto for more advanced chips.

As well as geopolitical worries, natural disasters are also a threat.

A major earthquake last month in Taiwan also saw a flurry of emails sent out by TSMC to assure customers that there was minimal impact on its production lines.
China says tailed, 'issued a warning' to US Navy ship in S. China Sea



Beijing, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Beijing's military on Friday said it had tailed and issued a warning to a US Navy ship near the Paracel Islands in the disputed South China Sea.

China "organised naval and air forces to tail and monitor the ship in accordance with laws and regulations and issued a warning to drive it away", military spokesman Tian Junli said in a statement.

The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey "illegally intruded into China's territorial waters near the Xisha Islands without approval from the Chinese government", Tian said, referring to the Paracel Islands by their Chinese name.

"The actions by the United States seriously violate China's sovereignty and security," he added.

Tian accused Washington of being the "creator of security risks in the South China Sea" and the "biggest destroyer" of peace and stability in the area.

In a statement, the US Navy confirmed the ship had "asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands".

"At the conclusion of the operation, USS Halsey exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea," it added.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas," the statement said.
China says 'issued a warning' to US Navy ship in S. China Sea



Beijing, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Beijing's military on Friday said it had tailed and issued a warning to a US Navy ship in the disputed South China Sea, just days after the same vessel sparked China's ire by sailing through the Taiwan Strait.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea despite an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis. It deploys hundreds of coast guard, navy and other vessels to patrol and militarise the waters.

And on Friday, military spokesman Tian Junli said China had "organised naval and air forces to tail and monitor" the American guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey.

Those forces "issued a warning to drive it away", he added, after the ship "illegally intruded into China's territorial waters near the Xisha Islands without approval from the Chinese government", Tian said, referring to the Paracel Islands by their Chinese name.

"The actions by the United States seriously violate China's sovereignty and security," he added.

In a statement Friday, the US Navy confirmed its ship had "asserted navigational rights and freedoms in the South China Sea near the Paracel Islands".

"At the conclusion of the operation, USS Halsey exited the excessive claim and continued operations in the South China Sea," it added.

"Unlawful and sweeping maritime claims in the South China Sea pose a serious threat to the freedom of the seas," the statement said.

Maritime confrontations between China and the Philippines in the South China Sea have raised fears of a wider conflict that could involve the United States and other allies.

This week, US and Philippine forces carried out war games around 400 kilometres (250 miles) south of Taiwan.

China in response warned "any military exercise should not be targeted at or harm the interests of third parties".

Friday's naval spat between US and Chinese forces came just days after the USS Halsey sailed through the Taiwan Strait, a narrow 180-kilometre body of water separating the island from China.

Chinese naval colonel Li Xi called the US warship passage "public hype".

He added in a statement late on Wednesday that the Eastern Theatre Command had also organised naval and air forces "to monitor the passage of the US ship through the entire process".

China claims Taiwan as part of its territory and has said it will not rule out using force to bring the island under Beijing's control.

Taiwanese defence and coast guard officials on Thursday reported dozens of Chinese warplanes and ships had been detected around the island.
Philippines defence chief says military must evolve fast



Manila, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



The Philippine military must evolve fast because of threats to a "free and open" Asia-Pacific region, Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said Friday at the end of annual exercises with the United States.

Teodoro, whose comments were made against the backdrop of a festering maritime row with China, said the military must "try to focus on actual soldiering".

"The worst thing in a kitchen is a dull knife, and a good chef hones the knife every day," Teodoro said.

"We will be increasing the pressure continuously for them to evolve as soon as possible into a multi-threat, multi-theatre operating armed force," he said.

The annual "Balikatan" war games, involving around 11,000 American, 5,000 Filipino and 100 Australian troops, began on April 22 and were concentrated in the northern and western parts of the archipelago nation, near the potential flashpoints of the South China Sea and Taiwan.

The area has seen increased confrontations between Chinese and Filipino vessels around shoals in the South China Sea claimed by Manila, as well as stepped-up Chinese air and naval activity around nearby self-ruled Taiwan.

Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea, brushing off rival claims from other countries, including the Philippines, and an international ruling that its assertion has no legal basis.

It deploys hundreds of coast guard, navy and other vessels to patrol the contested waters.

China's coast guard has blasted Philippine vessels with water cannon off Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal in the disputed sea this year, causing damage and injuries.

"No amount of malign, or for lack of a better term, perverse attempts to subvert our goal for a free and open Indo-Pacific and a rules-based international order will stop our shared advance towards upholding these internationally accepted norms come what may," Teodoro said, using the United States' preferred term for the Asia-Pacific the region.



- 'Shoulder to shoulder' -



Lieutenant General Michael Cederholm, commander of the US First Marine Expeditionary Force, said the joint exercises -- dubbed Balikatan, or "shoulder to shoulder" in Tagalog -- "directly built warfighting readiness" for the allies.

"It should also give pause to any adversary who does not believe in a free and open Pacific, who does not believe in transparency, who does not seek peaceful resolution but would seek to use force to impose their will on other sovereign nations," he said.

The row between the Philippines and China took another turn on Friday when Manila's top security adviser called for the expulsion of Chinese embassy staff he accused of "malign influence and interference".

The Chinese embassy said in a statement on May 3 that diplomats had reached an informal agreement with the Philippine armed forces, through its Western Command, to handle disputes around Ren'ai Jiao, China's name for Second Thomas Shoal, in the South China Sea.

Teodoro said on Monday there was no such agreement with Chinese diplomats.

On Friday, Philippine National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano accused the Chinese embassy of "repeated acts of engaging in and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation, and malinformation".

He said those "responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately".

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said Friday that Beijing "solemnly requires that the Philippines effectively ensures that Chinese diplomats can perform their duties normally, (and) stops infringement and provocation".

Second Thomas Shoal is garrisoned by Filipino troops stationed on a grounded naval ship who are frequently resupplied by boat with food, water and other provisions.

The resupply missions to the remote reef have become a flashpoint between the rival claimants.
Portugal voices 'concern' at Russia-Sao Tome military accord



Lisbon, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Portugual said it is "greatly concerned" by reports that its former colony Sao Tome and Principe has signed a military cooperation accord with Russia, the latest in a series between Moscow and West African nations.

"As soon as we heard about this accord, we began consultations with Sao Tome authorities," Portugal's Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel said in a late Thursday interview with television station SIC Noticias.

"First Portugal, and other European countries have expressed surprise, apprehension and perplexity about this accord", he said, while recognising that Sao Tome is an "independent and sovereign" state.

But "given that we are in an international situation where the Russian federation is responsible for a war of aggression which involves the European continent, we have evidently expressed our great concern."

According to Russia's official news gazette, Sao Tome and Russia signed an agreement on April 24 in Saint Petersburg that calls for military training, logistical support, and "possible collaborations" involving Russian ships and planes.

These developments come as the president of Guinea-Bissau, another former Portuguese colony in Africa, was in Russia to attend commemorations for the end of World war II.

Several African countries, including Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, have recently ended defence agreements with France and signed accords with Moscow.
Chad army deploys in force after junta chief elected president



N'Djamena, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Chadian soldiers deployed on Friday in large numbers across several districts of the capital after late-night celebrations marked the presidential election victory of junta leader General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno.

Even before the official results gave Deby more than 61 percent in Monday's ballot, the presidential guard had parked many armoured vehicles on major junctions and thoroughfares.

AFP reporters said the number of troops on the streets Friday appeared considerably larger than after previous elections.

Just hours before the official results were announced late Thursday, Prime Minister Succes Masra had declared himself victor of the vote.

The former opposition leader appointed prime minister in January, had warned that Deby's team would rig the results to ensure he won.

Masra urged Chadians to "mobilise peacefully but firmly... to prove our victory".

The electoral commission said Masra had garnered only 18.53 percent of the vote.

Deby, 40, had been proclaimed transitional president three years ago by the army after his father, iron-fisted president Idriss Deby Itno, had been shot dead by rebels.

No stepped-up security was visible around the headquarters of Masra's Transformers' party in the south of the capital on Friday.

Soldiers had let off repeated bursts of gunfire in the air near the party HQ after the results were announced late Thursday, both in celebration of Deby's win and to deter protesters from gathering.

Heavily-armed members of the presidential guard wearing their red berets were out Friday on main roads alongside an impressive number of armoured vehicles, AFP journalists reported.

But the capital appeared calm ahead of Friday's Muslim prayers and people went about their business.

Near the presidential palace, Deby's supporters had shouted, sung, blasted car horns and fired their own guns in the air in celebration.

At least two teenagers were wounded by falling bullets, an AFP journalist saw.

yas-dwi-lnf-hpn-gir/bp/rlp
The Chippewa Falls City Council wants homeowners to consider replacing pipes that have lead or galvanized connections.

The city council aims to help homeowners fund their lead or galvanized pipe replacement projects using more than $1 million in grant money from the Department of Natural Resources.

An ordinance that had a first reading Tuesday aims to facilitate loans for property owners to replace private lead and galvanized service lines and use grant funding to give homeowners big discounts on replacement projects.

The ordinance aims to reduce lead in city drinking water to meet the Environmental Protection Agency standards and ideally to a lead contaminant level of zero in city drinking water for the health of city residents.

Director of public works Brandon Cesafsky said hes thankful that we can offer residents a program that, at this time, offers a 75% discount on the replacement of their private side water lateral if they meet the requirements.

Each home will be capped at obtaining $5,000 from the DNR grant.

Almost all publicly-owned water mains in Wisconsin are lead-free, according to a La Crosse Tribune report. Water mains are the large pipes under public roads and infrastructure that deliver water to homes and businesses.

The use of lead in service lines was banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1983, but use of lead was already declining since the 1930s.

Todays lead problem lies in water laterals. To connect municipal water service to homeowners, a piece of piping called a lateral or gooseneck connects private water pipes to the city's water mains.

Laterals were made of lead because of the materials high flexibility. Having an easily malleable metal meant connecting two rigid pipelines would be easier if they were out of line or shifted.

In water mains or laterals, lead can leach into the water over time or if the water supply has certain attributes like cleaning treatments or lower pH values.

While the city has replaced all of its lead pipes, private property owners are further behind in the move to replace lead.

The program also funds replacement of galvanized pipes.

Jeanne Huber of The Washington Post reports that galvanized service lines were used for decades. They are made of steel with a coating of zinc inside and outside to prevent the steel from rusting. But over the years, minerals in water gradually eat away the zinc, and the coating itself wears down from the friction of passing water. Wherever the zinc wears through, rust can form and build up.

This rust may contain lead and cadmium as potential byproducts of the galvanizing process, which find their way into water lines and, eventually, into people. Galvanized water could pose a health hazard if not replaced with updated, safer pipes.

Cesafsky estimates the total number of galvanized service lines approved for replacement under the program per the DNR is around 900.

At the next board of public works meeting, the board will review forms for the program and will prepare to provide more information to the public, Cesafsky told The Chippewa Herald on Wednesday.

The city is utilizing the pre-approved contractors list method for the program. The city has sent out applications to 11 contractors and has a publication in the paper. If contractors are interested in partaking in the program, they can fill out an application and send them in to us, Cesafsky said.

The city will review contractor applications and once approved, the contractor will be placed on a pre-approved list, Cesafsky said.

This list will be given to residents, which will then select their contractors to get estimates for the work. There will be a series of forms and applications that the resident will fill out after that, he said.

The Chippewa Falls City Council will hold a final reading of the ordinance on replacing lead or galvanized pipes May 21 at City Hall.
Israel army says four soldiers killed in north Gaza



Jerusalem, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



The Israeli army said four soldiers were killed on Friday when an "explosive device" went off near a school in Gaza City.

"The four soldiers were killed in the same incident, from an explosive device near a school in the area of Zeitoun", a southern neighbourhood of Gaza City, the military said.

In a statement, the military said that two other soldiers were "seriously injured" in the blast, including an officer.

Separately, the Israeli military said that two soldiers were seriously wounded in fighting in southern Gaza, adding that they had been evacuated to hospital for treatment.

Several armed groups issued statements Friday claiming a range of attacks in Gaza.

The Al-Quds Brigade, the armed wing of Islamic Jihad, said it "detonated a field of mines and high-explosive ground devices" in the Zeitoun neighbourhood.

Hamas's armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said it attacked Israeli soldiers in the east of Rafah, the far southern city where Israeli troops launched a controversial incursion on Tuesday.

The latest deaths take to 271 the Israeli military's losses in the Gaza campaign since the start of its ground offensive on October 27.

The war began with Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally of Israeli official figures.

Israel's retaliatory offensive has killed at least 34,904 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-run territory's health ministry.

bur-skl-mab-nl/kir
US gives Ukraine $400 mn in new military aid



Washington, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



The United States on Friday announced a new $400 million military aid package for Kyiv as Russia launched a surprise ground offensive in northeast Ukraine.

It is the third package for Ukraine in less than three weeks, following two in late April valued at a total of $7 billion as Washington seeks to make up for months in which it provided only limited assistance to Kyiv.

In a memo released by the White House, President Joe Biden authorized "up to $400 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Ukraine."

The memo did not provide details on the aid package, which was announced the same day that Russia upped the pressure on Kyiv with a ground offensive into Ukraine's Kharkiv region, which President Volodymyr Zelensky said sparked a "fierce battle."

The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $44 billion in weapons, ammunition and other security assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But prior to April 24, Washington had announced new aid for Ukraine on just one other occasion this year, a $300 million package in March that was only made possible by using money that the Pentagon had saved on other purchases.

Congress had not approved large-scale funding for Kyiv for nearly a year and a half, but eventually took action after months of acrimonious debate among lawmakers over how or even whether to help Ukraine defend itself.

The US House of Representatives on April 20 approved legislation authorizing $95 billion in aid funding, including $61 billion for Ukraine, while the Senate passed the measure on April 23 and Biden signed it into law the following day.

Washington announced a $1 billion package of military assistance drawn from American stocks shortly after Biden signed the legislation, and followed that up a few days later with $6 billion in security aid that will be procured from the defense industry.
Canada tops up German fund for Ukraine air defenses



Ottawa, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Canada's defense minister announced Friday Can$76 million (US$56 million) for Germany's ramp-up of air defense equipment procurements for Ukraine.

"This investment will help Ukraine defend itself against the brutal attacks that have destroyed hospitals, power plants and apartment blocks and have killed thousands of innocent Ukrainians," Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair told a joint news conference with his visiting German counterpart, Boris Pistorious.

Pistorious said Iris-T air defense systems would be delivered to Kyiv in the coming weeks, "because we don't have time to lose."

Germany launched the the Immediate Action on Air Defense (IAAD) initiative last month and has called on allies to find and finance more air defense systems requested by Kyiv as Russia continues to pummel its critical infrastructure.

It echoes a program previously launched by the Czech Republic to jointly finance the purchase of munitions for Ukraine.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has also encouraged countries with Patriot missile systems to donate them to Ukraine.

Last month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told NATO members that his country needed a minimum of seven additional Patriot or other high-end air defense systems to counter Russian air strikes.
US giving Ukraine $400 mn in new military aid



Washington, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



The United States on Friday announced a new $400 million military aid package for Kyiv as Russia launched a ground offensive in northeast Ukraine.

It is the third package for Ukraine in less than three weeks, following two in late April valued at a total of $7 billion as Washington seeks to make up for months in which it provided only limited assistance.

In a memo released by the White House, President Joe Biden authorized the provision of "up to $400 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training" to aid Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement that the package contains "urgently needed capabilities" including air defense munitions, artillery rounds, anti-tank weapons, armored vehicles and small arms ammunition.

"The United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine in its defense of its freedom," Blinken said.

The package was announced on the same day that Russia upped the pressure on Kyiv with a ground offensive into Ukraine's Kharkiv region.

Officials in Kyiv had for weeks warned Moscow might try to attack its northeastern border regions, pressing its advantage as Ukraine struggles with delays in Western aid and manpower shortages.



- No major breakthrough anticipated -



US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby expressed confidence in Kyiv on Friday and said he doubted Moscow would make major gains.

"It is possible that Russia will make further advances in the coming weeks, but we do not anticipate any major breakthroughs, and over time, the influx of US assistance will enable Ukraine to withstand these attacks over the course of 2024," Kirby told reporters.

"Russia will likely increase the intensity of fire and commit additional troops in an attempt to establish a shallow buffer zone along the Ukrainian border," he said.

"We are confident in the Ukrainian (forces) and we are working around the clock to get them the equipment, the tools, the weapons that they need to defend against these attacks," Kirby added.

The United States has been a key military backer of Ukraine, committing more than $50 billion in weapons, ammunition and other security assistance since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

But prior to April 24, Washington had announced new aid for Ukraine on just one other occasion this year, a $300 million package in March that was only made possible by using money that the Pentagon had saved on other purchases.

Congress had not approved large-scale funding for Kyiv for nearly a year and a half, but took action after months of acrimonious debate among lawmakers.

The US House of Representatives on April 20 approved legislation authorizing $95 billion in aid, including $61 billion for Ukraine, while the Senate passed the measure on April 23 and Biden signed it into law the following day.

Washington announced a $1 billion package of military assistance drawn from American stocks shortly after Biden signed the legislation, and followed that up a few days later with $6 billion in security aid that will be procured from the defense industry.
HARRISBURG  A federal appeals court panel has found that Camp Hills ordinance designed to cut down on lawn signs is unconstitutional, saying that its resulting limitations on political lawn signs violates the free speech rights of residents.

The decision Thursday by a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling against Camp Hill.

In the 11-page decision, Judge Stephanos Bibas rejected the boroughs arguments that its 2021 ordinance only regulated the time, place and manner of signs. Rather, the ordinance discriminates between types of content, is overly broad and lacks a compelling enough reason to encroach on free speech rights, Bibas wrote.

As proof of the ordinances regulation of content, the borough sought to impose stricter limits on noncommercial signs, such as political signs, than commercial or holiday signs, Bibas wrote.

Bibas wrote that Camp Hills interests in imposing the limits on signs  traffic safety and aesthetics  are legitimate, but not compelling enough to limit free speech.

While trying to preserve aesthetics and promote traffic safety, Camp Hill stitched together a crazy quilt of a sign ordinance, Bibas wrote. Because it discriminates against some messages, the ordinance is unconstitutional on its face.

Under the ordinance, residents could not put up more than two so-called personal expression signs for more than 60 days before an event, in this case, an election. They could not be lit up, taller than 6 feet or remain more than 30 days after the event.

The Camp Hill Borough Republican Association and two residents sued in 2022.

One resident had been told by the borough code enforcement officer that her three lawn signs  one each for Republican gubernatorial nominee Doug Mastriano, U.S. Senate nominee Dr. Mehmet Oz and U.S. Rep. Scott Perry  were too many. The other resident was told in August that her signs for Oz and Mastriano couldnt be up more than 60 days before the Nov. 8 general election.

Paul Lewis, chair of the Camp Hill Borough Republican Association, called it a powerful decision.

Im glad that now two different federal courts have been on the side of the constitution and freedom of speech and freedom of expression, Lewis said. Regardless of your political leanings, this is something that benefits you, regardless of which party you stand for and support.

In a statement, the borough said it was disappointed with the decision and is concerned with the potential sprawling impact it may have on the ability of the borough and other municipalities to meaningfully regulate signs in pursuit of traffic safety and aesthetics.

A borough official said Friday that officials hadnt decided whether to appeal.
Golan said: I think were all here for one reason and one reason only and the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is taking all safety precautions to make this a safe and and united place for everyone and so I think its safe for everyone and we wouldnt be here (if not).
* FIRST NAME

* LAST NAME

* EMAIL Your email address

* PASSWORD Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number Show

* YEAR OF BIRTH You must be at least 18 years old to create an account 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001 2000 1999 1998 1997 1996 1995 1994 1993 1992 1991 1990 1989 1988 1987 1986 1985 1984 1983 1982 1981 1980 1979 1978 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 1972 1971 1970 1969 1968 1967 1966 1965 1964 1963 1962 1961 1960 1959 1958 1957 1956 1955 1954 1953 1952 1951 1950 1949 1948 1947 1946 1945 1944 1943 1942 1941 1940 1939 1938 1937 1936 1935 1934 1933 1932 1931 1930 1929 1928 1927 1926 1925 1924 1923 1922 1921 1920 1919 1918 1917 1916 1915 1914 1913 1912 1911 1910 1909 1908 1907 1906

* Required fields

I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice

CREATE ACCOUNT

I'LL TRY LATER

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Hospital admissions have gone up by 24 per cent in the previous week in the UK, and many people attributed the increase to the new variant KP.3. Together with other variants, the new variant, which is a subvariant of the highly contagious Omicron strain, accounts for more than 69 per cent of cases in the US. By June 8, 33.1 per cent of Covid illnesses in the US were caused by KP.3.
Asked why the party had accepted the Dover MPs apologies but not those of Ms Abbott, allies of Sir Keir have said an independent investigation is still ongoing into the veteran left-winger and the leadership will not interfere in it.
Late on Wednesday night, the department said the decision to publish the data on a daily basis had been paused until further notice following consultation with the French. The reason behind the U-turn is yet to be disclosed but the Home Office previously described the statistics as estimates which were prone to error.
Russia has sought to exploit Ukraines shortages of ammunition and manpower as the flow of western supplies since the outbreak of the war petered out, assembling large troop concentrations in the east as well as in the north and gaining an edge on the battlefield, Mr Zelensky said.
Vaughan Gething has called for Tata Steel to hold off on plans to close blast furnaces in Port Talbot (PA)

Now is the time to act. We cannot be bystanders in our own nations future.

Plaid Cymru have long called for nationalisation to be seriously considered by the UK Government and to be pushed for by the Welsh Government.

However, Tatas attitude towards workers has been nothing short of appalling. A responsible company doesnt act like this.

Plaid Cymru spokesman for economy, Luke Fletcher MS said: I truly hope the First Ministers visit yields a positive result for workers in Tata Steel.

Tata Steel has always been a responsible, long-term and patient investor in its UK business, and we are committing significant additional capital to ensure that we can create an operationally, financially and environmentally sustainable business for the future.

Additionally, we are committed to providing support with job searches, training and upskilling activities, and we have committed 20 million to the transition board.

Now is the time to act. We cannot be bystanders in our own nation's future

We understand the difficulties that our people are facing and are doing our utmost to provide holistic support, including on mental health. We are offering the most generous financial support package ever offered to outgoing employees.

Tata Steels position remains that we are committed to the green transition of the UK steel industry, and our state-of-the-art electric arc furnace in Port Talbot will help safeguard steel sovereignty in Britain, preserve 5,000 jobs, support our customers, and reduce CO2 emissions by five million tonnes each year.

TV Narendran, chief executive of Tata Steel, said: Today we had a productive discussion with the new First Minister of Wales about progressing our plans to secure the future of steelmaking in South Wales.

Vaughan Gething should stop globetrotting to divert from his domestic problems and measure his support for our steelworkers in pounds and pence.

He said: While the UK Government has put over half a billion pounds on the table to save steel jobs in Port Talbot, the only cash the Labour Welsh Government has spent is on this trip to India.

If Id flown out when they were still deep into talks, cutting across what was happening, I think thats entirely the wrong thing to do.

Asked why he waited to meet the company until after the consultation process with the unions was over, Mr Gething said: We needed to understand where trade unions and the company had go to.

I respect the results of the ballot and I pointed out the strength of the Community ballot today, get back in the room and make progress on the future.

He said: I want the company and trade unions back in the same room negotiating to make progress on this. I think its premature to talk about action actually taking place.

Two unions  Community and Unite  have already balloted their members on potential strike action at the plant in Port Talbot, with overwhelming support in favour.

Mr Gething insisted it is premature to talk about industrial action, and the company and workers should return to negotiations.

That could, for example, be about starting the planning process, because at the moment there are some people that dont trust the proposal to actually deliver an electric arc the size and scale that has been talked about.

The First Minister said: If theyre going to go ahead with their 1.25 billion investment, then we need to see them making practical progress in the near future.

Mr Gething also said he want Tata to show it is here to stay in some significant form.

The company has previously rejected a plan put forward by unions to keep one furnace running while the electric one is built, saying this would have incurred at least 1.6 billion of additional costs.

Up to 10,000 people are expected to be impacted indirectly.

Tatas plans would see the two blast furnaces closed by the end of June and September respectively, with 2,800 jobs lost  the majority at its site in Port Talbot.

The First Minister added there could be lots of capital investment available for the future of steel, reiterating Sir Keirs commitment for a 3 billion fund for the steel industry.

Just as I do, he does not want there to be an irreversible choice made just before a general election that is only months away.

I spoke to (Labour leader) Keir Starmer before I came out, and the person who is the likely next prime minister made clear that he sees a manifesto offer that well need more steel, not less.

Speaking to the PA news agency from Mumbai on Friday, Mr Gething said: I made clear the case that the Welsh Governments prime position is we dont want to see the final blast furnace turned off with the significant numbers of job losses that will entail.

However, Mr Gethings trip has drawn criticism from the Conservatives, who said he should stop globetrotting and put money towards fixing the problem.

On a visit to the company in India, Vaughan Gething, the Welsh Government leader, called for it to wait for more investment from a potential incoming Labour UK government and keep one blast furnace running in the meantime.

The move will see thousands of jobs lost, with the new furnace needing fewer workers to maintain.

Following seven months of discussions with unions, Tata revealed last month it is proceeding with plans to shut down two blast furnaces and invest 1.25 billion in an electric arc furnace on its Port Talbot site.

The First Minister of Wales has pleaded for Tata Steel to wait for a Labour government before shutting off its blast furnaces and making thousands of job cuts.

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice .

Get our award-winning daily news email featuring exclusive stories, opinion and expert analysis

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

Already have an account? SIGN IN

I'LL TRY LATER

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in
But US officials have privately said the jets will not be a game changer when they eventually arrive after months of training, given the strength of the Russian air force and its defence systems.
The Duke of Sussex spoke to pupils about mental health, saying: 'If you see your friend in your class not smiling, what are you going to do? Are you going to check in on them? Are you going to ask them if they're OK? Because it's OK not to be OK.'
Romania is a respected member of NATO and the European Union, a status that offers us security guarantees at the highest level, but also a solid platform for collaboration with international partners who share the same values, in order to develop and enhance stability and resilience against contemporary challenges, President Klaus Iohannis said on Friday in a message on Romania's National Independence Day.

He added that since gaining independence, the Romanian state has made significant progress.

At the same time, Iohannis also referred to the current international context.

"In the current geopolitical context, dramatically marked by the Russian Federation's war against Ukraine, through the resurgence of force law policies to the detriment of the rules-based international order, the lessons of the past acquire much deeper valences. The history of Europe, which major political and economic processes our country joined after 1848, shows us that the democratic exercise of sovereignty, in accordance with values and fundamental human rights, is the basis for the development of peoples. The independence of nations is the keystone of peaceful dialogue between countries and civilisations," said Iohannis.

He underlined the importance of national sovereignty.

"The events currently taking place highlight the relevance of maintaining national sovereignty, a fundamental value of any nation, which must be permanently strengthened politically and economically, defended responsibly and seriously. Independence and national sovereignty cannot be separated from freedom and democracy, which need to be reaffirmed day by day through our actions and choices. Each generation contributes to their preservation, because only through the constant efforts of each of us can we be sure that fundamental rights and freedoms and the rule of law remain pillars on which our society develops harmoniously."

According to Iohannis, "as we remember history, it is essential to reflect on the Romania we want to build for the younger generations and on what we can do now to ensure a future full of prosperity and well-being."

Iohannis also talked about the context in which Romania won independence.

That was "a consequence of the historical process triggered by the Union of the Principalities in 1859, a crucial stage in the evolution of the Romanian people and of the completion of national unity through the Greater Union of 1918."

"Achieving this ideal was possible because the Romanian society understood that only in complete freedom is the spiritual and material progress of a nation possible. Today we pay solemn homage to our forefathers who illuminated the path of the Romanian nation in the most complicated times, and we honour the memory of the Romanian soldiers who sacrificed themselves for the achievement of this dream of independence. The chronicle of the deeds that took place on the battlefields of Plevna, Grivita, Rahova and Smardan testifies to their courage and heroism."

***

On May 10, 1877, a motion adopted by the Assembly of Deputies and the Senate became law by its promulgation by Prince Carol I, officially sanctioning the emergence of the new independent state. The independence thus proclaimed was consecrated and defended on the battlefield, through the heroism and sacrifices of the Romanian Army which, between April 1877 and February 1878, contributed decisively to the war against the Ottoman Empire.

By signing the Treaty of Berlin in July 1878, Romania's state independence was officially recognised, thus consolidating the path towards the creation and completion of a unitary Romanian state and the evolution towards modernisation.

AGERPRES
National leader of the Save Romania Union (USR) Catalin Drula said on Thursday in Timisoara that President Klaus Iohannis, "betrayed" the votes of the Romanians who elected him ten years ago, as he gave the government away to the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and its leader Marcel Ciolacu and now the people are disappointed.

"Iohannis betrayed those votes and gave the government away to PSD and Ciolacu, and now people are disappointed, because the National Liberal Party (PNL) and PSD lied to them, allied themselves at rule, promised stability and development, and what did they give back? Higher taxes, corruption, price hikes and uncertainty. I want us to go campaigning by telling people with confidence that we will not let them steal our future. Romania can be governed well. When we were at rule, we made the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR), the biggest modernisation programme of the country since 1989. There are EUR 28 billion for schools, hospitals, motorways, railways, investments with the money allocated for each. The PNRR is our chance to catch up with the western nations. It is the true blueprint of the country, and it was created by USR," Drula told a Europe Day political rally.

The USR leader added that, in Timisoara, local Mayor Dominic Fritz said stop to the clans and recovered the lands in the city centre for Timisoara, not succumbing to threats, and together with Alin Nica organised the European Capital of Culture TM2023.

According to him, the United Right Alliance is "an honest and strong alternative" to the PSD-PNL coalition.

"No matter how many dossiers Gorghiu is drawing up, no matter how many institutions she controls, we will still win here, in Timisoara, Timis County, Bucharest City, and also Brasov County and Bacau County. We have established the United Right Alliance to offer people an honest and strong alternative to the PSD-PNL coalition. It's easy to choose in Romania. It's very clear. On one side there is the left and we know well what the left offered us in Romania: budgetary debauchery, theft, justice put under control, regress of democracy. PSD-PNL is the left-wing version. On the other side is the United Right, the right-wing pole created for a modern Romania, which consists of three parties, but which has millions of Romanians behind it who want their country to have a future."

AGERPRES
President Joe Biden awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor, to the late civil rights icon Medgar Wiley Evers and 18 other Americans.

Evers, born in 1925 in Decatur, Mississippi, is remembered for his unwavering dedication to the civil rights movement despite facing relentless racism and threats to his life.

His childhood was marked by the pervasive specter of racism, with incidents like the lynching of a family friend serving as stark reminders of the injustice prevalent in the community. Determined to make a difference, Evers enlisted in the Army during World War II, serving with distinction in a segregated field battalion in England and France.

After returning, Evers earned a Bachelor of Arts from Alcorn College, where he met Myrlie Beasley, whom he married in 1951. He embarked on a career in activism, joining the NAACP and organizing boycotts and protests to combat segregation and discrimination. His efforts caught the attention of the NAACP national leadership, leading to his appointment as Mississippis first field secretary for the organization.

Evers also organized boycotts and advocated for the admission of African American students to the University of Mississippi. Despite facing constant threats and violence, Evers remained steadfast in his commitment to the cause of equality. A white supremacist assassinated Evers on June 12, 1963, outside his home, sparking outrage and galvanizing the civil rights movement.

South Carolina Democratic Rep. James Clyburn will also receive a Medal of Freedom

Representing South Carolinas 6th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives, Clyburn has served since 1993, making history as the first African American to hold multiple terms as Majority Whip. A South Carolina State University graduate, he began his career as a public school teacher in Charleston before assuming roles as an employment counselor and director of youth and community development programs.

Among the recipients joining Evers and Clyburn are:

Clarence B. Jones, a civil rights activist and confidant of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., played a pivotal role in shaping the civil rights movement and preserving Dr. Kings legacy.

In 1962, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter recommending his lawyer and advisor, Clarence B. Jones, to the New York State Bar, stating: Ever since I have known Mr. Jones, I have always seen him as a man of sound judgment, deep insights, and great dedication. I am also convinced that he is a man of great integrity.

In summing up his sentiments on Kings life, Jones remarked in a 2007 interview:

Except for Abraham Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863, Martin Luther King Jr., in 12 years and 4 months from 1956 to 1968, did more to achieve justice in America than any other event or person in the previous 400 years.

Opal Lee, known as the grandmother of Juneteenth, is an educator and activist who has played a crucial role in making Juneteenth a federally recognized holiday. In 2016, at 89 years old, she marched from Fort Worth to Washington, D.C., to rally for the designation. The 1,400-mile trek was a series of 2.5-mile marches that represented the two-and-a-half years it took for the news of emancipation to reach the last remaining enslaved people in Galveston, Texas.

Dr. Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman in space, who continues to inspire future generations as a leading figure in science and exploration.
Historians have been kind to Missouris Harry Truman. Since his often-controversial White House years, he has risen in rank high in the presidential standings. In Ascent to Power, lawyer-and-biographer David L. Roll pops yet another salute to Truman.

True, Roll finds plenty for which to criticize Truman. But Rolls subtitle conveys the general sense of his book: How Truman Emerged from Roosevelts Shadow and Remade the World.

Curiously, Roll ends his book in early 1949, when Truman took the oath of office after defeating Republican Tom Dewey in the 1948 election. Why skip the 50s with the Korean War and all that?

Because, as Roll puts it, the late 40s era spawned the most consequential and productive events since the Civil War. During the period from 1944 to 1948, the U.S. defeated Germany, Italy, and Japan; liberated tens of millions of survivors in Europe, the Middle East, and Asia; and, with a monopoly on the atomic bomb at least for another year, emerged from the Second World War as the most powerful nation in the world.

Truman did it all with a big handicap, Rolls insists. As vice president under Franklin D. Roosevelt for 82 days in the early months of 1945, Rolls writes, Truman began his accidental presidency utterly unprepared. FDR made no effort to bring him up to speed.

Still, the death of Roosevelt hardly came as a shock to Democratic insiders. Delegates to the 1944 convention believed that they would likely have the unique distinction in the coming days of nominating not one but two presidents.

But the accidental nominee made the best of it by:

Rescuing Europe from despair with the Marshall Plan.

Guarding western Europe from the Soviet Union with NATO.

Going along with foundation of Israel (although Roll says Truman shrugged off injustices to the lands Palestinians).

Starting to turn Japan into an economic powerhouse.

Spelling out  if quietly and with merely middling steps  the path to civil rights in the United States.

Author Roll enjoys retelling the story of Give-em-Hell Harry, choosing to run in 48 not against Dewey but against what Truman called the do-nothing Congress, controlled by Republicans.

It worked. Too bad this book fails to include in its pictures the famous shot of Truman standing at the back end of a train in St. Louis Union Station, grinning widely as he holds aloft the front page of the Chicago Tribune issue with its famous upper-case headline:

DEWEY DEFEATS TRUMAN
CLAYTON  St. Louis County officials are recommending a girl charged with assault in a fight near Hazelwood East High School not face adult charges.

A hearing Friday revealed several new details about the upbringing and education of 15-year-old Maurnice DeClue, accused of beating 16-year-old Kaylee Gain and leaving her hospitalized with a skull fracture and brain bleeding.

Lawyers for both St. Louis County and Maurnice argued Friday the girl should remain in juvenile court because she has no prior criminal record and is relatively young.

Maurnices lawyer, Greg Smith, also noted that the police report indicated Kaylee threw the first punch in the fight, and Maurnices mother argued that her daughter had no intention of severely injuring Kaylee.

This is a child  lets not forget that, Smith said after the hearing. Thats why we have juvenile court.

Kaylees family had called for Maurnice to be charged as an adult, but they stopped short of that on Friday.

They said in a statement that they trust the judicial process, and Kaylees stepmother said during the hearing that a terrible choice made by two girls to solve their problems with violence caused one to go too far.

Fridays hearing to determine if Maurnice is charged as an adult is mandatory because of the severity of the charges. A judge will decide in the next few weeks whether to accept the juvenile courts recommendation.

The fight, which happened after school March 8, was part of a larger brawl about a quarter-mile from Hazelwood East High School. Maurnice repeatedly smashed Kaylees head into the concrete, and video of the assault and brawl went viral online, garnering national media attention and sparking calls for Maurnice to be charged as an adult.

Kaylee spent several days in a coma in the ICU after the fight. When she finally woke up, she was dazed and couldnt speak, her stepmother said in court Friday.

Over time, she regained some of her ability to talk, but she still has short-term memory loss and needs to re-learn basic functions.

Maurnices mother, Consuella DeClue, cried as she recalled the days after the fight. Maurnices family and her church prayed for Kaylees recovery, she said.

I think (Maurnice) was just defending herself, Consuella DeClue said. I dont think my daughter had any intent or any thought of this to happen to (Kaylee).

Maurnice was adopted by her parents in 2008 and spent her entire life in the same home, her mother said. She was a well-behaved, dynamic learner who skipped seventh grade. Maurnices Spanish teacher from Hazelwood East said in court Friday that Maurnice often coaxed less-motivated students to participate in class.

And Maurnice laughed when a county deputy juvenile officer, Carolyn Belgeri, asked if she had a curfew.

I dont go anywhere, Maurnice told her.

Belgeri said Maurnice has a low risk of re-offending and said she could benefit from services offered by the juvenile court system if she is convicted. Those options include at-home supervision, treatment at a private facility or a referral to the State Department of Youth Services.

There is still time for the juvenile court to intervene, she said.

Smith asked for Maurnice to be released from juvenile detention and allowed to stay at home with her parents on a GPS monitor while her case was pending, but the countys attorney, Abbey McDonough, disagreed.

She noted that Maurnice may still be a threat to the community, and she and her family were still facing threats after outrage mounted over the video of the fight that surfaced online. The judge agreed and kept Maurnice in detention.

Still, political fallout from the fight continues.

The Hazelwood School District filed a complaint with the states Office of Chief Disciplinary Council against Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey after he launched an investigation into how diversity and inclusion practices in the school district contributed to the beating.

District officials called his investigation frivolous and inaccurate, and neither police nor school officials said they had any evidence that race played a role in the beating.

But school employees have received hateful messages from across the country, the districts attorney wrote in the complaint.

Employees answering phones are called the n word or n-lover, Ormsby wrote in the complaint. Bomb threats have been made to individual employees and at schools, to which law enforcement have had to respond.
ST. LOUIS  Two men were shot and killed next to City Hall on Friday. First, a man shot another near a homeless encampment here. Then a police officer, who happened to be nearby, shot the gunman.

The violence unfolded outside the crumbling old municipal courthouse at 14th and Market streets. For months, a small group of homeless people lived in tents there, and many others gathered to socialize and hawk rolling papers, food and other goods.

But after the shooting, police, including Chief Robert Tracy, crowded the area as people made their way into work inside City Hall. And within a few hours, a raft of city streets and forestry workers had flooded in to pull up tents, fence off the area and clear out stragglers.

In a statement, Mayor Tishaura O. Jones commended the officer who shot the gunman for upholding his duty to protect and serve, and said her administration was taking the incident seriously.

The safety of our residents and staff is paramount, she said. Individuals will no longer be permitted to congregate near the (old courthouse).

Friday marked the citys latest trouble with violent crime and homelessness downtown. Police statistics show the city and its core have been getting safer in recent years. And business leaders are working to foster an image of a resilient city center, overflowing with tourists and sports fans. But shootings and encampments in the shadow of the seat of government run the risk of fueling a different narrative.

Its horrifying  in the middle of the morning, so close to City Hall, where we do our work, Alderwoman Cara Spencer, whose ward includes downtown, said of Fridays incident.

Alderman Rasheen Aldridge, whose ward includes City Hall, said he hoped the incident would prompt city government to do more for the homeless.

The idea of having them out there like they are, he said, thats not safe for them, its not safe for residents and its not safe for people who visit our community.

The city dealt with a similarly high-profile issue in 2021 at Interco Plaza, just south of tech giant Squares new offices at Tucker Boulevard and Cole Street, after a homeless man was killed and Square temporarily told employees to stay home.

Then in 2022, an encampment cropped up on the riverfront at Lacledes Landing, prompting months of complaints from business owners about car break-ins, drug use, and, eventually, violence before the city cleared everyone out.

And last fall, dozens of tents popped up in the grass just outside City Halls Market Street doors, underneath the mayors window. Trash piled up, and people urinated on the building, freely used drugs and sat slumped over in stupors.

City officials eventually cleared the camp and blocked off the area with fences adorned with signs that read Park closed for restoration. And most people left.

But the remnants of that encampment moved just a few hundred feet to the west, settling outside the old courthouse.

Fridays incident began around 7:30 a.m., when police said an officer saw a gunman and an injured man running toward him.

The officer shot the gunman, who was pronounced dead at the scene. The victim of the original shooting was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The 42-year-old officer, an 18-year veteran of the department, was not injured.

After an initial investigation, St. Louis police Maj. Janice Bockstruck lauded the officer for taking action to protect the public.

Hes here to protect the citizens of St. Louis as theyre doing their business, and he absolutely did, she said at a news conference.

Bockstruck said the shooting was captured by a mobile surveillance camera, but she said she hasnt decided if the video will be released to the public. The citys Force Investigative Unit will review the incident, as they do with all shootings involving officers.

Reggie Bell, 31, was among the people cleared out of the encampment on Friday morning. He was not happy.

They took my tent, he said as he pulled on the last of his cigarette.

Bell said hed been sleeping in the tent for months because he doesnt like area shelters. And he said his opinion hasnt changed.

Im going to pop up another tent right around here, he said. Im going to make sure its bigger and more annoying. Im going to hang lights and put speakers around that (expletive).

When forestry division workers showed up to set up the fences, someone had already set up a tent in Memorial Plaza, diagonal from the courthouse and across the street from Stifel Theatre. And a sizeable crowd had gathered around the statue of German poet Friedrich Schiller.

Theyre migrating, one forestry worker said.

We havent solved the problem, said another worker, Dennis Collins. Weve just moved the problem.

Josh Renaud of the Post-Dispatch staff contributed to this report.
JEFFERSON CITY  Gov. Mike Parson on Thursday said it was problematic when asked about the state and taxpayers footing the legal bills for three state senators accused of defamation in a federal lawsuit.

Well be making a statement on that before long, Parson told reporters gathered in his office on Thursday. But Im gonna tell you this: we are not gonna target innocent people in this state.

Therell be more to be said on that in the near future, Parson said. But Im telling you its problematic.

Kansas resident Denton Loudermill sued the three state senators  Sens. Denny Hoskins of Warrensburg, Rick Brattin of Harrisonville, and Nick Schroer of Defiance  in federal court in Kansas in April.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Andrew Bailey, a Republican Parson appointed to the job after Eric Schmitt was elected to the U.S. Senate, said last week the attorney generals office was representing the three senators, all members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus.

The three elected officials all shared false information online in February that claimed a man detained by police at the Kansas City Super Bowl parade was the shooter at the event and an illegal immigrant.

Hoskins and Brattin also shared a post on X claiming the shooter was 44-year-old migrant named Sahil Omar.

But Loudermill, the man pictured, is actually from Olathe, Kansas, KMBC-TV in Kansas City reported after the posts.

Loudermills attorney told the station that he had been detained for being intoxicated and failing to leave a crime scene. She told the news station he was eventually released without being cited or arrested.

This gentleman did nothing wrong whatsoever other than he went to a parade and he drank beer and he was Hispanic, Parson said. (Loudermill is Black, according to previous news reports.)

Asked if he was saying the attorney general might not actually represent the three state senators, Parson said: I dont know what the AGs gonna do. Im gonna just tell you what Im gonna do. You know, but I dont agree.

Parson went on to say theres a jurisdiction issue that I do believe needs to be addressed  you know, whether you go to Kansas or whether you dont.

But Parson said politicians have to be responsible and have to be held to a higher standard, when you start attacking citizens in our state. And you know, you dont get a free pass just because youre a politician.

A motion to dismiss the attorney generals office filed last week in Brattins case argues the lawsuit is barred by absolute legislative immunity.

Brattins post sharing the false information was directed at President Joe Biden and said CLOSE THE BORDER!

State officials asserting their constituents views to an executive power is possibly the oldest legislative function in our nations history, said the deputy attorney general representing Brattin.
OFALLON, Mo.  The OFallon City Council has given a green light to a new 311-home subdivision along Highway N despite opposition from some neighboring residents concerned about traffic congestion.

The council voted 6-2 Thursday in favor of the 104-acre Villages at Post Farms project and to allow its annexation into the rapidly-growing city, which has tripled to roughly over 94,000 residents over the last 30 years. Two members were absent.

The Post Farms project, slated to go up on farmland west of Hopewell and Duello roads, will be just across Highway N from the 896-home Harvest at Hopewell development already under construction.

One Post Farms supporter, Councilman Nathan Bibb, said adding the development is logical, given its location.

Theres no stopping growth but what we can do is help guide where it goes, Bibb said.

Critics who live nearby have complained that adding 311 more homes will overburden the two-lane highway and also result in more traffic on some residential streets in an existing subdivision to the east.

While the Post Farms complexs main entrance will be on N, there also will be connections to two streets in the adjacent subdivision, Dove Meadows.

I fear there will be countless accidents in the future, said Kimberly Porter, one of several Dove Meadows residents who spoke against the project before the council voted.

Drew Weber, an attorney for the developer, DCM Land, has said the Missouri Department of Transportation is looking at improving and widening N, a state road, in the future to serve increased traffic from what is anticipated to be new subdivisions.

He said Thursday that MoDOT had refused developers request for permission to add a second entrance from N to Post Farms.

Mayor Bill Hennessy signed the legislation Friday. Hennessy said his previous concerns about traffic had been addressed, in part by an agreement to close off the connections to Dove Meadows until the construction of the first phase of Post Farms is completed.

Councilwoman Debbie Cook, one of the two council opponents, noted that both the citys planning staff and its Planning and Zoning Commission had recommended that the project be rejected.

She also cited a fiscal analysis showing that the city would lose $366,500 a year if the project goes through, with the cost of services to the annexed area exceeding the extra tax revenue gained from adding homes.

The planning staff said because the site is on the western edge of the citys current boundary, a large portion of shopping done by residents in the new subdivision  and the resulting sales tax gain  would likely be in other municipalities.

We dont have the revenue to fix the streets we already have, Cook said. She said the development also will put more strain on city police and street and snow removal crews.

She also complained that some lots in the Post Farms plan are smaller than the city typically has allowed in such areas.

Councilman Jim Ottomeyer, a supporter of the project, questioned the fiscal analysis. He also said that while new subdivisions can add to city costs, they also attract new businesses to locate nearby.

A lot of times...we have to build the homes to drive those businesses there, he said.
JERUSALEM  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a U.S. threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza, indicating it might proceed with an invasion of the packed city of Rafah against the wishes of its closest ally.

President Joe Biden has urged Israel not to go ahead with such an operation over fears it would exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. On Wednesday, he said the United States would not provide weapons for a Rafah offensive, raising pressure on Netanyahu.

The U.S. also warned Thursday that Israel would deal a strategic win to Hamas if it carries out plans for the all-out assault on Rafah.

But in a statement Thursday, Netanyahu said "if we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails."

Israel's top military spokesman, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, also appeared to downplay the impact of any arms holdup. "The army has munitions for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah, too  we have what we need," he said in response to a question at a news conference.

Israel has repeatedly threatened to invade Rafah, where about 1.3 million Palestinians  more than half of Gaza's population  took refuge. The city in southern Gaza is the main hub for humanitarian operations, which were severely hindered by the closure of Gaza's two main crossings this week.

Israel claims Rafah is the last stronghold of Hamas and says the army must go in if it hopes to dismantle the militant group.

In an earlier response to Biden's decision, Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote a post on social media with a heart between the words "Hamas" and "Biden." He and other ultra-nationalist members of Netanyahu's coalition support a large-scale Rafah operation and threatened to bring down his government if it doesn't happen.

Our view is any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas' hands at the negotiating table, not Israels, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. He said more civilian deaths from an Israeli offensive would give more ammunition to Hamas' twisted narrative about Israel.

Aid groups say a Rafah invasion would be catastrophic. The U.N. says most of Gaza's 2.3 million Palestinians suffer from hunger and northern Gaza is already experiencing "full-blown famine."

Even the limited operation Israel launched earlier this week, in which a tank brigade captured the Gaza side of the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, threw humanitarian operations into crisis.

It also complicated months of efforts by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt to broker a cease-fire and the release of hostages. Hamas this week said it accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the plan does not meet its "core" demands.

CIA Director Bill Burns and other delegations to the talks left Egypt without a deal Thursday.

Kirby said it was too soon to know whether the aid holdup altered the Israeli calculus but the U.S. was advising Israel on how it could defeat Hamas through more surgical operations.

Some analysts said the rift between Biden and Netanyahu threatened to weaken Israel's negotiating position and harden Hamas' stances. Hamas demands guarantees for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal  steps Israel ruled out.

"It sends a discordant message at a time when Hamas is holding out on a hostage deal in the hopes that pressure will grow on Israel and it will gain a cease-fire without having to give anything in return," said the Israel Policy Forum, a pro-Israel organization based in New York.

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that despite the administration's threats, Biden remains committed to ensuring Israel gets every dollar in the supplemental funding request Congress approved last month.

The war began with a Hamas attack on southern Israel on Oct. 7. The fighting killed about 1,200 people and Palestinian militants took about 250 hostages that day. More than 100 of the hostages were released during a cease-fire in November. The militants still hold some 100 captives and the remains of more than 30.

The war has killed over 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel's offensive, waged with U.S.-supplied munitions, caused widespread devastation and forced about 80% of Gaza's population to flee their homes.

International aid

Israel's capture of the Rafah crossing Tuesday forced the closure of a key entry point for fuel, and it's unclear when it will reopen. The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said it only has enough stocks to maintain operations for a few days and started rationing.

Israel reopened its side of the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing  Gaza's main cargo terminal  after a rocket attack over the weekend, but UNRWA says aid cannot be brought in on the Palestinian side because of the security situation.

A recently reopened route in the north is still functioning, but only 60 trucks entered Tuesday, far below the 500 that entered Gaza each day before the war.

The first aid ship bound for a U.S.-built floating pier to be installed in Gaza departed Thursday but it's unclear when that corridor will be up and running, and it won't be able to handle as much aid as Gaza's two main land crossings.

Maj. Pete Nguyen, a Pentagon spokesman, said Thursday that parts of the pier are still in the Israeli port of Ashdod awaiting more favorable seas before being moved into position.

War in Gaza marks grim 6-month milestone
The Bonadelle Ranchos area of Madera County is home to sprawling ranch-style homes on large lots but was once a WWII target range. (CRAIG KOHLRUSS/TNS)

A former military bombing range in Madera County was pounded by bombs from Army and Navy aircraft 20 years before it became a pricey subdivision with sprawling ranch-style homes on large lots.

Bonadelle Ranchos past history as a World War II target range resurfaced due to a report by the journalism watchdog ProPublica, which lists thousands of former such sites.

However, a spokesman for the Army Corps of Engineers, the agency in charge of such cleanups, believes residents in the Ranchos, located on Highway 145 about four miles west of Highway 41 are at low risk.

Its a low priority, said Tyler Stalker, a spokesman for the Corps.

Stalker explained that while the area was targeted by thousands of bombs dropped by planes such as the B-24, live munitions were not used. The site was also strafed by Navy planes firing machine gun rounds and unarmed rockets, but officials say no high explosives were left behind.

While former military sites in other locations in other areas may still contain unexploded ordinance or dangerous chemicals, that does not appear to be the case at Bonadelle Ranchos, Stalker said.

The risk of somebody being harmed is lower than other sites, he added.

Low risk of harm?

In a 2004 Fresno Bee article about the bomb site, Corps officials said that any plans for a cleanup would not begin before 2040. That date has not moved up since. In fact, Stalker said there is no current funding for such an effort.

A 1999 report by the Army provided an extensive background of the range, created in 1941 during the rollup to World War II, when rancher R.K. Smith and his wife Mary of the Adobe Ranch leased the six-square-mile parcel to the Army.

The Navy began using the range several years later, after setting up a mock city, a mock pier, a mock warship and a mock radar site for target practice.

Army Air Corps bombers flying out of Hammer Field, now Fresno Yosemite International Airport, targeted the site, as did Navy dive bombers like the Douglas Dauntless, flying from Naval Air Station Alameda in the San Francisco Bay Area.

In a Fresno Bee article published shortly before the range was opened to bombing, Hammer Field Commander Col. Guy Kirksey cautioned the public to stay away.

He warned that dummy bombs with a small amount of explosives would be used.

He said regular war bombs cannot be used because they would blow up the whole range, according to the article.

Green lime marked site

The fliers will aim their bombs at targets marked out on the ground with lime. It added.

The 1999 Corps report noted some munitions missed their targets, and that some caused fires in surrounding pastures in the summers of 1942 and 1943. That resulted in claims for thousands of dollars in damage.

The militarys lease ended in 1946, when it was noted that there were about 15,000 practice bomb shells on the property.

The 2004 Fresno Bee article said that before the military gave up their lease, officials picked up munitions during a surface sweep, but did not delve underground.

Its possible that large .50 caliber bullets, weighing 1.5 ounces and fired at near 3,000 feet per second, could penetrate the ground up to a foot or more.

The property was sold to the Bonadelle Ranchos Corporation in 1965, according to the military.

Sold for a subdivision

The restoration program report notes that over the years, residents reported finding military residue, including what they believed to be three live mortar rounds in the early 1980s. But the report provided no explanation as to why mortar projectiles, typically used by infantry units, would be found on an Army Air Corp. and naval aviation range.

Remnants of practice bombs, containing no explosives have also been reported, along with the .50 caliber machine gun bullets and 20 mm cannon shells.

The 2004 Fresno Bee report noted that a least four military devices had been found in the subdivision in the past four years, and collected by Madera County Sheriffs deputies.

The military report did not include information as to whether spent lead rounds, such as the .50 caliber bullets, posed a risk because of the potential toxicity of the heavy metal.

However in a 2004 report, the online journal ScienceDally noted that spent lead bullets are distributed in multiple locations throughout the United States because of the estimated 9,000 non-military shooting ranges in the nation.

Researchers at one range in Virginia found 11 metric tons of lead at a shotgun range, and 12 metric tons at a rifle range.

The report quoted Professor Donald Rimstidt, a professor of Geosciences at Virginia Tech University, who reported that lead is not very mobile. It does not wash away in surface or ground water.

2024 The Fresno Bee.

Visit fresnobee.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
A former National Guard soldier pleaded guilty Thursday, May 9, 2024, to sexual abuse of another man at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, according to the Justice Department. (Dreamstime)

A former National Guard soldier pleaded guilty Thursday to sexual abuse of another man at Fort Sill in Oklahoma, according to the Justice Department.

Jessie Solomon Dunnaway, 23, of Georgia was indicted for performing oral sex on a man while that man was incapable of consenting, according to court documents. Judge Joe Heaton accepted Dunnaways plea in an Oklahoma City federal courtroom. The incident took place Nov. 3, 2019.

Dunnaway was a fire control specialist in the Army National Guard from October 2018 to April 2022, according to his service record. He was a private at the time that he left the service. Dunnaway faces up to life in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a supervised release from prison for possibly the remainder of his life. His sentencing has not been scheduled.

The Army Criminal Investigation Division, the agency that handled the investigation, arrested Dunnaway on June 8, 2023, according to court documents.

Authorities did not provide further information.

Thayer.rose@stripes.com

Twitter: @Rose_Lori
Navy personnel collect a water sample from the Red Hill well in Hawaii in March 2022. (Christopher Thomas/U.S. Navy)

HONOLULU  A Navy spouses exposure to jet fuel-contaminated tap water in 2021 did not result in long-term neurological problems, a neurologist testified Thursday in Hawaii federal court.

Dr. Barry Gordon offered his medical opinion on Nastasia Freeman, one of 17 plaintiffs in the civil suit Feindt vs. United States, as a defense witness for the U.S. government.

Gordons judgment challenged testimony offered by a medical expert last week that the mother of three sustained neurological injuries from the tainted water.

Im saying she does not have any long-term, organic disorders due to exposure, Gordon said under cross-examination by plaintiffs attorney Lyle Hosoda, who questioned the neurologist based on his previously submitted, sworn declaration in the case.

On May 1, Dr. Steven Storage, a psychiatrist appearing on behalf of the plaintiffs, testified that the trauma of exposure to the contaminated water left Freeman with neurological injuries in her frontal lobe.

U.S. District Court Judge Leslie Kobayashi, who is hearing the case without a jury, has reiterated throughout the trial, which began April 29, that she is only trying to determine the cause of the plaintiffs medical problems and how much they should be compensated.

Freeman had moved to Hawaii in May 2021 with her husband, Koda Freeman, a Navy lieutenant, and their children.

They lived at Aliamanu Military Reservation, one of the military housing communities closest to the Red Hill well, which became contaminated shortly before Thanksgiving Day 2021 by a jet fuel spill at the Navys nearby Red Hill Bulk Fuel Storage Facility.

For much of her life, Freeman had a condition called temporal lobe epilepsy that sometimes manifested with seizures. Those episodes had been dormant for about two years, but the seizures began again in the wake of exposure to tainted water, Freeman testified last week.

Gordon said in his declaration that he had given Freeman a physical examination, which included observations for things such as level of alertness, facial expressions, word choice, posture, eye movement and many other physical manifestations.

He also reviewed Freemans medical record and results from various tests such as blood studies, electroencephalograms, CT scans and MRIs.

In my opinion, based upon all of the available evidence, Ms. Freeman does not presently have any long-term organic neurologic problems from the alleged exposure(s) at Red Hill, to a reasonable degree of medical probability, Gordon said in his declaration.

Under cross-examination by Hosoda, Gordon acknowledged that jet fuel is a toxin that can cause neurological injury.

Gordon also conceded that he did not undertake quantitative analysis of the extent of Freemans exposure to fuel and instead used analysis done by Robyn Prueitt, a toxicologist who appeared on the stand for the defense this week.

Prueitt concluded that medical problems cited by the plaintiffs were not caused by jet fuel exposure.

Gordons opinion, however, did leave room for the possibility that Freeman could be suffering from a non-organic neurological illness.

It is well known that having a belief that a disease is present, even if false, such as a belief that neurologic conditions are due to an alleged exposure, can have significant negative consequences for an individuals well-being and behavior, Gordon said in his declaration.

The trial is scheduled to conclude Monday.
The TRITON drone, manufactured by Gulfport, Miss.-based Ocean Aero, is capable of operating on the surface or underwater. The Navy is testing the drone's capabilities in the Gulf of Guinea during the Obangame Express exercise, which started on May 6, 2024 in Libreville, Gabon. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes)

LIBREVILLE, Gabon  The U.S. Navy is testing an autonomous drone that can operate above and below the surface in a bid to help African countries battling piracy, the illicit drug trade and other illegal activities in the Gulf of Guinea.

The TRITON drones introduction during the Obangame Express multinational exercise is designed to determine whether its suitable for long-term, sustained use in the region, Rear Adm. Michael Mattis, director of Strategic Effects, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa, said Tuesday.

The two-week exercise comes as the U.S. focuses on the partners in West Africa that its still legally able to work with, especially following a recent coup in Niger, where the U.S. was forced to abandon a $110 million aerial drone base. Russia and China have made their own inroads in the region.

The exercise, which ends May 17, includes launching and recovering the drone from the expeditionary sea base USS Hershel Woody Williams, and conducting vessel boarding, searches and seizures, Mattis said.

Those activities will help determine if TRITON can be used reliably in a region where it isnt easy for the Navy to quickly source supplies and repairs. The testing also will show whether the drone is a good fit for countries like Gabon, Ghana and Cameroon, which have smaller navies and limited resources, Mattis added.

The idea is that we have long periods of operations, (and) that we push these vehicles to their limits of endurance and sustainability, and we understand where those things are, he said.

The TRITON drone is capable of operating on the surface for longer than two weeks. Underwater, the drone can operate for five days during a mission and loiter for longer. The Navy is fielding the drone during the Obangame Express exercise, which started May 6, 2024, in Libreville, Gabon. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Three thrusters power the TRITON drone when it's in use as a submarine. The drone is capable of mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and subsurface seabed warfare, among other missions. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) Rear Adm. Michael Mattis, left, speaks with Gabon Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Brigitte Onkanowa and David Mosby, deputy chief of mission for the U.S. Embassy in Gabon, aboard the expeditionary sea base USS Hershel "Woody" Williams on May 7, 2024. (Alison Bath/Stars and Stripes) The TRITON cruises through international waters between Naval Support Activity Bahrain and Iran on Nov. 30, 2022, as part of a naval exercise. The Navy is testing the drone's capabilities in the Gulf of Guinea during the multinational maritime exercise Obangame Express. (J.P. Lawrence/Stars and Stripes)

The 775-pound, 14 foot-long TRITON surface drone is manufactured by Gulfport, Miss.-based Ocean Aero. The similarly named MQ-4C Triton aerial drone is made by Northrop Grumman.

The Navy is expanding its use of aerial, surface and underwater drones, which are seen as vital for deterrence and use in future conflicts.

For example, U.S. Naval Forces Central Command/U.S. 5th Fleet operates a fleet of drones, including the TRITON, in the Persian Gulf.

Recently, an MQ-4C Triton aerial drone was deployed to U.S. Naval Air Station Sigonella to work with P-8 Poseidon patrol aircraft in the U.S. Naval Forces Europe area of responsibility.

Drones also allow the service to stretch its reach in regions that are understaffed or seldom visited.

Three Aerosonde aerial drones on Woody Williams are used for intelligence gathering and security. The aircraft, which fly daily, also are available to West African countries to help monitor territorial waters, according to its Providence, R.I.-based manufacturer.

The opening days of the Obangame exercise already have taught the Navy about TRITONs performance.

During shipment to West Africa, one of the two being used developed a small crack in its hull. That gave the Navy an opportunity to see the manufacturer quickly fix and redeploy it with minimal disruption, Mattis said.

Meanwhile, initial testing in an estuary revealed limited use. The tidal flow of the estuary matched the drones maximum surface speed of about 6 mph, causing it to drain its batteries.

Mattis sees those problems as valuable lessons.

Were trying to get something in the water and learn, he said. We want to understand where the challenges of these vessels exist so we can tailor our operations appropriately to them.

One of TRITONs more unusual features is its ability to submerge to avoid detection or a collision with another vessel, said Samuel Buras, a field applications engineer for Ocean Aero aboard the Woody Williams on Tuesday.

The drone is propelled while underwater by three thrusters. It can loiter in an area for as many as eight days or be on a mission for up to five, he said.

On the surface, it can operate for two weeks or longer. It can be used for mine countermeasures, anti-submarine warfare and subsurface seabed warfare, among other missions, according to Ocean Aeros website.

After Obangame ends, the drones will stay aboard the Woody Williams. Theyll be used during an upcoming U.S. Army exercise in Morocco and may be used at an exercise in Portugal in the fall, Mattis said.

Introduction of the drone continues significant Navy investment in the Gulf of Guinea region. Those efforts include the construction of maritime operational centers and coastal radar systems, and introduction of a web-based program that allows countries to share unclassified information.

The service also has donated surface vessels to African countries, including two former U.S. Coast Guard cutters commissioned into Ghanas navy in September.

What we are trying to do is equip our partner navies and our partner nations with the tools to handle the problems they face, Mattis said.
This bird's-eye view of the USS Ronald Reagan, apparently taken by a drone, was uploaded to X by @Xiao_Hao_4 on April 4, 2024. (X)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan  The Navy investigated overhead social media imagery of the USS Ronald Reagan but has not concluded that a drone flew over the home of the U.S. 7th Fleet, a base spokesman said.

Aerial photos and videos of the aircraft carrier were posted to X, formerly Twitter, over the past two months by @Xiao_Hao_4. Four photos posted April 4 show the Ronald Reagan, the amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge, several destroyers and portions of the bases coastline and interior.

These images of Yokosuka Naval Base, Japan, apparently taken by a drone, were uploaded to X by @Xiao_Hao_4 on April 4, 2024. (X)

Another post on May 8 presented two more photos and a video apparently shot from a drone that flew directly over the aircraft carrier.

The base is aware of the imagery and Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigated their authenticity, base spokesman Justin Keller told Stars and Stripes in a Thursday email.

The investigation revealed no indication that a drone flew over the Ronald Reagan, Keller added.

He referred additional questions, including whether the images were determined to be real or fake, to NCIS on Friday. A spokesperson for the service did not immediately respond to a comment request that afternoon.

The base and its ships have several force protection measures in place every day, and at no time was the security of the base or the crew of the USS Ronald Reagan in question, Keller wrote.

The X account, which predominantly posts in Chinese and claims responsibility for the imagery, describes itself as a Secret account for Secret contents. The account holder, who has not been publicly identified, did not respond to a request for comment Friday morning.

On April 2, the account posted similar imagery of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Forces base in Yokosuka and a video of the helicopter destroyer JS Izumo docked there. The video was originally posted to the Chinese video sharing website Bilibili in March, but has since been deleted, Yahoo News reported April 2.

Japan has outlawed unauthorized drone flights over military bases.

Japan Defense Minister Minoru Kihara addressed the Izumo video during a Friday news conference and said its a high possibility that the footage is authentic.

The Ministry of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces take the results of this analysis extremely seriously, as damages caused by drones to defense-related facilities could seriously impede Japans defense, he said, according to a transcript posted on the ministrys website.

Japan plans to take all possible measures to ensure base security, including the early introduction of new drone countermeasure equipment.

Japan analyzed the video from various perspectives, such as evaluating whether it was made by artificial intelligence, a Ministry of Defense spokesperson told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.

The spokesperson declined to elaborate further to avoid revealing information gathering and analysis capabilities.

The spokesperson said the ministry was aware of the Ronald Reagan imagery and declined to comment on the matter.

In any case, we have been working closely with the U.S. side on a regular basis, including in matters related to information warfare, the spokesperson said.

Its customary in Japan that some government officials speak to reporters on condition of anonymity.
The guided-missile destroyer USS Halsey steams through in the South China Sea, May 10, 2024. (Ismael Martinez/U.S. Navy)

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan  A Navy guided-missile destroyer cruised near a contested island chain in the South China Sea on Friday to protest unlawful and sweeping maritime claims, according to the U.S. 7th Fleet.

The USS Halsey sailed past the Paracels, a chain of reefs, shoals and other maritime features about 350 miles south of mainland China and 300 miles east of Vietnam, the command said in a news release Friday.

The Paracels are entirely claimed by China, Vietnam and Taiwan. Beijing, however, maintains about 20 outposts in the islands, according to the CIAs World Factbook website.

The Halsey came within approximately 13 miles of four maritime features: Money Island, Duncan Island, Passu Keah and Discovery Reef, 7th Fleet spokeswoman Lt. Jamie Moroney told Stars and Stripes by email Friday.

The Chinese navy hailed the ship during operation, but all communications were consistent with international norms, she wrote.

The Navy routinely operates near the Paracels and the Spratlys, another contested island chain in the South China Sea, to protest restrictions on innocent passage. In the Paracels, all three claimants require either permission or advance notice before a military vessel travels through the area.

By engaging in innocent passage without giving prior notification to or asking permission from any of the claimants, the United States challenged these unlawful restrictions imposed by [China], Taiwan, and Vietnam, 7th Fleet wrote. The United States demonstrated that innocent passage is not subject to such restrictions.

The Halsey on Wednesday cruised through the Taiwan Strait, a 110-mile-wide channel that separates mainland China from Taiwan.

Beijing considers Taiwan, a functional democracy, to be a breakaway province that must be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary.

A state-run Chinese military news website labeled that trip as provocative but official Chinese sources had not commented on the Halseys freedom-of-navigation demonstration as of Friday afternoon.

The Paracels operation coincided with the conclusion of Balikatan, an annual military exercise in the Philippines by 11,500 U.S. and Philippine troops and a smaller number of French and Australians. Portions of that training took place along the Philippine coast of the South China Sea, where Manila and Beijing also have competing claims.

The Halseys trip to the Paracels was the first publicly announced freedom-of-navigation operation by 7th Fleet this year. The guided-missile destroyer USS Dewey conducted the last operation on Nov. 3, when it sailed past four Chinese outposts in the Spratlys.
USS Hershel Woody Williams pulls into port at Libreville, Gabon, on May 5, 2024, to support the Obangame Express exercise. (Takisha Miller/U.S. Africa Command)

A U.S. Navy ship participating in a military exercise in the Gulf of Guinea ran aground this week as it was leaving a port in West Africa.

The expeditionary sea base USS Hershel Woody Williams got stuck around 1 p.m. Thursday, shortly after leaving Libreville, Gabon, U.S. Naval Forces Europe-Africa said Friday in a statement.

The ship broke free at about 5 p.m. Thursday at high tide, said Lt. Cmdr. Jason Tross, a spokesman for NAVEUR-AF.

There were no injuries or major damage, Tross said.

The Navy did not say how far the ship had transited after leaving the port before running aground or if it was accompanied by a tugboat at the time. It also wasnt stated whether a pilot, often required to help a ship navigate ports, was on board.

A pilot was aboard Woody Williams when it came into the port Sunday. Two tugboats helped the ship, which is slightly shorter than an aircraft carrier in length, through the port and into a berthing.

The Navy said it wouldnt release further details due to an ongoing investigation.

The ship uses a hybrid crew of about 50 civilian mariners responsible for navigation and maintenance. About three civilians, including a navigator and lookout, typically man the bridge. The ship mostly relies on an automated system for navigation, which can be disengaged if needed.

A complement of about 100 Navy sailors man flight and other operations.

Woody Williams was in Libreville for the kickoff of the multinational Obangame Express exercise.

It wasnt clear if the grounding would impact the ships participation. It was scheduled to participate in testing of a surface drone, among other activities.

Woody Williams is the only Navy ship assigned to U.S. Africa Command. Its homeport is at Souda Bay on the Greek island of Crete.
General Assembly budget leaders and Gov. Glenn Youngkin have reached a budget compromise that would use an additional $525 million in state revenues to pay for Democratic spending priorities without raising taxes and crossing the Republican governors red line for a potential veto.

House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, a Prince William Democrat, confirmed on Thursday afternoon that assembly budget negotiators had reached a deal with Youngkin that they hope to approve on Monday in a special session that would last one day instead of three.

We do have an agreement, Torian said.

Youngkins press secretary, Christian Martinez, said in a statement: Governor Youngkin is grateful for all the members of the General Assembly, as well as the leadership, and conferees for their ongoing efforts to deliver a budget. He looks forward to finishing the work to deliver on our collective priorities for all Virginians next week.

Details will not be available to legislators or the public until Saturday morning, but he said the compromise gives the assembly the additional spending it had insisted upon for K-12 public schools to begin addressing a systemic shortfall that the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission verified in a study last summer that shaped legislative elections last fall and budget priorities in the 60-day session that ended on March 9.

All of our spending priorities are intact, said Torian, citing the assemblys push for more money for higher education, health care and transportation.

No sales tax expansion

However, the $188 billion, two-year budget will not expand Virginias sales tax to digital services. Youngkin had originally proposed the idea as part of a tax policy package that would have cut tax revenues by $1 billion as part of a plan to modernize the state tax code and plug what the governor called the big tech loophole that exempts video streaming and audio services from the tax levied on other goods, such as CDs and DVDs.

Democrats had rejected the governors proposals to cut income tax rates and raise the sales tax by almost a penny, but kept the expansion to digital services, including those purchased from business to business. Those tax provisions in the budget that the assembly adopted on March 9 would have raised an additional $1 billion, but Youngkin said he would refuse to sign the budget, potentially leaving the state without money to operate on July 1 for the first time in Virginia history.

The budget deal also does not include a requirement by the Democrat-controlled assembly that Virginia rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate compact that would seek to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say contribute to global warming and climate change. Youngkin pushed the State Air Pollution Control Board to withdraw the state from the compact because of concerns about the costs of surcharges on carbon pollution that consumers would pay in their electric bills.

The assembly also allowed Youngkin to keep most  but not quite all  of the $85 million it had appropriated in the current budget for his lab school initiative, although it does not include an additional $60 million that he had sought in the budget he proposed in December.

There is no new money for lab schools, Torian said.

Skill games

Torian said the proposed budget deal does not include electronic skill games.

The Merchants and Amusement Coalition announced that beginning Thursday at 5 p.m., hundreds of participating convenience stores would stop selling Virginia Lottery tickets until Governor Youngkin and members of the Virginia General Assembly come to an agreement on a path forward for skill games.

Most common fast food chains in Virginia Most common fast food chains in Virginia #20. Five Guys #19. Panera Bread #18. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen #17. Dairy Queen #16. Tropical Smoothie Cafe #15. Arby's #14. Chipotle Mexican Grill #13. KFC #12. Chick-fil-A #11. Papa Johns Pizza #10. Hardee's #9. Burger King #8. Starbucks #7. Taco Bell #6. Wendy's #5. Domino's Pizza #4. Pizza Hut #3. Dunkin #2. McDonald's #1. Subway
Army Spc. Samuel Sosa, a CH-47F Chinook repairer with 3rd Battalion, 25th Aviation Regiment, flies over Batanes, Philippines, on May 5, 2024, during the Balikatan exercise. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)

The annual Balikatan exercise concluded in the Philippines on Friday after more than two weeks of training that underlined U.S. support for its oldest defense ally in the Pacific, one facing Chinese intimidation.

Balikatan  Tagalog for shoulder to shoulder  concluded with speeches at the Philippine armed forces headquarters in Manila and with farewells around the country.

The exercise began April 22 and encompassed 11,000 U.S., 5,000 Filipino and a smaller number of Australian and French troops training in and near the South China Sea.

China has claimed virtually the entire sea, a vital commercial waterway, and has territorial disputes with neighboring countries, including the Philippines.

On April 30, a China coast guard ships water cannons damaged one of two Philippine coast guard vessels at Scarborough Shoal, a feature controlled by Beijing inside the Philippines exclusive economic zone. An escalating number of similar encounters have happened at Second Thomas Shoal, a submerged reef controlled by Manila in the South China Sea.

Balikatan included naval gunnery involving American, French and Filipino ships near Palawan, a Philippine island thats 150 nautical miles east of Second Thomas Shoal.

The Marine Corps used its new amphibious combat vehicle overseas for the first time during the drills, launching them from the USS Harpers Ferry for a simulated assault on shore targets on Palawan.

U.S. soldiers with the 7th Field Artillery Regiment stand next to a Cruella, an M777 howitzer, during Balikatan training in Laoag, Philippines, May 8, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) U.S. soldiers with the 25th Infantry Division take a break in the shade during Balikatan training on Batan Island, Philippines, May 5, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)

Balikatan also included coastal-defense training and a ship-sinking exercise on northern Luzon, and air-assault raids in the Batanes, a group of islands in the Luzon Strait south of Taiwan.

The Army deployed its Patriot missile-defense system to Clark Air Base for the first time during the exercise. The facility was the largest overseas Air Force base before it was vacated in 1992 following damage from the eruption of Mount Pinatubo.

Every Balikatan is increasingly more complex, Philippine exercise director Maj. Gen. Marvin Licudine said at the closing ceremony, according to a U.S. Department of Defense statement Friday.

During the drills, civic assistance teams built classrooms and medical centers at four locations while training medical providers and gifting school supplies. The efforts injected nearly $50 million into the local economy, the statement said.

U.S. forces operated out of bases that theyve been authorized to use under the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement, including Cesar Basa Air Base and Fort Magsaysay, a few hours drive from Manila, and Lal-lo Airport and Naval Base Camilo Osias in northern Luzon.

Soldiers involved in the coastal-defense and ship-sinking drills planned to celebrate the exercises end with an artillerymens dinner at Fort Magsaysay, Lt. Col. Matt Cahill, commander of 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment, told Stars and Stripes on Wednesday at La Paz Sand Dunes in northern Luzon.

Troops working at Lal-lo held their own closing ceremony Friday with local officials, Lt. Col. Matt Schultz, commander of Marines at the airport, said by phone that day.

U.S. Army 1st Sgt. Louis Picciurro, of the 7th Field Artillery Regiment, inspects an Excalibur 155 mm artillery shell during Balikatan training in Laoag, Philippines, May 8, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) A UH-60 Black Hawk lands to pick up 25th Infantry Division soldiers for air-assault practice in Batanes, Philippines, May 5, 2024, during the Balikatan exercise. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes) CH-47F Chinooks approach a landing zone to pick up 25th Infantry Division soldiers during air-assault practice in Batanes, Philippines, May 5, 2024. (Jonathan Snyder/Stars and Stripes)

About 100 members of the Hawaii-based Marine Wing Support Squadron 174, which Schultz commands, have been at Lal-lo providing fuel, medical and logistics support during the drills, he said.

Another 20 Marines have been on Batan Island, north of Luzon, running a forward arming and refueling point, he said.

Our purpose was to enable aviation operations and critical logistics for the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, he said of another Hawaii-based unit flying CH-47 Chinook and UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters around the islands.

We demonstrated the potential of this site as a sustainment node for any sort of crisis from humanitarian assistance to other contingencies, he said.
A woman pushes her child in a stroller in Seoul on April 26, 2024. (Anthony Wallace, AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

SEOUL, South Korea (Tribune News Service)  South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol announced this week that he would create a new government ministry to tackle the countrys low birth rate, which he called a national emergency.

The ministry will serve as a specialized control tower that will establish policies that span education, labor and welfare  one better suited to tackle a problem that has so far been addressed largely with piecemeal measures.

It will be more than just welfare policy, but a national agenda, Yoon said Thursday at a news conference marking the end of his second year in office.

Last years fertility rate  the number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime on average  was among the lowest in the world, at 0.72, far short of the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. That figure is expected to slide to 0.68 by the end of the year, according to the government.

In a country of 50 million, there were around 230,000 babies born last year, and if nothing changes the population will drop dramatically over the next several decades. The situation is increasingly perceived by the public and politicians as a grave existential threat.

The Times has been covering the crisis:

The South Korean government has spent over $200 billion in the last 16 years to counter these trends, but without much success.

With fewer workers to pay into it, the countrys $764-billion pension fund is estimated to dry up by 2054.

To counter the labor shortages already being felt in sectors like agriculture and manufacturing, the government has been admitting migrant workers from developing countries like Nepal and Indonesia in record numbers. With an ever-shrinking pool of young men to draw from, the military is trying to reduce its reliance on human soldiers.

Some of the governments birth-boosting proposals have raised eyebrows.

Last year, Yoons People Power Party reportedly discussed plans to make South Korean men who fathered three children before the age of 30 exempt from mandatory military service  an idea seen as out of touch with the high costs of raising a child.

And despite the fact that poor work-life balance for young South Koreans is frequently cited as one of the many causes turning them away from parenthood, the Yoon administration once sparked outrage for proposing a 69-hour work week.

2024 Los Angeles Times.

Visit at latimes.com.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Virginia National Guard formalized its partnership with the Finnish military during a signing ceremony May 2, 2024, in Helsinki, Finland. The letter of intent, signed by Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, center, Finnish defense minister Antti Hakkanen, and Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the adjutant general of Virginia, recognizes the pairing as part of the National Guard Bureaus State Partnership Program. (Courtesy)

Finland is the latest country to join the U.S. National Guards state partnership program, an initiative that aims to strengthen allied forces by connecting them to American reserve forces for long-term collaboration.

Finlands military is now partnered with the Virginia National Guard, building on a relationship that traces back to operations decades ago in the Balkans.

While only recently formalized, the partnership between Finland and the Virginia Guard goes back to 2001, when Virginia guardsmen deployed with Finnish troops for stabilization operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a statement Thursday.

The arrangement between Virginia and Finland was finalized during a May 2 ceremony in Helsinki that included Gov. Glenn Youngkin.

The Guards state partnership program plays a key role for U.S. European Command when it comes to training with other national militaries.

The initiative was set up in the aftermath of the Cold War to build up ties with former Soviet republics and Warsaw Pact countries. In the years since, its expanded to 106 countries worldwide.

One of the most significant partnerships has been the one between California and Ukraine, where before Russias 2022 invasion, guardsmen routinely deployed over the years to train Ukrainian troops.

Maj. Gen. Juha-Pekka Keranen, Finnish air force commander, meets with Virginia National Guard leaders April 8, 2024, during a visit at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. Maj. Gen. James W. Ring, the adjutant general of Virginia and Brig. Gen. Catherine M. Jumper, commander of the Virginia Air National Guard, stand next to Keranen at right. Finland is now partnered with the Virgina National Guard in the U.S. National Guards state partnership program. (Mike Vrabel)

In the case of Finland, Virginia guardsmen will be collaborating with a new NATO member that has the alliances longest national border with Russia.

The partnership with Finlands military is expected to focus on combined air and land operations, cyberthreats, intelligence operations and tactics for fighting in cold weather environments, the Virginia National Guard said in a statement Monday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends a wreath-laying ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day in Jerusalem on May 6, 2024. (Amir Cohen, Pool photo via AFP/Getty Images/TNS)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone against President Joe Biden after the U.S. withheld a shipment of bombs as a warning to its top Middle East ally not to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

In a first, punchy clip on the social media site X, Netanyahu said: If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone and fight tooth and nail. He then pivoted to a more conciliatory approach when chatting with Phil McGraw, the American talk show host known as Dr. Phil.

Ive known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more, Netanyahu said in the interview Thursday on Dr. Phil Primetime broadcast on Merit Street Media. We often had agreements, but weve had our disagreements and weve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now.

Netanyahu said Israel must go into Rafah to finish off the remaining battalions of Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist group that killed 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped about 250 last Oct. 7. He said Hamas will murder again and again if allowed to survive in Rafah.

We have to achieve victory, he said. That means we have to destroy all these battalions, which we will. We face very strong opposition to that, but were going to overcome it.

Netanyahu said Israel would do its utmost to make sure civilians leave Rafah, where more than a million people are sheltering, before any attack. He also criticized the madness of pro-Palestinian rallies on U.S. college campuses, saying protesters are supporting genocide, adding that this reflected the sorry state of American higher education.

On Wednesday, Biden said he would halt additional shipments of offensive weapons to Israel if it launches a ground invasion of Rafah, decrying the potential loss of civilian life as just wrong.

Were going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently, Biden said in an interview with CNN, referring to air-defense weaponry. But its just wrong. Were not going to supply the weapons and artillery shells.

Like Netanyahu, U.S. officials followed sharp criticism with more conciliatory remarks on Thursday.

White House officials insisted the U.S. stands by its ally, while urging Netanyahu to refrain from an assault that could worsen the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

Spokesman John Kirby reiterated that the administration paused, but didnt cancel, the shipment of about 3,500 bombs, which he said was limited to specific munitions that could add to the civilian death toll in Gaza.

The arguments that somehow were walking away from Israel flies in the face of the facts, Kirby told reporters.

There were also indications that the White House hadnt sought an open confrontation with Netanyahu.

U.S. officials initially planned to inform the Israeli government privately that the U.S. intended to pause the bomb shipment, in order to ramp up pressure on Netanyahu  but not to follow through unless there was a major incursion into urban areas of Rafah. But that plan was foiled when Israeli officials leaked it, people familiar with the situation said.

With assistance from Jordan Fabian, Galit Altstein and Ethan Bronner.

2024 Bloomberg L.P.

Visit bloomberg.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
The Department of Veterans Affairs headquarters building as seen in Washington, D.C., on July 6, 2022. (Carlos Bongioanni/Stars and Stripes)

WASHINGTON  Incentive bonuses totaling $10.8 million were improperly paid to 182 senior managers at the central office of the Department of Veterans Affairs, according to a new report from the VA Office of Inspector General that stated the agency is still trying to recoup the money.

The inspector general referred the findings from a seven-month investigation to the U.S. Attorneys Office to determine whether nine managers who approved granting bonuses that they later received violated federal law, according to the report made public Thursday. However, the U.S. Attorneys Office has declined to open a criminal investigation, the report states.

Federal employees are prohibited from participating in government matters where they have a financial interest.

Several managers collected more than $100,000 in payments.

In September 2023, VA Secretary Denis McDonough canceled the payments when he learned about them and ordered the managers to pay them back.

He announced the agency had incorrectly awarded millions of dollars in critical skill incentive payments to senior managers that were intended for workers needed to process a growing demand for veterans benefits.

The bonuses were authorized by Congress to help the VA recruit and retain employees in anticipation of a greater workload from veterans filing for benefits under the Sergeant First Class Heath Robinson Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act of 2022, also known as the PACT Act.

The critical skills incentive pay was to supplement the salaries of employees in high-demand jobs where there is a shortage of trained workers. Specifically excluded from the payments were senior VA managers.

The incentives were meant for high-demand health care and benefits support staff who are vital to VAs operations following implementation of the PACT Act, said Rep. Mike Bost, R-Ill., chairman of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs.

The over $10 million dollars in overpayments to VA central office employees were not some type of administrative mistake. Thats a serious problem for the second largest agency in the federal government, and were going to get to the bottom of it come hell or high water, Bost said.

The inspector general report states awarding $10.8 million in critical skills incentive payments to senior managers conflicted with VA policy and language in the PACT Act.

The report cited the VA for a lack of internal controls to prevent the improper awards from being made to senior executives.

The report stated there was a reluctance by managers in human resources to vet the plans for making the payments and the office of general counsel missed opportunities to identify legal issues about how the payments were made.

The VA issued collection notices in October to all senior executives who received payments, according to the report.

Managers were given the option to return the bonuses by Dec. 31, 2023, or enter a repayment plan. They also could ask for a waiver or challenge the debt through an appeals process.

While the [inspector general] has not examined this process, the investigative team received information during this investigation suggesting that VAs handling of the [bonuses] had significantly damaged the morale of senior executives at the central office, and that several had experienced financial hardship as a result of having to repay the incentives, according to the report.
Graffiti at the Powell Library on the UCLA campus where pro-Palestinian demonstrators erected an encampment on April 29, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Brian van der Brug/Los Angeles Times/TNS)

LOS ANGELES  Eilon Presman was about 100 feet from the UCLA Palestinian solidarity encampment when he heard the screams: Zionist! Zionist!

The 20-year-old junior, who is Israeli, realized the activists were pointing at him.

Human chain! they cried.

A line of protesters linked arms and marched toward him, Presman said, blocking him from accessing the heart of UCLAs campus. Other activists, he said, unfurled kaffiyeh scarves to block his view of the camp.

Every step back that I took, they took a step forward, Presman said. I was just forced to walk away.

Its been a week since police swarmed the UCLA campus and tore down the pro-Palestinian camp, arresting more than 200 people. But the legacy of the encampment remains an issue of much debate, particularly among Jewish students, who make up nearly 8% of the universitys 32,000 undergraduates.

In the days leading up to April 30  when pro-Israel counterprotesters attacked the camp with fists, bats and chemical spray, and police took hours to stop the violence  frustration had swelled among many Jews: Viralvideos showed activists restricting the passage of students they targeted as Zionists.

Some Jewish students said they felt intimidated as protesters scrawled graffiti  Death 2 Zionism and Baby Killers  on campus buildings and blocked access with wooden pallets, plywood, metal barricades and human walls.

The pro-Palestinian student movement includes various strains of activism, including calls for a cease-fire in Gaza, support for Hamas and demands that universities divest from firms doing business with Israel. But on campuses across the country, no word has become more charged than Zionist.

In its most basic definition, a Zionist is somebody who believes that the Jewish people have a right to statehood in their ancestral homeland as a place of refuge from centuries of persecution  in other words, that Israel, established as a Jewish state in the wake of the Holocaust, has a right to exist.

Using that definition, the Anti-Defamation League considers anti-Zionism a form of antisemitism. But protesters  including many Jews  draw a sharp distinction, arguing that it is Zionism that fuels Israels right-wing government and the assault on Gaza that they say amounts to genocide against Palestinians.

Some of the Jewish students who took part in the encampment played a role in excluding Zionists.

Members of Jewish Voice for Peace at UCLA, a small but rapidly growing group on campus, argue they had a moral responsibility to pressure university officials to divest from Israel.

The camp and its checkpoints, they said, were not hostile to Jews. Restricting fellow students from entering was just a pragmatic move to protect protesters inside from physical, verbal or emotional abuse.

We are committed to keeping each other safe, said Agnes Lin, 22, a fourth-year art and art history student and member of Jewish Voice for Peace. Anyone who agreed to the UC Divest Coalitions demands and community guidelines, she said, was welcome.

What is not welcome is Zionism, she added. Or anyone who actively adheres to a very violent, genocidal political ideology that is actively endangering people in Gaza right now.

In practice, students who supported the existence of Israel were kept out  even if they opposed Israels right-wing government and its bombardment of Gaza.

Senior Adam Thaw, 21, said activists blocked him and others from accessing a public walkway to Powell Library.

After telling him they were not letting anyone through, a male activist eyed his Star of David necklace: If youre here to espouse that this is antisemitism, then you can leave.

Who are you to tell me where I can and cannot go? said Thaw, who is on UCLAs student board of Hillel, the largest Jewish campus organization in the world.

As complaints from Jewish students mounted, UCLA declared the encampment unlawful. In an April 30 statement, Chancellor Gene Block said most activists had been peaceful, but the tactics of some were shocking and shameful.

Students on their way to class, he said, have been physically blocked from accessing parts of the campus.

The campus was dark and hushed when Sabrina Ellis joined dozens of activists at 4 a.m. to set up the encampment on the lawn of Dickson Court.

After pitching tents and erecting barricades of wooden pallets and sheets of plywood, Ellis, a 21-year-old international student from Brazil, took shifts guarding the entrance.

Ellis didnt call it a checkpoint. The goal was to exclude and physically block agitators  anyone who might be violent, record students or disagree with the cause.

Our top priority isnt peoples freedom of movement, Ellis said. It is keeping people in our encampments physically and emotionally safe.

The longtime member of Jewish Voice for Peace  who wore a large Star of David over her T-shirt and a kaffiyeh wrapped around her shoulders  said the camp was not profiling based on religion.

But as activists blocked Zionist students from public campus space, they faced charges that they engaged in viewpoint discrimination.

Before allowing anyone in, Ellis said, a protester read the demands of the encampment, which included calling for UC and UCLA to divest all funds from companies complicit in the Israeli occupation, boycott all connections with Israeli universities, sever ties with the Los Angeles Police Department and demand a permanent cease-fire.

Then, activists ran through their safety guidelines: Ask before taking a photo or video; wear a mask to limit the spread of COVID; do not post identifying information or photos; and no engagement with counterprotesters.

If students didnt agree, we would just kindly tell them that theyre not allowed to come in, Ellis said.

Some Jewish students were shaken by the experience, arriving at Hillel upset and even crying.

They were genuinely going about their day and couldnt get access as protesters asked them, Are you a Zionist? or looked at their necklace, said Daniel Gold, executive director of Hillel at UCLA.

For pro-Palestinian activists who are Jewish, the camp was a peaceful space to promote justice, a welcoming interfaith community with therapist-led processing circles and candlelit prayer services.

Blue tarps and blankets were put down in the middle of the lawn for Islamic prayers and a Passover Seder and a Shabbat service.

On the first evening, about 100 activists, many Jewish, sat in a circle to pray, sing, drink grape juice and eat matzo ball soup, matzo crackers and watermelon.

It was really beautiful, said Lin, the art major. We were trying to hold these spaces to show that Judaism goes beyond Zionism.

Other Jewish students were more wary as they navigated the camp.

Presman, who moved to the U.S. when he was 12 and identifies as a Zionist, was alarmed when he scanned the quad on the first day. He saw signs saying Israelis are native 2 HELL, he said, and banners and graffiti showing inverted red triangles, a symbol used in Hamas propaganda videos to indicate a military target.

Do people know what that means? he wondered.

Tucking his Star of David under his T-shirt, Presman said, he entered and approached activists, introducing himself as an Israeli citizen.

Maybe we can find common ground, he said, asking, one human being to the other?

Some students put their hands up, he said, blocking him as they walked away. Others treated the conversation as a joke. One protester, he said, told him that everything Hamas did was justified.

Presman said he had one good conversation: An activist who identified as anti-Zionist admitted not being 100% educated on what Zionism was, but agreed that Israel should exist. They came to the conclusion the activist was a Zionist.

But most of Presmans exchanges, he said, ended negatively when activists realized he was defending Zionism. He said he was called a dirty Jew and white colonizer.

Other students  even those who did not fully support the encampment  said they did not experience such slurs.

Rachel Burnett, a senior who described herself as a non-Zionist Jew, disagreed with the call for divestment and academic boycotts, especially of UCLAs Nazarian Center, an educational center for the study of Israeli history, politics and culture.

Entering the camp after a classmate vouched for her, Burnett was disturbed by anti-Israeli signs and graffiti that named Abu Ubaida, the spokesperson for the military wing of Hamas. But she also bonded with protesters, including a woman in a hijab.

Of course, some protesters deny Oct. 7 or condone violence as long as it can be put under the guise of decolonial resistance, which is obviously horrific, Burnett said. But thats not the case of many students inside the encampment.

Burnett contrasted what she saw as a peaceful, friendly mood inside the camp with the pro-Israel counterprotests where people held up benign slogans, such as Bring the Hostages Home, but engaged in hostile behavior.

As counterprotesters converged for a Sunday rally, she said, a pro-Israel activist spat on her and told she should have been slaughtered in the kibbutzim on Oct. 7.

Just as some pro-Palestinian activists demonized all Zionists as evil and pro-genocide  ignoring the wide range of viewpoints within the Zionist community  Burnett thought some pro-Israel counterprotesters were dehumanizing student activists in the encampment and spreading a mass hysteria narrative.

As the encampment expanded  and organizers set up entrance points near Royce Hall and Powell Library  some Jewish students took videos that swiftly went viral.

Its time to go, a protester wearing a yellow safety vest and kaffiyeh told a student in one video as he guarded an entrance near Powell Library. You dont have a wristband.

A standoff ensued.

Are you a Zionist? the protester asked.

Of course Im Zionist, the student replied.

Yeah, we dont let Zionists inside.

2024 Los Angeles Times.

Visit at latimes.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
Judge Finan applied the Probation of Offenders Act in the case of Sean Burke, sparing him a recorded conviction

The father of jailed teacher Enoch Burke has been found guilty of assault after a trial heard he grabbed and "flung" a female garda to the ground "like a red rag to a bull" after his wife was escorted out of the Court of Appeal (CoA).

Sean Burke denied assaulting Bridewell Garda Victoria Fisher on March 7, 2023, at the CoA in the Four Courts while his daughter Ammi Burke, 33, a qualified solicitor, pleaded not guilty to obstructing a garda who arrested her brother Simeon on the same date just outside the building.

They faced a non-jury hearing before Judge Michele Finan at Dublin District Court yesterday, which ran from just after midday until nearly 11pm, and heard evidence from 11 Garda witnesses.

Judge Finan found both Sean and Ammi Burke guilty of the charges they faced, which carry a maximum sentence of six months imprisonment.

Finalising the case, Judge Finan applied the Probation of Offenders Act in the case of Sean Burke, sparing him a recorded conviction.

However, she convicted Ammi Burke and imposed a fine of 400, to be paid within in 12 months.

However, Ms Burke told the court she does not intend to pay.

The offence coincided with the day her brother Enoch was involved in a legal dispute before the CoA over transgenderism and his sacking by Wilson's Hospital School in Co Westmeath.

Both father and daughter of Cloonsunna, Castlebar, Co. Mayo conducted their own defence and contended that the CoA did not make a valid order to remove them from the proceedings.

Mr Burke also claimed that the garda was knocked over by accident.

Last year, Enochs brother, Simeon, then a barrister at law student in Kings Inns, was fined 300 at Dublin District Court.

He had been convicted of threatening, insulting, and abusive behaviour after Enoch Burke's proceedings on March 7, 2023, but he consistently denied the charge and has been subsequently cleared on appeal.

Today, Garda Fisher told prosecution counsel Emer Ni Chuagain that around 3 pm she came over from the Bridewell station to assist colleagues who had been instructed to clear the courtroom after a disturbance which prompted the presiding judges to leave the bench.

Martina Burke, Ammis mother, was holding onto a bench before being escorted out, and a colleague alerted Garda Fisher to watch your back.

Garda Fisher said she looked over her shoulder, and I could see Sean Burke coming toward me shouting get out of my way and leave my wife alone'."

Enoch Burke. Photo: Collins Courts

She alleged he put a hand on her left shoulder and flung me, and I hit the wall and radiator, and she could not believe what had happened. She said her ribs were sore, and she was in total shock and pain and upset.

She saw a doctor back at her station and was advised to take painkillers. That evening, she took pictures of inflammation on the side of her body, and those images were tendered as exhibits in the hearing.

Cross-examined by Mr Burke, she agreed there was congestion and commotion near the courtroom door.

However, when that defendant put to her that he was following his wife out the door, she replied: You were shouting get out of my way, and I turned, and you put your hand on my shoulder and said leave my wife alone and kept saying get out of my way.

I had no interaction with your wife. You just came through me, she said, and she later told him, No man should put his hands on a woman.

Mr Burke suggested that if she fell, it was an accident, and it was completely inadvertent, but she disagreed and said he had been aggressive and shouting about wanting to get to his wife.

He also put to her that she was in the video footage leaving the courtroom after he exited.

Garda Fisher said that earlier on, she had escorted Ammi Burke out of the building onto Inns Quays and that the accused fell, but she helped her get back up.

Ammi Burke

An RTE news clip of that was shown during the hearing. Ms Burke described it as a shocking experience for her.

Garda Amy Murtagh testified that Mr Burke pulled Garda Fisher, who fell into a large radiator. Garda Murtagh recalled her colleague looked shocked and had tears in her eyes, but she didnt cry because she was a professional.

Garda Anthony Hutton alleged Mr Burke "lunged" at Garda Fisher and shoved her into an old school radiator against the wall and she slumped down.

Garda Hutton described it as like a red rag to a bull situation.

The officer believed the accused had a vendetta against anyone in his way, that was my perception of the situation.

CCTV footage was shown of members of the Burke family escorted from the courtroom and Ammi Burke outside dealing with the officers who arrested her brother Simeon.

But there was no footage of the alleged assault incident. Digital audio recordings of some of the CoA proceedings were heard.

Other officers told the court they saw Mr Burke shove or knock over Garda Fisher and that they were shouted at when they went to deal with the family.

Garda Patrick Hynes said that when he was arresting Simeon Burke, Ammi reached over his shoulder and grabbed his right arm. He alleged she forcibly tried to remove his hands, and he had to push her away.

He said he asked her to stop and was shocked by her attempt to free Mr Burke from his grip.

Ms Burke said she was concerned about Simeon and believed he had been unlawfully arrested.

The garda witnesses admitted they were unaware of a later direction by the CoA president that if there were any more interruptions, the judges would simply rise and deliver their judgment electronically. The defendants argued that the initial direction to remove the Burke family members had been countermanded.
The suspect, who is originally from Sligo, was taken into custody by police in Merseyside earlier this week

An associate of gangster Barry Young arrested in Liverpool in a major development in the investigation into the murder of Robbie Lawlor can be held for up to 36 hours for questioning, police have said.

The man, who is originally from Sligo, was taken into custody by police in Merseyside earlier this week

A source has described the arrest as extremely significant and said the Sligoman is suspected of playing an integral role in the murder of the feared gangland enforcer.

He will now be questioned by the PSNI within the next few days after being flown into Belfast under tight security.

Due to the fact Belfast is in the UK, he will not have to be extradited in order to be quizzed by police in the North.

In an update this afternoon, police confirmed he had been transported to Belfast by plane from Liverpool.

"In relation to how long police can keep someone in custody, they can be held for up to 36 hours before police need to approach the courts to request additional time, a PSNI spokesperson said.

The arrested man is well-known to gardai in Sligo and has previously appeared before the courts on drugs charges.

He is a known associate of drug trafficker Barry Young, who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for drug dealing.

Barry Young - Sligo criminal - pic courtesy of RTE

Robbie Lawlor was shot dead in Belfast in April 2020 in a complex plot involving a range of criminal gangs.

At the time of his murder, Lawlor had become one of the most erratic criminals operating in Irelands underworld and was the chief suspect in a number of gangland murders.

Lawlor became heavily embroiled in the Drogheda feud and inflamed the dispute after his release from jail in December, 2019.

He was suspected of an active involvement in the murder and dismemberment of Drogheda teenager Keane Mulready-Woods.

Among the gun murders Lawlor was suspected of, was the shooting of Kenneth Finn (36) in Coolock in February, 2018  he was a right-hand man and best pal of Mr Big.

Finns killing is currently being treated as the primary motive for the murder of Lawlor in Belfast.

Arrests, cash seizures and other matters linked to the Dundon-McCarthy gang in the aftermath of the fatal shooting are now being described as a smokescreen devised by Mr Big to disguise his involvement in Lawlors murder, according to sources who consider him Irelands most devious criminal.

Sligo gang boss Barry Young is also believed by gardai to have forged close links to Mr Big.

Young (39) became one of the countrys most significant drug suppliers and rose to control a gang operating in the west of Ireland over the course of a two-decade long criminal career.

Mark Desmond

Young became a key figure in the drugs trade in the North and was suspected of supplying cocaine and cannabis to a number of gangs operating in Belfast and Border regions.

During his sentencing hearing, the Special Criminal Court heard how Young directed a drug dealing gang with 20 members that sold massive amounts of cannabis all over the west of Ireland.

Young pleaded guilty to directing the activities of the gang, which had an international character but operated in the Sligo, Donegal, Leitrim and Galway areas where it was involved in drug-dealing, intimidation and money laundering.

The court was told that drug seizures linked to the gang totalled more than 628,000, while Young himself had 40,000 in ready cash despite his only stated income being social welfare payments. Young also dispatched enforcers that he described as head-the-balls and Dirty Harrys to collect on drug debts, the sentencing hearing was told.

At the three-judge court, Detective Garda Inspector Ray Mulderrig told Fiona Murphy SC, for the State, that Young was arrested by detectives from Sligo at Dublin Airport on January 11 of this year on his way to Spain in a bid to escape his life of crime and drug debts.

The experienced officer has led the detailed investigation into Youngs drug trafficking network for many years.

Det-Insp Mulderrig told Ms Murphy that gardai seized Youngs phone and discovered thousands of messages, images, videos and calls relating to Youngs criminal activities in running the Sligo-based gang.

Det-Insp Mulderrig said Young had 81 previous convictions at the time of his arrest and had been twice sentenced for drug-dealing, with the last conviction for that offence in 2006 when he was sentenced to six years imprisonment.
Lazlo Pop (28) was remanded in custody with consent to bail when he appeared in Dublin District Court

A MAN has been arrested and charged with public order offences following a disturbance at Dublins Grand Canal Square yesterday.

Lazlo Pop (28) was remanded in custody with consent to bail when he appeared in Dublin District Court.

Mr Pop, formerly of Mayors Walk, Waterford, is charged with threatening, abusive or insulting behaviour. He is also charged with refusing to give gardai his name and address. The offences, under Sections 6 and 24 of the Public Order Act, are alleged to have happened at Grand Canal Square, Dublin on May 9.

Garda Adam Hannon gave evidence of the accuseds arrest, charge and caution. He told Judge Paula Murphy he had no objection to bail subject to conditions.

Judge Murphy granted bail in the accuseds own bond of 300, with no cash lodgement required. Under conditions, Mr Pop must sign on three times per week at a Pearse Street garda station and stay away from Grand Canal Square.

She granted free legal aid following an application by the accuseds lawyer.

The court heard Mr Pop would not sign the bail bond so the judge remanded him in custody to appear in court again on May 17. The accused has not yet entered pleas to the charges.
The man will appear before the courts

The seizure made by gardai

Gardai in Dublin have arrested and charged a man in his 30s following a major drugs seizure.

Gardai in Ballymun found 32k worth of illicit substances and 4,000 in cash.

The operation took place on Thursday afternoon.

Yesterday, Gardai from our Detective Unit in Ballymun searched a home under warrant in a housing estate in Dublin 11, gardai said.

32,000 worth of drugs and 4,000 cash was seized.

It is understood the drugs will be sent to Forensic Science Ireland to be examined further.

The charged individual is now before the courts.
Mawien told gardai she was homeless at the time and needed money for her six-year-old son

A woman who arrived in Dublin airport from Canada with over 12.5 kilos of cannabis worth 250,000 in her suitcase has been jailed for four years.

Akuac Mawien (26) was homeless in Toronto at the time of the offence in September 2023 and agreed to fly to Ireland with the cannabis in exchange for a payment of 3,000, Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard today.

When she arrived in Dublin Airport on September 15, customs officials noticed Mawien was acting suspiciously and her suitcase was x-rayed as a result. A total of 12.5 kilos of cannabis was discovered in her suitcase.

Mawien, of no fixed abode in Toronto, affirmed her guilty pleas to a number of charges from the District Court, including importing cannabis and possessing cannabis for sale or supply at Dublin Airport on September 15, 2023.

Jane Murphy BL, prosecuting, told the court that Mawien told gardai she was homeless at the time and needed money for her six-year-old son. She said she agreed to bring the suitcase to Ireland and was expecting to be paid around 3,000 for doing so.

She said she knew there was something dodgy in the suitcase, but did not know to what extent.

She said she was told to go to a hotel and check in before meeting the person she was to hand the suitcase over to. She told gardai she didn't know who these people were.

Mawien has a number of minor convictions in Canada, including larceny and theft.

Garnet Orange SC, defending, said Mawien was born in Sudan and moved to Canada when she was three years old.

At the time of the offence, she was living on the margins of society, braiding hair and doing occasional catering. She had lost her homeless accommodation and her son was living with her aunt. She had alcohol issues.

Mr Orange submitted his client would have a harder time in prison as a non-national. She has no connection with Ireland at all and desperately misses her son, he said.

Sentencing Mawien, Judge Martin Nolan noted that she was impoverished and going through a difficult time when she carried out the offence. He accepted she had cooperated with gardai and was unlikely to offend in this jurisdiction again.

Judge Nolan initially jailed Mawien for four and a half years, but he reduced this to four years following a further plea from defence counsel.
The shocking incident happened at 4.15pm on May 8

A young woman was rushed to hospital after an assault in Limerick on Wednesday.

The shocking incident happened at 4.15pm on May 8.

Gardai confirmed that the victim was taken to University Hospital Limerick for treatment to her injuries.

Gardai received report of an incident of assault that occurred in the Castletroy area of Limerick City, a spokesperson said on Friday.

One woman aged in her 20s was conveyed to University Hospital Limerick for treatment of non-life threatening injuries sustained as a result of this incident.

No arrests have yet been made in the investigation, which is continuing.

According to Limerick Live, the attack happened in Kilmurry Student Village at the University of Limerick.

A spokesperson for the University of Limerick told the site student support and welfare services had been extended to any students affected by the incident.
All we want is for the police to turn up as quickly as possible and arrest them. We hand over all the evidence and leave it to them.

Mothers and grandmothers of children who were abused have come together to protect children from abusers of young children

Mothers and grandmothers of children who were abused have come together to protect children from abusers of young children

These are the paedo-hunting grannies fighting to clear the streets of child sex beasts.

Armed only with the hard evidence to put abusers away, the grandmothers have exclusively revealed to this paper they are either victims or mothers of victims of child rapists.

And this is what drives them and their group Warriors of Children on as they hit the streets carrying out sting operations  confronting alleged sex offenders.

The four  who only want to be known by their online names Jennifer, Goldie, Sharon and Amy  are united in their quest to take child sex abusers off the street.

The women have been responsible for dozens of prosecutions of child sex offenders and they currently have almost 40 cases of alleged child abusers going through the courts in Northern Ireland and England.

Recently, a Co Armagh man appeared in court charged with child sex offences.

The man, whos in his 40s, is accused of attempted sexual communication with a child and improper use of a public telecommunications network.

The court was told he was charged after a sting by a paedophile hunter group that broadcast the incident online.

We can reveal that group was Warriors of Children. In some reports they were referred to in the press as a vigilante group but thats a title they detest.

Were not vigilantes in any way, says Goldie during a lengthy interview they wanted to give to explain to the wider public what they are about.

We are in no way aggressive but we know there were groups who used to operate when paedophile hunter groups first started who let things get way out of hand.

As a team of women we do not use any violence and have no intention of causing humiliation to the people who we catch in stings. We dont approach with an aggressive attitude and we bring a male security team to stand by just in case.

Mothers and grandmothers of children who were abused have come together to protect children from abusers of young children

Some teams run by men were more aggressive and perhaps because of masculinity things could get out of control  that doesnt work for us.

All we want is for the police to turn up as quickly as possible and arrest them. We hand over all the evidence and leave it to them.

One of the grans, Amy, reveals she is currently training to be a decoy. Thats a team member who runs a profile on a chat room who engages with a potential paedophile and thus starts the process.

We never approach a target, she says. They always approach our online decoy who is pretending to be a child. Theres no entrapment. Im training to do it and it takes a lot of learning.

The predator always makes the first message and we make it clear from the second or third message they are messaging a child. In previous years paedophile hunter groups  mostly male-run  were heavily criticised by both the PSNI and the courts for their heavy-handed tactics. However, despite this there has been an increasing number of prosecutions brought following so-called sting operations from such groups.

Wed like the PSNI to work with us more, says Sharon. We all want the same thing. Were doing the groundwork which they dont have the time to do because of resources and because there are so many sex offenders out there.

Its a pandemic and nobody ever thinks its going to happen to their child until it actually does.

The police are coming round a bit more. Weve been upgraded by them from vigilantes to child online activists when they refer to us and apart from the odd grumpy cop, they say to us off to the side that they agree with what were doing.

In England the police work much better with the teams and they keep the teams updated on how a case is going but here we are kept out of the loop.

We would like to see a PSNI team who are dedicated to doing this and working with us.

Kevin Christy

Jennifer is the most experienced of the four, having worked as a decoy for more than four years.

It takes a lot of work and were all volunteers, says Jennifer, who comes from Belfast along with two of the others and a fifth female member, Jo-Jo, who couldnt make the interview. Goldie comes from Co Tyrone.

We dont just jump straight into a sting after a couple of days. We often build up the evidence over a year. We put everything on a USB and hand it over to the police, says Jennifer.

In many of the stings the predator will be filmed and they often make admissions like they almost expected to be caught at some point.

Theres an adrenalin rush about confronting them. Id rather not have to be doing it but when you do a good job and get one it feels good.

A recent case nearly got out of hand because the police took ages to arrive and we had to call a local councillor to get them to get the police to act.

But we are completely cross-community and in that case there were people from both sides of the community who came together to stand against the predator.

Theres no place for religion in this. These predators dont care about religion.

Jennifer reveals the heartbreaking story that sparked her into action.

People dont understand the devastation child sex abuse has on an entire family, especially the victim or warrior as I call them, says Jennifer.

My daughter was nine years old when she was being raped, along with three other victims, by a 71-year-old man who was a friend of the family.

When I got the call about it I couldnt believe it. We completely trusted this man, he was godfather to a family friend and nobody would have suspected it but he was raping the girls and when it came out his wife stood by him even when he was jailed.

I was devastated because I didnt protect her. I felt Id let my daughter down. It has destroyed her life.

She turned to drugs and tried to take her own life. It ripped the family apart and the warriors suffer a life sentence. The public dont realise the damage a predator can do.

Thats why Ill be doing this kind of work until I take my last breath. If they make us illegal Ill happily go to jail and when I get out Ill do it again. Ill never stop.

Goldie (68), the eldest of the women, says she was just 16 when she was raped by two men.

It happened to me decades ago and the men who did it got seven years in prison but afterwards I was just expected to get on with life as normal, she says.

It robbed me of my mental health, it destroyed by innocence and left me with trauma that haunts me to this day. When something else bad happens in my life my brain goes directly to the first trauma I ever suffered and that was when I was raped  so it never goes away.

Afterwards I was like a rubber duck, I was always in the bath trying to scrub the dirt off but it never comes off.

Sharon says she will also continue hunting paedophiles until shes at deaths door or until all the paedophiles are gone, such has the damage caused to her daughter.

She used to be so outgoing, so many friends, now she wont go to school, scared to leave the house and had to go through a trial that lasted years and then the paedo got a really light sentence.

I wrote to Naomi Long to complain  I dont believe these people can be rehabilitated.

We just want the public to be more aware of what their children are doing online  to raise awareness of the grooming thats going on. If there are children online you can bet theres a paedophile trying to get speaking to them. Dont wait until it happens to you.
Lee Byer was handed an indefinite hospital order at the Old Bailey after admitting the manslaughter of 87-year-old Thomas OHalloran

Lee Byer admitted killing 87-year-old Thomas OHalloran in a motiveless knife attack five days after being released from prison (Handout/PA)

The fatal stabbing of an elderly man on his mobility scooter by a psychotic ex-prisoner left a whole community shocked and horrified, police have said.

On Friday, Lee Byer was handed an indefinite hospital order at the Old Bailey after admitting the manslaughter of 87-year-old Thomas OHalloran by diminished responsibility.

The court heard Byer was psychotic when he stabbed popular accordion player Mr OHalloran in the neck and chest in August 2022.

Byer had served a 12-year sentence for robbery and was released from Wormwood Scrubs on bail five days before the attack in Greenford, west London.

Thomas OHalloran was fatally stabbed (Met Police/PA)

Detective Inspector Laura Nelson told the PA news agency that the death of Mr OHalloran had a huge impact.

His loss is felt greatly within his family. He certainly showed no signs of slowing down in his old age. He was head of the family. He looked after his family, cared for them.

He enjoyed playing his accordion and he was very well known throughout the community for that.

I think the community were just shocked. Really, really horrified.

She said she hopes the conclusion of the case will bring justice for the family.

The prosecution had carefully considered the case before accepting Byers plea to manslaughter in light of the medical reports.

Ms Nelson said the sentence of a hospital order would help protect the public.

Thomas OHalloran used a mobility scooter (Met Police/PA)

Ultimately, weve got to think about public safety and rehabilitation. Lee Byer will get the treatment that he needs in order to enable him hopefully to be well, so that protects in the future, she said.

On the defendants criminal history, Ms Nelson said: We know that hed been released from prison five days prior to the attack.

Hed been sentenced and had been recalled on licence for a robbery offence.

The earlier recall to prison had been over a harassment matter and breaching a non-molestation order, she added.

On August 16 2022, Mr OHalloran had travelled on his mobility scooter with his accordion on a shopping trip to Tesco.

As he made his way home, Byer left his address and the pair crossed paths in an underpass on the A40.

Ms Nelson, who led the Scotland Yard investigation, said: Lee Byer attacked Thomas OHalloran for absolutely no reason. There was no motive for it.

She said emergency services were alerted within two minutes of the brutal attack.

The officer said: It was a very fast-paced investigation. I had a team of people specifically working on trying to track the suspects movements from CCTV.

Lee Byer was seen running from the scene (Met Police/PA)

We were fortunate that the area had very good coverage. We saw Byer exit the underpass still carrying a knife at this point. He had also got some gloves on.

Police followed his progress through the subway and under the A40.

Soon after that, Ms Nelson said the face mask Byer was wearing fell down and he was seen to dispose of an item in a drain which turned out to be a handle.

The clear image of the suspect was circulated in the media with an immediate response from the public naming Byer, she said.

Meanwhile, the handle Byer had dumped in a drain was examined and found to have the DNA from both the victim and Byer on it.

Of the defendant, Ms Nelson said: He was an unusual character. He denied the offence. Upon his arrest, he continued to deny being involved in the offence.

Even when presented with the wealth of evidence that we were able to put to him, he still disputed his involvement.

What we now know through a number of medical assessments is that he was psychotic.
Seven years ago, Cork man Damien Byrnes (36) removed Marius Gustavson's penis and testicles with a kitchen knife.

A castrator who had his penis chopped off by an Irishman and mutilated paying customers whilst streaming it all online has been jailed for 22 years.

Marius Gustavson (46) admitted the startling offences including five counts of grievous bodily harm at the Old Bailey in London this week.

The Norwegian was described as "a lunatic", "an arch-manipulator" and "a butcher".

The depraved character ran a lucrative business in extreme body modifications for his website as a self styled eunuch maker.

Prosecutors said Gustavson had been the mastermind of the "gruesome and grisly", "large-scale" and "extremely dangerous" operation.

Seven years ago, Cork man Damien Byrnes (36) removed Marius Gustavson's penis and testicles with a kitchen knife.

Byrnes

The incident was filmed. Afterwards, Byrnes had asked for a copy of the film and was heard to say: well, thats one off the bucket list."

Judge Mark Lucraft said in court this week that "on one occasion Gustavson cooked what appeared to be human testicles which were then plated to be eaten, and kept other body parts as 'trophies', the BBC report.

A mix of sexual gratification as well as cash incentives was found to be the mens motivations.

Some of what happened was "little short of human butchery", according to UK prosecutors.

The Norwegian national made almost 320,000 through his website "eunuchmaker.com", which had 22,841 users.

He advertised services such as male castration, penis removal and freezing of limbs, while customers paid to view footage of the procedures.

"Arch-manipulator" Gustavson had his own penis cut off by Byrnes, the tip of his nipple removed, and his leg frozen so that it had to be amputated, the court heard.

Penis removal knife used

Gustavson, who claimed 20k in disability benefits after losing his leg and now uses a wheelchair, appeared in court for sentencing by video-link.

The Old Bailey was told body parts, including testicles, were kept in takeaway boxes in his home, while Gustavson's own penis was found in a drawer in his home almost half a decade after it was lopped off.

Nine other men have admitted their involvement with Gustavson's ring after one went to police saying he was tricked into a procedure while under the influence.

Rashvinderjeet Panesar, defending Gustavson, said his client was just trying to make people content.

That the Norwegians "desire to be the architect of his own body" began during puberty.

The procedures gave him "feelings of empowerment and greater acceptance of himself" and he wanted to help others stuck in a body they wanted to make changes to and he "wished to put a smile on other people's faces.

The Met Police said as part of its investigation officers "watched hours of distressing footage, travelled across the UK to search for victims and witnesses, and liaised with UK and overseas police forces to bring the men to justice".

Cops encouraged "anyone who has similar experiences" to seek medical advice from their GP and contact police.

Kate Mulholland, the Crown Prosecution Service specialist said: "Consent is not a defence to the illegal surgical procedures the men willingly took part in to remove their ringleader's penis, leg and nipple, in non-sterile and on occasion life-threatening circumstances.

Cork man Byrnes was sent down for five years in January.
The tents have been set up between McCartney Bridge and Leeson Street Bridge in the area.

Fencing that was erected yesterday after tents were removed along the Grand Canal. Photo: Sam Boal/Collins Photos

More tents have been erected along the banks of the Grand Canal in Dublin overnight, less than 24 hours after an encampment was removed from the area.

Some 30 tents have been pitched after asylum seekers were moved to tented accommodation on state-owned sites yesterday.

The tents have been set up between McCartney Bridge and Leeson Street Bridge in the area.

Yesterday, a multi state agency effort got underway in the early hours to relocate a total of 163 people to State-provided accommodation in Crooksling and the site of the former Central Mental Hospital in Dundrum.

The makeshift encampment had developed along the Grand Canal following the removal of a tent city located on Mount Street, near the international protection office.

The effort also saw over 100 tents removed from and barriers were set up to prevent further pitching of tents.

Within six hours of the clearance, tents were erected in Ringsend and East Wall also.

Speaking at a press conference a short time after the clearance operation at the Grand Canal yesterday, Taoiseach Simon Harris said camps that developed would not be allowed remain.

Those days are gone. Those days are over. Thats not gonna happen and the Government is absolutely united in relation to this, the Taoiseach said.

Mr Harris insisted the barriers erected along the banks of the canal after the removal of tents was not a long term plan.

The multi-agency response involves a number of different actions happening.

It doesnt involve the long-term erection of barriering off parts of our city, but in the short term that can be a requirement, Mr Harris said.

In the Dail yesterday, Tanaiste Micheal Martin said tents would be dealt with wherever they arise.

Its not good for migrants, not good for asylum-seekers, nor for residents, or the general area. I think its just simply not acceptable, Mr Martin said.

There is a plan resolutely to deal with tents wherever they arise.

The latest encampment of tents emerged as the Government has said it will put an urgent focus on finding suitable sites for accommodation of asylum-seekers to avoid a repeated tented encampments.

HSE properties, land owned by the Department of Defence and sites previously ruled out for housing are among the state-owned sites to be considered, a meeting of Taoiseach Simon Harris and agencies involved in the asylum system was told yesterday.

At the meeting, the Taoiseach was adamant a silo approach by government departments  whereby the problem is largely left to Roderic OGormans integration officials  is to stop now.

A spokesman said the urgent focus would be on freeing up more state land for accommodating arrivals.

This would even include sites scoped out by the Land Development Agency for housing, but not thought suitable for such development.

A particular target appears to be brownfield sites close to the city centre because that is where arrivals want to congregate.

A source close to the multi-agency meeting after the Grand Canal operation early yesterday morning said: There is acute consciousness that the feeling among migrants seems to be that the quickest way to get dealt with is to join such a setting.
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- South Africa's Absa Group, one of Africa's largest diversified financial service providers, launched its subsidiary in Beijing on Wednesday, marking its first move to tap into the Chinese market.

The subsidiary is designed to provide non-banking services including consulting services for Chinese enterprises investing in Africa and releasing research reports.

Sino-Africa cooperation in investment has gained momentum in recent years, with China becoming Africa's largest trading partner, said Arrie Rautenbach, CEO of Absa, adding that Absa has always been keen on the Chinese market.

The opening of the subsidiary came as proof of China's commitment to high-level opening up, and the organization will inject vitality into further trade and investment cooperation between Africa and China, Rautenbach said.

According to data from China's Ministry of Commerce, South Africa has been China's largest African trading partner for 14 years in a row.

Founded in 1991, Absa is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Videos and images posted on social media showed fire crews awaiting the planes arrival

An Air Canada flight was forced to make an emergency landing at Dublin Airport yesterday, bringing the airport down to a single runway.

The flight, which took off from Venice and was en route to Montreal, was forced to land as a result of a hydraulics issue which impacted steering, according to Shaun Dunne, who runs Shaun's Aviation on X.

The aircraft landed at approximately 6.50pm yesterday and was met by fire crews in Dublin who inspected the plane, the posts said.

The hydraulics issue caused the plane to lose nose steering and was unable to leave the runaway and required a tow to stand.

Videos and images posted on social media showed fire crews awaiting the planes arrival at Dublin Airport and the plane being towed away from the runway.

The issue also caused a leak on one of Dublin Airports runways which meant the runway was unable to reopen to other flights.

The daa have been contacted for comment.
My situation here in this place is affecting my mental health, Im depressed more about my circumstances here than I am about dying.

Bobby Tohill says he is living his last days on earth like a dog in a kennel.

One week on from our exclusive interview, the former Provo hitman is still fighting for what little is left of his life and fears he will die in squalor without the help he desperately needs.

A dirty, run-down bungalow in west Belfast is now his prison cell, one he is anxious to escape.

His family have been battling to get him removed from the property he has let go to rack and ruin because of his illness. He doesnt have much time left but the Housing Executive has been working hard to get him relocated closer to his family in the Lower Falls.

Bobby fears help will come too late  his chronic liver disease means he is fading fast, and his last wish is to die in peace with dignity.

I feel like a dog being kept in a dirty kennel. Its cold, I had nothing, sometimes I feel its what it would be like living on the street, he told the Sunday World this week.

Look around me, this place is awful, its soul-destroying. It upsets me when I look around me and think this is where I am going to die.

My situation here in this place is affecting my mental health, Im depressed more about my circumstances here than I am about dying  Ive come to terms with that, that I have accepted.

Bobby Tohill pictured in his home in Belfast. Picture By: Arthur Allison/Pacemaker Press.

But what is destroying me is how and where I take my last breath, I just want to be somewhere clean and warm and to feel safe as I go to meet my maker, he said.

Bobby has also had to contend with several break-ins recently when cruel and opportunist thugs broke into his home, trashing it before stealing his medication.

I have been broken into three times. They came in and totally wrecked the place and they stole all of my medications. I dont feel safe, for different reasons this time Im afraid in my own home.

I know what some people may think of me, I know that, I get that. Ive said that before but I dont believe I should rot away in a place like this. I dont believe anyone, not even a dog, should go through this in their final days.

The 66-year-old is hoping to be provided with assisted living in a fold if possible.

He would be happy with a one-room home in the Lower Falls so he can be close to his family and friends who would find it easier to help him if he was nearby.

My neighbours here have been brilliant, if it was not for them, their charity, their compassion and their support, I dont know where I would be. I can do nothing for myself, Im too weak  just walking to the toilet is exhausting.

They have come with clothes, food, tidied up and give me some hope and company. They are kind people but they shouldnt have to be coming into me every day to see if Im still alive. I need professional help, carers and a clean and warm home so I can pass in peace.

The father of six has reconnected with family members in recent weeks and has made his peace with God, making confessions to his local priest who has absolved him of his sins.

He now takes communion from his life-long pal Tommy Tolan, forgiving him unreservedly for his role in his abduction and planned murder 20 years ago.

Tolan was part of the four-man IRA snatch squad that grabbed Tohill from Kellys Cellar bar and bundled him into the back of van with the intention of driving to his death.

A younger Bobby Tohill

I have forgiven people, many people, Tohill said. I never had any ill-feeling to the people over the years who have come for me, I did the same things sometimes worse  and I have asked for forgiveness. You cant ask for something you are not willing to give to others.

Ive been overwhelmed by the support of the community, it warms my heart to know people still care and have respect for me.

My neighbour can bring me in a yogurt or a bap or a bottle of juice and that means the world to me.

It sounds like nothing but to me, it means everything. Especially now when I know Im on my way out. I have said prayers of thanks and prayers for strength, now all I want is a place to die with as much dignity as I have left.

This disease has ravished me, Im a shell of the former man I was, but I have no regrets about the man I was. People might find that hard to understand but I have no regrets, none at all  just that my circumstances forced me to become the Bobby Tohill I was then.

I feel sadness and Im sorry but I cant regret the things my life circumstances forced me into. I will go to my grave with a clear conscience.

The one-time IRA then INLA hard man is barely recognisable to the pictures of the past.

Shrunken and dishevelled, he bears no image to the man whose name alone used to instil fear.

Look at me, look at how Im living, the life I have led and the things I have done. I think this is punishment enough for those who think I deserve it, Bobby said.

The Sunday World contacted the Housing Executive which has been working on Tohills urgent requirements.

A Housing Executive spokesperson said: We have been assisting this applicant to access fold accommodation in their area of choice.

However, there is a very limited availability and turnover of this type of accommodation.

We will continue to liaise with housing associations who manage sheltered schemes in the area.

Bobby Tohills family have also been contacted to say his case is a priority.
The road was closed for several hours but has now reopened

The A2 between Belfast and Bangor has been closed following the crash. Pic: Press Eye

A man in his 60s has died following a single-vehicle crash on the main A2 Belfast to Bangor Road, police have confirmed.

The crash, close to the Ulster Folk Museum in Cultra, outside Holywood and involving a black Hyundai i30, was reported to police shortly after 2pm on Thursday afternoon.

The PSNI attended the incident alongside the Northern Ireland Ambulance Service, Air Ambulance and Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service.

Inspector Adair of the Police Service of Northern Irelands Collision Investigation Unit said: A man aged in his 60s, the driver of the Hyundai, was sadly pronounced dead at the scene.

"The A2 Bangor to Belfast dual carriageway was closed for a number of hours but has since re-opened.

An investigation is ongoing and officers would ask anyone with any information, or who may have dash-cam or mobile phone footage available, to get in contact with them at the Collision Investigation Unit in Sprucefield on 101, quoting reference number 994 09/05/24.

Earlier NIAS said no patients had been taken from the scene.

"The Northern Ireland Ambulance Service received a 999 call following reports of a single vehicle RTC on A2 near Holywood, said a spokesperson.

NIAS despatched a Rapid Response Paramedic and an Emergency Crew to the incident. The Charity Air Ambulance with HEMS crew on board was also tasked to attend by ambulance control.

No patients were taken from the scene to hospital.

Police have confirmed the road has now fully reopened to traffic.

North Down DUP MLA Stephen Dunne expressed his sadness at the news.

This is a real tragedy and I would like to express my sincere condolences to the family and friends of the gentleman who has sadly lost his life, he said.

The A2 Belfast to Bangor Dual Carriageway is a very busy section of road with over 35,000 daily vehicle movements, and this tragic news is a reminder to us all of the dangers on our roads.

An investigation is ongoing, and I would encourage anyone with any information to contact the PSNI immediately to assist with their enquires.
It emerged this week that before Bests coffin disappeared from view, masked UDA men in full paramilitary garb gave the 58-year-old loyalist a military send-off

A paramilitary display at the funeral of a veteran UDA man was a two-fingered salute to the UVF over a banned bonfire, the Sunday World has been told.

North Belfast loyalist Andy Best died on April 13 and his remains were cremated at a service in Roselawn crematorium 10 days later.

It emerged this week that before Bests coffin disappeared from view, masked UDA men in full paramilitary garb gave the 58-year-old loyalist a military send-off.

Six masked men wearing black berets and dark glasses carried Bests coffin into the Belfast City Council-owned property.

The shocking incident happened in the same chapel where the funeral of leading republican Bobby Storey took place four years ago.

But we have been told the bizarre show of strength was, in fact, aimed at the Shankill Road-based leadership of the UVF.

UDA men carry Best's coffin in Tiger's Bay

This was us letting the UVF know that we havent gone away, a loyalist source in Tigers Bay told us.

Weve had to accept that the traditional Tigers Bay bonfire has gone for ever, but its a disgrace that this was forced on us by other loyalists from the Shankill Road.

Andy Best was a Tigers Bay man through and through. And although he had moved away, he was one of the people we consulted on what to do about the bonfire.

The source added: We decided this send-off was a fitting way to pay tribute to a veteran UDA man and let the UVF know we still exist.

But the Sunday World has learned the Tigers Bay Roselawn show of strength may also be linked to seriously depleted numbers in UDA ranks in north Belfast.

We have been told the total membership in the traditional loyalist heartland is currently less than 25 men.

Unable to muster enough recruits for a even a UDA Coy, the loyalist terror group in Tigers Bay has been incorporated into West Belfast, where membership numbers remain high.

For two years, many Tigers Bay locals supported UDA veterans in its defiant opposition to Shankill UVF plans to do away with the traditional 11th night bonfire celebrations in the area.

And even when UVF bosses ordered their troops in to demolish an 11th night bonfire at Adams Street, prior to moving it to nearby Edlingham Street, UDA supporters stole back the wood and rebuilt it on its original site.

Three masked UDA men in Roselawn Crematorium

Tigers Bay locals also berated the Shankill men when they arrived at a community centre to outline their position.

They accused a delegation of UVF and UDA loyalists, led by Winston Winkie Irvine and including senior loyalists Harry Stockman, Geordie Courtney and Denis Cunningham, of backing a government-sponsored bonfire buyout deal at interface areas in Belfast.

They accused the Shankill men of supporting a 1 million cash-for-culture deal supposedly aimed at defusing sectarian divisions at Belfast interfaces.

In particular, they attacked the UVF leadership on the Shankill, claiming it was determined to muscle in and dictate the future development of the close-knit Tigers Bay community.

It was also claimed this week that a group of UVF men from the Shankill recently visited a number of houses in Tigers Bay, issuing threats.

They allegedly warned known UDA members that there would be serious consequences if they refused to accept defeat in the row over the Adams Street bonfire.

After a series of discussions with UDA veterans from the area  including Andy Best  the Tigers Bay men decided to throw in the towel.

The Sunday World attempted to contact Harry Stockman at his Action for Community Transformation offices on Friday to ask for a comment on the Tigers Bay situation, but no one was available.

Following the publication of photographs showing masked men inside the chapel at Roselawn, Belfast City Council issued a statement saying it had launched an inquiry.

And at a council meeting on Friday, all parties condemned the incident and a probe has been launched.

The PSNI also launched an investigation into the display.
The Sunday World revealed last week that the south Belfast man had been warned his life would be under threat the minute he sets foot out of jail

Death threat gun accused Billy McCune is in hiding as the UDA, UVF and an organised crime gang hunt him down, a source has claimed.

The 45-year-old was granted bail this week, four weeks after cops recovered a stash of weapons from his car after he was stopped in south Belfast.

The Sunday World revealed last week that the south Belfast man had been warned his life would be under threat the minute he sets foot out of jail, according to sources.

He is currently languishing at an undisclosed address after his release on bail on Thursday.

Conditions imposed mean he is banned from entering Belfast.

Police seized a sawn-off shotgun, three pistols, an assault-style rifle, Taser and balaclavas after stopping him on Belfasts Upper Lisburn Road on March 21 for a failure to indicate.

Parts for another shotgun, an air rifle, and UDA mirror and plaque were found in searches at his home on Bentham Drive, a previous court hearing was told.

McCune claimed to be disposing of the weapons as a go-between for his local community and the terror group.

John Boreland

Denying membership of the UDA, he told detectives the haul had been left in an alley for him to collect and that he planned to hand it over to the authorities.

It is understood McCune is on a UDA hitlist for the loss of the guns.

The UVF is also believed to be demanding the return of guns believed to have been held in the same secure dump.

A UVF-linked crime gang believe two of their guns are among those seized by the PSNI.

McCune has been told he will have to cough up 10,000 to save his skin and return the missing guns.

Hes terrified, a source told us.

The guns belong to a number of people and there are serious questions being asked to how they ended up in Billys car.

McCune does not dispute possession of the weapons but his defence is that he was acting as a go-between with the UDA and the local community to remove the firearms from the streets.

The drug gang is demanding the guns be replaced.

Its causing serious problems, [South Belfast] UDA has been quiet, just going about their business selling drugs and then this happens bringing the sort of attention from the cops they dont want, a source said.

The UDA leadership is fearful that the sawn-off shotgun seized in March is the gun used in the sanctioned murder of former North Belfast commander John Boreland in 2016.

He was blasted at point-blank range as he returned to his home. The gun and car used in the assassination were supplied by South Belfast UDA.

McCune is charged with possessing firearms in suspicious circumstances and with intent to cause fear of violence.

He is also accused of having ammunition, a prohibited stun-gun and fireworks without a licence, and possessing cocaine and cannabis.

Defence barrister Michael Boyd said his clients initial account to police was a fantasy. Instead of acting as a go-between, it was suggested McCune had been exploited by others.

During an initial bail application, Mr Justice McAlinden assessed the accused as a vulnerable individual used by cannibals in society to do their dirty work.

He said those responsible were potentially transporting weapons to enforce their rule and run a drugs business.

Concerns were expressed that McCune could face punishment over the loss of the guns. Proceedings had been adjourned for checks to be made on available mental health services and any suitable address.

It was confirmed in court that accommodation for McCune had been obtained.

He was bailed to the undisclosed address and banned from entering the greater Belfast area and drinking alcohol.
But another boy texted her telling her to get your t*its out over Snapchat and a new relationship allegedly began.

The trial is underway in the UK of a teacher who is accused of having sex with two of her pupils.

Rebecca Joynes (30) is accused of having a sexual relationship with two boys, including one who got her pregnant while she was on bail awaiting trial.

The Manchester math teacher allegedly groomed the first boy by taking him shopping for a Gucci belt worth around 400, jurors heard.

The pair are then said to have returned to her apartment for unprotected sex with the boy claiming she laughed when he said he was too young to drive.

Oh shut up. Stop saying that, the 15-year-old boy claimed Joynes said.

No one had better find out, she allegedly added.

Joynes is on trial at Manchester Crown Court, and she has turned up to court numerous times wearing a baby's bonnet tucked into the waistband of her trousers.

If you ever see her  she is good-looking, the young boy said in footage played in court.

Manchester Crown Court

UK press reports that Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18.

She was suspended from her school and eventually fired back in 2022.

But another boy texted her telling her to get your t*its out over Snapchat and a new relationship allegedly began.

The court heard the teacher responded with a photo of her backside.

As a young lad, I thought I was in there, the youngster told cops, before adding that he went to Joynes home and they began snogging on her sofa.

Obviously she was probably nervous because she didnt want to get caught and I was nervous because I was meeting up with someone double my age and Id known them for a number of years, the court heard.

She said something like I dont know if I want to do it until after youve left school or turn 18.

That was the first time and since then there have been numerous times. I went round to the apartment at least 30 times.

I thought she wouldnt do it again after she had already done it and been caught. I didnt think she would do it again after being arrested, the boy claimed.

When a friend of the youth told him he was being groomed, he said that this was not true and that he was loving it.

Joynes eventually became pregnant and had a daughter, according to the Times of London.

The crux of the teachers defence is that she didnt have sex with the boys until they were 16.

She also claims that she didnt have sex with them when she was a teacher.

Remarkably and in all honesty quite brazenly, this was all happening while Ms. Joynes was on bail to this court, the prosecutor said.

A 15-year-old cannot consent to sexual activity with an adult, the prosecutor added.

The court also heard how one of the boys parents stormed the school reception when she found out what was allegedly taking place.

The trial continues.
It carried an estimate of 100,000 to 150,000 (117,000 to 175,000) and now holds the record for the highest price ever paid for Titanic memorabilia.

The watch is a 14kt, 17 jewel Waltham pocket watch with JJA engraved on the case

John Jacob Astors gold pocket watch broke the record for the highest price ever paid for Titanic memorabilia when it sold for 1.2m (1.4m)

The Titanic is unsinkable at auction. On April 27, a gold watch that survived the sinking of the White Star Line ship in 1912 sold for 1.2m (1.4m) at Henry Aldridge & Son in Wiltshire, England.

It carried an estimate of 100,000 to 150,000 (117,000 to 175,000) and now holds the record for the highest price ever paid for Titanic memorabilia.

The previous record holder was the violin played by the band leader Wallace Hartley as the ship went down, which sold at the same auction house for 1.1m (1.28m) in 2013.

The leather case that held that instrument sold on April 27 for 360,000 (421,000), but sadly, has not been reunited with the violin. Its gone to another home.

The gold watch was prised from the cold dead pocket of John Jacob Astor IV (1864-1912), an extremely rich American businessman who died in the sinking of the Titanic.

He sounds like a debonair individual, described as helping his wife into a lifeboat, then casually smoking a cigarette.

John Jacob Astor IV and his wife Madeline

His body was recovered by the CS MacKay-Bennett on April 22 and identified by the initials sewn on to the lapel of his jacket. The crew would have identified him as a rich person.

As well as the watch, he wore gold cuff links and a diamond ring, and carried $2,440 in notes. At the time, he was probably one of the wealthiest people in the world.

The watch, a 14kt, 17 jewel Waltham pocket watch with JJA engraved on the case, was fully restored and worn by Astors son, Vincent. It must have been a good conversation piece.

Astors young wife Madeline survived the sinking. She was five months pregnant and left the vessel on lifeboat 4.

The couple were returning from an extended honeymoon in Europe and Egypt, following their scandalous marriage. He was 47 and recently divorced. She was 18 and younger than Astors son.

Shunned by polite society, the couple made friends with the Irish-American activist Margaret Brown, who also travelled on the Titanic. She acquitted herself well during the rescue operation. On landing from the Carpathia, she reputedly declared herself unsinkable and later became known as the unsinkable Molly Brown.

Until then, Mrs Brown had been shunned by the high-flying social set, mainly for her parents being Irish and she being Catholic. The Denver Times reported: Her spelling was faulty, her wardrobe garish, her mother smoked a pipe.

The watch is a 14kt, 17 jewel Waltham pocket watch with JJA engraved on the case

The glamour of surviving the Titanic worked in her favour and she used her fame to promote her activism and philanthropy.

In 1932, she was awarded the French Legion of Honour for her work in organising female ambulance drivers, nurses and food distributors for the Red Cross during the First World War.

Titanics senior wireless operator Jack Phillips also died in the sinking. Phillips was employed by the Marconi Company and used a Marconi wireless telegraph machine to send distress calls to nearby ships, which helped to save 700 people in lifeboats.

A Marconi spark coil transmitter, similar to the one used in the Titanic, sold for 2,600 at Sheppards Auction House, County Laois, in March.

A rare press photograph included in the sale at Henry Aldridge & Son showed Phillips and other operators at the Marconi station outside Clifden, Connemara, in 1908.

It was published in the Daily Mirror under the title Mr Marconis Triumph: Pictures of the Irish Station. Phillips, who is recorded at the Clifden station in the Irish census of 1911, described it as a dreary hole.

Short and Mason aneroid barometer from Ernest Shackleton's cabin

The photograph, which fills a gap in the historical record, sold for 1,100 (1,285).

While anything that travelled on the Titanic is pure gold at auction, any items related to the Irish polar explorer Ernest Shackleton will also create a flurry.

A Short & Mason aneroid barometer that hung in Shackletons cabin on board R.Y.S. Quest (1921-22) was included in the sale. It sold for 38,000 (44,440), far exceeding its estimate of 5,000 to 8,000 (5,840 to 9,350).

The barometer was a poignant piece. The Shackleton-Rowett Antarctic Expedition was Shackletons last. He was poetic to the end.

On January 4, he wrote in his diary: The old smell of dead whale permeates everything. It is a strange and curious place... A wonderful evening. In the darkening twilight, I saw a lone star hover, gem-like above the bay.

He died of heart failure in his cabin in harbour at South Georgia on January 5, 2022. His body was sent halfway back to England, but then returned to South Georgia where it was buried in the Norwegian cemetery at Grytviken at his widows request.

See henryaldridge.com.
Bruce Springsteen has the crowd eating from his hand as he puts on rocking three-hour show

James Nesbitt was among the fans at Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band's gig on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

At 74 years of age Bruce Springsteen showed no signs of slowing down as he rocked Belfast with a three-hour set even those half his age would struggle to match.

The Boss return to the city  his first gig here in 11 years  is part of his 2024 world tour.

Dates include Thursday nights Belfast Boucher Road Playing Fields gig and upcoming shows in Kilkenny, Cork and Dublin, before performances in destinations such as France, Spain and Holland.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

After the unexpected Belfast announcement in October  just months after his European tour the previous summer  excitement had been building among his loyal fans in Northern Ireland.

For the 40,000 that forked out 120 a ticket to see their hero, they will feel it was money well spent as The Boss promised to rock Belfast into the ground.

While Springsteen and the all-important E Street Band banished any rumours of retirement, based on their typically energetic and non-stop performance, realistically there may not be many more opportunities to see them perform in Belfast in future.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast on May 9th 2024 (Photo by Kevin Scott)

They still have another 39 shows across Europe and the US to see out this year and will be deserving of a well-earned break after two years of performing at the highest of levels.

Making sure Springsteen was left in no doubt of their adoration, fans roared as he took to stage  albeit 30 minutes late  and shouted: Belfast!

Fans held aloft posters, with one reading: Ive waited since God was a boy for your harmonica!

Others begged for birthday wishes, while another cheekily said: Bruce, can I dance in the dark with you?

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast

Following on from their opening European leg of their world tour in Cardiffs Principality Stadium on Sunday, The Boss and The E Street Band set the tone for the Belfast show by launching straight into No Surrender, Lonesome Day, Prove It All Night and Letter To You.

Performing The Promised Land, Springsteen was at his best as he directed The E Street Band, played harmonica and interacted with those fortunate enough to reach the front row.

One lucky fan even got a hug and a kiss on the cheek from The Boss as he signed her shirt.

But the luckiest of all was the young teenage girl who was handed his harmonica, much to her delight.

We need your consent to load this Social Media content. We use a number of different Social Media outlets to manage extra content that can set cookies on your device and collect data about your activity. Please review your details and accept them to load the content

When he finally addressed the raucous Belfast crowd, Springsteen said: Now if youre out there tonight theres just one thing I want to know.

Can you feel it? Can you feel it, feel it now? Can you feel the spirit? If you can feel the spirit I want you to answer me a mighty yeah yeah!

One female fan made sure she didnt pass up the opportunity of meeting Springsteen as she held on and wouldnt let go of the star.

The Boss even had the crowd singing Hungry Heart as he again stepped off the stage and hugged and high fived his adoring fans.

One lady had a night she wouldnt forget as she even got to dance with the rock star.

Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band perform on Boucher Road, Belfast

Seeing out the gig, Springsteen and The E Street Band made it an encore to remember as fans sang along to Born to Run.

Heres hoping The Boss does make a Belfast return in the years to come because it could be quite some time before the city sees another performance quite like this. Next stop Kilkenny.
A woman has been sentenced to five years and five months jail after attempting to smuggle 4.3 kilograms of cocaine through Auckland International Airport a year ago.

Delphine Ganon, aged 42, appeared in the Manukau District Court Thursday, and was convicted for importing and possessing a Class A controlled drug (cocaine).

She arrived into Auckland International Airport on 25 April 2023, and was stopped for questioning by a Customs Officer.

Her two suitcases were examined, revealing white powder in the lining of one suitcase that tested positive for cocaine. Contents of five cosmetics bottles also tested positive for liquified cocaine, says a statement from Customs NZ.

The 4.3 kilograms of cocaine recovered from the suitcase and cosmetics bottles would have produced around 43,300 common doses, with an estimated total street value of up to NZ$1.94 million.

This seizure is estimated to have prevented up to NZ$1.29 million of social harm and cost to New Zealand.

Customs Manager Auckland Airport, Paul Williams, says this case is a great demonstration of vigilance at the border by our frontline officers.

Customs remains ever-alert in our daily fight to stop the flow of illegal drugs from entering New Zealand. Our officers are well-equipped to identify and stop people who think they can bring illegal substances into our communities.

If you know or suspect someone may be involved in illegal smuggling, call Customs on 0800 WE PROTECT (0800 937 768) a 24-hour confidential hotline, or contact anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Tauranga locals brave the cold today to donate towards the Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal to help those in need in the community.

The Salvation Army Red Shield Appeal is the biggest national fundraiser each year, says Tauranga Salvation Army volunteer Ian Bateman.

All money received supports the most urgent needs in our communities.

The Red Shield Appeal was launched in 1964 and the Red Shield logo is well-known around the world as it represents the Salvation Armys reputation for being on the frontline of need.

Labour List MP for Tauranga, Jan Tinetti, is helping with the Salvation Army Red Shield Collection.

Ive grown up with Salvation Army always being the group that are always there to support people no matter what the circumstances theyre in. They do an amazing job and I wholeheartedly support them.

I often visit the people that run the charitable side of their work and just hear the stories about the people they work with here in Tauranga. They are helping people that are at their lowest point sometimes.

Theyve got serval sites around the city and just making certain that theyve got people here that are encouraging people to donate.

This week is the 60th anniversary of Red Shield New Zealand, the funds gathered are used to support communities. It may be food, clothing, advocacy, or addictions, and the demand just keeps growing and growing, says Ian.

Ian was involved in courts and prisons in Tauranga on behalf of the Salvation Army.

Each day I went to the district court and serve there. I did everything - pay the fine or do the time. It comprised a lot of small activities, but one of them was to provide clothing for prisoners.

People waited to come through in the cold, they were uncomfortable, so I was there to help. I was able to help settle down people that were agitated and didnt know what the future held.

I was involved with the police, lawyers, judges and magistrates across the range.

I helped a guy in addiction services in Hamilton, he went through the three-month living programme there and came back and got a job in a factory.

Im still in touch with him on Facebook, hes married, has two children and hes the supervisor of a factory, Ian says proudly.

The Salvation Army are always really amazing at being able to wrap around people in need and help people in any way that they can, says Jan.

They wrap around people who are at their lowest and give them hope and they dont give up. They walk alongside them and thats whats so amazing about them.

The public is so generous, its a bit overwhelming, says Ian.

Visit the Red Shield Appeal website to donate today at https://helpthesallies.nz/

For more information, visit the Salvation Army website at www.salvationarmy.org.nz.

Contact the Salvation Army:

Phone: (07) 578 4264

Church email: tauranga.corps@salvationarmy.org.nz

Community Ministries Email: tauranga.cm@salvationarmy.org.nz

Instagram: @taurangasalvationarmy

Facebook: www.facebook.com/TaurangaSalvationArmy

Family Store locations:

Tauranga City Family Store

375 Cameron Rd

Tauranga

Phone: (07) 578 4268

Open Monday to Friday 9am-5pm; Saturday: 9am-4pm

Greerton Family Store

157 Chadwick Rd

Greerton

Tauranga

Phone: (07) 571 6286

Open Monday to Friday 9am-4.30pm; Saturday 9am-1pm

Brookfield Family Store

140 Otumoetai Rd

Brookfield

Tauranga

Phone: (07) 576 0546

Open Monday to Friday 9am - 4pm; Saturday 9am-2pm

Mount Maunganui Family Store

268 Maunganui Rd

Mt Maunganui

Tauranga

Phone: (07) 575 6399

Te Puke Family Store

38 Jocelyn St,

Te Puke

Tauranga

Phone: (07) 573 3904

Papamoa Family Store

Fashion Island

Papamoa

Tauranga

Phone: (07) 925 9866

Welfare

Counselling and assistance with food, furniture, clothing, emergency housing, budgeting and whanau support is available from our Tauranga office. Please contact us at:

Tauranga Community Ministries 375 Cameron Rd, Tauranga. Phone: (07) 578 4264 Email: Tauranga Community Ministries

Addictions

There is a Bridge programme in the Tauranga area. This provides a safe, integrated, high-quality treatment service for people whose lives have been affected by the harmful use of, or dependency on, alcohol or drugs. Please contact us at:

Tauranga Bridge 176 Fraser St, Tauranga. Phone: 027 837 4343 Email: Tauranga Bridge

A Recovery Church is available at 51 Fifth Ave, Tauranga, on Fridays at 5.30pm. Contact Laurie Bell

Tauranga Corps 51 Fifth Ave, Tauranga 3110. Phone: (07) 578 4264 Email: Tauranga Recovery Church

Accommodation

We help with emergency accommodation in the Tauranga area. Please contact:

Tauranga Community Ministries 375 Cameron Rd, Tauranga. Phone: (07) 578 4264 Email: Tauranga Community Ministries

Youth & Children

Tauranga Corps runs various programmes for children. There is a Kids Church and various activities held throughout the year. Please contact our office for more details:

Tauranga Corps 51 Fifth Ave, Tauranga 3110. Phone: (07) 578 4264 Email: Tauranga Youth and Children Facebook: Tauranga Childrens Ministries

Courts & Prisons

We do not offer court and prison services in this area. Please contact our Tauranga office to see how we might help you. Please contact us at:

Tauranga Community Ministries 375 Cameron Rd, Tauranga. Phone: (07) 578 4264 Email: Tauranga Community Ministries
The artist spent holidays in the south of Spain, became friends with prominent Andalusians and his artwork is exhibited along the Costa del Sol

Alekk M. Saanders Friday, 10 May 2024, 18:16 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace

WhatsApp

Facebook

X (antes Twitter)

LinkedIn

Telegram

Threads

The world remembers Salvador Dali for his technical mastery, precise drawings and the striking and whimsical imagery of his works. Born 120 years ago this week, on 11 May 1904, in the Catalan town of Figueres, he studied fine art in Madrid, where he met Andalusian poet Federico Garcia Lorca in 1923 and with whom he developed a strong friendship during their student years.

It is believed that Lorca was struck by Dali's unconventional way of dressing, and that the painter was impressed by the successful poet. There were many rumours about their relationship: historians claim that Lorca was in love with Dali, which only caused resentment on the part of the Catalan artist.

In a later interview, Dali denied that their relationship ever turned physical, although he did confirm Lorca's special feelings for him. When the surrealist short film Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog) - a collaboration between Dali and film director Luis Bunuel - was released, Lorca took it personally, though their friendship continued all the way until the poet's assassination in 1936.

In a later interview, Dali denied that their relationship ever turned physical, although he did confirm Lorca's special feelings for him

Salvador Dali also met another Andalusian, Picasso, on his first trip to Paris in 1926. It is thought that Dali revered Picasso and that he strongly influenced some of his later works.

His work on the Costa

Incidentally, Picasso and Dali once 'met' in Mijas - or rather their works did - when the Centre for Contemporary Art (CAC) was established in the famous white village, featuring its Remedios Medina collection with several dozen works by the two artists.

Marbella is another tourist town in Andalucia famous for housing Dali's bronze sculptures on Avenida del Mar, such as Man on Dolphin, Sitting Don Quixote, Nude Woman Climbing Stairs, Space Elephant, Horse with Stumbling Rider, Gala Staring out of a Window, Mercury, Gala Gradiva, and Perseus.

These sculptures, however, have all but caused some controversy. In 1988, the Izquierda Unida party claimed that they were forgeries and had been constructed from bronze moulds made at the Bonvicini foundry in Verona, without Dali's direct involvement. However, the then mayor of Marbella, Jesus Gil, insisted on their authenticity and was prepared to pay out of his own pocket if a panel of experts proved otherwise.

Fewer people know that Puerto Banus is home to one of Dali's sculptures, Rhinoceros Dressed in Lace (1956)

In any case, Dali's sculptures have become an icon and point of attraction for the town. However, fewer people are aware that Marbella is also home to another one of his sculptures in Puerto Banus, entitled Rhinoceros Dressed in Lace (1956). The artwork, based on his film The Prodigious Adventure of the Lacemaker and the Rhinoceros, weighs three tonnes and was donated to the town in 2004 in honour of Dali's birthday.

Honeymoon in Torremolinos

In the spring of 1930, Dali spent his honeymoon with wife Gala in Torremolinos, a place that was thought to be recommended to him by his friend and Malaga surrealist artist Jose Maria Hinojosa. There is even an anecdote that Hinojosa, who came from a wealthy family, promised to buy one of Dali's paintings, the cost of which would surpass his stay in Torremolinos.

However, sources dispute where the couple actually stayed In Torremolinos: according to some, they had a room in the recently opened El Castillo del Ingles hotel, though others state that they rented a house near the beach. This house supposedly had two rooms - a large one that was used as the artist's studio and a small one that served as the bedroom. The house's main feature was its natural terrace, where they dined and hosted the likes of Jose Maria Hinojosa and Emilio Prados, editor of the magazine Litoral.

One of their meetings was devoted to the creation of a new magazine that would be the organ of Spanish surrealism. Yet, the revolutionary character that Dali and Prados wanted to give the magazine undoubtedly frightened Hinojosa, who withdrew his financial support. The project never came to fruition.

Zoom Dali's posters for Eurovision in Madrid. SUR Dali and the Eurovision Song Contest Dali's 120th birthday coincides with the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden. Few people know that Salvador Dali has a connection with the popular event. In 1969, Spain hosted the Eurovision Song Contest for the first time. It was also the first time Spain broadcast the programme live in colour, which forced TVE to invest in the best audiovisual technology. Apparently, to ensure that everything was of the highest standard, Salvador Dali was appointed as the author of all advertising related to the Eurovision Song Contest, including creating a poster to publicise the event. This was strongly criticised by European intellectuals, as the artist, who in his youth had been associated with anarchism and communism, was then collaborating with the dictatorial regime.

Where to celebrate

Some say that the best place to feel Dali's presence in Andalucia is The Dali Cinema located in Dos Hermanas, Seville. The restaurant was created by the Gil Serrano brothers a year and a half ago. They were so inspired by the surrealist painter that they decided to open a restaurant in his honour, with its curious aesthetic, original dishes and chairs, umbrellas, colourful objects and paintings and even hands hanging from the ceiling.
Cristina Vallejo Friday, 10 May 2024, 15:15 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace

WhatsApp

Facebook

X (antes Twitter)

LinkedIn

Telegram

Threads

The latest employment figures for March show Malaga with 103,147 foreign workers. This figure implies two things from a quantitative point of view. Firstly, this total puts Malaga province in seventh place in terms of the number of non-native workers registered for social security contributions, The other six are, in order, Madrid, (almost 570,000 employees born outside Spain), Barcelona (476,000), then Valencia, Alicante, the Balearics and Murcia.

The second indicator of growth is that the volume of foreigners clocking up pensionable years in Malaga today is more than double what was recorded in 2012. That particular year is the base from which the Ministry of Inclusion's statistics are calculated. Back in 2012 there were only 46,382 foreign workers. This means that, in the intervening years, they have increased by 122% to 2.7 million, well above the rate of increase recorded in Spain as a whole - that is, 80%. Malaga is the sixth province to have the highest growth in the number of workers arriving from abroad, behind A Coruna (140%), Huelva (137%), the Balearic Islands (134%), Vizcaya (131%) and Guipuzcoa (129%).

This rate of growth in the number of foreign employees is beating by far the growth rate in the total number of workers for the province. There were just over 501,000 in 2012, but by the end of the first quarter of 2024 it was close to 700,000. By April it had already reached 710,000, representing a growth of around 40%.

Widespread phenomenon

The rise in the number of foreign workers on the books is more than three times higher than the rise in the total number of those paying into the state. This phenomenon is not exclusive to Malaga: "A large part of the growth in employment in recent years has come from foreigners, although in this province the increase has been much higher", says Angel de la Fuente, Executive Director of the Foundation for Applied Economics Studies (Fedea). In Spain as a whole the 80% growth in foreign taxpayers contrasts markedly with the around 25% rise recorded for all those in employment. For Raymond Torres, director in charge of monitoring the economy at think-tank Funcas, this is consistent with the Spanish economic model: growth by means of increasing the general population and adding to the workforce rather than by improving productivity. He also suggests that, if the increase in foreign employment in Malaga is 40 points higher than in the country as a whole, this demographic factor is also a key ingredient in the province's economic boom when compared to the rest of Spain.

"Much of the growth in employment in recent years has come from foreigners, although in this province the increase has been much higher" Angel de la Fuente Fedea

"The Spanish economy grows by adding population and workers - rather than by productivity improvements - and the greater increase in employment in Malaga is coherent with the greater dynamism of this territory compared to the rest of the country" Raymond Torres Funcas

Such figures have also attracted their critics. The UGT trade union secretary for Malaga province, Soledad Ruiz, had this to say: "We cannot congratulate ourselves on these figures because we have more than 130,000 unemployed people in the province and many of them are long-term unemployed. We are not in a situation of full employment, we have unemployed people, and we cannot say that there are no workers to cover the needs of certain sectors, because if they are not trained, they should be re-trained; this is what public services and jobs training are for."

Alberto Montero, lecturer at UMA (University of Malaga), pushes the point that Malaga, Spain and Europe as a whole have a demographic problem that needs to be addressed, although he concedes that some of the unemployed are tough to employ because their skills are not those demanded by today's jobs market. Torres adds that the institutions acting as jobs mediators, such as Inem or Sepe, need an overhaul to become more efficient, but he does not see any substitution effect happening (local workers being substituted by foreign workers). "There is no evidence of this," he says.

From the CCOO's (Comisiones Obreras, another large trade union) stance, Inma Sanchez points out that population growth in the province is down to the arrival of foreigners as the local population is actually decreasing. She points out another phenomenon: the potential working population - those between 16 and 64 years of age - is also proportionally higher among foreigners (69.2%) than among locals (65.4%). This is exacerbated for those aged 25 to 44: 33.5% are foreigners compared to 24.1% of nationals. For this reason, Sanchez believes that the arrival of foreigners brings "added value" to the province in demographic terms, mostly to mitigate the ageing population, but also in terms of employment and the economy and society in general.

"We cannot congratulate ourselves on these figures because we have more than 130,000 unemployed people in the province" Soledad Ruiz UGT

"The arrival of foreigners is an added value for the province in demographic, employment, economic and social terms" Inma Sanchez Comisiones Obreras

Not all provinces of Spain have done as well as Malaga for foreigners paying their social security dues. In fact, their numbers have dropped: Jaen (-55% since 2012, down to 7,833); Cordoba down by 4.3%, to below 10,700; and Ciudad Real, down 3.5%.

From a qualitative point of view, what this dynamic shows in Malaga, which is among the ten provinces with the most foreign workers and with the highest growth in their number in the last 12 years, is the great capacity for this area to attract foreign talent and to offer opportunities to people from other countries. Neither is it restricted to just a few industry sectors, but to all, as highlighted by Angel de la Fuente.

By sector

Still, the most important sector in terms of employment for citizens born outside Spain is the hotel and restaurant industry, with 23,754 employed as of March, a figure that more than doubles that of 2012, when there were just over 11,000. Second in importance is general trade and commerce with more than 15,000 employees, a figure 62% higher than in 2012. The third most important sector is construction, with more than 11,000 foreign workers, three times more than back in 2012. De la Fuente considers it normal that foreign workers are employed in service sectors such as hospitality and business trading, but he has also noticed foreign workers being attracted to other sectors, including the tech industry since the start-up of Malaga city's technology park.

Strangely enough, none of the top three just mentioned features in the list of the sectors where most growth in foreign worker numbers has happened in recent years. That growth has been in two sectors that have a lot to do with the new digital economy. Firstly, transport and storage, i.e. logistics, closely linked to the popularity of e-commerce. The number of foreign workers has more than quadrupled, going from 790 in 2012 to more than 3,400 today. Secondly, the ICT (information and communication technology) sector, also quadrupled to almost 6,000 foreign workers in the province. To these must be added the almost 5,700 foreign employees (almost 140% more than in 2012) who are engaged in professional, scientific and other technical activities.

Only one business activity has seen the presence of foreign workers decrease - domestic service, which has dropped by about 11% in the last twelve years, to less than 350.

"The distribution of foreign workers by sector is proportional to the weight of each activity in total employment and in the provincial GDP" Alberto Montero UMA

Alberto Montero puts it into context by stating that the distribution of foreign workers reflects the economic structure of the province itself: the technology sector is growing a lot, but activities such as retail business, construction and hospitality continue to employ more people overall, both nationals and foreigners.
Juan Soto Marbella Friday, 10 May 2024, 10:06 Opciones para compartir Copiar enlace

WhatsApp

Facebook

X (antes Twitter)

LinkedIn

Telegram

Threads

The wine barrels and the unique essence of El Pimpi have just landed in Marbella. The famous Malaga bodega has extended its reach to the Costa del Sol, where it has just opened its first establishment away from the city. The restaurant has been opened inside the Puente Romano Beach Resort Hotel, in the most Andalusian area of the whole complex.

Although true to its roots, the new bodega is much more chic than the original, with a small bar area for tapas (for the moment only for a few hours a day) and a wide gastronomic offer.

The presentation of the new dining venue, which will officially open today Friday (10 May), took place last night to the rhythm of flamenco, and was attended by the Malaga-born actor/director and partner of the bodega, Antonio Banderas, who was accompanied by his other two business partners: Elena Cobos and Pablo Gonzalo. Banderas himself was in charge of unveiling the barrels in the form of an autograph to wish the new premises luck.

During the launch event for the new restaurant, the main players confirmed that it arose from the mutual and unconditional love of El Pimpi and Puente Romano for Andalucia: for its traditions, for its wonderful people and for everything that makes this region a unique and artistic place in the world. On the other hand, they added the common desire to promote the extraordinary richness of this land and to make it known to as many people as possible.

Zoom Atmosphere during the inauguration of El Pimpi Marbella. Josele

On a gastronomic level, the menu of the new restaurant will be similar to the one offered in Malaga, and it will offer a product, service and tradition on a par with its big brother. "This will be the starting point for its customers to experience the flavour and history of Malaga with the best seal that exists in a unique environment," they said.

The menu includes classics such as Pim-pi prawns (24 euros), fried aubergines with honey (15 euros), an assortment of Andalusian cheeses (30 euros), seafood dishes such as fried anchovies or marinated dogfish (18 euros each) or meats. For the more sybarite, there are tins of Riofrio organic caviar (150 euros).

Love from a young age

During the presentation, Banderas recalled his love affair with El Pimpi since he went there for the first time when he was nine years old, and which has continued until present day. "I used to take my first girlfriend to dinner at El Pimpi; I shot a film there, El Camino de los Ingleses, and I live practically on top of it."

Marbella, a town he loves because his daughter was born there, has a personal appeal to the actor, so much so that in his obligatory signature on the barrel he has written: "El Pimpi Marbella. In Marbella my daughter Stella was born and now this Pimpi 2.0 is born. Full satisfaction."

In this love affair, he assured that El Pimpi did not choose Puente Romano, but rather the other way around, as those in charge of the complex are very demanding when it comes to choosing their companions. "A lot of the best restaurants in the world are concentrated here, but one of the things it lacked was Spanish and Andalusian food," he added.

In reference to their arrival in Marbella, Elena Cobos confessed that destiny has taken them away from their natural home, which is Malaga. "We are all in constant change because life is unstoppable; that is why we are taking advantage of this opportunity offered by this destination to project our Pimpi outside."

Heartbeat of the Andalusian people

Speaking of this new Malaga-Marbella idyll, Daniel Shamoon, co-director of Puente Romano, acknowledged that they have been doing new things for many years, bringing international brands to Marbella, but that they were missing the heartbeat of the Andalusian people. And to achieve all this, El Pimpi "is perfect". Smiling, he said that both establishments are practically the same because they have the same essence. "For me it has been the best decision of all; to bring the Andalusian heart to Puente Romano."

The presentation ceremony was also attended by the mayor of Marbella, Angeles Munoz, who believes that places like this will increase the loyalty of the people who visit the hotel complex. "If there is something that Puente Romano was missing, it was the soul that El Pimpi transmits, a place with a unique raw material."

Bodegas El Pimpi has been a landmark in Malaga city since it opened its doors in August 1971. More than half a century later, the business project started by businessmen and friends Francisco Campos and Pepe Cobos employs more than 200 people.
Cicero, N.Y. -- The Clintons Ditch Co-Operative Co., which has been bottling Pepsi products in Cicero for 56 years, is planning a $41 million expansion it says will create 15 jobs.

The company disclosed its plans Thursday in an application to the Onondaga County Industrial Development Agency for $3.9 million in tax breaks.
By John Annese | New York Daily News

New York  The New York State prison system continues to send inmates with mental illness disabilities to solitary confinement, despite a 2022 state law banning them from doing so, according to a new class action lawsuit.

The suit, filed in Brooklyn Supreme Court, is accusing the state of placing inmates with myriad physical and mental disabilities in solitary, often keeping them in their cells for 22 to 24 hours a day.

That violates the 2022 HALT act, which prohibits the use of solitary for people with disabilities for any amount of time. But according to the lawsuit, the state prison system and Office of Mental Health are using their own definition of what constitutes a disability to skirt the law.

DOCCS and OMH have unlawfully refused to recognize a number of disabilities as exempt under HALT, leading to even more incarcerated New Yorkers languishing in solitary confinement to their own detriment, Legal Aids Stefen Short said Wednesday.

Legal Aid, Disability Rights Advocates, and Winston & Strawn LLP filed the suit Wednesday.

One inmate, Stephanie Pena, spent a total of 70 days in the segregated housing unit, or SHU, at Albion Correctional Facility spread out over several occasions, despite her PTSD and antisocial personality disorder, according to the suit. In one instance, she was sent to the SHU on allegations she resisted being forcibly taken from her cell during a suicide attempt, the suit alleges.

Pena says in the suit that solitary confinement is destroying her, and has caused drastic mood swings, flashbacks and nightmares.

Another detainee, Maurice Anthony, who is legally blind, has been held in a diversion unit at Wende Correctional Facility since January, alone in a cell for about 20 hours a day, according to the lawsuit. Anthony has described the experience like being in a trunk or a casket where you cant get out, according to the suit.

A spokesman for the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision declined to comment on the suit, saying that the agency doesnt comment on pending litigation. Agency officials said that Acting Commissioner Daniel F. Martuscello III has several policy changes since taking the job last June to better follow the HALT act, including a closer review of whether inmates sent to the SHU should be there.

_____

2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com
By Michael Gartland, Chris Sommerfeldt | New York Daily News

The city is continuing to do business with DocGo, inking four new contracts with the controversial migrant service provider since late last year even as the company remains under fire over issues related to the local migrant crisis, according to a Daily News review of procurement records.

DocGo, which has so far received tens of millions of dollars to help house and provide services for newly arrived migrants, became the subject of a state attorney generals probe last August after it was accused of lying to migrants, threatening them and wasting an inordinate amount of food.

On April 9, Adams administration officials said the city was winding down its relationship with DocGo, pointing in particular to a decision by the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development to not renew a $432 million contract the firm was awarded last year to staff emergency migrant housing facilities.

In a statement at the time, Camille Joseph Varlack, Mayor Adams chief of staff, said the move will ultimately allow the city to save more money and will allow others, including non-profits and internationally recognized resettlement providers, to apply to do this critical work.

But days before Varlacks comments, the board of the citys Health + Hospitals network had voted to enter into two new 12-month contracts with DocGo and several other providers worth as much as $403 million, records reviewed by The News show.

A third deal, this one for $40.9 million, between DocGo and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development was recently submitted for review by the city comptrollers office.

Those previously unreported deals came on top of a $176.8 million 12-month contract H + H awarded DocGo and four providers in late December to perform migrant case management services.

The four contracts are jointly worth more than $620 million, and require DocGo and the partner providers to perform a variety of services, ranging from medical to custodial.

The three new H + H contracts, which make up the lions share of the new spending, dont make clear how much of the money will go to DocGo versus the other providers, and hospital network officials said in a March 28 board meeting thats determined by how much work each vendor performs.

DocGos latest earnings report says the company expects to generate between $320 million and $350 million in revenue this year from contracts with H + H and the Housing Preservation and Development agency.

In a statement to The News, a DocGo rep said the company considers itself an ongoing partner with continuing city contracts. H + Hs relationship with DocGo dates back to the COVID-19 pandemic, when it paid the company to help the city distribute vaccines.

DocGo, responding to allegations over the migrant contract, has said its cooperating in the AG investigation and operates in compliance with applicable law.

An Adams spokesman said Wednesday the new DocGo deals dont suggest a departure from our policy shift made public in early April that the city will not be renewing a separate $432 million contract with DocGo.

One of the two most recent contracts pertain to site administration staffing services at the citys Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Centers, mega shelters overseen by the hospital system that house tens of thousands of migrants. That contract is worth $192 million, and Chris Keeley, an assistant H + H vice president, said during the March board meeting that DocGo and three other partner providers were picked for it out of a pool of 18 bidders.

The other most recent contract is worth as much as $211.3 million, and involves DocGo and three other providers who will provide medical services for migrants. DocGo and the others were picked for that deal out of a pool of 21 bidders, Keeley said.

Both of those contracts, which were approved by the H + H board at the March meeting, can be extended for another year on top of the 12-month terms at the discretion of the hospital network.

Manhattan Councilwoman Gale Brewer, a Democrat who chairs the Councils Oversight Committee, said she doesnt understand why the city would continue working with DocGo, especially given Varlacks April statement about switching to nonprofit procurement models.

I am very surprised that out of 18 proposals in one case and 21 proposals in the other case that there werent both less expensive and higher quality candidates than DocGo, Brewer said, noting she has long voiced concern about the quality of DocGos food and case management services. To me, this is a company that hasnt performed very well so why are we rewarding them? They have shown us that they should not be rewarded. I am pretty surprised by all this to put it mildly.

The third contract totaling $40.9 million between DocGo and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development was sent to City Comptroller Brad Landers office for approval on April 22, a memo obtained by The News shows.

That emergency, no-bid contract is for managing a migrant shelter in Long Island City, Queens and specifically involves incidental transportation, food, laundry and translation work services.

A source with direct knowledge of the matter noted the contract was originally sent to Landers office for approval on March 18, but it was returned to HPD due to incomplete paperwork. The hospital system sent the updated paperwork on April 22.

According to Landers office, which serves as the citys fiscal watchdog, the contract began several months earlier in September 2023, though.

Under city procurement rules, the administration is required to give the comptroller notice of an emergency contract within 15 days of it being entered into. In this case, notice of the emergency contract didnt come to Lander until several months after the fact.

Lander spokeswoman Chloe Chik said her boss has no intention of allowing the contract to be renewed once its term expires in September because of DocGos track record of shoddy service to asylum seekers in their care. She also slammed HPDs incredibly delayed submission of the contract.

The Law Department, which is also required to approve such contracts, signed off on the HPD contract just this past Monday, documents obtained by The News show.

Adams spokesman William Fowler said DocGo was running the Queens shelter site at risk of not being paid prior to a contract being ironed out and that the deal is, in part, to pay for services retroactively.

He added that once the contracts term expires in September, the migrant shelter will transition out of DocGos hands and that the citys planning to put out a request for bids and will select a contractor based on those submissions.

2024 New York Daily News. Visit nydailynews.com
Cornell University President Martha E. Pollack is retiring after more than seven years at the Central New York school, she announced Thursday.

Serving as the president of Cornell has been an amazing privilege; there are few roles that afford so much opportunity to make a positive difference in the world, Pollack said. After seven fruitful and gratifying years as Cornells president  capping a career in research and academia spanning five decades  Im ready for a new chapter in my life. I greatly appreciate the continued support of our Board of Trustees and the many faculty, students, staff and alumni who have shared words of encouragement through my time as president, especially over the past academic year.
NEW YORK (AP)  A Maine man who admitted trying to kill three police officers with a machete in a terrorist attack near New Yorks Times Square on New Years Eve 16 months ago was sentenced to 27 years in prison on Thursday in a courtroom packed with officers.

The sentencing of Trevor Bickford in Manhattan federal court came after Judge P. Kevin Castel listened to emotional statements from the three police officers who Bickford attacked about two hours before midnight on Dec. 31, 2022, as the officers screened New Years revelers at the sole entrance to an otherwise closed-off Times Square.

Bickford shouted Allahu akbar  the Arabic phrase for God is great  before striking the officers in the head with the machete and trying to grab an officers gun. One officer suffered a fractured skull.
Thank you for reading!

Please purchase a subscription to read our premium content. If you have a subscription, please log in or sign up for an account on our website to continue.
The big picture: Laptop memory was once easily upgradable, but the advent of soldered-down DIMMs in recent years has made RAM upgrades almost impossible in modern notebooks. That, however, is set to change with the arrival of LPCAMM2, which promises to make laptop memory upgradable once again.

Right-to-repair advocates and DIY enthusiasts are hailing the new technology as a step in the right direction. Popular how-to-repair website and spare parts seller, iFixit, has unsurprisingly praised LPCAMM2, calling it a "big deal" that will help consumers future-proof their notebooks without overpaying. In a blog post celebrating the new memory standard, the company said it will enable consumers to purchase laptops based on their current needs and then install more RAM in the future if necessary.

According to iFixit, traditional LPDDR modules are often soldered directly to the motherboard to preserve signal integrity between the CPU and memory. This is largely because the low voltages at which these chips operate demand shorter track distances on the circuit board to work without signal degradation. LPCAMM2 addresses this issue by putting LPDDR onto a circuit board module designed to be mounted right next to the CPU with "very short traces to help maximize signal integrity."

As demonstrated by iFixit, LPCAMM2 modules in an upcoming Lenovo laptop can be easily replaced by simply removing a cover, loosening three screws, and pulling them straight up. Once the older module is removed, users can install a new one, replace the cover, and then tighten the screws to hold it securely in place. The process is almost as easy as replacing RAM sticks in a standard desktop tower and should make laptops much more upgradable  and sustainable  in the future.

Micron announced its first LPCAMM2 modules at CES 2024 in January, a month after JEDEC published the CAMM2 standard. Following the announcement, Lenovo appears set to ship the first laptops with the new technology. The company is expected to launch the ThinkPad P1 Gen 7 "AI PC" with up to 64 GB of LPDDR5x LPCAMM2 memory later this month.

According to Lenovo, the new memory technology consumes up to 61 percent less power and has a 64 percent smaller footprint compared to traditional DDR5 SODIMM, giving OEMs yet another reason to embrace it with open arms.

That being said, replaceable memory might make it difficult for companies to upsell customers on higher-end models at inflated prices, so it will be interesting to see how they react to this change.
Rumor mill: It's only been a few days since Nintendo finally confirmed a successor to the Switch would arrive sometime before April 2025. Now, leaks could have revealed what specs the next-gen handset will be packing, as well as a potential launch window.

Users on the Famiboards forum who have been tracking customers and shipping data say information on Switch 2 shipments from March has now been made publicly available.

According to a user called LiC, the Switch will feature 12GB of RAM, made up of two 6GB modules running at 7,500 MT/s. It's unclear whether this is LPDDR5 or LPDDR5X memory. If true, that's a big step up from the current Switch. The aging handheld packs 4GB of LPDDR4 RAM offering 3,200 MT/s.

It's also stated that the Switch 2 will feature 256GB of UFS 3.1 internal storage. The original Switch comes with just 32GB, a portion of which is reserved for use by the system, leaving 25.9GB, though users can buy microSD cards to expand this. It can reach a peak of 300 MB/s, while UFS 3.1 is capable of sequential read speeds of up to 2,100 MB/s, close to the 2.4 GB/s read speed of the Xbox Series X and S consoles.

A leak from earlier this year claimed the Switch 2 will continue using an Nvidia chip rather than jumping ship to AMD. Long-time rumors point to an Nvidia T239, a customized version of the current T234, powering the next-gen handheld. The current version uses Nvidia's Tegra X1 and, later, the X1+ SoC.

The Switch 2 is also said to introduce a new cartridge format, though the console should be compatible with original Switch cartridges. The new console's dock is expected to support 4K resolution output via USB-C, and there could even be DLSS support.

Nintendo Shuntaro Furukawa this week confirmed that the long-awaited Switch successor will be here sometime during its current fiscal year, which ends on March 31, 2025. Furukawa added that there will be no mention of the console at the Nintendo Direct event being held in June.

New Switch 2 leaks, via Brazilian tvPH. This is the same person that originally correctly leaked the internal delay of the console to next year.



- Switch 2 planned to release on March 2025.

- Expecting more information about the console in fall.

- More remasters will be revealed  Centro LEAKS (@CentroLeaks) May 7, 2024

It was expected that Nintendo would wait until March 2025 to release the Switch 2 as that would line up with the original Switch's March 3, 2017, launch date. Other leakers have backed up this claim, as well as the belief that Nintendo will make an official announcement/reveal sometime this fall.

These are all rumors and claims that should be taken with a pinch of salt, of course. Expect some more solid details to arrive later this year.
NASA has released new images that shed light on the eating habits of supermassive black holes, drawing on data from the retired Spitzer Space Telescope to provide fresh insights into the behavior of these cosmic behemoths.

Spitzer Offers Clues into the Eating Habits of Black Holes

The images captured by NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope reveal streams of dust extending thousands of light-years toward the supermassive black hole at the center of the Andromeda galaxy.



These streams offer clues about how these colossal black holes, which are billions of times more massive than our Sun, consume matter in a manner that keeps their luminosity relatively stable.



NASA explains that as these supermassive black holes ingest gas and dust, the material becomes heated just before it is pulled into the black hole's gravitational grasp.



This process generates intense emissions of light, often brighter than a galaxy brimming with stars. The variability in brightness of these black holes is influenced by how the material is consumed, particularly if it is in clumps of varying sizes.



In contrast to other supermassive black holes that exhibit significant fluctuations in brightness, the black holes at the hearts of our Milky Way galaxy and the neighboring Andromeda galaxy are notably subdued in their luminosity.



This suggests they consume their cosmic meals in a steady, controlled manner rather than in sporadic, large clumps.





Andromeda's Supermassive Black Hole Eating Habits

A recent study published earlier this year delved into the behavior of Andromeda's supermassive black hole, applying the hypothesis that a quiet black hole sustains itself on a steady stream of gas.



Through computer simulations, researchers modeled the behavior of gas and dust near Andromeda's black hole over extended periods.





The simulations revealed the formation of a compact disk of hot gas in close proximity to the black hole, continuously feeding it. This disk is sustained by multiple streams of gas and dust, according to NASA.



However, the study also highlighted the importance of these streams maintaining a specific size and flow rate. If the streams were to deliver matter irregularly in larger clumps, it would result in more pronounced fluctuations in brightness.



By analyzing archival data from Spitzer and NASA's Hubble Space Telescope, researchers compared their simulation findings with observations of spirals of dust spotted by Spitzer around the Andromeda galaxy.



This comparison led the researchers to conclude that these spirals are actively feeding the supermassive black hole at the galaxy's core.



The utilization of archival data from Spitzer underscores the value of reexamining existing datasets to glean new insights, aligning with the latest computational models in astrophysics.



Almudena Prieto, an astrophysicist at the Institute of Astrophysics of the Canary Islands and the University Observatory Munich, emphasized the significance of this approach, noting that data collected two decades ago can reveal previously unrecognized details when reevaluated.



"This is a great example of scientists reexamining archival data to reveal more about galaxy dynamics by comparing it to the latest computer simulations," Prieto said in an official statement.



"We have 20-year-old data telling us things we didn't recognize in it when we first collected it."
Dell announced Thursday that it suffered a data breach affecting customers' names and addresses. According to a report from TechCrunch, Dell also warned consumers about an issue with a Dell portal that contains a database of restricted purchase information.

The data breach included customer names, addresses, Dell hardware, and order details like service tags, item descriptions, purchase dates, and warranty information. Dell did not say if the incident was due to foreign hostile activity or internal negligence.



Dell told users that the hacked data did not include email addresses, phone numbers, financial information, or other sensitive information, limiting customer risk.

Dell Downplays Data Breach

The tech firm acknowledged the compromise but said, "We believe there is not a significant risk to our customers given the type of information involved."



TechCrunch reported that Dell provided a standard version of the email issued to affected customers when asked about the data breach. An unnamed Dell spokesman declined to comment due to an ongoing inquiry.



The Daily Dark Web revealed an advertisement on a hacker forum earlier in April providing Dell system customer data from 2017 to 2024.

According to Dell's statement, the collection had 49 million individual records. Despite questions about the forum post, Dell's spokesman did not confirm or dispute the hacker's assertions.



On April 28, Daily Dark Web reported that Menelik tried to sell a Dell database on Breach Forums. The threat actor claimed the database contains "49 million customer and other information systems purchased from Dell between 2017 and 2024."



According to BleepingComputer, the data matches Dell's data breach notice.

However, it has not been verified, and the withdrawal of this post from Breach Forums suggests that another threat actor may have obtained the database.

Read also:

Users Urged to Stay Vigilant Over Cyberthreats

Despite Dell's assertion that the type of information involved poses "no significant risk" to its customers, targeted attacks on Dell customers might use the stolen data.

The leaked information does not include email addresses. Still, threat actors might use it for phishing attempts via physical mailings with malicious URLs or media (e.g., DVDs or thumb drives) to install malware on recipients' machines.

Distribution of altered hardware wallets or presents containing malware-laden USB sticks may seem unlikely, yet threat actors have used similar approaches.

Once the database is no longer for sale, threat actors may use it for malicious purposes.

In light of this Dell cyberattack, users should be wary of Dell-related letters and emails, especially those asking them to download software, change passwords, or engage in dangerous activities.

According to The Register, Dell's last such issue occurred in 2018, when unknown hackers broke into its network and reset customer passwords.

The FCC added telecommunications and voice-over-IP services to its data loss reporting requirements this year.

In support of the Cyber Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act of 2022 (CIRCIA), the US government's CISA regulation may force more firms to disclose data intrusions to the government within 72 hours.
Vietnamese technology firm Viettel High Tech announced on Thursday that it has signed its second partner contract to sell its private 5G solution in India  this one with United Telecoms Limited (UTL).

Under the contract, Viettel High Tech will deliver its 5GP (5G Private) solution  which incorporates 5G NR RANs, 100G transmission network, and 5GC core network  to UTL within three months.

UTL will market the 5GP solution in India and the more than 60 countries and territories where it currently operates. No financial details were disclosed.

The Viettel-UTL contract was signed during this week's Defence Services Asia (DSA) 2024 and National Security (NATSEC) Asia 2024 event in Kuala Lumpur.

Viettel High Tech said the deal will enable it to tap into new customer segments in India, particularly government clients, as UTL is a major communications supplier for the Indian government.

The deal also enables UTL to target Indias fledgling private 5G market, said UTL Group chairman Dr. Raja Mohan Rao Potluri.

There is immense demand for 5G private solutions in the Indian market, and we are committed to maintaining our leading position by delivering value to customers with Viettel's comprehensive 5G connectivity solution, he said in a statement.

The UTL deal follows Viettel High Techs agreement in December 2023 to partner with Indian network and engineering services provider QuadGen Wireless Solutions to manufacture and sell its private 5G technology in India.

Private 5G has been touted in the Indian telecoms sector as a potential additional revenue driver for 5G services, though lack of spectrum remains an issue. Under a ruling by the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) last year, enterprises who want to deploy private 5G networks cannot get their own spectrum licence  they must either lease the spectrum from a telco or pay the telco to provide private 5G services.

However, telcos dont yet have the mmWave spectrum needed to offer private 5G. The next spectrum auction is scheduled for June 6, just after Indias general elections. The auction will offer up spectrum in the 800 MHz, 900 MHz, 1800 MHz, 2100 MHz, 2300 MHz, 2500 MHz, 3300 MHz and 26 GHz bands.

Earlier this week, the DoT confirmed that Reliance Jio Infocomm, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have all submitted applications to bid for the spectrum.
A bill imposing further restrictions on US artificial intelligence models has been unveiled by a group of lawmakers late Wednesday.

The bill could impose export controls on AI models and restrict the developers behind them to protect US tech in the name of national security.

The bill's sponsors are House Republicans Michael McCaul, John Molenaar, Max Wise, and Democrat Raja Krishnamoorthi.

It would also explicitly grant the Commerce Department the power to forbid Americans from collaborating with foreign parties to create AI systems that endanger American national security.





The law aims to ensure that any future AI export laws will be immune to court challenges. Concerns are growing that adversaries of the United States may use the models to mine enormous volumes of text and image data to produce content and summarize information, launch aggressive cyberattacks, or maybe develop very effective biological weapons.

The Commerce Department, which is in charge of U.S. export policy, finds it far more challenging to control the export of freely downloadable open-source AI models under current US law.

If enacted, the legislation would grant the Commerce Department explicit authority to control AI systems and eliminate barriers to regulating the export of open-source AI found under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.

Read Also: Google Bans AI Deepfake Porn Creator Ads Under Explicit Advertisements Restrictions

US Plans on AI Restrictions Against China, Russia

The announcement follows reports that state the Biden Administration was considering prohibiting the Republic's access to US artificial intelligence models and software.

Three sources with knowledge of the matter claim that the Commerce Department is considering launching a new regulatory initiative to restrict the export of proprietary or closed-source AI models, whose software and training data are kept under wraps.

According to the Chinese Embassy, China vehemently disagrees with the action and would take the necessary measures to safeguard its interests. It denounced the action as a quintessential example of economic coercion and unilateral intimidation.

Right now, nothing is stopping US AI giants like Anthropic, Google DeepMind, and Microsoft-backed OpenAI from developing some of the most powerful closed-source AI models and offering them for sale to almost anybody globally without government interference.

China's AI Industry

Chinese official media cited the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, a top research lab, in March when they said that the main obstacle to China's AI progress was the fact that most domestic AI models were constructed using Meta's Llama models.

In late March, China's industrial leaders acknowledged that It was lagging behind the US in the battle for generative artificial intelligence and demanded that more focus be placed on new research, both in hardware and software.

During a generative AI panel discussion at the Boao Forum for Asia in Hainan province, Liu Cong, the vice president of the Chinese AI company iFlytek, acknowledged that China believes it is falling behind other world leaders.

(Photo: Tech Times)
There is a new leak from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) centering on an official who allegedly sent out an email that asks for warrantless spying on Americans, urging employees to find ways to do so.

It was allegedly sent to FBI employees last April 20 by FBI Deputy Director Paul Abbate, telling employees to continue and uphold the "mission."

Additionally, this was the same day that President Joe Biden signed a criticized bill expanding warrantless surveillance under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

FBI Leak: Warrantless Spying on Americans Email Exposed

In the recent leak, the FBI is now urging its employees to find more ways to conduct warrantless spying on Americans, and the email (obtained by Wired) claims that it is their mission and that there is a need to use it.

This email was sent on the day the President signed the bill expanding warrantless surveillance in the country under FISA's Section 702.

With this FISA reauthorization, there is a new pre-approval provision under Section 702, allowing the searches without asking for approval.

However, it is reserved only for when facing life-threatening situations as a way to prevent it, and this includes physical harm or death provisions.

FBI Deputy Director Wants Employees to Find Ways

In the email, Abbate wrote that he wants FBI employees to find ways to demonstrate the proper use of its tools and comply with legal requirements.

"I urge everyone to continue to look for ways to appropriately use US person queries to advance the mission, with the added confidence that this new pre-approval requirement will help ensure that those queries are fully compliant with the law," Paul Abbate, FBI Deputy Director, said via email.

Controversial US Spying and Surveillance

This is not the first time that the US has been caught in massive public surveillance and warrantless spying on its people, particularly with several whistleblower cases from before.

It includes the case of the NSA analyst who blew the whistle, Edward Snowden, who previously revealed what was asked of them, claiming that private communications were also tapped.

In 2022, it was reported that the FBI also conducted as many as two million warrantless searches of Americans' data under the 1978 FISA.

The main provision of this act is to prevent foreign intelligence and threats by monitoring US domestic data from millions of its citizens. The FBI previously discovered as many as 1.9 million queries connected to cyber threats from Russia.

While the Senate has previously urged the bill behind the Foreign Adversary Controlled Applications law necessary to protect US data, lawmakers also recently moved forward in this reauthorization of FISA.

Section 702 grants warrantless searches for American data in the country, with agencies like the FBI leaked to uphold this mission.
Microsoft has started rolling out a new update for Windows Insider testers, adding useful functionality to Windows 11's Snipping Tool.

The Snipping Tool now detects QR codes, making it easier to access screenshot links. Automatic QR code identification and clickable links appear in the text actions part of the canvas.

Windows 11 Snipping Tool Updates: Here's What to Know

According to The Verge, the Windows 11 Snipping Tool update adds emoji and QR code capabilities. Microsoft's 3D emoji may also be added to screenshots using the shapes toolbar. These emojis may be scaled and positioned to improve screenshots.

Microsoft also added shape fill and outline color opacity to the Shapes toolbar. Users can activate or disable the ruler tool by pressing CTRL + R, which helps measure.

Snipping Tool and Paint updates begin rolling out to Windows Insiders in the Canary and Dev Channels. Read the blog post from @dgrochocki for all the details. These are some fun updates! https://t.co/mm6BvrlnwS ^BLB  Windows Insider Program (@windowsinsider) May 9, 2024

In this Windows 11 Snipping Tool upgrade, Microsoft renamed AI-powered Pain Cocreater to Image Creator. This feature allows users to produce graphics from text prompts easily.

This Snipping Tool update follows Microsoft's recent announcement of adding prompt-writing capabilities to Microsoft 365 Copilot's generative AI technology to improve user experiences, as TechTimes previously reported.



The upgraded Microsoft 365 Copilot, a subscription service with AI assistants in Office products, will have an auto-complete tool to propose quick changes.

The update features a new AI-powered tool allowing users to improve prompt information as they write, possibly improving content or searches. Typing "summarize" may propose summarizing the user's previous ten unopened emails or office chores.

Microsoft also adds an "elaborate your prompt" option to Copilot for Microsoft 365, allowing users to customize file operation prompts.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 also offers a "Catch Up" chat interface to provide information and insights for meeting preparation.

Microsoft and LinkedIn introduced these new capabilities as part of their annual Work Trend Index, which evaluates workplace AI use. Business AI utilization was assessed using LinkedIn recruiting trends and Microsoft 365 data from 31,000 respondents in 31 countries.

Microsoft found that 75% of workers use AI, with 78% using their tools rather than corporate ones. LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky emphasized the revolutionary influence of AI on work and the importance of adaptability and skill-building to drive competitiveness and create efficient, engaged, and egalitarian teams.

Biden Lauds Microsoft's AI Investment

In a separate development, US President Joe Biden visited Wisconsin on Wednesday for the launch of Microsoft's $3.3 billion investment in an AI data center, per NBC News.

Former President Donald Trump championed a $10 billion Foxconn factory as a cornerstone of the U.S. tech industry recovery, but the data center project will replace it. Despite lofty ambitions, the Foxconn facility never materialized.

Biden promoted his administration's infrastructure, clean energy, and private-sector investment plans. He described Microsoft's AI data center investment as a transformational infrastructure enhancement providing citizens with high-paying employment and vocational training.
After the latest interview with Jack Dorsey, he made it clear why he left Bluesky, the social media platform that he founded. He said that he fears it is repeating the mistakes Twitter made.

It is known that Dorsey left Twitter because he did not approve of the centralized internet. Bluesky is the decentralized spinoff of what Twitter could have been if he had not stepped down.

That said, Dorsey has left two social media platforms he created, X, formerly known as Twitter, and Bluesky, and is now recommending another alternative called Nostr.

Jack Dorsey Fears Bluesky is Repeating Twitter's Mistake

Dorsey revealed that several events took place in Bluesky which were the reason he left the company, sharing this with Mike Solana of Founders Fund in his latest interview.

This interview divulged a lot from Dorsey's standpoint that led to his leaving Bluesky, with several massive reasons that led to his departure and the taking down of his account.

Among those that Dorsey pointed out was Bluesky becoming a corporate entity, and according to Engadget, the company became independent with its board, stocks, and other vestiges.

The original plan was for Twitter to use Bluesky's open-source protocol, but this did not happen, so the new social media platform was created.

However, it also did not go as planned.

Another key reason for Dorsey was the content moderation on Bluesky, something unprecedented from his plans, which changed its landscape, and it was known for its previous bans.

"This is literally repeating all the mistakes we made as a company," said Dorsey.

Dorsey Recommends Nostr as an Alternative

Dorsey initially claimed that Bluesky was the platform he hoped for, a social media that is not Twitter and gave people an alternative to his former platform's mistake.

That being said, the Twitter and Bluesky founder noted that while Nostr is "weird and hard to use," it is a platform that offers a decentralized experience, with him backing it financially.

Jack Dorsey's Social Media Platforms

One could never have too many social media platforms if you were Jack Dorsey (or Meta's Mark Zuckerberg), known for creating these experiences for the world as part of the great internet.

In 2021, it is known that Dorsey stepped down from his role as Twitter's CEO and handed it over to Parag Agrawal, and in the following year, he also exited the Twitter board.

It is known that Dorsey took Bluesky with him as a public benefit corporation in 2022 when he exited the board, looking to bring a new kind of social media for all.

The renowned tech executive has previously expressed that he misses the good old days of a decentralized internet, which previously focused on the Usenet and IRC protocols.

The open-source protocol known as Bluesky evolved into a corporate entity that Dorsey wants to avoid getting entangled with again.

Moreover, content moderation was also something Dorsey frowned upon with Bluesky, now going on the path of making Twitter's mistakes, changing what the founder had in mind for a new social media for the public to enjoy.
Ascension Health has disclosed that after detecting "unusual activity," that affected its clinical operations, the company contacted Mandiant, a cybersecurity firm, to investigate the cyberattack.

According to Ascension Health's official statement, the organization has processes in place to guarantee that patient care delivery remains safe and is affected as little as possible, and care staff are trained for precisely these kinds of disruptions.





The healthcare provider attested that the company's clinical activities have been interrupted and that it is still evaluating the extent and consequences of the disruption.

The nonprofit health system based in St. Louis, Ascension, is reportedly urging its business partners to cut off online connections to its system after a cyberattack on Wednesday disrupted its computer network and affected clinical operations on Thursday morning. Ascension hospitals are located in Michigan and across the United States.

Read Also: Medical Tech Company LivaNova Reports Cyberattack Compromising US Patients Data

Ascension Disruption

According to three employees who want to remain anonymous for fear of losing their jobs, workers became aware of the computer network issues at about seven a.m. on Wednesday.

A physician in Ascension, Michigan, asserted that since the shutdown, they have been unable to obtain lab work, radiology or X-rays, medical records, or order placement.

On Wednesday night, a nurse informed reporters that Ascension hospitals continued to receive patients who needed life-saving care and were medically fragile via ambulance.

However, the computer network breakdown diverted more stable individuals who could be sent to other neighboring hospitals for treatment.

In a statement, Ascension pledged to abide by all applicable legal and regulatory obligations as well as to assist and advise anyone who could have been harmed by the disclosure of private information.

Cyberattacks on Healthcare

According to CBS, ransomware attacks have increased in frequency among US healthcare workers in recent years. Since February 1st, there have been 105 ransomware attacks worldwide, 77 of which have targeted the US healthcare industry, according to threat intelligence firm Cyble.

The disruptions on Ascension Health follow just a few days after Andrew Witty, the CEO of UnitedHealth, said before a Senate committee that following an earlier this year attack on one of the health insurance provider's subsidiaries, the business paid $22 million to the ransom hacker group Blackcat.

During a lengthy legislative hearing, Witty told senators that the company did not find out how many patients and medical staff were impacted by the February cyberattack on Change Healthcare.

Witty independently confirmed on Wednesday that UnitedHealth had paid BlackCat a $22 million Bitcoin ransom, based on prepared testimony provided before the court. Legislators revealed on Wednesday that some patient data remained compromised and accessible on the dark web even after the ransom was paid.

The primary focus of the discussion was how fraudulent actors gained entry to Change Healthcare, an alternative UnitedHealth subsidiary that the company acquired in October 2022.

Related Article: MedStar Health Suffers Cyber Breach, Data of 184,000 Patients Compromised
Google CEO Sundar Pichai proves to be blaming the company's overapplication of accommodating a global user base regarding Gemini AI's recent image-generation issue of being reluctant to create images of white people and recreating historical figures with erroneous genders and ethnicities.

According to a reported interview released on Wednesday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai stated that "we got it wrong" and that it was an instance of well-intentioned mistakes being made.

According to Pichai, Google is attempting to serve a worldwide user base by responding to common queries from individuals all around the world, such as "Show me images of school teachers or doctors."





Pichai stated that the company's overapplication, including in situations where it never should have applied, was undoubtedly the error, pointing out that this was the flaw.

The image-generation issue has not yet been resolved, but Gemini anticipates returning the capability shortly. In February, the CEO of Google DeepMind stated that the image generator would be back in a few weeks. Google did not share any information regarding the date of the functionality.

Some criticism has previously been directed at the Gemini chatbot. Gemini has declared that it will not support fossil fuels or meat. Additionally, users on X have reported that the chatbot often adds the word "diverse" to comments that do not warrant it.

Gemini AI's Rumoured Upgrades

There are still rumors circulating online regarding Google's Gemini's upcoming update. Just recently, Piunikaweb received an update in late April that improved response speeds, according to renowned code hunter AssembleDebug.

By using the "Real-time Responses" option, clients can watch Gemini's responses to their questions being generated in real-time rather than receiving the entire answer all at once.

The "Real-time Responses" feature in the Gemini settings menu will display the assistant's output in real-time. Gemini currently answers user questions instantly after receiving them.

However, Gemini has a sweet little animation on the internet that shows how it writes the responses in real-time, suggesting that the app may soon include this feature. Nevertheless, it is only ornamental and has no practical benefits.

Conversations using Gemini may feel more informal and natural since users won't have to wait for the full response before seeing any output. Instead, clients can observe as the helper dissects their query and constructs the solution.

Gemini AI in Coding

Google is currently making several efforts to advance Gemini AI. With an emphasis on the Jellyfish version of Android Studio, the development environment of Android Studio now incorporates Gemini AI; Google is extending the availability of Gemini to over 180 countries.

Like Studio Bot, the newly introduced Gemini bot is accessible from within the IDE and allows developers to request assistance with coding.

According to Google, developers could expect improvements in response quality in several coding areas, including code completion and documentation development.

(Photo: Tech Times)
California's latest efforts to employ artificial intelligence in governmental services prove to be a move against traffic jams, tax guidance, and safer roads. The new agreements were made public by the state on Thursday as part of Governor Gavin Newsom's AI initiatives.

According to administration officials, the state is working with five businesses to develop generative AI tools utilizing technology funded by internet giants like OpenAI, Amazon, Google, and Anthropic. Ultimately, this will help the state offer better services to the general population.

The companies will begin an internal six-month trial in which state employees will test and assess the products. In exchange for their proposals, each company will receive $1.





Then, with a large budget deficit, the state can evaluate which tools could be completely adopted under new contracts. According to an administration spokesman, every instrument is considered low-risk because it does not deal with private or sensitive data.

The Democrat Newsom highlights California as a global center for AI, pointing out that 35 of the top 50 AI companies worldwide are based there.

Attempting to establish California as a leader in artificial intelligence, he signed an executive order last year mandating the state to investigate ethical applications of generative AI by this summer.

The state began requesting that tech businesses develop generative AI solutions for public services in January. Among the first states to release recommendations last month regarding the procurement of such instruments by state agencies, California was one of the following.

AI in Several States

State authorities and experts stated that while generative AI, a subset of AI that can produce new content like text, audio, and images, has great promise for improving government agency efficiency, there is also an urgent need for controls and supervision to reduce hazards.

An AI-powered chatbot that New York City developed to assist small businesses was discovered to provide misleading advice and encourage firms to break the law. The swift advancement of technology has also sparked worries about bias in automation, misinformation, privacy, and job loss.

Many state governments are investigating how public agencies may use the potent technology for the public good, even as they struggle to regulate artificial intelligence in the commercial sector.

According to officials, building public trust is the goal of California's approach, which also mandates that businesses reveal which major language models they employ to create AI products.

AI-Powered California Elementary

Public services, in general, within California, continue to employ artificial intelligence in various aspects. Just this mid-April, an elementary school in San Diego, California, used AI to create personalized chatbots that boost student curiosity by giving prompt answers to the various questions asked by students.

The AI tool is similar to providing personalized digital support to each student. These kids get quick answers to their inquiries, further piques their curiosity and encourages them to ask more.

Ken Shelton of Elevate Education helps school districts create innovative artificial intelligence techniques. He claims that AI bots' main advantage is encouraging students to start asking questions.

Because each student gets a personal chatbot to ask questions, their education is customized just for them, and they refine their analytical skills.
A new bill mandates the prohibition of cell phone use while driving, aligning the state with neighboring jurisdictions and addressing the pervasive issue of distracted driving. Pennsylvania will implement stringent measures aimed at enhancing road safety and accountability.

Banning Phone Use While Driving

Pennsylvania is set to implement new regulations to curb distracted driving and promote accountability in law enforcement practices.

The forthcoming legislation will prohibit drivers from using cell phones for nearly any purpose while operating a vehicle, aligning the state with most jurisdictions across the country that have similar bans.

The initiative comes after nearly two decades of advocacy to address the hazards of distracted driving. Governor Josh Shapiro, who initially introduced a similar bill during his tenure in the state House of Representatives, is expected to sign the legislation into law soon, with its enforcement slated to commence a year after that.

Additionally, the bill includes a significant provision advocated for by the Pennsylvania Legislative Black Caucus, mandating the collection and public reporting of traffic stop data by larger police departments and the Pennsylvania State Police, with a specific focus on drivers' race, to combat racial profiling.

This week, the Associated Press reported that the state Legislature approved the bill, aligning Pennsylvania's laws on cell phone use while driving with those of its neighboring states. Presently, Pennsylvania's regulations only restrict texting while driving.

Also read : UK to Ban Mobile Phone Use in Schools Following Similar Moves From France, Italy

Senator Rosemary Brown, representing Monroe County and a proponent of stricter cell phone use laws while driving, has advocated for over a decade to bolster Pennsylvania's regulations.

In response to the bill's passage, Brown heralded it as a "monumental victory" for the state, emphasizing its potential to safeguard drivers, prevent accidents, and preserve lives, as stated in her released statement.

According to the bill's provisions, law enforcement now has the authority to issue citations to drivers who use their phones for nearly any purpose.

Navigating the Fine Lines: Exceptions, Enforcement

However, drivers may still use their phones for certain activities, such as making calls or listening to music, provided they do so hands-free using docking stations, Bluetooth, or speakers.

The ban applies to motorists in traffic or halted at traffic lights, except for those who have safely parked by the roadside or designated areas.

Exceptions to the ban on cell phone use while driving include navigational purposes or alerting emergency services. A first offense incurs a $50 fine, with the possibility of harsher penalties, including imprisonment, for offenders causing serious accidents.

Governor Shapiro lauded the bill as "common sense," emphasizing its potential to mitigate the devastating impact of distracted driving accidents.

Speaking to WILK-FM radio in Pittston, Shapiro underscored the tragic consequences of such incidents, highlighting the lives lost and enduring injuries sustained by victims.

State data indicates a decrease in crashes involving distracted drivers over the past decade, correlating with an overall decline in accidents.
In light of recent developments and emerging technologies, the FBI raises concerns regarding the potential exploitation of artificial intelligence by foreign entities to manipulate and disrupt US electoral processes.

Navigating the Threat of AI Technology in Election

The FBI cautions against foreign adversaries' potential utilization of AI to sow disinformation during US elections, as reported by the Associated Press.

Expressing concerns about artificial intelligence's rising prominence in such activities, a senior FBI official emphasized the likelihood of its increased utilization in the forthcoming years.

This apprehension is not unfounded, as AI-driven deepfakes and robocalls have already infiltrated the political sphere, manifesting tangible threats to electoral integrity.

One illustrative case unfolded in Slovakia earlier this year, where audio clips resembling the voice of a liberal party leader circulated widely on social media, disseminating false claims of manipulating election outcomes and raising beer prices.

These deceptive recordings, identified as deepfakes, surfaced just before the country's parliamentary elections, underscoring the potent impact of AI-generated disinformation.

Similarly, in the United States, voters received robocalls impersonating President Joe Biden, urging them to abstain from participating in the primary election in New Hampshire.

Subsequent investigations revealed that these robocalls were orchestrated by a political consultant, aiming to highlight the perils associated with AI deepfakes.

The official highlighted the dual threat posed by AI technology to law enforcement. Not only does it facilitate easier access for individuals seeking to cause trouble, but it also provides sophisticated foreign governments with additional tools to interfere in elections.

Focusing on Russia, Iran, and China in Election Security

FBI officials are closely monitoring Russia, Iran, and China as the top three countries of concern in the current election cycle. Previous assessments have attributed varying motives and objectives to these nations regarding their efforts to influence American elections.

For Russia, intelligence officials have highlighted a consistent preference for Republican candidates, particularly evident in the 2016 and 2020 elections. During these periods, Moscow allegedly engaged in sophisticated hacking operations and leaked Democratic emails in a bid to support the candidacy of Republican Donald Trump.

During the 2022 midterm election, Russia's efforts primarily targeted the denigration of the Democratic Party. Their objective was to diminish U.S. support for Ukraine and undermine confidence in the electoral process.

In contrast, China aimed to influence select races featuring candidates from major political parties. Their focus was on individuals with anti-China sentiments, and they engaged in covert activities to disparage a U.S. senator.

Additionally, Iran conducted covert operations aimed at exploiting perceived social divisions during this period.

Looking ahead to 2024, FBI officials anticipate that China will persist in its endeavors to sow divisions within the United States. Furthermore, they closely monitor whether Russia's behavior will be motivated by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
Google Cloud has partnered with CrowdStrike to enhance cybersecurity through Mandiant's Incident Response (IR) and Managed Detection and Response (MDR) services, utilizing the CrowdStrike Falcon platform alongside Google Cloud Security Operations.

Google Cloud Deepens its Partnership With CrowdStrike

This collaboration will leverage CrowdStrike's Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR), Identity Threat Detection and Response (ITDR), and Exposure Management solutions.



The 75% rise in cloud intrusions over the past year underscores the urgency of effective cybersecurity solutions. Adversaries are increasingly swift, infiltrating customer environments within minutes, as CrowdStrike claims.



Hence, the company noted that addressing these modern threats requires an intuitively managed security approach that simplifies complexity and augments security and DevOps teams.



The partnership seeks to empower customers to thwart breaches across diverse cloud environments by combining AI-driven Google Cloud services with Google Cloud's Security Operations platform and CrowdStrike's advanced protection capabilities.



CrowdStrike's Chief Business Officer, Daniel Bernard, claimed their technology is crucial in stopping breaches during critical attack moments.

He highlighted CrowdStrike's single platform, single agent architecture as delivering superior protection with exceptional ease and speed of deployment.



Bernard views the expanded alliance with Google Cloud as a transformative step in cybersecurity.

It enables Mandiant's Incident Response and Managed Detection and Response services to leverage Falcon alongside Google Cloud's Security Operations platform, incorporating top-tier technology with expert insight to provide organizations with crucial breach prevention capabilities.



This collaboration extends to Google Chronicle, the Hyperscale Security Operations platform, Mandiant Managed Defense, and the deployment of CrowdStrike Falcon to aid Mandiant Consulting.



"CrowdStrike has been a strategic technology partner for both Mandiant and Google Cloud for many years," Dom Delfino, VP Global Sales, Google Cloud Security, said in a press release statement.



"We're excited to deepen the collaboration across Google Cloud Security with enhanced threat intelligence sharing, a tighter integration between CrowdStrike and Google Chronicle, our Hyperscale Security Operations platform and Mandiant Managed Defense, and the ability to deploy CrowdStrike Falcon to support Mandiant Consulting."

Read Also : DeepMind Joins Forces With Google Cloud to Create Watermarking Tool for AI-Generated Images

Google AI Exec Joins Vimeo

In related news, Vimeo has reportedly appointed Philip Moyer, a senior executive from Google Cloud who oversees AI, as its CEO.



Moyer's background includes a stint as vice president of Alphabet's Google Cloud's Strategic Industries division since July 2019, before which he served as Director of Financial Services at Amazon Web Services.



Furthermore, Moyer was the CEO of two financial technology companies: Cassiopae, a French software provider specializing in commercial banking, and Edgar Online, a firm offering financial data, analytics, and disclosure management solutions.



Before these roles, Moyer spent 15 years at Microsoft, overseeing industry teams, services organizations, and global customer relations.



Read more about this story here.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is now testing AI-generated lecturers, featuring AI versions of personalities like Albert Einstein and popular anime characters taking the virtual stage as lecturers, AFP reports.

This interesting endeavor looks to transform teaching methods and engage students in an immersive learning experience like never before.

Hong Kong University Introduces 'AI Lecturers'

Using cutting-edge technology, students at HKUST wear virtual reality headsets to watch an AI-generated Albert Einstein expound upon the intricacies of game theory.

The project, spearheaded by Professor Pan Hui, Chair Professor of Computational Media and Arts at HKUST, seeks to address the challenges posed by the global shortage of teachers while embracing the transformative power of AI in education.

Professor Hui envisions AI lecturers not as replacements for human instructors but as valuable supplements, offering diverse perspectives and innovative teaching methods.

"This study not only offers students unique and exciting experiences, but also inspires them to contemplate the application of AI across diverse fields. It also paves the way for pioneering research in AI-driven pedagogy," Professor Hui said in a statement.

How Does It Work?

Through AI, lecture materials are transformed into customizable avatars, allowing for tailored presentations and enhanced engagement. This customization extends beyond visuals, encompassing voice, gestures, and even ethnicity, as noted in the AP report.

Additionally, introducing AI lecturers frees human instructors from mundane tasks, enabling them to focus on more interactive and personalized aspects of teaching.

Students told AFP that the appeal of AI lecturers lies in their ability to bridge the gap between students and professors, fostering a more approachable, personalized, and interactive learning environment.

Will AI Replace College Lecturers?

The impact of AI in education extends beyond HKUST, with Hong Kong universities embracing AI to varying degrees, according to the AP report.

While introducing AI lecturers has garnered excitement among students, a survey conducted by University of Hong Kong professor Cecilia Chan revealed a preference for human teachers due to their ability to provide unique experiences and empathetic feedback.

With plans to further integrate interactive features into AI lectures, HKUST aims to elevate the student learning experience to new heights.

Furthermore, HKUST's dedication to leveraging AI in education is evident through its allocation of millions in funds and introducing an "AI Ambassador" to facilitate campus-wide AI integration, as highlighted in a university news release.

In related news, a school in San Diego, California, is now utilizing a new artificial intelligence platform that employs personalized AI chatbots to increase student interest.

The tool, known as the SchoolAI platform, uses chatbots to assist teachers in providing answers to various student questions. The AI tool is comparable to providing each student with personalized digital assistance.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.
SMIC, China's leading chipmaker, has recently issued a warning about the looming threat of a global chip oversupply. This caution comes amid an intensifying price war in the Chinese market for less advanced chips.

During an earnings call on Friday, the company's co-CEO, Zhao Haijun, pointed out the increasing competition within the industry, stating that "orders worth tens of millions suddenly went to competitors."

SMIC Issues Warning Amid Global Chip Oversupply Concerns

As Nikkei Asia reported, SMIC expressed concerns about a surge in chip production globally, driven by the launch of numerous new manufacturing plants in the coming months.

This expansion is expected to exacerbate an already challenging market environment, where profit margins have plummeted to their lowest levels since 2009.

Citing LSEG data, CNBC reports that SMIC's first-quarter financial results underscored the severity of the situation. Despite a 19.7% year-on-year increase in revenue to $1.75 billion, the company's profit plunged by 68.9% to $71.7 million. Gross margin also hit a record low of 13.7%, indicating significant pressure on profitability.

The root cause of this dilemma lies in the aggressive efforts by chipmakers in China to ramp up production. These efforts aim to support domestic technology giants like Huawei in navigating tightening export controls imposed by the United States.

However, the unintended consequence has been market saturation, leading to intense price competition among industry players.

Read Also : Samsung Profits Soar 930% on Memory Chip Boom and AI Demand

Industry Braces for Impact Amid Chip Oversupply Warnings

SMIC's outlook for the near future remains cautious. While there are signs of a recovery in global demand, particularly in the Chinese smartphone market, the company anticipates that new production capacity will outstrip demand, at least in the short term.

Zhao Haijun emphasized the need for time to absorb the influx of new capacity, expressing concerns that a significant portion of it may remain underutilized.

The situation has raised alarm bells among analysts and industry executives, who worry about the potential ramifications of an oversupply of less advanced chips.

According to data from SEMI, 42 chip projects globally are slated to commence operations in 2024, with 18 located in China. This surge in capacity, primarily focused on less advanced chips, is driven by U.S. restrictions on advanced semiconductor equipment.

To address these challenges, SMIC prioritizes capacity construction and research and development activities. The company aims to bolster its competitiveness and increase market share despite the fierce competition in the industry. However, it acknowledges that maintaining profitability in such a volatile environment will be an uphill battle.

As one of China's key semiconductor industry players, SMIC's struggles indicate larger global chip supply chain tensions.

Stay posted here at Tech Times.
OpenAI, the firm behind ChatGPT, is considering letting users generate pornography and other obscene material using its products.



OpenAI weighs on allowing developers and consumers to create age-appropriate adult content, as indicated in a Wednesday document about its AI development procedures, according to a report from The Guardian.



Joanne Jang, an employee who drafted the letter, said that the tech firm wants to discuss sexual prose and naked photos on its platforms. She stressed that deep fakes would remain illegal.



While confirming its ban on deepfakes containing adult content, OpenAI is considering allowing its technology to create responsible NSFW content, including erotica, severe gore, insults, and unwanted vulgarity.



Jang emphasized user control and legal and ethical norms but also noted that pornography is subjective, emphasizing the need for free conversation.



According to Gizmodo, an OpenAI spokesperson stated in an email on Thursday that the ChatGPT developer has no aspirations to develop AI-generated pornography. The representative stressed that OpenAI products have strong precautions against deepfakes, calling them unacceptable. The representative also stressed the importance of "carefully exploring conversations about sexuality in age-appropriate contexts."

Experts Criticize Tech Firms' Handling of Deepfake Porn

Advocates and experts worry about expanding into not-safe-for-work (NSFW) content development using artificial intelligence. Beeban Kidron attacked OpenAI for losing sight of its objective to create safe and useful AI, exposing the industry's commercialism above social responsibility.



Clare McGlynn doubted tech firms' promises to safely handle pornographic content due to the difficulty of distinguishing consented content from authentic content.



OpenAI's standards require compliance with child exploitation and injury laws; however, they do not mention pornography. The firm restricts explicit material with technology, such as ChatGPT's negative replies to explicit suggestions.



Moreover, OpenAI allows scientific and instructional materials, but not sexually explicit or provocative stuff. This publication suggests guidelines for discussing sexuality in science and medicine.



The rise of AI-generated pornography, especially deepfake, has caused controversy in recent months. In January, fake pornographic photographs created by AI spread rapidly on social media, affecting several celebrities, including Taylor Swift.

Deepfake pornography has also affected Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and even teenagers, with Beverly Hills High School in California warning about deepfake videos circulating among students.

Read Also : Hong Kong University Brings Albert Einstein to Life Using AI, Transforming Him into a Virtual Lecturer

Google Takes Action Over AI-Generated Porn

Aylo, Pornhub's parent firm, commented on OpenAI's discussions on AI-generated pornography. In a report by Gizmodo, the platform's representative reiterated the company's ban on deepfakes and other non-consensual material.



The representative clarified that manipulating an individual's image for deceptive or unlawful material using AI deepfake technology is prohibited on the platform.



This week, Google took action against deepfake porn. The tech giant set a deadline for advertisers to cut relations with deepfake pornographic websites.

Google's new ad policy, effective this month, prohibits ads for sites or applications that generate deepfake pornography, provide instructions on developing it, or endorse and compare it. Google spokesperson Michael Aciman said the upgrade specifically bans ads for deepfake pornography and synthetic nude content providers.



Starting on May 30, the amended standards will prohibit ads covered by this policy. Google emphasizes the gravity of policy infractions by suspending accounts without notice and banning offenders from future advertising.



Last year, Google banned roughly 2 billion advertisements for breaking sexual content restrictions, highlighting the issue.
Panama president-elect proposes 'calm' talks on contested mine



Panama City, May 9 (AFP) May 09, 2024



Panamanian president-elect Jose Raul Mulino on Thursday proposed "calm" talks with Canadian company First Quantum Minerals about the future of a controversial mine that has triggered crippling protests.

Mulino said that he was open to direct dialogue about Central America's biggest copper mine, which has been ordered to close -- but only without international arbitration.

The company is seeking $20 billion in compensation for the closure of the Cobre Panama mine, whose environmental impact was the focus of nationwide protests and roadblocks last year.

"Don't forget that the government is the owner of that concession," Mulino said in an interview with ArCa Media En Directo radio.

"On that basis we can talk about opening or closing" the mine definitively, added the 64-year-old, who is the protege of a former president convicted of corruption.

However, "I am not going to accept to talk about a mine with these active arbitrations," added Mulino, who is due to take office on July 1.

There was no immediate comment from the Canadian company, which has previously said that it would prefer to resolve the situation without arbitration.

Congress approved a law in October allowing First Quantum Minerals to operate the Cobre Panama mine for 20 years, with an option to extend for another two decades.

The following month, the Supreme Court ruled that the contract was unconstitutional, and the government said that it would close the mine.

jjr/fj/dr/st
US banking giants had 'significant' challenges estimating climate risks: Fed



Washington, May 9 (AFP) May 09, 2024



Six US banking giants reported having "significant" challenges when estimating the financial risks from climate change because of a lack of good data, the Federal Reserve said Thursday.

The six large banks, including Bank of America, Citigroup, and Goldman Sachs, participated in the 2023 pilot conducted by the US central bank in order "to explore the resiliency of their business models to climate-related financial risks," the Fed said in a statement.

A summary of the exercise published Thursday said the banks "reported significant data and modeling challenges," due in part to "a lack of comprehensive and consistent data" on things like building characteristics and insurance coverage.

"Going forward, participants reported plans to capture additional data from clients, to source data from vendors, and to use proxies where necessary," the Fed report said.

The US central bank stressed that the "exploratory" exercise would not have any consequences for bank capital requirements, or lead to any supervisory changes.

Nevertheless, it marks a rare foray into the topic of climate change for the independent US central bank -- which has looked to avoid what is still a divisive political issue in the United States.

"We are not, nor do we seek to be, climate policymakers," Fed chair Jerome Powell said in a recent speech, adding that the US central bank should avoid "mission creep" and stick closely to its dual mandate from Congress to maintain stable prices and maximize employment.

The six banks which participated in the 2023 pilot now "plan to continue to invest in data, models, and expertise," according to the Fed's summary published Thursday.

This will allow them "to better identify, estimate, and monitor climate-related financial risks through the use of scenario analysis exercises and other tools,' the Fed said.
Heatstroke kills 61 in Thailand so far this year: govt



Bangkok, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Heatstroke has killed 61 people in Thailand so far this year, more than in all of 2023, the health ministry said on Friday after weeks of scorching weather across the region.

A wave of exceptionally hot weather blasted Thailand in recent weeks, prompting authorities to issue warnings about scorching hot weather on a near-daily basis.

The health ministry said Friday that 61 people have died from heatstroke since the beginning of 2024, compared with 37 in the whole of 2023.

Thailand's northeast -- the agricultural heartland -- saw the highest number of deaths, the ministry said.

Scientists have long warned human-induced climate change will produce more frequent, longer and more intense heatwaves.

While the El Nino phenomenon is helping drive this year's exceptionally warm weather, Asia is also warming faster than the global average, according to the United Nations' World Meteorological Organization.

Apichart Vachiraphan, deputy of Thailand's Department of Disease Control, warned people with underlying medical conditions to limit their time outdoors.

The kingdom this year experienced a delay in its monsoon season, with sweltering hot weather lasting longer than normal.

Storms have hit parts of the kingdom this week, lowering temperatures but bringing warnings from the authorities of potential flash flooding.

In April, the kingdom recorded a temperature of 44.2 degrees Celsius (111.6 degrees Fahrenheit) recorded in the northern province of Lampang -- just shy of the all-time national record of 44.6C hit last year.
Polish farmers protest 'harmful' EU environmental rules



Warsaw, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



Polish farmers on Friday rallied against EU environmental regulations they said were hurting the economy and called for a referendum on the issue.

The "Down with the Green Deal" protest drew several thousands of farmers in yellow vests to downtown Warsaw, where they waved Polish flags, handed out apples and carried signs showing skulls and bones.

The European Union's Green Deal is an ambitious commitment to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050, making the 27-nation bloc the "first climate-neutral continent".

But it has come under fire from the fossil fuel industry and the agricultural sector, as well as from political parties on the right and far right.

"We don't agree to all the Green Deal provisions, which are harmful to Poland's economy," said Adrian Wawrzyniak, a spokesman for the Solidarity farmers' union.

"We want a referendum in Poland concerning a requirement for the president, the parliament and the government to reject the Green Deal," he told AFP.

Some protesters also condemned Ukrainian farm imports they said were undermining their revenues, as well as the policies of Poland's current pro-EU coalition government, which came to power late last year.

The right-wing opposition party Law and Justice (PiS), which has close ties with the Solidarity union, said it would also take part in the protest.

The march began at the Polish capital's historic Castle Square. Participants will walk to the European Commission's representation in Poland before continuing on to parliament.

Protest representatives are due to meet with parliament speaker Szymon Holownia to air their grievances.
Envious shamans and pollution: Diverse threats to Ecuadoran Amazon



Cuyabeno, Ecuador, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



When fish numbers diminished in the Ecuadoran Amazon, the Siona Indigenous people blamed envious, rival shamans for blocking the animals' passage through the rivers of Cuyabeno, a biodiverse wetland.

Experts, however, point the finger at pollution, deforestation and climate change wreaking havoc on the second-largest protected area in Ecuador.

Shaman Rogelio Criollo, 74, told AFP the cause of the decline had been revealed to his Siona tribe during a divination ceremony using the sacred hallucinogen ayahuasca, also known as yage.

"A (rival) sage who knew the spirit of the jungle and the spirit of the river ... closed the doors to the fish, the turtles," Criollo told AFP.

But the shaman acknowledges that other factors may also be at play: "Many say it's pollution."

Stretching over some 600,000 hectares, the Cuyabeno lake system and the nearby Lagartococha and Yasuni reserves were in 2017 declared wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar environment treaty.

The area hosts more than 200 species of amphibians and reptiles, 600 types of bird and more than 160 mammal groups.



- 'Alerts for us' -



The risks to the forest oasis are plenty.

"Satellite data shows an extremely serious deforestation process" nearby, reserve director Luis Borbor told a recent conference in Quito on fishing.

The extent of farmland bordering on Cuyabeno rose from 819 hectares in 1985 to over 5,000 hectares in 2022, affecting the soil health and robbing countless species of a home in trees critical to absorbing planet-warming CO2.

Also nearby, illegal mines are polluting water sources upstream from Cuyabeno.

A study by Ecuador's National Biodiversity Institute in February revealed "heavy metals accumulation in fish" in several Amazonian rivers -- including the Aguarico and Cuyabeno that cross the reserve and are a source of food for indigenous peoples.

Experts also suspect the hand of global warming in droughts that are ever more frequent and severe.

Last year, the Laguna Grande -- Cuyabeno's biggest tourist attraction -- dried up twice. It is unusual for it to happen even once a season, said Borbor.

"These are alerts for us to say that there is climate change in this region," he told AFP.

Drought this year in Ecuador saw water levels drop to critical lows, resulting in power outages of up to 13 hours per day as hydroelectric reservoirs ran empty.

On Wednesday, the World Meteorological Organization said Latin America and the Caribbean had their warmest year on record in 2023 as a "double-whammy" of El Nino and climate change caused major weather calamities, including crippling droughts.



- Ancestral help -



As global efforts falter to curb climate change caused by mankind's burning of planet-warming fossil fuels, the Siona deal with their problems the traditional way.

Delio Payaguaje, 72, another Siona shaman, describes a ceremony he took part in to commune with the spirit world, seeking a solution to the fish shortage in Cuyabeno's 14 lagoons.

Dressed in necklaces with animal fangs and feathered headdresses, the shamans prayed to the forefathers, and then went to the river.

There, they saw movements and bubbles in the water, indicative of fish activity, said Payaguaje.

According to Borbor, Indigenous knowledge has been key to conserving Ecuador's nature reserves, which house everything from kingfishers, macaws and herons to monkeys and pink dolphins.
Clashes as protesters try to force entry into German Tesla plant



Grunheide, Germany, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



German police on Friday drove back several groups of environmental activists who tried to enter Tesla's factory outside of Berlin, a spokesman said.

The spokesman said there were injuries among protesters and police but could not provide figures.

Activists have been protesting plans to expand the factory, which opened in 2022 following an arduous two-year approval and construction process dogged by administrative and legal obstacles.

Protests have increased since February. The plant was forced to halt production in March by a suspected arson attack on nearby power lines claimed by a far-left group.

Tesla wants to expand the site by 170 hectares (420 acres) and boost production by up to one million vehicles annually to feed Europe's growing demand for electric cars and take on rivals who are shifting away from combustion engine vehicles.

But the site in Gruenheide, southeast of the German capital, is near a protected forest and there are concerns about water use.

Local residents voted against the project in a non-binding ballot in February.

smb-clp/sk/rl/tw




US, China pledge joint methane action at climate talks



Washington, May 10 (AFP) May 10, 2024



The United States and China promised Friday to work together on reduction of methane, the second most abundant greenhouse gas, after talks between the climate envoys of the world's two largest emitters.

Chinese climate envoy Liu Zhenmin and White House climate advisor John Podesta met for the first time since the departure of their predecessors, whose unusually close relationship helped bring consensus at last year's COP28 summit in Dubai.

In the two days of talks this week in Washington, the pair looked for ways of "promoting a successful COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan," the next climate summit which takes place in November, the US State Department said in a statement.

Ahead of the Dubai summit, China promised a broad plan to tackle methane, of which it is the world's largest emitter -- an especially touchy political issue as methane comes mostly from its coal mining.

The two countries said they would co-host an event in Baku, the second of its sort, on reducing methane and other non-carbon greenhouse gases.

"The two sides committed to promote bilateral cooperation and conduct capacity building on deploying abatement technologies," the statement said.

They also agreed to improve monitoring and standards "aiming to achieve significant methane emissions control and reductions in the 2020s."

China, however, has stopped short of signing a global pledge led by the United States and the European Union that aims to reduce global methane emissions by at least 30 percent from 2020 levels by 2030.

Methane is far more potent than carbon dioxide, the most prevalent greenhouse gas, but it spends a briefer time in the atmosphere -- years rather than centuries.

Methane is emitted from the production of oil and natural gas as well as agriculture.

Successive UN climate summits have set a goal of stopping the planet form heating up more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) beyond pre-industrial levels to avoid the worst ravages of climate change, but the planet remains well off track.

The Dubai talks for the first time agreed that the world needs to transition away from fossil fuels.

President Joe Biden's administration has seen climate as an area for cooperation with China despite wide differences and tensions.

Previous climate envoy John Kerry, a former secretary of state, developed a friendship with Xie Zhenhua, the veteran Chinese climate negotiator, with the two holding extended, secluded talks in California to pave the way for COP28.
Earlier this week the city of Dothan broke ground on the construction of the Wiregrass Innovation Center.

This facility is a $30 million project that is part of the City Center downtown revitalization plans. The center is being headed up by the future anchor tenant, HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology presence in the Wiregrass.

HudsonAlpha is a nonprofit organization located in Huntsville with the mission of using genomics to improve life through basic biological research to make important discoveries, improve human health, stimulate economic development, inspire young people to seek careers in science and teach members of the public the importance of science in their everyday lives.

By working together, the state of Alabama, the city of Dothan, HudsonAlpha and leaders across the region have ensured innovation continues to sweep across all of Alabama. I am confident this facility will be known as one of the top AgTech Centers in the nation, said Gov. Kay Ivey.

Ivey believes the center will be a destination for innovators, a place for experiential learning, and the nerve center for economic development.

The state of Alabama is providing $20 million of the funding and the Wiregrass Foundation is funding $10 million dollars for the 45,000-square foot building. There will also be agriculture technology (agtech) entrepreneurs and innovators in the Wiregrass area.

HudsonAlpha Wiregrass will use the facility to provide hands-on training and practical learning in science, genomics, research, technology and innovation. The nonprofit organization will also help bring jobs to the area.

We will be working to help local entrepreneurs get their ideas to the commercial market, recruiting ag tech companies to the Wiregrass and assisting existing companies with growth, said Dean Mitchell, Director of HudsonAlpha Wiregrass. Its not just another office building. This ecosystem were building is important as we seek to diversify our local economy by bringing high-tech jobs to the Wiregrass. By investing in ag research, ag tech, and STEM and genomics-related careers, local students will want to live and work in the Wiregrass as adults. Simply put, when students go off to college we want to be able to offer them good jobs right here at home.

Many entrepreneurs and startup companies are anticipating the opening of the Wiregrass Innovation Center; some agtech startups are already planning to locate in the center.

Veil Genomics is one of the agtech startups awaiting the centers opening. It leverages long-read DNA sequencing to develop better genetic testing for human health and disease, plant and animal breeding, and biodiversity.

SetaTech is another startup set to move into the center. They produce natural biostimulants for sustainable agriculture and are a graduate of the HudsonAlpha AgTech Accelerator with operations in Ozark.

RDG Planning and Design and Fuqua and Partners are serving as the architects of record on the project. A general contractor has not been selected. Construction is expected to be completed in late 2025.

This will be a building that will be used 365 days a year. Student scientists from all over the Wiregrass area will visit for field trips, camps, and other learning opportunities, said Mitchell.

The center is located on the George Washington Carver Research Campus in downtown Dothan and will be the future home to entrepreneurs, cutting-edge research, educational programming, and innovative ideas.

In a press release from the City of Dothan and HudsonAlpha Wiregrass they stated that: Building on George Washington Carvers rich legacy of innovation, the Wiregrass now takes the next step to become one of the top agtech centers in the nation.

Were building a home for visionaries who will shape the future of the Wiregrass and the world, said City of Dothan Mayor Mark Saliba. This is an incredible opportunity for Dothan and the Wiregrass as a whole. I, along with the city commissioners, am excited to be working with local, regional, and statewide leaders to expand the areas potential to provide high-skilled, high-wage jobs, right here in Dothan. We are immensely grateful to Governor Ivey, the State of Alabama, and the Wiregrass Foundation for their support for this center.

There will be a special day to announce the ribbon cutting and open house and invite the community in to see this state of the art facility. In the meantime, there are some renderings at wiregrassinnovation.org where those can see what the center will look like.

A web camera has been installed at the site to stream live video of the project at any time by the public at https://app.oxblue.com/cameras/1a70f23b7fa17f40c7fdbc1b2b1ad23c?openlink=Dothan/innovationcenter.
SHENYANG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A BMW i5 electric car rolled off the assembly line on Wednesday in northeast China's Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning Province, marking the 6 millionth car produced by BMW Group's joint venture in China, BMW Brilliance Automotive (BBA). This came just 15 months after the joint venture's 5 millionth car was produced. Less than half a month ago, the German auto giant announced an additional investment of 20 billion yuan (about 2.8 billion U.S. dollars) in its production base in Shenyang. The investment will be used for upgrading as well as technological innovation at the Dadong plant of BBA, which is expected to lay the foundation for the localized manufacturing of BMW's new generation of models, known as NEUE KLASSE, in 2026. Cementing their market, research, and future endeavors in China, an increasing number of overseas-funded enterprises, such as BMW Group, are optimistic about the Chinese new energy vehicle (NEV) sector, injecting continuous investments and seizing more opportunities in China. The Volkswagen Group has established its largest research and development center outside of Germany in China, focusing on the development of intelligent connected vehicles. The success of overseas-funded enterprises in China is inseparable from the country's super-large-scale market. China's NEV market is far from saturated and will continue to maintain a faster and stronger growth momentum compared to the European and American markets, according to Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center Automotive Research Institute in Bochum in Germany. In 2023, China's automobile production and sales had reached 30.2 million and 30.1 million vehicles, respectively, representing respective year-on-year increases of 11.6 percent and 12 percent. Among these, the production and sales of NEVs reached 9.6 million and 9.5 million, respectively, up 35.8 percent and 37.9 percent year on year. China's automobile market has ranked first globally in terms of both production and sales for 15 consecutive years, with the production and sales of new energy vehicles ranking first globally for nine successive years. China also exported a record high of 4.9 million vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 57.9 percent. Given these achievements, the Chinese market clearly shines brightly as a beacon of opportunity on the global stage. In 2023, BMW had managed to deliver over 375,000 electric vehicles worldwide, a year-on-year increase of 74.2 percent, including approximately 100,000 electric vehicles delivered to China. Volkswagen Group delivered approximately 191,800 electric vehicles to the Chinese market in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 23.2 percent. Currently, China's manufacturing industry is accelerating its transformation and upgrading towards high-end, intelligent, and green development, creating more development opportunities and attracting foreign investment in high-tech fields. For many foreign automobile companies, China is not only the world's largest single market but also an important source of innovation. For example, BMW Group has established its largest research and digitalization system outside of Germany in China. Likewise, Mercedes-Benz has also made strides with innovation in China. In 2023, Mercedes-Benz's sales in China had amounted to 765,000 vehicles, accounting for 29.6 percent of Mercedes-Benz's global sales, and once again making China Mercedes-Benz's largest regional market. Notably, the first batch of Mercedes-Benz supercharging stations are already in use in China. As of now, Mercedes-Benz's public charging services have covered more than 360 cities in the country. The Chinese market will continue to grow and play a leading role in industry innovation, said Ola Kaellenius, chairman of the board of management of Mercedes-Benz Group, who noted that China is not only the world's largest NEV market but also its innovation center, featuring leading companies and a mature new energy industry supply chain. The growth and rise of Chinese domestic car manufacturers means that competition in the automotive market continues to intensify. China's commitment to achieving carbon peaking by 2030 and carbon neutrality by 2060 also means that more and more overseas-funded carmakers in the country are focusing their attention on the fields of intelligent mobility and new energy vehicles. Located in the city of Changchun, capital of northeast China's Jilin Province, Audi FAW NEV Co., Ltd. is Audi's first production base in China dedicated to manufacturing electric vehicle models. With an investment planned to exceed 30 billion yuan, the company is accelerating the construction of this NEV project, aiming for production by the end of 2024 and boasting an annual capacity of over 150,000 vehicles. The influx of foreign investment into the Chinese market reflects not only the appeal of China's vast market and conducive policies, but also the collective aspiration for mutually beneficial cooperation. China's expansion of institutional openness, increased market access, and enhanced services for foreign investors have combined to inject fresh vitality and momentum into global economic and trade cooperation. Data released by the Ministry of Commerce showed that in the first two months of 2024, the number of newly established foreign-invested enterprises nationwide had reached 7,160, a year-on-year increase of 34.9 percent -- the highest level in nearly five years.
Discover more Ai business tools:

EntryPoint is a cutting-edge business tool that allows you to harness the power of artificial intelligence to fine-tune large language models to meet your specific needs. With EntryPoint, you can fine-tune models such as GPT, Llama-2, and Mistral to achieve higher quality, faster generation, and more predictable outputs for a variety of tasks.

Fine-tuning is essential when prompt engineering reaches its limits, as it trains models on how to behave rather than just telling them. By utilizing fine-tuning in conjunction with prompt engineering and retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), you can maximize the potential of large language models.

EntryPoint makes the fine-tuning process seamless and efficient, allowing you to shape outputs and behaviors with just a few dozen training examples. It enables you to cover edge cases, steer model behavior, and avoid common pitfalls in a user-friendly interface without the need for coding.

With EntryPoint, you can work collaboratively with your team, track training data, and compare hyperparameters to determine the most effective strategies. The tool also allows you to import and export data easily, share fine-tuned models for testing, and deploy models with a single click.

From producing high-quality content to data extraction, tagging, prioritization, recommendations, fraud detection, moderation, data enrichment, scoring, and ranking, EntryPoint offers a wide range of use cases for leveraging fine-tuned large language models in various business contexts.

Overall, EntryPoint is a comprehensive platform that empowers business managers to optimize the performance of language models for a variety of tasks and applications, leading to improved quality, efficiency, and predictability in AI-driven processes.

EntryPoint  Features

Fine-tuning platform for large language models

Improve quality of prompts

Faster generation with lighter models

Ensures predictable outputs

Scalable with team collaboration

Train across multiple LLM providers

Write templates for fine-tuning data

Import/export data easily

EntryPoint  Pricing

EntryPoint offers three pricing plans: Starter for individuals at $49/month, Growth for startups at $99/month, and Pro for businesses at $249/month. Each plan includes various features such as training examples, user seats, and onboarding calls. Premium support is included in the Pro plan.

Visit entrypointai.com for more.

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter , Facebook and Instagram.
In todays cutthroat business world, exploding your user base and skyrocketing revenue is every entrepreneurs dream. Thats where growth hacking comes in.

These unconventional, yet highly effective, strategies can be your secret weapon for achieving massive growth in record time. This weeks Lets Talk dives deep into the world of growth hacking. Our experts will unveil some of the most powerful techniques businesses and our clients have used in the past year to smash their growth goals.

Get ready to discover hacks that will supercharge your user acquisition, engagement, and revenue  fast!

Lets Talk

Discover more Lets Talk Business episodes

Contribute to Dynamic Business

Matt Loop, VP and Head of Asia at Rippling

Matt Loop, VP and Head of Asia at Rippling

Investment has always been the cornerstone of growth, whether in training, personnel or technology. But the rapid pace of change we are experiencing in 2024 underscores the importance of investing now to avoid being left behind.

In todays challenging economic climate where budgets are increasingly squeezed, it is imperative for business leaders to make prudent decisions. A surefire way to boost workforce effectiveness is by fostering productivity improvements. By automating repetitive administrative tasks like data input, scheduling, and generating reports, leaders can empower their teams to concentrate on more strategic and higher value tasks, thereby facilitating growth.

Harnessing the power of data analytics is also paramount for strategic decision-making. Adopting a unified system that efficiently gathers and disseminates data across various platforms is key to unlocking these insights. This capability empowers organisations to forecast challenges and adopt a strategy conducive for growth, positioning them not only to withstand competition, but to excel and flourish in the market.

Nathan Schokker, Founder of MODC Digital Business Cards

For anything in the B2B world, LinkedIn is now your best friend! Whether growth is sales, network, reach, LinkedIn can get you the growth you want through clarity of target and consistency. It wont immediately feel like the greatest hack ever, yet itll continue to reward you time after time after time.

Being the typical time poor, multi hat wearing startup founders (with no sales focused team members), our growth is self reliant, and with a consistent daily use and outreach through LinkedIn, has helped refine our targets and accelerated growth. It can only cost you a small amount of time, and if youre smart, you can be constantly testing and tweaking messaging and delivery to amplify your growth. Strap in and lets go!

Jenny Li, Partner at Scalare Partners

At Scalare Partners, one of our best growth hacks involved developing a strong idea of our target clients defining characteristics. Using this, we then sourced partnerships that catered to this specific client profile, and have been able to gain access to founders who fit our key characteristics of being eager to learn, collaborate, and receive mentorship.

This has provided two key opportunities: participating in workshops and events through our partnerships, which gives us exposure to a targeted group of potential clients, and offering mentorship services such as tailored advice to multiple businesses simultaneously. This approach not only required minimal time and financial investment but also fostered warm, meaningful interactions that led to higher conversion rates compared to traditional marketing campaigns.

Networking enhanced this methods scalability, as satisfied clients referred others within their community, ensuring sustained growth. This growth hacks success highlighted the importance of understanding client profiles, forming strategic partnerships, and delivering exceptional services for long-term success.

Nina Thomas, Founder & Director at Harmonic Advisory

Nina Thomas, Founder & Director at Harmonic Advisory

Tailor your message to key market indicators and make it relevant to decision makers. This might be finding opportunities for growth in a period of market uncertainty; generating successful outcomes and momentum in key projects; or generating growth by finessing your go-to-market strategy.

Weve done this for our business and our clients, and its resulted in our best year ever, while our clients across the board have experienced phenomenal growth and market engagement.

The key is not to try and do this on your own. Its just too hard and too slow. You need to engage good advisors who can help you see through the noise and where your current strategy is holding you back.

For our business, it was to recognise saying we were a communications advisory business was holding us back. Once we started to showcase the growth and commercial outcomes we achieved for clients, everything changed. This is because these are top priorities for business leaders and they generate revenue. And thats critical at the moment.

Pamela Jabbour, CEO & Founder at Total Image Group

The best growth hack Ive experienced in the past year wasnt a conventional marketing strategy or a digital campaign. Instead, it was an opportunity that emerged from stepping out of my comfort zone and seizing a chance to present Total Image Group (TIG) to a room full of influential figures from some of Australias top companies across various sectors.

It all started when I joined Apropela, an organisation dedicated to empowering ambitious women entrepreneurs by facilitating connections within influential business networks. Little did I know that this decision would lead to a pivotal moment for TIGs growth.

I was invited to speak on behalf of TIG, delivering a 7-minute elevator pitch to a crowd of seasoned entrepreneurs. The prospect was nerve-wracking, to say the least. However, after months of prep, a few sleepless nights and battling my nerves, I took the stage.

To my surprise, the pitch was incredibly well-received, and the impact was immediate. The engagement from the audience translated into a flood of leads for TIG. It was a profound realization that sometimes the most effective growth strategies stem from direct, human connection.

This experience taught me a crucial lesson: the power of networking and referrals. Connections matter! When recommended by a trusted source, your chances of success automatically increase and you have a higher close rate compared to cold leads.

So, my advice to fellow business owners is straightforward: prioritise building networks and connections. Its not just about what you know, but more importantly, who you know. Actively seeking out and nurturing relationships within your industry is undoubtedly a powerful strategy for growth.

Amber Daines, Founder and Chief Communicator at Bespoke Co.

Amber Daines, Founder and Chief Communicator at Bespoke Co.

The first step to growth hacking is to understand and identify the strategy, direction, and goal of your learning program  mine was SMEs, thought leaders and solopreneurs who wanted to start a business podcast in 4 weeks. Online course creation is cost effective channel to quickly grow your audience and client base at scale. Taking your service based business like a PR agency in my case to now be able to sell courses in my sleep while capturing a membership base that is a local and global audience has allowed me to grow 300% sales revenue wise. Over a few weeks, once filmed and set up, this course is my #1 evergreen product that is path or funnel to my other services. This means no longer trading time for hourly rates in reaching more relevant clients really changed my business over the past 15 months.

Benjamin Neville, Managing Director at Saligna Management Group

One of the best growth hacks weve tried in the last 12 months is creating a clear, compelling vision that aligns teams with a shared purpose. This vision acts as a guidepost, helping teams focus on common goals while building a collaborative culture where new ideas can flourish.

A well-thought-out brand strategy is the second cornerstone of this growth hack. By refining your brand messaging to resonate deeply with your audience, you create a consistent identity that attracts trust and loyalty.

Word-of-mouth is another essential element. When you deliver exceptional customer experiences, your clients naturally become your advocates, sharing your story with their networks. This organic approach can significantly expand your reach.

Finally, campaigns backed by testimonials, reviews, and stories are incredibly effective. They offer authentic insights that resonate with potential clients on a personal level, building trust and sparking interest.

Combining these four strategies allows businesses to craft a growth plan that not only attracts new clients but also strengthens the loyalty of existing ones, driving sustainable success.

Peter Curran, Co-Founder & Director of Digital Surfer

Utilising data has and always will be our greatest growth hack. Initial data to give you direction is great, but its that performance data that is so underutilised in actually levelling up the businesss results, even outside of their marketing. For example, we have a vet client who we were able to produce a 3,400% increase in calls for their new business, which gave them the revenue to open a second location within 2 years of their first. We were also able to give them data on where it would be best to build that second location, which enabled us to help them be booked out before they even opened the doors. Without data from their digital marketing, that couldnt have happened.

Anjani Amriit, Conscious Leadership & Womens Workplace Empowerment Expert

Anjani Amriit, Conscious Leadership & Womens Workplace Empowerment Expert

Up to 95% of our actions are driven by subconscious beliefs. When it comes to business growth, the power of inner mechanics is the unknown missing link. Without addressing the inner workings of our thoughts, beliefs and emotions, were essentially operating on autopilot, often to our own detriment. Self-sabotage, procrastination, and the pursuit of perfection are internal traits that act like silent killers of our productivity and growth.

Serena struggled to make her law firm profitable until addressing her inner mechanics. By rewiring her subconscious, limiting thoughts and beliefs and better managing her emotions, she not only transformed her legal business from debt ridden to profitable in under three months, but she also successfully launched a second social impact business.

To leverage your mindset and emotional resilience for business growth, consider these three tips:

Self-awareness: Take time to understand your thoughts, emotions, and habitual patterns. Awareness is the first step to change.

Mindset reframing: Challenge limiting beliefs and replace them with empowering ones. Your mindset shapes your reality.

Emotional regulation: Relate with, to regulate, your emotions effectively, especially in high-pressure situations to make clear, rational decisions.

By mastering our inner mechanics, we can unlock unparalleled sustainable growth and success in business.

Sally Branson, Managing Director at The SBC Group

Sally Branson, Managing Director at The SBC Group

The very best growth hack for my clients in the past year, especially when things have felt difficult or as though theyre stuck, has been to really work deeper on their stakeholder mapping and get clear on their circles of influence and interest.

Stakeholder mapping involves systematically identifying and understanding the influence and impact of key players. It is less of a hacky tool and more old-school long-term relationship-building. It just takes a small, consistent effort every working week, and the benefits are exponential.

Not only does really understanding your circle of interest and influence grow your professional networks, client targets, and opportunities, but it also clarifies areas for growth. Knowing your stakeholder mapping crystallises where and how you can access support, networking, cheerleaders, and champions.

Weve had clients in significant difficult times who have been able to mitiage and grow through a crisis because of the strength and currency in their stakeholder understanding.

Shreya Pandey, Senior Content Writer at Jobma

Shreya Pandey, Senior Content Writer at Jobma

Lets agree that co-marketing campaigns are great. I wanted something fresh that reconnects with our existing user base and reignites their obsession with our product.

We identified a group of dormant users  folks who hadnt interacted with our app in a while. Instead of blasting generic emails, we personalized them. We highlighted features they hadnt tried yet, showcased user-generated content that aligned with their interests, and even offered a small, time-sensitive discount. This helped in significant rise in app engagement, reviving dormant users.

Influencer marketing is a well-known strategy, but try micro-influencers. These smaller players often have highly engaged communities. We partnered with a few micro-influencers who aligned with our brand values. They created authentic content showcasing our product, reaching a targeted audience hungry for genuine recommendations. This significantly boosted our brand awareness and user acquisition in niche communities.

Lastly, content marketing is king but sometimes a refresh is all it takes. We analyzed our top- performing content and identified sections that resonated most with users. We then repurposed those sections into bite-sized snippets for social media. This increased social engagement and surged website traffic. These are just a few examples, but they highlight the power of thinking outside the box.

Mark Tran, SEO Account Manager at Megantic

Mark Tran, SEO Account Manager at Megantic

The internet is full of repetitive content, often worsened by digital marketers who over-optimise meta titles, descriptions, headings, and page content for search engines. This leads to verbose content thats found across almost all of the top 10 blue links for many Google search queries.

In recent times, weve noticed that Google has been giving more visibility to Reddit, a forum where people share firsthand experiences, both positive and negative, to educate others on various topics or problems they face in specific niches. This is often more helpful than many blogs written by general writers who lack firsthand research, expertise, or experience on the topic.

Ive been working with my team to guide our e-commerce clients on focusing on their top productsthose in high demand where they have a competitive advantage. The goal is to tap into their sales teams, who directly interact with customer orders and inquiries, to understand customers concerns and questions. Then, they create concise, easy-to-read Q&A content for those product pages that helps both customers and salespeople. These pages can then be shared with sales teams and used to respond to customer inquiries effectively.

Discover Lets Talk Business Topics

Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Big corporates trying to find other occupants to sublet their unwanted offices are struggling to compete with landlords who are offering big incentives in rent deals.

Tech giants like Atlassian, Salesforce, Meta and X were once seen as the saviour of landlords because of their large-scale leases. They are now wary of taking up new space, accounting for just 16.5 per cent of sublet space.

A render of the 40-level Atlassian tower near Central Station in Sydney. Credit:

These groups are also cutting back on subleasing unwanted offices which has eased the pressure on the office markets underbelly. In Sydney, Atlassian and Dexus are still pushing ahead with the tower in Sydneys $2 billion central tech hub.

Sublet space is considered a key indicator of the health of commercial office property as it measures the unwanted or excess floors in city towers.
My eye is just drawn to beautiful things, Leong says. It might be their hair or the way they are wearing the latest bag. Its not just a matter of having the latest bag. Leong is part of a second wave of street style photographers, with the first round emerging alongside the rise of internet blogging culture. In 2005, former mens fashion sales associate Scott Schuman launched The Sartorialist in the US, with top-to-toe portraits of men in tailored suits, brandishing pocket handkerchiefs and fedoras that paved the way for Mad Men dressing two years before the launch of the TV series. That year Canadian Tommy Ton started the blog Jak and Jill, which offered a more candid perspective of people outside the fashion week shows of Europe, honing in on the twist of a scarf or line of a Manolo Blahnik heel. Phil Oh completed the triumvirate, launching Street Peeper in 2006. Its where the fashion world and the real world intersect, Oh says. I love it. All three would go on to contribute to US Vogues website. When Instagram rose in prominence following its launch in 2010, their numbers swelled. Thats what got me interested, says Melbourne-based street style photographer Danielle Castano. I would follow the work of Phil Oh, as well as Adam Katz Sinding for W. I came into it from a love of fashion and taught myself the photography.

Since taking her first street style photograph at the Melbourne Fashion Festival in 2012, Castano has gone on to work with Chanel, The Business of Fashion and Elle. Street style images from Austrlian Fashion Week, 2023. Photographed by Dan Castano. Credit: Dan Castano I was in love with the way street style managed to capture the history of fashion, trends and the thoughts of designers, Castano says. I turned up to that fashion week with a point and shoot camera and took three photos. They were shocking, so I left. By the time Castano returned the next year she had taught herself more photography skills and researched other blogs. Three years later, she had left her job managing a Sportsgirl store and was capturing USVogue editor Anna Wintour and former French Vogue editor Emmanuelle Alt in Europe. Strangely, I dont usually see faces, she says. Its always the outfit or the accessory first. Does it feel organic? Is it something they would normally wear? In that way, making sure that the people I photograph are diverse comes naturally to me.

Both Castano and Leong are cleaning their lenses for Australian Fashion Week, the annual industry event at Sydneys Carriageworks starting on May 13, where designers show collections for the Resort 2025 season. They will compete for images with their peers Liz Sunshine, Myles Kalus and Giuseppe Santamaria of Men In This Town, and a new generation wielding smartphones instead of Nikon cameras. Street style at Australian fashion Week 2023 captured by Dan Castano. Credit: Dan Castano I really love shooting in Sydney because the community is so tight-knit, says Leong, who broke into photography after interning in the London office of New Zealand designer Emilia Wickstead. The photographers there are mainly females and I love the female empowerment. Honestly, in Paris I have to fight with photographers to get the shot I want. Castano also recalls struggling to stake her claim to a slice of sidewalk in Paris. Theyre savage, Castano says. Its full-on in Europe. If everyone is photographing one person, Ill wait for another moment. The only time I have ever ran and joined the fight for a shot was to get Christine Centenera [editor of Vogue Australia] outside the Chloe show... You have to face a few elbows, but thats being a female in the photography world.

Despite the crowds, both photographers cite Europe as home to the most inspiring street style. Everything really does trickle down from Paris, Leong says. You can be at Shanghai Fashion Week and you will spot the trends filtering through from Paris. In the really cool cases, they are then matched with local styles. Last year, the street style at Australian Fashion Week came under fire from content creators in Europe for being more commercial than creative. I think that Melbourne Fashion Week is definitely more commercial but thats the nature of the event, Castano says. Its more of a public event but the lines are blurring. I love Australian Fashion Week street style, Leong says. Sometimes in Paris, people go all out and then it can be too much. Everything in Sydney seems to be laid back. Theres something about the style that you guys bring that is so different. I love seeing people who blend the top European labels with local designers. Theres plenty of playful layering with bold colours. That joy is tempered by the economic challenges facing the fashion industry, which is trickling down to street style photographers. Both Leong and Castano have noticed an increase in demands from media and fashion clients and a decrease in budgets. Its increasingly becoming a pay-for-play space, says Castano, who has noticed a rise in influencers hiring their own photographers and video teams to support their clients and supply images to publications for free.

There is increasingly less money for photographers, which is frustrating as the galleries we supply are some of the most popular products in the media landscape... There are so many more photographers out there, which is great, except when they work for free. It devalues what we do. Loading While being an influencer can become a full-time career, at the other end of the lens side hustles are often required to stay on the streets. Castano consults to fashion brands on content strategies and works on more traditional photography assignments. In Singapore, Leong works part-time for her familys construction business. Obviously, I would love to be doing this all the time, Leong says. But it keeps my senses sharp. Going from construction to fashion keeps your viewpoint fresh. With financial incentives dwindling, the motivation for both women is the same thing that separates them from other photographers. You cant do this job without being 100 per cent in love with fashion, says Castano.
Hi Nicole, we are a double income family of four with our income (our children are teenagers now) back up to $170,000 a year between my wife and I. That sounds a lot and is a lot more than when the kids were little, but there is virtually nothing left now after our expenses.

We have a $580,000 mortgage with about $500,000 left to pay (on a house worth far more) and our repayments are currently $4026 a month. We also have $50,000 sitting in an offset account (following your warnings, not directly in the loan).

My question is: is there any way to cut our repayments? The $50,000 is the only emergency money we have to our names, but should I pay that off the loan once and for all to cut our repayments? Thanks, Brett

Interest rates are unlikely to drop soon, so its best to find savings where you can. Credit: Nine

Brett, talk has  distressingly for mortgage holders  turned to the possibility that rate cuts now wont happen until next year and there may even be a couple of rises before then.
Ayla is among a skyrocketing number of Australian children who have had a tongue-tie release. The controversial procedure involves using scissors or a laser, often without anaesthetic, to cut soft tissue called a frenulum that connects the tongue with the floor of the mouth.

She was screaming the whole time so they had to stop and start, she recalls. It was barbaric.

Im traumatised just thinking about it, Jemma says of the 2018 tongue-tie procedure.

Then the dentist got to work, pointing a laser into Aylas mouth to cut the delicate tissue that ran from the underside of her tongue to the floor of her mouth.

The new mother watched as her daughter, Ayla, was wrapped tightly in a swaddle and held down on a table by a dental assistant while another prised her little mouth open.

Its been five years, but Jemma Collins can still hear her three-week-old daughters screams echoing through the dental clinic.

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them any time.

In the post, she detailed how Mack needed CPR, a blood transfusion and was put on a ventilator, before being transferred to the intensive care unit at Sydney Childrens Hospital.

Mack is on a ventilator, Rees wife, Tori, posted about the harrowing experience on Instagram. Please give him so much strength for us. We are speechless.

In 2019, the seven-week-old son of Australian comedian and childrens entertainer Jimmy Rees was rushed to Gosford Hospital, on the NSW Central Coast, by ambulance after a main blood vessel was accidentally cut during a tongue-tie procedure.

In rare cases, the procedure can be life-threatening.

While many parents swear by the procedure  which is often promoted as a solution to breastfeeding issues such as nipple pain, fussiness at the breast and a poor latch  others, including Jemma, say it made no difference and instead inflicted unnecessary pain on their babies.

Its estimated that between 2 and 10 per cent of babies are born with a tongue tie, a congenital anomaly that can make it difficult for some babies to breastfeed because their tongue movement is restricted.

Social media, intense pressure to breastfeed and poor breastfeeding support are fuelling the rise in tongue-tie surgeries, according to the medical practitioners interviewed for this article.

The data also does not capture those performed in public hospitals.

These figures are just the tip of the iceberg because they do not capture a large proportion of the procedures which are being performed by private dentists and dont attract rebates. One Melbourne dentist, who charges $900 for the procedure and aftercare, told this masthead he performed about 1000 tongue-tie releases every year.

Last year, 8719 children aged four and under received Medicare-funded tongue and lip-tie releases (a condition where the skin of the upper lip is attached to the gums in a way that restricts movement). There were just 1097 procedures performed on this age group in 2003.

The procedure has boomed in popularity, with the number of Medicare-funded tongue-tie releases for Australian children aged four and under increasing by almost 700 per cent between 2003 and 2023, according to an analysis of government data by this masthead.

Mack is on a ventilator. Please give him so much strength for us. We are speechless.

The term was coined in 2004 to refer to a tight, hidden band of tissue at the base of the tongue. It dramatically expanded the definition of what was considered a tongue tie.

Douglas believes classic tongue ties should be snipped with scissors to give babies better movement of their tongues. But shes concerned about the unnecessary cutting of whats known as posterior tongue ties.

While all the health practitioners interviewed for this article agreed that tongue-tie releases were necessary for some babies, there was a large divide in opinion about how often the procedure should be performed and what constitutes a tongue tie.

None of this has an evidence base but it does have a movement, says Dr Pamela Douglas, a breastfeeding expert, GP and adjunct associate professor at Griffith University in Queensland.

A 2017 Cochrane review concluded that while tongue-tie releases reduced womens nipple pain in the short term, investigators did not find a consistent positive effect on infant breastfeeding.

But while scores of lactation consultants and dentists promote the practice, there is limited evidence that tongue-tie releases improve feeding.

The rise in tongue-tie releases has coincided with a steady stream of complaints to the national health watchdog.

It was really clear that the tongue-tie release at three weeks old did nothing, she says. His weight continued to drop.

Nikki, a Melbourne mother who does not want to disclose her surname for privacy reasons, says she was blocked from this group after posting about her negative experience following her sons tongue-tie release.

At the same time, Australian mothers and lactation consultants are spruiking the surgery as a miracle cure for everything from breastfeeding issues to sleep apnoea and reflux on one pro-tongue tie Facebook group that boasts more than 36,000 members.

Desperate parents are flocking online for answers, with Google search interest in the term tongue tie almost quadrupling over the past decade in Australia.

It misunderstands the anatomy, says Douglas. We are looking at normal anatomic variations. These breastfeeding problems require different solutions to surgery.

The Australian Health Practitioner and Regulation Agency has received 42 notifications relating to either tongue or lip-tie procedures in the decade to February 2024. The bulk of these (23) related to dental practitioners followed by medical practitioners (seven) and then midwives (six).

Most of these complaints have resulted in no further action, with two leading to regulatory action, and one practitioner is due to appear before a tribunal in coming months.

Its an issue that has also caused rifts across the medical community.

A 2020 consensus statement released by the Australian Dental Association, the Australian College of Midwives and 12 other medical associations urged families to seek professional advice to ensure a restricted frenum is actually causing a babys problems before resorting to surgery.

It was really clear that the tongue-tie revision at three weeks old did nothing. Melbourne mother Nikki

It said there was a lack of evidence supporting the term posterior tongue tie and it should not be used as a medical diagnosis.

Use of this term can result in a normal lingual frenum being classified as abnormal, it said.

It also warned practitioners against advising parents to stretch their babies wounds following surgery. This prolonged healing time, increased the risk of scarring and infection, and created a medico-legal risk for clinicians, according to the practitioners.

Brisbane dentist Dr Marjan Jones and Melbourne dentist Dr Jeff Kestenberg, who run clinics specialising in tongue-tie releases, published a rebuttal accusing the Australian Dental Association of being biased, omitting key research and failing to consult dentists with experience in the field.

These attempts have the potential of denying mothers and infants the care and assistance they need to overcome the very real challenges they face to sustain that most significant and life-giving practice of providing sustenance to their infants, they wrote.

Kestenberg, who works at Coburg Dental Group in Melbournes north, says he performs laser tongue-tie releases on about 1000 babies every year.

I think one to two weeks after birth, if you havent been able to establish appropriate breastfeeding, then you should be doing the treatment, he says.

He says the quick procedure enables 90 to 95 per cent of patients to successfully re-establish breastfeeding.

Parents arent allowed in the room where the procedure takes place because some have fainted in the past, according to Kestenberg.

Hes concerned that waiting longer leads to babies moving onto bottle feeding, and then refusing to breastfeed.

He rejects criticism that dentists arent well-placed to perform the procedures because they dont understand breastfeeding. I dont assess breastfeeding, he says. I work together with other practitioners who refer to me. Who better to do the actual tongue-tie release than the person who knows the best about the anatomy of the mouth?

He also advises parents to perform the stretches on their babies wounds. When I have patients where the stretches werent done, or where they werent done as prescribed, we see reattachment or regrowth of the frenulum and we need to re-treat it.

Loading

Dr Mihiri Silva, who is chair of the Australian Dental Associations oral health committee and helped write the consensus statement, says non-surgical interventions, such as working with a lactation consultant to improve the positioning of a baby, reduced unnecessary tongue-tie releases.

While most procedures are simple and safe, there are also serious risks that you want to avoid, she says.

These risks, according to Silva, might include bleeding, infection and what is sometimes referred to as a feeding aversion.

Its something that Anita Moorhead, a clinical midwife consultant from Royal Womens Hospital Melbourne, has witnessed.

Every year, she sees a handful of babies who have been left with sore, uncomfortable mouths following tongue-tie surgeries. In some cases, the discomfort means that the babies have become reluctant to breastfeed.

We cant undo what has been done, she says.

Moorhead has been assessing babies for tongue ties for 17 years at the Royal Womens and teaches other nurse midwives to do the same.

While rates of tongue-tie releases have skyrocketed in the broader community, the number of releases performed at the major maternity hospital has remained stable about two to three a week.

She believes the procedure should be performed by people who are qualified to assess breastfeeding.

We take it carefully and cautiously, she explains. We dont want to trivialise a procedure on a baby. But for some babies, we have exhausted all other avenues that we can to improve breastfeeding, and this is part of the puzzle.

A recent tongue-tie release resolved breastfeeding issues for Amanda Jenkins and her five-week-old daughter, Charlotte.

We were having issues with latching, she explains. She lost a lot of her birth weight.

A Gold Coast GP performed the procedure last week with a pair of scissors and Jenkins noticed an immediate difference.

The latching is much better, she says. It has made our lives a lot simpler, not having to do as much bottle feeding and expressing. We hardly noticed her little tongue sticking out before and now we can.

Mother-of-three Jemma Collins believes that tongue ties are being overdiagnosed in Australia. Credit: Dan Peled

In Jemma and Aylas case, a tongue-tie release was recommended when there were no obvious issues with breastfeeding. There was no pain and Ayla was a settled baby who was putting on weight.

But a midwife from the Queensland maternity hospital where Jemma gave birth was concerned about a clicking noise that Ayla made when she fed.

She said it could be a tongue tie and recommended that Jemma see a chiropractor.

The chiropractor determined that Ayla had a tongue and lip tie and said this could lead to a reduction in milk supply, a gap between Aylas front teeth, speech issues and feeding issues when she started solids.

The pair were then referred to the dentist who performed the procedure.

Jemma Collins and her daughter, Ayla, in 2018.

Jemmas daughter continued to make a clicking noise following the surgery, which she later discovered was due to her fast flow of milk.

The dentist instructed Jemma to perform stretches on Aylas tongue, which involved running her finger over the babys wound four times a day for three weeks following the surgery. She was told this would ensure the tie did not grow back.

Imagine having an open wound on your knee, she says. It wants to heal, and stick back together but four times a day you are pulling that wound apart. Thats what they want you to do with the tongue.

She stopped the exercises after seeking the advice of another lactation consultant who said they could lead to feeding aversions.

Lactation consultant Lois Wattis says an excessive number of tongue-tie releases are being performed on babies who dont need them.

Theres been an enormous amount of over-treatment that has happened, primarily by dentists, she says.

Confirmation bias, where people seek only evidence that supports their existing views, is a powerful force at play, according to Wattis.

In all aspects of this treatment, you will have people wanting it to work, she says. Parents want it to work because they are struggling.

Breastfeeding issues often resolve over time as babies grow and their mothers discover the best positioning for feeding, Wattis says.

Jemma has since gone on to have two more children, including a now three-year-old who was also diagnosed with a tongue tie by a lactation consultant.

Imagine having an open wound on your knee. It wants to heal, and stick back together but four times a day you are pulling that wound apart. Jemma

I just did the watch and wait and she was fine: talking by 18 months, eating solids like a champion, no issues whatsoever, Jemma says.

Her three-month-old son, Eric, also makes a clicking noise when he feeds and she suspects he also falls under the definition of a child with a tongue tie.

Shed like to see tighter controls over who can assess and perform tongue-tie releases.

In our case, it might not have been necessary in the first place.

The Morning Edition newsletter is our guide to the days most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up here.
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 In late September 2023, as the hot north-east winds whipped over the Gulf of Carpentaria, the chief executive of one of the Northern Territorys powerful land councils pressed for a payday that stood to make him a multimillionaire. The non-Indigenous chief executive of the Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC), Mark Hewitt, is in effect a salaried public official answerable under Commonwealth laws that safeguard the Aboriginal land council resources. Anindilyakwa Land Council chief executive Mark Hewitt. Credit: Anindilyakwa Land Council Even so, he asked Indigenous clan leaders to give him and his wife a shareholding in a landmark minerals project the council is driving which will generate an estimated $1 billion in revenue over its 10-year life. Leaked confidential documents obtained by this masthead reveal that Hewitts pitch was initially endorsed by several Anindilyakwa leaders, guardians of the remote tract of pristine water and land off the eastern coast of Arnhem Land, including Winchelsea Island, where manganese was to be mined. Groote Eylandt has been home to the worlds largest manganese mine since 1964. Credit: Anindilyakwa Land Council He argued it was his hard work and ingenuity that had been key to the Anindilyakwas progression of a mining venture that territory and federal officials heralded as a template for traditional owners dealing with resource and energy projects on their lands. The model would transform them from royalty recipients to active owners.

Advertisement

Hewitt was also armed with legal advice from a big corporate law firm that noted his play for a shareholding worth many millions, or even tens of millions of dollars, would not be unusual in the private sector. But this was not the private sector, and the share plan unravelled after a young land council lawyer discovered the deal, sparking claims of impropriety and, recently, a confidential investigation by the Albanese government. Hewitt is an employee and servant of the mob, and he is paid to empower and build the wealth and wellbeing of the Anindilyakwa people, said Curtin University professor Stephen van Leeuwen, an Indigenous leader who specialises in building relationships between traditional owners and land managers. Groote Eylandt is part of a remote archipelago. Credit: Anindilyakwa Land Council He described the attempted share grab as an outright conflict of interest and just bloody wrong. The controversy, which happened soon before the young lawyer was let go by the council, raises questions that resonate well beyond the Northern Territory. If the Winchelsea Island mine represents the future of how Indigenous people can capitalise on the nations energy and mineral resources, the internal tussle over how its spoils should be distributed raises critical questions around protecting their interests when big money, corporate dealmaking and lawyers come to town.

Advertisement

Van Leeuwen says that while the situation is improving, especially when it comes to large miners such as BHP and Rio Tinto, far more work is needed to ensure traditional owners not only understand their rights in negotiations with large resource firms, but have the power and agency to exercise them. One thing that needs to happen is the mob need to be informed about their rights, the principles of free, prior and informed consent, and how they can use their rights to achieve better outcomes for community and Country. Groote Eylandt is the largest of the islands in an archipelago about 650 kilometres from Darwin. The island was named in 1644 by Dutch explorer Abel Tasman. The traditional owners are the Anindilyakwa, many of whom still speak their own language as their first language. The population is as tiny as the area is remote. In 2018, there were an estimated 1600 Aboriginal people living in the Groote Archipelago and a further 1000 non-Indigenous people. Groote is famous for one thing: manganese. From 1964, it has hosted the worlds largest manganese mine, an open-cut strip-mining operation.

Advertisement

It produces high-grade ore and has, via its owner, the Groote Eylandt Mining Company (owned jointly by listed mining heavyweights Anglo American and South32), distributed $646.6 million in royalties and rents over the past decade. It has been much-needed money. According to a parliamentary submission by the land council in 2018, the Anindilyakwa experience the widest gap in life outcomes between Aboriginal people and the wider community of any jurisdiction in Australia, and low life expectancy, poor educational results, and high unemployment. News that same year that the mine would shut down in 2031 prompted traditional owners to back a new mining proposal, on neighbouring Winchelsea Island, with estimates it could extract manganese worth more than $1 billion if successful. An existing mine on the island is due to cease production. Credit: Anindilyakwa Land Council This venture, too, would be different. For the first time, the Anindilyakwa would be in the driving seat as mine owners. Winchelsea Mining was formed with 70 per cent of its shares held in a not-for-profit vehicle owned by traditional owners and the other 30 per cent held by a private Chinese investor. The champion of this vision was Mark Hewitt, a businessman and administrator who had worked in the diamond trade in Europe before taking on a series of executive roles with Australian mining and government agencies that placed him at the coalface of projects where Indigenous rights overlap with commercial interests.

Advertisement

After Hewitt was appointed the chief executive of the ALC in 2011, he became a driver of what he called a two-stream economy that sought to use mining royalty monies to build sustainable development and preserve the culture of the Anindilyakwa. The Winchelsea mine could provide economic certainty for years to come. Earlier this year, he told a federal Senate committee: As well as creating jobs for local Aboriginal people, the Winchelsea Mining project will most importantly contribute the additional revenue that will be lost when the GEMCO/South32 mine closes in 2031. But Hewitts wasnt merely an altruistic stance. The laws and rules governing the land council and associated bodies required him to work for the interests of the local Indigenous people, rather than for personal gain. Anindilyakwa Advancement Aboriginal Corporation chairman Bradley Bara in a manganese deposit on Groote Eylandt Credit: Anindilyakwa Land Council This left Hewitt in an increasingly difficult position when he sought appointment in 2018 as co-CEO of the company responsible for developing the Winchelsea mine, a firm over which the land council, which Hewitt would continue to head, would hold significant sway. A leaked September 2018 letter from Hewitt to then-Indigenous affairs minister Nigel Scullion reveals that the land council boss promised to disclose and manage this conflict, taking a reduced salary and vowing to recuse himself from land council dealings on the mine venture.

Advertisement
When 61.7 per cent of Australian voters supported same-sex marriage in the 2017 postal survey, 17 electorates voted no. Twelve of them were in western Sydney.

The highest no votes nationally were in the seats of Blaxland (73.95 per cent), Watson (69.64 per cent), McMahon (64.93 per cent), Werriwa (63.74 per cent), Fowler (63.66 per cent) and Parramatta (61.62 per cent). Adjacent were the no-voting seats of Greenway (53.64 per cent), Chifley (58.69 per cent), Banks (55.12 per cent) and Barton (56.36 per cent). Western Sydney, much more than the mythical redneck deep north, deep south or deep west, was Australias no-voting heart.

Councillor Steve Christou says he has not read the book he wants to ban from council libraries.

Blaxland, McMahon, Parramatta and Greenway are the federal electorates included in the Cumberland Council area, so it cant be said that the councillors who have voted to take the book, Same-Sex Parents, by Holly Duhig, out of public libraries are not representing the majority of their community. Cumberland is not Marrickville or Newtown, stated the former Labor and now independent councillor Steve Christou, who led the vote.

Now is the time for someone like me to thunder away about book burnings in Nazi Germany and the MAGA movements book censorship drive that is viciously attacking libraries in the United States. To deride the self-evident homophobia in the ban and mock Christou, who admitted not having read the book. To extol Australias progress in giving marriage equality to everybody. To cast Cumberland into the non-Marrickville, non-Newtown wilderness.
Not only cancer

In response to your correspondent (Letters, 10/5), I am a retired cancer research scientist who holds a patent for a treatment for bowel cancer, but am not shocked by the reduction in funding for the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

I do not know the details of the decision, but it is precisely because very few Australians, not just Victorians, are not related to, or acquainted with someone who is, or has been, affected by cancer, myself included, that I suspect that cancer research receives a larger proportion of the finite medical research funding pie than research into other equally worthy but less popular diseases.

Dr Philip Shehan, Brunswick

Medical delays

Victoria is in a medical crisis. The opinion piece, What I wish Id known about suicide before my son died, (8/5), is tragic, detailing a five-week wait for a teenager to get counselling and assistance, who even with the support of his family, was unable to tolerate his situation and took his life.

The crises are many. One friends newborn grandson needed essential surgery. His condition had been identified early in the pregnancy, but at birth his parents were told surgery would wait over a long weekend as there wasnt a surgeon available. By the time he had surgery days later it needed to be more extensive and required a longer recovery.

Then there is the colleague with a serious condition requiring surgery. Unfortunately, for months he was deemed not sick enough and bumped down the wait list, until last week when his condition became life-threatening.

Kicking the can down the road exacerbates the crises as patients are sicker when they go into surgery, may require more extensive procedures, are more likely to stay longer in ICU and have a more protracted recovery. Unfortunately for your correspondent and his family, their sons road came to an end, and he didnt even have a chance at treatment and recovery.

Maybe the planning of train lines to airports and spaghetti-like freeway structures could be kicked down the road whilst we sort out the mess of our medical services.

Felicity Browne, Toorak

Some debt is good

Boltes debt kept lights on, (Letters, 9/5), provided a valuable historical insight into Victorian debt levels back to the early 1960s.

Melbourne is a growing city whose population is forecast to exceed 8 million by 2050. Increased road congestion is a key driver in Victoria receiving an additional $3.7 billion in GST revenue next financial year.

Imagine the congestion around Melbourne today if the removal of 75 level crossings over the past eight years, (none of which received federal funding), had been delayed or abandoned, and the resulting travel time savings and productivity improvements not realised. By comparison, the AUKUS project is estimated to cost up to $368 billion while Victorias net debt is forecast to be $187 billion by mid-2028. So, one Commonwealth project is likely to cost taxpayers almost twice the projected Victorian debt.

Richard Willcock, Albert Park

Inheriting the Earth

I was so angry with Anthony Albanese and his gas policy yesterday and now Jim Chalmers wants us to have more children. Why? To inherit a planet that is racing towards a three-degree increase in temperature? Ice sheets are melting and this government and its predecessor are under the control of the fossil fuel industry. We have no hope. The poor kids will inherit this mess.

Pauline Ashton, Maribyrnong

Bizarre and dubious

Angus Dalton in The Age Examine newsletter, (7/5), highlights a variety of research approaches to develop an industrial standard Quantum computer. Ed Husic (BA) and Anthony Albanese (BEc), after due process, have engaged an American company PsiQuantum to work with Australian researchers using seed money of a billion dollars.

Philosopher Eric Schwitzgebel in his book The Weirdness of the World, says the mathematics of quantum mechanics passes every experimental test, but when applied to reality, the results are bizarre and dubious. Chucking that amount of cash at a project even physicists find difficult to fathom is bizarre and dubious.

Andrew Smith, Leongatha
A flood management expert says too little caution was taken when the Flemington Racecourse flood wall was built in 2007, and it is almost impossible to fix mitigation problems on the Maribyrnong River caused by poor decision-making.

Mark Babister is on the Melbourne Water review panel looking at the 2022 floods that drenched hundreds of homes. On Friday, he told another inquiry, in state parliament, that the mitigation efforts when the wall was constructed had suffered from a lack of caution.

The Flemington Racecourse flood wall kept the track in perfect condition while Maribyrnong homes flooded. Credit: Emma Johnston

The technology at the time made it hard for them to be definitive but nobody erred on the side of caution. That is probably the biggest mistake, Babister told the parliamentary inquiry into the floods on Friday.

Its really easy to avoid flooding by putting things in the right place, so youve got to get the decision right at the start. And its very hard to fix it afterwards  On a river, its nearly impossible.
Doctors perform a surgery on a Lao woman at the Bach Mai Hospital. Photo by VnExpress/Mai Thanh

A 23-year-old Lao woman in Hanoi lost 40 kg after consuming toilet bowl cleaners, rendering her unable to consume food normally  but modern healthcare saved her.

The woman drank the cleaning products when she became upset and disturbed over "personal issues" over a year ago.

But her family rushed her to the hospital as soon as they found out.

However, ingestion of the products had already severely burned her gastrointestinal tracts, rendering her unable to consume solid food. For three months, she could not even drink water.

The woman visited several medical facilities, Vientiane, the capital of Laos.

She was also put through several treatments by experts in Vietnam, including esophageal dilation and stent insertion, to no avail.

Tran Manh Hung, head of the general surgery department at Bach Mai Hospital in Hanoi, said the patient came to the hospital two months prior with severe malnutrition. From a healthy girl at 74 kg, she only weighed 34 kg two months ago.

"All of the patients gastrointestinal tracts have been burned due to corrosive substances, causing her esophagus to shrink," Hung said, adding that treating her would involve the complex reshaping of her upper gastrointestinal tracts.

Doctors decided to perform a surgery to enable them to feed her directly through her gastrointestinal tracts. Once the patients conditions improve, another surgery would remove her esophagus and reshape her upper gastrointestinal tracts.

A month after the first operation, the womans health began to improve. She gained 10 kg and her BMI was sufficient to prepare her for a major surgery.

At the end of last month, Hung and his colleagues succeeded in their second surgery to reshape the patients upper gastrointestinal tracts. She has now become healthy and has been discharged from the hospital.
In the typically stodgy language born of a long negotiation, the charter is spelled out in seven points in a publicly available document. It lists, perfunctorily, a complex set of threats to that independence that editors must safeguard against: from above, below, inside and outside the newsroom. A committee operates within The Age to identify threats to this commitment.

The Age charter of independence does not make my job as editor any easier, but it is an important reminder of our commitment to deliver journalism readers can trust. Credit: Justin McManus

I often consider how we measure up to that commitment , which was enshrined by our newsroom in The Age charter of independence on March 28, 1988. It was later expanded to include The Australian Financial Review and The Sydney Morning Herald. I was only a boy when it was signed, but it remains as important now as it was then. Perhaps more so.

Life would be simpler for this editor if such lofty aspirations did not exist. Toeing the company line or giving into public pressure to pick a side on divisive issues is an easier path to tread  but not the right one. Nevertheless, this binary view of journalism is the path taken by most of our competitors who unapologetically tailor their coverage based on self-interest or narrow ideology. Their owners hand them a template that can be applied to every line-ball decision.

Loading

As I sit here now, contemplating whether or not to run a controversial but powerful opinion piece, I cant help but envy those other editors ever so slightly. But that envy is drowned out by the echo of those two words underneath our masthead.

The binary approach limits the impact good journalism has when the reader knows it is not motivated by ideology. It erodes the publics trust in the ability of the media to report honestly. We want our subscribers to have faith that our choices and editorial positions are based on our judgment and the facts in front of us.

For our critics, our commitment to independence is opportunistically seen as a stick that can be used to flog The Age. And if we transgress, rightly so. We rely on our subscribers to flag when we have gone too far, and we welcome that input. Sometimes that criticism comes from those with vested interests and unwavering opinions who identify a viewpoint or editorial position they disagree with and claim it undermines our principle of independence. Putting aside the hypocrisy of such criticism, which has been mercifully rare of late, such protests are often a reminder that we are doing our job correctly. People should disagree with us occasionally. We should challenge our readers. We want to be a home to hard truths and open debate.
The promotion has already begun. A huge picture now overlooks St Kilda Road, announcing that Pharaoh opens on June 14, the latest in a series of Melbourne Winter Masterpieces. Last year the focus was on French artist Pierre Bonnard ; the year before, Spanish rascal Pablo Picasso . Now the gallery will be featuring exquisite jewellery, papyri, coffins and a rich array of funerary objects.

Anzac Day is about remembering and respecting the dead. Meanwhile, efforts continue to identify individual bodies in the mud of the Western Front  also the setting for memorial services in April. Desecration of graves is considered a step too far, even in the underworld . At a Hobart school, the discovery of human remains during building works has prompted a sensitive recovery operation on the site of an old cemetery.

Were getting better at dealing with old stuff appropriately. At a solemn ceremony in Cambridge recently four spears taken by Captain Cook from Indigenous people at Botany Bay in 1770 were returned to descendants of the original owners . There is growing acceptance that, whatever their scientific or archaeological significance, skulls and skeletons deserve more fitting resting places than filing-cabinet drawers or display cases.

I think the picture used on the gallerys exterior wall is detail of a stone sculpture of Thutmose III, a pharaoh from about 1479 to 1457 BC. Im no Egyptologist, so I cant be sure. But thats OK, as one striking thing about the gallerys description of items featured in the exhibition is uncertainty. A head of a statue is probably Amenemhat III; there is also a relief of a mother, possibly a queen. What is definite, though, is that these objects will be a long way from home.

Home, it seems, is the British Museum, a partner in the exhibition. Yes, the same museum still hanging onto the Elgin Marbles, which the Greek government would like back. If you believe one museum is much like another, and arent much fussed whether marbles or relics are displayed in London or Athens or Melbourne, ask yourself if it would seem acceptable for, say, the Louvre in Paris to be staging a collection of Indigenous Australian artefacts, many of them associated with rituals around death.

Loading

Theres actually a French connection with the NGV show: the tomb of Thutmose III, a renowned warrior, was discovered by French Egyptologist Victor Loret in the so-called Valley of the Kings in the late 19th century. Another Frenchman unwrapped the mummy, but only after a German archaeologist had taken a good look  finding, among other things, that tomb-raiders in ancient times had refused to let the pharaoh rest in peace. His expression on the NGVs website is serene, betraying no hint of gross indignities to come.

The NGV show includes symbolic figurines left in graves and at least one coffin (wooden; Thebes, 900BC). Also some intriguing objects with a closer association to life than death  jewellery, for example, and a sheet of papyrus from 1110BC covered in script. (Best not to seek a translation in case its a ministerial statement.)
The vote confers additional rights on Palestine at the world body, allowing it to take part fully in debates, propose agenda items and have its representatives elected to committees. However, it will not be able to vote in the General Assembly after the United States used its veto power in the Security Council last month to block a bid for full Palestinian membership of the UN. Israels UN ambassador Gilad Erdan theatrically inserted a miniature copy of the UN charter into a transparent paper shredder. Credit: YouTube/United Nations Former prime minister Scott Morrison declared he was terribly saddened and disappointed by the vote, which he described as the most hostile act of an Australian government to the state of Israel in our history. In a day of high emotion at UN headquarters in New York, Israels UN ambassador Gilad Erdan said that the global community had rewarded Hamas for its October 7 terror attacks, which led to 1200 deaths.

Erdan said the UN had opened up the United Nations to modern-day Nazis, to genocidal jihadists committed to establishing an Islamic state across Israel and the region, murdering every Jewish man, woman and child. It makes me sick, he said. Declaring that the nations supporting the resolution had shredded the UN charter, Erdan inserted a miniature copy of the UN charter into a transparent paper shredder during his speech. The resolution, which reaffirms the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, including the right to their independent State of Palestine, was supported by 143 nations  the overwhelming majority of UN member states.

Nine countries voted against and 25 abstained. Loading Wong said many of Australias regional partners voted in favour, including New Zealand, Japan, Indonesia, Singapore and South Korea. However, Australias vote contrasted with its AUKUS partners, the United States and United Kingdom, which respectively voted no and abstained. The result underlies the growing strength of the Palestinian cause within Labor, which abstained from voting on a 2012 resolution granting Palestine observer status at the UN but has since incorporated support for Palestinian statehood into its policy platform.

Israels ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, said that expanding Palestines role at the UN without direct negotiations is counterproductive and would only reward Hamas for the atrocities they committed on October 7. He said it was disappointing that Australia had voted differently to like-minded countries with which it was usually aligned. Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong has been laying the groundwork for a yes vote on such a resolution over the past month. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said the Labor governments support for the resolution risks harming long-term peace prospects and sends a shameful message that violence and terrorism get results. By advancing the wishes of terrorists while securing nothing in return, this vote has reduced the incentive for parties to negotiate and increased the risks of future attacks or bloodshed, he said.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion said Australia should have joined the UK by abstaining from the vote. One can only conclude that Australias vote was driven by domestic political considerations, and not by principle, which makes it a sad and shameful day for all Australians, he said. The Palestinian leadership is as autocratic, corrupt and divided as ever, and remains incapable of forming a single government with the capacity to rule over its claimed territory. Australia Palestine Advocacy Network president Nasser Mashni welcomed Australias vote as a favourable move towards a serious international commitment to Palestinian self-determination but lamented the watering down of previous drafts.

Even with this successful resolution, the UN has still failed to recognise Palestinians basic, inherent right to participate in decision-making about issues that directly affect their lives and political aspirations, he said. Loading Dvir Abramovich, chair of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said the vote could not have come at a worse time because he believed it would undermine efforts to convince Hamas to release Israelis taken hostage on October 7. I feel like I have been stabbed in the heart, he said. Wong began laying the groundwork for supporting such a resolution last month in a speech emphasising the case for Palestinian statehood, separate to a final peace settlement with Israel.

Australias ambassador to the UN, James Larsen, told the General Assembly that Australia had been frustrated by the lack of recent progress towards a two-state solution. Larsen stressed that the resolution does not provide membership of the United Nations and retains the status of the permanent observer mission with a modest extension of additional rights. Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour addresses the UN General Assembly. Credit: AP The vote came as the war in Gaza entered its eighth month, with Israel expanding ground operations in the southern city of Rafah and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing that Israel would fight with its fingernails if necessary after the US withheld a delivery of bombs. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels assault, according to health officials in Gaza.
It wasnt quite as catchy as Peter Costellos one for mum, one for dad and one for the country baby-bonus-infused quip, but Jim Chalmers touched a nerve with his overt support for the right of people to have larger families.

Talking to this mastheads podcast The Morning Edition this week, Chalmers said it would be better if birth rates were higher while noting there were several factors behind the drop in Australias fertility rate.

Jim Chalmers comments about Australian families have started a population debate that will continue for years. Credit: Getty Images

Pressed about his thoughts at a press conference on Friday morning, Chalmers said the government had spent a lot of money in areas such as childcare and paid parental leave to give couples a choice when it came to family size.

I know that people will make their own choices and I dont pretend for a moment that government should direct those choices, but we want to make it easier for people to have bigger families if they want to, he said.
Australians will be promised $12.3 billion in new housing programs in a federal budget pitch to ease fears of chronic shortages that force up rents and prices, with new support for women and children who need shelter after fleeing domestic violence.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese struck a deal with state and territory leaders on Friday afternoon to inject more cash into construction, including a five-year agreement on social housing that will repair homes and expand crisis support.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the new spending would encourage states to kickstart housing projects. Credit: Gaye Gerard

A key element of the deal is a $1 billion payment to the states and territories to build roads and other infrastructure needed to support new housing developments, answering calls for more facilities for homes in the suburbs.

Albanese said the new spending would encourage states to kickstart housing projects and would be combined with other policies to increase the number of construction workers.
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 There were no rainbow flags or glittering Mardi Gras parades awaiting Terry Goulden outside Sutherland police station in 1965 when his ashen-faced mother came to bail him out. The naive 20-year-old had been arrested for an unfulfilled act of indecency with a man who turned out to be a young, undercover police officer. Today, Goulden, who is now 78, says next months 40th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in NSW presents the perfect opportunity for the government  via Premier Chris Minns  to finally say sorry. Between the 1950s and early 1980s, thousands of men like Goulden found themselves on the wrong side of the law in NSW, with crimes ranging from inciting an indecent act with another male to abominable buggery, carrying fines and prison sentences ranging from a few months to 14 years. Terry Goulden at home in Wentworth Falls. Credit: Kate Geraghty Following questions from the Herald about a potential apology, on Friday, NSW Premier Chris Minns said the government recognised the trauma and persecution people of diverse sexualities continue to endure because of old laws. He also said a formal apology would be delivered in parliament to coincide with the anniversary. I know that to many, this apology will not remedy discrimination of the past, but I hope that it brings some semblance of closure to those who were unfairly targeted by laws of the day that criminalised gay and lesbian people for being who they are, Minns said. Along with fines and prison, many suffered the ignominy of court-endorsed treatments  from electric shock and potent drugs to brain surgery  to cure their homosexuality, much of it now considered medical quackery.

Advertisement

Leader of the Government in the Legislative Council Penny Sharpe said: A formal apology for those who suffered at the hands of those laws recognises the harm done to many and acknowledges that they were wrong. State criminal records data is only readily available from 1994 onwards. While exact numbers are not clear, according to a 1976 report from the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, NSW courts recorded hundreds  and up to a thousand  homosexual convictions a year. Entrapment tactics Despite it being 60 years ago, Goulden can instantly recall the incident in the dunes of Wanda Beach. He says he was lured by a handsome young man in tight bathers. The man invited Goulden to touch it, only to arrest him when he did. It was absolutely entrapment, he says. Goulden was a first-time offender who was deeply ashamed by the encounter, but he avoided conviction, instead getting a warning. Six months later, on New Years Eve, he would not be so lucky. Sitting in his cosy Blue Mountains home today, sipping coffee and cradling his prize-winning cats as the rain pours outside, Gouldens tone becomes more sombre about what he now calls his criminal badge of honour. Looking back, it really was ridiculous  there was no bloody victim! The other guy was just as into it as I was, he says of his New Years Eve encounter with a handsome young Scotsman. The pair were in a parked car on a secluded fire trail in the Royal National Park when they were interrupted by a ranger tapping on the window.

Advertisement

According to police records, when the ranger asked the young men, who were naked from the waist down, what they were doing, an indignant Goulden fired back isnt that obvious! The frustrating thing is we never actually got to really do anything ... Suddenly, we were being hauled to Sutherland police station, interrogated by policemen, charged and convicted of indecent assault, he says. Terry Goulden revisits his criminal record of 1965 with husband John Greenway. Credit: Kate Geraghty Before facing the magistrate, Gouldens solicitor advised him to seek treatment from prominent Lane Cove psychiatrist William Rowe, who revealed in the Australian Medical Journal in 1967 that he had treated 300 homosexuals in Sydney, to cure his homosexuality. It was a common legal tactic at the time used by gay men to avoid incarceration, although Goulden says it often came with its own unforeseen punishment. He wrote a ridiculous report and prescribed a course of chemical castration drugs which stopped me from being able to perform, but it did nothing to quell my libido. I knew it was all nonsense; Id known I was homosexual since I was a little boy after discovering the term in a sex education book, Goulden says. It was absolute quackery  thank God I had the presence of mind to stop taking that poison ... If I had continued down that path, I might not have had this wonderful life.

Advertisement

Goulden reading his conviction papers. Credit: Kate Geraghty Thats the really upsetting thing to me now; how many people had their potential destroyed, were permanently damaged psychologically or physically because they were forced to go against their nature? John Greenway, a spritely 90-year-old whom Goulden married five years ago after a 50-year relationship, refills our coffee and says the time to heal these old wounds is fast running out: None of us are getting any younger. Goulden counts himself as one of the lucky ones. He enjoyed a distinguished career in the mental health, human rights and counselling spheres, even though his record prevented him from getting at least one senior appointment to a prominent public office some years ago. Across the Tasman in Hokitika, a small town in the West Coast region of New Zealands South Island, trans woman Jacquie Grant says her experiences at the hands of NSW Police and the legal system as a teenager on the streets of Kings Cross remain bitter memories. Jacquie Grant and her police mugshot taken when she was 15 years old. It took me 40 years to go back to Sydney ... it was a bastard of a place. Not all of us trans girls were treated as celebrities like Carlotta, says Grant, who changed her name and turned her life around after arriving in New Zealand in 1964, where she found a more lenient attitude to trans people.

Advertisement

Grant, who now runs a sock factory, was made an Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit in recognition of her fostering work caring for 72 children in between running a zoo, a dairy farm, working as a merchant sailor, becoming a local councillor and working for nine years as a lay judge on the NZ Human Rights Review Tribunal. I was a street worker, but I was mostly arrested for dressing up as a girl, which was how I lived 24/7, and for consorting with others like me. The cops would see us and arrest us. I lied about my age, I was 15 when they sent me to Long Bay Gaol ... twice, Grant says. I was stripped in front of the other inmates  bashed and humiliated by the cops. It was only when my grandparents told them my real age they put me in a boys home, which frankly was worse. I see myself as a political prisoner from that era, we were the victims of a conservative agenda, our basic human rights were not just ignored, they were completely violated by the state. On June 8, 1984, a year after the first death attributed to HIV in Australia amid growing mainstream hysteria around the virus, homosexuality was finally decriminalised in NSW  four years behind Victoria and nine years after South Australia became the first state to do so. It had been a long time coming, the seeds of reform planted in September 1957 by The Wolfenden Report released in Britain, which recommended homosexual law reform. Local activists, including Robert French and the late Lex Watson, spent years campaigning. A gay embassy was set up in 1983 outside then-premier Neville Wrans home in Woollahra to prod him into action. In May 1984, Wran launched a Private Members Bill to decriminalise consensual gay sex, a month after being loudly jeered at the Council for Civil Liberties 21st-anniversary dinner for his failure to pass homosexual law reform.

Advertisement
Simone said she also wanted to see more money being spent on improving the education system and paying teachers more. Edward Cooney Edward Cooney is enrolled in a Bachelor of Agricultural Science, specialising in animal science, at Murdoch University. He said while the $400 electricity credit would afford some relief, the cost of renting was so high that it would not have the same effect as it did when the scheme started four years ago. Cooney also said the rental market was dire, and that while he was lucky enough to have been able to take over his current rental from his brother, his sister had struggled for months before finding anything.

Even the bare-bones houses were $800 per week or more because demand is so high  that is the new reasonable price even though income has not kept up, he said. Edward Cooney said while the $400 electricity payment would help, it would not go as far as it did in previous years due to cost of living. The budget has committed to build hundreds of new affordable rental homes in the coming years. Its a start, but its not yet keeping up with the scale of the issue and there is no real timeframe on when these will be completed. Cooney also flagged promises made on climate change and decarbonisation in the budget, echoing the concerns of many in the younger generation it would not be enough to save the environment for the future. They are picking and choosing what to close down, like the coal-fired power plants, while still placating the mining sector, rather than doing as much good as they can, he said.

There was also nothing in the budget specifically aimed at helping university students alone, he said. Bradley Horton Single father of one Bradley Horton, 52, said the cost of living crunch was hurting him hard and had curbed his spending, which meant purchasing less meat in his weekly shop. He said the $150 school assistance payment had helped and he couldnt complain about the $400 credit, but would have preferred housing was addressed more in the budget. Brad Horton at home in Calista. Credit: Ross Swanborough

Cant complain because its 400 bucks, but you know, other stuff like helping towards rental stuff would be better, he said. Even the fact that they could put in the law where you cant get evicted without a reason would be nice. Horton wasnt impressed by the 2.5 per cent increase in the cost of utilities like electricity and water obscured by the electricity credit. Not good. Especially when people have electric heaters and stuff, he said. Ned Caporn-Bennett

Ned Caporn-Bennett is in his third year studying an advanced diploma of fashion at TAFE. There was plenty in the budget aimed at improving education and training, including more than $8 million to continue the fee-free TAFE placements into 2025. Ned Caporn-Bennett said arts-based TAFE subjects should have been better considered in the state budget. Credit: Holly Thompson But Caporn-Bennett said he would have liked to see more courses included in that program, specifically more arts-based courses that were often forgotten about or underfunded. I actually believe education should be free in general, but more consideration for the arts would be a significant step forward, he said.

All school students can also travel for free Monday to Friday  a cost-of-living promise announced in February. Loading But this does not extend to TAFE or university students, except for the free travel on Sunday handed out to all West Australians. Caporn-Bennett said while he would make use of this occasionally, it would be a much better cost of living initiative if it was free travel on a weekday instead, stating he travelled by train to get to TAFE almost every weekday. On a Sunday it just feels a bit tokenistic, he said.

He also said he had been feeling the cost of living increase in his everyday life, particularly when shopping for groceries, stating he had significantly cut back on the amount he was buying and was scabbing more food from his parents. Joel Valvasori-Pereza A quick glance over the state budget looked a lot like more of the same to Joel Valvasori-Pereza, owner and chef of Subiaco-based Italian restaurant Lulu La Delizia. There really wasnt a heap for businesses, Valvasori-Pereza told this masthead. Im no economist, but it feels like this budget is just a few holes being plugged, and Im not sure who the real winners are. And that doesnt seem right for a state with a surplus like ours.

For the past five months, Valvasori-Pereza says he has noticed the restaurants customer base tightening their belts at a time when its operating costs are increasing. And the rising cost of living isnt just a problem for his clientele, but the 20 staff he has on the books. Valvasori-Pereza doubts the states cost-of-living relief, headlined by a $400 electricity credit and concessions for families with school-aged children, will trickle down to small businesses like his premium restaurant. Joel Valvasori-Pereza from Subiacos award-winning Lulu La Delizia. Credit: Jess Wylde. People are hurting, and we can feel it as a small business, he said.

And the money, the credits, where does that go? Call me cynical, but I can tell you it doesnt end up trickling down to small businesses like ours. I dont know whether its strictly up to the state government to fix the situation, but I dont think theyre doing enough. Loading While not large enough a business to be subjected to the states hefty payroll tax, Valvasori-Pereza echoed the sentiments the Chamber of Commerce WA reiterated on Thursday  the current system was enough to stifle any plans for future growth. Valvasori-Pereza said the business most significant challenge was the costs associated with recruiting skilled workers from overseas while the states labour pool remained constrained, which he said could run up to $20,000 per person.
This article is part of Travellers Holiday Guide to ocean cruising. See all stories .

Theres good news and bad news for Australians who appreciate Cunard, which operates an interesting niche in premium cruising the traditional way. Despite a sad life, Queen Anne, who reigned from 1702 until 1714, forever has the honour of being the first sovereign of Great Britain. Cunards new ship, Queen Anne. While theres long been conjecture that the current Anne, Princess Royal, might have made an excellent monarch, the earlier Anne was a rather overlooked figure  perhaps until her complex court was the subject of the multi-award-winning 2018 film The Favourite.
Rewriting a mixed political legacy Camerons allies say he was persuaded to return to frontline politics via the House of Lords by his long-time friend and former foreign secretary William Hague and others because he did not want to be remembered for the humiliation of losing the Brexit referendum in June 2016. David Cameron visits Turkmenistans National Carpet Museum during his five-day visit to Central Asia in April. Credit: Getty As prime minister, hed overseen austerity measures that many blame for the degraded public realm at home, the ill-fated military intervention in Libya, the naive pursuit of a golden age with China, and the Brexit vote  sometimes described as the biggest blunder since Lord North oversaw Britains catastrophic defeat in the American War of Independence, which lost the colony. More recently, as an adviser to Greensill Capital, the financial services company that collapsed in 2021, Cameron had become embroiled in a major lobbying scandal. So becoming foreign secretary was a chance, Hague persuaded him, to rewrite and amend his legacy.

Yes, I supported remaining in the EU, Cameron said on Thursday. But I am now laser-like focused on ensuring Britain and the EU have the best possible relationship, not as members, but as friends, neighbours and partners. Since last November, Cameron has visited 33 countries and crisscrossed six continents. Hes been to the Middle East six or so times and Ukraine a similar amount. Last week he promised $US3.74 billion of annual military aid for Ukraine for as long as it takes on, adding that he had no objection to the weapons being used inside Russia. Making Britains presence felt in the Middle East Earlier this year he suggested that the UK could unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state in the aftermath of any ceasefire in Gaza. With his intervention, he outflanked both Downing Street and the Labour Party and shifted the terms of debate.

Loading Sunak has appeared to give him free rein because he is either not that interested or focused on foreign affairs, particularly when so much is going wrong domestically. Sophia Gaston, the head of foreign policy at the leading Westminster think tank, Policy Exchange, said Cameron was running the British Foreign Office like a man on borrowed time. He is completely focused on achieving meaningful, short-term outcomes, which is unusual in a field often characterised by incremental and uneven progress, Gaston said. In front of the camera, his public diplomacy has chalked up some considerable wins, although at times his legacy as prime minister has come back to haunt him.

She says the crux of the Cameron 2.0 era is an argument that the world has changed, and he has along with it. Gaston says Cameron is one of the most political foreign secretaries of the modern age in an era that demands it. In an election year, his role is to communicate how his indefatigable diplomacy is delivering tangible results for the British people  a task made more important by the fact that the governments domestic record has been weaker than its international scorecard. Defending the Wests democratic values Few things show how far the Tories have strayed from Camerons centrist era than his position on international aid, which he still believes is not just a moral good, but a soft power in the fight against terrorism and reaction. I am a passionate believer in the power of aid and proud of my role in helping to design the sustainable development goals and boost Britains aid spending, he said, pointing to the BBC World Service, which reaches over 300 million listeners each week and supports independent media in places such as Moldova and Bosnia, both under threat from Russian bullying and manipulation tactics.

In the Middle East, the UK has remained broadly supportive of Israels right to retaliate against Hamas after the October 7 attacks and, controversially, pulled its funding for the UNs Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA. But Cameron has simultaneously urged Israel to allow more aid into Gaza and followed the US in sanctioning a limited number of West Bank Settlers. Cameron has pledged support to Ukraine for as long as it takes. Tim Eaton, at Chatham Houses Middle East and North Africa Program, says Cameron has sought to make his presence felt through high-level diplomacy over Israel and Palestine, including contributing to plans for the day after Israels assault on Gaza. But he says despite Camerons energy, the UKs response towards Gaza and the region in general remains reactive and Britain is not at the forefront of discussion on what comes next. The UK has been weakened by Brexit, internal feuding and diminished economic, diplomatic and military capacity, making it harder for Cameron to get his voice heard, he says.
Each year on May 11, the United States observes Vietnam Human Rights Day - a day to remember the importance of advancing fundamental freedoms including freedom of expression, assembly, association, and religion.

Vietnam remains an authoritarian state ruled by a single party, the Communist Party of Vietnam. According to the State Departments most recent human rights report on Vietnam, There were no significant changes in the human rights situation in Vietnam in the past year.

Based on reports by media, NGOs, and other observers, Vietnamese authorities as of October 31 held at least 187 persons for political or human rights activism, including 162 convicts and 25 in pretrial detention. According to media and human rights groups, from January 1 to October 31, authorities detained 25 individuals and convicted 23 who were exercising internationally recognized human rights such as the freedoms of expression, peaceful assembly, and association. Most of these arrests and convictions were linked to online blogging.

Vietnams constitution and law provide for freedom of expression, including for members of the press and other media; however, according to the human rights report, the government does not respect these rights. The government continues to use broad national security and antidefamation provisions in the law to restrict freedom of expression.

Vietnams government restricts speech that criticizes individual government leaders or the party, promotes political pluralism or multiparty democracy, or questions policies on sensitive matters, such as human rights, religious freedom, sovereignty disputes with the Peoples Republic of China, or coercive land seizure.

Independent journalists continue to face restrictions on freedom of movement, other forms of harassment, and physical attacks if they report on sensitive topics, notes the human rights report. The government also monitors journalists meetings and communications. The government punishes journalists for failing to self-censor, including by revoking journalists press credentials.

The Vietnamese government continues to exercise significant government control over religious practices, according to the latest International Religious Freedom Report. Indeed, the United States expressed its deep concern recently about the ongoing convictions of Vietnamese ethnic minority and religious freedom advocates. Five such convictions have occurred since January.

As State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said, We call upon Vietnam to respect the rights of individuals to exercise freedoms of expression, association, and religion or belief. He added, We reiterate our call on Vietnam to release all those unjustly detained.
For the second time in two days of court proceedings, Merchan rejected his mistrial request and faulted the defence for not objecting more to what prosecutors did. Merchan faulted Necheles in particular, saying she should have objected when prosecutors elicited testimony about Trump allegedly not using a condom. I wish those questions hadnt been asked, the judge said. But for the life of me, I dont know why Ms Necheles didnt object  Why on earth she wouldnt object to the mention of a condom I dont understand. Trump left court furious. Everybody saw what happened today, he told reporters, ignoring shouted questions about his legal team. Hes a corrupt judge, and hes totally conflicted. A couple of hours later, Daniels appeared to taunt Trump on X, writing: Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Oh ... wait. Nevermind.

It would be unusual and risky for Trump to testify in his own defence because then he could be cross-examined by prosecutors. His lawyers have cited Daniels comments about him in an unsuccessful effort to get Merchan to relax a gag order that bars Trump from speaking about witnesses in the trial outside court. Former President Donald Trump (right) and his attorney Emil Bove watch a video screen of Stormy Daniels testifying in Manhattan criminal court. Credit: AP During the cross-examination, Daniels was at times defiant and occasionally morose, insisting that she was telling the truth about that night with Trump, and saying that the experience, while making her more famous than she had been before, had changed her life, overall for the worse. Both prosecutors and defence lawyers took significant risks in their use of Daniels testimony. Prosecutors opened themselves up to a possible appeal issue that could threaten a conviction, while Trumps defence attacked Daniels on nearly every front, a tactic that could boomerang against them if the jury decides she was being bullied. Prosecutors said they needed to elicit many of the details about the alleged sexual encounter to bolster Daniels credibility and explain why Trump was motivated to keep her story from becoming public.

Daniels, who sometimes propped her left arm over the back of the witness chair as she testified, was resolute that she had told the truth about the night in question. Necheles noted that Daniels has appeared in more than 100 adult films, and suggested that her risque resume made her an expert at telling fake stories of sex. You have a lot of experience in making phoney stories about sex appear to be real? the lawyer asked. Wow, Daniels replied, laughing. Thats not how I would put it. The sex in the films is very much real, just like what happened to me in that room.

Necheles kept hammering at Daniels, asking: You have a lot of experience in memorising these fictional stories? Daniels replied: I have experience in memorising dialogue, not how to have sex  pretty sure we all know how to do that. The combative exchange about sex, lies and money encapsulated the stand-off that played out before the jury this week. As the questions and answers raced back and forth in the courtroom, jurors swivelled their heads to try to keep up with the verbal volleys. The decision to spend so much time on Daniels was an interesting one, in part because she admitted she had no evidence to offer on the actual charged criminal conduct  payments made by Trump to reimburse his former lawyer and fixer, Michael Cohen, who had paid Daniels $US130,000 ($196,000) to stay silent about the alleged sexual encounter ahead of the 2016 presidential election. As part of her cross-examination, Necheles asked whether Daniels had knowledge of Trumps role in those payments.

Not directly, no, Daniels replied. Loading Necheles asked: You know nothing about what he does or does not know about the business records? I know nothing about his business records, Daniels said. No, why would I? Necheles then asked whether Daniels knew about the details of Trumps indictment.

Theres a lot of indictments, Daniels said, drawing a few laughs from the packed courtroom. Loading Trump has been indicted in three other jurisdictions besides Manhattan  federal charges in Washington, DC, and state charges in Georgia related to his alleged interference in the 2020 election, and federal charges in Florida of illegally retaining classified documents and obstructing government efforts to retrieve them. All three of those trials have been delayed, and Trump has pleaded not guilty to all 88 counts he faces in those. After Daniels was done testifying, the jury heard an emotional account from Trumps former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout, who burst into tears on the witness stand describing her ignominious departure from the job.
Yet oil giants will see an even greater windfall  helped by new offshore drilling, speedier permits and other relaxed regulations  in a second Trump administration, he told the executives over the dinner of chopped steak at Mar-a-Lago. Loading Trump vowed at the dinner to immediately end the Biden administrations freeze on permits for new liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports  a top priority for the executives, according to three people present. Youll get it on the first day, Trump said, according to the recollection of an attendee. The roughly two dozen executives invited included Mike Sabel, the CEO and founder of Venture Global, and Jack Fusco, the CEO of Cheniere Energy, whose proposed projects would directly benefit from lifting the pause on new LNG exports. Other attendees came from companies including Chevron, Continental Resources, Exxon and Occidental Petroleum, according to an attendance list obtained by The Post. Trump told the executives that he would start auctioning off more leases for oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico, a priority that several of the executives raised. He railed against wind power, as The Post previously reported. And he said he would reverse the restrictions on drilling in the Alaskan Arctic.

Youve been waiting on a permit for five years; youll get it on Day 1, Trump told the executives, according to the recollection of the attendee. At the dinner, Trump also promised that he would scrap Bidens mandate on electric vehicles  mischaracterising ambitious rules that the Environmental Protection Agency recently finalised, according to people who attended. The rules require automakers to reduce emissions from car tailpipes, but they dont mandate a particular technology such as EVs. Trump called the rules ridiculous in the meeting with donors. Loading The fossil fuel industry has aggressively lobbied against the EPAs tailpipe rules, which could eat into demand for its petroleum products. The American Fuel & Petrochemical Manufacturers, an industry trade group, has launched a seven-figure campaign against what it calls a de facto gas [petrol] car ban. The campaign includes ads in battleground states warning that the rule will restrict consumer choice. Clearly, if you are producing gasoline and diesel, you want to make sure that theres enough market there, said Stephen Brown, an energy consultant and a former lobbyist for Tesoro, an oil refining company. I dont know that the oil industry would walk in united with a set of asks for the Trump administration, but I think its important for this issue to get raised.

Although the repeal of the EPA rule would benefit the fossil fuel industry, it would probably anger the auto industry, which has invested billions of dollars in the transition away from petrol-powered cars. Many automakers are under increasing pressure to sell more EVs in Europe, which has tightened its own tailpipe emissions rules, and they are eager to avoid a patchwork of regulations around the globe. Automakers need some degree of regulatory certainty from government, said John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, which represents Ford, General Motors, Stellantis, Toyota and other car companies. What has emerged instead is a wholesale repeal  and then reinstatement  and then repeal again of regulations every four or eight years, Bozzella said in an email. Bidens EV policies have also sparked opposition in Republican-led rural states such as North Dakota, where there are far more oil pump jacks than charging stations. A key figure leading the Trump campaigns development of its energy policy is North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, a Republican who has been talking extensively to oil donors and CEOs. At a fundraiser on Saturday in Palm Beach, Florida, Burgum told donors that Trump would halt Bidens attack on fossil fuels, according to a recording of his remarks obtained by The Post.

What would be the No. 1 thing that President Trump could do on Day 1? Its stop the hostile attack against all American energy, and I mean all, Burgum said. Whether its baseload electricity, whether its oil, whether its gas, whether its ethanol, there is an attack on liquid fuels. Burgum also criticised the Biden administrations policies on gas stoves and vehicles with internal combustion engines, claiming that they would prevent consumers from buying both technologies. While the Energy Department recently set new efficiency standards for gas stoves, they would not affect the stoves in peoples kitchens or those currently on the market. Theyve got some liberal idea about what products we need, Burgum said. You all need EV cars. You dont need internal combustion. Well decide what kind of car youre going to drive, and were going to regulate the other ones out of business. I mean, its just in every industry, not just in cars, not just in energy. Theyre telling people what stoves you can buy. This is not America. The Biden campaign initially declined to comment for this article. After it was published, however, Biden campaign spokesman Ammar Moussa said in a statement that Donald Trump is selling out working families to Big Oil for campaign cheques. Its that simple, It doesnt matter to Trump that oil and gas companies charge working families and middle-class Americans whatever they want while raking in record profits. If Donald can cash a cheque, hell do what they say, Moussa added.

Burgum  a possible contender to lead the Energy Department in a second Trump term  has pushed harder to address climate change than many other Republicans. He set a goal in 2021 for North Dakota  the third-largest oil-producing state  to become carbon-neutral by 2030. He has stressed, however, that the goal wont be achieved via government mandates or the elimination of fossil fuels, and he has cultivated deep support among oil donors. Despite Trumps huge fundraising ask, oil donors and their allies have yet to donate hundreds of millions to his campaign. They have contributed more than $US6.4 million to Trumps joint fundraising committee in the first three months of this year, according to an analysis by the advocacy group Climate Power. Oil billionaire Harold Hamm and others are scheduling a fundraiser for Trump later this year, advisers said, where they expect large cheques to flow to his bid to return to office. One person involved in the industry said many oil executives wanted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis or another Republican to challenge Biden. But now that Trump is the nominee, this person said, they are going to embrace his policies and give. Dan Eberhart, chief executive of the oil-field services company Canary and a Trump donor, said the Republican onslaught of donations was not surprising. Biden constantly throws a wet blanket to the oil and gas industry, Eberhart said. Trumps drill, baby, drill philosophy aligns much better with the oil patch than Bidens green-energy approach. Its a no-brainer.
On May 9, the World Food Prize committee announced the winners of the World Food Prize. They are Dr. Geoffrey Hawtin of the United Kingdom and Dr. Cary Fowler of the United States.

The World Food Prize, known as the Nobel Prize for Agriculture and Nutrition, is the foremost international honor recognizing the achievements of individuals who have advanced human development by improving the quality, quantity or availability of food in the world.

Dr. Hawtin and Dr. Fowler are being honored in recognition of their extraordinary leadership in preserving and protecting the worlds heritage of crop biodiversity and mobilizing this critical resource to defend against threats to global food security.

Notably, both men were instrumental in establishing the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway, built for the purpose of serving as the worlds long-term secure backup repository for crop diversity. The seeds that are in there represent the history of agriculture, said Dr. Fowler. So, what they really represent is the experiences that our crops have had over twelve to fifteen thousand years.

Today  the World Food Prize Foundation is recognizing two more giants, outstanding leaders  Dr. Geoff Hawtin, Dr. Cary Fowler  who played a critical role in preserving crop diversity, in part by supporting seed banks around the world, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

That includes the work that they did to create the very first global seed vault. Nearly two decades since it opened, this repository has grown to hold seeds of more than 1 million crop varieties and more than 6,000 major species.

Every one of them is a crucial building block for improving global food security, said Secretary Blinken.

A single plant  like sorghum  can have hundreds of thousands of varieties. And when one strain is in danger  from a pest infestation, a warming climate  farmers can use another type with genetic adaptations to help it survive. And scientists can breed those varieties to create more resilient crops, produce bigger yields  feed more people, he said.

But that is only possible with crop diversity, if a variety with a vital gene hasnt gone extinct by the time that we need it most.

Through their extraordinary work, said Secretary Blinken, Geoff and Cary have not only helped protect these plants; theyve also brought the global community together to strengthen the foundation of our agriculture.
Changing Nature Of Wars





By Lt General M K Das

THE world is already into two years and three months of Russia- Ukraine war. Israel- Hamas conflict is now going on since 7 October 23 for the last seven months, with no immediate end in sight. The latest conflict which is brewing up is between Israel and Iran which witnessed exchange of air power and missiles in the month of April 24. There are other long drawn conflicts in the African sub-continent, not to forget Indias continuous No War No Peace dilemma with Pakistan and with China as well. The great military strategist and Prussian general Carl Von Clausewitz defined war, sometime in late 1820s, as a mere continuation of state policy by other means. Clausewitzs theory of war has three key components: defeat the enemys army, capture territory and win public support. The military analysts word over and the uniformed community has largely followed this concept of war. On the other hand, conflict is a term used largely in the sub conventional domain which is above the peaceful coexistence and below the threshold of war. The examples are insurgency in the Indias North East and terrorism in the state of J&K. All types of warfare have continuously evolved over a period of time. But the analysis of war and conflicts in the 21st century is most interesting.

The most visible event was 9/11 attacks in the US by Al Qaeda on 11 September 2001. These attacks changed the face of terrorism forever and the United States led the military campaign called Global War on Terrorism, all over the various conflict zones. Then there was attack on Indian Parliament on 13 December 2001, which almost led to a war between India and Pakistan. Since then and now in 2024, the world is in conflict situation and the current volatility has the potential to graduate into a world war. The wars have become hi tech and the military technologies have transformed the war into a complex spectrum where physical and kinetic domains of warfighting have taken a back seat. Now cyber, informational, psychological and even economic power dominate the war or conflicts. The future wars are predicted over space. Obviously, the major advanced nations have a clear edge in this form of warfare which has no clear boundaries. The enemy may remain invisible and yet continue to cause damage to the adversary. Future wars will employ Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enhance the technical prowess in a big way. A large number of nations are investing heavily into the AI to make operations more efficient and less dependent on human intervention. The various sensors would have inbuilt AI tools to quickly take decisions and prove to be force multipliers in navigation, surveillance, aviation and weapon delivery.

The scope is endless and the ramifications may be catastrophic. The concept of ending a war on favourable terms has also changed. Earlier, once the political objectives were achieved, the war ended. No longer so, as the events of Russia- Ukraine war have proved. Moreover, the war objectives continue to shift the goal post. Therefore, the era of short and swift wars is more or less over. The classical six-day war between 5-10 June 1967, in which Israel defeated Egypt, Jordan and Syria and occupied the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza strip and the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights is unlikely to be repeated. The war is no longer being waged between the nations and their Armed Forces. A category of guerillas and mercenaries are also fighting on behalf of nations. In our case, the invasion by tribals in J&K in October 1947, aided and abetted by Pakistan is classical example of this form of warfare. The mercenaries are actively employed today as proven during the Russia- Ukraine conflict, as also by the Hamas. Another major change is emergence of powerful political leaders who have exploited the armed conflict scenario to further their political cause and survival. The emergence of strongman Vladimir Putin as the Russian President is one good example where his ratings improved even in a long-drawn war with Ukraine. The survival of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel solely depends on the outcome, may be continuation of conflict, in some form or another. The decline of United Nations, particularly the UN Security Council is also responsible for the confusion in case of war.

The effectiveness of this world body to intervene quickly is a huge question mark now. In addition, the world leaders are classical politicians and hardly there are any statesmen deserving the respect of international community. Prime Minister Modi has gained lot of respect for his deft handling of the international relations. A lot of hope has been generated for him to bring truce in Russia- Ukraine war. The world needs a large number of statesmen like him to bring peace to the humanity. Indian Armed Forces have been working hard to transform to fight the next war as per the changing dynamics of warfare. The warfare has become a costly exercise and the defence budget has to keep up with the modernisation plans. More importantly, India has to develop home grown technology to optimise the budget and reduce our dependence on the arms imports. The setting up of defence corridor and healthy participation of the private industry in defence manufacturing is a welcome step. The salience of conventional war in our context is not yet over. But the dynamics may be very different from the 1962 war with China and 1971 war with Pakistan. Two front war with China and Pak remains a distinct possibility with continuous conflict situation on the borders. The stand-off with China in the eastern Ladakh for almost last four years is a grim reminder for India to remain strong as a nation to deal with any adversarial situation.
Congress working on policy of divide and rule: VD Sharma





Staff Reporter

State President of the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP), Vishnu Dutt Sharma addressed a workers' conference in Ujjain north, Ujjain South and Ghattiya Legislative Assemblies of the Ujjain Parliamentary constituencies on Thursday. He said, the country is the torch bearer of spirituality and after PM Modi was elected Prime Minister, there has been a surge in the spiritual power of the country. He taken up the work for re-establishing the country as Vishwaguru and making the country a developed nation by 2047. This requires the hard work of every cadre in the party. This is the election of making the country corruption free, terrorism free and is the election of bringing smiles on the faces of people of the country. PM has always talked about categories in the country i.e., youth, women, the poor and farmers. This election will be instrumental in women empowerment, making the farmers self sufficient, pushing the capabilities of the youth and in bringing smile on the faces of the people."

He emphasized that the people of the country have decided to elect Modi as PM for the third time in the upcoming elections. Even the opposition has accepted that the Bhartiya Janta party (BJP) will be creating government in the country in 2024 and are just doing formalities in the name of election campaign. The Indian National Congress still has the genes of the britishers and is indulged in the politics of appeasement and is religiously working towards the policy of divide and rule. Slamming the Congress, he said that, from past 70 years, the grand old party raised the slogan of 'garibi hatao' (removed poverty) but did nothing to remove poverty from the country whereas in the tenure of PM Modi, 30 crore people of the country along with 2.5 crore people of the State, came out of the poverty. Taking a dig at the Congress, he said that the leaders of the Congress use objectionable language for females. The leaders of the party also misbehaved with one of their female workers when she offered prayers at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and was forced to give her resignation from the party. Another leader of the INC, Sam Pitroda never leaves any moment to attack the unit and pride of the country and is engaged in creating differences among the countrymen. They want to introduce inheritance tax in the country.

He said that in this election, the people have to teach a lesson to Congress for their anti national agenda. He further went on to say that, the Congress' candidates are fleeing from the electoral grounds. Khajuraho was the land where lord Ram came and with his blessings no candidate of the congress is contesting from the seat. With the blessings of lord Jagannath, the single congress candidate from the state, has also refused to contest election in the state. The congress candidate from Indore, which is the land of Ahilya Bai, has also taken back his name. In Ujjain too, with the blessings of Lord Mahakal, the BJP will sweep all the polls in the upcoming elections in Ujjain. He reiterated, "After a long struggle and wait of 500 years, the world witnessed the consecration of Lord Ram temple at Ayodhya on January 22. The people throughout the world celebrated the day with joy and fervour even the UK announced a public holiday so that the people there could celebrate the day. But, the leaders of the Indian National Congress (INC) were not happy on that day. They even insulted the sentiments of the country by rejecting the invitation for the consecration ceremony."
Controversy erupts over alleged expired medicines





Staff Reporter

In a startling revelation, it has been uncovered that several medicines intended for patients at the Jai Prakash District Hospital in the State capital, have been allowed to expire and stored away in the hospitals medicine store, despite of the shortage of medicines reported. The Madhya Pradesh Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) has intervened in response to these alarming revelations at the JP Hospital. The commissions action comes in the wake of various reports regarding the expiration and secretive disposal of medicines meant for patients. According to the Commission, despite the urgent need for these medications by patients, the medicines were kept unused which eventually expired within the hospital premises. This negligence has led to significant challenges for patients who rely on these medicines for their treatment. The issue of medicine shortage has long plagued the hospital, leaving many patients in dire situations due to the unavailability of essential treatments. Shockingly, while patients reportedly suffered due to the lack of medication, a stockpile of expired medicines remained untouched within the hospitals storage facilities, as per the information.

Even more concerning is the revelation that hospital management has allegedly devised plans to clandestinely dispose of these expired medicines, effectively concealing their negligence from public scrutiny. This attempt to sweep the matter under the rug raises serious questions about the transparency and accountability of the hospital administration, as per the human rights body. In response to these grave allegations, the State Human Rights Commission (MPHRC) has intervened, directing the Director of Health Services/Medical Education, Madhya Pradesh, to investigate the matter thoroughly. A comprehensive report has been requested from the Government Directorate in Bhopal within a strict timeline of three weeks, detailing the actions taken in response to this grave issue emerged at the health institution. However in a conversation with The Hitavada Dr Rakesh Shrivastava, Civil Surgeon at JP Hospital shared, Till now we do not have any information about Human Rights Commission cognizance, whenever we will receive the information we will act accordingly.

Additionally, we are investigating the matter thoroughly. The concerned doctor of medicine store in charge has been appointed to investigate the matter. The employee involved in the commotion has also complaint about alleged violence during the incident. So, we are investigating each and every detail., Dr Shrivastava expressed when asked about the steps hospital administration has taken to investigate the matter. According to the various reports, the scandal surfaced at 1250 (JP) Hospital a few days ago, when certain individuals were caught on video destroying expired medicines clandestinely. Upon discovering the illicit activity, some employees reportedly confined a youth to a room after he attempted to document the incident. The youth managed to call emergency services (Dial 100), leading to police intervention and his subsequent release.

Furthermore, following the exposure of the expired medicine disposal scandal, hospital management attempted to justify their actions by claiming that the medicines were being sorted for disposal, as per the reports. According to the reports emerged till now on this matter, it has come to light that approximately 50 lakh rupees worth of medicines are stored in two separate rooms within the hospital premises, with a significant portion of them being supplied by the Health Corporation. Unfortunately, a substantial quantity of these medicines has expired, including bottles of glucose (such as DNS, Dextrose), syrup bottles, tablets, which were found either empty or discarded into bins or water. Even vital medications like zinc sulfate syrup and various tablets were found to have expired in large quantities. Reportedly, the store in-charge, earlier revealed that the hospital stocks 514 types of essential medicines, out of which around 350 are used daily. However, medicines with lower demand often expire due to storage constraints.
DARK, MORNING 50 mm RAIN MAYHEM





Staff Reporter

Nagpurians, on Thursday, woke-up to witness the heaviest rainfall in May since 1966. The heavy downpour, 50 mm, with thunderstorm and lightning wreaked havoc in the second capital of Maharashtra as Nagpur recorded the highest rainfall in 24 hours in May in last 58 years. The city had recorded heaviest rainfall, 58.7 mm in 24 hours on May 5, 1966. The rainfall on Thursday was second highest in May, since 1966. Due to rains, hail and thunderstorm, the mercury has failed to dominate Nagpur summer this year. Nagpur experiences peak of summer in May as the city records highest temperature of the year. However, the maximum temperature in city hardly touched the 430 C mark in May, so far. Due to presence of moisture in the atmosphere, similar weather condition will prevail in the city till May 12, predicted India Meteorological Department (IMD). The maximum temperature in city will start rising again after May 14, it added.

According to IMD, during the month of May, the surface winds are generally North-Westerly but the South Westerly winds are dominating this year. Such condition is favourable for onset of early monsoon. Many experts are predicting early monsoon this year all over the country. Nagpur is also likely to witness the onset on of monsoon around June 12, three days early than the normal onset. As far as summer is concern, citys maximum temperature will hardly cross the 430 C mark this year due to presence of moisture in coming days too. May is generally one of the driest months for the city with average highest and lowest relative humidity varying between 37% and 24%. But, this year, it is varying between 35% and 60% respectively. The average rainfall is 19.1 mm in May and number of rainy days are 1.7 only. But, on Thursday, the rainfall has already crossed the 50 mm mark and the rainy days have surpassed the normal number of days.

On Thursday, around 10 am the city skies turned dark which is a unique weather condition in May. Thereafter, thunderstorm with gusty winds above 40-50 kmph first caused damage all over the city. Many trees got uprooted while many areas witnessed power cuts. Thunderstorm was accompanied with heavy lightning followed by heavy rains for about two hours. Due to the heavy downpour, many areas in city witnessed water-logging. The sudden turn in the months weather on Thursday, the office-goers faced inconvenience due to heavy traffic-jam on many roads, especially at major junctions. The Fire and Emergency Department of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) has a field day as it was busy attending calls about uprooting of trees and water-logging in low-lying areas.

Due to heavy rains, the water level of Naag river was increased for some time due to which the nearby residents got panicked. The Weather Department has issued Yellow Alert all over Vidarbha for the next couple of days as thunderstorm, hailstorm with gusty winds may occur in many parts of the region while and some parts may also witness light to moderate rains. On Thursday, Chandrapur (32 mm) also recorded good rainfall followed by Gondia (19.4 mm). Akola once again witnessed dry weather due to which it was the hottest place in Vidarbha with maximum temperature at 43.20 C, on Thursday. Apart from Akola, all other places in Vidarbha witnessed overcast weather with maximum temperature below 400 C.
EAC-PMreport Owaisi calls it as a reportfrom Whatsapp University





HYDERABAD :

ALL India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Asaduddin Owaisi on Thursday responded to the report of the EconomicAdvisory Council to the PM(EAC-PM) and called it a report from Whatsapp University. Asked about the declining shareoftheHindupopulation, Owaisi said, Forward me the report then I will respond. Whosereportisthis?Whomade this report? Report from Whatsapp University.

Who made this report? TheremarksofOwaisicome amidst the report of the EconomicAdvisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) which said that in India, the share of the majority Hindu population decreased by 7.82 per cent between 1950 and 2015 (from 84.68percentto78.06percent), while the share of the Muslim population,whichin1950was 9.84percent,increasedto14.09 per cent in 2015--a 43.15 per cent increase in their share.

Earlier today, Amit Malviya, Bhartiya Janata Partys incharge of the National Information and Technology Department targeted the Congress party overthe report of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) and said that if the country is left to Congress, then there would be no country for Hindus. Taking to his official X handle, AmitMalviyatweeted, Share of Hindus shrunk 7.8% between 1950 and 2015. The Muslim population grew by 43%. This is what decades of Congress rule did to us. Left to them,there wouldbenocountry for Hindus.
KIEV, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Thursday discussed Ukraine's European integration and security issues.

At the talks, Zelensky said Ukraine has fulfilled all the necessary conditions for starting accession talks with the European Union next month, according to the presidential press service.

For her part, Metsola said she was optimistic that EU member states will adopt the negotiating framework for Ukraine in June.

The European Parliament will help Ukraine in "all possible ways" to move along the European path, Metsola stressed.

Zelensky and Metsola also discussed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, the EU's defense support for Kiev and the high-level conference on peace slated for mid-June in Switzerland.

Metsola arrived in Kiev earlier in the day.

Editor: ZAD
Upward trajectory of India-US ties not impacted at all: EAM Jaishankar on Pannun case





By Manash Pratim Bhuyan

New Delhi, May 10 (PTI)

The upward trajectory of India-US relations has not been impacted at all by allegations of an Indian link to a foiled assassination plot, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said.

In November, the US charged an Indian national of conspiring to murder Sikh separatist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun in New York.

In an exclusive interview to PTI late Thursday, Jaishankar said the fundamentals of India-US ties are very robust and the allegations have not impacted the relations.

"The United States brought to our attention certain information in good faith because we also believe some of it has implications for our own system," he said.

"We are investigating it. But I do not think the fundamental course of the upward trajectory of India-US is impacted by this at all," the external affairs minister said in the freewheeling conversation at PTI's headquarters.

Days after Washington alleged the Indian link to the plot, India instituted a high-level inquiry committee to look into the inputs received from the US in the case.

Pannun, wanted in India on terror charges, holds dual citizenship of the US and Canada.

Last month, The Washington Post named an Indian official for allegedly plotting to assassinate Pannun. Days later, India said the report made "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputations on a serious matter and that investigation into the case was underway.

Listing various areas of cooperation, Jaishankar said, "I think, today, we have such a strong strategic convergence with the United States."

In his remarks, he cited driving the international economy, diversifying production, creating new supply chains, ensuring peace and stability and collaboration in the domain of high-technology as shining examples of India-US ties.

"I think the India-US account is a very, very solid one," he said.

Jaishankar also said there was a problem in the relationship in the past.

"There was a kind of left-wing ideology in this country which said let us not do too much with the US. It goes back to the Nehruvian-Krishna Menon time period. I think it went all the way till 2014," he said.

"Maybe Atal ji's (Atal Bihari Vajpayee) government was an exception, but otherwise pretty much there were self-imposed constraints in our dealing with the US," he said.

Jaishankar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not share those views.

"PM Modi doesn't share those and we have seen actually a much more robust, much more whole-hearted relationship with the US which is actually showing results on the ground," he added.

The minister also highlighted the assertive approach in India's foreign policy under the prime minister's leadership.

"When we look at an issue, we look at it from the point of view of Indian national interest. And if that Indian national interest means taking pressure, offending other countries or pushing back, we are prepared to do it," he said.

"We are, for example, very, very focused on trying to get UN Security Council membership. This was not the case earlier. In fact, there was a time when, you know, the position of our government was that first let them accommodate China and then our turn will come," he said.

"So, we are very clear, Bharat comes first."

Jaishankar said the Modi government is also very focused on issues relating to national security.

"Not only positioning wise, but in terms of friends and partners who will contribute to our national security and also in terms of the border infrastructure where there has been quite a remarkable transformation," he said.

"The quality of the infrastructure today allows us to deploy troops on the LAC (Line of Actual Control) in a manner which we could not have done earlier," he said.

The Modi government is also very focused on getting for the country the resources, the best practices, the technologies that it believes are important for national development, according to the minister.

"We are also much more conscious of our culture, civilization, heritage, traditions than previous governments. We project it much more confidently," he said.
Establishing open prisons can be solution to decongest jails: SC





NEW DELHI,

THE Supreme Court on Thursday said establishing open jails can be one of the solutions to overcrowding and also address the issue of rehabilitation of prisoners. Semi-open or open prisons allow convicts to work outside the premises during the day to help them earn a livelihood and return in the evening. The concept was brought in to assimilate the convicts with the society and reduce their psychological pressure as they faced difficulties in leading normal lives outside. While hearing a plea on jails and prisoners, a bench of Justices B R Gavai and Sandeep Mehta said it wants to expand the presence of open prisons across the country.

One of the solutions for overcrowding of the prisons can be establishing open air prisons/camps. The said system is efficiently working in the state of Rajasthan. Apart from addressing the issue of congestion in prison, it also addresses the issue of rehabilitation of prisoners, the bench said. The bench made clear that it would not touch upon issues related to jails and prison reforms which are already pending adjudication before its coordinate benches in some other petitions. The counsel appearing for the National Legal Services Authority (NALSA) told the court it had sought responses from all states on open prisons and 24 of them have responded.

Senior advocate Vijay Hansaria, assisting the apex court as an amicus curiae in the matter, said convicts are not informed that they have a right to approach the appellate court through the legal services authority. The bench said if there is a uniform e-prison module across the country, many of these things can be sorted out. It said the issue of e-prison module, a comprehensive jail management system, was being dealt with by a coordinate bench. We will also consider the issue of open prisons in this proceeding, the bench said, adding, We plan to expand it and ensure that this system of open air prisons is adopted across the country. The bench requested advocate K Parameshwar to assist it as an amicus along with Hansaria. It also requested the counsel appearing for NALSA to assist the court in the matter and posted it for hearing on May 16.
FIR against 11 doctors, including GMCH Dean





Staff Reporter

Ajni Police have registered an First Information Report (FIR) against Dean of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and 10 other doctors for medical negligence. The case of 2019 involves 11 doctors who had performed operation upon a woman patient who died during the course of treatment. The relatives of the deceased woman had alleged that she died due to doctors negligence. As the police did not take any cognisance, the family approached the court. On the instructions of the court, a case has been registered against 11 doctors, including present Dean of the GMCH, Dr Raj Gajbhiye, who was then Head of the Department of Surgery at GMCH. The others who were named in the FIR are - Dr Bhupesh Tirpude, Dr Hemant Bhanarkar, Dr Wasudev Barsagde, Dr Apurva Anand, Dr Sushmita Sumer, Dr Vikrant Akulwar, Dr Gayatri Deshpande, Dr Girish Kodape, Dr Vidheya Tirpude and Dr Ganesh Kharkate. Retired Superintendent of District Court, Kevalram Pandurang Patole (65), is the complainant.

Patoles wife Pushpa had developed a lump on her neck. During treatment at GMCH, she was to undergo surgery posted on July 5, 2019. But the surgery was performed on July 6, 2019. During the surgery, her condition deteriorated. Cotton gauze were placed over her eyes, and a hose was attached to her nose. After the surgery, she was shifted to the ICU. None of the relatives was allowed to see her, alleged her kin. They pointed out that Dr Gajbhiye also refused to move her to another hospital. On July 8, 2019, when Patole sought her discharge on advice of a familiar doctor, he was told that his wife had died in the night. Suspecting negligence at the hospital, Patole approached Ajni Police. He complained to the police that his wife Pushpa underwent surgery at GMCH on July 5, 2019, but died 3 days later.
Its BJP Vs NOTA in Malwa region!





By Bhavana Aparajita

Shukla

With the switching of Congress candidate Akshay Kanti Bam to the Bharatiya Janata Party in Indore Lok Sabha constituency, debate about NOTA and selection of candidates has taken centre stage in political campaigns. Congress appeal to voters to opt for NOTA in the Indore Lok Sabha poll. To counter, Congress campaign BJP swung in to action and it was decided in high level meeting that BJP will encourage voters to participate in election and elect candidate not NOTA. Since Congress has no candidate for this seat and the action of BJP is being seen and termed against democracy by a section of discerning people. Voice against this action has also being raised from within the saffron camp. Since senior BJP leader and eight times MP Sumitra Mahajan questioned the move saying what was the necessary to welcome Akshay Bam in the BJP? The party was already in good position on this seat. There are a total of 14 candidates in the fray, including BJPs sitting MP Shankar Lalwani. Nine of the candidates are contesting as independents. Deputy Chief Minister Jagdish Devda has said the BJP will encourage the people to come out in large numbers to exercise their franchise.

Polling in Indore, where the Congress is out of race after its candidate withdrew his nomination, is scheduled on May 13. After the meeting on Sunday, Deputy CM Devda, who is the in-charge of BJPs Indore cluster, told reporters, It was discussed in the meeting that maximum voting should be held in the Indore Lok Sabha constituency. The BJP will motivate people to come out in large numbers to vote and make the party win the Indore Lok Sabha seat with an overwhelming majority, he said. Senior BJP leader and former Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan said, There was a discussion in the meeting on how to increase the voting percentage in Indore. We want Indore to become the number one Lok Sabha seat in the country in terms of voting. State Cabinet Ministers Kailash Vijayvargiya and Tulsiram Silawat and local BJP MLAs attended the meeting held at the local party office. Congress candidate from Indore, Akshay Kanti Bam, withdrew his nomination on April 29 and joined the BJP. Following this, the Congress has been appealing to voters to press the NOTA (None of the Above) option on the electronic voting machines to teach the BJP a lesson.

The BJP has renominated Lalwani from the Indore Lok Sabha seat. There are 25.13 lakh eligible voters in Indore, which witnessed 69 per cent polling in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Vijayvargiya has said the BJP aims to win the Indore Lok Sabha seat this time by a margin of more than eight lakh votes. Indore is BJPs bastion since last 35 years it is represented by BJP. It is learnt that Akshay Bam episode Kailash Vijayvargiya and Ramesh Mandola has played crucial role. Duo have drawn flak for this action. As Indore is strong hold of BJP. BJP sprung a surprise and regained its bastion in Malwa Nimar including Indore where all the nine assembly seats won by BJP in recently concluded assembly elections. In the Assembly elections, BJP seats rose to 47 from 32. Experts opined that Indore episode may cast a shadow at other seats of the region.
Massive fire breaks out in fields of JNAU, none hurt





Staff Reporter

A massive fire that broke out in acres of farmland at Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University (JNAU), on Thursday afternoon created panic like situation in entire area. The fire initially started at the fields stubble and quickly took a devastating form due to strong winds, rapidly spreading in all directions. The site where the fire broke out was about 150 to 200 meters away from the Strong room, where electronic voting machines (EVMs) have been kept in safe custody after voting. Hence, the incident forced a large number of administrative officials, police and fire fighters to rush to the scene and make herculean efforts to extinguish the fire at the earliest.

It is being speculated that someone might have accidentally thrown a bidi or cigarette onto the field, which resulted in fire in the stubble. Spokesman of Fire Department informed that on Thursday afternoon a massive fire broke out in the fields of Jawaharlal Nehru Agricultural University, where the crops had already been harvested. The fire had spread across acres of land. The fire fighters had to toil hard to extinguish the fire, as strong winds caused the fire to spread rapidly. After nearly one and a half hours of intense effort, the fire was brought under control. Since the fire had occurred near the Strong Room, a number of administrative officials reached the scene.

Superintendent Fire Department Kushagra Thakur informed that as soon as they received information about fire on land of JNKVV, police and administrative officials along with fire fighters reached the scene. Huge efforts were made to bring the fire under control. Thakur said it was crucial to extinguish the fire on time because the Strong Room was located about 150 to 200 meters away, where the Electronic Voting Machine (EVM) are stored. As soon as the information was received, fire tenders were rushed to the site. After reaching the spot, fire fighters started dousing the fire. But, due to strong impact of winds, there were difficulties in extinguishing the fire. Due to the same, additional vehicles were called for support.
Rampant corruption has blocked devpt of Jharkhand: Nirmala





Ranchi,

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered a powerful address to the Jharkhand Chamber of Commerce on the theme Vikshit Bharat 2047 on Thursday in Ranchi, highlighting the challenges and opportunities for development in the State. Sitharaman began by addressing the alleged rampant corruption that has hindered Jharkhands progress, stating that it has blocked the states development. She said, Rampant corruption has blocked the development of Jharkhand. She emphasised that the talent of Jharkhand is being wasted due to lawlessness, corruption, and the absence of basic infrastructure such as electricity and roads. Talent of Jharkhand is wasted because of lawlessness, corruption, and the absence of basic infrastructure like electricity and roads, said Sitharaman. Pointing out that thousands of signatures are required to clear a project, and every signature passes through corrupt practices, Business is not growing because of lawlessness and monumental corruption. Thousands of signatures needed to clear a project and every signature passes through corrupt practices, Sitharaman said. She highlighted the alarming situation of investment flow being halted in the state, as no business entity would invest where lawlessness is at its peak.

Referring to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, she said, Investment flow has stopped in the state, no business means will invest in states where lawlessness is at its peak. NCRB data shows 795 businessmen were murdered in 2022. Despite the challenges, Sitharaman stressed that Jharkhand has the potential to become a manufacturing state, with 40 per cent of the countrys minerals found in the state. However, she lamented that these resources are often exported instead of being utilised for local development, stating, States should become the engine of growth for Vikshit Bharat in 2047. Sitharaman said, Out of 112 aspirational districts, 42 are from eastern India including Jharkhand Odisha and Bihar. Regarding the contribution of Jharkhand to the mineral fund, the Finance Minister said, Jharkhands contribution to mineral fund was Rs 12,000 crore, out of the total of Rs 86,000 crore. In the last five years, 15,000 projects have been completed out of this fund in Jharkhand. Responding to allegations that the central government does not allocate funds to Jharkhand, Sitharaman provided a comparative analysis.

She stated that during the UPA regime from 2009-2014, the central government gave an average of Rs. 457 crore per annum to Jharkhand. In contrast, in the Modi regime, Sitharaman said, During the 2009-2014 UPI regime, the central government gave on average of Rs 457 crore per annum to Jharkhand. In the Modi Regime- 2024-25 interim budget, only for railways projects of Jharkhand, 7234 crore was allocated. Additionally, significant allocations were made for other development projects, including 100 per cent electrification of railways, redevelopment of 57 railway stations as modern stations, the introduction of 3 Vande Bharat trains, construction of 2256 km of national highways crossing Jharkhand, and Rs 8900 crore for the revival of the Sindri fertilizer factory, she said. The Finance Minister further said, 100 per cent electrification of railways, 57 railway stations were re-developed as modern stations, 3 Vande Bharat trains, 2256 km of national highways crossing Jharkhand, Rs 8900 cr for revival of Sindri fertilizer factory.
RABAT, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan navy rescued 38 migrants from a boat off the Atlantic coast near the port of Tan-Tan on Thursday, the official MAP news agency cited a statement from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces as saying.

A Moroccan navy unit, in charge of coastal surveillance, intercepted the makeshift boat heading to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa, during an operation 38 km northeast of Tan-Tan.

The migrants, 36 from sub-Saharan countries and two from Asian countries, were handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie for the usual administrative procedures after receiving first aid care, it added.

Editor: ZAD
By Xinhua writers Cao Jiayue, Wang Bin, and Dong Boting

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China's voice on humanitarian affairs is very significant, and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) will work with China to mobilize attention around the need to better respect the Geneva Conventions, said Pierre Krahenbuhl, the ICRC's director-general.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua on May 8, the World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day, Krahenbuhl shared his insights on the importance of the international humanitarian endeavor in today's world and China's global role in this regard.

Krahenbuhl, who took the new post in April, congratulated the 120th founding anniversary of the Red Cross Society of China (RCSC), saying the ICRC and China enjoy a close and trusted relationship that has led to fruitful outcomes over the past years.

China is not only very engaged in such areas as natural disaster response, first aid activities, and blood donations but also engaged in international cooperation with the ICRC and other organizations to promote the cause of humanitarianism, Krahenbuhl noted.

Over the years, China has carried out a series of international humanitarian rescue efforts, including assistance for quake-hit areas of Turkiye and Syria, the COVID-19 response efforts worldwide, and emergency humanitarian aid to areas that suffered from armed conflicts.

Krahenbuhl told Xinhua that the ICRC believes that human dignity must be protected in every possible way in times of conflict. This concept strongly converges with Chinese culture, which emphasizes peace and benevolence.

"The more things are complicated, the more things are tense, the greater the risks, the more there is actually a need for communication and dialogue," said Krahenbuhl.

He said that in a world filled with uncertainties and turbulence, it is high time to reaffirm the importance of respecting the Geneva Conventions.

Krahenbuhl said the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols form the core of international humanitarian law, regulating the conduct of armed conflict and seeking to limit its effects. China was one of the first signatories.

"We really look forward to the ongoing attention that China can pay to the importance of protecting international humanitarian law," said Krahenbuhl, adding that the ICRC will work with China to mobilize attention around the need to better respect the Geneva Conventions.

Echoing the Chinese leader's assertion last year that "humanitarianism is the greatest consensus that is able to unite different civilizations," Krahenbuhl found it encouraging to see China's steady advocation and support for humanitarianism on many bilateral and multilateral occasions.

"China is taking its international role very seriously," Krahenbuhl said, adding that China's voice in humanitarian affairs is very significant.

Next year will be the 20th anniversary of the ICRC's regional delegation in Beijing. Krahenbuhl told Xinhua that opportunities for cooperation between the ICRC and China in the years to come are highly expected.

"We need to dive deeper and understand better," he said, adding that the ICRC looks forward to more international operational cooperation with China in financial and material support for countries affected by armed conflicts, among other joint programs. It will also work with China in areas related to international humanitarian law.

"We are very keen to see this relationship go into the next phase to build further momentum," said the Director-General.

Editor: WXL
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The collection of documents that record the tea-drinking business entrepreneurship in Chengdu comprises 6,345 items, spanning from 1903 to 1949. These materials take a wide range of forms, such as manuscripts, business documents and photographs.

The Huizhou genealogy archives consist of 2,235 files spread across 427 volumes, documenting the genealogical culture that spans nearly a millennium.

Built in 1729, the Dege Sutra Printing House preserves in good condition 325,520 woodcut printing plates containing significant Tibetan classics dating back to the 11th century. The majority of the blocks were carved between the 18th and mid-20th centuries.

To date, China has 17 items of documentary heritage inscribed on the MOW regional register for Asia and the Pacific.

UNESCO launched the MOW in 1992 with the intention of safeguarding documentary heritage worldwide and increasing awareness of its significance.
* Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

* "The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples, and will inspire us to march forward with big strides," wrote Xi in a signed article published Tuesday in Politika, a Belgrade-based Serbian daily

* "The sky is the limit," said Vucic, referring to the scope of cooperation with China.

BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his state visit to Serbia on Wednesday, bundling up a multitude of deals and a strengthened bond of friendship with the country.

At the end of a fully-packed day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic bid farewell to Xi at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, where he had welcomed the Chinese president the day before.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prior to their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Li Xueren)

UPGRADED TIES

Earlier in the day, Xi and Vucic signed a joint statement on the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, an upgrade of relations from the comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2016.

The deal, which was declared by Xi and Vucic during their meeting in the Serbian capital, makes Serbia the first European country to build such a community with China.

Over the past few years, Xi said, the bilateral relationship has leapfrogged with historic progress, and since the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, in particular, the bilateral relationship has been enriched in substance and expanded in scope, which has become an example for China's friendly relations with other European countries.

Serbia is China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe, Xi said, adding that under the new circumstances, Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

"With this agreement, Serbia is leading the way in its relations with China," said Ivona Ladjevac, deputy director at the Institute for International Politics and Economics in Belgrade.

The announcement on deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic partnership and building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era marks a new milestone in the history of this bilateral relationship, said Vucic.

The strategic, practical, and innovative nature of promoting bilateral relations will set a benchmark and model for cooperation between the East and the West, Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Ding Haitao)

STRONGER IRONCLAD FRIENDSHIP

The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has stood the test of the changing international landscape, Xi said, noting that such friendship is characterized by profound historical roots, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and strong popular support.

In a signed article published Tuesday in Politika, a Belgrade-based Serbian daily, Xi wrote that the ironclad friendship between the two countries is ever-growing. "Whatever changes in the international landscape, China and Serbia remain true friends and good partners," he wrote.

The Chinese president's arrival coincides with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO forces carried out savage airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia, leaving more than 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million more displaced. On the night of May 7, exactly 25 years ago, NATO bombed the Chinese embassy, killing three Chinese journalists, including one from Xinhua.

"The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself," Xi wrote in the article. "The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples, and will inspire us to march forward with big strides."

Gordana, a local resident who didn't reveal her full name, referred to the bombing as a "painful memory" to her. "The cooperation between China and Serbia holds the promise of providing my children with a better life than I experienced," she told Xinhua.

Precious moments of goodwill and friendship are a signature of Xi's short but significant stay in Serbia, which lasts no more than 24 hours.

A telling moment was the grand welcoming ceremony held by Vucic on Wednesday morning with the impressive attendance of more than 10,000 Serbian people.

Crowds were waving the national flags of both countries and chanting "China! Serbia!" with applause and cheers pervading the atmosphere.

"We are here to show our friendship with China, and we want our Chinese friends know that we cherish it very much," said Milos Tosic, a college professor present at the event. Tosic told Xinhua that it is not only his opinion, but one shared "by all the people here today."

At a welcoming banquet around noon, Xi shared his nostalgic memory with Vucic, reminiscing about the Yugoslav film "The Bridge" and the song "Bella Ciao," which have become the fondest memories in his youthful days.

"China will work together with the friendly people of Serbia and make tireless efforts to build a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era," Xi pledged in his concluding remarks at the banquet toast.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sign a joint statement on the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, after their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Huang Jingwen)

FUTURE-ORIENTED PARTNERSHIP

During the meeting with Vucic, Xi said the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era is an upgrade of the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia, and it also represents their common values and objectives, namely, joint pursuit of development, win-win cooperation and mutual success.

In support of the building of the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, Xi has announced six measures when he met the press together with Vucic. Notable among the measures are a free trade agreement between China and Serbia which will take effect on July 1 and an exchange program under which Serbian youths and young Serbian scientists are invited to visit China in the next three years.

"The sky is the limit," said Vucic, referring to the scope of cooperation with China.

"For Serbia, it obviously brings a great deal," said Aleksandar Pavic, a Serbian political expert. "The opening of the Chinese market with the Free Trade Agreement, academic exchanges ... those are very, very important."

"China offers a hand of cooperation on an equal footing, and offers great opportunities without conditions," Pavic said. "We've grown weary of the zero-sum game for far too long."

The substantial deals added new testimony to the special bond of ironclad friendship enjoyed by China and Serbia.

Past years have seen leapfrog growth of China-Serbia cooperation. Two-way trade in 2023 surged to 4.35 billion U.S. dollars, Chinese customs statistics showed. In 2022, China became the largest source of direct investment for Serbia. After the bilateral free trade deal takes effect, more than 60 percent of taxable items will become tariff-free immediately, and the final import volume proportion of both sides with zero-tariff items will reach about 95 percent.

Under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative are flagship projects such as the Smederevo Steelworks and the high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest. An integral segment of the Belgrade-Budapest railway is the high-speed train linking Belgrade and Serbia's second-largest city Novi Sad, which has transported some 6.83 million passengers over the past two years.

Serbia has long been known as "the gateway to the Balkans" on the European continent. "Everything that has been done so far and will be done in the future can serve as an example to other countries in the region and throughout Europe to get involved as much as possible," said Aleksandar Mitic, a research fellow also with the institute.

"The principle of mutual benefit can really work," said Mitic.

Serbia, undoubtedly, stands as a reliable partner for China in Europe, said Aleksandar Vojvodic, head engineer of the Clean Serbia Project of China Road and Bridge Corporation.

There will be a promising prospect for further enhancement and expansion of existing cooperation, said Vojvodic.

Editor: WXL
BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The following is the full text of a joint statement on the establishment of an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era released by China and Hungary on Thursday.

Joint Statement Between the People's Republic of China and Hungary on the Establishment of An All-Weather Comprehensive Strategic Partnership for the New Era

At the invitation of H.E. Tamas Sulyok, President of Hungary, H.E. Viktor Orban, Prime Minister of Hungary, H.E. Xi Jinping, President of the People's Republic of China, paid a state visit to Hungary from May 8 to 10, 2024. During the visit, President Xi Jinping held talks with President Sulyok and Prime Minister Orban. In an atmosphere of friendliness, candor and mutual trust, the two sides reviewed the solid foundation of relations between China and Hungary and the traditional friendship between the Chinese and Hungarian people, had in-depth exchanges of views on bilateral ties and international and regional issues of mutual interest, and reached broad consensus.

The two sides spoke highly of the comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Hungary established in 2017, and expressed their satisfaction with the fruitful outcomes of the practical and friendly cooperation over the years. China and Hungary view each other as a priority partner for cooperation, always respect and treat each other equally, and set a good example of mutually beneficial pragmatic cooperation. The two sides agreed to maintain high-level exchanges, strengthen political mutual trust, and deepen cooperation for mutual benefit, so as to keep the bilateral relationship at a high level and bring more benefits to the two peoples. On the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary, the two sides decided to elevate the current comprehensive strategic partnership to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era. The statement is as follows:

1. The two sides agree to actively use bilateral and multilateral occasions to hold meetings between the leaders of the two countries, and further leverage the role of the leaders' exchanges of the two countries in providing strategic guidance.

2. Hungary respects the great achievements that China has scored in economic and social development, and hopes that the Chinese people, under the leadership of the Communist Party of China, will build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects, achieve the Second Centenary Goal and advance the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts through Chinese modernization. China applauds the major achievements that Hungary has scored in national development, and commends Hungary's peaceful, open and pragmatic foreign policy and its positive role in promoting regional stability and common prosperity of Europe.

3. The two sides firmly support each other in safeguarding national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity. China respects Hungary's independent choice of a development path and domestic and foreign policies suited to its national conditions, and supports the efforts made by the Hungarian side to maintain national stability and promote economic development. The Hungarian government remains firm in adhering to the one-China principle, and reaffirms that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China. Hungary opposes all forms of separatist activities at breaking the unity of China.

4. The two sides are willing to promote high-level exchanges, intensify the exchanges and cooperation between the central and local governments, legislatures, and political parties of the two countries at all levels, strengthen experience sharing on governance, and further enhance strategic and political mutual trust.

5. The two sides agreed that their cooperation within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has yielded fruitful results, and that the BRI has played a positive role in promoting economic development and improving people's livelihood in both countries. In order to enrich the China-Hungary all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, the two sides are committed to enhancing synergy between the BRI and Hungary's "Eastern Opening" policy. Leveraging mechanisms and platforms such as the China-Hungary Inter-Governmental Belt and Road Cooperation Committee and the Belt and Road Cooperation Promotion Center, the two sides will pursue deeper and more substantive progress in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, jointly ensure the safety and security and smooth progress of relevant cooperation projects between the two countries, and strive for more fruitful results in practical cooperation. The two sides will further strengthen exchanges and cooperation on economic development policies, and promote the sharing of best practices and experience in key areas.

6. The Hungarian side appreciates the positive role that Chinese enterprises have played in the national development of Hungary, welcomes more Chinese enterprises to invest and do business in Hungary, and is willing to foster a favorable investment and business environment for them. The two sides acknowledge that Hungary has favorable endowments to provide a meeting point for Eastern and Western economies and technologies. The Chinese side will continue to encourage capable Chinese enterprises to invest in Hungary. The two sides will promote orderly cooperation in emerging fields including clean energy, artificial intelligence, mobile communication technology and nuclear energy and technology. The Hungary-Serbia Railway is a landmark project under Belt and Road cooperation, and also a flagship project of Cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European Countries (China-CEEC Cooperation). The two sides are willing to actively promote the construction of the Hungarian section of the Hungary-Serbia Railway, and jointly promote high-level connectivity in Central and Eastern Europe. The two sides are willing to actively support the sound and steady development of the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line, and promote connectivity and trade between China and Hungary.

7. The two sides agreed that Chinese modernization will bring new opportunities for economic cooperation and trade between the two countries, and that stronger practical cooperation and closer economic ties serve the fundamental interests for the two peoples of China and Hungary. The two sides will make full use of the China-Hungary Economic Joint Committee and its affiliated working groups on e-commerce and trade, support greater exchanges between trade, investment and industrial promotion agencies as well as business chambers and associations of the two sides, deepen cooperation in digital economy and green development, foster new drivers of trade and economic growth, expand the scope and depth of economic and trade cooperation, and jointly safeguard the stability and security of industrial and supply chains.

8. The two sides spoke highly of the development of the China-Europe Railway Express between China and Hungary, and agreed to establish an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism on the China-Europe Railway Express, promote infrastructure connectivity, and jointly take practical measures to ensure the security of the transport routes and improve the quality and efficiency of the China-Europe Railway Express, so as to provide important support for deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries.

9. The Chinese side appreciates Hungary's active participation in the China International Import Expo, the China International Fair for Trade in Services, the China Import and Export Fair and the China-CEEC Expo. China unequivocally supports Hungarian enterprises in taking a bigger part in all kinds of economic and trade expos and fairs held in China. The two sides agreed to deepen cooperation on the facilitation of customs clearance of the China-Europe Land-Sea Express Line to facilitate cross-border trade. The Chinese side welcomes more quality products and eligible enterprises of Hungary to enter the Chinese market.

10. The two sides recognized the huge potential in agricultural cooperation between the two countries and the sound progress made under the framework of the China-CEEC agricultural cooperation mechanism. The two sides will give full play to the role of the China-Hungary high-level working group on agriculture and other mechanisms, in order to strengthen economic, trade and investment cooperation between agricultural enterprises of both sides, widening market access, promote the cooperation of "small and beautiful" projects, and strengthen cooperation in areas such as animal health and joint research and development of deep processing technologies for agricultural products. The two sides agree to establish a working group between the relevant authorities in order to enhance technical exchanges on zoning and compartmentalisation, initiate structured dialogue and promote to achieve a zoning and compartmentalisation agreement in case of animal diseases in an early manner.

11. The two sides will further deepen cooperation on finance, encourage financial institutions of both sides to provide financing support and financial services for trade and investment cooperation, further tap the cooperation potential in green finance and other fields, and continue to jointly issue green Panda bonds. The Hungarian side appreciates the valuable fiscal and financial support of China. The Chinese side supports Chinese financial institutions in setting up branches in Hungary in compliance with regulatory requirements.

12. The two sides are willing to strengthen exchanges and cooperation on land and spatial planning, promote the establishment of a regular communication and exchange mechanism, jointly explore ways to promote high-quality development through high-level environmental protection, and jointly address new challenges on the fronts of globalization, urbanization, the green and low-carbon transition, and sustainable development.

13. The two sides are committed to expanding cultural and people-to-people exchanges and cooperation, jointly hosting commemorative activities for the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary in 2024, and continuously consolidating the friendship between the two peoples and the popular foundation of bilateral relations. The two sides will support exchanges and cooperation between the China Cultural Center in Budapest, the Liszt Institute - Hungarian Cultural Center in Beijing and their respective domestic cultural institutions, art academies and groups, and vocational colleges of culture and art, support holding art projects and exhibitions in each other's country, and encourage the translation, publishing and promotion of literary works.

14. The two sides will strengthen coordination and communication on tourism policies, jointly develop tourism routes and design tourism products, to promote the rapid recovery and healthy development of the tourist industry. The Hungarian side highly commends China's implementation of a visa-free policy for Hungary on a trial basis. The Chinese side highly commends the new visa facilitation measures for the management and qualified experts of large key Chinese companies investing in Hungary. The two sides are willing to further enhance their respective levels of visa facilitation and create more favorable conditions for two-way travels in the framework of applicable international and national obligations. The two sides support airline companies of the two countries in increasing direct flights between China and Hungary in accordance with market demand giving further boost to the development of business, tourism and people-to-people contacts.

15. The two sides will further strengthen cooperation in education, support more exchanges between universities and think tanks of the two countries, encourage educational institutions of the two countries to carry out joint research and training projects, and support two-way exchanges of young students. The two sides agreed to give full play to the role of the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school and the Confucius Institutes set up in Hungary, and the Hungarian language courses at Chinese universities, continue to support the youth of the two countries in learning each other's language, and deepen cooperation in language teaching.

16. The two sides will deepen mutually beneficial cooperation in scientific and technological innovation. The two sides agreed to hold a new regular session of the China-Hungary Science and Technology Cooperation Committee within this year, continue to expand people-to-people exchanges on science and technology, strengthen the building of joint scientific research platforms, and further tap the cooperation potential in basic research, applied research and the application of scientific and technological research outcomes.

17. The two sides attach great importance to the health and well-being of the people, and their cooperation on fighting COVID-19 had been pacesetting in the world. The two sides will deepen cooperation on health and work for improved global governance on public health. The two sides will strengthen cooperation in areas such as health policy, prevention and control of infectious diseases and non-infectious chronic diseases, digital health, human resources for health, medical research and traditional medicine. Both sides support the promotion and application of traditional Chinese medicine in Hungary and Central and Eastern Europe.

18. The two sides will continue to promote friendship of sister cities, facilitate friendly exchanges between the youth of the two countries, and expand exchanges and cooperation in such fields as sports, film and television, and media.

19. The two sides share the view that China-CEEC Cooperation has effectively promoted practical cooperation and people-to-people exchanges, and has become an important platform for China and Central and Eastern European countries to deepen friendship and mutually beneficial cooperation as well as a useful complement to China-Europe and China-Hungary relations. In keeping with major initiatives of the EU, China-CEEC Cooperation has facilitated the development of the China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership. The Chinese side appreciates the contribution made by the Hungarian side to the development of China-CEEC Cooperation, and supports the Hungarian side in playing a more important role in finance, transportation, tourism, health, science and technology, people-to-people exchanges, environment, business and other areas of cooperation within the China-CEEC Cooperation mechanism. The two sides stand ready to strengthen communication and coordination based on the principle of openness, inclusiveness and mutual benefit to jointly push for new and greater progress in China-CEEC Cooperation.

20. China reaffirms its commitment to the development of China-EU comprehensive strategic partnership, encourages high-level exchanges in order to promote convergence of views on strategic issues, increase human exchanges, jointly address global challenges and promote economic cooperation in a proactive and balanced manner. Hungary, as a member state of the European Union, shares these guidelines and will make its contribution to them.

21. The two sides underline the importance of settling disputes between States peacefully through dialogue and consultations. Hungary pays particular attention to the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilization Initiative proposed by China. The two sides reaffirm the importance of global security and peace. The two sides reaffirm that they will jointly safeguard the international system with the United Nations at its core, the international order underpinned by international law and the basic norms of international relations based on the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, work for a just and more equitable international order, and firmly safeguard world peace and stability.

Editor: WXL
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed on Thursday his readiness to work with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and steer the China-Hungary relationship to higher levels.

Xi made the remarks when holding talks with Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest.

Noting that Hungary is one of the first countries to recognize New China, Xi said since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit.

The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent, to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.

The China-Hungary relationship is now at its best in history, he said, adding that the traditional friendship has taken deep roots in the hearts of the people, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful outcomes.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, Xi said.

Noting that China-Hungary relations have maintained steady development over the past 75 years, Xi said the two sides should sum up valuable experience and chart the course forward.

First, Xi said, both sides should treat each other as equals, follow a development path suited to their respective national conditions, and firmly hold their destiny in their own hands.

China-Hungary friendship from generation to generation does not target any third party, nor should it be dictated by any third party, he added.

Second, the two countries should uphold mutual trust and mutual assistance, always understand each other, and firmly support each other in safeguarding their respective sovereignty, security, and development interests, Xi said.

Third, the two sides should adhere to win-win cooperation, expand cooperation in various fields within the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation, and synergize their respective development strategies, he said.

Both countries should also uphold fairness and justice, stand on the right side of history, and strive to make positive contributions to the cause of peace and development of mankind, he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok inspect the guard of honor in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. Xi attended a welcome ceremony jointly held by Sulyok and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban here on Thursday. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan)

Editor: WXL
This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.(Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The collection of documents that record the tea-drinking business entrepreneurship in Chengdu comprises 6,345 items, spanning from 1903 to 1949. These materials take a wide range of forms, such as manuscripts, business documents and photographs.

The Huizhou genealogy archives consist of 2,235 files spread across 427 volumes, documenting the genealogical culture that spans nearly a millennium.

Built in 1729, the Dege Sutra Printing House preserves in good condition 325,520 woodcut printing plates containing significant Tibetan classics dating back to the 11th century. The majority of the blocks were carved between the 18th and mid-20th centuries.

To date, China has 17 items of documentary heritage inscribed on the MOW regional register for Asia and the Pacific.

UNESCO launched the MOW in 1992 with the intention of safeguarding documentary heritage worldwide and increasing awareness of its significance.

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on June 7, 2023 shows people drinking tea at a teahouse in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on June 30, 2021 shows people drinking tea at Heming teahouse in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on Nov. 23, 2021 shows Li Qiang (2nd R), owner of a teahouse, serving customers in Shuangliu District of Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows workers cleaning woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on June 30, 2021 shows people drinking tea at Heming teahouse in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Xinhua/Shen Bohan)

This undated file photo shows volumes of genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Huangshan City Archives/Handout via Xinhua)

This undated file photo shows volumes of genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. (Huangshan City Archives/Handout via Xinhua)

Editor: GSY
The Nigerian Navy (NN) said it has impounded a ship identified as MV BLU-SHARK with IMO number 8767783.

The NN in a statement issued by Commodore A Adams-Aliu said the arrest of the ship followed an alert issued by the Multinational Maritime Coordination Center Zone D on May 2.

Adams-Aliu said the vessel was alleged to have escaped from Port Gentil Gabon on May 2 at about 11:35 pm without obtaining necessary customs clearance documents from the Gabonese maritime, judicial and customs authorities.

Following the alert, the Nigerian Navy (NN) using her Maritime Domain Awareness facilities vectored Nigerian Navy Ship OSE (NNS OSE) to intercept and arrest the vessel.

The NNS OSE successfully arrested the vessel at about 1152 hours on 6 May 2024 at Latitude 040 49 929E, Longitude 008017 602E, off Calabar waters, Adams-Aliu said.

He further said, The arrest of MV BLU-SHARK is part of existing collaborative efforts between regional maritime security agencies in the Gulf of Guinea under the Yaounde Code of Conduct on Maritime Security in the Region.

It is also in line with the Chief of Naval Staff Strategic end state towards a safe and secure maritime environment in order to enhance the Nations Blue Economy.

The NN will conduct preliminary investigations to ascertain the veracity of the allegation with a view to handling the vessel in line with the dictates of the Yaounde Code of Conduct.

The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla seized this opportunity to commend the officers and ratings of NNS OSE for their professionalism in apprehending the alleged fleeing vessel.

The CNS also reiterates the Navy's commitment to collaborating with neighboring countries to combat transnational maritime crimes in the region.
An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows boats cruising on Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows tourists walking on the boardwalk in Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows the scenery at Baiyangdian Lake scenic spot in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows boats cruising on Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows boats cruising on Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows villages in Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows villages in Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows a tourist dock at Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows the scenery at Baiyangdian Lake scenic spot in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows boats cruising on Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Tourists take a boat touring Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province, May 8, 2024. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

Editor: JYZ
From the blistering heat of 39.2 degrees Celsius to hail storms, the city witnessed extreme weather conditions within a week. Braving the hot and humid weather for about a month, Kolkata was drenched on Thursday with 56mm of rain from 8.30am till 5.30pm along with hail storms in southern pockets of the city.

The weatherman said that 13-km tall clouds hang over the city, which will cause rains till tomorrow.

Between 1pm and 3pm, the city was lashed by bolstered rain. The real surprise was for the residents of places like Jadavpur and Kudghat, where ice in the form of hail was seen with the rain. According to the data received from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, the highest rainfall was recorded at Ballygunge. This part of the city received 75mm of rainfall followed by Mominpore that was drenched with 68mm of precipitation.

Advertisement

Dhapa in the Eastern fringes of the city also received 67mm of rainfall from 1pm to 3pm. While the downpour continued in several pockets of Kolkata for two hours from, many places, including Palmer Bazar, Dhapa, Maniktala, Topsia and Thanthania received higher rainfall between 1pm to 2pm. The city sky remained overcast for greater parts of the day with drizzles continuing even after 3pm in a few pockets.

According to the Regional Meteorological Centre, the cyclonic circulation over Bangladesh and its neighbourhood now lies over the eastern parts of the country while another trough line runs from east Assam to north Odisha, across Gangetic West Bengal. The dual weather system is responsible for favourable synoptic conditions and strong moisture incursion from Bay of Bengal and would bring thunderstorm, lightning, gusty wind and thunder squall activity in various districts of south Bengal. The weather office has issued an orange warning of thunder squall with speed reaching 50-60 kmph in nine districts of south Bengal for tomorrow. The city of Kolkata has also been given an orange alert of the thunder squall for tomorrow. As per the weather scientists, the rainfall and thunderstorm are likely to be more intense till tomorrow. From Friday, the rainfall is anticipated to get reduced in Kolkata.
Mamata Banerjee camped in this industrial city for 12 days, which evoked mixed reaction from the locals. Both the party workers and leaders and the Opposition had to reschedule their plans due to the CMs presence here.

Its quite a matter of pride that the states chief minister is staying with us in the city, but the policemen blocking the roads for hours during her movement is unbearable. We had to waste tile waiting for her convoy to pass, said Durgapur Steel Plant worker Partha Biswas. He was supported by lawyer Abhoy Bhattacharya, who said, Why are we kept waiting to facilitate her movement?

Both are voters of Bardhaman Durgapur Sabha constituency. Moumita Pali, a housewife waiting on her scooter near Gandhi Morh, near the helipad said, Shes our chief minister, we should wait for her safety and security as long as its required.

Advertisement

The Trinamul Congress chairperson to stay in Durgapur for the citys strategic location having close access to neighbourhood districts like Birbhum, Purulia, Bankura, Jhargram, Hooghly, Nadia and East Burdwan where she was flying from Gandhi Morh everyday.

She was staying here for 12 days, but prior to that, she camped here for four days giving a break of five days. The city has however been frustrating her since the 2016 Assembly election when voters elected a CPM and a Congress candidate in its two segments. In 2019, it gave the BJP candidate Surinder Singh Ahluwalia a lead margin of 76,000 votes and in 2021, the Durgapur (Paschim) constituency elected an MLA from the BJP.

Her continued stay meanwhile has left a horizontal influence on her partymen, who faced internal squabbles, especially after a fresh committee was declared for INTTUC, partys labour arm. Also, the party was visibly split in two groups of loyalists of ministers, Moloy Ghatak and Pradip Majumdar over a year, especially due Asansol leaders hyper intervention in Durgapur affairs. Former district president Apurba Mukherjee kept himself away from the party after he was replaced by his successor. Abhijit Ghatak, INTTUC district president and brother of minister Ghatak, said, We really feel recharged and are united now. Narendranath Chakraborty, district president of TMC said, The roadshow has shown how our guardian made everyone in the party join hands before the election.
Amidst hullabaloo on viral video on alleged stage-managed rape cases at Sandeshkhali, local police today issued summons to a local BJP leader Piyali Das alias Mampi in connection with threat and intimidation of a woman, who had gone to local thana to withdraw false rape case.

Meanwhile, the Trinamul Congress today moved the Election Commission lodging complaint against the three BJP leaders, including Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari.

Sandeshkali Police today asked the BJP leader Piyali Das to depose before the police in three days for questioning on charges of coercion and threat to a woman, who wanted to withdraw charges of rape, which she alleged was fake.

Advertisement

The alleged woman, who had lodged a complaint against Piyali said that she had plaints on some land grab issues but she was made to sign on a blank paper and the charge of alleged rape was added without her concurrence.

Sandeshkahli police today started cases against local BJP leaders like Gangadhar Koyal, BJP Basirhat candidate Rekha Patra, Shanti Dolui, Piyush, Subhankar Giri and Bina Maiti. A complaint was also filed against Mr Adhikari. The police are believed to move the high court seeking permission to file FIRs against the Leader of Opposition.

A delegation of the ruling party, led by the partys Rajya Sabha MP Sagarika Ghosh moved the Election Commission with the complaint today.

The police lodged complaints against the local BJP leaders under various sections including under Section 509 (trying to outrage modesty of a woman) and Sec 171 IPC on fraudulent intent.
The Iranian Independent Filmmakers Association (IIFMA) is gearing up for an exciting venture at the Cannes Film Festivals Marche du Film, set to take place from May 14 to 21, 2024.

Their presence at this prestigious event isnt just about rubbing elbows with industry bigwigs; its about providing a vital platform for Iranian filmmakers to shine. With networking events, screenings, and more on the agenda, IIFMA aims to foster collaboration and celebrate the unique artistry of independent filmmaking.

Mahshid Zamani, a prominent film critic and IIFMA board member, expressed enthusiasm about their participation: Were thrilled to be back at Cannes, continuing our mission to support the vibrant community of independent filmmakers. Through our events at the Film Market, we hope to showcase the incredible talent of Iranian filmmakers, connect them with industry leaders, and help them gain recognition on the global stage.

Advertisement

At the heart of their Cannes showcase are two screening sessions, where theyll spotlight both established and up-and-coming talents. One standout feature is Dead of Night by Farhad Vilkiji, marking his directorial debut. The film delves into the struggles of an Iranian intellectual navigating political and personal challenges, promising a poignant exploration of human resilience.

But the spotlight doesnt stop there. IIFMA is also shining a light on three short films that resonate with the spirit of the Woman, Life, Freedom movement within Iranian independent cinema. These films promise to offer powerful insights into the experiences of Iranian women, reflecting their struggles, aspirations, and triumphs.

Beyond the screenings, IIFMA will be pulling out all the stops, from hosting a stand to organizing a lively happy hour. Its all part of their commitment to nurturing creativity, fostering connections, and championing the diverse voices of independent filmmakers, not just from Iran, but from across the globe.

As the curtains rise on Cannes 2024, all eyes will be on IIFMA as they continue to make waves in the world of independent cinema.
Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot said here on Friday that the Supreme Courts decision to grant bail to Arvind Kejriwal in the alleged liquor scam case was a welcome respite.

No evidence could be found against all the political people, including Sanjay Raut and Sanjay Singh, who were arrested earlier by the ED, and a lot of their time was wasted in jail, the former Rajasthan chief minister said in his post on X.

The Supreme Courts decision during the elections will provide a level playing field in the elections. Former chief minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren should also go to the Supreme Court and present his side, he said.

Advertisement
Welcomed the Supreme Courts decision to grant interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAPs national convener Arvind Kejriwal, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) said his release from judicial custody would make way for big changes in the country.

Speaking at a press conference at the party office, senior AAP leader and Delhi Minister Saurabh Bharadwaj described the interim bail granted to Kejriwal as a blessing from Lord Hanuman to his devotee.

Bharadwaj further said that in a case under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) people remain behind bars for months, getting interim bail in 40 days is like a miracle. Coming from the highest court of justice, it is a signal from God for an imminent change.

Advertisement

There is a bigger purpose behind what happened, for which Kejriwal is coming out on interim bail and the country will witness that in the days to come, he added.

Speaking at the press conference, another AAP leader, Atishi, said the decision of the Supreme Court is also the victory of truth, the constitution, and democracy. She said the entire party wants to thank the apex court for protecting the constitution.

The Delhi minister appealed to the people of the country to come forward and exercise their voting right to protect the constitution and democracy.

AAP leader Gopal Rai also thanked the Supreme Court, saying it has lit a ray of hope in the hearts of people who love the country and democracy. Today, the entire country, including Delhi, is happy, Rai said, adding the party is working to consolidate.

AAPs National Spokesperson Priyanka Kakar said the party was grateful to the Supreme Court for granting the interim bail to Kejriwal in such extraordinary circumstances.

Hailing the SC decision, AAP leader Sanjay Singh said the truth can be troubled, but not defeated. In a video message released on his X handle, he called the decision of the apex court historic which would usher in a productive and positive atmosphere in the country.

Earlier in the day, in a major relief to Kejriwal, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1, albeit with certain conditions that the AAP chief will have to abide by while being out on bail.

The CM will walk out of the jail once the order is uploaded and a release order is processed with the completion of legal formalities, a CMs lawyer said while speaking to reporters.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who never mentioned the names of Adani and Ambani in the last ten years, has opened up on the two business tycoons when cornered.

At a massive public meeting held by the INDIA bloc on Friday to seek support for Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav, the Congress leader said, Modi gave thousands of speeches in the last ten years but never named the two businessmen. One takes the names of those who can save him only when he feels scared, he pointed out.

Along with Rahul Gandhi and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Sanjay Singh participated in the joint INDIA rally vehemently targeting the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Advertisement

Akhilesh Yadav is a candidate from Kannauj where polling for the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections is scheduled to be held on May 13.

Continuing his diatribe against the prime minister, Rahul Gandhi alleged, Modi is now saying, save me, the INDIA has surrounded me, I am losing. Adani-Ambani save me! That is the reason why Narendra Modi took their names now.

Taking a dig at Prime Minister Modi for his tempo remark, the Congress leader said he (Modi) knows how to send money in Adani Tempo. The PM has personal experience of tempo. Now, the BJP, Narendra Modi and Amit Shah will try to divert your attention. For the next 10-15 days, they will try to divert your attention, he told the audience.

Invoking the arrest of AAP leaders, Rahul Gandhi said, Arvind Kejriwal was sent to jail, Satendra Jain was sent to jail, Manish Sisodia was sent to jail, they are not afraid of you, keep them in jail for the rest of your life.

Predicting the victory of Akhilesh Yadav from the Kannauj Lok Sabha constituency, he said, I can give you in writing that there is going to be a hurricane of INDIA in Uttar Pradesh. This time, the BJP will have to face its biggest defeat in the country, and it is going to start from UP.

The people of Uttar Pradesh have made up their minds to bring a change here. The change has to be brought in India, he added.

Stating that BJP people cannot build schools, hospitals, electricity, or roads, the Congress MP said, Modi ji used to say that there is a graveyard in the village and now there should be a crematorium. They converted every village into a crematorium during the Corona period.

Speaking on the occasion, Sanjay Singh said Akhilesh Yadav was going to have a big victory. This is the last election of democracy. If the BJP wins, the Constitution will end, he said.

Akhilesh Yadav had been the chief minister for five years. See how his successor humiliated him by sanitising the official residence of the chief minister with Ganga water after he evacuated it. And when Akhilesh ji went to visit a temple in Kannauj, there too the BJP people insulted him by washing him with Ganga water, he alleged.

Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav welcomed the leaders presenting them with small bottles of essence Kannauj is famous for.
Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu has lashed out at Leader of Opposition Jai Ram Thakur, accusing him of ignoring Hamirpur while he was in power.

Sukhu, while addressing a public gathering at Hamirpur after Congress candidate Satpal Raizada filed nomination from Hamirpur Lok Sabha seat on Friday, said that the people of Hamirpur are his strength and the people here have supported him every moment.

I will remain grateful throughout my life to the people of Hamirpur and Nadaun for the position I have reached today. It is the peoples faith that inspires me to move forward. With the blessings of all of you, today I have become the Chief Minister despite belonging from a humble family, he said.

Advertisement

During the previous BJP government, no one was deliberately made a minister from Hamirpur district. The district that used to get ministers along with the Chief Minister, was not given any place in the previous government, he blamed, questioning Jai Ram Thakurs accomplishment for the district during his chief ministership.

Fifteen years back, when Prem Kumar Dhumal was the CM, he had laid the foundation stone of the bus stand in Hamirpur, however Jai Ram Thakur during his tenure did not give a single penny for the construction of the bus stand, he said.

Soon after I assumed the post of Chief Minister, the work of building the bus stand started on war footing and will be ready in nine months. Along with this, the work of undergrounding the wires of Gandhi Chowk has also started, said he.

The Chief Minister accused the independent MLA of Hamirpur of taking tenders worth Rs 100 crore and mined the ravines and plundered the resources of the area.

Attacking the rebel Congress MLA from Sujanpur who shifted to BJP Sukhu said that Rajinder Rana joined Congress in 2014 by betraying former BJP CM Prem Kumar as Dhumal.

His motive for defeating Dhumal was only to earn money. His welfare organization receives money from Baddi, through which he honours ex-servicemen. Till date, Rajendra Rana has never spent even a single penny from his pocket on them, he charged.

Describing the six rebel Congress MLAs as Sellouts, he said that the MLA of Barsar has also sold himself for Rs 15 crore and investigation is being conducted against them.

He alleged that the rebel MLA from Kuthlehar used to visit him to get contracts, but he never raised any public issue.

Attacking rebel MLA from Gagret, he alleged that Chaitanya Tax was being imposed on medical shops, petrol pumps, shops and crushers in Gagret.

Sukhu reiterated that as long as he remains in the post of Chief Minister, he will never compromise with corruption.

This is not an ordinary election as your vote will decide whether money power or manpower will win, said Sukhu reaching out to the public to be prudent while exercising their franchise.

Before the Lok Sabha elections, negotiations were going on to topple the Congress government, so that political gains could be taken in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, he alleged.

Appealing to the public to vote for Congress candidate, he said: The BJP MP from Hamirpur parliamentary constituency Anurag Thakur has been there for 26 years. This time the Congress party has fielded Satpal Raizada and the people of Hamirpur must give him a chance, so as to bring about transformation of the area.

Raizada will not lie about connecting Hamirpur by train, whereas Anurag Thakur always lies. Anurag Thakur takes the credit for bringing Hamirpur Medical College, whereas the truth is that I had got the medical college approved on March 3, 2014 during the UPA government, claimed Sukhu.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, as an MLA, I gave an RT PCR machine worth Rs 35 lakh, whereas being an MP, this responsibility was of Anurag Thakur, said Chief Minister.
Leaders from parties of INDIA bloc on Friday welcomed the interim bail granted to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and said the bid to silence the Opposition by the BJP is backfiring on the ruling dispensation.

We welcome the intervention by the honourable Supreme Court in granting the bail to Mr Arvind Kejriwal, said Congress Chairman of Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera in a video after the SC granted interim bail to Kejriwal, who is also the convenor of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP).

Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said, We also hope that the prime minister gets enough time after 4th of June when he becomes the former Prime Minister of India to introspect sitting in Sabarmati Ashram and the kind of politics he had indulged into.

Advertisement

We hope that the former Chief Minister of Jharkhand Hemant Soren also gets justice, he said.

West Bengal Chief Minister and Trinamool Congress Chairperson Mamata Banerjee wrote on X, I am very happy to see that Arvind Kejriwal has got interim bail. It will be very helpful in the context of the current elections.

Echoing similar sentiments, Communist Party of India (CPI) general secretary D Raja said, CPI welcomes the interim bail granted to AAP convenor and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal by the Supreme Court, despite EDs vehement opposition to it. Importantly, SCs observation that it took ED two years to initiate action against Arvind Kejriwal suggests that the timing of his arrest, right before elections, was not above suspicion and could be politically motivated.

He also expressed hope that former Jharkhand CM Soren and other leaders who were targeted for their opposition to the BJP will also get relief.

People of the country are fed-up with the vendetta politics of the BJP and will show them the door on 4th June, Raja wrote on X.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi wrote on X, And big win for Arvind Kejriwal ji as SC steps in to grant him interim bail.

She said, The bid to silence the opposition by BJP is backfiring on them. We Wont be silenced, wont bend, wont give in come what may. Bharat is watching, India is winning! Jai Hind.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted 21-day interim bail to Arvind Kejriwal till June 1 in connection with the excise policy scam.
In more trouble for the Congress in the run-up to the general election, senior leader Mani Shankar Aiyar kicked up a row with his remarks India should give respect to Pakistan as it has an atom bomb.

As his remarks in an interview went viral, the Congress has distanced itself from Aiyars remarks and said the party totally disagrees with what he had said.

The latest controversy came days after another senior party leader Sam Pitroda created a storm with his racist remarks in an interview to The Statesman, following which he resigned from the post of chairman of the Indian Overseas Congress.

Advertisement

Notably in December 2017, Aiyar was suspended from the party for his neech aadmi (vile man) remarks on Prime Minister Narendra Modi. His suspension was revoked later.

In a post on X, Congress Chairman of Media and Publicity Department Pawan Khera said, Indian National Congress dissociates itself completely from and disagrees totally with some remarks made by Mr Mani Shankar Aiyar few months back which have been revived today by the BJP in its attempt to deflect attention from Prime Minister Modis daily goof ups. Mr Aiyer does not speak for the party in any capacity whatsoever.

The Indian National Congress and indeed the entire nation recalls with pride that in December 1971 Pakistan was broken and an independent Bangladesh emerged, thanks to Indira Gandhis decisive and determined leadership and the valour of our armed forces, he said.

Khera further said, Almost exactly 50 years ago on May 18, 1974 under the leadership of Indiraji, Indias nuclear capability was announced to the world. The Indian National Congress has always believed that our decision making should be guided by supreme national interest.

Attacking the BJP, he said, And if old videos are to be used, here is a not so old video where the External Affairs Minister (S Jaishankar ) is publicly advising India to be afraid of China.

In the podcast, Jaishankar is heard saying, They are the bigger economy. As a smaller economy I am not going to sort of go pick a fight with a bigger economy.
The Ministry of Defence said the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act has been notified through a gazette notification, to be enforced with effect from May 10.

In order to bolster effective command, control and efficient functioning of Inter-Services Organisations (ISOs), the Bill was passed by both the Houses of Parliament during the Monsoon Session of 2023. The Bill received the assent of the President on August 15, 2023.

The Act empowers Commanders-in-Chief and Officers-in-Command of ISOs to exercise control over Service personnel, serving under them, for effective maintenance of discipline and administration, without disturbing the unique service conditions of each individual Service, the Ministry said in a statement.

Advertisement

With the notification, the Act will empower the heads of ISOs and pave the way for expeditious disposal of cases, avoid multiple proceedings and will be a step towards greater integration & jointness among the Armed Forces personnel, it added.

The Act will ensure better coordination between the three services (army, navy, airforce) and will also bolster the integrated structure. It will prove to be a milestone in the path to Indias military reforms, the Ministry said.

Piloting the Bill in Parliament, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had described it as necessary to strengthen the armed forces in the wake of the global security scenario.

According to the Ministry, presently, the armed forces personnel are governed in accordance with the provisions contained in their specific Service Acts  the Army Act, 1950, the Navy Act, 1957, and the Air Force Act, 1950.

Now, there will be various tangible benefits such as maintenance of effective discipline in inter-services establishments by the heads of ISOs, no requirement of reverting personnel under disciplinary proceedings to their parent service units, expeditious disposal of cases of misdemeanours or indiscipline and saving of public money and time by avoiding multiple proceedings, the Ministry said.

It said it would also pave the way for much greater integration and jointness amongst the three services, lay a strong foundation for the creation of joint structures in times to come and further improve the functioning of the Armed Forces.

It will be applicable to all personnel of all the three services as well as persons of other forces as notified by the Central government, who are serving in or attached to an Inter-Services Organisation, the Ministry added.

The commander-in-chief or officer-in-command means the General Officer/Flag Officer/Air Officer Commanding who has been appointed to the post, it said.

To maintain command and control in their absence, the officiating incumbent or the officer on whom the command develops in their absence of a C-in-C or Oi/C, will also be empowered to initiate all disciplinary or administrative actions over the service personnel, appointed, deputed, posted or attached to an Inter-Services organisation, the Ministry added.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who was released by the apex court on interim bail, on Friday said he was fighting dictatorship with all his might, even as AAP workers burst crackers and welcomed back their dear leader.

Addressing a huge crowd of party workers by standing out from the sunroof of the vehicle, Kejriwal said he felt great to be with his supporters, reminding them that he had said he would come back.

He further said that he wanted to bow down in front of Lord Hanuman and said that with his blessings he is here and further wanted to thank everyone for their support

and blessings and also thanked the Supreme Court.

Advertisement

In an appeal to people, he requested everyone to come forward to save the country.

Kejriwal further appealed to the people to come and join him in large numbers at Hanuman temple in Connaught Place at 11 a.m. on Saturday to offer prayers and darshan.

The Delhi CM further said that there will be a press conference at the party office on Saturday at 1 p.m. and while addressing supporters and reporters outside his residence and also expressed likelihood of taking part in a road show at South Delhi on Saturday evening along with Punjab CM Bhagwant Mann.

Our country is four thousand years old, and is a great nation, and whenever someone has tried to impose dictatorship here, people have never tolerated it, he said.

Large number of party workers, supporters surrounded Kejriwals convoy after it drove off from the Tihar prisons en- route to his residence.

Filled with excitement to see their leader, the supporters and party workers welcomed him amid dhol beats, crackers and sloganeering.

Kejriwal was seen accompanied by AAP leader Pathak in the vehicle when the vehicle moved out of the Tihar premises.

Awaiting his release on interim bail after the news broke out, scores of supporters gathered outside the jail premises including Punjab CM and other AAP leaders.

Elaborate arrangements were put in place outside Delhi CMs residence with flowers laid outside the CM house gate to welcome him by his supporters and party workers.

The Supreme Court on Friday granted interim bail to Kejriwal in a money laundering case linked to the alleged Delhi excise policy scam for a period of 21 days and has asked the AAP chief to surrender on June 2.

The Delhi CM was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement on March 21 from his official residence after two hours of questioning.

Initially, Kejriwal was sent to EDs custody, and later was under judicial custody, in which he was lodged in Tihar prisons.

Earlier, in the month of April, AAP Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Singh was released on bail granted by the apex court. Singh spent over six months in jail in connection with the excise policy case.
Amid tension between India and China over the protracted military stand-off in eastern Ladakh, newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong arrived here on Friday to assume office.

Arrived at dawn in Delhi today. Thanks for the warm greetings from MEA official, Dean of Diplomatic Corps H.E. Ambassador Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam of Eritrea to India, and my colleagues from the Embassy. Look forward to working hard with all for China-India relations, Xu wrote on X soon after his arrival.

Xu is the 17th Chinese Ambassador to India. The last Chinese Ambassador to India was Sun Weidong, who left in October 2022, after serving three years in Delhi, and took over as Chinas deputy Foreign Minister after his return.

Advertisement

Sun left New Delhi at a time when India and China were trying to repair bilateral ties which nosedived in the wake of the Ladakh military face-off that began in April-May 2020.

India and China have held umpteen rounds of military and diplomatic talks to resolve the stand-off.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh recently stated that both India and China are confident of successfully resolving the stand-off.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on Thursday slammed former Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi over his election stunt remarks on the terrorist attack on the Indian Air Force (IAF) convoy at Poonch in Jammu and Kashmir.

Channi said on Sunday that the Poonch militant attack, in which an IAF corporal was killed and four personnel were injured, was an election stunt to benefit the BJP. His remarks drew outrage from the BJP, which accused Congress of being disrespectful to soldiers and demanded an apology to the nation.

Addressing an intellectual meet in Lucknow, Singh said, A former Chief Minister of Punjab called a terror attack on Air Force personnel an election stunt as it happened during the election. We have such people in our country.

Advertisement

He further said that the BJP has cleaned up terrorism in the country. There might still be a few terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir. Before the BJP government, there were terror attacks in most of the states, he said.

Recalling the Mumbai attack in 2008, Singh said after the attack that the then Home Minister said that these kinds of small terror attacks keep happening.

In 2008, when I was the party president, the Mumbai attack happened and several people lost their lives. The then home minister said such small terror attacks keep happening, he said.

If someone tries to carry out any nefarious act, India can eliminate them on this side of the border, and if necessary, on the other side as well. We are no longer buying defence equipment from other countries. We have made ourselves self-reliant in the defence sector, Singh added.

He further said that the BJP does politics for nation-building. We want to develop a prosperous Bharat that is not only financially capable but could also lead in the fields of knowledge, spirituality and science, Singh said.

He said that India, which ranked 11th in the GDP rankings, is currently the 5th largest economy in the world, adding that in the coming years, the country will become the third largest economy.

Indias economy was in 11th position from 2004 till 2014. After this, PM Modi took over the charge and under his leadership, within eight years, Indias economy jumped from 11th position to fifth position. And there is a prediction that India will be among the top three economies in the world if it continues at the same pace, the Defence Minister said.

Assuring people that Indian borders are completely safe and secure, Singh said, I request to opposition parties say whatever they want to say but stop questioning the valour and bravery of Indian soldiers. On the issue of national security and border security, all political parties, despite their political differences, should stand together, irrespective of who is in power.
The Supreme Court on Friday granted 21-day interim bail to Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convenor Arvind Kejriwal till June 1to participate in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Granting relief to Kejriwal, who was arrested by the Directorate of Enforcement on March 21, a bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Dipankar Datta ordered that the AAP leader will not attend his office or go to the government secretariat during this period.

The court ordered that Kejriwal would surrender to jail authorities on June 2.

Advertisement

Kejriwal, the court said in its order pronounced by Justice Khanna shall furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs.50,000/- with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent and he shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat.

The order stated that Kejriwal shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi.

However, the court shackled Kejriwal ordering that he will not make any comment with regard to his role in the present Delhi excise policy case and he will not interact with any of the witnesses and have access to any official files connected with the case.

The court clarified that the grant of interim bail to Kejriwal will not be treated as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case arising from his challenge to arrest and the subsequent remand that is pending before the bench.

The court brushed aside the Directorate of Enforcements opposition to the grant of interim bail to Kejriwal on the grounds that no separate category of politicians could be created for the grant of interim bail and to participate in electioneering is a luxury and approach the trial court for bail.

Observing that at this stage, it is not possible for us to either conclude the arguments or finally pronounce the judgment, the court in its order said, However, there is an intervening factor which has prompted us to consider and pass the present order, namely, 18th Lok Sabha General Elections, which are in progress.

Rejecting Directorate of Enforcements argument that participating in the election campaign could be a ground for the grant of interim bail, the order said, It is no gain saying that General Elections to Lok Sabha is the most significant and an important event this year, as it should be in a national election year. Between 650-700 million voters out of an electorate of about 970 million will cast their votes to elect the government of this country for the next five years. General Elections supply the vis viva to a democracy.

Given the prodigious importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving a premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country. While examining the question of grant of interim bail/release, the courts always take into consideration the peculiarities associated with the person in question and the surrounding circumstances. In fact, to ignore the same would be iniquitous and wrong, the order said rejecting EDs contention.

On the EDs contention not to treat politicians as a distinct cartoony for the grant of interim bail, the order said, Power to grant interim bail is commonly exercised in a number of cases. Interim bail is granted in the facts of each case. This case is not an exception.

Noting that Kejriwal did not appear before the ED despite being summoned nine times, the order said, This is a negative factor, but there are several other facets which we are required to take into consideration. The appellant  Arvind Kejriwal is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to society.

Rejecting the EDs contentions, the order said that the question of granting interim bail to Kejriwal could not be compassed with analogies like harvesting of crops by a farmer or plea of a businessman to look after his business affairs.

The order further said, The investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022. Arvind Kejriwal was arrested, as noted above, on 21.03.2024. More importantly, legality and validity of the arrest itself is under challenge before this Court and we are yet to finally pronounce on the same.

The situation cannot be compared with harvesting crops or pleading to look after business affairs. In this background, once the matter is sub-judice and the questions relating to legality of arrest are under consideration, a more holistic and libertarian view is justified, in the background that the 18th Lok Sabha General Elections are being held.

Brushing aside the argument that Kejriwal should approach the trial court for interim bail, the order said, As the appeal is pending before us, we do not think it would be proper for us to direct the appellant  Arvind Kejriwal to approach the trial court for interim bail/release. This may not be apt in view of the legal issues and contentions that are under examination and consideration before us.

Kejriwal in his plea against the High Court order has contended that his arrest after announcement of the General Elections is motivated by extraneous considerations. Describing his arrest as motivated, Kejriwal has contended that a sitting Chief Minister has been arrested in the middle of election cycle and especially after the announcement of the schedule of the 2024 Lok Sabha election.

The petition says that Kejriwals arrest also constitutes an unprecedented assault on the tenets of democracy based on free and fair elections and federalism, both of which form significant constituents of the basic structure of the Constitution.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that the Congress party is talking of sending him to a grave while its INDI alliance partner, the fake Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, says he would be buried alive, but he can already see himself giving them a burial in the current elections, as they have lost their political base, and enjoy neither support nor confidence of people.

Addressing a BJP election rally in Nandurbar, Maharashtra, he said that even while abusing him during the campaign, these parties do not forget their policy of appeasement and use the language to keep their vote bank in good humour. How sad Balasaheb Thackeray would have been today, Mr Modi said.

The prime minister said the Uddhav Thackeray-led fake Shiv Sena is using those convicted of bomb blasts in election campaign. It was just like in Bihar where the fodder scam convict (RJD Leader Lalu Prasad) is campaigning, he said. Looking at their work, who can associate with these people, Mr Modi said. No surprise, I see dreams of burying these people, the prime minister said.

Advertisement

They have lost the support and confidence of the people and have no political base now. People of the country would protect Modi, and none would be able to bury him alive or after death, he was sure, he said.

Without naming NCP leader Sharad Pawar, the prime minister said a veteran leader of Maharashtra, who has been in politics for 40-50 years, has given a statement after the Baramati election. The statement, apparently given after consultation with many people, showed he is so frustrated and disappointed that he feels that if small parties want to continue in public and political life after the Lok Sabha election results, they should merge with the Congress, Mr Modi said.

This means that the fake NCP and the fake Shiv Sena have decided to merge with the Congress. If they accept my advice, it would be better to associate with Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and NCP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, rather than merging with the Congress and realize their dreams, the prime minister said.

He said the Congress knows it cannot compete with the BJP on development and that is why it is resorting to falsehood to get votes. On the reservation issue, he said, Congress is indulging in chor machaye shor (thieves behaving like victims).

The prime minister further said that the reservations on the basis of religion are against the Constitution and is like stabbing the Constitution makers in the back. The Congress plans to snatch the reservation share of Dalits, Adivasis, and OBCs and give it to the vote bank in the name of minorities. I have concrete examples, he said. This should be conveyed to all concerned communities.

In Karnataka, the Congress government made all Muslims OBCs overnight to give them reservations on the basis of religion. An order was issued by the chief minister. The largest share of the reservation was in this way taken and given to Muslims. The Congress wants to implement the model all over the country, he added.

The prime minister said the Maha Aghadi of Maharashtra also wants to eat up all reservations, while Modi is trying to protect it. I have been asking the Congress for the last 17 days about it and wanted it to give it in writing that it will not take the SC, ST, OBC quota and give it to Muslims. They are not replying, it means they have an agenda, Mr Modi said. Let them try their best, and take help of anti-national forces; the people have my guarantee. As long as I am alive, SC, ST, OBC quota will not be taken on the pretext of religion, he said.

The BJP and the NDA made a daughter of a tribal president of the country for the first time, he said while the Congress had tried its best to oppose her candidature. Mr Modi said the guru of the Congress Prince has exposed the reason for this.

The gurus statement showed that Congress treats people with Lord Krishnas complexion like Africans. That is why they were not ready to accept Mrs Droupadi Murmu as President, he said. Is this not insulting to the adivasis, he asked.

The Congress has another dangerous agenda. The guru made a disclosure that Ram temple construction and the Ram Navami festival are against the idea of India. Modi goes to the temple, they do not like it. The Congress considers my going to temple anti-India. Is this treason, he asked.

Look at the mentality of the Congress, he said. In the land of Lord Ram, going to Ram temple is considered wrong. These people follow the policy of appeasement and attack the faith of the 140 crore population of the country, not just Modi. The Congress is conspiring to eliminate the Hindu faith from the country, the prime minister said.
A local court in Bhubaneswar on Friday convicted three drug peddlers and sentenced them to 20 years rigorous imprisonment after the Special Task Force (STF) of Odisha police seized 4.458 kilograms of heroin valued at Rs 4 crore from them in June 2020.

The Court of 2nd Additional District Judge cum Special Judge, Bhubaneswar convicted the accused persons- Debasish Behera, Prabir Kumar Singh, Sk Kausar Alli under relevant sections of the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985, Rashmiranjan Brahma, Special Public Prosecutor said.

The accused were convicted and sentenced to undergo Rigorous Imprisonment (RI) for 20 Years & to pay a fine of 1 lakh and in default, RI for one more year, he said.

Advertisement

The accused, who were all from Bengal-bordering Balasore district, were transporting the banned substances in a SUV after procuring the same from West Bengal. The STF sleuths acting on a tip-off had intercepted them near busy Rasulgarh crossing in Bhubaneswar on 19 June 2020.

The Court, relying on the statement of 13 witnesses and 79 documents, found them guilty under the NDPS act.

The seized contraband has already been destroyed as per order of the Court.

STF is the specialised wing of Odisha Police to curb the organised crime in the State.

Narcotic drugs are the main focus area of STF and it will continue its drive against the interstate drug trafficking network, the law enforcement agency said.

This is the first case in Odisha where the accused were convicted 20 years imprisonment under NDPS Act, 1985, STF claimed.

The banned substances, mostly heroin, are making their way to Odisha from Murshidabad in West Bengal.

Balasore district bordering Bengal has become the gateway to drug peddling networks in the State.

The source point of heroin smuggling in the State owes its origin to Murshidabad. The organised rackets of drug peddlers based in Balasore have spread their network to major urban centres- Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, Puri, Rourkela, Sambalpur and Puri- of the State, STF officials concluded.
Varanasi witnessed an extraordinary spectacle of a hi-tech drone show at Dashashwamedh Ghat on Thursday evening, just a few days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modis road show in his parliamentary constituency on May 13.

The drone show started on May 9 and will continue till May 13.

The show, titled Kashi Aur Desh Ki Vikas Yatra, aims to showcase the progress and achievements in the region through a high-tech presentation depicting the regions developmental saga through a mesmerising aerial ballet of 1000 drones, claimed Ventures Advertising, the company organising this drone show.

Advertisement

During the show, around 1,000 drones simultaneously crossed the Ganga at Dashashwamedh Ghat, presenting the views of Lotus flower, Damru, Vishwanath Darbar, Ganga Vilas and Namo Ghat.

On the first day, around 2.5 lakh people reached the Dashashwamedh Ghat to witness the show.

The drone show started at 7.45 pm after the Ganga Aarti . PM Modis connection with the people was shown in the 15-minute show.

As many as 1,000 drones showed the development works done by PM Modi in 10 years over the Ganga, then the slogans Abki Bar Modi Sarkar and Abki Baar 400 Paar were created.

CMD Chetan Shah of Ventures Advertising, the company organising the drone show, expressed his enthusiasm for the event.

This drone show transcends traditional event boundaries by combining technological advancements with engaging storytelling. We aim to share our regions journey of growth in a way that captivates and inspires the audience, he said.

Company CEO Vitesh Shah highlighted the technical sophistication of the event: Our drones are not just flying objects; they are carriers of our message. Programmed to create vivid visuals and messages in the sky, they invite the audience to see Varanasis journey through a new lens, incorporating experiential technology that engages and fascinates.

Rupesh Patil, Vice President  Client Success, outlined the strategic impact. With decades of experience in marketing communication, Ive seen the power of innovative methods in capturing public interest. This drone show is designed to not only dazzle viewers but also strengthen their understanding of our developmental milestones through a high-impact, engaging format, he said.

Prime Minister Modi will hold a 5 km-long road show in Varanasi on May 13. He will file nomination papers for the third time for Varanasi Parliamentary seat on May 14.
As the political landscape unfolds in Jharkhand, with the first of four rounds of voting in the state scheduled on Monday, a fascinating spectacle of shifting allegiances, strategic manoeuvres, and the enduring influence of tribal politics is in store. With five Lok Sabha seats in the state up for grabs in the fourth phase of the general election on May 13, Jharkhand finds itself at the centre of a dynamic electoral narrative, poised between continuity and change. The BJPs impressive performance in the 2019 elections, sweeping 12 out of 14 seats in Jharkhand, underscored its dominance.

However, a closer examination reveals cracks in the seemingly invincible facade. Despite securing victories, the margins of triumph in certain constituencies were notably slim, signalling a potential vulnerability to shifting voter sentiments. One significant factor) contributing to this vulnerability is the intricate web of tribal dynamics woven into the states political fabric. Jharkhand, with its diverse tribal communities, presents a unique challenge for political parties vying for supremacy. The multipolar nature of its politics necessitates deft manoeuvring and strategic alliances, as evidenced by past electoral outcomes.

The incarceration of Hemant Soren, a prominent tribal leader and former chief minister, on graft charges has sparked outrage among tribal rights organisations and communities. The perceived assault on tribal representation has galvanised support against the BJP, and is likely to have an impact on voting. Moreover, the BJPs decision to experiment with non-tribal leadership in a predominantly tribal state like Jharkhand has met with mixed results. The appointment of a non-tribal chief minister after the 2014 assembly elections yielded disappointing outcomes, highlighting the importance of tribal representation in the states governance structure.

Advertisement

In contrast, the recent appointment of a tribal chief minister in Chhattisgarh following the 2023 assembly elections signifies a strategic shift in the BJPs approach. By aligning with tribal sentiments and leveraging local leadership, the party aims to consolidate its support base and navigate the complex terrain of tribal politics more effectively. However, electoral success in Jharkhand hinges not only on strategic manoeuvring but also on the ability to forge alliances and field candidates capable of resonating with the electorate. With alliances playing a pivotal role in the states multipolar politics, the BJP must tread cautiously and cultivate partnerships that complement its electoral strategy. As Jharkhand braces itself for the upcoming general election, the political landscape remains fluid and unpredictable.

While the BJPs past successes underscore its formidable presence in the state, the emergence of new alliances, the mobilisation of tribal communities, and the shifting sands of public opinion portend a closely contested electoral battle. In the crucible of Jharkhands politics, where tribal identity intersects with electoral aspirations, the outcome of the election will not only shape the states political trajectory but also resonate far beyond its borders. As voters prepare to cast their ballots, the stage is set for a compelling saga of democracy in action.
We Indians love scams so much that the word scam is now part of all Indian languages, though the meaning is not the same as given in the Oxford dictionary; in India scam is understood as not any run-of-the-mill dishonest scheme, but a big-ticket swindle, involving top people. Scams typically manifest themselves before major elections, to the extent that if no juicy scam is on the horizon, politicians make one up.

Even otherwise, the frequency of scams has increased over the years. Tellingly, a scam for one political party can be a pathbreaking initiative for the other. A look at the Congress party manifesto reveals that it has promised investigation into various scams like Electoral Bonds, Pegasus, PM Cares etc. Not surprisingly, according to the BJP they were not scams but well-thought out, forward-looking initiatives. The Bofors scam of 1987 vintage exemplifies the lifecycle of a scam.

Massive publicity given to the scam led to the downfall of the Rajiv Gandhi government, which had come to power with an unprecedented majority. Having won on the Bofors plank, VP Singh, the next Prime Minister, promised that the Bofors culprits would be behind bars within fifteen days. However, the first chargesheet in the Bofors case was filed in October 1999, only to be quashed by the Delhi High Court in 2004. Today, the main dramatis personae are dead. No part of the alleged illegal commission of Rs.64 crore has been recovered, and no one has gone to jail for perpetrating the scam. The Bofors scam had a very interesting sequel. Once the scandal broke out, Bofors was blacklisted and no further purchases were made from the company.

Advertisement

At the time of the Kargil war, we had the Bofors gun but no ammunition to feed it. In desperation, we purchased ammunition at the rate of $10,000 per round from South Africa. The entire cost was never officially revealed, but given the fact that the Bofors gun fires three rounds per minute, the cost must have been astronomical. It is a matter of record that the Bofors gun proved itself in battle and turned the tide of the Kargil war decisively in our favour. However, after blacklisting Bofors, we could not get the benefit of the second part of the contract with Bofors, which would have allowed us to manufacture the Bofors gun indigenously.

More damagingly, the infamy associated with the Bofors deal made the Government devise a convoluted defence acquisition procedure, which ensures that defence purchases drag on endlessly. In the final analysis, the Bofors gun was the best in its class; bribes were paid because politicians never do anything without Vitamin M and arms dealers always pay money, to whoever buys their outrageously priced goods. The Tehelka sting (2001), which showed that everyone from clerks to ministers were willing to sell the security of the country for ridiculously small sums, proved that no steps had been taken to prevent recurrence of a scam of the Bofors type.

The only distinguishing feature from Bofors was that some Tehelka journalists and investors were jailed, after they reported on the scam. The 2G scam (2009), had its genesis in a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that estimated a presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore to Government on account of the low price at which the Government allocated the 2G spectrum. Along with the Coalgate and Commonwealth Games (CWG) scams, it was fashioned into one of the major issues for the 2014 Lok Sabha elections by the Opposition, which led to the UPA Government losing the elections.

Looking at the 2G scam with the benefit of hindsight, we find that the decision to allot airwaves on first come first served basis ensured that mobile telephony rates in India are the cheapest in the world. Today, even the poorest Indian has a mobile phone enabling his participation in the digital revolution. A few days ago, D Subbarao, who was the Finance Secretary and RBI Governor during the UPA time, validated the above view, stating in a newspaper interview that the premise on which the CAG had estimated the presumptive loss of Rs 1.76 lakh crore was flawed.

Rather, there could have been a presumptive gain to the Government, in terms of the recurring revenue on increased spectrum usage, and almost universal mobile coverage. Significantly, Subbarao had opposed allocating 2G spectrum at 2001 prices, but had come around later on. The CAG under whose watch the CWG, Coalgate and 2G scams had been unearthed is active even today as the Chairman of United Nations Panel of External Auditors; he was appointed as Chairman, Committee of Administrators of BCCI by the Supreme Court in 2017, at a remuneration of Rs 3.62 crore, for three years. An analysis of the Coalgate scam leads to a similar conclusion viz.

not auctioning coal mines was a sound policy decision. Otherwise, coal would have been much more expensive, pushing up prices of electricity and other manufactured goods. Thus, in the ultimate analysis, CWG, 2G and Coalgate were instances of common corruption and not scams in the true sense. What was indeed common to all scams was that after the initial hullaballoo, no significant person was punished, cases have dragged on till today in various courts, and most significantly, no part of the defalcated cash has been recovered. A question arises as to why all major scams, which clearly caused huge loss to the Government, could not reach their logical conclusion?

Firstly, once a scam breaks out, all investigating agencies run helter-skelter after the scamsters, which derails the investigation, because all agencies pursue different goals and zealously guard, and never share, any information they possess. Thus, the CBI would try to prove that the scamsters did not follow proper procedures, the Income-tax Department would try to prove that the scamsters did not pay Income-tax properly, while the Enforcement Directorate would play on the moneylaundering angle.

Consequently, when presented in court, the case becomes a jigsaw puzzle  too complicated to be resolved in a finite time-frame. Secondly, investigating agencies prosecute scam cases seectively. Once the government changes; investigating agencies change their tune. Thirdly, and most importantly, the Government under whose watch the scam took place puts all its might in defending the scamsters. No wonder, most scamsters go unpunished, and once the spotlight leaves them, enjoy proceeds of their crime. Ideally, a standard operating procedure should be devised to deal with scams with a view to (a) punish the guilty, (b) recover the money earned illegally, and (c) prevent the recurrence of similar scams. Once a crime is classified as a scam, an interdepartmental Special Investigation Team (SIT) having people from all enforcement agencies and the banking sector should be constituted.

The SIT alone should have jurisdiction to investigate the scam, with a mandate to complete its investigations within a definite time-frame, and file a charge-sheet simultaneously. The SIT should also be obliged to suggest ways to recover the money lost in the scam. Of course, all instances of corruption in high places lower public confidence irretrievably. People begin to think that if their rulers are engaged in massive corruption they would be justified in being corrupt in their small ways. Thus, the moral fabric of the country suffers. Moreover, after being perceived as corrupt, the moral authority of all leaders, not necessarily the ones involved, diminishes, and fringe elements peddling communalism and casteism assume leadership roles.

Finally, we may contrast what happens to investigations in India with the suo-motu police investigation into Partygate ~ a number of parties that were held by the British Prime Minister at the official residence of the PM, during the Covid lockdown. No politician, including the PM, had the courage to question the police enquiry. Obviously, London Police has set the bar very high. A former Chief Commissioner of London Police, Sir Robert Mark, had laid down his vision for the police in the following words:  it is important for you to understand that the police are not the servants of the Government at any level.

We do not act at the behest of a minister or any political party, not even the party in government. We act on behalf of the people as a whole and the powers we exercise cannot be restricted or widened by anyone, save Parliament alone. Scams, in India can be avoided only if our investigating agencies achieve this high level of independence, integrity and professionalism.

DEVENDRA SAKSENA The writer is a retired Principal Chief Commissioner of Income-Tax
In a diplomatic breakthrough, five of the Indian sailors on board an Israeli-linked vessel seized by Tehran were released on Thursday and have departed from Iran, the Indian embassy in Iran said.

The Indian Embassy, while sharing details of their release, thanked the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas.

5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas, MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal posted on X.

The Israel-linked cargo ship was seized by Iran on April 13, with 17 Indian nationals onboard.

Irans Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized the container ship near the Strait of Hormuz and MSC Aries was last seen on April 12, sailing towards the Strait of Hormuz off the coast of Dubai.

Earlier, Ann Tessa Joseph from Thrissur, Kerala, one of the 17 Indian crew members of the Israel-linked cargo ship MSC Aries that was seized by Iran on April 13, returned safely to her homeland on April 18.

Advertisement

The Ministry of External Affairs had also said that one of the 17 Indian crew members has safely returned to India and others are safe, adding that they will be released once their contractual obligations are accomplished.

One girl who was there has returned. We had asked for consular access for these 16 people and we received that and our officers met them. Their health is good and there is no problem of any kind on the ship. Concerning their return, there are some technicalities and contractual obligations. Once they are done, it will decide their return, MEA spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal said in a weekly press briefing on April 25.

The Iranian Ambassador to India, Iraj Elahi, has also said that the Indian nationals, crew members of MSC Aries, are not detained and that they are free to go.

In the wake of the seizure of the container vessel, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar spoke to his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, bringing up the release of the 17 Indian crew members.

Responding to the request of the Estonian side regarding the Portuguese ship seized in the territorial waters of Iran and the release of the crew, Amirabdollahian said, The ship, which turned off its radar in the territorial waters of Iran and endangered the security of navigation, is detained under judicial rules.

Additionally, during the telephone discussion between Iranian and Estonian officials, Iran stated that it has already released all the ships crew members on humanitarian grounds, and if the ships captain accompanies them, the crew, including the Estonians can return to their country.

Amirabdollahian further underlined that compliance with maritime rules and regulations by all ships is necessary and unavoidable in order to maintain maritime safety, according to the statement.Tensions escalated between Iran and the West amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas.
A new dispute is brewing between Italy and private German aid organisations over the handling of boat refugees in the Mediterranean.

Despite a ban by the right-wing government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, the German non-governmental organisation (NGO) Sea-Watch said it was continuing its flights to spot refugee boats.

A video posted by Sea-Watch showed a small private plane taking off from the island of Lampedusa towards the central Mediterranean, one of the most important routes for refugees from Africa to Europe.

Advertisement

At the beginning of this week, Italys aviation authority, which reports to the transport ministry of right-wing Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, issued several decrees.

Accordingly, no more flights of this kind are allowed to take off from Lampedusa and three other airports in the south. This is also justified on the grounds that it would jeopardise the safety of migrants. Violations could result in the confiscation of aircraft and heavy fines.

Sea-Watch has said that it intends to defy the ban. The flight ban is politically motivated and legally untenable, a spokesman said.

In the middle of the European election campaign, Italy is trying to get rid of the last witnesses to European crimes in the Mediterranean. We will not be intimidated by this.

There has been a dispute between the aid organisations and Rome for many years. Salvini  formerly Italys interior minister  has already suffered several defeats in court.
Thursday (May 9) marks one year to the time when supporters of former Prime Minister Imran Khan and his party Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) expressed their anger against the countrys powerful military establishment by engaging in violence, riots, attacks on military installations and a call for resistance  a narrative that Khan successfully injected in his supporters since his ouster from power in April 2022.

Today, both PTI and the military establishment mark May 9 as a black day by labeling each other as the victim and an aggressor.

The current ruling federal government  along with its coalition political partners who control the provincial set-ups in Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab  condemn PTI and Imran Khan for brainwashing supporters who carried out targeted violent attacks on sensitive military installations across the country, last year.

Advertisement

The military establishment also remains vocal on the issue.

The Armed Forces of Pakistan, along with Chairman Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (CJCSC) and Services Chiefs, strongly condemn the criminal acts perpetrated on May 9, 2023. On this one of the darkest days in our national history, politically motivated and brainwashed miscreants in an act of rebellion, deliberately resorted to violence against state institutions and vandalised sacred symbols of the state and the sites belonging to national heritage, read a statement issued by the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR).

The military establishment maintains that it showed utmost restraint during the orchestrated violence, highlighting that the malicious attempt to trigger confrontation between the protesters and the armed forces was thwarted.

The ISPR has made it clear that the culprits behind the riots and attacks will not be spared.

It is precisely for this reason there can neither be any compromise with the planners, facilitators and executors of May 9 tragedy nor they would be allowed to hoodwink the law of the land. Bringing the real culprits to justice is paramount to ensure that in the future, no one dares to desecrate memories of our heroes and the symbols of our unity through such an unwarranted conduct in the future, an ISPR statement stated.

The PTI and the military establishments rigid stance against each other is quite visible even after one year as both sides are not willing to concede ground.

The PTI needs to acknowledge that it acted in an extremely irresponsible manner by leading its supporters towards such an unacceptable reaction. Thousands were targeted in reprisals by the state, and the events of the day accelerated the expansion of unelected forces and their influence in the states legislative and administrative apparatus, said senior political analyst Javed Siddique.

On the other hand, the state too, is not innocent. Rather than acting with restraint, it responded with extreme measures that reminded us of the past dictatorships, he added.
Wales' first minister Vaughan Gething held talks with top Tata Group executives on Friday, as a part of the Welsh government's efforts hoping Tata Steel will relook at how it hopes to transition its operations in Port Talbot.

Tata Steel has already announced plans to shut down the blast furnaces at Port Talbot as a part of its plans to transition to greener steel manufacturing. Over 2,500 jobs are expected to be affected in the next 18 months due to this move.

Tata's plans to shift to greener steel manufacturing involve shutting the existing high-emission blast furnaces in Port Talbot and investing around 1.25 billion pounds in electric arc furnace technology.

"No one I think says Port Talbot as an industry shouldnt change in the future. It's how that change is managed. For me, obviously, one of the big issues is the future of the workforce," Gething said.

Friday's talks held over two hours were candid and constructive, Welsh authorities say.

Gething expects there will be another round of talks between Tata and the trade unions in Port Talbot.

The UK Steel Committee had proposed partial continuity of blast furnace steel-making assets until electric arc furnace facilities are commissioned in Port Talbot. Tata Steel has said earlier this will not be feasible.

"I would like to see a future where Tatas continue to invest in the steel sector in Wales and in the thousands of loyal and highly skilled workers who are there," Gething said.

He is in India as a part of a trade mission to deepen ties with the country. Gething sees opportunities to collaborate in areas like life sciences, railways, energy, education and healthcare.

In March, the Welsh health minister had signed a deal with the Kerala government to recruit nurses from the state.

"With India, you know, the trade is hundreds of millions of pounds. We think there's a real base to build on that," said Gething.

He noted that there was a lot of corporate interest in investing in Wales.

"We have got real strengths in a range of areas that matter to India as well. Life sciences, we are a high growth potential area in the UK, cyber sector, is a high growth potential area as well and in Wales, we have massive renewable opportunities," said Gething.

T.V. Narendran, MD and CEO of Tata Steel said they had a productive discussion with the first minister.

"Tata Steels position remains that we are committed to the green transition of the UK steel industry, and our state-of-the-art electric arc furnace in Port Talbot will help safeguard steel sovereignty in Britain, preserve 5,000 jobs, support our customers, and reduce CO2 emissions by 5 million tonnes each year," he said.

Narendran added that Tata Steel is offering "the most generous financial support package ever offered to outgoing employees."

Additionally, they are committed to providing support with job searches, training, and upskilling activities, and have committed 20 million pounds to the transition board, he further said.
The Supreme Court is likely to deliver the verdict on the petition filed by the Delhi Chief Minister seeking interim bail in a money-laundering case linked to the alleged excise policy scam.

Justice Sanjiv Khanna, who headed the bench that hears Kejriwal's petition against his arrest in the case, said the court will pronounce the interim order (on bail) on Friday. "The main matter related to the challenge to arrest will also be taken up on the same day," he told during a hearing on Wednesday.

The court had also said that it could not treat Kejriwal as a habitual offender, hinting at its willingness to grant him bail. The court, however, made it clear that even if the interim bail were granted, Kejriwal would not be allowed to discharge any official duties as Chief Minister.

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday opposed the grant of interim bail in the Supreme Court, saying the right to campaign in elections is neither fundamental nor constitutional.

"It is relevant to note that the right to campaign for an election is neither a fundamental right nor a constitutional right and not even a legal right," the agency said. It added that to its knowledge, "no political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning even though he is not the contesting candidate. Even a contesting candidate is not granted interim bail if he is in custody for his own campaigning," it said in the affidavit.

However, Kejriwal's legal team has decided to move against the affidavit. Objecting to the affidavit, the CM's legal team issued a press release revealing that a formal complaint in this regard has been lodged with the Supreme Court's registry.

According to them, the ED affidavit as a blatant disregard of legal procedures and the affidavit was submitted without obtaining the SC's approval. It was issued at a time when the matter is already slated for a final decision in the top court on Friday, they alleged.

Meanwhile, the ED is expected to soon file a fresh charge sheet in the Delhi excise policy-linked money laundering case and it may name Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, BRS leader K Kavitha and some others as accused.
In what has been termed the Indian militarys biggest and most complex reformative move in its history, Theaterisation or the process to integrate the three armed servicesthe Army, Air Force and the Navyinto one single fighting unit is finally gathering traction with a two day Parivartan Chintan (transformative discussion) concluding in South Block on Friday.

The event was presided over by the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) General Anil Chauhan, the officer mandated to execute the theaterisation plan. It was attended by the heads of all Tri-services Institutes and was aimed at generating novel reformative ideas & initiatives.

The plan is to do away with the functional commands system in vogue now and replace it with Theatre command architecture.

At the basic level, it means that a single commander in a designated zone will command all the assets and resources of all forces be it from the army, the navy or the air force stationed in that zone.

The challenges lie in the fact that it is not just the amalgamation and integration of men but also of weapons systems and platforms that are made more difficult because of the possibility of non-compatability among the systems. For example, it would be technologically difficult to integrate a Russian system with an American or a European one.

There is also a perception that the Air Force was not quite supportive of the Theaterisation plan because of the limited assets and platforms the force has.

Additionally, on Friday, the Inter-Services Organisations (Command, Control and Discipline) Act was also notifiedabout nine months after receiving the Presidents go-ahead.

The Act is among the pre-requisites that clear the deck for the operationalisation of the theaterisation process. It empowers the commander-in-chief and officer-in-command of Inter-Services Organisations (ISOs) with all disciplinary and administrative powers in respect of the personnel serving in or attached to such organisations.

What it means is that the commanding officerregardless of which parent service he or she belongs towill be able to exert administrative and disciplinary control over the personnel under his command whether they be from the army, the air force or the navy.

The new Act will replace the provisions contained in the specific service actsArmy Act 1950, Navy Act 1957 and Air Force Act 1950in the ISOs.

In the theatre command scheme of things, it will be the ISOs that will be the pivot of the command structure as opposed to the functional command system that is operational now.
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China's total goods imports and exports expanded 5.7 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first four months of this year, official data showed Thursday.

The country's exports rose 4.9 percent year on year in the January-April period, while imports climbed 6.8 percent, according to the General Administration of Customs (GAC).

From January to April, the country's foreign trade in goods stood at 13.81 trillion yuan (1.95 trillion U.S. dollars). Exports reached 7.81 trillion yuan, while imports hit 6 trillion yuan.

In April alone, the foreign trade soared 8 percent to 3.64 trillion yuan.

The growth rate of imports and exports in the first four months has accelerated compared to the first quarter, and the scale has reached a new high in the same period in history, said Lyu Daliang, director of the GAC's Department of Statistics and Analysis.
The Thiruvananthapuram chief judicial magistrate ordered the CBI to further investigate the infamous Jesna Mariya James missing case. Jesna disappeared on March 22, 2018, from her residence at Santhosh Kavala, Kollamula in Pathanamthitta. On that day, she was dressed in black jeans and a bright green top when she took an autorickshaw from her home to visit her father's sister's house.

There is evidence suggesting that Jesna reached Mundakkayam but was never seen again. At the time of her disappearance, Jesna was a second-year B.Com student at a college in Kanjirapally. She lived with her father and siblings, as her mother had passed away earlier. On March 23, 2018, following Jesna's disappearance, her father, James Joseph, filed a complaint at the Vechuchira police station.

The initial investigation of the case was conducted by the local police, after which it was taken over by DySP of Thiruvalla. Following this, the district police chief formed a special team for the investigation, with DySP R. Chandrasekhara Pillai, S. Rafeeq, and J. Santhosh Kumar leading the inquiry. In October 2018, the case was handed over to the Crime Branch, where it was investigated by DySP Pathanamthitta Crime Branch.

Subsequently, Pathanamthitta SP K.G. Simon took charge of the investigation, with Crime Branch DySP K.H. Muhammad Rauthar serving as the investigating officer. ADGP Tomin Thachankari supervised the investigation process.

After the inability to locate Jesna, the CBI assumed control of the case on February 10, 2021, following the directives of the High Court. Despite their efforts, the CBI also failed to trace Jesna.

After taking over the investigation, CBI examined more than 100 witnesses and investigated places from Jesnas hometown to places in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa and Maharashtra.

On December 30, 2024, the CBI submitted the final closure report before the court. In that report, CBI made the allegation that the Kerala Police did not make use of the golden hours to trace Jesna. It also said the CBI also could not trace where Jesna was. CBI report said a classmate of Jesnawho was initially a suspect in the casehad no involvement in her disappearance. The CBI also rejected the involvement of any religious extremist groups behind her disappearance.

Subsequently, Jesnas father James submitted a petition requesting the court to direct the CBI to continue the investigation for six more months. In that petition, her father also asserted that he has no suspicion about Jesnas classmate. But we suspect another person, he said in the affidavit.

As per Jesnas fathers affidavit, on the day she went missing, Jesna had heavy bleeding and the volume of blood oozed out is double of usual menstrual blood. The blood-soaked clothes were kept in her room when she left from the house on 22-3-2018 and subsequently it was taken over by the Crime Branch, claims the affidavit.

The family alleges that the investigator did not make any progress on the scientific examination of these blood-stained clothes. The family also stated that the CBI did not investigate a secret place where Jesna used to go for prayers on Thursdays. Incidentally, Jesna went missing on a Thursday.

According to Jesnas fathers affidavit, he and his close associates conducted a confidential enquiry between the end of 2023 and 2024, and that he is ready to hand over their findings to CBI. James handed over the new evidence he collected in a sealed cover to the court. The CBI earlier had stated in the court that it is ready to reinvestigate if there is new evidence. And, after examining the evidence presented by Jesna's father, the court now ordered for a reinvestigation.
A special court for UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act) cases in Pune, on Friday, sentenced two people to life imprisonment for the murder of rationalist and anti-superstition activist Dr Narendra Dabholkar.

Dabholkar was shot dead while on a morning walk on Omkareshwar Bridge in Pune on August 20, 2013.

Sharad Kalaskar and Sachin Andure, who were the shooters, were found guilty and were convicted in the case.

Three othersVirendrasinh Tawade, Sanjiv Punalekar, and Vikram Bhavehavehave been acquitted by the court in the case. They were acquitted as the prosecution was unable to prove the charges against them in the case.

According to the prosecution, Tawade was one of the masterminds of the murder.

The prosecution examined 20 witnesses while the defence examined two witnesses during the trial. The accused were opposed to Dabholkar's crusade against superstition, the prosecution had stated in its final arguments.

Sanatan Sanstha, to which Tawade and some of the other accused were linked, was opposed to the work carried out by Dabholkar's organisation, the Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti (committee for eradication of superstition, Maharashtra), the prosecution had claimed.

Dabholkar's murder was followed by the murders of three other rationalists/activists in the next four years: communist leader Govind Pansare (Kolhapur, February 2015), Kannada scholar and writer M M Kalburgi (Dharwad, August 2015) and journalist Gauri Lankesh (Bengaluru, September 2017).

With agency inputs
The Election Commission of India (ECI) on Friday expressed deep concern over the recent statement made by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge questioning the integrity of the electoral process.

Reacting strongly to Kharge's letter, ECI said that the allegations were "baseless" and is at an "all-time low". The poll body said that the allegations were made to "create confusion, misdirection and impediments in the conduct of free and fair polls".

"Commission fully respects the right to free speech and considers it to be the privilege of political parties and their leaders to correspond and communicate with each other. However, the Commission has a responsibility to act against developments which have a direct impact on the delivery of its core mandate of conduct of elections in its entirety till delivery of results, the ECI said.

Kharge in his letter to INDIA bloc leaders of various on Tuesday said that there were discrepancies in the voting data released by the ECI. He urged the leaders to raise their voices against such alleged discrepancies.

"Our only objective is to protect the culture of a vibrant democracy and the Constitution," said Kharge in the letter.

"My letter to the leaders of INDIA parties, regarding the discrepancies in the voting data released by Election Commission of India and non-publishing of registered voters," said Kharge on X.

Dismissing the allegations raised by Kharge, the poll body said that the contentions were unwarranted and lacked factual basis. The ECI asserted that there have been no lapses in the collection and dissemination of voter turnout data.

"Through innuendos and insinuations, the contents of the post, tend to create disharmony in respect of the delicate space of election management, can plant doubts in the mind of the voters and political parties and potentially creates an anarchic situation, when you said "could this be an attempt to doctor the final results?" which this Commission hopes, you do not have any intention of," it said.

Commission has found your communication placed in the public domain in the middle of the ongoing election process as highly undesirable and one that appears designed to create confusion/misdirection/impediment to the conduct of smooth, free and fair elections which is the mandate of ECI under the constitution, the letter said.

The Commission also advised the Congress chief to exercise caution and refrain from making such statements.
The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of Mau MLA Abbas Ansari in connection with a money laundering case. Witnesses in the case are yet to be examined and it cannot be believed that Ansari will not commit an offence while out, the HC cited as reasons to deny him bail.



Abbas Ansari, the son of the late Mukhtar Ansari, won from Mau on a Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party ticket.

The Directorate of Enforcement is pursuing a case of money laundering against the legislator. The agency contends that large amounts of money were sent to the accuseds accounts through two firms- M/s Vikas Construction and M/s Aaghaaz. The transferred money was used, among other things, to buy arms. Abbas Ansari has contended that there were brought for sporting purposes and that he had nothing to do with the daily operations of the firms in question.

While dismissing the application the court noted that the bail applicant had not been cooperative and had evaded summons. "only when the lookout notice was issued and in furtherance thereof the applicant was apprehended and during custody he gave his statements but nevertheless many of the transactions could not be explained by him by taking a plea that he did not know from where the fund was coming rather whenever he wanted the funds he asked his mother and maternal uncle and grand father who would arrange the funds", noted the court.

The court also noted that it did not inspire confidence that an MLA and a national-level sportsman had no idea of the manner in which the funds were given to him or their quantum thereof.

However, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court which handed over the denial also noted that none of its observations should be taken as an opinion on the merits of the case. It directed the trial court to expedite the trial and complete it as swiftly as possible. The court has directed the prosecuting agency not to seek unnecessary adjournments on the grounds that witnesses were still being examined.

Kapil Sibal, who had appeared for the accused had said that the money credited to Ansaris account could not be treated as the proceeds of crime.
A black US Air Force personnel was shot dead by a Florida Sheriff's deputy, a lawyer representing his family said on Thursday. Shockingly, Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was gunned down after the police officer who mistook his apartment for another.



Roger Fortson was fatally shot six times on May 3 at his apartment. He was on FaceTime with his girlfriend, a nurse by profession, when the cop reached his door. Hearing loud knocks on the door with cries to open it, Fortson went for his licensed side arm before getting the door. Soon after he opened the door, he was shot by the Sheriff's deputy.

According to Fortson's girlfriend, he responded to the "aggressive banging" by asking "Who is it?" He decided to get the weapon as there was no response to his questions. When he tried to look the peephole, he couldn't figure out it was cops outside, AFP quoted the woman as saying.

Later, she heard the shots being fired through the phone, reports added.

According to Sheriff Eric Aden of the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office, the deputy was at the area to investigate "a disturbance in progress where he encountered an armed man." However, he wrongfully zeroed in on the Air Force officer's door who had nothing to do with the incident. The body cam footage of the officer involved has been released.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the state attorney's office would conduct an investigation, the report added.

The United States was rocked by protests in 2020 following the videotaped murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Floyd's death revived scrutiny of race relations and sparked calls for police reform.
Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has hit out at the US and its decision to stall the supply of arms, stating that Israelis are ready to fight with their "fingernails" if necessary.

US President Joe Biden's warning that he would cut off the supply of weapons to Israel if it moves ahead with a full-scale assault on Rafah has sown confusion and anger in Israel. In an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Biden said: " I made it clear that if they go into Rafah they haven't gone in Rafah yet if they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem."

To this, a defiant Netanyahu said that if Israel "has to stand alone, we will stand alone."

"During the War of Independence 76 years ago, we were few against many," he said. "We had no weapons, there was an arms embargo on Israel, but with the strength of the soul, the bravery and the unity within us  we won."

"Today we are much stronger," Netanyahu continued. "We are determined and we are united to defeat our enemy and those who seek to destroy us If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails."

He, however, expressed hope that the countries can tide over differences. "We often had our agreements but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them," Netanyahu said on the "Dr. Phil Primetime" show."I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country," he said.

The US decision was met with disappointment and frustration in Israel, with many expressing apprehensions about the decision and its far-reaching consequences.

Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said the U.S. pause was "a very disappointing decision, even frustrating." He told Israeli local media that the move stemmed from pressure Biden felt from both Congress and U.S. college campus protests.

Israeli Foreign Affairs Minister Israel Katz took to X to express his angst. "Israel will continue to fight Hamas until its destruction," Katz posted, adding that "there is no just war like this one."

Blinken's report

Secretary of State Antony Blinken will submit to Congress on Friday a highly critical report about Israel's conduct in Gaza. In the report, Blinken will likely list a series of incidents that took place in Gaza and note that they raised serious concerns about violations of international law by Israel, Axion quoted three unnamed US officials.

However, the report will stop short of concluding that Israel has violated the terms for its use of U.S. weapons.
Three weeks after Iran seized a Portuguese-flagged container ship, the MSC Aries, five of the 16 Indian crew members onboard the vessel have finally been released. The sailors have left Iran for India on Thursday evening.

Five Indians, a Filipino and an Estonian from the MSC Aries were released, the ministry said in a statement.

5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas.  India in Iran (@India_in_Iran) May 9, 2024

The news was shared by the Indian Embassy on Thursday evening. "5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening. We appreciate the Iranian authorities for their close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas," the Embassy posted on X.

However, the fate of the remaining Indians onboard the vessel is still unclear.

Last week, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian said the country would release all the crew members. He added that the release of the crew was a humanitarian act and they could return to their countries along with the ship's captain. But, the control of the vessel will remain with Iran under judicial detention.

MSC Aries was seized by Iran's Revolutionary Guards in the Strait of Hormuz on April 13, citing violation of maritime laws. The ship was manned by a crew of 25, of which 17 were Indians. The sole woman, Ann Tessa Joseph, was released on April 18 by Iranian authorities.

The Ministry of External Affairs had earlier said the return of the Indian crew was dependent on several factors, including their contractual obligations. "All of them are in good health. We are in touch with Iranian authorities also for their release," MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said when asked about the fate of the 16 sailors.

According to Iran, the seized ship had turned off its radar in Iran's territorial waters and jeopardized the security of navigation.

Since then, the MEA has been in constant touch with the Iranian authorities and the Indians onboard the vessel. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar had then claimed that Tehran was quite responsive" and there had been some "follow-up conversations between the Indian embassy and Iranian authorities."
After an arson attack, the United Nations aid agency for Palestinians closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem on Friday.

In a post on the social media platform X, Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UNWRA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) said that he had decided to close the compound until proper security is restored.

Reportedly, the attack occurred on Thursday. It appears that the local Israeli residents have set fire to the aid agency's compound. "This is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of UN staff were at serious risk," wrote Lazzarini.

It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times, he added.

UNRWA was set up to deal with the Palestinian refugees who fled or were forced from their homes after the 1948 war during the time of Israel's formation.

According to officials, the preliminary findings from the police investigation found that the act was done by young minors. When the incident took place there were staff inside the office, said the officials. However, no causalities were reported.

The Israeli government had called for UNRWA to shut down on many occasions since the Gaza war after the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

This is not the first time the agencys building was attacked. According to Lazzarini, a group of Israelis had been staging regular demonstrations outside the UNRWA compound for the past two months and said stones were thrown at staff and buildings in the compound this week.
Director Tushar Hiranandanis Srikanth, a biopic of Srikanth Bolla, a blind boy born to a poor farming family in Andhra Pradesh, is a strange creature.

On the whole, it is a pretty mediocre film that has a shallow, dull script and a B-grade quality to its direction, cinematography, and an unbearably loud, instructive background score.

Written by Jagdeep Siddhu and Sumit Purohit, the film presents the life of Bolla, who fights to claim every opportunity that is denied and overcome every restriction imposed on him, as a timeline of speed bumps and victories, going from one episode to another, without really creating any connection between us and its main character.

The result is a tacky melodrama that mostly skims the surface.

Yet Srikanth is difficult to dismiss because of Rajkummar Raos excellent performance.

Rao uses a few moments in Bollas life to humanise him and gives the film some powerful, inspiring moments that elevate the film and hold it together.

Instead of just playing a blind man, Rao plays a blind man driven by his ambition and focused on his abilities rather than disabilities, thus shifting the focus from those who can't see to those who can but don't.

Rao uses the powerful and inspiring story of Bolla, who went on to become the first international blind student at the Sloan School of Management, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US, and the CEO of Bollant Industries, reportedly with a net worth of about Rs 296 crore, to present him as a thinking, feeling human being and normalises blindness as a different ability and not a disability.

His performance and Bolla's story deserved a better film with a more inspired script and direction.

The film opens on a terribly tacky note in 1992 in Andhra Pradesh with Srikanths birth which is treated by his immediate and extended family as a depressing, life-long liability. A hole is dug in the ground but a tragedy is averted and little Srikanth (played by two excellent blind actors, Srikanth Manna and Arnab Abdagire) is sent to a regular, local school. He is sharp, and exceptional in studies, but is also constantly bullied and told to prepare for a life of begging on the streets.

Fate intervenes and he moves to a school for the blind where he finds a mentor in Devika Malvade (Jyothika), whom he calls Teacher.

Through a series of incidents, we get glimpses of this strong guru-shishya relationship and of Srikanth's indomitable spirit and straight-talking, charming ways to win people over.

In school, he calls out corruption and is thrown out, and later when he is told, despite getting very high marks in Xth boards, that he can't study science because, well, it has never been done before, he digs his heels in and decides to fight.

Rao uses these scenes to show us Srikanth's helplessness, but every time he faces rejection or a hurdle, and wins people over with his confidence and charm, he makes a case for equal opportunities and not charity, and to judge the differently abled by their ability, and not disability.

When APJ Abdul Kalam asks him what he wants to be, he converts the former President into a life-long fan. When IIT rejects him, he goes to MIT. When the nervous staff of an airline refuse to let him board a plane alone, he shows them what he is capable of.

The film is careful not to take a pitying tone or show him as a victim, and so it remains impressed by him, except in the US where it casts a surprised, almost patronising eye on Srikanth and Swathi (Alaya F) as they begin conducting a sweet, budding romance with long drives and cute moments. In this segment, the film that was until now in awe of Srikanth, goes awwww.

Thankfully, it recovers and returns to admiring him as Srikanth flies back to India to start a business in partnership with Ravi (Sharad Kelkar).

This segment, on the creation and growth of the Bollant Industries, is, again, episodic and dull. It is somewhat saved by an interesting turn when Srikanth, tired of being grateful for all those who are helping him, demands recognition, fame and praise for himself. And when he doesn't get it, he turns into an egoistic, unscrupulous jerk.

This common human frailty could have been used to add interesting dimensions to the film and its main character, but the scriptwriters and director are so uneasy with a blind man's ego, jealousies and desires, and so scared of showing him in a bad light that they take us on a muddled, confused track where Srikanth tries to join politics, but suffers a sudden, severe conscience attack and withdraws.

As he returns to being a good boy, the film serves an annoying melodramatic moral lessonThou shalt never, ever use your disadvantage to your advantage robbing the film of an interesting, nuanced layer.

Jyothika and Alaya F are both sweet and luminous in the good-girl sort of way.

While Jyothika has a meatier role and adds some power to Srikanth and Devikas guru-shishya relationship, Alaya F mostly just smiles and acts cute. She bored me and the film a lot.

Sharad Kelkar is always a delight to watch because he holds the promise of a thrilling performance. He does that when he plays negative roles, but like many fine actors, he cant find ways to bring alive good-hearted characters and plays them with either reticence or inertia. That is, sadly, the fate of his character, Ravi, here.

Mostly that is the writers' fault and their weak script which treats all the characters around Srikanth as one-dimensional support pieces who exist only vis-a-vis him. But it is also the inability of Bollywood actors who treat regular roles of decent people as part of a scene's furniture and not as human beings who can be good and interesting.

The film, in fact, is so unsure of its script, scenes and dialogues that it uses an accompanying soundtrack to instruct us how to feel in most scenes as if what's happening on the screen is inadequate and needs help.

Despite all these flaws, the 134-minute-long film is held together by about four powerful, poignant scenes in which Rao showcases many dimensions of Srikanth. We see his helplessness when he is shunned by the blind school, but also, immediately his fighting spirit and refusal to be a victim. These scenes are like set pieces which hold the film together.

Rao is the heart and soul of Srikanth. With his face tilted to one side and his eyes shut, he carries an impression of the world around him that is blind to his presence. He barely changes his expressions but uses his eyebrows to do most of the acting here, conveying emotions with tiny, minute changes.

The film exhibits confidence only when it is around him. But the films director and cinematographer Pratham Mehta are so in awe of Rao's performance that they constantly elevate him, framing him like a hero and not a man. This creates an admiring distance between us and Rao, when what we really needed was some intimacy.

Movie: Srikanth

Cast: Rajkummar Rao, Jyothika, Alaya F, Sharad Kelkar, Jameel Khan

Direction: Tushar Hiranandani

Rating: 2.5/5


















Mumbai, May 10 (PTI) Actor-filmmaker Pooja Bhatt will feature alongside Suniel Shetty in an upcoming project from studio Lionsgate India.

Bhatt, the star of many hit films from the 1990s such as "Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin", "Sadak", "Phir Teri Kahani Yaad Aayee", "Sir" and "Zakhm", shared the news in a post on Instagram on Friday.

"A sneak peek from my next project with @lionsgateindia. So looking forward to working with you again @suniel.shetty," the 52-year-old actor posted alongside a photo from the set.

Last week, Shetty had teased that he is partnering with the studio for an "explosive thriller" project. It is currently not known whether the project is a film or a series.

Bhatt and Shetty had famously starred in JP Dutta's war film "Border" in 1997, though they didn't share the screen space.

In a statement, Bhatt teased that the project will feature in a "new avatar".

I have always had the privilege and made the choice to portray empowered women on screen. I was immediately drawn to this character for the sheer power, depth & empathy she exudes.

"Her ability to take a stand for what she believes in and face challenges head-on is something I connect with on a personal level. Cant wait for audiences to see this new avatar," the actor said.

Bhatt was most recently seen in Prime Video's coming-of-age drama series "Big Girls Don't Cry".
London, May 10 (PTI) If voted to power in the next election, the Labour Party will replace gimmicks with graft by scrapping the Rwanda scheme to partly fund a new elite border unit to "smash" people smuggling gangs to tackle small boats crossing the English Channel, UK's Labour leader, Keir Starmer said on Friday.

On April 23, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak welcomed the passage of his governments controversial Safety of Rwanda Bill by Parliament overnight and pledged that nothing would stand in the way of illegal migrants being flown out to the African country.

Sunak has made stopping such boats from making dangerous journeys across the Channel one of his priorities ahead of a general election expected later this year.

Starmers announcement comes after his shadow health secretary Wes Streeting claimed more Tory MPs were considering defecting to Labour because of division and incompetence in Rishi Sunaks government, claiming to have spoken to others who are wrestling with their future.

In a speech at Dover, a coastal town in Englands southeastern Kent county, the Labour leader set out plans to use new counter-terrorism powers to tackle people-smuggling gangs and accused the Conservatives of operating a Travelodge amnesty by housing asylum-seekers in hotels rather than processing their claims.

BBC reported that Starmer announced plans to use counter-terror powers to smash people smuggling gangs, if he wins power. The Labour leader said he will establish a new Border Security Command with specialist officers to tackle small boats crossing the Channel, the report said.

Earlier this week, Natalie Elphicke, who represents the constituency of Dover, defected to the main opposition Labour Party ahead of a looming general election.

Dover is at the front line of migrant crossings from France.

Meanwhile, British Home Secretary, James Cleverly said, Labour have no plan to stop the boats.

Labour has an illegal immigration amnesty, he said in a statement. Labour blocked the deportation of violent sexual offenders and Labour voted over 130 times against tougher legislation to stop the boats.

They will create a haven for criminal gangs, not stop them. Even Labour MPs are saying Labour cant be trusted to stop the boats, which shows you nothing will change.

If people can apply for asylum from outside the UK, then unlimited claims can be made, many of which will have to be accepted under the law and even then, many of those declined will then get on a small boat anyway.

Labours announcement would make the UK the asylum capital of the world, Cleverly added.
Kolkata, May 10 (PTI) BJP's Sandeshkhali leader Gangadhar Koyal on Friday moved the Calcutta High Court, claiming that technology-aided videos mimicking his voice were being circulated in a bid to defame him, and prayed for security be provided to him by central agencies.

The ruling Trinamool Congress in West Bengal had earlier this week shared a video of an alleged sting operation featuring Koyal.

In the purported video, the veracity of which could not be confirmed by PTI, a man resembling Koyal was seen claiming that allegations of sexual abuse in Sandeshkhali were "staged".

Claiming that such purported videos were creating tension in Sandeshkhali and that he was apprehending a threat to his safety, Koyal sought an order by the court for granting him central force security.

The court of Justice Jay Sengupta is likely to hear the petition on Monday, a lawyer representing him, said.

Stating that he has already met CBI officials over the alleged use of his fake voice, Koyal also sought for a direction to the central agency to probe the matter.

The CBI is investigating alleged sexual atrocities and land grabbing in Sandeshkhali in North 24 Parganas on an order of the Calcutta High Court.
Chandigarh May 10 (PTI) The Congress on Friday submitted a memorandum addressed to Haryana Governor demanding that the "minority" BJP government in Haryana be dismissed.

Senior Congress leader B B Batra, chief whip CLP, accompanied by Deputy CLP leader Aftab Ahmed, submitted a memorandum addressed to Haryana Governor Bandaru Dattatreya on the political situation in the state.

Earlier this week, three Independents had withdrawn their support to the Nayab Singh Saini government in Haryana.

The Congress said that the ruling BJP was reduced to a minority in the assembly.

Batra said that they handed over the memorandum to the Governor's secretary. Governor sahab had left for Telangana for some work.

The JJP and Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) have already demanded a floor test in the House. The ruling BJP has 40 MLAs, the Congress 30 and the JJP 10 in the House. INLD and Haryana Lokhit Party have one member each. The Independent MLAs are six.

The 90-member Haryana assembly at present has an effective strength of 88 with Karnal and Rania assembly seats being vacant.

Batra said the Congress has demanded that the "minority" government in the state be dismissed and President's rule be imposed in the state.

"This (Nayab Singh Saini) government has no right to continue because it has come in minority," he said while urging the Governor to dissolve the Assembly.

If that is not done, we have demanded a session of the Assembly be convened and let the government seek a vote of confidence, Batra said.

On Thursday, the Congress sought time to meet the Haryana Governor in the wake of the political crisis in the state.

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda said the "minority" dispensation should resign on moral grounds.

Congress also wrote a letter to the Governor's office and said that it wants to present a memorandum on May 10 regarding the present political situation in the state.

Independent MLAs Sombir Sangwan (Dadri), Randhir Singh Gollen (Pundri) and Dharampal Gonder (Nilokheri) withdrew support to the ruling BJP in Haryana on Tuesday and announced that they would back the Congress. After which the opposition claimed that it had reduced the government to a minority in the state assembly.

However, Chief Minister Saini has repeatedly asserted that his government was not in trouble.

Earlier, JJP leader Dushyant Chautala also wrote to Haryana Governor, saying the Saini government no longer commands a majority and sought an immediate floor test. The INLD also sought a floor test in the assembly.

Aam Aadmi Party's state unit chief Sushil Gupta said that AAP has demanded that the Governor should dismiss the "minority" Saini government and fresh polls should be held.

The government has the support of two of the Independent legislators and HLP member Gopal Kanda.
Beijing and Washington have quietly resumed cooperation on the deportation of Chinese immigrants who are in the U.S. illegally, as the two countries are reestablishing and widening contacts following their leaders meeting in California late last year.

After China suspended cooperation in August 2022, the United States saw a drastic surge in the number of Chinese immigrants entering the country illegally from Mexico. U.S. border officials arrested more than 37,000 Chinese nationals on the southern border in 2023, 10 times the number during the previous year, further exacerbating tensions over immigration going into the presidential election.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press this week, the Chinese foreign ministry said Beijing was willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation in the area of immigration enforcement with the U.S. and would accept the deportation of those whose Chinese nationality has been verified.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month told the U.S. House during a budget hearing that he had an engagement with his Chinese counterpart to ensure that China would begin to accept removal flights so we can deliver a consequence for Chinese immigrants who do not have a legal basis to remain in the U.S.

Mayorkas also said there was one deportation flight to China, for the first time in a number of years.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not respond to an AP request for details on the cooperation and the number of Chinese nationals who have been deported or await deportation. Without cooperation from the Chinese government, the U.S. cannot send back Chinese immigrants who have no legal status to stay in the country.

It is unclear when cooperation resumed, but a charter flight carrying a small but unknown number of deportees landed in the northeastern Chinese city of Shenyang on March 30, according to Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks deportation flights. The group has not detected other flights to China, but its possible that some immigrants could have been deported on commercial flights, Cartwright said.

The number of Chinese deportees was certainly small on the March 30 flight because the Gulfstream V, which took off from Arizona and stopped in Texas and Alaska before reaching China, typically has a seating capacity of 14. It also made a stop in South Korea before heading back to the U.S., according to Cartwright.

But it was a sign that Beijing and Washington are once again cooperating on deportation, after the Chinese government stopped the cooperation in response to a visit by Nancy Pelosi, then the House speaker, to Taiwan. Beijing claims sovereignty over the island and strongly opposes any official contact between the island and the U.S.

Beijing also halted high-level military-to-military dialogue, cooperation on anti-narcotics and talks on climate change, plunging relations to a low.

It wasnt until November 2023 when President Joe Biden hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping in Woodside, California, that the two sides agreed to restart the military-to-military talks and cooperation in fighting fentanyl. Dialogue on climate change had resumed before then.

In April, Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell complained that Beijing was doing little to curb the outflow of Chinese migrants. Beijing countered that it firmly opposes any form of illegal immigration and severely cracks down on all forms of illegal immigration organizations.

The number of Chinese migrants arrested by the U.S. border patrol peaked in December but it showed a downward trend in the first three months of 2024.

(AP)
Former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry has been charged with lying to federal authorities about a foreign billionaires illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign, reviving a case that was derailed by an appellate court.

A federal jury convicted the Nebraska Republican in 2022, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reversed Fortenberrys conviction last year, ruling that the case should not have been tried in Los Angeles.

A grand jury in the nations capital indicted Fortenberry on Wednesday on two counts: falsifying and concealing material facts and making false statements.

Chad Kolton, a spokesman for Fortenberry, said the case should not have been brought in the first place and should not be pursued again after the 9th Circuit ruled in his favor.

This case has defined overzealous prosecution from the earliest days of the investigation, and retrying it in D.C. just highlights the prosecutors vindictive obsession with destroying a good mans life, Kolton said in a statement.

After his conviction, Fortenberry announced his resignation from the office that he had held since 2005. He had been under pressure from congressional leaders and Nebraskas Republican governor.

The case stems an FBI investigation of illegal campaign contributions made by Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire who lived in Paris at the time. Chagoury made the $30,000 contribution to Fortenberry through middlemen at a 2016 fundraiser in Los Angeles, his indictment says.

Chagoury later agreed to pay a $1.8 million fine. Foreign nationals are prohibited from directly contributing money to candidates for federal offices in the United States.

Fortenberry was charged after denying to the FBI that he was aware he had received illicit funds from Chagoury. A person who cooperated with the FBI investigation repeatedly told Fortenberry about the illegal contributions, his indictment says.

The 9th Circuit ruled that Fortenberry was improperly tried in Los Angeles because he was charged in connection with statements that he made to federal agents at his home in Lincoln, Nebraska, and at his lawyers office in Washington.

Fortenberrys trial was the first for a sitting member of Congress since Rep. Jim Traficant, D-Ohio, who was convicted of bribery and other felony charges in 2002.

(AP)
Hunter Bidens federal gun case should move forward, an appeals court ruled Thursday, setting the stage for the trial to begin next month in Delaware.

Lawyers for the presidents son had asked the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn a ruling rejecting his bid to dismiss the case. But a three-judge panel said the 3rd Circuit doesnt have jurisdiction to review the matter at this time.

In an order shortly after that ruling came down, U.S. District Judge Maryellen Noreika said the case would proceed to trial on June 3, and is expected to last three to six days.

Hunter Biden has pleaded not guilty to lying about his drug use in October 2018 on a form to buy a gun that he kept for about 11 days in Delaware. He has acknowledged an addiction to crack cocaine during that period, but his lawyers have said he didnt break the law.

He was indicted after a plea deal that would have resolved the case without the spectacle of a trial imploded in July 2023 when a judge who was supposed to approve it instead raised a series of questions.

Noreika last month refused to throw out the indictment, rejecting Bidens claim that he is being prosecuted for political purposes as well as other arguments.

His lawyers had argued the case was politically motivated and asserted that an immunity provision from an original plea deal that fell apart still holds. They had also challenged the appointment of Delaware U.S. Attorney David Weiss as special counsel to lead the prosecution.

The judge found that Bidens team provided nothing concrete to support a conclusion that anyone actually influenced the special counsels team.

A separate trial on tax charges in California is also tentatively set to begin in June.

(AP)
A top former aide to U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar and a political and business consultant have agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to help the Democrat congressman from Texas launder more than $200,000 in bribes and to assist prosecutors in a federal criminal investigation, according to court documents unsealed this week.

Colin Strother, Cuellars former chief of staff and campaign manager, and Florencia Rendon, a business consultant and former chief of staff for former U.S. Rep. Solomon Ortiz, struck plea deals in March to ensure their cooperation in a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Cuellar and his wife.

The Cuellars have been charged with accepting nearly $600,000 in bribes from an Azerbaijan-controlled energy company and a bank in Mexico, in exchange for advancing the interests of the country and the bank in the U.S.

Cuellar, 68, has said he and his wife Imelda Cuellar, 67, are innocent.

In addition to bribery and conspiracy, the couple face charges including wire fraud conspiracy, acting as agents of foreign principals and money laundering. If convicted, they face up to decades in prison and forfeiture of any property linked to proceeds from the alleged scheme.

The plea agreements by Strother, 50, and Rendon, 73, are related to laundering money from Mexico. The agreements were ordered unsealed on Wednesday. Both men agreed to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. Strother faces up to five years in prison, and Rendon faces up to 20 years.

Investigators said Rendon and Cuellar were at a conference in Mexico City in 2015 when they hatched a plan to arrange meetings with executives of Mexican banks needing help with transfers of money from Mexican workers and to draft fake contracts for consulting services to be provided by Imelda Cuellar. According to the indictment against the Cuellars, she performed little or no legitimate work in exchange for payment.

Rendon knew the contract was a sham consulting contract and that the payments of $15,000 per month were made to funnel money to Cuellar, the plea agreement said.

Rendon would send $11,000 a month to Strother, who would in turn transfer monthly payments to the Cuellars of $10,000. From March 2016 to February 2018, Strother transferred nearly $215,000 to the Cuellars, according to the plea agreement.

At one point in 2018, Cuellar confronted Strother in a restaurant parking lot about missed payments to his wife, and Strother produced a spreadsheet on his phone to assure him the payments were up to date, the plea deal said.

As long as Strother and Rendon tell the truth, we are not worried, Cuellar attorney Chris Flood said. At the right time the Judge in this case will warn everyone about the credibility of Strother and Rendon if they dont.

Attorneys for Strother and Rendon did not immediately return email and telephone messages seeking comment.

Cuellar and his wife surrendered to authorities last week and were briefly taken into custody. They made an initial appearance before a federal judge in Houston and were each released on $100,000 bond.

The FBI searched the congressmans house in the border city of Laredo in 2022, and Cuellars attorney at that time said Cuellar was not the target of that investigation.

Everything I have done in Congress has been to serve the people of South Texas, Cuellar said last week. Before I took action, I proactively sought legal advice from the House Ethics Committee, who gave me more than one written opinion, along with an additional opinion from a national law firm.

Cuellar, one of the last anti-abortion Democrats in Congress, narrowly defeated progressive challenger Jessica Cisneros by fewer than 300 votes in a primary race in 2022.

(AP)
As Cary Fowler and Geoffrey Hawtin began thinking about ways to prevent starvation and protect the worlds food supply, they came up with what Fowler called the craziest idea anybody ever had  a global seed vault built into the side of an Arctic mountain.

About 20 years ago, Fowler, now the U.S. special envoy for Global Food Security, and Hawtin, an agricultural scientist from the United Kingdom, envisioned the so-called doomsday vault as a backup spot for seeds that could be used to breed new crops if existing seed banks were threatened by wars, climate change or other upheaval. On Thursday, officials in Washington announced that Fowler and Hawtin would be named 2024 World Food Prize laureates for their work.

To a lot of people today, it sounds like a perfectly reasonable thing to do. Its a valuable natural resource and you want to offer robust protection for it, he said in an interview from Saudi Arabia. Fifteen years ago, shipping a lot of seeds to the closest place to the North Pole that you can fly into, putting them inside a mountain  thats the craziest idea anybody ever had.

The Svalbard Global Seed Vault on the Norwegian island of Svalbard opened in 2008 and now holds 1.25 million seed samples from nearly every country. The largely concrete structure, built into the side of a mountain, provides genetic protection for over 6,000 varieties of crops and culturally important plants.

Fowler and Hawtin were named the winners of the annual prize at the State Department, where Secretary of State Antony Blinken lauded the men for their critical role in preserving crop diversity.

They will be awarded the annual prize this fall in Des Moines, Iowa, where the food prize foundation is based, and will split a $500,000 award.

Hundreds of smaller seed banks have existed in other countries for many decades, but Fowler said he was motivated by a concern that climate change would throw agriculture into turmoil, making a plentiful seed supply even more essential.

Hawtin, an executive board member at the Global Crop Diversity Trust, said that there were plenty of existing crop threats, such as insects, diseases and land degradation, as well as political upheaval, but that climate change heightened the need for a secure, backup seed vault. In part, thats because climate change has the potential of making those earlier problems even worse.

You end up with an entirely new spectrum of pests and diseases under different climate regimes, Hawtin said in an interview from southwest England. Climate change is putting a whole lot of extra problems on what has always been significant ones.

Fowler and Hawtin said they hope their selection as World Food Prize laureates will enable them push for hundreds of millions of dollars in additional funding of seed bank endowments around the world. Maintaining those operations is relatively cheap, especially when considering how essential they are to ensuring a plentiful food supply, but the funding needs continue forever.

This is really a chance to get that message out and say, look, this relatively small amount of money is our insurance policy, our insurance policy that were going to be able to feed the world in 50 years, Hawtin said.

The World Food Prize was founded by Norman Borlaug, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970 for his part in the Green Revolution, which dramatically increased crop yields and reduced the threat of starvation in many countries. The food prize will be awarded at the annual Norman E. Borlaug International Dialogue, held Oct. 29-31 in Des Moines.

(AP)
YWN regrets to inform you of the Petira of HaRav Schneur Zalman Yudkin Ztl, a link to to pre-war Europe whose story and Mesirus Nefesh inspired countless people throughout his illustrious life.

As a child, Shneur Zalman studied at Yeshiva Torah Im Derech Eretz, a school that operated in a gymnasium in Riga, Latvia, and leaned heavily on the teachings of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch ztl. Over the course of his long life, Rav Shneur Zalman lived by the tenets of both Rav Shamshon Raphael and his Chasidic upbringing. He would often recount the tremendous mesiras nefesh demonstrated by his father to maintain a frum home in Russia  including one instance in which he was literally thrown into a sewer for the crime of making a bris mila on his son.

His father once had no matzos for Pesach, so with incredible mesiras nefesh and kedusha, he used 3 sugar cubes instead of the matzos. With tears in his eyes he explained to his children, The top one is Kohen, the middle is Levi, and the bottom is Yisroel He told his children this is what you need to do when you one day will have Matzos at a pesach Seder. He led the entire Pesach Seder using the 3 sugar cubes, to make sure his children will know how to conduct a pesach Seder one day.

Seeing such mesiras nefesh from his father helped mold the Niftar into the Tzadik he was. Anyone who saw him, saw Kedusha radiating from his holy face.

Rav Shneur Zalman and his family clung to their Yiddishkeit with tremendous Mesiras Nefesh, and eventually settled in Crown Heights, where he was able to live a life of Torah and Avodas Hashem without fear.

He was well known figure in many Shuls, where he would go around fundraising for Kiryat Malachi, and his presence alone put smiles on the face of Mispalelim as he would come through the door.

He was a true Tzadik, one individual who knew him told YWN. He was a special person with an incredible heart and a deep love for those around him and who taught me and so many others what it means to live as a Yid.

The levaya and kevurah are scheduled to take place at 3 PM on Friday at the Montefiore Cemetery in Queens, New York.

Baruch Dayan HaEmes.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
The IDF says operations in the eastern part of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip has resulted in the deaths of 50 gunmen, while 150,000 Palestinians have evacuated the area. The military operation, which was launched on Monday, has also led to the discovery of 10 tunnel shafts, which are currently being prepared for demolition.

In a separate incident, three soldiers were moderately wounded in a blast in a booby-trapped tunnel shaft in the Rafah area. The troops were taken to a hospital for treatment.

The IDF also launched a new pinpoint raid in Gaza Citys Zeitoun neighborhood, with the aim of dismantling terror infrastructure and eliminating terrorists in the area. The operation is being carried out by the 99th Division, with troops from the Nahal, Yiftah, and Carmeli brigades entering the suburb to clear it of Hamas infrastructure.

Prior to their entry, the Israeli Air Force struck 25 sites in the area, including buildings used by terror groups, attack tunnels, observation posts, sniper positions, and other infrastructure.

The military first operated in Zeitoun at the start of Israels ground offensive in Gaza last year, and launched another two-week-long raid in the neighborhood in late February.

The latest raid came after the IDF identified Hamas regrouping in the area. The commander of Hamass naval forces in Gaza City, Ahmed Ali, was also killed in a recent airstrike. According to the military, Ali was involved in managing various projects for Hamass naval forces and advancing attacks against Israel and troops amid the ongoing war.

In southern Gaza, the IDF said that Israel had reopened the Kerem Shalom Crossing after days of closure, with COGAT, the Israeli Defense Ministry body responsible for civilian affairs in the Palestinian territories, sharing a video on social media showing trucks filled with humanitarian aid crossing into the Strip. However, the United Nations claimed that no humanitarian aid had arrived in Gaza and that there was no one to receive the trucks on the other side of the crossing, after workers fled on Tuesday when the IDF took over the Palestinian side of the Rafah Crossing with Egypt.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Retired General Mark A. Milley, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, pushed back against critics of Israels operation in Gaza, urging perspective and cautioning against self-righteousness. Speaking at the Ash Carter Exchange on Innovation and National Security in Washington D.C., Milley acknowledged the tragic loss of innocent life in Gaza but reminded the audience of the United States own history of causing civilian casualties in conflicts.

Before we all get self-righteous about what Israel is doingwe shouldnt forget that we the United States killed a lot of innocent people in Mosul and Raqqa, Milley said. We, the United States, killed 12,000 innocent French civilianswe destroyed 69 Japanese cities, not including Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We slaughtered people in massive numbers  innocent people who had nothing to do with their government  men, women, and children.

War is a terrible thing, he continued, but if its going to have meaning, if its going to have any sense of morality, there has to be a political purpose, and it must be achieved rapidly with the least cost, and that you do by speed.

He also fired back at peace activists criticizing Israels conduct, accusing them of supporting a terrorist organization.

Theyre out there supporting a terrorist organization, whose very written charter calls for the death of all Jews  not just in Israel, worldwide. I mean, come on now. If youre going to support that, youre on the wrong side.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Freshman Rep. Cory Mills (R-FL) announced on Thursday that articles of impeachment are being prepared against President Joe Biden over his decision to withhold aid to Israel for political reasons. This move comes as Biden faces criticism for withholding bombs from Israel, a decision that has sparked concerns over its political implications.

Bidens decision has put him at odds with moderate Democrats who support Israels ability to defend itself against terrorists, while his base has been pushing for defunding Israel. With an election year underway and Biden trailing in the polls to Trump, the president appears stuck between competing coalitions.

Mills drew parallels between Bidens decision and the accusations made against former President Donald Trump in 2019, who was impeached by Democrats for withholding military aid from Ukraine for alleged political reasons. The same must happen for Joe Biden, which is why were drawing up articles of impeachment now, Mills told Fox News.

Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) has already expressed support for impeachment proceedings, stating that the House has no choice but to impeach Biden based on the Trump-Ukraine precedent of withholding foreign aid to help with reelection. Trump himself has also accused Biden of making a political decision, saying he did it as a political decision you have to do the right decision, not the political decision.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Joe Scarborough of MSNBCs Morning Joe decried the radicalism of pro-Hamas students on college campuses in the US during an interview with former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton on Thursday.

Scarborough noted that the radicalism on college campuses began before October 7th  the radicalism that has mainstream students exposed to propaganda from Tiktok and their professors, leading them to call the president of the US Genocide Joe, calling the Clintons war criminals, and stopping a building from being named after Madeline Albright who made history as the first female Secretary of State because their professors called her a war criminal!

Its distressing! Scarborough said. What do we do about it? Students are being taught that American leaders are war criminals! And secondly the STUPIDITY of the slogans that ignore all the history [of Israel] since 1948.

Calling Albright and you a war criminal  its disgusting! How do we get Madeline Albrights name on the building? Because shes been slandered in death! A public servant who escaped the Holocaust and gave her entire life to the United States of America and has been slandered in death by extremists!

Clinton responded: I have had many conversations with a lot of young people over the last many months and youre right  they dont know very much at all about the history of the Middle East or frankly about history in many areas of the world, including in our own country.

The important point I want to emphasize is  propaganda is not education. Propaganda  whether on TikTok or in the classroom is actually the opposite of education. Anybody who is teaching in a university or anyone who is putting content on social media should be held responsible for what they include and what they exclude. And so much of what were seeing, particularly on TikTok, about whats going on in the Middle East is woefully false, but its also incredibly slanted, pro-Hamas, anti-Israel  and is not any place where anyone should go to get information about complex matters like what is going on there.

We have to do a much better jobin recognizing the propaganda value of social media. People are often on social media to press an agenda  ideological, religious, financial or political agenda. So of course, you dont get the facts, of course, you dont get any kind of context.

We have to do a better job with young people in trying to help them understand how to filter and interpret the information theyre getting and I think we also need to do a better job in our classrooms  particularly at the college and university level  not to fall into easy absolutes  youre either for or against. Life is too complicated, history certainly is. We must do something to stand against these false narratives.

Heaven forbid, if we dont protect this democracy, this constitution, our values, our institutions  against false narratives, against demagogic wannabe authoritarian leaders  shame on us!

(YWN Israel Desk  Jerusalem)
The IDF on Friday announced that four soldiers were killed in Zeitoun in the northern Gaza Strip when a bomb exploded in an alleyway.

The explosion occurred as the soldiers were raiding a school in Zeitoun which intelligence suggested was connected to terrorist activity.

Another three soldiers are in serious condition from the same incident.

The troops killed in the battle were identified as:

Sergeant Itay Livny, 19 years old, from Ramat Hasharon, a fighter in the 931st Battalion, the Nahal Brigade, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

Sergeant Yosef Dassa, 19 years old, from Kiryat Bialik, a fighter in the 931st Battalion, the Nahal Brigade, fell in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

Sergeant Ermiyas Mekuriyaw, 19 years old, from Beer Sheva, a fighter in the 931st Battalion, the Nahal Brigade, was killed in battle in the northern Gaza Strip.

Sergeant Daniel Levy, 19 years old, from Kiryat Motzkin, a fighter in the 931st Battalion, the Nahal Brigade, fell in battle in the north of the Gaza Strip.

Their deaths increased the total number of IDF soldiers killed in Gaza to 271 and since October 7th to 615.

Separately, an additional two soldiers were seriously wounded in an RPG attack on a tank in Rafah.

(YWN World Headquarters  NYC)
Foreign Secretary David Cameron is facing fresh embarrassment over his links to the financier Lex Greensill.

The former prime minister was a close adviser to Greensill, whose finance firm collapsed in 2021, unleashing a major lobbying scandal.

MPs said Cameron  while out of office  showed a significant lack of judgment in trying to secure access to taxpayer-backed Covid loan schemes for Greensill Capital.

The Governments Insolvency Service (IS) last month announced it was seeking to ban Greensill as a director.

Greensill is counter-suing the Department for Business and Trade, which oversees the IS, over how the investigation has been run, and for alleged misuse of private information. His claim has now been made public.

Probe: Foreign Secretary David Cameron was a close adviser to Lex Greensill (pictured together), whose finance firm collapsed in 2021, unleashing a major lobbying scandal

Greensill alleges details were leaked in 2023  days after Cameron made a surprise return to the Government as Foreign Secretary, leading to renewed scrutiny of his work for Greensill.

The leak was for improper political reasons to show the Government was taking action over the demise of Greensill even as Cameron came back, court papers claim.

The financier says an IS official tipped off papers that he faced a ban as a company director, even though the Government only decided last month to press ahead with disqualification proceedings. It is not thought to be pursuing anyone else.

The papers say Camerons appointment coincided with the alleged leak, leading to renewed criticism of his lobbying.

As such, there was an obvious incentive for the Government to be seen to be taking action against Greensill whilst also not taking action against any other director, the claim says, adding: The wrongful disclosures were made for improper political reasons.

The claim also alleges that Greensills private and confidential information was misused when an IS press officer identified as X  contacted The Times about the plan to ban the businessman four months before it was confirmed.

The employee was dismissed from the IS following an internal investigation into the leak, the filing states.

Greensills lawyers say their efforts to identify X have been hampered because his laptop has been wiped and his work mobile lost.

The collapse of Greensill Capital led to criminal investigations that continue in the UK, Germany and Switzerland.

Camerons conduct is not thought to be the subject of those investigations. He has said he acted in good faith at all times and denied wrongdoing.

Greensill worked in 10 Downing Street when Cameron was prime minister and had a privileged relationship with officials as he built his supply-chain business. He received a CBE in 2017 for services to the economy.

Greensill is suing the Department for Business and Trade for aggravated damages.

The IS said: As this is an ongoing legal matter, it would be inappropriate to comment.

A spokesman for Greensill declined to comment. A spokesman for Lord Cameron was contacted for comment.
Takeover target: Oil industry engineer Wood Group turned down a takeover 1.4bn offer from Dubai rival Sidara

Takeover target Wood Groups profit margins grew in the first quarter of 2024 even as revenues fell 6 per cent, the oil industry engineer said.

The Aberdeen business updated the market on its performance just a day after it revealed it had turned down a takeover 1.4billion offer from Dubai rival Sidara.

Wood is the latest London-listed firm to be eyed by overseas predators.

To bolster its defences yesterday, Wood said it is making progress with a restructuring to save up to 48million a year from 2025 after cutting about 200 jobs.

Profit margins grew in the first three months of 2024 even as revenues dropped 6 per cent, the FTSE 250 firm said.

But City experts said that more could be done as Londons stock market is gripped by crisis, with bidders hunting for undervalued companies.

Packager DS Smith, haulier Wincanton and housebuilder Redrow have all agreed to be bought this year. Wood said on Wednesday that Sidaras offer fundamentally undervalued the company.

Shares rose 0.6 per cent, or 1.1p, to 194p yesterday, having jumped nearly 17 per cent in the previous session.

The bid came a year after private equity giant Apollo abandoned a 1.7billion offer.
Merger: Vodafone's 15bn tie-up with Three UK has been given the green light

Vodafone has been told to set up a national security committee to oversee sensitive work after its merger with Three UK.

The 15billion deal has been backed by ministers after a review under national security laws.

The review was triggered by concerns over Threes links to China, given it is owned by Hong Kong group CK Hutchison.

Deputy prime minister Oliver Dowden said the firms must create a special committee to update the Government about sensitive work.

The venture will be 51 per cent-owned by Vodafone and 49 per cent by CK Hutchison, which said it was pleased by the green light.

However, the tie-up still needs approval from competition regulators.

Last month the Competition and Markets Authority launched a probe into the merger after a formal investigation in January.

There are concerns that a tie-up could lead to higher prices for all UK customers.

If the merger goes ahead, the combined group will have more than 27m subscribers.

The two firms say a deal would result in an additional investment of 11billion in the UK.
Shares of OPENLANE, Inc. (NYSE:KAR  Get Free Report) have been assigned an average recommendation of Moderate Buy from the five brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $19.60.

Separately, Barrington Research reiterated an outperform rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of OPENLANE in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Get OPENLANE alerts:

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on KAR

OPENLANE Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE:KAR opened at $16.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 billion, a PE ratio of -9.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 1.44. OPENLANE has a 12 month low of $12.86 and a 12 month high of $18.73. The companys 50-day moving average price is $16.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.10.

OPENLANE (NYSE:KAR  Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The specialty retailer reported $0.19 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts consensus estimates of $0.21 by ($0.02). OPENLANE had a net margin of 3.39% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $431.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $426.11 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. OPENLANEs quarterly revenue was up 3.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that OPENLANE will post 0.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On OPENLANE

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KAR. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Hawk Ridge Capital Management LP now owns 3,900,178 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $57,762,000 after buying an additional 195,200 shares during the last quarter. Invenomic Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,009,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in shares of OPENLANE during the second quarter worth approximately $3,243,000. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 1.7% during the second quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 8,921,967 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $148,015,000 after buying an additional 146,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James & Associates raised its stake in shares of OPENLANE by 293.5% during the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 243,164 shares of the specialty retailers stock worth $4,034,000 after buying an additional 181,364 shares during the last quarter. 99.76% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

OPENLANE Company Profile

(Get Free Report

OPENLANE, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates as a digital marketplace for used vehicles, which connects sellers and buyers in North America, Europe, the Philippines, and Uruguay. The company operates through two segments, Marketplace and Finance. The Marketplace segment offers digital marketplace services for buying and selling used vehicles.

Featured Stories

Receive News & Ratings for OPENLANE Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for OPENLANE and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.
Health Minister Stephen Donnelly has said he wants to see a resolution to the HSE recruitment freeze.

Mr Donnelly said the recruitment embargo is having an impact on clinical teams and nursing teams being able to do their job.

The Fianna Fail minister is having ongoing conversations with Cabinet colleagues about the issue and how to plug the funding gap.

More than 2,000 posts filled or committed to by the HSE last year have no Government-backed funding.

Mr Donnelly attended the final day of the Irish Nurses and Midwives Organisation (INMO) annual conference, held at Croke Park in north Dublin on Friday.

He told those gathered that he is working with other ministers to resolve the issue.

That is an ongoing conversation that Im having with Government colleagues. Its being discussed, he said.

What I want to see is a resolution to this very quickly. Im acutely aware that the hiring embargo, whilst it was necessary because of thousands of staff that were hired for whom there was no funding to hire, unfortunately it was necessary.

It is impacting on our clinical teams and nursing teams to be able to do the full job that they want to do.

I want to see a resolution to this as quickly as possible. But what Government has to do is consider that there was a record amount of funding provided for hiring new staff.

He said funding was provided to hire 6,000 new workers but the HSE hired 8,000 staff. Mr Donnelly said the Government is still working on resolving the issue.

It was announced on Thursday that the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA) will carry out a review of emergency care in the Mid West region to determine if a second emergency department is needed.

It will consider whether there is a need for a second emergency department to support University Hospital Limerick (UHL), which is heavily impacted by overcrowding.

Mr Donnelly said that despite reductions in the number of patients on trolleys in other hospitals, Limerick saw a big increase.

Its because of that increase over the last number of months that I have now kicked off a review of urgent and emergency care in the Mid West region, uniquely of all other regions that only has one emergency department, he said.

There has been more investment in Limerick hospital than any other hospital in the country in recent years.

Theyve had a huge increase in the budget, very importantly theyve had more than a 40% increase in the workforce, so about 1,200 more people working in UHL, they have an extra 108 beds already in place. I have committed to 86 more for this year and then weve nearly 200 beds being built on site.

Unfortunately, while other hospitals have managed to use investment to reduce the trolley numbers, its going the wrong way in Limerick.

There are more reforms required.

He said there needs to be a step change in investment capacity and reform.

What we need to see is ongoing clinical leadership in the hospital and administrative leadership in the hospital so the reforms in the ways of working that we know are having an impact in Waterford, in Portlaoise, in Tullamore and in other hospitals, that they become standard practice in UHL, he added.

I fully believe that if UHL can implement the kind of changes that the other hospitals have, we will see a very significant easing of the pressure on patients in the emergency department.
There will be an operation to clear the latest makeshift migrant camp along a canal in Dublin, the housing minister has said.

It comes after approximately 30 tents were erected along the Grand Canal one day after a major multi-agency action removed 163 asylum seekers from an encampment just metres down the waterway.

Last week, a similar action saw roughly 290 other international protection applicants removed from a camp near the International Protection Office.

On Friday, Darragh OBrien said there had been a meeting involving the Taoiseach on the matter on Thursday night. He said: Weve been very clear that that is not where we want to see people.

We dont want to see asylum seekers in tents, thus an operation will be put in place between our departments to move those tents on and move the people on to safe and secure accommodation  thats what we intend to do.

Mr OBrien was speaking to reporters alongside Integration Minister Roderic OGorman at an event in Hollystown, Dublin.

Mr OGorman said the key issue has been the availability of accommodation but this has improved within the last two weeks. More than 1,800 asylum seekers are without an offer for State-provided accommodation.

Asked about the long-term plan for accommodating asylum seekers, the integration minister said there was a need to move away from over-reliance on commercial providers.

He added: Were acutely aware we need to do more. At a separate event in Dublin, Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly said that it is not reasonable to ask any country, including Ireland, to find suitable accommodation for every person seeking international protection.

Speaking in Dublin on Friday, Mr Donnelly said: We cant have a situation in the capital city or indeed in any city in the country, where we have large tented encampments popping up.

Its not something that can go on and the Government is quite right on moving to address that. Were dealing with a situation in Ireland, similar to a situation across much of the Western world, where we have quite rightly taken in about 100,000 people fleeing Russias invasion of their country (Ukraine).

They have been welcomed here, they are welcomed here and were doing exactly the right thing for those people. At the same time, the number of people seeking international protection has gone up from  it used to be about 2,000 to 3,000 a year  it went up to nearly 9,000 last year, projections of 14,000 or 15,000 or more this year.

Thats the level of demand that Ireland is dealing with, its a level of demand being dealt with right across Europe. Its simply not reasonable to expect any government, be it the Irish government, be it a different government, or indeed any country to be able to simply absorb so many people without there being issues.
A 60-year-old Canadian-Italian woman has slept in homeless accommodation and bus shelters since being caught last month evading excise duty on cigarettes at Dublin Airport, a court has heard.

Antonia Giuliana Pintus, who has a previous address in Rome, Italy, was caught by custom officials with 19,920 cigarettes in her luggage with no Irish tax stamps after arriving in Dublin on a flight from Dubai. She spent 12 days in custody before being granted bail.

Dublin Circuit Criminal Court heard that Pintus, who has no previous convictions, had fallen into financial difficulties in Italy and agreed to bring the cigarettes to Ireland in return for 1,000.

Pintus, a dual Canadian-Italian citizen, pleaded guilty to evasion of duty on the cigarettes at Dublin Airport, on April 17, 2024.

The total value of the cigarettes was 16,280 and the loss of duty to the State was 8,954.

Customs officer Mark Farrell told Fiona McGowan BL, prosecuting, that Pintus said a driver was to pick her up and she was to meet a person in Ireland to hand over the cigarettes.

The cigarettes were believed to be for onward sale in the United Kingdom.

Defence counsel, Leanora Frawley BL, said Pintus had been in economic difficulty and lived on the streets since her family put up the money for her bail. Her family also send money when they can for her to access homeless facilities.

She told the court her client was in a very desperate situation. She asked her client be allowed to return home.

Judge Orla Crowe said this was a very unusual case and unusual accused.

The judge imposed a six month sentence which she suspended in full and ordered her to be of good behaviour for 18 months.

Pintus told the judge she wanted to extend an apology to Ireland and to the people at the airport.
BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed on Thursday his readiness to work with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and steer the China-Hungary relationship to higher levels. Xi made the remarks when holding talks with Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest. Noting that Hungary is one of the first countries to recognize New China, Xi said since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit. The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent, to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said. The China-Hungary relationship is now at its best in history, he said, adding that the traditional friendship has taken deep roots in the hearts of the people, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful outcomes. This year marks the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, Xi said. Noting that China-Hungary relations have maintained steady development over the past 75 years, Xi said the two sides should sum up valuable experience and chart the course forward. First, Xi said, both sides should treat each other as equals, follow a development path suited to their respective national conditions, and firmly hold their destiny in their own hands. China-Hungary friendship from generation to generation does not target any third party, nor should it be dictated by any third party, he added. Second, the two countries should uphold mutual trust and mutual assistance, always understand each other, and firmly support each other in safeguarding their respective sovereignty, security, and development interests, Xi said. Third, the two sides should adhere to win-win cooperation, expand cooperation in various fields within the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation, and synergize their respective development strategies, he said. Both countries should also uphold fairness and justice, stand on the right side of history, and strive to make positive contributions to the cause of peace and development of mankind, he added.
OR . . .

ROCK CHALK CRACKDOWN ON DISSENT BEFORE UR MUM VISITS!!!

In very much the same way that so many dirty clothes and other incriminating items will be stuffed into dorm closets ahead of Mother's Day weekend.

Here's better journalism on late night life lessons for students and university interlopers . . .



"A little after midnight, at least three protesters appeared to be getting arrested from the library. They were escorted out with their hands behind their backs and appeared to be handcuffed. They were placed in a law enforcement van. According to the Douglas County jail booking log, all three were arrested by KU police on suspicion of criminal trespassing.



"The group appeared to disperse around the time of the arrests. Law enforcement officers were still stationed across campus around 12:30 a.m. Friday.



"Earlier Thursday evening, university administrators hand-delivered a letter to protesters who are part of KU Students for Justice in Palestine.



"The letter gave notice that the encampment site must be completely cleared out by 10 p.m. Thursday and that any person who remained on the lawn in front of Fraser Hall with items identified as camping paraphernalia would be removed by police."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .
The answer to a post title question . . . . .

If sharing sketchy info is against the law THEN quite a few social outlets owe TKC money for proclaiming "two weeks to stop the spread."

But I digress . . .



The bigger debate where Guv Parson is probably correct . . . There's no reason taxpayers have to pay to defend politicos for social media misadventures.

Either way . . .

We wanted to quote this story just so our community could weigh-in . . .



The attorney generals office last week signed on as defense attorneys for the lawmakers and argues the case should be dismissed because the lawmakers have absolute legislative immunity.



Im telling you its problematic, Parson said Thursday.



Parson hinted at an announcement soon to come about the action he would take on the matter then spoke directly to the immunity defense.



Politicians have to be responsible and have to be held to a higher standard, Parson said. When you start attacking citizens in our state, you dont get a free pass just because youre a politician.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

Mo. governor critical of AG defending lawmakers accused of defamation Missouri Governor Mike Parson expressed dismay Thursday over Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey's defense of three state lawmakers who are being sued.

Should Missouri taxpayers pick up tab in lawsuits against three senators? - Missourinet Gov. Mike Parson has some words about Missouri and state taxpayers picking up the legal tab for three state senators who misidentified the Kansas City Super Bowl parade shooter. The Missouri Attorney General's Office is defending Sens. Rick Brattin, R-Harrisonville, Denny Hoskins, R-Warrensburg, and Nick Schroer, R-Defiance, in the defamation lawsuits filed by a Kansas [...]

Developing . . .
Mountain goats live and die on the edge

Photo by Kevin White

An adult male mountain goat scans the horizon near the Juneau Icefield.

Kevin White has placed his hands on the long, white fur of more than 400 Alaska mountain goats during the past 20 years.

His diligence in studying this Ice Age wanderer of high, steep country has led to a new understanding  a surprising number of the creatures die by snow avalanche.

White works out of Haines with the University of Alaska Southeast and is writing his Ph.D. thesis on mountain goats for the University of Victoria in British Columbia. During his former employment for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game, White captured 421 goats in Southeast Alaska, mostly around Haines, Juneau and Baranof Island.

He, along with colleagues Eran Hood, Gabe Wolken and others, just authored a paper in which they wrote that snow avalanches killed from 23% to 65% of all the collared animals that had died during the 17 years biologists had followed them.

Photo by Kevin White

Mountain goats shelter beneath the fracture line of an avalanche above Klukwan, Alaska.

The study  on a species that doesnt get a lot of attention because its habitat is so hard to reach  revealed that the steep country that is advantageous for mountain goats is often lethal. Avalanches were the among the most frequent causes of mortality in all the goat deaths the scientists studied.

Theyre putting themselves right in the line of fire with the slope angles they choose, said Hood, a professor at the University of Alaska Southeast, during a talk he gave at the December 2024 American Geophysical Union Conference in San Francisco.

At the beginning of his talk, Hood tipped his cap to Whites extensive fieldwork, during which White attached collars that allowed both radio tracking and later GPS tracking of mountain goats. Whites 17-year dataset features many track lines etched into slopes where people fear to tread.

We ended up with almost 1,200 goat-years of radiocollar data  which is insane, Hood said.

The scientists enhanced that hooves-on-the-ground information by modeling and mapping millions of avalanche chutes, confirming them as areas that goats favor.

Avalanche release areas and paths constitute most (62%) of the alpine and subalpine (places goats use) across the winter range, the study authors wrote.

How do you fit a tracking collar to the neck of a creature that lives much of its life clinging to mountain walls? White credited experienced helicopter pilots able to hover close enough to allow him to fire a tranquilizer dart out of an open door.

Within a few minutes, on a slope chosen for its unlikelihood of a goat falling off when it lost muscle control, the goat dropped to the ground. That enabled White and his partners in the field to exit the helicopter and quickly fasten a collar around the animals neck, monitor its vitals, and take measurements before injecting it with an antidote.

Photo by Kevin White

Mountain goats rest on snow beds above Klukwan, Alaska, following a winter storm in 2020 that deposited more than 6 feet of snow in December 2020.

Within 5 minutes (of receiving the reversal agent), they stand up and walk away as if nothing happened, White said recently over the phone from Haines.

White has a reverence for spike-horned mountain goats, a throwback to the Pleistocene. He is particularly impressed with their hooves, which enable goats to climb over wispy trails where a fall means plunging hundreds of feet.

A hard sheath surrounds a soft pad like a dogs, he said. They can grip a wet slabby surface with the pad, and use the hard-edged sheath for gaining purchase in cracks.

Mountain goats, which range in Alaska from Southeast northward to the Wrangell Mountains, spend their summers eating sedges and shrub leaves in the highest, steepest country. They often migrate downward to old-growth forests in the winter, though some remain in the alpine all winter.

Preparing for a winter existence that White described as a pseudo hibernation, goats pack on an impressive amount of weight late in the summer.

They can be up to 25% body fat in fall  it almost rivals what bears put on, White said.

Photo by Kevin White

An adult female mountain goat navigates a 40-degree slope on Lions Head Mountain above Lynn Canal.

Males, or billies, which can live for 10 years or more in the wild, are not the delicate flowers they might appear from afar, White said. A male he once weighed above Haines in early fall was 385 pounds.

That guy ended up over 400 pounds, he said. Like a white buffalo with piercing black horns.

Over the years, White checked on the animals from small aircraft and also his desktop computer.

About 10 years in, we started gathering a substantial amount of data. We realized that avalanches were a significant source of mortality, he said.

Some years, more than 15% of a local population of goats would die in avalanches. In other years, none died. Because goats typically have just one kid each year, avalanches  which randomly take out prime-age females more likely to escape other fates  put a dent in local populations.

Map courtesy of Alaska Department of Fish and Game

The mountain goats range in Alaska and neighboring provinces and territories of Canada.

If you have a year when 15% of the population is dying from avalanches, it could take a significant amount of time for the population to recover, White said.

Avalanche chutes attract goats because their ruggedness gives them an advantage there over wolves and bears. Avalanches also sometimes sweep snow and rock away, leaving behind fertile ground from which springs savory green vegetation.

Sometimes avalanche terrain goes years without sliding, maybe further influencing goats to take their chances. They roll those dice in order to occupy a niche they dont share with many other animals.

Sometimes, they just get unlucky, White said.

Since the late 1970s, the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute has provided this column free in cooperation with the UAF research community. Ned Rozell is a science writer for the Geophysical Institute.
facebook like button Tweet tweet button for twitter

Published May 10, 2024

MONROE, LA  The University of Louisiana Monroe was one of six institutions in Louisiana to receive the Hunger-Free Campus Award from the Louisiana Board of Regents. Each university received $8,000 to help support their Hunger-Free Campus initiatives.

"Such good work is taking place at campuses across Louisiana around food insecurity. Your efforts are directly helping students by providing access to the resources necessary to address their basic needs and fuel their academic careers," said Susannah Fowler Craig, Ph.D., Deputy Commissioner for Strategic Planning and Student Success, Louisiana Board of Regents.

"The Division for Student Affairs at the University of Louisiana Monroe will utilize Unlimited Lenses Magnifying Students Airlift (ULMSA) from application to graduation should they experience food insecurity," said Dr. Valerie Fields, ULM Vice President for Student Affairs. The ULMSA framework is meant to align with the mission of the University and the Strategic Plan to provide a runway for each students life to be changed.

According to the Louisiana Board of Regents website, the Hunger-Free Campus designation program was created by Act 719 of the 2022 Louisiana Regular Legislative Session, sponsored by Rep. Barbara Freiberg. The Hunger-Free Campus designation and grant program are a two-part mandate not only to recognize those campuses that have established critical student services around hunger and related concerns but also for the Board of Regents to develop a competitive grant program to support our institutions in these efforts.

Other recipients of the 2024 Hunger-Free Campus Award include Louisiana Delta Community College, LSU Health Sciences Center - Shreveport, South Louisiana Community College, Southern University Shreveport, and the University of New Orleans.

ULMs Hunger-Free Campus initiatives for the 2023-2024 academic year included a Roll Away Hunger event in September 2023 in which students contributed non-perishable food items to help stock the ULM Food Pantry and the Swipe Out Hunger program, which is sponsored by SGA each semester. As part of the program, students with unused meal swipes can donate them to the swipe bank, and students in need can complete a swipe request form. Meal swipes are then distributed based on a review of need.

The ULM Food Pantry hopes to use a portion of the award to purchase a commercial refrigerator and freezer to increase and store available food options by the Fall 2024 semester that can be combined to create balanced meals by providing refrigerated and frozen food items including meat, poultry, seafood, dairy, and frozen meals.

The ULM Food Pantry is located in the Student Activity Center at 210 Warhawk Way. The pantry is open to all ULM students and staff, providing a valuable resource to those in need with no questions asked. The Food Pantry works in partnership with the Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana, but also accepts donations from the community. For more information about the ULM Food Pantry, contact Elizabeth Wheeler at ewheeler@ulm.edu or visit ulm.edu/recserv/ulmfoodpantry.html to see hours and a list of currently needed items.
Ten Democratic Senators have united in calling for Education Secretary Miguel Cardona to take decisive action against the Higher Education Loan Authority of the State of Missouri (MOHELA).

Citing a litany of alleged failures, including erroneous billing and poor customer service, the senators are urging Cardona to utilize the full extent of his authority to hold MOHELA accountable. This move comes amid growing concerns over the management of federal student loans and the need to protect borrowers from systemic shortcomings in loan servicing companies.

The Senators' Concerns

In a letter addressed to Secretary Cardona, spearheaded by Senator Elizabeth Warren, the senators highlight several alarming issues with MOHELA's operations. Chief among these concerns is the staggering number of billing errors that have affected over 2.5 million borrowers. These errors range from incorrect bill amounts to late billing, causing confusion and financial strain for students and graduates across the country.

Additionally, the senators express dismay over the prolonged wait times experienced by borrowers attempting to reach MOHELA's customer service center. With an average call wait time of 38 minutes, many borrowers find themselves frustrated and unable to obtain timely assistance with their loan inquiries or concerns. This lack of accessibility exacerbates the challenges already faced by individuals navigating the complexities of student loan repayment.

Furthermore, the senators point out that despite the Department of Education withholding $7.2 million from MOHELA due to billing mistakes, this punitive measure is insufficient to address the scale of the issue. Given MOHELA's receipt of $180 million from the Education Department in fiscal year 2023, the withheld amount represents only a fraction of the company's earnings. This disparity underscores the need for more substantial repercussions to incentivize better performance and accountability from loan servicing entities.

READ MORE : Missouri House Prepares To Debate Higher Education Funding Model Bill

MOHELA's Troubled Track Record

Among the four companies tasked with managing federal student loans for the Education Department, MOHELA stands out for its poor performance since the resumption of loan payments. Despite not being the largest servicer, MOHELA has garnered the highest number of complaints from borrowers, indicating systemic deficiencies in its operations. The senators' letter underscores the urgency of addressing these issues to safeguard the interests of student loan borrowers and ensure they receive the support and services they are entitled to.

In response to mounting pressure, the Education Department has initiated the transfer of over 1 million accounts from MOHELA to other loan servicers starting this month. While MOHELA requested the transfer, the move signals a recognition of the company's shortcomings and a commitment to addressing them. However, it remains to be seen whether this transition will effectively resolve the issues plaguing borrowers or merely shift them to different service providers.

Calls for Accountability and Reform

Senator Warren's hearing last month shed light on the broader challenges facing loan servicers in managing the restart of student loan payments following a three-year pandemic pause. According to a report released during the hearing, loan servicers collectively made over 3.9 million billing-related errors during this period, with MOHELA accounting for a significant portion of these mistakes. The senators assert that MOHELA's documented billing errors, coupled with its poor customer service record and lack of accountability, necessitate immediate action from the Education Department.

While the senators did not specify the precise actions they expect Secretary Cardona to take, they have requested a briefing by May 22nd to discuss potential measures for holding MOHELA accountable and protecting borrowers from future harm. This call to action reflects a broader push for reform within the student loan servicing industry, with advocates and policymakers alike demanding greater transparency, accountability, and consumer protections.

The concerted efforts of ten Democratic Senators to address the alleged failures of MOHELA underscore the urgent need for reform within the student loan servicing industry. With millions of borrowers relying on these companies for assistance with their loans, it is imperative that they receive accurate information, timely support, and fair treatment. Secretary Cardona's response to the senators' concerns will be closely watched as a pivotal moment in the ongoing efforts to improve the student loan system and alleviate the burdens faced by borrowers nationwide.
The University of California, Berkeley, renowned for its commitment to free speech and academic freedom, is currently embroiled in a controversy surrounding allegations of harassment by one of its law professors, Catherine Fisk.

The incident involves a Muslim student, Malak Afaneh, who was interrupted while delivering a pro-Palestinian speech during a dinner hosted by Fisk and her husband, Law School dean Erwin Chemerinsky, at their home.

The Incident and Its Aftermath

The controversy came to light through a viral video on social media, which showed Fisk approaching Afaneh, touching her, and attempting to stop her speech. The video also captured Chemerinsky, known for his work on free speech issues, asking Afaneh to leave their home. The incident took place on April 9, 2024, when Fisk and Chemerinsky hosted a dinner for graduating law students, as requested by the law school's class presidents.

In the video shared by the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), Fisk can be seen grabbing the phone from which Afaneh was reading her speech, putting her arm around Afaneh, and saying, "Leave, this is not your house, it is my house." She then tries to take the microphone from Afaneh's hands. Afaneh, undeterred, continues her speech, criticizing UC Berkeley's alleged funding of weapons manufacturers. Fisk eventually relinquishes the microphone, stating, "I have nothing to do with what the UC does."

University's Response and Investigation

Following the incident, Afaneh reported the harassment to UC Berkeley's Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD). NBC News reported that OPHD provided Afaneh with a document confirming the investigation. The document indicated that on April 9, 2024, there were reports that the respondent physically restrained you, tried to forcefully take your phone and microphone, and requested your departure from a university event when you started discussing Palestine and Ramadan.

In response to questions, a university representative explained that OPHD investigations are typically kept confidential, so they would not confirm or deny the existence of any specific case. Fisk, however, did not respond to requests for comment on the matter.

Reactions and Implications

The incident has sparked outrage and debate within the UC Berkeley community and beyond. The San Francisco Bay Area office of CAIR welcomed the "Title IX civil rights investigation," calling Fisk's actions "an apparent act of Islamophobia and silencing based on [Afaneh's] pro-Palestinian beliefs." The incident raises important questions about academic freedom, free speech, and the treatment of marginalized voices within academic institutions.

Fisk, a respected legal scholar specializing in labor and employment law, has faced criticism for her handling of the situation. Some have argued that her actions were an infringement on Afaneh's right to free speech and expression. Others have defended Fisk, citing the need to maintain decorum and respect in academic settings.

The allegations of harassment involving Professor Catherine Fisk at UC Berkeley have raised significant concerns about the protection of free speech and the treatment of marginalized voices on campus. The university's investigation into the matter will likely have far-reaching implications for the academic community and its commitment to fostering a diverse and inclusive environment for all students.
Founded over 150 years ago, Keystone College in Pennsylvania is currently grappling with a dire financial crisis that threatens its very existence.

Despite enrolling students for the upcoming fall semester, the future of the institution is shrouded in uncertainty, with the Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE) issuing warnings of potential closure. While the college's president, John F. Pullo Sr., has endeavored to reassure stakeholders, the situation remains precarious, casting a shadow over the campus community.

Financial Struggles and Seeking External Support

Keystone College's financial woes have been steadily escalating for over a decade, precipitating a series of desperate measures aimed at staving off impending fiscal collapse. A previous initiative to transfer ownership of the institution to a new nonprofit entity ultimately faltered, triggering heightened scrutiny from MSCHE. The accreditor's request for a teach-out plan, which would allow students to complete their degrees at alternative institutions in the event of closure, underscores the severity of Keystone's financial predicament.

The college's financial instability is further compounded by ongoing challenges in student enrollment. Despite maintaining a current enrollment of approximately 1,100 students, a notable decline from its peak of 1,400 students a decade ago, Keystone has encountered difficulties in bolstering its enrollment figures. In a bid to attract non-traditional students, Keystone unveiled the Department of Graduate and Adult Education in 2023, although the efficacy of this initiative in driving enrollment remains uncertain.

Failed Partnership and Investigation

In an effort to address its financial exigencies, Keystone embarked on exploratory discussions for a partnership with the Washington Institute for Education and Research (WIER), a nonprofit organization founded by a former member of Keystone's Board of Trustees. However, this proposed collaboration failed to materialize, prompting heightened scrutiny from MSCHE. Consequently, Keystone was compelled to place its vice president for finance and administration on administrative leave and initiate an unspecified investigation.

Although the details surrounding the investigation remain cloaked in opacity, the initiation of such an inquiry underscores the gravity of Keystone's predicament. Despite concerted efforts to maintain the integrity of its academic programs and uphold its commitment to student welfare, Keystone finds itself ensnared in a web of financial tumult. The designation of "heightened cash monitoring" by the U.S. Department of Education serves as a stark testament to the severity of the institution's fiscal distress.

Looking Ahead: Uncertainty and Hope

As Keystone College navigates the treacherous terrain of financial instability, a pall of uncertainty looms over its future. While admissions for the forthcoming fall semester are proceeding apace, the specter of imminent closure casts a long shadow over the institution. Nonetheless, the indomitable spirit of Keystone's faculty, staff, and students remains undaunted as they persist in their collective endeavor to weather the storm.

Despite the prevailing climate of uncertainty, there remains a glimmer of hope that Keystone can surmount the formidable challenges that lie ahead. With a storied legacy spanning over a century and a half, coupled with a resilient and steadfast community, Keystone stands poised to defy the odds. However, the path forward is fraught with obstacles, underscoring the precarious nature of higher education in an era fraught with economic turbulence.

Keystone College finds itself at a pivotal juncture in its illustrious history, grappling with existential threats that imperil its very survival. While the road ahead may be fraught with uncertainty, the indomitable spirit and unwavering resolve of the Keystone community offer a beacon of hope amidst the encroaching darkness. As the institution confronts its most formidable challenges yet, the outcome remains uncertain, underscoring the fragile nature of academic institutions in an era defined by economic uncertainty.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has long been a topic of both fascination and fear in higher education. The idea of machines taking over human tasks and decision-making processes has often been met with apprehension. However, recent discussions at the Digital Universities U.S. conference indicate a shift in mindset. Institutions are now focusing on the practical and specific opportunities that AI can offer in transforming education.

This shift was a recurring theme at the conference, co-hosted by Inside Higher Ed and Times Higher Education, in collaboration with Washington University in St. Louis. The event brought together hundreds of college administrators and education technology company officials to explore the possibilities and challenges of digital transformation in higher education.

AI: From Theory to Practice

One of the key takeaways from the conference was the acknowledgment that digital transformation, including the integration of AI, is a gradual process. Lev Gonick, chief information officer at Arizona State University, emphasized this point, stating that ASU's digital transformation has taken decades. Gonick highlighted ASU's transition from "online to AI," a journey that is expected to take roughly three to four years. This deliberate approach underscores the importance of planning and implementing AI strategies in a way that aligns with the institution's overall goals and vision.

Challenges and Opportunities

While the potential of AI in higher education is vast, it comes with its own set of challenges. One of the key challenges discussed at the conference was the issue of bias in AI results. Robbie Melton, interim provost and vice president for Tennessee State University academic affairs, raised concerns about AI-generated images of underrepresented groups, which may inadvertently portray negative stereotypes. Melton stressed the importance of ensuring diversity and inclusion in AI development to avoid perpetuating harmful biases.

Another challenge highlighted was the need for human oversight in AI applications. Badri Adhikari, an associate professor of computer science at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, stressed the significance of human oversight in AI, particularly in mitigating bias in AI models that have been trained on biased datasets. Adhikari cautioned that AI is not yet reliable enough to operate without human intervention in critical applications.

Despite these challenges, AI offers significant opportunities for improving academic processes. Douglas Harrison, associate dean and clinical professor at New York University, noted that AI enables educators to assess student learning throughout the learning process rather than just at the end. This shift towards continuous assessment can lead to more personalized and effective learning experiences for students.

Equity and Inclusion

AI also has the potential to promote equity and inclusion in higher education. Tiffany Townsend, vice president of organizational culture and chief diversity officer for Purdue Global, highlighted how online spaces can be leveraged to create more inclusive learning experiences. By designing courses with diversity in mind and incorporating diverse learning styles, institutions can ensure that all students have equal access to education.

Racheal Brooks, director of quality assurance implementation solutions at Quality Matters, emphasized the importance of defining access and equity in online spaces in a way that is inclusive and constantly evolving. Brooks suggested that instead of trying to eliminate all challenges, institutions should rely on student expertise to expand their understanding of access and equity.

The Digital Universities U.S. conference showcased a shift in the higher education sector towards embracing AI for its practical applications. While challenges such as bias and the need for human oversight remain, institutions are actively exploring ways to integrate AI into their academic processes. By focusing on equity, inclusion, and continuous improvement, higher education institutions can harness the power of AI to enhance teaching and learning experiences for all students.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, a long-standing pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University (GW) faced a dramatic end as police moved in to clear the site.

This action, occurring on the 14th day of the protest, resulted in the arrest of 33 demonstrators. The encampment, a focal point of activism demanding divestment from companies profiting from the Israel-Hamas conflict, had drawn attention and controversy since its inception.

The Sweep: Heightened Tensions and Police Intervention

The decision to clear the encampment came amidst escalating tensions and concerns raised by university and law enforcement officials. Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officials cited various reasons for the intervention, including reports of escalating volatility and alleged incidents of assault. Additionally, the encampment had expanded beyond GW's campus, drawing in protesters from other institutions and raising concerns about safety and security.

One significant incident involved a campus police officer allegedly being shoved by a protester, highlighting the growing tensions surrounding the encampment. Reports of protesters gathering potentially offensive and defensive weapons further fueled apprehension among officials.

The MPD's decision to intervene also raised questions about the role of law enforcement in handling campus protests and the balance between maintaining public safety and respecting First Amendment rights. Critics, including some Congressional Republicans, accused District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser of hesitancy in responding to GW's request for assistance, leading to the cancellation of a scheduled hearing.

Political and Campus Responses: Divisions and Debates

The clearance of the encampment sparked a flurry of reactions from various stakeholders, highlighting deep-seated divisions over the Israel-Palestine conflict and the right to protest. Congressional Republicans, led by Representative James Comer, criticized Mayor Bowser's perceived inaction and praised the swift response following the announcement of a potential Congressional hearing.

GW officials, meanwhile, faced scrutiny over their handling of the protest and their communication with law enforcement. Student protesters accused university leadership of negotiating in bad faith and failing to address their demands for divestment. President Ellen Granberg's characterization of the encampment as "illegal and potentially dangerous" further fueled tensions, with some viewing it as an attempt to delegitimize legitimate protest.

On the campus itself, the aftermath of the sweep left behind a sense of disillusionment and unresolved grievances. Despite assurances from university administrators that the encampment had been cleared without serious injuries and that operations would continue as usual, questions lingered about the treatment of demonstrators and the university's commitment to addressing their concerns.

The Broader Context: Campus Activism and Law Enforcement

The clearance of the pro-Palestinian encampment at GW reflects broader trends in campus activism and the response of law enforcement to political protests. Across the country, colleges and universities have become battlegrounds for contentious issues, including the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The differing approaches of local law enforcement agencies in handling campus protests raise questions about the role of police in safeguarding First Amendment rights while ensuring public safety. Instances where police declined to intervene, as seen in Denver and Philadelphia, underscore the complexities of balancing the rights of protesters with the responsibilities of law enforcement.

Moreover, the GW encampment saga highlights the power dynamics at play between students, university administrations, and political authorities. The clash between protesters advocating for divestment and university officials tasked with maintaining order underscores the challenges of reconciling competing interests within the campus community.

The clearance of the pro-Palestinian encampment at George Washington University serves as a microcosm of broader debates surrounding political activism, campus dissent, and the role of law enforcement. As tensions continue to simmer, the aftermath of this controversial move raises fundamental questions about the limits of protest, the responsibilities of university administrations, and the role of police in safeguarding democratic principles.
Africa is a continent rich in history, culture, and natural beauty. It offers countless opportunities for exploration, adventure, and education. For college students looking to expand their horizons and experience a new culture, Africa is the perfect destination. With so many countries to choose from, it can be overwhelming to decide where to visit. In this article, we will highlight the best places for college students to visit in Africa.

South Africa

Located at the southernmost tip of the continent, South Africa is a diverse and vibrant country known for its stunning landscapes, rich history, and bustling cities. Cape Town, the legislative capital, offers a perfect blend of urban and natural wonders. Students can visit the famous Table Mountain, explore the vibrant city center, or take a trip to the nearby Winelands. For a more cultural experience, students can visit Johannesburg, the largest city in South Africa. With its history of apartheid and the influential role it played in the country's liberation, students can learn a lot about social justice and racial equality. Other must-visit places in South Africa include Kruger National Park, known for its diverse wildlife, and the picturesque coastal city of Durban.

Morocco

Situated in North Africa, Morocco is a country filled with vibrant colors, bustling markets, and a rich blend of cultures. The city of Marrakech is a popular destination for students, with its maze-like medina, bustling souks, and beautiful architecture. A visit to the Sahara desert is a must for those looking for a unique and unforgettable experience. Students can also explore the coastal city of Essaouira, known for its beautiful beaches, delicious seafood, and laid-back atmosphere. Morocco is also a great destination for students interested in learning about Islamic culture and history.

Kenya

Known as the "Safari Capital of the World," Kenya is a country that offers opportunities for both adventure and education. Nairobi, the capital city, is a bustling metropolis with a vibrant mix of cultures. Students can visit the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage, a rehabilitation center for rescued elephants, and the Giraffe Center, where they can interact with endangered Rothschild giraffes. For a more adventurous experience, students can go on a safari in one of Kenya's many national parks and reserves. Mount Kenya, Africa's second-highest mountain, also offers hiking and trekking opportunities for the more adventurous souls.

Tanzania

Tanzania is a country that is rich in wildlife and natural beauty, making it an ideal destination for college students. The iconic Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest peak in Africa, is a popular destination for trekking and climbing adventures. The Serengeti National Park and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area allow students to witness the Great Migration, where millions of wildebeests and zebras migrate in search of food and water. Students can also visit the beautiful island of Zanzibar, which has white sandy beaches, colorful markets, and a historic Stone Town.

A Tanzania Safari is an experience like no other, where students can learn about conservation and the importance of preserving natural habitats.

Ghana

Ghana, located in West Africa, is a country known for its welcoming people, delicious cuisine, and vibrant culture. The capital city, Accra, offers a variety of activities for college students, such as visiting museums, exploring traditional markets, and trying out local dishes. Students can also venture outside the city to visit the Cape Coast, a historic town that was once a major hub for the transatlantic slave trade. Another must-visit destination is the Ashanti region, where students can learn about the country's rich history and traditions.

Conclusion

From the diverse landscapes of South Africa to the bustling markets of Morocco, Africa offers endless possibilities for college students to learn, explore, and experience a new culture. Each country has its unique charm and attractions that make them worth visiting. So, pack your bags and get ready for an unforgettable adventure in one of the best places for college students to visit in Africa.
Deputy Chairman Senate, Syedaal Khan on Friday attended a flower exhibition at FG Public School on Madrasah Road, Quetta

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2024) Deputy Chairman Senate, Syedaal Khan on Friday attended a flower exhibition at FG Public School on Madrasah Road, Quetta.

This event was organized by the school's children in collaboration with school administration, which showcased a variety of beautifully arranged flowers, said a news release received here.

During his visit, the Deputy Chairman praised Lt. Col. Abdul Mustafa, Regional Director FGEI, Principal Nasir Ali Mughal, and the students for their efforts in managing such an impressive display with limited resources.

He noted that the quality of the event reflected the professionalism of the school management and the creativity of the students.

The Deputy Chairman Senate visited various stalls at the exhibition and commended the children for their work, highlighting that events like these in educational institutions help foster creativity among students and promote environmental awareness in the younger generation.

He emphasized that the creativity and talent demonstrated by the children would guide Pakistan towards development and prosperity.

Encouraging the school administration, he suggested for organizing similar events annually to further develop creativity and resourcefulness, skills that are valuable in both personal and professional life.

He stressed the importance of nurturing these talents for a brighter future for the children and the country as a whole, expressing hope for continued success and a positive impact on the community.

Later, the Deputy Chairman visited the Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) headquarters, where he received an extensive briefing from the Chief Executive Officer, Engineer Shafqat Ali.

During the visit, he met with the President of the QESCO Engineer Officer Association, Engineer Mujibur Rahman Marri, along with other members of the Association, including General Secretary Engineer Kaleemullah Jogezai, Senior Chief Engineers Muhammad Naeem Kakar, Syed Yusuf Shah, Muhammad Hashim Jogezai, Engineer Samiullah, Salam Mengal, Muhammad Nizam Achakzai and Karam Bakhsh Badini.

The Deputy Chairman assured them that he would work to resolve the various issues and challenges faced by the engineers, officers and employees at QESCO.
At least 50 people, mainly women and children, were killed Friday in flash flooding that ripped through Afghanistan's Baghlan province, in the north of the country, a local official told AFP

Kabul, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2024) At least 50 people, mainly women and children, were killed Friday in flash flooding that ripped through Afghanistan's Baghlan province, in the north of the country, a local official told AFP.

"So far, the number of dead is 50 as per the hospital authorities of Baghlan-e-Markazi district of Baghlan province," said Hedayatullah Hamdard, the head of the provincial natural disaster management department, adding the toll could rise.

The official explained that heavy seasonal rains sparked the flooding, and residents were unprepared for the sudden rush of water.

Emergency personnel were "searching for any possible victims under the mud and rubble, with the help of security forces from the national army and police," Hamdard said late Friday.
ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2024) The Chinese Foreign Ministry on Friday said the first official visit of Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dars to China from May 13-16 was an important part of the institutional exchanges between the two foreign ministries.

"China is willing to work with the Pakistani side to take this visit as an opportunity to further implement the important consensus of the leaders of the two countries," Spokesperson Lin Jian said at his regular press briefing.

He said Dar would hold the fifth round of the Foreign Minister-Level China-Pakistan Strategic Dialogue. Dar was invited by Wang Yi, a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and Chinese foreign minister, Lin said.

Terming China and Pakistan as all-weather strategic partners and ironclad friends, he said, in recent years, the two countries have maintained close high-level exchanges and exchanges at all levels, joined hands to cope with changes in the international and regional situation, deepened mutually beneficial and win-win cooperation, and pushed forward the China-Pakistan friendship, which has become stronger over the years.

After the completion of the elections in Pakistan this year, President Xi Jinping, Premier Li Qiang and Chairman Zhao Leji sent congratulatory messages to the Pakistani leaders at the first opportunity, expressing Chinas sincere congratulations and good wishes, he added.

The spokesperson said the Chinese side was willing to carry forward the traditional friendship between China and Pakistan, strengthen strategic communication and coordination, deepen practical cooperation in various field and create an upgraded version of the construction of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

He expressed China's desire to deepen the China-Pakistan all-weather strategic cooperative partnership, and accelerate the construction of a closer community of destiny between China and Pakistan in the new era.

APP/asg
Geneva, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2024) More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in recent days, the United Nations said Friday, with the southern Gaza city under threat of a full-scale Israeli ground invasion.

Israel's military on Monday called for Gazans to leave eastern Rafah, which triggered widespread international alarm.

The UN children's agency UNICEF said more than 100,000 had left, with the UN humanitarian agency OCHA putting the figure at more than 110,000.

All eyes have been on Rafah in recent weeks, where the population had swelled to around 1.5 million after hundreds of thousands of Palestinians fled fighting in other areas of Gaza.

Georgios Petropoulos, head of OCHA's sub-office in Gaza, said the situation in the besieged Palestinian territory had reached "even more unprecedented levels of emergency".

"The recent evacuation order that we had from the government of Israel linked to the military operation in Rafah is now counting 110,000-plus displaced people having to move north," he told a briefing in Geneva, via video-link from Rafah.

"Most of these are people who have had to displace five or six times."

Countries around the world, including key Israeli backer the United States, have urged Israel not to extend its ground offensive into Rafah, citing fears of a large civilian toll.

Hamish Young, UNICEF's senior emergency coordinator in the Gaza Strip, insisted Rafah "must not be invaded" and called for the immediate flow of fuel and aid into the Gaza Strip.

"Yesterday, I was walking around the Al-Mawasi zone, that people in Rafah are being told to move to," he said, also speaking from Rafah.

"More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in the last five days and the stream of displacement continues.

"Shelters already lined Al-Mawasi's sand dunes and it's now becoming difficult to move between the mass of tents and tarpaulins.
Kyiv, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2024) Russia has launched a cross-border ground offensive into Ukraine's northeast Kharkiv region and fighting there is ongoing, the Ukrainian defence ministry and a high-ranking military source said Friday.

Ukraine pushed back Russian forces from most of Kharkiv region in late 2022, but Moscow is now back on the offensive there as Kyiv's troops struggle with ammunition shortages.

"At approximately 5 am (0200 GMT), the enemy attempted to break through our defence line under the cover of armoured vehicles," the Ukrainian defence ministry said.

It said that it had repelled Russia's incursion but that "fighting of varying intensity" was ongoing and that Russia had launched aerial strikes into an area near the border.

A high-ranking Ukrainian military source said Russia had advanced into Ukraine by "one kilometre", and was trying to "create a buffer zone" to prevent attacks into Russian territory.

Vitaliy Ganchev, a Russian-installed official in Kharkiv region, said on Telegram that there was "fighting on several parts of the line of contact, including in the border areas."

"In this regard, I ask residents living in these areas to be careful and not to leave shelters without an urgent need," he said.

Russia's defence ministry said it had captured at least two villages in the region this week, pressing its advantage as Ukraine is outgunned and outmanned on the battlefield.
A top opponent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left jail on Friday warning that his country was facing "dictatorship" after a court ordered his release on bail to campaign in an ongoing national election

New Delhi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 10th May, 2024) A top opponent of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi left jail on Friday warning that his country was facing "dictatorship" after a court ordered his release on bail to campaign in an ongoing national election.

Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the capital Delhi and a key leader in an opposition alliance formed to compete against Modi in the polls, was detained in March over a long-running corruption probe.

He is among several leaders of the bloc under criminal investigation, with one of his colleagues describing his arrest the month before national polls began as a "political conspiracy" orchestrated by the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Kejriwal was greeted by more than 1,000 exuberant supporters as he walked out of Tihar Jail on Friday evening.

"We have to save this country from dictatorship," he told the crowd. "I am fighting against it with all of my might."

India's Supreme Court said earlier he could leave custody until June 1, the last day of voting in the six-week election.

"No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted," their ruling said.

"He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to the society."
Our societys shift toward technology means an increased risk of data theft, and its up to individuals like me to manage these threats, Finos said.

The graduates choice to attend UTSA was a calculated one, influenced by the universitys top-ranked cybersecurity program and the strategic opportunities it offered close to home.

UTSA was just far enough from Austin to push my boundaries, he said.

As member of the UTSA Honors College, Finos made the most of his time at UTSA, pushing himself academically and getting involved in several on-campus organizations that shaped his leadership and community service ethos. He was active in the Student Government Association, the UTSA Volunteer Organization Involving Community, Education and Service and the Omega Delta Phi Fraternity. This participation helped him forge significant connections and contribute to the university community meaningfully.

A standout experience was his trip to Japan with the Honors College, which broadened his cultural horizons and deepened his respect for global traditions.

I was blown away by how efficiently they live in Japan and their heightened affinity to nature. I will never forget the lavish meals and how cramped the spaces were being a six-foot, two-inch tall Texan, Finos reflected. Trilingual in English, Spanish and Japanese, he was able to exercise his language skills overseas, furthering his appreciation for cultural exploration.

Finos practical experience in cybersecurity began in the summer of 2023 with an impactful internship with the U.S. Department of State in Washington, D.C., as part of a Foreign Affairs Information Technology Fellowship. Here, Finos experienced the working environment of a government institution powered by the strength of relationships with other countries, all while learning about the policies and procedures that the Department of State runs. This role provided him with invaluable insights into the operations of international relations and the importance of cybersecurity within governmental frameworks.

It was an incredible opportunity to learn about the intricacies of diplomacy and the critical role technology plays, he said.

Reflecting on his academic experience, Finos said he most values the relationships he built at UTSA.

The connections Ive made here are my greatest achievement, he said.
India said Thursday that Canada has shared no evidence to back its allegation that the Indian government was involved in the slaying of a Sikh separatist leader in Canada last year, despite the recent arrests of three Indian men in the crime.

India's External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also reiterated India's longstanding allegation that Canada harbors Indian extremists.

Three Indian nationals who had been living in Canada temporarily were arrested on Tuesday in the slaying last June of Hardeep Singh Nijjar in British Columbia. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had set off a diplomatic spat with India last September when he cited "credible allegations" of India's involvement in the slaying of the Sikh separatist. India rejected the accusations.

Canadian Mounted Police Superintendent Mandeep Mooker said after the men's arrests that the investigation into whether they had ties to India's government was ongoing.

Jaiswal said the two governments are discussing the case but that Canada has forwarded no specific evidence of the Indian government's involvement.

Meanwhile, Jaiswal said New Delhi has complained to Canadian authorities that separatists, extremists and those advocating violence against India have been allowed entry and residency in Canada. "Many of our extradition requests are pending," he said.

"Our diplomats have been threatened with impunity and obstructed in their performance of duties," Jaiswal added. "We are having discussions at the diplomatic level on all these matters," he said.

The three Indian men arrested in Canada haven't yet sought any access to the Indian diplomats there, Jaiswal said.

The three  Kamalpreet Singh, 22, Karan Brar, 22, and Karanpreet Singh, 28  appeared in court Tuesday via a video link and agreed to a trial in English. They were ordered to appear in British Columbia Provincial Court again on May 21.

They were arrested last week in Edmonton, Alberta. They have been charged with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder.
In what they are calling an unprecedented emergency, U.N. agencies are warning that humanitarian operations throughout the Gaza Strip will cease within a matter of days if Israel does not reopen border crossings and allow critical fuel supplies to enter the Palestinian territory.

For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, Hamish Young, UNICEFs senior emergency coordinator in the Gaza Strip said Friday.

Speaking from Rafah, Young told journalists in Geneva that This is already a huge issue for the population and for all humanitarian actors but in a matter of days, if not corrected, the lack of fuel could grind humanitarian operations to a halt.

The UNICEF official said that he has been working on large-scale humanitarian emergencies for the last 30 years but that he has never been involved in a situation as devastating, complex or erratic as this.

When I arrived in Gaza in the middle of November, I was shocked by the severity of the impact of this conflict on children and, impossibly, it has continued to worsen, he said.

Israeli forces seized control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza on Tuesday, bringing a halt to all aid shipments into Gaza. Israel said Wednesday it had reopened its Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza after several days of closure, but the U.N. said no humanitarian aid was going through.

COGAT, Israels Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, says aid is entering Gaza in other ways, noting that limited shipments of aid are going in through the Erez crossing. But the World Food Program says it last received food supplies for Gaza in mid-April. Both WFP and UNRWA (U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees) warn they will run out of food for distribution in the south by Saturday.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, OCHA, reports that the closure of the Rafah crossing has severed access to fuel for humanitarian activities and curtailed the movement of staff, as well as the entry of food and other lifesaving humanitarian items.

Georgios Petropoulos, head of OCHAs sub-office in Gaza, said OCHA and several other U.N. agencies went to the Kerem Shalom and Rafah crossings this week to assess the security situation and found that those highly militarized areas are not secure, they are not safe, and they are not logistically viable.

Speaking from Rafah Friday, he said There is a lot of work that we have to do to get into that state. We are working hard with member states to find ways to bring in supplies and to make sure that aid workers can get in and out. For this solution to be sustainable, we have to bring some kind of predictability to the aid here.

Unless these solutions come quickly, our aid activities, our communication, lack of fuel, banking activities will halt within the next two days. Not having fuel will affect life-critical sectors.

Shortages have already created higher prices in the market, Petropoulos said, with vulnerable members of society being forced to make difficult or dangerous choices to access what is available.

The United Nations reports Israels recent evacuation orders, which are linked to military operations in Rafah, have led to the forcible displacement of at least 110,000 people, many of whom already have been displaced multiple times.

UNICEFs Young said that Thursday he walked around al-Mawasi, the so-called humanitarian zone where Israel has told people in eastern Rafah they should move. He described the area as being jammed with trucks, buses, cars, and donkey carts loaded with people and their possessions.

People I speak with tell me they are exhausted, terrified and know life in al-Mawasi will, again, impossibly, be harder. Families lack proper sanitation facilities, drinking water and shelter, Young said.

Displaced people are subject to even greater risk of disease, infections, malnutrition, dehydration and other protection health concerns. Beyond a few mobile health points and field hospitals with limited capacity, the closest hospital is at least four kilometers away, assuming that the road to it is safe to use, he said.

OCHA says within the next 24 hours, numerous health facilities will run out of fuel. Among those affected are five Ministry of Health-run hospitals, 28 ambulances, 17 primary health care centers, five field hospitals and 10 mobile clinics which provide immunizations, trauma care and malnutrition services.

Amid the gloomy picture, World Health Organization spokesperson Dr. Margaret Harris noted one bright spot.

Thanks to international support, she said the Naser Medical Complex, which had been severely damaged during shelling by Israeli forces, has been made partially functional. The hospital is accepting dialysis patients and the laboratories are able to perform some blood tests, she said.

But as has been made absolutely clear, without fuel all that stops, Harris said. All the things a hospital does, the lifesaving treatments, no longer can be done.

If you have got somebody back from the brink, you have operated on them, you have put them on a ventilator, and the ventilator stops, they no longer breathe, she said. So, without fuel, no matter what everybody has done, the whole system collapses.

Harris said WHO missions currently have been suspended in the north to try to ensure that we can provide as much fuel as possible to hospitals in the south to keep them going.

She said work was continuing to repair the sewage system in the Naser Medical Complex, adding that this is something that has to be done throughout the Gaza strip.

A lack of sewage services, lack of clean water means if the bombs do not get you, you die of thirst, infectious diseases or simply hunger, she said.
The URL has been copied to your clipboard

The code has been copied to your clipboard.

The first shipment of humanitarian aid bound for a U.S.-built pier in Gaza left a port in Cyprus on Thursday on the U.S. container ship Sagamore. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Carla Babb reports the aid is desperately needed as the Rafah border crossing remains closed by Israeli forces.
Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Serbia this week brought out a crowd waving Serbian and Chinese flags and praising the "ironclad" friendship of two countries. Elsewhere in the West, it raised many questions about Serbia's future role in Europe.

Analysts say that was exactly the idea. At a time of global rivalry between Beijing and Washington, the messages Xi delivered from Belgrade appeared aimed at a much wider audience.

Xi and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic signed a number of bilateral agreements on Wednesday, which followed the 25th anniversary of NATO's bombing of the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade during NATO's 1999 campaign to halt the ethnic cleansing of Albanians in Kosovo. The U.S. apologized for that action, calling it "a mistake."

David Shullman, an expert on China with the Washington-based Atlantic Council, told VOA that Xi's arrival in Belgrade on the May 7 anniversary was aimed at sending a broader message in the context of the war in Ukraine: that China is not a "warmonger" like the U.S. and NATO.

Chinese messaging, Shullman said, "parrots Russia's messaging about the war in Ukraine, about not putting a blame on Russia, but putting a blame on the U.S., NATO for 'fanning the flames' of the war, continuing to support the Ukrainians, and that China is the one that's the force for peace and stability. 

"There is an awareness in the Chinese system [that] this is a key binding point between China and Serbia, and it fits into that message that China has been pushing about NATO and the U.S."

China's president referred to the bombing of the Chinese Embassy in an op-ed published Tuesday in Serbia's pro-government newspaper Politika: "The people of China value peace, but they will never allow a historical tragedy to happen again."

Paul McCarthy, director for Europe at the International Republican Institute in Washington, agreed that the timing of Xi's visit was no accident.

"I think that Xi's entire visit to Europe was organized around the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing," he said. "It is too symbolic an opportunity for the Chinese to miss and underlines, so to speak, the position of Serbia and the strategic disagreement with the West that has been going on for 25 years."

Xi and Vucic signed a statement on the two countries' "shared future," which the Serbian president described as being a level above the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership the two countries agreed to in 2016.

According to the Atlantic Council's Shullman, Xi has often used the phrase "shared future" to indicate he wants a new balance of power in the world.

"The story of a shared future is how China wants to establish a global order that is less U.S.-led, that is multipolar, that is a more 'democratic' international order  as the Chinese say," he said.

"In essence, it is an order that is no longer led by the U.S. and in which China plays a more significant role."

He added: "The fact that Serbia is spoken of as the first European country that will be part of the community and 'common future' shows that for Chinese leaders, especially Xi, Serbia is of great importance ... as an economic partner and as a country that is a candidate for the EU."

In addition, Xi's visit to Serbia signaled to Washington that China has reliable partners in Europe and that the U.S. "will not be able to completely win over Europe to its side."

China owns mines and factories across Serbia and has provided billions of dollars' worth of funding for roads, bridges and various facilities, becoming Serbia's key partner in much-needed infrastructure development.

Still, some experts say the future of cooperation between Belgrade and Beijing is uncertain, given the complicated relations between the U.S. and China.

Vuk Vuksanovic, a senior researcher at the Belgrade Center for Security Policy, told VOA that broadening cooperation between Serbia and China from a strategic partnership to the level of "building a community of Serbia and China with a common future in the new era" is little more than a diplomatic game that suits both governments at the moment.

He added that the future relationship depends much more on Beijing than on Belgrade.

"The previous strategic partnership agreement was a joint statement from 2009 that had warm rhetoric but did not actually bring about any monumental transformation of those relations," he said.

"And that was until the moment when China showed greater interest in the Balkans due to the Belt and Road Initiative," a massive, Chinese-led global infrastructure development strategy. "I think the key question for the U.S. will be whether that cooperation will include some major project in the field of defense and high technology."

The International Republican Institute's McCarthy said it is unclear how the agreements between Serbia and China and the plans for a "common future" will affect Serbia's relationship with the West.

Still, he noted, a free-trade agreement between China and Serbia that comes into force in July "turns Serbia more towards the East," raising the question of "how serious is Serbia on its European path."

He added: "I have to say that, from Washington's perspective, they might feel like they're losing the battle for Serbia's heart, so to speak."

This article originated in VOAs Serbian Service with contributions from Dino Jahic, Marko Protic and Stefan Miljus.
A growing list of physical attacks on German politicians in recent weeks has brought condemnation from leaders and fears about the future of democracy in Germany and Europe.

The latest attacks this week included Berlin State Senator and former Mayor Franziska Giffey, who was attacked Tuesday at an event in a Berlin library. Reports say she was hit from behind by a man with a bag containing something hard and heavy. She was treated for her injuries and the man was taken into custody.

Later that same day, a 47-year-old female Green Party politician was attacked by two people while putting up election posters in Dresden.

German state-funded media company Deutsche Welle caught the assault on video. It shows the city council candidate being verbally attacked and spat on by a woman while the attackers male companion could be seen shoving members of the candidates team.

Along with insults, the attackers reportedly shouted support for the German right-wing Alternative for Germany party.

Two right-wing politicians were also attacked this week. Police in the southwestern city of Stuttgart say two state lawmakers from the far-right party Alternative for Germany (AfD) were verbally and physically abused late Wednesday as they managed an information booth about their party. Police say the injuries were not serious.

The worst of the recent attacks occurred a week ago in Dresden, where member of the European Parliament Matthias Ecke, a member of German Chancellor Olaf Scholzs German Social Democrats (SPD) party, was brutally beaten by four assailants while putting up campaign posters. Party officials say his injuries will require surgery.

Four suspects in the attack on Ecke  aged 17 and 18  have since been arrested.

The attacks have drawn commendation from German lawmakers from across the political spectrum. In a video message Thursday, Scholz referred to them as attacks on our democracy that concern all of us, which is why we do not stand idly by when public officials, campaigners or volunteers are brutally attacked.

He suggested one of the best things people can do to fight back is to vote in next months European Parliamentary elections.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, a former German politician herself, also spoke out against the violence Thursday during comments to the German conservative CDU party congress in Berlin.

When we talk about threats to our democracy, we are not just talking about positions and content. It's also about people, she said. We must protect all those who stand up for our democratic society and our country, regardless of which party they belong to."

In an interview with Reuters television Friday, Bundeswehr University German political scientist Jasmin Riedl said the attacks are a worrying sign for liberal democracy.

When it comes to verbal violence, people are supposed to be delegitimized. And that in itself is problematic for political competition. But when people are attacked, they withdraw from the political arena, she said. That ruins the competition because it makes it unfair for them. Certain groups are simply removed one by one."

Some information for this report was provided by The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
An Australian study claims that Chinas monitoring of global internet users online habits  a practice that has made TikTok controversial in the United States  extends far beyond the popular social media app to numerous other platforms and even online games.

The Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a research organization that receives funding from the Australian government and others overseas, said in a May 2 report that Beijings propaganda chiefs are forging ties with Chinese tech companies to gather personal data from a wide range of social media apps or platforms and popular online games.

They include ride-sharing app DiDi, the action game Genshin Impact, and Temu, the popular online marketplace.

The Australian study claims that Chinas ambition is to harvest strategically valuable data from media, gaming, artificial intelligence and other emerging technologies.

It states that China is working to extend its influence abroad to reshape the global information ecosystem  to strengthen its grip on power, legitimize its activities and bolster Chinas cultural, technological, economic and military influence.

There has been no response, so far, from Chinese authorities. Beijing has previously accused the Australian government of anti-China hysteria over various geopolitical and trade disputes.

Samantha Hoffman, the lead author of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute report, told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation this week that data obtained from apps, platforms and games could be valuable to China.

That could be data on the way that users make decisions. [With] Temu, it could be preferences that indicate the likes and dislikes of particular demographics, she said. If China is trying to shape the way that the world perceives and understands truth and reality, then this data will help to make those efforts more successful over time.

The report urged policymakers to develop robust defenses and countermeasures to safeguard against future information campaigns orchestrated by Beijing.

It also asserts that much attention has been given to the Chinese-owned platform TikTok because of concerns that the user data it collects could be shared with Chinese authorities. It cautions, however, the problem runs much deeper than just TikTok.

TikToks Chinese owner, ByteDance, has said it will mount a court challenge in the United States to what it called an unconstitutional law making its way through Congress that could require the platform to be sold or banned in that country.

ByteDance has denied collusion with the Chinese government.

Marina Zhang, an associate professor at the Australia-China Relations Institute at the University of Technology Sydney, told VOA she thinks the Strategic Policy Institute report is exaggerated.

[The] Chinese propaganda machine is huge, but to link all social media apps [to] this propaganda machine is a bit of overstretching, she said.

Zhang said she believes technological collaboration, and not confrontation, is in Chinas best interests.

If segregation is going to happen and if reports like this [are] going to happen, China will be isolated from the rest of the world, Zhang said. So, we do not want to see a total technological decoupling between China and the West in terms of not just applications but also eventually in technological infrastructure. That is not going to be good for anybody.

Last year, Australia said it would ban TikTok on government devices, including cell phones, because of security and surveillance fears.
Chad's state election body said on Thursday interim President Mahamat Idriss Deby had won the May 6 presidential election outright with more than 61% of the vote, citing provisional results, even as his main challenger declared himself the winner.

Chad's junta has become the first of the coup-hit countries in West and Central Africa to stage a return to constitutional rule via the ballot box, but some opposition parties have cried foul over vote-rigging concerns.

With tensions running high, large numbers of security forces deployed at major intersections in the capital, N'Djamena, ahead of the results announcement.

National Election Management Agency chief Ahmed Bartichet said Deby had secured 61.3% of the vote, comfortably more than the 50% needed to avoid a runoff.

He said Deby's prime minister and top opposition candidate Succes Masra, 40, had won 18.53%.

Just before the ceremony, Masra claimed victory in a live broadcast on Facebook and called on security forces and his supporters to oppose what he called an attempt to steal the vote.

"A small number of individuals believe they can make people believe that the election was won by the same system that has been ruling Chad for decades," he said.

"To all Chadians who voted for change, who voted for me, I say: mobilize. Do it calmly, with a spirit of peace," he said.

What happens next is unclear.

While Masra drew larger-than-expected crowds on the campaign trail, analysts had widely predicted that the victor would be Deby, who seized power when rebels killed his long-ruling father, Idriss Deby, in April 2021.

"Post-election protests are possible, though the threat of police repression could dissuade many people from taking to the streets," Crisis Group experts said ahead of the vote.

The election is being closely watched from abroad.

While other juntas in the insurgency-torn Sahel region, including Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, have told Paris and other Western powers to withdraw and turned to Moscow for support, Chad remains the last Sahel state with a substantial French military presence.

Security and the economy have been key campaign issues. One of the world's least-developed countries, Chad's meagre resources have been stretched thinner by multiple shocks including climate change-fueled heatwaves and a refugee crisis linked to the civil war in Sudan.
Chad has ordered the immediate deployment of troops to maintain peace, especially in the capital, N'djamena, after provisional results of the May 6 presidential elections surprisingly published on Thursday night declared transitional ruler General Mahamat Idriss Deby winner with over 61% of the votes. The main challenger, Succes Masra, claimed he won, with over 73% of the votes.

Residents in Chad's capital, N'djamena, said they awoke Friday morning to the sound of heavy gunshots. Forty-five-year old Oumar Saleh is a resident of the Machaga neighborhood spoke to VOA on Friday morning via a messaging app.

Oumar said the shooting may have been ordered by Chad's government to intimidate those objecting to the results of Chad's May 6 presidential elections published by the country's elections management body, ANGE, Thursday night.

Chadian state TV reports that there were isolated gunshots in N'djamena but does not say who the shooters are.

Public Security and Immigration Minister Mahamat Charfadine Margui said in a release Thursday that enough police have been deployed to stop what he called the use of weapons and explosives all over Chad, but specifically in Ndjamena.

Chad's military also said before the announcement of the partial results that enough troops had been deployed to protect people and their goods, especially in N'djamena and Moundou, the central African states second-largest city.

According to the provisional results, transitional President General Mahamat Deby is the official winner with 61.3% of the votes, more than the 50% needed to avoid a run-off.

Members of the opposition and the public say they are surprised ANGE published the figures in three days instead of 15 days after the voting, as stated in the electoral code. ANGE says it is legal to publish results within 15 days.

Deby in a late-night message said he is very grateful to the majority that voted for him.

Deby said he is now the democratically elected president of all Chadians, including opposition party leaders who lost. Deby says he is particularly delighted because he scored a resounding victory, and that he is going to work immediately to fulfill his electoral promises.

Deby said he will concentrate on providing jobs for unemployed youths and strengthening Chad's internal security to guarantee peace and stability.

ANGE says more than 75% of the registered 8.2 million voters took part in the vote.

Deby's main challenger, Succes Masra, scored 18.53% of the vote while Albert Pahimi Padacke, the first transitional prime minister, got 7.91%.

Masra had earlier declared that he won a resounding victory in the first round of voting, but that his victory was stolen by Deby. He spoke in a message broadcast on Facebook Thursday afternoon.

He said Chadians voted en masse to say enough is enough to the over three-decade dictatorial rule of Chad's former president Idriss Deby Itno and his son Mahamat Idriss Deby. Masra said all his supporters and security forces should strongly oppose an attempt by Deby to steal victory from the people.

Masra said all Chad civilians should calmly mobilize and demonstrate peacefully for the stolen victory to be restored.

Opposition and civil society members say there is perceivable tension that may cause chaos in Chad following the publication of the results.

Candidates have five days from the date of publication of provisional results to file complaints at the constitutional council, which has 10 days rule on fraud and irregularities allegations. Definitive results will be declared by Chad's Constitutional Council on May 21.

Deby took power in April 2021 after the death of his father, Idriss Deby Itno, who died on the front line of a war against rebels after ruling for 30 years.
China has quietly resumed cooperation with the United States on the repatriation of Chinese migrants illegally stranded in the U.S., The Associated Press reported Thursday.

The U.S.-China repatriation cooperation resumes amid the influx of Chinese migrants across the southern border of the United States.

China halted the cooperation in August 2022 as part of retaliation over the visit to Taiwan by then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi.

Beijing considers the self-ruled island a breakaway province that must one day reunite with the mainland  by force if necessary  and opposes any official contact between Taipei and foreign governments, especially Washington, which supplies weapons for Taiwan to defend itself.

Since the cooperation was halted, the U.S. has seen a spike in the number of Chinese migrants entering illegally from Mexico.

U.S. border officials in 2023 arrested more than 37,000 Chinese nationals at the southern border, nearly 10 times more than in 2022.

China's Foreign Ministry this week told the AP Beijing was "willing to maintain dialogue and cooperation in the area of immigration enforcement with the U.S." and would accept Chinese nationals who were deported.

The resumption came after Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas in April told NBC News the U.S. and China were holding high-level talks on the issue.

Ariel G. Ruiz Soto, a senior policy analyst at the Washington-based Migration Policy Institute, said negotiations may increase the number of deportations of Chinese migrants in the short term. But he said the real effect on migrants' decision-making process depends more on U.S. resources and capacity to conduct more removals.

"Prior negotiations with Venezuela, for example, did not lead to large increases in removals from the United States partially because it takes time to change structures and implement these measures," he told VOA.

The New York Times reported that 100,000 Chinese nationals are living in the U.S. despite final orders for deportation.

The number of Chinese migrants illegally entering the U.S. on its southern border has shown a downward trend this year, after a record spike in December.

U.S. Customs and Borders Protection (CBP) said that while there were nearly 6,000 arrests of Chinese nationals in December, there were 3,700 in January, 3,500 in February, and just over 2,000 in March.

Soto attributed the drop to stronger visa and border enforcement, but also to China's censoring online information about the route.

"Because technology has become so entrenched in how migrants learn and select travel routes today, unlike in prior years when these were more heavily based on personal knowledge and networks," he told VOA, "it is likely that censoring content in mainstream channels can make it more difficult to travel along existing routes."

Social media platform Douyin, the Chinese version of the short video sharing platform TikTok, has since last year been quietly cracking down on content about "Zouxian," which means "walk the line" in Mandarin.

The term refers to Chinese migrants illegally crossing borders, including into the U.S. from Mexico and South America. It became a popular topic on the Chinese internet a few years ago and was used to search for information and tips on the route.

Reuters reported last year that many Chinese migrants found at the U.S. southern border said they found out how to travel there on Douyin.

Yang Yinhua, 31, told VOA he had no idea what the word "Zouxian" meant until last summer when he was introduced to the phrase while reading news about how dangerous the journey could be. He tried to look it up on China's biggest search engine, Baidu, but couldn't find much useful information. In August, someone he met on the internet invited him to join a group chat on Douyin.

Group members shared information and tips about how to Zouxian to other countries, including the U.S. Yang said the chat quickly reached the maximum number of participants, which was 500. It was one of the six Zouxian group chats created by a user called Yunfei. Yang said all six chats were filled within weeks.

"Nobody was living a decent life during the last five or six years," he told VOA. "The ruling party wasn't making the people feel happy like it used to."

When Yang's mother died alone during the pandemic, he blamed China's draconian COVID-19 policy and decided it was time to leave his home country.

By October, he had a plan to travel to the U.S. by way of Turkey, Ecuador and the Mexico-U.S. border.

But Yang noticed Douyin started blocking Zouxian content. Yang and others in the group chat had to invent new words to continue discussing the route because the platform kept censoring certain key words.

By the end of October, Yunfei had deleted all videos he posted about getting to the U.S., Yang said. Then Douyin suspended Yunfei's account and shut down all six of his chat groups.

As soon as he left China, Yang stopped using Douyin and moved to the messaging application Telegram, where he joined a group chat also set up by Yunfei.

But by the time Yang entered the chat, Yunfei had already left. In April, Yang said, the chat was taken over by what he called "little pink patriots," a derogatory nickname for those expressing pro-Beijing views.

On TikTok, the international version of Douyin owned by the same parent company ByteDance, users noticed in January that content about Zouxian and the U.S.-Mexico border were being blocked.

"No results found," the app says when you search for the term "Zouxian." It adds that the phrase "may be associated with behavior or content that violates our guidelines."

According to TikTok's community guidelines, content considered harmful cannot be displayed. That includes hate speech, sexual violence, harassment, human exploitation and more.

"We do not allow human exploitation, including trafficking and smuggling," the guidelines read.

VOA tested Douyin in May and found that, aside from a few news clips about Chinese migrants traveling to the southern border of the U.S., "Zouxian" does not return any details about the route. Search results for locations including "Ecuador," "Guatemala" and "Panama" likewise show no results for Zouxian.

For many Chinese migrants, Douyin was one of the few sources of online information on the route. China's internet firewall blocks social media sites Facebook, YouTube and X in China.

VOA reached out to ByteDance for comment but received no response by the time of publication.

Wang Yaqiu, director of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan at human rights organization Freedom House in Washington, said the phenomenon of Zouxian reflects many Chinese people's dissatisfaction with Beijing, which she thinks can partly explain Douyin's crackdown.

"I think the CCP [Chinese Communist Party] is embarrassed that so many Chinese people want to flee the country even through such risky means. It exposes CCP propaganda about the Chinese economy and how good people's life are to be a sham," she wrote to VOA.

In March, the bodies of eight Chinese migrants were found washed up on a beach in southern Mexico after the boat they were on capsized.

Despite China's censorship of the route, Yang evaded border patrols to cross into the U.S. in early December with his sister. He lives in California, works at a warehouse and has no desire to return to China.

Aline Barros contributed to this report.
Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia stock exchanges deepen strategic ties

Xinhua) 08:38, May 10, 2024

HONG KONG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing Limited (HKEX) and the Saudi Tadawul Group, the operator of the Saudi Exchange, co-hosted the Capital Markets Forum Hong Kong 2024 on Thursday in another step towards closer strategic ties after signing a cooperation document last year.

The event was attended by over 650 people from around the world, including financial leaders, investors and those representing regulators and enterprises, among which more than 200 were from Saudi Arabia.

China's Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia boast great potential for cooperation, because Hong Kong is an international financial center and Saudi Arabia has set goals on developing its financial market, said Michael Wong, deputy financial secretary of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government, while addressing the forum.

A business meet-and-greet event was held on the sidelines of the forum on Thursday and will continue on Friday, with the participation of about 200 investors and over 40 firms.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Many Chinese cities, including Beijing, Tianjin, Hangzhou, Xi'an and Chengdu, have adjusted real estate policies, with measures such as eased purchase restrictions and the trade-ins of commercial housing, to further release the housing demand and promote the healthy development of the real estate market. As the latest moves, Hangzhou and Xi'an on Thursday announced the full removal of earlier restrictions related to home purchases. Prospective buyers no longer need to meet pre-existing conditions, such as the local hukou (residence permit), local social security and the number of apartments each buyer is allowed to purchase. Similarly, Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, lifted the restrictions for home buyers from late April. This greatly stimulated the housing market over the May Day holiday in the city. Wei Junqing, sales and marketing manager of a property development company in Chengdu, said the company secured a total transaction volume of 350 million yuan (about 49.3 million U.S. dollars) from May 1 to 5, with the daily number of sold apartments surging by 80 to 150 percent compared with previous days. Zhang Meiyun, a client from north China's Shanxi Province, visited several new properties for sale over the holiday. "Since there are no qualification restrictions for home buyers here, we are planning to buy an apartment for ourselves so that we can settle in the city to stay with our daughter's family," said Zhang. In Beijing, a notice issued on April 30 gave local families with the Beijing hukou permission to buy one additional commercial house outside the fifth ring road even if they already own two apartments in Beijing. Single adults with Beijing hukou and non-Beijing residents who have a record of paying social insurance or income tax in the city for at least five consecutive years are allowed to purchase one more property outside the fifth ring road even if they already own one apartment in the city. In the neighboring Tianjin Municipality, residents with local hukou do not need extra qualifications to buy a new apartment larger than 120 square meters in six districts in the urban area. Those with a Beijing or Hebei Province hukou, or those working there, can enjoy the same purchase policy as residents with a Tianjin hukou. Boosted by these moves, the daily second-hand apartment transaction number from May 1 to 5 rose by 43 percent, 28 percent and 19 percent in Beijing, Chengdu and Tianjin, respectively, according to real estate chain Lianjia. While some cities have taken various measures to ease purchase limits, some cities, including Dalian and Nanjing, have announced trade-in promotions, encouraging residents to trade their old homes for new ones. In Nanjing, capital of east China's Jiangsu Province, 2,000 apartments in the city were brought to the market by the Anju Construction Group on April 27 as a trial trade-in project. Wang Huhao, deputy general manager of the group, said if a client agrees with the trade-in deal, the client should pay the price difference to have a new apartment, and the company will have his or her old home. "The project had attracted nearly 4,000 inquiries as of May 5," said Wang, adding that the old apartments will be further used for the purpose of affordable housing or the settlement of talent introduced to the city. Zhang Hui, deputy head of the Nanjing Real Estate Association, said for customers who buy new apartments to improve their housing, the new trade-in mode has simplified the procedures of trading their old homes in exchange for new ones and also saved the brokerage fee to sell their old homes. A Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee Political Bureau meeting held on April 30 demanded research on policies to reduce housing inventory and improve the quality of newly-added housing, noting that efforts should be pushed ahead to establish a new model of the real estate sector to promote its high-quality development. Chen Wenjing, director of research at the China Index Academy, said the meeting has set the direction for future real estate policies with further optimization and adjustment measures expected.
Chinese President Xi Jinping said Thursday during a visit to Hungary that China is upgrading diplomatic ties with the European country to an "all-weather" partnership.

"We are willing to take this as a new starting point to push bilateral relations and pragmatic cooperation into a golden channel and move towards a higher level," Xi said.

Hungary was the third and final stop of Xis first European tour in five years. Xi arrived in the Hungarian capital, Budapest, late Wednesday after visiting France and Serbia.

While in Budapest, the Chinese leader met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, who has expanded his countrys relations with China since he came into power in 2010. Xi encouraged Chinas closest European Union ally to "play a bigger role in the EU and push for new and greater development of China-EU relations."

Hungary is scheduled to assume the rotating presidency of the EU in July.

Hungary and China announced that they signed 18 bilateral agreements to increase their economic and cultural ties. Xi said that the bilateral relationship between Beijing and Budapest "is now at its best in history," according to a statement released after the meeting.

New projects that were announced Thursday included an oil pipeline between Hungary and Serbia and coordination between Beijing and Budapest in the nuclear sector.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto also said Hungary and China will begin preparing the construction of a Budapest railway that will transport goods produced by Chinese factories in eastern Hungary to markets in Western Europe.

Hungary has become an important investment and trade partner for China at a time when other European Union countries have started distancing themselves from the East Asian country. Budapest, meanwhile, has grown closer with Beijing and Moscow.

Beijing has invested billions in Hungary and sees it as an important gateway to the 27-member European Union bloc.

China is financing a major high-speed rail project linking the capitals of Hungary and Serbia. The rail project will cost $2.1 billion and will be mostly financed by a loan from China. The project is part of the Belt and Road Initiative, a plan Xi launched a decade ago to build global infrastructure and energy networks connecting Asia with Europe and Africa.

"I would like to assure the president that Hungary will continue to provide fair conditions for Chinese companies investing in our country," Orban said. "We will create the opportunity for the most modern Western and the most modern Eastern technologies to meet and build cooperation in Hungary."

During Xis first stop in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen pressed Xi to ensure fair trade with Europe and use his influence on Russia to end the 2-year-old war in Ukraine.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
The U.S. economy is one of the biggest issues for voters in the 2024 presidential contest between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Biden campaigned this week on new tech investments. Trump says he will roll back Biden infrastructure spending and increase oil drilling. VOA's Scott Stearns has the story.
At least eight civilians died Thursday in an attack on a health center in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, according to media reports that cited locals.

The attack occurred in the country's North Kivu province. Locals attributed the attack to the Allied Democratic Forces militia, which pledged loyalty to the Islamic State group in 2019.

"For now we have a toll of eight dead, including the sick and the accountant at the health center," Beni territory civil society leader Omar Kalisia told reporters. Kalisia added that one nurse was missing, and a house was set on fire.

In late 2021, the DRC and neighboring Uganda launched a joint military operation against the Allied Democratic Forces. To date, that effort has not been successful.

The Thursday attack on the health center follows a May 3 attack on a camp for displaced people in the same province, and a May 7 bombing in a village in a neighboring province.

In the city of Goma on Thursday, social affairs minister Modeste Mutinga Mutushayi said that the toll from the attack on the camp for displaced people had risen to 35 people killed, with an additional 37 people injured. The initial death toll was estimated to be nine people killed.

Mutushayi visited Goma with a delegation from the capital, Kinshasa, investigating the attack. The United States blamed the assault on nearby Rwanda and the M23 rebel group, which the U.S. government says has ties to the Rwandan government.

The Rwandan government has rejected those accusations.

A few days later on May 7, a bombing in the neighboring province of South Kivu killed seven people and injured six more. Authorities also blamed M23 for that attack.

The rebel group M23, which is mainly led by Tutsis, recommenced its armed campaign in the DRC in 2021 and has taken control of large swathes of territory since then.

Some information in this report came from Agence France-Presse.
Alsu Kurmasheva, a journalist unlawfully detained in Russia since October, was recognized Friday with an award for her courage and determination.

Kurmasheva, an editor at the Tatar-Bashkir service of VOAs sister outlet Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, is accused of failing to self-register as a so-called foreign agent and spreading what Moscow views as false information about the Russian military.

The Russian-American journalist, who is based in Prague, had traveled to Russia in May 2023 to care for her ailing mother. When she tried to return home, authorities confiscated her passports.

RFE/RLs parent organization the U.S. Agency for Global Media, or USAGM, honored Kurmasheva, 47, with a David Burke Distinguished Journalism Award, which recognizes courage and journalistic excellence.

I want to thank USAGM for recognizing the extraordinary sacrifices and dedication of our colleague Alsu, RFE/RL President Stephen Capus said during the ceremony. It is beyond time to free Alsu.

American RFE/RL reporter marks 6 months jailed in Russia

The awards are named after news executive David Burke, who served as the first chair of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is now known as USAGM. Each year, journalists at the USAGM networks, which include Voice of America, are recognized through the awards.

Amid rising threats to press freedom, this years Burke honorees epitomize the courage and resilience thats needed to deliver objective, truthful reporting to audiences without a free press, said USAGM CEO Amanda Bennett.

It is a privilege to work alongside these remarkable journalists, who work tirelessly, often at tremendous risk to their own safety and wellbeing, to inform, connect and engage people around the world in support of freedom and democracy, she added.

In Kurmashevas case, the journalist and her employer have rejected the charges Russia filed against her, and the U.S. government has called for her immediate release. If convicted, she faces up to 15 years behind bars.

Kurmasheva is currently set to be held in pre-trial detention until at least June.

A family has been ripped apart, Capus said, referencing Kurmashevas husband, Pavel Butorin, and their two daughters.

Butorin is the director of Current Time TV, a Russian-language TV and digital network led by RFE/RL in partnership with VOA. He accepted the award on Kurmashevas behalf.

We know that Alsu is not a criminal. We know that she is behind bars because of her work at RFE/RL and her American citizenship. Russia has made it explicitly clear that its targeting Alsu because of her reporting, Butorin said in his remarks.

Butorin also called on the U.S. government to declare Kurmasheva wrongfully detained, which would open additional resources to help secure her release.

The U.S. government should not hesitate to designate Alsu as wrongfully detained and explore every possible avenue to secure her speedy release from Russian captivity, Butorin said.

The State Department says it is still considering whether to declare Kurmasheva wrongfully detained. Press freedom groups have criticized the State Department for not yet making the designation.

Were just absolutely shocked that she has not yet been declared wrongfully detained, National Press Club President Emily Wilkins said at an event in Washington.

We know that shes a reporter, we know that she did nothing wrong, we know that journalism is not a crime, and we know that wrongful detention just arent words. It would actually help her case a lot, Wilkins said.

Kurmashevas case underscores the state of press freedom in Russia, where a second American journalist  The Wall Street Journals Evan Gershkovich  has been jailed since March 2023.

Gershkovich is accused of espionage, which he, his employer and the U.S. government deny. In that case, the State Department declared Gershkovich, 32, wrongfully detained.

To date, the Russian government has not publicly provided any evidence to substantiate the charges against Gershkovich, who was accredited by the Russian Foreign Ministry to work in the country.

Russias Washington embassy did not immediately reply to VOAs email requesting comment.

Gershkovich and Kurmasheva are among the 22 journalists  including 12 foreign nationals  who were jailed in Russia at the end of 2023, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. That total means Moscow is the fourth worst jailer of journalists in the world  and underscores the grave risks facing reporters in Russia.

The profession of journalism should not be synonymous with danger, Butorin said.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that a U.S. threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza, indicating it might proceed with an invasion of the packed city of Rafah against the wishes of its closest ally. The United States warned on Thursday that Israel will be dealing a strategic victory to Hamas if it carries out plans for an all-out assault on Rafah. We talk to University of California San Diego professor Michael Provence who teaches modern Middle East history, focusing on the 20th century Arab East. Displaced Palestinians are fleeing Rafah, fearing an Israeli ground offensive is imminent. And a girl born deaf can hear after breakthrough gene-therapy.
President Joe Biden on Thursday proposed a new regulation to expedite the asylum claims process for specific migrants at the U.S.-Mexico border, but the plan drew objections from both immigrant advocates and administration critics.

The order would target individuals with criminal backgrounds and those likely to be found ineligible for asylum for other reasons.

The proposed change would allow an asylum officer to decide whether someone qualifies for asylum during the initial screening at the border, rather than waiting months or years for a judge to decide. This would affect a small group of migrants who likely wouldn't qualify for asylum anyway.

In a call with reporters on Thursday, a senior administration official from the Department of Homeland Security could not estimate how many people the proposed rule would affect but did say the rule would allow asylum officers to quickly decide that a given migrant poses a threat to national security or public safety and therefore does not qualify for asylum.

I think it's important that everybody understand that this really only applies to individuals who have a serious criminal history or who are, you know, linked to terrorist activity, and that's inherently a small fraction of the individuals that we encounter or interview on a given day, the DHS official said.

According to federal law, people who are considered dangerous to national security or public safety can't receive asylum. This includes those who have committed serious crimes, helped in persecuting others, or are a threat to the country's security.

Currently, these individuals are detained while their asylum eligibility is determined. But the proposed rule allows asylum officers to make that determination during the credible-fear interview, earlier in the immigration process.

The rule will be published Monday, and comments will be accepted for 30 days. Immigration officials expect the final rule to be issued this year.

Reactions

Immigration advocates worry that migrants, who often undergo these interviews right after dangerous journeys to the U.S., might not get a fair chance.

They argue that the initial interviews should be more lenient to prevent wrongful deportations. They also question whether migrants in custody can get enough legal assistance to prepare for this crucial step in seeking asylum.

The chairman of the House Committee on Homeland Security, Mark Green of the state of Tennessee, objected later Thursday that the administrations proposal does not go far enough.

"The proposed rule will only apply to illegal aliens who are believed to be either a national security or public safety threat," Green said. "The rule will not impact or reduce the millions of illegitimate asylum claims being filed by economic migrants."

The Biden administration is between a rock and a hard place, said Stephen Yale-Loehr, a professor of immigration law at Cornell Law School, in an email to VOA.

"But the public is demanding immigration changes. The Biden administration seems damned if it tries to do anything to resolve the border crisis and damned if it doesn't, he wrote.

A sharp increase in the number of migrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border has presented a political crisis for Biden since the beginning of his administration. Many migrants come to the U.S. seeking better economic prospects or to escape violence.

The Biden administration introduced strict asylum measures in 2023 and is trying to address the causes of migration.

Biden asked Vice President Kamala Harris to spearhead a "root causes" strategy at the beginning of his presidency, banking heavily on using American investments to improve living conditions in three Central American nations known as the Northern Triangle: Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
Tufail Dawar, a resident of Mir Ali in the North Waziristan region of Pakistan, recounted a harrowing day on April 30 when he and his fellow villagers were trapped in their homes by gunfire outside.

"We couldn't go out for the entire day as security forces and militants engaged in a fierce shootout during a military operation in our village," Dawar explained. During the crossfire, one of his cousins was injured and is currently receiving treatment in a local hospital.

Resident of the restive tribal districts of Pakistan along the Afghan border and adjacent areas tell VOA Deewa that due to increasing military operations many areas have been declared no-go zones, restricting their daily mobility.

"Our village has been declared a no-go zone by security forces and no development work is happening. There are no sources of livelihoods and many families have left the area due to military operations," Maulana Naqibullah Khan told VOA Deewa over the phone.

Khan said that in the past three months locals had negotiated with the security forces to secure the release of nearly 60 residents who had been arrested after being accused of providing food and medical treatment to the militants.

"The situation has deteriorated; we have seen helicopter shellings in December 2023, and the security forces operation continues. Locals have suffered property and human losses and we have held meetings, but it persists," said Muhammad Amin, a village council member in Kadera, a community of 900 homes in northwestern Pakistan.

The Pakistani military says that army, police, intelligence and other law enforcement agencies are carrying out more than 100 operations daily against terrorism in the country.

Major-General Ahmed Sharif, a spokesperson for Pakistans military, said during a live broadcast news conference Tuesday that security forces have conducted 13,135 small and major intelligence-based operations so far this year against terrorists and their facilitators, "during which 249 terrorists were sent to hell while 396 were arrested."

VOA reached out to Pakistan military media wing Inter Services Public Relations official Brigadier Ghazanfar via WhatsApp seeking further details on the military operations in the region, but he has not responded.

Asif Durrani, Pakistan's special representative for Afghanistan, told a gathering organized by the Institute of Regional Studies on Tuesday that there has been a 60% increase in terrorist attacks in Pakistan since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Haq Nawaz, a Peshawar-based analyst, said Pakistan lacks a clear strategy to combat terrorism.

"Pakistan has adopted both the dialogue and military operations strategy in the past, but terrorism is on the rise in Pakistan and Pakistan's military and political forces should work together to devise a new strategy," he said.

The Center for Research and Securities Studies (CRSS), an Islamabad-based think tank tracking terrorism in Pakistan, has said that terror-related fatalities surged 17% in the first quarter of 2024 compared with the corresponding period in 2023.

The report says 432 people were killed and 370 others were injured in the first three months in 245 attacks and military operations. The provincewise breakdown is not yet available, but CRSS says that 92% of the violence occurred in KP and Baluchistan.

This story originated in VOAs Deewa Service.
Seoul is mulling over sharing advanced military technology with the U.S., the United Kingdom and Australia through what is known as AUKUS Pillar II, a move that would enhance its security capabilities at the risk of angering its powerful neighbor, China.

AUKUS is a trilateral security partnership formed among Australia, the U.K. and U.S. in 2021 to push back against Chinas growing aggression in the Indo-Pacific.

The Pillar II of AUKUS aims to deliver and share advanced military technology among its partners, including hypersonic, artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber technology. Its Pillar I is designed to deliver nuclear-powered attack submarines to Australia.

Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, objected to the arrangement, telling VOAs Korean Service on Monday, "Despite being called a trilateral security partnership, AUKUS is essentially about fueling military confrontation through military collaboration."

"It creates additional nuclear proliferation risks, exacerbates the arms race in the Asia-Pacific and hurts regional peace and stability. China is deeply concerned and firmly opposed to it," Pengyu said. He made the comments without naming South Korea.

Seoul has not been admitted officially to AUKUS but talks about South Korea's inclusion in Pillar II were held between Seoul and Canberra earlier this month.

On May 1, after a meeting with Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles in Melbourne, South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik told reporters that he had discussed with his Australian counterparts the possibility of joining AUKUS Pillar II.

A U.S. Defense Department spokesperson told VOAs Korean Service on May 2 that "AUKUS partners have developed principles and models for additional partner engagement."

The spokesperson added that the U.S. "will undertake consultations in 2024 with prospective partners regarding areas where they can contribute to and benefit from this historic work."

Talks about bringing Japan into Pillar II are even more advanced.

Washington announced during a U.S.-Japan summit on April 10 that the three AUKUS partners are "considering cooperation with Japan on AUKUS Pillar II advanced capability projects."

A day after talks with the South Korean defense minister, Marles met with the Japanese Defense Minister Kihara Minoru and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin in Hawaii where they reaffirmed their consideration for Japans involvement in Pillar II.

A spokesperson for the British Defense Ministry told VOAs Korean Service on May 2 that the U.K. "will continue to seek opportunities to engage allies and close partners as work on AUKUS Pillar 2 progresses, however, no decisions have been made on which countries, beyond Japan, we could collaborate with."

The spokesperson said any decisions on bringing other states into the arrangement would be announced at an appropriate time.

Terence Roehrig, a professor of national security and Korea expert at the U.S. Naval War College, said, "There is a strong possibility that South Korea will join AUKUS Pillar II" as it "has a solid reputation in developing advanced technologies" such as "semiconductors, AI, hypersonic, robotic, and unmanned systems."

Roehrig continued, "No doubt, Beijing will protest Seouls inclusion," but "South Korea has much to gain from joining AUKUS, and if managed carefully, can reduce the risk of any major Chinese response."

Melanie Hart, the China policy coordinator for Undersecretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez at the State Department, said the U.S. will do all it can to help South Korea if it is faced with a Chinese economic retaliation. She made the remark in an interview with South Korean media Yonhap earlier in the month.

David Maxwell, vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy, said Seouls involvement in AUKUS fits into South Koreas goal of becoming a global pivotal state and its alignment with countries supporting a rules-based international order.

He said Beijing would expose "its own weakness and malign activities if it chooses to attack South Korea" economically and that Seoul should not base its decision on how China might respond.

Michael OHanlon, director of research in foreign policy at the Brookings Institution in Washington, agreed that Seoul would be a good fit for AUKUS. But, he said, "South Korea must have its main eye on North Korea" whereas AUKUS is focused on China.

Therefore, he continued, "There are limitations to what could likely be expected in any tightening of the collaboration."

An involvement in AUKUS would entail "significant cost-sharing," said James Przystup, senior fellow at Hudson Institute and Japan chair specializing alliance management in the Indo-Pacific. But both Seoul and Tokyo joining the Pillar II "is an idea whose time has come."
At least four people were reported killed on Thursday during clashes between protesters and Taliban security forces in eastern Afghanistan.

Residents in Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan, held a demonstration after being told by Taliban authorities to vacate their homes for the construction of a customs clearing facility, according to witnesses and officials.

Protesters blocked a busy highway linking Afghanistan to Pakistan and refused to allow the destruction of their properties. Taliban security forces fired gunshots to disperse the crowd and clear the highway to allow trade convoys to resume their journey in both directions, eyewitnesses reported.

An area information and culture department spokesperson confirmed the clashes, saying residents "created chaos in response" to the official order. Arafat Mohajer said that the violence resulted in the death of a Taliban officer and "a number of people who were occupying the [state[ land [illegally]." He did not share further details.

Protesters refuted the official claims, saying they had the deeds and owned the land.

A resident in Jalalabad, the provincial capital, confirmed to VOA by phone that firing by Taliban security forces killed three protesters.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan three years ago and faced no public opposition to their hard-line policies until this month.

Last week, farmers and residents took to the streets in northeastern Badakhshan province to protest the eradication of poppy fields by the Taliban counternarcotics units.

Security forces opened fire to disperse the demonstrators, killing two people.

Hibatullah Akhundzada, the reclusive Taliban supreme leader, has imposed a nationwide ban on poppy cultivation and production, usage, transportation and trade of all illicit drugs in Afghanistan.

Some information for this report came from AFP.
The 12-month grace period for student loan borrowers ended on September 30. The "on-ramp" period helped borrowers who are struggling to make payments avoid the risk of defaulting and hurting their credit score.

"The end of the on-ramp period means the beginning of the potentially harsh consequences for student loan borrowers who are not able to make payments," said Persis Yu, Deputy Executive Director at the Student Borrower Protection Center.

Around 43 million Americans have student loan debt, amounting to $1.5 trillion. Around eight million of those borrowers had enrolled in the SAVE plan, the newest income-driven repayment plan that extended the eligibility for borrowers to have affordable monthly student loan payments. However, this plan is currently on hold due to legal challenges.

With the on-ramp period and a separate program known as Fresh Start ending and the SAVE plan on hold, student loan borrowers who are struggling to afford their monthly payments have fewer options, added Yu. Student loan borrowers who haven't been able to afford their monthly payments must consider their options to avoid going into default.

If you have student loans, here's what you need to know.

What was the on-ramp period?

The Education Department implemented this grace period to ease the borrower's transition to make payments after a three-year payment pause during the COVID-19 pandemic. During this year-long period, borrowers were encouraged to keep making payments since interest continued to accumulate.

"Normally, loans will default if you fall about nine months behind on making payments, but during this on-ramp period, missed payments would not move people towards defaulting and then being subject to forced collections. However, if you missed payments, you still be falling behind ultimately on repaying your loans," said Abby Shaforth, director of National Consumer Law Center's Student Loan Borrower Assistance Project.

Since this grace period has ended, student loan borrowers who don't make payments will go delinquent or, if their loans are not paid for nine months, go into default.

Borrowers who cannot afford to make payments can apply for deferment or forbearance, which pause payments, though interest continues to accrue.

What happens if I don't make my payments?

Borrowers who can't or don't pay risk delinquency and eventually default. That can badly hurt your credit rating and make you ineligible for additional aid and government benefits.

If a borrower missed one month's payment, they will start receiving email notifications, said Shaforth. Once the loan hasn't been paid for three months, loan servicers notify to the credit reporting agencies that the loan is delinquent, affecting your credit history. Once the borrower hasn't paid the loan for nine months, the loan goes into default.

If you're struggling to pay, advisers first encourage you to check if you qualify for an income-driven repayment plan, which determines your payments by looking at your expenses. You can see whether you qualify by visiting the Federal Student Aid website. If you've worked for a government agency or a non-profit organization, you could also be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, which forgives student debt after 10 years.

What happens when a loan goes into default?

When you fall behind on a loan by 270 days  roughly nine months  the loan appears on your credit report as being in default.

Once a loan is in default, it goes into collections. This means the government can garnish wages (without a court order) to go towards paying back the loan, intercept tax refunds, and seize portions of Social Security checks and other benefit payments.

What if I can't pay?

If your budget doesn't allow you to resume payments, it's important to know how to navigate the possibility of default and delinquency on a student loan. Both can hurt your credit rating, which would make you ineligible for additional aid.

If you're in a short-term financial bind, you may qualify for deferment or forbearance  allowing you to temporarily suspend payment.

To determine whether deferment or forbearance are good options for you, you can contact your loan servicer. One thing to note: interest still accrues during deferment or forbearance. Both can also impact potential loan forgiveness options. Depending on the conditions of your deferment or forbearance, it may make sense to continue paying the interest during the payment suspension.

What is an income-driven repayment plan?

The U.S. Education Department offers several plans for repaying federal student loans. Under the standard plan, borrowers are charged a fixed monthly amount that ensures all their debt will be repaid after 10 years. But if borrowers have difficulty paying that amount, they can enroll in one of several plans that offer lower monthly payments based on income and family size. Those are known as income-driven repayment plans.

Income-driven options have been offered for years and generally cap monthly payments at 10% of a borrower's discretionary income. If a borrower's earnings are low enough, their bill is reduced to $0. And after 20 or 25 years, any remaining debt gets erased.

What is the latest with the SAVE program?

In August, the Supreme Court kept on hold the SAVE plan, the income-driven repayment plan that would have lowered payments for millions of borrowers, while lawsuits make their way through lower courts.

Eight million borrowers who had already enrolled in the SAVE plan don't have to pay their monthly student loan bills until the court case is resolved. Debt that already had been forgiven under the plan was unaffected.

The next court hearing about this case will be held on October 15.

What happened with the Fresh Start program?

The Fresh Start program, which gave benefits to borrowers who were delinquent prior to the pandemic payment pause, also closed on September 30. During this limited program, student loan borrowers who were in default prior to the pandemic were given the opportunity to remove their loans from default, allowing them to enroll in income-driven payment plans, or apply for deferment, among other benefits.
The UN General Assembly votes to allow the Security Council to once again take up the question of Palestinian membership. The U.S. is making its final preparations to send aid to Gaza using the newly completed pier in the Mediterranean. A conversation with an aid group about the needs in Gaza and the effect of military actions in Rafah on humanitarian operations. Russia is making military advances in eastern Ukraine as the EU is debating whether or not to seize Moscows assets to fund Ukraine's defense. Plus, election results from Chad.
The U.N. General Assembly voted overwhelmingly Friday in a show of support for Palestinian statehood, and as a cease-fire remains out of reach in the seven-month war between Israel and Hamas militants that has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence; it is not against any state, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour said before the vote in an emotional speech.

But it is against attempts to deprive us of our state.

The General Assembly voted 143 in favor, nine against, with 25 abstentions, for a resolution that determines that the State of Palestine is qualified for U.N. membership under the organizations charter and recommending that the U.N. Security Council reconsider favorably its full membership in the United Nations.

The 15-nation council must recommend a potential members application to the General Assembly for final approval and admission. The United States used its Security Council veto on April 18, to stop the process. It voted no again Friday in the General Assembly.

Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood; we have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully, Deputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood said. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will come only from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties.

Israels envoy voiced loud opposition to the resolution, saying it would give rights to Hamas terrorists.

So here it is, I present to you the future outcome of todays vote: soon-to-be President Yahya Sinwar, tyrant of the state of Hamas, sponsored by the U.N., Ambassador Gilad Erdan said, holding up a placard with a photo of the Hamas leader with the words President Sinwar printed on it. And he owes his deepest gratitude to you  the General Assembly.

The Palestinians are represented at the United Nations by the Palestinian Authority, not Hamas, and the two groups have long been at odds with each other. Israel says it will continue its war in Gaza until Hamas is eliminated.

Practical effects

General Assembly resolutions are not legally binding, but they do carry the moral weight of the international community. The support of 143 countries sends a clear signal of how the international community feels about the issue of Palestinian statehood.

I think the vote shows that most U.N. members not only want a cease-fire in Gaza, but actually want a more fundamental long-term solution to the Palestinian question based on a two-state solution, Richard Gowan, U.N. director for the International Crisis Group told VOA.

U.S. envoy Wood indicated that if the matter returns to the Security Council, Washingtons position would remain unchanged  that statehood must come through direct Israeli-Palestinian negotiations.

The Palestinians currently have nonmember observer state status, which means they cannot vote, but they can participate in meetings and can join U.N. bodies like the World Health Organization and the International Criminal Court.

Wood emphasized that Fridays resolution would not enhance their rights.

As a result of this vote, the Palestinian nonmember state observer mission has not gained the right to vote in the General Assembly, Wood said. It also has not gained the right to put forward candidates in U.N. organs or to be elected as a member of the Security Council. In short, the Palestinians nonmember state observer mission does not have the same standing as a member state after this vote.

That could also be a message to the U.S. Congress, which under legislation from the 1990s has the power to cut funding to the United Nations should it unilaterally admit the Palestinians.

On Thursday, 25 Republican senators, led by Senator Mitt Romney of Utah, introduced legislation to update the existing law. Calling it the No Official Palestine Entry Act of 2024, or NOPE, it would limit funds to the United Nations and other organizations that provide any status, rights, or privileges beyond observer status to the Palestinians.

Analyst Gowan said the final text was carefully written not to trigger a U.S. funding freeze.

I think U.S. diplomats and their allies had made it very clear to the Palestinians that they could unintentionally blow up the U.N., and they should have avoided this, Gowan said. But if Congress now changes the rules, in line with Romney's proposal yesterday, there could still be a blowback for the U.N. budget.
The White House said Russian forces may be preparing to mount a large-scale counteroffensive against the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv after making incremental incursions in the area and opening a new war front near Ukraines second-largest city.

"You're not going to do that if you're not also thinking about some other larger assault directly on the city," National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said Friday during a press briefing.

The U.S announced a fresh $400 million military aid package of weapons and equipment for Ukraine Friday as its forces try to repel an intensified Russian armored ground offensive near Kharkiv, Kirby said.

The State Department said in a statement that the emergency military package contains urgently needed materiel such as air defense munitions for Patriot and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems; Stinger anti-aircraft missiles; equipment to integrate Western launchers, missiles and radars with Ukraines systems; additional High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and ammunition; 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds; TOW and Javelin missiles; AT-4 anti-armor systems; precision aerial munitions; high-speed, anti-radiation missiles; Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles; M113 Armored Personnel Carriers; mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles; coastal and river patrol boats; small arms ammunition; grenades; demolitions munitions; and spare parts.

The Presidential Drawdown Authority allows the president to transfer munitions and services from the Pentagons U.S. stockpile without congressional approval.

This is the third tranche of emergency military aid for Ukraine since the U.S. Congress passed an aid bill allocating $60.8 billion for Ukraine.

Fierce fighting in eastern Ukraine

Fighting is raging near Kharkiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

We are adding more forces to Kharkiv directions, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday in his nightly video address. Both along our state border and along the entire front line, we will invariably destroy the occupier in a way that will disrupt any Russian offensive intentions. We are providing everything required to protect our positions.

Zelenskyy warned earlier Friday that Russia could be preparing a large-scale counteroffensive within the next few months. He told reporters that Kyiv's forces were prepared to meet Friday's Russian assault, but that Moscow could send more troops to the area to overwhelm Ukraines overstretched and outnumbered troops.

Russian troops supported by armored units have pushed into Ukraine in that region by 1 kilometer, trying to "create a buffer zone" that would prevent Ukrainian attacks into Russias border regions, according to a high-ranking Ukrainian military source who did not want to be named because of the sensitivity of the subject.

At least two civilians were killed and five more were injured during the heavy Russian shelling of the border settlements, said Oleh Syniehubov, governor of Kharkiv region.

Russia is pummeling the frontier town of Vovchansk with guided aerial bombs and artillery. Local authorities are helping with civilian evacuations, Tamaz Gambarashvili, head of the Vovchansk military administration, told Hromadske radio.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

More than two years after its invasion, Russia has the upper hand in the battlefield, piercing into Ukrainian territory and opening a new front as Ukraine faces shortages of manpower, artillery shells and air defenses.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in March he was considering creating a "sanitary zone" in Ukrainian territory adjoining Belgorod, a Russian region often hit by Ukrainian shelling.

Ukraines attacks on Russian forces

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military struck an oil storage depot in Ukraine's Russian-occupied Luhansk region that sparked a fire, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

Ukrainian bloggers and Telegram channels also said the depot in the town of Rovenky was hit, and they posted pictures of a large blaze.

Earlier Friday, another Ukrainian attack targeted an oil refinery near the Russian city of Kaluga, southwest of Moscow. The strike, by a Ukrainian long-range drone, set four oil storage tanks on fire, according to Vladislav Shapsha, the regional governor. He said there were no casualties.

Ukraine has repeatedly targeted Russian refineries, hoping to cripple the countrys military abilities and hit Russia in its pocketbook: Russia is one of the worlds biggest oil producers, providing key revenue and fuel.

The Russian Defense Ministry said it downed seven Ukrainian drones early Friday in the Moscow, Bryansk and Belgorod regions.

Some information for this report was provided by Reuters, The Associated Press and Agence France-Presse.
WINDHOEK, NAMIBIA  The World Health Organization (WHO) says Africa has a shortage of health care workers. The issue was addressed in Namibia this week at a forum in Windhoek.

Speaking at the first WHO Africa Health Workforce Forum held in the capital, Namibias minister of health and social services, Kalumbi Shangula, warned that Africas shortage of health workers will impede the continent from achieving universal health coverage by 2030.

In order to reach universal health coverage by 2030 as envisaged in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals report, Africa needs to invest in training programs, offer incentives for health practitioners to remain in their home countries, and create initiatives to attract health professionals in the diaspora back to the continent.

Shangula spoke at the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter event this week.

The number of Africans who have left the continent in search of greener pastures in other parts of the world are staggering," Shangula said. "It is a matter that needs to be addressed as a top priority for African governments and indeed all those who wish to see a shift in the historical as well as current trends.

Africa has a ratio of 1.55 health workers per 1,000 people. That is below the recommended WHO threshold of 4.55 health workers per 1,000 people.

Africas Center for Disease Control Director-General Jean Kesaya says achieving universal health coverage by 2030 will require an additional 1.8 million health workers on the continent.

He says the critical shortage is projected to reach about 6.1 million by 2030 and is made worse by recurrent public health emergencies faced by countries on a daily basis.

In 2023 alone, Africa recorded 166 disease outbreaks and the trend I see in 2024 is not good," Kesaya said. "AU member states are far from realizing the 2017 AU Assembly decisions that called for rapid recruitment, training and deployment of 2 million institutionalized community health workers by 2030.

Global Health Director for the Africa Diaspora Development Institute (ADDI) Lee Whitaker says the institution has opened doors for diasporan healthcare workers to return to Africa and reverse the brain drain. He says the organization has access to over forty-five-thousand black African physicians in America and only needs an invitation from the heart of any African state to come abroad.

Dr. Arikana Chihombori is the president of the ADDI, an organization that is mobilizing the African diaspora to return and invest in the continent.

Let the diaspora come in and invest in for-profit-clinics in Africa as well as for volunteer work in Africa," Chihombori said. "It has to be balanced! Because if they are going to leave their work where they are in Europe, in America, they can be here a little bit longer if they are going to make money and also donate some of their time. So a program that allows them to make money while they are stopping Africans from going to India and at the same time also giving to those who are less fortunate is actually a program that can be sustained but to completely hundred percent volunteer is not going to work, its not sustainable.

The forum, which was attended by health dignitaries from all over the world, concluded Wednesday with the launch of the Africa Health Workforce Investment Charter that aims to mobilize and sustain development, performance and retention of the health workforce in African Union countries.
Israeli officials objected Thursday to U.S. President Joe Bidens decision to pause a shipment of some weapons to Israel amid concern over Israels plan to expand a military operation in Rafah that the United States does not support.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan called the move a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war.

Far-right Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir posted on X, formerly known as Twittter, Hamas loves Biden.

Biden told CNN in an interview aired Wednesday night that the U.S. would continue to supply Israel with defensive arms, such as Iron Dome munitions.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem, he said.

Bidens decision followed discussions with Israel on how it will operate differently against Hamas there than they have elsewhere in Gaza, a senior administration official said in a statement sent to VOA. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive matter.

A ground assault on Rafah, in the southern part of Gaza, would endanger the lives of 1.3 million civilians who evacuated from the north and central parts of the territory to seek safety from Israels military response to Hamas October 7 attack on Israel.

Administration officials have repeatedly said the U.S. will not support a Rafah invasion unless Israel provides a credible plan on how it would protect civilians. In an April 4 phone call, Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu he would withhold military aid unless Israel changes its war conduct.

Deliberations on withholding arms began in April as Israel seemed closer to a decision on Rafah, the official said. Since then, the Israelis have not fully addressed our concerns, and the decision to pause the arms transfer was executed last week.

The shipment was supposed to consist of 1,800 907-kilogram (2,000 pound) bombs and 1,700 226-kilogram (500 pound) bombs. The administration said it is mainly concerned with the end-use of the 2,000-lb. bombs and the impact they could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.

The official said other equipment under review includes Joint Direct Attack Munition kits that convert so-called dumb bombs into precision-guided munitions.

The paused shipments are drawn from previously appropriated funds, not from the supplemental appropriations that Congress passed in April.

We are committed to ensuring Israel gets every dollar appropriated in the supplemental, the official said, highlighting the recent approval of $827 million worth of weapons and equipment, the latest tranche of foreign military financing.

The pause marks the first time the U.S. leveraged a weapons transfer to influence Israels war conduct since Hamas October 7 terror attack.

Former President Donald Trump accused Biden in a social media post early Thursday of "taking the side of Hamas.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives from Bidens Democratic Party praised the move, including Representative Ayanna Pressley, who said the United States has a clear obligation to stop the massacre of innocent civilians.

Democratic Representative Seth Moulton said he was even more skeptical of Israels plan for Rafah after meeting with the Israeli ambassador.

I've always said that Israel must defeat Hamas. The question is whether invading Rafah ultimately helps or hurts that cause, Moulton said. I support President Bidens decision.

Lawmakers push back

In a Senate hearing Wednesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told lawmakers that the administration had not made a final determination on how to proceed with the shipment, in the context of the unfolding events in Rafah.

The announcement was welcomed by progressive Democrats but criticized by Republican lawmakers.

Democratic Senator Peter Welch praised the Biden administration for pausing deliveries of bombs that have devastated Gaza.

But Senate Republicans called Bidens decision a serious deportation from normal procedures.

The non-partisan weapons sales process has kept the domestic political squabbles out of this for a long, long time. It's been in place for about a half a century and it has worked really, really well. The administration has stepped outside those boundaries, Senator Jim Risch, the top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, told reporters Thursday.

The administration allowed these weapons sales. Myself and the other three members of Congress closely looked at these sales and take that obligation seriously, all signed off on it. And now in the heat of battle this administration is saying we're going to pull this back. This is unprecedented.

McConnell and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson sent Biden a letter demanding answers from the Biden administration on why the administration had delayed the arms delivery.

Reports of the pause in the weapons shipment first surfaced Tuesday on the same day that President Biden reiterated his support for Israel.

My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree, he said in an impassioned speech Tuesday to honor the memory of the six million Jews killed during the Holocaust and other victims of Nazi persecution.

Israel is the largest recipient of U.S. aid, nearly $4 billion a year, most of it in the form of military assistance.

The American taxpayer has subsidized Israel's manufactured humanitarian crisis in Gaza, said Ari Tolany, director of security assistance, arms trade and technology at the Center for International Policy. If the administration will continue to arm and train Israel no matter what, Israel has no incentive to change its behavior, she told VOA.

The decision follows a whirlwind of events in the past few days regarding the possibility of a cease-fire in Gaza.

A deal to end hostilities paired with the release of hostages held by Hamas for Palestinians detained in Israeli jails appeared within reach Monday when Hamas said it has accepted the terms for truce. Netanyahu rejected that version of the deal and ordered Israeli forces to carry out a limited operation in eastern Rafah.

Report to Congress

At the same time, the administration missed a Wednesday deadline to submit a report to Congress on whether Israel is violating humanitarian law while using U.S.-supplied weapons in Israels war against Hamas.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said during Tuesdays briefing that the National Security Memorandum "will not be transmitted today. We continue to work to finalize the report. We expect to deliver it in the very near future.

Under the National Security Memorandum 20 (NSM20), issued in February, Biden directed the departments of State and Defense to report to Congress within 90 days on whether U.S. partners that were provided with American weapons have complied with international and U.S. laws.

That includes the Leahy Laws, two legislative provisions named for Senator Patrick Leahy, that mandate the U.S. cut off assistance to any foreign military or law enforcement units if it determines there is credible evidence of human rights violations.

Israel provided its assurances of NSM20 compliance in March, and the State Department was due to report to Congress on Wednesday whether it finds Israel's assurances credible.

The delay could be due to a substantive disagreement being resolved or just regular bureaucracy, rather than an effort to created added pressure on Israel, said Josh Paul, former director of the State Department agency that deals with weapons transfers.

But we will see what the report says, Paul told VOA. If it becomes an extended delay, that could be indicative of a rewrite.

Human rights groups and independent observers have for weeks called for a suspension of American weapons transfers to Israel, alleging they have been used in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.

In April, Paul, alongside other former administration officials and academicians, submitted a report detailing what it said were unlawful Israeli attacks on civilians using American weapons.

Amnesty International submitted a similar report ahead of the NSM20 deadline.

VOA congressional correspondent Katherine Gypson and Pentagon correspondent Carla Babb and State Department bureau chief Nike Ching contributed to this report.
Columbus Mavhunga

HARARE, ZIMBABWE Zimbabwe's prosecutor general  the former head of the countrys anti-corruption commission  says corruption is costing the country nearly $2 billion annually, devastating the economy and ordinary citizens. It is the first time a senior Zimbabwean official has made such an accusation publicly.

Revelations this week by Loice Matanda-Moyo that billions of dollars are leaving Zimbabwe through illicit deals have contradicted the narrative of other government officials. They have often blamed economic challenges on targeted sanctions over election-rigging and human rights abuses.

At a training workshop for government officials in Harare Tuesday, Matanda-Moyo called for immediate action. She said corruption remains one of the barricades to resuscitating Zimbabwes economy and estimated the country is losing $1.8 billion a year due to corruption.

That is a huge sum of money, and you can imagine what $1.8 billion could do, Matanda-Moyo said. Such illicit financial flows are unacceptable and bleed the economy of revenue meant to promote sustainable economic development and the betterment of all Zimbabweans. It is time that we eradicate corruption in Zimbabwe and recover stolen assets.

No one from the government has responded to her accusations.

Economist Gift Mugano said Zimbabwes annual revenue losses to corruption are too much, adding that even the World Bank has never allocated that much to Zimbabwe within a one-year period. Mugano said $1.8 billion is a low estimate.

Remember $1.8 billion is just illicit financial flows leaving the country, Mugano said.

We also have a larger chunk of internal corruption which averages around $1 billion every year  which is reported by the auditor general every year. If you then add those two numbers, you are then moving close to $3 billion, which is currently half of our budget which we are wasting.

VOA reached out to Zimbabwes Anti-Corruption Commission with questions, but has received no response.

John Maketo is program director at the Zimbabwe Coalition on Debt and Development, a non-profit organization that fights for socio-economic justice. He said a moribund economy, inadequate regulatory oversight and legislative loopholes create a breeding ground for corruption.

The fact that we have a whole anti-corruption commission is not enough, he said. The commission must be supported with strong and sound systems in terms of prosecution of corruption cases.

We also need to have other support systems, starting with political will at the highest level to the lowest level of political governance, even the judiciary system, being tough on passing deterrent sentences on people that are charged with corruption.

Maketo said it is frustrating to see criminal cases launched by the anti-corruption commission going nowhere.

Citizens, he said, can only imagine how much their communities could benefit from stanching those losses.

There is a whole system that needs to be propped up to reduce leakages, he said. You want to picture how much $1.8 billion can do, in terms of improving education service delivery, improving remuneration to teachers  how many rural teacher houses can be built, how many rural district clinics can be built using $1.8 billion?

Since coming to power in 2018, President Emmerson Mnangagwa has promised to deal with corruption. Mnangagwa, however, has faced criticism for the governments alleged system of arresting but then acquitting suspects with connections to the president. Some citizens say the system is known as catch and release.

Paul Westwood was born in Zambia but made his home in Zimbabwe for a number of years before leaving the country. He has criticized the Zimbabwean governments approach to corruption.

The issue I have with corruption is [its] not taken seriously, he said. It's so deep rooted. It's so hard to end the corruption because everybody's benefiting. The issue I have about corruption is nothing's going to get done internally until when?

Westwood said the current administration, as well as the previous government of the late President Robert Mugabe, ignored a businessman whom Westwood accused of corruptly taking over property Westwood owned. Westwood, who said he has British citizenship, left the country for the United Kingdom after that.
Photo-Illustration: Vulture; Photos: Nicholas Hunt/Getty Images, John Salangsang/Variety via Getty Images, Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images

Its the comedians job to make fun of the world and its inherent problems, as well as their own issues. Because so many comedians pinpoint the source of their own neuroses onstage to find favor with an audience that can relate, its only natural that many make fun of their own mothers  not just telling jokes about the women who gave them life, but imitating them. Whether the comedian is observational or self-deprecating, filthy or family-friendly, impersonating their mother is often a recurring bit used to exorcise some complicated feelings. It makes the act feel more visceral, realistic, and relatable since lots of people have mothers who frustrate us, messed us up, and/or love us very much. Yes, we should all call them more often, but first, watch these greatest hits of comedians who memorably, effectively, and lovingly savaged their mothers.

Maria Bamford

Bamford is a gifted mimic, but standing above her nuanced and withering impressions of associates and strangers is her fully immersive portrayal of her mother. This 1999 appearance on Late Night With Conan OBrien instantly conveys how her mother could be intimidating, fear-inducing, and wildly inappropriate as Bamford recalls learning about the horrific dangers of a childhood slumber party.

Louie Anderson

Anderson admitted that his Baskets character, the emotionally complex Christine Baskets, was based largely on his own defiantly optimistic mother. That role was born out of Andersons frequent imitations of his mother in his stand-up act, shown off in this compilation of talk-show appearances from the 80s and 90s.

Margaret Cho

By adopting her Korean mothers perspective in her 2002 special Notorious C.H.O., Cho could describe in terrific detail the San Francisco of the 80s and 90s and its thriving LGBTQ community. Cho doesnt so much imitate her mother as she does channel her, presenting her as an inquisitive but brash observer who has a lot of questions about a culture she wanted to understand better.

Lil Rel Howery

In a 2010 set on 1st Amendment Stand Up, Howery discussed two of his mothers most defining characteristics: her constant smoking and a chillingly raspy timbre, or, as the comic calls it, a mama with a daddy voice. Howery takes his voice down a few octaves to pretend to be his mother when shes on her last nerve thanks to her selfish children.

Alyssa Limperis

Limperis built a following from her many internet videos where she plays her mother, like in the above clip from 2018. To get into character, she simply puts on a bad wig, turns up the Rhode Island accent, and then unleashes a stream-of-consciousness-style list of complaints and quickly passes judgments about whatever she sees.

Fortune Feimster

In this joke from Feimsters 2020 special Sweet & Salty, the comedian presents her mother as a classy, respectable southern woman who would never, ever step foot in Hooters, a sexually charged den of iniquity and excellent chicken wings. How dare you even suggest shes been there hundreds of times!

Mike Myers

Myers isnt a stand-up, but what are talk-show anecdotes but sit-down comedy? In this 2014 appearance on The Tonight Show, he discusses an accomplishment very important to him that left his buttoned-up, withholding, crisply British-accented mother aggressively unimpressed.

Yvonne Orji

Its tough to justify, or even describe, artistic passions to a traditional parent. Orji wants her mother to not only understand her passion for comedy but to appreciate it, too. During a 2022 appearance on The Late Late Show With James Corden, Orji endearingly imitated her mothers ridiculously overdone attempt to celebrate her daughters success, even when she clearly didnt grasp the gravity of being picked to tour with Chris Rock.

Jay Leno

Leno cant not do stand-up, even when hes talking about his deceased mother as a guest on The Meredith Vieira Show in 2015. His mom, so conservative and obsessively worried about what other people might think or say, felt shame and guilt over the car he bought her and made sure his ego didnt get inflated when he took over The Tonight Show.

Jimmy O. Yang

Some moms love to brag about finding bargains almost as much as the bargains themselves. Yangs mother is that way, and he named his whole 2023 special Guess How Much? after what he calls his mothers catchphrase and favorite game, which he thoroughly demonstrates.

Rachel Feinstein

Feinsteins mother, a frequently recurring character in the act and focus of this 2018 Conan set, defies and embodies mom stereotypes. There doesnt seem to be much embellishment on Feinsteins part, just amused observation as she relates short vignettes about her aggressively woke mother befriending immigrant cab drivers and wishing for LGBTQ children, all in an obnoxious bray and from beneath a well-described Karen haircut.

Laura Kightlinger

Kightlinger didnt alter her voice when portraying her mother, but she changed her whole being and vibe to suck the air out the room and slightly exhaust the audience. Its precisely how the comic must have felt when dealing with her mothers continuous litany of complaints and observations about mundane topics and minor inconveniences, demonstrated in this 2000 Later performance.

Gina Yashere

As Yashere tells it in 2018s Live at the Apollo, her mother, a Nigerian immigrant to the U.K., was as dispassionate and inscrutable as she was ambitious and hopeful that her children would pick noble careers. Yashere relates the story of instantly riling up her mother when she had to tell her she quit her engineering job to be a comic.

Jo Koy

Does it seem like older moms are always sad? They do have a lot to be sad about. But as Koy points out in one of his many imitations of his mother, it can take over as a primary personality trait and become so unrelenting that it overwhelms even the unequivocally happy moments.

Gary Gulman

According to this bit from his 2019 album Gary Gulman Live!, Gulman lived at home until he was 26, and as much as two years later, his mother was still calling him every other day in a panic to ensure that he was eating  because otherwise, hed somehow forget.
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Photo: Walt Disney Studios/Everett Collection

Its hard to believe theyre not real. The digital fur and hardened skin on the characters of the latest installment in the Planet of the Apes saga are so vividly rendered that at certain moments, we forget were watching computer-generated visual effects and lose ourselves in texture. We can feel the warmth of the apes when they hug, the chill when they get wet, the sting when they bleed. This is a 56-year-old movie franchise, but the most recent cycle of Apes films, which kicked off in 2011 with Rupert Wyatts Rise of the Planet of the Apes and continued with Matt Reevess two sequels, have all turned on this: We need to fully invest ourselves in these simian characters existence and their  for lack of a better word  humanity, because in these movies, its often the people who are the strange, rough monsters looming in the shadows.

At least until now. If Wes Balls Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes doesnt have the grim urgency of its predecessors, that might be because the humans have been pretty much fully vanquished by now. The film takes place 300 years after Reevess War for the Planet of the Apes (2017), which ended with the death of Caesar (played in those films by the great Andy Serkis, utilizing motion-capture technology), the heroic and wise messianic figure who led the apes to a kind of promised land and away from the dying, vengeful humans. Now, apes hold dominion over the world, while whats left of the humans are lone scavengers, rarely seen and weak; even our herds (we had herds) are but a distant memory, like the mighty buffalo. Instead, the apes fight themselves, and the ones that know to reference Caesar do it in the way people like to invoke ancient prophets, using the names to justify their own actions. For Caesar! an ape warrior declares before landing a death blow on another, thus violating Caesars cardinal rule: Ape must not kill ape. The apes, it turns out, arent much better at holding onto their principles than humans were.

The specific victims of these particular warriors are the apes of the peace-loving Eagle Clan, a close-knit tribe that raises birds of prey to do their bidding. When we first meet our protagonist, young Noa (played by Owen Teague), he and his two closest friends are stealing eggs from an eagles nest. They will then ceremonially bond with those eggs and train the baby birds once they hatch. (They always leave one egg behind in the nest. Theyre not jerks, after all.) But then Noa finds a strange blanket outside an abandoned tunnel and brings it back home. The small army of apes that then invades and burns down his village, we soon learn, is after the owner of that blanket, who turns out to be a young scavenging human named Mae (Freya Allan). Soon, Mae and Noa are off on a journey of their own, each hoping to locate their respective community.

Ball previously directed the Maze Runner films  an underrated YA action franchise  and here he plays to the strengths he demonstrated in those movies. This is a world of tribal ritual, terse but youthful camaraderie, and majestic vistas. The apes live in lush, overgrown villages that used to be cities; they scramble up stunning cliffs that once were skyscrapers, the sun setting against high green hills rising from blasted cityscapes. Reevess films also had striking settings, but a pall of regret hung over everything, because that was the tragic, lonely end of a world  ours  while this feels like the full flower of a new one.

It all looks great, and there are interesting ideas knocking about in here, but much of the film is also a bit of a slog, because neither Noa nor Mae come across as particularly exciting, complicated characters. Hes painfully naive, and she doesnt say much at all. All this changes in the final act, however, which finds them in the clutches of a brutal, slave-driving bonobo monarch named Proximus (Kevin Durand), who has tacked on a Caesar to his name, an evocation of imperial hubris that revisits the ongoing idea of power seducing just about anybody, ape or man.

As the raging and curious Proximus Caesar, Durand completely takes over the movie. Theres pathos in his deluded desire to learn about history and the ways of humans, and genuine danger in the fact that he intends to use whatever he learns to accrue more power. These later scenes also add some interesting folds to Maes character  so much so that we might find ourselves wondering why this 145-minute film waited so long to spring such a fascinating and exciting final act on us. These last 40 or so minutes dont just make the movie, they are the movie.

Still, these are pictures that matter in ways that modern movie franchises have largely forgotten. When other blockbusters gesture at intriguing social critiques, they often feel like theyre grabbing for topical sociocultural brownie points. But here, its an imperative. The Planet of the Apes movies were built on rage and shame about the world as it exists. And whatever its many flaws, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes gets that largely right.
I had never seen someone write words for a character that felt like they could also have come from my brain. Photo: Netflix

This interview was published on May 10, 2024. Baby Reindeer has since received 11 nominations for the 2024 Emmy Awards, including an Outstanding Supporting Actress nod for Nava Mua. Read all of Vultures Emmy-race coverage here.

While the escalating tension between Donny (Richard Gadd) and his stalker Martha (Jessica Gunning) serves as the engine for Netflixs surprise hit series Baby Reindeer, its Nava Maus Teri, a trans therapist with whom Donny falls in love, who holds the key to the shows themes of empathy and compassion. Donnys life may be unraveling, but it is his attraction to Teri  and the knotted feelings about his sexuality hes forced to reckon with as a result  that serves as a kind of salve in his darkest hours. Mau herself views Teri as a pillar amidst the maelstrom Martha unleashes with her endless emails and not-so-empty threats. Like much of the rest of the show, Teri is loosely based on a real-life person who left an imprint on Gadd, but Maus tender performance elevates her to a wholly original character. As she describes it, I had never seen someone write words for a character that felt like they could also have come from my life and my brain.

The shows become a huge word-of-mouth hit since it premiered in April. How has the experience been on your end?

It has been overwhelming. The sheer amount of people who have watched the show and reached out and are talking about it in their own language with their own people is beyond anything I could have imagined. Yesterday I was having dinner with a friend, and they started telling me about how the show made them reckon with sexual abuse they experienced in childhood and how its affected them on a cellular level. Theyd never shared that with anybody before. People are seeing what it looks like for somebody like Richard to break the silence about his own experience as a survivor and how it affects everyone else in the story. Its given people permission to break the silence about their own experiences.

The show definitely encourages discussion and a raw kind of openness. What was that like on the page, on first read-through?

It was like I got to read Richards diary. He is so searingly honest in what he says about himself and what hes experienced with other people. I also felt overwhelmed by how alive and how compelling Teri was  and a little unnerved, to be honest. I had never seen someone write words for a character that felt like they could also have come from my life and my brain. It was a little uncanny.

How much of Teri was crafted whole cloth, and how much does she owe to a real person out there in the world?

Weve really tried to maintain the privacy of the people that inspired the show. Richard and I talked at length over many months about the person who inspired Teri and their relationship. His eyes would light up. It was like he was remembering a warmth that had left him. It was clear their connection was electric and genuine.

What did you find yourself bringing to Teri?

At a certain point, we all accepted that Teri was becoming her own character, independent of the person who inspired her. I always try to find the physicality of a character early, sometimes even before accent. How does this character stand, walk, sit, lay, speak, dance? Where I landed, almost subconsciously, was that Teri is like a pillar. That was not exactly what we all thought the character was going to be. She was written with a lot of that electricity  what I call the Teri fire  and I had to find the balance of her core, which actually is very stable and still. Theres so much going on around her. There is pure chaos in Donnys life. That chaos comes at Teri, too, but it makes her kind of unshakable.

There is a moment when Teri is shaken, when Martha comes at her, pointing out Teris immigrant status and telling her she looks like a man. Talk to me about shooting that scene, when both of those identities are laid bare and weaponized against Teri.

The attack from Martha was so painful and harrowing, and it was so much more because of the xenophobic rhetoric Martha was using. I allowed myself to emotionally lose myself in the moment. I genuinely felt that kind of hate coming at me. I was surprised it affected me so much. I guess I have this idea that Im, like, above it all, you know? Racism cant touch me. Transphobia cant touch me. But at that moment, you realize it doesnt matter how strong you are. That violence is hurtful. It was the hardest thing I had to do for this role.

This is a story about shame  how it can shape and warp us  and it excavates all sorts of trauma in and around the LGBTQ community. What does it feel like to be part of something that, as you mentioned earlier, seems to be resonating with so many and for so many different reasons?

It makes me emotional to think about filming this project. I deeply value the stories of survivors. I deeply value queer people coming together in creative collaboration. Thats what this was for me. I related to Richard. I didnt see Richard as some stranger peering into my world trying to figure it out. It felt like we belong to the same world. That is not typical. In a lot of the scripts I read, characters that are written as trans feel as if were so alien, when in reality, we have full lives with friends and careers  and love and pain and joy. I could tell Richard understood that deeply.

That speaks to the notion of Baby Reindeer being about empathy in all its messiness. Because feeling for another can sometimes make you quite vulnerable.

Its also a show about belonging. Donny so desperately wants to belong. Teri wants to belong. Shame prevents you from being truly seen. In order to belong, you have to be truly seen. Its a cautionary tale about what gets in the way of belonging. But at the heart of it I see a need we all share  and Martha shares as well.

Have you seen the show all the way through? How was that experience different from, say, reading the script or shooting your own scenes?

I actually watched parts of it several times because I had to do ADR, and then I did the Spanish dub. Recently I finally watched all the way through the last couple episodes. I was sobbing even more than I did when I read the script, because now I know Richard; Im watching a story about somebody I now know. It was painful to have to see Richard relive these really harrowing and violent experiences. The part I actually sobbed at was the comedy-show breakdown. I could feel all the years of emotion coming out at that moment.

Doing the Spanish dub must have been quite an odd experience. Its like bringing a character to life in a whole new, different way.

Yes, because language is culture. We have different personalities in different cultures. It was a challenge to dive back into the story from this new perspective  a year later, too! I was in a booth in a studio on Zoom with everybody. It was so different than when we filmed, and I was with Richard and our directors, Weronika Tofilska and Josephine Bornebusch, and the intimacy coordinator. I really got to live in the story when we were filming, and it was very different to dub that. It was sort of like painting something from memory. I also feel like it gave me this sense of closure. When we finally got to the end, I really felt like, Now I can let her go. Now the story does not belong to me anymore.
Ready for campaign tour. Photo: Amazon Studios

The United States and the United Kingdom are on a mission to end homophobia together, and by that we mean theres another Red, White & Royal Blue movie in the works. The sequel will again star man-statue Taylor Zakhar Perez as Alex and recently outed (as straight) actor Nicholas Galitzine as Prince Henry. Galitzine recently noted to GQ that he feels perhaps guilt for performing queer roles. Anyway, Matthew Lopez, the writer-director of the first film, is again attached to write the script, this time with Casey McQuiston, who wrote the book RWRB is based on. The film is being produced by Amazon MGM Studios. There are no official plot details released about the film yet. If they want to opt for a more accurate depiction of gay men after the honeymoon period of their relationship, we have some ideas:

- Alex and Prince Henry start a throuple with the prince of Spain

- Alex and Prince Henry adopt a monstera plant

- Prince Henry gets mad after Alex wont go to the Eras Tour with him because Alex wants to go to a showing of Jawbreaker mediated by Parker Posey in Brooklyn that night

- Prince Henry watches an episode of Drag Race without waiting for Alex, and it blows up into a fight about something else entirely

- Alex is a little too into his Barrys instructor and its not fully inappropriate, but it does make Prince Henry a little uncomfortable

- Alex and Prince Henry discuss whether preventative Botox is a scam, ultimately both get it

- Big is moving to Paris
At 20 Exchange Place, Conwell Coffee Hall will (somehow) be part of Life and Trust. Photo: Christopher Bonanos

A plaque greets you at the entrance of Conwell Coffee Hall, the striking and mysterious cafe now open in New Yorks Financial District. The text pays tribute to a powerful 1920s magnate, J.G. Conwell, former chairman of the Life and Trust Bank and the builder and former occupant of this craggy limestone skyscraper at 20 Exchange Place. The Skyscraper, it explains, is also the name Conwell gave to a coffee blend he perfected shortly before he died unexpectedly and suddenly under tragic circumstances. Conwell Coffee celebrates his work and life.

Except J.G. Conwell never existed. Nor did the bank called Life and Trust. Conwell Coffee Hall is an impressively elaborate bit of promotion for Life and Trust, presented by the theatrical production company Emursive as a follow-up to its hugely successful immersive show Sleep No More.

I say Conwell is impressive because its both a promotional gimmick and a fully operational coffeehouse (the cold brew is excellent) that switches to cocktails toward the end of the day. The room is high-drama Art Deco, a preserved former banking hall with lofty ceilings and a snazzy bar built inside the tellers cage. (The building itself, landmarked and hugely impressive, was once the headquarters of City BankFarmers Trust, a predecessor institution to Citigroup.) Behind the baristas is a towering Art Deco mural depicting some vaguely apocalyptic urban scenes.

One could certainly wander into Conwell for a coffee, sit and work on a laptop for a few hours, and never notice anything unusual. That has been happening for a few weeks, and I watched many tourists and finely suited bankers do just that on Thursday, most of them pausing to marvel at the space and snap a picture before heading off, coffee in hand. But its also a room full of hints at the spaces true purpose. The in-house espresso bean is known, after all, as the Sleep No More. This past Wednesday, after months of speculation and low-key online chatter, the cafe was descended upon by hundreds of theater obsessives. Many had been watching Conwells social-media accounts closely, waiting for the next reveal. Alec Zbornak, an immersive-theater-maker himself, was just one fan who noticed that Conwells Instagram page followed only one account: @lifeandtrust, which provided only a link for text alerts and no other information. Zbornak signed up, and on Tuesday afternoon, the text came through.

Tomorrow, we will satisfy your longing. Presale tickets will be available for a lucky few through our Trusted Teller at Conwell Coffee Hall from 10am 8pm. Seize your future.

Zbornak got there at 9:50 on Wednesday morning to find the line already out the door. By the time tickets went on sale, it was snaking around the corner. Everybody seemed to be a die-hard immersive-theater fan, all gossiping about what they heard about the show, he said. It was a really exciting energy.

Emursives Sleep No More has amassed a huge following in its long run at the McKittrick Hotel in Chelsea. Enthusiasts are known to return multiple times to pursue a different character and discover new corners of the vast warehouse space. Even after a two-year pandemic hiatus and a BuzzFeed report of multiple allegations from performers and staff of sexual assault by audience members, it has surpassed 5,000 performances. Its closure, first announced for this past January, has been repeatedly postponed; tickets are currently on sale through June 16, but further extensions look likely. (A representative for Emursive declined to comment.)

Sleep No More was created by the English company Punchdrunk, which was not involved in the creation of Life and Trust. A creative team has yet to be revealed for the newer show, though the performer Aaron Dalla Villa lists a workshop version in his bio, saying it was choreographed by the Kuperman Brothers (recently Tony-nominated for their work on The Outsiders) and directed by Teddy Bergman (KPOP). The Kupermans official website also lists an upcoming Untitled Immersive Project produced by Emursive.

As for the shows source material, after buying his ticket on Wednesday, Zbornak was handed a slip signed with a quotation: Let me dare to throw those gates open  The line is from Goethes Faust, the story of a discontented intellectual who sells his soul to the Devil in exchange for unlimited pleasure.

At Conwell on Thursday morning, there was little indication of the previous days frenzy. The cafe was stiflingly hot, suggesting a journey through the depths of hell was being readied somewhere in the building. (Or maybe the AC was just broken.) I thought I could hear some recorded wailing under the jazz playing over the speakers  but it turned out to be the squeaky old revolving door. Finally, I asked my server about the Trusted Teller. She leaned in surreptitiously to confide that the teller would be returning at some point today. Or thats what Ive been told, she smiled.

Looking around, I saw no indication that anyone else was waiting for tickets. Everyone appeared to be simply having coffee, reading, taking meetings, though the hall has an unsettling, mythic vibe that made me feel as if everyone could suddenly stand up in perfect unison and encircle me, John Wickstyle.

At noon, the Trusted Teller arrived. Dressed all in black, she met my questions with evasive replies and a mischievous smile. Where exactly would the show take place? I asked. In this building, she said, declining to provide further details. Would audience members wear masks, as they do at Sleep No More? No answer, though the Life and Trust order-confirmation emails read, All guests will be required to wear a Life and Trust mask while inside the bank.

And would the shows design be Art Deco in style, I asked, the same as this coffee shop? She gazed around the room thoughtfully, then simply replied, It is very beautiful in here, isnt it?
Visitors can observe rare and tropical butterflies flying freely.

The Casa delle Farfalle, a tropical greenhouse in Rome's Appia Pignatelli area, offers the chance to admire hundreds of butterflies including the world's most spectacular varieties.

Until 9 June visitors can observe the butterflies upclose and watch them flying freely in an environment that reproduces their natural habitat.

In addition to butterflies and cocoons, the Casa delle Farfalle houses stick insects, leaf insects and even hissing cockroaches from Madagascar.

Tickets cost 9 for adults and 6 for children aged 4 to 12, while kids under 4 enter for free.

For full visiting details see the website of La Casa delle Farfalle, which is located on Via Annia Regilla 245.
Writer defends Saviano at Salone del Libro in Turin.

The Indian-born British author Salman Rushdie on Thursday said that Italy's prime minister Giorgia Meloni should "be less childish and grow up" in relation to criticism.

Rusdhie, speaking at the Salone del Libro book fair in Turin, was referring to a libel conviction that Meloni secured against Italian writer and journalist Roberto Saviano who called the right-wing leader a "bastard" over her hardline immigration views.

Saviano made the remark during a television interview in December 2020, when Meloni was still in opposition, in relation to the death of a six-month-old baby from Guinea who drowned in a shipwreck on the way to Italy.

Saviano was handed a "symbolic" 1,000 suspended fine by a court in Rome last year for libelling Meloni.

"At my personal risk I have to say that politicians should grow a thicker skin because a politician today, as well as having great power, also has great authority" - Rusdhie said in response to a question in Turin - "So it is normal that some of the people should speak about them directly, even badly, also using a bad word like the one Roberto used."

On Friday evening Rusdhie is due to appear on stage in Turin alongside Saviano who has been under police protection since 2006 after his book Gommorah exposed the dealings of the Neapolitan Camorra.

Rushdie has faced years of death threats for his 1988 novel The Satanic Verses, which some Muslims see as blasphemous, and two years ago he was stabbed on stage at a cultural event in New York.

He sustained serious wounds to his neck, face, hand and abdomen, ultimately losing sight in one eye.

Rushdie is in Turin to promote his new memoir, Coltello (Knife), in which he reflects on the attack and his brush with death.

Established in 1988, the Salone del Libro is one of the largest book fairs in Europe. The 2024 edition of the annual literary event runs from 9-13 May.

Photo credit: Markus Wissmann / Shutterstock.com.
More than 600,000 people are released from U.S. prisons every year, vowing never to go back. Many do. One man is trying to change that.
Echoing dire warnings of others in national security circles, the former chairman of the Joint Chiefs said that the former president is the most dangerous person to this country, according to a book by Bob Woodward.
Proudly celebrating its 15th anniversary, South Eastern Applied Materials (SEAM) Research Centre, at South East Technological University (SETU), is the leading Technology Gateway Centre in the country offering cutting edge equipment and tailored solutions to help companies remain competitive.

Launched in 2009, SEAM provides innovative engineering and material solutions for research and industrial partners seeking assistance with issues that cannot be solved by utilising their on-site resources.

They can include customised solutions such as bio-medical devices, pharmaceuticals, micro-electronics, precision engineering and construction.

Since 2021, SEAM has been ISO 9001 accredited, and is currently assisting over 300 Irish based industries from a broad range of sectors such as medical, pharmaceuticals, micro-electronics, precision engineering, food and energy.

SEAM excels in its unique capacity to foresee, comprehend, and promptly address industry demands with professional agility, offering competitive customised solutions. Furthermore, it serves as a convenient one-stop destination for completing tasks efficiently. The research centres team members are motivated daily by the clients they work with and in turn want to help them enhance their competitive position and sustain long-term success.

The ME lab at SEAM in Waterford

SEAM Centre Director, Dr. Ramesh Raghavendra, is proud of the success of the centre and is excited for two new launches later in the year.

Our relentless effort to create materials characterisation infrastructure of excellence at SETU continues, he said.

The excellent infrastructure we are creating here in Waterford is not only assisting industries in Ireland but also students of SETU and other academic institutions, as they get exposure to these niche technologies and avail of opportunities to carry out research and training activities, he added.

To coincide with the 15th anniversary celebrations, which will take place in September, SEAM is delighted to launch the Industrial CT and X-ray ImaGing Centre.

The dedicated materials research and development centre has secured 2.2m funding from Science Foundation Ireland to procure an exclusive high-power, high resolution CT scanner, the first of its kind in Ireland.

For the first time SEAM is also beginning to help the cement industry in reducing their CO2 emissions, according to Dr. Raghavendra, as the industry faces a target of carbon neutrality by 2050.

Constantly looking for ways to support and innovate in industry, SEAM is also delighted to launch a new laboratory in December to assist businesses to achieve their goal of carbon neutrality.

SEAM at SETU has been a great success

We have secured over 1.2m funding from Enterprise Ireland to establish a Sustainability Materials Characterisation laboratory, said Dr Raghavendra.

As more and more companies face challenges of increasing costs of energy supplies, CO2 emission reduction requirements and difficulty in acquiring proper supply of raw materials, SEAM is endeavouring to support them in achieving their green transition by determining the best approach to use and reuse materials more efficiently, as well as minimising power consumption and CO2 emission.

Dr Raghavendra said: By examining how materials are utilised throughout their life cycle, the proposed Sustainable Materials Characterisation Laboratory will help companies reduce emissions. This lab is expected to be launched towards end of this year. Throughout the years, since its launch in 2009, SEAM has brought in funding in excess of 55 million.

That funding has benefited the university, its students and positively impacted both SMEs and multinational companies throughout the country.

SEAM at SETU has been a great success

I am proud to say that SEAM has been a good and effective vehicle for conveying and transferring the benefits of various Government funded research programmes to industries through partnering and collaborating with them, said Dr Raghavendra.

Going forward we look forward to creating more impact for both students and industries, he added.

According to Dr Raghavendra, the success of SEAM and its position within the industry is due to its committed team.

Thanks to my great team of dedicated staff who have helped SEAM to grow as a highly reputable applied materials research centre in the country, he said.

We currently have 20 full time staff with a few more expected to join later this year. SEAM can be contacted at: 051-845648 or email Ramesh.raghavendra@setu.ie www.seam.ie
Students from across Ireland got a tour of the European Parliament with MEP Grace O'Sullivan.

The students had entered the Found on the Ground competition, which raised awareness on the issue of plastic and packaging waste, an issue Ms OSullivan has been working on, on a European level through the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR).

Students collected litter, plastic waste and other discarded items from their hometowns and created art pieces out of them.

Junkyard Buzz by Grace Cahill

Waterpark College student Grace Cahill, won the trip to Brussels thanks to her creation 'Junkyard Buzz'.

Grace said: When entering the Found on the Ground competition I never believed it would bring me all the way to the European Parliament. Thank you to Grace O'Sullivan and all her team for this wonderful opportunity and great learning experience.
The commissions general manager Murray Furlong said the investigation arose from a range of sources alleging misconduct about the financial affairs of the HWU. It centres around the unions records and accounts, and whether the HWU or anyone subject to the act may have contravened a provision relating to the branchs accounts and audits, or a civil penalty provision. This investigation is progressing and I am committed to allocating the resources required to ensure it is completed with rigour as soon as practicable, Furlong said. In a statement, a HWU spokesman said it was not appropriate to provide a running commentary on the commissions activities. We have cooperated with the [Fair Work Commission] fully and continue to adopt appropriate governance procedures for all union activities, he said. We also note that IBACs findings about the union vindicated our tough and persistent advocacy for all HWU members. We make no apology for fighting the good fight for all members in the health, disability and aged care sectors. Stannards denied Shulmans status as the independent auditor of the union was being investigated. The Fair Work Commission requested confirmation that Michael was the independent auditor of HWU over their review period, managing director Peter Angelini said. Walsh was contacted for comment.

The Health Education Federation was registered with the corporate regulator in 2017 by Shulmans accounting firm, Stannards Accountants and Advisors, but its ability to offer a training program was always in doubt. Union sources have claimed it was established to replicate the success of the training organisations run by the plumbers and electrical trades union, but at the time it was awarded a contract the Health Education Federation had no experience, did not have a registered training organisation status and its governance practices were questionable. Premier Daniel Andrews, then health minister Jill Hennessy (centre) and union leader Diana Asmar (right) announcing the $2.2 million election commitment for the Health Education Federation in 2018. Credit: Paul Sakkal IBAC heard evidence the Department of Health had raised concerns about the quality of the program almost immediately after it was being rolled out. The Health Education Federation received $335,000 of the $1.2 million it had been promised (but a day before the caretaker period it managed to have the department change the terms of the contract to allow for an upfront payment of $121,500) and trained 80 healthcare workers before the COVID-19 pandemic closed the program. Although the Health Education Federations two directors were union officials, one of them being Asmar, and seemingly inextricably linked to the HWU, it was never formally part of the union  so there was no ownership structure to ensure the union benefited from the training provider.

The Fair Work Commission investigation arose out of concerns employees and officers of the HWU, including Asmar, improperly used their position to gain an advantage for themselves or cause detriment to the union. The probe dates back to the unions affairs in July 2016  the period six months after the Royal Commission into Trade Union Governance and Corruption, which pilloried the HWU, then known as the Health Services Union Victorian No. 1 Branch. It heard evidence Asmars husband, David Asmar, owed Total Print Management more than $130,000 for printing services incurred during her election campaign to the union in 2012. Peter Walsh is the director of Total Print Management and Tintern Heights, which are being investigated by the Fair Work Commission, and was registered by Stannards, according to company documents filed with the corporate regulator. Diana Asmar told the royal commission she was not aware of the funding or organisation of her election campaign, including money owed to Total Print Management  a claim the royal commission questioned but was unable to make findings on because David Asmar left Australia a few days after being told he would have to appear as a witness before the inquiry.

During the campaign, David Asmar arranged for $139,865.00 to be spent on printing and mailing services provided by Total Print Management Pty Ltd, the commissions interim report stated. Loading He said that it represented the vast majority of the expenditure incurred during the election campaign. The amount was never paid and is still outstanding. According to a settlement agreement concluded between Total Print Management Pty Ltd on 20 June 2013, payment of $120,000 is due to the company from Mr Asmar by 31 December 2014. Between July 2016 and June 2021, the period under investigation, the HWU spent $1.7 million on printing and stationery costs, according to its annual financial reports. In the past two financial years, that figure was a further $741,000. It is unclear from the company filings how much of that was spent on printing and to which companies. Since the royal commission, the HWU has spent more than $1.5 million in legal costs, with this figure peaking in the 2022 financial year at $500,000. It spent $280,000 in legal fees in the last financial year, according to their annual financial statement.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan have embarked on developing a feasibility study for a project aimed at integrating their energy systems and laying a high-voltage cable along the bottom of the Caspian Sea, said Kazakhstan's Minister of Energy Almassadam Satkaliev during a briefing, Trend reports.

"We've conducted preliminary discussions with EU countries, who've shown keen interest in acquiring clean electric power. Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan have inked an agreement to lay a high-voltage cable along the Caspian Sea bed, allowing us to supply clean renewable energy to lucrative markets. This entails a substantial investment," he remarked.

The minister elaborated that the project entails harnessing the wind potential of the Caspian Zone and the Aral Zone for exporting electricity.

"We're currently delving into the technical and economic groundwork of the project, and based on this, construction timelines will be mapped out. We aim to have preliminary results from the feasibility study by year-end," added Satkaliev.

Meanwhile, ministers of energy of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, and Uzbekistan signed a memorandum of cooperation on the interconnection of the energy systems of the republics within the framework of the Tashkent International Investment Forum on May 1.

The signed memorandum's purpose is to define the basic conditions of cooperation within the project's framework on the interconnection of energy systems in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.

The document assumes that the participants intend to investigate the possibilities of connecting energy systems by laying a high-voltage cable along the Caspian Sea bed and in other countries with the implementation of the most optimal trade in green energy from Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
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 Are you happy in your life? Its a challenging question, but its also the title of the first episode of Joel Edgertons twisty new sci-fi series Dark Matter, in which he plays alternative versions of himself. So its an obvious ask: Are you happy with your life, Joel? Joel Edgerton, with his Ernest Hemingway beard, at the premiere of Dark Matter in Los Angeles. Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP Yeah, I am, but its an interesting thing, right? says Edgerton. Because we walk past each other on the street, and we run into colleagues, and we ask the question, How are you? and we generally always say great or good. But in ourselves, we have other, more complicated, conversations going on about where we feel we are and what were missing, and then what we hoped for, or the things that werent satisfied for us in our life. I dont know anyone, including myself, that is happy 100 per cent of the time. But Im aware of how lucky I am. And for all the ups and downs, many ups and downs, I can say that I feel like life is far better for me now than I ever imagined it would be, but Id still have my days and I still suffer my anxieties. Im happy in my life and I do wonder what else I could have been, but I wouldnt choose to go and swap it out. Joel Edgerton plays physicist Jason Dessen in the multiverse sci-fi thriller Dark Matter. The 49-year-old  hell be 50 next month  is talking over Zoom from Los Angeles, ahead of the premiere of the nine-part Apple TV+ series. Hes wearing a fetching navy crocheted shirt and his beard is in full bloom. Im glad you noticed, he says, laughing about his bushy beard. Im moving into my Ernest Hemingway phase.

Advertisement

The last time I spoke to Edgerton was in 2018, when he was in Sydney to promote Boy Erased, the film he wrote, directed and starred in. Back then, he was keeping up a frenetic pace, working on two to three films a year, and living between LA and Sydney. Hes slowed down a bit since  being a dad to toddler twins will do that  but what has really changed is his approach to television. Since his 2001 breakout on the small screen in Tens big hit The Secret Life of Us, in which he played bogan tradie Will, Edgerton has rarely appeared in a TV series. Theres been a handful of shows  The Underground Railroad and a guest appearance in Obi-Wan Kenobi are two of the biggest  but Dark Matter marks a definite shift in his approach to work. Joel Edgerton with Deborah Mailman (left) and Abi Tucker in The Secret Life of Us. During COVID, I was watching so much TV, and I used to be a snob about film versus television, says Edgerton. And I realised, while Im watching a lot of television, now Im really enjoying it, and Im watching actors get to explore character over more than an hour and a half, in a series of eight or nine or 10 episodes. And I thought the writing on television was really fantastic. Succession is so great, for example, the writing is so muscular and awesome. And the performances and the actors look like theyre having so much fun. Joel Edgerton as Owen Lars in Obi-Wan Kenobi, one of the few TV series he has starred in. Credit: Lucasfilm / Disney+ So when I read this book [Dark Matter], and realised they were making a series, I was like, This is a real challenge Ive never had before, playing two versions of the same character and exploring all these ideas and challenges Ive never had, in a cool story that reflects things that I think about a lot myself, so I got really into it.

Advertisement

In Dark Matter, based on Blake Crouchs 2017 bestseller of the same name, Edgerton plays Jason Dessen, a Chicago physicist living a quiet life with his wife, Daniela (Jennifer Connelly), and their teenage son Charlie. After meeting an old friend at a bar one night, Jason is attacked on his way home by an alternative version of himself, drugged and then taken to a large metal box. When he wakes up, Jason has entered another timeline in which his life is radically different to the one he left behind. The impostor, meanwhile, slips into Jasons Chicago life and begins to ingratiate himself with family and friends. The only catch, however, is that impostor Jason isnt an exact copy, hes the man Jason would have become if he had made a different decision at a critical point in his life. Hes got more swagger and more bravado  and doesnt want to give up his new life. Edgerton with Jennifer Connelly, who plays his wife Daniela, in Dark Matter. For Edgerton, that meant splitting his performance in half and finding the nuances in each personality. It also meant considering the two Jasons in a more personal way: one was a workaholic, who pursued success at any cost, while the other chose his family over career. And that was where it hit close to home. By suddenly being in a position in life where youre dedicated to a partner and youve made the choice to have a family, the byproduct of that is you have to give part of yourself away and be selfless, says Edgerton. And keeping your eye on other people is more important, or super important, in your life. And I think that humbles you, and creates an empathy in you that you may not have had before. So which Jason does he prefer?

Advertisement

Youve got to root for Jason one, he says, laughing. But I mean, that doesnt say one is more interesting than two. I remember being on the set and realising that members of the crew were talking about if they were on Team Jason One or Team Jason Two, because theres a certain fun and delectability to watching Jason as an impostor step into the home and try and presume to be a parent to a teenager when hes had zero experience. But at the same time, one of the wonderful things as well, as the show was developed, youre starting to understand how much of an infraction it is for Jason to go and presume to get his old girlfriend back, knowing she has no real physical experience with him, and to presume to be able to sort of assume that intimate role is such a violation. Joel Edgerton at Dark Matters premiere with Jennifer Connelly in Los Angeles. Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP In many ways, its a sci-fi Sliding Doors (without much rom or com), a multiverse thriller that deals in what-ifs: what would my life be like if I had made this decision instead of that one? Its really just a focused way of looking into things that I think about a lot, says Edgerton. In terms of how have all of my choices in life, and all the hands Ive been dealt, led me to who I am and where I am today? And the kind of person, and my outlook on life, is based on all of those things  nature plus nurture. Im very grateful for everything I have in my life, and my family, and I wouldnt change anything, but Ive also evolved into a place where even the things I used to think that I regretted in my life, I realised now are a part of who I am and I accept that. Has he ever thought about what his other path would be?

Advertisement

Depends what category of life youre talking about, he says. If it was career, I had fancied at some point that Id go off and go to fine art school and be a painter. And I do wonder whether Id be showing in a gallery or whether I would have just packed up my brushes and kicked a hole in my studio wall by now. Edgerton also has the inevitable task of convincingly explaining the quantum physics brain bender Dark Matter is based on: the thought experiment that is Schrodingers cat, in which a hypothetical cat is thought to be alive and dead simultaneously. You know, of all my average skill set, quantum mechanics is not one of them, he says, laughing. As an actor, when you realise youre punching above your weight in terms of playing a certain career, whether its anaesthesiologist or some sort of medical practitioner or a lawyer or something, where theres verbal gymnastics and trying to encapsulate concepts for an audience in an understandable fashion, you go, All right, well, Im pretty certain my IQ is somewhere smack bang in the middle. So I gotta pretend to be smarter than I really am right now. Good luck. Loading And the trick to delivering it in a believable manner? You just say the words with no expression, he says. And if you look like you believe, the audience will believe its true. The other TV project Edgerton has had a hand in recently is the special Bluey episode, The Sign, in which he played a policeman. That, more than anything, is a sign that his approach to life and work has changed.

Advertisement
Australia is set to vote in favour of a United Nations resolution that would expand Palestinians right to participate at the worlds premier global forum, but stops short of granting full membership.

As negotiations on the resolution continued ahead of a vote in the UNs General Assembly overnight, Australian government sources speaking on background said a watered-down version of the original motion circulated by the United Arab Emirates contained major concessions by the Palestinians and Arab nations.

Foreign Minister Penny Wong. Credit: Getty Images

Ahead of the vote, Australias former UN ambassador, Mitch Fifield, urged the Albanese government against voting for full Palestinian membership of the worlds premier global forum.

But in a call that underscored divisions within Labor over the emotive issue, Victorian MP Maria Vamvakinou, a long-time supporter of Palestinian statehood, spoke out to urge the government to vote yes at the UN.
Bubbletent Australia, Capertee Valley, NSW The pitch

Gaze out across the worlds widest canyon by day then up to the stars at night from this trio of off-grid domes on the edge of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area. Heavenly aspect: Bubbletent, Capertree Valley. Credit: Hit the hut

Marvel at the Milky Way from the comfort of your queen bed in an inflatable bubbletent overlooking the immense Capertee Valley, under three hours drive from Sydney. Each named after a star sign, three transparent domes sitting on a 400-hectare working farm offer ensuites, outdoor wood-fired hot tubs, outdoor gas-powered camp kitchens and a telescope each for peering deep into the night sky. Virgo also has ducted air-con to take the edge off summer nights. Spend a quiet day relaxing in the hammock with your book, or take a drive to the wineries of nearby Mudgee. Savour a luxuriously long soak in your tub as the sun goes down, then whip up an alfresco meal. Simply bring food, drinking water and your favourite person.

Dont miss

Spend a quiet day relaxing in the hammock with your book, or take a drive to the wineries of nearby Mudgee. The essentials

This is a year-round stay. It is best accessed by car and costs $1430 for two nights, twin share. See bubbletentaustralia.com Larnook, Dandenong Ranges, Victoria The pitch

A solo or couples retreat in an off-grid hideaway with luxury and day-trip options galore. Larnook, Dandenong Ranges. Credit:

Hit the hut

Take a nature-based break on a huge flower farm only an hour from Melbourne at Larnook, the name taken from the Boon Wurrung word for habitat. It comprises two adjoining modified off-grid shipping containers, decorated with designer flair. Larnook offers a long list of luxe additions  indoor gas-log fireplace, Nespresso coffee machine, Bose Bluetooth speakers, top-shelf bathroom products, plus a bottle of complimentary local wine and chocolate. And thats on top of the views from the deck. Theres plenty of bushwalking to keep you connected to nature, and you are also close to the Puffing Billy Railway and, for gourmet touring, the Yarra Valley. But a stay at Larnook is likely to have you ignoring the outside worlds day-trip offerings in blissful comfort. Dont miss

An hour-long walk through Sherbrooke Forest brings you to Grants Picnic Ground, known for its crimson rosellas and rainbow lorikeets, while quaint mountain villages such as Tecoma, Kallista and Olinda have their own charms. The essentials

Good for staying year-round. Best accessed by car. $790 for two nights.

See larnook.co Hideaway Litchfield, Rakula, Northern Territory The pitch

The Northern Territorys only modern wilderness cabin accommodation offers an elegant nature-based stay for a more affordable price tag than a high-end glamping retreat. Shipping container ingenuity: Hideaway Litchfield. Credit: Hit the hut

On a private property just outside Litchfield National Park, Hideaways three one-bedroom cabins are made from 12-metre shipping containers sliced in half  producing two double-storey spaces (Tolmer and Wangi) and one single-level pavilion (Cascade), ideal for guests with less mobility. Each of the villas has a lounge area, fully equipped kitchen, bathrooms with rain showers and a deck with a barbecue, perfect for frying up the breakfast provisions supplied in your fridge.

With their huge bedroom windows inviting the outside in (minus the critters), the cabins, situated 70 metres apart, offer a nature immersion of their own. Newer to the property are a trio of cosy queen-bed huts, with cheaper rates but less privacy, as they are clustered together. Dont miss

Just eight kilometres from Wangi Falls, Hideaway Litchfield is ideally situated for exploring its eponymous national park. The essentials

The best period for staying is May-October. Best accessed by car. From $420 a night a cabin. See hideawaylitchfield.com Cortes Stays, Ovens Valley, North-East Victoria

The pitch

Enjoy private bush views and river access at this small-house-design triumph in the epicurean hub of Victorias Ovens Valley. Hit the hut

In the mid-20th century, Italian immigrants moved into the Ovens Valley, leaving a legacy of wine-making, olive groves and tobacco production. Cortes is located on a walnut farm, where accommodation includes a historic tobacco kiln restored and transformed into a house with a minimalist aesthetic as well as a modern off-grid cabin overlooking the Ovens River. The vibe is simple and rustic, but there are luxe touches like Aesop bathroom products, linen sheets, and, of course, plunger coffee (or coffee machine pods if you prefer). Nearby youll find vineyards, nut groves, berry and fruit farms drawing culinary tourists by bike, car and on foot to sample the valleys la dolce vita. Come evening, relax in the private outdoor bath, or take a dip in the alpine snow-melt flowing by your doorstep. Dont miss

The Great Alpine Road leads to outdoor adventure hub Bright in one direction, and the produce-rich hamlets of Milawa, Stanley and Beechworth in the other. The essentials

This is an all-season, year-round stay. Its best accessed by car.

From $300 a night. See cortes-stays.com.au Farmers Hut, Bathurst, NSW Farmers Hut, Bathurst. Credit: The pitch

This secluded couples retreat puts a unique luxury spin on classic Australian farm stay, with local goodies and plenty of wide open spaces included. Hit the hut

Wilga Station, just outside Bathurst in the NSW Central Tablelands, includes the secluded hut with a roof of grass in perfect harmony with the lush green hill it sits atop on a 105-hectare working sheep station. It features a king-size bed, wood fireplace, bathroom and kitchenette for prepping breakfast with local produce from a complimentary hamper.

Savour a bottle of premium local wine (included in your hamper) beside the outdoor firepit as the sinking sun sets the rolling hills aglow, then snuggle up beside the indoor fireplace after dark. Aside from the owners, the only other people youre likely to cross paths with on your stay are guests of the farms Shearers Hall accommodation. Dont miss

Follow the winding Wilga Sheep Trail to willow-lined Wilga Creek and spend a relaxing day lazing on its banks. The essentials

This is a year-round stay. It is best accessed by car. $900 for two nights. See wilgastation.com.au Eyre Way, Sleaford, Eyre Peninsula, SA

Raw beauty: Eyre Way, Sleaford, SA. Credit: The pitch

Take in the raw beauty of the Eyre Peninsula while staying warm and cosy in this twin set of tiny abodes nestled on a remote stretch of private coastal farmland. Hit the hut

First, in 2021, came Yambara, an architecturally designed, off-grid tiny abode on a secluded stretch of the Eyre Peninsula between Sleaford Bay and the dramatic cliffs of the Whalers Way. Then, in 2022, came its sibling Maldhi, located on the same private farm, just a 30-minute drive from Port Lincoln. While Yambara is light and bright with sunset tones, Maldhi is furnished in earthier olive hues. But both have the same layout, offering a front-row seat to the natural beauty of the Eyre Peninsula, and a private oasis to relax and recharge in supreme comfort, with a double shower and well-appointed kitchen at your disposal. Both cabins have a double bed and an additional bed in a mezzanine space ideal for kids. Dont miss

In the winter months, the sun-drenched deck is perfect for watching whales cruise across Sleaford Bay. The essentials

This is a year-round stay. It is best accessed by car. From $1100, for a two-night minimum stay.

See eyreway.com Kimo Estate Eco Huts, Gundagai, NSW The pitch

Unplug in style at one of these three designer A-frame huts in the rolling hills of country NSW, each with an alfresco tub. Kimo Estate Eco Hut. Credit: Hit the hut

Get a taste of minimalist luxury in Kimo Estates architect-designed, adults-only eco huts, each privately positioned on the 2833-hectare farm just outside the south-eastern NSW country town of Gundagai. Enjoy a lie-in as the sun streams in through the large windows of your off-grid hut, perched on its own hill overlooking the Murrumbidgee River flats. Prepare a feast in the alfresco kitchen to enjoy on your private deck, and light the wood-fired heater inside on chilly nights. The solar-powered huts dont come with a fridge, but theres an Esky to keep your food cold, including local produce for breakfast. In summer, the hot tub transforms into a refreshing plunge pool. There is accommodation in another two cottages and converted shearers quarters on the same property. Dont miss

Cap off the day with a leisurely soak in the wood-fired outdoor hot tub. The essentials

This is a year-round stay. It is best accessed by car. $600 a night.

See kimoestate.com Sierra Escape, Mudgee, NSW The pitch

When you want to be close to nature as well as wineries, this string of glamping stays gives you both, along with a little luxury. Stargaze stays: Sierra Escape, Mudgee. Credit: Hit the hut

Rouse yourself to admire the rolling hills of the Mudgee region, north-west of Sydney, bathed in golden light at Sierra Escape, a collection of five adults-only glamping tents and one tiny house on a private property just 20 minutes from town. With a generous 54-square-metre footprint, the four premium tents, each furnished with a king-size bed, give you all the space you need to unwind in the countryside. While the Carinya tent is more compact, this newer addition to the Sierra family features the same luxe amenities including an indoor fireplace and a standalone bathtub on the outdoor deck  with another tub indoors. Meticulously crafted from a shipping container, Elouera, the propertys first tiny house, follows suit, with even larger windows drawing the eye across the rippling landscape. Opt to add a local-produce platter, in-room massage or even a private yoga class.

Dont miss

Venture out to sip your way around Mudgees cool-climate wineries and dine at its award-winning restaurants. The essentials

This is a year-round stay. Its best accessed by car. From $1280 for two nights. See sierraescape.com.au Domescapes Tasmania, Tamar Valley, Tasmania Dome away from home: Domescapes, Tamar Valley, Tasmania. Credit: The pitch

Glamping domes inside a Tamar Valley vineyard with grapes growing almost to the front step, and a short stroll to the cellar door.

Hit the hut

Domescapes Tasmanias geodesic domes are all about the viner things in life. This trio of glamping domes sit directly beside the vines of Swinging Gate Vineyard, and just a few minutes stroll from the cellar door  no designated driver needed on this stay. The large domes, spaced about 70 metres apart, each feature a king bed with ensuite and shower. About 25 per cent of the domes surface is a transparent sky window, allowing for stargazing from bed and the embrace of sun-lit Tamar Valley days. Warmth is guaranteed, with insulated walls and underfloor heating, and each dome has its own firepit. Two of the domes also have a clawfoot bath on the deck in which to perhaps enjoy a glass of bubbles in the bubbles. Each booking receives a bottle of Tamar Valley wine and a local cheese platter. The bulk of the Tamar Valleys vineyards, as well as Launceston and Narawntapu National Park, are within a 45-minute drive. A fourth dome large enough for families is coming later this year. Dont miss

Swinging Gates quirky, farmhouse-rustic cellar door always beckons. Enjoy a tasting with Nellie, the winerys attention-stealing Staffy, who once featured in the book Wine Dogs of Australia. The essentials

October until April are the best months to visit. Best accessed by car. $295 a night. See domescapes.com.au

Nook On The Hill, Halls Gap, Victoria Nook On The Hill  a tiny house that makes a big statement. The pitch

If the term tiny-mod-Scandi-chic existed it would describe this inspired owner-built dwelling at the foothills of the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park. Hit the Hut

All the materials used to create this luxurious self-contained cabin have been salvaged and reclaimed: the 130-year-old bricks from a local bakery, oak from an Otways shearing shed, ironbark gates  its modern yet steeped in history.

Every remote tiny house has to make space and comfort tradeoffs, but its hard to see what the Nook is missing. Youll find polished concrete benchtops, a full-sized oven and hob, cleverly concealed dishwasher and handmade crockery that make cooking here a pleasure. And the tall roof and floor-to-ceiling windows not only give the cabin a sense of space, but also mean you can dine with views of the Grampians in the distance.

Theres a complimentary food hamper that includes wine from Pomonal Estate. Sip while relaxing in the outdoor cast-iron bath under the stars. The essentials

This is a year-round stay. Its best accessed by car. $650 a night; two-night minimum. See nookonthehill.com.au

Five more star huts New Pelion Hot, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair National Park, Tasmania Midway along Australias most famous mountain trail, the Overland Track, New Pelion Hut is akin to a crossroads inn. Its the perfect pause along the track, surrounded by attainable summits and historic sites with room to sleep 36 hikers. The cost is included in the Overland Track Pass. See parks.tas.gov.au

CABN, various locations, South Australia Born in South Australia and now expanding across the country, CABNs self-contained, off-grid tiny stays are designed to tread ultra-gently on the surrounding environment. All are powered by the sun, built to conserve water, and furnished with eco-friendly amenities. From $229. See cabn.life Red Hill Boat, Mornington Peninsula, Victoria Stay on the Mornington Peninsula at its most unusually nautical accommodation on a working farm, kilometres from the sea. This dry-docked B&B  once a wartime rescue boat  keeps the home fires burning (in the outside firepit, that is) with a cosy mid-century feel. From $300 a night. See redhillboat.au Nightfall Camp, Lamington National Park, South-East Queensland
Jerusalem: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a US threat to withhold some arms would not prevent Israel from continuing its offensive in Gaza, indicating it might proceed with an invasion of the packed city of Rafah against the wishes of its closest ally.

President Joe Biden urged Israel not to go ahead with such an operation over fears it would exacerbate the humanitarian catastrophe in the Palestinian enclave. On Wednesday (Thursday AEST), he said the United States would not provide offensive weapons for a Rafah offensive, raising pressure on Netanyahu.

Benjamin Netanyahu at a wreath-laying ceremony marking Holocaust Remembrance Day at Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Centre, in Jerusalem on Monday. Credit: AP

But in a statement released on Friday (AEST), Netanyahu said if we have to stand alone, we will stand alone. If we need to, we will fight with our fingernails. But we have much more than fingernails.

Ive known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more, Netanyahu said in an interview on Dr. Phil Primetime broadcast on Merit Street Media in the US. We often had agreements, but weve had our disagreements and weve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Today marks the birthday of the national leader of the Azerbaijan, Heydar Aliyev.

Heydar Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923, in the city of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. Upon completion of the Nakhchivan Pedagogical College in 1939, Heydar Aliyev was enrolled in the Architecture Department at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute (nowadays the State Oil Academy), however, World War Two hampered those studies.

As of 1941, Heydar Aliyev had been employed as the Chief of Division at the Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the Council of Peoples Commissars in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan, and in 1944 he was admitted to the state security agencies. With special higher education and training courses in Moscow and Leningrad (nowadays St. Petersburg), Heydar Aliyev had also graduated from the History Department of Azerbaijan State University in 1957. With 25 years of experience in the state security agencies, he was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the State Security at the Cabinet of Ministers of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan in 1964 and promoted to the position of the CSS Chairman in 1967 with the Major General rank conferred in the same year.

Following elections at the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party in July 1969, Heydar Aliyev was elected the Chairman of the Central Committee, thus becoming the leader of Azerbaijan.

An alternate member to the Political Bureau (Politburo) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (top political elite of the day) since 1976, Heydar Aliyev was elected the Politburo member in December 1982 and appointed to the position of the First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR. In this capacity, he was actively involved in vital areas of the countrys economic, social and cultural life.

A member to the Supreme Soviet (the highest legislative body) of the USSR and the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan for more than 20 years, Heydar Aliyev had been holding the position of the Deputy Chairman of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers for the five following years.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The restoration of the Zangezur corridor will lead to the full operation of the East-West transport corridor, Prime Minister of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ali Asadov told local media, Trend reports.

He cited a statement by National Leader Heydar Aliyev that no nation, no matter how large, can grow economically by limiting itself to its own borders.

"Being a world-scale political leader, such large-scale economic projects as the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline and Baku-Tbilisi-Erzurum gas pipeline, which are the logical continuation of the "Contract of the Century," were implemented on Heydar Aliyev's initiative.

These projects have served as a foundation for political and economic stability in Azerbaijan and Georgia, as well as opening an additional window for the transportation of Kazakh oil to the global market.

These projects were a continuation of such gas pipelines as TANAP and TAP. Imagine that if it were not for these projects, for which Heydar Aliyev laid the foundation with great difficulty, even being assassinated and threatened several times without any external financial support, and which President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev completed and continued, the situation with the energy security of Europe would be much worse than it has been in the last three years.

We can say the same about the road and railroad corridors. The organization of an international conference in Baku in 1998 on the subject of the East-West transport corridor is another vivid embodiment of how farsighted a leader Heydar Aliyev was. It was at this conference that representatives of 32 countries and 13 international organizations signed the 'Basic Multilateral Agreement on International Transport for Development of the Transport Corridor Europe-Caucasus-Asia'," Ali Asadov said.

He mentioned that immediately after the international conference, Heydar Aliyev, holding a meeting dedicated to its results, stated with great foresight about increasing the importance of the transport corridor in Eurasia in the XXI century and gave instructions on preparations for it.

"The currently growing global need for the Middle Corridor project connecting East and West is evidence that Heydar Aliyev was 25 years ahead of his time.

The Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railroad, built on the initiative of President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev with active political and financial support of the Azerbaijani state, is a continuation of Heydar Aliyev's far-sighted strategic plans. These projects now play an important role in global transportation and economic security.

Incidentally, the restoration of the Zangezur corridor will also contribute to the East-West transport corridor working at full capacity, which, in turn, will increase the profitability of international trade," he added.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva visited the tomb of National Leader Heydar Aliyev in the Alley of Honors as May 10 marks the 101st anniversary of the architect and founder of modern and independent Azerbaijani state, the great son of the Azerbaijani people and the National Leader, Trend reports.

President Ilham Aliyev laid a wreath at the tomb of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and paid tribute to the National Leader.

The National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was played.

First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva paid tribute to the National Leader.

The head of state and the First Lady then put flowers at the grave of the National Leader`s wife, outstanding ophthalmologist, academician Zarifa Aliyeva.

They also paid respect to prominent statesman Aziz Aliyev and professor Tamerlan Aliyev.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Heydar Aliyev ensured a favorable international context for the security of independent Azerbaijan, the country's Prime Minister Ali Asadov said in an interview with 'Azerbaijan' newspaper, Trend reports.

"Heydar Aliyev's strategy for building a national, independent state in Azerbaijan has stood the test of time and proven itself. Heydar Aliyev led Azerbaijan in two different socio-political formations, demonstrating unprecedented dedication to the interests of the native people, glorifying and elevating the authority of our country.

Under Soviet rule, the great leader, by emphasizing the strengthening of the sense of national pride and the rise of national self-awareness as the driving force of vigorous development in all spheres of socio-economic and cultural life, was able to set it in motion.

The real business climate established in the republic during that period, a healthy moral-psychological atmosphere based on social justice, allowed us to achieve a high level of economic progress, win special authority for Azerbaijan at the post-Soviet level, and even gain international recognition.

We can confidently say that our current political and economic independence, our country's integration into the system of international relations, and the global economy are based on the potential laid down by Heydar Aliyev in the seventies and eighties of the last century," the prime minister said.

He mentioned that during the period of Azerbaijan's independence, the specific line of internal and external policies, as well as economic reforms initiated by the great leader, justifies itself today and will do so in the future.

"Heydar Aliyev's idea of Azerbaijanihood has ensured social stability, national unity, and the solidarity of the people and the government in the country. His foreign policy principles were able to guide the country through international contradictions in the most difficult times.

Establishing relations with various centers of economic and political power in line with national interests, promoting our country as a space for cooperation rather than global conflicts, protected Azerbaijan from devastating blows during the most difficult period of modern history.

The period from 1988 through 1993, when Heydar Aliyev was out of political power, was the hardest for our country and our people. Armenia's aggression caused a deep crisis in both domestic and foreign policy, as well as in the economy and military sphere. Returning to political power, the great leader prevented the expansion of the three components of the general crisis - domestic political, foreign political, and military - from 1993 through 1995.

He established internal stability in the country and began to restore foreign relations.

He not only managed to prevent the deepening of the military crisis, but also, in early 1994, a successful counteroffensive operation was carried out, during which 21 villages and Horadiz settlement, Fuzuli district, as well as Jojug Marjanli village, Jabrayil district, were liberated from Armenian occupation.

The first military victory was achieved, and shortly thereafter, an agreement on a ceasefire was signed, allowing Azerbaijan to mobilize and providing an opportunity to gather strength to begin building a modern army. By overcoming the three components of the general crisis, we also halted the deepening of the economic crisis and laid the foundations for a sustainable economic revival through radical reforms, Asadov added.

Today marks the birthday of Azerbaijan's National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

Heydar Aliyev was born on May 10, 1923, in the city of Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan. After completing his studies at the Nakhchivan Pedagogical College in 1939, Heydar Aliyev enrolled in the Architecture Department at the Azerbaijan Industrial Institute, now known as the State Oil Academy, only to have his studies hampered by World War Two.

Heydar Aliyev began his career in 1941 as the Chief of Division at the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs and the Council of People's Commissars in the Autonomous Republic of Nakhchivan. In 1944, he gained admission to the state security agencies. With special higher education and training courses in Moscow and Leningrad (now St. Petersburg), Heydar Aliyev also graduated from the History Department of Azerbaijan State University in 1957. With 25 years of experience in the state security agencies, he was appointed as the Deputy Chairman of the Committee for the State Security at the Cabinet of Ministers of the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan in 1964 and promoted to the position of the CSS Chairman in 1967 with the Major General rank conferred in the same year.

Following elections at the Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party in July 1969, Heydar Aliyev was elected the Chairman of the Central Committee, thus becoming the leader of Azerbaijan.

An alternate member of the Political Bureau (Politburo) of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (the top political elite of the day) since 1976, He was elected a Politburo member in December 1982 and appointed to the position of First Deputy Chairman of the Cabinet of Ministers of the USSR. In this capacity, he was actively involved in vital areas of the countrys economic, social, and cultural life.

A member of the Supreme Soviet (the highest legislative body) of the USSR and the Soviet Socialist Republic of Azerbaijan for more than 20 years, Heydar Aliyev had been holding the position of Deputy Chairman of the USSR Cabinet of Ministers for the five following years.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
High Court reporters

A Meta challenge over 265 million fines imposed on it by the Data Protection Commission (DPC) should be adjourned until a decision in a related case is given by an EU court, the High Court has ordered.

Meta Platforms Ireland Ltd has brought a statutory appeal over the fines the DPC imposed for breach of EU privacy rules regarding the personal information of about more than 500 million Facebook users.

It also instituted a judicial review challenge to the constitutional validity of the Data Protection Act 2018, with particular reference to the conferral of powers upon a non-judicial body to impose significant financial penalties.

Separately, one of Meta's platforms, WhatsApp Ireland, has brought challenges in Ireland and the EU over the DPC's interpretation of part of the GDPR regulations relating to the assessment of administrative fines.

The General Court of the EU ruled the EU proceedings were inadmissible and WhatsApp then brought an appeal to the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU). A decision on that appeal is pending.

In the meantime, Meta applied to the High Court to adjourn its proceedings against the DPC over the fines pending the outcome of that WhatsApp EU appeal.

It argued, among other things, that a national court owes an obligation of sincere cooperation to the European court.

When there is a dispute before the national court, which is already the subject of a case which is before the European court, the national court should stay the proceedings before it, it said.

Opposition

The DPC opposed the adjournment initially, saying that the High Court is obliged under EU law to determine domestic proceedings expeditiously. It said the best way to achieve this was by a modular trial.

It said Meta was required to meet a high threshold in terms of justifying the imposition of a stay. Meta must demonstrate a real risk of serious or irreparable damage, or, at least, a very real risk of prejudice, the DPC said.

However, Mr Justice Simons noted in granting the adjournment, that the DPC had latterly agreed with Meta that at least some of the issues raised in the domestic proceedings cannot be determined by the High Court until such time as the EU WhatsApp proceedings have been resolved one way or the other.

The judge found this was not an appropriate case in which to direct a modular trial.

The reasons for this included that the making of an order directing a modular trial would not result in legal effect being given to the DPCs decision any quicker.

The issues in the domestic proceedings cannot sensibly be separated out because the question of liability and sanction are inextricably bound up together, he said.

A modular trial also runs the risk of prolonging the proceedings because of the potential for fragmented appeals to the Court of Appeal and/or preliminary references to the CJEU, he said.

The length of any adjournment of the domestic proceedings is likely to be short because there is a reasonable prospect of the EU proceedings being disposed of peremptorily in a relatively short period of time, he added.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. No final decision has been adopted on the date of Azerbaijan's parliamentary election, Deputy Chairman, Head of the Central Apparatus of the New Azerbaijan Party Tahir Budagov told reporters, Trend reports.

The New Azerbaijan Party prepares for the process in all elections, not only on the eve of the elections but also in the period between elections. Currently, we are carrying out all the necessary activities related to preparations for the parliamentary election, he added.

To note, parliamentary elections in Azerbaijan are held every five years on the first Sunday of November. In accordance with this sequence, the election to the parliament of the sixth convocation was to be held on November 1, 2020. However, given modern challenges, the parliament was dissolved on December 5, 2019, and an early parliamentary election was scheduled for February 9, 2020.

The next parliamentary election is scheduled for November 2024.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
A councillor has praised the role the local print media in Mayo plays in reporting meetings of Mayo County Council, municipal districts and other committees.

At the final meeting of this term of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District, cathaoirleach Sinn Fein Cllr Gerry Murray closed the meeting by paying tribute to the Western People, Connaught Telegraph and Mayo News for the role they play in local democracy.

As social media gets a bigger grip on the country, the print media gets all the more vitally important, he said.

Describing the practice as Donald Trump syndrome, Cllr Murray criticised local campaign or lobbying groups who fail to make their online followers aware of council decisions that go against them or their cause.

The difference between social media pages and the print media is if there is a meeting of the council or the municipal district and decisions that dont go in favour of their campaign are made, there will be no report of it on their Facebook page and it will be ignored."

They think then their campaign is still going on and democracy hasnt taken place. The best word I can use to describe it is the Donald Trump syndrome.

The media can always be relied upon to print a fair and accurate account, he added.

Leading the meeting in a round of applause for the work of local print media, Cllr Murray thanked them for their diligent work.

I want to thank the print media for their accurate reporting of the happenings of this municipal district. They do a very fair and balanced job.
Just as the wild Atlantic gales lash our western shores in and out of season, a foreboding storm of a different nature appears to be sweeping across the country. A conflict swimming in the Irish subconscious may finally be lured from the depths of the national psyche by modern Europe's never-ending refugee crisis.

As the refugee crisis escalates across Europe, we in Ireland find ourselves increasingly embroiled in an explosive national reckoning over immigration policies and rapidly shifting demographics. What began as localised protests against proposed asylum seeker accommodation sites has metastasised into a broader anti-migrant conflagration sweeping rural towns and villages.

The latest flashpoint erupted in the village of Newtownmountkennedy in County Wicklow, where a crowd of protestors clashed violently with Gardai amid chants of "shame on you" reverberating through the night air. Footage captured the ugly scenes of pepper spray dispersing through the crowd, protestors being shoved to the ground, and flames leaping in the background from makeshift bonfires.

To many domestic observers, the unrest came as little surprise. It represents the most recent and volatile manifestation of a simmering populist angst over the Government's struggles to keep pace with surging refugee flows into Ireland.

Proposed new accommodation sites like the one igniting Newtownmountkennedy have become veritable tinderboxes of resentment in recent months. Often located in under-resourced rural areas, the facilities face a backlash from residents who worry over gaps in infrastructure and services to handle further migrant arrivals. These grassroots grievances are quickly usurped by the more reactionary ethno-nationalist elements that have latched onto the anti-immigration cause.

The growing unrest compounds an already untenable refugee crisis rapidly engulfing the Irish system. With proper asylum seeker housing facilities having run out of capacity, makeshift tent encampments have increased in the most unlikely of locales. Most visibly, the streets surrounding the International Protection Office on Mount Street in central Dublin resembled a veritable Skid Row of tents up to their removal last week.

According to Government statistics, some 6,000 asylum applications were filed in Ireland during the first quarter of 2023 alone. Moreover, Justice Minister Helen McEntee estimates that a staggering 80% of those arrivals came across the now de facto invisible border with Northern Ireland, which has remained unmonitored in either direction since Brexit. This figure is disputed, but anecdotal evidence suggests that cross-border issues are contributing to the huge surge in refugee numbers. It's an ironic turn of fate, considering the Irish Government's hardline insistence throughout the Brexit negotiations on preserving an open, unsecured border with the United Kingdom to protect the Good Friday Peace accords. That same frictionless boundary may now be emerging as a crisis facilitator, pulling more refugees away from Britain's controversial policy of deporting asylum seekers to Rwanda upon arrival.

In a recent Irish High Court ruling, the designation of Britain itself as a "safe third country" for returning refugees was struck down as unlawful due to the potential Rwanda deportation risk. The Irish Government has rushed to legislate around the decision, but the ruling added fuel to the domestic perception that Dublin's open back door with Belfast is just another twist in a toxic colonial history.

Ireland's centuries of colonisation have bred a deep vein of mistrust toward perceived foreign encroachments on Irish sovereignty, and there remains a simmering fear that any immigrant influx could represent a new assault on the integrity of the nation.

While the direct catalyst appears to be a local backlash against proposed refugee housing in under-resourced villages, any seasoned observer understands these are merely the fuses applying flame to a much more bottomless well of national trauma. At its molten core, this fast-escalating unrest represents the Irish people's ever-present terror of being made a diaspora within their ancestral homeland once again.

The spectre of the native population being outflanked demographically taps into primal fears that run deep in the Irish psyche. For a people whose origin story is rooted in resisting brutal occupation forces, it's little wonder the prospect of an overwhelming demographic shift would awaken such seismic emotional vertigo. The landed gentry and aristocratic overlords were seen not just as economic oppressors but as embodying an existential threat to Irish identity itself.

The memory of the country being physically possessed and plundered by outsiders remains quite visceral in our collective folk memory, so there is an intense fear of history repeating itself through circumventing sovereignty.

In the Irish vernacular memory, rapacious landlords and despoilers served as the physical avatars of cultural erasure and conquest. When the word "boycott" emerged from County Mayo in 1880 to describe ostracising the footsoldiers of British colonial interests, it took on existential overtones of preserving a way of life.

It's no shock that such raw nerve endings remain exposed beneath every village's placid veneer. An intergenerational legacy of lingering dread surrounding past subjugations lies baked into the Irish countryside's spiritual resonance.

While Dublin embraces a cosmopolitan, outward-looking identity, that globalising perspective is viewed more sceptically in rural areas that still cling to a more insular, traditionalist sense of 'Irishness'. There are fears that uncontrolled immigration could irrevocably alter the essence of what it means to be Irish.

In this charged vacuum where fact and folk truth blur, one can observe the old republican embers sputtering back to life across the bogs and townlands. Much like their ancestors before them, modern migrants and asylum seekers risk being branded as the frontline of a new usurpation force by those already suspicious of European integrationist designs. The historical tone-deafness of a floundering ruling coalition to localised concerns only adds to the simmering disquiet.

As the refugee tent encampments proliferate in urban spaces like Dublin's Mount Street, the psychological parallels to periods of prior conquest become inescapable for those searching for them. The shanties arising in the same civic spaces once appropriated by Anglo rentiers seem to reincarnate horrors of systemic displacement for some.

The emergency measures risk reawakening atavistic fears that Ireland is being colonised and alienated from itself once more. There are undeniable echoes of the colonial past that can be exploited by those seeking to stir up unrest.

Outright violence has already erupted sporadically at several refugee housing sites, with a series of suspicious arson events. As bonfires blaze and bewildered locals gather in the countryside night, the embers of an ancestral dread seethe across the Irish consciousness. One detects the tanged aura of reawakened tribalism within the haze of anger and frustration. We are witnessing a reactionary spasm ingrained in our society's bedrock.

While authorities grapple with processing backlogs, the streets face the combustible prospect of territorial defensiveness and solidarity detonating into violent conflagrations as pressures intensify. The sobering fact is that Ireland has never fully reprocessed its post-colonial ghosts and remains hardwired for demographic vigilance.

It is not difficult to envision tragic violence as unavoidable without profound statecraft to address the deeper wellsprings of rural alienation and ethnic anxiety driving these unrest cycles. Just ask Minister for Justice Helen MacIntee; her ministerial credibility is visibly crumbling in a morass of misinformation and mismanagement. She has received death threats and her young family had to be evacuated from their home after a bomb threat - utterly reprehensible acts that abhor every law-abiding citizen whatever their reservations might be about some of the decisions she and her ministerial colleagues have taken in recent years.

Something terrible and not so beautiful is stirring in the Irish backwoods.
It was a night to remember at the IMC Cinema in Ballina on Saturday, April 26th, as An Pointe Productions premiered its acclaimed film, Prospect House.

Shot against the picturesque backdrop of North Mayo and directed by the renowned Paul Mercier, this cinematic experience has captivated audiences since it was released. Set at the historic Enniscoe House, nestled on the shores of Lough Conn in Crossmolina, with a breathtaking view of Nephin mountain, the film has already earned accolades, including the prestigious Best New Irish Feature award at the Cork Film Festival.

Attending the premiere were North Mayo locals Breege Blehein, Tommie McHale and Aoife McHale.

In Prospect House, Mercier's script intricately weaves the narrative of passionate protesters determined to revive an 18th-century house, fiercely defending it from demolition. This satirical masterpiece skilfully navigates the blurred boundaries between reality and re-enactment, fuelled by rebellious energy and accompanied by a pulsating score by Mel Mercier. The film boasts a talented ensemble cast, including Barry Ward, Dara Devaney, Cira Ivie, and Paul Reid, alongside brilliant local Mayo-based actors such as Keith Martin from Westport and Liam Alex Heffron from Ballina and Aidan Browne from Lahardane.

Local actors who featured in the movie, from left: Keith Martin, Billy Lyons and Ronan Colhoyn.

"Movies like Prospect House play a vital role in boosting tourism and showcasing Mayo's appeal as a top filming destination," stated Mairead Melody-Carr, Mayo North Tourism Manager. "They spotlight our diverse landscapes and rich heritage, attracting visitors from near and far while also providing a significant boost to our local economy.

In recent years, Mayo has experienced a surge in film productions, including notable projects like A Cry from the Sea, which features star-studded lineups exploring the beauty of Belmullet including Dominic Cooper and Aidan Quinn. Films such as Wild Mountain Thyme, The Banshees of Inisherin, My Sailor, My Love, and the recently released Irish Wish, starring Lindsay Lohan, have further established the region's presence on the global stage.

The film 'Prospect House' was shot in Enniscoe House in North Mayo. Pictured at the premiere were, from left: Anne Gately, producer; DJ and Susan Kellett, Enniscoe House; Paul Mercier, film director and Colette Kellett, Enniscoe House.

DJ Kellett, of Enniscoe House, shared his pride in hosting Prospect House.

"It's an honour to have Enniscoe House featured in Prospect House," he said. "With my family's long history here, spanning 13 generations, it's especially meaningful. This collaboration not only highlights our estate's historical significance but also its cultural relevance in film. We're thrilled to be part of this cinematic journey."
BEIJING -- China's railway investment has picked up pace since the beginning of this year, data from the country's railway operator showed Thursday.

During the January-April period, fixed-asset investment in the country's railway sector reached 184.9 billion yuan ($26 billion), marking a 10.5 percent increase from the same period a year ago, according to China State Railway Group.

The growth rate was higher than the 9.9 percent expansion in the first quarter of 2024.

With the high-quality and efficient manner of building railways, the country is expediting the construction of a modern rail infrastructure system, the company said.

Latest progress in the railway construction include the operation of a new high-speed railway connecting Chizhou and Huangshan in East China's Anhui province, which will help promote local tourism. Multiple projects under construction across the country also made headway steadily last month.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO) is addressing complex tasks related to changes, the Director-General of ICESCO Salim bin Mohammed Almalik said at a roundtable event on strategic foresight at ADA University on May 10, Trend reports.

"ICESCO is fostering a culture where anticipation is considered a virtue, and perseverance is seen as a valuable quality. Today, we are actively engaged in intellectual research," he emphasized.

The director-general mentioned that government administration and academic circles play a key role in shaping a prosperous future.

"We understand that countries that attach great importance to long-term planning and the ability to foresee perspectives are ready for successful development in times of rapid change.

History repeatedly proves how devastating the consequences of shortsightedness can be when civilizations and institutions fail due to an inability to adapt to changing conditions," he added.

ADA University is hosting a roundtable titled "Strategic Foresight Shaping Tomorrow,". The event is graced by the presence of esteemed dignitaries, ambassadors, Azerbaijani experts, and representatives from the Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (ICESCO).

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Within the framework of his working visit to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan, Murat Nurtleu, Trend reports, referring to the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

During the meeting, the sides discussed issues arising from the strategic partnership relations between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, the current situation in the region in the post-conflict period, as well as the current state of the peace process.

Besides, both sides expressed satisfaction with the high level of Azerbaijan's relations with Central Asian countries, including Kazakhstan, which have especially expanded recently.

Additionally, it was noted that, along with bilateral partnership in the areas of economy, trade, investment, energy security, transport, and communications, cooperation on regional and international platforms, especially within the framework of the Organization of Turkic States, promises broad prospects.

Briefing the Kazakh side in detail on preparations for the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) to be held in Azerbaijan this year, Jeyhun Bayramov noted that COP29, in turn, is a new platform for cooperation.

Referring to the current situation, opportunities, and challenges in the region in the post-conflict period, Jeyhun Bayramov expressed gratitude to the Kazakh side for its support and activity in the direction of promoting the bilateral peace process between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Against the background of the latest agreement reached between the delimitation commissions, confidence was expressed that today's talks will also contribute to the process.

The sides also exchanged views on other issues of mutual interest.

13:23

Within the framework of his working visit to Kazakhstan, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry wrote on X, Trend reports.

The sides also addressed bilateral and multilateral cooperation objectives and strategic partnerships in economics, energy security, and investments.

Jeyhun Bayramov briefed his counterpart about Azerbaijan's post-conflict normalization efforts and stance.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
New Surgical Skills Lab to train specialists and sub-specialists

R22-million project to enhance the training of surgeons in South Africa.

There is a critical shortage of expert medical specialists in the country, including surgeons. It is estimated that there is a need to double the current number of surgeons to fully meet the countrys needs. In addition, South Africa has been losing a number of surgical experts to the competitive overseas market due to the lack of sufficient highly specialised facilities, infrastructure, and advanced academic training programmes.

Wits trains more doctors, surgeons, specialists and sub-specialists than any other university in southern Africa. The new R22-million Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab will help to enhance the training of surgeons, across disciplines, in a state-of-the-art environment, with the best equipment available, says Professor Damon Bizos, Head of Wits Surgical Gastroenterology, and the Clinical Head of Surgery at the Wits Donald Gordon Medical Centre. We need to replenish these specialised skills and replicate them in adequate measure in order to deliver essential services to South Africans and Africans.

The Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab officially opened on Tuesday, 12 October 2021. It is located on the ninth floor of the Faculty of Health Sciences building in Parktown and is designed in line with international best standards. It includes the latest technologies and teaching facilities, putting the Wits surgical training programme on par with the best in the world.

If we fail to replenish the pool of surgeons in South Africa, both the training of all South African doctors and the delivery of healthcare for all will be compromised. The loss of these skills will result in the loss of services in both the private and public sectors, says Professor Zeblon Vilakazi, Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal. South Africa needs to retain highly skilled and specialised surgeons. By creating opportunities for doctors to undergo highly specialised training locally, rather than abroad, the likelihood of losing these doctors to other countries is lessened.

The Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Lab will cater for the interdisciplinary training needs of surgical disciplines such as general surgery; orthopaedics; gynaecology; ear, nose and throat; cardiothoracic; urology; maxillofacial; ophthalmologic; neuro; and plastic surgery; and will include the training of specialists, doctors, nurses and other allied health practitioners.

The basic and intermediate courses will help inculcate basic surgical competence and skills development, whilst advanced courses will ensure that experienced practitioners remain at the forefront of advances in the field, adds Bizos. We will offer access to in-house training as well as industry-sponsored surgical training courses and symposia. Train-the-trainer programmes and research into skills training will also be integral.

The Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Laboratory includes a large wet lab with eight stations; laparoscopic towers and endoscopy (upper endoscopy and colonoscopy); the availability of facilities for training on cadavers; lead-lined walls to accommodate imaging; a new lecture room for 35 participants; and full audiovisual and videoconferencing facilities.

Access to safe, high-quality surgery care remains an ongoing challenge in South Africa and beyond. There is a well-defined unmet need, and the training of surgeons and surgical care providers is an essential component of the strategy to improve surgical care and address the unmet need. Modern day approaches to training require that we must address both the technical competency and non-technical skills of the surgeon. This must be achieved in a standardised and measurable way. To do so has meant that we, as the trainers of the next generation of practitioners, must embrace new technologies and training opportunities, says Professor Martin Smith, the Head of the Department of Surgery in the Faculty of Health Sciences at Wits University. We are very grateful that through the support of the University and the contributions of a number of donors we have been able to establish a facility to enhance and improve this training.

He adds: This multidisciplinary unit offers the most modern information technology in a versatile environment. It uses the latest skills training methodologies to ensure that when these surgeons and others provide care to patients, their advanced skills are appropriate and safe, ensuring the best outcomes for the patients and communities. It further offers us an opportunity to engage in research into new technologies and training methods.

Click to download the media release, images, video and audio.

The new Wits Advanced Surgical Skills Laboratory is a Wits100 Centenary Campaign project. Wits celebrates 100 years of academic and research excellence, and the advancement of the public good in 2022. Details: Wits Centenary
CALS welcomes Khampepe Commission report into Usindiso fire

This week the Commission of Inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the deaths of over 70 people at Usindiso released its first report

The Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS) welcomes this weeks report by the Commission of Inquiry into the fire which took place in Marshalltown in August 2023. The report finds that the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Property Company must bear some responsibility for the fire at the Usindiso building. We look forward to the second part of the Inquiry which will examine the urban housing crisis in the city more broadly.

On 31 August 2023, a fire at Usindiso building in Marshalltown, Johannesburg, killed 76 people and left many more injured. Many of the survivors were also left homeless, including women and children. In September 2023, Gauteng Premier Panyaza Lesufi established a commission of inquiry to investigate the circumstances which led to the disaster. The Commissions work was divided into two parts, with the first examining responsibility for the damage caused by the fire and the second focusing on the abandoned buildings in the inner city.

The report on the first part of the Commissions mandate was released to the public on 5 May 2024. The report finds that the City of Johannesburg and the Johannesburg Property Company (JPC) abandoned the Usindiso building since at least 2019. Since then, the City did not attend to repairs and maintenance of the building and has disregarded a number of laws and by-laws governing health and safety, emergency services, building standards and others. This resulted in the building becoming a danger to life and property, according to the report.

Ultimately, the Commission finds that the consequences of the fire would have been mitigated had the City complied with its legal obligations as owner and municipality. The report recommends demolishing the building, and that disciplinary action should be taken against the relevant officials at the City, the JPC and other bodies who contravened their duties and failed to act despite knowing the conditions of the building.

While CALS was not involved with the Commissions work directly, we assisted in taking statements and personal circumstances of the survivors of the fire in partnership with their representatives at Norton Rose Fullbright. In addition, we represent many residents living in the inner city of Johannesburg who reside in abandoned buildings. Some of our clients have been awaiting alternative accommodation from the City of Johannesburg for over a decade.

We welcome the Commissions findings, which we believe take a step towards attributing accountability for the fire. We look forward to the next stage in the Commission of Inquiry which focuses on systemic housing issues in Johannesburg.

Abandoned buildings in the inner city of Johannesburg are a symptom of years of neglect that requires a re-evaluation of policies to prioritise ingrained inequalities in the urban housing space in Johannesburg, says Head of Home, Land and Rural Democracy at CALS, Thandeka Kathi.

We hope that the report from the Commission will go some way to getting justice for the victims and survivors of the fire and to preventing such disasters in future. We should not have a situation where a municipalitys failure to provide basic services leads to the loss of lives. We look forward to engaging in the next stage of the Commissions work around the housing crisis in the inner city.

Read a full copy of the Commissions report here.

Read more about the Johannesburg fires: The vilifying of victims in the aftermath of the Johannesburg fires

For inquiries, please contact:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The date of the parliamentary election in Azerbaijan may be rescheduled to an earlier date, chairman of the Central Election Commission (CEC) Mazahir Panahov said, Trend reports.

According to him, Azerbaijan's CEC always holds educational work before the election.

According to the legislation, the parliamentary election is scheduled for early November.

It's now time to initiate these preparations. During recent meetings, we even deliberated on designing an awareness-raising program. Once the commission approves it, the activities will commence. However, due to COP29, there might be alterations in the election dates, possibly rescheduling them earlier. Hence, efforts for awareness-raising must begin promptly, he added.

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.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. COP29 represents a new platform for cooperation, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said during a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan Murat Nurtleu, Trend reports via the Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry.

It was highlighted that besides bilateral cooperation spanning economy, trade, investment, energy security, and transportation, collaboration on regional and international platforms, particularly within the Organization of Turkic States (OTS), offers significant potential.

Jeyhun Bayramov thoroughly briefed the Kazakh side on the arrangements for the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), scheduled to take place in Azerbaijan this year. He emphasized that COP29 serves as a fresh avenue for collaboration, the ministry said.

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.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and Armenian Foreign Minister Ararat Mirzoyan met with Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu in Almaty ahead of bilateral talks on the draft peace agreement, the publication of Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry on social media said, Trend reports.

The meeting lasted four hours. The talks will continue tomorrow.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.[Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

BEIJING, May 9 (Xinhua)  Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday.

The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan.

The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

The collection of documents that record the tea-drinking business entrepreneurship in Chengdu comprises 6,345 items, spanning from 1903 to 1949. These materials take a wide range of forms, such as manuscripts, business documents and photographs.

The Huizhou genealogy archives consist of 2,235 files spread across 427 volumes, documenting the genealogical culture that spans nearly a millennium.

Built in 1729, the Dege Sutra Printing House preserves in good condition 325,520 woodcut printing plates containing significant Tibetan classics dating back to the 11th century. The majority of the blocks were carved between the 18th and mid-20th centuries.

To date, China has 17 items of documentary heritage inscribed on the MOW regional register for Asia and the Pacific.

UNESCO launched the MOW in 1992 with the intention of safeguarding documentary heritage worldwide and increasing awareness of its significance.

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Three items from China have been listed as documentary heritage on the Asia Pacific regional register of UNESCO's Memory of the World (MOW) Programme, the National Archives Administration of China said Thursday. The listed items include archives relating to traditional teahouses in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province, and printing blocks housed at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Sichuan. The decision was approved at the 10th General Meeting of the Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific, convened from Tuesday to Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This photo taken on June 7, 2023 shows people drinking tea at a teahouse in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This photo taken on June 30, 2021 shows people drinking tea at Heming teahouse in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This photo taken on Nov. 23, 2021 shows Li Qiang (2nd R), owner of a teahouse, serving customers in Shuangliu District of Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows workers cleaning woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This photo taken on June 30, 2021 shows people drinking tea at Heming teahouse in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This photo taken on Oct. 3, 2021 shows woodcut printing plates at the Dege Sutra Printing House in Dege County of Ganzi Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, southwest China's Sichuan Province. [Xinhua/Shen Bohan]

This undated file photo shows volumes of genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province. [Huangshan City Archives/Handout via Xinhua]

This undated file photo shows volumes of genealogical records of the communities of Huizhou in east China's Anhui Province. [Huangshan City Archives/Handout via Xinhua]

(Source: Xinhua)




There was little doubt Chen Sijia would be anything other than an artist. She comes from a family of artists, who make traditional Chinese calligraphies and paper-cuts. Chen now resides in the United States, where she is a multidisciplinary visual artist, who concentrates on public art, large-scale paintings and art installations. Chen also helps promote international cultural and artistic exchanges.

With a history of more than 1,500 years, the traditional Chinese art of paper-cutting was included in UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization)'s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2009. Throughout the years, overseas Chinese have been dedicated to promoting the modernization of this traditional art form, by integrating modern art concepts with traditional paper-cutting, and by exploring more possibilities for the traditional art form. Chen is one of those artists.

In 2009, after she received a bachelor's degree in fine arts, majoring in painting, from Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, in Guangzhou, in south China's Guangdong Province, Chen moved to the US for further studies. In 2011, she received a master's degree in fine arts, majoring in painting, drawing and sculpting, from Tyler School of Art and Architecture, Temple University, in Philadelphia.

Now, Chen resides and operates her principal studio in Los Angeles, California. Her commissioned public works include: Bloom, in North Kansas City, in Missouri; Arbor, in Claremont, California; Voyage Beyond, in Shantou, in Guangdong Province; and SWA, and Tea and Tree, both in Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport in Jieyang, in Guangdong.

Chen Sijia's art work, SWA, in Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport



Art Fusion

Chen Sijia is a native of Shantou. Her father, Chen Chuansheng, is a Chinese arts and crafts master, and a provincial-level inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of paper-cutting. Under her father's influence, Chen Sijia forged an indissoluble bond with art, and she learned the art of paper-cutting as a child.

In 2016, Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport publicly solicited art works to enhance the cultural atmosphere of the airport. That made Chen Sijia think about other possibilities for "expressing" paper-cutting beyond its traditional form.

While conceptualizing her work, Chen Sijia thought of the International Air Transport Association code, SWA, of Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport. "For me, SWA is the 'code of home,'" she says.

Chen Sijia collaborated with her father on the project. She was responsible for creative ideas, while her father was responsible for the paper-cutting; thus, together they created an artistic style of "both traditional and modern."

The art work, SWA, uses the three letters as the carrier, and the paper-cutting as the means of expression. It embodies the historical and cultural elements of the Chaoshan area, and it depicts more than a dozen representative folk activities in the region. Over time, SWA became a landmark of Chaoshan, and a must-visit attraction for tourists after they land in Chaoshan.

Tea and Tree, in Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport



When asked about the design concept, Chen Sijia says, "Chaoshan is a famous hometown of overseas Chinese. Jieyang Chaoshan International Airport has many international flights, and domestic and foreign passengers, and it is the first stop for many overseas Chinese who are returning to their hometowns. The airport needs distinctive regional cultural characteristics to show the culture and tradition of Chaoshan. However, if it only shows tradition, it is incompatible with the modern atmosphere of the airport. So, we need to combine modernity with tradition, culture with art.

"Cooperation with my father opened my mind to the possibility of combining paper-cutting with modern art. I also came to understand paper-cutting could be used in different scenes and art works more creatively. I had a deeper feeling for the charm of paper-cutting," Chen Sijia adds. Since then, Chen Sijia has been adding paper-cutting elements to her works; during the process, she has been forming a deeper bond with her hometown, and with its culture.

Innovation and Communication

"My work is an ongoing exploration of cultural heritage, documentation, and experimentation. Paper-cutting, a traditional folk art that has been practiced in my family for multiple generations, is the unifying element I employ throughout my canvas, sculpting and public art works," Chen Sijia says.

She has adopted innovative measures to integrate traditional paper-cutting with modern art. Compared with the traditional paper-cutting material, red paper, the material commonly used by Chen Sijia, is considerably more diverse. "Materials are not only a carrier, but also a part of the artistic expression. Therefore, materials also need to be related to the contemporary times, and they need to be closely related to the theme of art creation," Chen Sijia explains.

In terms of design, traditional paper-cutting emphasizes "continuity" and "creating on one sheet of paper;" yet, Chen Sijia likes to make collages and stack paper-cuts by using different materials.

She also pays great attention to the audience's interaction with and emotional connection to her works, and she hopes the audience will participate in the creation. "I want my work to be relevant to the audience. When the audience integrates into the process of artistic creation, it is easier for them to have a sense of intimacy with the works, and to feel more from the works," she says.

Bloom, in North Kansas City, the US



While she was designing Bloom, in North Kansas City, Chen Sijia solicited opinions from locals, who she asked to explore the "urban memory" of the city in their hearts. Then, she created the images of the bridge and bee (a local mascot), and other images, in the form of paper-cutting.

"This is also the process of promoting paper-cutting, which can cause locals to have a sense of affinity for the works and paper-cutting. Paper-cutting is not an art far away in the East, paper-cutting can also be closely related to them," Chen Sijia says.

She promotes the art of paper-cutting to Americans in many ways. For example, in addition to giving lectures and workshops, she combines paper-cutting with daily necessities, and she develops derivative products for the public, so the public can gradually come to understand the art of paper-cutting through the process of using the products.

"The art of paper-cutting needs to be protected and inherited. I hope people can understand, and pay attention, to this art through my works. Only with love can there be protection and inheritance," she says.

Recording

It has oft been said art comes from life. Chen Sijia often integrates her own life experiences into her works. As she has moved far from her hometown, she pays special attention to the issues of migration, emigration and immigration. She likes to explore the diversity and inclusiveness of different regions, and she reflects on how to better promote mutual learning among civilizations.

In her series, Across Mountains and Rivers, Chen Sijia uses paper-cuts as a visual language to talk about her experiences as a first-generation immigrant. "I employ paper-cutting to create compositions that emulate and deviate from traditional Chinese painting, and that tells the story of my immigrant journey, and of those with shared experiences," Chen Sijia says.

"I incorporate materials of personal significance as media, including immigration documents, immigrant-owned restaurant menus, and magazines' advertisements. These materials transform, through the application of paper-cutting, into buildings, vehicles, rocks, trees, and they layer on top of each other to create mountains and natural formations across expansive landscapes." Visitors often stop, for lengthy periods, in front of Chen Sijia's works. It is clear to observers those people are deeply pondering her creations.

During an art exhibition, a visitor caught the attention of Chen Sijia. "He stayed at my booth for a long time. The menu of the restaurant in my artwork reminded him of the Chinese restaurant where he and his family often dined. He said the restaurant owner was always busy serving customers. It gave him a deep respect for the owner, and for Chinese people. This artwork also brought together many of his memories of the Chinese community, and the descendants of immigrants." Chen Sijia recalls.

This is what she constantly pursues  letting the works express her thoughts, and bring feelings to others. "What is more important is how the work relates to current society, whether it can reflect the artist's thinking, criticism and suggestions, and whether it can have a deep connection with the audience," Chen Sijia says.

Across Mountains and Rivers

Photos from Interviewee

(Women of China English Monthly April 2024)


Linda Painan, from Singapore, has been living in Shanghai for 27 years. She won the 2023 Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award. The award, named after the city flower, was initiated by the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, in 1989, to honor outstanding foreigners for their positive contributions to Shanghai's international exchanges and urban development. Painan is a mother of three, an entrepreneur, and an influential social activist and philanthropist in Shanghai's international community.

Painan is chairperson of The Expatriate Center (TEC) under the Shanghai Family Life Services Center, and she is deputy chairperson of Hongqiao Friendship Alliance in Shanghai's Changning District.

The TEC is a pivotal project of Shanghai Family Life Services Center. Its purpose is to help expats "build a home away from home." Supported by Changning District People's Government and the Hongqiao Sub-district Office, Painan set up a government-society-collaborative, one-stop-service platform to help expats and returned overseas Chinese better integrate into local life.



Assisting Foreigners

When Painan first visited Shanghai, she was a Deutsche Bank employee, and she had been sent to the city to follow up on a project. "After living in Shanghai for a period of time, I found that Shanghai, as China's largest economic center, and an international metropolis, had unique advantages for development. I was attracted by the city's vitality, diversity and growth potential. As my ancestors are Chinese, I thought, at that time, 'Let's come back here,'" Painan recalls.

In 1997, Painan and her husband moved to Shanghai, where they became engaged in real estate business. Later, Painan began participating in charitable activities.

When asked how she decided to create a charity that helps expats, Painan recalled the first expat she helped. It was at a nail salon, where she encountered an American woman who was struggling to communicate with the Chinese staff. Sensing the woman's distress, Painan offered to help.

The woman shared with Painan the difficulties she was experiencing in adjusting to life in Shanghai. The woman's husband was general manager of an American company's office in Shanghai. The cultural and language barriers had left her feeling overwhelmed  and isolated. She explained she had plans to return  with her 4-year-old son  to the United States that very night.



Painan encouraged the woman to give Shanghai another chance, and she emphasized the importance of keeping the family together. In the days that followed, Painan accompanied the woman as she explored life in Shanghai, and she helped the woman with translation and communication. Painan also offered insights into the city's cultural nuances.

They visited Dongjiadu, where various fabrics and numerous tailors could be found. The woman, who had a passion for designing napkins, placemats and coasters, purchased fabrics and asked a tailor to make some placemats and coasters, based on her designs.

Recognizing the woman's talent, Painan suggested she could sell the items at international school fairs, and then donate the proceeds to people in need. "In this way, her life in Shanghai became enriched, and meaningful. I helped her, and I took her to do charity work, which was also very meaningful," Painan says.

While assisting the woman, Painan realized many expats must feel somewhat helpless when they first arrive in China. Although they live well-off lives, they encounter many problems in their daily lives, especially with the cultural nuances. For that reason, Painan decided, they needed professional guidance and solutions.

In 2014, Painan volunteered at the Shanghai Family Life Services Center. In 2018, she established TEC, with the purpose of helping expats integrate into local life, and to feel at home in Shanghai.



3E International Fair

As the recipient of the 2023 Shanghai Magnolia Silver Award, Painan says, "The honor is not only a recognition of my years of community service, but also a recognition of the contributions of the expatriate community, represented by the TEC team I lead, to the development and prosperity of the city."

Under Painan's leadership, TEC has organized the 3E (Entrepreneurship, Employment, and Enterprise) International Fair for four consecutive years since 2020. The event has served as a platform that has brought together multinational and local companies in Shanghai, to create job opportunities for thousands of individuals.

Notably, the fair helps applicants, who find the right job, to directly handle tax, visa and other employment-related matters on the spot, at the information desk. As a result, the fair helps streamline the hiring process, and it provides one-stop services to applicants. To date, the fair has offered more than 1,200 job positions, and it has attracted more than 5,000 job seekers.

Furthermore, TEC provides regular consultation services to individuals seeking a work visa in China. It has invited representatives of government departments to give lectures on tax policies and foreign-related-legal consultations each year. Such events have benefited more than 50,000 individuals.

TEC has also partnered with nearly 80 institutions, to organize public-welfare lectures and themed courses on policy guidance, language and cultural exchanges, healthcare issues, foreign-related laws and children's education.

"We have also organized cultural exchanges and community-service activities, and we have raised funds for nursing homes and child-welfare facilities," says Painan. "With the support of the Cooperation and Exchange Office of the Changning District People's Government and the Hongqiao Sub-district Office, we have led Shanghai's teachers and teams of volunteers to Luchun County and Honghe Prefecture, in Southwest China's Yunnan Province, to provide character-education courses and parent-child courses to local children and parents."

Adds Painan: "In celebration of this year's International Women's Day, we will host a forum on women's leadership and entrepreneurship. Our goal is to not only promote the power of women, but also to raise funds to assist more women in need of medical and educational support, creating more opportunities for them to excel in life."



Integrating Charities, Personal Life

Beyond her endeavors at TEC, Painan incorporates philanthropy into her personal life. She runs a charity project, through which she supports children, in mountainous areas of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, so they can complete their education.

Her efforts have enabled more than 80 children to complete their studies. "I often receive letters of thanks from these children. When they say, because of our help, they can continue their studies, and even change their life trajectory, I am deeply gratified and proud," Painan says.

During COVID-19, Painan used 830,000 yuan (US $116,901) of her own income to purchase protective materials, and she donated those materials to more than 70 units in Shanghai. She also organized expats to establish an English-language, information-service center, which provided information on relevant policies and self-protection.

She also engages her children in charitable endeavors. For instance, she took her eldest son to a mountainous region, in Sichuan Province, to help a school build a water tower. During her youngest son's first and second birthday celebrations, she encouraged the guests to donate money to assist needy children in Yunnan, who required surgeries for congenital heart disease, rather than buying her son gifts. The funds raised during those two parties helped several children.



Contributing to Urban Development

Painan has also helped promote the development of Shanghai. She was once invited to a "Face-to-Face Meeting with District Party Secretary" activity, where she had the opportunity to offer her insights on the city's housing situation, and on the lives of foreigners in Shanghai. Painan also used the opportunity to emphasize the importance of individual well-being for thriving enterprises.

In 2022, Shanghai Municipal People's Congress invited Painan to participate in legislative research involving establishment of a barrier-free environment in Shanghai, and establishment of an international-communication-language environment in Shanghai. "As a foreigner living in the city, I feel honored to experience the whole-process people's democracy. I truly feel Shanghai embraces me as part of the big family," she says.

In 2023, Painan invited Siddharth Chatterjee, the United Nations Resident Coordinator in China, to visit Shanghai, and to participate in discussions involving the use of public-private partnerships to accelerate the sustainable development goals in Decade of Action. As stated on the UN's website, the Decade of Action calls for accelerating sustainable solutions to all of the world's biggest challenges  ranging from poverty and gender to climate change, inequality and closing the finance gap.

On the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China, TEC, in conjunction with Huacao International Community Development Association, invited more than 250 foreign nationals, and their families, from nearly 30 countries, to the Bund to enjoy the cruise light show. "In this land, where we stand, we deeply feel this is home," Painan says.

Future Vision

Having witnessed Shanghai's ever-changing development during recent decades, Painan says, "Great changes have taken place in the humanities, science and technology, economy, and social formation. Cultural diversity in Shanghai has increased, and the city's culture has become more colorful."

Within the context of Shanghai's continuous development, Painan has her own vision for TEC. "I hope TEC will become a more influential platform, which not only provides support to foreigners in Shanghai, but also promotes broader cultural exchanges and social integration," she says. One of her plans is to expand charity projects, especially involving education.

Painan also hopes women in TEC will become more active, and that they will share their insights and organize more meaningful activities. "Women are the core of every family. The core is good, so the family is good," she says.

Earlier this year, TEC became the first non-profit organization in China to provide public-welfare-community services on the City News Service (CNS) platform. The CNS, a platform for expats seeking official information and city services in Shanghai and China, is sponsored by the Information Office of the Shanghai Municipal People's Government, and it is managed by Shanghai Daily. "I hope it will enable a wider audience of foreign residents to easily access the information and support they require," Painan says.

Photos from Interviewee

(Women of China English Monthly March 2024)
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Joint efforts with Armenia are being made to demine border areas, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said during a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Kazakhstan, Trend reports.

A significant development in the recent negotiations is the signing of a protocol initiating the delimitation of a specific section of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border. This protocol, signed by the respective chairmen of the delimitation commissions on April 19, 2024, is notable. It's encouraging to note that, in line with this protocol's provisions, working groups and expert teams are diligently conducting their tasks within set timelines and parameters, he said.

The minister highlighted significant progress achieved within a brief timeframe.

Joint efforts have focused on demining relevant areas with the clarification of geographic coordinates and the nearly finished installation of border pillars in this region, he added.

To note, the Azerbaijani foreign minister is currently in Almaty. The upcoming round of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the "Bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations" draft is scheduled as part of this visit.

On April 30, Kazakh Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aybek Smadiarov confirmed that Azerbaijan and Armenia had affirmed their participation in the talks in Almaty.

Previously, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev extended an invitation for talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, visits the Buda Castle on invitation, and has tea with Zsuzsanna Nagy, wife of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Ding Lin]

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua)  Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on invitation visited the Buda Castle and had tea with Zsuzsanna Nagy, wife of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, here on Thursday.

The two first ladies appreciated the exhibition of Hungarian Herend porcelain and traditional embroidery craftsmanship.

Peng said she is impressed by the exquisite Hungarian porcelain and superb embroidery craftsmanship.

Porcelain and embroidery are common symbols of the civilizations of China and Hungary, Peng said, adding it is hoped that artists from both countries strengthen exchanges and mutual learning, and promote cultural integration.

The two first ladies listened to a briefing on the restoration of the Szent Istvan Hall of the Buda Castle.

Appreciating the exquisite restoration skills of Hungarian experts, Peng raised her hope that the two sides would strengthen cooperation in the protection and restoration of cultural relics, so that historical legacies could be better passed on.

Hungary is a beautiful country and its people are hospitable, Peng said during her friendly and cordial chat over tea with Nagy.

There are many similarities between the cultures of China and Hungary, and the two peoples share a deep sense of affinity, Peng said.

The friendship between the two countries has a solid foundation, she said, adding she hopes that the friendship between the two countries will be passed on from generation to generation and grow stronger over time.

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on invitation visits the Buda Castle and has tea with Zsuzsanna Nagy, wife of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Ding Lin]

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, and Zsuzsanna Nagy, wife of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, appreciate the exhibition of Hungarian traditional embroidery craftsmanship in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. Peng on invitation visited the Buda Castle and had tea with Nagy here on Thursday. [Xinhua/Yue Yuewei]

Peng Liyuan, wife of Chinese President Xi Jinping, on invitation visits the Buda Castle and has tea with Zsuzsanna Nagy, wife of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok, in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Ding Lin]

(Source: Xinhua)
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan]

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping expressed on Thursday his readiness to work with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok to carry forward the traditional friendship, deepen political mutual trust, strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation, and steer the China-Hungary relationship to higher levels.

Xi made the remarks when holding talks with Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest.

Noting that Hungary is one of the first countries to recognize New China, Xi said since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit.

The bilateral relationship has stood the test of the changing international landscape and continued to grow in depth from a friendship across the continent, to a friendly and cooperative partnership and then to a comprehensive strategic partnership, Xi said.

The China-Hungary relationship is now at its best in history, he said, adding that the traditional friendship has taken deep roots in the hearts of the people, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful outcomes.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of bilateral diplomatic relations, Xi said.

Noting that China-Hungary relations have maintained steady development over the past 75 years, Xi said the two sides should sum up valuable experience and chart the course forward.

First, Xi said, both sides should treat each other as equals, follow a development path suited to their respective national conditions, and firmly hold their destiny in their own hands.

China-Hungary friendship from generation to generation does not target any third party, nor should it be dictated by any third party, he added.

Second, the two countries should uphold mutual trust and mutual assistance, always understand each other, and firmly support each other in safeguarding their respective sovereignty, security, and development interests, Xi said.

Third, the two sides should adhere to win-win cooperation, expand cooperation in various fields within the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation, and synergize their respective development strategies, he said.

Both countries should also uphold fairness and justice, stand on the right side of history, and strive to make positive contributions to the cause of peace and development of mankind, he added.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Xie Huanchi]

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony jointly held by Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Yin Bogu]

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok inspect the guard of honor in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. Xi attended a welcome ceremony jointly held by Sulyok and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban here on Thursday. [Xinhua/Yin Bogu]

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok at the Sandor Palace in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. [Xinhua/Zhai Jianlan]

(Source: Xinhua)
Click the photo and watch the video.

* Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

* "The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples, and will inspire us to march forward with big strides," wrote Xi in a signed article published Tuesday in Politika, a Belgrade-based Serbian daily

* "The sky is the limit," said Vucic, referring to the scope of cooperation with China.

BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping wrapped up his state visit to Serbia on Wednesday, bundling up a multitude of deals and a strengthened bond of friendship with the country.

At the end of a fully-packed day, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic bid farewell to Xi at the Belgrade Nikola Tesla Airport, where he had welcomed the Chinese president the day before.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prior to their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, May 8, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Xueren]



Upgraded Ties

Earlier in the day, Xi and Vucic signed a joint statement on the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, an upgrade of relations from the comprehensive strategic partnership established in 2016.

The deal, which was declared by Xi and Vucic during their meeting in the Serbian capital, makes Serbia the first European country to build such a community with China.

Over the past few years, Xi said, the bilateral relationship has leapfrogged with historic progress, and since the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, in particular, the bilateral relationship has been enriched in substance and expanded in scope, which has become an example for China's friendly relations with other European countries.

Serbia is China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe, Xi said, adding that under the new circumstances, Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

"With this agreement, Serbia is leading the way in its relations with China," said Ivona Ladjevac, deputy director at the Institute for International Politics and Economics in Belgrade.

The announcement on deepening and elevating the comprehensive strategic partnership and building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era marks a new milestone in the history of this bilateral relationship, said Vucic.

The strategic, practical, and innovative nature of promoting bilateral relations will set a benchmark and model for cooperation between the East and the West, Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, told Xinhua in a recent interview.

Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic in Belgrade, Serbia, May 8, 2024. [Xinhua/Ding Haitao]



Stronger Ironclad Friendship

The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has stood the test of the changing international landscape, Xi said, noting that such friendship is characterized by profound historical roots, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and strong popular support.

In a signed article published Tuesday in Politika, a Belgrade-based Serbian daily, Xi wrote that the ironclad friendship between the two countries is ever-growing. "Whatever changes in the international landscape, China and Serbia remain true friends and good partners," he wrote.

The Chinese president's arrival coincides with the 25th anniversary of the NATO bombing of the Chinese embassy in the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.

In 1999, the U.S.-led NATO forces carried out savage airstrikes for 78 days against Yugoslavia, leaving more than 8,000 civilians dead or injured and nearly 1 million more displaced. On the night of May 7, exactly 25 years ago, NATO bombed the Chinese embassy, killing three Chinese journalists, including one from Xinhua.

"The Chinese people cherish peace, but we will never allow such tragic history to repeat itself," Xi wrote in the article. "The China-Serbia friendship, forged with the blood of our compatriots, will stay in the shared memory of the Chinese and Serbian peoples, and will inspire us to march forward with big strides."

Gordana, a local resident who didn't reveal her full name, referred to the bombing as a "painful memory" to her. "The cooperation between China and Serbia holds the promise of providing my children with a better life than I experienced," she told Xinhua.

Precious moments of goodwill and friendship are a signature of Xi's short but significant stay in Serbia, which lasts no more than 24 hours.

A telling moment was the grand welcoming ceremony held by Vucic on Wednesday morning with the impressive attendance of more than 10,000 Serbian people.

Crowds were waving the national flags of both countries and chanting "China! Serbia!" with applause and cheers pervading the atmosphere.

"We are here to show our friendship with China, and we want our Chinese friends know that we cherish it very much," said Milos Tosic, a college professor present at the event. Tosic told Xinhua that it is not only his opinion, but one shared "by all the people here today."

At a welcoming banquet around noon, Xi shared his nostalgic memory with Vucic, reminiscing about the Yugoslav film "The Bridge" and the song "Bella Ciao," which have become the fondest memories in his youthful days.

"China will work together with the friendly people of Serbia and make tireless efforts to build a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era," Xi pledged in his concluding remarks at the banquet toast.

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic sign a joint statement on the building of a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, after their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, on May 8, 2024. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]



Future-Oriented Partnership

During the meeting with Vucic, Xi said the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era is an upgrade of the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia, and it also represents their common values and objectives, namely, joint pursuit of development, win-win cooperation and mutual success.

In support of the building of the China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, Xi has announced six measures when he met the press together with Vucic. Notable among the measures are a free trade agreement between China and Serbia which will take effect on July 1 and an exchange program under which Serbian youths and young Serbian scientists are invited to visit China in the next three years.

"The sky is the limit," said Vucic, referring to the scope of cooperation with China.

"For Serbia, it obviously brings a great deal," said Aleksandar Pavic, a Serbian political expert. "The opening of the Chinese market with the Free Trade Agreement, academic exchanges ... those are very, very important."

"China offers a hand of cooperation on an equal footing, and offers great opportunities without conditions," Pavic said. "We've grown weary of the zero-sum game for far too long."

The substantial deals added new testimony to the special bond of ironclad friendship enjoyed by China and Serbia.

Past years have seen leapfrog growth of China-Serbia cooperation. Two-way trade in 2023 surged to 4.35 billion U.S. dollars, Chinese customs statistics showed. In 2022, China became the largest source of direct investment for Serbia. After the bilateral free trade deal takes effect, more than 60 percent of taxable items will become tariff-free immediately, and the final import volume proportion of both sides with zero-tariff items will reach about 95 percent.

Under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative are flagship projects such as the Smederevo Steelworks and the high-speed railway between Belgrade and Budapest. An integral segment of the Belgrade-Budapest railway is the high-speed train linking Belgrade and Serbia's second-largest city Novi Sad, which has transported some 6.83 million passengers over the past two years.

Serbia has long been known as "the gateway to the Balkans" on the European continent. "Everything that has been done so far and will be done in the future can serve as an example to other countries in the region and throughout Europe to get involved as much as possible," said Aleksandar Mitic, a research fellow also with the institute.

"The principle of mutual benefit can really work," said Mitic.

Serbia, undoubtedly, stands as a reliable partner for China in Europe, said Aleksandar Vojvodic, head engineer of the Clean Serbia Project of China Road and Bridge Corporation.

There will be a promising prospect for further enhancement and expansion of existing cooperation, said Vojvodic.

Video reporters: Zheng Xin, Wu Yao, Yin Jiajie, Ma Zhiyi, Shi Zhongyu, Wu Lu, Peng Zhuo, Deng Yaomin, Huang Jingwen, Wang Wei, Xue Guangpu, Wang Chao, Qi Xing;

Video editors: Zheng Xin, Wei Yin, Li Qin, Meng Ma, Zheng Qingbin, Zhang Yichi

(Source: Xinhua)
Chinese President Xi Jinping attends a welcome ceremony held by Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic prior to their talks in Belgrade, Serbia, May 8, 2024. [Xinhua/Li Xueren]

BELGRADE, May 9 (Xinhua)  Chinese President Xi Jinping concluded his visit to Serbia on Wednesday, the second leg of his six-day trip to Europe through Friday.

The following are some of the highlights of Xi's remarks and statements, as well as some important agreements reached between the two countries during his state visit to Serbia.

On China-Serbia Relations

 The ironclad friendship between China and Serbia has stood the test of the changing international landscape. Such friendship is characterized by profound historical roots, solid political foundation, extensive common interests and strong popular support.

 Over the past few years, under the leadership of Xi and Vucic, the bilateral relationship has leapfrogged with historic progress, and since the establishment of a comprehensive strategic partnership in 2016, in particular, the bilateral relationship has been enriched in substance and expanded in scope, which has become an example for China's friendly relations with other European countries.

 Actions speak louder than words. China will stand shoulder to shoulder with Serbia, share weal and woe like passengers in the same boat, carry forward the spirit of the ironclad friendship, maintain and grow their friendship, and jointly safeguard fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries.

 As the two sides pursue their respective national development and revitalization, China will join hands with Serbia to advance the building of a community with a shared future in the new era.

 Serbia is China's first comprehensive strategic partner in Central and Eastern Europe. Their bilateral cooperation has injected strong impetus into their respective development and rejuvenation, and brought tangible benefits to the two peoples.

 Under the new circumstances, Serbia has become the first European country to build with China a community with a shared future, which speaks volumes about the strategic, special and high-level China-Serbia relations.

 The China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era is an upgrade of the ironclad friendship between China and Serbia. It also represents their common values and objectives, namely, joint pursuit of development, win-win cooperation and mutual success. These are the common aspirations of China, Serbia, and all countries that are committed to independence, peace and development.

Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Belgrade for a state visit to Serbia at the invitation of Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, May 7, 2024. [Xinhua/Huang Jingwen]

On Cooperation and People-to-People Exchanges

 Standing at a new historical starting point, China will work with Serbia to jointly stay committed to the original aspiration and forge ahead together to open up a new vista in China-Serbia cooperation with stronger momentum, greater scope, and higher quality.

 By building a China-Serbia community with a shared future in the new era, the two sides should keep deepening and expanding high-quality Belt and Road cooperation and collaboration between China and Central and Eastern European countries, thus contributing to their respective modernization.

 High-quality Belt and Road cooperation between China and Serbia has achieved remarkable results. The two sides should steadily advance cooperation in traditional areas such as transportation and energy infrastructure, make sure the entire Serbian section of the Belgrade-Budapest railway go into operation as scheduled, jointly operate well their major cooperation projects, create more small and beautiful livelihood projects, and continue to generate positive economic and social impacts.

 China supports Serbia in upholding independence and pursuing a development path suited to its national conditions, and supports its efforts in safeguarding national sovereignty and territorial integrity. The two sides should continue to offer each other firm support, deepen strategic cooperation, and safeguard their respective political security and fundamental interests.

 It is important for China and Serbia to jointly reject hegemonism and power politics, and oppose bloc politics or bloc confrontation. The two sides should join hands to uphold the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, practice true multilateralism, and promote international fairness and justice.

 With the China-Serbia Free Trade Agreement set to take effect on July 1 this year, the high-standard mutual opening up between China and Serbia will surely enter a new stage.

 China will continue to import more high-quality agricultural specialties from Serbia.

 China supports Serbia in hosting Expo 2027, and will send a delegation to participate in the grand show. China encourages its enterprises to take part in the construction of relevant projects.

 China will support 50 young Serbian scientists in taking part in scientific research exchanges in China in the next three years. It is ready to work with Serbia to strengthen cooperation on artificial intelligence (AI) and endeavor to ensure humanity properly develop and utilize AI.

 China will invite 300 young Serbians to China on study and exchange programs in the next three years.

 China welcomes the opening of direct flights from Belgrade to Shanghai by the Serbian side so as to comprehensively deepen people-to-people exchanges, and encourages airlines from both sides to launch direct flights between Belgrade and Guangzhou.

(Source: Xinhua)
Signs and flags are seen at a pro-Palestinian encampment on the lawn of the Stratton Student Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on May 9.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The discussions in Almaty will significantly improve the normalization of Azerbaijani-Armenian relations, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said during a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Kazakhstan, Trend reports.

An essential aspect of the recent negotiations is the signing of a protocol initiating the delimitation of the Armenian-Azerbaijani state border. We are giving utmost importance to this procedure. I believe the discussions in Almaty will prove highly beneficial, enabling us to effectively address outstanding matters over the next two days, he said.

Bayramov further noted that regular meetings on the process of normalizing relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are an important element in the preparation of the peace agreement.

To note, the Azerbaijani foreign minister is currently in Almaty. The upcoming round of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the "Bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations" draft is scheduled as part of this visit.

On April 30, Kazakh Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aybek Smadiarov confirmed that Azerbaijan and Armenia had affirmed their participation in the talks in Almaty.

Previously, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev extended an invitation for talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Relationship reset between First Minister and Wrexham Council Leader

This article is old - Published: Friday, May 10th, 2024

There appears to be a reset in relationships between the position of First Minister and the position of Leader of Wrexham Council.

Wrexhams council leader appeared to have a strained relationship with the previous First Minister, with Mark Drakeford making a now infamous speech about how the citizens of Wrexham thought they were electing a council fit for a city and have ended up in Clochemerle.

At this months media brief we took the chance to ask Cllr Mark Pritchard if he had met the new First Minister and if there had been a reboot of relations following the well documented historic issues.

Cllr Pritchard said, Yes, I have met the First Minister. Obviously, we have had discussions with a lot of the new ministers.

With regards to relationships, I think relationships are born out of partnerships and working together. All we are asking in Wrexham, is no different than the other 22 councils? Were not different. Weve all got the same issues. All we ask is that local authorities are funded appropriately to run services. That is coming from Wrexham, from Cardiff, from RCT, from everywhere  we just wanted to be funded accordingly.

I am here to represent Wrexham and give no apologies as Leader of the Council and Lead Member of Finance to challenge both governments for extra money. Thats what I need to do. Thats my goal.

Picking out the previous references made on the floor of the Senedd around Mayor Barthelemy Piechut (a crafty individual and consummate schemer) who was looking for a personal legacy to show the superiority and progress of the village of Clochemerle, we asked if he could work with Vaughan Gething better?

Cllr Pritchard replied, What can I say? I was disappointed with the First Minister at the time. I didnt come out publicly and say anything, but anyone of that stature, whether its me as Lead Member, or the First Minister, whether its the Prime Minister, them things shouldnt have be said. Did I go public on it? No. Will I say more than I am saying now? No.

I do look forward to working with the new First Minister, and the new Minister for North Wales. It is very difficult when youre a leader of the council because youre not a popular person when youre challenging senior politicians.

I look forward to working with them both, talking to Ken Skates it is looking really positive. Lets see what the future holds.

We asked for his thoughts on the apparently enhanced Minister of the North position, and Ken Skates MS who holds that position.

Cllr Pritchard said, I look forward to working with him again, I have worked with Ken before very successfully on the Economic Ambition Board, on the Mersey Dee Alliance. I find him a very trustworthy and honest person. What I like about the Minister, hes from North Wales, he understands North Wales and will fight for North Wales.

It is not just about North Wales, I live in North Wales, and I want North Wales to be successful. We work as six leaders across North Wales together. Theres no politics, you have Independents, Conservatives, Labour, you have Plaid Cymru. You have got to work together, and thats all Im hoping that we can go forward with this new government  and its looking very positive at the moment. Lets see what the future holds.
The following speech was given by Andy Thompson, an IYSSE member in the US, at the International May Day 2024 Online Rally, held Saturday, May 4.

International May Day 2024 Online Rally

I am honored to address this May Day rally on behalf of the International Youth and Students for Social Equality, the student and youth movement of the Fourth International. I am speaking from Chicago, the birthplace of May Day exactly 138 years ago. At its founding conference, the Second International declared May Day to be International Workers Day following the frame-up of the Haymarket Martyrs who were sentenced to death in a sham trial.

The Martyrs, who included George Engel, Adolph Fischer, Albert Parsons and August Spies, had committed no crime. They were working class leaders who had led massive strikes in Chicago demanding an eight-hour workday. If they were guilty of anything it was only that they possessed an unwavering commitment to the liberation of the working class from capitalist exploitation. This terrified the ruling classes who saw to it that they be put to death.

The Haymarket Martyrs

In that era workers were denied their basic democratic rights. When they gathered together to strike or to publicly assemble for meeting and rallies, they would be openly attacked by the police acting on behalf of the capitalist class of industrialists and factory owners who were responsible for the impoverishment of millions.

Today, we see how democratic rights that were hard won in decades of struggle are being stripped away as the ruling class has embarked on a new imperialist world war.

In New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago, at Harvard, Yale and Emerson, in Germany, England, France, Italy, Australia and Japan, hundreds of thousands, if not millions have joined protests calling for an immediate end to the genocide in Gaza and the occupation of Palestine by the US-backed Zionist state of Israel.

Everywhere the protests have been met with open police violence and repression. Millions of people have now seen videos of police in riot gear charging protesters, attacking them with clubs, throwing people to the ground, tasering them, young and old carried off in handcuffs. At Ohio State University, police deployed snipers trained on demonstrators, creating the conditions for a repeat of the 1970 Kent State Massacre. In the US alone over 1,000 anti-genocide protesters have now been arrested.

Riot police assaulting UT-Austin students sitting on the grass before zip tying and arresting them. [Photo: @RyanChandlerTV]

These attacks have the full sanction of US President Genocide Joe Biden and all the members of both the Democrats and Republicans. Biden has condemned the protests, slandering them as antisemitic, and has created a new police agency to monitor and attack the protests. He promised to put the full force of the federal government behind protecting the Jewish community, by which he means Israel and its right-wing Zionist allies in the US.

Bidens phony concern over antisemitism is exposed by the fact that, in smashing opposition to Israels genocide, the White House works hand-in-glove with actual antisemites of the Republican Party, including those who advocate the Great Replacement Theory, which holds that there is a Jewish plot to eliminate white Christians from America.

In addition, Biden has transferred endless billions of dollars worth of tanks and bombs to a government in Ukraine that celebrates as its greatest national hero Stepan Bandera, whose followers enlisted in Hitlers mass murder of eastern European Jews during the Holocaust.

A special role in facilitating Bidens genocide and the war in Ukraine is being played by the Democratic Socialists of America, who include among their members Congressional representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. AOC recently appeared at the protest encampment at Columbia University in New York to feign support for the protests.

Just days before, she and Bernie Sanders joined Biden at a campaign event where they doubled down on their endorsement of his reelection. AOC held hands with Biden, the lead organizer of the Gaza genocide and the war against Russia, and called for votes to support him.

President Joe Biden with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-New York and Sen. Bernie Sanders, April 22, 2024. [AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta]

AOC and the DSA, which is a faction of the Democratic Party, are working to deceive you. They want to lead your movement against war to a dead-end trap inside the Democratic Party.

Make no concessions to these figures! They are not for you!

To all those protesting now, we also say clearly: Students and young people cannot stop the genocide or imperialism alone, and through appeals to their campus administrations to divest from the US and Israeli war machines. The fight against imperialist war and the genocide in Gaza can only be advanced through the mobilization of the international working class, the principal revolutionary force in society, which has the power to stop all weapons production and shipments.

The explosion of militarism abroad is incompatible with the right to free speech at home. The aim of this state campaign is to abolish free speech, not only on the campuses but in all areas of social and political life, in the US and internationally.

As student protesters in the US were being brutally attacked by police, in Ukraine, our Comrade Bogdan Syrotiuk of the Young Guard of Bolshevik-Leninists, which is affiliated with the IYSSE, was arrested by the fascist-infested Ukrainian secret service. Just 25 years old, he is now being framed because of his principled, internationalist opposition to the US-NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine. While it is the Zelensky regime that arrested him, political responsibility for his persecution lies with the NATO governments that back it, and above all the Biden administration.

The arrest of Comrade Bogdan and the mass arrests of youth protesting against the genocide in Gaza are interconnected developments. The fight against the Gaza genocide is a fight against imperialism, which, as Lenin stated, represents political reaction all along the line. The war in Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza mark the opening stages of World War III. As with World Wars I and II, this new imperialist redivision of the world is being accompanied by a relentless assault on democratic rights and socialist and left-wing politics.

Bogdan on November 7, 2023, the 106th anniversary of the October revolution, near a memorial dedicated to Red partisans

The IYSSE in the US and internationally calls for the immediate release of Comrade Bogdan and we pledge our full support for the campaign in his defense. This campaign must now be advanced forcefully as a central component of the building of a powerful, socialist anti-war movement in the working class!

That program is expressed clearly at this May Day rally of the International Committee of the Fourth International. Take the lessons you learn here today into your protests. The necessary strategy is to mobilize the working class against war and against capitalism. Nothing less will do. And nothing less will be tolerated.

Send delegations from your encampments to the factories. Talk with workers about their struggles. Link up with them in a joint fight!

And workers: Take up the defense of the students! The attack on their democratic rights is an attack on your entire class.

Mobilize independently of the union bureaucracies and both parties of the ruling class to immediately stop weapons deliveries and arms production for the genocide in Gaza and the war in Ukraine!

Everything now depends on merging the fight against genocide, imperialist war and the attack on democratic rights with the development of the class struggle and the building of revolutionary Marxist leadership in the working class. The IYSSE and the ICFI alone fight for this perspective.
At its annual press conference on May 8, French train manufacturer Alstom left the fate of its plants in Hennigsdorf, Bautzen and Gorlitz in eastern Germany hanging in the air.

The IG Metall union has been agreeing to job cuts and wage reductions for years. It has organised rationalisation programmes itself, arguing that this was the only way to make theseand otherplants competitive in the face of domestic and international competition. Now, 3,700 workers in these plants confront the immediate loss of their livelihoods.

Rally against job cuts at Bombardier in Gorlitz, March 4, 2017

Alstom Group CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge refused to provide clear information at the press conference, only providing hints about what lies in store. The situation was objectively complex, he said in a press interview. There is overcapacity at our sites, which is related to Bombardiers earlier market losses in Germany, he said.

A total of 9,600 people work at 13 locations in Germany. Finance daily Handelsblatt quoted the Alstom regional director saying that the capacity utilisation of the German sites was not part of the companys strategy. Orders went to Wroclaw and Katowice in Poland; Bautzen or Gorlitz would then receive what could not be completed there or had to be reworked.

The Alstom plants in eastern Germany had belonged to Bombardier until the end of 2020. After the merger between Siemens and Bombardier failed in 2017, due to objections from the European antitrust authorities, Alstom took over Bombardiers railway division at the beginning of 2021. At the time, the two companies were considered the worlds No. 2 and No. 3 global railway construction companies. Only the Chinese train manufacturer CRRC generated more revenue from the construction of rail vehicles.

The takeover of Bombardier by Alstom at the beginning of 2021 was the culmination of the concentration process in the railway construction industry for dominance on the global market and was linked to a brutal rationalisation programme to increase profits. Today, the group operates in 100 countries worldwide with around 80,000 employees.

Three years ago, Alstom CEO Henri Poupart-Lafarge offered shareholders the prospect of a double-digit increase in earnings per share as a result of increased efficiency and a stronger operating profile. From the fourth year after the takeover, cost synergies totalling 400 million per year were expected.

These cost synergies, i.e., merging and/or closing parts of the business, will take place on the backs of the employees and will be co-organised by IG Metall.

Even before 2021, the largest Bombardier plants in Hennigsdorf near Berlin, Gorlitz and Bautzen, had repeatedly cut jobs, replaced permanent workers with temporary labour, and relocated work processes to low-wage countries such as Poland or the Czech Republic. In 2017, thousands of Bombardier workers demonstrated in Hennigsdorf in defence of their jobs. But IG Metall nevertheless agreed to the loss of 2,200 jobs at the German sites.

In Gorlitz, IG Metall went so far as to agree to the piecemeal destruction of more than half of the jobs, which now total just under 700. It used the announcement by the German Bombardier Group management to invest a sum of 8 million in the company to justify the job cuts. However, this announcement was never meant seriously and, in the end, only 1 million was realised.

At Alstom, IG Metall continued in 2021 where they had previously left off at Bombardierwith continuous job cuts and wage cuts in return for worthless promises about maintaining the sites. None of these agreements were worth the paper they were written on.

In December 2021, Alstom announced a programme of cuts in Germany that included the elimination of up to 1,300 jobs. According to IG Metall, the Hennigsdorf site with Hennigsdorf Drives, Gorlitz, Bautzen, Siegen and Kassel had structural and long-term underutilisation. The union and the General Works Council it heads then engaged management consultants in order to draw up their own plan for the cutbacks that had been announced by the Group, and realised through productivity increases, and to prevent the relocation of work to foreign Alstom plants. Under the motto better instead of cheaper, the union presented a plan to make the sites competitive for the future instead of unimaginatively letting them face death by a thousand cuts, writes IG Metall on the background to the current situation.

The unions willingness to make concessions to the Group management is boundless. The IG Metall statement reads: In the event that the productivity targets are not met, the resulting gap should be compensated for with contributions from employees that are objectively measured and jointly monitored.

It was under this plan that the so-called Future Contract was concluded at the beginning of April 2023, and which runs for a term of three years. It was cynically named, Setting the course for greater competitiveness in Germany.

Specifically, the contributions of the workforce in the affected plants amounted to many million euros per year. For the most part, these affect special payments under the collective agreements, primarily holiday pay. If performance-related key figures are achieved, the wage losses will be repaid in the following year, it was said. Alstom stated that it would invest 2 percent of turnover in Germany each year in the German sites, allegedly to increase their competitiveness.

With the end of the zero-interest-rate policy, it was no longer possible to simply finance the debt with cheap loans. In autumn 2023, Alstom announced that it would again cut 1,500 jobs worldwide and sell off assets. This week, the Alstom board also announced an increase in share capital totalling 1.75 billion.

IG Metall complains that it has complied in every respect with the provisions of the Future Contract and had provided the company with givebacks covering the approximately 10,000 employees. However, the company had not honoured the agreements, it said, at least not those propagated by the union and the works council. For example, the investment requirement in Hennigsdorf has been reduced from 11 million to around 3.5 million, of which, according to IG Metall, only 600,000 have been released to date. Alstoms actions are also said to make it impossible to achieve the production targets so that the special payments saved can be repaid.

IG Metall and the works council are also complaining that the employment figures for the individual sites set out in the Future Contract are not being adhered to; in Gorlitz 64, in Bautzen 42 and in Siegen 26 fewer employees are to work than agreed. It was also six months overdue for the sites in the Group that are not covered by collective labour agreements to be bound by them.

Until the very end, IG Metall officials and the General Works Council begged for the agreement to be honoured. They appealed to the conciliation committee, but the Alstom management refused to make any concessions.

On the contrary, in February this year it announced a further programme of up to 290 job cuts in Germany. In March, even before the second payment of their holiday pay, 88.1 percent of union members in the affected plants voted in a ballot in favour of terminating the Future Contract.

IG Metall and the General Works Council pleaded with Alstoms management until the very end to give in and implement the agreed measures. However, the company did not even think about it, so the agreement was cancelled last week, according to IG Metall Oranienburg and Potsdam.

IG Metall and its works council representatives were never prepared to put up a serious fight in defence of the jobs, nor are they now. Their only concern has always been to push through the savings with imaginative proposals for cuts and nebulous promises, to bolster their role as irreplaceable co-managers. Without a Future Contract, Gorlitz has no prospects, Rene Straube, head of the works council at the Gorlitz plant and chairman of the general works council, told Tagesspiegel.

Workers at Alstomand not only in the affected plantsmust take stock and consciously break with the trade unions. There must be an end to the limitless concessions in the form of job losses, wage cuts and worsening working conditions in the name of competitiveness that the corporations use to play national and international sites off against each other.

A joint struggle with fellow workers in France, the US, Poland, the Czech Republic and many other countries for the fundamental defence of all jobs is only possible against IG Metall and union apparatuses, not with them. The defence of jobs therefore requires the establishment of independent rank-and-file action committees in which workers who are ready to fight can network internationally and jointly organise the defence of their jobsas the basis of their livelihood.

The WSWS supports the establishment of action committees independent of the trade unions and will help to establish links with workers at other sites and in other countries.

Get in touch with us by sending a WhatsApp message to the following number: +49 163 33 78 340 and register using the form below.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Regular meetings regarding the normalization of relations between Armenia and Azerbaijan are integral to the peace agreement preparation process, Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov said during a trilateral meeting with the foreign ministers of Armenia and Kazakhstan, Trend reports.

I express gratitude to the Kazakh side, particularly to the President of Kazakhstan, for initiating the next round of negotiations between our two countries' delegations. Consistent meetings on normalizing Armenia-Azerbaijan relations are pivotal in preparing a peace agreement. The last delegation meeting occurred over two months ago in Berlin, he said.

Bayramov highlighted that since the previous meeting, both sides have exchanged feedback on the draft peace agreement, along with sharing additional documents reflecting their positions on specific aspects of the negotiation process.

To note, the Azerbaijani foreign minister is currently in Almaty. The upcoming round of negotiations between the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia on the "Bilateral Agreement on Peace and the Establishment of Interstate Relations" draft is scheduled as part of this visit.

On April 30, Kazakh Foreign Ministry Spokesman Aybek Smadiarov confirmed that Azerbaijan and Armenia had affirmed their participation in the talks in Almaty.

Previously, President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev extended an invitation for talks between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
Israels attacks on the southern city of Rafah continued Thursday amid reports that talks between Israeli and Hamas representatives on a ceasefire in Cairo have broken down. The long-planned attack on the last refuge for Gazas Palestinians, where some 1.5 million people are crammed together, has blocked the main border crossings for aid into the enclave, further worsening the humanitarian catastrophe.

The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza and the Karem Abu Salem crossing from Israel into the enclave have been closed since the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) began bombarding eastern Rafah. Israel claimed that the Karem Abu Salem crossing was reopened Wednesday, but there are no confirmed reports of aid deliveries reaching Gaza. According to Gazas Government Media Office, Israel has blocked some 400 trucks from delivering supplies in the past 48 hours.

Martin Griffiths, head of the UNs relief agency, commented, The closure of the crossings means no fuel. It means no trucks, no generators, no water, no electricity and no movement of people or goods. It means no aid. The remaining hospitals in southern Gaza will be forced to close in a matter of two to three days due to a lack of fuel.

Late Thursday, an Israeli official told Reuters that talks in Cairo between Israeli and Hamas officials on a possible ceasefire had broken down and that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) would proceed with its Rafah operation. The White House acknowledged that CIA Director William Burns, who traveled to the region over the weekend to try and secure a deal, was leaving. However, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby asserted that talks were continuing.

Media reports provided extensive coverage to comments by US President Joe Biden late Wednesday that the US would not provide large bombs or artillery shells for offensive operations in Rafah. However, Kirby made clear in his remarks Thursday that what is at stake are merely tactical differences over how best to proceed with the onslaught. Benjamin Netanyahus far-right government favours a rapid escalation of the onslaught on Gaza to intensify the genocide against the Palestinians, with Israels prime minister reportedly demanding that any deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages be walled off from the IDFs military operations in Rafah.

Biden administration officials, meanwhile, feel that a temporary pause in fighting to secure the release of the remaining hostages would still leave open the possibility of a future massacre in Rafah. As Kirby put it:

Any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas hands at the negotiating table, not Israels. Thats our view.

He added:

Everybody keeps talking about pausing weapons shipments. Weapons shipments are still going to Israel. Theyre still getting the vast, vast majority of everything that they need to defend themselves.

According to an Al Jazeera report Thursday:

The CIA chief, William Burns, was in Israel yesterday. He met with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other members of the security establishment. Its been reported in Israeli media that Burns said to his counterparts that this should not be considered an end to the war, but that this should be considered a pause to the wara positive developmentand that further actions can be negotiated afterwards.

Reports on the ground indicate that Israel expanded its murderous assault to broader areas of Rafah on Thursday. Over 100,000 civilians have already been displaced from Rafah, many of whom have already fled multiple times since October 7.

Al Jazeeras Tariq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Ballah in central Gaza, noted that mass destruction, lethal force is being used on the ground against not only the eastern areas but also  in the middle and western parts of Rafah. One of the areas those sheltering in Rafah have been ordered by the IDF to flee to is al-Mawasi, where some 400,000 people are already located. Abu Azzoum reported, Bombardment there continued without any kind of letup.

A major bombardment was also reported in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City in the north, where at least 25 targets were struck and dozens of civilians were reported dead.

In occupied East Jerusalem, a group of armed far-right Israelis set fire to the headquarters of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), which is the central coordinating agency for the delivery of aid into Gaza. Although no casualties were reported, UNRWA was forced to close the location.

Our director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up, commented UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.

Matthew Holloway, country director for the World Food Programmes Palestine operations, said that the aid organisations main warehouse in Rafah is inaccessible and only one bakery is operating in the city. Supplies of food and fuel in Gaza will only last 13 days. Without them, our operations will go into standstill, he added.

Israels war cabinet met Thursday, with sources indicating that there is overwhelming support for escalating the attack on Rafah. Israel must continue the operation in Rafah more vigorously, expand it and occupy the city, an official told the newspaper Israel Hayom. There is unanimity in the cabinet on this matter.

At a press conference Thursday, IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari declared that the military has the arms it needs to conduct its onslaught on Rafah, regardless of the widely reported suspension of a shipment of 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs by the US.

The army has armaments for the missions it plans and for the missions in Rafah too. We have what we need, Hagari said. Itamar Yaar, a former deputy head of Israels National Security Council and chief executive of Commanders for Israels Security, a group representing the views of former security officials, backed up this assessment, describing the suspension of the shipment as symbolic.

Yaar added:

Its not some kind of American embargo on American munitions support, but I think its some kind of diplomatic message to Mr Netanyahu that he needs to take into consideration American interests more than he has over the last few months.

As the World Socialist Web Site has explained from the outset of Israels devastating bombardment of Gaza, American interests revolve around exploiting the genocide of the Palestinians to escalate towards a region-wide war targeting Iran.

Washington views Israels Final Solution of the Palestinian question as a key component of its push to consolidate its domination over the energy-rich and strategically important Middle East by subjugating Tehran and defeating China and Russia. The Middle East is for US imperialism one front in a rapidly evolving third world war in which the major imperialist powers are determined to redivide the world in their interests.

Viewed in this context, the Biden administrations apparent attempts to temporarily restrain Israels onslaught by pushing for a short-term ceasefire are bound up with broader considerations of timing in escalating the world war on all fronts.

The massive $95 billion military support package, which included $61 billion for the US-NATO war on Russia in Ukraine, $26 billion for Israel, and some $8 billion to turn Taiwan into a US military base against China, enabled the sending of long-range missiles to the far-right Kiev regime capable of striking well inside Russia.

The vast sums for arming Israel were not only aimed at helping the Zionist regime to exterminate the Palestinians in Gaza, but also to act as Washingtons lead attack dog in a looming war with Iran. Kirby referred to the aid package Thursday, stressing that the full sum set aside for Israel would be spent.

Evidently, US imperialism hopes that the billions in additional military assistance will strengthen its ally for a war with Iran that would be a far less one-sided conflict than the seven-month massacre of defenceless civilians in Gaza.

Only the intervention of an international anti-war movement led by the working class can stop the imperialist-backed Gaza genocide and the escalating third world war. The protests by students around the world against the complicity of US and European governments in Israels bloody onslaught must turn to the working class, which must mobilise to halt the supply and manufacturing of all military equipment destined for Israel.

Workers must come to the defence of the protesting students, who face ruthless state repression, and build a unified movement to fight imperialist war and genocide by putting an end to the capitalist social order that is plunging humanity into barbarism.
According to a tracker maintained by Students 4 Gaza, students at 182 schools have established protest encampments against the genocide in Gaza.

Global map showing where Gaza solidarity encampments have been established in the last month. [Photo: https://students4gaza.directory/openstreetmap.org]

As of this writing, tents have not only sprung up across campuses in the US, but in dozens of countries including Japan, Australia, Brazil, Argentina, Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, Turkey, Germany, France, Tunisia, Italy and Austria, among others.

The encampments, led by students and in many cases joined by faculty, have been overwhelmingly peaceful. This has not prevented far-right pro-genocide elements and police forces from violently attacking students and their supporters, often with the blessing of university administrators and government officials.

As this is being written, over 2,600 people have been arrested in the United States for participating in anti-genocide encampments on or near school campuses. Almost all of these arrests have targeted pro-Palestinian supporters.

Anti-genocide protesters return to the University of Chicago's quad outside Levi Hall, the university's main administration building, near an encampment that was dismantled in the pre-dawn hours by university police, Tuesday, May 7, 2024, in Chicago. [AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast]

In the face of police and right-wing violence, as well as personal and professional repercussions, courageous students at the California State University, Los Angeles, established their Gaza solidarity encampment last week on May 1.

Jake, a history student at Cal State and participant in the encampment, told the World Socialist Web Site that among the students demands are for the university to cut all investments and cut financial ties to Israel. We want to engage in a full academic boycott of any partnership with institutions, universities and organizations that invest in, support and legitimize the Zionist regime of Israel.

He added,

We want Cal State LA to call for an end to the occupation. We demand the CSULA president release a statement condemning the occupation, colonization and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people by Israel, including a call for a permanent ceasefire. We also demand amnesty for all protesters, including from future suspensions or expulsions.

Memorial for the martyrs of Gaza at Cal State Los Angeles. [Photo: Students For Justice in Palestine at California State University Los Angeles]

As the interview was being conducted, a Republican-led subcommittee in the House of Representatives was concluding the latest bogus antisemitism hearing. The hearing, as was the case with previous congressional sessions featuring school administrators, was not called to actually deal with the threat of antisemitism, but to slander anti-genocide protesters in an attempt to stifle the growing anti-war movement.

The Gaza solidarity encampment at Cal State Los Angeles, May 2024. [Photo: Students For Justice in Palestine at California State University Los Angeles]

Asked to comment on the claim that opposition to genocide against the Palestinians is antisemitic, Jake replied:

Its the classic strategy of trying to tie all criticism of Israel to antisemitism, to delegitimize it.

This has always been the goal of Zionist organizations, who want to delegitimize any sort of criticism, including by Jews who criticize Israel. Its all pretty disgusting, but thats its own uniquely kind of disgusting form of smearing criticism of Zionism and of Israel. Were not antisemitic, of course.

I would just like to reiterate that we have a problem with Israel because of its nature as a settler colonial state and because of the genocide that is currently perpetrated. We would have a problem with any genocide going on right now.

Reflecting on the bipartisan campaign to smear anti-genocide protesters, Jake added:

Democrats for a long time have basically had, on both foreign policy and domestic economic policy, essentially identical opinions to Republicans. They have no problem with Israel, and no problem with Zionism, or just imperialism in general. We saw that as far back as the Iraq War. Tons of Democrats voted for the Iraq war and supported it.

Jake explained that there are many other things Cal State LA should be investing in instead of Israel.

Even beyond the fiscal situation of a lot of students, which is, I thinkmaybe dire is the wrong word, but uniquely precarious for a lot of Cal State LA students. We have a very high working class population in the student body, as well as a very high non-white population in the student body

The continued funding for Israel and genocide is the focus of a lot of these universities, or at least, a higher priority than their students. At Cal State LA, one of our buildings where classes are held, King Hall, was discovered at the beginning of the semester to have asbestos in it. And since then, it has been discovered it also has mold and lead in it.

So a university certainly should be spending the money on that, on fixing that, rather than on genocide. And the fact that they havent, really shows that they dont care about their students as much as they should, at least.

Jake said that since the encampment was established last week, A lot of people have come by to support us, including teachers with Faculty for Justice in Palestine.

Anti-genocide students and their supporters rally at Cal State Los Angeles, May 2024. [Photo: Students For Justice in Palestine at California State University Los Angeles]

Asked to comment on the role of the police in suppressing encampments, including over 2,500 arrests in the last three weeks, Jake observed:

The police exist to maintain the current order, right? In the United States they continue to partner with Israel, the LAPD, and I believe a lot of other police departments around the United States are actually trained by the IDF So it makes a lot of sense that they are the ones suppressing these protests.

He continued:

Its very exciting to see strikes and industrial labor action. It is something that can actually make a difference aside from voting the political parties.

I believe definitely there needs to be more action. Im a history student. Over the course of the 20th century, a lot of that radicalism was drained away from the trade unions, in large part due to violent suppression from the government and from capital.

So the labor unions that remain are the ones who are inoffensive to the government, and that means that they are not organizations that can necessarily be trusted in a moment like this when we need to make decisions that are against the dictates of capital and against the interests of the American government.

I do appreciate that rank and file workers in these unions do support Palestine and want action from their unions. But I think similarly to how we feel about Joe Bidens politics, I think that the rank-and-file members need to take things into their own hands in order to force that.
In the first week of this month, unions held rallies in Australias capital cities to coincide with May Day. They were dismal affairs revealing the further degeneration of the official events that supposedly mark the international day of workers solidarity.

Part of the Sydney May Day rally on May 1, 2024

That was epitomised by the rally held in Sydney on May 1, which involved around 5,000 workers, mostly in the construction industry. Although it is not a public holiday, members of the Construction, Forestry and Maritime Employees Union (CFMEU) down tools for half a day each year.

It was held under conditions of widespread opposition and protests to Israels genocidal war on the Palestinian population of Gaza, backed by the federal government, and to Labors broader program of austerity and war. The last thing the unions wanted was a mass rally where these sentiments could be expressed.

Paul Keating, Sydney branch secretary of the Maritime Union of Australia (MUA), had the task of posturing as a critic of Israel while covering up the complicity of the Labor Party and the unions in supporting the Zionist regimes war.

We have an Israeli state thats an apartheid state, thats waging this brutality, dehumanising our Palestinian people, he declared. However, the MUA, which covers most waterfront and seafaring workers in the country, has ensured that Australian exports of weapons components and other goods to Israel have proceeded virtually without interruption over the past seven months.

Paul Keating, MUA Sydney branch secretary

Keating excused the MUAs refusal to mobilise workers against the genocide by referring to Australias draconian anti-strike laws, which render most industrial action, particularly political strikes, illegal except as part of an enterprise bargaining dispute. Again, with his characteristic empty bluster, he declared workers needed to come together to fight these rotten industrial laws.

Keating noted that a Labor government had introduced this legislation. But it is the unions that have played the key role in supporting the laws and used them mercilessly as an excuse to suppress industrial action by workers. On this, Keating was silent.

Keating implied that workers themselves were to blame for the lack of action, saying, Just think comrades, if we were prepared to organise across our communities and across the country and shut the system down. A general strike, with all the demands that we want.

Neither Keating nor any other union bureaucrat has the slightest intention of fighting for a general strike, as their long record of sabotaging and betraying strikes demonstrates. In reality, if workers demanded such action, they would all work might and main to prevent it.

In response to the barbaric war crimes being carried out in Gaza by the Zionist regime, the MUA has not shut the ports down for a single day, let alone called for broader industrial action.

The unions hostility to blocking exports to Israel was demonstrated at a community picket at Melbournes Webb Dock in January. Over several days, protesters resisted repeated attempts by pepper-spray-wielding police to break up the demonstration.

Initially, union officials allowed workers to refuse to cross the picket, on health and safety grounds. But when management arranged a bus to transport workers across the picket with a police escort, the MUA urged organisers to shut down the protest, even though workers were refusing to board the bus.

At the May Day rally in Sydney, Keating concluded his remarks with an appeal to Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, declaring, We demand a permanent ceasefire and our government can demand that too.

What a fraud! The Labor government has backed the Israeli genocide to the hilt and is now in the forefront of falsely branding all opposition as antisemitism to provide the pretext to close down all protests in support of the Palestinians.

The unions, including the MUA, are intimately connected to the Labor Party and support its program. Indeed, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was given a warm welcome at the MUAs recent national conference to discuss the Maritime Strategic Fleet, part of military preparations for broader US-led wars against Russia and China. That underscored the role of the union apparatus as an industrial police force for government and big business.

The phoney posturing of Keating and the MUA as supporters of the Palestinians is only possible because the various pseudo-left organisations and the Palestinian activist groups to which they are closely tied have consistently covered up the treacherous role of the unions and shielded them from political opposition.

Keating introduced Jana Fayyad, a leading figure in the Palestine Justice Movement, who urged the unions to do more. She cited a call by the Palestinian General Federation of Trade Unions for unions to intensify actions, to strike, to do a general strike against the complicity of the governments in genocide.

Fayyad said nothing about the fact that the bureaucrat who had just handed her the microphone, along with every other union official in the country, has ignored repeated calls for strike action by the Palestinian unions.

Fayyad then issued a shout out to the ACTU [Australian Council of Trade Unions], whose recent statement, she claimed, was a call to action for all unions across Australia. In fact, the ACTU statement was nothing more than another futile appeal to the federal Labor government, whose leading figures, Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, Fayyad had moments earlier denounced as war criminals.

The fact that union bureaucrats at the May Day rallies felt the need to address the Gaza genocide is a reflection of the substantial opposition among workers to Israels war crimes and the broader escalation of militarism around the world.

Construction workers marching in Sydney on May 1, 2024

Socialist Equality Party members at the Sydney rally found widespread support for the people of Gaza, and for strike action to stop shipments of weapons and other goods to Israel. Many workers had not heard of the call from Palestinian trade unions for such action, first made in Octobernot surprising, as unions here have not publicised the call and have blocked any industrial action.

As for the appeals from the platform to the Labor government, a number of workers said they no longer saw any difference between Labor and the Liberal Party. Others expressed skepticism in the unions.

In stark contrast to the union rallies, the World Socialist Web Site International May Day 2024 Online Rally advanced a historically and theoretically grounded strategy and program for the building of a global movement of workers and young people against war, genocide and all other attacks on the working class. It can be viewed here.
Workers at the Stellantis Warren Stamping plant in suburban Detroit told a World Socialist Web Site reporting team Thursday that the strike vote this week over health and safety issues reflected broader concerns over deteriorating conditions and management attacks, including the mass firing of temp workers.

On Monday, workers at Warren Stamping voted by 72 percent to authorize the UAW to call a strike over accumulated health and safety grievances. These include lack of maintenance, hazardous work areas and lack of safety equipment.

They havent ordered cardboard in 3-4 weeks one worker told the WSWS. We used to get in trouble for not putting cardboard down. Now, we can do it without cardboard. They are being cheap.

Workers arrive for second shift at Stellantis Warren Stamping May 9, 2024

The bathrooms are terrible. The presses arent being fixed, parts are not being ordered. A lot of downtime is incurred, which they blame on the workers. Thats how they [justify] layoffs

But then we have the CEO (Carlos Taveres) walking away with a $39 million contract. They want to put more money in the shareholders pockets.

Another worker said, There are oily spots on the floor, leaks in the ceiling and they dont issue gloves. If they do, its sparingly, Heres two for you, etc. There used to be gloves anytime.

Of course, the leaks in the ceiling means water when it rains. The fans need to be repaired badly. Its not even hot yet and its already bad in there. Those affect health because people can fall out. They have exhaust fans built into the walls to suck out the hot air, but none of them work. Instead they are blowing hot air.

Workers who spoke to the WSWS said the strike vote over health and safety reflected growing anger over many issues, included the mass firing of temp workers and deteriorating conditions in the wake of the 2023 contract. One worker noted that workers had also recently voted to strike over local contract issues as well. We havent had a local contract in 20 years, he reported.

At Warren Stamping, 34 temporary workers were terminated in January as part of hundreds of terminations of temp workers company-wide. Mass layoffs have hit the Mack Avenue Assembly Plant in Detroit (2,400), and also the Toledo Assembly Complex. In total over 2,000 temp workers have been fired by Stellantis in the wake of the ratification of the 2023 contract. To get the contract ratified, UAW President Shawn Fain falsely claimed that current temp workers with more than nine months would be promoted to full time status.

Cuts have hit the other Detroit automakers as well. Ford recently eliminated a shift at its Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan. This week the UAW revealed that all 145 temporary workers at the GM parts distribution center, Customer Care and Aftersales (CCA), in Burton, Michigan, outside of Flint, were being laid off.

The toll on workers from the deteriorating work conditions was tragically highlighted by the April 17 death of 46-year-old Tywaun Long at the Ford Rouge complex in Dearborn, Michigan. After collapsing on the assembly line it took emergency medical responders nearly 30 minutes to reach the scene, too late to revive the worker. Workers told the WSWS that Long had complained of not feeling well before he collapsed, but supervisors had denied his request to be relieved.

A Warren Stamping skilled trades worker spoke on the 2023 national auto contract, There have been things that havent been delivered that we were promised.

Asked about the layoffs the worker said, A lot of people feel that if you are going to cut the work force, slow down some of the lines or give us a little bit more breaks.

As for the claims by Biden and Fain that the UAW 2023 agreement was a record contract the worker said, It was a record contract, because we hadnt had anything for 20-30 years. But inside that contract there was a hidden agenda. Now, its ok, we wont fix anything, and lay off the low-level people and make the upper level people work harder, which isnt fair.

They are going that route to put more money in the shareholder pockets.

The WSWS campaign team also distributed copies of the statement The working class must take up the fight against the genocide in Gaza and in defense of democratic rights.

The WSWS campaigners noted the upcoming strike vote by UAW Local 4811 covering 48,000 graduate teaching assistants at the University of California. The strike vote was called in response to the immense anger over the brutal police attacks on anti-genocide protestors at UCLA, part of a wave of repression of pro-Palestinian student protests initiated with the support of the Biden administration.

A Warren Stamping worker said of the arrest of more than 2,000 students nationally, There is a First Amendment. Adding, The arrests are unconstitutional.

They should give Israel an ultimatum for a ceasefire. He said, If we do have a war, its not the rich who will fight the war, it is the middle class and poor.

Speaking of the choice workers are presented between two pro-war candidates, Biden and Trump, the worker said, A lot of people dont vote because they think the system is rigged. They are making it hard on the worker. Then when they do a tax cut for the rich, we have to pay for it. They say it will trickle down and it wont affect the middle class, but it always does.

About the war drive underway by the entire ruling class, another worker said, Its not the rich kids that get sent to war. I wish the world was more peaceful. We are the ones who pay the price.

In a statement on the strike vote, Jerry White, the Socialist Equality Partys candidate for US vice president said:

Workers at the Warren Stamping plant have voted overwhelmingly for strike action against unsafe conditions, job cuts and the overloading of their jobs. These conditions have only worsened since the sellout agreement backed by the UAW bureaucracy last year. Warren Stamping workers are expressing the anger of workers across the country, in fact, across the world, over the demands they sacrifice their health and well-being for corporate profit. Next week, UAW members at the University of California are voting for strike action to defend students and their own members for protesting the genocide in Gaza. Rank-and-file workers want to fight but the biggest obstacle is the UAW apparatus, which is aligned with Biden and the pro-war Democrats. Warren Stamping workers should build a rank-and-file committee to take the conduct of this struggle into your own hands and demand strike action by all UAW members against capitalist exploitation, war and the attack on democratic rights by both big business parties.
The Australian political and media establishment is escalating a hysterical campaign against pro-Palestinian encampments at university campuses. Each day brings new warnings that the relatively small and peaceful protests pose an unacceptable threat and must be dealt with by the authorities.

Anti-Gaza genocide camp at the University of Melbourne

Over recent weeks, encampments have spread from the University of Sydney and the University of Melbourne, where they were first established, to at least nine other campuses across the country, including in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, South Australia and Tasmania.

While inspired by the mass student protests in the US that have been brutally attacked, the encampments in Australia remain relatively small, generally involving only dozens of people directly.

That has not prevented the government, media and Zionist forces from denouncing the encampments and calling for them to be shut down. As in the US, the predominant official line is that the encampments are antisemitic and jeopardise the safety and feelings of Jewish students.

This racialist line, based on the false conflation of Jewish people with the militarist Israeli state, continues to be trotted out even though significant layers of Jewish students are directly involved in the encampments. At a protest at the University of Sydney encampment last week, for instance, an absolute majority of speakers were themselves Jewish.

The campaign is being spearheaded by the federal Labor government, which continues to support Israels genocide of the Palestinians in Gaza, including the catastrophic offensive against Rafah that is currently underway. Senior government representatives have vilified student protesters, while suggesting that basic slogans supporting the Palestinians are beyond the pale.

On Monday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced the slogan From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. It was an attack on the supposed two-state solution, he said, rejecting Israels purported right to exist as an increasingly fascistic ethno-state.

Albaneses comment was followed by a frothing denunciation of the slogan by Dennis Richardson, former head of the domestic spy agency ASIO. In statements reported by the Australian on Tuesday, Richardson said the From the river to the sea chant was a very violent statement which could easily flow over into actions of violence against communities.

Albanese reportedly agreed with those characterisations in an interview for an upcoming Sky News documentary by former Liberal parliamentarian Josh Frydenberg, which is aimed at slandering all opposition to Israel as antisemitic.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at Point Loma naval base, March 13, 2023, San Diego [AP Photo/Evan Vucci]

Such comments, from the prime minister and Richardson, who remains a prominent figure in intelligence circles, amount to a declaration that support for the Palestinians will be treated as a threat to national security, and even as terrorist incitement.

In fact the chant, which has been used for decades, is a call for an end to the suppression of the Palestinians fundamental democratic and human rights, and for the abolition of what prominent human rights organisations, including within Israel, have deemed to be an apartheid system. It would be as though calls for an end to apartheid in South Africa were smeared as the advocacy of violent terrorism.

It is Israel, moreover, which is seeking to establish untrammelled hegemony from the river to the sea, as declared in the official platform of the governing Likud Party, by completing the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

Parallel with this broader ideological offensive, senior Labor figures have called for direct attacks on the encampments. On Wednesday, Labors Education Minister Jason Clare asserted that many of the protesters were not students. He demanded that university administrations throw the book at such blow-ins and clear them off campuses.

There are indications that such a physical clear out is being prepared. This morning, the Age reported that Victoria Police had written to university authorities in that state, warning that unless the encampments were dispersed there would be a strong likelihood of violence.

Monash University in Melbourne informed students yesterday that they will face immediate academic discipline if they use the from the river to the sea chant. Management at the University of Queensland has confirmed to the media that it has referred unspecified incidents involving the student encampment there to state police.

The accusations of violence are a sham, with not a single incident emanating from the encampments having been identified.

There have, however, been two violent attacks on the camps by Zionist thugs. In one incident at Monash, in the early hours of May 2, men carrying Israeli and Australian flags threatened and intimidated those in the encampment and damaged property as security looked on. Activists have reported that on Monday night, the camp at Adelaide University was attacked with fireworks. These incidents have been almost universally blacked out by the official press.

While governments, pro-Israeli Zionist organisations and the corporate media clearly want an end to the encampments, it is increasingly clear that they are being used as the pretext for a far broader attack on protests and opposition. That is in line with the initial response of Labor governments at the state and federal level in October, which was to threaten to ban all demonstrations opposing the Israeli onslaught.

The Murdoch media has published a continuous stream of deranged and frothing condemnations of the protests. But it was an article in the supposedly liberal Sydney Morning Herald yesterday that summed up the authoritarian character of the campaign.

Under the headline When university students endorse terror, its time for political intervention, its author David Crowe repeatedly asserted that the encampments were in support of Hamas, which he noted is a proscribed terrorist organisation in Australia.

Crowe combined this line, suggesting that the encampments be treated as a terrorist threat, with a dose of rabid McCarthyism, denouncing the involvement of groups that claim to be socialist in them.

Getting to the crux of his argument, Crowe asked The question for anyone who demands action is simple: what law would you use? How can it be suddenly illegal to shout intifada at the University of Melbourne when nobody has been charged for saying it outside the State Library? There were laws against incitement to violence, he noted, but perhaps they were not enough.

Crowe wrote: One logical step is to move fast to ban hate speech. The Coalition is now calling for the reform, while Labor has promised to put the draft law to parliament. Dreyfus has not put a time frame on when he will reveal the bill, which means Labor will be exposed to claims that it is taking too long on a pressing problem. There is now a very strong case to make the change as soon as possible.

That is a call to ban all opposition to the genocide, not only on university campuses, but across society. It has a far broader application than even the question of the onslaught on Gaza, as significant as that is.

Australias support for the Israeli war crimes is inextricably tied to the US alliance, including in this region, advanced preparations for a catastrophic war directed against China. The Labor government, together with national security commentators, including in the Herald, have insisted that the military build-up in preparation for such a war must be a whole-of-nation and whole-of-society effort. They have explicitly warned against political opposition obstructing the war drive, and insisted on the need to subordinate civil society to the military effort.

The far-reaching attacks on democratic rights that are underway underscore the urgent necessity of a struggle in defence of civil liberties, against the genocide and the broader program of imperialist war, of which it is a part.

While the student encampments are of symptomatic significance, pointing to the opposition that exists, they are dominated by a completely bankrupt political perspective. The pseudo-left tendencies that are centrally involved have limited the encampments to appeals to each individual university administration to cut ties with Israel. That is in keeping with the attempts of the fake-left to limit all opposition to the genocide to impotent appeals to the Labor government and the powers-that-be to change course.

As the Socialist Equality Party and the IYSSE have insisted, the student encampments and protests must be defended from the state and Zionist attacks being launched against them. Workers in the universities and more broadly must take independent action to oppose these blatant attacks on democratic rights.

Australias corporatised trade unions have not taken a single industrial action against the genocide, despite a desperate appeal by Palestinian unions on October 16 for strikes and other measures to halt the transport of weapons and supplies to Israel.

That underscores the need for workers to form rank-and-file committees independent of the union bureaucracy to mobilise their profound strength to defend the student protests and to stop any supply to Israel that enables the continued genocide against the Palestinian people.

This poses the need for a socialist program directed against the source of war and authoritarianism, the capitalist system.
The World Socialist Web Site stands ready to assist all healthcare workers who want to oppose the police crackdowns. Get in touch with us by filling out the form below (all submissions will be kept anonymous).

Healthcare workers march in San Francisco, California, October 28, 2023.

The World Socialist Web Site Healthcare Workers Newsletter urges medical professionals across the US and the world to organize in defense of students.

We endorse the recent statement by the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees calling for a nationwide and international strike to force an end to the assault on the basic right to free speech. Healthcare workers, who have been at the forefront in opposing the genocide in Gaza, must be at the forefront of actions by the working class to end the war on Palestinians and on free speech.

The constitutional rights to free speech and assembly are under attack. If they can use riot cops against peaceful student protests today, then tomorrow they will use them against workers on the picket line demanding safe staffing.

Both corporate parties support the war and the crackdown. Despite the slander of antisemitism against protesters, many of whom are Jewish, Democrats are working with real antisemites in the Republican party such as Marjorie Taylor Greene against the demonstrations. And both parties came together to pass funding for tens of billions in military funding for Israel, as well as to Ukraine, whose military is stuffed with neo-Nazis.

The same politicians claiming peaceful protests against genocide are intolerable disruptions to order never batted an eyelash when hospital morgues were stuffed full of bodies during endless and continuing surges of the pandemic. In fact, just as they both join hands against students, they joined hands to rip up public safety measures against the pandemic, including basic things like masking and quarantining.

Healthcare workers across the country have been deeply affected by the scenes in Gaza, particularly the targeted attacks and mass murders in hospitals. From the beginning of the war, they have courageously taken the lead in organizing protests demanding a ceasefire. In open letters, demonstrations, vigils and social media campaigns, they have expressed outrage over the denial of healthcare, famine conditions, spread of disease and direct killings of patients.

Healthcare workers see Palestinian aid workers as their brothers and sisters. While Israels targeting of Gazas health system has little precedent since World War II, they see parallels between the physical destruction of Palestinian healthcare and the profit-driven starving of resources of healthcare in the United States and other so-called advanced economies.

Both have their source in the same profit interests. The massive criminal wars, spanning from Ukraine to the Middle East and with new fronts being prepared against China, are not being waged to defend human rights or democracy but for natural resources and supply chains.

Healthcare workers in the homefront find it impossible to fulfill their Hippocratic Oath as long as they are hamstrung by for-profit medicine. Healthcare workers struggle through shift after shift with unsafe staffing, impossible workloads and a lack of basic supplies.

The ruling class is attacking the basic social right to healthcare, which it views as a wasted expense.

The hospital system in the US has been crippled by four years of profit-driven pandemic policies. Meanwhile, the pandemic continues to rage. Some 573 lives were lost in the first week of April. Tens of millions are suffering from Long COVID. New viruses, such as the avian flu (H5N1), have the potential to ignite into new pandemics.

Tens of thousands are being laid off or leaving the profession due to exhaustion. Even worse staffing problems are in the offing, as Wall Street seeks to offload the heavy indebtedness of US healthcaredue to mergers and acquisitions, not patient careonto the backs of medical professionals.

Many of the universities conducting crackdowns, such as the University of California, are associated with major hospitals networks and medical schools. This underscores the fact that students and medical workers face the same fight.

Next weeks strike vote by UC graduate students from United Auto Workers Local 4811 is extremely significant because it shows there is growing recognition that the fight against genocide requires the class struggle. Healthcare workers, especially in the UC Health System, must give this action the widest support.

Students have taken a courageous stand. Their struggle is only the beginning and must be the spark that ignites an even more powerful movement of the working class. The fight against genocide and imperialist war cannot be resolved on the campuses, but rather in the hospitals, factories, warehouses, railroads and docks. The working class is the most powerful social force on earth, as long as it is properly organized and has a strategy based on a realistic understanding of its friends and enemies.

Among its enemies is the trade union bureaucracy, which worked with management to impose sellouts. On the West Coast, groups like the United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and the Alliance of Healthcare Unions have worked to block or limit strikes to only a day or two. They have rammed through deals which contain no real improvements to staffing, but millions in corporate funding for the unions themselves.

The UAW bureaucracy is attempting to do the same to the graduate students. They are isolating the strike vote and have delayed it as long as they can. They have said their goal is not to strike at all, but to reach an agreement with the UC administration to shut down the protests in exchange for toothless divestment pledges, like the betrayal at Northwestern University.

The UAW bureaucracy itself refuses to even divest its own holdings in Israel, and is joined at the hip with Genocide Joe Biden. To get in front of the protests, they approved a ceasefire resolution in December, only in January to endorse Biden and even work with riot cops to shield him from protests when he visited them in Detroit.

Officials in other unions, such as the Transport Workers Union and American Federation of Teachers, have even joined the slander of the students as violent and antisemitic.

Both Democrats and Republicans want to put American society on a war footing, and Biden sees in the union bureaucrats a way to impose labor peace. That is why he and UAW President Shawn Fain crow about the so-called Arsenal of Democracy during World War II, declaring that workers today, as then, must build aircraft carriers and tanks.

The fight by workers against the war must be connected to a fight against the bureaucracy. Healthcare workers can take the initiative out of the hands of bureaucrats by organizing rank-and-file strike committees to countermand their attempts to rein in the anti-war movement.

The fight against war is a class issue. The same ruling elite attacking protesters are carrying out mass layoffs and starving healthcare and other social programs. An end to the genocide in Gaza and the unfolding third world war can only be enforced by the working class.

The World Socialist Web Site stands ready to assist all healthcare workers who want to oppose the police crackdowns. Get in touch with us by filling out the form below (all submissions will be kept anonymous).
An encampment of students at George Washington University in Washington D.C., set up to protest the ongoing US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza, was broken up early Wednesday morning by Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers. Thirty-three people were arrested as the encampment was cleared out.

Workers carry student tents to a dump truck after police cleared a pro-Palestinian tent encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday and arrested demonstrators, Wednesday, May 8, 2024 [AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana]

The demonstrators had been camping at University Yard since April 25, one of many protest camps at universities worldwide that had sprung up after New York City police launched an attack on protesting students at Columbia University in April.

The students are demanding that the university divest from corporations involved with the Gaza genocide; make all investments transparent; protect pro-Palestinian speech on campus and drop charges against protesters who had been suspended on April 26 after they had ignored a demand by GWU officials to end the encampment.

MPD Chief Pamela Smith cited a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest.[W]orking closely with the GW administration and police, MPD moved to disperse the demonstrators from the GW campus and surrounding streets. Smith said that police moved in on Wednesday to break up the encampment after repeated warnings to disperse were ignored.

The dispersal came after approximately two hundred protesters staged a demonstration outside the home of GWU president Ellen Granberg on Tuesday night. Protesters had demanded Granberg negotiate over the students demands and rescind suspensions handed out to a number of the student activists the previous week.

During the police attack, a group of demonstrators engaged with police near the campus and were arrested. Twenty-nine of those arrests were for unlawful entry, while four were for assaulting a police officer.

A comment posted on social media by an activist states, DC Mayor Bowser stated that students and community members assaulted police officers earlier this morning after hundreds of cops raided the @dmvsjp Gaza solidarity encampment at 3:30 AM. We have dozens of videos and footage of MPD & GWPD assaulting, punching, shoving, & pepper spraying the students and community members who were supporting the arrested students.

A post on social media by one of the activist groups highlighting an incident that occurred with police earlier also demonstrates the false character of the polices claims of assault:

An Arab student attempted to raise the Palestinian flag for the fifth day in a row, GWPD assaulted and injured him by slamming a metal lockbox on his hand. As students attempted to put up the flag again, GWPD pulled out a knife on a group of students and alumni while desperately brutalizing and grabbing at students. They threatened to arrest every single student, and ripped down our flag, tearing it in the process. GWPD would rather assault and pull out a knife on students than let the Palestinian flag fly

On Thursday, participants from the encampment held a widely attended rally across from University Yard, denouncing the violent destruction of the camp. Students declared their determination not to be intimidated and condemned the university administration for condoning police assault on its students.

The crushing of the GWU encampment is part of a nationwide counter-offensive against student protests as the Israeli government prepares to enter and annihilate the remnants of survivors in the city of Rafah. In the three weeks since the police attack on Columbia, the number of arrests at encampments throughout the United States is fast approaching three thousand.

In Charlottesville, Virginia, last Saturday, state police assaulted, pepper-sprayed and arrested protestors at the University of Virginia, with some of the police wielding assault rifles at the protestors. Twenty-five people were arrested for trespassing. Protests throughout the region have also been attacked.

The University of Chicago ordered its private police force to destroy the student encampment there in an early-morning raid on Tuesday, while students slept.

Elsewhere in Chicago, overseen by the Democratic Socialists of America-backed mayor Brandon Johnson, the Chicago Police Departments SWAT team broke up a protest at the Art Institute of Chicago, arresting 68 students within minutes of the protest beginning.

The White House is the primary driver of these campus crackdowns, with President Joe Biden continuing to equate these anti-Zionist protests with antisemitism in remarks made during a Holocaust Remembrance Day address this week at the Capitol. Biden slandered the protests as antisemitic and violent, claiming that Jewish students on college campuses were blocked, harassed, and attacked while walking into class.

On the contrary, many Jewish students have taken part in the anti-genocide protests alongside Muslims, Christians, atheists and students of other religions. The GWU encampment has been no exception. An image on the Washington D.C. chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace shows a widely-attended ceremony, with the caption describing it as an anti-Zionist Shabbat.

Contrary to claims that protesters are creating an intimidating atmosphere on campus, it is fascist Zionist sympathizers who are inciting violence with police backing. A recorded video on April 28 shows a Zionist tearing pro-Palestine posters off a campus bulletin board while cursing at demonstrators who tried to intervene. When called a Nazi by the videos author, she said Im a Nazi, Im a NaziIm a Jewish Nazi.

A group of House Republicans from the House Oversight Committee had toured the GWU encampment on May 1. They walked with administrators, demanding the removal of the camp, and criticizing Washington D.C.s Democratic Mayor Muriel Bowser and other officials for not sending police to break it up sooner. Representative James Comer (RepublicanKentucky), in a statement, referred to the protesters as radical, anti-Semitic, and unlawful.

A House Oversight Committee hearing on the GWU encampment, which was to include Bowser and MPD chief Smith as witnesses, was immediately canceled following the police raid on the protest camp, hours before the hearing was scheduled to take place.

Comer said in a statement Wednesday, I had a good conversation with Mayor Bowser. I thanked her for finally clearing the trespassers off the GW Campus. It was unfortunate the situation at GW forced the Oversight Committee to act; however it was apparent that the DC police force was not going to do their job.
On May 1, Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe declared that his government was increasing estate workers daily wage to 1,700 rupees ($US5.72), up from the current 1,000 rupees. He made the announcement at a May Day rally organised by the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) at Kotagala in the Nuwara-Eliya district.

Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe addressing Ceylon Workers Congress May Day 2024 meeting in Kotagala [Photo: Sri Lankan President Media Unit]

Waving a government gazette issued the previous day, Wickremesinghes jubilant announcement for tea and rubber estate workers is a fraud. CWC leader and current Minister of Plantation Infrastructure and Water Resources Jeevan Thondaman, and the media, later falsely declared the increase to be a massive 70 percent pay hike.

The gazette notification, however, makes clear that the so-called 1,700-rupee daily wage consists of 1,350 rupees and a 350-rupee daily budgetary relief allowance, along with a 350-rupee daily special allowance.

Another 80 rupees will be paid if workers pluck more tea or collect extra latex than the daily targets set by estate management. While these targets have not yet been decided, tea workers are currently required to harvest at least 18 kilograms per day, an exceedingly difficult amount. If they do not reach this target their wages are cut.

The gazette does not say who would pay the daily budgetary relief allowance or the daily special allowance and, even if these amounts are provided, the proposed 1,350 daily wage is regarded as the real wage when calculating pension funds.

Above all, the gazette states that any objections to the proposed determination will be received by me [Commissioner General of Labour] until 12.00 noon on 15th May 2024. This is a clear call for the Regional Plantation Companies (RPC) to oppose the increase. It also means that there will be no wage hike until objections filed by the companies are discussed and resolved.

Making his announcement, Wickremesinghe feigned concern for estate workers declaring: It was the up-country people who suffered the most during the hard times. But they were the people who also worked hard to produce tea and ensured foreign exchange.

That Wickremesinghe has suddenly discovered the plight of estate workers is laughable. He has been a government minister and even a prime minister in several previous regimes which, like their opposition counterparts, did nothing for these workers while doing their utmost to boost estate profits.

Wickremesinghes so-called pay hike will do little to overcome the massive increases in the cost of living for plantation workers and their families, let alone lift them out of the desperate social abyss they confront.

Picketing Abbotsleigh estate workers demand 1,000-rupee wage increase in 2019

Estate workers suffer endemic poverty, unemployment, and malnutrition, and lack proper basic social facilities, such as housing, health and education.

According to the 2023 Household Survey on the Impact of the Economic Crisis and the Sri Lankan Department of Statistics, the cost of household expenditure of the plantation sector population has risen by 90.3 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Sri Lanka Medical Research Institutes 2023 report found that overall anemia among the estate population is now 14.3 percent. Malnutrition among children aged between 6 and 59 months is 40.3 percent, with 33.1 percent suffering from stunted growth and 30.2 percent underweight. Most estate workers, moreover, live in 10x10 feet (3x3 metre) barrack-type line rooms built during British colonial rule.

The real aim of Wickremesinghes wage increase is to defuse the rising anti-government anger of estate workers against his government and its International Monetary Fund-dictated austerity measures that are endorsed by all the plantation unions and other trade unions.

Wickremesinghe has indicated that he will contest the forthcoming presidential election and, with the assistance of the trade unions and the CWC in particular, is desperately seeking to win plantation workers votes.

The Planters Association of Ceylon (PA) and Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) immediately rejected the governments wage proposal, declaring that it would lodge objections and, if necessary, take legal action to block it. A media statement by the PA said it was very concerned that the announcement, remarks by government officials and the tone of media coverage, is raising expectations that could lead to disappointment and unrest.

CWC general secretary Senthil Thondaman told News First that the 1,700 daily wage for plantation workers was decided by the government and the plantation companies must obey the law. If not, the government must take action. Minister of Plantations Industries Lohan Ratwatte also issued a similar bogus threat: Either they do it or we take back the RPCs (Regional Plantation Companies).

In March, the PA advanced two counter wage models to the governments proposal. The first is a total 1,200-rupee daily wage tied to workers attendance. If workers failed to observe the company-dictated attendance rule they would only be paid 1,000 rupees. The second proposal is a 1,300-rupee daily wage but with a higher daily harvest workload of 20 kilograms, two kilos more than the current 18 kilo quota. If a worker plucks more than 20 kilos they would be paid an additional 65 rupees per kilo.

Plantation workers holding placards during Glenugie Estate Workers Action Committee demonstration, 5 April [WSWS Media]

In April 2021, President Gotabhaya Rajapakses government announced a 1,000-rupee daily wage via a gazette notification in an attempt to undermine estate workers strikes for a higher wage. The PA initially rejected the increase only to accept it after judicial intervention. However, it then devised various methods, including increasing daily production targets, to avoid paying the higher daily wage.

The CWC and all the other plantation unions, including the National Workers Union (NUW), the Lanka Jathika Estate Workers Union (LJEWU), the Up-Country Peoples Front and the Democratic Workers Congress have endorsed the Wickremesinghes new wage proposal. All these unions, apart from the LJEWU, are aligned with the Samagi Jana Balawegaya, the parliamentary opposition.

The All Ceylon Workers Union, which is controlled by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), has called for a 2,000-rupee daily wage for estate workers. It has no significant following in the estates, however, and always falls into line with the other unions pro-company wage policy.

The RPCs for a decade have attempted to impose a productivity-based revenue share model (RSM), under which plots of around 1,000 or more tea bushes are allocated to a worker and his family to maintain and harvest. Workers basic social rights, including pensions and other benefits, are eliminated under this model, with workers only paid a portion of the income from the tea harvest, after the companies deduct their costs and profit margin.

While estate workers have opposed this exploitative, cost-cutting system and protested in several estates where it was implemented, the RPCs, the government and the estate unions continue to collectively work to impose this reactionary model. The RPCs consistently complain about high labour costs in Sri Lanka while demanding greater productivity to compete with other tea-exporting countries, such as Kenya, China and India.

Addressing a May 2 press conference, NUW leader P. Digambaram called for an end to the daily wage system and urged for sections of the plantations to be leased to workers. Paying 100 rupees per kilo of tea leaves is a better way to solve this problem, he declared.

Estate workers cannot depend on the trade unions to fight for decent wages and their basic social rights but must take this struggle into their own hands. This means rejecting the imposition of any wage deal negotiated by the government, the RPCs and the trade unions and advancing their own independent demand for a decent monthly wage indexed to cost of living with paid leave, including medical leave, and proper housing.

To organise this struggle requires the formation of democratically elected workers action committees in every estate, independent of all capitalist parties and the trade unions, and in unity with other workers fighting the Wickremesinghe governments austerity measures.

Such a fight must be based on the struggle for a workers and peasants government to implement socialist policies, including nationalisation of the plantations, the banks, and other major capitalist corporations under workers control and in unity with class brothers and sisters internationally.
Sir Keir Starmers onward lurch to the right was given a seal of approval this week by the defection of Conservative Party MP Natalie Elphicke to the Labour Party.

She is the second Tory defection to Labour in as many weeks, following on the heels of Dan Poulter, and the third since Christian Wakeford in 2022. Elphicke is on the extreme right-wing of the Tories and made her name as an anti-immigration agitator. Crossing the floor of Parliament Wednesday, she cited the safety and security of our borders as a crucial factor in her decision.

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke in his parliamentary office in the House of Commons, London, after it was announced she has defected to the Labour Party. [Photo by Keir Starmer / Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Welcoming Elphicke were Starmer and Labour chair Anneliese Dodds, who described her as a good, natural fit for the party. Questioned on Elphickes anti-immigration agenda, Dodds commented, People can change their minds.

Except she hasnt changed her mind. Elphicke is seeking to salvage her political career by jumping ship to a Labour Party expected to easily win a general election later this year, and she can do so by joining a party whose programme is identical to that of the Tories.

Labour has already chosen its candidate for Elphickes Dover and Deal constituency, on Englands south coast, so Elphicke will not stand in the upcoming general election and will instead take an unpaid role as an adviser to the leadership on housing. But she can be certain to be given a safe seat at some stage going forward.

A former finance lawyer, she became an MP in 2019, succeeding her now ex-husband Charlie after he was charged and found guilty of sexual assault. Elphicke infamously said of her former husband at the time of his unsuccessful appeal against his conviction in September 2020 that he was an easy target for dirty politics and false allegations because he was attractive, and attracted to, women.

From her constituency, where most of the small boats of desperate asylum seekers crossing the Channel from France end up, she has relentlessly whipped up anti-migrant sentiment, including denouncing Labours policy as being too soft.

It was in the filthy anti-migrant atmosphere whipped up by the Tories and Labour alike that in October 2022 a fascist attacked the Western Jet Foil migrant processing centre in Dover. Before killing himself, the man threw three firebombs at the facility. Writing in the Mail on Sunday before the attack, Elphicke had declared the migrant situation intolerable and called for constant vigilance, denouncing the handwringing rights industry.

Within hours of the attack, she declared, Every single attempt to get on top of this is delayed or thwarted by a rag bag of people who seem to want open borders and dont seem to want us to get a grip on this particular situation.

Writing a year ago in the Daily Express under the headline, Dont trust Labour on immigration they really want open borders, Elphicke insisted, The only sensible policy, as set out in the [Tories anti-immigrant Rwanda] Bill, is to simply remove everyone who arrives here illegallywhatever their circumstances, whatever their reasons for coming to the UK, whether they are an economic migrant or worse.

The piece concluded, Will Keir Starmer be prepared to get tough or will Sir Softie strike again?

The following day, Elphicke posted an image of Starmer holding Britains door open with a welcome sign as asylum seekers landed at Dover.

Elphicke now declares that Labour puts forward an anti-immigration agenda that will appeal to her constituents and the wider Tory heartlands in the south of England.

A photo-op was held in Starmers Parliament office, which he made the subject of a social media post with a picture of the Labour leader beneath a Union Jack and Elphicke with a Union Jack-design scarf around her neck.

None of this is slightly controversial anymore. Labour launched a new membership card last October with the Union Jack on one side and Putting the country first on the other, earning the praise of the fascist leader of Britain First.

On Friday, Starmer appeared with Elphicke in Dover to announce a raft of new anti-immigration policies. With a backdrop also emblazoned with the Union Jack, and speaking from a rostrum with the same and displaying the word Border Security, Elphicke complained that the government are failing to keep our borders safe and secure with small boat arrivals once again at record levels this year. Labour had an approach that puts at its heart a commitment to border security that tackles the criminal gangs behind the small boats crises and saves lives.

Starmer committed to scrapping the Rwanda policy, complaining that it will see just a few hundred people a year removed to Rwanda, less than 1 percent of the people who cross the sea in small boats every year for 600 million. The rest of our border system honestly, its like a sieve.

Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, during a visit to Dover, Kent, where he set out Labours border security strategy. May 10, 2024 [Photo by Keir Starmer/Flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Labour will end this farce. We will restore serious government to our borders, meaning a new Command with new powers, new resources, and a new way of doing thingsBorder Security Command.

The full weight of the state would be brought down to stop the arrival of asylum seekers via the Channel, based on a counter-terrorism approach which we know works and An end to the fragmentation between policing, the border force and our intelligence agencies so that border protection becomes an elite force an essential frontline defence that communities like this can depend upon.

The specialist investigators being enlisted for this were the National Crime Agency, the Border Force, Immigration Enforcement, the Crown Prosecution Service [which Starmer headed for five years from 2008] and yesMI5, all working to a single mission.

The Home Office will hire hundreds of new caseworkers and a new fast-track returns and enforcement unit will be set-up to clear the backlog.

Starmer made sure to denounce anyone who, based on their principles, believed that people should be able to move across the globe, wherever, whenever, and however they want. This would lead to a chaos, he said.

Screenshot of Labour Party Facebook posting hailing the recruitment of Tory MP Natalie Elphicke [Photo: screenshot: Labour Party/Facebook]

Within the Labour Party, Elphickes arrival met with only muted protest. What constitutes the Labour left complained, usually anonymously, that Elphicke was let in while their main representatives, Jeremy Corbyn and Diane Abbott, are still expelled from the Parliamentary party. Corbyns former shadow chancellor John McDonnell said he was a great believer in the powers of conversion but this one would strain the generosity of spirit of John the Baptist.

Starmer has no reason to care what McDonnell and company may think because they will do nothing about it. He will continue to recruit leading Tories with his stated aim to win as many Tory voters to Labour as possible. Moreover, as the Daily Mirror editorialised, When the likes of Ms Elphicke decide Britain will be better served with Mr Starmer in No10, it shows how much Labour has changed.

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said he had spoken to more Conservative MPs who were considering crossing the floor.

It should be noted that Elphicke, while claiming to oppose the mass sacking of 800 P&O ferry workers in her constituency in March 2022, refused to vote against the fire-and-rehire laws which made this possible. When attending a demonstration against the job losses in Dover, she was denounced by workers, who she later attacked in Parliament as odious hard-left militants.

This is who the Labour left are prepared to stand alongside and the type of right-wing government of austerity and war they back as they campaign for a Labour victory.
In a roundtable discussion Wednesday, former Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Mark Milley and Palantir CEO Alex Karp defended Israels massacre of Palestinian civilians by advocating military brutality as a general principle.

U.S. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley meets with U.S. Army leaders responsible for the collective training of Ukrainians at Grafenwoehr Training Area, Grafenwoehr, Germany, on Monday, Jan. 16, 2023. (Staff Sgt. Jordan Sivayavirojna/U.S. Army via AP) [AP Photo]

This discussion took place at the Ash Carter Exchange, a conference sponsored by the Special Competitive Studies Project, a US think tank founded by former Google CEO Eric Schmidt. David Cohen, the Deputy Director of the CIA, and Schmidt himself also participated in the discussion. Both Google and Palantir are major contractors for both the United States and Israeli militaries and intelligence agencies.

The transcript of the discussion was not made public, and no official video recording is available. However, clips began to immediately circulate on social media revealing excerpts from what was discussed behind closed doors.

A major focus of the discussion was the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza, which all participants vociferously defended. Strikingly, Milley and Karp argued in defense of Israels actions not on the basis of particular expediencies or exceptions, but by asserting the claim that war crimes are a positive good and a means to achieve peace.

Before we all get self-righteous about what Israel is doing, we shouldnt forget that the United States killed a lot of innocent people in Mosul and Raqqa, Milley said, referring to the US attacks on the Iraqi cities in 2016 and 2017, notorious for indiscriminate bombing that led to thousands, or tens of thousands, of civilian casualties.

Milley then turned to the US war in the Pacific during World War II, declaring, We destroyed 69 Japanese cities, not including Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we slaughtered people in massive numbers, innocent people who had nothing to do with their government, men, women, and children.

War is a terrible thing. But if its going to have meaning, if its going to have any sense of morality, there has to be a political purpose, and it must be achieved rapidly with the least cost, and that is done by speed.

At this point, Karp jumped in, declaring, The peace activists are actually the pro-war activists, and were the peace activists. So if you dont want war, you better be strong. You have to scare your adversary.

He added,

And you have to be willing to understand the peace activists or war activists, because if youre the useful idiot of Iran, and China. If you think that creates peace, you are literally the reason why would Hamas ever give up. They have you marching for them. Theyre never going to give up. You are an infection inside of our society. And they are the reason theyre not going to give up. If you want to stop these people, you have to be willing to be fierce.

Milley, in agreement, added, Theyre out there supporting a terrorist organization.

It is worth carefully considering these statements. What does it mean to say that the means to achieve peace is for an army to be fierce, and to scare your enemy? The logical conclusion is that those armies that are the most violent, who do not fight in accordance with the laws of war, are most effective, and therefore, the most moral and peace-loving.

By this logic, the most peaceful army in history was the German Wehrmacht under Adolf Hitler, which dispensed with the law of war entirely, illegally killing tens of millions of peoplecivilians and captured soldiers alike.

The remarks by Milley and Karp are unique only in that they express with particular bluntness, in a semi-public sphere, the general conceptions that have come to dominate US war planning. Dominant sections of the US political establishment are adopting as their mantra the first slogan of the party in George Orwells 1984: War is peace.

Milley, in particular, has repeated this argument on numerous occasions. Preparation for war and deterrence is extraordinarily expensive, but its not as expensive as fighting a war, Milley said in congressional testimony last year. This budget prevents war and prepares us to fight it if necessary.

The espousers of this argument claim that they do not actually want to wage war, but that they hope, through the threat of military aggression, to intimidate the United States rivals without having to fight.

Critically, this argument was taken up in the Nuremberg trials of the Nazi war criminals, which noted that the Nazi defendants claimed they did not believe that Hitler actually meant war because they hoped he would obtain a political solution of Germanys problems.

This argument was summarily dismissed in the ruling, which declared, But all that this means, when examined, is the belief that Germanys position would be so good, and Germanys armed might so overwhelming, that the territory desired could be obtained without fighting for it.

Indeed, the arguments of Milley and Karp bear a strong resemblance to a notorious speech given by Hitler to his general staff in 1939. Hitler declared, Our strength consists in our speed and in our brutality. Genghis Khan led millions of women and children to slaughterwith premeditation and a happy heart... Who, after all, speaks today of the annihilation of the Armenians?

Even in the expressions usedthe repeated references to speedthe parallels to Hitlers statements are chilling.

Milleys invocation of the least cost is another parallel to a notorious statement by Hitler, who told Germanys commanders-in-chief in 1937, The question for Germany is where the greatest possible conquest could be made at the lowest cost.

In response to a 1941 letter of protest by an admiral questioning the illegal mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war, Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel wrote, The objections arise from the military concept of chivalrous warfare. This is the destruction of an ideology.

But perhaps most ominous is the conference participants reference to anti-war views as an infection.

The Nuremberg judgment noted that Hitler had likened the Jews to tuberculosis bacilli. In Mein Kampf, Hitler declared that The bourgeois world was infected from within with the deadly virus of Marxist ideas. The belief in social equality and national equality was likewise an infection, which made the amazing political progress of the Marxist teaching ... possible.

In recent years, it has become widely known that former US president Donald Trump is an admirer of the Nazi leader, and indeed his rhetoric about immigrants poisoning the blood of the country is recognized as a paraphrase of Hitlers antisemitic rhetoric. Hitler did some good things, Trump reportedly told retired Marine Gen. John Kelly.

But what is made clear by the comments of Milley and Karp, however, is the parallels of Nazi ideology are not limited to Trump, but rather pervade the highest levels of the American state and military apparatus.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Azerbaijan, standing on a solid foundation laid thanks to the efforts of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, is now experiencing the most glorious period of its history, political scientist Azer Garayev told Trend.

He noted that the name of National Leader Heydar Aliyev is inextricably linked to a significant period in modern Azerbaijan's history.

"The rich heritage of National Leader Heydar Aliyev and his activity on the way of development and progress of the independent state of Azerbaijan necessitate an even deeper study and propaganda of his life and activity. The National Leader devoted his whole life to Azerbaijan's development and fully fulfilled his saving mission. His unprecedented services to the motherland and its people are always remembered with a sense of gratitude, and the memory of the great leader is honored with great respect. Steps taken by the national leader while leading the country from 1969 through 1982, measures implemented by him, and the essence of ideas directed to the future of Azerbaijan are realized and understood even better with time. These decisive steps of the great leader were once opposed by the forces that destroyed not only the spiritual values but also the historical personalities of Azerbaijan. As Chairman of the State Security Committee of Azerbaijan, the National Leader continued his policy of nationalization. During his activity in the state security bodies, he saved many intellectuals and public figures from arrests, persecution, and pressure for national ideas. While leading the republic and working in Moscow, the national leader paid close attention to the formation of the economic, scientific, technical, and military potential of the future independent Azerbaijan. His managerial skills and experience allowed him to professionally cope with numerous complex tasks. The development and revival of Azerbaijan as a country began under the leadership of Heydar Aliyev," he said.

Garayev noted that after returning to the leadership of the country in 1993, National Leader Heydar Aliyev defined a new strategy for independent Azerbaijan and started a new foreign policy course.

"New state building in the country, gradual and successful solutions to socio-economic and political problems, normalization of our country's position in the international arena, and the establishment of mutually beneficial relations with the countries of the world activated the process of Azerbaijan's integration into the world community. Azerbaijan's occupation of a worthy place in the international arena, and establishment of interaction with the leading states of the world were of great importance. Establishment and development of these relations was one of the main directions of activity of national leader Heydar Aliyev," he said.

As the political scientist noted, National Leader Heydar Aliyev was an experienced politician and an extremely wise head of state.

"At the end of the 20th century, the Azerbaijani people experienced the most complicated period in their history. We all witnessed this tense and difficult period; our people went through great trials. Undoubtedly, it was National Leader Heydar Aliyev who became the mainstay of our people on this path. His leadership work and the large-scale projects he initiated continue to thrive today. Standing on the solid foundation of the great leader's efforts and ideas, Mighty Azerbaijan is currently experiencing the most glorious period of its history. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev, who successfully developed the political course of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, has created the basis for the further prosperous and safe existence of our country in this complicated world. Having won a historic victory, Azerbaijan has fully restored its territorial sovereignty. Our country is one of the most authoritative countries in the world today," Garayev stated.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
The following speech was given by Alex Lantier, the national secretary of the Parti de lEgalite Socialiste (PES) in France, at the International May Day 2024 Online Rally, held Saturday, May 4.

International May Day 2024 Online Rally

I bring the fraternal greetings of the Parti de legalite socialiste of France to this international online May Day, the day of international proletarian unity. In 2024, the workers of Europe and of the world are faced with the task of unifying in struggle to stop an emerging Third World War.

In February, at a European summit in Paris, French President Emmanuel Macron threatened to send French troops to Ukraine to fight Russia. The NATO imperialist powers aggressive role stands exposed. They are threatening not only the Russian people, but also the international proletariat, with war between nuclear powers.

Macron and his NATO allies are escalating their war in defiance of the will of the peoples of Europe. Polls show 68 percent of the French, 80 percent of Germans and 90 percent of Poles reject sending troops to Ukraine. However, mass media in France and across Europe are calling to build a war industry to wage high-intensity conflicts such as the current war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, and French President Emmanuel Macron shake hands after a press conference, on Feb. 16, 2024 at the Elysee Palace in Paris [AP Photo/Thibault Camus]

As at the beginning of the world wars in 1914 and 1939, the capitalist system is in a mortal crisis. Faced with international and social conflicts for which they have no solution, the ruling classes are consciously heading towards a disaster they do not know how to stop.

In 2019, Macron told the British magazine The Economist that NATO was brain-dead because it was risking war with Russia over Syria. In 2017, he had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to the royal palace at Versailles for cordial discussions. But now Macron, as brain-dead as the rest of NATO, aspires to play the role of Europes leading warmonger.

The NATO powers support for the Zionist regimes genocide in Gaza unmasks Macron and his allies. Paris has sold several hundred million euros worth of weapons to Israel since 2012. Last autumn, as Israeli troops bombed defenseless civilians in Gaza, Macron traveled to Israel to embrace Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Macron called his friend.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, welcomes French President Emmanuel Macron before their talks in Jerusalem, Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023.(AP Photo/Christophe Ena, Pool)

By encouraging the mass murder of tens of thousands of Gaza civilians in hospitals and detention camps, NATO is not only targeting the Palestinian people. Its targets go beyond Lebanon, Syria and Iran, which Israel is also bombing. The imperialist powers are declaring war on the rest of the world and, above all, on the international working class.

Paris is especially furious at the movement of African workers and rural masses that forced it to withdraw its troops from the Sahel. Military dictatorships in Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger, giving way to the explosion of popular anger, asked French troops to leave their countries. They invited into their countries Russian troops of the Wagner militia for protection against threats of an invasion by African governments allied to France.

French and European capital, whose investments still dominate African finance, do not plan to leave Africa to Russian troops or Chinese consumer goods. If Macron is threatening Moscow, this is because French banks dream of unrestrained plunder not only of the natural resources of Russia, but also of their former colonial empire in Africa.

The workers can halt the military escalation and stop the world war before it destroys humanity. All together, they can block the delivery of weapons to Israel that make possible the genocide in Gaza. But for this, they will have to build a movement that is not national, aiming to convince presidents in each country to change their diplomacy, but internationalmobilizing the power of the working class of all countries against war, genocide and capitalism.

Critical political lessons flow from the recent experiences of the class struggle, like the movement in France last year against Macrons pension cuts.

Ruling openly against the people, Macron imposed his cuts to free up tens of billions of euros for the military budget. Three-quarters of the French people opposed the cuts, but he rammed them through the parliament without a vote. He sent riot police to assault protesters and strikers, and even bystanders, preparing world war abroad by waging class war at home.

The working class wanted to struggle, but Macron relied on the union bureaucracies and their political allies to stifle the movement. Sixty percent of the French people said they supported blocking the economy with a general strike, but the union bosses saved Macron. Fearing what they called the insanity that could take over this country, with violence but also very deep social resentment, they called off further protests.

Mass protest in front of The Pantheon in Paris, France.

In reality, the madness of contemporary society comes not from working class anger, but the irrationality of capitalism. By strangling the movement against Macron, the union executives opened the path for Macron to escalate the war.

The decisive question posed by the experience of this movement is: What is the Trotskyist tendency, that is, the revolutionary alternative both to capitalism and Stalinism? It is the International Committee of the Fourth International, and, in France, the PES. During the movement against the pension cuts, the PES called to mobilize the working class to bring down Macron and his police state as the first stage in a struggle for socialism.

What was the line of the descendants of the Pabloites who split with the ICFI in 1953, arguing that Stalinist bureaucracies would give the workers revolutionary leadership?

The situation is not revolutionary, wrote Revolution permanente, the Morenoite faction of the French Pabloite movement. It called to build an authentic counterweight to the power of the bourgeoisie, that is, inside capitalist society.

Jean-Luc Melenchon gives a speech in Marseille, southern France, Friday, June 10, 2022 [AP Photo/Daniel Cole]

Jean-Luc Melenchons New Popular Union sent a delegation of Stalinist parliamentarians to deliver a letter criticizing the cuts to the Elysee presidential palace. This impotent gesture reflects the reactionary political pessimism of Melenchon. After receiving 8 million votes in the 2022 presidential elections, he has made no revolutionary appeal to his voters. He, in fact, said he was willing to serve as prime minister under either Macron or a neo-fascist president.

What is the strategic alternative to these politically corrupt forces who subordinate the working class to capitalism and war? A year before the eruption of the 1936 French general strike, against Stalinists who argued that the situation was not revolutionary, Trotsky wrote:

The situation is revolutionary, as revolutionary as it can be, granted the non-revolutionary policies of the working-class parties. More exactly, the situation is pre-revolutionary. In order to bring the situation to its full maturity, there must be an immediate, vigorous, unremitting mobilization of the masses, under the slogan of the conquest of power in the name of socialism.  At the present time, all that the pious mouthings of the phrase non-revolutionary situation can do is to crush the minds of the workers, paralyse their will and hand them over to the class enemy.

This analysis, nine decades later, still illuminates the objectively revolutionary situation today: it is the path to follow to mobilize workers internationally in struggle against genocide and war.
Wednesdays vote in the US House of Representatives, with overwhelming bipartisan support to keep ultra-right Louisiana Congressman Mike Johnson in office as Speaker, signifies the formation of a coalition government in all but name. Democrats and Republicans have joined forces on the basis of a common program of war abroad and mass repression at home.

Rep. Mike Johnson, Republican-Louisiana., takes the oath to be the new House speaker from the Dean of the House, Rep. Hal Rogers, Republican-Kentucky, at the Capitol in Washington, Wednesday, October 25, 2023. [AP Photo/Alex Brandon]

The House voted by 359 to 43 to table a resolution by fascist Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene to declare the Speakers chair vacant. The motion would have automatically triggered a lengthy series of votes to choose a new leader for the House, under conditions where the narrow partisan divide, 217 Republicans and 213 Democrats (with five seats vacant), means that even a handful of members can block a candidate.

Even more significant than the vote itself was the political basis on which it was carried out. Democrats were explicitly repaying Johnson for his agreeing to bring up for a vote the long-delayed supplemental funding bill to provide military aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan.

After the funding bill passed last month by a comfortable bipartisan margin, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and other leading Democrats said they would not support a motion to vacateusually a straight party-line voteif it was being used to punish Johnson for ending the Republican blockade of the military aid.

Greene initially filed the motion against Johnson in late March, after he orchestrated the bipartisan passage of budget legislation for the current fiscal year, including a record $825 billion for the Pentagon. But she did not call the motion up for a vote, describing it instead as a warning, until Johnson reached agreement with the White House and congressional Democrats on the supplemental military spending bill, passed by both houses and signed into law by Biden on April 24.

When the Georgia congresswoman finally invoked the motion to declare the Speakers chair vacant, she was backed by 10 other Republicans. This was the same number of fascists who successfully brought down Speaker Kevin McCarthy last September, when every Democrat voted against him as well.

This time, however, the Democrats were committed to keeping Johnson in office. And rather than supplying Johnson the handful of Democratic votes, or abstentions, actually required for his survival, the Democrats voted en masse to table the motion to vacate, an ostentatious display of support and what Jeffries called a demonstration of political maturity.

In a recent interview on Sixty Minutes, Jeffries declared:

Even though were in the minority, we effectively have been governing as if we were in the majority because we continue to provide a majority of the votes necessary to get things done.  Those are just the facts.

Headlines the next day in the two leading US newspapers took note of the significance of the vote. The New York Times wrote, Mike Johnson Becomes the Speaker of the Whole House. For Now. The Washington Post headline read: As co-rulers of the House, the Democratic majority-in-waiting may have already arrived.

The Times noted the unprecedented character of the vote, writing: Members of the minority party in the House have never propped up the other partys speaker

The Post wrote, Democrats on Wednesday evening rode to the rescue of a conservative congressman-turned-speaker and cemented their status as co-rulers of a deeply dysfunctional lower chamber in the process.

Johnson is the most reactionary Speaker in modern US historya Christian fundamentalist who opposes abortion, favors religion in the public schools and supports massive cuts in public social spending. After the defeat of the motion to vacate, he declared:

I am a lifelong, movement, conservative Republican, and I intend to continue to govern in accordance with those core principles.

Before moving up to leading the House, Johnson voted in favor of the Trump-led challenge to the certification of Bidens victory in the 2020 election. He is committed to backing Trump in the presidential election. Trump praised him after a recent meeting at Mar-a-Lago and hailed the defeat of the motion to vacate in a message posted on his Truth Social social media site.

The Democrats are quite prepared to support an arch-reactionary Speaker so long as he rubberstamps the financing of the US-NATO war against Russia and the US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza. At the ceremony Tuesday marking Holocaust Remembrance Day, Biden and Johnson stood side by side, each displaying a photograph of Jewish children murdered by the Nazisas though this somehow justified the Israeli militarys murder of more than 10,000 Palestinian children in Gaza.

The domestic side of this bipartisan alliance is equally sinister. Johnson and Biden came together last month to back the passage of legislation to extend Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Security Act, which gives a legal stamp of approval to widespread NSA spying on Americans. And they are now backing the crackdown on student protesters against the Gaza genocide. House hearings have featured bullying of university presidents and school chiefs by both Republicans and Democrats, demanding even more ferocious repression of students and other demonstrators and the police shutdown of university encampments.

This line-up from Biden and Jeffries to Johnson and Trump in support of war abroad and the buildup of a police state at home has vital political lessons. It explodes the fiction, peddled endlessly by the Biden reelection campaign, that he is the last bulwark of the American people against the right-wing threat to democracy.

It shows the falsity of all the claims by the media apologists for the Democratic Party, as well as pseudo-left groups like the Democratic Socialists of America, that Biden represents a lesser evil to Trump and the Republicans in the 2024 elections.

The reality confronting the working class is that the only road forward in the struggle against war and in defense of democratic rights is the development of a mass independent political movement of workers and young people, based on a socialist program and in alliance with our class brothers and sisters around the world.
The following speech was given by Christoph Vandreier, the national secretary of the Sozialistische Gleichheitspartei (Germany), at the International May Day 2024 Online Rally, held Saturday, May 4.

International May Day 2024 Online Rally

I am very pleased to be able to speak at todays May Day and bring the revolutionary greetings of the Socialist Equality Party in Germany.

This May Day is of the utmost importance and urgency. We oppose the rapid development of war and poisonous nationalism with the perspective of the international unity of the working class and the world socialist revolution. This is at the heart of our campaign for the presidential elections in the US and also here in Germany in our campaign for the European elections.

We oppose the growing danger of a nuclear world war! We do not accept that 80 years after the Nazi war of extermination and the Holocaust, German tanks are rolling against Russia again and the German ruling class in Gaza is returning to the methods of genocide.

Germany is now by far the second largest supplier of weapons to Ukraine and continues to escalate the war against Russia. In doing so, the ruling class is seamlessly continuing its old world war policy.

German Leopard 2 main battle tanks on their way to Ukraine [Photo: Bundeswehr]

There can be absolutely no doubt that the murderous proxy war in Ukraine is only the prelude to an all-out war against Russia, which is being waged not for peace and freedom, but for raw materials.

SPD Defense Minister Pistorius announced back in January that Germany would be preparing for such a confrontation with the nuclear power Russia within five years.

The entire society is being militarized in order to put this madness into practice. The Green Minister for Economic Affairs Habeck has appointed himself Minister of the Armaments Industry in the Nazi tradition, and FDP Education Minister Stark-Watzinger wants to introduce military training and send soldiers to schools.

The cruelty to which the ruling class is once again prepared to resort is demonstrated by its support for the horrific genocide in Gaza. It unreservedly supports the bombing of men, women and children and the starvation of the entire civilian population by the far-right Netanyahu regime. This is not about the protection of Jewish life, but, as in Ukraine, about purely imperialist interests.

It is the height of cynicism when the German government justifies its new great power policy and its support for genocide with the fight against antisemitism, of all things.

It is not the millions of workers and young people who are showing solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians, but the ruling class that is once again taking up the brown traditions of the Nazis when it rolls out German tanks against Russia, declares genocide to be the raison detre of the state and arms the Bundeswehr to an extent not seen since Hitler.

The costs of this madness are being passed on to the workers. In order to finance the horrendous rearmament, funding for health care, education and housing is being slashed. The health care budget alone was cut by over two-thirds in the midst of the pandemic. In close cooperation with the trade unions, real wages in the public sector and the state-owned rail and postal services have also been cut by up to 25 percent, making billions more available for weapons.

Postal workers rally in Berlin on February 6, 2023

At the same time, the orgy of enrichment at the top of society continues unabated. Gifts worth billions to corporations and the rich have increased the total wealth of the five richest Germans by around three-quarters since 2020, from US$89 billion to US$155 billion. At the same time, more than 14 million people in Germany are now living in poverty.

Growing resistance is developing against this policy of war and social devastation. This is because workers in Germany know what war and fascism mean, and the vast majority of them firmly reject both the genocide in Gaza and the preparations for war against Russia. The traffic light coalition is the most hated government in the history of the Federal Republic. The chancellors party, the SPD, is polling below 15 percent, and the FDP is in danger of failing to meet the 5 percent hurdle.

But the government is not reacting to this by making any concessions to public opinion. It is intensifying its deafening war propaganda and taking dictatorial measures. It is continuing its fascist tradition not only in foreign policy, but also in domestic policy.

The images of the brutal police operations against the Palestine Congress in Berlin and against the protest camp in front of the Bundestag show the real class relations in Germany. Left-wing Jewish opponents of the war are once again being abused and detained by the German policeall in the name of the fight against antisemitism. The aim is to silence anyone who opposes militarism.

German police arresting Jewish Voice for Peace spokesperson Udi Raz, April 12, 2024. [Photo: @AliAbunimah]

The fascist AfD was deliberately built up for this very purpose. It is not a foreign body in an otherwise healthy organism, but the worst symptom of a thoroughly sick system. All other capitalist parties have courted it, are putting its program into practice and have long been preparing to include it in government.

This applies in particular to the nominally left-wing parties. The former pacifists of the Greens have become the most aggressive warmongers. The state party SPD is putting militarism into practice with technocratic cold-bloodedness, and the Left Party has also backed the genocide in Gaza and the war against Russia. As far as Sarah Wagenknechts nationalist split is concerned, she has no objections to the rearmament, but only wants to push ahead with German militarism independently of the US.

This shows one thing above all: You cannot prevent a Third World War and you cannot defend democratic rights and social achievements by appealing to this capitalist unity party. The interests of the vast majority can simply no longer be reconciled with the greed for profit and the imperialist desires of the ruling class. To end war and inequality, the masses must intervene independently in the political process, break the power of the banks and corporations and place them under democratic control.

Rosa Luxemburg addressing a rally at the 1907 congress of the Second International in Stuttgart

As Rosa Luxemburg emphasized on the eve of the First World War, the working class must draw the conclusion that one can only fight imperialism, war, the theft of countries, the plundering of nations, violation of the law and violent politics by fighting capitalism, by opposing the global political genocide with social revolution.

That is why our election campaign is of crucial importance. We oppose the war propaganda and police state measures and fight to raise the consciousness of the working class to the level of its historic tasks. This International May Day is a very important step in doing so.
UAW presidential candidate Will Lehman (center) and a supporter stand with a striking HarperCollins worker in Lower Manhattan, New York.

Im Will Lehman, and Im a Mack Trucks worker in Macungie, Pennsylvania with a message for autoworkers across the United States and the world.

Next week, California graduate students, who are also UAW members, are voting on strike action to stop the police crackdown on the student protests. This is an important step that deserves the support of the whole working class.

At issue is the basic First Amendment right to free speech. Both the Democrats and Republicans are sending in riot cops against students conducting peaceful protests against the genocide in Gaza. UCLA was one of many schools where protest encampments were attacked by police. The cops also stood by while right-wing Zionists attacked protesters during the night.

If they can get away with banning protests against genocide, next they will send riot cops against the picket lines. Nobody should forget that Biden joined arms with Republicans to ban a railroad strike in 2022, just as theyre joining arms against students now.

Urgent action is needed because the situation in Gaza is horrific. Tens of thousands are already dead, and the 2 million left alive are at risk of starvation. Israel is beginning its assault on the city of Rafah, where more than 1 million have taken refuge with nowhere to go. Without action to force a stop to the war, tens of thousands or more will die.

We, as the working class, have to support the students. Corporate politicians wont listen to reason. The only way to stop the war and defend our rights is by taking matters into our own hands as the working class, who create all of societys wealth.

That is why Im calling on my fellow UAW members to demand immediate strike action by the entire 400,000-strong membership.

We must begin fighting for this now. Hold mass meetings at your workplace to discuss actions.

In the face of inevitable opposition from the UAW bureaucracy, organize rank-and-file strike committees to enforce your democratic will.

The unions endorsement of Genocide Joe Biden and its ties with the Democrats and the White House, financed with our dues money, must be ended.

This should be the beginning of a broader movement involving the whole working class in the US and internationally.

The US government is backing this genocide because they see it as part of a single world war stretching from Ukraine to China. They are risking nuclear war in order to defend the profits of Wall Street by controlling natural resources and supply chains and destroying its main rivals.

But the other important front in this war is at home against the working class. The same corporate interests behind the war in Gaza are carrying out mass layoffs to smash our resistance to exploitation. So far this year, thousands of autoworkers have already lost their jobs, often with no notice.

We have to combine the fight against war and attacks on our rights with the fight to defend jobs. The trillions of dollars being spent on killing are being pumped out of our labor, and it is the workers of the world who are being killed. Instead, that money has to be used to guarantee good paying jobs and a high standard of living for all.

The campuses are not ivory towers but centers of exploitation just like the auto factories. The graduate student workers voting to strike are treated as a bottom-tier workforce, just like the supplemental workers in the plants.

Many cant afford rent and have to rely on food banks. After they graduate, they face a lifetime as lecturers or adjunct professors where they are paid by the course, with no hope of moving up to full-time faculty positions, much less reaching tenure. This is no different than the situation facing young autoworkers, who have little hope of ever being hired in as full-timers and reaching the top rate.

Defending the students means a fight against the UAW bureaucrats. They are the lackeys of pro-war politicians such as Genocide Joe Biden and the corporations they serve. Its notable that theyve done nothing to publicize this strike vote. Many autoworkers are even unaware that UC grad students are UAW members, much less that 48,000 of them are.

Last November, the UAW shut down a limited auto strike and rammed through a new contract that is being used to carry out layoffs. To promote it, UAW President Shawn Fain appeared on stage with Biden, while outside the hall, thousands protested against the genocide.

The UAW later passed a toothless resolution in favor of a ceasefire in Gaza. But in January they endorsed Genocide Joe and threw out anti-war protesters. Biden gave a warmongering acceptance speech calling on workers to build aircraft carriers and tanks. Now Fain goes around wearing a shirt with a bomber on it, implying that workers have to make weapons like they did in World War II.

The bureaucracy is struggling to keep the California grad students isolated. They delayed their strike vote an extra week and have not called for strikes anywhere else. Theyve made clear that they want to reach a deal like at Northwestern University to shut down protests in exchange for worthless pledges for the school to divest from Israel.

But even the UAW bureaucracy itself refuses to divest. Last week, Fain even vetoed a motion to rid the union of its investments in Israel, making them a financial partner in the war.

Workers are furious at the UAWs treachery. There are growing demands in particular for them to rescind the endorsement of Biden. Grad students are also angry over the role of Local 4811 officials in allowing police into the UCLA encampment. The bureaucrats play the same role on every picket line, enforcing whatever the police and the courts tell us were not allowed to do.

There is enormous potential for a fight uniting autoworkers with the students. This week, workers at Warren Stamping voted to strike over health and safety. Workers there and at plants across the country have told the World Socialist Web Site they oppose the campus crackdowns and want to defend the students.

But to do this requires we take the initiative and not wait for the bureaucrats to act for us. They only ever act against us. We have to develop the rank-and-file structures that give us real power to enforce our will and countermand the bureaucracys betrayals.

Above all, we have to recognize that this is a class struggle. The ruling elite is putting the whole society on a war footing. The role of the bureaucracy is to impose labor discipline. But we as workers are more powerful, so long as were organized and have the right political perspective.

As I said in my recent speech at the WSWS Online May Day Rally:

We, the workers of the world, have the power in our hands to put an end to imperialist war once and for all. It is we who produce all the wealth of society. It is we who run the factories, the plants, logistics and transportation. But we workers have to learn the lessons of history. And we have to recognize our own class interests and how to understand who is lying to us and who is telling us the truth.

If you agree with this, contact the World Socialist Web Site below for help getting started. Distribute this statement among your coworkers and set up local meetings to discuss actions that you can take. Form rank-and-file committees at your workplace and affiliate them to the International Workers Alliance of Rank-and-File Committees (IWA-RFC), which includes autoworkers, postal and logistics workers and others all over the world.
In recent years, Anhui has been promoting the transformation of its characteristic agricultural industry from "small specialty products" to "major industries," giving rise to a number of nationally renowned specialty agricultural brands such as Anhui tea, Changfeng strawberries, and Dangshan pears.

When discussing Anhui's distinctive agriculture, one cannot fail to mention Changfeng strawberries. In Changfeng, a small strawberry has leveraged a major industry worth tens of billions, directly and indirectly driving employment for 360,000 people.

Everyone has tasted strawberries, but have you ever seen hundreds of varieties? At the Changfeng County, you can find 232 strawberry varieties from around the world.

To effectively connect "small-scale farmers" with the "large market," Changfeng today has established ten major sales channels, including wholesale markets, e-commerce platforms, production and sales orders, and foreign trade exports.

Data shows that in 2023, the total industrial chain value of Changfeng strawberries exceeded 11 billion yuan, ranking as the top county for facility-grown strawberries in China for several consecutive years. The "small strawberry" has truly become a major industry promoting rural revitalization.

In Dangshan, known as the World Pear Capital, when 500,000 mu of pear trees enter their full bloom, tourists from all over the country gather under the thousand-year-old pear trees. Dangshan County leverages the Pear Blossom Festival and the Pear Picking Festival to attract visitors both online and offline, developing distinctive projects such as ecological picking experiences and homestay experiences to draw tourists for spring outings. Products like pear candy, pear paste, and pear liquor have become favored souvenirs among tourists.

By developing characteristic agriculture, the countryside is becoming increasingly vibrant, greatly enhancing the sense of gain among farmers.





Source: anhuinews.com
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Chairman of the Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova has met with Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Swiss Confederation to Azerbaijan Thomas Stahli, Trend reports.

During the meeting, the sides discussed issues related to further expansion of cooperation between the two countries in political, economic, cultural, and humanitarian spheres and expressed satisfaction with the current level of bilateral relations developing in the spirit of friendship and cooperation. It was noted that high-level mutual visits and constant political dialog are of great importance for the further development of relations between the two countries.

The sides also emphasized the importance of further expansion of inter-parliamentary cooperation, which is an important direction of relations between the two countries. Speaker of Azerbaijani Parliament Sahiba Gafarova, recalling her official visits to the Swiss Confederation in 2022 and this year, emphasized the importance of mutual contacts for the expansion of cooperation between the legislative bodies, including the role of friendship groups.

Additionally, it was noted at the meeting that cooperation in the field of energy is an important direction for economic ties between the two countries. Azerbaijan and Switzerland are successfully cooperating in this direction. Taking into account that Azerbaijan possesses a wide range of alternative energy sources, thoughts were expressed about possible cooperation in this direction as well.

During the talk, the sides were informed about the current situation in the region and the large-scale reconstruction and construction works being carried out in Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur. The issue of the participation of Swiss companies in the reconstruction work carried out in these territories was also discussed.

The sides also exchanged views on other topics of mutual interest.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Turkiye appealed to Azerbaijan for opening a consulate in Shusha, Turkish Ambassador Cahit Bagci told reporters on May 10, Trend reports.

The ambassador noted that negotiations are underway in this direction.

To open a consulate in Khankendi, it's necessary to have the city ready. We have appealed for the opening of a consulate in Shusha. Negotiations are underway between the two states on this issue. Turkiye is assessing this process, and the relevant announcement will be made at the proper time, he emphasized.

Stay up-to-date with more news on Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev congratulated Shusha residents on their returning to the native city, Trend reports.

Speaking at the ceremony to present apartment keys to the first returning residents of Shusha, the head of state noted, You are returning to your native Shusha after 32 years. I sincerely congratulate you on this wonderful and historic event. You lived with a longing for 32 years, but I am sure that you never forgot Shusha, you knew and believed that you would return here. I also knew it, I also believed in it, and ever since I became President in 2003, I did everything in my power to return you and all the former IDPs to your native land.
As a young girl growing up in Cincinnati's suburbs, Emily Henry dreamed of becoming an author and living in New York City.

And Henry did live there for a time after graduating from college. But it turns out the dream city for the No. 1 New York Times bestselling author of "Funny Story" is actually Cincinnati.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

With five bestselling romance novels and three young adult novels, Henry lives in Cincinnati's College Hill neighborhood. She eats local favorite Graeter's Ice Cream and draws inspiration from the Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden.

Henry, 33, spoke to The Enquirer's "That So Cincinnati" podcast this week where she shared her path to success, talked about how books become a movie (more than one of hers is in that process) and said why she loves Cincinnati so much.

The interview came on the heels of news that Henry's fifth adult romance novel, "Funny Story," shot to No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list.

Emily Henry, provided by USA Today.

When she was 5, Henry's family moved from the West Coast to Northern Kentucky, across the Ohio River from Cincinnati. Her family moved north of Cincinnati to Liberty Township when she was 14, and she went to Lakota East High School. She went on to Hope College in Michigan, and then worked briefly in New York.

Henry, who is married, decided to return to Cincinnati while she paid off student loan debt.

"There was definitely a time when I got back to Cincinnati that I really thought I was going to go back to New York, and I would end up there," Henry said. "It just seemed like a natural progression of where I was going. And then I got back here and settled back into my rhythms and built new rhythms. I fell in love with the city for the first time."

Home before had been the suburbs, where her parents and friends lived. Now, she chooses to live in the city.

"It's really nice to be in a place where when you go on a trip, at the end of it, you're excited to get home," Henry said. "And that's how I feel about Cincinnati. I love the pace of the city. You just don't have to hustle as hard as you do elsewhere. No matter where you are in the city, every place you want to go is just 20 minutes from where you are. And you can have a yard."

Henry spends a lot of time reading and named Joseph-Beth Booksellers as one of her favorite places. She has written five adult romance novels, one a year since 2020.

Miss last week's episode? No problem. Listen here. Follow Cincinnati.com editor Beryl Love on X @beryllove and City Hall reporter Sharon Coolidge @SharonCoolidge.

"Funny Story" by Emily Henry hit No. 1 on the New York Times best-seller list. Provided by USA Today.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Where does Emily Henry live? Author talks love for Midwest hometown
Bill Taylor looks back on his broadcast journalism career on the eve of his retirement from Milwaukee's WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) on June 27, 2001. Taylor, who launched "Positively Milwaukee" during nearly 30 years at Channel 4, has died at age 79.

Bill Taylor, the longtime Milwaukee news broadcaster who launched the "Positively Milwaukee" segment at WTMJ-TV (Channel 4), has died, according to his former station. He was 79.

Channel 4 published a statement from Taylor's family on May 9: "We are deeply saddened by the passing of our father, grandfather, husband and friend William A. Taylor, also known as Bill Taylor. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn the legacy of this Vietnam veteran, news giant, 29-year journalist, radio personality, historian, speaker, community activist and Pan-Africanist. After battling a range of health issues, he succumbed to pneumonia."

Taylor died the night of May 8, according to his longtime friend and colleague Clayborn Benson. Taylor was living in the Augusta, Georgia, area at the time of his death.

Channel 4 said Taylor's family asked for privacy and said that plans for a memorial of his life would be announced later.

Taylor grew up on Chicago's south side. After he was drafted and worked with the Armed Forces Radio and Television Network, he decided to go into broadcasting.

In 1970, he came to Milwaukee's WNOV-AM (860) as a DJ  spinning "Taylor made soul," according to a 1971 Milwaukee Journal story  and later program director. There, he quickly became a familiar voice in the community.

Bill Taylor (right, with Bob Perry, Bill Kenner and Cecil Hale) was hired as a DJ by Milwaukee's WNOV-AM (860) in 1970. He became program director of the station before switching to TV news.

He joined Channel 4 as a reporter in 1972. While he covered a range of local subjects at the Milwaukee NBC affiliate, Taylor also went on reporting assignments overseas, from Israel to Somalia. In 1974, Taylor and Channel 4 photojournalist Clayborn Benson spent several weeks in Ghana for a four-part series on life in the western African nation, including talking with Black Americans who had moved to Ghana.

"It was a special moment in both of our lives," said Benson, who went on to found the Wisconsin Black Historical Society and Museum in Milwaukee. "  It was part of Ghana's back-to-Africa philosophy, encouraging African Americans to return home and we were part of that movement."

"That's why I'm at the museum now," said Benson, the museum's executive director. "We found our identity through our African brothers and sisters. Of course, much of what I found was through him. We spent a lot of time in the car talking about African thinking and Kwanzaa celebrations and what it means and from where it comes 

"I mean, that's why I am (who I am) today, because of rich conversations we had about our African roots."

Meanwhile, Taylor's steady on-camera presence quickly made him a fixture on Channel 4 newscasts, and a familiar face in the community.

"He brought a calmness to the conversation when it was in crisis, and people liked him," Benson recalled. "Whenever we went on stories, he was inclusive. He allowed people to bring their self into the picture."

Taylor became a fill-in news anchor and briefly led the station's 6:30 a.m. newscast before being named anchor of Channel 4's noon news in 1989.

Around that time, Taylor began a recurring news segment focusing on more upbeat stories in the community. The segment and its name, "Positively Milwaukee," came about by accident.

Searching for a signature line to end his midday newscast, Taylor came up with, "Do something positive today."

"I did it at first as a way to have something to endear the program to viewers," Taylor told Journal Sentinel columnist Eugene Kane in 2001. "Then the phones started ringing, people would call up to say, 'I took some kids out for ice cream,' or they volunteered at a local shelter.

"They would ask me, 'Is that positive?' There were so many calls like that, we decided to show some of the faces behind these suggestions."

So Taylor began seeking out stories about people doing good things in the community, and "Positively Milwaukee" was born. The recurring segment became a signature for Taylor and for Channel 4.

Taylor shifted to anchoring the station's weekend newscasts in 1991, and then in 1995 was moved to co-anchor Channel 4's then-new 11 a.m. weekday news program.

Bill Taylor talks about his broadcasting career on the eve of his retirement from WTMJ-TV (Channel 4) on June 27, 2001.

When he announced his retirement in 2001 at age 56, he had been in Milwaukee broadcasting for more than 30 years. As with the rest of his career, Taylor left on his own terms.

"When he decided he was going to quit, he quit," Benson remembered. "He didn't look back."

After leaving Channel 4, Taylor and his wife, Daphne, moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, where their youngest daughter was starting college. They later moved to Georgia.

Taylor came back to Milwaukee a couple of few times after his retirement, and he was scheduled to be grand marshal at the city's Juneteenth parade in 2020 before it was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I was fortunate enough to work with Bill Taylor for a couple of years before he retired," Gregg Schraufnagel, station manager at Channel 4, said via email. "Bill cared deeply about Milwaukee and sharing the good things that happened in our city. He was a champion of unsung heroes. In addition to creating the 'Positively Milwaukee' segments and stories, he would often go out with a photojournalist and just ask people, 'What are you doing that's positive today?' It was an unexpected question for a lot of people and challenged them to focus on things that are right with the world. What a legacy that is."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Bill Taylor, TV anchor who started 'Positively Milwaukee,' dies
The Dead Files Season 7 is back with well-known paranormal investigator and medium Amy Allan, and retired NYPD homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi. The show takes viewers into the world of strange and paranormal occurrences. This season features more haunted locations from all over the country where the duo heads over to get to the bottom of all the alleged paranormal activities.

Heres how you can watch and stream The Dead Files Season 7 via streaming services such as HBO Max.

Is The Dead Files Season 7 available to watch via streaming?

Yes, The Dead Files Season 7 is available to watch via streaming on HBO Max.

The seventh season of the show began airing on April 2, 2015 and featured a total of 22 episodes. Some of the spooky locations featured in this season include a tropical resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica, a family home in Falconer, NY, a restaurant in Oregon, and many more.

The Dead Files continues to feature Amy Allan, Steve Dischiavi, Matthew Anderson, and Cindy Kaza, as the main cast of the show.

Watch The Dead Files Season 7 streaming via HBO Max

The Dead Files Season 7 is available to watch on HBO Max. Purchase a subscription to HBO Max and enjoy amazing reality television shows such as Selling the Hamptons, 90 Day Fiance: The Other Way, Survive the Raft, and many more.

Go to HBOMax.com/subscribe Click Sign Up Now Choose your plan: $9.99 per month or $99.99 per year (with ads)

$15.99 per month or $149.99 per year (ad-free)

$19.99 per month or $199.99 per year (ultimate ad-free) Enter your personal information and password Select Create Account

Max With Ads provides the services streaming library at a Full HD resolution, allowing users to stream on up to two supported devices at once. Max Ad-Free removes the services commercials and allows streaming on two devices at once in Full HD. It also allows for 30 downloads at a time to allow users to watch content offline. On the other hand, Max Ultimate Ad-Free allows users to stream on four devices at once in a 4K Ultra HD resolution and provides Dolby Atmos audio and 100 downloads.

The Dead Files synopsis is as follows:

Psychic medium Amy Allan and former NYPD homicide detective Steve DiSchiavi investigate locations that are reported to be haunted.

NOTE: The streaming services listed above are subject to change. The information provided was correct at the time of writing.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has found its Galactus, as THR is reporting that Ralph Ineson has joined the cast of Movies Anthony Nash 10 hours ago

Magnolia Pictures has released a new Thelma trailer for its upcoming action-comedy film, which stars June Squibb as an unlikely Movies Anthony Nash 10 hours ago

This month, we celebrate the monumental 40th and 35th anniversaries of Steven Spielbergs Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom Movies Jeff Ames 11 hours ago

Filming has officially begun for the second season of the Paramount+ sitcom Frasier. Along with an announcement that Peri Gilpin will TV Ryan Louis Mantilla 11 hours ago Read more

The post The Dead Files Season 7 Streaming: Watch & Stream Online via HBO Max appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Florida Georgia Line's Brian Kelley and Tyler Hubbard have differing accounts of how the duo split up. - Credit: Gabriel Ford/Getty Images

State lines make good neighbors. At least thats what the bros of bro-countrys biggest band, Florida Georgia Line, have learned since they broke up two years ago. On two episodes of the Bussin with the Boys podcast, each bro gave broadly conflicting reasons about why they cant bro and wont bro like they used to. The bros, Tyler Hubbard and Brian Kelley, cant even agree upon which bro broached a breakup first.

Hubbards version is that his bro broadsided him. For me, it was really unexpected, he said (via People). But BK came to me and said, Man, Im really feeling like I want to do a solo thing. And Im like, Really? We were just getting out of our first deal. We were kind of in a sweet spot that we had worked for 10 years to get to.

More from Rolling Stone

He pleaded with his bro to put another 10 years into their groundbreaking fusion of country, pop, rock, and hip-hop, but ultimately he resigned that twas better to have brod and lost than never to have brod at all. He was adamant, like, Nah, nows my time. I really need to do this for myself,' Hubbard said. And Im like, Well, hey, whatever you need to do, bro. Like, What do you want from me? Hes like, I just want support. So Im like, OK you got it.'

Even though Hubbard offered to do a reunion tour at one point, the duos rapprochement (sorry, rabrochement) was short lived. BK had this thing where he wanted to still do Florida Georgia Line, but he wanted to do the solo thing, too, Hubbard said, and I had to tell him  I cant do both. So he issued his bro an ultimatum, asking him to choose whether to bro or not to bro, slings and arrows of outrageous fortune be damned.

Kelley contradicted his former bros version of events on his episode. The split wasnt really a beef, he said, since hed been talking about going solo for a long time. I had an idea that once the deal was up, Tyler would get a solo deal under the same label, I would get a record deal and we would renegotiate a new record deal, he said. Plus, he had a vision of he and Hubbard touring together, performing their solo music and reuniting every night for Florida Georgia Line songs in a three-hour spectacle of brotherly love.

It wasnt just that I had to have a solo career  I would word it as I want a solo outlet, as a creative, as a songwriter,' Kelley said. I wanted to reshape that part of the story. It gets sticky about what things go where? I think its easy to figure out. Its not an emotional thing for me when were talking about business and creativity.

The bromance ended officially, though, when Kelley saw Hubbard with a new bro, Tim McGraw, singing a duet, Undivided, at President Bidens inauguration. Kelley was surprised [and] shocked. I didnt think that was a good look, if Id have done it or if he had done it, he said, the perfidy clearly still smarting. (Hubbard and his wife allegedly unfollowed Kelley on social media after the election, too).

Still, the bros mustered the strength for a final Florida Georgia Line bro-down in 2022. Hubbard released his sophomore solo outing, Strong, last month, and Kelleys, Tennessee Truth, came out Friday. It notably contains a song called Kiss My Boots, which is not the tender expression of love it appears, since some have interpreted it as a dig at Hubbard.

The real Tennessee truth arrived earlier this month, though, when the bros officially closed their Nashville bar, FGL House. Its over, brover.

Best of Rolling Stone
Julie Chrisley to be treated to picnic, hot dogs, a rose while in prison on Mothers Day

It might not be wine and roses, but Julie Chrisley will at least be able to enjoy a picnic lunch and receive a rose this Mothers Day while serving out her sentence in a Kentucky federal prison.

In June 2022, a jury found Todd and Julie Chrisley, best known for their reality series Chrisley Knows Best, guilty on charges of criminal bank fraud and tax evasion. Their accountant, Peter Tarantino, was convicted of filing two false corporate tax returns.

In Nov. 2022, a federal judge sentenced Todd Chrisley to 12 years in prison, Julie Chrisley to seven years in prison, and Tarantino to three years in prison.

Since reporting to prison, Julie Chrisley has been making the most of her incarceration while she and Todd appeal the case.

The Chrisley matriarch has been taking classes inside the prison and even cooked a Thanksgiving meal for her and other inmates using a radiator and items she bought at the prison commissary.

Apparently, Mothers Day will be a special day at FMC Lexington.

RELATED STORIES:

Following visitation, the female adults in custody will be permitted to eat at the outside pavilion and have a picnic-style hot dog meal, per their request, the prison confirmed to RadarOnline.

The inmates will have a choice of two hot dogs or two soy dogs, with potato chips, coleslaw, and condiments like mustard and ketchup, the website said.

The female inmates will also receive a rose in honor of Mothers Day.

The evening will end with a pie for dessert.

Channel 2 Action News first started investigating the Chrisleys in 2017, when we learned that Todd Chrisley had likely evaded paying Georgia state income taxes for several years.

Court documents obtained by Channel 2 Action News showed that by 2018, the Chrisleys owed the state nearly $800,000 in liens.

The couple eventually went to trial and a federal jury found them guilty of bank fraud and tax evasion in June 2022.

RELATED NEWS:
Meghan Markle Empowers Nigerian Schoolchildren: 'I See Myself in All of You'

It is a complete honor to have our first visit to Nigeria be here with all of you," Meghan said of her and Prince Harry's tour of the African country

AP Photo/Sunday Alamba Meghan Markle at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria

Meghan Markle had some empowering words to share during day one of her Prince Harrys visit to Nigeria.

While attending an inaugural mental health summit put on by the GEANCO Foundation at the Lightway Academy in Abuja on May 10, the Duchess of Sussex, who discovered in 2022 that she is of Nigerian heritage, addressed young students at the school.

You know, every single one of you has a story. We all have our story, Meghan, 42, said during her speech. And there's no shame in any single one of your stories. Even on the hardest days or darkest days, everything is a pillar of your strength by each of you being there.

Your teachers see that in you. And we see that in you, she continued, before mentioning her and Harry's daughter Princess Lilibet, who turns 3 next month. "Interestingly, so does our daughter, Lili; she's much tinier than you guys, about to turn three. A few weeks ago, she looked at me and saw her reflection in my eyes. She said, 'Mama, I see me in you.' Now, she was talking literally, but I held onto those words in a different way. I thought, yes, I do see me in you, and you see me in you. But as I look around this room, I see myself in all of you as well."

KOLA SULAIMON/AFP via Getty Meghan Markle takes a selfie with students as she arrives alongside Prince Harry at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria, on May 10, 2024

Related: Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Arrive in Nigeria for First Official Tour Post-Royal Life

The Duchess words at the summit were reminiscent of the speech she delivered to local people during her first-ever visit to South Africa back in 2019.

During the first stop of their royal tour  a visit to Cape Towns Nyanga township  Meghan proudly spoke about her Black heritage and visiting the country as your sister.

Can't get enough of PEOPLE's Royals coverage? Sign up for our free Royals newsletter to get the latest updates on Kate Middleton, Meghan Markle and more!



On one personal note, may I just say that while I am here with my husband as a member of the royal family, I want you to know that for me, I am here as a mother, as a wife, as a woman, as a woman of color, and as your sister, she said.

I am here with you, and I am here for you, she added.

Meghan also encouraged women to fight for respect, dignity and equality after watching a self-defense class during the visit.

Samir Hussein/WireImage Prince Harry, Duke of Sussex and Meghan, Duchess of Sussex visit a Justice Desk initiative, a workshop that teaches children about their rights, self-awareness and safety, in Nyanga township, during their royal tour of South Africa on September 23, 2019 in Cape Town, South Africa.

The Lightway Academy, which is located in the African countrys capital, is a co-educational day school offering nursery, early years, primary, and secondary education.

Meghan then went on to share her pride at being able to visit Nigeria for the first time, calling it a complete honor.

We believe in you. We believe in your futures. We believe in your ability to continue to tell your stories and to just be honest with each other, she continued, adding, There is no need to suffer in silence. Just make sure that you are taking care of yourselves and that begins with your mental health by really talking about whatever's coming up for you.

AP Photo/Sunday Alamba Meghan Markle at the Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria

Related: Meghan Markle Has Proud Wife Moment with Prince Harry in Nigeria: You See Why I'm Married to Him?'

During a 2022 episode of her podcast Archetypes, Meghan revealed that she had Nigerian heritage. Speaking with American-Nigerian actor Ziwe, Meghan said she discovered she is 43% Nigerian after having her genealogy done "a couple of years ago.

And speaking exclusively to PEOPLE on Friday, Afam Onyema, CEO of GEANCO, said that he reached out to Meghan after hearing the episode.

I tried to make a connection and make her aware of our work, he told PEOPLE. She advanced an interest in getting to know the country and to having to support it. So we said, Hey, this is what we're doing. 

Obviously Harry's interest in Africa is longstanding and well deserved. And so it became a really natural partnership, added Onyema, who has been leading GEANCO for nearly 17 years.

Andrew Esiebo/Getty Meghan Markle visits the Lightway Academy in Abuja, Nigeria

The founder of the foundation went on to note that Meghan is very interested in Nigeria and learning about it. There's so much to learn and the country is rich and diverse and challenging and crazy, but also deeply inspiring and warm, he said.

I would imagine that she's gonna get a true sense of her roots coming here and be able to really soak that up. We're just honored to be a part of that. We're honored to be their first stop on this trip.

I think this will give 'em a jolt of energy and inspiration to get through the rest of what I'm sure it's gonna be a very hectic weekend! he added.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
These Wisconsin homes are among the 'ugliest' in America, according to HGTV

Editor's note: A previous version of this story misstated the location of one of the homes. The homes are in Hartford and Lake Geneva.

From Frank Lloyd Wright's creations to Lake Drive mansions to cabins Up North, Wisconsin is full of beautiful houses.

However, as the latest episode of HGTV's "Ugliest House in America" proves, our state is also home to some ugly ones.

Season 5, Episode 4 of the show, titled "A Northern Kind of Ugly," aired on May 6. After highlighting unique, eclectic and "ugly" homes across various regions of the country, host Retta, of "Parks and Rec" fame, ventured out to find the ugliest house in the U.S.'s "Northern Region." Apparently, Retta doesn't consider Wisconsin to be in the Midwest. In the episode's intro, she claimed to have already found the Midwest's ugliest home in Painesville, Ohio.

In the "Northern Region," Retta visited three houses: one in St. Cloud, Minn., and southern Wisconsin homes in Hartford and Lake Geneva. The home she deemed "ugliest" moved on to the next round to be considered for a $150,000 professional renovation.

Here's what stood out in the two Wisconsin homes.

This "castle" in Hartford was featured on HGTV's "Ugliest House in America."

Hartford's 'Stone Cold Castle'

The episode opened in Hartford at the home of couple Greg and Jamie, who live there with their two children. The 3,336-square-foot home was custom-built in 1960 to feed the original owner's obsession with all things medieval. The exterior features castle turrets and even a suit of armor.

Greg and Jamie told Retta they purchased the home for $380,000 and were just looking for a place to accommodate their growing family. However, they played along with the castle theme, wearing plastic crowns when they greeted Retta at the door.

Inside, the house is dark, "gloomy" and full of archways, Retta said. The original owner, a mason, added stone and concrete walls throughout to make it further resemble a castle fortress. The outdated, tavern-like kitchen features a heavily fortified concrete seating area that Retta said "hurts to sit on." Plus, there are broken stone water features and multiple open fireplaces that she deemed "too scary to use."

"It's so dark and gloomy in there, it's like being in a cave sometimes," Jamie said.

Upstairs also has some interesting features, including a throne not exactly fit for a king  the toilet sits in the middle of the master bathroom up against a thin wall in front of the shower. Another bathroom includes a yellow shower and sink; Retta described the unique color as "olive and mustard kissed."

Lake Geneva's 'Tartan Party Palace'

After returning from St. Cloud, Retta stopped by the Lake Geneva home of couple Jeff and Jessica. The 3,654-square-foot home was built in 1933, however, it was renovated in the 1960s and '70s ... and it shows. Wood-paneled walls, aggressively patterned carpets and colorful wallpaper date the home throughout.

Outside, the home is largely unassuming, if not a little rundown. Some shutters are missing and others are falling off. Jeff said he found the house for $640,000 and looked at it for 20 minutes, without Jessica, before purchasing.

"I have not bought a house without seeing it before," Jessica said. "Do I recommend it? No."

Inside, the kitchen features floral wallpaper, bright red counters, retro cabinets hanging from the ceiling, and yellow and red tartan carpeting. It's also poorly arranged, with a large refrigerator nearly blocking the entryway. The poorly lit basement features wood paneling, more busy wallpaper and similar carpeting to the kitchen, leading Retta to dub the home the "Tartan Party Palace."

Upstairs, Retta visited the "brown bathroom," complete with brown carpeting, a brown toilet and sink, and brown cabinets and wallpaper. Then, she checked out the "open-concept" master bedroom, which has no door to the bathroom. In fact, you can see the bed from the toilet.

So, which house was the ugliest of all?

Unfortunately, neither Wisconsin home earned the title of ugliest in the region. That honor went to the aqua-colored, cinderblock home with a circus-themed bathroom in St. Cloud that Retta described as a "technicolor prison."

More: Look inside this newly listed $3-million lakefront mansion in Whitefish Bay

More: A photo tour of the Daniel Hoan house in Concordia

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Two Wisconsin homes are among the 'ugliest' in the country, HGTV says
Yes, Zendaya Almost Always Wears the Same Style of Sky-High Heels on Red Carpets  What to Know About the Shoes

Zendayas stylist and long-time collaborator Law Roach confirmed her signature red carpet heel in a recent interview

Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Zendaya in Milan, Italy, on April 14

Zendaya always captivates on the red carpet, thanks in a large part to her collaboration with her longtime stylist Law Roach  and her go-to heels.



In a recent interview on Recho Omondis fashion podcast, The Cutting Room Floor, Roach, 45 shared details about his work with Zendaya, 27, over the years and why she almost always is wearing the Christian Louboutin So Kate 120-millimeter (4.7-inch) pumps when she attends an event.

He called the sky-high shoes "one of the most versatile shoes, [and] one of the most painful."

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic Zendaya at the People's Choice Awards in 2019

Roach explained on the podcast that the Challengers star has worn the So Kate shoes, which were inspired by model Kate Moss, since Zendaya was 14. He recounted her wearing the heels at a press event for the first time and struggling. I was like, You will not take these shoes off. She kept them on, and the next day, she put them on again," Roach said. "And the next day, she put them on again."

"Now," Roach said, "her feet are kind of, like, trained. She could wear them all day.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Related: Giuliana Rancic Reflects on Zendaya's 'Incredible' Career and How Fashion Reporting Has Evolved (Exclusive)

The heels are now a pivotal part of Zendayas signature style on every red carpet, and Roach told Omondi, People are like, Were gonna send shoes, and Im like, Shes only gonna wear So Kates.' "

Han Myung-Gu/Getty Zendaya at the Dune: Part Two premiere in Seoul in February

Zendaya and Roachs work over the years has included many show-stopping fashion moments, most recently at the 2024 Met Gala and her press runs for Challengers and Dune: Part Two. Many of those looks featured the So Kates.

Related: Zendaya Nails Second Met Gala Look with Giant Floral Headpiece and Black Dress Made the Same Year She Was Born!

Jeff Spicer/Getty Zendaya in London in April

Earlier in the interview, Roach also remembered when starting out in the industry and working with Zendaya, "I didnt understand that the girl that got the most press got the most dressed."

Jose Perez/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images

Continued the stylist, who has also worked with Celine Dion, Lindsay Lohan and others, "So when I figured that out, I started to devise all these plans to make people pay attention to her. Once the eyes got on her, then the trajectory of her career began to change."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. President Ilham Aliyev highlighted the restoration of historical monuments in the city of Shusha during a ceremony to present apartment keys to the first returning residents, Trend reports.

The head of state said: Today, the Shirinsu bath was opened after major renovation. The repair and restoration in the Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque are nearing completion. The monument to Uzeyir Hajibayli, which was destroyed by the savage enemy, was put back in its place. The bust of Vagif destroyed by the Armenians was restored to its previous appearance and form. The reconstruction of Uzeyir Hajibayli's House destroyed by the Armenians is in progress, it will be ready this year.
If you love whisky, you're gonna love what Costco offers. The retail giant is as well-known for its extensive booze offerings as it is for its rotisserie chickens and massive cakes, and whisky sits front and center on its shelves. Costco sells a huge range of whiskies, with a host of top name brands and its own Kirkland brand (which was almost called something way different) having an impressive selection of expressions. Maker's Mark, Jack Daniel's, Jameson, and Crown Royal are just a few of the brands you might find in its cavernous stores, alongside its own Scotch, bourbon, and Irish whiskies.

Although these famous names might come at attractive prices, they may not be as good of a deal as some of Costco's other whiskey offerings. Additionally, Costco stocks a few whiskey varieties that you might never have expected, like the elusive Pappy Van Winkle, which requires specific knowledge of when it's released and how to procure it from the employees to nab a bottle. If you ever wanted to get the lowdown on the secret behind Costco whisky, we've got the facts you need to know right here. Pour yourself a glass, and let's dive in.

Read more: All The Benefits Of A Costco Membership

Costco Kirkland Whiskey Comes In A Variety Of Regular Expressions

Kirkland signature Irish whiskey - The Image Party/Shutterstock

Costco doesn't do anything by halves -- and that includes its whiskies. The store stocks a large selection of whiskies under its Kirkland brand name, pointing towards the level of demand. As of December 2023, there are seven individual Kirkland Signature Scotch whisky expressions on regular offer in the store. Its blended Scotch whiskies are a permanent feature, with various Speyside, Islay, and regular Single Malt scotches also available on rotation.

Additionally, Costco offers three different Kirkland Signature bourbon expressions, which tend to be released and stocked during the summer months. Irish and Canadian whiskies round out the pack, with Costco often offering limited-edition Kirkland whiskey and whiskey products. This amount also doesn't cover drinks or liqueurs based on whiskies, like Irish cream, which Costco also stocks under its Kirkland brand name.

It's worth remembering that like all big stores, Costco can change up its product selection without warning, and some of its items have changed over the years -- meaning that if you last shopped at Costco a decade ago, you may find a different selection or flavor of whiskey than the one you found last time. Given the beverage's eternal popularity, though, we don't think the store will stop stocking it any time soon.

Costco Sells More Alcohol Every Year Than You Probably Realize

liquor aisle in Costco store - ZikG/Shutterstock

It's probably no surprise that Costco makes a lot of money, and a significant proportion of its sales revenue comes from its whisky. The store sold approximately $6.5 to $7 billion worth of alcohol in 2023 (per Forbes), making it not just the biggest seller of alcoholic beverages in the United States, but in the entire world. Of these alcohol sales, roughly 25% are made up of spirits -- and when you consider that a significant proportion of the Kirkland booze line is made up of its various whiskies, it's clear that a lot of bottles are being sold.

So what's Costco's secret behind shifting so much booze? It's a combination of lower prices, good quality, larger bottles (which give the sense that you get more for your money), and its all-important subscription model. Because Costco charges people to shop in its stores, it creates a sense of customer loyalty, where people feel as though they have to get their money's worth and make the most of their subscriptions. As a result, they stock up on whisky and other alcohol while they're there, filling their baskets with big, non-perishable items that seem to be a bargain.

You Don't Always Have To Be A Member To Buy Whisky At Costco

person holding Costco membership cards - Sadi-Santos/Shutterstock

Costco's subscription model can create a real sense of exclusivity, and those who don't have a membership can often feel as though they're missing out. Luckily, in some places, you don't have to be a member at all to get your whiskey fix. There are standalone Costco liquor stores that only exist in a few places, where you can enter without being a full Costco member and purchase whiskey, vodka, and other spirits.

However, you'll have to be somewhere fairly specific to visit these fabled stores. Costco Liquor is currently only located in Alberta, Canada, a province where you're only able to buy alcohol in designated liquor outlets. As such, these stores are located right next to the regular Costco locations, but with a separate entrance, so you'll have to go next door to get your Canadian whisky. If you're in the United States, though, you'll likely still have to get a Costco membership to purchase its range of whiskies. While the stores in some states, like Florida, separate the booze selection from the regular selection of products, you still have to flash your card to gain access.

Kirkland Canadian Whisky Might Be Made Alongside Crown Royal

kirkland canadian whisky - The Image Party/Shutterstock

Costco's Kirkland alcohol products are frequently subject to rumors about where they come from. The question of whether Kirkland Signature vodka is actually Grey Goose, for example, has been raised for years, due to the two drinks' flavor similarities. While both Costco and Grey Goose have refuted this claim, though, the retailer is less willing to squash the rumor that continually swirls about its Blended Canadian Whisky, which many folks believe is made by prominent Canadian whisky brand Crown Royal.

We've gotta say, we can see why the two are compared so often. Kirkland Signature Blended Canadian Whisky tastes and smells very similar to Crown Royal, albeit with minor differences and a hint of extra spice. Given that both whiskies are blended, it could well be the case that the Kirkland product simply has a slightly different recipe to other Crown Royal expressions, as there doesn't seem to be an exact comparison. Its flavor difference could also be due to its six-year aging process, with Crown Royal generally not including aging information on the bottles of its whisky line.

Its Scotch Is Rumored To Come From One Specific Company

kirkland blended scotch whisky - The Image Party/Shutterstock

Costco does Scotch well. The store has a range of Scotch options available under its Kirkland brand name, with blended and single-malt expressions found on its shelves. These expressions, which are most diverse in Costco's US stores, can be aged for up to 25 years, giving you serious complexity in each bottle. As with all Kirkland products, however, Costco doesn't make these itself. Instead, the company behind Costco's Kirkland brand Scotch since 2007 is widely assumed to be Alexander Murray & Co., a Scottish-born outfit that operates in the United States.

The company is named after owner Steve Lipp's great uncle, a malt whisky aficionado. Lipp learned his trade in Scotland before establishing Alexander Murray & Co. in 2004 in California, where the business began supplying its Scotch to the American alcohol market. While you can find Alexander Murray & Co. products in lots of liquor stores around the country, heading to Costco to pick up one of its expressions will allow you to sample the company's smooth, peaty whiskies without having to pay top dollar for its name-brand items.

Kirkland Bourbon Whiskey Is Made By Barton 1792 Distillery

bottles of Kirkland Signature bourbon - The Image Party/Shutterstock

It's pretty easy to find bourbon in Costco, but there's no need to spend the big bucks to get it: The store has its own line of Kirkland bourbon, with several different expressions under the brand name. Unlike some other Kirkland product producers, however, it's fairly easy to solve the mystery behind what brand supplies Costco's Kirkland bourbon. The retailer decided to put the manufacturer, Barton 1792 Distillery, right on the label.

Barton 1792 Distillery has a long lineage in bourbon making. The outfit started making bourbon in Kentucky way back in 1879 (the date in its name, 1792, refers to the year Kentucky joined the United States) and specializes in small-batch whiskies. Interestingly, though, it seems that Costco has only started using Barton's whiskey in the last few years. Records from the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau reveal that Jim Beam was the manufacturer behind Costco's Straight Bourbon Whiskey back in 2011. Later, it's believed that Tennessee-based distillery George Dickel took over production of its Tennessee whiskey before the retailer landed on Barton 1792 Distillery as its provider of choice. 

Costco Kirkland Irish Whiskey Might Be Made In Partnership With One Distillery

bottles of Kirkland Irish whiskey - The Image Party/Shutterstock

If you like Irish whiskey, Costco has you covered. The warehouse giant's Kirkland Signature version allows you to enjoy the expression's barley-based flavor and longer aging periods. Luckily, too, it looks as though its production is in good hands. Costco Irish whiskey is rumored to be made by Irish Distillers Ltd., a major producer owned by Pernod Ricard. Somewhat curiously, Irish Distillers Ltd. also makes Jameson, an Irish whiskey that is also available at Costco (for way more than its Kirkland whiskey costs).

In typical fashion, Costco has never been explicit about using Irish Distillers Ltd. as the supplier for its Kirkland beverage, but it all looks pretty clear to us. The main reason Irish Distillers Ltd. seem to be the likely culprit is thanks to its sheer size, which gives it the capacity to supply Costco in the large quantities it needs. Luckily, you can breathe safely knowing that this company produces a good drink. As well as Jameson, Irish Distillers Ltd. is also responsible for Middleton Very Rare, Redbreast Single Pot Still Irish Whiskey, and Powers Irish Whiskey, to name but a few.

You Can Stock Up On Johnnie Walker And (If You're Lucky) Pappy Van Winkle At Costco

Pappy Van Winkle whiskey - Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

It's important to remember that the Costco stocks far more alcohol options than just its Kirkland brands. The retailer sells more bottles of Johnnie Walker Blue and The Macallan than any other store in the world, and a quick trip around its aisles will have you finding even more whiskies.

If you're looking for an Irish whisky, you can pick up a bottle of Jameson, going for either its Black Label or its standard expression. Just bear in mind that you'll likely pay around $20 more if you go for the name-brand version. If bourbon is your thing, you have a mind-boggling selection. Costco stocks Bulleit, Knob Creek, Basil Hayden's, and Woodford Reserve, among other choices. As well as the previously-mentioned Johnnie Walker Blue, you can also grab a bottle of Glenlivet 14-Year-Old Single Scotch Malt Whiskey.

Just remember that these whiskeys may not always be a standard feature in Costco stores -- and some of them can be extremely hard to find. On occasion, you can find a bottle of ultra-rare Pappy Van Winkle Bourbon on its shelves, at a slightly lower price than it's sold elsewhere. These "drops" of Pappy Van Winkle only happen sporadically, though, and you'll either have to be in the right place at the right time or be one of the lucky few that employees hand a ticket out to for a chance to purchase it.

Costco Kirkland Whiskies Are Way Cheaper Than Other Versions

bottles of Johnnie Walker Black Label - Erman Gunes/Shutterstock

Although you have to pay for a membership to Costco, you're rewarded with a cavernous warehouse full of low-price items, including whisky. Costco whiskies are consistently cheaper than name-brand versions, and given that they're made by reputable companies, you shouldn't worry too much about their cheaper price point.

Take Costco Kirkland Blended Canadian Whisky, for example. A 1.75-liter bottle will generally cost you between $20 and 30, depending on which state you buy it in. A bottle of its closest name-brand competitor, Crown Royal (which may manufacture the Kirkland product), will come in closer to the $50 mark. Costco's Kirkland Signature Blended Scotch Whisky may have a lower price difference, but buying it can still save you valuable dollars. Its 12-Year expression comes in at roughly $46 and is praised for its excellent, layered taste, with hints of cinnamon, prune, smoke, and brown sugar. Johnnie Walker Black Label usually comes in at over $50 per bottle for the same size, and while it will give you a similarly smooth experience, every penny counts. 

Costco Kirkland Whiskies Are Similar To More Expensive Labels

bottles of Dewar White Label - FotograFFF/Shutterstock

It can feel like going for Kirkland whiskies over a name-brand version can leave you with an inferior product. If you're smart, though, you can get a whiskey that tastes pretty similar to a more expensive option, saving you money and the hassle of going to a different store to get your liquor. Scotch pros have noted the similarity between Kirkland Signature Blended Scotch Whisky and Dewar's White Label, although the Kirkland version may be a little darker. As such, if you're using the Kirkland product in a cocktail instead of Dewar's, you're unlikely to tell the difference.

Costco's Kirkland Signature Canadian whisky has also been frequently compared to Crown Royal, and it's got more than just the taste going for it. It doesn't take a genius to notice that the bottle's shape is reminiscent of Crown Royal's squat design. This similarity is somewhat of an homage to the more expensive brand and allows you to feel like you're engaging in a little luxury for a more reasonable price -- and getting a near-identical flavor, too.

Costco Sometimes Sells Limited-Edition Kirkland Whiskies

kirkland signature limited-edition scotch whisky - Costco

It's easy to think of Kirkland products as unchanging and consistent, given the emphasis on providing the basics at a low price. While this may be the case, that doesn't mean that Costco doesn't have some fun with them. The warehouse occasionally offers limited-edition versions of its whiskies, designed to show off a new flavor or honor an event.

In early 2024, for example, the retailer offered a blended Scotch whisky, aged for eight years, to mark the Lunar New Year. The bottle's design reflected the upcoming Year of the Dragon and was adorned with a fierce-looking serpent, and packed in a limited-edition box. The drink itself had familiar taste notes to Costco's other Scotches, which seemed to point towards it coming from the same producer, with a spice-heavy top note and a woody, peaty finish. The year before, Costco also offered its customers a limited-edition 15-year-old single malt Scotch. It went even further in 2022, with a 20-year-old Speyside Scotch. It's definitely worth keeping an eye on what Costco's offering.

Read the original article on Daily Meal
After a 21-year career as a Kentucky State Police trooper, John Bradley has swapped his police uniform for a white coat.

On Saturday, the former lieutenant colonel will walk the stage at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine graduation, ready to launch a new career as a pathologist. At 53 years old, Dr. Bradley will be the schools oldest graduate, about twice the age of the typical med school student.

In the fall of 1988, right out of high school, Bradley enrolled at UK to pursue his childhood dream of working in the medical field. Then, an ironic tragedy struck: He got all As on his first semester report card.

Probably the worst thing happened to me that could have that first semester. I got a 4.0 grade average, he said. As the classes got harder, I started realizing I didnt really have the academic preparation to be there but, more importantly I didnt have the maturity.

No stranger to side quests, Bradley performed in a heavy metal band, Brain Salad, during his first go-around at school. The band made an appearance in the Oct. 3, 1991, edition of Rolling Stone magazine.

Unfortunately, Bradley couldnt mirror that success in his college classes.

Over the next four years, he was in and out of school. Bradley slowly lost his grip on passing grades and took a step back from college. He put his biology knowledge to use at a lab job.

Though Bradley appreciated his time in the private sector, he felt unfulfilled. He looked to those closest to him for inspiration.

My uncle is a retired lieutenant colonel with KSP, Bradley said. My uncle was not a huge man. He would get out of that cruiser wearing the uniform, and he looked 10-feet-tall to me.

Over his two-decade career, Bradley held six ranks, climbing all the way to lieutenant colonel, just like his uncle.

While working in Frankfort, he took the chance to go back to school and got a bachelors degree in criminal justice from Kentucky State University.

Still, he longed to be a doctor.

Id been driving by Chandler Hospital for 30 years, and I would always have just a pang of regret, he said.

Though he had no intention of returning to school after retiring from KSP in 2017, Bradley found himself back at Kentucky State finishing his bachelors degree in biology a mere three months after retirement.

Matured and with a deeper appreciation for school, he graduated as the class valedictorian.

Thats when he knew he wanted to go to medical school, and he knew where. Bradley only applied to one program, UKs College of Medicine.

Dr. Michael Rankin served on the admissions committee that year. He said Bradleys life experience and diversity as a nontraditional student stood out.

He had already shown that he had a keen interest in helping his fellow man. After all, thats why we all go into medicine, Rankin said.

John JB Bradley, 53-year-old retired Kentucky state trooper, and soon to be medical school graduate at his home in Lexington, Ky, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Bradley attended the University of Kentucky in the 80s before dropping out and going on to serve 21 years as a state trooper. After retiring he decided to go back to school to pursue a career in medicine.

His older sister, Geri Bradley, recalled growing up in a mobile home in Beattyville, playing make-believe doctor with her brother. Between imaginary patients, the pair laid on the floor flipping through pages of their dads encyclopedia, learning everything they could about the human body.

John says hes always looked up to me, but Ive actually always looked up to him, and hes my baby brother, she said. Hes done everything that I ever wanted to do, and I have lived these last years in his medical school vicariously through him.

I am so proud of him, I dont have the words for it.

Rankin said UKs alumni data shows doctors who go to high school, college, medical school and residency in Kentucky are likely to keep practicing medicine in the commonwealth. Bradley is a Kentuckian at heart, and plans to keep serving the commonwealth long after graduation.

He starts his pathology residency at UK later this year.

Bradley spent the first three years of medical school intending to become a radiologist. In his fourth year, he took a pathology elective at the state medical examiners office and knew he had to make the switch.

It was kind of a call back to my police career. As an investigator, I had been to a lot of autopsies and had a lot of interactions with pathologists, even before I really understood that they were truly medical doctors, he said.

Bradley called pathologists a doctors doctor. Although he knows he wont be directly interacting with a lot of patients, he does take the weight of his job very seriously.

He said the police force taught him how to interact with people on the worst days of their lives, a skill that will help him meet people where they are when delivering a diagnosis.

Your vocation and your profession is not just black and white, but theres people behind it. People with consequences and people that need to be helped, he said. Theres a human being at the other end of that diagnosis.

During his time on the force, Bradley said he prided himself on his ability to separate work and home. He could hang up his uniform and leave police work at the station. That changed after a particularly tough case in 2002.

As a sergeant at Post 5 based in Campbellsville, Bradley was called in on his day off to assist with a double murder. He answered questions at a news conference and went inside a Gallatin County house to help process the scene.

Two young children, ages 6 and 7, were dead. A third was assaulted and lived.

I start to walk out the door, and right beside the door theres three book bags and then it just hit me all at once. Damn, these three kids were planning on going to school, not the day that they got.

He added: I could feel myself kind of drain. I got out in the yard, and there were three bicycles left the way kids throw them to the four corners of the wind.

That day was the first time he cried because of something he experienced on duty. The tears flowed for the 50-mile drive back home.

John JB Bradley, 53-year-old retired Kentucky state trooper, and soon to be medical school graduate at his home in Lexington, Ky, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Bradley attended the University of Kentucky in the 80s before dropping out and going on to serve 21 years as a state trooper. After retiring he decided to go back to school to pursue a career in medicine.

The man convicted of those murders, Marco Allen Chapman, was executed in 2008. Nobody else in the commonwealth has been executed since.

I cant think about those book bags and those bikes because thats when it got real. I couldnt treat it as an abstraction anymore, he said.

Looking forward to his career as a pathologist, Bradley doesnt plan on leaving everything at the office as he once did.

When I look at a tissue sample or a slide and I see bad news, its not just going to be an abstraction in my microscope. Its going to be a real human being, he said. You hope you can give them a diagnosis and ease their suffering, but youve got to realize those things represent realness.

From one childhood dream to the next, Bradley said after a fulfilling medical career he plans to go back to school and get a degree in meteorology.

Insisting that timing has made everything work in his life, Bradley said he is often struck by dumb luck.

I just dont have enough sense to know when Im beat, he said.

I just dont know when to quit.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Centro De Salud Familiar La Fe is hosting a luncheon in honor of the mothers who helped establish the nonprofit over 75 years ago.

The luncheon will be held at noon on Friday, May 10, Dia de las Madres, at the La Fe San Jose Ballroom, 501 South Virginia St.

Staff from Centro De Salud and invited guests will be treated to a delectable array of traditional Mexican dishes, accompanied by a live mariachi performance by Mariachi Real Azteca, according to the news release.

The mothers and grandmothers of our community were the force behind the social justice movement that created La Fe. The mothers of todays La Fe carry on the legacy of our founders by fighting for our families well-being. El Diez de Mayo is about heritage, love for our Chicano roots, and love for the women in our families who give us the strength to build a better tomorrow, said La Fe CEO Salvador Balcorta as he explained the importance of celebrating the Mexican holiday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Couple gets engaged in front of shark tank at Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium

A local couple got engaged in front of the shark tank at Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium.

Nanciann Lisbon was completely surprised when her now-fiance Matthew Rocco got on one knee in front of the aquarium.

A diver held up a sign reading Will you marry me? during the couples special moment.

The staff made my day so special. I wouldnt be able to thank them enough. They went through every step planning it with him. Making sure every detail was perfect, Lisbon told Channel 11.

Lisbon tells Channel 11 that this was the first time a diver participated in an engagement at the zoo.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Aldi to slash prices on 250 summer essentials 2 people injured when bus crashes into building in Washington County Man accused of domestic abuse kidnapping attempt in South Strabane Giant Eagle parking lot VIDEO: Person injured, dog killed in house fire in Carrick DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
For the past 25 years, conservation scientist E.J. Milner-Gulland of the University of Oxford in the UK has studied the often-opaque trade in wild animal meat, hides, horns, tusks, scales, bones and more, across Africa and Asia. Her initial interest was in understanding how much hunting would be sustainable  without causing worrying declines in wild animal populations  but she soon realized that understanding hunters and the people who eat wild meat was equally important.

When some conservation and animal welfare organizations started calling for a ban on wild meat during the Covid-19 pandemic, citing health risks and conservation concerns, Milner-Gulland and over a dozen colleagues protested. They argued that while certain hunting practices create unacceptable risks for endangered animals and human health, other forms of hunting are largely sustainable and crucial to peoples livelihoods.

Based on their studies, they believe that blanket bans on wild meat hunting, trade and consumption would be both unfair and unlikely to benefit conservation efforts. Bans might make hunting and trading harder to monitor by pushing it underground, they think, and force people to shift to potentially more damaging activities.

Milner-Gulland thinks we should treat wild meat like we do other kinds of meat: as a respectable source of food and income that should be regulated to improve security, sustainability and animal welfare  a topic she and colleagues explore in the Annual Review of Environment and Resources. Knowable Magazine recently sat down with her to discuss what she thinks should most urgently be done. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Why do people in the countries youve worked in hunt and/or eat wild animals?

Its very mixed. Globally, tens of millions of people are estimated to rely on wild meat from several hundred different species. Some people are hunting to meet their own nutritional needs, and studies show wild meat can be an important source of protein, fat and micronutrients they would otherwise lack.

But many people are also hunting wild animals to sell so they can then buy household essentials or cheaper food, and are not eating much of it themselves. Farmers might be selling agricultural products only once a year, and they wont necessarily have a savings account. So if they suddenly need cash, say for unexpected medical bills, hunting may be one of the few things they can do. Even people working in the cities may return to their hometown to hunt when things get tough. In that sense, the separation of commercial and subsistence hunting is often meaningless.

Finally, some are making a good living out of purely commercial wild meat sales when they could be, and probably are, doing other business too. A lot of the unsustainability arises when outsiders are coming into an area to make a quick buck. There is quite a demand for wild meat. In Libreville, the capital of Gabon in Central Africa, for example, porcupine is a luxury good sold to rich urban consumers, while poorer people might eat cheap meat like frozen chicken day to day. Meanwhile, out in the rural areas in the middle of the forest, porcupine is cheap and poultry would be much more expensive. And a lot of wild meat is also exported, including to Europe and the US.

A significant proportion of the wild meat trade is informal, illicit or even illegal. How do you study the covert practices that most people will probably not want to admit to?

First, I should say that things that are informal arent necessarily illegal, things that are illegal arent necessarily unsustainable, and things that are legal arent necessarily sustainable. That being said, quantitative data on covert practices are obviously challenging to get, so we often triangulate between datasets, from market surveys to arrest data to interviews with key informants, to get a better picture of whats going on.

Its very hard to talk to people about it directly, so weve also been borrowing some of the questioning techniques that are often used in psychology to talk about sensitive subjects in our studies. This gives you a less precise answer than if people were asked directly and told the truth, but a more accurate one than if you took people at their word and they were actually not telling the whole truth.

One of these techniques is the unmatched count technique, which uses cards with a list of activities, only one of which is the sensitive activity  say, eating wild meat. Some people get the full list, others get a list without the sensitive activity in it. We ask people how many of the activities on the list theyve engaged in over the past 12 months  not which ones, just how many. This means they dont have to confess, because if they say three, I dont know which three activities they are talking about. Having randomly assigned people to one or the other of these lists, we can get the average number of activities people say they engage in from the full list versus the one without the sensitive activity. From the difference between the two, we can then calculate the proportion of the population involved in this sensitive activity.

Increasingly, animal products are also for sale online, even via social media. Is that helpful for your research?

As scientists, its quite difficult for us to infiltrate those closed groups online because the university ethics boards that review our studies require us to declare who we are when we are doing research. So weve had to say no to investigative organizations that wanted to work with us undercover in this way. If we come across illegal activity online while were not doing research, of course we can let the authorities know. Just the other week, a colleague found saiga antelope horn on sale online, and we have reported this.

Can social media also be helpful in promoting more sustainable consumption of wild meat, such as through influencers and ads?

A really nice campaign called Yoka Pimbo was recently run by the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, supported by the Wildlife Conservation Society, to model cultural dishes that dont contain wild meat. Theyve worked with influencers to tell people they can eat in a Congolese way without eating wild meat, which is a really interesting approach  Im curious to see how that works out.

Weve done some work in Vietnam ourselves to try and understand who is consuming pangolin and other wild meat in restaurants and why, to help with thinking about what alternative restaurants and dishes a celebrity-endorsed campaign might promote. Weve also worked on saiga horn, which is used in various traditional treatments, to understand how people react to different framings of the message. Interestingly, the message that resonated most with the relevant people was a simple conservation message  You are putting this endangered species at risk. People said, I bought it in a shop, so I thought it was legal and sustainable. I think thats understandable.

So, a better question may be why this is legally sold in shops, if its coming from illegal or unsustainable sources? Maybe thats where we have to focus, instead of putting the entire burden on consumers to change their habits.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, some non-governmental organizations invoked the risk of disease to call for a total ban on the trade in wild meat, which you strongly opposed. Why do you think its a bad idea?

Calls to ban the commercial trade in wildlife are superficially attractive, but there is much underlying complexity, so a blanket ban is not likely to have the desired effect. Once people are deprived of this source of food and livelihood, there is the danger that they will resort to other strategies with unforeseen consequences on conservation, such as clearing more forest to cultivate crops.

After the first SARS outbreak, the Chinese government had invested quite heavily in the farming of frogs, snakes and salamanders. This was done in order to have a regulated trade in captive-reared wildlife that could be produced in controlled conditions, thereby reducing the risks of disease from wild-caught animals and from more risky groups like mammals. There were many people whose livelihoods depended on those farms, and they were also selling these animals in the wildlife markets. That entire industry, which was supposed to be sustainable, was destroyed during the pandemic. That seems unfortunate to me, especially since there is no definitive evidence that the pandemic started at a market.

Its quite possible that the result of a blanket ban on trade will be lower wildlife populations, once you take the unintended consequences into account. That said, I dont think its a good idea to mix live, wild-caught animals of different species in unhygienic conditions at markets, both for animal welfare reasons and for public health.

Eric Nana from my group is doing some really good work in Cameroon and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, comparing wild meat supply chains under very different approaches to law enforcement. One of the things hes finding is just because you dont see protected species in markets, that doesnt mean theyre not being sold. The trade in protected species may just not be as visible as that in common species, which makes it harder to monitor and regulate.

So I dont think a blanket ban on wildlife consumption is a good idea, but thats not to say that there should be no control of the wildlife trade, of course. We cant have a free-for-all legal trade in all species. Species that are threatened by trade should definitely not be traded. But if people could have the tenure rights and ability to manage their hunting sustainably, whats wrong with them selling meat, even with them developing a market for premium, certified wild meat which might be sold to expensive restaurants?

Im a vegetarian myself, but I dont think theres anything fundamentally wrong with eating wild meat. Our emphasis needs to be on establishing a more sustainable relationship between people and wildlife.

What might be a better approach to regulating the trade in wild meat?

There are a number of competing objectives when we think about what we want for wildlife trade  we need to address public health risks, conservation risks, animal welfare risks and livelihood risks. Every single one of these is a valid concern, but you cant pursue just one and ignore the others. I think we need a risk-based approach to decisions on wildlife trade policy that assesses each species and each kind of trade on its own risks and benefits.

Some things are entirely unproblematic. Many people in Africa trap crop pests like cane rats around their fields, for example, in order to save their crops but also to eat and to sell, and theres nothing unsustainable or illegal about that.

Great apes, however, which are highly threatened and share a lot of diseases with humans, should not be hunted, traded or eaten, full stop. Bats are not generally as threatened, but they pose a significant public health risk, so there is absolutely no excuse for trading bats across long distances  its just dangerous.

Frogs, on the other hand  why couldnt frogs be more widely sold, if they are not at risk and you can guarantee sustainability? And why not support a sustainable trade in small antelopes like duikers as well, with safeguards for sustainability, animal welfare and public health?

You know, we trade in domestic livestock all the time. You could just bring wildlife under the same rules, and have veterinary surveillance, animal welfare regulations, subsidies to stimulate certain practices. Governments usually dont think about it that way, because the trade in wild meat is mostly informal. It doesnt contribute to GDP, so its seen as something not worth investing in.

What might a more sustainable system for wildlife hunting and trade look like?

There is the idea of community hunting areas controlled by local people, which conservationists have been trying to implement for a long time. Of course, community-run hunting areas are common. Indigenous groups may have customary rules for their lands, and those can be very effective. But I have yet to see a single example of an externally initiated effort to create a new community hunting area that has been sustainable in the long term. One reason is that its complicated to make this approach work in practice when its not based on existing institutions, since new external institutions often lack local legitimacy.

Another reason is that these projects are rarely properly evaluated. Finally, sustainability is often very hard to measure. How do you monitor wildlife populations without covering the forest in expensive camera traps? It can take a long time to get dependable trends from monitoring, especially for rare animals. If youre looking at long-lived ungulates like duikers, it may take 10 years to get dependable trends.

Stay in the Know

Sign up for the Knowable Magazine newsletter today

Might it be helpful to breed wild animals for consumption instead?

Wildlife arent domesticated. The reason it took us tens of thousands of years to domesticate animals is that domestic animals are different. They can be kept at higher density, theyre not stressed by human presence  weve bred these animals to be efficient producers of food, and to be farmable.

Duikers and pangolins, for example, are solitary species that cant be kept a high density. So I think there arent that many wildlife species that are good for farming, except things like rodents, frogs and reptiles. In Southeast Asia, some people have backyard crocodile farms, and I think that could work quite well.

I think we have to move away from large-scale farming of domestic livestock like cows, which require land and resources for grazing and feed, and contribute to climate change. But a lot can be done with different protein sources. It might be helpful to raise more chickens, rabbits or fish near the cities, as alternatives to wild meat, which is not often done in sub-Saharan Africa, for example. Most of the chicken and fish currently on sale is imported frozen and often seen as a low-quality alternative to bushmeat, but local meats could be well-received.

Might it help to offer alternative livelihood options in places where the trade in wild meat is unsustainable?

In principle, of course, alternative livelihoods are what people need, both for food and income. But in practice, the results of these projects have been dire. I think organizations that come in to try and reduce unsustainable hunting should start by talking to local people to understand their perspectives.

That sounds so obvious, but its still rarely done. People come in with their preconceptions  that its got to be chickens, or beekeeping, or crafts  and these projects routinely fail, because the people who implement them dont consider the barriers to change or the reasons people are hunting or consuming wild meat. Until youre working with local people to devise things they want, conservation wont work.

We should be able to do better. Its about allowing people to take their own paths towards a sustainable economy, whether that includes sustainable wildlife harvesting, farming, honey, crafts or remote work in IT.

Finally, some ecologists argue that even in the United States and the European Union, it might be more sustainable to restore large wild herds of herbivores that promote carbon storage and biodiversity, and allow a number of those to be hunted instead of the intensive animal breeding we have today. Does that make sense to you?

Well, we cant all eat the amount of meat we eat today from wild sources, because wildlife just isnt at that density. But the impacts on biodiversity of eating domestic meat are also very significant. So absolutely, from an environmental sustainability point of view, I think youre better off eating small amounts of venison than you are eating large amounts of beef.

In the UK, weve got massive overpopulation of deer. So the more people shoot and eat deer, the better, because the deer are eating all the young trees. We tend not to think about deer in the same way we do about wild animals hunted for meat in Africa, but perhaps we should.

Venison is seen as a luxury product, and there were no calls to ban hunting of deer in the UK when discussion of the role of wild meat in disease transmission took place during Covid-19, as opposed to the calls to ban wild meat elsewhere in the world. Theres often no recognition that we should be more even-handed in our treatment of hunting around the world.

This article originally appeared in Knowable Magazine, an independent journalistic endeavor from Annual Reviews. Sign up for the newsletter.
When Shelley and Byron headed off on their round-Europe adventures, a little light con artistry was par for the course. The Grand Tour  a visit to key artistic sites in Italy, traditionally conducted by upper-class young men in the 18th and 19th centuries  was seen as a way for the nobility to mature and learn life skills. And, if they ran into trouble along the way, so much the better.

Writing in Masculinity and Danger on the Eighteenth-Century Grand Tour, Sarah Goldsmith notes: In the era of fashionable games of chance, elite families understood the Grand Tour as an enormous, costly jeux de societe; a gamble with the familys finances, with their sons lives and reputations, and with a whole variety of hazards.

A fabled version of Italy fuelled the fire. Visitors were taught to expect fights and robberies  though, in reality, they may have been more likely to fall foul of their guides plot to flog a dodgy ancient amphora. The country may have been known as a place to find cheap antiques, but there was a reason why prices were so low.

Tourism has become more mainstream with the passing centuries, but some cons are as old as time  and new research suggests that Italy may still be the place where European tourists are most likely to be targeted for petty crime. Travel insurance website Quotezone.co.uks 2024 European Pickpocketing Index, which sets the number of incidents reported at a countrys top five attractions against visitor numbers, placed Italy top of the table, with France and Spain in second and third place. Founder and CEO Greg Wilson warned people to be vigilant around iconic attractions like the Eiffel Tower in Paris and the Trevi Fountain in Rome.

Among the traditional scams to be aware of are Pariss gold ring hoax  where a stranger pretends to pick up a ring youve mistakenly dropped as a distraction technique. In Granada, tourists writing on review sites report falling foul of a pigeon poo scam, during which a man sprays fake bird faeces on an unsuspecting tourist then pretends to clean it up, stealing valuables in the process.

Other cons take an old-fashioned bent too. In Venice, unscrupulous gondoliers have been upping the price of a ride on their boats forever  once they have you out on the water, that is (the price should be 90 for 30 minutes during the day and 100 after sunset).

But the scammers of old didnt just think small  some had more ambitious ideas. Notorious con artist Victor Lustig (best known for falsely selling the Eiffel Tower) allegedly honed his trade on ocean liners cruising between France and New York City, where he persuaded rich passengers to invest in a non-existent Broadway musical. Meanwhile, American scammer George C Parker was known for flogging New York landmarks to fresh-off-the-boat immigrants and clueless tourists: among his fraudulent sales were the Statue of Liberty and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as well the Brooklyn Bridge.

The timeshare years

Fast-forward to the 1960s and a new real-estate-related con scheme began to take hold: the timeshare. One of the industries to profit from cheap flights to the Continent, these developments spread through Spain and the Canaries in a flurry of aggressive sales tactics and dodgy contracts. Among them was one run by John Palmer, notoriously linked to the Brinks-Mat robbery which was serialised in recent BBC TV series The Gold.

A holiday home in Benalmadena, on Spain's Costa del Sol. The sales methods of the timeshare industry are not always transparent - Shirley Kilpatrick/Alamy

By the end of the 20th century, the timeshare industrys image problem necessitated a makeover and terms such as holiday clubs, vacation ownership and fractional ownership appeared on the scene. The idea behind these schemes was essentially the same, though customers often bought points to spend at resorts across the world rather than set weeks at one property.

Essentially, you get your points, you pay your maintenance fee and you get to go on holiday  if you can ever find the availability, says Keith Dewhurst of the Timeshare Consumer Association (TCA). The product itself is pretty transparent. Where it goes wrong is the sales methods employed by the timeshare industry. People are lied to about what theyre buying. They will be told that, if they buy a week in Benalmadena in Spain, next year they can go to Bali. It doesnt work that way. If you buy in Bali, you can spend your life in Benalmadena if you want to  but if you buy in Benalmadena, youre not going to Bali.

Another con exploded in the late 20th century. Travellers parted with thousands of pounds without even knowing it as credit and debit card cloning became mainstream. The ruse was simple: staff in restaurants might take a card away on the premise that the machine wasnt working and then make a copy, or thieves would use skimmers at ATMs. This type of card fraud hasnt gone away  but chip-and-pin technology means it is decreasing.

Web of lies

These days, travel scams are big business. From inflated taxi fares to adding extras to a restaurant bill, some are almost par for the course. But something else has increased the ease with which scammers can get their hands on our cash  the internet.

Sean Tipton of ABTA has seen an uptick in calls from people who have been scammed on social media, where fraudsters advertise villas and holiday apartments that dont exist (or belong to somebody else), while the the trade association UK Finance reported that purchase scams were on the rise in 2023.

Holidays, like everything else, have increased in cost post-pandemic, said Tipton. So people are much more inclined to look for really good deals. If you look at the time of year that fraudsters target, they go for Christmas and New Year and summer  they know that thats when theres a big increase in people looking for holidays, and they know that these will be more expensive.

He noted that the fraudsters dont price too low, undercutting just enough to offer a bargain without sounding alarms. And, in certain cases, victims dont discover theyve been conned until they reach their holiday accommodation and find that it doesnt exist.

Another growing industry is fake websites selling flights, often to people heading off to visit family and friends. The websites used to seem amateurish but theyre much more commercial now, says Tipton. Theyre really convincing. We used to say that not having terms and conditions was one of the warning signs, but now they just copy someone elses and stick them on their site. Ive seen sites with pictures of the sales team and they were just random people plucked off the internet.

The psychology of the holiday scam

Vicky Reynal, psychologist and author of Money on Your Mind, reveals why we fall for holiday scams and how they affect us. The rose-tinted glasses we bring to a holiday mean we might be less likely to spot signs of deceit, she says. But unfamiliarity can make us feel tense and on edge too. That can make us vulnerable because, if a scammer approaches us sounding friendly, kind and helpful, we might feel relief that somebody has put us at ease and be more inclined to follow their suggestions.

Feeling scammed evokes a mix of emotions including anger, sadness and shame. Anger could be harder to manage without a physical person in front of us to express it towards  when they are an entity behind the screen, we cannot express our rage to them. We feel guilt when we make a mistake  but shame is about how we feel about ourselves, a sense of being bad or in this case stupid, naive or gullible. Shame is deep and it takes a long time to resolve.

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.
If youre thinking about investing in a vacation property this year, youre not the only one. According to a 2024 trend report from Coldwell Banker, a whopping 40 percent of Americans plan on buying second (or even third) homes within the next year, and those in the market are finding a new way to pay for them, including something called co-ownership.

Platforms like Pacaso offer buyers one-eighth shares in second homes so they can stay in high-end digs while also splitting the property with other like-minded folks throughout the year. The homes are managed and maintained by Pacaso, which eases the burden of upkeep. The company just launched the Estate Collection, aimed at affluent homeowners with residences available in one-eighth shares, starting at a cool $1 million each.

More from Robb Report

For luxury buyers, co-ownership offers a more convenient and hassle-free experience, Pacaso CEO Austin Allison told Robb Report. Pacaso handles everything from design and property management to finding local vendors like cleaners and landscapers. This allows buyers to simply show up, relax, and enjoy their vacation home.

The Bennett Home in Californias Napa Valley is surrounded by vineyards.

The Estate Collection includes the most opulent homes in the platforms portfolio, nestled within desirable, sought-after locations like Malibu, Aspen, Napa, Jackson Hole, and Mexicos Cabo San Lucas. The newly added properties have all been personally designed by Pacaso, and they come fully furnished with a bevy of lavish amenities for making the houses feel like homes.

These buyers, who may have previously owned a traditional second home, may have experienced the challenges of designing, furnishing, and maintaining a multi-bedroom residence in a distant state or even another country, along with the inconvenience of upkeep throughout each season, Allison said. Consequently, many buyers have decided they no longer want to deal with the hassles of full vacation home ownership.

The Hillside Home in Carmel, Calif. is priced at $1.63 million per one-eighth share.

One of my favorites from the collection is our Infinite Road home, adds Allison. Set on 10 acres in the heart of Napa, the 6,800-square-foot home offers spectacular vineyard and valley views with modern finishes throughout. Also in Napa, the collection includes the seven-bed, eight-bath Bennett Home. Priced at $1.65 million, the wine country retreat comes with a pickleball court, an outdoor kitchen, a swimming pool, and a fire pit.

Theres also Hillside Home, a 6,670-square-foot stunner in Carmel asking $1.63 million per share, and Pacific Place, a four-bed new-build in Corona Del Mar priced at $1.2 million. Elsewhere in Wyoming, Harvest Ridge, priced at $1.68 million, is perched atop Spring Creek and sits on five acres in Jackson. Highlights here include a chefs kitchen, a sauna, a private gym, and, of course, sweeping mountain views. Over in Nantucket, Cedar Isle provides a three-story main house, plus a guest dwelling and access to bike paths and nearby beaches. Spanning 6,800 square feet and priced at $1.48 million, a perk of this waterfront oasis is its swanky home theater.

Because these destinations rarely ever see listings hit the market due to high demand and low inventory, Allison said, luxury buyers now have the chance to own a home in competitive markets.

Click here to see more photos of Pacasos new Estate Collection.

pacaso estate collection co-ownership

Best of Robb Report

Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
Jeff Gill

My mother doesnt know who I am.

She lives with my sister, and Mom doesnt know her all the time either; she will argue with her about whether my sister is coming home for dinner.

One of my brothers is there most weekdays, helping care for her, and she doesnt know him but calls him a friend of the family. True enough, as far as that goes.

We suspect theres in her current phase of dementia a sort of face blindness: Mom has told people after Ive left, even the next day, that her son Jeff came to visit, even when during that visit shed ask me if my parents lived nearby. She has trouble coming up with exactly who people are when she is looking at them but often later has a recollection of their identity.

Faith Works: From Mother's Day to graduation, May provides plenty of chances to celebrate

The term dementia is an awkward fit, just because of assumptions and stereotypes that go with the word. Mom can talk to you in coherent, complete sentences (though the silences are getting longer at times), and shes more mobile in some ways than she was for years, before she moved in with my sister. If you dont know the backstory, you could sit and talk to her for a goodly stretch and not know her mind is seriously impaired.

But both of her parents have been gone over 40 years, yet she talks about them coming over to stay for the night or going to teach for her father, who was a school superintendent almost up to his death in 1970. In her mind these days, she taught until last year (she retired in 1999) and drove until a few weeks ago (we dont think shed driven herself anywhere since 2017, definitely not since we brought her to Indiana in 2020).

Sometimes when I describe the current situation, people will say, Oh, my, thats terrible; thats just the worst thing. And I dont want to argue exactly with such sympathy. Its odd, to say the very least.

Yet theres a fair amount to be thankful for, and I dont believe Im just putting a good face on things. Mom was never a big fan of new experiences in the years we knew her (Ill leave a window open from before our childhoods), and if we took her to a restaurant or location she didnt like, shed insist on leaving fairly quickly. She preferred what she liked, the more familiar the better.

Faith Works: A brief primer on church polity, the intersection of theology, logistics

In this current incarnation, shes open to possibilities. Last summer I took her to a restaurant where my brother was performing, and we got there early to eat. It was a college town bar cum bistro, concrete floored and loud, with food served in baskets. The Mom Ive known would have hated it. The Mom I have now? She was fascinated by it and pleased at her food when it arrived. She ate about 3 micrograms of it, but thats par for the course. I recall many a meal where she ate the whole thing, grimly condemning the food, the service and the location; these days, she goes with my sister to outdoor performance venues and strange houses of friends of my sister, and shes all in.

In general, shes content. I might even use the word happy. And heres the question: Would I rather my mother know who I am and be miserable or that she be happy but uncertain why Im sitting with her watching the Cubs play? The latter is working out just fine.

My mother is happy, and thats a blessing. May you find a blessing in your mothers life worth holding onto this Mothers Day.

Jeff Gill is a writer, storyteller, and preacher in central Ohio; yes, hes learned a great deal about memory care issues the last few years. Tell him how you mark family celebrations at knapsack77@gmail.com, or follow @Knapsack77 on Threads.

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Faith Works: Mother's Day when your mom struggles with dementia
I think it's fair to conclude that if the psychologist Maslow were around today, his Hierarchy of Needs would be very different

Do you have a teenage daughter who freezes in horror if her phone rings? Is your son still living under your roof, aged 32? Do your student offspring now have so many unread emails clogging up their inbox (upwards of 40,000) that theyve decided to abandon it, like spooked song thrushes deserting a nest of eggs, because it feels less overwhelming to start all over again with a new one?

Well if so, congratulations! Your brood of overgrown babies are perfectly normal. By todays standards. Scant consolation, I agree, but at least we all share the blame.

Before I go much further, I would like to say in my defence that Im not what is pejoratively labelled a boomer. Im Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980. Were supposed to be the cool ones. And I do think Im pretty cool  I inhaled, people! Nevertheless the nagging suspicion is starting to take hold that, somewhere along the line (heck, I even did one of those once, in a Hamburg hotel room of all places, and was horribly sick) we have gone very, very badly wrong in our attempts to hand-rear and house-train Generation Z, now aged between 12 and 27.

In fact, Im beginning to think the Z stands for zero, as in zero expectations of life delivering any of the things they thought  not unreasonably  would be part and parcel of becoming a newly fledged grown up. So why strive for maturity if they can never follow in their parents footsteps?

After university in Edinburgh, I rented a room in a flat then bought my own place by the age of 26. A year after, I exchanged a fistful of notes for a second-hand car. And so on. It wasnt a cakewalk. I couldnt afford furniture (or decent tyres), largely subsisted on Hula Hoop salad  a dish I invented that involved excessive amounts of raw onion  and Im not sure I had so much as clapped eyes on an avocado.

But, in the Them vs Us mythology that fuels much of the current inter-generational resentment, I had it easy. And so Generation Rent is giving way to Generation Resentment.

In an age of stratospheric rents, unobtainable deposits, a cost-of-living crisis and rising stress levels, a combination of poor mental health and strapped family wealth has trapped huge numbers of young people (and by definition, us) in a weird stasis.

According to data just released by the Office for National Statistics, a third of all men under the age of 35 still live with their parents. The figure for women is less than a quarter.

To be honest that only confirms a trend weve all noticed; social media and problem pages are awash with anguished parents wondering if they should broach the subject of money with their great big kids, who are living, eating and using up all the hot water rent-free, despite being in full-time employment.

If we were Italian, of course, wed love having our sons to mollycoddle on an ongoing basis. But culturally its a very foreign form of arrested development.

One friend of mine says she is sorely tempted to charge her son board if not lodgings, but then worries that, if she does, it will not just cause ill will but will take him longer to save up for a deposit and move out permanently. Another is mulling over the idea of turning militantly vegan in order to hasten her carnivorous 26-year-olds departure.

It was back in 2008 that the US writer Kelly Williams Brown (then 24) neologised the tongue-in-cheek verb adulting to describe the everyday tasks such as laundry or grocery shopping that were the hallmarks of maturity. Millennials  who are now aged between 28 and 43  embraced it wholeheartedly. Generation Z never use it, not even ironically. Its not in their vocabulary or their hopes and dreams.

Instead their focus is inwards, so much so that a quarter of 18-to-34-year olds have never answered their phone. Why? Because apparently its too much pressure. The study, by comparison site U-Switch, also revealed that half of them regularly blanked calls from their own parents. And we are very often the ones paying for the damn thing.

I think its fair to conclude that if the psychologist Maslow were around today, his Hierarchy of Needs would be very different. In the olden days, there were five tiers in the pyramid; physiological needs like food and water, safety, love and belonging, esteem and self-actualisation.

These days they would be: an iPhone for the Just Eat deliveries, secure WiFi for the iPhone, Snapchat on the iPhone for belonging, Insta also on the iPhone for esteem (or lack of) and Be Real for that carefully curated candid photo posted on your iPhone showing the world how you are bussin it at a day spa.

But the bitter truth is that none of these generation-defining activities qualifies as real life. Real life is (was) a vertical progression upwards, from child to adult, dependent to breadwinner, eagerly taking on more responsibility as you went, whether that was the satisfaction of taking your parents out for dinner with your first pay cheque or giddy pride at being entrusted with your very own council wheelie bin.

But these days those vertical structures have crumbled away because nobody wants to grow up. Instead, young people rely on their horizontal peer group to normalise the extended adolescence of not picking up the phone and continuing to sleep in a single bed surrounded by Marvel posters at the age of 30.

And, of course, if anyone dares bandy around the term adulting, their digital tribe will close ranks and reassure them that theres no such word.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. We are implementing large-scale programs in all liberated territories. Today, Shusha is already the sixth residential area to which former IDPs are returning, said President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev during a ceremony to present apartment keys to the first returning residents of Shusha, Trend reports.

Former IDPs are also expected to return to the village of Sus of Lachin today, so life will be brought back to at least 20 residential areas before the end of this year, the head of state pointed out.
URBANA, Ill. (WCIA)  With more cicadas emerging across Central Illinois, you might wonder what happens if your pet gets a hold of one or multiple bugs.

Cicadas will swarm the region this summer, with both the U.S.s 13- and 17-year broods scheduled to emerge in Illinois. But veterinarians with University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine say these insects arent toxic to cats, dogs, or humans.

How to tell if cicadas are ready to emerge in your yard: Illinois Extension

However, complications can still come if your furry friend eats cicadas. Their exoskeletons are an irritant to pets digestive tracts, which can lead to increased salivation, vomiting or diarrhea.

For these reasons, Dr. Alyssa Baratta-Martin, a veterinarian with the primary care service at the colleges Veterinary Medicine South Clinic, advises owners to limit pets access to these snacks.

If a pet consumes a large number of cicadas, an obstruction of the gastrointestinal tract could occur, Dr. Baratta-Martin said.

Veterinarians said pet owners can avoid pets eating cicadas by taking more walks in the morning or at night, checking yards before pets are let outside and closing doors and windows to prevent bugs from flying in.

How to keep cicadas out of your home

Experts believe pet owners should contact their veterinarian if they have concerns on what a pet has eaten.

In some cases, having your pet examined sooner rather than later can make a big difference in the outcome, Dr. Baratta-Martin said. Certainly, if your dog or cat is having stomach upset, its worthwhile to have them seen by your veterinarian and get them feeling better faster.

Additionally, cicadas should be safe to eat for reptiles if they have not been sprayed with pesticides, according to Dr. Stephany Lewis, Director of U of Is Wildlife Medical Clinic. Other animals who are housed mostly inside, like iguanas, turtles, snakes, and birds, should not be affected by the cicada emergence.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
Here's how you can help out Bakes for Breast Cancer with POP Culture: Fall River Eats

Not sure where to grab a bite to eat? With lots of options around the Fall River area, it can be difficult to choose.

If youre having a hard time, were here to help you narrow it down.

We've compiled a list of meal deals, special events, and mouth-watering offerings at local eateries and markets to consider when planning your next night on the town, or a quick stop for a tasty treat.

This week, POP Culture is making a donation to Bakes for Breast Cancer, and you can help. Plus, we've got specials, snacks, and even some treats inspired by beloved breakfast cereals.

Lets dig in:

Owner Lisa Petrizzi-Geller at the newly opened POP Culture in East Freetown.

POP Culture teams up with Bakes for Breast Cancer

POP Culture Cake Pops, 1 Chace Rd., Freetown, has teamed up with Bakes for Breast Cancer.

Bakes for Breast Cancer Massachusetts takes place from Friday, May 10, to Thursday, May 16.

POP Culture will be donating 100% of the proceeds of the double-stuffed Oreos available in the bakery case.

Proceeds will fund life-saving science and breast cancer research.

To help out, all you have to do is stop by POP Culture and treat yourself to a double-stuffed Oreo.

POP Culture: Berkley resident brings cake pop and confectionery creations to Freetown shop

Check out these specials at Dunnys BBQ

Whichever night you choose to stop by Dunnys BBQ, 13 N. Main St., Fall River, theres sure to be something that catches your eye.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, theyve got a $9 Reuben and fries, for eat-in or take-out customers. From 5 to 9 p.m., dine-in only, theyve got 75-cent wings. Plus, the Taco Tuesday menu is available, and all draft and craft beers are $6.

Wednesday is burger night. From 5 to 9 p.m., dine-in only, all burgers with fries are $10: brisket melt, saloon burger, BBQ bacon, or cheeseburger.

From 5 to 9 p.m. on Fridays, dine-in only, enjoy a $15 BBQ sampler. Please note that samplers may sell out.

For more information, call 508-617-8330.

Brunch, charcuterie, cake, ice cream: Mother's Day reservations in the Fall River area

Cereal-flavored macarons at Europa Pastries & Coffee Shop

Europa Pastries & Coffee Shop, 65 Columbia St., Fall River, has cereal-flavored macarons until Mothers Day, Sunday, May 12.

Try the Fruity Pebbles, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, or Reeses Puffs flavors.

New flavors will be released on Tuesday.

Pineapples and aguas frescas at Ice N Roll

Enjoy some tropical flavors at Ice N Roll, 4263 N. Main St., Fall River.

Right now, you can enjoy any of their signature ice cream flavors served in a pineapple. Theres a limited supply available, through Sunday.

Or, starting on Friday, May 10, refresh yourself with a tropical drink: aguas frescas are back.

Nacho supreme hot dog special at County Fare

County Fare, 937 County St., Somerset, has announced the May special.

This months special is the nacho supreme dog, with cheese, Coney sauce, shredded cheddar, and crushed nachos, topped with salsa.

Want it spicy?

You can add jalapenos to it as well.

Snack on pumpkin seeds from Cornerstone Bakery & Restaurant

Looking for a crispy little snack?

Cornerstone Bakery & Restaurant, 1713 Grand Army of the Republic Hwy., Swansea, has just the thing.

Theyve made a batch of seasoned pumpkin seeds, so be sure to stop by to pick some up this weekend.

Do you have a special deal, menu item, or food-related event to share with local foodies? Send us an email at kfontes@heraldnews.com or news@heraldnews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: Fall River Eats: POP Culture to donate to Bakes for Breast Cancer Mass
Insanely cute Dutch Spotted lambs  the first in US  born at Vermont farm. See them

A batch of frozen embryos shipped to a Vermont farmer has led to the births of a breed of sheep new to the U.S.

This week, six insanely cute Dutch Spotted lambs were born at MKVT Farm in Glover, Vermont, according to Mark Rodgers, who owns the farm. The births were first reported by WCAX-TV.

With black spots marking their white fur, the babies will grow to be the first Dutch Spotted sheep in the U.S., Rodgers told McClatchy News on May 10.

The first two lambs, both males, were born May 5, followed by two more males, according to Rodgers. Two female lambs, including one named Hannah, were born most recently on May 8.

Hannah.

This is just the beginning for the Dutch Spotted sheep in the U.S., Rodgers said.

The embryos purchased by MKVT Farm arrived from the U.K. on Dec. 11, Rodgers said. The breed originates from the Netherlands and was introduced to the U.K. in 2016, according to Farming Life.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, sheep embryos can be imported into the U.S. from the U.K., but not from the Netherlands.

Before November 2022, sheep embryos from the U.K. werent allowed in the U.S. for 26 years, Rodgers explained.

This was due to health regulations lingering from the outbreak of Mad Cow Disease in the UK in the 1990s, he said.

After the embryos arrived, they were implanted into ewes at Tufts University Veterinary Field Service in Woodstock, Connecticut, according to Rodgers.

On May 7, another spotted lamb, which was purchased as an embryo from MKVT Farm, was born at Oddity Acres in New Jersey, Rodgers said.

They are extremely hardy and have a wonderful temperament, Rodgers said of the breed.

Many UK flock owners have expressed a favoritism for the Dutch Spotted Sheep over the other breeds they own due to the temperament, ease of handling and the market value of the fast-growing lambs, Rodgers explained.

They have a high market value in the U.K., where the grandmother sheep of one of the male spotted lambs at MKVT farm was purchased for $25,000, according to Rodgers.

In Virginia, there are two ewes pregnant with Dutch Spotted sheep embryos that are due in July, he said.

As for the lambs at MKVT Farm, theyre there to stay.

Hannah

The males will be developed as breeding stock to produce frozen semen that can be marketed to flocks around the United States, Rodgers said. The females will be used as foundation breeding stock to establish Dutch Spotted Sheep in the U.S.

Rodgers is the president of the Dutch Spotted Sheep Society in the U.S.

His farm and the organization are planning to import 50 to 100 more Dutch Spotted sheep embryos and semen for breeding this year.

Rancher creates massive sheep through cloning to sell for trophy hunting, feds say

Sweet dog abandoned with note saying shes a good puppy. Now, she needs a home

One of the largest elephants in North America dies at 46, zoo announces. Heartbroken

Should you be worried about bird flu? Here are 5 things to know about the virus
Whenever Claude Thompson allows himself an opportunity to daydream, the 1992 Cass Tech graduate says he sees himself owning a flower shop in downtown Detroit about a mile or so away from where he attended high school, during the years when Cass occupied a landmark, factory-looking edifice, along the Fisher Freeway and Grand River.

Thompson describes his dream place of business as an easily accessible location within a multipurpose structure, with enough space for a modest music studio, but cozy enough for friends and new customers to feel at home  including during the evening hours when Thompson enjoys demonstrating his love for flowers, music and Detroiters all at once.

Standing at 6-feet-4, native Detroiter Claude Thompson knows something about walking tall, but the veteran florist says he gets an extra lift when making a delivery. "I get a feeling of satisfaction from each arrangement," Thompson says.

However, as a seasoned florist with more than 30 years in the industry, Thompson, who does business as CAM-Florist, knows that he will not have much time for daydreaming this Mothers Day weekend. Thompson and a small team of people that will be helping him have places to go and people to see, including roughly 500 expected customers that he desperately wants to please.

For me, Mothers Day is all weekend  its Friday, Saturday and Sunday, explained Thompson, who found a few minutes to speak during the afternoon of May 7 after playing the organ two hours earlier for a funeral service conducted at New Hope Tabernacle Church. Plus, Mothers Day in Mexico is (Friday) May 10, and we have many customers in southwest Detroit that honor and celebrate their mothers on that date. Wherever you are, this whole weekend is for the mothers, and the mother-in-laws, and for your daughter who just had a baby. With each customer, Im thinking of someone who loves or misses their mom.

From Thompsons primary brick and mortar business location in Eastpointe, 18806 E. 9 Mile Road, and online, Thompson will spend Mothers Day weekend taking orders, creating custom floral arrangements, and seeing that his flowers are delivered to customers spanning more than 40 cities and 114 ZIP codes throughout southeastern Michigan.

And with every move, Thompson says his enduring connection to his late mother Malissa Lee Thompson-Lucas will provide him with a silent but potent quality-control mechanism that will push him to do his very best work.

A florist for more than 30 years, native Detroiter Claude Thompson often had difficulty spending time with his late mother Malissa Lee Thompson-Lucas during his earlier years in the profession. But Thompson says he will be honoring his mother with each customer he serves this Mother's Day.

My mom would always call me during Mothers Day weekend about something  it was often about something very small  and she would say: I know youre busy, but, " recalls Thompson, whose connection to his mother also includes succeeding her as the church organist at New Hope Tabernacle. I wonder if I could have been a better son? I think I stay busy now to make it seem like all of the time I spent away from my mom around Mothers Day wasnt for nothing. I still dont know how to please Mom, so I guess the best way that I can try to please her is to keep doing a good job.

Thompson also speaks with reverence about the man who introduced him to a new way of life decades ago that forever changed how Thompson viewed Mothers Day and other occasions where flowers play a prominent role. The gentleman who Thompson speaks so highly of is Patrick Fitzgerald, who today operates the family-owned Chris Engels Greenhouse in Detroit, 1238 Woodmere St., which was established in 1883. However, in 1993, Fitzgerald gave Thompson a job at a flower shop called Excel Designs in the Fisher Building. And, as Thompson tells it, the hire had everything to do with a famous high school that Fitzgerald and Thompson shared in common.

That Cass Tech love is real, said Thompson, who confided that before appearing in front of Fitzgerald as a 19-year-old one year removed from his high school graduation, he mistakenly showed up at another location seeking work. It was May, but it was after Mothers Day, and I know that he (Fitzgerald, a 1980 graduate of Cass Tech) really didnt need me. But then he found out I went to Cass and he gave me a job. And we still do things together today.

The door that Fitzgerald opened for Thompson has literally taken Thompson to many places in and around Detroit, including Southfields Northland Center, where he operated a popular flower shop inside Macys, which closed on March 22, 2015.

Chelsie Thompson's 2019 graduation from the University of Michigan was also an opportunity to showcase a maize and blue floral arrangement created by her father Claude Thompson, who hopes to serve 500 customers this Mother's Day weekend.

Macys called me in 2013; I didnt call them  they found me, recalls Thompson, who says he was discovered by Macys largely due to a decision he made very early in his career as a florist to embrace technology, which subsequently increased the visibility of his business and offerings. Its click and mortar, I do it now and I was doing it 20 years ago. I can give my customers a real preview of what their order will look like when they receive it. Its like when I used to go to McDonalds as a kid with my mom and I would tell them to make my sandwich look like the sandwich in the restaurants picture. I think about that experience when Im serving my customers and I get a feeling of satisfaction from each arrangement.

On the afternoon of May 7, Thompson followed up his McDonalds story, which occurred around the time Thompson was 6 or 7 years old at a McDonalds that used to stand at 8 Mile Road and Greenlawn, with another story that took place at a former Big Boy restaurant that was located at 20225 W. Eight Mile Road (now JJ Fish & Chicken) where Thompsons mom wanted her strawberry Belgian waffles to have the same amount of strawberries as seen in a picture posted by Big Boy during the restaurants Strawberry Fest. The stories help to explain why meeting customers expectations on a visual level is important to Thompson, but the vivid scenes he passionately described from his childhood also speak to his desire to have a physical work address in Detroit once again.

Detroit is where Im from, said Thompson, who, before his Macys experience, set up shop from a Detroit loft near Chene Park, where he says he got the idea for a Detroit-based shop that also serves up music while operating late into the evening. Doing business in Detroit is also about the people. Customer service and making real connections with people in the community are really the most important things in this business, and these are all things I learned from my mother.

Thompson, who grew up on Linwood and Richton watching his grandmother Berniece Lee  affectionately known as Nana  grow one of his favorite flowers, morning glories, said he also takes pride in his connection to a community of Detroit florists.

In Detroit, were a small community of florists, but people trust us to provide the background for some of the most important events in their lives. And as florists in the city, we often work together to make those events successful, said Thompson, who earlier described a harrowing experience when he was attempting to provide flowers for a mayoral inauguration with workspace provided by Chris Engels Greenhouse, while fighting freezing temperatures. You really become a florist when you realize that no news is good news. If we do everything right, its nothing. But if we do something wrong, its the end of the world. You have to be thick-skinned in this game. And there has to be something more to your work than just money.

Its about the trust that people have in us. Even during the early stages of the pandemic, when people werent physically attending funerals, people were calling us about flowers because the services were being broadcasted. So, we always have to try our best to do the right thing for the people we serve.

"It's click and mortar," said florist and native Detroiter Claude Thompson, who does business as CAM-Florist, about the method he uses to provide customers with online visual previews of his work.

Thompson, who also is the proud husband of Shafyla Thompson, will try to do his best by his customers throughout Mothers Day weekend with help from two small, but spirited teams that will be stationed on the east and west side of metro Detroit. Members of New Hope Tabernacle Church will be represented in those groups, along with Thompsons adult children, Chelsie and Chauncey Thompson, who also are partners in the family business.

And for any of Claude Thompsons customers that plan on waiting until Sunday to purchase Mothers Day flowers, the 6-foot-4 florist says it will only require one look up at his wardrobe to see that the spirit of a very special person in Thompsons life will be a part of every sale he makes.

On Sunday, Im going to try to stay focused by turning off my Wi-Fi and other systems and I will be wearing the traditional boutonniere with my suit to honor my mother, Claude Thompson said. I want everyone who sees me on Sunday to know that I had a good mom and thats how I feel every day.

Scott Talley is a native Detroiter, a proud product of Detroit Public Schools and a lifelong lover of Detroit culture in its diverse forms. In his second tour with the Free Press, which he grew up reading as a child, he is excited and humbled to cover the citys neighborhoods and the many interesting people who define its various communities. Contact him at stalley@freepress.com or follow him on Twitter @STalleyfreep. Read more of Scott's stories at www.freep.com/mosaic/detroit-is/. Please help us grow great community-focused journalism by becoming a subscriber.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Mom's lessons and 'real' Cass Tech love guide a Detroit-area florist
LAFAYETTE, Ind.  A new doughnut maker is moving into the Greater Lafayette market after proving themselves a highly-desired pastry maker in the Indianapolis area.

Arron Sok, owner of Pana Donuts, said the family will celebrate opening their first Pana Donuts location in Lafayette, their sixth store in total, by August. The store will be located at 170 S. Creasy Lane in the former Gigi's Cupcakes store front.

After Sok's family opened their first store in Beech Grove in 2019, Sok said he and his family have continued to steadily grow and expand across the Indianapolis area, serving their award-winning doughnuts and boba bubble tea. Looking for their next location, Sok said his realtor took him on a quick road trip up north to Tippecanoe County.

"I'd never thought about Lafayette, but the draw of Purdue was intriguing," Sok said. "It's a great city. I went up there with him for one day and said I'd like to try it here."

PANA Donuts, a local doughnut and boba tea shop in Indianapolis, serves especially soft doughnuts made with a secret Cambodian-inspired recipe.

Sok's parents owned a bakery in Cambodia, he told the Indianapolis Star during a 2023 interview. He immigrated to the U.S. in 2013 and worked in bakeries in Texas before opening a shop in Arizona.

While his family's shop did not make doughnuts, Sok said he incorporated some of its cake and bread-making processes into Pana's donut recipe. Sok and his wife, Pichima Prum, moved to Indianapolis for its low cost of living and family atmosphere. They own and operate the flagship Pana store, while subsequent locations on 86th Street, Washington Street and in Fishers and Avon are owned and managed by family members, who each use his secret recipe.

The Lafayette Pana Donuts will be operated by Sok's cousin, Bumron Lon, who said fans of the Indianapolis area Pana locations can expect the exact same product at the Lafayette store.

"We do it all by hand  every doughnut  making them fresh every morning," Lon said. "Hopefully customers will come support us knowing we are the number one doughnut in Indy."

Jillian Ellison is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. She can be reached by email at jellison@gannett.com. Follow her on X at @ellison_writes.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Pana Donuts is opening in Lafayette, here's where you can find them
Its Raining Puppies At This Rural Mississippi Shelter, And They Need Help

It's spiraling out of control, again.

Tunica Humane Society Puppies

A Mississippi animal shelter is drowning in puppies.

Like countless other shelters across the South, Tunica Humane Society normally operates at full capacity. So when it started raining puppies in rural northern Mississippi this week, director Sandy Williams couldnt help but cry.

I probably got 25 calls today about puppies, she wrote on Facebook Wednesday. It seems they are everywhere in our area. We can only do what we can do with the resources we have. It's heartbreaking to think that some of the puppies will never find help. Some of them will not survive because all rescues are overwhelmed and can't respond to the endless calls.

When Williams rescued a litter of 10 puppies from a property in Tunica Wednesday, she was forced to leave nearly a dozen more behind, including another older litter of puppies and multiple adult dogs that need to be spayed and neutered.

We are struggling to find a place for them, she explained. Most of these dogs have grown up feral which makes this a very difficult mission.

This particular situation cannot be ignored. It's spiraling out of control, again, Williams urged. We don't want to see these little puppies grow up to be unsocialized and unadoptable, so this is the battle we had to choose today over all of the other calls.

Then on Thursday, Williams received a call about a litter of three puppies and a mama pup in really bad condition that were dumped ahead of impending severe storms.

I cried all the way back to the shelter because I didn't have a clue where we could put this mother and puppies once I got there, she wrote on Facebook. Yesterday had already pushed us to the max. We always seem to find a way to help just one more. But we sure need some foster families to step up because we are drowning in puppies.

And they still need to go back for the other dogs they left behind at the property in Tunica.

Williams told Southern Living that they are constantly rescuing moms and puppies. The lack of responsibility surrounding spaying and neutering in Tunica, and so many other communities in the South, is a crisis.

Its a never ending battle in the South, and especially in our area, she explained. Were surrounded by rural communities that have no animal control. Were always getting calls about stray dogs and 9 times out of 10 that stray dog is pregnant.

On any given day, Tunica Humane Society has 150 dogs in its shelter. Its maximum capacity.

We could not make it without fosters, Williams said. Its how we handle our overflow. These puppies need to be nurtured and held and socialized. They need so much more than what they can get in our shelter facility.

On Friday morning Williams already received two calls about litters in need of rescuing. The shelter also currently has a pregnant dog in their care thats due to give birth any moment. But at least shell be in a safe and loving environment, Williams notes.

If you live in the area and are able to foster one or two of these puppies for a few weeks, contact Tunica Humane Society immediately at (901) 219-0508 or (662) 541-1000.

Time is critical to their socialization, Williams explained. And we need to make room at our shelter to pick up the other litter still at the property.



For more Southern Living news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on Southern Living.
The world of hot sauces has exploded with variety in the past decade. No longer confined to just one or two types of spicy condiments from Louisiana or Mexico, your average grocery shelf now boasts a plethora of options from around the world, each with its own distinct flavor and heat level. And while having a pantry full of options is a dream for some of us, not everyone has the space or desire to buy a bottle of each to try out. Knowing how to pick and choose can be a big help.

Sambal oelek and sriracha are like cousin sauces  both originating in Asia, candy apple red, and the ingredients are fairly similar, featuring mainly chili peppers, salt, and vinegar. Still, the texture and key flavors differ enough that you'll probably have a favorite between the two. Sriracha sauce balances its fermented tangy heat with a bit of garlic and sugar, while sambal oelek flavor is all about the chili pepper, slightly tart with a chunkier texture.

Read more: Styles Of Regional BBQ In The US

What Is Sambal Oelek?

hand pounded sambal oelek - Yessi Frenda/Shutterstock

Translating the words in this chili paste's name will give you the first clue to its identity  a grounded chili sauce. In Indonesian, sambal means sauce, while ulek (oelek is the Dutch phonetic spelling) means grind  a reference to the sauce's mortar and pestle origination. This condiment is crafted from fresh red chili peppers, pounded with salt and vinegar to create a vibrant and fiery blend. Its texture is thick and spoonable, with visible flecks of chili seeds. In the U.S., you'll find one or two prominent brands, but in Southeast Asia you'll see dozens of varieties of this pounded spice, blended with other herbs and aromatics.

The main flavor of sambal oelek is the ripe chili pepper but beware  the type of chili is not typically specified on the label. Each company uses one or more chili varieties, so it's hard to know exactly how hot the taste will be from brand to brand. Common choices you may come across include red jalapeno, Thai chili, or Fresno chili, depending on where the paste was made. So, as you might guess, sambal oelek is perfect for adding a blast of spice to a recipe. A spoonful of the paste will also add flecks of red chili since the sauce is not a liquid puree. Many cooks use sambal oelek as a recipe ingredient as well as a condiment, adding it to perk up the heat of a curry or fried rice.

What Is Sriracha?

sriracha sauce and ingredients - ALLEKO/Getty Images

Sriracha almost needs no introduction these days  the most well-known brand, Huy Fong, with the bright green squeeze top, was in the national news when a supply chain problem that brought their sales to a screeching halt, to the consternation of eaters and restaurants alike. The sauce is based on the same chilis that heat up sambal oelek but with the addition of garlic and sugar, blended into a smooth liquid. Additionally, the sauce is allowed to ferment, which adds deeper umami flavor and bright acidity to balance the heat.

Sriracha originally comes from the town of Si Racha, Thailand, where the recipe was developed by one family several generations ago. The blend of sweet, heat, sour, and salt in perfect balance was meant to be an all purpose condiment for Thai foods. The original is still sold in Thailand (and even imported to the U.S.), but Los Angeles-based Huy Fong Foods Inc. has the corner on the U.S. market with its distinctive rooster logo squeeze bottle. Moreover, while the sauce is hot, it's not as hot in Scoville units as an average jalapeno pepper. The beauty of sriracha comes from the balance of flavors. It's great as an all-around condiment for nearly any type of food, and the addictive flavor is even being used for chips and other snacks.

Sambal Is A Simple Chili Paste, While Sriracha Is More Complicated

sriracha ingredients - chriscasey/Shutterstock

The fresh red of ripe chili peppers is almost all the two sauces have in common. Sambal is more rustic and chunky paste of ground chilis that's been a traditional preparation in Indonesia for centuries. Because there are fewer flavors added to the sambals available in the U.S., fiery chili is the forward flavor you can expect when you crack open a jar. Sambal oelek is the right choice to add when you want to add heat and chili flavor, but not a lot of sweetness or competing flavors  it's a clean, one-ingredient note. In fact, it's not hard to make a batch for yourself if you find fresh chilis at the market  pound them up or pulse them up in the blender with a bit of salt and vinegar to preserve the freshness.

Sriracha, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer in the spice market. The blend of chili with garlic and sugar makes it a balanced addition to a plate, which might account for its huge popularity. During the shortage of Huy Fong sriracha, many cooks took to making their own version of the addictive sauce, which requires a few more ingredients and a lot more time and patience during the fermenting, blending, and straining than simple sambal oelek.

Sriracha Is Fermented, Sambal Oelek Is Not

plate of sambal - Reezky Pradata/Getty Images

Any tang in sambal oelek comes from vinegar, which is simply mixed into the chili paste. Vinegar and salt are traditional preserving ingredients, which help to keep the paste both fresh-tasting and food-safe  but they also add a layer of flavor to the jar. But don't expect a complex taste  you're getting chili flavor from this jar, and that's a great way to understand what the condiment will add to your food (heat, and plenty of it!).

The magic of many popular hot sauces, including sriracha, comes from the range of flavors that fermenting brings out of fresh fruits and vegetables. With the addition of garlic and sugar, sriracha has a leg up not only on sambal oelek, thanks to its microbial magic, but also on some other hot sauce brands that rely on a single variety of chili. Sriracha brings some mild heat that probably won't bring a tear to your eye, but the complexity of the flavors will keep you coming back for more.

Read the original article on Tasting Table
Stockholm and Oslo are the new Paris and Rome as extreme summer temps drive surge of interest in Europes chilly north

All the cool people will be going there this summer.

Scandinavia and other chillier parts of Europe are experiencing a dramatic increase in June to August travel  and its all driven by a desire to escape sizzling temperatures that have become the norm in popular destinations like Paris and Rome, experts say.

During the warm weather months, bookings for trips to Norway  particularly in places like cool, coastal Bergen  have risen 37% over last year, according to luxury operator Kensington Tours.

Bergen, Norway is an increasingly popular destination for summer travelers to Europe. saiko3p  stock.adobe.com

The luxury tour company also named Innsbruck, Austria  nearly 2,000 feet above sea level in the Austrian Alps  as another not-so-hot summer commodity, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Travel booking company Hopper reported that trips to Sweden have gone up 70%, while Finland went off the charts with a 126% boost. There has also been increased interest in the Faroe Islands  a scenic archipelago off the coast of Denmark that has raised its profile in recent years.

As Europe braces for the impact of increasingly common extreme weather events, we anticipate travel patterns and destination choice shifts over the long term, said Eduardo Santander, executive director of the European Travel Commission said.

World traveler Mary Miles, a 33-year-old in public relations from Baltimore, will enjoy a trip to Scandinavia with her husband later this year, touring Sweden, Denmark, and Norway for two weeks.

Cooler weather was an easy signing bonus for Miles other half.

Tourists are heading to places like Olden, Norway to beat the heat. ZUMAPRESS.com

Mountain towns like Innsbruck, Austria are becoming more popular in the summer for cooler weather. saiko3p  stock.adobe.com

Hes very, very sensitive to heat, she told the outlet. He gets nervous that hes going to pass out.

Experts add that the rationale for spending time at these comparatively obscure locations instead of literal tourist hotspots further to the south is not only because they offer a milder climate  travelers will also enjoy fewer fellow foreign vacationers.

The trend toward northern destinations extends beyond Europe.

Domestically, interest in travel to Alaska has risen 25%, according to Kayak.

The northernmost state has become a hub for cruises, according to Jillian Simpson of the Alaska Travel Industry Association.

Statewide, the state did see a record number of cruise passengers arriving, which was very good, she told Alaska Public Media earlier this year.

Seward, a major cruise port, is expecting at least 200,000 visitors via cruises in 2024.
Summer's already here for SWFL. What to know about warm Gulf, daily highs, algae

Early May is often when coastal waters are their clearest in Southwest Florida, and this year is no different as calmer seas have arrived for the summer months.

That means no more cold fronts from the mainland and strong northwest winds that blow for days.

Instead, we'll see humidity levels rise and the afternoon sea breeze form as we get into the summer rainy season, which should start later this month.

Spring breakers pack Fort Myers Beach earlier this year. Spring is over for Southwest Florida as the rainy summer season is expected to start later this month.

So let's take a look at all the factors that go into a coastal water quality and what you're likely to see and feel at the beach over the next six months or so.

Temperatures already above average for May

No need to wait for this summer: it's already hot.

Daily highs have been in the lower 90s, and that's what we'll see across Southwest Florida over the next few days, according to Christianne Pearce, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.

"It is a little above average right now," she said. "The average for Fort Myers is like 86, so we're a little above for this time of year."

Humidity is the next part of the equation that will kick in soon.

Sunsets are typically spectacular during the summer months as cloud cover casts beautiful hues across the sky.

"The more humid it is, the warmer the temperature is going to feel like. obviously," she said. "It's going to be a little more humid along the coast because there's water but to counteract that you have the sea breeze that helps it feel cooler. Directly on the coastline the sea breeze keeps it a couple of degrees cooler."

Pearce said the daily sea breeze pattern has already started.

"We're seeing that every day," Pearce said. "Our breeze has been out of the southeast, but it will switch around to the west in the afternoon and that's what we see during summertime."

Gulf of Mexico temperatures already warm

Gulf of Mexico temperatures are already near record levels for this time of year, according to seatemperature.info, at 82.9 degrees.

The all-time high for water temperature off Fort Myers Beach for a May 9 is 82.9 (2021).

More: Active hurricane season ahead: Lee public safety director talks about being prepared

The warmer waters now could mean bathtub-like conditions later this summer for the Gulf of Mexico.

Those warmer waters are also one reason why hurricane forecasters are calling for an above-average season this year.

How's the algae?

There are two major algae outbreaks that can wreck summer months here: blue-green algae from the freshwater systems and red tide in the Gulf of Mexico.

Both are considered "harmful algae blooms" and can be deadly to marine life, pets and livestock while potentially making people sick.

More: DOH issues blue-green algae advisory for Caloosahatchee River. Where else are blooms?

They produce airborne toxins that can wreak havoc on the human respiratory system, as happened to many people during a strong outbreak in 2018.

Blue-green algae has been reported in the Caloosahatchee River and Lake Okeechobee already this year, and warmer waters generally increase the chances of a blue-green outbreak.

The Florida Department of Health has issued health advisories this year for parts of the river.

Will we see seaweed?

Yes, there will be some seaweed on local beaches this summer. Natural, healthy beaches have seaweed on them on a regular basis.

But we won't likely see the massive sargassum mats that blanket other areas of Florida, according to scientists and experts.

Currents along the Southwest Florida coast keep most of the seaweed well offshore, which is where the hatchling sea turtles will go later this year for cover and food.

Long-term forecast calls for above-average highs

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, makes weather predictions several months into the future based off current trends and patterns.

NOAA's 90-day outlook currently calls for above-average temperatures for Southwest Florida between now and August.

More: Massive sea turtles coming to nest at a SW Florida beach near you. What to know

The same report says there are equal chances of above-average or below-average rainfall this summer, likely due to La Nina conditions.

"We are in neutral now and will move into La Nina by June," Pearce said.

La Nina can lead to drier conditions during the summer, but the big impact will be with tropical storm and hurricane formation.

La Nina reduces wind shear over the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico, and that makes conditions more favorable for tropical formation, including hurricanes.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Summer heat already here, higher humidity on its way. What to know
How do you train a cat? These Acro-cats are performing in Fort Worth

Inside Look stories give Star-Telegram subscribers exclusive sneak peeks and behind-the-scenes reporting. Story suggestion? Editors@star-telegram.com.

Ten minutes a day is all you need to train a cat, according to Samantha Martin of Rock Cats Rescue and the Amazing Acro-Cats.

Teaching them how to do acrobatics and play instruments like the Amazing Acro-cats might take longer.

The Amazing Acro-cats are former orphans, rescues and strays that have come into my life over the years and Ive trained them all to do something unique, Martin said.

Albacore Tuna can ring a bell, for example. Asti can play the drums, and Bowie can do barrel rolls.

The cats will be performing alongside Martin at the Stage West Theatre in Fort Worth from Thursday, May 9, through Sunday, May 12.

Along with the performing cats, four trained foster kittens will be available for adoption. Those kittens  Houston, Frisco, Austin and Laredo  are all trained to go in a carrier at the sound of a whistle.

Thats something that can save an animals life. If you have an emergency, you need to gather them all quickly, Martin said.

The Acro-cats are partnered with Buddies Place Cat Rescue of Texas, a local cat rescue.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Our policy is based on international law and justice. If we see revengeful forces raising their head again in Armenia, if France gives deadly weapons to Armenia and if we see that these weapons reach a critical level, then, let no one have any hard feelings, President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev said during a ceremony to present apartment keys to the first returning residents of Shusha, Trend reports.

Everyone knows what we are capable of, what our Army is capable of and how strong our determination is. No one can stand in front of us, noted the head of state.
'I so wish they were both here': Licking County man grieves wife, daughter this Mother's Day

Its a carefree day in the early 2000s, and young Nellie Patterson is doting over a cow on her familys hobby farm in Pataskala.

Nellie is a spitfire with a larger-than-life personality  wears her heart on her sleeve and loves big. She works hard and plays harder. She is strong and kind, resilient and down-to-earth. The animals in her care are the objects of her undying affection, both at home and in 4-H, where she is an uplifting presence among her peers.

To her sister, Grace, between sisterly spats, she whispers her deepest dreams of becoming a wife and mom.

Justin Hayes of Newton Township lost his beloved wife, Nellie, and unborn daughter, Elleanor, at the end of March. On Tuesday, he shows off the nursery, which contains all the necessities and is decorated in a woodland animal theme.

Speech class, Central Ohio Technical College, circa 2014

Nellie, studying business management, has elected to share with her classmates her experience of overcoming a speech impediment. Born with a cleft palate, Nellie learned to confront difficulty head-on, and in the process built the sort of resilience that comes with firsthand struggle.

Sitting in the class and quietly falling in love with her is Justin Hayes, a lanky, red-haired Newark boy who is studying fire science.

He is a man of few words to complement Nellies many. He finds her passion infectious and eventually works up the courage to tell her so.

Its Nellies detailed discourse about the process of castrating a steer that seals the deal for Hayes.

After that, I just knew I had to ask this girl out, he will later recall.

An avid outdoorsman whose taste in home decor is heavily antlers-centric, he is drawn to her mix of grit and sensitivity.

Their first date is in a pair of kayaks at Dillon Lake in Muskingum County.

They drift 50 yards off the dock, talk for hours and dont catch a single fish.

Justin Hayes of Newton Township lost his wife, Nellie, and unborn daughter, Elleanor, at the end of March. Hayes wears Nellies wedding ring on a chain around his neck Tuesday at their Licking County home.

Dreams of travel, adventure and starting a life together

Together the pair dream of adventure and travel  the things they will do together, the places they will see. They graduate from COTC and begin blazing trails in life: Justin as an EMT and Nellie working at Kroger and as an office manager at various Licking County businesses.

Hayes knows  has always known  he wants Nellie to be his bride someday. He is pretty sure that when the time comes, shell say yes. The hard part is asking her dads permission.

Nellies dad knows she can take care of herself and tells Hayes as much:

I figure if you treat her wrong, I've raised her well enough that she'll take care of it.

In autumn 2016, they take a trip to Kentucky, and Hayes proposes to her on a natural bridge surrounded by hills ablaze with the colors of fall.

She says yes, and her childhood dreams are beginning to come true: This man who loves her, this life of adventure.

On road trips with her sister to visit their grandparents in Wooster, over IGA donuts, she talks about her life, the things shes learning, this quiet man who loves her so well.

Everything sisters talk about  marriages and relationships and hopes and dreams and frustrations and jobs, Grace says. The ride home was almost quiet because we covered everything.

Tiny pink sunglasses and boots are seen Tuesday on a shelf in the nursery intended for Elleanor Hayes, who was three weeks away from being born when her mother, Nellie Hayes, died from a pulmonary embolism caused by a placental abruption at the end of March.

White dress, red shirt and a Hocking Hills honeymoon

March 4, 2017. The pastor who oversaw their premarital counseling told Justin he might cry on their wedding day, but Justin is convinced he wont.

That is until he sees her.

Shes wearing a white dress  it was $100 on the clearance rack at a now-defunct boutique, a perfect fit and clearly meant for her. Her red sash matches Hayes red shirt, and with her hair done up, her smile lighting up the room as usual, its more than he can take.

He can do nothing but cry through their vows.

Theres pizza at the reception and they honeymoon in Hocking Hills to keep it budget-friendly. Nellie eats wedding cake with Coca-Cola for breakfast the entire first week of their marriage, and Justin loves everything about her.

As newlyweds, home is a single-story, fixer-upper that Justin inherited from his grandfather. It sits next to the railroad tracks across from a field, somewhere between Newark and Utica where the sunsets are unobscured by streetlights and tall buildings.

She vetoes some  but not all  of the antlers and softens the masculine, rustic feel with farmhouse touches.

Justin Hayes of Newton Township poses for a photo Tuesday with his dogs Lady and Oakley, who he says have helped him cope with the passing of his wife and unborn baby daughter in March.

Over time they accumulate two dogs and two cats, and Justin is ready to add a baby to the mix, but Nellie wants to make sure theyre on their feet financially and would prefer that he quit dipping tobacco first.

Meanwhile, Justin transitions out of EMT work and accepts a maintenance position at Ariel Corp.

The hours and weight of the things he saw on his medic runs were beginning to weigh on him, and he didnt want his relationship with Nellie to suffer.

I knew if I stayed there, it would have taken a toll on our marriage, he says.

Eventually, Nellie agrees its time to start trying for a baby, but the pregnancy ends in an early miscarriage.

The couple is heartbroken but agrees to try again, and in the summer of 2023, Elleanor Noel appears as a peanut on the ultrasound screen. They choose the name Elleanor (Ellie for short) because its old-fashioned, and they like the sound of it.

A cross hangs Tuesday in the kitchen of Justin and Nellie Hayes home in Newton Township. A photo from the couples first ultrasound sits on the window sill. Baby Elleanor was due three weeks from when Nellie died in March.

Justin is in awe during the ultrasound visit.

I sat there; I couldn't even look at Nellie the whole time. I just stared at the screen. It was a beautiful moment, he says.

A drawing of Nellie Hayes and baby daughter Elleanor.

Motherhood looks good on Nellie. She stops drinking caffeine and exercises to stay in shape. She is conscientious about the new life growing inside her and gets early practice as an advocate, fighting insurance battles to come to her daughters aid.

The weeks go on and theyre showered with gifts from family and friends; they collect them and stash them in their tiny home as they await their little ones arrival, when they will become a family of three.

Occasionally Justin comes home from work to find Nellie with her hands on her belly in silent prayer.

It gets him every time, the way she holds their baby and prays. He can never hear the words, but he can see the love, and that is enough.

Baptized together in the months before their wedding, faith is a bedrock of the couples marriage. They attend services at a Baptist church in western Licking County. While their Sunday routine was disrupted during the COVID era, they try to make a point of attending together.

Nellie showed strength and courage that I had never seen in her before throughout her pregnancy, he would later reflect. Motherhood had now become a sign of absolute bravery and determination.

The day that will change his life forever

A photo of Justin Hayes holding his daughter, Elleanor, in the hospital sits on a shelf in the nursery Tuesday at their Newton Township home. Both Ellanor and Justins wife, Nellie, died after she suffered a pulmonary embolism due to a placental abruption at the end of March.

March 30, 2024: Justin has spent the evening taking care of the burn pile in the yard.

After watching a show with him on the couch, Nellie, in good spirits, goes to bed and closes her eyes for what she doesn't know will be the last time.

Justin, who fell asleep in front of the television, retires a while later to find that his world has unexpectedly imploded.

With strength that comes from somewhere else, he begins CPR, clinging to distant hope, praying the desperate prayers of a man whose life is crumbling.

Every effort is made; they arrive at the hospital, and valiant work continues.

Even after Nellie slips away, her daughter emerges in the same room and the babys weak heartbeat is revived.

A cellphone photo shows of Justin Hayes holding his daughter Elleanors hand in the hospital. Hayes' wife, Nellie, died at the end of March after suffering a pulmonary embolism due to a placental abruption.

Justin holds all 5 pounds, 14 ounces of Eleanor and silently wonders if shell have red hair; even as she joins her mother in a place beyond his reach, he watches the sunlight fall on her face and is struck by her beauty.

She has her mothers ears and Nellies dainty hands and feet.

With strength that comes from somewhere else, he finds gratitude for these moments and the two quietly extraordinary lives, now lost, that changed his own forever.

I know they're together now, and I thank Jesus for that, he says four weeks later from the humble living room accented with antlers and pieces of Nellie and Ellie.

I can't imagine this life right now not having that hope of knowing where they're at. But having that time with her here, it gave me a sense of just having that vision of my baby. It helps with having that vision of them together in heaven.

Reflecting on what would have been his wife's first Mother's Day

The nursery closet in Justin Hayes Newton Township home is filled with pastel pink newborn clothing Tuesday. Hayes' wife, Nellie, and their unborn daughter died after suffering a pulmonary embolism due to a placental abruption at the end of March.

Less than two months after saying goodbye to his bride and daughter, this is not the Mothers Day Justin was expecting.

He and Nellie's sister Grace agree that Nellie would have wanted to be spoiled  likely with cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, her favorite.

He has found a support network of people who care about him and has since traveled back to the place in Kentucky where he proposed to the love of his life.

Her journey into motherhood was shorter than anyone would have liked, but watching motherhood grow on her was an experience Justin will never forget.

Justin Hayes of Newark looks at wedding photos Tuesday at his Newton Township home and reflects on the loss of his wife, Nellie, and unborn daughter, Elleanor, at the end of March.

In reflecting on his wife's motherhood journey, Justin wrote the following:

Nellie carried our daughter up to within three weeks of the delivery date. I dont know why her time on this Earth ended when it did. Nor do I know why Ellie was not given a longer time with her mother and I; but I witnessed many of the efforts and sacrifices that were made for our girl by her mother along with other motherly figures in our lives.

I would not have had the brief, precious moments I had with Ellie if it were not for my amazing wife that had made such a valiant effort to care for our precious child for over eight months.

Nellie had poured so much of herself into Ellie. I so wish they were both here and I could have had the experience of watching Nellie be the mother I knew she would be.

They may not be here now, but God has used this time to bring hope to so many people

Thank you Jesus for the mothers in our lives, whether blood or by their actions. Your love is shown so deeply through the love of our mothers and the care they give. We pray you bless these women as you have allowed them to bless us. We thank you for the remembrance of the mothers that are no longer with us and the impact they have had on our life. I thank you for the life that was experienced with my Nellie and the sacrifices she made that I may have time with our beautiful little girl prior to her going to be with her momma to enjoy the home you have created for them.

amroy@nncogannett.com

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Licking County widower marks first Mother's Day since infant's death
1-month-old kitten hitching a ride on California train gets helping hand, rescue says

As a 1-month-old kitten was hitching a ride on the rails, a fellow train passenger spotted the furry stowaway, a California rescue says.

The rider alerted the train operator after seeing the 1-pound feline traveling alone on Los Angeles Metros Green Line on Monday, May 6, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles said in a news release.

Metro staff brought the feline to the rescues adoption center in Hawthorne.

After arriving, the rescue said its medical staff examined the kitten that appeared to be in good condition.

The very hungry kitten, now named Eloise, quickly scarfed down a bowl of food, according to the rescue.

The kitten will remain at a foster home for about four weeks.

Eloise serves as a reminder to be compassionate towards our furry friends, even in unexpected places, Madeline Bernstein, the rescues president, said in the release.

The mostly white tabby with three gray dots on her coat will remain at a foster home for about four weeks until she is old enough for adoption.

While her origins remain a mystery, her future is clear: a permanent, loving home where she can thrive and bring joy to those around her, the rescue said.

Hawthorne is about a 15-mile drive southwest from Los Angeles.

Crying kitten was stuck in Arizona ceiling for 24 hours. Now shes up for adoption

Kitten gets trapped below sidewalk  then California rescuers crack open a can of tuna

Kittens found near Arizona shed turn out to be a bit more wild. See the tiny babies
A 14-year-old student from Q.I. Roberts Junior-Senior High School found himself in police custody on Friday afternoon, charged with third-degree felony possession of a weapon on a school campus.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

According to the Putnam County Sheriffs Office, the arrest came following a notification received by youth resource deputies via the FortifyFL app, indicating the presence of a firearm in the students backpack.

Acting swiftly, deputies managed to detain the student, identified as a 9th grader, within three minutes of receiving the tip.

Fortunately, due to the prompt response and the absence of class changes, the school administration decided against initiating a lockdown, allowing regular activities to proceed as usual.

Upon inspection of the students backpack, deputies discovered a handgun secured in a holster.

The student claimed to have stumbled upon the firearm near Main Street and Madison Street in Palatka while en route to his bus stop. However, the student maintained that he had never removed the gun from his backpack.

Deputies reportedly observed that the gun was covered in dirt and appeared to be in a condition unsuitable for firing. Despite their assessment that there was no malicious intent behind the students actions, authorities stressed the severity of bringing a firearm onto school premises.

Despite the fact that there was no ill-intent, we have to charge this student for bringing a firearm on campus, stated Sheriff H.D. Gator DeLoach. This gun could have fallen into the wrong hands, and we would have had a different scenario. All this young man needed to do was turn in the gun to an adult, Deputy Brady, or an administrator on the campus.

Following the arrest, the 14-year-old was taken into custody and subsequently released to the Department of Juvenile Justice.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
UPDATE: 15-year-old taken into custody after gun goes off at a north Louisiana School

The Bossier Parish Sheriff's Office has released new information regarding the Bossier Parish student whose gun went off in a classroom.

According to the sheriff's office, the student was identified as a 15-year-old Cope Middle School student.

While in class May 9, the student pulled out a handgun to show to another student and began placing it into a backpack when the gun went off.

The school resource officer was immediately contacted, and the student was takin into custody.

Bossier Parish Sheriff's patrol unit.

According to the sheriff's office, no students were injured, and the student was charged with:

Illegal use of a weapon or dangerous instrumentalities

Possession of a handgun by a juvenile

Possession of a firearm in a gun-free zone

The student was booked into Ware Detention Center.

More: Gun goes off at a north Louisiana school Thursday, sheriff reports. No injuries reported

Makenzie Boucher is a reporter with the Shreveport Times. Contact her at mboucher@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: Teen in custody after gun goes off at Bossier Parish school
17-year-old dies a month after he was hit by deputys cruiser, Michigan attorney says

A teenager who spent the last month in the hospital after being hit by a Michigan deputys cruiser has died, his familys attorney confirmed to media outlets.

Riley Doggett, 17, died May 9, attorney Ven Johnson told WZZM.

The Kent County Sheriffs Office said Doggett was running away from a deputy in Wyoming when he was struck April 8, MLive reported.

McClatchy News reached out to both the Kent County Sheriffs Office and Johnson for comment May 10 but did not immediately hear back.

The deputy was trying to stop a stolen vehicle believed to be connected to several crimes in the county when two occupants fled on foot, according to an April 8 news release from the the sheriffs office.

A deputys vehicle hit one of the fleeing occupants, causing serious injuries, the sheriffs office said.

Doggetts family told WXMI that the accident left him with head injuries.

I wish they would have tased him, chased him, anything other than a car, Doggetts sister, Taylor Daniels, told WXMI in April. Any injury other than his head, honestly.

Although it is tragic when a young life is impacted, its important to understand this pursuit started when a stolen vehicle was observed ramming an uninvolved car, jeopardizing the safety of our entire community, the sheriffs office said in an April statement obtained by MLive.

Dashboard camera footage of the incident has not been released, Johnson told WOOD.

All it does is it rises the level of suspicion that something else is going on, he said.

Wyoming is about a 5-mile drive south of Grand Rapids.

Chaotic chase involving 12- and 13-year-olds in stolen car turns deadly, TX cops say

Mom moving car accidentally runs over, kills 2-year-old daughter, Philadelphia cops say

5-year-old shot dead by child who found shotgun in grandparents bedroom, MI cops say
17-year-old killed in May 3 shooting identified as suspect in March shooting on 10th Avenue

DECATUR, Ala. (WHNT)  The 17-year-old who arrived at Decatur-Morgan Hospital with a gunshot wound on Friday has died and was identified by police as the suspect in a deadly shooting on March 27.

According to the Decatur Police Department (DPD), officers responded to a reported shooting in the 900 block of 10th Avenue on March 27 around 2:16 p.m. Officers located one victim, a man later identified as 23-year-old Jared Bolden, suffering from gunshot wounds at the scene.

Pilot dead in single plane crash near Hartselle airport

Bolden was transported to Decatur-Morgan Hospital, where he died from his injuries.

Detectives responded to conduct an investigation. DPD said during the investigation, the shooting suspect was identified as a 17-year-old boy, who was never found by detectives.

On April 30, Bama Pawn in Decatur reported a burglary, where a number of guns and other items were taken. Detectives with DPD and members of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) began an investigation into the incident.

On May 3, DPD officers responded to Decatur Morgan Hospital after a male juvenile arrived at the hospital with an apparent gunshot wound. DPDs Violent Crimes Unit responded to the scene and determined the shooting occurred on 7th Street Southeast.

 Get breaking news, traffic and weather alerts directly to your smartphone. Download the News 19 App

DPD said the victim, later identified as the 17-year-old suspect in the March shooting on 10th Avenue, was taken to Huntsville Hospital for treatment. On May 5, 2024, the department says the teen died from his injuries.

A 14-year-old was named the suspect in the shooting on May 3 on 7th Street and was arrested. They were originally charged with first-degree assault and first-degree receiving stolen property, but since the victim died  the assault charge was upgraded to manslaughter.

It was discovered that the vehicle the victim arrived at the hospital in was reported stolen on February 3, 2024, from the 1800 block of Beltline Road Southwest, DPD said in a release about the investigation.

The department confirmed Kaleb Kirk and three juveniles had the vehicle that was reported stolen. Detectives also believe that this vehicle was the one involved in the burglary at Bama Pawn.

Morgan County Sheriffs Office arrests 18 accused of fraud, losses total over $2 million

Stolen guns were also found at a home in southwest Decatur when police executed a search warrant, DPD added. It was confirmed that all of the guns that were located were stolen from Bama Pawn.

Kirk is charged with first-degree receiving stolen property and second-degree receiving stolen property. He is being held at the Morgan County Jail on a $7,500 bond.

DPD says the two other teens were charged with receiving stolen property.

All three of the teenagers were taken to the Tennessee Valley Juvenile Detention Facility in Tuscumbia, Alabama, per the Morgan County Juvenile Probation Office.

Download the WHNT News 19 App to stay updated on the go.

Sign up for WHNT News 19 newsletters to have news sent to your inbox.

Further investigation led to Victoria Thomas also being in possession of a stolen firearm. She is charged with second-degree receiving stolen property and was held at the Morgan County Jail on a $2,500 bond.

If you have any information regarding the stolen guns, please contact DPD at 256-341-4660.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A man and a woman from Exeter were arrested on Thursday in connection with a narcotics sales investigation in Visalia, the Visalia Police Department said.

Police say a search warrant was served on Thursday at 10:30 a.m. in the 500 block of South Francis Street in Exeter by their Narcotics Unit and Special Enforcement Unit after the Narcotics Unit had been investigating two individuals for narcotics distribution in Visalia and neighboring areas.

2 arrested after CHP K-9 finds $700K of cocaine in Merced County

Detectives say they identified the two individuals as 24-year-old Kaleb Ortiz and 23-year-old Marissa Flores. During the search of the home, they discovered 4.25 kilograms of cocaine. Both suspects were arrested and booked into the Tulare County Adult Pre-Trial Detention Facility under suspicion of narcotic sales.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Two people are charged with attempted murder and kidnapping after allegedly attacking a woman inside her business in California City.

Lita Barnes, 59, and Shelton Hickman, 47, are each being held on $500,000 bail. Theyre due back in court later this month for a competency hearing.

Agencies join forces to manage mosquito season in Kern

California City police were called April 30 to a report of an attempted robbery in the 9000 block of California City Boulevard. They arrived to find a 56-year-old woman being treated for injuries to her face and head.

Police said the victim told them two people  a man and woman  who daily ask her for money entered the business and asked for photocopies. While she made the photocopies, the man grabbed her from behind and tried to drag her into the bathroom, the victim said according to police.

The woman hit her about 30 times with a pole as they tried to force her into the bathroom, the victim told police.

Never miss a story  Make KGET.com your homepage

Two people closely matching the suspects description were detained nearby, police said. Blood was found on the womans clothing, and they were identified as the attackers.

The female suspect also stated that she did not know the victim but was there to kill her because she is evil,' police said.

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the California City Police Department at 760-373-8606.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
Two climbers reported missing this week on Californias towering Mount Whitney have been found dead, officials said Thursday.

A friend who had been with the climbers called authorities Tuesday night after they failed to arrive as planned at their campsite, the Inyo County Sheriffs Office said in a statement.

The friend said the pair had planned to ski or snowboard from the notch, a flat area where climbers often stop to rest, down to their camp at Upper Boy Scout Lake.

Seen is the eastern Sierra Nevada, with Mount Whitney, the largest of three pinnacles at center, near Lone Pine, Calif., Dec. 21, 2016.

A helicopter crew and teams on the slopes launched a search.

Tragically, both hikers were later discovered deceased, the sheriffs statement said. Their identities were not immediately released.

Because the bodies were within neighboring Tulare County, the case is being handled by that countys sheriff-coroners office.

Located in the central Sierra Nevada with a summit reaching 14,500 feet (4,420 meters), Mount Whitney is the highest point in the U.S. outside Alaska.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
These Are the 2 Most Common Symptoms of the New FLiRT COVID Variant Doctors Are Seeing Right Now

Female patient wearing mask over mouth takes a PCR test for COVID-19

It's been over four years since the pandemic hit, and while most people have returned to relatively normal lives, COVID-19 hasn't gone awaybut it has evolved.

According to late April 2024 data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a new COVID variant, the unfortunately-named FLiRT KP.2 variant, is behind nearly 25% of all new cases and still on the rise. It's rapidly outpacing the JN.1 variant, which was the most dominant this past winter and racked up about 22% of cases from the April data set. Another FLiRT variant, KP1.1, is behind about 7% of recent cases.

To reiterate what you've heard before, but may be ignoring now: COVID is still very serious, especially because of the potential for long COVID symptoms, which are still being studied to this day. It's also extra dangerous for those with pre-existing conditions that could pose complications, as well as for people with compromised immune systems.

That said, we have a lot more information than ever before to work with, and knowledge is power. Here's what you need to know about the newest COVID variants, their symptoms and how to protect yourself and others from infection.

Related: The Super Simple COVID Prevention Tip Most People Forget About, According to Infectious Disease Experts

The 2 Most Common COVID Symptoms Doctors Are Seeing Right Now

Infectious disease experts we spoke with were pretty unanimous: The two most common COVID-19 symptoms they've seen recently are fever and cough, which are both consistent with previous variants of the illness.

Additional COVID Symptoms Doctors Are Seeing

Fatigue was another one of the most common symptoms that doctors cited.

That said, part of what's made COVID so tricky to treat and curb is that the symptoms vary from patient to patient, and some patients are asymptomatic and don't show or feel any signs of infection at all, Dr. Dahlia Philips, MD., infectious disease physician and medical director of MetroPlusHealth's Partnership in Care (PIC) Special Needs Plan, says.

According to Dr. Philips, other possible symptoms of this variant can include:

Body aches

Congestion

Diarrhea

Heartburn

Loss of smell

Loss of taste

Muscle aches

Nausea

Runny nose

Sore throat

Vomiting

Related: Here's What a COVID Sore Throat Feels Likeand How It's Different From Other Types of Sore Throats

How Does the Current COVID-19 Subvariant Differ From Previous Waves?

Essentially, the difference comes in the viruses' proteins.

"The FLiRT variants are derived from the JN.1 variant which came to dominate over the winter months," Dr. S Wesley Long, MD., PhD., associate professor of pathology and genomic medicine at Houston Methodist and Weill Cornell Medical School tells Parade. "They have a variety of mutations but are characterized by two spike protein mutations (F456L and R346T), hence the name 'FLiRT.' The most successful FLiRT variant so far is known as KP.2 and is starting to be seen more frequently as a cause of COVID-19. These mutations have been seen before, in different variants, they are just now remixed in the JN.1 background."

In practical terms, these changes can impact how the virus spreads and impacts people who get infected.

"First off, FLiRT seems to be a bit more adept at spreading than some of the previous strains. This means we're seeing it pop up in more places and spreading a bit faster than what we've seen before," says Dr. Christi Wojewoda, MD, FCAP, a pathologist at the University of Vermont Medical Center and an associate professor at the Larner College of Medicine at UVM in Burlington. "FLiRT appears to have some changes in its spike protein. You know, that little knob-like structure on the virus that helps it latch onto cells? Well, FLiRT's spike protein seems to have some alterations, which could potentially make it more infectious."

Thankfully, Dr. Wojewoda notes that FLiRT variants don't appear to cause more severe illness than other strains, "So while it might be spreading a bit more efficiently, it doesn't necessarily mean it's making people sicker." Phew!

Related: This Thermostat Setting Could Help Protect You From the New COVID Variant, According to Infectious Disease Experts

How To Manage COVID-19 Symptoms

If you think you have COVID-19, whether the FLiRT variant or any other, the best course of action is to talk to your physician ASAP to get it handled, Dr. Wojewoda says.

"If you're experiencing any of these, especially if they're severe or persistent, it's important to reach out to your doctor," Dr. Wojewoda advises. "The earlier you catch it, the better you can manage it, so don't hesitate to get tested if you're not feeling right."

Depending on your symptoms and severity, your doctor may be able to prescribe Paxlovid or remdesivir, or simply recommend what to do to recover at home and which over-the-counter medications would be best for you.

Aside from seeing a doctor if you're feeling ill, the advice is pretty much the same as it's been for four years: Stay home if you can, and if you have to go out, mask up. Wash your hands frequently and thoroughly, stay hydrated and rest as much as you can.

Related: Here's What We Actually Know About the Link Between Vitamin D and COVID

How To Keep Yourself and Others Safe From COVID-19

A crucial part of keeping yourself and others from spreading COVID-19 is to pay attention if you're not feeling well.

"We are not in flu season, so if you are experiencing flu-like symptoms, it may be a sign that you have been exposed to COVID-19," Dr. Bernadette Boden-Albala, MPH, Dr.P.H., social epidemiologist and director and founding dean of the program in public health in the Susan & Henry Samueli College of Health Sciences at University of California, Irvine, warns. "You must test as soon as you experience symptoms for two reasons. First, if you test early, you can receive antiviral treatment earlier and reduce the chance of severe symptoms. Second, vulnerable communities like the elderly, pregnant people and the unvaccinated are highly susceptible, so testing early helps you make the informed decision to stay home and take care of yourself and your community."

Another key part of staying safe is staying up to date with COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. Booster rates have been alarmingly low for eligible patients, which is, to put it mildly, a real bummer for public health.

"As a public health leader, I will always strive to remind our community of the substantial evidence backing the effectiveness of vaccines," Dr. Boden-Albala stresses. "They can either completely prevent infection or stop people from experiencing severe illness that requires hospitalization."

According to Dr. Boden-Albala, it's important to make sure your vaccines are up to date and that you're getting boosters as neededand the recommendations vary by age: "The CDC continues to recommend everyone aged 5 years and older should get one dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine, and people aged 65 years and older who received one dose of any updated 2023-24 COVID-19 vaccine should receive one additional dose of an updated COVID-19 vaccine at least four months after the previous updated dose."

Next, Here's How Long COVID Is Contagious After You Get a Positive Test

Sources
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The visit of some ambassador to Shusha should not be portrayed as a favor to us, said President Ilham Aliyev during a ceremony to present apartment keys to the first returning residents of Shusha, Trend reports.

"If they come, let them come, but if they dont, it's not even necessary. As if something might change with their arrival, nothing will change. We have a say here in this land. Our policy is based on international law and justice. If we see revengeful forces raising their head again in Armenia, if France gives deadly weapons to Armenia and if we see that these weapons reach a critical level, then, let no one have any hard feelings. In any case, everyone knows what we are capable of, what our Army is capable of and how strong our determination is. No one can stand in front of us. No one can dictate anything to us or interfere in our internal affairs. We will do what we think is right. After the Second Karabakh War, we told Armenia that let's define the border fairly. If you don't want that, then we will say where we want there to be a border. What will he do, who will he call, let him call 100 times, but what will the result be? I want to say again to both the people of Azerbaijan and those interested in this region that no step should be taken here without our approval. I am sure they will hear my words. They know that I do what I say, the head of state added.
2 plead not guilty to murder in Delano prison slaying

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  Two inmates accused of fatally stabbing another inmate at North Kern State Prison entered not-guilty pleas on Thursday in Superior Court.

Andrew Jimenez and Anthony Rivera are charged with first-degree murder and assault by a prisoner serving a life sentence in the death last year of Josafat Bonifacio. Theyre due back in court later this month.

Anthony Rivera, left, and Andrew Jimenez listen while being arraigned on charges including murder.

The two are eligible for the death penalty.

Jimenez, 31, and Rivera, 29, were serving life terms for murder in separate cases at the time of the killing. Bonifacio, 32, was also serving a life term for murder.

The assault took place the afternoon of Sept. 28, according to prison officials. An inmate-manufactured weapon was used.

Bonifacio suffered multiple stab wounds and died while being transported to a medical facility, officials said. Charges were filed last month.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Two Socorro ISD trustees and the wife of one have been indicted and are charged with interfering and trying to improperly influence operations at two different schools and at the district office, according to documents obtained by KTSM.

According to court documents, Trustee Pablo Alfonso Barrera, 39, faces one count of improper influence, one count of official oppression and four counts of obstruction or retaliation.

Barrera turned himself into the County Detention Center Thursday morning, May 9 and was immediately released on $6,000 bond.

Second Socorro ISD Trustee, wife arrested for obstruction or retaliation

Trustee Ricardo Castellano, 61, and his wife, Gabriela Castellano, 57, are each facing two counts of obstruction or retaliation. Gabriela Castellano is a former Socorro ISD employee.

Ricardo and Gabriela Castellano turned themselves in Thursday evening and were each immediately released on a $4,000 bond.

The indictments come from a Texas Ranger investigation.

The indictments allege that Barrera attempted to improperly influence or retaliate against two district employees  Assistant Superintendent Melissa Parham and Hueco Elementary Principal Greg Hatch.

The alleged incidents involving Hatch occurred between July 1, 2022, and Sept.15, 2023. The indictment alleges the charges involving Parham occurred on May 30, 2022, months before the alleged involvement with Hatch.

Socorro ISD Trustee arrested for official oppression, other charges

As KTSM previously reported, Barreras wife, Angelica Ramirez, was arrested in November for allegedly filing a false report stemming from an incident with Hueco Elementary principal Greg Hatch in September 2023. Ramirezs trial is scheduled to begin on June 24.

The indictments allege the Castellanos improperly tried to influence, threaten, or retaliate against Bill Sybert School Principal Gabriela Elliot between August 21, 2021, and March 30, 2022.

Wife of Socorro ISD trustee arrested by district police for allegedly filing false report

El Paso Matters previously reported the Castellanos and Barrera were part of a controversial recording uploaded to the Socorro ISD computer system by Gabriela Castellano as part of a complaint against Elliot, who was principal at Bill Sybert Elementary, where she worked.

The 33-hour audio file was recorded on Aug. 10, 2021, just 11 days before the indictment alleges the Castellanos began influencing, threatening, or retaliating against Elliot.

KTSM received a statement from SISD spokesperson Daniel Escobar Thursday evening:

The district was made aware that two current Trustees and a former employee were arrested by the El Paso Sheriffs Department earlier today. This is a legal matter, and we will cooperate with law enforcement. The district has no additional information on the matter at this time. The focus of the district remains serving students and supporting staff to ensure the successful completion of the school year.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Two teenagers have been charged with murder after a Shelby woman was shot outside her home Monday.

Police were called that night to 62-year-old Sarah Chambers home on Live Oak Street, where they found her lying in the front yard.

PREVIOUS: Woman shot and killed outside Shelby home, police say

Chambers was taken to a local hospital where she later died, according to police.

Police said Chambers wasnt involved in the fight nearby that led to the shooting. Neighbors said she was a minister and she fought against violence in the community.

Shelby Police Department investigators said on Thursday, they charged two 15-year-olds with murder. Both have been arrested and are in the custody of the North Carolina Division of Juvenile Justice.

Police asked anyone with information about the shooting is asked to call the Shelby Police Department at 704-484-6845.

(WATCH BELOW: Ken Lemon covers storm damage in Shelby)
The South Carolina Supreme Court in Columbia. (Mary Ann Chastain / Special to the SC Daily Gazette)

COLUMBIA  A pair of state Appeals Court judges and a Circuit Court judge are among finalists for South Carolinas next Supreme Court justice.

A legislative panel that screens judicial candidates forwarded Blake Hewitt, of Conway; Jocelyn Newman, of Columbia; and Letitia Verdin, of Greenville, to the full Legislature for a vote next month. They were chosen from among six candidates vying to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Chief Justice Don Beatty.

Hewitt, a white male Appeals Court judge, was first elected to the bench in 2019 after years as an appellate lawyer. Newman, a Black female judge and the daughter of recently retired Circuit Court Judge Clifton Newman, has spent eight years as a Circuit Court judge in Richland County. Verdin, a white female judge from the Upstate with more than 15 years of experience, has spent the past year on the state Court of Appeals.

The election by a joint General Assembly is scheduled for June 5.

South Carolina is one of only two states where the Legislature elects nearly all judges. Virginia is the other.

Who lawmakers choose will shape the look of the states highest court for some time. A seat isnt likely to come available for more than four years. Thats when Justice John Kittredge, who will become chief justice this summer, ages out. (State law requires judges to retire from full-time work by Dec. 31 of the year they turn 72.)

Beatty, a former legislator from Spartanburg, is retiring when his term ends this summer, after he turns 72.

Bona fide conservatives

The election of a new justice comes as South Carolinas judiciary has been under intense scrutiny. The state high courts recent decisions on laws banning abortions politicized a judicial selection process historically based on personal relationships and geography.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overthrew Roe v. Wade in June 2022, it left the state court to decide the legality of the states abortion laws. After the ruling, a law legislators passed in 2021 that banned abortions once an ultrasound detects cardiac activity temporarily took affect, prompting abortion providers to sue.

In a 3-2 decision in early January 2023, the state Supreme Court threw out the so-called fetal heartbeat law as violating the state constitutional protection from unreasonable invasions of privacy. The only woman on the court, Justice Kaye Hearn, wrote the majority opinion that was blasted by GOP lawmakers as judicial activism. It was her last opinion before she retired.

In the race to replace Hearn, two female judges ultimately dropped out before the Legislature elected Justice Gary Hill, the male judge who had the votes. Then in August, the countrys only all-male state Supreme Court upheld a tweaked version of the law that bans abortions around six weeks into pregnancy.

In selecting Hill, lawmakers had cited his reputation as a strict constructionist, meaning he interprets the literal meaning of statute when it was written. Its the same label that soon-to-be Chief Justice Kittredge used to describe himself before he was unanimously elected in March as the judicial branchs next leader.

South Carolina House Speaker Murrell Smith trumpeted the election of Kittredge during a tele-town hall Wednesday hosted by Americans For Prosperity, the conservative political group founded by the Koch Brothers.

Im proud to say weve elected for the first time, I believe, in modern history in South Carolina a chief justice who is a conservative  a well-known conservative, Smith said.

With the exception of a one-year interim, South Carolinas judicial branch has been led by a former House Democrat since 2000.

Chief Justice Jean Toal and Beatty were both initially elected from the House directly to the bench  back when that was still allowed  though in different decades: Toal to the high court in 1988 and Beatty to the Circuit Court in 1995. (Costa Pleicones became chief justice when Toal retired in December 2015 after turning 72, until he aged out a year later.)

Smith told listeners on the call that when the Legislature elects its new justice, hes hopeful there will be five true, bona fide conservatives on the court.

That really shows how we have turned this ship in South Carolina in trying to get a judiciary that doesnt make laws but that interprets laws. So, that will be a huge win for us, Smith said.

That deference to the Legislature was a theme in the latest Supreme Court candidates answers.

A legislative screening panel selected Blake Hewitt, of Conway, as one of three finalists for the state Supreme Court. Hewitt ascended to the Appeals Court bench in 2019 after working as an appellate lawyer. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)

Yes, we interpret statutes. Yes, we apply them, but we do so with the recognition that is the General Assemblys prerogative to set public policy and the General Assemblys actions get every presumption of constitutionality, Hewitt said.

Our purpose is to interpret the intent of the Legislature. We dont make laws, Newman said to questions. The court often makes decisions to highlight certain deficiencies in legislation that has been passed.  But the judiciary should never overstep its bounds.

I understand I am not a policy maker. I am not a lawmaker, but an interpreter of the law, and I take that very seriously, Verdin said.

Backlog

A second theme in questioning by the screening panel was related to the backlog of court cases across the Palmetto State.

Both Hewitt and Verdin serve on an Appeals Court committee trying to find solutions to the backlog at that level. Verdin said one area of success shes noticed is in the use of technology and video proceedings to handle more administrative proceedings.

Our legal profession is changing. I welcome those changes because change is inevitable, she said.

Being behind on issuing orders is one area where Newman was dinged in her screening.

The Fifth Circuit of Richland and Kershaw counties, where Newman holds court, has seen a number of judicial retirements in the last couple years, and Newman has been left to handle the lions-share of the caseload. Shes also been without the aid of a clerk since December, she explained.

A screening panel that vets judges in the state selected Jocelyn Newman, of Columbia, as one of three finalists for a seat on the state Supreme Court. Newman, the daughter of recently retired circuit court Judge Clifton Newman, has spent eight years as a circuit court judge in Richland County. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)

The Legislature certainly didnt help last month, when GOP lawmakers broke precedent and refused to elect former House Democrat and Columbia lawyer James Smith to a new seat on the Fifth Circuit bench. No one was running against him, after his challenger dropped out months ago. Still, Republicans chose to restart the application and screening process. So that seat, among those the Legislature created, wont be filled until next year sometime.

Pete Strom, a Columbia lawyer who sits on the judicial screening panel, recognized Newmans workload.

Its not fair that its all on your plate. But its all on your plate, he said.

Thats not an excuse, said Andrew Safran, also a Columbia-area lawyer on the panel.

If you want to make a viable run, these things have to be addressed because we cant ignore them, he said about the backlog.

Both also assured Newman they felt the issue was fixable.

Inexperience

When it came to criticisms lobbed at the other two candidates, the concerns centered around their lack of experience.

Hewitt was never a judge before he was appointed to the Court of Appeals. As a lawyer, he largely argued cases at that level.

A special screening panel that vets judges in the state selected Letitia Verdin, of Greenville, as one of three finalists for the state Supreme Court. Verdin has been a judge for more than 15 years, spending the past year on the state Court of Appeals. (Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette)

I think of appellate courts as being greater than the sum of their parts and that their secret sauce is the blending of different experiences and perspectives, Hewitt said when questioned about his experience. I hope that my experience as a litigator is adding something to the value that the Court of Appeals produces.

Verdin, who has family and circuit court experience, has only been on the Appeals Court for a year.

Theyre right, Verdin said of her lack of experience, adding that she would have rather waited before making a run, but high court openings dont come up often.

But Verdin also received glowing reviews from the anonymous polling of lawyers  927 lawyers weighed in on her candidacy, including more than 200 who chose to add comments praising her and only four commenting in the negative.

In a state full of talented, intelligent judges and justices, Judge Verdin is the finest judge South Carolina has to offer, one wrote.

I dont have any doubt that youre up to the task, Safran said.

By comparison, Hewitt had 550 lawyers weigh in on his candidacy, with 23 out of 141 comments being negative.

Lack of appellate experience was also a shortcoming for Newman. More than 800 weighed in on her candidacy, with 43 out of 159 comments being negative.

Editor Seanna Adcox contributed to this report.

The post 2 women, 1 man among finalists for SC Supreme Court appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
The Tennessee Promise Scholarship, which offers high school graduates the chance to attend a community or technical college for free, marked its 10th anniversary this month  and its largest pool of applicants yet.

Since its inception in 2014, the state-funded scholarship has awarded hundreds of millions of dollars and supported tens of thousands of students. It supports those pursuing a technical certificate or associate degree by covering tuition and mandatory fees not offset by other financial aid.

Here's a look at the numbers surrounding the Tennessee Promise scholarship over the last decade:

$1 billion  Amount invested by Tennessee to expand enrollment in Tennessee Colleges of Applied Technology

$207 million  Total funding awarded to students enrolling in Tennessee community and technical colleges

150,000  Students supported by Tennessee Promise scholarships since 2014

66,000  High school seniors who applied for the Tennessee Promise scholarship in 2024

64.4%  The 2015 college-going rate in Tennessee after the Tennessee Scholarship launched, which climbed roughly 6 percentage points from the previous year

24  Colleges of applied technology where students can use the Tennessee Promise scholarship

13  Community colleges where students can use the Tennessee Promise scholarship

"The Tennessee Promise program has been life-changing for countless students across Tennessee, opening doors to higher education and career opportunities," Steven Gentile, executive director of the Tennessee Higher Education Commission, said in a news release. "As we celebrate this 10-year milestone, we are proud of the program's success and the positive impact it has had on our state's workforce readiness, economic development, and overall quality of life."

Haven't completed your FAFSA?: The Tennessee deadline for aid is May 15

Who qualifies, more information on Tennessee Promise requirements

Students make their way around campus at Nashville State Community College in 2015.

The Tennessee Promise scholarship is available to any high school senior who graduates from an in-state high school or completes a home school program in Tennessee. Along with offering financial support, it also offers mentoring, including assistance for at-risk students who would not otherwise pursue education beyond high school.

"While removing the financial burden is key, a critical component of Tennessee Promise is the individual guidance each participant will receive from a mentor who will assist the student as he or she navigates the college admissions process," the scholarship's website states.

Students are required to maintain a 2.0 GPA at the institution where they enroll.

More information on the scholarship, its requirements and how to apply can be found at CollegeForTN.org/TNpromise.

Reach children's reporter Rachel Wegner at RAwegner@tennessean.com or find her on Twitter, Bluesky and Threads @RachelAnnWegner.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee Promise scholarship marks 10 years with $207M, 150K students
21-year-old shoots stepmom as she goes to hug him at graduation, New Mexico police say

A 21-year-old shot his stepmother as she went in to hug him at his charter school graduation ceremony, New Mexico police say.

Cristian Bencomo was booked into jail on Wednesday, May 8, accused of shooting his stepmother, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.

Officers responded to the Albuquerque Convention Center shortly after 5 p.m. on Wednesday for reports of gunfire, Gilbert Gallegos, the departments communications director, said in a video posted on X, formerly Twitter.

Officers initially thought they were responding to an active shooter situation but later learned a single gunshot was fired, Gallegos said.

The investigation revealed that Bencomos stepmother started to hug him, and he pulled out a handgun and shot her in the neck, police said.

We made it all the way through graduation  it was really lovely until it wasnt, Mary Ward, a witness, told KOB 4 Eyewitness News.

Ward told the news outlet that the students were told to give a rose to someone in the audience.

I was watching my student, she was coming to the right of me, then I looked to the left, to the other side, there was a crowd of people and then there was a big pop, Ward said, the outlet reported.

With more than 100 people in attendance at the charter school graduation, Gallegos said there was a lot of  chaos at the time.

Nonetheless, police said bystanders held (Bencomo) until officers arrived.

The woman was taken to a hospital with non-life threatening injuries, according to Gallegos. She underwent hours of surgery, according to the organizers of a GoFundMe, who said she will need continued medical treatment and rehab.

Angel Chester, the womans sister, was close by when the shooting happened, KRQE News reported. Chester told the station she witnessed Bencomo stomp on her sisters head following the shooting.

I keep thinking that its a bad dream that Ill wake up from, Chester told the outlet.

Bencomo is facing multiple counts, including aggravated assault and aggravated battery, online jail records show. He is being held without bail.

Police are still investigating the shooting, according KOAT-TV.

I suspect that there was a lot of maybe photos or video or witnesses so anyone who doesnt talk to detectives here on scene is urged to call APD 242-COPS. 505-242-COPS, Gallegos told the outlet.

911 call records man killing his parents, Texas cops say. Youre losing control

17-year-old shoots mother and father, then walks into sheriffs office, Texas cops say

Man shot parents and their friends dead before opening fire on highway, Maine cops say
FAIRFAX COUNTY, Va. (DC News Now)  Police said they arrested three men accused of stealing more than $24,000 in merchandise, most of it Victorias Secret underwear.

The Fairfax County Police Department (FCPD) said its Tysons Urban Team (TUT) picked up the crew on Wednesday. Police said they received word that the men were in the 1900 block of Chain Bridge Rd. near Tysons Corner Center. Two of the men were in the shopping center, and one was outside when officers caught up with him.

The group supposedly stole the underwear from areas including Prince William County. FCPD said when the urban team searched the mens vehicle, they found the merchandise connected to recent thefts in Prince William County.

Driver stopped for speeding tells Fairfax County police officer he was trying to get some breakfast

The men were arrested were:

Felix Perez, 57, of New Jersey

Amauri Roman Sanabia Balbuena, 44, of New Jersey

Jonathan Peralta Cabrera, 38, of New York

Detectives said it appeared that the group was involved with other organized retail thefts in the region and planned to sell the items out of state.

As of Friday, all three men were in the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center where they were held without bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report Thursday about three cases of infections apparently linked to stem-cell treatments American patients received in Mexico.

The CDC issued the report Thursday on infections of non-tuberculous mycobacteria, or NTM, which it described as difficult-to-treat and intrinsically drug-resistant and rapidly growing.

DU establishes interim protest policy after pro-Palestine encampment set up

All three patients detected at two Colorado hospitals remain in treatment. The infections were apparently acquired during stem-cell injections carried out at two different clinics in the Mexican border state of Baja California located 167 miles (269 km) apart.

In the past, Americans and Mexicans have been infected apparently because some doctors in Mexico were taking multiple doses of anesthetics from a single vial due to shortages or other problems, though it was not clear if that was a possible cause in the most recent outbreak reported Thursday.

The first case was reported in late 2022, in a woman who had embryonic stem-cell treatment in October 2022 for multiple sclerosis.

In spring 2023, two male patients in Colorado were found to have infections in their joints after receiving stem-cell treatments in Baja California for forms of arthritis.

The CDC report said vigilance for similar cases and guidance for persons considering medical tourism are advised.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

In the past, local problems with the availability of morphine and fentanyl led some anesthesiologists in Mexico to acquire their own supplies, carry the vials around with them, and administer multiple doses from a single vial to conserve their supply.

In 2022, anesthetics contaminated by those practices caused a meningitis outbreak in the northern state of Durango that killed about three dozen people, many of whom were pregnant women given epidurals. Several Americans died because of a similar outbreak after having surgery at clinics in the Mexican border city of Matamoros in 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (WFLA)  Police in West Palm Beach said they are searching for three boys who disappeared after losing their guardian Wednesday.

According to the West Palm Beach Police Department, Nicholas Garnica Perez, 8; Gabriel Garnica Perez, 13; and Juan Pablo Garnica Perez, 16, were last seen leaving their home on Valley Forge Road at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday.

Video shows Florida deputy announced himself prior to fatal shooting of Black airman

Officers said the boys guardian got sick and was taken to Good Samaritan Medical Center. However, their relative died that same morning.

The department said the brothers took a rideshare to another family members home, but they have not been seen since that day.

If you know where they are, call West Palm Beach police at 561-822-1900 and mention case #7991.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
(FOX40.COM)  Three people were recently arrested in connection to a mans shooting death in the driveway of his home in the community of Fair Oaks last Friday, according to the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office.

The sheriffs office said that 41-year-old Vitaliy Zaystev was found dead with a gunshot wound to his head inside his car at his home on Hillridge Way in Fair Oaks around 11 p.m. on May 3.

Man who engaged in Fair Oaks standoff with Sacramento County deputies identified

Based on [detectives] investigation, deputies learned that Zaytsev was seated inside his vehicle, parked on the driveway of his home, officials said. The suspects arrived at the victims residence in a separate vehicle moments after Zaytsevs arrival. One of the suspects then

exited their vehicle and fired three rounds, striking the victim.

Sacramento County detectives said they were able to identify two suspects who were believed to have planned and carried out the murder and located them in Idaho with the assistance of the Boise FBI and two other Idaho agencies.

Two men, identified as Michael Espinosa and Migues Esquibel, were arrested in Idaho on May 6 for parole violations and will be extradited to Sacramento County, the sheriffs office said.

Homicide victim found under Tower Bridge identified as Sacramento-area teen

A third suspect, who detectives said is believed to have been in a relationship with the victim, was identified as Jeannette Nunes. According to the sheriffs office, she was arrested on Thursday in San Jose before being booked in the Sacramento County Jail for murder and conspiracy and is ineligible for bail.

The sheriffs office added that Nunes will appear in court for the charges on Monday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva participated in the opening of the first residential complex in Shusha and met with the city's first returning residents, Trend reports.

The head of state and the First Lady were briefed on the work completed in the residential complex.

The initial phase, according to the relocation schedule, saw 20 families comprising 88 individuals resettled in the first residential complex. The complex consists of 23 buildings and spans a total area of nearly 8 hectares. Its foundation was laid on August 29, 2021. The complex contains 450 apartments, with 28 one-room, 195 two-room, 190 three-room, 30 four-room, and 7 five-room units.

The head of state and the First Lady then toured the complex and inspected the apartments to see the conditions provided for the residents.

President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva also met with the first families who have relocated to Shusha.

The head of state delivered a speech during the meeting.

Then a ceremony to present apartment keys was held.

Residents thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.
Three University of Kansas students were arrested early Friday in connection with a pro-Palestine protest on the campus in Lawrence, after school officials announced they planned to clear the protest encampment site.

The students were arrested without incident for criminal trespass at Anschutz Library when they entered and caused a disturbance as students were studying for finals, university spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said in an email to The Star Friday morning.

Those involved in the protest countered that account, telling The Star the arrests came as the protest was dispersing after students had moved into the library to study, and said students were followed and profiled by police.

It happened as a group led by the KU Students for Justice in Palestine chapter continued a multi-day protest against the Israel-Hamas war that has gathered sporadically near Fraser Hall since May 1. Protesters were provided notice Thursday that indicated university staff planned to mow the lawn and complete other preparations at the protest site ahead of the universitys commencement ceremony, scheduled for Sunday.

Barcomb-Peterson said university officials had earlier notified the protest group that a site it occupied had to be cleared by 10 p.m. Thursday, pointing to university policy and student commencement and recognition activities on campus over the weekend.

Students who spoke with The Star about the protest asked to only be identified by their first names, citing concerns over retaliation. Jen, a media liaison for the protest group, said the group had set up tents but began to disperse after law enforcement moved in at the site. Students moved to the library, and inside, protesting stopped, and students were respecting the spaces rules, she said.

We are all students, we have finals as well, she said. We had to study anyway, so we decided to go to the library.

The whole reason why we were there was to protest KUs involvement in the current genocide happening in Gaza and highlighting the fact that theres no universities in Gaza standing, that theres no graduation ceremonies that are possible, she said of the protest.

Douglas County Sheriffs Office booking records indicate three people, a 26-year-old Lawrence woman, a 23-year-old Lenexa man and a 19-year-old Arlington woman, were arrested at the library by KU police early Friday morning. The University Daily Kansan, the student newspaper, reported the three were arrested around 12 a.m. and posted photos of students being led out of the library in restraints by police.

Students have called for the university to divest from financial ties to Israel and provide transparency on its financial ties, mirroring protests at other universities around the country. The New York Times has reported more than 2,800 people have been arrested or detained on college campuses in the U.S. in connection with protests since April 18.

Earlier in the week, KU campus police arrested one person as they disbanded a gathering, which group members have contended was within university policy.

This is our final notice of policies, limitations, and associated consequences, the universitys notice to the group on Thursday said, alleging that the group had previously violated school policy.

The site must be cleared by 10 p.m., daily, beginning today, May 9, 2024. This includes, but is not limited to, furniture, bedding, tarps, and other camping paraphernalia. Anyone with items the University identifies as camping paraphernalia after 10 p.m., will be removed from the site. If there are breaches or policy violations, we will take quick action using the necessary resources and reserve the right to further pursue formal discipline under the applicable university codes and policies. Additionally, KU SJP bears responsibility for any and all actions of non-KU affiliated individuals who join your assembly.

The group erected tents late Thursday night and a large group of law enforcement moved in to close down the site around 11:30 p.m., students who were members of the group told The Star. The group began to leave the encampment area and members moved into the library, where police arrested the three students, they said.

We were trying to leave the area, end the protest, end the march in compliance with (police), said Nick, one member of the group. However, they followed us into the library, profiling any individuals that they thought were part of the encampment, going floor to floor, searching for people that they thought were part of that protest.

Sophie, a student who joined the protest, spoke of concerns she had about the killing of Palestinians in Gaza: I come from an ethnic group that has experienced genocide in the past, and its the right thing to do (to protest). Its something I wish people would have done more fervently when it was happening to the group I come from.
(Bloomberg) -- In the High Arctic, a Manhattan-size piece of land with geopolitical implications has hit the market for 300 million ($323 million).

Most Read from Bloomberg

The sale comes as the Arctic experienced its warmest summer in 2023, and the Svalbard region has had less sea ice, more rain and higher temperatures because of climate change. The sea-ice loss is a boon to Russia, which has been gaining access to additional shipping routes and energy reserves as the territory opens up.

This is the only possibility for a buyer to get a position in the High Arctic and establish a strategic foothold, says Per Kyllingstad, a lawyer representing the sellers, speaking exclusively to Bloomberg News via Zoom from Oslo. He says its the last privately held plot in the nine-island Norwegian archipelago.

Svalbard is one of the northernmost settlements in the world. Its east of Greenland, about halfway between the Scandinavian mainland and the North Pole. Approximately 60% of it is covered with glaciers, and its home to polar bears and arctic foxes. Its become a destination for adventure-seeking travelers and for scientists securing the survival of the human race. (The famous Doomsday Vault of seeds is buried here.)

The private plot is being marketed by Knight Frank LLP globally. Norway and Russia state-owned companies own the other land in Svalbard.

Controversy erupted in 2014 when another privately owned property in the region went up for sale. When it was reported that a Chinese buyer was interested in coal mining land, people worried that the parcel would fall into foreign hands. Two years later the Norwegian state bought it instead.

We have offered the property to noncontroversial buyers. No conclusion was reached, says Kyllingstad, who says they were in discussions with the Norwegian government about a sale. Now we are offering the same to all buyers, controversial or not. The sellers will sell to the highest bidder, he says. A representative from the Norwegian government has not responded to a request for comment.

The 14,830-acre plot lies approximately 40 miles away from the inhabited town of Longyearbyen (pop: 2,400) on the island of Spitsbergen. It includes more than 3 miles of coastline and is full of mountains, fjords and Arctic wildlife. From April to August, its under constant sunshine; October to February is the dark season.

Known as Sre Fagerfjord, the parcel in the southwest of Svalbard, has been owned for more than a century by Norwegian holding company Aktieselskabet Kulspids. The company was founded by wealthy families from Oslo who were interested in the area for its natural resourcesthey wanted to mine for asbestosbut shares have changed hands over the past hundred years. The names of shareholders are not being disclosed, though theyre all Norwegian, Kyllingstad says. The sale is for 100% of the shares.

There has been a great interest in the Arctic during the last few years, and that has to do with climate change, because it is opening up possibilities that we have not seen before, he continues.

The Arctic holds an estimated 13% of the worlds undiscovered oil resources, according to research from the US Geological Survey. Kyllingstad says the only geographic survey done was originally for asbestos (none was found), and they have no knowledge of other resources on this land.

The UK had looked into buying a different area on the Svalbard archipelago to increase its post-Brexit fishing waters in 2017, with the former foreign minister Tobias Ellwood saying that Svalbard offered a serious bit of real estate.

Knight Frank says this massive tract of land could be an investment project for a high-net-worth individual looking to make a big impact as an environmentalist who would conserve it. The Arctic is vitally important in the fight against climate change. The waters around the Arctic help regulate ocean currents, moving cold and warmer waters around the planet. Essentially, the Arctic helps cool the planet.

This is a genuine opportunity for a very rich private individual to make a difference, says Will Matthews, who is leading the listing at Knight Frank. Matthews says hes noticed a trend of nature restoration purchases in the UK, where hes based. Last year, for instance, a wildlife trust bought 18,500 acres for a conservation project in the Scottish Highlands.

Building another another tourist village is also a possibility because polar tourism has taken off in recent years (though not without its hiccups). Sales collateral mentions satellite communication possabilities due to its northern location.

Theres only one major restriction to the use of the land. Buyersbe they a foreign state, corporations or individualshave to be bound to the terms of the 1920 Svalbard Treaty, which recognizes the sovereignty of Norway and forbids military use for war-like purposes. This treaty was signed after the negotiations in Versailles that ended World War I. More than 40 countries, including China, Russia, the UK and the US, have signed it.

Kyllingstad says the sale is a fairly sensitive transaction due to geopolitical considerations, but that because of the treaty, the buyers can do what they like with the purchase within the guidelines.

Its truly the last chance to acquire property in the High Arctic, he says.

(Updates with name of plot and further terms of sale in 9th paragraph. A previous update clarified location in headline.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Video above: Close encounter between massive alligator and bicyclist in Florida

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Four baby alligators were rescued by Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officers after poachers allegedly snatched them from their nest.

A call from a concerned citizen kicked off the FWCs rescue mission, as an officer swiftly responded to the young gators.

4 Bernedoodle puppies left in hot car while owner dined at Disney: animal services

Its unclear when and where in Florida the alleged poaching incident occurred. WFLA has reached out to FWC for more information.

The young alligators are now back where they belong, safe and sound, the FWC said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, along with a photo of the gators.

Image courtesy of the Florida Dish and Wildlife Conservation Commission

According to the FWC, the poachers, who were not identified, are facing 14 misdemeanor charges for taking the baby gators, including the poaching of an adult female alligator.

Alligators are a protected species in the Sunshine State, making them illegal to kill outside of gator hunting season, unless the reptile is deemed a threat by the FWC, who will call in a state-certified trapper.

Alligator hunting season runs from Aug. 15 until Nov. 8. Applications for the Statewide Alligator Harvest Program may only be submitted once and are free of charge, but a credit card must be submitted. The FWC will award 7,356 permits via random drawings.

Applications open for new Alligator Super Hunt, harvest permits

Gator sightings will be ramping up within the coming months as mating season is underway in the Sunshine State. Mating season kicks off in April and lasts until June, meaning there will be a greater chance of encountering the massive reptiles this month.

During mating season, males tend to become more aggressive. While alligator attacks are rare, residents should be vigilant near ponds and waterways, especially while walking their pets.

Anyone who sees an alligator that appears to be a threat to people, pets, or property should call the FWCs Nuisance Alligator Hotline at 1-866-FWC-GATOR.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Five high schoolers from Southern California are being recognized at the national level for their excellence in academics.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona released this years list of Presidential Scholars, which recognizes high school seniors for their accomplishments in academics, as well as the arts and career and technical education fields.

The 161 high school seniors selected for the 60th anniversary of the U.S. Presidential Scholars represent the best of our nations schools and inspire hope in the bright future of this country, Cardona said in a news release.

Of those 161 esteemed seniors, nine are from California, including five that went to school in Southern California.

The five SoCal seniors are Ian Byul Kim of Glendale who attends Harvard-Westlake School in North Hollywood; Edward Chen of Irvine who attends Orange County High School of the Arts in Santa Ana; Kyle Tianshi of San Diego who attends the Cambridge School; Caitlyn Haein Park of Santa Clarita who attends Saugus High School; and Erin Park of Chino who attends Chino High School.

Byul Kim, Chen and Erin Park were named Presidential Scholars in the Arts and Haein Park was named a Presidential Scholar in Career and Technical Education.

Presidential Scholars are selected based on their performance in school, essays submitted for consideration, school evaluation and transcripts, as well as a demonstrated commitment to community service and leadership.

More 5,700 of the nearly 4 million high school seniors expected to graduate this year qualified for the honor.

The 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars are comprised of two students from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and U.S. families who are living abroad. Additionally, 15 are selected at-large, 20 are chosen for recognition in the arts and 20 more are selected for recognition in career and technical education.

As directed by Presidential Executive Order, the 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholars are comprised of two students from each state, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, and U.S. families living abroad, as well as 15 chosen at-large, 20 scholars in the arts and 20 scholars in career and technical education.

Since being established in 1964, the Presidential Scholars Program has honored more than 8,200 of the nations students. Students of the arts were officially made eligible for the award in 1979, and the program was extended again in 2015 to include those in career and technical education.

On behalf of President Biden, I am delighted to celebrate their accomplishments, and encourage these scholars to continue to aim high, lift up others, and embrace opportunities to lead, Cardona added.

The 2024 class of Presidential Scholars will be formally recognized this summer in an online ceremony.

A complete list of this years honorees can be found online.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Four masked teens ransacked Endless Vapor & CBD on Route 30 in North Versailles around 8 p.m. Tuesday night.

The shop was open and owner Taylor Sullivan was inside.

The incident was all caught on surveillance video, including Sullivan yelling at them and chasing them away.

The hope was that it would kind of start scaring them off and I got lucky that it did, Sullivan told Channel 11.

Sullivan says he knew something was wrong when the first teenager walked into the shop with a hood and mask.

The teen asked him for a product behind the counter.

Sullivan reached for the phone to call 911.

By the time I turned to grab the phone, there were three more, also I assume to be, high school kids with masks and coverings that came in, Sullivan described.

The three other teens are seen on video trying to shovel vapes off the shelves and into a bag before Sullivan chased them off.

He says they got away with around 20 products.

It seemed like they were going after specifically the Raz bars for whatever reason. Theyre one of the two really popular brands right now, Sullivan said.

Sullivan turned over the surveillance video to North Versailles Police.

Hes glad no one got hurt.

If you know anything about this robbery, youre asked to contact North Versailles police.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Aldi to slash prices on 250 summer essentials 2 people injured when bus crashes into building in Washington County Man accused of domestic abuse kidnapping attempt in South Strabane Giant Eagle parking lot VIDEO: Person injured, dog killed in house fire in Carrick DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  The eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 were closed and the westbound lane were blocked after a tractor-trailer overturned in the median.

The crash happened around 5 a.m. near the 193 mile marker, which is in between the Newsome Station and McCrory Lane exits. According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation, traffic was diverted at Exit 188 in Cheatham County.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

(Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department)

(Photo: WKRN)

(Photo: WKRN)

(Photo: WKRN)

(Photo: WKRN)

(Courtesy: Tennessee Department of Transportation)

(Courtesy: Metro Nashville Police Department)

The eastbound lanes were completely closed to traffic while one lane of I-40 West was blocked, allowing some cars to pass in the right lane. All lanes reopened just before 7 a.m.

The driver of the semi truck was extricated from his rig and has non-life threatening injuries.

Metro police reported the crash involved the semi and a red pickup truck and the driver of the pickup ran away from the scene.

The truck was hauling tons of flour. Cleanup continues as crews work to remove the flour from the east side of the interstate.

No additional information was immediately released.

 Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go.

 Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.

 Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee.

This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
4th suspect in murder of 3-year-old Athens boy arrested in New York

More than two months after a 3-year-old boy was the victim of a deadly gang-related shooting, a fourth person has been arrested.

Dakious Echols, 18, was arrested on Friday in Brooklyn, New York. Hes 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.

He is currently in custody in New York while he waits to be extradited to Athens.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Kyron Zarco, 3, was shot and killed on March 8 at a mobile home park in what police say was likely a gang-related shooting. A bullet also grazed his 9-year-old brothers leg.

He was just watching T.V. His brother held him while he took his last breath, his mother, Shanita Smith, told Channel 2s Michael Seiden. That was my miracle baby. That was my COVID baby. He beat all of the odds. Just for somebody to take him away from me in seconds.

RELATED STORIES:

Shortly after the shooting, 17-year-old Julian Cubillos was arrested. A few days later, police arrested 16-year-old Jayden Brown.

Earlier this month, police arrested Desmontrez Mathis, 22.

All four face the murder, assault and gang charges. Mathis, like Echols, also faces a federal unlawful flight charge.

Police have not listed other suspects they are looking for in connection to the shooting.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN RELATED NEWS:
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Five people are facing charges after a shooting in Blytheville, Arkansas, that killed an 18-year-old.

Blytheville Police responded to a shooting on South Division Street on Sunday, April 21. Officers reportedly found 18-year-old Caruthersville, Missouri, native Kohnali Hunt suffering from gunshot wounds.

Hunt was taken to Great River Medical Center and later transferred to Regional One Hospital in Memphis for treatment, Blytheville Police say. He later died of his injuries.

Marshals arrest South Memphis deadly double shooting suspect

According to Blytheville Police, 19-year-old Rodney Hamilton-Jones, 21-year-old Tyleik Moore, 21-year-old Dion Grant, 19-year-old Keion Hamilton, and one juvenile have been charged in connection with Hunts death.

All of the named suspects are from Hayti, Missouri, Blytheville Police say. Blytheville Police say the Hayti Police Department, Caruthersville Police Department, Pemiscot County Sheriffs Office, OFallon Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service assisted in the investigation.

Blytheville Police say the investigation is ongoing and more arrests are possible. Anyone with information is asked to call the Blytheville Police Department at (870) 762-0400 or CrimeStoppers at (844) 910-STOP.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
(Bloomberg) -- Cbus, one of Australias largest pension funds, is reviewing its investment policy following pressure from a major union to divest shares in companies that supply weapons and defense technology to Israel.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The fund, which oversees A$90 billion ($59 billion) of assets, is assessing its policy amid community concern over the conflict and loss of life in Gaza and Israel, a spokesman said in a statement. The fund already excludes direct investments in some weapons manufacturers.

Cbuss exclusions framework is currently under review to ensure it remains reflective of the current environment and responsive to our members concerns, while also ensuring we meet all of our regulatory obligations, the spokesman said, without naming any investments.

The review was first reported by The Guardian earlier Friday, which referred to companies including Lockheed Martin Corp. and RTX Corp. The firms that were cited represent about 0.01% of Cbuss portfolio, the spokesman said.

However, we understand that even a small holding in the current climate may cause concern, he added.

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime and Energy Union approached Cbuss top management about its policy as part of a broader push for all industry pension funds to divest, the union said in a statement. It was concerned about retirement savings being invested with companies involved in the Middle East conflict.

The union sponsors three of the board positions at Cbus, a fund that was originally set up for construction workers, but is now open to anyone.

We welcome Cbus urgently reviewing its portfolio, CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said in an emailed statement. Now its up to other industry funds to follow their lead.

Israel has faced international pressure over its operations in response to the October 7 attack by Hamas that triggered the ongoing war in Gaza. The US has paused some arms shipments to Israel amid concerns about a ground invasion of the Gazan city of Rafah, while students are staging nationwide protests urging their universities to divest from companies tied to the conflict.

Cbus owned around A$3 million of shares in Lockheed Martin, which supplies Israel with F-35 fighter jets, at the end of last year, according to latest disclosures on its website. It also owned about A$3.5 million of shares in RTX, which has sold weapons to Israel.

Questions regarding investment strategy and related policies are best addressed by Cbus, a Lockheed Martin spokesperson said. RTX didnt respond to an email.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
A 6-year-old girl who went missing from her home Thursday morning has been found safe.

Just before 8 p.m. Thursday Aieres Flannery was located by Search and Rescue law enforcement and is safe, according to the Pike County Sheriffs Office.

Flannery is being medically assessed due to the numerous hours of being exposed to the weathered elements, the sheriffs office said.

>> PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 6-year-old Ohio girl missing after wandering from her home, sheriffs office says

A News Center 7 previously reported, around 6:45 a.m. Thursday the sheriffs office received a call that Flannery possibly wandered off from her home into the area of Hopper Road.

Family members told WBNS Flannerys mother passed away a few years ago and there are times when she would run off saying she was looking for mommy.

Our children are our most precious among us, and when one goes missing, we lean upon each other. Thank you, Pike County Sheriff Tracy D. Evans said on social media.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Prime Minister of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif received on Friday Azerbaijans Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev, Trend reports.

Minister Mukhtar Babayev presented a letter of invitation from President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev to Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif regarding the 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29).

The Pakistani PM asked the minister to convey his gratitude for the sincere invitation and congratulations for hosting COP29, the most important gathering of world leaders, this year, to President Ilham Aliyev. The Prime Minister noted that he is looking forward to COP29.

PM Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif emphasized that Pakistan fully supports Azerbaijan regarding COP29.

Minister Mukhtar Babayev expressed his gratitude to the Prime Minister for his support to Azerbaijan in its preparations for the upcoming COP29.
Eight countries joined the U.S. in opposing the UNs latest resolution to allow Palestine to qualify to become a full UN member.

The United Nations General Assembly backed the Palestinian bid to be eligible for a full UN membership on Friday, with 143 countries voting in favor, 25 abstaining and nine voting against.

Those nine countries that opposed the Palestinian recognition to join the international body are the U.S., Israel, Argentina, Czech Republic, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Hungary and Papua New Guinea.

In April, the U.S. vetoed a Palestinian bid to be recognized as a member state of the UN during a Security Council vote on April 18. Two nations abstained while the U.S. was the only veto vote.

With the adoption of the resolution, the Security Council is now recommended to take up the favorably for Palestine which in 2012 became a U.N. non-member observer state.

The effort for Palestine to become a full member of the U.N. comes as the war between Israel and Hamas has continued into the seventh month, shifting the focus of the UN meetings to the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip as over 34,000 people have been killed since the conflict started on Oct. 7 following Hamas terrorist attack on southern Israel that killed around 1,200 Israelis.

Riyad Mansour, Palestines UN ambassador, told the body that voting yes for the resolution was the right choice.

Voting Yes is the right thing to do and I can assure you, you and your country for years to come will be proud to have stood for freedom, justice and peace in this darkest hour, Mansour said before the vote.

Israels Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, brought a paper shredder while speaking at the lectern and denounced those who have shown willingness to back the resolution.

Shame on you, he said while shredding the copy of the U.N. charter.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Candidate vetting in Missouri was handed a victory in court Thursday.

The result is that eight candidates, all registered Republicans running for office in rural Vernon County, will not be allowed to stay on an August primary ballot as Republicans. The candidates had refused to take a moral values survey and undergo other vetting by the countys Republican committee.

A circuit court judge on Thursday evening ruled that the county clerk improperly placed their names on the ballot.

I think the judge ruled correctly, said Mark McCloskey, the attorney representing the countys Republican committee. Here is the bottom line: What this means is that no one but the party gets to decide who runs on that partys ticket.  They can file as independents.

The ruling in Vernon County Circuit Court focused on a narrow issue, although one with broader implications.

It began in March, when the Vernon County Republican Committee, led by chairwoman Cyndia Haggard, filed suit against the Vernon county clerk, who is also a Republican.

Haggard is a self-described pro-Trump, MAGA Republican who continues to assert that the 2020 election was 100% stolen, a contention proven false. She is a passionate proponent of candidate vetting to weed out RINOs  Republicans in name only.

Last year, she began a nonprofit, the Republican Association of Central Committees of MO, whose website describes RINOs as a virus that infects & destroys our partys values. Vetting is the vaccine that stops the virus cold.

In its suit, the committee was represented by McCloskey, a conservative podcaster who in 2020 gained instant notoriety when he and his wife, Patricia, emerged from their affluent St. Louis home brandishing weapons to ostensibly protect their property from Black Lives Matter protesters.

Attorney Mark McCloskey and spouse, Patricia, made national headlines in 2020 when they brandished guns to allegedly protect their property during a Black Lives Matter protest. McCloskey has filed suit on behalf of the Vernon County Republican Committee in a dispute over who determines who can run as a Republican.

On March 3, McCloskey filed what is known as a writ of mandamus. It essentially holds that the Vernon county clerk, Adrienne Lee, overstepped her authority in February when, after receiving candidate filing fees, she placed the names of four, then four more, Republican candidates on the August primary ballot as Republicans.

The committee argued that, per Missouri law, the sole authority for determining who runs under the Republican or Democrat banner lies with the political parties. Although the clerk can accept the paperwork and fees, they said the law required the clerk to receive a receipt from the Republican party committee acknowledging that the individuals fees and their candidacies had been accepted by the party.

In this instance, no receipt was received. The candidates had been rejected because they chose or failed to submit themselves for the committees moral values survey or other financial or ethical vetting. The committee refused to cash their filing fees.

Judge Gayle L. Crane on Thursday agreed. A Jasper County Circuit Court judge, Crane was chosen to adjudicate because the case involved Vernon County public officials.

The Court finds that the Vernon County Clerk should not have received the declaration of candidacy from the eight candidates, Crane wrote. The Court finds that the Vernon Count Clerk should not place the eight candidates names on the ballot.

Haggard said she was thrilled to death with the decision.

We are so happy that the judge vindicated our position, Haggard said. Of vetting, she said, They waived their rights to file with the Republican party when they decided they did not want to follow the Republican party rules.

Five of the candidates are current officer holders, all elected previously as Republicans: Vernon County Administrator Kelsey Westerhold, County Treasurer Brent Banes, County Assessor Lena Kleeman, County Commissioner Cindy Thompson and Rich Hill Police Chief Mike Buehler, running for county sheriff. The other candidates were Jimmy Dye, John Shorten, and Frank Radspinner

Travis Elliott, the attorney representing the Vernon county clerk, said they are reviewing the decision to decide what the next options are.

Candidates Thursday night reacted with either shock or reticence.

It affects all of us, Westerhold said. It affects all of Vernon County. All of us are not speaking now, because it is under advisement with other judges.

Very disappointed. Very disappointed in the judges decision, said Banes, who said that while the judges decision came down to a filing fee, the true issue was vetting.

They were wanting us to go through the vetting process, Banes said of the committee. Had we gone through the vetting process, they would have accepted the filing fees.

The lawsuit and issue of vetting have raised ire across Vernon County.

Haggard and others hold that vetting assures that candidates prove faithful to the values of the Republican party platform. They insist they are not keeping anyone from running for office, or asking candidates to walk in lockstep. No one is 100% in lockstep, she said. They want to make certain, however, that individuals agree with the majority of the platform.

They insist that more scrupulous vetting is necessary state-wide, and point to the massive embarrassment that erupted in March.

Thats when the Missouri Republican Party filed suit to get Darrell Leon McClanahan removed from the ballot for Missouri governor after a photo surfaced of him saluting a burning cross and showing an affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan.

McClanahan, who has described himself as a Pro-White man, has said he is not a member of the racist organization, but was provided an Honorary 1-year membership by a Missouri coordinator. The party failed to vet him.

Others in Vernon County, meanwhile, see vetting as a means for a group of about 30 committee members  none of whom were elected  to push their own conservative agenda by keeping tight control over who qualifies as a true Republican.

This was my third term, Banes said. I filed for my third term. I guess the only option is to file as an independent. It is kind of my livelihood at this point. The judge has made her ruling. Ive heard a lot of people are not happy with the decision. Well see what happens at the polls.
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  An Abilene preschool employee has been accused of possessing child pornography.

Mark Penfield Eichorn was booked into the Taylor County Jail Thursday on charges for Possession of Child Pornography Under 10YO and Possession of Child Pornography with Intent to Promote.

A press release from the Abilene Police Department states investigators found lewd images of children on Eichorns cell phone, as well as other electronic evidence.

Detectives are now asking anyone with additional information on Eichorn to contact police at (325)676-6610 (ask to talk to Cyber Crimes).

Eichorns LinkedIn and Facebook pages list him as an employee of St. Johns Episcopal School. LinkedIn states he is a substitute teacher, and Facebook claims he is a Preschool Teacher Assistant.

St. Johns sent a letter to parents after his arrest, which states this afternoon, Thursday, May 9, the leadership of St. Johns Episcopal School was made aware of an investigation of a staff member by the Cyber Crimes Unit of the Abilene Police Department when a search warrant was served upon the staff member. The school is working in concert with the Police Department.

The school also told KTAB and KRBC investigators do not believe any child at St. Johns Episcopal was affected by Eichorns alleged crimes, which were cyber in nature.

Stick with BigCountryHomepage.com for any additional details on this breaking news.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
Abortion rights supporters march in Denver in the wake of a leaked Supreme Court opinion that indicated justices would overturn Roe v. Wade, May 7, 2022. (Kevin Mohatt for Colorado Newsline)

The Cobalt Abortion Fund is on track to spend over $2 million this year to support people seeking abortion care, the most in a year by far since the U.S. Supreme Court decision that reversed Roe v. Wade.

In a press conference Thursday announcing data from the first quarter of 2024, leaders with Cobalt highlighted how much more they are continuing to spend to help people access abortion care since the Dobbs v. Jackson Womens Health Organization ruling in June 2022, which overturned the federal right to abortion and returned the matter to the states. Currently, 14 states have total abortion bans.

Cobalt is a Colorado-based nonprofit that advances reproductive rights, and the affiliated Cobalt Action Fund provides direct financial assistance for people seeking abortion care. The organization provides funding through two categories: procedure funding, which helps secure appointments and other methods to get procedures done, and practical support, which helps with basic needs to access abortion, such as travel and lodging expenses.

Melisa Hidalgo-Cuellar, director of the Cobalt Abortion Fund, said the organization spent $502,591 in the first quarter of 2024 to support over 1,000 clients. Cobalt predicts that by the end of the year it will spend close to $2.5 million.

In 2021, Cobalt spent $212,565 for the entire year to support people seeking abortion care. In 2022, the year the Dobbs decision came out, the organization spent $737,174. In 2023, the first full year post-Dobbs, Cobalt spent $1.3 million.

I think that sometimes there is this idea that the Dobbs decision and subsequent bans due to trigger bans created an increase in volume and now maybe that volume has kind of decreased or kind of stabilized, Hidalgo-Cuellar said. That is not the case. The case that were seeing out of Cobalt Abortion Fund is that the volumes continue to increase every single month, and thats really reflected between the 2022 numbers and the 2023 numbers.

While Cobalt is based in Colorado, its abortion fund started to support people who live in states that limited or banned access to abortion after the Dobbs decision, as more people from those states need to travel if they need abortion care. Access has been particularly restricted in Texas, where Senate Bill 8 effectively bans abortion after the detection of fetal cardiac activity. So far this year, 41% of the clients Cobalt provided procedural funding for are Colorado residents, while 25% have been Texas residents. For practical support, 85% of the clients it helped so far this year were from Texas.

Karen Middleton, president of Cobalt, said the organization is committed to every request it receives for financial support. She said abortion bans in other states have led to a breakdown in the full spectrum of reproductive health care access across the country, which makes it harder for patients and providers.

Our abortion fund is bearing the brunt of having to hear from more people who have no other options and no other place to go, Middleton said.

Hidalgo-Cuellar said this year is the first time the fund has spent more on practical support than procedure funding, because more people need to leave their home states and travel longer distances to access abortion care. She said that spending drastically increased after Texas approved Senate Bill 8, which took effect in 2021.

Since Floridas six-week abortion ban went into effect at the start of May, Hidalgo-Cuellar said Cobalt has already received requests from people in Florida trying to access abortion care in a state where it is legal. She said Cobalt only expects to get busier this year: Arizona will also temporarily have an abortion ban in effect this summer, and a Supreme Court ruling on the Food and Drug Administration approval of abortion medication mifepristone is expected to come in June.

Hidalgo-Cuellar and Middleton both emphasized the importance of Colorados actions to protect abortion care, including the Reproductive Health Equity Act, which codified the right to abortion access in state statute, and a shield law to protect patients who travel to Colorado from out of state.

Middleton said she is confident Cobalt will be able to raise enough funds to fulfill the needs it anticipates seeing throughout the rest of the year.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Abortion access fund in Colorado on track to spend much more in 2024 appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
Meta Getman heard the news out of Alabama and, suddenly, she was right back in it.

Getman and her husband had spent more than three years struggling with infertility  including four rounds of intrauterine insemination (IUI), three rounds of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and a six-month pause to weigh next steps  before eventually opting to conceive through IVF using donor eggs.

Their twin daughters are now 7 years old, and their family is complete. But for people across the country whose hopes for such a future hinge on IVF, the Alabama Supreme Court ruling that embryos should be considered children  and the resulting legal implications for clinics that store patients' frozen embryos  threw everything into question.

"I felt like I was tossed back into the raw emotions of my infertility experience in that I was really mad, I was really sad, I was shocked that people would think that," Getman, 43, said of the Feb. 16 ruling. "I couldn't believe that I lived in a country where this was happening, to be honest."

Though Alabama lawmakers and Gov. Kay Ivey quickly signed off on legislation protecting the state's doctors from potential legal liability, patients and advocates say they're still worried about restrictions cropping up elsewhere. For Minnesota, such a shift in the national health care landscape could mean an uptick in out-of-state patients seeking IVF care here, stretching a system already experiencing high demand.

Dr. April Batcheller, medical director at fertility clinic CCRM Minneapolis, said practitioners are accustomed to coordinating care for out-of-state patients.

"To me, what is worrisome about this is, it really perpetuates the haves and the have-nots," she said. "It is very possible to do a really good job of managing people remotely, but it requires a patient with the resources to fly here, to stay in a hotel. And that's probably where we're going to see an increased discrepancy in health care disparities."

A health care island

Minnesota law protects reproductive health care, and the state has become an island for abortion care in the Upper Midwest with about 40% more out-of-state patients since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, according to Maggie Meyer, executive director at Pro-Choice Minnesota.

Our Justice, a Minnesota-based abortion fund, distributed $243,097 in 2023 to patients for medical expenses related to abortion care, a 66% increase from 2022, the organization said. In addition, the fund spent more than $9,700 on lodging for patients who traveled for care.

Though IVF and abortion are different procedures with different outcomes, they are linked.

"There are embryos that don't get used; there are eggs that don't get used. And there are also, at times, selective reductions, which is not used as commonly as other forms of abortion," Meyer said, referring to a procedure in which multiple embryos are transferred successfully and one or more are aborted. "But by granting the rights of children to the embryo, it can really, really affect the cost of IVF as well as just the availability for people, and it can increase hesitancy."

Still, some argue states are unlikely to restrict IVF in the way they've restricted abortion.

"I think there has been an unprecedented outpouring of outrage, and elected officials have heard that and responded to it," said Sean Tipton, chief advocacy and policy officer at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine.

Not everyone is convinced. Julie Berman, a former board member of RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association, pointed to a recent Iowa bill that could have posed a risk to IVF. She also mentioned federal legislation that would define human life as beginning at the moment of fertilization and congressional inaction on efforts to protect IVF.

"This is of concern," she said. "People might be saying they're protecting it, but they're not doing anything to actually protect it."

Financial, emotional costs

Democrats at the Minnesota Capitol are looking to expand a bill codifying abortion rights, passed last session, to include protections for IVF and fertility treatments. Republican lawmakers have said they support those pursuing fertility treatment to expand their families.

The Legislature is also weighing a bill this session that would require insurers to cover infertility treatment. One round of IVF, in which a lab fertilizes a retrieved egg before doctors transfer the resulting embryo to the uterus, costs $15,000 to $20,000 on average with no guarantee of success.

Katie Bissen-Zaffke, 30, has gone through one egg retrieval and five embryo transfers, including one resulting in a second-trimester pregnancy loss. Going through IVF is "a roller coaster," she said, between medication side effects, frequent clinic visits and the overall emotional toll.

Though there is no one reason patients pursue IVF  it can be a path to parenthood for LGBTQ couples, as well as single people starting families on their own  many have an infertility diagnosis, which brings with it the same anxiety and depression levels as people with cancer, heart disease or HIV, according to the Mayo Clinic.

"Luckily, my husband and I are really good at communicating and going through it. But even then, it can just be tough to try to explain how you're feeling and how they're feeling," Bissen-Zaffke said. "And then when you have things that don't work out, which it has for us a lot of times, it can be really discouraging."

Miraya Gran and her husband took out a second mortgage on their home to pay for their first round of IVF, which was unsuccessful. A family fundraiser paid for a second round, after which their 3-year-old daughter, Isla, was born. They want to have another child  and have two embryos remaining  but can't afford it without insurance coverage.

Experiencing the financial barriers to IVF makes the possibility of legal restrictions loom even larger.

"I can't imagine being in a state or a world or a country where the science is there, the medical treatment is there, but I don't have access, which I'm kind of experiencing now without being able to afford transferring another embryo already," said Gran, 39. "So just simply not even being able to do it, it's just mind-blowing to me, and it gives me a lot of fear."

Jamie Heard, 37, traveled from Birmingham, Ala., to St. Paul in April to lobby for the insurance bill alongside local patients and advocates. Insurance coverage made IVF  and her toddler son  possible, she said. But the Alabama Supreme Court decision, which came down just as she was starting a second IVF cycle, has made it unclear whether she and her husband will be able to have another child.

"It was scary because I felt like my future family was being attacked and like I had no choice in the matter; like there was nothing I could do about it," Heard said. "Right now, we're just taking it day by day."

In Minnesota, patients and providers are also waiting to see what happens next.

"I feel like we're one of the best states to be in, so I feel lucky to be here today," Getman said. "But I am worried that if different people are elected here in the state that even things that we're doing now could be rolled back."
Our prehistoric ancestors never went away. This is what Israeli historian Yuval Noah Harari argued in his international blockbuster Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind (2015), which claimed to uncover our species most important characteristics. In Hararis telling, our brains were shaped in the era of hunter-gatherers and showed little change thereafter. The emergence of language, social hierarchies, and new technologies did little to update who we are: assemblies of raw impulses that always seek food and comfort. As he put it, we may be living in high-rise apartments with over-stuffed refrigerators, but our DNA still thinks we are in the savannah.



Harari, however, also claimed that liberal capitalism was an important breakthrough in this history, since it dramatically eased the tension between our innate desires and social limitations. Unlike previous creeds, which expected people to overcome their urges, consumer culture made gratification into a virtue. Harari went so far as to claim that Silicon Valley and its army of venture capitalists were in the process of replacing all national hatreds with consumer-driven virtual communities. As he proclaimed in a passage that reads like Mark Zuckerbergs fever dream, a new global empire of corporations effectively enforces world peace.

Others have argued that prehistoric times point to very different lessons. Rather than explaining our base desires, our predecessors were models for anti-capitalist emancipation. This was the claim of the anarchist anthropologist David Graeber (a celebrity since his participation in the Occupy Wall Street movement) and archaeologist David Wengrow, who co-wrote the bestselling The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity (2021). Drawing on a wide range of archaeological findings, the two declared that ancient humans often lived without social hierarchies and without the inequalities of private property. Even as they cultivated complex agriculture and engaged in commerce, they maintained proto-anarchist sensitivities by distributing power and wealth among themselves. For Graeber and Wengrow, this evidence showed that our capitalist present was not in line with human nature, as Harari believed. It in fact represented a betrayal of early liberties, and had to be corrected by returning to anarchism.

With such diametrically opposed claims, it may seem that these books share little beyond pretentious titles. But as historian Stefanos Geroulanos reveals in his original and exciting new book, The Invention of Prehistory: Empire, Violence, and Our Obsession With Human Origins, both are part of the same intellectual tradition: the ambitious desire of European and North American thinkers to transform humanity by reconstructing its deep past. Geroulanos charts the history of this effort, which began in the late eighteenth century, with a dazzling survey of countless anthropologists, scientists, and artists. By studying bones, art in caves, or nomad tribes, these thinkers believed they could answer humanitys fundamental questions: Are we cruel or compassionate? Monogamous or polygamous? Are there natural ways to organize our families, religious rites, or social institutions? The answers they offered varied enormously and often led to bitter disputes. What they all shared, and what they left for us, was the belief that prehistory is the key to understanding ourselves.

In Geroulanoss powerful telling, this history matters because it shows that an obsession with the deep past can be extremely dangerous. Rather than an intellectual exercise or scientific study, it was born from the oppressive world of modern racism and colonialism. What is more, that legacy continues to poison prehistory today, Sapiens and The Dawn of Everything included. It perpetuates violent and narcissistic stories that prohibit self-reflection. Yet among the many stories that Geroulanos brings to life in his book, readers can also find some examples to the contrary. Can prehistory, despite its dark origins, also occasionally offer some hope?





Before the modern era, Europeans had little conception of prehistory as we know it. Their legends and narratives about the past, most prominently the Bible, went back in time only a few thousand years, and assumed that early humans were not dramatically different from later ones. To be sure, the encounter with the Americas native inhabitants, who could not be fitted into the biblical story, led many to question the old stories accuracy. It also led to new dichotomies: Some writers in the seventeenth century began to argue that there was a difference between civilization, where humans followed strict rules and documented their past, and the state of nature, which knew no laws and no recorded history. But in a Europe that was still ravaged by religious conflicts, the gap between the two initially did not seem particularly wide. The political theorist Thomas Hobbes claimed in 1651 that the best example for chaos and lawlessness was his home country of England, which only recently had emerged from a devastating civil war.

In Geroulanoss telling, two things came together to spark a new understanding of the human past. The first was the Enlightenments belief in progress. For figures like philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau, humans were naturally endowed with the capacity for self-improvement and critical observation. This was something they were born with as children, and which society corrupted; the goal was to craft social and political institutions that would allow them to preserve these qualities. Such understanding of individual lives was then projected onto humanity, which Enlightenment thinkers began to describe as a child that grows from innocence (the past) through confusion (the present) into self-emancipation (the future). Reflecting on the time before society was a way to explain why clericalism and monarchism, which legitimized themselves by claiming to represent tradition, were a recent deviation from human nature, Rousseau was the most prominent example for this intellectual move. As he proclaimed in Discourse on the Origin of Inequality (1755), people before civilization were happier and freer than in his time. Animated by the belief in science, Enlightenment thinkers inaugurated new ways to study this mysterious period. They systematically studied languages and ancient texts that until then enjoyed little attention.

The second and more important force behind the turn to prehistory was the radical expansion of European colonialism. As part of their justification for new conquests, many white Europeans and their counterparts in North America insisted that Asians, Africans, and Indigenous Americans lived in an earlier mode of existence. They may have breathed the same air and drunk the same water, but they represented an earlier and primitive stage of development, which allegedly lacked culture and self-control. The Enlightenments love of tripartite schemas proved especially convenient for this purpose, as many thinkers utilized them to divide humanity into three distinct stages. The French biologist Georges Cuvier represented a widespread trend when he categorized all humans as either the savage who had no rules, the barbarian whose lives were governed by tradition, and the civilized who embraced rationality and self-improvement. In this intellectual universe, the study of prehistory was a way to classify Indigenous enemies and explain why they were destined to be superseded by advanced races. As the British banker and archaeologist John Lubbock explained in 1870, the value of prehistory was its service to an empire such as ours.

The confluence of these two innovations led to an explosion of writing on prehistoric times. By studying early humans (who were now allegedly accessible in the form of Indigenous people), scholars believed they could illuminate what qualities are rooted in our human nature and which ones we acquire by living in civilization. This ambition went hand in hand with a profoundly new understanding of time. To explain why they were so different from their subjugated victims, Europeans and North Americans also began to argue that colonial subjects belonged to a much more ancient period, one that went far longer than biblical stories. In the 1830s, for example, the Danish archaeologist Christian Jurgensen Thomsen claimed that humanity evolved through three long eras: stone, bronze, and iron ages. Each lasted a long period of time and entailed a slow and gradual adoption of new technologies. A few decades later, Charles Darwin extended time ever further back. In On the Origin of Species (1859), he suggested that humans emerged from processes that unfolded over millions of years. The belief in deep time was so widespread that it even extended to the days before men and women. Paleontologists maintained that the giant bones and fossils they found belonged not to griffins or giants, as some imagined, but to massive and frightening creatures that from 1842 became known as dinosaurs.





While the discipline of prehistory evolved and changed over the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, Geroulanos claims that it remained mired in racist and colonial mindsets. Scholars excavated the past to justify the present, especially the racial hierarchies and taxonomies that they crafted. Historians and social scientists, for example, pored over religious texts and archaeological findings to explain why Jews, Roma, or Muslims were inherently foreign to the Wests allegedly homogeneous racial makeup. The British-German writer Houston Stewart Chamberlain warned in 1889 that history was an eternal struggle between European civilization and the Semitic flood that sought to overrun it. The Nazis seamlessly built on this tradition when they sought to restore the lost world of ancient times, which in their minds was defined by strict racial boundaries. They spent considerable energy mapping humanitys different origins, which they then used to justify their harrowing campaigns of sterilization, war, and genocide. As The Invention of Prehistory shows, racist anxieties continued to animate writers also in the era of decolonization. The American Robert Ardrey, for example, warned that African liberation movements were the vanguard of a race war that would send the world back to the state of nature. His bestselling African Genesis (1961) then went on to popularize the theory that human society emerged from killer apes that conquered the world.

Another obsession that reflected prehistorys disturbing concerns was its grim fascination with violence. Novels and scholarly journals overflowed with murder and mutilation, depicting prehistoric humans as inherently aggressive. In Geroulanoss telling, this was a reflection of colonial anxieties: Because Europeans and North Americans believed that Indigenous and primitive people were governed by violent impulses, they assumed this was true also for their predecessors in the deep past. For many commentators, however, the atavistic drive to destroy continued to shape humans even after they matured into civilization. H. Rider Haggard, the popular adventure author of the colonialist novel King Solomons Mines (1885), mused that civilization was just a veneer that hid our stubborn savagery. Sigmund Freud, who was fascinated with prehistory, was the most articulate figure to make this point. In Totem and Taboo (1913), he claimed that civilization emerged after early humans felt guilt over an act of murder. For Freud, prehistory showed that laws and morality could never eradicate violent impulses, even in modern societies. Prehistoric man, he ruefully concluded, is still our contemporary.

For Geroulanos, this unsavory history explains why we should resist the allure of prehistory, whether in Hararis liberal version or Graeber and Wengrows anarchist take. Contemporary writers may renounce racism and violence, but they still use the past as a mirror for their own concerns. Even worse, sweeping narratives that go from the stone age to our times perpetuate the colonialist belief that all human history culminates with us. As Geroulanos puts it, our culture fetishizes stories of origins because they allow us to admire our grandeur. This equation of ourselves with humanity in fact ironically leads us to depict those who do not fit our narratives as not fully human. Humanity still bleeds, he despairs, because we still so often think of our enemies as imprisoned in a supposedly savage past from which only war could provide rescue.

It is time for us to admit that we simply do not know the deep past and cannot comprehend the ecstasies and feelings and terrors that our predecessors experienced.

The Invention of Prehistory therefore ends with an impassionate call for radical modesty. It is time for us to admit that we simply do not know the deep past and cannot comprehend the ecstasies and feelings and terrors that our predecessors experienced. This recognition will then allow us to root advocacy for solidarity and equality on firmer grounds. Rather than far-reaching narratives that point to one key quality as the essence of humanity, we should accept our history for what it is: an amalgamation of disparate and diverse developments that led to very different modes of existence. It is telling that one of the few figures that Geroulanos praises is the radical feminist Juliet Mitchell, who in the 1970s claimed that ancient history could never offer a model for modern-day liberation. If the past was overwhelmingly patriarchal, this meant that a free society would have to be imagined from scratch.





As the different messages of Sapiens and The Dawn of Everything demonstrate, Geroulanos is right to describe prehistory as a Rorschach test onto which the presents concerns are projected. But what his book does not consider as much as it should is whether this malleability can also serve creative and less narcissistic goals. This possibility is hinted at in the chapter that tells the story of the tool-maker school, a group of scientists who offered a decisively anti-racist and peaceful origins theory. The British paleontologist Kenneth Oakley maintained that humanitys defining feature was its capacity to develop tools. Toolmaking was also an inherently collaborative act: Making bowls or clothes, Oakley mused in Man the Tool-Maker (1949), required cooperation, which in turn enabled humans to together forge rites and culture. Oakley and others were therefore dissatisfied with the theory of natural selection and especially the racist reduction of humans to their biological essence. Human existence, they claimed, was a story of continuous exchange, in which different groups borrowed from one another, transformed themselves, and discovered new possibilities. It was also not inherently violent. The paleontologist-anthropologist couple Louis and Mary Leakey claimed that early knives were originally designed for making food.

An even more radical vision of prehistory, which Geroulanos charts in a different chapter, emerged in the unlikely world of Roman Catholicism. It was crafted by the French Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who spent the 1920s and 1930s digging in Zhoukoudian, China, where paleontologists believed they had discovered the bones of the first humanlike hominid (known at the time as the Peking Man and now cataloged as Homo erectus). In a stream of idiosyncratic texts, Teilhard claimed that all matters, both physical and spiritual, were equal parts of Gods cosmic unity. No element or creature was superior to another: Humans, fish, and clouds were linked in one destiny. In Teilhards telling, this meant that humanitys emergence in prehistoric times (against the churchs formal position, he accepted evolution theory) was but a passing stage in the worlds broader progression. Rather than being Gods chosen species, who could mindlessly plunder the globes resources, humans had to put their unique ability to think and speak in the service of their surroundings. Teilhard optimistically prophesied that humanity would ultimately be superseded when all existence would converge in what he called the Omega point. At that stage, all creatures would achieve a mystical unity with God and overcome their limitations.

All of this is abstract and fantastical, but Teilhards ideas resonated with readers who hoped to create a more just and equal world. Many thinkers, politicians, and activists found in his narratives of humanitys genesis a way to imagine new solidarities (and they subverted the Vaticans ban on his works by printing and circulating them privately). As historian Sarah Shortall has recently shown, the most important of those was Leopold Sedar Senghor, the anti-colonial and anti-racist poet who rose to become Senegals first elected president. Senghor, who was also a devout Catholic, claimed that Teilhards work offered a new horizon beyond racism and exploitation. It explained how humanitys deep past could lead it toward a new humanism, in which all races and all nations lived as equals. More recently, with the onslaught of climate change, environmentalists have drawn on Teilhard to articulate a vision of a sustainable future. For them, his narration of humanitys origins explains what we owe the world around us. Rather than a separate species, we can understand ourselves as equal members in a vast and diverse biosphere.

Prehistory, in short, may have served ghastly causes, but it also holds surprisingly egalitarian functions. At least for some, it offered a powerful tool to challenge stifling hierarchies and reimagine new realities. A recurring theme in The Invention of Prehistory is humans endless capacity to take old stories and invest them with strange and unexpected meanings. It is an inspiring quality, whether we share it with our ancient predecessors or not.
Accused gunman buries dead man, poses as kidnapper to victims girlfriend, CA cops say

A 35-year-old man is going to prison after being accused of killing a man and then trying to extort $165,000 from the victims girlfriend, California officials said.

Juan Antonio Martinez of Santa Rosa was car shopping with Deydhy Jordy Silverio-Castro in June of 2022, according to a May 9 news release by the Sonoma County District Attorney.

Toward the end of their shopping trip, Martinez fatally shot Silverio-Castro in the head and took $15,000 from him, prosecutors said.

He eventually buried Silverio-Castro in a shallow grave, officials said.

Then a few days later, he posed as a kidnapper and tried to get Silverio-Castros girlfriend to give him $165,000, officials said. She had reported Silverio-Castro missing.

Martinez confessed to investigators and showed them where Silverio-Castro was buried, officials said.

Martinez was sentenced to 20 years-to-life in prison on charges of murder and extortion by posing as a kidnapper, prosecutors said. He pleaded no contest, per the release.

Sonoma County is about an 80-mile drive northwest of San Francisco.

Man is beaten unconscious at friends house, then he wakes up and walks home, feds say

15-year-old fatally shoots cousin trying to take him home from party, Tennessee cops say

Teen kills 12-year-old, shows acquaintance her body on Instagram video chat, PA cops say
A man who was once compared to a serial rapist by a judge is back in custody after a woman said he raped her Tuesday.

Vincent Laing, Jr, was accused of meeting the prostitute at a home under construction and using a knife to force her to have sex with him.

The woman said Laing recorded the hour-long encounter and gave her $20 as she left.

The details resemble prior cases that came to light in August. Laing was accused by two women of raping them at knifepoint at an Orlando apartment complex.

Read: Man accused of attacking people at knife-point twice at same Orlando complex denied bond

He was initially denied bond but was allowed out of jail in February. His attorneys argued the state hadnt produced enough evidence to hold him before trial. His bond was set at $125,000.

Every time something like this happens, its disappointing, because, again, that means theres another individual thats been injured, State Attorney Andrew Bain said, hours after Laings arrest.

Bain confirmed there were three other cases that his team was still reviewing, which could mean more charges could be brought.

Read: Davenport woman charged with murder in adopted 4-year-old sons death

However, Bain said one of the August cases had to be dropped because of a lack of evidence.

That boosted claims by Laings attorneys, who said they were confident they could defend him.

Quick headline of Arrested for fill in the blank doesnt tell the real story, Joshi Law attorney Deborah Barra explained. Were eager to tell the real story.

Read: Its the only way: Local woman says shes forced to divorce husband as medical costs stack up

Barra and her co-counsel, Rajan Joshi, said the remaining Orlando case was weak.

The victim comes with a lot of credibility issues. Shes been caught telling lies in the case, the investigation has a lot of holes in it, Joshi said. [Just because] multiple people are saying our client did this doesnt mean hes guilty of anything.

According to reports, the Orlando women told police they didnt know Laing before the attacks. Police said all five of his victims either met him through online personal ads he responded to or social media messages.

Laing is expected to be held until his cases are resolved and will likely be returned to Orange County to face his accusers there.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  On Thursday, Attorney General Gentner Drummond announced he is firing the outside attorney and removing state Treasurer Todd Russ from any decision-making authority in the lawsuit defending Oklahomas anti-ESG (environmental, social and governance) law.

Drummond said, It is extremely disappointing that the counsel hired by Treasurer Russ was unable to secure a favorable ruling in defense of Oklahomas anti-ESG law, Drummond said. Because of this failure, the law is now on hold and at risk of being struck down entirely. Oklahomans deserve better.

WATCH: Edmond PD traffic stop turn into chase, ending in crash

Drummond says he had initially chosen a separate firm to serve as outside counsel on the matter but deferred to Russ after the treasurer insisted on selecting his own attorney to defend the law. AG Drummond said in his latest release, he now regrets extending that professional courtesy.

Treasurer Russ was insistent that he be allowed to choose his own counsel to defend the lawsuit, and I acquiesced, said Drummond. No longer will I allow professional courtesy to influence my decisions on this matter. Effective immediately, I have terminated Treasurer Russs hand-picked counsel and removed the treasurer from any decision-making role in the lawsuit. My office will handle all elements of the case moving forward.

According to the AGs office, Drummonds actions came on the heels of an Oklahoma County District Court ruling earlier this week enjoining the Oklahoma Energy Discrimination Act of 2022 from enforcement. Russ is being sued by a retired state employee who claims the treasurers enforcement of the law jeopardized the retirees pension.

Currently, the law prohibits state contracts and pension system investments with financial institutions that discriminate against the oil and gas industry.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev attended the inauguration of the Zabukh and Garigishlag small hydroelectric power plants (SHPP) owned by Azerenerji OJSC in the Lachin district, Trend reports.

Azerenerji President Baba Rzayev provided President Ilham Aliyev with an overview of the work completed at these power plants.

The Zabukh SHPP has a capacity of 2.8 MW and produces 8-9 million kWh of green energy annually. The " Garigishlag" SHPP, with a capacity of 4 MW, produces 11-12 million kWh annually.

To integrate the power plants into the national energy system, new substations and 35 kV power transmission lines were constructed. In addition, optical cable lines were installed to connect the stations to a centralized SCADA system, allowing intelligent control, real-time monitoring, and remote control from Baku. The " Zabukh" SHPP, located on the Zabukh river, known for its high flow rate, can operate efficiently even during low-water seasons.

President Ilham Aliyev launched the stations.
Internally displaced Palestinian woman looks on from a tent. Internally displaced Palestinians have returned to Khan Yunis and are setting up tents on the ruins of their old houses after the Israeli army asked them to evacuate from the city of Rafah. Omar Naaman/dpa

Aid workers in the border town of Rafah in the Gaza Strip reported devastating conditions on Friday.

"I have been working on large-scale humanitarian emergencies for the best part of the last 30 years and I've never been involved in a situation as devastating, complex or erratic as this," said Hamish Young, UNICEF emergency relief coordinator.

"The current situation in Gaza has reached unprecedented emergency levels," said Georgios Petropoulos, representative of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

Both were in Rafah and spoke to reporters in Geneva via video link.

Five hospitals, 17 smaller hospitals, five field hospitals, 10 mobile medical teams and 28 ambulances will have to stop their services within 24 hours if urgently needed new fuel is not delivered, Petropoulos said.

According to Young, more than 100,000 people have left the region within five days following evacuation calls by Israel, which announced major military operations in Rafah. The roads to the north are congested.

The al-Mawasi area near the coast, designated by Israel as a security zone, is completely overcrowded. Families are digging holes in the ground next to their tents to relieve themselves, he said.

Petropoulos said that practically no relief supplies, especially petrol, had been entering the Gaza Strip via the Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings for days.

Without this, the most basic needs of the people can no longer be met, he added. Hospitals, banks, communications companies and drinking water treatment plants need petrol for generators in order to maintain rudimentary services. Waste collection has been partially halted, as has sewage disposal in certain areas.

"We need fuel immediately," Young asserted. "Aid must flow. Hostages must be freed. Rafah must not be invaded. And children must be protected, not killed."

A view of a camp for internally displaced Palestinians near the border with Egypt, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa
Germany's Justice Minister Marco Buschmann sits on a plane during an interview on his way from Berlin to Venice. Anne-Beatrice Clasmann/dpa

Germany's justice minister will be stuck in Italy for several hours longer than planned after technical issues with the German government aircraft meant to ferry him home.

Marco Buschmann and his entourage had planned on leaving Venice around midday on Friday. He was in the Italian city for a meeting of justice ministers from the G7 group of wealthy democratic countries.

The aircraft, a Bombardier Global 5000 jet, had to return to its parking position shortly before the planned take-off.

The return journey to Germany is now expected to take place in the early evening on a replacement aircraft which is being sent from Cologne.

Germany's fleet of government aircraft have become something of a punchline after encountering numerous technical issues in recent years. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was left stranded in Abu Dhabi last August and had to cancel a trip to Australia and New Zealand when problems occurred on her government plane. She had to return to Germany on a commercial flight.

The government is seeking to replace breakdown prone older aircraft with more reliable newer models.
Which airlines do you love or hate? Heres how Spirit, Southwest, Frontier all ranked

Broward County-based Spirit Airlines saw its woes continue as it notched one of the worst scores among North American carriers in a new study on customer satisfaction.

Spirit came in 10th among 11 airlines in the economy/basic category of the J.D. Power 2024 North America Airline Satisfaction Study. That was the only class in which it was judged.

Spirit has been headquartered in South Florida since 1999, first in Miramar before moving to Dania Beach. The airline has been trying to pick itself up since a federal judge blocked a proposed merger with JetBlue Airways earlier this year.

Only Frontier Airlines did worse, finishing No. 11, dead last. Frontier and Spirit had the two worst scores across all three categories in the study, released on May 8.

Frontier is also known in South Florida. In addition to flying out of Miami International Airport and Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, in 2022 it tried to acquire Spirit. But shareholders of the Broward airline rejected the offer.

How. J.D. Power does the airline survey

Delta Air Lines has increased flights to Miami over the past year.

J.D. Power is a global business intelligence and advisory service firm. The study, redesigned this year, measured seven dimensions: airline staff, digital tools, ease of travel, level of trust, on-board experience, pre/post flight experience, and value for price paid. It assessed three classes of travel: first/business, premium economy, and economy/basic economy.

It received responses from 9,582 passengers. To participate, travelers must have flown on a major North American airline within the past month of completing the survey. It was conducted from March 2023 through March 2024.

In the economy/basic category, the one in which Spirit and Frontier were all the way in the back, Southwest Airlines won first place for the third consecutive year, with a score of 685. Delta came in second with 651. Low-cost Allegiant Air came in third with 633.

Spirits overall score was 507 and Frontiers was 472, the two lowest among North American carriers in any of the three categories.

In the first class/business category, Delta Air Lines won first place with a score of 743. JetBlue took second at 736. United Airlines, Alaska Airlines and American Airlines finished third, fourth and fifth.

The Atlanta-based carrier also topped the premium economy category for the second straight year, notching a 716 score. Alaska Airlines came in second. JetBlue was fourth and United Airlines finished sixth.

Delta has been growing in South Florida. Last year it had a record number of flights from Miami International Airport. Its partnership with LATAM is also providing more ways to connect North and South America.

But their success in the J.D. Power rankings has a simpler explanation.

Their people scores were significantly higher than the average in each of those categories and somewhat higher than the rest of the competition,Michael Taylor, Practice Lead for Travel Intelligence and for the report, said in an interview with the Miami Herald.

Thats how they distanced themselves in those two classes, he said.

Making travelers happy

That is also one of the larger lessons from the report. With demand high and airplanes and gates more crowded, carriers have to battle to keep travelers content.

Even with the advent of AI and all that kind of thing, its still a one-to-one relationship and feeling that a person can give you when youre traveling, Taylor said. The people factor still remains high.

In Southwests case, the carrier has built a loyal following.

They are just hard to beat in economy class, Taylor said. Travelers find they get really good value for their money.

How these rankings play into future salary negotiations and costs will be interesting to watch. Southwest flight attendants just became the highest paid in the industry. Will that affect ticket prices?

Meanwhile, those at Delta recently got 5% raises but that still puts them below Southwest. And a group of flight attendants at Delta is seeking to unionize and ask for more. Can they now point to their people skills?

What else did the satisfaction report say?

The J.D. Power report had broader findings, too:

 Passengers just want it to be easy and get there safely: The two biggest factors driving overall airline customer satisfaction are ease of travel and trust. While things like value for price paid are important, it is more important to passengers just to have a seamless flight.

 Media coverage has major influence on trust scores: The level of trust airline passengers have in their airline is correlated to media coverage about the airline. Overall satisfaction scores for trust are 400 points lower (on a 1,000-point scale) among passengers who saw negative news coverage of an airlines performance in the past year.

 Investments in people pay off for top-performing carriers: The top-performing carriers in this years study  Southwest Airlines and Delta Air Lines  have made substantial investments in the people side of their business. These efforts are paying off in the form of significantly higher scores in all areas where interpersonal interactions can make a difference.
Lab-grown meat isnt yet an everyday productand some states are trying to make sure it never is.

Alabama has just banned the creation and sale of cultivated meat, Wired reported on Thursday. When the law goes into effect in October, anyone found guilty of manufacturing, selling, or distributing lab-grown meat could face up to three months in jail and a $500 fine.

More from Robb Report

The southern state becomes the second in recent days to prohibit cultivated meat: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a similar bill into law in the Sunshine State earlier this month, Wired noted. The two bans mean that some 28 million Americans live in a place where lab-grown meat has been outlawed, although the Alabama bill allows higher-education institutes and government departments to carry out research in the emerging field.

Proponents of lab-grown meat are understandably upset about the new rules. Legislation that bans cultivated meat is a reckless move that ignores food safety experts and science, stifles consumer choice, and hinders American innovation, Sean Edgett, the chief legal officer of Upside Foods, told Wired. It makes politicians the food police, and it ignores the food safety experts at USDA and FDA who have deemed it safe. (Upside Foods is one of just two companies approved to sell cultivated meat in the United States.)

Lab-grown meatin which real animal cells are used to grow proteinhas emerged as an alternative to the traditional, climate-intensive meat industry. Its largely seen as more environmentally friendly and respectful of animals than current slaughtering practices. Still, companies engaged in the cultivated-meat industry have been slow to gain regulatory approval. And despite some big-name chefs at one point using lab-grown products in their restaurants, such as Dominique Crenn cooking up lab-grown chicken at her Bar Crenn, faux meat is not currently available at any dining establishments in the country, according to Wired.

In Alabama, the ban on cultivated meat passed relatively easily: Just 14 people voted against the bill in the state house, while no one opposed it in the senate, Wired wrote. But those in the industry will likely fight the bill, and Upside Foods has already started a petition against Floridas law.

With these shortsighted laws, Alabama and Florida politicians are trampling on consumer choice and criminalizing agricultural innovation, Pepin Andrew Tuma, the legislative director of the Good Food Institute, told Wired. At a time when American farmers and manufacturers face stiff competition around the world, states can either support new initiatives that create thousands of good-paying jobs, or they can play politics and police the foods people eat.

Culinary Masters 2024

Dont miss the food event of the year. Register for Robb Reports Culinary Masters now. Or, for more information on Robb Report experiences, visit RR1.

Best of Robb Report

Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

Click here to read the full article.
This article was originally published in Alabama Reflector.

The Alabama Legislature Wednesday gave final approval to a bill requiring children to complete kindergarten or an equivalent program after years of efforts from supporters.

HB 113, sponsored by Rep. Pebblin Warren, D-Tuskegee, would require students to finish kindergarten or pass a test that shows first grade readiness.

The bill passed 35-0. It would align Alabama with a minority of states that require kindergarten. As of 2020, 19 states and the District of Columbia require kindergarten, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

I think now that we are fully implementing the Literacy Act that we need to do everything we can for these children early to give them a good foundation, so that theyre not coming into first grade already behind, said Sen. Donnie Chesteen, R-Geneva, the chair of the Senate Education Policy committee and Senate sponsor of the bill.

Warren, who is currently in the hospital, said in a phone interview Wednesday that she was happy that it had advanced after seven years.

This has been a battle Ive been fighting and Ive been fighting for the kids, because we got to find ways of making sure we can expose and educate our kids at early ages, she said. So we dont have to wait until they get to the third grade to say that they cant read.

The bill passed after Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, a vocal opponent of the legislation in previous years, amended the legislation to create a schedule of assessments.

Under the legislation, a student entering first grade in the 2025-26 school year will not be excluded from enrollment, but will take an assessment at the start of the school year and in the second semester to determine any deficiencies and allow resources to those who perform below standards..

For the 2026-27 school year, a student will take the assessment to determine readiness for enrollment and will also take the second semester assessment with the available resources.

The State Department of Education will also develop an informational campaign with priority given to areas with the lowest numbers of kindergarten enrollment.

I will say that I think it may be an opportunity for us to catch whatever situations that may exist on the front end, he said.

The House of Representatives has approved the legislation multiple times, but Smitherman had blocked it in the Senate.

Warren said she has not had a chance to receive a report on the added amendment yet. She said she wished that the bill would be starting next year.

Chesteen told the Reflector before the start of the session that the bill was a priority for the Republican caucus.

The bill had received support from the Governors Commission on Teaching and Learning, but Smitherman had still not vouched support as of August.

Alabama lawmakers have placed more emphasis on early education in the last decade.

The Legislature in 2019 created the Literacy Act, which requires students to be reading on grade level by the end of third grade, or risk retention.

The Alabama Numeracy Act, passed in 2022, aims to increase math scores in the state.

The Legislature has also increased funding for the states award-winning pre-kindergarten program, which consistently receives high marks.

The bill moves to the House of Representatives for concurrence in Senate changes or a conference committee.

Alabama Reflector is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Alabama Reflector maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Brian Lyman for questions: info@alabamareflector.com. Follow Alabama Reflector on Facebook and Twitter.
Harvey Weinstein is causing a retake on sex crimes laws in Albany.

Lawmakers are racing to update trial procedures for accused perverts, after New Yorks highest court threw out the disgraced movie moguls 2020 sex crimes conviction last month on a technicality.

A group of legislators joined with some of Weinsteins alleged victims Thursday to tout legislation that would close the loophole and allow victims to speak out freely in court.

Harvey Weinstein will get a re-trial in his conviction of sex charges. He remains in prison as he awaits extradition to California where he faces years of jail time for convictions there. AP

When there are multiple victims of sexual assault, their voices should be heard together and collectively, said Tarale Wulff, who was one of the alleged victims of Weinsteins sexual misconduct who testified at his trial, even though he wasnt actually charged with attacking her.

Sexual assault survivors who come forward are rarely the only victims of their accusers.

The court ruled 4-3 last month that it was unfair to allow alleged victims like Wulff  the so-called Molineux witnesses  to testify in sex trials because their claims werent actually part of the criminal complaint.

The ruling gutted the use of Molineux witnesses in the state. But legislators said their testimony is crucial in prosecuting sex crimes and vowed Thursday to pass legislation bringing them back.

In sexual assault cases, which typically rely on the testimony of the survivor, it is essential, said Assemblywoman Amy Paulin (D-Westchester), one of the bills sponsors in her chamber.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris says he hopes to pass the bill before the end of Albanys legislative session next month. Paul Martinka

It allows a perpetrators pattern of behavior to be presented in court. It allows consent defenses, which are most often the defenses used in relationship sexual assault cases, to be effectively refuted.

Paulin spoke alongside Wulff and fellow Weinstein Molineux accuser Ambra Gutierrez  as well as Sara Ziff who sued the former head of Miramax in Italy, Fabrizio Lombardo, for sexual assault aided by the Adult Survivors Act.

State Sen. Michael Gianaris (D-Queens) said he was sponsoring a version of the Senate bill legalizing the use of Molineux witnesses.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin is a sponsor of the bill. Richard Harbus

Very often, [these] cases rely on the testimony of two people with conflicting accounts and therefore we think this justifies an exception to show a pattern of behavior . . . So we are introducing this legislation, hopefully, we get it passed before the session adjourns in a month, he said at a press conference hosted at the headquarters of the National Organization for Women.

Paulin said the importance of the witnesses was seen in the Weinstein case.

In the Weinstein case, the women were able to testify he used professional advancement as a way to put them in a compromised position, that Harvey Weinstein typically used force to overpower his victims and many if not several had prior consensual acts prior, she said.

Judge Jenny Rivera, who wrote the opinion, argued that the Molineux testimony only served to paint Weinstein in a negative light to the jury. Rivera was joined by lefty Chief Judge Rowan Wilson in the opinion.

Chief Judge Rowan Wilson sided in the opinion penned by Judge Jenny Rivera. AP

The bill in response to the ruling would implement language almost mirroring federal guidelines on evidence, bringing New York in line with over a dozen other states.

Gianaris, who is the number two in Senate Democratic leadership, said he hopes to get the bill passed before the end of the legislative session in a few weeks.

Hopefully we will get quick progress on this before we adjourn in June, Gianaris said.

Lawmakers have been scrambling to make a legislative fix since the Weinstein ruling dropped, as The Post first reported two weeks ago.

Im glad that the new legislation by Senator Gianaris and Assembly Member Paulin will allow more survivors of sexual abuse to come forward and help keep creeps like Harvey Weinstein from using their power and influence to prey on victims, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Brad Hoylman-Sigal (D-Manhattan) told the Post.

Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins (D-Westchester) said shes open to considering a legislative fix, when asked by the Post earlier this week.

Gov. Kathy Hochul said her administration is still examining the law. Michael Brochstein/SOPA Images/Shutterstock

Obviously if there is some loophole or something that could make the case stronger, we would obviously be interested in looking at that, Stewart-Cousins said.

Any push to rectify Molineux may also receive Republican backing. State Sen. Anthony Palumbo (R-Suffolk), Republicans lead on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said hes been putting together his own legislation which is very similar to the Democrats bill.

Assemblywoman Amy Paulins sponsorship of a similar bill reflects the bipartisan support to correct this outrageous decision, he told the Post.

Speaking at an unrelated event Thursday, Gov. Kathy Hochul failed to give a clear response to the Weinstein ruling, though she said her legal team is reviewing Paulin and Gianaris legislation.

Every woman has the right to be heard in the courtroom with the appropriate witnesses. We are still examining that law, Hochul said.

Wulff said she believes that something will be done to help future victims.

Honestly, after the shock of learning the conviction being overturned, I immediately started chasing a silver lining, Wulff said

I thought there has to be a reason why this is happening to us. If that megaphone is on us, then this is the opportunity we have right now to make a change.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 11. Azerbaijans Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources, COP29 President-Designate Mukhtar Babayev visited on Friday the headquarters of the Commission on Science and Technology for Sustainable Development in the South (COMSATS) in the capital city of Islamabad, during his visit to Pakistan, Trend reports.

Minister Mukhtar Babayev met with COMSATS Executive Director Mohammad Nafees Zakaria and other officials. Mukhtar Babayev planted a tree at the event also attended by Romina Khurshid Alam, Coordinator to the Prime Minister of Pakistan on Climate Change and Environmental Coordination. The discussions revolved around the COP29, including sustainable development and climate change.

Minister Mukhtar Babayev also held discussions with the representatives of Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority on the consequences of climate change.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  One bite-sized latte, please!

One alligator desperately needed its morning coffee last Saturday, joining a drive-thru line at a North Port Starbucks.

4 baby alligators rescued after poachers allegedly snatched them from nest: FWC

Petition for Starbucks to create a Gatorccino to go with its one for pups, a Facebook user wrote on North Port Fire Rescues post.

The police department and fire crews responded to the scene and were able to relocate the gator to a nearby pond.

Remember folks, even on your morning coffee run, always expect the unexpected! the department wrote.

North Port Fire Rescue

North Port Fire Rescue

North Port Fire Rescue

North Port Fire Rescue

This gator sighting is just one of many already this week. On Thursday, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission rescued four baby alligators who were snatched from their nest by poachers.

In Flagler County, two food-conditioned gators were seen swimming up to people at a park in search of food. One of those gators was removed, and the other is likely to be removed as well.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Alsobrooks, Trone react to poll showing them in dead heat for coveted Maryland US Senate seat

LANDOVER, Md. (DC News Now)  Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and Congressman David Trone said Thursday that they both have the upper hand going into the Democratic primary next Tuesday.

This comes after a new Emerson College/The Hill/DC News Now poll shows the two combatants running neck-and-neck in a spirited race, with Alsobrooks in a slight lead over Trone at 42% to 41%, respectively, with 12% of respondents still undecided.

Alsobrooks leads Trone in Senate race, DC News Now poll finds; either would beat Hogan

When the surveyed undecided voters were asked which candidate they were leaning towards, Alsobrooks support boosted to 47%, compared to Trones 44%.

The poll told us what we already knew, which is that after $62 million that my opponent has spent to try to buy this race, we have not only now passed him in the polls, but we are on course to win the race, Alsobrooks said. And so Im so grateful for the tremendous grassroots coalition that we have built across the state.

Trone, a wealthy businessman-turned-politician, has spent millions of his own money to fund his campaign, arguing that he cannot be bought by special interests.

DC News Now Maryland Primary Senate Democratic Forum

When I launched this campaign a year ago, I was the underdog. The entire political establishment stacked the deck for their chosen candidate, he said. But our team has been able to connect with the Maryland voters.

The polls showed the county executive edged out the congressman with female voters 43% to 38% and Black voters 56% to 28%. But Trone leads among men 45% to 41% and with White voters 48% to 35%.

Theres an enthusiasm that were seeing, Alsobrooks said of her campaign. We have just seen just this incredible surge of momentum and energy.

But despite the numbers, Trone said he always knew the race would be close.

I feel very confident. I feel very enthusiastic. Im very excited about how the race is going, he said. And I really cant wait to continue campaigning in the fall and taking Larry Hogan down.

Previous poll: Hogan tops, ties top Democrats for Marylands open US Senate seat

Former Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan is the presumptive nominee who is expected to advance on the GOP side. The polling showed that both Trone and Alsobrooks would beat Hogan in a hypothetical battle in November.

Alsobrooks leads Hogan 48% to 38% and Trone beats Hogan 49% to 38% with 14% of respondents undecided in both potential races.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Jade Araujo, a tribal citizen of Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head - Aquinnah in Massachusetts, who also traces her lineage to the Tlingit and Koyukon Athabascan tribes in Alaska, joins a select group as the recipient of the American Indian College Fund Law School Scholarship.

A senior at Stanford University majoring in political science, Araujo will graduate in June and then enter Harvard Law School in the fall. She is the daughter of Todd Araujo (Aquinnah Wampanoag) and Jaeleen Kookesh (Tlingit and Koyukon Athabascan). Araujo is the third individual to be honored with this esteemed scholarship aimed at supporting American Indian and Alaska Native law students in their pursuit of legal education at Harvard.

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.

This scholarship, made possible by a generous $1 million contribution from an anonymous benefactor, covers tuition and all associated expenses for the entire duration of the three-year law program at Harvard. Its mission is clear: to remove financial barriers hindering the attainment of a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School, thereby bolstering the ranks of Native legal professionals dedicated to safeguarding the rights of Indigenous peoples and their nations.

Araujo's recognition as the third recipient underscores her exceptional merit and commitment to this cause.

She affectionately attributes her aspiration to attend Harvard Law School to her paternal grandmother, Eleanor Hebert (Aquinnah Wampanoag), whose influence ignited her passion for legal studies. Araujo is drawn to Harvard not only for its academic rigor and abundant resources but also for its historical ties to the Aquinnah Wampanoag tribal lands on Marthas Vineyard, a connection further deepened by the legacy of Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck, the first Native American graduate of Harvard University, who hailed from the same tribe. Additionally, Jade's Cape Verdean ancestry resonates with the vibrant Cape Verdean community in Boston, adding another layer of personal significance to her educational journey.

Coming from a family deeply rooted in the legal field, Araujo's upbringing was steeped in the principles of justice and advocacy. Both her parents pursued legal education, with her father becoming the first Aquinnah Wampanoag attorney. Her late maternal grandfather, Albert Kookesh, was a trailblazer in Alaska Native rights advocacy, leaving an indelible mark on Araujo's sense of purpose. Raised in Juneau, Alaska, on Tlingit land, she was inspired by the transformative potential of law in preserving cultural heritage and ensuring tribal sovereignty, surrounded by influential figures like her mother and grandfather.

During her internships with U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren and at the White House, Araujo honed her skills in legislative research and policy analysis, gaining invaluable insights into the intricacies of government and the legislative process. Her experiences underscored the critical need for informed leadership and effective communication in shaping policies that impact communities.

With a keen interest in constitutional law,Araujo recognizes the pivotal role of legal professionals in advocating for Native rights, particularly in navigating complex issues such as tribal sovereignty and jurisdiction. She emphasizes the importance of representation at all levels of the legal system, from law clerks to Supreme Court justices, in ensuring equitable outcomes for Indigenous communities.

Beyond her academic pursuits, Araujo finds solace and joy in her family, including her twin sister Maya and younger brother Antone, as well as in cultural activities like traditional Tlingit dance. Engaged in various student organizations and advocacy groups, she remains committed to advancing the causes of Indigenous rights and women's empowerment.

In reflecting on her journey, Araujo expresses profound gratitude for the opportunity afforded by the scholarship, humbled by the responsibility it entails. Her dedication to serving her community and advocating for justice serves as a beacon of hope for future generations of Native leaders in the legal profession.

I am so honored and humbled to have been chosen to receive this scholarship, Araujo said.

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
Fireworks capped the "Trojan Family Graduate Celebration" at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which was planned after the traditional main-stage ceremony at Alumni Park was canceled. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

No valedictorian speech. No celebrity speakers. No main-stage ceremony, and no massive graduate walk to "Pomp and Circumstance" before tens of thousands of guests.

Instead, USC's graduating seniors  whose traditional main graduation ceremony was canceled  were thrown an alternative party Thursday night: a "Trojan Family Graduate Celebration" at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on the eve of smaller campus commencement ceremonies where diplomas were set to be awarded at individual school events.

The USC cheerleaders perform at the Coliseum on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

The Thursday night event was billed as an "electric atmosphere"  capped at six tickets per grad  featuring a drone show, fireworks and a "special gift" for the Class of 2024: a hat from rap star Travis Scott's collegiate clothing brand.

The university had pitched the event as a "Southern California-style" celebration to compensate for the loss of the main-stage ceremony with a valedictorian, keynote speeches and the presentation of honorary degrees. But turmoil and campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war upended that ritual.

Thia Broido, a graduating senior who sat on a top row at the Coliseum with her parents and brother Thursday night, said she was saddened by the controversial cancellation of the main commencement.

Her high school commencement was upended by the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the graduation stage replaced by a "super cute" drive-in ceremony and social distancing, she said.

For her college graduation, she was glad to have the family-friendly event at the Coliseum, but she said it didn't "remove anything that has happened" over the last few weeks.

"I don't want to be a downer about it," Broido said. "I'm happy for what we have. But what USC is doing is ongoing, and I can't forget about that."

Thursday night's event included a drone show. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Read more: 13 days that rocked USC: How a derailed commencement brought 'complete disaster'

Citing unspecified safety threats, USC President Carol Folt last month rescinded pro-Palestinian valedictorian Asna Tabassums speaking slot and then canceled the main ceremony. After students set up a pro-Palestinian tent encampment and demanded that USC end its financial ties with Israel, Folt and her team called in the Los Angeles Police Department, and 93 people were arrested. On Sunday morning, police cleared a second encampment, but no arrests were made.

On Wednesday, Folt and Provost Andrew Guzman were censured by the Academic Senate, a body of representatives for USC faculty. The members cited "widespread dissatisfaction and concern among the faculty about administrative actions and decisions surrounding protests and commencement."

Folt has defended her actions, and said in an interview with The Times that campus safety is her "North Star."

For me, I have a very clear North Star: that I am the person at the university, no matter how complicated the issue and how much I empathize with everybody involved  which has been true for me  I still in the end have to sit back and say, What can I do to keep my campus and my people as safe as possible? 

Among the entertainment was the Trojan marching band. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Typically, the annual Baccalaureate Ceremony  a nondenominational, interfaith celebration  is held on the eve of graduation at Bovard Auditorium in the center of campus. This year, there was an "in-person blessing" for the Coliseum bash, as well as an "online interfaith blessing" that could be viewed on a commencement website.

During the Student Recognition Awards Ceremony on Thursday afternoon, students clad in graduation gowns cheered at length when Tabassum was recognized. She laughed and pretended to check her watch as the applause continued.

"You may not know this," the announcer joked, "but Asna is USC's 2024 valedictorian."

Her classmates then gave her a standing ovation.

Read more: Jailed students, a canceled commencement, angry parents: USCs Carol Folt takes on critics

Security at the Coliseum leading up to commencement has been tight.

On Thursday, access to USC's campus, which was already restricted to the university's students, faculty, staff and registered guests, became even stricter. Students and staff had to show USC identification, and anyone else trying to access campus needed a commencement ticket.

Grads gather before the event at the Coliseum on Thursday. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Metal fences and black gates were posted around campus. Guests walked through metal detectors and were asked to carry clear purses or bags. Since the Sunday encampment sweep, officers from several law enforcement agencies have been stationed at the center of the USC campus.

They included officers from the Baldwin Park Police Department, La Habra Police Department, Los Angeles Police Department and Los Angeles Airport Police, according to David Carlisle, assistant chief of the university's Department of Public Safety.

Officers were stationed near the Tommy Trojan statue, which had been cleaned after a protester  who organizers of the student encampment said was not affiliated with them  spray-painted Stop Genocide on its plaque.

No demonstrations disrupted Thursday night's event, although speakers and attendees acknowledged the tense campus climate.

Inside the Coliseum, deejay duo Phantogram took the stage at 7:45 p.m. for a set before a sparse crowd of about 350. But attendance had grown substantially by the time the event began about 45 minutes later.

A campus spokesperson said more than 22,000 people attended.

Broido, the graduating senior, said she thought it was odd that the university would give out the Travis Scott hats  black caps with the words "USC Alumni"  which were distributed at a tent. She said she stopped being a fan of the rapper after 10 people were killed in a crowd crush at the 2021 Astroworld music festival in Houston.

"I think it's ironic that USC would partner with him," Broido said. "I like his music  it's just mixed feelings."

Varun Soni, dean of religious life at the university, delivered the invocation  a tradition typically held during the main-stage commencement.

"There are so many in our community who are wrestling with anger and grief," he said.

The world, he said, is gripped by "five major crises"  war, justice, health, sustainability and joy.

"We have a full-blown crisis of joy," he said.

The evening's event, he said, was about celebrating the graduates and giving joy when it is needed the most.

A series of video messages were projected on a large screen, including remarks by late-night host Jimmy Kimmel.

"This class," he said, "has been through a lot. More than other classes have had to deal with."

When the event concluded, the words "Class of 2024" and "Fight On!" were spelled in the sky by drones with red and white lights.

Jack Callahan, who was decked out in USC gear, flew out with his family from Buffalo, N.Y., to watch his daughter Kiera graduate. Callahan was glad the university hosted a big event to celebrate the graduates after the family was initially disappointed to learn about the main-stage commencements cancellation.

I loved the camaraderie, the spirit and the drone show, Callahan said. His wife, Liza, was equally thrilled with the drones, which she called "absolutely amazing."

When we graduated," she said, "there was nothing like that. Technology has come so far.

But Kiera, who studied psychology, would have preferred the real graduation.

I thought it was cute," she said. "It was nice that they did something. But it doesnt replace commencement."

Times photographer Gina Ferazzi contributed 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.
By Abhirup Roy

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) -Elon Musk's decision to gut Tesla's electric-vehicle charging team is scrambling plans for rolling out new fast-charging stations and may delay President Joe Biden's efforts to electrify U.S. highways.

Last year, the Biden administration announced rules for an ambitious plan to expand the country's charging infrastructure and jump-start EV adoption. Under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, the government is doling out $5 billion to states over five years to build 500,000 EV chargers.

EV market leader Tesla, which also operates the largest network of fast chargers - called Superchargers - in the U.S. and is the biggest winner so far of those federal funds, was seen as a crucial part of that plan.

Since news of Tesla's abrupt EV charging layoffs surfaced, however, executives at charging companies say they have been receiving phone calls from landlords looking for a new partner for their private charging projects after Tesla pulled out.

Now, the charging companies are preparing for Tesla to pull out of the federal program. That, they say, could throw a new wrench into an already-slow rollout.

"It's going to delay NEVI rollout. There's no question about it," said Aatish Patel, co-founder of XCharge North America, which makes EV chargers for fleets and charging station operators.

If Tesla backs out, then the solicitation by states for NEVI-funded charging projects starts over, he told Reuters. "A lot of these sites aren't going to get built this year, or within the time frames that were initially dictated."

Patel said real estate companies representing about 10 non-NEVI sites in Texas, Louisiana and New York had called since news of the layoffs, saying that Tesla was pulling out and they were looking for a replacement.

Tesla has won awards to build chargers for 69 of the 501 NEVI-funded sites announced so far, according to San Francisco-based research firm EVAdoption.

"I'm speaking to any NEVI sites they've been awarded. They're not going to move forward on those," Brendan Jones, CEO of Blink Charging, told Reuters. Blink has received three inquiries in two states about multiple private sites where Tesla had backed out of since the layoffs, he said.

Rollout of the federal program has been already sluggish. Long-awaited rules on eligibility for federal funds were finally laid out early last year. Only a handful of federally funded charging stations have been opened up for the public.

PULLING THE PLUG

Since the layoffs, Musk in a posting on his social media platform X said Tesla 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 did not respond to questions from Reuters on the implications of his decision. In a subsequent post on Friday, Musk said Tesla will spend more than $500 million to expand its fast-charging network this year.

A spokesperson for the federal Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, which oversees the NEVI program, said in an email it does not expect individual business decisions to impact EV charging projects funded by the government.

States that awarded Tesla NEVI sites are closely monitoring the situation.

Colorado will adjust its program as needed, said Kay Kelly, chief of innovative mobility for the Colorado Department of Transportation. Texas - the biggest beneficiary of NEVI funds - said it does not anticipate any impact from Tesla's layoffs.

Tesla's change of plans, however, will affect the entire EV industry. Almost all automakers decided last year to adopt Tesla's North American Charging Standard (NACS) for their vehicles from next year. That could provide a silver lining for other charging startups - and recently laid-off Tesla employees.

"There will be a lot more NEVI sites available if Tesla backs out of projects they have already won, or withdraw their applications," Rick Wilmer, CEO of charging company ChargePoint, told Reuters. "It will be an opportunity for others to jump in and fill that void."

Rivals like EVgo are looking to hire those let go by Musk. "If you were impacted by the recent Tesla layoffs, we invite you to explore EVgo's diverse range of job openings," a talent acquisition manager at the charging company said in a post on LinkedIn.

(Reporting by Abhirup Roy in San FranciscoAdditional reporting by Jarrett Renshaw in PhiladelphiaEditing by Peter Henderson, Matthew Lewis and Diane Craft)
By Dave Graham

ZURICH (Reuters) - An upcoming Ukraine peace summit, ostensibly the most ambitious bid in years by neutral Switzerland to mediate a major conflict, is instead showing how Swiss economic and security interests increasingly align with Western Europe over Russia.

This is the view of both Swiss advocates of closer cooperation with Western powers and nationalist opponents who say Switzerland is abandoning its neutral tradition and should limit the scope for foreign entanglements.

Russia has not been invited to the June 15-16 talks taking place at a lakeside resort near the central city of Lucerne, which Switzerland agreed in January to host at the behest of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Rather than ending the war, the summit is poised to work towards mitigating risks stemming from Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and trying to isolate Russia, according to Western diplomats and Swiss foreign policy experts.

"It's going to be about shoring up Ukraine rather than bridge-building for immediate peace," said Daniel Woker, a former Swiss ambassador to Australia, Singapore and Kuwait.

Responding to a request by Reuters for comment, the Swiss foreign ministry said Switzerland's neutrality is "constant" and will not be altered by the conference.

"But being neutral does not mean being indifferent," it added in the statement. "Switzerland strongly condemns Russia's aggression against Ukraine. Outside the military realm, the right to neutrality does not stand in the way of solidarity and support for Ukraine and its people."

The conference, which Switzerland says should pave the way for a "future peace process", will focus on issues of global concern such as nuclear safety, freedom of navigation, food security and humanitarian matters, the ministry said.

Switzerland says Russia must be involved in the process, but justified its lack of an invitation next month on the grounds Moscow had repeatedly said it had no interest in taking part.

The Kremlin has described Switzerland as "openly hostile" and unfit to mediate in peace-building efforts, in particular because of its adoption of EU sanctions against Moscow.

Bern has asked over 160 delegations to the summit, pressing hard to include to Russian allies from the so-called Global South, notably China, which says it is considering taking part.

If the summit can craft consensus with Russian allies on areas of mutual concern it could increase pressure on Moscow to compromise, diplomats say.

European support for the summit is solidifying, with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz confirming his attendance, alongside leaders from Spain, Poland and Finland, among others.

NEUTRALITY

Thomas Borer, a former Swiss ambassador to Germany, said Switzerland's business and security interests are overwhelmingly tied to Western Europe, North America and their allies, making it strategically imperative to stand with Ukraine.

Government protestations of neutrality would not change that, he added.

"Neither the Russians nor our Western allies view us as neutral," he said.

Around two-thirds of Swiss exports go to North America, the EU, Britain, Japan and Australia. Less than 1% go to Russia.

Supporters of closer Western alignment also note Switzerland is almost completely surrounded by NATO countries, which act as a buffer against potential external intrusions.

"Neutrality is a cop-out for a country that's basically getting a free ride off the security that others provide," said Franziska Roth, a lawmaker in the Swiss parliament for the center-left Social Democrats.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine, two of Europe's other historically neutral states, Sweden and Finland, have both joined NATO.

As a U.N. member, Switzerland had a duty to uphold international law, which the Russian invasion violated, Roth said. Helping Ukraine recover from that took precedence over outdated notions of neutrality, she added.

Neutrality is, however, firmly rooted in the Swiss psyche and ditching it would be akin to Britain abolishing the monarchy, regardless of the geopolitical forces pulling at the country, said former ambassador Woker.

A study published in March by the Center for Security Studies at the ETH Zurich showed 91% of Swiss felt the country should stay neutral, though 26% also backed taking "a clear stand" in favour of one side in foreign military conflicts, up 8 percentage points from 2021.

It also showed a majority in favor of Switzerland getting closer to NATO.

Woker and other critics argue neutrality is an anachronism used as a pretext for protecting Swiss economic and financial interests, and risks isolating the country.

Recognized in 1815 by European powers after Napoleon's defeat and enshrined in the 1907 Hague Convention, Swiss neutrality helped bind together the multilingual confederation during the World Wars.

The right-wing Swiss Peoples' Party (SVP), the biggest group in the Swiss lower house of parliament, argues neutrality is an integral part of Switzerland's prosperity and that Bern's support for Ukraine undermines it.

The SVP has initiated a referendum to embed neutrality in the constitution, though it is unlikely to be held before 2025.

The party's most emblematic figure, Christoph Blocher, this month criticized the peace summit, saying failure to invite Russia did not augur well for Switzerland.

"We're only bringing the Ukrainians," he said. "And we say we're neutral."

(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Peter Graff)
'I need answers': Mother of Waupun prisoner who died of rare stroke files federal lawsuit

Cameron Williams, 24, died inside his cell at Waupun Correctional Institution in October. Prisoners allege he was sick days prior and prison staff failed to properly care for Williams. His cause of death is under investigation.

The mother of Cameron Williams, a prisoner at Waupun Correctional Institution who died from a rare stroke after other prisoners say he begged staff for help, has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Corrections and prison officials.

"Hopefully no family has to go through this again," said Raven Anderson in an interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The federal lawsuit, filed Tuesday, alleges Williams' constitutional rights protecting against cruel and unusual process were violated.

Williams, 24, was found dead inside his solitary confinement cell on the morning of Oct. 30, 2023. The Dodge County Medical Examiner determined Williams died from a stroke caused by "multifocal cerebral venous thrombosis," or multiple blood clots in the brain.

Williams "sought medical treatment and was ignored by correctional officers," according to the lawsuit, which includes a request for a jury trial and unspecified monetary damages.

In addition, the lawsuit names former DOC Secretary Kevin Carr, Deputy Secretary Jared Hoy, Waupun Warden Randall Hepp and two unnamed correctional officers referred to as "John Doe." Carr retired in March.

A Wisconsin Department of Corrections spokeswoman declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Anderson is represented by Lonnie Story, a Florida-based attorney who also filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of other prisoners at Waupun over a lengthy lockdown last year.

Prisoners describe Williams' last days, including his 'blood-curdling' screams

The lawsuit repeatedly cited a Journal Sentinel investigation that pieced together the circumstances of Williams' death.

Prisoners held in the same unit as Williams described his final days to the news organization through a series of letters, emails and phone interviews.

According to their accounts:

Williams began feeling unwell around Oct. 21, telling one of the men he was throwing up blood, losing his hearing and experiencing blurred vision. Williams was placed on suicide watch and removed from the unit. When he returned, his speech was slurred and his condition seemed worse.

The men said Williams spent Oct. 28 bursting into fits of crying and pleading for assistance.

The screams were blood-curdling, Robert Ward later wrote in a letter to the Journal Sentinel. No one came to help him.

That evening, Williams fell silent.

None of the men interviewed by the Journal Sentinel heard any sound from his cell or saw any movement over the next 36 hours or so, even as correctional staff continued to stop by Williams' cell and called out to him at several points.

About 10 a.m. Oct. 30, prison staff pulled Williams' body out of his cell. Three prisoners told the Journal Sentinel his body appeared stiff and his face ashy and puffy, leading the men to question how long Williams had been dead.

Officials say a time of death has not been determined. The Dodge County medical examiner's office, the Dodge County Sheriff's Office and the state Department of Corrections continue to investigate Williams' death.

Williams had history of mental health disorders

Williams, a Chicago native, had a history of mental health struggles before his incarceration.

Medical records reviewed by the Journal Sentinel describe a troubled childhood marked by domestic violence, substance abuse, stints in juvenile detention, and a history of suicidal ideation starting as early as 9 years old.

Anderson believes her son was neglected and misunderstood by prison staff because of his mental health disorders.

He did have a mental illness and I dont think that they took the time to recognize that, she said.

In 2019, Williams was sentenced to prison for pushing a woman to take her purse in Green Bay. He was released twice on community supervision, but each time returned to prison after probation agents found he broke the rules of his supervision, said Beth Hardtke, a DOC spokeswoman.

Raven Anderson lost her 24-year-old son Cameron Williams when he died inside his cell at Waupun Correctional Institution.

At the time of his death, he was potentially facing several more years on charges of assaulting prison staff.

Waupun was one of several Wisconsin prisons placed on lockdown, or modified movement, last year. Although the restrictions were gradually lifted, incarcerated people and their advocates say the state agency has long been ill-equipped to handle the mental and physical health needs of the people in their care.

Williams was the third of four prisoners to die at the maximum-security facility over an eight-month period.

Since his death, his mother's life has been turned upside down. She left her job as a social worker. Her 26-year-old son, Devin Anderson, has been missing since November when he was last seen in Illinois. Her other children, ranging in age from 13 to 26, often ask what happened to Williams.

She doesn't know what to tell them because she does not know herself. She said she remains troubled by the lack of transparency from the Wisconsin prison system.

"I need answers," she said. "I want justice for my son."

Drake Bentley can be reached at 414-391-5647 or dbentley1@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Mom of Cameron Williams who died at Waupun prison files lawsuit
A prominent anti-Hamas activist was arrested for racism after eating a banana during a pro-Palestine protest.

Niyak Ghorbani was accused of making a racist gesture with the banana while standing with counter protesters in central London last Saturday.

The 38-year-old Iranian dissident, who has become a familiar figure for holding a Hamas Are Terrorists banner at counter protests, denies he was being racist and insists he was simply eating the fruit.

He was referencing recent events on American campuses in which bananas were used to taunt pro-Palestinian protesters.

Mr Gohrbani was handcuffed and led away by five officers after pro-Palestine protesters outside Barclays Bank in Tottenham Court Road complained to police.

Following his arrest Mr Ghorbani was bailed on condition that he does not enter the boroughs of Camden or Westminster or be present at any pro-Palestine demonstration.

He is currently seeking legal advice in order to challenge the bail conditions, following a previous successful bid to have them removed.

Footage from last Saturdays incident showed Mr Ghorbani eating a banana and later waving another one in the air alongside his England flag. At one stage tensions erupt after he offers the uneaten banana to a protester wearing a Palestinian scarf around his face.

Separate footage shows an officer taking the flag from Mr Ghorbani and the banana being trodden underfoot as he is led away. Other counter-protesters around him can be seen holding placards reading No Hostages; No Ceasefire. Openly pro-Israel.

I didnt make any racist gestures

Mr Ghorbani told The Telegraph: I was holding my Hamas Are Terrorists banner and when the marchers tried to cover it with flags to hide it I got out my England flag and flew that.

At the same time I got one of my two bananas and started eating it. I didnt make any racist gestures or insults. I was just standing there eating a banana but somebody must have complained about me being racist.

As the march moved away in the direction of University College London to join students there protesting over the war in Gaza, officers moved in to arrest Mr Ghorbani.

Mr Ghorbani claims that as he was being led away one of the officers told him that the flag of St George was sometimes flown by racists and that carrying the banana could be interpreted as a racist gesture.

He said: I never showed a banana to a black person. I did not see any black person there, and this is completely a fabricated issue. I am a foreigner myself and have never racially insulted anyone. I was only using it like they do in America to make fun of the pro-Palestinian protestors.

Mr Ghorbani claims that during the arrest a number of his personal items were confiscated for evidence, including a T-shirt reading FCK HMS.

Niyak Ghorbani has been arrested several times during his counter-protests - Christopher Pledger for the Telegraph

The Metropolitan Police has previously tried to ban Mr Ghorbani, who has been arrested several times during his counter-protests, from going near any demonstrations in central London relating to Israel and the conflict in Gaza.

But a judge last month threw out the strict bail conditions. Deputy district judge Lisa Towell ruled the conditions were neither proportionate nor necessary.

Mr Ghorbani, who has been manhandled and attacked during his counter protests, insists he is doing nothing wrong in pointing out that Hamas is a proscribed terror group under UK law.

He accuses the Metropolitan Police of harassment, saying they want to prevent him from staging counter-protests over the marches that have regularly staged in London against Israels retaliation to Hamass Oct 7 attacks.

The police are trying to find a way to break my spirit, he said. They have targeted me and are trying to find something to use against me.

Scotland Yard said: A man was arrested on suspicion of a racially aggravated offence under section 4a of the Public Order Act, during a protest in Camden Borough on May 4.

The arrest was made after officers received reports that a man in the crowd had made racist gestures at people gathered at the location.

It added: The arrest was not made in relation to any signs, placards or flags being displayed as part of the protest. The man has been released on bail pending further enquiries.

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.
Subscription to paid content

Gain access to all that Trend has to offer, as well as to premium, licensed content via subscription or direct purchase through a credit card.
Signs are pictured outside an early voting center on Thursday, May 9, 2024, in Rockville, Md. President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump look to pad their delegate totals in Maryland Tuesday, May 14. Maryland voters will also decide contested primaries in a Senate race that has further complicated Democratic efforts to keep control of the narrowly divided chamber this fall. (AP Photo/Robert Yoon)

ROCKVILLE, Md. (AP)  President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump look to add to their string of victories and pad their delegate totals in Maryland on Tuesday as the presidential primary campaign enters its final weeks. Voters will also decide contested primaries in a U.S. Senate race that has further complicated Democratic efforts to keep control of the narrowly divided chamber this fall.

Marylands presidential primaries wont have much of an impact on the races for the Democratic and Republican nominations, as both Biden and Trump have already been crowned as their parties presumptive nominees. But the Maryland ballots feature options that have proved to be stubborn irritations to both campaigns in recent contests  for Biden, its  uncommitted  and for Trump, its former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley.

In the Pennsylvania primary in April, for instance, the Democratic primary saw a surge in write-in votes after activists urged voters to write uncommitted on the ballot in lieu of voting for Biden. In the Republican contest, Haley received about 17% of the vote, despite having dropped out of the race in early March. Haley got almost 22% of the vote in Indiana's presidential primary on May 7.

In the U.S. Senate primaries to replace retiring Democratic incumbent Ben Cardin, former GOP Gov. Larry Hogans late entry into the race has given Republicans hope of a possible pick-up in a state that hasnt elected a Republican U.S. Senator since 1980. As a two-term governor, Hogan is the best-known and most formidable of the seven candidates vying for the GOP nomination.

The Democratic primary features 10 candidates, most notably U.S. Rep. David Trone and Prince Georges County Executive Angela Alsobrooks. Trone, who has loaned his campaign $54 million, has far outspent Alsobrooks, who had spent about $5.9 million by late April. But Alsobrooks has the support of much of the states Democratic establishment, including Gov. Wes Moore, U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and five of the states six U.S. representatives whose endorsements were up for grabs. She also recently won the endorsement of The Washington Post.

Three open U.S. House seats have drawn unusually large primary fields. Six Democrats and three Republicans are running to replace retiring 11-term Democratic incumbent Dutch Ruppersberger in the 2nd District north of Baltimore City.

In the neighboring 3rd District, which includes Howard and parts of Anne Arundel and Carroll counties, 22 candidates are running in the Democratic primary, including two state senators, three state delegates and retired police officer Harry Dunn, who defended the U.S. Capitol against rioters on Jan. 6., 2021.

Sixteen Democrats and seven Republicans will appear on the ballots in the 6th Congressional District seat Trone is giving up to run for the Senate.

In Baltimore City, first-term Mayor Brandon Scott faces a dozen Democratic primary challengers, including a rematch with former Mayor Sheila Dixon, his chief 2020 primary opponent who resigned the office in 2010 following a corruption scandal.

Heres a look at what to expect on Tuesday:

PRIMARY DAY

Marylands presidential and state primaries will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 8 p.m. ET.

WHATS ON THE BALLOT

The Associated Press will report vote results for the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, as well as for contested primaries for U.S. Senate, U.S. House and Baltimore mayor. The options in the Democratic presidential primary are Biden, Dean Phillips, Marianne Williamson and Uncommitted to any presidential candidate. In the Republican primary, the options are Trump and Haley.

WHO GETS TO VOTE

Maryland has a closed primary system, which means that only voters registered with a political party may participate in that partys primary. Democrats may not vote in the Republican primary or vice versa. Independent or unaffiliated voters may not participate in either primary.

DELEGATE ALLOCATION RULES

Marylands 95 pledged Democratic delegates are allocated according to the national partys standard rules. Twenty-one at-large delegates are allocated in proportion to the statewide vote, as are 11 PLEO delegates, or party leaders and elected officials.

The states eight congressional districts have a combined 63 delegates at stake, which are allocated in proportion to the vote results in each district. Candidates must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote to qualify for any statewide delegates, and 15% of the vote in a congressional district to qualify for delegates in that district.

In the Republican presidential primary, all 37 delegates at stake will be awarded to the winner of the statewide vote.

DECISION NOTES

In the presidential race, Biden and Trump are the favorites in their primaries as neither candidate faces credible challenges. The first indications that they are winning statewide on a level consistent with the overwhelming margins seen in most other contests held this year may be sufficient to determine the statewide winners.

The jurisdictions to watch for signs of protest votes against either Biden or Trump are probably the states most Democratic-leaning areas of Baltimore City and Prince Georges and Montgomery counties in the Washington suburbs.

In the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate, the key areas to watch will be the states Democratic strongholds. In order to win, Trone and Alsobrooks would each need to run up the score in their respective vote-rich home counties of Montgomery and Prince Georges.

Trone is also expected to perform well in more conservative Western Maryland, which he represents in Congress. That leaves Baltimore City and the surrounding counties of Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel in a position to be decisive.

In the Republican primary, Hogan is well known across the state, but his vocal criticism of Trump could alienate the former presidents supporters in Western Maryland and the Eastern Shore.

In his successful 2014 primary, Hogan won the states population centers of Montgomery, Prince Georges, Baltimore, Anne Arundel, Howard and Frederick counties, as well as Baltimore City. He lost much of Western and Southern Maryland and the Eastern Shore. Winning in these more conservative areas on Tuesday would probably be a sign of a decisive statewide primary win for Hogan.

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when its determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

There are no automatic recounts in Maryland, but a candidate may request one for free if the vote margin is 0.25% of the total vote or less. Candidates may also pay for a recount in cases where the vote margin is 5% of the total vote or less. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

As of March 31, there were nearly 4.5 million registered voters in Maryland. Of the 4.2 million active registered voters, about 53% were Democrats and 24% were Republicans.

In the 2022 primaries, turnout was about 16% of registered voters in the Democratic primary and about 7% in the Republican primary. About 57% of Democratic primary ballots and 36% of Republican primary ballots were cast before Election Day.

As of Wednesday, a total of 372,761 ballots had been cast before the primary, about 71% in the Democratic primary and about 26% in the Republican primary. In-person early voting concluded on Thursday.

HOW LONG DOES VOTE-COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?

In the 2022 primaries, the AP first reported results at 8:42 p.m. ET, or 42 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 4:15 a.m. ET with about 56% of total votes counted.

ARE WE THERE YET?

As of Tuesday, there will be 62 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, 97 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and 175 days until the November general election.
FILE - Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., speaks during a hearing, March 14, 2023, in Washington. Nebraskans will cast presidential primary ballots Tuesday, May 14, 2024, in a reliably Republican state that could nonetheless play a decisive role in the race for the White House. Voters will also decide several contested state primaries, including U.S. Senate, where both Republican incumbents are on the ballot. Fischer is seeking a third term. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  Nebraskans will cast presidential primary ballots Tuesday in a reliably Republican state that could nonetheless be a decisive one in the race for the White House. Voters will also decide several contested state primaries, including the U.S. Senate, where both Republican incumbents are on the ballot.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump should easily win their primaries, as they already unofficially secured their parties nominations on March 12. But Nebraska presents the latest opportunities for voters to cast protest votes against both presumptive nominees.

On the Republican side, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley continues to receive a sizable share of the vote despite ending her campaign in early March. Biden and Trump have won almost every contest this year by overwhelming margins, but the persistent protest votes with just a few weeks left in the primary season have raised questions about voter dissatisfaction with both candidates.

Biden has faced organized campaigns in several states to vote for uncommitted in protest of the war in Gaza. In Nebraska, though, the only options for those casting protest votes on the Democratic side are to vote for Rep. Dean Phillips or to write in a candidate, and the state only counts write-in ballots for candidates who have filed an affidavit and paid a filing fee before the election. None have done so.

Nebraska votes reliably Republican in presidential elections, but the state awards electoral college votes based on the vote in individual congressional districts. Biden won one of Nebraskas five electoral votes in 2020 because he got the most votes in the states 2nd Congressional District.

Elsewhere on the ballot, Republican U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts both face nominal opposition in their primaries, one of the rare occasions when both senators in a state are on the ballot at the same time. Fischer is seeking a third term, while Ricketts is running to complete the remaining two years of former Republican U.S. Sen. Ben Sasses term. Sasse resigned in 2023 to become president of the University of Florida. Ricketts, who had just completed two terms as governor, was appointed by the new Republican Gov. Jim Pillen to fill Sasses vacancy, and he now faces a required special election to serve out the term.

In Nebraskas 2nd Congressional District, Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon faces a challenge from his right flank from Dan Frei, who previously ran for the seat in 2014. Bacon is one of 16 Republican members of Congress representing a district that Biden carried in 2020. The 2nd District, anchored in Omaha, delivered Biden one electoral vote under the states unique rules where each congressional district awards one electoral vote. That outcome prompted some Nebraska Republicans as well as national pro-Trump activists to call for changing state law to award all the states electoral votes to the statewide winner. Without the change, the 2nd District is expected to be hotly contested in the presidential race, in addition to race for the U.S. House seat.

Contested primaries will also be held in the 1st and 3rd Congressional Districts, as well as for several seats in the states non-partisan, single-chamber legislature.

Heres a look at what to expect on Tuesday:

PRIMARY DAY

Nebraskas presidential and state primaries will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 9 p.m. ET statewide.

WHATS ON THE BALLOT

The Associated Press will provide vote results for the Democratic and Republican presidential primaries, as well as contested primaries for both U.S. Senate seats, four U.S. House primaries and 15 state legislative primaries. Appearing on the Democratic presidential ballot are Biden, Dean Phillips and a write-in option. The Republican ballot features Trump, Nikki Haley and Perry Johnson, as well as the write-in option.

WHO GETS TO VOTE

Nebraska Republicans have a closed primary system, which means that only registered Republicans may participate in a Republican primary. Registered Democrats and independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in the Democratic primary.

DELEGATE ALLOCATION RULES

Nebraskas 29 pledged Democratic delegates are allocated according to the national partys standard rules. Six at-large delegates are allocated in proportion to the statewide vote, as are three PLEO delegates, or party leaders and elected officials. The states three congressional districts have a combined 20 delegates at stake, which are allocated in proportion to the vote results in each district. Candidates must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote to qualify for any statewide delegates, and 15% of the vote in a congressional district to qualify for delegates in that district.

In the Republican presidential primary, all 36 delegates at stake will be awarded to the winner of the statewide vote.

DECISION NOTES

In the presidential race, Biden and Trump are the favorites in their primaries as neither candidate faces credible challenges. The first indications that they are winning statewide on a level consistent with the overwhelming margins seen in most other contests held this year may be sufficient to determine the statewide winners. If organized protest votes materialize in either the Democratic or Republican primaries, it will probably be strongest in the Omaha area. Haleys best performances in the campaign this year have come from states' Democratic areas.

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when its determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

Recounts are automatic in Nebraska if the vote margin is 1% of the total vote or less in races where more than 500 votes are cast. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is eligible for a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

As of April 1, there were about 1.2 million registered voters in Nebraska. Of those, 49% were Republicans and 27% were Democrats.

In the 2022 primaries, turnout was about 22% of more than 1.2 million registered voters in the Republican primary and about 8% in the Democratic primary. That year, about 39% of voters in the Republican primary and 65% in the Democratic primary cast their ballots before Election Day.

As of Thursday, a total of 116,343 ballots had been cast before primary day, about 54% in the Republican primary and 40% in the Democratic primary.

HOW LONG DOES VOTE-COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?

In the 2022 primaries, the AP first reported results at 9:03 p.m. ET, or three minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 2:02 a.m. ET with about 95 % of total votes counted.

ARE WE THERE YET?

As of Tuesday, there will be 62 days until the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, 97 days until the Democratic National Convention in Chicago and 175 days until the November general election.
This image provided by Jeremy Harwell shows Republican Brad Knott, who is running to represent North Carolina's 13th Congressional District. North Carolina's lone congressional runoff, in the state's 13th Congressional District, became a one-person race when former President Donald Trump endorsed Brad Knott. (Jeremy Harwell/Brad Knott for Congress via AP)

WASHINGTON (AP)  North Carolina's lone congressional runoff, in the state's 13th Congressional District, became a one-person race when former President Donald Trump endorsed Brad Knott this month, leading his opponent to suspend her campaign.

Congressional candidate Kelly Daughtry will remain on the ballot because her withdrawal took place too late. She received the most votes in the states March 5 primary but failed to win the nomination outright.

Early in-person voting and mail-in voting started before she withdrew.

The runoff in the 13th District will take place alongside two other runoffs for statewide positions, those of lieutenant governor and state auditor.

In a statement announcing the suspension of her campaign, Daughtry endorsed Knott, a former federal prosecutor.

North Carolina Republicans passed a new congressional map last fall that creates 10 reliably Republican seats, an increase of three from the previous map. Tuesdays runoff in the states 13th Congressional District will determine the third and final Republican nominee for these likely flips.

The 13th District, which is just south of Raleigh, was redrawn to exclude a populous portion of Wake County that helped elect Democrat Wiley Nickel in 2022. The new district, which now includes some or all of eight counties, is much more friendly to Republican candidates. (Had these lines been in place in 2020, former President Donald Trump would have won this district by 17 percentage points; under the previous lines, the district went to President Joe Biden by a 2-point margin.)

Nickel announced in December he wouldnt seek reelection, and 14 Republican candidates jumped into the race. No clear victor emerged from the crowded primary that followed. In the statewide primary on March 5, no candidate received at least 30% of the vote  the threshold that would eliminate the prospect of a runoff  and Knott, the second-place candidate, formally sought a runoff.

The Republican nominee will face Democrat Frank Pierce, a business owner, in the general election.

Heres a look at what to expect on election night:

ELECTION DAY

The Republican primary runoff elections in North Carolina will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET.

WHATS ON THE BALLOT

The Associated Press will provide coverage for the Republican primary runoff elections for the Republican nomination for North Carolinas 13th Congressional District, lieutenant governor and state auditor.

The two candidates for the 13th District who advanced from the March 5 primary are Kelly Daughtry and Brad Knott. Daughtry suspended her campaign on May 2 but will still appear on the ballot.

WHO GETS TO VOTE

Voters who participated in the Republican primary on March 5 may vote in the primary runoff on Tuesday. To vote in the 13th Congressional District, a voter must live in the district. Unaffiliated registered voters who did not cast a ballot on March 5 may also choose to vote in the primary runoff. Unaffiliated voters who voted another partys ballot  for example, a nonpartisan, Democratic or Libertarian ballot -- in the first primary would be ineligible to participate.

DECISION NOTES

Runoffs tend to be lower-turnout affairs than the elections that prompted them. Low turnout, particularly in smaller jurisdictions, could slow the race-calling.

The lieutenant governor's runoff, between Forsyth County District Attorney Jim O'Neill and political strategist Hal Weatherman, is perhaps the most impactful race on the ballot Tuesday. The office is widely seen as a stepping stone for higher office. (Current Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson is the 2024 GOP nominee for governor.)

Weatherman and O'Neill advanced first and second, respectively, out of an 11-candidate field. Weatherman finished with 19.6% of the statewide vote, driven by his strong performances in the eastern central counties. O'Neill got 15.8% of the vote. O'Neill did best in his home county of Forsyth, the fourth-biggest county in the state, and the surrounding areas. Three other candidates also received at least 10% of the vote.

The winner of the runoff will face Democrat Rachel Hunt in November.

In the race for Congress, Daughtry advanced out of the March 5 primary ahead of Knott by more than 7,000 votes, receiving 27.4% of the vote to Knotts 18.7%.

Though his opponent has withdrawn, Knott is still encouraging his supporters to turn out to vote.

Should Daughtry win the second primary but not accept the nomination, the Republicans 13th District executive committee would appoint a candidate to appear on the November ballot, state elections board spokesperson Pat Gannon told the AP.

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when its determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

As of March 5, there were 7,459,529 registered voters in North Carolina. Of those, 32% were Democrats and 30% were Republicans. Overall turnout was 24% in the March primaries.

There were 474,998 registered voters in the 13th District. Of those, 28% were Democrats and 34% were Republicans. About 33% of votes in the 13th District's March primary were cast before Election Day.

HOW LONG DOES VOTE-COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?

In the 13th Districts Republican primary in March, the AP first reported results at 7:39 p.m. ET, or nine minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at 11:28 p.m. ET with about 99% of total votes counted.

ARE WE THERE YET?

As of Tuesday, there will be 175 days until the November general election.
WASHINGTON (AP)  Republican Gov. Jim Justice, whos running for Senate, is just one of a handful of high flyers in West Virginia who decided it was time for a change of pace.

A former billionaire who owns the Greenbrier Resort, Justice is ineligible to run for reelection in West Virginia due to term limits. So, Justice set his sights on Washington, where Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin was facing his toughest race yet in a state that former President Donald Trump last won by about 40 points.

Justice, a former Democrat, switched to the Republican Party in 2017, making the announcement at a Trump rally in Huntington, West Virginia.

Instead of attempting to run for another term in Trump country, Manchin decided to pass, adding another open seat to the map in which the Republican nominee will be the heavy favorite in the fall.

In the race for the GOP nomination for Senate, Justice is the front-runner. His top competitor is Rep. Alex Mooney, though five other Republicans are running as well.

Don Blankenship, who was convicted of violating safety standards after 29 people died in a 2010 coal mine explosion, is running for the Senate as a Democrat, even though he ran as a Republican in the 2018 Senate race. Blankenship faces Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott, who has Manchins endorsement, and Marine Corps veteran Zach Shrewsbury, who has support from the Progressive Democrats of America.

Attorney General Patrick Morrisey, the Republican nominee in the 2018 Senate race against Manchin, is running for governor, as are the sons of two members of West Virginias congressional delegation: car dealer Chris Miller, whose mother is Rep. Carol Miller, and former state Rep. Moore Capito, whose mother is Sen. Shelley Moore Capito and whose grandfather is the late Gov. Arch A. Moore Jr..

West Virginia Secretary of State Mac Warner is running for governor, as well. Two lesser-known candidates  Kevin Christian and Mitch Roberts  will also appear on the GOP ballot. On the Democratic side, Huntington Mayor Steve Williams is unopposed.

Mooneys pursuit of the open Senate seat means hes leaving a Republican-leaning district open, prompting a competitive primary for his U.S. House seat. State Treasurer Riley Moore won early endorsements from then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and from Mooney himself. Speaker Mike Johnson has also endorsed Moore. Moore is one of five Republicans running to replace Mooney, though retired Air Force Brigadier General Chris Mookie Walker is the only one who has come close to keeping pace with Moore on fundraising.

In the 1st District, Derrick Evans, a former member of the House of Delegates who served a three-month sentence after livestreaming himself participating in the Jan. 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol, is running against incumbent Carol Miller.

The least competitive races of the bunch might be the presidential primaries, which Trump and President Joe Biden are expected to win easily.

Heres a look at what to expect on Tuesday.

PRIMARY DAY

West Virginias primary election will be held Tuesday. Polls close at 7:30 p.m. ET.

WHATS ON THE BALLOT

The Associated Press will provide coverage for 61 races, including the presidential primary. Four candidates, including former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, join Trump on the Republican presidential ballot. On the Democratic ballot, Bidens name appears along with four others. There is no uncommitted or write-in option on the presidential ballot.

In addition to the open seats for governor, U.S. Senate race, and the 2nd Congressional District, West Virginia is holding primaries for multiple statewide offices, including secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, commissioner of agriculture, and attorney general.

WHO GETS TO VOTE

Registered Democrats may only vote in the Democratic primary, and registered Republicans may only vote in the Republican primary. Independent or unaffiliated voters may participate in either primary. Voters who registered with a party that is not officially recognized by the state may also vote in either primary.

DELEGATE ALLOCATION RULES

West Virginias 20 pledged Democratic delegates are allocated according to the national partys standard rules. Four at-large delegates are allocated in proportion to the statewide vote, as are three PLEO delegates, or party leaders and elected officials. The states two congressional districts have a combined 13 delegates at stake, which are allocated in proportion to the vote results in each district. Candidates must receive at least 15% of the statewide vote to qualify for any statewide delegates, and 15% of the vote in a congressional district to qualify for delegates in that district.

There are 32 delegates at stake in the Republican presidential primary, all of which will go to the winner.

DECISION NOTES

Justice, a popular governor who was endorsed by Manchin in 2016 before Justice's party switch led to a falling out between the pair, is favored to win the Republican nomination for the Senate. To have a shot at beating him, Mooney would probably have to rack up high numbers in his own 2nd congressional district.

The governors race, meanwhile, has become a messy messaging war as the candidates vie for the state's conservative base, with Morrisey having spent most on the race as of the latest filing deadline, followed by Capito and Miller. All four of the top candidates have some sort of statewide appeal, since two currently hold statewide office and the others have famous last names.

Capito had represented Kanawha County for about seven years when he resigned in December to focus on his campaign for governor, and may be able to count on a small pocket of votes in the Charleston-based county.

On the Democratic side, Elliotts endorsement from Manchin, a longtime fixture in West Virginia politics, could help boost him in the primary. Blankenship, meanwhile, has spent more than $100,000 on broadcast campaign ads, including a slate of ads in which he speaks directly to the camera, arguing that independents should vote for him. And Shrewsbury, who is running as the most progressive candidate with a working-class focus, has been the top spender in the race.

The AP does not make projections and will declare a winner only when its determined there is no scenario that would allow the trailing candidates to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

WHAT DO TURNOUT AND ADVANCE VOTE LOOK LIKE?

As of March 31, there were 1,172,783 registered voters in West Virginia. Of those, 31% were Democrats and 40% were Republicans.

In the 2020 primaries, turnout was 15% of registered voters in the Democratic primary and 17% on the Republican side.

As of May 9, a total of 55,358 ballots had been cast before Election Day.

HOW LONG DOES VOTE-COUNTING USUALLY TAKE?

In the 2022 election, the AP first reported results at about 7:40 p.m. ET, or 10 minutes after polls closed. The election night tabulation ended at about 11:20 p.m. ET with about 87% of total votes counted.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  The Austin Police Department said it was searching for a burglary suspect accused of stealing mail from apartment complexes in Austin.

APD said the suspect has access to a universal mail master key, which has been used to unlock the victims mailboxes.

The suspect has been seen on numerous different dates entering apartment complex mail rooms and stealing the residents mail, APD said.

According to police, detectives were looking into incidents dating back to Dec. 24, 2023, with the most recent burglary occurring March 5 off Harmon Avenue in central Austin.

Police described the suspect as a 35 to 45-year-old white man with a thin build and a possible tattoo around his left wrist. APD said he also has a mustache, dark hair and was balding.

Suspect accused of stealing mail using universal master key on victims mailboxes (APD photo)

Suspect accused of stealing mail using universal master key on victims mailboxes (APD photo)

Vehicle of suspect accused of stealing mail at Austin apartment complexes (APD photo)

The suspects vehicle was described as a gray 4-door Toyota Tacoma TRD with possible stolen plates.

APD asked that anyone with any information to contact the department at 512-974-TIPS. Tips can also be submitted anonymously through the Capital Area Crime Stoppers Program by visiting austincrimestoppers.org or by calling 512-472-8477.

A reward of up to $1,000 may be available for any information that leads to an arrest.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Javier Milei has started his libertarian economic experiment to transform Argentina. In a series of dispatches, The Telegraphs World Economy Editor, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard, travels through what used to be one of the worlds richest nations to examine whether shock therapy can work.

Argentinas repudiation of the Brics is more than a minor earthquake in global diplomacy. It has broken the spell of an ever-widening bloc of states pitted against the Western liberal order.

Momentum has been all one way since the original quartet of Brazil, Russia, India and China launched the bloc in 2009, later expanded to South Africa, and then Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Ethiopia and the Emirates at the start of this year.

Finally, a country from the Global South  a tortuous ideological construction  has pulled back from a grouping that is increasingly a front for Xi Jinpings expansionist China, and for the creation of a Chinese-run financial system aimed at displacing the Bretton Woods institutions.

A defector has repositioned itself as a stalwart member of the liberal democracies and the US military alliance, without ifs or buts, as a matter of moral and philosophical preference, and at some risk to its immediate economic interests.

The Brics alliance has increasingly become a front for Xi Jinping's expansionist designs - Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images

The West is in real danger, that is why we have to stick together, said President Javier Milei.

My priority is to be an ally of the United States. I will not negotiate with communists, he declared after winning the election in November. To near universal surprise, his actions have been swift, dramatic and fully aligned with his words.

The Biden administration can hardly conceal its delight that a country so often in the vanguard of Latin Americas intellectual and political fashion has switched sides. The White House has bitten its tongue over Mileis rapturous praise of Donald Trump, concentrating on the larger strategic prize.

The US Secretary of State and the head of the CIA have hurried to Buenos Aires to seal the alliance. So has the four-star chief of US Southern Command. President Milei, we hear you loud and clear, said General Laura Richardson.

This is quite a blow for China after all the hype on the Brics. If Milei can make a success of it and show that he doesnt need China after all, it will have a demonstration effect across Latin America, said George Magnus, from Oxford Universitys China Centre.

It is hard to overstate the extraordinary spectacle of Javier Milei appearing last month in naval combat dress side by side with Richardson at the frozen Patagonian port of Ushuaia and announcing a joint military base to patrol the Antarctic, with almost no prior warning and against the furious dissent of the governor of Tierra del Fuego, who declared the US general to be persona non grata and an accomplice of the British occupation of the Malvinas.

Argentina applied to join Nato as a 'global partner' and bought 24 American F-16 fighter jets - EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

Days later, Argentina bought 24 American F-16 fighter jets from Denmark with Washingtons approval to replace its ageing Mirage jets. The defence minister called it the most important purchase since the return to democracy in 1983. The UK quietly lifted its objections to help smooth the way.

The same week, Argentina formally applied to join Nato as a global partner. The political pieties of the Peronist Left establishment are toppling like ninepins. Even flights from Buenos Aires to Cuba have been suspended.

Javier Mileis admiration for the United States seems entirely genuine, and at times almost mystical. It harks back to a golden age of Argentine prosperity in the late 19th century shaped by the thinking of Juan Bautista Alberdi, an evangelist for the moral doctrines of Adam Smith and the Wealth of Nations.

The US constitution is very like our Alberdi constitution of 1853, which turned Argentina from a barbarous country into a top-tier world economy in 35 years. We share the same cultural DNA rooted in our founding fathers, he said.

It is these ideas that have lifted the vast majority of the worlds population out of extreme poverty and turned America into the power it is today. We deviated from the path and it has cost us 100 years of failure and economic misery.

Whether Argentinas golden age was ever quite so rich is disputed, but the country was doing well enough in 1901 to prompt a book by an Australian politician entitled, Our Great Rival: The Argentine Republic. Clientelist statism put paid to that. Australias per capita income is today four times higher.

Milei's cloned English Mastiff dogs are named after his favourite economists: Murray Rothbard, Milton Friedman and Robert Lucas - MARCELO DUBINI (CARAS - PERFIL)

Mr Milei calls himself an anarcho-capitalist, a storm-trooper for Austrian economics, but that is his showman act. His latest book  Capitalism, Socialism, and the Neoclassical Trap  is better read as a celebration of Adam Smith, the Hidden Hand, and the labour theory of value, even if the Scottish economist fails to make it into Mileis canine pantheon.

The four grown clones of Mileis beloved English Mastiff Conan (RIP) are named Murray for Rothbard, Milton for Friedman, and Robert and Lucas for Nobel laureate Robert Lucas, representing the Austrian School, monetarism and the Lucas Critique of neoclassical economics.

He plays with the dogs for an hour every morning before starting work, each clone kept in a separate pen because they fight. How do dogs establish hierarchy among a pack of clones? It is a behavioural conundrum.

Mr Mileis philo-Semitism is just as genuine and just as mystical. It is when I read Moses in the second book of the Torah that I became a Taliban for liberty. Without doubt, Moses is the greatest hero of liberty of all time, he said.

Raised a Catholic, Milei was captivated by Paul Johnsons History of the Jews and moved by degrees into the orbit of the Moroccan Sephardic synagogue in Buenos Aires.

One of his first presidential trips abroad was to pray at the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, wearing the kippah and a dog tag in solidarity with the hostages in Gaza. He revealed last month that his great grandmother was the daughter of a rabbi.

Unlike culture warriors on the American Right, he is a champion of Ukraine rather than an agent of Putins propaganda. That makes him an unusual and more compelling figure on the Western stage, alongside Italys Giorgia Meloni.

Will Argentina pay a high price for confronting the Russia-China axis head on, and for flirting with Taiwan? The outgoing Peronists  seduced by the extrapolation fallacy of Chinese GDP growth  cried from the rooftops that Argentina would lose millions of jobs and face financial implosion if it turned away from the Belt and Road and the beneficence of Beijing.

Like Giorgia Meloni, Milei's anti-Putin stance makes him a compelling figure compared to the culture warriors of the American Right - TIZIANA FABI/AFP

Javier Milei defied this Latin version of project fear. Chinese and Argentine private companies were free to conduct whatever legal commerce they wished, he declared, but the state would not have dealings with Xis communist regime beyond minimal protocol. Reality is already intruding, however.

Beijing provided $18bn of emergency swaps to cover foreign exchange reserves when nobody else would touch the country. The last tranche of $4.9bn comes due in June.

It is touch and go whether the Argentine central bank will have accumulated enough hard currency by then to meet the deadline, and failure to do so amounts to sovereign default. Much depends on the soybean harvest and the vagaries of the weather. Argentinas foreign minister and central bank governor have both been in Beijing over recent days to plead for an extension. China is playing hardball.

Two giant hydroelectric projects in Patagonia worth $5bn have been suspended in a move widely seen as retaliation. Gezhouba Group has laid off 1,800 workers and repatriated its engineers. Such Chinese infrastructure contracts and loans always have secret clauses and penalty triggers.

But at the end of day, China depends on imported food and primary products for its economic survival. It buys 93pc of its soybeans and almost 100pc of its sorghum and barley from Argentina. These are fungible commodities.

Even if China cut off Argentine purchases it would have to buy its animal feed from somewhere else, otherwise its own meat industry would collapse. The global market would reshuffle the grain trade until supply and demand came back into balance. Ditto for lithium. So who really calls the shots?

The next year is going to be a test case of what happens to an emerging market economy that pulls out of the Belt and Road and defies China.

The experiment is taking place at a time when informed economic opinion no longer thinks that China will overtake the US to become the worlds biggest economy by mid-century, and that it has probably condemned itself already to the middle income trap under Xi Jinpings neo-Maoist regression.

It is happening as India gravitates towards the Quad and the US-led security nexus in Asia, exposing the political incoherence of the Brics project. And it is happening as even Brazil starts to lose patience with Chinas beggar-thy-neighbour strategy of dumping its vast excess industrial capacity on the rest of the world.

Javier Milei may be a one-off personality, but he gained power by using TikTok and Twitter to tap into the libertarian undercurrents of Argentinas post-Peronist youth. Far from being a fleeting anomaly at the far end of the world, he may be the forerunner of a free market counter-revolution against wokery and the leviathan state. The West is not finished yet.

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 protestor holds a sign at an April 14, 2024, protest in favor of reproductive rights and abortion access in Scottsdale. Photo by Gloria Rebecca Gomez | Arizona Mirror

A Texas woman was forced to leave the state to end a nonviable pregnancy, a procedure her doctor said she needed. Doctors are consulting with administrators and lawyers before providing emergency treatment to pregnant patients. A woman in Florida was forced to deliver a stillborn fetus alone in a bathroom, and suffered life-threatening blood loss.

These are just a few examples of the consequences of strict abortion bans put in place in other states that abortion rights advocates say will face women and health care providers in Arizona if a Civil War-era abortion ban goes into effect next month.

On April 9, the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total abortion ban first enacted in 1864 was enforceable, causing an uproar from reproductive rights advocates  and some Republicans who, though they are anti-abortion, recognized that backing such a restrictive ban would not be politically popular.

The state Legislature then entered into a weeks-long struggle, with Democrats  joined by a total of five Republicans  ultimately voting to pass a repeal of the ban. However, like nearly every law that lawmakers have passed this year, the repeal wont take effect until 90 days after the end of the annual legislative session. As budget negotiations move slowly, theres no indication the session will end soon.

So, unless the state Supreme Court grants a stay in the case, the ban could be in effect for months before the repeal becomes law.

On Wednesday, a group of Arizona doctors and abortion access advocates from the Committee to Protect Health Care urged voters to support the Arizona Abortion Access Act thats expected to be on the November ballot. It would enshrine access to abortion until the point of fetal viability (around 24 weeks of pregnancy) as a right in the state constitution.

The Committee to Protect Health Care is a national advocacy group and political action committee made up of thousands of doctors which fights to expand health care access, lower costs and to protect reproductive freedom.

Politicians with no medical training or expertise shouldnt be interfering in emergency departments or exam rooms, Dr. Atsuko Koyama, an abortion provider at Camelback Family Planning in Phoenix and pediatric emergency medicine physician, said during the Wednesday press call.

Neither the 1864 ban, nor the 15-week ban that is currently the law, contain exceptions for victims of rape and incest. The 15-week ban, passed by Republicans in 2022, will go back into effect when the older ban is repealed

The only exception is an ambiguous one thats left to broad interpretation, which is to save a womans life, said Dr. Cadey Harrel, a Tucson family physician and the Arizona lead for the Committee to Protect Health Care.

Harrel said that she fears the 160-year-old ban will force women who dont have the money to leave the state for care  even those who are victims of horrific crimes, or whose pregnancies arent viable  to remain pregnant against their will.

Arizonans deserve better than this, they dont deserve either of these fates, she said. They dont deserve to have politicians playing games with their health, freedom and their livelihoods.

Koyama pointed out that what is considered a medical emergency isnt always black and white, and not every emergency is immediately life-threatening. She said the bans are meant to confuse and instill fear among physicians, which results in delayed care, and even death.

She said that these bans force doctors to ask themselves questions like: Is this patient close enough to death to intervene? How sick does my patient have to become before I can take the action that I know will save their health, future fertility or life? If I provide this blood transfusion or stabilizing medication, will this patient then become less close to death and be unable to have a life-saving abortion?

The abortion provider said shes seen countless examples of emergency abortions saving patient lives, such as when a patient had a premature rupture of membranes at 17 weeks of gestation, and was experiencing signs of severe infection. The patient was at risk of becoming septic, which could cause infertility and death.

For all Arizonans, this is an issue of personal freedom, privacy and for many of our patients, its an issue of health, Koyama said.

Tucson psychiatrist Jasleen Chhatwal said the mental health issues that abortion bans can cause should not be understated.

Banning access to safe and legal abortions forces women into potentially dangerous situations, increasing the risk of emotional distress, trauma, and long term psychological consequences, she said.

Chhatwal shared the story of a Texas woman Kate Cox, who, along with her doctor, sought legal permission to terminate a nonviable pregnancy in December 2023. The Texas Supreme Court denied their request and she was forced to go out of state to get an abortion.

Shed been in the emergency room four times in one month for pregnancy complications, her health and future fertility at risk, Chhatwal said.

She also shared what happened to Florida woman Anya Cook in 2022, whose water broke at 16 weeks, just past the 15-week ban then in place. But because the fetus still had cardiac activity, doctors in the emergency room couldnt perform an abortion.

Because of Floridas abortion ban, Anya was forced to deliver a stillborn fetus alone in a bathroom, losing so much blood it threatened her life, Chhatwal said. These tragic, horrific stories should not happen anywhere and they shouldnt happen here in Arizona. But they will continue to happen if we leave reproductive freedom up to political will.

Dr. Valerie Sorkin-Wells, a retired Scottsdale OBGYN and professor of obstetrics and gynecology, asked voters to support the Arizona Abortion Access Act in November, to restore the abortion rights afforded to women via Roe v. Wade until the U.S. Supreme Court struck it down in June 2022.

The Arizona Abortion Access Act is based on Arizona values and that Arizonans have the right to individual autonomy, including the right to make their own health care decisions without unnecessary government interference, Sorkin-Wells said.

She also countered an oft-repeated claim by anti-abortion activists: That because the act would allow the abortion after fetal viability  to protect the physical or mental health of the woman  it would allow abortions up until the point of birth.

Abortions up to term is not a thing, Sorkin-Wells said. Nobody does abortions up to term. The idea is not to have a gestational age requirement so that physicians are able to make decisions in our exam rooms and with patients without political interference.

Some mental health reasons that might require abortion after 24 weeks, she said, include instances of suicidal ideology, substance abuse disorders and drug overdoses. Abortion might be necessary after that point, as well, for very young victims of sexual assault who dont know theyre pregnant until after the point of viability, Sorkin-Wells said.

The other side

While abortion rights proponents work to get the word out about their November ballot initiative, anti-abortion activists are laboring to persuade the Arizona Supreme Court not to put a hold on implementation of the 1864 ban, as Democratic Attorney General Kris Mayes and Planned Parenthood Arizona have both requested.

The court quickly shot down Mayes initial request to reconsider its April 9 decision, but has not yet made a decision on requests from the attorney general and Planned Parenthood to delay enactment of the near-total ban until she decides whether to appeal it to the U.S. Supreme Court.

On Tuesday, attorneys representing Dr. Eric Hazelrigg, an obstetrician and the medical director of Choices Pregnancy Center, and Yavapai County Attorney Dennis McGrane filed a motion asking the court to enact the ban, which they say is the true will of the state Legislature.

In the filing, Hazelrigg is described as guardian ad litem (a court appointed guardian) of all Arizona unborn infants.

Choices Pregnancy Center is a nonprofit based in the Valley which provides free pregnancy care and information, but does not provide or refer for abortions.

Life is a human right, and Arizonas pro-life law respects that fundamental right, Jake Warner, a lawyer for the Alliance Defending Freedom, wrote in the filing. Arizonas pro-life law has protected unborn children for over 100 years, and while we are deeply saddened by the legislatures recent vote to repeal the law, it wont take effect immediately, as the legislature intentionally decided. We are urging the Arizona Supreme Court to allow the states pro-life law to protect as many innocent unborn children as possible.

The Alliance Defending Freedom is a conservative Christian legal advocacy group.

In the filing, Warner argued that the Arizona Legislature could have included an emergency clause in the repeal, which would have allowed it to be enacted immediately, but it didnt. In his view, Warner said that means the legislators dont want the repeal to go into effect immediately.

In truth, the legislature had insufficient votes to prioritize abortion providers over unborn children for the next few months, Warner wrote, adding that he doesnt think delaying the laws enactment will honor the will of the Arizona electorate.

Respondents seek unjust delay, he wrote. They also seek judicial approval for abortions the legislature has forbidden.

Warner asked the court to deny the requests from Mayes and Planned Parenthood and to instead move forward with enactment of the ban.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Arizona faces struggle, uncertainty around abortion, even after repealing the 1864 ban appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
The Arizona School Boards Association is searching for a new executive director after its previous leader resigned amid controversy that he had falsified information in his resume.

Several changes were made to this years search process to ensure accurate applicant information and involve stakeholder feedback, said association spokesperson Heidi Vega. The Moran Company, a firm that recruits applicants for nonprofit organization leadership positions, was hired to help with the search.

Applications for the Phoenix-based position opened on May 2 and will close June 5. ASBA is a 75-year-old nonprofit that develops model school policies, finds superintendent candidates and trains school board members. More than 240 school district governing boards are ASBA members.

The Arizona School Boards Association building in Phoenix on Aug. 24, 2023.

An investigation by a law firm last year found that Devin Del Palacios resume indicated he had graduated from the now-closed Western International University with a bachelors degree in business administration. Del Palacio had no such degree but was hired anyway last June by the board of directors without input from a search firm or stakeholder group.

The association president resigned in protest, and 22 past presidents launched a pressure campaign to hold the association accountable.

Del Palacio resigned as executive director in December. The association's director of business and conference services, Ellen White, has been serving as acting executive director in the interim.

Vega said the associations board of directors established a search committee of stakeholders, including current and past ASBA board directors, the ASBA Black Alliance vice president and the former head of the Arizona Association of School Business. A recent survey also collected feedback from members who indicated they want an executive director who is local to Arizona and has strong communication and collaboration skills.

Qualified candidates must have a bachelors degree, undergo a background check and have five or more years of experience in education or a nonprofit organization. The posted salary range is $175,000 to $195,000.

The Moran Company plans to conduct semifinalist interviews by June 15 and final interviews by Aug. 3. ASBA aims to name its next executive director by Sept. 1.

A full job description is posted on The Moran Companys website. ASBA is also hiring for a director of legal and policy services.

Reach the reporter at nicholas.sullivan@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arizona School Boards Association searching for new executive director
Former Socorro Independent School District Superintendent Nate Carman will no longer take over as leader of an Arizona school district after the school board there rescinded the offer on Wednesday.

The board of the Higley Unified School District outside of Phoenix voted unanimously to rescind its employment agreement with Carman.

During the superintendent hiring process that we recently went through, applicants were asked to provide true, correct, and complete applications, including disclosing ongoing reviews of possible misconduct. They were specifically asked to explain any current or past situations that might impact their application, Higley USD Governing Board President Michelle Anderson said in a statement from the board before the vote.

The candidates were notified that misrepresenting or omitting facts could result in rejection of or dismissal from employment. Dr. Carman failed to disclose material facts during the hiring process. The search firm we used also failed to bring these facts to our attention. Had Dr. Carman provided us with correct and complete information, we would have made a different decision. In our view, his actions constitute just cause to rescind the employment agreement, Anderson said.

More: Judge dismisses over 200 cases related to March 21 migrant border 'riot' in El Paso

This comes more than a month after Carman was placed on administrative leave from Socorro ISD after an external forensics audit found he awarded contracts to a company he had previously done business with before joining the district, posing a conflict of interest.

Carman has denied wrongdoing.

Carman was selected to become superintendent of the Higley Unified School District in February and was set to start the new job in June.

Socorro ISD started searching for a permanent replacement for Carman on April 24 after trustees voted unanimously to hire the Texas Association of School Boards to help the district find a new superintendent. TASB is a nonprofit organization that provides assistance and training to Texas school boards.

The Socorro ISD board on April 8 appointed Deputy Superintendent James Vasquez as acting superintendent while the district works to find a permanent leader.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Former SISD superintendent Nate Carman's Arizona job offer rescinded
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  WREG Investigators sat down with Arkansas State Police to weigh the balance between frightening chases, getting bad guys off the road, and who gets caught in the middle.

If you see blue lights in your rearview mirror, you may immediately pull over, but some drivers dont.

What happens next in some cases can be deadly. From chases to police PIT maneuvers, you can see it all for yourself as YouTube videos are popping up.

When Arkansas State Police are hot on the trail of a suspect, they may pull what is called a PIT maneuver, a Precision Immobilization Technique, also known as a TVI or Tactical Vehicle Intervention.

He is going to kill somebody. High-speed police chase video draws criticism from expert

Col. Mike Hagar, head of ASP, describes the maneuver as a linear movement that causes the suspect vehicle to rotate and come to a stop.

Its extreme. The danger to the suspect is extreme. The danger to the trooper is extreme, said Hagar.



Plenty of people are now getting a close look at how these pursuits play out. YouTube is home to more and more videos showing the action and the ultimate consequences.

If you have a video that shows the consequences for running from the police, I feel as though that may be a deterrent, said James Bozeman, who runs a YouTube channel called Natural State Transparency.

He says the videos, from state trooper car cameras and obtained through Freedom of Information requests, show what happens in real-time, and also when something goes wrong.

They have made it clear that if you flee officers or a trooper in Arkansas and the Arkansas State Police gets involved, it will result in you potentially being PITed or TVId out at excessive speeds, and you know there will be consequences for that. You may lose your vehicle. You may lose your health or your life, said Bozeman.

In West Memphis last December, a driver died after his car careened over an embankment off I-40. State Police say he was driving 140 mph as the trooper was preparing to perform a TVI. The driver suddenly applied brakes causing a collision.

Man dead after police chase on I-40 in Arkansas

In another case, troopers say Demarcus Clark was fleeing from a traffic stop on Interstate 40 last July. The trooper used a TVI. Clarks vehicle collided with the troopers, injuring the officer and killing Clark.

One chase in Forest City ended with an Arkansas State Trooper performing a PIT maneuver on the wrong car. That trooper ended up retiring.

Arkansas state trooper resigns after performing PIT maneuver on wrong vehicle

There are examples out there where, unfortunately, troopers rushed to do a TVI, only to find out that was the wrong vehicle, said Bozeman.

Hager says in those cases, they go back to training and retraining.

When our guys make mistakes, we are gonna learn from it. We are gonna hold them accountable, Hagar said.

Lt. Col. Mike Kennedy is in charge of training for Arkansas State Police. He says all troopers get 84 hours of training on vehicle operations and pursuit driving.

Its absolutely not safe for our troopers to perform these techniques. But theyve sworn oath to protect the public. So they put themselves between the public and the fleeing suspect, said Kennedy. Youre attempting to make it spin out. And most of the time during the spin, the suspect vehicle will stall out.

A pregnant woman whose car was rolled by an Arkansas Trooper is now suing for negligence and excessive force.

Nicole Harper says she put on her flashers and was looking for a safe place to pull over. The officer says she was fleeing.

There was a less dangerous and more safe avenue that could have been taken before flipping her vehicle and making it bounce off a concrete barrier going 60 miles an hour, said Andrew Norwood, Harpers lawyer.

Theres a lot thats talked about in our training about site selection. There are other factors that the troopers will consider to terminate or self-terminate a pursuit, said Hagar.

This includes not pursuing into oncoming traffic if they can not keep up with the vehicle, and if the driver is driving recklessly and innocent bystanders are put in danger.

In 2016, there were 32 PIT maneuvers or TVIs performed by Arkansas State Police. In 2023 there were 251. The ASP says their troopers have also self-terminated pursuits or pulled off 654 times since 2016.

 Download the WREG App today and stay up to date with breaking news and weather.

 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.

 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.

The idea that, you know, were just being cowboys, and were going to chase them until, you know, this thing concludes, thats not true, said Hagar.

He says in more than 3,800 pursuits in eight years, no innocent civilian has died or was seriously hurt, crediting training and officers pulling off of pursuits.

We asked for TVI numbers in Tennessee and Mississippi, and are still waiting on those. But in Tennessee, we are told, TVIs are not common and typically are only used in deadly force cases.

It is widely known in many circles that if somebody can flee Arkansas law enforcement and get across the (interstate) 40 or 55 bridge into Memphis if they make it to Shelby County, theyre good. That happens. Yeah, I have examples of it, said Bozeman.

Hargar says that if the suspect crosses the river bridge and goes into Tennessee, they have the right to continue the pursuit, which in most cases, they do.

Were constantly on the lookout for ways to make these situations safer. But at the end of the day, the way to make it safer is to stop running, you know, and thats our message to the public is just stop running. Its absolutely not worth it, said Hagar.

The Arkansas State Police say they have a strategic campaign underway, urging drivers not to flee and pull over when an officer gets behind them. They say sitting down with WREG was part of their effort to get the word out.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The Turkish BOTAS state pipeline company and ExxonMobil have signed an agreement in Washington for the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Turkiye, Trend reports citing Turkish Energy Minister Alparslan Bayraktar's X publication.

The signed agreement, according to Bayraktar, is meant to be a long-term commitment and gives Turkiye the opportunity to further diversify its energy resources.

"Adding the United States to our list of long-term LNG supply contracts follows existing agreements with Algeria (20 years), Nigeria, and others. A deal with ExxonMobil, which we're discussing today, can provide eight percent of Turkiye's gas demand," he explained.

To recall, Turkiye consumes over 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Earlier, Turkish media reported that, at the current level of gas prices, BOTAS had agreed with ExxonMobil on supplies worth $1.1 billion annually for 2.5 million tons of LNG per year.

In 2023, the share of LNG in Turkiye's overall gas purchase portfolio was 30 percent, but it may rise to 40 percent in 2024.

The country also receives pipeline gas from Russia, Azerbaijan, and Iran, with Russian pipeline gas constituting 40 percent of Turkiye's consumed gas.

Long-term contracts for the supply of Russian gas to Turkiye will expire in 2025, and Bayraktar announced at the end of April the formation of a new portfolio of gas contracts for Turkiye with various global suppliers.

According to the Turkish Star newspaper, Turkiye's energy minister also announced the country's plans to implement new energy projects with Caspian countries during his visit to Washington on May 9.

"The implementation of new infrastructure projects between the countries of the Caspian region and Turkiye will contribute to ensuring European and global energy security," stated Bayraktar.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
More than two decades after University of Georgia student Tara Baker was murdered, authorities announced they arrested a suspect.

Edrick Lamont Faust, 48, was charged with murder and faces various other charges in connection with the 23-year-old first-year law student's death, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation announced.

"Tara Louise Baker was a hardworking student with a bright future ahead of her," GBI Director Chris Hosey said Thursday in a news release. "Tara's life was stolen from her in a horrific act of violence. While this arrest does not bring her back to us, I pray that it helps bring closure to the Baker family as they continue their healing journey."

Athens-Clarke County firefighters found Baker's body in her apartment in January 2001. Authorities thought the fire was suspicious and was set to cover up Baker's murder. Investigators spent the next 23 years working to prove these suspicions in collaboration with the FBI, Athens-Clarke County Police Department and the Georgia Bureau of Investigation, to crack the cold case.

After 23 years, an Athens man has been charged with murder by the GBI and the Athens-Clarke County Police Department for the death of Tara Louise Baker, a 23-year-old UGA law school student.



READ MORE: https://t.co/LWtgvEwD0z pic.twitter.com/UEpAWe3Jl6  GA Bureau of Investigation (@GBI_GA) May 9, 2024

But it was only after the Georgia Bureau of Investigation Cold Case Unit reviewed Baker's case in September 2023  after the Coleman-Baker Act was signed into law  that authorities were able to bring together enough evidence to make the arrest. GBI said a news conference would be held to provide further details on the investigation.

The Coleman-Baker Act  named after University of Georgia student Sue Coleman, killed 21 years ago, and Tara Baker  was signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2023. The legislation established a new unit within the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to investigate cold cases. It also required law enforcement to look into unsolved cases if more than six years had passed.

"May Tara's memory live on through the good work of this Unit," Kemp posted on social media after the announcement of the arrest.

Her family thanked law enforcement in a statement, reported WGAU, and said, "While this is a day we have long prayed for, it is not a day without grief and unanswered questions."

New details emerge after series of resignations rock Miss USA organization

Bodycam video released of deadly police shooting of U.S. airman in Florida

Michael Cohen to testify at Trump trial: What to expect
JEFFERSON COUNTY, Mo.  An arrest has been made in connection with a missing persons investigation from 2021. Thomas E. Tedo Gamble, 21, formerly of Potosi, Missouri, has been arrested in connection to the disappearance of 19-year-old John Paul Parton, of High Ridge, Missouri. Gamble has been charged with murder, tampering with evidence, and disposing of a corpse.

Gamble was arrested on May 1 in Port Allen, Louisiana, by the Port Allen Police Department, with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service. He is currently being held in the West Baton Rouge Jail, awaiting extradition to Missouri.

On May 16, 2021, Parton went to work in the morning and never returned home. He told his parents that he was going camping with a few friends and would be back the next day.

Which major cities share latitudes or longitudes with St. Louis?

His parents later received a call from their son, where Parton admitted to breaking into a property with three friends and stealing $2,000 worth of cash and other valuables. He had been kicked off the property two days prior by the landlord after a fight broke out between him and his girlfriend. After this call, his parents havent heard from him.

Partons grandmother filed a missing person report with the Jefferson County Sheriffs Department on May 24, 2021.

On May 28, 2021, the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office began an investigation into Partons disappearance. With assistance from criminal investigators with the Missouri State Highway Patrols Division of Drug and Crime Control, it was discovered that Parton was murdered on May 18, 2021, at a location in St. Francois County.

On April 25, 2024, Gamble was charged with murder, tampering with evidence, and abandonment of a corpse. Partons body has not yet been found.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Daily News

The Missouri State Highway Patrol and the Jefferson County Sheriffs Office ask that anyone with information about Partons case contact Missouri State Highway Patrol Corporal Jason Ashby at 314-608-2764 or via email at jason.ashby@mshp.dps.mo.gov.

The video attached is from FOX 2 report from October 2021

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
Maywood police made an arrest Friday after a pair of robberies in the borough's downtown shopping district that have "shaken our community," Chief Terence R. Kenny announced on social media.

The owner of the Timely Cleaners dry cleaning business on West Pleasant Avenue was robbed and assaulted on Thursday afternoon. He told authorities a man entered his store and assaulted him while demanding money. The suspect reportedly stole $400 in cash before fleeing the scene.

After detectives reviewed surveillance footage from around the business, officers arrested a 53-year-old Hasbrouck Heights man within 16 hours. He has been charged with robbery, aggravated assault, theft and possession of drug paraphernalia.

He is currently in the Bergen County Jail pending a court hearing.

Police investigation an armed robbery at a Maywood jewelry store April 23, 2024.

Thursday's incident came weeks after a reported armed robbery at Diamond Fantasy jewelers on the morning of April 23. The Bergen County Prosecutor's Office did not disclose how much was stolen in this robbery or how many people were involved.

Kenny said Friday that the "investigation is ongoing and remains our top priority."

"Maywood has always prided itself on its safe and welcoming environment and these recent events are out of character for our town," he said.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Maywood NJ: Arrest made after robberies in shopping district
ASHEVILLE - After the Ramada Inn was lost to foreclosure in December, the city of Asheville Homeless Initiative Advisory Committee has now unanimously voted to encourage the city and the newly formed Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care to expedite the process of finding a new partner to bring permanent supportive housing to the East Asheville location.

The new owners of the Ramada Inn in East Asheville say their intention for the property is for it to remain housing for the citys homeless.

Community and Economic Development Director Nikki Reid presented on the project during the May 9 HIAC meeting and said she is currently working on determining the criteria for a potential buyer for the property.

"Now, my focus is shifting to really understanding what criteria we would need to receive from any potential buyer on applying for that funding," Reid said, noting that city staff is looking at different partnership models from the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency to ensure that "this next go around is something that we can really lean into."

Reid also said the process will include further communication with the Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care Board, or CoC, which will have its first board meeting on May 23. The process will also consider relending $1.5 million originally designated for the project.

The full story of the Ramada Inn: Will East Asheville's Ramada remain housing for homeless after foreclosure?

The new owners of the Ramada Inn in East Asheville say their intention for the property is for it to remain housing for the citys homeless.

The inn at 148 River Ford Parkway had been purchased by the California-based Shangri-La in 2022 and the city has deed restricted the location as permanent supportive housing for the next 50 years. Permanent supportive housing is provided to those who are adults living with disabilities or experiencing homelessness.

Shangri-La Industries defaulted on the property in December, after it was unable to make payments on its $6.3 million loan while facing lawsuits in California and North Carolina, as reported by the Citizen Times. Stormfield Capital subsequently foreclosed on the property.

HIAC chair David Nash, former CEO of the Housing Authority of the City of Asheville, encouraged an "expedited process" to make sure the city and Asheville-Buncombe Continuum of Care would be able to establish the project by "next spring."

Stormfield Capital had previously told the Citizen Times the company intends to sell the property to a buyer who would follow through with the permanent supportive housing project. The Citizen Times reached out to Stormfield May 9.

"I understand that the lender is ready to move with something if we can make it happen," Nash said, encouraging the creation committee through the CoC to complete the project with a new partner.

A fence borders the Ramada Inn in East Asheville, March 8, 2024.

Reid said city staff recently met with the lender during a site visit to the Ramada Inn, but the company had not yet expressed whether there were potential applicants to purchase the site.

The request to expedite the Ramada Inn project comes shortly after city staff released point in time data April 25 indicating the unsheltered population during the January 2024 count was around 219 people in Asheville. The increase from 2023 to 2024 is likely due to the record-breaking number of volunteers and an updated methodology, Homeless Strategy Division Manager Emily Ball said during the meeting, noting the new PIT data is a "strong start for the new Continuum of Care."

Ball wanted to temper community expectations on the pace of the Ramada project.

"I don't know that 12 months from now is feasible, including the program and construction," Ball said during the meeting, noting the length of time other Asheville-area permanent supportive housing projects, like Compass Point Village, took to develop.

Since the property's foreclosure, more lawsuits have been filed against and by Shangri-La.

The company filed a lawsuit in February against former Chief Financial Officer Cody Holmes, as reported by the Ventura County Star, part of the USA TODAY network. The suit is seeking $40 million in damages from the former CFO, claiming Holmes had made a series of "embezzling transactions" from Shangri-La and had hid the financial state of the company from CEO Andy Meyers and its board.

Meyers, who is still CEO of Shangri-La, and Holmes, who was fired in January, according to the lawsuit, declined to comment for the Ventura County Star article about the lawsuit. Shangri-La could not be reached for comment by the Citizen Times on May 9.

More: 'We're falling behind:' Asheville firefighters push for higher pay

More: Low-barrier homeless shelter on Asheville's horizon. But will it have council support?

Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com. Please help support this type of journalism with a subscription to the Citizen Times.

This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Asheville committee requests 'expedited' process to address Ramada Inn
ATLANTIC BEACH, S.C. (WBTW)  Atlantic Beachs new interim police chief was fired from two Grand Strand law enforcement agencies, according to documents obtained by News13 from the South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy.

Carlos Castillo was named interim chief after Quentin Robinson was one of 12 people arrested on prostitution charges in April. Castillo has been with Atlantic Beach police since June 2022, documents show.

Atlantic Beach Councilman John David told News13 Castillo was named interim chief before now-former Town Manager Benjamin Quattlebaum resigned on May 1. David told News13 he was not aware of Castillos past firings.

Castillo was fired from the Georgetown County Sheriffs Office in January 2016 after working there for less than a year, training records show. He was fired for a policy violation that did not involve misconduct, though its unclear what specific policy was violated.

After his separation from the Georgetown County Sheriffs Office, Castillo joined the Andrews Police Department and was there for a little more than a month before joining the Horry County Police Department in May 2016, documents show.

Castillo was fired from Horry County in July 2019, according to his training documents. He was fired over an agency policy violation that did not include misconduct, though the documents again did not specify what policy was violated.

The South Carolina Criminal Justice Academy previously told News13 that agencies are only required to report cases of misconduct to the academy. To read what it defines as misconduct, click here.

News13 initially reached out to Town Clerk Cheryl Pereira to confirm Castillos appointment as interim police chief. Pereira referred us to Mayor Jake Evans, who, as of this writing, has not responded to News13s calls, texts or emails.

 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.

News13 is also working to learn Robinsons current status. Count on us for updates.

* * *

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.
Attack on oil processing plant in Russia's Kaluga Oblast was special operation of Ukraine's Defence Intelligence

An oil processing plant in Kaluga Oblast in Russia was attacked with drones the night of 9-10 May as a result of an operation by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU).

Source: source of Ukrainska Pravda in DIU

Details: Reportedly, the facility was attacked with several kamikaze drones.

Locals report that before the explosions on the premises of the Pervy Zavod oil processing plant, a sound of flying drones and the operation of air defence could be heard. On the site of the drone strike, a massive fire broke out and emergency services arrived at the scene. The information about the strike on the oil processing plant was also confirmed by Vladislav Shapka, head of Kaluga Oblast.

The witnesses report that the fire engulfed the tanks with diesel fuel and fuel oil.

     

   pic.twitter.com/1IWcGgUISY     (@ukrpravda_news) May 10, 2024

Pervy Zavod is the largest oil and chemical facility in Kaluga Oblast located about 300 km away from the Russian-Ukrainian border. The plant processes commercial crude oil and gas condensate.

This facility was already attacked by Defence Intelligence of Ukraine on 15 March 2024.

Support UP or become our patron!
An active-duty U.S. airman was shot and killed during a deputy-involved shooting on Friday, May 3.

Roger Fortson, 23, was shot and killed by an Okaloosa County Sheriff deputy when, according to the department, the deputy was responding to "a disturbance in progress."

The Fortson family retained civil rights attorney Ben Crump who has accused the department of covering up misconduct in the aftermath of the shooting.

The circumstances surrounding Rogers death raise serious questions that demand immediate answers from authorities, especially considering the alarming witness statement that the police entered the wrong apartment, Crump said in a statement on Wednesday.

Here's what we know.

The family of U.S. Air Force Senior Airmen Roger Fortson has obtained the legal counsel of a prominent civil rights attorney.

Family, police dispute events preceding shooting

Sheriff Eric Aden held a press conference Thursday at which he disputed some aspects of what the Fortson family has alleged and provided police body cam footage so show that the deputy involved in the shooting had visited the right door when answering the disturbance call.

The video released Thursday indicates that the deputy was given a specific room number by a woman at the apartment complex and that he clearly knocked on a door and identified himself as being a deputy.

Though no sound from within the apartment indicates a violent argument of the type described by the woman in the video was occurring when the deputy arrived, Aden said "Mr. Fortsons comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at his door, and that he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand."

The video indicates the deputy stood to the side of the door, out of sight of the peep hole, and began firing immediately after the door was opened.

Crump also held a press conference Thursday to present what he says is the real story of how Fortson died; shot inside his own apartment by a cop who had burst in while he conversed over Facetime with his girlfriend.

An attorney from Crump's office said the law firm has located "an unofficial redacted 911 call" that has led them to believe a disturbance had been reported to the leasing office at the Elan Apartment "from what we believe to be a fourth party."

She said the attorneys representing the Fortson family believe the disturbance call was the one that brought deputies to the scene of the fatal shooting but continue to seek answers.

After having a chance to review the body camera footage Thursday, Fortson's family released a statement saying:

In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy gave no verbal commands and shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger. Despite the redactions, the video has provided some answers, but its also raised even more troubling questions: As the officer didnt tell Roger to drop the weapon before shooting, was the officer trained to give verbal warnings? Did the officer try to initiate life-saving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?"

Girlfriend witnessed shooting on Facetime

Crump said the girlfriend, who has hired an attorney and is staying out of the public eye for now, has told him "she heard everything" that happened inside Fortson's apartment on the afternoon of the shooting.

She said Fortson was startled by an aggressive pounding on the door of the apartment, but when he peered through the peephole could see no one on the other side, so he went and retrieved his legally registered gun.

"She just heard shots and he was on the ground, they just said 'he's shot up'" Meka Fortson, Roger's mother, said during Crump's press conference. "My baby was shot up."

Who was Roger Fortson?

Meka Fortson called Roger the backbone of her family and said he had enlisted in the military after graduating high school to work toward his dream of buying her a home.

"He was living his dream, he was going to make life better for his mother and family," she said.

He was also well respected by his military superiors and colleagues, she said. Roger was a was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron and entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019.

"Everybody has told us what a respectable young man he was," Meka Fortson said, adding that he would have had too much respect for law enforcement officers to confront them.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Body cam footage of Roger Fortson's Florida shooting raises questions
AUSTIN (KXAN)  On Friday, the Austin Independent School District superintendent announced another round of anticipated budget cuts that will impact jobs at the districts headquarters.

Officials said potential reductions impacting class sizes and teacher planning periods are currently off the table but might have to be considered down the road.

District officials credited the increased financial pressure with being a result of lawmakers failure to increase state funding for schools, specifically the amount of funding districts get per student.

Superintendent Matias Segura said the district is already instituting $30 million in cuts, including overtime controls and eliminating vacant and filled positions at the districts headquarters.

The vast majority are central office cuts and dont impact the school. As the cuts get larger and larger, you begin to encroach on our classrooms, and thats difficult for us to talk about. Its difficult for us to consider, Segura said.

Austin ISD talks position cuts as they face budget deficit

In recent weeks, Segura said the district learned its deficit was over $30 million higher than projected.

District officials projected a $52 million deficit. However, after receiving new information from the Texas Education Agency and the appraisal district in late April, the district learned the deficit was actually $89 million without cuts.

The district said the deficit will be $59 million with the ongoing and anticipated cuts.

During a press conference on Friday, Segura initially said that the district normally receives a template from the TEA in the fall to help make budget projections, but this year, it received the latest template on April 22. Austin ISDs Chief Financial Officer later clarified that the template was from the Education Service Center in Region 13, not the state agency. TEA officials told KXAN the agency does not produce a state aid template for school districts to use for budget planning.

KXAN has contacted TEA for additional clarification. KXAN also contacted Region 13 for comment but has not yet heard back.

Segura said they also learned the districts actual property growth was much lower than anticipated. The district estimated the property value would be 10 percent, but according to district officials, the Travis County Appraisal District determined it was 5 percent.

The district cited other factors that led to increased spending this school year, including additional spending as the district navigates new requirements from the TEA to become compliant with federal and state special education laws.

Story continues

Despite Texas record budget surplus, schools face deficits

A recent federal decision over how Texas was interpreting what Medicaid services could be reimbursed to school districts also impacted school district funding across the state, including Austin ISD.

Segura said the district has strategically avoided making cuts that impact schools, classrooms, and students. But he worries that those cuts will be inevitable without lawmakers intervention or an increased property tax rate.

My hope is that legislators are paying attention to the pain school districts are going through right now, Segura said. There are very, very difficult decisions being made right now, and they are impacting the young people in this state [] we need their support. So please, please fund public education.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
FILE - The opening page of X is displayed on a computer and phone in Sydney on Oct. 16, 2023. An Australian judge on Friday, May 10, 2024, extended a ban on X Corp. sharing videos of an alleged teenage terrorist stabbing a Sydney bishop last month, government lawyers call the social media platform's free speech argument illusory. (AP Photo/Rick Rycroft, File)

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP)  An Australian judge on Friday extended a ban on X allowing videos of the stabbing of a Sydney bishop in his church last month after government lawyers condemned the social media company's free speech argument for keeping the graphic images circulating.

Australian Federal Court Justice Geoffrey Kennett extended his order that X Corp., the company rebranded by billionaire Elon Musk when he bought Twitter last year, block users from sharing videos of the April 15 attack.

The attack led to terrorism-related charges for the alleged attacker, a teenager, and triggered a riot outside the church.

The order has existed since April 22 and Kennett will decide on Monday whether it will continue in its current form.

X is alone among social media platforms in fighting a notice from Australia's eSafety Commission, which describes itself as the worlds first government agency dedicated to keeping people safer online, to take down the video of the attack during an Assyrian Orthodox service streamed online.

A bishop and priest were injured but both survived.

Musk has accused Australia of censorship and has applied to the Federal Court to overturn the eSafety notice. The court will sit on Wednesday to consider setting a hearing date for Xs application.

X has geoblocked Australian users from the content, but eSafety argues the video can be still accessed from Australia through Virtual Private Networks.

VPNs are services that allow users to access sites in other countries that are blocked in their own nation. The regulator wants a worldwide ban on the video.

An eSafety lawyer, Tim Begbie, described X in court on Friday as a market leader in proliferating and distributing violent content and violent and extremist material.

Begbie said Australia could not be expected to conform to Xs pro-free speech stance.

The fact is that that stance is in large measure illusory. Because X doesnt stand for global removal is bad in some pure sense, Begbie said.

Xs own policies repeatedly refer to circumstances in which the platform will elect to remove content globally, Begbie said.

The real position is this: X says that reasonable means what X wants it to mean, Begbie said.

Global removal is reasonable when X does it because X wants to do it. But it becomes unreasonable when X is told to do it by the laws of Australia, Begbie added.

X lawyer Bret Walker said X had taken reasonable steps to block the content from Australia but said there had been glitches.

He described eSafetys demand for a global ban as astonishing and the notice as invalid.

You dont expect to see statutes saying the Australian Parliament will regulate what concerning Australia  that is events in Australia  can be viewed in Russia, Finland, Belgium or the United States, Walker said.

Not unless we want to become isolationist to a degree that is unthinkable, Walker added.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 10. Turkmen companies took part in the fifth edition of the Gas and Oil Technology Showcase and Conference (GOTECH), which was held on May 7-9, 2024, in Dubai, UAE, Trend reports.

According to an official source, Mawy Deniz Gurlushyk, Nurly Tolkun, Gok Depeler, and Sowda Gurlusyk Maslahat Maslahat private Turkmen enterprises presented their achievements at the exhibition.

The theme of the GOTECH exhibition and conference was the promotion of sustainable energy technologies through innovation and cooperation, and the organizers of this event were SPE International and Dragon Oil.

The event brought together international industry leaders and discussed issues such as assessing the current state of the oil and gas industry, obtaining valuable market information, solving problems related to reducing the carbon footprint, and meeting the growing global demand for energy.

Meanwhile, in the context of a constant desire to diversify and strengthen the energy infrastructure, Turkmenistan stands out for the active participation of local companies in the development of this key sector.

Turkmen energy companies, with a focus on innovation and modernization, play an important role in the implementation of strategic projects such as exploration, production, and transportation of oil and gas, as well as the expansion of infrastructure for their further operation.

Their efforts are aimed not only at meeting domestic demand but also at establishing long-term partnerships and exporting energy resources, which contributes to the further economic development of the country and strengthens its position in the global energy market.
Authorities: Pilot did not send distress call before crashing in Augusta neighborhood

The National Transportation Safety Board this week released more information about the May 2 plane crash inside the residential Summerville neighborhood in Augusta, confirming no distress calls were made prior to the crash.

The airplane, a single-engine Beechcraft 36 piloted by Jason McKenzie, crashed on the outskirts of a resident's yard at the intersection of Hillcrest Avenue and Belmont Drive off Walton Way, about a mile away from Daniel Field, according to previous reporting.

A preliminary report from the NTSB states the flight departed runway five at Daniel Field Airport just before 7:15 a.m., destined for New Haven Airport in Connecticut.

Previous report: Pilot dies in plane crash near Daniel Field in Augusta, identity released by church

"The airplane proceeded on [the] runway, heading for about 1/2 nautical mile, where a left turn was initiated," according to the report. "The airplane continued in the left turn, at about 200-300 feet above the ground, for about 30 seconds and crashed into the top of mature oak trees in a residential area, severing the outboard half of the left wing."

The section of the wing remained lodged in the tree, about 60 feet high, and the airplane continued, crashing into the front yard of a resident's home, according to the report. The cockpit and cabin were consumed in a post-crash fire.

"Initial examination of the wreckage revealed that all structural components of the airplane were accounted for at the [crash] site," according to the report. "The landing gear were found in the extended (down) position and the wing flaps were retracted (up)."

Augusta firefighters assisted the NTSB with removing the wingtip from the tree at the crash site.

The report noted no calls of distress from McKenzie were made.

It also stated several residents provided home surveillance video to investigators, but the airplane could not be seen.

"The engine could be heard, running at a high rpm until the sounds of tree and ground impact were heard," according to the report.

The report details the weather at the time of the crash  calm wind, a clear sky and 10 nautical miles of visibility.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Pilot's family raises more than $100,000 on GoFundMe

A GoFundMe fundraiser was set up by Trotter Jones LLP to support McKenzie's wife, Stephanie, and 8-year-old son, Patrick, and it has already accumulated more than $112,000 in a little over a week.

The description on the fundraiser states McKenzie "will be remembered as a hero" and claims he "did everything he could to ensure that no one else in the neighborhood was injured," according to the website.

McKenzie worked at Augusta University as the Associate Director of Philanthropy, according to previous reporting.

'It's a miracle': Augusta community comments on plane crash, discuss pilot who died

Organizers said the money will be used to pay for Patrick's college education and "to support Stephanie in this difficult time," according to the site.

An anonymous donor gifted the family $5,000 and 27 additional donors gave donations of $1,000 or more, according to the site.

On Wednesday, an update was posted to the fundraiser:

"We wanted to thank everyone for the tremendous response to this effort! The number of donors and the total dollar amount given so far as exceeded our expectations [$100,00 goal]. The generosity of this community is amazing. Please continue to share this effort with all of your friends!"

Anyone wishing to donate can view the fundraiser at https://tinyurl.com/3df7eh56.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Authorities release more information about fatal Augusta plane crash
Police tore down tents and confiscated items  and got physical with protesters, video showed  as law enforcement took action against pro-Palestinian demonstrators since last weekend, when the group won a court victory to continue its activities.

The events in Boise began Friday night when protesters marched downtown to set up an encampment east of the Capitol at the site of the former Ada County Courthouse, the Idaho Statesman previously reported. The property is now owned by the state and is part of the Capitol Mall.

The tents were intended to symbolize the way Palestinian families are living in the West Bank after having their homes destroyed during Israels offensive this year, according to protesters.

Theres pictures. Theres videos. Theres piles of bodies. Theres children being pulled from the rubble, kids didnt do anything wrong, said Sarah Lammey, 40. Im just asking for people to be upset about that. These people come out here and theyre more upset about the grass being killed than these children being killed.

The day after the demonstration started, law enforcement began to clash with protesters and said that their tents would be removed from the lawn outside the old courthouse by 6 p.m. Saturday.

Casey Parsons, an attorney with law firm The Wrest Collective, said in a phone call to the Idaho Statesman that they contacted Attorney General Raul Labradors office in the hopes of coming to an understanding.

Parsons said the AGs office asserted that the protesters were illegally camping on the premises on the basis of finding a water bottle in one of the tents, and on the basis that some of the protesters appeared to have red, puffy eyes.

The Wrest Collective filed a motion with U.S. District Court of Idaho and was granted an emergency hearing at 5:45 p.m.  15 minutes before police were prepared to remove the tents. At that hearing, Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill upheld a 2012 permanent injunction created by the Watters v. Otter Occupy Boise case, which held that removing symbolic tents violated the First Amendment.

People may protest with symbolic tents around the clock as long as they arent camping there, according to the injunction.

Winmill said the Idaho State Police would not be able to take enforcement action against the group absent some specific indicia of camping, according to Parsons.

The judge said red, puffy eyes did not indicate camping, since protesters had to stay awake all night to comply with the Watters injunction, Birdie Michaels, 25, a protest participant, told the Statesman in a phone call.

Protesters said they were then told Tuesday that they needed to leave the grassy area between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. to allow for lawn watering. The lawn is now surrounded by yellow tape and contains a sign stating, Land Preservation. Please keep off area.

Michaels said protesters came up with a plan to comply with the new restrictions, spending their days on the lawn and nights near the Idaho Capitol steps across the street. They spent Tuesday night near those steps.

On Wednesday, Michaels said they migrated to the steps at about 6 p.m. to do the same. Shortly after, Michaels estimated that at least 20 members of the Idaho State Police and Boise Police Department confiscated their belongings.

Idaho State Police took three awnings, tarps, three tents, a long table, a sign made of plywood, medical supplies and electronics, Idaho State Police spokesperson Aaron Snell told the Statesman in an email. The medical supplies and electronics were returned to their owners at the protest, Snell said.

Snell said protesters violated the Idaho Administrative Code by camping and creating safety hazards, by blocking the stairs and doorways with tents. Snell said he did not know what police saw as the specific indications of camping.

Labrador said police have done a remarkable job and that he was confident courts would rule in the states favor.

What the protesters want to do is camp, cook, store food, and generally set up a prolonged presence on state property, Labrador said in an emailed statement to the Statesman. All of that poses significant health and safety risks, and none of it is guaranteed by the First Amendment. Nor is any of that related to their supposed protest related to supporting Palestinians.

Michaels denied that protesters were camping or creating a safety hazard, and she and Parsons said no one had been arrested or cited by police.

I have never personally seen this type of disproportionate response from ISP to a peaceful protest, Parsons said. These protesters are just trying to be visible and take up space. There is no violent or illegal activity taking place as far as I can tell, and they were met with a small army of Idaho State Police officers.

In a video posted by Boise to Palestine, a Boise police officer can be seen pushing people off the sidewalk during one incident, causing a woman to fall to the ground.

Boise Police Department Spokesperson Haley Williams said Boise officers were called to assist in keeping a safe work area for ISP as they cleared the Capitol steps of obstructions.

Several individuals entered the street near ISPs work area and disregarded officers direction to return to the sidewalk, which led to a physical interaction with an officer, Williams said in an email. All officers were wearing on body video and the incident was documented according to BPD policy and procedure.

Williams said the department would conduct an investigation into the incident.

Gov. Brad Little said he was grateful for the actions taken by the Idaho State Police and Department of Administration, which oversees the Capitol complex.

Idaho cherishes and protects our First Amendment rights to speech, popular and unpopular alike, but I will not tolerate any groups efforts to establish encampments that damage state property, create health and safety risks, and interfere with other forms of public access, Little said in a news release.

On Thursday evening, about 30 Idaho State Police officers lined up in formation on the lawn  some in riot gear  and watched as about 20 protesters packed up their items by 7 p.m. At least 16 police vehicles, mostly from the Boise Police Department, surrounded the area.

After protesters moved their items off the lawn, officers went inside the the Capitol Annex building.
Opal Sandy, who was born completely deaf because of a rare genetic condition and can now hear unaided for the first time after receiving groundbreaking gene therapy at 11 months old, reads with her mother, Jo, at their home in Eynsham, Oxfordshire. | Andrew Matthews

Opal Sandy, now 18 months old, was completely deaf at birth due to a rare genetic condition called auditory neuropathy. But within four weeks of receiving a gene therapy infusion in her right ear as part of an international clinical trial, she responded to sound.

Thats according to a statement from the National Health Service and Cambridge University Trust in the U.K.

The girl, from Oxfordshire, received the gene therapy when she was 11 months old, the surgery performed at Addenbrookes Hospital in Cambridge, officials reported. She is the first British patient and the youngest child to receive the treatment. According to the report, Clinicians noticed continuous improvement in Opals hearing in the weeks afterwards and at 25 weeks confirmed close to normal hearing levels for soft sounds, such as whispering, in her treated ear.

She now says common words like Dada and bye-bye and the result of her progress at 24 weeks is being presented to the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy in Baltimore this week.

Impact of delayed diagnosis

The clinical trial, called the CHORD trial, is sponsored by Regeneron, which is enrolling participants in the U.S., the U.K. and Spain.

Per the release, patients in the first phase get a low dose of the gene therapy in one ear. In the second phase, its expected a higher dose in one ear only will be used, after safety is proven by the starter dose. The third phase will include gene therapy in both ears with the dose to be based on findings in the previous two phases. Patients will be followed for five years to see how well they adapt and learn to understand speech.

An estimated 20,000 people in Europe have a problem with a single gene, called OTOF, which produces the protein otoferlin, which allows the hair cells in the inner part of the ear to communicate with a nerve that communicates sound. There are other causes for auditory neuropathy, but the clinical trial, which started last May, targets this specific issue.

These results are spectacular and better than I expected, said Manohar Bance, an ear surgeon at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust and the co-senior investigator of the trial, in the news release.

He said that theres a short time frame to intervene because of the rapid pace of brain development at this age, but often the diagnosis is missed because at newborn screening the hair cells appear to work, even though they dont talk to the nerve. Hearing loss may not be found until a child does not begin to hear as early as expected. Bance said that families become confused and the child falls behind when the diagnosis is not found in a timely manner.

The child was given an infusion containing a harmless virus that carried a working copy of the OTOF gene and was injected into her cochlea during an operation while she was under general anesthesia. While gene therapy was placed in her right ear, she received a cochlear implant  the standard of care for this condition  in her left ear.

BBC reported that rather than making sound louder, like a hearing aid, it gives the sensation of hearing by directly stimulating the auditory nerve that communicates with the brain, bypassing the damaged sound-sensing hair cells in a part of the inner ear known as the cochlea.

The news release quoted the childs dad, James Sandy: It was our ultimate goal for Opal to hear all the speech sounds. Its already making a difference in our day-to-day lives, like at bath time or swimming, when Opal cant wear her cochlear implant. We feel so proud to have contributed to such pivotal findings, which will hopefully help other children like Opal and their families in the future.

It was really scary to let their child be the first to test the treatment, but I think weve been given this unique opportunity, the girls mother, Jo Sandy, told BBC.

Other hearing approaches

Per The Washington Post, Other clinical trials looking into gene therapies as a way to restore hearing in children with deafness caused by OTOF gene variations are also underway elsewhere in the world. Last year, an 11-year-old boy, Aissam Dam, received treatment in a separate gene therapy trial at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. China is also conducting a number of trials.

In January, Harvard Gazette reported on an experimental gene therapy to correct the same OTOF gene mutation that affected Opal. Five children in Fudan, China, received gene therapy in a study being conducted by Fudan Universitys Eye and ENT Hospital and Harvard researchers at Massachusetts Eye and Ear. The children are ages 1 to 7.

The results, published in The Lancet, found five of the six children showed hearing improvement over the 26-week trial. For four, the outcomes were robust.

The article quoted Zheng-Yi Chen, co-senior author, who said that more than 1.5 billion people worldwide have hearing loss, including roughly 30 millions cases of genetic hearing loss in children.
In Reality Check stories, BND journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Read more. Story idea? newsroom@bnd.com.

Residents, businesses and public officials are raising concerns about safety, impeded access to their neighborhoods and other issues due to the April closing of a bridge on 26th Street in East St. Louis.

They want the damaged bridge to be repaired and reopened quickly, but word is that it may take months. No official timetable has been released.

It has my area blocked in and a lot of my elderly people are having problems, said Kinnis Williams Sr., Democratic precinct committeeman for the area.  Its an old neighborhood, and there are a bunch of elderly people living there. They are concerned and I am concerned for them.

Williams is also the St. Clair County Circuit Clerk.

A vehicle damaged the heavily traveled bridge at 26th Street and Missouri Avenue on April 21, forcing the Illinois Department of Transportation to close it indefinitely over safety concerns. Initial inspections found significant damage to multiple truss members, Dawn Johnson, regional communications liaison for Region 5 of the Illinois Department of Transportation, said last month.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

The bridge allows motorists to avoid having to cross Norfolk Southern railroad tracks that run beneath the structure. In East St. Louis, residents and others are often frustrated about navigating around stopped trains that block roads, so the bridge closing is particularly aggravating.

Illinois Department of Transportation officials are aware of the impact of the closing, but they had to close it to ensure the safety of motorists, Johnson has said.

Our structural engineers are still assessing the bridge, she said this week. We anticipate determining our preliminary plans in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, residents and business people remain frustrated.

Linda Joiner, whose 92-year old mom has been a longtime East St. Louis resident, said the bridge situation is horrible.

I use that bridge two, three, four times a day. I go across it to go to work, to go to church, to go shopping, everything, Joiner said.

The bridge closing is terrifying to her mother, who lives nearby and counts on Joiner to be able to get to her quickly, like during recent severe storms. Joiner couldnt get to her quickly by the easy route that the bridge provides.

I tried to go through Alorton to get on Bond. There was a train sitting on Bond, not moving. So, I decided to go back around to take 18th Street to get to Bond, she said. Its like dodging a mine field on some of the streets in the city, always has been. But now we are going to have even more potholes because trucks and cars and everybody has to take these two different routes.

Part of the safety factor too is that Joiner doesnt want to be stuck in her car on the road waiting for a train to move.

From a safety perspective, I am not going to sit there and be a sitting duck for somebody possibly wanting to rob me, hurt me or cause any kind of problem, she said. I hate to be that way, but thats the world we live in right now.

It has nothing to do with my love for the city. I love the city, she said.

Her ties to East St. Louis are deep, as are her mothers, who lives in the house Joiners father built.

My point is something as simple as a bridge being shut down can wreak all kinds of havoc, she said. People have to find a different way to get to work. Its just bad.

John McIntosh, owner of New York Cleaners on State Street, is worried that some of his customers will go to other cleaners to avoid the hassle of getting to his business because of the 26th Street bridge closure.

It is obviously creating an inconvenience for customers getting here, he said. And, it could also have an impact where we could end up losing business due to the lack of access.

If customers cant reach us, they may choose to go to some easier alternative. It could have a bigger impact on our employees who depend on customers to give us work.

McIntosh said some customers have complained about the bridge being closed. And, we are not getting any clear-cut answers, he said. I dont know how quick they are going to respond, but I have heard it could be mid-July. That is a long time.

A bigger concern, he said, is that people who need emergency services may not get them as quickly with the bridge being closed.

At any given moment you could have a blockage of a railroad. That bridge was the only confident thoroughfare that you had to get to the highway to access a need for maybe some emergency, McIntosh said.

He said there should be a town hall meeting where state Transportation Department officials can hear residents concerns and let people know their plans for the bridge.

A closed bridge at 26th St. and Missouri Ave. in East St. Louis, Ill. on April 19, 2024.

Jung Truck Service Inc., based in Mascoutah, has a building at 2400 McCasland Ave. in East St. Louis where trucks move in and out and are loaded and unloaded. The bridge closing has had an impact on the business, according to company President Bruce Jung.

Jung Trucking normally averages about 250 trucks in his East St. Louis facility daily.

Were still getting them. But its such a lengthy way for them to get to us, he said. Plus our trucks. We run a fleet of 100 trucks. It has added so much time to everybodys day to go around that bridge.

One of the things that attracted us to that property in the very beginning was the fact you could come off of (Interstate) 255 and stay on state routes and basically not have ground level rail crossings.

Another big concern about the closed bridge, Jung said, is public safety.

What are fire trucks and ambulances doing that would normally take that bridge? They are taking the chance of being stopped at a railroad crossing. That is a real big factor, Jung said.

He said trains often block roads in East St. Louis. If something happens at one of our facilities, how is fire or ambulance going to get to us necessarily or get back out?

There just arent many alternate routes, Jung said.

I couldnt tell you how many thousands of commuters take that way to get to St. Louis in the mornings, he said.  Thousands, I am sure.

Jung said it is an important corridor not only for trucks, but the general public.

Williams, the precinct committeeman for the area, acknowledged the problem with the trains that sit on tracks and block the roads in East St. Louis and Alorton, creating long wait periods for motorists before they can continue on east or west.

If you go either way besides the bridge and go through Alorton or by 21st and Bond, Market or Trendley, youre going to get stopped by a train, he said. It is kind of a problem. If there was a real emergency we could have a big problem right there.

Williams said he learned from the Illinois Department of Transportation that a beam will arrive in July and workers will be able to fix the bridge.

We are in bad shape, he said.

Williams said hes met with St. Clair County Board Chairman Mark Kern about the bridge problem, and Kern met with state Transportation Department officials.

Kern and State Sen. Chris Belt, who represents the area, could not be reached for comment.

A spokesperson for Norfolk Southern also could not be reached.
Barron Trump, Donald Trumps youngest son, will not be making his political debut at this summers Republican National Convention (RNC).

While Barron is honored to have been chosen as a delegate by the Florida Republican Party, he regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments, former first lady Melania Trumps office said in a statement to the Daily Mail, which was first to report the news, on Friday.

The 18-year-old son of the former president was slated to serve as a delegate for the state at this years GOP presidential nomination convention in June. Barron would have joined his three other siblings  Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and Tiffany Trump  who have been tapped to serve as delegates for their father.

Barron, the son of Donald and Melania Trump, was 10 when his father was elected president in 2016, but for the most part, has remained out of the political spotlight during Trumps time in office. However, this hasnt stop the former president from leveraging Barron during his ongoing hush-money trial in New York.

In April, Trump repeatedly claimed that Judge Juan Merchan had prohibited him from attending Barrons high school graduation ceremony in May  telling reporters and lamenting on Truth Social how he had been barred from the event.

In reality, Merchan had not prevented Trump from attending his sons graduation, and on April 30, Merchan ruled that the court would be excused on May 17 to allow the defendant to attend his sons graduation.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
Barron Trump Won't Be A GOP Convention Delegate, After All

What a difference a day can make for Barron Trump.

On Thursday it was announced that Donald Trumps 18-year-old son would be a Florida delegate to the Republican National Convention this July in Milwaukee, along with brothers Eric and Don Jr. and sister Tiffany.

But now it appears as if Barron wont be attending at all, according to a statement made by his mother, Melania Trump, to the Daily Mail.

Melania said that Barron was honored to have been chosen as a delegate he now regretfully declines to participate due to prior commitments.

The former first lady did not offer any details about what those prior commitments might be.

The announcement came on the same day that Donald Trump praised Barrons political instincts to Philadelphia talk radio station WPHT.

Its sort of funny. Hell tell me sometimes, Dad, this is what you have to do, Trump said, without offering an example of what this might be.

Folks on X, formerly Twitter, had thoughts about the delegate decline.

Melania be like - you little punk, I've worked hard for the last 8 years to protect your ass from the press, and you think you're just going to throw it all away!? https://t.co/oLp9Eul0kE  Sarah Burris  (@SarahBurris) May 10, 2024

Melania - 1

Donald - 0 https://t.co/lrH1vjF4Hd  Mueller, She Wrote (@MuellerSheWrote) May 10, 2024

Looks like Barron Trump couldn't handle the heat. https://t.co/DuPGh83tqI  Max Burns (@themaxburns) May 10, 2024

Damn. Melania isn't playing. She's probably, why don't you get the porn star to serve as a delegate?! https://t.co/lsPSiMnWgc  New Yorker in DC threads.net/@nykrindc (@NYkrinDC) May 10, 2024

melania pulling barron out of harms way/future indictments like https://t.co/VtwmGjVmtbpic.twitter.com/KfldC7wgzI  dylan mckays porsche mechanic (@DMPMwavygang) May 10, 2024

Barrons public profile has risen in recent weeks, after his Dad raised a stink because the judge presiding over his hush-money coverup case wasnt sure the former president could attend his sons high school graduation.

Judge Juan Merchan later said Trump would be able to attend Barrons graduation in Florida  only for the former presidentto schedule a rally in Minnesota for that same day.

A source close to the Trump campaign told HuffPost he will attend both events.

Related...
HENRY COUNTY, Va. (WFXR)  A man has been arrested on several drug distribution charges after a drug bust in Bassett on May 9.

According to the Henry County Sheriffs Office, on Thursday, deputies served a warrant at a home in the 400 block of Fairmont Drive. During the search, authorities allegedly discovered suspected methamphetamine and illegally possessed prescription pills and cash.

The sheriffs office said the drugs were sent to the Virginia Department of Forensic Science for analysis.

Charlottesville man faces several charges after meth, fentanyl, mushrooms, guns seized during search

45-year-old Jason Wayne Greer was arrested on charges of Possession of Schedule I or II drugs with the intent to distribute (methamphetamine).

He is currently being held at the Henry County Adult Detention Center.

The Henry County Sheriffs Office is encouraging anyone with information on this investigation or narcotics trafficking in your community, to call (276) 638-8751 or Crimestoppers at 63-CRIME (632-7463).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
We speak to our Middle East correspondent Natalia Vasilyeva in Jerusalem on Israels impending assault on Rafa and Bidens threats to halt weapons supplies to Israel. Then, we hear from Jumana Shahin, a Gaza resident whos fled to Egypt to protect herself and her young daughter. Then, we speak to our economics reporter Melissa Lawford on the dire state of Irans economy. And finally, I talk to senior foreign correspondent Roland Oliphant, who recently saw the film Civil War, directed by Andrew Garland. Roland, as a war reporter, had some thoughts on the film and he shares them with us.

Across the world, from Europe to Asia, from the Americas to the Middle East, tensions are rising between nation states as the traditional alliances and alignments evolve in the 21st century.

This year sees war in Europe and the Middle East, and elections in major economies, from the US and the UK to Taiwan. Insurgencies flare in Yemen and Burma, tensions escalate in East Africa, and all around the world the international security architecture buckles under increasing pressure.

Battle Lines, a new podcast from The Telegraph, combines on-the-ground reporting with analytical expertise to help the listener to better understand the course of world politics, wars and tensions, as fault lines grind and slip in an increasingly dangerous and confusing multipolar world.

Listen to Battle Lines using the audio player in this article or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, or your favourite 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.
The conservative premier of the southern German state of Bavaria, Markus Soder, said he found a great deal of common ground with Italy's far-right prime minister, Georgia Meloni, following a meeting in Rome on Friday.

Soder said they were in agreement on energy, transport and asylum policy issues.

Bavaria and Italy, for example, both have an interest in a hydrogen corridor from Italy to the south of Germany, said Soder.

He also agreed with Meloni that the European Union must reverse its future phase-out of vehicles powered by combustion engines.

The plan for new gas and hydrogen pipelines across the Alps is also part of a current action plan by the German and Italian governments.

In terms of asylum policy, Soder once again praised a refugee deal between Italy and Albania. Italy plans to operate two migrant centres on Albanian soil, which is not part of the European Union.

Meloni's government is hoping that the deal will help stem migration across the Mediterranean to Italy and thus into the EU.

"This could also be a solution for the whole of Europe," Soder said on Friday of the arrangement.

Soder said they did not discuss whether Meloni's controversial far-right party would be accepted as part of the centre-right European People's Party (EPP) bloc, which operates at the EU level.

"There is definitely no interest in joining the EPP - the discussion is definitely not relevant and is also over," said Soder. "Which I think is good. It wouldn't have been a good fit because of the past of Ms Meloni's party."

Meloni's party, the Brothers of Italy, traces its roots to former Italian dictator Benito Mussolini's fascist movement.

On the other hand, Soder said that Meloni expressed a "clear rejection" of the far-right, anti-EU Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, which is polling second in nationwide surveys.

Prime Minister of Italy Giorgia Meloni (R) receives Minister President of Bavaria Markus Soeder at Palazzo Chigi. Oliver Weiken/dpa
Belarus announces sudden inspection of tactical nuclear weapons launchers, simultaneously with Russia's tactical nuclear drills.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk calls for a security meeting after Polish judge Tomasz Szmydt flees to Belarus and requests political asylum.

Latvia digs an anti-tank ditch on its borders with Russia and Belarus as part of its commitment to the joint Baltic Defense Line.

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Belarus Weekly

Join us

Belarusian democratic leader meets NATO chief amid growing security concerns over Russian and Belarusian nuclear drills.

Belarus plummets to 167th place in 2024 World Press Freedom Index as the regime of Alexander Lukashenko continues its crackdown on dissent.

Belarus holds snap inspection of nuclear launchers

Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko ordered a sudden inspection of the countrys tactical nuclear weapons launchers, Belarus Defense Minister Viktor Khrenin announced on May 7.

The inspection involves the Iskander-M and Polonez-M missile systems, and a squadron of Su-25 attack aircraft. It encompasses delivering nuclear munitions to military units, loading them on launchers, and mounting them on Su-25 attack planes.

According to Major General Viktor Gulevich, the first deputy defense minister, the aircraft have already been redeployed to the reserve airfield. The monitoring group Belarusian Hajun observed at least two Su-25s flying from Lida airfield in the western part of the country to Machulishchy, a military air base near Minsk.

Belarus Security Council Secretary Alexander Volfovich claimed that the sudden inspection is being carried out simultaneously with a Russian exercise on the use of tactical nuclear weapons, maintaining that these activities are purely defensive in nature and are not threatening to any state.

Vladimir Putin of Russia (C), Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus (L), and Kassym-Jomart Tokayev of Kazakhstan take part in the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) Summit in Moscow on May 8, 2024. (Evgenia Novozhenina/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Speaking at an event on May 7, Lukashenko said he plans to discuss the coordination and deployment of troops handling nuclear weapons during his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 8 in Moscow.

The Kremlin announced drills in the use of tactical nuclear weapons on May 6, claiming this was a response to what it referred to as "provocative statements and threats from certain Western officials."

Putins spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, said statements by Western politicians about sending troops to Ukraine were a new round of escalation of tensions.

Since signing the agreement on placing Russian tactical nuclear weapons on Belarusian soil on May 25, Lukashenko and Putin have repeatedly claimed nuclear weapons have been delivered to Belarus, but have never substantiated their claims with evidence.

Read also: Russias highly-militarized Victory Day celebration has nothing to do with WWII

Polish prosecutors open espionage investigation into judge who fled to Belarus

Polish prosecutors have opened a criminal investigation into Tomasz Szmydt, a Polish judge from the provincial administrative court in Warsaw, after he fled to Belarus and asked the countrys dictator Alexander Lukashenko for asylum on May 6.

The National Prosecutors Office has opened a probe into Szmydt on charges of espionage. In addition, Polands Internal Security Agency has launched a probe into how much access the judge had to classified information.

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk called on a meeting of the countrys special services to discuss alleged Russian and Belarusian infiltration of the Polish state apparatus. The prime minister said Szmydts case was an issue that dates back a long time rather than a one-off stunt.

Szmydt fled from Poland to Belarus while he was officially on vacation. At a press conference in Minsk on May 6, he announced his resignation from the position of judge and asked for political asylum due to his disagreements with the Polish governments policies.

I express my protest to the Polish authorities who, under the influence of the United States and the U.K., are leading (Poland) to war, Szmydt said. He called for the restoration of Polands relations with Belarus and Russia.

Stanislaw Zaryn, a Polish presidential adviser, said on X that he didnt know what Szmydt was running away from. Zaryn added that the former judge might become a propaganda star for Russia and Belarus.

Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, referring to the case of Polish defector Emil Czeczko said, Weve had a traitor before; this seems to be a similar case.

Czeczko, a former Polish soldier, fled to Belarus in December 2021, claiming he disagreed with Polands policy on the migration crisis and the practice of inhuman treatment of refugees.

In a flurry of interviews and press conferences with Belarusian propagandists, he alleged that Polish soldiers were killing migrants at the border. Belarusian propaganda used his likeness on billboards at the Belarusian-Polish border and established a human rights award in his name.

Czeczko was found hanged in his apartment in Minsk on March 17, 2022.

Latvia starts digging anti-tank ditch along its borders with Russia, Belarus

The Latvian army has started digging an anti-tank ditch as part of the joint Baltic defense line along the countrys borders with Russia and Belarus, the Latvian public broadcaster LSM reported on May 2.

The work commenced in the municipality of Ludza near the Terekhovo border crossing point, roughly a kilometer away from Russian territory. The first defensive line will consist of natural obstacles such as forests and rivers as well as artificial fortifications and ammunition depots. No minefields have been laid so far.

Were digging up the road and making an anti-tank ditch here so that vehicles, including tanks, cannot move along it, said Lieutenant Colonel Kaspars Lazdins, the engineering inspector of Latvias National Armed Forces.

Three Baltic states  Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia  agreed on Jan. 19 to build a Baltic defense zone on their borders with Russia and Belarus, prompted by the growing security concerns in Europe over Russias aggression against Ukraine.

Latvia and Belarus share a border of 172.9 kilometers, with just one operating checkpoint. In 2023, Latvia built 110 kilometers of fence along its border with Belarus following the artificial migration crisis orchestrated on the EU borders by Lukashenkos regime.

Tsikhanouskaya meets NATO secretary general, addresses allies amid Russian nuclear drills

The leader of the Belarusian democratic opposition, Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on May 7, a NATO press release reads.

Stoltenberg and Tsikhanouskaya met at NATO headquarters in Brussels for a discussion about the deployment of Russian nuclear weapons in Belarus.

Following the meeting, Tsikhanouskaya briefed the permanent representatives of NATO member states on the ongoing crisis in Belarus. She emphasized the importance of establishing a dialogue between the democratic movement in Belarus and NATO, which in particular would focus on shared security and stability objectives for Europe.

Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya of Belarus, meets with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on May 7, 2024, in Brussels, Belgium. (Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya/Telegram)

Tsikhanouskaya described her visit to NATO headquarters as "historic" for Belarus, saying the commitment to building a dialogue centered on regional security concerns.

Valery Kavaleuski, the deputy foreign minister in Tsikhanouskayas government in exile, said the meeting was a pivotal moment for fostering closer ties between democratic Belarus and NATO.

Lukashenko made Belarus a co-belligerent in Russias war against Ukraine. Despite not sending Belarusian troops to the front line, he allowed Russia to use his countrys territory as a jumping-off point for its attack on Kyiv, while Russian aircraft flew from Belarusian air bases to carry out airstrikes on Ukraine.

In 2023, Lukashenko also accepted the deployment of Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus  a move condemned by NATO.

Tsikhanouskaya, who claims to have defeated Lukashenko in the contested 2020 Belarusian presidential elections, has supported Ukraine since the beginning of Russias full-scale invasion in 2022.

As crackdown continues, Belarus plunges to 167th place in World Press Freedom Index

Belarus ranked 167th out of 180 countries in the 2024 World Press Freedom Index, having dropped 10 points compared to last year due to the ongoing repressions of journalists and independent media outlets.

Dubbed Europes most dangerous country for journalists until Russias invasion of Ukraine, Belarus scored below Russia (162nd), just between Saudi Arabia (166th) and Cuba (168th).

Read also: Opinion: Russias war may have opened Pandoras box for Belarus

Belarusian media have never been more repressed by the authorities than since the controversial reelection of Alexander Lukashenko as head of state in August 2020, the 2024 Reporters Without Borders report states.

One of the worlds biggest jailers of journalists, Belarus is holding 38 journalists and five media workers in jail on politically motivated charges. The authorities earlier introduced legislation equating independent journalism with extremism, punishable by seven years of imprisonment, essentially outlawing independent media in the country.

Over 400 journalists have been forced into exile by the Lukashenko regime, which has employed censorship, violence, mass arrests, and coordinated raids on homes and media offices to silence independent journalists.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The Belgian government will provide Ukraine with an additional 9 million euros ($9.7 million) for energy infrastructure restoration, Belgium Development Cooperation Minister Caroline Gennez told the media outlet La Libre in an interview published on May 10.

Additional financial aid is part of the new Belgian assistance package for Ukraine, according to La Libre.

Moscow has recently intensified its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine's critical infrastructure, destroying several thermal power plants across the country. This included the Trypillia plant, the main electricity supplier to Kyiv, Zhytomyr, and Cherkasy oblasts.

Russia carried out a large-scale attack on May 8 against Poltava, Kirovohrad, Zaporizhzhia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kyiv, and Vinnytsia oblasts, mainly targeting energy infrastructure. At least two hydroelectric power plants had to be decommissioned as a result of the attack.

The additional funds will be directed to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), under which Ukraine received the first generators at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Since then, the UNDP has created a procurement system for equipment supplies to restore infrastructure damaged in Russian attacks.

Sign up for our newsletter

Ukraine Weekly By Olga Rudenko

Sign up

Gennez said that Ukrainian energy infrastructure is "outdated and centralized," making it vulnerable to strikes.

The UNDP pays special attention to "sustainable and decentralized energy sources," such as solar panels, to avoid an immediate power outage for a large number of citizens if one of the facilities is hit, the minister added.

Gennez also recalled recent attacks against Kharkiv Oblast, which suffers nearly every day strikes due to its proximity to the front line and the Russian state border.

"This is (Vladimir) Putin's usual tactic: to make life as difficult as possible for the Ukrainian population behind the front line to break it psychologically," Gennez said.

Belgium previously announced that it would pledge 200 million euros ($213 million) for the German-led air defense initiative and supply Kyiv with missiles, as Ukraine continues to face a shortage of air defense systems amid an uptick in Russian attacks.

Read also: Belgium may deliver first F-16 jets to Ukraine in 2024

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Belgium will allocate another 9 million to help rebuild Ukraine's damaged energy infrastructure.

Source: Caroline Gennez, Belgiums Minister for Development Cooperation, as reported by Belgian broadcaster RTBF

Details: "Ukraine's energy infrastructure has been destroyed; it remains very centralised, making it vulnerable. For this reason, the UNDP [United Nations Development Programme  ed.] emphasises the need to develop sustainable and decentralised energy sources," Gennez said.

"Through the UN, Belgium will help rebuild the energy infrastructure around Kharkiv, which is currently under daily bombardment by Russian forces. Combined with military support, this will help strengthen Ukraine's resilience," the Belgian government added.

Belgium will reportedly allocate 9 million to support projects under the United Nations Development Programme, which specialises in economic development.

It was under this programme that the first power generators were delivered to Ukraine after the start of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and later, spare parts and equipment were supplied to repair the energy infrastructure damaged in Russian strikes, the broadcaster noted.

Support UP or become our patron!
President Joe Bidens administration on Friday concluded its assessment of whether Israel is breaking international and American laws in its U.S.-backed military campaign in Gaza and did not conclude that Israels conduct requires Washington to cut off aid for the offensive, according to a copy of the assessment reviewed by HuffPost.

The report has major significance for Bidens policy of sending Israel huge weapons shipments, which is largely ongoing despite the presidents current pause on providing the country with a specific package of bombs, and despite histhreats of halting more supplies if Israel expands its fighting in Gaza in the coming days.

The assessment says it is reasonable to assess that [U.S.-provided] defense articles... have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its [international law] obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm.

But the report avoids holding Israel responsible for specific excesses like strikes on medical workers  asserting, for instance, that the U.S. government cannot know if Israeli forces used American equipment in the hugely controversial World Central Kitchen strike last month  and declines to deem Israeli restrictions on the flow of U.S. aid to Palestinians illegal.

The assessment cites serious concerns about Israeli respect for the laws of war, notes serious questions about Israeli orders for civilians in Gaza to move to practically uninhabitable areas and says Israel has not shared complete information that U.S. officials could use in investigations of whether the country has used American weapons to kill civilians. The U.S. intelligence community assesses that Israel could do more to avoid civilian harm, the report says, noting publicly available evidence, such as huge civilian casualties among Palestinians, to question whether Israels military is effectively using the knowledge, experience and tools it has to shield civilians. Still, the assessment often couches unflattering findings about Israeli actions by citing misconduct by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and it repeatedly praises Israels controversial internal accountability mechanisms.

The report claims that between U.S. government findings and commitments from Israel about its behavior, Israeli assurances to respect international and American law can be treated as credible and reliable so the nation can continue receiving U.S. military support.

Israel claims it is abiding by international and U.S. standards in its offensive.

Lawmakers, officials and activists who have been raising the alarm about U.S. complicity in potential war crimes in Gaza blasted the report.

I think what theyre trying to do is make clear that they recognize how bad the situation is but they dont want to have to take any action, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) told reporters on Friday evening. The administration ducked all the hard questions.

Van Hollen  a Biden ally who spurred the administration to produce the assessment and who has led advocacy against the Gaza policy in Congress  called the intelligence communitys finding an understatement based on everything we know.

He also highlighted the administrations decision not to deem that Israel has breached the law in even one specific incident, noting that human rights groups and independent experts, including former State Department officials, have produced multiple investigations confirming violations.

Its not credible that the U.S. government has less information than organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and Oxfam, Van Hollen said.

He added that Congress is going to want to look into specific cases because the report appears lacking a serious probe of them.

Palestinians displaced by the Israeli air and ground offensive on the Gaza Strip walk through a makeshift tent camp Friday in Rafah, Gaza. Abdel Kareem Hana/Associated Press

Abby Maxman, the president and CEO of the humanitarian aid group Oxfam America, called Bidens report a slap in the face to the Palestinian and international human rights and humanitarian organizations that provided firsthand accounts and evidence  backed by experts within the administration  on the assumption that their input would be evaluated in good faith.

Most of all, it is a devastating blow to Palestinians in Gaza who have been killed, driven from their homes and pushed into starvation by Israels systemic abuses, Maxman said in her statement. They now suffer the indignity of this confirmation of the US governments policy of willful blindness. ... With todays report, the US will be complicit in even more death and suffering in Gaza.

Concern about Bidens handling of military support for Israel as a matter of his choice, rather than of the law, has grown in recent days as Israel has rolled out its final major operation in Gaza, against the southern town of Rafah, where more than 1 million sheltering Palestinians are panicking. Skeptics of the U.S.-Israeli policy hoped the production of the report would providea chance to ramp up scrutiny of the campaign.

Drafted by officials at the State Department, the White House and the Pentagon in line with a policy Biden issued in February  before the presidents recent moves to pressure Israel the assessment was intended to review credible allegations of Israeli war crimes involving U.S. military support, as well as Israels hindering of humanitarian aid for Palestinians.

Yet the administrations internal process to produce the report has for months fueled alarm among some that it will dodge core concerns about the Gaza war, like whether Washington is knowingly permitting breaches of U.S. directives and the laws of war.

The most glaring part [of the report] is that it ignores the big question of a U.S. government assessment on Israels international humanitarian law violations, one U.S. official told HuffPost, requesting anonymity for fear of professional retaliation.

They said the internal development of the report was very close hold, echoing complaints from some officials for months that top Biden aides have ignored advice from government national security experts about the risks and toll of Israels war operations.

Van Hollen publicly warned of politicization, saying last week that he saw a big warning sign about the assessment in the form of news reports that State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development officials had identified Israeli violations that make continued American military support illegal but that their colleagues working on arms sales vehemently disagreed.

Those who were most expert in applying the facts and the law were ignored and overlooked by those pushing a particular policy agenda, the senator said then, adding that Israel has a right to fight Hamas after its deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israelis, which sparked the current conflict, but that it must act justly. After the reports release on Friday, Van Hollen said he had independently verified that government experts on human rights law and humanitarian assistance were overlooked in the preparation of the report.

A State Department official noted particular concern about how the Biden administrations report presented Israeli treatment of humanitarian aid for Gaza.

In its section arguing that Israel is not breaking a U.S. law barring American weapons for countries blocking American aid, the assessment asserts that Israel substantially increased humanitarian access and aid flow into Gaza since the killing of seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers.

It is blatantly clear they are blocking aid. Its the one thing we have been consistently vocal about, said the State Department official, who asked for anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak on the record.

Jose Andres, WCKs founder, and other aid officials have denied that improvements have occurred to the degree necessary. And, as Israel has targeted Rafah more intensely this week, the United Nations has said it has stopped any aid from entering Gaza. But on Thursday, Axios reported that Bidens departing humanitarian envoy for Gaza, David Satterfield, and his ambassador to Israel, Jack Lew, both argued amid internal deliberations around the assessment that Israel was no longer hindering the flow of aid into Gaza.

Satterfields role was to cover for them, said the State Department official. HuffPost broke the news in April that Satterfield is moving into a senior adviser position at the State Department and former United Nations official Lise Grande is taking his place. A spokesperson for Satterfield did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Van Hollen called the reports comments on aid especially disappointing as it focuses on recent weeks and they entirely duck the question of the conduct of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with regard to humanitarian aid up to this point.

As an architect of the policy that produced the report, he said he still sees it as valuable for accountability but expressed skepticism of how Biden has interpreted it toward Israel.

It would be most useful if judgments can be based on the facts and the law and not driven by what we wish the facts and law were, the senator said.

Separately, a top Republican working on global affairs, Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), blasted the release of the report and the general policy requiring investigations of potential war crimes by countries receiving U.S. weapons.

Israels offensive in Gaza has killed about 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to local authorities. Last years Hamas-led attack within Israel killed close to 1,200 people, the majority of them civilians, and took about 240 people hostage.

Related...
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  Ejecting migrants with terrorist links or serious criminal backgrounds will happen faster under a new proposal from the Biden administration.

The Department of Homeland Security says the change allows for a faster assessment of asylum eligibility than current standards.

The announcement came as a House committee held a hearing in Arizona on the southern border.

Its not a stunt. Its about dealing with a real problem, said Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio.).

House Republicans say theyre not playing politics with the U.S.-Mexico border.

Only Joe Biden is responsible for that, said Jordan.

Ohio Congressman Jim Jordan held a hearing in Arizona Friday on the impact of the immigration crisis on the state.

Wish we had some Democrats who would actually show up, said Jordan.

However, Democrats are tackling the issue in another way.

The Biden administration is proposing a new rule that aims to speed up asylum processing at the southern border something New York Congressman Tom Suozzi supports.

We got a problem with asylum. Its being abused, said Suozzi.

The Department of Homeland Security says the new rule would apply to migrants with terrorist links or serious criminal backgrounds.

People that will ultimately be denied six or seven years down the road needs to happen sooner, said Suozzi.

DHS says the change would cut down the assessment to a matter of days before rejecting them, but Republicans immediately criticized the rule as too little.

Chris Clem, a retired chief border patrol agent, told the committee the Biden administration isnt doing enough to enforce current laws.

Like giving someone a bucket to bail water out of a sinking boat, Clem said.

The new rule goes into effect after a 30-day comment period.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Editor's note: The article was updated with the content of the defense package as announced by the U.S. Defense Department.

U.S. President Joe Biden on May 10 authorized a $400 million defense aid package for Ukraine, according to a statement on the White House's website.

"I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State... to direct the drawdown of up to $400 million in defense articles and services of the Department of Defense... to provide assistance to Ukraine," the statement read.

The Pentagon unveiled the content of the new package, namely ammunition for Patriot and NASAMS air defenses, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, HIMARS systems and ammunition, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery shells, and equipment to integrate Western launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukrainian systems.

The package further contains Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 armored personnel carriers, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, trailers, TOW missiles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank launchers, precision aerial munitions, and High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs).

In addition, it contains small arms and small arms ammunition, demolition munitions, coastal patrol boats, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protective equipment, spare parts, and other ancillary equipment.

Sign up for our newsletter

Ukraine Weekly By Olga Rudenko

Sign up

Politico reported earlier during the same day that the U.S. is preparing a new aid tranche to be announced later on May 10.

In April, the U.S. passed a long-awaited $61 billion aid package, with much of it covering military aid.

The Pentagon announced on April 26 that it was ready to move forward with sending $1 billion worth of weapons to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles.

Russia has taken advantage of Ukraine's growing battlefield ammunition shortages, taking the city of Avdiivka in February. Russian troops also continue to intensify attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure this spring.

Read also: US announces $1 billion military aid package for Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
US President Joe Biden signed a decree on 10 May to provide Ukraine with military aid worth up to US$400 million.

Source: European Pravda; White House statement

Details: By his decree, Biden delegates to the US Secretary of State the authority "to direct the drawdown of up to US$400 million in defence articles and services of the Department of Defense, and military education and training, to provide assistance to Ukraine".

This includes the provision of weapons from US Army warehouses, but the list has not yet been made public.

Politico reported that the package likely includes additional missiles for Patriot air defence missile systems, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs), Javelin anti-tank missile systems, and other ammunition.

Background:

On 24 April, US President Joe Biden signed a package of legislation passed by Congress that includes nearly US$61 billion in aid to Ukraine and other US allies. Immediately afterwards, the US announced a US$1 billion military aid package for Ukraine.

Afterwards, the US Department of State confirmed that further military aid packages were being prepared.

Support UP or become our patron!
The recent event in the "29 Climate Conversations: The Road to COP29" series, held in collaboration with UN Azerbaijan and PASHA Holding, focused on the theme "Overview of the UN Climate Change Conference: Private Sector Perspectives." PASHA Holding, one of the leading companies in the country, demonstrated its commitment to raising awareness about the UN Climate Change Conference and the role of the private sector in climate action and just transition. This event took place on May 10th with the participation of over 200 employees of PASHA Group companies.

During the event, Teymur Huseynov, Group Strategy Director of PASHA Holding, Elnur Soltanov, the Chief Executive Officer of COP29 Azerbaijan, and Vladanka Andreeva, the Resident Coordinator of the UN in Azerbaijan, presented opening speeches. Distinguished speakers, including Cecilia Njenga, Director of Intergovernmental Support and Collective Progress Division at UNFCCC, Fernando Castellanos, Head of Environment and Climate at UN Global Compact, and Ilkin Hajiyev, Founder & Executive Director at Sustainera Solutions, delivered insightful presentations.

Vladanka Andreeva, Resident Coordinator of the UN in Azerbaijan, highlighted the significance of the partnership with PASHA Holding, stating, "The private sector is one of the critical actors for climate action, and we are pleased to partner with PASHA Holding on this important priority, not only for the country but also for the world."

Recognizing the critical importance of addressing climate challenges, we have proactively initiated an opportunity to enhance awareness among our stakeholders regarding both the COP29 and climate issues. Upon learning about the 29 Climate Conversations initiative spearheaded by UN Azerbaijan, we swiftly conveyed our commitment to participate. This initiative encompasses a series of 29 events organized by the UN Azerbaijan, with four of these events being conducted in collaboration with PASHA Holding. Today we are holding the first of these events, and as part of our commitment to our employees, we are commencing discussions with PASHA Group employees," mentioned Teymur Huseynov.

Additionally, during the event, participants were given the opportunity to donate to the ecological projects currently implemented by the Karabakh Revival Fund.

The "29 Climate Conversations: Road to COP29" program aims to foster collaborative action and dialogue across different sectors to combat the global climate crisis. In the next events of this series, which will be organized with the support of PASHA Holding, the participation of local and international media representatives, clients, partners, and non-governmental organizations as well as experts from various UN agencies on the subject are planned.
Bidens arms threat to Israel better than nothing but too late, say U.S. officials who resigned over Gaza policy

Several former Biden administration officials who resigned over the U.S. approach to Israel's deadly offensive in Gaza say they welcome President Joe Biden's threat to suspend arms shipments as a "step in the right direction."

"Its better than nothing," said Josh Paul, who served as director of congressional and public affairs for the State Departments Bureau of Political-Military Affairs for more than 11 years before resigning in late October over what he said was the U.S.'s "blind support" of Israel.

But, he said in a phone interview with NBC News this week, "I think this comes sadly too late for 35,000, if not more people, who have been killed in Gaza  and what we really need is a new policy," adding he believes Washington needs to re-evaluate whether its security assistance to Israel is in the U.S.'s national interest.

A growing number of U.S. staffers, including officials who have worked closely on weapons trade and human rights policy, have resigned over the Biden administration's continued transfer of weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza.

The administration last week paused a weapons shipment, which included 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs, according to a senior administration official, amid concerns over a Rafah assault.

But the U.S. has continued to send military assistance to Israel in the days since, with shipments including both offensive and defensive weaponry, two U.S. officials familiar with the transfers told NBC News. They said the offensive weaponry included small arms.

Hala Rharrit, a U.S. diplomat and veteran foreign service officer who resigned from the State Department last month in protest over the Biden administration's policy on Israel's assault on Gaza, reacted to the president's comments with measured optimism.

Hala Rharrit, a U.S. diplomat and veteran foreign service officer who resigned from the State Department last month. (U.S. Department of State)

"Hopefully this is the start of an actual policy shift that will result in substantial change," Rharrit said in a phone interview Friday, rather than "just a show of, 'we're doing something to try to get them to stop going in, but we're not going to do enough.'"

Annelle Sheline, who resigned from the State Departments Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor in March, was less optimistic. Im not holding my breath, she said.

Sheline said she believed Israel was blatantly "in violation of so many laws and has broken so many of these boundaries," often in defiance of public statements from the administration, "that I don't expect we'll actually see a real shift."

'The red line keeps moving'

Their comments come after Biden said during an interview with CNN on Wednesday that the U.S. would stop delivering weapons and artillery shells  including 2,000-pound bombs he said the Israeli military has been using to kill Palestinian civilians  if Israel launched a full-scale attack on Rafah in its bid to eliminate Hamas.

The warning reverberated across Israel, prompting concern and outrage among officials there, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying Thursday his government would "stand alone" if it lost military support from its closest ally and largest overseas weapons supplier.

Rharrit said that while she welcomed Biden's signal that the U.S. was willing to shift policy on the war, as well as the White House's decision to halt an arms transfer last week, she was concerned that "the red line keeps moving."

Israel, she noted, already has boots on the ground in eastern Rafah after ordering the evacuation of some 100,000 people on Monday. And she questioned how the U.S. would choose to define  and react to  a full-scale assault.

Already, the Israel Defense Forces have taken control of the Rafah crossing, where it says it is targeting militant operations in the area. Humanitarian groups say this has prevented aid from entering for days, while video captured by NBC News' crew on the ground shows scenes of death and destruction in parts of Rafah.

Paul, who served in the State Department bureau that oversees U.S. arms sales, noted that the Biden administration missed a deadline Wednesday to deliver a report to Congress on whether Israel has been using U.S. weapons in Gaza in violation of international laws and U.S. policy. Israel launched its offensive in the enclave in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attacks in which some 1,200 people were killed and 250 others taken hostage.

After Biden on Wednesday said civilians had been killed in Gaza "as a consequence" of bombs sent to Israel "and other ways in which they go after population centers," Paul said he could not "see how that report can't reflect the fact that Israel has indeed been using U.S.-provided weapons to go after civilian areas."

U.S. officials who resigned over response to war in Gaza say Biden's arm threat a 'step in the right direction'. (Brendan Smialowski / AFP via Getty Images)

The contents of the report remain unclear, but on Thursday, Axios reported it would provide a highly critical analysis of Israel's conduct in Gaza, but stop short of concluding that is military has violated the terms of use for U.S. weapons. NBC News could not immediately independently verifying the reporting, which cited three unnamed officials.

'I'm sorry that it's taken so long'

The Biden administration has sent thousands of bombs and other munitions to Israel in the course of the war already, and Paul said that even without U.S. military support, "Israel has a deep stockpile of arms and has every ability to continue this operation should it choose to."

But, he said, if the U.S. did shift policy and stop sending arms to Israel indefinitely, "then perhaps it begins to really constrain Israel's ability to use these weapons in Gaza."

Ultimately, Paul said it was important that the U.S. has finally shown willingness to use the leverage that arms transfer provide ... despite their repeatedly having said that they would never do this.

The U.S. has long been the largest arms supplier to Israel, followed by Germany, a trend that has continued in the midst of Israel's offensive in Gaza, despite Biden himself describing the Israeli forces' bombing of the enclave as "indiscriminate" in December.

The UN agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA) said on Friday that around 110,000 people have fled Rafah for safety. (Doaa Albaz / Anadolu via Getty Images)

"I'm sorry that it's taken so long for the administration to come to this point," Paul said, adding that he hoped the development would open a much broader conversation beyond Rafah about the U.S.s security assistance to Israel, including whether it is actually in the U.S. national interest.

After Israeli and Hamas delegations left Cairo this week without a deal to end the fighting in Gaza and secure the release of hostages still being held there, Paul and Rharrit said the U.S. must ramp up the pressure on both parties.

We as a nation need to put pressure for a diplomatic solution, Rharrit said. If we leverage our military aid it could influence significantly Israel to make concessions to stop the war.

More bombs, more killings is not the answer."

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
By Jeff Mason

PORTOLA VALLEY, California (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden joked on Friday that he wished former President Donald Trump had injected himself with a little bleach, resurrecting one of Trump's more head-scratching moments from the early days of the coronavirus pandemic.

Biden, at a fundraising event south of San Francisco for his re-election campaign, said the presidency of his Republican opponent was chaotic and that voters should keep that in mind. Biden and Trump are locked in a close contest ahead of the November election.

"Remember him saying the best thing to do is just inject a little bleach in your arm? Thats what he said. And he meant it. I wish he had done a little bit himself," Biden said.

During the early months of the pandemic in 2020, Trump said that an injection inside the human body with a disinfectant like bleach or isopropyl alcohol could help protect against the virus.

Biden also made light of what he called Trump's "love letters" from North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, although Biden mistakenly referred to Kim as the president of South Korea.

Trump had met with Kim and exchanged a number of letters with him, copies of which he kept in a loose-leaf binder in the Oval Office.

A spokesperson for the Trump campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Biden's remarks.

Biden has made light of Trump's bleach comment before, saying on April 24 in Washington that Trump had injected himself and "it all went to his hair."

(Reporting by Jeff Mason and Steve Holland; Editing by David Gregorio)
ABILENE, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  Another active news week in the Big Country brings heartbreaking stories including young lives lost in a Baird crash, a storm chaser helping save a Hawley family caught in a tornado, and more. Keep reading for a full look at the trending local articles of the week.

LAST TIME  Big Country Beat: 3 tornadoes within a week & fatal Abilene SWAT standoff

This weeks top 5 in BCHs Big Country Beat

5. UPDATE: Man found deceased in Abilene motel fire

Following a fire at an Abilene motel, authorities discovered a man deceased in a room Thursday morning. Investigators are working to figure out what happened, but no foul play is suspected.

4. UPDATE: Robbery suspect killed during officer-involved shooting at Abilene store

To start out the work week, police were called out to an Abilene grocery store Monday afternoon in reference to a robbery suspect with a bladed weapon. In a press release, the Abilene Police Department (APD) said officers first used a taser in an attempt to disarm the suspect. Ultimately, they shot the man to death. Two APD officers involved are now on paid leave.

3. Oh my gosh. Theres people: Storm chaser rescues family live on YouTube during Hawley tornado

In reality, this entire Big Country Beat would have only been two subjects: Last Thursdays tornadoes and our coverage on the number one story.

More:

UPDATE: Hawley tornado that injured family of 4 classified as high-end EF-3, wind speeds of 165MPH

They were whirled around inside: Hawley family of 4 survives tornado

The story you were most interested involving our local storm coverage was a tale of heroism from a storm chaser who essentially saved the lives of a family of four in Hawley after they were caught in the eye of the tornado.

2. Snyder DPS trooper arrested in Nolan Co., charged with Bestiality

Snyder DPS trooper, Christopher Prince, was featured in last weeks Big Country Beat in the number three slot. Texas Ranger arrested him after investigating a report made against him in February. Prince was booked into the Nolan County Jail on a Bestiality charge last week, bonded out shortly after.

1. 3 Baird teens killed in Sunday morning crash

We have made it to the real talk of the town: The three teenagers killed in Baird early this Sunday morning.

According to the Department of Public Safety, several teenagers were driving around 2:00 a.m. when they collided with a drunk driver. In the crash report, DPS said the driver of the vehicle with the teenagers did not yield the right of way, and the drunk driver was later arrested.

18-year-olds Layni Potter and Madi Buchanan, and 16-year-old Ryan Bilby were announced dead at the scene.

The loss of these teenagers hit the Baird community hard. Baird High School offered counseling, the city closed off the stretch of road where they died for a candlelight vigil, and three funerals were held between Wednesday and Friday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
A bill that would gut access to public records is set be voted on by both chambers of the New Jersey Legislature on Monday after it cleared the Assembly Appropriations Committee on Friday afternoon.

The state Senate Budget Committee advanced the bill on Thursday after a sequel of sorts to the bill's first hearing at a March meeting played out in a Trenton committee room: Advocates delivered hours of testimony against the bill, multiple lawmakers expressed opposition to it and ultimately the same outcome  the bill advanced.

When draft amendments were posted by the Legislature late Friday afternoon, they differed from the version made available to the press before the state Senate committee hearing on Thursday.

The most recent version available on the Legislature's website removes the presumption of access clause at the beginning of the New Jersey Open Public Records Act, which notes that government records shall be readily accessible.

Its crazy to me that they pulled this bill in March to claim they would fix it, only to end up with a process and a bill thats much worse, CJ Griffin, an attorney and prominent OPRA advocate, said. The reprint today contains new amendments which were not even before the committee, including gutting Section 1 of OPRA, which required agencies and courts to construe OPRA in favor of access. Theres no explanation for deleting that other than an extreme hostility toward transparency.

According to the Senate Majority Office, that's not the case, however. Spokesperson Richard McGrath said that section "will remain intact as part of the OPRA law.

That section is not being removed from the OPRA law, just from the bill," McGrath said. "It came out of the legislation because that section of the law is no longer being amended."

The implementation of the bill will now cost $10 million instead of $8 million.

What happened at the Assembly hearing?

The press conference room in the newly-renovated New Jersey Statehouse in Trenton on Wednesday, March 22, 2023.

Friday's hearing before the Assembly Appropriations Committee was no different from Thursday's in the state Senate. Dozens of advocates pointed to flaws with the bill. They questioned lawmakers motives and called for a more collaborative discussion to further amend the bill.

Even with limited time to review the amendments, however, we can see that many problematic provisions remain  sort of wolves in sheeps clothing, said Evelyn Murphy, president of the League of Women Voters for Monmouth County. You changed the language, but you did not address the core issues.

Marleina Ubel, an analyst at the New Jersey Policy Perspective, said that the amendments do little to address failings of the bill and place the onus of the burden on the public rather than on the agency.

New Jersey is already a disgraceful 48th in the nation for public access laws and will no doubt slip even further, she said. Fewer than 37% know their congressional representative. How many people know the names and the titles and all of the things we are going to be asking them to do to get access to these records?

Representatives from agency organizations such as the League of Municipalities, New Jersey Conference of Mayors and New Jersey Association of Counties were in support of the bill, though they said that if it were up to them, they would have implemented even more restrictions on access to public records.

We dont think this bill goes far enough but this is a legislative process. You dont get everything you wanted all the time, said William Caruso, legislative counsel for the New Jersey Conference of Mayors.

Many had hoped for lightning to strike twice  and wanted the bill to again be pulled from consideration at the last moment, as had happened in March.

Instead, the meeting  which featured just the OPRA bill  went on as planned and ultimately the bill advanced with a final tally of 8-1 with Assemblyman Jay Webber abstaining.

Our view: Amended OPRA bill an absolute sham. Gov. Murphy, veto this affront to democracy

What would the 'reform' do to roll back OPRA?

Since the bill was first heard in committee in March, Republicans in both chambers have joined as sponsors  state Sen. Anthony Bucco in the upper chamber and Assemblywoman Victoria Flynn in the lower chamber.

The updated bill includes the renewed ability to make anonymous requests and the removal of exemptions for call and email logs and digital calendars.

It also implements stricter requirements on how to request things like texts and emails including specific accounts, times, topics and titles.

There are modifications to the provision limiting access to metadata to allow for access only to the "portion that identifies authorship, identity of editor, and time of change."

Language restricting data brokers and commercial entities that resell information obtained through OPRA was removed.

Among the parts that remain mostly intact include one of the most controversial, known as the fee-shifting provision. This provision previously required public record custodians that had not, according to a judge, properly provided records to pay the requesters' attorney fees.

The bill initially changed that to say winners of OPRA lawsuits "may" be entitled to legal fees if the public agency is found to have knowingly violated the law or unreasonably denied access. In its amended form, the bill still eliminates the attorney fee requirement but does allow for judges to decide that fees are warranted if the denial was unreasonable, if the agency acted in bad faith, or knowingly and willfully violated the law.

The amendments also include language that would allow for a court to issue a protective order limiting the number and scope of requests the requester may make if they sought records with the intent to substantially interrupt the performance of government function.

The legislation was first enacted in 2002 and requires local, county and state government entities to provide the public with access to government records in New Jersey.

This bill is slated for a full state Senate vote on Monday and is expected to appear before the full Assembly on Monday as well.

Katie Sobko covers the New Jersey Statehouse. Email: sobko@northjersey.com

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: NJ OPRA reform bill gutting public records access advances
Rep. Steven Jackson, D-Shreveport, asking a question in the House Chamber. (Allison Allsop/Louisiana Illuminator)

Legislation that would allow local governments in Louisiana to hide many of their records from the public has cleared one of its last committee hurdles and is nearing final passage in the Legislature.

House Bill 461 by Rep. Steven Jackson, D-Shreveport, would exempt records related to local and parish economic development projects from Louisianas Public Records Law. An amended version of the proposal cleared the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs without objection Wednesday.

The bill would allow a mayor, parish president or top local government official to declare any records confidential if they determine their public release would have a detrimental effect on an active business negotiation. It would also allow the company or person negotiating with the government to request confidentiality.

All states and the federal government have some version of a sunshine law for records. However, Louisiana lawmakers have gradually chipped away at the states Public Records Law, adopting more than two dozen changes that have revoked access to a long list of government records since the law was enacted in 1940.

Jackson, a freshman lawmaker, has defended the measure by saying it would apply only to records related to economic development projects valued at least $5 million. His bill offers only a vague description of economic development records as those pertaining to any project involving the retention, expansion or attraction of further economic development.

This would let local governments hide any records they want simply by declaring them related to economic development, according to First Amendment attorney Scott Sternberg.

During Wednesdays committee hearing, Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, expressed concern over the consequences of the legislation.

Were talking about every single local government from the smallest little hamlet onward, Miller said.

He pointed out that the initial version of the bill would have extended the secrecy even to records of expenses of the local government pertaining to the negotiation.

Your bill exempts all the records of expenses, Miller told Jackson. Thats completely unacceptable.

The committee adopted an amendment that removed that provision.

Jackson told the committee he sponsored the bill because when he served on a local government board, consultants from other jurisdictions would file public records requests to find out what incentives were being offered to a business. The consultants or competing governments would then use the information to lure the project away, he said.

Sternberg expressed skepticism with the idea that the public records law hurts local economies.

Im not sure what problem were trying to solve here, and Im not sure businesses arent coming here because of public records, he said.

In response to those concerns, Jackson agreed to work on another amendment that would sunset his bill after four years.

His proposal is pending consideration on the Senate floor.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Bill to hide local governments records from public nears final passage appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
Louisiana Senate chambers during the close of the 2023 legislative session on June 8, 2023. (Photo credit: Wes Muller/Louisiana Illuminator)

Legislation that would allow local governments in Louisiana to hide many of their records from the public has cleared one of its last committee hurdles and is nearing final passage in the state Legislature.

House Bill 461 by Rep. Steven Jackson, D-Shreveport, would exempt records related to local and parish economic development projects from Louisianas Public Records Law. An amended version of the proposal, which includes a four year sunset provision, cleared the Committee on Senate and Governmental Affairs without objection Wednesday.

The bill would allow a mayor, parish president or top local government official to declare any records confidential if they determine their public release would have a detrimental effect on an active business negotiation. It would also allow the company or person negotiating with the government to request confidentiality.

All states and the federal government have some version of a sunshine law that ensures any member of the public can obtain copies of government records such as financial statements, police reports and email communications among public officials, among many others. However, Louisiana lawmakers have gradually chipped away at the states Public Records Law, adopting more than two dozen changes that have revoked access to a long list of government records since the law was enacted in 1940.

Jackson, a freshman lawmaker, has defended the measure by saying it would apply only to records related to economic development projects. The newly amended version would let local governments hide records only for projects valued over $5 million. Still, his bill offers only a vague description of economic development records that states those records pertaining to any project involving the retention, expansion or attraction of further economic development.

This would let local governments hide records of any kind simply by declaring them related to economic development, according to First Amendment attorney Scott Sternberg, who represents the Louisiana Press Association.

During Wednesdays committee hearing, Sen. Greg Miller, R-Norco, expressed concern over the consequences of the legislation.

Were talking about every single local government from the smallest little hamlet onward, Miller said.

He pointed out that the initial version of the bill would have extended the secrecy even to records of expenses of the local government pertaining to the negotiation.

Your bill exempts all the records of expenses, Miller told Jackson. Thats completely unacceptable.

The committee adopted an amendment that removed that provision.

Jackson told the committee he sponsored the bill because when he served on a local government board, consultants from other jurisdictions would file public records requests to find out what incentives were being offered to a business. The consultants or competing governments would then use the information to lure the project away, he said.

Sternberg expressed skepticism with the idea that the public records law hurts local economies.

Im not sure what problem were trying to solve here, and Im not sure businesses arent coming here because of public records, he told the committee.

In response to those concerns, Jackson agreed to work on another amendment that would sunset his bill after four years.

His proposal is pending consideration on the Senate floor.

The post Bill to let local officials hide records from public nears final passage appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
Bipartisan group asks Biden to stand in way if international court goes after Israel

A bipartisan group of senators is calling on President Biden to make full use of his authority if the International Criminal Court (ICC) issues arrest warrants for Israeli officials over its war in Gaza.

In a letter led by Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) delivered late Thursday, the lawmakers say Biden should enforce the American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002 if the ICC targets Israelis.

Under that law, the president is empowered to use all means necessary to free any U.S. or allied personnel imprisoned by the international court.

It is outrageous that the ICC would make a political calculus to target Israel, which only further undermines the Courts legitimacy and undercuts efforts to advance peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Under the American Servicemembers Protection Act of 2002 (P.L. 107-206), the President is granted broad authorities to respond to these types of actions by the ICC, and we urge you to fully implement the law should the Court move forward with action against Israel, wrote the lawmakers.

Rubio was joined by Sens. Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

The ICCs chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, is reportedly seeking to file charges against Israeli officials for their conduct of the war in Gaza, in particular for allegedly preventing or withholding humanitarian aid from reaching the territorys population.

The ICCs jurisdiction in Gaza and Israel is unclear because Israel is not a member, but the Palestinian Authority is an observer entity that recognizes the courts authority.

The United States, Israel, Sudan and Russia all signed the Rome Statute of the ICC  the treaty that created the court  but later rescinded their membership.

The ICC holds jurisdiction over individuals in member states accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity, or genocide.

Because Israel is not a party to the ICC, the court has no jurisdiction over acts committed within the country, but it remains unclear whether the ICC would have jurisdiction over Israeli individuals either in Gaza, or ordering actions in Gaza.

Republicans in the House and Senate have moved for legislation to sanction any ICC officials who target nationals of non-ICC member states, though U.S. officials have largely welcomed ICC actions against Russians, including President Vladimir Putin, for that countrys actions in Ukraine.

Although the lawmakers in the new letter did not reference the Russian case, they made two distinctions, noting Israels actions were prompted by a Hamas attack on the Israeli homeland on Oct. 7, and Israel has a functioning and independent judiciary capable of prosecuting any abuses.

ICC rules prohibit the Court from prosecuting cases against the citizens of a country with an independent judicial system. As a democratic country with a robust judicial system, including a military justice system, Israel is capable and has proven its ability to carry out its own proceedings. Moreover, since October 7th, Israel has exercised its right under international law to self-defense in response to an armed attack. Israel has taken significant actions to protect Palestinian lives as Hamas uses civilians as human shields, wrote the lawmakers.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Colorado has highly pathogenic avian influenza  also known as HPAI or bird flu  on a dairy farm, the ninth state with confirmed cases. The U.S. Department of Agricultures National Veterinary Services Laboratories confirmed the virus on April 25, 2024, in a herd in northeast Colorado.

This farm is one of 35 dairy farms across the U.S. with verified cases of bird flu in cattle as of May 7, 2024, according to the USDA.

Bird flu is not new to Colorado. The state experienced an outbreak in poultry that began in 2022. Since then, the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has reported that 6.3 million birds in nine commercial flocks and 25 backyard flocks have been affected by the virus. The most recent detection was in February 2024.

But this is the first time the disease has made cattle in Colorado sick.

Im a veterinarian and epidemiologist at Colorado State University who focuses on infectious diseases in dairy cows. I spent many years on a USDA incident management team working on multiple cattle and poultry disease outbreaks, and Im leading the efforts at Colorado State University to study this novel outbreak.

The first cases of bird flu in cattle

Bird flu was first detected in dairy cattle in Texas and Kansas in March 2024.

Colorado State University faculty responded to the outbreak by forming a multistate group with state departments of agriculture, the USDA and other universities to gain a better perspective of how this virus is transmitted between farms and among cows. The team is coordinating the sampling and testing of sick and healthy cows on affected farms to understand which animals are shedding the virus, meaning they are more likely to spread the disease, and for how long.

We are also working to identify mitigation steps to help control this disease. Our network of animal health specialists is working with dairy producers and informing them of new data on a weekly basis.

Detecting bird flu in cattle

In February 2024, veterinarians and researchers began testing the blood, urine, feces, milk and nasal swab samples of sick cows. The virus was detected most frequently in raw milk, suggesting the disease may have been spread to other cows during the milking process.

More recent laboratory tests have also detected the virus in cows nasal secretions for a short time before the virus presents in their raw milk.

In late April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and USDA began testing commercial milk samples. To date, authorities have not detected any live virus in these samples.

Thats expected because the pasteurization process, which heats milk to at least 161 degrees Fahrenheit (72 degrees Celsius) for at least 15 seconds, kills the virus. Pasteurization times and temperatures used in the U.S. are designed to kill bacterial pathogens, but they are working against this virus.

Raw milk, as its name implies, is not pasteurized. The CDC has linked drinking raw milk to many foodborne illnesses, including E. coli and salmonella. The presence of the virus that causes bird flu, H5N1, is an additional reason for concern.

Dairy producers are required to divert abnormal milk and milk from sick cows from the food supply to protect consumers.

In addition to milk, the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service has tested samples of commercial ground beef from states with sick cows. No virus had been found in beef as of May 1, 2024.

Slowing the spread of the disease

At this early stage of the outbreak in dairy cows, researchers dont know exactly how bird flu spreads in cattle, so recommendations to contain it may shift as more is learned.

I have seen many infected cows and they look dull and depressed, similar to how humans feel during a viral infection. Many infected cows have signs similar to humans with the flu, such as a fever.

Many dairy producers separate sick cows in hospital pens, away from healthy ones, so sick cows can be easily monitored and treated.

Since the virus has been found in nasal secretions in early infection, its possible the water tanks for the herds drinking water could be a source of infection. Farmers should continue to clean these tanks at least weekly  and even more often in hospital pens  as a best practice.

Infected cows can recover

The good news is that most cows get better. Like a human with the flu, they respond to anti-inflammatory drugs and oral fluids.

A small percentage of cows do get secondary bacterial infections and die or are humanely euthanized. Some cows recover from the infection but stop producing milk and are removed from the herd and usually slaughtered for beef.

Because the virus is detected most often in milk from sick cows, our team recommends dairy producers continue following best milking practices on the dairy farm, including disinfecting the cows teats before and after milking, even healthy cows.

Just one case of human conjunctivitis due to bird flu was reported in a Texas dairy farmworker in late March. The worker was likely exposed through direct contact with milk from an infected cow or from rubbing their eyes with their hands or gloves that had come in contact with contaminated milk. The CDC recommends farmworkers wear personal protective equipment, including eye protection, when in direct or close physical contact with raw milk.

How dairy producers can protect herds

Viruses can end up on farms through the movement of cattle, people, vehicles, equipment and wild birds.

The U.S. dairy industry has a Secure Milk Supply Plan that addresses foreign and emerging dairy cattle diseases like bird flu. The plan calls for increased biosecurity practices on farms during disease outbreaks.

Biosecurity practices include limiting cattle movement on and off farms, allowing only required personnel access to cattle, preventing vehicles and equipment from other farms from entering cattle areas, and cleaning and disinfecting vehicles entering and leaving dairy farms. Following these practices should greatly reduce the opportunity for the virus to enter new herds.

Birds also carry the virus. They are more difficult to control because of their easy access to feed and water on dairy farms. State and federal fish and game departments and wildlife agencies work with farmers to reduce the risk of diseases spread by wild birds. These include programs to limit the number of birds attracted to dairy farms while respecting rules protecting these species.

Producers who observe cows with clinical signs of bird flu should let their veterinarians know so that proper testing can be done to confirm the presence of bird flu. If a test result is positive, the lab that conducts the test must report it to the USDA. As USDA and affected states continue to track the disease, an accurate estimate of affected farms will allow investigators to determine how the virus is spreading from farm to farm  and if we are making progress in containing it.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Jason Lombard, Colorado State University

Read more:



Jason Lombard receives funding from USDA. He is affiliated with the National Mastitis Council and the American Association of Bovine Practitioners. He is a former USDA employee.
Authorities are warning area residents about a recent black bear sighting.

Police wrote in a social media post Thursday night a bear was spotted north of Trapelo Road in the neighborhoods of Lexington Road, Page Road, and Old County Road.

Residents are urged to bring any food sources inside as well as trash receptacles. Dog owners should also exercise caution while walking in any of those areas.

The Massachusetts Environmental Police have been made aware of the sighting, Lincoln Police said. We will provide updates with any new information.

For more information about avoiding conflict with black bears, click here.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
LAKELAND, Fla. (WFLA)  A black bear was spotted just blocks away from a North Lakeland Publix on Thursday evening in the Lake Gibson area.

The animal appeared to be just over 3 feet tall when standing on all fours.

Children caught feeding food-conditioned alligator at Florida park, report says

Photos sent in by WFLA viewer Captain Shawn Raulerson show the bear first roaming around the area at 7:19 p.m., before returning an hour later at 8:26 p.m. After the bear hung out in the area, it headed north.

Raulerson added that the area has an abundance of wild blueberries and blackberries, along with a water resource.

In the past, the Lakeland resident said his camera has tracked other animals like coyotes, foxes, and bobcats.

WATCH: Big rattlesnake caught hanging out on Dunedin Causeway

I feel with all the natural wildlife being destroyed were pushing these animals out of their homes, Raulerson told WFLA.com.

Shawn Raulerson

Shawn Raulerson

Shawn Raulerson

Shawn Raulerson

According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida black bear species has significantly dropped due to loss of habitat, persecution and unregulated hunting.

With this lack of sufficient natural habit, bears tend to gravitate towards heavily forested areas with dense cover and plenty of fruits, vegetation, acorns and nuts.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
Julie Harris had never been tested for lung cancer. A low-dose CT scan, the only recommended screening for adults at risk of developing lung cancer, was not something shed ever found time to do.

But when her primary care doctor recently suggested a new blood test to help look for signs of the disease, Harris was intrigued. She had her blood drawn the same day, in the same building as her doctors appointment.

It was something that was accessible at the moment, so it was like, Sure, lets go ahead and do that and see how the results are, said Harris, 67, of Pekin. Harris, who is a longtime smoker, said if the results are positive, shell get a low-dose CT scan next to screen for the disease.

Science just keeps moving forward, she said.

Harris is among the first group of patients in Illinois to get the blood test as part of a pilot program at health system OSF HealthCare, which is offering the test at 18 locations. OSF leaders hope the blood test will improve early detection of lung cancer, which kills more people in the U.S. than any other single type of cancer.

OSFs adoption of the blood test is part of a growing movement in medicine to use less invasive screenings to look for signs of cancer in patients, especially patients who may be reluctant to undergo more traditional, involved tests. A number of blood tests to help detect various types of cancer are now in development, according to the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Some health systems, such as OSF, are starting to offer the blood tests to patients, while others are waiting with cautious optimism for more long-term data on the tests.

This is the future, said Dr. Jared Meeker, a pulmonologist at OSF, said of the new blood test.

The blood test being used at OSF is not meant to replace a low-dose CT scan, which involves lying on a table that slides in and out of a type of X-ray machine.

The FirstLook Lung blood test, developed by Delfi Diagnostics, based in California and Maryland, cannot diagnose lung cancer. But doctors hope that patients who might not want a CT scan  perhaps because it would require too much time, travel or effort  will consent to undergoing the blood test. If the blood test comes back positive, indicating a possibility of lung cancer, OSF leaders hope patients will then be more likely to agree to a low-dose CT scan.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that people at higher risk of developing lung cancer get low-dose CT scans annually. Higher-risk patients are those who are between the ages of 50 and 80 who have been moderate to heavy smokers, who are current smokers or who quit within the past 15 years. But only about 4.5% of those people actually got low-dose CT scans in 2022, according to an American Lung Association report.

If everyone who was eligible for low-dose CT scanning was having it already, our test wouldnt be helpful, said Dr. Peter Bach, chief medical officer at Delfi. The problem we have is theyre not, so what were trying to do is accelerate the conversations between them and their doctors about low-dose CT and inform them.

The blood test works by looking for patterns of DNA fragments in the blood that could indicate lung cancer. If a person has lung cancer that would be detectable on a low-dose CT scan, theres an 80% chance the blood test will come back positive, while if the blood test is negative, theres a 99.8% chance the person does not have lung cancer, Bach said.

Delfi is seeking approval of its test from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which in recent weeks announced it plans to more tightly regulate laboratory developed tests. Until now, its primarily been the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services regulating laboratory testing. Delfi says the blood test has breakthrough designation from the FDA, which is a designation meant to help speed up the development, review and assessment of certain devices and products.

The blood test is not covered by health insurance, and Delfi declined to give a price. OSF leaders say they are still working out the pricing but are aiming to make the test as accessible as possible to patients. Neither OSF nor Delfi would say whether patients now undergoing the test at OSF are being charged. Low-dose CT scans are covered by health insurance.

Blood tests made by other companies to help detect cancers have list prices of about $900 to $950.

OSF doctors hope the blood test will lead to earlier detection for patients with lung cancer. The five-year survival rate for people with very small tumors that havent spread to the lymph nodes is 90%, but the five-year survival rate for people with lung cancer that has spread to other organs is only 7%, according to the Cleveland Clinic.

No one wants to diagnose Stage 3 and Stage 4 lung cancer, Meeker said. Its devastating.

Patients might not always fully understand the implications of late diagnosis, said Dr. Tim Vega, chief population health officer at OSF.

People think, Im smoking, if I get it, Ill just check out very quickly, Vega said. They dont realize it could be years of difficulty for them and their families.

At OSF, about 33% of eligible patients already receive low-dose CT scans  far better than national numbers  but still not as high as doctors would like, Vega said.

OSF leaders are looking toward the success of Cologuard as a model of how the new blood test might help patients. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Cologuard about 10 years ago as an at-home screening test for colon cancer. Patients mail a stool sample to a lab, which then analyzes it  a much quicker and less invasive task for patients than undergoing a colonoscopy.

As with the Delfi blood test, a positive result from Cologuard is not a cancer diagnosis, but means a person may have it and needs further testing. OSF started offering Cologuard to patients a few years ago and found that when patients get positive test results, they almost always agree to have a colonoscopy next, Vega said.

OSF isnt the only health provider with high hopes for the blood test.

The White House recently noted, in an announcement about President Joe Bidens Cancer Moonshot, that Delfi is working with the Indigenous PACT Foundation to improve lung cancer screening among American Indian tribes in the Pacific Northwest. Delfi is also working with City of Hope on a clinical study, funded by the American Cancer Society, to improve lung cancer screening in underserved Los Angeles County communities.

Doctors are keeping an eye on other types of blood tests as well, watching how they perform. Companies Grail and Guardant Health also offer blood tests to help detect various types of cancer.

University of Illinois Cancer Center is now involved in a clinical trial to help study Grails blood test, which screens for a cancer signal shared by multiple cancers.

I still think that we have a long way to figure out how these types of tests fit into the broader context of cancer prevention and screening, but its very exciting, said Dr. Ameen Salahudeen, an assistant professor of medicine at University of Illinois Chicago, a member of the UI Cancer Center and an investigator in the trial, which is sponsored by Grail. I never want to see someone with advanced cancer that could have been caught sooner, so personally, I believe that tests like these will have a role in the future.

Dr. Rajat Thawani, an assistant professor of medicine at University of Chicago Medicine and thoracic oncologist, said such blood tests are promising, but before theyre adopted widely, more long-term data is likely needed about whether the tests can help lead to better quality and length of life for patients.

Theres a lot of excitement in the utility of how its going to play out in the future, but I think right now we have to make sure it actually leads to a meaningful change in the longevity of patients, Thawani said.

If the Delfi blood test makes a difference at OSF, leaders hope to offer it throughout the health system within a year, said Ryan Luginbuhl, OSF service line vice president for oncology services. OSF HealthCare has nearly 160 locations, including 16 hospitals, in Illinois and Michigan. Most of its locations are in central and northern Illinois, and the system includes OSF Little Company of Mary Medical Center in Evergreen Park as well as primary care, practices and urgent care centers in the Chicago area.

We will do everything we can when we hope this proves to be effective  to get this to as many patients as possible, Luginbuhl said.

An earlier version of this story misstated the name of the institution Dr. Ameen Salahudeen is affiliated with.
Boater dies just feet from land when he dives in to find cell phone, Florida cops say

A man boating along Floridas Gulf Coast died just feet from land, when he chased after a phone that fell overboard at the dock, according to investigators.

The 69-year-old West Virginia resident is believed to have suffered a medical episode in the water, the Hernando County Sheriffs Office said in a May 9 news release. His identity has not been released.

It happened Wednesday, May 8, after the man and two companions returned to the Hernando Beach Boat Ramp after a day on the water, the sheriffs office said.

While at the dock and in the process of removing the boat from the water, one of the mens cell phone fell into the water, officials said.

After removing the boat from the water, the victim told his friends he was going in the water to retrieve his friends cell phone. Taking only a pair of goggles, the victim ... returned to the dock and jumped into the water, feet first.

A witness reported the man never resurfaced, resulting in several people jumping in the water to search for him, officials said.

His body was recovered around 8:30 p.m., with the help of the Hernando County marine unit and underwater operations team, officials said.

Preliminary investigation indicates no signs of foul play. The incident appears to be accidental or related to a medical episode, the sheriffs office said. The victim suffered from heart disease and had a pacemaker.

The man was a resident of West Virginia with a vacation home in adjacent Pasco County, officials said. The Hernando Beach Boat Ramp is about 50 miles northwest of downtown Tampa.

Teen dies doing drills with Canadian swim team in Gulf of Mexico, Florida sheriff says

Watch as dog inexplicably jumps from Florida bridge, leaving deputy clinging to leash

Off-duty cops fishing 6 miles off Florida Keys spot adrift diver desperate for rescue
The footage taken from a police body camera showing the moment U.S. Airman Roger Fortson was shot and killed by a Florida sheriffs deputy is very troubling the familys attorney Ben Crump told Jake Tapper on Thursday.

Even though it provides some answers, it leaves us with more troubling questions  he doesnt give [Forston] a chance.

Deputys body cam video shows deadly shooting of airman

Watch the full video here: https://t.co/UqgPkfq2pg pic.twitter.com/wuQ6ahfcEJ  The Lead CNN (@TheLeadCNN) May 9, 2024

Crump, who specializes in civil rights and catastrophic personal injury cases, explained that Forston, a decorated member of the U.S. military followed every command the unnamed officer gave.

You dont hear him give the verbal command to drop the weapon, or put your hands up, Crump said. He immediately, within a split second, of saying, Step back, which Roger, a decorated military airman, follows all of his commands. He goes to step back, and bam, bam bamhe doesnt give him a chance to comply.

In the footage, Crump continued, Forston is doing everything the man says  and its so troubling.

Forston was alone in his home in Florida when he was shot by the officer on May 3. Both Crump and Forstons family allege authorities mistakenly burst into his home in pursuit of someone else.

They had the wrong apartment, Crump told Tapper. They need to own up to it. The apartment complex or the policethey had the wrong apartment. This young man was a model officer, and he was a model citizen.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said at a press conference on Thursday he recently met with Forstons family and extended our deepest condolences to them. Aden also said the case has been referred to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

What we do know at this time is that the deputy announced himself, Mr. Fortsons comments indicate that he did acknowledge it was law enforcement at his door, and that he arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand. The deputy knocked on the correct door. He did not cover the peephole or otherwise obscure its view, Aden added.

Watch the interview with attorney Ben Crump in the video above.

The post Body Cam Footage of Airman Roger Fortsons Death is Troubling Attorney Tells Jake Tapper: Doesnt Give Him a Chance | Video appeared first on TheWrap.
The Fontana Police Department has released body camera footage from a February incident in which an officer shot and injured a man who allegedly attacked another officer.

An officer shot 56-year-old Alan Metka following a traffic stop on Feb. 9 in the city of Yucaipa. Fontana police released the video on Thursday, showing the incident from the body cameras of both of the involved officers.

The video began with one of the officers, referred to as the primary officer, speaking to Metka after pulling him over for lacking a front license plate and for tinted windows. The pair start to speak about Metkas criminal history when Metka admits to serving 11 months in prison for possessing explosives.

At that point, the primary officer asked Metka if anything illegal was inside his vehicle. Metka said there wasnt.

Metka then exits the vehicle and is told by the primary officer to speak to his partner. He asked Metka once again if he had any illegal items or weapons in his possession, and Metka said No.

The officer then returns to his patrol vehicle for a few short seconds.

The female officer, referred to as the secondary officer, then initiates a pat down of Metka.

In her body camera footage, she asks Metka, Whats this here, while patting down his front-right pocket, to which he responds, My gun. He then appeared to reach for the gun which turned into a struggle between the two.

Fontana PD OIS

The footage from the primary officer shows Metka holding the secondary officer in a headlock. She then shouted, hes got a gun, prompting the primary officer to yell Let her go, repeatedly.

When Metka refused, the primary officer fired a single shot at Metka, injuring him. The video shows Metka lying down in a pool of blood and he can be heard moaning in pain.

Fontana Police Chief Michael Dorsey said Metka was rendered medical aid at the scene and was transported to a local hospital. He survived his injuries and was charged with assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer.

The officers were uninjured in the incident. Metkas gun was recovered at the scene.

Dorsey said Metka, who is awaiting trial, has an extensive criminal history with multiple weapons and assault arrests. The incident remains under investigation through the San Bernardino District Attorneys Office.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Body of missing SC mother who vanished after screaming on 911 call found

The remains of a missing South Carolina mother have been found months after she was reported missing, according to WJBF.

Jamilla Smith, 30, vanished on December 2, 2023, from Aiken County, which is on the Georgia/SC border.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

Affidavits showed that Smith called 911 from her home and said her ex-boyfriend had broken into her house and was chasing her down the road, WRDF reported. The dispatcher heard the car rev and Smith scream.

TRENDING STORIES:

On Friday, police announced that Smiths body was found in a wooded area off of Silver Bluff Road. Her cause of death has not been determined.

In January, Smiths ex-boyfriend, Daniel Harmon, was charged with kidnapping and murder Smith. Two other men, Bryan Hampton, of Augusta, and Clyde Hendley, of Bath, SC, were also arrested in relation to the case on accessory after the fact charges.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Smith was the mother of two young sons. She vanished after talking on the phone to her mother.
(KRON)  A bounty hunter has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with a fatal shooting that happened on March 19, the Newark Police Department said Thursday. The victim was a man who did not appear in court.

Newark police said Bail Fugitive Recovery Agent Charles Price, 49, of Foresthill, and a bail bonds agent were trying to find the man when an altercation broke out. After an exchange of gunfire, the man was shot and died at a hospital.

Man in critical condition after shooting near I-280 in San Jose

The victim was identified as 42-year-old Bay Area resident Richard Turner. Police said in March that Turner did not appear in court while felony weapons charges were pending, which made him a fugitive.

Both guns involved in the shooting were recovered to be used as evidence. Turners gun was determined to be a ghost gun, NPD said.

The Alameda County District Attorneys Office worked with NPD and the California Department of Insurance on the case. NPD investigated the circumstances leading up to the shooting.

The DAs office charged Price with one count of second-degree murder. He was arrested on Thursday by the Placer County Sheriffs Office and transported to the Santa Rita Jail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Boy, 7, critical after being stabbed by brother in Los Angeles County: LASD

A man was arrested Thursday night after deputies found his 7-year-old brother stabbed multiple times at a home in the South Whittier area of Los Angeles County.

Authorities responded to a stabbing call in the 9600 block of Ben Hur Avenue around 10 p.m., Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department Lt. Johnson told KTLA.

Deputies found the 7-year-old boy suffering from several stab wounds and transported him to a local hospital.

A bloodied shirt is seen during a stabbing investigation in South Whittier on May 9, 2024. (OnScene.TV)

Deputies investigate a stabbing in South Whittier on May 9, 2024. (OnScene.TV)

An officer sets up crime scene tape at the stabbing scene in South Whittier on May 10, 2024. (OnScene.TV)

Video from the scene showed a bloodied shirt lying on the curb in front of the home.

The victim was listed in critical but stable condition, Johnson said.

Investigators said the boy was stabbed by his 24-year-old brother, who was also taken to a hospital following the incident.

Los Angeles woman comes face-to-face with mountain lion

The unidentified suspect was booked on suspicion of attempted murder after he was checked out at the hospital, Johnson said.

No details regarding the motive for the stabbing were provided.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
EL CAJON, Calif. (FOX 5/KUSI)  A nine-year-old boy who suffered major injuries after being hit by a pickup truck in El Cajon last month has died, according to county officials.

Ashton Burris was identified as the child killed in the crash, the County of San Diego confirmed to FOX 5/KUSI on Thursday. He died several days after the collision, on April 19, officials said.

The collision occurred on the evening of April 14 on northbound Rios Canyon Road near Kelli Lane.

Suspect sought in Oceanside murder case; reward being offered

The boy was attempting to cross Rios Canyon Road as a 76-year-old man driving a 1991 GMC Sierra was traveling northbound, according to California Highway Patrol. The driver of the vehicle was unable to avoid the child and crashed into him.

Burris was taken to the hospital with major injuries, while the driver stayed at the scene, per law enforcement.

A GoFundMe has been set up for the family of the victim.

CHP confirmed driving under the influence was not a factor in the crash.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
GHENT, WV (WVNS)  For over 114 years, the Boy Scouts of America have been working to instill certain values and principles into the young men. However, that has started to change within the past few years, and the organizations biggest change has just been announced.

Mercer County Salvation Army desperately seeking donations

The Boy Scouts of America hasnt had the easiest few years. Scandals and declining membership have taken a toll on the organization. However, many with the organization say theyre prepared to handle changes coming their way.

One of the most noticeable changes will be their name. Starting in February of 2025, the Boy Scouts of America will be known as Scouting America.

They will be dropping the gender marker in order to fully embrace an atmosphere of inclusivity.

Samuel Bosley, District Executive for 14 counties in Virginia and West Virginia, said that though the name is changing, the core values are not.

Really, what we should still focus on is that scouting, you know the program, things like that, havent changed. The values, the principles are still the same, said Bosley. So, I think that should be the thing we focus on more than the name change.

The changes started when the Scouts began allowing girls to join. The organization wanted to emphasize their new open door policy to bring in more diverse members.

It seems the public agrees with the change.

David Whittaker of Beckley said there are more important things to focus on than just the name change.

I think its a wonderful idea. I dont think we should have two different organizations that do the same thing, and we have more important things to worry about other than whether they rename the Boy Scouts of America, said Whittaker.

Bosley said he hopes that throughout this rebranding the focus remains where it needs to beon the kids.

Scouting America becomes the official name for the organization on February 8th, 2025.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Budding trees and bushes are seen in front of the Alaska State Capitol on Wednesday, May 1, 2024. (Photo by James Brooks/Alaska Beacon)

Members of the Alaska Senate have killed, at least temporarily, a plan to end a tax policy worth more than $100 million for one of the states largest oil companies.

The move came after Hilcorp Alaska and members of the state House of Representatives warned that there would be consequences if the Senate moved forward with plans to end a tax policy that benefits Hilcorp more than many other corporations.

The Alaska Legislature is scheduled to adjourn its regular session by the end of the day on Wednesday, and because any unpassed bills will die upon adjournment, these last days have featured a frenzy of activity as lawmakers seek to attach their priorities to bills that appear to have enough support to pass.

We really are running out of time. We dont have the time to talk about everything to the extent we would like, said Rep. DeLena Johnson, R-Palmer, during floor debates on Thursday.

Within the Capitol, the last-days maneuvering is creating an atmosphere of brinksmanship and grudging compromise mostly opaque to outsiders.

The Hilcorp amendment and the Senates work on the underlying bill gave an unusually public glimpse at whats happening behind closed doors.

Governors bill turns into policies opposed by him

Last year, Gov. Mike Dunleavy asked lawmakers to pass a bill that would set rules for a potential new state industry involving the injection of carbon dioxide deep underground in order to prevent the effects of human-caused climate change.

The House passed a modified version of Dunleavys proposal, amending it to make it more favorable to oil, gas and coal interests.

When the bill reached the Senate, members of the Senate Resources Committee cut it apart and inserted several other bills. There were new provisions dealing with gas storage facilities, loans that could use in-ground natural gas as collateral, free access to seismic survey data in Cook Inlet, and most controversially, the tax change for Hilcorp.

Even before Hilcorp bought BPs Alaska holdings in 2020, legislators were warned that the states corporate income tax applies to larger firms like BP, not companies like Hilcorp, and the result of the sale would be a loss of income.

Hilcorp is organized under federal tax law so that its income passes through to its owners. The owners might pay state income taxes in states that have them; in Alaska, they go untaxed.

The difference is now costing the state at least $100 million annually in foregone revenue, and legislators have not changed the law to address the issue.

Sen. Bill Wielechowski, D-Anchorage, has written several bills on the topic and successfully inserted the latest one into the carbon bill.

When the revised bill reached the Senate Finance Committee, Department of Natural Resources Commissioner John Boyle said it had been festooned with baubles and trinkets of all sorts and stripes.

He told lawmakers that the governor opposed the new version of the bill, indicating that if the Legislature passes it, Dunleavy might issue a veto.

Members of the majority caucus in the Alaska House of Representatives also told senators that they opposed the bill.

Rep. George Rauscher, R-Sutton, told the Anchorage Daily News that he thinks the caucus considers the governor part of their team, and so his opinion carries a great deal of weight.

Soon after Boyles testimony, the House Rules Committee scheduled a meeting and listed 13 Senate-sponsored bills on its agenda.

That agenda carried an implicit threat: If the Senate didnt reverse course on the carbon bill, members of the House would stuff Senate bills full of things that senators opposed.

Rep. Craig Johnson, R-Anchorage and chair of the House Rules Committee, said there was a very clear message to the Senate.

We will not allow good policy to die on the last day of session, he said.

Hilcorp also had a message.

The company produces approximately 90% of the natural gas sold out of Cook Inlet, and the company has said that it intends to spend money on new infrastructure to ramp up production in response to an anticipated gas shortage in Southcentral Alaska.

In an email to Southcentral electric utilities on May 5, Hilcorp Senior Vice President Luke Saugier said it might change its plans if the tax exemption is removed.

As a company, all we can do is respond, which, unfortunately, would likely mean significantly shifting our capital investment, his email said in part.

One day later, Wielechowski blasted the messaging from Texas-based Hilcorp.

The livelihoods of Alaskans, people in industry, people in business, we cannot be put in a position where an outside person is threatening to turn off our gas unless he keeps his tax breaks. We just cant be in that position. And unfortunately, thats the position that were in, he told reporters.

Over Wielechowskis opposition, the Senate Finance Committee removed the Hilcorp item  and all the other bills inserted into the carbon bill.

The industry obviously didnt want it in there and they worked real hard to get it out, Wielechowski said of the tax provision.

A Hilcorp spokesperson declined a request for comment on Wielechowskis statements.

Other late-changing bills face scrutiny

While the carbon bill has garnered a large amount of attention, other bills are undergoing similar negotiations.

Last week, Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage and chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, folded several crime-related bills into House Bill 66, a Dunleavy-proposed measure that would allow prosecutors to charge someone with murder if that person sells drugs that result in a fatal overdose.

The Alaska chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union raised issues with the resulting bill and mobilized supporters to testify against it.

The Senate Finance Committee stripped out the additional bills and reduced HB 66 to its original subject.

A similar act took place with a bill that promises to reform the rules used by electrical utilities when sending electrical power to other utilities.

Sen. Donny Olson, D-Golovin and co-chair of the Senate Finance Committee, said that with all the late-session maneuvering, the committees approach has changed.

Starting Thursday, the committee will start from the original bill and then bring up each of the add-on pieces as individual amendments, voting them up or down.

Each vote could mean the survival or end of an individual proposal. While its possible for a merged bill to resurface on the House or Senate floor, its much easier to make a change in committee.

Some of these bills are getting so big that its hard to go ahead and go piece by piece through them all. So the simplest way to do it is to strip it down to the original bill, and then add onward from there. So thats what weve been doing, he said.

Meanwhile, lawmakers are continuing to combine bills under legislative rules that allow the maneuver if the merged bills have similar subjects.

In the first hours of the Houses floor session on Thursday, for example, legislators inserted a proposal that creates a central source for aid to military families and veterans inside a bill written to give veterans a preference when they bid for public projects.

Language from a bill that allows retired teachers to serve as substitutes was inserted into a bill dealing with the pay of experienced teachers hired from out of state.

When youre looking at consolidating bills late in the session, youre trying to look at not only different interests, but niches that have been addressed and also things that have broad support, Claman said. Some of those pieces of legislation that make sense, might not have the time to get through this session.

Theres a potential problem with that idea, said Rep. Neal Foster, D-Nome. If you add too much, he said, you could end up killing something with the best of intentions.

The post Brinksmanship and compromise emerge in Alaskas Capitol as legislative session nears an end appeared first on Alaska Beacon.
Apache helicopter gunships carry out strafing runs in support of troops on the ground storming Russian positions. A series of fortified trenches have been cleared in fierce close-quarter combat, and a counterattack repulsed with the use of drones and missiles.

The mission, Swift Response, is being carried out by British-led forces in Estonia as part of Natos biggest military exercises since the end of the Cold War, ranging from the Baltics to the Balkans. It comes amid an increasingly heated confrontation with Moscow following Vladimir Putins invasion of Ukraine.

There have been repeated warnings from the opposing sides, Nato and Moscow, of a potential conflagration. What is unfolding in Estonia are the opening salvoes of what a modern conflict between great powers would be like with the Western alliance making a stand on its eastern flank.

The stakes cannot be higher. President Putin has raised the possibility of nuclear weapons being used several times, as he has ratcheted up the rhetoric of warnings to the West since the start of the Ukraine war. The Nato response appears to be prepare for the worst, hope for the best while watching what the Kremlin does next.

Standing on a muddy field in Nurmsi in northern-central Estonia  a two-hour tank drive from the Russian border  Brigadier Giles Harris, the commander of British forces in the Baltic, has no doubt about the imperative of dealing with the clear and present threat from the Kremlin.

Its very urgent. Im not going to second guess what may or may not happen, but as military personnel our job is to be ready. There is no point in waiting to be ready, we should get ready now. And whats playing out in Ukraine provides us with the lessons that we need to learn, he says.

Apache helicopters from the 3 Regiment Army Air Corps support ground troops of the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment (Cpl Aaron J Stone)

Our mindset is regardless of whether its today or tomorrow, or next year, we must be as ready as we can, we must make ourselves as ready as we can. We are prepared to defend every inch of Estonian land if necessary. In the minds of the soldiers, the strategic purpose and context in which were doing this training has definitely changed [from regular exercises]. The fact that we are doing this so close to Russia brings it home why its so important to be here.

More than 90,000 troops from all 32 Nato member states are taking part in Exercise Steadfast Defender, of which Swift Response is a part, with drills including air assaults, armour manoeuvres and fire support taking place in locations including Estonia, Sweden, Poland, North Macedonia, Romania, Hungary and Moldova.

Brigadier Mark Berry, commander of the 16 Air Assault Brigade, in which the Parachute Regiment is a leading part, wanted to stress that the exercise was not just a show of force.

I dont consider any of the activities my soldiers conduct is ever a show. My role is to make sure that soldiers have the right training opportunities and feel ready and prepared to work together with allies or on their own, he says.

We do of course, send messages to whoever will listen. We want to make clear that our forces are ready ... [that] theyre capable of working with each other. In any specific time frame, when we are training we are looking for lessons from conflict zones, anywhere that has a lesson we can take.

Paratrooper from the 3rd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment in Estonia (Cpl Aaron J Stone/MoD)

For Lieutenant Colonel David Lambert of the Army Air Corps this is a landmark moment.

The training taking place is genuinely as realistic as it gets, he says. There is no artificiality in this. Its just as good training from the lowest level all the way to the top. We are ready to fight today.

What is happening in Ukraine is being analysed and used to calibrate the war games, from multiple ways to use drones and cyberwarfare, to countering mass advances of the type used by Russian forces in battles like the meat grinder of Bakhmut in the Donbas.

There are lessons in avoiding casualties as well. An example is the very large numbers of Russian commanders who have been killed in Ukraine. Kyiv claim a tally of 13: the Kremlin acknowledges seven.

One reason for this, according to analysts, is that the senior Russian officers often made themselves conspicuous targets by staying in one place with their vehicles  linked with antennas  parked together next to them.

Soldier from 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers Corps (Cpl Aaron J Stone/MoD)

Nato forces in the exercise are practising not being static at one position for too long, being mobile and ensuring that logistics are adequate and looking out for signs of being tracked by the enemy. Another means of avoidance being tried out is to move command and control of operations further back while ensuring that communications are maintained.

Troops from 16 Air Assault and other forces fighting Britains wars abroad have had their most recent experience of combat in Afghanistan and Iraq. Fighting a war in Europe presents different types of challenges, making exercises like Swift Response vital.

Different dynamics have led to different tactics.

The Weapons Mounted Installation Kit (WMIK) personnel carriers were much favoured by mobile British units including Special Forces. But their open tops and light armoured protection made them particularly vulnerable to roadside bombs and they were phased out of operations.

They have had a new lease of life with the Parachute Regiment. One reason is that they are light enough to be carried by transport aircraft or Chinook heavy-lift helicopters and can thus be rapidly deployed if, for instance, there is a Russian incursion across the border.

Standing next to a WMIK at Nurmsi, Corporal Ashis Thami said: Of course we know what happened in Afghanistan. But we find it very useful in this kind of place to move around and provide force protection. We are told we must be ready for different wars in different times and I think that is right.
BUSHWICK, Brooklyn (PIX11)  The citys recent crackdown on delinquent water bills led officials to one Bushwick apartment thats over $40,000 in debt  leaving residents at risk of a water shut off.

Brooklyn local Michelle Rices issues with her apartment on Bushwick Avenue started right after she moved in in January, including a steady stream of mice, she told PIX11. Things escalated when she came home to find a red flier on her door warning the buildings water would be shut off by May 1 if her landlord didnt pay the $42,007 they owed the city.

Long Island smoke shop employee accused of selling illegal cannabis: SCPD

A spokesperson for the citys Department of Environmental Protection confirmed to PIX11 that water payments have not been made on the Bushwick property since July 2019, and the outstanding bill has still not been settled.

Though the April 30 payment deadline passed without a shut-off, the Bushwick Avenue property is still at risk of losing its water or other enforcement, a spokesperson for the DEP said.

City records list the owner of the property on Bushwick Avenue as 2521 Bushwick Realty LLC.

PIX 11 News called and texted the cell phone number that Rice has for her landlord, but he did not answer our messages.

The Bushwick Avenue apartment is just one of hundreds of owners sent shut off notices in a recent push to crack down on delinquent water payments, according to a spokesperson for the citys Department of Environmental Protection.

The department has sent notices to 760 customers and shut water off at eight properties, all oneand two-family residential homes that were, for the most part, vacant. Enforcement thus far has brought the city $3.5 million in revenue from customers who received shut-off notices, according to a spokesperson for DEP. Another $6.3 million has been promised in payment plans.

In a statement, a spokesman with the city DEP said, We are putting a stop to bad actors that refuse to pay their delinquent water bills and force New Yorkers to pay higher rates for water. Water shutoffs are a last resort, and we would much rather work with the customer to find a way to set up a payment agreement. But everyone must pay their fair share to support our water system, and this property [on Bushwick Avenue], which has not paid their water bill in nearly five years, is at risk for a water service shutoff or alternative enforcement actions.

In March, the department said the city was owed $1.3 billion in unpaid water bills, naming top offenders as: Hotel Hayden, Dexter House, The Draper New York, and The Mave Hotel NYC.

By Thursday, the Hayden Hotel and another major offender, 500 7th Ave LLC, had made payment plans with the department, but the department did not confirm whether the other perpetrators had settled up their debt.

The City canceled its tax lien sale in 2020 due to the pandemic, meaning the city cannot put liens against properties with delinquent water bills. City sources now tell PIX 11 News that a legislative solution is in the works that would restore property tax enforcement while putting safeguards in place for those at risk. A deal with the City Council could be reached within two to three months.

Rices story struck a chord with people on social media, garnering hundreds of comments with advice and commiseration. To Rice, its a frustrating reminder of what New York City tenants have to put up with, she said.

Ive paid my bills, all up until now, so I dont know why he cant do the same. He definitely makes more money than I do.

Residents facing water shut-offs should ensure their landlord is aware of the warning and, if it is not resolved, contact the DEP.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Police in Peru have detained the brother and the lawyer of the countrys embattled president, Dina Boluarte, as part of a widening corruption inquiry, weeks after a similar raid on the Peruvian leaders home.

Boluartes brother Nicanor and her lawyer Mateo Castaneda were placed under preliminary detention on Friday, accused of influence trafficking and belonging to a criminal organisation. Six other people were also detained.

The swoop on Boluartes inner circle comes as she continues to be embroiled in the Rolexgate scandal after prosecutors began an investigation following reports that she was using jewellery worth at least 400,000 ($500,000) despite earning a monthly presidential salary of around 3,320 ($4,200).

Boluarte, 61, has denied owning three Rolex watches, saying they had been loaned to her by the governor of the Andean region of Ayacucho, Wilfredo Oscorima, whom she referred to as her wayki, meaning brother in Quechua. Prosecutors are investigating whether she allegedly received the watches in exchange for favours. She has denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors are investigating Nicanor Boluarte, who holds no official government position, for allegedly using his de facto power to build a new political party and to solicit bribes from officials holding regional government posts, according to police documents seen by the Guardian. The investigation has been dubbed Los waykis en la sombra, meaning the brothers in the shadow.

Just hours before the raids, the interior minister, Walter Ortiz, had ordered the deactivation of the police division that was due to carry out the operation. The same unit  which supports a team of prosecutors against corruption in power - took part in the raid on President Boluartes home on Good Friday.

Related: Peru president Dina Boluarte under pressure amid Rolexgate scandal

On Friday, the prosecutors office said it was evaluating whether the interior minister had exceeded his functions in ordering the deactivation of the unit. Interim public prosecutor Juan Carlos Villena called for its immediate reinstatement.

Last month, Boluartes government suspended Harvey Colchado, the head of the elite police investigations unit, Diviac, in apparent retaliation for the Good Friday raid on her home. Ortiz denied there had been any political interference in Colchados suspension.

Boluarte ranks as Latin Americas least popular leader, with a 9% approval rating, according to a poll compiled by the Americas Society in January.

She is accused of presiding over the killings of 49 people by security forces during widespread protests over the ousting of her predecessor, Pedro Castillo, in December 2022. She faces a separate investigation over her role in those deaths.
Reality Check is a Telegraph series digging deeper into key issues and focusing on accountability. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email mynews@macon.com.

An inmate at the Butts County jail allegedly died by suicide after others threatened to kill him when he testified against another inmate in court, and now his family is suing the jail over it, according to court documents filed Thursday.

The lawsuit alleges Leon Scott, the man who died, repeatedly warned jail staff that he was in danger because he testified against other inmates, but they didnt provide the necessary care to keep him safe.

The lawsuit, filed by Scotts mother Jacqueline Redmond and former partner Jennifer Thomas, alleges jailers Anthony Dupree, Christian Turner and Terry Smith failed to protect Scott and deprived him of his rights. It also alleges Chief Jail Administrator Joseph Southerland, Butts County Sheriff Gary Long and Sgt. Francis, whose first name is not yet known, were negligent in the way they handled Scotts warnings and his death. All six of them are being sued in federal court.

It is common knowledge among law enforcement officers and jail personnel, including Defendants, that inmates who testify against co-defendants in criminal cases are subject to violence from other inmates, an attorney for the two plaintiffs said in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit represents one side of a legal argument. The accused have not filed a legal reply, and no actions have been taken in court regarding the accusation. The Butts County Sheriffs Office didnt respond to questions about the incident prior to publication.

Scott testified in August 2021 against a co-defendant in a criminal case that had six suspects, according to the lawsuit. The defendant who Scott testified against was convicted of violent offenses, and Scott took a plea deal in the case. He was awaiting sentencing at the time of his death.

The lawsuit lays out a timeline of repeated concerns raised by Scott, who in April 2022 began asking jail staff to move him to a new cell because he thought his life was in danger after he testified against another suspect, according to the lawsuit. He also flooded his cell to encourage them to move him out, but he was sent to a medical hall for observation instead.

He was returned to the same cell block after, according to the lawsuit.

In May 2022, Scott again warned jail personnel that he needed to be moved because he was receiving death threats. A day later, Dupree and Smith found Scott dead, hanging with a bed sheet around his neck and socks tying his hands together.

Redmond and Thomas argued in their lawsuit that the jail personnel who knew Scott was being threatened did not follow standard operating procedure, which required them to report the threats to their supervisors, Long and Southerland, and investigate those threats. The procedure also requires them to move an inmate who could be targeted, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also alleges Long and Southerland were required by Georgia regulation to be responsible for the care, secure detention and control of the inmates in the facility. They allege that Long failed to implement the policy that required violent threats to be reported and investigated.

They also allege Southerland failed to supervise jail staff to ensure they reported and investigated the incident.

The complaint said Long and Southerland would house pretrial detainees and inmates in the same or adjacent cell block. They would often put co-defendants together in the same cell block as well.

Redmond and Thomas are seeking a jury trial in this case, and they want to be awarded financial damages, attorneys fees and any other relief the court finds appropriate.
CA man who threatened Fani Willis saying shell be killed like a dog indicted on federal charges

A California man is facing federal charges after court documents say he made death threats against Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.

According to an indictment Marc Shultz, of Chula Vista, California, posted comments on Oct. 7 to a YouTube livestream video that included, Fani will be killed like a dog, Fani Willis will be dead in 2024, and other derogatory comments.

Shultz is facing charges of transmitting interstate threats to injure Willis.

This is just the latest example of threats that have been made against Willis since charging former President Donald Trump and several of his allies with conspiring to overturn the 2020 election here in Georgia.

RELATED STORIES:

Theyre very grotesque things ... I dont even know that I like to say all of them but slave whore is one of them. Ive been called pretty much everything but a child of God, Willis told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne in a previous interview.

Im receiving phone calls and emails and communications that are derogatory in nature. They dont always state what the reason is that theyre calling. But Ive probably been called the N-word more times in the last two-and-a-half years than most  a hundred people combined, Willis said.

Sending death threats to a public official is a criminal offense that will not be tolerated, Ryan Buchanan, the U.S. attorney in Atlanta, said in a statement.

Records show Shultz appeared before a judge in San Diego on Thursday and was released on bail. Buchanan said Shultz would be formally arraigned in Atlanta in June.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

RELATED NEWS:
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. On the outskirts of Baku, more than 500 people have assembled to bring attention to the need for more green spaces, repair of damaged areas, and general conservation efforts in the face of climate change, Trend reports.

Considering the soil and climatic conditions of the Absheron Peninsula, 3,000 Eldar pine and olive trees were planted by participants in Baku's Mushfigabad settlement.



A volunteer flash mob for the 29th Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29) followed the tree planting given this year, given Azerbaijan is preparing to host a major global event - COP29.

The tree planting initiative and flash mob were jointly organized by COP29 Azerbaijan Operating Company, the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources, and the Azerbaijan Volunteers' Public Union.



The event saw participation from representatives of governmental bodies, private organizations, civil society institutions, students, and volunteers.

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 Germany's Berlin, and its secretariat is located in Bonn.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
KANAB, Utah (ABC4)  With its towering waterfall crashing onto desert sandstone, the Calf Creek Recreation Site is one of the most beloved hiking areas in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.

However, this iconic Utah destination will be closed for several weeks this summer as crews work various construction projects to improve the area.

Skiers killed in backcountry avalanche identified

The Bureau of Land Management announced Friday that the recreation site is set to close on July 8. The agency explained that the full closure is necessary as the movement of heavy machinery could pose a risk to visitors.

We appreciate the publics patience as we enhance visitor infrastructure in this area, Paria River District Manager Harry Barber said in a statement.

The closure of the Calf Creek Recreation Site is expected to last up to two months, meaning the area could reopen come early September. Updates on the project will be posted to the monuments website.

The construction will bring improvements and repairs to the areas campground, install new shade shelters, new retaining walls along the creek, and a water play area.

Falyn Owens, the executive director of the Garfield County Office of Tourism, said that while the construction is underway, visitors can still see plenty of public land destinations in Bryce Canyon Country.

The Calf Creek Recreation Site is located roughly 12 miles south of Boulder, Utah, and 60 miles east of Bryce Canyon National Park.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
California Atty. Gen. Bonta plans how to thwart Trump with lawsuits if he wins another term

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta is preparing for potential lawsuits against the federal government if Donald Trump returns to the White House. (Francine Orr / Los Angeles Times)

California Atty. Gen. Rob Bonta said he and his staff have been reviewing former President Trumps second-term agenda to prepare a potential onslaught of environmental, immigration and civil rights lawsuits in the event he defeats President Biden in November.

We cant be caught flat-footed, Bonta said in an interview Thursday in Washington. Fortunately and unfortunately, we have four years of Trump 1.0. We know some of the moves and priorities; we expect them to be different.

Bonta, a Democrat who is considering a run for governor, said he has been reviewing the work of his predecessor, Xavier Becerra, who filed more than 100 suits against Trump policies before leaving the office to become Bidens secretary of Health and Human Services. Bonta and his deputies are also looking at Project 2025, a document drafted by the Heritage Foundation, a Trump-aligned think tank, which offers a blueprint of his second-term policy goals.

Californias Democratic politicians have long seen themselves as a bulwark against conservative policies, never more so than during Trumps presidency, when the state became the de facto headquarters of the so-called resistance.

The challenges to Trump, while popular with many, at times put Democrats in the awkward position of asserting states rights after long advocating for standards that would apply across the country. Critics said the constant lawsuits were politically motivated and distracted from the attorney generals other duties, including protecting consumers.

The challenges at times helped Trump politically, allowing him to use the state as a foil when he failed to carry out items on his agenda.

Read more: The divided states of America: Florida, California and the future of political polarization

With states growing increasingly polarized, attorneys general play high-profile roles in feuding with the federal government when its run by the opposingpolitical party. The Obama administration was sued 58 times by Republican attorneys general, according to a tally by Paul Nolette, a political science professor at Marquette University. Since Biden has been in office, GOP attorneys general have filed 55 lawsuits against his administrations policies. The figures represent a substantial increase from prior administrations.

The lawyers have generally won. Republican attorneys general beat Obama in court 64% of the time and are defeating Biden at a 76% rate, according to Nolette. Democratic attorneys general, who sued Trump 155 times, won 83% of cases.

Bonta singled out several efforts to thwart Trump, including then-Gov. Jerry Browns decision to sign the Paris climate accord after Trump withdrew the U.S. from it, to maintain that leadership role in the world that were gonna continue with climate action.

Becerra challenged Trumps power on a number of fronts, including climate, healthcare, immigration, gun control and civil rights. He won many of those battles, including defeating Trumps plan to repeal an Obama administration order to protect so-called Dreamers from deportation. Trump abandoned plans to add a citizenship question to the census in the wake of a multistate lawsuit that included California.

A second Trump term would likely invite new challenges on abortion laws, LGBTQ+ rights and the rights of parents and children to seek transgender treatment, Bonta said.

So theres a whole lot of contingencies and then, you know, looking at the different constitutional clauses and component parts of the Constitution that would be the groundwork and the basis for our potential challenges, he said.

Read more: California vs. Trump hits the 100-lawsuit mark with new challenge to environmental rules

There are limits to the legal strategy that even Bonta acknowledged. The federal government has control over immigration enforcement, Trumps top priority. While states can decline some assistance to the federal government, they cannot protect immigrants who are in the country illegally from deportation.

If its the federal governments job, they can do it, he said.

The state can provide legal assistance and ensure that there is due process, but immigration has long been an area of federal law.

Asked for comment on Bontas plans, Anna Kelly, a spokesperson for the Republican National Committee, said, California liberals will try anything to spread their failed, fringe-left agenda far and wide, but they wont stop President Trump from making America great again.

Bonta was in Washington for an event with Vice President Kamala Harris, another of his predecessors, to celebrate Asian & Pacific American Heritage Month. He acknowledged that he is considering a run for governor in 2026 and said he would decide after the November election. He could also run for another term as attorney general.

Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox three times per week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
California banned sales of flavored e-cigarettes in 2022  but a study finds online stores are still selling them, even to kids

This article was originally published on Dec. 21, 2023 Californians  including minors  are still able to buy flavored electronic cigarettes online, even after the states much-publicized ban went into effect. Thats the key finding of my teams 2023 study, published in JAMA Network Open.

On Dec. 21, 2022, California enacted Senate Bill 793, which prohibited the sale of most flavored tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, to people of all ages. Hookahs, premium cigars and loose-leaf tobacco were exempted from the legislation.

The ban was motivated, in large part, by a desire to reduce to reduce consumption of tobacco among young people  who are particularly attracted to the flavors in e-cigarettes, such as mango and creme.

Since 2021, we have been collecting data on the tobacco industry. As part of this project, we also worked to determine whether minors could illegally purchase flavored e-cigarettes online.

Before and after the passage of SB 793, our researchers  all posing online as minors under the age of 21  attempted to buy flavored e-cigarette products from 26 websites that sold them in California.

A purchase attempt occurred when a researcher was able to add a flavored e-cigarette product to their cart, make it through the age verification system  if any  and provide their credit card information.

Before SB 793, our purchase attempt success rate was 52%. After SB 793, our success rate actually rose  to almost 61%.

Why it matters

E-cigarette use among adolescents is a public health concern, particularly since these products have a special appeal to young people.

The nicotine in e-cigarettes can impair an adolescents brain development. In addition, the aerosols that those who vape breathe in can contain cancer-causing chemicals and heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead.

In addition, flavored tobacco products are known to make it difficult to quit nicotine.

Research shows that the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations 2009 ban on flavored cigarettes reduced adolescent tobacco use. Thats why California has spearheaded progressive tobacco control policies  not only with SB 793, but through local sales restrictions in dozens of California cities. But if online vendors either flout or are unaware of these laws, young people may still have access to flavored tobacco products.

What still isnt known

It remains unclear as to why flavored e-cigarettes are still available from online retailers in California. It may be that vendors are flouting the new law, are ignorant of it, or do not believe the new law applies to online sales.

A comprehensive evaluation of SB 793 compliance among brands and vendors that sell their products online in California would help determine the extent to which flavored e-cigarettes are still available. This research would provide data on retailer awareness of the new legislation and would show whether they understand the potential consequences for being in violation of the new law.

Our research had several limitations. For one, our protocol for the study was developed during the COVID-19 pandemic. With the health and safety of our team in mind, we avoided in-person interactions. This means that we did not receive the package of flavored e-cigarettes from a delivery person.

Since we stopped our attempted online purchases with placing items in an electronic shopping cart, this precluded our ability to examine whether age would have been verified at delivery and to calculate the actual purchase rate. However, only four websites in our study stated that age verification would actually occur at delivery.

Even with these caveats, these findings warrant urgent attention from state agencies to enforce the ban on flavored e-cigarette products in California.

What other research is being done

Another research team collected weekly Google search rates related to online shopping for cigarettes and vaping products in California from January 2018 to May 2023. They found that shopping queries were 194% higher than expected for cigarettes and 162% higher than expected for e-cigarettes  which suggests consumers are searching on Google for vendors promoting banned products.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Jon-Patrick Allem, Rutgers University

Read more:



Jon-Patrick Allem receives funding from Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), California Tobacco Control Program, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). He has received fees for consulting services in court cases pertaining to the content on social media platforms.
While unveiling his revised $288 billion budget proposal Friday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom said he was against divestment amid the ongoing protests at several college campuses over the war in Gaza and a key demand that CSU and UC schools exit from Israel-tied investments.

The statement came three days after Sacramento State announced changes to its investment policy that would ensure it practices socially responsible investment strategies which include not having direct investments in corporations and funds that profit from genocide, ethnic cleansing, and activities that violate fundamental human rights. The revisions to the policy were presented to pro-Palestinian protesters on campus late Tuesday, who ended their encampment after eight days; a similar protest on UC Davis campus and at several other schools remain.

When asked, Newsom said that he had seen contradicting information on Instagram and from his policy advisors, and he told reporters to ask us later this afternoon for more details on his position regarding potential divestment.

A slide shows some of the proposed reductions in Gov. Gavin Newsoms revised $288 billion budget proposal on Friday.

The revisions make Sacramento State one of the first CSU campuses to alter their policies amid the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians living in Gaza since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing more than 1,200 Israelis in the deadliest attack on Jews since the Holocaust.

The updates to Sac States policies, signed off on by university President Luke Wood, show a variety of changes.

It includes Sacramento State seeking its five auxiliaries to investigate its direct and indirect investments to follow the expanded guidelines. The five auxiliaries are the Associated Students, University Enterprises Inc., University Union, University Foundation at Sac State and Capital Public Radio.

Sacramento State noted in its policy that the University Foundation does not have any direct investments with corporations and funds that have ties to the Israeli military. The policy also has added sections denouncing genocide and supporting students peaceful activism.

Students for Justice in Palestine said teachers from the Faculty for Justice in Palestine will sit on Sac States finance committee to review any possible divestment.

While many colleges and universities have been encouraged to take sides and embrace a binary approach to global issues, conflicts, and wars across the world, we at Sacramento State have intentionally pursued a third space in these conversations  specifically focused on leading with listening and love  and being intentional about what is within our control, Wood said in a video message about the policy changes released Thursday night.

Student organizers across the 23-campus CSU system have taken different approaches to protests and occupations, but of those who have made demands, theirs are nearly identical: they all want university administrators to disclose any financial ties to Israel or Israeli companies and, if such financial ties exist, that the university divest from them.

Newsom had largely stayed on the sidelines of the debate that has embroiled campuses across the nation and has resulted in arrests and other police action at Cal Poly Humboldt and UCLA, as well as the private University of Southern California.

Fridays remarks were the first public comments the Democrat made on divestment in the state-run schools, over which he has no direct control. The governor does hold ex officio roles on both UCs Board of Regents and Cal States trustee board.

Earlier this month, Newsom weighed in on responses by law enforcement  including the California Highway Patrol  at some protests on campus and condemned the violence, saying those who engaged in illegal behavior at UCLA and elsewhere should be held accountable, including through criminal prosecution, suspension or expulsion.

In late March, Newsom called for a ceasefire in the Middle East, saying in a letter to the states Muslim, Palestinian and Arab communities that I support President Bidens call for an immediate ceasefire as part of a deal to secure desperately needed relief for Gazan civilians and the release of hostages. I also unequivocally denounce Hamass terrorist attack against Israel. It is time to work in earnest toward an enduring peace that will furnish the lasting security, autonomy, and freedom that the Palestinians and the Israeli people both deserve.

In December, he sent a letter to university leaders, urging them to do more to quell threats of violence against students targeted because of a Jewish, Arab, or Muslim identity. He wrote that some faculty have inflamed the discourse with violent rhetoric. This is unacceptable and demands action.
Calls for universities to divest endowments tied to Israel may be easier said than done

A person sits at a pro-Palestinian encampment at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, on Saturday. Photo by Allison Dinner/EPA-EFE

May 10 (UPI) -- Campus protests expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people and objecting to Israel's military campaign in Gaza include many calls for universities and colleges to divest -- a word that basically means sell -- any of their assets that are tied to Israel or connected to companies supplying weapons and technology to Israel's government. The Conversation U.S. asked Todd L. Ely, a University of Colorado Denver public administration scholar, to explain the challenges of meeting this demand.

What are endowments?

Endowments are pools of assets that originally come from donations. Nonprofits and some public organizations invest those assets, which grow over time, and disburse a small percentage of them annually to support their missions. Nearly all nonprofit colleges and universities have endowments, as do hundreds of public institutions of higher education -- some through associated nonprofit foundations.

U.S. college and university endowments had around $1 trillion in assets as of the middle of 2021 -- the most recent comprehensive data available.

This wealth is highly concentrated. Nearly half these assets belonged to the 20 largest endowments in 2021. Endowments worth $40 million or less are more typical and around 95% colleges and universities have less than $1 billion in their endowments.

Endowment managers generally see making money as their primary objective and large amounts of these assets are subject to restrictions due to donors' preferences.

Columbia University's $13.6 billion endowment, for example, as of 2023 was split among more than 6,200 different funds and about two-thirds of the assets in its endowment were subject to donor-related limitations.

Because colleges and universities aim to preserve their endowments to support their operations for the foreseeable future, they typically spend about 5% of those assets per year on student financial aid and assorted programs to supplement what they can afford from their other revenue -- primarily tuition, fees for housing and food, as well as state funding for public institutions. Columbia's endowment, for example, disbursed $679 million during its 2023 fiscal year.

Many protesters have said they object to their tuition dollars being in an endowment with financial ties to Israel. But that's not how endowments work. Universities and colleges typically spend all the money they receive from tuition on core operations. They supplement those funds with revenue from other sources -- including their endowments.

How much information about endowments is made public?

Because it's unclear how much of these assets are tied to Israeli companies or the Israeli military, many protesters are calling on their colleges and universities to disclose more information about what's in their endowments.

While universities and colleges typically release their audited financial statements annually, details about their endowments' holdings are hard to find for several reasons.

First, professionally managed investments change so frequently that what's in an endowment is a moving target. Periodic reporting at best reflects a historical snapshot.

Second, higher education endowments are complex. Timely and detailed reporting of investments, while desirable for oversight, can reveal the secret proprietary strategies of endowments and their investments, including alternative investments like hedge funds.

Third, colleges and universities are increasingly hiring outside asset managers and hedge funds to manage their endowments. Agreeing to keep quiet about those investments may be required due to the proprietary nature of those deals.

Some information about endowments does show up in 990 forms, which are informational returns charities file annually with the Internal Revenue Service and are made public. That form's Schedule D includes the endowment's size, its administrative expenses and the general restrictions it faces.

Although the forms require the disclosure of "Activities Outside the United States" in Schedule F, the highest level of detail required is the region of those investments. In other words, any investments in Israeli companies might be lumped together with investments in corporations based in Qatar or Lebanon.

Are there legal obstacles?

Universities and colleges might not always be free to divest their endowments.

When it comes to severing ties with Israel, laws in at least 38 states have banned that kind of divestment for public universities by outlawing adherence to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement that has sought to pressure Israel for nearly 20 years.

Other state laws more broadly limit the use of environmental, social and governance (ESG) investment practices by public institutions.

For example, officials at The Ohio State University have cited their state's laws when they've told protesters they can't sever ties with Israel.

There is also a law that governs the investment and use of funds by nonprofits in nearly all states: the Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act. This measure mandates a "prudent" approach to investment that can be interpreted as attempting to maximize an endowment's growth.

However, some divestment advocates argue that colleges and universities have a moral duty to divest in certain cases based on those same laws - even if it means an endowment will potentially grow more slowly.

Is divestment from Israel feasible?

To be sure, many colleges and universities have agreed in recent years to students' demands for divestment from industries that include tobacco, fossil fuels, private prisons and firearms. About 40 years ago, hundreds of schools divested from companies doing business in South Africa before the fall of its apartheid government.

But it would be hard to determine what specific assets would need to be sold off and then avoided for the foreseeable future if today's protesters were to prevail.

No matter the focus of these campaigns, divestment takes political will, time and effort to implement. It also increases transaction costs, reduces access to certain investment products, and can take a long time due to how higher ed endowments are invested.

That's partly because endowments generally don't just include large amounts of stocks and bonds. To reduce risks, they are increasingly invested in mutual funds and other assets that are made up of many different securities. Outsourcing management of portions of their portfolios to private equity firms leads to other complications.

"The University has no discretion as to withdrawal of its investment in private equity and real asset funds," Columbia University noted in its 2023 audited financial statements. "Distributions are made when sales of assets are made within the funds. In general, the remaining life of these private equity and real asset funds is up to 12 years."

There's yet another concern for colleges and universities: many of their biggest donors have made it clear that they oppose divestment from Israel. In some cases, those donors have said they'll stop giving to schools that sever ties with Israel as the protesters demand.

Does divestment work?

Whether divestment works probably depends on its advocates' goals.

If they want to impose meaningful financial losses on specific companies, industries or countries, research indicates that they're bound to fail for several reasons.

While many college and university endowments are large by most standards, they aren't necessarily big enough to move financial markets, especially since their investments are diversified.

Also, when a university does own shares in a targeted company, selling that stock simply transfers the ownership to a buyer who is less concerned about the social considerations.

Maintaining ownership and taking a more active investor advocacy role might be an alternative to divestment.

But if the goal is to raise awareness about a cause, then divestment may make a difference -- even if it's hard to measure.

How can colleges and universities heed student demands?

A few colleges and universities have found ways to engage productively with protesters, sometimes even resulting in the amicable end of encampments.

Increasing engagement opportunities for students and the broader academic community around endowments and other institutional investments may provide an outlet to address current and future disputes.

Brown University, Northwestern University and the University of Minnesota appear to be taking this approach.

Some college and universities have promised to consider divestment demands at a future date and disclose more information about what's in their endowments. Making those pledges has helped keep the peace while guaranteeing that this issue will remain on the agenda in the 2024-2025 academic year.

The Conversation

Todd L. Ely is an associate professor of public administration and director of the Center for Local Government at the University of Colorado Denver. 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.
CalOES urges residents to stay out of water as weather heats up

(FOX40.COM)  The California Office of Emergency Services is urging residents to take precautions as they look to cool off in the states lakes and rivers.

Waterways take on extra water from melting snow, getting faster, deeper and better able to conceal debris.

Even though temperatures are expected to reach into the 90s this weekend in the Sacramento area, melting snow can also make the waterways they feed into extremely cold.

CalOES says the temperatures make the water dangerous to swim in, even for the most experienced swimmers as it may incapacitate in minutes.

The agency recommends staying out of the water all together but for those near swift water it offers the following advice:

Never swim alone. Always bring a friend or someone who can call for help if needed.

Dont jump in after someone who has fallen in.

Always wear a life jacket.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
A campaign ad by a South African party showing a burning flag is called treason by the president

This frame grab taken on Friday, May 10, 2024 from video from a campaign clip for South Africa's opposition Democratic Alliance party shows the country's flag in flames. A campaign video for South Africas opposition party showing the countrys flag in flames has stoked tensions just weeks ahead of national elections that are seen as the most pivotal since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation 30 years ago. (DA via AP)

CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP)  A campaign video for South Africas opposition party showing the countrys flag in flames has stoked tensions just weeks ahead of national elections that are seen as the most pivotal since the end of the apartheid system of racial segregation 30 years ago.

The opposition Democratic Alliance says the ad is a symbolic depiction of what it claims will befall the country if the ruling African National Congress, or ANC, forms a coalition with two other parties to remain in power after the May 29 election.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, who leads the ANC, has called the ad despicable and treasonous.

State broadcaster SABC said on Thursday it would not air the video because of an alleged outcry from South Africans and that airing it would only be fueling the outrage.

Some say the ad accurately portrays the deep problems of the African continent's most advanced economy.

In the video, which has been posted on social media and on the Democratic Alliance's social media pages, a narrator says: This election is about survival.

Unite to rescue South Africa, the voice adds as the video then plays in reverse and the flag emerges intact, with the caption VOTE DA over it.

The Democratic Alliance has come up with controversial ads in past elections but critics say burning the flag  for many a symbol of their liberation from apartheid  goes too far, though burning the national flag is not illegal in South Africa.

The multicolored flag was adopted after the first all-race elections that brought the ANC to power under Nelson Mandela in 1994 and officially ended apartheid.

It is that flag that unites all of us, Ramaphosa said earlier this week. It is despicable that a political party, as it seeks to express itself, go and burn this symbol of our unity. The symbol of our existence as a nation. And I think it is treasonous.

Racial undertones remain in the country, which is still uneasy about its history of brutal segregation. The opposition Democratic Alliance is the only one of South Africa's main political parties that is led by a white politician and has sometimes been accused of prioritizing the interests of the country's white minority.

Thuli Madonsela, who helped draft a new democratic constitution following the end of apartheid, said on the social media platform X that she is concerned the ad's designers may harbor unconscious rage against our flag."

DA leader John Steenhuisen said in a campaign speech in the city of Johannesburg on Thursday that the video was the most successful political advertisement in our democratic history, claiming more than 4 million people have viewed it online and millions more have seen or heard it on other TV and radio stations.

He said Ramaphosa and the ANC's history of corruption and mismanagement are to blame for the economic crisis that now plagues South Africa, with the official unemployment rate at 32%  the highest in the world. More than 30 million South Africans live in poverty, according to the World Bank.

Analysts predict the election will be a turning point for South Africa and that the ANC will lose its parliamentary majority for the first time, requiring it to form a coalition to stay in power.

Some say the DA's campaign ad is legitimate. On Wednesday, SABC published an interview with political analyst Solly Moeng, a Black political analyst.

The country is in turmoil, the country is burning," said Moeng. The DA is portraying the country, the symbol of the country, which is in pain, turmoil, burning."

Theres nothing wrong with that, he said.

___

AP Africa news: https://apnews.com/hub/africa
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The Kenya-headquartered Pan African Climate Justice Alliance (PACJA), which unites NGOs from 51 climate action countries around the world, has issued a statement praising Azerbaijan's leadership in global climate action, Trend reports.

The statement was signed by the head of the Alliance, Mithika Mwenda, and 128 African NGOs.

As civil society organizations, we wholeheartedly endorse Azerbaijan's leadership of COP29 and its hosting of the event, recognizing its vital role in guiding the global community towards a climate-resilient and environmentally equitable future. Given our shared concerns regarding the planetary emergency and the urgent environmental issues confronting our world, we commend Azerbaijan for its commitment to combat climate change and its leadership in global diplomatic, political, and economic engagements.

We find ourselves at a pivotal moment where decisive actions are imperative to mitigate climate change, safeguard vulnerable communities, adapt efficiently, ensure resilience, and preserve ecosystems for future generations. We endorse Azerbaijan's leadership in fostering dialogue, cooperation, inclusivity, and innovative measures, as well as the urgent implementation of global climate action.

Azerbaijan's leadership in COP-29 is commendable, and as civil society organizations in Africa, we have full confidence in its capacity to facilitate beneficial cooperation, contribute to ambitious solutions, and propel the world towards low-carbon and climate-resilient development.

We strongly believe in the efficacy of collective efforts by civil society members worldwide to bolster the fight against climate change and forge a promising future for our planet and future generations, the statement reads.

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.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government is moving to push back the start of a possible strike by railway workers at Canadian National Railway (CN) and Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC), an official said on Friday.

Workers represented by the Teamsters union last week voted overwhelmingly to strike as early as May 22. Railways are critical to Canada's economy, due to its vast geography and exports of grain, potash and coal.

Late on Thursday, federal Labour Minister Seamus O'Regan said he had asked the Canada Industrial Relations Board to look at whether the strike might have safety implications. Until the board has issued a decision, the strike cannot start.

In an emailed statement, the Teamsters union said it was reviewing O'Regan's move and would "obviously comply with any order" from the board.

O'Regan acted after stakeholders expressed concern about the effect of a stoppage on healthcare infrastructure, in particular shipments of propane, which is used as a back-up generator fuel for rural hospitals, said the official, who requested anonymity given the sensitivity of the situation.

There is no set timeline for the board to issue a decision.

(Reporting by David Ljunggren, Editing by Franklin Paul)
Canada will contribute 76 million Canadian dollars ($56 million) to the German-led initiative for boosting Ukraine's air defenses, Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair said on May 10.

"Through Canada's investment in Germany's Immediate Action on Air Defense Initiative, we are working together to provide Ukraine with the crucial air defense systems that it needs to protect its people," Blair said while hosting his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, in Ottawa.

Berlin launched the initiative in April amid Kyiv's increasingly dire need for air defenses, facing heavy Russian aerial attacks against population centers and the energy grid.

During Pistorius's visit to Canada's capital, he and Blair discussed the cooperation between their countries within the NATO framework and the preparation for the upcoming alliance summit in Washington, DC.

The Canadian Defense Ministry said that contributions to Germany's initiative are only one of the ways the two countries aid Ukraine.

"Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) members are currently deployed to Germany as part of the Security Assistance Group  Ukraine, which is helping to facilitate the transfer of aid to Ukraine, working to align future donations with Ukraine's needs, and planning for the immediate and longer-term training needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," the ministry's statement read.

Since February 2022, Canada has committed over $10 billion in aid to Ukraine, including $3 billion in defense assistance.

Read also: Updated: Russia launches large-scale attack against Ukraine, hitting energy infrastructure

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Canada provides over US$55 million to Germany's air defence for Ukraine initiative

Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair announced the provision of CAD 76 million (USD 55.6 million) for Germany's proposal to provide Ukraine with air defence.

Source: Bill Blair in a statement following a meeting with German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in Ottawa, as reported by European Pravda

Details: It is noted that Canada will join Berlins initiative, which "pools money and resources from the international community to quickly source and deliver air defence systems for Ukraine".

"These systems will help defend against Russian aerial attacks that have killed thousands of Ukrainians and destroyed hospitals, power plants and apartment blocks," the Canadian Defence Ministry said in a statement.

They also mentioned that Canadian Armed Forces soldiers are now in Germany as part of the Security Assistance Group, which aids in the delivery of military assistance to Ukraine and plans immediate and long-term training requirements for the Armed Forces.

On 17 April, the German government started an initiative to find additional air defence systems to provide to Ukraine. Berlin later stated that it was exploring financial efforts with Denmark and the Netherlands.

Belgium said in April that it will contribute 200 million to the German initiative.

Support UP or become our patron!
WILLIAMSON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN)  A lengthy investigation ended late last month with the arrest of a Canadian man who is accused of sexually exploiting a Tennessee girl online.

The investigation was a collaborative effort between the Williamson County Sheriffs Offices Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and the Alberta Law Enforcement Response Teams (ALERT) Internet Child Exploitation (ICE) unit.

Nashville man arrested for having child porn on cellphone

Authorities said the suspect, 38-year-old Tyler Clark, was arrested at his home in Medicine Hat, Alberta on April 25. The crimes hes accused of date back to 2021, when the victim was just 11 years old.

According to investigators, there were over 7,000 messages exchanged between the girl and Clark. During their conversations, he allegedly coerced the girl into sharing sexually explicit photos with him via multiple online chat applications.

Were talking daily conversations that only stopped when it was discovered by the victims parent. This further underscores the need for parents to take a proactive role in understanding what their children are doing online, said ALERT ICE Staff Sgt. Mark Auger.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee

Clark reportedly told the girl that he was 13 years old when they began exchanging messages. A search of Clarks home led to the seizure of multiple computers and electronic devices, which are still being analyzed by investigators.

He is being charged with child luring, making sexually explicit materials available to a child, making child pornography, possession of child pornography and accessing child pornography.

Clark was released from custody on a number of court-imposed conditions and is awaiting his next court appearance, which is scheduled for May 22.

This arrest was only possible with the amazing responsiveness of the global network of like-minded Internet Crimes Against Children investigators. Together we transcended borders and remained diligent in our shared purpose of bringing justice to adults that are preying on our children, said ICAC Task Force Detective Paul Lusk.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Anyone with further information regarding the investigation or any child exploitation situation is asked to contact their local police department or to report their concern anonymously to Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
These cars and trucks are thieves biggest targets in New York, national data shows

NEW YORK (NEXSTAR)  Thieves have switched up the vehicles theyre targeting most  and a social media trend may be to blame.

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) recalculated its list of most frequently stolen cars with new data from 2023. In years past, full-size pickup trucks tended to top the list, but thats no longer the case.

More Crime News

The classic American pickup truck has been dethroned by a company sedan when it comes to which vehicle is most frequently stolen. In 2023, the Hyundai Elantra took the top spot with more than 48,000 thefts reported nationwide.

Hyundai and Kia combined make up six of the 10 most frequently stolen models. Thefts of those two companies cars have skyrocketed  as much as 1000%  since 2020, when videos showing how to take advantage of the cars vulnerabilities and steal them started spreading on TikTok.

Hyundai ended up creating pop-up clinics around the country to give owners of the affected vehicles anti-theft software upgrades. Kia also announced security upgrades at the end of 2023.

Who is the wealthiest person in NY? Forbes releases new list

As for the state of New York, it was much of the same at the top of the list with the Hyundai Elantra and Sonata taking two of the top three spots, with the Honda CR-V landing in between them at No. 2.

Here are the top 10 vehicles stolen most frequently in 2023 in the state of New York, according to NICB:

Rank Make/Model No. of thefts in 2023 1. Hyundai Elantra 1,575 2. Honda CR-V 1,456 3. Hyundai Sonata 1,168 4. Kia Sportage 1,105 5. Honda Accord 998 6. Kia Forte 870 7. Kia Optima 591 8. Honda Civic 555 9. Hyundai Tucson 522 10. Jeep Grand Cherokee 515

The NICB reports just over 1 million vehicles were reported stolen last year. While Illinois saw 32,715 vehicles stolen, an increase of 15% from last year. The group gathered its data from the National Crime Information Center.

Parts of NY could see the northern lights this week

Vehicle theft has been on the rise recently, according to FBI crime data. To avoid becoming a target, the NICB recommends parking in well-lit areas, never leave your keys in your vehicle, dont leave your car alone while its running, and hide any valuables out of sight.

If your car is stolen, report it right away to law enforcement and your car insurance company. Quick reporting can help track down the car. NICB data shows nearly half of stolen cars are recovered within two days.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
A Cartersville man pleaded guilty recently to multiple charges for his role in two separate drive-by shootings that occurred in 2022.

Timothy Joseph Gregory, 31, of Cartersville is accused of these shooting incidents that occurred on May 10, 2022, in a subdivision near Canton; the other on May 12, 2022, at the Department of Community Supervision in the city of Canton, the district attorneys office says.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

On May 10, 2022 around 2 p.m., the Cherokee County Sheriffs Office responded to a 911 call reporting a drive-by shooting at a home in the Carmichael Farms community.

When deputies arrived, they found five bullet casings to the front of the house and six bullet casings in the roadway and sidewalk. One bullet went through the garage window, traveling through the far wall of the garage, above a laundry room ceiling, and into a walk-in closet.

Neighbors witnessed the incident, according to deputies and noticed a blue Mazda driving into the neighborhood and exiting at a high rate of speed.

No one was injured in the shooting.

TRENDING STORIES:

Just days later, Canton Police responded to a shots fired call at the Department of Community Supervision in Canton.

Deputies say surveillance video showed a vehicle pulling into the parking lot and firing at least two rounds at an SUV before leaving the scene.

After the evidence was compiled from neighbors, surveillance video and Gregory was identified as their suspect. He was arrested and deputies conducted a search of his home where they found an AR-15 pistol, a .45 caliber Ruger semi-automatic pistol, multiple magazines and ammunition, and several flare guns.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Gregory is charged with aggravated assault (two counts), criminal damage to property in the first degree, possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony, interference with government property, criminal damage to property in the second degree, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon (3 counts).

In a May 1 hearing, Gregory admitted to the acts and was sentenced to 40 years, with the first 20 years to serve in confinement. He was also banned from Cherokee County.

IN OTHER NEWS:
U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) speaks at the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia May 10, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole)

PHILADELPHIA  During a visit to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History on Friday, U.S. Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) said he agreed that it was the right decision to disband a pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Pennsylvanias campus.

Protest is a form of expression that we protect constitutionally and its a great American tradition to protest, Casey told a group of reporters. But at some point, when a protest begins to affect the ability of others to get to class or in this case with an impending graduation, it begins to infringe upon others rights.

He added that those who erected the protest encampment had plenty of opportunity to express their point of view. But at some point it has to end, you cant just take over a campus indefinitely.

Philadelphia police officers went to campus to disband the encampment and arrested more than 30 protesters on Friday morning according to NBC10 and other news reports. The encampment began over two weeks ago, one of several on college campuses across the country.

Gov. Josh Shapiro on Thursday called on Penn to disband the encampment, saying the situation had gotten out of control.

Shapiros office sent out a statement Friday thanking Philadelphia, the citys police department, and Penns police department for resolving the situation quickly and peacefully.

As Governor Shapiro has made clear multiple times, all Pennsylvanians have a right to peacefully protest and make their voices heard, Shapiro spokesperson Manuel Bonder said in the statement. The Governor has also made clear that universities have a legal responsibility to keep their students safe and free from discrimination.

Bonder added that the situation at Penn had reached an untenable point, disrupting campus activity.

Casey stood by his characterization of Hamas as a terrorist organization, and criticized a protest at one of his campaign events in Lancaster last month.

I think its one thing to have a protest about how a military campaign is conducted, you can criticize that, but when you wont even come to the basic conclusion that this is a terrorist organization that has to be stopped, I cant have a conversation with you, Casey said Friday. The conversation is over.

Casey also told reporters that he disagreed with the recent decision by the Biden administration to pause sending some military aid to Israel.

U.S. Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) criticized the Biden administration over the decision to pause sending arms to Israel during an appearance on Fox News earlier this week.

Asked about Israels response and the wars reported death toll of 30,000 Palestinians, Casey said that Israel has to do everything in its power pursuant to international law to reduce civilian casualties substantially and the dropping 2000 pound bombs isnt consistent with that. He noted that 1,200 people were killed in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

Casey also called on the United States, Israel, and Arab states to do a better job getting more food aid into Gaza.

Israel has to demonstrate that theyre going to continue to provide much more food than theyre providing now, Casey said. At the same time, I dont think they should be constrained in their efforts to take on and disable a terrorist organization.

Republican David McCormick, who is challenging Casey in his bid for a fourth term in the U.S. Senate, has accused Casey of not speaking out in support of Israel during the campaign. Casey was asked about the encampments before Friday, but had not previously specifically called for their removal. McCormick has been calling for the college encampments to be disbanded for several weeks.

During Fridays event, Casey highlighted the Antisemitism Awareness Act, which he and Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) introduced last month. The legislation would require the U.S. Department of Education to consider the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism when enforcing federal anti-discrimination laws, according to a press release from Caseys office.

Its a companion bill to House legislation that passed earlier this month. Casey didnt mention a specific timetable he expects it to receive a vote, but said he hopes the Senate passes it as soon as possible.

Also on Friday, Casey called for doubling the funds for the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education, saying the office tasked with investigating educational institutions is badly underfunded.

Caseys visit to the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History was to announce $250,000 in community project funding that will go towards developing educational programing combating antisemitism.

We will delve into the ways Jewish and American values have influenced one another, values such as human dignity for all, civil discourse, and welcoming the stranger, Rebecca Krasner, Director of Education, Weitzman Museum said. We will utilize our expertise in teaching through storytelling, and primary source materials to breathe life into this much needed content.

The post Casey talks Penn encampment and war in Gaza during visit to American Jewish history museum appeared first on Pennsylvania Capital-Star.
Donald Trumps former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson could leave the Republican Party behind and vote for Joe Biden in November.

Hutchinson made the comment during an event at Colorado Mesa University on Tuesday. Video posted to X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday shows Hutchinson addressing the crowd.

Ive never voted for a Democrat in my life, but I would absolutely consider voting for Joe Biden this upcoming November because he will not seek to destroy our nation. He will not seek to destroy our Constitution, she said.

Former Trump WH aide Cassidy Hutchinson:



Ive never voted for a Democrat in my life, but I would absolutely consider voting for Joe Biden this upcoming November because he will not seek to destroy our nation. He will not seek to destroy our Constitution. pic.twitter.com/Dg1YxTuyH6  Republicans against Trump (@RpsAgainstTrump) May 9, 2024

Hutchinsons statement does not come lightly. She had a harrowing time while working in Trumps White House, describing a hostile environment where Trump threw dishes, wanted to allow armed supporters at his January 6 rally, and tried to strangle a Secret Service agent. In her book, Enough, Hutchinson accused former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani of groping her just before Trumps speech on January 6. She also had to put up with aggressive advances from Representative Matt Gaetz, a Trump acolyte who even falsely claimed that two dated, she said. She would become a star witness for the House January 6 investigative committee.

During House Republicans failed attempt to impeach Biden, one of their witnesses, Tony Bobulinski, tried to paint Hutchinson as an absolute liar and a fraud because she described an out of sight meeting between him and Trumps former chief of staff, Mark Meadows, at a 2020 campaign rally in Rome, Georgia. Hutchinson shut him down with photographic evidence of the meeting.

Hutchinson is not the first Trump White House aide to signal support for Biden. Former White House deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews told MSNBC late last month that shed be voting for the presidents reelection, stating that when we have a candidate on the ballot who will not uphold the Constitution, then I feel like I have to put policy aside, and I want to support the person who is best suited to defeat Donald Trump.

Georgias former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan has also endorsed Biden, saying he plans on voting for a decent person I disagree with on policy over a criminal defendant without a moral compass.
Pikachu the cat was reunited with its owner as the family dug through the rubble of its house

KJRH/Youtube Cat, Who Went Missing During Tornado That Destroyed Its Family's Home, Reunited with Owner During News Broadcast

A cat that went missing while tornadoes ravaged its Tulsa, Okla.area home has been reunited with its owners  in a very public way.

When a tornado began to tear through Barnsdall  a small town about 40 miles north of Tulsa  on the night of Monday, May 6, resident Lindsay Crowder told local station KJRH that she and her family decided to go down to the town's shelter as a precaution but decided to leave their pets  including their cat Pikachu  behind.



"The sirens went off the first time. We went down to the shelter, then they [turned] off so we thought it was over," she recalled to the outlet, speaking about the hard-hitting storms on Tuesday. "So we came back home, and we were watching the radar pretty closely, and saw that it was coming straight for us. So, we went back down to the shelter and I am so glad that we did."



Related: 1 Dead in Oklahoma as Tornadoes Touch Down in Multiple States amid Severe Weather Outbreak

"We didn't have our pets with us," Crowder added to the outlet. "I honestly thought we were gonna come back and our house was still gonna be here."

After the family emerged from the town's tornado shelter, they discovered the same thing that many Oklahoma residents found after the latest bout of tornadoes  their house had been completely knocked down in the storm and their pets were missing. Despite the damage to their property, the Crowder family began to search for their pets, calling out for the cat as KJRH recorded a news segment.

In a heartfelt moment captured on video, Pikachu can be seen emerging from the rubble as her owner calls for her. As Crowder called "Here, kitty, kitty," the Siamese cat climbed out from under a piece of roofing, and her owner immediately scooped her up in her arms.

"I am so happy right now. This is just a house, and we can't replace her," Crowder added to the outlet.

Barnsdall, which saw the death of one person following during the storm, according to KOKI-TV, was just one of many towns in Oklahoma, Missouri and Tennessee that were ravaged by the most recent group of storms in the Midwest.

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.

According to Oklahoma's Department of Emergency Management, Barnsdall reported damage to more than 30 homes and also reported a natural gas leak in the town.

Related: Cat Who Survived Tenn. Tornado Saved from Debris After Rescuer Spots Pet 'Curled Up on a Pillow' (Exclusive)

Although Pikachu was reunited with her family, organizations like the Humane Society of Tulsa have been working to reunite pets  including both cats and dogs  who were displaced during the tornadoes with their owners.

Often, in these situations, cats will just stay, and they are terrified," Gina Gardner with the Humane Society of Tulsa told KJRH. "There are bulldozers and theres chainsaws and there is so many scary noises and so many people that they will just stay hunkered down underneath debris for an extended period of time."

The Humane Society has set up an emergency shelter in Barnsdall to take in displaced pets, according to its Facebook page. It is now requesting donations of pet food and assistance on the ground in Barnsdall.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.

0108263 License for publishing multimedia online



Registration Number: 130349 Registration Number: 130349
ASTANA, Kazakhstan, May 10. President of Kazakhstan Kassym-Jomart Tokayev has signed a decree On measures to economic liberalization," Trend reports via Akorda.

The decree promotes competition, reduces governmental involvement in the economy, and lowers company costs to promote entrepreneurship freedom, per the President of Kazakhstan's February 7, 2024 directive.

Key provisions include the creation of the National Office for Privatization under Kazakhstan's Agency for Protection and Development of Competition, which defines and compiles a list of state assets for privatization.

Furthermore, the article outlines steps to improve the autonomy, quality, and governance of Samruk Kazyna Wealth Fund and its subsidiaries, as well as streamline their procurement procedures.

Furthermore, specific measures are outlined to enhance competition in commodity markets.

Proposed measures include regulatory reform and business liberalization. Technical conditions and utility connections can be simplified and digitized, as can customer access to quasi-governmental organization services.

Furthermore, it directs the use of projects that adhere to advanced international construction standards without requiring compliance with Kazakhstani documentation standards.

Another provision of the decree protects business rights and legitimate interests. These steps include decriminalizing economic offenses and harmonizing government restrictions with prosecutors.

Implementing the decree will accelerate the significant reduction of the public sector's share in the economy, thereby creating more economic opportunities for private entrepreneurship.

Stay up-to-date with more news at Trend News Agency's WhatsApp channel
CDC tightens pet import laws into the US. What are Florida's pet laws?

Traveling with or adopting pets outside the country just got a little harder with new restrictions from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The new regulation, announced Wednesday, puts the following changes in effect as of August 1:

All dogs under 6 months old are banned from entering the U.S.

Dogs must appear healthy upon arrival

Dogs older than six months must show proof they have not been in a country identified as high-risk for rabies or face potential quarantine.

Dogs must be microchipped.

Dogs must have a CDC Dog Import Formonline submission receipt.

Pets will face tighter restrictions if they are traveling to the U.S. with new CDC regulations.

The CDC said it was updating its dog importation regulation to "protect the health and safety of people and animals by making sure any dog arriving in the United States is healthy and doesnt present a risk to our communities." The regulation is more in line with the World Organization for Animal Healths standards for the international movement of dogs from countries with a high risk of dog rabies, the CDC said, and addresses recent challenges such as "fraudulent documentation" and dogs kept in unsafe conditions if they didn't meet importation standards.

Rabies in dogs was eliminated in the U.S. in 2007, the agency said, and they want to prevent reintroducing into the country from one of the over 100 countries at high risk for dog rabies.

Critics say the restrictions will negatively impact traveling families and add unnecessary complications to pet adoptions, especially from disaster areas.

"In emergency situations, like the aftermath of a hurricane, for example, obtaining proof of a dogs whereabouts might be impossible for families or rescue workers in high-stress situations," the Humane Society Legislative Fund said in a press release on Wednesday. Airlines may also struggle to comply.

How can I tell if I can bring my dog into the U.S.?

The CDC has a personalized question-and-answer tool, "DogBot," that can tell you what rules apply to your dog depending on travel dates, countries and vaccination dates.

Traveling with your pet can be tricky: Are you traveling with dogs or cats this summer? Download these helpful apps

What are Florida's pet laws?

Florida does not restrict entry of pets like dogs and cats into the state, unless you're bringing them in to sell. You'll need current rabies vaccination documentation. Some Florida counties require pets to wear a rabies tag at all times.

According to Florida Statutes, dogs and cats transported into Florida to be sold must be tested and vaccinated between 14 and 30 days and receive an official certificate of veterinary inspection before entry into the state and be vaccinated or treated against rabies, roundworms and hookworms. Also canine distemper, leptospirosis, bordetella, parainfluenza, hepatitis and canine parvo (for dogs) and panleukopenia, feline viral rhinotracheitis, and calici virus (for cats).

Does Florida allow exotic pets?

That depends on what types of exotic pets you want.

The following wildlife may be kept as personal pets without a permit in Florida:

Nonvenomous and unprotected reptiles or amphibians

Gerbils, guinea pigs, hamsters

Hedgehogs

Honey possums

Sugar gliders

Rats, mice,

Moles, shrews

Rabbits

Squirrels, chipmunks

Domestic or European ferrets,

Prairie dogs

Chinchillas

Shell parakeets

Canaries

Lovebirds

Cockatiels

Parrots

Finches

Myna birds

Toucans

Ringed doves, ruddy doves, diamond doves

Button quail

Many other species may be kept as personal pets with a permit from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission which covers keeping them at a specified address, traveling with them and taking them to a vet. The permit does not cover taking an exotic pet out in public, which requires an exhibition permit.

Many species of invasive or endangered animals and marine life are not allowed to be brought into the state or possessed except for reasons of research, educational exhibition, control or eradication.

Two exceptions: green iguanas and tegus possessed before April 29, 2021, may be kept as personal pets, according to FWC spokesperson Lisa Thompson. Owners of any animals kept under this permit are responsible for making sure their pets are marked with a Passive Integrated Transponder (PIT) tag. No new pets of these species may be acquired after the rules take effect.

If you have a nonnative pet in Florida you need to rehome, reach out to the FWCs Exotic Pet Amnesty Program at myfwc.com/wildlifehabitats/nonnatives/amnesty-program

Kathleen Wong, USA TODAY, contributed to this story.

Editor's note: Information on exotic pet ownership has been updated.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Florida pet import laws: CDC restricts pets into US. What to know
Graduates of Bismarck State College toss their caps May 10, 2024, during commencement at the Bismarck Event Center. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Its graduation weekend for North Dakotas public colleges, with the University of North Dakota and North Dakota State University accounting for more than half of the degrees and certificates to be handed out.

Which of the nine remaining schools would be next in line? If you guessed Bismarck State College, you get an A.

UND accounts for about 33% of the graduates and NDSU 28%, according to 2023 figures. Bismarck State accounts for 9.6% of program completions.

Not all the program completions mean a two-year or four-year degree.

Bismarck State offers a list of certificate programs that are less than one year, such as mobile app development, as well as two-year programs such as nursing and a few four-year programs.

North Dakota University System Vice Chancellor for Academic and Student Affairs Lisa Johnson. Photo courtesy of North Dakota University System

There are growing and an incredible number of certificates that campuses are developing, said Lisa Johnson, vice chancellor of student and academic affairs.

She said that in the last year alone, out of the 210 academic programs that came through the North Dakota University System office and were approved by the State Board of Higher Education, 142 out of those were certificate programs.

Some of that is just campuses looking at programs, for example, an associate degree, and thinking about how to bundle, how to repackage existing programs into smaller sort of increments that students might complete as a certificate, possibly even as a student in high school, Johnson said.

While the number of graduates from North Dakota colleges and universities has declined almost 6% in the past five years, the number of program completions is down only about 3%, with some students completing multiple degrees or certificates.

Johnson looked at data from 2019 through 2023, the last year of complete data on program completions that includes fall, spring and summer graduates.

While the 11 public colleges are having their graduations either Friday or Saturday this weekend, Johnson said the data for the 2024 class isnt finalized just yet.

She said the graduation trend aligns with the enrollment trend.

A factor in recruiting students is the strong job market. The unemployment rate in North Dakota was at just 2% as of March.

The number of graduates for the spring semester, as compiled by the NDUS office, are:

North Dakota State University  1,988

University of North Dakota  1,896

Bismarck State College  903

North Dakota State College of Science  660

Minot State University  385

Dickinson State University  224

Dakota College at Bottineau  179

Lake Region State College  145

Mayville State University  138

Williston State College  136

Valley City State University  119

Students of Bismarck State College attend a graduation ceremony May 10, 2024, at the Bismarck Event Center. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor)

Many of the certificate programs are aimed at filling specific needs in the workforce, such as meat cutting at North Dakota State College of Science and Dickinson State University.

Some are designed to help professionals acquire or maintain a license.

Sometimes teachers will come back and get a certificate, for example, working with individuals on the autism spectrum, because that was something they didnt have when they went through college, Johnson said. But maybe theyve changed jobs, or theyre trying to have some additional job responsibilities, so these certificates nicely complement those without having to return to get an entire two year or four year degree in these very specific areas.

Other certifications may be for personal enjoyment or a side business.

Youll see photography and digital design, and those two meet the needs of the community from a different angle, Johnson said.

The post Certificates a growing trend at North Dakota colleges appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) at the Gaylord National Resort Hotel And Convention Center on Feb. 24, 2024 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Despite the proclamation announced last month by President Joe Bidens campaign that Florida is in play in the 2024 presidential election, another public opinion poll released Friday shows that doesnt appear to be the case.

A Florida Chamber of Commerce survey of 656 likely Florida voters released shows that former president Donald Trump has a nine-point lead over Biden, 51%-42%. And if independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is added to the poll, the margin remains the same, with Trump over Biden 46%-37%, with Kennedy getting 10% support.

Among Hispanic voters, the poll shows Trump with a substantial lead over the president, receiving 58% of that part of the electorate, compared to 31% who support Biden.

The news gets worse for the Democrats when it comes to the U.S. Senate contest between GOP incumbent Rick Scott and his likely Democratic opponent, former U.S. Representative Debbie Mucarsel-Powell. The survey shows Scott leading Mucarsel-Powell by 15 percentage points, 54%-39%. And among Hispanic voters, the survey says that Scott is supported by 66% of the electorate. Mucarsel-Powell is originally from Ecuador, but Scott has worked hard over his 14 years in public office in Florida to win over Latino voters.

The poll also surveyed Floridians on the two constitutional amendments on the Nov. 5 ballot that have received the most media attention: the legalization of adult cannabis use and abortion rights.

Regarding Amendment 3, which would legalize recreational marijuana for adults 21 and over, the survey shows the measure getting 58% support, just shy of the 60% required for passage. The poll shows that 37% oppose it, and 5% were undecided. As the Phoenix has previously reported, only three states in the country where the public has weighed in on the question of adult cannabis use has the measure passed by more than 60% (Maryland, New Jersey and Arizona).

Regarding Amendment 4, which would reverse Floridas current ban on most abortions in the state after six weeks and restore it to the time of viability, 61% are in favor, with 29% opposed and 10% are undecided. That is the first major public opinion poll taken in Florida that shows the measure getting above the 60% threshold required for passage since the Florida Supreme Court voted to put the proposal on the November ballot.

The survey also asks voters what are the top issues facing Florida. The lead issue is immigration at 16%, followed by property insurance at 14%, job creation and the economy at 10%, education at 8% and abortion issues at 7%.

The poll was conducted for the Florida Chamber of Commerce by Cherry Communications on April 28-May 7 and has a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.

The post New Chamber of Commerce poll shows Trump over Biden in Florida by 9 points appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
A young boy died as police chased a stolen car full of 12- and 13-year-old boys, ending in a crash, Texas cops say.

Houston police said they witnessed a hit-and-run around 10 pm. on May 10 and pursued the vehicle.

The car would not pull over and crashed into a second car before continuing, police said.

After swerving away from the bus, the car crashed into three more vehicles, according to police. Four boys, between ages 12 and 13, got out of the car and attempted to run off, Assistant Chief Julia Anderson said in a news conference.

Two of the boys were detained and taken to the hospital with minor injuries while the two others escaped, police said. As officers returned to the scene of the crash, they found another young boy unresponsive in the back seat.

He was rushed to the hospital, but was pronounced dead, Anderson said. No other injuries were reported.

Police said the car driven by the boys was stolen.

Chihuahua causes truck to crash into pole, Oklahoma cops say. Heres how it happened

Man accused of assaulting ex gets out of jail and shoots her new boyfriend, TX cops say

Woman found living in rooftop grocery store sign for nearly a year, Michigan cops say
Chaplains could soon come into FL public schools, but other red states are rejecting the move

Bible on a school desk in a classroom. (Getty Images)

Quality Journalism for Critical Times

Come July 1, school districts in Florida could authorize volunteer chaplains  those who are religious or not and with no training  to provide support and services for students in public schools, though GOP-controlled legislatures across the country are rejecting similar proposals.

Last year, Texas passed a first-of-its-kind law authorizing schools to pay for religious figures to work in mental health roles, and lawmakers in 15 states followed suit by pitching similar legislation.

Since then, Florida is the only state where the legislature passed the measure and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill (HB 931), though Louisiana, Oklahoma and Ohio could still pass their versions this year.

The proposals from lawmakers to bring chaplains into public schools have varied, with states taking different paths regarding the requirements for people to serve as school chaplains and their purpose.

The school chaplain measures have fallen short this year in Alabama, Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Utah, Missouri and Pennsylvania, according to a Florida Phoenix analysis of the chaplain bills.

Floridas Legislature is controlled by Republicans, but some Democrats supported the move. So beginning July 1, public school districts can decide whether theyll adopt a volunteer chaplain program, and parents must provide written consent before their children participate. But there is nothing in the legislation that requires the chaplains to have any specific degrees. Those requirements are up to the school districts.

There's already controversy

HB 931 is already stirring controversy between DeSantis and the Satanic Temple. When DeSantis signed the bill in April, he said Satanists would not be eligible to become chaplains. His comments came after representatives of the Satanic Temple, which claims IRS recognition as a church, expressed the group's intention to sign up members to become volunteer chaplains.

The Florida bill doesn't state what religion the chaplains must practice. In fact, the volunteer chaplains don't even have to have a religious affiliation. However, the language in the bill states that any school district or charter school that adopts a volunteer school chaplains policy must publish the list of volunteer school chaplains, including any religious affiliation, on the school district or charter school's website.

How big of a splash HB 931 will make in Florida public schools is up in the air as school districts don't have to hold a public vote on the issue, whereas Texas required its school districts to do so.

Still, Holly Hollman, general counsel to the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, says Florida's school leaders could also look to their Texas counterparts for how they handled the question. As of April, only one charter school in Texas had hired chaplains, according to The Texas Tribune, a partner of the States Newsroom.

picture of doors and ceiling

"As a growing number of chaplains speak out, school districts will see that these proposals are not simple support for students but, in fact, are deeply problematic," Hollman said in a phone interview with Florida Phoenix. "The main thing is that school districts will be thinking about what they need and how to support students, and as they look more closely, they will see that this is clearly outside of the mandate for public schools."

Utah says no to Satanists

The threat of members of the Satanic Temple acting as chaplains in public schools was enough for Utah Republicans to turn down the proposal this year. On the final day of the GOP-controlled Utah legislative session, the state's chaplain bill failed in a narrow 16-12 vote.

During Senate floor debate, multiple GOP lawmakers who voted against the bill said it would leave the door too wide open for people to serve as chaplains, and Salt Lake County Republican Lincoln Fillmore said the body would regret approving the bill after seeing the results.

"In the current culture that exists in public schools, bringing chaplains would be more likely to make it worse than better because we wouldn't be able to discriminate, and so any religion that wanted to be able to place a chaplain there would be able to do so," Fillmore said in a phone interview with the Phoenix. "So as you guys are seeing in Florida, that includes the church of satan who wants to place chaplains there. We had chaplains who testify for the bill in ours and the satanic church was all in favor of it."

Utah Republican Sen. Lincoln Fillmore of Salt Lake County. Courtesy of Utah Senate.

Fillmore's advice to Florida as the law goes into effect: Be careful.

"I know there's a worry on the right. It's a founded worry," he said. "It's based on experience and the actual events that schools are trying to broaden and teach and influence things beyond math, and science and history. So be very conscious about what chaplains are actually doing in schools."

Indiana declines to employ chaplains as counselors

Even though Texas' school chaplain law stated that they would be hired in mental health roles, the lawmakers who pitched proposals in other states were not as overt in that intention, including in Florida. During committee hearing testimony and floor debates on the bill, Republican Sen. Erin Grall, a sponsor of the bill, said a volunteer chaplain program could be viewed as an alternative to school counselors for some families.

But in Indiana, Republican Sen. Stacey Donato leaned into the idea of chaplains serving as counselors. Her proposal would have allowed public schools to hire chaplains to provide secular guidance to students and school employees. Among the requirements, chaplains had to have a master's degree in a field related to religion and two years of counseling experience.

Despite the GOP controlling both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly, Donato's effort wasn't successful this year. Lawmakers removed the language allowing chaplains to work as counselors from another proposal requiring schools to grant parents' requests for their students to leave classes to attend religious instruction, according to States Newsroom's Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Alabama Democrats take the lead

Most Democrats across state legislatures have opposed the school chaplain bills, claiming that it would insert religion into public schools and allow unlicensed people to deal with students' mental health problems.

Still, Rodger Smitherman, a Democrat from Birmingham, Alabama, insisted his plan to bring chaplains to public schools wasn't an effort to replace counselors. While the legislation didn't face any opposition in the Senate, Smitherman was on board with a House amendment on May 1 that heavily altered his bill, according to States Newsroom's Alabama Reflector.

Originally, Smitherman's proposal allowed schools to hire or accept chaplains as volunteers to provide support and services if they passed a background check and completed a recognized chaplain training program. Following the amendment, chaplains can only serve as volunteers to support teachers at their request, and school boards no longer have to take a vote on whether they will enact the program.

"We're doing this work for our teachers' safety," Democratic Rep. TaShina Morris said during the committee hearing. "And if they need to have someone to talk to, we should allow them that access."

However, the legislature didn't vote on the bill by the time Sine Die came on Thursday night.

Oklahoma's resurrected bill

After four school chaplain bills didn't even get a hearing in the Oklahoma Legislature, a Republican lawmaker decided to resurrect a discarded bill from 2023 to further the effort to bring chaplains into public schools in that state, according to States Newsroom's Oklahoma Voice.

Moore County Rep. Kevin West's maneuver cleared the House in a 54-37 vote, with 20 Republicans voting against it. The Senate has not voted on the bill yet, but amendments in the House strengthened requirements for volunteer or employed school chaplains, according to Oklahoma Voice.

The bill states that school chaplains can't attempt to convert anyone to their religion and must get an endorsement from their faith group. Additionally, they must hold a bachelor's and graduate degree in theology or religious studies.

The post Chaplains could soon come into FL public schools, but other red states are rejecting the move appeared first on Florida Phoenix.
Three cheers for Mike Parson: On Thursday, the Missouri governor made a simple statement that really ought to go without saying: Im going to tell you this: We are not going to target innocent people in this state.

Pity he had to do it. Parson was pushing back against the attorney general he appointed, Andrew Bailey, who announced that his office will defend three fellow Republicans  state Sens. Rick Brattin, Denny Hoskins and Nick Schroer  who are rightly being sued for acting irresponsibly on social media in the fog after the Feb. 14 fatal mass shooting at the Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl victory rally. The elected officials reshared posts on the social media platform X that incorrectly identified an innocent bystander from Olathe as a gunman, and also falsely labeled him an undocumented immigrant.

That latter detail wasnt lost on Parson: This gentleman did nothing wrong whatsoever other than he went to a parade, and he drank beer and he was Hispanic.

But this is an election year, and the right-wing outrage jukebox has its greatest hit on constant replay: Menacing hordes of criminals from Mexico and Central America are supposedly laying siege to our southern border  and its all part of President Joe Bidens master plan for them to replace real Americans.

It might be difficult to remember, but before one huge Bill and Hillary Clinton fan, New York City nightlife tabloid fixture and reality TV actor by the name of Donald John Trump pulled off his hostile takeover of the GOP in 2016 with chants of Build the wall! at his rallies, most of the partys leading voices spoke of immigration and the southern border in terms that would get them run out of MAGA town today.

Its shocking, and more than a little depressing, to watch a video on YouTube from 1980 of then-presidential candidates Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush debating how to treat Mexican immigrants. Bush called for a solution that would be so sensitive and so understanding about labor needs, and human needs, that that problem wouldnt come up. Reluctantly, he added, people who broke laws to make it to this country should get whatever it is that  society is giving to their neighbors, underlining that these workers are really honorable, decent, family-loving people.

Reagan agreed, noting that Mexicos high unemployment rate was an opportunity for our economy. Rather than  talking about putting up a fence, why dont we work out some recognition of our mutual problems, make it possible for them to come here legally with a work permit, and then while theyre working and earning here, they pay taxes here. And when they wanted to go back, they can go back and they can cross. And open the border both ways.

Thats Ronald Reagan, radical left-wing commie open borders lunatic.

Presidential candidate Ronald Reagan had compassionate words about Mexican immigrants in a 1980 debate with George H.W. Bush.

George W. Bush, John McCain on immigration

Previous Republican leaders have echoed those humane and business-savvy sentiments more often than not. George W. Bushs first official international trip as president was to to Mexico, to work with President Vicente Fox on the two countries special relationship. We understand that the border we share is a vibrant region that unites us, he later said in D.C. when Fox returned the visit.

John McCains crowning achievement in the Senate was his bipartisan 2005 immigration bill with Democratic Sen. Edward Kennedy, which provided a path to citizenship for migrant workers already in the country  a win-win for our labor market and for families seeking a brighter American future.

That spirit of a welcoming, hopeful and law-abiding United States for all has utterly vanished in the todays Bizarro World GOP. Here, Fox News hosts spend hours defending an ex-president  already found liable by juries for sexual abuse (rape the judge said) and massive business finance fraud  as hes now being tried for business and election interference felonies. Elon Musks X has reinstated previously-banned accounts by actual Nazis, and every time I see a left-leaning post in my feed, the second one below it is pro-Trump content, often linking to a campaign fundraiser.

In that alternative media climate, is it any surprise that Missouris highest law enforcement officer (and eager Fox News guest) might expect support as he goes to bat for his fellow Republicans  even though he cant not realize they clearly put an innocent private citizen at risk?

Missouri Republicans have shown they arent partisan zombies. They rejected Todd Akin in his bid for Senate after his ignorant comments about pregnancy and legitimate rape. And to their great credit, they gave frightening and disgraceful Eric Greitens a deserved, humiliating third place in his own Senate race just years after he resigned as governor amid credible accusations of domestic violence, grotesque sexual assault of his hairdresser and campaign finance violations.

Conservative voters arent stupid. And I like to think they understand fairness and justice when they see them. Missouri GOP stalwart Jack Danforth regrets enabling MAGA insurrectionist Josh Hawleys ladder-climb to the Senate. Trumps veep Mike Pence and Sen. Mitt Romney are strongly opposing Trumps bid to retake the White House, unlike previous so-called critics such as sniveling New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu or Sen. Marco Rubio. Nikki Haley, who dropped out of the race ages ago, got 1 in 5 votes in red state Indianas Republican primary this week. Trump-backed candidates have lost election after election across the country since he first took office. Why so many people in his party continue to think his endorsement and childish histrionics are the golden ticket, Ill never understand.

So thank you, Gov. Parson, for standing up for the American values most people still remember your party championing. You know AG Bailey is wrong, and said so. The Republican bully-boy persona might be thrilling to the belligerent voices of your base, but I think the evidence shows it has a short shelf life. And nobody ever regrets backing basic decency and justice. In the long term, it might be a political winner, too.
CHICAGO  A Chicago man accused of robbing a U.S. Postal Service employee in November of 2023 has been charged.

The U.S. Attorneys Office of the Northern District of Illinois said 52-year-old Richard Thompson has been charged with one count of robbery of a Postal Service employee.

According to an indictment unsealed in U.S. District Court in Chicago on Thursday, Thompson allegedly used a dangerous weapon to steal a USPS master key from a postal carrier in Chicago on Nov. 10, 2023.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

Authorities did not provide details on the location of the alleged robbery.

Thompson, who was arrested on Thursday, pleaded not guilty during his arraignment and was later ordered to remain detained.

Thompson will appear before U.S. District Judge Andrea Wood for a status hearing on June 14.

If convicted, Thompson could face a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
CHICAGO  Chicago police are searching for the hit-and-run driver who injured a pedestrian early Wednesday morning in Chatham.

Around 1:10 a.m., the driver of a dark-colored car left the 8000 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue after hitting the pedestrian, according to Chicago police.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

The victim, who hasnt been identified, was hospitalized due to their injuries. Police havent released their condition.

Anyone with any information regarding the crash, including about the driver or the vehicle involved, should call the Major Accident Investigation Unit at 312-745-4521.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Timothy Bundren's chicken barns are all standing empty since Tyson cancelled his growing contract last year. His operation near Harrison, Arkansas, was photographed on March 31 (Julie Anderson, for Investigate Midwest)

Timothy Bundren must have heard wrong.

The sun wasnt up yet. He was still groggy from starting his morning routine of walking through chicken barns.

His phone rang and his contact with the global meat company headquartered in Springdale, Arkansas, just two hours south of his farm, started telling him he would no longer be raising chickens.

Bundren, 52, didnt believe him at first. Just hours later, he was supposed to meet with the bank about another loan to buy the farm down the road. Bundren waited an hour and then called the man back.

The news didnt change, but the weight sunk in.

Tyson Foods closed four meatpacking plants that day in North Little Rock, Arkansas; Noel and Dexter, Missouri; and Corydon, Indiana. Bundren lives near the plants closed in Missouri and Arkansas. Because of this, the company canceled Bundrens contract to raise broiler chickens.

But to his knowledge, the chickens Bundren raised werent processed at the plants shut down that day. His chickens were shipped to a Tyson plant in Green Forest, Arkansas, just half an hour away and still in operation.

When Tyson closed those regional plants, it had to reassess which growers would send chickens to which plants to meet demand, said Eddie Todd, president of the Missouri-Arkansas Poultry Growers Association and president of the Arkansas Farmers Union.

The plant that (Bundren) sent his birds to might not have been directly the cause since it didnt close, but it was because of the other closures and how Tyson looked at all the plants feasibility, Todd said.

Bundren and other growers affected by the closures have been caught in the wake of a larger, company-wide initiative to cut costs. But that has left some growers with more than a million dollars in debt  debt they accumulated at Tysons urging  and few options to pay it back, according to growers Investigate Midwest interviewed.

Bundren is $1.4 million in debt. Nine months since that call, his barns are still empty.

While relieved he didnt sign onto another loan, his world has been turned upside down.

Im thinking if Im hearing this right, Im out of business, he said. How am I going to pay a loan this big back?

Tyson introduced a restructuring program in 2022 that included consolidating corporate headquarters, reducing expenses and increasing efficiency, according to its filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

These assets that were shuttering would have required significant capital in order to make them competitive, said Tyson President and Chief Executive Officer Donnie King in an August 2023 investor meeting, the same morning the company announced plant closures across four states. If you look at the returns on those, it really didnt make sense to do that.

The companys plans came at a human cost. Tyson closed eight meatpacking plants in 2023, six of them chicken processing and two beef processing. It laid off more than 4,200 workers across all of its plants last year.

The company has a lot to gain from its contract growers. In 2023, Tyson Foods had nearly $53 billion in sales  a third of which was from chicken. The company operates 183 chicken facilities across the country, which include processing plants, hatcheries, feed mills and grain elevators. The companys website states it contracts with more than 3,600 poultry farmers nationwide.

It is unclear how many growers, who are not employees, had contracts with Tyson before the plants closed last year.

But in the counties where Tyson shut down chicken processing plants last year, and where contract growers who spoke to Investigate Midwest operate in, there were a total of 114 broiler chicken farms under production contracts in 2022, according to the USDAs most recent agricultural census. Many farms raise more than a million birds each year.

Bundren has spent the past six years annually raising about 600,000 broiler chickens, or chickens bred for consumption.

Like almost all broiler chickens in the country, his were raised under contract for a major poultry company. Many chicken growers only grow for a single company as more than half of contract chicken growers live in a region with two or fewer companies, according to a 2012 Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics study.

I stand a chance of losing everything. Every (chicken) house I got, all my land, everything, Bundren said. Its throwing me and my family in the street. Tyson aint thinking about that, and I guess they dont care.

An expensive proposition

Timothy Bundrens chicken barns are all standing empty since Tyson cancelled his growing contract last year. His operation near Harrison, Arkansas, was photographed on March 31 (Julie Anderson, for Investigate Midwest).

From the pivotal early morning phone calls to the millions in debt, former Tyson contract growers who spoke to Investigate Midwest said they have had to take out upwards of $2 million loans to become Tyson contract growers. Their contracts canceled, theyre now saddled with massive debt.

They said the company pushed them to go into more debt to upgrade their barns to meet company demands. Growers also said the company told them that they would be given chickens to raise for as long as they had loans on their barns.

Now that their contracts have abruptly ended, Tyson contract growers said they arent able to pay off the debt. Growers are staring down bankruptcy and foreclosures. Some have sold off land or other property to pay off debt while others have retired or looked for work off the farm.

Investigate Midwest spoke to five growers, located in Arkansas, Missouri, Indiana and Virginia, and pored through lawsuits filed by four other contract growers to find how Tysons closures have affected the farmers who raise the companys chickens. A grower in Virginia asked for anonymity because of concerns over breach of contract. Another grower asked to speak on background only, but their situation mirrored that of the other growers.

Tyson did not answer specific questions about the closures, its relationship with contract growers, or how many growers lost contracts due to these closures. In a statement emailed to Investigate Midwest, it said closing plants was not an easy move:

Tyson Foods is proud to partner with a network of independent growers across the country, and we value the contribution that these growers make to our business. Closing plants is always a difficult decision, and we understand the impact it has on the people and businesses in those communities. We work to help our team members and partners through that transition, and Tyson Foods has provided affected growers with several options to honor our contractual commitments and allow growers to receive fair value.

Almost a year after the first announcement of Tyson plant closures and canceled contracts, King, Tysons president and CEO, said in a February investors meeting that the company is already seeing the benefits of these actions and well continue to evaluate opportunities to drive efficiency, across our segments.

The improvements are coming from operational improvements, operational excellence both in plants and in live production and really driving out waste from the business, King said.

Tysons 2023 annual report states it lost $322 million in costs related to closing plants in 2023. One of those costs was contract terminations for chicken growers. The growers that Investigate Midwest interviewed were offered buyouts of their contracts but all stated it would not be enough to cover the entirety of their debt.

Raising poultry is the most expensive type of livestock or animal production farming in the U.S., according to Census of Agriculture data.

The poultry industry was one of the first to introduce the practice of outsourcing debt and risk associated with raising live animals. All major poultry companies use the practice, said Aaron Johnson, a co-policy director at the agricultural reform nonprofit, Rural Advancement Foundation International, or RAFI, headquartered in North Carolina. Tyson owns and delivers the birds to the growers who must put their own money into their operations.

The model is designed to put that debt load external to the company so that if the company decides to shut down a facility, they are not left holding the bag, Johnson said. The contract growers are.

Tysons cost-cutting doesnt appear to be helping the companys stock price. Earlier this month, it experienced its worst one-day decline in a year, according to Reuters.

From top grower to empty barns

Six years ago, Bundren moved to rural Harrison, Arkansas, to start growing chickens for Tyson. A former car mechanic, electrician and property manager, he switched careers to put his family into a better financial position and so he could stop working multiple jobs.

Bundren said Tyson verbally promised him years of steady pay if he took out the loans needed to purchase chicken barns. Now, the rug has been pulled out from beneath him.

They told me point blank that as long as I grow decent birds and do my job, they would keep me in birds long enough to pay my loan off, Bundren said.

Theres pride in his voice when he talks about his chicken barns and the life he was afforded by raising chickens.

He emphasizes that he always kept his barns clean. Along the dirt road on which his house is located, his driveway is the only one paved.

Chicken growers are generally paid under a system known as the tournament system, a method in which chicken companies rank a growers flock of birds against neighboring growers based on the size of the birds and how much feed and other expenses they used. The higher the ranking a contract grower receives, the more money they get. The opposite remains true, though, leaving poultry contract growers susceptible to major swings in pay.

Today, Bundrens barns are useless. He has no income from poultry farming. The barns he purchased are designed for Tyson chickens, making it difficult to transition to raising poultry for another company.

This is a common experience across the poultry industry. Growers will build or purchase barns with company-specific parameters. In instances where a contract is cut short or growers want to move to a different poultry company, they often are unable to use or sell the equipment and barns they already own, according to a 2006 study in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics.

After the initial shock, Bundren talked to a regional Butterball plant about raising turkeys for the company  only to discover it would cost at least $250,000 to upgrade his barns to its specifications. He said the brunt of the cost was replacing all feed and water lines to be sized for turkeys instead of broiler chickens.

In the end, Bundren said he was unable to raise turkeys for Butterball because his farm is located too close to other poultry operations. He was told this could create a biosecurity risk for the birds.

Right now Im scared to death, Bundren said. Im scared Im gonna lose everything and I made a mistake by putting my family up here.

Bundren entered the industry at a rough time for growers. In the seven counties in Arkansas and Missouri affected by plant closures, chicken farms were consolidating. From 2002 to 2022, the number of broiler farms under contract was cut in half, according to USDA data.

At the same time, poultry farm debt in Arkansas and Missouri exploded. In Arkansas, the amount of debt and other liabilities held by poultry growers tripled from 2003 to 2022, according to an analysis of USDA farm income data. In Missouri, the figure increased six-fold.

In 2022, the total cost of raising poultry in the country was nearly double that of raising hogs. Poultry is more expensive to raise than dairy cattle, beef cattle, sheep and goats. USDA research shows that raising chickens can also provide less revenue.

Nationally, the cost of raising chickens increased 35% from 2012 to 2022, according to an analysis of Census of Agriculture data. This data does not separate out types of poultry or delineate between the cost of raising chickens for consumption or egg production.

Despite rising costs and debt loads, growers said Tyson continued to ask for upgrades and investments or they would lose their contracts.

Bundren noted growers, if they dont invest in further upgrades per Tyson specifications, theyre told they wont receive additional birds. (Tyson) dont give a damn about how much money it costs, he said.

Sleepless nights

Preston Arnold on his farm near Sikeston, Missouri, where he raised chickens before market changes on April 17 (Daniel Byrd, for Investigate Midwest).

Nine months ago, Preston Arnolds phone rang as he was driving his 1999 white Chevy Silverado to his chicken barns. He pulled over to the side of the road to answer it.

It was his Tyson broiler manager. A few moments into the conversation, Arnold, 67, thought he was joking.

As the man on the phone walked him through the news, Arnold realized he wasnt.

He looked down the road and saw his eight chicken barns in Sikeston, Missouri. They would soon be empty. He stood to lose everything.

Arnold had been around the chicken industry for years. His brother and father raised birds for Tyson for 25 years while he pursued a career in the insurance industry. He said as he got older, he wanted to travel less and be home more. He bought chicken barns half a mile from his house in Sikeston.

Then, he contracted with Tyson to supply birds for the Dexter, Missouri, slaughter plant 30 minutes away.

For almost five years, he raised close to a million chickens a year for Tyson. When he started as a contract grower in 2019, Arnolds original loan was for $1.6 million.

As of mid-April, his loan balance sits right around $900,000. His barns now barren.

Arnold said he put his home and property up as collateral for the initial loan. Since the plants closure, he said that his bank has threatened foreclosure.

In negotiations with the bank, he said hes suggested the idea that he keep a barn located at his home throughout the potential foreclosure process, so as to at least have a roof over his head.

Weve gone a lot of sleepless nights, he said. This has just been a roller coaster of emotions.

The Farm Service Agency, the federal agency that assists and secures loans for agriculture producers, said in a statement to Investigate Midwest that it has met with Arkansas contract growers who lost Tyson contracts. It has yet to meet with growers in other states, though. The agency said situations like this are why the USDA is examining the treatment of contract growers.

Often, poultry companies will require or strongly encourage growers to upgrade their barns and equipment in order to get more birds to raise, according to USDA research and interviews with contract growers. The USDA estimates that it costs roughly $400,000 to build a new chicken barn, with many growers having multiple barns.

Arnold said in the last two years, hes invested in upgrading his barns and spent $500,000 on a new one.

Had I known that there was even talk about (closure), I wouldnt have (upgraded or built new barns), Arnold said.

The news of Tysons closure blindsided Arnold and other contract growers whose chickens were processed at the Dexter plant. According to two lawsuits filed by four Missouri contract growers, Tyson allegedly planned to shut down the Dexter facility at least a year in advance of the announcement. (Tyson did not respond to a question about the lawsuits allegations.)

Despite this, the lawsuits state that the company encouraged contract growers to continue taking out loans and updating facilities. The filings allege that Tyson largely benefitted from the contract operations because it did not have to build or maintain farms that the company would knowingly abandon.

One of the lawsuits was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money. Attorney Russell Oliver, who represented the family that settled and still represents the contract growers suing Tyson, declined to comment. The other lawsuit is pending.

We were not free to seek out other business opportunities on the open market and could only perform this service for the Tyson Companies, wrote grower Eric Kessler in a signed affidavit from the settled lawsuit. As such, we are not in business for ourselves but were exclusively servants of Tyson.

The Dexter processing plant was bought by Cal-Maine Foods, the largest egg company in the country, in March. Cal-Maine operates more than 100 production, processing and packing facilities across Arkansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Ohio, Texas, and much of the South.

The company plans to convert the plant to process egg products and said it will work with some of the regions former Tyson contract growers to now raise eggs.

Cal-Maines vice president and chief financial officer, Max Bowman, said the company has already started placing birds with contract growers in the Dexter area. He declined to say how many new growers used to contract with Tyson, and he declined to say how much money it would cost to convert their operations to meet Cal-Maines requirements.

Were quite confident that the opportunity were going to offer to the growers will be as good as or better than what they had in their former contracts, Bowman said.

Arnold said the cost to convert his barn to meet Cal-Maines specifications was estimated to be at least $550,000 per barn for four barns, meaning he would have to take out another large loan in order to produce eggs for the company. He is still considering taking out a new loan, but has yet to act.

A loan of more than $2 million on top of his other debt is hard to swallow.

If something doesnt happen in the way of an FSA debt relief plan or some new legislation, then were going to lose everything that weve worked our lives for, he said.

Tyson told growers the company was not going anywhere

Preston Arnold on his farm near Sikeston, Missouri, where he raised chickens before market changes on April 17 (Daniel Byrd, for Investigate Midwest).

The same morning Arnold pulled over to the side of the road, racking his brain about his next move, Jonathon Morrow answered the phone.

His Tyson service technician told him he was no longer getting birds and the Dexter complex was closing.

Morrow, 60, who raised roughly 1.8 million broilers annually for Tyson, was nonchalant in his response.

I thought, Yep, Im losing everything, he said.

Following the Great Recession, Morrow started looking for other career paths. After working in construction and roofing for decades, he eventually landed on contract chicken growing for Tyson. In 2013, he said he began to build chicken barns on his familys farmland in Dudley, Missouri, just outside of Dexter.

Now, he is weighing the options of spending more money to become a contract grower with Cal-Maine, selling the barns, or tearing them down and selling the farmland.

We went from (360,000 birds a flock) to nothing real quick, Morrow said.

Morrow had two different contracts to raise two different types of birds for Tyson. He raised broiler chickens in Dudley and breeding chickens in Annapolis, Missouri, more than an hour away.

Morrow, a man of faith with an optimistic demeanor, said he was able to pay off his debt on his barns built for his broiler chickens. But, he said, he is millions of dollars in debt for the barns built for breeding chickens.

Both his broiler contract and breeder contract were canceled by Tyson. The barns have been empty since October 2023. Without a chicken processor in the area, theres no company to provide him with the birds to occupy them.

Its not like you can buy 300,000 chickens on your own and put them in (barns) and find a market, he said.

In the interim, Morrow has gone back to working construction. On a recent morning call, his laughter was interrupted by the beep of dump trucks.

After the Tyson closure in Dexter, Morrow said he was approached by Cal-Maine to become a contract grower. When he heard that it would take nearly a million dollars for him to meet their specifications, he said he was brutally honest with the company.

I said, If you think a bank would even loan us more money after this, youve lost your mind,  he said.  And if you think I would be stupid enough to borrow almost another million dollars after this, youve lost your mind. 

The agency is currently finalizing a rule proposal internally that will address certain problematic practices such as the requirement for additional capital investments in poultry production facilities and equipment. This effort is part of the agencys ongoing updates to the 100-year-old legislation known as the Packers and Stockyards Act.

The act, created in 1921, is supposed to protect members of the livestock, meat and poultry industries from unfair, unjustly discriminatory or deceptive practice.

The USDA finalized a new rule under the act in February that is supposed to give chicken growers more transparency in their contracts and an understanding of how exactly they are paid. In March, a separate ruling to prevent discriminatory practices was finalized and became law on May 6.

Like with starting any new business, chicken farmers typically incur some debt to get their chicken houses built and their farms up and operational, said Tom Super, National Chicken Council senior vice president of communications, in a statement to Investigate Midwest. But chicken farmer loan performance data show more consistent payments and one of the lowest loan default rates in all of agriculture. Raising chickens under contract is one of the best and most reliable sources of cash flow that helps keep families on the farm.

The National Chicken Council is an industry group that promotes the sale of chicken in the U.S. and whose board members include executive leaders of several major poultry processors.

Morrow said he knew the risks of such a large loan when he became a contract grower. But he, just like other growers, was told that if he does a good job, the company was not going anywhere.

Somebody higher up the food chain had to know this was a possibility, Morrow said. Yet theyre (still) giving out contracts to build new (chicken) houses.

A waiting game

In Arkansas, Bundrens six chicken barns are remain empty as he negotiates with the bank and the FSA about how to handle his debt. His barns were once a source of steady income, but now the empty metal husks are a reminder of the debt he carries.

(The barns) are worth zero now, he said. When youve got a contract, theyre worth $200,000-$300,000 used, a piece.

Now, its a waiting game for Bundren. His wife has started looking for work and interviewing for jobs. He is now doing landscaping, excavation and stump grinding to pay bills.

He said the bank has been working with him to repay the loans and, after some conversations with the FSA, he feels hopeful the agency will help him find a way to manage the financial burden.

Still, his debt of more than a million dollars weighs on him. This past December, while uncertain whether he could keep his house, he tried to have a normal Christmas for his two daughters.

That uncertainty has turned to frustration when he thinks of the money and time he put into making his barns the perfect place to raise Tyson chickens.

The mental stress is killing me, Bundren said. I still dont know if Im going to get to keep anything.

If he keeps his land and avoids foreclosure, Bundren said he may tear down the barns.

I dont want to grow birds anymore anyway, he said. You just cant trust Tyson.

This article first appeared on Investigate Midwest and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The post Chicken farmers stuck with uncertainty, massive loans in wake of Tyson Foods closures appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Kansas City Chiefs team doctor Michael Monaco pleaded guilty to misdemeanor careless driving Friday after fatally striking a Good Samaritan at the scene of a highway crash in November 2023.

Monaco hit and killed Robert Piper, 50, around 1:45 a.m. on November 6, near I-70 and I-470. Piper, who lived in Blue Springs, had gotten out of his car to help a Chevrolet Equinox that had flipped onto its back, according to the Independence Police Department.

The Equinox, which was driven by a 15-year-old without a license, had hit a rock embankment, swerved off of I-70, then flipped back onto the highway, The Star reported. The Equinox was found to have been stolen from Kansas City.

As Piper tried to help the driver of the Equinox for about three minutes, several cars swerved around the accident. Monaco, driving a Ford pickup truck, did not brake, police said. Both Piper and an occupant of the Equinox were pronounced dead on the scene.

Monaco agreed Friday to pay a $2,000 fine. He will have at least two and up to four points added to his drivers license. Prosecutors opted not to impose the year of jail time that can be on the table for reckless driving misdemeanors in Missouri.

The second deceased victim, a teenager, has not been publicly identified.

Monaco is the team physician for the Kansas City Chiefs, specializing in internal medicine. He attended medical school at the University of Missouri, Kansas City. He was returning home from a Chiefs game abroad, when the team played the Miami Dolphins in Germany, the Star previously reported.

The Jackson County Prosecutors Office described the fine as the most appropriate outcome in a statement Friday.

Our sympathies go to the families of both victims, one who died young and promising and another who simply was trying to offer aid and comfort, prosecutors wrote.

Pipers family filed a lawsuit against Monaco in January, alleging that Monaco did not even attempt to brake and that eight other cars managed to avoid hitting Piper.

The prosecutors office found that Monaco was not under the influence of drugs or alcohol while driving. The January lawsuit also alleged Monaco was fatigued, which was denied by Ralph Monaco, who is Monacos lawyer and brother-in-law.

Ralph Monaco has described the crash as an unavoidable accident.

The driver of the Equinox was found to be under the influence of marijuana, according to the Jackson County Prosecutors Office.

Our community, especially young teens, should heed a life-and-death lesson here, prosecutors wrote Friday. Underage drivers on drugs pose a deadly threat.

Its more common for traffic accidents in Missouri to involve younger drivers than it is to involve drivers under the influence, but the latter is more fatal. Between November 2023 and May 2024, 25% of motor vehicle accidents in Missouri involved a younger driver and 3.9% involved alcohol or drugs, according to state data.

Crashes involving younger drivers have killed 43 people in the state since November 2023, and crashes involving drugs or alcohol have killed 50.

The Stars Bill Lukitsch contributed reporting.
Child exploitation sting in Marinette leads to arrest of two men

MARINETTE, Wis. (WFRV)  Authorities in Marinette worked with several different agencies to conduct a child exploitation sex sting operation recently, leading to the arrest of two men.

According to the Marinette Police Department, the sting operation was conducted within the City of Marinette.

As a result of the investigation, a 27-year-old man and 31-year-old man were taken into custody.

The two men were each charged with:

Use of a Computer to Facilitate a Child Sex Crime A maximum penalty of 40 years imprisonment

Child Enticement A maximum penalty of 25 years imprisonment



The Marinette Police Department was assisted with the operation by the Marinette County Sheriffs Office, Niagara Police Department, Marinette County District Attorneys Office, and Genesee County Sheriffs Office (Flint, Michigan).

No additional information was provided.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFRV Local 5 - Green Bay, Appleton.
At least 200 Northern California residents may have been exposed to measles after a child with the airborne disease came to the UC Davis Medical Centers emergency department twice during the past week, Sacramento County health officials said Thursday.

A child came to the Oak Park facility on Monday between 10 p.m. to 3:15 a.m. and then again on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 6:45 p.m., a news release said. The child  whose age public health officials declined to disclose  experienced measles symptoms on Monday, and was ultimately diagnosed on Wednesday, said Sacramento Public Health Officer Dr. Olivia Kasirye in a phone interview.

In all, health officials estimate about 200 people may have been exposed and health officials have begun to inform people they can contact about getting tested, said Elizabeth Zelidon, a spokeswoman for Sacramento County public health department. Outpatients and inpatients have been exposed, but UC Davis medical center officials are still tallying the final number.

The infected child is doing well at home, Kasirye said, who added there was no history of international travel for the juvenile.

UC Davis Health declined to comment, referring questions to the county.

The case marks the second time a child has tested for the extremely contagious virus this year in Sacramento County. In March, an infant brought to both San Joaquin County and UCDMCs emergency department exposed more than 300 people across 16 Northern California counties, according to The Sacramento Bees previous reporting.

The infant arrived to America from abroad in Marchs case.

Measles is a highly contagious disease in which 90% of unvaccinated people who are exposed to the virus can be infected via airborne particles, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Measles manifests as a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes, according to the CDC.

Symptoms appear seven to 21 days after initial exposure to the virus, which can last in the air for up to two hours. Exposed residents should monitor themselves for fevers or unexplained rashes.

Unvaccinated people or those who dont know if theyve been inoculated against the disease should talk with a health care provider about receiving the measles, mumps and rubella shot within three days of exposure, Kasirye said.

Anyone whos been exposed should refrain from going to a health care provider in-person or to the emergency department, she said. Call ahead before arriving to the health care facility so medical professional can take the appropriate safety precautions, she said.

The California Public Health Department reported six confirmed cases of measles throughout the state, according to data last updated on Saturday. The state public health department didnt record any measles cases in April, but four cases in March.

Residents should also take this case as a reminder to get vaccinated with the MMR shot, Kasirye said.

People do need to be vigilant, she said.
Child to survive fall from fourth floor of Sacramento apartment building

(FOX40.COM)  A child is expected to survive after falling from the fourth-story window of an apartment complex in Sacramento on Thursday evening, according to the Sacramento Police Department.

Just after 6 p.m., police arrived in the 100 block of Promenade Circle after reports that a male child fell from the window.

Body found in Rocklin was off-duty officer, Sacramento Police say

The child was suffering from significant injuries and was transported to an area hospital.

Investigators are still speaking with witnesses to understand what led this child to fall from the window.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks during his joint press conference with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks at the PM's office, the former Carmelite Monastery, in Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, May 9 2024. (Szilard Koszticsak/MTI via AP)

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP)  Chinese President Xi Jinping left Hungary on Friday, concluding a tour of three European nations meant to meant to reinforce China's growing influence on the continent.

Xi's plane took off from Budapest airport on Friday evening, after five days in Europe that began with a visit to France and then Serbia.

Earlier on Friday, Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on the social platform X that Xi had concluded his three-day state visit to Hungary, the last stop on his Europe visit, hailing the development of the two nations' strategic partnership.

During the visit, Hungary and China signed a number of new agreements on deepening their economic and cultural cooperation. During a news conference on Thursday, Orban praised the continuous, uninterrupted friendship between the two countries since his tenure began in 2010, and promised that Hungary would continue to host further Chinese investments.

Xi began his visit with a meeting earlier in the week with French President Emmanuel Macron. Their talks focused on trade disputes  including lifting tariff threats on Cognac exports  and Ukraine-related diplomatic efforts.

He next went to European Union candidate Serbia, where the two nations signed an agreement to build a shared future.
NEW YORK  Hui Qin, the Chinese billionaire who admitted in March to making straw donations to political campaigns  including Mayor Eric Adams  was sentenced Thursday to seven months in prison and removal from the U.S.

Brooklyn federal prosecutor Breon Peace, who handled the case, called the sentencing a lesson in American civics the hard way.

Qins brazen (flouting) of our political and immigration systems and his defrauding government agencies resulted in a felony conviction, prison sentence and today, his removal from the United States, Peace said in a written statement.

Qin pleaded guilty two months ago to making more than $11,000 in illegal donations to three political candidates.

Along with the donations to the Adams campaign, he arranged for illicit contributions to Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Allan Fung, a Republican who ran for Congress in Rhode Island. None of the three politicians have been implicated in any wrongdoing in the case.

When first questioned about Qins guilty plea, Adams told reporters hed met him before, but that he was one of the thousands upon thousands of people that I interacted with while on the campaign trail.

A month later, The New York Daily News reported there was more to their connection than that  Adams celebrated his 60th birthday party at Qin and his former model wife Emma Duo Lius lux Plaza penthouse.

Also in attendance at that party was Adams adviser Winnie Greco, whose Bronx homes were raided in March by the FBI. She hasnt been accused of wrongdoing.

At Thursdays sentencing of Qin, United States District Judge Joan Azrack ruled in favor of giving him time served, as hed already been incarcerated since his arrest last October. As part of his plea, Qin also agreed to relinquishing his permanent resident status in the U.S.  which he obtained illegally  as well as his immediate deportation.

In addition to admitting to illegally reimbursing donors for their political contributions, Qin also confessed to filing a false application for legal resident status and fraudulently obtaining a Florida drivers license, despite not being a legal resident there.

Federal prosecutors said in March that the campaigns targeted by Qin were unaware of his actions because he concealed his use of straw donors.

The Qin matter isnt he only straw donor case connected to Adams political operation.

The federal prosecutors office in Manhattan is probing ties between the Adams campaign and the Turkish government and whether the campaign benefited from illicit Turkish money. As part of that investigation, the FBI seized the mayors electronic devices and raided the homes of top campaign fundraiser Brianna Suggs and City Hall adviser Rana Abbasova last November.

In another case, which involved Dwayne Montgomery, a former NYPD inspector and longtime friend of Adams, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg alleged that several defendants orchestrated a straw donor scheme to help Adams campaign in the hopes that theyd benefit down the road.

Montgomery pleaded guilty in that case to misdemeanor conspiracy and was sentenced in April to 200 hours of community service.

Adams hasnt been accused of wrongdoing in any of the cases.
After watching Israel flatten much of Gaza, President Joe Biden decided to draw the line at the city of Rafah. Now, he has to decide what to do if Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu crosses it.

The president quietly directed his team last week to halt shipments of massive bombs to Israel to deliver a message to Netanyahu that no operation should move forward without a civilian protection plan in place, a U.S. official said.

Then, after Netanyahu moved forward with a push into Rafah, Biden gave a primetime interview Wednesday in which he vowed not to send Israel more of the large bombs and artillery shells it would likely use for a major assault on a city with more than a million Palestinians.

The administration is hoping that the threat is enough to stop a large-scale invasion of Rafah from happening, even as it continues to struggle to explain what, exactly, crosses their red line. Officials say they don't want Israel to launch an operation that could further destroy infrastructure and send more civilians fleeing for safety, but theyve consistently referenced being open to smaller, more-targeted missions in the southern Gaza city.



Netanyahu, who faces mounting domestic pressure to destroy Hamas and bring hostages home, appears poised to escalate the campaign, even without the U.S. president by his side as he has been since the Oct. 7 assault by Hamas that started the war.

If that happens, we would need to make choices, said a second U.S. official, one of three granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive hingepoint in the war. It hasnt happened, and it may well not happen. Thats what were working on.

Ever since Hamas stormed into Israel and killed 1,200 people and took 250 hostage, Biden has promised to defend the country, refusing to waver despite pressure from congressional Democrats, pro-Palestinian voters and angry college students.

In defending Israel, the president and his team insisted it was impossible for Israel to cleanly target an enemy that uses human shields and hides among civilians.

Biden stressed support for Israel even in his Wednesday interview: we will help you get [Yahya] Sinwar, referring to the Hamas leader believed to be hiding in Rafahs tunnels.

Bidens weapons announcement is him breaking glass  and his relationship with Netanyahu  ahead of an emergency. Its an unintentional admission that his effort to cajole the prime minister by withholding public criticism has had limited effects, enough to encourage efforts to improve the humanitarian crisis but not enough to end it.

The problem for Biden is Israel may already be far deeper into Rafah than he admits. The president told CNN they haven't gone into the population centers. What they did is right on the border, with Egypt.



Satellite imagery seen by multiple outlets shows damaged buildings about two miles deep into the city, scenes that are consistent with what typically follows Israeli shaping operations and ground invasions. They indicate Israel Defense Forces have moved beyond the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza and into the main areas of the city.

A senior administration official said Israel already has battalions in place to attack Rafah, but it doesnt yet have enough troops to seize large portions of the city at this time. Israel has everything they need to conduct a ground operation in Rafah if they want to, but the president has been clear he does not want to provide material for such an operation if Israel does proceed.

Its still unclear what the administration precisely defines as a major operation. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby took a stab at it Thursday on a call with reporters, saying itd be recognizable by the movements of many forces and damage to civilian infrastructure as opposed to more precise, more targeted, more limited kinds of operations, quite frankly like we are seeing right now down at the Rafah crossing.

While Biden is urging Israel to avoid targeting population centers, it's unclear to me what specifically the president wants to have happen, said Jonathan Lord, who leads Middle East work at the Center for a New American Security think tank, noting that the administration seems to still want the destruction of Hamas and the return of hostages.

It's hard to see how the lack of clarity around the policy, coupled with the president's recent public comments, works in service of those goals, he added.



The administration insists Bidens messaging on that point has been consistent ever since he warned in March that an invasion of Rafah threatening civilians would cross his red line. Biden reiterated his thinking during multiple phone calls with Netanyahu, at one point last month threatening to reassess U.S. policy if the humanitarian situation in Gaza didnt drastically improve. Within hours, Israel opened more crossings into the territory, allowing a flurry of aid to reach Palestinians facing famine.

Israel still doesnt have a civilian protection plan for Rafah in place, the senior administration official warned, echoing similar comments by Secretary of State Antony Blinken: It doesnt address our concerns about what would be needed to deal with a potential massive flow of refugees. Israel has ordered a lot of tents for people who may flee Rafah, but not enough, the official added.

The White House had been holding out hope Israel and Hamas would strike a deal for a six-week cease-fire and the release of hostages, negating the need for a Rafah offensive. But Israels foray into the city has put long-held talks on pause and CIA Director Bill Burns, a top negotiator for the U.S. side, is headed back to Washington without a deal.

Kirby warned that a large Rafah operation would benefit Hamas bargaining position, not Israels, despite Netanyahus government insisting military pressure would force the militants hand.

If I'm Mr. Sinwar, he told reporters, and I'm seeing innocent people falling victim to major significant combat operations in Rafah, then I have less and less incentive to want to come to the negotiating table and deal. I can chasten Israel in the worst possible way because of the way they're behaving.

Fighting is likely to continue with talks on hiatus. But Biden felt he could withhold 2,000- and 500-lb. bombs from Israel because Hamas has become less of a threat over seven months of war.

"Hamas didn't feel, and hadn't suffered, the kinds of pressure and the kinds of casualties that they have suffered now," Kirby explained. "The picture of Hamas today is not what it was six months ago and is a result of the pressure that the Israelis have put on it."

He reiterated Bidens position that the U.S. would still provide Israel with defensive capabilities and wouldnt stop any of the $14 billion in military aid authorized by lawmakers last month.

So far, Netanyahu seems ready to expand the Rafah invasion as far as he needs to wipe out Hamas. On Thursday, he released a video on X in which he vowed to continue prosecuting the war.

If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone, he said, adding if necessary  we will fight with our fingernails.

Matt Berg contributed to this report.
MAGA pastor Sean Feucht and a band of Christian nationalists are glomming on to campus protests against Israels war on Gaza, leading United for Israel marches at Columbia and the University of Southern California while professing their belief that the conflict is a harbinger of the End Times predicted in the Bible.

On Wednesday night, Feuchts followers and far-right extremists rallied outside USC with the help of a police escortan image that stands in stark contrast to the LAPD officers in riot gear who previously arrested activists from the schools pro-Palestinian camp.

The Christian Zionist parade kicked off with Feucht performing contemporary worship music (Our God is an awesome God) and anti-LGBTQ speakers like preachers Lou Engle and Che Ahn, who once crowed at a Stop the Steal rally: Were gonna rule and reign through President Trump and under the lordship of Jesus Christ.

Feucht, looking every bit the part of a Jesus rocker in a black jean jacket, fired up the crowd with a concert before the march.

Lord, we stand together against hatred, bigotry, anti-semitism, violence thats taken over this campus and the streets of the city, Feucht said between songs. God, I just pray today that America would see a different story tonight.

Where theyve seen division, they would see unity and joy, added the 40-year-old Sammy Hagar-coiffed pastor, who once prayed over former President Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and his wife Casey.

Afterward, Fox News portrayed Feucht as a hero of sorts for the Jewish people. We want Americans to see that we are fed up with this rot of anti-Semitism on the college campuses, and that were gathering together in unity, bringing prayer, bringing hope, said Feucht, whos risen to MAGA fame and riches after holding worship concerts flouting COVID rules in 2020.

Yesterdays March for Israel outside of USC was advertised as bringing thousands of Israel supporters together, but only 200-300 people showed up. The crowd largely consisted of evangelical Christians, white supremacists, January 6th rioters, and far-right online personalities. pic.twitter.com/6ClcsEwf8I  Jeremy Lindenfeld (@jeremotographs) May 9, 2024

The irony of divisive activists making up the unity flock didnt seem to be lost on reporters and extremism researchers, including Kate Burns, Jeremy Lindenfeld, and Kelly Stuart, who documented the scene in real time. They estimated a few hundred participants showed up versus Feuchts projection of thousands.

Matthew D. Taylor, a religious studies scholar and expert in Christian nationalism, told The Daily Beast he is concerned the USC protest and similar rallies are normalizing extremism for Christians and giving cover to far-right groups.

Theres a veneer of interfaith, theres a veneer of solidarity, said Taylor, a senior scholar at the Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies (ICJS). I do interfaith dialogue for a living. These people are not doing interfaith dialogue. Theyre doing Christian supremacy, but theyre cloaking it in the garb of interfaith solidarity.

If Sean Feucht is an enemy of anti-Semitism, why does he hang out with Proud Boys and QAnon supporters and conspiracy theorists at places that tolerate outright anti-Semitism like the ReAwaken America tour? Taylor added. Why does he invite far-right militia members to be security at his own events? Color me skeptical that Sean Feucht cares one whit about anti-Semitism. (A Proud Boy and a Jan. 6 insurrectionist reportedly belonged to Feuchts security team at his Oregon Let Us Worship event in 2021.)

Feucht has also palled around with podcaster Elijah Schaffer, who has made anti-Semitic remarks along with his guest speakers like white supremacist Nick Fuentes. Do you believe Jews disproportionately control the world institutions, banks, & are waging war on white, western society? Schaffer asked in a 2023 Twitter poll.

MAGA pastor Sean Feucht plays guitar at a United for Israel march against recent campus protests. Kelly Stuart

Taylor said Feuchts crew is choosing a polarizing debate, as they did with COVID and Black Lives Matter, to inject their extremist ideology.

They are showing up with their happy-go-lucky worship songs and saying, How can anybody possibly object to Christians singing worship music? but theyre doing it with all this far-right messaging and far-right allies.

Multiple activists wore hats and flags for the group Lexit, or Latinos Exiting The Democrat Party, which once waged protests outside of a San Diego-area YMCA because it allowed transgender guests to use their preferred locker rooms.

Some attendees raised signs reading Jesus is Alive, He is Risen! and donned Jewish Lives Matter T-shirts with Patriot Mobiles logo on the back. Patriot Mobile, the conservative wireless company known to bankroll right-wing school board candidates, also flew a plane overhead with the banner: Israel is Forever, Jewish Lives Matter.us.

Among the swarm, a man collected signatures for a ban on sex changes for kids, likely referring to a ballot initiative that would require schools to notify parents if a child asked to change their gender identification. Another guy, who was photographed at a Huntington Beach White Lives Matter rally three years ago, hoisted a Dont Tread On Me flag.

One person raised an Appeal to Heaven flag, a Revolutionary War banner thats been championed by Christian nationalists. (One hangs in House Speaker Mike Johnsons district office, Rolling Stone reported last November).

The marchs soundtrack included chants of USA! and the blowing of a shofar, a musical horn used in Jewish ceremonies thats become a symbol for spiritual warfare for pro-Trump Christian nationalistsincluding at Feuchts anti-COVID lockdown rallies and at the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Kelly Stuart, a photojournalist documenting extremism in California, told The Daily Beast the rally was a dystopian cacophony of shofar and shouts of bring them home!

It was completely evangelical, Stuart said. These are people who are accelerationists. They want the rapture to come. They may talk about wanting peace but violence will bring the rapture sooner.

Before the event concluded, some demonstrators took communion and Engle barked in a megaphone about Jesus betrayal and how demonic powers were dislodged from their thrones when Jesus said Father, forgive them from the cross.

What we just did here today is a microcosm of a mass battle thats going on that will be freed by the blood of the lamb! Engle said to cheers.

The event seemed quieter than Feuchts Columbia University march, where he declined to answer a HuffPost reporters questions about what would happen to Jewish people in the End Times hes repeatedly referenced in connection with the Israel-Gaza conflict.

In New York, Feucht teamed up with conservative radio host Eric Metaxas, who, according to Media Matters, uses his platform to promote the belief that Christians should control the government, and once punched an anti-Trump protester in the face.

A day before descending on the Big Apple, Feucht went live on Facebook and appeared almost giddy about the end days.

Yes, these are the end days, Feucht said. I know people say all the time, Everyones saying its the end days. Jesus said it was the end days 2000 years ago. Well, it is the end days, and were one day closer to the return of Jesus.

And as that ramps up, were going to see a rise of evil, were going to see a rise of glory, and were gonna see a rise of hatred for the Jewish people.

Wearing a Reagan Bush 84 hat, fellow holy-roller, pastor Russell Johnson, chimed in that God specifically loves Israel because it will serve as a redemptive sign and proof positive that God is faithful to his covenant of Jesuss return.

We will see massive harvest, massive revival, massive souls turning to the Lord in the nation of Israel, Johnson said.

Many evangelicals like Feucht believe in an End Times prophecy where Jews will return to Israel (and convert to Christianity) as part of Jesuss Second Coming.

The Columbia rally saw a few clashes, with one pro-Israel protester telling a man in a keffiyeh, I look forward to you delivering me my food on DoorDash. In response, according to HuffPost, the man picked up a long metal pole and set it down. When he tried to grab it again, the pro-Israel crowd interceded and got NYPD to arrest him.

Sean Feucht, the Christian nationalist preacher and organizer of this rally. This week he talked about abt how whats happening at Columbia is a sign of End Times. Just asked him what happens to Jews during the End Times, & whether theyd have to convert. He refused to answer. pic.twitter.com/OBZj8FLWIQ  Christopher Mathias (@letsgomathias) April 25, 2024

While Feucht left the rally, a pro-Israel contingent lingered at the gates of the Columbia pro-Palestine encampment, yelling at them to go to Gaza! and Go home, terrorists!

Meanwhile, at USC, one pro-Israel marcher was captured intimidating journalists; he was later identified as J6er and right-wing livestreamer Josh Fulfer.

Feuchts events on both coasts featured players in the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), a radical Christian movement thats gaining ground in Republican circles, and has helped to promote Christian Trumpism and usher in the events of Jan. 6.

Che Ahn, the leader of Pasadenas Harvest Rock Church, was among them at USC.

During a prayer, Ahn asked God that we would be one, that the world might believe that you sent your son and youve broken down the dividing wall and you made us one new man in Yeshua and we pray that this gathering will be catalytic in bringing a great harvest

By praying in the name of Yeshua Hamashiach, or Jesus the Messiah, Ahn was invoking the Messianic Jewish name for Jesus, Taylor said.

The scene at a recent United for Israel march, led by MAGA pastor Sean Feucht against recent campus protests. Kelly Stuart

Messianic Judaism is a modern movement which blends together elements of Judaism and Christianitywhere followers believe that Jesus is the Messiahand is not recognized as a legitimate form of Judaism by most mainstream Jewish communities.

Taylor has closely studied and interviewed Ahn, who also leads Harvest International Ministry, a network of more than 25,000 churches and organizations in more than 65 countries. Che Ahn is what I call a Christian supremacist. He believes that not only should Christianity have a privileged place in American society but that God has mandated for Christians to rule over society, Taylor said.

When hes there saying, Hey, were standing with Israel, well, hes not standing for Judaism or Jewish peoplehood. Israel is playing a role in his theological vision surrounding certain Christian prophecies, Taylor said. Israel is important to him for theological reasons.

If Che Ahns intentions are fulfilled, as far as I can tell, there will be an Israel, but it will be a Christian Israel full of Christian Jews. Judaism will functionally cease to exist.

A lot of Jews, if they understood what hes talking about, would say that is a form of Christian anti-Semitism. Youre talking about not respecting Jews as Jews, youre talking about trying to convert them into something else.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Skywatchers get ready: Thanks to heightened solar activity, the aurora borealis could be coming to the skies above a large portion of the United States this weekend, space weather forecasters said Thursday.

Federal forecasters from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said that during previous solar activity of this magnitude, the "aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California." Experts say the aurora might be visible Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.

The spectacle would be courtesy of a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun, which are forecast to reach the Earth early this weekend and produce the geomagnetic storms that trigger auroras. A G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Saturday May 11, NOAA said.

The northern lights are the most benign result of solar activity. Strong solar storms  including G4s  can also disrupt some radio communications, harm satellites and even knock out power systems, forecasters warned.

A 30 second exposure captures the sudden flash of a fireball meteor from the Geminids amid the shimmering glow of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, in Norway.

Storm watch upgraded to G4

"This weekend's geomagnetic storm watch has been upgraded from G2 (Moderate) to G4 (Severe)," according to astronomer Tony Phillips, writing on SpaceWeather.com. "Why? Because giant sunspot AR3664 keeps hurling CMEs toward Earth. Following today's X2.2 solar flare, there are now at least 4 storm clouds heading our way," Phillips said.

The colorful aurora forms when particles flowing from the sun get caught up in Earth's magnetic field. The particles interact with molecules of atmospheric gases to cause the famed glowing green and reddish colors of the aurora.

A fickle forecast

The aurora can be fickle to forecast, so some caution is warranted before adjusting your weekend plans. Unlike terrestrial weather, scientists who forecast space weather  which includes the aurora  must rely on observations of the 93-million-miles-away sun to make their predictions.

"There are so many uncertainties, it makes it difficult to predict," Bill Murtagh, the program coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, told USA TODAY last year. And as hard as it is to forecast weather here on Earth, "we are decades behind the forecast capabilities of our colleagues in meteorology," he admitted, referring to space weather.

Solar maximum is here

The northern lights, aka the aurora borealis, have been appearing more frequently in the night sky over the United States recently. In April 2023, for example, a stunning aurora display was seen as far south as Arkansas in the South and Arizona in the West.

So why the uptick in aurora sightings? And is this expected to continue? Well, if you love the aurora, you're in luck, as it may be coming to a sky near you more often over the next few years thanks to the "solar maximum," which is expected to peak this year.

"There have been an increase in aurora seen in general on Earth," Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University told USA TODAY last year. "The sun has been more active, resulting in more solar storms that cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME).

Tips for viewing the northern lights

"Go out at night," NOAA said. "And get away from city lights."

The best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. local time). These hours expand towards evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases.

There may be aurora in the evening and morning, but it is usually not as active and therefore, not as visually appealing, NOAA said.

Cincinnati's weekend weather forecast

Check Accuweather for the latest forecast, but here's where we stand on Thursday evening.

Friday night: Partly cloudy. Cloud cover at 35 percent

Saturday night: Mainly clear. Cloud cover at 10 percent

Sunday night: Mainly clear. Cloud cover at 19 percent

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Will Cincinnati and Ohio see the northern lights this weekend?
SAN MARCOS, Texas (KXAN)  Severe storms wreaked havoc in multiple Central Texas counties on Thursday, with San Marcos and Johnson City taking considerable damage with wind-blown hail.

The National Weather Service reported 5-inch hail from a meteorologist and storm chaser in Johnson City in Blanco County. NWS lists hail of that size as CD or DVD size.

The City of San Marcos said Friday that crews have been working throughout the night to address the damages caused by the storms.

Reports indicate significant damage from wind and hail, including downed trees, power lines, and traffic signal disruptions, the city said.

According to the update, the city has also scheduled a brush drop for Saturday, May 11.

Huge hail in Johnson City (Courtesy KXAN viewer photo)

For safety reasons, the Purgatory Creek Natural Area and the Lime Kiln section of the Spring Lake Natural Area will remain closed until further notice due to hazardous conditions caused by downed trees. We are also asking residents to avoid river-front parks due to downed tree limbs, the city said.

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra told KXAN he requested local disaster declaration approval from Governor Greg Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

San Marcos Independent School District announced that school Friday, May 10 would operate on a two-hour delay. The district said staff had already begun assessing campuses Thursday evening, and the delay will allow district staff to collaborate with city officials Friday morning to assess all campuses and district buildings to ensure the safety of students and staff.

SMCISD campus hours on Friday, May 10 are as follows:

Bonham & Elementary Campuses  9:35 AM-3:15 PM

Middle School  10:35 AM-4:10PM

High School  10:40 AM-4:20 PM

Severe weather brings DVD-size hail in Central Texas

The majority of the rest of Central Texas remained under a Severe Thunderstorm Watch until midnight. Severe storms are capable of producing very large hail and damaging winds, but an isolated tornado cant be ruled out, the KXAN First Warning Weather Team reported.

Blown-down windmill in Hye, Texas (Courtesy KXAN viewer)

In a statement to KXAN Thursday, a spokesperson for the City of San Marcos said it was still working to gather information, as well as assess damages.

SMTX Utilities is actively addressing ongoing outages resulting from the storm, the city said Friday. Our dedicated crews, alongside assistance from neighboring utility providers, are working non-stop to restore power.

Multiple crews have been dispatched to start clearing downed trees, as well as other debris, so they can make repairs, according to the city.

Cleanup in Hays County

KXAN ran into Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra while he was cleaning up debris in front of his home.

We watched it coming, and we felt it happen. I mean, all the trees started pushing and we saw the hail. We saw it all firsthand. Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra

Becerra said he was in contact with the countys emergency management services director and the countywide chief of staff throughout the night.

As I come out to see what damage I have, holy smokes. I lost quite a bunch of limbs, Becerra said.

The judge said they are already coordinating the clean-up countywide.

Therell be some operations between the municipalities and the county, depending on where the damage is, Becerra said. If we hit a certain threshold, well be able to get state support to take care of this.

Also out surveying the mayhem was arborist Andrew Morgan. He was driving down the broken branch-lined streets of San Marcos, seeing if anyone needed his emergency services.

Whenever storms hit, we pull trees out of houses and put them on curbs, Morgan, who owns a company called Roving Arborist Tree Service, said.

Morgan sees the worst storms that come through Texas. While the damage was evident Thursday night, he said it was a nice night compared to some of his other jobs.

Its kind of normal to me. [Storms] come and go, he said. Whenever they happen, I scout around  make sure no one is pinned in a car. Sometimes I have to cut them out of cars or [houses].

Though the damage wasnt as severe as Morgan might see after a hurricane, after 10 p.m. Thursday, he found one person with a tree crashed through their house.

Of course, they took my information, he said. I gave him my number, and told him to call me.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Editor's note: The article was updated at 10 p.m. local time, May 10, with updated information from the Prosecutor General's Office.

Intense Russian attacks in the north of Kharkiv Oblast, which forms part of the Ukraine-Russia border, have killed three civilians and injured four others, the Prosecutor General's Office reported on May 10.

The Defense Ministry reported earlier on May 10 that Russian forces had attempted a breakthrough of Ukraine's line of defense in Kharkiv Oblast at 5 a.m. local time, with "battles of varying intensity" continuing.

"The border communities of Kharkiv Oblast are under increased massive enemy shelling," Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported at around 3 p.m. local time.

The attack killed two civilians  a man and a woman  in Vovchansk, a town situated 50 kilometers (35 miles) northeast of Kharkiv and just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the border with Russia. Vovchansk was under Russian occupation from February to September 2022.

The strike against Vovchansk further injured three men and a 63-year-old woman, the prosecutors said at around 8 p.m. local time.

A 55-year-old man was killed at around 12:50 p.m. local time in Cherkaski Tyshky, a village located just outside of Kharkiv, around 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the Russian border, Syniehubov said.

Moscow recently intensified attacks against Kharkiv and the surrounding region amid reports that Russia might plan to attack Kharkiv as part of a wider offensive.

Syniehubov said on May 8 that Russia is forming a grouping of forces north of the city of Kharkiv and that the authorities are "closely monitoring" the situation.

The governor reported earlier on May 10 that the attack "does not pose a threat to Kharkiv," and Russia has gathered enough forces only for "provocations in the northern direction."

Read also: Defense Ministry: Russian forces attempt breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
About the Claim US House Democrats Voted to Give 'Illegal Immigrants' New Representation in Elections

On May 8, 2024, Stephen Miller, former adviser to 2024 U.S. Republican presidential candidate (and former president) Donald Trump, claimed on X that U.S. House Democrats had voted to give Electoral College representation to undocumented immigrants (archived):

ALERT: House Dems just voted UNANIMOUSLY to give illegals representation in Congress AND the Electoral College. House Seats and Electoral College votes WILL BE added to areas with the most illegals (including all Biden illegals) unless Senate passes the bill. Invasion by design. pic.twitter.com/nVjhmsNh34  Stephen Miller (@StephenM) May 9, 2024

His post, viewed nearly 61 million times and liked 32,000 times as of this writing, was reshared by X owner Elon Musk, who added an emoji indicating agreement (archived):

This post had received 58 million views as of this writing.

The Gateway Pundit (archived), a far-right online publication known for its amplification of conspiracy theories, added more to the claim (emphasis theirs):

House Democrats on Wednesday night voted unanimously to give illegal aliens  including Joe Biden's 11 million illegal border crossers  representation in Congress and the Electoral College. Democrats continue to put Americans and American workers in line behind alien invaders.

Many readers appeared to take Miller's post to mean that with the passage of H.R. 7109, Democrats gave "new rights" to undocumented immigrants, and worried about the legality of the move:



(X/@MarioNawfal)

Now the real reason for allowing the southern to remain wide open rears its ugly head. This is so messed up, I cant even imagine. Is it even legal to do this?  DK (@1Nicdar) May 9, 2024

(archived)

Others, contrasting Miller's words with the table he posted, worried that in fact Republicans were responsible for passing H.R. 7109 (archived):

What am I missing? It says:



REPUBLICANS: 206 yeas

DEMOCRATS: 202 nays



Looks like the Republicans voted unanimously  Nick Flor + (@ProfessorF) May 9, 2024

But that phrasing of the claim obfuscated the fact that Democrats unanimously voted against the bill, the wording of which actually removes representation of undocumented immigrants and legal non-citizen residents in the U.S. Census. In other words, they voted to keep existing U.S. Census rules in place, under which those non-citizens were already represented, based on a principle the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed in 2019.

Bill H.R. 7109

On May 8, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on bill H.R. 7109, sponsored by Rep. Chuck Edwards, a Republican from North Carolina. The bill aimed to add a question to the U.S. Census, which occurs every 10 years, asking respondents whether they are U.S. citizens. Edwards said in a news release on his website that the goal of the bill was "to protect America's democracy and electoral integrity by making sure that only American citizens are counted when apportioning congressional seats and, consequently, Electoral College votes."

As Miller correctly pointed out, the bill passed the House with a vote split along political party lines. Republicans voted unanimously in favor of it, while Democrats voted unanimously against it. The bill was unlikely to pass the U.S. Senate, where Democrats hold a slim majority. The White House also said it "strongly" opposed the bill:

H.R. 7109 would increase the cost of conducting the census and make it more difficult to obtain accurate data. It would also violate the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution, which requires that the number of seats in the House of Representatives "be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State ..."

'Protect Electoral Integrity'?

Every 10 years, the U.S. Census has a constitutional mandate to count residents  as opposed to citizens  in every U.S. state. Article 1, section 2 of the U.S. Constitution reads (emphasis ours):

Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.

The total number of residents in any given state is what determines the number of representatives in the U.S. House, as well as in the Electoral College. This means that states with the most residents get the most U.S. representatives and the most electors in the Electoral College. For example, the two states with the most electors in 2024 were California, with 54 electors, and Texas, with 40 electors.

The Republicans' bill would change this, ensuring that the number of representatives and electors is proportional not to the overall population of a state, but to the population of citizens. Democrats voted to maintain the system as it was mandated by the U.S. Constitution. Critics have argued that such a change would cause respondents to feel intimidated, resulting in population undercounting and unreliable data.

Critics also suspect that such a change would tip the electoral balance towards Republicans, allowing them to draw electoral maps in favor of their candidates and hurting the representation of more diverse communities.

It is important to note that, by law, only U.S. citizens are allowed to vote in federal elections.

This is not the first time Republicans attempted to add a citizenship question to the decennial census. In 2019, the U.S. Supreme Court blocked the Trump administration's attempt to change then 2020 census in a 5-4 decision, saying the reasoning behind it was "contrived" (read full decision).

Sources:

Breaking: House Democrats Vote UNANIMOUSLY to Give Illegal Aliens Representation in Congress and the Electoral College | The Gateway Pundit | by Jim Hoft. 9 May 2024, https://web.archive.org/web/20240509121941/https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2024/05/breaking-house-democrats-vote-unanimously-give-illegal-aliens/.

'Distribution of Electoral Votes'. National Archives, 19 Sept. 2019, https://www.archives.gov/electoral-college/allocation.

Edwards, Chuck. Equal Representation Act. H.R. 7109, https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/house-bill/7109.

House of Representatives Passes Edwards' Bill to Only Include U.S. Citizens in Congressional Representation | Congressman Chuck Edwards. 8 May 2024, http://edwards.house.gov/media/press-releases/house-representatives-passes-edwards-bill-only-include-us-citizens.

'READ: Supreme Court Ruling on 2020 Census Citizenship Question | CNN Politics'. CNN, 27 June 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/read-supreme-court-ruling-2020-census-citizenship-case/index.html.

Rep. Fleischmann Votes to Add Citizenship Question to Census and End Counting of Illegal Aliens for Congressional Representation and Electoral College Votes | Congressman Chuck Fleischmann. 8 May 2024, http://fleischmann.house.gov/media/press-releases/rep-fleischmann-votes-to-add-citizenship-question-to-census-and-end-counting-of-illegal-aliens-for-congressional-representation-and-electoral-college-votes.

STATEMENT OF ADMINISTRATION POLICY. Executive Office of the President, 6 May 2024, https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/SAP-HR7109.pdf.

Sullivan, Ariane de Vogue, Kate. 'Supreme Court Blocks 2020 Census Citizenship Question | CNN Politics'. CNN, 27 June 2019, https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/27/politics/census-supreme-court/index.html.

U.S. Constitution, Article 1. https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/article-1/.

Washington, U. S. Capitol Room H154, and DC 20515-6601 p:225-7000. 'Roll Call 193 Roll Call 193, Bill Number: H. R. 7109, 118th Congress, 2nd Session'. Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, 8 May 2024, https://clerk.house.gov/Votes/2024193.
Clarksdale, MS road closure expected to last one year

MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Friars Point Road in Clarksdale, Mississippi is set to close on Monday, and will not reopen for a year, according to the Clarksdale Police Department.

Friars Point Road is the main road typically used to access Coahoma Community College, but an alternate route will be available.

The CPD says that if you are coming from Clarksdale or Cleveland, Miss., or areas in that direction, follow these instructions to reach the community college:

Take Highway 61 North. Continue on Highway 61 until you reach Eagle Nest Road. Turn left onto Eagle Nest Road. Procees until you reach Kenoys Restaurant. Turn left to arrive at Coahoma Community College.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
NEW YORK (PIX11)  A coalition of New York district attorneys is pushing for a stricter state law regarding driving while under the influence of drugs.

On Thursday, the Suffolk County, Queens and Bronx district attorneys, along with other elected officials and community members, hosted a press conference to push for the passage of the Deadly Driving Bill.

Without an arrest, there is no accountability, and theres nothing to stop the drugged driver from doing it again, said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

More Local News

Currently, in New York State, a person cannot be charged for operating a vehicle while impaired by a substance that is not listed on a specific public health list.

Drivers can also refuse to have a drug test.

In this era of designer drugs, TRANQ and thousands of others arent on the list, so if you happen to use those drugs, you cant be prosecuted, Tierney said. Law enforcement has to elect what drug youre on, so essentially, they have to guess, and if they guess wrong, your case gets dismissed.

The proposed bill will get rid of the public health list and leave it to an officer to decide whether a drug impairs someone.

Now they can arrest someone, process them, and submit them to a test, and if they refuse the test, we can use that refusal as evidence as well, said Bronx DA Darcel Clark.

The Rahman family is on board and was at todays press conference.

Mohammed Rahman, 67, was killed in September after being hit by a vehicle while crossing Castle Hill and Turnbull Avenue in the Bronx.

The driver, 28-year-old Victor Ramos, has been charged with vehicular manslaughter, but the case is still pending.

Investigators said he was speeding and under the influence of marijuana.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

PIX11 News Headlines

He was going to a prayer, and everyone was waiting for him, Rahmans son Saidur said.

Vanessa and Kathy Lopez were also there and supported the bill.

Their sister Carina Lopez was killed in 2021 when she was hit by a driver under the influence of drugs.

That person pled guilty and is currently serving a five-to-15-year sentence.

The sisters hope a stricter law will deter others from driving while impaired.

This could potentially save peoples lives. Theres a lot of people driving under the influence of drugs, and this could help make sure people get home safe, Vanessa Lopez said.

New York State Senator Nathalia Fernandez is a cosponsor of the bill and was at todays press conference. She said it is in its early stages. The next step is for it to go to the committee.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Coast Guard offloads $185 million in cocaine and marijuana on return from deployment

The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Mohawk offloaded a huge haul of cocaine and marijuana on Friday at Port Everglades that it and other agencies and service branches seized during a deployment patrolling the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.

The 13,803 pounds of cocaine and 3,736 pounds of marijuana have a total estimated street value of $185 million, the Coast Guard said in a press release.

U.S. Coast Guard members on the cutter Mohawk stack drugs on the deck at Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale Friday, May 10, 2024. The cocaine and marijuana were seized during the Mohawks deployment in the Caribbean and Atlantic Ocean.

The Mohawk, a ship with a crew of 100 sailors based in Key West, is part of a task force that includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, the U.S. Navy, along with the Royal Netherlands Navy and the Royal British Navy, that patrols the Caribbean and Atlantic for drug smugglers.

As part of this latest deployment, the task force detained 10 people accused of drug smuggling, according to the press release.

One notable case was in March, when U.S. Navy sailors and a detachment of Coast Guard members aboard the guided missile cruiser USS Leyte Gulf intercepted a small, semi-submersible boat in the Atlantic, according to a Navy press release.

A Navy helicopter crew spotted the vessel, and a Coast Guard patrol boat was launched to stop the semi-submersible, according to the release.

Coast Guard members who were deployed on the U.S. Navys USS Leyte Gulf board a semi-submersible vessel in the Atlantic in March 2024. The vessel had 600 kilograms of cocaine aboard, according to the Navy.

The crew found 600 kilos of cocaine aboard, the Navy said.

Spotting this vessel was like finding a needle in the haystack, Lt. Cmdr. Travis Lee, Leyte Gulfs senior aviator, said in a statement. Ive been doing this for seven years and not once been able to find and acquire such an asset until now.
COLEMAN, Texas (KTAB/KRBC)  On May 18, the 2024 Coleman High School rocketry team will make its third trip to The American Rocketry Challenge (TARC) in Washington, D.C., hoping to bring home the top prize for the Big Country. Teacher and program founder Gary Strickland spoke on his hopes for the students and the peculiar history hes made with teams past.

The first time we went (in 2015) was the first year of our program. I, as a sponsor, and the students, we were all rookies; we didnt know what we were doing. Two years ago, our team placed fifth And then this year. Well see. It never hurts to have a little bit of luck, Strickland told KTAB/KRBC.

2022: Coleman High School rocketry team qualifies for national competition

To qualify for the national competition, the team competed against 921 other high school teams from around the country. Coleman rose to the top 100 in the nation once again. In Washington, they will be required to launch their hand-crafted rocket to a height of either 800 or 850 feet, to be determined on the day of the competition. Their craft will carry a chicken egg payload that must not be damaged in the flight. The student-led team will make all gameday decisions, alterations, and operations.

Im more of a project manager rather than a direct instruction kind of person for this course, Strickland shared.

The team of four is comprised of students Hanna Smith, Deane Young, and Brazos Erwin and is captained by Coleman Junior, Cole Fikes.

Oh, were going big or going home, Fikes said.

Through many dedicated class hours of experimentation, construction, and trial and error, Fikes said he feels confident in his teams ability to rise to the occasion in Washington, D.C., no matter how many pitfalls may beset them.

If I add the wrong weight, you could go too high If you dont tie the knot right If you dont put the right epoxy, itll come apart And if you cut one wrong hole, you gotta start over, explained Fikes.

$2.2M expected to be funneled back into Abilenes economy during Western Heritage Classic weekend, other events

Coleman Rocketry (2015)

Coleman Rocketry (2019)

Coleman Rocketry (2021)

Coleman Rocketry (2023)

The previous Coleman team to compete in TARC placed fifth out of the 100 best teams in the nation. Strickland stated that the difference between first and fifth on that day was less than the width of three paperclips. He also voiced his overwhelming pride in that team and this years Coleman competitors.

Theyll make some decisions, adjust the rocket, and fly it, and then the performance speaks for itself, said Strickland.

HSU student by day, Abilene family restaurateur by night: Meri Tetaj graduates with honors & full plate

However, a steady rise to victory is not the only history the team has to be proud of. Strickland shared an interesting bit of local history that he undertook with the schools 2019 rocketry team.

So a lot of folks have seen the movie October Sky, Strickland went on to say.

October Sky is a 1998 docufilm based on the true story of four high school students in 1954 West Virginia who were inspired to build rockets upon hearing of the Sputnik landing. One of the model rockets used in the filming of the picture found a home at Coleman High School, where it remains today. This is due to Stricklands connection to one of the original members of the actual team.

Quentin Wilson was good friends with my mentor in rocketry, said Strickland.

The Coleman team of 2019 was tasked with restoring the movie rocket for flight and helping Wilsons family honor his dying wish to have his ashes spread via rocket.

Coleman Rocketry 2019 with Miss Riley rocket

In the last scene of the movie, they launch a rocket that was dedicated to Miss Riley, one of their teachers who inspired them What happened was Quentins widow contacted my friend. She had this rocket that was his, and it was in bad shape. She wanted him to get it fly-worthy so they could deploy his ashes. He said well, you know this story was about high school kids at the beginning, and he said I know some people, Strickland recalled.

In December 2019, the Coleman team presented and launched the rocket with Wilsons family in attendance.

That was a neat group of kids and a real privilege to get to do that, said Strickland.

Former teams like this one left a legacy to remember, and the current team is hoping to make some history of their own, as Fikes enthusiasm shows.

Texas is gonna go big. The small town of Coleman will be known. Im gonna paint it on the side of the rocket for us. Coleman will be known for rocketry.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTAB - BigCountryHomepage.com.
New data released by the Indiana Commission of Higher Education (CHE) for the Class of 2022 shows that just 53% of Hoosier graduates furthered their education after high school graduation. (Getty Images)

The rate of Indiana high school seniors who go directly on to college remains stagnant, according to the latest data released by state officials.

New numbers for the Class of 2022 announced Thursday by the Indiana Commission of Higher Education (CHE) indicated  for the third year in a row  that just 53% of Hoosier graduates furthered their education with certificate training, a two-year program or enrollment at a four-year college.

Brooke Kile (Courtesy CHE)

Its a 6% drop from the class of 2019, and 12% lower than in 2015.

Still, because the data further shows that the total number of 2022 high school graduates increased by 3%, that translates to fewer students enrolled in postsecondary education directly after high school.

Even though the college-going rate held steady at 53%, we actually lost a number of first-time students enrolling from our headcount perspective, said Brooke Kile, associate commissioner for business intelligence.

CHE staff presented preliminary data during the commissions bi-monthly meeting on Thursday. Official numbers for 2022 are expected to be released next week.

The rate  called dismal by numerous state lawmakers and education officials  continues the states lowest college-going trend in recent history. The decline began several years prior, however.

More students going out of state

CHE defines the college-going rate as the percentage of students who enroll in a postsecondary institution within the year following high school graduation.

Per the 2022 data, 47% of students who completed Career and Technical Education (CTE) training while in high school went on to pursue additional postsecondary coursework.

But among those CTE students, Kile noted that Indiana continues to have access gaps among different demographic groups.

About 70% of Asian students and 48% of White students who took CTE classes went on to college, according to the commissions numbers. Forty-four percent of Black students and 41% of Hispanic and Latino students continued education after graduation.

Kile said, too, that male students are increasingly choosing not to participate in postsecondary education.

Indianas 21st Century Scholars students are making the jump, though, and have a very strong college-going rate, Kile continued. The scholarship fund covers full tuition and fees at Indiana colleges and universities for low-income students, who enroll in the 8th grade.

Eighty-one percent of scholars in the 2022 cohort advanced to postsecondary education, according the the new data. Thats compared to 59% of non-scholar students who continued their studies.

CHE officials also identified a new trend with the Class of 2022  of the students who are going to college, more are enrolling in out-of-state schools.

Around 27% of graduating seniors enrolled in one of Indianas public four-year institutions, followed by 10% who attend a public two-year school and 8% who enrolled at a private college or university.

Another 8% went to a school outside of Indiana, according to the data.

Need to get in touch?

Have a news tip?

CONTACT US

This is the highest out-of-state percentage that weve seen in the last several years, Kile explained. She said Indianas college-going rates only held steady the out-of-state enrollment went up.

One year is not a trend, so we are not necessarily sounding the alarm, she continued. But we are definitely looking at what sort of early indicator data we can get from the 2023 and 2024 cohorts, looking at attendance patterns, to see if we need to do any sort of special initiatives to encourage students to stay in Indiana.

CHE initiatives continue

Also previewed Thursday was a data update on the Class of 2021.

CHE officials said 51% of the 2021 cohort that enrolled in a postsecondary program within a year after high school graduation met all three early college success benchmarks: they did not need remediation, they completed all courses they attempted during their first year of enrollment, and they persisted to their second year of schooling.

According to the latest numbers, 77% of the 2021 cohort that enrolled in a postsecondary program persisted to the second year, which Kile said is the highest persistence rate in more than a decade.

Still, Kile and other commission officials emphasized ongoing efforts to boost postsecondary enrollment.

Current initiatives include:

Additional support from the Frank OBannon grant  a 35% increase to awards took effect beginning with the 2023 cohort.

Pre-admissions letters, a program first started by CHE last year, which indicated to Hoosier students at least three Indiana colleges and universities to which they qualified to attend.

Automatic enrollment for eligible 21st Century Scholars  which doubled the number of scholars in the 2027 graduating class from 20,000 to over 40,000.

Adding incentives for Indiana campuses to prioritize low-income youth and adult enrollment.

Kile also noted CHEs continued expansion of the Indiana College Core offerings, given that College Core completion is the best indicator for college going.

The curriculum consists of a 30-credit-hour block of general education courses that transfer between all of Indianas public institutions and some private colleges.

Adding to the effort, a new law signed by the governor in March will require College Core courses to be more accessible to high schoolers across the state, and compels Hoosier colleges and universities  minus Ivy Tech Community College and Vincennes University  to offer three-year degree programs by July 2025.

The post College-going rate for Indiana high school students continues to flatline, new data shows appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
(NATIONAL)  A new study has found that Colorado is more interested in psychedelics than all other states. Colorado averaged 1,557 monthly searches per 100,000 people on topics like psilocybin for anxiety or micro-dosing magic mushrooms over the past 12 months. This number is 53% higher than the US average.

The study was conducted by mushroom spore specialists SporesMD. According to their findings, the most popular terms Colorado searched for were DMT, shrooms, and what is ketamine. Oregon was the second-highest in terms of interest in psychedelics, with 1,501 searches per 100,000 people, putting Oregon at 48% higher than the national average.

The third highest was Vermont, with 38% more searches than the typical American at 1,400 average monthly searches per 100,000 people.

Mississippi had the least interest in magic mushrooms, at only 661 searches per 100,000 people, which is 35% below the national average.

Psychedelics allows people to explore the effects of substances such as mushrooms but at the lowest possible dose, said Anthony Bautista, CEO of SporesMD. Some Americans have taken to the practice because of its impact on their mental well-being, for example, it can reduce stress and discomfort, as well as improve moods.

As with any drug, adequate research is important to ensure safety and have an accurate understanding of the drugs effects and potential side effects.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 10. Kyrgyzstan's Cabinet of Ministers has proposed a temporary ban on sugar exports outside the Eurasian Economic Union, Trend reports.

According to a draft resolution, the ban is set until August 31, 2024. The cabinet notes that sugar is a socially significant staple food product, subject to state price regulation.

While the current warehouse stocks 74,000 tons of sugar and a total of 102,500 tons, including the quota for Russian sugar imports (28,500 tons), the population's annual demand amounts to 145,700 tons.

It was noted that to avoid market price speculation amid temporary bans on sugar exports from Russia and Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan aims to enforce a temporary export ban, excluding re-export, transit, and humanitarian aid, until the new harvest.

According to the State Statistical Committee of Kyrgyzstan, the country exported 623 tons of sugar from January through February 2024, which is two times more than in the corresponding months of 2023 (300 tons).
The two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author Colson Whitehead said Thursday he wouldnt give a planned commencement speech at the University of Massachusetts Amherst later this month after school leaderships decision to call the police to clear out an encampment of student protesters.

I was looking forward to speaking next week at UMass Amherst. But calling the cops on peaceful protesters is a shameful act, Whitehead said in a statement on the social network Bluesky. I have to withdraw as your commencement speaker. I give all my best wishes and congratulations to the class of 24 and pray for the safety of the Palestinian people, the return of the hostages, and an end to this terrible war.

A spokesperson for the university, Ed Blaguszewski, said in a statement that they respected Whiteheads decision. The ceremony will proceed without a commencement speaker this year, he said.

On Tuesday night, state police arrested roughly 130 people on campus after the school said pro-Palestinian protesters had ignored orders to dismantle their encampment and disperse.

You brutalized your own students last night for peacefully protesting, student organizer Malia Cole said the next morning, addressing University Chancellor Javier Reyes, according to CBS Boston. Their hands going numb from the cuffs being too tight, to rashes on their hands and stomachs from being thrown to the ground.

Whiteheads withdrawal as speaker follows a similar action by the novelist C Pam Zhang and academic Safiya Noble, who announced late last month that they would no longer be addressing graduating students at the University of Southern California.

To speak at USC in this moment would betray not only our own values, but USCs too, they said. The pair condemned school leadership for refusing to meet in good faith with student protesters, instead calling in the Los Angeles Police Department to arrest 93 protesters.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Columbia University president Minouche Shafik urged other university higher-ups to engage in serious soul searching over the fallout from the campus protests in a new op-ed about campus free speech.

We must do a better job of defining the boundaries between the free speech rights of one part of our community and the rights of others to be educated in a place free of discrimination and harassment, Shafik, 61, wrote in the Financial Times.

Shafik  who was appointed as Columbias 20th president in July 2023, and was formally inaugurated just three days before the Hamas terror attack  had made headlines for several weeks as the Morningside Heights campus became ground zero for a wave of anti-Israel tent encampments.

Minouche Shafik said, We must do a better job of defining the boundaries between the free speech rights of one part of our community and the rights of others to be educated. AFP via Getty Images

In the new op-ed, Shafik claimed that the majority of the campus activists are passionate, intelligent and committed  and blamed the chaos and hateful rhetoric on the actions and antisemitic comments of some.

The first tent encampment emerged on a Columbia lawn in mid-April, on the same day that Shafik delivered flaky testimony on campus antisemitism before the House Education and Workforce Committee.

During the height of the protests, Shafik faced serious scrutiny  and even calls to resign  from both sides of the political aisle when she initially appeared to cave to the protesters.

The issue came to a head after the university finally demanded the protesters disband the tent camp.

Thats when protesters stormed and occupied a campus building, causing Shafik to give the green light for a massive NYPD raid that resulted in dozens of arrests.

In her essay, Shafik insisted that school officials engaged in serious, good faith dialogue with protesters  but added that she and other head honchos in higher education must engage in serious soul searching about why this is happening.

If colleges and universities cannot better define the boundaries between free speech and discrimination, government will move to fill that gap, and in ways that do not necessarily protect academic freedom, she suggested.

NYPD officers arrested student protesters at Columbia after being given the green light to storm campus. AFP via Getty Images

The protesters occupied the Columbia lawns from mid-April through the beginning of May. Matthew McDermott

The Columbia protesters eventually occupied a campus building. POOL/AFP via Getty Images

Shafik  who was deputy governor of the Bank of England and had plum jobs at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund before getting the Columbia gig  also wrote that Columbia and other schools need to heal in order to move forward productively.

Rather than tearing ourselves apart, universities must rebuild the bonds within ourselves and between society and the academy based on our shared values and on what we do best: education, research, service and public engagement, she opined.

Despite Shafiks call for soul-searching, divisions at Columbia and other Ivy League institutions still run deep: On Friday morning, police in riot gear stormed the University of Pennsylvania encampment and arrested several protesters.

Columbia also announced this week that it canceled its university-wide graduation ceremony due to security concerns.
Maury County Office of Emergency Management Director Jeff Hardy provides an update on this week's tornado cleanup efforts, which is now seeking additional volunteers and contractors.

After a long 24 hours of cleanups, response calls and recovery from Wednesday's tornado, local officials are now welcoming volunteers to pitch in, determined to move forward.

Columbia Fire & Rescue hosted a press conference at Station No. 3 on Thursday afternoon to summarize the situation thus far. Updates included road closures, relief areas available to citizens and opportunities for volunteers to pitch in.

More: Columbia tornado: One death confirmed in tornado near Bear Creek Pike, shelter to open

The press conference followed Gov. Bill Lee's visit to Columbia to view the damage and visit those affected. The governor was joined by Tennessee Emergency Management Agency director and commissioner of Tennessee Department of Transportation, who assessed much of the damage in an effort to partner in providing relief.

Maury County Mayor Shiela Butt speaks at Fire Station No. 3 on Thursday, May 9, 2024 following Columbia's first day of recovery after Wednesday's damaging storms, which resulted in a tornado, many homes destroyed and one fatality.

"When the governor left here today, he left with a comment that it is a place of 'disaster and hope,' which I believe is what we are right now here in Maury County," Maury County Mayor Shiela Butt said.

More: Gov. Bill Lee visits Columbia: 'It's heartbreaking and hopeful at the same time'

Maury County Deputy Fire Chief Richard Schatz affirmed that his crews ceased operations at about 4 p.m. Thursday after working around the clock for nearly 24 hours.

"We are happy to report that no additional injuries and no additional fatalities were found today," Schatz said.

Call for volunteers, contractors

Initially, Maury County first responders advised volunteers would not be needed as crews work to clear some of the more severe sites.

Now that they've had some time to clear the initial damage, there is an opportunity to sign up to help, and this includes volunteers and contractors.

Volunteers can check in at Randolph Howell Elementary School at 653 Bear Creek Pike at 7 a.m., Maury County Office of Emergency Management Director Jeff Hardy said.

More: 'A tragedy in our county' as tornado relief continues in Columbia following storm

Maury County Office of Emergency Management Director Jeff Hardy provides an update on this week's tornado cleanup efforts, which is now seeking additional volunteers and contractors.

Contractors would be required to check in daily, Hardy added.

The Tennessee Children's Home has also volunteered to accept in-kind donations at their main campus at 2225 Dr. Robertson Road in Spring Hill from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. Sunday.

Hardy advises drivers also continue to avoid the most-damaged areas, which will routinely have security officers on site.

Volunteering in aiding first responders has already begun. South Gate Church of Christ in Columbia fed over 200 first responders Thursday for lunch and expected more for dinner. The church will provide more meals for crews Friday.

Highway 31 back open, future support

In addition to the Bear Creek Pike area, U.S. Highway 31 experienced its share of troubles caused by Wednesday's storms, resulting in an overturned fuel tanker just north of Carters Creek Pike, dumping nearly 4,000 gallons of fuel on to Nashville Highway. At approximately 3:30 a.m. on Thursday, the driver of the tanker was transported, treated and released in stable condition.

The incident caused the road to close Wednesday night, which continued through most of Thursday.

More: Columbia woman says tornado that destroyed home was 'scariest moment of my life'

By 5 p.m.'s press conference Columbia Fire Chief said crews managed to reopen the road, but advised drivers to remain cautious.

"All four lanes of traffic are back open on the normal routes," Cummins said. "But there are still contractors working there so take regard."

Rep. Scott Cepicky, R-Culleoka, concluded the conference thanking all of the area's first responders, the mutual aid and citizens who have pitched in once tragedy struck.

Rep. Scott Cepicky (R-Culleoka) speaks on behalf of Maury County citizens in response to the cleanup and recovery efforts from Wednesday's storms in Columbia, which caused a tornado to touch down in the Bear Creek Pike area, causing city-wide damage.

"I think what you've witnessed here in the last 24 hours is a textbook display about how agencies can work together during a catastrophe and streamline it the best they can to provide safety to those in need," Cepicky said.

Cepicky added that he intends to bring this situation to the state with Lee to find further resources providing financial relief to the ongoing efforts.

"I want to say thank you to all of the emergency responders who did a fantastic job," Cepicky said. "You are witnessing a county coming together, and that gives hope for Tennessee."

Jay Powell is a general reporter for The Daily Herald. Get up-to-date news in your inbox by subscribing to The Daily Herald newsletter at www.ColumbiaDailyHerald.com.

This article originally appeared on The Daily Herald: Volunteers called to Randolph Howell Elem. in Columbia
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A man extradited to Columbus from Virginia on murder charges was formally indicted and faced a judge Friday morning.

According to court documents, Ryan Polk, 36, is facing 10 charges, including two counts of murder, aggravated murder, felonious assault, domestic violence, tampering with evidence, unlawful use of a weapon as a violent criminal, violating a protection order, escaping, and having weapons under disability.

He is accused of murdering 31-year-old Morgan Bruster in New Albany on Feb. 23, then reportedly fled the state of Ohio, before being found in Springfield, Va., over 400 miles away from Columbus.

Missing 7-year-old Columbus boy found safe after mother arrested by U.S. Marshals

Bruster was found shot dead on Feb. 23 and was pronounced dead at 6:58 p.m. after medics arrived. Officers were at the residence in the 7000 block of Stapleton Drive in the Central College neighborhood near New Albany, Ohio for a well-being check.

Ryan Polk (Courtesy/Franklin County Sheriffs Office)

Polk was arrested on March 4 and taken into custody while attempting to flee police in Fairfax County. He was detained in Virginia until his extradition on April 30.

Polk was issued a $2 million bond in municipal court on one murder charge along with a temporary protection order. His bond amount remained the same on Friday during the common pleas court arraignment hearing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Columbus police were searching for 7-year-old Kingston Gillyard, who had been missing since October from the city's East Side. Police believed he was with his noncustodial mother, but when she was arrested Thursday on several charges he was not with her. She is now considered a suspect in Kingston's disappearance.

Columbus police said a missing child considered "endangered" after his noncustodial mother was arrested Thursday on unrelated charges was found safe, police said.

No details on where he was found have been provided.

Columbus police Missing Persons Unit detectives asked for the public's help Thursday night to find 7-year-old Kingston Gillyard, who had been missing since October 2023 from the city's East Side. Kingston had been kept from his custodial parent by his mother, Shadasia Gillyard, who was arrested Thursday by the U.S. Marshals Southern Ohio Fugitive Apprehension Strike Team and Columbus police after a brief standoff in the 1900 block of Fountainview Court on the city's East Side.

Gillyard was charged by Columbus police with felonious assault, accused of shooting a man multiple times around 12:45 a.m. Feb. 13, 2023, in the 300 block of East Livingston Avenue. She was later released from jail on bond but failed to appear in court and her bond was revoked.

She is also wanted by Whitehall police on several charges, accused of sending a man text messages threatening to kill him unless he dropped criminal charges against her. Among those charges are aggravated menacing, intimidating a witness and criminal damaging.

In addition, Gillyard is charged with interference with custody for allegedly taking her son from the custodial parent. Gillyard is considered a suspect in young Kingston's disappearance and has refused to tell authorities where the boy is at.

smeighan@dispatch.com

@ShahidMeighan

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Missing 'endangered' child found safe, Columbus police say
HICKORY, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Family, friends, community members and hoards of law enforcement said their goodbyes to a hero Thursday evening. A memorial service was held to honor North Carolina Department of Corrections Investigator William Alden Elliott at Catawba Valley Community College.

The procession and memorial service to honor Elliott looked a little different than services for Officer Joshua Eyer and Deputy US Marshal Thomas Weeks, but people still showed up to pay tribute to Elliott for making the ultimate sacrifice.

Community to honor the life and service of Investigator William Alden Elliott Thursday

Motorcycles and police cruisers from departments across the area escorted Elliotts body from Bennett Funeral Service in Newton to the Hickory college campus, where a memorial service was held without cameras.

Elliott was one of four officers killed in a shootout April 29 in east Charlotte while serving a warrant to a felon with weapons.

Community members lined U.S. Highway 70 to pay their respects to Elliott in Hickory. Last week, he was transported from Charlotte to Newton, with communities in between showing their support.

We all wish that never happened, but its nice to see the community come out, Daniel from Charlotte said. Different departments police and fire departments from everywhere. Its just amazing, beautiful.

Elliott spent 14 years with the Department of Corrections. He was assigned to the US Marshals Task Force that apprehended some of the most dangerous violent criminals in our region, a job he died doing less than two weeks ago.

Its because of them that all of us get up every day and go about our lives,

Anthony Lail, a Catawba County resident, said. We know our children are safe. Were safe because these guys take care of us and protect us every day and they serve their communities for us, we should back them.

Members of the Hickory Fire Department draped an American flag over ladders at the CVCC entrance creating a bridge to pay tribute to the 46-year-old hero. He leaves behind his wife and son.

This broke my heart, not just for all of them, but for all the men and the women and the families that are facing that, said Catawba County resident Melody Elrod.

The memorial service for fellow investigator Sam Poloche is scheduled for Monday at 1 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Uptown.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The Alaska Airlines plane forced to make an emergency landing in January after a door plug blew out. - Credit: Mathieu Lewis-Rolland/Getty Images

Travelers typically unbothered at the prospect of flying now have reason to dread a trip by plane: since the beginning of the year, a string of alarming incidents that involve Boeings 737 Max models have shaken the publics faith in the the companys aircraft. Questions about the quality of parts and manufacturing processes even made it into the halls of Congress, where whistleblowers testified in April that Boeing has prioritized profits over safety. Days after, CEO Dave Calhoun said in a statement to employees that the company had taken significant steps to strengthen quality and safety, and that a Boeing airplane safely takes off or lands just about every second of every day.

But the woes of the 737 Max date back to its earliest days in service, and this isnt the first time Boeing has had to answer for disasters caused by flaws in the planes design  some of them deadly. Heres the complete timeline of how it gained a reputation as a hazardous vehicle.

More from Rolling Stone

March 2017: Boeings 737 Max 8 gains FAA certification

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration certifies Boeings 737 Max 8 for commercial service. Its the first of the companys Max class of airplanes, which make up the fourth generation of 737s, with a single-aisle layout and improved fuel efficiency. Ahead of deliveries, the company promises lower per-seat costs and an extended range that will open up new destinations.

February 2018: Boeings 737 Max 9 gains FAA certification

The FAA certifies the 737 Max 9, similar to the Max 8 but with three additional seat rows. It has a capacity of 220 passengers. Lion Air Group, comprising several Southeast Asia airlines, is the first to take delivery. At the time, Boeing touts the sales of 737 Max to date, reporting more than 4,300 orders from 93 customers worldwide. Its the fastest-selling model in Boeing history.

October 2018: Lion Air flight JT 610, a Max 8, crashes into ocean after takeoff, killing 189

Only 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta, bound for another island in Indonesia, Lion Air flight JT 610 crashes into the Java Sea on Oct. 29, 2018, killing all 189 aboard. The plane, a 737 Max 8, was practically brand-new, having only flown about 800 hours. Its the first accident involving a 737 Max and the deadliest 737 accident since the line was introduced in 1967.

An investigation by Indonesias National Transportation Safety Committee finds that the flight crew had tried to pull the aircraft out of a dive caused by a glitching sensor that caused its Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) to continually tilt it downward. In other planes, pilots are able to quickly and manually override such automated systems by taking hold of the central control column, but in this case, the crew would have had to follow a specific sequence of steps to retake control of the planes angle of attack. In the aftermath, Boeing issues updates on those emergency procedures. Some pilots criticize the company, saying it did not adequately communicate the change to the flight-stabilizing MCAS feature to begin with.

March 2019: Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, a Max 8, crashes after takeoff, killing 157

Just months after the Lion Air crash and amid continued scrutiny of the 737 Max, another Max 8 crashes into a field six minutes after taking from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, en route to Nairobi, Kenya, on March 10, 2019. All 157 people aboard are killed.

Aviation regulators worldwide quickly move to ground the several hundred Max 8s in service, though the FAA initially maintains that the plane is airworthy. The agency waits until three days after the accident to ground the aircraft, at which point evidence had emerged of similarities to the Lion Air crash. Ethiopian investigators conclude that the flight crew had tried to follow the procedures to override the automated stabilization system as it forced the plane into a dive but were unsuccessful. Boeing admits that a software error led to the crash and says it is taking steps to prevent erroneous data from causing MCAS activation.

March  December 2019: Corporate upheaval and Congressional testimony

Boeing continues to produce the 737 Max even as they are kept out of service, aiming for a software fix to the MCAS that will satisfy regulators. However, setbacks abound, and more than once the company is forced to revise its timeline, all as its stock plummets.

Meanwhile, Boeing maintains that it was not aware of the safety issue prior to the crashes, though reporters come to learn that it concealed details of the MCAS from its own test pilots during development, and the company eventually releases internal messages that reveal how a top technical pilot working on the Max, Mark Forkner, had complained about the systems erratic behavior back in 2016. Earlier that year, Forkner had secured permission from the FAA to remove any mention of the MCAS from the Max pilot manual, but neither he nor the company had revealed to the agency that they were overhauling the system. I basically lied to the regulators (unknowingly), Forkner wrote in one of the messages made public by Boeing, though he did specify how he misled them. Meanwhile, an international safety panel blames both Boeing and the FAA for failures in the certification process for the 737 Max.

Amid this turmoil, in October 2019, Boeings board removes CEO Dennis Muilenburg as chairman while allowing him to remain chief executive, a move that will supposedly allow him to focus on problems with the Max. Later that month, Muilenburg is brought to testify before a Congressional committee, where hes grilled by Democrats and Republicans alike on Boeings flying coffins and a pattern of deliberate concealment regarding the MCAS anti-stall system. Muilenburg concedes that he would have made a different decision about Boeings course after the Lion Air accident had he known more about the issue.

Things only get worse in December, with the Wall Street Journal reporting that a 2018 FAA review following the Lion Air tragedy determined a high risk of future 737 Max accidents  but not grounding them at the time  and whistleblowers testifying to Congress that Boeings high-pressure, unstable production environment is likely to cause mistakes. One former employee, Ed Pierson, says he formally warned leadership about cutting corners on multiple occasions only to be ignored. Boeing decides to suspend production of the 737 Max in January, and Muilenburg is ousted as CEO, replaced by chairman David Calhoun.

January  November 2020: 737 Max remains grounded

Boeing continues to work toward ungrounding the 737 Max, resuming production of the model in May 2020. That September, after 18 months of investigation, the U.S. House Transportation Committee publishes a damning report that describes how the company could have prevented the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines crashes  also noting that the FAA had ceded too much oversight to Boeing itself in the certification process. The report cites the companys rushed production and cost-cutting measures as contributing to safety failures. The same month, deliveries of Boeings 787 Dreamliners, large aircraft used for long-haul flights, begin to slow because of quality concerns at the FAA.

In November, the agency clears the Max 8 fleet, allowing the planes back into commercial service.

2021  2023: More ungroundings and major financial losses

By this point, the 737 Max is already considered one of the most expensive debacles in corporate history, costing Boeing more than $20 billion in customer compensation, victim compensation, jet storage, added production expenses, software updates, loan interest, and lawsuit settlements. In January 2021, it agrees to pay another $2.5 billion to defer prosecution for three years on a criminal charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States by circumventing proper federal oversight of its aircraft design, with $500 million going to the families of the 346 victims of the Lion Air and Ethiopian Airlines accidents. In September, it agrees to pay a $200 million fine from the Securities and Exchange Commission for misleading the public.

In October 2021, Boeing test pilot Mark Forkner becomes the first individual criminally charged in connection with the 737 Max, the Justice Department alleging that he had deceived the FAA in an effort to defraud Boeings U.S.based airline customers to obtain tens of millions of dollars for Boeing. Forkner, who faces decades in prison if convicted, is acquitted by a Texas jury in March 2022.

Throughout this period, aviation regulators around the world, including those in Canada, Europe, Australia, and India follow the FAA in lifting bans on the 737 Max. China is among the last countries to unground the planes, not allowing them back into service until early 2024.

January 2024: Alaska Airlines flight 1282, a 737 Max 9, makes emergency landing after mid-flight door blowout

Six minutes after taking off from Portland, Oregon, en route to Ontario, California, Alaska Airlines flight 1282 suffers an uncontrolled decompression and is forced to return to the Portland airport for an emergency landing. All passengers and crew survive, with several minor injuries reported.

The aircraft, a 737 Max 9, had suddenly lost a door plug  used to fill an opening in the fuselage where an optional emergency exit door can be installed  when it separated from the airframe. Oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and several objects were sucked out of the hole in the cabin, though fortunately no one was seated next to it. The plane, two months old, had logged just 510 flight hours. Passengers file a class-action suit against Boeing, claiming emotional trauma, and do not name Alaska Airlines as a defendant. Aviation experts note that the accident could have been far more catastrophic under slightly different circumstances.

The FAA orders the grounding and immediate inspection of 737 Max 9s. Alaska and United Airlines both report discovering loose hardware on Max 9 door plugs and other installation problems. By the end of January, the FAA establishes a new inspection procedure for the part and clears every Max 9 for service upon completion of this safety check.

At the end of the month, Boeing shareholders file a lawsuit against the company, alleging that it misled them about its commitment to safety.

February 2024: Scrutiny intensifies as leadership gets a reshuffle

A preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board finds that four bolts meant to keep the Alaska Airlines door plug in place were missing when it blew out. The NTSB continues to investigate the accident.

As right-wing reactionaries choose to blame Boeings safety woes on corporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programs, suspicion also spreads to Spirit AeroSystems, the parts supplier that made the fuselage and door plug on the Alaska Airlines 737 Max. The company is being sued by shareholders who allege mismanagement, and in federal court, those plaintiffs have filed documents from a quality-control inspector who claims they uncovered an excessive amount of defects at a Spirit facility in Kansas.

At the end of February, Boeing ousts Ed Clark, the executive who led the 737 Max program, while creating a new position, Vice President of Quality, for its commercial airplanes unit, and assigning senior VP Elizabeth Lund to the role. The shakeup comes shortly before the FAA gives Boeing a 90-day deadline to sort out its quality controls.

March 2024: Another close call, a whistleblowers shocking death, and criminal investigations

In early March, the NTSB confirms it is looking into an incident that occurred a month prior when United Airlines flight 1539, a 737 Max 8, touched down in Newark, New Jersey. The agencys preliminary report indicates that during the landing rollout, as the crew tried to slow down to taxiing speed, the rudder pedals used to keep the plane on the center of the runway were stuck and unresponsive. The pilot was forced to make a high-speed turn-off to exit the runway, after which the pedals operated normally again. No one was injured. United is able to duplicate the malfunction in a later test of the plane.

The FAA completes an audit of Boeing and Spirit AeroSystems initiated after the Alaska Airlines accident, identifying dozens of problems with the manufacturing of 737 Max jets, per the New York Times. Both companies failed product audits related to the door panel part and quality-control compliance. The report also notes that Boeing did not provide evidence of approval of minor design change to the door plug under a method acceptable to the FAA.

NTSB Chair Jennifer Homendy says its absurd that Boeing hasnt been more timely in responding to their numerous requests for information relevant to their own investigation of the Alaska Airlines blowout, including the names of employees who work on door plugs at a plant in Renton, Washington. Boeing does then identify those individuals, but Ziad Ojakli, an executive vice president and lobbyist for the company, tells Congress they cannot locate work records for the defective door panel on the Alaska Airlines 737. The companys working hypothesis is that no such records were made, despite a rule mandating this.

John Barnett, a former quality manager at a Boeing facility in North Charleston, South Carolina who became a whistleblower alleging that the company was compromising on safety standards, is found dead of an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound on March 9. He had been giving depositions for a defamation suit hed brought against the manufacturer for alleged retaliation in response to him sounding the alarm internally about the use of sub-standard parts and noncompliance with factory procedures. Barnetts mother, Vicky Stokes, says she holds the company partly responsible for his death, with the family sharing a statement that said he was looking forward to having his day in court and hoped that it would force Boeing to change its culture. A family friend claims that Barnett had previously told her, if anything happens to me, its not suicide. The Charleston Police Department launches an investigation.

The FBI and Justice Department open separate criminal investigations into the Alaska Airlines accident. Dave Calhoun, who took on CEO role at Boeing in January, announces that hell step down by end of year.

April 2024: Other whistleblowers testify as victims families push for criminal prosecution

Congress continues to hammer Boeing, this time with dual Senate hearings: one featuring a panel of aviation experts, the other including testimony from Boeing engineer Sam Salehpour and Ed Pierson, a former manager with the company. Both whistleblowers describe a dangerous lack of regard for safety at Boeing. Salehpour, who bluntly accuses the company of putting out defective airplanes (he believes that hundreds of 777s and 787 Dreamliners are presently at risk of structural failure and urges Boeing to ground 787s worldwide) alleges that he literally saw people jumping on the pieces of the airplane to get them to align. He also claims his superiors tried to silence him when he brought up his concerns. Pierson expresses his skepticism about Boeing not being able to find the documents related to the malfunctioning door panel on the Alaska Airlines plane, stating, This is a criminal cover-up.

The Society of Professional Engineering Employees in Aerospace (SPEEA), a labor union that represents Boeing engineers and technical workers, brings a complaint against the company for allegedly retaliating against two employees who requested the reevaluation of prior engineering work on the 777 and 787 to comply with a new FAA guideline in 2022. In SPEEAs account, after six months of resistance, Boeing made the necessary analysis, but then gave the engineers identical negative evaluations in their next performance reviews.

Announcing its failure to turn a profit in an earnings call for the first quarter of 2024, United Airlines says it lost $200 million from the January grounding of the 737 Max 9. Alaska Airlines had already estimated its losses from that month at $150 million. Boeing reports a $355 million loss for the first three months of the year and says it will pay $443 million to its airline customers in compensation deals.

Families of the victims of the Indonesia and Ethiopia crashes in 2018 and 2019 pressure the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute Boeing on the grounds that the company violated the terms of its 2021 deferred prosecution agreement. As part of that $2.5 billion deal, Boeing had agreed to strengthen and enhance its compliance program in order to meet the safety requirements of the FAA and aviation regulators around the world. The families and their legal counsel see the Alaska Airlines accident as evidence that Boeing did not make those changes, in part because the DOJ did not appoint an independent monitor to oversee them. The government has yet to indicate whether it will dismiss the 2021 fraud charge, prosecute it, or extend the three-year deferral period, but it has a deadline of July 7 to make a decision on the case.

At this point, incidents involving any type of Boeing aircraft are making headlines  even though whistleblower concerns tend to focus on the 737 Max and 787 Dreamliner. The afternoon of April 23, Lufthansa flight 456 from Frankfurt, Germany, a Boeing 747, attempts to land at Los Angeles International Airport but skids and bounces hard off the runway, as captured in an alarming video. It takes off again and successfully lands on a second attempt. There are no reported injuries, and the plane returns to Frankfurt after an inspection.

On the morning of April 26, Delta Airlines flight 520, a Boeing 767, safely returns to John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York for an emergency landing about an hour after takeoff. An exit slide had detached from the aircraft, causing what the crew describes as a vibration. A passenger tells NPR that a loud noise could also be heard inside the plane. The slide was found two days later  washed up by the beachfront house of a lawyer whose firm brought the shareholder suit against Boeing in January.

May 2024: Disastrous landings, a deluge of whistleblowers, and another whistleblower death

Another whistleblower, Josh Dean, who worked as a quality auditor at Boeing parts supplier Spirit AeroSystems and warned of flaws in the 737 Max, dies at age 45 after spending two weeks in an Oklahoma hospital. According to his mother, he had been infected with Influenza B and MRSA and eventually developed pneumonia. The Seattle Times reports that prior to falling ill, Dean was in good health and was noted for having a healthy lifestyle.

The FAA launches a new investigation after Boeing informs the agency that it may have skipped mandatory wing inspections on some 787 Dreamliners. The probe is to include investigations into whether the company falsified records. Boeing commits to reinspecting Dreamliners currently under construction, but in an email to employees in South Carolina, where the Dreamliner is manufactured, an executive maintains that there is no present flight safety risk.

Former Spirit AeroSystems quality manager Santiago Paredes, who performed inspections in a Kansas factory for about a decade, says he routinely found problems on fuselages made for Boeings 737 Max  but was instructed to downplay them. It was very rare for us to look at a job and not find any defects, he tells CBS News. Those issues included flaws in the area around the door panel that came off the Alaska Airlines flight in January.

A Boeing 767 cargo plane operated by FedEx makes an emergency belly landing in Instanbul on May 8 after its front landing gear fails to deploy, causing sparks and smoke as it skids to a halt on the runway. There are no injuries; Turkeys transport ministry says its teams are investigating the accident.

The following day, a Corendon Airlines Boeing 737-800 (not a Max) has a tire burst during a landing at Turkeys Gazipasa airport, in the south of the country. The aircraft, which had flown from Cologne, Germany, was able to stop safely, and 184 passengers and six crew were evacuated without reported injury. Turkeys transport ministry confirmed damage to the front landing gear.

The same day as that disastrous landing, a passenger Boeing 737-300 (also not a Max) skids off the runway and catches fire in Dakar, Senegal, during an attempted take-off, marking the third dangerous incident in a week involving a Boeing aircraft. Of the 85 aboard the Transair flight to Bamako, Mali, 10 are injured, four seriously. Video shared on social media shows passengers abandoning the burning plane. Flights are suspended at the airport.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission opens an investigation into whether Boeing misled investors about its safety practices.

Attorneys Brian Knowles and Rob Turkewitz, who together represented the two Boeing whistleblowers who suddenly died  John Barnett and Josh Dean  reveal that there are more than ten additional whistleblowers, including both former and current employees, are safe and sound and prepared to expose problems at the company.

On Friday, May 17, a police investigation by the Charleston Police Department concluded that Barnett died by suicide, providing documents that backed the initial report from the Charleston Coroners Department, which concluded it was an apparent suicide. Investigators closed the report on Friday following a ballistics report that said the bullet had been fired by the firearm located in the victims hand and the completed autopsy from the coroners office confirmed Barnett died by suicide. The investigation also revealed Barnett was found with a notebook, which contained what amounts to a suicide note.

Best of Rolling Stone
Confederate leaders names will return to two Virginia schools after vote

Virginias Shenandoah County will reinstate Confederate names to two schools, reversing a decision make four years ago in the wake of the murder of George Floyd.

The decision followed hours of public comment on Thursday featuring members of the community on both sides of the issue.

The board decided 5-1 early Friday morning to reverse the name changes. Vice Chairman Kyle L. Gutshall was the only opposing vote.

The two schools, Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School, were named after Confederate Gens. Thomas Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby.

More than 5,600 students attend Shenandoah County Public Schools, according to the states department of education. About 75 percent of students are white, 18 percent are Hispanic and 3 percent are Black.

In 2020, racial justice advocates around the nation urged institutions to change building names and remove statues that honored Confederate figures.

In July 2020, the board voted 5-1 to rename Stonewall Jackson High to Mountain View High and Ashby-Lee Elementary to Honey Run Elementary.

But the move quickly drew criticism from residents. Critics of the name changes argued the renaming was hasty and undemocratic, and attempts to restore the schools Confederate names have persisted ever since.

In 2022, the board voted again, but the vote ended in a tie and the name changes remained.

In April, the Coalition for Better Schools, a local conservative organization, brought the issue to the community once again.

In a letter to the school board, the group said the legacies of the two generals are complex, but important to the community.

We understand that the decision to rename these schools was made in response to discussions surrounding Confederate symbols, the letter stated. However, we believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our communitys heritage and respect the wishes of the majority.

The letter added that surveys the group had conducted showed overwhelming support for this restoration.

During Thursdays meeting, one woman urged the board to consider what the Confederate soldiers stood for as a reason to honor them with the school names.

I ask that when you cast your vote, you remember that Stonewall Jackson and others fighting on the side of the Confederacy in this area were intent on protecting the land, the buildings and the lives of those under attack, she said. Preservation is the focus of those wishing to restore the names.

But Gene Kilby, the last surviving son of Virginia civil rights activist James Wilson Kilby, who helped desegregate schools in Virginia, argued restoring the names would mean accepting a legacy of racism.

Why are we here tonight to go back to a time in history that was very cruel, where hatred and racism continued throughout this county and throughout the United States? said Kilby. Is this the type of legacy that you want to put in Shenandoah Countys public school buildings?

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
SHENANDOAH COUNTY, Va. (WAVY)  The Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 early Friday morning to restore Confederate names to two schools there after they had previously been renamed four years earlier.

Mountain View High School will, as a result, once again be known as Stonewall Jackson High School, while Honey Run Elementary School will again be called Ashby-Lee Elementary School, named for Turner Ashby and Robert E. Lee. Both schools are in Quicksburg, in the southern end of the county.

The yes votes came from board Chairman Dennis Barlow, Thomas Streett, Gloria Carlineo, Brandi Rutz and Michael Rickard. Board Vice Chairman Kyle Gutshall voted no. Board members supportive of changing the names of the schools back to what they were originally said the process to change the names in 2020 was rushed and did not have sufficient public input.

It was not done properly, Streett said. It was done in a secretive [manner] in only nine days. He called the vote to change the name in 2020 a knee-jerk reaction. Carlineo said her decision to change the names back came down to the process in how the two schools names were changed in the first place, saying it was done under the cover of COVID.

Gutshall called it a complex issue and said his district was overwhelmingly in favor of retaining the current names, and not reverting back to the Confederate names for the schools.

Streett made the motion for the name change, and Carlineo seconded it.

The request to change the names back to their previous names came from the Coalition for Better Schools, which asked the board to do so to remember the countys Civil War history, and that the board in 2020 made the decision to change names hastily. In its request for the change back to the original names, it said restoring these names would demonstrate a commitment to inclusivity, respect for history and responsiveness to community feedback.

CBS-Restoration-LetterDownload

We understand that the decision to rename these schools was made in response to

discussions surrounding Confederate symbols, the Coalition for Public Schools wrote to the board last month. However, we believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our communitys heritage and respect the wishes of the majority.

In 2020, the board voted 5-1 to change Stonewall Jackson High School to Mountain View High School, and Ashby-Lee Elementary School to Honey Run Elementary School. At that time, it was noted in meeting minutes that the goal of the resolution was condemning racism and affirming the divisions commitment to an inclusive school environment for all.

Following the vote of the current board, the names will change back to their Confederate namesakes.

The motion to change the names back read as follows: I move that the names of Stonewall Jackson High School and Ashby Lee Elementary School be restored to the schools now named Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School respectively. The funds required to implement the restoration must be provided by private donations exclusively and not be borne by the school system or government tax funds, though the SCPS will oversee disbursements relating to restoration costs.

The Virginia NAACP had previously condemned efforts to restore the Confederate names to the two schools in Shenandoah County.

In 2022, the Shenandoah County School Board did not restore the Confederate names of the schools following a 3-3 vote.

The Coalition for Better Schools sent a survey to thousands of Shenandoah County residents  most in the southern end of the county  with 1,160 people responding out of 8,507 surveys mailed. Of the responses, more than 90% wanted to go back to the Confederate names, while just 8.7% wanted to keep the names Mountain View High School and Honey Run Elementary School.

It said in the letter to the board that the legacy of Stonewall Jackson, while complex, remains an important part of our local history, and that the community values the historical connections to both Turner Ashby and Robert E. Lee as prominent Virginians and local heroes.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan, May 10. Tajikistan and China have agreed to jointly modernize the Tajik Aluminum Company (TALCO), Trend reports.

This agreement was reached following the 13th meeting of the Tajikistan-China Intergovernmental Commission on Trade and Economic Cooperation in Beijing, co-chaired by Tajikistan's Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Zavqi Zavqizoda, and China's Deputy Minister of Commerce and trade negotiations' representative, Ling Ji.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Commerce of Tajikistan, the parties have also agreed to implement priority investment projects, including green energy projects, the construction of a logistics center in the Dangara region, the construction of three overpasses and one bridge in the city of Dushanbe, and the reconstruction of the Varshetz-Kulma highway.

China is Tajikistan's second-largest trading partner and has a significant share of investments in the national economy sectors. In 2023, Tajikistan's foreign trade volume with China amounted to $1.5 billion, which is 24.2 percent higher compared to 2022.
The world might currently be concerned with the rise of AI sentience, but human consciousness is still a field ripe for exploration.

A new study from scientists at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem proposes a new perspective on two well-known neuroscience theoriesone that explores the importance of memory in human consciousness.

By understanding how the brain forms memory units using metal cations, the researchers hope to delve deeper into the biochemical formation of consciousness and discover potential causes behind certain brain disorders, such as Alzheimers and autism.

The definition of consciousness is becoming ever more important as artificial intelligence continues to evolve at a rapid pace. Although some overzealous AI researchers have marveled at large language models ability to display a convincing facsimile of consciousness, most researchers agree that humanity is many years removed from achieving Artificial General Intelligencean incredibly strong AI where the consciousness of humans and AI would begin to blur.

One reason why there is such a large discrepancy among researchers regarding when such an event might occur is that our understanding of human consciousness is far from complete (which is honestly putting it mildly). If we cant even put a finger on what makes a human conscious, spotting such an ability within a machine seems near impossible.

However, a new study from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem is exploring a new perspective on the subject by digging into the role memory plays in shaping human consciousnessa marked departure from previous work that compared neural memory to computer data. It would mean that consciousness naturally arises from the evolution of memory in a biochemical sense.

A Global Neuronal Network (GNW) hypothesis has been forwarded as a central tenet of consciousness  we have previously described a tripartite mechanism of neural memory in which neurons encode cognitive information within the surrounding extracellular matrix (nECM), using trace metal cations and neurotransmitters to encode emotive states, the researchers wrote in their study, which was published in the International Journal of Psychiatry Research . We propose a fusion of the GNW hypothesis with the tripartite mechanism of emotive memory to describe how the brain achieves mental states of memory and emotions to experience consciousness.

Fusing these two neuroscience theoriesthe Global Neuronal Network and the Tripartite Mechanism of Memoryforms the basis of this new paradigm. The researchers state that this combined theory relies heavily on the biochemical metal cations found in the human brain.



"We discovered that certain metals binding within the matrix can alter its structure, forming complexes that serve as the fundamental units of memory, the researchers said in a press statement. These metal complexes have the ability to interact with neurotransmitters, resulting in the formation of emotional memory units.

Its this process of encoding emotive states in the extracellular matrix that diverges from the typical idea of information theory that underlies computer-based information. These memory unitsunified by structural units in the brainadd depth and significance to a humans conscious experience.

This exploration is more that just a philosophical exercise or an effort to better understanding artificial consciousness if and when it arises. Having a deeper understanding of this consciousness-making mechanism can have a big impact on people in the here and now.

This proposed mechanism sheds light on how disturbances in metal levels could potentially impact memory functions. Furthermore, we speculate that disorders such as Alzheimers and autism may be linked to dysregulation of metal handling by the body, the researchers said in a press statement. Understanding these intricate relationships provides insight into the processes of memory formation and retrieval, aiding in comprehension of conditions ranging from short-term memory loss to more severe memory impairments.

So while the debate surrounding the consciousness of AI continues to grab headlines, the exploration of human consciousness remains a vast frontier ripe for exploration.



You Might Also Like
Conservative Pundit Bluntly Sums Up What Trump Really Wants From A Vice President

Conservative commentator Charlie Sykes said Donald Trump is seeking slavish loyalty from whoever he picks as a vice presidential candidate.

As possible contenders continue auditioning for the role, Sykes said on MSNBC Wednesday, the ghost of Mike Pence hangs over all of this.

Sykes continued, Because Donald Trump doesnt want just loyalty. He wants slavish loyalty. He wants a guarantee that ... the vice president ... [who is] the one person he cannot fire, will in fact do his bidding, will do the tough things, will do the difficult, courageous things, like, for example, ignore the law.

He added, And it is interesting how willing all of these vice presidential wannabes are in basically saying yes, Donald, we will say and do anything. We will use your words. We will kill puppies for you, just to show how tough we are.

Sykes was referring to South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, who shared in her new book that she once shot her puppy in a gravel pit because it had behavioral issues. Noem was reportedly on Trumps VP shortlist at one point.

Former Vice President Mike Pence has said he cannot in good conscience endorse Trump for the 2024 election, citing profound differences on a range of issues, including his role on Jan. 6, 2021.

Pence and Trumps relationship soured after the former vice president declined to help Trump overturn the 2020 election.

Contenders to join Trumps 2024 ticket are said to include Reps. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) and Byron Donalds (R-Fla.), North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum (R), and Sens. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) and J.D. Vance (R-Ohio).

Related...
IBERIA PARISH, La. (KLFY)  For 35 years, the Acadiana Crime Laboratory Facility has been a vital resource for crime solving in southwest Louisiana; the groundbreaking of a new facility looks to begin a new era of criminalistics analysis.

The project is 35 years in the making and looks to help continue serving law enforcement agencies in eight different parishes across Acadiana. The nearly $26 million project will see a 40,000 square foot facility to help continue housing evidence and analyze crime data with high-tech state of the art equipment for crime solving.

Thats going to all move to the new lab. The new lab will allow us to have a better workflow, Kevin Ardoin, lab director, said.

Ardoin said this was much needed as the former facility was getting outdated and needed more room and it is important to make sure that we protect the evidence adequately. It will also allow us to do our job better.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

KLFY Daily Digest

Lafayette Parish Sheriff and president of the laboratory commission, Mark Garber, said the new facility is critical to the future of the local justice system.

The public needs to know were doing more with less every day by using technology, Garber said. This is a great leap forward as far as the technical side of law enforcement goes here in Acadiana.

Construction will begin as soon as next week with hopes of finishing by July 2025.

Latest Posts

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.
Wednesday night the Mercer Island City Council voted to adopt an ordinance that prohibits the sale and discharge of consumer fireworks, beginning in 2025.

On May 1, the Mercer Island Fire Chief prohibited the discharge of consumer fireworks in 2024 due to the water supply shortage

The shortage was caused by a break in the water main line that supplies most of Mercer Island.

The city says a permanent ban was needed due to safety risks, the burden on emergency services and noise pollution. Most areas of King County already have bans in place. There is even a ban in unincorporated King County which took effect last year.

Under state law a fireworks ban cannot take effect for at least one year, that is why Mercer Islands ban wont start until 2025. However, the fire chiefs ban took effect immediately. That ban doesnt affect the sale of fireworks.

The ordinance is NO.24C-10. You can read the full ordinance here.
DRIPPING SPRINGS, Texas (KXAN)  Lisa Walling was driving home Thursday, trying to beat the storm, when all of a sudden it was like softballs coming through the sky and windshields shattering, she said.

Below are photos of the damage the hail caused to her car.

Lisa Walling said softball-size hail smashed through her windshield.

Smashed windshield in Dripping Springs.

Hail damaged the front windshield as well.

Broken glass inside the car from the smashed back window.

When the hail started getting worse, Walling said she pulled over so the car was partially covered by a tree.

I thought, I really need to cover myself, she said. I wrapped up in my yoga mat, put my sunglasses on and rode out the storm.

Hays County Judge Ruben Becerra told KXAN he requested local disaster declaration approval from Gov. Greg Abbott and the Texas Division of Emergency Management.

Johnson City and Blanco County are also considering disaster declarations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
People gather at a market in Mumbai, India. Credit - Rafiq MaqboolAP Photo

A working paper from an independent body that gives economic advice to the Indian government has published controversial findings that critics say could sow communal discord between Hindus and Muslims during the ongoing parliamentary elections.

The paper, titled Share of religious minorities: A cross-country analysis, was published on May 7 by the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM). It found that between 1950 and 2015, Indias Hindu population declined by 7.82%, while the Muslim population increased by 43.15% at the same time. Currently, Hindus make up nearly 80% of Indias 1.4 billion population, while Muslims make up 14%, according to Pew Research Center data from 2021.

Read More: How Indias Record-Breaking Population Will Shape the World

The EAC-PM paper also found that the share of other religious minorities like Christians and Buddhists (but excluding Parsis and Jains) rose by up to 6.58% in the 65-year timeframe.

Authored by experts Shamika Ravi, Abraham Jose, and Apurv Kumar Mishra, the paper aimed to look at how religious composition has evolved across the globe over the past several decades. Using population data from 167 countries, it concluded that there was a dip in the majority religious population not only across India but also notably in Europe. Within South Asiain countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and the Maldivesit found that the share of the majority religious denomination had decreased in four countries and increased in five.

The study also stated that it was agnostic to the underlying causes of such demographic change, concluding that minorities are not just protected but thriving in Indiaan observation that stands in stark contrast to concerns raised over Indias religious freedom in recent years by international human rights groups and the U.S. Department of Justice.

Many Indian news outlets have reported the studys findings verbatim: Study Shows Indias Hindu Population Shrank By 7.8%, Busts 3 Liberal Lies, stated one report by News18. Members of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party have also been quick to link its claims to the Congress Party, which ruled over India for nearly 50 years following its independence from British rule in 1947, by accusing the opposition of appeasing minorities. Share of Hindus shrunk 7.8% between 1950 and 2015. The Muslim population grew by 43%. This is what decades of Congress rule did to us. Left to them, there would be no country for Hindus, Amit Malviya, a prominent BJP member, posted on X. Other BJP members and ministers have also raised concerns about the Muslim community in India allegedly increasing its population to alter the demography of India.

In response to the study, the Population Foundation of India (PFI), an independent think tank working on population trends, released a statement on Friday, May 10, calling the EAC-PM findings misleading and alarmist, adding that it was deeply concerned about the recent media reports that are misreporting the findingsto spread alarm regarding the growth of the Muslim population.

PFI pointed to the findings from the last nationwide Census in India, conducted in 2011, which found that the decadal growth rate for Muslims had declined over the past three decades, decreasing from 32.9% in 1981-1991 to 24.6% in 2001-2011. In contrast, the growth rate for Hindus fell from 22.7% to 16.8% over the same period.

Such interpretations are not only inaccurate but also misleading and baseless, the PFI said of the EAC-PM report.

Read More: What to Know About Indias 2024 Election

As India wraps up the third phase of a grueling six-week election, the timing of the studys publication has raised eyebrows among critics and demographic experts at a time when the BJP is seen to be openly campaigning on anti-Muslim rhetoric. During a public rally on April 21, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to Muslims as "infiltrators and those who have more children. On another occasion, he warned that the opposition would redistribute the property, land, and gold belonging to Hindus among Muslims.

Referring to these instances, the Independent Panel for Monitoring Indian Elections, made up of international experts from India, Europe, and Bangladesh to monitor Indias elections, said that senior BJP leaders were systematically seeking votes in the name of religion and often inciting hate against minorities in an election bulletin published last month.

Write to Astha Rajvanshi at astha.rajvanshi@time.com.
A Cook County judge on Friday ordered factual documents sealed in the highly-scrutinized case of a man accused of killing 11-year-old Jayden Perkins and injuring his pregnant mother in a stabbing in their Edgewater apartment.

Crosetti Brand, 37, who has a documented history of violence against women, is charged with murder, attempted murder and other felonies in a March attack he allegedly perpetrated just one day after he was released from prison where he was sent after threatening Jaydens mother weeks earlier. The killing spurred grief and outrage in the community and raised questions about safeguards for domestic violence victims and the Illinois Prisoner Review Boards handling of Brands release.

Judge Angela Petrone took the unusual step of sealing documents that contain factual allegations or summaries in a case of such high interest to the public, ruling that there are limited circumstances that overrule the publics right to access information about court cases.

The hearing unfolded with elevated security after outbursts during at least two prior hearings, including one in which a family member ran to the front of the courtroom yelling at Brand. Family members lined the gallery, some in shirts that said Justice for Jayden.

No one was arrested after the past incidents, but the judge said any future disruptions would be met with a contempt of court charge.

Do not make me do that  I know that emotions are running high, she said.

Cook County prosecutors made the request to seal the documents after Brand, who is representing himself, filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, arguing that the pretrial publicity biased the grand jurors against him. Petrone denied the request to dismiss the charges.

The People make this request out of concern that any publication of pretrial pleadings  may receive further media attention and may affect the Defendants ability to receive a fair trial, the states motion to seal reads.

Brand did not object to the request.

When delivering her decision, Petrone noted the publics right to open and transparent court proceedings, but said it is not absolute.

Among future filings that will be sealed, prosecutors said they will file documents that will detail past incidents involving Brand that are not of public record and are of a sensitive nature.

Brands record of abuse was a matter of public interest after he was arrested, including nearly two decades of terrorizing Jaydens mother prior to the attack.

Prosecutors said the woman, who was engaged to someone else, was in a romantic relationship with Brand more than 15 years ago. Brand has racked up multiple convictions for battering her, threatening her and her mother and violating orders of protections, court records show.

In 2013, Brand pleaded guilty to charges of domestic battery for punching another woman, who had recently ended a relationship with him, hard enough to knock her unconscious and leave her bleeding from the mouth. Before the physical confrontation, he told her, Im gonna blow your head off, you think you gonna leave that easy, according to the motion.

Later, he was sentenced to 16 years in prison in a November 2015 attack on a third woman, who had recently ended a relationship with him, according to court documents. He also threatened her son when he tried to intervene.

Of the people that come through this courtroom, its hard to find someone who is more dangerous than this defendant, said Assistant States Attorney Anne McCord Rodgers during a March detention hearing.

After serving time for the 2015 attack, Brand was released from prison on parole in October. Months later on Jan. 30, Brand sent Jaydens mother a text message threatening her and her family, then showed up at her apartment on Feb. 1, according to prosecutors and court records.

He rang the doorbell multiple times and tried to pull the door handle out of the door. The woman contacted the parole board, and he was sent back to prison, according to prosecutors.

In the interim, records show that the woman tried to get an emergency order of protection, but a judge denied the emergency order because Brand was locked up.

Brand was released one day before he returned to the apartment and killed Jayden, prosecutors alleged. His mother was in the apartment with her two sons, and unlocked the door ready to leave when Brand barged in, they alleged.

He attacked the mother, then stabbed Jayden when he tried to intervene, prosecutors said, all in front of a younger child.

The states top parole official and another board member resigned in the wake of the attack, and Gov. J.B. Pritzker created a new executive review board position with a mandate to expand domestic violence training for board members.
NEW YORK - Cornell University president Martha E. Pollack will step down at the end of June, she announced Thursday.

Pollack's resignation comes amid pro-Palestinian protests that have swept college campuses across the nation.

She's the third president of an Ivy League school to step down since December.

Earlier, Harvard president Claudine Gay resigned, as did University of Pennsylvania president Liz Magill. Those resignations came on the heels of widely criticized testimony before Congress. New York City Schools Chancellor David Banks testified before the same Congressional committee earlier this week.

Pollack addressed the protests in her retirement announcement.

"Indeed, I began deliberating about this last fall, and made the decision over the December break; but three times, as I was ready to act on it, I had to pause because of events on our and/or on other campuses. But continued delay is not in the university's best interests, both because of the need to have sufficient time for a smooth transition before the start of the coming academic year, and because I do not want my announcement to interfere with the celebration of our newest graduates at Commencement in just a few weeks," she wrote. "There is so much more to Cornell than the current turmoil taking place at universities across the country right now, and I hope we do not lose sight of that."

Pollack called serving as Cornell's president for seven years "an amazing privilege."

Pollack's announcement comes as House Speaker Mike Johnson continues to call for Columbia University President Minouche Shafik to be fired for her handling of protests there. Columbia University canceled its main commencement ceremony in the wake of numerous protests. Their smaller graduation ceremonies begin Friday.

A Web of Intrigue | Sunday on 60 Minutes

Inside "Bridgerton's" latest season with star Nicola Coughlan

Decade-long search for Texas mom's killer takes stunning turns
President Martha E. Pollack, who oversaw the creation of significant interdisciplinary programs, including a new school of public policy; expanded the affordability and accessibility of a Cornell education; and whose navigation of the COVID-19 pandemic made Cornell a role model for institutions around the world, will retire on June 30

Cornell University President Martha Pollack is ending her 7-year tenure as the head of the Ivy League school in upstate Ithaca  following months of turmoil including demonstrations and threats to Jewish students.

The 65-year-old insisted that her departure  effective June 30  is unrelated to the anti-Israel protests and brazen displays of antisemitism, insisting that she considered announcing her retirement in the fall and winter.

I had to pause because of events on our and/or on other campuses, Pollack said in her resignation statement released Thursday.

Cornell University President Martha Pollack is ending her 7-year tenure as the head of the Ivy League school following months of turmoil including demonstrations and threats to Jewish students. cornell.edu

I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: This decision is mine and mine alone.

Cornell provost Michael Kotlikoff will serve as interim president beginning July 1.

In the most egregious incident, a Cornell University engineering student was arrested for threatening to kill Jews on campus last October.

Patrick Dai pleaded guilty last month to posting threatening messages to the Cornell section of an online discussion forum.

In another disturbing incident, a controversial Cornell University history professor, Russell Rickford, described Hamas Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel as exhilarating and energizing.

The mishandling of claims of antisemitism triggered the ouster of the presidents of the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard, and now the head of New Yorks other Ivy League school  Minouche Shafik of Columbia University in Manhattan  is on the heat seat over campus rioting.

One of Pollacks campus critics greeted her announced departure with a good riddance.

The 65-year-old insisted that her departure  effective June 30  is unrelated to the anti-Israel protests and brazen displays of antisemitism, insisting that she considered announcing her retirement in the fall and winter.

Cornell has been a campus in turmoil, seemingly rudderless in the face of growing antisemitism fed by hyper-aggressive anti-Israel activism, including an encampment that remains in the main quad, said Cornell Law School professor William Jacobson, founder of the right-leaning EqualProtect.org.

The Board also needs to introduce diversity of viewpoint among the faculty, which has become a monoculture and echo chamber of far left ideology, with almost no dissenting voices left, he said.

Pollack said Cornell  like the rest of society  over the past few years had to confront the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd protests and a terrorist attack and subsequent war that has reverberated across our country and especially across higher education.

The latter has raised a number of critical issues that we are all grappling with, from antisemitism, Islamophobia, and other forms of bigotry, to free expression, academic freedom, and how to foster a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community, she said in her statement.

I suspect many of these issues are going to be with us for years to come.

Cornell provost Michael Kotlikoff will serve as interim president beginning July 1. Jacob Mack / USA TODAY NETWORK

She defended her handling of the divisive protests and threats and said Cornell has a solid foundation to improve upon.

We have worked hard to uphold our commitment both to free expression and to being a community of belonging, where everyone is welcome and safe.. We have been vigilant in working to ensure the safety and well-being of all members of our community from all backgrounds, work Ive been dedicated to long before the events of the past year, she said.
Cornell University President Martha E. Pollack announced Thursday that she will be stepping down at the end of June.

Pollack, a computer scientist, will be leaving her post at the Ivy League school after seven years, she said in a statement.

It is only after extensive reflection that I have determined that this is the right decision, she wrote in her announcement. Indeed, I began deliberating about this last fall, and made the decision over the December break; but three times, as I was ready to act on it, I had to pause because of events on our and/or on other campuses.

But continued delay is not in the universitys best interests, both because of the need to have sufficient time for a smooth transition before the start of the coming academic year, and because I do not want my announcement to interfere with the celebration of our newest graduates at Commencement in just a few weeks, she added.

She will be replaced temporarily by Provost Michael Kotlikoff, who will serve a two-year term as the interim president beginning in July. Pollacks title will be changed to president emerita by the schools board of trustees when she officially resigns June 30, according to the university.

Her resignation comes as university leaders around the country have for months dealt with accusations of rising antisemitism amid protests of the ongoing war in Gaza between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The end of Pollacks tenure presents another leadership shake-up at Ivy League institutions in recent months.

Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned in early January amid accusations of plagiarism and her schools response to growing antisemitism. Just a month before Gays departure, University of Pennsylvania President Liz Magill resigned in December following the blowback she received for her comments during her testimony before Congress.

The rise of campus protests over the continued fighting and humanitarian crisis in Gaza have thrust universities back into the spotlight.

Cornell, in particular, faced scrutiny after temporarily suspending four student protesters last month. The Department of Education said in November that it was investigating the institution over allegations of anti-Muslim and antisemitic harassment.

Despite the criticism, Pollack insisted her decision to leave the post was her own.

I understand that there will be lots of speculation about my decision, so let me be as clear as I can: This decision is mine and mine alone, she wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
GRANVILLE, Ohio (WCMH)  A report of human remains found during road work near Granville turned out to be something less tragic, but much weirder.

The Licking County Sheriffs Office sent deputies on Tuesday to the area north of Granville on reports of a body. Workers had used an excavator machine to remove trash bags from a drainage ditch. However, one of the bags ripped open and revealed a womans feet and legs covered in dirt and grass.

Renee Rogers, an investigator with the Licking County Coroners Office, told NBC4 that the sheriffs office then called to get her involved.

It didnt necessarily match the way a human body reacts to being outside, Rogers said. So they asked me to come out and confirm if they were human or not.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Surgeon turned beer maker to launch new central Ohio brewery

Rogers arrived at a ditch along New Burg Street to check on the body. She noted that the human remains looked different from what the coroners office normally expects.

There was some discoloration of the skin, Rogers said. It was obvious that it had been outside for a period of time, but there was no insect activity and no smell associated with whatever it might be.

After she began her investigation, she found that this case wasnt what it initially seemed like.

I photographed the scene, and then when I was able to get closer, the skin did not have a normal appearance, Rogers said. Once we opened the bag a little bit, it was pretty obvious that it was an adult-size mannequin.

In field case reports, both a Licking County Sheriffs detective and a deputy described the mannequin the team found as a silicone sex doll. However, Rogers said she did not see anything that identified the replica as specifically that.

My role in the investigation was basically just to determine if it was human or non-human, Rogers said. There was a full mannequin body, just a bit disassembled  Im not exactly sure what material that it was made out of, but it definitely was softer.

Former Columbus officer sentenced in federal sex workers case

Rogers said she didnt keep the photos she took, because the coroners office did not generate a case for this incident. Deputies took the mannequin to the sheriffs office and later destroyed it, according to the detectives report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Sen. Cory Booker is backing Rep. Rob Menendez in one of New Jersey's most competitive Democratic primaries, giving a notable boost of confidence to the son of the state's embattled senior senator.

"I've known Representative Rob Menendez for many years, and I'm not surprised he's been such an effective champion for the people of his district, Booker said in a statement, first reported by the Hudson County View. Rob has earned another term in Congress, and I'm proud to endorse his campaign for reelection so we can keep fighting together on the issues New Jerseyans care about most.

Booker has been close with Robs father and New Jersey counterpart in the Senate, Bob Menendez, after serving with him in the upper chamber for over a decade. But he called on Menendez to resign last fall, after allegations of bribery and acting as a foreign agent emerged in a federal indictment. Menendez is set to begin his trial next week.

Now, the freshman Rob Menendez faces a tough reelection against Hoboken Mayor Ravi Bhalla in New Jerseys 8th Congressional District, a Democratic stronghold mostly comprised of Hudson County, in North Jersey. Booker's endorsement is the latest in a long list of them for Menendez, including from local county parties. That would normally put a candidate in a comfortable position in a primary, but a federal judge earlier this year ordered primaries redesign ballots to do away with the so-called county line that gives party-backed candidates preferred ballot positioning and, as a result, much greater odds of winning.

Bhalla has centered his campaign on tearing down the county machine system and associating the younger Menendez to his fathers corruption allegations, although he is not accused of wrongdoing.

And on the Senate side, Bob Menendez is still deciding whether to run for another term, possibly as an independent since Rep. Andy Kim has all but claimed the Democratic nomination.

Booker did not say during a Thursday interview at the Capitol whether he would endorse Kim, but confirmed he would not be weighing in on the Democratic primary. In his run for Senate, Kim is also attempting to tear down the ballot design system that has reenforced New Jerseys machine politics for decades. Booker said he thinks it's "a good thing" New Jersey is moving away from the party line on ballots.

Newark, New Jersey, did not have partisan elections, Booker, a former mayor of that city, said. I don't think I would be here, frankly, because I challenged the machine, if you remember. I don't think I'd be here if we had partisan elections.

Booker said he still works closely with Sen. Menendez. I have an obligation to represent the state of New Jersey. There's two senators to our state, he has not stepped down.

When Menendez stood trial in 2017 for a separate indictment, Booker testified as a character witness. Booker did not confirm whether he would testify again when asked at the Capitol this week.

I'm proud that I spoke to Menendez I knew then, Booker said. One of the more difficult times I've had as a United States senator, was to call for a man to resign even though, as I said, I believe everyone has a right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Liz Watts, South Cambridgeshire council's chief executive, is facing calls to resign for not disclosing she researched the four-day week for a doctorate

The first British council to introduce a four-day week is failing to prove its scheme is working, the Government has said.

Liberal Democrat-run South Cambridgeshire District Council launched a trial of the scheme last year, giving staff a shorter week on full pay.

But critics have described the trial as a car crash with call wait times rising and staff reporting higher stress levels since it was introduced last June.

The council has faced repeated calls to scrap the ridiculous policy amid fears taxpayers are not getting value for money, but leaders have ploughed on regardless.

This is despite its own analysis finding that some services got worse in the trials first three months, with average call centre times rising by 14.5pc and just four of 12 key performance indicators on target.

The Government has kept a watchful eye on the authoritys four-day policy since its introduction in 2023, with minister Lee Rowley ordering an immediate stop in June.

But the council has continued to press ahead, stressing that workers are more motivated and productivity is higher.

However, the Government is concerned about the councils compliance, and has reissued a Best Value Notice, demanding to receive weekly reports for a further six months to allow for further data analysis.

A Best Value Notice is issued when the Government fears taxpayer funds are not being used to their full potential.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said the local authority is not yet fully analysing the long-term impacts of its policy.

Heather Williams, leader of the local Conservative opposition, says the continued intervention proves that the four-day week is not working.

It feels like a car crash, and it feels like its going to implode, she said.

Ive got people coming to me saying their emails to the council are going into a black hole, and some staff say their stress levels have increased because of the greater intensity.

Theyve had constant calls from the Government to stop, but they continue to be so stubborn and ridiculous.

The longer it goes on, the harder it is to go back.

Independent councillor Dan Lentell has labelled the policy nuttier than a squirrels brunch, in a post on Facebook.

But council leader Bridget Smith has defended the scheme. The data and evidence weve seen so far shows how the four-day week is having a positive impact on many parts of the council, and lots of the services we provide, she said.

For example, our ability to recruit and retain planning officers has dramatically improved. This means a smoother service for anyone who sends in a planning application as it can be dealt with by the same planner from start to finish.

Performance data weve collected during the trial is being analysed, and councillors will also review this data at a full council meeting in July.

The Government has said it is considering using levers in its funding to disincentivise the four-day working week.

With the potential funding cuts unknown, the council says it is not feasible to carry out a meaningful consultation of its own and the four-day week will therefore continue to remain in place.

Last year, a survey of council staff found that 59pc felt it had a positive impact on their stress levels, with 17pc reporting no change and 24pc saying it had a negative impact.

The extension of the Best Value Duty comes after it was revealed that Liz Watts, the councils chief executive, did not disclose that she has spent three years researching the subject of the four-day week for a doctorate at University of the West of England.

It prompted Anthony Browne, Tory MP for South Cambridgeshire, to call for her resignation.

Earlier this year, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union, the biggest union representing public sector workers, demanded a four-day week for the same pay.

The union represents more than 200,000 civil servants across 213 government departments and agencies.

Separately, a Welsh government report said that four-day weeks could be racist because they discriminate against frontline public sector workers.

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.
CENTREVILLE  St. Joseph County Animal Control was the benefactor of a significant gift left in the will of a Colon couple.

St. Joseph County Sheriffs Department Capt. TJ Baker said the $10,000 bequeathed to the Centreville-based agency left him nearly speechless.

I consider $100 a large donation; $1,000 is almost unheard of; $10,000? Those kinds of dollars arent walking through the door every day, he said. So, you can imagine my reaction and (Undersheriff Jason) Bingamans reaction when we found out about the $10,000. Jasons jaw dropped.

Jim Bidwell and his partner, Deb Yesh, were recognized by Undersheriff Jason Bingaman for a significant donation Bidwells late sister and brother-in-law left St. Joseph County Animal Control.

County officials for years have expressed their desire for a new building to replace the current facility but done little to fund a replacement. The current structure is considered outdated and too small. Baker said donations of such magnitude certainly push St. Joseph County Animal Control in the right direction.

Jim Bidwell and Deb Yesh were presented a certificate of appreciation earlier this month. The low-key ceremony acknowledged Bidwells sister, Karla Wilson and her husband, Robert Pat Wilson.

Karla, a Colon High School alumna, passed away at age 67 in November 2022, while her 75-year-old husband died a year later. Both succumbed to cancer.

They lived in California for about 40 years before returning to Colon five years ago.

Bidwell said he wasnt surprised his sister and brother-in-law did so much to acknowledge St. Joseph County Animal Control. The two did not have kids, so pets filled a significant spot in their lives.

As you can probably guess, Karla and Pat were animal lovers, so when they were making out their will, they both told me they planned to leave something for the Centreville animal control, Bidwell said. Still, I had no clue it was going to be an amount that size. I was actually pretty shocked, but, you know, thats just the way they were. Im very proud of them and happy they get this kind of recognition.

Bingaman and Baker visited Bidwell and Yesh at Bidwells Colon-area residence to present the certificate of appreciation. Bidwell said the gesture left him emotional.

I had such a warm feeling, knowing we were honoring Karla and Pat for such a considerate act, Bidwell said. I hope this helps animal control, and I hope it maybe plants a seed in someones mind and theyll consider animal control when theyre making up their will.

This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Couple leaves $10K to animal control
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  A federal judge in the Western District Court of Michigan dismissed a federal lawsuit against two top Ingham County officials alleging they had conspired and used undue political influence in getting their son returned to the Mason Public Schools as a student.

The couple  a countywide elected official and a top staffer in the Ingham County Sheriffs Department  were sued on Feb. 2, along with the Mason Public Schools and two of the staff there. The parent of a teenage girl argued the couples son had been improperly allowed back into the Mason Public Schools in 2023 after being expelled for allegedly sexually assaulting a classmate in 2022.

The couples son had been accused of putting his hand down a female students pants and digitally penetrating her in the middle of a classroom at Mason Middle School. A police investigation referred to the Jackson County Prosecutors Office did not result in criminal charges.

(FILE/WLNS)

6 News is not identifying the parents in the case because doing so would identify a minor who has neither been charged nor convicted of a crime.

Federal District Court Judge Robert Jonker ruled Thursday, however, that the lawsuits claims of political influence did not rise to the level of gender discrimination and he dismissed the case against not just the two county employees, but also two Mason High School administrators who had been named personally in the lawsuit.

The attorney for the family that launched the lawsuit admitted to 6 News in February that he had no evidence to back up his conspiracy claim.

Yeah, I mean, well, thats what the discovery process is for, Brandon Wolfe said shortly after suit was filed. Thats why its in a lawsuit right now. I anticipate  we anticipate that maybe that some phone records or emails will be revealing and its the only explanation for this egregious favoritism for this one child.

The judge did allow the student and her parents to continue their lawsuit against the Mason Public Schools  alleging the district violated Title IX by allowing the male student to repeatedly come in contact with the female, despite a personal protection order (PPO), to continue.

A Mason Public Schools Title IX investigation determined, by the preponderance of the evidence, that the alleged incident was more likely than not to have occurred and recommended the male student be expelled from Mason Public Schools.

After a year of expulsion, the male student and his parents sought to have him readmitted to Mason Public Schools as a school-of-choice student. The Mason Board of Education approved his re-admission.

The countywide elected official Friday issued the following statement about the dismissal and the lawsuit:

From the beginning, this lawsuit was frivolous, false and utterly irresponsible. The salacious allegations against my integrity in this suit were designed to embarrass my family and were a blatant attempt to shake me down because I am a public figure. There was not a shred of evidence supporting their claim, as indicated by their lawyers own comments in media reports, where he admitted the claims he made in this bogus lawsuit had no merit.

Early on, my family filed a motion to dismiss this case as it was completely and utterly baseless. In a ruling yesterday, I am pleased to say that this irresponsible case against my family has been dismissed by the federal judge. I have stayed silent on this matter, in an effort to allow the legal system to play out, knowing that this case was so detached from reality that it would never stand up to judicial scrutiny.

While I am happy with the result, the toll that this ordeal has taken is all too real and harmful. In addition to the financial cost of having to defend against these slanderous accusations, the emotional impact that this has had on my children and our extended family, has been incalculable.

I am used to political attacks, I have had my life scrutinized and combed over for years and I remember the time when a persons children were off limits. To attempt to embarrass and extract money from my family through attacking my children is unconscionable and should be out of bounds.

At this time, I am considering my options regarding holding those that brought such claims responsible for the defamation of my character. The false statements made by an unscrupulous attorney should also be examined, and he should face sanctions for his part in this claim.

I also wish to thank my friends and members of the community who reached out with messages of support and love as we went through this process. They knew, like I did, that these claims were nonsense and that justice would eventually win out. Email statement from parent

Until Friday, the family has not commented on the allegations in the lawsuit, nor about the criminal investigation or the Title IX findings.

The lawsuit resulted in a February walkout by students at Mason High School.

Alyson Kechkaylo, communications specialist at the Ingham Intermediate School District/Eaton RESA and spokeswoman for the Mason Public Schools, tells 6 News the district has no comment on this development.

Brandon Wolfe, the attorney representing the girl and her family, provided 6 News with this following statement.

Given the incredibly high bar to bring cases against the government, and particularly government officials, it is an absolute win, Wolfe wrote in an email to 6 News. The judge refused to exercise supplemental jurisdiction over the state law claims so those claims must be filed with Ingham county circuit court shortly. In other words, this is not the last chapter of the story for the [family name removed to protect the identity of the accused minor].

UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a comment from the attorney representing the family suing the Mason Public Schools and to include a statement from the Mason Public Schools that they had no comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
Steve Bannon, the controversial hard-right strategist who has been influential in the thinking of Donald Trump, has lost his appeal against his conviction for contempt of Congress relating to the investigation into the January 6 insurrection.

A unanimous ruling from a three-judge panel of the District of Columbia circuit court of appeals upheld Bannons conviction on Friday. The decision brings him closer to a four-month sentence behind bars meted out to Bannon for having resisted the terms of Congresss subpoena against him.

Related: New book details Steve Bannons Maga movement plan to rule for 100 years

He has one last hope left to avoid a prison term  he could appeal to the full bench of the circuit court. He has seven days to make the move.

Bannon, a former editor of the far-right news outlet Breitbart, was convicted of contempt charges at trial in July 2022, having been charged with two federal counts. He was accused of refusing to appear for a deposition and of refusing to provide documents to the committee in response to a subpoena.

He was sentenced later that year to four months in prison. The punishment was put on hold after Bannon appealed.

Bannons lawyers claimed in the appeal that he had not ignored the committees subpoena, but was following the advice of his lawyer and acting out of concern that he might violate executive privilege objections raised by Trump.

The January 6 committee countered that virtually none of the documents it was seeking related to executive privilege as they were overwhelmingly related to Bannons actions as a private citizen.

The appeals court decision, written by Judge Brad Garcia, found that Bannon failed to comply with the subpoena, and his failure to comply was willful. The advice of counsel defense is no defense at all when faced with a subpoena.

Another former senior aide to Trump, Peter Navarro, is currently serving an identical four-month prison term having refused to testify and hand over records to the January 6 committee about matters relating to Bannon. Congress had wanted to question Navarro about a plot to subvert the 2020 election with which he had been involved and which he wrote about in a book, stating that the plan originated with Bannon.

Bannon worked as Trumps chief strategist in the White House during the first seven months of his presidency. He left the White House in August 2017 following controversy over Trumps response to the deadly Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, and now runs a popular podcast called the War Room.

The January 6 committee was led by Democrats in the House of Representatives with the participation of some Republican Congress members. It concluded that Trump had engaged in a conspiracy to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election and had not prevented a mob of his supporters attacking the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.

This is not Bannons first brush with a federal prosecution. As one of his last acts in the presidency, Trump pardoned Bannon in 2021, clearing him of fraud charges relating to his fundraising campaign, We Build the Wall.

Bannon had been accused by federal prosecutors of committing wire fraud and money laundering connected to the scheme, which claimed to be supporting Trumps contentious plan to build a border wall with Mexico. Bannon denied the charges.

He is still facing trial over allegations that he defrauded thousands of people who donated to the We Build the Wall fundraiser in New York supreme criminal court. State prosecutions are not covered by a presidential pardon.

That trial has been postponed until September. The judge presiding over it, Juan Merchan, currently has his hands full sitting on Trumps hush-money and election interference trial.
Gov. Spencer Cox talks to journalists at the Capitol in Salt Lake City on the last night of the legislative session, March 1, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Utah Gov. Spencer Cox on Tuesday joined several other Western governors calling on Congress to expand the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which would widen eligibility for people poisoned by radiation from Cold War era nuclear weapons testing and manufacturing, known as downwinders.

Coxs support comes as lawmakers in Washington, D.C., are considering two RECA bills.

One would extend the deadline for compensation, which is set to expire this June, sponsored by Sen. Mike Lee in the Senate and Rep. Celeste Maloy in the House, both Republicans from Utah.

The other, sponsored by Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley, would increase compensation, expand eligibility for certain uranium workers, and widen the current definition of an affected area to include all of Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Guam.

It would also include parts of Hawleys district near St. Louis, where creek water was contaminated by radiation during nuclear weapons development.

As of Tuesday evening, Congress has 14 days to pass an expansion or extension before compensation expires on June 10.

Cox told Utah News Dispatch in a statement that he wants to see the program expanded.

We support efforts to expand compensation for those affected by the nuclear testing that occurred throughout the West, Cox said in the statement. Its the right thing to do.

The statement comes on the heels of a similar push from Western governors urging members of Congress to support Hawleys bill. On May 1, Republican Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon, chair of the Western Governors Association, and Democratic New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, vice chair of the organization, sent letters to several lawmakers asking them to schedule a vote.

The bill acknowledges that nuclear weapons production and testing has had much broader effects than currently recognized by statute, and Western Governors encourage you to expeditiously schedule the legislation for consideration by the full House, reads a letter sent to House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, a New York Democrat.

RECA was enacted in 1990  to be eligible for compensation under the act, Utahns had to prove they contracted certain types of cancer and lived in Beaver, Garfield, Iron, Kane, Millard, Piute, San Juan, Sevier, Washington or Wayne counties for two consecutive years from 1951 to 1958, or during the summer of 1962.

People who worked in uranium mines, mills or transporting ore in Utah from 1942 to 1971 were also eligible.

Downwinders could receive $50,000, with uranium workers getting $100,000.

Lee and Maloys bill would extend the same program thats been in place since 1990. But activists have long claimed the program was too narrow, pointing to ample evidence that all of Utah and other states in the West were downwind from nuclear weapons testing.

RECA also excludes people who had kidney cancer, certain kinds of leukemia, autoimmune disorders or other diseases that are linked to radiation. And Utahns who worked but didnt reside in eligible counties or lived just across an eligible county line cannot receive compensation.

Hawleys bill, which passed the Senate in March after a bipartisan 69-30 vote, would increase some payouts up to $150,000 while covering people who worked in uranium mines and mills up until 1990, extending the current timeframe by nearly 20 years. Uranium core drillers and remediation workers would also be eligible.

Hawley has said he hopes the expansion will be added to a bill expanding child tax credits.

This story was originally produced by the Utah News Dispatch which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

The post Cox joins other Western governors calling on Congress to expand compensation for downwinders appeared first on Daily Montanan.
(FREMONT COUNTY, Colo.)  Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) teamed up with multiple other agencies on Friday, May 10 to rescue two people from a truck that had plunged into the Arkansas River during heavy snow in Fremont County.

According to CPW, its agency was joined by the Salida Fire Department, Chaffee County EMS, and Colorado State Patrol for rescue efforts after two people became stranded atop a truck that was mostly submerged in the Arkansas River in Bighorn Sheep Canyon. CPW said the truck went into the river during heavy snowfall.

Despite freezing air and even colder waters, rescuers staged along Highway 50 and lowered a raft to the riverbank with three rescuers aboard to paddle toward the truck, where the two people were trapped on the roof.

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

CPW said the rescuers successfully made it to the truck, helping the two people onto the raft and battling a swift current to get them to shore. After making it to shore, rescuers and the two people had to climb up a steep snow-covered embankment to reach waiting emergency responders.

The two people were checked by medical teams and were found to have suffered only minor injuries.

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Courtesy: Colorado Parks and Wildlife

All rescuers made it back to shore safely, even in extremely adverse conditions, and CPW said the truck was marked for removal once the weather clears.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 10. Turkmenistan discussed the promotion of investment and trade with the Pakistani province of Punjab, Trend reports.

According to the official source, these issues were discussed during the meeting of Turkmenistan's Ambassador to Pakistan Atajan Movlamov with the Chief Minister of Punjab province Maryam Nawaz Sharif.

During the meeting, Maryam Nawaz Sharif stated that there are huge opportunities for investment in energy, industry, livestock and agriculture in Punjab province.

She also mentioned the possibility of expanding trade in industries like textiles, pharmaceuticals, agriculture, and animal husbandry.

In turn, Atajan Movlamov expressed great interest in developing trade relations and attracting investments to Pakistan.

Meanwhile, Punjab province in Pakistan stands out as the most industrially developed region due to its extensive industries, including textiles, machinery, chemicals, and others.

Simultaneously, the irrigation canal system upholds Punjab's position as a crucial agricultural region, producing a substantial portion of the nation's food and agricultural crops. This makes Punjab a crucial contributor to Pakistan's economy, promoting both food security and economic growth.
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  A two vehicle crash at Pine St. and Oakland Ave. has shut down Oakland Ave. at Chestnut St. in downtown Lansing.

Lansing Police tell 6 News a person involved in the crash is in a local hospital in serious condition.

One vehicle was on its side, with the windshield smashed out. The vehicle was in a yard of a home on the northwest corner of Pine St. and Oakland between the house and a light pole. The light pole was snapped about halfway up the pole, and the light was bent down parallel to the pole.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Police tape was stretched across Oakland Ave. across Pine St. then west along Oakland Ave. up to the traffic sign.

The second vehicle was further west on Oakland Ave., in the grass near a traffic sign.

Lansing Board of Water and Light was on scene, and an ambulance from Lansing Township arrived as 6 News arrived on scene.

A vehicle on its side at Pine St. and Oakland Ave. Thursday May 9. (WLNS)

As 6 News was leaving, city of Lansing employees were deploying barricades at Chestnut St. Police have Pine St. blocked off with vehicles in both directions.

This is a developing story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
WASHINGTON, D.C.  Congressman Clay Higgins (R-LA) announced that the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has granted his request and included crawfish in the Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honey Bees, and Farm-raised Fish Program (ELAP).

In January, Congressman Higgins sent a letter to USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack requesting that drought be included as an eligible cause of loss for ELAP. Congressman Higgins stated it was a necessary action for Louisianas crawfish farmers to qualify and access emergency assistance in response to the severe drought in 2023. The decision to include crawfish in the ELAP program is a win for Louisianas farmers, said Congressman Higgins. The crawfish industry is a vital part of Louisianas economy and culture. Since coming to Congress, my office has advocated for our crawfish industry every step of the way. We will continue to work at the federal level to deliver for our agricultural community.

Crawfish producer reflects on disaster relief

USDAs announcement makes ELAP available to Louisiana crawfish farmers who experienced losses due to last years excess heat. USDA has worked with the Louisiana Farm Bureau and the LSU AgCenter to create a formula-based payment assistance program. For additional information, or to apply for assistance, producers can contact the Farm Service Agency (FSA) in their local USDA Service Center or visit usda.gov.



Additionally, Congressman Higgins worked with Governor Jeff Landry and members of the Louisiana delegation to secure disaster loan assistance for non-farm crawfish businesses through the Small Business Administration (SBA).

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

KLFY Daily Digest

Latest Posts

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLFY.com.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Last weekend, a man in his 60s needed to be rescued after he found himself stranded on top of a rock spire with a wounded ankle near Moab.

Grand County EMS said crews responded to help the man Saturday afternoon at Pucker Pass in Long Canyon. The man was lying on a hoodoo with a sheer drop on every side.

Skiers killed in backcountry avalanche identified

The man had apparently leapt roughly five feet onto the rock feature and hurt himself in the process.

Just cause ya saw a picture of it online, doesnt always mean its the best idea, the EMS team wrote on Facebook, encouraging others to be safe while enjoying Utahs public lands.

(credit: Grand County EMS)

To rescue the man, crews rigged a ladder with ropes and dropped it across the gap to the hoodoo. Wearing a harness and rope, one of the crew members crawled across the ladder to the wounded man.

The rescue team member strapped a harness, rope and a helmet onto the man before leading him over the ladder to safety. The whole process took roughly two-and-a-half hours.

The Grand County Sheriffs Search and Rescue team assisted in the operation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
Andrej Plenkovic, centre, arrives at the presidential palace to meet President Zoran Milanovic, in Zagreb, Croatia, Friday, May 10, 2024. Croatian conservative leader and two-time prime minister, Andrej Plenkovic, on Friday was appointed prime minister-designate after he forged an alliance with an extreme party following an inconclusive election. (AP Photo)

ZAGREB, Croatia (AP)  Croatian conservative leader Andrej Plenkovic was formally appointed prime minister-designate on Friday for a third consecutive term after he forged an alliance with an extreme right party following an inconclusive election.

Plenkovic's ruling Croatian Democratic Union won the most votes at last month's parliamentary vote in the European Union nation, but not enough to stay in power on their own. The party this week agreed to form a coalition with far-right Homeland Movement for a parliamentary majority.

Lawmakers are set to approve Plenkovic's new government next week. It will have a slim majority of 78 lawmakers in the 151-member assembly, which could herald political uncertainty.

We will continue in our third mandate to work for progress, Plenkovic said on X, former Twitter, after he was appointed by President Zoran Milanovic.

Plenkovic's new Cabinet is likely to push Croatia further to the right ahead of next month's European election, which takes place as the continent faces a war in Ukraine, climate emergencies, migration and other problems.

The Homeland Movement, or DP, is a relatively new political party in Croatia, made up largely of radical nationalists and social conservatives who had left the center-right HDZ. The party is led by the hard-line mayor of the eastern town of Vukovar, which was destroyed during Croatias 1991 war for independence after it split from the former Yugoslavia.

For the first time in years, Croatias government will not include a party representing minority Serbs because DP opposed their inclusion. That has fueled concerns about ethnic tensions stemming from the conflict in the 1990s.

HDZ has largely held office since Croatia gained independence. The Balkan nation became an EU member in 2013, and joined Europes passport-free travel area and the eurozone last year.
Civil rights attorney Ben Crump lambasted Florida police Friday for the decision that led to the fatal shooting of a 23-year-old Black airman in his own home.

Crumps criticism followed the release of body camera footage that shows an Okaloosa County Sheriffs deputy shooting Roger Fortson six times within seconds of Fortson opening his apartment door.

There is no question that the officer acted with impulse and a lack of proper training when he shot and killed Roger within seconds of the door opening, Crump said in a statement Friday.

Fortson died May 3 after a deputy responded to a call of a domestic dispute. The deputy, who has not yet been publicly identified, opened fire when Fortson opened the door holding his legally owned firearm.

The four-and-a-half-minute body camera footage shows the deputy knocking at least three times and identifying himself as a member of the sheriffs office at least twice.

According to Crump, Fortson had been unable to see anyone when he looked out the peephole, despite asking who was knocking. When Fortson opened the door, the deputy tells him to step out. Before he can, the deputy opened fire, the video shows.

When he opened his door and saw the sheriffs deputy, Roger had his gun pointed to the ground with one hand and held his other hand up to signal he was not going to shoot, Crump said.

Only after Rogers body was riddled with bullets did the officer instruct Roger to drop his gun. Even after he was shot, Roger intended to comply with the officers commands to drop his weapon saying with his final breaths, Its over there. I dont have it,' the civil rights attorney added.

The footage was released after Crump and attorney Brian Barr, both representing Fortsons family, held a press conference demanding transparency from the department. The family has accused the deputy of going to the wrong apartment, something the sheriff denies.

Though the deputy was responding to what residents said sounded like a fight between a man and a woman, Fortson was alone in his apartment at the time the officer arrived.

An unnamed witness who was on Facetime with Fortson at the time of the shooting verified that he was alone in the apartment, according to Crump.

Fortson was an active-duty airman in the Air Force who had just celebrated his birthday in April. According to Crump, he had also just returned from serving in Kuwait.

It is a harrowing tragedy that Roger dedicated his life to serving his country and defending our constitutional rights and in the end, his constitutional rights were violated, leading to his death, Crump wrote.

The second amendment afforded Roger the right to own a gun and yield it as protection when he was unsure who was on the other side of his door. It is clear that this officer needs to be investigated and held accountable for the execution of Roger, he added. We will not rest until there is justice for Roger and his family.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden met with Fortsons family Thursday and said in his own press conference that the Florida Department of Law Enforcement is conducting a criminal investigation.

I told Mr. Fortsons family this afternoon that they have my word, if the shooting is found to be unjustified their sons name will be fully vindicated, Aden said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
CUMBERLAND COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)  Two Cumberland County residents were celebrated this week by the Cumberland County Commissioners, the Cumberland County Elections Bureau and other State officials for their outstanding voting records.

Wanda Hunter, Carlisle, and Richard Arnold, Lemoyne, were both inducted into the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame for 50 consecutive years of voting.

Hunter, who is 82, said she went to her polls with her grandmother and took her children when she went to vote.

My ancestors fought for what many of us take for granted, so I didnt want to give it up, said Wanda Hunter. Ive enjoyed all the years I voted, and to get out to vote means so much to me.

Cumberland County resident Wanda Hunter stands with her children and the Cumberland County Board of Elections at the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame Induction on Tuesday, May 7. (Photo Courtesy Cumberland County)

Cumberland County resident Wanda Hunter stands with her children at the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame Induction on Tuesday, May 7. (Photo Courtesy Cumberland County)

Arnold, who is 72, began voting in 1971.

My dad voted, and I learned about voting from him and in my high school civics class, said he said. When I turned 19, I began voting, and in 52 years I havent missed an election.

A ceremony was held Tuesday in their honor. Hunter and Arnold also received official recognitions from the Governors Office, the Department of State, State Senators Mike Regan and Greg Rothman, and Representative Barb Gleim.

Courtesy Cumberland County

Cumberland County resident Richard Arnold stands with the Cumberland County Board of Elections at the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame Induction on Tuesday, May 7. (Photo Courtesy Cumberland County)

What an extraordinary example of commitment to the democratic process, Cumberland County Commissioner Kelly Neiderer said. Your unwavering dedication to the voting process serves as an inspiration to all of us.

According to the county, only 546 Cumberland County residents have been inducted into the Pennsylvania Voter Hall of Fame to date. Statewide, there have been 24,432 residents who have received the recognition.

To be eligible, Pennsylvanians must vote in every November general election for 50 years.

October 21 is the last day to register before the November 5 election. To register, visit vote.pa.gov/Register.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Czech authorities placed Russian military intelligence (GRU) Major General Andrey Averyanov on the country's wanted list, Seznam Zpravy reported on May 10.

The country's investigators believe that Averyanov coordinated the supposed Russian sabotage operation in 2014 that led to ammunition depot explosions in the eastern Czech town of Vrbetice, killing two people and causing damages in tens of millions of dollars.

The wanted notice was published on the Czech police's website, indicating that the search was declared on May 7.

Averyanov is the commander of the notorious GRU Unit 29155, associated with assassinations and destabilization operations outside of Russia. The unit was also reportedly behind the poisoning of ex-Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the U.K. in 2018.

The Czech police concluded the investigation into Vrbetice blasts last week, saying that Russian operatives were responsible for the sabotage.

Media reports emerged in 2021 that the ammunition was supposed to be transferred either to Ukraine or to Syria, reportedly for the Syrian opposition battling the regime of Bashar al-Assad, an ally of Russia. The company that owned the supplies disputed these claims.

The Insider investigative outlet reported on April 29 that two Russian-born Czech citizens, Nikolay and Elena Saposnikov, aided Moscow's agents in the operation.

Read also: Russian GRU unit linked to mysterious attacks on US officials abroad

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
(Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

Iowas congressional delegation focused on Israel and Palestine this past week while also discussing multiple rural health care initiatives and pregnancy.gov, a website with resources for new mothers.

Heres a look at what the delegation was up to this week:

Israel weapon supply

Sens. Joni Ernst and Chuck Grassley, as well as Rep. Ashley Hinson, weighed in on President Joe Bidens decision not to supply weapons to Israel if it goes into Rafah, a Hamas stronghold in Gaza.

There should be no wavering in U.S. support for Israel as they defend their right to exist and fight to bring Hamas-held hostages home, Ernst said in a news release. As he plays politics with these lives and abandons American civilians to Iran-backed terrorists, the Biden administration fails to admit the munitions he is denying are the precision tools needed to prevent civilian casualties.

Grassley criticized Biden, saying he should learn from lessons of the past.

Biden swore Israel would not be alone in this fight, Grassley said in a news release. Now, hes making a politically-oriented decision to turn his back on our greatest ally in the Middle East.

Biden spoke about civilians who have been killed by bombs in Gaza and that Israel must do more to protect civilians in Gaza in an interview with CNN.

President Biden halting shipments of lethal military aid to Israel is nothing short of a gift to Hamas terrorists, Hinson said in a news release. Israel has the right to defend itself from Hamas, and Congress voted overwhelmingly to send Israel the lethal military aid necessary to do so. Hamas is responsible for every single civilian casualty in Gaza.

Grassley also said that all deaths since Oct. 7 are at the hands of Hamas.

Earlier in the week, Ernst wrote a letter to Biden asking for more information on weapons reportedly withheld from Israel.

U.S.Israel health care collaboration

Close coordination between the U.S. and Israel is the target of a new Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks bill that attempts to address innovation and health care advancement.

The Maximizing Israel-U.S. Research Advancement and Collaborative Leadership in Emerging Medical Technology Act would promote exchange programs and training, increase disease prevention initiatives, increase technology safety, support innovation hubs for new and emerging health technologies and promote research and development between the two countries.

At a time when Israel is under attack, it is critical that potential medical breakthroughs are not stifled, Miller-Meeks said in a news release, adding that Israel is an innovation and technological powerhouse.

Jewish Heritage Month resolution

Each May since 2006 Congress and the president have approved the recognition of Jewish American Heritage Month through a resolution.

On Wednesday, Miller-Meeks introduced the 2024 resolution, which encourages all Americans to learn more about Jewish culture and pay tribute to the generations of Jewish Americans who have helped shape American history, according to Miller-Meeks office.

Our important effort comes at a time when antisemitism continues to rear its ugly head across the country, Miller-Meeks said in a news release. The purveyors of antisemitism must be stopped. I will continue to push for efforts to counter antisemitism and stand with our Jewish friends and neighbors.

Defunding higher education for violent protests

The No Higher Education Assistance for Mobs of Antisemitic and terrorist Sympathizing Students (No HAMAS) Act was introduced by Ernst and Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina.

The bill would affect funding at universities where students are convicted of trespassing, rioting or damaging property while protesting. Students would also lose eligibility for government aid.

Violence against Jewish students is not a First Amendment right, and every American should oppose these pro-Hamas protests, Ernst said in a news release.

The bill comes after pro-Palestine protests and encampments being staged on college campuses across the country.

Bird flu collaboration

Grassley, Ernst and a bipartisan group of 15 other senators called on Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Tom Vilsack to provide coordinated, up-to-date information on Avian Influenza.

The lawmakers wrote a letter specifically concerned about commercial milk and meat production as well as the health of the producers in those industries.

The spread of the strain to livestock, including goats and cattle, and a farmworker in Texas, underscores the urgency required to confront this outbreak through a collaborative federal response, heightened surveillance, and additional resources to support vaccine research, the lawmakers wrote.

The lawmakers asked the USDA to coordinate its approach with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration, researchers and state and local partners.

Previous outbreaks have benefited from a consortium strategy wherein the USDA brought together the brightest minds in epidemiology and animal health research to lessen the potential economic and societal cost of the spread, the lawmakers wrote. We ask that the USDA take a similar approach.

Maternal health bill

Grassley and other Republican senators introduced a bill supported by various pro-life organizations.

The bill, the More Opportunities for Moms to Succeed Act, would establish Pregnancy.gov, a website highlighting resources available for mothers and would improve access for grant programs for organizations assisting women in carrying pregnancies to term and caring for children after birth.

New and expectant mothers should have ready access to health care resources, Grassley said in a news release. Often, even when the appropriate support exists, it can be difficult to find or get to  especially for women living in rural areas.

The bill would also require states to apply child support obligations during pregnancy, according to Grassleys office.

Two bills for hospital accessibility for rural seniors

A bill to fund renovations, training equipment and more for rural hospitals passed the House Ways and Means Committee. The bill, the Rural Hospital Stabilization Act introduced by Rep. Randy Feenstra, would authorize a pilot program that would fund hospitals, especially ones with smaller patient capacity and at risk of closure.

A second Feenstra-led bill, the Audio-Only Telehealth Access Act, would make permanent Medicare coverage of audio-only telehealth services. A temporary waiver funding audio-only services will expire in December.

Protecting access to affordable, reliable healthcare in rural Iowa is a top priority for me in Congress, Feenstra said in a news release. Its why Im glad that two bills that I introduced to support our rural communities passed the House Ways and Means Committee.

Veteran suicide prevention

A bill introduced by Rep. Zach Nunn attempts to address the issue of combat veterans who die by suicide passed the House having been approved by the House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Economic Opportunity last November.

The bill would increase mental health education for veterans and would include provisions to the Transition Assistance Program to combat mental health-related conditions.

The bill is named after two men who died by suicide after serving in the military, including Iowan Corporal Adam Lambert from Adel.

Unfortunately, too often the transition back to civilian life is harder than it should be, Nunn said in a news release. Im grateful to have worked with Adams parents, Dean and Jill, to honor his memory and improve mental health services for Americas veterans.

Retiree scams

Nunn introduced a bipartisan bill to invest in state responses to scams.

The bill would grant the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission money to invest in state responses to scams by hiring enforcement officers and developing educational resources. The bill would also grant money to assist retirees by developing forward-thinking strategies to combat financial exploitation and fraud against retirees.

Ensuring Iowans life savings are protected isnt a partisan matter  its a matter of right or wrong, Nunn said in a news release. Were fighting back against con artists preying on retirees. No one should have to worry about financial fraud during their golden years.

The 2023 Elder Fraud Report from the FBI found that more than 100,000 retirees were reported as being victims of scams. Those who were scammed lost an average of $33,915.

School safety grants

A bipartisan bill for schools would allow funds to be made available for drug abuse awareness and prevention and reduction of human trafficking and gang activity.

The bill would award competitive grants from the U.S. Department of Education to implement programs to prevent those activities.

Dangerous drugs, human trafficking, and violence are pouring over our Southern Border into our communities, and theres no doubt that the solution to this crisis starts with securing our border, Nunn said in a news release. At the same time, we can also protect our kids and save lives with commonsense solutions that address rising crime in our communities.

The bill would make limit the available funds to public schools.

Occupational therapy bill

Nunn also introduced a bipartisan bill that would, according to him, reduce barriers to treatment for Medicare recipients.

The Occupational Therapy and Mental Health Parity Act would require stakeholder education to clarify coverage by Medicare for occupational therapy services for substance use and mental health disorders.

Our nation is facing both a mental health and substance abuse crisis, Nunn said in a news release. Occupational therapists can make a massive difference in treatment and recovery from these diagnoses.

Fentanyl Awareness Day

Grassley introduced a bipartisan resolution this week to designate Tuesday, May 7, 2024, as National Fentanyl Awareness Day.

The resolution was aimed at informing the public about counterfeit fentanyl pills.

The post D.C. Dispatch: Support for Israel, rural access to health care appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
We are not being told what to say and what to think and we are not telling our audience what to say or think. For Camilla Tominey, this is about as clear a mission statement as you can get  and indicative of the no-nonsense approach Telegraph readers have long associated with her.

Shes talking about her latest project, a new podcast for The Telegraph, co-hosted with Kamal Ahmed  and the pair are currently crammed into a sparse and airless second-floor meeting room a few doors down from where the finishing touches are being put to their purpose-built (and somewhat more glamorous) recording studio. Theyve come to discuss a venture into audio journalism that promises to deliver the days breaking stories and high quality analysis to a new audience every weekday. The Daily T, as it will be known, might not be the first such endeavour but it will, they stress, have plenty of unique properties.

Tominey, 45, is dressed, as she puts it herself, nicely. Ahmed, 56, fills the confined space with poise, wearing the traditional uniform of a liberal media grandee: thin grey wool trousers and a roll-neck sweater. Preparation for The Daily T launch has been intense, but for two seasoned journalists such as Tominey and Ahmed, any stress presents as measured excitement.

This will be about bringing the vibrancy of the newsroom into the podcast, says Ahmed, himself a former Telegraph, Observer and BBC editor. The studio overlooks the newsroom so it means Camilla and I will have all this brilliant journalism at our fingertips. The key to great journalism now is, However you want it, we can get it to you, and we can get it to you quickly, show you the drama, tell you the inside track in audio.

Ahmed: 'However you want it, we can get it to you' - Tom Jamieson

He adds, Well also be recording it to view on YouTube. Its going to be an intimate experience. We want listeners to take away the informed debate Camilla and I will be having about what the stories really mean. It could be that the Prime Minister has just resigned, or it could be a huge culture story, the Royal family, business or sport  we will be here bringing you our experience as journalists and that of all our colleagues.

In a funny way we are going back to some of the basics, adds Tominey. We will be going out reporting on stories as well as commenting on them. By the time the podcast goes out at teatime [hence The Daily T, as well as representing The Telegraph and tea being slang for gossip], our listeners will probably have heard the headlines, but they will want to know the story behind them.

As well as the insight of Tominey and Ahmed  and their ability to call on the most informed guests around  The Daily T will have a couple of other distinctive selling points. Reflecting its place in The Telegraph family, it will be a Right-of-centre-focused podcast, which the co-presenters are aware is something of a rarity in the mainstream British media landscape.

Theres a gap in the market for something that hasnt been designed by a Left-wing committee, says Tominey. A lot of programming serves an agenda and I dont have an agenda beyond expressing an honest opinion, listening to other peoples honest opinions and  shock horror  changing my opinions if someone convinces me their arguments are better than mine.

Tominey: 'I don't have an agenda beyond expressing an honest opinion' - Tom Jamieson

The biggest single criticism of the current crop of political and news podcasts is that the presenters come from similar backgrounds or share the same opinions and end up agreeing on almost everything, which doesnt stop them being informed, but can make them prone to prolonged bouts in confirmation bias and self-affirmation. Tominey wants something different that she calls agreeable disagreement.

I would be described by most people as socially liberal but economically Im pretty dry, adds Ahmed. My go-to political books are Charles Moores brilliant biography of Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blairs autobiography. Both have affected my political journey and both have important things to say. Camilla and I come from different political persuasions and thats a good thing. Neither of us is an ideologue  we dont stick to a line. We just need to be ourselves. Camilla lives in the beautiful countryside and I live in north London. I am a walking cliche that some people might describe as the north London liberal.

So is he a member of the metropolitan liberal elite? Thats a phrase I have put in copy quite a few times, interrupts Tominey. Little did I know Id be working with one of these elitists.

People may think they know me, but they dont, says Ahmed. I grew up in very modest surroundings and now Ive become the north London joke and thats fine. Camilla lives in the Home Counties, of course.

Ahmed accompanies former SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon as she arrives to take part in BBC Question Time in Sheffield, 2019 - Getty

So now Im the joke, because Im called Camilla everybody thinks Ive got a pony and a Range Rover. Does she have a pony and Range Rover? No, though I do have a pair of Hunter wellies. But Right of centre is my position. I can be Left of centre on some things. I can be surprising. We shouldnt be afraid to express an opinion even if its contrary to what others ascribe to us. Everybody knows Im not a Leftie. There is an attempt to marginalise anyone who expresses a Right-of-centre sentiment as being hard Right or far Right. My grandmother was a Holocaust survivor [her step-grandmother survived Auschwitz and a death march in 1944] so the idea of being far Right is anathema to me. So Im very nuanced because lifes complicated is probably the best way to describe my opinions.

Like actors being cast for a new romantic comedy, they went through the ordeal of a chemistry test to assess their compatibility. I wondered if they had discussed any great presenting double acts of the past and what they could learn from them. Tomineys first thought is Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street.

Neither will offer a suggestion as to which would be which, though Ahmed does provide a clue: Camilla is very funny and Im boring. Then she suggests Statler and Waldorf, the irascible hecklers from The Muppet Show. A pattern emerges. Both are keen to offset the seriousness of the task ahead of them with a healthy dose of self-deprecation.

We had a chemistry test in a studio in Shoreditch as we hadnt seen each other for a while, says Tominey. We discovered wed both been to Leeds University. And we started having test chats. Kamal is very polite. Im also polite, but I am robust in how I express my views. Im never rude. This will be the antidote to social media, where its all screaming and ranting and raging. I think the public have had enough of slanging matches and the media doesnt reflect enough normal conversations that happen at the dinner table or in the pub. And the effect of Twitter and so on? Social media has bastardised the discourse and made things more divisive than they need to be. If you want to be informed, as well as entertained, thats what were there for. At teatime, it could be a commuter or someone making dinner for their family.

Or soaking in the bath, adds Ahmed. The options are endless. But taking the chemistry test was nerve-racking. It was like your first Tinder date. You cant be sure it will work out until you take the test. We had the producers and adjudicators watching over us like Victorian maiden aunts.

I shoot from the hip and perhaps Im a bit more cavalier, says Tominey. I cant help but just express myself in a frank and honest way.

Ahmeds long path to presenting The Daily T mirrors the evolution of news coverage over the past two decades, from the integration of print and digital news to the explosion of social media, video and audio. The son of a Sudanese father and a British mother, he grew up in Ealing in west London and after university worked his way into The Observer, before a first stint with The Telegraph in 2009. Four years later he joined the BBC, first as business editor, then economics editor and finally as editorial director of BBC News.

When I left the BBC, I started my own media company [The News Movement] which was about rethinking journalism for people of my childrens age, 20 and 23, he says. The decision to [leave and] come here was a difficult one. When you are offered the opportunity to do something like this and you are all about getting trusted journalism to people, then podcasting is that new space. And when they said Its with Camilla, I realised this is someone I want to listen to.

Tomineys 20-years-and-counting career has been a triumph of talent and iron will. Following a classic route via a local newspaper  the Hemel Hempstead Gazette  she joined the Sunday Express, where her indefatigability (to borrow George Galloways favourite word) saw her become simultaneously royal editor, political editor, columnist and leader writer. And then I came here. Though here has never been quite enough for her, as she continues to be the go-to voice on the Royal family for Australias Nine Network and ITVs This Morning, as well as hosting her own GB News television show every Sunday.

Camilla Tominey covers the Labour Conference on GB News, October 2023

Most people would describe me as a workaholic but there are worse things to be addicted to, she says, alluding obliquely to her alcoholic mother, about whom she has written with candour. Ive only got the three jobs at the moment. As a woman you are always grappling with Am I being a good journalist this week or am I being a good mother? and are they inversely proportional to each other? If I chase this story am I being a worse mother? You might fear your career would stall because youve had children. Weirdly, Ive never been more promoted since I had children. I am doing a six-day week but we are balancing it all. My children think Im deeply tragic but they are also proud of what I do.

Ahmed, whose 2018 book The Life and Times of a Very British Man explores the complex and sometimes troubled experiences of Britons from a mixed-race background, is similarly sensitive about the upsides to journalisms intensity and the toll it can take: I was brought up by a single mum and my mother wanted to work. She was a great feminist and anti-racism campaigner in education and Im very proud that she did what she did. Youre right to say there are sometimes sacrifices, but also it does mean your children can see there is a journey you can go on and it can be exciting and, most importantly, worthwhile. Journalism is a values-driven job. Without factual, well-delivered journalism, democracy is at risk. If your children can see that and be proud of you then thats got to be a good thing.

Ahmed pictured with his mother Elaine in 2018 - Heathcliff O'Malley

Understandably, neither of them want to overplay the stresses and strains of being the kind of journalist for whom 24-hour availability is expected. Its not going down mines, says Tominey. Yet the demands are real and as Tominey demonstrates, new duties have a habit of piling on top of one another rather than replacing old ones.

There are massive difficulties with this lifestyle, she says. I spent the last five years worrying about going on holiday and taking black outfits because of the age of the Duke of Edinburgh and Queen Elizabeth. And everyone in my family accepted that. I was on maternity leave when William and Kate got engaged and in a doctors surgery with my middle child, so I had to leave my baby with a friend and hotfoot it down to the Palace, where I had a little chat with Kate. When I got home I realised Id got ready in such a rush that my dress was inside out and my underwear was showing.

That was a necessary sacrifice in the furtherance of my career. However, had I been a bloke I wouldnt be talking about sacrifice, Id just be talking about doing my job. When I went away on a two-week royal trip people would ask, Whos looking after the children? and Id say, They have this thing called a father, who is so useful.

Camilla Tominey, centre, presents coverage of the wedding of Prince Harry and Meghan Markle on NBC Universal - NBC

To succeed, The Daily T will need to foster an enduring relationship with its listeners. That will involve a high degree of engagement and interaction, the worst excesses of which journalists are increasingly steeled to cope with, if not entirely accept. For example, Tominey received death threats after she challenged the truth of Meghan and Harrys claims in their interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2021.

Actually you do have to have quite a lot of courage to be a journalist today, she says. Graduates who come through are worried about getting a huge backlash on social media. We say dont edit yourself but report the facts as you find them. Thats what we intend to do on the podcast: reporting without fear or favour. When I write my columns Im now in an environment where people who dont agree with you dont just say youre wrong, but call you a bigot for expressing views I would regard as mainstream.

Ive had some similar experiences with racism, says Ahmed. Its important we are passionate about what we do and what Im most passionate about is informing the public. Im not a fan of everything is a battle. Id rather have a discussion than a fight. Theres the relationship between the presenters, plus the relationship with the listeners and the best ones make you feel like part of the family.

Podcasts are revelatory, says Tominey. People say more on podcasts than in major interviews, such as when the Princess of Wales discussed being a mother for the first time on a Giovanna Fletcher podcast. Thats the environment they create. There is a human tale at the heart of every great story. We say frank and fearless and talk about the freedom to say what we think, because that is what its all about.

The Daily T launches on 13 May and will be released on weekday afternoons

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 Washington man was arrested on Wednesday after Seattle police said he shot his 9-month-old son in the head while under the influence of a hallucinogenic drug.

Dion Lamont Montgomery, 35, faces several charges, including first-degree murder, in connection to the death of his son, according to an affidavit obtained by HuffPost.

Police responded to a report of shooting at around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the Seattle Police Department said in a statement that night.

Witnesses told officers that Montgomery had fired four to five shots at two people before running off, according to the affidavit, though neither bystander was injured.

MicroStockHub Illustration: HuffPost; Photo: G

After Montgomery was arrested, police got another call about a woman running around with a gun, shouting that her child had been shot.

The boys mother, Montgomerys wife, told police she was in the bathroom when she heard a gunshot, according to the affidavit. She asked Montgomery what the noise was, to which he responded, It was a blank.

After Montgomerys wife noticed a gun in his front pants pocket, she took the weapon away, and Montgomery left their home soon after, according to the affidavit. When Montgomerys wife went to check on their child, she discovered hed been killed. She ran outside, where responding police detained her.

Montgomery allegedly admitted to smoking PCP, a hallucinogenic commonly known as angel dust, right before the shooting and blamed his actions on demons, according to the affidavit.

During her questioning, the mother said she and her husband both smoked marijuana the day of the shooting, but that she was unaware that hed consumed a hallucinogenic. She said Montgomery had once made an attempt on her life, and that she periodically stays away from him when he gets a weird look in his eyes.

According to Fox affiliate KCPQ, Montgomery has been arrested several times in the past on 14 felonies including theft, assault and burglary.

In an email to HuffPost on Friday, prosecutors stated that Montgomery did not appear in court on Thursday, but was represented by his defense attorney. His bail was set at $5 million.

Need help with substance use disorder or mental health issues? In the U.S., call 800-662-HELP (4357) for the SAMHSA National Helpline.

Related...
ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan, May 10. The delegation of Turkmenistan, headed by Chairman of the State Bank of Foreign Economic Affairs Rahimberdy Jepbarov, held investment negotiations with foreign partners, Trend reports.

According to the official source, the Turkmen delegation discussed these issues at the 13th Annual Investment Meeting (AIM 2024) in Abu Dhabi.

On the sidelines of the event, representatives of the Turkmen delegation held a number of bilateral meetings with foreign partners, including the delegations of Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and the UAE.

Government, corporate, investor, and expert representatives convene annually to discuss global concerns and promote investments.

The meetings discussed bilateral economic relations, efficient use of natural resources, energy markets, attracting investments in mutually beneficial large-scale projects, new mechanisms for contacts in the field of increasing productivity at the largest fields, and environmentally friendly technologies.

Meanwhile, Turkmenistan is actively developing investment relations and making a variety of attempts to attract foreign investment.

These efforts include creating an attractive investment environment, improving the legal and regulatory environment, implementing business-promoting reforms, and actively promoting international investment opportunities through forums, exhibitions, and business events.
Dame Shirley Conran, the designer, journalist, novelist and campaigner, who has died aged 91, in her zig-zag career (her words) delighted in launching high-profile challenges to the norms that she believed constrained women of her generation.

Her 1975 bestseller Superwoman, including her mantra life is too short to stuff a mushroom, sought to liberate them from the tyranny of housework. Her raunchy 1982 novel, Lace, another bestseller, urged them unashamedly to take control in the bedroom and everywhere else in their lives.

And in the 2000s, at the head of Maths Action, she campaigned remorselessly to gave the lie to any suggestion that maths is not a subject well suited to the female sex.

If Shirley Conrans many homes  including at one stage a French chateau and three apartments in Monaco  showed her impeccable good taste, it was her unerring eye for publicity that made her stand out more.

Shirley Conran holding a mop at Selfridges department store, London, 1957 - Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images

Sometimes she garnered headlines for herself because she could not be bothered to be polite, as when, in the Telegraph, she dismissed Christmas cards because my self-esteem isnt based on how many shepherds and robins Ive got perched on the sideboard.

More often, however, she deployed her formidable skills for generating interest to draw attention to her latest project.

And so when Maths Action in 2014 produced Money Stuff, a glossy, shamelessly aspirational e-book, free to download and aimed at getting girls to take maths seriously, she launched it at the Aston-Martin dealership on Park Lane and reworked her earlier catchphrase as life is too short to be short of money.

Jasper, Shirley and Terence Conran at a book launch in 1993 - ALAN DAVIDSON

Some accused Shirley Conran of hypocrisy, believing that her own financial security came solely as a result of her seven-year marriage in the late 1950s to the designer, Habitat founder and restaurateur, Terence Conran. But, as she was the first to point out, she had made all her money herself, mostly from her books, so much indeed that she was routinely included throughout the 1980s on lists of Britains wealthiest women.

It had been a lack of money that, in 1970, set Shirley Conran on the path that made her a household name. While studying painting at Chelsea Polytechnic in the mid-1950s she had met and fallen in love with the young Terence Conran, in the Kings Road coffee bar he ran. As he built his business empire, she ran her own, designing textiles for corporate clients who included major airlines.

After their divorce in 1962, she switched to journalism, becoming two years later womens editor at the newly launched Observer magazine, and then in 1969 establishing Femail at the Daily Mail. The following year, however, she was struck down by a virus that left her exhausted, unable to walk more than a few paces and allergic to light or noise.

Top tips on taking short cuts to a better life

She had to wait a long time before anyone gave her condition a name  myalgic encephalopathy (ME), now usually referred to as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. For the rest of her life it would force her to spend three months of each year in bed in a darkened room. In 1970, however, she had two young sons  Jasper and Sebastian  to raise.

Unable to go out to work, she found her debts accumulating; she was forced to downsize four times in one year. In despair, she poured whatever was left of her once formidable energy into writing the book that became Superwoman.

Aimed at women readers, it tapped into the spirit of popular feminism in the Seventies by telling them that they could have it all if they only learnt to be more efficient about the housework. Or just skimped on it.

It sold 50,000 copies on publication and headed the bestsellers list for 16 weeks. It struck such a chord that at one stage, Shirley Conran recalled, she was receiving thousands of letters a week. She wrote a personal reply to each.

Always restless, she moved on, and in the early 80s landed herself a 1 million advance for Lace, referred to by some as the first bonk-buster. While its sparky, capable, articulate heroines made their own choices in every area of their lives, all chronicled in raunchy detail, Shirley Conran always insisted it was also a moral book. Its opening scene described an abortion with stomach-turning realism: scrape scrape scrape.

Raunchy: her first bestselling novel, Lace

Lace sold 1.8 million copies in paperback, became a US television miniseries, and set Shirley Conran off on another career as a successful popular novelist (Savages in 1987, Crimson in 1991 and Tiger Eyes in 1994) that lasted until the late 1990s, when the achievement gap between young men and young women in maths caught her eye while she was busy researching something else altogether.

Putting fiction to one side, she devoted most of the rest of her life  and a substantial six-figure sum  to Maths Action. It so impressed first Michael Gove and then Nicky Morgan, his successor as Secretary of State for Education, that they appointed and retained the author as a special adviser to their department until 2016.

I did my research, she once said of the origins of this crusade, undertaken in her late 70s and early 80s, when most of her contemporaries were resting on their laurels, and when I was sure no one was doing anything [about the situation], I said to myself, Well, Shirley, youd better give it a go. 

She was born Shirley Ida Pearce, the eldest of six, on September 21 1932. Her seaman father, Thirlby, had made his money in a dry-cleaning business on the south coast, drove a Rolls-Royce and had high aspirations for his daughter. He was also, she remembered unflinchingly, a violent alcoholic. Her mother was Ida Pearce.

Shirley was sent to Saint Pauls Girls School in London, where she excelled in most subjects, except for maths. I was a B, and at Saint Pauls that was very low.

Shirley and Terence Conran looking at a new shelving design, 1955 - Express/Getty

Next, she went via finishing school in Switzerland to study sculpture at Portsmouth Art School. She was 22 when she met, fell for and six months later married Terence Conran. He had a sense of mission, she recalled. I was head acolyte.

Their divorce, caused by his infidelity, did nothing to sidetrack her career. As she thrived in newspapers, she also took on her first campaigning role, as head of publicity for the Women in Media coalition pushing for legislation against sex discrimination.

Shirley Conrans unapologetic style was already making her stand out. As a mother, her son Jasper later recalled with pride, she would turn up [at his school] wearing a crocheted dress and no underwear. Shed come roaring down the driveway in a sportscar and skid.

Jasper went on to become a successful designer in his own right, though from 2002 to 2015 there was a long and very public estrangement from his mother. She always claimed not to know what she had done to offend him. Id rather he was successful and happy and didnt see me, she said, than he was dead or something. I was lucky to have a devoted son for 40 years. They were reconciled in 2015 when she attended his wedding to the Irish artist, Oisin Byrne.

After Superwoman, and its spin-offs, Shirley Conran had turned her attention in print to other issues confronting women. Futures: How to Survive Life After Thirty was co-authored in 1979 with Elizabeth Sidney. It was a rallying cry for those whose husbands had left them.

Shirley Conran was married twice more, in 1962 to John Stephenson and in 1972 to Kevin OSullivan, but never discarded her first married name. Jack Heinz doesnt change his names when he gets divorced. He doesnt change the names on the tins. Why should I?

She seldom had a good word to say for husbands two and three, but remained close to Terence, who died in 2020. Their other son, Sebastian, another designer, and his two children brought her particular joy.

Shirley Conran, 1978 - Alamy

Taking time out from her maths campaign, in 2001 she tackled another social trend that she had spotted sooner than most. She established the Work-Life Balance Trust, gaining backing from New Labour and its equalities minister, Margaret Hodge, and persuading three million people in 2004 to participate in Work-Life Balance Day. Her efforts were rewarded with a CBE in 2004, advanced to DBE 20 years later.

If Superwoman had been full of top tips on taking short cuts to a better life, its author never took her own advice. As diligent in the depth of her research as she was inventive in sharing what she had learnt, Shirley Conran worked ferociously hard into her 80s to achieve so much.

I did retire when I was 67, she once quipped, but only for three weeks because I cant see any reason to retire as long as you are OK on your feet and in your brain.

Such drive could make her a hard taskmaster and a candid friend. For a woman who made her name as a spokesperson for her sex, she was undeniably a one-off.

Dame Shirley Conran, born September 21 1932, died May 9 2024

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
In a revealing new memoir titled The Klansmans Son: My Journey from White Nationalism to Antiracism, R. Derek Black, once known as a figurehead of American white nationalism, has come out as transgender . The memoir, which traces Blacks journey away from the extremist ideologies of their family, also delves into their personal experiences with gender identity.



According to the New York Post, Black discusses how they were often mistaken for a girl in childhood while involved in activities for their fathers KKK chapter, a role that haunted yet subtly affirmed their gender identity. It wasnt until attending New College of Florida , known for its progressive student body, that Black began to explore and accept their gender identity openly.

The culture at New College and the people I met helped me to understand and accept that I fit under the trans umbrella, Black writes in the memoir. This acknowledgment comes at a critical time, as Black emphasizes the current hostile climate against trans rights in states like Florida, where they grew up.

Blacks story is not just a personal confession but a public continuation of their work in antiracism. Having renounced the white nationalist views propagated by their family, including their father, Don Black, and godfather, former KKK leader David Duke, Blacks transformation is both ideological and deeply personal, the Post reports.

The memoir also touches on Blacks complex relationship with their family, whom they have largely distanced themselves from ideologically and personally. In 2020, Black married Allison Gornick, a clinical psychologist, and describes the union as pivotal to their personal reform and public advocacy. Allison entered my life at a moment that I felt least like someone worthy of being trusted or loved, they recall in the memoir.

The Klansmans Son is set to release on May 14, with Black committed to supporting other transgender people facing discrimination, particularly in the charged atmosphere of their home state.
University of New Mexico President Garnett Stokes met with student protesters on the morning of April 9, 2024. (Screenshot courtesy of Instagram)

Eighteen days into the Palestine Solidarity Encampment at the University of New Mexico, the university president for the first time met with students staying at the camp.

UNM President Garnett Stokes visited the camp Thursday after two members of the New Mexico House of Representatives wrote her letters this week joining calls for amnesty for protesters, and one tried to enable a meeting between her and students at the camp.

Our pressure is working, the camp wrote on social media. This is just the beginning. Now the real work of holding her feet to the fire begins. We will not stop. We will not rest.

Cinnamon Blair, a university spokesperson, said UNM received both letters and is communicating with each lawmaker, but had not yet responded in writing.

The visit with the protesters at the Duck Pond will hopefully lead to further productive discussions, Blair said.

The camp on Tuesday quoted at length from a letter by Rep. Eleanor Chavez (D-Albuquerque). Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero (D-Albuquerque), wrote the second letter to UNM.

In her letter, Chavez wrote shes visited the camp four times and reviewed video of police arresting 16 protesters for allegedly refusing to leave the Student Union Building (SUB).

Chavez asked Stokes to drop the charges, allow arrested students to complete their education, actively support students divestment resolution given to the Board of Regents, and collaborate with the students and the community to stand against the genocide that is taking place in Gaza and push for peace in the region.

I am not convinced that those present were engaged in any criminal activity that would constitute a felony, Chavez wrote. I am concerned that the police may have used excessive force. I hope UNM will investigate this matter further.

Chavez did not respond to requests for comment on her letter.

Mental health support at the camp

Students who were inside the Student Union Building observed multiple police officers brutally take down a student who was not being aggressive in any way, said Aye Sundram, a licensed clinical social worker.

At students request, Sundram on May 3 organized a mental health pop-up at the camp where around 20 mental health professionals treated students.

We observed bruising on somebody, and they were talking about their wrists still feeling numb. They dont feel like their hands are working properly because they were restrained by zip ties, and they were so tight, that that persons wrists are still painful, Sundram said in an interview with Source New Mexico.

The arrests mentally shook the protesters Sundram treated. Experiences like these can trigger past traumatic memories and make it even harder to cope, Sundram said.

If youre still here at the encampment, and youre still seeing police monitoring, every time you see an officer, youre going to feel on edge again, Sundram said.

KUNM reports UNM faculty and staff also demanded amnesty for protesters on May 2. Stokes and Provost James Holloway responded by saying some recent protests have led to productive conversations between university leaders and protesters, allowing the space for us to hear one another.

As stewards of UNM, we do not accept that the right to protest includes the right to vandalize, damage property, or illegally occupy community spaces, Holloway and Stokes wrote. This violates not only our policies and the law, but also violates our shared responsibility to create and maintain supportive spaces and resources for all of our Lobos.

Chavez and Roybal Caballero have been very vocal about Palestinian rights, including during the last legislative session, and both have backgrounds in labor organizing.

Roybal Caballero, who has experience in collective bargaining and strike negotiations, said Stokes did not accept her invitation to have a dialogue at the camp on Monday.

Roybal Caballero said she has a disability which prevents her from being in large crowds and limits how far she can walk. So she chose a sunny, calm Monday afternoon to invite Stokes to the camp.

Roybal Caballero said students took her business card to Stokes office, and they were told she had another appointment and would respond afterwards.

Within a few minutes, she said, Stokes sent Chief Government Relations Officer Michael Puelle to determine her intentions. They can be seen talking in a video the camp posted on social media.

Roybal Caballero said she waited for Stokes to meet her for three-and-a-half hours, But she never came out.

The President was not available during the time that she was there, Blair said.

So on Wednesday morning, Roybal Caballero sent a letter to Stokes about what they would have discussed, including her belief that protesters are exercising their constitutionally protected right to free speech.

I fully support demonstrators demand for legal and disciplinary amnesty, Roybal Caballero wrote. These students should be lauded for their incredible contribution to the community rather than face legal or punitive action.

As of Thursday, Roybal Caballero and Chavezs letters are the only ones UNM has received from state lawmakers concerning the SUB arrests and the divestment demands, Blair said.

I believe in what the students are doing. I believe in a ceasefire, Roybal Caballero said. I believe in the United States putting up a bigger fight against Netanyahus outrageous abuse of power and his obvious mission, which is to annihilate the Palestinian population.

They understand that none of us can be free until were all free.

 Ayei Sundram, social worker

Latest from NM congressional delegation

The Guardian reports more than 100,000 people have fled Rafah this week after Israel intensified its airstrikes and shelling in the city, where over 1.4 million people have sought refuge.

U.S. Rep. Melanie Stansbury said Wednesday further incursions by Israel into Rafah are unacceptable.

We have urged the use of all tools to end this war, Stansbury said. The time for peace is now.

Last week, New Mexicos delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives disagreed on a proposal directly responding to campus protests to establish a broader definition of antisemitism for the Department of Education to enforce anti-discrimination laws.

Stansbury and Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez voted against the bill, while Rep. Gabe Vasquez voted in favor, according to the official tally.

Critics have said such a broad definition of antisemitism conflates Judaism with Zionism, in order to expand the terms traditional definition to include criticism of Israel and quash expression in support of Palestinian self-determination.

Sundram, the social worker, said some UNM students since the arrests have been dealing with hypervigilance, feelings of being unsafe, and fear for what effect participating in the camp will have on their futures.

But Sundram said students are at the camp for a bigger reason: Palestinian liberation.

These young people are doing what older people have not been willing to, theyre putting their entire futures on the line, Sundram said. They might not have an academic future because of these actions, but they understand that none of us can be free until were all free.

The post On day 18, UNM president meets with Gaza Solidarity Encampment appeared first on Source New Mexico.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  The Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) announced Thursday that they are seeking to upgrade the charges against a man from assault to homicide following the death of a victim.

MPD responded to the 1800 block of 4th Street NE for the report of an assault at about 6:40 a.m. on Oct. 12, 2023. Officers found three men there who had been assaulted by a man with a shovel. They were all taken to a hospital while conscious and breathing.

MPD: Man arrested for stealing Uber drivers phone in Northwest DC

Investigators found the 62-year-old suspect, Vincent Hemphill, and charged him with Assault with Intent to Kill.

On Jan. 22  over three months after the attack  one of the victims, 81-year-old Charles Short of Clinton, Md., succumbed to his injuries.

MPD was notified on May 9 that Shorts autopsy revealed he died from complications due to the blunt force trauma sustained in the attack.

Homicide detectives will work with the U.S. Attorneys Office to upgrade the charges against Hemphill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
London  One of the youngest children in the world to receive a new type of gene therapy to treat genetic deafness can now hear for the first time in her life. The family of the toddler taking part in a medical trial has called the change in their daughter "mind-blowing."

Opal Sandy, now 18 months old, was born with total deafness due to a fault in the OTOF gene, which makes a protein called Otoferlin. Otoferlin enables communication between cells of the inner ear, or cochlea, and the brain.

As part of a trial run by Cambridge University, Opal received an infusion of a working copy of the OTOF gene in her right ear. The surgical procedure took only 16 minutes and was carried out just before she reached her first birthday.

Within a few weeks, Opal could hear loud sounds.

Opal Sandy, who was born completely deaf due to a rare genetic condition but can now hear unaided for the first time after receiving ground-breaking gene therapy at 11-months-old, reads with her mother Jo at their home in Eynsham, England, May 7, 2024. / Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/Getty

In an interview with the CBS News partner network BBC News, Opal's mother Jo Sandy described seeing her daughter respond to sound for the first time as "absolutely mind-blowing."

She immediately sent a message to her partner, James Sandy, who was at work.

"I'm not sure I believed it at the start," he told the BBC. "I think I said it was just a fluke, you know? She must have reacted to something else."

He came home immediately and removed his daughter's cochlear implant, a device that bypasses damaged hearing cells by directly stimulating auditory nerves in the inner ear, and started testing her response to loud banging on the bottom of the stairs. She responded.

Twenty-four weeks after her surgery, Opal was able to hear whispers  leading doctors to describe the level of hearing in her right ear as "near normal."

Opal's doctors "played the sounds Opal was turning to, and we were quite mind-blown by how soft it was, how quiet it was," the father said. "I think they were sounds that, in day-to-day life, you might not notice yourself."

Opal Sandy (second left), who was born completely deaf but can now hear unaided for the first time after receiving gene therapy as part of a medical trial, is seen with her mother Jo, father James and sister Nora at their home in Eynsham, England, May 7, 2024. / Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Images/Getty

The little girl has even started speaking, the family told BBC, saying words like "Mama" and "Dada."

Opal has tolerated the procedure and the gene therapy itself well, and she's experienced no adverse effects following the treatments, according to Regeneron, the American company behind the therapy that's being tested in the Chord trial. The study involves children across sites in the U.S., Britain and Spain.

In the first of the trial's three parts, a low dose of gene therapy is administered to three deaf children in one ear only. That group includes Opal. A higher dose is also given to another set of three children, also in one ear. If it proves safe, more children will receive infusions, in both ears, in a next phase.

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announced in January that an 11-year-old boy from Spain, who was also born unable to hear, had improvements in his hearing after becoming the first person to get the gene therapy for congenital deafness in the U.S.

Congenital deafness  defined as hearing loss present at birth  is believed to affect about 1.7 of every 1,000 children born in the U.S.

While devices such as hearing aids and cochlear implants assist people with different types of hearing loss by boosting sound, they do not restore the full spectrum of sound.

Opal's experience and other data from the Chord trial were presented at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy annual conference, taking place this week in Baltimore.

Michael Cohen expected to take stand in Trump trial next week

A Web of Intrigue | Sunday on 60 Minutes

Kindness 101: Appreciation
Death of first-year law student was mystery for 23 years, cops say. Now, arrest made

After 23 years, a suspect has been arrested in the cold case death of a University of Georgia law student, according to the Georgia Bureau of Investigation.

Edrick Lamont Faust, 48, of Athens, is charged with murder and other offenses following a decades-long investigation into the death of Tara Louise Baker, the agency said in a May 9 news release. She was 23 at the time.

Tara Louise Baker was a hardworking student with a bright future ahead of her, GBI Director Chris Hosey said in the release. Taras life was stolen from her in a horrific act of violence.

Fausts arrest comes more than two decades after Baker, a first-year law student at UGA, was found dead in her burning apartment in Athens, according to investigators. Crews responded to the fire on Jan. 19, 2001, and determined it was intentionally set.

A friend last saw Baker around 7:30 the night before at the UGA Law School Library, the GBI said. The friend told investigators that Baker, who was still at the library, called her at about 9:46 p.m. to see if she made it home safely and to say she was planning to leave the library around 10 p.m.

State investigators, with help from the Athens-Clarke County Police Department and other agencies, spent more than 20 years examining the circumstances surrounding Bakers death.

Authorities didnt disclose how or if Faust and Baker knew each other. Its also unclear what led to Fausts arrest.

Faust is charged with:

Murder

Felony murder (two counts)

Aggravated assault

Concealing the death of another person

Arson

Possession of a knife during commission of a felony

Tampering with evidence

Aggravated sodomy

While this arrest does not bring her back to us, I pray that it helps bring closure to the Baker family as they continue their healing journey, Hosey said.

Authorities said they plan to hold a news conference in the coming days.

Athens is about a 70-mile drive northeast from downtown Atlanta.

Farmers chasing pig found remains in 1975, cops say. Now theyre identified as veteran

Decomposed body down cliff posed mystery since 1967, CA cops say. Now woman identified

Mom came home to find babysitter dead 47 years ago, CO cops say. Now theres a suspect
The execution gurney is shown in this image from a video released by the Oklahoma Corrections Department.

McALESTER  A judge Thursday ruled death row inmate Wade Lay may not be executed at this time because he is presently incompetent.

The Pittsburg County judge found Lay incompetent after a state psychologist agreed he does not have a rational understanding of why he faces execution.

Lay, 63, was set to be executed by lethal injection June 6 at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary for fatally shooting a Tulsa bank guard during an attempted robbery in 2004.

The decision by Associate District Judge Tim Mills was expected because both a competency trial and his clemency hearing had been called off.

Wade Lay

We are relieved," said Callie Heller, one of his attorneys. Wade firmly believes that his execution is part of a wide-ranging government conspiracy aimed at silencing him.

The decision clears the way for the Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals to set the next execution, possibly in August. Judges on Tuesday announced future executions will be set 90 days apart "unless circumstances dictate modification."

Up next is Richard Norman Rojem Jr. He faces execution for the fatal stabbing of a 7-year-old girl who was kidnapped from an Elk City apartment in 1984. Rojem, 66, claims he is innocent.

It is the second time this year a death row inmate in Oklahoma has been found incompetent. Pittsburg County District Judge Mike Hogan ruled in March that inmate James Chandler Ryder also did not have a rational understanding of his execution.

Lay has been diagnosed as having a severe mental illness, schizophrenia.

An expert who evaluated him in 2021 concluded he has delusions he is being executed "to prevent him from presenting his ideas in an open forum, which he believes would lead to a new system of government, thereby imperiling those in power."

More: Future executions in Oklahoma to be set for 90 days apart

"He lacks a rational understanding of the reason Oklahoma seeks his execution. He believes the 'true' reason is that his views must be silenced," the psychologist, Richart DeMier, wrote.

DeMier evaluated Lay for his attorneys.

The state expert, Scott Orth, evaluated Lay Feb. 1 at the Oklahoma Forensic Center in Vinita. Orth is the center's director of forensic psychology.

Orth wrote Lay does not currently "have a rational understanding as to the reason for his execution, i.e., that he was convicted of murder."

Killed in the bank robbery attempt on May 24, 2004, was Kenneth Anderson.

Lay and his son went to rob the MidFirst bank in Tulsa to fund the purchase of guns for their antigovernment plans. They believed "that the United States Government had become tyrannical and that they had to start a patriotic revolution as was done by America's founding fathers," the Court of Criminal Appeals said in an opinion upholding the father's conviction.

"The Lays entered the bank armed, wearing ski masks and gloves," according to the opinion.

"Christopher Lay confronted bank employee Brian Easlon and ordered him to the ground. When bank security guard Kenneth Anderson entered the lobby, a gun battle erupted wounding the Lays and killing Anderson. The Lays, without obtaining any money, fled across a field to their truck.

"Both were apprehended later that day and were taken to the hospital. At trial, both Lays admitted guilt but asserted that their actions were driven by a necessity for the greater good of the country."

The son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the deadly gun battle.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Death row inmate Wade Lay spared from execution because of delusions
DECATUR, Ill. (WCIA)  Governor Richard J. Oglesby Mansion in Decatur is opening to the public later this month with a pair of open houses.

One month after the mansion hosted an open house in April, the mansion is opening up again for Historic Preservation Week. People can come take a tour, take photos and kids can get a Flat Lincoln (a small cutout of Abraham Lincoln). A $2 donation is requested for entry.

Open House planned for Decaturs Powers Mansion

The home is the only surviving one that the Governor of Illinois once lived in. Richard Oglesby, the only person to serve as Governor of Illinois three times, was a close friend of Abraham Lincoln and nominated him for the presidency in 1860.

We are fortunate to have this beautiful home as a vessel to tell the stories of the life of the Governor, Carol Pelz, President of the Governor Oglesby Mansion Board, said in a news release.

The open houses will be Sunday, May 18, and Sunday, May 26, both from 2 to 4 p.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
A key witness for federal prosecutors in the massive Feeding Our Future fraud scheme  who revealed a rampant system of kickbacks and bribes in a program meant to feed kids in need  hopes to avoid jail time by testifying against defendants, he said in federal court Thursday.

Attorneys for the seven defendants on trial repeatedly questioned Hadith Ahmed, who was the "right-hand man" to Feeding Our Future leader Aimee Bock, about how he lied to get rich in the scheme and how he now stands to benefit from cooperating with prosecutors, who could recommend a lower prison sentence.

"I was trying to avoid prison," Ahmed confirmed to defense attorneys on cross examination.

He testified Thursday that he's met with FBI agents and prosecutors more than a dozen times in the last three years to provide information in hopes of reducing his possible sentence of four or five years for stealing money from the federal program.

Ahmed, 36, who was among the first people to plead guilty in October 2022, testified that he received kickbacks from many food distribution sites, including some run by the defendants, in exchange for approving phony invoices and expediting federal reimbursements, part of a "booming" get-rich scheme.

"There was money everywhere," he said Wednesday. "Feeding Our Future was the place to go."

Ahmed is one of 18 people who have pleaded guilty out of 70 people charged or indicted since 2022.

Prosecutors said more than $250 million was stolen from U.S. Department of Agriculture programs that reimburse day cares, nonprofits and schools for feeding low-income kids after school and during the summer  one of the largest pandemic-related fraud schemes in the country.

The six men and one woman on trial have ties to Empire Cuisine & Market in Shakopee, which was "sponsored" by St. Anthony nonprofit Feeding Our Future and St. Paul nonprofit Partners in Nutrition, which administered paperwork for hundreds of meal distribution sites.

Defendants Said Shafii Farah, Abdiaziz Shafii Farah, Mohamed Jama Ismail, Abdimajid Mohamed Nur, Abdiwahab Maalim Aftin, Mukhtar Mohamed Shariff and Hayat Mohamed Nur were charged with wire fraud, money laundering and other crimes. They collectively received more than $40 million for submitting claims for more than 18 million meals.

Prosecutors have said defendants exploited lax oversight and loosened rules during the pandemic and submitted fake invoices that grossly inflated the number of meals served, serving little to no food and using the money to buy luxury houses, cars and trips. Defense attorneys have countered that their clients navigated a complex program, served real food and earned a fair profit.

Over six hours of often tense cross-examination from defense attorneys, with Ahmed repeatedly telling them he couldn't recall details including from Wednesday's hearing, attorneys questioned Ahmed's credibility as a witness given his past lies in the fraud scheme. Defense attorney Edward Sapone questioned how Ahmed repeatedly submitted fake invoices and meal count forms, doing something dishonest for his own benefit.

Defense attorneys asked about how Ahmed was only charged with one crime  conspiracy to commit wire fraud  despite evidence of money laundering and other crimes because he reached a plea agreement with the government. He confirmed that.

At Feeding Our Future, Ahmed oversaw employees who monitored food distribution sites to check if they were following the rules. He said he and other employees accepted kickbacks from food sites to look the other way, not reviewing invoices or going to food sites at all.

Steve Schleicher, who represents Said Farah, questioned how Ahmed could know there was no food served at food sites if he never visited them. He showed checks that Ahmed had said were kickbacks from Said Farah and his company. But if Ahmed wasn't there when the check was written and didn't get it directly from Farah, how could he know for certain it was from Farah, Schleicher asked. Ahmed agreed he couldn't know.

During the scheme, Ahmed and another employee also set up fake businesses that received millions of dollars for inflated amounts of meals they claimed to dole out, he testified. Ahmed said he was later fired by Bock after a Bloomington nonprofit complained he wasn't processing meal claims. Defense attorney Fred Goetz asked if he was fired for stealing from Feeding Our Future and making sexually inappropriate comments. Ahmed said no, calling those allegations false.

Schleicher questioned Ahmed, who grew up in Kenya, about whether he told FBI agents that many of the people charged in the scheme have ties to a Somali tribe that Ahmed called a "gangster tribe" that will do anything to make money. Ahmed said he didn't recall saying that, but he agreed with Schleicher that would be an unfair stereotype.

As part of Ahmed's plea deal, he agreed to forfeit more than half a million dollars and pay $1.3 million in restitution. Despite cooperating with authorities, he told Assistant U.S. Attorney Harry Jacobs Thursday that he thinks he still will spend time in prison "because of what I did and all the fraud I committed."

The trial, which started April 22, continues Friday.
House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) said President Biden and his administration have not been clear on their policy around sending weapons to Israel in relation to an invasion of the city of Rafah.

My main criticism of the administration  [and] president right now is they just havent been clear on what their policy is, Smith said on NewsNations The Hill with anchor Blake Burman on Thursday. It is not the policy of the Biden administration that theyre gonna cut off Israel entirely if they go into Rafah.

On Wednesday, Biden warned he would stop giving offensive weapons such as bombs and artillery shells to Israel if its forces begin an invasion in Rafah.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, Biden said to CNNs Erin Burnett.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities  that deal with that problem, Biden added.

Smith said during his The Hill interview that the main group preventing a cease-fire in Israels war against Hamas is the Palestinian militant group itself.

Weve had a cease-fire on the table for three months, Smith said. Hamas refuses to agree to it, cause they insist on Israel  basically unilaterally surrendering, and Hamas wont even promise to return the hostages if they do.

Hamas said earlier this week that it agreed on an offer for a temporary cease-fire, but Israel has said its terms did not match up to its key demands.

NewsNation is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which owns The Hill.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former Capitol Police Officer Harry Dunn greets guests during a political event at the Conrad Hotel in Washington, D.C., on February 24, 2024. Credit - Tom WilliamsCQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images

Harry Dunns body was bruised and his Capitol Police uniform soaked with sweat and pepper spray when he got home on Jan. 6, 2021. Hed spent the day grappling with Donald Trump supporters charging into the Capitol to stop the certification of Joe Bidens win, absorbing body blows and racist jeers directed at him. Outside then-Speaker Nancy Pelosis office, Dunn distracted a group of Proud Boys dressed in tactical vests and body armor, allowing Pelosis staff to escape. Months later, his gripping testimony during Jan. 6 Committee hearings made him a national figure and a regular guest on TV news shows.

Now Dunns running for Congress in Marylands 3rd district, representing a ribbon of commuter towns running between Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Senior Democratic leaders have rallied around his candidacy, seeing Dunn as a forceful national voice who can help energize voters about the threats to democracy.

But first he has to win a primary on Tuesday in which his chances are difficult to parse. When Democratic Rep. John Sarbanes announced he was retiring in November after holding the seat for 17 years, a flood of interested candidates jumped in the race. Dunn is one of 22 names on the primary ballot, which also includes local heavy-hitters like state Senators Sarah K. Elfreth and Clarence Lam who, unlike Dunn, can talk up their accomplishments in public office. The top vote-getter on May 14 will win the party's nomination without a runoff, and will likely carry the solidly blue district in November.

Even in such a crowded field, Dunn has managed to stand out. Hes been endorsed by liberal luminaries including Reps. Jim Clyburn, Adam Schiff, Bennie Thompson, and Pelosi, and is leading the field in fundraising with nearly $4 million. And on the campaign trail, the former police officer tempers his sharp condemnations of Trump with an easy-going demeanor and affable smile. Hes already an asset, says Clyburn, the South Carolina congressman whose endorsement was instrumental in Biden winning the Democratic presidential primary in 2020. He can bring to the conference table or the hearing room his experiences.

Dunns running on a platform to shore up womens reproductive rights and voting rights, expand affordable health care, and ban AR-15 rifles. But mostly, Dunn says, voters want to talk to him about preventing another Jan. 6. People are really disgusted with the way the MAGA crowd faction of the Republican Party is taking this country downhill, this is what Ive been hearing. That gives me a lot of confidence because thats my platform pro-democracy, anti-Donald Trump, Dunn says, sitting at a local diner in Ellicott City on Tuesday where he spent two hours chatting with potential voters over coffee and desserts.

Dunn, right, is sworn in with other law enforcement members prior to testifying before the House Select Committee investigating the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol on July 27, 2021. Chip SomodevillaGetty Images

Recent news reports have brought attention to a moment in Dunns past hed rather forget: a four-day suspension from the Capitol Police in 2012 over not securing his firearm at home, which came to light when Montgomery County police responded to a family argument. No charges were brought in the incident. A report from the Capitol Police Office of Professional Responsibility made public by Punchbowl News includes a claim that Dunn waved a gun at his then-wife. Dunn denied that he did that. When asked about it by TIME, Dunn points to a joint statement from him and his ex-wife that his campaign released weeks earlier that says they sometimes argued when they were first married. Asked how he feels about that night now, Dunn says that he and his ex-wife have moved on. We have a great co-parenting relationship, he says, mentioning how they recently attended a White House holiday event with their child. We went to the Easter Egg Roll together with our daughter.

At the Ellicott City Diner on Tuesday, voters who came to talk to Dunn didnt bring up those reports. Again and again, Jan. 6 is the main topic of discussion. Paul Goldenberg, 72, lives in Columbia and believes that electing Dunn to Congress will send a strong signal that their district rejects the effort to overturn the 2020 election and doesnt want a president who is going to be a dictator on day one as Trump previously said he would be. Our democracy is at stake, I really believe that, and I feel strongly that Harry will be on the side of where I want to be, and I think in some ways, its symbolic, because of who he is and what he did.

Mike Marion, 69, says he switched his party registration from unaffiliated to Democrat in order to vote for Dunn in the primary. Marion is a former Capitol police officer who retired more than a decade ago and didnt know Dunn on the force, but was impressed with what Dunn went through on Jan. 6 and how he testified to Congress about what happened that day. He worked the insurrection, so he dealt with that, Marion says. Give him a shot. I think he can get it done.

Those are the sentiments Dunn hopes will galvanize enough voters to support himan outcome many Democratic Party leaders are counting on too. I fought with rioters with my hands on Jan. 6 and hope to return to fight against them with a pen instead of my fist this time, Dunn says.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Title icon

The Scene

SILVER SPRING, Md.  On Wednesday afternoon, nine Latino Democrats gathered outside the Veterans Plaza polling place here to explain how a 68-year-old white congressman had won their vote.

They trusted Rep. David Trone, the wealthy founder of Total Wine; they didnt trust Angela Alsobrooks, the Prince Georges County executive. She took Latinos for granted, protected racist police, and didnt work quickly to end racist immigration enforcement policies. Alsobrooks, who if elected would be Marylands first Black female senator, didnt celebrate diversity like Trone did.

Its important to him, said Celina Benitez, the mayor of Mount Rainier. Why else would you have so many elected officials, of varied diversity, here supporting him?

Two hours later, four former state Democratic Party chairs came to the same plaza, warning that Trone had gone too negative and that non-white Democrats might struggle to support him.

Its really difficult, said former chair Susie Turnbull, referring to an incident when Trone meant to use the word bugaboo but said a racial slur instead, apologizing immediately. His excuses for things have been apologies with a but. Using a term that is horrendous, and then you say Id never used that word before? Hes my age. I know hes heard that word before.

Title icon

Davids view

Marylands Democratic primary is the most expensive in the country, thanks almost entirely to Trone; hes sunk $61.8 million into this race, after spending tens of millions of dollars on four House campaigns, blanketing airwaves and YouTube with his Horatio Alger story. Alsobrooks, who went on the air in February, has spent a tenth as much.

At a Tuesday night rally at Silver Springs AFI movie theater, where California Rep. Adam Schiff praised Trones understanding of our economy and ability to defend our democracy, Trones ads played on the big screen while a few dozen voters took their seats  so many that over 15 minutes of I approved this message-ing, no ad was played twice.

Yet the race remains close. Its final weeks have become an increasingly personal, tense contest between candidates battling over intertwined issues around race and who is best positioned to defend what until recently had been considered a safe seat.

Republicans havent won here since 1980, and the Donald Trump-led GOP is practically designed to lose in Maryland: Montgomery and Prince Georges counties, D.C. suburbs that cast nearly a million votes in 2020, gave less than 150,000 of them to Trump.

But the surprise decision by popular former Gov. Larry Hogan, a moderate anti-Trump Republican, has turned the general into a tossup. For the Democrats, thats exponentially increased the stakes of their primary.

Hogans entrance ended our complacency about the fall election, said Rep. Jamie Raskin, who has endorsed Alsobrooks, and beat Trone in 2016 to win his safe Montgomery County seat. (Trone got to Congress by spending $18 million in the neighboring, competitive 8th District.)

Since Hogans entrance in February, Trone has made his personal fortune a centerpiece of his pitch: If he wins the nomination, Democrats wont have to spend cash in Maryland that theyd earmarked for Ohio, Montana, or other competitive states.

It will give them a lot more flexibility to spend money elsewhere, Trone told Semafor on Tuesday. Im sure that will appeal to Leader Schumer.

The deep-pockets argument, along with Trones years of party donations and go-everywhere campaigning, helped him win over many Democrats who repeat his argument: He has more relevant experience than Alsobrooks, and he can win. But most of the states congressional delegation has stuck with Alsobrooks, confident that Hogans support will fade by November and wary of once again telling Black voters  who make up a third of the states electorate  that its not their turn yet.

Maryland Democrats previously rejected Black candidates when Senate seats opened up 2006 and 2016  agonizing about it the whole time, then winning the general anyway. Neither of those races divided elected Democrats like this; Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, the winners in those years, had most of the establishment behind them. But Gov. Wes Moore, the first Black Marylander to hold that office, endorsed Alsobrooks six months ago; Adrienne Jones, the first Black female state House Speaker, beat him to it.

Moore told Semafor that the electability concerns about Alsobrooks, who has out-raised Hogan, were misplaced: Regardless of what happens in a primary, every single one of us are going to be all in to make sure that our nominee wins the race.

Alsobrooks goes further, suggesting she may be better positioned to unite the partys diverse wings come the general.

Whats going to be needed is a coalition of people from all backgrounds who will come together to defeat Larry Hogan, Alsobrooks told Semafor after stopping to talk to voters at an early voting site in Bowie. Im the person who has the experience of doing that. The evidence that Trones wealth wasnt insurance against a Hogan win, she said, was that Trone had outspent her all year, and shed closed the gap.

Trone, for his part, has consistently highlighted support from non-white and female Democrats in his omnipresent TV spots; Black men whod benefited from his investments in criminal justice reform, women of all races who were helped by his support for family planning. He could even get to the county executives left on some issues. Trone had always opposed the death penalty; Alsobrooks would only say, passively, that Maryland had banned it.

The candidates didnt disagree on much else, so Alsobrookss supporters homed in on how Trone  and his surrogates  talked. In March, after Prince Georges County Council Member Ed Burroughs said in one Trone ad that the Senate was not a job for people with training wheels, more than 600 Black women co-signed a letter that denounced its tones of misogyny and racism.

That comment was struck from the ad, but the attention hurt Trone. In Silver Spring, pressed on the training wheels quote, Trone noted that he didnt say it in the ad; when a reporter pointed out that Trone had used the same phrase, the candidate said that we stand by the fact that Burroughs made the comment, and, frankly, she doesnt have the experience at the federal level. What mattered, he explained, was what he was going to do with the Senate seat.

I have supported wonderful women and diverse candidates all over this country, and will continue to do so, Trone said. But what the voters keep saying, time and time again, is look at what I can do for you.

But as early voting wrapped up, Trones non-white surrogates kept saying what hed been told not to say: Alsobrooks wasnt ready for the job, or sensitive enough to other non-white Democrats. We need someone who can be effective from day one, Prince Georges County States Attorney Aisha Braveboy said on Thursday, when pro-Trone Democrats gathered at a union hall to support him to argue that voters needed to look past the candidates race.

I wouldnt vote for Candace Owens, no matter what she was running for, said Krystal Oriadha, another county council member whod rejected Alsobrooks. The idea that we just have to vote for someone because of their gender, because of their color, negating any other issues, is insulting to us as a community. (Owens is a high-profile Black conservative pundit.)

On the stump, Alsobrooks didnt lead with her race or gender  and didnt really need to. She would certainly make history, but more importantly, she will make a difference, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock told reporters after a meeting with the candidate and Black pastors, redirecting a question about race to talk about the investments made by the Democratic Senate.

My basic thought is positive politics, high road politics is what wins in Maryland, Raskin said, asked about the challenges of facing the self-funding Trone. Ive told that to all the candidates. I think that that is the way to go.

Title icon

The View From Voters

Pat Moran, a Democrat who voted for Alsobrooks this week, said she was drawn to the candidate because of her experience fighting crime in the county. You know what the crime is like; its off the chain, she said. But the candidates identity mattered, too. We need an African American in the Senate. We do need a balance of power in the Senate.

Nagender Madavaram, an engineer who was supporting Trone, said that he made his mind up after watching the Democrat bring money back to Maryland and make his own charitable donations to good causes. Hes allocated $300,000 to protect the rights of Muslims, Madavaram said, even though he married a Jewish lady. Hes a great guy. He never hesitated.

Title icon

The View From Republicans

The Trone-Alsobrooks primary has quickly become the nastiest in the country, said NRSC Spokesman Tate Mitchell. Meanwhile, Governor Hogan has been traveling Maryland with a positive vision for bringing change to Washington. Larry Hogan remains overwhelmingly popular in the state, and its clear Marylanders are eager to see him represent them in the Senate.

Title icon

Notable

In Politico, Ally Mutnik looked at how Democrats commitment to diversity was being tested by the Hogan threat.

Semafor Logo
Two parents in Butte County were arrested on suspicion of child endangerment after deputies found their missing 3-year-old daughter in an illegal cultivation site containing over 6,000 pounds of processed marijuana and more than 5,000 marijuana plants, sheriffs officials said.

Shortly after 10:30 p.m. Monday, the Butte County Sheriffs Office received a call from a woman who reported her 3-year-old child was missing from a home on a 51-acre parcel in the 7000 block of La Porte Road in Bangor, a rural area several miles southeast of Oroville.

Deputies, detectives and search-and-rescue personnel began searching for the missing child, along with a tracking K-9. Yuba County sheriffs deputies joined the search.

The child had been missing since 7:30 p.m. Monday. Detectives found evidence indicating the childs parents, a 35-year-old father and a 32-year-old mother, were cultivating marijuana on the property, the Sheriffs Office announced Thursday afternoon in a news release.

Sheriffs officials said the detectives learned the missing child frequented marijuana growing sites with her parents. The sheriffs tracking K-9 led deputies to an illegal marijuana growing site.

About 3:20 a.m. Tuesday, nearly eight hours after the daughter was reported missing, deputies found the girl under a tarp that was covering a large illegal marijuana growing site.

The Sheriffs Office said the girl was found about 2 feet away from hundreds of marijuana plants; she was cold and required immediate medical attention.

The girl was taken by to a hospital where she was treated and released to Butte County Childrens Services.

Sheriffs officials said the childs parents, both Bangor residents, were booked on felony child endangerment charges at the Butte County Jail

On Tuesday afternoon, detectives served a search warrant at the La Porte Road property and found roughly 6,600 pounds of processed marijuan and 5,200 marijuana plants, along with four firearms.
San Bernardino County Sheriffs deputies shot and killed a man in Victorville on Thursday.

The deputies responded to the intersection of Mariposa Road and Locust Avenue for reports of a pedestrian hit by two vehicles, department spokesperson Mara Rodriguez said.

According to the Victor Valley News Group, when deputies arrived at about 10 a.m., they discovered the pedestrian was jumping in and out of traffic, just prior to being struck by the two vehicles.

The man proceeded to get up, and ran towards deputies with an unknown object, according to an eyewitness, the outlet added.

Officers then opened fire, sending at least five rounds toward the man, witnesses told VVNG.

The man was struck at least once and was declared dead at the scene, Rodriguez said.

Nidia Becerra contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Residents have reported receiving calls from an employee with the Fresno County Sheriffs Office about a jury summons that says they failed to attend and they have to pay a penalty.

These calls, deputies say, are spam calls. The person making these random phone calls to citizens would identify himself as a deputy with the Fresno County Sheriffs Office, and would even use an employees name. In this case, they used the name of Lt. Ryan Gilbert, but scammers are known to use other names as well.

Deputies warn the incoming number on the citizens caller ID may even say Fresno County Sheriffs Office, but this number is not from their official phone lines. Sheriffs officials say the caller spoofs the ID to entice the citizen to take the phone call.

The Sheriffs Office says the scammer claims the citizens have failed to report for jury duty, so a warrant was issued for their arrest. The fake deputy tells his target they must pay a certain amount of money in fines to avoid being arrested and taken to jail. To pay those fines, the person needs to call to a local number that the scammer gives them.

Once they call, deputies say the caller reaches a recording stating they have reached the Fresno County Sheriffs Office and it goes on to say the only payment accepted is cash and it must be made through an electronic kiosk located at the department. The recording prompts the person to wait for a deputy to come onto the line, however, no one ever picks up so they are told to leave a message and the deputy will call them back.

Sheriffs officials say they have also received reports in which the scam artists direct a person to purchase gift cards and read them the security codes on it, allowing the suspect to access the money. Some gift cards requested include Vanilla Visa and Green Dot MoneyPak. The requests are usually made for hundreds of dollars.

The Fresno County Sheriffs Office wants to make it clear to the public that it never makes solicitations for money or asks for the payment of fines over the phone. They warn these tactics tend to come in waves.

The Sheriffs Office encourages anyone who might have received a call of this nature to not give in to the callers demands and not give them any personal information. They encourage citizens to document any information regarding the call, such as the callers name or phone number, and report it to law enforcement.

Those living in Fresno County can report this incident online by clicking here and clicking on Report a Crime located at the top of the page. Then, select Harassing Phone Call to make a report.

Residents can also make a complaint to the Federal Trade Commission by clicking here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
Despite Biden's warning, Israel's Netanyahu tells TV personality Dr. Phil there's 'no other choice' but to assault Rafah

Israel's Netanyahu told Dr. Phil he plans to assault Rafah despite US warnings.

US President Joe Biden has threatened to cut off weapon shipments if Israel presses forward.

Netanyahu reaffirmed his goal of eradicating Hamas and returning hostages.

After President Joe Biden threatened to withhold additional weapons if Israeli forces pressed forward with a ground assault of the southern Gaza city of Rafah, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said an assault on Rafah is the only way to defeat Hamas and reiterated that Israel will "stand alone" if it must.

"We will do what we have to do to protect our country, protect our future," Netanyahu said in an interview with television personality Phil McGraw, more commonly known as Dr. Phil, that aired Thursday.

"That means we will defeat Hamas, including in Rafah, we have no other choice," the prime minister said.

On Wednesday, Biden warned that he would cut off weapon shipments to Israel if its military moved forward to attack Rafah, where over one million Palestinian civilians reside and have sought refuge following Israel's ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

"If they go into Rafah, I'm not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, to deal with that problem," Biden said in an interview with CNN's Erin Burnett, adding that "we're not going to supply the weapons and the artillery shells have been used."

Last week, the US put a hold on a shipment expected to contain 1,800 2,000-pound bombs and 1,700 500-pound bombs. There is now a possibility that more weapons may be withheld.

Many of these weapons are precision weapons, but they still have the potential to cause significant collateral damage.

"If you want to avoid civilian casualties, you need these weapons rather than imprecise weaponry," Netanyahu argued during the interview, referring to US precision weapons. "If Israel has to stand alone, we we'll stand alone."

When he was asked why his goal is to eradicate all of Hamas and its battalions, Netanyahu claimed that Hamas is trying to blackmail Israel in order to stay in Gaza, establish power, and commit an event similar to the Oct. 7 terror attack.

In addition to eliminating Hamas' battalions, Netanyahu also confirmed that his goals of getting hostages back has not changed since the start of Israel's war with Hamas.

"I've known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years and more. We often had our agreements, but we've had our disagreements. We've been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now," he said.

Read the original article on Business Insider
File image of travelers at Oakland International Airport. San Francisco has sued Oakland after officials there voted in favor of changing the name of the city's airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. (Ben Margot / Associated Press)

Evidently, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim aren't the only organization with big-city envy.

The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners voted Thursday to change the name of the airport to "San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport" in an attempt to bring more recognition to the airport.

Despite opposition from some locals and San Francisco officials, the commissioners voted unanimously to adopt the new moniker, replacing the more precise "Metropolitan Oakland International Airport." The airports three-letter code, OAK, will remain the same, much to the relief of travel agents and airline ticketing systems.

The name change is an attempt to raise awareness of the Oakland airport's location in the San Francisco Bay Area, where it's been since 1927, according to a news release from the Board of Port Commissioners.

Our Board came to these discussions with a shared love of Oakland and a desire to see our city and airport thrive, Port Commission President Barbara Leslie said in a statement. Since our initial vote, the Port has met with dozens of community leaders and stakeholders and heard their concerns. We are moving forward with a commitment to honoring our past while building a stronger, more inclusive future."

Read more: San Francisco sues Oakland over plans to change name of airport

Before the new name can lure more tourists to the modest, two-terminal airport on the east side of the bay, however, the board will have to fend off a legal challenge from the city on the west side.

San Francisco filed a lawsuit against Oakland in the U.S. District Court on April 18, alleging that the new name would infringe on the trademark it holds for the San Francisco International Airport's name. That airport, by the way, is located between San Bruno and Millbrae in unincorporated San Mateo County, about 13 miles south of the San Francisco City Attorney's office.

The Port of Oakland filed a counterclaim Thursday, asking the court to rule that the new airport name doesn't infringe on the SFO trademark.

The San Franciscos City Attorneys decision to pursue litigation is an attempt to stop consumer education, prevent expanded air travel options for Bay Area residents and visitors, and is a misguided use of San Francisco taxpayer dollars, said Port Attorney Mary Richardson in a statement.

The San Francisco International Airport has used San Francisco Airport or its current name for most of its history. Officials have expressed "serious concerns" about the renaming of Oakland's airport, saying that it could cause confusion and economic loss for travelers.

San Francisco took no pleasure in filing this lawsuit, said City Attorney David Chiu in a statement. We urge Oakland leaders to see reason and collaborate with us so that we can avoid costly litigation. If we can work together on a name that meets the goals of both airports, we should do so for the good of all travelers and our region."

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.
Virginia's Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 Friday to restore Confederate names to two local schools. Gaylene Kanoyton, President of the Hampton, Va. NAACP, said "Such actions only perpetuate racism." Pictured is the dismantling of the Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia September 8, 2021. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- Virginia's all-white Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 Friday to restore Confederate names to a high school and an elementary school.

Gaylene Kanoyton, president of the Hampton NAACP, said in a statement, "Such actions only perpetuate racism and bigotry, both in Virginia and across the nation. Is this a resurgence of Jim Crow-era policies in the 21st century?"

Kanoyton added, "We stand resolute in our commitment to combatting systemic racism and will vigorously advocate for inclusivity and equality in all facets of society."

The names being restored are Confederate military leaders who waged war on American soldiers in order to defend the right to enslave African Americans in the South.

In a letter to the school board, the right-wing Coalition for Better Schools wrote, "We believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our community's heritage and respect the wishes of the majority."

That coalition succeeded in ousting some school board members who opposed restoring the Confederate names in 2022.

The Virginia NAACP said in a statement, "Military leaders of the Confederate States of America took up arms against the United States of America and fought to preserve and expand the peculiar institution of slavery."

The board voted to remove the Confederate names in the wake of the Minneapolis police murder of George Floyd.

Shenandoah County resident and parent Sarah Kohrs spoke against restoring the Confederate names, as did most of the roughly 80 people who addressed the school board about it.

"With the world watching, the Shenandoah county school board sent a terrible message," she said. "We deplore the board's decision to regress and 'honor' Civil War figures that consciously betrayed the United States and were proponents of slavery and segregation."

"I am a Black student, and if the names are restored, I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves," one student said to the board members.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, at least 160 public Confederate symbols were taken down or moved from public places in 2020.

Shenandoah County is the first known location that has decided to put Confederate names and symbols back up.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. (KRON)  A doctor who intentionally drove his entire family over a 300-foot cliff at Devils Slide, and crashed their Tesla onto a rocky beach below, still has full support from his family, prosecutors said. Dharmesh Patels wife and young children miraculously survived the January 2, 2023 crash off Highway 1 between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay.

Inside a San Mateo County courtroom on Friday, Patels siblings and his wifes parents sat in the gallery for closing arguments to show their support, even despite the terrifying incident. New details about the high-profile case were revealed at the hearing held in Mental Health Diversion Court.

Patel never spoke in the courtroom, he was dressed in orange inmate clothing, and his feet were shackled with chains. The doctor has been held in jail with no bail for more than 16 months.

Defense attorney Joshua Bentley outlined his final arguments for why he believes Patel should face no criminal charges, and instead be diverted into a two-year mental health outpatient treatment program at a South Bay hospital.

The Patel familys mangled Tesla is searched at the crash scene below Devils Slide in San Mateo County on January 2, 2023. The victims were airlifted in helicopters. (Image courtesy SMCSO)

Bentley began his closing argument Friday stating, Its important to understand why we are here. Not everyone who commits a crime is a criminal. There is no question this is a very serious case. But the law encompasses this very situation.

The defense says Patel qualifies for the court to grant mental health diversion under California law. Patel will not pose a danger to the community because he will be under an intensive psychiatric treatment program, as well as monitored with a GPS bracelet equipped with a siren, Bentley said.

The District Attorneys Office asserted that the case should move forward to a criminal trial. If convicted of three attempted murder charges, Patel would face decades in prison. Judge Susan Jakubowski said she will not make a ruling until June 20.

Dharmesh Patel is seen in a January 2023 mugshot provided by the San Mateo County Sheriffs Office.

The victims in the case are the doctors wife, 8-year-old daughter, and 5-year-old son. The case should not qualify for mental health diversion, Davis said, because the defendant will pose an unreasonable risk of danger to public safety.

On Friday, Bentley and Deputy District Attorney Dominique Davis sparred over Patels mental health history and diagnosis.

Citing previous testimony from Dr. Yan Chan, Davis said Patel was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. The defense teams experts, Dr. James Armontrout and Dr. Mark Patterson, diagnosed Patel with major depressive disorder.

Davis said the evidence shows Patel was experiencing paranoia and delusions in the weeks leading up to the triple attempted murder, which are symptoms of schizoaffective disorder. He was hearing footsteps at night. He feared his children would be sold into sex slavery. He carried a knife around for three days. None of this was based on reality  and the defendant felt compelled to act. He drove his entire family over a cliff. Its a very high and deathly drop, the prosecutor said.

(CHP video of the crash scene can be viewed below:)

What is most frightening is, no one saw this coming, Davis told the judge. In December 2022, the Patel family had traveled from their home in Pasadena to his parents house in the Bay Area for the holidays. During the visit, Patel seemed sad and less social during the holiday visit, not homicidal nor suicidal, family members told investigators.

Patel felt like the world was caving in because of Russias war in Ukraine, the fentanyl crisis, child sex trafficking, and Jeffery Epstein, according to prosecutors. His wife told investigators that he sent her news articles about those topics, and he struggled to sleep at night.

In the days immediately after the crash, Patel told California Highway Patrol officers and doctors at Stanford hospital that that cliff crash was an accident. Patel was in the throes of psychosis, but he was able to mask his mental illness from doctors and law enforcement, Davis told the judge. He tells the same lies, she added.

Davis said Patel only admitted that he intentionally drove over the cliff at Devils Slide when he thought it would help his case.

Dharmesh Patel and his Defense Attorney Joshua Bentley appear inside a courtroom in Redwood City on February 9, 2023. (Pool photo)

Patels wife, who suffered severe spinal injuries in the crash, testified for the hearing last week that she does not want her husband prosecuted. The wife said her children miss their father and she wants Patel to be freed from jail so he can return home. Prosecutors argue that Patel is not only a danger to his family, he could also pose a danger to the public if he slipped back into a psychotic state.

The high-profile case has been highly publicized in the media. While a KRON4 reporter and four other journalists wrote notes in the courtroom on Friday, Bentley implored the judge to not let pressure from the press sway her decision.

(Aerial image of the crash scene courtesy California Highway Patrol)

If the judge rules in favor of mental health diversion, Patel would be immediately released from custody and allowed to live in San Mateo County. A court-ordered domestic violence restraining order protecting his wife and children would remain in place.

Bentley said, Mr. Patel is a good man, a good husband, and a good father. He is beloved by his community. He has zero criminal history. (The crash) was 100 percent a mental health episode. He has been receiving treatment for 16 months. Every case has a risk factor.

Big stakes for doctor charged with attempting to murder his family

Bentley said his clients major depressive disorder is currently in remission, and he will continue to be stable under an outpatient treatment program through El Camino Health hospital. The defense denied that Patel suffers from schizoaffective disorder.

Davis said the proposed mental health treatment plan is woefully inadequate. If Patel experiences another rapid psychiatric breakdown, law enforcement will not be able to detain him in time, she said.

Before the judge makes her ruling, Davis told the judge, You are the gatekeeper for this program. And this whole program is based on, lets let him out (of jail) and then lets figure it out later.

Judge Jakubowski will announce the ruling when Patel returns to court on June 20 at 9 a.m. in the San Mateo County Hall of Justice.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 10. Uzbekistan signed an agreement with Saudi ACWA Power for the construction of a 5,000 MW wind power plant in Karakalpakstan, Trend reports.

According to Uzbekistan's Ministry of Energy, the total cost of the project is $6.2 billion.

As a result of commissioning this plant, Uzbekistan will generate 17.5 billion kWh of electricity per year, save 5.3 billion cubic meters of natural gas reserves, and prevent the emission of 7.4 million tons of harmful gases into the atmosphere.

Meanwhile, PowerChina Construction Company and Saudi Arabian ACWA Power have started construction of a plant for the production of green hydrogen in Uzbekistans region of Chirchik.

In addition, ACWA Power will commission a 400 MW solar photovoltaic power plant and a 400 MW energy storage system in the Tashkent region.

ACWA Power will also build a 1,000 MW photovoltaic power plant and 400 MW energy storage systems in Samarkand. In addition, there are 400 MW of energy storage systems in the Bukhara region.
Money is pouring into Oregon congressional races. (Getty Images)

Democratic congressional candidate Maxine Dexter blew past other Oregon candidates in fundraising during the last month before the primary election, federal campaign finance records show.

Dexter, a state representative from Portland, reported receiving more than $580,000 between April 1 and May 1  more than five times as much as Gresham City Councilor Eddy Morales and more than three times as much as former Multnomah County Commissioner Susheela Jayapal. Theyre all seeking the Democratic nomination in the 3rd Congressional District. Its the states most liberal congressional district, and whoever wins the primary on May 21 is all but certain to succeed retiring U.S. Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon.

The pre-primary reports campaigns filed Thursday night with the Federal Elections Commission reflect fundraising between April 1 and May 1. They dont include other May fundraising, such as the more than $218,000 Dexter received on Tuesday from campaign donors, including several who have supported Republican politicians and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

The reports also dont reflect massive independent spending in the district, most notably nearly $2 million from 314 Action Fund political action committee on ads supporting Dexter. The PAC describes its mission as elect(ing) more scientists to Congress, state legislatures and local offices, and it historically has backed Democratic candidates with backgrounds in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Dexter is a physician.

But Jayapal and Morales have accused the group of using money from MAGA Republican mega-donors to prop up Dexter. Theyve also benefited from independent expenditures in their own races: The National Association of Realtors PAC has spent about $234,000 boosting Morales, and the Impact Fund, a Democratic superPAC, which can receive unlimited contributions, has spent nearly $36,000 to support Jayapal.

Candidates and their campaigns are banned from coordinating with independent expenditure groups, but they can get around that ban by providing photos, video and talking points on their campaign websites. Dexters website says voters most need to see digital video ads featuring doctors or scientists. Jayapals messaging page urges ads targeting young women that stress that shes the most progressive in this race. And Moraless page highlights his experience as the son of an immigrant and domestic violence survivor who grew up to focus on public service.

The 314 Action Fund hasnt disclosed the donors who gave it the money it spent backing Dexter, and it doesnt have to until May 20, the day before the primary election. But Jayapal and Morales have asserted that the money is tied to AIPAC, the influential pro-Israel group that has made no secret of its distaste for Jayapals sister, progressive U.S. Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Washington. A December article from Jewish Insider flagged concerns from Jewish leaders in Oregon about Jayapal rejecting a resolution to light a Portland bridge blue and white to show support for Israel days after Hamass Oct. 7 attack and refusing to sign a joint statement with other commissioners that condemned Hamas and expressed support for Israel and Portlands Jewish community.

5th District

State Rep. Janelle Bynums fundraising lead over 2022 nominee Jamie McLeod-Skinner grew from April 1 to May 1, though both Democratic candidates in the 5th Congressional District still have a lot of room to make up against Republican incumbent Lori Chavez-DeRemer.

Bynum collected more than $168,000 in April, bringing her total fundraising haul since she launched her campaign last June to more than $1 million. McLeod-Skinner collected less than half that, about $74,000, for a total of about $650,000 since her campaign began last July.

As of May 1, Bynum had about $339,000 available to spend ahead of the primary, compared to $191,000 for McLeod-Skinner. Chavez-DeRemer, meanwhile, has raised more than $3.3 million for her reelection bid and has more than $1.9 million available.

Outside groups have spent more than $1.2 million so far in the race, all of it to boost Bynum or hurt McLeod-Skinner. 314 Action Fund has spent almost $475,000 on mail and ads supporting Bynum, while the Mainstream Democrats PAC controlled by LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman has spent about $770,000 on ads attacking McLeod-Skinner and supporting Bynum.

The post Dexter leads all Oregon congressional candidates in fundraising, outside money appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Did A Social Media Dispute Really Leave One Girl Dead and Another in Handcuffs?

When the other high school seniors at Metropolitan Soundview High School in the Bronx left classes Thursday, most were planning their prom outfits or graduation celebrations for next month. However, in a crowd of witnesses, Emery Mizells chance to do that was snatched away from her after she was brutally stabbed by one of her peers.



The New York Police Department said the 17-year-old was two blocks away from the building when she was struck in the chest with an unknown cutting instrument. Police say the stabbing allegedly followed a fight outside as nearly a dozen teens watched. After being transported to Jacobi Medical Center, she was pronounced dead.

Police say the prime suspect in her killing was one of her peers, a 15-year-old girl. Mizells family told The New York Post the girl attended James Monroe High School with Mizell but werent sure how close of friends the two were. Shes been charged with murder, manslaughter and unlawful possession of a weapon.

Just like that, Mizells future was gone. Now, police are wondering what the motive was to do something so horrid. So far, their attention has turned to a social media dispute.

Read more from The New York Post:

According to police, Emery and her alleged killer were involved in an ongoing dispute. The victim had been bombarded with harassment on social media prior to the slaying, police sources said. Latanya Mizell, Emerys second cousin, said she wasnt aware of the apparent social media bullying, but said that, if true, it would only add to the tragedy. These are kids, both of them. They both lost their lives. That right there is hurtful enough as a whole because we got to be better with our kids, said Latanya. They shouldnt be fighting because somebody said this about that person. Its stupid stuff. Its not worth taking somebodys life, Latanya said, adding that despite the suspect being a child, she wants to see the teen be prosecuted.

There are no details offered yet on what the social media beef was about but one thing is certain: no cyber-smoke is worth a life. The senseless killing broke the hearts of every one of Mizells family who gathered outside her home on Boyton Avenue for a vigil. The teen was remembered for being caring, smart and loving to dance and rap.

The police said theyve pulled surveillance video of the incident and are reviewing it.

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
A three-judge panel on the U.S. Circuit Court for the District of Columbia rejected Steve Bannons appeal case Friday, upholding a criminal courts ruling that the former adviser to Donald Trump must serve jail time.

Bannon was convicted by a jury in 2022 on two counts of contempt of Congress for refusing to respond or comply with a subpoena request issued by the January 6 House Select Committee. He was sentenced that year to four months in jail but has remained free while he appealed the decision. If he begins the sentence soon, he could be in prison during the election in November.

Because we have no basis to depart from that binding precedent, and because none of Bannons other challenges to his convictions have merit, we affirm [the conviction], the panel wrote in a 20-page opinion, noting that a contrary ruling on Bannons crime would hamstring Congresss investigatory authority.

Bannon claimed he could not comply with the Congressional subpoena on the basis of assumed executive privilege, arguing thatalthough he was a private citizen at the timehis discussions with Trump were confidential.

Bannon will likely attempt to appeal the case again, either to the 11-member bench of the appeals court or to the Supreme Court. In the meantime, he is likely headed to prison.

Another of Trumps former advisersPeter Navarrofaced a similar fate in January, when he was sentenced to four months in prison after spending years dodging a congressional subpoena. All of his attempts to overturn his sentence have failed.

This story has been updated.
Getty Images

Exploring the current status and the future of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts was the major theme at the annual Toward One Wisconsin conference organized by the Wisconsin Institute for Public Policy and Service (WIPPS)  a University of Wisconsin organization that seeks to address local, state and national issues through scholarship, outreach and public service. The two-day conference in Eau Claire brought together advocates, educators, community members and business professionals Tuesday and Wednesday this week.

The conference took place as DEI has increasingly become a hot button political issue in Wisconsin with Republican lawmakers targeting DEI programs used in the UW system and in state government  describing them as cancerous  while Democrats have largely defended DEI.

Eric Giordano, executive director for WIPPS, said the conference organizers were cognizant of the controversy around DEI and chose to address the issue head-on in the conference.

We really need to ask ourselves: What is the state of DEI and what is the future and you know, what does the political landscape mean, and should we even be using these terms anymore since theyve become so politicized and used as wedges to divide people, Giordano said.

In previous years, there was more bipartisan buy-in to DEI, Giordano said. In 2019, former Lieutenant Governor Rebecca Kleefisch co-chaired the first Toward One Wisconsin conference, where Democratic Gov. Tony Evers spoke and also declared Inclusivity Day that year in its honor.

In 2019, we were in a time and a space where people really were genuinely concerned about, you know, Is our state on the right path? Giordano said. Are we recognizing that we have many diverse cultures, people from historically underrepresented groups  some of whom, thanks to marginalization over decades, are disadvantaged  and is there a way we can, you know, level up everybody to start from a better place and have more opportunities for advancement?

Giordano said that its becoming increasingly difficult to use the term DEI because it has been weaponized. Weve sort of lost in our state  and even in our country  much about what was valuable about DEI, Giordano said, adding that conference organizers wanted to acknowledge that reality.

The conference sought to cover a wide swath of issues related to DEI, including different tracks for education, health, community and the workforce. That was a purposeful choice, Giordano said, noting that over 50 people were involved in planning the conference this year.

We wanted people from health care interacting with people from education, having business people in the room, having, you know, community activists in the room and people who work for the government, Giordano said. The reality is when you get on the ground with any sort of project, any sort of program, any sort of policy change, it rarely just affects one segment of society or one group, it really cuts across many sectors.

Questions about the future of DEI arose throughout the conference.

Kelly Blackmon, a business consultant who focuses on DEI and culture issues, told the Wisconsin Examiner that DEI has been around since the Civil Rights Movement and has evolved through the years to encompass race, gender and sexual orientation. He said he thinks it is reaching a point where it needs to evolve again.

Weve been trying to find a way to make the world fair enough so that everyone can be valued equally, Blackmon said. Recently, he said DEI has created an Us versus Them mentality that has led to a lot of polarization, which leads to people weaponizing DEI.

Blackmon said that he hopes the next iteration of DEI is something more human-centric and focused on what people have in common.

Beyond language and framework for DEI, Giordano said the conference tried to focus on the real needs of Wisconsinites.

How can we address [the needs] in ways that help people to feel more included, belonging, welcomed in Wisconsin and represented  both politically but also economically, and how we can get rid of things that we just all think are terrible things like hate discrimination and bias, Giordano said.

In a keynote address at the conference, Dr. Anthony Jack, a Boston University associate professor, researcher and author, highlighted the barriers that low-income and first generation students often face within higher education.

First-gen status and low-income status are not one and the same but have a significant amount of overlap, and the data shows us that the more selective the college, the fewer the number of first-gen students and the fewer the number of lower income students, Jack said during his address. Heres a problem with that: Those from lower income families are disproportionately relegated to schools that receive less funding, less support and have less structure than their wealthier peers.

His research seeks to differentiate the experiences and difficulties that some disadvantaged students face when they begin attending a college or university. He points out that, in addition to financial troubles, students may face struggles with a lack of social capital.

A panel discussion considered Wisconsin Act 31, which was adopted in 1989 and requires Wisconsin public schools to provide instruction on the history, culture and tribal sovereignty of Native Americans. Another panel focused on providing information about mental health initiatives available to diverse communities.

Two panel discussions considered health equity in rural communities  an issue that Giordano noted is not necessarily an issue that is first to mind when people consider DEI.

This is a big issue in the state of Wisconsin, Giordano said. He noted that there are troubling statistics showing that people who live in rural areas have higher mortality rates compared to urban areas.

The panels were a reflection of what people are talking about and caring about in Wisconsin, Giordano said. Even if the term DEI is controversial, many of the efforts it ecompasses have broad support.

This is why we do this  so that people can sit down in the room together and say, What are we missing? Where are the gaps? How do we fill that? What can we do better? Giordano said.

The post Diversity, equity and inclusion conference explores issue at a time of polarization appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner.
Five candidates are vying for the Legislature's District 15 seat currently held by term-limited State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont. Clockwise from top left, Dave "Woody" Wordekemper, Roxie Kracl, Scott Thomas, Anthony Hanson and Peter Mayberry. (Photos courtesy of the candidates; Capitol photo by Rebecca Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  A crowded legislative race in Dodge County and Valley includes a business owner, engineer, firefighter paramedic, financial services company president and human rights advocate.

(Courtesy of Legislative Research Office)

The five candidates are seeking to succeed term-limited State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, a real estate agent, former teacher and moderate Democrat. In the race are: Anthony Hanson, an engineer; Roxie Kracl, president of Credit Bureau Services; Peter Mayberry, who owns a number of laundromats; Scott Thomas, whose work focuses on human rights; and Dave Woody Wordekemper, a firefighter paramedic.

The candidates range in age from their 30s to their 50s. Four are registered Republicans from Fremont, the county seat of Dodge County, while the fifth is a registered Democrat from Valley, the sliver of Douglas County that is in Legislative District 15.

The race will be narrowed to two candidates after the officially nonpartisan May 14 primary election to determine who will compete for a four-year term in November.

Hanson

Anthony Hanson

Age: 34

Political party: Republican

Education: Bachelors degree in mechanical engineering, University of Nebraska-Lincoln

Work experience: Manufacturing of medical devices, engineer

Political office: None

Hanson, who has worked as an engineer for a corn biorefinery in Blair for the past six years, said he moved to Fremont in 2014 with his wife. His main driving force for running is the familys three children.

I am concerned about the world theyre going to be growing up in and want to make a difference, Hanson said.

He grew up on a farm in Osceola, Nebraska, before moving to Lincoln to study mechanical engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln after high school.

In addition to his No. 1 issue of property taxes, Hanson said, he is concerned about protecting children and slowing down what is happening in schools. He said this includes gender-related issues  womens sports, locker rooms and restrooms.

Hanson also is seeking to protect farmers and agriculture from foreign landowners and large corporations while preserving their right to repair and work on their own equipment.

Kracl

Roxie Kracl

Age: 56

Political party: Republican

Education: High school diploma

Work experience: Credit Bureau Services

Political office: None

Kracl grew up in Lexington and moved to Fremont in 1982, raising her four children on her family farm and beginning work at Credit Bureau Services 34 years ago. She now serves as its president.

She opened a bar and grill downtown 14 years ago, which she sold this month, and has served on the local Business Improvement District Board and with the local chamber of commerce.

Ive always been involved in Fremont and serving on lots of committees and boards, Kracl said.

Kracl has been active in Dodge County politics as a longtime county GOP chair as well. She said she stepped down a couple years ago but remains active on the board. She has also served with the Nebraska GOP as a national delegate for the past three presidential elections and as an at-large congressional district member for the state GOPs executive board.

Ive worked with lots of campaigns and just felt like this was my time to run, Kracl said.

One of her priorities is bringing her experiences to the table to look at regulations and legislation that may appear pro consumer to see if there could be any unintended consequences.

Mayberry

Peter Mayberry

Age: 43

Political party: Democrat

Education: Bachelors degree, University of Nebraska at Kearney

Work experience: General Electric, business owner

Political office: Bid for Legislative District 31 (2020)

Mayberry grew up on a farm in Winnebago, Nebraska, before working for General Electric for a decade as an area sales manager. He later started a laundromat, which grew to nine locations.

He said politics is an absolute mess with corporations writing bills, no cap on campaign finance contributions and what he said is people going into politics to enrich themselves. He hopes that because he has already enriched himself through his own work, he could reverse this.

I think theres too much influence, he said. Theres too much pork. Theres too many people putting special interests in there.

Mayberry does not plan on taking donations and said he might have decided to run for the district too last second and has doubts whether he will advance next week. Still, he said, hes not a politician and doesnt want to be politically correct and will answer questions directly.

Thomas

Scott Thomas

Age: 42

Political party: Republican

Education: Professional training in child protections and human rights

Work experience: U.S. Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights, nonprofit founder and director

Political office: None

Thomas, a grandson of two World War II veterans, was born during the Cold War and said he is running because I understand the rights and duties associated with American citizenship.

He said he knows one man can make a difference.

Its corny, I know, but thats how our country is designed, Thomas said. America is in crisis right now, and the prescription is for every American to take that initiative and civic responsibility on themselves.

Thomas is the founder and director of Village in Progress, a local nongovernmental organization that does casework and studies on human rights abuses around the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights established by international treaty.

He is also the regional director for the U.S. Institute of Diplomacy and Human Rights, which advances trainings, conferences and education on human rights.

His main focus is protecting children from what he said is a calculated attack on the American family, such as through welfare incentives that he said incentivize fathers to leave the home and drive up crime, poverty and disability rates.

Im interested in protecting the American family, and I think that a lot of the problems that were seeing in our society are resulting primarily from that, Thomas said.

Wordekemper

Dave Woody Wordekemper

Age: 58

Political party: Republican

Education: Associate degree in fire science

Work experience: Firefighter paramedic, Wimmers Meats, West Point Dairy Products

Political office: None

Wordekemper, who has served with Fremonts fire department for 29 years as a firefighter paramedic, said the Legislature would be an extension of his work.

Im dedicated, believe in honesty, integrity, got a hard work ethic, Wordekemper said. I just want to go down there and continue serving my community.

He has testified at the Legislature on multiple public safety bills, and said he understands he would need to reach across the aisle and work with all senators to deliver solutions for his district.

The Legislature should be focused on getting things done for Nebraskans, Wordekemper added, being productive, representative and doing what is right.

If elected he wants to examine violent crimes that younger Nebraskans are committing and see whether laws should be modified to prevent youths from going down that path.

Property taxes and spending

Each of the candidates said property taxes is a top issue theyre hearing from voters but cast cold water on the idea that other taxes should be raised to lower a different one.

If that ones in place and then valuations go up on properties, then were paying back on that again, Wordekemper said.

Wordekemper said something needs to be done to get property taxes under control and hes open to researching what cuts could be made without compromising state services.

Hanson said as a proponent of limited government, he would do everything that I can to reduce spending and the size of Nebraskas government, which he said could include annual across-the-board percentage spending cuts while digging into the weeds to find larger cuts.

Lowering spending is the top way to reduce property taxes, he said, and adding taxes could be futile should property valuations spike again.

One of his main ideas is looking at county assessors to see whether they could limit the increase of taxes by proportionally adjusting tax rates as those assessments go up.

The assessor would be able to fulfill their legal duties of keeping our property taxes at current market values, but the citizens would be minimally impacted by an increase in those assessments, Hanson said.

Mayberry said the solution is super easy and is not rocket science.

The truth is, stop spending, he said. If the tax revenue is not there, stop spending and stop doing all these special interests.

He said lawmakers pass trash legislation to get reelected and appeal to voters even though the bills might not actually help constituents. He also criticized lawmakers who change bills up to the last second, confusing voters and other senators about what is being voted on.

Mayberry would require bills to freeze for at least 10 if not 30 days before a final vote  they must currently be held for one day.

Thomas said his work has included studies around sufficient government services and said recapturing funding that is identified as abused, such as by the state auditor, could help with property tax reform.

He said other inefficiencies or incompetence in particular state services, such as a bungled state contract for eastern Nebraska child welfare services, should encourage the tightening of state laws.

Id like to go in and clear up the statutory language so that its not open to any form of subjective interpretation where we can ensure that every American will be provided equal consideration and equal opportunity under the law, Thomas said.

Kracl said she is glad everyone is trying to be creative as there must be a sustainable solution to property taxes, including property valuations.

She said the answer starts locally and then goes up to the state level and that the latest tax plan to raise sales taxes wasnt a win for anyone. She said shes anxious to jump in and leverage her 34 years of financial services experience, which includes an emphasis on budgeting and savings.

Im just hoping to bring some of that foresight to the group, Kracl said.

Kracl said she also wants to review state services so they encourage people to get off programs and sustain full-time jobs. She also wants to support Nebraska women to get into the workforce without cutting them off at the knees and preventing them from a stable income or savings.

A hand up rather than just handouts, she said.

K-12 schools and higher education

Thomas said he would emphasize human rights work in the Legislature with a focus on civic education.

I dont think that civic education is commonplace in our society like it was when I was growing up, Thomas said. I dont think people understand the precepts and the concepts of both our country and our values and the beliefs that are important here.

He said higher education has gone progressively further and further left and taught more disciplines that arent necessarily relevant or useful in greater society, so hes not a big advocate for those institutions in their current condition.

Thomas added hes a big proponent of meritocracy and would remove any diversity, equity and inclusion programming or funding to higher education institutions.

Kracl said she has admired and would like to build on programs from Wayne State College in northeast Nebraska that get students to take internships and get into the community, encouraging them to stay and raise their families.

I think theres more opportunities for that across Nebraska, getting our kids to stay home instead of leaving Nebraska, Kracl said.

Wordekemper said its important to continue to fund education, which requires working with state and local governments to find a balance without burdening taxpayers.

I think whatever we can do to be more efficient or the most efficient and get that job done is important, he said.

Hanson, who said he supports recent legislation providing students with state funds to attend private K-12 schools, wants to also support teachers who he said are fearful of disciplining students in their classrooms.

He said the state must do what it can to protect teachers and hold parents accountable for the actions of their children at school.

It should not be that these parents are dropping their kids off at day care for the day, Hanson said.

Parents are the biggest driver in their childs education, and they need to step up, he said.

Mayberry described the education system as massively broken and said more and more money is given to schools that wont get to teachers. Instead, he said, administrators take pay while there is a teacher shortage and teachers arent paid enough.

None of it gets trickled down to the actual people that need it the most, he said.

He similarly criticized the state teachers union, saying it should represent teachers, yet it seems like thats the only people that get screwed every time the schools get more money.

Economic development, workforce and housing

Kracl said she decided to run in order to support the states workforce and saw daily how employees in her bar and grill were struggling to find affordable housing and keep up with daily barriers.

She said lessening business regulations and reducing pressure on business owners could open up opportunities to pass savings on to consumers and employees, in turn expanding the states tax base.

By loosening up some of those restrictions, letting businesses grow and take care of business, well just put some much needed dollars into our economy, Kracl said.

Hanson said he and his family recently built a house and saw firsthand the rapid increases in materials and the shortage of housing. He wants to look at regulations from a safety standpoint, as well, bringing his engineering expertise to look at building codes and whether they can be changed.

Similar to what lawmakers have attempted with the definition of affordable housing  federally 30% of someones gross income for housing and utilities  Hanson wants to see whether thats the same definition for the state.

Are we just trying to put a roof over someones head or do we want something that is more comfortable and that leaves room for families to grow? Hanson said.

Mayberry said he hopes the state does not wreck its beneficial commercial aspects that are more business-friendly compared to other states.

He said many workforce programs are already available and politicians may pass legislation that sounds good and looks good, but its worthless if people dont participate.

Thomas said he wants to protect the housing market from being exploited commercially, while preserving the American middle class.

He added that expanding the workforce and growing the economy is part and parcel with education.

Wordekemper similarly said the state should get back to two-year schooling, such as for technical jobs and trades. He said Fremont has done that with automotive and welding courses that have largely been ended at some high schools.

Theres a shortage, theres a demand, and if we can have students learning some of those trades while theyre in high school, dual opportunity with colleges, I think that benefits everybody in the long run, Wordekemper said.

The post Dodge County District 15 legislative candidates weigh in on taxes, education, economy appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
DENVER (KDVR)  A man who tried to sexually assault a woman at a park in Fort Collins, Colorado, was bit on the face by a dog, with authorities later arresting him, according to police.

Police said a woman was crying and telling a male to get off of her when she called 911 Sunday evening, according to a release from Fort Collins Police Services.

Missing dogs found with altered appearances in Connecticut

Dispatchers used her phones location to send officers to Lee Martinez Park. When they found the woman near the center of the park, she pointed out a man walking behind her.

The woman reported that the man had attacked her, and she fought him off for 20 minutes to prevent a sexual assault. According to police, a dog helped her in the fight by biting the man in the face.

The suspect, identified as 39-year-old Seth Estabrooks, was taken into custody without incident and booked on the following counts:

Second-degree assault strangulation

Unlawful sexual contact with force or threat

False imprisonment by force

Police said the woman had no relationship with Estabrooks, whom police described as a transient from Boulder.

The woman got medical support and a Patrol Crime Scene Investigator processed the suspect at the hospital, where he was treated for the dog bites.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
When it becomes clear that a government may be reaching the end of its natural life, there can be two very different reactions.

The first  the most sensible and constructive, and, therefore, the most rare  is to take a measured look at the likely prospects for leadership post-defeat, to analyse the political and economic landscape, and to begin the long, tortuous journey back towards credibility, revitalisation and relevance. The second is to chuck a petrol bomb into the mix and try to start all over again from scratch.

The latter approach is always the preferred one for the impatient, the radical and the maverick.

Talking of those qualities, Dominic Cummings has been attracting headlines with a plan to dance on the grave of his former party, making vague suggestions about a new party (yes, another one) that would, he hopes, displace the Conservatives by being completely different to both Rishi Sunaks party and the Labour Party, and which would be ruthlessly focused on the voters.

Its a peculiarity of the British political system that the gut reaction of certain intellectual and populist politicians (or, in Cummings case, former Downing Street apparatchiks) is to throw the baby out with the bathwater rather than contribute to the painstaking rebuilding of a partys public appeal. The latter course is dull and takes a long time; quick, instant solutions are naturally more attractive, even if the term solution in this case is stretching the definition of the word.

Cummings himself admits that his proposed new Start-up Party would face a tough time breaking through, given the existing first-past-the-post electoral system. And its unclear exactly how he would hope to appeal to disillusioned voters dissatisfied with the current offer from the two main parties. Nevertheless, his analysis of the current challenges facing Labour and the Conservatives is worth listening to. The man who masterminded Vote Leaves extraordinary and unexpected victory in the 2016 EU referendum can claim to understand the minds of floating voters better than many of his contemporaries, after all.

The Tories now obviously represent nothing except a continuation of the sh-- show; higher taxes, worse violent crime, more debt, anti-entrepreneurs, public services failing, immigration out of control, he told the Telegraph.

As for Labour, in government it will not alter the ultimate trajectory very much. Theyll be continuity Treasury, continuity David Cameron, George Osborne, Sunak, so everything will keep failing and everyone will be even more miserable by 2026 than they are now.

The Labour leader, Keir Starmer, cant communicate, doesnt actually have any picture of how he wants to be different, he just wants to be in charge of the broken old institutions and then do what the Civil Service tell him to do all day.

There will be plenty of people willing to wish Cummings well in any new venture, who agree with his typically pessimistic frustration at the way things are done in this country. Despite  perhaps because of  the Conservatives previously unchallenged monopoly of centre Right support in a political landscape where the Lefts support is fractured by competing parties, there is no shortage of emerging rivals hoping to achieve for the Right what the SDP did for the Left in the 1980s. Reform, the party previously known as Ukip, is already causing Conservative strategists numerous headaches as the general election approaches. In 1997, James Goldsmiths Referendum Party did modest but significant damage to John Majors prospects but never secured a single seat in parliament. Ukip itself, before its fox was shot by the EU referendum, never managed to secure a parliamentary seat outside a couple of spectacular by-election successes.

As Cummings admits, electoral progress is out of reach for any new party of the Right (even assuming he accepts such an old-fashioned, conventional political label). But its hard to avoid the conclusion that that isnt even his ambition. Having tried and failed to bring about reform to the political system when he was the most powerful and influential member of Boris Johnsons Downing Street, he undoubtedly recognises that bringing the system down from without would be a significantly less achievable task.

He has the ability to pinpoint with some accuracy what ails the current establishment. But as he has already discovered, remedy is more elusive than diagnosis. And if his ambition stretches, for now, no further than contributing to the sense that Rishi Sunaks government is on its last legs, then he can consider his latest intervention a success.

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 managed to get the age of his own son Barron wrong in an interview  calling him 17, even though he turned 18 in March.

The blunder occurred when the former president was asked about his sons entrance into the political arena, after it was announced that Barron would serve as a Florida delegate nominating his father as the Republican presidential candidate alongside his siblings at the partys national convention.

Hes pretty young, I will say. Hes 17, Mr Trump said in an interview with Telemundo 51 of Miami. But if they can do that, Im all for it.

Telemundo is the Spanish-language network of NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.

When asked about the interview, Trump campaign spokesperson Steven Cheung said NBC News has lost its mind and clearly suffers from Trump Derangement Syndrome. Instead of focusing on President Trumps second term agenda and undoing Crooked Joe Bidens disastrous policies, NBC has chosen to engage in tabloid journalism fit for the checkout aisle of a grocery store, the broadcaster reported.

Donald Trumps two other sons Donald Trump Jr, 46, and Eric Trump, 40, along with his youngest daughter Tiffany Trump, 30, will also make up part of the Florida delegation.

Trumps eldest daughter Ivanka Trump, 42, who served as an advisor to her father during his term as US president, has said she will not be part of his 2024 bid to return to the White House.

Barron hit the headlines last month when Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the former presidents hush money trial in New York, ruled that there would be no court session on 17 May after Donald Trump demanded that he should be able to attend Barrons graduation ceremony.

However, the GOP frontrunner is now also scheduled to give the keynote address at the Minnesota Republican Partys annual Lincoln Reagan Dinner on the same day.

We are thrilled to welcome President Trump back to Minnesota, state GOP chairman David Hann said in a statement. I can think of no one more fitting to join us this year than President Trump.

The fundraiser will be held in Saint Paul, Minnesota, a roughly three hour and 45 minute flight from West Palm Beach, Florida, where Barrons graduation ceremony will take place.
It has never been a better time to be a corporate lobbyist. The Republican Party, having run out of ideas, no longer even pretends to represent anything other than capital. The partys standard-bearer, Donald Trump, has no agenda to speak of for a second term, and I doubt the GOP, which wrote no platform in 2020, will write one for 2024. Should Trump get elected, however, he will need to have a program. So hes holding a sort of yard sale, starting with the oil and gas industry.

At a Mar-a-Lago dinner last month, the author of The Art of the Deal made a proposition to a gathering of top energy executives that included representatives from Chevron, Exxon, Occidental Petroleum, Cheniere Energy, and Venture Global. Give me $1 billion, Trump reportedly said, and you will receive relief from whatever environmental rules and policies that displease you. The value of that relief, he told them, far exceeds $1 billion. Trump actually used the word deal, according to The Washington Posts Josh Dawsey and Maxine Joselow. That raises the question of whether bribery should be added to the list of criminal offenses for which Trump has been indicted already. Indeed, it seems possible Trumps shakedown, because it was so blunt, will backfire, frightening oil executives away from any future contributions lest they invite prosecution. It happened with the Teapot Dome scandal in 1921 and it could happen again. These energy bigwigs are well-advised to consult their general counsels before they open their checkbooks

Trump might argue in his defense that there is no quid pro quo because doing everything the oil and gas industry wants was the plan all along. He mostly followed that principle during his first term, so why not eliminate all friction in the second? But if thats the case, theres even less reason for industry executives to write Trump campaign checks. Why buy the cow when you can milk it through the fence? The oil and gas industries have already given Trump about $500,000, according to Open Secrets. Better to reserve any additional funds for their number one priority, which seems to be re-electing Representative August Pfluger, the Republican congressman from Texass Permian Basin.

Ben Lefebvre reports in Politico that the energy sector is drawing up ready-to-sign executive orders for Trump to sign regarding natural gas exports, drilling costs, and offshore oil leases. According to energy executives:



The effort stems from the industrys skepticism that the Trump campaign will be able to focus on energy issues as Election Day draws closer  and worries that the former president is too distracted to prepare a quick reversal of the Biden administrations green policies. Oil executives also worry that a second Trump administration wont attract staff skillful enough to roll back President Joe Bidens regulations or craft new ones favoring the industry

Thats kind of insulting, no? However much it wants Trump to win a second term, the oil and gas industry does not expect a Trump administration to be competent, or to have much of a mind of its own. The phrase useful idiot springs to mind. The lobbyists Lefebvre interviewed did little to hide their contempt. Supportive industries are going to have to prop up a second Trump administration with expertise, said one who spoke not for attribution. Were going to have to write exactly what we want, actually spoon-feeding the administration.

Theres every reason to think candidate Trump is subcontracting not just oil and tax policy, but his entire second-term agenda (minus a handful of pet projects) in return for campaign contributions, more enthusiastic support, or possibly nothing at all. It may be that the Trump campaign simply appreciates lobbyists as free labor. Why create a policy shop to establish second-term priorities when industry hacks want to do that work for you? Policy shops require salaries, which costs money, and Trump needs to reserve campaign funds to pay legal fees in his four criminal prosecutions.

Spencer Chretien, a former aide in the Trump White House, runs Project 2025, the Heritage Foundations program to micromanage a second Trump presidency down to mowing the White House lawn and taking out the garbage. (I exaggerate, but only slightly.) Project 2025 has drafted various executive orders allowing a future President Trump to roll back access to abortion. Were trying to do as much, now, of the future presidents work that we can, Chretien told Politicos Alice Miranda Ollstein way back in January. Why cant the future president write his own executive orders, or get his White House staff to write them? Because they wont be competent enough to do so. Having worked on the inside, Chretien ought to know.

Some will say Im being naive. Lobbyists and think-tankers tend to swagger, especially when they talk to Politico, and Democrats and Republicans alike depend on outside groups to advise them on policy. Its not unheard of, for instance, for environmental or labor groups to help draft regulations. Thats all true. But its pretty rare for an outside group to go full Docusign like were seeing here. And anyway, when public interest groups help prepare policy documents theyre acting in, well, the public interest. When representatives of corporations (and their Heritage Foundation lackeys) tell a possible future president to just sign on the dotted line, they dont pretend to be acting on behalf of anything other than private profit.

Especially galling is that industry lobbyists are treating a second Trump term as their personal property even as Trump and the GOP continue to draw strong support from the working class. Non-college voters (the standard definition of working-class voters) should ask themselves why Trump isnt inviting them to write any executive orders, or merely to suggest any ways he can make their lives better. The answer is he doesnt care. He can win them over by insulting Democrats, the press, the professional class, and other enemies at his campaign ralliesand through a constant flow of cultural and now legal transgression on social media. They love that he respects nothing. They sell themselves cheap.
TASHKENT, Uzbekistan, May 10. Uzbekistan reached an agreement with the Lithuanian Bega logistics company on establishing an economic terminal in the port of Klaipeda (Lithuania), Trend reports.

The matter was reviewed at a meeting between a delegation from Uzbekistan and the CEO of Bega logistics company, Laimonas Rimkus.

According to the agreement, the terminal will become a center for the distribution, packaging, and export of Uzbek products to other European markets after its arrival in Lithuania.

The sides also agreed upon establishing a trade house of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Uzbekistan and a special hub for the storage of Uzbek products.

During the meeting, the parties discussed various issues, including the prospects of exporting Uzbek products to European markets and the conditions created for entrepreneurs.

Meanwhile, Uzbekistan will build a new cargo terminal at Tashkent International Airport with a capacity of 120,000 tons per year on an area of 5.2 hectares.

At the first stage, by the end of this year, a new cargo terminal with a total area of 8,000 square meters will be operational, including 500-square-meter refrigerating and freezing chambers for commodities that require a specific temperature regime.

In the second phase, Uzbekistan plans to build and put into operation a new cargo warehouse with an area of 12,000 square meters by the end of 2025, including the construction of new modern refrigerating and freezing rooms with different temperature regimes with a total area of 1,000 square meters.
NewTown Macon has been nationally recognized for its extensive work in the revitalization of downtown Macon: the independent non-profit was honored with the 2024 Great American Main Street Award this week.

The annual award recognizes communities that revitalize commercial districts while also preserving history. Macon-Bibb County held a press conference Friday to announce the win after receiving it May 6 at a conference in Birmingham, Alabama.

Emily Hopkins, vice president of external affairs and Main Street Macon manager, said she was elated when she found out NewTown Macon had won.

Everyone in Macon  our boards, our donors, our volunteers, our partners, Macon-Bibb County, our downtown businesses  have worked for decades to create the downtown experience we have today, she said. Most importantly, we have worked together to ensure that all Maconites feel welcome and have equitable opportunities downtown.

Mayor Lester Miller addresses the crowd at a press conference Friday to announce NewTown Macon had been honored with the 2024 Great American Main Street Award.

Selected by a national jury of industry professionals and local leaders in economic development and historic preservation, NewTown Macon was recognized for leading a community-driven effort that nurtures local talent, fosters sustainable development and promotes inclusiveness, according to Hopkins.

She said being recognized for the work on a national scale made her proud of all that has been accomplished as a community.

Erin Barnes, president and CEO at Main Street America, said NewTown Macon exemplifies the importance of growing from within and investing in local human capital, leadership, and pride in community.

From generational wealth building programs to pride of place initiatives, NewTown Macon offers an impressive model that centers the needs, desires and dreams of locals, she said.

When NewTown Macon was founded in 1996, roughly 30% of storefronts were occupied and a handful of apartments existed downtown. Today, 84% of storefronts are occupied with locally owned and operated businesses and there are 753 lofts with over 1,000 residents living downtown, according to Hopkins.

She said NewTown Macon has a strategic plan, and 80% of the strategies in the first two iterations of the Macon Action Plan have been completed.

Hopkins said she hopes the award validates NewTown Macons process for the progress in downtown Macon so the community will continue to believe and participate in the Macon Action Plan.

Representatives from NewTown Macon smile for a photo while attending a conference in Alabama. At the conference they were presented with the 2024 Great American Main Street Award.

The Macon Action Plan gave us a framework for sharing and documenting our dreams for the future. Our dreams have come true over and over again with each strategy completed in the Macon Action Plan, showing our community that when everyone is involved in creating and implementing a plan, our wildest dreams come true, she said. And I think that proves to us that we can complete even bigger and better projects and take on harder challenges that we would never have thought would have been possible just 10 years ago.

Hopkins went on to say Macon residents have rehabbed the citys historic buildings and generated more historic tax credit projects in Macon than anywhere else in the country. She said Macon residents currently own and operate every storefront downtown.

She said she hopes the award inspires the community to keep at it and build on its success.

My wish is that this award gives everyone hope in Macon that if downtown can turn around in 28 years from a place where no one wanted to live, work, or visit to being recognized as one of the greatest downtowns in America, we can replicate this success in any neighborhood and zip code in Macon-Bibb, Hopkins said. Were on the right track - and this award helps prove that.
Park visitors walk along a section of the Great Salt Lake that used to be underwater at the Great Salt Lake State Park on August 02, 2021, near Magna, Utah. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Law professors from around the country threw their support behind a lawsuit filed against the state of Utah, arguing officials havent done enough to help the Great Salt Lake.

In an amicus brief filed in Utahs 3rd District Court last week, 36 law professors say Utah is violating public trust doctrine, which requires the state to protect cultural or natural resources for public use, including bodies of water, land, artifacts or wildlife.

Its the latest in a lawsuit filed in September by Earthjustice, Utah Physicians for a Healthy Environment, American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity, Sierra Club and Utah Rivers Council, all conservation groups.

Public trust doctrine was in place when Utah was granted statehood in 1896, according to the Utah Law Review, designed to ensure the states navigable waterways would be protected and available for public use. As the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands noted in a 2023 presentation to lawmakers, The beds of navigable bodies of water must be managed in a way that does not interfere with navigation, commerce, fishing, and the ecological value of the waterbody.

The lawsuit notes that public trust doctrine is well established in Utah code and has been upheld by several state Supreme Court decisions. In the brief filed this week, the professors cited court rulings that found states have an obligation to preserve public resources.

Consistent with this growing judicial chorus, Utahs public trust duties are to protect and preserve the Great Salt Lake. Utah has not come close to meeting those responsibilities, the brief reads.

In a statement given to Utah News Dispatch on Thursday, officials pushed back on that argument.

We have been  and will continue to  work to protect the interests of the state of Utah. Each division within the Department of Natural Resources is mindful of its responsibilities. Together, we are addressing the need to protect the Great Salt Lake, said Joel Ferry, executive director of the Utah Department of Natural Resources.

The lawsuit names several state agencies, including the Utah Department of Natural Resources, the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, and the Utah Division of Water Rights.

The state has filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit, writing earlier this year in court documents that The legal solution offered by Plaintiffs is unsupported by Utah law and disregards the many and varied mechanisms the State is utilizing to manage Great Salt Lake.

That sentiment was echoed in a social media post from Republicans in the Utah Legislature, which didnt specifically reference the lawsuit, but criticized litigious outside interests.

The Legislatures progress on the Great Salt Lake has been nothing short of historic, reads a post on X from the House Majority account. To continue this work, we need real solutions  not symbolism and theatrics. We need local involvement, not litigious outside interests.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The brief references several state actions it says endangered the public trust resources. That includes actively authorizing water appropriations that divert upstream water.

Rather than address that problem, the state has instead focused on trying to persuade individual water users to undertake voluntary measures to reduce their consumption, the professors write. Seeking voluntary measures from water users is insufficient to meet the states duty to ensure against the substantial impairment of the Great Salt Lake while the lake continues to shrink and its ecosystem is undergoing collapse, the group of professors write, urging the court to force Utah to develop and enforce a plan to restore the lake.

That plan could include changing surplus water management in wet years, managing flows outside the irrigation season for conservation, and requiring efficiency improvements with the conserved water released to the Lake, according to court documents.

In a statement, Ferry said the department received and reviewed the brief, and plans to oppose it.

It is largely duplicative of the Plaintiffs arguments and that Utahs district court rules do not authorize such filings, he said.

The brief was signed by law professors from around the country, including the Georgetown University Law Center, University of Baltimore School of Law, University of Oregon School of Law, and University of Houston. However, there were no Utah-based signatories.

An amicus brief is a court document usually filed by academics, businesses, subject-matter experts or trade associations who side with one party in a lawsuit. They typically present additional information, perspectives or precedent for the court to consider.

The post Dozens of law professors say Utah failed to protect Great Salt Lake appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
SUTTON  The School Committee on Thursday called for an independent financial audit into the Connections Conference, an annual event at Sutton High School that focuses on social justice, following concerns over a session in which a drag performer danced and sang on top of a table.

The committee passed a motion after a tense four-hour special hearing on Thursday evening at the school auditorium, where dozens of people directed comments at Sutton Memorial High School Principal Edward McCarthy and the five-member school board.

John Sullivan, who said he has three children in the Sutton school system, said that he was not happy with the direction our schools have been going on, referencing the Connections Conference.

I understand there are several touchy social issues in the world today  these social issues can be taught in a way where we're not going to the extreme ends of the spectrum, Sullivan said. I've never pushed my kids on my opinions or my beliefs.  I will not accept they go to school and have the beliefs of others pushed upon them or be made to feel they're wrong if they disagree.

These are my kids, not yours.

Officers of the Sutton Police Department were present at the meeting. McCarthy said that following this years conference on March 15, at least two bomb threats were made to the school, and death threats were directed at school officials, including McCarthy.

The School Committee had planned to address the conference at its regularly scheduled meeting Monday, but the hearing was pushed to Thursday when the virtual portion of the meeting crashed due to high attendance.

At the beginning of the meeting on Thursday, McCarthy emphasized the benefits of the Connections Conference, while also apologizing to those in attendance, acknowledging that three minutes of that presentation went a little bit too far."

To paint an entire conference, an entire group, an entire community because three minutes went a little beyond what we expected does a disservice to all the work that they do, said McCarthy. Those people donate their time, their energy to people who are in danger, people who are ostracized and often have nobody else.

The student-run Connections Conference held its fifth event this year, hosting 615 students from 56 high schools across New England. It was held on a professional development day, when classes were closed at the high school.

Workshops included a meet-and-greet with Cynthia Smith, a New York Times bestselling childrens author; and trans youth activist Kai Shappley.

Author Cynthia Smith leads her workshop on storytelling at Sutton High.

One of the workshops also included an event by Pride Worcester that featured a drag performer, according to different sources, with humor and singing as part of the act.

Attempts to reach Pride Worcester were not immediately successful.

In an interview Friday, McCarthy reiterated that certain aspects of the performance during the Pride Worcester workshop were not necessarily appropriate for a workshop, adding that the drag performer did a cartwheel during the performance.

But do I think that there's anything wrong with drag? Absolutely not, said McCarthy. Theyre an important part of the LGBTQ+ community. The work that those guys do, I think, is just very powerful in our community.

For the better part of the hearing on Thursday, which kicked off at 7:30 p.m., the board opened a public discussion, during which each speaker was limited to three minutes at the microphone.

Im not worried that my kids seeing a drag queen is going to make them gay, said Jen Heck, a Sutton resident, just like Im not worried about my kids seeing someone with a gun is going to make them a killer, or seeing someone with a doughnut is going to make them fat.

Lindsay Wilk, a resident of Sutton, also showed support for Connections Conference.

Ive attended the conference three times, and its always been a very energized day and wonderful for our students, said Wilk. These programs help to teach our kids that there are not acceptable things to be saying at school or anyplace else.

Connections is not perfect, but its something.

Some conference supporters in attendance wore shirts with the workshops logo. When approached by a reporter, they refused to comment and asked the reporter to leave the auditorium.

Jennifer Day-DeMora, a resident of Sutton, said she felt the school system was developing a culture of fear, distrust, divisiveness and confusion."

Students are now questioning everything they've been taught by parents, and not in a way that allows them to be critical thinkers, said DeMora.

The School Committee closed the public discussion around 10:30 p.m., following with a motion for a financial audit into the Connections Conference, at the request of many residents who spoke at the meeting on Thursday.

When asked after the meeting about the audit, McCarthy said the conference is financed by private donations.

I hope that people have their questions answered, said McCarthy.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Drag performance at Sutton school event brings uproar, call for audit
Dragon ball creature  with countless legs  discovered in Thailand. See new species

Against the mossy rocks of towering cliffs in Thailand, a bright orange spot stands out in contrast.

Segmented pieces fit together like a puzzle to form a spherical body. Then, it quickly unfurls and tons of tiny legs kick into motion to scuttle away.

Its a small millipede, and while most people might say it looks like a fish egg or a sungold tomato, a group of researchers saw the creature and thought of something else  Dragon Ball.

The Dragon Ball orange bullet millipede, Hyleoglomeris dracosphaera, was described as a new species along with five others in a new study published April 26 in the journal Contributions to Zoology.

The bright orange millipede is less than a centimeter long and has unique legs, researchers said. Screengrab from Animal Systemics Research Unit's Facebook post

Discover more new species

Thousands of new species are found each year. Here are three of our most eye-catching stories from the past week.

Deep-sea creature  with 'rectangular' shape  discovered

Sea creature 'adorned with gold' found on coral in Philippines

Clawed forest creature found lurking near temple in India

Researchers from the Animal Systematics Research Unit of Chulalongkorn University said the discovery of the new species was confusing  and accidental, according to a May 9 Facebook post.

Most millipedes found in caves and around rocks in Thailand are generally dark colored, allowing them to blend in to the landscape, the researchers said.

This species, however, was bright and the only orange millipede in its genus, according to the study.

As the team searched the area as part of the Animal Systematics Task Force, the millipede was hard to miss and was brought back to the biological station for a closer look, according to the post.

The name was chosen to emphasize the orange body which, when rolled up into a sphere, resembles Dragon Balls, the magical artifacts in the Japanese manga and anime series Dragon Ball, the researchers said.

Less than a centimeter long, the millipede has growths on its legs of large size and triangular shape, according to the study. This, combined with the unique color, helped the researchers confirm its status as a newly discovered species.

Five other species were also identified in the study, including the black-spotted little bullet millipede, the Suwannakhuha little bullet millipede, the bee-striped little bullet millipede, the Thong Kerd little millipede and the little pill millipede, according to the researchers.

The term bullet millipede comes from the Thai word , meaning bullet, ammunition or shot, the researchers said.

Despite their Dragon Ball appearance, collecting seven of them wont summon the Eternal Dragons to grant a blessing, the researchers joked.

The millipede was discovered in Tham Pha Tha Phon non-hunting area in the Noen Maprang District, in north-central Thailand.

Google Translate was used to translate the Facebook post from the Animal Systematics Research Unit.

Golden-tailed creature  pregnant with 2 eggs  discovered as new species. See it

Technicolored creature  found in Brazil river  discovered as a new species. See it

Large pregnant creature with heartshaped spot found in China. Its a new species

Glowing sea creature with 15 tentacles found off Florida coast. Its a new species
Former House Republican leader Christine Drazan plans to primary Rep. James Hieb, who was appointed to replace her. (Courtesy of Drazan campaign; Michael Romanos/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Former House Republican leader Christine Drazan plans to primary Rep. James Hieb, who was appointed to replace her. (Courtesy of Drazan campaign; Michael Romanos/Oregon Capital Chronicle)

Christine Drazan left the state House two years ago to focus on an ultimately unsuccessful run for governor. Now, she wants to come back.

Standing in her way is James Hieb, the Republican veteran appointed to fill the seat when Drazan left in 2022. Hieb didnt see himself as a seat-warmer.

No Democrats are running in the 51st House District in Clackamas County, and the winner of the Republican primary is all but certain to take office in January.

Drazan comes into the race with a clear advantage: Shes known across the state from her second-place finish in the most expensive gubernatorial race in Oregon history, and she raised 10 times as much as he did for the primary. Drazan still has more than $100,000 she can spend on ads and voter contact ahead of the primary, while Hieb owes more than $7,000.

Most current members of the Oregon House have stayed out of the race, though Rep. Shelly Boshart Davis, R-Albany, kicked $250 to Drazans campaign in April.

Heres a look at both candidates:

Christine Drazan

For months in 2022, there was a serious chance that Drazan, the most recent House Republican leader, could be the first Republican governor of Oregon in nearly four decades. Instead, like the Republican nominees before her, she fell short, capturing 43.5% of the vote in a three-way race that Gov. Tina Kotek won with 47%.

Name: Christine Drazan

Party: Republican

Age: 51

Residence: Canby

Education: Bachelors degree in communications from George Fox University, 1993

Current occupation: Founder of the nonprofit A New Direction Oregon, which advocates for conservative policies

Prior elected experience: State representative, 2019-22; House Republican leader, 2019-21

Family status: Married, three children

Fundraising: $138,084.51 as of May 6

Cash on hand: $108,834.07 as of May 6

Since losing the governors race, Drazan, now 51, has kept up her political profile. She founded a nonprofit organization, A New Direction Oregon, and has spent time traveling the state hosting roundtable discussions about pressing issues including the housing crisis and wildfires.

Oregonians know me, and they know that there is no stronger fighter for their families and for a higher quality of life in our state, for excellence and public service and certainly for efficiency with tax dollars, Drazan said.

She surprised Hieb and political observers by announcing in March that she wanted to return to the state House. Drazan told the Capital Chronicle that she always wanted to serve her community, and that she only stepped onto the statewide stage in 2022 because she felt it was important to provide a contrast to Kotek.

(Running for the House again) is an extension of my same commitment from the beginning of my time to to be a voice for people that are feeling overlooked or crushed by the power that we have in the state that has a particular perspective, she said. It doesnt always reflect the needs of the community where I live, and so Im excited for the opportunity to spend some time in the statehouse again and to serve in that capacity again.

The House has changed since Drazan and her frequent foil, Kotek, left to run for governor: Speakers Dan Rayfield and Julie Fahey and House Republican leaders Vikki Breese-Iverson and Jeff Helfrich put an emphasis on bipartisan communication and no surprises that gave the House a much more collegial atmosphere than it was with Kotek as speaker and Drazan as Republican leader. While Drazan led Republicans on multiple quorum-denying walkouts, House Republicans remained on the floor for votes under Breese-Iversons and Helfrichs leadership.

Drazan said she found the final result of legislative negotiations on House Bill 4002, the measure that recriminalized drugs and provided more resources for treatment, to be super encouraging, and that shes optimistic the House will be a place where Republicans can have an effect.

During her first term, she helped engineer a coup against then-House Republican Leader Carl Wilson, but she said shes not looking to challenge current Republican leadership.

Ive always been a team player, Drazan said. Even with the title of Republican leader, I would recognize that in the minority you dont accomplish anything as a lone wolf, and so I will look forward to figuring out how I can support the efforts of folks that are standing up for the minority voices across our state.

James Hieb

Personal tragedies drove Hieb, 38, to political service. In 2014, he lost two younger brothers to fentanyl and his Army chaplain father to suicide.

Name: James Hieb

Party: Republican

Age: 38

Residence: Canby

Education: Associates degrees in education and business management from Clackamas Community College, 2011 and 2014

Current occupation: State representative, owner of Estacada Timber School

Prior elected experience: State representative since 2022

Family status: Married, five children

Fundraising: $13,211 as of May 6

Cash on hand: $1,740.81 as of May 6

That led him to advocate for expanding mental health and addiction facilities and eventually toward seeking an appointment to the state House in 2022. It was especially meaningful for him to vote this year to criminalize the distribution of fentanyl, a few days short of the 10-year anniversary of his brothers death.

Whats keeping me here is theres much more work to do, and I have an insight that no other legislator in the building has, Hieb said. I use this pain and suffering that my family has gone through to push me so that I can spare other families from going through any sort of similar pain.

Hieb enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps at 17 and deployed twice to Fallujah, Iraq, where he sustained a traumatic brain injury. In the Legislature, he championed a law that expanded services for Oregonians with brain injuries.

He also supported state funding for a $115 million Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission distribution center in Canby, as well as funding for a veterans home in Roseburg and a new law that will help give veterans whose cremated remains have sat unclaimed for years or even decades the military funeral they earned.

I care more than my opponent ever could, and thats ultimately why I cannot and will not give up or quit, he said.

Hieb has had several run-ins with the law, including a 2004 drunken driving arrest, a 2019 citation for not ensuring his then-11-year-old son wore a seatbelt and a night spent in handcuffs at the Clackamas County Fair in 2022 after a drunken disagreement over his refusal to extinguish a cigarette. He says he stopped drinking after that incident, which did not result in any criminal charges.

Along with giving up alcohol, Hiebs approach to working with other legislators has changed over the past two years. He said he started off regularly offending people but they later became his friends after he realized the importance of relationships in influencing legislation.

I learned that people arent going to listen to me if Im constantly putting my foot in my mouth, and it took me realizing that and trying not necessarily to win an argument, but to try to learn their perspective and watch what pushes them, he said. My experience as a white man, blond hair, blue eyes, in rural Oregon growing up in the Army and the Marine Corps was vastly different than many other Oregonians, and learning about their backgrounds and what leads them to their decisions has become drastically more important than ever winning the arguments.

Hieb was listed as the only sitting member of the House to be endorsed by the Republican Unity Caucus, a political action committee led by House candidate Ben Edtl that has dedicated its resources toward claiming, without evidence, that Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, is a stooge of the Chinese Communist Party. Hieb said he knew Edtl through Oregon Young Republicans and supported the initial concept of a unity caucus to cut down on GOP infighting, but that he has since decided that Edtl has a habit of misinterpreting facts and twisting things to a point where they could easily be considered lies and has no interest in working with Edtl.

The post Drazan seeks return to state House after failed run for governor, challenging Hieb appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss is the final, classic line from The Whos Wont Get Fooled Again counterculture rock hit. That line correctly describes the results from last Saturday's election.

The smart, safe bet on the mayoral race was a runoff between Councilmen Steve Massengale and Mark McBrayer. This is because they would split the largely consistent, conservative vote in the city. That is exactly what happened with McBrayer finishing in first with 37.4% and Massengale in second with 28.2% of the vote.

More: McBrayer, Massengale will head to runoff for Lubbock mayor

Mark McBrayer, left, and Steve Massengale will face off for the Lubbock mayor's seat in a runoff election June 15.

It is worth mentioning over 30,000 Lubbockites turned out to vote in this mayors race, which is the largest turnout in recent elections for this race. It was widely reported the early vote totals in this city-wide election surpassed the total vote in the last several municipal elections. That is quite the accomplishment.

That large turnout was  without question  due to Proposition A. The movement to decriminalize relatively small amounts of marijuana within the city limits propelled activity from locally elected officials to political action committees (PACs). Project Destiny and Freedom Act Lubbock were the two major PACs that emerged on opposing sides of the issue. Project Destiny, which has D.C.-connected political operatives aiding its efforts and was embarrassingly and glaringly late in a campaign finance report to the Texas Ethics Commission (TEC), has connections to people with deep pockets. In the PACs eight-day pre-election campaign finance report to the TEC, it boasted $138,204 worth of fundraising and spent $106,804.42 with roughly $72,000 in its account. The PACs largest single donation from a person was $50,000.

Where Project Destiny had its money and tremendous fundraising capabilities, Freedom Act Lubbock focused on a grassroots effort. In all honesty, it had no other option. In its eight-day pre-election campaign finance report to the city, Freedom Act Lubbock was able to fundraise $1,463. Its consistent boots-on-the-ground brand of retail politics, which is an effective campaign tactic, was outmatched by the big-spending, deeply connected competitor. The election results proved that.

But on analysis, Freedom Act Lubbock was able to achieve something Project Destiny did not. Prop A  started by Freedom Act Lubbock  raised the turnout in a mayoral election. It should also be known that Project Destiny did not make any endorsements in the race for Lubbocks Mayor. While Freedom Act Lubbock did not either, Adam Hernandezs mayoral campaign hitched itself to Freedom Act Lubbock. The Hernandez campaigns hope hindered on the higher-than-usual voter turnout to not only support Prop A, but also his candidacy. That unfortunately did not happen. In the Prop A vote, 11,242 supported it. In the mayoral race, Adam Hernandez got a little more than half of the Prop A vote, equaling 6,307. This means that there were some Prop A supporters who voted for other mayoral candidates. Had Hernandez received 80% of the vote from those Prop A supporters, he would  probably  replace Councilman Massengale in the runoff.

To be clear, Prop A was the wildcard in the aforementioned safe bet. Had 10-15,000 more Lubbockites participated in this election, the results could have been different. Furthermore, had the same groups that supported making Lubbock a wet city in 2009 thrown their support behind Prop A, maybe a different result would have happened. There are a lot of what ifs here, but what is true is twofold.

One is voter turnout. While Lubbock had a historic turnout in the mayoral election and that is to be celebrated, only 20% of registered voters in the city accounted for the turnout. Had more voters from the north, east, northeastern, and Tech Terrace areas of the city participated, there is little question the results would have changed. Since they did not, voters from the south, west, and southwestern portions of the city decided  yet again  who runs Lubbocks government. Until more Lubbockites view real change through elections, voter apathy and the dismal turnouts it causes will continue.

The other truth surrounds the narrative of Lubbock being a conservative city. A majority of the political activists in The Hub City are, for sure. And those who consistently vote tend to support conservative candidates. But that does not make Lubbock a conservative city. In the past 40 years, how many bond elections in the city failed? One might count them on one hand. Is it conservative to be against public education? Is the local teen birth rate being 81% higher than the U.S. rate and 21% higher than the Texas rate a conservative value? Is Lubbock being a wet city a conservative value?

The aforementioned argues the point Lubbocks conservatism is to be taken at face value. Until the voter turnout increases to roughly 40% can we truly make such a judgment. Voter turnout will rely on a few factors  and the timing of elections is one of them by the way. Move the municipal elections to November  and an exciting issue on the ballot is one of them. What Freedom Act Lubbock found out was it rattled the cage and roughly the same people who supported the Sanctuary City for the Unborn ordinance opposed Prop A.

At the end of the day, a mayoral runoff will happen in mid-June. The winner from that will lead the city for the next two years. The one who can court a majority of the 6,307 people who supported Adam Hernandez could very well walk away as the winner.

Drew Landry is an assistant professor of government at South Plains College.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Landry: Lubbock voters went with 'smart, safe bet' in municipal election
The driver of a large box truck that fatally struck three construction workers on Interstate 83 in northern York County last month fell asleep, according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Reed A. Davenport, 24, of Roxbury, Massachusetts was driving southbound on the highway in the early morning hours of April 17 when the crash occurred in a construction work zone in the area of mile marker 35, state police said.

The three construction workers  Jesse McKenzie, 24, of Somerset, Pa.; Robert Hampe, 42, of Meyersdale, Pa.; and Philson Hinebaugh III, 24, of Johnstown, Pa.  died at the scene.

A memorial for Philson Hinebaugh III, 24, of Johnstown, Pa., Robert Hampe, 42, of Meyersdale, Pa., and Jesse McKenzie, 24, of Somerset, Pa. Next to the southbound lans of Interstate 83 around mile marker 35.5 on April 25. The construction workers died in the April 17 crash in Fairview Township.

State police said Davenport was "traveling at a rate of speed greater than what would be considered reasonable and prudent when entering an active work zone and falling asleep ..."

The box truck sideswiped a stationary crash attenuator truck in the right lane and continued onto the shoulder, hitting the three construction workers.

The truck went up an embankment and sideswiped a Ford Edge when it returned to the highway. Christopher Lauch, 60, of Ardsley, New York, who was in the vehicle, was not injured, state police said.

The box truck stopped after hitting a concrete barrier separating the northbound and southbound lanes of the highway, state police said.

Davenport was not injured, state police said.

The box truck sustained heavy damage in the crash and was towed from the scene, state police said.

The crash remains under investigation, state police said.

This article originally appeared on York Daily Record: I-83 driver fell asleep before truck fatally struck 3 construction workers
Albuterol for asthma. Heparin to thin blood. Epinephrine injection for severe allergies. Theyre among 128 drugs listed on the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations drug shortage page this week as being currently in very short supply or having just had a shortage resolved. Amphetamine/dextroamphetamine salts, commonly used for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, has been a search-for-it crisis for well over a year. Cancer centers and oncology specialists are dealing with a worrisome shortage of some chemotherapy medicines.

Meanwhile, some patients who use the long-acting insulin formulation called Levemir are upset after its manufacturer, Novo Nordisk, announced it would discontinue the drug. Speculation is the company wants to free up more room on its production lines for its weight-loss megasellers Ozempic and Wegovy.

Sometimes a drug shortage is a nuisance. Other times, the repercussions could be more serious, as is the case with chemotherapy drugs, among others that people are scrambling to get.

Drug shortages are nothing new, but there are more shortages now than in the past  primarily sterile injectable drugs. Theyre typically older, drugs like lidocaine and morphine and IV-administered antibiotics like vancomycin, said Dan Liljenquist, chief strategy officer at Intermountain Health, as well as chief architect and board chair of Civica, a not-for-profit generic drug company. These are drugs weve used forever.

But what causes shortages? And more to the point, what do you do when you cant get the medication you need?

Old and underpriced

Few people in the country know more about drug shortages than Erin Fox, associate chief pharmacy officer at University of Utah Health. She and her team have been tracking drug shortages since 2001.

Most of the drugs with shortage status are hospital drugs  typically really old generic products. Theyre cheap and frequently prescribed for patients in the hospital. The very low price is a large part of the problem, she said. The prices are very, very low in part because the FDA tells us that all generic products are equal. And the only thing left for those companies to compete on is price. Over time they just undercut each other to try to get market share.

Liljenquist notes that theres almost never a drug shortage when a company makes a product that lots of people need, thats still under patent protection to the manufacturer and where theres no close substitute. The exception is something like Ozempic or Wegovy, where demand shoots up so fast that they scramble to catch the production up, he said.

There are about 5,000 hospitals in the U.S. and millions and millions of people taking medication every day  just not hospital medication, said Liljenquist. Thats why hospital injectables are the bulk of drugs in shortages. People in hospitals dont need an endless supply of a drug, as someone outside who has diabetes and needs insulin or who requires high blood pressure medicine might. So drugs infused in hospitals or injected are vital, but an entire years supply for the nation might be manufactured by just one or two companies.

Theres big competition for the contract and cash incentives for hospitals, but if theres a single point of failure in that sole providers chain, the chain goes down, Liljenquist said. If theres only one place you make a certain drug and you have a quality problem or you have a power outage or a natural disaster, that production capacity goes offline. We saw what happens with infant formula.

Sometimes, with old generic drugs, the prices go so low that the companies dont want to make them any more, Liljenquist and Fox told the Deseret News.

And that doesnt even take into account supply chain problems that can occur with raw materials, Fox said. Theres a shortage of a blood pressure medicine right now because an ingredient was contaminated with nitrosamine, which is also found when you barbecue stuff.

There are, of course, other reasons for shortages, too. Fox said the shortage of ADHD drugs has been especially interesting, because these are controlled substances and the amount that can be produced is very, very tightly controlled by the Drug Enforcement Agency. And the DEA determines how much of the raw ingredients each company gets.

That informations not publicly available, so its hard to sort out whos right when there are competing versions of the story: The DEA says the medication manufacturers have enough and just havent used it. The companies are saying the DEA didnt give them enough. An interested bystander cant decide whos right. Its a lot of finger-pointing, Fox said.

In a real crisis, could someone else step in to make a drug? Its not simple. It takes a whole bunch of money to build one of those facilities. And a bunch of time, according to Liljenquist. He knows, because Civica not long ago did just that. Civica has made 86 drugs that are shortage medications, he said. Drugs that treat 73 million patients. A third of the nations hospitals are involved in Civica. Were doing our part, but when the market price becomes so low, it would bankrupt Civica.

Some of the prices, he said, need to reset so companies can afford to make the drugs.

Even more frustrating, sometimes the brand name is available, while the generic is in short supply. But many insurance companies have on their drug formulary only the generic form. So all patients can do is call their insurance company, tell them theres a shortage and hope the company will temporarily approve the brand-name version. Insurance companies will not automatically do that, unfortunately, Fox said.

Another question there is risk versus benefit. Even though theyve recalled some of these products, theyve also encouraged people to not stop taking them if they cant get a substitute product, Fox said. Does the blood pressure risk outpace the contamination? Variations play out in different ways.

A national security issue?

Outsourcing is another issue. As Liljenquist points out, China decided decades ago that it wanted to be the pharmaceutical hub of the world. The Chinese government invested a bunch of money and subsidized investment of capacity into China, so their drug prices are the lowest in the world, he said.

When a drug gets FDA approval, people tend to assume quality is all the same. It may or may not be, but that assumption made price the king when it came to choosing suppliers. But China has a different regulatory environment, he added. China makes those importing its drugs responsible for vetting the quality. And for generic drugs under the Hatch-Waxman Act, the FDA has authority to do two things, per LIljenquist: approve a new drug based on manufacturer data and inspect the plant. To do that overseas in China or India, theres no surprise inspection. A lot of notice is required. If a problem is found, theres new potential for a shortage.

The low prices keep drug manufacturing of certain generics overseas, where costs are lower. But sos control and sometimes quality. Again: shortages.

Fox describes the supply chain as opaque, with no company required to reveal who made the product, where the raw material came from or the location of the factory.

Shortages, she said, are global. Theyre felt everywhere because production lines supply many places. If a country takes shortcuts. it hurts a lot in a lot of locations. You end up either needing to stop manufacturing and remediate when problems are found or kind of try to slow down production and make enough to go while youre remediating, Fox said.

COVID-19 prevented inspections overseas for a while due to the risk. Now inspections have resumed and in countries with what Liljenquist calls low regulatory hurdles, problems are being found. Even two weeks offline for a production line that normally runs around the clock can have tremendous impact. Then, boom, you have an international shortage  a single point of failure for the world.

Youd never run a power plant that way, according to Liljenquist. If you only had one power substation and a storm knocked out power, what would happen? We have redundancies, we have substations, we have infrastructure for important services. Drugs are similar to the economics of a utility. Theres no close substitute. It requires economics of scale and manufacturing. And you may really only need one manufacturer to meet the market demand, but if you dont have resiliency, if you dont have excess capacity and you have a single point of failure breakdown, then people cant get drugs and they die.

I think its a national security issue, said Liljenquist.

At least some members of Congress seem to agree. Theyre among public officials pondering how to restore resiliency in the supply chain.

Suggestions include having a quality component applied to drugs, so that if hospitals buy from a quality manufacturer, theyll get an extra incentive payment. That kind of little bonus might make it possible to afford to buy drugs at a slightly higher cost  which would let manufacturers afford to make them.

Liljenquist said there are a number of ideas being knocked around to fund quality assurance, which is expensive, but vital. Hes among those who believe drug manufacturing needs to be repatriated to the U.S. as a matter of national security.

There are ways to do that that are affordable, he said, like through nonprofit generic drug companies like Civica. But yeah, this is a big, big problem and its going to take us years to unwind.

Fox isnt convinced that simply bringing production home fixes shortages.

Theres been a lot of attention to should we try to make everything in the U.S. But just because something is made in the United States doesnt mean its automatically high quality or will avoid shortages. I would say that because most of the most severe shortages that we have are because of factories that are in the U.S. that have had problems, she said.

When the manufacturer says no

Perhaps the hardest case for patients is a company deciding not to continue making a drug a patient really does well on. Pharmaceutical manufacturing is a business. Theres no requirement to make any drug no matter how life-saving, said Fox. Nobody can force any company to make anything.

Thats the problem facing North Salt Lake mom Alison Smart, whod give anything to convince Novo Nordisk to reverse its decision to stop making a long-lasting form of insulin it markets as Levemir. The company said it based the decision on global manufacturing constraints, significant insurance formulary losses impacting patient access effective in January 2024, and the availability of alternative options in the U.S. market.

Smart is passionate  emotional, even  when she talks about the difference Levemir has made for her daughter Ruby, 15. Its the shortest of the long-acting insulins, at 14 hours, and with simple adjustments her daughter, an athlete, has great control of her diabetes. Smart said Levemir seems to be built for athletes, teens, and menstruating and pregnant women, among others. It doesnt sting when Ruby injects it. She doesnt get side effects she had with other insulins. And theres less weight gain, too.

But the company doesnt want to market it in the U.S. any more.

The company reportedly said in private conversation that it would not enforce a patent against a biosimilar medication, but Smart wants them to say it publicly, on the record. She wants them to make the drug or share the recipe so someone else can make it. At the very least, shed like the company to help her  and others  find an alternative that works as well.

Smart said the insulin issues and insurance rules have made people who need it sort of defeatist. They do what their insurance benefits say they can do. She believes patients and their families have more clout than that. So she formed the Alliance to Protect Insulin Choice and has taken Rubys story to lawmakers, to the media and to others who might be able to help her.

The challenge is, manufacturers stop making drugs all the time, both Liljenquist and Fox agree, though they werent specifically addressing Levemir.

These companies have shareholders and fiduciary responsibilities, said Fox.

With the generic drug shortages, she said, the hard part is this isnt just going without tires or peanut butter. Its going without critically needed medication. And companies dont really suffer when theres a shortage, because the products are usually so low cost. So they dont bear the brunt of all these shortages.

What should a consumer do? And not do?

Fox said the Drug Information Service at the University of Utah usually doesnt see a shortage until its happening. Hospitals and other manufacturers may more often see them coming. There are companies out there that can predict shortages and I think everybody wants advance notice, so they can start hoarding  which is not a good solution.

Shortages are made worse by people hoarding at the individual, but also the institutional level, Fox said. You try to hedge your bets and you place as many orders as possible, hoping that a few will come in. A paper by Vizient showed that basically the same amount of product was available, but patients were going without chemotherapy and having their doses adjusted because of hoarding.

What do you do if theres a shortage of a product that has no substitute?

That happened with vaccines, Fox said. It usually means you just wait. Wait until that (drug) is available again. Or you ration care, targeting it to certain patient populations. CDC has helped prioritize vaccines. With chemo drugs, rationing happens. One difficult thing is theres no national strategy for once we get to that point in a shortage. Pretty much every hospital is on its own and deciding things and that makes things really uneven for patients. Patients might have access to a drug if they are in one spot, but maybe not in another. And some companies may save access to people on clinical trials. Or do kids first. Its very, very random to figure out a rationing strategy, Fox said.

The national stockpile is not built for these kinds of emergencies, Fox added. Its intended for a quick surge in a big emergency, like a nerve gas or anthrax attack.

Sometimes, if a medication has been tainted in some way and theres no alternative, the advice is to take the drug anyway. It depends on what the contamination is and how the risk of not taking the drug compares, Fox said.

Sometimes, a generic drug the insurance company will pay for is not available, but a brand name is. Insurance companies dont automatically adjust their formulary, but if the patient calls and explains the shortage, exceptions can be made. Fox said to explain and ask.

And while its true that drug prices are often high, its good to remember that in most drug shortages, prices are often too low.

The good news, per Fox, is that even though this is a very long-standing, frustrating problem, I think sometimes it sounds scarier than it actually is. Hospitals and pharmacies do a tremendous amount of work to really mitigate the impact for patients.

That might include finding alternatives  and the care itself doesnt change. Fox said one problem is the amount of work it adds for staff to figure out how to handle shortages. Hospitals are often paying extra for drugs they dont even have on hand  in the added labor costs and time spent managing a shortage. All of that costs money and is then very wasteful in our health care system, she said. It probably makes more sense to spend a little bit more and have an assured supply.
DENVER (KDVR)  A new group of pro-Palestinian protesters has set up an encampment at another major university campus in Denver.

On Thursday, they began setting up tents in front of the University of Denvers administration building on Carnegie Green. Just as they were starting to gather, another group of counterprotesters showed up, making for some tense moments.

14 Auraria protesters face charges after occupying building

A small group of people carrying Israeli flags confronted the student-led, pro-Palestine rally. Campus security was keeping watch as students began setting up tents.

DU for Palestine students said they want the university to end its relations with Israel.

We will stay here until DU discloses and divests. We stay here. We are on the ground until our leadership steps up and has a conversation with us, DU for Palestine organizer Ash Reid said.

The DU for Palestine group has made a list of five demands. Among them: They want DU to disclose all of its investments, especially those related to Israel.

They also want the private university to divest from all companies invested in Israel. The group is also demanding academic programs with Israel be terminated.

We are here to get some attention and hopefully they will speak to us, DU for Palestine member JoJo Carranza said.

Senior Jett Johnston, who is Jewish, spent all day at the encampment in support of the groups demands.

I feel strongly and proud about my Jewish heritage and its important to me to stick with my faith in this and in everything else and that means standing up for what is right and this is right, Johnston told FOX31s Nate Belt.

He said the group is committed to safety and remaining peaceful.

We have marshals in these vests making sure that the protesters and counterprotesters are keeping tensions down, Johnston said. Anybody whos not, whos in this camp not aligning with our values, is not welcome.

Israel flags draped on counterprotesters at DU

DU Chancellor Jeremy Haefner appeared outside the DU administration building Thursday afternoon and saw the encampment but did not approach the protesters, who could be heard chanting free Palestine. Pro-Israeli protesters danced nearby, draped in flags.

Campus security set up fences and tables so students could sit and talk.

FOX31 spoke with Shira Hagag, who is a student from Israel.

They dont know. Its easier for them to protest, but they are not educated at the end of the day. The only thing we want is our hostages back, Hagag said.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

Several pro-Israel students said they would counterprotest.

No matter what, I am not going to stay silent and Im going to be united with the Jewish people, Jaiden Skinner said.

Both sides shouted for a couple of hours but had grown quieter by late afternoon.

Late Thursday afternoon, DU sent a message to students, saying it was establishing a new interim policy regarding protests. That note is below, reproduced in full.

DU letter to school community on protests

Dear DU Community,

As many are aware, a protest encampment has been set up on campus. As an institution committed to critical thinking and inquiry, our policies should fiercely protect free expression. That said, it is important we all have a shared understanding of where free speech becomes something that violates our communitys values and policies. And so, we are pleased to share with you a new interim policy that outlines, specifically, how DU will allow and manage protests or demonstrations on campus, such as weve seen today. This interim policy is in effect immediately.

Protests & Demonstrations

As stated within the policy, any acts of protest or dissent by DU students, faculty, and staff must never cause physical harm nor block any individuals ability to come and go freely in and out of buildings. If a protest interferes with our ability to conduct classes or operate as an institution or if it violates our discrimination and harassment policy, it will no longer be protected by our policy. We hope it goes without saying that discrimination and harassment are not forms of protest; they are violations of our policy.

Also important to note within the policy, should a controversial speaker be on campus, protesting the event is wholly permissible as outlined in the policy. However, because of our commitment to free expression, the protest must not interfere with the speakers ability to be heard. We will work with protestors to find space, such as outside the building where the event is taking place, so the protest can be observed by the community and eventgoers.

Camping / Overnight Protest

Simply put, encampments require more institutional resources to protect the health and safety of the protesters and the wider DU community. Health, safety, sanitation, and disruption to the university operations will determine the long-term feasibility for encampments to endure. Indoor camping is never allowed, as it disrupts our ability to teach and conduct operations.

With this said, the use of spaces for overnight activitiesincluding sleeping in open spaces and setting up temporary living spaceswarrants special attention relative to safety and well-being for all involvedincluding those who choose not to participate and still need and want to access university services. With this in mind, we are permitting todays new encampment on the green between Mary Reed and Anderson Academic Commons. DUs Campus Safety personnel will be present in the area to help facilitate the safety of DU community members.

Today, we are making several commitments to the community:

In addition to supporting the various forms free expression may take, we also continue to welcome an open dialogue outside of protest activities to find ways to share viewpoints and reflect on the values of our community.

The University of Denver will never condone calls for genocide or acts of violence, antisemitism, or Islamophobia. It is not only our personal beliefs or affiliations that inform us on this matter; it is our policies and our humanity. Moreover, our Policy on Discrimination and Harassment prohibits discriminatory conduct and harassment based on race, religion, shared ancestry, national origin or other such protected statuses. These behaviors have no place at DU, and we have robust systems in place to investigate claims of such behavior through our Office of Equal Opportunity and Title IX.

Protestors who are not part of the DU community (students, faculty, or staff) shall not participate, and the University has the right to remove them without notice. The University will always strive to protect and promote the safety and the rights of all members of the DU community.

At any time deemed necessary, the University may direct the discontinuation of encampments if they are creating disruptions to the learning environment or normal business operations, threatening the safety of the campus community, or violating policy or law.

Attempts to occupy buildings, disrupt campus activities or learning, or otherwise violate University policies will result in disciplinary action.

Use of alcohol, drugs, fires, weapons, or any other activity deemed to be harmful or potentially harmful by Campus Safety personnel will be considered a violation of the peaceful protest standard and will be handled according to the student Honor Code or Employee Handbook.

Use of University Identification

Periodically, we utilize our door locks to help maintain safety across campus. Please be prepared to use your issued ID to access buildings or areas within buildings.

The use of higher education spaces for protest has a long and important history, and indeed, DU students and scholars have a strong tradition of engaging on difficult subjects on this campus. Many students have found their political-social voices through such activities, contributing to intellectual growth and character exploration during the time spent in discussion around various topics. As always, if you choose to engage in protests or other demonstrations, we encourage you to do so peacefully, respectfully and in a manner which reflects our communitys values.

Sincerely,

Jeremy Haefner, Chancellor

Mary Clark, Provost

Todd Adams, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs

Jeff Banks, Vice Chancellor for Human Resources and Inclusive Community

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. The semi-final matches of the Europa League ended today, Trend reports via Idman.biz.

The German Bayer hosted the Italian Roma. The first match between the teams ended in victory for the team from Leverkusen with a score of 0:2. The second game ended with a 2:2 draw. Bayer staged a comeback thanks to Mancini's own goal in the 88th minute and a goal from Josip Stanisic (90+7).

Atalanta beat Marseille at home. The Italian club from Bergamo won with a score of 3:0. The first game ended with a score of 1:1.

The Europa League final will be held on May 22 in Dublin.
A group of migrants heading towards the UK in March this year - Steve Finn

The first Rwanda deportation flight could take off as soon as June 24, court documents reveal.

The Government had originally suggested flights would start between July 1 and 15, as first reported by The Telegraph, but it has now advised a High Court judge that the earliest possible date will be the week beginning June 24.

The disclosure by the Governments legal department was made in response to a legal challenge against the Rwanda policy by the First Division Association (FDA), which represents leading civil servants.

The union claims that it would be unlawful for civil servants to obey ministerial instructions to ignore rule 39 injunctions by the European Court of Human Rights, a power handed to ministers in Rishi Sunaks Safety of Rwanda Act.

The FDA says that officials would be in breach of the civil service code if they were to flout international law by ignoring the injunctions.

Hundreds of migrants are being detained by immigration officers ahead of the first deportation flights. They will be held at immigration removal centres until they can be deported to Rwanda.

Those detained are among 5,700 migrants whose applications for asylum have been denied after they arrived in the UK illegally between January 2022 and June 2023. They were previously notified of their removal to Rwanda.

Officials are targeting 2,145 whom they believe give the best prospect of removal and have been subject to face-to-face reporting as part of their immigration bail conditions. The remaining 3,557 migrants are subject to reporting conditions including by email or phone.

Rishi Sunak wants a media 'drumbeat' of regular flights deporting migrants - Jason Alden/Shutterstock

The Rwanda scheme is central to the Prime Ministers pledge to stop the boats and he is aiming for a regular drumbeat of flights to the east African state over the summer.

Previous plans suggested officials would aim for three flights a week, with around 50 migrants on each, overseen by 150 escorts at a ratio of three to one.

The migrants can be detained for the entire nine to 11 weeks before their scheduled flights provided there is a realistic prospect of removal from the UK in a reasonable timescale.

They will be able to seek bail but lawyers suggested James Cleverly, the Home Secretary, would have to provide a removal date at that point, to justify their detention within a reasonable timescale.

A key change to guidance issued to officials on Tuesday makes clear it is now for the Home Secretary to determine what a reasonable timescale is and also makes it easier to detain individuals who may be deemed vulnerable.

Lawyers believe they will be able to mount legal challenges to individual migrants deportation under the Safety of Rwanda Act even though the legislation was designed to restrict appeals.

Migrants can bring legal claims if they can provide compelling evidence relating specifically to the persons particular circumstances that Rwanda is not a safe country for them individually.

Legal challenges will be based on articles two and three of the European Convention on Human Rights, which protect the right to life and guard against torture.

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.
Will early voting reach 50% this fall? Heres a look back at Wisconsin absentee trends.

A man checks in for early voting on Tuesday, March 21, 2023 at the Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building at 841 North Broadway in downtown Milwaukee. The 2023 Wisconsin spring general election is April 4. The election will determine a new justice on the Supreme Court as well as other local, nonpartisan offices.

At former President Donald Trumps two rallies in Wisconsin this year, voters have heard mixed messages on voting early.

Republican leaders from the state  including U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson and party chairman Brian Schimming  have urged supporters to bank their vote by using mail-in ballots or early voting locations.

Trump, however, hasnt taken the same tone, continuing to cast doubt in the integrity of absentee voting, especially in Milwaukee.

At his May 1 rally in Waukesha, Trump called for one-day voting using paper ballots  unlike the several days of early, in-person absentee voting allowed under Wisconsin law.

Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, was asked about those different messages and whether he is pushing for early voting on WISN-TVs Upfront on May 5, 2024.

Over 50% of all voters are going to be voting before Election Day this cycle, Whatley said, saying early voting would help the party be more efficient and use its resources to reach people who havent yet voted.

Whatley said the right message is encouraging voters to make a plan to vote and stick to it, whether thats early voting, absentee voting or going to the polls on Election Day.

Absentee voting soared in the 2020 elections as the Covid-19 pandemic began, and many voters continue to prefer it years later. Thats why Whatleys 50% number for 2024 caught our eye.

One note right off the bat: Its impossible to predict exactly what the voting statistics will be in August or November. We wont be rating Whatleys claim, since those elections havent happened yet.

But we can gauge whether Whatleys estimate is on par, based on previous absentee voting data.

Over half of voters cast ballots early in 2020, same was true in Wisconsin

Asked where Whatley was drawing his 50% estimate from, the RNC pointed us to national numbers from 2020.

About 158 million people cast votes in the 2020 presidential election, according to a report from the Federal Election Commission. So thats the total number of voters were looking at.

How many of them cast ballots early? About 69%, according to estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau. That includes 43% who voted by mail and 26% who used early, in-person locations.

In 2020, only 31% voted at the polls on Election Day, according to the bureau.

In 2016, it was 60%. It was even higher in previous presidential cycles  67% in 2012 and 70% in 2008. So, voting on Election Day was in a steady decline before, but then saw a massive drop in 2020.

Going back to Whatleys estimate: Well over 50% of voters used early voting methods in 2020. Thats not to say itll be the same in 2024, but well get into that later.

Before that, lets take a closer look at Wisconsins early voting numbers in 2020, using a Wisconsin Elections Commission report on these trends.

In the April 2020 election, 62% of voters in Wisconsin cast ballots by mail, and around 13% used an early voting location. Just over a quarter cast ballots at the polls on Election Day.

In November 2020, voting at the polls increased back up to 40%. Around 41% used mail-in ballots, and another 19% used early voting locations.

So, thats a slight dampening of the trend, even across 2020. But its still a much different picture than the elections prior to 2020, when between 73% and 89% voted at the polls, rather than using early methods.

A major question remains, and one that will provide context to Whatleys claim: Did early voting stay popular after 2020, and is it still popular in 2024?

Early voting in three recent Wisconsin elections has dropped to about 25 or 30%

For the purposes of this fact-check, well continue to look at Wisconsin elections, especially since Republicans are focusing so much energy on early voting in the key battleground state.

In November 2022, when the governors race was on the ballot, about 29% of ballots were cast absentee, according to the state election commissions spreadsheet.

While much lower than 2020, that number was significantly higher than similar elections before it, including 22% in 2018 and 15% in 2014.

But absentee voting has trended downward in the last two years, according to commission data. In the April 2023 election, when a state Supreme Court seat was on the ballot, approximately 25% voted early.

In the most recent election in Wisconsin, held in April, about 25% voted early. That ballot had the presidential primary, two statewide referendum questions and local races.

All in all, early voting in these three elections was much lower than the peak in 2020, though none of them were presidential races. And the 25% area is still slightly higher than pre-pandemic early voting levels.

Our conclusion

Whatley predicted that over 50% of all voters are going to be voting before Election Day this cycle.

As we said in the beginning, its impossible to predict what could happen in November, and therefore verify Whatleys claim that 50% of voters will vote early.

His claim might be a bit of a stretch. In two of Wisconsins higher-turnout elections since 2020, early voting was about 29% and 25%. Last month, it was also around 25%. Those arent presidential elections, though.

Thats a significant drop from November 2020, when nearly 60% of ballots were cast early in Wisconsin. The pandemic was clearly a huge driver of absentee voting then, and it might not be the same this year.

Finally, we should note that were just looking at Wisconsin, and some states with high rates of mail-in voting could boost Whatleys claim, which didnt specify Wisconsin.

Overall, it looks unlikely Wisconsin will shoot back up to over 50% early voting, though its not impossible.

Sources

WISN-TV, 'UPFRONT' recap: RNC Chairman Michael Whatley 1-on-1 on convention, Trump, early voting push, May 5, 2024.

Republican National Committee, email exchange, May 8, 2024.

Federal Election Commission, Election Results for the U.S. President, the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives, October 2022.

Wisconsin Elections Commission, November 3 2020, Election Data Report, Feb. 3, 2021.

Wisconsin Elections Commission, General Election Voter Registration and Absentee Statistics, 1984-2022.

Wisconsin Elections Commission, Absentee Ballot Report - April 4, 2023 Spring Election, April 6, 2023.

Wisconsin Elections Commission, 2023 Spring Election and Senate District 8 Special Election Results, April 20, 2023.

Wisconsin Elections Commission, Absentee Ballot Report - April 2, 2024 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Vote, April 4, 2024.

Wisconsin Elections Commission, 2024 Spring Election and Presidential Preference Results.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Could Wisconsin's early, absentee voting reach 2020 levels this year?
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  All careers have challenges and being a teacher is not an exception. Sometimes it can be hard but at the end of the day its all worth it.

Thats what Lauren Uribarri, an Eastwood High School teacher, told KTSM when asked about her teaching journey.

Lauren Uribarri and her students. Photo by Luisa Barrios  KTSM

Uribarri has been a teacher at Ysleta Independent School District for seven years.

She used to teach English at Bel Air High School, but now shes currently teaching student leadership and is the student activity director at Eastwood High School.

Teacher Appreciation Week is Monday, May 6 through Friday, May 10. KTSM.com has been profiling inspiring teachers from different districts all weeklong.

Coming from a family of teachers, Uribarri said that for a long time, she fought wanting to be a teacher.

Despite me fighting wanting to be a teacher, I always knew I wanted to help people and to give back to my community, Uribarri said.

Being an Eastwood graduate herself, Uribarri said that being an Eastwood teacher made her who she is today.

I always knew that when I became a teacher, no matter what campus I was at, I wanted to give my students the same experience that I had. And now Im just very lucky because I get to do it at this school that made me who I am, Uribarri said.

Uribarri said that teachers that she had in high school were incredible role models and mentors to her and seeing them made her want to pursue a career in teaching.

Its really cool because now I get to work daily with one of the teachers I had in high school, Uribarri said.

Uribarri said the best part of being a teacher is the students.

In the job that I do now, working together to accomplish a big goal, and just seeing them (students) have that confidence in themselves and in each other is amazing because I know that its going to go with them far beyond their four years here at Eastwood, Uribarri said.

Uribarri said that she always wanted to be a high school teacher because she always felt like those were the important years in someones life.

Im glad that I get to be part of those four years that really do shape the rest of your adult life. I love middle schoolers, I love elementary kiddos, but I enjoy being at the high school, Uribarri said.

Uribarri sent a message to people wanting to pursue a teaching career.

Teaching is hard but its worth it. Sometimes you want to cry and give up, but I promise theres always more good than bad and I think you find that in your co-workers and students. You just have to claim all the good because theres so much good in education, Uribarri said.

As for Teacher Appreciation Week, Uribarri said that one week is not enough to appreciate teachers.

I think that one week is not enough for all that a teacher does. As an educator you wear many hats on campus for your duties as a teacher, but also, we are mentors, we are counselors sometimes, we are second parents a lot of times to kiddos. Teacher Appreciation Week is not enough thanks. What I love about my job is that I make students feel appreciated all the time, Uribarri said.

Graphic by Luisa Barrios  KTSM

Additionally, Uribarri was one of Ysleta ISDs top 10 finalists for 2024-25 Secondary Teacher of The Year, according to the district.

Ysleta, Socorro school districts announce top teachers for year

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency plans to reclassify marijuana from the most restrictive category  Schedule I, up there with heroin  down to Schedule III, in the company of testosterone and Tylenol with codeine. This does not mean that the federal government is giving its blessing to the use of cannabis as a recreational drug. But it does recognize that there are medicinal uses for marijuana, and lower chances that it will be abused than highly addictive drugs.

The change in classification would be a major step toward clearing up the myths about cannabis. Reefer Madness, a 1936 movie intended to dissuade teens from trying marijuana, made claims of danger so outlandish that it has been widely mocked for more than half a century. At the same time, cannabis fans portray the drug as utterly mild, totally safe and a near-panacea.

Read more: Editorial: Reclassifying marijuana is not decriminalization, but is a welcome step in that direction

What we know so far is that neither extreme has it right. The limited studies conducted up to now indicate that marijuana can help with certain conditions, such as epileptic seizures and nausea from chemotherapy. In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved cannabinoid medications, though their use is highly restricted. Cannabis does not appear to be effective against glaucoma or inflammatory bowel disease, two other claims made in its favor.

We also know that hospitals have seen significant increases in emergency-room visits related to marijuana use, including psychosis.

Why are there still so many unknowns instead of settled facts about a drug that has been widely consumed for medicinal and recreational use for years? Because too few studies have been conducted, and often under conditions that were too restrictive. The medical world needs to know much more. What forms of use are safest and most effective? What drugs might interact badly with marijuana? How much is safe? How often? At what dose? With which varieties of cannabis? What other ailments might be effectively treated with cannabinoids?

Read more: Letters to the Editor: Cannabis legalization isn't enough. Rewrite all drug laws based on science

Its ridiculous that we lack the answers, especially considering that 24 states (including California) plus the District of Columbia have made marijuana legal for adult recreational use while 14 more have approved it for medicinal use. Our ignorance is the fault of the DEA. Conducting medical trials on a Schedule I drug entails too many hoops to jump through for many researchers. In addition, the DEA has limited research to a tiny set of very weakened cannabis products, most of it from a single source, while dispensaries sell some 700 varieties.

The classification as a Schedule I substance gave marijuana a mystique, an aura of danger, that led to a rebellious embrace of it by people who experienced no immediate signs of trouble  but who also didnt and still dont know what is safe and effective even as a recreational drug, or the long-term ramifications. Its time for this silliness to end.

Read more: Editorial: Legal pot needs better warning labels

Marijuana is just a drug, like any other drug that has some psychotropic effects. There needs to be robust research to determine its valid uses, appropriate doses and side effects. If and when the rescheduling occurs, the National Institutes of Health should fund more research and give scientists more flexibility to conduct large trials.

At the same time, the federal government should work on fixing the wild patchwork of laws that conflict with each other and with federal policy. Right now, people cannot take marijuana  unless it is one of the FDA-approved products  across state lines, even if the drug is legal in both states. It cannot be taken on a plane or in a national park, even when the park is in a state where marijuana is fully legal. And federal employees and contractors are banned from using marijuana, though it is fully legal in the District of Columbia.

The federal government's decision to treat marijuana like heroin while many states have chosen to treat it like alcohol has led to a tangle of laws and uncertain research. Reclassifying marijuana as a Schedule III drug gives it a chance to clean up the mess.

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.
Richlands stand against cannabis stores leaves the city looking increasingly out of touch in Washington.

Everyone else is doing it isnt a good argument to legalize sales, but its far from the only reason the city council should abandon its fruitless, puritanical prohibition.

When Washington voters legalized personal possession of marijuana more than a decade ago, it became one of the first states to do so. Recreational cannabis stores soon followed. Today hundreds of medical and recreational dispensaries sell cannabis in the state, including five retail establishments in the Tri-Cities area.

Opponents Reefer Madness fears have not come to pass. Cannabis is well-regulated, and retail outlets havent trashed surrounding neighborhoods. Selling cannabis is no worse than selling liquor. Indeed, the same state board oversees both.

Richlands sales ban doesnt prevent residents from getting high or treating their aches and pains with a CBD edible. Personal possession and consumption are legal under state law. There might be no retail shops in Richland, but the ones in surrounding communities are just a few minutes away.

And those nearby communities are happy to have Richlands business because they receive a cut of the taxes charged on cannabis. Last year, Benton County received $450,000, Prosser $23,000 and Benton City $5,900. Those sums arent transformative for local budgets, but every little bit helps. Richland, for its intransigence, gets nothing.

Worries about where stores might open in Richland also are misguided. The fact is that there are precious few addresses that could host a cannabis retailer. State-mandated buffer zones around schools, playgrounds and other facilities cover most of the city.

Even the federal government is lightening up on marijuana. The Biden administration has announced plans for the Drug Enforcement Administration to change how it classifies marijuana. Currently, the DEA classifies it as a Schedule III drug, akin to heroin and LSD. It will move marijuana to Schedule I, akin to Tylenol with codeine and steroids.

That change will ease many of the banking and insurance regulations that have left some cannabis shops stuck dealing in cash, which makes them targets for thieves.

The issue has come up again in Richland because a cannabis business wants to open a store and has submitted the paperwork. The application forces the city to vote on the matter once again. There might be some specific challenges with that application, but city council members should take this opportunity to consider the big picture.

Richland isnt alone in banning retail stores locally. Kennewick also forbids them, and that city also should reconsider its position.

It appears the Richland council is closely divided. Tri-City Herald reporter Wendy Culverwell reported that members split 4-3 in favor of keeping the ban. Council members Ryan Lukson, Johanna Jones and Kurt Maier are ready to allow cannabis retailers. Mayor Theresa Richardson, Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Kent and Councilmen Ryan Whitten and Shayne VanDyke want to keep the ban.

Perhaps one of the naysayers is willing to reconsider in light of the realities of cannabis in Washington and increasing public support for it.

If the council doesnt want to legalize cannabis shops itself, the least it could do is ask the public what it wants. A ballot referendum could test where the community is today, as opposed to more than a decade ago when cannabis legalization was something new.

Council members are reluctant to go to the ballot. Some say they can just look at the results of an upcoming measure in West Richland to gauge public opinion. The two communities differ enough, however, that either side will be able to dispute a vote there that doesnt go its way. Differences in size, racial and ethnic diversity, median household income and other factors all make direct comparisons unwieldy.

When Richland originally refused to allow cannabis shops, it was after residents had voted against the statewide measure to legalize possession. There was, at the time, uncertainty about where things were headed and what effects easier access would have on communities.

More than a decade in, Richland can look at the rest of Washington and see that things have gone fine. The citys ineffective ban is no better than a dry county that clung to alcohol prohibition nearly a century ago.
Education Commissioner expresses concerns in letter sent to DCPS about student safety

The Florida Department of Education is once again calling out the Duval County school district. Its after we learned last month that another teacher from Douglas Anderson School of The Arts was arrested last month, accused of exposing himself in public.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Today, Education Commissioner Manny Diaz Jr. sent a letter to Superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar expressing his concerns about how DCPS is handling student safety.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

In this letter, Diaz details his concerns with the lack of progress in prioritizing student safety in Duval County Public Schools.

Diaz said, it is clear that there is more work that needs to be done in your district.

He referenced the recent arrest of Christopher Allen-Black -- the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts teacher who was arrested and accused of exposing himself at a hotel near Disney. It happened in February, but he wasnt removed from the classroom until more than a month later.

RELATED: Douglas Anderson teacher re-assigned, accused of exposure of sexual organs in Orange County

Diaz said, Rather than immediately removing Mr. Allen-Black from direct contact with students, you elected to allow him to remain in the classroom until April 11, 2024. This is unacceptable,

Its unfortunate that its come to this point where the DCPS is getting scrutiny from the state, because of just the mishandling of all these investigations and the removal of teachers from the classroom when it comes to student safety, Douglas Anderson graduate Angel Bautista said.

Bautista graduated from Douglas Anderson in 2016. After learning about the various teacher investigations that began two years ago, they have been advocating for transparency and accountability at school board meetings.

The fact that its been happening for so long, and we still dont have clarity or closure around any of this is unacceptable, Bautista said.

This is the fifth time in two years that a teacher has been removed from the school.

READ: Teacher removed from classroom at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts

Action News Jax told you in April 2023, when Commissioner Diaz wrote a scathing letter to Dr. Kriznars predecessor, Dr. Diana Greene. That letter said it was completely unacceptable that DCPS did not promptly report cases...

Diaz said this prompted the Office of Inspector General to investigate DCPS for their delayed reporting.

In January, OIG released the report and found that DCPS failed to report alleged teacher misconduct to FDLEs Office of Professional Practices Services.

Last month, Senator Clay Yarborough also expressed concerns about transparency in DCPS.

DCPS is failing these students, Bautista said. I feel bad for the students, because school is supposed to be a place where you feel safe, and teachers are supposed to be those safe people in your life..

Diaz closed this letter by saying he expects a response from Dr. Kriznar within five days.

Action News Jax has reached out to DCPS for a response, and we are still waiting to hear back.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
An exclusive Channel 2 Action News survey showed teachers feared going to work and even considered quitting because of violence inside the classroom.

Channel 2 investigative reporter Justin Gray first reported the results of the survey on Channel 2 Action News at 5 p.m. on Thursday.

The survey questioned nearly 1,000 Georgia teachers and about 8,000 teachers nationwide.

Now, Gray has taken the results to Lisa Morgan, president of the Georgia Association of Educators.

Teachers certainly feel like theyre raising the alarm. Theyre ringing the bells and theres not the response, Morgan said.

Heritage High School English teacher Tiwana Turner was the victim of a violent student attack in 2023 in Rockdale County.

Nobody should be allowed in the school and attack a teacher and get away with it. We dont have any protection, Turner said.

Teachers in the survey ranked what kind of resources they thought could help with the issues they were seeing.

They ranked extra police officers the lowest but said zero-tolerance policies would be most effective.

RELATED STORIES:

Teacher Amber Strickland told Gray about a fourth grader who attacked her with a reusable water bottle and did not face serious discipline.

I really want him to get help. Its not that I wanted him to go to a juvenile court or go to jail or anything like that. I wanted him to get help, Strickland said.

In the survey, an overwhelming 89% of Georgia educators who responded said theyve noticed a difference in post-pandemic student behavior.

Marietta City Schools superintendent Grant Rivera said there was no going back to normal for many children.

There were children coming back that had incredible trauma. There were children who never learned how to appropriately socialize in classrooms across the entire country, because they started kindergarten and first grade at home in front of a screen instead of learning how to interact in a circle on the classroom floor, Rivera told Gray.

When we asked teachers what has the largest impact on behavior, 62% said it was a lack of parental involvement and discipline.

Morgan agreed.

This is not a school issue. This is an issue we have to look beyond our schools to our communities, to our parents and say, How can we work together? she said.

RELATED NEWS:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  President Joe Biden will not be on Ohios ballot come November as things currently stand.

State law dictates filing deadlines for candidates, but the timing of the Democratic National Convention (DNC), where Biden will be officially nominated, takes place after Ohios deadline. The DNC is slated to start Aug. 19, but Ohios deadline is 90 days before the election, on Aug. 5.

According to Secretary of State Frank LaRose, lawmakers had until Thursday to pass and sign something into law to make the fix. Efforts to do that failed.

We didnt have a consensus on how to get that done between the House and the Senate and all parties involved, Speaker of the Ohio House Jason Stephens (R-Kitts Hill) said.

Once again we saw politics and the display of, just frankly, ridiculousness here, Ohio House Minority Leader Allison Russo (D-Upper Arlington) said. They wanted to play politics and silence voters at the end of the day. Its sad but thats the reality of where we are.

Two bills, with a fix, were to be considered on Wednesday. House Bill 114 was amended with a one-time solution, by pushing back the filing deadline, to ensure Biden would make it onto the ballot. That bill was amended in the Senate, with the assumption the House would concur with their changes. All seven Senate Democrats ultimately voted against HB114.

Firm that investigated sexual abuse claims at Ohio State must hand over interview notes, witness names

Senate Minority Leader Nickie Antonio (D-Lakewood) said her caucus voted against the bill because it also included an election provision that they believe would disenfranchise Ohioans.

Theyre playing games with this, and we had a clean option that everyone had agreed to, Russo said.

Joe Biden is going to be on the ballot through whatever means that can happen, said Senate President Matt Huffman. But I think its fair for us to come together and so no foreign money in Ohio elections.

This is not the first time a presidential candidate has scrambled to get onto the Ohio ballot because the Republican National Convention (RNC) or DNC did not happen before the states filing deadline. So, the House amended Senate Bill 92 to create a permanent fix, not just one-time. The bill was stripped of other provisions, making it so it only addressed this issue.

Its a technical issue so it should be able to be done, Stephens said. But if we cant, we cant.

My guess it would come over [to the Senate] with 30-some democrats and 20-ish Republicans and theres no realistic way that Im going to look at my caucus and say, Republicans didnt support it in the House, but we should pass it too, Huffman said. So that was a non-starter, I think in both houses.

Other states, like Alabama, have passed a bipartisan fix for the same issue, but Huffman said thats not likely in Ohio unless conservative measures are also in the bill.

Republicans in both the House and the Senate are not going to vote on a standalone Biden bill, Huffman said.

I think weve officially sunk lower than Alabama at this point, Russo said.

Now, new options to ensure Biden is on the ballot, are being explored.

Theres a lot of different options in order to get him on the ballot, Stephens said. I think that President Biden will end up on the Ohio ballot as we go forward.

Listen, Biden will be on the ballot, Russo said. The legislative fix is not the only option here.

Some of the other options include:

Lawmakers could add an emergency clause to one of their proposed bills, so it takes effect immediately.

Democrats could figure out a solution with the national party.

It can be taken up in the courts.

Im not worried, Antonio said. I believe it is a bipartisan want and need that both of those candidates are on the ballot.

Statehouse sources told Nexstars WCMH that at this point, a legislative fix seems unlikely, and an inter-party solution seems most probable, though no decision has been made.

Antonio said she would like to see something like SB92 go through, where the fix would apply to future elections.

Unless we do a permanent fix it will affect perhaps the Republicans next time, perhaps both [parties], I mean it just goes on and on, Antonio said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (WKRG)  Eglin Air Force Base will soon conduct night flying operations, according to a press release.

Residents may experience aircraft noise on May 13  16, when the 58th Fighter Squadron conducts night flying operations in the area, the release said.

UPDATE: Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office breaks silence on Airman Fortsons shooting death

BASE LOCATION:

This embedded content is not available in your region.

The release noted that the missions will occur between 8 and 10 p.m. since night flying is required for the 58th Fighter Squadron training operations.

For more information, call the Team Eglin public affairs office at 850-882-3931.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
BAKU, Azerbaijan, May 10. Russian President Vladimir Putin introduced the candidacy of Mikhail Mishustin to the State Duma for the post of Prime Minister, the Chairman of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Vyacheslav Volodin wrote in his Telegram channel, Trend reports.

He noted that today deputies will make a responsible decision on behalf of their voters on this issue.

Volodin emphasized that for the first time in the history of modern Russia, the State Duma will form the composition of the government. The State Duma will approve the Prime Minister, his deputies, and federal ministers.

He said that the candidacy of the prime minister will be discussed in all factions, and the plenary meeting of the Duma will begin at 14:00 local time.
El Paso County District Attorney Bill Hicks is vowing to appeal a local judge's ruling to dismiss over 200 cases stemming from a border "riot" earlier this month.

Hicks made the announcement during a news conference April 9, prompting El Paso County Public Defender Kelli Childress to hold a press conference of her own denouncing many of Hicks' allegations against her office.

The migrants' cases have become a flashpoint for the two legal leaders, with Hicks adamantly pursuing prosecution of the misdemeanor cases and Childress decrying that pursuit as a waste of time and resources.

The back-to-back news conferences took place Thursday, May 9, at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse, only a day after Judge Ruben Morales dismissed more than 200 cases related to the March 21 "riot" at the U.S.-Mexico border over the fact that the district attorney's office failed to secure a transfer order before moving the cases from district court to county court.

Hicks was the first to rally reporters in an effort to "clarify the record" on Morales' decision, but many of the DA's comments were directed at Childress. He criticized the public defender's office for giving short notice of filings and hearings and for a recent rash of public information requests he says have nothing to do with the "riot" cases.

More: El Paso county judge dismisses border 'riot' charges against 140 migrants

"I am not sure what their agenda is, if it's political ... but they are certainly using taxpayer money to do things that are not related to defending their clients," Hicks said during the news conference. "And I question why they are able to get hearings, and taking us to court, without providing us with adequate notice, or adequate copies or service on the documents they plan to have hearings on."

As Hicks wrapped his comments on the second floor, reporters hurried to the first floor where Childress and members of her staff were waiting to rebut the comments made by the district attorney.

"We had decided to hold this conference to be able to respond to Mr. Hicks and the remarks he made in his conference," Childress said. "I'm flattered, but I was not prepared for the majority of his conference to be all about me, I thought we were going to be talking about the 'riot' cases."

'We will do our job'

For Hicks, the decision reached by Morales on May 8, which found that the 211 cases brought before his court had to be tossed over what amounts to a clerical error, is erroneous.

"Our office feels very strongly that the procedure was proper," he said. "We argued that it was appropriate and proper, and we feel that very strongly and it was done properly, and his order is an improper order."

Hicks said his office is already preparing an appeal. He hopes to see Morales' decision dismissed and all 211 cases reinstated.

El Paso District Attorney Bill Hicks speaks to the press after listening to the victim impact statements after Facundo Chavez's trial on Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023. An El Paso jury has returned a death penalty sentence for Chavez, who was convicted of killing El Paso Sheriff Deputy Peter Herrera during a 2019 traffic stop.

When it came to recent actions by the public defender's office, Hicks was not short on words, first criticizing Childress for her work filing motions on behalf of the "riot" suspects, at least half of which are represented by private attorneys.

"It is important to understand that the public defender ... only represents between 40-50% of these cases," Hicks said. "Yet inexplicably, Ms. Childress and her office have been filing 100% of the motions on these cases."

He likewise chided Childress over a mountain of public information requests, which he said have been draining his staff in recent weeks and have "absolutely nothing to do with their clients."

Most of those requests, he said, are related to the district attorney's communications with the Texas attorney general's office and the grand jury.

"I'm not sure what their motivations are," he said.

As to Childress' accusation following the Morales' hearing that Hicks' voracity in pursuing the misdemeanor "riot" charges was political or anti-immigrant, the district attorney asserted that his office is simply doing its job.

"These cases are very clearly about law and order," he said. "If someone breaks the law in this community, this office, the office of the district attorney, is charged with enforcing the laws. And if someone breaks the law in our community, we will file charges and make sure the person faces justice in our courtrooms."

More: DA Bill Hicks indicts migrants for rioting after judge dismisses 140 charges

"We will do our job," Hicks continued. "It is not about immigration, it is not about politics, it is about law and order. It is about protecting our community."

Despite the focus on public safety, a spokesperson for the district attorney's office confirmed that the office is offering a one-day credit for time served as a plea bargain in the "riot" cases, allowing the migrants to leave jail after one day.

"(While) we believe these individuals have committed crimes and should be found guilty, we also recognize the circumstances surrounding their actions," Jennifer Cortes, project director for the district attorney's office, wrote in an email. "Considering these factors, we believe justice is best served through a conviction and plea offers of time served, especially since all defendants have already spent over two weeks in jail."

"It's worth noting that neither private bar attorneys nor public defenders have presented any counter offers," she added. "For those unlawfully present in the country, once they complete their sentence, they will be transferred to federal authorities."

'No valid reason to indict a misdemeanor'

While Hicks never referred to the public defender by name, Childress went directly after the district attorney, alleging that his vigor in prosecuting the cases has led to immense waste.

"Indicting misdemeanors is detrimental to our overburdened justice system, it is detrimental to our limited resources, to taxpayer dollars, and in the backlog of cases requiring a grand jury's attention that are not currently getting it," Childress said late last week. "Not to mention, there's a cost to the citizens who serve on grand juries as part of their civic duty."

Further, Childress accused Hicks of intentionally attempting to avoid having his name tied to the cases.

El Paso County Public Defender Kelli Childress speaks during a news conference Thursday, May 9, 2024, at the Enrique Moreno County Courthouse in Downtown El Paso. The news conference came a day after a judge dismissed 211 cases related to a March 21 border "riot."

"As well, indicting misdemeanors offers no benefit whatsoever to anyone other than the benefit to a district attorney who does not want to face a public probable cause hearing before a judge on the merits of the case. It also benefits any district attorney who does not want to sign their own name onto a charging document."

Childress also balked at the assertion that the cases were thrown out due to a technicality, saying jurisdiction issues are "one of the essential checks and balances on power that have been a hallmark of our government since this great nation was born."

"Judges are barred from taking any action whatsoever, even if my clients waive the issue, until a proper and lawful charging document has been filed," she said. "This is not a technicality; this is fundamental to our justice system and that law is clear to anyone who takes the time to open up their statute book."

As for Hicks' allegation that the public defender's office was improperly collaborating with private attorneys on the cases, Childress said it was "a silly assertion."

More: DA Bill Hicks indicts migrants for rioting after judge dismisses 140 charges

"I understand Mr. Hicks is claiming I wasted resources in filing motions on behalf of the private attorneys," Childress said. "That's actually not the case at all. In our office, we have the technology to push a button that is linked to a spreadsheet ... and the computer instantly puts out 106 or 214 motions, or whatever needs to be printed. So, we did agree, since it was only going to be a single motion with the exact same wording in every single motion, that we would go ahead and accomplish the actual formatting of that."

Mostly, however, Childress seemed perturbed by Hicks' insistence that these Class B misdemeanors represent an immediate need for action when her office still has 70 Class B misdemeanors that have been awaiting review from the district attorney's office for more than a year.

"These allegations that all of this, everything they're doing, is not wasteful and has nothing to with the fact that these are migrants, I guess everyone can judge for themselves," Childress said. "But the allegations of waste that have been lodged against my office are absolutely false."

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: El Paso DA Bill Hicks to appeal dismissal of migrant 'riot' cases
As the clock ticks towards the end of Alaskas legislative session, a bipartisan elections reform bill that the state Senate State Affairs Committee advanced has run into significant obstacles.

Introduced by Republican state Rep. Sarah Vance, the legislation would allow the state to reduce its voter rolls quickly. After a substantial amendment, the bill was expanded to include three Republican initiatives, one Democratic initiative, and four that originated in the Democrat-controlled Committee.

The substantial changes include allowing same-day voter registration, voting questioned ballots, and absentee voting within thirty days of Election Day. Other measures include a ballot curing method enabling voters to correct errors on mailed ballots after they were sent, non-witnessed absentee ballots, and provisions to protect ballots from voters with special needs from rejection due to delivery or poll worker errors.

The Republican National Convention has been coordinating with parties in battleground states to sue state governments and government officials. The biggest of the lawsuits involve efforts to change how absentee ballots are processed. If the Republicans win in the courts, fewer absentee ballots will be counted.

Bipartisain efforts to reform Alaska elections may have stalled just before the session ends.

Vance no longer supports the advancement of the bill she authored, citing the significant changes that have been made; she said, What Im seeing here in front of me is same-day registration, amidst a whole variety of other measures that I do not support.

As the legislative session's scheduled end on May 15 approaches, lawmakers from both parties have been pushing to make certain concessions to advance the voting reform legislation. Democratic state Sen. Scott Kawasaki said the changes to the bill had been considered by either a legislative committee or one of the two chambers.

Why would someone who supposedly registers the same day as an election need to be able to vote an absentee ballot, asked Republican state Sen. Jesse Bjorkman. An absentee in-person [ballot] is functionally equivalent to a questioned ballot said David Dunsmore, staff to Democratic state Sen. Bill Wielechowski, explaining that it simplifies the process and allows people to vote for more than just the president in a thirty-day window before Election Day.

If the bill became law, candidates could transfer leftover campaign donations to a legal fund for election-related lawsuits.

In addition, part of Republican state Sen. Shelly Hughes bill regulating artificial intelligence political deepfakes was also integrated into the House bill. If the House bill were to become law, campaign-related election ads would require a legal disclaimer. Republican state Rep. Mike Cronks bill, also requiring a legal disclaimer for AI representations, passed the House on May 9, with 38 representatives voting for and two voting against it.

Two of the recent additions to the bill address concerns around election cybersecurity. Part of one of the additions addresses procedures for audits intended to reduce cybersecurity risks. That was integrated from Republican state Sen. Mike Showers bill introduced in Jan. 2023. It would introduce a mandate that the Division of Elections develop a cybersecurity program to defend the voter registration records kept by the division against cyberattacks and data breaches and enable the division to detect and recover from cyberattacks. The change to Vances bill would also require cybersecurity training for election officials.

When voting policy makes it easier to vote, the downside is it may make it easier to cheat. This creates the public perception that our sacred right to vote is ripe for fraud and undermines voter confidence. When voting policy makes it harder to cheat, it makes it harder to vote. This makes some cry claims of voter suppression, said Shower in the sponsor statement of his bill.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alaska bipartisan elections reform bill may have stalled: Heres why
EVANSVILLE  Prosecutors on Thursday propelled their case against Elizabeth Fox-Doerr forward despite repeated objections from Fox-Doerrs attorneys, who have mounted an aggressive, and at times combative, defense of their client since her murder trial began Monday.

After a break for Tuesdays primary election, Wednesdays proceedings began with a tense evidentiary hearing conducted outside the presence of jurors. By Wednesday afternoon, a key witness in the case appeared to change their testimony from the stand after they spoke to a law enforcement officer during a brief recess.

Hours earlier, the case's former lead investigator told jurors under cross examination that he admitted during a previous deposition that he had, "doubts," about the case.

But Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Diana Moers is confident the state can prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Fox-Doerr, 52, conspired with a lover to fatally shoot her husband, veteran Evansville firefighter Richard Doerr II, on Feb. 26, 2019.

Fox-Doerr, whom her lead counsel, Mark Phillips, regularly refers to as Becky Doerr, is charged with aiding, inducing or causing murder and conspiracy to commit murder, both Level 1 felonies. Her trial began Monday after a lengthy jury selection process.

Evansville Firefighter Robert Doerr II

More: In a first, Evansville news media broadcast murder trial from courtroom

Larry Richmond Sr., Fox-Doerrs alleged lover and the man accused of fatally shooting Fox-Doerrs husband, is scheduled to stand trial for murder in August, court records state.

Richmond Sr., 46, was previously sentenced to 45 years in prison after shooting and killing 70-year-old James Everett Montgomery in 1996. Richmond Sr. was released less than a year before Doerr was killed.

Thus far, Fox-Doerrs trial has proven contentious.

Moers, with assistance from longtime former Vanderburgh County Prosecutor Stan Levco, has entered dozens of exhibits into evidence, including crime scene photos, reems of cell phone records, ballistics evidence and jailhouse correspondence.

The proceedings took a turn toward the dramatic on Wednesday after Richmond Sr.s son, Larry Richmond Jr., testified on behalf of the state.

Richmond Jr. pleaded guilty in federal court to firearms offenses, and prosecutors contend that Richmond Jr. stole the weapon that his father allegedly used to kill Doerr, a Taurus Judge revolver.

You gave him the gun? Levco asked Richmond Jr. on Wednesday.

Yes, I did, Richmond Jr. replied from the witness stand. Levco asked Richmond Jr. to identify a photograph of the weapon, asking him, What is that?

The gun I stole for my father, Richmond Jr. calmly said.

As conclusive as Richmond Jr.s testimony may seem, the Evansville Police Department did not locate the handgun at issue in Fox-Doerrs case  somethingher counsel has repeatedly emphasized in pretrial briefs and before Vanderburgh County Superior Court Judge Robert Pigman at trial.

Phillips, when asked by Pigman if he had any questions for Richmond Jr., replied, Oh, yes I do, your honor.

What ensued led Pigman to usher the 12 jurors and two alternate jurors out of the courtroom.

At issue was an apparent shift in Richmond Jr.s testimony from the witness stand under Phillips cross examination.

Richmond Jr., on behalf of the state, aided prosecutors in showing that Fox-Doerr and Richmond Sr. engaged in an affair. In response to a question from Levco, Richmond Jr. said he personally witnessed his father kissing the defendant about 11 months before the killing.

That timeline contradicted dates cited in police reports and other evidence presented at trial. Phillips immediately jumped on that contradiction.

Is that your sworn testimony? Phillips asked.

I may have gotten the time  yes, Richmond Jr. replied.

Later, Philips asked Richmond Jr. what he did to prepare for his testimony. Nothing, was Richomnd Jr.s reply.

Phillips then took the unusual step of asking Pigman to admonish Richmand Jr., a state witness, of his rights under the Fifth Amendment to not answer questions that could expose him to criminal liability, namely perjury.

Pigman ultimately declined to take such a step.

During a brief recess to discuss the issue, a Courier & Press reporter saw Richmond Jr. entering the courthouse not far from a law enforcement officer who had observed portions of the trial. When Richmond Jr. took the stand after the break, he told Levco under redirect that he had misunderstood a line of questioning that led him to say he witnessed his father kissing Fox-Doerr 11 months before Doerrs murder.

Richmond Jr. clarified that he meant to say 11 months after his father was released from prison in connection with a prior case.

You dont know for certain when that was? Levco asked.

Correct, Richmond Jr., replied. But youre certain they kissed? Levco said in a follow-up. Yes, Richmond Jr. responded.

But seconds after answering Levcos question in the affirmative, Richmond Jr. told the court that he had spoken to a detective during the prior recess. Phillips, appearing stunned, asked Richmond Jr. which detective he spoke to. Richmond Jr. indicated he had spoken with an EPD detective who was then standing toward the rear of the room.

Phillips claimed he had never spoken to the detective, nor did he know who he was. The jurors were quickly ushered out of the courtroom, and Pigman soon after adjourned the proceedings.

Moers, in a statement to the Courier & Press, indicated that the matter was not of great importance to the state's case.

The court took no action after hearing the complaint of the defense about the witness, at the end of the day, citing (Pigmans) previous orders regarding trial conduct and procedure, Moers wrote. The parties ended for the day since we were done with the witness.

Earlier Wednesday, EPD Detective Blake Keen, who previously led the Fox-Doerr case, testified under oath that he harbored  at one point  "doubts" about the case. Keen said any remarks indicating that he had such doubts were made during a years-old deposition.

On Thursday, the state presented several key witnesses, including a Vanderburgh County Cybercrime Lab investigator. That investigator told jurors that digital evidence showed Fox-Doerrs cellphone received a call from Richmond Sr. just minutes before Doerr was fatally shot.

The contents of what either party said are not known to the state, Levco and Moers said earlier at trial.

Thursday afternoon, Levco told Pigman he expected the state would rest its case Friday afternoon. Phillips said Fox-Doerr would present a defense, likely beginning Monday morning.

Remaining witness testimony, exhibits and Fox-Doerrs defense will likely center on what evidence could point to a conspiracy between Fox-Doerr and Richmond Sr., according to court records.

Moers said on Wednesday that she was very satisfied with the proceedings thus far.

Houston Harwood may be contacted at houston.harwood@courierpress.com

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Elizabeth Fox-Doerr murder trial in Evansville Indiana update
Around 800 anti-capitalist protesters assembled at Teslas Gigafactory plant in Grueneheide, Germany on Friday to oppose its expansion, and the negative environmental impacts of Tesla production.

Suffice it to say, CEO Elon Musk wasnt too happy.

The fight against this car factory is a fight against every car factory, said Ole Becker, a spokesperson for the organizing group Disrupt, in a press release on the coalitions website.

In a press release published Friday, the organizing coalition Disrupt, claimed the factory was built illegally, and asserts that plans for its expansion would damage the surrounding forests, and have been opposed by local residents. Over 60 percent of residents opposed the 50 hectare expansion of the massive facility in a vote in February, according to Wired. A group of protesters have been camping in the woods ever since.

According to Reuters, the group also wished to bring attention to the high environmental cost of mining lithium, which is used to make batteries for electric cars. Lithium mining pollutes the air, water, and soil with harmful chemicals and heavy metals in countries around the world.

On Friday, protesters gathered from across Germany for an organized push against the facility, which was met with substantial police resistance.

One video of the protest posted to X shows dozens of people chaotically surging around police officers, toward the facility. CEO Elon Musk responded to the video, clarifying that protesters had not breached the fences around the factory. He didn't stop there, though.

This is fake news.



Protesters did not manage to break through the fenceline. There are still 2 intact fence lines all around.



Note, this is National Protest Week in Germany, so there are a lot of protests for many different reasons.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 10, 2024

It seems that Musk could not wrap his head around why any environmentalist would protest the production of his lithium-reliant electric cars. Something super weird is going on, as Tesla was the *only* car company attacked, Musk wrote.

He also whined that the protesters were not treated harshly enough by law enforcement. Why do the police let the left-wing protestors off so easily? he wrote on X.

Meanwhile, Becker told CNN that he witnessed a lot of police violence at the protest, and a video posted to X showed police pepper spraying the protesters as they ran. Several protesters were taken into custody, and a few were injured, police said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
An ordinance passed in Clarkston designated Foster Park as the only place people who are homeless can sleep at night. The park is closed for maintenance from 8 a.m. to noon each day, so the regulars who camp there must move all of their belongings every morning before the sprinklers go off, or risk being ticketed by police.

John Parke, known as Cowboy, is always ready to pack up and move. He stacks his black and blue tent, foam sleeping pad, and flannel-lined sleeping bag on top of a wagon that he hauls away every day at 7 a.m. before police arrive and order him and the other unhoused people of camp town to leave.

Moving has become part of Parkes morning routine. He had to move when officials in Clarkston, a small town in southeastern Washington on the Idaho border, closed the park where he was living in October. He moved days later when the city erected fences around another park where he was preparing his shelter for winter. And he moved again when the mayor declared 75 people at an encampment behind Walmart a state of emergency.

Now, the 45-year-old has to move every day so police wont ticket him.

Theyre making it harder to get a job and improve our situation, Parke said. Theyre acting like bullies at school, and Im not going to let them do that, so Im standing up for the homeless community.

The city of about 7,000 recently restricted tents and other make-shift shelters used by unhoused people like Parke to one city park between the hours of 9 p.m. and 7 a.m. and prohibited personal belongings that are not essential to living. Parke is part of an ongoing lawsuit against Clarkston arguing the ordinance is unconstitutional.

Smaller Washington cities like Clarkston are increasingly confronting the housing crisis more commonly associated with densely populated, urban areas.

That could be a preview of whats to come, not just in Washington but nationwide, following a U.S. Supreme Court decision expected in June. Justices are considering whether to overturn lower-court rulings in Oregon and Idaho that protect homeless people from being ticketed, charged or arrested for sleeping on public property when there is no shelter available.

In the past year, at least five Washington cities and two counties responded to increased homeless populations with camping bans. In addition to Clarkston, the Northwest Justice Project, which provides free civil legal assistance to low-income people in Washington, recently sued two other cities, challenging the constitutionality of homeless restrictions.

Cities contend that these laws are necessary to control encampments, which are unsafe for inhabitants, the general public and the environment. In a petition asking the U.S. Supreme Court to weigh in, cities said theyre paralyzed by federal court rulings in Boise, Idaho and Grants Pass, Oregon, that presume temporary shelter beds are the solution to homelessness, channeling local resources away from longer-term solutions like permanent supportive housing, mental healthcare, drug rehabilitation, and low-income housing support.

Civil rights attorneys said barring people from using tents or shelters on public property isnt the answer either.

Those laws have forced unhoused people to scatter across the state. Where there are camping bans, constant movement becomes overwhelming for people without permanent shelter. Many seek refuge on public lands outside city borders and in nearby communities causing homelessness to spike there, often overnight. Thats what happened when the city of Lewiston, Idaho, banned camping in 2022, sending many of its unhoused residents across the bridge and into Clarkston.

Howard Belodoff, the Idaho Legal Aid attorney who won the case against Boise, said a reversal would unleash cities to pass and enforce homeless bans.

If they reverse it, every podunk town is going to take these ordinances criminalizing the homeless and adopt them, said Belodoff. These smaller cities have been trying to fly under the radar, but a reversal, well, theyre going to feel empowered to do it out in the open.

Martin v. Boise fallout

Since confining camping to a small park in the center of town in February, Clarkstons camp town dwindled from 75 to about 20 people. One group set up a new camp in a wooded area about 20 miles northwest of town. Some walked back across the bridge to Lewiston. Others havent been seen in months.

A similar pattern has been playing out across the Northwest since the 2018 Martin vs. Boise ruling sided withhomeless people who were cited by police in Idahos capital city when there were no shelter beds available. It was deemed cruel and unusual punishment.

Since then, cities have sought new ways to regulate homelessness, restricting when and where people could camp, sleep, lie or sit. Homeless advocates argue the restrictions make it more difficult for unhoused people to survive. Grants Pass, a city of fewer than 40,000, fined homeless residents for having blankets and pillows in public parks despite a shortage of shelter beds. A group of unhoused residents sued the city and, in 2022, an appellate court expanded protections for homeless people to include civil penalties.

Last year, Seattle and Spokane joined more than 20 cities, counties and organizations asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overrule those verdicts and give municipalities more authority to decide how to respond to homelessness. The Supreme Court heard arguments last week and is expected to make a ruling this summer.

Some cities have ignored the rulings, citing and arresting people even when there was no available shelter. Others, instead, ticketed homeless people for disorderly conduct or urinating in public. Some identified loopholes like environmental protections to support prohibitions.

With a Supreme Court decision still pending, Washington cities have continued to pass restrictions. Yakima County in south-central Washington has been removing abandoned encampments along the Yakima and Naches rivers for years. In July, commissioners adopted a policy against the advice of the county prosecutor allowing for the removal of inhabited camps, too.

Last summer, council members in Everett, 30 miles north of Seattle, banned resting or placing items such as a blanket within two blocks of behavioral health, addiction or emergency housing services.

In November, the Vancouver City Council closed an additional 48 acres of public property to camping. The following day, the Clark County Council banned camping near bodies of water, in parks and natural areas, prohibited daytime camping, and restricted storage of personal property.

As these homeless bans spread into the suburbs or smaller cities in Washington like Clarkston, civil rights attorneys said some are violations of the Martin vs. Boise ruling.

Many of those smaller cities dont have overnight shelters. And those that do cant keep up with the need. In Washington, people in temporary or emergency housing or without shelter have increased 52% in a decade, according to state estimates. In 2023, on a single night, that number exceeded 28,000, which is generally considered an undercount.

Rents are rising in every corner of the state, not just in the Puget Sound region, pricing low-income residents out, said Tedd Kelleher, housing policy director for the Washington State Department of Commerce.

For people in the margins, the math that worked for them five years ago doesnt work for them anymore, Kelleher said. Its making it harder and harder for them to stay inside.

Unhoused residents of Burien are challenging an ordinance passed in March by City Council members banning daytime camping in the Seattle suburb. The ban on daytime shelters also is part of Parkes claim against Clarkston.

One of Clarkstons City Council members refused requests from InvestigateWest for an interview. The others did not respond. In its ordinance, city officials justified the restrictions by citing unsafe and unsanitary conditions at encampments that pose a threat to the community.

Jennifer Graham, who grew up in Clarkston in a small, white house kitty-corner from Foster Park, said her daughters family, who now live there, can no longer enjoy the playground across the street at Foster Park. Thats the half-acre park where residents of camp town were forced to move in February after City Council members made it illegal to camp anywhere else.

None of the kids in the neighborhood can play in the park because were not sure if there are needles lying in the grass, Graham said. And the kids that have gone over to try to play, they get hollered at by the homeless people.

Graham started a Facebook group in March where she posts calls to Clarkston police about Foster Park, arrest reports, pictures and videos meant to persuade city leaders to bar camping from all parks. Rather than a shelter, she supports a community court system that would offer beds at mental health and addiction treatment centers for those who need it. And jail for those who refuse to comply.

John Wolff, an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project who represents Parke and three other unhoused people, said Clarkston has as much of an obligation to his clients as it does to other residents. Attorneys on both sides are gathering evidence before arguing their case.

My clients are all from Clarkston. They have families from there, and they deserve to be there, too, Wolff said. All theyre trying to do is assert their rights to basic survival that any human has the right to.

A shrinking map

Parkes breath turned to fog as he tugged on the strap that secures his tent to the top of his wagon on April 19. A nearby voice yelled, Seven a.m. Everybody better get up!

People sleeping in Foster Park have been cited by police if their shelters arent taken down by 7 a.m. Clarkston police have issued 11 trespassing citations at the park since the restrictions were passed, according to police records. Police cited seven people at 7:18 a.m. on March 11  the day after clocks rolled forward one hour for daylight savings.

Even worse for some is the 8 a.m. deadline. Thats when the sprinklers come on. The park remains closed until noon, and tents and other temporary shelters are prohibited until 9 p.m.

But the city had some suggestions about where members of the encampment could relocate outside city limits: Hard-to-read black and white maps were handed out to residents, housed and unhoused, at a Feb. 6 meeting where the city acknowledged its lack of shelters. Hand-drawn black lines and barely visible computer-generated shapes encircled areas that the city said were available for camping. Many were along the river and managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which quickly closed those areas to prevent overnight camping.

Weve identified multiple public properties in the area that we believe also fall under the auspices of Martin vs. Boise, City Administrator Steve Austin said at the meeting. Those are properties in Idaho, properties in Washington that anybody that does not have a home is able to reside on without criminal prosecution.

Parke has been cited twice for trespassing. Both times, he said he overslept. Both of Parkes citations are misdemeanors that could carry up to 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine, a major setback as Parke works toward financial and housing stability. He wont know the consequence until he goes back to court next month. He worries he will end up back behind bars due to his past mistakes.

In the late 90s, Parke began using methamphetamine to dull the symptoms of his undiagnosed mental illnesses, contributing to 20 years of criminal charges for bounced checks, driving violations, drug possession, failing to appear in court, unpaid fines and felony domestic abuse.

Parke said his mental health took a dive about two years ago, and he again turned to drugs. He lost his job and his home and ended up on the streets. Hes sober now and receiving treatment for borderline personality disorder, post traumatic stress disorder and manic depression.

I let my mental health get the best of me. Hell, I let life get the best of me, Parke said. Im trying to get back up and do the right thing and make it work, and its just, theyre making it harder and harder to improve my situation. Sometimes its hard not to give up.

Clarkstons ban sent some searching for a place to sleep across the river in Lewiston, Idaho, which barred sleeping in public more than a year before. Clarkstons homeless population rose drastically after that, the mayor stated as part of the emergency proclamation adopted at the February meeting.

Emergency shelter in the Lewis Clark valley is limited to youth and women who are victims of domestic abuse, volunteers said. Weeks after Clarkstons restrictions went into effect, the Union Gospel Mission broke ground on a homeless shelter in Lewiston. But rules require residents to be sober and complete daily chores, and they prohibit co-ed housing, excluding many in need. Other attempts to build a shelter in Lewiston have failed due to public opposition.

On a corner overlooking Foster Park is First Christian Church, home of the Red Door Kitchen, which serves seven free meals a week. Its pastor, David Carringer, said he invited the mayor, City Council members and police to attend one of the meals. No one accepted the invitation.

No one wants these people, so someone complains and theyre passed on to the next, and then they complain and theyre passed on again, and its a cycle, Carringer said. Instead of trying to come together and compromise, were pitted against one another, and the poorest always lose.

Waiting for a decision

City camping bans, legal challenges, and the fate of people like Parke hinge on the decision of nine Supreme Court justices.

Last week, the court heard from both sides. Asking for a reversal of the Grants Pass decision, the citys attorney argued that the previous ruling was too vague and hampered cities that need camping laws to protect public health and safety. The opposing attorney argued that those laws punish people for being homeless and turn the citys homelessness problem into someone elses problem by forcing them into other jurisdictions.

Justices are expected to rule in late June, near the end of the session.

Like the U.S. constitution, Washingtons constitution protects people against cruel and unusual punishment. It also contains a provision protecting peoples right to travel. Carrie Graf, an attorney with the Northwest Justice Project, argued to the Washington Supreme Court in October that the town of Lacey violated that provision when it passed a law requiring vehicles being used as shelter to move every four hours. The court has not yet ruled on the case.

Graf said these and other provisions of the state constitution could insulate Washington from the fallout if the U.S. Supreme Court dismantles the 9th Circuit decisions.

While he waits for a local judge to decide his fate, Parke is applying for disability income. If thats approved, hell apply for housing assistance. Until then, hell continue sleeping at Foster Park as long as the city permits.

None of us want to be here, to be pointed at and laughed at and yelled at by people driving by, Parke said. The city put us front and center on purpose to create a circus and put us on display.

Parke pulls his wagon toward an alleyway across from the park. The plastic tires on Parkes wagon scrape against the gravel as he pushes it against a garage in an alleyway across from the park.

He makes three more trips from the park to the alley and back, each time with an armful of someone elses belongings. Only a couple of tents remain when Parke glances up at the sun and mutters, I hope it warms up soon.

Surveying the grounds one more time, he crosses the street and takes a sip of Mountain Dew from a bottle hed been toting around since the day before. He starts walking. He doesnt know where hes going, just that he cant be there.

This story was initially published by InvestigateWest (invw.org), an independent news nonprofit dedicated to investigative journalism in the Pacific Northwest, and is reprinted with permission. Visit invw.org/newsletters to sign up for weekly updates.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Camping bans in Washington send homeless around the state
WEST PALM BEACH  On Marlin Wakemans many trips to the Bahamas as a deckhand on charter fishing boats, he would notice dozens of sharks gathered by docks, where people throw buckets of fish at them.

He often would wonder: What would happen if anyone fell in?

On Friday, April 26, he found out the most painful way a person could.

Wakeman's foot slipped as he jumped from the dock to a boat at Flying Fish Marina in Clarence Town and he fell into a shiver of 20 hungry sharks. When he hit the water, a 7-foot Caribbean reef shark sunk its teeth into his left leg and pulled Wakeman's head underwater.

I ended up in a shark den, Wakeman, 24, of Stuart said Thursday, May 9, at St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach. I wasnt really scared at the moment. I just knew I had to get out as quickly as possible. Thankfully, Im here to tell the story.

Wakeman had just managed to pull himself onto the boats deck, when a second shark grazed his right shoulder with its teeth.

'The luckiest guy': Shark bite victim recounts his 'shredded' arm, stranger who saved him

Path of shark-bite survival went from tourniquet to wheelbarrow to clinic

Marlin Wakeman, of Stuart, was bitten by Carribean reef sharks after he slipped and fell into the water in the Bahamas. Media gathered press at St. Mary's Medical Center to hear his story on May 9, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida.

The boats captain heard Wakemans cries for help from inside the boat. When he saw him, he tied a tourniquet on his leg, pushed him to a van in a wheelbarrow and sent him to the nearest clinic. There, the medical staff stopped the bleeding and stitched up the wounds.

Nothing really hurt at first, said Wakeman, who was working on a charter for Bucket List, a company based in Stuart. It was a lot of pressure, but I didn't feel any sharpness. You don't really feel the teeth going into you.

Wakeman said the pain was the worst on the van ride to the clinic, when the adrenaline wore off. He passed out from the pain.

I wasnt freaking out, but I told my captain, Hey man, I dont really want to die right now,  Wakeman said with a chuckle.

The boats owner chartered a plane to fly him to West Palm Beach the next day. His dad, Rufus, met him at the airport and took him to St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach.

When the elder Wakeman saw the text about his sons shark attack, he said it felt like time stood still. His wife, Melynda, said she went into shock mode and felt like a million little pieces.

Its the worst text you can get, said Rufus Wakeman, a charter captain himself. I have several friends who have been bitten, and its a shocking revelation when you see some of the wounds these people have had to endure. Now it's our son.

He is glad that the surgeon who cared for his son, Dr. Robert Borrego, specializes in treating shark attacks. He has treated three so far this year and typically has seven shark bite patients a year, he said.

Due to a particular chain of events that were set in motion that day, (Marlin) is sitting here right now, Rufus Wakeman said. Were very grateful for all the powers that be that got us to this point.

'Blessed that it wasn't worse': Florida surfer recounts shark bite that cost him tip of toe

West Palm Beach surgeon 'shocked' that shark attack survivor escaped the water

Shark bite survivor Marlin Wakeman, of Stuart, thanks trauma surgeon Dr. Robert Borrego during a press conference at St. Mary's Medical Center on May 9, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Wake was bitten by Carribbean reef sharks after he slipped and fell into the water in the Bahamas. He treated for his leg and shoulder bites at the medical center.

Borrego said the shark just missed Marlins femoral artery, which carries blood from the lower abdomen to the lower limbs. If it had bitten him there, he would have lost more blood and possibly his life.

It shocks me that he was able to get out of that water, Borrego said. The fact that there were 20 sharks in there and he was able to get out and still have a leg is amazing.

Stopping the bleeding is the first course of action after a shark bite, because bleeding out is the greatest threat to life. After a patient is stabilized, infection becomes the top concern. A lab at St. Marys studies the effects that contact with a sharks mouth can have on the human body. It has found a greater amount of bacteria the closer sharks are to shore.

As soon as Wakeman got to the hospital, Borrego prescribed him a broad spectrum of antibiotics. He then performed surgery to clean out the wounds and check for infection.

Borrego expects Wakeman to make a full recovery. He took out his stitches this past week and said the 24-year-old is healing nicely. He expects the scars to heal in two weeks, but recommends that Wakeman keep his leg out of the sun for a year.

'Happy to be OK': Shark-bite victim recounts incident near Juno Beach Pier, surgery on arm

Shark bite survivor reminds people not to get 'lazy' near apex predators

Shark bite survivor Marlin Wakeman, left, stands, as his mother, Melynda Wakeman, hugs trauma surgeon Dr. Robert Borrego, next to Rufus Wakeman after a press conference at St. Mary's Medical Center on May 9, 2024 in West Palm Beach, Florida. Marlin was bitten by Caribbean reef sharks when he fell off a boat in the Bahamas and was flown to the medical center for treatment.

Wakeman said he will be more careful working near the water from now on. He said he got a little lazy after bringing fishing gear back and forth from the the dock to the boat, which makes regular fishing charter trips from Stuart to the Bahamas.

He jumped 3 feet, rather than cautiously stepping toward the boat. That's when he fell.

Wakeman had narrowly escaped a few close encounters with sharks on other fishing and diving trips. He considers the incident lucky because it was him who fell, rather than a child or an elderly person who wouldn't have had the strength to pull themselves onto the boat.

Keep in mind that (sharks) are apex predators and you dont want to end up in their mouth, Wakeman said.

Florida leads the world in shark bites. Awareness is the best way to avoid them.

The best way to stay away from a shark attack in the ocean is to avoid swimming in murky water and being aware of the blacktip shark migration period, which roughly runs from January to April.

Florida leads the world in shark bites, according to a report by the University of Floridas International Shark Attack File. The report logged 83 shark attacks in Palm Beach County since 1882 and found that 15% of bites in Florida are from blacktip sharks.

Palm Beach County has the third-most shark attacks since 1882 out of all other Florida counties. The greatest concentrations are in Volusia County, home to Daytona Beach, which some call the shark bite capital of the world.

Maya Washburn covers northern Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida-Network. Reach her at mwashburn@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Florida fisherman details shark attack in Bahamas, treated in West Palm
Energy drinks can lead to serious heart issues in kids and teens, health experts say

Hennessy Sepulveda thought she was going to die.

I began dissociating as I was driving. I was 10 minutes away from my house. My vision started warping and the lights were hitting me really bright, she said. I felt my chest pounding, I felt a wave of panic hit me  I knew something was wrong.

Sepulveda, a Florida International University student who was 19 at the time, was admitted to the hospital, and was surprised by the cause of her symptoms: the Monster energy drink she had just a few hours earlier.

I was drinking Monster every day for the past year,  she said. To me the energy drink wasnt even a possible reason for this happening.

The energy drink market has exploded in recent years and by 2030 is expected to reach $33 billion. Much of this growth has been attributed to a shift in marketing strategies that now target young people. These drinks can contain anywhere from 200 mg to 350 mg of caffeine, and the large amounts of caffeine in these drinks can cause significant health problems, especially in teens and adolescents, health experts say.

Energy drink brands often associate themselves with video games and online celebrities, and are also promoted by influencers on platforms like Twitch, where 70% of the viewers are ages 18-34. Many popular creators either endorse or collaborate with these brands who want to leverage the influencers young audience.

These are brands that often target Generation Z or younger generations, said Gustavo Mosquera, professor of marketing at FIU. Thats why energy drink brands chose influencer marketing to persuade over this generation.

For example, Ghost energy drinks offer a Faze Pop flavor in collaboration with the popular esports organization FaZe Clan. Red Bull launched a can design featuring popular characters from the video game League of Legends. In 2022, YouTube personalities Logan Paul and KSI launched their own brand, PRIME, which sells energy drinks directly to their young audiences.

Another popular strategy is to partner with established brands to create flavors appealing to adolescents. Ryze energy drinks have Ring Pop, Kool-Aid, and SunnyD flavors. Ghost has Sour Patch Kids, Warheads, and Swedish Fish flavors. C4 energy drinks come in Skittles and Starburst flavors.

Does a 15-year-old need an energy drink? Probably not, said Mosquera, Because you dont need the product, I need other ways to persuade you.

But it is young people who are most at risk from excessive caffeine intake. The FDA recommends that adults consume 400 mg or less of caffeine a day, but for those under 18 the recommended dose is 100 mg or less, often less than half of the amount in one energy drink. They do not recommend any person 12 or under to consume caffeine.

I wouldnt recommend any of my patients an energy drink, the excessive amount of caffeine at one time puts you at risk, said Dr. Willam Costa, internal medicine pediatrics resident at Tulane University, Thats something that a teenage heart should not endure.

According to Dr. Cristina Font, cardiology fellow physician at University of Florida Health Jacksonville, caffeine has a number of side effects but the cardiovascular risks of excessive caffeine consumption can be significant.

That can lead to palpitations, it can lead to arrhythmia which can be dangerous, said Font. Thats where it can have really detrimental effects on the cardiovascular system, which in rare cases has led to death.

Dangerous effects for kids on ADHD meds

For children taking certain medication, the risk can be even greater.

A lot of children and adolescents are on psychoactive medications, for example ADHD medications, or people with asthma who are taking inhalers are also at risk; those inhalers have stimulant effects, said Font. When you start combining stimulants, those cardiovascular effects can get more dangerous.

Most energy drinks contain other stimulants, such as guarana, a plant native to the Amazon.

Panera to stop selling Charged Lemonade

Certain congenital conditions also can make caffeine more dangerous. In 2022, Sarah Katz, a 21-year-old University of Pennsylvania student, unknowingly drank a Charged Lemonade from Panera. Katz suffered from a heart condition called Long QT syndrome type 1 and generally avoided caffeine due to the risks.

However, the drink was served in beverage dispensers side-by-side with non- caffeinated lemonade, and Katz later went into cardiac arrest and died. Charged Lemonade has 390 mg of caffeine per 30-oz large sized drink.

Earlier this week, Panera said it will no longer sell its Charged Lemonade drinks, which are the focus of two wrongful-death lawsuits against the company, including one filed by the Katz family.

Panera Bread said this week it will stop selling its Charged Lemonade drinks after two wrongful-death lawsuits were filed against the company concerning the beverage.

Melissa DeVincentis, a physician assistant at Holy Cross Hospital in Fort Lauderdale who works in electrophysiology, said she sees a young person admitted to the ER after drinking large amounts of caffeine once or twice a week.

Palpitations, chest pains

The most pressing symptom is palpitations, she said And when we question them we see their caffeine intake is insane.

Font said she sees a similar consumption pattern.

A lot of patients come to me with complaints of palpitation and chest pains, said Font. You come to realize these patients are drinking multiple energy drinks a day.

Efforts have been made recently to regulate energy drinks. In Connecticut, a bill in the legislature would ban the sale of energy drinks to children under 16.

In 2023, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) asked the FDA to investigate PRIME energy drinks for their advertising practices.

PRIME is so new that most parents havent a clue about it, but it is born from the reels of social media and the enigmatic world of influencers, Schumer said. This product has one true target market: children under the age of 18, and that is why I am sounding the alarm and asking the FDA to investigate PRIME.

PRIME is also currently being sued for allegedly underreporting the amount of caffeine in its drinks.

In addition to marketing strategies, adolescents are also at risk for excessive caffeine consumption because it is addictive which can make it difficult to slow down or stop consumption.

It is the most widely used drug in the world, said Dr. Font. We all drink it without thinking about how its affecting us in terms of addiction.

Even for those like Sepulveda who have suffered health consequences, it can be difficult to abstain forever.

I steered away from all caffeine products completely for a year or more, she said But with these last semesters of college, I relapsed.

This story was produced in partnership with the Lee Caplin School of Journalism & Media at Florida International University.
State Rep. Hannah Kelly, R-Mountain View, speaks during Missouri House debate on May 13, 2022 (Tim Bommel/Missouri House Communications).

The Missouri House Ethics Committee voted unanimously Thursday to dismiss a complaint filed against the Republican lawmaker who led the investigation of Speaker Dean Plocher.

State Rep. Hannah Kelly of Mountain View was appointed to lead the ethics committee by Plocher last year.

But the speaker soured on Kelly as she oversaw the panels months-long investigation into Plochers 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.

The committee dropped its inquiry last week, after Kelly alleged it was unable to complete its work due to obstruction by Plocher  including intimidation of potential witnesses and legislative staff.

The allegations of obstruction were contained in a draft report recommending Plocher receive a letter of disapproval for his actions. That report was voted down by the committee, but it became public because Kelly did not close the hearing before the vote.

Plocher has vehemently denied any allegations of wrongdoing or obstruction.

Days after the investigation ended, a new ethics complaint was filed. While details of the complaint are considered confidential under House rules, it was believed to be focused on Kelly because she quickly recused herself from the committee. She was replaced as chair by Rep. Rick Francis, a Perryville Republican.

On Monday, the committee voted unanimously to dismiss the complaint. But it returned Thursday to reconsider that vote, Francis said, and ultimately voted once again to dismiss.

We wanted to be thorough, Francis said, and wanted to look not only into ethics rules, but also statutes and the constitution. We wanted to get it right.

Alongside the dismissal, which was printed in Thursdays House Journal, the committee issued a report stating that it disagreed with Kellys decision to release the draft report on Plocher.

There is no evidence that Rep. Kelly acted in bad faith, the committee stated in the report. Notwithstanding Chairwoman Kellys disagreements, it is the committees conclusion that the draft report should not have been distributed in a public forum without the committees prior approval and that this distribution violated this committees procedural rules.

Who filed the complaint, and what it alleged, was not made public on Thursday.

As the committee was admonishing Kelly, Francis appeared to potentially run afoul of the panels confidentiality rules himself.

Speaking to a reporter from Missourinet on Monday, Francis was asked to identify the respondent in the ethics complaint. In a recording of the exchange, Francis can be heard saying the former chair  seemingly naming Kelly before the committees findings were public.

On Thursday, Francis attempted to walk back that comment, insisting to reporters that he had actually said a former chair. He declined to answer follow up questions seeking clarification.

The post Ethics committee dismisses complaint against lawmaker who investigated Dean Plocher appeared first on Missouri Independent.
A new report from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) says there is probable cause that Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) used campaign funds for personal costs, an allegation he denies.

The OCE  an independent, nonpartisan entity that reviews allegations of misconduct regarding lawmakers and staff members  released its report Friday, after the Ethics Committee announced in March that it had opened an investigation into the congressman.

The OCE said Nehls refused to cooperate with the entitys investigation, though the lawmakers attorney, Jerad Najvar, provided a letter responding to the allegations. The OCE recommended that the Ethics Committee further review the allegations laid out in its report.

Rep. Nehlss campaign committee, Nehls for Congress, reported campaign disbursements that may not be legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes, the report reads.

The Board recommends that the Committee further review the above allegation concerning Rep. Nehls because there is probable cause to believe that Rep. Nehls may have converted campaign committee funds to personal use, it adds, referring to the OCE board.

Nehls had denied any wrongdoing in March, after the Ethics Committee said it launched an investigation, writing in a statement, My campaign has complied with every Federal Election Commission (FEC) law, and my books are open.

The 14-page report zeroes in on payments purportedly made for rent. The OCE said Nehlss campaign operating location is known as Freedom Hall  which in March 2023 was a bar or tavern, operated by Z-Bar, LP, and sometime between then and October 2023 was converted into an Islamic center and boarding school.

The Ethics office, however, determined that the campaign did not pay any rent to Freedom Hall or Z-Bar.

Instead, Nehlss campaign committee made purported rent payments to an entity called Liberty 1776 LLC, of which Nehls is primary beneficiary, as well as the owner and operator, the report said.

Between 2019 and 2022, the campaign funneled Liberty 1776 LLC more than $25,000 for rent expense, rent, office rent and purpose.

The sporadic nature of the payments, as well as the lack of publicly available information linking Liberty 1776 to the campaign headquarters, raises concerns regarding the personal use of campaign funds, the report reads.

In a four-page statement responding to the allegations in the OCEs report, Najvar said his client and other candidates opened up an LLC  Liberty 1776  so they could lease out space at Freedom Hall, which was overseen by the landlord EBP Property Holdings Ltd, for office space and events. He noted that Nehls took no salary and did not otherwise receive any profits from its operation.

The various rent payments by Nehls for Congress to Liberty 1776 from 2019 through 2022 were, therefore, legitimate rent payments for campaign office use, Najvar said. The other local campaigns were also making payments to Liberty 1776 for rent, improvements, and maintenance.

Najvar also responded to the sporadic nature of the payments, as documented in the report, noting that it was because the LLCs use of the space varied based on election/off years (less activity in 2021), and also, as stated, Liberty 1776 was periodically making improvements and paying for maintenance.

The OCE also documented purported rent expense payments that Nehls made to two other entities: $5,000 to Patriot Media LLC and $2,652.62 to Pogie USA LLC, noting that A review of publicly available information did not reveal any ownership connection between the congressman and those two entities.

However, the multiple rent payments to different entities raise concerns about the legitimacy and purpose of these payments, the report adds.

Najvar, Nehlss attorney, said in his response that Patriot Media LLC was a campaign vendor that offered political consulting and media services for the congressmans campaign, and that the groups principal, Daniel Gribble, was embedded in the campaign and worked out of Freedom Hall.

When Liberty 1776 LLC closed in 2022  the entitys right to do business in Texas was terminated after it did not pay franchise taxes that year  Patriot Media LLC paid some rent to the landlord with funds that was given by Nehlss campaign, Najvar said.

Najvar also said that Pogie USA LLC was the landlord for Nehlss campaign office in Brazoria County, and was not related to Freedom Hall.

While denying the OCEs allegations, Nehlss attorney did recognize that his client did not properly disclose information regarding Liberty 1776 LLC, which was an oversight.

OCEs referral points out that Respondents affiliation with Liberty 1776 LLC should have been included as a position on Schedule E of Respondents financial disclosure form. This was an oversight that was just brought to Respondents attention with OCEs referral. Respondent will amend the relevant reports, Najvar wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Evanston Mayor Daniel Biss tackled several topics at the 2024 State of the City address including the citys response to pro-Palestine protesters at Northwestern University, the future of the citys relationship with the school and building up the citys affordable housing stock.

His speech began with an anecdote in government overreach. He cited the example of a proposed public restroom in a San Francisco park where preliminary costs grew out of control and reached $1.7 million at one point, with blame falling in part on bureaucratic systems put in place in the name of environmentalism. Biss stated situations like this arise when government systems make bold action difficult.

This hit home when Biss discussed the struggles to build affordable housing with Evanstons single-family home zoning laws getting in the way.

I look at our zoning code as a system of rules that makes it hard to do what we say we want to do, Biss said Wednesday night at SPACE. Its hard to build high and its hard to build without adding parking. There are so many ways in which we make it difficult to add to the supply of housing and then we act puzzled about the fact that with demand high and supply not going up, the cost keeps going through the roof.

He and his family live in an adjoining town home on Central Street but, according to Biss, zoning regulations prevent a similar-style home from being built just around the corner because only single-family homes are permitted. These zoning regulations were often put in place decades ago in an effort to promote racial segregation.

Biss hopes to kill two birds with one stone by replacing vacant downtown storefronts with residential density, saying his most commonly heard complaint from residents concerns the empty spaces. He pointed to the Envision Evanston 2045 project, a new comprehensive plan for the city, as a path forward.

What an opportunity to do both? he said. Its not going to be easy and its not going to be painless and its not going to be uncontroversial. Change is hard  so I am asking myself and Im asking all of us to be willing to be bold.

A 15-year community-benefits deal between the city and Northwestern is one of Biss proudest accomplishments of 2023. The deal, which Biss said would fundamentally transform the financial relationship between the city and school, would bring $150 million in funding to the city. His tie-breaking vote at the Nov. 20, 2023, City Council meeting brought the deal to fruition.

Northwestern existed 12 years before Evanston became incorporated in 1863 and Biss described the relationship between the two as filled with tension over the universitys use of land, city services and lack of tax payments. According to Biss, this community-benefits package marks a change in trajectory for the partnership.

He stated it would be difficult for Northwestern to step back from collaboration with the city when the agreement runs its course because residents will have grown accustomed to the funding and the university had shown there is space in its budget to provide more.

If we look around the country, these kinds of agreements have expiration dates. Usually less than 15 years, Biss said. When they get re-upped or when they expire, they tend to be re-upped at a higher level. Thats not a guarantee.

He also stated how proud he is of the citys response to pro-Palestine protesters on Northwesterns campus in the past few weeks, reflecting on how other communities responded following these protests and in the wake of George Floyds murder in 2020. Evanston police communicated with Northwestern police throughout the protests but did not end up getting involved or arresting any protestors.

We, the city of Evanston, should not be involved in interfering with protests or arresting protesters unless there is an absolute essential reason to do so, Biss said. We believe to our core that it is not our job to police protesting because of what the protests stand for, for how they call for it, for what they say, or who they make uncomfortable  even for who they offend. Even if they offend me.

Despite this, Biss remained opposed to seeing City Council adopt a cease-fire resolution for the war in Gaza, arguing the city shouldnt get involved in issues outside its purview unless the action brings the city together and makes the city stronger.

Biss said passing such a resolution would be picking at wounds from previous discussions that would lead to further division and make it harder to tackle future issues directly impacting Evanstonians.

However, Evanston residents have been directly impacted by the war in Gaza. Two residents, Natalie and Judith Raanan, were taken hostage for nearly two weeks by Hamas following the initial attacks on Oct. 7, 2023, and have since returned home.

Evanston City Council has taken stances on issues outside its purview in the past including an 8-1 vote in September 2005 on a resolution to pull United States troops out of the Iraq War and another resolution in May 2008 stating the citys opposition to U.S. military intervention in Iran.

The mayor hopes focus in the coming year can be placed on assistance the city can provide to migrants who have been shipped from Texas to the Chicago area by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. City Policy Coordinator Alison Leipsiger has been searching for properties that could be retrofitted with county grant funding as shelters.

Were Evanston. We dont see a crisis like that and conclude its someone elses problem, Biss said. Were gonna figure out what we can do to help and if we cant help its not going to be for lack of trying.

Other focuses for the year include passage of a healthy building ordinance to bring the 500 most emission-producing buildings more aligned with the citys Climate Action Plan, finding a solution for deteriorating city properties including the Lorraine H. Morton Civic Center and continued efforts to build affordable housing.
In our Reality Check stories, Wichita Eagle journalists dig deeper into questions over facts, consequences and accountability. Story idea? tips@wichitaeagle.com.

A former Kansas sheriff  recently appointed by the City Council to serve on a citizen board meant to hold the Wichita Police Department accountable  surrendered his law enforcement license years ago while being investigated for keeping donations made to the Sumner County Sheriffs Office, according to an order from the states police regulatory agency.

The order says Gerald R. Gilkey also sold one of the ATVs donated by BNSF Railway on Craiglist.

Gilkey resigned from the citizen board Friday after finding out The Eagle was looking into the revocation.

I did make a bad choice and I made a mistake, he said. It is not the super felony and its not the super criminal act that everybody feels that it is. It was an error in judgment like many good people make in their lives.

When Gilkey surrendered his license in 2014, he signed an order that says he did so knowing that what he did constitutes grounds for (Kansas Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training) to revoke (Gilkeys) certification as a law enforcement officer.

He said officers had done far worse and that he believed he could have retained his license had he fought it.

The whole thing, he said, was politically motivated by an opponent when he was seeking a fourth term as sheriff  even the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training investigation was political.

Asked why he didnt realize it was a mistake until being investigated, he said: Who knew it was a mistake until some times it was brought to light. Weve all done things in our lives that hey, you know, it sounds good at the time, years later, its like, maybe we shouldnt have done that.

Gilkey was appointed to the Citizens Review Board by council member J.V. Johnston, with the approval of the entire City Council. Gilkey said he told Johnston, his neighbor, about the incident.

Did I tell him about all this bullstuff beforehand? Yea, I did, Gilkey said. He was not concerning because, you know, there are no criminal charges  the only thing that happened was I did a resignation that I probably didnt have to do.

Johnston said Well, if he did (tell me), I dont remember.

He could have told me, he said. We talk a lot between the fences and the yard, probably at least every other day. Do I remember every conversation? No, I dont.

Gilkey started his term on the CRB on April 1. He told the board at the April meeting that he spent about 20 years in law enforcement, including three terms as sheriff, before retiring in 2011. He started in law enforcement in April 1992 and joined the sheriffs office in January 2001, according to the Kansas Commission on Peace Officers Standards and Training, also know as KSCPOST.

KSCPOST says Gilkey contacted BNSF about the donations while he was sheriff.

Gilkey reached out to BNSF on April 3, 2007, saying they needed an all-terrain vehicle to be used by the Sheriffs Office at crime scenes, parades, large event patrols and numerous other uses, according to the KSCPOST order.

BNSF agreed later that year to donate two John Deere Gators, two Kawasaki Mules, and one Cushman two seater gas buggy. Gilkey and a deputy used their personal trucks and trailers to pick up the vehicles.

The KSCPOST order also says:

Gilkey brought one Gator to the sheriffs office, one gator and two Mules to his home and the Cushman to undersheriff Jerry Osborn, who could not be reached for comment.

Gilkey told a Kansas Bureau of Investigation agent that he spent $160 of his own money to repair the Gator and turned it into a fire suppression vehicle for his own use.

He also replaced the engine on one of the Mules for $400 and then sold it on Craigslist for $800. He gave the other Mule to deputy Tim Razey, who sold it for scrap metal.

Razey, in a phone interview, said he thinks the metal was worth $50. Asked why he thought it was OK to keep the money, he said: I have no response.

Pretty much all that stuff we got wasnt in good working order, he said.

Before Gilkey left office in 2011, the order says, BNSF asked Gilkey to return the Gator.

Gilkey did not do so at that time but did return it in July 2012. Gilkey, in a phone interview, said the delay in returning the Gator came because he was fixing the drive belt after he broke it.

Neither Razey or Osborn faced any trouble because of what happened, Gilkey said.

I basically took the hit for everybody involved, because I was the target, Gilkey said.

Im trying to do the right thing. I could have served on that CRB board and have done a very good job for the city of Wichita, he said. But, like I said, (the city of Wichita doesnt) deserve to be drug through some old politics because of a man with an ax to grind.

The KSCPOST order says Gilkey resigned Aug. 17, 2011. The order was dated June 13, 2014.

Johnston said Gilkey is a really good guy and he would still appoint him despite what happened.

I think we all make mistakes from time to time. The most important thing is if we learn from it or not.

Gilkey said the city did its due diligence doing a background check on him for any criminal charges, which he doesnt have.

Johnston said he was surprised to learn the details of what happened.

I still think he would make a great member of that committee. I still do, he said. I thought the point of view of someone who has been shot at three or four times would be a good perspective to have on that committee  Theres nobody more critical than somebody who has been the boss before, who has had to keep people in line at the sheriffs department. Theyre going to be more critical and ask better questions than somebody who has no experience.
A large painting hanging in Oxburgh Hall, a lavish manor in the English countryside, has long concealed a secret.

Affixed beneath a staircase, the portrait  which depicts three children  has been unidentified for centuries.

But now, during conservation work, its been revealed to be an exceptionally rare work by a famous 18th century artist, according to a May 6 news release from the National Trust.

The portrait, it turns out, was made by Jacob Christoff Le Blon, the creator of color printing, around 1721.

His revolutionary method involved using separate plates inked with primary colors to create complex pieces of work using the entire color spectrum.

Le Blons portrait is a copy of a celebrated work by Sir Anthony van Dyck, which is housed in the Royal Collection. It depicts the oldest children of King Charles I, a renowned patron of the arts, who reigned from 1625 to 1649.

In 1718, King George I granted Le Blon access to Kensington Palace in London, where he made replicas of the paintings inside, including the portrait of the royal children.

The demand for his works was initially high and they were considered collectable enough to be listed in his wills, according to the National Trust.

Its not clear when exactly the portrait was brought to Oxburgh Hall, though its possible it arrived soon after its creation. Old inventory records indicate it had been hanging in the same place for over 100 years.

Only three Le Blon prints of it were known to survive so to have a discovered a fourth is really exciting, especially as it is the only version that remains hanging in its historic setting, Jane Eade, a National Trust curator, said in the release.

Its also likely that the artwork held a special significance for the estates owner, a suspected Jacobite  a member of a political movement that supported restoring the House of Stuart to the British throne.

One of the children depicted in the painting was the father of James Francis Edward Stuart, who attempted to usurp the throne in the Jacobite rebellion of 1715.

Copies of this painting are known to (have) been popular with those sympathetic to the Jacobite cause, Ilana van Dort, the manager of the Oxburgh Collections, said in the release. It would have been quite feasible that the print has spent its whole life at Oxburgh, although we lack enough evidence to prove it.

The portrait, which will remain on display at the estate, will be the subject of a BBC news series on hidden treasures.

Oxburgh Hall is located in Oxborough, about 100 miles northeast of London.

Mysterious symbols from ancient Iraq temple baffled researchers for years  until now

Stone workshops  used by craftsmen in the Middle Ages  found in France. See them

Workers cleaning up dirt at 800-year-old temple uncover dozens of ancient statues
It emerged as a powerful tool for public health officers during the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was used to gauge the prevalence of coronavirus in communities across the nation.

But wastewater surveillance  the testing of sewage for signs of pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2, poliovirus and mpox virus  has yet to be employed in the tracking of H5N1 bird flu virus.

Now, as officials attempt to determine the extent of bird flu outbreaks among dairy herds, some experts are urging that wastewater surveillance begin immediately. Others are faulting the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for reportedly discouraging its use.

Read more: 'Nobody saw this coming': California dairies scramble to guard herds against bird flu

It has been consistently demonstrated that wastewater surveillance only enhances traditional surveillance, and often outperforms it when it comes to early/timely outbreak or surge detection, said Denis Nash, distinguished professor of epidemiology and executive director of City University of New York's Institute for Implementation Science in Population Health.

In this case, since traditional surveillance is not really systematically occurring, and wastewater surveillance is relatively low-cost and easy to implement, it makes a lot of sense to me to go ahead and deploy it strategically, said Nash, whose team developed New York Citys community-based wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2.

That has not been the view of the CDC, however.

Recently, Marc Johnson, a professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the University of Missouri, said he was told by the agency not to use a virus assay he'd created for the purpose of tracking H5N1 outbreaks. The reason? Johnson said officials told him it would just add to the confusion.

Johnson said that if the assay had been in widespread use earlier this year, the spread of bird flu through the nation's dairy herds could conceivably have been stopped, or at least slowed down.

"I always think the more information we have, the better," he said.

However, he said he did understand the government's rationale.

"Public health does not like ambiguous information," he said. "You get a positive, you don't know if that's from a cow or a bird. Or maybe from milk poured down the drain."

The CDC did not respond to questions from The Times.

Read more: California wildlife is vulnerable to an avian flu apocalypse. What is driving the spread?

Concern over the virus escalated in March, when federal officials announced the discovery of avian flu in a Texas dairy herd. Over the next few weeks, reports of the virus in other states began to pop up. It also showed up in barn cats that drank raw milk, and in one dairy worker.

H5N1 bird flu has now been detected in 36 herds across nine states, and health and U.S. Department of Agriculture officials are scrambling to determine its reach. They believe the virus was introduced by a wild bird  either via contact or feed  at a Texas farm in December, giving the virus months to travel to other herds and animals.

The virus was also found in one of five grocery-shelf milk samples tested by federal researchers. Those samples showed the virus had been inactivated by pasteurization, reducing the health threat to people.

In California, where the virus has yet to be detected in dairy cows, wildlife officials are keeping a wary eye on migrating wild bird populations as well as domestic poultry and farm animals.

Eric Topol, a professor of molecular medicine at Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, said the CDC is "off base" to say wastewater surveillance would cause confusion.

"If anything, we need to track the spread of the virus and its evolution, which isnt getting done well by USDA and CDC," he said.

Michael Payne, a dairy educator and researcher at the University of Californias School of Veterinary Medicine, agreed with that sentiment. Although he was not familiar with the assay Johnson devised, he said an accurate test would be valuable.

"Such a wastewater assay could be a useful tool, even given the uncertainty of exactly where the virus was coming from," he said. "There is a growing body of literature that is using PCR testing in wastewater to measure pathogens of public health interest."

Nash, of CUNY, said hed advocate for a strategic deployment of community-based and facility-based wastewater surveillance.

He said testing wastewater at hospitals and health clinics would provide clear signals if an outbreak were to occur. Starting testing now, when a baseline for other "confusing" elements such as contaminated milk and bird droppings could be established, would help quell that noise.

He said that in the current situation, we need reliable early warning because if community spread did happen, every additional day of notice would matter a great deal in terms of potential lives saved.





This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
A local Walmart had expired baby formula on its shelves and a Modesto bar had mold in its ice machine.

These were some of the violations observed during health inspections in Stanislaus County in late April.

The majority of the 2,400 permitted food service establishments in the county receive two unannounced routine food safety inspections per year, according to the Department of Environmental Resources. The website says inspection reports are scanned weekly.

Food trucks that operate under a Stanislaus County Health Department permit are also inspected by the county, though those are scheduled and done at the departments office.

Dirty conditions at a Stanislaus County restaurant? How to report health code violations

Of the 29 restaurant inspection reports sent to The Modesto Bee on Wednesday, eight were not updated on the site as of Thursday afternoon.

If an inspection listed below needs clarification, business owners can email Modesto Bee reporter Dominique Williams at dwilliams@modbee.com.

Major

Violations were found during routine inspections of the following Stanislaus County food facilities during the week of April 22-28. Only the dates of violations are listed.

The details of the reports do not indicate whether a restaurant passed or failed inspection. Corrective actions may have been made by the business by the time of publication.

The reports are linked. For updates on individual restaurants, search the DER website.

June Bugs, 117 Phoenix Ave. in Modesto, had eight violations April 22. The bathroom ceiling where water damage had occurred had not been repainted and the womens bathroom paper towel and soap dispensers were empty. An interior section of the ice machine had mold buildup. The floor had dirt and grime buildup below the bar counter, and the beer keg refrigerator had stain and water condensation buildup. The food safety certification was lacking.

The mold in the ice machine was the only remaining violation during another inspection May 6.

Walmart, 2480 Geer Road in Turlock, had six violations April 24  five of them major. Six-packs of Similac 360 Total Care Sensitive liquid baby formula had expired on April 1. A can of powdered baby formula was dented. Four refrigeration or freezer units were noted to be offline.

Subway, 7154 McCracken Road in Westley, had four violations April 24. Inspectors observed a missing ceiling panel, which left the ceiling open to the attic. Grime was accumulated in the floor sink beneath the soda dispenser and on the chute of the ice dispenser in the soda fountain. The hand wash sink in the womens restroom lacked soap in the dispenser.

All four violations were noted as corrected during a reinspection May 3. One new violation was found.

Friendly House, 2231 Geer Road in Turlock, had five violations April 25  one of them major. The sandwich preparation refrigerator was noted to have an ambient temperature of 53 degrees (must be 41 degrees or lower). The wall in the refrigerator had corrosion and debris accumulation. Food handler cards were lacking for three employees and sanitizer buckets were not set up.

Poke Bowl, 3501 McHenry Ave., Suite F16, in Modesto, had two violations during an inspection April 26 due to a complaint relating to sanitary conditions and practices within the restaurant. One of the violations was major. Inspectors observed the floors soiled and unkempt, with significant dirt staining. Hot water was registering at 105 degrees (must be a minimum of 120 degrees).

All previous violations were noted as corrected during a reinspection May 2 and an additional violation was found.

Other food facilities with three or more, or major, violations at the time of their inspections include:

Fancy Bagels (construction), 1040 W. Las Palmas Ave., Suite E, Patterson

Pho Mex, 3848 McHenry Ave., Suite 410, Modesto

Whole Lotta Cafe, 1820 Blue Gum Ave., Modesto

Minor

According to Stanislaus County, food facilities that had one to two violations, none of them major, are:

None

These food facilities had no violations, according to the county:
By Joan Faus

BARCELONA (Reuters) - Spain's Catalonia region holds an election on Sunday with big implications for the Socialist-led national government and a pro-independence movement rumbling for a decade.

WHEN DID THE INDEPENDENCE PUSH START?

Support for independence was marginal in the wealthy northeastern region, which speaks its own Catalan language and borders France, until the 2012 eurozone financial crisis that led to widespread job losses.

Unpopular austerity cuts prompted the regional government to ask for more control over its own budget, which the Madrid-based central government rejected.

Under pressure by grassroots separatist groups, the Catalan conservative and nationalist party that governed the region, CiU, changed course and embraced the independence cause. It asked the conservative central government to allow a referendum on independence but that was rejected too.

HOW DID IT COME TO A HEAD?

After several years of massive pro-independence protests and growing friction between Catalonia and Madrid, the breakaway push escalated in 2017.

Catalonia's pro-independence president Carles Puigdemont, backed by the separatist-controlled regional assembly, announced an independence referendum, sending shockwaves across Europe.

About 2.3 million people - around 43% of eligible voters - voted in a referendum not authorised by the courts, defying baton-wielding Spanish policemen. Some 90% voted to break away from Spain, according to the Catalan government. Many of those opposed to independence boycotted the ballot.

Catalan lawmakers voted by majority to recognise the result of the referendum and declared Catalonia independent.

Madrid imposed direct rule in the region, dissolving parliament and dismissing Puigdemont, who fled to Belgium. Nine activists and former Catalan government officials were jailed and sentenced for their roles. In 2021, they were pardoned by Spain's Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

WHO ARE THE MOVEMENT'S MAIN FIGURES TODAY?

Two Catalan separatist parties have governed the region over the past decade and currently wield an outsized influence over Spanish politics as Sanchez's minority government relies on their votes to pass legislation in national congress.

In return for that support, Sanchez introduced an amnesty bill to expunge the criminal records of separatists involved in the independence bid.

Centre-left and moderate Esquerra Republicana de Catalunya (ERC) currently controls the Catalan regional government with Pere Aragones as its president.

Junts is a spin-off of CiU created in 2017 by Puigdemont. He has been living in self-imposed exile in Belgium where he serves as a member of the European Parliament and is campaigning for the election from France. He has pledged he will return to Catalonia when Sanchez's amnesty bill, which would annul the arrest warrant he faces, comes into force in late May or June.

WHERE DOES THE INDEPENDENCE DRIVE STAND NOW?

Both Aragones and Puigdemont are running as candidates on Sunday and both have said that if they succeed, they will resurrect an independence push including seeking a legal referendum. Sanchez has flatly opposed that.

The Socialists stand to win the most seats, surveys say, and there is a limited chance of ERC and Junts winning enough to form a coalition. However, with surveys showing as many as 40% of voters still undecided, anything is possible.

DO CATALANS ACTUALLY WANT INDEPENDENCE?

Support for independence has slipped from its 2017 high after Spain imposed direct rule and since Sanchez has dialled down hostilities by improving dialogue with regional leaders and rowing back criminal prosecutions. The movement has also been marred by infighting among parties.

A survey conducted in February and March by the government-run Catalan Centre for Public Opinion found 42% supported independence compared with 49% in 2017. However, 76% of respondents said they still wanted a referendum.

In last year's national election, that cooling enthusiasm was reflected in the result. ERC representation fell from 13 seats to seven while Junts fell from eight to seven.

(Reporting by Joan Faus, Editing by Aislinn Laing and Andrew Cawthorne)
Ukraine would receive the first batch of F-16 fighter jets "within weeks" as the UK newspaper Evening Standard reported on 10 May with reference to a "high-ranking military source".

Source: European Pravda with reference to Evening Standard

Details: A source cited by the Evening Standard states that F-16s may arrive in Ukraine in June or July. It did not specify which country would provide them.

As it is known, a number of Western countries formed a fighter jet coalition headed by Denmark and the Netherlands with the goal of supplying Kyiv with modern aircraft and training pilots and support staff.

In addition to them, Norway and Belgium also announced their intentions to provide F-16s for Ukraine. The latter confirmed that it would be done by the end of 2024.

Earlier, it was revealed that Czechia had supplied the Ukrainian Air Force with the first F-16 fighter jet simulator.

Support UP or become our patron!
The world-famous Ukrainian music video director Tanu Muino, who is directing Ukraine's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, has spoken out about the draw for the grand final. Tomorrow, on May 11, we will see the performances of all the finalists and finally learn the name of the winner.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to the results of the draw, the duo alyona alyona & Jerry Heil drew the "lucky ticket"  "producers' choice", which was one of the innovations of the 68th song contest. The organizers decided to give the Ukrainians the second number in the final, which is also called the "death spot " or "death position."

"The death spot from the Eurovision team," Muino wrote on Insta-stories. Eurofans were disappointed with this choice of producers, because traditionally, after showing all 26 participants, the first numbers are forgotten. The network started talking about the possibility that the organizers could have deliberately "drained" Ukraine, Muzvar writes. According to statistics, over the past 15 years, countries that performed at number 2 have only once made it to the top 10.

ADVERTISIMENT

Instead, alyona alyona and Jerry Heil didn't get upset but urged their fans to support them. This year, the voting in the grand final begins with the first performance, not after all the representatives of the finalist countries have taken the stage. That is why the performers hope for a favorable outcome. In addition, the rapper suggested that opening the final is better than performing in the middle of the show because there are many more viewers at the beginning of the broadcast.

ADVERTISIMENT

It's worth noting that after the second semifinal of the song contest, Ukraine rapidly began to lose ground in the bookmakers' rankings.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Children play during recess at Dochang Elementary School in Seoul in May 2023. (Jean Chung / For The Times)

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol announced Thursday that he would create a new government ministry to tackle the countrys low birth rate, which he called a national emergency.

The ministry will serve as a specialized control tower that will establish policies that span education, labor and welfare  one better suited to address a problem that has so far been addressed largely with piecemeal measures.

It will be more than just welfare policy, but a national agenda, Yoon said at a news conference marking the end of his second year in office.

Last years fertility rate  the number of children a woman is expected to have over her lifetime on average  was among the lowest in the world, at 0.72, far short of the 2.1 needed to maintain a stable population. That figure is expected to slide to 0.68 by the end of the year, according to the government.

In a country of 50 million, about 230,000 babies were born last year, and if nothing changes the population will drop dramatically over the next several decades. The situation is increasingly perceived by the public and politicians as an existential threat.

The Times has been covering the crisis:

Read more: One sign of South Korea's population crisis: Rural elementary schools are running out of children

Read more: Facing a labor crisis, South Korea turns to migrants. Why are they more likely to die on the job?

Read more: Korea's army of senior citizens ready for battle. 'I dont remember the rifles being so heavy'

Read more: Inspired by reality TV, Buddhist monks become matchmakers

The government has spent more than $200 billion in the last 16 years to counter these trends, without much success.

With fewer workers to pay into it, the countrys $764-billion pension fund is estimated to dry up by 2054.

To counter the labor shortages already being felt in sectors such as agriculture and manufacturing, the government has been admitting migrant workers from developing countries such as Nepal and Indonesia in record numbers. With an ever-shrinking pool of young men to draw from, the military is trying to reduce its reliance on human soldiers.

Some of the governments birth-boosting proposals have raised eyebrows.

Last year, Yoons People Power Party reportedly discussed plans to make South Korean men who fathered three children before the age of 30 exempt from mandatory military service  an idea seen as out of touch with the high costs of raising a child.

And despite the fact that poor work-life balance for young South Koreans is frequently cited as one of the many causes turning them away from parenthood, the Yoon administration once sparked outrage for proposing a 69-hour work week.





Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Claim:

Former U.S. President Donald Trump said Adolf Hitler "did some good things."

Rating:

Rating: Unproven

Context:

The quote originated with an anecdote told by Gen. John Kelly, a Trump chief of staff, but its authenticity has more than once been denied by Trump's spokespersons. Without further corroboration from witnesses or audio or video recordings, we are unable to confirm whether Trump actually made such a remark.

In 2024, a number of viral posts claimed that former U.S. President Donald Trump praised Adolf Hitler, including a pro-Joe Biden account that quoted Trump's former chief of staff as the source of this information.



(X user @BidenHQ)

The posts also variably claimed that Trump said "Hitler did a lot of great things, I imagine myself being a guy like him," or simply, "Hitler did some good things."



(X user @insiderfilms1)



(X user @GlobalEyeNews)

While Trump did not say, based on any sources we could find, that Hitler did "great things" or "I imagine myself like him," a secondhand account from a former staff member claimed that Trump did say Hitler did "some good things." However, we have no firsthand corroboration of this through other witnesses or audio or video footage. As such, we rate this claim as "Unproven."

That original, secondhand source of the claim was Trump's second chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly, who shared the anecdote with CNN correspondent Jim Sciutto for the latter's book "The Return of Great Powers," which was released in March 2024.

Kelly and other former senior advisers told Sciutto that Trump would praise despots in private and on the campaign trail. According to Kelly:

He said, "Well, but Hitler did some good things." I said, "Well, what?" And he said, "Well, [Hitler] rebuilt the economy." But what did he do with that rebuilt economy? He turned it against his own people and against the world. And I said, "Sir, you can never say anything good about the guy. Nothing." I mean, Mussolini was a great guy in comparison.

Kelly added that Trump lamented how Hitler managed to keep his senior staff's loyalty, while Trump could not. "He would ask about the loyalty issues and about how, when I pointed out to him the German generals as a group were not loyal to him, and in fact tried to assassinate him a few times, and he didn't know that," Kelly said. "He truly believed, when he brought us generals in, that we would be loyal  that we would do anything he wanted us to do."

When we asked Trump's 2024 campaign spokesperson, Steven Cheung, about Kelly's claims, Cheung didn't comment on the specifics but spoke dismissively of Kelly:

John Kelly is a loser who is trying to sell a book that either belongs in the discount bargain bin in the fiction section of the bookstore or should be repurposed as toilet paper. He has completely beclowned himself and suffers from a severe case of Trump Derangement Syndrome. He needs to seek professional help because his hatred is consuming his empty and pathetic life.

Before that, the claim that Trump praised Hitler had emerged in a 2021 story. Kelly told the anecdote to journalist Michael Bender for his book, "Frankly, We Did Win This Election: The Inside Story of How Trump Lost." According to Bender, Kelly said Trump praised Hitler during a 2018 conversation while on a trip to Paris to mark the World War I armistice.

At that time, Trump's spokesperson Liz Harrington denied the conversation ever happened. "This is totally false. President Trump never said this. It is made-up fake news, probably by a general who was incompetent and was fired," she said.

In any case, Trump has a demonstrated history of expressing admiration for autocrats. John Bolton, who was national security adviser under Trump, told Sciutto, "He views himself as a big guy. He likes dealing with other big guys, and big guys like Erdogan in Turkey get to put people in jail and you don't have to ask anybody's permission. He kind of likes that."

In early March 2024, Trump met with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban, whom conservative populists have praised for his restrictions on immigration and LGBTQ+ rights. During his visit to the U.S., Orban also spoke at The Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank. In footage shared by Orban, Trump could be heard praising the autocrat and calling him "the boss."

Sources:

Sciutto, Jim. "Former Advisers Sound the Alarm That Trump Praises Despots in Private and on the Campaign Trail." CNN, 11 March 2024, https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/11/politics/trump-despots-advisers-sound-alarm/index.html. Accessed 15 March 2024.

"Trump Meets with Hungary's Leader, Viktor Orban, Continuing His Embrace of Autocrats." AP News, 8 March 2024, https://apnews.com/article/trump-orban-hungary-conservatives-autocrats-biden-97d6998f747d3543f2f1df069b0f9165. Accessed 15 March 2024.

Valentine, Catherine and Chandelis Duster. "Trump Allegedly Praised Hitler as Doing 'a Lot of Good Things,' New Book Claims | CNN Politics." CNN, 7 July 2021, https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/07/politics/donald-trump-adolf-hitler-book-claims/index.html. Accessed 15 March 2024.
Claim:

In 1998, then-U.S. President Bill Clinton paid Paula Jones $850,000 in hush money.

Rating:

Rating: False

On April 15, 2024, the criminal trial against former U.S. President Donald Trump over his hush money payments to the adult film star Stormy Daniels began in New York City. For some social media users, the trial reminded them of an event from the '90s  the sexual misconduct scandals surrounding then-President Bill Clinton.

One of the most prominent figures in that scandal was a woman named Paula Jones. In 1998, Clinton agreed to pay Jones $850,000 in order to settle a publicly disclosed lawsuit. Some people have attempted to draw a comparison between Clinton and Jones' negotiated settlement and hush money payments made by Trump.

In 1998, Bill Clinton paid Paula Jones $850,000 to shut up and go away.



That's called HUSH MONEY.



It wasn't illegal then, and it's not illegal now.



Free Trump. pic.twitter.com/4AXDl3e2yt  Mila Joy (@MilaLovesJoe) May 2, 2024

While the two events might initially appear similar  two former presidents paying money to women with whom they had sexual relations  it is important to acknowledge the full context surrounding the two events. When that context is taken into consideration, the two events stop looking similar.

The largest and most important difference is that Clinton and Jones mutually reached an out-of-court settlement stipulating that Jones would receive $850,000; Trump privately arranged his payments in order to keep Daniels from speaking publicly in the first place.

Trump's payment to Daniels, made through his lawyer Michael Cohen, was a direct financial incentive to get Daniels to sign a nondisclosure agreement saying that she would not talk about the affair. The money was sent to Daniels just before the 2016 presidential election. In 2018, the Wall Street Journal broke the story without using Daniels as a source. Daniels claimed that she was coerced to sign the nondisclosure agreement.

In Clinton's case, Jones had already brought the lawsuit. It went through the court system for four years. Meanwhile, Jones was able to publicly talk about details of the case, and did so. The settlement paid by Clinton avoided further legal action from Jones; it was not a way to get her to stop talking about the event.

It is also important to note that so-called "hush money" payments are not necessarily illegal  The New York Times and other credible publications have noted that in the coverage of Trump's trial. Trump was not charged with paying the hush money; he was charged with falsifying business records in order to hide the payment. Meanwhile, Clinton's payment was a settlement  the payment was made in lieu of further legal action against Clinton over Jones's allegations of sexual harassment.

A more apt comparison to Trump's hush money payment to Stormy Daniels would be the case of former Democratic Sen. John Edwards. During his 2008 presidential campaign, Edwards took around $1 million from wealthy campaign donors and paid his then-mistress Rielle Hunter to hide the affair. He was tried in federal court in 2011 for the payments, but the Department of Justice later dropped most of the charges after a mistrial.

Sources:

Cooper, Anderson. Original 60 Minutes Stormy Daniels Interview: Full Video and Transcript of Anderson Cooper Discussing Daniels' Alleged Donald Trump Affair - CBS News. 22 Aug. 2018, https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stormy-daniels-describes-her-alleged-affair-with-donald-trump-60-minutes-interview/.

"Faulty Comparisons Made between Trump, Clinton Payments." AP News, 24 Mar. 2023, https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-clinton-payments-884462275128.

Hess, Amanda. "Paula Jones, Reconsidered." The New York Times, 20 Nov. 2018. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/20/arts/television/paula-jones-monica-lewinsky-bill-clinton.html.

"Https://Twitter.Com/MilaLovesJoe/Status/1786127200758165952." X (Formerly Twitter), https://twitter.com/MilaLovesJoe/status/1786127200758165952. Accessed 9 May 2024.

News, A. B. C. "Comparing Donald Trump's Hush Money Trial to Bill Clinton, John Edwards Cases." ABC News, https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/comparing-donald-trumps-hush-money-trial-john-edwards/story?id=109506871. Accessed 9 May 2024.

Protess, Ben, Jonah E. Bromwich, et al. "Stormy Daniels, Who Testified About Sex With Trump, Will Return to Stand." The New York Times, 7 May 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/07/nyregion/trump-trial-stormy-daniels-testimony.html.

Protess, Ben, Kate Christobek, et al. "What to Know About the Trial Donald Trump Faces in Manhattan." The New York Times, 9 May 2024. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/article/donald-trump-trial-what-to-know.html.

Rothfeld, Michael, and Joe Palazzolo. "Trump Lawyer Arranged $130,000 Payment for Adult-Film Star's Silence." Wall Street Journal, 12 Jan. 2018, https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-lawyer-arranged-130-000-payment-for-adult-film-stars-silence-1515787678.

Severson, Kim, and John Schwartz. "Edwards Not Guilty on One Count; Mistrial on Five Others." The New York Times, 31 May 2012. NYTimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/01/us/edwards-jury-returns-not-guilty-verdict-on-one-count.html.

Washingtonpost.Com: Jones v. Clinton Special Report. https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/special/clinton/stories/jones111498.htm. Accessed 9 May 2024.
Fact Check: Rumors Say Koala Fingerprints Have Confused Crime-Scene Investigators in Australia. Here's What We Found

Claim:

There have been documented cases of koala fingerprints confusing crime-scene investigators because they're similar to human fingerprints.

Rating:

Rating: Unfounded

Over the years, posts circulating on platforms including Instagram and iFunny have claimed that koala fingerprints found at crime scenes in Australia have confused investigators because of their similarity to those of humans.

For example, in April 2024, a post from the X account @Fact said, "Koala fingerprints are almost indistinguishable from a human's and on occasion have been confused at a crime scene."

That same claim was made on Facebook in 2022 by the account for TV network Animal Planet:

Although it's true that koalas have fingerprints similar to humans', the claim that crime-scene investigators have confused the two is unfounded  we have found no evidence to support it.

These adorable marsupials native to Australia have long been a subject of fascination, not just for their cuddly appearance but also for their unique physiological traits.

Research conducted in the mid-'90s by scientists at the University of Adelaide revealed that koalas have unique fingerprints that are remarkably similar to those of humans. These fingerprints serve various functions, including aiding in grasping leaves to eat as they climb trees, and facilitating sensory perception.

In the study, researchers examined the ridges and whorls of koala fingerprints using a scanning electron microscope and found that their fingerprints rival humans' in terms of their complexity and individuality.

This similarity led to the notion that crime-scene investigators might mistake koala fingerprints for those of a human, if koala prints happened to be present at the scene of a crime.

Maciej Henneberg, professor of anthropological and comparative anatomy at the University of Adelaide, explained to The Independent in 1996, "Although it is extremely unlikely that koala prints would be found at the scene of a crime, police should at least be aware of the possibility."

To learn more, Snopes spoke to Gemma Steingold, former wildlife nurse and zookeeper at Taronga Conservation Society Australia, who has two decades of experience caring for native wildlife.

"I've worked with sick and injured koalas, both captive and wild," Steingold told Snopes. "I have also quarantined healthy koalas arriving and departing the zoo."

Explaining why koalas have hands and feet instead of paws, Steingold said, "The difference between hands and paws is having an opposable thumb. Given that both digit one and two are opposable, this tells us that koalas have hands."

Koala hands adapted for an arboreal lifestyle spent predominantly in eucalyptus trees. These specialized limbs, equipped with five digits and sharp claws, facilitate gripping branches and navigating their habitat with agility. The presence of opposable thumbs allows koalas to manipulate eucalyptus leaves for feeding, while their hind limbs, lacking functional thumbs, serve primarily for propulsion during climbing.

"Great apes also have somewhat similar fingerprints to humans. Koalas and humans, however, share the most similar prints," Steingold said, adding that although it's possible the fingerprints of humans and koalas may have briefly been mistaken in some forensic settings, she's "not aware of them being mistaken" at crime scenes, due to key differences between size and shape.

In 2018, as part of her Paris Review article on "The Surprising History (and Future) of Fingerprints," journalist Chantel Tattoli investigated the claim of koala crime-scene confusion. Per New South Wales police Senior Sgt. Peter Hennessy:

"Although it would make for a good story, unfortunately I have never heard of Australian Crime Scene Examiners mistaking a koala's fingerprints with those from a human."

Even if we allow that koalas' humanlike fingerprints theoretically pose challenges for forensic investigators, particularly in regions of Australia where koalas are abundant, forensic technology continues to evolve, allowing scientists to better differentiate between human and koala fingerprints.

Snopes has previously investigated other quirky claims involving animals, including the viral video of a man punching a kangaroo to save a dog and a purported photograph of a hedgehog skeleton.

Sources:

Burrell, Ian. "Koalas Make a Monkey out of the Police | The Independent." The Independent, 7 Dec. 1996. www.independent.co.uk, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/koalas-make-a-monkey-out-of-the-police-1313275.html.

Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/AnimalPlanet/posts/koalas-and-human-fingerprints-are-so-similar-that-they-have-been-confused-at-cri/10159246207093375/. Accessed 6 May 2024.

Henneberg, M., et al. "Fingerprint Homoplasy: Koalas and Humans." Http://Naturalscience.Com/Ns/Articles/01-04/Ns_hll.Html, 1997. digital.library.adelaide.edu.au, https://digital.library.adelaide.edu.au/dspace/handle/2440/5433.

"Koala, Facts and Photos." Animals, 11 Apr. 2010, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/koala.

Koalas Have Fingerprints Almost Identical to Ours. 21 Sept. 2022, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/article/koala-fingerprints/.

"Koalas Have Fingerprints Just like Humans." Office for Science and Society, https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/koalas-have-fingerprints-just-humans. Accessed 6 May 2024.

"Physical Characteristics of the Koala." Australian Koala Foundation, https://www.savethekoala.com/about-koalas/physical-characteristics-koala/. Accessed 6 May 2024.

reverendpooponyous. "Koala Fingerprints Are so Similar to Humans That Even Crime Scene Investigators Have Been Confused by Them. KOALA HUMAN Nick Morrow @NRMorrow Wait What Kind of Crime Scene Has Both." iFunny, https://ifunny.co/picture/bTffJ2o2A. Accessed 6 May 2024.

Sweeten-Shults, Lana. "Senior Forensic Science Projects Investigated." GCU News, 2 Nov. 2022, https://news.gcu.edu/gcu-news/senior-forensic-science-projects-investigated/.

"Taronga Conservation Society Australia." Taronga Conservation Society Australia, http://taronga.org.au/. Accessed 6 May 2024.

Tattoli, Chantel. "The Surprising History (and Future) of Fingerprints." The Paris Review, 15 May 2018, https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/05/15/the-surprising-history-and-future-of-fingerprints/.

"You May Be Sweet and Furry, but You're Nicked." New Scientist, https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg15220591-500-you-may-be-sweet-and-furry-but-youre-nicked/. Accessed 6 May 2024.
DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA)  People in Danville are making sure the citys fallen first responders are never forgotten. Law enforcement agencies and community members gathered for a police memorial service on Thursday.

Thursday morning saw the annual police memorial service in Danville. The ceremony honored fallen police officials from the past and their families.

Danville Mayor Rickey Williams Jr. read off three names of the departed ranging from the years 1908 to 2001. Williams said the event emphasizes those who gave everything for service.

Its our duty to not only remember them, but to make sure that we can take care of their family members that are still with us.

Danvilles VA Illiana dedicates 25-year time capsule

Representing Danville Police in the service was Chief Chris Yates. He helped during the wreath presentation.

Ive done it the last five years as chief and its special, Yates said. You know, I was here in 2001 when we lost a sheriffs deputy. And, you know, a lot of those memories come back. But this is a good way to honor them in a very traditional and respectful way.

The ceremony also included a rifle salute and Taps.

Its Deputy Thomas Showers 14th year participating in the ceremony.

You hear those bagpipes, you hear the taps. You get that feeling of a lost officer. I dont know if you can [hear the] sound by the crack my voice  its not a good feeling, he said.

Showers said shared emotions make this a family affair for everyone.

You feel the sorrow, the pain, not only for the department, but the family and the loved ones.

A reflection of lives lost, and a reminder of those willing to serve.

It always evokes emotions when were here, especially when you hear the bagpipes and you see the families, you know, the survivors of those that have fallen, Yates said. It means a lot to us, and we dont take it for granted.

Both the Danville Police Department and Vermilion County Sheriffs Office represented the ceremony along with their honor guards.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WCIA.com.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  Friday marked the 56th Annual Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial Service.

The Almighty has granted us this beautiful day to remember our heroes, said Mark Nelson, Oklahoma Fraternal Order of Police President. Please know that Oklahomas law enforcement community will never forget.

LOCAL NEWS: Seminole woman grateful to be alive after car falls nearly 20 feet below the road

Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial.

Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial.

Oklahoma Law Enforcement Memorial.

The names of ten law enforcement officers and one canine partner who died in the line of duty were recently engraved on the memorial at the Department of Public Safety Headquarters:

Marion A. Sweeten, Deputy U.S. Marshal, shot, and killed May 3, 1886, during a domestic fight.

Samuel S. Reed, Deputy Sheriff, Marshall County was shot and killed September 22, 1911, while ejecting a man from a circus for not having a ticket.

James H. Thompson, Officer, Eldorado Police Department, was shot and killed about 1:30 a.m. May 20, 1921, while making his nightly rounds.

J.D. Lovette, Deputy Sheriff, Jackson County Sheriffs Office suffered a heart attack early the morning of September 6, 1959, while walking to a house to conduct an investigation.

Raymond D. Brown II, Officer, Comanche Nation Police Department died August 8, 20121, from complications from contracting the Covid virus on duty.

Kenneth W. Fowler, Correctional Officer, Pontotoc County Sheriffs Office died February 19, 2023, from head injuries received when he slipped on the icy parking lot of the Sheriffs Office on January 31st.

Richard S. Parker, Captain, McAlester Police Department died March 16, 2023, from a heart attack.

Joseph S. Barlow, Officer, McAlester Police Department died March 20, 2023, from injuries received in a vehicle accident while escorting the body of Captain Richard Parker to the funeral home on March 17th.

Jeremy D. McCain, Deputy Sheriff, Oklahoma County Sheriffs Office died March 20, 2023, from injuries received in on-duty vehicle accident March 10th.

John R. Randolph III, Captain, Ringling Police Department died September 25, 2023, from internal injuries received in a fall the evening of September 22nd.

Canine Partner Helo, Owasso Police Department, died March 21, 2023, from a massive hemorrhage after collapsing during a strenuous training exercise.

These are husbands and fathers and mothers, and wives, daughters and sons, said Judge Scott Rowland, Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals. Theyre the salt of our Earth and theyve been taken from us because of the profession that they chose.

According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, more than 1,800 officers nationwide have died while on duty in the last five years.

LOCAL NEWS: Family rejoices after procedure helps son keep his ability to walk

They knew that theres no higher calling than to protect and speak for those who cant protect and speak for themselves, said Rowland.

Friday was Kasey Pirrones third time attending the ceremony.

Its very powerful to look around and to see everyone, said Pirrone. You hurt with them, you grieve with them.

Pirrone lost her dad, Edgar Buddy Pales Jr., an Owasso Police Officer, in 2021. He died after getting COVID while on the job.

He was just a really good guy. He really was, said Pirrone. All of these names have a story.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
Lily Jones, a junior at Glendale High School, wants to study in France next year and return to Springfield Public Schools for a traditional senior year.

The parents of a Glendale High School junior who plans to spend next year studying in France have filed a lawsuit to stop Springfield Public Schools from forcing her to graduate early.

Jeffrey Jones and Julie Rhoads want their daughter, Lily Jones, to be able to return to Glendale in fall 2025 to have a senior year in SPS.

"By denying Lily a senior year, not only would she miss out on the hallmarks of senior year  senior nights, senior awards, banquets, homecoming, senior prom, etc.  but she would be denied many opportunities to earn awards and accolades that offer scholarship opportunities," Rhoads told the News-Leader.

The family has spent more than a year preparing for the 17-year-old to study abroad as a foreign exchange student and communicating with Glendale at various steps along the way.

"The plan was for Lily to finish her junior year in 2024, go to France for the 2024-25 school year then return as a senior at Glendale for the 2025-26 school year," Rhoads said. "That was the plan during all correspondence with her school counselor."

Rhoads said Lily was called to the counselor's office April 5 and told she will not be allowed to return to Glendale for a senior year and since she had met the minimum requirements to graduate already, she was expected to graduate May 18 as part of the Class of 2024.

"She was really shocked. She got brought down to the counselor's office for what she thought was going to be a meeting to tie up loose ends, what do I do with my Chromebook, what happens when I get back, those sorts of questions," Rhoads said.

Scenes from the Glendale High School graduation ceremony at Great Southern Bank Arena on Saturday, May 20, 2023.

The family protested but Rhoads said after Glendale Principal Josh Groves confirmed that initial decision days later, the family called Springfield attorney Patrick Baird.

"We've been in talks with her school counselor since the beginning of last school year," Rhoads said.

"There was never any discussion ... that you couldn't go to France and come back. There was never a discussion that you have to graduate in four consecutive academic years. That was never brought up in this 18-month window of time, when we were making all these arrangements."

Baird said the district told the family that since Lily was not earning any credit hours while she studied in France, the district would not get state funding for her when she returned. "They didn't want to do that and so instead of losing funding, they told her 'We're just going to graduate you on May 18.'"

"Glendale for, as far as I can tell, no other reason than funding, does not want her to experience a senior year in high school," Baird said.

He added: "The next step is to make sure that she does not graduate on May 18 and continue to fight so that she can have a senior year."

Asked for a comment, Stephen Hall, chief communications officer for SPS, said: "We are committed to working with all of our students and families to help them achieve their educational goals. When we receive a special request, we must consider our obligations to all stakeholders."

Hall noted the stakeholders include the other students, taxpayers at the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, or DESE.

"There are limits to the extent that we are able to deviate from established protocols when we make a special accommodation for a student. Once a student accumulates the required number of credits, they either graduate early or with their designated cohort," Hall said. "Lines of communication remain open and we look forward to identifying a resolution within the defined parameters of law and other regulations."

'Amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity'

Lily Jones is actively engaged at Glendale as part of the orchestra, book club, World Language Club, National Honor Society and the Missouri A+ Scholarship Program.

Lily Jones, a junior at Glendale High School, plans to study in France this fall as a foreign exchange student.

"She is a model student, the kind of kid that wants to be there," Rhoads said. "She gets upset when she does have to miss school."

Rhoads said her daughter has studied French for several years and traveled to France during spring break last year. This year, the family is hosting a foreign exchange student from France and next year, Lily Jones plans to be part of the program, living with a host family in that country. Her tentative departure date is Aug 29.

"She's got such an amazing, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to go live with a French family, go to a French high school and have that full immersion experience," Rhoads said.

Rhoads said the family has been told Lily can return to SPS for a traditional senior year this fall or she can graduate and be part of the exchange program, as planned, this fall. "Right now SPS is saying it's either, or ... but you can't do both."

More: 'I don't think I'm a hero': SPS bus driver who fended off intruder honored by school board

She said if her daughter is not allowed to return for a senior year at Glendale, she will not be able to complete all of the requirements for the A+ scholarship, she will lose her National Honor Society status, and she will not be eligible to take exams to earn Seals of Excellence in core subjects, music and world languages.

"These awards and honors look very appealing on college applications and can lead to scholarship opportunities," Rhoads said.

The family said they hope a compromise can be worked out quickly. A hearing was scheduled for Friday but Baird said that may be postponed.

"We believe Springfield Public Schools is putting their bottom line first and focusing on funding versus supporting a student who has a once in a lifetime opportunity to live with a French family, study in a French high school and have a full language immersion experience," Rhoads said.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: SPS junior sues SPS to return for senior year after studying in France
How far has Spain moved past Catalonia's secession crisis? Voters will decide in regional election

Former regional president Carles Puigdemont applauds during a campaign rally in Argelers, France, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Carles Puigdemont, Catalonia's fugitive former leader, stares confidently out the backseat window of a car, the sun illuminating his gaze in a campaign poster for Sunday's critical elections in the northeastern Spanish region. Some nearly 6 million Catalans are called to cast ballots in regional elections on Sunday that will surely have reverberations in Spain's national politics. (AP Photo/Joan Mateu)

BARCELONA, Spain (AP)  Carles Puigdemont, Catalonias fugitive former leader, stares confidently out the backseat window of a car, the sun illuminating his gaze in a campaign poster for Sundays critical elections in the northeastern Spanish region.

The image plays on another one imagined from six years prior when Puigdemont hid in the trunk of a car as he was snuck across the French border, fleeing Spains crackdown on a failed illegal 2017 secession attempt that he had led as Catalan regional president.

Sundays elections will be a test to see if Catalonia wants him back as leader or if the wealthy region has moved on from secession and has more pressing worries.

Puigdemont is still technically a fugitive. But ironically recent maneuvers by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez have revitalized his political career. Sanchez promised amnesty to Puigdemont and other separatists facing charges in return for the support of separatist lawmakers in the national parliament to form a new government in Madrid. But that could now backfire and cause problems for the national government if Puigdemont, public enemy No. 1 for many Spaniards, is reelected.

SANCHEZ'S STAKE

Either from conviction or necessity, Sanchez has spent huge amounts of political capital taking decisions embraced in Catalonia but largely lambasted in the rest of the country that were aimed at wooing back voters from the separatist camp.

So far it seems to be working.

The Socialists candidate, Salvador Illa, is currently leading in the polls ahead of both Puigdemont and current Catalan regional president Pere Aragones, another secessionist from a different Catalan party.

Illa won the most votes in the 2021 Catalan elections but could not stop Aragones from keeping the separatists in power. If the Socialists win Sunday, Sanchez, who has campaigned alongside Illa, can boast that his risky bets on Catalonia have paid off.

Carles Puigdemont is the past, we represent the future, Illa said at a debate this week, as he focuses on social issues and casts the debate about secession as stale.

If the Socialists have a strong showing, that will give Sanchez a boost, especially before European elections (in June), Oriol Bartomeus, a professor of political science at the Autonomous University of Barcelona told The Associated Press.

But Illas chances of becoming regional president will, according to all election polling, still hinge on winning the support of other parties, including most likely Aragones' Republican Left of Catalonia.

PUIGDEMONT'S PLEDGE

Puigdemont is running on the pledge that he will finally return home  in theory under the protection provided by the amnesty  when the newly elected lawmakers convene to form a new regional government. That investiture vote would come in the weeks after the post-election negotiations between parties.

Puigdemont has moved, at least temporarily, from Waterloo, Belgium, where he has lived as a self-styled political exile, to a French village just north of Spain where he has campaigned with rallies by followers who have crossed the border.

He has said that if he is not restored to power he will retire from politics.

VOTER PRIORITIES

The question Puigdemont, Illa, Aragones and the other candidates now face is how much Catalonia has changed.

A record drought, not independence, is the number one concern among Catalans, according to the most recent survey by Catalonias public opinion office. Some 70% of would-be voters now say that the management of public services, the economy and climate change would drive their choice at the polls, while 30% say the question of independence was still their priority.

The opinion office said 50% of Catalans are against independence while 42% are for it, meaning support for it has dipped to 2012 levels. When Puigdemont left in 2017, 49% favored independence and 43% were against.

Pablo Simon, political science professor at Carlos III University in Madrid, said that the secessionist movement was in a period of uncertain transition.

I would not dare say that the secessionist movement is dead, but I can say that we are in a period where we dont know what will come next, he said.

___

Ciaran Giles contributed from Madrid.

___

Follow the APs coverage of global elections at: https://apnews.com/hub/global-elections/
Gov. Janet Mills gives the State of the State address on Jan. 30, 2024. (Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)

Lawmakers on Friday sustained six vetoes by Gov. Janet Mills, failing to override her objections to a bill that would have granted farmworkers minimum wage rights, a measure seeking to tighten gun restrictions, and several other proposals.

Mills, a Democrat, vetoed eight bills passed by legislators this session, several of which drew pointed rebukes from members of her own party. Coming into Fridays vote, the Legislature had already sustained the governors vetoes of two of those bills: a measure to further limit noncompete clauses in Maine and a bill to lessen the penalty for minor theft charges for someone who has had multiple theft convictions.

Lawmakers voted on the other six measures Friday. Those included the farmworker minimum wage bill, a proposal to give farmworkers the right to discuss wages and engage in other concerted activity, and legislation that would have required firearms used in a crime to be destroyed and banned devices that make semi-automatic weapons operate like machine guns.

In addition, the Legislature took override votes on a bill to add new tax brackets and increase tax rates for wealthier Mainers, a measure meant to ensure clean energy projects on state land arent disrupted by labor disputes, and a proposal to treat leachate at Juniper Ridge landfill in a way that ensures PFAS levels dont exceed established drinking water standards.

Two-thirds of lawmakers present in both the House and Senate must vote in favor of a bill to override a veto  a bar none of the bills considered Friday cleared. Mills has vetoed 49 bills during her time in office and has never had one of those decisions overturned by the Legislature.

While some Democrats backed Mills vetoes of certain bills, the governor received much of the support needed to sustain her vetoes from Republicans.

Before most of the veto override votes, there was little to no debate. However, some legislators did speak about the farmworker minimum wage bill.

Rep. Gary Drinkwater (R-Milford) said Republicans were willing to support the bill but wanted to carve out seasonal workers from the state minimum wage. He said Democrats appeared unwilling to compromise. Rep. Amy Roeder (D-Bangor) said Democrats on the Labor and Housing Committee, which she co-chairs, made efforts to find common ground but were ultimately unsuccessful.

There was compromise, there was work, there was negotiation, there was a lot of good faith negotiation in our committee, she said. Even though we couldnt come to consensus, I think its appropriate to thank the members of my committee for acting in such good faith.

The House vote on the farmworker minimum wage bill was 54 in favor of overriding the governor and 69 in favor of sustaining the veto. After the vote, the Maine Center for Economy Policy criticized the decision to uphold the veto (along with the failure to override the veto of the farmworker concerted activity bill).

The legislature has reaffirmed farmworkers second-class status in Maines economy, said Arthur Phillips, policy analyst at MECEP, adding that the state has yet again failed to take the most basic steps toward economic and racial justice for farmworkers, leaving our state with a less sustainable agricultural sector. These workers deserve far better.

MECEP also knocked the failure to override Mills veto of the bill that would have increased tax rates for wealthier Mainers.

While LD 1231 was not a perfect bill, by upholding the governors veto the Legislature has missed an opportunity to make Maines tax code more progressive by asking more of those who have the most, said Maura Pillsbury, a policy analyst for the group.

However, Maine Policy Institute CEO Matthew Gagnon praised the Legislatures upholding of the veto.

This bill would have made our tax code even less competitive nationally and further exacerbated the tax disparity between Maine and New Hampshire, he said.

On the clean energy labor measure, bill sponsor Sen. Mike Tipping (D-Penobscot) said he was deeply disappointed by Mills veto, noting the importance of creating an industry with jobs that allow people to support their families and stay in Maine.

Tipping said he will continue to work toward that goal, regardless of the governors veto and the Senates failure to overturn her decision. The chamber ultimately voted 21-13 to override the veto, but that fell short of the two-thirds margin needed.

On the landfill bill, Rep. Mike Soboleski (R-Phillips) said he took issue with the measure because it sought to change the terms of Juniper Ridge operator Casellas contract with the state before the expiration of that deal. He said doing so would send a bad message to other businesses that Maine has contracts with.

Mills veto of that bill was ultimately sustained.

Maine Morning Star reporter AnnMarie Hilton contributed reporting to this story.

The post From farmworker wage bill to raising taxes on wealthy, legislators sustain Gov. Mills vetoes appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
TV presenter Slava Solomka believes that his colleague, TV presenter Olha Freimut, who found temporary refuge with her family in the UK during the war, will not return to Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

In an interview with OBOZ.UA, Solomka told how he feels about the fact that the former chief "auditor general" of the country, Olha Freimut, left Ukraine not only with her children but also with her husband.

"How can I feel about it? People decided to leave," says Solomka. "Do I like it? I don't like it. I think Ukrainians should be in Ukraine now. But she's afraid  that's her right, and to some extent, Olya can be understood. Besides, it's not exclusive that she doesn't see a future in Ukraine. This is also her right. I think she left forever. I think she will never come back. And not only Olia."

"I believe that most of the public people who have left will not return home," Solomka added. But whether they will be happy there is a question. I would not be. In terms of professional realization, I don't see any other country but Ukraine. I didn't even think about leaving Kyiv. When it all started, I saw that everyone was leaving, leaving, leaving. I called my mom: "Would you like me to take you somewhere?" And she said to me: "Are you crazy? I don't want to go anywhere. I was out of breath."

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier, Slava Solomka told the press that Olha Freimut went abroad not only with her two children, but also with her husband Volodymyr Lokotko. It happened during a charity event hosted by Dancing with the Stars winner Ilona Hvozdova.

The former CEO of Novy Kanal, who left his post in March 2019, probably still holds Russian citizenship. Lokotko studied at a Moscow university. He is also a graduate of the Ostankino School of Television. Vladimir started his career in Ukraine in 2006. Before that, he worked in Moscow, in particular, at Gazprom Media.

Earlier, the TV journalist said in an interview that in February 2022, to celebrate her 40th birthday, she flew to Provence with only two children, her son Valeriy and daughter Yevdokiya, while her husband stayed in Kyiv. Later, Freimuth said, she moved to London, where she found a job writing a weekly column about Ukraine for the Sunday Express. It is not known how the TV presenter lives now. Freimuth's eldest daughter, Zlata Mitchell, lives and studies in America.

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier, OBOZ.UA wrote that in July last year, TV presenter Freimut came to Ukraine for the first time after the full-scale invasion. Olha was planning to hold a lecture "Manners during the war. Kindness as a weapon" in Lviv. Many Internet users thought this was inappropriate, especially given that Freimuth was not in war-torn Ukraine.

Read the full interview with Slava Solomka on OBOZ.UA tomorrow, May 11.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel Obozrevatel and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
SARATOGA SPRINGS, Utah (ABC4)  A Provo man died Wednesday after police said his car drifted across the road and hit a semi-truck.

The driver of the semi-truck was uninjured, Utah County Sheriffs Office said.

READ NEXT: Woman arrested after smuggling $1.6M worth of fentanyl into Utah, police say

At approximately 7:40 a.m. on Thursday, May 9, the Saratoga Springs Police Department received reports of a car swerving all over the road on Pioneer Crossing.

Police said they were unable to locate the car at that time, but about 15 minutes later, deputies with the Utah County Sheriffs Department responded to a crash on SR-73 in Cedar Fort involving the same car.

Courtesy Utah County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy Utah County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy Utah County Sheriffs Office

Courtesy Utah County Sheriffs Office

That car had drifted across the center line, hitting an eastbound semi-truck, police said. The driver of the car, Daniel Curtis Brock, 62, of Provo, was trapped for more than 50 minutes while Unified Fire Authority extricated him.

An AirLife Utah helicopter flew him to Intermountain Medical Center, where he later died.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
The father of a Milwaukee elementary school student was charged last month with two felonies for attacking a school employee who he said spit on his son.

The parent is being charged with one count of battery to a school district officer, one count of substantial battery and faces up to three years and six months of prison and a fine of no more than $10,000.

The incident happened at Riverwest Elementary School on March 14.

The employee was taken to Ascension Columbia St. Mary's hospital. Due to the injuries, the school district employee will require multiple facial surgeries, according to the complaint.

The employee stated the incident began while they were covering for a class and a student got disruptive and refused to do his work. The employee told police the student verbally insulted his mother and was then sent to another classroom.

Roughly 30 to 40 minutes later the student returned with his father.

The parent failed to appear for an initial court appearance in mid-April. A warrant has been issued for his arrest.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Father charged with battery in incident at Milwaukee elementary school
Father of Harmony Montgomery sentenced to 45 years to life for 5-year-old girl's murder

A New Hampshire father convicted of killing his 5-year-old daughter reported missing in 2021 was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison on Thursday.

Adam Montgomery, 34, was found guilty in February of second-degree murder, abuse of corpse, tampering with witnesses and informants, second-degree assault and falsifying physical evidence in the 2019 slaying of Harmony Montgomery, the Seacoast Sunday, part of The USA TODAY Network reported.

Authorities believe the killing took place in Manchester, a city less than 20 miles south of the state capital, Concord.

Her body has never been recovered.

The girl's father, who previously professed his innocence in court, did not attend his trial and wasnt present when jurors returned their verdict earlier this year, according to previous USA TODAY reporting.

Harmony Montgomery was last seen in 2019 but was only reported missing last week, the Manchester police department is investigating the case.

"Harmony was an innocent 5-year-old," Hillsborough County Superior Court Judge Amy Messer told Montgomery during his sentencing hearing Thursday. "You treated her in the worst of possible ways, in both her life and her death."

Harmony Montgomery was last seen in 2019

Harmony was last seen in 2019 but reported missing only on the last week of 2021, according to previous reporting by USA TODAY.

The Manchester Police Department arrested her father in January 2022 in connection to her disappearance and he was later charged in her death.

Prosecutors said Adam Montgomery beat his daughter to death, put her body parts in bags, disposed of the bags and beat his wife Kayla Montgomery to lie for him in court. The woman is not Harmony's biological mother.

Fatal Texas targeted shooting: 4-year-old girl dies from injuries in Texas shooting that left entire family injured

Adam Montgomery would not reveal where he hid Harmony's body

Prosecutors had asked the judge to sentence him 56 years to life. Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati told the judge the state would recommend a reduced sentence of 35-to-life if Adam Montgomery would reveal where he hid his daughter's body.

In court, he remained silent.

"He has just yet shown you in this courtroom, and for anybody else, that he is heartless, immoral, selfish and an unapologetic murderer of his own child," Agaiti said.

Mother indicted in children's slayings: Woman accused of stabbing young sons, setting home ablaze with them inside

Harmony's mother pledges to find daughter's remains

The girl's biological mother, Crystal Sorey, testified a part of her died when her daughter was beaten to death, called her father a coward and said, with or without his help, she will find the remains of her daughter.

"Harmony will live on through me, and you can't do anything about it," the girl's mother said.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior correspondent for USA TODAY. Reach her at nalund@usatoday.com and follow her on X @nataliealund.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Adam Montgomery sentenced for murder of 5-year-old daughter Harmony
GAULEY BRIDGE, WV (WVNS)  A Gauley Bridge man was sentenced to prison for unlawful wounding in Fayette County.

59-year-old Barton R. DePaul, of Gauley Bridge, was sentenced on May 6, 2024 to one to five years in prison for the felony offense of unlawful wounding.

Fayette County man sentenced for failure to register as a sex offender

DePaul pleaded guilty to the unlawful wounding offense on March 13, 2024, and will need to spend at least one year in prison before being eligible for parole.

Fayette County Sheriffs Office deputies went to the Scrabble Creek area of Gauley Bridge in Fayette County on May 10, 2022 in response to reports of a shooting. When they arrived on scene, a man with multiple gunshot wounds was found. The man told members of law enforcement that he was shot by a man named Bart.

Two men face felony charges after burglary in Fayette County

Once the victim was interviewed at Montgomery General Hospital, he stated that DePaul shot him when he was walking down the road near his house. DePaul was identified due to witness accounts recognizing his car, and he was arrested by law enforcement.

Testing was done for gunshot residue, and the West Virginia State Police Forensic Lab found that there was gunshot residue on DePauls hands, but the weapon used in the shooting was not found.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Police say a suspect has been charged with murder in connection with a death investigation that happened last month in east Charlotte.

According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, 23-year-old Alejandro Jose Sequeira was arrested on Thursday and booked into custody in Alexandria, Virginia.

The police department says Sequeira is charged in connection with the death of 21-year-old Justin Carache-Soto on April 12.

Carache-Soto was found dead after being shot on Upas Lane, which is in a neighborhood east of East W.T. Harris Boulevard and north of Albemarle Road.

ALSO READ: Man charged after being shot by officer in west Charlotte, police say

CMPD says the Federal Bureau of Investigation made the arrest, and officers will be traveling from Charlotte to Virginia to speak with Sequeira. A mugshot hasnt been made available yet.

Sequeira is expected to be extradited back to Charlotte, according to CMPD.

Were working on getting more details about Sequeiras arrest. Check back for updates.

(WATCH >> Police: Man shot, killed in Yorks first homicide since 2022)
FBI arrests suspect in shooting death of 21-year-old in Charlotte

A man will be extradited on a murder charge after the FBI arrested him Thursday in the fatal shooting of a 21-year-old man in Charlotte last month, police said.

The FBIs Washington field office arrested Alejandro Jose Sequeira, 23.

He was charged with killing 21-year-old Justin Carache-Soto, who was found dead with a gunshot wound in the 6200 block of Upas Lane, in east Charlotte, on April 12.

Charlotte police detectives will travel to Alexandria, Virginia to speak with Sequeira, according to a news release.
The US Food and Drug Administration is considering a requirement for blood banks to use a new test that can detect the parasites that cause malaria in certain donors blood, and its seeking the opinion of its independent advisers on the best way to meet its goal of zero transfusion-related cases without unnecessarily prohibiting some people from donating blood.

The World Health Organization says malaria is a significant global health issue, with 249 million cases and more than 608,000 deaths in 2022 alone.

Malaria is not considered a big threat to the US blood supply like it is in some other countries. But nearly 28 million US residents travel to parts of the world where malaria is common each year, the FDA says, and as more Americans travel and as the planet gets warmer, scientists have predicted that the disease could become more likely in the US, even with aggressive mosquito control.

As late as the 1940s, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Thursday in a presentation to the FDAs advisory committee, the US had about 65,000 cases of malaria a year  but that changed when the country needed healthy service members to fight in World War II. Knowing that many would train in malaria-prone areas in the South, President Franklin Delano Roosevelts government waged a war on mosquitoes that paid off.

By 1949, according to the CDC, malaria was no longer considered a significant health problem in the US, and WHO declared the US free of the disease in 1970.

The US still has about 2,000 cases a year, according to the CDC, but most are travel-related.

The CDC noted that although the risk of locally acquired malaria in the US continues to be extremely low, just last summer, it warned doctors to watch for locally acquired cases. There were a handful of non-travel-related cases in Texas, Florida, Maryland and Arkansas last year, the first locally acquired malaria cases in the US since 2003.

In March, the FDA approved the first test intended to screen donor blood for the evidence of malaria. The Cobas malaria test, made by Roche, can detect RNA and DNA from the parasite that causes malaria in donor blood, organs and tissue.

Malaria transmission through a blood transfusion is not common, but an infection can trigger severe symptoms and even death, studies show. A CDC study found that from 1963 through 1999, there were just 93 cases spread through donated blood in the US, but 10 of those people died.

Another study found 13 malaria cases related to blood donations between 2000 and 2021, the FDA said, but seven of the cases involved donors who met current FDA eligibility criteria.

Its complicated, and it doesnt prevent all cases, Jennifer Scharpf, associate director for policy in the agencys Office of Blood Research and Review, said of the current guidelines.

The FDA told the committee Wednesday that its current guidance comes with a high level of complexity and that blood bank workers must assess several potential risk factors.

Blood banks use a donor history questionnaire to screen for people who have had malaria or who lived in a country where the disease is endemic in the past three years. People are also deferred from donating if they have traveled to a country with endemic malaria in the previous three months; or if they were a resident of a malaria-endemic country, if they have spent less than three consecutive years in a country where malaria is endemic, or if they have a history of travel to a malaria-endemic area in the previous three years. The rules are slightly different for platelet and plasma component collection.

These questionnaires have limitations, and the screening process is error-prone, the FDA said. Deferral periods may also not be sufficient to catch asymptomatic donors, particularly for residents of countries where malaria is common, because they may have partial immunity from a previous infection .

On the other hand, the current guidance disqualifies a large group of healthy potential donors, the FDA said. Some estimates say that between 1% and 3% of all donors are turned away based on travel history alone, and blood banks say they can never get enough donors.

Scharpf told the committee that about 50,000 to 160,000 donors may be deferred annually, and studies show that many people who are deferred often dont return, even when they are eligible to donate.

The FDA is considering a couple of strategies to update its guidelines.

The first consideration is to do selective testing of a donors blood based on their history of malaria infection, having traveled to a malaria-endemic area in the previous three months or having ever lived in a malaria-endemic country. Another option is to test all donors at least one time and then to selectively test donations from people at risk of exposure, including those who had ever had malaria and those who had traveled to a malaria-endemic area in the previous three months.

Most of the advisory committee members seemed to favor the first option, saying the second seemed like overkill.

Its such a low incidence of disease, and its treatable, said committee member Dr. Richard Scanlan, a professor, vice chair of the Laboratory Medicine Transfusion Service and medical director at Oregon Health & Science University.

The FDA is also considering requiring testing of all blood donated in areas where there was even one locally transmitted malaria case recently, but the committee members seemed less sure about this idea.

Committee member Dr. Sanjay Ahuja, director of Rainbow Hemostasis & Thrombosis Center at Rainbow Babies & Childrens Hospital in Cleveland, said that if there is proven local transmission, the decision of when to test all donor blood from the area is a difficult one.

There are so many nuances to this, Ahuja said. I think it might be a little bit much in my opinion, but I dont know whether more evidence of local transmission should be in place before we say yes to this.

During the meetings public comment period, leaders of some blood supply organizations encouraged the FDA to take a cautious approach to changing the guidelines.

Ralph Vassallo, incoming chair of the Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies Transfusion Transmitted Disease Committee, said his group joins Americas Blood Centers and the American Red Cross in believing that the new test for malaria holds real promise to improve blood safety and may improve the availability of donors by removing unnecessary donor deferrals, particularly among subsets of donors with uncommon blood types, such as those from Latin American, Asian and African countries.

But, he told the committee, there are no clinical studies that show that the test reduces the risk of transfusion-transmitted malaria.

Vassallo also encouraged the FDA to use flexible testing strategies and said that although the groups supported limited testing of all donations in ZIP codes with local malaria transmission, one case should not be enough to trigger such testing.

FDA should support formal modeling studies designed in consultation with malariologists using the best available assumptions about parasite levels during asymptomatic infection before issuing final guidance, he said.

The committee did not vote on the proposed strategies, but the FDA said it would take the discussion into consideration as it considered changing its guidance.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld the contempt-of-Congress conviction of Steve Bannon, the ex-adviser to former President Donald Trump who was found guilty after failing to comply with a subpoena from the House January 6 committee.

Bannons conviction  and now, the DC Circuits affirmation of that conviction  is a boost to Congress leverage in its efforts going forward to obtain cooperation in its investigations.

The US DC Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected several challenges Bannon made to the case, including his claim that the trial court excluded evidence he should have been allowed to put before the jury in his defense.

Bannon was sentenced to four months in federal prison, and that sentence was also upheld Friday by the appeals court. The ruling could pave the way for Bannon to eventually report to prison, though the timing is unclear.

The judge who presided over Bannons trial previously agreed to let him hold off from serving his sentence while his appeal played out. In its ruling Friday, the three-judge appeals panel gave Bannon time to appeal its ruling to the full DC-based appeals court before it formally notifies the trial judge that the conviction was upheld.

Bannon could also turn directly to the Supreme Court for additional appeals, possibly further delaying when he needs to start serving his prison term.

Bannons attorneys did not immediately respond to CNNs request for comment.

In the DC Circuits new ruling, Judge Bradley Garcia, an appointee of President Joe Biden, backed the trial judges exclusion of an advice-of-counsel defense, as Bannon had claimed he had rebuffed the subpoena because of supposed executive privilege concerns expressed to him by his lawyer.

This exact advice of counsel defense is no defense at all, Garcia wrote, noting that the contempt law only required proof that Bannon deliberately and intentionally did not respond to the subpoena.

His opinion was joined by Judge Cornelia Pillard, an appointee of former President Barack Obama, and Trump-appointed Judge Justin Walker.

The appeals court noted that the communications from former President Trumps counsel that Bannon had tried to rely on to defend his conduct did not purport to authorize Bannons refusal to produce any documents or appear for his deposition.

The DC Circuit also rejected Bannons argument that the House select committee that investigated the January 6 insurrection was improperly formed.

These objections suffer from a common defect, the judges wrote. Bannon did not raise them before the Select Committee and therefore forfeited them.

Bannon is one of two former members of Trumps inner circle who faced prosecution for not participating in the House January 6 probe. The second, former Trump White House aide Peter Navarro, is currently serving a four-month prison sentence for his 2023 conviction.

When the now-defunct House panel sought documents and testimony from Bannon in 2021, it pointed to alleged communications between Bannon and Trump in the days leading up to the January 6 Capitol attack, as well as comments Bannon made on his podcast the day before the riot that all hell is going to break loose tomorrow.

Bannon for some time served in Trumps White House, but by the time of Trumps crusade to overturn his 2020 electoral loss, Bannon had long left the federal government.

This story has been updated with additional details and background information.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
(Getty Images).

A federal judge ruled Thursday that Missouris social services agency violated the law in the way it has administered its food assistance program.

U.S. District Court Judge M. Douglas Harpool ruled that the states practices  including long call center wait times and a lack of accommodations for those with disabilities  violate the laws governing the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The Missouri Department of Social Services call center issues ultimately denied eligible Missourians meaningful access to benefits.

While call wait times fluctuate and have shown some improvement, the record demonstrates too little progress, Harpool wrote. Consequently, Missourians who suffer food insecurity have been forced to either go hungry or seek alternative sources of food when their applications are denied.

In February 2022, a federal lawsuit was filed against the social services department arguing the states dysfunctional call center deprives eligible Missourians of SNAP benefits, more commonly known as food stamps.

Plaintiffs described subsisting on little food while using up prepaid phone minutes waiting on hold for an interview, and, due to disability, struggling to understand the application forms but being unable to get through the call center for help.

An interview is required to sign up for or recertify SNAP benefits.

Without interviews, SNAP applications and renewals are automatically denied after 30 days  even if applicants have tried and been unable to get through. Around half of all SNAP denials in the state are due to failure to complete an interview, according to data obtained in litigation. The average call center wait time for the SNAP interview line, as of late last year, The Independent found, was over an hour.

The high percentage of denials based on failure to interview is a direct consequence of the failed administration of defendants SNAP program, Harpool wrote in his order.

These denials are not based on the applicants eligibility but on the inadequacies of [the Department of Social Services] process, he wrote.

The lawsuit was filed by New York-based National Center for Law and Economic Justice, Legal Services of Eastern Missouri and Stinson LLP, on behalf of individual low-income Missourians and the advocacy group Empower Missouri.

Todays decision is a vindication of the rights of Missourians, said Katharine Deabler-Meadows, attorney with the National Center for Law and Economic Justice.

The Court has recognized the immense harm that DSS is causing to people who depend on SNAP to feed themselves and their families, she said. We are excited that DSS will now have to implement systems that ensure all Missourians can access SNAP.

The decision orders the social services agency to come into compliance with federal SNAP law and the Americans with Disabilities Act, and outlines several steps the agency must take, under the courts supervision.

The steps the state must follow, as outlined in the order include:

submitting a report with specific changes it will make to comply with the law within 30 days;

filing monthly reports with the court with detailed data on SNAP applications and wait times, and filing that report with several members of Missouri state government outlined in the order;

submitting a proposed plan of action and timeline of implementation to address shortcomings in the administration of SNAP as identified within 90 days, including a reduction in call wait times and denials based on failure to receive an interview and compliance with the ADA.

After the state complies with the order, the court will determine what, if any, further actions, orders, remedies, or proceedings are appropriate, Harpool wrote.

Harpool has been candid in previous hearings about his concerns over the states progress since the lawsuit was first filed.

I continue to be amazed that its been since this case started, he said in a January motion hearing, that the states whole focus is how can we avoid liability rather than how can we get these benefits to our citizens.

Hardin Haynes, the attorney representing DSS, rejected that characterization, according to court transcripts.

The whole time this has been going on, he said in the January hearing, DSS has been doing what it can to increase its ability to do interviews throughout this process. That has never stopped.

A spokesperson for the Department of Social Services did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

DSS has previously said it is doing all it can to hire more staff, grant overtime, move to automate assistance and contract with private call centers.

Agency leaders pointed to resource issues and challenges getting more staff as it requested $4 million this year for a call center bot to increase automation and reduce the need for staff on the general call center line.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Federal court rules Missourians were illegally denied food aid by the state appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Federal judge questions if parties in Greece lawsuit are lying to him. Sanctions could come

A federal judge wants to know if someone is lying to him in legal fisticuffs arising from a former town worker's claims that Supervisor Bill Reilich had him work thousands of hours of unpaid labor.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Pedersen has asked the lawyers for the Town of Greece and for the town's former employee, Robert "Bobby" Johnson, to submit papers explaining how they are offering polar opposite versions of a significant question: Did a town board member provide information to Johnson and his lawyers?

The answer, if there is proof of dishonesty, could also lead to sanctions.

"I do not approach the subject of sanctions with any enthusiasm," Pedersen wrote in a recent order. "I hope that it turns out that no party has lied."

As the Democrat and Chronicle previously reported, town attorneys took the unusual step of subpoenaing the contents of the telephone of a town board member, William Murphy.

Michael Wood was announced as the new Greece Police Chief by Greece Town Supervisor William Reilich on December 16, 2021

Town lawyers contended that Murphy had been in contact with Johnson's lawyers, and may have provided information that should not be shared with the Johnson attorneys.

However, as the Democrat and Chronicle reporting said, Murphy responded in an affidavit that he had not met with Johnson's lawyer, Maureen Bass, nor had any discussions with her.

Clearly both versions can't be true.

Karl Sleight, an Albany-based attorney representing Greece, said at a recent court session that there is "evidentiary support" for the town's claims. Pedersen has asked that the town file papers outlining what that corroborating proof is.

Similarly, Pedersen wants Bass to answer whether she tried to communicate with Murphy.

Town attorneys also sought what is called a "litigation hold" on Bass' phone, which would prohibit her from deleting info or texts. They claimed there could be information outside the attorney-client privilege of consequence. Lawyers with Bass' firm, Abrams Fensterman, LLP, have argued that the request is harassment.

In his order, Pedersen also directed the town attorneys to demonstrate why the litigation hold request was something other than an effort "to harass, cause unnecessary delay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation."

Pedersen has even offered the lawyers a "safe harbor," a deadline of May 16 for a chance to back away from previous claims. Otherwise, they must answer the questions he posed.

Johnson is the town's former deputy commissioner of public works. He alleges that Reilich and former Deputy Supervisor Michelle Marini had him do personal work for them as well as thousands of hours of unpaid labor.

This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Federal judge questions if parties in Greece lawsuit are lying to him
Laurent Muzellec, professor and dean of the business school at the Irish College, assures that artificial intelligence deprives students of skills. He noted that 99.9% of students use chatbots to write their essays and term papers. According to him, modern technology reduces qualifications and demotivates students.

ADVERTISIMENT

The educator is devastated that undergraduates are increasingly using machine learning models in their academic papers. According to him, this makes students more careless in their writing. Muzellec spoke about this in an interview with The Telegraph.

"You literally don't need to know anything to use this technology. Previous studies of artificial intelligence show that if students use it only to take a question asked by a teacher, enter it into a program, and then write an answer, students lose motivation to learn," the professor notes.

He adds that the use of AI poses a huge threat to the ability to learn and improve skills.

ADVERTISIMENT

Instead, Matt Candy, head of generative AI at IBM Consulting, assures that graduates in the humanities can be in demand in the tech labor market. He says that AI will free up more opportunities for creative thought processes. According to him, the speed at which people will be able to come up with ideas, test them, and create something will accelerate significantly.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Chief Inspector Megan Williamson processes absentee ballots at the Hawthorne Library on Madison's East Side. (Henry Redman | Wisconsin Examiner)

A federal judge this week dismissed a lawsuit from Democratic allies seeking to block Wisconsins law requiring voters to secure a witness signature when casting an absentee ballot.

Four Wisconsin voters, represented by the national firm Elias Law Group, filed the lawsuit in October, arguing the requirement violates the Voting Rights Act and disenfranchises voters.

Under state law, any absentee ballot without a witness signature must be rejected.

The voters said that due to age, health and regular international travel, the signature requirement is an obstacle to voting, stating the signature is, in itself, a concrete and particularized burden on Plaintiffs legally protected right to vote.

The VRA prevents states from requiring a voter to prove his qualifications by the voucher of registered voters or members of any other class.

In the lawsuit, the voters also said the signature requirement violates the Civil Rights Act, which protects against disenfranchisement over trivial errors that have nothing to do with their eligibility to vote.

Judge James Peterson ruled that the challenge to the law was suspect because it has been on the books for decades without complaint.

No one before now has contended in a lawsuit that the witness requirement was invalid under federal law, he wrote. The long silence is telling.

He also wrote that the voters hadnt proved the requirement isnt allowed under federal law  even though he added that the state hadnt proved the requirement effectively prevents fraud.

Regardless of the challenges plaintiffs face, they have not shown that either the Voting Rights Act of 1965 or the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibits a state from requiring absentee voters to prepare their ballot in front of a witness, Peterson concluded. Neither side cites any evidence regarding the effectiveness of the witness requirement in preventing abuses or the number of citizens who cannot vote because of the requirement. But regardless of how effective or burdensome the requirement is, the federal laws at issue in this case simply do not apply to it.

The post Federal judge tosses lawsuit challenging absentee witness signature rule appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner.
The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project won a critical federal OK this week, clearing the way for groundbreaking in the coming months.

State and federal transportation officials on Friday said the Federal Highway Administration approved Ohio and Kentuckys environmental assessment for the bridge work. That will allow the $3.6 billion project to move toward final design and then construction.

Federal officials said the Biden administrations $1.2 trillion infrastructure law is making the Brent Spence Bridge project possible.

This is a big step in supporting the presidents commitment to rebuilding our nations infrastructure, Federal Highway Administrator Shailen Bhatt said in a news release.

Groundbreaking dates, construction: What's next for for Brent Spence Bridge project

President Joe Biden -- joined, from left, by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, former Ohio U.S. Sen. Rob Portman, Ohio U.S. Sherrod Brown and Kentucky U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell -- marked federal investment in the Brent Spence Bridge Corridor Project during a January 2023 event in Covington.

With the federal sign-off, Ohio and Kentucky can take an important step forward in bringing efficiency to our nations supply chain, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine said in a news release. The project will address one of the worst truck bottlenecks in the nation by improving safety and travel on an interstate connection that carries more than $400 billion worth of freight every year, DeWine said.

The Brent Spence Bridge project, planned for two decades, advanced in February 2022 when the states agreed to move forward without adding tolls to the current bridge or the new one that will be built to its immediate west. It gained more momentum when Biden visited Covington in January 2023 to tout the federal governments $1.6 billion contribution to the project.

Over that time, the states have conducted 16 neighborhood meetings, two open houses and five public hearings to solicit public input.

Stakeholder participation has been invaluable to the project team, Jim Gray, secretary of the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, said in a news release.

Brent Spence Bridge project: What the new Ohio River bridge may look like, and why its price is rising

The Brent Spence Bridge was built in the 1960s to carry about 80,000 vehicles a day over the Ohio River. In recent years, traffic has reached about 160,000 vehicles a day, causing bottlenecks and backups.

Even with construction soon to begin, the states will continue to engage with the community and listen to feedback, added Jack Marchbanks, director of the Ohio Department of Transportation.

The Brent Spence Bridge Corridor project will improve eight miles of Interstate 71/75, and reconfigure lanes on the existing bridge to serve local traffic while constructing the new bridge with two decks to handle interstate travel.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Feds give Brent Spence project final OK.
Fighting in Kharkiv Oblast: Russians assault Pletenivka but are blocked near Hatyshche

Fighting is ongoing in Kharkiv Oblast where the Russians occupying forces switched to active combat actions in border regions.

Source: a source of Ukrainska Pravda in military circles

Quote: "Active gunfights are ongoing near the settlement of Krasne. In this district the Defence Forces of Ukraine are launching attacks on the Russians.

Units of the Defence Forces are blocking the enemy near the settlement of Hatyshche, where active gunfights are ongoing."

Details: Russian forces also continue conducting assault actions in the outskirts of the settlement of Pletenivka.

Background:

On 10 May, it was reported that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with fighting taking place there.

During a briefing with Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian troops had launched a new wave of offensive actions on the Kharkiv front.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry reported that reserve units had been sent to the north of Kharkiv Oblast.

Border hromadas of Kharkiv Oblast are under intense large-scale Russian bombardment, resulting in injuries and fatalities among civilians. The population of Vovchansk and its surrounding settlements in Kharkiv Oblast are being evacuated. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.]

Sources of Ukrainska Pravda in military circles claim that Russian forces have captured four border villages in Kharkiv Oblast. Local authorities deny the loss of territory, stating that no territory had been lost.

Support UP or become our patron!
Filing deadline for Washington state candidates ends Friday. Heres who has filed so far

Election season in Washington state is officially in full gear this week as candidates for the 2024 election can now file with the Secretary of State to declare their intent to run for office this year.

As of Thursday more than 800 statewide, local and federal candidates had filed.

Many offices are up for grabs as longtime leaders in various offices will retire, such as Gov. Jay Inslee, or take a swing at another open seat, such as current Attorney General Bob Ferguson who is running for governor this year.

Filings will continue through Friday and candidates must file before the 5 p.m. deadline that day. Readers can stay up to date on candidates filings by going to the Secretary of State website.

Primaries in Washington to determine the top two candidates for each office will be held Aug. 6.

Here are some of the takeaways from the first few day of filings:

Seventeen candidates (so far) say they want to be governor

Seventeen candidates have filed to run for the office currently held by Inslee for three terms.

Current state Sen. Mark Mullet, D-Issaquah, and AG Ferguson were two of the candidates who filed Monday as Democrats. Ferguson is far-outpacing other candidates in the gubernatorial race so far, with more than $6.8 million in campaign donations according to the state Public Disclosure Commission. Mullet has raked in over $1.1 million.

Dave Reichert, who held a Congressional seat from 2005-2019 in the 8th district, filed for the position on Wednesday as a Republican. As of Thursday Reichert had raised more than $2.5 million in his campaign.

While Misipati Semi Bird snagged the state GOPs endorsement for governor in April, he had not yet filed for the office at the time of this writing. Bird has raised nearly $485,000 so far in his campaign.

Other candidates include Libertarian Michael DePaula; Independent candidates Frank Dare and William Combs; nonpartisan candidate Brian Bogen; Trump Republican Leon Lawson and Republicans Martin Lee Wheeler, Jim Daniel, and Bill Hirt; Democrats Edward Cale IV, ELona Kearney, Don L Rivers, Fred Grant, and Cassondra Magdalene Hanson; and one candidate with no party preference, Brad Mjelde.

Republican Tiffany Smiley enters the race

After losing to U.S. Senator Patty Murray, D-WA, in the 2022 election, Smiley is returning this time to try to unseat another incumbent, this time a candidate from her own party in Washingtons 4th Congressional District.

Smiley will run against Republican U.S. Representative Dan Newhouse, who was unable to snag an endorsement from the Washington State GOP at the convention in April due to his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump in 2021. Only 10 U.S. House Republicans at the time voted to impeach Trump.

She will also run against Trump-endorsed candidate Jerrod Sessler, another Republican in Washingtons 4th Congressional District. Sessler was endorsed by the Washington State GOP in April at the state convention in Spokane.

House says investigation against lawmaker isnt campaign-related

House Rep. Michelle Caldier, R-Gig Harbor, told McClatchy she believes the Legislatures decision to release results Monday from an investigation launched months ago regarding workplace violations were campaign related.

On Monday, reporters were provided results from an investigation at the Legislature that Caldier violated the Houses respectful workplace policy, after Caldier named three people involved in a previous investigation regarding claims of bullying to news outlets including McClatchy.

In December, the lawmaker contacted several news outlets and provided the names of some of those involved in the investigation.

But Chief Clerk of the Washington House of Representatives Bernard Dean told McClatchy in an email that there isnt much discretion over the timing, and said that House policy is to release investigatory reports after they have been provided to a member.

While the report was completed in April, we were unable to schedule a briefing with the Republican (Leadership) members of the Executive Rules Committee until late last week, Dean said. We also provided Rep. Caldier with a copy of the report late Friday. Once the report is provided to a member, we are obligated to release it.

Some familiar names show up again for office

Former House Rep. Jesse Young, a Gig Harbor Republican, is running for the seat left open by Rep. Spencer Hutchins, R-Gig Harbor, who announced earlier this year he would not be seeking re-election.

Young was ousted from his seat in the House in 2022, which he had held since 2014, when he sought election for state Senate in his district but lost to Sen. Emily Randall, D-Bremerton. Randall is now running for a U.S. House Representative position in the 6th Congressional District.

Republican Joe Kent is also returning this year seeking election to the 3rd Congressional District and again running against U.S. Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who beat Kent in the 2022 race for the congressional seat. Kent secured the state GOP endorsement for the position at the convention in April.
The Supreme Court of Washington has denied the final appeal motion of a man who planned a murder-for-hire.

31-year-old Kevin Lewis has now exhausted all appeal efforts and will spend life in prison.

On September 20, 2017, detectives responded to a homicide at a home in Everett where 24-year-old Alisha Canales-McGuire had been fatally shot in the doorway.

Canales-McGuire had been staying at her sisters home and it is believed her sister, who was out of town at the time, was the intended target of the murder-for-hire by her ex-husband Kevin Lewis.

After a year and a half of investigative work by detectives, they discovered Lewis had hired two individuals to carry out the murder. The then 17-year-old Spokane female and a 20-year-old Tacoma man were arrested for aggravated first-degree murder with a firearm and criminal conspiracy to commit murder.

Lewis was arrested for first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit murder, and solicitation to commit murder. In 2021, all three were convicted.

On May 8, 2024, the Supreme Court of Washington ruled that Kevin Lewis second and final appeal was denied. He will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Snohomish County Sheriffs Office recognized Major Crimes Unit Lead Detective Tedd Betts for his efforts and commitment to this case, and how the Supreme Court of Washington ruling highlights the meticulous attention to detail and careful refinement that characterized this complex investigation.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Firefighters battled a blaze at Schnitzer Steel in North Portland that generated lots of smoke. However, there are so far no reported injuries nor is the fire impacting any buildings, officials said.

The source of the fire was from an industrial metal shredder at the facility on North Lombard Street, according to Portland Fire and Rescue.

I wouldnt give up on Oregon: John Kitzhaber talks with KOIN 6 nearly a decade after resignation

Lt. Laurent Picard, a spokesperson with PF&R, confirmed to KOIN 6 News just before 5 p.m. that the fire was coming from a large debris pile of shredded combustible mixed metals, including items like shredded cars with petroleum products, foam and upholstery.

Firefighters battle an industrial debris fire at Schnitzer Steel in North Portland. May 9, 2024 (courtesy Portland Fire and Rescue).

Firefighters battle an industrial debris fire at Schnitzer Steel in North Portland. May 9, 2024 (courtesy Portland Fire and Rescue).

Firefighters battle an industrial debris fire at Schnitzer Steel in North Portland. May 9, 2024 (courtesy Portland Fire and Rescue).

Firefighters battle an industrial debris fire at Schnitzer Steel in North Portland. May 9, 2024 (courtesy Portland Fire and Rescue).

Firefighters battle an industrial debris fire at Schnitzer Steel in North Portland. May 9, 2024 (courtesy Portland Fire and Rescue).

This is an exterior debris pile with no structural involvement to the building, but due to the nature of the materials burning, the fire is producing a large volume of smoke, Picard said.

The smoke was so prominent that many people were placing 911 calls to report it, she said.

Portland Plaid Pantry gets $100,000 bonus for selling $1.3 billion ticket

The fire was put out around 5:15 p.m., officials said.

This is a developing story. KOIN 6 News will update this story if more information becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
"First I donate for drones, then buy medicine": how 81-year-old Ukrainian woman helps military  video

Social media found out about Tamara after her granddaughter published a video with her grandmother. A screenshot

81-year-old Tamara from the Ukrainian city of Lutsk became popular on social media after her granddaughter published a video of her grandmother supporting Ukrainian troops.

Source: Ukraines Defence Intelligence

Details: Ukraines Defence Intelligence has noticed the patriotic spirit and contribution of Tamara and filmed a video about Tamara who thoroughly writes down amounts of money she specifically saves for the needs of Ukrainian soldiers.

"When I receive my pension, I first donate money for drones, then buy medicines, and then spend the rest on treats," Tamara Lazarenko reveals in the video and shows a notebook in which she carefully writes down all her spendings.

Besides taking notes about regular donations, Tamara also keeps records of Russian ships destroyed by Ukrainian forces.

She calls for donations, even small amounts, for the needs of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

"Even if you cant (donate  ed.) a lot, donate at least 5 to 10 hryvnias (less than US$1  ed.)," Tamara says.

Representatives of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine visited Tamara on her birthday in order to express their gratitude.

"I am expressing our gratitude to you for your contribution to our common fight against the Russian occupiers. Your example inspires Ukrainians to keep supporting our army, kill the enemy and bring Ukraines victory closer," Kyrylo Budanov, Chief of Defence Intelligence, said in a video address.

Andrii Yusov, representative of Defence Intelligence, added that each penny donated for the needs of Ukrainian forces is deadly for the Russians and very important for Ukrainian defenders. This is why small donations are very valuable for the common victory.

Earlier, Ukrainska Pravda told the story of 8-year-old Yurii Napor who had raised more than 70,000 hryvnias (US$1,700), singing in the streets of the cities of Lviv Oblast.

Support UP or become our patron!
Dave Hodges is the founder and pastor of the Church of Ambrosia, which considers magic mushrooms a sacrament. Hodges says the effects of psilocybin are profoundly spiritual because they allow people to connect to their soul. (Sherry Tesler)

Wade Trammell recalls the time he and his fellow firefighters responded to a highway crash in which a beer truck rammed into a pole, propelling the trucks engine through the cab and into the drivers abdomen.

The guy was up there screaming and squirming. Then the cab caught on fire, Trammell says. I couldnt move him. He burned to death right there in my arms.

Memories of that gruesome death and other traumatic incidents he had witnessed as a firefighter in Mountain View, California, didnt seem to bother Trammell for the first seven years after he retired in 2015. But then he started crying a lot, drinking heavily, and losing sleep. At first, he didnt understand why, but he would later come to suspect that he was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

After therapy failed to improve his mental well-being, he heard about the potential benefits of psychedelic drugs to help first responders with PTSD.

Last July, Trammell went on a retreat in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, organized by The S.I.R.E.N. Project, a nonprofit that advocates the use of psychedelics and other alternative medicines to help first responders. He took psilocybin mushrooms and, the next day, another psychedelic derived from the toxic secretions of the Sonoran Desert toad. The experience, he says, produced an existential shift in the way he thinks of the terrible things he saw as a firefighter.

All that trauma and all that crap I saw and dealt with, its all very temporary and everything goes back into the universe as energy, Trammell says.

Wade Trammell, a former firefighter in Mountain View, California, witnessed plenty of traumatizing incidents while on the job, but it wasnt until seven years after he retired that he felt symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder. Last July, he attended a retreat in Mexico, at which he took psilocybin mushrooms and another psychedelic drug. He says it shifted his attitude and that he has felt better ever since. (Wade Trammell)

Abundant research has shown that psychedelics have the potential to produce lasting relief from depression, anxiety, PTSD, addiction, and other mental health conditions. Many universities around the United States have programs researching psychedelics. But experts warn that these powerful drugs are not for everybody, especially those with a history of psychosis or cardiovascular problems.

Most psychedelic drugs are prohibited under federal law, but California may soon join a growing number of local and state governments allowing their use.

SB 1012, which is working its way through the California Legislature, would allow the therapeutic use of psilocybin; mescaline; MDMA, the active ingredient in ecstasy; and dimethyltryptamine, the active ingredient in ayahuasca, a plant-based psychoactive tea. The drugs could be purchased and ingested in approved locations under the supervision of facilitators, who would undergo training and be licensed by a new state board. The facilitators would need a professional health credential to qualify.

The bill, co-sponsored by Sen. Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), Assembly member Marie Waldron (R-San Diego), and several other lawmakers, follows last years unsuccessful effort to decriminalize certain psychedelics for personal use. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, vetoed that bill, though he extolled psychedelics as an exciting frontier and asked for new legislation with regulated treatment guidelines.

Wiener says the new bill was drafted with Newsoms request in mind. It is supported by some veterans and first responder groups and opposed by numerous law enforcement agencies.

One potential roadblock is the states budget deficit, which is pegged at between $38 billion and $73 billion. Newsom and legislative leaders may choose not to launch a new initiative when they are cutting existing programs. That is something well certainly grapple with, Wiener says.

The legislation, which is making its way through committees, would require the new board to begin accepting facilitator license applications in April 2026. The system would look somewhat like the one in Oregon, which allows the use of psilocybin mushrooms under the guidance of state-licensed facilitators at psilocybin service centers. And like Oregon, California would not allow for the personal use or possession of psychedelics; the drugs would have to be purchased and consumed at the authorized locations.

Colorado, following the passage of a ballot initiative in 2022, is creating a system of regulated healing centers, where people will be able to legally consume psilocybin mushrooms and some other psychedelics under the supervision of licensed facilitators. Colorados law allows for the personal use and possession of a handful of psychedelics.

In California, the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, Berkeley, Santa Cruz, and Arcata have effectively decriminalized many psychedelics, as have other cities around the United States, including Ann Arbor, Michigan; Cambridge, Massachusetts; Detroit; Minneapolis; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.

Psychedelics such as psilocybin, ayahuasca, and peyote have been used for thousands of years by Indigenous populations in Latin America and the current-day United States. And some non-Indigenous groups use these substances in a spiritual way.

The Church of Ambrosia, with locations in San Francisco and Oakland, considers psilocybin mushrooms, also known as magic mushrooms, a sacrament. Mushrooms affect the border between this world and the next, and allow people to connect to their soul, says Dave Hodges, founder and pastor of the church.

Hodges was behind an unsuccessful attempt to get an initiative on the California ballot this year that would have decriminalized the possession and use of mushrooms. He hopes it will qualify for the 2026 ballot.

The pending California legislation is rooted in studies showing psychedelics can be powerful agents in mental health treatment.

Charles Grob, a psychiatry professor at the University of California-Los Angeles School of Medicine who has researched psychedelics for nearly 40 years, led a study that found synthetic psilocybin could help reduce end-of-life anxiety in patients with advanced-stage cancer.

Grob says that MDMA is good for couples counseling because it facilitates communication and puts people in touch with their feelings. And he conducted research in Brazil that showed ayahuasca used in a religious context helped people overcome alcoholism.

But Grob warns that the unsupervised use of psychedelics can be dangerous and says people should undergo mental and medical health screenings before ingesting them. There are cases of people going off the rails. Its a small minority, but it can happen and when it does happen it can be very frightening, Grob says.

Ken Finn, past president of the American Board of Pain Medicine, says psychedelics have a number of side effects, including elevated blood pressure, high heart rate, and vomiting, and that they can trigger persistent psychosis in a small minority of users. Legal drugs also pose risks, he says, but we have much better guardrails on things like prescriptions and over-the-counter medications. He also worries about product contamination and says manufacturers would need to be tightly regulated.

Another potential problem is health equity. Since insurance would not cover these sessions, at least initially, they would likely attract people with disposable income. A supervised psilocybin journey in Oregon, for example, can cost more than $2,500.

Many people who have experienced psychedelics corroborate the research results. Ben Kramer, a former Marine who served in Afghanistan and now works as a psilocybin facilitator in Beaverton, Oregon, says a high-dose mushroom session altered his worldview.

I relived the first time I was ever shot at in Afghanistan, he says. I was there. I had this overwhelming love and compassion for the guy who was shooting at me, who was fighting for what he believed in, just like I was.

Another characteristic of psychedelic therapy is that just a few sessions can potentially produce lasting results.

Trammell, the retired firefighter, hasnt taken psychedelics since that retreat in Mexico 10 months ago. I just felt like I kind of got what I needed, he says. Ive been fine ever since.

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

Subscribe to KFF Health News free Morning Briefing.

The post First responders, veterans hail benefits of psychedelic drugs as California debates legalization appeared first on Washington State Standard.
With bagpipers, blue candles and red roses, the Flagler County Sheriffs Office held a memorial Wednesday night for law enforcement officers who were killed or died in the line of duty.

Sheriff Rick Staly said during the 2024 Flagler County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement Memorial Service at the Sheriffs Office Operations Center in Bunnell that the community must honor those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.

They put themselves in harm's way to protect others and uphold the rule of law, Staly said. They deserve our utmost respect and gratitude, and we will never forget their bravery and service.

The solemn ceremony included reading the names of fallen law enforcement officers. With each name, a family member or representative would place a red rose on a yellow, star-shaped floral arrangement, which symbolized a gold badge. Toward the end of the ceremony, people in attendance held up an electric blue candle.

Staly said he survived being shot early in his own career in Orange County.

Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly speaks during the 2024 Flagler County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement Memorial Service on Wednesday, May 9, 2024 in Bunnell.

I know that I am one of the fortunate ones, Staly said. "My experience made me extremely humble that I survived that fateful day and even more thankful for the service and sacrifice of our fallen heroes and their families that we recognize this evening.

He said the families of fallen officers should know that they are not alone and will always have the community's support.

We must always recognize the families of our fallen, standing with every fallen hero is a family that also bears the burden of their loss. Tonight, we acknowledge and thank the families of our fallen heroes for their sacrifice and resilience, Staly said.

He said so far this year, 55 law enforcement officers have been killed nationwide. In Florida, one Florida Highway Patrol trooper and one K-9 have died, he said.

A Flagler County Sheriff's deputy stands by the patrol vehicle which belonged to Flagler County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Francesco "Frankie" Celico, who died in the line of duty on Sept. 9, 2011. The vehicle, which is signed by numerous people, was part of the 2024 Flagler County Sheriff's Office Law Enforcement Memorial Service on Wednesday, May 9, 2024.

Law enforcement and correctional officers are the first responders. They're lifesavers. Theyre decision makers, Staly said. They're the ones who wear the badge and stand between each of us and evil.

He said that they are known as the thin blue line although the Flagler County Sheriffs Office wears green.

The following six Flagler County Sheriffs Office members were honored during the ceremony: Sheriff Perry Hall, Aug. 21, 1927; Deputy George Son Durrance, Aug. 24, 1927; Sheriff Homer Brooks, March 23, 1965; Deputy Charles Chuck Sease, July 5, 2003; Sgt. Francesco Frankie Celico, Sept. 9, 2011; Deputy 1st Class Paul Luciano, Aug. 26, 2021.

Also recognized during the service were Florida Highway Patrol Trooper Darrell Haywood Sr., Oct. 2, 2004; Bunnell Police Sgt. Dominic Guida, Nov. 9, 2021; and FBI Agent Daniel Alfin, Feb. 2, 2021.

Alfin is the son of Palm Coast Mayor David Alfin, who attended the ceremony, which he said brings families together.

Its extremely important for all of us, Alfin said. It strengthens us all and it makes a statement about our community. This is what a good community does."

Daniel Alfin and fellow FBI agent Laura Schwartzenberger, 43, were fatally shot on Feb. 2, 2021, while trying to serve a warrant in a child pornography investigation in Sunrise in Broward County.

Alfin said he will be back for next years ceremony even though it brings up painful memories.

I dread coming here again next year but I come knowing I can bond together with the other families and that strengthens us all, Alfin said.

Bunnell Police Chief David Brannon said the ceremony was a good way of honoring fallen officers and their families.

Said Brannon: Its just a great opportunity to come together as a family again and honor their service and sacrifice.

Flagler Beach Police Chief Matt Doughney also attended the memorial and wrote in an email that he appreciated the "fantastic turnout" at the event.

Doughney wrote: "Honoring and remembering those that gave all ensures that theyre not forgotten, and the support for their families was both heart-warning and endearing. A hero remembered is never forgotten; and we will never forget."

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Flagler County Sheriff's Office honors fallen officers at memorial
Former world heavyweight champion Tony Bel lew (30-3-1, 20 KOs), who works as an expert on DAZN streaming, predicted the fight between Oleksandr Usyk (21-0, 14 KOs) and Tyson Fury (34-0-1, 24 KOs). Bellew believes that the old version of Fury would have done much better against the Ukrainian, so Oleksandr will win the fight on points on May 18.

ADVERTISIMENT

Fury has undergone a significant stylistic transformation over the past few years. The "Gypsy King," as the heavyweight is known, burst onto the world stage in 2015 when he impressively handled Wladimir Klitschko to win the WBA, IBF, and WBO titles.

9 years ago, working with his trainer uncle Peter Fury, Tyson outsmarted Klitschko with his clumsy fighting style, winning on points. In recent years, however, the way the British super heavyweight goes about his work has changed dramatically.

ADVERTISIMENT

Since joining Stewart's Sugar Hill in 2021, Fury has become a more aggressive fighter. Instead of using the jab and relying on speed, he now prefers to stand still and try to finish the fight with one punch.

This worked well in his second and third fights with Deontay Wilder, where he was able to nullify the destructive power of the "Bronze Bomber" by forcing him to retreat.

However, Bellew believes that Fury's new style will play into Usyk's hands when they meet in the absolute title fight on May 18.

"I think Tyson Fury had the best chance of beating him when he was working with Peter Fury, because back then he was an unorthodox, big, clumsy fighter who used his size and his qualities to his advantage. Now he's this fighter who likes to put pressure on his opponents. Now he's a different fighter, someone who is looking for a knockout, and that's music to Oleksandr Usyk's ears," Talksport quoted Bellew as saying.

ADVERTISIMENT

Tony is sure that if they were equal in size, his compatriot would have no chance at all.

"Tyson Fury may be dominant and he may be too heavy, but in my opinion and based on my experience, Oleksandr Usyk will win on points. If you look at the situation in context: Usyk and Fury are the same size, this fight would not even be discussed," Tony summarized.

Bellew fought Usyk back in 2018 when the Ukrainian was a light heavyweight. In that fight, Tony had a great start but eventually lost by knockout.

ADVERTISIMENT

Recently, Bellew recalled this fight. Tony is still impressed by the technical level of our compatriot.

In addition, Bellew believes that Oleksandr and Tyson will produce a real masterpiece fight. According to the ex-boxer, Usyk is even better in a fight than in theory, and his distance calculation is amazing.

It should be noted that in his previous interview, Bellew also favored Oleksandr, but expressed fears that there might be unfair refereeing in the fight with Fury.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
A Florida deputy fired the six rounds that killed Senior Airman Roger Fortson within seconds of the airman opening the door, police body camera footage released Thursday reveals.

The footage shows the unidentified deputy firing into Fortson's chest as the airman opens his apartment door and appears to be holding a handgun at his side. The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office deputy shoots Fortson, who was assigned to a special operations squadron at Hurlburt Field, immediately after telling the airman to step back -- giving him virtually no time to respond.

Only as Fortson is lying on the floor of his apartment fatally wounded does the deputy tell him to drop his weapon, a firearm that was legally owned, according to an attorney for the airman's family.

Read Next: 'They Took My Gift Away': In Interview, Mother of Florida Airman Killed by Police Describes Shock

The footage was released by the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office during a press conference Thursday as questions swirl around the May 3 death of Fortson. Officials say they were responding to a call of a disturbance that led them to the apartment, but the body cam footage raised more concerns about the deputy's use of deadly force and the vague second- and third-hand information that led them to Fortson's door.

The sheriff's office has not identified the deputy who shot the airman but said an investigation is underway.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden did not take any questions after releasing the footage at the press conference. In a prior statement, he said he had placed the involved deputy on leave and also asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, as well as the State Attorney's Office, to conduct an investigation.

Fortson's family has claimed he was home alone and there was no disturbance in the apartment. His mother said in an exclusive interview with Military.com on Thursday that the airman was "murdered."

The 23-year-old lived in an off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach, in the Florida panhandle, and was assigned to a special operations squadron that flies AC-130J Ghostrider gunships.

"In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy gave no verbal commands and shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger," Ben Crump, a renowned civil rights attorney retained by Fortson's family, said in an emailed statement Thursday.

In the footage, shot by a camera on the deputy's uniform, the officer can be seen knocking on the door without announcing himself and then standing off to the side, apparently out of view of the door's peephole.

The deputy knocks again and announces he's with the sheriff's office. Fortson then opens the apartment door.

The following series of events happen within seconds.

Fortson can be seen standing in the doorway, holding a gun in his hand with his arm down by his side. Immediately, he is told by the deputy to "step back" and then -- without a pause -- a rapid succession of shots rings out from the officer's gun.

The airman falls to the floor on his back. Only then does the deputy tell him to "drop the gun." Fortson weakly responds that he doesn't have it.

"As the officer didn't tell Roger to drop the weapon before shooting, was the officer trained to give verbal warnings? Did the officer try to initiate lifesaving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?" Crump said.

The information that led police to Fortson's apartment also appears to have been questionable.

Publicly available police radio chatter from that day reveals the information about the disturbance came from several sources in the apartment complex. In the body cam footage, a male at the front office of the complex and a woman who spoke with deputies both said they were reporting secondhand information about a potential disturbance.

"Don't have anything further than a male and female; it's all fourth-party information from the front desk at the leasing office," a deputy said on the radio, Military.com previously reported.

When the deputy asks a man in the front leasing office "what's going on," he replies, "I'm not sure" and that he had been told to call a woman if deputies came by.

"So, there's a fight going on or something?" the deputy asked the man. "I wasn't present for that," the man, whose face is blurred out on the video, responds.

The deputy then walks over to an unidentified woman in the parking lot of the apartment complex building and asks, "So, are they fighting or something?" She responds, "She was saying it happens frequently, but this time it was getting out of hand."

The deputy then asks "which door?" The woman responds, "I'm not sure."

The woman tells the law enforcement officer that she was walking by an apartment two weeks earlier and heard a verbal fight but "wasn't sure where it came from."

But the officer asks "which room is it?" and the woman responds, "1401." She adds, "But the girl sounded scared, the one who called."

It's not clear who originally reported the disturbance. Crump said Fortson was home alone on a video call with his girlfriend when police came to the apartment.

Meka Fortson, Roger's mother, told Military.com in an exclusive interview Thursday that her son had always wanted to serve his country and had dreams of becoming a pilot. She said he had recently returned from a deployment overseas, only to die in his apartment.

"It's a disbelief. Every day, I try to go to sleep early to wake up like it's a dream," she said. "He just came back from deployment from fighting for us. With everything we got going on in our country, he's fighting for us and he came back to be murdered, slain like that so violently."

Crump told Military.com on Thursday no gunfire was exchanged and that Fortson was a model citizen who did not pose a threat. There was no returning gunfire shown in Thursday's body camera footage.

"The reality is he was the best of us. He was the person who you would trust with a firearm. I mean, he was military trained," Crump said. "So, for them to put out a statement claiming self-defense is just misleading because they're trying to suggest that what they did was justified."

In a statement Wednesday, Crump cited an account by the girlfriend who was on the video call, saying that Roger Fortson didn't see anyone when he looked out the peephole and that "police burst through the door."

Following the release of the video, Crump detailed in an emailed statement, "The girlfriend acknowledges that, even though she initially thought the door was forced open by the police, that she stands by her emotional recollection of what happened.

"We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment," Crump said in a statement.

The girlfriend, who has not been named, is reportedly planning to hold a press conference in the near future.

During a portion of their FaceTime video, which was recorded by the girlfriend and shared with Military.com, Fortson can be heard groaning and saying "I can't breathe." The deputy yells, "Do not move, stop moving."

The Sunshine State has prioritized the ease of buying and carrying firearms in recent years, including special carve-outs for service members that simplify the process further, such as not requiring troops to take safety courses in order to qualify to carry concealed weapons under a 2023 law.

Ann Stefanek, a Department of the Air Force spokeswoman, told Military.com on Thursday that leadership at the wing where Fortson served is in contact with and supporting his family. She added, "The Air Force is also actively working in conjunction with local authorities to thoroughly investigate this incident and gather all pertinent facts related to this terrible tragedy."

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder told reporters Thursday that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has not reached out to the family and that they were "saddened" by the loss of a service member.

"We certainly never want to see our airmen or any military member, or any part of our [Department of Defense] family be put into a situation like this," Ryder said.

Related: Police Who Shot Florida Airman 6 Times in His Home May Have Entered Wrong Apartment, Family Says
Florida has banned required heat breaks for outdoor workers. Here's what Oregon law says

Daniel Quinones, an outreach worker for migrant and seasonal farmworkers, shares information about OSHA rules and heat illness prevention in August 2021 at Sandy Ridge Berry Farms in Brooks.

Florida has blocked local governments from requiring employers to provide heat breaks to outdoor workers or requiring other heat exposure provisions not already required by federal law.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the ban into law in April despite the risk of extreme temperatures across the country. Last summer was Earth's hottest on record, according to NASAs Goddard Institute of Space Studies.

DeSantis' signature also came after the 2023 summer heat led to the death of at least one farmworker in Florida: 29-year-old Efrain Lopez Garcia.

In Oregon, a nursery worker died in 2021 while working in extreme heat. Sebastian Francisco Perez collapsed and died while working in temperatures that reached 104 degrees in the Willamette Valley.

Nursery worker's death spurs action on extreme heat in Oregon

After Perez died, then-Gov. Kate Brown directed the Oregon Occupational Safety and Health Division to adopt emergency rules expanding shade, rest time, and cool water requirements for employers during high and extreme heat events.

In 2021, state lawmakers allocated $10 million toward the Oregon Worker Relief Coalition for farmworkers who missed work due to extreme heat or smoke. The 2024 Oregon Legislature did not allocate an additional $9 million the coalition had requested and the Climate Change Fund is currently not accepting new applications.

In 2022, Oregon OSHA adopted permanent rules to protect outdoor workers from extreme heat. The rules require mandatory breaks, shade, cold water and training when the heat index reaches 80 degrees Fahrenheit.

Employers are required to provide:

Access to 32 ounces of water per hour for each employee at all times

Access to immediate and close shade

Annual training around heat illness prevention

If the heat index reaches 90 degrees Fahrenheit, employers also must implement one of three written rest break schedules.

When the new rules were implemented, Oregon OSHA officials referred to them as the most protective in the United States.

Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek also signed Senate Bill 907, which went into effect Jan. 1, prohibiting employers from retaliating or discriminating against workers for refusing to do work that would expose them to serious hazards. While not specific to farmworkers, about 30 farmworkers provided testimony in support of the bill.

Learn more about Oregon heat rules

Frequently asked questions about heat illness prevention rules adopted in 2022 (English) (Spanish)

Factsheet of the key requirements of the OSHA rules (English) (Spanish)

Information about the two types of heat illnesses and tips to prevent them (English) (Spanish)

Dianne Lugo covers the Oregon Legislature and equity issues. Reach her at dlugo@statesmanjournal.com or on X @DianneLugo

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: How Oregon's response to extreme heat differs from Florida's new law
LAKE WALES, Fla. (WFLA)  When Jennifer Williams got to her Lake Wales, Florida, school Thursday morning, it was not a pretty sight. The agriculture instructor and Future Farmers of America (FFA) advisor said what she saw looked like a massacre.

There were just dead rabbits everywhere, dead chickens everywhere, said the Bok Academy North teacher. It was unreal.

Social Security Administration shares new list of most popular baby names

Earlier that morning, three dogs dug a hole under a fence and got into an area known as the Land Lab at the school. Its where students and staff house dozens of show animals, including rabbits, chickens, ducks, turkeys, goats, pigs and cattle.

(Courtesy of Jennifer Williams)

FFA students help breed and raise the animals and then show them at youth fairs.

A lot of the kids, because theyre from a more city area, theyre not around animals, said Williams. They bond better with the chickens and the rabbits because theyre smaller.

The dogs were able to tear open the rabbit cages and get into the chicken coop.

Although a custodian was able to scare away the dogs before they could enter a nearby duck enclosure, 29 rabbits and chickens had already been killed.

Two rabbits stayed safe inside a wooden enclosure.

Ive never seen dogs just randomly attack a chicken in the middle of the school. Theres fence and everything. I thought it would stop them but obviously it didnt, said Zibe Stein, an eighth grader and president of the Bok Academy North FFA.

According to the Polk County Sheriffs Office, the dogs were cur and cur mixes who belong to two next door neighbors. Both neighbors were cited for allowing their dogs to illegally roam.

Traveling abroad with your dog? Heres what you should know

Polk County Animal Control spotted the dogs laying down in an intersection but ultimately lost sight of them. As of Friday afternoon, they had not been located.

(Courtesy of Jennifer Williams)

Meanwhile, students and staff at Bok Academy North are trying to recover from the incident as their hopes for a successful youth fair season next year are likely dashed.

Theres rules at the different fairs of age limits for animals, so they have to be a certain age before they can show. Any chickens we get now that are new chickens  they wouldnt be able to show because they wouldnt be quite old enough yet, said Williams. Well have a lot of kids that wont be able to show poultry because they were all killed.

Most of the surviving animals are being housed off property while the school works on improving safety measures.

Williams said the school is accepting donations for new, sturdier fencing and housing enclosures. Anyone interested in pitching in can contact Williams at the school at (863) 232-4665.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
After decades of flying, Minnesota's flag will be lowered from the State Capitol building on Saturday for the last time.

It will make way for the state's new flag to take its place at government buildings in St. Paul, a stripped down design featuring a blue abstract shape of Minnesota, the North Star and solid block of light blue to represent Minnesota's many lakes, rivers and streams.

The historic changeover to mark Statehood Day follows a whirlwind process late last year to rethink and redesign the symbols that have represented Minnesota for most of the state's history. Minnesota's original flag  the state seal at the center of a blue backdrop  was criticized for decades for imagery that was seen as problematic for its representation of Native American communities.

"This flag stood for too long to exclude ... the first Minnesotans and the idea of correcting that and making it inclusive doesn't just benefit 11 sovereign tribal nations. It benefits every single person in Minnesota," Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said earlier this week, addressing a Capitol crowd gathered from the state's 11 tribal nations. "We can stand a little bit taller. We can lean into a history that's a little bit truer."

Late last year, a 13-member commission created by the Legislature was given a timeline of four months and a budget of $35,000 to redesign both the flag and the state's seal. The image on both shows a white settler plowing a field in the foreground while a Native American man on horseback rides westward toward the sunset. That imagery dates back to the late 1800s and was criticized as a celebration of the idea that settlers were destined to take over the land, similar to other states' emblems designed around the same time.

Commission members sifted through thousands of flag submissions from the public, narrowed it down to a single finalist and made tweaks of their own to come up with the new design. The new flag is a simplified version of a concept submitted by Andrew Prekker, a 24-year-old Luverne resident.

The new flag has its critics, including people who have rushed to Lee Herold's flag shop in Rochester in recent months to secure a version of the state's historic design.

"It's never sold so well," Herold said, noting the design has been outselling the U.S. flag on some weeks. "I think the fact that the switchover date is coming up so soon has inspired a lot of people to act."

The new seal design features prominent state symbols such as a red-eyed loon on a Minnesota lake surrounded by pine trees, the North Star and sprigs of wild rice. Above the image are the words: "Mni Sota Makoce," Dakota for the "land where the waters reflect the sky" and where Minnesota derives its name.

"You will see a state seal that is modern. That is inclusive. That no longer has imagery that some find deeply not just offensive, but painful," Minnesota Secretary of State Steve Simon said to members of tribal nations this week. His office is the keeper of the state seal.

Simon said the new imagery is something "all Minnesotans, no matter who they are, can rally behind" and "includes its own rich symbols and traditions and history about who we are no matter where we were born, no matter where we live, no matter what our heritage and that matters."

Republicans who served as non-voting members of the state emblems commission have been critical of the process to create the seal and the flag and want to give voters the chance to approve the new flag in an up-or-down vote this fall.

"It's not about whether you like the flag or not, it's just about whether Minnesotans should have the right to choose what represents them," said Rep. Bjorn Olson, R-Fairmont.

The Department of Administration has counted 120 flags in nearly two dozen buildings around the Minnesota State Capitol complex that will be replaced with the new design. There are also 71 versions of the current seal in 10 buildings in the Capitol complex.

Lowering flags will be simpler than removing some versions of the state's seal around the Capitol, which are affixed to everything from podiums and floors to etched into door handles.

Herold spent decades advocating for the Legislature to adopt a flag design that the public will embrace and fly proudly outside of their homes. While his own design was not selected by the commission, he's seen an uptick in sales of the new flag in recent weeks as more people learn about the design.

"My goal was to have a flag that was popular, and that may happen yet," he said. "Time will tell."

Staff writer Rochelle Olson contributed to this report.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday said Israel will stand alone in its fight against Hamas if it has to after U.S. President Joe Biden said they wouldn't supply Israel with weapons to invade Rafah, a city in southern Gaza. Pool photo by Amir Cohen/UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- Israel will stand alone and fight Hamas "with its fingernails" if it has to, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed in response to the United States threatening to withhold weaponry if his administration follows through with a controversial plan to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

"We are determined and we are united in order to defeat our enemies and those who want to destroy us," Netanyahu said Thursday in a recorded statement. "If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails."

We are on the eve of Independence Day. In the War of Independence 76 years ago, we were the few against the many. We did not have weapons. There was an arms embargo on Israel, but with great strength of spirit, heroism and unity among us - we were victorious. pic.twitter.com/Rv4BeMljn0 Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) May 9, 2024

The Israeli leader made the comment ahead of the country's independence day on Tuesday and a day after President Joe Biden said publicly that it would not give it offensive weapons to use in Rafah if it invaded the Palestinian city.

The United States has been fully supportive of Israel and its war, sending it billion of dollars in military assistance, since it began Oct. 7 with Hamas' bloody surprise attack on the Middle Eastern country.

Though as the war in Gaza has dragged on, and as the death toll has ballooned to the tens of thousands, the Biden administration has grown openly frustrated with Israel, repeatedly calling on it to do more to protect Gazans.

Israel has seemingly flouted the criticism from its closest ally, and has for months argued its position on the need to enter Rafah where the remaining Hamas warriors in the enclave are believed to be hiding.

The destruction of Hamas and ensuring the inability of Gaza to be used to attack Israel again are two of several goals Israel seeks to achieve to secure victory in the war.

However, the United States, along with other nations and the United Nations, has now openly voiced opposition to the ground campaign, warning that it could create a humanitarian catastrophe.

And on Wednesday, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin confirmed that the Biden administration has held up a shipment of bombs to Israel for re-evaluation over concerns of the looming Rafah campaign.

Later that same day, Biden said publicly for the first time that if the campaign is carried out, the United States would not send it weapons to be used in the invasion.

"I've made it clear to Bibi and the War Cabinet, they're not going to get our support if, in fact, they go into these population centers," Biden said, referring to Netanyahu by his nickname.

"We're not walking away from Israel's security, we're walking away from Israel's ability to wage war in those areas."

Seemingly as proof that Israel does not need the United States' support, Netanyahu referred in his recorded response to the Arab-Israeli War of 1948, when five Arab nations attacked Israel after it declared its independence as a state on May 14 of that year, according to the U.S. Office of the Historian.

He said few had sided with them in the conflict, which they did not have weapons to fight due to an embargo on the state.

"But with great strength of spirit, heroism and unity among us -- we were victorious," he said.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant similarly rebutted Biden's comments in a speech Thursday.

"I turn to Israel's enemies as well as to our best friends and say: the state of Israel cannot be subdued -- not the army, no the defense establishment and not the state of Israel," he said.

"We will stand strong, we will achieve our goals, we will hit Hamas, we will hit Hezbollah and we will achieve security."
UPDATE: Judge Juan Merchan told the prosecutors in Donald Trumps hush money trial to pass along a message to one of their likely witnesses, lawyer Michael Cohen: Please stop talking or posting on social media about the case.

Moments before the day in court ended early around lunchtime, Judge Merchan took up a request from defense lawyer Todd Blanche, who said, Mr. Cohen continues to speak publicly about this trial.

More from Deadline

Blanche cited a TikTok post this week by Cohen wearing a white t-shirt with a picture of Trump behind bars. He asked that Cohen  the lawyer whose $130,000 payment to Stormy Daniels in 2016 triggered the Manhattan District Attorneys investigation  be ordered to not talk about Trump or the criminal proceedings against him.

Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass replied, We have repeatedly asked the witnesses not to do that. And not just Mr. Cohen. All the witnesses.

We have no remedy, Steinglass added.

Merchan offered one, even if it doesnt have the force of law. I will direct the people to communicate to Mr. Cohen that the judge is asking him to refrain from making any more statements about this case, Merchan said, encouraging Steinglass to let Cohen know you are communicating that on behalf of the bench.

It was the last piece of Trump trial business on a shortened day with a handful of witnesses, most in the custodian of records category that prosecutors are using to lay out paper trials, phone calls, texts and other records behind their theory of the case.

Cohen paid adult entertainer Daniels days before the 2016 election to stay quiet about her claim of a sexual liaison years earlier with the presidential candidate. Prosecutors say that Trump, as president, disguised the repayment to his then-lawyer and self-styled fixer  now one of Trumps most prominent antagonists  as taxable income for routine legal work.

The 34-count indictment charges that the reimbursement relied on falsified business records intended to conceal an undeclared campaign contribution  the $130,000 Cohen paid using a home equity loan that he routed through a shell company to Daniels lawyer. The D.A. says the charges are felonies because the covert repayments amounted to Trump, in tandem with Cohen, attempting to illegally influence the outcome of the 2016 election.

Trump has denied having sex with Daniels at a celebrity golf tournament in Lake Tahoe, and outside court today he continued to maintain that the legal expense for Cohen was something handled by a very good Trump Organization bookkeeper. I didnt do the bookkeeping, I didnt even know about it, he said.

But today prosecutors  over an objection from the defense  showed jurors a lawyerly-sounding Trump tweet from 2018 that appeared to demonstrate some degree of knowledge about the arrangements surrounding Daniels hush money. It read in part, Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA.

The tweet was read aloud by Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal in the D.A.s office called back to the stand to share a few more of Trumps social media posts and a string of texts that she and co-workers culled from the prosecutions evidentiary haul.

The texts today were from a series of exchanges in October of 2016 between Daniels manager, Gina Rodriguez, and Dylan Howard, the tabloid editor who helped broker two hush-money payments benefitting Trump.

Starting on October 8, 2016, when the Access Hollywood tape surfaced of Trump boasting about his sexual aggression towards women, Rodriguez and Howard discussed Daniels selling her story to the National Enquirer or going public with it at a press conference.

At various points they haggled over price. 125k, Rodriguez texted. Lol, Howard replied.

The negotiations ended when Howards boss, Trump friend and American Media CEO David Pecker, refused to participate because Trump had never reimbursed him for a $150,000 catch and kill fee paid to former Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claimed shed had a long-running affair with the married Trump during his Celebrity Apprentice days.

But Howard helped Daniels and her lawyer, Keith Davidson, come to terms with Cohen even after Davidson had threatened to walk away because he thought Cohen was trying to stall until after the election. The last text highlighted, from Howard on October 26, read, Good news I hear.

The trial resumes on Monday with Cohen still on the witness list and expected to testify soon. Merchan also urged prosecutors to try to get the former Trump Organization chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg on the stand. Weisselberg is currently serving a jail sentence for perjury in a civil case against Trump.

PREVIOUSLY: Donald Trumps hush money trial resumed today with testimony from a former White House aide who was fired for talking with reporters about what she saw around the Oval Office.

But Madeleine Westerhout has made clear there are no hard feelings toward her former boss. Trumps onetime executive assistant cried on the stand Thursday and said, I dont think hes treated fairly, as she talked about her dismissal and her memoir covering 2 1/2 years in Trumps inner circle. She had sat just steps away from the Oval Office.

Today, Westerhout also helped bolster Trumps argument that he wasnt in on the details of the hush money arrangement at the heart of the Manhattan District Attorneys case. She testified that among the stacks of checks regularly sent to the White House from Trump Tower for Trumps signature, he didnt review every one that he signed.

Westerhout was one of a string of comparatively low-profile witnesses called by prosecutors after the two-day tempest that was Stormy Daniels, the adult entertainer who accepted a $130,000 payment to stay quiet about her claim of a sexual liaison with Trump and then turned into a vocal antagonist of the three-time GOP presidential contender.

Westerhout gave jurors a glimpse into the Trump White House and, of interest to prosecutors, an idea of who from the Trump Organization still had the commander in chiefs attention while he was busy running the country.

Questioned by Manhattan Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Mangold, Westerhout listed lawyer Michael Cohen, Trump chief financial officer Allen Weisselberg and longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller. The latter joined Trumps presidential team as a deputy assistant and Oval Office operations director. Westerhout testified this week that checks sent to Schiller from Trump Tower in New York then went to her, and she would walk them into the Oval Office for the president to sign and then overnight them back to Trump Tower.

Mangold asked Westerhout if sending checks by mail through Schiller was an end run around the White Houses security protocols.

It was just a way to get things to him faster, she said.

Prosecutors have suggested that the check traffic between Trump Tower and the White House included monthly reimbursements in 2017 to Cohen for the $130,000 he paid to Daniels. The DAs case relies on proving to jurors that the repayments were falsified as income for routine legal work and became felonies because they were intended to conceal an undeclared campaign contribution  the $130,000  and illegally influence the 2016 election.

Westerhout also talked about a White House visit by Cohen that she helped to schedule, and a prompt from Trump that she passed along to White House communications director Hope Hicks. Hey, Westerhout wrote to Hicks in a text shown to jurors, the president wants to know if you called David Pecker again.

Pecker was the CEO of American Media, the tabloid publisher that bought and buried former Playboy model Karen McDougals story of a long-ago affair with the married Trump.

Best of Deadline

Sign up for Deadline's Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA)  Former candidate for Arkansas governor Chris Jones files a lawsuit against Arkansas Senate Pro Tempore Bart Hester (R-Cave Springs) for defamation.

According to the lawsuit filed on May 9 in Pulaski County, Jones claims Hester made a defamatory tweet on X, formerly known as Twitter, saying Jones was a Hamas sympathizer.

@ArkDems 2022 Governor nominee @JonesForAR taking a Pro Hmas Terrorist position. @JonesForAR may want to take a knee to terrorist sympathizers. I personally think hand cuffs and expulsion letters is the best way to NOT ignore them, the tweet says.

Court documents say the tweet was viewed 50,900 times and retweeted 27 times, 24 of which included a users comment. Documents claim it was bookmarked 12 times and liked 10 times.

Arkansas Legislative Joint Audit Committee meets to discuss podium audit

According to court documents, Hesters tweet was made in response to a reply Jones made to an editor of a news publication.

Are there any instances where mass student protests turned out to be wrong? Vietnam, post-911 invasions based on WMDs that didnt actually exist. Like, the kids were right. Have they ever been wrong? Genuinely asking, said the editor in a tweet. In response, Jones said, We would do well to NOT ignore them.

KJHID6A5SY2INS5QFMFTI6D7JPSMW2_1715289994Download

Jones released a statement after the lawsuit was filed.

Today, I filed a civil lawsuit against Bart Hester for defamation with malice. This case is about protecting civil public discourse. It is about an apparent inability to have a grown-up conversation without someone defaming another person. The President of the Arkansas Senate should engage in vigorous debate about ideas and policies. However, they do not get to use their platform to lie about and slander citizens of the State who hold different views. Arkansas Senate president pro tempore calls for Board of Corrections member to resign Make no mistake. This case is not about money. If it were, Sen. Hester is not the one to sue. This case is bigger than politics. This is about human decency and making bullying with false rhetoric a costly endeavor. We tried other routes to correct this wrong quietly in the way gentlemen should handle their differences. Bart chose confrontation. And so, he will have it. Former Arkansas governor candidate Chris Jones

Jones ran as a Democrat against current Republican Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders in 2022. Sanders ultimately won the race.

Hester has served as a state senator since 2013. He became president pro tempore of the Arkansas Senate for the 94th Arkansas General Assembly in January 2023.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KNWA FOX24.
The Poles have resumed the border blockade with Ukraine at the Dovhobychuv-Uhryniv checkpoint. However, they are expected to rally only on May 10. The protest is part of another large-scale action of Polish farmers demanding to cancel the European "green course" requirements and ban imports of agricultural products from Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

The State Customs Service announced the blocking of the border. It noted that the announced time of the rally is from 09.00 to 16.00.

"According to the Polish side, today, May 10, from 09:00 to 16:00, a one-day strike will be held in front of the Dolhobyczow-Uhryniv checkpoint in the cargo areas: entry and exit from Ukraine," the statement said.

It is emphasized that the protesters do not plan to touch the cars, as they must move freely. As well as buses.

Poles protest not only on the border of Ukraine

On May 10, mass protests took place in the Polish capital Warsaw. Farmers plan to continue the rallies until late in the evening.

According to Radio Svoboda, the protesting farmers claim that the consequences of the "green course" will lead to higher electricity and heating prices. They also oppose the upcoming ban on gasoline and diesel cars.

ADVERTISIMENT

In addition to rejecting the Green Deal, the strikers are demanding a ban on imports of agricultural products from Ukraine. In their opinion, Ukrainian products are allegedly not controlled and do not have certificates, although this is not true.

The border has been unblocked since the end of April

Polish farmers fully unblocked all checkpoints on the border with Ukraine on April 29, when the blockade of the Rava-Ruska-Hrebenne checkpoint was lifted. At the same time, the parties agreed to exchange monthly figures on the transit of agricultural products to monitor the situation.

At the same time, the complete de-blockade of the border already yielded positive results. For example:

in the second decade of April, when the border crossing points were blocked, the average volume of transportation was 13 thousand tons per day;

On April 28-29, this figure was higher  16 thousand tons.

ADVERTISIMENT

Poland receives much more from Ukraine than it gives

Danylo Hetmantsev ("Servant of the People"), Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Taxation and Customs Policy, noted earlier that by blocking the border, the Poles are "shooting themselves in the foot"  after all, in 2023 Poland exported $12.3 billion worth of goods to Ukraine and imported $6.6 billion from Ukraine.

"According to the Polish State Statistics Service, in 2023, Ukraine accounted for 3.2% of all merchandise exports from Poland. According to this indicator, we were in 7th place among our trading partners, overtaking the United States and such EU members as Spain, Slovakia, and Hungary. At the same time, the dynamics of growth of Polish exports to Ukraine in 2023 was the highest among the top ten countries that are the largest trading partners," the MP emphasized.

ADVERTISIMENT

Moreover, he noted, the actual balance of trade with Poland for Ukraine is much more negative than it is evident from official statistics  "due to underestimation of imports." While Ukraine, "according to their statistics, is a bigger partner for Poland as an importing country."

"In the case of blocking automobile customs crossings, this is a real shot in the foot. Because our bilateral trade in general is already more profitable for Poland, especially given the current asymmetric restrictions on our agricultural exports (where we have already agreed to compromises)," the MP stated.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  A political debate is now moving from social media to an Arkansas courtroom.

Former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Chris Jones officially filed a defamation suit against Arkansas Senate President Pro Tem Bart Hester in Pulaski County Circuit Court on Thursday.

The lawsuit stems from a social media post from May 1 made by Hester where he reshared a post made by Jones, who himself was replying to a post about recent protests on college campuses tied to the conflict in Palestine and the Israeli response.

Arkansas politicians speak on Sanders deploying National Guard to southern border

The original post, from an Arkansas Times editor, expressed the opinion that past student-led mass protests were often seen as being right in the long run, giving examples of the Vietnam War and invasions by the U.S. in the Middle East following September 11 based on false reports of WMDs.

Jones replied to the comment with the statement, We would do well to NOT ignore them.

Hester later replied to Jones reply, writing that Jones was taking a Pro Hamas Terrorist position. He also wrote that the Democrat may want to take a knee to terrorist sympathizers. The Cave Springs Republican tagged Jones twice in his post, along with a tag for the Arkansas Democratic Party.

DIGITAL EXTRA: Read the lawsuit

In a statement announcing the filing of the lawsuit, Jones said he filed the defamation with malice suit in an effort to protect civil public discourse. Jones added that he tried to quietly find a way to resolve the situation, but claimed that Hester, chose confrontation.

Today, I filed a civil lawsuit against Bart Hester for defamation with malice. This case is about protecting civil public discourse. It is about an apparent inability to have a grown-up conversation without someone defaming another person.



The President of the Arkansas Senate should engage in vigorous debate about ideas and policies. However, they do not get to use their platform to lie about and slander citizens of the State who hold different views.



Make no mistake. This case is not about money. If it were, Sen. Hester is not the one to sue. This case is bigger than politics. This is about human decency and making bullying with false rhetoric a costly endeavor.



We tried other routes to correct this wrong quietly in the way gentlemen should handle their differences. Bart chose confrontation. And so, he will have it. Chris Jones

Capitol View: Big moves on national stage leave impact on Arkansas

KARK 4 News reached out to Hester for a comment regarding the lawsuit. While he has not yet offered a response to legal motion, Hester told KARK 4 News reporter Samantha Boyd earlier in the month that he was not removing the post since he believed nothing in it was not accurate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A former Department of Childrens Services employee, and two others, are facing charges following a case of child abuse.

The Hardeman County Sheriffs Office and Whiteville Police Department say they executed a search warrant at a home on Rocky Springs Road in Saulsbury, Tennessee. They were investigating crimes against children at the home that came in as a tip.

Investigators say they found six girls, ages 9 to 14, living in squalid conditions.

According to investigators, seven officers threw up outside the house after they entered. Neighbors said they saw many dead animals around the home as well.

When you walk in the house now, its piled up with garbage. Nothing but garbage, and rats as big as possums, said a neighbor.

Two former Memphis police officers indicted after deadly wreck during pursuit







Joshua Patterson was arrested and charged with 15 different charges, including six counts of aggravated child abuse and neglect and four counts of aggravated cruelty to animals.

Misti Tincher was also charged with multiple counts of child abuse and cruelty to animals.

Former DCS agent Denica Marcell is also charged in the case. She is facing charges of official misconduct and accessory after the fact.

The incident report says DCS records show she falsified reports involving the six children. The state says she is no longer employed with DCS.

Marcell is currently out on a $25,000 bond.

Joshua Patterson, Misti Ticher, Denicia Marcell (Hardeman County Sheriffs Office)

According to the incident report, the house had a collapsed ceiling, as well as mold, animal feces, and a severe roach infestation.

A neighbor who doesnt want to be identified says whenever the kids came over, they brought roaches and lice with them.

The girls reportedly suffered from poor hygiene and neglect, despite being under the supervision of the Tennessee Department of Childrens Services.

 Download the WREG App today and stay up to date with breaking news and weather.

 Sign up for WREG newsletters and have the latest top stories sent right to your inbox.

 See more breaking news, local news and weather from WREG.com for Memphis and the Mid-South.

I gave them beds and bunk beds, they never used them. I dont know where they sleep at. I walked to the back door, I probably got to the kitchen area, I seen a big rat cross me and I said Im leaving. Them jokers are big and theyre not running from you, said the neighbor.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
DANVILLE, Va. (WFXR)  The Danville Police Department charged an employee at Hollywood Pets with animal cruelty on Friday, May 10.

According to the police, information was received regarding complaints of alleged animal abuse by a former Hollywood Pets employee located on Hairston Street who provided grooming and care services. The complaints refer to videos shared over social media and other platforms that allegedly show the employee hitting a dog in Jan. and Feb. of 2024.

Following an investigation by the Danville PD Criminal Investigations Unit and Animal Control, a warrant was issued for the arrest of 22-year-old Cassidy Gill from Roxboro, North Carolina.

On Friday, Gill was arrested and charged with Animal Cruelty.

Bassett drug bust leads to man charged with multiple felonies

On Thursday, May 9, Hollywood Pets released the following statement on their Facebook Page:

Dear Customers, In light of recent videos being circulated on social media I would like to shed some insight to best of my ability and be as transparent as possible. I received the videos on Friday, April 26th from PETA. After reviewing them I spoke with the employee involved first thing on her next scheduled workday Monday, April 29th. At this time her employment was terminated immediately! Apparently, the videos had been recorded some time ago but were not presented to me when the incidents occurred. Only after our previous groomer (who captured the videos) was terminated on April 15th did she decide it was in her best interest to release them to PETA. The withholding of evidence of inexcusable behavior by a fellow employee to me is almost as reprehensible as the act itself. In addition, the installment of video surveillance cameras has been scheduled which will provide me with constant monitoring of all grooming activities in the future. We deeply regret any of this occurred and I assure you these were isolated incidents. We have served Danville and the surrounding areas for 16 years and our reputation is excellent. I have spoken with numerous customers about the situation, and they have been very supportive. For this we thank you! In conclusion, I stand by and have full trust in the current staff here at Hollywood Pets, especially our new groomer Sydney Bayless, who started on April 29th! I am available to try and answer any and all questions for our current customers regarding my handling of these events.  Derek Holley, Hollywood Pets

Police say no further criminal charges are expected to be served.

WFXR News will update this story as further information is released.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFXRtv.
The former head of the Georgia GOP, David Shafer, has filed notice that he is appealing to the Georgia Court of Appeals to have Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis disqualified from prosecuting the election interference case.

Shafer was the organizer of the false electors meeting in Dec. 2020 that he insisted be held in secret -- even though Shafer continues to insist he allowed the press inside the State Capitol meeting room to record the event.

On Wednesday, the Georgia appeals court agreed it would take a look at the ruling that allowed Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis to stay on the election interference case.

Former President Donald Trump and other co-defendants filed a motion to remove Willis from the case over her relationship with special prosecutor Nathan Wade.

RELATED NEWS:

Willis and Wade acknowledged the relationship, which they said ended last summer, but they have argued it does not create any sort of conflict and has no bearing on the case.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee ruled that Willis would be allowed to stay on the case if Wade stepped aside. Wade resigned the same day as the ruling.

Trump and his attorneys later submitted an appeal arguing the indictment should have been dismissed, and that Willis and her team should have been disqualified from the case. The appeals court will now hear the case.

There is no word yet on when the court will take up the case.

RELATED NEWS:
Former Gov. George Nigh has delivered graduation speeches for decades. For year 75, he's returning to his alma mater

Former Gov. George Nigh is returning to his collegiate alma mater this week to deliver a commencement address for a 75th straight year.

Nigh, now 96, will be the featured speaker at East Central University in Ada on Saturday for the 10 a.m. ceremony at the Kerr Activities Center. ECU officials said 322 bachelors degrees are scheduled to be granted.

I started out at ECU, so I think its wonderful Im making my 75th commencement there, Nigh said. Its an anniversary.

Nigh's appearance at a graduation ceremony has become a rite of spring in Oklahoma. In some years, hes delivered as many as 20 graduation addresses. His first such speech came in 1950 at a rural two-room, eighth-grade schoolhouse known as Plainview, located north of Arpelar in Pittsburg County. Nigh, then a senior at ECU, was running for the state Legislature but didnt have a car, so he hitchhiked to the ceremony.

Former Gov. George Nigh has not missed a year of graduation speeches

Each year since, Nigh has spoken somewhere in Oklahoma. His itinerary in recent years has included Rogers State University in Claremore in 2010, Redlands Community College in El Reno in 2011, Oklahoma Christian University in north Oklahoma City in 2012 and Clinton High School in 2015. Two years later, he spoke at the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, where he served as president from 1992 to 1997. The next year, it was at his prep alma mater, McAlester High School.

He delivered recorded remarks for Epic Charter Schools online ceremony during the COVID-19 pandemic graduation of 2020. It was back to UCO for an in-person 2021 address.

Gov. George Nigh, will be delivering a commencement speech for a 75th straight year when he speaks on Saturday at his collegiate alma mater, East Central.

We are extremely excited that Gov. George Nigh has decided to return to his alma mater, East Central University, to commemorate 75 years of commencement addresses, ECU President Wendell Godwin said. Gov. Nigh is proof that ECU graduates can do anything they set their mind to. Or, as Governor Nigh says when he is on campus, You can get there from here.

From McAlester, Nigh served in the U.S. Navy before graduating from ECU in 1950, the same year he began a 32-year career in public office, serving as a Democrat in the state House of Representatives. Among his top legislative accomplishments was introducing a bill that designated the song Oklahoma!, from the musical of the same name, as Oklahomas state song.

In 1958, the 31-year-old Nigh became the youngest lieutenant governor in Oklahoma history. He served four different times as governor, earning election in 1978 and 1982 to that office  making him the first Oklahoma governor to be reelected. He also served out the brief unexpired terms for then-Gov. J. Howard Edmondson and then-Gov. David Boren, both of whom resigned early to go to the U.S. Senate.

ECU named Nigh as a Distinguished Alumnus in 1977 and in 1989, the Oklahoma Hall of Fame inducted Nigh.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Former Gov. George Nigh to extend graduation-speech streak to 75 years
Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said President Bidens threat to halt weapons to Israel is deeply misguided.

Certainly, President Biden has always been a great friend to Israel, but I think that this decision is deeply misguided, Bennett told CNNs Erin Burnett on Thursday.

What are we being told here, he continued. We have a radical jihadist terror organization on our border thats telling us its going to continue trying to murder as many Jews as possible. Obviously, we have to get rid of it. We have no choice.

Bennett said Hamas is hiding behind civilians and that Biden threatening to stop sending weapons to Israel would be a profound mistake, because Israel has really no choice and they must do what we got to do.

His comments follow a Wednesday declaration from Biden, who said that the U.S. would stop supplying Israel with offensive weapons like bombs or artillery shells if Israeli forces launch an invasion on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of civilians have taken refuge.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they got after population centers, Biden told Burnett.

Biden said he made it clear that if Israel goes into Rafah, he would not supply the weapons.

The White House has urged Israel to make a plan to evacuate the refugees before entering the city, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been adamant about his plans to destroy Hamas, whom he claims are hiding in Rafah.

Bennett said Israeli is absolutely not using weapons to target civilians in Gaza, but said all wars have collateral damage.

Burnett pressed the former prime minister on Israels supposed stockpile of weapons that could be used without U.S. assistance to enter Rafah, asking if that stockpile contained American weapons.

I dont know. I assume that some of them are, he replied, adding that hes not in government right now.

Bennett continued, saying he doesnt know why Israel has wavered on entering Rafah, which he said should have been done roughly four months ago.

Were doing this way too late, but its better late than never, he said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Former Kentucky prosecutor admits seeking meth and sex from defendants he helped

A former felony prosecutor in Eastern Kentucky has admitted soliciting sex and methamphetamine from people and using his authority to help them in court.

Scott Blair, who resigned as commonwealths attorney for Perry County after he was arrested April 12, pleaded guilty Friday in federal court in London to a charge of honest services wire fraud.

The charge means he deprived the citizens of Perry County of the honest services he owed them as an elected official, and used electronic communication to further the crime.

Blair, 52, acknowledged in court that he used Facebook to send someone a message in July 2021 pledging he wouldnt push to have the persons probation revoked and solicited a sex act from the person.

In a later message, Blair told the person, You should know I watch out for you . . ., according to an affidavit from Zachary Bryson, an FBI task force officer who investigated the case.

Scott Blair is the commonwealths attorney for Perry County, Kentucky.

The charging document against Blair said there were a number of instances in which he used his position to recommend probation or participation in drug treatment programs for defendants  rather than prison time  or refrained from pursuing parole violations in exchange for methamphetamine, the procurement of methamphetamine, and sex acts.

It cited an example in which Blair had a defendant pick up meth for him and deliver it a number of times.

Court records show the person received a suspended sentence and unsupervised probation even though he had multiple felony offenses, according to the charge.

Blairs case moved from arrest to conviction very quickly. Asked about that, Blairs attorney, Ned Pillersdorf, pointed to the strength of the case.

The initial complaint by Bryson indicated multiple witnesses had provided information about Blair allegedly soliciting meth or sex from people.

Bryson also got access to Blairs Facebook account through a search warrant. The search turned up numerous messages about Blair requesting sex or meth from people in exchange for using his office to help them, Bryson said.

Blair told U.S. Magistrate Judge Hanly A. Ingram during the hearing that he was quite confident the government could prove the charges.

Blair said he is addicted to meth and feels great contrition over his conduct.

He resigned as commonwealths attorney soon after being arrested, and said Friday in court that he will give up his law license voluntarily and take steps to remove his name from the ballot.

Blair took office as commonwealths attorney in 2019 and was unopposed for another term this year.

At the end of the day, this is a textbook example of how methamphetamine corrupts your judgment, Pillersdorf said.

The charge against Blair is punishable by up to 20 years in prison, but Blairs sentence will likely be less than that under advisory guidelines.

Ingram said he would recommend that U.S. District Judge Robert E. Wier accept Blairs guilty plea.
Former Macon news anchor now on a mission to save lives. What shes doing

Suzanne Lawler spent three decades bringing the people of Central Georgia local news and information - now her goal is to save lives with the American Red Cross.

Lawler left 13WMAZ last month to expand her family and begin a new chapter in her career with the nonprofit as a communications manager.

She shared the news in a Facebook post.

In her new role, Lawler said she hopes to bring greater awareness to why donating blood is so crucial - especially in the Middle Georgia area. She will be working on stories to let people know how their blood is processed, where it goes and how it saves lives.

She said she will also deploy on disaster missions to hopefully be of continued service to people her team meets and be of assistance in their time of need.

As the summer months approach, Lawler said the need for blood increases substantially. Historically, donations go down during the summer.

The kids are out of school, graduation ceremonies happen, and families get on the road, she said. Blood donation typically takes a back seat, but hospital patients dont get a vacation from needing life saving transfusions.

Renee Pless gives blood at a Macon American Red Cross center at Lakeside Commons. Red Cross officials say summer is a crucial time for donations.

The American Red Cross is in a unique position with a big responsibility to meet the demand for blood. The organization ensures through volunteers and donors that blood is available for patients in the hospital whenever and wherever it is needed, according to Lawler.

The need for blood is more than people realize, she said. A single car accident victim can require as many as 100 units of blood - this is why the Red Cross urges donors to give during Trauma Awareness Month in May, she said.

Type O blood is the most needed blood group by hospitals, but its often in short supply. Type O-positive is the most transfused blood type and can be transfused to Rh-positive patients of any blood type. Type O-negative is the universal blood type and what emergency room personnel reach for when there is no time to determine the blood type of patients in the most serious situations, according to Lawler.

Black and Hispanic populations have a higher percentage of people with Type O blood, studies show. Lawler said. Lawler said the Red Cross is looking for diverse donors because having the blood types that are in highest demand can help patients who have sickle cell, many of whom are children.

She went on to explain that blood type, like eye color, is an inherited trait passed genetically from parents. The vast majority of blood types fall into one of the major A, B or O groups, but for some patients with rare blood types, blood must be matched closely, beyond the primary A, B, O and AB blood types. Blood given to patients with rare blood types must be matched very closely to reduce the risk of developing complications from transfusion therapy.

The Red Cross is committed to maintaining a diverse blood supply to ensure the right blood product is available at the right time, and every blood and platelet donor has an important role in meeting that need, she said. We encourage eligible donors of all races and ethnicities to give blood or platelets to increase the diversity of the blood supply.

Zaccheaus Williams gives blood at a recent blood drive held by the American Red Cross in Macon.

Lawler said in the State of Georgia the American Red Cross needs to collect at least 600 pints a day to keep up with the need. She said in fiscal year 2023 the organization had more than 8,000 blood drives across the state and collected nearly 175,000 units of blood and blood products.

The American Red Cross of Georgia serves 10 million people through a network of 8 chapters including Central Midwest Georgia, East Central Georgia, Greater Atlanta, Northeast Georgia, Northwest Georgia, South Central Georgia, Southeast Georgia, and Southwest Georgia, according to its website.

Every single donation can help keep the blood supply as stable as possible during a busy time of year when many regular donors may be unable to give, Lawler said. No one can predict when an accident might happen, but generous donors can help hospitals stay prepared and stocked with blood products - plus giving blood in and of itself only takes about ten minutes of a donors time.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A former art teacher at Gaither High School was arrested for having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a student, the Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office announced Friday.

The sheriffs office arrested 46-year-old Brian Singleton on charges of sexual battery and soliciting sex acts with a child after police said he took advantage of a student under the guise of authority.

Credit: Hillsborough County Sheriffs Office

Woman dead after storms ravage Tallahassee

Singleton was hired by Hillsborough County Public Schools as a full-time art teacher at Gaither High School in February 2017. The alleged battery took place between September and December 2023, according to the sheriffs office.

Singleton was placed on administrative leave in December 2023 and resigned from his job in March 2024.

An arrest warrant was issued for Singleton Thursday, and he turned himself in later that day, the sheriffs office said.

I am disturbed by the actions of this man, who was trusted to be responsible for the well-being of students, but instead, he decided to betray that trust, taking advantage of a student under the guise of authority, Sheriff Chad Chronister said. As a parent, I understand the concerns of those learning about this situation. Rest assured that our detectives will tirelessly stand against those who exploit and harm others in our community.

Anyone with information about the case or anyone who believes they may have been a victim of Singleton is asked to call the sheriffs office at 813-247-8200.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The power systems of Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovs'k regions suffered the greatest damage from Russian shelling. For example, in Kharkiv region, 200-250 thousand people are without electricity every hour.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was reported by Serhiy Kovalenko, CEO of YASNO energy company. He noted that power companies in this region are unable to supply electricity to 100% of consumers.

"We have two regions that suffer the most. The first is Kharkiv. We have network restrictions there. This means that we cannot supply electricity to other parts of Ukraine, so to speak, to the city itself because of network restrictions. And for every hour there, about 200-250 thousand people are without electricity," Kovalenko said.

According to him, restrictions have been in place in Dnipropetrovs'k region since the March shelling. "They primarily affect the industry, which consumes a lot of electricity," explained the power engineer.

For our part, we would like to note that the blackout schedules in Kharkiv and the region have been updated since May 6. The current schedule is valid until May 10 inclusive.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to this schedule, the power was supposed to be cut off for at least 3 hours a day. However, Kharkivoblenergo had previously warned that due to repair work, there could be longer power outages than those announced.

What needs to be done to improve the situation in the energy sector

For its part, the Ministry of Energy called on Ukrainians to reduce the use of energy-intensive appliances during peak times. Especially from 5:00 to 10:00 p.m.

Industry  to review production processes to reduce the load on the power system. And also "to attract imports as much as possible to guarantee the avoidance of outages and strengthen the stability of the power system."

ADVERTISIMENT

As reported by OBOZ.UA, at the same time, Ukraine can reduce the effectiveness of Russian strikes on the power system, in particular through decentralized generation. As explained by Ukrenergo, this principle involves the commissioning of many smaller power facilities instead of several large ones, which makes it possible to minimize the consequences of the possible destruction of any of them, as the damage will be relatively minor.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
HAMILTON COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN)  The former transportation manager for Hamilton County Schools is facing multiple charges after allegedly making food deliveries and providing rideshare services in his work-assigned vehicle.

The Tennessee Comptrollers Office launched an investigation after Hamilton County school officials said they received allegations that a man was picking up food deliveries in a county-owned vehicle.

Comptroller investigation raises concerns in Lewis County

Investigators said they determined the license plate number matched the one on David Eaves work-assigned vehicle. Eaves reportedly admitted to using the vehicle to make food deliveries through apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash for eight months.

However, officials said the investigation revealed he had been doing so since March 20, 2017  the first day he was employed with Hamilton County Schools. He served as the transportation manager through May 2022 when he was placed on unpaid administrative leave.

Eaves was responsible for overseeing and directing the departments day-to-day operations and was required to either be at the departments office or at one of the Hamilton County schools checking on school bus operations.

During his employment with the school system, authorities said Eaves carried out food deliveries, as well as rideshare services through Uber and Lyft, on at least 933 occasions and all during school work hours.

CRIME TRACKER | Read the latest crime news from Middle Tennessee

He is believed to have spent at least 23,914 minutes performing those services, which is equal to more than $18,000 of misappropriated salary payments. About 84% of that time included deliveries through Uber Eats and DoorDash.

The investigation also found that Eaves made at least $1,475 in questionable fuel purchases, according to officials. Authorities said Eaves used his work-assigned fuel card to fill up on at least 44 occasions while making deliveries during school hours.

The Comptrollers Office said Eaves activities were all in violation of a school policy prohibiting the personal use of work-assigned vehicles  a policy which Eaves reportedly signed on the day he was hired.

On June 3, 2022, while still on suspension and unpaid administrative leave, Eaves requested early retirement. Hamilton County Schools officials approved Eaves request for early retirement, effective July 1, 2022.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

As a result of the investigation, in May 2024, the Hamilton County Grand Jury indicted Eaves on one count of theft over $10,000, one count of forgery over $10,000, one count of violation of the Tennessee Personal and Commercial Computer Act over $10,000, one count of destruction of and tampering with government records, and one count of official misconduct.

Hamilton County Schools officials must ensure they provide adequate oversight of employees and the departments fuel card usage, said Comptroller Jason Mumpower. Hamilton County Schools should reconcile fuel purchases on a monthly basis and consider requiring employees to document where they traveled.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A paleoartistic reconstruction of the newly named genus Santuccimeryx elissae, standing in front of hackberry bushes. (Illustration by Benji Paysnoe)

INTERIOR, South Dakota.  A team of researchers studying fossil remains found by an intern in South Dakotas Badlands National Park have discovered a previously unknown type of tiny, hornless deer that lived in the area 32 million years ago, the National Park Service announced Thursday.

Researchers from the park, the American Museum of Natural History, and California State Polytechnic University say the remains are a new genus. Mattison Shreero and Ed Welsh of Badlands National Park headed the research, which was published this week in the Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science.

Park Ranger Mattison Shreero (left) and Education Specialist Ed Welsh hold the fossilized skull found at Badlands National Park. (NPS | M. Feldberg-Bannatyne)

The new deer, Santuccimeryx (Santuccis ruminant), was named after Vincent L. Santucci to honor his contributions to the paleontology program at Badlands National Park. He is the senior paleontologist and paleontology program coordinator in the Geologic Resources Division of the National Park Service.

Santuccimeryx belongs to the extinct family Leptomerycidae, whose members were about the size of house cats and lived in North America from about 41 million years ago to about 11 million years ago. They are considered close relatives to the living chevrotains, or mouse deer, from the tropical forests of central and western Africa and southeast Asia.

Geoscientists-in-the-Parks intern Tiffany Leone discovered and submitted a visitor site report in 2016 about what turned out to be the first and only known skull of Santuccimeryx.

Shreero said in a news release that the find highlights the importance of citizen science.

This is the only skull of this animal ever found, she said. And if somebody had walked away with it, or if they just hadnt reported it and it had eroded away, we would have never known about it.

What to do if you find a fossil in Badlands National Park

Visitors at Badlands who spot a fossil or artifact are asked to leave it in place and submit a report at the Visitor Center, with a park ranger, or by email to Badlands_fossil_finds@nps.gov. They should take a photo of the undisturbed find, preferably with another object or feature in sight to show scale, and document the coordinates or location.

This story was originally produced by the South Dakota Searchlight which is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network, including the Daily Montanan, supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.

The post Fossil researchers discover new genus of deer at Badlands National Park appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Fourth suspect connected to child's shooting death in Athens nabbed in Brooklyn

Keron Zarco-Smith was killed in his home by alleged street gang members.

An alleged street gang member wanted for the fatal shooting of a 3-year-old boy in Athens was arrested Friday in Brooklyn, New York, Athens-Clarke police announced.

Dakious Echols was the fourth suspect charged in the shooting death of Kyron Zarco-Smith, who was killed when gunmen fired bullets at his home. The child was seated on a sofa when police said he was hit in the chest by one of the bullets that pierced the wall of the mobile home.

The shooting occurred March 8 in Hallmark Mobile Home Park along Spring Valley Road in east Athens.

Child's Slaying: Third suspect in slaying of Athens child located in Augusta

Two suspects, Jayden Brown, 16, of Athens, and Julian Cubillos,17, of Lawrenceville, were arrested soon after the slaying.

A manhunt then began for the other two suspects, 18-year-old Echols and Desmontrez Mathis, 22, of Athens. Mathis was arrested May 2 in Augusta.

Murder Suspects: Second suspect arrested in shooting death of Athens 3-year-old; two suspects still sought

Police did not disclose how Echols was tracked to a location in New York.

All four suspects are charged with felony and malice murder, four counts of aggravated assault and violating the states street gang law.

Echols is also charged in federal court with unlawful flight. Police said Echols remains in New York pending an extradition hearing.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Suspect in killing of Athens boy captured Friday in Brooklyn, N.Y.
France is so scared of strikes messing up the Olympics that it is letting air traffic controllers show up 3 hours late to work, and leave 3 hours early

France is so scared of strikes messing up the Olympics that it is letting air traffic controllers show up 3 hours late to work, and leave 3 hours early

The union for French air traffic controllers reached a deal to avoid a strike.

Les Echos reported it includes authorization to turn up to work three hours late, and leave early.

Paris is hosting the 2024 Olympics, and there are fears strikes could disrupt the event.

French air traffic controllers have been given the legal right to turn up three hours late for work, and leave three hours early, Les Echos reported.

That's because the National Union for Air Traffic Controllers (SNCTA) reached an agreement that includes ending a practice called "clearances"  where staff could leave work during quiet periods, according to the French newspaper.

Because ending "clearances" led to more working hours, the controllers are now authorized to arrive three hours late or leave three hours early, when traffic permits.

It means French air traffic controllers have a mandatory minimum time on the clock of five hours, according to Les Echos.

The details of the agreement were kept quiet after the SNCTA reached a deal with the government to avoid a strike on April 25. With the Olympics taking place in France this year, politicians were eager to avoid any potential disruption at airports.

It's a big win for the SNCTA and highlights the strength of labor unions in France.

Air traffic controllers also won several other benefits as part of the deal, according to Les Echos. That includes an additional 18 days off work, and retirement at age 59.

Plus, Les Echos reported their salaries are set to go up by an average of 1,500 euros a month, spread over four years. That's around an extra $19,400 a year.

Agence France-Press reported in 2022 that the average French air traffic controller earned $59,820 a year  putting the recent pay increase at around a third.

The report added that the deal will be entirely financed by airlines. As a further three days of strikes were planned for this month, a person familiar with the matter told Les Echos that for Air France, the cost of further strike action could have outweighed the compensation given to the air traffic controllers.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Freedom Summer repeating itself as we near its 60th anniversary of violence, hope and change

Members of the NAACP on June 24, 1964, in Washington, D.C., protest the disappearance of three civil rights activists from Mississippi

Members of the NAACP on June 24, 1964, in Washington, D.C., protest the disappearance of three civil rights activists from Mississippi. (Archive Photos/Getty Images)

As we approach the 60th anniversary of Freedom Summer, the similarities between that era and today are striking.

Voting rights, the cause that drew about 1,000 white, affluent students from across the country to volunteer in rural Mississippi, remains under assault in state legislatures, including ours. Anti-war protests continue to boil across American college campuses and battalions of police have been sent in to quash those protests. At least a third of Americans have decided that theyd rather destroy our democracy than share the country.

Given the stakes of the fall presidential election, we are in for another summer of struggle and protest.

The Freedom Summer Project began in June of 1964. It chose Mississippi, because the Magnolia State had the nations lowest percentage of registered African Americans voters.

Black Mississippians made up more than a third of the population in 1962 but accounted for only 6.7% of the eligible voters. The volunteers, most of them white and about half of them Jewish, worked with Black Mississippians to register people to vote.

As the project launched, however, three volunteers were kidnapped, killed and buried in the Mississippi clay. The search of the murky swamp land unearthed the bodies of eight other missing Black people.

Volunteers made the trek anyway, determined to join the fight for voting rights.

During the 10-week project, more than 1,000 people were arrested, 80 Freedom Summer volunteers endured beatings, 37 churches were bombed or burned, 30 homes or businesses were bombed or burned, and four civil rights workers were killed.

Voting rights remain under attack today.

About a year ago, the Eighth Circuit Court of appeals prohibited private citizens and civil rights groups from filing lawsuits aimed at enforcing the Voting Rights Act. Now, only the Justice Department can bring those claims. Such cases typically are brought by individual voters, said Ari Berman, a national voting rights correspondent for Mother Jones, in an NPR interview. Groups like the ACLU and the NAACP and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund represent them, he said.

Of the 182 successful lawsuits brought in the past 40 years, only 15 were brought by the Department of Justice, Berman said.

The department brings very few voting rights cases, he said. Ninety percent of successful lawsuits under the Voting Rights Act are brought by private groups and private plaintiffs.

Meanwhile, college campuses have erupted over the war in Gaza and over efforts to address Americas legacy of discrimination.

Riot police have descended on campuses from California to New York, where pro-Palestinian students have demanded an end to the war in Israel that has killed more than 34,000 Palestinians, more than 12,000 of which were children. This spasm of protest follows horrific Oct. 7th Hamas-led attacks on Israeli civilians that killed 1,200 people and saw roughly 240 people taken hostage. About 130 people remain captive in Gaza.

Also on college campuses, extremists in several states have taken aim at dismantling programs designed to make college campuses more welcoming for minority students.

Program advocates have said these programs help recruit and retain students of color who for generations were denied entry because of their race. Program detractors describe the programs as conspiratorial efforts to produce armies of social or political progressives and complain that gender and racial identities may soon become more important than being white.

Here in Kansas, extremist legislators have attacked DEI while struggling to even define it. Worse, the extremists are holding $36 million of funding hostage until the states six universities report to Gov. Laura Kelly that theyve eliminated DEI policies.

Universities have chosen to embrace ideologies that discriminate against people who do not hew to their orthodoxy, state Rep. Steve Howe was quoted as saying.

Thats not what the schools are doing, but thats exactly what hes doing.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

Back in the 1960s, the anti-democratic crowd pushed poll taxes and literacy tests to keep Black people from voting and to keep them off juries.

Today, extremists purge voter rolls, close polling stations and erect other hurdles to voting.

Back in the 1960s, state and local governments, where segregationists predominated, used arrests, firings, spying and other forms of intimidation to keep people disenfranchised.

Today, voting rights opponents still dominate most state governments and annually churn out new and discriminatory voting restrictions.

And as in the 1960s, todays young adults have raced into these conflicts, raising their voices and putting themselves on the line. Theyve risked arrest defending democratic tenets that increasing numbers of Americans see as inconvenient or even expendable.

Freedom needs a refreshing summer renewal.

Maybe this one will last longer than 60 years.

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 Freedom Summer repeating itself as we near its 60th anniversary of violence, hope and change appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
If youd known what to look for, you could have seen it coming miles and miles away: the demise of movement conservatism in the face of Trumpism. The only thing surprising about the collapse of FreedomWorks, the loud and splashy libertarian astroturf outfit, is that it hadnt happened sooner. On Wednesday, the group abruptly announced that it had been dissolved by its board.

Born in 1984 as part of the Koch brothers group, Citizens for a Sound Economy, FreedomWorks split from the political network of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch in 2004. By 2008, the organization was poised to lead the backlash against the election of Barack Obama, helping to create and grow the anti-government Tea Party movement. In the 2010 midterm elections, FreedomWorks aimed to change the DNA of the U.S. Senate, and proved to be a powerhouse in seating the candidates it backed. But with the takeover of the Republican Party by former president Donald J. Trump, its power is no more.

Movement conservatism grew from several constituencies, the religious right mighty among them. But the so-called philosophical underpinnings of the movement are libertarian: small government, low (or no) taxes, and deregulation of all businesses. For instance, Barry Goldwater, the 1964 Republican nominee for the presidential election, expressed his opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act in libertarian terms. The government, he said, had no right to tell business proprietors whom they must serve. See, it was about principlesright?and not at all about race.

Libertarianism has never been about much more than greed and disregard for those unable to access the means to improve their lot in life; to facilitate such would interfere with the freedom of those who already wield power. Its rationale is cast in the language of fairness, sounding very high-minded, as in concern for the moral hazard of helping people, lest you make them lazy and dependent.

Because libertarianism offers no examination of the lives of those who would suffer under a libertarian regime, it deals in philosophical abstractions that ultimately dehumanize the presumed undeserving who just cant cut it without a handout. With its definition of freedom as a lack of responsibility for the health of the society, libertarianism simply accrues more power for those who already have it. With its largely unspoken underpinnings of rage, greed, and resentment, the libertarian strain of movement conservatism paved the way for Trump, thereby causing its own destruction. Trump dispensed with any hifalutin principles, stripping it all down to the animating force of animus. Trump spoke the unspoken, tarring Mexicans and Muslims as rapists and terrorists, speaking of Blacks in demeaning terms (wheres my African American ? ), and denigrating women. MAGA Republicans, many of whom were active in the Tea Party movement, just dont care about the $8 trillion deficit left by Trump when he reluctantly left the White House. Tariffs? Great! A big government doing Trumps will? Hell, yeah!

In an essay I published eight years ago (Donald Trump and the Twilight of Movement Conservatism), I asked readers to imagine movement conservatism as a candy bar with a sweet and fluffy coating of ideals and principles wrapped around a salty nougat of rage and greed. Trump stripped the coating and served a double helping of the nougat and rode that saliferous rocket fuel to the White House.

The problem is, some self-described libertarians still believe in that small government stuff, while others have taken the predictable route to power by backing Trump. That divided the donor base and membership of FreedomWorks, its president, Adam Brandon, told Politico, essentially leaving the organization without a brand. Last year, the group laid off 40 percent of its staff.

If the path to authoritarianism is smoothed by gateway drugs, libertarianism is surely one of them. By its very ideology, it is designed to just screw everybody but those who have the footing to thrive absent government regulation. Once youre willing to screw everybody except those who already hold economic and social capital, and then promote this as an aspirational goal for the hoi polloi, youve begun the propaganda work of bringing regular folks into the fold via their resentments against others they see as undeserving. And stripped of its abstract principles in the face of a MAGA movement based on nothing but the rage, libertarianism loses its reason for being. Over the last two years, Brandon told Politico, the donors were falling off. FreedomWorks revenue declined by halfto about $8 millionsince 2022, according to Brandon.

The Tea Party Movement that Brandon and his comrades helped to form framed itself in opposition to Obamacare, painted by FreedomWorks and the Koch-affiliated Americans for Prosperity as a big government takeover of your health care. FreedomWorks organized disruptions of the regular town hall meetings hosted by members of Congress in their districts, targeting those who would likely vote for the creation of a national healthcare marketplace.

At antihealth care events attended by people organized by FreedomWorks and AFP, signs with racist representations of Obama popped up here and there. In 2009, FreedomWorks played a crucial role in taking on the logistics for the first big right-wing march on the nations capital, the 9/12 Project, which was heavily promoted by Rupert Murdochs Fox News. At that march, I saw a large sign that depicted Obama as a parasite.

In addition to mobilizing its masses of angry white peopleangry about the 2008 financial crisis, angry about the election of a Black presidentFreedomWorks was instrumental in creating the Senate of today.

In the 2010 midterm elections, FreedomWorks packed Utahs state Republican Party convention with Tea Party activists, who came to bounce incumbent U.S. Senator Bob Bennett from his seat in favor of the right-wing neo-libertarian Mike Lee. The trick worked; Bennett came in third in the convention vote, leaving Lee to duke it out with businessman Tim Bridgewater in the caucuses, where he won.

FreedomWorkss ultimate aim appeared to be to destabilize Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. In McConnells home state of Kentucky, FreedomWorks, working with Jim DeMint, then the junior senator from South Carolina and leader of the Senate Conservatives Fund, launched the insurgent candidacy of Rand Paul for the nomination, in opposition to the more establishment candidate Trey Grayson, who was anointed by McConnell. Rand Paul prevailed. McConnell got the message, and began his bend further to the right.

In 2010, I interviewed Adam Brandon, then FreedomWorkss communications director before his ascendance to the organizations presidency, about FWs aim with its backing of insurgent Senate candidates. America needed more senators like DeMint, who opposed health care, energy reform, and labor unions, he said, in order to create something of a caucusa new power center, Brandon called it.

In those consequential midterms, FreedomWorks also backed Senate newcomers Marco Rubio of Florida and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania with hundreds of thousands of dollars. Of their six Senate insurgency endorsements, only one candidate failed to win: Sharron Angle of Nevada. All of those victorious 2010 FreedomWorks-backed senators later voted to acquit then-President Donald J. Trump on his first impeachment; all but Toomey voted the same in Trumps second impeachment trial. (Last year, Toomey, who voted to convict, declined to run again.) Rubio, meanwhile, is hoping to become Trumps running mate in this years presidential election.

Ultimately, FreedomWorkss power center didnt quite hold, and now its leader has all the freedom in the world. This has been my life for so long and to turn the lights off, its a real emotional thing, Brandon told Politicos Luke Mullins. But dont worry. Hell be all right. According to the tax filings of FreedomWorks Foundation and its sibling organization, FreedomWorks Inc., between 2019 and 2021, Adam Brandon earned annual monetary compensation of over $400,000. He can probably coast for a whilewith no moral hazard in sight.
A front is on the way to Central Florida, and it will move through the area until early Saturday.

Chief meteorologist Tom Terry said that front will bring a widely scattered downpour to the area late Friday and early Saturday as it passes through the region.

Once the rain moves out of the area, it will be followed by some nice weather in time for Mothers Day weekend.

WATCH: Buildings damaged, trees down as possible tornadoes move through Tallahassee

Were also watching for our next storm system, Terry said.

Rain will return to the area early next week, he said.

SEE: Possible tornadoes damage buildings, down trees & leave thousands without power in Tallahassee

Expect back-to-back days of afternoon showers and storms next week.

Earlier Friday, severe storms marched through Floridas Panhandle.

In Tallahassee, possible tornadoes damaged buildings and downed trees and powerlines, leaving thousands of residents without power.

Read: Geomagnetic storm: NOAA warns of severe solar storm

See photos of the damage below, and click here to see video.

Citizens are reporting damage across Tallahassee.

Citizens are reporting damage across Tallahassee.

Citizens are reporting damage across Tallahassee.

Citizens are reporting damage across Tallahassee.

Downed tree at Old Bainbridge and Setting Sun Boulevard.

Crews are hard at work clearing downed trees and power lines.

Downed tree at Old Bainbridge and Setting Sun Boulevard.

With possible tornadic activity in Tallahassee, early assessments of the electric grid show severe damage to transmission lines, impacting 11 substations. Restoration will possibly take through the weekend. Crews from eight utilities are on their way to assist from Central Florida, Louisiana, Alabama and Jacksonville. Over 66,000 customers are without service.

Fallen trees and limbs reported in the Timberlake neighborhood off Apalachee Parkway.

Fallen trees and limbs reported in the Timberlake neighborhood off Apalachee Parkway.

Crews are hard at work clearing downed trees and power lines.

Fallen trees and limbs reported in the Timberlake neighborhood off Apalachee Parkway.

Fallen trees and limbs reported in the Timberlake neighborhood off Apalachee Parkway.

Terry gives you a look at what to expect throughout the weekend and next week live on Channel 9 Eyewitness News.

Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
On the front line as British paratroopers take on imaginary Russian forces

The pair of Britains newest Apache attack helicopters hover 40ft above the ground, their guns trained on the dense woods.

Beneath them, assault troops from the Parachute Regiment and the US Airborne Division steal into the trees.

They are quickly met by deafening explosions, machine gun fire and thick grey smoke.

The woods are being contested, meaning the Paras and their American comrades have a fight on their hands.

This is what the start of the Third World War looks like  at least according to Nato planners, who are overseeing the alliances biggest exercise since the end of the Cold War.

We are just over an hours drive from Estonias eastern border, and the enemy in the mock attack, as part of operation Swift Response, is, of course, Russia.

In preparing for what until relatively recently was unthinkable  a land invasion of a Nato member  senior officers are having to work out how they could stop a potentially overwhelming Russian advance.

The answer, if Fridays exercise is anything to go by, is a highly aggressive but sophisticated counter-attack that buys the Western allies breathing space to rally more troops.

A paratrooper showcases the next generation light anti-tank weapon during Exercise Swift Response - Cpl Aaron J Stone/Army

Soldiers cross a field and are covered from the air by two Apache helicopters - JULIAN SIMMONDS/JULIAN SIMMONDS

We have to remember that were an alliance of 32, shortly to become 33, members, said Brigadier Giles Harris, commander of Britains permanent military presence in Estonia.

This is about prevailing in the first fight to buy time and space for the whole alliance to bring its force to bear.

I think, ultimately, the numbers work out. Its about making sure that that first fight is won.

The new AH-64E Apaches are a key element in the strategy. With vastly improved flying performance, sensors and communications, the aircraft can sit outside or above a visibly challenging area, like the thick Estonian forests. They can identify enemy positions and armour that are invisible to the naked eye, destroy them or direct ground troops to do so.

They are also a potent weapon in taking out air defence systems, crucial in the preparation of landing air assault troops, either by parachute or Chinook.

Although based in the UK, 16 Air Assault Brigade can be ready to deploy to Estonia within two days to support the British-led permanent Nato enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup.

They are, as one military source put it, the break-glass-in-case-of-emergency brigade.

Brigadier Mark Berry, commander of the brigades combat team, said: Parachuting allows us to project force very rapidly, so its as relevant today as it ever has been and particularly relevant in the context of a Russian invasion.

That initial airborne assault is intended to create space for more heavily equipped troops to enter the fray.

One such unit also exercising on the bleak planes of central Estonia on Friday were the Royal Irish Regiment, equipped with the Foxhound mounted infantry vehicles that can be delivered into the warzone by heavy-lift aircraft.

Highly manoeuvrable, the Foxhounds are designed to give soldiers the ability to conduct reconnaissance behind enemy lines if necessary.

Major Matt Hazlett, from Belfast, commands the 40 vehicles and about 130 soldiers of Ranger Company.

The Russians will have to think twice about fighting the Royal Irish Regiment, he grinned.

Theyll be more scared than we are.

A British soldier comes under simulated enemy fire in the Nato exercise in Estonia - Cpl Aaron J Stone/Army

Captain Charlie Watson, stands outside the woods wearing the distinctive air assault beret, his blood type stitched into his body armour and an SA80-A3 slung over his shoulder.

He typically carries 180 rounds of ammunition into action  six magazines.

However, if hes having to use any of them personally, he says, somethings probably going wrong?

That is because Captain Watson is a fire support team commander.

Leading a team of five other observers embedded within the first-wave troops, his job is to call in ordnance from a menu of options as diverse as close-range mortars and traditional artillery shells, to air strikes and missiles launched from more than 50 miles away.

To do that you have to be close enough to the fighting to know where the ordnance is needed, he said.

That means parachuting with the rest of them.

If the enemy knows youre coming, that means the first thing you do when you hit the ground is get your rifle ready. You might have to start fighting immediately.

The exercise took place after Vladimir Putin warned the West of a global conflict at Russias bombastic Victory Day Parade.

The British Armys commitment to Estonia began in its current form in 2017.

But it was Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 that brought their task truly into focus, a fact reflected in the scale of Swift Response: roughly 13,000 personnel from 17 nations.

I think the sense of purpose probably changed in the soldiers minds, said Brigadier Harris.

The sense of strategic purpose and the context in which were doing this training has definitely changed.

The fact that were so close to Russia also brings it home.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The fabulous locations of our country will surprise you with their picturesque nature and rich history. Read on to find out where to feel the wind of the most beautiful feeling in the world.

ADVERTISIMENT

Tunnel of Love

It is located near the town of Klevan in the Rivne region. It is a 5-kilometer corridor formed by a railroad, trees and bushes. The path is covered with green leaves and branches on all sides. It is in the spring that you can see how nature awakens and becomes a decoration of the man-made arch.

History

There are several versions about the origin of the romantic location. Some experts believe that it happened back in 1970 when the military built a railroad for their needs. However, to prevent anyone from finding it, they disguised it with shrubs. Over time, the flora grew and made a kind of passage. Later, a freight train began to run along the track every day, knocking down the branches, creating a perfect shape.

What is more interesting is the legend of a Polish man who worked as an engineer. One day he fell in love with a woman from Klevan and built a railroad to shorten the way to his beloved. Unfortunately, the couple broke up, but their love remained forever.

ADVERTISIMENT

Fun facts

In 2012, Fujifilm made a short video. In it, the characters suddenly fell from a green wall into a tunnel, quickly capturing various wonders around them with a new branded camera.

About 10 years ago, the famous Japanese director Akiyoshi Imazeki was looking for the perfect place to shoot his feature film. One day he came across an unusual location that struck him to the core. Despite the fact that the tourist attraction was located in Ukraine, he not only brought the entire film crew there but also shot his new lyrical drama. He even renamed it Klevani: Ai no Tunnel.

In November 2015, the film was presented at the Hanoi International Film Festival. With his film, the artist revealed the beauty of our nature and showed it to the whole world.

ADVERTISIMENT

On May 20, 2017, a replica of the famous Ukrainian arch was opened in China, which has become a romantic place for tourists. The ceremony was attended by representatives of Ukraine.

Location for photo shoots

Every year, the Tunnel of Love hosts thousands of couples in love. People visit the tourist attraction not only to see the incredible beauty of nature but also to preserve these memories in photographs.

Local beliefs

If you make a wish and seal it with a kiss at the same time, it will definitely come true.

Walking through the tunnel will strengthen your relationship and enhance your romance as a couple.

To have a happy marriage, newlyweds should visit this place on their engagement day.

ADVERTISIMENT

Island of Love



Another location worth visiting in spring. It can be found in Ivano-Frankivsk and is one of the most favorite locations for locals.

Interesting facts

The island is heart-shaped, which for many people is a symbol of love. That is why this attraction is so popular with couples in love. After the reconstruction, stone paths, benches, and lanterns were installed here. Therefore, it is worth visiting not only during the day but also in the evening when it gets dark.

The bridge connecting the two banks has become especially popular. By the way, newlyweds often choose it for romantic photo shoots.

ADVERTISIMENT

History and legends

The island was artificially created back in 1955, along with the ferry to it. Later, the area was closed, reconstructed, and reopened to the public.

According to a legend, the location was created because of a great love between a Polish lady and a servant boy. Their meetings were kept secret because the girl's father wanted to marry her to a landowner who was better suited to their family's status. That is why the lovers ran away and hid in the swamp. In the morning, the swamp dried up, and there was a small piece of land with willows around which clean, crystal water flowed.

Tourist potential

The place will be a great space for your weekend or weekday vacation. In addition to couples, locals often spend their free time here. Most of all, they like to play sports, ride bicycles, scooters, rollerblades, and meet with family and friends.

ADVERTISIMENT

There are many locations in Ukraine that attract tourists with their beauty. However, if you are planning to go on a trip with your significant other, you should go to Ivano-Frankivsk and Rivne. Here you will be able to plunge into the atmosphere of love and have a good time with your dearest person.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The Family and Social Services Administration will now release monthly finance reports detailing enrollment, expenses and funding to the public. (Logo, flag from FSSA and State of Indiana)

In the wake of a Medicaid budget snafu, in which a forecast missed the mark by nearly $1 billion, the Family and Social Services Administration has launched monthly Medicaid finance reports detailing expenditures, enrollment and funding of the entitlement program.

The move comes after lawmakers mandated additional monitoring and oversight.

In a release, the FSSA Office of Medicaid Policy and Planning said the webpage provides transparency and information on the program. Additionally, the report compares the actual monthly experience with previous predications.

As of February 2024, Medicaid enrollment across all programs and delivery systems totaled 1,999,726 individuals, which is 26,746 (1.3%) above the forecasted amount and 74,294 (3.4%) below enrollment in February 2023, the accompanying commentary read. Average monthly enrollment year-to-date for (fiscal year) 2024 through February was 2,101,668.

In response to the $1 billion variance, FSSA announced it would pursue several program changes to recoup an estimated $300 million in costs, such as pausing an index, or increase, in certain reimbursements.

But the biggest change included curbing payments to legally responsible individuals, usually parents, under attendant care for medically complex children. Parents rallied for weeks but saw little in terms of legislation.

Recently, families met with Gov. Eric Holcomb and FSSA Secretary Dan Rusyniak to discuss the transition to Structured Family Caregiving. Click here to read the latest development.

The Indiana Capital Chronicle explored ongoing challenges with Medicaid budgets in February, focusing on the difficulties that came from predicting long-term expenses for an ever-growing fund. Budget experts suggested monthly reports as one way to better keep the public informed.

According to an attached explainer, expenditures include amounts spent on specific programs while funding includes both federal and state revenue streams  including intergovernmental transfers and assessment fees  and how much has been spent out of each funding source. Enrollment numbers will include a breakdown by Medicaid program.

Notably, year-to-date figures start from the beginning of the states fiscal year, July 1, and not the calendar year.

The report shows just how many Hoosiers have been determined ineligible and lost coverage during an unwinding period when Medicaid programs returned to a pre-pandemic level of operations. During COVID-19, the federal government agreed to shoulder an additional percentage of costs as an incentive for states not to curb Medicaid enrollment. Indianas rolls ballooned to a high of nearly 2.3 million in April 2023 compared to 1.6 million in April of 2020.

In April, the state agency started a review process of all enrollees. Since that time, roughly 371,000 individuals were disenrolled  though the commentary notes that 20-25% of those who lost coverage were re-enrolled within 90 days after submitting additional information.

In terms of expenditures, expenses are $102 million above the December 2023 forecast and $1.7 billion above expenditures from February of 2023  the latter is partially due to the loss of that federal enhancement. Some of these costs are not borne by the states general fund, but rather a portion of the state cigarette tax, hospital assessment fees and other sources.

Partly due to factors like the above, the Medicaid Assistance Funds draw on the general fund is actually below projections by $22 million, or 0.81%, for a total of $2.7 billion. Federal funds make up approximately 71% of overall funding for Medicaid, followed by 20% from the general fund and 9% from other sources.

The reports also detail expenses for the transition of Medicaid from a fee-for-service program, in which the state reimburses providers for individual costs, to a managed care program, where FSSA pays a bulk rate per enrollee and managed care entities handle individual costs.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post FSSA launches monthly Medicaid reports detailing enrollment, expenses and funding appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
The Senate Committee on Public Safetys Fulton County Jail Subcommittee will meet for its seventh hearing Friday morning at the Georgia Capitol Building.

According to a release from the Georgia Senate, the committee will be hearing from members of the general public.

This is the second meeting on the Fulton County Jail the subcommittee has held in the past week, with the last one held on Tuesday morning.

The committee first met in November, with widely reported problems at the jail its main focus.

Channel 2 Action News has reported on problems at the Rice Street Jail facility for years.

In July 2023, the U.S. Department of Justice opened their own investigation into the jail over safety concerns, with the Georgia Senate Committees own hearings following.

The meeting itself will be livestreamed starting at 9 a.m.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
The Gwinnett County Electronic and Financial Crimes Unit is looking for help to identify a woman they say defrauded a local back of over $350,000.

Officials say on January 19, a woman entered a bank located at 2437 Loganville Highway in Grayson and opened an account using the identity of a woman living in Florida.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The suspect deposited a stolen check valued at over $350,000. Then on February 1, the same woman returned to the bank and withdrew the cash.

Police say the victims identity who was stolen filed an initial report with police in Florida.

TRENDING STORIES:

Police are asking for the communitys help in identifying the woman in the surveillance images. If anyone has any information to share in this case, please contact GCPD detectives at 770-513-5300.

If you wish to remain anonymous, tipsters should contact Crime Stoppers at 404-577-TIPS (8477) or visit the link here. Crime Stoppers tipsters can receive a cash reward for information leading to an arrest and indictment in this case.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
GARLAND COUNTY, Ark.  Several Garland County deputies were recognized for their service in helping the fight against opioid overdoses in the community.

Sheriff McCormick with the Garland County Sheriffs Office announced Friday that the following members were recipients of the Naloxone Life Saving Award:

Captain Shawn Stapleton, Corporal Thomas Fox, Corporal Alex Hollaway, Deputy Chris Brinsfield, Deputy Charles DeLaHunt, Deputy John Dodge, Deputy Eduardo Grajeda and Deputy Candace Presley

Deputy DeLaHunt (center-left) Deputy Presley (center-right)

Deputy DeLaHunt (center-left) Deputy Presley (center-right)

Captain Stapleton

Deputy Brinsfield (left)

Deputy Grajeda (center-left) Corporal Hollaway (center-right)

Naloxone is a medicine used to reverse an opioid overdose.

McCormick said the officers were able to recognize when to administer naloxone to a person experiencing an opioid overdose, saving eight lives.

Arkansas group introduces app to prevent opioid abuse, overdose

Fox was also presented with the Sheriffs Office Life Saving Award and Smith was presented with the Sheriffs Office 5 Years of Service Award.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
DALLAS, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  Firefighters rescued a woman after a tree crashed onto her house in northern Gaston County Wednesday afternoon.

Firefighters from the Spencer Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Station 18 got to the scene on Dallas Stanley Highway quickly because the emergency was right across the street.

They didnt need to get the call because they heard it  a tree crashing into a home  and when they got to the home, they couldnt get to the woman inside. A firefighter had to climb on top of the tree just to get to her.

Belmont drive-in, fully open for the first time since 2014, damaged during storms

The sound was unmistakable.

Just a loud crack like wood breaking, said David Flanary, fire chief of the Spencer Mountain Volunteer Fire Department.

Tonya Reeves was trapped by a massive tree that crashed into her home.

Tell them Mama cant breathe well, its tight on me, Reeves told Queen City News of the message she relayed to her son who was also inside the house.

Reeves said a dresser in her bedroom was holding up some of the weight of the tree, so that not as much was on top of her.

It knocked me flat on my back and I was kind of pinned down, she said. I couldnt move or get out.

She called for her son. By the time he arrived, first responders were already there.

We tried to go in through the front door, couldnt get in because of the tree, said Flanary. We realized we couldnt get to her through the rear either because the roof had collapsed all the way down, so we were pinned in between the roof line.

MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS

GASTON CO TORNADOES

The rain was a welcome sight since thats how Reeves was able to free herself.

I think thats (the rain is) what allowed me to kind of slip out a little bit, stood up halfway, pushed myself completely straight up and stand up, said Reeves.

Firefighters dropped down a collapsable ladder to get her out of the house.

He said, Just give me your hand because I couldnt get up, it was pouring down rain and my feet were slipping, he said, Just give me your hand, said Reeves.

She says first responders walked her up the ladder and out of her house and then down the tree and helped her off the trunk.

Spencer Mountain Volunteer Fire Department Chief David Flanary.

From looking at that, its pretty miraculous, said Flanary of the family surviving the emergency.

Theres no other way to describe it.

It was a miracle, honestly to God, I really have to thank the Lord for protecting us, said Reeves.

Reeves and her son did not even have to go to the hospital. They only had a couple scrapes, bruises, and scratches.

Reeves and her family are staying with family and friends because their house is demolished.

Shes grateful to her son, firefighters, and people in the community for stopping by the house to help her family.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday in a revised $288 billion budget proposed eliminating budget deficits for this year and also the next saying it would set the state on a sound and fiscally responsible path following the tumult of the pandemic years.

In his much anticipated revised budget, Newsom aims to fill the remaining current fiscal year gap of $27.6 billion -- following some early action -- that must still be closed in negotiations with lawmakers. And, he went on to propose working ahead to deal with an anticipated $28.4 billion deficit in the 2025-26 fiscal year.

The proposal maintains current service levels for several housing, food, health care, and other assistance programs that Californians rely on while pausing the expansion of some programs and trimming multiple one-time and ongoing investments.

By making tough and responsible decisions now, the state is projected to have a positive operating reserve balance over the next two fiscal years, Newsom noted in a statement issued before the start of his revised budget presentation at the state Capitol.

Newsom budget revisions came as he navigated one of the biggest shortfalls since taking office with the state facing a deficit.

The current deficit, which the administration on Friday bumped up by about $7 billion from $38 billion to nearly $45 billion, stemmed from a revenue decline in fiscal year 2022-23, with the latest state tax receipts bringing in revenues below the expectations of Newsoms Department of Finance. A larger $73 billion deficit was projected by the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office.

Newsom and lawmakers have already agreed to shave $17.3 billion off the original deficit figures from the administration, with the Legislature approving a bill with $1.6 billion in budget fixes.

Newsoms revised balanced state budget cuts one-time spending by $19.1 billion and ongoing spending by $13.7 billion through 2025-26, including trimming nearly 8% cut out of state operations and a planned elimination of 10,000 unfilled state positions.

Newsom said some of the cuts need to be made, including a one-time $426 million trim to children and youth behavioral health initiatives.

These are things that I supported and worked closely with the Legislature, he said.

Newsom hammered on the message he has sent previously, including as early as Thursday during a CalChamber conversation, that it is time for correction in a budget with distortions brought on by the unprecedented bounty of surpluses California reaped in the past two years, in large part due to taxes collected on booming capital gains and strong tax receipts from high earner during the coronavirus pandemic.

Having to trim the budget following a cumulative $177.5 billion surplus over two years is a correction that needs to be made, the governor said.

We want a leaner government, Newsom said. There are hundreds and hundreds of actions that were taking. theres not just one or two.

For instance, deactivating 46 housing units at 13 prisons will bring an $80 million savings, Newsom noted.

In the end, Newsom sounded themes of still being able to deliver on the important needs of the state with proposed trims to the budget over a wide swath of programs and services but not to the point that it would be debilitating.

The governor struck an optimistic tone in his budget revision presentation despite the steep hill of the deficit to climb over. Newsom went to some lengths to manage expectations about future budgets, while assuring Californians that a prudent way forward is to recognize that distortions will happen but deft corrections -- including planning for two budget years going forward -- can steady the state financially.

Newsom noted Californias population is increasing and it has record high tourism.

Our values continue to allow us to thrive and those values foundationally, I believe, are intact despite the budget adjustments being made. And well continue to do nation leading work.
Palestinians wait to receive food cooked by a charity kitchen, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip

By Matthias Williams

LONDON (Reuters) -Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to close and leading to more children dying of hunger, United Nations aid agencies warned on Friday.

Humanitarian workers have sounded the alarm this week over the closure of the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings for aid and people into Gaza as part of Israel's military operation in Rafah, the enclave's southernmost city where around 1 million uprooted people have been sheltering.

The Israeli military said a limited operation in Rafah was meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, which governs the besieged Palestinian territory. U.N. agencies warn it could lead to a "slaughter" and put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.

"For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel," said the UNICEF Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young.

"This is already a huge issue for the population and for all humanitarian actors but in a matter of days, if not corrected, the lack of fuel could grind humanitarian operations to a halt," he told a virtual briefing.

More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in the last five days, he added.

The situation in Gaza has reached "even more unprecedented levels of emergency," Georgios Petropoulos, the head of the Gaza sub-office of UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told reporters in the same briefing.

CLOSED CROSSINGS

The closed crossings had prevented the movement of people including aid workers and medical evacuations, he said, while food shortages were pushing up prices and supplies had already been lost from the destruction and looting of warehouses.

In the next day or so, five health ministry hospitals, five field hospitals and 30 ambulances would stop without more fuel, he said, adding that any kind of meaningful safe water production in Rafah has come to a halt.

Of the 12 aid-supported bakeries in southern Gaza, eight had ceased to operate and the rest would run out of stocks by Monday.

Israel's assault on Gaza has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians and wounded nearly 80,000, most of them civilians, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said.

It launched its offensive in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas militants on Israel on Oct. 7 in which they killed about 1,200 people and abducted 252. Some 128 hostages remain in Gaza and 36 have been declared dead, according to the latest Israeli figures.

Israel's move on Rafah, where it says Hamas fighters and potentially hostages are ensconced among displaced Palestinians, began this week with the evacuation of some civilians followed by limited incursions.

The Biden administration has said it cannot support a major Rafah invasion in the absence of what it would deem a credible plan to safeguard non-combatants. Israel has said victory in the seven-month-old conflict is impossible without taking Rafah.

"At a time when people are being forced to pick up and move again, the lifesaving supplies that sustain and support them have been entirely cut off," Young said.

"Let's be very clear  this will result in children dying. Deaths that can be prevented."

(Reporting by Matthias Williams; Editing by Miranda Murray and Alex Richardson)
Ukrainian defenders are fighting off Russian forces in the Lyptsi and Vovchansk directions in the north of Kharkiv Oblast as Moscow deploys infantry and heavy equipment, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 10.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported earlier in the day that Russian forces launched an attempt to break through in Kharkiv Oblast. President Volodymyr Zelensky later confirmed that Russia was carrying out new offensive operations in the area.

There are ongoing battles for "gray zone" border settlements of Strilecha, Pylne, and Borysivka, as well as in the sectors of Oliinykove and Ohirtseve, the General Staff said. The aforementioned settlements lie along Kharkiv Oblast's border with Russia.

Ukrainska Pravda reported earlier the same day that, according to unnamed military sources, Russian forces seized Strilecha, Pylne, Krasne, and Borysivka. Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said at the time that battles in border areas were ongoing but that no territory was lost.

"Ukrainian forces are fighting on prepared defensive lines," the General Staff reported, adding that Ukrainian fire aims to "disrupt the enemy offensive."

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

Ukrainska Pravda also wrote that Russian troops were storming the outskirts of the border village of Pletenivka and that Kyiv's soldiers were blocking the advance of Russian forces near the village of Hatyshche.

When asked by the Kyiv Independent about the situation near these settlements, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said he could not confirm or deny the reports.

While the full scope of the new Russian offensive remains unclear, several Ukrainian officials pointed out that the operation appears limited and may be an attempt to draw Ukrainian forces from critical areas in the east.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine would send additional forces to reinforce the Kharkiv sector and Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast as fighting rages along the front.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Russia launches new offensive targeting Kharkiv Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Conservative attorney George Conway suggested Thursday that the cross-examination of adult film actor Stormy Daniels by former President Trumps legal team in his hush money trial this week was a complete disaster.

My takeaway was that the continued cross-examination of Stormy Daniels was a complete disaster and fiasco for the defense, Conway said during a panel appearance on CNN, adding, It just went on and on, and  they didnt have anything on her.

Conway, who is going through a divorce with former Trump aide Kellyanne Conway, has been a staunch critic of the former president. Still, he praised Trumps lawyer, Susan Necheles  the only woman defending him in the Manhattan hush money case  as a good attorney who knows how to cross-examine witnesses.

I think what happened was they had a day off  and Necheles is a very good lawyer by reputation, he said. I can even tell just by the way she conducted herself, she knows how to cross-examine a witness and knows how to ask questions.

But, he added, her client is a narcissistic sociopath  who is obsessed with proving the lie that he didnt have anything to do with Stormy Daniels.

Conway said it should not matter for the defense whether the affair actually happened, characterizing the current approach as counterproductive. He also suggested the interrogation was just garbage and embarrassing.

By keeping your cross simple and short, you can control the witness. But the longer you go, the more the witness can pop off at you, he said. And this woman is way smarter than Necheless client.

Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over the trial, scrutinized the Trump teams legal strategy for not objecting more during Danielss Tuesday testimony when facing questioning from the prosecution.

Daniels, whose real name is Stephanie Clifford, described her alleged sexual encounter with the former president in 2006 in graphic detail. Prosecutors even asked Daniels if the former president had a condom on during their alleged encounter, which Merchan acknowledged went a bit far.

I agree, that shouldnt have come out, the judge said Thursday, responding to the defense. I wish those questions hadnt been asked, and I wish those answers hadnt been given.

But for the life of me, I dont know why Ms. Necheles didnt object, Merchan continued. Why on earth she wouldnt object to a mention of a condom, I dont understand.

At the end of proceedings Thursday, Trumps attorneys sought a mistrial for the second time based on Danielss testimony  which Merchan again denied.

The former president is facing 34 counts of falsifying business records related to a payment he made to Daniels in 2016 to keep quiet about the alleged affair from 2006. Trump has repeatedly denied the affair and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
In the modern world, the nuclear threat seems a relic of the past. But after the start of Russia's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, the world began to feel in danger again.

ADVERTISIMENT

Recently, Moscow and Minsk announced that they would conduct tactical nuclear weapons exercises. With this in mind, Defense Express talked about what similar exercises looked like in the USSR.

One of the main factors of the Cold War was the arms race, so it is not surprising that the USSR wanted to make sure that its resources were capable. It is worth noting that even then, nuclear exercises were not regular and were usually conducted as a preparation for larger events, such as the operational and strategic exercises of the army and navy codenamed "Zapad". Little is known about them, but some details were covered in N. Saichuk's book "The Shadow of Nuclear War Over Europe".

Storage of nuclear weapons

Tactical nuclear weapons were not stored directly in military units. They were kept at the Central Storage Bases, also known as "C" facilities. Weapons were also maintained there.

ADVERTISIMENT

Each of the bases had several hundred vehicles at its disposal, including special vehicles for the transportation of nuclear charges. They were equipped with workshops, and laboratories, and had to ensure the appropriate temperature regime.

It is worth noting that up to 14 such bases are known to remain in Russia.

Preparation of nuclear weapons

To bring nuclear weapons into combat readiness, their charges must be transported and docked with carriers in designated areas. This requires considerable preparation to ensure complete secrecy and safety during the daily 500-km marches and deployment of field stations.

ADVERTISIMENT

A very limited number of people were allowed to participate in the training and inspection process. Only senior military officers were allowed to visit Site C. Also, their visits had to be coordinated with KGB counterintelligence.

Inspection in 1976

In 1976, an unannounced inspection was conducted in the 28th Army of the Belarusian Military District. It was carried out in violation of regulations and without informing Moscow, and revealed that the base was unable to deliver 6 nuclear warheads within the specified time frame of 4 hours.

For 14 hours, no special vehicles were able to leave the base due to the critical technical condition.

Subsequently, the absolute secrecy and lack of necessary training negated the whole point of tactical nuclear weapons. During the exercises, there was a systematic lack of radios, camouflage nets, and special equipment. There were even cases when a nuclear convoy was simply unable to meet a missile brigade convoy.

ADVERTISIMENT

Uranus-6 exercise 1981

These exercises took place in the Odesa Military District in the 14th Combined Arms Army. They were supposed to be a control exercise to assess the system of interaction with Object C and the results of work to correct its shortcomings.

In the end, it became clear that it was quite possible to bring nuclear weapons to readiness, but this required an increase in the number of mobile missile and technical bases, the participation of specialists with skills in docking nuclear warheads with carriers, and an improvement in the communication system.

It should be added that no real nuclear warheads have been detonated during these secret exercises since at least 1962. In addition, it is likely that they were not even transported during the tests, let alone docked with carriers. Therefore, it is not known what condition the nuclear warheads themselves are currently in.

ADVERTISIMENT

Subscribe to OBOZ.UA's Telegram and Viber channels to keep up with the latest developments.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  In a letter sent to student groups Friday morning, George Washington University (GW) officials remained firm in their refusal of pro-Palestine protesters demands.

The letter was sent after protesters returned to campus Thursday night, despite the Metropolitan Police Department clearing their encampment and arresting 33 people on Wednesday.

In the letter, Vice Provost for Student Affairs and Dean of Students Colette Coleman wrote: As a registered student organization in good standing with the university that represents GW Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim students, GW invites you to engage in a dialogue regarding concerns raised during recent protests in a mutually respectful environment.

Pro-Palestine protesters return to George Washington University day after police break up encampment

Organizations were invited to meet with Coleman, as well as President Ellen Granberg, Provost Chris Bracey and Chief Financial Officer Bruno Fernandes to discuss broad community concerns, such as free speech and Islamophobia on campus.

Although the invitation was meant to create a dialogue, Coleman firmly stated that the university would not consider any changes to its endowment investment strategy, academic partnerships or SRR processes, rejecting the demands protesters had been making for weeks.

In a student-led press briefing, people said the meeting was initially scheduled for 1 p.m., the most important prayer time for Muslims. The meeting was later rescheduled for that afternoon.

Students were not happy about the initial time of the meeting  and the fact that the university already decided it would not divest.

There is no dialogue when this universitys administration has pursued the most punitive and oppressive measures under the sun against its own students and there is no dialogue when in their invitation to meet they reaffirm that they will not consider changes to GWs endowment investment strategy academic partnership or establish students rights or responsibilities proceedings, said Reem Lababdi, a GW student during the press briefing.

DC police clear pro-Palestine encampment at George Washington University; demonstrators arrested

How can we engage in productive conversation when your engagement with our community is so limited that you fail to make the conversation accessible? We see through the irony, she added.

We affirm that despite your commitment to genocide, we will continue to push for all of our demands and we will not rest till you divest, said another student.

The demonstrators, who set up their encampment on April 25, have been calling for a free Palestine, demanding GW divest from any businesses that support the Israel-Hamas war.

In an update, GW said leaders met with representatives from eight Arab, Muslim and Palestinian student organizations on Friday afternoon.

The students used the meeting to share their personal stories and perspectives and outline their requests to the university. University leaders used this space to listen and open lines of dialogue with students while reiterating their commitment to ensuring safety and free expression at GW for all student communities, the update read.

Robert Valentine said he was part of the negotiating team that met with GW leaders.

We were able to discuss and set on the table our demands and make sure they understood and that we are less interested in causal dialogue and general condolences that had been expressed by institutions, said Valentine, a GW student.

University leaders reiterated to the students that the university is not considering any changes to its current partnerships.

Students say the conversation wasnt sufficient.

We understand that issues like divestment and other financial issues are not things that happen instantaneously, but the university has presented no willingness to even commit towards any material actions in those areas, said Valentine. For now, we want to see some form of commitment that the university does have some concerning care for the well-being and humanity of Palestinian students and anti-zionist students on this campus.

The students said their next meeting is tentatively scheduled for this Sunday.

We will continue on our negotiation process to achieve that material change over the summer, said Kali Sen, a George Washington University student.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
A new project for the Mojave Water Agency aims to support strategic planning for sustainable groundwater basin management and conjunctive use projects, the agency announced.

The announcement came on Tuesday by Geoscience Support Services, Inc., a geohydrology firm that provides specialized hydrogeology and groundwater consulting and services.

Geoscience entered into a new contract with the Apple Valley-based Mojave Water Agency to evaluate groundwater resources and develop advanced recovery and management strategies. The project supports the Mojave Water Agency's mission to manage groundwater basins and address risks to sustainable water supplies.

The Mojave Water Agency's planned recharge basin viewed from the west with the California Aqueduct on the left side. The recharge basin will help store groundwater for future supply and facilitate excess water discharge back into the State Water Project.

The Mojave Water Agency, which doesnt provide water directly to homes, is charged with sustainably managing, producing, and augmenting water supplies. They are tasked with ensuring the High Desert communities groundwater aquifers are replenished or recharged by natural runoff or with water imported from the State Water Project, Californias statewide water storage and delivery systems.

As part of their groundwater management and State Water Allocation optimization goals, the Mojave Water Agency is developing the West Victorville Groundwater Banking Pilot Test Project. The project will provide information on existing groundwater conditions, including water quality and extent of the native aquifer system, as well as establishing accurate groundwater banking potential and associated recharge and recovery solutions.

Under the contract, Geoscience will evaluate the recharge areas lithologic structure, update existing groundwater modeling for the native aquifer, evaluate current groundwater quality, prepare predictive scenarios for groundwater recharge and recovery, establish basin designs for groundwater recharge facilities, and identify groundwater recovery management strategies, according to Mojave Water Agency.

Conjunctive use projects will be critical to Californias water future, and were excited to support [Mojave Water Agency's] strategic plan to ensure sustainable water supplies for years to come, Geoscience CEO Mark Williams stated.

In active conjunctive use, surface water is injected into aquifers and wells to be used as needed as part of groundwater banking, according to the Water Education Foundation.

In addition to developing water banking systems, Geoscience will prepare California Environmental Quality Act and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) documents and help identify potential state and Federal implementation funding opportunities.

Project partners include:

Stantec, Inc. will provide recharge basin design and construction along with grant funding services and is currently completing construction of the High Desert Water Bank design in the Antelope Valley for AVEK

Collier Consulting, Inc. will partner on geophysical investigations

Kleinfelder, Inc. will partner on geotechnical investigations

Kimley-Horn & Associates, Inc. will provide an environmental assessment

Governed by a seven-member board of directors, the Mojave Water Agency is one of 29 state water contractors eligible to deliver water from the California Aqueduct to ensure its 4,900-square-mile service area has a sustainable water supply.

Daily Press reporter Rene Ray De La Cruz may be reached at RDeLaCruz@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on X @DP_ReneDeLaCruz

This article originally appeared on Victorville Daily Press: Geoscience Support Services pens contract with Mojave Water Agency
Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair (R) and German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius shake hands after signing a joint declaration of intent in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has invited NATO partner Canada to enter into a joint partnership with Norway to protect infrastructure in the far north.

"Let us initiate a trilateral strategic maritime partnership with a focus on securing sea lines of communication through the northern Atlantic and Arctic," Pistorius said on Friday in the Canadian capital Ottawa at a meeting with his counterpart Bill Blair. The initiative could be the umbrella for joint activities.

Blair said that the Canadian Arctic was exposed to new and growing threats. Canada has noticed that Russia and China are positioning themselves there, he said.

"With climate change, much of the region is becoming far more accessible," Blair said. "We might have been able to rely on ice to help defend the continent, but climate change is challenging that assumption ... We know that we need to be stronger and more persistently present in the region."

The Canadian government adopted new defence policy guidelines in April. In it, the NATO member says that the most urgent task is to ensure the protection of its own sovereignty in the Arctic, where Russia has the strongest overall military presence of all states.

The considerations are based on the assumption that in the event of a military conflict with Russia in Europe, there will also be a trial of strength in the strategically important Arctic.

Climate change and challenges posed by autocratic systems - such as China - are also security policy challenges to which answers are being prepared. Canada wants to acquire additional reconnaissance capabilities and be better equipped on land and at sea.

Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair (L) receives German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa

Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair, following their meeting in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa
Boris Pistorius (L), German Minister of Defence and Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair, hold a joint press conference following their meeting in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has invited NATO partner Canada to enter into a joint partnership with Norway to protect infrastructure in the far north.

"Let us initiate a trilateral strategic maritime partnership with a focus on securing sea lines of communication through the northern Atlantic and Arctic," Pistorius said on Friday in the Canadian capital Ottawa at a meeting with his counterpart Bill Blair. The initiative could be the umbrella for joint activities.

Blair said that the Canadian Arctic was exposed to new and growing threats. Canada has noticed that Russia and China are positioning themselves there, he said.

"With climate change, much of the region is becoming far more accessible," Blair said. "We might have been able to rely on ice to help defend the continent, but climate change is challenging that assumption ... We know that we need to be stronger and more persistently present in the region."

The Canadian government adopted new defence policy guidelines in April. In it, the NATO member says that the most urgent task is to ensure the protection of its own sovereignty in the Arctic, where Russia has the strongest overall military presence of all states.

The considerations are based on the assumption that in the event of a military conflict with Russia in Europe, there will also be a trial of strength in the strategically important Arctic.

Climate change and challenges posed by autocratic systems - such as China - are also security policy challenges to which answers are being prepared. Canada wants to acquire additional reconnaissance capabilities and be better equipped on land and at sea.

Recently, the country - like other Western nations - was no longer able to reach its own target of 71,500 soldiers in the armed forces. New recruitment efforts and incentives are to be introduced in response to this. In addition, the equivalent of almost US$6 billion is to be spent on armaments within five years, and almost US$54 billion over 20 years.

Pistorius travelled to Ottawa from Washington, where he had assured the previous day that Germany is prepared to play a leading security policy role in Europe and will provide the military capabilities for this.

"Let us  the US and Germany together - shape a future with all those who stand up for freedom, peace and the rules-based international order," he said in a keynote speech at the renowned Johns Hopkins University. He had earlier held talks with US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon.

The Europeans were aware that the US was focusing its attention on the Indo-Pacific and had to react to China's armament, aggressive economic policy and striving for geopolitical dominance. Germany is determined to make a contribution to a rules-based order there too.

"I am convinced that only together, America and Europe can keep the West strong, defending it against Russia's expansionist ambitions and other actors' hunger for power and supremacy," said Pistorius.

On Friday, Canada agreed to contribute the equivalent of US$55.5 million to the German initiative to strengthen Ukraine's air defence against Russian attacks.

Germany is campaigning among its allies for increased involvement but has so far only received pledges - especially from Europe - that can only be described as small compared to the needs of the Ukrainians.

Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair (R) and German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius shake hands after signing a joint declaration of intent in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa

Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair (L) receives German Minister of Defence Boris Pistorius in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa

Boris Pistorius, German Minister of Defence, speaks during a joint press conference with Canadian Minister of Defence Bill Blair, following their meeting in Ottawa. Britta Pedersen/dpa
Marco Buschmann German Minister of Justice, speaks in a statement about the alleged agent activities of Chinese spies. Britta Pedersen/dpa

Harsher penalties will not be enough to curb the increasing aggression against politicians, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has said.

"The attempt to solve the social problem of a general brutalization of political debate with criminal law alone will fail," the politician from the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) told dpa. Nevertheless, he was prepared to look at proposals from the federal states on criminal law.

The federal and state interior ministers had met for a video conference on Tuesday following the brutal attack the Social Democratic Party's (SPD) leading candidate for the European elections in Saxony, Matthias Ecke.

In a joint resolution, the conference of interior ministers asked the justice ministers to examine as soon as possible whether "the specific injustice that can be seen in the fact that such attacks jeopardize democracy" is already sufficiently reflected in criminal law.

It should also be examined whether "the deliberate dissemination of disinformation with the aim of influencing elections or escalating violence constitutes a criminal offence."

Attacks on politicians have been on the rise.

On May 3, Ecke was putting up posters in Dresden when he was beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized

On Tuesday, a man hit Berlin's top economic official, Franziska Giffey of the SPD on the back of the head in a public library.

The leading Green Party candidate for the city council, Yvonne Mosler, was jostled and threatened while putting up election posters in Dresden.

According to the police, two members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the state parliament were verbally and physically attacked by suspected opponents of the party in Stuttgart on Wednesday.
Germany's Justice Minister Marco Buschmann sits on a plane during an interview on his way from Berlin to Venice. Anne-Beatrice Clasmann/dpa

Harsher penalties will not be enough to curb the increasing aggression against politicians, Justice Minister Marco Buschmann has said.

"The attempt to solve the social problem of a general brutalization of political debate with criminal law alone will fail," the politician from the pro-business Free Democratic Party (FDP) told dpa. Nevertheless, he was prepared to look at proposals from the federal states on criminal law.

The federal and state interior ministers had met for a video conference on Tuesday following the brutal attack the Social Democratic Party's (SPD) leading candidate for the European elections in Saxony, Matthias Ecke.

In a joint resolution, the conference of interior ministers asked the justice ministers to examine as soon as possible whether "the specific injustice that can be seen in the fact that such attacks jeopardize democracy" is already sufficiently reflected in criminal law.

It should also be examined whether "the deliberate dissemination of disinformation with the aim of influencing elections or escalating violence constitutes a criminal offence."

Attacks on politicians have been on the rise.

On May 3, Ecke was putting up posters in Dresden when he was beaten so badly he had to be hospitalized

On Tuesday, a man hit Berlin's top economic official, Franziska Giffey of the SPD on the back of the head in a public library.

The leading Green Party candidate for the city council, Yvonne Mosler, was jostled and threatened while putting up election posters in Dresden.

According to the police, two members of the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) in the state parliament were verbally and physically attacked by suspected opponents of the party in Stuttgart on Wednesday.

Saxony wants to introduce a bill in the Bundesrat, or upper house of parliament, that would create a new criminal offence. According to the bill, influencing of public officials and elected representatives through so-called political stalking is to be penalized.

This involves threatening situations such as aggressive marches in front of a politician's home.

Buschmann said that he had not yet received the wording of the proposals from Saxony. In principle, criminal law must fulfil special requirements, he said.

"This means that we cannot use imprecise wording that would potentially criminalize legitimate behaviour."

Freedom of assembly is a valuable liberty, and citizens are also allowed to criticize a politician.

"This must be precisely differentiated from an unacceptable threatening situation," emphasized the justice minister.
COLOGNE, Germany  The German government will buy three HIMARS launchers from U.S. military stocks and give them to Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in Washington.

The swap essentially follows through on a weapons transfer workaround designed when the fate of a $61 billion bill for military aid to Ukraine was still iffy in Congress. Lawmakers eventually passed the measure in late April following months of uncertainty amid resistance from isolationist Republicans aligned with ex-President Trump.

The decision of Congress has overtaken us, but were sticking with it, Pistorius told reporters on May 9, referring to the planned purchase that will cost Berlin roughly $30 million, as Der Spiegel reported.

Ukrainian officials have described the High Mobility Artillery Rocket System, made by Lockheed Martin, as pivotal in repelling Russias initial assault wave in 2022.

Pistorius was on a trip to meet defense leaders in the United States and Canada this week, returning to Germany on Friday.

He came prepared with figures underlining the defense-industrial cooperation between Berlin and Washington, ties that he described as essential beyond the lofty talk of two democracies aligned on values. Germany has 380 contracts with U.S. defense companies, amounting to 23 billion, or $25 billion, Pistorius said.

Big-ticket U.S. weapons ordered by Germany in recent years include Lockheeds F-35 fighter jet, Boeings P-8 Poseidon maritime-surveillance aircraft and Chinook transport helicopters, as well as Raytheons Patriot air-defense system.
Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova arrived in Kyiv on May 10 for a "farewell" visit. She said she had good news about helping Ukraine.

ADVERTISIMENT

"Today I arrived in Kyiv on a farewell visit. I am here for the fourth time during my tenure, the third time during the war. I am also here because I have good news about Slovakia's assistance to Ukraine," Zuzana Chaputova wrote on Facebook.

Later, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy commented on her arrival in the capital, publishing a video of the meeting.

According to him, the situation at the front was discussed during the talks.

ADVERTISIMENT

"We welcome to Ukraine Mrs. Zuzana Chaputova, the President of Slovakia, and thank her for her determination and moral leadership in this war. Today we discussed the situation at the frontline in detail. I informed about another Russian attempt to expand the offensive in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions and also about our needs, including armed forces, to thwart what the occupier is trying to do," the president wrote on his official Telegram channel.

ADVERTISIMENT

Zelenskyy added that not all of Ukraine's partners are currently fulfilling the agreements promptly, so Ukrainians need the maximum focus of Ukraine's friends to speed up supplies.

"I am grateful to every leader who helps us in this," the president said.

Earlier, Slovak presidential spokesman Martin Stryzhynets told CTK about Chaputova's visit to Kyiv but did not disclose details of his program.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to Slovak media reports, Chaputova is making farewell visits to various countries as her term of office expires in mid-June.

"I have come at the moment of saying goodbye to the presidency, and I am also glad that I can bring good news from Slovakia about helping Ukraine," she said during an overnight train ride from Poland, recalling the fundraising in Slovakia to buy ammunition for Ukraine, the Dennik N. newspaper reports.

The organizers of the campaign announced this week that the first 4 million euros raised during the fundraiser will go to purchase artillery shells that the Ukrainian army lacks.

ADVERTISIMENT

The newspaper reported that Chaputova would meet, among others, with her Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and other Ukrainian officials.

Unlike the current Slovak government of Prime Minister Robert Fico, Chaputov supports the provision of military assistance to Ukraine, Slovak media report. After taking office in the fall of 2023, Fico's government stopped supplying military equipment to Ukraine from state stocks.

ADVERTISIMENT

Chaputova's last trip as president will symbolically be to the Czech Republic. She will be replaced by Fico's ally Petr Pellegrini, who defeated diplomat Ivan Korcok in the April second round of presidential elections. Chaputova began to seek re-election.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Student protests against Israels war in Gaza have taken place at colleges and universities in at least 45 states, as well as in Mexico and Canada. There are also protests and acts of solidarity in dozens of countries in Europe, Central and South America, Australia and Asia. Given that Israel appears not willing to stop its war in Gaza  this week escalating their operation, launched in retaliation for the horrific terrorist attacks committed by Hamas on Oct. 7, into Rafah  the student protests will likely continue and evolve.

The student protests currently involve a range of actions such as teach-ins and rallies, encampments, and in a few examples occupying buildings and other spaces. The protests have been overwhelmingly peaceful. Nonetheless, it is estimated that at least 2,400 people have been arrested. Some of these arrests have involved what clearly appears to be a disproportionate use of force by police. Because of so-called security concerns, commencement ceremonies have been canceled or significantly altered at a small number of institutions such as Columbia, Emory, and the University of Southern California (USC).

For a variety of reasons, most notably, the global democracy crisis and the rise of illiberalism and the Age of Trump, the student protests against Israels war in Gaza have become a focal point for larger debates and tensions about free speech, antisemitism, identity politics, American foreign policy, the relationship of colleges and universities to the public sphere and society, and other issues of public concern here in the United States.

In an attempt to better understand the student protest movement, how the mainstream news media is misunderstanding and distorting these events, and balancing the right to free speech with reasonable concerns about antisemitism, I recently spoke with Alex Vitale, a professor of sociology at Brooklyn College where he is also the Coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project. His books include The End of Policing and City of Disorder: How the Quality of Life Campaign Transformed New York Politics and The End of Policing.

This is the first of a two-part conversation.

How are you making sense of the protests across the United States at colleges and universities in response to Israel's war in Gaza following the terrorist attacks on October 7?

It's very dramatic to see how quickly an international student movement has materialized here. And just as dramatic has been the level and intensity of repression by university administrators and police. It is also dramatic to see how quickly these protests have become part of a larger culture war narrative that in many ways is divorced from any real analysis of the situation in the Middle East. The polling data shows that young people in the United States harbor much more skepticism about America's relationship with Israel and have a greater level of concern about the human rights abuses occurring in Gaza. This explains why we have seen so many of these protests and encampments at so many universities here in the United States and also in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France, and in the Netherlands. None of this should be surprising given what we know about young people and politics and the Middle East.

As someone who interacts with college students on a near daily basis in your role as a professor, how are the protests you are seeing firsthand complicating the common stereotypes and narratives about America's young people and politics?

It's very clear to me that over the last 25 or so years that I've been teaching, college students are much more politically tuned in and engaged now. This includes events in the Middle East, but also climate change, reproductive rights, racial justice and the expansion of the civil and human rights of LGBTQ people. For me, this has been something very powerful to witness develop. The protests right now at colleges and universities also make sense in relation to the movements we've seen emerge in the last decade or so such as the Occupy movement and the Black Lives Matter movement, and other progressive attempts at social change through organizing on a large scale.

In terms of youth movements, we did not see this level of activity in the early 2000s.

The mainstream American news media with its superficial coverage and emphasis on the sensational, has really missed the larger and more important story of institution building, resource mobilization and these questions of social movement activity and how people actually become socialized into politics when they are young.

There's been a lot of hand-wringing by an older generation of establishment talking heads and pundit types that these young people don't know what they're talking about and that they are poorly informed. As I see it, these pundits and media personalities have not actually talked to any young people who are involved in these protests. Sure, they have seen the signs and graffiti and watched the news coverage of the protests and encampments. Maybe they have actually walked past an encampment one day and listened to some of the chanting. But these pundit types have not actually engaged in a serious and critical way with the protesters or taken part in the actual conversations that are happening in the tents in the middle of the night. If these pundits were actually involved and paying close attention, they would know about the intensity of the intellectual debates and discussions that are taking place among the young people who are participating in this protest movement about Israel's treatment of the people in Gaza.

One of the most interesting things about the protests that took place as part of the Black Lives Matter movement in response to the police murder of George Floyd was how racially diverse they were, how many young people were involved, and how those protesters and organizers had built on the experience of previous movements. There is a continuum to activism, and the protests against Israel's war on the people of Gaza and the surrounding region are part of that.

For example, if we look at Columbia University, initially there were attempts to have forums and to bring in speakers. The Columbia administration banned the organizations trying to do that work. They ruled that these organizations were out of bounds because of the content of their speech and banned them from campus. They couldn't get rooms; they couldn't hold events; they couldn't raise money. The administration then acts surprised when those organizations decided that direct action was necessary, which involved taking over buildings and occupying the quads. When people are denied access to deliberative channels of decision-making, they will then turn to street protests.

What is actually happening at the protests and encampments versus how the mainstream news media is depicting these events? What narrative frame is the mainstream news media imposing on the student protests?

One of the main problems is that the news media tends to look to officials and designated institutional authority figures as the only relevant sources of information. In this case that means college administrators, police officials, and mayors to tell them what is happening. The media in turn, for the most part, ignores the voices of the young people who are actually engaging in the protest activity. As a result, so much of the narrative has focused on so-called violent confrontations  which in reality are the police attacking these encampments and protesters. The news media is also focusing on a relatively small group of students who are expressing feelings of discomfort and a lack of safety because of the protests and encampments. To me, what is most disturbing is how the news media's focus on the mechanisms of the protest movement and its repression has taken the focus off of what is actually occurring in Gaza.

How do we locate these protests relative to illiberalism and the larger debates about free speech and antisemitism?

I think it's really interesting to see the way in which the extreme right of the United States, which has been historically associated with deeply antisemitic ideas, is somehow rallying to the side of Israel. These groups don't actually care at all about the well-being of Jewish people. What these right-wing groups are really concerned about is advancing a culture war that's rooted in Islamophobia, the expansion of U.S. power in the Middle East, and a kind of broad disdain for student protests about any issue. The right-wing groups are especially aroused by and hostile to any student movement that includes language about anticolonialism, liberation and racial justice. The level of disingenuousness on the part of politicians like House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., rushing up to Columbia to condemn antisemitism, while enabling exactly the kinds of social forces that blame all the country's troubles on George Soros and "Jewish media elites" is just the height of opportunistic hypocrisy.

Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.

We also need to listen more carefully to voices of dissent within the Jewish community, and to talk with them about what is really in the interests of Jewish people around the world. You will find a growing number of Jewish people who feel that the behavior of the Netanyahu government in Israel may turn out to unleash deep resentments toward Jewish people more broadly. That includes against those Jewish people who have spoken out for peace and oppose what the Israeli government is doing in Gaza. Ultimately, we need to make more central those voices who are deeply rooted in care and concern for the Jewish community internationally and have spoken out about Netanyahus policies.

The Age of Trump has seen a great increase in antisemitism and white supremacy. This also includes hate crimes and violence, some of which has been lethal. In that context, how should Jewish students, faculty, and other members of the college and university community be protected from antisemitism while also allowing free speech and protest activity  some of which may be experienced as being very threatening and uncomfortable considering October 7 and the history of existential threat and danger Jewish people have survived and triumphed over?

Any acts of violence should be treated as a very serious matter, and we should try to get to the root of who is committing that violence. Are they actually part of the university community? Are they students? I am of the belief that in some cases this violence was not something done by actual students. Disciplinary actions should most certainly be taken against students involved in that kind of behavior. We have to be careful, though, not to confuse feelings of discomfort from being on the opposite side of strongly held views with being physically threatened. Yes, we should understand that the sensitivity of some Jewish students may be heightened because of the history of attacks against Jewish peoples throughout history. We must be mindful of that, but we must insist that there be a distinction made between the expressing of what may be perceived as distasteful, unpleasant, and even, in some cases, threatening ideas, and the actual mobilization of violence and intense harassment or preventing people from having access to classes and other such behavior. Obviously, action must be taken to prevent that from happening.
Parents working from home have fuelled an unacceptable rise in pupils skipping school on Fridays, according to the Education Secretary.

Gillian Keegan claims that 50,000 more pupils are absent at the end of the week compared with Mondays. She said parents routinely pull their children out of school for holidays and extended weekends.

School absences jump by 20 per cent on Fridays while unauthorised holidays are up 25 per cent on pre-Covid levels, government figures show.

Ms Keegan said boosting attendance was her top priority after recent figures showed a record 157,000 pupils are now missing more than 50 per cent of their lessons. Around 1.7 million pupils are also said to miss more than 10 per cent, double pre-pandemic levels.

Writing in The Times, Keegan said the Covid pandemic has had a major impact on school attendance, adding that there are still too many children whose attendance hasnt yet recovered.

Lockdowns during the pandemic are believed to have weakened the social expectation that children ought to attend school every day. Around 30 per cent of parents said that the pandemic showed it is not essential for children to attend school every day, according to the Centre for Social Justice (CSJ).

A rise in mental-health problems among young people is also thought to have contributed to absences, the CSJ said.

Major challenges regarding unauthorised holiday absence

Ms Keegan wants to restore pre-pandemic social norms and emphasised it is unacceptable to take a deliberate decision to take your child out of school.

Children with runny noses and minor illnesses are no longer expected to stay at home, the Education Secretary said, stressing that those with mild anxiety should also attend school.

Absence rates increased from 4.7 per cent in 2019 to 7.6 per cent in 2021 and currently stand at 7 per cent.

Ms Keegan said: There are still major challenges with data showing unauthorised holiday absence increasing by 25 per cent and that there are regularly 50,000 more pupil absences on Fridays compared with Mondays, which could be linked with many parents working from home.

Overall absence rates are 6.6 per cent on Wednesdays, rising to 7.8 per cent on Fridays, according to daily data for the current academic year.

The trend is more pronounced for unauthorised absences, which are 20 per cent higher on Fridays compared with Wednesdays.

The gap is largest for primary school pupils, suggesting parents are driving absenteeism. Primary pupils are 21 per cent more likely to miss school on Fridays and 24 per cent more likely to be absent without a reason.

Ms Keegan argued that detailed data means targeting problem areas with attendance mentors is possible.

She said: Where this support-first approach does not work, we have increased the minimum fine by 20 up to 80.

Every day a child is absent means they will miss on average five to six lessons  time they will never get back.

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.
Girlfriend of slain surfer found in Mexico shares voice message he left her

Days after Australian surfer Callum Robinson, his brother Jake Robinson and his friend Jack Carter Rhoad were discovered dead in Baja California, Mexico, Callums girlfriend, Emily Horwath, is speaking out.

Over the last several days, Horwath has been using social media to memorialize her beloved Callum. For holidays/birthdays, Cal and I always bought each other experience that we could share together. For Christmas, he gifted me a bridge climb and zip line, she wrote alongside a video of the two of them zip lining.

Callum Robinsons girlfriend, Emily Horwath, has shared several photos and videos of the slain surfer after his death. Screengrab from Emily Horwath's Instagram page

Knowing my fear of heights he always tried to push me outside of my comfort to enjoy things I would never do on my own.

Horwath said her heart is shattered into a million pieces, after learning about Callums death. I dont have the words right now.

You are one of one. I will love you forever, she continued before sharing a voice message she received from Callum, which she says she will play on repeat.

Happy Tuesday. Good morning. Its 11:11 and Im just thinking about you. Just wanted to drop you a quick message and say, hello, baby, Callum says in the voice message. Hope youre having a phenomenal start to your day. Im sensing a big grin on your face for some reason today. I hope youre full of positivity and smiles. Cheers baby. Miss ya.

Emily Horwath shared an emotional voice message Callum Robinson left her. Screengrab from Emily Horwath's Instagram page

Alongside his words, she wrote, Thats exactly who you were. Positivity and smiles.

According to E! News, Callum Robinson, Jake Robinson, Rhoad and an unnamed fourth victim were discovered on May 5 in a deep well not far from their campsite, authorities said.

The three men were found with gunshot wounds to the head, Ensenada medical examiners office told NBC News. Prosecutors said they were killed during a carjacking, the outlet reported.

A suspect has been indicted on charges of forced disappearance, CNN reports.
Roger Fortson's girlfriend provided the video, obtained by PEOPLE, after authorities released body camera footage of the police shooting on Friday, May 3

U.S. Air Force via AP Senior Airman Roger Fortson

A Florida law enforcement officer shot a U.S. airman multiple times inside his apartment, according to the officer's body camera footage.

Now, in the recorded FaceTime call between the victim, Roger Fortson, and his girlfriend  a portion of which was obtained to PEOPLE  the 23-year-old Black man can be heard gasping for air.

In the background, first-responders say he was shot six times, three times in the chest.

The Okaloosa County sheriffs deputy, who has not been publicly named, knocked at the senior airmans off-base apartment in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on Friday, May 3, in response to a call of a disturbance in progress, Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said in a statement.

Related: Deputies Who Fatally Shot U.S. Airman Roger Fortson Burst Into Wrong Apartment, Attorney Says

In partially blurred and muted body camera footage obtained by AL.com and reviewed by PEOPLE, the deputy does not appear to identify himself when he first knocks.

He then moves away from the door, seemingly out of sight. (A mans voice inside the apartment is inaudible except for the word police.)

The deputy knocks twice more, each time with the command: Sheriffs office, open the door!

Opening the door, Fortson holds to his side what appears to be a gun, pointed at the ground.

Step back, the officer commands, quickly firing multiple rounds.

Fortson falls backward.

With the airman on the ground, the officer then commands: Drop the gun! Drop the gun!

Its over there! Fortson responds.

Drop the gun! the officer repeats.

I dont have it! Fortson says.

Speaking into his radio, the deputy reports: 312, shots fired, suspect down.

Fortson rolls onto his side.

Do not move! the office orders.

The body camera footage ends with the officer requesting EMS.

Ben Crump Around the 8-second mark (pictured) of this partial FaceTime recording obtained by PEOPLE, Roger Fortson can be heard crying out. I cant breathe! he says.

The recorded FaceTime call  provided to PEOPLE through civil rights lawyer Ben Crump who represents Fortsons family  picks up after Fortson is shot.

Groaning, Fortson cries: I cant breathe!

His camera is aimed at the ceiling fan.

Do not move! Stop moving! the officer shouts.

Fortson died at the hospital.

Sheriff Aden said in a Tuesday, May 7 statement that his deputy encountered an armed man and the deputy shot the man.

The deputy is on administrative leave. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement and the State Attorneys Office are investigating the shooting.

At this time, we humbly ask for our communitys patience as we work to understand the facts that resulted in this tragic event, Aden added.

Minutes before the shooting, the officer  who in body camera footage appears to be unaccompanied  discusses with two people at the apartment building an alleged argument between a man and a woman, leading up to the call.

One of them directs the officer to apartment 1401.

ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Civil rights attorney Ben Crump has represented many Black families following fatal encounters with police, including George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, who, like Roger Fortson, was shot inside her home.

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.

In a set of press releases issued by Crump, Fortsons family claims the police had the wrong apartment, and there was no disturbance there as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment.

Fortson  who enlisted in the military after graduating high school and was an active-duty special operations serviceman who had just returned from Kuwait and had no criminal record  was home alone, his family says, when he heard a very aggressive knock on the door.

Seeing no one through his peep hole, they claim he asked Who is it?

Receiving no response, they say he then retrieved his legally-owned gun.

After law enforcement released the body camera footage, Crump emailed a statement to PEOPLE from the family saying it was very troubling that the deputy fired multiple times within a split second of the door being opened without first giving verbal commands for Fortson to drop his weapon.

The footage, they said has: raised even more troubling questions.

In a statement emailed to PEOPLE, Crump said, "It is a harrowing tragedy that Roger dedicated his life to serving his country and defending our constitutional rights and in the end, his constitutional rights were violated, leading to his death."

The statement added, The second amendment afforded Roger the right to own a gun and yield it as protection when he was unsure who was on the other side of his door. It is clear that this officer needs to be investigated and held accountable for the execution of Roger. We will not rest until there is justice for Roger and his family."



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Tri-Cities Democrats are doing some political jockeying to flip a county commission seat, and a Tri-Cities candidate for Washington governor says he plans to file Friday.

The Thursday developments come as the list of candidates running for election in 2024 nears completion.

Candidates running for federal, state and county offices this year have until 5 p.m. Friday, May 10, to file paperwork with the Washington Secretary of States Office to get on the ballot.

All partisan positions will appear on the Aug. 6 primary ballot, regardless of how many candidates file. Non-partisan races need to attract three or more candidates to appear in the primary, in most cases.

The top-two vote recipients will move on to the Nov. 5 general election.

Ana Ruiz Kennedy, chair of Franklin Countys Democrat Party, has pulled out of the race for the District 2 county commission position and filed instead for the state Legislature.

The commission seat is currently held by Rocky Mullen, a two-term Republican commissioner and local business owner.

On Wednesday, Pasco City Councilwoman Blanche Barajas filed to run against Mullen as an independent.

Ruiz Kennedy chose to bow out of the race after hearing this week that a Yakima Democrat, Raul Martinez, was reconsidering his run for the 14th Legislative District seat being vacated by Rep. Gina Mosbrucker, R-Goldendale.

She filed to run Thursday morning after seeing that Martinez would not be running.

Mosbrucker was forced into retirement this year after a judge ordered new legislative district maps following a redistricting lawsuit that forced her out of her home district. The new maps also give Democrats a slight political advantage over Republicans in the 14th.

Washington Democrats are now hoping to flip seats in the district, which encompasses parts of the Yakima Valley and includes Latino strongholds like Pasco and Yakima.

As it stands Ruiz Kennedys only competition is Deb Manjarrez, an apple farmer from Wapato who filed as a Republican. If no one else joins, theyll bypass the primary and move on to the general election.

WA governor race

In the race for Washington governor, rumors had been swirling about why Richland Republican Semi Bird had yet to register to run in the race. Last month, he earned the sole endorsement of delegates at the Washington State Republican Party Convention.

On Thursday, Birds campaign announced plans to gather Friday morning at the Benton County Voting Center in Richland to see the first Black candidate file in-person as a Republican gubernatorial candidate and witness a historic moment in our state history.

Once filed, Bird will face off against Democrat Bob Ferguson, the state attorney general, and Republican Dave Reichert in August in the open race to succeed Gov. Jay Inslee.

Other key filings in state, federal, local races:

U.S. Senator

Maria Cantwell, Democrat, incumbent

Chuck Jackson, Independent

Paul L. Giesick, Democrat

Dr. Raul Garcia, Republican

Henry C. Dennison, Socialist Workers

David Titon, Nonpartisan

Mel Ram, Republican

Scott Nazarino, Republican

Thor Amundson, Independent

U.S. House Washington 4th District

Dan Newhouse, Republican, incumbent

Tiffany Smiley, Republican

Jerrod Sessler, Republican

Benny Garcia, Independent

WA State Legislature  District 8

House, Position 1: Stephanie Barnard, Republican, incumbent

House, Position 2: April Connors, Republican, incumbent

WA State Legislature  District 14

House, Position 1: Chelsea Dimas, Democrat

House, Position 1: Gloria Mendoza, Republican

House, Position 2: Ana Ruiz Kennedy, Democrat

House, Position 2: Deb Manjarrez, Republican

Senate: Curtis King, Republican, incumbent

Senate: Maria Belstran, Democrat

WA State Legislature  District 15

House, Position 1: Chris Corry, Republican

House, Position 2: Jeremie Default, Republican

WA State Legislature  District 16

House, Position 1: Mark Klicker, Republican, incumbent

House, Position 1: Linda Gunshefski, Democrat

House, Position 2: Skyler Rude, Republican, incumbent

Senate: Perry Dozier, Republican, incumbent

Benton County Commission

District 1: Jerome Delvin, Republican, incumbent

District 1: Jeff J. Smart, Republican

District 3: Will McKay, Republican, incumbent

District 3: Zach Fluharty, Independent

Franklin County Commission

District 1: Stephen Bauman, Republican, appointed incumbent

District 1: Paul L. Frenzel, Republican

District 2: Rocky Mullen, Republican, incumbent

District 2: Blanche Barajas, Independent

Benton-Franklin Superior Court Judge

Position 1: Dave Petersen, incumbent

Position 2: Joe Burrowes, incumbent

Position 3: Diane N. Ruff, incumbent

Position 4: Norma Rodriguez, incumbent

Position 5 (no incumbent): Bronson J. Brown

Position 5 (no incumbent): Shawn P. Sant

Position 6: Jacqueline Stam, incumbent

Position 7: Jackie Shea-Brown, incumbent

Benton Public Utility Commission

Position 3: Barry Bush, incumbent

Position 3: Mike Massey

Franklin Public Utility Commission

District 3: Stu Nelson, incumbent

District 3: Pedro Torres
Immigrants line up at a remote U.S. Border Patrol processing center after crossing the U.S.-Mexico border on Dec. 7, 2023 in Lukeville, Arizona. Photo by John Moore | Getty Images

A Republican-backed plan to convince voters to duplicate federal immigration enforcement by letting police officers arrest migrants and Arizona judges deport them could end up costing the state at least $325 million every year.

GOP lawmakers in the state legislature, angry at Gov. Katie Hobbs refusal to approve their border policies, moved this week to send a series of rejected proposals to the November ballot in the hopes that voters will greenlight them instead.

Dubbed the Secure the Border Act, the wide-ranging legislation package makes it a state crime to for migrants to cross the border anywhere but at a port of entry, criminalizes undocumented Arizonans who submit false information to apply for jobs or public benefits, and drastically enhances the prison sentences for people whos sale of fentanyl later results in an overdose death.

On Thursday, the Grand Canyon Institute, a non-partisan think tank, released a report estimating that the legislation has the potential to cost Arizona taxpayers at least $325 million every year its enforced  and possibly much more.

Supporters of the measure have defended it as necessary to safeguard public safety in the state and waved away concerns over expense, even as Arizona faces a budget deficit of $1.3 billion.

At a May 8 news conference, Senate Warren Petersen, who co-sponsored an earlier version of the state crime proposal that was later vetoed by Hobbs, said the benefits outweighed any costs it could incur. At the time, no estimates of its potential price tag were available, and GOP lawmakers have yet to add any funding allocation to the proposal, but have been quick to guarantee the legislature can cover it.

We will always fund public safety, obviously, Petersen said. You know what the true costs are? The true costs are the law-breaking and the insane amount of people  we are going to save money by creating a deterrent.

On Thursday, House Speaker Ben Toma, the sponsor of the proposals underlying legislation and a key backer of the new version, struck a similar tone in response to the estimate.

Democrats deliberate open-border policies have inflicted devastating, long-lasting harm to Arizona communities, he said, in a written statement. Illegal immigration costs American taxpayers untold billions. People have had enough and want something done. In November their voices will be heard.

If the majority of the voters approve this bill, anticipating that local law enforcement will become more involved in border security, border enforcement, then were going to be coming to all our elected leaders and asking you to honor the will of the voters and provide the resources necessary to enforce the bill that they passed.

 Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes

In a post on social media site X, formerly Twitter, Hobbs blasted the proposal as wrong for Arizona.

This job-killing ballot referral that attacks our communities will not keep our border secure. Instead, it will cost Arizona untold amounts of money and put a black eye on the states reputation, she wrote.

Where does the estimate come from?

The border policy package is made up of several different provisions, each of which has its own associated costs. If voters approve the proposal, local and state officials will be forced to carry its mandates out  and a constitutional provision protecting voter-approved laws means legislators wont be able to change them in the future.

The most controversial part of the proposal is a bid to give Arizona police the power to enforce federal immigration law. Under it, migrants who cross the border anywhere except for a port of entry would face a misdemeanor charge, punishable with up to 6 months in jail. Repeat offenders would face longer sentences. That part of the proposal is modeled on a Texas law that is currently tied up in the courts.

The Grand Canyon Institute relied on the costs incurred by the Texas law when it was briefly in effect to determine the potential costs in Arizona. The institute estimates that the Lone Star State allocated roughly $425 million on an annual basis to enforce the law. That amount paid for the deployment of 2,500 national guardsmen, special operations personnel and equipment, criminal justice and court administration costs and some health-related expenses.

Because Arizona has a shorter border than Texas, and the rate of migrant encounters in the Arizona sectors are marginally lower than those in the Lone Star state, Grand Canyon Institute researchers estimate Arizona would only be on the hook for $185 million.

Another part of the proposal Republicans want to send to the November ballot would make it a class 6 felony for undocumented Arizonans to submit false information or documentation to evade detection through E-Verify, an online federal database some businesses use to confirm the employment eligibility of potential hires.

The Grand Canyon Institute projects this provision alone could force taxpayers to fork over $140 million every year so that local prosecutors can identify and convict people guilty of falsifying their information. But that steep price doesnt mean crime rates will be reduced. In fact, GCI concluded, with county prosecutorial offices busy looking for non-violent undocumented offenders, criminal activity could worsen.

Assuming the national rate tentative nonconfirmation of 1.1% is the same in Arizona, only about 9,000 Arizonans are possibly guilty of falsifying their documents. But the actual number of offenders is probably lower, and thats because tentative nonconfirmation  when the E-Verify program cant fully confirm someones employment eligibility  doesnt automatically mean someone submitted falsified documents. In the end, reads the report, the mandate to find and prosecute undocumented offenders will draw resources away from local public safety efforts, as happened under Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio. The Republican focused his office on immigration sweeps, and accumulated case backlogs.

Placing 9,000 arrest warrants out, and dedicating law enforcement forces to this task risks what occurred under former Sheriff Arpaio, which led to a decline in focus on other criminal activity as well as exceeding budgets, reads the Institutes report, which also cited a 2008 report written by Arizona Supreme Court Justice Clint Bolick when he was an executive at the Goldwater Institute.

That concern is also shared by Arizona law enforcement officials. During a May 8 news conference, Yavapai County Sheriff David Rhodes, who has been a staunch supporter of the GOP legislation, said that he expected law enforcement agencies on the border would need to hire more personnel. And while the proposal doesnt currently include any funding, he told lawmakers during a committee hearing on the legislation that, if voters direct law enforcement agencies to uphold it, he and others would need to return to the legislature to request an allocation.

If the majority of the voters approve this bill, anticipating that local law enforcement will become more involved in border security, border enforcement, then were going to be coming to all our elected leaders and asking you to honor the will of the voters and provide the resources necessary to enforce the bill that they passed, he said.

Two other provisions in the proposal punish those convicted of selling fentanyl that was later linked to a death with a minimum of 9 and up 15 years in prison, and makes it a class 6 felony for undocumented Arizonans to apply for public benefits with falsified documents. The Grand Canyon Institute report has no specific costs associated with those parts of the proposal, but it does note that the rate at which Arizona receives federal benefits is so low that the rate of falsified documents submitted by undocumented Arizonans is likely relatively small.

The report adds that, while it doesnt make an estimate on what the impact of increasing sentences for fentanyl dealers would be, there are far better tools to deal with fentanyl than this approach.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post GOPs Secure the Border plan will cost at least $325 million a year: report appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
A coalition of Republican senators are demanding an investigation into the nonprofit organizations that have supported pro-Palestinian protests that have raged on college campuses across the country.

In a letter addressed to Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Commissioner Daniel Werfel, the senators, led by Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa), asked for a probe into several organizations that have engaged in conduct warranting revocation of their tax-exempt statuses on the basis of their financial support of the National Students for Justice in Palestine (NSJP) group.

The senators noted that one nonprofit, AJP Educational Foundation, was already under investigation.

Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares (R) opened an investigation into the group, also known as American Muslims for Palestine, in October for potential violations of the states charitable solicitation laws or for providing support to terrorist organizations.

The letter said that in the past, the IRS has revoked nonprofits of their tax-exempt status when organizations have planned activities that violate laws or engage in activity that could induce crime.

We should not need to remind you of the heinous support NSJP chapters across the country have voiced for Hamas, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO), the letter said.

The senators noted that support for NSJP has exploded in recent weeks, with pro-Palestine protests over the ongoing war in Gaza occurring at more than 400 college campuses nationwide. Students are calling on their universities to divest from Israeli companies or companies that supply Israel with weapons in its fight against Hamas.

In light of this abhorrent support for an FTO, we call on you to initiate an investigation to determine whether financial supporters of NJSP  have engaged in conduct warranting their tax-exempt status to be stripped. the coalition wrote in the letter, specifically calling out AJP, the Westchester Peace Action Committee Foundation and the Tides Foundation.

The group said they hope to hear back from the IRS by May 23.

Ernst shared the letter in a post on social platform X, saying any organization enabling activity that violates the law should lose their tax-exempt status.

The letter is signed by Ernst, along with Republican Sens. Bill Cassidy (La.), Marco Rubio (Fla.), Thom Tillis (N.C.), Markwayne Mullin (Okla.), Roger Marshall (Kan.), Kevin Cramer (N.D.), Mike Crapo (Idaho), Dan Sullivan (Ark.), James E. Risch (Idaho), John Thune (S.D.), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), Mitt Romney (Utah) and Katie Britt (Ala.).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Two bills have been sent back to the Kansas Legislature for further debate after Governor Laura Kelly vetoed them Friday.

Kelly announced her veto decisions on May 10 for a bill preventing other nations from owning land in Kansas and another dealing with abortion law. More information, including Kellys reasoning for each veto decision, can be found below:

Substitute Bill for Senate Bill 172

Creates the Kansas land and military installation protection act to prohibit foreign principals from countries of concern from holding any interest in certain real property in Kansas, according to the legislature.

While I agree that it is important for our state to implement stronger protections against foreign adversaries, this legislation contains multiple provisions that are likely unconstitutional and cause unintended consequences. Many of the provisions in House Substitute for Senate Bill 172 are overly broad and not narrowly tailored to enhance our states security while limiting the disruption of legitimate investment and business relationships. Additionally, the retroactive nature of this legislation raises further serious constitutional concerns. I am not willing to sign a bill that has the potential to hurt the states future prosperity and economic development. If the Legislature is serious about protecting Kansans from foreign adversaries, it should consider more narrow, forward-looking proposals that are focused on bad actors while ensuring legitimate business relationships with potential trading partners and small businesses are not impacted. Gov. Laura Kelly

Multiple Ascension health services impacted by cybersecurity incident

Im deeply disappointed that the governor vetoed this critical legislation. Kansas, like the rest of our nation, faces serious threats from foreign adversaries, and this decision leaves our state vulnerable. I remain committed to protecting our military installations and ensuring that the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries do not compromise Kansass safety. Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter

This veto is beyond disappointing, leaving Kansas, its military bases, and critical resources wide open for adversarial foreign governments. The assets of this state are too important for us to sit on our hands and wait until its too late. This bill was carefully designed with input from everyone who wanted a say on how we should move forward. We will continue our fight to strengthen the security of our home. House Majority Leader Chris Croft

Substitute Bill for Senate Bill 232

Provides for child support orders for unborn children from the date of conception, according to language in the bill.

This divisive legislation has broad and sweeping implications that undermine the will of the majority of Kansans who voted overwhelmingly in 2022 to protect the constitutional rights of women to make decisions about pregnancy. This is another blatant attempt by extreme politicians in the Legislature to take more control over women and their families personal, private medical decisions. Kansans already made it very clear that they dont want lawmakers involved in personal matters. Its time we listen to them. As I have said before, I refuse to sign legislation that goes against the will of the majority of Kansans who voted on August 2, 2022. Gov. Laura Kelly

Kansas gov. signs off on multiple new laws

Women facing an unexpected pregnancy need support long before the baby is born. Between doctors appointment copays, sonograms, and other costs, prenatal expenses can get very pricey for women to handle simply on their own. The Governors veto of this bill has failed Kansas women by dismissing financial accountability for the father. House Majority Leader Chris Croft, Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter and House Speaker Dan Hawkins joint statement

For more Capitol Bureau news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
California could cut, delay services for undocumented residents in budget proposed by Newsom

California Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed eliminating a health service and delaying food benefits for undocumented Californians, yet again, in his new budget plan released Friday morning.

His proposed budget would cut funding for in-home supportive services for thousands of undocumented Californians starting in July and push back the expansion of the food assistance benefits until 2027. Newsom held back funding for the programs as his administration unveiled its $288 billion revised state budget and seek ways to close a projected $28 billion deficit without cutting programs that are already providing services to Californians.

The suggested cut and delay would save the state roughly $240 million, according to the governors budget plan.

If the resources present themselves this would be a top priority to put back in and we would encourage the legislature to consider that as they consider this proposal itself, said Newsom on Friday, referring to the food benefits delay.

But advocates expressed disappointment at the proposed cuts and delay, emphasizing the extreme need for these services.

Under Newsoms budget plan, an estimated 14,000 Californians who are aged, blind and disabled would have home care services cut off due to their immigration status.

These services are often used as an alternative to nursing homes and for people to live with dignity in their home, said Anthony Wright, executive director of Health Access California.

Removing funding from these services could result in further impoverishment and increased state spending on expensive nursing home care, Wright said. This home care cut for immigrant families is not just picking on a particular population, but penny-wise and pound-foolish.

The budget maintains health care benefits to undocumented immigrants in other ways, most notably sustaining funds for the Medi-Cal eligibility of all low-income undocumented age groups.

I think thats foundational, something I believe in, Newsom said. Its a core of who I think who we are as a state and we should be as a nation.

Newsoms budget revisions would also postpone the expansion of the food assistance benefits by two years.

Implementation of the food benefits was expected to begin in October 2025. Immigrants living in the U.S. without legal status are currently not eligible for the state-funded version of food stamps, known as the California Food Assistance Program.

Nearly half of these Californians deal with food insecurity, according to an April 2022 report by Nourish California.

Were the fifth largest economy in the world and oftentimes unfortunately, and disproportionately, when we see budget cuts, they often target immigrants and communities of color, said Masih Fouladi, executive director for the California Immigrant Policy Center.

It is the second straight year Newsom proposed such a delay.

Last year, Newsom proposed delaying the issuance of these food benefits to 2027. He later moved the issuance date back to 2025 following months of criticism from advocates.

My hope and read on that is the governor sees how important having access to food for undocumented residents aged 55 and older is, Fouladi said.
Former Commander-in-Chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who today officially became Ukraine's Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the UK, has published a photo of what he looked like before he served. Presumably, the first photo (below) was taken when Zaluzhnyi was studying at the Odesa Institute of Land Forces.

ADVERTISIMENT

The general did not comment neither on the latest events in Ukraine nor on his dismissal and appointment. After he was dismissed from the post of commander-in-chief, he virtually disappeared from the public space, showing online only. However, even here he avoids commenting. His last post on Facebook consists of only two photos.

In a few hours, these photos gained more than 35 thousand likes and almost two hundred comments. The general's post was commented on by both celebrities and ordinary Ukrainians.

MP Sofia Fedyna noted that she would now be waiting for the third photo, this time from the diplomatic front.

ADVERTISIMENT

Odesa MP Kostyantyn Oborin wrote that he would be glad to "meet with Mr. Commander-in-Chief again" (but did not specify where exactly).

Vlasta Shovkovska, a well-known volunteer, noted that Zaluzhnyi is "our pride" and wished him success in his new job.

Of course, she wasn't the only one who wished him success: perhaps every other comment contained such wishes.

There were also many words of gratitude regarding our country. For example, "Thank you for Ukraine" was written by actress Natalia Vasko and MP Yulia Yatsyk.

Interestingly, the latter (an MP from the Servant of People Party) said, "You had confidence in victory, now only faith remains."

ADVERTISIMENT

And these are not all the famous people who left comments on Zaluzhnyi's post.

By the way, the 50-year-old general has no diplomatic experience as he devoted his life to his military career. But in 2020, he completed his master's degree in International Relations at the Ostroh Academy.

Recently, Valerii Zaluzhnyi has been admired online for showing photos of the results of his training. The general does not give up shooting.

The former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, whose dismissal was announced in February, had been speaking honestly and frankly about the war for two years and answering journalists' pointed questions. His comments rarely resembled a "warm bath." It was Zaluzhnyi who was able to "sober up" the world, which was expecting a lightning-fast and easy victory over the occupiers.

ADVERTISIMENT

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen addresses the first of his town hall meetings to boost support for his property tax relief proposals in Bellevue as State Sen. Rita Sanders listens in front row. May 3, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN  Gov. Jim Pillen announced Friday the second of his property tax relief town halls, setting the next one in Grand Island ahead of a promised special session.

Pillens second stop will be one of many, his office states, before a special session is expected to be scheduled in late July. The tour comes as the governor remains committed to pitching to voters $2 billion of relief from the states $5 billion in annually collected property taxes.

Lawmakers have already made strides of up to $1 billion of that goal, but the governor is trying to find the remaining relief to finish his 40% goal.

The Grand Island town hall will be Friday, May 17, at 1:30 p.m. at The Hideout, 1607 S Locust St., Suite C.

A schedule of future town halls has not been released.

Nebraskans across the state have made clear that they expect state leaders to solve the property tax crisis, Pillen said in a Friday statement.

While we are counting on the Legislature to develop the right solution, all Nebraskans must be part of this conversation, the governor continued. The Legislature failed to pass any property tax relief in the regular session but we will finish the job in a special session.

Pillen wants lawmakers to pull forward, or front-load, about $750 million in already approved income tax credits for property taxes paid, he said May 3 at Bellevue University.

Another $248 million in property tax relief has already come as the state picks up more of the tab for community colleges, rounding out the first $1 billion in relief.

The governor has remained firm in suggestions to increase the state sales tax by up to a 1-cent, which would raise nearly $500 million. Critics have said that doing so wouldnt lower taxes.

Pillen has also suggested fewer sales tax exemptions in order to broaden the base.

Some lawmakers already gave those ideas a cold shoulder in the spring, which led the key sponsor of this years bill  State Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn  to pull her proposal, Legislative Bill 388, before a final vote on the last legislative session day in April.

Linehan, the Legislatures Revenue Committee chair, said Pillen gave all kinds of warnings of a special session, so she wasnt surprised he committed to calling one.

Ive already told the Revenue Committee that were going to be working this summer, she told the Nebraska Examiner on April 18.

The post Gov. Pillen announces second property tax relief town hall in Grand Island appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
Gov. Wes Moore calls for Democrats to unite after Maryland US Senate primary

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (DC News Now)  Maryland Governor Wes Moore is weighing in on the very tight Democratic U.S. Senate matchup in next Tuesdays primary.

DC News Now and its partners, Emerson College and The Hill, conducted a poll showing a tight race between Prince George County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Representative David Trone.

Alsobrooks leads Trone in Senate race, DC News Now poll finds; either would beat Hogan

Regardless of who wins, it is important that the Democratic Party unites in the fall, Moore said.

Im looking forward to the contest, he said. And then I am very much looking forward to the state and the party uniting to make sure we are victorious in November.

Right now, former Maryland Governor Larry Hogan is leading the Republican primary for U.S. Senate.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  On Friday, May 10, Governor Jared Polis will kick off his 2024 bill-signing tour in Colorado Springs and Pueblo. He will be signing bills to support agriculture, strengthen Colorados workforce, and reduce housing costs across the state.

His first stop will be in Colorado Springs, where he will sign HB24-1304, a bill that prohibits the enforcement of minimum parking requirements for real property within a metropolitan planning organization. This bill will help reduce housing costs.

After that, he will visit Pueblo, where he will sign SB24-020, a bill allowing businesses licensed to serve alcoholic beverages to continue the delivery of said beverages for consumption off of licensed premises.

Finally, he will make a second stop in Pueblo to sign HB24-1030, a bill that imposes safety requirements on railroads operating trains in Colorado.

For a closer look at the bills Governor Polis is signing Friday, click on the links above.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
A severe thunderstorm watch is in effect for northeast Florida and southeast Georgia until noon Friday.

A watch means to watch out. It means conditions are favorable for severe weather.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

First Alert Meteorologist Corey Simma expects rain to move into our area between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m., then clear out by noon.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Read: American Red Cross assisting after fire on Northside leaves 19 without homes

We can expect another band of storms to move in later this afternoon, so the evening commute could be a wet one.

Tonight, the rain clears, and the First Alert Weather team is forecasting a fabulous Mothers Day weekend.

Read: Education Commissioner expresses concerns in letter sent to DCPS about student safety

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
This week Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) delivered another classic grandstanding moment during a Senate budget hearing . Citing reports that President Biden was pausing weapons shipments to Israel, Graham expressed his displeasure with his usual demonstrative hand gestures and a well-timed table slap. He even leaned back and licked his lips after asking the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., about dropping atomic bombs to end World War II.

If we stop weapons necessary to destroy the enemies of the state of Israel at a time of great peril, we will pay a price, Graham said. Give Israel what they need to fight the war they cant afford to lose. This is Hiroshima and Nagasaki on steroids.

First, it bears mentioning that Graham recently voted against the $95 - billion foreign aid package  which included weapons for Israel  because Donald Trump told him to. Second, since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, the U.S. has made good on more than 100 military sales to Israel and repositioned warships in the Mediterranean.

Read more: Granderson: The chaos in Congress is more dangerous than the protests on campuses

In other words, Grahams line of questioning was theater; pausing one shipment hardly tips the war toward Hamas. The senators poll numbers in South Carolina are as bad as Bidens, so perhaps this would be a good TV moment for him back home.

You're telling me that if we withhold weapons in this fight  the existential fight for the life of the Jewish state  it won't send the wrong signal? Graham asked.

Read more: Granderson: Netanyahu owes the U.S. better answers about Gaza

Theatrics aside, he makes a valid point. Hamas and similar terrorist groups may be emboldened by the appearance of daylight between the U.S. and Israel. Where Graham goes wrong is inflating the significance of the opinions of terrorists. Other factors matter more: The United Nations has said half of Gaza is starving to death. There are more than a million civilians sheltering in Rafah, and Israel has yet to present the Pentagon a feasible plan to limit casualties.

Reportedly Rafah is home to the remaining Hamas strongholds, which is why Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is determined to invade. And Israel already has enough bombs to carry out that attack.

What Grahams line of questioning didnt allow for is the answer to the most important question: why. Why is the invasion of Rafah where Biden would pause? Concern about a larger humanitarian crisis is surely part of it.

Before Christmas, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III began expressing concerns about Israels approach to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, saying: The center of gravity is the civilian population, and if you drive them into the arms of the enemy, you replace a tactical victory with a strategic defeat.

Months later, Germany and England have also been critical of Israel. Countries in South America have cut diplomatic ties. Turkey has suspended trade. The campus protests that began in the U.S. have spread globally. In Israel, thousands have voiced their disapproval at the home of Netanyahu.

Biden is right to exert influence and try to protect civilians. He has also been correct to respect Israels right to defend itself. Theres a balance to be struck on the question of civilian casualties, and its not a question the worlds superpower can avoid. Not when its supplying the weapons. Biden has already confirmed U.S. weapons have killed civilians in Gaza.

Disregard for Gazan civilians is not a new concern. In 2022, the United Nations issued a report on Gaza, in which Commissioner Miloon Kothari said: There is so much silent harm and psychological trauma, that may not be immediately apparent, resulting from the erosion of economic, social and cultural rights. These debilitating processes have severe short and long-term consequences and must be urgently addressed.

The current invasion goes far beyond silent harm. According to Gazan authorities, nearly 35,000 have been killed and 80,000 wounded since the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. No telling what the numbers will be if a full invasion of Rafah happens without a plan for civilian safety.

Pausing doesnt mean the U.S. has revoked its support for Israel. It signals that we also support Gazans and value human life.

To Grahams point, pausing may send a message to our enemies. It also sends a message to our friends.

@LZGranderson

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.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  A new grant opportunity will provide funds to create upper-floor housing on Kansas main streets.

On Thursday, May 9 Lieutenant Governor and Secretary of Commerce David Toland announced $400,000 would go towards the Residential Opportunities on Main Street (ROOMS) grant program. The program is focused on addressing housing shortages and enhancing livability in downtowns.

Main Street communities across the state long have been revitalizing their historic business districts and supporting economic vitality, Toland said. Increasing the amount of available upper-floor housing is essential to maximizing the economic potential of Main Streets across Kansas. ROOMS grants provide another powerful tool to breathe new life into their downtown areas.

Impossible petition to require public vote before raising taxes in Topeka

Funds will be available to communities that have state-recognized main streets. Funds will be available to applicants who show the funds will lead to housing creation on upper floors of downtown buildings. Applicants can be awarded up to $50,000.

For more information on the ROOMS grant, click here. For more information on the Main Street program, click here.

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.
GREENVILLE, N.C. (WNCT)  Greenville police arrested a woman and charged her with assault after officials said she stabbed her sister with a potato peeler.

Kristen Hunter, public information officer with the Greenville Police Department, told WNCTs Courtney Cortright that Jocelun Sherrod was arrested and charged with assault with a deadly weapon with a minor present. According to information from the Pitt County Detention Center, she was being held there under a $10,000 secured bond.

Police were called to a home on Marin Way on Wednesday for a report of an assault. She is accused of cutting her sister with the sharp edge of a potato peeler and threatening to kill her. The victim did not suffer a serious injury.

There were two children at the home at the time of the reported assault.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Groom Who Made 'The Dress' Go Viral in 2015 Admits He Tried to Strangle His Wife

#TheDress debate went viral on social media nine years ago, dividing people based on what color they believed the garment actually was

TheEllenShow/YouTube, swiked/tumblr Keir Johnston, the 'dress that broke the internet'

The man who went viral over the dress that "broke the internet" nine years ago has pleaded guilty to attacking his wife.

Keir Johnston, 38, and his wife, Grace, had everybody talking  including stars such as Kim Kardashian and Ellen DeGeneres  after the mother of the bride wore a dress that had the world divided to their wedding in 2015.

Almost a decade after the internet continuously fought over whether the dress in question was black and blue or white and gold, it's now been reported that Keir has been sent to jail after admitting trying to strangle his wife.

On March 6, 2022, Keir reportedly threatened his wife and said "Somebody is going to die," the High Court in Glasgow, Scotland heard, per United Kingdom outlets including The Times, The Telegraph, and the Guardian.

She dialed for help and said, My husband is trying to kill me," according to the reports.

TheEllenShow/YouTube Keir (left) and Grace Johnston on 'The Ellen DeGeneres Show'

On Thursday, May 9, Keir pleaded guilty to endangering his wife's life after admitting he strangled her during the assault, per The Guardian.

Chris Macintosh, prosecutor for the crown, told the judge, Lady Drummond, that Grace "felt trapped" as the couple lived on the remote Scottish Isle of Colonsay.

Macintosh said, There is no permanent police presence on the island, and she was in a situation where she felt trapped.

Grace went against Keir's demands by attending a job interview on the mainland, before the attack took place days later after her husband had been drinking at a pub quiz, multiple outlets reported.

Johnston woke up and said that he was going to leave her, Macintosh told the court, per The Times.

She went outside the property to stop him leaving. He followed her and pinned her to the ground. He placed both knees on her arms, so she was unable to move. He then began strangling her with both his hands," he added.

She was able to scream. She feared for her life and believed Johnston intended to kill her. He was very forceful, Macintosh continued.

After a witness tried to pull Keir away from his wife, he allegedly briefly went inside but came back out and threatened to "finish" his wife off, before choking her, The Times stated.

The outlet reported Mr. Johnston was holding a knife, and was later found hiding under a desk in their home still clutching it. He reportedly put the blade to his throat at one point, before the knife was taken away from him.

The U.K. newspaper reported Grace suffered "visible" bruising and marks to her neck in the assault.

swiked/tumblr The viral dress from 2015

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.

I have no need to tell you that this is a serious and violent offense," the judge told Keir, adding: "You repeatedly strangled her, injured her and put her life in danger in what must have been absolutely terrifying circumstances for her."

I am afraid, Mr Johnston, that your status has now changed, you have been convicted of a very serious crime and you will be remanded meantime.

Keir and Grace's viral dress fame came after Caitlin McNeill, a guest at the wedding, posted a photo of the garment on Tumblr, which then sparked a debate about its striped pattern.

Amid the controversy, Keir, Grace and McNeill even appeared on The Ellen Degeneres Show, where they were given $10,000 and a trip to Grenada.

The Scottish Courts didn't immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233, or go to thehotline.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
There were 95 combat engagements in the frontline over the last day. The fiercest fighting took place in Avdiivka in the Bakhmut sector, where Ukrainian troops repelled many enemy attacks.

ADVERTISIMENT

Over the last day, aviation and missile troops hit almost 20 concentration areas and two ammunition depots of the occupiers. Details of the situation at the front on May 9 were disclosed in the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

On May 9, Russian invaders launched 6 missile and 80 air strikes, as well as fired from multiple launch rocket systems at the positions of our troops and populated areas 127 times.

At night, the Russian occupiers once again attacked Ukraine with 10 Shahed UAVs. Ukrainian Air Defense Forces destroyed all the attack drones.

Over the past 24 hours, the following localities were attacked: Bilopillia, Kostiantynivka, and Sadky in the Sumy region; Vesele, Vovchansk, and Vovchansky Khutory in the Kharkiv region; Lyman, Verkhniokamianske, Druzhba, Spirne, Kalynove, Umanske, and Bohoiavlenka in the Donetsk region.

ADVERTISIMENT

More than 120 settlements in Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions came under artillery fire.

The situation in the Volyn and Polissia sectors remains unchanged. The enemy still maintains a military presence in the border areas, conducts sabotage activities to prevent the deployment of our troops to threatened areas, and increases the density of minefields along the state border in the Siversk and Slobozhansk directions.

Fierce fighting continues in the east and south. Over the past day, 95 combat engagements took place.

For instance, in the Kupiansk sector, our troops repelled 13 attacks in the vicinity of Synkivka, Petropavlivka, and Berestove in the Kharkiv region and Stelmakhivka in the Luhansk region.

ADVERTISIMENT

In the Lyman sector, Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled 4 attacks near Novosadove and Torske in the Donetsk region; and Serebriansky forestry in the Luhansk region.

In the Bakhmut sector, our troops repelled 21 attacks in the areas of Bilohorivka in the Luhansk region; and Verkhniokamianske, Novyi, Rozdolivka, Ivanivske, Stupochky, Klishchiivka and Andriivka in the Donetsk region.

In the Avdiivka sector, our troops repelled 28 attacks in the areas of Kalynove, Novooleksandrivka, Sokil, Novoselivka Persha, Umanske, Yasnobrodivka, and Netaylove in the Donetsk region.

ADVERTISIMENT

In the Novopavlivka sector, the Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to hold back the enemy in the vicinity of Kostiantynivka, Vodiane and Urozhaine in the Donetsk region, where the enemy tried to break through the defense of our troops 7 times.

In the Orikhiv sector, the enemy attacked the positions of our defenders near Staromaiorske in the Donetsk region and Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia region 19 times.

ADVERTISIMENT

In the Kherson sector, the enemy does not abandon its intention to drive our units from the footholds on the left bank of the Dnipro River. Thus, over the past day, they unsuccessfully attacked the positions of our troops twice.

Meanwhile, our soldiers continue to actively inflict losses on the occupation forces in manpower and equipment, depleting the enemy along the entire front line. Yesterday, the aviation of the Defense Forces and missile troops struck 1 radar station, 2 ammunition depots, 1 air defense facility and 17 areas of concentration of enemy personnel.

As a reminder, the day before, on May 9, the Armed Forces neutralized 980 occupants. Less than 300 invaders are left to reach the figure of 480 thousand eliminated occupants.

ADVERTISIMENT

In total, the enemy army lost 218 pieces of military equipment and weapons, including 47 artillery systems.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber . Do not fall for fakes!
FARMERSVILLE, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  Farmersville public safety officials, city leaders and community members came together on Friday for a groundbreaking ceremony at the site of the citys new fire station.

The mayor and the city were also presented with a certificate from the California State Senate.

This is a big change for Farmersville, said Mayor Tina Hernandez. God continues to bless Farmersville and we just keep growing.

Hernandez says if it wasnt for the community, the city would not be where it is today.

Tulare County Supervisor Larry Micari, who was also in attendance, says he started his career in Farmersville back in 1984 and he feels like he is at home again.

Now were here at this fire station, when I came here it was at Front and Magnolia. It was a two-base station and the engines wouldnt fit inside, said Tulare County Supervisor Larry Micari.

Micari adds that the new fire station represents the stride and progress of Farmersville.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
An unloaded gun was discovered Friday in a holding cell during an elementary-student tour of Rock Island Police Department, according to a news release.

Shortly before 12:30 p.m. Friday, a group of fifth-grade students from Eugene Field Elementary School were touring Rock Island Police Department. During the tour, Interim Police Chief Tim McCloud said students were allowed to step inside a holding cell, where one of them pushed on a pillow and felt the presence of a handgun hidden inside, the release says.

The student alerted staff, who took possession of the weapon. At no time did any student physically see or touch the gun, which was determined to be unloaded and stolen from a burglary that had occurred in the Village of Milan in 2022, according to the release.

Rock Island-Milan School District officials were notified. The Rock Island Police Departments Office of Professional Standards has launched an internal investigation and continues to investigate the incident.

Once the Rock Island-Milan School District was made aware of the situation, the district immediately contacted parents of the students. Once those parents were notified, incoming Superintendent Dr. Sharon Williams sent a message to all Eugene Field families explaining the situation so that accurate information was provided.

Scholar safety is our top priority in the Rock Island-Milan School District, Williams said. We appreciate the efforts of the Rock Island Police Department to keep our scholars safe during this trip.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
Thick, black smoke rises from a fire in a building caused by Israeli bombardment in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on May 10, 2024 - AFP

A rare Hamas attack hit the southern Israel city of Beer Sheva on Friday evening, injuring a woman.

A total of five rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at Beer Sheva, the Israeli Defence Forces said in a statement. One was intercepted by the Iron Dome and the other four hit open areas.

A 37-year old woman was taken to hospital as she was lightly injured by shrapnel. Images from the city showed impact at a childrens playground, with some of the plastic installations mangled by the blast wave.

Beer Sheva, the largest Israeli city in the south on the verge of the Negev Desert, has not been targeted by rocket fire since December.

Hamas used to pound all of Israel with rockets during the first three months of the war in Gaza but shelling has become increasingly rare as the terrorist group ran out of ammunition and sustained heavy personnel losses.

Recent launches targeted Israeli communities immediately across the border.

04:38 PM BST

Todays live blog is now closed

Thats all for today, thanks for following along. Here is a summary of the days most important events:

US Republicans are pushing forward legislation designed to stop the Biden administration from being able to pause arms shipments to Israel.

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote in the next hour on a resolution that would grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he hopes to overcome his differences with US President Joe Biden, after the relationship hit a new low over a possible invasion of Rafah.

The main United Nations aid agency for Palestinians has closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem after Israeli residents set fire to areas at the edge of the sprawling compound, the agency said, in a second attack on the headquarters this week.

The US has warned Israel that it will hand a strategic victory to Hamas if it carries out its plans for a full invasion of Rafah.

The Israeli military says that it has finished a series of exercises simulating war in Lebanon as it continues enhancing readiness and preparation for various combat scenarios in the north.

More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in recent days under the threat of a full-scale Israeli ground invasion. Humanitarian workers have been sounding the alarm in press briefings for days, warning that aid operations could grind to a halt within a matter of days with vital crossings remaining shut forcing hospitals to close down.

Almost all of the pro-Palestine demonstrations that have swept US universities since mid-April have been peaceful, new research has found. 97 per cent of the demonstrations were peaceful, it found.

The Israeli war cabinet on Thursday night reportedly approved an expansion of the IDFs operation in Rafah. While two of the sources who spoke to Axios said that it would be a measured expansion of the operation, that would not cross Bidens red lines, one said that it could be interpreted as doing so.

Truck drivers stuck at Egypts border with Gaza say the food they are taking to the Palestinian enclave could spoil as they wait, exacerbating a hunger crisis among Gazans as war rages on.

04:36 PM BST

Israel captures road dividing Rafah

Israeli tanks have captured the main road dividing the east and west of Rafah as they encircled the eastern side of the city and sealed it from the south.

Residents on the western side of Rafah described to The Telegraph being able to hear near-constant bombing, with Israeli forces and Palestinian groups fighting intensely across the east.

The UN on Friday said that more than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in recent days and that aid operations would grind to a halt within days if the border crossing with Egypt, which Israel captured and closed earlier this week, remains shut.

Under the threat of a full-scale Israeli invasion, residents in the west of the city  which has not yet received evacuation orders from Israel  are also fleeing. The east of the city is basically empty, one 19-year-old student said.

A resident of Tel al Sultan in the west of Rafah told The Telegraph that Israeli tanks are now only six or seven kilometres away and that everywhere in Rafah is being targeted with airstrikes.

The Israeli military said its forces in eastern Rafah had found several tunnel shafts and that troops backed by an air strike fought at close quarters with groups of Hamas fighters, killing several. Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city.

04:22 PM BST

Hamas fires rockets at Beersheba, lightly injures one woman

Five rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip at Beersheba, according to the IDF.

One was intercepted by the Iron Dome, while the other four hit open areas, it says.

Hamas claimed responsibility for the rocket fire. The last time rockets were fired from Gaza at Beersheba was in December.

According to medics, a 37 year old woman was lightly wounded.

04:14 PM BST

If you do not support our freedom, you do not support peace, says Palestinian ambassador to UN

Riyad Mansour, Palestinian ambassador to the UN, has just addressed the UN General Assembly.

A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it not against any state, but it is against the attempts to deprive us of our state. That is why the Israeli government is so opposed to it, because they oppose our independence and the two-state solution altogether, he said.

If you do not support our freedom, you do not support peace.

03:55 PM BST

UNGA session on rights and privileges for Palestine has started

The UN General Assembly session on granting Palestine more rights and freedoms and call on the Security Council to favourably reconsider Palestines request to become the 194th member of the UN has begun.

Granting Palestine full membership in the United Nations will send a message in support of the two-state solution, said the UN representative for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) Mohamed Abushahab.

By voting in favor of todays draft resolution, you will demonstrate that the international community refuses to settle for anything less than upholding the legitimate rights of people and rejecting double standards, Abushahab added.

A vote is expected in the next hour.

03:31 PM BST

Israel emerges among top favourites to win Eurovision

Israels Eden Golan has become one of the favourites among bookmakers to win this years Eurovision Song Contest after she made it through the semi-finals on Thursday despite boos during her performance and protests outside the venue in Sweden.

Israel climbed to second favourite from ninth after the semi-final, according to Eurovision World, a website that compiles betting odds from 15 of Europes biggest bookmakers. It said Israel is seen as having a 22 per cent chance of winning, behind only Croatias Baby Lasagna who was seen having a 41 per cent chance.

More than 10,000 people gathered in host city Malmo in southern Sweden on Thursday to stage non-violent protest against Israels participation in the contest. More protests are scheduled for Saturday ahead of the final.

03:15 PM BST

Battles continue in Zeitoun, on the outskirts of Gaza City

This handout picture released by the Israeli army on May 10, 2024 reportedly shows Israeli soldiers taking a position as part of the activity of the 99th Division in the Zaytoun Area of Gaza City amid the ongoing conflict in the Palestinian territory between Israel and Hamas. - IDF

03:08 PM BST

Truck drivers waiting at Rafah say food could spoil if delays continue

Truck drivers stuck at Egypts border with Gaza say the food they are taking to the Palestinian enclave could spoil as they wait, exacerbating a hunger crisis among Gazans as war rages on.

Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing this week and are preparing for a widely expected assault on the city next to the frontier where about 1 million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.

The closure of the border crossing is not good for all these trucks because these are fridges, which means machine failure doesnt give a warning. If the (fridge) stops working, then all of the food inside will be ruined, trucker Ahmed al-Bayoumi told Reuters.

Here, theres no (technician) available to fix things and then we will have to handle the packages again. In any country in the world, food in fridges has priority to be delivered.

Every day, trucks would go in and out of the border crossing and things were flowing, said truck driver Abdallah Nassar.

But now that the border crossing is closed, we dont know what our situation is now. And of course, we have food, and these things have expiry dates, and it can go bad.

02:43 PM BST

Israeli war cabinet reportedly approved expansion of IDF activity in Rafah

The Israeli war cabinet on Thursday night reportedly approved an expansion of the IDFs operation in Rafah.

According to a report in Axios, which relies on three unnamed sources, the cabinet also instructed the Israeli negotiations to continue efforts to reach a hostage deal. Ultranationalist ministers Ben-Gvir and Smotrich were reported to have voted against the decision.

While two of the sources who spoke to Axios said that it would be a measured expansion of the operation, that would not cross Bidens red lines, one said that it could be interpreted as doing so.

02:20 PM BST

Israel reportedly set to expand area of Rafah operation

1 \ BREAKING: The Israeli security cabinet approved last night the "expansion of the area of operation" of the IDF in Rafah, according to three sources with knowledge of the details  Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) May 10, 2024

02:15 PM BST

US police clear MIT and UPenn Gaza protests

Police carried out pre-dawn swoops on students protesting the war in Gaza at two more prestigious US universities on Friday, in the latest unrest on campuses across the country.

At least ten people were arrested at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) near Boston in the northeast, according to university president Sally Kornbluth, who said she had no choice but to dismantle the high-risk flashpoint.

At the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, officers in tactical gear forcibly removed several dozen students who had linked arms around a statue of Benjamin Franklin, NBC reported.

Students did not resist arrest at either university and both actions appeared to have been relatively peaceful.

01:53 PM BST

Nearly all Gaza campus protests in the US have been peaceful, research finds

Almost all of the pro-Palestine demonstrations that have swept US universities since mid-April have been peaceful, new research has found.

The Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project (ACLED) said data from analysis of 553 demonstrations across the US between April 18 and May 3 showed fewer than 20 resulted in any serious interpersonal violence or property damage. 97 per cent of the demonstrations were peaceful, it found.

The organisation, which tracks political violence and political protests globally, said that there had been at least 70 instances of forceful police intervention against the protests over the same period. These included the arrest of demonstrators and the use of chemical agents, batons and other kinds of physical force to disperse protesters.

ACLED said its data indicated nearly half of the campus protests it categorised as violent involved protesters fighting with law enforcement during a police intervention.

Several area law enforcement agencies stand at the intersection of University Boulevard and Park Avenue after ejecting a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, Friday, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az - Kelly Presnell/Arizona Daily Star via AP

01:42 PM BST

Palestinians continue to flee Rafah and search for shelter as fighting intensifies

Palestinians pile their belongings on a vehicle as it drives to safer areas in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, on May 10, 2024 - AFP

01:32 PM BST

We simply have no tents, we have no blankets, no bedding, none of the items that you would expect a population on the move to be able to get from the humanitarian system

Georgios Petropoulos, a UN OCHA official working in Rafah, said the two main crossings near the city remain closed, cutting off supplies and preventing medical evacuations and the movement of humanitarian staff.

Even if there were assurances to us being able to pass through a corridor, the proximity so close to a military involved in fighting is just not acceptable for something that has to be a humanitarian zone, he said.

The UNs World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday unless more aid arrives, Petropoulos said. He said about 30,000 people were leaving Rafah daily in search of safety, but that humanitarian workers had no supplies to help them set up camp in a new location.

We simply have no tents, we have no blankets, no bedding, none of the items that you would expect a population on the move to be able to get from the humanitarian system, he said.

Israeli troops captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, forcing it to shut down. Rafah was the main point of entry for fuel needed to power vehicles, as well as the generators on which hospitals and water treatment plants rely.

01:30 PM BST

Israeli drone strike in southern Lebanon kills a paramedic and civilian

A drone strike on the southern Lebanese village of Tayr Harfa killed two people and injured another today, according to local media outlets.

One of the people killed was a first responder affiliated with the Amal Movement. While the second person killed was working for a telecommunications company fixing the network in the area. His colleague was injured in the strike. The two were accompanied by Lebanese army soldiers who survived the attack.

The Israeli military said they killed two armed Hezbollah operatives in Yaroun on Friday, which appeared to be a separate event. IDF fighter jets also hit what they said were Hezbollah sites in Kafr Kila and Blida, according to the statement.

01:16 PM BST

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital to run out of fuel within 48 hours

The government media office in Gaza has demanded that fuel be supplied to Al-Aqsa hospital after warning that it will run out within 48 hours.

We call on all UN organisations and international institutions to urgently supply fuel to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital before it is too late, and we call for immediate and urgent intervention to supply fuel to all hospitals and rehabilitate and restore them before a humanitarian disaster kills thousands of people, it said in a statement.

01:10 PM BST

UN Secretary General condemns attack on UNRWA HQ in east Jerusalem

I condemn the recent attack on @UNRWA's Headquarters in East Jerusalem.



Targeting aid workers and humanitarian assets is unacceptable, and must stop. https://t.co/xqVG6e3tOh  Antonio Guterres (@antonioguterres) May 10, 2024

12:35 PM BST

Lets be very clear this will result in children dying: UN

The Israeli military said a limited operation in Rafah was meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, but today UN agencies warn it could lead to a slaughter and put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk.

For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, said the UNICEF Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young.

The closed crossings had prevented the movement of people including aid workers and medical evacuations, he said, while food shortages were pushing up prices and supplies had already been lost from the destruction and looting of warehouses.

In the next day or so, five health ministry hospitals, five field hospitals and 30 ambulances would stop without more fuel, he said, adding that any kind of meaningful safe water production in Rafah has come to a halt.

Of the 12 aid-supported bakeries in southern Gaza, eight had ceased to operate and the rest would run out of stocks by Monday.

At a time when people are being forced to pick up and move again, the life-saving supplies that sustain and support them have been entirely cut off, Young said.

Lets be very clear this will result in children dying. Deaths that can be prevented.

12:01 PM BST

Germany condemns escalation of violence against UNRWA in east Jerusalem

Germany condemned on Friday the escalation of violent protest against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in east Jerusalem, which temporarily closed its headquarters there following repeated attacks.

Israel must ensure the protection of UN facilities and personnel in the occupied Palestinian territories, the German foreign ministry said on X.

The UN need to be able to serve their important mandate in Gaza, the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

The fire, near a fuel station inside, came after two months of Israeli extremists staging protests outside the compound, with one earlier this week turning violent when demonstrators threw stones, the UNRWA chief said.

The Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Saudi Arabia were among those who had already condemned the arson attack.

11:29 AM BST

Gaza aid could grind to a halt within days, UN agencies warn

More than 100,000 people have fled Rafah in recent days under the threat of a full-scale Israeli ground invasion.

Georgios Petropoulos, head of OCHAs sub-office in Gaza, said the situation in the besieged Palestinian territory had reached even more unprecedented levels of emergency.

The recent evacuation order that we had from the government of Israel linked to the military operation in Rafah is now counting 110,000-plus displaced people having to move north, he told a briefing in Geneva, via video-link from Rafah.

Most of these are people who have had to displace five or six times.

Humanitarian workers have been sounding the alarm in press briefings for days, warning that aid operations could grind to a halt within a matter of days with vital crossings remaining shut forcing hospitals to close down.

For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel, said Hamish Young, the UNICEF Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip.

This is already a huge issue for the population and for all humanitarian actors but in a matter of days, if not corrected, the lack of fuel could grind humanitarian operations to a halt, he told a virtual briefing.

11:15 AM BST

Israel carries out exercises simulating war in Lebanon to increase readiness for wider war with Hezbollah

The Israeli military says that it has finished a series of exercises simulating war in Lebanon as it continues enhancing readiness and preparation for various combat scenarios in the north.

In the exercise simulating warfare in Lebanon, infantry, armored and engineering forces alongside logistics and communication support personnel, practiced operational cooperation in rugged and complex terrains using camouflage and combat techniques, the statement read.

Hezbollah has vowed that it will not stop fighting over Lebanons border with Israel until there is a ceasefire in Gaza, while Israeli officials have promised residents in the north that the threat of Hezbollah so close to the border will not continue.

In the parallel war being fought across Israels northern front, more than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 275 Hezbollah members and more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. In Israel, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have been killed.

IDF handout photo shows Israeli soldiers in training as the country prepares for the possibility of war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. - IDF

IDF handout photo shows Israeli soldiers in training as the country prepares for the possibility of war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. - IDF

11:09 AM BST

With negotiations stalled, Israels limited operation in Rafah continues with Hamas fighting back

As ceasefire talks stall, fighting is raging in Gaza with the humanitarian situation worsening further as UN agencies and aid organisations say that aid is still unable to get in, for the fourth day in a row.

In a statement released Friday, the Israeli military said it had located several tunnels in eastern Rafah, near the border with Egypt, and had eliminated militants during close-quarters combat and with an aerial strike.

Hamas military wing said it carried out a complex attack in which it struck a house where Israeli troops had taken up a position, an armored personnel carrier and soldiers operating on foot.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. It was not possible to independently confirm the battlefield accounts from either side.

Hamas also said it launched a number of mortar rounds at the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, close to where Israeli troops are operating. The Israeli military said it intercepted two launches.

The crossing was closed after a rocket attack last weekend that killed four Israeli soldiers. Israel says it has re-opened its side of the crossing, but the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the Gaza side is inaccessible because of the ongoing fighting.

10:42 AM BST

Israel and Hamas must show flexibility to achieve a deal, talks in delicate phase

Egypt has said Hamas and Israel must show flexibility if they are to strike a deal for a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange, according to a foreign ministry statement released on Friday.

The readout of a phone call between Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said both diplomats agreed on the importance of urging the parties to show flexibility and make all the necessary efforts to achieve a ceasefire agreement and put an end to the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza.

Hamas said early Friday that its negotiators at ceasefire talks this week in Cairo had left the city for Doha, saying Israel had rejected the proposal submitted by the mediators and raised objections to it.

The group added it stood by the proposal, saying that the ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation.

The statement from Egypt said the talks were in a delicate phase, with Cairo expressing fears that a full-scale Israeli incursion into the crowded Gazan city of Rafah, which sits on Egypts border, could threaten the stability and security of the region.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said that during the same conversation, Blinken assured Shoukry that the United States does not support a major military operation in Rafah and rejects any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

10:31 AM BST

US warns Israel it will hand Hamas a strategic victory if its Rafah offensive goes ahead

The US has warned Israel that it will hand a strategic victory to Hamas if it carries out its plans for a full invasion of Rafah.

Our view is any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas hands at the negotiating table, not Israels, White House national security spokesman John Kirby said last night.

We believe that they have put an enormous amount of pressure on Hamas and that there are better ways to go after what is left of Hamas in Rafah than a major ground operation.

The warning came after US President Joe Biden said he would pause more military assistance to Israel if the offensive goes ahead as planned.

10:25 AM BST

Analysis from Jerusalem as hopes for an imminent ceasefire for hostages deal dissipate

Once within a touching distance, the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is increasingly looking like a distant prospect. Or, rather, when a truce is announced after more fighting and devastation in Gaza, it will unlikely be a much-anticipated achievement by the current Israeli government.

Both Israeli and Hamas delegation left Cairo on Thursday as did William Burns, the CIA chief who spearheaded American efforts to bring about the deal. Gaps between Israel and Hamas seem to be unbridgeable at this point as Hamas caught Israel by surprise on Monday with its approval of a draft deal and Israel decided to launch an albeit limited operation in Rafah.

Americans reportedly gave the Benjamin Netanyahu government a heads-up but Israel reportedly ignored it. CIA chief Burns, according to Israeli media, told Israel of an upcoming Hamas reply ahead of the Monday announcement, suggesting they send to Cairo the chief of Mossad or someone who would be in a position to hammer out the final details, but Israel refused to send anyone. Raising stakes is how the bargaining is done in the Middle East, Israeli officials insisted.

An emboldened Hamas, which is closely watching the Biden administration conditioning weapons supply on Israels actions on the ground, is now more than ever firm in its demand that any hostage deal should provide for a lasting truce. While Israel last month appeared to have agreed to a vaguely phrased sustainable peace for Gaza that would likely bring about an end to hostilities, the time for nuance is gone now.

It increasingly looks like Benjamin Netanyahu will do his best to delay any decision-making on Gaza  from the release of hostages to post-war governance  before he will either have his hand forced by Americans to sign a truce or he will be swept away from office by angry Israelis who are growing tired of living in limbo amid Israels longest war since 1949. Neither is what Israels long-serving prime minister had in mind when he promised the voters a total victory just a few months earlier.

10:09 AM BST

Israeli demonstrators torch part of UNRWA HQ in East Jerusalem

The main United Nations aid agency for Palestinians has closed its headquarters in East Jerusalem after Israeli residents set fire to areas at the edge of the sprawling compound, the agency said, in a second attack on the headquarters this week.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of UNWRA, said in a post on X that he had decided to close the compound until proper security was restored.

This is an outrageous development. Once again, the lives of UN staff were at a serious risk, he said.

It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times, he said.

While there were no casualties among our staff, the fire caused extensive damage to the outdoor areas. The UNRWA headquarters has on its grounds a petrol and diesel station for the Agencys fleet of cars, he added.

Lazzarini said that a crowd accompanied by armed men were witnessed outside the compound chanting Burn down the United Nations uploading a video to X from Israeli media in which the chants could be heard.

09:51 AM BST

IDP tents crowd the beach in Deir el Balah

Tents housing internally displaced Palestinians crowd the beach and the Mediterranean shoreline in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on May 10, 2024 - AFP

Tents housing internally displaced Palestinians crowd the coastline in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on May 10, 2024 - AFP

09:46 AM BST

Netanyahu says he hopes to overcome differences with Biden, but will fight alone

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he hopes to overcome his differences with US President Joe Biden, after the relationship hit a new low over a possible invasion of Rafah.

Ive known Joe Biden for many years, 40 years or more, Netanyahu said in an interview on Dr Phil last night. We often had agreements, but weve often had disagreements. Weve been able to overcome them. I hope we can overcome them now, but we will do what we have to do to protect our country... If Israel has to stand alone, we will stand alone, he said.

09:33 AM BST

UN General Assembly set to back Palestinian bid for membership

The UN General Assembly is expected to vote today on a resolution that would grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent. US deputy ambassador Robert Wood made clear on Thursday the Biden administration is opposed to the assembly resolution.

Weve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that, Wood said on Thursday. We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the UN is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.

But unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority, according to three Western diplomats, speaking to AP on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

While the General Assembly alone cannot grant full UN membership, the draft resolution being put to a vote on Friday will give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from September 2024  like a seat among the UN members in the assembly hall  but it will not be granted a vote in the body.

09:19 AM BST

Good morning

Hello and welcome to the Telegraphs live blog on the war in Gaza and its spillover across the Middle East. Follow along as we bring you all of the latest developments.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last night made defiant comments that Israel will stand alone if it has to, a day after US President Joe Biden warned that the US will stop supplying some weapons if it launches a major ground operation in the Gaza city of Rafah. The pressure tactic that the US is using has been used before, but represents a significant turning point in a historic relationship between the two countries as we wait to see whether Netanyahu will openly defy Biden. Negotiators left Cairo least night without a deal as Israel continued to hit Gaza.

First up this morning:

Republicans push to force Biden to send arms to Israel

US Republicans are pushing forward legislation designed to stop the Biden administration from being able to pause arms shipments to Israel.

Joe Biden this week paused transfers of ammunition, 500-pound bombs and 2000-pound bombs to Israel as a way of signalling its discontent over a planned invasion of Rafah but the move has drawn fury among Republicans and divided the Democrats.

US congresswoman Beth Van Duyne on Thursday introduced the Immediate Support for Israel Act, which would require transfers of some weapons to Israel to happen within 30 days of procurement, but would not apply to the currently paused shipments.

Other Republicans have said they are drafting articles of impeachment against Biden for withholding the aid.

The backlash comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is expected to submit a report on Friday set to be highly critical of Israels conduct in Gaza but stopping short of concluding it has violated the terms for its use of US weapons, according to Axios.

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.
This article was originally published on August 20, 2015.

We all know that major storms can wreak havoc, flooding cities and decimating infrastructure. But theres an even bigger worry than wind and rain: space weather. If a massive solar storm hit us, our technology would be wiped out. The entire planet could go dark.

Were much more reliant on technology these days that is vulnerable to space weather than we were in the past, Thomas Berger, director of the Space Weather Prediction Center at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration told Gizmodo. If we were hit by an extreme event today, itd be very difficult to respond.

Solar storm is a generic term used to describe a bunch of stuff the Sun hurls our way, including x-rays, charged particles, and magnetized plasma. A massive solar storm hasnt hit the Earth since the mid-19th century, but space weather scientists are very worried about the possibility of another.

Solar Flares

A solar storm usually starts with a solar flare  a giant explosion on the surface of the sun that sends energy and particles streaming off into space. Small, C-class flares occur all the time and are too weak to affect the Earth, while mid-sized M-class flares can produce minor radio disruptions. X-class flares, meanwhile, are the largest explosions in the solar system, releasing up to a billion hydrogen bombs worth of energy. These eruptions occur very rarely, but when they do, theyre an epic sight.

One of the most powerful flares measured with modern instruments took place during a solar maximum in 2003. It was so large it maxed out our satellite sensors, which registered an X-28 (28 types larger than an X-1 flare, which itself is 10 times greater than an M1 flare). Heres what that event looked like:

The Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) spacecraft captured this epic solar flare in 2003. - Image: ESA / NASA - SOHO

Despite observing flares for over a century, scientists still arent totally sure what causes the Sun to erupt. We do know that flares have a lot to do with disruptions in the Suns powerful magnetic field, which oscillates over the course of an 11-ish year solar cycle.



Solar storms originate in magnetic features that erupt from the surface of the sun, explained space weather scientist Joe Gurman, speaking to Gizmodo from NASAs Goddard Spaceflight Center. We call these active regions, or sunspots. When theyre big and ugly, thats an indication that the magnetic field is changing rapidly. And when the magnetic field changes rapidly, that appears to be the cause  or related to the cause  of solar activity.

A mid- to large-sized solar flare would send waves of high energy radiation  x rays and ultraviolet light  zipping toward the Earth. These types of radiation are powerful enough to rip electrons off of atoms. Thats exactly what they start doing when they hit the upper portion of our atmosphere, known as the ionosphere. Basically, the sky gets zapped with a giant electromagnetic pulse. But according to Berger, even the biggest flares dont impact humans very much.

Its a huge EM pulse that roils up the ionosphere, causing it to expand out, Berger said. But the solar flare really doesnt damage technology.

The one exception is radio. Radio signals between the Earth and orbiting satellites can be blocked when the atmosphere becomes too charged.

Radio communications are sometimes impacted, Berger noted. Over the horizon radio becomes difficult. When airplanes are flying over the poles, the only way they communicate with control centers is high frequency radio waves bouncing over the continents. But its just a temporary difficulty lasting ten minutes to hours at the most.

An X-class flare captured by NASA on March 6th, 2012. - Image: NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center

We dont have a great way of forecasting solar flares, and they hit the Earth too quickly for NOAA to provide airline companies with advance notice (it takes about eight minutes for sunlight to reach us).



The only thing we can do is issue an alert when we see one, Berger said. Airlines are very interested in flare effects on high frequency communications, and if theres a really large event, theyll consider grounding flights.

If youre not an airline operator, you pretty much get to sit this one out. But dont forget to check out the amazing images over at NASAs Solar Dynamics Observatory every now and then.

Charged Particles

Minutes to hours after a solar flare lights up the sky, a stream of charged particles  electrons and protons  arrive at the Earth. They bombard the magnetosphere, a protective envelope around Earth created by our magnetic field. We see the radiation level go up sometimes, which can indicate that particles are impinging on Earths orbit, said Berger.

Occasionally, a large pulse of charged particles will hit orbiting satellites and damage their electronics. Particle radiation is also a big health risk for humans in space.

We do have to worry about energetic particles on the ISS, Gurman said. If we ever get to the point of being a spacefaring race, theyre going to become a much bigger concern.



But by and large, the effects of solar particle radiation are buffered by the magnetosphere and atmosphere. Its whats coming next that you and me on the ground need to worry about.

Coronal Mass Ejections

When the Sun flares up, it sometimes shoots a giant cloud of magnetized plasma off into space. This is called a coronal mass ejection (CME). CMEs are the slowest form of solar weather, taking anywhere from 12 hours to several days to reach the Earth. Theyre also by far the most dangerous.

Fortunately, because CMEs are slow moving, our space weather forecasters have a little more time to anticipate them. They examine images of the Sun, pulled from the SOHO and STEREO satellites. When our observatories see something big, NOAA responds.



Berger outlined what happens next: A watch is issued when we see something happen on the Sun headed toward the Earth. Typically if theres a large CME, something major we think could impact the Earth, we put out a watch.

A CME will shoot pretty much straight out from the Sun, and theres always a good chance that the Earth wont end up in its path. If a CME is coming straight at us, itll first hit NASAs ACE satellite, located at the L1 Lagrange point roughly a million miles in front of the Earth. If that happens, weve got anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before a cloud of plasma rains down from above, interacting with our planets magnetosphere and triggering a geomagnetic storm.

Thats when you start to see effects on the power grid.

Artists depiction of the solar wind colliding with Earths magnetosphere. - Illustration: NASA

This generates huge electrical currents in upper atmosphere of Earth, Berger said. Depending on how conductive the ground is, you can get large currents getting picked up by power stations and fed into the grid. And thats bad news, because our grid isnt designed for huge amounts of current coming out of the ground.



Geomagnetic storm strength is measured in disturbance storm time or Dst, which essentially describes how hard a CME shakes up Earths magnetic field. Ordinary storms, which cause the northern lights to flare up but otherwise dont impact us, register somewhere in the neighborhood of Dst = -50 nT (nanoTesla). The worst geomagnetic storm of the space age, which knocked out power across Quebec in March of 1989, registered a Dst = -600 nT.

But even that 1989 storm looks puny in comparison to the Carrington event, a geomagnetic storm that zapped the Earth 156 years ago. At the time, the damage wasnt too bad. But a Carrington-sized storm today could spell disaster.

Monster Storms

The Carrington event of September, 1859 is named for Richard Carrington, the English astronomer who saw the sun flare up with his own eyes. In the days following Carringtons observation, a series of powerful CMEs hit the Earth head-on, igniting the northern lights as far south as Cuba. Currents electrified telegraph lines, shocked technicians, set telegraph papers on fire, and caused widespread communications outages.

Modern estimates for the strength of this storm range from Dst = -800 nT to -1750 nT.

Things stand to get really dark up in here the next time a Carrington-sized storm hits. - Image: NASA Earth Observatory

Human society is far more reliant on electricity today than it was 156 years ago. Berger pointed out that today we have pipelines, electrical transmission grids, and a lot more ground-based electrical conduction technology. So, what would happen if a Carrington-sized event struck us now? Pretty much ever aspect of the modern world would take a hit, according to a report by the National Academies of Sciences.



The ground currents induced by large geomagnetic storms can melt the copper windings of transformers that lie at the heart of power distribution systems. If this happens, it can lead to massive power outages. And because our power grid has grown much more interconnected over time, the effects of such an outage today could be spread far and wide.

A map showing the at-risk transformer capacity by state for a 4800 nT/min geomagnetic field disturbance. Regions with high percentages of at-risk capacity could experience long-duration outages extending for several years. - Graphic: J. Keppenman, Metatech Corp

Its hard to overstate just how much this would uproot our lives. The lights would of course go out, as would the internet, and any device that draws current from the wall. In places with electronically-controlled municipal water supplies  like most modern cities  toilets and sewage treatment systems would stop working. Heating and air conditioning would fail. Perishable food and medication would be lost. ATMs would be useless. Gas pumps would go offline. And so forth.



GPS technology would also be knocked out. Said Grunman, The GPS system depends on the very precise timing of a course of signals between two points, like a spacecraft and your phone. If you dump a bunch of energetic particles into the atmosphere, that effects your GPS. Which is sobering when you consider the replacement of old aircraft landing technology with GPS.



Some of these effects could last years, and theyd be felt globally. The entire magnetic field of the Earth is changing, so the entire Earth feels it, said Berger.

Its hard to fathom the social consequences of billions of power-hungry humans suddenly being pulled off the grid, but I think we can all agree it wouldnt be pretty. What we do know for sure is that the economic toll would be enormous. The National Academies report estimates that total cost of a Carrington-sized event today could exceed $2 trillion dollars  20 times greater than the cost of Hurricane Katrina.



Its important to keep in mind that we arent talking about some incredibly far-fetched, Armageddon-style apocalypse situation here. In fact, in July of 2012, a massive CME ripped through Earths orbit and narrowly missed us. That event, which was picked up by NASAs STEREO-A satellite, would have registered a Dst of -1200 nT  comparable to the Carrington event.

If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces, space weather scientist Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado told NASA in 2014. How many other [storms] of this scale have just happened to miss Earth and our space detection systems? This is a pressing question that needs answers.

Are We Dead in the Water?

Thanks to a growing army of space weather observatories, were much better able to predict CMEs than we were 20 years ago. Still, most space weather scientists agree that if a massive solar storm struck today, wed be pretty screwed. But were trying to change that.

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has assembled a task force to explore ways of responding to extreme events. Berger said that they have a national space weather strategy due out in October. The strategy will outlines what the US needs to do to be better prepared.

Berger couldnt comment on the specifics of the policy strategy, so well have to check in again this fall. He did hint that it would be heavy on the recommendations for power suppliers. (Currently, power companies respond to large solar storm warnings by re-routing power distribution around transformers.)

In the meanwhile, what can a space weather-conscious Earthling do? Most of the usual disaster preparedness advice applies. Build an emergency supply kit. Have a plan for getting in touch with loved ones should the phones fail. Keep your car tank at least half full of gasoline. Keep extra batteries on hand, or purchase a solar or hand-crank charger. Back up your data. Make sure youve got plenty of spare crowbars  wait, no, thats the zombie apocalypse.

And of course, you can keep up with the latest solar storm warnings over at NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center.

Sources: NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory, Solar Flares: What does it take to be X-Class?, Observations of an extreme storm in interplanetary space caused by successive coronal mass ejections, A massive solar eruptive event in July 2012: Defining extreme space weather scenarios, Severe space weather events: Understanding the societal and economic impacts

For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
Disclaimer: This article contains mentions of assault and murder. Reader discretion is advised.

In November 1988, Junko Furuta was reported missing by her family. Someone had abducted her on her way back from a part-time job. Investigation revealed that two teenagers kidnapped two others joined Furuta and took Furuta to a residence. They held her there for 44 days, during which they raped, sodomized, and brutally tortured her. The four of them then reportedly set her on fire, and she died on January 4, 1988, according to the Tokyo Reporter.

The boys reportedly wrapped her body in blankets and left it in an oil drum with concrete. The case became a widely talked about one considering the brutality of it. The police caught the four suspected youth in the case when they arrested two of them on an unrelated rape case. During their time in custody, the police joined some dots and connected them to the Junko Furuta case. One of the men in custody revealed to the police, the location of Furutas remains. Until then, the case remained a missing person investigation.

The place where authorities found Junko Furutas body is where Wakasu Park is currently located. The case continues to garner media attention even today as the convicted criminals have been released and got back into legal trouble for other reasons.

Who were the suspects convicted of Junko Furutas murder?

15-year-old Nobuharu Minato and 18-year-old Hiroshi Miyano were convicted of the murder of Junko Furuta. Jo Ogura who was 17 and Yashusi Watanabe who was 16 at that time were also found guilty. All four were convicted in relation to the murder and sentenced to what was then considered a rather light sentence for their crimes. The court sentenced Nobuharu Minato to five to nine years, while Miyano received a twenty-year sentence. The court sentenced Jo Ogura to a term between five and ten years. Watanabe received a sentence of between five and seven years.

As per another report by the Tokyo Reporter, although the names of juvenile defendants are typically not released to the public, the names in this case were made public. Another reason that widely criticized the light sentences was that most of the convicted criminals in the Junko Furuta case were released from prison and then committed other heinous crimes, bringing them back on the radar.

What happened to the killers after their release?

In 2018, one of the convicts in the Junko Furuta case, Minato, who now goes by the name Shinji Minato, allegedly assaulted a company employee. He used a metal baton to beat him in the right shoulder. He then used a knife to slash the persons throat. The incident took place on August 16, on the Kawaguchi Road. Authorities rushed the victim to the hospital. He was still slightly conscious, making for an attempt to murder case against the defendant.

Prior to this, in 1999, Jo Ogura had been out of prison for five years when he was arrested for assault and confinement of the manager of a snack hostess club. He was given a prison time of four years and was released in 2009 again. Hiroshi Miyano who now goes by the name Yokohama was a suspect in a fraud case. This was about four years after his release. Yashusi Watanabe is reportedly the only one of the convicted in the Junko Furuta case who did not get into legal hassles after his release.

The post What Happened to Junko Furuta? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Hardworking man leaving for work is killed by co-worker in ambush, Texas cops say

A Texas man is accused of ambushing and killing his co-worker as he left his house, law enforcement said.

Kevin Brown, 25, was arrested May 9 in connection to the May 1 shooting death of 50-year-old Fidencio Romero, Harris County Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

McClatchy News was unable to locate attorney information for Brown.

Romero was just a hardworking man going to work when he was ambushed, Gonzales said. Romero worked for a major company located near the airport for 30 years, according to the sheriff.

Gonzalez said 13 shots from an AK-47 type weapon were fired at Romero as he sat in his car outside of his home, about 20 miles northwest of downtown Houston.

Investigators believe a work disagreement between Romero and Brown led to the fatal shooting, the sheriff said.

Brown was arrested on a murder charge by members of the Harris County Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, according to the sheriff.

This is yet another tragic, senseless act of violence, Gonzalez said.

Chop shop worker shoots and kills man looking for friends stolen truck, Texas cops say

Boyfriend shoots woman 9 times and kills her during chase at gas station, Texas cops say

Strong foul odor leads to discovery of three bodies in Texas apartment, cops say
Harris sentencing: More than 5 years in prison in 20-year-old case

A 20-year-old case came to a close Wednesday afternoon when LJ Harris was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

Harris, 43, pleaded guilty last month to two counts of felonious assault. He had been charged with two counts of rape, one count of attempted rape and one count of felonious assault.

In March, a jury deliberated for seven hours over the course of two days without reaching a verdict, prompting Richland County Common Pleas Judge Brent Robinson to declare a mistrial.

The incident happened in the early hours of Aug. 29, 2004. Harris picked up a woman, who had left her estranged husband's apartment after a dispute, and drove her to an alley near Sheridan Avenue.

The case had gone cold until spring 2023, when there was a hit on the Combined DNA Index System, a national database that includes DNA profiles of convicted offenders. Semen identified as Harris' had been recovered from the back of the woman's leg.

Now living in South Carolina, the victim did not appear for the sentencing, but she did write a five-page letter that Jamie Akers, victim advocate at the prosecutor's office, read to the court.

"Almost 20 years ago, this man stopped and offered me a ride. He said he would take me to my sister-in-law's house," the woman wrote. "It turned out to be the ride of my life. I thought I was going to die.

"He hit me. He cut me, and he beat and raped me for hours."

Defendant interrupts written statement from victim

From the defense table, Harris interjected, "That didn't happen."

During testimony, Harris and the woman disagreed about the sexual encounter being consensual. The victim said Harris threatened her with a straight razor and cut her thumb. According to a sexual assault examination, the woman also suffered injuries to her genitals.

In her letter, the victim said she tried crack cocaine a few months later for the first time ever. She went to jail some time after that for the first time at the age of 41.

"I became a drug addict," she wrote. "I was devastated. My kids were devastated. They had a drug addict mom. Thank God they were all grown up."

The woman wrote that she used crack cocaine for 9 years before getting sober.

She said the drug robbed her of her joy, her smile and her family, noting she would not go around her loved ones when she was using.

The woman wrote that she was later diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder.

"There's so much of my life that goes back to my traumatic incident," she wrote. "He did this to me. He caused my life to change in a way that I can never get back."

When Harris had the chance to address Judge Robinson, he lobbied for a lenient sentence.

"I'm not liable to commit any other crimes. I am not a threat to society," Harris said. "I am pleading guilty only to get this nightmare over with. I will maintain my innocence."

Two of Harris' loved ones vouched for his character, with a cousin suggesting he should go to a treatment facility for alcohol abuse.

Assistant Prosecutor Olivia Boyer pointed out that Harris said he was a nonviolent offender on the witness stand. She said after the trial, she found a Franklin County case that would refute that claim.

According to a report, Boyer said Harris held a knife to a teenage son and threatened to kill him in late 2020.

Assistant prosecutor lobbies for 10-year sentence

"He still refuses to take responsibility," the assistant prosecutor said. "(Victim) has had to deal with trauma for 20 years."

Noting the victim lost 10 years of her life to drugs after the incident, Boyer asked the judge to give Harris a 10-year sentence.

Robinson gave Harris four years concurrent on the two felonious assault counts. In a separate case, Harris previously pleaded guilty to a 2023 felony OVI offense.

He was pulled over in March of last year on Interstate 71, going 94 mph when the speed limit was 70. Harris was found to have a blood-alcohol content of 0.262, more than three times the legal driving limit in Ohio.

Robinson gave Harris 18 months for the fourth-degree felony and made it consecutive to the four-year sentence.

mcaudill@gannett.com

419-521-7219

X: @MarkCau32059251

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Harris gets 5.5 years in prison in 20-year-old cold case
Hawaii residents are disappointed that the Aloha States lawmakers ended the legislative session without advancing a bill to strengthen the independence of the states Water Commission.

The bills demise comes at a critical time. The Hawaii Supreme Court recently determined that Attorney General Anne Lopez and the state Board of Land and Natural Resources (BLNR) made baseless allegations against a judges decision regarding East Maui streams.

Meanwhile, a citizens group known as the Red Hill Community Representative Initiative (CRI) has been advocating for the legislation after a significant water contamination affected roughly 93,000 residents in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in 2021.

Marti Townsend, a resident and chair of the CRI, denounced the legislature for failing to advance the bill.

From the ... decades-long foot-dragging in implementing legally required stream protections in East Maui, to the bald-faced lies about a lack of water for firefighting on Maui, Townsend said. Powerful special interests have pulled political strings to override the public interest for far too long,

CRI chair Marti Townsend criticized the Hawaii State Legislature for failing to advance a bill to strengthen the independence of Hawaii's Water Commission.

More: Hawaii legislature wraps up session - here's what passed and what didn't

Maui

On August 8, 2023, Lahaina, a historic town on Maui Island, fell victim to the deadliest wildfire in modern U.S. history. The blaze ravaged the community, reducing it to ashes, claiming the lives of over 100 individuals and displacing over 5,000 residents.

Last month, the Hawaii Supreme Court ruled that the Attorney General and BLNR attempted to exploit the aftermath of the Lahaina fire by submitting false accusations regarding a judges decision for East Maui streams.

The court determined that their submitted statements, aimed at increasing stream water diversion by Alexander & Baldwin, a former plantation now a real estate investment trust, were so evidently lacking in merit that they suggested bad faith.

It seems that the BLNR tried to leverage the most horrific event in state history to advance its own interests, according to the courts decision.

Despite the submission of over 500 pages of written testimony in favor of the bill, Lopez and DLNR chair Dawn Chang stood as the sole voices who opposed it.

More: Hawaii is the first state to pass a Gaza ceasefire resolution. Here's what happens next

Red Hill

In November 2021, a major water contamination incident struck the facility catering to approximately 93,000 residents in and around Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

In response to numerous reports of illnesses among local families who consumed the tainted water, the Pentagon announced plans in March 2022 to close Red Hill permanently.

Despite these actions, concerns persist among residents about water quality. Many continue to report symptoms akin to those experienced during the 2021 contamination, including rashes, headaches, heartburn, and fatigue.

A former Navy veteran, Lacey Quintero, told USA Today that she believes the Navy is aware that the Red Hill water is still contaminated and is misleading the public by claiming it is safe to drink.

State House and Senate Conferences agreed to defer the bill just days before the legislative session ended on May 3.

What would the bill have done?

At its core, this bill aimed to minimize political interference in resource management decisions. It proposed empowering the Hawaii Commission on Water Resource Management with the authority to select its own attorney and Chairperson, roles currently under gubernatorial control.

Additionally, it sought to protect Commission staff from arbitrary disciplinary actions, a concern brought to light by the departure of a former water deputy following the Maui wildfires.

The bill would have also established dedicated commission staff and a special fund to manage federal funding allocated for the cleanup of the Red Hill contamination.

Just before the sessions ended, State House and Senate Conferences agreed to defer the bill. In an interview with Spectrum News, Sen. Lorraine Inouye (D), chair of the Senate Committee on Water and Land, expressed her frustration.

I am greatly disappointed in the outcome on (the bill) despite agreement between both legislative bodies that this bill is urgently needed and very importantnot just for Red Hill but also for Lahaina, Inouye said.

Jeremy Yurow is a politics reporting fellow based in Hawaii for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach him at JYurow@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter @JeremyYurow

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Hawaii residents concerned as bill to safeguard water resources fails
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Howard Madsen, the mayor of Sunset City, has died, the city said in a news release Thursday night.

It is with great sadness we announce the passing of our beloved Mayor Madsen, the new release said.

No cause of death was immediately released.

Breaks my heart: 2 skiers dead after backcountry avalanche

On Facebook, Rep. Karen Peterson, of Utah House District 13, said that Madsen had the heart of a public servant.

She noted that Madsen spent years working with the Utah Highway Patrol and also served as the mayor of Coalville.

He was so dedicated to establishing the Sunset Veterans Park to honor those who had served, Peterson said. I am glad he saw it completed.



Brandon Stranger, the mayor of Clinton, described Madsen in a social media post as a beloved mentor.



He and I had the opportunity to carpool to many meetings together, Stranger said. I will miss our talks and his advice on those drives.

Due to Madsens passing, Sunset City said its office will be closed until Monday and a commission meeting was canceled.

Thank you for understanding during this difficult time, the city said.



Sunset City is located in northern Utah, roughly 8 miles south of Ogden.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has confirmed that Russian occupiers have launched a counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. According to the head of state, the Ukrainian military was aware of such plans.

ADVERTISIMENT

Zelensky made the statement during a joint press conference with Slovak President Zuzana Chaputova in Kyiv, an OBOZ.UA correspondent reports. According to him, the invaders were met by Ukrainian combat brigades and artillery fire in the Kharkiv sector.

"Russia has launched a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this direction. Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades, and artillery," he said.

According to Zelenskyy, the military command was aware of the enemy's plans for a new offensive and had calculated the forces to respond to the attack.

ADVERTISIMENT

"It is important that they can increase and pull up more forces in this direction, this is a fact. But our military and military command calculated the forces to meet the enemy with fire," the president said.

Zelensky added that a fierce battle is currently taking place in the Kharkiv sector.

"Artillery fire, from what I know at eight in the morning, stopped (the Russian offensive - Ed.)," he said.

ADVERTISIMENT

As reported by OBOZ.UA, on the morning of May 10, Russian troops tried to break through the Ukrainian defense on the border in Kharkiv region. Civilians were evacuated from Vovchansk and neighboring villages.

According to OBOZ.UA sources, enemy activity was recorded in the villages of Strilecha, Pylyna and Borysivka in Kharkiv district, as well as Gatyshche in Vovchansk district.

The Ministry of Defense reported that the enemy tried to break through the defense line under the cover of armored vehicles at about five in the morning. As of 1 p.m. on Friday, the Ukrainian Defense Forces repelled the attack, and fighting of varying intensity continued.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to journalist Yuriy Butusov, the enemy has created a foothold for further actions but does not have the forces to quickly launch a large-scale offensive on Kharkiv.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Palestinians mourn their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at a hospital in Rafah, Gaza, Friday, May 10, 2024. (AP Photo/Ismael Abu Dayyah)

RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP)  Heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern Gaza city of Rafah has left crucial nearby aid crossings inaccessible and forced more than 110,000 people to flee north, U.N. officials said Friday.

With nothing entering through the crossings, food and other supplies were running critically low, aid agencies said.

The World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday, said Georgios Petropoulos, an official with the U.N. Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Rafah. Aid groups have said fuel will also be depleted soon, forcing hospitals to shut down critical operations and bringing to a halt trucks delivering aid across south and central Gaza.

The United Nations and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israel assault on Rafah, on the border with Egypt near the main aid entry points, would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties. More than 1.4 million Palestinians  half of Gaza's population have been sheltering in Rafah, most after fleeing Israel's offensives elsewhere.

Heavy fighting was also underway Friday in northern Gaza, where Hamas appeared to have once again regrouped in an area where Israel has already launched punishing assaults.

Israel's move into Rafah has been short of the full-scale invasion that it has planned. The United States is deeply opposed to a major offensive and is stepping up pressure by threatening to withhold arms to Israel.

But the heavy fighting has shook the city and spread fear that a bigger assault is coming. Artillery shelling and gunfire rattled throughout the night into Friday, an Associated Press reporter in the city said.

The U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, said more than 110,000 people have fled Rafah. Families who have already moved multiple times during the war packed up to go again. One woman held a cat in her arms as she sat in the back of a truck piled with her family's belongings about to head out.

The full invasion hasn't started and things have already gotten below zero, said Raed al-Fayomi, a displaced person in Rafah. "Theres no food or water.

Those fleeing erected new tents camps in the city of Khan Younis  which was half destroyed in an earlier Israeli offensive  and the town of Deir al-Balah, straining infrastructure.

The international charity Project Hope said its medical clinic in Deir al-Balah had seen a surge in people from Rafah seeking care for blast injuries, infections and pregnancies. People are evacuating to nothing. There are no homes or proper shelters for people to go to, said the group's Gaza team leader based in Rafah, Moses Kondowe.

Petropoulos said humanitarian workers had no supplies to help them set up in new locations. We simply have no tents, we have no blankets, no bedding, none of the items that you would expect a population on the move to be able to get from the humanitarian system, he said.

Israeli troops captured the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, forcing it to shut down. Rafah was the main point of entry for fuel.

Israel says the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing  Gazas main cargo terminal  is open on its side, and that aid convoys have been entering. It said trucks carrying 200,000 liters of fuel were allowed to enter the crossing Friday.

But the U.N. said it is too dangerous for workers to reach the crossing on the Gaza side to retrieve the aid because of Israel's incursion and the ensuing fighting with Hamas.

Israeli troops are also battling Palestinian militants in eastern Rafah, not far from the crossings. The military said it had located several tunnels and eliminated militants in close combat and with airstrikes.

Hamas military wing said it struck a house where Israeli troops had taken up position, an armored personnel carrier and soldiers operating on foot. There was no comment from the Israeli military,

It is not possible to independently confirm battlefield accounts from either side.

Hamas also said it launched mortar rounds at troops near the Kerem Shalom crossing. The military said it intercepted two launches. The crossing was initially closed after a Hamas rocket attack on nearby forces last weekend killed four Israeli soldiers.

Hamas rockets also reached the southern Israeli city of Beersheeva on Wednesday, lightly injuring a woman with shrapnel, Israels military and rescue services said Friday. Five rockets were fired toward the city, with one intercepted and most falling in open areas, the military said. Through much of the war, Gaza militants fired thousands of rockets from Gaza on Israeli cities and towns, most of them intercepted, but such attacks have grown rarer in past months.

Israel says Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza and key to its goal of dismantling the group's military and governing capabilities and returning scores of hostages Hamas captured in its deadly Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

But Hamas has repeatedly regrouped, even in the hardest-hit parts of Gaza.

Heavy battles erupted this week in the Zeitoun area on the outskirts of Gaza City, in the northern part of the territory. Northern Gaza was the first target of the ground offensive, and Israel said late last year that it had mostly dismantled Hamas there.

The north remains largely isolated by Israeli troops, and the U.N. says the estimated 300,000 people there are experiencing full-blown famine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to proceed with the Rafah offensive with or without U.S. arms, saying we will fight with our fingernails if needed, in a defiant statement late Thursday. The U.S. has stepped up weapons deliveries to Israel throughout the war, and the Israeli military says it has what it needs for Rafah operations.

The war began with Hamas surprise attack into southern Israel last year, in which the militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and took another 250 hostage. They are still holding some 100 captives and the remains of more than 30, after most of the rest were released during a cease-fire last year.

Israel's bombardment and ground offensives in Gaza have killed more than 34,800 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its figures. Much of Gaza has been destroyed and some 80% of Gazas population has been driven from their homes.

Israel's incursion into Rafah complicated what had been months of efforts by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt to broker a cease-fire and the release of hostages. Hamas this week said it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel says the plan does not meet its core demands. Follow-up talks appeared to end inconclusively on Thursday.

Hamas has demanded guarantees for an end to the war and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza as part of any deal  steps that Israel has ruled out.

___

Krauss reported from Jerusalem. Associated Press writer Stephen Graham in Berlin contributed to this report.
Help Stamp Out Hunger from your mailbox on Saturday

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  This Saturday, you can help feed families in need right from your mailbox.

Every year on the second Saturday in May, letter carriers across the country collect donations of non-perishable food items on their routes in order to benefit local food pantries.

Since launching in 1993, the National Association of Letter Carriers annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive has grown into the nations largest one-day food drive, helping to fill the shelves of food banks in cities and towns throughout the United States, reads the NALC website.

Last year, local branches collected over 99,000 pounds of food, according to the Kansas Food Bank.

Construction begins on new affordable housing complex in east Wichita

All you have to do to participate is fill a bag with non-perishable foods and leave it near your mailbox or parcel box on Saturday. No glass containers.

The Kansas Food Bank provided a list of the most needed items:

Canned fruits and vegetables

Peanut butter and canned beans

Tuna or other canned meats

Meals in a can (soup, stew, and/or chili)

Some people may have already received a blue plastic bag in the mail from the Kansas Food Bank with the same instructions:

Brian Walker, the President and CEO of Kansas Food Bank, said this helps local pantries prepare for the summer.

As we roll into summertime  kids will not be receiving the food they may receive at school. Breakfast and lunch. And so this helps us get our pantry stocked up for folks that visit the pantries because their children wouldnt be getting those meals at school. And then, just as during the summertime, people dont think about hunger as much as they say in the fall and the hospital season. So it just gives us that extra boost to give us what we need, said Walker.

Those who do not have a traditional mailbox or a mail slot on their house can participate.

Individuals who live in an apartment complex or who have cluster boxes can participate if the branch in their area is signed on to participate. Some Post Office locations with P.O. Boxes will also accept donations but the customer should confirm with the Post Office prior to bringing donations in: https://tools.usps.com/locations/home.htm, said the NALC.

For those who would like to participate virtually, every $1 will help provide up to four meals for food-insecure Kansans. Click here to donate.

For more information from the Kansas Food Bank, click here.

For more information from the NALC, click here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Here's why third trial has been postponed for Dana Chandler, charged in two Topeka deaths

Shawnee County District Court Judge Cheryl Rios late last month postponed the third trial of Dana Chandler, a woman accused of the 2002 Topeka murders of her former husband and his fiancee.

A new trial date hasn't yet been set, Rios told The Capital-Journal on Wednesday.

Rios granted a continuance from the previously planned trial date of July 22.

Court records show the continuance was requested by Tricia A. Bath, who is teaming up with her husband, Thomas J. Bath, to help the 64-year-old Chandler defend herself.

In requesting the postponement, Tricia Bath said she wouldn't be available for the bulk of the time in which the July 22 trial would take place, because a rescheduled trial date of Aug. 1 had been set in a different case she was arguing in federal court.

Chandler's third trial will be in Pottawatomie County instead of Shawnee County, where her previous two trials took place, Kansas Supreme Court Justice Caleb Stegall ruled when he approved Chandler's request for a change of venue in October 2022.

Stegall also appointed Rios as a temporary judge for the district to which the case was moved so she could continue to oversee the proceedings against Chandler.

A Shawnee County District Court judge late last month postponed the third trial of Dana Chandler, a woman accused of the 2002 Topeka murders of her former husband and his fiancee.

Why has the Dana Chandler case gone on so long?

Chandler faces first-degree murder charges in the 2002 shooting slayings in a southwest Topeka duplex of her former husband, Michael Sisco, 47, and his fiancee, Karen Harkness, 53. Both were shot at least five times.

Police recovered no physical evidence linking Chandler, who lived in Denver at the time of the killings, to the crimes.

Still, Chandler was charged in 2011 and convicted the following year of the intentional first-degree murders of both victims. She received two "Hard 50" prison sentences, leaving her ineligible for parole for 100 years.

The Kansas Supreme Court in 2018 unanimously reversed Chandler's convictions and sentence, concluding prosecutors engaged in serious error and misconduct linked to her first trial.

Shawnee County District Attorney Michael Kagay then requested and was granted the right to refile the case against Chandler.

Chandler's second trial ended in a hung jury in September 2022.

Jurors said afterward they had been deadlocked, with seven favoring conviction and five favoring acquittal.

Shawnee County prosecutor Charles Kitt then requested a third trial for Chandler.

Rios granted that request while allowing for Chandler to go free on bond and stay with a relative while awaiting those proceedings.

Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Third trial postponed for Dana Chandler in 2002 Topeka double homicide
Sweethearts Who Were About to Get Engaged Die in Tragic Motorcycle Crash: They Were 'Infatuated,' Family Says

The couple had been together for years: 'She was his queen'

Jami Rosario/GoFundMe Sam Cullen, left, and Suzie Kedar, right

An active-duty Navy man and his longtime girlfriend died in a motorcycle crash earlier this month, weeks before they were expected to get engaged.



Family members identified the couple as 28-year-old Sam Cullen and 27-year-old Suzie Kedar.



They were riding a black 2008 Harley-Davidson FX motorcycle on Whidbey Island in Washington state on Thursday, May 2, when the bike struck a pole around 8 p.m., Island County sheriffs detective Ed Wallace said, according to Newsday.

Both Cullen and Kedar were wearing helmets when the crash occurred, Newsday reported.

Wallace tells PEOPLE that we do not suspect drugs or alcohol were involved."

He says that preliminary information, pending a final determination, indicated only that the motorcycle left the roadway and hit a pole.

Cullens cousin Haley Tynes says, based on what she was told by authorities, that the couple swerved to avoid animals in the road while they were heading to Ebey's Landing, a local nature preserve, to watch the sunset.

Related: 2 Teens Were Stranded on Their Way to Prom Until an Officer Stepped in: 'Amazing to Be Able to Help'

Cullen died at the scene and Kedar died soon after at a local hospital, Wallace says.



"I know that Sam treated Suzie like his queen," Cullen's mother, Shari, told Patch.com. "She was his queen."

Cullen was stationed on the island as a Navy petty officer 2nd class, family said in a GoFundMe campaign. He and Kedar met while attending Farmingdale High School in New York and they grew closer in the decade since graduating in 2014, dating for much of that time, Tynes says.

Cullen was planning to soon ask Kedar for her hand in marriage, News 12 Long Island reported. He sent a photo of the ring to his mother within a week of the crash.

He intended to pop the question on June 1. Tynes says he wanted to do it in the Seattle area, either at a local park or the Lake Washington waterfront.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The U.S. Navy helped transport Cullens body back to New York, according to News 12 Long Island. Meanwhile, family members, friends and more raised money via GoFundMe to help bring Kedar home and pay for funeral expenses.

More than $54,000 has been donated so far, and Tynes says the local community in Washington rallied around her and Kedar's families to help them through the aftermath of the crash, including by giving money and helping look after the couple's pets.

Kedar's employer, Whidbey Coffee, gave a day of sales proceeds as well, Tynes says.



Related: Man Dead After Crashing His Car into Security Barrier at White House

The family's GoFundMe likewise expressed gratitude for the support, stating in part: "All the shared memories [and] prayers sent from around the world has touched them deeply and is helping them more than you can imagine."

A viewing was held Friday in Levittown, N.Y., according to the GoFundMe campaign. A funeral service was held the following day. Future memorials are also planned, Cullen's family says.

The way they looked at each other, you could tell they felt infatuated and were in love with each other, Kedars sister, Shivani Varickamackal, told Newsday.

Editors note: This story has been updated for clarity with additional information from Sam Cullens family and law enforcement and to correct certain details about Cullen's life and the crash.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Hispanic advocates plan rally at Oklahoma Capitol to voice frustration about new immigration law

Gov. Kevin Stitt answers questions from the media on Friday at the Oklahoma State Capitol. (Photo by Janelle Stecklein/Oklahoma Voice)

OKLAHOMA CITY  Hispanic and other communities on Wednesday are expected to rally at the Capitol.

Organizers of the annual Hispanic Cultural Day at the Capitol have changed the format following the signing of a controversial immigration law.

The event has traditionally been held inside the Capitol and included advocacy, exhibits, food, dancing and booths.

But since Gov. Kevin Stitt signed House Bill 4156, the Legislative Latino Caucus received an outpouring of concern, said Rep. Arturo Alonso-Sandoval, D-Oklahoma City.

As a result, the group decided to change the format to include a rally, organized advocacy and some cultural celebrations.

This change in format is a direct result of the frustration of folks  not only in the Latino community, said Sen. Michael Brooks, D-Oklahoma City.

The organization has invited Oklahoma Asian, Native American and Middle Eastern communities to stand with us, as well as many faith leaders and law enforcement professionals from across the state, Brooks said.

The event will be from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. No identification is required to enter the Capitol.

Gov. Kevin Stitt on April 30 signed House Bill 4156.

The law creates a new crime called impermissible occupation for willfully entering the state without legal authorization to be in the United States.

The first offense is a misdemeanor punishable by one year in county jail and a fine of up to $500 or both.

The person would be required to leave the state within 72 hours.

A second offense is a felony with up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000 or both.

Critics say the law will increase racial profiling, dissuade cooperation with the police and break up families.

Supporters say it is necessary to combat illegal immigration and secure the nations borders.

During a press availability Friday, Stitt responded to concerns about the law.

He said the Legislature wrote the bill to put pressure on the Biden administration.

I think it puts more tools in the tool belts of law enforcement, Stitt said.

The bill did not make it illegal to be an undocumented person, Stitt said.

Thats already illegal, Stitt said.

Some law enforcement entities have issued statements to alleviate fear and indicated that they were not going door-to-door rounding up people, Stitt said.

I think Americans are fed up with the porous borders and the illegal crossings that are coming in, Stitt said. And so were just wanting the Biden administration to actually fix that.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Hispanic advocates plan rally at Oklahoma Capitol to voice frustration about new immigration law appeared first on Oklahoma Voice.
Its hard for taxpayers to wrap our minds around the minutiae of school budgets and contracts. But historic things are happening at Cincinnati Public Schools that our taxpayers should be interested in. The union leaders of all six unions have asked their members to consider a vote of no confidence in our superintendent, Iranetta Wright. To the casual reader, that may sound like a bunch of teachers complaining. Its actually about all of our employees wanting to preserve the investment our community made in our students. Its about making sure that our citys legacy of excellence in education, teaching, and community partnerships remains for future generations.

I am a Cincinnati resident and taxpayer. I have also taught at CPS since 1993 for great and not-as-great superintendents. I am CPS, and I love my work with Cincinnatis young people. For the past two years, however, it has been disheartening to work for a superintendent and administrative team who have wasted so much money, time and goodwill. While everyone will always have some frustrations with their boss, this administration has crossed lines that make it difficult for work to get done.

More: Complaints mount against Cincinnati Superintendent Iranetta Wright: 'It's all about her'

For instance, were not allowed to send emails to groups that are too large for reasons never clearly explained to me. We have to wait  sometimes for weeks and months  for the superintendent herself to approve spending or make decisions. Nationwide, hiring teachers is more difficult this year than it ever has been, but our superintendent was so late in getting budgets to our principals that it threw the whole process behind by at least four months. This makes it unlikely that we will be able to hire a few of the best and brightest graduates from local colleges as theyve already been snatched up by districts who have their act together.

Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Iranetta Wright delivers an update on the progress, changes and challenges facing the district heading into the 2023-2024 school year, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, at the former Bramble Elementary School building in the Madisonville neighborhood of Cincinnati. CPS purchased the property last year, and serve as a preschool with four classrooms to start before the entire school is put to use.

The superintendent says she sought out staff and community input on budget priorities, but the options in those surveys and roundtables didnt mention the things that most union members feel might save our district the most money  namely, cutting from a bloated administration whose organizational chart has grown from four pages to 37 pages in the two years of Wrights term. Superintendent Wright hadnt even considered reducing those positions, even after already letting go of some paraprofessionals, nurses and the "super subs"  positions that provide direct service to children and keep our schools running.

Wright says shes met with unions and employees. But meeting is not the same as listening, understanding, collaborating. Shes been in meetings and regularly visits our buildings, but according to an internal survey, 75% of her employees still say that she has not "established processes to communicate and collaborate effectively." The boards January 2024 annual evaluation of her performance showed she was "significantly below expectations" concerning the way she communicates with everyone, including the board, treasurer, staff and parents.

More: Cincinnati Public Schools is being run into the ground

These are just a few of the reasons that unions representing not only teachers but secretaries, custodians, electricians, food service workers, carpenters, principals, counselors, interpreters, psychologists, security officers and plant operators have decided that Superintendent Wright has lost the confidence and trust of her employees. To my knowledge, three of the six unions have voted and agreed, and three have yet to vote. If all our unions indeed vote no confidence, it will send a message to our board, who are her employers. They can decide what action they should take.

I hope these votes also send a message to you, my fellow Cincinnati taxpayers. We are the boards employers. If youre as inspired as I have been by this historic display of solidarity, this demand that our schools run by the rules, please let the school board know. Make sure the board knows that you value our schools and will not allow one person to diminish them or the people who work in them.

Make sure they listen to the staff who are struggling to do their jobs in support of your children. Make sure the board firms up their policies and procedures so that future leaders arent allowed to ignore contracts, timelines, board directives and community demands.

Make sure the board knows that weve already lost valuable workers and precious time that well never get back because of the untenable situation Iranetta Wright and her team puts us in.

Glenetta Krause lives in Clifton.

Glenetta Krause

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Superintendent Iranetta Wright has lost confidence, trust of employees
Media mogul Haim Saban, shown in 2018, criticized President Biden's decision to put a weapons shipment to Israel on hold. (Willy Sanjuan / Invision)

Democratic mega-donor and Hollywood media mogul Haim Saban slammed President Bidens decision to put a shipment of weapons to Israel on hold because they could be used in an offensive against a densely populated city in southern Gaza.

"Let's not forget there are more Jewish voters who care about Israel than Muslim voters who care about Hamas," Saban wrote in an email to senior Biden aides Steve Ricchetti and Anita Dunn, Axios reported Thursday.

The comments drew condemnation from Muslim American leaders, who described Sabans email as unhinged, hateful and petulant and virulently anti-Muslim.

The White House should reject Mr. Sabans threatening email, condemn his hateful message and cut ties with him, said Edward Ahmed Mitchell, the deputy executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. Mega-donors like Haim Saban should have no more access to policymakers or influence over public policy than the average American.

Read more: Biden says U.S. won't supply weapons for Israel to attack Rafah, in warning to ally

Biden on Wednesday told CNN that while the United States would continue to support Israels defense, as it has historically done, it would not supply bombs and artillery shells that the Middle East nation could use in an assault on Rafah in the Gaza Strip. More than 1 million civilians are sheltering in the southern Gaza city, which is the last major stronghold of Hamas, the militant group that carried out the deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

The Biden campaign did not respond to a request for comment. But White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre reiterated the presidents stance Thursday.

What the president made clear on CNN is that we do not want to provide material support to such an operation, she told reporters aboard Air Force One. We have held a shipment of high payload, unguided munition and we discussed with Israel all concerns about their use in dense urban environments.

The debate over the weapons shipment reflects a broader, growing rift between the Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Israels response to the Oct. 7 attack and attempt to defeat Hamas amid demands that it limit civilian casualties in Gaza.

It is unfolding during an election year when Biden is in a tight contest with former President Trump. Jewish Americans and Muslim Americans are parts of the Democratic coalition Biden needs to keep intact to win reelection, particularly in states such as Michigan.

Read more: Biden, at a Los Angeles fundraiser, says 2024 election offers a stark choice

Saban, an Israeli American billionaire who hosted the last fundraiser Biden held in Southern California at his sprawling Beverly Park estate in February, reacted to Bidens comments by urging Dunn and Ricchetti to forward his message to the president.

In his email, Saban wrote that Biden's decision to stop sending munitions to Israel "sends a terrible message to our allies in the region" and shows that the U.S. "can flip from doing the right [thing] to bending to political pressure."

He urged the president to reconsider his decision, which he called "bad ... on all levels," and closed with "Thank You. With respect."

Saban did not respond to a request for comment.

Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox three times per week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
BURKE COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF)- Friday night, NewsChannel 6 is broadcasting live from the Boss Hog BBQ competition in Waynesboro. That area was settled by colonists nearly 300 years ago.

It took three or four years before the American Revolution made its way to the south. Twice during that time the Americans and the British fought in Burke County.

During the American Revolution a lot of fighting in the south was made up of skirmishes in the back-country with the more major battles happening in Savannah and Augusta.

In Burke County, patriots fought for independence at the Battle of Burke County Jail and the Battle of Brier Creek.

Burke County was settled in 1732 and was originally called the Halifax District. In 1758, it was renamed St. Georges Parish.

Edmund Burke.

Judge Jesse Stone is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He said that Burke County was eventually named for Edmund Burke, a member of Parliament who was particularly vocal in his support of the American cause.

Hes known as one of the earliest conservatives in Parliament. And he spoke in favor of the colonies having rights, explained Stone.

During that time, Burke County was much larger than it is now. Between 1793 and 1905, portions of it were incorporated into Screven, Jefferson, Richmond and Jenkins Counties.

Two battles took place in Burke County as it was at the turn of the 19th century, though only one of the sites is still located in modern day Burke County.

Communities in the south were divided, some remaining loyal to King George III and others siding with the patriots. This caused violence to break out in the back-country.

Hometown History: The American Revolution in Augusta

And it happened within families. And the revolution in the South was more of a civil war than the Civil War was., said Stone.

Thomas Brown was a loyalist, new to the Augusta area. He felt he owed his loyalty to the king because he had just gotten a land grant in what is now Columbia County.

Historian Steve Rauch said Brown wasnt treated well by local patriots and held a grudge.

But Thomas Brown had been tarred and feathered. Hed been beaten. Hed been hit.

Brown retreated to Florida where he joined British forces and began building his troops, which he called the East Florida Rangers.

(AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

Around that time, the British felt they were at a stalemate with fighting in the North so they moved their focus to the South.

Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell was a British officer who, in 1778, led 3,000 men from New York to Georgia. That December, after his army won the Battle of Savannah, he was joined by Brigadier General Augustine Prevost with a mission.

One of the major missions of that Army was to recruit loyalists to the British cause. And there was an assumption that there were a lot of loyalists here. However, many of them had already been exiled to Florida, but nevertheless, that was their strategy, Rauch explained.

Prevost made an amnesty proclamation, saying that any Georgian who pledged allegiance to King George III would be pardoned for any rebel activity.

Campbell and Prevost believed most of the loyalists were in the back-country, which starts in the Augusta area.

Hometown History: The Rosa T. Beard Debutante Club

January 24th, Archibald Campbell leaves Hudsons Ferry, which is along the Savannah River, and begins his march towards Augusta, said Rauch.

Along the way Campbell and his men got into small skirmishes with Americans, but nothing serious.

Stone told NewsChannel 6 that while he was traveling, Lieutenant Colonel James Ingram with the patriots, went to Burke County jail to rally support.

And all the local patriots gathered there. And he issued a proclamation basically saying that you either had to come support the Patriots or you could be killed.

Prevost believed that patriot forces were holding British men at the jail and ordered Campbell to detach troops to head there. Campbell sent Thomas Brown and his Rangers.

Courtesy: Library of Congress.

Campbell didnt think much of these people. He called them free booters or rabble, Stone said.

The night before the battle, Brown and 230 loyalists surrounded the Burke Jail encampment and prepared to attack. On January 26, 1779 they surprised the Americans.

At the first call of reveille in the morning, his troops attacked the Americans. And very quickly, half of the Americans ran, said Stone.

Around 60 Americans were left to battle the British. They held their own and the battle lasted all day.

Stone has an idea why the patriots were so successful even though they were out numbered.

The Americans were motivated by a Baptist preacher, Silas Mercer, firing them up and they were fighting for their country and their lives.

After hours of fighting Browns troops retreated.

Hometown History: Hopelands Gardens and Rye Patch

There is some disagreement among historians about what the outcome of the Battle of Burke County Jail was.

Its not really decisive. Theres no no real outcome of it, said Rauch.

Locally, it raised everybodys spirits for a short while, as it was the first American victory after the British invaded Georgia, Stone disagreed.

Patriot casualties included 9 dead and 5 wounded. The loyalists had 5 killed and 5 wounded. The patriot militia also took 9 British prisoners.

(AP Photo/Josh Reynolds)

Lieutenant Colonel Campbell received a message from the Americans saying they were going to hang those Tories that they had captured, explained Stone. Campbell replied by putting up a scaffolding within sight of the Americans and telling them that for every British subject who was hung, there would be two American prisoners hung. And then there was no more talk about hanging.

Campbell continued to Augusta where they took control, but they didnt stay there long.

Two months later the second battle in what was then Burke County occurred, the Battle of Brier Creek.

A large American force, led by Major General John Ashe, was gathering outside of Augusta which Rauch said worried Campbell.

So because of that, Campbell decides to pull out of Augusta and go back south to fall closer to the supply line, which is a smart thing to do, he said. And he doesnt go all the way back to Savannah. He goes down towards Hudsons Ferry.

Hudsons Ferry is located on the Savannah River and Campbell and his men had to cross Brier Creek, a swampy area in modern day Screven County, to get there. He ordered his men to burn the bridge once they crossed.

Hometown History: Dr. Kings final visit to Augusta

When they arrived Campbell turned the command over to Lieutenant Colonel Mark Prevost, brother to General Prevost, and left for England.

Ashes army follows and is stopped by the burned bridge. They set about rebuilding it to continue pursuit of the British. The British took that time to plan their attack.

This is a 50 mile maneuver, a 50 mile march to get in behind the Americans. This is this is exactly how you fight wars. You maneuver around them, said Rauch. And the British are well-trained. Theyre experience are up for this.

The night before the March 3, 1779 battle, the British formed a triangle around Ashes camp. Ashe had no idea they were there and did nothing to secure his troops.

The next afternoon the British advanced on a horribly unprepared American Army.

But they were ill equipped. They didnt have the right cartridges. They hadnt got their full strength, said Stone.

Hometown History | WJBF: 70 years of excellence

The problem was the Americans werent really ready for this. Part of it also was ammunition had not been distributed. Part of the story is that some of the ammunition they had, didnt fit the guns they had, Rauch said.

Despite outnumbering the British, the Americans were untrained. They made mistakes that ultimately opened a gap in their defense, allowing the British to move in.

Hundreds of militia men ran, leaving the patriots even weaker.

One man and his troops stood their ground and fought but werent victorious.

The last to fall were the Georgia Continentals under Colonel Samuel Elbert, said Stone. And his life was saved, as the story goes, by a British officer recognizing his Masonic sign of distress and sparing his life.

It was a clear British victory which restored their hold on Georgia. Its believed that the American loss of the Battle of Brier Creek extended the war for a year and opened the door for the British invasion of South Carolina.

So in the end, the Americans lose 150, killed by 227 prisoners of war, an unknown number of P.O.W. So out of the thousand men that Ash had. It is theyre just decimated by this battle. The British, on the other hand, lost only five killed and 11 wounded, explained Rauch.

Ashe chased after the men that retreated at the beginning of the battle, but never returned. Later a court martial acquitted him of cowardice, but he was convicted for failure to secure his camp.

As we all know the Americans ultimately won the Revolution gaining our independence from Great Britain, thanks to the brave patriots that fought and died.

Thats just part of your Hometown History.

Photojournalist: Dania Alawir.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
HOPKINTON  Voters at Town Meeting this week rejected a plan to bring Hopkinton into compliance with the MBTA Communities Act, a new state law that requires 177 eastern Massachusetts communities to zone for multifamily housing near public transit stations.

The law, which was signed by former Gov. Charlie Baker in January 2021, affects municipalities that either have direct access to an MBTA service, or border communities with such access. These municipalities are required to permit a higher level of density by right in neighborhoods that are within a half-mile radius of rail stops.

Hopkinton's proposal would have added multifamily zoning to three areas: two off Cedar Street (Route 85), directly adjacent to the Southborough Commuter Rail station; and in downtown Hopkinton.

If Hopkinton does not pass zoning changes allowing for multifamily housing near public transit stations by year's end, the town risks losing out on state money and could face a potential lawsuit from the state.

Towns plot to accommodate law: Natick, Wellesley work to comply with new MBTA zoning standard

The article failed during Wednesday night's Town Meeting session, 126-118. In a statement to the Daily News, interim Town Manager Elaine Lazarus called the vote "a setback."

"The result of the vote on Article 39 at last night's Annual Town Meeting was a setback in the town's plan for conformance with MGL Chapter 40A, Section 3A (the MBTA Communities law)," Lazarus said. "However, Hopkinton is committed to presenting another proposal at a Special Town Meeting (likely to be held sometime in the fall) in order to achieve compliance with the law before the end of the year."

She encouraged residents to look out for public information and input sessions in coming months.

Hopkinton is considered an "MBTA adjacent" community, due to its proximity to Commuter Rail stations in Southborough and Westborough. It's required to zone for a minimum of 750 units, or about 11% of its current housing stock.

Hopkinton joins a handful of other Massachusetts cities and towns, including Marshfield, Milton, Hanson and Norwell, in rejecting proposals that would accommodate the law. In Hanover, the town voted to send the plan back to the Planning Board for further review.

What is the MBTA Communities Act?

The MBTA Communities Act requires 177 communities in eastern Massachusetts to designate at least one zoning district that allows for multifamily housing by right, meaning certain conditions like special permits or variances arent required. The law's intent is to boost housing production.

'Paper compliance': Towns settling for 'bare minimum' with housing law, critics say

These zoning overlay districts must allow for projects that are suitable for families and have a minimum density of 15 units per acre. If applicable, districts must be within a half-mile of public transportation and are encouraged to be near existing commercial districts. For Hopkinton, the Cedar Street district would have satisfied the half-mile radius requirement from the Southborough Commuter Rail station.

This type of zoning would allow multifamily housing in addition to the lands existing zoning. The law does not require that anything be actually built  only that it is zoned to allow for multifamily residences.

What's next for Hopkinton?

If Hopkinton does not pass the zoning changes by year's end, the town risks losing out on state money and could face a potential lawsuit from the state.

According to a prior press release from the town, Hopkinton has received more than $8 million in MassWorks Funding for road safety and infrastructure improvements. Projects that received this funding include Legacy Farms North and the Main Street Corridor. Projects that could be at risk of losing out on funding include the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority water connection and potential affordable housing-related infrastructure improvements.

Hopkinton's vote comes months after Milton voters renounced their previously approved MBTA zoning changes. State Attorney General Andrea Campbell sued the town in the state Supreme Judicial Court, and the state pulled a $144,800 grant for the design of a seawall at Milton Landing. Designated as a "rapid transit" community, Milton's deadline to approve its MBTA zoning was the end of last year.

In a statement to the Daily News, Campbell urged the town to reconsider its failed vote.

While some remain wrongly focused on the towns that have had failed votes, a majority of communities are taking steps to comply with the MBTA Communities Law, and we will continue to be a resource to all communities, including Hopkinton and Marblehead, who have until the end of 2024 to come into compliance," the attorney general said. "I thus urge them to reconsider another zoning article at another Town Meeting before the end of the year."

Hopkinton Town Clerk Connor Degan said the Planning Board will work to bring a new proposal forward.

This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Town Meeting voters reject Hopkinton's MBTA Communities Act plan.
On the border between Ukraine and Russia in the Kharkiv region, in the morning of May 10, the Russian terrorist army tried to break through our defense. Civilians continue to be evacuated from Vovchansk and the surrounding villages.

ADVERTISIMENT

Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of the Vovchansk City Military Administration, confirmed the evacuation in a commentary to the media. He said that the authorities, police, and volunteers are helping people.

"Most people are leaving by their own transport. But at the same time, together with the humanitarian center, we are organizing the evacuation of those locals who do not have their own cars. We work together with volunteers and the police. We are taking people out of Vovchansk and nearby settlements," Gambarashvili told Hromadske Radio.

Local residents say that the shelling on the night of May 10 was perhaps the most massive since the beginning of the war."It is dangerous to be in Vovchansk now. Since three in the morning, there have been UAVs, artillery, and MLRS attacks," added the head of the CMA.

ADVERTISIMENT

We remind you that there is a hotline for evacuation issues by phone: 0-800-33-92-91. "We especially appeal to the residents of the Vovchansk and Lipetsk directions," the RMA said.

How the occupiers shelled Kharkiv region on Friday night:

ADVERTISIMENT

Fighting on the border

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine confirmed that the Russian army attempted to break through the defense line under the cover of armored vehicles at about 5 a.m. on May 10.

As of 13:00 on Friday, the Defense Forces repelled the attacks, and fighting of varying intensity continued.

The Ministry of Defense noted that the enemy used guided aerial bombs and other weapons in the Vovchansk sector, increasing fire pressure on the front line of Ukrainian defense as the night began.

"Reserve units have been deployed to strengthen the defense in this area. The Ukrainian Armed Forces continue to hold back the enemy's offensive," the press service said.

ADVERTISIMENT

According to OBOZ.UA sources, enemy activity (as of Friday morning) was recorded in the villages of Strilecha, Pylna, and Borysivka (Kharkiv district), as well as Hatyshche (Vovchansk district). This is the border area in the northern part of Kharkiv region.

According to the source, the situation so far looks like reconnaissance by combat. Groups of occupiers entered our territory with the support of one tank and two armored personnel carriers without further deep advance.

ADVERTISIMENT

At 13:13, DeepState published photo evidence that the Russian Armed Forces had already suffered losses in a new active section of the front. Previously, three pieces of enemy equipment were burned north of the villages of Morokhovets and Oliinykove. The Russians were moving from the direction of the village of Pylna.

Reuters believes that the Russian army has launched a ground armored attack on the northeastern part of the Kharkiv region, "trying to create a buffer zone".

The agency cites a senior Ukrainian military source. The source told reporters that the invaders "are trying to push the Ukrainian Armed Forces back 10 kilometers from the Russian border."

ADVERTISIMENT

As OBOZ.UA wrote, the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration, Oleh Syniehubov, for his part, said that shelling had intensified and that Russian subversive reconnaissance groups were attempting to cross the border (as of the morning of May 10).

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Aldi to slash prices on 250 summer essentials 2 people injured when bus crashes into building in Washington County Man accused of domestic abuse kidnapping attempt in South Strabane Giant Eagle parking lot VIDEO: Person injured, dog killed in house fire in Carrick DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Changes are coming to downtown Nashville traffic after the Metro Transportation and Licensing Commission extended the hours party buses and other entertainment vehicles can operate.

For a couple years, transportainment vehicles like party buses, or ETVs for short, werent allowed to operate from 4 to 6 PM at all. The measure was put in place to reduce downtown congestion during rush hour, but party bus operators say all it did was hurt their business.

If this is a problem, lets open less hotels, lets close the bars from 4-6, lets all take a siesta if traffic is a problem. I dont think you can pin it on one industry, said Michael Winters with Nashville Tractor.

| READ MORE | Latest headlines from Nashville and Davidson County

But after debate, the Transportation and Licensing Commission changed the rules.

ETVs are now allowed to operate from 4-6 PM as long as they arent operating in a specific part of downtownfrom 8th Avenue to the Cumberland River and from Korean Veterans Boulevard to Union Street.

I dont think this is going to be the last conversation we have about this, said one commissioner after the vote. We are going to work with the industry, we are going to work with the engineers.

However, despite this being a loosening of restrictions, ETV owners said the change still doesnt make sense to them.

[Visitors] want to see the hotspots of Nashville, which is Broadway. They dont want to see Antioch, said Upstage Party Bus owner Patrick Kludac.

During the public comment portion of the meeting, Emily Lamb, a representative from Old Town Trolley, a hop-on and hop-off sightseeing company, said they would need to shut down if they couldnt operate at all from 4-6 PM.

Lamb said shutting down Old Town Trolley would trigger layoffs and hurt popular Nashville tourist destinations because they take so many visitors to and from different parts of the city.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

Many other Nashville businesses will stand to suffer significant financial impact to their detriment as well as the detriment of Nashvilles tax revenue for all of these, she said.

Until recently, Old Town Trolley was operating from 4-6 PM despite the rules.

While sightseeing buses and party buses both are classified as ETVs, Old Town Trolley says they were granted special permission to continue their service during rush hour.

Other ETV owners were upset Old Town Trolley was given a pass and the Commission denied they had this special permission, which is what led to this special-called meeting and resulting rule change.

The Nashville Downtown Partnership spoke against the change saying the new rule would cause slower-moving traffic and congestion downtown.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
A group of 26 House Democrats are pushing back on President Bidens decision this week to halt the sending of heavy bombs to Israel amid fears of an Israeli invasion into Rafah, which is home to hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced amid the war in Gaza.

We are deeply concerned about the message the Administration is sending to Hamas and other Iranian-backed terrorist proxies by withholding weapons shipments to Israel, during a critical moment in the negotiations, reads the letter, which is addressed to White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan.

The letter comes the same day that the latest round of cease-fire talks between Israel and Hamas  brokered by the U.S., Qatar and Egypt  ended without a deal. Israel wants Hamas to release some 130 remaining hostages taken during its Oct. 7 attack, in exchange for an extended pause in fighting.

The letter, signed by House Democrats, including Reps. Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), Jared Golden (Maine), Haley Stevens (Mich.) and Steven Horsford (Nev.), follows the Biden administration announcing this week that it was holding back a planned shipment of some 3,500 bombs, which includes heavy 2,000-pound versions along with the lighter 500-pound munitions.

Biden also warned earlier this week that he would stop giving offensive weapons, such as bombs and artillery shells, to Israel if its forces begin an invasion in Rafah.

Civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those bombs and other ways in which they go after population centers, Biden said Wednesday to CNNs Erin Burnett.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities  that deal with that problem, Biden added.

The letter from House Democrats said that seven months after October 7, the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the end of the Holocaust, Iranian-backed terrorist proxies continue to fire rockets and mortars into Israel and at Americans from all directions.

At the same time, antisemitism is spreading globally like wildfire, the letter continues. We fear that public disputes with our critical ally only emboldens our mutual enemies, including Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, and other Iranian-backed proxies. It also buttresses their agenda of chaos, brutality, and hate, and makes a hostage agreement even harder to achieve.

When reached for comment, the White House pointed The Hill to remarks made by national security spokesperson John Kirby Thursday, when he said smashing into Rafah, in [Bidens] view, will not advance that objective of Israel defeating Hamas.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The biggest solar storm to hit the United States in more than two decades is underway  with impacts to begin Friday evening.

That means Americans as far south as Illinois  or even Alabama  may see the aurora borealis, or northern lights.

Those dancing lights will be the sign of charged particles ejected from storms on the surface of the sun as they collide with the Earths magnetic field.

With the Earth increasingly electrified, these storms are potentially disruptive to both radio and the grid  and while this storm is unlikely to cause serious problems, its a warning of more serious risks in the future.

We anticipate that were going to get one shock after another, so were really buckling down here, said Brent Gordon, chief of the Space Weather Services branch of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Here are five things to know about the event  and the vulnerabilities it exposes..

What is happening on the sun?

(NASA via The Associated Press)

Sometimes the intense magnetic fields from within the suns interior push up onto the suns surface, forming dark regions, or sunspots. These are enormous regions  many times the size of the Earth  that are thousands of degrees cooler than suns usual surface.

Solar plasma can gets stuck in these ropes of magnetic flux and flung up into the suns atmosphere.

They generally collapse back down into the solar surface.

But sometimes, as these ropes snap back into the surface of the sun, they fling charged particles from the suns corona out into space. Thats called a coronal mass ejection (CME), and whats happening tonight and early tomorrow is a series of CMEs heading toward Earth.

Once it reaches the Earth, it will cause a geomagnetic storm as the particles hit the Earths magnetic field.

How serious is this event?

Experts at NOAA say its probably not a big risk to Earth-based systems. But it is a rare and serious event. Like tornadoes and hurricanes, geomagnetic storms are rated on a five-point scale, and this is supposed to be a G4 event.

This is the first such severe storm  and the last geomagnetic watch announced by NOAA  since 2005. There have been more recent storms on the low end of the G4 schedule, including a brief, relatively weak event in 2023.

NOAA scientists compared the ongoing watch alert to a tornado alert: It means grid managers should go about their business, but be alert. The next level  which the world has yet to hit  would be a warning akin to a tornado warning, which would suggest an ongoing serious event.

But experts emphasized that each warning is directed at a specific audience: Tornado warnings go out to everyone in the path of a tornado, but geomagnetic warnings are directed at a much more specialized group.

For most people on planet Earth, they wont have to do anything, said Robert Steenburgh, another space scientist at NOAA. Theyll be able to go about their daily lives.

But for certain sectors of the economy, industry and aviation. Theres some disintegrating effort, because theyll have to work around the particular storms, Steenburgh said.

What disruptions can that cause?

(NASA via AP)

On Earth, these impacts are generally minimal, because the Earths magnetic field largely shields society from the onslaught of particles. Impacts are relatively restricted to sectors including high-frequency radio or communications from the ground to GPS or airlines  because the particles generate current in the atmosphere that disrupts radio waves.

But the world is increasingly dependent on electricity, which is to say on electromagnetic waves of the sort disrupted by a geomagnetic storm. Its also increasingly encircled with bands of metal  transmission lines, railroad tracks or even pipelines  that can be turned into electromagnets by the geomagnetic storm.

Depending on how much [the CME] interacts with the Earths magnetic field, the Earths field can fluctuate, sending pulses of electric current down long conductors like pipelines, railroad tracks and power lines thats not supposed to be there, Steenburgh said.

So our role is to alert the operators of these different systems so that theyre aware and can take action to mitigate these impacts.

A bigger issue is the worlds reliance on global positioning systems (GPS), which depend on maintaining reliable communication to the network of satellites encircling the globe; GPS was a far less significant part of the economy or navigation system when the last such storm happened in 2005.

Shawn Dahl of the Space Weather Prediction Center said the storm can cause potential signal loss between ground and satellites. That means fewer satellites will be able to communicate to the ground at once, making the systems ability to determine precisely where things are less accurate.

The storm can also flood the upper atmosphere with charged particles that persist for days after the storm is over, with real implications for space travel.

Controllers of lower-altitude satellites are really paying attention now, Dahl said, because the storm effectively expands the areas where the satellites are orbiting. As the atmosphere gets more dense, if controllers arent paying attention, their satellites can slow down in the increased friction and begin to drop. So thats being accounted for as much as they can.

One benefit of the reliance on GPS is that the sky is so full of satellites, and the ground so full of receivers, that it helps defray the risk with greater redundancy. Theres a wide variety of spacecraft providing information, position navigation and timing, Steenburgh said. So while the threat is there, it is mitigated.

How bad can a solar storm get?

The worst geomagnetic storm in recorded history was the 1859 Carrington event, which was named for the astronomer who noticed the unusual spots on the surface of the sun  the effects of which hit the Earth 18 hours later.

That geomagnetic storm  a G5  caused sparks to fly from doorknobs, blocked telegraph wires and caused auroras to be visible as far south as the Caribbean.

So completely were the wires under the influence of the Aurora Borealis that it was found utterly impossible to communicate between the telegraph stations, and the line had to be closed, wrote the telegraph manager of the Rochester Union & Advertiser at the time, according to Ars Technica.

Many effects at the time were spooky. Birds woke up and sang in the bright light of the storm, and telegraph workers across the Eastern Seaboard were able to shut off their batteries and transmit messages using only the induced current of the aurora for power.

The coming storm could reach levels within hailing distance of the Carrington event, Dahl told reporters.

While that was an extreme level G5, this storm could reach a low G5, and we are considering that. But with the sun 93 million miles away, he said, its extremely difficult to forecast with a very good degree of accuracy the arrival of these events.

Until the CME gets to about a million miles from earth, scientists have no way of knowing how impactful these may be, Dahl said. Our best guess is G3 to G4.

A modern Carrington-class storm would be a very big deal, as Kathryn Schulz wrote in The New Yorker.

A National Academy of Sciences Report, Schulz summarized, found that extensive damage to satellites would compromise everything from communications to national security.

That, she wrote, was just the beginning. Extensive damage to the power grid would compromise everything: health care, transportation, agriculture, emergency response, water and sanitation, the financial industry, the continuity of government. The report estimated that recovery from a Carrington-class storm could take up to a decade and cost many trillions of dollars.

To make things more concerning, the Carrington event was only the benchmark by the happenstance of it being the CME that hit the Earth  more powerful events have blown right by us, including a 2012 storm that missed the earth by nine days.

A NASA article didnt mince words on the gravity of what had almost happened.

If an asteroid big enough to knock modern civilization back to the 18th century appeared out of deep space and buzzed the Earth-Moon system, the near-miss would be instant worldwide headline news. Two years ago, Earth experienced a close shave just as perilous, the agency press team wrote.

If it had hit, we would still be picking up the pieces, Daniel Baker of the University of Colorado told the agency.

After writing a 2013 paper on the event for the journal Space Weather, Baker came away chilled.

I have come away from our recent studies more convinced than ever that Earth and its inhabitants were incredibly fortunate that the 2012 eruption happened when it did, Baker told NASA. If the eruption had occurred only one week earlier, Earth would have been in the line of fire.

What is being done to protect the grid?

(Photo by Ian Forsyth/Getty Images)

In 2016, then-President Obama issued an executive order directing grid operators and infrastructure managers to prepare for extreme space weather events.

Space weather, the president wrote, has the potential to simultaneously affect and disrupt health and safety across entire continents, and he called on a wide array of government, industry and civil society to get ready.

In her New Yorker piece, Schulz notes that the space industry is largely unregulated, and Bill Murtagh of the Space Weather Prediction Center told her that I do not think they are ready for a major space-weather event.

But the grid, he told her, is likely preparing  at least for an event around as strong as the Carrington storm.

At the Friday press event, Steenburgh acknowledged that the addition of renewables to the grid had made it different than it was in 2005.

But he said his group had been working with the power distribution community over the past decade to help them better understand space weather, and their engineers have taken that information and used it to build systems that can protect the power lines more rapidly than before.

Much of this comes down to triage: identifying what can be taken offline rapidly to protect it in the event of a serious storm, and hardening systems that cant be allowed to fail.

Where problems arise, he noted, was on massive high-voltage transformer lines. Its not on anybodys [private] line going from the small transformer to their home.

But Schulz warned that the federal standard for hardening may be preparing for an event weaker than the Carrington event, which is itself weaker than the near-miss of 2012.

And while this storm is unlikely to cause serious problems, and the sun is nearly toward the maximum extent of its 25-year cycle of activity  which will peak in October  solar flare activity often picks up on the back end of the peak.

That could mean years of increased flares, Scott McIntosh of the National Center for Atmospheric Research told LiveScience.

Who will be able to see the aurora?

For this weekend, however, the NOAA team said there was little to worry about  except the question of whether someone who wants to will be able to see the aurora.

In general, the most visible manifestation of space weather is if you happen to be in an area where its cloud free and relatively unpolluted by light  you may get a fairly impressive, aurora display. Thats really the gift from space weather, Steenburgh said.

Unless the storm is a strong G4, only those in the northern half of the country  meaning north of Northern California  will be able to see it with their naked eye, and then only if they are in areas with little light pollution and clear sides.

A stronger storm may be visible with the naked eye as far south as Alabama.

But theres a hack, Steenburgh said: use your smart phone.

If you have a clear night, not many clouds and you put your phone to the sky  you may actually get an image. With some of the recent events, weve seen them as far south as Texas, or even down in Central America. So it is possible. Not likely, but it is possible.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WHNT)  After an EF-1 tornado hit Huntsville Wednesday, the focus now turns to addressing the damage. City leaders gathered Thursday afternoon to discuss what those recovery efforts will look like in the coming days.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle along with other city leaders say the cleanup will be a multi-step process, but clearing roadways so people can travel safely and restoring power are among their top priorities.

At least five tornadoes confirmed from overnight storms

At the peak of the severe weather event, more than 10,000 customers lost power according to Huntsville Utilities. As of Thursday night, over 1,000 people in Huntsville were still without power, but Huntsville Utilities CEO Wes Kelley says theyre asking for patience.

Public safety and the safety of our crews is incredibly important, we appreciate the publics understanding about that, Kelley said. These repairs take time especially given the widespread nature and our crews are working to spread across the county to address those issues.

Storm Damage on White Circle

Storm Damage in the Maple Hill Cemetery

Storm Damage in Five Points

Kelley says other utilities across the Tennessee Valley have volunteered to assist them in their efforts. The EF-1 tornado in Huntsville caused extensive damage in the Five Points neighborhood and the Maple Hill Cemetery, the resting place for hundreds including 5 former Alabama governors.

Huntsville City Administrator John Hamilton said it could take weeks for all the roadways throughout the city to be cleared and theyre committed to safety, but some of those efforts may be challenging.

Alabama A&M offers Birmingham Southern $52 million for campus

Oftentimes those trees are tangled up in utility lines so they may have to bypass some of those situations until Huntsville Utilities has the opportunity to come in and ensure those particular situations are rendered safe, Hamilton told News 19.

Huntsville Mayor Tommy Battle says the city appreciates those on the ground helping the city recover, but it will take the entire community coming together to get through this difficult time.

We are very proud of the people who are here in the city of Huntsville and the job that theyve done the job the neighbors have done the citizens have done but especially the jobs done by public works, Battle said.

There were no reported deaths or injuries according to city leaders. They also said they would be contacting families in the coming weeks if their loved ones resting place at Maple Hill Cemetery was damaged.

Officials say it could take days for power to be fully restored and up to weeks for all of the roads throughout the city to be cleared. If you are in need of assistance with cleaning up debris at your home, a crisis clean-up line is available at 256-207-5832.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHNT.com.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  The husband of the missing Florida woman who vanished from her apartment in Spain a few months ago was denied bond by a Miami judge on Friday, according to NBC affiliate WTVJ.

David Knezevich, the estranged husband of Ana Maria Henao Knezevich, had a pre-trial detention hearing on Friday following his arrest last weekend after landing at Miami International Airport from Serbia.

We still have hope: Family of missing woman in Spain pleads for her return

He was arrested and charged with kidnapping in connection with his wifes disappearance. WTVJ reported that David was called a flight risk due to his means and significant ties to Serbia.

Knezevich was last seen on Feb. 2 leaving her Madrid apartment. Court documents showed David closely resembled a man who spray-painted a security camera outside of her residence.

The man was seen roughly an hour later, leaving the area with a suitcase. An eyewitness said David rented a vehicle with tinted windows and changed the tags, according to WTVJ.

An FBI agent also revealed that blood was found in her apartment.

The pair had been married for 13 years but were separated, and Ana Maria left for Spain in December because she felt her life was threatened by David, according to WTVJ.

Tampa woman who beat husky with mallet sentenced to Florida State Prison

On Wednesday, her family spoke out, pleading for her safe return and for anyone with information to come forward.

We still have hope that we can find where my sister is, Knezevichs brother, Felipe Henao said. If shes out there, we want to tell her we love her, we miss her, we support her, we hear her voice.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Two people are dead following a shooting incident Thursday evening in Maury City, Tennessee, according to the Crockett County Sheriffs Office.

Deputies say they responded to the shooting at 3230 Highway 80 at 4:45 p.m. where they found a woman, later identified as Maria Elena Rios, shot and unresponsive.

1 dead, 2 injured in officer-involved shooting in Raleigh; TBI to investigate

They also say they found a man, identified as Jesus Rios, suffering from a gunshot wound.

Both victims were pronounced dead, deputies say. They were husband and wife.

The Sheriffs Department says they are investigating this as a murder-suicide.

WREG is working to gather more details. We will update this story as they become available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Trump hush-money trial: Fourth week of testimony concludes as Michael Cohen expected on stand next week

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves for the day at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Friday, May 10, 2024. Trump's criminal trial is in its fourth week on charges he allegedly falsified business records to cover up a sex scandal during the 2016 presidential campaign. Pool photo by Timothy A. Clary/UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- Former White House executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout's testimony and a mountain of evidence wrapped up the fourth week of Donald Trump's hush money trial, as his former "fixer" Michael Cohen is expected to take the stand Monday.

Westerhout was first called Thursday by the prosecution as the fourth week of the trial comes to an end. The 33-year-old returned to the stand Friday morning.

The former president's one-time executive assistant told the court Friday that Trump became "very upset" when the story about the alleged hush-money payments first became public.

"My understanding is that he knew it would be hurtful to his family. The whole situation was very unpleasant," Westerhout told Trump attorney Susan Necheles during cross-examination in front of New York State Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan.

Westerhout was in the White House when the story first broke.

Former White House executive assistant Madeleine Westerhout continued her testimony in a New York courtroom Friday, during the former presidents hush money trial. Pool photo by Jeenah Moon/UPI

On Friday, Westerhout testified that Trump would sign checks personally if he was present in the White House.

"If he had the time when you gave them to him he would sign them right away," she said.

Madeleine Westerhout testified Friday Donald Trump became very upset by it when the story about the alleged hush money payments first became public. Pool photo by Angela Weiss/UPI

Necheles also probed Westerhout about Trump's proclivity for personally signing documents without having first reviewed them while he was preoccupied with other tasks, which she said occurred "not every day, but sometimes."

She also said that Trump was "definitely" a multitasker.

Madeleine Westerhout was in the White House when the story first broke, accusing Donald Trump of using his former lawyer Michael Cohen to facilitate payments to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels, whos real name is Stephanie Clifford. Pool photo by Jeenah Moon/UPI

Westerhout also emphasized Trump's desire to ensure it was his authentic signature and not a duplicate on any personal documents sent to people.

Trump's lawyers also had Westerhout confirm the former president's close relationships with former National Enquirer parent company CEO David Pecker, and ex-Trump Organization CEO Allan Allen Weisselberg. Weisselberg in March had pleaded guilty to perjury.

Madeleine Westerhout also testified about Donald Trumps proclivity for personally signing checks without having first reviewed them while he was preoccupied with other tasks. Pool photo by Todd Heisler/UPI

The rest of Friday's proceedings involved entering evidence, which included phone records, payment records between Cohen and Trump and a series of messages between the manager for former adult film actress Stormy Daniels and Pecker about whether she would go public with her allegations about having an affair with Trump.

Merchan on Friday ruled that a 1999 Trump interview with Larry King about campaign finance laws could not be entered as evidence, siding with Trump's attorneys that Trump's views in 1999 were not relevant to his state of mind in 2016 or 2017.

Former President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he leaves for the day at Manhattan criminal court in New York on Friday. Pool Photo by Timothy A. Clary/UPI

Cohen's cellphone was entered as evidence ahead of his testimony on Monday.

Trump attorney Todd Blanche pressed Merchan to put a gag order on Cohen after he posted a TikTok video this week of himself wearing a white T-shirt with a picture of Trump behind bars.

Prosecutor Joshua Steinglass said prosecutors have "repeatedly" asked witnesses not to talk about the case, but that they have "no control" over what witnesses do.

Merchan, regardless, told prosecutors to tell Cohen again to refrain from making further statements about the trial, and that the order is coming directly from the bench.

Trump is accused of falsifying business records to cover up payments to Cohen to compensate him for the hush-money payments to former adult film actress Stormy Daniels, who's real name is Stephanie Clifford.

Earlier in the week, former Trump Organization executive Deborah Tarasoff testified, attempting to distance herself from allegations that she helped prepare 12 checks signed by Trump, each with a value of $35,000. Those were allegedly sent in 2017 to Cohen as reimbursement for payments already made to Daniels, as well as an additional $130,000 earmarked for Daniels, who has already testified during the trial.

Trump has continued to rail against the trial, calling it on Friday outside the courtroom "a disgraceful trial," and a "tremendous abuse of the New York judicial system."
On the night of May 10, Russian troops shelled a residential area in Kharkiv. Fires broke out amid destroyed and damaged private houses, and two people were injured.

ADVERTISIMENT

Explosions were heard in the city around 03:20. Telegram channel Nikolaevsky Vanyok reported that the enemy was using ballistic missiles, preliminarily S-300 missiles.

According to Mayor Ihor Terekhov, the Russian occupation forces hit a residential area, where private houses caught fire, with missiles.

The head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, has previously indicated that a private house was damaged as a result of the strike on the regional center. One casualty was reported.

ADVERTISIMENT

He also added that Russian troops struck the town of Derhachi in the Kharkiv district.

According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russian war criminals used two S-300/S-400 anti-aircraft guided missiles from the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation to attack Kharkiv.

In the morning, Oleh Syniehubov clarified that 12 private residential buildings were damaged in Kharkiv. An 11-year-old child and a 72-year-old woman were injured as a result of the enemy shelling. It was reported that they had an acute stress reaction.

ADVERTISIMENT

"Civilian infrastructure and residential areas are, as always, the main targets," RMA head said.

On May 8, a residential area in Kharkiv's Saltiv district came under Russian attack. Seven people were injured, including four children.

As reported, Russian occupation forces have intensified attacks on Kharkiv and other border regions in northeastern Ukraine, shelling mostly civilian infrastructure. Military experts say that this terror is part of the aggressor's plan to intimidate the population in preparation for a possible offensive on Kharkiv and Sumy regions.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!

ADVERTISIMENT
HVMC becomes first facility in East TN to successfully use FARAPULSE

KINGSPORT, Tenn. (WJHL)  On Wednesday, Holston Valley Medical Center (HVMC) successfully performed a cardiac ablation procedure using the FARAPULSE Pulsed Field Ablation System, becoming the first facility in East Tennessee to do so.

The FARAPULSE provides an innovative solution for treating atrial fibrillation (AF), an irregular and often rapid heart rhythm.

The FARAPULSE targets abnormal heart tissue with non-thermal electric fields while preserving surrounding structures, cutting the procedure time in half and making recovery faster and safer.

Sullivan County Health Council will address community wellbeing

Dr. Muralidhar R. Papireddy, a clinical cardiac physiologist, told News Channel 11 about the risks of non-thermal and thermal methods.

40,000 cases have been done worldwide, and we do have enough data for safety, but it is still much lower in number and compared to thermal ablation, said Dr. Papireddy. So were still learning. There might be more that we are not aware of our complications, but at this point in time, it seems to be a technology with lower risk for complications compared to the thermal energy source.

Less than 150 medical facilities in the United States have successfully performed a cardiac ablation procedure using the FARAPULSE, making HVMC fortunate.

And I will say that HVMC is also the first between Asheville and Nashville to offer this state-of-the-art technology, said Rebecca Beck, chief executive officer of HVMC and Indian Path Community Hospital. And were pleased to host that here today and share that information with you.

Mitch Kennedy, Chief Operating Officer, said a full team of medical professionals, including registered nurses and an entire cath lab team, is required to successfully execute this procedure. He referred to the group as a cardiovascular center of excellence.

Beck agreed with this recognition.

Our team is really supporting the advancement of these procedures, ensuring that we do have the right access for our patients and our communities, said Beck. And I think that goes without saying, as well, that HVMC has been world-renowned for its cardiac care program for decades now.

Kennedy said HVMC enjoys being at the forefront of advancing technology.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Some Idaho politicians are trying to force taxpayers to pay for private schooling, which would then open the door to require that taxpayers also pay for religious schooling, writes guest columnist Jim Jones. (Getty Images)

Legislators who insist on using taxpayer money to pay for private schooling consistently claim that their so-called school choice schemes would not violate the Idaho Constitution by making public funds available for religious education. They are dead wrong. Article IX, Section 5 of that revered document, sometimes called the Blaine Amendment, emphatically states that no public funds shall ever be used to help support or sustain any school, academy, seminary, college, university or other literary or scientific institution, controlled by any church.

Some people, who simply dont know what they are talking about, falsely claim the Blaine Amendment has been overruled by the United States Supreme Court. Quite to the contrary, the Supreme Court has decided two cases dealing with the Blaine Amendment and neither has overruled it. In the latest case, Carson v. Makin, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: A State need not subsidize private education. But once a State decides to do so, it cannot disqualify some private schools solely because they are religious.

What the court was saying is that if, and only if, a state establishes a program to provide taxpayer money for private schooling, it must also provide program money for religious schooling. Some politicians are trying, for the first time in Idaho history, to force Idaho taxpayers to pay for private schooling, which would then open the back door to require that taxpayers also pay for religious schooling. So-called school choice legislation is a workaround to evade and subvert the Constitution. Whether the use of public funds for private schooling is  by means of a tax credit or school voucher or some other form  it is still a raid on the public treasury in violation of the Blaine Amendment.

A dispute over the Blaine Amendment arose during a candidate forum held by the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce last month. Rep. Wendy Horman, a strong advocate of using taxpayer money to pay for private education, claimed the Blaine Amendment had been voided by the Supreme Court. Rep. Stephanie Mickelsen correctly responded that it is still the law of Idaho. She said, When you take public tax dollars, and you give them to parochial and private schools, there is no accountability for the spending. She pointed out that school choice schemes have become budget busters for many, many states.

No matter what you call a school choice plan, it is still a violation of the Idaho Constitution if it results in public money being used for religious instruction. The Legislature has consistently violated its constitutional obligation to adequately fund the public school system, both for instructional purposes and for construction and maintenance of school buildings. Thanks to the good work of pro-education legislators, progress was made this year in addressing both deficiencies. This is not the time to require taxpayers to shoulder the additional burden of financing private and religious schooling.

It should not go unnoticed that one of the most vociferous interest groups pushing for school choice programs is the Idaho Freedom Foundation. That organization is dedicated to the proposition that the state has no business educating our kids. The Freedom Foundations avowed plan is to do away with public schools. A school choice plan would certainly be a big step in that direction.

Other powerful out-of-state interests have spent heavily to force budget-busting school choice programs on the Gem State. Idaho Business for Education recently disclosed that a Texas-based organization, American Federation for Children, together with two other dark-money interest groups, spent a total of $134,148 unsuccessfully promoting school choice during this legislative session. ADF has vowed to defeat legislators who opposed these schemes and is rewarding those who bent to its will. Voters should take heed.

The post The Idaho Constitution strictly prohibits public funds for religious schooling appeared first on Idaho Capital Sun.
Initially accused of abducting their neighbors son, an Idaho couple have been placed on unsupervised probation after they struck a deal because prosecutors were concerned that a jury wouldnt convict on kidnapping charges.

Alisha and Matthew Rettkowski, of Middleton, were each charged with a single count of felony second-degree kidnapping in September after the Canyon County Sheriffs Office alleged that they coordinated a plan to abduct a teenage boy from his biological mother in Arizona, according to the Sheriffs Office.

The boys stepmother told authorities that she thought Matthew Rettkowski had taken the teen. This was because the boy had temporarily stayed with the Middleton couple  who lived across the street from the teens biological father and stepmother  when issues arose in the home, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by the Wilder Police Department.

After learning that the Rettkowskis were giving the teen drugs and alcohol, they didnt allow him to stay there, the affidavit said.

Following that choice, things became volatile between the families because the Rettkowskis were unhappy (the boy) could no longer live with them, the stepmother told police, according to the affidavit. The boys father then sent him to live with his mother in Arizona.

The prosecution agreed to the plea deal over concerns of jury nullification, because the boy was about two months away from turning 16 when the incident occurred, according to the Canyon County Prosecutors Office. At that age, prosecutors wouldve charged the Rettkowskis with harboring a runaway  a much lesser charge that is punishable by up to a year in jail, compared to a maximum of 25 years in prison for kidnapping.

The victim willingly went with the defendants and asked them to come to get him, a prosecutor said in court. Thats why the state is agreeing to the (plea deal).

Both pleaded guilty in April to the lesser charge of custodial interference and were placed on unsupervised probation for two years by 3rd District Magistrate Judge Ryan Dowell, court records showed. Neither will face any additional jail time  unless they violate probation  as Dowell gave them credit for time served and suspended the remainder of a 90-day sentence.

I mean, obviously if this happens again, its not going to be the same situation, Dowell said in court. If theres an attempt to do this again, its not going to be custodial interference.

Father said the Rettkowskis brainwashed his son

Dowell also quashed a no-contact order in the case, despite concerns raised by the boys father in court that if the order was lifted, his sons life could be in jeopardy. The teens guardian  currently his grandmother  can limit any communication between the boy and the Rettkowskis, Dowell said.

The father said his son is temporarily living with the grandmother, who doesnt want guardianship of the teen and would be OK with the Rettkowskis taking custody of him. He added that the Rettkowskis had been in contact with his son despite the no-contact order.

I know if the contact order is lifted the Rettkowskis will try again to take guardianship of my son and he will be back at their residence, the man said in court.

Court records showed the boys mother filed a petition for guardianship in September, and that case is ongoing.

Alisha Rettkowskis attorney, John Charles DeFranco, said the boy lived with the Rettkowskis for 16 months before they were charged with kidnapping. The teens father said the Rettkowskis brainwashed his son, allowing him to drink alcohol and smoke marijuana  almost costing (him) his life.

When (my son) disappeared from his mothers in Arizona, it was mine and hers worst nightmare, the father said. We did not know if my son was going to be alive or dead or if wed see him again.

The Rettkowskis also made false claims to the state Department of Health and Welfare about the teens treatment, the father said, and he indicated that both he and his former wife were cleared of any wrongdoing. This was echoed by the prosecution, which said that Health and Welfare wasnt able to corroborate any allegations of abuse by the parents.

In September, Matthew Rettkowski admitted to police during an interview that he had picked up the teen in Phoenix and brought him back to Idaho, according to the affidavit. He said he knew that he had no legal standing to do so but felt he had a moral obligation.

The original act was motivated out of love, DeFranco said in court. After this experience, I dont think they would ever do anything that would jeopardize their standing and what theyve achieved in their personal lives with their career, their family and their home.
The Idaho Health Data Exchange is a nonprofit organization propped up by almost $94 million in mostly federal tax funds. (Getty Images)

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare plans to stop paying to access the Idaho Health Data Exchange, a bankrupt government-created health data sharing service.

Interim health department director Dean Cameron told the Idaho Health Data Exchange director that the state would end its contract with the exchange, according to an April 17 letter obtained by the Idaho Capital Sun.

But the health department could delay or stop the contracts termination, Cameron said. Thats if, within the next month, the exchange shares a health data security audit, almost a decade of financial audits, employee contact information, and time-keeping policies, Cameron wrote.

Idahos health data exchange is among several health information systems across the country meant to help health care providers, insurers and others share patients medical data more effectively.

The Idaho Health Data Exchange is a nonprofit organization propped up by almost $94 million in mostly federal tax funds. A watchdog report by the Office of Performance Evaluations in November found the exchange had few state-built accountability measures more than a decade after state officials created it.

The Department takes these concerns seriously and is requesting that (the Idaho Health Data Exchange) take some action to ameliorate what (the watchdog report) had identified as (the Idaho Health Data Exchanges) general reluctance to adopt transparency measures before the Department may consider continuing its relationship, Cameron wrote.

Idaho Health Data Exchange Executive Director Jesse Meldru told the Sun the exchange hopes its services will still be available to the health department.

The Idaho Health Data Exchange will continue to work hard with our partners at the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to make sure the exchanges services continue to remain available to the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Meldru said in a statement.

The exchange is in the process of responding to the health department, Meldru said.

The Idaho Health Data Exchange exited bankruptcy last year, with a plan to pay 25% of its debts.

It wasnt immediately clear how much the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare contributes to the Idaho Health Data Exchange.

The health department pays relatively small fees for accessing data on the exchange, Meldru previously told the Sun. He said Idaho withdrawing support for the exchange would not materially impact the exchanges ability to operate.

The exchange has operated without state or federal grants since late 2020, Meldru previously told the Sun.

What this means for Idaho medical providers

Medical providers can continue to participate in the exchange, said health department spokesperson AJ McWhorter. Without the requested health data security audit, providers participating do so at their own risk, McWhorter said.

The watchdog report didnt find evidence that the exchanges data is vulnerable, but identified a potential conflict of interest in a third party that attested to its security in 2021. Meldru previously said the exchanges data security is top notch, citing external reviews.

If Idaho ended its contract with the exchange, the Idaho health department would stop paying the exchange, or receiving or sharing data through it, McWhorter told the Sun in a statement. The health department used the data for medical record reviews and epidemiology case work, he said. The agency would use other means for that work if the contract ended, McWhorter said.

But if Idaho withdrew, Idahos vaccine database called the Immunization Reminder Information System would not be accessible through the exchange, McWhorter said.

Providers would depend on other participating providers immunization data in (the exchange), and approved providers can still access immunization records directly from the vaccine system, McWhorter said.

FINAL_INFOGRPHX_DATA_5X3 1THIRD

Idaho Health Data Exchange operations not impacted if state contract ends

Meldru said losing revenue from Idaho Department of Health and Welfare would be immaterial to the Idaho Health Data Exchange, which he said has many important clients throughout Idaho.

But Meldru suggested it could strain the health department and medical providers.

When a patient medical record is not retrieved prior to delivery of care, procedures are unnecessarily duplicated at a rate of more than 20%, Meldru told the Sun. To my mind, these suggest the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare and Idahoans would be considerably worse off by not having IHDE available to them as a resource to make their processes of care delivery more efficient and to help improve the potential for better health outcomes among their attributed population.

Medical providers wouldnt be impacted directly, Meldru said. But indirectly, he said, medical staff would have to spend more time responding manually to the health departments health record requests.

We remain hopeful that (the Idaho Health Data Exchange) can continue to support as much of the health care community in Idaho as possible, and that most certainly includes the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, Meldru told the Sun.

Meldru said the contract, already set to end June 30, had been renewed annually for five years.

IHDE Termination Letter

The post Idaho health department plans to stop paying health data contractor appeared first on Idaho Capital Sun.
Except for a small cough, you might not know that 3-year-old Andre Harvey nearly lost his life at the bottom of a crowded pool over the weekend.

By Wednesday, the little Cocoa boy with big eyes and a little afro-puff atop his head was already back outdoors, riding a tiny pink scooter in front of his home, playing with his 8-year-old brother Andrew under the watchful eye of his mother.

My child is blessed. Im blessed, 32-year-old Anqunette Harvey said, grabbing another hug from her son Andre, her voice holding back the emotion.

Anqunette Harvey says she is 'blessed,' as she holds 3-year-old Andre next to her son Andrew, 8. Andrew was rescued from a near drowning last weekend.

This Mothers Day weekend will carry even more meaning for Harvey and the two police officers who came to the rescue following a 911 call from a birthday party last weekend at the Oak Meadows apartment complex pool.

Cocoa police officers Kyle McNamara, a 33-year-old father of five with another child on the way, and Christian Pyne put their life-saving training into motion to avert a tragedy. The timing: Water Safety Month, when seasonal drownings typically start to increase statewide with the warmer weather.

Florida ranks first in the nation for drownings involving children under four, according to statistics from the Center for Disease Control.

Cocoa Fire Rescue Chief Johnathan Lamm credited the officers for their quick response at the chaotic scene. "They never stopped, they never quit and they stuck to their training," Lamm said.

More: Settlement reached in case of Cocoa mom killed in 2021 DUI crash

Emergency call comes in: Possible Drowning

McNamara had just pulled into the police department headquarters to close out his patrol shift Saturday when the dispatch from Communications Officer Brittany Perdieucall came, alerting officers within seconds about a possible drowning.

Without hesitation, police say, the army veteran and former firefighter turned around and headed to the apartment complex about two miles away.

All I was thinking was, I got to get this baby, we have to save this child ... Mom was actually pulling the child out as I got there, he said.

Cocoa Police Officers Kyle McNamara and Christian Pyne talk about how they worked to revive 3-year-old Andre Harvey.

The near drowning took place about 5:52 p.m. Saturday.

Andres father had been working the grill as adults sat and talked. Music played and a number of children were splashing in the pool, witnesses said.

There were a lot of kids. My oldest ones were in the pool, said Harvey, a single mother with two sets of twin boys, who'd momentarily left the party to get food from a nearby foodtruck. "But I came back and was looking for (Andre). Something in my heart said keep walking, no one knew where he was."

Thats when she looked down in the clear-blue waters of the pool.

A sense of horror fell over her.

I saw a black shadow, and saw the color of his little shirt. They were swimming over him. My first thought was to jump in. I grabbed him from the water, pressing his chest and screaming, said Harvey, who got her unresponsive little boy over to the side of the pool.

Within moments McNamara arrived and raced toward the crowd with his first aid kit. His body cam recorded the chaos of the scene. Andre was placed on the pavement by his mother, his face purple and lips blue, Harvey said.

The boy's father helped to keep the crowd back as McNamara and 20-year-old Pyne worked to revive the child.

McNamara began mouth to mouth resuscitation while Pyne did chest compressions.

Anqunette Harvey holds 3-year-old Andre Harvey next to her son Andrew, 8.

"It was a sound I will never forget."

Then came a sign of hope.

The child spit up the chlorinated water in McNamaras mouth as the crowd looked on.

The officers flipped the boy - who had a weak pulse, McNamara said - on the side. Then came a whimper.

I heard him whining, it was a sound I will never forget. I felt so much relief. I was just boo-hoo crying, Harvey said, still shaken by the events of the weekend.

More: Melbourne-based rescue mission opens doors to 'Helen's House' shelter for women, children

Andre was treated by Cocoa Fire Rescue, then taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children and Women in Orlando where he fully recovered. It was not immediately known how long he was at the bottom of the pool.

To be honest, this is what we signed up to do ... I felt that connection as a father, said McNamara, who served in Afghanistan.

It could easily have been different, he said, recalling his very first call as a 19-year-old firefighter in Gadsden County in the Florida Panhandle. It was a child who drowned. Rescue efforts were unsuccessful.

Cocoa Police Chief says his officers followed training

Cocoa Police Chief Evander Collier praised the officers and dispatchers for their work Saturday.

Our officers and dispatchers do an amazing job every day. Whenever the phone rings, our dispatchers are trained and ready to send help wherever it is needed as quickly as possible," Evander said in a statement to FLORIDA TODAY.

"Our responding officers were trained, equipped and ready to do what was necessary to help this child. We are thankful there was a good outcome.

Harvey, for her part, is savoring the moments with Andre and is looking forward to Mothers Day weekend with all of her children. She turns to the boy and asks, Do you want to go swimming?

The boy looks at her, then says, "no."

She smiles before saying again, Im just so blessed.

J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop.

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Cocoa mom credits Cocoa police for saving 3 year old from drowning
I'm a single adult who shops at Trader Joe's. Here's how I spend $65 on a typical grocery run.

Trader Joe's has some of my favorite sweet snacks. Kaitlin Stevens

I usually spend about $65 a week at Trader Joe's as a single adult.

Some of my favorite staples for quick meals are penne pasta, tomato sauce, salmon, and rice.

I also like to have sweet treats on hand, like chocolate-covered bananas or mini stroopwafels.

It's not a secret that food is getting more expensive. But as a single adult, I know my grocery budget stretches farther at Trader Joe's.

Here's what a typical $65 grocery run looks like for me.

I like that packaged turkey stays fresh in the fridge. Kaitlin Stevens

undefinedundefined

Rustico bread: $3.49

Trader Joe's has a lot of good bread options, but Rustico is my favorite right now. Kaitlin Stevens

Trader Joe's is the only store I go to for bread.

There are several great options, but I find the multigrain Rustico loaf to be the most versatile.

It's delicious toasted with butter, slathered with peanut butter and jelly, or topped with avocado and an over-medium egg.

Veggie and flaxseed corn tortilla chips: $2.99

The tortilla chips are made with vegetables and flaxseeds. Kaitlin Stevens

One of my favorite snacks at Trader Joe's is tortilla chips, and the veggie-flaxseed bag has subtle flavors of spinach, garlic, carrot, tomato, and onion.

I use them as a vehicle for hummus, salsa, or even leftover tuna or chicken salad for a quick lunch. The bag is pretty big, too, so it lasts me a few weeks.

Thin and crunchy pretzel slims: $2.99

Pretzel slims are my favorite snack. Kaitlin Stevens

One of my favorite midday or evening snacks is pretzel slims dipped in hummus.

The Trader Joe's ones are basically half the price of the name brand, so they're a staple for me.

Roasted garlic hummus: $2.29

Trader Joe's has the best garlic hummus. Kaitlin Stevens

There are a lot of hummus brands out there, but in my opinion, Trader Joe's has the best garlic hummus on the market. I always have some on hand.

I never get tired of hummus with chips or carrots as a snack, and this flavorful dip is why.

Penne rigate: $0.99

I love how cheap Trader Joe's penne pasta is. Kaitlin Stevens

I'm not super picky about my pasta, but I do have some preferences.

Having tried plenty of different brands, including the organic penne that TJ's offers, I keep returning to the basic penne rigate.

It tastes great and costs less than a dollar per bag. Sometimes I'll buy two or three when I visit to have extra on deck.

Roasted-garlic marinara sauce: $1.99

The store-brand marinara sauce is full of flavor. Kaitlin Stevens

The roasted-garlic marinara sauce is so flavorful and helps me pull together one of my favorite 15-minute dinners.

While I boil a pot of penne, I cook ground chicken in a pan with Italian seasoning. Then I add a jar of this sauce, mix well, and serve it over pasta.

It's such a hearty meal, and it gives me plenty of leftovers.

Organic jasmine rice: $4.49

Frozen, microwaveable rice is great for me as a solo shopper. Kaitlin Stevens

The frozen jasmine rice is a godsend when I want a quick carb to go with my lunch or dinner.

The box comes with three packets, and each packet is enough for two or three servings for me.

I like to pair it with a veggie or salad alongside my protein at dinner and save the leftovers to pair with a fried egg and hot sauce in the morning.

Atlantic salmon with lemon-herb butter: $5.99

I love the added herb butter. Kaitlin Stevens

Trader Joe's single-serving frozen salmon is great when I'm drained at the end of the day but still want a nourishing meal.

I quickly thaw it by soaking the packet in a bowl of water for 30 minutes, then bake it in the oven for 10 minutes. The herb butter melts into the salmon, making a perfectly rich and flavorful sauce.

Sweet apple chicken sausage: $4.29

There are a few varieties of chicken sausage at Trader Joe's. Kaitlin Stevens

The flavored chicken sausages from Trader Joe's are always a must-buy for me. Sweet apple is my favorite, but you can't go wrong with the other varieties, like roasted garlic and sweet Italian.

They can be grilled and eaten in a bun, tossed with pasta and sauce, or stir-fried with veggies. But my favorite way to use them is in a roasted sheet-pan dinner with potatoes and a veggie (usually broccoli or Brussels sprouts).

Gone Bananas: $2.79

I like to keep a box of chocolate-covered bananas in my freezer. Kaitlin Stevens

I'm someone who needs a little dessert after every meal, and being able to grab one or two of Trader Joe's dark-chocolate-covered banana slices is the perfect sweet treat.

The cold bite is so refreshing, too, especially in the summer.

Vegetable fried rice: $2.99

Vegetable fried rice is an absolute staple for me. Kaitlin Stevens

If I don't have at least one pack of Trader Joe's fried rice in my freezer, I freak out.

It's my go-to for a quick dinner with a scallion pancake or a side when I have nothing else.

I heat oil in a wok, pour the bag in, and crack and scramble an egg or two. I usually mix in some Trader Joe's soy sauce for color and flavor, too.

Salted edamame: $1.99

I can eat edamame as a protein-packed snack or a side dish. Kaitlin Stevens

Edamame is one of the many frozen sides I love to get at Trader Joe's because it lasts forever in the freezer and pairs well with so many different meals.

It's even great as a quick snack, especially when tossed with chili oil.

Tangerine juice: $3.49

Tangerine juice is a little sweeter than regular orange juice. Kaitlin Stevens

I love a good citrus juice, and Trader Joe's tangerine juice always tastes fresh-squeezed. Because it's made from tangerines and not oranges, it's also a little sweeter than typical orange juice.

I drink a cup in the morning with breakfast or use it in smoothies for some extra vitamin C.

Chicken breakfast-sausage patties: $2.99

Breakfast sausages go great on a morning sandwich. Kaitlin Stevens

When I'm in the mood for a breakfast sandwich, I love having chicken sausage patties on hand.

They're flavorful, the perfect size and shape for Trader Joe's Rustico bread or an English muffin, and low in calories but high in protein.

Wild baby arugula: $2.29

I munch on arugula straight out of the bag. Kaitlin Stevens

When I need to eat something green but don't wanna think about it too much, I know I can always rely on some baby arugula topped with a squeeze of lemon juice and some fresh cracked salt and pepper.

I love it on the side of my breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. But it also works well on sandwiches or as an extra leafy green in a spring-mix salad.

The peppery bite even makes it delicious enough to snack on right out of the bag.

Organic baby-lettuce mix: $2.49

I like a lot of the bagged salads at Trader Joe's. Kaitlin Stevens

I tend to switch up my bagged salads from Trader Joe's, but the organic baby-lettuce mix has been my favorite lately.

The varieties of lettuce in the mix are seasonal, but it almost always has baby romaine  one of my favorite salad lettuces.

I also love the look of the different shades of red and green.

Mini pearl grape tomatoes: $2.99

I'm always reaching for the mini pearl grape tomatoes. Kaitlin Stevens

Grape tomatoes are another snacking and salad staple, and the 16-ounce container at Trader Joe's is a great value for the price.

The mini pearl grape tomatoes are always perfectly sweet, and the large container lasts me a couple of weeks.

Mini stroopwafels: $3.49

Trader Joe's sells Daelmans stroopwafels. Kaitlin Stevens

I love a bite-sized sweet treat, and caramelly, cinnamony mini stroopwafels are my absolute favorite.

I keep the little bag on my bedside table and have a few at night with my nighttime tea.

Dried mandarins: $2.99

Dried fruit is usually more practical than fresh for me. Kaitlin Stevens

Mandarins are another sweet staple for me.

The older I get, the less I crave sweet candy, but I'm not always in the mood to cut up fresh fruit.

When I need a quick sugar fix, dried mandarins are my go-to. I like to keep them in my bag, so I always have them on hand.

Read the original article on Business Insider
After public health officials confirmed H5N1, the virus also known as bird flu, jumped from poultry to cows and recently infected an American, theyve warned that if the virus strain made its way to pigs, it could be a time to press the panic button. That's because swine are closer to humans in genetic terms, acting as a prime reservoir for viruses to mutate into something that could turn into a far-reaching pandemic in people.

But now, a new study suggests that dairy cows might have the same potential as pigs, which could improve the bird flus capability of being more human-to-human transmission.

As reported by Nature, preliminary data shows that the flu virus can jump back and forth between cows and birds thanks to a specific receptor. This specific trait might allow the virus to spread more widely and develop more mutations along the way. If a single cow can be a host to multiple types of influenza over time, it could evolve to more readily infect humans.

The biggest question is whether cows are mixing vessels like pigs; pigs are well-known mixing vessels for influenza because they have both avian and human receptors and that allows a virus to mutate pretty easily and to make it more susceptible to humans, Katelyn Jetelina, an epidemiologist and author of the newsletter Your Local Epidemiologist, told Salon. And this preprint said that cows have both avian and human receptors in the mammary glands as well as other areas of the cow, which may suggest that they're a mixing vessel.

Jetelina emphasized that may is a key word.

Because although they have the receptor it doesn't necessarily mean it's active, it doesn't necessarily mean it's exactly how we see the dynamics playing in pigs, she said. So it really opens up more questions and answers at this point.

Dr. Rajendram Rajnarayanan of the New York Institute of Technology campus in Jonesboro, Ark., told Salon this preliminary report changes things a lot.

That means that if you let the virus collect in cows a lot, then soon youre going to see an adaptation that's going to pick it up in humans and other mammals, he said. Pigs can get infected with multiple viruses at a time. This could make it easier for the virus to mutate into a new one that could more easily jump from mammal to mammal, like say, from one human to another. If thats the case with cows, as Rajnarayanan said, that's going to be a problem.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), at least 42 dairy cattle farms have been infected in at least nine states. But infectious disease experts highly suspect there are more since testing is voluntary, unless they are being moved between state lines. The USDA also reported this week more confirmed cases of H5N1 in poultry and wild birds, including pigeons at a Michigan dairy where an outbreak has occurred. Meanwhile, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also urged state health officials to provide personal protective equipment for livestock workers.

On Thursday, the CDC announced the launch of a dashboard to track wastewater samples of the virus and confirmed the presence of influenza A in wastewater samples. But as Reuters reports, "The wastewater tests are capable of detecting many types of influenza A, including the H5N1 subtype, but the findings do not indicate the source of the virus or whether it came from a bird, cow, milk or from farm runoff or humans."

Want more health and science stories in your inbox? Subscribe to Salon's weekly newsletter Lab Notes.

Notably, bird flu is not a new virus like SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, was when it first began spreading in late 2019. H5N1 has been spreading in birds since at least 2021, killing hundreds of millions of them around the world. It has also infected other mammals, including seals and bears. However, this outbreak is the first time officials have confirmed that the virus has jumped from a cow to a human, and the line of transmission suggests its easily passed between cows.

The last time a human tested positive for H5N1 was in April 2022 in Colorado, when an individual got infected from poultry. Recently, a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine shed more light on the one confirmed human case where someone got infected from an infected cow. A photo in the journal showed the patient with conjunctivitis in both eyes, also known as pink eye, with a subconjunctival hemorrhage, which is like a bruise, making them appear bloody. The patient was treated with an antiviral right away, and close contacts were given post-exposure prophylaxis. Notably, the patient didnt have any respiratory symptoms, and household contacts remained in good health, according to the report.

I think they acted quickly on that person, and that was good, Rajnarayanan said. But the only thing is, we haven't really heard about anything else. He added its likely that there have been more cases that havent been recorded. Jetelina agreed she wouldnt be surprised to hear of more human cases either. As noted in Nature, there have been anecdotal reports of farm workers being infected. One expert told the publication that they suspect the exposure is widespread.

Jetelina said its important to note the social context in which this situation is unfolding. Primarily, a majority of farmer workers are undocumented, Spanish-speaking immigrants.

There's not really an incentive for them to test, Jetelina said. If they test positive that means they're out of work for two weeks, which has huge implications to their family and there's a lot of language barriers as well.

In order to move forward, Jetelina said there needs to be better data transparency and communication.

And this isn't just disease-based, this is working with humans and all the behaviors and values that those humans possess, she said. And I think all we can do is try to explain why we want them to be tested, protect them with incentives for example, paid time-off would be great.

But as it stands, Jetelina said were flying blind.

Rajnarayanan said at the moment, hes at his highest level of concern.

We are running blind, we don't really have a lot of data, he said. The data is coming here and there, but it's [difficult] to connect the dots sometimes when you have dots that are so far from each other.
Ukraine expects to receive its first Western F-16 fighter jets "in the coming weeks". However, it is not yet known from which country they will be delivered.

ADVERTISIMENT

The Evening Standard writes about this, citing its own sources. Thus, according to the newspaper, F-16 fighters may arrive in Ukraine "in June-July".

The source did not specify who would supply the aircraft. However several Western countries have offered to send these aircraft, and America has supported this step.

It is worth noting that the Netherlands was one of the driving forces behind the international coalition to supply Ukraine with F-16s to strengthen its air defense against Russian invasion. Denmark, Norway, and Belgium also joined this initiative.

As a reminder, Ukraine's air force received the first F-16 fighter jet trainer from the Czech Republic. It was transferred to one of the tactical aviation brigades. Experts noted that the military had previously had virtual simulators of these American multi-role fighters. Now it is a full-fledged flight simulator with a real F-16 cockpit.

ADVERTISIMENT

Illia Yevlash, spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force Command, said that some Ukrainian pilots are already completing their training on the F-16. According to him, as soon as the planes arrive in Ukraine, the pilots will be ready to perform combat missions.

Earlier, he noted that the training process is continuous. First of all, the pilots selected for the training master the language (foreign terms) and ground training, and only then proceed to training flights.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
The House Oversight Committee has thrown fuel on the growing fire under Big Oil's feet. In a revival of its two-year investigation into the dirty energy industry, recently released new internal documents illuminate the truth of the industry's role in our planet's rapid overheating.

What is happening?

An investigation started by congressional Democrats in 2021 that was put on hold when Republicans took control of the chamber in 2022 just received internal documents the Democrats had subpoenaed from Big Oil.

As detailed by Heated, the documents are from Exxon, Chevron, Shell, BP, the American Petroleum Institute, and the Chamber of Commerce. They add to previous reporting from 2015 from Inside Climate News and the Los Angeles Times detailing that Exxon knew how dangerous the effects of rising global temperatures were for decades but hid the findings from the public.

They are part of a hearing by the Senate Budget Committee titled "Denial, Disinformation, and Doublespeak: Big Oil's Evolving Efforts to Avoid Accountability for Climate Change," which claims Big Oil shifted from denial to "deception, disinformation, and doublespeak." According to the Committee, all six entities obstructed and delayed the Committees' investigation.

As further reported by Heated, Democrats say their new findings provide "a rare glimpse into the extensive efforts undertaken by fossil fuel companies to deceive the public and investors about their knowledge of the effects of their products on climate change and to undermine efforts to curb greenhouse gas emissions."

What did the documents reveal?

The list is long and disheartening, but here's the gist.

Dirty energy companies have funded partnerships with universities to bolster their credibility and shape academic research programs to pump out studies that support a long life for oil and gas. The new documents reveal previously unknown funding levels and how companies base their funding on academics' cooperation.

The companies publicly tout their support of the Paris Agreement and efforts to slow our planet's overheating, but privately admit they could not achieve those goals and that the goals don't align with their business plans.

They aim to ensure the long-term use of dirty energy and promote natural gas as a green, climate-friendly fuel while internally acknowledging that scientific evidence shows the lifetime pollution from natural gas is as harmful to the climate as coal.

Why should you care?

Dirty energy is, and has long been, one of the main contributors to our overheating planet, while Big Oil has been leading the public to believe it is doing its part and lining its pockets and those of its shareholders.

This level of greenwashing is extremely dangerous and can be hard to spot. It keeps consumers from making choices that benefit the environment and holding companies like these accountable for their actions.

In the case of Big Oil, it has also directly led to the continued overheating of our planet and the effects that come along with it.

The Guardian reported that Rhode Island Democrat and Committee Chair Sheldon Whitehouse said, "For decades, the fossil-fuel industry has known about the economic and climate harms of its products but has deceived the American public to keep collecting more than [$600 billion] each year in subsidies while raking in record-breaking profits."

Join our free newsletter for cool news and actionable info that makes it easy to help yourself while helping the planet.
The invasive Arundo reed threatens Arizona rivers. Why getting rid of it is so difficult

As he paddled his boat down the Wild and Scenic stretch of the Verde River, Robin Silver began to feel like he was navigating through a tunnel. He looked to both sides, to the banks of the river, and the only thing he could see were enormous walls of giant reeds.

He felt trapped.

Silver had embarked on a five-day journey by boat from Childs to Sheep Bridge, traversing six or seven miles each day and camping during the cold nights of the early spring.

"I came along with a group of kayakers because I wanted to see if there was any recovery in the 20 years since we removed the Fossil Creek Dam," Silver said. Fossil Creek is a tributary of the Verde that flows down from the Mogollon Rim.

As a Center for Biological Diversity co-founder, Silver has been actively involved in numerous environmental recovery efforts, including one to protect the Verde and its tributaries from cattle grazing. That work was part of why he took the rafting trip to monitor the recovery within the riparian area.

What he found were 30 miles of river invaded not just by cows but by a giant, non-native reed. It's known as wild or river cane, or just giant reed, but its scientific name is Arundo donax.

It is a tall grass, similar in shape to bamboo, that can grow up to 30 feet tall. Its poles grow very close to each other, forming compact clusters of impenetrable masses.

When its fibrous roots are anchored in or near water, the dense stands of Arundo can collapse over the river in the current, making it very difficult or even dangerous for boaters to navigate the channel.

"We're worried about getting caught up in shoots where the water's going through 30-foot-high bamboo," Silver said. "That's not wild and scenic. That's wrong."

But the risk goes deeper than safety. Environmental activists want to eradicate the reed because they say it will choke riparian habitat, threatening the native plants and wildlife that rely on the desert waterways. It can also become a fuel for wildfires.

Fighting it requires persistent work along hundreds of miles of waterways, and for others, the value of the plant is tied to cultural traditions, such as crafting musical instruments, something they say is worth preserving.

What is Arundo and why is it a threat?

Arundo donax is considered an invasive plant due to its impact on ecosystems. It outpaces native vegetation in growth speed and density, encroaching upon and diminishing its vitality.

This plant consumes three times more water than the others around it. If it can't get enough water, it rapidly dries out and becomes highly flammable, exacerbating the frequency and intensity of wildfires.

As a result, local wildlife suffers from habitat loss. While larger animals encounter challenges in accessing water sources along riverbanks, songbirds are unable to nest on this reed.

"Many of the birds that live along the river depend on insects or small mammals like rodents that live on the ground. And when you can't see the ground because you've got 30-foot-tall bamboo, you can't live there," Silver said.

Unlike cottonwood, which grows along the water's edge and is displaced by the giant reed, Arundo donax offers minimal shading. This leads to elevated water temperatures, decreased oxygen levels, and diminished aquatic habitat quality.

Regarding human use, "long term, it's gonna affect the water supply for Phoenix," Silver said. The metro area draws heavily on water from the Salt and Verde rivers.

Riparian health: Why river advocates say Arizona's upper Verde should earn 'Wild and Scenic' protections

Arundo on the Tanque Verde in Tucson

In Pima County, an organization is working with a crew of volunteers to clear out Arundo from the creeks northwest of Tucson.

Jim Washburne, project coordinator of the River Run Network's Arundo Removal Effort for Watershed Management Group, has been on a 12-year quest to eradicate Arundo. Ten years ago, he started the project to remove the invasive reed from Sabino Creek.

"We worked there for three or four years, and it's virtually gone from Sabino Creek now," Washburne says.

The crew is now working to eliminate the reed from Tanque Verde Creek, an effort that's been ongoing for the past three years.

About twice a month, on Saturday mornings, Washburne guides 15 or 20 volunteers of varying ages along a path through the brush until they reach the work site on the edge of a seasonal water flow.

"Our method here is mostly hands-on, physical labor," Washburne says. "After doing this for over a decade, I've found that digging out the roots by hand is the most effective in the long run."

He provides basic tools to those who do not have their own: loppers to trim the branches and pickaxes to extract the rhizomes  the subterranean stems that produce the root systems  from the ground.

Some chemical treatments work well for a year or two, Washburns said, but then deeper roots tend to sprout.

"Also, you don't want any horses or dogs or anything to lick it and have a health impact," he says. "So, it takes a little bit longer, a little bit more effort, maybe. But, we found this the most effective way to get it out permanently."

The next stage is to dig out the roots with a mini excavator or backhoe and carry them up above the flood level to dry out.

"We'll leave those roots to desiccate. It can take over a year for them to fully dry out," Washburne says. "We must be persistent and follow up with it."

Lauren Knight, River Run Network program manager at Watershed Management Group, says they have restored and removed Arundo completely from about 55 acres of riparian area just in the Tanque Verde Creek.

"Without volunteers, we would not be able to do this work. If it was just Jim and me, we would still be way farther upstream," Knight says. "People get really excited about this effort. And it's a lot of hard work that I think people are really proud of."

The group has started stage two of the project, which involves revegetating the water banks by planting native riparian plants and trees like cottonwood and seep willow.

The Watershed Management Group is able to do the work in part with grants it has won from the Arizona Water Protection Fund and the Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Non-native vegetation: How removing invasive buffelgrass from Arizona forests can reduce wildfire threats

State money helps remove invasive plants

The Department of Forestry and Fire Management awards 10 grant applications for invasive plant removal every summer.

The department partners with eligible entities like state government, cities, counties, Native American tribes and nonprofit organizations.

"The Watershed Management Group has a pretty good approach, using a lot of volunteers from the community," said Willie Sommers, the department's invasive plant program coordinator. It's a way to give back to their community and the environment."

It's an opportunity for people interested in learning more about the natural environment, helping reduce these invasive plant populations, enjoying some outdoor time, and getting to meet other people, Sommers said.

Friends of the Verde River has also applied for and received several grants from the department to control invasive plants.

Entities must submit a project plan that includes not only the removal of the plants but also their disposal. In this regard, Sommers says he would like to receive more creative ideas for repurposing or recycling the reeds.

Most organizations have few such collaborations, which means if they don't dispose of the Arundo in a dumpster, they typically use it as mulch for landscaping projects.

Arundo is music to the ears of some people

Aaron White burns the Arundo flute, so it changes its color to dark brown. The flute on the right keeps its original color.

Although many try to get rid of Arundo, the reed has been used in construction, crafting fences or roofs, making walking sticks and fishing poles, creating musical instruments, and, more recently, as a potential biofuel source.

The Watershed Management Group has partnered with the School of Music at the University of Arizona in the past, supplying them with reeds for making flutes and other musical instruments.

Indigenous tribes in Arizona traditionally have crafted flutes made from different canes, said Aaron White, a Native American musician and flute maker.

"First, they were used for hunting, mimicking the sounds of birds and high-pitched animals, but then they turned to ceremonial instruments," White said.

White is a songwriter and Grammy nominee whose music was recently part of the soundtrack of the Emmy-honored film "Lakota Nation vs. the United States." He's also a lecturer on music and gives workshops where he teaches how to make flutes out of Arundo reed.

White plays other instruments, such as guitar, keyboards and percussions. Yet, his flute has a soothing effect on his audience, who grow quiet as he plays the hypnotic sounds.

"I just can't reiterate how important it is to the culture and history," White says. "It's just been around for so long, you know? It has so much history. And I still think a lot of people don't really realize how that is."

It is not that White opposes keeping watersheds healthy. His message is more about carefully considering how these reeds are used. He says actions on the rivers will significantly influence the preservation of cultural values.

Green is the Verde: How an Arizona river became a water conservation success story, for now

Who will take control of the Arundo donax in the Verde River?

The Friends of the Verde River provide services to private landowners, as well as state and federal land managers, in the Verde Valley. They lead restoration projects, such as removing invasive plants from Oak Creek and Fossil Creek.

The local nonprofit formed the Verde Watershed Restoration Coalition in partnership with other agencies and organizations to intensify efforts and address this situation.

The four Forest Services in the Verde watershed, the Kaibab, Tonto, Coconino and Prescott, are all partners in this alliance.

Tracy Stephens, program director with Friends of the Verde River, said the group is starting to work on a project plan that will begin this fall. It will focus on the river's Wild and Scenic stretch.

"From Beasley Flat, we will try to address those concerns with the invasive plant species similar to what we've done throughout the rest of the watershed," Stephens said.

Andy Pigg, a forest botanist with the Coconino National Forest, said agency works from the top down the watershed since it's the most effective way to avoid re-sprouting.

"If a piece of Arundo breaks off and floats downriver, it can reroot there and grow," he said.

Like Silver, Pigg went on a kayaking expedition, this one from Beasley Flat to the Horseshoe Reservoir. He observed the amount of Arundo growing on the riverbanks and noticed some phragmites as well. Phragmites, also known as common reeds, are similar in shape to Arundo.

"We want to make sure to have the right identifications to treat the right species," Pigg said.

The removal project involves several stages. The first will include surveying and planning the trip's logistics, followed by treating, measuring, and monitoring the treatment's success. Maintenance is the final step.

If they decide to use herbicides, they need to plan for containment so the chemicals don't reach the water, and would need approval for this option.

Different methods could be implemented. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service has approved using wasps to control the giant reed in Texas.

Still, in Arizona, Pigg said the Forest Service's approach is to carefully evaluate any biological control agent to ensure it will not negatively affect or lead to a decline in another species.

Friends of the Verde River said they work with the Forest Service. In addition to funding the project that will start in the fall, "they're quite active in assisting us with our work and providing subject expertise," Stephens said.

"Also, we don't have the boats and the river gear. The national forest will assist our crews on those river trips to implement that restoration work," Stephens said, "that's something that I don't think we could accomplish without their cooperation and expertise and equipment."

The Friends of the Verde River, in collaboration with the U.S. Forest Service, is still in the early stages of planning that work. Nevertheless, the group is promoting volunteer opportunities for people who want to help. Anyone interested can sign up on their website.

Another way to help is to use the iNaturalist app to report any invasive plants encountered while recreating, floating or hiking in the Verde watershed. Stephens said the Friends of the Verde River monitor these reports constantly.

'It will be very difficult to remove'

A month has passed since his boat trip, and Robin Silver returned to hike along the banks of the Wild and Scenic section of the Verde River to see how much the Arundo is taking over and take photos of it.

To his surprise, he observes a significant drop in water current compared to his previous visit. This change is evident from the debris caught in the branches of the remaining trees lining the banks and the Arundo stalks.

He also notes that even though the currents were strong enough to knock some branches off the trees, the Arundo remained steady and firmly rooted along the riverbanks.

Silver has mixed feelings. On the one hand, it's good to see fewer cattle grazing along the Verde River. But on the other hand, "it's frightening that once Arundo takes hold, it will be very difficult to remove," he says.

Trilce Estrada Olvera writes about environmental issues for The Arizona Republic and azcentral. Send comments and story tips to trilce.estradaolvera@arizonarepublic.com.

Environmental coverage on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is supported by a grant from the Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

Sign up for AZ Climate, our weekly environment newsletter, and follow The Republic environmental reporting team at environment.azcentral.com and @azcenvironment on Facebook, X and Instagram.

You can support environmental journalism in Arizona by subscribing to azcentral.com today.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Arundo donax threatens Arizona's waterways, but it's hard to control
The Iowa Board of Regents approved residence system rates and heard proposed tuition and fee rates for state universities Friday. (Logo via Iowa Board of Regents)

The Iowa Board of Regents received reports on proposed tuition and fee increases and approved residence system rates for state universities for the upcoming academic year at its Friday meeting.

Residence system rates, which include housing and dining plans, were approved by the board through the consent agenda. Regent David Barker recused himself from the vote. Regents spokesperson Josh Lehman said in an email that he did so to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest, as he owns apartments in the Iowa City area.

With the approval, the housing and meal plans at each of the universities will see varying increases, according to board documents. Costs for the most popular double residence hall room and meal plans will go up by 4.8% to $12,318 at the University of Iowa with the addition of $200 Hawkeye Dollars, 5.8% to $10,286 at Iowa State University and 3.5% to $9,986 at the University of Northern Iowa.

Board of Regents staff also presented to the board the proposed tuition and mandatory fees for the universities in the 2024-25 academic year. If approved, the UI and ISU would raise tuition rates for in-state undergraduate students by 3%, and UNI would increase tuition by 2%. The universities have also proposed varying increases in tuition and fees for nonresident undergraduate students and all graduate students, as well as making requests for different increases or a freeze on tuition for certain programs.

The board had no discussion on the tuition and fee rates, and no action will be taken to approve them until its June meeting.

Each of the state universities 2023-24 tuition sit below the average cost of their peer colleges, according to the board of regents document, coming in at or below the middle of the pack for undergraduate tuition and fees. The UI has the lowest nonresident undergraduate tuition and fees of all of its peer universities.

ISU is the only Iowa university to have above-average tuition and fees for graduate students, both resident and nonresident. In-state tuition and fees for ISU graduate students in the 2023-24 school year totaled $12,451, around $800 more than the average among its peers, and the $29,303 cost for non-resident students is almost $3,000 more than the average.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Iowa Board of Regents approve university residence system rates, hear tuition proposals appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
FILE PHOTO: Iraqi Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani attends the first session of negotiations between Iraq and the United States to end the International Coalition mission in Baghdad

BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq has requested that a United Nations assistance mission set up after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of the country end its work by the end of 2025, saying it was no longer needed because Iraq had made significant progress towards stability.

The mission, headquartered in Baghdad's heavily fortified Green Zone, was set up with a wide mandate to help develop Iraqi institutions, support political dialogue and elections, and promote human rights.

Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said Iraq wanted to deepen cooperation with other U.N. organisations but there was no longer a need for the political work of the U.N. assistance mission, known as UNAMI.

The mission's head in Iraq often shuttles between top political, judicial and security officials in work that supporters see as important to preventing and resolving conflicts but critics have often described as interference.

"Iraq has managed to take important steps in many fields, especially those that fall under UNAMI's mandate," Sudani said in a letter to U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.

Iraq's government has since 2023 moved to end several international missions, including the U.S.-led coalition created in 2014 to fight Islamic State and the U.N.'s mission established to help promote accountability for the jihadist group's crimes.

Iraqi officials say the country has come a long way from the sectarian bloodletting after the U.S.-led invasion and Islamic State's attempt to establish a caliphate, and that it no longer needs so much international help.

Some critics worry about the stability of the young democracy, given recurring conflict and the presence of many heavily armed military-political groups that have often battled on the streets, the last time in 2022.

Some diplomats and U.N. officials also worry about human rights and accountability in a country that frequently ranks among the world's most corrupt and where activists say freedom of expression has been curtailed in recent years.

Iraq's government says it is working to fight corruption and denies there is less room for free expression.

Somalia's government also requested the termination of a U.N. political mission this week. In a letter to the Security Council, the country's foreign minister called for the departure of the Nations Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM), which has advised the government on peace-building, security reforms and democracy for over a decade. He provided no reason.

(Reporting by Timour Azhari, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Gilad Erdan shreds the UN Charter, claiming that is what the UN is doing if it votes to approve Palestine as a full member - SARAH YENESEL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

The Israeli ambassador to the United Nations shredded a copy of the UN Charter at the general assembly on Friday in protest of a vote to give additional rights to Palestine.

Gilad Erdan, Israels representative at the body in New York, used a miniature shredder to destroy a copy of the UNs foundational treaty while declaring to other member states: Shame on you!

His protest came ahead of a vote to give Palestine additional rights within the UN, where it remains an observer without full membership.

Israeli ambassador Gilad Erdan's gesture was scorned as 'theatrics' - CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty

The UN general assembly voted overwhelmingly to reconsider Palestines membership, and to express deep regret and concern over the USs decision to veto its recognition on April 18.

In an emotional speech, Riyad Mansour, Palestines ambassador to the UN, called the vote historic and significant.

However, Israel reacted furiously to the suggestion that Palestine should be admitted.

Mr Erdan, speaking from the podium before the vote, fed the UN Charter into the shredder and told members: You are shredding the UN Charter with your own hands.

Yes, yes, thats what youre doing. Shredding the UN Charter. Shame on you.

UN secretary general Antonio Guterres watches the gesture - Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

He later said that admitting Palestine to the UN would give the rights of a state to an entity that is already partly controlled by terrorists, and will be replaced by a force of child-murdering Hamas rapists.

A new state cannot be given membership of the UN without a successful vote at the UN security council, where all five permanent members including the US and UK have a veto.

A motion to admit Palestine would then require a two-thirds majority in the general assembly, which includes all member states.

Gilad Erdan also held up a picture of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar - CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty

An attempt to allow Palestine to join the body was vetoed by the US on April 18, amid opposition from allies and Israel.

The US has previously suggested it would be willing to recognise Palestine as a state but has said it would first seek agreement from Israel, which it hopes would agree in exchange for a deal normalising its relations with Saudi Arabia.

Farhan Haq, the UNs deputy spokesman, described the shredding as theatrics.

Regarding the charter, obviously this is an organisation that is premised on respect for the UN Charter, and all of the member states have pledged to uphold the UN Charter, and we expect them to fulfil that obligation, he said.

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.
Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan pulled out a paper shredder at the podium of the General Assembly on Friday and shredded a copy of the U.N. Charter to protest a resolution in support of Palestinian membership.

Today I will hold up a mirror for you, he said, shortly before the general assembly overwhelmingly voted to back Palestinian membership. This is your mirror. So that you can see exactly what you are inflicting upon the U.N. Charter with this destructive vote.

You are shredding the U.N. Charter with your own hands, he said, while he shredded the charter with his own hands.

He thanked the president, and then stormed off, later posting a statement to X that read: Today, I demonstrated to the General Assembly what they are doing to the UN Charter by ignoring it and shredded it on the stage. I told the ambassadors that today will go down in infamy and I want the world to remember when they shredded the UN Charter to advance a Nazi regime into the UNs ranks.

Israel's Ambassador to the UN brings a paper shredder onto the floor, says countries who support Palestine's bid to join the UN are "shredding the UN charter with your own hands."



(Israel has rejected numerous holdings by the UN and the International Court of Justice). pic.twitter.com/3VUDtoKcWT  Prem Thakker (@prem_thakker) May 10, 2024

Erdans dramatic display did not have the desired effect.

The U.N. assembly voted 143-9 to expand the rights of Palestine. Twenty-five nations abstained, and nine nations voted against, including Israel and the United States. The resolution urges the U.N. Security Council to reconsider the matter of Palestinian membership favorably.

In April, a measure for Palestinian membership failed at the Security Council, and the U.S. has warned that it will vote to veto the measure a second time.

Farhan Haq, a U.N. spokesperson, responded to Erdans stunt in a statement to the press. This is an organization that is premised on respect for the UN charter and all of the member states have pledged to uphold the UN charter and we expect them to fulfill that obligation, he said. As long as this organization exists, the charter exists.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
The United States is preparing a new $400 million aid package for Ukraine. It may be announced as early as today, May 10.

ADVERTISIMENT

Politico writes about it, citing its own sources. It is noted that the relevant notification has already been sent to the US Congress.

The package will include weapons that are already in the United States' warehouses and, therefore, can be immediately sent to Ukraine. These include new Patriot missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Bradley fighting vehicles, MRAPs, Javelin anti-tank grenade launchers, and other ammunition.

The newspaper also reported that the Biden administration has estimated that Ukraine can at most hold its ground without American assistance, but will be able to retake some of the seized territories from Russia as soon as it receives weapons provided by the United States.

On Thursday, May 9, U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at a briefing that the United States is already preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine. He said that America wants to reach the pace of assistance that was in place in 2023 before the funding was interrupted. The previous (56th tranche from August 2021) was announced by Washington on April 24, 2024.

ADVERTISIMENT

As OBOZ.UA previously reported, the Ukrainian army has already received part of the military aid from the United States after Congress unblocked funding. The main batch of weapons from large aid packages, including from Germany and Britain, will arrive in our country within a few months.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Israelis artillery soldiers fire a mobile howitzer in the north of Israel, near the border with Lebanon. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

The Israeli army has been training for the possibility of a major war with its northern neighbour Lebanon, the military announced on Friday.

It said reservists from a brigade had held various exercises over the course of the week to "accelerate readiness for an operation in this arena."

The aim was operational readiness and preparation "for various combat scenarios in the north."

The training held in Galilee in the north of the country simulated combat situations in Lebanon.

Infantry and armoured troops trained together with soldiers from logistics and communications units to work together in rough terrain. Other troops also practised with the air force to "to train for a scenario of rapid aerial resupply to ground forces operating in enemy territory."

For more than seven months, fierce fighting has repeatedly broken out in the border area between Israel and Lebanon. The pro-Iranian Shia militia Hezbollah in particular has been firing rockets, artillery and anti-tank shells at northern Israel since October 8.

Israel is using air and artillery attacks to combat Hezbollah positions. Under a United Nations Security Council resolution, Hezbollah positions should not be so close to the border.

Months of mutual shelling have already caused severe destruction in villages on both sides of the border. Around 150,000 people on both sides of the border have had to leave their homes.
By Nidal al-Mughrabi

CAIRO (Reuters) -The Palestinian militant group Hamas said on Friday that efforts to find a Gaza Strip truce deal were back at square one after Israel effectively spurned a plan from international mediators, and the White House said it was trying to keep the sides engaged "if only virtually."

Hamas said in a statement it would consult with other Palestinian factions on its strategy for talks to halt seven months of war triggered by its deadly Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Hours earlier, the United Nations warned that aid for Gaza could grind to a halt in days after Israel seized control this week of the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt, a vital route for supplies to the devastated Palestinian enclave.

Despite heavy U.S. pressure, Israel has said it will proceed with an assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than 1 million displaced people have sought refuge and Israeli forces say Hamas militants are dug in.

Israeli tanks captured the main road dividing the eastern and western sections of Rafah, effectively encircling the eastern part of the city in an assault that has caused Washington to hold up delivery of some military aid.

The White House said that it was watching "with concern," but the Israeli operations appeared to be localized around the shuttered Rafah crossing and did not reflect a large-scale invasion.

"Once again, we urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to humanitarian assistance immediately," said White House national security spokesman John Kirby.

Israel's plan for an all-out assault on Rafah has ignited one of the biggest rifts in generations with its main ally. Washington held up a weapons shipment over fears of massive civilian casualties.

In a report to Congress, President Joe Biden's administration on Friday said it was reasonable to assess that Israel had used U.S. arms in instances "inconsistent" with international humanitarian law.

However, the administration said it still found credible and reliable Israel's assurances that it will use U.S. weapons in accordance with international humanitarian law.

Indirect diplomacy has failed to end a war that health authorities in Hamas-run Gaza say has killed almost 35,000 people since the Oct. 7 attack. Some 1,200 people were killed in Israel and 253 taken hostage on Oct. 7, according to Israeli tallies.

Ceasefire talks in Cairo broke up on Thursday with no agreement.

Hamas had said it agreed at the start of the week to a proposal by Qatari and Egyptian mediators that had previously been accepted by Israel. Israel said the Hamas proposal contained elements it cannot accept.

"Israels rejection of the mediators proposal through the amendments it made returned things to the first square," Hamas said in Friday's statement.

"In the light of (Israel Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahus behaviour and rejection of the mediators document and the attack on Rafah and the occupation of the crossing, the leadership of the movement will hold consultations with the brotherly leaders of the Palestinian factions to review our negotiation strategy."

"Hamas did not suspend nor withdraw from the negotiations; the occupation (Israelis) turned against the mediators proposal," a senior Hamas official, Khalil Al-Hayya, said in comments to Al Araby TV published by Hamas.

Kirby said the end of the talks - which CIA Director William Burns was helping mediate - was "deeply regrettable," but the U.S. believed the differences were surmountable.

"We are working hard to keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion, if only virtually," he said.

EXPLOSIONS AND GUNFIRE

Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of Rafah on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Hamas said it ambushed Israeli tanks near a mosque in the east of the city, a sign the Israelis had penetrated several kilometres from the east to the outskirts of the built-up area.

Israel has ordered civilians out of the eastern part of Rafah, forcing tens of thousands of people to seek shelter outside the city, previously the last refuge of more than a million who fled other parts of the enclave during the war.

Israel says it cannot win the war without assaulting Rafah to root out thousands of Hamas fighters it believes are sheltering there. Hamas says it will fight to defend it.

Supplies were already running short and aid operations could halt within days as fuel and food stocks get used up, U.N. aid agencies said.

"For five days, no fuel and virtually no humanitarian aid entered the Gaza Strip, and we are scraping the bottom of the barrel," said the UNICEF Senior Emergency Coordinator in the Gaza Strip, Hamish Young.

Aid agencies say the battle has threatened hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians.

"It is not safe, all of Rafah isn't safe, as tank shells landed everywhere since yesterday," Abu Hassan, 50, a resident of Tel al-Sultan west of Rafah told Reuters via a chat app.

"I am trying to leave but I can't afford 2,000 shekels ($540) to buy a tent for my family," he said. "There is an increased movement of people out of Rafah even from the western areas, though they were not designated as red zones by the occupation."

Israeli tanks have sealed off eastern Rafah from the south, capturing and shutting the only crossing between the enclave and Egypt. An advance on Friday to the Salahuddin road that bisects the Gaza Strip completed the encirclement of the "red zone" where they have ordered residents out.

The Israeli military said its forces in eastern Rafah had located several tunnel shafts, and troops backed by an air strike fought at close quarters with groups of Hamas fighters, killing several.

It said Israeli jets had hit several sites from which rockets and mortar bombs had been fired towards Israel.

The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N. Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."

(Additional reporting by James Mackenzie in Jerusalem and Maggie Fick; Writing by Peter Graff, Timothy Heritage and Jonathan Landay; Editing by Andrew Heavens, Nick Macfie and David Gregorio)
Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Working for Alabama legislative package into law Thursday that aims to address the state's low workforce participation rate.

Our state leaders over the past few years have taken up several ambitious challenges to address Alabamas top areas of need, Ivey said. And the results are paying out in dividends. From broadband to infrastructure to The Game Plan we passed last year and now, Working for Alabama, we have come together to put Alabama first and have paved the way for a stronger economy and a better quality of life for all Alabamians.

Alabama's current labor force participation rate ranks 47th in the nation. The bipartisan package consists of six newly enacted laws designed to improve Alabama communities by better training citizens for skilled high-paying jobs and streamlining the state's economic development.

Sen. Bobby Singleton in the senate chamber at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday March 6, 2024.

Im proud of the way we worked together to make this happen," said Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D- Greensboro. "A particular focus of mine throughout this process has been to make sure the rural areas of our state are given the support they need. Working for Alabama will make key investments into some of our states communities in the most need of support.

More: Alabama lawmakers create new law, penalties against swatting

The package includes a childcare tax credit and a housing tax credit, designed to make more both more available and affordable.

Alabamas economy is growing at a historic pace, but that doesnt mean we can hang our hats on yesterdays success  we have to keep pushing forward, said Speaker Nathaniel Ledbetter, R-Rainsville.

The House Labor Shortage Study Group identified the lack of affordable childcare and housing as two of the most prevalent barriers keeping Alabamians sidelined from the workforce. I have no doubt that our action on these two issues, as well as the other key areas of this package, will help Alabama families and our economy thrive like never before.

House Minority Leader Anthony Daniels, D-Huntsville, said the package shows how both political parties "can come together and get real results that make our state a better place to live, work and raise a family."

I was proud to carry the childcare tax credit bill with my colleague Sen. Garlan Gudger  that will touch the lives of thousands of Alabama families," Daniels said. "Working for Alabama is a big win for our state, and it is great to see it make it to the finish line."

More: Advocacy organizations sue state officials over Alabama voting law

Growing Alabamas economy and creating more long-lasting, high-paying, 21st century jobs ranks high among my top priorities, said Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth. "Signing the Working for Alabama package into law, represents a strong step toward more jobs, opportunities and prosperity for everyone who calls our state home.

Victor Hagan is the Alabama Election Reporting Fellow for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at vhagan@gannett.com or on X @TheVictorHagan. To support his work, subscribe to the Advertiser.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Ivey signs passes 'Working for Alabama' workforce package
A jacket, a coin, a letter  relics of Omaha Beach battle tell the story of D-Day 80 years later

Between the villages of Vierville-sur-Mer and Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes in Normandy, France, is a 5-mile stretch of beach that was once called Cote dOr, or golden coast.

Since June 6, 1944, however, this beach has borne a different name: Omaha.

Eighty years ago, on a day now known as D-Day, thousands of Allied soldiers crossed the choppy waters of the English Channel by air and sea to land on beaches and coastal areas of Normandy, France, to destroy the Nazi invaders and defeat Hitlers regime.

Within the military collections of the National Museum of American History, where I am a curator of modern military history, several artifacts collected over the decades help tell the story of Omaha Beach and the invasion landings on D-Day.

A letter from a general

A paper given to the troops involved in the D-Day invasion carried words of exhortation and hope from Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower. National Museum of American History

In the morning hours of D-Day, Pvt. Howard I. Moorefield of North Carolina was handed a piece of paper. As he later wrote in his museum donation, most fellows read it and discarded, but he chose to sign, fold and save his copy.

With the signature of Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower at the bottom, the Order of the Day declared to all soldiers, sailors and airmen of the Allied Expeditionary Force: You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you.

Special equipment goes wrong

The U.S. Army issued new assault jackets to troops that helped hold additional supplies, but the garments proved a hindrance to fighting and surviving during the landing. National Museum of American History

For soldiers of Company A of the 116th Infantry Regiment, 29th Infantry Division, the Order of the Day mattered less than what awaited them at Sector Dog Green on Omaha Beach. Awakened aboard their troopship around 2 a.m., the soldiers pulled on their equipment. The regiment had been overseas since October 1942, preparing for this critical day with carefully rehearsed drills and training operations.

Yet just days before the invasion, the men received new U.S. Army assault jackets, made to help the first wave of soldiers as they carried ashore ammunition, TNT, a first-aid kit and other equipment. Once loaded, each jacket added upward of 60 pounds onto each soldiers load.

As Company As six landing craft began to head to Sector Dog Green, one of the craft began to take on water. As men entered the deep water, the assault jackets became anchors, the cotton straps swelling in seawater and making removal of the garment almost impossible. Dozens of men drowned while others staggered ashore, exhausted.

The troops in Company A had expected to find shelter on the beach, which they had been told would be pockmarked with holes from aerial bombing and naval rockets. But when the soldiers in the surviving five landing craft arrived on the beach at 6:36 a.m., they found smooth sand and nowhere to hide from the enemy.

In less than 10 minutes, German machine-gun fire, mortars and artillery all but destroyed Company A.

Other companies of the 116th would land on Omaha Beach at sectors Dog White, Dog Red and Easy Green. Wet, cold, frightened and pinned down by enemy fire, many soldiers shed the awkward assault jackets and did what they could to stay alive and get off the beach.

In the days after D-Day, assault jackets littered the beaches. One veteran of Bloody Omaha chose to send a vest back home to Virginia, the fate of its former wearer unknown.

Multiple waves of troops

One of the most famous of war photographer Robert Capas images, this one shows troops storming ashore on the morning of D-Day. Robert Capa via National Museum of American History

Farther down Omaha Beach at Sector Easy Red, photographer Robert Capa arrived at the shore around 8:15 a.m. with the command group of Company E, 16th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division.

As part of the 13th wave of the landings, he spent 30 minutes on the beach capturing images of the invasion before returning to the attack transport vessel USS Samuel Chase.

On June 19, five of Capas images graced the pages of Life magazine, bringing the invasion home to Americans.

A symbol of the fights significance

Along with his dog tags, one Jewish sailor wore a coin from British Palestine during his fight against the Nazis. National Museum of American History

As Capa arrived back aboard the Chase, so did countless wounded men from the initial assault waves. Navy and Coast Guard personnel went right to work, including Walter Melville Weberbauer, a pharmacists mate first class from New Jersey.

As he aided the treatment of the wounded, the identification tags around his neck included a small copper coin  a British Palestine 2 mils.

Perhaps during prayer or just for luck, he rubbed the coin until the word Palestine all but wore away. As a Jewish man, Weberbauers fight with the Nazis understandably carried great significance in the waters off Omaha Beach.

The nations highest military decoration

The Medal of Honor awarded to Pfc. Francis X. McGraw for action in Europe in 1944. He landed on the evening of D-Day and fought through France into Germany, where he was killed in action. National Museum of American History

As wounded soldiers kept arriving back aboard the USS Samuel Chase throughout the afternoon, Army leaders decided to land the remaining members of the 26th Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division, on Omaha Beach.

That evening, the men of Company H of the 26th disembarked from the ship and came ashore, including a machine-gunner, Pfc. Francis X. McGraw of New Jersey. Having already fought in North Africa and Sicily, Normandy would be McGraws third fight with the Nazis. Months later, on Nov. 19, 1944, near the German town of Schevenhutte, McGraws war would end.

For his one-man stand against a ferocious German assault, he would posthumously receive the Medal of Honor.

A record in the landscape

Sand from the Normandy beaches holds tiny fragments of metal, mostly iron, produced during the intense fighting. National Museum of American History

In the days and weeks after June 6, Omaha Beach was transformed into a highway for Allied men and material entering Europe. This traffic changed even the sand itself.

Today, 4% of the sand at Omaha Beach is composed of tiny grains of iron, mostly microshrapnel produced during intense fighting on the beach and the subsequent buildup of forces.

These different items  a document, garment, photographs, identification tags, a decoration and sand  all remain indelibly marked by a time and a place.

Through the linkage of time, space and memory, these items weave together lives whose paths crossed, in the words of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in the fight to end conquest  to liberate  to let justice arise, and tolerance and good will among all  people.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Frank A. Blazich Jr., Smithsonian Institution

Read more:



Frank A. Blazich Jr. works for the National Museum of American History of the Smithsonian Institution.
FILE - Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier JS Izumo, foreground, and other warships join an international fleet review in Sagami Bay, south of Tokyo, on Nov. 6, 2022. Japans defense chief has called for the bolstering of its anti-drone capability after a drone footage posted on a Chinese social media site showed a Japanese aircraft carrier docked at a restricted navy port west of Tokyo. (Kyodo News via AP, File)

TOKYO (AP)  Japans defense chief Friday called for the bolstering of its anti-drone capability after a drone footage posted on Chinese social media showed a Japanese aircraft carrier docked at a restricted navy port west of Tokyo. Defense Minister Minoru Kihara called it a serious security threat.

Kihara's acknowledgement of the vulnerability comes more than a month after a video filmed by a drone showed JS Izumo, one of two Japanese helicopter carriers, being retrofitted to carry stealth fighters to strengthen Japan's counter-strike capability in the face of China's assertive military actions in the Indo-Pacific.

The footage, also showing plants, buildings and other facility at the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force's Yokosuka naval base was posted on a Chinese social media site in March, prompting investigation by ministry officials. The footage has also been posted on other platforms such as X.

After the video analysis we have reached a conclusion that the footage was most likely filmed by a flying drone," Kihara told reporters.

We are taking the findings extremely seriously, the minister added. If drones harm defense facilities, it could cause serious disruptions to the defense of our country.

Kihara declined to comment how the drone was able to fly over the flattop undetected, citing security reasons. But he stressed the need to respond to rapid technology advancement of drones and other unmanned vehicles. He also vowed to fortify defense around military bases.

He said Japan will accelerate effort to introduce more capable anti-drone equipment and strengthen counter measures such as forcible landing of drones by jamming.

The development comes at a time Japan is accelerating its military buildup to focus on its counter-strike capability with long-range missiles under the ongoing security strategy adopted in 2022. JS Izumo serves a key role in that strategy.

In 2015, a small drone laced with traces of radiation was found on the roof of the prime ministers office, sparking concerns about drones and their possible use for terrorist attacks. There was no injuries or damage from the incident but its owner was convicted of obstruction of business.

Drone flights have since been restricted above key public and diplomatic areas as well as nuclear power facilities. While drones are used widely for industrial, search and rescue and security purposes, the number of violations by them have also rapidly increased.
JOHNSON CITY, Texas (KXAN)  Mayor Stephanie Fisher said Johnson City and Blanco County leaders are currently deciding whether to declare a state of emergency after large hail tore through the community Thursday evening.

Fisher said theres no estimate for how many homes were affected by the storm, which produced hail around 5-6 inches in Johnson City.

PHOTOS: Severe weather brings DVD-size hail in Central Texas

Throughout the community of 1,800 people, trees and bushes battered by rain and hail have left leaves and debris scattered across lawns and roads.

Fisher said to her knowledge, there were at least 35 homes shes aware of that were hard hit with hail. She said the strong natural force punctured metal roofs and shattered numerous windshields.

We had a piece of hail that was so large it punctured through their metal roof and into their drywall. That couple had a lot of water damage, theres so many homes with water damage, Fisher said.

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

A vehicle in the parking lot of a hotel in Johnson City was damaged overnight in a storm May 9, 2024. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

A truck in the parking lot of a hotel in Johnson City was damaged overnight in a storm May 9, 2024. (KXAN Photo/Todd Bailey)

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

Hail damage in Johnson City, Texas from storms that happened May 9, 2024. (Photo credit: Christopher Collins)

Fisher said the citys goal right now is to help residents cover and patch the holes in their roofs from the storm.

Our focus right now is helping our residents do what they need to do, to get their roofs patched for now. Look for a long term solution of getting those repaired and finding ways to help them pay for it, Fisher said.

Fisher asks anyone whose property was damaged in the storm to not only report it to their insurance provider but also the Texas Department of Emergency Management.

The Blanco County Office of Emergency Management shared a link to TDEMs iSTAT Damage Surveys page via social media Thursday night.

In the event that the city and county declare an emergency, Fisher said officials would have to prove there was $52,000 worth of damage done to uninsured properties in the area.

She predicts damage will easily pass that threshold, which could happen even faster with prompt reporting.

It was horrible

A couple living in Johnson City on Ranchview Drive said the hail came so quickly, and they werent prepared for what came next.

When describing the hole that was seen in the couples home on the ceiling, they described it as being round in nature.

So, it must have been from the hail, they said.

All of a sudden we hear of this hail on the roof and then then we had water coming in through the air conditioning, the couple said. Oh, it was horrible. It just came so quickly.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  A Jonesboro, Arkansas man was sentenced to 45 years in prison for stabbing his wife to death in 2023.

Andre A. Isabell, 46, pled guilty to first-degree murder in the Craighead County Circuit Court on Wednesday. He was charged in the fatal stabbing of his wife, Samantha Phillips on May 15, 2023.

According to a press release, Isabell was found at a Walgreens on Main Street early that morning after he called the police and told them that he had stabbed his wife at their home on Krewson Street.

Man, woman injured following shooting outside Whitehaven bank

Officers say upon arrival at the home, they found Phillips lying in a bed with blunt-force trauma injuries and a stab wound to her neck.

Isabell was sentenced to 45 years behind bars.

This plea puts a violent criminal behind bars. The family of Samantha Phillips will never be the

same, said Prosecuting Attorney Charlene Davidson. They lost a mother, a daughter, and a sister with her murder. We pray this conviction gives them solace, knowing he is no longer a threat on our streets.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Judge bars Turtleboy from being present for some witnesses in Karen Read murder trial

Aidan Kearney, the Holden blogger known as Turtleboy, was barred from physically attending the testimony of some witnesses in the Karen Read murder trial after a judge ruled his presence could have a chilling effect.

At an unexpected hearing that interrupted the trial Friday, Superior Court Judge Beverly J. Cannone agreed with prosecutors that Kearney should not be allowed to be in the courtroom while a number of witnesses he has been accused of intimidating take the stand.

A lawyer for Kearney decried the effort as an assault on the First Amendment, saying the charges against him will ultimately prove meritless and panning the governments motion as the latest in a series of bogus actions aimed at stifling criticism of Norfolk District Attorney Michael Morrisseys handling of Reads case.

Kearney is facing multiple counts of witness intimidation tied to allegations he harassed witnesses in Reads case. While prosecutors allege Read, 44, of Mansfield, struck and killed her Boston police officer boyfriend with her SUV in January 2022 outside the home of a retired Boston cop, Kearney has alleged the boyfriend, John OKeefe, was killed inside the home and that Read is being framed.

Kearney has accused some of the witnesses slated to testify, including Brian Albert, the Boston officer who owned the home, of being true culprits in the case. He has publicly posted his attempts to contact some of the witnesses, spoke of many of them using crude language and brought followers to protests outside their homes.

Prosecutors have argued Kearneys actions have amounted to witness intimidation, with a special prosecutor on his cases accusing the blogger of weaponizing a mass of minions in an attempt to poison the jury pool or even prevent Reads trial.

Kearney and his lawyer, Timothy Bradl, have countered that Kearney is a journalist with a First Amendment right to cover the case. They have denied that his actions constitute witness intimidation.

Reads trial has drawn widespread regional as well as national attention, and is being streamed live by multiple platforms, including Court TV.

Kearney will not be barred from covering the case, Cannone ruled, but instead from being physically present while a list of witnesses, including Brian Albert and many others hes accused of intimidating, testify.

The prosecutor who made the motion, Adam Lally, argued that witnesses have expressed discomfort at Kearney being in the courtroom, saying the prosecution is concerned about his presence affecting their testimony or their ability to recall.

Bradl argued the witnesss concerns have no legal materiality under the law.

The answer I have is, So what? he said following Lallys argument, later adding that there is no discomfort exception to the First Amendment.

Judge Beverly Cannone holds up evidence during Karen Read's murder trial on Tuesday.

Bradl also noted that two other judges in previous rulings have allowed Kearney to be in the courtroom, including one involving an ex-girlfriend who obtained a restraining order against him, in connection with a case in which Kearney faces criminal charges.

Bradl took issue with both the substance and process of Lallys motion, saying Lally did not serve it upon him, but instead to the Associated Press.

Asked about the criticism, Lally told Cannone he could not assume that Bradl would be representing Kearney for the purposes of the motion, and said he served the motion to the Associated Press in accordance with court rules.

Bradl said Kearney has a First Amendment right to cover the case, and has gone through the proper credentialing mechanisms with the Trial Court for media access.

This is where the court needs to hold the line on the First Amendment, Bradl said, asserting Kearneys prosecutions are an abomination that will be struck down."

Cannone said she agreed that Kearney had done everything he needed to access the trial and has a right to be here today, but said she would approve the motion after considering Reads right to a fair trial.

Karen Read enters a court room in Norfolk Superior Court in Dedham on Wednesday, May 8, 2024, for her trial on murder charges in the death of her boyfriend, John OKeefe.

She said a media order she issued in the case that placed restrictions on re-entry to the courtroom for journalists would not apply to Kearney, and that he could reclaim his seat for those witnesses whose testimony she did not bar him from viewing in person.

Cannone, before ending the hearing, remarked to Bradl that her findings on the record should give you enough to take appellate action if you wish.

The Telegram & Gazette left an email with Bradl on Friday offering comment.

In statements posted to X (formerly Twitter) after the ruling, Kearney panned the idea that his presence in the courtroom would intimidate witnesses, and alleged that a witness recently threatened to punch him in the face.

No one is scared. No one is intimidated, he said. They are simply trying to violate my First Amendment rights to Freedom of the Press.

Kearney added that the prosecutors were creating a circus, and that their actions would elevate his profile.

Kearney, whose blog, Turtleboy Sports, focused largely on Worcester a decade ago but has since expanded, has written a number of posts that have led to major shakeups, including scandals at the state police.

Many of his followers and commenters have used vulgar, offensive and racist language, and his aggressive and often crude coverage of both public figures and regular people on social media has spawned followers and detractors.

Kearneys coverage of the Read case, which spans more than 350 blog posts, has polarized Canton, where O'Keefe died, and the broader community.

Supporters argue he has exposed a massive coverup, while detractors alleged hes unfairly attacked innocent people and caused harm to the OKeefe family.

Interest in the case has been heightened by the unusual presence of federal prosecutors, who have been looking into the Read matter but have not publicly detailed their inquiry or announced any charges.

Morrisseys office has protested federal prosecutors scrutiny, but a top lawyer at the U.S. Department of Justice, in response to one such protest letter that was publicly released, wrote that the review was appropriate, and that federal prosecutors in Boston viewed the case differently than Morrissey.

The supervisor did not elaborate on what, exactly, that meant, and the U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, after a lawyer for Read said the office had told him Morrissey was a target of the probe, issued a statement saying they have never named any target.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Turtleboy barred from courtroom during some Karen Read trial testimony
The estranged husband of a Fort Lauderdale woman who disappeared in Spain must remain jailed without bond because he is a flight risk, a Miami judge ruled following a lengthy hearing Friday.

David Knezevich, 36, appeared before Chief Magistrate Judge Edwin G. Torres Friday afternoon, six days after he was arrested at Miami International Airport on kidnapping charges, and months after his wife, Ana Knezevich, disappeared in Madrid in early February. She still has not been found.

David Knezevich is accused in federal court documents of driving from Serbia to Madrid, showing up at his wifes apartment, spray-painting security cameras, and leaving with a suitcase. He later told employees to impersonate her over the phone to cancel insurance policies and open a bank account.

The family is very pleased and grateful for the result, the familys lead attorney, Courtney Caprio, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel after the hearing Friday. And we will continue to support the law enforcement investigation to the fullest extent to get justice for Ana.

The bond hearing was lengthy and involved the cross-examination of an FBI agent who had investigated the case. Caprio declined to comment on the details of the hearing.

Knezevichs previous attorney, Ken Padowitz, said Friday he had withdrawn from the case and declined to comment further. His new attorney, Jayne Weintraub, did not immediately respond to emails Friday.
The United States is preparing to provide Ukraine with another package of military aid to combat Russia's invasion. Washington will announce the delivery of new weapons in the coming weeks.

ADVERTISIMENT

This was stated by US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller at a briefing on Thursday, May 9. He emphasized that Washington would continue to support Ukraine militarily.

The United States will also help Kyiv bring the economy to a point where the country can stand on its own two feet.

"I can assure you that there will be more announcements in the next few weeks," Miller said.

The American official added that the issue of increasing the number of personnel in the Ukrainian Defense Forces is solely the responsibility of the state itself.

"When it comes to manpower, this is a question that Ukraine has to answer for itself. We have seen the steps of the Ukrainian government in this direction. What we can do as a partner of Ukraine is to continue to provide military support and assistance to their economy, and above all, to do everything we can to help them stand on their own two feet," Miller emphasized.

ADVERTISIMENT

The day before, Miller said at a briefing that the United States was already preparing a new military aid package for Ukraine. He said that America wants to reach the pace of assistance that was in 2023 before the funding was interrupted.

The previous (56th tranche from August 2021) was announced by Washington on April 24, 2024.

As previously reported, the Ukrainian army has already received part of the military aid from the United States after Congress unblocked funding. The main batch of weapons from large aid packages, including from Germany and Britain, will arrive in our country within a few months.

Only verified information is available on our Telegram channel OBOZ.UA and in Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
Maggie Haberman, the New York Times reporter whos been front and center in Manhattan Criminal Court for Donald Trumps hush-money trial, sees an increasingly frustrated judge as Trump's team gets bolder in court.

In an interview with CNN, the former Trump White House correspondent spoke on the Trump legal team and their clashes with Judge Juan Merchan, who Haberman said has seemingly finally just had enough.

Merchan  while the Trump team doesnt like him  he has tried being really fair on a bunch of points, Haberman said, pointing to an instance where Merchan called Trumps lawyer into a sidebar to avoid embarrassing his client. Haberman, who called Trumps criminal fraud trial a circus, said that Merchans treatment of the defendant was different up to this point.

Per Haberman, Merchan is becoming increasingly frustrated with Todd Blanche and Susan Necheles, Trumps main attorneys, and their bad faith arguments.

He really lit into Susan Necheles, who had done the cross examination of Stormy Daniels, and said she had every opportunity to object to X, Y, Z, and didnt, Haberman explained. Merchan said, Your opening was that there was no sexual encounter. That opens the door for all the other questions.

Merchan denied Trump a mistrial for that very reason, asking why on Earth [Necheles] wouldnt object to parts of Daniels testimony, with which the defense found issue.

Haberman also questioned whether Necheles aggressive cross-examination of Daniels was helpful.

The jury sees this, and it ends up risking looking like youre just badgering this woman, Haberman said. Continuing to go at Stormy Daniels in this very contentious back and forth felt, in the courtroom, like a losing prospect after the first several times.
The courtyard at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown. (Photo and logo courtesy State of Iowa)

In a ruling that takes the state to task for its investigation of alleged sexual harassment at the Iowa Veterans Home, a judge has awarded unemployment benefits to a former supervisor fired in response to vague allegations of misconduct.

According to state records, Brett Schutt worked for the state-run Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown as a full-time public service supervisor until he was fired in February 2024. Schutt had previously worked at the home as an assistant food service director.

While working in food service, Schutt supervised a female employee who also had supervisory responsibilities. According to the findings of Administrative Law Judge Sean Nelson, who presided over a recent hearing on Schutts request for unemployment benefits, Schutt and the woman were, at least initially, on friendly terms, engaging in various conversations with each other and fishing together at a pond with their respective families.

Sometime in 2022, while Schutt was supervising the woman, the two allegedly met in her office where she told him, I would cheat on my husband with you. A few days later, the woman approached Schutt in his office. The (woman) did not have a bra on and caressed her breasts through her shirt to seduce him, Nelson stated in his findings.

Schutt didnt respond to the womans actions, and nothing similar occurred in the days that followed. However, the woman continued to confide in Schutt about her frustrations with her marriage and her use of various illegal drugs, Nelson stated.

Schutt then moved into the position of public service supervisor at the Iowa Veterans Home, after which he and the woman clashed over her treatment of employees in three separate personnel cases. In all three cases, Schutt was concerned the woman had dismissed valid concerns raised by the workers.

In September 2023, the woman separated from her husband and moved to a house close to the Iowa Veterans Home. In the weeks that followed, she and Schutt clashed again over the treatment of Iowa Veterans Home staff, and Schutt allegedly confronted her about her use of illegal drugs, asking if drug use had played a role in her behavior.

He noted that the frequency of her drug use was picking up and he was concerned, Nelson stated in his findings.

Days later, the woman filed a sexual harassment complaint against Schutt, who was then placed on paid administrative leave pending the completion of an investigation.

According to Nelsons findings, the woman alleged Schutt had, on several occasions, followed her in his car while she was driving home, had once entered her home, and had once asked to meet her at a local park.

The woman also claimed Schutt threatened to show photographs of some kind to her husband. The complaint she filed did not ever specify what these were pictures of, but the employer assumed they were pictures of her. Perhaps compromising ones, Nelson stated in his findings.

When the Iowa Department of Administrative Services investigated the matter, Schutt was interviewed. He denied all of the allegations, but DAS subsequently recommended Schutt be fired for violating sexual harassment policies.

On Feb. 28, 2024, the state conducted a hearing on Schutts possible termination at which Schutt recounted the instances in which he felt the woman had sexually harassed him. He also raised the fact that there had been other employees who had engaged in confirmed incidents of sexual harassment and had been given five-day suspensions.

Schutt also alleged he had heard from two subordinates that the states bureau chief of human resources, Melissa Sienknecht, had been involved in spreading a rumor about a woman sleeping with the commandant of the Iowa Veterans Home.

The day after the hearing, the state fired Schutt. He was never interviewed regarding allegations that he made against Ms. Sienknecht, Nelson stated in his findings. No investigation was conducted.

Schutt was awarded unemployment benefits shortly after he was fired, but the state appealed that decision, which led to the matter going before Nelson for a hearing on the issue.

During that hearing, state officials said the examples Schutt cited of workers being suspended for a few days due to sexual harassment were not comparable to the case at hand because they involved lower-level workers, not supervisors. They argued that a leadership employee of the state had previously been fired for egregious sexual harassment, but then declined to provide Nelson with specifics, citing confidentiality.

In his ruling, Nelson concluded the state had not met its burden of proving misconduct by Schutt, and that even if it had, it could not show that it applied the underlying rules on sexual harassment in an even-handed and uniform manner.

Schutt, the judge ruled, provided a plausible explanation to support his allegations that (the woman) filed a false report of sexual harassment against him. He provided credible testimony that even if the behavior had occurred, it may have been welcomed.

Nelson also faulted the Iowa Veterans Home for relying on an investigative report made by a third party, DAS, noting the state didnt bother to provide the report as part of its appeal and instead read excerpts from it during the hearing.

As for the report itself, Nelson said it appeared from the testimony that it lacked any detail as to the intent, or even the basic circumstances, of events that were used to make the case for Schutts firing.

For instance, (the woman) alleges Schutt walked into her house on September 27, 2023, Nelson noted. No explanation is given in terms of how he got in. It is unclear whether he broke into the house and even if there was any interaction between the two people.

In addition, Nelson said, the state accused Schutt of showing, or threatening to show, photos to the womans husband, but Sienknecht confirmed during the unemployment hearing that the investigation never even determined what these pictures were, let alone whether they were sexual in nature.

Nelson affirmed the initial decision awarding Schutt unemployment benefits.

The post Judge questions states probe of sexual harassment at Iowa Veterans Home appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Judge Juan Merchan on Thursday scolded Donald Trumps lawyer, Susan Necheles, for failing to raise more objections during adult film star Stormy Daniels testimony. He then denied Trumps motion for a mistrial for the second time this week.

Merchan said his rejection of the mistrial motion was based on his observation of the defense teams action, or inaction, when Daniels was on the stand. There were many times Ms. Necheles could have objected but didnt, Merchan said.

As he had on Tuesday, the judge acknowledged that he did not approve of certain parts of Daniels' testimony. However, he didnt seem to approve of Necheles performance either, questioning why the defense wouldnt object to Daniels' allegations on Tuesday that Trump did not use a condom when they had sex.

Why on Earth she wouldnt object to the mention of a condom, I dont understand, Merchand said, The Washington Post reported.

Trumps legal team pushed for a mistrial on Thursday based on Daniels testimony where she didnt explicitly say her sexual encounter was rape but expressed it was unexpected. One of the former president's lawyers, Todd Blanche, claimed her testimony amounted to a dog whistle for rape. Denying the request, Merchan said prosecutors had the right to rehabiliate Daniels credibility to the jury as Blache, in his opening statement, denied that their alleged sexual encounter ever took place.

Trump did not take kindly to Merchan's comments or his decision not to partially lift the gag order to allow him to attack Daniels in public (Trump could respond to her if he took the stand in his defense).

JUAN MERCHAN, IS PRESIDING OVER THE DEATH OF THE NEW YORK CITY AND STATE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE. THE WORLD IS WATCHING!!! Trump wrote on his website, Truth Social.
A lot of things happened. Here are some of the things. This is TPMs Morning Memo. Sign up for the email version.

Ooof 

After Stormy Daniels completed her testimony and the jury had left the courtroom late yesterday, Judge Juan Merchan heard arguments on another Trump motion for a mistrial in the hush money case.

Trump lost the motion, but the hearing was notable for the way in which Merchan raked Trumps attorneys for not having done more to keep some of Daniels testimony out and prevent the jury from hearing it.

Merchans point to the Trump legal team was two-fold: (i) when you raised objections, I usually sustained them; and (ii) you should have objected a whole lot more. Merchan raised again the fact that he himself had sua sponte objected to the some of the Daniels testimony when he didnt hear one from Trump. Add it all together, Merchan ruled, and Trump offered no basis for a mistrial. Motion dismissed.

One can only imagine the thrashing Trump gave his lawyers after hearing Merchan question their approach to such a key witness who had so much embarrassing testimony to offer.

Quote Of The Day

Why on earth she wouldnt object to the mention of a condom, I dont understand. Judge Juan Merchan, on Trump attorney Susan Necheles handling of Stormy Daniels testimony

TPMs Coverage

Josh Kovensky liveblogged all of Stormy Daniels testimony here and offered his closing thoughts here:

At times, Necheles strategy seemed to approach an attempt at jury nullification  when members of a jury disregard the case mounted and the evidence of crimes charged and instead acquit because they disagree with the law or the way in which prosecutors applied it. The defense implicitly asked the panel to find that Daniels had acted so outrageously as to compel Trump to do anything to defend himself. It also left the former president in his favored rhetorical pose: that of a victim.

How Did Stormy Daniels Do?

Joyce Vance recaps:

The jury doesnt have to believe Stormy Daniels to convict Donald Trump. Even if her story was just thata made up story, as the defense claimsthe crime happened when Trump paid her off and concealed the payments with false business records. But Daniels came off as believable. At one point, under pressure from Necheles to concede shed never had sex with Trump, Daniels fired back that if she was going to tell a story that wasnt true, she wouldve written it to be a lot better. Trumps lawyers staked their case on Stormy Daniels story being a lie. They promised the jury in their opening statement that none of it was true. But they didnt deliver. Stormy Daniels did. That means the defenses credibility with the jury is low as they head into the critical stage of the trial where the government must prove that Trump knew about the whole deal. Because with the motive for the crime established, its about time for the People to call Michael Cohen to the witness stand.

Michael Cohen Expected To Testify Next Week

As trial resumes this morning, its not clear who prosecutors will call to the stand next. But it doesnt look likely to be Michael Cohen, who himself said yesterday he doesnt expect to testify until next week.

A Gag Order Workaround?

Nothing about the gag order against Trump would prevent allies and surrogates from coming to his defense, but I will be curious if Trump plays any role in organizing and coordinating their responses, because that seems to get awfully close to crossing the line into another gag order violation that could lead to his incarceration.

Whats Paul Manafort Been Up To Since Trump Pardon?

The WaPo goes deep on prodigal son Paul Manafort as he returns to the Trump campaign fold.

Returning To The Scene Of The Crime

TPMs Hunter Walker: How Republicans Went From The Tea Party To Stop The Steal To The Next Big Election Conspiracy

Give This A Read

No one is more adept at describing the dynamics of the politics-and-media information economy that my old colleague Brian Beutler, and hes got a good one today.

Ballot Problem For Biden In Ohio Still Unresolved

The Ohio legislature adjourned without passing a fix to allow President Biden on the November ballot even though the Democratic convention isnt scheduled to formally nominate him until after the states deadline to get on the ballot. Meanwhile, Alabama quietly fixed the same problem last week.

Two Plea Deals Already In The Books In Cuellar Case

WaPo:

Two political operatives close to Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Tex.) agreed to plead guilty this year and cooperate with the Justice Departments bribery case against the lawmaker, according to newly unsealed court documents. The records show that Colin Strother and Florencio Lencho Rendon struck the plea agreements in March, admitting to their roles in an alleged bribery scheme in which they funneled more than $200,000 to the congressman and his wife, Imelda Cuellar, on behalf of a Mexican bank. Strother and Rendon were each charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Fascinating

Kevin Williams: I Went To China And Drove A Dozen Electric Cars. Western Automakers Are Cooked

Speaking Of Cooked 

The Guardian: The largest ever recorded leap in the amount of carbon dioxide laden in the worlds atmosphere has just occurred, according to researchers who monitor the relentless accumulation of the primary gas that is heating the planet.

Solar Storm Incoming

A coronal mass ejection is expected to trigger a severe geomagnetic storm today and overnight into tomorrow, which may make the aurora borealis visible at much more southerly latitudes than normal:

ICYMI, @NWSSWPC has issued the first G4 (Severe) geomagnetic watch since 2005. The aurora tomorrow may become visible over much of the northern half of the country, and maybe as far south as Alabama to northern California.https://t.co/SFKgB9x678 https://t.co/1H2sDQrIAj pic.twitter.com/1Mzzswniyl  National Weather Service (@NWS) May 10, 2024

Raskin Goes Schoolhouse Rock On Grothman

Grothman attempts to lecture Raskin on the use of the word Republic in the pledge of allegiance. Raskin provides Grothman with a history lesson pic.twitter.com/aSGsQw1wy1  Acyn (@Acyn) May 8, 2024

Do you like Morning Memo? Let us know!
NEW YORK  As the Donald Trump hush money trial wrapped up for the week Friday, New York Supreme Justice Merchan warned the DA to get Trumps fixer-turned-foe Michael Cohen to dial back his posting on social media about Trump and the case.

Cohen has been outspoken about his feelings on his former boss ahead of his expected appearance next week, sparking a response from Trumps lawyers. The ex-president is under a gag order and barred from talking about witnesses.

Its now becoming a problem every single day that President Trump is not allowed to respond to this witness but the witness continues to talk, lawyer Todd Blanche said.

Earlier Friday, a defense teams efforts to prove how the former president was concerned about how his family would take the news of the Stormy Daniels sex tryst allegations fizzled. The dramatic fourth week of the first criminal trial of a U.S. president wrapped on Friday with a series of witnesses establishing key pieces of evidence and setting the scene for the cases star witness, Cohen.

Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony charges alleging he covered up reimbursement to Cohen for paying adult film actress Stormy Daniels into silence 11 days before the 2016 election by logging it internally as payment for legal fees.

Prosecutors say the payoff was hastily arranged as the Trump campaign sought to contain the fallout of the damning Access Hollywood tape and concluded a yearslong conspiracy to unlawfully promote Trumps candidacy by suppressing negative information from voters.

Trumps defense has claimed that Cohen went rogue in paying off Daniels and that he believed hed paid him for legitimate legal services.

Social media digs upset Trump

In response to the request from Team Trump, Merchan directed prosecutors to keep Michael Cohen on a tighter leash in the home stretch of the case  even though theyve said theyve already done everything they could do.

Cohen was talking explicitly about the case on a TikTok live Wednesday night, dressed in a white t-shirt with a picture of Trump in an orange jumpsuit behind bars, Trumps lawyer Todd Blanche said, asking that he be prohibited from talking, the same way as Mr. Trump is.

ADA Joshua Steinglass said Cohen had already been repeatedly warned to not make public statements.

The fact of the matter is these witnesses are not subject to the gag order and we have no recourse if they make those statements, Merchan said.

As Merchan ordered the prosecutors to remind Cohen not to make public statements, Trump smirked.

Trump v. Cohen set for next week

Laying the groundwork for Cohens expected testimony next week, prosecutors used Trumps own words to show how his feelings about his longtime fixer changed amid revelations about the hush money scheme.

Trump came to the defense  and then bashed  Cohen, who pleaded guilty to orchestrating the hush money payments to the porn star in 2018 in a series of tweets during his presidency after the feds began probing his fixers payoff to Daniels.

The tweets, read aloud to the jury by witness Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal for the Manhattan district attorneys office, directly addressed the hush money payments.

Mr. Cohen, an attorney, received a monthly retainer, not from the campaign and having nothing to do with the campaign, from which he entered into, through reimbursement, a private contract between two parties, known as a non-disclosure agreement, or NDA, Trump wrote weeks after the FBI raided Cohens office in April 2018.

But Trump turned by the following August after Cohens surprise guilty plea to campaign finance violations and other crimes.

If anyone is looking for a good lawyer, I would strongly suggest that you dont retain the services of Michael Cohen! he wrote in August of the same year.

Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg was in the courtroom for part of Fridays proceedings.

The whole situation was very unpleasant

Former top White House aide Madeleine Westerhout, who lost her job after saying she had a better relationship with Trump than his daughters, testified Friday morning that she understood the then-president was worried about his family when the Daniels allegations were made public.

But under further questioning, she couldnt recall Trump mentioning his wife or kids at all in a conversation after the news broke.

I dont believe he specifically said that, but I could just tell the whole situation was very unpleasant, Westerhout said to a sustained objection. Her comment was stricken.

Prosecutors are attempting to prove that Trump wanted Daniels story killed not for concern of his family  but over how news of the Tahoe dalliance would affect his political prospects.

Westerhout, 34, once Trumps presidential executive assistant and director of Oval Office operations, first took the stand late Thursday, spoke glowingly of the presumptive Republican nominee and broke down into tears Thursday, relaying details of her firing after telling reporters she had a better relationship with the former president than his daughters and said they were overweight.

I was invited by a White House colleague of mine to what I understood to be an off-the-record dinner. And at that dinner I said some things that I should not have said, Westerhout testified.

That mistake, eventually  ultimately, cost me my job. And I am very regretful of my youthful indiscretion. But I feel like Ive learned a lot from that experience. I think Ive grown a lot since then.

Earlier in the week, Stormy Daniels took the stand for her bombshell testimony, including a fiery hourslong cross-examination by Susan Necheles, who attempted to paint her as an unreliable liar based on her work in the porn industry.

____
GAYLORD  A ruling from Otsego County Circuit Court Judge Colin Hunter again disputed the constitutionality of some of the state statutes that were relied on for COVID-19 restrictions issued during the pandemic.

Hunter's latest ruling came in the lawsuit filed by Ian Murphy, owner of the Iron Pig Smokehouse restaurant, and his attorney, David Delaney, against the Health Department of Northwest Michigan (HDNW).

Murphy and Delaney were asking Hunter to rule on the legality of five state statutes the health department cited in enforcing the states emergency public health orders that resulted in the temporary loss of the Iron Pig's liquor license, food permit, the imposition of a fine and eventual closure for staying open and serving customers during parts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hunter reiterated his previous ruling that one of the statutes the health department used was unconstitutional and said that finding also applied to a companion law. While upholding the constitutionality of another statute used by HDNW, Hunter also found that it had violated Murphy's right to due process.

Three other statutes that Murphy and Delaney had questioned were not ruled on by Hunter because the health department had not issued any orders citing them.

Judge Colin Hunter issued a ruling in the lawsuit filed by attorney David Delaney (left) and Ian Murphy, owner of the Iron Pig Smokehouse in Gaylord, against the Health Department of Northwest Michigan. Hunter's ruling found that some of the statutes the health department used in its case against Murphy for violating COVID-19 restrictions were unconstitutional.

More: Judge: Basis for emergency orders limiting bars, restaurants fail to pass constitutional muster

Murphy said Hunter's May 2 ruling was pretty close to what he had anticipated.

"I didn't think we were going to get all five (statutes). The one that we really wanted was the gathering (MCL 333.2253). That was the one that everything had been built on from the beginning. It is another win for us and once again the Iron Pig has taken power from the government and I will be curious to see how badly they want this power back," he said.

In his 2022 ruling, Hunter said that statute MCL 333.2253, "while likely the product of well-meaning forethought by the Legislature to permit quick action in times of actual emergency, fails to pass Constitutional muster."

He went on to say that the measure violated the separation of powers doctrine of the state constitution in part because it didn't contain benchmarks, specific guidelines or time limits for implementation.

In his latest ruling, Hunter said MCL 333.2453, a companion regulation to 333.2253, also violated the separation of powers mandated by the state constitution.

"It is instead up to the local director of health, standing alone, to decide when an epidemic exists and what is necessary to control it, all without any meaningful oversight by the Legislature within the delegation of significant authority," said Hunter.

Mathew Cross, the attorney representing the health department, noted that "the scope of .2253 and .2453 are different and we believe a different outcome is warranted. That said, I understand and appreciate Judge Hunters thoughtful consideration of this important issue."

It is not clear if the Health Department of Northwest Michigan will appeal Otsego County Circuit Court Judge Colin Hunter's ruling in a lawsuit filed by Ian Murphy, owner of the Iron Pig Smokehouse in Gaylord, and his attorney David Delaney.

Hunter said MCL 333.2451 did pass the constitutional test and while the health department "may claim a violation" and issue an order, it "must seek court assistance to enforce compliance with any order issued."

Cross said he will be discussing the ruling with the Board of Health at an upcoming meeting.

"They will make the call as to whether we appeal or not," he added.

Because Antrim, Charlevoix, Emmet and Otsego counties make up the jurisdiction of the Health Department of Northwest Michigan, Hunter's ruling has legal standing in those areas.

Hunter's ruling "wouldnt constrain health departments in other counties from using 333.2453 to issue orders. Of course similar claims could be brought by other litigants in other counties and this ruling will certainly be cited," said Lance Gable, a professor of law at Wayne State University in Detroit.

"But it would not be a precedent that judges in other circuit courts would be bound to follow. They could reach the same conclusion (that 333.2453 is an unconstitutional delegation of legislative authority) or they could decide to uphold the provision as an appropriate delegation of authority. Other courts could also decide that cases challenging long-expired orders are moot and dismiss the challenges," added Gable.

More: Attorneys argue legal basis for health department's COVID-19 restrictions

Subscribe Check out our latest offers and read the local news that matters to you

He said another relevant factor is that the T&V Associates case, in which a Court of Appeals panel found 333.2253 unconstitutional, is still being appealed.

"The authority of state and local public health officials to issue emergency orders will depend on how the Michigan Supreme Court rules on the appeal and how that ruling analyzes the constitutionality of these sections of the state code," Gable said.

It's difficult to predict what if any meaningful effect Hunter's ruling will have on future emergency orders from either the local or state health departments, according to Gable.

"Obviously if this ruling and the T&V Associates cases are ultimately upheld by the (Michigan) Supreme Court, then state and local public health officials will be limited in their ability to issue emergency orders unless the legislature amends the language of the relevant provisions," he said. "Even if (the) court reverses the decision and sustains the existing authority, I still think it's likely that public health officials will be a little more reluctant to impose emergency orders given the significant pushback they've received. But it's important to also remember that these officials have an obligation to protect the health of the public and that sometimes the circumstances require the use of restrictive measures to do that, despite their unpopularity."

 Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Judge's ruling again questions legal validity of health laws used for pandemic restrictions
Disclaimer: The article contains mentions of murder. Reader discretion is advised.

Judy Malinowski was a woman from Ohio who tragically passed away at the age of 33 after her ex-boyfriend, Michael Slager, set her on fire.

According to the Independent, Judy Malinowskis childhood in Ohio was nothing out of the ordinary. She loved spending time with her siblings and participated in local beauty pageants. However, her life changed when doctors diagnosed her with ovarian cancer. She managed to conquer the disease, but in 2006, the cancer returned. Judy underwent a hysterectomy, but during her recovery process, she got addicted to opiates. Her addiction only got worse, and when her insurance ran out, she began procuring heroin from the streets.

Judys relatives supported and helped her when she was fighting addiction. They took care of her daughters and made sure that her road to recovery was on track. Judy was even making substantial progress, but everything changed when she met Michael Slager. Reports suggest that she and Slager began dating after they interacted on social media. Judy was head over heels for him, but little did her family know that her neck-tattooed boyfriend was a criminal.

While dating Slager, Judys addiction returned. Even though Slager didnt use drugs, he bought them for his girlfriend, and this created a relationship dynamic where Judy was heavily dependent on him. The couples relationship grew toxic, and they would regularly get into fights. On August 2, 2015, during one such fight near a gas station, Slager doused his girlfriend with gasoline and set her on fire. After suffering for two years with horrific burn injuries, she passed away in 2017.

The 2022 documentary titled The Fire That Took Her, delves into this tragic case in detail. Its director is Patricia E. Gillespie.

Judy Malinowski became one of the first people in US history to testify at her own murder trial

After Michael Slager set Judy Malinowski on fire, a panic-stricken 911 call went to the authorities. Officials, who believed her survival was impossible, soon arrived and rushed her to the hospital. Slager constantly stated that the whole incident was an accident, but an investigation proved otherwise. 90% of Judys body was consumed by fire, and she went into a coma. She underwent several surgeries to stay alive, however, doctors werent sure if she would ever regain consciousness.

Miraculously, several months later, Judy Malinowski emerged from her coma. Before her passing, she recorded a video testimony that played an important role in her ex-boyfriends trial. In the testimony, she painfully recalled how she begged Slager for mercy, but he showed no hesitancy to hurt her. She stated, I just remember crying and begging for help, and he lit me on fire. And the look in his eyes  his eyes went black, literally. After I was set on fire and he backed away, his eyes just turned black as I screamed for his help. And he did nothing.

Judy Malinowski succumbed to her injuries five months later, in June 2017. She became one of the first people in U.S. history to testify at her own murder trial and in 2018, Slager received a life imprisonment sentence without the possibility of parole.

The post Judy Malinowski Murder Case: How Did the Ohio Mother Die? appeared first on ComingSoon.net - Movie Trailers, TV & Streaming News, and More.
Signs are posted along Kane Creek Boulevard protesting the Kane Creek development near Moab on Friday, April 26, 2024. Developers plan to build around 580 residential and commercial units in a floodplain along the Colorado River. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

On Tuesday, the controversial Kane Creek Development suffered another setback to its plans during a Grand County commission meeting.

The decision to grant the Kane Creek Preservation and Development LLC-managed development a wastewater treatment plant and water storage facility was delayed in April, but earlier this week, the commission voted to deny the permits in a 5-2 vote.

The 180 acres of commercial property along Kane Creek Boulevard are planned to have 580 luxury residential and commercial units with their own water system. Although the proposed water systems met certain requirements, the decision came down to whether they aligned with the Grand County General Plan. According to the Utah State Code, no public utility can be constructed unless consistent with an approved general plan. The current plan was adopted in 2022.

During the meeting, the developments attorney, Bruce Baird, rebutted, General plans (are) always vague and ambiguous, mostly. ... But generically general plans are hopes, dreams, wishes and visions. And hopes, dreams, wishes and visions are not sufficient to deny a conditional use permit for inconsistency.

Baird added, Its very simple. My clients installing the sewer lines intend to be safe, will be safe and will be subject to the jurisdiction of any regulatory body to ensure that they are safe.

Following the decision denying the permits, Commission Vice Chair Kevin Walker said, The statute, Utah Code section 17-27a-406, basically doesnt give us much choice, per The Times-Independent. If we think that the proposed public utility is not consistent with the general plan then we have to turn it down, even if we think it would be a good idea.

Commissioner Bill Winfield, who approved the permit, said, We already have a poor track record on conditional use permits. ... While the Kane Creek project is extremely controversial and many are opposed to it, I am unwilling to vote against our professional staff and county attorney, per Moab Sun News.

The development has received heavy protests against its production by the residents of Moab. A grassroots advocacy group known as the Kane Creek Development Watch formed earlier this year to oppose the project near Arches National Park. Those against the development argue that the land  previously Kane Springs Campground  must be preserved to keep its natural and cultural integrity.

Baird also argued that it is inappropriate for the commission to have public opinion sway their votes:

You cannot unring the bell from the fact that all of your constituents that vote for you have shown up and say that they hate this project and you need to vote against it. Thats not your job to listen to what they dont like (and) what they dont appreciate with their hopes and their wish and their dreams are. Your job is to merit-ly evaluate this project.

He added that the development is prepared to appeal the county commissions decision.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  The team physician for the Kansas City Chiefs has pleaded guilty for his role in a deadly crash in November of 2023.

Michael Monaco on Friday pleaded guilty to the misdemeanor of careless and imprudent driving and agreed to pay a $2,000 fine.

No evidence showed he was impaired by alcohol or drugs.

Fifty-year-old Robert Piper died after he stopped to help at the scene of a crash on eastbound Interstate 70 near Interstate 470.

Man charged in Tuesday KCK homicide, shooting gun at KU Hospital

Around 2 a.m. Nov. 6, 2023, a group of teens in a stolen Chevy Equinox drove off the road, hit a rock embankment, and flipped back onto the road, police said.

Police said Piper, who was not involved in the crash, stopped to check on the teens in the Equinox.

Monaco, a team physician for the Chiefs, was also driving his Ford F-150 on eastbound I-70 and came upon the overturned car about three minutes after the crash.

A lawsuit, filed by Pipers family, notes Monaco had just returned from Germany where the Chiefs played against the Miami Dolphins on Nov. 5.

The lawsuit says Monaco tried to move from the right lane to the center lane; however, he ended up hitting the back of the Equinox and Piper.

The lawsuits filed by both victims families were recently settled for undisclosed terms.

See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri

The Piper familys lawsuit alleges Monaco was driving 6 miles over the 65 mph speed limit and didnt hit his brakes until the crash. They also argue he had sufficient visual cues and warnings to notice the crash, slow down and change lanes, and several other vehicles did so.

One teen in the Equinox died from the initial crash. First responders took the other teens to the hospital.

According to a statement Friday by the Jackson County Prosecutors Office, multiple other vehicles managed to avoid and drive around the crash, but Monaco did not. He never broke, swerving at the last moment before striking the overturned SUV and Piper in his F-150 at 71 miles per hour.

In the statement Friday the prosecutors office stressed the original crash scene was caused by the juvenile who wrecked the stolen vehicle. At the time of the crash, the underage driver was under the influence of marijuana.

This marks the most appropriate outcome of the portion of this tragedy that is under the jurisdiction of the Jackson County Prosecutors Office. Our community, especially young teens, should heed a life-and-death lesson here. Underage drivers on drugs pose a deadly threat. Our sympathies go to the families of both victims, one who died young and promising and another who simply was trying to offer aid and comfort, the Jackson County Prosecutors Office statement concluded.

Prosecutors also said there was no evidence the Chiefs physician was driving impaired. As for the juvenile who caused the first crash, the prosecutors office said any charges were referred to Family Court.

Monacos attorney Ralph Monaco couldnt be reached for comment Friday. In January when the first lawsuit was filed he responded to FOX4 questions saying Its devastating. Mikes emotionally distraught over it. Total sympathies go out to the Pipers. Its just a horrible event.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban supported China's "peace plan" aimed at "ending the war" in Ukraine. He called this country "one of the pillars" of the multi-center world order of our time and a dominant player in global economic and political processes.

ADVERTISIMENT

The Hungarian politician sucked up to Chinese President Xi Jinping, who paid an official visit to Budapest on the occasion of the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries. This was reported by Hirado.

Orban told the Chinese leader that all of Europe is on the side of war today, with the only exception being Hungary, which "calls for an immediate ceasefire and peace talks" and supports all international efforts to achieve peace.

"So we support the Chinese peace initiative presented by Xi Jinping. This conflict, this war, has no solution on the battlefield; there are only dead people and destruction," the Hungarian prime minister said.

Earlier, in an interview with an independent Hungarian publication, Orban said that the European Union is not the same as it was 20 years ago. According to him, the EU is in an economic crisis because European leaders "dragged the continent into war" by helping Ukraine. Thus, Orban was outraged that the West was too active in helping Ukraine. This, in his opinion, leads to the suffering of the European middle class.

ADVERTISIMENT

Earlier, in his trip to Europe, Chinese President Xi Jinping, in addition to France, also included Serbia and Hungary, the leaders of which are considered the most pro-Russian in Europe. By visiting Russia's satellites and talking about "NATO as one of the culprits of the Ukrainian crisis," the Chinese leader is making it clear what he thinks about the issue.

Only verified information is available on OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Do not fall for fakes!
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Kansas Governor Laura Kelly has signed off on several new laws, including exceptions for people whove lost their driving privileges, requiring parental consent for health treatments in schools and requiring law enforcement to issue purple alerts when disabled adults go missing.

Kelly is signing off on nine new laws for the Sunflower State on May 10. A full list of these bills can be found below:

Senate Bill 500

Provides restricted driving privileges for some individuals who fail to comply with a traffic citation and authorizes some people with revoked driving privileges to be eligible for restricted driving privileges, according to language in the bill. It also allows for some individuals to drive to and from dropping off or picking up children from school or child care, to and from buying groceries or fuel and to and from religious worship.

This bill puts a stop to the cycle of hardship that Kansans face when their drivers license is suspended, and they are subsequently unable to pay off the debt that accumulates, Kelly said. This piece of legislation brings necessary reform to our court system, so Kansans can obtain a restricted license, allowing them to get to their jobs as they work to pay off their traffic fines.

Northern Lights could be visible over Kansas as possible geomagnetic superstorm forms

Substitute Bill for Senate Bill 287

Prohibits a healthcare provider from administering medication, diagnostic tests or conducting ongoing behavioral health treatments to a minor in a school facility without parental consent, according to the legislature. It also enacts the No Patient Left Alone Act which requires medical care facilities to allow in-person visitation under certain circumstances.

House Substitute for Senate Bill 420

Allows juvenile offenders in the custody of the Kansas Department of Corrections (KDOC) to leave the juvenile correctional facility for some programming and educational opportunities when approved by the secretary of the KDOC.

Senate Substitute for House Bill 2047

Requires approval of livestock brand applications by the animal health commissioner, increases the maximum amount for brand registration and renewal fees and prohibits entering or remaining on and knowingly making false statements to access animal facilities and field crop production areas, according to language in the bill.

New Topeka city manager chosen, $255,000 contract

House Bill 2176

Creates the Arkansas City Area Public Library District Act and the Udall Area Public Library District Act. This bill also requires an election for the creation of these districts and authorizes unified school districts No. 470 and 463 to levy a tax on behalf of these library districts.

House Bill 2392

Provides the 1st Infantry Division and the armed services occupation medal distinctive license plates, according to the legislature. It also modifies the definition of veteran and disabled veteran to clarify the discharge status a member of the armed forces must receive to be eligible for certain benefits in Kansas.

House Bill 2530

Makes some changes to the appointment authority of the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission, according to the Office of the Governor.

Kansas gov. signs Good Samaritan Law

House Bill 2531

Establishes the Kansas purple alert plan to provide public notice of missing people 18-years-old and older who have been diagnosed with an intellectual disability, according to language in the bill.

House Bill 2784

Prohibits the state fire marshal from wearing or operating a body camera during an on-site inspection at a licensed facility and transfers authority for certification of continuing care retirement communities to the Kansas department for aging and disability services.

For more Capitol Bureau news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly on Friday vetoed a bill that would have banned companies from China and other foreign adversaries from owning real estate in the state, saying that the bill was too broad to be effective.

In her veto message, Kelly said the bill was not tailored narrowly enough to deal directly with Kansas security and could be open to legal challenge.

While I agree that it is important for our state to implement stronger protections against foreign adversaries, this legislation contains multiple provisions that are likely unconstitutional and cause unintended consequences, Kelly wrote in her veto message.

The legislation appeared to be an attempt to thwart Cnano Technology, a U.S. subsidiary of a Chinese company, from building a $95 million facility in Johnson County. Republicans have expressed concern that Cnano is too closely tied to the Chinese Communist Party  a claim the company has denied.

But it went beyond Cnano. The legislation barred citizens and companies with ties to China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and Venezuela from owning non-residential land within 100 miles of a military facility in Kansas.

It came as lawmakers are increasingly concerned about the foreign influence of China and its rising power in the Pacific. President Joe Biden recently signed a law that attempted to force a Beijing based company to sell the popular social media app TikTok, citing national security concerns. TikTok has brought a lawsuit challenging the law.

Kellys decision comes after the Legislature has adjourned for the year, which means lawmakers wont be able to override her veto. Still, Kansas Republicans were quick to criticize Kelly.

Foreign adversaries, such as China, have made their intentions toward the US and our democracy abundantly clear, said Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins. Its shameful that our governor has chosen not to take those threats seriously, leaving Kansas critical infrastructure and military installments exposed.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly participates in a ceremony honoring fallen law enforcement officers Friday, May 3, 2024 outside the Statehouse in Topeka, Kan. The Democratic governor has vetoed a bill approved by the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature for ensuring that child support payments cover fetuses. (AP Photo/John Hanna)

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP)  Kansas' Democratic governor on Friday vetoed a bill aimed at ensuring that child support payments cover fetuses, a measure critics saw as a move by anti-abortion groups toward giving them the same rights as the mothers-to-be carrying them.

The measure scuttled by Gov. Laura Kelly was similar to a Georgia law and measures introduced in at least five other states, according to an Associated Press analysis using the bill-tracking software Plural. Supporters in the Republican-controlled Kansas Legislature argued that they were trying to make sure that the costs associated with a pregnancy and a birth are covered.

But Kelly, a strong supporter of abortion rights, called the measure a blatant attempt by extreme lawmakers to control women and families' private medical decisions. She also said it conflicts with the will of voters statewide, who affirmed abortion rights in August 2022  three years after the Kansas Supreme Court declared that the state constitution protects access to abortion as part of a fundamental right to bodily autonomy.

Kansans already made it very clear that they dont want lawmakers involved in personal matters," Kelly wrote. "Its time we listen to them.

The Legislature has long had supermajorities that oppose abortion and GOP lawmakers this year overrode Kelly's vetoes of four other measures backed by anti-abortion groups.

Now she wont allow women to have the potential for additional child support," said Jeanne Gawdun, a lobbyist for Kansans for Life, the state's most politically influential anti-abortion group. This will not deter those of us who actually have compassion for women in difficult situations.

Legislators cannot consider overriding the latest veto because they adjourned their annual session May 1  though they could pass another version during a special session Kelly has promised to call on cutting taxes.

Under the bill, judges would have had to consider the direct medical and pregnancy-related expenses of the mother before a child's birth, back to conception, in setting the child support payments required of either parent.

Abortion rights advocates nationally saw new reason to be concerned about proposals to treat embryos and fetuses as full persons following an Alabama Supreme Court ruling in February declaring that frozen embryos could be considered children under that state's laws.

But supporters of the child support bill said Kansas has long granted some legal protections to fetuses.

Kansas has had a law in place since 2007 that allows people to face separate charges for what it considers crimes against fetuses  including assault, manslaughter and even capital murder. A 2013 state law also declares that unborn children have interests in life, health and well-being, though it isnt enforced as a limit on abortion.
Reproductive rights advocates hold up signs during a Monday, April 29, 2024 rally in the Statehouse. Despite widespread Kansan support for reproductive rights, lawmakers continue to chip away at abortion protections in the state. (Rachel Mipro/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Gov. Laura Kelly used her veto pen on legislation that would have opened up a pathway for child support claims to be made on behalf of fetuses, characterizing the legislation as a blatant attempt by extreme politicians to take more control over women.

Senate Bill 232, supported by anti-abortion lobbying organizations, would have required the Supreme Court to adopt rules considering medical and pregnancy-related expenses for pregnant women, factoring in this child support at any time after the date of conception.

Passed 82-38 in the House and 25-12 in the Senate, the legislation specified that these child support payments for medical expenses incurred during pregnancy couldnt be collected in cases where the woman receives an elective abortion. Exceptions would be allowed in cases where the abortion was performed to save the pregnant womans life. There is no chance to override the governors veto because lawmakers have already adjourned the legislative session.

This divisive legislation has broad and sweeping implications that undermine the will of the majority of Kansans who voted overwhelmingly in 2022 to protect the constitutional rights of women to make decisions about pregnancy, Kelly said Friday. This is another blatant attempt by extreme politicians in the Legislature to take more control over women and their families personal, private medical decisions.

The Kansas Supreme Court in 2019 determined the state constitutions right to bodily autonomy extends to the decision to terminate a pregnancy. Voters in August 2022 rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have allowed lawmakers to ban abortion without exception. Despite this public support of reproductive rights, Republican lawmakers have continued to attempt to discourage abortion through a variety of bills in every legislative session since.

During the initial discussion of the legislation, critics raised concerns over the complications of paternity testing for a fertilized egg. Supporters of abortion rights said allowing fetuses legal rights and protections would open the door to future restrictions on abortion in a state where the majority of residents support reproductive rights.

Under current law, parental relationships arent legally established until after a child is born and paternity is confirmed. Pregnancy-related costs are settled through judgments after a child is born.

Republican House leadership said women need more immediate financial support. House Speaker Dan Hawkins, Majority Leader Chris Croft, and Speaker Pro Tempore Blake Carpenter issued a joint statement about Kellys veto.

Women facing an unexpected pregnancy need support long before the baby is born, the statement read. Between doctors appointment copays, sonograms, and other costs, prenatal expenses can get very pricey for women to handle simply on their own. The governors veto of this bill has failed Kansas women by dismissing financial accountability for the father.

The bill is one of several anti-abortion measures passed this session. The Legislature successfully overrode Kellys veto of an abortions reasons bill, House Bill 2749. Abortion patients will have to answer a series of questions before undergoing the procedure, including questions asking them if they have been raped, if they have an abusive partner, and if the pregnancy is the result of incest.

Kellys veto of an abortion coercion bill, House Bill 2436, also was overridden, creating a new felony crime for people who try to force a woman to end a pregnancy despite her expressed desire to give birth.

The post Kansas governor vetoes child support for fetuses appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
Gov. Laura Kelly called the "foreign adversary" legislation overly broad and said implementation of the bill could open up the state to constitutional violations. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  Gov. Laura Kelly condemned a land property bill stemming from Republican fear of foreign country intrusion as overly broad and unconstitutional.

Kelly on Friday vetoed Senate Bill 172, which attempted to restrict foreign adversary companies real estate ownership in Kansas. The legislation would have blocked people and businesses from countries of concern, such as China and Iran, from acquiring nonresidential property within a 100-mile radius of Kansas military installations. Those already in the state would have to register with the attorney general and divest of the property unless granted an exemption.

While I agree that it is important for our state to implement stronger protections against foreign adversaries, this legislation contains multiple provisions that are likely unconstitutional and cause unintended consequences, Kelly said.

Additionally, the retroactive nature of this legislation raises further serious constitutional concerns, she said. I am not willing to sign a bill that has the potential to hurt the states future prosperity and economic development.

The bill was passed by the Legislature late into the session, following alarm over Cnano Technology USA, and increasing rhetoric against foreign companies on Kansas soil. The China-based company plans to locate a $94.7 million manufacturing plant in Johnson County to make liquid conductive paste used in products such as cellphones and vehicle batteries.

Rep. Blake Carpenter, R-Derby, said Kellys veto would leave Kansas vulnerable.

I remain committed to protecting our military installations and ensuring that the Chinese Communist Party and other foreign adversaries do not compromise Kansass safety, Carpenter said.

House Speaker Dan Hawkins, R-Wichita, said Republicans in the Legislature would continue to focus on foreign threats.

Foreign adversaries, such as China, have made their intentions toward the U.S. and our democracy abundantly clear. Its shameful that our governor has chosen not to take those threats seriously, leaving Kansas critical infrastructure and military installments exposed, Hawkins said. Despite the governors apathy, well continue to work to protect Kansas and its citizens from those foreign bad actors who wish to exploit land ownership loopholes.

The post Kansas governor vetoes foreign threat land ownership bill appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
Kansas Supreme Court Justice Melissa Taylor Standridge, center, authored the court's decision that a Reno County District Court judge violated the constitutional rights of a defendant by striking his testimony from the court record. Appeals in the case resulted in overturning all the defendant's convictions. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

Kansas Supreme Court Justice Melissa Taylor Standridge, center, authored the court's decision that a Reno County District Court judge violated the constitutional rights of a defendant by striking his testimony from the court record. Appeals in the case resulted in overturning all the defendant's convictions. (Sherman Smith/Kansas Reflector)

TOPEKA  John R. Cantu was placed on trial in Reno County District Court for stalking, violation of a protection order, property damage, trespass and criminal threat charges after allegedly terrorizing a woman and children in their home by throwing a cinder block through a window.

Cantu, who was arrested after found hiding in an alley near the victims residence in September 2020, took the stand in his own defense at trial. He had entered pleas of not guilty, denied all allegations and offered an uncorroborated alibi for his whereabouts on that night. During cross-examination by Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Rodebaugh, Cantu drew the ire of District Court Judge Trish Rose by interrupting the prosecutor, asking questions of the judge and repeatedly inquiring as to whether he was limited to yes-or-no answers.

Cantu: May I ask a question?

Rose: You need to listen to the questions.

Cantu: Am I supposed to respond yes or no?

Rose: Go sit at the (defense) table right now. Absolutely, right now.

Cantu: I dont understand. Can I object to this?

Cantu complied with the judges order to leave the stand. At the request of the Reno County prosecutors, in front of jurors, Rose then took the unusual step of immediately striking the entirety of Cantus testimony from the record. She did so because prosecutors no longer had the opportunity to complete a cross-examination of Cantu. Rose didnt emphatically say the jury couldnt weigh Cantus abbreviated testimony, but she did issue a written instruction requiring the jury to disregard any testimony or exhibit which I did not admit into evidence.

The jury acquitted Cantu of trespassing, but found him guilty on other crimes. He was sentenced to 24 months in prison.

On appeal, Cantu asserted there was insufficient evidence to convict him of stalking and violating protection from abuse orders. He also claimed his constitutional right to testify and fundamental fairness of his trial were compromised by Roses decision to delete his testimony.

Because of the fundamental nature of that, by stripping someone of that right at their own criminal trial, you can no longer say that that trial is a meaningful opportunity under the due process clause to defend yourself, said Randall Hodgkinson, a Kansas Appellate Defender Office attorney who represented Cantu.

Two courts, two decisions

In 2023, the Kansas Court of Appeals reversed two stalking and two protection order violation convictions. The Court of Appeals left in place guilty verdicts for criminal threat and criminal damage. The Court of Appeals concluded the Reno County judges decision to kick Cantu off the witness stand and strike his testimony was an erroneous denial of his constitutional rights, but the error was harmless and did not affect the outcome of the trial.

Rodebaugh, the senior district attorney in Reno County who handled the Cantu prosecution, had urged the Supreme Court to view the case from the Court of Appeals perspective and conclude the mistake by the trial judge was harmless in terms of influencing verdicts.

It should be judged on a harmless-error standard, Rodebaugh said. We know what the testimony was and, beyond a reasonable doubt, it wouldnt have changed the verdict.

Cantus lawyers pressed the appeal to the Kansas Supreme Court, arguing improper denial of the constitutional right to testify was a structural error requiring reversal of all convictions.

In the Supreme Court opinion issued Friday and written by Justice Melissa Taylor Standridge, the high court accepted the Court of Appeals determination the district court denied Cantus constitutional right to testify by suppressing his direct testimony. The Supreme Court rejected the Court of Appeals analysis that the district court judges mistake was harmless to outcome of the trial.

Standridges 21-page opinion said the result of Roses order ran counter to a trial courts basic fact-finding duty. It meant the jury was deprived of the opportunity to weigh Cantus credibility against the prosecutors presentation of evidence and witnesses, the opinion said.

Cantu had no chance to be heard, to personally defend against the charges or to call the most important material witness  himself, wrote Standridge, who was appointed by Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. As a result, the jury could not consider his body language, expressions, tone of voice, and, of course, the substance of his testimony.

In Kansas, a constitutional error could be labeled harmless if the beneficiary of the mistake established it didnt influence the trials outcome. A structural error, however, was a category of blundering that violated constitutional rights so basic to fairness of a trial that it couldnt be treated as harmless in terms of due process.

Standridges opinion said the Court of Appeals was wrong to conclude the lack of essential due process did not render his criminal trial fundamentally unfair.

A kangaroo court

Justice Caleb Stegall, an appointee of Republican Gov. Sam Brownback, foreshadowed the Supreme Courts decision in the case months ago during oral argument.

Im struggling to see how this is even a real trial, Stegall said. I know its a very pejorative term, but how is this not essentially a kangaroo court where the state just comes in and theyre the only voice? Its not a real trial.

The U.S. Supreme Court had recognized the right of a defendant to choose to testify on ones own behalf was essential to due process of law in a fair adversary process.

However, the nations highest court determined the right to present testimony wasnt without limitation. A defendant could waive the right to testify and a judge could remove a defendant from the courtroom if the defendants conduct during was disorderly, disruptive or disrespectful. If a defendant could lose the right to be present during a trial, it followed he or she may also lose the right to testify.

In Standridges opinion reversing conclusions of the Court of Appeals and the district court, she wrote the error regarding Cantus testimony led to the absolute and unqualified deprivation of his rights.

The defect infected the entire judicial process by rendering the trial fundamentally unfair, regardless of whether the error affected the outcome of the trial, the opinion said.

She also wrote the Supreme Court decision shouldnt be viewed as a limitation on a district court judges discretion to preserve order in a courtroom. The opinion said it wouldnt deprive trial courts, in appropriate circumstances, from turning to the ultimate sanction of preventing a defendant from testifying.

The post Kansas verdicts reversed after kangaroo court violates defendants right to testify appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
TMontez Hurt went missing on Feb. 1 at a Greyhound bus station on Troost Avenue. The 19-year-old's disappearance has become a rallying cry for better police cooperation by family members of missing people (Mili Mansaray/ The Beacon).

TMontez Hurt had just started working at a Price Chopper in Grain Valley to save money after a semester away from Missouri Western State University.

Then in the early hours of Feb. 1, the 19-year-old placed an anxious phone call to his grandmother, Tecona Donald-Sullivan, saying he thought hed been drugged. The day before hed had a mental breakdown and sounded distressed over the phone.

He asked his grandmother for her prayers.

She called 911 from St. Louis. Hurt was taken to a Kansas City hospital, where a urine test revealed no drugs in his system. Before he was discharged, his grandmother arranged with the hospital to call him a cab that would take him to a Greyhound bus station so he could return to St. Louis.

Security footage captured Hurt walking up to the door of the bus station at Troost Avenue and 11th Street before discovering it was closed. He then attempted to reenter the zTrip rideshare car. Hed left his cellphone in the car but the driver wouldnt unlock the door. That was the last confirmed sighting of TMontez.

Hurts disappearance ignited a communitywide search effort. Youth news platform KC Discover joined forces with his family to organize search parties. That outpouring of support reflects a rise of concern among residents regarding missing people in the area.

The Kansas City Police Department reports that Hurt is one of seven adults who have gone missing in Kansas City in 2024 and have yet to be found. That number likely represents only a fraction of missing people  many cases go unreported  yet it nearly doubles the four active missing-adult reports compared to the same time last year. And the increase in missing minors has been more significant, from seven at this time last year to 29 today.

The trend extends across the state. The Missouri State Highway Patrol reports a fourfold increase in active adult missing persons reports in Missouri compared to the same time last year.

Groups involved in finding missing people offer no single explanation for the rise. More active cases could mean an increase in disappearances. It might also signal a growing willingness by community members to report disappearances to police.

In Kansas City, police have revived the missing persons unit. Officers say they publish the number of missing people and communicate with the families involved with missing persons investigations.

Still, community leaders say families get frustrated that police sometimes wont open a missing persons case without obvious evidence of foul play or unless their relative suffers from a physical or acute mental health problem. More broadly, families report a cumbersome process that makes it daunting to file a report.

Its about really catering to the needs of those families that have reported their loved ones missing, said Damon Daniel, president of AdHoc Group Against Crime, an organization dedicated to fighting crime and violence in Kansas City. Families (often) dont feel like enough is being done.

AdHoc has had a long-standing relationship with KCPD since its inception in 1977, when former police officer Alvin Brooks formed the organization to address the unsolved murders of Black women. The organization prepares videos and collaborates with the department on search parties and door-to-door canvasses, including one for Hurt.

KCPD Missing persons unit

KCPD is actively investigating TMontez Hurts disappearance, police spokesperson Capt. Jacob Becchina said in an email to The Beacon. While a search party organized by KC Discover found a bone near Troost Avenue and 81st Street on April 13, it wasnt human. A body discovered nearby by police triggered a separate ongoing death investigation.

Statistics show a rise in both adult and juvenile missing persons cases. The number of active missing juvenile cases in Kansas City lept from seven in the first four months of 2023 to 29 this year.

That increase follows the reinstatement of the police departments Missing Persons Section in April 2023. Police Chief Stacey Graves reopened the unit in response to criticism that the department needed to put more effort into finding missing Black women. The unit had disbanded in 2022 because of staffing shortages. It now dedicates seven detectives and a sergeant specifically to missing person investigations.

Re-dedicating a squad of detectives to focus primarily on missing persons provides a greater capacity to tend to the needs of those investigations, the departments spokesperson said in an email.

KCPD took a missing person report on Hurt on Feb. 2, the same day they were notified about Hurt, The Kansas City Star reports, but a flyer wasnt posted on the departments website or distributed to local media until March 27.

Community response

The case of Jaynie Crosdale shows the disconnect between law enforcement and Black communities, The Kansas City Defender founder Ryan Sorrell said.

Crosdale was reported by police as a potential witness in the case against Timothy Haslett Jr., who has been charged with kidnapping and torturing a young Black woman he picked up on Prospect Avenue in 2022.

Crosdales remains were later discovered in a barrel floating in the Missouri River in July 2023. Haslett has not been charged in her death. Sorrell said that when Crosdale went missing, Excelsior Springs police announced that she was a potential witness instead of a potential victim. He said the difference in that language matters.

That scenario is indicative of how the police view missing Black people, more times than not, as criminals as opposed to victims who need help, he said.

Sorrell said distrust of police because of historical criminalization of victims and police brutality makes it hard for police to rally cooperation in missing persons cases. Those suspicions of police have discouraged families from pursuing formal investigations. So many have taken on the work themselves.

The Defender has been receiving and amplifying community tips on missing people after it began to investigate the trend of missing Black women in Kansas City in 2022, Sorrell said.

It continues to be an urgent crisis within our city that is not being adequately addressed  and is not even capable of being adequately addressed  by the police, he said. Many Black people dont even feel safe going to the police department to report it.

Black people make up 56% of all the missing persons reports in the past eight months, despite only making up 26% of the population in Kansas City, according to data from KCPD.

Families looking for missing people have also addressed the difficulty of filing a report. The department has no minimum time a person is gone before declaring them missing. But they must either have a life-threatening medical condition, be suffering from a mental illness or dementia, be suicidal or there must be strong evidence of foul play.

Kris Wade has seen this firsthand. She is the co-founder and executive director of The Justice Project, which advocates for women in poverty. She said families need to understand filing guidelines before approaching the police department.

If they have the right information, theyll start looking. But if they dont have enough information, what can they do? she said. They cant just send people out to aimlessly drive around the streets. Thats why people will need to do their homework before they go down there. Or to ask the police, What do you need from me to make this work?

Daniel with AdHoc said police simply dont have enough officers to conduct robust investigations into every missing persons tip, especially considering the number of violent crimes that take place in Kansas City. But he believes more can be done when families reach out.

Does that mean that if I cant file a report Im not going to get any help at all? he said. Thats a little unacceptable.

Becchina said that investigations are confidential and complex and require a unique approach for each case, but the department does what it can to be transparent.

We publish the daily numbers and we are in contact regularly with reporting parties and available for follow-ups to answer questions when needed, Becchina said.

Daniel said that KCPD needs to be straightforward about educating families on how to file a missing persons report and what to expect after one is filed.

There has to be a better education to the public as to what those processes are, he said. They should put them (clearly) on their website. At least make it plain out there.

Theda Wilson would agree. She founded Looking for an Angel in 2006, three years after her 9-year-old son, Christian Taylor Ferguson, went missing. The St. Louis-based nonprofit helps families find their missing loved ones.

Wilson said shes had to be persistent with local law enforcement and the Missouri Highway Patrol to pursue missing persons investigations. She often has to remind officers, for example, that there is no time limit on an investigation when they insist that families wait 24 to 48 hours after a person goes missing.

Most of the time these terms are new to them and they dont know what to do, she said. Theyre expecting guidance from a representative like a police department or a police agency to tell them what they need to do. Ill go down there and Im going to get some answers and Ill stand there until they open their door and talk to me and their parents.

Editors note: Mili Mansaray has freelanced an article for The Kansas City Defender profiling Kansas Citys first poet laureate.

This article first appeared on The Beacon and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.

The post KC police jump-started missing persons unit. Now they need to build trust with Black families appeared first on Missouri Independent.
Three attorneys are vying for the top prosecutors job in three central Kentucky counties, including the incumbent who was once a victim of crime herself.

Kelli Kearney and Keith Eardley are vying for the top spot against Sharon Muse Johnson, the incumbent commonwealths attorney who is seeking reelection.

The office covers the 14th Judicial Circuit, which includes Woodford, Scott and Bourbon counties.

The primary election is May 21. The top two vote-getters will appear on the ballot for the general election in November.

Jack Keith Eardley

Eardley is running for this office for the second time. He previously ran against Muse Johnson in 2015.

Eardley has practiced criminal law for 25 years and has been a felony prosecutor since 2006. During that time he has worked more than 100 felony trials, including 16 murder trials, which he said is more than his opponents combined. He was the prosecutor on the 2009 murder case against Lewis Ballard, which he claims resulted in the highest sentenced handed down in 50 years.

Another case Eardley prosecuted in 2018 was against Glen Davis in Scott County for multiple child sex offenses. The case went to trial, where David was convicted and sentenced to 70 years in prison.

Im very proud of that case,Eardley said. This is one of the highest sentences ever in Scott County for a child sex offender.

Eardley said he is the only candidate with experience trying death penalty cases, having received specialized training in capital cases. But, its his general knowledge and relationships with law enforcement and victims that he said is his foundation for being qualified to run as top prosecutor in the district.

Keith Eardley is running to be the top prosecutor in the 14th Judicial Circuit.

As commonwealths attorney, I will devote myself 100% to fighting crime in our communities, Eardley said.

He vowed to attend all criminal motion dockets in the circuit, not offering lenient plea deals, which he said shock the conscience of the court.

It means that I wont be giving cushy state jobs to family members, Eardley said. And it means that Ill work weekends and nights if thats what it takes to get the job done.

Sharon Muse Johnson

Muse Johnson is the incumbent commonwealth attorney who ran after she was the victim of a kidnapping. She said her negative experience with the prosecutor who handled her case inspired her to run for the job herself.

Muse Johnson was held at knife point after she gave a client a ride from her law office in April 2006. The suspect was sentenced to life in prison for kidnapping and being a persistent felony offender.

A practicing lawyer for 25 years, she assumed the top-prosecutor spot in January 2019.

Muse Johnson said she has consistently secured maximum jury verdicts in felony cases, setting a precedent within legal boundaries. Muse Johnson prides herself on taking a victim-centric advocacy approach, based on her own experience to help foster compassion within prosecution, she said.

Sharon Muse Johnson is the acting commonwealth attorney for Scott, Woodford and Bourbon counties who is seeking reelection.

Of three candidates in the race, Muse Johnson said each one has a trial record that speak to the type of prosecutor they are.

Muse Johnson founded non-profit organization OwnYourMoment.org, dedicated to supporting crime survivors. Since her election in 2018, Muse Johnson said her focus has been entirely on her office, law enforcement and aiding victims.

Achieving the trial results I do necessitates more than a 60-hour work week; it demands unwavering dedication, she said. Prioritizing our efforts is crucial to effectively keeping violent offenders off the streets.

Muse Johnson is endorsed by the Royal Spring Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Scott County.

Kelli Kearney

Kearney has been a prosecutor in the circuit for more than a decade handling felony and misdemeanor cases. Kearney said she understands the importance of the office and its need to be effectively and ethically run.

The safety of the community depends on it, she said.

During her time with the county attorneys office, she said she spent time developing good working relationships with local law enforcement. In addition to that, Kearney said her previous work as a victims advocate allows her a unique perspective of knowing the impact crime has on victims and their families. It was this experience that inspired her to go to law school in an effort to do more for the community and victims, she said.

Kearney is endorsed by the Castle Fraternal Order of Police Lodge in Woodford County and Attorney General Russell Coleman called her a tough-but-fair prosecutor.

Kelli Kearney is an assistant commonwealth attorney in the 14th Judicial Circuit. She is running in the May Primary against incumbent Sharon Muse Johnson.

I will prosecute cases to the fullest and not be afraid to take difficult cases to trial, she said. I will treat the grand jury process with integrity.

Since being at the Scott County Attorneys Office, Kearney has tried at least 13 jury trials as the sole prosecutor, 11 of which resulted in a conviction, she said. These do not include juvenile felony adjudication hearings or guardianship jury trials, according to Kearney.

Her entire career has been dedicated to public service and the criminal legal system, she said. With a heavy caseload in her district, Kearney said she developed skills of managing a large number of cases and effectively moving them along in both misdemeanor and felony courts.

Kearney and her husband spend time volunteering for their kids extra curricular activities and participating in their youth sports.

Jack Keith Eardley

Age: 57

Job experience: Eardley served as a public defender in Fayette County from 1999 to 2006. Following that he became the assistant commonwealths attorney for the 14th Judicial Circuit in Scott County until 2018. In 2019, he began serving as the assistant commonwealths attorney in the 13th District, which includes Garrard and Jessamine counties.

Education: Bachelors degree in history from the University of Kentucky, a Masters Degree in history from the University of Georgia, and a Juris Doctorate from UK College of Law

Other offices held: Never held elected office.

Sharon Muse Johnson

Age: 54

Job experience: Ran a private law firm for 20 years, specializing in circuit court matters. She took on the role of commonwealths attorney in 2019.

Education: UK B.A. in psychology; Louis D. Brandeis School of Law, University of Louisville J.D.

Other offices held: Served as commonwealths attorney since 2019.

Kelli Kearney

Age: 45

Job experience: Worked as a victim advocate at Fayette Commonwealths Attorney and Childrens Advocacy Center of the Bluegrass. After law school, she was the law clerk for Judge Paul Isaacs, an assistant attorney general in Kentucky and first assistant Scott County Attorney where she has been since December 2013.

Education: Bachelors in sociology from UK in 2000, J.D. from University of Kentucky College of Law in 2011.

Other offices held: Never held elected office.
KANSAS CITY, Mo.  A Kearney man accused of terrorizing a domestic violence victim shot her up with methamphetamine, fired gunshots at her, used a hammer to try and break into a room where she was hiding before firing more shots a Clay County tactical team during a standoff, according to investigators and court papers.

Scott Blau, 34, is accused of numerous felonies related to the domestic violence assault turned standoff late Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. Clay County prosecutors charged him with assault and domestic assault, two counts of armed criminal action, unlawful possession of a firearm and shooting a firearm from a building.

Hereford House mass food contamination detailed in court documents

Kearney police officers initially responded to a call at 9 p.m. Tuesday to a home at Jesse and Ford streets, near the intersection of Interstate 35 and 33 Highway.

Officers found the victim who said she and Blau were arguing before she walked away. She said she soon realized he was following her before he pointed a handgun at her and pulled the trigger. The bullet missed her and hit a door, sending her into hiding in another room.

She told officers he started pounding the sheet rock next to the door with a hammer for several minutes before stopping. About an hour later, she said she escaped through a back door and heard another shot fired as she ran through the backyard.

She spoke with officers, who saw numerous injuries on her arms, torso and wrists. She told investigators the wrist injuries happened when he stuck her with a syringe she thought may have contained meth.

Solar storm could trigger northern lights Friday

Based on her interview and knowing Blau was still in the house and armed, officers called in the Clay County Special Tactics and Response (STAR) team.

They tried to order him out of the house using a loudspeaker, and used gases to try and force him out of the home. Those efforts didnt initially work, and court papers say they could hear him moving furniture in attempt to barricade himself, and heard more gunshots, at least one of them flying past officers.

The STAR team got a search warrant after 2 a.m., and decided to break through the front door. Court documents say Blau came out of an open garage with a makeshift shield and walked toward them, leading deputies to fire bean bag rounds at him.

Blau was subdued and taken to a hospital for evaluation, and then jail for questioning.

Back at the scene, investigators found a stolen .9 mm gun in the house, and discovered two neighboring homes were damaged by gunfire.

See the latest headlines in Kansas City and across Kansas, Missouri

During his interview with investigators, court documents say Blau told them he and the victim had been fighting, and he did inject the victim with meth because he didnt want her to hurt herself by injecting herself.

He also admitted to firing a gun at the victim because she said horrible and hurtful things to him. He said the other times he fired the gun was because he was freaking out. Blau said hes been experiencing issues seeing things, but nobody believes him.

Blau made his first court appearance Thursday and pleaded not guilty. Hes held on a $500,000 bond, and has a bond reduction hearing on May 16. Online records dont list an attorney for him, and show that the court advised him to apply for public defender.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
A Jackson County Middle School teacher has been suspended while allegations are investigated, principal Bradley Kerby told families in a Wednesday letter posted on the districts Facebook page.

Kerby said the suspension is pending a complete and thorough investigation.

The teacher, he said, was suspended Tuesday.

While I cannot comment on the specifics of an ongoing investigation, I can say that law enforcement is not involved in the investigation at this time, Kerby told the Herald-Leader Friday,

Jackson County Superintendent Kellis Smith did not immediately respond to a telephone call and an e-mail asking for a response.
Pierre Boulle is one of the most translated French authors in the world. He is also one of the most forgotten. Author of 40 novels and books of short stories, this French engineer and soldier became a writer after returning from World War II, where he fought with the rank of lieutenant in the Indochina Peninsula, and later as a secret agent for the British Army. Upon returning to his country he wrote The Bridge over the River Kwai, a story about a group of prisoners of war in Burma forced by Japanese troops to build a railway crossing, which made history when David Lean took it to the silver screen in 1957. Nobody has forgotten that whistled tune.

Boulles fame was amplified when the Frenchman published Planet of the Apes, a parable about a world dominated by primates, a story in the wake of Orwellian farces that gave rise to an inextinguishable franchise, starting with the adaptation which Frank Schaffner directed in 1968 with Charlton Heston as the lead. On Friday, the saga returns to movie theaters with Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes, a new twist to Boulles story that, after some creative licenses in recent years, resumes the spirit of the original.

Actors Charlton Heston, Linda Harrison, Kim Hunter and Roddy McDowall in 'Planet of the Apes', directed by Franklin J. Schaffner in 1968. Silver Screen Collection (Getty Images)

The French writer wrote a philosophical reflection during a time when humans were concerned about the future of civilization after two world wars and the disastrous culmination of the atomic bomb, which had reduced human beings to the status of wild animals. The relativity of good and evil is the theme that I have tried to illustrate in most of my books, Boulle admitted before he died in 1994. His experience on the war front was the spiritual substance of his work. During the postwar period, he asserted that the absurd had become a form of logic.

It has been written that this tireless walker had the idea for the book while observing the apes at the Jardin des Plantes zoo in Paris during one of his walks. But the author pointed to another source of inspiration: discovering the French capitals Stock Exchange brokers in action. One cannot imagine for a second that these beings are homo sapiens. It is unimaginable that they act using reason. It is an animal behavior in which intelligence has no place, he said in the program Lectures pour tous, on French television, in 1963. He added that his analysis was also useful for other collective manifestations. For political party rallies. For the arbitrary verdicts of the judicial system, such as the one that led him to be convicted of treason against the Vichy regime. And, without a doubt, for the fight between opposing clans that only generated destruction around them, obeying primary and random laws of domination.

The writers experience on the war front was the spiritual substance of his work. During the postwar period, he asserted that the absurd had become a form of logic

Thus he devised a future reality on the planet Soror (sister, in Latin), where human hegemony has been overthrown by primates, organized into castesthe gorillas are police soldiers; the orangutans, political and religious authorities; chimpanzees, teachers and scientistsand very gifted for technological innovation. If the hi-tech society imagined by Boulle was replaced in the film version by a semi-civilized world, it was only because Fox, on the verge of bankruptcy after the expense of Mankiewiczs Cleopatra, didnt have the money to make it a reality. Monkeys and men have evolved in divergent ways, the former rising little by little to consciousness and the others stagnating in their animality, Boulle wrote in his book. A cerebral laziness has taken over us. No more books! Even detective novels have become too much of an intellectual drain.

French writer Pierre Boulle, author of 'Planet of the Apes' and 'The Bridge on the River Kwai', in 1985. Sophie Bassouls (Sygma via Getty Images)

Born in Avignon in 1912, Boulle graduated as an engineer in Paris and accepted a job as a foreman on a rubber plantation in Malaysia. Mobilized by the French army in 1939, he enlisted in the Resistance two years later. He was educated in the art of slitting the throat of the enemy in the jungle together with the British intelligence services, and fought in China, Burma and Indochina, where he was detained by a French commander who, despite sympathizing with De Gaulles Free France, preferred remaining faithful, out of cowardice, to Marshal Petain. That soldier may have inspired the character of Colonel Nicholson in The Bridge on the River Kwai, blinded by his sense of duty and empirical proof of the banality of evil. Boulle spent a year in prison in Hanoi and was sentenced to hard labor in a rigged trial. That was his experience on the front: an absurd pantomime led by ideological weather vanes at the service of the side they sensed to be the winner, which they obeyed like well-trained apes, without any sense of morality.

For Boulle, Planet of the Apes was one of his minor works, a mere satire on the self-destructive drive of the human species. The immense popularity of the book, which none of his other works managed to match, condemned him to an inferior stratum within French literature. Not a fan of the intellectual circles of Saint-Germain, where he never felt at ease, he lived like a hermit in the Parisian house of his sister and niece. Before he died, he told the latterhis heir and the first to read his manuscriptsthat he hoped the world would not forget him, as if he was already aware of that possibility. He was right, although there is still hope: the rights to one of his novels, The Virtues of Hell, and to an unpublished script, The Planet of Men, a sequel rejected by Fox after the success of the first film, were acquired in March. The intention is to turn them into a movie and a series, respectively.

The characters of Soona (Lydia Peckham) and Noa (Owen Teague) in 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes', which hits theaters on May 10. 20th Century Fox

The portrait of a society in ruins contained in Planet of the Apes is an idea that has seduced successive generations, perhaps because it approached issues such as the climate crisis, animal rights, and genetic manipulation. Also xenophobia. The racial barriers of old have been abolished and the discord they aroused have disappeared, wrote Boulle in a passage that could have originated one of the subtexts of the successful 1968 film, with Heston in the starring role (a perfect actor to catalyze the sense of guilt and self-hatred of certain Americans, decreed Pauline Kael, always sharp). One of its screenwriters, Paul Dehn, persecuted by McCarthyism, claimed that he wrote some scenes inspired by the Watts riots during the summer of 1965, when the African-American population rebelled against segregation and police violence.

The book precociously dealt with issues such as the climate crisis, animal rights and xenophobia. Racial barriers have been abolished and the discord they aroused have disappeared, Boulle wrote

After the films of the 1970s, the uneven adaptation by Tim Burton in 2001  despite everything, the most faithful to Boulles book  and a trilogy freely inspired by its postulates, the saga now reaches its 10th installment. The legacy of the French writer is of interest again in times of the Anthropocene, when the possibility of human extinction, which cinema has always liked to fantasize about, is no longer only in the realm of science fiction.

The funny thing is that, in his day, Boulle held that Planet of the Apes was a work unsuitable for cinema. Among other reasons, due to its complex narrative framework. In the book, two astronauts find themselves with a manuscript in outer space in which the events that the first film took up were narrated. In an unexpected final twist, Boulle reveals that these two characters, whom the reader had taken to be a man and a woman, were apes who laughed at the possibility that human intelligence existed. Rational men? Men possessors of wisdom? No, this is not possible. The narrator has crossed the line.
Kentucky needs UK to accelerate its progress. UK needs rule changes to meet that challenge.

University of Kentucky freshmen kicked off the academic year at Kroger Field, August 2023. (Photo by Mark Cornelison | UK Photo)

In a recent meeting with several employers from across the country who hire our graduates, I heard many of the same themes.

Our students are smart and capable. They are prepared. They have the technical skills necessary to do the job, working in what are often complex fields.

But in many cases, I was told in todays environment, employers need more of what are often called soft skills  the ability to communicate and present, work in teams and navigate job expectations as well as challenging situations and personalities.

It was timely and important feedback. Our Board of Trustees has directed me and our campus to work quickly and intentionally to accelerate our progress in advancing the state. How we prepare students for a growing workforce, and how we prepare more of them, is central to that effort. So, too, is how our institution can move quickly and responsively when the state asks us to do and be more.

Thats why as part of our work to accelerate Kentuckys progress, the Board also asked us to closely examine the rules and regulations that guide so much of our work. The rules can either position us for progress or stymie it.

Our Board knew how we would respond. Weve asked more of our community over the last decade. And every time we have delivered.

We are educating and graduating more students than ever before, extending service further across our state and world, healing more people with more complex illnesses and doing more research that directly addresses our states biggest and most important challenges.

But the needs are only growing. There are more economic opportunities than at any time since Ive been here, but theres also a lack of skilled workers, prepared for the 21st century jobs being recruited to Kentucky. We are extending hope and healing to more patients  treating more people than at any time in our hospitals and clinics  but health outcomes in our state still lag. Our research and service capacity must grow to address these issues as well.

As I have talked to hundreds of people across our campus, I heard repeatedly the desire to be more involved, but the inability to do it under the current rules and governance structures.

Too often, the voices of students and staff, specifically, were discounted or not heard at all in our current governance processes and structures. And too many faculty feel hamstrung by cumbersome rules and byzantine processes.

I cant unhear what Ive heard from our people. And we should be willing to examine what we do and how we can improve.

To be sure, on a campus, members of the community should debate and disagree. Dialogue  whether in support or opposition  almost always leads to better outcomes.

After all, this process of reform through revision isnt about blaming anyone. Its about empowering our people and optimizing our processes so we can be aligned with the states needs and priorities.

As one staff member told me, its not about your class, its about your role. Its time that our rules and structures better reflect that. Everyone has something to offer  if given the chance.

That means adding more voices to the table and it means giving more authority to those closest to the decisions around issues like the composition of the curriculum. Faculty at the college level know best whats happening in their fields and how to be more responsive to our states needs.

The revisions our Board of Trustees gave initial approval to last month clarify and streamline the rules, making authority and responsibilities easier to understand and approvals for new programs more manageable to negotiate.

The suggestion that somehow faculty tomorrow wont be able to determine grading policies or the language on a course plan is simply inaccurate. Those kinds of basic functions that are part of how faculty manage the curriculum wont change, nor will our commitment to critical concepts like academic freedom and the essential nature of tenure in that.

Growing strategically to enroll, prepare and graduate more students for success in careers and life also is not, as some on these pages have suggested, antithetical to our values.

Those are our values. Change can be uncomfortable. Thats why its called growing pains.

Kentucky, though, needs us now to accelerate our progress. And our Board  informed by what our campus has said in community conversations with hundreds of people  is working to reform the rules so we can do more on behalf of the state we were created to serve. That is our calling. It is a moment that Im confident we will meet.

The post Kentucky needs UK to accelerate its progress. UK needs rule changes to meet that challenge. appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
Ilya Tarshansky readily admits hes not a great public speaker.

So, he sat Thursday evening in front of an audience of about 100 people at the Folsom Community Center and answered their questions as best as he could.

Hes a survivor of the Oct. 7 surprise Hamas militant attacks on Israel. Tarshansky, his 15-year-old son, Lior, and his 13-year-old daughter, Gali, hid in a safe room of their home in Kibbutz Beeri. They desperately held the safe room door closed as invaders tried to knock the door open, before their home was set on fire.

Disoriented by the intense black smoke, Tarshansky and his daughter escaped the burning home. He was rescued hours later but his daughter was taken by Hamas militants and held hostage for 54 days. His son never made it out  they found his body in the safe room.

Tarshansky was asked how he copes with the memories of what happened to him and his children that day.

When Im busy with something, I dont think about it. When Im in solitude at home? Yeah, of course, Tarshansky said at Thursdays event in Folsom. To me, Im still on the 7th of October. I dont believe seven months has passed.

Jewish center hosted event

The Jewish Community Center of Folsom and El Dorado Hills invited Tarshansky to provide a first-hand account of what he and his children went through, along with the devastation of his community of Kibbutz Beeri in southern Israel a few miles from the border with Gaza. He has been on a speaking tour in the United States talking to groups about what he went through and seeking donations to help survivors of the Hamas attacks.

Ilya Tarshansky speaks Thursday with Carmit Novitzky, right, and Dror Kohler, center, about his experience in the Oct. 7th Hamas attack in Israel after his presentation at the Folsom Community Center.

Rabbi Yossi Grossbaum of Chabad Jewish Community Center, who introduced Tarshansky, said the discussion was not a pleasant topic but extremely important in the context of the circumstances. He reminded the audience that over 100 hostages taken from Israel remain in captivity.

We have to make sure that when we face adversity, it shouldnt take us down, Grossbaum said. It should strengthen us.

The Folsom event was held amid numerous pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses throughout the United States, including Sacramento State and UC Davis, seeking an end to the ongoing war in Gaza. More than 34,000 Palestinians living in Gaza have been killed since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which killed 1,200 Israelis.

Before Tarshansky sat down for the Q&A session, he showed the audience a 25-minute video that included text messages of panic from his daughter to her mother as Hamas militants were trying to break into the safe room, which had been installed by the Israeli government to protect them from rocket attacks.

Ilya Tarshansky, a survivor of Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, watches his video presentation with audience on Thursday at the Folsom Community Center. His daughter was taken by Hamas miliants and held hostage for 54 days. His son was killed.

Tarshansky said it seemed like the Israeli government never imagined how Hamas could launch an overwhelming attack, and terrorists would be in his home trying to break down the safe room door. He said it took hours for the Israeli military to respond to Beeri; six of 11 members of a local first-response security force were killed trying to defend the community without military reinforcements as many residents were butchered and massacred.

I felt secure in my homeland, Tarshansky said about the Israel military presence he always saw around Beeri. I feel betrayed, cheated, lied to by my own state.

Daughter held hostage

He said the weeks that followed his rescue were filled with all kinds of nightmares for himself and his ex-wife, the mother of his two children. While their eldest childs body had been found, it took two weeks for authorities to identify him. Three weeks went by after the attacks before authorities could confirm their daughter was being held as a hostage in Gaza.

She was released, and authorities returned Gali to her parents on Nov. 30, one of over 100 other hostages who were freed.

Tarshansky said his daughter was held in a few different places throughout her captivity, spending most of it with other hostages in the home of a Muslim family who had no connection with the Hamas attacks and seemed to be held captive by the militants, too. The home had no running water, and they had little food.

Even after the parents were informed Gali would be released, Tarshansky said they were unable to feel a sense of relief until she ran to them and hugged them.

We worried until we got her in our own hands, Tarshansky said. Once I grabbed her, I couldnt stop crying like a baby for the whole night.

They now live in Tel Aviv, Tarshansky in a home within walking distance from where his daughter and her mother live.

We worried about her condition. Luckily, she wasnt abused, Tarshansky said.

The video he showed to the audience included clips from a memorial service held for his son, with Gali there to grieve for her brother.

Ilya Tarshansky reflects for a moment during his presentation on Thursday at the Folsom Community Center when asked a question about his 15-year-old son Lior, who was killed during the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

Tarshansky said his daughter isnt afraid to go out alone, but she has refused to see a therapist for now. Tarshansky and his ex-wife have chosen to continue seeing that therapist to help them cope with the trauma. But some days are hard on their daughter.

Shes a fighter, Tarshansky said about his teenage daughter. Its going to take time to process these things.

There was a woman who was held hostage and rode on a vehicle as she and Tarshanskys daughter released. He said the womans husband also was taken hostage and remains held in captivity seven months later.

For those people left behind, I dont know how (their families) deal with it, Tarshansky told the audience. Its hard for me to imagine what theyre going through right now.
White House national security communications adviser John Kirby on Friday called it deeply regrettable in-person negotiations over a cease-fire in Gaza ended without a deal, but said the U.S. would work to keep all parties engaged moving forward.

Obviously we dont have a deal. And thats deeply regrettable given the amount of energy that was applied trying to get us there, Kirby told reporters in a virtual briefing.

While the physical meetings have concluded, in other words, nobodys sitting across from tables any more today  we are working hard to try and keep both sides engaged in continuing the discussion, if only virtually, and to continue to work on the actual text itself, Kirby continued.

We still believe a deal is possible. We still believe  the gaps remaining can be surmounted, he added. But its going to require leadership, its going to require some moral courage, and its going to require some continue ability to compromise in good faith.

The U.S., along with Egypt and Qatar, has worked for weeks on a truce proposal between Israel and Hamas that would secure the release of Israeli hostages and pause fighting in Gaza, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed since the war started seven months ago.

Hamas on Monday said it had accepted an offer for a temporary cease-fire, but Israel said the groups terms fell short of its core demands. Talks stalled Thursday, a setback after U.S. officials earlier in the week had expressed cautious optimism that negotiators meeting in Cairo would be able to resolve any remaining differences.

The break in negotiations comes as Israel carries out an operation at the Rafah crossing along the Gaza-Egypt border, an area where about a million refugees have settled after fleeing fighting in northern Gaza.

The White House has urged Israel against sending forces into Rafah without a clear plan to evacuate civilians safely, and President Biden this week warned he would halt shipments of artillery and offensive weapons to Israel if it carried out a full-scale invasion of Rafah.

But Kirby on Friday said the Israeli operation in Rafah did not appear to be at the level that would warrant the U.S. to shift its policy.

Were watching this, and were obviously watching it with concern, Kirby told reporters. I wouldnt go so far as to say what weve seen here in the last 24 hours connotes or indicates a broad large scale invasion or major ground operation. It appears to be localized near the crossing and largely with the forces that they had put in there at the beginning.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
I know I am on drugs: Repeat offender accused of threatening South Station commuter with needle

A man with a 19-page arrest record is accused of threatening a woman with a hypodermic needle outside South Station.

The scary confrontation happened this week in broad daylight at a Silver Line bus stop.

Details announced by the Suffolk County District Attorneys Office are adding to on-going safety concerns at the busiest of all stations in the MBTA network.

32-year-old Marquis Alexander reportedly raised the syringe after asking the commuter for the time.

Police said she did not respond, and Alexander stated, I know I am on drugs, but you can still talk to me.

According to police, he then held up the needle and said, If I stab you with this needle full of blood.

The woman immediately left the scene, and reported the incident to an MBTA police officer.

Police quickly caught up with Alexander and ordered him to drop the needle.

Officers searched Alexander and recovered two other needles, a silver gum wrapper containing a brown substance believed to be heroin, and a clear plastic bag that officers believed to contain crushed narcotic pills.

I always see people who are homeless, people who are drug addicts, sitting at the station right there, just doing drugs right in front of people, said Channelle Elad.

Elad regularly waits for the bus at the same stop on Essex Street where the woman was threatened.

She said shes been noticing more and more homeless and people with substance use disorder gathering inside and outside South Station.

Sometimes you dont even want to be bothered, and they come up to you, said Elad. Since they kicked a lot of them off Mass Ave, theyve been dispersing around.

Alexander has a board of probation record dating back to 2003 and has been convicted of numerous violent and drug distribution offenses out of Boston, Brockton, and Quincy.

Personal safety and security of place are our goals for all residents and visitors to Boston, whether theyre walking to work, shopping, sitting in a restaurant or waiting at a bus stop, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden said in a statement. We know that repeat offenders can have a pronounced role in degrading neighborhood quality of life, and we will continue our focus on holding them accountable.

Alexander appeared in court this week on charges of assault with hypodermic, possession of heroin (subsequent offense) and possession of a class E drug (subsequent offense).

He is scheduled to return to Boston Municipal Court Central on June 5th for a probable cause hearing.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
What to know about Gov. Newsom's plan to offset California's $45-billion deficit

California Gov. Gavin Newsom unveils his revised 2024-25 state budget during a news conference in Sacramento on Friday. (Rich Pedroncelli / Associated Press)

Faced with a $44.9-billion budget deficit, Gov. Gavin Newsom described a plan to shrink the size of state government and slow his progressive policy agenda by eliminating 10,000 vacant state jobs, pausing an expansion of subsidized childcare and cutting billions in funding for climate change programs.

Newsom's revised $288-billion budget proposal, announced Friday, projected California's deficit to be $7 billion more than the shortfall his administration expected in January. The grim forecast was driven by lower than projected state revenues, continuing a pendulum swing from the fiscal boom of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"These are things we worked closely with the Legislature to advance," Newsom said of the cuts. "None of this is the kind of work you enjoy doing, but you've got to do it. We have to be responsible. We have to be accountable."

Newsom's plan to close the deficit relies on $17.3 billion in savings from budget cuts he and lawmakers agreed to in April and using $4.2 billion from the state's rainy day fund and budget reserves for the upcoming fiscal year.

The proposed spending reductions Newsom touched on Friday also reverse and slash an additional $8.2 billion in funding in 2024-25.

Newsoms proposal includes $3.6 billion less for programs related to fighting climate change, said H.D. Palmer, a spokesperson for the Finance Department. The plan would also cut $2 billion over two years from a program to expand internet connectivity to underserved homes, businesses and community institutions.

The governor's revised budget proposal, which includes updated revenue projections after the state income tax filing deadline, typically jump-starts negotiations with Democratic leaders in the Senate and Assembly over a final fiscal plan for the upcoming year. The state Constitution requires lawmakers to approve the state budget by June 15.

An 'incomplete' plan

The governor's budget plan released Friday was incomplete compared to prior years. The administration provided only a 50-page summary of his proposal, compared to the more detailed, 260-page document Newsom released in January.

Newsom's budget news conference was originally scheduled for next Tuesday, the deadline for the governor to share his revised budget with the state Legislature. But Newsom is flying to Rome that day to speak at a climate conference at the Vatican and bumped his presentation up to Friday.

The change left the state Department of Finance, the fiscal arm of his administration, short on time to finalize a full budget summary, and additional documents, Palmer said. More information, his aides said, will be made available when additional documents are made public on Tuesday.

Read more: Public defenders, foster kids, climate: Programs created during California's boom may stall amid deficit

How bad is the budget problem?

Newsom cast California's current financial situation as a return to normal after the federal government provided trillions of dollars in funding to individuals, families, businesses and state governments during the COVID-19 pandemic, payouts that resulted in a historic surplus in California.

But those flush times did not last, and poor revenue forecasts in recent years have also deepened the state's fiscal troubles.

Newsom's estimate of a $100-billion surplus two years ago ended up far too rosy, and revenue in subsequent years also fell short of projections. A decision by the federal government to delay the 2022 federal income tax deadline from April to November due to winter storms complicated California's ability to project revenues last year.

Newsom's plan seeks to solve the budget deficit for the next two budget years, including additional cuts, reductions and delays to solve an estimated $28.4-billion deficit in 2025-26.

State Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks) called out the difference between Newsom's deficit estimates and much higher models from the Legislative Analyst's Office.

"He continues to hang on to the unrealistically low deficit with the clear expertise of the LAO stating that the problem is significantly greater than that and that just means that his budget solutions are shooting too low," Niello said. "We'll get to the end of another fiscal year where we're in trouble again, just like this one."

Why does the deficit number keep changing?

In January, the Newsom administration predicted that California would have a $37.9-billion deficit to reckon with in the budget that lawmakers adopt in June.

Newsom and leaders of the Senate and Assembly reached an early agreement in April on $17.3 billion in reductions though most of those changes will not be passed into law until next month. Lawmakers passed a budget trailer bill that lowers unspent funding allocations in 2022-23 and 2023-24 by $1.6 billion last month.

The deficit number Newsom presented Friday subtracts the $17.3 billion in cuts agreed to earlier from the $37.9-billion deficit estimate from January.

Revenues have fallen short of expectations since January, deepening the budget problem by $7 billion.

Newsom is referring to the shortfall as $27.6 billion in 2024-25, but California is making cuts and reductions to solve a total budget deficit of $44.9 billion this year.

Read more: Newsom called it a 'gimmick.' Now hes using the trick to lower Californias massive deficit

How will the governor's cuts affect education?

Under Proposition 98, California has a minimum funding guarantee for schools and community colleges. Newsom is proposing an unusual maneuver to go back and lower the funding requirement for 2022-23 to reflect the lower-than-expected state revenues that came in late last year. The change could ultimately reduce funding for schools by tens of billions of dollars in future years and launch a monumental fight over education funding at the state Capitol.

Early childhood programs face cuts of more than $2 billion in the governors new budget proposal, including a 45% cut for the CalWORKS home visiting program, which provides supportive visits to about 3,000 low-income families following the birth of a baby.

He wants to reduce the Middle Class Scholarship program by $510 million and cut $550 million from a program that helps build and upgrade facilities for children in preschool and transitional kindergarten over the next two budget years.

Newsom called a decision to pause $1.4 billion planned to expand child-care availability over two years "difficult," but a necessary trade-off in order to pay child-care workers higher wages.

The state was finally making progress on childcare and early childhood initiatives which have been so ignored for so many years. To now cut back on that is disastrous for families and for our future, said Ted Lempert, president of Children Now and a former California Assembly member.

What about healthcare?

Among proposed healthcare cuts is the elimination of more than $300 million in state and local public health funding  a move that astounded organizations like the County Health Executives Assn. of California, which pointed to COVID-19 pandemic woes that were worsened by underfunding and questioned if the state was backtracking.

Newsom also proposes eliminating hundreds of millions from programs meant to train and recruit health workers including nurses and social workers  both industries that have faced staffing shortages.

Healthcare providers who serve California's low-income patients insured by Medi-Cal stand to lose extra pay meant to encourage healthcare facilities' participation in the safety net program. The governor's proposal takes more than $6 billion over multiple years meant for provider rate increases from a tax on managed healthcare organizations, known as the MCO tax, and uses it to support the Medi-Cal program in other ways.

Jodi Hicks, president and CEO of the Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California, said she was "deeply disappointed" by Friday's budget plan, saying it will "jeopardize access to not just sexual and reproductive care but quality, affordable health care across the board for the nearly 15 million Californians who rely on Medi-Cal."

Will prisons lose funding?

Newsoms proposal includes savings from the newly announced deactivation of 46 housing units at 13 state prisons, which would save $80.6 million. This comes as Californias prison population has declined by nearly 25% since 2019 and as the state prepares for the closure of its third prison, which Newsom said is now planned to close as early as November, five months ahead of schedule.

The governor said that, while he is interested in further reducing the larger footprint of the prison system, we want to be mindful of labor concerns, community concerns and trends." He also expressed concern about the possibility of unanticipated increases in prison populations . A measure that could appear on the November ballot calls for rolling back some criminal justice reforms that have helped reduce incarceration.

Read more: Newsom has approved three California prison closures but resists pressure to shutter more

Will the plan hurt workers?

The April agreement between lawmakers and the governor included $762 million in savings by pausing hiring for vacant state jobs. Newsom's updated proposal permanently deletes 10,000 open positions, which unions viewed as a potentially better option than furloughs or delaying planned salary increases to save money.

Details of a costly plan to hike pay for healthcare workers to at least $25 per hour are still to come, following months of negotiations between Newsom, unions and hospital leaders.

Newsom signed a bill last year that imposed a new industry minimum wage for California healthcare workers, but has voiced concerns about how fast the state can move on wages due to the deficit. His department estimated that the wage hikes could cost the state $2 billion in its first year of implementation  a figure that SEIU California, the union backing the measure, rushed to refute, urging hospitals to pay a bigger share of the costs.

Newsom was tight lipped on the details on Friday but said a deal is near.

This budget will not be signed without that deal, Newsom said Friday.

The budget proposal shared Friday does not include funding for a healthcare minimum wage increase, Palmer said.

Read more: As deficit estimate hits $68 billion, Newsom seeks 'major changes' to healthcare wage law

What else could be coming?

Negotiations are under way in the Legislature to place as many as three bonds on the November ballot that would ask voters to approve borrowing money to pay for low-income housing, school construction projects and climate-related infrastructure for adapting to floods, fires and droughts. Newsom declined to answer a question about how many of those he would like to go on the ballot.

Newsom said the close-call he experienced in March when his Proposition 1 bond for mental health facilities passed by barely more than 50% has "sobered" conversations about how much voters are willing to support borrowing measures.

"The public wants to see results. They're not interested in inputs, they're not interested to talk about how much money we're spending," he said. "They deserve results and they demand results. And so when we're out there promoting these bonds, we need to be mindful of that."

Times Sacramento bureau chief Laurel Rosenhall and staff writer Jenny Gold contributed to this report.

Get the L.A. Times Politics newsletter. Deeply reported insights into legislation, politics and policy from Sacramento, Washington and beyond, in your inbox three times per week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
What to know about Paulina Gutierrez, the pick to head the Milwaukee Election Commission

Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson has nominated a new head of the city's Election Commission, a move that comes just six months before the November presidential election when the city's vote-counting operation will again be scrutinized nationally.

On May 6, Johnson announced he was replacing Executive Director Claire Woodall with her deputy, Paulina Gutierrez.

More: Who is Claire Woodall? What to know about the Milwaukee election official being replaced

Gutierrez declined to comment "out of respect for the confirmation process" that she must go through with council members.

Here are a few things to know about her professional background, according to her resume:

Deputy Director of City of Milwaukee Election Commission Paulina Gutierrez fixes a jammed tabulator containing ballots for the 2023 Wisconsin spring general election on April 4, 2023, at Central Count in Milwaukee.

Gutierrez joined the Milwaukee Election Commission as deputy in 2023

Gutierrez was appointed deputy director of the city Election Commission in early 2023.

In that position, her responsibilities include leading voter services such as voter registration, absentee voting, system access management and campaign finance administration.

Gutierrez's last job before the Milwaukee Election Commission was at the Wisconsin Department of Corrections

Gutierrez worked at the state Department of Corrections as a legislative advisor from 2019 to 2023.

In that position, she was charged with leading legislative affairs for the agency, overseeing its responses to bill proposals and other actions of the state Legislature, and advising the agency's executive team and the Governor's Office "on any legislative activity and subsequent strategic planning related to corrections and criminal justice legislative proposals," her resume states.

In that position, she also played a key role in the local approval of a new youth prison on Milwaukee's northwest side that is part of a plan to close the state's current youth prison north of Wausau, Lincoln Hills School for Boys and Copper Lake School for Girls. The prison houses young people with the highest needs who have committed serious crimes or are repeat offenders.

The new prison was approved by the city's Common Council and Mayor Cavalier Johnson.

It is to be built at 7930 W. Clinton Ave. at the site of a former vehicle emissions inspection center.

Deputy Director of City of Milwaukee Election Commission Paulina Gutierrez calls out for the last count of the ballots from the 2023 Wisconsin spring general election on April 4, 2023, at Central Count in Milwaukee. Gutierrez has been nominated to become executive director of the Milwaukee Election Commission

Gutierrez previously worked for the City of Milwaukee in a variety of positions

Gutierrez worked for the city from 2011 to 2019 and held three positions in that time.

She was the regional coordinator for Mayors Against Illegal Guns in the Health Department from 2011 to 2013, legislative fiscal manager for the city's Intergovernmental Relations Division from 2013 to 2016 and emergency communications and policy director at the Fire and Police Commission from 2016 to 2019.

Gutierrez has degrees from Alverno College, Marquette University

Gutierrez obtained a bachelor's degree from Alverno College in business and management in 2005 and has advanced degrees and certificates from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and Marquette University.

What is the confirmation process for Milwaukee mayoral cabinet positions like Election Commission executive director?

Gutierrez's nomination by Johnson requires Common Council confirmation.

She will go before the council's Judiciary and Legislation Committee, which will provide a recommendation to the full council that will then vote on her nomination.

That is expected to happen in the coming months, as are hearings for other positions in the mayor's cabinet.

Alison Dirr can be reached at adirr@jrn.com.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: What to know about Paulina Gutierrez, pick to lead Milwaukee elections
South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem is no longer welcome in 16 percent of her home state.

The MAGA Republican has been banned from the territories of five of the nine Sioux tribes in her state for derogatory comments she made at a town hall in March, accusing the community of failing their children.

Because they live with 80 percent to 90 percent unemployment, Noem said at the time. Their kids dont have any hope. They dont have parents who show up and help them. They have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda more than they care about actually helping somebodys life look better.

On Tuesday, the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe became the fifth tribe to pass a resolution barring Noem. They join similar actions taken by the Oglala, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, and Rosebud Sioux tribes, which have so far banned the states executive leader from 13,000 square miles of landapproximately 90 percent of the states Indigenous-owned territory.

As tribal leaders, it is our duty to honor the voice or the wishes of our people, and thats who we work on the behalf of, Sisseton Tribal Chairman J. Garrett Renville told local station KELO. The people at this time would like that in place until there was a formal apology.

Native tribes have had a strained relationship with Noem since she took office in 2019. Since then, Noem and South Dakotas Indigenous population have disagreed over the construction of the XL Keystone pipeline and the removal of Native American histories from South Dakotas education standards. Noem also violated the tribes sovereignty during the Covid-19 pandemic, undermining tribal efforts to enact lockdowns and quarantine zones while the states infection count skyrocketed.

Governor Noem claims she wants to establish meaningful relationships with Tribes to provide solutions for systemic problems. However, her actions as Governor blatantly show otherwise, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe said in a news release in April after issuing their own ban.

Noem doesnt seem to have a lot of backers in her corner anymore. The South Dakota governor alienated millions of Americans when she revealed in her latest book, No Going Back, that she shot and killed her puppy. Some of the people disgusted with the canine execution included some of her strongest allies, including Donald Trump, who has reportedly removed Noem from his shortlist of candidates to become his vice president over the anecdote.
Kristi Noem Now Banned in More Than 90 Percent of All South Dakota Tribal Lands

The Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate Tribe became the fifth Sioux tribe this year to ban South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem from setting foot in their territory, making Noem an outlaw in more than 16 per cent of South Dakota and in more than 90 percent of her states tribal lands.

Noem is now barred from the Lake Traverse Reservation in the states northeast, according to a resolution passed Tuesday by the Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal Council. They join the Oglala, Cheyenne River, Standing Rock, and Rosebud Sioux tribes in banning the governor from their lands, which together comprise about 13,000 square miles of South Dakotas total area of 77,116 square miles.

Sisseton Tribal Chairman J. Garrett Renville said the resolution was passed by way of the voice of our people. He added that, while the tribe was open to communicating with Noem in the future, she would remain barred from Sisseton lands until she took significant steps to repair the relationship.

Dog-Killer Kristi Noem Realizes Her Big Problem: She Isnt Trump

The people at this time would like that in place until there was a formal apology, Renville told local station KELO.

The banning is in response to derogatory comments Noem made about tribal families. According to the resolution, Noem has made statements and undertaken actions that have been injurious towards the parents of tribal children, thus detracting from the value of their education.

At a town hall in March where she was signing education bills into law, Noem touted her own achievements while throwing dirt at tribal leaders and parents, who she derided as lazy and uncommitted to their childrens educational success.

My next step would be to do what I can to get a tribe to participate with me to help their kids be more successful, Noem said. Because they live with 80% to 90% unemployment. Their kids dont have any hope. They dont have parents who show up and help them. They have a tribal council or a president who focuses on a political agenda more than they care about actually helping somebodys life look better.

Beyond Cricket: More Bonkers Stories From Kristi Noems Memoir

Ian Fury, spokesperson for the governor, did not immediately respond to The Daily Beasts requests for comment.

Noem also floated unsupported claims that Mexican drug cartels were operating on South Dakotas Native reservations to the benefit of some tribal leaders, which drew immediate condemnation from the Oglala, Rosebud, and Cheyenne River tribe. All three eventually banned her in April, and they were joined by the Standing Rock tribe.

With this decision, the governor is effectively banned from about 16 percent of all tribal lands in her state, Lakota Law Project director Chase Iron Eyes told The Daily Beast. Sioux tribes claim a total of 17 percent of all land in South Dakota.

If you look at a map, she basically has to stay on the interstate, Iron Eyes said.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Fridays Top Stories

Fridays Five Facts

[1] Family speaks after woman shot in the neck at Albuquerque graduation ceremony  The family of a woman shot at an Albuquerque graduation ceremony is speaking out. Wednesday, police say Victoria Bencomo was at the Albuquerque convention center attending her sons graduation. Police say her 21-year-old step son, Cristian Bencomo shot her in the neck. Bystanders were able to intervene, holding Cristian down until police arrived. Cristian is facing multiple charges. The family says Victoria, is in critical, but stable condition.

[2] Mother speaks out after sons killer is acquitted in retrial in Albuquerque  The mother of a man shot and killed during an attempted robbery is speaking out after a jury found the man who killed him not guilty of murder. In 2016, Tyler Lackey was at an ATM when Matthew Chavez tried to rob him. Lackey took out his own gun, which he had legally, and Chavez shot and killed him. In 2018 Chavez was convicted of second degree murder and sentenced to 23 and a half years behind bars. Chavez recently appealed the conviction and had a retrial, claiming he shot in self defense. The jury found Chavez not guilty on charges of second degree murder and manslaughter. The jury did find Chavez guilty of tampering with evidence and conspiracy to tamper with evidence.

[3] Windy Friday morning, showers and storms for the weekend  Winds will lighten this afternoon, with gusts up to 35 mph. Skies will be partly cloudy today, and we will see more showers in the northern mountains and east mountains this afternoon, with light showers possible in the Metro. Showers and storms will continue through Saturday morning in northern and northeast New Mexico. Even more rain will develop Saturday morning across eastern New Mexico. The sun will come out midday in the Metro, allowing more storms to develop during the afternoon and evening.

[4] 3 Albuquerque students named U.S. Presidential Scholars  Three Albuquerque students have earned the honor by becoming U.S. Presidential Scholars. They, along with 158 others from around the country, will be recognized at an online program this summer. The students come from the Albuquerque Institute of Math and Science, The Early College Academy and Albuquerque Academy.

[5] Pictures of Hope at the Albuquerque Museum  Local organization New Day partnered with Pictures of Hope to give young people cameras to showcase their hopes and dreams through photography. The photos from those young adults are featured in an exhibition at the Albuquerque museum. The Pictures of Hope program aims to empower youth facing homelessness.

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 vice-president of the European Central Bank (ECB), Luis de Guindos, in a file photo. WOLFGANG RATTAY (REUTERS)

One of the largest financial groups in the world, Spains BBVA, is hoping that the European Central Bank (ECB) will take a favorable view of its ongoing attempt to buy Banco Sabadell, the fourth-largest Spanish banking group. The European regulator has been encouraging these kinds of consolidation processes as part of its goal of ensuring that Europes financial institutions remain solvent. We do not comment on individual operations, but we do have a clear vision about consolidation, official ECB sources said, alluding to earlier statements by the regulator about the importance of promoting the size of lenders in order to gain scale. If successful, the merged bank would be the tenth-largest in Europe by assets, which would exceed 1 trillion.

BBVA launched a hostile 12.23 billion ($13.1 billion) all-share takeover bid for Sabadell on Thursday, in a surprise move that triggered opposition from the government. Taking the offer directly to Sabadell shareholders comes after Sabadells board rejected a bid on the same terms on Monday, a position the board reiterated on Thursday.

This is the second attempt at a tie-up between BBVA and Sabadell. They called off merger talks in November 2020 after failing to agree on terms, including the price tag. The latest move comes as Spanish banks have been looking for ways to increase revenue as a boost from high rates begins to fade.

Carlos Torres Vila, executive chairman of BBVA, said he was confident about securing the approval of the ECB, which would provide backing for the bid. In the first exchanges with the supervisors there was no obstacle from their point of view; they even have a favorable opinion about consolidation, he said on Thursday. The ECB likes consolidation and would love to see cross-border consolidation. That does not apply to this transaction, but their opinion is on the favorable side, and they have been kept informed throughout.

The ECBs main mission is to ensure the financial stability of the European Union. With this in mind, it seeks to ensure that entities have high levels of solvency to withstand a crisis. Financial sources explain that the aim is to create European champions that are too big to fail during unfavorable economic cycles. The regulators themselves have publicly expressed their desire for cross-border mergers between banks from different countries, with the aim of creating truly European institutions that can compete with the largest global banks.

The new entitys solvency level would be high, above the banks own 12% objective. The forecast is that the operation will consume just 30 basis points of capital (about 1.45 billion, while BBVA currently has excess capital of 3.1 billion). We have to be absolutely prudent, at the present moment we do not know if the operation will materialize, it all depends on the shareholders. But the ECB has to authorize it and always does so based on the principle of solvency and the prudential principle. What we are looking for is the stability of the financial system in the euro zone, and Spain is an important country, said ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos, a former economy minister of Spain.

Close scrutiny

Besides approval by the ECB, BBVA must also secure permission from the Bank of Spain, the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV), the Ministry of Economy and the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC). Spanish authorities are focusing on the implications that the operation would entail in terms of reducing banking competition. It is a good time to pay attention to what the optimal level of concentration should be. I dont have an answer today, but I think it is important to analyze it, said Bank of Spain Governor Pablo Hernandez de Cos on Tuesday, addressing lawmakers inside the Congress of Deputies.

According to BBVAs calculations, the merged entity would have a 22% market share in loans. The top three banks in the Spanish market would account for more than 70% of that line of business. And that is where the Spanish government and financial authorities are taking the closest look. The operation introduces potential harmful effects on the Spanish financial system. It would mean an increase in the level of concentration that could have a negative impact on employment and the provision of financial services, said an official source at the Ministry of Economy.

BBVA has an ace up its sleeve. Although the resulting entity would significantly gain market share, it would not be the leading bank in the Spanish market. That title has been held by CaixaBank since it absorbed Bankia. And the entity led by Carlos Torres feels that if authorities agreed to that merger four years ago, creating a dominant entity in all lines of business with market shares in excess of 20% and 25%, they should not hinder the creation of an institution that would remain in second position in the market. We have had legal advisors who have analyzed precedents and the CNMCs criteria. From all this analysis, the conclusion is that with the resulting concentration we would reach moderate quotas, lower in almost all areas than CaixaBank, said Torres.

BBVA also notes that banking competition in Spain is broader than the number of branch offices across the country, since in general terms all entities allow customers to create online accounts and to hire their products and services through mobile apps and websites. In recent years digital banks, foreign lenders and fintech have added to traditional banks offers.

The market is characterized by digital competition. Last year, more than half of the clients who opened their accounts at BBVA did so through digital channels. And it is the same trend at other banks. There is a different type of competition and these factors will be taken into account by the CNMC. Everything indicates that the operation should not face a major problem, Torres insisted.

Spanish banking has gone through several waves of consolidation, with the number of lenders down to 10 from 55 before the 2008 financial crisis. In the last few years, three global funds BlackRock, Vanguard and Norges Bank have acquired privileged packages of shares in listed Spanish entities worth 17.5 billion, representing 12.3% of the combined capitalization of the banking sector.
As L.A. County sees an increase in homeless families, agencies are struggling to help

Migrant families are increasingly setting up tents on Los Angeles' Skid Row, part of a larger problem of families living without housing in L.A. County. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

On a Friday just before 9 a.m., men, women and children packed the lobby of the Family Solution Center in South Los Angeles. A mother with her two young boys said they had been sleeping in her car for months. She had arrived hoping to secure a spot in a shelter. Another, who sat with three of her children, ages 2, 6 and 8, lived in a shelter and was hoping for help with a deposit on an apartment.

They were among more than two dozen family members who started lining up hours before the center opened at 8:30 a.m., hoping for housing assistance.

"I want to find shelter so I can get back to working," said Rosibel Marcial, who has been living in her car with her boys.

In recent months, the center, which serves families that are homeless or on the verge of homelessness, has seen increasing numbers of people in need of assistance. And it is struggling to help them.

It's pretty dire, said Veronica Lewis, director of the nonprofit HOPICS, which runs the center. And it's very disheartening. Obviously, for them mainly. But for us too, because we're here to meet their needs.

Across L.A. County, there has been a 45% increase in the number of families in the homeless system compared to last year, officials say. In the first quarter of the previous fiscal year there were 1,257 families in the system. This year, the first quarter saw 1,817 families, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The increase is stressing a system that was already under intense strain.

In recent months, dozens of families have set up on sidewalks on Skid Row, with babies sleeping in portable cribs and toddlers playing inside tents  a dire sight that had been rare until this year, experts say. Many of those families are recently arrived migrants who are not eligible for the same supports as residents.

Read more: Children on Skid Row: Four migrant families form a tenuous community

But advocates and officials say local families are also driving the number of homeless families up throughout the region.

Across the county, families are feeling the squeeze of rising costs and stagnant wages  especially as pandemic-era wage support and eviction protections expire  putting increased pressure on the homeless response system for families, officials with the countys Homeless Initiative said in a statement.

Read more: Most young adults, renters considering leaving L.A. due to high housing costs, poll finds

The sky high cost of rent is especially challenging for families, advocates said. The county does not have anywhere near the 500,000 units of affordable housing it estimates are needed for low- and very low-income families.

"I think that housing, the cost of housing is probably pushing people out, and then having children just makes it even more difficult," said Veronica Lepper, associate director of family programs for the nonprofit PATH.

Those costs also make it difficult for families that manage to secure temporary housing subsidies to eventually pay rent on their own. Across the county, there was a 35% decrease in families exiting time-limited subsidy programs, according to LAHSA.

Officials say an increase across the county in applications for welfare through CalWORKs is another indicator that families are struggling. The program, which gives cash aid and services to eligible families, saw a 33% jump in applications from February 2023 to February 2024, officials said. Not all families are eligible for the help, including many migrant families.

The county is also contending with the limits of a system that was created largely to address the housing needs of single adults.

In the immediate term, the county has allocated $10 million in additional funding to help expand interim housing for families, increase housing navigation support and scale up efforts to remove barriers to securing permanent housing units.

But there are big challenges in getting help to families that need it now.

HOPICS, a nonprofit agency that provides services to homeless families, serves an area that includes South L.A., Compton and Lynwood and has long contended with large numbers of homeless families.

"Even with the high numbers that we've been accustomed to seeing, we are seeing exponentially higher numbers of families," said Lewis, the director. "In particular, families that have never experienced homelessness before."

Since July, about 1,647 families have asked the organization for help with housing. It has only been able to meet the needs of about a quarter of them.

There simply aren't enough housing options for families in the county, Lewis said. The organization itself provides interim housing to about 300 families.

The group has also seen a significant increase in the number of families on the brink of eviction that arrive seeking help, Lewis said. Increasingly, they owe large amounts of money, often more than $10,000, in back rent.

After the last of L.A.'s COVID-era renter protections expired in February, tenants could be required to pay all back rent accumulated during the pandemic.

Eviction court filings increased by about 2,000 in the first three months of this year, compared with last year  a year that saw more filings than any year since 2016, according to data compiled by Kyle Nelson, senior policy and research analyst for the nonprofit advocacy group Strategic Actions for a Just Economy.

While staffers do their best to offer some kind of support to every family that walks through the doors, covering tens of thousands of dollars in back rent simply isn't possible for large amounts of people, Lewis said.

When families arrive in need of shelter, it's often not available, something that weighs on the workers whose job it is to offer help.

"It's a really bitter feeling, a feeling of impotence, of not being able to give them what they need," said Milagros Lopez, senior manager for access at HOPICS. "Housing is a right. It shouldn't be something people are fighting for."

On Skid Row, families with young children have been setting up tents and tarp shelters on Towne Avenue, near the Skid Row Community Refresh Spot, where they can use the bathroom and shower.

Some of those families told The Times they arrived in Los Angeles on transportation paid for by people they did not know after they entered the United States through Texas and Arizona. Others said they had arrived on their own.

Several initially stayed at the nearby Union Rescue Mission, which accepts families, unlike many other shelters.

Read more: More migrant families with children sleeping in tents on Skid Row test official response

Families told The Times they left after three months because the shelter began charging a fee to stay and they did not have the money, though shelter officials say they do not push people out to the streets if they cannot pay.

The mission has considered adding capacity using a tension fabric building, somewhat similar to a hospital tent that was used during the pandemic and that could house an additional 30 families, said Jeff Hudson, interim president and chief executive of Union Rescue Mission.

But the constraints to housing additional families aren't just about adding physical space, he said.

"As we expand and have families staying with us on a longer and longer basis, our budget can't continue to accommodate all needs at all times," he said. "So we have to limit our ability to welcome additional guests and to shelter them."

Over the last few months, the county has moved at least two dozen families on Skid Row into motels. But as soon as some families leave, new ones arrive.

Alejandra Lozada and her 2-year-old daughter, Flavia, were among a group of families taken to a motel at the end of April, after The Times wrote about how they had been living in a tent on Towne Street.

They are much better now that they are off the street, Lozada said. They have a roof over their heads and she can cook for her daughter. But she's uncertain how long they'll be able to stay. She heard they might be moved to another site soon and she's worried.

"I want to stay," she said.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Physicians take an oath to act in the best interest of patients health and well-being. This professional ethic compels doctors and other health care providers to offer timely, evidence-based medical care in order to save lives whenever possible. Idaho Attorney General Raul Labradors contradictory statements and legally dubious actions have sown confusion and undermined the ability of physicians to uphold this sacred duty.

Labrador infamously claimed that nobody dies because they dont have access to health care. This flies in the face of decades of research demonstrating that delaying or denying care results in worse outcomes, including preventable deaths. He has evidently had a change of heart, reporting now that timely care can save lives, and that access to medical care should not be withheld to preserve a pregnant womans life if the treatment requires an abortion.

Labrador attempts to gaslight the public by dismissing well-founded concerns from doctors that Idahos new abortion law requires them to transport patients out-of-state for life-saving care. This April on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court he accused hospitals of fearmongering and insinuated they were lying about real cases requiring emergency transfers. This is an unacceptable attack on the medical professions integrity.

In an abrupt turn, Labrador now claims his office will ensure every womans life is safeguarded under Idahos abortion ban, which he defended before the Court. However, Labradors casual disregard for legal and ethical norms as attorney general leaves little reason for physicians to trust his assurances.

This is the same Labrador who has repeatedly violated his professional ethics by suing his own clients. This includes the Department of Health and Welfare employees and Department of Health and Welfare employees. These breaches undermine the credibility of reassurances from the office of the Attorney General.

Labradors pursuit of his personal agenda before his duties to the state raises doubt about whether he could be an impartial arbiter of what constitutes a life-threatening medical emergency. Physicians risk prison time, let alone loss of their medical licenses, by acting according to their best clinical judgment and ethical obligations.

The people of Idaho deserve to have faith that doctors will not be obstructed from providing medical care necessary to protect their lives. Unfortunately, Labradors own words and deeds have undermined such trust. Under Labrador, the states physicians have ample justification to approach any reassurances from his office with extreme skepticism.

Dr. Andrew Wilper is a physician in Boise, where he practices medicine and cares for veterans. His family has lived and worked in Idaho since the 1890s. His opinions are his own and do not reflect the opinions or policies of his employer. He has expertise in hospital operations, health policy, graduate medical education and health services research.
TechCrunch

Fidelity Investments, one of the world's largest asset managers, has confirmed that over 77,000 customers had personal information compromised during an August data breach, including Social Security numbers and driver's licenses. The Boston, Massachusetts-based investment firm said in a filing with Maines attorney general on Wednesday that an unnamed third party accessed information from its systems between August 17 and August 19 "using two customer accounts that they had recently established. We detected this activity on August 19 and immediately took steps to terminate the access, Fidelity said in a letter sent to those affected, adding that the incident did not involve any access to customers Fidelity accounts.
Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump declared that father-in-law Donald Trump is down with accepting election results on Thursday in a wild claim that ignores the former presidents frequent election denialism.

Lara Trump, in a Newsmax interview aired Thursday, was asked about former President Barack Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Joe Bidensaying something to the effect that Donald Trump  if he were to lose in November  wont accept the election results.

Is that coordinated? asked The Balance host Eric Bolling.

I think, isnt it all coordinated? replied Lara Trump, the wife of Eric Trump.

She continued, Isnt all of this stuff coming from one place? Its pretty obvious that Donald Trump does accept election results even despite the fact that it was a very questionable election in 2020 because Joe Biden is, unfortunately, sitting in the Oval Office today.

Her father-in-law has repeatedly spread lies about what hes referred to as a rigged 2020 election.

He didnt commit to accepting the results of the 2024 election in a recent interview with the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in which he claimed that hed gladly accept the results if everythings honest.

If its not, you have to fight for the right of the country, he added.

Nearly 70% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents said Bidens 2020 victory wasnt a legitimate win, according to a CNN poll conducted in July.

Lara Trump, in her Newsmax interview, went to bat for her father-in-law and declared that there should be free, fair and transparent elections.

So he said, Yes, if I feel like this is a fair election, if I feel like you guys didnt interfere in any way like they are obviously trying to do with all these bogus cases against him, then no problem, Im happy to accept the results of the election, she later added.

Lara Trump on Newsmax: "It's pretty obvious that Donald Trump does accept election results, even despite the fact that it was a very questionable election in 2020, because Joe Biden is unfortunately sitting in the Oval Office today." pic.twitter.com/dDKTIjMwvV  Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) May 10, 2024

Related...
Newsmax

Republican National Committee co-chair Lara Trump made the head-spinning claim Thursday that its obvious her father-in-law does accept election results, despite his persistent false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.

On Newsmax, the former presidents daughter-in-law was asked about Democratic leaders like President Joe Biden, former President Barack Obama, and former presidential nominee Hillary Clinton each warning that the most recent Republican president may not respect the outcome of the vote. Trump dismissed those concerns.

Its pretty obvious that Donald Trump does accept election results, even despite the fact that it was a very questionable election in 2020, because Joe Biden is unfortunately sitting in the Oval Office today, she argued.

Lara Trump then whitewashed the former presidents rampant election denialism, which has become a litmus test of sorts for his pool of potential running mates.

What Donald Trump has said, and I think is exactly right, is that we should have free, fair and transparent elections, she told host Eric Bolling, before pointing to Americans feelings about voting as some sort of evidence to bolster the former presidents case.

And unfortunately, Eric, there are millions and millions of Americans out there who dont feel like they can trust our electoral process. We cant function as a country like that, she said.

Polls have consistently shown that a majority of GOP voters dont think Bidens election win was legitimate. A CNN survey from last July, for instance, showed 69 percent of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents believing the indicted former presidents false claims.

Laura Ingraham Is Pissed That CNN Mentioned Trumps Scatological Nickname

On Newsmax, Lara Trump offered a description of what her father-in-law has said about the upcoming electionreplete with caveats.

So he said, Yes, if I feel like this is a fair election, if I feel like you guys didnt interfere in any way like they are obviously trying to do with all these bogus cases against him, then no problem. Im happy to accept the results of the election, she said.

The truth is, if theres no election interference, if everything is fair, and theres nothing nefarious happening in an election, it is pretty clear based on all the polls out there and anybody you talk to, Donald Trump will be the 47th president, Trump continued.

Donald Trump, of course, not only made bogus claims of fraud regarding the election he lost in 2020, but the one prior to that, which he won.

"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally, he falsely said in 2016.

That wasnt the only time Trump baselessly alleged fraud that year. After Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) won the Iowa caucus, Trump falsely claimed Cruz illegally stole it and demanded a re-do.

Going back even further, Trump also called the 2012 election a total sham.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Republican National Committee (RNC) co-Chair Lara Trump said it is pretty obvious that her father-in-law, former President Trump, accepts presidential election results.

Trump made the comment when asked if recent remarks by former and current leaders of the Democratic Party  including former President Obama and President Biden  about Trump potentially not accepting the results of the 2024 general election, are all coordinated.

I think, isnt it all coordinated? she told host Eric Bolling during her Thursday appearance on Newsmaxs The Balance, as highlighted by Mediaite.

Isnt all of this stuff coming from one place? Its pretty obvious that Donald Trump does accept election results even despite the fact that it was a very questionable election in 2020, because Joe Biden is, unfortunately, sitting in the Oval Office today, she said.

The former president has repeatedly spread false claims that the 2020 election was rigged and that there was widespread fraud in the contest.

Lara Trump, who was elected the RNC co-chair in early March, said millions of Americans do not trust the electoral process, and it is negatively impacting the nation.

What Donald Trump has said  and I think hes exactly right  is that we should have free, fair, and transparent elections, she said Thursday. And unfortunately, Eric, there are millions and millions of Americans out there who dont feel like they can trust our electoral process. We cant function as a country like that.

A Washington Post/University of Maryland survey from January found that one-third of U.S. adults believe that Bidens 2020 general election win was illegitimate.

So he said, yes, if I feel like this is a fair election, but I feel like you guys didnt interfere in any way like they are obviously trying to do with all these bogus cases against him, then no problem. Im happy to accept the results of the election, she said.

Trump officials have stated that the party will be more aggressive in overseeing vote counts for the November election.

The truth is, if theres no election interference, if everything is fair, and theres nothing nefarious happening in an election, it is pretty clear based on all the polls out there and anybody you talk to, Donald Trump will be the 47th president, Lara Trump said Thursday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Las Vegas Metro police released officer body-cam video of a shooting that left three people dead at a Summerlin law office in April.

911 callers help ID shooter in Las Vegas law office shooting: It was so loud, please hurry

Joe Houston II, 77, shot and killed Dennis Prince, 57, and his wife, Ashley Prince, 30, during a child custody hearing in Dennis Princes Summerlin law office on Monday, April 8.

Joe Houston, another attorney, was at the hearing representing his son, Dylan Houston, in his custody dispute with Ashley Prince. During the deposition, Joe Houston shot and killed the Princes before dying by suicide.

Las Vegas law office shooting survivor recounts heated meeting: He was pointing a gun

The deposition involved a years-long custody dispute involving Dylan Houston and Ashley Princes two young children. The hearing began around 10 a.m. By 10:04 a.m., the 911 calls started coming in.

In the newly released video, people are seen leaving the law firm building, and officers arriving at the scene, unaware that the gunman was dead.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Greece, the country of good food, stunning coastal landscapes and warm weather, last year took a major hit to its tourist image when wildfires and floods threatened the lives of locals and visitors. Can the country convince tourists to keep coming? Christoph Reichwein/dpa

Images of stormy winds throwing walls of fire, 10 metres high, towards hotels were seen around the world last year. The sheer horror facing tourists in Greek holiday hotspots will be remembered by many considering a trip there this summer.

In July, some 20,000 tourists and residents in the south-east of the island of Rhodes needed to be evacuated in the space of just hours in July 2023, followed by a days-long battle against the flames.

The fires left behind extensive damage, burnt houses and charred olive groves. Nevertheless, tens of thousands continue to spend their holidays on the island.

What can they expect this year on Rhodes and in other Greek holiday resorts?

"The repairs are almost complete," says island mayor Alex Koliadis. "Of course, this meant significant financial costs, not only for the hotels, but also for all other tourist businesses, restaurants and shops."

As far as nature is concerned, the burnt forest and bush areas are being replanted and reforested. "However, farmers, livestock breeders and beekeepers are still facing serious problems."

The fires on this scale came as a shock to the islanders. Many risked their lives to protect their homes and villages. There was a lot of solidarity, Koliadis says, saying that the fires showed that the people of Rhodes stuck together in times of need.

This also applies to many other regions of Greece that were hit by natural disasters last year: In the north-east, a large part of the unique Dadia National Park burned down in August. In central Greece, the cities of Larisa and Volos and the surrounding agricultural areas were flooded in September after days of heavy rain.

Time and again, people lost their lives, despite the fact that the civil protection authorities consistently and quickly organized the evacuation of nearby residential areas. Time and again, there were huge waves of solidarity - not only from Greeks, but also from people abroad who have grown to love this country.

For those who had to cancel their holiday on Rhodes last July due to the fires, the government organised a new visit in this year's early or late season: those who came were allowed to stay for a week for free.

Much more important, however, is how the government plans to handle future natural disasters.

"Chasing after the flames is expensive and inefficient," says Koliadis and warns of the months ahead: "On Rhodes, we experienced a winter with little rain and we are expecting a very hot summer - like many other countries in southern Europe."

Prevention is therefore the be-all and end-all. Among other things, the penalties for negligent and wilful arson have been greatly increased - experts say that the majority of fires are caused by human error.

The climate crisis has arrived in Greece, experts agree, as do Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Rhodes Mayor Koliadis. The government recently announced that it would be investing 2.1 billion ($2.3 billion) in disaster prevention. The "Aegis" action programme is necessary because the climate crisis has long been here, says Mitsotakis.

The fires of 2023 showed that nothing would ever be the same again. Civil Protection Minister Vassilis Kikilias has announced that he is expecting another summer of forest fires because the winter in Greece was so warm and dry.

Ten additional fire-fighting helicopters, five fire-fighting aeroplanes and hundreds of new vehicles are to be purchased for the fire brigade.

Investments are also to be made in the civil protection infrastructure, in technical equipment and in new technologies, such as drones that could be used for fires in inaccessible areas.

Mayor Koliadis believes that tourists are well aware of climate change. "They are not blindsided by the weather when they go on holiday. I would say they have already adapted."

Ultimately, this applies to everyone: "We have to change our attitude towards nature and act accordingly."

Aerial photos from the village of Gennadi show the traces of the fire in July 2023, but they also show the result of the firefighting efforts by the fire brigade and volunteers: the houses suffered hardly any damage. Christoph Reichwein/dpa

The sun loungers and a bar by the pool of a hotel destroyed by fire. People battled the flames in the south-east of the holiday island of Rhodes in July 2023. Christoph Reichwein/dpa
The U.N. General Assembly overwhelmingly passed a resolution Friday to give Palestine more rights and privileges and called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider Palestine's request to become the 194th U.N. member.

In Gaza, heavy fighting between Israeli troops and Palestinian militants on the outskirts of the southern city of Rafah has left aid crossings inaccessible, a U.N. humanitarian official said Friday. The World Food Program will run out of food for distribution in southern Gaza by Saturday unless more aid arrives.

About 110,000 people have fled Rafah for other parts of the besieged territory, the U.N. estimates. Some 1.4 million Palestinians  over half Gazas population  had sought refuge in the city.

Israel says Rafah is the last stronghold of the Hamas militant group and vowed to launch a full-scale invasion of the city. The U.S. says a Rafah offensive would jeopardize cease-fire talks and threatened to halt more military aid to Israel.

The death toll from the war in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, most of them women and children, according to local health officials. Israeli bombardments and ground assaults have caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, schools and refugee centers across several cities.

The war began Oct. 7 when Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting about 250 others. Israel says militants still hold around 100 hostages and the remains of more than 30 others.

Currently:

 A West Bank village feels helpless after Israeli settlers attack with fire and bullets.

 U.N. General Assembly grants Palestine new rights and revives its U.N. membership bid.

 Biden administration wont conclude Israel violated terms of U.S. weapons agreements, AP sources say

 The Biden-Netanyahu relationship is strained like never before. Can the two leaders move forward?

 What are the latest obstacles to bringing aid into Gaza, where hunger is worsening?

 Pro-Palestinian protesters demand endowment transparency. But it's proving not to be simple.

Follow APs coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

Here's the latest:

U.N. SECURITY COUNCIL CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF GAZA MASS GRAVES

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. Security Council wants investigators to have unimpeded access to mass graves in Gaza and accountability for any violations of international law.

An Algerian-drafted press statement was approved by all 15 council members on Friday. It expressed deep concern at reports of the discovery of mass graves in and around two Gaza hospitals that were raided by Israel  the Shifa medical complex in Gaza City and Nasser hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis. Reports said the graves contained several hundred bodies.

The Israeli military said its forces exhumed bodies Palestinians had buried earlier as part of its search for the remains of hostages captured by Hamas. The military said bodies were examined in a respectful manner and those not belonging to Israeli hostages were returned to their place.

The Israeli military has said it killed or detained hundreds of militants who had taken shelter inside the two hospital complexes. Those claims could not be independently verified.

The Security Council press statement said investigators must be allowed to conduct immediate, independent, thorough, comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigations to establish the circumstances behind the graves. The council reiterated demands that all parties comply with international humanitarian and human rights law, especially the requirement to protect civilians and civilian objects including hospitals and schools.

Council members stressed the importance of allowing families to know the fate and whereabouts of their missing relatives.

They again demanded that Israel and Hamas immediately and fully implement council resolutions for an end to hostilities leading to a lasting cease-fire and unhindered humanitarian access to Gaza.

Security Council statements must be approved by all 15 council members and reflect the views of the U.N.s most powerful body, especially its five permanent veto-wielding members  the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France.

WHITE HOUSE SAYS ISRAELI ASSAULT ON RAFAH DOESN'T CROSS BIDEN'S RED LINE OF A MAJOR GROUND OPERATION

WASHINGTON  White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday that Israels intensified operations near Rafah was not a broad, large scale invasion or major ground operation that President Joe Biden has warned the Israeli government against carrying out.

Kirby said the most recent operations were focused near the Gaza-Egypt border crossing in Rafah, which was captured by Israeli forces earlier this week and involved those same troops.

That said, were watching it with concern, Kirby said. Every day that that crossing is not available and usable for humanitarian assistance, theres going to be more suffering. And thats of deep concern to us. And so, once again, we urge the Israelis to open up that crossing to humanitarian assistance immediately. That aid is desperately needed.

The United Nations and other agencies have warned for weeks that an Israel assault on Rafah, on the border with Egypt near the main aid entry points, would cripple humanitarian operations and cause a disastrous surge in civilian casualties.

Kirby also told reporters the White House was disappointed that hostage-for-truce talks in Cairo have ended without Israel and Hamas coming to an agreement.

He added that the Biden administration remains all in at working to complete a deal.

We are certainly not going to sit back and abide by an end to an effort to keep the dialogue going and to try to rectify and resolve these differences so that we can get a deal, Kirby said.

Hamas this week said it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal, but Israel said the plan does not meet its core demands and launched the assault on the Rafah crossing hours later.

HAMAS ACCUSES ISRAEL USING CEASE-FIRE TALKS AS COVER FOR RAFAH OFFENSIVE

JERUSALEM -- Hamas on Friday charged Israel with using cease-fire talks as cover to push ahead with a military offensive in southern Gaza and the Rafah border crossing.

The Palestinian militant group said it had shown necessary flexibility in the most recent round of negotiations, which ended inconclusively this week as Israel launched a ground operation in Rafah. The fighting has raising global alarm about the lives of 1.3 million Palestinians sheltering in the city.

Hamass leadership will consult with the leaders of Palestinian resistance factions to reconsider our negotiation strategy, the groups statement said, because Israel was not negotiating in good faith by continuing its offensive in Rafah.

Earlier this week, Hamas said it had accepted a Qatari-Egyptian cease-fire deal that would end the war and bring about the phased release of some of the Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Israel swiftly rejected the deal, saying it did not meet core demands, and hours later sent tanks to capture the Rafah crossing. Israels Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Hamas demands for a complete Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza extreme.

BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WON'T CONCLUDE ISRAEL VIOLATED TERMS OF U.S. WEAPONS AGREEMENT, AP SOURCES SAY

WASHINGTON  A soon-to-be released Biden administration report to Congress does not conclude that Israel has violated the terms for its use of U.S. weapons.

Thats according to three people who have been briefed on the national security memorandum to be submitted by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to lawmakers. All three requested anonymity to discuss the matter before the reports release.

The report is expected to be sharply critical of Israel, even though it didnt conclude that Israel violated terms of U.S.-Israel weapons agreements, according to one U.S. official.

A presidential directive mandated the review of whether Israel had complied with international law in its use of U.S.-provided weapons and other security support during the course of the war.

The Biden administrations first-of-its-kind assessment of its close allys conduct of the war comes after seven months of airstrikes, ground fighting and aid restrictions that have claimed the lives of nearly 35,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children. Any finding against Israel could endanger Bidens support in this years presidential elections from some voters who keenly support Israel.

A senior Biden administration official said the memorandum is expected to be released later Friday, but declined to comment on the findings.

Human rights groups long have accused Israeli security forces of committing abuses against Palestinians and have accused Israeli leaders of failing to hold those responsible to account.

Israel says that it is following all U.S. and international law, that it investigates allegations of abuse by its security forces and that its campaign in Gaza is proportional to the existential threat it says is posed by Hamas.

As the suffering of Palestinian civilians grew, Biden and his administration edged away from their initial unwavering public support of Israel and began to criticize its conduct of the war.

___

Associated Press writes Aamer Madhani, Ellen Knickmeyer, Mike Balsamo and Zeke Miller contributed to this report.

U.N. GENERAL ASSEMBLY GRANTS PALESTINE NEW RIGHTS AND REVIVES ITS U.N. MEMBERSHIP BID

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The 193-member world body approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent.

Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be peace-loving, and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

The resolution determines that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership  dropping the original language that in the General Assemblys judgment it is a peace-loving state. It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favorably.

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the U.N. comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage.

HAMAS ROCKET ATTACK FROM GAZA INJURES A WOMAN IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL

JERUSALEM  A Hamas rocket attack from Gaza lightly injured a woman in the southern city of Beersheba, Israels military and rescue services said Friday.

The 37-year-old woman was hit by shrapnel in a city playground, according to Israels Magen David Adom emergency service.

Hamass armed wing claimed the attack, saying it targeted the city with a missile barrage in response to massacres against civilians in Gaza. Israels military said five rockets were launched toward the city; one was intercepted by Israels Iron Dome missile defense system and most fell in open areas.

Rocket attacks from Gaza against Israeli cities and towns have grown far less frequent since the start of the Israel-Hamas war Oct. 7. Most are intercepted by Israels missile defenses. However, Hamas has recently demonstrated its ongoing capabilities with high-profile rocket attacks on major border crossings into Gaza.

ISRAELI TROOPS BATTLE PALESTINIAN MILITANTS IN RAFAH AND GAZA CITY

JERUSALEM  Israeli troops are battling Palestinian militants in the southern city of Rafah, where a rocket attack and an Israeli incursion earlier this week closed crucial crossings needed for humanitarian aid.

There are also battles underway in the Zeitoun area on the outskirts of Gaza City in the northern part of the territory. Northern Gaza was the first target of the ground offensive and Israel said late last year that it had mostly dismantled Hamas there.

In a statement released Friday, the military said it had located several tunnels in eastern Rafah, near the border with Egypt, and had eliminated militants during close-quarters combat and with an aerial strike.

Hamas military wing said it carried out a complex attack in which it struck a house where Israeli troops had taken up a position, an armored personnel carrier and soldiers operating on foot.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military. It was not possible to independently confirm the battlefield accounts from either side.

Hamas also said it launched a number of mortar rounds at the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, close to where Israeli troops are operating. The military said it intercepted two launches.

The crossing was closed after a rocket attack last weekend that killed four Israeli soldiers. Israel says it has re-opened its side of the crossing, but the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says the Gaza side is inaccessible because of the ongoing fighting.

Israeli forces captured the Gaza side of the nearby Rafah crossing with Egypt on Tuesday, forcing it to shut down. Its unclear when it will reopen.

Aid groups say a prolonged closure of the crossings will severely hinder humanitarian operations in the territory, where hunger is already rampant.

BRITAIN COMPLETES 11th AID AIRDROP OVER GAZA

NICOSIA, Cyprus -- Britains Ministry of Defense says the Royal Air Force has completed its 11th airdrop over Gaza, delivering in total 120 tons of aid including ready-to-eat meals, water, rice, flour and canned goods.

The ministry said the airdrop Friday delivered 13 tons of aid to northern Gaza. The airdrops began in late March as part of a Jordanian initiative. The Royal Air Force used A400M transport aircraft flying from Amman, Jordan, where aid pallets attached to parachutes are collected and loaded.

The aid is dropped along the northern coastline of Gaza, with drop zones regularly surveyed to ensure civilians are not harmed. Each flight takes around one hour and British personnel work closely with the Royal Jordanian Air Force to plan and conduct each mission.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Cameron said land routes into Gaza remain the best way to transport needed humanitarian assistance.

The Royal Navy ship RFA Cardigan Bay recently set sail from Cyprus to support a maritime aid corridor to Gaza. The ship provides accommodation for hundreds of U.S. sailors and soldiers building a temporary pier off the Gaza coast.

DRONE STRIKE IN LEBANON KILLS PARAMEDIC AND TECHNICIAN

BEIRUT  An Israeli drone strike on a southern Lebanese village killed a paramedic and an employee of a telecommunications company Friday as military activities have increased along the frontier in recent days.

State-run National News said the paramedic and the technician died in the drone strike on Teir Harafa, about 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the border with Israel.

The Islamic Risala Scout Association paramedic group said one of its members, Ghaleb Hussein al-Haj, was killed while performing his duties in south Lebanon. The group is the paramedic arm of the Amal group of Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

The strike came a day after a similar attack on a car in a southern Lebanese village killed four members of the militant Hezbollah group.

Hezbollah started attacking Israeli army posts along the Lebanon-Israel border a day after the Israel-Hamas war broke out on Oct. 7.

Since then, more than 350 people have been killed in Lebanon, including 275 Hezbollah members and more than 70 civilians and non-combatants. In Israel, 15 soldiers and 10 civilians have died.

Foreign officials have been visiting Lebanon over the past month in attempts to bring calm to the border, but Hezbollah has repeatedly said it will not stop fighting until there is a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

U.N. TO VOTE ON RESOLUTION GIVING PALESTINE NEW RIGHTS AND REVIVE ITS MEMBERSHIP BID

UNITED NATIONS  The U.N. General Assembly is expected to vote Friday on a resolution that would grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and call on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent. U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood made clear Thursday the Biden administration is opposed to the assembly resolution.

Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be peace-loving, and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

Unlike the Security Council, there are no vetoes in the 193-member General Assembly and the resolution is expected to be approved by a large majority.

The draft resolution determines that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership, dropping the original language that in the General Assemblys judgment it is a peace-loving state. It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favorably.

At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

AL JAZEERA SAYS ALL STAFF HAVE LEFT ISRAEL AFTER GOVERNMENT ORDERED ITS OFFICES CLOSED

JERUSALEM  The pan-Arab satellite channel Al Jazeera said Friday it no longer has any staff operating inside of Israel after an order closing the broadcasters offices and halting its on-the-ground reporting there.

The comment by Al Jazeera to The Associated Press comes after Israels Communication Ministry said police raided an office of the broadcaster in Nazareth on Thursday after alleging it had been transmitting live video from there.

Al Jazeera has no staff operating inside Israel. All of our staff have moved to Ramallah to continue the coverage from there, abiding by the law, the channel said. However, whoever makes such comments does not understand modern day technologies which allow users to utilize a simple mobile phone to post or share a video online.

Al Jazeeras headquarters are in Doha, Qatar.

Israel ordered the local offices of Al Jazeera to close Sunday, escalating a long-running feud between the broadcaster and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus hard-line government as Doha-mediated cease-fire negotiations with Hamas hang in the balance.

The extraordinary order, which includes confiscating broadcast equipment, preventing the broadcast of the channels reports and blocking its websites, is believed to be the first time Israel has ever shuttered a foreign news outlet operating in the country.

Since the order, the broadcaster has moved many of its English-language service correspondents from Israel to Amman, Jordan. Others still operate from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

MUSEUM DEFENDS USE OF FROM THE RIVER TO THE SEA TITLE FOR CULTURAL PROGRAM

MADRID  Spains Reina Sofia Museum has defended the title of a cultural program called From the River to the Sea that denounces the war in Gaza, despite criticism from the World Jewish Congress that the slogan is used by Hamas and represents a call for the annihilation of the Jewish state.

The modern art museum in Madrid, best known for its anti-war Picasso masterpiece Guernica, on Friday referred to a note on its website that says From the River to the Sea refers to the area between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea and is a motto used to demand rights for Palestinians.

It is from that call to respect life  and in no case from the promotion of war or violence, nor referring in any way to the disappearance of the State of Israel, the museum says.

The World Jewish Congress on Thursday issued a statement saying it is reprehensible that an institution such as the Reina Sofia would stage such an initiative when Hamas still holds hostages from Israel and the people of Gaza face a humanitarian crisis.

WHERE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GO? PALESTINIANS FLEE RAFAH FOR OTHER PARTS OF GAZA AHEAD OF PROMISED ISRAELI OFFENSIVE

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip  On foot, in vehicles or riding donkey carts loaded with belongings, a stream of displaced Palestinians fled Rafah in southern Gaza on Thursday for the relative safety of the territorys center, as Israel threatens to expand its ground offensive in the south.

Its an all-too-familiar scene for Palestinians who had sought safter in Rafah after escaping fighting elsewhere in Gaza. Families set up tent camps on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea near the central city of Deir al-Balah. Upon arrival, dozens rushed to collect water near a building for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. More wait in the heat.

The situation is difficult and continues to worsen, Wafaa Masarei said as she rested beside her children and their few belongings: boxes, bags of clothes, pots, mattresses, a plastic jug. Her two kids sought protection from the sun under a table and blankets.

Ahmad Abed, who has an 8-month-old daughter, says hes fed up from constantly moving drags on. He feels theres no safe place for his family, even in the schools being used as makeshift shelters.

Where are we supposed to go? Where is the world, that is just watching us? he said. Its like were sheep.
The Israeli army leaflets ordering residents of the eastern part of Rafah to leave fell from the sky at 9:30 a.m., estimates Amal, a 36-year-old Palestinian woman who did not want to give her real name. She can still not believe that she and her two children, aged 12 and 9, got out alive. According to Amal, the leaflets fell on what was her street at the same time as the bombs. God saved us. It was a miracle that we escaped death, because there was no time to evacuate. I swear [the Israelis] didnt give us time to leave. They announced the evacuation order and immediately began dropping bombs like crazy on the people, she explains via WhatsApp messages. According to the U.N. Refugee Agency (UNRWA), at least 80,000 Palestinians have fled the southern area of Rafah since Israel ordered the evacuation on Monday.

Like Amal and her children, who had to escape their home in Gaza City in October, most of those uprooted by Israeli military evacuation orders in eastern Rafah have already been displaced from other areas of Gaza, the United Nations said in a statement on Thursday. They are now leaving with everything they can carry in vehicles, trucks, [on] motorbikes and donkey carts, according to the UNWRA, which estimates that more than 47,500 Palestinians left their shelters in Rafah on Wednesday alone.

Israel said on Monday that its evacuation order affected 100,000 people, but, according to other United Nations sources in Rafah, cited by The Guardian, far more than that number have already left the eastern part of the city, with the figure expected to rise to 300,000 in the coming days.

These figures do not seem exaggerated. The evacuation order covers an area measuring 12 square miles, and the population density in Rafah is 20,000 people per square mile, almost double that of New York City, according to UNICEF. Before the war, Rafah and its governorate had 220,000 inhabitants, but more than a million people are now living in the city after being displaced by Israels successive evacuation orders.

From the windows of the warehouse where Amal, her children and her husband had been living since October  their house was destroyed by a bombing  they could see the Rafah border crossing with Egypt. Since Tuesday, the crossing  the main entry route for humanitarian aid into Gaza  has been controlled by Israeli tanks. Israels control of the crossing, in addition to its evacuation order for the east of the city, are seen as the first steps of the feared Israeli ground offensive in Rafah. This invasion has not yet happened, at least not on a large scale.

Israeli propaganda

Amals neighborhood of Al-Geneina is at the heart of the nine areas of Rafah  Israel has divided Gazan territory into areas  that were ordered to evacuate on Monday. Although, until now, the southern city was defined as a safe zone by Israel, the Israeli army has never stopped bombing Rafah.

When the leaflets began to fall, Amal and her children did not have time to gather their already meager belongings, since the Israeli planes immediately began dropping bombs, she says. I grabbed my children and started running down the street with other people from the shelter. The only thing I was thinking about at that moment was how to keep my children safe from the bombings. We escaped while the bombs fell around us, in the shelters and on the other houses in the area, she remembers. The evacuation orders are just Israeli propaganda intended for foreign media.

Amal mentions the name of the street hit by the Israeli bombings that she and her children escaped from, along with other displaced people: George Street. On Monday, the official Palestinian WAFA agency reported shelling in the Al-Geneina neighborhood, which killed at least four civilians, including two children, and another airstrike on George Street. On that road, at least four other people died, one of whom was a minor.

Between Monday afternoon and Wednesday, Israeli attacks killed 109 Palestinians and injured 296, according to data from the Gaza Ministry of Health, which is controlled by Hamas. In the seven months since the war began, around 34,900 Palestinians have died in Gaza and another 78,404 have been injured, according to that source.

We have never experienced terror like this Monday, says Amal. I cant explain what we were feeling. We were running under shelling for two hours. I cant believe were still alive. God has saved us. Her husband also escaped unharmed. He stayed behind when his wife and children fled, trying to gather some clothes and blankets to cover the children at night. After five hours, the man was able to leave the neighborhood. Now, the whole family is taking refuge in an old empty warehouse on the other side of Rafah.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
Lawmaker mothers with children in tow are still few in numbers but bring often missing perspective

Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook talks to Minority Caucus Whip Sam Park during the 2024 legislative session. Westbrook's home is 228 miles away in Savannah. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

A lactation pod at the state Capitol. An official baby of the House. A makeshift nursery in a small office once reserved for freshman senators.

The landscape at the Georgia Capitol is changing as more women have been elected to the Legislature and as the work of caregiving is increasingly shared among spouses.

But the number of women serving in Georgias Legislature is still out of proportion with the states overall makeup, with women making up 34% of both chambers but half of the population. Women lawmakers with young children also continue to be a relatively rare sight under the Gold Dome, where decisions affecting education and families are being regularly made.

Mom lawmakers grow in visibility but their proportional representation is still lacking

When there are more women serving in the institution, the legislative body, then accommodations are made for those women, and accommodations are made for the women voters and the families of the women voters they represent, said Melita Easters, the executive director and founding chair of Georgia WIN List, which is a political action committee focused on electing more Democratic women who support reproductive rights.

Because in numbers, they can force consideration of special concerns. They can, as they often have, join hands across the aisle and make sure that something like the maternal mortality crisis is addressed, Easters said.

Easters said her organization has long focused on recruiting more women with young children to run for office. She said its not uncommon for women to cite concerns like child care or wanting to wait until their children are adults as reasons to stay on the political sidelines.

The many miles between Atlanta and legislative districts in south Georgia can also be a barrier.

Anne Allen Westbrook and one of her sons work on campaign literature during her first campaign in 2020. She lost that race but won two years later. Photo courtesy of Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook

Rep. Anne Allen Westbrook stands out for not only having middle-school aged children but also because her family is 228 miles away when mom is in Atlanta representing her Savannah-based district.

Living that far away from the Capitol does not just mean long days for her. It also means spending as many as five days away from her family at a time during the three months Georgias Legislature is in session.

That is hard, and you have to believe that its worth it, Westbrook, who is also an attorney, said in an interview. And I do think its really important that we have the voices of mothers at the Capitol. We do most of that care work. We often are the ones most intimately involved in issues like education. We were the ones mostly sitting at those dining tables trying to figure out pandemic learning.

And on a personal level, in our family, we think its important for our boys to see that moms do this work too, and theres value in that, and also that dads can be nurturers as well, she said.

When the freshman Democrat first ran for public office in 2020 as part of a crowded field for an open House seat, she had two sons in elementary school and another in high school. She lost that race by a razor-thin margin but then won when the seat opened up again two years later.

But running for public office wasnt always part of her plan. Concerns about local gun violence drove her to join Moms Demand Action and push for changes on the state legislative level. She said she was surprised by the lack of diversity she saw in the Legislature and the issues that were being prioritized. After the 2016 presidential election, Westbrook said she applied for the Georgia WIN List leadership academy on a whim.

Like most women, I was doing most of the caregiving work in my family, Westbrook said. So, that was just something that I had to really consider. Yes, I want to do this. Yes, I think I might be good at this. But can I even do this given the caregiving responsibilities that I have?

For Westbrook, having a husband with a flexible work schedule and a mother who lives nearby who helps with caregiving has made the stints of lawmaking in Atlanta possible. She is running for reelection this year unopposed.

Hard choices

Sen. Kim Jackson and her wife are raising two small children, including a 3-year-old boy and a baby who was born the week before the 2024 legislative sessions frenzied end.

But being a state lawmaker while being a mom to young children was not by design, she says. Jackson decided to run for office in 2020 after attempts to start a family were unsuccessful.

Sen. Kim Jacksons son plays in the hallway of the legislative office building. Photo courtesy of Sen. Kim Jackson

I dont know that I would have run for office if we had been successful, Jackson said. This is hard. Doing both with a newborn, its rough.

Things changed last year when Jackson, who is also an Episcopal priest, encountered a woman through her church who was no longer able to care for her then 2-year-old son. As a lawmaker who has worked to improve the states foster care system, Jackson scrambled to find alternatives  and then her wife suggested they step in.

In January, the couple learned the biological mother, who is incarcerated, was pregnant.

Thats how Jackson and her wife became fast parents, as Jackson calls it. Now the childrens permanent guardians, Jackson recently wrapped up her first legislative session as a parent.

A lot of legislative business happens in the evenings, like a lot of conversations with legislators and with lobbyists. A lot of that stuff happens around bedtime for my kid, Jackson said.

So, this was my first year of navigating those hard choices about would I miss bedtime, when would I come home? It was the first time where I left home before he was awake, and I didnt get home until after he was asleep again.

Jackson, who is a Stone Mountain Democrat, is on the ballot again this year for another term. Even though juggling lawmaking with parenting was not her original plan, Jackson says her homelife has given her a deeper understanding of some of the thorny issues that come before her as a lawmaker. She points to child care as an example.

I knew abstractly that finding child care can be a challenge and that it can be expensive. I have friends who have kids, so Ive heard the complaints. But its a whole other story when its you trying to find child care, she said.

She is also noticing things that may have escaped her notice before, like the lack of changing stations in the bathrooms of the legislative office building. She and others this year turned a small office that was empty into a nursery.

Its more than just lactation. People need a space to literally change their baby, maybe even let their baby lay down on the floor and have some tummy time. They need more than a pod, she said.

Sen. Kim Jackson, a Stone Mountain Democrat, speaks from the well during the 2024 legislative session. This was Jacksons first session as a parent. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

These conversations are happening as the state is developing plans for a new legislative office building and an overhaul of the state Capitol building. State lawmakers added $392 million to this years budget for the massive project.

The current legislative office building was built in the 1930s and last renovated in the 1980s.

The goal for the plan  and this is for the new legislative building and for the existing historic Capitol  is to make it completely more accessible. To make the rooms more accessible, make these facilities more accessible, Gerald Pilgrim, chief of staff to the state property officer.

Thats particularly true when it comes to improving accessibility for people with disabilities, he said. For example, some meeting rooms at the Capitol today are located on a mezzanine level and are inaccessible to those using wheelchairs.

But Pilgrim said the projects would likely also add wellness rooms that can be used as a nursery.

Georgia now allows campaign funds to go toward child care

Georgia candidates and officeholders can now use campaign funds to pay for child care when they are on the job. That makes Georgia one of 31 states that have authorized the use of campaign funds for child care, according to the Vote Mama Foundation, which is pushing for the change in every state.

That change came about in Georgia as the result of a bipartisan inquiry to the Georgia State Ethics Commission. Concord Republican Rep. Beth Camp and Atlanta Democrat Rep. Stacey Evans teamed up to request the advisory opinion.

The all-male commission approved the change unanimously last summer, but not before one member voiced concerns about potential abuse.

Camp, though, argues that there are rigorous reporting requirements that will ensure campaign funds, which is money candidates must raise from their donors, are not being used for personal child care expenses.

Rep. Beth Camp, a Concord Republican, speaks at press conference in 2021 shortly after being first elected to the Legislature. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

The second-term lawmaker, who is a former local school board member, no longer has children at home. But she said she thought it was odd that federal candidates could use campaign funds for child care expenses but candidates in Georgia could not, and she said she hopes the change will encourage more parents with children at home to run for office instead of waiting until they have an empty nest.

I think that would give us a larger pool of candidates going forward of all ages, so you dont end up with a situation where its only retirees running for public office, Camp said.

Camp said she found herself educating some of her colleagues who assumed the change was only a benefit for women. And she said she was surprised when she heard negative feedback from some colleagues who questioned why the change was needed when candidates had not used campaign funds for child care in the past.

Well, honestly, we probably would have had more parents  not going to say women or men but more parents  enter into elected office if theyd had the opportunity, Camp said. When you start looking at how expensive it is to provide child care, there are some people who make the decision not to take that out of their family household budget.

Jackson, the state senator, said she has dipped into her campaign funds to cover child care expenses on days during the session when her 3-year-olds daycare was closed and when she has campaign events in the evening.

It allows me to be more present for my constituents, Jackson said.

The recent advisory opinion at least provides another option to help remove a major barrier to public service, Evans said.

The life of most Georgians is going to include children, and to not have the voices of parents generally, but especially moms of young kids, its just a blind spot, Evans said.

Rep. Stacey Evans, an Atlanta Democrat, speaks to a bill during the 2023 legislative session. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

Evans has two younger children, including a 12-year-old who was born the day the state House passed the now-replaced 20-week abortion ban in 2012. Georgia law passed in 2019 now bans most abortions after about six weeks, which is before most women know they are pregnant.

She recorded video remarks that were played in the chamber during debate on the 2012 bill, something she was allowed to do because she was scheduled to be induced the day of the vote.

Trust me to make these decisions. Trust the women of Georgia, Evans said. Because thats really how I was feeling, just frustrated that theres so much care and attention and love and trust (toward a pregnant woman) except for you to make a decision about whats right to do in a situation if you find out some news that none of us would want to find out.

Evans now also has a 5-year-old son who was born shortly after she lost the Democratic primary for governor in 2018. Her son was six months old when she decided to run in 2020 for an open seat created by a longtime lawmakers retirement, giving her a chance to return to the Legislature.

She and her husband are both attorneys and rely on a nanny and Evans parents to help with child care, including during the legislative session.

Rep. Lauren Daniel, a Locust Grove Republican, speaks at a press conference with son Zane. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

When asked to reflect on the changes under the Gold Dome since she was first elected in 2010, Evans said additions like the lactation pod are more than just window dressing. She can remember pumping in the bathroom.

And she cheered her colleague across the aisle, Locust Grove Republican Rep. Lauren Daniel, who regularly brought her baby with her to the House floor during last years special session and this years session. Daniels son was given a badge identifying him as the baby of the House. Daniel did not respond to requests for an interview.

I dont see it as a Oh, Republicans are so much more family friendly, or Democrats, Evans said. I see it as a sign of the times. I just think that we are a softer, more welcoming and understanding society than we were five, certainly 10, certainly 20 years ago.

Were getting more used to women in the workplace, and the Legislature is a workplace, she said.

DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST
A lawsuit has been filed against a Western Pennsylvania home care and medical staffing agency after an employee pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a patient.

The suit, filed against Brightstar Care of SW Pennsylvania, alleges Vanessa Callendar sexually assaulted a patient when she was supposed to be providing care.

Callendar was hired by Brightstar after being fired from her previous employer for inappropriate sexual behavior, the plaintiffs attorney said.

Ms. Callender came to my clients home to provide care during the night shift. In doing so, she helped my client to bed and then sexually assaulted her in multiple ways. Before leaving she made the remark that she would be back to do it again tomorrow, attorney Amy Mathieu said in a press release.

The victim is an adult with serious medical conditions, including multiple sclerosis.

Mathieu said her client has been diagnosed with PTSD, depression and anxiety because of the assault.

In March, Callendar plead guilty to institutional sexual assault. She will be sentenced on May 29.

Channel 11 has reached out to Brightstar. An employee who answered the phone said they had no comment.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

4 teens ransack North Versailles vape shop A horrible feeling: Domestic violence survivor says connected car was used to track her Washington County man who worked in probation department arrested on child pornography charges VIDEO: Small alligator found in Beaver County creek DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
At least nine arrested as police dismantle pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT

At least nine people were arrested at a pro-Palestinian encampment at MIT on Thursday after the university's president, Dr. Sally Kornbluth, ordered students to leave earlier in the week. File Photo by Will Oliver/EPA-EFE

May 10 (UPI) -- Authorities arrested at least nine Massachusetts Institute of Technology students as they dismantled a pro-Palestinian encampment on the Cambridge campus.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth warned student protesters, who had joined with hundreds of others to call for MIT to end research contracts with Israel's Ministry of Defense, to leave the Kresge lawn where the encampment was set up by Monday afternoon.

MIT had already suspended dozens of students with their cases being referred to its Committee on Discipline for refusing to clear the tent site when originally ordered.

Protesters returned to the encampment and held an "emergency" rally Thursday in support of those who faced punishment, organized by the MIT Graduate Student Union which some of the students arrested on Thursday belong to.

"We must fight back to defend our coworkers now," the message said.

"We are not going to stop acting," MIT student Quinn Perian told WCVB-TV. "We are not going to stop letting the institution know that there is no life as normal -- there is no life as normal in Gaza. We are going to continue showing everyone that this complicity in a genocide is not acceptable."

The MIT arrests are part of aggressive actions taken by college administrations to shut down encampments created by pro-Palestinian protesters at campus around the country. The encampments have picked up in the spring with many protesters calling on universities to divest from Israeli institutions.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis speaks in his office at the Colorado Capitol alongside House Speaker Julie McCluskie, center, and Senate President Steve Fenberg, right, on May 9, 2024. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)

Colorado legislative leaders characterized the recently ended session as a breakthrough four months that laid crucial policy groundwork for transformation of the states housing, transportation and environmental situations.

In my State of the State address to the Legislature this year, I laid out a vision for the future of the state  a vision where we have housing and people can afford to live near jobs and near transit, access to low-cost and convenient transit opportunities, a better environment with cleaner air and water and Colorado as one of the safest states in the country, Democratic Gov. Jared Polis said at a post-session press conference on Thursday at the Capitol.

Weve gotten the pieces in place to help make sure this powerful vision for Colorados future is becoming a reality, he said.

Polis, first elected in 2018, described it as the most significant legislative session while he has been governor.

Alongside Democratic leaders in the Legislature, Polis applauded victories from the session, primarily the suite of land use and housing policies ushered through by the Democratic majorities in both the House and Senate chambers.

That includes successful bills to encourage housing density by transit, allow accessory dwelling units by right in many parts of the state, eliminate parking minimums in some places and prohibit residential occupancy limit regulations. Those were all pieces last year of the failed massive land use legislation, brought back this year instead as individual bills.

The hope is that the policies will have visible consequences a few years down line in increasing attainable housing stock.

This is not the type of thing where you sign the bill and the next week you have more buses and more housing. It takes the development cycle  which doesnt mean forever, but it means it takes a few years, Polis said. Its about changing the trajectory. Its about a course correction for what weve been experiencing.

Most of those housing bills were narrowed through amendments during the legislative process. They also focus heavily on the Front Range and other population centers and leave out rural and mountain areas.

Bipartisan deals

It was a dramatically different tone this year as legislators wrapped up work, compared to the frazzled and tense environment of 2023, which saw a planned walkout by House Republicans over a property tax plan and the death of that omnibus land use bill on the last day of session.

Instead, lawmakers of both parties in the Senate celebrated outgoing members with lengthy tributes, and those in the House danced, ate and watched comedic videos produced by their colleagues well before the midnight session deadline.

Leaders of both parties highlighted increased bipartisanship this session.

I feel like after Proposition HH, the conversations changed and we were able to have some really good bipartisan conversations around the hard topics that were all talking about: affordability, housing, tax cuts, all of that, said House Minority Rose Pugliese, a Colorado Springs Republican.

Colorado House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese speaks with members of the Republican caucus behind her at the state Capitol on May 9, 2024. (Sara Wilson/Colorado Newsline)

Proposition HH was an unsuccessful property tax relief measure that Democrats put on the ballot last year. After it failed, the Legislature came back for a special session to pass tax rate cuts and establish a bipartisan commission on the issue, which worked through the regular session. In the end, lawmakers passed a bipartisan property tax bill they hope will offer a permanent solution after years of one-time relief measures that Polis said had been fraught with politics.

Im grateful to all the folks that came together to work on this important issue. They were able to put their differences aside and their heads together and find a balanced approach to meet the moment. Thats how it should be done, Senate President Steve Fenberg, a Boulder Democrat, said.

House Speaker Julie McCluskie, a Dillon Democrat, said it was intentional, constant engagement with Republican leaders that enabled the property tax consensus at the end.

There were also bipartisan deals on an income tax reduction scheme and wetland protections in the waning days of the session.

The threat of costly, contentious ballot measures this November informed some of the compromise deal bills at the tail end of session. Voters will still consider at least one property tax initiative, however.

We as legislators, we seek to do our job well. And I would like to see us get ahead of that. I would like to see us be answering the questions of people and providing to them the relief that theyve been clamoring for, Senate Minority Leader Paul Lundeen, a Monument Republican, said.

House Republican caucus members said they will not be taking a position on either of two possible conservative property tax ballot initiatives.

Its important to understand that if we did nothing this year, nothing at all, and just waited to see if initiatives passed, it would be really, really hard for our citizens, Rep. Lisa Frizell, a Castle Rock Republican who sponsored the property tax bill, said.

Aside from housing and property tax relief, leaders highlighted policy victories in education, transit investment and the environment on Thursday.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Legislative leaders praise bipartisanship, consensus building after Colorado legislative session appeared first on Colorado Newsline.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  During a community meeting Thursday night, Portland Mayoral Candidate Keith Wilson discussed his plans on how to end unsheltered homelessness. Members of the Lents Neighborhood Livability Association were there to listen and talk about issues they are facing, and they were also able to ask questions.

Community members said it would take everyone working together to solve this crisis.

Wilson is the founder of the non-profit called Shelter Portland. He told KOIN 6 News he wants the city to have more shelter spaces.

Law enforcement search for break-in suspect in Fairview

No city can end homelessness until you end unsheltered homelessness, he said. The solution is shelter. We must have ample amount of shelter to meet the needs and care for our community.

Finding shelter is one thing but leaders in the effort to end homelessness in the neighborhood say its also about getting the right services in place.

Show me the results. I have no faith at all in the city government to actually accomplish anything or the county for that matter, said David Potts, the president of the Lents Neighborhood Livability Association.

I wouldnt give up on Oregon: John Kitzhaber talks with KOIN 6 nearly a decade after resignation

According to the 2023 point-in-time count, thousands of people are living unsheltered on Portland streets. It found overall homelessness in the city increased by 65% from 2015 to 2023.

We are sheltering less people today than we did in 2017. Yet we are spending hundreds, hundreds of millions of dollars, Wilson said.

People living in the Lents Neighborhood say camping is a big problem and its not getting better.

The big camps get moved frequently they just move across to the MUP [multi-use path] or move to another neighborhood, Potts said.

VIDEO: 82-year-old woman rescued from Devils Punch Bowl

They have to have a place to sleep I dont know what else they can do, said Kimberly Martin, a Parkrose Neighborhood resident.

One solution presented during the meeting was to make churches a nighttime emergency shelter.

Theres enough empty spaces, especially among churches, that can just open up as a shelter at night and go back to whatever usage during the day, said Matt Huff, a board member of Shelter Portland. Trying to connect organizations with the appropriate non-profit to help manage a shelter.

The Lents Neighborhood Livability Association holds meetings monthly on the second Thursday of the month to tackle various community issues.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Photo illustration by Getty Images.

Gov. Greg Gianfortes Housing Task Force on Thursday discussed draft recommendations to encourage more supply and density of housing.

The task force had a combined list of 31 recommendations  which include everything from fast-tracking permitting to infusing cash in existing housing funds  that the task force is looking to consolidate where possible for the final report, due to the governor in July.

Montana is in a housing crisis as people struggle to find affordable homes with the cost of buying and renting on the rise. This task force hopes with more of a carrot than a stick approach, it will recommend policies to encourage development and increase access to affordable housing.

Gianforte first formed the Housing Task Force in 2022 to provide recommendations to make housing in the state more affordable and attainable. These recommendations were used during the 2023 legislature to create legislation like the Montana Land Use Planning Act  which front-loads public participation and requires Montanas biggest urban centers to create a new planning board and map.

Several of the affordable housing bills passed last session are temporarily on hold as part of a lawsuit with the attorney for plaintiffs saying these bills are a gift to developers.

After the last legislative session the governor announced the continuation of the task force, saying there was still work to be done on housing.

One of the recommendations discussed Thursday included creating a self-certification program to speed permit approvals. This would mean after professionals pass a government-sponsored certification program, along with random audits to ensure compliance, they can bypass lengthy permitting processes for eligible projects to get permits approved in a few days and fast-track construction projects in the state.

Kendall Cotton, president and CEO of the Frontier Institute, a conservative-leaning Montana based think-tank, made the suggestion with the rationale that it would reduce the administrative burden for local governments who are familiar with these professionals. He cited Phoenix as a model community that has already implemented this program and he says has seen a faster turnaround for permitting.

Emily Hamilton with George Mason Universitys Urbanity Project recommended localities add more zoning for new mobile and manufactured home parks, saying its a way to promote affordable housing options in the state. She said zoning restrictions are still a barrier to manufactured housing as a source of low-cost housing.

Because developing manufactured housing parks generally does not require subdividing parcels, new manufactured housing parks should not be required to go through subdivision review, Hamilton said in her submission.

Another recommendation was for municipalities to reduce or eliminate parking requirements for new construction, with former Bozeman Planning Board member Mark Egge saying its one of the most likely the most cited and evidence-based ways to support the creation of affordable housing.

Parking spaces cost about $5,000 each, and many Montana cities require two-bedroom units have at least two parking spaces, even though the majority of renter households have one or no cars, Egge said in his rationale.

Planning rules that require renters and businesses to pay for more parking than they want or need drive up costs for everyone, Egge said in the report.

Some recommendations focused on more funding for pro-housing measures already on the books.

Great Falls City Commissioner Joe McKenneys recommendation was for the legislature to allocate money to the Housing Montana Fund and the Affordable Housing Revolving Loan Fund run by the Montana Board of Housing. He said he co-sponsored the bill to create the revolving loan fund when he was a legislator in 1999.

My surprise being on this task force  I have found that its never been properly funded, McKenney said.

He said it was a good idea because they didnt need to pass legislation, but he said the legislation could be adjusted to reduce the matching fund requirement, which he said could go up to 50%, to make the funds more accessible.

Real estate developer Don Sterhan also wanted to put funding into existing projects, recommending allocating $50 million from the states coal trust to reauthorize the Coal Trust Multifamily Homes program, as well as remove the requirement that properties funded by the program must pay property taxes.

Its been done in the past. Its proven to be very successful. Theres good demand for it, Sterhan said.

Cheryl Cohen with the Montana Housing Division put forward several recommendations, including creating a working group to examine the root causes of insurance cost increases, funding more staff for her department to work with the private sector in developing affordable housing, and ongoing funding for planning grants to increase housing supply first passed last legislative session.

Other recommendations included allowing a single stairway exit in tall buildings given reductions in fire spreading in new construction as well as allowing for smaller elevators in buildings that require them, to give a more affordable option.

The task force is aiming to have its draft final report done by the first week of June. The task force has to submit its recommendations to the governor by the end of June when the group is slated to dissolve.

Assignment 4 - Challenges Assignment 4 - Successes

The post Less permitting, less parking and more funding: Task force tackles adding more affordable housing appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Cincinnati Public Schools Superintendent Iranetta Wright delivers an update on the progress, changes and challenges facing the district heading into the 2023-2024 school year, Thursday, Aug. 10, 2023, at the former Bramble Elementary School building in the Madisonville neighborhood of Cincinnati. CPS purchased the property last year, and serve as a preschool with four classrooms to start before the entire school is put to use.

It is time for a moment of truth and accountability. For far too long the academic achievement and performance of our Cincinnati Public School students have been languishing at unacceptable levels. We cannot continue to overlook the stark reality that our schools have been failing our children for decades. For years, the board of educations answer to their failing schools has been to blame the superintendent. The district has had approximately 10 superintendents in the past 50 years, yet our school district has never become a five-star school district.

The school board must be held accountable for this low academic and poor school performance. A school system rated 2.5  grade D  is unacceptable.

Decades have passed, and yet the cycle of low academic achievement persists, casting a dark shadow over the future of our students. It is time to stop the blame game, to cease hiding behind the failures of past superintendents, and to confront hard truth that the responsibility lies with each and every member of the Cincinnati Public School Board of Education.

The current superintendent cannot bear the burden alone for the systemic issues that have plagued our schools for 50 years. It is time for each board member to acknowledge their role in this crisis and to take ownership of the necessary changes that must be made to ensure a brighter future for our students.

We cannot afford to continue down this path of mediocrity and complacency. Our students deserve better. They deserve a school system that fosters growth, achievement and excellence. It is time for this board to step up, to lead with integrity and accountability, and to prioritize the education and well-being of every single student in our district.

The school board needs to transform our schools into beacons of success and opportunity. A significant number of teachers and school personnel live in Kentucky, Indiana and other places, according to district officials. They should be required to live in the district. A residency requirement would be a very good first step.

Requiring Cincinnati Public School teachers live in the district will do the following: increase accountability, enhance student-teacher relationships, reduce staff turnover, increase parental involvement, increase school achievement and performance, and promote our local economy. To accelerate and improve school performance, the school board members must pass a mandatory residency requirement including the following:

All Cincinnati Public School teachers and staff, both part-time and full-time, must be required to live within the boundaries of the district by fall 2025.

All Cincinnati Public School teachers who have school-aged children and youth must enroll them in CPS schools by fall 2025.

Finally, the school board members must pass a resolution to hold themselves accountable by voting to become a five-star (grade A) school district by Jan. 1, 2026. Becoming a five-star school district will do the following: enhance academic achievement, increase graduation rates, improve college readiness, boost student engagement, elevate teacher morale, retain quality educators, increase parental involvement, and attract better business to Cincinnati.

Together, let us hold ourselves accountable. If the Cincinnati Public Schools board members and the six school unions really want to be helpful to students, they must bring teachers closer to students and pass residency requirements, especially for all teachers and school personnel. Lets make our school district a five-star school district by January 2026 and lets support Superintendent Iranetta Wright in making that happen.

Charlie Winburn, a resident of Mt. Airy, is executive pastor of Renew Community Church and a former Cincinnati City Council member and Hamilton County treasurer.

Charlie Winburn

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: CPS superintendent not to blame for 50 years of underachievement
Letters: Energy firms should at least be honest about why they want to impose smart meters

SIR  Can energy bosses such as Chris OShea of British Gas stop pretending that net zero is the primary consideration when they argue for making smart meters mandatory (report, May 9)?

The reason they want households to have them is that it will save them money on meter readers and bill chasers  just as supermarkets installed self-service checkouts to save money on staff but pretended that it was what their customers wanted.

Victor Launert

Matlock Bath, Derbyshire

SIR  I struggle to understand how smart meters will help with meeting net-zero targets.

We live out in the country, where our only energy is electricity, and have maximised the insulation of our house, inside and outside. We have a heat pump (which we love) and a smart meter, the monitor for which is gathering dust in the plant room. The meter does nothing for us, but it gives the electricity supplier the ability to bill us promptly and keep increasing our payments to reflect any rise in our usage. Unsurprisingly the charge never seems to go down when we are more economical.

Stephen Cupit

Datchworth, Hertfordshire

SIR  My recent experience with EDFs smart meter, which resulted in a demand for a 5,000 back payment  eventually overturned by the ombudsman after a trying and tortuous fight  indicates not only that the meters are prone to faults, but also that the back-up infrastructure is woefully substandard. If problems occur they can be inordinately difficult to sort out.

Stick with what works.

David Burton

Dorking, Surrey

SIR  For the past five years I have been regularly requesting a smart meter to be installed for my gas supply, via emails and the British Gas website. However, I am always told they are not available. Perhaps the boss is unaware of his companys reluctance to install these devices.

John Piggott

Pulborough, West Sussex

SIR  My house and every other house I have visited already possess smart meters. We call them switches.

David Stolworthy

Hornchurch, Essex

Labours border plan

SIR  Labour plans, if elected, to create a new border force to control illegal immigration, and to scrap the Rwanda scheme (report, May 10).

Why does everyone keep ignoring the elephant in the room  France? If the French had a more robust team hunting down traffickers and dealing with migrants entering their country  which is their job, after all  then very few, if any, would be able to cross the Channel.

A J C Gorman

Ickenham, Middlesex

SIR  I am astonished that MI5 is not already identifying the criminal gangs behind the small boats. I thought this was the kind of thing it was for.

Andrew Dyke

London N21

SIR  I dont know how much Huw Pill, the Bank of Englands chief economist, is paid, but most of us didnt need him to tell us that high levels of immigration are worsening our housing crisis (report, May 10).

It is obvious that, by resolving the immigration issue, we could address the housing issue  yet there seems to be no party or politician with the plan, know-how or will to do it.

Rob Mason

Nailsea, Somerset

SIR  Michael McGough (Letters, May 10) asks how many more Tory defections it will take before a general election is called.

In 1997, John Major held on until almost the last possible moment before calling the election, in the misguided belief that an improving economy would save the Tories. But voters had simply had enough then, and they have had enough now.

The sooner we are rid of this rotten, incompetent Conservative Government, the sooner we will be rid of the rotten, incompetent Labour government that will replace it.

David Miller

Chigwell, Essex

Gibraltars sovereignty

SIR  I read with some consternation your report (May 10), Gibraltar deal would render Britains sovereignty meaningless. The suggestion from the European Scrutiny Committee that I or any Gibraltarian chief minister or politician would sign up to terms that would weaken our sovereignty, control or jurisdiction over a single inch of the Rock is abhorrent to me and to all Gibraltarians.

Were I to agree to even a hint of that, my Cabinet and I would not survive walking even a single imperial yard down Main Street, Gibraltar.

I understand Parliaments anxiety to know the terms and implications of any UK-EU agreement for Gibraltar that is reached. They will be satisfied.

I can assure all your readers that Lord Cameron and I are working in lock step to secure the arrangements needed for the economy and well-being of Gibraltar and its surrounding region to flourish.

Gibraltarians are the most dedicated and experienced guardians of Gibraltars British, British, British sovereignty. And to anyone who tries to take that from us, my response has already been declared to the United Nations: No way Jose!

Fabian Picardo

Chief Minister of Gibraltar

Battling for a GP slot

SIR  Our local GP practice, like that of James Woods (Letters, May 10), has switched to an online request system. This was sold as an efficient way of prioritising appointments for those in most need  so when my 85-year-old mother was suffering from a red, swollen and painful leg, with a discharging wound, I trusted she would be near the top of the list.

After I had completed a labyrinthine form on her behalf and submitted a photo, we waited seven hours to be notified that we would be contacted for a telephone appointment. This took place two hours later; we were informed that it doesnt look infected, but told to get back in touch if it worsened. An appointment was made for my mother to see the practice nursing team three days later.

Within 10 hours I was completing the same form again, adding that my mother now felt worse and reiterating concerns about a probable infection. This time we were contacted within a few hours and given a face-to-face appointment at which antibiotics were issued immediately.

As the GP practice can nevertheless argue that my mother was given a same-day appointment for her condition, it seems to me that the online request system is more to the benefit of surgeries than their patients.

Andrew Davis

Purley, Surrey

SIR  Chris Thomas (Letters, May 3) asks if he is lucky in having a good local hospital Trust. Many of us would say so. I know someone who has been suffering acute hip and leg pain  not just for months, but years. They can no longer walk, and barely sleep.

Finally, two months ago, after constant struggles to get help, they were given a date for the local musculoskeletal clinic  in September. The appointment is a telephone one. The accompanying instruction reads: Do not attend.

Lilian Hulse

Bournemouth, Dorset

Online safety

SIR  The simplest way of protecting children online is to ensure  as Jonathan Haidt suggests in his book The Anxious Generation  that they are not allowed to possess or use smartphones until the age of 14, and are not allowed any access to social media sites until they are 16.

Nothing proposed by the social media companies is likely to work, as one of their goals appears to be to hook children at as young an age as possible and keep them on their smartphones for as long as possible.

The Government needs to be extremely firm on this issue, as social media and smartphone use has already damaged the first generation whose childhood was based on these things rather than active play.

Ian Brent-Smith

Bicester, Oxfordshire

The best bread

SIR  Andrew Pyne, from the Federation of Bakers (Letters, May 10), may well be correct that a supermarket white sliced loaf contains a wealth of nutrients.

However, a glance at the label of one such loaf in a well-known grocer shows 16 different ingredients, including such delights as mono- and diacetyl tartaric acid esters of mono- and diglycerides of fatty acid, spirit vinegar and ascorbic acid.

On reflection, I think I will stick with the flour, water, yeast and pinch of salt from which I make my bread. Half the price, too.

Nick Serpell

Beaminster, Dorset

Rise and shave

SIR  Like Tim Oldfield (Letters, May 10), I enjoy the ritual of my early-morning shave. I listen to the wireless, as my father did.

I agree about the ridiculous cost of razor blades, but have found that the ones from Lidl are excellent and inexpensive  3.89 for four. German technology at its finest.

John M Scott

Aspley Guise, Bedfordshire

SIR  I, like Tim Oldfield, prefer a wet shave, and agree with him about the astronomical price of razor blades.

He could save a fortune, however, if he used a traditional straight razor. The only cost is a little more time out of the day, as this method requires more care than a modern razor.

William Muir

Prestwick, Ayrshire

SIR  The problem for men who shave is that they get associated gifts for Christmas and birthdays. Those who dont shave get more diverse and interesting ones.

Robert Ward

Loughborough, Leicestershire

Theres more than one way to use a chessboard

Fun for all the family: an 1803 painting by the French artist Louis-Leopold Boilly - Bridgeman Images

SIR  The chess tables in parks (I sat at a 2.5k levelling-up chess table and no one wanted to play, Features, May 10) have been an expensive investment, so lets not fixate on one game alone.

Anyone can get a boatload of fun from playing draughts on the same board  as well as a number of other games, many of which can be enjoyed by all of the generations together.

Rosie Harden-Vane

Holywell, Northumberland

Of food and finance

SIR  Many years ago, I felt that my bank was overcharging my business.

I prepared a long handwritten list of the fees and went to see the manager (Letters, May 10). After listening to me for about a minute, he interrupted. Luke, he said, I think its time for lunch.

The charges remained the same.

Luke Grant

Pensax Common, Worcestershire

SIR  In the 1960s a friend of mine received a letter from his bank manager.

Deploring the way he was handling his finances, the manager asked to revert to normal practice, whereby you bank with us rather than we bank with you.

Simon McIlroy

Croydon, Surrey

SIR  My father was the financial director of a family company in north London in the early 1980s. He conducted the companys business through a branch of the Midland Bank close to his office.

He died in the Hammersmith Hospital shortly before noon on a Tuesday, and I informed his employer of his death a couple of hours later.

My mother received a touching letter of condolence from the manager of the branch in the next mornings post.

She never forgot that kind and immediate response at a time of such painful loss.

Ian R Lowry

Reading, Berkshire

Letters to the Editor

We accept letters by email and post. Please include name, address, work and home telephone numbers.

ADDRESS: 111 Buckingham Palace Road, London, SW1W 0DT

EMAIL: dtletters@telegraph.co.uk

FOLLOW: Telegraph Letters on Twitter @LettersDesk

NEWSLETTER: sign up to receive Letters to the Editor 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.
The Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) are the main subjects of the latest U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) annual report, published amid fresh tension with the government of Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador over claims made this week before the House of Representatives concerning delays in the delivery of visas for its agents deployed in Mexico. The Mexican government has denied that bilateral cooperation in the so-called war on drugs is inconsistent, as stated by drug czar Anne Milgram, and has ended the controversy by assuring that the authorizations were delivered weeks ago. The spat with the Mexican authorities has not however shifted the position of the DEA in the fight against drug trafficking and its crusade against criminal organizations operating in Mexico, which it cites as responsible for the fentanyl epidemic plaguing U.S. society. At the heart of the synthetic drug crisis are the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels and their associates, reads the document, which described the opioid crisis as the most dangerous and deadly drug crisis the United States has ever faced.

The DEA claims that the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNGs profits from fentanyl trafficking amount to billions of dollars each year, thanks to an extensive criminal network that spans more than 40 countries and all 50 U.S. states. They operate extensive global supply chains, from precursor chemicals to production facilities, and direct a complex web of conspirators that includes international shippers, cross-border transporters, corrupt officials, tunnel builders, shell companies, money launderers, and others, the agency warns in the report.

The hegemony of the Sinaloa and Jalisco cartels has effectively eliminated any competition in U.S. markets, the agency adds. In its view, the two rival cartels are the sole rulers of the illicit drug market in the United States. The findings come, as on other occasions, wrapped in controversy and in clear contradiction to the official position of the Lopez Obrador government, which has insisted that fentanyl is not produced in Mexico and that the country is only an intermediate link in the long chain of trafficking that originates in Asia. The DEA, however, also questions the effectiveness of the Mexican navys assumption of customs control and surveillance of the countrys main ports, asserting that it is the criminal groups that really control the port terminals. The diagnosis is topped off with accusations of corruption against judges and officials at all levels of the Mexican government, although these are not expanded on in detail. That has been the biggest sticking point with the Mexican president, who earlier this year accused the DEA of being behind a wave of journalistic leaks linking his close circle to organized crime.

Around one million pills containing fentanyl, seized in Los Angeles in July 2022. AP

The Sinaloa Cartel after El Chapo

The Sinaloa Cartel does not have a leader, says the DEA of the current structure of the vast criminal organization founded by Joaquin El Chapo Guzman and Ismael El Mayo Zambada, along with other leading capos. The law enforcement agency claims that since El Chapo was sentenced to life in prison in July 2019 by a New York court, the cartel has split into four separate but cooperating factions. This structure theoretically gives the heads of the independent drug trafficking groups the ability to share resources  like smuggling routes, corrupt contacts, access to illicit chemical suppliers and money laundering networks  without sharing profits or having to answer to a main chain of command, the report states.

The DEA compares the model to an umbrella, under which the different factions coexist. On one side are Los Chapitos, led by El Chapos four sons: Ivan Guzman Salazar, Alfredo Guzman Salazar, Joaquin Guzman Lopez and Ovidio Guzman Lopez. Ovidio, alias The Mouse, was arrested in January last year in Culiacan, the capital of Sinaloa, sparking a violent response from the cartel and unleashing chaos in the city. Three months later, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a battery of charges against the capos four heirs and a score of associates. Ovidio Guzman was extradited in September 2023, while his brothers are still at large.

This map indicates the greater or lesser presence of Mexican drug trafficking cartels in the 50 U.S. states. DEA

Another faction is led by El Mayo Zambada, who was at the top of the organization for three decades and was indicted for fentanyl trafficking by a New York court in February 2024. While the inclusion of Zambada and Los Chapitos is not news, there are some little-known details, especially given the secrecy surrounding El Mayo. Zambada-Garcia is reported to be in poor physical health, leaving the leadership of his faction in question, the DEA notes of the 76-year-old capo.

The other two cells are controlled, according to the DEA, by Aureliano El Guano Guzman Loera, El Chapos brother who holds influence in the so-called Golden Triangle (in the Mexican states of Sinaloa, Durango and Chihuahua), and Rafael Caro Quintero, a former ally of the cartels founders who has also been linked to the organizations enemies. Cooperation between the factions is questioned by the DEA itself. In reality, however, internal power struggles and fluctuating alliances leave the viability of the umbrella model in question, the report states. Los Chapitos are at the center of an internal battle against their fathers former partner, Ismael Zambada-Garcia, it adds. They also allude to disputes with Caro Quinteros group, the so-called Caborca Cartel.

The DEA says the Sinaloa Cartel has been trafficking fentanyl since 2012, long before the United States put the synthetic drug at the top of its priority list, and blames Los Chapitos for the decision to make the illegal trade of the substance one of the organizations main businesses. The agency also points out that their business is bigger than that of their CJNG rivals. The Sinaloa Cartel dominates the fentanyl market through its manipulation of the global supply chain and the proliferation of clandestine fentanyl labs in Mexico, it notes. The business model replicates the one used for methamphetamine trafficking, devised more than 25 years ago. The DEA goes beyond describing a commercial scheme and points the finger at the Chinese and Mexican authorities. Despite controls levied by both the Mexican and Chinese governments, the flow of precursor chemicals into Mexico continues unabated, the agency states.

An officer checks under cars at a house suspected of harboring drug traffickers, in California. Richard Vogel (AP)

The DEA adds the Sinaloa Cartel is diversifying its chemical suppliers and is also looking to India, home to one of the worlds largest pharmaceutical industries. Among the 47 countries in which it has a presence, the cartel is looking at other markets. In Southeast Asia and Oceania, its main business is methamphetamines and their profits can be more than 100 times higher than from U.S. sales, according to the report. In Africa, the organization has points where it transships drug shipments to the European market. Its financial operators have been identified from Central and South America, through Spain and Morocco, to South Africa, Russia, and Australia.

In Mexico, the cartel controls the port of Manzanillo and most of the border with the United States, from Tijuana to Ciudad Juarez, according to the report. The Sinaloa Cartel is able to operate freely in some parts of Mexico because they have a network of corrupt law enforcement, military, and political contacts, the DEA says. At the end of its diagnosis, the report mentions new drug threats such as tusi, a pink drug cocktail (mixture of two or more illegal drugs) consumed mainly in the club scenes of major metropolitan cities. The Sinaloa Cartel, the report concludes, is always looking to profit on the illegal drug trends of the moment.

CJNG: blood ties and criminal franchises

The DEA describes the CJNGs leadership as an amalgam of alliances sealed by blood ties and marriages in the extended family of Nemesio Oseguera Cervantes, alias El Mencho. His wife, Rosalinda Gonzalez, has been charged with drug trafficking, as have two of his sons and at least five of his brothers-in-law, according to U.S. and Mexican court documents. His brother Antonio Tony Montana Oseguera was captured in Mexico last month, but later released for lack of evidence. Gonzalezs relatives head Los Cuinis, the cartels main allies. El Mencho is the undisputed leader of the front line of the organization, with a small group of lieutenants who report directly to him. Below them are a series of local capos, who oversee the organizations regional businesses, according to the agency. The Jalisco Cartel operates under a franchise business model, it said.

These franchises allow each group to operate almost as an independent cell and to specialize in different points in the criminal chain, or to cater differently to the needs of their local markets. In return, they have to agree to business practices dictated by El Menchos leadership, such as including the CJNG brand and accepting guidelines on their operational structure. Decision-making is centralized, but it is the franchises that absorb the operating costs. The cartel takes a percentage of the profits and can expand more quickly, according to the DEA. The model, however, has weaknesses. Individual franchise groups operating under the Jalisco Cartel name can form their own unique alliances with other criminal groups, some of which are in direct opposition to the alliances of other franchises, the report states.

DEA agents arrest a suspected CJNG collaborator in California, 2020. Richard Vogel (AP)

Although the Jalisco Cartel cannot match the Sinaloa Cartels fentanyl production capacity, they have flooded American streets with fentanyl, often mixed with other drugs like heroin, cocaine, and xylazine, the DEA states. Still, the federal agency points to the CJNG as the main supplier of cocaine to U.S. markets and says it is investing millions of dollars in profits to fund its expansion to other parts of the world, such as Japan, Australia, and Europe. The organization has representatives and allies in 40 countries, despite the fact that it was founded only 10 years ago, according to the report. It also characterizes the CJNG for its violence and accuses it of being behind the attacks against Omar Garcia Harfuch, former chief of the Mexico City Police, in 2020 and against the convoy of Alejandro Giammattei, then president of Guatemala, in 2022. The victims, who were unharmed, are not mentioned by name.

The DEA does not lend credibility to the narco-messages that appeared in several Mexican cities in 2023, in which both cartels claimed they were going to impose a ban on fentanyl trafficking. The agency dismissed this as a public relations stunt, claiming there was no drop in the quantities of drugs seized and no increase in drug prices on U.S. streets. There were more than 59,000 opioid overdose deaths in the United States last year, according to provisional data from health authorities. The agency says the CJNG maintains control of the port of Manzanillo, the countrys main naval gateway to Asia, as well as several terminals in the Gulf of Mexico, such as Matamoros and Veracruz.

The U.S. government has launched a judicial offensive after the fall of El Chapo, targeting El Mayo and Caro Quintero, while Ovidio Guzman and Ruben El Menchito Oseguera, son of the CJNG boss, are awaiting trials in the United States. The siege has reached high-profile Mexican officials, such as Genaro Garcia Luna, secretary of public security in the Felipe Calderon administration, who was convicted of collaborating with the Sinaloa Cartel over the past two decades. Despite tensions with Mexican authorities, the ongoing crusade against the cartels is made explicit in the report. DEAs top operational priority is to relentlessly pursue and defeat the two Mexican drug cartels  the Sinaloa Cartel and the Jalisco Cartel  that are primarily responsible for driving the current fentanyl poisoning epidemic in the United States, it concludes.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  South Carolina lawmakers passed a bill on Thursday that would ban all gender transition treatments for minors in the state.

The bill made its way through the House and was sent to Gov. Henry McMaster. If signed by the governor, House Bill 4624, also known as the Help Not Harm bill, would prohibit minors from undergoing or seeking gender transition treatments.

Opponents said the legislation will have serious consequences for kids who are already battling with their mental health.

This is somebodys last straw, said Storm Scites, a transgender man in Horry County. This is telling somebody that who they are is wrong.

The legislation would make South Carolina one of at least 24 states that limit access to gender-affirming care for minors. The bill, which passed by wide majorities in both the House and Senate, prevents minors from receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery.

It states that any minor who receives treatment before Aug. 1 will be allowed a weaning-off period but that all care must end by Jan. 31. The bill also prevents public funding from being used for gender-affirming care, including coverage like state Medicaid programs.

McMaster expressed support for the bill in January.

I think this is a good idea, McMaster said. Itll keep our young people safe and healthy. If they want to make those decisions later when theyre adults, then thats a different story.

But Scites, who came out as transgender at 18 and began taking hormones when he was 22, said it will have the opposite effect.

Its going to send these kids through puberty that they dont want to see, Scites said Its going to change their bodies in ways that probably just make them hate themselves even more.

The bill also prohibits school officials from withholding knowledge if a child identifies as a different gender than assigned at birth or if they ask to go by a different pronoun or name.

Mark Bayer, the president of PFLAG, a Pawleys Island-based group that advocates for the LGBTQ+ community along the Grand Strand, said he also is a parent and that the bill takes away parents rights to make decisions for their kids.

My entire life, Ive seen the queer community under attack, Bayer said. I do not understand why we have donated so much of our legislative session to the ban on gender-affirming care.

Scites said he wants kids who might be affected by the legislation to know one thing.

We love you and its not over, Scites said. And please, just stick around until it gets better, because it will.

News13 reached out to McMaster, and a spokesperson confirmed that he plans to sign the bill into law, though its unclear when. We also reached out to Horry County Schools, and they responded, saying that the district will wait on additional information from the state Department of Education.

Count on News13 for updates.

* * *

Adrianna Lawrence is a multimedia journalist at News13. Adrianna is originally from Virginia Beach, Virginia, and joined the News13 team in June 2023 after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth University in May 2023. Keep up with Adrianna on Instagram, Facebook, and X, formerly Twitter. You can also read more of her work, here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
He liked to use the Oxford comma  Trump aide reveals how he crafted his signature tweets

Madeleine Westerhout, who worked at the Trump White House until 2019, took to the stand in New York - Reuters/Jane Rosenberg

Donald Trump dictates his tweets to an aide and delivers precise instructions about the use of punctuation marks such as Oxford commas and exclamation points, a court has heard.

Madeleine Westerhout, who worked as Mr Trumps personal secretary until 2019, told his New York hush money trial that the ex-president preferred her to note down his thoughts rather than write the social media posts himself.

He would then edit them on paper and had very specific requirements about grammar, according to Ms Westerhout, who later became tearful in the witness box as she recalled her time in the White House.

My recollection is there are certain words he liked to capitalise, she said. Words like country. He liked to use exclamation points.

It is my understanding that he liked to use the Oxford comma.

Mr Trump is accused of falsifying records to hide a payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He denies the charges.

Giving evidence for the prosecution, Ms Westerhout provided details about Mr Trumps workflow for communicating via Twitter, his preferred social media platform until the end of his presidency in 2020.

Mr Trump did not use a computer or have an email address, to the best of her knowledge. He preferred to dictate his tweets to her, she said.

Ms Westerhout, whose desk was positioned directly outside the Oval Office, said she would take notes, quickly type up the draft and print it out for him.

Occasionally, Mr Trump would have more edits. She told the court she soon learned what made a signature Trump tweet.

Dan Scavino, Mr Trumps top aide, had access to the @realDonaldTrump account, she said, and he would generally craft the tweets once the wording had been finalised.

But Ms Westerhout said she would occasionally stand-in when Mr Scavino was absent.

Madeleine Westerhout would help Donald Trump construct his tweets - Getty Images/Jabin Botsford

In the wake of the Jan 6 Capitol riot in 2021, Mr Trump was banned from Twitter for messages the site said risked further incitement of violence.

The Republican presidential candidate has since formed Truth Social, which is now his preferred social media platform.

Ms Westerhout, 33, was forced to resign from the White House in 2019 after she reportedly bragged to journalists at an off-the-record dinner that she had a better relationship with Trump than his own daughters, Ivanka and Tiffany.

When asked about the dinner with reporters by the prosecution, Ms Westerhout began to cry in the witness box and spoke of her regret over a youthful indiscretion.

Ms Westerhout was also asked about a 2020 book she wrote titled Off the Record: My Dream Job at the White House, How I Lost It, and What I Learned, which describes Mr Trump in a favourable light.

I thought it was really important to share with the American people the man I got to know, she said through tears. I dont think hes treated fairly.

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.
'His little girl grew up to be the monster' - woman gets 2 life terms in LBI murders

TOMS RIVER - Sherry Lee Heffernan's lips were upturned slightly in a faint smile Friday as she learned of her two life prison terms for two murders described as depraved - that of her elderly father and his father's longtime girlfriend who were both shot and repeatedly stabbed in their Long Beach Island home in 2021.

Heffernan, 57, of Landenberg, Pennsyvlania, stood calmly as Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill imposed the pair of consecutive life prison terms on her for the murders of her father, John "Jack" Enders, 87, and his partner, Francoise "Frenchy'' Pitoy, 75.

Minutes earlier, Heffernan sobbed as she professed her love for the victims and continued to maintain her innocence, despite a jury's guilty verdict following a trial in February.

"I really wish I was the one who was killed, that I was the one who died,'' she said, crying. "This is horrible pain.

"...It's horrible to lose people you love and then be blamed for it,'' she said in a courtroom packed with relatives and friends of both victims.

"They were priceless people, both my dad and Francoise,'' she said. "I will forever miss them. That's all I can say. Just sad.''

She quickly regained her composure and remained calm, with what appeared to be a faint smile, as both the judge and Michael Weatherstone, chief trial attorney with the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, described the murders she committed on Sept. 29, 2021.

Family members Marcus Evans and Valerie Lewis Evans make statements prior to the sentencing. Sentencing of Sherry Lee Heffernan for the murders of her father and father's girlfriend takes place before Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill. Toms River, NJ Friday, May 10, 2024

After driving from Pennsylvania before dawn to her father's home in Surf City on Long Beach Island, Heffernan began her stabbing rampage on the victims as they were asleep in their bed around 5 a.m., Weatherstone said. She shot both victims in the mouth, not to kill them, but to make them suffer as she inflicted more stab wounds on them, he said.

In what he described as a crime of hatred, Weatherstone said Heffernan placed her father in a chair downstairs and continued to stab him while looking him in the eye.

Enders in all was stabbed 51 times, and Pitoy was stabbed 39 times.

Sentencing of Sherry Lee Heffernan for the murders of her father and father's girlfriend takes place before Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill. Toms River, NJ Friday, May 10, 2024

"This act was committed with extreme depravity,'' Rahill said.

Andrew Vero, Enders' grandson, told the judge the victims must have suffered not only physical pain, but emotional anguish.

"This was his daughter, a daughter he adored, someone he loved unconditionally,'' Vero, who had attended the trial daily, said of his grandfather.

"I hate the idea that this wonderful man died trying to stop the onslaught of stabs, knowing that his little girl grew up to be the monster in front of him,'' Vero said.

Vero, of West Virginia, appeared virtually on a large-screen television for the sentencing, telling the judge he couldn't come in person because his wife is about to give birth.

"My wife is about to give birth to our second child, this time a girl,'' he said. "How am I supposed to feel about this?

Family members Marcus Evans and Valerie Lewis Evans make statements prior to the sentencing. Sentencing of Sherry Lee Heffernan for the murders of her father and father's girlfriend takes place before Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill. Toms River, NJ Friday, May 10, 2024

"I saw how much Pop loved his daughter,'' Vero said, referring to his grandfather and Heffernan, his aunt.

"He loved her, and this is what happens to someone who loves and treats his daughter as well as he did?'' Vero said.

"Will this now happen to me and my wife in the future, no matter how much we love and care for our kids?'' Vero asked. "Could they do this to us? I should never have to think these things.''

Weatherstone said Heffernan committed the murders out of hatred and greed. She was angry that her father was selling his valuable, waterfront home, and she wanted the property for her own, the prosecutor asserted. And, he said, Heffernan disliked Pitoy because she interfered with her life.

Valerie Lewis Evans, one of Pitoy's two daughters, said her mother "lit up every room she walked into,'' and Enders was a selfless person who loved not only his own family, but hers.

Sandrine Lewis, Pitoy's other daughter, said her mother was "a loving, compassionate person who loved life'' and "never turned her back on me.''

Marcus Evans, Pitoy's son-in-law, said Pitoy constantly sent his granddaughter beautiful dresses. Enders would give him advice and a kiss on the cheek every time they saw each other, he said. And his wife would speak to her mother every day on the phone, he said.

"All that is gone - my grandbaby won't get those dresses,'' he said. "My wife won't get those phone calls. I won't get those kisses on the cheek.''

Heffernan is likely to never be released from prison. She must serve 63 years, nine months and three days without the possibility of release on parole for each of the murders, the judge said.

Relatives of the victims applauded after the judge handed down the sentence.

Sentencing of Sherry Lee Heffernan for the murders of her father and father's girlfriend takes place before Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill. Toms River, NJ Friday, May 10, 2024

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: LBI murders: Sherry Lee Heffernan sentenced in dad, girlfriend's murder
Liver doctor accused of groping women in exams, CA officials say. More victims feared

A liver doctor has been charged after being accused of groping two women during medical exams, California prosecutors say.

John Carl Hoefs, 79, of Irvine, was charged with seven felony counts of sexual battery, the Orange County District Attorneys Office said in a May 9 news release.

Sexual predators come in all forms and in all walks of life  even ones wearing white doctors coats, Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer said in the release. Women seeking potentially life-saving medical treatment should not be subjected to sexual abuse by the medical professional they have entrusted with their lives.

In an email to McClatchy News, a district attorneys office spokesperson said information for Hoefs attorney was not immediately available.

Starting in 2020, prosecutors said the hepatologist, a doctor who treats liver problems, is accused of touching a female patient suffering from a liver condition on five different visits.

During the incidents, prosecutors said Hoefs would fold over the womans gown, exposing her breasts.

Hoefs is accused of then grabbing the womans breasts, according to prosecutors.

Though the woman tried to cover herself, prosecutors said Hoefs would again move the gown, exposing her chest for the remainder of the exam.

He is also accused of touching another patients breasts during exams in November 2016 and October 2017, according to prosecutors.

Incidents involving both women were at a Hoag affiliated medical office in Irvine, prosecutors said.

Hoag did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment on May 10.

In a statement provided to ABC7 News, a spokesperson for Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian said Hoefs was not an employee of the companys hospital or any affiliates.

Hoefs ran a private practice, leasing a space in the building, the news outlet reported.

Upon learning of this news, Medical Staff immediately suspended his staff privileges, the statement says, the news outlet reported.

Hoefs has also been affiliated with two medical facilities in Irvine: the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, and the Liver Specialty Center, prosecutors said.

The latter facility did not immediately respond to McClatchy News request for comment on May 10.

In an email to McClatchy News, a spokesperson for the University of California, Irvine Medical Center, said Hoefs retired from the university in 2009 and does not currently see any patients at its facilities.

Hoefs, who was arrested May 3 and released on $500,000 bail, is expected to appear in court again on June 13, according to prosecutors.

If convicted on all counts, prosecutors said Hoefs could face up to 10 years in prison.

Prosecutors said they believe Hoefs may have additional victims, adding anyone with additional information is asked to contact police at 949-724-7170.

Chiropractor accused of sexually assaulting seven of his patients at California clinic

Patient finds camera recording her in chiropractors exam room, Colorado police say

Scrubs producer posed as photographer to sexually assault women, California cops say
SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE)  Local artist Kalina Schulz is partnering the Pink Warrior House to hold an art gallery on May 17 at the San Francisco St. Gallery on the plaza in Santa Fe.

The Lost Bus starring Matthew McConaughey filming in New Mexico

Pink Warrior House is a locally owned nonprofit that has helped over 500 women with breast cancer. They offer support for the women through community events and create an environment where the women can support each other. A percentage of each sale during the event will go towards supporting the Pink Warrior House.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
EVANS, Ga. (WJBF)  After more than a century, the Boy Scouts of America are changing their name.

We spoke to Georgia-Carolina Council CEO Dan Rogers to get his thoughts on the big changes.

He has served as CEO for the last 7 years, but has been involved in Boy Scouts for the last 50.

Ive gone to Canada as a scoutas a youth and leaderIve been to national jamborees, been to all four of our high adventure bases, Rogers said. As a young kid in Ohio, I was one of five boys, and if it wasnt for scouting, I would have never gotten out of my hometownit was a great adventure for me.

But the organization will soon embark on a new adventure with a new nameScouting America.

This announcement coming from the Boy Scouts national meeting in Florida on Tuesday, as theyre looking to be more inclusive.

According to ABC News, the organization currently serves more than 1 million young people, including more than 175,000 girls and young women.

Rogers says the name change is the right move.

Very few have the name Boy Scouts ofmatter of fact I think theres only 10 countries in the world that have a Boy Scout specific program, because theyre all coed, Rogers said.

So, with us bringing girls in 5 years ago, it makes sense to change the name to Scouting America to let families be more aware of the fact that we are a coed organization that allows boys and girls to participate.

But some have voiced their concerns, as Boy Scouts are one of many organizations known for resisting changes.

Ive had two people that called me that werent necessarily happy with it. Typically, those are older gentlemen who are steeped in tradition, said Rogers.

He says despite the name change, their mission will remain the same.

Im a traditional guy too. I like history and all of that stuff. But at the same time, if you dont embrace change, you become kodak and youre out of business. So change is not necessarily badand again the name is changing, not the program. Not those we serve, not the way we serve them, nor our objectives, Rogers said.

The CEO believes this change will lead to a bright future for an organization that has served millions across the country.

I know at the national annual meeting two days ago, we had a female Eagle scout of the Muslim faith standing next to a Jewish male Eagle scout, and they both received their religious awards together on stage. Thats the inclusivity were looking for, said Rogers.

The name change will take effect on February 8th, 2025which is also the organizations 115th birthday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
Local leaders call for state to intervene over DCPS handling of teacher misconduct

Duval County Public Schools told the Florida Department of Education it had made fixes to ensure the proper reporting of teacher misconduct less than two weeks before yet another misconduct controversy began to unfold.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

Now, some local leaders are calling on more direct action from the department to address the issues.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Action News Jax obtained an Inspector Generals report that detailed how DCPS failed to report 73 incidents of alleged teacher misconduct to the Florida Department of Education within the required 30-day window.

The report, which was published in January, put the blame on one man, Reginald Johnson, who previously served as Supervisor of DCPS Office of Professional Standards.

According to witness testimony detailed in the report, Johnson also deleted 290 files consisting of various educator case files, public records requests and DOE reporting forms.

ORIGINAL STORY: Details of state OIG investigation of Duval schools delay of teacher misconduct reporting released

There were also files deleted that involved former Douglas Anderson teacher Jeffrey Clayton, who recently pleaded guilty to charges of inappropriate conduct with a student.

It begs the question to say, was he educated on who this man was, or was he told to do this? said former Douglas Anderson student Shyla Jenkins.

Jenkins, a former student of Claytons, said shes skeptical Johnson acted alone.

This is not just a DA issue, this is a Duval County Public School issue, said Jenkins. I think theres a bigger atmosphere of collusion thats going on at the district.

During the course of the investigation, Johnson took an early retirement instead of being terminated.

In response to the report, Interim Superintendent Dr. Dana Kriznar sent a letter to the Florida Department of Education detailing actions taken by the district to fix the reporting errors.

READ: DCPS board members blast new police chief for credibility issues over ties to Kent Stermon case

The actions listed in the February letter included transitioning to reporting misconduct to the department electronically, rather than through the postal service.

Kriznar also wrote that the district had implemented online reporting options to help monitor and track the status of complaints.

It was only 11 days after that letter was sent that the district learned of Douglas Anderson teacher Christopher Allen-Blacks arrest for indecent exposure.

The district didnt remove him from the classroom for more than six weeks.

Literally almost two weeks later. After youve come out and said we will make a concerted effort to do everything we can to protect children in our school system. Clearly thats not the case, said Jenkins.

In a letter sent to Kriznar Thursday, Florida Commissioner of Education Manny Diaz called the decision to delay Allen-Blacks removal, unacceptable and stated, It is clear that there is more work to be done in your district.

Your failure to address these pressing concerns reflects a lack of prioritization for the well-being of students, parents and educators who rely on you to ensure a safe and conducive learning environment, Diaz wrote.

READ: Ahead of protest, DCPS moves to preserve Middle School schedules and save 69 positions

In response to Diazs letter, State Senator Clay Yarborough (R-Jacksonville) has called for the Florida Department of Education to get more directly involved in solving the issues at DCPS.

If DCPS continues this reckless trajectory, then for the safety of our children, the State has no choice but to step in and make necessary changes. Potential courses of action are already being explored, said Yarborough in a statement Friday.

Jenkins said she wants to see the issues handled internally, if possible.

This needs to be an internal investigation that is handled by the new superintendent coming in. And people need to be terminated and fired at the highest level in the district, said Jenkins.

Action News Jax reached out to DCPS Thursday and again on Friday seeking comment on the Commissioner of Educations letter.

We have not received a response.

In Diazs letter, he gave the district five days to respond and outline the steps it will take to address his concerns.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.
LANSING, Mich. (WLNS)  An empty parking lot near Grand Avenue and Lenawee Street in Lansing will look a lot different in the coming years.

On Thursday Morning, Mayor Andy Schor announced it will be home to a brand new city hall.

The efforts follow the initial plan to move the city hall to the former Masonic Temple building. But those plans were scrapped because according to Schor, the city council voted against purchasing the property.

Proposed location of a new Lansing City Hall. (WLNS)

Meanwhile, Schor said, he already had a few other places in mind.

We have way too much surface parking in the City of Lansing, the mayor said. Number one in the country, which I hate, so we decided were going to look at some city parking lots and take a parking lot offline.

The lot is right across the street from the CATA Transportation Center in the downtown area.

The proposal to build a new city hall on the lot comes months after the city Council rejected a proposal to sell the lot to the Boji Group. The lot would have become part of a series of proposed apartments being built in the same block, as well as a proposed new headquarters for CATA.

In a press release sent to 6 News about the announcement, the new city hall will be built using $40 million in funding appropriated by the state of Michigan.

We are announcing to the public that this is where its going to be, it is moving forward, we are going to use the state money, and for $40 million dollars were going to build a city hall right here in the southern downtown, he said.

While the mayor said theres limited info on the building so far, he added that theyre hoping to create a one-stop-shop feel.

This is going to be about convenience, about customer service, were going to build a first-floor customer service center, the mayor will be there, the council will be there, well have some city departments. But there will be a one-stop-shop, for our residents and for our visitors and anybody who wants to do business with the City of Lansing, he added.

Schor also said that the new building will help redevelop surrounding areas.

Its great for the neighborhood. This is the Cherry Hill neighborhood, so right up against the river, theres some great folks who live here, some older housing that we love, its going to reinvigorate this neighborhood, its going to connect to REO town, its going to be right across the street from the CATA hub, the mayor said.

One person who lives in the city said shes looking forward to seeing how things change by the time the project is finished.

I would hope it will stimulate more development, more vibrancy, in this pocket of Downtown Lansing, Liane Zimny said. Theres a lot of things going on and this will just be one more; and thats great.

Schor said they still have to finalize all of the planning for construction, but gave an estimate of two years before the building will be complete.

Discussions of a new city hall have been ongoing for nearly a decade. Former Mayor Virg Bernero had struck a deal with Chicago developer J. Paul Beitler to purchase the current city hall and redevelop it into a hotel and restaurant complex.

But when Lansing Mayor Andy Schor was elected, he nixed the deal because of concerns about where the city would relocate the 54-A District Court and the jail facility. In November 2022, taxpayers approved a $175 million bond proposal to build a new public safety facility.

That new facility will be located on South Washington Ave. and replace the old National Guard Building that used to house the citys election operations.

Last year, the state legislature approved a $40 million budget appropriation for the city to have a new city hall.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
MIDDLE ISLAND, Long Island (PIX11)  A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police.

More Long Island News

Kyle Robson, 21, was allegedly selling the products at Vaporization Wellness and Scents at 8 Middle County Rd., without a license around 3 p.m., according to officials.

Suffolk County Police said Robson was charged with unlawful sale of cannabis.

A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

A smoke shop employee on Long Island is accused of selling cannabis products on Thursday, according to police. (Credit: Suffolk County Police Department)

Jonathan Rizk is a digital journalist who has covered local news in New York City and Washington, D.C. He has been with PIX11 since August 2022. See more of his work here, and follow him on X and Facebook @OfficialRizk. Get in touch at jonathan.rizk@pix11.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Spains Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday illustrated their countries differences regarding the recognition of Palestinian statehood. While Albares announced the Spanish governments intention to take that step in the coming days, Blinken reiterated that recognition must occur at the end of the process, as a result of a peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians, according to Spanish diplomatic sources. The same sources stressed that Blinken added this is a sovereign decision to be made by each country and expressed respect.

In statements to reporters, Albares insisted that the goal of his trip to Washington was not to ask permission from the U.S. Administration  as he has been accused of doing by Spains leftist political group Izquierda Unida (United Left)  nor to inform Blinken in advance about the decision that the Spanish executive will take. It has not been discussed in these terms, nor does Blinken feel that this is a request for acquiescence, said Albares, acknowledging that, while discussing the Middle East conflict, he explained Spains position on the matter, which is well known and includes the immediate recognition of the Palestinian State. Albares declined to confirm whether the date chosen by Spain and other European countries, such as Ireland, Malta and Slovenia to formalize diplomatic recognition is May 21, as reported. He insisted that the important thing is the political decision, which has already been made.

Although the Spanish foreign minister downplayed the differences between Washington and Madrid on the issue of the war in Gaza, these were evident this Friday at the General Assembly vote in favor of the Security Councils reconsideration of Palestines full UN membership. Spain (along with 142 other countries) voted in favor besides co-sponsoring the initiative, and the United States voted against.

The Arab-Israeli conflict was the only point of friction in a meeting that took place in an atmosphere of great cordiality according to Spanish diplomatic sources, and lasted for one hour and 25 minutes, preceded by a brief talk between the two officials who discussed confidential matters.
Who were the libertarians? Nowwhen the movement has reached its nadirseems like a good time to consider the question.

I recently received an email from an old friend, an esteemed academic who is foundering miserably in retirement and senescence. Like many men of his kind, he has taken up politics with a social-media-driven religious devotion and, having tried Donald Trump on for size for a few years, has undergone a conversion to the cause of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who, like Donald Trump, has vermin on the brain.

Kennedy is, of course, a charlatan and a huckster, but more to the point here is that he is a left-wing charlatan and huckstera man with a view of government and national life that is something akin to that of Sen. Bernie Sanders or an old-fashioned campus Marxist. My old friend isnot was, but isa doctrinaire libertarian, one of those gentlemen I could go to and commiserate about what a terrible idea the Interstate Highway System was and why we dont really need an FDA. Oh, sure, Bobby is all wrong about the economics and most everything else, hell say, butand Ill bet you know where this is goinghe got it right about COVID-19 and the vaccines. Donald Trump, hell tell you, went along with the worst abuse of American civil liberties since Abraham Lincoln illegally suspended habeas corpus, practically turning these United States into a medical gulag.

Some people would like to forget the COVID era. Some people still can think of little else. The pandemic really was a radicalizing experience for a large number of Americans.

There has, in fact, been a cascade of radicalizing experiences since the end of the 20th century: the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the 2007-08 financial crisis and subsequent bank bailouts, and the COVID-19 lockdowns and vaccine controversies chief among them. These events have had parallel, but unequal, effects on the right and the left.

September 11 in many ways brought Fox News to life and gave rise to a new kind of Republican tendency that psychologically conflated national-security projects abroad with culture-war projects at homeas in the matter of the Islamic Cultural Center on Park Place in Lower Manhattanwhile on the left the attack gave rise to an illiterately conspiratorial account of politics (Bush knew! Halliburton!) and a reinvigorated connection with 1960s-style radicalism as the movement protesting the Iraq War looked back to its Vietnam-era precedent. The financial crisis gave rise to the Tea Party movement and its progressive doppelganger, Occupy Wall Street. The pandemic saw the right adopt a conspiratorial view of vaccines and pharmaceutical companies that once had been mainly a left-wing tendency while the left embraced a Kulturkampf approach toward symbolic public-health measures such as masking and deepened its fondness for expert authoritarianism.

Over the past two decades, the right adopted a more libertarian critique of many institutions and practices and then rallied behind an autocratic would-be caudillo with a distinctly etatist approach to economic policy. The left, meanwhile, has adopted a more radically egalitarian rhetoric even as the Democratic Party got very comfortable with its new role as the party of moneyed professionals and urban elites. Strange times, indeed.

One can see, without much difficulty or strain on the moral imagination, how each of those events would have a radicalizing effect on a certain kind of person. But one can also see that there is a certain kind of personlargely, but not exclusively, Americanslooking for an excuse to become radicalized. Tucker Carlson is one such example, but so is Nigel Farage, those angry Dutch farmers, the people (some of the people) who elected Giorgia Meloni and Javier Milei, etc. The desire to be radicalized is fundamentally a way to emotionally accommodate social alienation. It is the price that has to be paid to indulge hatred.

That distinctive, of-the-moment alienation is, ironically, what we feel when we are all stuck too close together. The modern world is too close and too intimate, and it is, for that reason, full of people who hate their neighbors and require a respectable reason for hating themwhich is why everybody says the people on the other side of whatever issue it is that they are pretending to care about are Nazis. Thats the great lesson the Indiana Jones movies taught us: There isnt anything socially safer than cheering against Nazis, even if you have to find them where there are none.

It is easier to see how this works if you take it out of your own national context. Can you imagine that there were perfectly good reasons for some British people to wish to reestablish their own democratically controlled national sovereignty over British affairs without being superintended by the European Union? Can you imagine that there were other Britons who had perfectly respectable reasons to want to maintain the benefits and privileges associated with living in an EU country? My own sympathies were with the Brexiteers, but there is much that is attractive about being a member of the European Union, and it is not difficult to see why many British people would have preferred to remain so.

There are many Americans who have enough sympathetic imagination to do that, but fewer who can view both sides of the various COVID-19 controversies with similar equanimity. I find myself pulled in different ways, as usual. The anti-vaccine activists are dangerous cranks, and the people who compare the COVID-19 shutdowns to the Soviet gulag are not to be trusted. At the same time, I recently had an appointment with a medical professional who insisted on wearing a mask for the entirety of our conversationwhich happened over Zoom, with each of us in otherwise empty rooms.

Of course I wanted to strangle him a little bitwho wouldnt?

COVID-19 radicalization is something one would expect to see more of among people who already had libertarian inclinations, which includes both the self-conscious libertarians with their Hayek books tucked under their arms and the more traditional Youre not the boss of me! American types. The weird thing is that COVID-19 radicalization has made so many of these libertarians less libertarian rather than more so. They havent moved from Free to Choose to The Machinery of Freedom, from Milton Friedman to David Friedman, from Ayn Rand fantasies to anarcho-capitalist fantasies. No, theyve moved from Reason to Breitbart to Mother Jones circa 1985, keeping the radical urgency but giving up on the part of libertarianism oriented towardwhat was it, again?liberty.

Part of this is our aging population: We have all seen relatives lose their minds to Fox News brain (which is a close relative of Facebook brain and Washington Post comments-section brain). In 1920, only 1 in 20 Americans was 65 or older, while today the figure is 1 in 6. And as our population gets older, our politics is going to get dumber and crazier and crankier and more disconnected from everyday reality.

Maybe I should not be very surprised.

We used to joke that libertarianism was for Republicans who liked weed and porn, or that it is what you get when you slip 5,000 micrograms of LSD into the punch bowl at the Chamber of Commerce. Less jokingly, we would observe that libertarian was an adjective preferred by conservatives who were understandably embarrassed to be associated with the Republican Party. (My first presidential vote was for Andre Marrou of the Libertarian Party over incumbent George H.W. Bush, possibly the most sensible president of my lifetime. But there were reasons to be embarrassed by Republicans even back in the golden days of 1992.) To be a small-l libertarian (as opposed to an activist in the Libertarian Party) was to liberate oneself from having very much dumb political stuff to defend for the sake of party solidarity. And the libertarians had (and have) most of the good ideas, as much as I can appreciate Ramesh Ponnurus wise line about libertarianism being the perfect political philosophy provided you live in a world with no foreign policy or children. But perhaps the libertarians did not take those libertarian ideas as seriously as I had thought they did.

It may be that libertarianism simply was what was politically and socially available for the would-be right-wing radical from (approximately) the 1970s through the turn of the century. If you were right-ish leaning and had a hankering for something radical-feeling, then libertarianism was where it was at. Surely there is something to that. And here it is probably worth bearing in mind that many important and embarrassing links between the mainstream conservative movement and fringe, conspiracy-minded, and antisemitic movements were championed by erstwhile libertarians: Murray Rothbard and his daft effort to recruit David Duke and the radical left into a unified front against the welfare-warfare state; Ron Paul and his bigoted newsletters; Sam Francis and his long journey (but not as long as one might have thought or hoped) from the Heritage Foundation and the Mises Institute to the crackpot-racist lecture circuit.

Maybe libertarianism never was a school of political thought at all.

Schools of political thought are the work of many hands. Political auteurssui generis great-man figurestend to be dictators such as Napoleon Bonaparte or Henry VIII. Politics that take any account of consensus or pluralism tends to be by nature based on coalition-building, and coalition-building politics, in turn, tend toward consensus and pluralism, at least in many cases and to some degree. (Which isnt to say that collective leadership is a guarantee of decent policy: The Soviet Union was already a brutal mess before Joseph Stalin got hold of it.)

Schools of political thought may be the product of a kind of apostolic succession (Socrates begets Plato, Plato begets Aristotle) or, in a more practical configuration, coalitions of contemporariesaligned if not necessarily unanimoussuch as the American founders or the leaders of the French Revolution. American conservativesI mean intellectuals in movement conservatism, not Republican-leaning voters at largelong thought of themselves as being more like the philosophers in succession (National Review still calls its seminar program From Burke to Buckley, Edmund Burke and William F. Buckley Jr. being two points defining a line from which Trump-era conservatism, such as it is, departs at a 45-degree angle) and less like members of a political party. Conservatives thought that conservatism meant adherence to a philosophy (or an ideology, if you arent allergic to the word) rather than loyalty to a coalition.

But as it has turned out, coalitional loyaltyas expressed through prone self-abasement in the Donald Trump cultis the defining characteristic of politically engaged conservatism in our time. Funny how that worked out.

Many conservatives, including a few leading neoconservatives, could never quite come around to the Republican Party even in its pre-Trump incarnation, and a great many held the GOP at arms length. The libertarians had even less to defend in the way of party apparatus: Either they were a small minority tendency within the Republican Party and the wider conservative movement or they were big fish in the minuscule pond that is the Libertarian Party. (David Koch was each of those things at different points in his career.) The libertarians were free to be thinkers rather than party men, cafe philosophes rather than street-fighting sans-culottes. And that was fineprovided you didnt feel some deep and abiding need to be relevant.

Radicalism for the sake of radicalism is, of course, the dead opposite of conservatism.

Without going too far into the factional Kremlinology of the American right, the prefix paleo is useful here: Take the paleo-libertarians and the paleo-conservatives back far enough and you are mostly talking about the same people, a motley collection of Taft-ites and Southern agrarians, anti-New Dealers and premature anti-New Dealers, America First-ers, Lindbergh-ites, et al., with Albert Jay Nock representing the better sort and H.L. Mencken and the American Mercury crew the inferior sort. That conjunction gave rise to a style of political rhetoric that was very, very good at providing a little pleasurable frisson to the Chamber of Commerce men. It gave rise to more than that, of course, but that seems to be the part that remains most attractive. It goes nicely with three fingers of 16-year-old Macallan.

The economist Tyler Cowen writes about mood affiliation, which he defines as a logical fallacy in which people are first choosing a mood or attitude, and then finding the disparate views which match to that mood and, to themselves, justifying those views by the mood. An example from Cowen: People who see a lot of net environmental progress (air and water are cleaner, for instance) and thus dismiss or downgrade well-grounded accounts of particular environmental problems. Theres simply an urgent feeling that any pessimistic view needs to be countered. In our catastrophizing time, the urge to counter pessimism is much weaker than the urge to counter optimism. It is remarkable how easily people move from one issue to another, from one position to another, from one school of political thought to another, without ever changing in the slightest the underlying emotional scaffolding of their politics.

The most obvious example of that used to be the Cold War-era left and U.S. foreign policy: It didnt matter what happened, what the issue was, or what the outcome was, as long as you told a story in which the United States ultimately was the villain. Many progressives took a similar attitude toward business: If Americans eat too much sugar, take too many opioids, or take out loans they can never possibly hope to repay, it must be the fault of Big Business, somehow.

On the right, you can see the same thing when it comes to illegal immigrants: Medicare would be fine without the illegals, Social Security would be fine without the illegals, the schools would be fine without the illegals, housing wouldnt be a problem if not for the illegals, etc. (I didnt get a harrumph out of that guy!) Today, the thing that really matters for a certain kind of libertarian-ish crank is that government at many levels was excessively risk-averse and heavy-handed during a worldwide viral epidemic a few years ago. There were things to be learned from the successes and failures of the COVID-19 era. We managed not to learn mucheven with all that time on our hands.

And what we have learned is that Grandpa probably needs some real-life friends who can gently tell him how crazy he sounds when he starts going on about Bobby Kennedy and the vaccines. And maybe to forgo that third glass of wine with dinner and to switch off Fox News from time to time. Writing a vicious obituary of libertarian crank Murray Rothbard not very long after the infamous events in Waco, Texas, William F. Buckley was acid: Yes, Murray Rothbard believed in freedom. And, yes, David Koresh believed in God. True. But what they both really believed in was believing, that beliefs per se could transform a life and give it meaning.

Does belief transform lives? Does it save them? If you are talking about the career of Jesus of Nazareth, then, yes; if you are talking about the career of Anthony Fauci of the National Institutes of Health, then, no. I know a few people who still take Osho (the Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh) very, very seriously. Osho bought a fleet of Rolls Royces with this sort of thing:

The whole of life is dialectical. The logos is dialectical and reason is a process of the same. You can think of it in these terms. Dialectics is heterosexual; reason, rationality, is homosexual. Rationality is homosexual. Thats why homosexuality is growing in the West because the West has accepted Aristotle, reason. Heraclitus is heterosexual. He will include the opposite. If you listen to reason you will be homosexual.

Osho, it bears noting, was not anti-homosexuality, in spite of what you might think from the above. He described homosexuality as pure fun, an alternative to dangerous heterosexuality; his ideal man was a kind of enlightened sensualist he named Zorba the Buddha. Is that sillier than Ayn Rand? More meretricious than Robert F. Kennedy Jr.? It isnt obvious to me that it is. It is the kind of thing that pushes the same buttons and scratches the same itch, albeit for people with a different sensibility and ethos. (Zorba the Buddha is also the name of a very good vegetarian restaurant run by Osho cultists around the corner from the Taj Mahal.)

If you think I have wandered too far afield here, I havent: The point is that it isnt the doctrine that matters to Americansit is how reciting the tenets of the doctrine makes them feel. That is why sentimental Evangelical megachurches succeed where all the enlightened scholarly Catholics and upright rigorous Calvinists and others of that ilk failin marketing, I mean, not in theology. That is why people who are committed free-market men on Monday morning are Trumpist industry-policy men on Wednesday afternoon and howling at the moon with Bobby Kennedy on Friday night.

It is not the case that if you look long into the abyss of American political idealism that the abyss looks into youthere is nothing there to look back, because there is nothing there to see. Only chaos. Typewriters may be a thing of the past, but we still have Facebook and Elon Musks depraved X thing, and here we are, the infinite monkeys trying to work out the Declaration of Independence or Democracy in America or maybe at least a brief poetical account of the life and times and peculiar habits of an old man from Nantucket. Infinite monkeys, monkeying infinitely.

The plague has come and gone, and all we remember is how inconvenient it all was, how it made us feel small and put-upon and bullied. And the people who felt that way werent always wrong to feel that way. It just doesnt matter as much as they think it does. Good stoical republicans dont worry too much about that sort of thing, dont drive themselves bonkers obsessive about about what it all means. Others, lacking the benefit of philosophy, require some fixed point in the universe to orient themselves, and that point invariably takes the form of a man. Bobby Kennedy is a damned peculiar choice for an idol, but these are damned peculiar times, and strange things are afoot at the Chamber of Commerce.

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.
Deputy House Speaker Raymond Hull speaks in favor of his bill to reform the controversial Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights on the House floor Thursday, May 9, 2024. Behind him are Rep. Leonela Felix, a Pawtucket Democrat, left, and Rep. Teresa Tanzi, a South Kingstown Democrat, right. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

PROVIDENCE  After nearly two hours of debate and strong opposition from progressive lawmakers, the Rhode Island House of Representatives Thursday approved bills to reform the state law governing the process for investigating and disciplining police officers accused of misconduct.

The House voted 58-14 to pass a bill by Deputy Speaker Raymond Hull and 59-13 in favor of identical legislation sponsored by Senate President Dominick Ruggeiro that updates the controversial Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights (LEOBOR).

Adopted in 1976, LEOBOR protects police officers from being fired immediately or put on leave without pay when misconduct charges against them arise. The law has been greatly criticized by social justice advocates, who say its unfair for police to review internal misconduct.

Attempts to reform the law stalled in previous years due to disagreements over who would sit on an expanded five-member panel that rules on any disciplinary action. General Assembly leaders finally reached a compromise earlier this week.

Reform to LEOBOR has been a long time coming and this legislation will not only deliver transparency and accountability to the public, but it will also help police departments across the state root out misconduct in a fair and just way, Hull said in a statement Thursday.

Under the existing law, officers accused of misconduct appear before a panel made up of three active or retired police officers  with one picked by the chief, one by the officer under investigation, and a third chosen by both or a presiding Superior Court judge.

The hearing panel under Hull and Ruggerios legislation would still contain three officers, but they would instead be randomly chosen by the Police Officers Commission on Standards and Training. The panel would also include a retired judge and an attorney selected in consultation with the Supreme Courts committee on racial and ethnic fairness.

The amended legislation also removes the prohibition preventing police chiefs from making public statements about cases that have not yet had a LEOBOR hearing or releasing video evidence.

Both bills allow police chiefs to suspend officers for a longer amount of time: five days for those accused of minor infractions and 14 days for those facing more serious complaints, such as excessive force or felonies. Suspension without pay is now two days before the right to a LEOBOR hearing kicks in.

House Judiciary Chairman Robert Craven, a North Kingstown Democrat, called the changes a major improvement to whats on the books now.

This legislation is born of collective, productive, researched compromise, Craven said. Thats the mission of this body  this House. I believe in my heart this is the answer to police misconduct.

Progressive lawmakers lauded General Assembly leadership for the work it took to craft the legislation, but said they felt it did not go far enough.

Within this bill we are still allowing for those special privileges that an officer can exercise in regards to avoiding accountability, said Rep. David Morales, a Providence Democrat.

Rep. Teresa Tanzi (right), speaks out against the General Assemblys LEOBOR reform proposals on the House Floor Thursday, May 9, 2024. Tanzi said the bills move Rhode Island three steps forward, but we still have 97 steps to go. To her left is Rep. Leonela Felix, a Pawtucket Democrat. (Alexander Castro/Rhode Island Current)

Progressive lawmakers wanted chiefs to have the ability to immediately terminate an officer for violating the law. Craven told lawmakers that officers charged with a felony under the compromise legislation can only be served with an immediate suspension and are still allowed access to medical benefits.

Rep. Jose Batista, a Providence Democrat, proposed an amendment during the House debate to give police chiefs the ability to immediately fire an officer found to have used deadly force in violation of departmental rules.

Batista said the Minneapolis Police Department used such a provision when it promptly fired white officer Derek Chauvin for killing George Floyd, a Black man, in May 2020. Under the terms of the bill passed by the House Tuesday, progressives said an officer like Chauvin could not be immediately terminated in Rhode Island.

But many lawmakers told Batista and other progressives that the floor amendment, if passed, would be unconstitutional.

Folks, theres a supremacy clause in the Constitution, said Rep. Matthew Dawson, an East Providence Democrat. We have to respect the laws of the federal government  theres also the 14th Amendment, people have the right to due process.

Theres also the Fifth Amendment in the real Bill of Rights, he continued.

Batista responded that police chiefs, under his amendment, would still have to abide by state labor laws and give officers the chance to defend themselves.

All of that is still applicable  thats due process, Batista said.

Progressives and members of the Rhode Island Black, Latino, Indigenous, Asian-American and Pacific Islander Caucus initially called for LEOBOR hearings to be held concurrently with a criminal trial, but Batista said they wanted to narrow down their demands to be more effective.

The caucus held a press conference just ahead of Thursdays vote where members said they would not support change just for changes sake.

The House ultimately voted 47-25 to table Batistas floor amendment.

After the amendment was tabled, Black Lives Matter Rhode Island PAC Director Harrison Tuttle issued a statement where he expressed extreme disappointment with legislators.

Despite the haunting potential that a police officer unjustly murders a citizen, a super majority Democrat Rhode Island House of Representatives expressed, through their actions, that they do not value the lives of Rhode Island residents if it comes at the cost of ensuring that police in this state are protected under LEOBOR, Tuttle said.

Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha commended the House for passing LEOBOR reform.

This legislation will help law enforcement better serve their communities and hold accountable those who break the publics trust, Neronha said in a statement . While there is undoubtedly work left to be done, I applaud the General Assembly, community members, law enforcement agencies and others who have contributed to this important effort to improve policing in Rhode Island.

Hulls bill now heads to the Senate Judiciary Committee for consideration. Ruggerios bill, which cleared the Senate in late January, will likely go before the full chamber again some time next week.

The post A long time coming: R.I. House approves reforms to Law Enforcement Officers Bill of Rights appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
Longtime adviser to Ky. Gov. Beshear to depart this year for private sector job

One of Gov. Andy Beshears top lieutenants is leaving his post after almost nine years working alongside the governor.

Deputy Chief of Staff Jonathan Smith will leave for the private sector in late Summer, early Fall, Beshear announced at a Thursday press conference.

A spokesperson for Beshear did not respond to Herald-Leader questions regarding where he would be employed once he leaves his official post.

Alongside Chief of Staff La Tasha Buckner, Smith has been in the governors tight professional circle for a long time. Other high-profile administration officials include Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, Senior Adviser Rocky Adkins and State Budget Director John Hicks.

Smith has worked for Beshear in one capacity or another dating back to the governors campaign for attorney general, which began in 2013. Hes seen by many political insiders as a liaison between Beshear and others in the political world.

Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics Newsletter





A must-read newsletter for political junkies across the Bluegrass State with reporting and analysis from the Lexington Herald-Leader. Never miss a story! Sign up for our Bluegrass Politics newsletter to connect with our reporting team and get behind-the-scenes insights, plus previews of the biggest stories.







Beshear heralded Smith as an incredible part of Team Kentucky at his weekly presser.

We could not have accomplished what weve accomplished at the AGs office or here without him, Beshear said. Hes going to be missed, and his are going to be big shoes to fill.

The governor also mentioned that Smith has three young children and may want to spend a little bit more time at home than he can as a deputy chief of Staff to a governor.

In an interview with the Herald-Leader earlier this year, Smith mentioned his involvement in restoring voting rights for roughly 180,000 Kentuckians with non-violent felony offenses as well as the removal of a statue of former Confederate President Jefferson Davis from the Capitol Rotunda as particular highlights.

Smiths replacement is an internal hire.

Coulter Minix, who has served as director of Beshears office in Washington D.C., will be replacing Smith as deputy chief of staff. Minix has served in his current role for more than four years, transitioning in March 2020 from an attorney role at the Childrens Law Center, according to his professional resume posted on LinkedIn.

Last week, the Herald-Leader had submitted an open records request seeking any messages related to Smiths future.

Minutes after a press release came out reiterating Beshears Thursday comments, the governors offices sent a response to the Herald-Leaders request. It included only the press release.
Longtime farm gives way to rare Tri-Cities riverfront project. What makes it different?

At the dawn of the U.S. entry into World War II, Lura and Fred Harris owned land the government wanted for the war effort.

It gave them 30 days to vacate their east Pasco dairy, citing military needs. Diversity Farm Dairy became a supply depot. Today, it forms the heart of Big Pasco Industrial Park, all traces of the former dairy obliterated.

The Harrises adapted. In 1942, Lura and Fred hauled themselves, their family and even their farmhouse down Court Street to the far western end.

They established a new farm at the former Wexler Ranch, 118 bucolic acres adjacent the Columbia River in unincorporated Franklin County.

Family lore holds that a family meal was still on the table when the house arrived at its new spot.

The move was by all accounts a success. Eight generations of Harrises grew up on the new farm and countless Tri-Citians bought fruits and veggies from their farm stand.

Eight decades on, its all changing again.

The old Harris Farm is gone. A 500-unit neighborhood called Columbia Shores is taking its place.

Graders began sculpting the site, which borders Pascos Broadmoor area, about a month ago. Developers and the Pasco Chamber of Commerce kicked it all off with an official groundbreaking on May 9.

Construction is beginning on a townhome and housing development along the picturesque Columbia River on the site of a longtime family farm in west Pasco.

Time to sell

Lura and Fred Harris, their children, their childrens children and more made the curve on Court Street their home for generations. One Harris grandson still lives nearby, on a separate parcel.

But by 2019, they were wrestling with the family legacy.

Historic photos from the Harris family.

The farm was down to 45 acres. The land was held in a trust with a large number of beneficiaries. Developers were knocking on their door, offering astonishing sums as fast-growing Pasco sparked demand for ever more places to build.

The family decided it was time to simplify. They hired a local auction house, Musser Bros., to handle the sale.

Historic photos from the Harris family farm.

Its time to settle the trust, Lurene Harris Fleshman, who grew up at the farm and raised her own children there, told the Tri-City Herald on the eve of the auction.

It was a sensational listing.

The federal government controls much of the Tri-Cities shoreline, making it off-limits to development. The Harris parcels came with 450 feet of waterfront and room for up to 600 homes.

Musser Bros. anticipated it would sell to a home or condo developer eager to capitalize on the picturesque location, the Tri-City Herald reported in a run-up to the auction.

And thats what happened.

SG Land Management of Kennewick, held by Ruslan Gorbatyuk and Peter Strizhak, paid $5 million in a deal that closed in 2020.

Columbia Shores will install 498 townhomes and three single family homes at the former Harris Farm, on West Court Street in Pasco. Graders move past a blue house that once belonged to the Harris family that farmed there for generations. The I-182 Glenn C. Lee/Sam Volpentest bridges are visible in the background.

In the intervening years, SG worked with RP Development, led by Steve Bauman, and Pro Made Homes (PMH) to create a plan for the prized site. Bauman is also a current Franklin County commissioner.

Columbia Shores began working its way through the planning process in 2021. The first grading permits were issued this spring. Jacob Gonzalez, Pascos community and economic development director, said the city worked closely with the developer and is pleased by the balance of homes and open space.

Farm to neighborhood

Columbia Shores will feature 498 two-story townhomes and three single-family homes on the waterfront.

West Court runs through the property and Harris Road serves as its northern boundary. Interstate 182 is to the east.

Traffic crosses the Columbia River between Richland and Pasco on the I182 bridges.

A mix of public and private roads and walking trails will knit the neighborhood together, along with dog parks, a fitness center and other amenities, according to both marketing materials and environmental review documents.

The site plan includes 86 townhouse buildings, with five to six units per building. About 18% of the property is reserved for walking paths and common areas, which will be owned and maintained by a homeowners association.

The neighborhood will develop in four phases. The first, will see construction of 106 townhomes and the luxury three houses, followed by 117 townhomes in the second phase, 125 in the third and 150 in the fourth.

Development will take about five years and should wrap by 2030.

The city of Pasco will provide water and sewer service, and Franklin PUD will provide power.

PMH is collecting names of potential buyers for townhomes, which will be priced in the $300,000 range.

Individual homes will range from 1,600 to about 2,300 square feet and will have three or four bedrooms and 2-1/2 bathrooms. The initial round of construction will include a model home at West Court Street and Harris, named for the farm.

Construction begins this fall and the first homes will be ready for buyers by the end of the year.

Colin Hastings, executive director for the Pasco chamber, said Columbia Shores is the kind of development the community needs to keep up with growth. Theres a need for affordable, nice housing, he said.

Pascos westward march

When the Harris family first arrived on West Court Street, the area was very isolated and very difficult to reach. There were no city utilities or streets offering easy access to Kennewick or Richland.

Historic photos from the Harris family farm.

Crossing the Columbia meant taking a ferry or circling back to Pasco to use the old (and long ago demolished) green bridge.

The blue bridge opened in 1954 and the cable bridge in 1978. Both improved connections with Kennewick, but west Pasco remained off the beaten path.

That changed in late 1984 when I-182 opened and connected Pasco and Richland via two bridges. The new freeway made it possible for people to live in Pasco and commute to Richland, and vise versa.

Fred Harris, it should be noted, was delighted by construction of the Glenn C. Lee and Sam Volpentest spans near his farm.

The 90-something haunted the construction zone. Workers nicknamed him sidewalk superintendent. The Harris patriarch lived to see the bridges open to traffic and died shortly after his 100th birthday, in 1987.

The transformation of a mid-century farm into a dense neighborhood with hundreds of townhomes fits into the larger picture for Pasco, long one of Washingtons fastest growing communities.

Pascos current population stands at 81,800, with four out of every five Franklin County residents calling it home. It is expected to grow to 116,000 by 2040, according to the Benton Franklin Council of Governments, the regional planning agency.

The Broadmoor area, which borders the Harris/Columbia Shores property, is being remade to accommodate growth. A $4 million city sewer project is enabling dense development.

The Broadmoor Boulevard Interchange is getting a $7 million makeover, part of a larger $40 million investment by the city in the area to encourage residential, retail, recreational and other development.

Sign Up: Boom Town Tri-Cities

Stay up to date on Tri-Cities growth and development with our weekly business newsletter. Get the latest on restaurant and business openings and closings, plus the regions top housing and employment news. Click here to sign up. In your inbox every Wednesday.
The Kanawha City Courthouse with an American and West Virginia state flag flying in front of it.

Longtime Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper announced Friday afternoon he is stepping down from office. (Lexi Browning | West Virginia Watch)

Nearly a year after the start of a police investigation into an allegation of inappropriate conduct at a Charleston park, longtime Kanawha County Commissioner Kent Carper announced Friday afternoon he is stepping down from office.

His resignation comes just days before the primary election, in which he was seeking his sixth term as county commissioner.

Kent Carper

In a statement Friday afternoon, the Kanawha County Commission said it received Carpers resignation and it appreciates his service of 28 years. The commission will discuss an appointment to his seat at an upcoming meeting.

In May 2023, WOWK-TV News reported that Carper was under investigation for alleged lewd activity at Daniel Boone Park in Charleston. In a statement later, Carpers daughter Virginia Carper, said the allegation involved Carper in a parked vehicle at the park.

She said Carper was diagnosed to have had a heart attack the same day and attributed the alleged incident to confusion caused by Carpers illness. Carper also reportedly underwent quadruple bypass surgery and suffered a stroke.

According to records turned over in a Freedom of Information Act request, in the hours after the alleged incident on May 15, Carper sent an email offering a job to a county employee who was the girlfriend of the Charleston Police Department officer who responded to the incident at the park that day, according to multiple sources.

Nearly simultaneous to Carpers announcement Friday, a special prosecutor appointed to the case and the U.S. Department of Justice announced separately that they would end their investigations without taking action.

In his statement, United States Attorney Will Thompson confirmed that his office and its partners concluded an investigation involving Carper.

The investigation uncovered significant allegations of concern, Thompson said in the release. It also found that Carper had significant health issues that could have had an impact on his actions relevant to the investigation. As a result, a decision has been made to end the investigation without taking further action.

The statement noted that in general, the Department of Justice does not publicly announce investigations or investigative findings, but policy allows exceptions in certain circumstances, including when the issue has already received significant publicity.

Logan County prosecutor Dave Wandling, who in June 2023 was appointed special prosecutor in the matter, said in a statement that the incident was investigated first by the Charleston Police Department and then by West Virginia State Police and the U.S. Attorneys Office and has reached a conclusion.

The special investigation conducted by the West Virginia State Police revealed information of concern about the allegations made by the complainant, Wandlings statement said. However, mitigating information was also uncovered that Mr. Carper had significant health issues that could have had an impact on his actions. As a result, a decision has been made to end the investigation without taking further action.

Carper formerly served as president of the commission. He was replaced in January by Commissioner Lance Wheeler.

A call to Carper went unanswered on Friday. Jesse Forbes, a Charleston attorney representing Carper, said Carpers health had deteriorated to a point that serving on the commission had become untenable and he decided not to continue in office. He reiterated that the alleged incident had been investigated thoroughly without charges being filed.

Forbes asked that people remember the tremendous service Carper has had to the county over a 40-year career that included being an attorney, Charleston police chief and assistant prosecuting attorney.

Carper is being challenged in this years primary election by former Secretary of State Natalie Tennant.

Reached Friday evening, Wheeler said Carpers resignation came as a surprise to the commissioners and the commission staff, who had no indication that this was going to happen. The commission understands Carper has health issues and has grandchildren he wants to be involved with, he said.

Wheeler said in Carpers 28 years as commissioner, he has done a lot of good for the county that should be remembered.

Moving forward, I think we need to think about the county in general and making sure that were continuing to do what weve always done, Wheeler said. And thats being transparent to the public, being a good steward of watching the taxpayer money, and making sure that were continuing the economic development projects that Commissioner Carper was involved in, which includes the Capital City Sports Complex, the water and sewer projects, and everything that hes done, as well. Those are the things that well remember with his legacy.

By state code, the commission has 30 days to fill Carpers vacancy. Wheeler said the county will put a notice in the newspaper that if people are eligible and live in a vacant magisterial district, they can apply to fill the rest of Carpers term, which expires Jan. 1, 2025. Carper is a Democrat, which means his unexpired term must be filled by a Democrat.

Applicants will make their case for getting the job during an upcoming meeting of the commission, he said. Commissioners Wheeler and Ben Salango will vote on the appointment during a public setting, he said.

I think thats what really needs to be discussed now, is how will this position be filled? It will be filled with transparency, just like weve always had in the past, Wheeler said.

Salango said Friday he appreciates Carpers nearly 30 years of service to Kanawha County and wishes him well in retirement.

The post Longtime Kanawha County Commissioner Carper steps down appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  The Office of Attorney General Liz Murrill has filed an appeal in defense of the new Congressional maps to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Murrill said they filed an Emergency Stay application on Friday, May 10.

The court called for the other parties to respond by Monday, May 13, at 11 a.m. Eastern. We will have to wait to see what the court does after that deadline, Murrill said in a statement.

Louisiana filed a notice appealing the decision of a three-judge panel order against the states new Congressional maps on May 8. A stay had also been requested of the Louisiana Supreme Court by voting rights advocates.

The United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Monroe Division denied the joint motion for a stay pending appeal.

In the filing, the state lawyers request that the U.S. Supreme Court stay pending the appeal of the lower courts injunction and remedial proceedings by Wednesday, May 15.

A panel of Supreme Court justices said the newest map adopted by lawmakers cant be used. They ordered that the Louisiana Legislature pass a new map by June 3 or they will construct one themselves.

Murrill and Gov. Jeff Landry wish to keep the new maps for this years election. Landry signed a bill that created a second Black-majority Congressional district in January. The new district would stretch from Baton Rouge to Shreveport.

Louisiana attorney general says Congressional map headed to Supreme Court

In a statement on Monday, Murrill said that the current map should be implemented, and if not, then the maps from the 2022 session should remain in place.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries investigating after mans body found in Livingston Parish

LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (BRPROUD)  Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries agents are investigating a Tuesday, May 7 deadly boating incident in Livingston Parish.

Agents said they were notified around 7:45 p.m. by Good Samaritans about an unoccupied 16-foot vessel that ran aground against the bank of the bay. LDWF said the body of Patrick Jones, 57, was recovered from Colyell Bay around 8 p.m.

The vessels engine was still running and the throttle was still in the forward position, agents said. Joness body was found in the same area of the unoccupied boat.

LDWF said it is unknown at this time what caused Jones to be ejected from the boat and that his body was recovered without wearing a personal flotation device.

His body was turned over to the Livingston Parish Coroners Office to determine an official cause of death. This is a developing story.

Louisiana man sentenced to chemical castration, 30 years in jail after rape conviction

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
Xavier University of Louisiana, a Historically Black college in New Orleans, became the second school to cancel United Nations Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfields address amid the students Gaza protests.

The institution reversed course on its choice of a commencement speaker after pressure from students and the community over Thomas-Greenfields voting record at the U.N.

University President Reynold Verret announced the news in a Wednesday email.

Everyones goal is to have a commencement ceremony that appropriately honors the graduates and their achievements, Verret wrote in the email. The vast majority of students want to be able to enjoy a commencement ceremony free of disruptions. Therefore, we will not be moving forward with the commencement speaker as originally planned.

The school initially revealed that Thomas-Greenfield would be the commencement speaker last Sunday. Following the Sunday news of the speaker lineup, nearly 1,800 people signed a petition demanding a new commencement speaker.

Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield has repeatedly voted against a ceasefire in Gaza, resulting in the decimation of all 13 universities in Gaza, the loss of over 30,000 lives with thousands more remaining in the rubble from violence, and the continuation of the genocide in Gaza, the petition says. Palestinians in Gaza draw upon the experiences of their brothers and sisters in America during the segregation era.

The student-led petition asked the university to bring a commencement speaker that represents the schools mission statement and to end the politicization of our Commencement ceremony.

It is the second school, after the University of Vermont (UVM), to make the decision.

Suresh Garimella, UVMs president, announced the decision in an email to the university community.

It is with regret that I share that our planned speaker, Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield, will not be joining us to deliver the Commencement address, Garimella said in the email.

Pro-Palestinian protesters on university campuses across the country have shown their displeasure with President Biden and his administrations handling of the Israel-Hamas war and the humanitarian crisis impacting Palestinians in Gaza.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
LIVINGSTON PARISH, La. (BRPROUD)  A Denham Springs man was sentenced to 25 years in prison at hard labor in connection with the beating and robbing of an 87-year-old man.

According to 21st Judicial District Attorney Scott Perrilloux, John Francis Bailey, 52, pleaded guilty to armed robbery, aggravated second-degree battery and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In January 2022, Bailey was accused of ambushing an 87-year-old man outside of his home. The Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office investigated the ambush and learned that Bailey reportedly beat the man, restrained his hands with zip ties and forced him to open a safe at gunpoint, Perrilloux said.

Baton Rouge police investigate bank robbery near Airline Highway

Bailey was accused of stealing more than $100,000 and silver coins and then leaving the home in the victims vehicle. The items were later given back to the 87-year-old man.

The Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office got video and created a timeline of Baileys movements before, during and after the crime, Perrilloux said.

The district attorney said the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab produced DNA analysis from the zip tie which confirmed the two DNA profiles on the object were most likely the victims and Baileys.

According to the plea agreement, Bailey will serve 25 years at hard labor without the possibility of probation, parole or suspension of sentence.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
LIVINGSTON, La. (BRPROUD)  A Walker man was sentenced to 30 years in jail and chemical castration after he was convicted on three counts of second-degree rape.

According to 21st Judicial District Attorney Scott Perrilloux, Blake Sparky Lott must also register as a sex offender for life.

The Livingston Parish Sheriffs Office started an investigation in April 2021 after one juvenile alerted authorities that she was a victim of sexual abuse. As the investigation unfolded, two more juvenile victims were identified by LPSO.

DNA evidence was used to back up the statements made by the victims, Perrilloux said.

Louisiana man faces new child porn, animal sex abuse charges

He said the victims had the courage to speak out against an adult, knowing the adversity it would bring.

Assistant District Attorney Brett Sommer prosecuted the case.

Lott surely deserves more than 30 years for his unspeakable acts, Sommer said. He said that by taking the plea, the agreement sends Lott away for a significant amount of time and spares these juvenile victims and their families from the trauma of a trial.

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
The United States has historically been Israels main weapons supplier. Imports of U.S. material, including high-tech armaments, have been the key to Israels military primacy in the Middle East. For decades, arms sales to Israel have been unquestioned. Thats why the decision of U.S. President Joe Biden to paralyze the shipment of offensive weapons to Israel if it undertakes a large-scale operation in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, is a qualitative change in the relationship between both countries.

To make the message clear, following weeks of fruitless talks in which the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu failed to listen to U.S. concerns over Rafah, Biden decided last week to pause the first delivery. This was a shipment of 3,500 munitions: 1,800 900-kilogram bombs and 1,700 225-kilogram bombs. Biden  who complained a few months ago about Israels indiscriminate bombing  acknowledged Wednesday in an interview with CNN that civilians have been killed in Gaza as a consequence of those American bombs.

In the interview, Biden said that the invasion of Rafah is just wrong. If they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons, he said, making it clear that shipments of lethal weaponry will be halted. Were not going to supply the weapons and the artillery shells, said Biden. Ive made it clear to Bibi [Netanyahu] and the war cabinet: Theyre not going to get our support, if in fact they go on these population centers.

Israeli soldiers gather near the southern border of the Gaza Strip on May 9. ABIR SULTAN (EFE)

The suspended shipment was not due to arrive in Israel for a few weeks, so in material terms it is not decisive in preventing a short-term operation in Rafah. But it is a warning from Israels main weapons supplier. According to a recent report by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States accounted for 69% of imports of Israels main conventional weapons between 2019 and 2023.

According to State Department data, since the creation of Israel in 1948, the United States has provided it with more than $130 billion in bilateral aid focused on countering threats, security cooperation, interoperability through joint exercises and helping Israel maintain its so-called qualitative military edge  which Washington has assumed by law as its own obligation. That clause is important. In fact, in quantitative terms, according to SIPRI data, in the Middle East alone, the United States sold more weapons to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait than to Israel between 2019 and 2023.

U.S. aid to Israel has helped make its military one of the most powerful and effective in the world. A program negotiated nearly a decade ago is currently in force. In September 2016, then-president Barack Obama reached an agreement with Netanyahu, in which the United States committed to providing $38 billion in military aid to Israel over a period of 10 years. This includes $3.3 billion annually in weapons and an additional $500 million for Israeli air defense systems.

Students at George Washington University protest against U.S. aid to Israel, on April 26. SHAWN THEW (EFE)

Fighter jets

Israel has used those funds to order 75 F-35 fighter jets, a plane undetectable by radar and considered the most advanced ever manufactured. Thanks to Washingtons commitment to ensure Israel maintains its qualitative military edge, Israel was the first country other than the United States to receive an F-35 and was also, in fact, the first to use it in combat. It already has 30 of these planes, and Washington has approved the delivery of new units.

Last October, when the State Department last took stock, the United States had 599 active arms sales operations to Israel valued at $23.8 billion, some of which require congressional approval. Among the priority initiatives were the F-35; CH-53K heavy lift helicopters; KC-46A aerial refueling tankers; and precision-guided munitions.

From FY 2018 through FY 2022, the United States also authorized the permanent export of more than $12.2 billion in defense articles to Israel via the Direct Commercial Sales process. In those operations, Israel primarily purchased guided missiles, ballistic missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs and mines, aircraft, gas turbine engines and launch vehicles.

Since the Hamas attacks last October, the Biden government has been supplying weapons covered by previous authorizations or in dozens of shipments that did not require authorization due to their size. The president also announced two additional operations in which he bypassed congressional approval by invoking emergency authority. In December, the White House approved the sale of nearly 14,000 rounds of tank ammunition and equipment to Israel, worth $106.5 million, and the sale of 155-millimeter caliber artillery shells and related equipment worth $147.5 million.

Biden said on Wednesday that even if he stopped sending bombs, howitzers and other lethal weapons, the United States would continue supplying defensive weapons to Israel. Were going to continue to make sure Israel is secure in terms of Iron Dome and their ability to respond to attacks that came out of the Middle East recently, he stated.

The Iron Dome anti-aircraft system intercepts missiles over Ashkelon, on October 9, 2023. Amir Cohen (REUTERS)

In the U.S. military aid package approved in March  which provided funding to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan  the Israeli package prioritized defensive capabilities, providing $5.2 billion to replenish air defense systems such as the Iron Dome and Davids Sling. These systems are designed to intercept rockets, drones, missiles, planes and projectiles fired against its territory. Another $3.5 billion was allocated to the acquisition of advanced weapons systems through the Foreign Military Financing Program: $1 billion to improve the production and development of artillery and ammunition and $4.4 billion to replenish defense supplies and services.

Bidens decision to halt weapons shipments is the biggest military disagreement between the U.S. and Israel since the first Lebanon war in 1982. In that conflict, president Ronald Reagan suspended the delivery of cluster bombs and other weapons. The previous year, it also decided to withhold the delivery of combat aircraft.

The United States has been the key military supporter of Israel, which claims that it can go ahead with its plans without U.S. support. The White House maintains that it is still hopeful that the Netanyahu government will not decide to invade Rafah. Thats a choice that Israel will have to make, National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Thursday. And its one we hope they dont.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAIS USA Edition




Alexander Lukashenko, the self-proclaimed president of Belarus, has dismissed Viktor Gulevich, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Belarus, due to his age.

Source: Belarusian regime-aligned news outlet Pul Pervogo; Belarusian media outlet Zerkalo

Quote: "Pursuant to a decree issued by Lukashenko, Gulevich has been discharged from active military duty and transferred to the reserve on account of his age, retaining the right to wear military uniforms and insignia."

Details: Gulevich had served as the commander of the Western Operational Command of the Armed Forces of Belarus since February 2020.

Lukashenko appointed him as chief of the General Staff and first deputy defence minister on 11 March 2021.

Support UP or become our patron!
Nearly two years after Steve Bannon was found guilty on two counts of contempt of Congress, the right-wing operative/podcaster hoped an appeals court would undo what a jury already did. As my MSNBC colleague Clarissa-Jan Lim explained, that was wishful thinking.

It was not a close call: The three-judge panel, which included a Trump appointee, was unanimous and categorical in its ruling.

Whats more, this adds to Bannons larger list of troubles: The far-right podcaster is also slated to stand trial in New York City in September on charges related to his role in the We Build the Wall operation. In that case, Bannon is accused of helping defraud donors. (Coincidentally, Judge Juan Merchan, who is presiding over Donald Trumps hush money trial, is overseeing Bannons other case, too.)

Bannon also faced federal criminal charged four years ago, though he received a pardon from Trump on the former presidents last day in office.

As for todays case, lets revisit our earlier coverage and review how we arrived at this point.

The one thing everyone involved in the process can agree on is that Bannon has important insights related to the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. He was in communications with Trump in the runup to the insurrectionist riot, and he reportedly told the outgoing president, [I]ts time to kill the Biden presidency in the crib.

The day before the attack, Bannon seemed to know quite a bit about what was likely to happen, telling his podcast listeners, All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just understand this: All hell is going to break loose tomorrow.... [A]ll I can say is: Strap in. You have made this happen, and tomorrow its game day.

With this in mind, it hardly came as a surprise when the bipartisan House committee investigating the attack issued subpoenas in September 2021, seeking information from key Trump insiders  and Bannon was at the top of the list.

When he refused to comply in any way, the House approved a resolution finding the GOP operative in contempt of Congress. As part of the same process, the Democratic-led chamber referred the matter to the Justice Department for possible criminal prosecution, and in November 2021, Bannon was indicted by a federal grand jury, charged with one count of contempt and another involving his refusal to produce documents, despite a congressional subpoena.

The criminal trial didnt go especially well for the defendant: Bannons defense team called no witnesses, and the accused never took the stand. The jury only deliberated for about three hours before finding him guilty.

A few months later, a federal judge  who was also appointed by Trump  sentenced Bannon to four months behind bars, though the jurist said he could remain free while the appeals process continued.

All of which led to todays ruling, which wasnt the outcome the podcaster was hoping for.

So what happens now? The defendants options have narrowed considerably: As Clarissa-Jans report added, Bannon has seven days to ask the full D.C. Circuit to hear his appeal or take his case to the Supreme Court. There is no reason to expect either outcome to offer him the relief hes looking for.

Whats more, neither option is likely to extend the process long enough to make another Trump pardon a realistic possibility.

With this in mind, Joyce Vance, a former federal prosecutor and an MSNBC legal analyst, concluded this morning, Bannon is going to prison.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
The Senate was in session yesterday, though Sen. Rick Scott missed some of the proceedings on Capitol Hill. It wasnt because of an illness or a family matter, but rather, the Florida Republican decided to attend Donald Trumps criminal trial in New York City.

Scott wasnt a witness or a party to the case in any way. Instead, he apparently wanted to show his support for the former president  he reportedly drove with Trump from Trump Tower yesterday morning  in part by being on hand, sitting in the front row of the courtroom, and in part by holding a press conference of sorts outside the courthouse where he peddled pro-Trump talking points to reporters.

In fact, the GOP senator had all sorts of things to say. Scott condemned the prosecution as despicable. He took rhetorical aim at Judge Juan Merchans daughter. He whined about the gag order. The senator even argued, If they can go after the former president, they can go after you, which happens to be true: If prosecutors have evidence that you falsified business records after making hush-money payments to a porn star, you should probably expect to be indicted, too.

But that wasnt the interesting part. Rather, it was Scotts claims about his own victimization that stood out for me. Rolling Stone reported:

Im fed up, Scott told reporters. I watched what happened to me and my company.

Scott: I'm fed up. I watched what happened to me and my company. I've talked to business people over the years and what's happened to them when you have political persecution. pic.twitter.com/hMJ04gp13L  Acyn (@Acyn) May 9, 2024

As part of the same Q&A, Scott claimed that he was an opponent of the Clinton administrations health care reform initiative in the early 1990s, adding, After it was defeated, [Hillary Clinton] used the Justice Department to go after me and my company.

The GOP senator apparently made the same claim on Fox News a few hours earlier, claiming that his Medicare scandal was the result of a conspiracy because he fought Hillarycare.

If Scott, whos up for re-election this year, really wants to relitigate this, we can, but it seems like a topic he should want to avoid.

For those who benefit from a refresher: Before becoming a far-right politician, Scott led a company called Columbia/HCA, which faced a federal fraud investigation over Medicare. As the FBI's investigation advanced, Scott resigned as CEO, though he nevertheless faced considerable scrutiny  including an infamous civil deposition in which the Republican asserted his Fifth Amendment rights 75 times.

Scotts former company ultimately pleaded guilty to 14 felonies and was fined $1.7 billion. It was, at the time, the biggest Medicare fraud case in American history.

Though the article is no longer online, The Miami Herald reported in 2010 that federal investigators found that Scott took part in business practices at Columbia/HCA that were later found to be illegal  specifically, that Scott and other executives offered financial incentives to doctors in exchange for patient referrals, in violation of federal law, according to lawsuits the Justice Department filed against the company in 2001.

As Rolling Stones report added, the Florida Republican even used to express a degree of contrition over the matter, telling voters in 2010, Ive made mistakes in my life. And mistakes were certainly made at Columbia/HCA.

That was 14 years ago. Now, evidently, Scott has settled on an entirely new position: He was a victim of a secret Justice Department plot orchestrated by then-first lady Hillary Clinton.

Even by contemporary GOP standards, this is awfully weird, though the Republican incumbent is generally seen as likely to win re-election anyway.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
It was just last month when state prosecutors in Arizona indicted 18 Republicans as part of the partys fake-elector scheme from 2020, resulting in allegations of conspiracy, fraud and forgery. Among those charged was GOP state Sen. Jake Hoffman, who soon after received some more pleasant news:

Two days after Hoffman was charged, the Arizona Republican Party thought itd be a good idea to elevate the state senator to the Republican National Committee  leaving little doubt that the party simply didnt much care about the criminal indictment issued 48 hours earlier.

The Arizona Republics Laurie Roberts soon after summarized in a column: The Arizona Republican Party on Saturday sent a flat out, full-throated, flabbergasting message to the voters of this great state. We be crazy, they proclaimed.

Two weeks later, it appears a related problem has spread to one of Arizonas neighbors. The Las Vegas Sun reported:

In case anyones forgotten, it was late last year when six Republicans were indicted in Nevada, each of whom served as fake electors for Trump after his 2020 defeat. Six months later, five of the six people charged  including Nevada GOP Chairman Michael McDonald and Vice Chairman Jim Hindle  were chosen as delegates to their partys upcoming national convention in Milwaukee.

McDonald and Clark County Republican chairman Jesse Law, who was included in the December indictment, were also chosen by the state party to serve as actual presidential electors this year in the event that the GOP ticket prevails.

Common sense might suggest that the criminal charges would make these Republicans politically radioactive. And yet, in Nevada as in Arizona, state party officials appear wholly unmoved by the indictment.

Clearly, lessons learned, The Nevada Independents Jon Ralston said sarcastically in response to this weeks news.

Nevada State Democratic Party spokesperson Tai Sims added, It should not come as a shock to anyone that Nevada Republicans nominated indicted fake electors to be their 2024 presidential electors. Republicans have spent the last four years relentlessly spreading dangerous election conspiracy theories that threaten the basic functions of democracy.

The indicted GOP officials in Nevada have pleaded not guilty. Their cases are expected to go to trial early next year.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Two months into Donald Trumps presidency, the oil industry had reason to be pleased with Republican control in Washington, D.C. ExxonMobils former CEO had just been confirmed as the secretary of State; congressional Republicans agreed to make it easier for oil giants to hide payments to foreign governments; and the new Republican administration was already taking steps to roll back all kinds of environmental safeguards.

It was against this backdrop that the White House issued a press statement touting ExxonMobils decision to expand investments in several Gulf Coast projects. As Mother Jones discovered, part of the statement included language that was effectively identical to the language in Exxons own press release  leaving Team Trump and the oil company on the same page in a rather literal sense.

Seven years later, the problem is metastasizing: Politico reported this week that oil industry executives are writing up presidential executive orders now, in the hopes that Trump will simply sign them if/when he returns to the White House.

Matthew Davis, vice president of federal policy at the League of Conservation Voters and a former EPA scientist, told Politico that an industry writing exact language for an incoming president to sign is beyond the pale, adding, It is not shocking, but perhaps a little bold and gross that the oil industry is writing text for executive orders.

As it happens, thats not the only gross connection between Team Trump and Big Oil. The Washington Post also reported on a recent Mar-a-Lago gathering at which the former president sat with some of the countrys top oil executives, who complained about burdensome environmental safeguards.

According to the Posts reporting, which has not been independently verified by MSNBC or NBC News, the presumptive GOP nominee told the oil executives that if they raised $1 billion to put him back in power, itd a good deal for the industry because theyd end up making more than that in profits thanks to Trumps policies on taxes and regulations.

To be sure, the former president wasnt talking about an actual bribe, but the Republicans message wasnt exactly subtle: Big Oil raises a billion dollars to elect Trump, and Trump will in turn scrap environmental safeguards and give the industry tax breaks.

This, of course, is the same Republican who has claimed, more than once, that he took steps to deliberately raise gas prices to help oil industry profits.

President Joe Bidens re-election campaign responded to the reporting with a statement that read in part, This is Trumps corrupt MAGA agenda in a nutshell: Trump acting as a puppet for his largest donors  giving them tax breaks and favorable policies while working families get screwed over.

Im mindful of the fact that the definition of the word populist can sometimes be amorphous, but the next time someone uses it to describe Trump, remind them of this story. An oil billionaire organized a gathering at the former presidents glorified country club, where Trump made a brazenly transactional pitch to oil executives, whom he expects to help put him in the Oval Office, at which point hell fulfill their anti-environmental dreams.

A man of the people he is not, unless the people in question are wealthy Big Oil elites.

This post updates our related earlier coverage.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
They have had their hopes smashed before.

Venezuelan exiles living across Florida have voted for change in their homeland in past elections  only to see the regime in Caracas, tightly controlled by socialist leader Nicolas Maduro, inexplicably come out on top. The Venezuelan electoral system simply cant be trusted, most of them concluded.

And yet, thousands of Venezuelans in Florida find themselves believing this time there may yet be an electoral solution to their countrys political crisis. It is not that they believe that Maduro has had a change of heart and has suddenly turned into a democrat, but rather that the circumstances surrounding him have changed to the point that if he attempts to cheat this time he wont be able to get away with it.

As Venezeula heads toward a presidential election on July 28, there are two key factors that make this time different, said William Diaz, founder and president of Casa de Venezuela in Orlando, a non-profit group that provide supports to newly arrived Venezuelans in the U.S.

The first one is that in the past, we have won the election by a nose, Diaz said, adding that the photo-finish results were so close that it required only a little tweaking by the regime-controlled National Electorate Council to steal the vote. But in this upcoming election, he added, the leading opposition candidate has such a big lead over Maduro in recent polls that manipulating the numbers does not appear to be a credible option, leaving the government only with radical measures, such as finding an excuse to cancel the election altogether.

The second point is that there is a greater urgency for change, he said. Conditions in the South American country have deteriorated to the point that according to recent polls another four million Venezuelans could be provoked by a Maduro victory to leave their country in search of a better future, following the steps of the eight million that have already done so.

Our family members in Venezuela are telling us that they can no longer withstand the situation, not for another year, Diaz said.

A poll published in April by local firm Meganalisis showed that 40% of Venezuelans in the country would consider leaving if Maduro is declared the winner in July. Other polls suggest that would not happen if the country holds a free and fair election. A survey last weekend by polling firm Datin Corp has opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia currently holding a 40-point lead over Maduro, a margin of 62% over 20%.

While most Venezuelans living in the United States have taken for granted that Maduro would not be willing to concede defeat in a presidential election, it has been the meteoric rise in the polls of the 74-year old former diplomat that is getting Venezuelans abroad excited.

Gonzalez was a virtual unknown in Venezuela three weeks ago. But then Venezuelas opposition groups united behind him and began to push his candidacy as their best hope to unseat Maduro.

Now, Gonzalez enjoys a commanding lead that analysts in Venezuela believe will be very hard to erase through election fraud.

And his 62% approval rating is expected to continue climbing as more people in Venezuela become familiar with his name, analysts say.

That lead excludes the millions of Venezuelans who have left the country, most of whom will not be able to vote on July 28th. More than 380,000 of them currently live in Florida, the bulk of whom arrived in the Sunshine State in the past 10 seeking to escape political persecution and economic devastation in their homeland.

While settling down in South Florida communities such as Doral, Weston and Fontainebleau in an attempt to reconstruct their lives, most Venezuelans in Florida said they are watching events in the South American country closely, following the meteoric rise of Gonzalez in the polls.

Because there are no current diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Venezuela, there are no consular centers in the United States where the estimated 812,000 Venezuelans living here could go vote, as they have in the past. In fact, Miami was once upon a time the largest voting station outside Venezuela, and in previous elections more than 20,000 Venezuelans were registered to vote in the Miami consulate.

Relations between the two countries, however, collapsed soon after Maduro took power in 2013 and the South American nation currently has no diplomatic representation in the United States. While more than 8 million Venezuelans are believed to be living in other countries, only a few thousands of them are registered to vote this time around in a handful of Latin American nations. (Venezuelans abroad who are not already registered to vote in a consulate outside Venezuela cant vote in the July election.)

But a number of Venezuelans have been moved by the growing optimism surrounding the oppositions chances this time and are considering traveling to the South American country to vote on election day.

We are seeing a very interesting phenomenon, said Orlando Viera-Blanco, president of grassroots organization VenAmerica, which is based in Miami and advocates on behalf of Venezuelan immigrants. The renewed hopes of seeing a democratic transition is prompting diaspora members, who are being kept from voting [in the U.S] to search for ways to participate somehow... planning to travel to Venezuela so they can vote themselves.

Traveling to Venezuela to vote for the opposition, however, could be a risky move for Venezuelans, given that regime officials in the past have arrested people willing to express their discontent on trumped-up charges in an attempt to make an example of them. To vote in Venezuela also requires for the voter to be already registered to vote there.

Yet some believe it is worth the risk. Of course it is, Maria Mercedes Garcia, a Venezuelan exile who lives in Miami. God willing, Ill be traveling to Venezuela so I can vote.

While admitting it will be an expensive undertaking, Garcia said its worth the cost. I have always voted and I have always believed in the vote.

Organizations such as VenAmerica and Casa de Venezuela, among others, have been holding meetings to discuss how they can help their countrymen from the United States. A key meeting will be held May 16 at the U.S,. Capitol building in Washingtion, with representatives from local Casa de Venezuela centers established in 19 other states traveling to meet with U.S. lawmakers who have been following the Venezuelan crisis closely, Diaz said.

Other meetings between U.S. State Department officials and representatives of Venezuelans in the United States have been held in Florida during the past few days.

In October, after a series of month-long negotiations with the Biden administration, Maduro had agreed to hold a presidential election in an accord signed with the Venezuelan opposition. Getting important concessions from the U.S., which partially lifted its oil sanctions on the South American country, the regime had agreed to reform the often criticized electoral system and to allow any opposition leader to compete.

But Maduro reneged on the deal soon after it became evident that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado would soundly beat him in the election. Maduro proceeded to ban her candidacy, and when she named a proxy, university professor Corina Yoris, to run in her place, he blocked her as well.

The Venezuelan strongman had hoped to have conditions in place for an election victory, despite his abysmal lack of popularity, by running against 12 little known, or other wise little-liked, contenders, who would split up the opposition vote among them.

The plan had seemed likely to succeed until Machado and the main opposition parties suddenly decided to unite and back Gonzalez.

The U.S. has reimposed its sanctions on the regime since then.
MAFS Australia's Tim goes Instagram official with new girlfriend after Sara split

Married At First Sight Australia's Tim Calwell has gone Instagram official with his new girlfriend, following his split with Sara Mesa.

Tim and Sara were matched together on the most recent series of the reality show, and while they decided to continue pursuing their relationship after final vows, they later confirmed that they had split up.

Channel 4

Related: MAFS Australia's Lucinda talks dating a British man as she announces UK visit

Now Tim has announced that he is in a new relationship, sharing a carousel of photos of his girlfriend on Instagram, and captioning the post, "Here's to a real Queen."

"I'm so blessed to have this woman in my life," he wrote, "she takes care of me, supports me and treats me right. She lights up every room she walks into and I could just look at her face forever. As they say, when one door closes another one opens.

"Obviously I had a pretty challenging time on MAFS, but at the end of the day I think it really proved to myself I was ready for commitment and somehow oddly enough opened my heart up to receive love by a good woman."

Tim added that he appreciated the "amazing" support he'd received along the way.

Tim's MAFS co-stars commented on the post and shared their best wishes for Tim and his new girlfriend  who he hasn't named publicly.

Channel 4

Related: MAFS Australia's Lucinda admits there's still "a lot of chemistry" with Timothy

Eden Harper wrote: "The hard launch I've been waiting for!!!! You deserve the very best! Cuties xxxx", and Ridge Barredo said: "Hardest of all launches and you didn't even need reality TV to find her. Congrats brah. Happy for you."

Meanwhile, Jack Dunkley commented: "I think I speak with the rest of Australia mate, absolutely stunning couple. Bless you guys."

His partner Tori Adams, who recently relocated to the Gold Coast to move in with Jack, shared the same sentiment, and wrote: "The only Barbie and Ken we need."

In a recent Instagram Q&A, Tim's ex Sara said: "Tim and I aren't together anymore. He's got a beautiful girlfriend now, and I couldn't be happier for him.

"We are still friends and there is no bad blood between us."

Married at First Sight UK airs on E4 in the UK. Married at First Sight Australia airs on Nine Network in Australia and E4 in the UK.

Interested in talking about Married at First Sight? Visit our dedicated sub-forum

You Might Also Like
Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) spokesperson Andrii Yusov has announced that Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drones have already caused US$500 million in damage to the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Source: Defense Express, citing Yusov on air of the national 24/7 newscast

Quote from Yusov: "The secret of the Ukrainian Magura V5 naval drone lies in the skill of Ukrainian manufacturers. They have managed to create a unique means of destroying the enemy fleet and not only the fleet but also its armaments and personnel on board at the time of destruction, combined with the expertise of operators and specialists from DIU, including DIUs Group 13 special unit."

Details: Yusov evaluated the naval drone as a formidable weapon, if not the most effective against the Russian fleet during the full-scale invasion.

"To date, the aggressor's Black Sea Fleet has already suffered losses amounting to over US$500 million due to actions by DIU special units using the Magura V5 drone," Yusov noted.

Read more: Target and eliminate: How Ukraine's Magura drones devastate Russian ships

Background:

In March it was reported that after a successful "hunt" for Russian boats and vessels, the developers of Magura uncrewed surface vessel (USVs) were planning to deploy air defence assets and possibly other weapons systems on these drones.

In May, footage posted by Russian media showed that the Magura V5 USV, used by Defence Intelligence of Ukraines Group 13 special forces unit to destroy a Russian speedboat in the Black Sea on 6 May, had been equipped with R-73 air-to-air missiles.

Earlier, the Security Service of Ukraine said that upgraded Ukrainian USVs can now deliver nearly a tonne of explosives over more than 1,000 kilometres.

Support UP or become our patron!
The dome of the Maine State House in Augusta. (Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)

The Maine Legislature will reconvene today to vote on whether to sustain or override the governors vetoes. Legislators are also expected to consider bills that the budget committee opened up the possibility to enact earlier this week.

The Legislatures Democratic majority leaders said they are supportive of funding those additional investments while the minority Republican caucuses are generally opposed, as is Gov. Janet Mills who has repeatedly urged lawmakers to show fiscal restraint and only take up her vetoes.

Regarding vetoes, the Legislature has never had enough votes to overturn any of Mills formal objections so far during her tenure and that seems unlikely to change this session, as Republican leadership said their party will be sustaining the vetoes up for consideration today.

Mills, a Democrat, vetoed eight bills this year, two of which the Maine House of Representatives already sustained. During the first year of the two-year legislative cycle, Mills vetoed four bills, which legislators also sustained.

Mills and Republicans say they are opposed to voting on other matters because they object to more spending and making policy changes this late in session. The Legislature has not yet adjourned sine die, or finally, but the deadline under state law for the Legislature to conclude its work was April 17.

There are also differences of opinion as to whether lawmakers can vote on matters without calling a special session. On April 17, the Legislature passed a joint order allowing lawmakers to return to consider objections of the governor but also when there is a need to conduct business.

The Legislature worked past midnight of statutory adjournment day to vote on bills and pass budget changes. While lawmakers settled the fates of many bills in these final hours, they left more than 200 in limbo between passage and funding.

Most of these bills were left on what is known as the appropriations table. Bills that land on the table have already passed the full Legislature. However, if they arent explicitly funded in the state budget, they need to be paid for using remaining unappropriated money, which wasnt determined until the early morning of April 18.

The Legislatures Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee reconvened on Tuesday and voted about 80 bills off the table, providing an opportunity for the Legislature to enact them and allocate the now-remaining $11.4 million unappropriated surplus.

Committee chairs and Democratic leadership agreed on leveraging $10 million of those remaining funds for bills on the table, with $4 million each for the Democratic majority caucuses in the House and Senate, and $1 million for each minority Republican caucus  though the total cost of bills moved off the table is not yet known as details are being finalized.

Bills voted off the table now must be approved by the Senate, or both chambers if the Appropriations Committee amended them in any way.

Disagreement over spending

A call for fiscal restraint has been a throughline of the governors stance on the budget this session.

Mills proposed setting aside $107 million in savings as a means to protect Maines long-term fiscal health this year, a plan critiqued from both within and outside of her party. The budget the Legislature passed, and Mills signed into law last month, cut her proposed savings in half, acknowledging the governors concerns but not agreeing to restrain spending to the extent shed proposed.

Earlier this week, after the budget committee advanced the additional spending bills, a spokesperson again said the governor was concerned about the states long-term financial sustainability with those added investments.

Both House and Senate Republicans are opposed to more spending, however Assistant Republican Minority Leader Lisa Keim of Oxford said her caucus will be considering each one on its merit and making that decision as the bills come forward, though declined to provide specific examples of bills they may support.

John Bott, communications director for Maine House Republicans, called the spending so reckless that even the governor has called them out.

Christine Kirby, spokesperson for Senate President Troy Jackson (D-Aroostook), said that Jackson shares the governors commitment to fiscal restraint and responsibility, pointing to the growth of the Budget Stabilization Fund, otherwise known as the rainy day fund, which reached a historic high during their respective tenures.

That being said, there are a number of critical measures on the special appropriations table that deserve to be funded and will make a meaningful difference in the lives of Mainers, Kirby said, including measures Jackson is particularly supportive of, such as support for survivors of sexual assault and initiatives to improve outcomes for children in the child welfare system.

House Speaker Rachel Talbot Ross (D-Portland) similarly said earlier this week that the investments would address immediate needs and represent careful consideration from legislators.

House Democrats championed bills that made it off the table Tuesday, including a proposal from Talbot Ross to establish a unit to enforce violations of the Maine Civil Rights Act.

Another bill sponsored by the Speaker to create an advisory council to ensure Wabanaki and African American studies requirements are effectively taught in schools also made it off the table, which a coalition of Maine organizations has called on the Legislature to pass. The coalition  the Abbe Museum, ACLU of Maine, Maine Indian Tribal-State Commission and Wabanaki Alliance  authored a 2022 report that found school districts have failed to include Wabanaki studies consistently and appropriately in their curriculum.

In contrast, more than 100 bills are set to die when the Legislature finally adjourns because the Appropriations Committee did not vote them off the table.

There are also a handful of bills the budget committee moved off the table back on April 17 at risk of dying without further action. For instance, the committee amended several workers rights bills to remove the need for funding, but the Senate tabled them, leaving them as unfinished business.

The Legislature is also expected to take final enactment votes on bills voted off something called the study table late last month. Bills that require studies are placed on this table and the Legislative Council, composed of the ten highest ranking members of the Legislature, has the authority to decide which studies to prioritize and ultimately fund.

Differences in opinion on permissible actions

Lawmakers have debated whether the joint order passed April 17 permits the Legislature to take votes on matters aside from vetoes past statutory adjournment.

A spokesperson for Talbot Ross said her office has been in conversation with the Attorney General to ensure actions taken are in accordance with the law, though the Attorney Generals Office did not respond to a request for comment.

Director of the Legislatures Office of Policy and Legal Analysis Danielle Fox told Maine Morning Star that she is aware generally of past instances when Legislatures have agreed by joint order to extend a regular session for multiple days to complete work, though did not provide specific examples. Kirby, the spokesperson for Jackson, similarly said there is precedent for such action.

Kirby also pointed to an opinion from the late former Attorney General Joseph Brennan in 1977, in which he weighed in on a similar, but distinct, question.

In 1977, the 108th Legislature passed an adjournment order pertaining to work beyond statutory adjournment that allowed the Legislature to meet again to consider the governors objections. Brennan concluded that under the order, he did not believe the Legislature could conduct other business aside from dealing with gubernatorial vetoes.

However, Brennan noted other options available to the Legislature, such as calling a special session, or simply extending session if doing so was approved by a two-thirds vote of members present.

As the first regular session of the 108th Legislature has not adjourned sine die, we believe it would be possible to conduct business relating to an extension of the adjournment date, Brennan wrote.

Compared to the 1977 order, the order that the current Legislature passed on April 17 was broader in its scope, allowing the Senate President or House Speaker to call the Legislature back when there is a need to conduct business or consider objections of the Governor.

As of Thursday, Keim said her caucus did not have legal concerns.

Our concern is really more around, at what point do we just walk away from our process so wholly, right? And where do we draw the line? Keim said. We believe that the line should already be drawn. Yes, we can legally do this but its not appropriate.

Vetoes

Mills has never had a veto overridden during her time in office. The governor has formally objected to 49 bills since assuming office in 2019. Her predecessor, Republican Paul LePage, set a record among Maine governors by vetoing more than 640 bills.

A two-thirds vote of those present in both chambers is required to override a veto. This means that a veto override could be done with less than two-thirds of all members if some are absent, however Republican opposition is already clear.

Well be sustaining vetoes, Keim said on Thursday. Those are bills we voted against anyway, so our position hasnt changed, just come to find out the governor agrees with us.

The Legislature already sustained the governors vetoes of two bills this year: a measure to further limit noncompete clauses in Maine and another to prevent felony-level charges from being brought against someone with multiple theft convictions if their most recent offense is for petty theft.

The Legislature is expected on Friday to take up the remaining six bills vetoed by Mills this session, several of which drew pointed rebukes from members of her own party.

Among the highest profile of those is the governors own bill, which would have established a minimum wage for farmworkers. However, as proposed by Mills, the bill would have also curtailed farmworkers right to directly sue their employer for the bulk of their possible unpaid wages, instead tasking the Maine Department of Labor with enforcing the law.

Mills said that was needed to avoid costly lawsuits against farms. Democrats on the Labor and Housing Committee disagreed, arguing that it was wrong to take a right away from farmworkers in exchange for the minimum wage and pointing out that accessing the court system is already difficult. The committee removed Mills restrictions on farmworkers private right of action, and the governor ultimately vetoed the bill.

Mills vetoed another bill related to farmworkers that lawmakers will also take up Friday. This proposal aimed to give farmworkers the right to discuss wages and engage in other concerted activity.

Following the mass shooting in Lewiston in October, the Legislature proposed numerous gun control proposals. Two of those bills, one to expand background checks and modify the states yellow flag law and the other to create a 72-hour waiting period for certain gun purchases, became law.

However, Mills vetoed another proposal that aimed to ban conversion devices on semi-automatic weapons, such as bump stocks and would require that firearms used in a crime be destroyed.

Mills objected to the bill because she said it could unintentionally ban weapons that responsible gun owners use for hunting or target shooting. Gun safety advocates pushed back, with Nacole Palmer, the executive director of the Maine Gun Safety Coalition, arguing there is no excuse to allow everyday guns to mimic machine guns.

The Legislature is also expected to take up vetoes on the following bills Friday: a measure to add new tax brackets and increase tax rates for wealthier Mainers, a proposal meant to ensure clean energy projects on state land arent disrupted by labor disputes that the governor called overly ambiguous, and legislation to require that Juniper Ridge landfill operator Casella treat leachate in a way that ensures PFAS levels dont exceed established drinking water standards.

Evan Popp contributed reporting to this story.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Maine lawmakers return to address vetoes, unfinished business on final day appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
A Maine man who attacked three New York police officers with a machete in Times Square on New Years Eve in 2022 was sentenced to 27 years in prison Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

Trevor Bickford, who was 19 at the time, said he attacked the officers because he wanted to wage jihad, the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Southern District of New York said.

Three officers were injured but survived. Bickford used a machete-style knife and said Allahu Akbar, which means God is great in Arabic, as he slashed at their heads, prosecutors said.

The prosecutor's office called it a premeditated "violent rampage." Before Bickford traveled from Maine to the world-famous Times Square New Year's Eve event to attack police, he immersed himself in the teachings of the Taliban and considered going overseas to support the Islamic extremist group, the U.S. attorney's office said.

The machete used to attack three police officers on New Year's Eve in New York. (NYPD via AP file)

"Inspired by radical Islamic extremism, Trevor Bickford brutally attacked three NYPD officers who were just doing their jobs by protecting the public during the Times Square New Years Eve festivities," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

Bickford pleaded guilty in January to three counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the U.S. government and persons assisting them.

He has also been indicted on state counts of first-degree attempted murder in furtherance of an act of terrorism, first-degree attempted murder and other offenses.

The state case is pending. His next court date is May 22, online records show.

Bickford attacked the first officer, who was 23 years old at the time, at around 10:10 p.m., striking him from behind with the knife, and then attacked the two others, officials have said. The first officer he attacked suffered a fractured skull.

The three injured officers spoke in the Manhattan federal courtroom Thursday, including Officer Mickel Hanna, who shot Bickford once in the shoulder and ended the rampage, NBC New York reported. Hanna said that had he not fired, people could have died that night, and that he no longer likes being in crowds, the station reported.

Bickford said Ive left scars and I hope the victims can forgive me, according to NBC New York.

Bickfords defense attorneys argued that untreated mental illness played a significant role in the attack and that Mr. Bickford is ashamed and appalled by his actions in trying to kill three police officers.

Bickford was having auditory, tactile, and visual hallucinations, they wrote in a sentencing memorandum in which they asked for 10 years in prison.

Bickford wrote in a letter to the judge that he owed an apology to the officers and everyone who witnessed the attack, and well as the United States of America. He said that hallucinations caused him to go deeper into radical Islam, adding, By the time I attacked the officers, I had become someone else.

I wish that I could take back my actions. Im grateful for the officers quick thinking and actions to make sure I didnt hurt anyone else that night, he wrote.

Prosecutors asked for at least 50 years in prison, arguing that when it comes to terrorist attacks, the need for deterrence is also of critical importance here. Sentencing guidelines allowed for 120 years, they noted.

The defendant plotted to kill those who did not subscribe to the extremist strain of Islam he embraced, prosecutors wrote in their sentencing submission. His goal was to kill as many military-aged men who worked for the U.S. Government as he could.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Huy Fong Foods is halting production of its world-famous Huy Fong Sriracha amid severe weather that is threatening the brands supply of spicy hot peppers.

News of yet another sriracha shortage made headlines Wednesday, after the Washington Post published a dismal report on the iconic condiment thats best known for its deep red hue and sweet yet garlicky taste. Turns out, the extreme drought conditions in Mexico  where Huy Fongs red winter jalapeno peppers are grown  are causing pepper plants to stop ripening and preventing the crop from achieving their signature red color. According to a letter sent to wholesale buyers, the company said its peppers are still too green, which would alter the color of its brand name sriracha. Huy Fong has decided to cancel all shipments and pause production of its sriracha and related products (including the brands Chili Garlic and Sambal Oelek) until the next chili harvesting season begins. That means production will be on pause until after Labor Day.

Its a double-edged sword when the success of this particular sauce comes from a jalapeno that can only be produced in California or Mexico, climate scientist Guillermo Murray-Tortarolo told the Post.

For longtime Huy Fong Sriracha fans and consumers, the shortage  though unfortunate  isnt anything new. Huy Fongs sriracha hoopla can be traced back to 2016, when Huy Fong demanded its former pepper grower, the California-based Underwood Ranches, return more than $1 million the company said was overpaid to the farm for growing costs, per court documents obtained by the L.A. Times. Huy Fongs relationship with Underwood Ranches eventually grew bitter, compelling the former to file a breach of contract lawsuit against the latter in 2017. Underwood Ranches filed a cross-complaint in February 2018, claiming that Huy Fong caused the breach in their partnership. The matter was finally settled in 2019 when a civil jury determined that Huy Fong breached its contract and committed fraud by intentionally misrepresenting and concealing information, the L.A. Times reported. The jury awarded Underwood Ranches $23.3 million.

Huy Fong has since been receiving its chillies from other growers in California, New Mexico and Mexico. Amid the COVID pandemic, the sriracha experienced mass shortages due to supply chain issues and a drought that affected pepper production. Then in 2022, Huy Fong announced that it would stop production of its products due to a shortage of hot peppers caused by extreme drought conditions in Mexico. The company cited weather conditions affecting the quality of chili peppers and a megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change as specific causes for the shortages.

Want more great food writing and recipes? Subscribe to Salon Food's newsletter, The Bite.

Sriracha production remained scant in 2023. Huy Fong said it was now experiencing an unprecedented inventory shortage and was unsure when the sauce would return to store shelves. Although some production did resume this past fall season, we continue to have a limited supply that continues to affect our production, the company said in a statement, per USA Today. At this time, we have no estimations of when supply will increase.

Consumers have turned to other brands of sriracha in the wake of Huy Fongs absence. Many said Huy Fongs new formula (sriracha made using peppers from the companys new growers) was more mild in taste and instead, praised Roland Sriracha, Yellowbirds Organic Sriracha, Ninja Squirrel Sriracha and Three Mountains Three Sriracha Chili Sauce as tasty alternatives.

Underwood Ranches also makes and sells its own brand of sriracha along with sambal and chili garlic. The sauce garnered much acclaim from sriracha-loving Redditors. However, The Takeouts Luke Gralia (who has been covering the sriracha drama extensively) described the sauce as bland and far more vinegary than Huy Fongs.
Man accused of assaulting ex gets out of jail and shoots her new boyfriend, TX cops say

A man showed up to his ex-girlfriends apartment and shot her new boyfriend several times, Texas police said.

The man had been out of jail for approximately one month after he was accused of assaulting his ex, Houston police said in a video posted by KHOU. They did not release his identity.

He called his 36-year-old ex multiple times, asking her if she was dating someone else, police said. She told him no and asked him to leave her alone, according to police.

The man arrived at her apartment shortly after 1 a.m. May 10, armed with a pistol and began knocking on her door, police said.

The woman was in her apartment with her new boyfriend, so she cracked open the door to talk to him, according to police.

The man barged through the door and held the woman at gunpoint, police said. The womans boyfriend stepped in, saying he would leave, but the man pointed the gun at him instead, police said.

The boyfriend was shot inside the apartment, according to police, and then attempted to run away from the man. The boyfriend was chased down the stairs and shot several more times, police said.

The woman went into a room with her children, ages 16, 6 and 3, and called 911, police said.

The man left the scene before police could detain him, and police are still searching for him. The victim is expected to recover.

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.

Boyfriend shoots woman 9 times and kills her during chase at gas station, Texas cops say

Woman lures pregnant 19-year-old to home and cuts baby from womb, Chicago cops say

Man accused of killing exs sleeping 12-year-old is arrested at border, Texas cops say
The estranged husband of a missing Florida woman has been arrested on a federal kidnapping charge after authorities said someone matching his appearance was seen blacking out the security camera at her apartment building in Spain on the day she disappeared.

David Knezevich, 36, was arrested at Miami International Airport Monday when he arrived on a flight from Serbia, authorities said. His wife, Ana Maria Knezevich Henao, 40, vanished in Madrid, where her brother told police she had gone to clear her head amid the couples acrimonious divorce.

Ana and David are going through a nasty divorce and there is a substantial amount of money on the line to be split up between the two, her brother, Juan Felipe Henao, told police, according to an incident reportobtained by the Sun Sentinel.

The former couple shared a real estate business in Ft. Lauderdale and worked together at an IT company called EOX Solutions, where David Knezevich served as CEO, the Sun Sentinel reported.

The FBI laid out an eyebrow-raising case against Knezevich in a detailed criminal complaint obtained by HuffPost.

A banner of Colombian-born American missing woman Ana Maria Knezevich Henao, 40, is displayed on a streetlight in Madrid, Spain, on Feb. 16. Her estranged husband, David Knezevich, has been charged by U.S. federal agents with her kidnapping. AP Photo/Manu Fernandez

Knezevich Henao, a native of Colombia, was last seen alive on the afternoon of Feb. 2, when a security camera captured her entering a Madrid apartment building, authorities said. At noon that day, security cameras filmed a man who authorities said appears to be David Knezevich at a Madrid store, where he purchased two rolls of duct tape and spray paint  the same brand used in an attempt to disable the security camera at Knezevich Henaos apartment building at around 9:30 p.m.

The paint didnt completely obscure the lens though, so the camera captures the man fastening duct tape to the buildings entrance door, preventing it from locking. An hour later, the video footage shows him walking out of the buildings elevator with what appears to be a suitcase.

Spanish investigators later discovered that Knezevich Henaos cellphone and laptop were missing from her apartment.

Knezevichs attorney, Ken Padowitz, told The Associated Press in February that his client was in Serbia at the time of his wifes disappearance and insisted their divorce was amicable. Padowitz did not respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

Investigators said they uncovered evidence that ties Knezevich to the Madrid street where his wife was staying.

On Jan. 29, he rented a car in Belgrade, returned it six weeks later with its windows tinted, different license plate frames and a recorded mileage of 7,677 kilometers (4,770 miles), according to the criminal complaint. Investigators calculated the driving distance between Madrid and Belgrade to be 2,592 kilometers (1,610 miles).

The specific model of Knezevichs rental car, a Peugeot 308, was captured on toll booths passing through Spain late on the night of Knezevich Henaos disappearance. It sported stolen license plates, which were captured by a plate reader database on a car on the street where Knezevich Henao was last seen.

Two different women told investigators that Knezevich enlisted their help in impersonating his wife after her disappearance, according to the complaint.

One woman, using a phone number traced to Knezevich, called an insurance company on March 4 to cancel three different policies held by Knezevich Henao for the former couples business.

Knezevich asked another woman, an employee, on April 24 to pose as Knezevich Henao in order to open a new bank account in her name, according to the complaint.

A woman from Colombia who met Knezevich via a dating app told investigators that he had contacted her online, asking her on Feb. 3 to translate a message into perfect Colombian for what he said was a friends script.

I met someone wonderful, the workshopped message read. He has a summer house about 2h from Madrid. We are going there now and I will spend a few days there. There is barely any signal though. Signal is spotty. Ill call you when I come back.

The woman later googled Knezevichs name and found a news article about Knezevich Henaos disappearance, quoting text messages purportedly sent by her to friends using the exact wording she had written for Knezevich. The friends told The Associated Press that the messages didnt match Knezevich Henaos style or tone.

At a news conference Wednesday, Knezevich Henaos family expressed their shock and betrayal following Knezevichs arrest.

Its not closure, but questions have been answered, Felipe Henao, her brother, told reporters. Its a bittersweet feeling. Its not good, but you want to at least learn the truth.

Knezevich is considered a flight risk and is being held without bond. His next court date is set for Friday in Miami, according to court records. He is scheduled to be arraigned on May 20.

Related...
MOUNT CARMEL, NORTHUMBERLAND COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU)  A man is being charged after police say he threw a woman out of a window and threatened officers with knives.

On May 6 around 4:00 p.m., officers were called to the 400 block of East Seventh Street in Mount Carmel for an incident.

It was reported by a witness that a man, later identified as Jeffrey Leisey, 40, of Mount Carmel, threw a woman out of a front house window, as stated in the affidavit.

Once officers arrived on the scene, police said they saw a large hole in the front window and could hear people yelling inside the living room and kitchen area of the home.

Man charged with commercial bribery in fraud, kickback investigation

Investigators stated the victim told officers Leisey assaulted her and he was in the kitchen with several knives.

According to court documents, Leisey was reported to have threatened officers with multiple knives in his hand and placed a baking sheet under his shirt to avoid being shocked with a Taser.

Eventually, Leisey was then shocked with a Taser, dropped the knives, and officers arrested him without further incident, police stated.

Leisey has been charged with aggravated assault, simple assault, terroristic threats, and resisting arrest.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A man is being held at the Metro Jail after officers found multiple firearms wrapped up in decorative rugs.

According to the Metro Nashville Police Department, Thierry Bwenge is charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm (drug offense) after officers found drugs and the hidden guns at his home on Thornehill Drive.

An affidavit states detectives were executing a search warrant, where they found multiple firearm pieces, firearm magazines, munitions, a large amount of drug paraphernalia, three bags of uncut key fobs and a car key programmer on the second floor of the home.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

Officers also found a backpack that contained two large plastic bags of psilocybin mushrooms, weighing about 300 grams, and a black key fob in the second-floor common area.

The garage is where officers found the hidden guns, according to the affidavit. Seven firearms were located wrapped up in the decorative rugs, two of which came back as stolen after a check of the serial numbers.

Bwenge is currently being held in the Metro Jail.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Man who attacked 3 NYPD officers with machete on New Years Eve 2022 sentenced to 27 years in prison

The man who attacked three New York City police officers with a machete on New Years Eve in 2022 has been sentenced to 27 years in prison, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.

Trevor Bickford, 20, pleaded guilty in January to three counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the US government and three counts of assault of officers and employees of the US government, CNN reported.

Inspired by radical Islamic extremism, Trevor Bickford brutally attacked three NYPD officers who were just doing their jobs by protecting the public during the Times Square New Years Eve festivities, US Attorney Damian Williams said in a Thursday statement. Thankfully, one officers quick-thinking actions stopped the defendants attack while minimizing risk to the innocent bystanders who easily might have become additional victims of the defendants heinous violence.

Bickfords conviction and sentence demonstrate that cowardly acts of terrorism will be met with law enforcements unwavering resolve to protect New York City, our country, and our core values of freedom and democracy, Williams added.

CNN has reached out to an attorney for Bickford for comment.

Bickford, a US citizen and Maine resident, traveled to New York City to, in his own words, wage jihad and kill as many of his targets as possible, the US Attorneys Office said in a news release.

Trevor Bickford is seen in a Facebook photo. - From Facebook

On December 31, 2022, Bickford entered the security area of the Times Square checkpoint, pulled out a machete and struck an officer with the blade and another officer in the head with the handle, authorities have said. He then swung the blade at a third officer, who shot him in the shoulder, according to police.

Bickford later admitted he intended to kill as many military-aged, government-employed men as he could before himself becoming a martyr, CNN has previously reported.

Before carrying out the attack, Bickford had consumed materials espousing racial Islamic ideology and had devoted himself to violent Islamic extremism and pursuit of the jihad that he would eventually unleash in the heart of New York City, according to the US Attorneys Office.

He had planned to travel overseas to support the Taliban but ultimately decided to turn his attention to an attack in the US, the release said.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU)  Officials have charged seven people for allegedly committing bribery fraud worth thousands of dollars in Pennsylvania.

The Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania says charges have been filed against Jose L. Ortiz, 48, of Drums, for conspiring to commit honest services fraud.

According to U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam, during Ortizs tenure as a manager/director at a Pennsylvania food services company from 2014 to 2021, he and his coconspirators accepted cash bribes and other valued items from accomplices who owned and operated Global Staffing Services, Inc. and Penns Independent Staffing.

Pennsylvania nurse sentenced for death of patients, mistreatment

Global Staffing Services and Penns Independent Staffing provided temporary employees to Ortizs company. In exchange, Ortiz entered contracts with and hired the temporary employees of the two companies, investigators said.

As stated in the release, over $18,000,000 was paid to the staffing companies in exchange for kickbacks. Ortiz allegedly received approximately $200,000 of those cash kickbacks.

The following six people were previously charged in this investigation according to officials;

Mark Holmes, 66, of Texas, general manager of the Pennsylvania food services company, pleaded guilty to accepting around $400,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Global Staffing Services and Penns Independent Staffing, in exchange for hiring their employees. The two temporary staffing companies, in turn, received approximately $7,800,000 from Holmess employer. Holmes awaits sentencing. Madeline Nieves, 49, of Plains, pleaded guilty to a tax fraud conspiracy. Nieves conspired with other individuals to defraud the IRS, from 2018 to 2020, in connection with staffing company Encore Staffing Solutions LLC, which she owned and operated. Nieves was sentenced to 15 months of imprisonment. Nari Lam, 31, of Delaware, pleaded guilty to failing to remit employment taxes to the IRS from 2016 through 2020. Lam as the owner of the staffing company Penns Independent Staffing, failed to pay approximately $300,000 in employment taxes owed by Penns Independent Staffing to the IRS. Nari Lam was sentenced to three years of probation. Danny Sing, 60, of Philadelphia, pleaded guilty to conspiring with other individuals to evade federal income taxes for approximately $1,600,000 in wages paid by Global Staffing Services, Inc. to its employees, and to failing to withhold and remit $1,360,000 in federal employment taxes to the IRS. Sing awaits sentencing. Den Lam, 49, of Philadelphia, was charged for allegedly conspiring with other people to evade federal income taxes for $1,600,000 in wages paid by Global Staffing Services to its employees. Jason R. Bonnewell, 41, of North Abington Township, pleaded guilty to accepting as a supervisor of the Pennsylvania food services company, around $150,000 in bribes and kickbacks from Global Staffing Services and Penns Independent Staffing, in exchange for hiring their employees. The two temporary staffing companies received approximately $13,000,000 from Bonnewells employer. Bonnewell awaits sentencing.

The maximum penalty for these crimes is 20 years of prison, a term of supervised release following imprisonment, and a fine.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PAhomepage.com.
BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KGET)  A man who pleaded no contest to two felony counts in connection to a standoff at a home in Rosamond was sentenced to prison Thursday.

Joseph Nelson, 24, was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison, according to court records. He pleaded no contest to gun possession by a felon and obstructing or resisting a peace officer.

2 charged with attempted murder in Cal City attack

Deputies in March were called to the 3300 block of 15th Street West to a report of a restraining order violation.

They tried to contact the suspect, identified as Nelson, according to sheriffs officials. Nelson barricaded himself inside a room and refused to come out, officials said.

Negotiations ensued, and Nelson surrendered and was taken into custody.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KGET 17.
A 28-year-old man is in custody, accused of firing shots at someone and into Badcock Home Furniture Thursday morning, Albemarle police said.

Man wanted for domestic-related shooting in Albemarle turns himself in

Taahir Darnell Brunner is accused of shooting at someone from a vehicle, which was when some of the rounds went into the furniture store on N.C. Highway 24/27.

Albemarle police officers spoke with a witness who said someone shot at him from a vehicle shortly before 10 a.m.

Police detectives located and arrested Brunner in Norwood with the help of local police.

Brunner was taken into custody and charged with attempted first-degree murder, discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling, discharging a firearm in city limits, and assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill.

It was not a random act and the people involved knew each other, according to preliminary reports.

There were no injuries reported.

VIDEO: Albemarle police arrest man in connection with deadly shooting
KANSAS CITY, Kan.  A 33-year-old man is charged in the killing of a woman in Kansas City, Kansas earlier this week and firing a gun inside KU Hospital.

The Wyandotte County District Attorneys Office charged Jessie Wayne Buchanan on Friday with second-degree murder in connection to the death of 42-year-old Latoya Seamster-Lawagbon.

Pro-Palestine protesters leave KU campus after police get involved; 3 arrested

Buchanan is also charged with criminal discharge of a firearm, animal cruelty and two counts of criminal damage to property.

According to KCK police, a man walked into the emergency room at KU Hospital on Tuesday night and told police he had killed someone.

Officers were then sent to a house on North Hallock, near N. 5th Street and Parallel Avenue, around 11:45 p.m. to investigate the incident.

When officers got to the house, they found a woman, identified as Seamster-Lawagbon, who had been shot and killed.

According to a news release from KU Health, when Buchanan was at the hospital, he shot a gun into the ceiling at the security entrance to the emergency department. KU police and security officers working at that entrance quickly took him into custody.

Download the FOX4 News app on iPhone and Android

Emergency services in the hospital were not impacted by the gun being shot.

Buchanan made his first court appearance Friday morning. Hes currently being held in the Wyandotte County jail on a $250,000 cash only bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV | News, Weather, Sports.
Man was dumbfounded when he saw his Missouri lottery prize. Out-of-body experience

A Missouri man was so shocked by his lottery win that he described it as an out-of-body experience, he said.

The Ballwin man spotted a multiplier symbol on the back of his $100,000 Diamond Dazzler ticket and then about fell on the floor when he saw the number that was to be multiplied, according to a May 10 news release from Missouri Lottery.

No, this cant be, he said to himself.

He had scratched off a $20,000 prize on the $5 ticket, but it became a $100,000 prize with the multiplier, officials said.

I couldnt believe it. I immediately called my wife and told her, I think we won $100,000! he told officials. I was dumbfounded.

Ballwin is about a 20-mile drive west of St. Louis.

Many people can gamble or play games of chance without harm. However, for some, gambling is an addiction that can ruin lives and families.

If you or a loved one shows signs of gambling addiction, you can seek help by calling the national gambling hotline at 1-800-522-4700 or visiting the National Council on Problem Gambling website.

Avid lottery player gets back in the game after pause  and wins big in Maryland

Lottery player adds grandmas birthday numbers to ticket  and wins life-changing prize

Powerball player hoped for $865 million jackpot. Now hes counting all the zeros
TOPEKA (KSNT)  A jury in Shawnee County is delivering its decisions regarding a man accused of killing a woman last year in a Topeka crash.

The Shawnee County District Attorneys Office announced in a press release that Michael S. Lester, 39, has been found guilty on the following counts:

Murder in the first degree

Flee or attempt to elude a police officer

Murder in the second degree

Leaving the scene of an accident

Katie Garceran, a spokeswoman for the Shawnee County District Attorneys Office, says on Oct. 30, 2023 an officer with the Topeka Police Department (TPD) tried to pull a vehicle over at Seward and Golden. The driver of the vehicle, later identified as Lester, was spotted not wearing a seatbelt while at a stoplight.

Woman charged with murder in connection to deadly Topeka apartment shooting

The officer tried to pull Lester over but he instead fled the area and began driving erratically. Later that day, Shawnee County Emergency Dispatch received a call about a crash at St. John and Tyler. It was found that Lester was involved in the crash and fled the scene.

Photo of the crash scene. (Photo Courtesy/Jacob Kaufman)

Another driver involved in the crash, identified as Alycia A. Noriega, 33, was taken to a local hospital. She was later declared dead. Lester was later found and arrested.

For more crime news, click here. Keep up with the latest breaking news in northeast Kansas by downloading our mobile app and by signing up for our news email alerts. Sign up for our Storm Track Weather app by clicking here.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
Man injured by intimidated shooter on MLK, Jr. Drive, Atlanta police say

The Atlanta Police Department said a shooting on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive is under investigation after a man was injured early Friday morning.

According to police, the victim of the shooting was walking down Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. Friday morning when another man was passing him.

The man was intimidated, and shot the victim twice in the leg, according to APD.

Police said the victim is stable at Grady Memorial Hospital, but a suspect has not been taken into custody.

Neither man was identified by police.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Man opens up on alleged sex abuse from former Chicago priest known as Father Happy Hands

CHICAGO  A man who says he was abused by a former Chicago priest known as Father Happy Hands told his story following a settlement last month.

Larry Kubbins, 60, held a press conference opening up about the alleged abuse by the Rev. Daniel Mark Holihan, who died in 2016, and had a message for survivors across the world.

Its been a weight Ive had for almost 50 years, Kubbins said. They need to not be afraid to report it. I was not smart enough to listen to my mother and walked away from it.

Kubbins alleges Holihan sexually abused him twice  once at Our Lady of the Snows and once at a lake house belonging to Holihan in Wonder Lake. During the alleged abuse, Kubbins and the attorney generals office said children would call Holihan Father Happy Hands.

He couldnt keep his hands off boys, he took me to the boat and got me onto the lake, Kubbins said. He would get us behind the church, always pretending to straighten our alter boy uniforms and getting extremely close.

In addition to Our Lady of the Snows, Holihan also worked at St. Patrick (1957-1965), St. Aloysius (1965-1968), St. Sylvester (1968-1969), St. Francis de Sales (1969-1973), St. Jane de Chantal (1973-1979), Our Lady of the Snows (1979-1990) and St. Jerome (1990-1991).

Holihan was ordained in 1957. In 1990, his ministry ability was limited with monitoring and the archdiocese removed his faculties to minister as a priest in 2002.

The Illinois Attorney Generals Office said Holihan has 40 reported survivors.

According to a 2005 document written by Archbishop Cardinal Francis George, he decreed Holihan guilty and said the accusations are so numerous against Father Holihan and the description of the actions are so clear that there can be no doubt that Father Holihan is guilty of the delict described.

In 2005 Holihan was not laicized, which means officially removed from clerical duty, in what Cardinal George called the ultimate penalty. That happened in 2010, according to records.

Because of the numerous offenses and the denial on the part of Father Holihan of what is so obvious to everyone else, I would be inclined to recommend dismissal from the clerical state in this case. However, given Father Holihans age and the face that it would be more dangerous to allow him out in public without being monitored carefully, I have decided not to ask for the ultimate penalty in this matter, former Archbishop Cardinal Francis George wrote in the 2005 Archdiocese letter.

However, the Illinois Attorney Generals Office claims the archdiocese could have acted sooner.

The Archdiocese of Chicago had more than one chance to stop Father Daniel Holihan from sexually abusing young boys. Holihan was an active pastor in several Chicago parishes until 1990 and is now known as one of the more notorious abusers in archdiocesan history. The archdiocese knew what Holihan was doing to children years before it removed him from the pastoratebut during that time, it did nothing to stop him, taking him at his word that he could turn over a new leaf of his own accord. And even after Hoder (the accused Rev. James Allen Hoder) resigned, archdiocesan officials sought to keep certain details quiet and established such lax control over his conduct that the priest was soon spotted socializing with children as if nothing had happened. More than a decade passed before the archdiocese finally decided to subject Holihan to strict monitoring. In the meantime, countless children had needlessly been put at risk, the attorney generals office wrote about Holihan.

Kubbins agreed with the attorney generals office.

Archdiocese settles $800K worth of claims against George Clements, 4 others

Hes another example of the church knowing about him and then transferring him, Kubbins said. The Catholic Church got Father Holihan out of dodge every chance they could.

Kubbins attorney said he reached a low six-figure settlement last month from the Archdiocese of Chicago related to the alleged abuse. His attorney said he has represented at least four other alleged victims of Holihan, who receive settlements as well.

The archdiocese told WGN News they do not comment on litigation when asked for a statement.

Resources for survivors for clergy abuse are available by visiting snapnetwork.org. The Archdiocese of Chicagos anonymous abuse hotline is 312-534-8300.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Tyrik Aliem Dawkins was sentenced to 25 years in prison Thursday in a Washington County court for rape and other sex abuse charges.

The charges stem from a series of events that unfolded around September 2021, when Dawkins met a woman via an online dating site, according to the Washington County Sheriffs Office.

The defendant quickly became aggressive and possessive of the victim, officials said in a release. These actions escalated when Mr. Dawkins sexually assaulted the victim multiple times at her apartment in Hillsboro. He took her cell phone, her car keys, and repeatedly blocked her from leaving her apartment over a two-day period.

Woman accused of scratching 2 passing cars with knife, setting parked vehicle on fire

Dawkins then forced the woman to drive him to the Portland hotel where he was lodged. Though he allowed her to leave his hotel eventually, he threatened to kill her should she tell the police about what he did.

The victim nevertheless reported the attacks to the Hillsboro Police Department and acquaintances.

Officials said law enforcement gained key digital evidence connecting the defendant to the victim through interviews with her and those she spoke to about it.

On April 25, Dawkins was convicted of first-degree rape, two counts of first-degree sodomy, two counts of first-degree sexual abuse and coercion.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Man is sent to area trauma center after being stabbed in the back, Centralia police say

A Chehalis man was arrested on Thursday after allegedly stabbing another man during a dispute behind an area business in Centralia.

About 11:30 a.m., Centralia police were dispatched to reports of two men fighting in the back parking lot of Rite Aid on Harrison Avenue.

When police arrived, they saw one man walking away from the scene while the other stayed behind, bleeding heavily from his back.

Officers and responding aid crews from the Riverside Fire Authority and an ambulance company were able to stop the bleeding, and the victim was transported from the scene. He was later airlifted to a trauma hospital in Tacoma for further treatment, according to police.

Centralia officers detained the suspect, who was identified as a 28-year-old Chehalis resident. He was booked into the Lewis County Jail on suspicion of first-degree assault.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call the Centralia Police Department at 360-330-7680.
The giant, seven-foot-tall numerals for "2024" arrive in Times Square eleven days before the highly anticipated December 31st Times Square New Year's Eve celebrations in New York City on Wednesday, December 20, 2023. Trevor Bickford was sentenced to 27 years in prison this week for his 'brazen' knife attack on NYPD officers in Times Square. Photo by John Angelillo/UPI

May 9 (UPI) -- A man has been sentenced to 27 years in prison for his "brazen" knife attacks in Times Square in 2022, which injured three New York City Police Department officers, the Justice Dept. said Thursday.

Trevor Bickford, who was 19 at the time of the attack, came from Maine in December 2022 intending to carry out a jihadist attack on officers in uniform with a "machete-style knife," prosecutors said.

Bickford pleaded guilty in January to charges stemsix ming from the attack -- three counts of attempted murder of government officials and three counts of assault on government officials.

Bickford, now 20, was sentenced to a lifetime of supervised release in addition to the prison term.

"Today's sentence holds Trevor Bickford accountable for his premeditated 2022 terrorist attack in Times Square during which he attempted to kill three NYPD officers in a violent rampage," U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. "The Justice Department is deeply grateful to the NYPD for its quick actions and bravery in disrupting this New Year's Eve attack, and for the work it does every day to keep New Yorkers safe. The Justice Department will always stand by its state and local law enforcement partners as we work together to counter the threat of terrorism, and that includes being relentless in prosecuting those who seek to harm officers."

Authorities say Bickford faces up to 20 years in prison on each charge, up to 120 years in total. Government prosecutors asked for as many as 59 years in prison, arguing that the longer sentencing "is necessary and appropriate to reflect the extraordinarily serious nature of the defendant's terrorism offense, to provide just punishment for the defendant's conduct, to deter and prevent the defendant from resuming activities in support of radical terrorist ideology, and to deter others who, like the defendant, would seek to carry out brutal terrorist attacks on U.S. soil " prosecutors said in court documents.

Prosecutors contend Bickford's "brutal actions" had far-reaching impacts on the three officers, and believe a life term is appropriate for the perpetrator.

Biokford blamed his youth, unhealthy and zealous support of Islam that was fostered by an untreated mental illness and lacking a full understanding of his actions.

DEfense attorneys also pointed out Bickford's youth and naivety in calling for a more lenient sentence, and cited his guilty plea as reasons for a less harsh judgment.

"Mr. Bickford is deeply apologetic to the officers, their families, and the witnesses that night," his attorneys wrote. "He recognizes the pain and suffering he has caused and would do anything to take back what he has done. Although Mr. Bickford knows he cannot change what happened in the past, he knows he can change his future for the better and he has worked hard to do so under challenging circumstances at the [Metropolitan Detention Center]," his attorneys wrote.

At the time of the incidents, the three NYPD officers were manning a checkpoint near Times Square Dec. 31, 2022, when they were stabbed with an 18-inch kukri knife. The attack occurred near West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue, outside the secure area that had been set up for New Year's Eve celebrations.

One of the injured officers was able to shoot Bockfrd and arrested him after that following the attack.

Police later found Ld Bickford's backpack near the scene of the knife , prosecutors said. A book inside the backpack had a passage highlighted that said, "Fight in the Name of Allah and in the Cause of Allah. Fight against those who do not believe in Allah. Wage a holy war," according to prosecutors.

Bickfored later labeled the attacks unsuccessful because no one died and he was unable to achieve martyrdom, a complaint from the Southern District of New York said.

Bickford allegedly planned the attacks after months of training to become radicalized and then planned the Times Square attack. Reports show he intended to travel overseas to support the Taliban before scaling his plans back and focusing solely on Times Square.

Prosecutors said Bickford planned the attack in Times Square after "months of radicalization" and had initially intended to travel overseas to support the Taliban before focusing on an attack in the U.S.

He is scheduled to appear in court on May 22 in the state case.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A man wants to put a custom license plate on his car  and hes willing to take the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles to court over it.

Heath resident Jeffrey Wonser has sued the BMV for what he says are the bureaus unconstitutional guidelines for approving and rejecting vanity license plate applications. In the federal complaint, filed May 3, Wonser argues the bureaus rejection of his F46 LGB plate amounts to a free speech violation and is part of a pattern of the bureaus standardless and unconstitutional licensing scheme.

Ohio has allowed residents to customize license plates since 1973, and for years, the BMV did not have clear rules for evaluating the appropriateness of messages. In 2003, however, the BMV settled with Anthony Zucco, who sued after it rejected his application to put RDRAGE on a license plate.

As part of that settlement, the BMV established guidelines for rejecting license plates. Under the guidelines, plates could only be rejected if they contained words, combinations or phrases that are profane, obscene, sexually explicit, refer to feces, advocate lawlessness or are so offensive as to provoke violence.

But Wonser argues that the BMV has continued to operate a largely arbitrary censorship regime that, in particular, rejects Republican-aligned license plate messages more than Democratic ones.

Under its new scheme, the BMV has allowed its censors to run amok, censoring messages not because they violate any of the Zucco criteria, but because they violate its censors subjective criteria, Wonsers complaint reads.

Wonser applied to put the phrase F46 LGB on a license plate. While the complaint doesnt specify what message he intended to convey with the message, it notes that it can commonly be perceived as referring to F*** the 46th president  Joe Biden  and Lets Go Brandon, a phrase adopted by conservatives as a euphemism for F*** Joe Biden.

The complaint also suggests that F46 could be read as a homophobic slur and that LGB could refer to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual.

The BMV rejects hundreds of applications each year, including nearly 800 in 2023. It rejected Wonsers application because of the potential perception of inappropriateness, according to the complaint. But Wonser argues that F46 LGB has no objective meaning, and is not in and of itself obscene, profane or sexually explicit.

Wonser further contends that the BMVs guidelines are so overly broad and vague that they run afoul of the First Amendment. His complaint points to examples of what he says demonstrates the BMVs subjective and arbitrary decision-making, including:

Rejecting an application for FK BIDEN but approving one for FKTRMP

Rejecting AXEHOLE as profane, but approving AXE HOLE

Rejecting GYLTY, which was approved in 2013, but which in 2021 was retroactively determined to possibly provoke the police to violence

Wonser not only wants the court to order the BMV to approve his license plate application, he wants the BMVs guidelines struck down as unconstitutional. The BMV declined to comment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
A man from Manchester, New Hampshire was arrested after knocking over a porta-potty with a woman and child inside, covering the two with feces and bodily fluid, police say.

18-year-old Aiden Studer was arrested after allegedly toppling the porta-potty at Derryfield Park on May 8. A spokesperson with Manchester police says Struder and the female victim were arguing near the porta-potty before he allegedly pushed it over, covering the woman and child in human excrement.

Bystanders raced over, stood the porta-potty back up and freed the woman and child, Manchester police say.

Police say Studer and the victims did not know each other prior to the incident.

Studer was arrested and charged with two counts of criminal restraint and criminal mischief. He was also charged with simple assault on a Police Officer for throwing something at one of the members of Manchester PD, police say.

Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Heres how many American adults have taken Ozempic or a similar drug for weight loss

A new survey shines a light on how many adults use Ozempic and similar drugs for treatment of type 2 diabetes and long-term weight management.

Throughout the past year, pharmaceutical companies have scrambled to meet the increasing demand and the Food and Drug Administration has reported shortages of the GLP-1 drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro at different dosages.

A new survey shines a light on just how many American adults have used a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic or Mounjaro.

CNN reported that a nationwide KFF poll conducted during the last week of April among a representative sample of 1,500 adults revealed that roughly 1 in 8 adults had used one of the popular drugs at some point in their lives. The survey concluded that half of the nations adults, or over 15 million people, currently use a prescription.

The KFF survey found that around 80% of respondents said they obtained a GLP-1 medication or prescription from a specialist or primary care physician. It said that 10% claimed to have gotten them from an aesthetic medical facility or medical spa, and 11% said they received them from an internet source.

Throughout the past year, as pharmaceutical companies have scrambled to meet the rapidly increasing demand, the Food and Drug Administration has reported shortages of the GLP-1 drugs Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro at different dosages.

The majority of adults have used the medications to treat chronic illnesses like diabetes or heart disease, according to the latest poll. Of the responders, over 40% had diabetes, and over 25% had heart disease. However, roughly two out of five people consume GLP-1 medications solely to lose weight.

Recommended Stories

The FDA greenlit Ozempic and Mounjaro to treat type 2 diabetes in 2017 and 2022, respectively. Although neither of the drugs is approved for weight loss, doctors frequently prescribe them off-label. Mounjaro utilizes tirzepatide, approved for weight loss in 2023 under the brand name Zepbound, whereas Wegovy, which was approved in 2021 for the treatment of obesity, contains semaglutide, the same primary ingredient as Ozempic.

According to the KFF survey, people between 50 and 64 years old were most likely to have used GLP-1 medications, whereas younger adults were more likely to have used them exclusively for weight loss.

Eli Lilly, the manufacturer behind Zepbound and Mounjaro, has taken jabs at those  including Hollywood celebrities  who use their medications for cosmetic purposes, theGrio previously reported.

CEO David Ricks explained that pharmaceutical companies produced the drugs for people with severe health conditions, not just to have someone whos famous look a little bit better.

According to CNN, Medicare does not cover prescription weight-reduction medications, and the KFF poll found that only 1% of seniors have taken a GLP-1 medication exclusively for weight loss. However, most adults  over 60%  believe Medicare policy ought to be modified to cover these medications when prescribed for weight loss.

The KFF research revealed that most adults who have taken GLP-1 medications stated it was difficult to afford them, regardless of insurance coverage.

Sen. Bernie Sanders launched a probe last month into the outrageously high prices manufacturers charge for GLP-1 medications, which can cost over $1,000 for a months supply.

While he acknowledged that scientists at Novo Nordisk  which produces Wegovy  deserve great credit for developing the potentially game-changing drugs that can benefit millions of Americans struggling with type 2 diabetes and obesity, the senator asserted they will not do any good if patients cannot afford them.

In my view, the American people should not have to pay up to $1,349 a month for prescription drugs that cost less than $5 to manufacture and can be purchased at a fraction of this price in other developed countries, said Sanders in a statement.

Unfortunately, Novo Nordisks pricing has turned drugs that could improve peoples lives into luxury goods, all while Novo Nordisk made over $12 billion in profits last year  up 76 percent from 2021, he added. That is unacceptable.

CNN reported that exorbitant costs and restricted availability could lead individuals to seek substitutes for the highly desired medications. In the previous year, the FDA issued a warning on compounded forms of semaglutide that combine, mix, or modify components in ways that are not authorized or regulated.

The FDA, citing reports of adverse events in people who used compounded semaglutide, said, Patients should only obtain drugs containing semaglutide with a prescription from a licensed health care provider and only obtain medicines from state-licensed pharmacies or outsourcing facilities registered with the agency.

The post Heres how many American adults have taken Ozempic or a similar drug for weight loss appeared first on TheGrio.
I marched at Auschwitz this week. Here's what I say to campus protesters in America.

Elie Wiesel once warned of the perils of indifference. Reflecting on the horrors of the 20th century, he recognized that indifference can be tempting, even seductive. It is easier to look away from victims. It is easier to avoid interrupting comfortable lives. Indifference requires no response. Indifference is not a beginning, he said; it is an end.

I thought about Wiesels warning as I joined the annual International March of the Living in Poland on Monday. Since the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel, the worlds commitment to never again has been tested like rarely before. Amid a frightening rise in antisemitism on North American college campuses, I led a delegation of American and Canadian university presidents to join the march as a powerful reminder of what can happen when hate is left unchecked.

But the problem on campuses today is different from the one described by Wiesel. If in the past the problem was indifference, today it is indulgence.

University leaders are not indifferent. They care a lot. They care about protecting their students, both pro-Palestinian protesters and pro-Israel students.

But they have created a culture of indulgence. They indulge their students to break their institutions rules without consequences. They indulge one group of students at the expense of another who are being intimidated and threatened. And worst of all, they indulge lies without speaking the truth.

University leaders know Hamas is a terrorist organization

Marchers carry Israeli flags as they walk past the gate to the former Nazi concentration death camp Auschwitz on May 06, 2024, in Oswiecim, Poland. The 36th annual International March of the Living honors the memory of Holocaust victims of World War II.

In the weeks after Oct. 7, I spoke with school presidents from across the country, and I can tell you that they know the truth. They know that although the politics of the Middle East is complicated, one element is clear: Hamas is a terrorist organization. They know its charter calls for the elimination of the Jewish state and the murder of Jewish people.

University leaders know that Hamas does not seek a two-state solution but the final solution.

Although they know this truth, many fail to say it. This is happening in part because universities have abandoned their core mission. Too many university leaders today see their roles as mere conveners of conversations. In their minds, the pursuit of truth requires them to be fully disengaged. Instead of educators, they have become hosts.

Although all will avow with sincerity that conversation must be limited when it threatens or intimidates other students, even on this score many have failed, preferring instead short-term tactics to placate a loud, protesting mob.

We must hear survivors stories. My family escaped death during the Holocaust.

What universities must do is reassert their role as educators.

With Columbia University in the news, a past episode on its campus illustrates this point well. In 2007, Columbia hosted Irans president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, for a speech before an address he was set to give to the United Nations the next day.

There was a great uproar at the time. Lee Bollinger, the First Amendment scholar who was then Columbias president, allowed the event to take place but introduced Ahmadinejad with a scathing attack on the Iranian leaders repugnant positions. By his actions, Bollinger expressed that the principle of free speech required allowing even the most vile views to be aired, while also demonstrating that such views must be met with a clear moral response from the university.

That is free speech grounded in truth and moral clarity.

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.

Universities need to respond to extremists on campus

This is how universities must respond to extremists today. Extremists obscure language. They seek to muddle, not clarify. By now, does anyone really not understand the implications of the phrases "from the river to the sea" or "globalize the intifada"?

Extremists use terms as dog whistles to their followers with a veneer of defensibility. This kind of muddling requires a clear response from university leadership. The way to reclaim complexity and nuance is by informing the conversation with facts and insisting on moral clarity.

Imagine if the leadership of Columbia today had consistently said, since Oct. 7, that all matters of the Palestinian-Israeli debate are naturally open to conversation. That the way that Israel has prosecuted the war this year should be put to critical analysis and that we must similarly place under the microscope the Palestinian peoples relationship with Hamas.

But one thing all civilized people should agree upon is that Hamas is a terrorist organization and using its language and symbols is morally repugnant, not just to Jews but to all people of conscience.

Bring hostages home: What my daughter understands about Israel-Hamas negotiations that Netanyahu can't

If this was the tone and tenor adopted by university leadership across the country since Oct. 7, fewer campuses would be canceling their commencement ceremonies today.

Now is not the time for universities to indulge.

It is time for them to resume their primary role and educate.

Rabbi Ari Berman

Rabbi Ari Berman is the fifth president of Yeshiva University in New York City.

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: Campus protests reveal weakness of university leaders who indulge lies
At a Republican presidential primary debate in January 2016, Sen. Marco Rubio (RFla.) succinctly explained why using tariffs as a foreign policy tool would backfire against Americans.

"We are all frustrated with what China is doing, but I think we need to be very careful with tariffs and here's why," Rubio said, directly challenging Donald Trump over his call for placing tariffs on goods imported from China.

"China doesn't pay the tariff. The buyer pays the tariff," Rubio explained. "If you send a tie or a shirt made in China into the United States, and an American goes to buy it in the store, and there is a tariff on it, [the tariff] gets passed on in the price to the consumer."

In an essay published this week at The American Conservative, Rubio argued for exactly the opposite. Trump's plan to place even more tariffs on China if elected to another term in the White House would be "good for the economy insofar as they counteract market inefficiencies created by adversarial trade practices," Rubio writes, adding that it will "prevent or reverse offshoring, preserving America's economic might and promoting domestic investment."

The economics of tariffs have not changed in the past eight years. Rubio has.

The once-independent-minded senator from Florida has recently gone all-in on nationalist economicspresumably in an attempt to flatter Trump, a man Rubio once called a "dangerous con man." The senator has authored other essays recently advocating for industrial policy (he supports the "right" kind of industrial policy, which would of course be very different from the wrong kind of industrial policy President Joe Biden is pursuing, even though it's unclear how they would actually differ) and has publicly pushed back at critics who have called out his economic fallacies.

But the current version of Rubio is bound to lose this debate with his 2016 alter ego, who has the facts firmly on his side.

Indeed, just as Rubio predicted in 2016, the tariffs imposed by former President Donald Trump have been overwhelmingly paid by American businesses and consumers. Those groups "bore nearly the full cost of these tariffs because import prices increased at the same rate as the tariffs," the U.S. International Trade Commission (ITC) found in its five-year review of Trump's tariff policies. While Trump's tariffs on steel and aluminum spurred a small increase in domestic production of those metals, the ITC found, the downstream costs of the tariffs swamped the modest benefits.

Other studies found similar results. Here's one authored by economists at the Federal Reserve, Princeton University, and Columbia University that found Trump's tariffs cost U.S. consumers $3 billion per month. Here's a study by economists at the University of Chicago that found Trump's tariffs on washing machines hiked consumer costs by more than $1.5 billion. A study from Moody's Investor Service that found American consumers paid roughly 93 percent of the tariff costs. Other studies have come to similar conclusions.

In his American Conservative essay, Rubio tellingly doesn't attempt to offer evidence to contradict these well-established facts. Instead, he flippantly declares that the "'experts' got it wrong" and adds that "economists simplistically declare 'The policy is very bad. Tariffs make consumers poorer. They shrink the economy.'"

Perhaps the economists say those things because they are true and because the past six years have confirmed as much. It's fine to be skeptical of experts, but Rubio is the one making simplistic declarations here.

And if tariffs were the solution to anything, wouldn't there be evidence to support that claim by now? Rubio is engaging in a rhetorical trick more commonly used by progressives by suggesting that the lack of evidence in favor of a government policy isn't indicative of failure but only means that it hasn't been tried hard enough. Conservatives used to roll their eyes at that tactic.

Perhaps Rubio will parlay all these mental gymnastics and pro-Trump sycophancy into a vice presidential nomination or some other plum gig. For now, however, he's provided a perfectly pathetic illustration of the current state of the Republican Party, which has abandoned principle and reality to swoon for Trump's silly notions about what makes countries prosperous.

"The best thing we can do to protect ourselves against China economically is to make our economy stronger," Rubio said during that same GOP primary debate in 2016, adding that the best way to boost economic growth would be to cut taxes on American businesses and consumers.

Eight years later, Rubio is advocating for raising taxes on Americans in order to combat China. It makes no sense and we know that Rubio knows better, even if he no longer has the cojones to say so.

The post Marco Rubio Used To Know How Tariffs Work. What Happened? appeared first on Reason.com.
Rheanan Heller walked across the stage last week during an especially celebratory graduation season for several Maricopa Community College students.

Heller, 24, was the very first graduate from the community college system walking the stage to receive a bachelors degree after a decades-long effort to ensure their availability for community college students in the Valley. More than 2,800 students from the system are currently enrolled in classes on their way toward four-year degrees  more than half are first-generation college students.

It was  at the same time  overwhelming and absolutely glorious, Heller said of the May 2 commencement.

Graduate Rheanan Heller celebrates her graduation from Rio Salado College on May 2, 2024.

In 2021, former Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey signed a bill allowing the system to offer bachelors degree courses. Heller, who was already studying at Rio Salado College, said she saw the move as an opportunity to continue her education at an institution where she felt supported. After completing her associates degree, she began on her bachelors in public safety administration. She joined several colleagues from across the system graduating with inaugural bachelor's degrees.

The journey wasnt always easy, she said. Heller started the last year of her bachelors program soon after her first child was born.

She was part of the reason I was doing this, she said. Not only can I be a good influence but I can make sure she has a stable future.

Heller, who has epilepsy, said the ability to be flexible on when and where she took her classes was critical for getting her degree. She also worked part-time as a paralegal throughout her schooling and hopes to enroll in law school after taking the LSAT this summer.

Maricopa Community College

Maricopa Community College District Chancellor Steven Gonzales said Heller and others graduating this month will leave an everlasting mark on Maricopas history.

"I am extremely proud of what we, as a system, have been able to accomplish in only a few years, he said in a release.

Several more degrees will become available in the coming semesters including the Bachelor of Science in nursing and degrees in artificial intelligence and accounting. For Heller, she said shes excited to see higher education become even more accessible and to see the program expand.

Making it accessible, I feel like a lot of people feel that pulls away from their achievements, Heller said. But it certainly doesnt.

The bill passed in 2021 came from years of advocacy from the Maricopa Community College District, including the efforts of former Board President Marie Sullivan. At the time, the Arizona Board of Regents opposed the bill.

Theyve been working on this longer than Ive been alive, Heller said of district leadership.

Rio Salado College President Kate Smith said the move allowed community colleges to strengthen workforce development for the county.

Offering bachelor's degrees at community colleges transforms the educational landscape, Smith said in a release. "These graduates are not just earning degrees; theyre making history."

Roughly 60% of students enrolled in the bachelors programs are current or former students from the system.

Helen Rummel covers higher education for The Arizona Republic. Reach her at hrummel@azcentral.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @helenrummel.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Maricopa Community Colleges award first 4-year bachelors degrees
LUBBOCK, Texas (KXAN)  An effort to decriminalize small amounts of marijuana appeared on the ballot recently in another Texas community, and the results turned out differently than similar initiatives, including here in Austin.

This past weekend voters in Lubbock overwhelming rejected Proposition A by a margin of 30 percentage points  65% opposed the measure, while 35% supported it. If approved, it would have told police to stop arresting people for having less than four ounces of marijuana in most cases. The proposed reform drew loud opposition from local conservative leaders, like Texas Rep. Carl Tepper.

He explained why he believed the effort failed there, while six other Texas cities  Austin, Denton, Elgin, Harker Heights, Killeen and San Marcos  already approved similar decriminalization measures.

Because Lubbock has common sense, Tepper said Thursday. People from Lubbock travel a lot. Were a great place to live, but our folks like to go out of town for vacation. Again, theyve been to Portland; theyve been to Denver; theyve been in New York City. They have some common sense. Those other communities made a horrible, terrible mistake.

Adam Hernandez with the group Lubbock Compact, which pushed for voters to approve Prop A, addressed whether he though the loss in Lubbock would affect the movement in Texas to bring about marijuana decriminalization reforms.

We just werent able to get that voter turnout high enough, but in a lot of cities, you may not have that same issue, Hernandez explained. So I dont think for the overall mission people should take this as sort of a bad sign if you will.

So far the idea of decriminalizing marijuana has gone nowhere the Republican-controlled Texas Capitol. Thats why groups like Ground Game Texas are pushing local ballot measures to send a message to lawmakers and activate voters.

Our big goals are basically two-part: democracy and social justice, Mike Siegel, the political director of Ground Game Texas, said. You know in Lubbock, for example, we produced a report showing that the African American community represents about 30% of [marijuana] arrests, but only 8% of the population. So we know that theres racially discriminatory enforcement practices related to marijuana reform, but the other thing is we want to give people reason to vote. We find that theres a lot of cynicism about political parties and candidates and so when folks can go vote for an issue, thats more relatable to a lot of people and will give them a reason to go to the polls.

One change thats likely to come next year during the regular legislative session, though, is making it harder for cities to get these kinds of measures on a ballot. Rep. Tepper said hes already planning to introduce such a measure.

Were all looking at closing that loophole so that you can no longer introduce something into a municipal referendum that would in the end be counter to state law, Tepper said.

The Austin chapter of the Texas Association of Addiction Professionals (TAAP) is holding its annual symposium Thursday and Friday at the Austin Southpark Hotel, located at 4140 Governors Row in south Austin. Various sessions and experts are gathering there to share the latest, best ways to shape addiction treatment.

Brittany Bass, the president of Austin TAAP, said conversations are happening about what could happen during next years regular session. She said Thursday shed like lawmakers to finally legalize fentanyl test strips, pointing to Austin police recently detecting fentanyl in marijuana after a deadly surge in local overdoses.

We really need access to things like fentanyl test strips so that as we see more marijuana come on the streets, people have access to make sure that theres not fentanyl in it, Bass said.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton previously announced hes suing five of the cities where voters approved these marijuana decriminalization measures. Leaders with Ground Game Texas shared Thursday they would intervene in Austins case to defend the citys results.

Harker Heights is not facing this same legal scrutiny, though, because the City Council voted to repeal the ordinance approved by that communitys voters almost immediately after the election.

However, two other cities could be the next to join them in this wave of locally-driven reform. Advocacy groups are working to collect enough signatures for this to appear on ballots in both Dallas and Lockhart.

What polling shows

When it comes to Texas voters feelings about marijuana legalization, pollsters from the University of Texas and The Texas Politics Project have regularly asked people about this.

According to the December 2023 statewide poll, a plurality of voters (34%) said marijuana possession should be legal in medical purposes only. Meanwhile, 30% said having small amounts for any purpose should be legal. Full legalization of marijuana had the support of 19% of the respondents, while 17% said it should not be legal in any circumstance.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Conspiracy-mongering Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) stayed true to her personal brand on Friday when she ranted that Fox News would love to murder Tucker Carlson.

Greenes gripe came during an appearance on Steve Bannons War Room podcast when she lamented that the conservative cable news network ignored her recent attempt to oust Mike Johnson as House speaker.

So you got to remember, Fox News, that literally fired Tucker Carlson, the number one cable TV news host in the nation? Tucker, who was basically the voice of everyone? Thats the Fox News that refused to cover me calling the motion to vacate, she said.

Greene was also peeved that The Five, the show airing on Fox News while she was trying to boot Johnson, didnt immediately cut to the news.

The Five never switched gears, they never changed, never went to anything different, she said, before suggesting there was something nefarious about it.

Fox News wants to control what Republican voters think, and the control and the information that they give you is the establishment Republican Party view, Greene griped.

They want to make viewers, their viewers, think that we have to fight for Ukraine, that we have to stop [Russian leader Vladimir] Putin because hes going to steamroll across Europe just like Hitler did, even though theres no evidence of showing that, she said.

Greene continued to dig a hole big enough to hold one of those Jewish space lasers she once railed against.

Fox News wants to make sure, make sure that you guys dont have your own opinion, that you only have the opinion that Fox News tells you to have, and thats why Fox News attacks Steve Bannon, she said. Thats why Fox News attacks Charlie Kirk, and thats why Fox News would love to murder Tucker Carlson, and thats the reality.

And thats why Fox News is losing viewers because I think you guys are smart. The American people are too smart, and youre tired of being fed outrage TV  outrage TV and watching and voting and donating to Republicans that dont do a damn thing about it.

Heres a clip of the statement courtesy of Media Matters for America.

Marjorie Taylor Greene is genuinely unraveling like never before



Here she is ranting about Fox News not covering her stunts, blaming it on the firing of Tucker Carlson, who she says the network "would love to murder"



https://t.co/GE9IQIwOBJpic.twitter.com/ivjdYiywJi  Madeline Peltz (@peltzmadeline) May 10, 2024
Apple store workers in Towson, Maryland, who became the first of the tech giants U.S. employees to unionize nearly two years ago, will decide Saturday whether to prepare to go on strike.

The union representing about 100 of the stores workers said it scheduled a strike sanction vote after negotiations with management failed to resolve concerns over wages, scheduling and other issues. A sanction vote authorizes strike pay in the event workers later vote to strike.

Workers at the Towson Town Center store have been negotiating with Apple for more than a year through the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.

Despite persistent efforts to engage in constructive and meaningful dialogue, Apple has unfortunately not addressed our core concerns, such as work-life balance, unpredictable scheduling practices and wages below the areas cost of living, said Jay Wadleigh, directing business representative for the unions District 4, in an announcement.

An Apple spokesperson did not respond immediately to a request for comment Friday.

Workers want Apple to recognize the need for an equitable and respectful work environment for all its employees, Wadleigh said.

Employees at the Towson Apple store voted 65-33 in June 2022 to join the Washington-based IAM through a newly formed Coalition of Organized Retail Employees. Workers have been negotiating with Apple management since January 2023.

In February, IAM CORE said an independent survey of Apple employees found discrepancies with a Workers Rights Assessment that the tech giant had commissioned to address shareholder concerns and employee activism. The unions survey found a pattern of alleged illegal behavior by Apple such as unlawful terminations and punishment directed at workers looking to organize and join a union.

The union is expected to resume contract negotiations with Apple on May 21.

About 200 workers at Apple stores in France went on strike over wages last September, according to media reports, timing the action to coincide with the release of Apples iPhone 15.
The trickle of voters who kicked off early in-person voting last week seemed to continue Thursday as the last day to cast a ballot in person before Tuesdays primary drew to a close.

By Thursday afternoon, almost 150,000 Marylanders had cast early in-person votes, compared to the 178,000 who voted early in the 2022 primary, according to Jared DeMarinis, Marylands election administrator.

The 2024 primary is the first that election boards in Anne Arundel, Carroll, and Harford counties and Baltimore City could begin canvassing mail-in ballots early. Election officials braced for an onslaught of misinformation about an increase in requests for mail-in ballots.

Primary elections often determine the outcome of political races in Baltimore, where Democrats outnumber Republicans nearly 10-1. Early voting began last week and ends Thursday at 8 p.m.

Early voting typically follows a pattern in Maryland  the first day and the final few usually generate the highest turnout. That has proven true for the most part in 2024. However, the first day of early voting, when 16,880 people voted, has lagged well behind some days later in the week, where more than 20,000 people voted.

That number has ticked up as the end of early voting approached Thursday. As of 4 p.m., 21,167 people had cast early ballots on Thursday alone. DeMarinis said he expected that number to top 25,000 as the 8 p.m. deadline to vote neared.

Usually, the last four hours of early voting are the most active, he said.

DeMarinis argued the state didnt have such a robust mail-in ballot program in previous years. Some voters eager to vote early seem to have shifted to using mail-in ballots rather than flocking to the first day of early voting, he said.

Its a different electorate that is using early voting, he said.

As of 4 p.m. Thursday, a total of 13,241 registered voters combined for all days of early voting had cast a ballot in Baltimore City, according to acting Election Director Abigail Goldman. The city has 324,436 eligible active voters, according to the State Board of Elections.

A handful of people appeared early Thursday morning to cast their votes at Mount Pleasant Church and Ministries in northeast Baltimore, one of the citys eight early voting centers.

Terri Bradshaw, 55, was one of the voters who did not have to wait long to cast a ballot. The Frankford resident said she was there to avoid primary day crowds as she cast votes for both U.S. President Joe Biden and Mayor Brandon Scott, who are both seeking reelection.

I think Brandon Scott is doing a wonderful job, Bradshaw said. Sheila Dixon has proven herself to be a crook. Voting for her would be like going back to an abusive lover.

Dixon, the former mayor who is running against Scott, resigned in 2010 after being convicted on perjury and embezzlement charges. She announced her 2024 campaign with an apology in The Baltimore Sun. While the mayoral race has largely avoided the increasingly cantankerous tenor of federal races, Scott has emphasized reductions in gun violence under his administration without the scandal or corruption that plagued his predecessors.

Curtis Willis also did not have to wait long to vote Thursday morning. He cast an early ballot because his wife, whom he was voting alongside, would not be in town the day of the primary.

The Belair-Edison retiree said he voted for Scott because hes doing a pretty good job overall.

The low turnout that marked Baltimores early voting period also permeated Anne Arundel and Howard counties, according to early voter tallies.

As of Wednesday evening, 9,130 Anne Arundel voters had cast an early ballot, alongside 7,437 in Howard County, according to unofficial tallies from the state Board of Elections since May 2. Elections directors from those counties did not immediately respond to a request for updated numbers on Thursday.

Nearly 20,000 Baltimore County voters cast early ballots as of 11:30 a.m. Thursday. Unofficial vote tallies indicated the county led the state in early voting most days, according to numbers provided by Baltimore County elections director Ruie LaVoie. She did not immediately respond to a request for updated numbers Thursday afternoon.

Overall, voting has gone well in Baltimore County, she said via email.

_______

(Baltimore Sun reporter Emily Opilo contributed to this article.)

_______
The Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC)  a division of the National Weather Service (NWS)  at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has issued a severe G4 Geomagnetic Storm Watch for the evening of Friday, May 10. G4 is the second-highest grade of geomagnetic solar storm and additional solar disruptions may cause continued geomagnetic storm conditions through the weekend, according to NOAA.

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) and solar flares appear to be directed at the Earth, and the storms they produce at G4 intensity can potentially disrupt satellite communications such as GPS and certain internet connections, certain parts of the electrical power grid, radio signals as possible cell phone communications. The SWPC said it has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action.

An SPWC alert advises that Friday's G4 storm could cause "possible widespread voltage control problems" and that "some protective systems may mistakenly trip out key assets from the power grid." Satellite navigation systems could be "degraded or inoperable for hours" with high-frequency radio "sporadic or blacked out."

Cellular phone towers, wireless providers and website data hosting services could be impacted as a secondary effect of the above. Although not officially named as a cause, two major solar flares in February coincided with extended cellular network outages in some areas of the U.S.

Weve not seen any evidence in the past that a space weather storm could impact that now, Space Weather Services chief Brent Gordon told reporters on a Friday conference call. If power is not available for those, then yes, certainly, the secondary impacts from that would be great.

According to the NWS, "the vast majority of NOAA Geomagnetic Scale 5 level storms (G5) will not cause catastrophic damage to the electric grid. On average, the Earth is impacted by such storms about four times during every 11-year solar cycle, so many large storms have impacted the planet since the Carrington Storm with much less signification impact."

The Carrington Event of 1859 was the largest recorded geomagnetic storm in history and caused extensive blackouts and dangerous power surges (mostly affecting telegraph systems)  but those effects occurred through the antiquated technology and power-regulation systems of the era.

The government advises preparing for geomagnetic storms as one would a severe thunderstorm, including building an emergency preparedness kit, making a communications plan with your family, and having non-digital versions of your list of critical contacts and any emergency medical paperwork. Make sure you have a supply of backup battery power or a backup generator, particularly for any medical devices. Use a phone or laptop charger that can be plugged into your vehicle for power in the event of a partial outage. Fill jugs with drinkable water and refrigerate or freeze them in order to keep food or medicine cold during a potential power outage. Keep your vehicles fuel tank at least half-full.

"Geomagnetic storms can also trigger spectacular displays of aurora on Earth. A severe geomagnetic storm includes the potential for aurora to be seen as far south as Alabama and Northern California," said the SWPC.

Solar eruptions that occurred on May 9 around 2 p.m. EDT were captured by NOAA's GOES-16 satellite and are available to view on YouTube.
PORTAGE, Mich. (WOOD)  The mayor of Portage says she has been overwhelmed with generosity as the community works to recover from Tuesday nights EF2 tornado.

Mayor Patricia Randall told News 8 that 280 buildings were damaged by the tornado, with 79 homes deemed uninhabitable.

In those, we have hundreds of people that are displaced, she said.

NWS confirms 4 tornadoes in Southwest Michigan Tuesday

On top of that, the storm did serious damage to the communitys infrastructure.

We didnt have just lines down, we had poles down, and we had poles down over railroad tracks. And we had 17 non-working traffic signals, Randall said. So it wasnt just the wind that brought the trees down and demolished the houses, it really impacted our infrastructure and our ability for traffic to move.

Around 21,000 residents lost power, which was restored Thursday, according to the mayor. With traffic signals down and sidewalks blocked, Portage Public Schools canceled classes on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

Thought we were gonna die: Tornado destroys homes, businesses in Portage area

Despite the damage, the mayor says she is so grateful that no deaths or serious injuries have been reported.

As the mayor, I am just trying to take the chaos and bring calm, she said.

Recovery began with a complete assessment.

We went house by house. We made sure everyone was OK, Randall said. And then we made sure that there were no live wires down, no leaking gas lines.

Then, on Friday, volunteers gathered to help pick up brush. Around 125 people showed up, according to the mayor.

What we are asking residents to do that would like to volunteer is to simply take the brush to the curb, and we have large trucks that are moving to clear the sidewalks, clear the bike lanes. We got it out of the road. We only have one road closed at this time, which was our hardest impacted, Randall said. And then we are asking residents to divide the debris into different piles. But (Friday), its simply about brush pickup. And we will chip those and make them into mulch.

Portage schools call off Friday as tornado cleanup continues

Cleanup continues on Saturday. Volunteers are invited to gather at City Hall, located at 7900 S Westnedge Ave., by 9 a.m.

Randall says its not clear how long the cleanup will take.

Weve never done this before, she said. The more hands we have, the lighter the lift.

And so far, Randall has been overwhelmed with the generosity of (the) community to respond.

The support weve had from city staff willing to work 24/7, its been tremendous.  Our police have worked overtime, our public safety as well, she said. The community at large has donated pallets of water, food. Home Depot has sent a huge group of people over. Theyve sent moving boxes and packing material.

The Kalamazoo Community Foundation and the United Way of South Central Michigan have both established disaster relief funds in the wake of the storm. Portage leaders also directed people to the Michigan Volunteer Registry to find out how they can help.

For those who are displaced, the American Red Cross has opened a shelter at First Assembly of God, located at 5550 Oakland Dr. It says 18 people stayed overnight Thursday. The Red Cross is also delivering meals in the hardest hit areas Friday.

As recovery continues, Randall wants to emphasize a message of unity.

We will move together forward, the mayor said. We dont want to leave anyone behind.

 News 8s Brittany Flowers contributed to this report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is pushing back on President Bidens conditions on aid to Israel.

McConnell stressed the U.S. should not be directing Israel on how they should be conducting their war with Hamas.

Its a democratic ally with an elected government  a unity government  and we shouldnt be telling them how to conduct a war on their own borders, McConnell said in an interview with Politico published on Thursday. If they are a democratic ally, we dont get to pick the leaders. And this is a unity government  its not about the prime minister.

The Kentucky Republicans remarks came just a day after Biden warned Isreal that he would halt some weapon transfers to Israel if it launches a full-scale invasion into Rafah, a city in the south of Gaza where over 1 million Palestinians are sheltering.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities  that deal with that problem, Biden said in an interview with CNN.

The White House has told Israel it is against the invasion of Rafah if theres no plan in place to safely evacuate civilians. Last week, the U.S. reportedly paused the shipment of bombs to Israel over concerns related to Rafahs invasion.

McConnell, who was a big factor in getting foreign aid passed through Congress last month, disagrees with Bidens warning to put conditions on weapons for the U.S. ally.

We should not be telling them how to protect themselves, he told Politico. We should not be conditioning the arrival of military equipment that they need because of some domestic view that [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is unpopular. Completely irrelevant to the war.

Despite the president drawing a red line in regard to the operation in Rafah, Netanyahu said the incursion would move ahead.

If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone, Netanyahu said in a video address posted on Thursday.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
A group of shareholders in fast-food chains McDonalds and Wendys are demanding the companies boards of directors do more to ensure franchisees are not exploiting child labor or labor by incarcerated people.

In separate letters to the boards at the two restaurant chains, the investors reference The Washington Post reporting on child labor at McDonalds and Wendys franchises as the reason for leadership to take urgent action. In essence, the investors argue that news coverage and increased public scrutiny of possible labor violations threaten the companies bottom lines. Both letters were coordinated by the SOC Investment Group, an organization that manages union pensions.

The McDonalds investors say they represent over $2.2 trillion in assets. Their letter highlights that McDonalds has had more than 2,300 child labor violations at more than 13,000 restaurants since 2013, according to the Posts reporting. And though these took place at franchised restaurants rather than corporate-owned ones, they say the board is responsible for a lack of oversight that exposes shareholders to reputational and legal risks associated with repeated violations of child labor law.

The letter demands the board institute a zero-tolerance policy with regard to child labor at franchises, that it empower an internal committee to oversee human rights issues, and that an independent human rights review of franchisees be released in December.

The letter sent to Wendys is very similar. The group of investors claim to represent $429.5 million in assets, and their letter also cites the Washington Post investigation, which found that Wendys franchises have had some of the most child labor violations per restaurant in the fast food industry since 2020. Citing Labor Department data, the Post found that Wendys franchises averaged nine violations per 100 restaurants, placing it among the top ten fast-food chains.

The Wendy's investors' demands are nearly identical to those in the McDonalds letter, including the release of an independent report, but with the addition of annual progress reports thereafter.

Both letters cite an Alabama lawsuit, which names Wendys and McDonalds restaurants among hundreds of employers allegedly relying on prison labor, to express concern that the respective boards are failing to mitigate risks to the Companys reputation.

Neither company immediately responded to MSNBC's request for comment. The Washington Post notes that in response to similar letters sent last year:

At least the companies' investors are showing some self-awareness: They understand that press coverage of the problems they mention in their letters is bad for business. Indeed, child labor has come into focus because of harrowing stories like those covered in the Post, but this issue is also in the news because conservative officials nationwide have been rolling back child labor regulations.

So its smart business, morally just and politically prudent to want to disassociate ones company from the exploitative practices laid out in these letters.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
The Illinois House on Thursday passed Gov. J.B. Pritzkers initiative to consolidate early childhood services under a single agency, paving the way for the creation of a new state Department of Early Childhood.

We can make early childhood simpler, better and fairer, Democratic Rep. Mary Beth Canty of Arlington Heights, the bills main backer in the House, said Thursday. The state Senate passed the bill in a 56-0 vote, and it now heads to the governors desk.

The bill is part of Pritzkers suite of initiatives aimed at enhancing early childhood services in Illinois. The governor has also pushed for greater preschool funding in order to make the state, in his words, the best place to raise young children.

The new agency would be an umbrella for early intervention for children with disabilities and developmental delays from the Department of Human Services; preschool programs overseen by the Illinois State Board of Education; and day care licensing responsibilities handled by the beleaguered Department of Children and Family Services.

The new department would streamline access to services for families as well as management for the state, Canty said. Under the legislation, the agency would be created this July and oversee programs starting in July 2026, after a two-year transition period.

The bill, which passed 93-18, makes no immediate changes to early childhood programs in the state.

After the transition period, the goal is for services to be moved with no interruption to services, jobs or funding, Canty said.

Republicans including Rep. Blaine Wilhour of Beecher City during House debate Thursday questioned the idea of creating the agency before fully figuring out the logistics and budget.

This is a cabinet-level government agency and we have no idea what its going to cost, he said.

Canty responded that the idea of the agency has been studied by a recent task force. Consolidating the services into one department could also eventually lead to cost savings for the government, Canty said, though she declined to speculate on the future budgets for the departments involved.

Pritzkers budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which is pending legislative approval, includes $13 million for first year of the transition. Those funds would support efforts to evaluate and bring together systems among the three current agencies, such as facilities and data infrastructure, Canty said.

Getting to our earliest learners  is the best investment I believe we can make in the root causes of the challenges that face our state, Democratic Rep. Will Guzzardi of Chicago said Thursday.

DCFS in particular has been the target of recent conversations on restructuring. Lawmakers and advocates have long discussed the idea of reassigning day care licensing to another agency to allow DCFS to better focus on its primary child welfare responsibilities, such as abuse and neglect investigations, especially since Republicans have been critical of the agency under Pritzkers watch.

Earlier this year, Pritzkers new head of DCFS, Heidi Mueller, said siphoning off day care licensing responsibilities from DCFS would be helpful to the agency because thats not really part of central function of the agency.

It allows us to really focus on kind of our core mission and function, Mueller said at an unrelated event in Chicago in March, shortly after her confirmation by the state Senate. As a leader, my role is going to be ensuring that theres a smooth transition, she added.

House Republican leader Tony McCombie of Savanna, who has been critical of Pritzkers handling of DCFS, was among about 20 GOP House members who voted in favor of the legislation on Thursday. In a statement, she said she supports the creation of the agency because reforms I have advocated for, especially some regarding DCFS, are in this bill.

Much more work remains to keep children and workers safe, so we must continue to advocate for reforms that hold these agencies accountable, McCombie said.

The plan builds on Pritzkers Smart Start Illinois initiative, a program funded with $250 million in the current budget that aims to improve access to child care and early childhood education. Among other elements, it calls for the addition of 20,000 slots to existing state-funded preschool programs over the course of the governors current term.

In the weeks leading up to his February address for the upcoming budget year, Pritzker traversed the state to tout the childhood services agency initiative. On the social media platform X on Thursday, Pritzker indicated he looks forward to signing the measure into law, thanking Canty and other advocates for making services simpler, better, and fairer for children and their families in Illinois.
Getty Images

Isabella Rosario Blum was wrapping up medical school and considering residency programs to become a family practice physician when she got some frank advice: If she wanted to be trained to provide abortions, she shouldnt stay in Arizona.

Blum turned to programs mostly in states where abortion access  and, by extension, abortion training  is likely to remain protected, like California, Colorado, and New Mexico. Arizona has enacted a law banning most abortions after 15 weeks.

I would really like to have all the training possible, she said, so of course that would have still been a limitation.

In June, she will start her residency at Swedish Cherry Hill hospital in Seattle.

According to new statistics from the Association of American Medical Colleges, for the second year in a row, students graduating from U.S. medical schools were less likely to apply this year for residency positions in states with abortion bans and other significant abortion restrictions.

Since the Supreme Court in 2022 overturned the constitutional right to an abortion, state fights over abortion access have created plenty of uncertainty for pregnant patients and their doctors. But that uncertainty has also bled into the world of medical education, forcing some new doctors to factor state abortion laws into their decisions about where to begin their careers.

Fourteen states, primarily in the Midwest and South, have banned nearly all abortions. The new analysis by the AAMC  a preliminary copy of which was exclusively reviewed by KFF Health News before its public release  found that the number of applicants to residency programs in states with near-total abortion bans declined by 4.2%, compared with a 0.6% drop in states where abortion remains legal.

Notably, the AAMCs findings illuminate the broader problems abortion bans can create for a states medical community, particularly in an era of provider shortages: The organization tracked a larger decrease in interest in residencies in states with abortion restrictions not only among those in specialties most likely to treat pregnant patients, like OB-GYNs and emergency room doctors, but also among aspiring doctors in other specialties.

It should be concerning for states with severe restrictions on reproductive rights that so many new physicians  across specialties  are choosing to apply to other states for training instead, wrote Atul Grover, executive director of the AAMCs Research and Action Institute.

The AAMC analysis found the number of applicants to OB-GYN residency programs in abortion ban states dropped by 6.7%, compared with a 0.4% increase in states where abortion remains legal. For internal medicine, the drop observed in abortion ban states was over five times as much as in states where abortion is legal.

In its analysis, the AAMC said an ongoing decline in interest in ban states among new doctors ultimately may negatively affect access to care in those states.

Jack Resneck Jr., immediate past president of the American Medical Association, said the data demonstrates yet another consequence of the post-Roe v. Wade era.

The AAMC analysis notes that even in states with abortion bans, residency programs are filling their positions  mostly because there are more graduating medical students in the U.S. and abroad than there are residency slots.

Still, Resneck said, were extraordinarily worried. For example, physicians without adequate abortion training may not be able to manage miscarriages, ectopic pregnancies, or potential complications such as infection or hemorrhaging that could stem from pregnancy loss.

Those who work with students and residents say their observations support the AAMCs findings. People dont want to go to a place where evidence-based practice and human rights in general are curtailed, said Beverly Gray, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Duke University School of Medicine.

Abortion in North Carolina is banned in nearly all cases after 12 weeks. Women who experience unexpected complications or discover their baby has potentially fatal birth defects later in pregnancy may not be able to receive care there.

Gray said she worries that even though Duke is a highly sought training destination for medical residents, the abortion ban impacts whether we have the best and brightest coming to North Carolina.

Rohini Kousalya Siva will start her obstetrics and gynecology residency at MedStar Washington Hospital Center in Washington, D.C., this year. She said she did not consider programs in states that have banned or severely restricted abortion, applying instead to programs in Maryland, New Hampshire, New York, and Washington, D.C.

Were physicians, said Kousalya Siva, who attended medical school in Virginia and was previously president of the American Medical Student Association. Were supposed to be giving the best evidence-based care to our patients, and we cant do that if we havent been given abortion training.

Another consideration: Most graduating medical students are in their 20s, the age when people are starting to think about putting down roots and starting families, said Gray, who added that she is noticing many more students ask about politics during their residency interviews.

And because most young doctors make their careers in the state where they do their residencies, people dont feel safe potentially having their own pregnancies living in those states with severe restrictions, said Debra Stulberg, chair of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Chicago.

Stulberg and others worry that this self-selection away from states with abortion restrictions will exacerbate the shortages of physicians in rural and underserved areas.

The geographic misalignment between where the needs are and where people are choosing to go is really problematic, she said. We dont need people further concentrating in urban areas where theres already good access.

After attending medical school in Tennessee, which has adopted one of the most sweeping abortion bans in the nation, Hannah Light-Olson will start her OB-GYN residency at the University of California-San Francisco this summer.

It was not an easy decision, she said. I feel some guilt and sadness leaving a situation where I feel like I could be of some help, she said. I feel deeply indebted to the program that trained me, and to the patients of Tennessee.

Light-Olson said some of her fellow students applied to programs in abortion ban states because they think we need pro-choice providers in restrictive states now more than ever. In fact, she said, she also applied to programs in ban states when she was confident the program had a way to provide abortion training.

I felt like there was no perfect, 100% guarantee; weve seen how fast things can change, she said. I dont feel particularly confident that California and New York arent going to be under threat, too.

As a condition of a scholarship she received for medical school, Blum said, she will have to return to Arizona to practice, and it is unclear what abortion access will look like then. But she is worried about long-term impacts.

Residents, if they cant get the training in the state, then theyre probably less likely to settle down and work in the state as well, she said.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFFan independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

The post Medical residents are increasingly avoiding states with abortion restrictions appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
After arriving in Poland sometime around 1708, Antoni Jaczewicz soon developed a sinister reputation.

The country was being torn apart by the Great Northern War, accompanied by a deadly plague epidemic and desperation, according to a May 8 news release from the Wojewodzki Urzad Ochrony Zabytkow w Kielcach, or the Provincial Office for the Protection of Monuments in Kielce.

Desperate for hope and salvation, people sought out those claiming to have a special religious power  enter Jaczewicz.

Claiming to have received supernatural healing powers from the Mother of God, Jaczewicz offered healing prayers to the sick and protection over those still untouched by the plague, officials said.

He lived in the wilderness of the Swietokrzyskie Mountains as a hermit, and soon the money he took from people for his services grew to a legendary hoard, according to the release.

Uncover more archaeological finds

What are we learning about the past? Here are three of our most eye-catching archaeology stories from the past week.

 Massive 2,200-year-old tomb with grand interior unearthed in China

1,000-year-old weapon  the first of its kind  found sticking out of grave in Spain

 Workers unearth steelworks at medieval castle in UK  and find someone's 'hidey-hole'

Other bandits were rumored to have sought out his refuge, and soon, Jaczewicz hired guards to rob pilgrims and protect his massive treasure.

Jaczewicz was captured by the bishops court, but then escaped from prison and resumed his work as a fraudster, officials said.

Four years later, he was captured again, and sentenced to life in prison in 1712, according to officials.

Jaczewicz became known as a legendary adventurer, hermit and fraud, but his rumored riches were never found  until now.

The hoard included multiple different types of coins made from both silver and gold, suggesting they were given as payment or an offering to the fraudster, officials said.

The Swietokrzyskie Exploration Group, a team of detectorists and history buffs who have been exploring the mountains since 2015, discovered some coins during a trek in the mountains in June 2022, group president Sebastian Grabowiec told Zwiadowca Historii.

One team member found the first pile, the largest, before others stumbled upon other groups of buried coins, Grabowiec told the outlet.

They found silver and gold coins from the 17th and 18th century, according to a May 10 news release from the Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego, the Ministry of Science and Higher Education.

The find included orts, sixes, patagoons, krajcars and kopecks, officials said, but the most fascinating coin was a gold Hamburg ducat from 1648 with the image of Madonna and Child that had a hole punched along its edge, likely worn as as medallion.

Wojciech Siudowski, from Wojewodzki Urzad Ochrony Zabytkow w Kielcach, told Zwiadowca Historii that the coins show the legend of Jaczewicz may be more fact than fiction.

The variety of coins were likely part of fees taken by the self-proclaimed healer, given as donations or votive offerings, or stolen from the local nobility, Siudowski told the outlet.

One coin, a gold Madonna and Child, has a hole punched near the edge, meaning it was likely worn as a medallion, officials said.

The coins were analyzed before their connection to Jaczewicz was confirmed, the outlet reported.

Preservation of the coins is scheduled for this year, officials said, and exploration of the discovery area will continue as more hoards may be buried nearby.

The Swietokrzyskie Mountains, also called the Holy Cross Mountains, are a mountain range in central Poland outside the city of Kielce, about a 110-mile drive south from Warsaw.

Google Translate was used to translate the news release from the Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyzszego and the article from Zwiadowca Historii. Facebook translate was used to translate the news release from the Wojewodzki Urzad Ochrony Zabytkow w Kielcach.

Rare collection of centuries-old fabric and shoes discovered in Poland. Take a look

Ancient Hun grave found in Poland reveals rare glimpse into Asian nomadic warriors

Package from mystery sender arrives at Poland museum  with missing artifacts inside

Metal detectorist stumbles on centuries-old artifact  once banned by tsar  in Poland
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  A trip to France to see the site of the battle of Normandy has inspired a new memorial in the Colorado Springs Airport.

The Wall of Heroes is an art piece featuring white ribbons, each with the name and rank of the 144 soldiers from Colorado who died fighting WWII and are buried in the Brittany American and Normandy American cemeteries.

All 144 names of World War II soldiers have finally made it back home.

Each name has a storysomeone who made the ultimate sacrifice. The emotional journey began when the Colorado Springs Chorale went to France to sing at Brittany American and Normandy American cemeteries in 2023.

Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Mike Duran

Its important to bring our soldiers home. Whether they managed to come home on their own or whether they have to come home in another way. Especially the ones who have given their lives, said Sanra Dramron Colorado Springs Chorale Board Treasurer. Theyve given their lives for us. So, we need to we need to remember that and recognize that.

Thats when they decided to locate the names of each veteran from Colorado who never made it home.

Before the chorale left for the concert, they decided to do something to honor the Colorado veterans buried overseas. They assigned each member one of the 144 names to find in the cemeteries and place a flag at the foot of each grave.

When we were assigned soldiers and of course, I just picked someone. We each researched our soldier before we went to place a flag on their grave. The person that I randomly assigned to myself lived in my house, said Jamie Grandy, the Executive Director of Colorado Springs Chorale.

She said it felt extra special to be able to bring that solider home.

I recognized his last name and went and researched the assessors office record. They lived in my house until 1955, said Grandy.

Through the many tears and emotions they felt on the trip, they know each name brought home is a fighter for our freedom whos now a guardian angel.

We just stood there and cried as a group, added Grandy.

The connections they made are what ultimately led them to create the Wall of Heroes in a place where thousands of people walk through every daythe Colorado Springs Airport.

Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Mike Duran

Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Mike Duran

Courtesy: FOX21 News Chief Photojournalist Mike Duran

Its almost like visiting the grave of a relative, who maybe nobody has come to see in the last 70 years, since they died here, but its okay, Im here now, said Dramron.

Now, visitors and locals who fly into Colorado Springs can take a moment to remember those who fought and died for all of us.

Although they may be gone, they are not forgotten.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
AUSTIN (KXAN)  When Amy Ortiz stepped up to the microphone at a packed Capitol hearing of the Texas Commission on Jail Standards, she had one message to the board members: Please keep my brother alive.

Ortiz recounted how her family called a crisis line to get help for her mentally ill brother. Instead, the police arrested him and put him in Smith County jail in January 2024.

By Februarys hearing, Ortiz said her brothers physical condition was so deteriorated she feared he may soon die.

He was just skin and bones, Ortiz told commissioners at the hearing.

On Feb. 1, 2024, more than a dozen family members expressed similar anecdotes at the Texas Commission on Jail Standards hearing. They voiced their concerns about their family members experiencing mental crises inside of jail, mistreatment and declining physical health  with some experiencing severe dehydration and noticeable weight loss.

Maintaining proper nutrition for people with mental illness in jail can be a challenge with dire consequences, and, according to experts, it may be a problem that is flying under the radar.

My brother isnt able to get commissary because he is in suicide watch, said Ortiz, making it hard for the family to help him while they watch him lose more and more weight.

EXPLORE: Locked in Limbo

The Smith County Sheriffs Office did not respond to KXANs multiple requests for comment.

Jails are environments that are stressful and known to exacerbate stress levels, said Alycia Welch, associate director of the Prison and Jail Innovation Lab (PJIL) at the University of Texas at Austin. The PJIL serves as a bridge between academic researchers and policymakers on issues of prison and jail confinement.

For individuals living with mental illness, exacerbated stress often results in exacerbating the symptoms of mental illness, Welch said.

The stressful jail environment took a physical toll on Ortizs brother, causing him to drop a noticeable amount of weight, according to his family.

For some people with mental illness, it can be difficult to keep them fed regardless of whether food is available or not, Dr. Steve Stratowski, associate vice president for regional mental health at Dell Medical School, said.

There is a belief that the food is dangerous. If there is anyone thats available that they can trust or work with: a family member, friend, case manager  that is another alternative. Of course, the best thing is to not have them in jail, Stratowksi said.

Hyponatremia

A separate Tarrant County case shows living in jail with mental illness can be deadly, according to a federal lawsuit filed last year.

On June 22, 2023, the estate of Georgia Baldwin filed a federal lawsuit against Tarrant County Jail claiming Baldwin was denied her constitutional rights and died because of neglect.

On Sep. 14, 2021, Baldwin was found unresponsive in the Tarrant County Jail and died within an hour of being found, according to a custodial death report. She died from severe hyponatremia, according to court records, inches from a water fountain in her cell.

Severe hyponatremia is consistent with someone who does not drink enough water. This is consistent with the extensive research in schizophrenia where the brain condition causes a loss of attention to normal cues  like thirst, explains Stratowski.

Baldwin had a history of mental health treatment through the North Texas Behavioral Health Authority, according to her case files. Her psychiatric report indicated that she was incompetent to stand trial. She was then sent to the Tarrant County Jail for a 120-day outpatient competency restoration (OCR) program. After 60 days, she was required to be sent to a North Texas state hospital.

Individuals who are flagged by the court system as potentially not competent to stand trial need to be given constant competency restoration services, Welch said.

The treatment plan must address physical health concerns, medication management, and contain a level of family and community support, according to the Texas Health and Human Services Competency Restoration guidelines regarding jail-based competency restoration programs. After completion of the program, the staff should work with the courts to secure a daytime release of incarcerated individuals.

The Tarrant County Jail incarcerated Baldwin longer than mandated, according to court records.

During Baldwins time in Tarrant County Jail, she was held in a small cell without a window. Her interactions were with a jailer at check-ins, the lawsuit states.

The Tarrant County Sheriffs Office did not respond to KXANs request for comment.

A Texas Ranger investigation referenced in the Baldwin lawsuit said that when cell checks were made  like the one done before Baldwin was found  nobody would enter Baldwins cell.

After Baldwins death, Tarrant County contracted with CGL Companies to conduct a comprehensive review of the facility, in which it was determined Tarrant County had sufficient notice to remedy issues involving Baldwins suffering and death.

According to the CGL report, Tarrant County had a policy, practice, and or/custom of understaffing its jail.

The Baldwin case remains pending in U.S. District Court Northern District of Texas.

Beyond the Baldwin case, Texas jail and mental health authorities have struggled for years to move people found incompetent to stand trial from jails to state hospitals for competency restoration.

In March, there were nearly 2,000 people on the states maximum security and non-maximum security waitlists for a state hospital bed. The total waitlist has been trending down since January 2023, when it was above 2,500 people. As of March, some individuals on the list were waiting a year or more for treatment, according to data compiled by the Health and Human Services Commissions Joint Committee on Access and Forensic Services.

Understaffing

Jails and prisons alike are experiencing critical shortages and staffing, and that really impacts the ability of an agency to do the proper check in on individuals with mental illness, Welch said.

Understaffing can lead to overworked jail staff, directly affecting the quality of care the inmates receive and resulting in inadequate jail checks, according to a National Library of Medicine experiment on short-term imprisonment under low-prison staffing.

During the Texas Commission on Jail Standards hearing, Harris County stated that they need more staffing  a common issue echoed by many Texas County Jails during the session.

In 2022, 50% of the Tarrant County jail population needed psychiatric or behavioral health care, according to the Texas Jail Project.

The Baldwin court records highlighted other cases of inmates with a prior history of mental illness dying within jail custody who refused to eat food or drink water. Their refusal to eat or drink is documented, indicating that the county jails were aware of the issue.

Without proper check-ins, people with mental illness lack a continuity of care, which includes physical and mental health check-ins, including checking hunger and thirst cues  something that is vital in supporting these individuals, according to Welch.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Metra riders see delays after pedestrian hit by train in northwest suburbs

PALATINE, Ill.  Metra riders are facing some interruptions heading into rush hour on Friday afternoon after a pedestrian was hit by a train in the northwest suburbs, causing some delays.

Chicago man accused of robbing USPS employee

According to Metra officials, inbound and outbound Union Pacific Northwest (UP-NW) trains were halted near Palatine at around 4 p.m. after train #654 struck a pedestrian.

The #654 train, which was scheduled to arrive at Ogilvie Transportation Center at 4:40 pm, will not operate past Palatine due to the crash.

An update from Metra indicated that due to the crash, UP-NW trains #639, scheduled to depart Chicago at 4:05 p.m., and #658, scheduled to depart Des Plaines at 5:07 p.m., will not operate on Tuesday. Train #641 will accommodate #639 and will make all stops.

In another update, Metra indicated that UP-NW train #643, which is scheduled to arrive in McHenry at 5:45 p.m., will express from Ogilvie Transportation Center to McHenry. Train #645 will accommodate passengers to Crystal Lake and train #657 will accommodate passengers to McHenry.

By around 4:30 p.m., officials indicated that outbound trains were back on the move, but were operating with an extensive delay due to the crash. Inbound trains remain halted as of 4:30 p.m

Metra officials later confirmed that the person who was hit was alive and was taken to the hospital after the incident.

Read more: Latest Chicago news headlines

It is the second time a pedestrian has been hit by a UP-NW train in the last week. On Monday, a 56-year-old man from Des Plaines was fatally hit by the #666 train in the 1500 block of Miner Street.

Visit Metras website for the latest updates on delays and cancellations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez was in Las Cruces on Friday to announce a petition for writ in the New Mexico Supreme Court against Las Cruces District Judge Douglas Driggers, who recently terminated the probation of a former Las Cruces High School teacher who sexually assaulted his students.

According to Torrez, Driggers' recent termination of the five-year probation for Patrick Howard, who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a female student in 2021, violated legal mandates related to a required five years of probation for sex offenders, conditional discharge and the victim's rights to attend hearings and be heard under the Victim of Crime Act.

Driggers was appointed as a Third Judicial District judge by former Governor Bill Richardson in 2003. In general, the NMDOJ represents judges in legal matters, but Torrez said there are mechanisms in place to assist Driggers in retaining independent counsel.

"The New Mexico Department of Justice has taken this action not only because we believe the judge acted improperly and in violation of the law, but more importantly, because of the way that the process unfolded," Torrez said.

NM Attorney General Raul Torres was in Las Cruces today to announce the NMDOJ filed a petition of writ with the NM Supreme Court against District Judge Douglas Driggers pic.twitter.com/cz0Nv8v5NG  Jason Groves (@JPGroves) May 10, 2024

Torrez made the announcement at the Las Cruces Convention Center, alongside attorneys who have represented the victims, as well as Third Judicial District Attorney Gerald Byers.

If the New Mexico Supreme Court grants the writ, the judge's order on March 21 to discharge Howard from probation two years early and dismissed charges against him, would be null. The writ also asked to immediately stay the district court's order.

Additionally, Byers announced that his office has also filed a motion for resentencing in district court, which would reinstate Howard's probation.

"Under the statutes, a person becomes a sex offender when they enter a guilty plea and (Howard) entered a guilty plea in this case," Byers said. "That requires a mandatory period of supervised probation of no less than five years."

Victim thanks DA for attempting to reinstate Howard's probation

Civil rights attorney Shannon Kennedy read a statement from the victim on Friday.

Kennedy and attorney Mollie McGraw were in Las Cruces on Friday. They represented victims who were 15- or 16-years-old at the time the assaults occurred in 2017, in a recent federal lawsuit, where a jury awarded $44 million in damages to a victim on March 11, just two weeks before Howard's probation was terminated.

"District Attorney Byers, thank you for apologizing and for taking accountability for the situation at hand," Kennedy read from a statement from the victim. "We have not had a whole lot of that in the last seven and a half years.

"I really hope that the order to terminate Patrick Howard's felony probation is thoroughly reconsidered because I, along with the other girls, fought so hard so that this could never happen again by the hand of him. I fear history may repeat itself if it's not reconsidered."

In 2018, Howard was charged with four counts of criminal sexual contact of a minor, along with battery. According to court records, Howard pleaded guilty to one count of criminal sexual contact of a minor and the battery charge in May of 2021. The court agreed to a conditional discharge, five years of supervised probation and sex offender treatment. He did not have to register as a sex offender. The probation was amended in 2022 to allow Howard to drink alcohol in moderation and to possess firearms.

Howard's attorney made a motion to terminate the probation on March 15. On March 19, the court scheduled a notice of motion hearing on March 21, which Byers said violates the victim's constitutional rights that call for seven working days be provided by the court so that victims are able to attend any hearing.

"We received two calendar days notice," Byers said. "That did not provide our office sufficient time to notify the victims."

In the hearing, the adult probation officer deferred to the court's discretion regarding Howard's motion and the state concurred with the probation officer's recommendation.

According to Driggers's order to discharge Howard's probation, "the court finds that the Corrections Department approves said motion and that defendant has paid all fines and assessments. ... the defendant has satisfactorily fulfilled the conditions of his probation."

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez was in Las Cruces on Friday to announce the New Mexico Department of Justice filed a petition of writ with the New Mexico Supreme Court against Third Judicial District Judge Douglas Driggers, who recently terminated the five-year probation of former Las Cruces High School teacher, Patrick Howard, who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a student in 2018.

The writ states that the sex offender probation statute defines a sex offender as a person who is convicted of, pleads guilty to or pleads nolo contendere to, among other offenses, CSCM in the second or third degree. Howard pleaded guilty to third degree criminal sexual contact of a minor.

Terminating Howard's probation violated victim's constitutional rights

According to the petition for writ, "The court's premature termination of probation is illegal, endangers the community, and violates the victims constitutional and statutory rights.

"It is necessary and proper to seek relief in this Court because the States right of appeal under the circumstances, if any, is wholly inadequate and this legal issue must be resolved at the earliest possible opportunity."

Byers said his office has not conducted an analysis for other cases involving Driggers failing to notify victims in a timely fashion, but Torrez said the NMDOJ has requested all district attorneys in the state to identify other instances across the state of instances where the constitutional rights of victims were not granted by the court.

"I don't believe this to be an isolated incident in the state of New Mexico," Torrez said. "In virtually every corner of this state, there has been a pattern of disregard for victim's rights."

The Victim of Crime Act states that during any court proceeding, the court shall inquire on the record whether a victim is present for the purpose of making an oral statement or submitting a written statement. If the district attorney cannot verify that an attempt has been made, the court can:'

Reschedule the hearing.

Continue with the hearing but reserve ruling until the victim has been notified and given an opportunity to make a statement.

Order the district attorney to notify the victim of the rescheduled hearing.

Driggers did not comply with any of that, the writ alleges.

"I think one of the most critical questions moving forward is whether or not it makes sense to continue to have victims be disadvantaged by having rights that exist on paper but somehow never seem to materialize in reality," Torrez said.

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: New Mexico AG files petition for Writ against District Judge Douglas Driggers
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE)  The state has set aside $25 million to help fire departments add firefighters and EMTs to their ranks. The Department of Finance and Administration says the grants will offset the cost of new salaries, creating opportunities for volunteer firefighters in smaller communities to possibly transition to paid positions.

CYFD in search of ways to keep kids from sleeping in state office buildings

The application period runs from May 15 to June 15. The DFA is hosting a webinar for fire departments and local governments on May 14 at 2 p.m. on Microsoft Teams. Those interested in attending need to email Firefighter.fund@dfa.nm.gov.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
Supporters of the Palestine solidarity groups sit-in at New Mexico State University face police officers outside the Hadley administration building. (Photo by Justin Garcia / Las Cruces Bulletin)

Thirteen people were arrested at New Mexico State Universitys Las Cruces campus Thursday evening after a group of protesters, angry over the death toll and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, held a sit-in for two hours.

Approximately 12 to 16 people sat close together in the middle of the floor, chanting and singing in the main hallway of the Hadley administration building, which houses the presidents office and other executive and administrative offices. Outside, a group of supporters chanted, some drumming on the entrance doors in solidarity as campus police inside prevented access to the building.

The Las Cruces Bulletin first published this article. It is republished here with permission.

Campus protesters had recently organized a week-long encampment on the main campus and issued a list of demands of the universitys governing board of regents, including a cease-fire resolution, disclosure of the universitys investments and divestment from institutions profiting from Israels military response in Gaza or affiliated with the Israeli government.

The regents did not take up a cease-fire resolution and NMSUs interim president, Monica Torres, informed the camp via letter on May 5 that the university had not located any investments responsive to their demands. She then requested they break camp, citing university policies and safety concerns. The camp, which consisted of more than a dozen tents on a patch of grass east of the Corbett Center student union building, cleared the area on Monday morning, May 6.

On the Las Cruces for Palestine Instagram account, the group responded to Torres letter, writing that the administrations response was a blatant circumvention of the needs of Palestinians and the demands of New Mexico State University students, and stated that they would regroup: The fight is not over, the front has changed.

Thursday sit-in and arrests

An organizer of the group told the Las Cruces Bulletin, outside Thursdays sit-in, that the action followed a meeting with administration earlier in the day that did not present progress on the groups demands.

The sit-in proceeded at about 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, as finals week neared its end, with Friday the last day of classes. Outside Hadley, students played frisbee on the lawn by the U-shaped driveway leading into campus known as the Horseshoe. On a nearby bench, a student posed for a photograph wearing a commencement sash.

By 5:30 p.m., after business hours, Hadley Hall was occupied.

Singing songs and chanting chants, the group was slowly being surrounded by NMSU police, who were, in turn, surrounded by more protesters.

Reporters were not allowed inside the building. Officers, including NMSU PD deputy chief Justin Dunivan, told the Bulletin early during the incident that he might have allowed the media inside.

Were working our due diligence to try and de-escalate this situation as much as possible, Dunivan said. Obviously, were working with the group.

Outside on the west side of the building, another group of protesters gathered. The group inside, who had broadcast much of what happened on an Instagram live stream, had called for supporters to show up and help the occupation. But those supporters were not allowed inside. The doors were locked and the police stood guard.

So, the group outside banged on the windows and repeatedly chanted Viva! Viva! Palestina! The banging was hard enough to shake the windows but not hard enough to cause damage. One protester began chalking slogans on the ground calling for a cease-fire and stating, NMSU supports genocide.

A handful of administrators were also inside the building for at least some of the protest. Some watched what was happening elsewhere in the building via the live stream. More protesters arrived, and both the east and west ends of Hadley were crowded with people peering inside, watching their comrades as police exchanged zip-tie handcuffs and discussed their next move.

At 6 p.m., everything changed.

That building closes for business at 5 p.m., NMSU spokesperson Justin Bannister said in a written statement. Over the course of an hour, the group was repeatedly asked to leave. Shortly before 6 p.m., the group was told that if they did not leave the premises, they would face arrest.

Word had spread among the crowd outside that police inside, outnumbered by the peaceful protesters inside 2-to-1, was going to start a mass arrest. Then they did, as the protesters outside watched helplessly but not silently: Harder and louder, the protesters banged on the doors and windows, shouting at the police inside: You dont keep anyone safe!  You dont protect the students; you protect the money! and cursing the officers.

As the protesters inside were cuffed and removed from view, a half dozen Las Cruces Police Department officers arrived along with New Mexico State Police. Two protesters locked arms, pressed against the door and argued with officers who were seeking entry, even as the shouts of others drowned them out.

Finally, more officers filed in and pulled the protesters apart, pressing against one protesters neck before whipping him around. Its unclear if the protester was injured here, but the same individual was later taken to the hospital after collapsing. His condition is unknown.

Over the next half hour, police began removing the arrested protesters. Some students walked while others were dragged or carried from the building. Bannister confirmed a total of 13 individuals arrested.

Close to midnight Friday, Dona Ana County Detention Center records had posted booking information for 11 people arrested at NMSU, ranging in age from 19 to 26, booked on misdemeanor charges of criminal trespass and resisting or obstructing an officer. One was additionally charged with a felony county of battery on a peace officer. Bannister said some could also face felony charges of criminal damage to property.

The building was cleared and will be open for business Friday, he said.

This is a developing story that will be updated as more information becomes available.

The post New Mexico State University campus sit-in ends in arrests appeared first on Source New Mexico.
MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - Former Mexico City mayor and ruling party candidate Claudia Sheinbaum's lead has narrowed slightly ahead of Mexico's presidential election scheduled for June 2, an opinion poll showed on Friday, even as she remains the clear frontrunner.

The April 25-29 survey by polling firm Parametria showed Sheinbaum of the leftist National Regeneration Movement (MORENA) with 44% support, well ahead of Xochitl Galvez, candidate of a right-left alliance of three parties, with 31%.

A survey in February by the same firm showed Sheinbaum with 49% support and Galvez with only 29%.

The poll gave a third contender, Jorge Alvarez Maynez of the opposition center-left Citizens' Movement (MC), backing of 8%, a three-point increase over the February survey.

It showed 17% of respondents offered no preference.

The face-to-face poll of 800 people had a 3.5% margin of error.

Francisco Abundis, head of Parametria, said the increase in Maynez's support was notable and suggested he may ultimately capture a double-digit percentage of the vote in the election.

Sheinbaum, a 61-year-old scientist who has been a close ally of the current President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador for decades, could become the first woman to rule the country.

(Reporting by Laura Gottesdiener in Monterrey; Editing by Chris Reese)
Miami Beach police just got a new Rolls Royce. Whos paying for it?

Miami Beach police caused a stir Thursday when they unveiled their latest recruitment tool: a Rolls Royce tricked out to look like one of the departments cop cars.

In a social media post, the department said the ultra-luxury car was part of Braman Motors fleet and that the dealership had sponsored all costs associated with this project.

But that didnt stop people from raising questions.

I dont think this is a good look for the police department, one Instagram commenter wrote.

This is where all the money goes to, huh, wrote another.

The departments public information officer, Christopher Bess, told the Miami Herald taxpayers havent covered any costs related to the vehicle  and that, because it is part of Bramans fleet, the dealership will pay for maintenance. The car is on loan to the department and will be returned, he said.

Miami Beach could potentially be on the hook, however, if the car is damaged while under the police departments care. Bess said the city drafted a certificate of insurance for the vehicle.

We have not absorbed any cost for this vehicle, Bess said. Miami Beach taxpayers didnt pay anything for this.

READ MORE: Police cars in Miami used to look like that? See photos of them in action, on the road

On Thursday afternoon, the department held a media event at its South Beach headquarters to unveil the car, a 2012 Rolls Royce Ghost  originally priced at $250,000.

In a statement, Police Chief Wayne Jones said the vehicle represents our commitment to innovation and our dedication to recruiting the best and brightest individuals to serve our community.

Braman Motors chief operating officer, Alex Shack, said in a statement that the partnership showcases the innovative spirit and community engagement that drives us at Braman Motors.

The owner of Braman Motorcars, Miami billionaire Norman Braman, has been an influential figure in Miami Beach, in recent years donating an art sculpture, sponsoring a new cancer center at Mount Sinai Medical Center and fighting legislation that could bring a casino to the Fontainebleau Resort.

It wasnt clear exactly how the Rolls Royce would be utilized to help attract new officers.

But the move attracted immediate attention, including in a post from popular social media account OnlyInDade, which declared: Only In Dade do the police have a Rolls Royces [sic] for promotional purposes.

Bess, the police spokesman, said the traditional methods of recruitment are no longer sufficient in addressing the diverse needs and aspirations of the next generation of law enforcement professionals.

By embracing innovation and creativity, we can attract individuals who embody the values of integrity, service, and excellence that are central to our profession, he said.

Miami Beach police have taken several reputational hits in recent years, including in 2021 when five officers were criminally charged in the beating of a Black tourist. The department was praised after this years spring break season in March, which was more peaceful than it had been in recent years.
Michael Cohen expected to take the stand in Trumps trial Monday, sources say

Michael Cohen expected to take the stand in Trumps trial Monday, sources say

Michael Cohen, former President Trumps fixer turned foe, is expected to take the stand Monday in Trumps New York criminal trial, two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to The Hill.

Billed as a star witness for the Manhattan district attorneys office, Cohens testimony is expected to mark the culmination of prosecutors case in chief as it approaches its end. It could last multiple days.

Cohen is expected to implicate his ex-boss as he testifies about a hush money deal with porn actor Stormy Daniels that underpins Trumps case. Many of the prosecutors witnesses so far have conceded they had no personal knowledge of Trumps involvement.

Daniels, who claims to have had an affair with Trump, which he denies, was paid $130,000 by Cohen to keep that story secret as the then-candidate mounted his 2016 bid for the White House.

The former president faces 34 charges of falsifying business records over his reimbursement to Cohen, which prosecutors say amounted to an illegal cover-up of the hush payment.

Cohen also helped coordinate two other so-called catch-and-kill schemes, in which the National Enquirer tabloid agreed to purchase negative stories about Trump to ensure they were never published.

Ella Lee contributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Michigan Capitol | Susan J. Demas

Updated, 10:37 a.m., 5/10/24

The Democratic-led Michigan Senate voted to move forward a number of appropriations bills for the Fiscal Year 2025 budget, but left some on the table as they adjourned Thursday afternoon.

Of the 15 bills allocating funding to various state agencies and efforts that were tentatively set for a vote, the Senate passed nine. The bills were largely passed along party lines with the exception of the budget for the Department of Transportation (MDOT), which was supported by state Sens. Jon Bumstead (R-North Muskegon) and John Damoose (R-Harbor Springs). Sens. Ruth Johnson (R-Holly) and Roger Victory (R-Hudsonville) were not present for voting.

The Legislature has a July 1 deadline to pass a new state budget for the upcoming fiscal year, which begins Oct.1. However, there are no penalties if the Legislature fails to meet the July deadline.

The state House of Representatives approved its own slate of budget bills on Wednesday, totaling $80.9 billion, slightly more than Gov. Gretchen Whitmers $80.7 billion proposal.

Once each chamber has passed its own appropriations bills, any differences will be negotiated in conference committee. Afterward, both chambers will take a final vote on the budget before sending it to the governors desk to be signed.

Senate Republicans proposed a number of amendments to the appropriations bills, all of which were defeated.

Many of the proposed amendments centered on Republican priorities, with the Senate voting down an amendment from Senate Minority Leader Aric Nesbitt (R-Porter Twp.) to include funding in the Military and Veterans Affairs budget for Michigan to send National Guard troops to the southern border.

Nesbitt and other GOP lawmakers have traveled to border crossings in recent months, amplifying messaging from likely GOP nominee former President Donald Trump that President Joe Biden needs to clamp down on immigration.

Sen. Jonathan Lindsey (R-Allen) blasted Whitmers proposal to increase the fee for disposing of waste in a landfill from 36 a ton, to $5 per ton, calling it a trash tax and arguing the cost of the increase would be passed down to homeowners.

While the budget for the Department of Environment Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) passed by the House did not include Whitmers proposal, the Senate version retained the estimated $80 million increase in revenue generated by the increase as a line item.

Lindsey offered an amendment to exclude the additional $80 million from the bill, which was ultimately defeated.

Following Lindseys explanation of Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor), who introduced the budget bill for the Department of Energy, Great Lakes and Environment (EGLE). Irwin clarified that the budget does not actually authorize the fee increase, and that the Legislature would need to approve the fees in separate legislation.

Sen. Jeff Irwin (D-Ann Arbor) speaking in support of legislation to eliminate drug manufacturers immunity from product liability on October 18, 2023. (Photo: Anna Liz Nichols)

I hope its a discussion we have here because out-of-state trash and the fact Michigan is a huge magnet for out-of-state trash is a problem that this Legislature has been wrestling with for years. This budget does not fix that, this line does not increase any fees, and that discussion will happen elsewhere, Irwin said.

Republicans also brought forward amendments in opposition to funding for electric vehicles included in the EGLE budget, with members offering amendments to reallocate funding intended to transition government vehicles to electric models and support charging infrastructure into supporting lead line replacement and water infrastructure.

Republicans also took aim at Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in Michigans public universities, with Sen. Thomas Albert (R-Lowell) offering an amendment to the higher education budget that would cap spending on DEI programs at 2% of a universitys total general fund operations revenue. The amendment was not approved.

Sen. Joe Bellino (R-Monroe) proposed an amendment to the higher education appropriations bill which would require universities to report a list of their sanctioned student organizations and would withhold operations increase payments from universities with a sanctioned student organization with a demonstrated history of supporting terrorist organizations or threats of violence to others.

Sen. Lana Theis (R-Brighton) offered a related amendment that would block students in violation of the student code of conduct for support of a terrorist organization from receiving a scholarship from programs funded by the state.

Both senators pointed to pro-Palestinian protests at Michigan universities, raising concerns about student support for the militant group Hamas and accusing protestors of antisemitism and inciting violence.

Students are choosing to set their education aside and instead stand in line with extremism, violence, and antisemitism. Worse yet, American students are participating in anti-American chants and support a U.S. government-designated terrorist organization, Hamas. This is both dangerous and concerning, Bellino said.

Sen. Darrin Camilleri (D-Trenton), who has repeatedly called for a ceasefire in Gaza, offered a statement opposing Bellinos proposal, with Sens. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) and Sue Shink (D-Northfield Twp.) concurring.

Freedom of speech and campus activism are distinctly American. Students have the right to assembly; the First Amendment gives them that protection, Camilleri said.

The students protesting today come from all backgrounds and religions. They see the war in Gaza as a human-rights issue. . These demonstrations are overwhelmingly focused on safeguarding human rights and dignity for all, no matter their race, religion, or nationality. Those are American values. I urge my colleagues to focus more of their attention on the tens of thousands of lives that have been lost rather than how students are exercising their First Amendment rights, Camilleri said.

State Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield) speaks after a Senate elections committee meeting on June 13, 2023. | Photo by Anna Gustafson

Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), the states only Jewish senator, refused to vote on both Bellinos and Theiss amendments.

Ive been presiding over this amendment process for the past several hours and intend to pick up and continue this presiding over the next several amendments as we continue through our budget, Moss said. Some of these amendments are common-sense, some of these are tailored to districts, some of these are benign, and some of these have been nakedly political in order to clip a video, pop it on Twitter and try to attack each other.

Moss said he had made his concerns about antisemitism in protests on college campuses known and accused Republicans of attempting to weaponize the budget process.

Im pissed off that this is what were doing right now, Moss said.

There are avenues to resolve the antisemitic problem on our campus. This is not one of them. To be honest with you, Ive not missed a single vote in the Senate over the last six and a half years here  Im not voting on this amendment and Im not voting on the next one, Moss said

Both amendments were defeated. Bellinos amendment failed 16-17 with Moss and Sens. Sylvia Santana and Paul Wojno not voting. Theis amendment failed 15-17 with Damoose, Moss, Santana and Wojno not voting.

Here are the budget bills that passed the Senate on Thursday:

The following bills are awaiting a vote on the Senate floor:

The post Michigan Senate kicks out 9 budget bills, as Republicans fail to win immigration and DEI amendments appeared first on Michigan Advance.
KYODO NEWS - May 10, 2024 - 19:58 | All, Japan

The vice speaker of a city assembly in central Japan handed in his resignation to the assembly office on Friday after allegedly sexually harassing the daughter of an Australian mayor at a party last month, the office said.

Norio Nagata of the Minokamo city assembly in Gifu Prefecture decided to quit the post after the city's mayor Hiroto Fujii sent an apology email to its sister-city Dubbo in New South Wales late last month.

Mathew Dickerson, the mayor of Dubbo, visited the Japanese city with his family and city officials in April and attended a welcome reception on April 3.

At an afterparty, the 71-year-old Nagata, who was accompanied by Dickerson's family, was singing karaoke in a bar when he held the microphone close to the lower body of the mayor's daughter, who is in her 20s.

Nagata said earlier this week that he wanted to set the mood for the party and had no intention of doing anything wrong but regrets his actions.

The Minokamo city took his action as inappropriate, yet Nagata will not resign as an assembly member.

"My daughter was surprised at the time and the three of us (including his wife) exchanged glances at what was an inappropriate gesture," Dickerson said in an email sent to Kyodo News. "We discussed it briefly the next day, but the issue was not of a serious enough nature to warrant any further action."

The Dubbo mayor said he "would like to formally acknowledge and accept the apology" from the mayor of Minokamo.
WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW)  Middle school students went head-to-head in the Kansas State Finals of the National Civics Bee on Thursday.

Students shared their ideas on how to improve their community. The 11 finalists came from local competitions in Wichita, Hutchinson, Overland Park, and Pittsburg. They participated in two rounds of multiple-choice civics questions.

In the third round, six finalists delivered three-minute presentations on their ideas for improving their communities. Five judges then asked them questions about their ideas.

Wichita cyberattack update: What residents need to know

The winners of the Kansas State Finals are:

1 st Place and a $1,000 prize  Rishaan Panchal, from the Overland Park competition, presented his ideas for making health care more accessible.

2 nd Place and a $500 prize: Pranjal Adhikari, from the Overland Park competition, presented his ideas for improving mental health in his community and state.

3rd Place and $250: Caleb Bonnema, from the Overland Park competition, presented his ideas for addressing antisemitism.

Rishaan Panchal (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Pranjal Adhikari (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Caleb Bonnema (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Caleb Bonnema, Rishaan Panchal, and Pranjal Adhikari (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Rishaan Panchal (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Pranjal Adhikari (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Caleb Bonnema (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

The Kansas State Finals of the National Civics Bee on May 9, 2024. (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

The winners of the Kansas State Finals of the National Civics Bee, along with local leaders, on May 9, 2024. (Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)(Photo courtesy Julian Montes, Kansas Leadership Center)

Panchal will represent Kansas at the national competition in Washington in November.

The Kansas Leadership Center, a Wichita-based nonprofit, partnered with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation and four chambers of commerce across Kansas to host the competition.

This is the first time weve done this. One of my colleagues found this was an activity happening throughout the country, and it had not yet happened in Wichita or in the state of Kansas, KLC President and CEO Kaye Monk-Morgan said. We believe anyone can lead anytime, anywhere  so, its the first time and hopefully not the last.

Pawnee Prairie Park hit by thieves, vandals, City considers security measures

She said the event goes beyond the competition to create leaders of tomorrow.

We have to build the communities that we say we want, and protecting our democracy is everybodys business. We believe that everyones expected to lead, even our young people, Monk-Morgan said. This is an opportunity for us to engage in the front end of the pipeline, making sure that folks are going to be able to make sure that our communities are safe and healthy and prosperous.

Before the competition, the students participated in a half day of special programming sponsored by Fidelity Bank that explored Our Place in Democracy. It included conversations about the role everyone has in shaping the civic health of communities.

The mission of the Kansas Leadership Center is to foster civic leadership so that we have safer, healthier and more prosperous communities, Monk-Morgan said. This program is an absolute extension to that, and to protect our rights, we have to understand what they are. If were going to demonstrate responsibility, we need to know what those responsibilities are, and civics education is the root of that.

She said that being involved does not have to mean running for office.

We believe that any and everybody is supposed to do this work, so Im not calling for them to have a particular station in life, but wherever they end up serving in their careers or lives that theyre engaged in their community and theyre adding to what makes us strong.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSN-TV.
Middle Tennessee schools director gives update on injured son: 'We aren't giving up hope'

Rutherford County Schools Director James "Jimmy" Sullivan gave a Friday update on his youngest son, Asher, and requested privacy for his family after the boy was sucked into a storm drain and critically injured Wednesday

"The doctor this morning told us Asher wouldn't survive his injuries," Sullivan posted on social media.

"Neurology saw a few signs (small response to pain in one arm, and pupils reacting to light) of activity a little while ago, so we aren't giving up hope."

A prayer vigil was held on Thursday, May 9, 2024, for Asher Sullivan, seen here in a family photo, the son of Superintendent/Director of Schools at Rutherford County Schools James "Jimmy" Sullivan, who was involved in a tragic accident last night after the storm, on Wednesday.

Ten-year-old Asher was playing with other children in the water that had accumulated in the street while neighbors gathered to begin the cleanup process after storms moved through Middle Tennessee Wednesday, when somehow, he "got caught in the storm drain and was swept under the neighborhood streets," Sullivan wrote.

"He eventually came out in a drainage ditch, and CPR was administered for quite some time," Sullivan posted Thursday. "His heartbeat was reestablished, but the damage is substantial."

Rutherford County Schools' Director James "Jimmy" Sullivan sits on a desk in a second grade classroom at Blackman Elementary School on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023.

'Damage is substantial': Rutherford Schools director shares new details about injured son

Since news of the boy's injuries broke, hundreds of people have posted prayers and well-wishes on social media.

More than 500 people attended a prayer vigil Thursday for Asher and the family in front of the Rutherford County Schools central office in Murfreesboro.

Sullivan acknowledged the outpouring in an earlier post on Friday, saying he and his family were thankful for all the support.

"Please keep up the prayers for our little buddy," Sullivan wrote.

After he was injured, Asher was taken to Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and Sullivan has asked people to respect the privacy of the hospital as well.

"The number of visitors and phone calls yesterday put a strain on operations," Sullivan wrote earlier on Friday. He noted that he would provide updates as needed on social media but is focusing on his family.

In an earlier update, Sullivan wrote that Asher was, "not showing signs of brain activity and is not breathing on his own."

Like many in the community, Rutherford County Board of Education member Tammy Sharp said she's keeping faith that Asher will survive. She wrote on the window of her car, "Pray#forAsher."

"We are holding out for a miracle," Sharp said. "I don't care what the doctor says. The doctor doesn't get the last word. We're all believers."

Tammy Sharp

'Asher needs a miracle': Middle Tennessee prayer vigil sees 500+ after storm injures boy

Reach reporter Scott Broden with news tips or questions by emailing him at sbroden@dnj.com. To support his work with The Daily News Journal, sign up for a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Murfreesboro Daily News Journal: Schools director shares latest on son injured in Tennessee tornados
Ludmila Mila Andre, a retired 40-year veteran of the Daily News whose own roots in war-torn Europe were as compelling as the stories she would tell during 40 years as a writer, editor and columnist at the Daily News, has died. She was 83.

Andre died on May 6 of complications from a recent stroke. She was just four days short of her 84th birthday.

News staffers called her the den mother of the newsroom. Former co-workers shared social media posts of a caring, yet commanding newsroom leader who made her presence felt when the industry was still an old boys network.

News alum Clem Richardson described her on Facebook as a great, funny lady who didnt mind letting her temper show when needed.

She was a delight, and a straight-talking one, former News staffer Linda Yglesias posted. I am one of a gazillion Newsers who loved dropping by her desk.

Former co-workers said Andre was as old school as it gets. Edward Glazarev, former print production head, said Andre was kind and generous to young journalists and loved to share stories with them.

My favorite memory is her telling me how she asked the nurses in the maternity ward to get her a cigarette and a drink after she gave birth, Glazarev wrote. She was one of a kind.

Andre also regaled co-workers with stories of her tumultuous childhood during treacherous times in Europe. The accounts of her familys journey to the U.S. were filled with adventurous train rides, unlikely survivals and endless faith.

Andre and her family departed on a train from Kyiv, through Western Ukraine, Poland, Austria and Hungary to Germany in May 1943 as World War II was raging throughout Eastern Europe and beyond.

Seven years passed before she reached New York in 1950 at the age of 10.

Relatives said she worked hard from an early age, sacrificing a formal education to help put her two sisters through school.

She developed a vast knowledge of books and art, always reading and growing. She was fluent in English, Russian and German.

Her Daily News articles included museum reviews and travel columns along with her work as a copy editor.

She is survived by her sister, a son and a host of nieces and nephews, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

A funeral service will be held on Friday at 1 p.m. in the Chapel of Novo Diveevo Russian Orthodox Church in Nanuet, Rockland County.
Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) coordinated an operation with the Navy and Air Assault Forces to successfully evacuate Ukrainian paratroopers from behind enemy lines in 2023, HUR reported in a briefing May 10.

The operation, known as "Flag," resulted in the rescue of two paratroopers who had spent almost a year and a half in Russian-occupied territory after being injured in combat in Luhansk Oblast. The evacuation took place in 2023, HUR said.

Ukrainian citizens in Russian-occupied territories assisted the wounded soldiers, providing them with medical care, food, shelter, and communications. The soldiers then supplied Ukrainian forces with valuable information throughout their time in Russian-occupied territory, including locations of Russian troops.

Military intelligence special forces collaborated with the Air Assault Forces and the Navy's "Angels" unit on the mission to rescue the servicemembers.

HUR also collaborated with a Russian defector, referred to as "Dmytro," who surrendered to Ukrainian forces via the "I Want to Live" hotline after being mobilized into the Russian army.

After his surrender, HUR said, Dmytro was recruited into the rescue mission, transferring fake documents, Russian uniforms, and equipment to the Ukrainian paratroopers. Dmytro received an evacuation route from Ukrainian forces and passwords for security checkpoints. He also provided the paratroopers with a car.

According to HUR, Dmytro and the Ukrainian servicemembers safely reached Ukrainian positions. A few months later, military intelligence operatives conducted an operation to evacuate Dmytro's family from Russia.

Read also: Source: Military intelligence drones strike oil refinery in Russias Kaluga Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Military: Russia unsuccessfully tries to break through in Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts

Russian forces are unsuccessfully trying to break through near the Serebryanskyi forest and in the Lyman area in northeastern Ukraine, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on national television on May 10.

The Russian military constantly attempts to storm the village of Nevske and the area of the Serebryanskyi forest in Luhansk Oblast and shells the city of Makiivka in Donetsk Oblast, trying to gain better positions for further attacks, according to Voloshyn.

"(Russian forces) are trying to break through to the city of Siversk (in Donetsk Oblast  edit.) in order to cut off the Siversky ledge and enter the Ukrainian rear in the Serebryanskyi forest," Voloshyn said.

"The enemy is trying to break through the line of defense of the Ukrainian defenders in the Terny and Nevske settlements in order to go further into the Lyman area, but they are not succeeding," he added.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

Russian troops carry out from 10 to 20 assaults per day, mainly using their infantry, sometimes with the assistance of heavy weaponry, according to Voloshyn.

The spokesperson said that Ukrainian forces are currently trying to push the Russian troops back from elevated areas to prevent further drone attacks.

The settlements of Nevske, Makiivka, Terny, and Siversk are located nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the city of Sievierodonetsk, which Russia captured in June 2022.

Russian forces recently intensified offensive operations around these settlements to advance further in the direction of the Kramatorsk agglomeration.

Ukrainian troops retreated in late April west from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast.

The Khortytsia Ggroup of Ukraines Ground Forces said that Russian forces also managed to break in and gain a foothold in a part of the village of Ocheretyne in the region.

Russia aims to completely occupy Donetsk, Luhansk, and, if possible, Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2024, according to Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraines Ground Forces commander.

Read also: Military: Russias Kharkiv Oblast operation aims to divert Ukrainian forces from Donetsk Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
As millions lose federal help to pay for internet, some areas aim to fill the gap

An 8-year-old girl completes a level of a learning game on a laptop in her bedroom in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As more than 23 million households nationwide lose federal aid to pay for internet services, some states and localities have stepped up by expanding their broadband initiatives and programs. (John Minchillo/The Associated Press)

In the small North Carolina town of Bryson City, just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Kathleen Wain raises two grandchildren in her subsidized-rent apartment, taking them to sing in a church choir on weekends.

For the past year and a half, Wain has received a discount on her internet service through a short-term federal program, allowing her grandkids to do online schoolwork and her to do remote banking.

Her bill decreased from $52 a month to about $20 a month. I said, Cool, I dont have to worry about it anymore.

But Wains discount ended in April, after Congress did not extend the pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program. Shes paying $30 a month since Frontier, her internet provider, has reduced the cost  for now.

Theres a lot of people that need it [internet] for a lot of things, said Wain, 75. I cant even imagine being without it  I really cant.

The federal Affordable Connectivity Program, launched at the end of 2021, has provided a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible low-income households and up to $75 for households on qualifying tribal lands.

Now, without additional funding from Congress, more than 23 million households across the country have begun to lose the aid. April was the last fully funded month, with some households receiving partial benefits from their internet service provider through May. Several congressional bills have been introduced to extend the program, but none has advanced yet.

So, what we're going to end up with is a piecemeal kind of approach where some communities figure out solutions  most of them will not have solutions.

 Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance

In response, some states and localities have expanded their broadband initiatives and programs to help those no longer receiving the federal boost. That could leave disparities in access across the country, experts say, and many households will slip through the cracks as they become unable to afford internet service.

Because of the high cost, theres no alternative to a dedicated federal benefit program like the Affordable Connectivity Program to solve the problem of affordability, said Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, which advocates for broadband access.

So, what were going to end up with is a piecemeal kind of approach where some communities figure out solutions  most of them will not have solutions, she said.

While some states are bolstering programs to help residents afford broadband, others are boosting their infrastructure initiatives to reach those who still cant connect to internet. And some local officials are offering ACP-like benefits through county funds.

Americans pay more for broadband than almost every other nation in the world. U.S. internet bills average $89 each month, according to a survey of 2,500 Americans late last year by U.S. News & World Report.

The federal Lifeline program, started in 1985, is the only other national initiative giving low-income households a discount on phone and internet service. Lifeline, which residents were allowed to use at the same time as the ACP aid, provides a monthly benefit of up to $9.25 for eligible households and up to $34.25 for those on tribal lands.

States try to fill the gaps

Last year, nearly all 50 states considered legislation to expand broadband access and affordability for communities nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least 45 enacted legislation.

This year, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah and Washington passed legislation related to state broadband grant programs and initiatives to help with access and affordability, many using federal funds.

Nick Batz, the director of the Oregon Broadband Office, said now that the federal Affordable Connectivity Program is gone, his office has shifted its focus to building up broadband infrastructure through the federal $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, known as BEAD, created under the 2021 infrastructure law.

BEAD provides grants to expand broadband access through statewide development projects.

The challenge ahead of us is tremendous, Batz said. And its not something that I can accomplish on my own. Its not something that my team can accomplish on our own. Really, we need engagement from local governments, cities, counties and tribes.

Although BEAD isnt a benefit program, Aaron Wheeler, the director of the Washington State Broadband Office, is hopeful that it will be able to at least get the 7% of households in the state who are without internet connected.

While his office has multiple programs to help households at a statewide level, the federal BEAD program will be especially helpful in identifying the areas most in need, Wheeler said.

Everyones really invested in making sure that BEAD goes well, and that the money goes to the places that it needs to, Wheeler said. Getting people plugged in is No. 1, and then making sure people can still continue to afford it is No. 2.

But with elections drawing nearer, some state officials expect theyll be working under new administrations. Washington state will have a new governor next year, meaning more negotiations for broadband funding, said Devin Proctor, the policy and communications manager for the Washington State Broadband Office.

Local governments and nonprofits step in

On the local level, some governments have been able to carve out funds to help households pay for broadband. Albemarle County, located in the Piedmont region of Virginia with about 114,000 residents, has invested $1 million in public broadband expansion by building infrastructure throughout the county.

That, in addition to about $60 million in state, federal and private funding, means the county is on track to have universal broadband coverage  where every household in the county can access the internet  by the end of 2025, said Jason Inofuentes, the program manager at the countys Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office.

Before the Affordable Connectivity Program ran out of funding, Albemarle County officials created the ACP Bridge program, an additional county benefit for households to use alongside the federal ACP aid. Those enrolled in the program could get an additional $20 per month toward internet services.

Right now, the ACP Bridge has enough funding to last through the next fiscal year, thanks to a $500,000 boost from the county Board of Supervisors, Inofuentes said.

Still, with the federal program at its end, affordability will continue to be an issue, he said. And some residents who need the help may not be aware of the available programs.

I think that there is a distinct reality that there are going to be households in our community and all over the country that are going to lose coverage because of this, said Inofuentes. The way that we see it, we have to work tirelessly to get people enrolled in other programs they can afford.

In some communities, local nonprofits are raising awareness and providing support, said Sean Gonsalves, the associate director for communications at the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, a nationwide project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national nonprofit that works to build local power to fight corporate control.

Despite the Biden administrations push to prioritize funding for municipal broadband, nonprofits and other nontraditional internet providers, these types of providers are restricted in many states, Gonsalves said.

The broadband market is dominated by regional monopoly providers  and that pretty much answers the question as to why broadband in the United States is so expensive, he said.

Some nonprofits are helping residents afford broadband.

DigitalC, a technology nonprofit based in Cleveland providing affordable internet for underserved communities, is offering internet for $18 a month under its own Canopy internet service for city residents.

Project Waves, a program fiscally sponsored by the Digital Harbor Foundation based in Baltimore, has been able to offer free internet to low-income residents of the city.

Lawmakers and state officials at all levels have been aware for more than a year that the federal Affordable Connectivity Program would run out of funding, Gonsalves said. But theres a lot of uncertainty about how to help now.

With ACP  where 23 million households were beneficiaries  we still dont have a clear sense of what those folks will do when the benefit expires, Gonsalves said.

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 As millions lose federal help to pay for internet, some areas aim to fill the gap appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
As millions lose federal help to pay for internet, some areas aim to fill the gap

An 8-year-old girl completes a level of a learning game on a laptop in her bedroom in the Brooklyn borough of New York. As more than 23 million households nationwide lose federal aid to pay for internet services, some states and localities have stepped up by expanding their broadband initiatives and programs. (John Minchillo | The Associated Press)

In the small North Carolina town of Bryson City, just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Kathleen Wain raises two grandchildren in her subsidized-rent apartment, taking them to sing in a church choir on weekends.

For the past year and a half, Wain has received a discount on her internet service through a short-term federal program, allowing her grandkids to do online schoolwork and her to do remote banking.

Her bill decreased from $52 a month to about $20 a month. I said, Cool, I dont have to worry about it anymore.

But Wains discount ended in April, after Congress did not extend the pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program. Shes paying $30 a month since Frontier, her internet provider, has reduced the cost  for now.

Theres a lot of people that need it [internet] for a lot of things, said Wain, 75. I cant even imagine being without it  I really cant.

The federal Affordable Connectivity Program, launched at the end of 2021, has provided a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible low-income households and up to $75 for households on qualifying tribal lands.

Now, without additional funding from Congress, more than 23 million households across the country have begun to lose the aid. April was the last fully funded month, with some households receiving partial benefits from their internet service provider through May. Several congressional bills have been introduced to extend the program, but none has advanced yet.

So, what we're going to end up with is a piecemeal kind of approach where some communities figure out solutions  most of them will not have solutions.

 Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance

In response, some states and localities have expanded their broadband initiatives and programs to help those no longer receiving the federal boost. That could leave disparities in access across the country, experts say, and many households will slip through the cracks as they become unable to afford internet service.

Because of the high cost, theres no alternative to a dedicated federal benefit program like the Affordable Connectivity Program to solve the problem of affordability, said Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, which advocates for broadband access.

So, what were going to end up with is a piecemeal kind of approach where some communities figure out solutions  most of them will not have solutions, she said.

While some states are bolstering programs to help residents afford broadband, others are boosting their infrastructure initiatives to reach those who still cant connect to internet. And some local officials are offering ACP-like benefits through county funds.

Americans pay more for broadband than almost every other nation in the world. U.S. internet bills average $89 each month, according to a survey of 2,500 Americans late last year by U.S. News & World Report.

The federal Lifeline program, started in 1985, is the only other national initiative giving low-income households a discount on phone and internet service. Lifeline, which residents were allowed to use at the same time as the ACP aid, provides a monthly benefit of up to $9.25 for eligible households and up to $34.25 for those on tribal lands.

States try to fill the gaps

Last year, nearly all 50 states considered legislation to expand broadband access and affordability for communities nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least 45 enacted legislation.

This year, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah and Washington passed legislation related to state broadband grant programs and initiatives to help with access and affordability, many using federal funds.

Nick Batz, the director of the Oregon Broadband Office, said now that the federal Affordable Connectivity Program is gone, his office has shifted its focus to building up broadband infrastructure through the federal $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, known as BEAD, created under the 2021 infrastructure law.

BEAD provides grants to expand broadband access through statewide development projects.

The challenge ahead of us is tremendous, Batz said. And its not something that I can accomplish on my own. Its not something that my team can accomplish on our own. Really, we need engagement from local governments, cities, counties and tribes.

Although BEAD isnt a benefit program, Aaron Wheeler, the director of the Washington State Broadband Office, is hopeful that it will be able to at least get the 7% of households in the state who are without internet connected.

While his office has multiple programs to help households at a statewide level, the federal BEAD program will be especially helpful in identifying the areas most in need, Wheeler said.

Everyones really invested in making sure that BEAD goes well, and that the money goes to the places that it needs to, Wheeler said. Getting people plugged in is No. 1, and then making sure people can still continue to afford it is No. 2.

But with elections drawing nearer, some state officials expect theyll be working under new administrations. Washington state will have a new governor next year, meaning more negotiations for broadband funding, said Devin Proctor, the policy and communications manager for the Washington State Broadband Office.

Local governments and nonprofits step in

On the local level, some governments have been able to carve out funds to help households pay for broadband. Albemarle County, located in the Piedmont region of Virginia with about 114,000 residents, has invested $1 million in public broadband expansion by building infrastructure throughout the county.

That, in addition to about $60 million in state, federal and private funding, means the county is on track to have universal broadband coverage  where every household in the county can access the internet  by the end of 2025, said Jason Inofuentes, the program manager at the countys Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office.

Before the Affordable Connectivity Program ran out of funding, Albemarle County officials created the ACP Bridge program, an additional county benefit for households to use alongside the federal ACP aid. Those enrolled in the program could get an additional $20 per month toward internet services.

Right now, the ACP Bridge has enough funding to last through the next fiscal year, thanks to a $500,000 boost from the county Board of Supervisors, Inofuentes said.

Still, with the federal program at its end, affordability will continue to be an issue, he said. And some residents who need the help may not be aware of the available programs.

I think that there is a distinct reality that there are going to be households in our community and all over the country that are going to lose coverage because of this, said Inofuentes. The way that we see it, we have to work tirelessly to get people enrolled in other programs they can afford.

In some communities, local nonprofits are raising awareness and providing support, said Sean Gonsalves, the associate director for communications at the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, a nationwide project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national nonprofit that works to build local power to fight corporate control.

Despite the Biden administrations push to prioritize funding for municipal broadband, nonprofits and other nontraditional internet providers, these types of providers are restricted in many states, Gonsalves said.

The broadband market is dominated by regional monopoly providers  and that pretty much answers the question as to why broadband in the United States is so expensive, he said.

Some nonprofits are helping residents afford broadband.

DigitalC, a technology nonprofit based in Cleveland providing affordable internet for underserved communities, is offering internet for $18 a month under its own Canopy internet service for city residents.

Project Waves, a program fiscally sponsored by the Digital Harbor Foundation based in Baltimore, has been able to offer free internet to low-income residents of the city.

Lawmakers and state officials at all levels have been aware for more than a year that the federal Affordable Connectivity Program would run out of funding, Gonsalves said. But theres a lot of uncertainty about how to help now.

With ACP  where 23 million households were beneficiaries  we still dont have a clear sense of what those folks will do when the benefit expires, Gonsalves said.

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 As millions lose federal help to pay for internet, some areas aim to fill the gap appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
As millions lose federal help to pay for internet, some areas aim to fill the gap

Teenage student Jose Lara studies his daily schoolwork on his laptop at his home in the slum of Catia during the second month of quarantine in the country on April 27, 2020, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Getty Images)

Teenage student Jose Lara studies his daily schoolwork on his laptop at his home in the slum of Catia during the second month of quarantine in the country on April 27, 2020, in Caracas, Venezuela. (Leonardo Fernandez Viloria/Getty Images)

In the small North Carolina town of Bryson City, just outside Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Kathleen Wain raises two grandchildren in her subsidized-rent apartment, taking them to sing in a church choir on weekends.

For the past year and a half, Wain has received a discount on her internet service through a short-term federal program, allowing her grandkids to do online schoolwork and her to do remote banking.

Her bill decreased from $52 a month to about $20 a month. I said, Cool, I dont have to worry about it anymore.

But Wains discount ended in April, after Congress did not extend the pandemic-era Affordable Connectivity Program. Shes paying $30 a month since Frontier, her internet provider, has reduced the cost  for now.

Theres a lot of people that need it [internet] for a lot of things, said Wain, 75. I cant even imagine being without it  I really cant.

The federal Affordable Connectivity Program, launched at the end of 2021, has provided a discount of up to $30 per month toward internet service for eligible low-income households and up to $75 for households on qualifying tribal lands.

Now, without additional funding from Congress, more than 23 million households across the country have begun to lose the aid. April was the last fully funded month, with some households receiving partial benefits from their internet service provider through May. Several congressional bills have been introduced to extend the program, but none has advanced yet.

So, what we're going to end up with is a piecemeal kind of approach where some communities figure out solutions  most of them will not have solutions.

 Angela Siefer, executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance

In response, some states and localities have expanded their broadband initiatives and programs to help those no longer receiving the federal boost. That could leave disparities in access across the country, experts say, and many households will slip through the cracks as they become unable to afford internet service.

Because of the high cost, theres no alternative to a dedicated federal benefit program like the Affordable Connectivity Program to solve the problem of affordability, said Angela Siefer, the executive director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, which advocates for broadband access.

So, what were going to end up with is a piecemeal kind of approach where some communities figure out solutions  most of them will not have solutions, she said.

While some states are bolstering programs to help residents afford broadband, others are boosting their infrastructure initiatives to reach those who still cant connect to internet. And some local officials are offering ACP-like benefits through county funds.

Americans pay more for broadband than almost every other nation in the world. U.S. internet bills average $89 each month, according to a survey of 2,500 Americans late last year by U.S. News & World Report.

The federal Lifeline program, started in 1985, is the only other national initiative giving low-income households a discount on phone and internet service. Lifeline, which residents were allowed to use at the same time as the ACP aid, provides a monthly benefit of up to $9.25 for eligible households and up to $34.25 for those on tribal lands.

States try to fill the gaps

Last year, nearly all 50 states considered legislation to expand broadband access and affordability for communities nationwide, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. At least 45 enacted legislation.

This year, Idaho, Indiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Utah and Washington passed legislation related to state broadband grant programs and initiatives to help with access and affordability, many using federal funds.

Nick Batz, the director of the Oregon Broadband Office, said now that the federal Affordable Connectivity Program is gone, his office has shifted its focus to building up broadband infrastructure through the federal $42.45 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment Program, known as BEAD, created under the 2021 infrastructure law.

BEAD provides grants to expand broadband access through statewide development projects.

The challenge ahead of us is tremendous, Batz said. And its not something that I can accomplish on my own. Its not something that my team can accomplish on our own. Really, we need engagement from local governments, cities, counties and tribes.

Although BEAD isnt a benefit program, Aaron Wheeler, the director of the Washington State Broadband Office, is hopeful that it will be able to at least get the 7% of households in the state who are without internet connected.

While his office has multiple programs to help households at a statewide level, the federal BEAD program will be especially helpful in identifying the areas most in need, Wheeler said.

Everyones really invested in making sure that BEAD goes well, and that the money goes to the places that it needs to, Wheeler said. Getting people plugged in is No. 1, and then making sure people can still continue to afford it is No. 2.

But with elections drawing nearer, some state officials expect theyll be working under new administrations. Washington state will have a new governor next year, meaning more negotiations for broadband funding, said Devin Proctor, the policy and communications manager for the Washington State Broadband Office.

Local governments and nonprofits step in

On the local level, some governments have been able to carve out funds to help households pay for broadband. Albemarle County, located in the Piedmont region of Virginia with about 114,000 residents, has invested $1 million in public broadband expansion by building infrastructure throughout the county.

That, in addition to about $60 million in state, federal and private funding, means the county is on track to have universal broadband coverage  where every household in the county can access the internet  by the end of 2025, said Jason Inofuentes, the program manager at the countys Broadband Accessibility and Affordability Office.

Before the Affordable Connectivity Program ran out of funding, Albemarle County officials created the ACP Bridge program, an additional county benefit for households to use alongside the federal ACP aid. Those enrolled in the program could get an additional $20 per month toward internet services.

Right now, the ACP Bridge has enough funding to last through the next fiscal year, thanks to a $500,000 boost from the county Board of Supervisors, Inofuentes said.

Still, with the federal program at its end, affordability will continue to be an issue, he said. And some residents who need the help may not be aware of the available programs.

I think that there is a distinct reality that there are going to be households in our community and all over the country that are going to lose coverage because of this, said Inofuentes. The way that we see it, we have to work tirelessly to get people enrolled in other programs they can afford.

In some communities, local nonprofits are raising awareness and providing support, said Sean Gonsalves, the associate director for communications at the Community Broadband Networks Initiative, a nationwide project of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, a national nonprofit that works to build local power to fight corporate control.

Despite the Biden administrations push to prioritize funding for municipal broadband, nonprofits and other nontraditional internet providers, these types of providers are restricted in many states, Gonsalves said.

The broadband market is dominated by regional monopoly providers  and that pretty much answers the question as to why broadband in the United States is so expensive, he said.

Some nonprofits are helping residents afford broadband.

DigitalC, a technology nonprofit based in Cleveland providing affordable internet for underserved communities, is offering internet for $18 a month under its own Canopy internet service for city residents.

Project Waves, a program fiscally sponsored by the Digital Harbor Foundation based in Baltimore, has been able to offer free internet to low-income residents of the city.

Lawmakers and state officials at all levels have been aware for more than a year that the federal Affordable Connectivity Program would run out of funding, Gonsalves said. But theres a lot of uncertainty about how to help now.

With ACP  where 23 million households were beneficiaries  we still dont have a clear sense of what those folks will do when the benefit expires, Gonsalves said.

This story was originally published by Stateline. Like South Dakota Searchlight, its 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 As millions lose federal help to pay for internet, some areas aim to fill the gap appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
Minneapolis Kindergartner's Family Says She Was Hospitalized After Classmate Gave Her 'Poisonous Candies': 'It Was Scary'

"Her eyes were crossed and bugged really big, and they knew she had to have ingested something she shouldn't have," Rachel Hodges said after police observed her child

getty Child patient with IV line -- stock image

A Minneapolis family wants answers after their child ended up in an emergency room, claiming a kindergartener in her class gave her candy.

On Thursday, May 9, Rachel Hodges spoke to local outlet WCCO News about her daughters health scare.

According to Hodges, she received a phone call from Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary School on Monday, May 6, saying that her daughter Da'Kyah was shaking, having trouble walking and acting bizarre.

getty kindergarten classroom -- stock image

After the child had thrown up and had what looked like seizures, Hodges rushed to the school to take her daughter to the hospital.

"She didn't know who I was," Hodges told the news station. "She didn't know my mom. She has a twin, she didn't know him."

Video aired during the broadcast showed the kindergartener shaking at different points in footage that her mother had previously filmed.

Related: Parents of 1-Year-Old Who Died Following Fentanyl Exposure in Daycare Speak Out: 'It Is Too Hard'

Hodges recalled emergency room doctors informing her that Da'Kyah wasn't having a seizure, but the childs episodes continued on and off.

"I've never even seen a child act that way," Hodges said of her daughters symptoms, which included hallucinations and mood changes. "And it's just sad, because she's scared of me, and I'm her mom."

However, Da'Kyah was able to share her version of events.

"But she pranked me," the child said of her classmate. "After I ate them, she said, 'Ha, just kidding. They're poisonous candies.' My body was hurting and yeah, it was scary."

getty pile of pills -- stock image

Her mother said authorities made observations as well.

"The police looked in her eyes," Hodges said. "They seen that she was dilated. Her eyes were crossed and bugged really big, and they knew she had to have ingested something she shouldn't have."

Da'Kyahs case has now been shared with local Child Protective Services.

"In accordance with normal procedure for processing a report involving young children, this case has been referred to Child Protective Services (CPS). MPD will continue to partner with CPS as this case moves forward, a Minneapolis police spokesperson said, per WCCO.

Related: 10 Middle Schoolers Treated for 'Suspected Overdose' in California

As of Thursday, Hodges was still awaiting blood test results for Da'Kyah to see what her child could have consumed.

Minneapolis Public Schools prioritizes the safety of all of our students and takes all concerns related to safety seriously, the district said in a statement. Due to data privacy laws, we are unable to disclose specific details relating to this incident; however the matter is being investigated, and we are working closely with those who are directly impacted.

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.

Principal Kelly Wright added in a statement to Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary School parents that the safety and well-being of our students is always our top priority.

While we are unable to share additional information regarding those concerns due to state and federal data privacy laws, please know that we are taking this matter very seriously and are actively looking into the concerns that have been raised, Wright continued.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
The state Supreme Court ruled as constitutional Friday the law under which Gov. Tim Walz declared a peacetime emergency during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The emergency is long over but the courts still sought to answer the question of whether the Emergency Management Act is constitutional.

The emergency act gives the governor broad authority to respond quickly during crises, Justice Gordon Moore wrote for the court.

"A delicate balance must be struck to ensure that Minnesotans are protected from both government overreach and emergent threats to their health," the ruling said, adding that the act doesn't unconstitutionally usurp the authority of the Legislature.

"Although the separation of powers is a critical piece of our constitutional infrastructure, we cannot blind ourselves to the need for some degree of flexibility when delineating the boundaries of each governmental branch," Moore wrote.

Moore wrote that the Legislature remained a balance to the governor even during an emergency declaration. "We refuse to assume that the Legislature would act so wholly upon partisan interests that it becomes incapable of checking the governor's powers in the manner it itself provided," the ruling said.

The high court's decision affirms a Court of Appeals ruling last July finding that the act was constitutional and Walz had acted within his executive powers.

Also signing Moore's opinion were Chief Justice Natalie Hudson, and Justices Margaret Chutich, Anne McKeig and Paul Thissen. Justice G. Barry Anderson wrote a concurrence and Justice Karl Procaccini, who worked for Walz during the pandemic as general counsel, did not participate.

In March 2020, Walz declared a peacetime emergency, citing the COVID-19 pandemic as an act of nature and finding local governments inadequately able to respond.

The order didn't impose restrictions but encouraged Minnesotans to stay home when feeling ill. In following months, Walz "issued several more orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which greatly affected many aspects of daily life for Minnesotans," the court said. Those included closing schools, restaurants and mandating face-coverings indoors.

In August 2020, the Golden Valley-based conservative Upper Midwest Law Center challenged the mask requirement and the law allowing for an emergency declaration.

In a statement, the center said it was disappointed in the court's ruling. The center had argued that the governor unconstitutionally took for himself the legislative power of the whole state.

Lawyer James Dickey said the court's decision "lays the groundwork for another seizure of Minnesota's legislative power by this governor  or any future governor  for any claimed emergency in the future, without any need to prove one actually exists."

In his concurrence, Anderson agreed the law is constitutional but advocated for amending the act to encourage more legislative participation during emergency declarations. He noted that currently a governor's powers can only be terminated if the House and Senate agree to do so.

"The more prolonged an emergency becomes, the greater the need to delineate the limits upon the authority of the executive branch," he wrote. "But it is to the policy making branches  the legislative and the executive  that this duty is assigned, not the judicial branch. And the time to address these fundamental issues dealing with the distribution of, and a check upon, political power is when no emergency is present."

The Supreme Court did not explain the unusual Friday release of the decision, but it was Anderson's final day on the bench. Incoming Justice Sarah Hennesy is expected to join the high court Monday.
KYODO NEWS - May 10, 2024 - 19:35 | All, World

The U.S. government on Thursday added 37 Chinese entities to its trade blacklist, citing national security concerns, with 11 of them accused of being connected with a suspected spy balloon that flew over sensitive areas of the United States last year.

Companies, and research institutions and other entities on the list are restricted from doing business with U.S. firms and must gain Commerce Department approval before obtaining goods and technologies from them.

Of the 37 entities, the department said 22 were put on the list for their links to China's efforts to improve quantum technology and for acquiring or seeking to acquire U.S.-origin items to boost the country's quantum capabilities.

It said some of them are also associated with advancements in China's nuclear programs or have been involved in the export of controlled items to Russia amid its war against Ukraine.

"Today's action is another decisive step in addressing challenges posed by the People's Republic of China and its military modernization," Under Secretary of Commerce for Industry and Security Alan Estevez said in a statement.

He said the United States must remain vigilant in blocking such entities from accessing U.S. technologies that could be used to undermine its national security.

China said it "firmly opposes" the latest step taken by the United States and warned it will "take necessary measures to safeguard legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies."

"We urge the United States to stop abusing national security and politicizing and weaponizing the concept and stop using the groundless list to suppress Chinese companies," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lin Jian told a press conference in Beijing on Friday.

The giant balloon, suspected of carrying out espionage over the United States, was detected in February last year. The incident became a new flashpoint between the United States and China and led to an abrupt postponement of U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's planned visit to Beijing.

U.S. forces later shot down the balloon, which was the size of about three buses, off the coast of South Carolina, angering China.

Beijing insisted it was a civilian craft being used for weather research and was accidentally blown off course by strong winds.

Months after the incident, tensions between the two countries gradually eased as senior officials reopened lines of communications. U.S. President Joe Biden and Chinese President Xi Jinping also met in person in November last year near San Francisco and agreed to manage differences.

Nonetheless, the Biden administration continues to view China as the most significant geopolitical threat, with tensions simmering between Washington and Beijing on a number of issues.

Related coverage:

China firmly opposed to Biden's fresh labeling of Xi as "dictator"

Biden, Xi agree to reopen military communication channels
The Minnesota Judicial Center. Photo courtesy of the Department of Administration.

The Minnesota Supreme Court on Friday ruled that the Legal Marijuana Now Party has failed to meet the states requirements to qualify as a major political party. The court has ordered Secretary of State Steve Simon to prohibit the pot partys candidates from appearing on the 2024 primary and general election ballots using the benefits associated with major party status, most significantly automatic ballot access.

The Supreme Court in a per curiam opinion  meaning in the name of the court rather than specific justices  ruled that the Legal Marijuana Now Party did not maintain a state central committee controlled by a state convention, a provision in new election laws passed by the Minnesota Legislature last year.

The states high court ruling comes after Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party in February asked the court to yank the Legal Marijuana Now Partys major party status, alleging the party hasnt met the new requirements.

Major party status confers significant advantages over minor parties, especially ballot access, negating the need for the expensive and onerous process of collecting signatures to appear on the ballot.

Were pleased that the Supreme Court has recognized that the Legal Marijuana Party did not satisfy the statutory requirements to be treated as a major party. If the Legal Marijuana Now Party wants to run candidates for office, they can still get on the ballot using the same process available to other third parties, said DFL Party Chair Ken Martin in a statement. Major party status comes with major party responsibilities, and only the Minnesota DFL and Minnesota GOP have consistently met that standard.

Prior to Fridays ruling, the Supreme Court appointed a district judge to determine whether the Legal Marijuana Now Party met the requirements laid out in the new law. The judge recommended that the Supreme Court revoke major party status for the August primary and November general elections.

Republicans in the last few years have seemed to collude with pot party candidates in an effort to siphon votes away from Democratic candidates in close congressional and legislative races, enraging some Democrats.

The Legal Marijuana Now Party argued before the Supreme Court that the new election laws infringed on the partys First Amendment rights, but the justices rejected their argument.

The (Legal Marijuana Now Party) only makes broad assertions about the burdens on its associational rights and fails to argue or otherwise demonstrate how any of the purported burdens imposed upon it are specifically caused by the requirements, the Supreme Court wrote in its ruling.

Simon, the court ruled, must now take all appropriate actions necessary to reflect that the Legal Marijuana Now Party is not a major political party in Minnesota for purposes of the state primary election in August 2024 and the state general election in November 2024.

He also must prohibit Legal Marijuana Now Party candidates from appearing on the ballot using major party procedures, and he has to consider whether the pot party has met requirements to be a minor political party, the court ruled.

Supreme Court Associate Justices Margaret Chutich and Karl Procaccini recused themselves from the case.

The Legislature legalized cannabis last year.

The post Minnesota Supreme Court rules marijuana party failed to meet states major party requirements appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  Miss Ozark Highlands Kassidy Bell is raising awareness of the challenges faced by those with disabilities and the fact that they face the day with a smile like everyone else.

This year is Bells first year in the Miss Arkansas competition and she shared a bit about how she got used to the transition from the Miss Teen competition after taking a step back for a few years.

Bell explained that her community service project is Disabilities Do Not Define, which is centered around inclusion and creating a positive atmosphere for those with disabilities. She said she found passion for raising awareness during high school while volunteering with Special Olympics events.

Bell will be part of the excitement at the Miss Arkansas Pageant coming up on Saturday, June 15, and airing on KARK. For more information on the competition, visit MissArkansas.org.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KARK.
Andrew Niziol and Patty Bolan were found dead on May 9 after being reported missing days earlier by a friend

George Rose/Getty Snow-capped mountain range

Two mountain climbers who were reported missing on Tuesday, May 7, while on an "experts only" climbing route on Mt. Whitney in California have been found dead.

The climbers were identified as Andrew Niziol of South Lake Tahoe, and Patty Bolan by the Tulare County Sheriffs Office (TCSO) on Thursday, May 9, The Sacramento Bee reported.

Niziol, 28, and Bolan, 29, were climbing on an "experts only" Mountaineers Route on the mountain, located in Sequoia National Park, with their friend Ethan Michael Cannaert when the trio got separated, The Los Angeles Times reported. The group was descending after reaching the 14,500-foot summit when they got separated.

Cannaert wrote in a post to a Facebook group for Mt. Whitney that he expected to meet up with the pair at a spot called "The Notch," a flat spot that climbers often use as a rest stop, according to the paper.

Related: Skier, 43, Who Went Missing on Christmas Found Dead 3 Miles from Resort: 'Heartbroken'

"I waited there for over an hour and was forced to move down the chute to escape the cold wind, but never saw them, Cannaert wrote in the post, per The Los Angeles Times.

On Thursday, May 9, the Inyo County Sheriff's Office (ICS0) confirmed in a post on Facebook that the climbers had been found dead, although Niziol and Bolan weren't named in the post.

Cannaert called ICSO around 8:30 p.m. on Tuesday to report his friends missing, the sheriff's office said.

Related: Retiree Dies from Altitude Sickness While Climbing Mount Kilimanjaro: 'A Great Man'

"Inyo County Search & Rescue initiated a search utilizing a helicopter and foot teams to search the area," the department added. "Tragically, both hikers were later discovered deceased." The bodies were found in Tulare County and identified by the Tulare County Coroner.

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 his final post on Instagram on May 5, Niziol expressed gratitude for his life of climbing and adventure.

Related: 'Incredible' Okla. Firefighter and Dad Who Survived Stage 4 Cancer Dies in Rock Climbing Accident

"If I could go back in time and show 12 year old me what my life is now, I'd make myself so proud ," he captioned a photo on Instagram posing with Bolan, whom he called "the most fun person" he's ever met.

"This is the kind of living I've dreamed about for 15 years. I've finally surrounded myself with people to share these types of experiences with and I couldn't be more thankful," he continued.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
(WTNH)  A Connecticut dog recovery organization has issued a warning to pet owners: Missing dogs are being found with altered appearances.

It didnt even look like the same dog, said Melanie Heltke, with the Connecticut Dog Gone Recovery Volunteer Network. There was a white dog that was completely shaved, so you didnt even know it was the same dog.

Inside a makeshift shelter saving hundreds of dogs from floods in southern Brazil

Heltke, a volunteer with the group, said there have been several incidents across the state in recent weeks in which missing dogs have been found with their hair or fur dyed or cut.

One such case involved 8-year-old Marcus from New Haven, whose appearance was drastically changed from brown to purple when he was found.

The WTNH video below is from May 8.

Krizzia Fajardo, whose dog Nemo went missing from her Bridgeport backyard four months ago, said, Hes probably a whole different color.

I was like constantly looking out on the street thinking Im going to see a white dog. I never really pictured someone would do that, said Fajardo. I follow up with every single lead, even if a dog doesnt look like Nemo. I know it doesnt look like him, but Im going just to make sure.

For weeks, Fajardo drove around searching for Nemo. She showed people his photo, knocked on doors, and repeatedly put up posters. However, she said her hunt has been hindered.

I had a lot of posters made, and I was putting them up around our neighborhood. I noticed a lot of my posters were being taken down, said Fajardo.

Possibility someone in the area has the dog, said Heltke.

Noems book tour sees her take fire from conservatives as well as liberals

While the motive behind the altered appearances is unknown, Heltke wondered, Change their appearance to what, to keep it?

Fajardo knows shed do anything to have her fur baby back home. Youre going through such a drastic measure to conceal how they look, thats really sad, she said. You should just return them. We miss him. We want him home. Im even offering to give a reward, no questions asked.

Heltke said the best way to prevent your dog from going missing is never to leave them unmonitored, even when in a backyard. And as a precaution, you could also buy a GPS tracking collar.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Missouris backlog of untested sexual assault kits has grown by 380% in 5 years. Why?

Reality Check is a Star series holding those with power to account and shining a light on their decisions. Have a suggestion for a future story? Email our journalists at RealityCheck@kcstar.com.

The backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Missouri has increased by 380% since 2019, according to data from the Missouri State Highway Patrol.

The patrols lab had 1,717 kits waiting to be tested as of April. Five years ago, that number sat at 358. It peaked in December 2021 with 1,960.

The kits contain evidence collected during a medical exam of a survivors body following a sexual assault. They can be used to identify and prosecute an assailant and to link crimes committed by the same person. Advocates also say testing kits in a timely manner demonstrates that law enforcement cares about sexual assault survivors and takes the crimes seriously.

Missouris backlog began decreasing when it got additional funding to test more kits. In April 2023, the highway patrol tested 276 kits. But that rate appears to have dropped around June last year when the number of kits tested per month went down to double digits and continued to plateau.

The highway patrol tested 54 kits in January of this year, 78 in February and 72 in March, according to Missouri State Highway Patrol Capt. Dusty Hoffman.

More kits are submitted to the laboratory each month than what we are currently able to test resulting in a continuous increase in the number of kits to be tested, Hoffman said.

Prior to June 2023, the lab had outsourced some of the testing. The testing rate has also slowed down because of staff vacancies and turnover, Hoffman said

Both of those factors are tied to funding.

The funds for the outsourcing was depleted for the given time frame, Hoffman said.

As for the job turnover and vacancies, it boils down to non-competitive wages between the State of Missouri and private sector entities for employees with experience in the field.

Training a new employee takes about two years.

Matthew Huffman, a spokesperson for the Missouri Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence, said there were two major factors in the testing rate. One was staffing.

Part of it is just an internal staff capacity issue of how many technicians they have to even be processing the kits, Huffman said.

Missouri just doesnt have a competitive advantage to keep our crime lab staffed fully.

Huffman said it would be helpful if the state allocated more money to hire additional staff and increase wages to retain employees.

The second factor the organization has noticed is that education and outreach have led to more survivors seeking forensic exams.

Its important to have that sort of context because otherwise it looks like we just have a lot of kits that are coming in and not being tested, Huffman said. It means that survivors understand where they can go for resources, they understand the process, and so more people are engaging in that process.

A strong infrastructure for sexual assault response, Huffman said, is important so that survivors trust the system and perpetrators are held accountable.

While most law enforcement agencies send kits to the highway patrol for testing, the Kansas City Police Department has its own lab. Capt. Jake Becchina, a spokesman for the department, said the lab has 54 kits that are pending testing. They are in various stages of the process, from not yet started to nearly completed.

The typical testing turnaround time is 105 days, Becchina said.

The number of backlogged kits began garnering more attention around 2015. Federal funding was allocated to inventory, test the kits and upload the results to national DNA databases. From 2015 to March 2022, testing resulted in 13,961 DNA hits nationally, the Missouri Attorney Generals Office said.

If you need help, the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assaults crisis line can be reached at 816-531-0233 or 913-642-0233. More resources can be found here.
The Missouri House Ethics Committee on Thursday unanimously dismissed an ethics complaint against the Republican lawmaker who led the probe into House Speaker Dean Plocher.

The complaint was filed last week against Rep. Hannah Kelly from Mountain Grove who was appointed by Plocher to lead the committee. She recused herself from investigating the complaint.

While the complaints contents remain confidential, it appeared to be connected to Kellys handling of the release of a draft investigative report on Plocher. It came just days after the Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint of ethical misconduct against Plocher amid a slew of scandals.

The complaint against Plocher was rejected but Kelly has since raised serious concerns about Plochers alleged obstruction of the investigation. Thursdays report dealt with Kellys decision for the secretive committee to vote in open session on a draft report into Plocher.

While the committee rejected the report into Plocher, the vote meant that its content became public. The draft report found that Plochers office blocked subpoenas issued by the committee and Kelly has alleged that witnesses felt intimidated to testify.

The committee on Thursday found that there was no evidence that Kelly was acting in bad faith when she motioned for the vote to happen in open session.

However, the committee criticized Kellys decision in the report, saying that other committee members should have approved the move.

It is the committees conclusion that the draft report should not have been distributed in a public forum without the committees prior approval and that this distribution violated this committees procedural rules, the report said.

The report does not recommend any disciplinary actions against Kelly but directs her to not engage in similar conduct in the future.
A Cole County judge will decide whether the Missouri Republican Party can block a candidate with alleged ties to the Ku Klux Klan from running for governor as a Republican.

Circuit Court Judge Cotton Walker held a one-day trial in Jefferson City on Thursday over a lawsuit from the state party seeking to remove the candidate, Darrell Leon McClanahan III, from the August ballot.

McClanahan, who resides in Milo, a small village in southwestern Vernon County, filed to run for governor as a Republican and paid his $500 filing fee in February. The state party has since disavowed McClanahan after a photo resurfaced online of him saluting in front of a burning cross next to a person who was wearing what appeared to be a hooded Ku Klux Klan robe.

The lawsuit names as defendants both McClanahan and Republican Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft, who is also running for governor. Walker did not immediately rule on the lawsuit on Thursday.

The only reasonthe party seeks to have him not on the ballot is his avowed membership and endorsement of Ku Klux Klan principles, Lowell Pearson, an attorney for the party, said on Thursday.

The Missouri GOP argues in its lawsuit it has chosen to disassociate with McClanahan due to his racism and antisemitism. That decision, the party argues, is protected by the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution.

Pearson also argued, relying on testimony from Miles Ross, the partys executive director, that it would be factually impossible for the party to vet every single candidate before it accepts their filing fee.

David Roland, an attorney for McClanahan, on Thursday criticized the lawsuit as political theater. He argued that the party had opportunities to reject McClanahans filing fee but chose not to do so.

Theyve chosen twice to associate with Mr. McClanahan. And the issue here today is No. 1, they regret that decision. And No. 2, they wish to make a political statement, Roland said. This is simply an effort to wave the flag and say, we dont want to be associated with people that we believe are anti-semites or racists.

Thursdays trial comes just weeks before the final certification date for the August election on May 28. Unless Walker intervenes, McClanahans name would appear at the top of the ballot in the Republican primary for governor, according to the unofficial candidate filing list on the Missouri Secretary of State Offices website.

The lawsuit from the state party includes examples of McClanahans racist past, including the photo of him saluting next to the burning cross, a social media post that includes a racial slur, social media posts using Nazi imagery and social media post that uses the phrase White Power.

But while the lawsuit argues the party did not know about McClanahans past, this is not the first time McClanahan has run for elected office as a Republican in Missouri.

The Anti-Defamation League in 2022 wrote about the photo of McClanahan in front of the burning cross after he ran an unsuccessful campaign for U.S. Senate.

McClanahan, in response last year, filed a more than $5 million defamation suit against the organization demanding that the article be removed. In court filings, McClanahan described himself as a Pro-White man who is dedicated to traditional Christian values.

He said in the lawsuit that he has never been a member of the KKK, but was instead provided an Honorary 1-year membership by a Missouri coordinator. McClanahan told The Star in a text message in March that he received an honorary 1-year membership to the League of the South  which the ADL condemns as a white supremacist group.

A federal magistrate judge tossed the lawsuit last year, finding that McClanahan did not sufficiently allege a claim against the organization.

The Complaint itself reflects that Plaintiff holds the views ascribed to him by the ADL article, that is the characterization of his social media presence and views as antisemitic, white supremacist, anti-government, and bigoted, the judge wrote in the order.

The push to remove McClanahan from the ballot comes as Missouri Republicans look to hold onto control of the governors office after Gov. Mike Parson terms out of office. The major Republican candidates include Ashcroft, Lt. Gov. Mike Kehoe, and Sen. Bill Eigel from Weldon Spring.

House Minority Leader Crystal Quade and businessman Mike Hamra are the two major Democratic candidates for governor.
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Lincoln Hough speaks during the budget debate Thursday in the Missouri Senate. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)

With passage of a $51.7 billion budget Thursday, the Missouri Senate beat the constitutional deadline by 24 hours after a debate that left Republican leaders exhausted but satisfied.

A 41-hour filibuster stalled all work last week  including planned budget debates on a committee-passed spending plan. To make the deadline, Senate Appropriations Chairman Lincoln Hough began negotiating with House Budget Committee Chairman Cody Smith last week on what should be removed from the Senate plan, and what the House would accept from it, to get bills that would pass both chambers.

The 17 spending bills passed during Thursdays eight-hour debate  one for the remainder of the current fiscal year, the rest for the year that begins July 1  will be up for a vote in the House on Friday.

But even before the Senate began voting, Gov. Mike Parson said the rushed work means his budget office hasnt had time to review it. He told reporters he will not leave large unfunded needs for his successor to cover.

The budget needs to have the money required for the coming year because he leaves office in January, Parson said.

Were not going to do the largest supplemental (budget) in our states history, Parson said. I just dont plan on doing that because all youre doing then is just passing it on to the other legislators that are going to be coming in with the next governor.

Hough had to navigate a Senate that has been dysfunctional all year because of Republican factional fighting in order to put the upper chambers stamp on a spending plan that arrived from the House a week later than normal.

Most of the debate on Thursday was consumed by members of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, who argued the budget spent too much, circumvented the regular process and gave legislators little time to scrutinize it.

Hough also had to endure criticism that delays in getting the budget on the Senate floor put him in the weakest position for negotiations with the House of any recent appropriations chairman.

State Sen. Bill Eigel, left, confers with Sen. Denny Hoskins on Thursday as the Missouri Senate debates the state budget. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)

This was begging by the Senate appropriations chair to the House chair to take a budget to avoid a special session, said Sen. Bill Eigel a Weldon Spring Republican and candidate for governor. The Senate chair realized he had no leverage.

Hough, a candidate for lieutenant governor, defended the budget he crafted during intense talks with Smith.

This budget is not built around the mentality you have, which is just to beat somebody into submission, he said to Eigel.

The total budget is about halfway between the $50.7 billion spending plan passed in the House last month and the $53 billion proposal Hough and the Senate Appropriations Committee approved. It is also about $1 billion less than the budget proposed in January by Parson.

The bills call for spending $15.3 billion in general revenue, with $14.6 billion for agency operations. That is about $287 million more than Parson proposed and $424 million more than the House-approved budget.

The budget for the current fiscal year, including the supplemental appropriations approved in the Senate, is $53.5 billion, with $15.8 billion in general revenue spending.

The budget includes a 3.2% pay raise for state employees, a 3% boost in funding for state colleges and universities and $727.5 million for improvements to Interstate 44, half from general revenue and half from new state debt.

Most of the money Hough added to the budget to boost salaries at agencies that provide support for adults with developmental disabilities did not survive negotiations. Instead of a $325 million boost to those programs to allow agencies to pay $17 an hour, the increase was pared back to $74 million. Whether that will allow any pay increases was unclear in the hours after the Senate votes.

There were seven to nine Republican votes against all but two of the bills. The five members of the Freedom Caucus were often joined in opposition to the spending bills by Sens. Mary Elizabeth Coleman of Arnold, who is running for secretary of state, Jill Carter of Joplin, who quit the Freedom Caucus last week, and Mike Moon of Ash Grove.

That left 15 to 17 members of the Republican majority in favor of the bills, meaning none of the spending bills would have passed without the help of Democrats.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, center, speaks to reporters Thursday after the Senate approved a $51.7 billion budget. With Rizzo are, from left, Sens. Karla May, Doug Beck of Affton, Steven Roberts of St. Louis and Lauren Arthur of Kansas City. (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent)

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo was quick to note that votes from his caucus made the difference.

They needed our votes on every single bill outside of two, and they even voted against the agriculture budget, which was pretty interesting for us, Rizzo said.  So Ag funding was propped up by Democrats this year, so the agricultural community, your welcome. Thank Democrats.

Prior to the debate, members of the Freedom Caucus demanded that general revenue spending not exceed the projected revenue for the coming year of $13.2 billion. Hough insisted that there is enough money in construction and other projects, as well as in agency funding designated as one-time appropriations, to meet that.

The difference between the projected revenue and the planned spending will come from a massive surplus that has accumulated in the treasury. In all funds that can be spent like general revenue, it is about $6.4 billion.

During debate, Eigel said the surplus should not be used to balance the budget.

Balance means that the revenues coming in equal the revenues going out, Eigel said. Cash in your savings account is not a revenue item.

The Missouri Constitution makes it clear that accumulated surpluses can be included in the budget plan.

Demanding a budget target regardless of other resources or the needs of the state is an argument designed to win political points, not govern responsibly, Rizzo said to reporters after the budget debate.

He said he expects Parson to eventually call a special session to add money so programs can operate through the year.

Some of the Freedom Caucus members were pretty insistent on getting to a certain number, Rizzo said, and I think the way that they got to that certain number will probably make sure that theres a special session sometime in the future, maybe in the fall.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Missouri Senate avoids impasse over budget to make constitutional deadline appeared first on Missouri Independent.
KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD)  Mobile home communities often see some of the worst damage from tornadoes, but researchers at Western Michigan University say a few construction techniques can significantly increase the strength of the buildings.

On Tuesday, an EF2 tornado flipped over and destroyed many homes at Pavilion Estates east of Portage. The twister left behind injuries in the Portage area, but no deaths.

A mobile home that was destroyed at Pavilion Estates near Portage in the May 7, 2024, tornado. (May 9, 2024)

Thought we were gonna die: Tornado destroys homes, businesses in Portage area

Just a few miles away from Pavilion Estates at WMUs Bronco Construction Research Center in Kalamazoo, engineers are looking at ways to strengthen mobile homes against severe weather events like tornadoes. The reason mobile homes are so easily destroyed is because of how theyre built and often installed.

We can adapt with this so at least we can somehow save the structural elements  talking about the roof, the walls, the foundation, senior research associate Bilal Alhawamdeh said.

Alhawamdeh said requiring stronger attachments to hold together the framing of mobile homes and better securing the structures to the ground would make a big difference. One method would be to add adhesive to where the roof rests on the walls or to use additional metal straps or brackets often called hurricane straps.

I found out using the metal straps, which is the conventional one which you can find in any store, they can at least double the strength of the connections, he said. If that wind is 70 mph, hits the building, and if you have a metal strap, that means your building can sustain 120 up to 140 mph.

Left: Typical mobile home construction. Middle: Mobile home construction with adhesive support at the joint. Right: A metal anchor bracket.

The added measures help transfer the load from the roof down the side of the wall and into the ground, reducing damage.

Cant believe I made it: Sherwood area hit by likely tornado

The researchers say many mobile homes in northern states like Michigan do not use the reinforcement features. They are looking at ways to retrofit existing mobile homes.

I think the next season, we might have the same number of tornadoes and maybe more, or more severe, so we need to think how we can bring those techniques and try to adapt them in our construction codes, Alhawamdeh said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WOODTV.com.
Editors Note: This story has been updated with the rescheduled date for the alleged suspects bond hearing.

MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  A Mobile man has been arrested in connection to a shooting that injured five people in a barber shop on Pleasant Valley Road, according to the Mobile Police Department.

Jamarcus Lawarren Grayson, 21, was released from the hospital and booked into Mobile Metro Jail Thursday night in reference to the shooting.

WEATHER AWARE: Severe weather possible Thursday into Friday

Jamarcus Grayson (Photo courtesy of the Mobile County Sheriffs Office)

Grayson is accused of two first-degree assault charges and two second-degree assault charges. He will appear in court for a bond hearing on Monday, May 13.

Mobile police officers responded to a reported shooting at 3361A Pleasant Valley Road on Saturday, April 27, around 2:30 p.m.

SHOOTING LOCATION:

Eglin Air Force Base notifies residents of upcoming night flying operations

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Officers learned two people were arguing inside a business. It escalated when both people fired gunshots, injuring themselves and innocent bystanders.

Two customers inside the business were injured, and one vehicle in the parking lot was struck by gunfire. Another person sitting outside of a neighboring business was also struck, the release said.

The injured were then taken to the hospital and were treated for their non-life-threatening injuries.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
If you're interested in Tibetan medicine, the Qinghai Tibetan Culture Museum is a must-visit. With a collection of over 1,300 ancient books on Tibetan medicine, this museum carefully preserves, repairs, and exhibits these precious documents. Here, their time-honored glory is revived and recognized by more people.
Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, D-Fishers, poses with her son outside the Indiana Statehouse. (Photo provided by Garcia Wilburn)

Thousands of lawmakers have cycled through the Indiana General Assembly in the last two centuries, but only a fraction have been women  and even fewer among them, moms.

More Hoosier women are serving in public office than ever before, bringing with them an important perspective to writing laws and governing.

The Mother Load

Mom lawmakers grow in visibility but their proportional representation is still lacking

But barriers remain for women  and moms, especially  to make it into the Statehouse. Current legislators said, too, that balancing a public and private life can also be more challenging than for their male counterparts.

Being a state representative or state senator, for young parents, is difficult. And I think it may be a barrier to why many younger people, and moms, dont run for these offices, said Rep. Ragen Hatcher, D-Gary. There are some things that the legislature can do to accommodate people better with younger children, and I just hope that we start doing that instead of leaving that age group out  those who may have the younger children but dont want to necessarily have to leave them at home.

A history of Hoosier women at the capital

Julia Nelson, a Republican from Muncie, was Indianas first woman to serve in the legislature. A long-time suffragette, she was 56 years old when she earned her spot in 1920.

She served a full term from 1921-1923. Her first speech called for the care and support of poor parents by their children.

Rep. Ragen Hatcher (Official photo)

Since Nelsons service, there has been at least one woman in every session of the Indiana General Assembly, according to Capitol and Washington political blog. Progress was slow, though. Nelson was replaced in 1922 by Elizabeth Rainey, a Republican from Marion County, who also served just a single term. She was followed by two more women in the House in 1924, another two in 1926, and three in 1928.

It wasnt until the onset of World War II  when many men went off to war  that womens numbers grew in the General Assembly. And it wasnt until 1964 that a woman was elected to serve in both chambers.

At the close of the most recent 2024 legislative session, there were 40 women  31 in the Indiana House and nine in the Indiana Senate  serving among the 150 elected assembly members. Thats equal to 26.7% of all state legislators. Seventeen of the women are Democrats, and 23 are Republicans.

Woman make up 50% of the state population.

Sen. Jean Breaux, D-Indianapolis, died in March, however. Rep. Donna Schaibley, R-Carmel, additionally announced her plans to retire after the 2024 session. Rep. Sharon Negele, R-Attica, also wont return to the Statehouse after she lost the GOP nomination for her District 13 seat in Tuesdays primary election.

Its up to voters to decide this November who will next fill those seats.

Currently, Indiana ranks 40th in the nation for its percentage of women officeholders in the legislature, according to the Center for American Women and Politics.

Getting elected  and getting to work

When Hatcher was first elected to the House six years ago, she had three high schoolers, along with a four- and six-year-old. Not wanting to leave her kids in Gary during the legislative session, she instead opted to bring all five with her to Indianapolis.

Between going to and being at the Statehouse, I was dropping off and picking up kids from school, she said. Her family later bought a house in the capital city so they would have a solid place to live.



My younger two, they knew everyone in the Statehouse by the time that first year was up, Hatcher continued. But if it werent for my mom, and my sisters, and just my family overall, I could not have done it without them. There was no way. You have to have a support system when you have little kids.

Democratic Rep. Victoria Garcia Wilburn, of Fishers, also said she wouldnt have had the opportunity to be in the Statehouse without support from her family. Elected to the House in 2022, the mom of three school-aged kids recalled her youngest, then eight years old, joining her on the campaign trail at fundraisers and helping knock on doors.

I remember voters saying, If you did this good of a job with your son, I can imagine how youll do such a great job for our district, she said. I have two daughters and a son, and I see their faces a lot in the different pieces of legislation that are brought up, and so because of that, I do feel as if Im a fierce advocate for families.

She pointed to legislation she championed during the 2024 session that requires child care centers and preschools to test their drinking water for lead and take action if the toxin is found.

Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne (Courtesy Indiana Senate Republicans)

I thought to myself, my goodness, if my children were drinking toxic water at preschool, that would have been devastating for them. That positions my heart a little bit differently than somebody that maybe wasnt so intimately involved in child rearing, Garcia Wilburn said. I think as a mother, in particular, everybody wants mom. They want mom when theyre hurting. They want mom when theyve got good news coming through. They want moms advice. And so, as a mother, I see myself often championing pieces of legislation to keep our children safe.

Two of her children are special ability learners  one has a visual processing disorder, another has an auditory processing disorder  which Garcia Wilburn said also leads her to always think about how pieces of legislation impact education, especially those with individualized education program (IEPs) or other special education plans.

Although her children are older now, Sen. Liz Brown, R-Fort Wayne, said being a parent certainly makes me thoughtful, in terms of issues with respect to raising children. Over her last decade in the senate, thats included a special focus on Indianas Department of Child Services, maternal health issues, and expanding Medicaid up to a year for new moms.

I have seven children, and they all have varying opinions on a whole lot of issues, and I respect them and appreciate that, Brown said. I appreciate their concerns and listen to them. I think it informs my opinions.

School-related legislation that increases parents access to information and bills to increase consumer privacy have also been among her recent priorities.

I definitely bounce discussions off of (my kids) on these things. I also seek out other people  its not as if theyre expert sources  but I think its a great perspective to have someone whos younger, Brown said. How is the world affecting them? How did these things affect them, and just whats their perspective on things?

Helping other moms  and getting more in the Statehouse

A mom among the House Republicans, Rep. Julie McGuire, R-Indianapolis, has two adult daughters and two sons aged 17 and 18.

She said her experiences raising kids has notably made her passionate about school choice.

Rep. Julie McGuire, R-Indianapolis, reviews materials in a House Education Committee meeting on Jan. 24, 2024. (Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

For my own kids, my children have been the benefit of school choice. Weve done public, private and charter schools. So for me, Im passionate about that, said McGuire, who spent 15 years working for St. Roch Catholic School, where her kids attended, before she was elected in 2022. U.S. Sen. Mike Braun this week put forth McGuire as his lieutenant governor running mate for the 2024 general election, following his primary victory.

In the most recent session, McGuire additionally spent multiple months on legislation that focused on adoption and foster care reforms: As a mom, Im just passionate for these kids and trying to give them some stability in the safest way possible, she said.

Still, she acknowledged that having older kids puts her in a unique, less challenging position compared to moms of younger children.

If youre called to do this, if you have a passion for this, I feel like if theres a will, theres a way  I think that you can make your schedule work. And I encourage women to get involved and to find that balance and to find that right position, she said. Maybe its not running for state rep right now, but maybe its getting involved in your local club, starting there, building those relationships with that flexibility. Maybe its looking at the school board or county commissioner, whatever it may be in your area. But I think thats a good way to start dipping your toes in and being part of your party.

Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Indianapolis, speaks against a contraceptives bill on the Senate floor on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. (Leslie Bonilla Muniz/Indiana Capital Chronicle)

Sen. Shelli Yoder, D-Bloomington, on the other hand, had young children  between the ages of two and six  when she first decided to run for office. Although her kids are older now, Yoder said motherhood has made her keenly aware of the need to focus on legislation specifically affecting women, along with broader bills that will improve the livelihoods of all Hoosiers  moms included.

The notion that legislation that is centered on motherhood is just about motherhood itself is misguided when it comes to wages and incomes, Yoder said. We know that in Indiana, women earn less than men. So every time we can bring up those incomes for women, and opportunities for people to have better access to good paying jobs, that impacts motherhood.

Yoder additionally leads an ongoing effort to eliminate taxes on menstruation products. So far, such legislation has failed to advance in the legislature.

My male colleagues said they appreciated my efforts, but they just dont see how it makes that big of a difference at the end of the day, in the pocketbook. But let me tell you, every woman I talked to says this makes a difference. So why wont we do it? she asked.

Like Yoder, access to affordable, quality child care is also high on Hatchers agenda. Free preschool is a large part of the conversations theyre pushing, as well.

In Indiana, neither preschool or kindergarten are required. Having put her own kids through early education, Hatcher said she saw firsthand how better access to schooling can help Indianas dismal literacy scores, for example.

When my kids come into a classroom in first grade where students have no previous training at all  no alphabets, numbers, anything like that  then that pulls back the entire class. So one of the biggest things that weve been pushing is that kindergarten has to be mandatory, Hatcher said. But preschool should also be available to every student starting at age three. If we would just fund preschool for every kid in the state, then we would catch (learning deficiencies) on the front end and not have to hold kids back in the third grade.

Both women said increased child care, including for lawmakers, would further help accommodate more moms to seek seats in the legislature. They emphasized that getting those initiatives across the finish line is complicated by a male-dominated Republican supermajority, though.

Free school makes a huge difference for people like me who wanted to come down and who might not have that support system in place, Hatcher said. These social issues become important to Republicans when it happens to them or someone in their family. They almost have to touch it directly or feel it directly before theyre ready to make legislative changes. And so that makes it harder for them to even understand  or for them to want to step up and take real notice.

Capital Chronicle editor Niki Kelly and reporter Leslie Bonilla Muniz contributed reporting.

The post Moms in the Statehouse: Hoosier women share how motherhood informs their legislative work appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
When Dr. Ralph Velazquez Jr. 79 was a Monmouth College student in the 1970s, he recalled that his classmates who wanted to go into nursing had to leave campus early.

They were only at Monmouth two years before they had to leave for Rush University (in Chicago), said Velazquez, the system chief medical officer of OSF HealthCare and vice chair of the Monmouth Board of Trustees. Many regretted having to leave.

Monmouth College and OSF HealthCare officials sign a letter of commitment May 9 at Monmouth College to bring a 3+1 nursing program to campus. From left: Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing President Charlene Aaron, Monmouth President Clarence Wyatt and OSF HealthCare Chief Executive Officer Bob Sehring. Looking on is OSF HealthCare System Chief Medical Officer and Monmouth Board of Trustees Vice Chair Dr. Ralph Velazquez Jr. 79. (Monmouth College)

Thanks to a letter of commitment signed Thursday by Monmouth President Clarence Wyatt and officials from Peoria, Illinois-based OSF, students pursuing a career in nursing will be able to stay on campus all four years, according to a news release.

Monmouth and OSF HealthCares innovative 3+1 nursing program, which will begin in fall 2025, will combine Monmouths residential college experience with the Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursings excellent curriculum and regional healthcare facilities.

The partnership will allow students to earn two bachelor degrees in four years, both on the Monmouth campus.

For their first three years, students will be enrolled in an accelerated Monmouth program in either biology, biopsychology, or health science and human movement. In their fourth year, students will be enrolled in an accelerated bachelor of science in nursing degree offered by the Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing on the Monmouth campus.

What an amazing opportunity for Monmouth students, said Velazquez as he spoke at the ceremony announcing the partnership. Theyll be doing it all right here on this beautiful campus and enjoying their experience at a residential college. This is very special to me, and I couldnt be prouder today to be here to see this come to fruition.

The best of both worlds

Velazquez was not the only speaker to make note of the best of the both worlds dynamic of the partnership. In his remarks at the ceremony, OSF HealthCare Chief Executive Officer Bob Sehring called the partnership a model of how institutions of higher learning and public and private organizations can combine to provide vital opportunities for students.

Sehring noted that the partnership is not only a win-win for Monmouth College, its students and OSF, but also for future hospital patients throughout the state.

Students will not only receive two degrees in four years, but they will also help meet the demands for nurses, not only in this region, but throughout Illinois, he said.

Sehring cited a study by the Illinois Economic Policy Institute, which projected the state will have a shortage of 15,000 registered nurses by 2025. The institute found that 55% of the nursing workforce in Illinois is 55 or older with another 27% of nurses considering retirement in the next five years.

The state is not educating enough nurses to fill the need, said Sehring. Innovative solutions are needed, because the status quo is not sustainable. Were looking forward to the fruits of this partnership in the coming years.

A true team effort

In his remarks, Wyatt discussed the process of turning the idea into a reality. He initially worked on a proposal with Lisa DeKezel, the chief executive officer of OSFs facilities in Monmouth and Galesburg. Soon, he began regular talks with OSF HealthCare College of Health Sciences President Melinda Cooling. She and Wyatt served as the co-hosts of the ceremony, which drew a crowd of more than 100 people in the Mellinger Center of Monmouths Center for Science and Business.

The outcome of this effort is even better than I could have imagined when I began conversations with people at OSF, said Wyatt.

And speaking of outcomes, OSF HealthCare guarantees a job to graduates of its BSN program who pass the National Council Licensure Examination.

Charlene Aaron, president of the Saint Francis Medical Center College of Nursing, referred to the excellent 94% pass rate of her colleges graduates on the examination, which is several percentage points higher than the state average.

Aaron also praised Wyatt for the vision, perseverance and leadership he showed to help bring the partnership to the finish line.

Appropriately, the ceremony came right in the middle of National Nurses Week. In 1993, the American Nurses Association established May 6-12 as the permanent dates for the week, with May 12 marking the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
More than 17K pounds of cocaine, marijuana worth $185M seized in Florida by Coast Guard

More than 17K pounds of cocaine, marijuana worth $185M seized in Florida by Coast Guard

TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  A combined total of 17,539 pounds of illegal narcotics with a street value of approximately $185 million was seized in Port Everglades by the U.S. Coast Guard.

On Friday, crews with the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk offloaded 13,803 pounds of cocaine and 3,736 pounds of marijuana.

Video shows Florida deputy announced himself prior to fatal shooting of Black airman

The narcotics were intercepted in six separate cases in the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean.

Along with the substances, 10 smugglers were detained and are expected to face prosecution in federal court.

Our offload today represents the combined efforts of U.S. and allied military units from a Caribbean coalition of partners working together to deny drug trafficking organizations access to maritime smuggling routes, Cmdr. David Ratner, commanding officer of USCGC Mohawk said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
The Senate chamber in the Maine State House in Augusta. (Jim Neuger/ Maine Morning Star)

Maine lawmakers enacted a number of bills on Friday that theyd previously left in limbo when the Legislature adjourned last month.

As of 6 p.m., the Legislature enacted bills that would establish a unit to enforce violations of the Maine Civil Rights Act, expand health insurance options for childcare providers, increase the states clean elections program, and formalize the renaming of places through a designated state board, among others. However, dozens of other bills still await enactment votes in the Maine House of Representatives, which broke for caucus around 1 p.m. and had yet to reconvene.

The decision as to whether bills the Legislature enacts ultimately become law is up to Gov. Janet Mills, who previously urged lawmakers to only take up vetoes Friday and voiced concern that the additional spending could threaten the states long-term financial stability

If the Legislature adjourns for the year after Friday, as is expected, the governor will not be able to formally veto bills, however legislation that she chooses not to sign will automatically die. This is known as a pocket veto.

There is, however, an exception if the Legislature were to return for a special session. If such a session lasts more than three days, the governor would have to deliver a veto message on the fourth day, otherwise the bill would become law.

More than 200 bills had initially been stuck between passage and funding when the Legislature wrapped much of its work last month, but the budget committee opened up the possibility to enact about 80 earlier this week.

These bills were left on what is known as the appropriations table, where lawmakers place bills after they pass both chambers if they arent explicitly funded in the state budget and need to be paid for using remaining unappropriated money. Bills left on the table when the Legislature adjourns for the year will automatically die.

The unappropriated balance this year  $11.4 million  wasnt known on April 17, the day of statutory adjournment, because the Legislature did not pass budget changes until the early morning of the next day. The governor subsequently signed the supplemental budget into law on April 22.

Bills headed to the governor

By early afternoon Friday, the Senate had determined the outcomes of the 31 bills that the Appropriations Committee voted to fund without any changes, meaning they only needed enactment votes in the Senate before being sent to the governor.

The Senate enacted all but two of the 31.

Among these measures are the expansions of the states clean elections program and health insurance options for childcare providers, as well as the proposed civil rights unit and board of place names.

The Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous & Tribal Populations in Maine and House Speaker Talbot Ross (D-Portland) put forth the latter as a means to formally establish the renaming process after Talbot Ross father, Gerald Talbot, sponsored a bill in 1977 that prohibited the use of the n-word in the names of places. The continued existence of offensive names in the state show oversight is still lacking.

As co-chair of the Permanent Commission and someone who has worked on educating about the effects of symbols and words, I am personally glad that this work continues and feel it is important, Penobscot Nation Tribal Ambassador Maulian Bryant told Maine Morning Star.

Upon the governors signature, Maine could also establish a statewide sexual assault forensic examination kit tracking system, make improvements to family court procedures, and set a standard for more informed lawmaking by increasing the inclusion of demographic data from state agencies in the legislative process.

Other enacted bills include measures to expand health insurance options to childcare providers, make megayachts subject to impact fees, provide Indigenous people free access to state parks, and expand property tax relief for veterans.

Senators only called for roll call votes on a few measures, including a bill to require public employers to provide long-term disability insurance coverage, with a vote 20-11, and another that would establish a pilot program to provide transitional housing for people recently released from prison, with a vote 18-12.

Bills that failed enactment

As for bills that have failed enactment so far, one would have sent a referendum to Maine voters to add an amendment to the Maine Constitution protecting the right to reproductive autonomy, including abortion. With a vote 21-13, the Senate failed to get the two-thirds support needed on Friday, after the House failed to pass the measure in April.

The other bill failed by much wider margins. With only 12 senators in favor and 20 opposed, the Senate rejected a proposal to push a referendum question to determine the new state flag from the upcoming November election to November 2026. The measure would have also established a commission to assist the Secretary of State in determining the design of the flag.

Last year, the Legislature passed a bill amended by Sen. Eric Brakey (R-Auburn) to send the question to voters. On the floor Friday, Brakey, while sporting a large 1901 state flag pin, urged his fellow lawmakers to vote against the proposal to push back the referendum.

I dont know why we need to have an entire commission to decide what the flag is going to look like when we already have a very popular design for the flag thats everywhere, Brakey said, referring to the historic pine tree design.

Bills still awaiting action

The Appropriations Committee amended the majority of the bills (50 of 81 total) it voted off the table earlier this week. Any bills the committee made changes to need to be approved again by both the Senate and House.

The Senate approved most of these amended bills by Friday afternoon, with seven not yet acted on as the chamber was awaiting the text for amendments. Appropriations Committee co-chair Sen. Peggy Rotundo (D-Androscoggin) motioned to add the amendments as decided by the committee on Tuesday and the chamber enacted them without any discussion or roll call votes.

These measures will next need two-thirds approval in the House and, ultimately, the approval of the governor to become law.

Some of these bills include proposals to create an advisory council to ensure African American and Wabanaki studies requirements are effectively taught in schools, a pilot project to help alleviate the staffing crisis in the child welfare system, require MaineCare reimbursement for treatment for emotional dysregulation disorders, and fund free health clinics.

The Senate also took up a handful of bills it had tabled during its final hours of work in April.

On April 17, the Appropriations Committee amended several bills to remove their costs but maintain the policy changes proposed. This was the case for several bills aimed to improve workers rights. On Friday, the Senate took these measures back up, which would require minimum pay for reporting to work, the disclosure of pay ranges in job advertisements, protect workers from employer surveillance, prevent employers from holding workers liable for repaying training costs and allow employees to request flexible work schedules. While the Senate voted to enact the bills, theyll need to get the approval of the House.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post More bills headed to Gov. Mills desk, though dozens remain unresolved appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
Teacher TyKesha Cross (Marianna McMurdock/The 74)

This article, published in partnership with the nonprofit education newsroom The 74, is part of a special series focused on the schools, students and educators of Pine Bluff.

PINE BLUFF  When TyKesha and Dedrick Cross met in fifth grade, neither of them could have known that decades later theyd be married and working as dedicated educators serving kids who look like them in Americas fastest shrinking city.

In Pine Bluff, Arkansas, people see education as a way out. Many of the Crosses classmates moved on to nearby Little Rock, to Texas.

Their city has changed drastically over the last decade, its population dwindling from 49,000 to 41,250 between 2010 and 2020. Businesses left alongside residents, leaving rusting signs and boarded windows in what once was a thriving Black-owned city. Two main school districts consolidated; school buildings remain vacant.

But for educators whove stayed to hold down the fort like the Crosses, theres no question why Pine Bluff is still, as TyKesha calls it, a diamond in the rough, where theyve raised their own and their neighbors children.

The community and the kids we serve is why we stick around. This is home, said Dedrick, now an assistant principal at James Matthew Elementary. Rearing these students and trying to have them beat the odds is what keeps us in this area.

TyKesha Cross looks on at her grandparents old home, where she spent much of her childhood. All around Pine Bluff, decaying homes and businesses stand as stark reminders of its past and current economic challenges and population decline. But local educators and leaders feel a new era of revitalization has begun. (Marianna McMurdock/The 74)

The Crosss spirit is not unique. Countless local educators and leaders, retired and early career, reared in Pine Bluff or not, share it and are beginning to see signs that stronger schools are not wishful thinking.

In a sprint to make schools families can trust, Pine Bluff is learning what it takes to build up their core: a strong educator workforce.

Educators are quick to point to the research: Quality teachers are the most important factor for student success. Local alternative and traditional university preparation programs are making teaching more financially and emotionally sustainable  expanding class offerings, child care or mental health grants. Programs are leaning into grow-your-own models, too, recruiting locals who understand students lived experiences to teach and lead schools.

The momentum to revitalize has never been stronger. The district has regained control after a state takeover. The districts new superintendent is committed to making the community a part of changes. A pandemic, local gun violence and new statewide investments have lit a fire for better quality education.

While many rural schools nationwide face persistent challenges in staffing schools, Pine Bluff offers a different story, starting the 2023-24 school year 99% staffed.

Pine Bluffs educators admit theres much more to be done, like ensuring training matches what teachers are struggling with, most recently student behavior and discipline.

And superintendent Jennifer Barbaree is not one to sugar coat.

Systematically, our academic achievement is very poor. Classroom instruction is not where it needs to be. We have parents telling us that, we have community members telling us that, Barbaree said. Its a process  Were not going to go from an F school from the last 10 years to suddenly an A school.

Though many were skeptical at first, when a white woman from out of town took the reins, Dedrick thinks it is fading. We needed somebody with some vision and some transparency.

The Crosses remember their first meeting with Barbaree fondly. Her frankness was the breath of fresh air Dedrick had been yearning for, especially from administrators.

She said, Im gonna tell you, we aint got no money, Dedrick recalled.

Thats exactly how she said it, ebonics and all, TyKesha added, smiling.

TyKesha is hopeful for the future  in their small but mighty district of about 3,300, love and untapped potential, are abundant.

She and Dedrick know intimately why investing in educators, particularly Black educators and those who reflect the student bodys demographic, is critical for student success.

Its a process  Were not going to go from an F school from the last 10 years to suddenly an A school.

 Superintendent Jenniver Barbaree, Pine Bluff Schools

After surviving a gunshot wound to the head and becoming pregnant by her senior year, it was an educator who knocked on her grandparents door and urged TyKesha to come back and finish high school. The same person recruited her to become an educator two decades later.

Now a 9th grade business teacher, TyKesha introduces the next generation of homeowners and entrepreneurs to the pillars of marketing and finance. Her family members were some of the first free Black farmers in Arkansas, to this day running one of Pine Bluffs oldest businesses and local favorite for fried catfish: Carpenters Produce and Fish.

Carpenters Produce & Fish (Marianna McMurdock/The 74)

Before teaching, she and Dedrick had careers in banking, real estate and counseling, and job offers out of state. But instead of joining the thousands who have left their hometown, they forged new careers in education.

Having worked for a decade as a parole and substance abuse counselor, Dedrick knows the range of experiences children have in Pine Bluff, too. Some, he said, have been in survival mode since they were ten. Passing through the front door of one students home, he stepped on a dirt floor.

Knowing what students go home to has reinforced their decision to stay and make their schools a safe haven for the next generations. Dedrick, now in his first year as an administrator after eight years teaching, has one rule for James Madison Elementarys teachers: that they get to know their students and not holler at them. They get enough of that, he said.

The couple still wrestle with big questions, like how to curb the gun violence that claimed the lives of one of their students and nearly a child a month last school year. But, Dedrick said, it keeps tugging on us to make that impact here.

Hes not alone in his dedication and optimism. More and more, signs show Pine Bluff is rising to strengthen schools core.

Pathways to bring in more local talent are growing. This fall, more candidates than ever applied to the same 3-year preparation program the Crosses completed: Arkansas Teacher Corps. The partnership with the University of Arkansas provides community members, many already working in schools as paraprofessionals or substitutes, a path to being licensed.

The district re-assessed all uncertified or emergency certified teachers to ensure they were completing preparation programs or exams. Those without adequate progress by the end of last school year were let go.

And Barbarees candor has shifted how the district has built partnerships with traditional university preparation programs. With a doctorate in the science of reading, shes started asking: what textbooks are you using in your reading foundations courses?

Superintendent Jennifer Barbaree (left) and local HBCU education dean Kimberley Davis (right) have ignited a rare friendship to reshape Pine Bluffs next generation of teachers. (Marianna McMurdock/The 74)

We need to do a better job partnering with universities and saying, she said, what do your teacher prep courses look like? How does that meet the needs of what we need in our districts?

Kimberley Davis feels the Pine Bluff difference. Dean of the education college at University of Arkansas Pine Bluff, the local HBCU, Davis is no stranger to teacher preparation, having worked at four other universities.

She and Barbaree are on a texting basis. This is what she calls her first true partnership with a K-12 district.

We need them, and they need us, Davis said.

Recruitment for rural realities

Eyes are on Arkansass teacher workforce in part because of the states 2023 LEARNS Act, which boosted the salary floor from $36,000 to $50,000, requiring all teachers complete a yearlong residency guided by a mentor.

[LEARNS] was a huge wake up call  It disrupted the status quo enough that now people are trying something different, said Brandon Lucius, Arkansas Teacher Corpss executive director.

Instead of recruiting far and wide, local preparation programs are now leaning into a grow-your-own approach to help capture community members working in and around schools, local leaders like the Crosses.

Offering social-emotional support from the start of teacher preparation has made the difference for educators like TyKesha. Between her network of Arkansas Teacher Corps alumni, local mentors, and tools learned through ATC including yoga certification, shes feeling a five year fire, not an itch to leave as many do by this milestone.

More day classes, hybrid offerings and a free multi-day bootcamp for required licensure exams has become the norm at the local HBCU to ensure candidates graduate classroom ready.

The district is switching things up, too, recruiting at the states flagship public university in Fayetteville and keeping a close feedback loop with local ones. Job posts in key subject areas stay open all year, in anticipation of vacancies. A teacher cadet program helps interested high schoolers matriculate into education classes at local colleges.

Before its historic population decline, Pine Bluffs teacher pool were mostly white graduates from traditional 4-year programs. Now, they usually come out of programs bringing career changers, parents and community members to the classroom through shorter, and more affordable teaching residencies like Arkansas Teacher Corps.

After embracing the grow-your-own model, the districts pool flipped to nearly 75% parents of color, 97% first generation college graduates and older career shifters. The program now offers a $2,500 stipend; candidates can apply for grants for mental health services, child care, or personal computers.

A similar transformation is happening in the administrator pipeline.

Were saying we dont want to drop someone in and hope that they stick, said IMPACT Arkansas director John Bacon. The 18-month fellowship prepares teachers to become administrators in low-income districts, heavily subsidizing a masters in educational leadership.

The time has always been now

To ensure Pine Bluffs educators can stay in the field for the long haul, rising and longstanding teacher leaders name two needs: mentorship and social-emotional support.

Burnout is the common culprit for departures or a dip in teaching quality  combinations of financial strain, frustration with student behavior that grew more concerning during COVID, and grief from trauma in the community.

Local teachers in training have heard tales of Mattie Collins, one of Pine Bluff High Schools revered history teachers known for her firm but fair approach.

She, like many informal mentors reared in Pine Bluff before and after her, was never interested in waiting for local or state leadership to catch up to the investment she saw as critical  teachers.

Well, the time has always been now to Ms. Collins, said Collins, who retired after 35 years and now leads a nonprofit for youth to explore STEM careers and prepare for the ACT.

History teacher Mattie Collins (Marianna McMurdock/The 74)

Her solution to some of the burnout and behavior concerns is relatively simple: have good lesson plans that keep everyone engaged, and make sure that young people know their teacher respects them.

Its a two way street. Its not just, respect Ms. Collins cause shes the older person in the room. Its that Ms. Collins respects you and thinks youre great and wants you to do your best. Theyll do anything for you if they know that you really care.

That pedagogy lives on in the classroom through her former students turned teachers like Kendra Jones. The type to snatch you up, in a caring way.

Alongside classics, she uses literature she knows will keep attention and speak to what students care about. Dear Martin and Dear Justyce, two books focused on the experiences of young Black teens experiencing police brutality and navigating the justice system, are on the syllabus this semester.

But even the beloved Jones has had thoughts about leaving, perhaps to be an administrator and make bigger waves or earn more. To sustain her family, shes done hair and meal prepping on the side.

Many Pine Bluff teachers work multiple jobs. Though LEARNS boosted the floor for teachers, it didnt bake in funding or planning to level set pay for more experienced educators. With a masters, Jones now makes the same as a first year teacher. Once she finishes her doctorate, shed only see about a $3,000 increase annually.

On top of it all, Pine Bluff is a community in grieving.

Jones went to five student funerals last year alone. In the back of her classroom shines a framed photo of one student, murdered six days after his birthday, a gift from his mother.

I look at the crime rate. I look at how our babies are being taken from us, she said. Its things like that that make you say I cant do this.

In those moments, she calls on her mentors. But then you have people that have been here who also had those opportunities to leave like Ms. Collins and Mattie Glover and Virginia Hines. Theyre retired and could be at home on the beach, but theyre still advocating.

So is Jones, who has a reputation as the trouble teacher for making noise on behalf of students. When people speak ill of Pine Bluff, shes quick to remind them where their roots are.

Somebodys got to say something because right now what we need for our kids is not what it should be, said Jones.  I know what it could be and I have positive aspirations that greater is coming.

To TyKesha, who teaches down the hall, the common denominator that anchors her, Jones and Pine Bluffs community of fighters is love.

Many of her students grew up in the same projects she did. Her classes start in the dark  a few minutes of free time with overhead lights off: listen to a song, watch a game, just pause for a moment. The only sound is the slow drip of water from a decorative fountain on her desk.

TyKesha Cross smiles at a family member inside Carpenters Produce and Fish (Marianna McMurdock/The 74)

As students settled in one morning, Cross asked for a weather report  a social-emotional check-in learned from the Arkansas Teacher Corps. Shell never forget one response: acid rain, with things falling from the sky. The phrase raised red flags for Cross, her innate sense of familiarity with her communitys challenges kicking in.

She quickly emailed the students counselor, then the principal: their class was headed outside.

Chalk in hand, students took turns writing on the sidewalk: youre not alone, and yesterday is not ours to recover but tomorrow is ours to win or lose.

It wasnt until later the student whose response sparked the activity shared what was on his mind that day he had thoughts of taking his own life. The activity gave him encouragement, he said, and opened the door to talking more about his life with Cross and his counselor.

For Cross, the incident confirmed why she became a teacher in the first place  to make schools the safe haven they were for her growing up. Its a stark reminder, too, of the impact of investing in teacher development, to develop talent whose radar would go off like hers did that day.

Why do people stay here? Thats why, Cross said tearfully. To know that something I did, passed on to me from a program  I could have left and went to another big town or city and found another bank to work for, probably made $200,000. But I wouldnt have been here for that day.

This story first appeared at The 74, a nonprofit news site covering education. Sign up for free newsletters from The 74 to get more like this in your inbox.

The post More Black teachers: A push to revive schools in nations fastest-shrinking city appeared first on Arkansas Advocate.
More math, no foreign language? HS graduation requirements in Oklahoma could be changing

House Bill 3278 passed both chambers of the Oklahoma Legislature despite criticisms over it removing a requirement that students take a world language in high school.

Both chambers of the Oklahoma Legislature have agreed to require a fourth math credit for students to graduate high school, but some have complained it comes at the expense of foreign language classes.

House Bill 3278 is on the cusp of heading to the governors desk after the state House passed Senate amendments to the bill in a 73-14 vote on Thursday.

Along with adding a fourth math credit to graduation requirements, it mandates that students take six units that relate to their goals after high school, whether thats going to college or starting a career.

The six credits could include core subjects  English, math, science or history  and could apply to a range of elective courses, fine arts, college concurrent enrollment and internships.

Among the options for the six pathway units is taking a non-English language.

More: Which college majors earn most (and least) money after graduation? What federal data shows

Lawmakers, tribal nations concerned with lack of world language requirement

Democratic lawmakers, foreign language teachers and tribal nations reacted with alarm that a world language credit wouldnt be required. State law currently mandates students complete two units of a non-English language or two units of computer science.

Should HB 3278 become law, world language classes would be strongly encouraged to students but not mandatory. Computer science could count for math. The high school class of 2030 would be the first to graduate under the regulations.

Leaders of the Cherokee Nation and Muscogee (Creek) Nation said they oppose the bill over concerns that it could reduce enrollment in tribal language courses that have become increasingly popular in Oklahoma public schools.

Cherokee Nation Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. poses for a photo in front of the portrait of Sequoyah at the Oklahoma Capitol, Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2023

We have invested more in our language revitalization efforts than at any other time in our history because our language is a cornerstone of our culture and way of life, Cherokee Principal Chief Chuck Hoskin Jr. said. Maintaining a world language requirement not only fosters a diverse educational experience but also directly supports the learning of Native languages.

The Oklahoma Foreign Language Teachers Association also advocated against the bill. The group circulated a sample email for members to send to lawmakers that said removing foreign language requirements will set a precedent for a less well-rounded education, and could cripple our students competitiveness in the global workforce.

More: Closure of Oklahoma womens leadership program causes outcry over anti-DEI action

Completion of world language credits would still be considered in college admissions and scholarship qualifications.

The bills author, Rep. Rhonda Baker, R-Yukon, said schools would continue to make world language courses available for students who want or need to take them.

She said the legislation adds rigor to math education, with the hope that fewer students would need remediation once they attend college. Math is the most common remedial subject in Oklahomas higher education system, state data shows.

It also encourages students to take courses that relate to their post-high-school plans, Baker said.

The beauty of this bill is it provides flexibility so theyre not honed in on being forced to take a course, she said during debate on the House floor. They get to actually choose whats relevant to them.

Oklahoma Voice is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Oklahoma Voice maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Janelle Stecklein for questions: info@oklahomavoice.com. Follow Oklahoma Voice on Facebook and Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Graduation requirements for Oklahoma high school students may change
CORRECTS DATE TO MAY 9, NOT MAY 10 - In this image provided by Maine State Police, emergency crews work to remove a tractor-trailer hauling 15 million bees to be used in pollinating the state's blueberry crops after it overturned on Interstate-95, Thursday evening, May 9, 2024, in Clinton, Maine. The driver was taken to a hospital and most of the bees were contained, officials said. (Maine State Police via AP)

CLINTON, Maine (AP)  A tractor-trailer hauling about 15 million honey bees to be used to pollinate blueberry fields crashed and overturned on Interstate 95, officials said.

The driver was taken to the hospital as a precaution Thursday night while first responders worked to ensure the safety of the bees that were in hives strapped on the trailer, which landed on its side, officials said.

The bees were mostly contained and the goal was to save them," said Shannon Moss, state police spokesperson.

First responders didn't realize the cargo was bees until firefighters went down an embankment to check for leaking fluids, said Fire Chief Travis Leary.

They learned the hard way.

The guys did get stung on a regular basis. Everyone got stung at least a couple of times, said Leary, who suffered several bee stings.

The temperature in the 40s might have kept the bees from getting rowdier during the several hours it took to get the truck upright and removed by a tow truck, he said. A beekeeper was summoned to corral the bees, he added.

The truckload of bees was headed to Washington County, which is the center of the state's wild blueberry industry. Bees are routinely trucked into the region to pollinate the blueberry barrens each spring.
Most in new survey have negative view of pro-Palestinian protests on college campuses

Most people in a new survey say they have a negative view of the pro-Palestinian protests happening on college campuses across the country.

The poll, conducted by YouGov, found that 50 percent of respondents said they oppose the recent protests. Twenty-six percent say they support the demonstrations, while 25 percent said they werent sure how they felt about them.

While most Americans said theyve heard about the arrests on campus, respondents tend to be not sure about how to feel about many different aspects of the protests.

Thirty-eight percent said they believe the protests are nonviolent, while 30 percent said they think the demonstrations are violent. Thirty-two percent said theyre not sure.

When asked about how university administrators responded to the protests, 33 percent said they arent sure. Another third said administrators responses have not been harsh enough, while 16 percent said its been too harsh of a response. Eighteen percent said its about right.

Schools across the country have called on campus police and local law enforcement to come disperse on-campus demonstrations and encampments, resulting in more than 2,000 arrests nationwide.

Twenty-nine percent of respondents said they arent sure what to think about the police response to the protests. Twenty-five percent said it hasnt been harsh enough, and another 25 percent said its about right. About 21 percent said the police response, which has included pepper spray at some colleges, has been too harsh.

The protests began last month at Columbia University and spread to more than 400 colleges across the country. Students and community members have called on their universities to divest from Israeli companies or companies that supply weapons to Israel.

When asked what they think about universities selling their investments with ties to Israel, 42 percent said they arent sure. Thirty-five percent of Americans say theyre opposed to colleges selling investments with Israeli ties, while 23 percent say theyre in favor of it.

The YouGov survey was conducted Sunday through Tuesday among 1,813 adults and has a margin of error of 3 percentage points.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Mother of soldier being held in Russia believes he was lured there

The mother of a U.S. soldier being held in Russia on theft charges says she believes her son was lured by intelligence officials trying to capture a politically valuable prisoner.

White House officials so far have not characterized the nature of the arrest of Staff Sgt. Gordon Black, who has been in jail in Russia since May 2 after he was accused of theft after traveling to Vladivostok without informing his military chain of command.

Earlier this week, Defense Department deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said Army officials are investigating whether Russian intelligence services specifically targeted Black ahead of his arrest, but have not yet made any determination.

But in an interview with NBC News on Thursday, Melody Jones  Blacks mother  said she believes her son was manipulated by a Russian woman as part of a scheme to get him to travel to her home country. Black was arrested upon landing in Vladivostok and will remain in jail at least until early July, Russian officials said.

US soldier detained in Russia will be held until at least July

Jones told the news network that Black informed her about his plans to travel to Russia to see his girlfriend, whom he had met while stationed in South Korea.

I was worried about him going, because the government there has been grabbing Americans, she told NBC News. I was more worried about him going to Russia than I was when he was in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Black, 34, has served in the Army since 2008, including deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

He was most recently assigned to Eighth Army with U.S. Forces Korea at Camp Humphreys in South Korea. Army officials said he processed out of that role on April 10 and was on Permanent Change of Station leave en route to Fort Cavazos, Texas, at the time of his arrest in Russia.

Instead of heading directly back to the United States after his time in South Korea ended, Black flew to China and then Russia, military officials said. The soldier did not request or receive clearance to visit either country.

The State Department has issued warnings for all U.S. citizens against traveling to Russia because of tensions between the two countries. Both Defense and State Department officials have said they are working to make sure Black has legal assistance and other counselor services while in confinement in Russia.

The list of American citizens currently being held in Russia on what the White House insists are false charges includes former Marine Paul Whelan, Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, and musician Travis Leake.

Jones told NBC News that Black has a 6-year-old daughter and is currently going through a divorce.
Zhang Kejian (L), head of the China National Space Administration, hands the data carrier over to Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi at a handover ceremony held in Beijing, capital of China, May 10, 2024. China delivered the data provided by a cube satellite, which was onboard the Chang'e-6 spacecraft, to Pakistan on Friday, deepening lunar exploration cooperation between the two countries. (China National Space Administration/Handout via Xinhua)

BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China delivered the data provided by a cube satellite, which was onboard the Chang'e-6 spacecraft, to Pakistan on Friday, deepening lunar exploration cooperation between the two countries.

Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration, handed the data carrier over to Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi at a handover ceremony held in Beijing.

The cube satellite, known as ICUBE-Q, was jointly developed by Pakistan's Institute of Space Technology and China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Chang'e-6 lunar probe, launched on May 3, carried four international payloads, including ICUBE-Q.

ICUBE-Q separated from the Chang'e-6 orbiter on May 8 to carry out exploration activities, such as capturing images of the moon. 

This is the first image of the moon taken by the cube satellite known as ICUBE-Q on May 8, 2024. China delivered the data provided by a cube satellite, which was onboard the Chang'e-6 spacecraft, to Pakistan on Friday, deepening lunar exploration cooperation between the two countries.

TO GO WITH "China delivers Chang'e-6 mission cube satellite data to Pakistan" (China National Space Administration/Handout via Xinhua)
Mother of US airman calls for justice after he was killed by deputy in his own home

A mother is mourning the loss of her son and demanding justice after he was killed by Florida police officers.

U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was in his home in Fort Walton Beach, Florida when he was shot by an Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office deputy on May 3.

"He was trying to show me things that people that raised me were supposed to show me as a child, Chantemekki Fortson, Roger Fortsons mother, said during a press conference Thursday. So, to the sheriff's department that took my gift I need you guys to tell the truth about my son. I need you to get his reputation right. If you have a heart, if you have a niece or nephew, any young person in your life, tell the truth about my son."

The deputy in the fatal incident was responding to a call of a disturbance around 4:30 p.m., according to a released statement from the Oklahoosa County Sheriffs Office.

MORE: '6 shots in the back': Murder trial opens in police shooting death of Casey Goodson Jr.

Sheriff Eric Aden of the Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office played the body camera footage of the deputy who shot Fortson in a press conference following the news conference with Fortson's family. In the video the deputy can be heard announcing twice that he is with the sheriff's office. Fortson can then be seen opening the door for the deputy with what appears to be a gun in his hand. The officer shot Fortson within seconds of the door opening. Fortson later succumbed to his injuries, according to the sheriff's office.

"Hearing sounds of a disturbance, he reacted in self-defense after he encountered a 23-year-old man armed with a gun, according to a sheriffs office statement. "[This was] after the deputy had identified himself as law enforcement."

The deputy involved has been put on administrative leave and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the state attorneys office will conduct their own investigations, according to the sheriffs office.

Thursday afternoon Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in an on-camera statement that Secretary Austin is following the case closely. First of all, the Secretary is following this closely. And I would like to offer our thoughts and prayers to Airmen Fortsons family, Ryder said. "We are of course sad at the loss of one of our own. I know that his death is currently under investigation.

Civil rights attorney Ben Crump was also at the press conference Thursday with Fortson's family and spoke of Fortson's character.

"He graduated from high school in Atlanta, Georgia," Crump said. "He had dreams of being a pilot. He had always wanted to serve in the United States Air Force, and he was living his dream. And by doing so, he was going to make it better for his mother and his siblings and his family, so they can have a better chance at the American dream."

PHOTO: U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Roger Fortson posing for a picture with his little sister. (Ben Crump, Attorney)

Fortson was on a call with his girlfriend when he heard a knock on the door, according to Crump. When he asked who it was, he heard no response and could not see through the peephole. He told his girlfriend it looked like someone was covering it on the other side, according to Crump.

Someone knocked the door again aggressively, so Fortson allegedly retrieved his legal firearm and when he returned to the hallway of his front door, officers rammed through the door and shot him six times, Crump said.

The FDLE confirmed with ABC News that they are investigating the deputy-involved shooting.

MORE: Body camera footage released in police shooting of woman who called 911 for alleged domestic incident

"FDLE use-of-force cases are independent, fact-finding investigations. The results are referred to the State Attorneys office to determine further action," FDLE told ABC News in a statement. "As this investigation is active, we do not have additional information to provide at this time."

Fortson's family nor their attorneys saw the body camera footage before their news conference.

Hulburt Field airbase, where Fortson was stationed, stated in a release regarding the shooting that Fortson was assigned to the 4th Special Operations Squadron and entered active duty on Nov. 19, 2019.

"Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office is the lead investigation agency in this incident," according to Hurlburt Field in the statement. "To protect the integrity of the investigation, no other information will be released at this time. The 1st Special Operations Wings priorities are providing casualty affairs service to the family, supporting the squadron during this tragic time, and ensuring resources are available for all who are impacted."

The state attorney nor coroners office immediately responded to ABC News request for comment.

Mother of US airman calls for justice after he was killed by deputy in his own home originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
MAPUTO (Reuters) -Mozambique's army is fighting Islamist insurgents who launched a major attack on the northern town of Macomia on Friday morning, President Filipe Nyusi said in a televised address.

The town is in Cabo Delgado, a gas-rich northern province where Islamic State-linked militants launched an insurgency in 2017. Despite a large security response, there has been a surge in attacks since January this year.

Two security sources told Reuters that hundreds of fighters are believed to be involved in the latest attack.

"Macomia is under attack since this morning. Fire exchange still continues," Nyusi said at around 1000 GMT, adding that the militants initially withdrew after about 45 minutes of fighting, but then regrouped and came back.

Friday's attack appeared to be the most serious militant attack in the area in some time.

A regional force from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), which deployed in Mozambique in 2021, started withdrawing last month as its mandate ends in July.

Piers Pigou, head of Southern Africa Programme at the Institute for Security Studies, said the attack on the Macomia district headquarters validates concerns over a security vacuum opening up with the drawdown of the southern African troops.

"Claims that the province has been for the most part stabilised are evidently not accurate," he told Reuters.

Nyusi said that attacks can take place in such periods of transition, and that he hoped the SADC forces would be able to step in and help. It was unclear if they were still deployed in the area or involved in the fight.

Rwanda has also deployed troops to Mozambique to help fight the insurgency.

Figures released by the International Organization for Migration in March show over 110,000 people displaced since the end of last year, amid escalating violence in the province.

The offensive comes as French oil company TotalEnergies is seeking to restart a $20 billion liquefied natural gas terminal in Cabo Delgado that was halted in 2021 due to the insurgency. That project is some 200 kilometres (124 miles) north of Macomia, the town under attack.

ExxonMobil, with partner Eni, is also developing an LNG project in northern Mozambique and said last week that it was "optimistic and pushing forward" as the security situation had improved.

(Reporting by Manuel Mucari in Maputo and David Lewis in Nairobi, writing by Nellie Peyton and Bhargav Acharya; editing by Christina Fincher and Ros Russell)
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  Friday afternoon motorists are backed up for miles along Interstate 24 in Davidson County due to a multi-vehicle crash.

According to the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT), the crash was reported at approximately 11:52 a.m. on Friday, May 10 at mile marker 57.6.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

As of 4:20 p.m., two of the four travel lanes and the left shoulder are blocked on I-24 West, TDOT said. Traffic cameras show westbound delays stretching past mile marker 63.6.

Meanwhile, eastbound motorists are also delayed past the Interstate 440 and Interstate 40 junctions, based on TDOTs traffic map. A multi-vehicle crash was reported at 11:55 a.m. at mile marker 57.6 on I-24 East, but according to officials, no lanes were blocked due to that crash, which was cleared by Friday afternoon. However, traffic cameras show eastbound vehicles slowing as they pass the scene of the westbound crash.

(Courtesy: TDOT)

The Metro Nashville Police Department told News 2 the I-24 West crash involved a dump truck and a passenger car, resulting in serious injuries.

According to a TDOT spokesperson, cleanup has taken a considerable amount of time due to the diesel and oil spilled, but all lanes are expected to be cleared around 7 p.m.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

No additional details have been released about this incident.

 Download the News 2 app to stay updated on the go.

 Sign up for WKRN email alerts to have breaking news sent to your inbox.

 Find todays top stories on WKRN.com for Nashville, TN and all of Middle Tennessee.

This is a developing story. WKRN News 2 will continue to update this article as new information becomes available.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
The Department of Public Works in Muscatine plans to exercise Flood Gate 2 on 2nd Street at Mad Creek as part of a training exercise and the flood preparedness plan, according to a news release.

(City of Muscatine)

The City of Muscatine plans to close East 2nd Street from Oak Street to Highway 92 from 10 a.m. to noon Tuesday, May 14, as the gate is moved into place to complete the flood wall and then moved back to its storage location.

The detour for the street closure will be to use East 5th Street from either Park Avenue or from Oak Street.

Maintenance of the flood gate is usually conducted annually prior to the start of the spring flood season. With no major flooding anticipated during spring 2024, the exercise was postponed until next week.

The Department of Public Works has several new staff members who will receive their first training on the gate closure next Tuesday. The department also will close Flood Gate 1 on Mississippi Drive at the HNI entrance, later next week or the week after for training and maintenance purposes.

There is always the potential that heavy rain in the upper river basin will create flooding conditions downstream, so the department is ensuring that all gates work properly if needed. The river is expected to crest at 13.6 feet on Tuesday. Flood stage is 16 feet, the release says.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW)  A Myrtle Beach man pleaded guilty Thursday to drug charges in Horry County Common Pleas Court and was sentenced to 12 years in prison, according to the 15th Circuit Solicitors office.

Zachary Kane Stell, 37, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute heroin and two counts of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, prosecutors said. He was sentenced by Circuit Court Judge Alex Hyman.

Stell has a history in the criminal justice system that includes an acquittal in a 2020 double-murder case. He was among four men charged in the July 2018 killing of Matthew Autry, 29, and Shawn David Anderson, 35, whose bodies were found in a burned car in Socastee.

More recently, he was arrested in January 2023 after authorities said he was driving a stolen car on South Kings Highway with drugs and a gun inside that were within reach of a child. He also was among four people arrested in March 2022 after a lengthy investigation that led authorities to more than 213 grams of meth, 81 grams of marijuana, 23 grams of cocaine, 19 grams of fentanyl, eight grams of heroin, 0.66 grams of crack, three doses of LSD, four pistols and $13,124.

* * *

Dennis Bright is a Digital Producer at News13. He joined the team in May 2021. Dennis is a West Virginia native and a graduate of Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia. Follow Dennis on, Facebook, X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WBTW.
A Myrtle Beach church reported to Myrtle Beach Police threats it had received days after the death of its pastors wife.

An unnamed woman at Solid Rock Church, 803 Howard Ave., in Market Common, reported to police on May 1, 2024, that the church had received multiple Facebook messages and emails since the passing of John-Paul Millers wife, Mica Miller, according to a police report. The woman was identified as one of the pastors at the church.

A message left for the church Friday morning was not immediately returned. The church has disabled its website, but its Facebook page is still in operation.

Mica Miller, 30, of Myrtle Beach, died April 27, 2024. She was found in a North Carolina state park with a gunshot wound to her head. Her death has since been ruled a suicide by North Carolina law enforcement.

Her death has gained national attention and has been the topic of social media posts, many using #justiceforMica.

The officer was shown messages to the church about canceling and ending the church for its lies, the report said. The report said that certain Facebook groups and TikTok videos have been dispersing stories about the church.

The report said that John-Paul Miller was not at the church to meet with officers. The report said that there was no harassment.

An email message left for John-Paul Millers attorney was not returned by publication.

John-Paul Miller was relieved as pastor of the church following his wifes death.

John-Paul Miller speaks during a sermon at Solid Rock Church in Market Common in Myrtle Beach. He announced the death of his wife, Mica Miller, during a sermon to the congregation, a day after her death on April 27, 2024.

He has denied abusing his wife in an interview with The Sun News on May 3, 2024, saying that his wife suffered from mental illness and had been hospitalized many times during their marriage.

Mica Millers family have posted on social media regarding her death, alluding to false information and abuse that Mica had suffered. Mica Miller too posted on her Facebook about abuse and leaving a dangerous situation with the hashtag, abuseawareness.

John-Paul Miller notified the church congregation of his wifes death during an April 28, 2024, sermon, including the fact that her death was self-induced.

Mica Miller, the wife of John-Paul Miller, pastor of Solid Rock Church in Market Common in Myrtle Beach, died April 27, 2024, in a North Carolina state park. Her death has been ruled a suicide by law enforcement. Her death has gained national attention.

The two had apparently been separated since February 2024 and Mica Miller had filed for divorce on April 15, 2024, according to court documents.

The Robeson County Sheriffs Department ruled Mica Millers death a suicide. According to a Facebook post Tuesday, May 7, 2024, the North Carolina law enforcement agency said the decision was based on surveillance footage, interviews, physical evidence and the examination of the North Carolina Medical Examiners Office.

The department released a 911 tape of Mica Miller calling police dispatch, asking the dispatcher if her phone could be located because she was going to kill herself and wanted her family to be able to find her body.
When the Ukrainian government announced it had foiled an assassination plot against Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and other top officials, Russian disinformation operatives got to work.

The plot was simple, according to the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU): The suspectstwo colonels in the State Security Administrationhad plans to off Zelensky, as well as SBU Chief Vasily Malyuk and the chief Ukrainian military intelligence official, Kirill Budanov. Kyiv said two colonels who were detained were Russian agents working to kill the officials in order to give a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the eve of his swearing into office for his fifth term.

Infobrics.org, a known Russian disinformation site that U.S. officials say is tied to Russian intelligence, has glommed on to the assassination plot as a way to denigrate Ukraines alliance with the West and deny Russia was involved.

The site published an article Wednesday that claimed that any allegation that Russia was behind the assassination plot was inaccurate, and instead sought to pin the blame on the West.

As expected, Moscow is accused of being behind the attempted attack, but there is no evidence that the Russians participated in the conspiracy. On the other hand, the West seems quite interested in eliminating Zelensky, the article states.

Ukraine Says It Thwarted Russian Plot to Murder Zelensky as Gift for Putin

The author, Lucas Leiroz, also parroted information previously published on Strana, an outlet the Ukrainian government has accused of being pro-Russian, without citing the outlet explicitly. Strana had reported, without sharing its sourcing, the names of the two individuals that Kyiv had detained for the assassination plot.

Russian intelligence services have previously relied on Infobrics.org to spread disinformation and pro-Russia narratives, according to U.S. officials. The State Department has previously labeled Infobrics.org as linked to the Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU).

The site is operated by an information agency registered in Russia, InfoRos, the AP reported. InfoRos is run by the GRU as well, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

The apparently GRU-tied operation shows that the Kremlin is likely working through military intelligence operations to add confusion and doubt into the debate around the assassination plot. Zelensky has previously said he and his security aides have thwarted five or six assassination plots against him, some of which Kyiv has also tied to Russia.

The post is a quintessential Russian disinformation operation aimed at muddying the waters on what really happened, Darren Linvill, a top researcher of Russian disinformation and co-director of the Watt Family Innovation Center Media Forensics Hub at Clemson University, said.

Its a classic Russian firehose of falsehoods, Linvill told The Daily Beast. Throw enough spaghetti at the wall and no one will know what to believe.

The post has all of the telltale signs of a state-backed influence operation that appears to pierce through accusations against Moscow without actually providing any real evidence, Givi Gigitashvili, a research associate at the Atlantic Councils Digital Forensic Research Lab, told The Daily Beast.

The author seems to be employing a distraction tactic where hostile actors accuse their critics of the same actions they themselves are accused of, in an effort to redirect attention and intensify the use of whataboutism, Gigitashvili said. Its purpose is to sidetrack the adversary and sow seeds of uncertainty, confusion, or even skepticism about their integrity.

Stirring the Pot

The apparently GRU-tied post wasnt limited to one platform. Leiroz, the author of the trumped-up story, also had his post published on several other sites that have been tied to Russian disinformation, including The Intel Drop and SouthFront.

Russian influence operations typically focused on anti-Ukraine narratives are frequently peddled through The Intel Drop, according to recently published research from Microsoft.

SouthFront in particular receives its tasking from Russias Federal Security Service (FSB), according to the U.S. Treasury Department, which has sanctioned the organization. In previous years, SouthFront has published information meant to instill doubt in U.S. citizens that voter fraud had taken place in the 2020 U.S. presidential elections, U.S. officials have said.

Senior U.S. Diplomat Victoria Nulands Request Snubbed by Niger Coup Leaders

Its not the first time that Leiroz, the author of the post, has stirred the pot. Leiroz is a member of a group that has previously run a disinformation operation focused on inserting Kremlin disinformation into Brazils political discourse, according to U.S. officials. And according to American diplomats, Leiroz is a member of Nova Resistencia, which is part of the New Resistance movement. The movement is a neo-fascist organization inspired by Aleksandr Dugin, a Russian philosopher sometimes referred to as Putins Rasputin, who has been a key driver in pushing Russian Eurasianist expansionist principles.

Leiroz did not immediately return a request for comment.

The Russian-intelligence effort to throw cold water on the idea that Moscow was behind the assassination plot was sprinkled throughout pro-Kremlin propaganda sites as well. Russia state-funded RT, a key prong of Russias disinformation and propaganda operation, touted the same Strana report as well. For its part, the Russian state-owned news agency TASS reiterated in its coverage of the assassination plot that the accusations that Moscow was involved are groundless, adding that Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow has no plans to eliminate Zelensky.

Even so, when asked about the allegations that Russia was behind the assassination plot, the State Department indicated it was further evidence of Russias depravity.

Obviously, it just speaks to the depravity that weve seen on display from the Putin regime since the outset of this conflict, State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters on Tuesday.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
BARNEGAT  Some 75 people operating drones, ATVs, firefighting equipment, a helicopter and police officers and firefighters on foot searched for a possible downed plane Tuesday afternoon after Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst sent out an alert that a pilot might be in danger, authorities said.

After a three-hour search, the rescue crews found no plane.

McGuire sent an alert out to police around 2:50 p.m. about a plane that had issued a single distress signal over western Barnegat Township, Barnegats newly-sworn-in Police Chief Jason Carroll said.

McGuire had called aviation officials in Atlantic City, which did not receive the signal, Carroll said, deepening the mystery. Still, McGuire issued the alert, first to Stafford police, out of abundance of caution, Carroll said.

Carroll spoke to air traffic controllers at McGuire and in Atlantic City and Philadelphia who educated him on Emergency Location Transmitters (ELTs). They sound a distress signal when there has been impact. But the signal can also be mistakenly activated or caused by a rough landing, Carroll said

Only one plane landed at Eagle's Nest Airport in Eagleswood, the closest airport to Barnegat, in the timeframe that the single ELT alert came in, Carroll said. The Eagle's Nest plane wasnt believed to be the source of the activation, he said.

After getting a quick lesson on aviation safety and assessing the situation on the ground, Carroll called the report of a possible downed plane unfounded around 5:45 p.m.

More: Lacey fire: Long Branch pilot killed in small plane crash in identified

Aside from the prospect of a catastrophic plane crash, there was another concern for the Pine Barrens, Carroll said.

Of course, you're concerned for a person or persons that might be in an airplane and have been injured or lost their lives but the bigger issue for us and the community is a fire, Carroll said. A plane crashes, spills fuel that causes this fire and you get some some wind behind it and then we've got a much bigger issue.

The following agencies participated in the search: Barnegat and Stafford police departments, fire departments and first aid squads, the New Jersey Forest Fire Service, the Ocean County Sheriff's Office, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office, the Ocean County Fire Marshal, the Federal Aviation Administration's Philadelphia office, New Jersey State Police, Little Egg Harbor police, Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and Atlantic City International Airport.

Ken Serrano covers breaking news, crime and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Search of Pine Barrens triggered by mystery distress call from plane
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators protest in front of The Cooper Union, a private college, in New York, the United States, May 9, 2024. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)

NEW YORK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Faculty members of The New School, a private university in Manhattan of New York City, the United States, set up their own pro-Palestine encampment in the lobby of the campus building near Union Square on Wednesday.

The faculty members involved in the action called for, among others, divestment from weapons manufacturing companies, dismissal of charges against student protesters and the removal of New York police on campus, according to The New School Free Press.

About 20 professors occupied the lobby with tents and banners reading "Faculty Against Genocide." This is reportedly the first faculty-led protest in the United States.

The staff at The New School named their encampment after Refaat Alareer, a Palestinian poet and professor, who was killed in an airstrike in December 2023.

Roughly 40 students were arrested and subsequently suspended from The New School as a student encampment was cleared by the New York Police Department on May 3. Across the nation, more than 2,000 arrests have been made on college campuses in recent weeks.

Many of the university's students have seen a shift to online classes or venues outside of school grounds, with one student reporting that their professor held class at a restaurant. And some teachers are refusing to submit final grades until their demands are met.

Scores of U.S. college campuses have seen pro-Palestinian movements over the past few months, and high schools are starting to participate as well. Students in Chicago, Illinois; Salem, Oregon; Austin, Texas; and some cities in Washington state have been organizing walkouts, according to media reports.

Meanwhile, protests continue to rage across the United States as Israel launched new attacks on targets in the Gaza Strip.

In New York City alone, The New School, Baruch College, Fordham University and The Cooper Union have planned encampments, walk-outs or rallies, in solidarity with Palestine, which are set to commence on May 9, according to posts on social media. 

New York police officers remove a pro-Palestinian banner during a demonstration in front of The Cooper Union, a private college, in New York, the United States, May 9, 2024. (Photo by Michael Nagle/Xinhua)
Lea este articulo en espanol aqui.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  During large weather events, real-time alerts can be life-saving; but until recently, in Middle Tennessee, those notifications from the Nashville office of the National Weather Service have only been in English.

To reach a wider audience and vulnerable communities, the Nashville office of the National Weather Service has started posting their safety messages on social media in Spanish, with hopes of expanding their outreach to the Spanish-speaking community in the future.

This has been a push for the National Weather Service to address communities of need or vulnerable communities as we call them. And this could include a language barrier, it could include, the type of housing you live in, it could include your age group, said Nashvilles National Weather Service Warning Coordination Meteorologist, Ryan Husted.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

According to the most recent US Census, 10.8% of Nashvilles population is Hispanic or Latino.

According to a Metro Nashville report, in 2000 about 10% of Nashville residents ages five and older spoke a language other than English. That number grew to 18.5% in 2018, with Spanish being the most common second language.

Across the agency, weve been kind of working on this for five years or so. But its expanding, just like the Spanish-speaking population is expanding, as well, Husted explained. Weve been having conversations for a while, but we havent necessarily had the tools to do it.

(Source: NWS Nashville)

(Source: NWS Nashville)

Over the past few months, NWS Nashville has been able to send their safety messages, like tornado watches and warnings, to their national office for translation.

Husted said NWS Nashville is also planning on hiring Spanish-speaking staff and doing more outreach to Spanish-speaking media outlets in the future.

However, NWS doesnt want to stop at just the Spanish-speaking population, Husted is also working on ways to get messages out to communities that most likely arent seeing their messages at the moment.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

We have Amish populations across Middle Tennessee, that were trying to figure out how we can reach them. There are people without internet, its well established that theres a higher frequency of tornado and damaging wind deaths for those that live in mobile homes. So how can we cater more specifically to that community?

NWSs Nashville website and social media pages can be found here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
Natalie Elphicke is a risky prop for Starmer, in his efforts to appear safe for Tory voters

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer with former Conservative MP Natalie Elphicke in his parliamentary office in the House of Commons, London, after it was announced she has defected to Labour

There was something odd about that photograph of Sir Keir Starmer in Thursdays media, a strangeness that took me a moment to pin down. There stood the Labour leader, sober-suited, in his book-lined parliamentary study. To his right was the Union flag. To his left, holding his hand of welcome, was Natalie Elphicke.

Until Wednesday, Mrs Elphicke had been the extremely Right-wing Conservative MP for Dover and Deal. Now she had crossed the floor.

The oddity, I realised, lay in the pictures aesthetic. It was completely retro.

Mrs Elphicke was dressed in a dark blue twinset with metal buttons. A red, white and blue silk scarf was neatly arranged around her neck. Had I not recognised Sir Keir, I would have dated the photo as 1987 and guessed it showed a junior transport minister in the Thatcher government giving some special privatisation award to the best British Airways air hostess.

(I am speaking of the period when British Airways was proudly British, and before Lady Thatcher, in retirement, famously covered a model of its hideous ethnic tail-fins with her handkerchief.)

This nostalgic, true-blue scene must have been what Sir Keir intended. It was meant to show that, however Tory you think you are, you can join what he calls this changed Labour.

Perhaps it was a similar appeal, almost exactly a hundred years ago, which attracted a brilliant young MP, formerly a Conservative, called Oswald Mosley, to join the Labour Party. Fighting the years of Tory/ National Liberal economic stagnation, he called, as does Mrs Elphicke today, for dramatic state intervention in housing to benefit the working classes.

Mosley rose fast to become chief secretary to the Treasury, but impulsively resigned because Labour was not implementing the Keynesian policies he sought. He later became famous as leader of the British Union of Fascists and was interned during the war for his Nazi sympathies.

So here is what Sir Keir wants wavering Tory voters to think  two days after Mrs Elphicke joined him in Westminster  on the day he went down to Deal (flanked by Mrs Elphicke and the shadow home secretary, Yvette Cooper) to announce how Labour will coordinate everything you can think of  police, counter-terrorist activities, Border Force, MI5, the National Crime Agency, Europe, and, I dare say, the SAS, the French Foreign Legion, and Putins Spetsnaz  to do anything they can think of to stop the small boats, anything except sending their human cargoes to Rwanda.

His message is, We will be tougher than the Tories on immigrants. You can see that because the Right-wing MP who protects the white cliffs of Dover is with us. The Tories are wasting millions on Rwanda, which wont work. Only Labour will keep out the unwelcome hordes.

Obviously, he cannot put it quite like that, but he can present the message visually. Like Nigel Farage, Sir Keir has gone down to Kent to fight them on the beaches. Unlike Mr Farage, he is promising that the full panoply of the deep state (which is now working hard for a Labour victory) will help him do so.

Sir Keirs move dovetails with his recent utterances praising Mrs Thatcher. They also remind me of the pledge cards that Labour produced before the 1997 election. On one side, there was a picture of the then prime minister, John Major, accompanied by the words weak Daily Telegraph.

On the other was the Labour leader, Tony Blair, accompanied by the words strong Daily Telegraph. Not subtle, but good at doing Tory heads in.

For this week, therefore, Mrs Elphicke makes a useful multiple photocall. The doubts about welcoming such a person that many Labour MPs are expressing will be ignored. Such objectors can be treated like those churchgoers who express unease about Muslim asylum-seekers who suddenly convert to Christianity as deportation looms. Wheres your generosity of spirit?, say the ministers who have just baptised them.

It may, however, be reasonable to ask whether Mrs Elphicke can be absorbed in the longer term.

First, there is a question of due diligence. Nobody seems to know where she stands in relation to her ex-husband. She has defended, then criticised, then re-defended him and then apologised for defending him. It is alleged that, although she divorced him after his conviction for sexual assaults, she still lives with him.

Labour is normally hyper-attentive to any Me Too-type incidents and to how those close to the accused behave. Many of its supporters will not let such things drop.

Many, too, are questioning why some existing MPs, such as Diane Abbott and Jeremy Corbyn, are suspended for years while Mrs Elphicke walks unimpeded down Labours red carpet (a carpet which, by the way, now bears the Union flag in its top right corner).

It is said that Sir Keirs tight team only brought the Labour chief whip into discussions of Natalies floor-crossing very late in the day. The whips, whose job it is to monitor such problems, are thought to be unhappy.

It is clear from the show in Deal that Sir Keirs chief of staff, Sue Gray, has used her former Civil Service contacts very effectively to present the new policy of a Border Security Command, though it is essentially the same as the Tories, minus Rwanda.

She has helped Labour claim that it can muster Whitehalls administrative might, which has been frustrating Conservative immigration policy, and turn it to advantage. Ms Gray is less well-placed to deal with the Elphicke issue.

Then there is the matter of Mrs Elphickes views. It is not only the Left of the party that is worried. Kents only pre-existing Labour MP is Rosie Duffield, who was long shunned by Sir Keir because of her publicly-stated belief that biological sex is an immutable fact, whereas gender identity is not.

As MP for Canterbury and thus Mrs Elphickes next-door constituency neighbour, Ms Duffield has had dealings with the woman she laughingly describes as Top Socialist Natalie Elphicke and is not persuaded by her Damascene conversion. She says many colleagues feel the same, but do not want to speak up.

The cynic will say that Mrs Elphickes opinions do not matter because she is not standing again. The cynic may well be right to see her as politically expendable, and all that she will do before leaving public life will be to write a report about housing, which no one will read.

But if it is true, as she herself said as she changed sides, that the Starmer Labour Party has changed out of all recognition, there will be significant numbers of Labour voters who, if they cannot recognise their own party, will not vote for it.

Finally, it is worth asking whether the new, Elphicke-endorsed Labour policy will make the slightest difference to controlling illegal migration, let alone (which neither Rishi Sunak nor Sir Keir wishes to discuss) legal migration.

Another figure backing it (see his article in this newspaper) is Neil Basu, the highly political ex-police counter-terrorism head, who is now on hand to praise Sir Keir. In his turn, Sir Keir tweets that Mr Basu knows what it takes to protect national security.

Yet Mr Basu is obsessed with police institutional racism and has form for supporting the endless Gaza marches, prioritising the threatening politics of protest over the needs of the law-abiding.

He, not Mrs Elphicke, is the better guide to how this changed Labour really thinks about this traditionally Tory set of issues.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The National Executive Board of Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity has responded to allegations of hazing surrounding its chapter at the University of Connecticut, which was suspended this week after its former chapter president was arrested twice.

As our track record shows, Lambda Theta Phi seeks to collaborate with our host institutions and municipalities in ensuring the safety of our students, and, when included by our host institutions, we do not hesitate to take swift accountability steps when student safety is at risk, said Dr. Andrew Ramjit, executive director for Lambda Theta Phi Latin Fraternity, Inc.

Ramjit told The Courant board members were aware of the allegations that have been levied against Brother David Vallejo and the suspension of our Lambda Chapter at the University of Connecticut.

UConn suspends fraternity amid assault charges against former president following hazing incident

Vallejo, 23, was arrested by Connecticut State Police and the UConn Police Department on charges of assault, strangulation, unlawful restraint and disorderly conduct.

State police said their charges stem from incidents reported on back-to-back nights in February at a home in Willington where Vallejo allegedly assaulted a UConn student who struggled to recite what pledge masters were saying during the fifth and sixth night of the initiation process into the universitys Lambda Theta Phi chapter, according to the arrest warrant affidavit.

The student alleged he was made to do pushups when he and another pledge recited the lines incorrectly and after growing tired and falling to the ground, he was thrown across the room by Vallejo, the warrant affidavit said. He also alleged Vallejo put his forearm against his throat during both nights.

The pledge later sent a text to Vallejo indicating he was no longer interested in joining the fraternity. He met up with him on campus the following month to give him his pledge uniform back, at which time Vallejo allegedly once again put his arm against the victims throat, stopping him from breathing, because he refused to pay the rest of his initiation fee into the fraternity, according to UConn police and the state police affidavit.

Upon learning of the allegations, he was immediately suspended pending investigation and we will work with all stakeholders involved to gather information and determine the next steps for Brother Vallejo and the chapter, Ramjit said.

We kindly ask that all speculation and assumptions be held until the investigation is complete.

UConn this week issued a statement saying the university takes a zero-tolerance approach to behaviors that endanger others, and is committed to providing safe, healthy, and respectful environments in all UConn organizations and on UConns campuses.

According to university officials, Lambda Theta Phi has operated a campus chapter at UConn since 1991. Its suspension, issued Thursday, was effective immediately while officials continue to investigate the hazing allegations.

Vallejo is free on $30,000 bond and is expected to appear in Rockville Superior Court on May 21 in connection with both cases.
After serving as a newspaper reporter in Farmington for the better part of the 1990s, Debi Tracy Olsen left the Four Corners for many years, not returning until two years ago.

One of the first things she noticed that was different about the area was the way so many local Native Americans had seemingly experienced a change of heart when it came to talking about their history.

I was seeing that people were more willing to share stories of their lives and culture, said the former reporter for The Daily Times, who wrote an exhaustive, 26-week series in 1991 and 1992 on the Navajo perspective on the Long Walk, the forced march thousands of Navajo people endured in the 1860s from their ancestral home in the Four Corners to an internment camps at the Bosque Redondo, a journey of between 250 and 450 miles.

Compiling that series  which was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize  was the highlight of Olsens journalism career, she said. But it wasnt an easy story to report, even though she was given six months away from her normal duties at the paper as the features editor by her boss, then Managing Editor Jack Swickard, to concentrate on the project.

Back when we did this 30 years ago, there was a lot of reluctance on the part of many Navajos to talk about it, she said, explaining that in Dine culture, bad episodes from the past traditionally are not revisited, especially with outsiders. But as time goes by, those attitudes have changed.

Journalist Debi Tracy Olsen is leading a project aimed at recording the stories of Navajo elders on Saturday, May 18 at the Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village.

Olsen said she hopes they have changed enough to make a success out of a new project she is leading. On Saturday, May 18 at the Aztec Museum and Pioneer Village, 125 N. Main Ave. in Aztec, Olsen will deliver a presentation on the importance of oral histories to the story of the Long Walk. Following that presentation, Navajo elders will be invited to share the stories of their lives and culture in short interviews or conversations with Navajo young people.

Those resulting exchanges will be recorded, preserved and stored at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. through the database of StoryCorps, a nonprofit organization based in Brooklyn that for 30 years has collected such stories across the country as part of an attempt to illuminate the nations shared humanity.

The format for the interviews will be simple and straightforward, Olsen said, noting that she came up with the idea for the project after Joan Monninger, the executive director of the museum, approached her with the idea of putting together a program based on her early-1990s series for The Daily Times.

Were not doing typical oral histories, she said, explaining that while this project is not being conducted under the auspices of StoryCorps, its interview format is being employed.

More: Native American author Deborah Jackson Taffa chronicles her youth in new memoir

That means Navajo young people  as young as 13 years old, in fact  will lead the conversations with the older Navajo subjects, prompting them to talk about whatever aspects of their lives and culture they wish to discuss. The conversations will be limited to 30 minutes.

Olsen said there is space for 20 interview subjects during the program, and seven people already had signed up by May 8, including a retired uranium miner, a jewelry maker and a storyteller. She is hoping to have all those spots filled by the day of the event.

Explaining that the Aztec Museum had no equipment of its own, Olsen said the project is being aided by the loan of recording gear from San Juan College and the Aztec Municipal School District.

The recordings themselves will be invaluable, Olsen said, explaining that she hopes it will give Navajo young people who havent been born the chance to someday hear the voices of their ancestors. Hearing about someones lived experience in their own words is something that cant be duplicated in another format, she said.

Thats one of the most powerful things there is, she said. When you hear people speak their story, thats when the humanity comes in.

Olsen said she views this oral history project as a bookend for that 26-part series she wrote 30 years ago.

It is very much, she said. Its not the ending, but I would say its another chapter.

Olsens presentation will begin at noon at the museum, and the interviews will take place afterward at five sites scattered throughout the museum and the village grounds. Anyone interested in participating is asked to call the museum at 505-334-9829 to reserve a time.

Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.

This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Former reporter launching project to preserve stories of Navajo elders
Members of the 25th Navajo Nation Council, the Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives Task Force, and community advocates stand in solidarity with families impacted by the MMDR crisis. (Photo/Navajo Nation Council)

Navajo Nation Speaker Crystalyne Curley recalled on Thursday that her grandfather warned her family that Navajo women were taken from the community and never returned.

The issue of Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives is not a new crisis. Its rooted in colonization where many of our ancestors faced violence, abuse, and kidnapping, Speaker Curley said. My grandfather has talked about our women being taken to never return home. Its been generations that our people have been carrying this pain.

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.

Speaker Curley and the 25th Navajo Nation Council joined community members in a march to show solidarity with families of Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives (MMDR).

Speaker Curley said one objective of the march was to foster support and healing for impacted families.

Law and Order Committee Chair Eugenia Charles-Newton supported the voices of those who speak out against harassment and abuse. Chair Charles-Newton said that she was walking to take a stand against sexual harassment in the workplace, and that often those who speak up are looked upon as disruptors or agitators.

Sometimes when you speak out against this issue, youre looked upon as the bad guy. I dont believe that. We need to step up and say something. Im here today to say that I dont condone this action, Chair Charles-Newton said. Speaking out and being blamed is not right. We need to stop root causes like stalking, domestic violence, and harassment in the workplace.

The march started at the Navajo Nation Museum and ended in front of the Navajo Nation Council Chamber with advocates speaking on the crisis.

In front of the Council Chamber, Missing and Murdered Dine Relatives (MMDR) Task Force Chair Amber Kanazbah Crotty delivered a message of hopeful determination considering this current crisis that faces the Nation.

For our advocates today, I want to highlight and uplift the movements we are a part of like the MMDR Task Force. Its the families that have been directly impacted who have created this movement. Its not a movement for political gain. Its a movement for restoration, resilience, and for our healing, Chair Crotty said.

Several individuals impacted by the MMDR crisis shared their stories of loved ones who have gone missing or were tragically murdered without resolve.

We need to fight the fight that some dont have strength for, Speaker Curley said. Thanks for having the strength and prayers to support one another. Were healing together.

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
Editors note: This story has been updated.

The Navy identified a sailor who died on Monday while underway in the Middle East.

Chief Hospital Corpsman Daniel D. McCracken, a reservist, died during a non-combat related incident in U.S. Central Commands area of responsibility, the Navy announced Friday.

The Navy provided no further details regarding the circumstances of McCrackens death, citing an ongoing investigation.

Grief counseling services and support are available through the chain of command and command chaplains, the Navy said in a statement. Our thoughts and condolences are with the family, friends, and shipmates who are impacted. We care about our Sailors  and their families  and we continue to do everything possible to support them.

McCracken, originally from Pennsylvania, first enlisted in the Navy in 1998 and has been assigned to an East Coast-based special warfare unit since October 2023, according to official records the Navy provided to Navy Times.

His death comes less than two months after Aviation Machinists Mate 2nd Class Oriola Michael Aregbesola also died due to a non-combat related incident while deployed to the Middle East aboard the destroyer Mason.
The Navy is offering big money this year to retain its aviation officers.

More than $200,000 is available to officers serving as aviation department heads this year  provided they agree to staying in uniform for up to seven more years.

Aviators selected for lieutenant commander are eligible for the bonuses, and must undergo consideration for department head during the Aviation Department Head Screen Board that is set to convene this spring.

Aviators who agree to an early commitment  which means submitting a contract prior to the publishing of Aviation Department Head Screen Board results  receive the largest bonuses of up to $280,000, according to a new naval administrative message, or NAVADMIN.

Our return on investment is the retention for continued Navy service of our aviation warfighters, with their invaluable, irreplaceable skillsets and leadership, the NAVADMIN states.

Pilots from the strike fighter community could receive $40,000 annually for early five or seven-year contracts  $5,000 more than last year  or $30,000 for standard three, five or seven-year commitments, as they were last year.

Meanwhile, the Navy is bumping up its bonus offer to naval flight officers from the strike fighter community from $15,000 last year to $25,000 this year for early five and seven-year contracts. Those who accept standard contracts are eligible for an annual $20,000 bonus  double from last year.

Navy unveils up to $175,000 in bonuses for aviation department heads

Those in the helicopter mine countermeasure community, the helicopter sea combat community, and the helicopter maritime strike community are eligible for an annual bonus of $30,000 annually if they sign on early for a five or seven-year commitment. Thats up $5,000 from the rate they were offered last year.

These aviators who agree to a standard, three, five or seven-year commitment are also eligible for a $25,000 annual bonus  up from the $20,000 they were offered last year.

Pilots from electronic attack squadrons who sign an early, five or seven-year contract are eligible to receive an annual $40,000 bonus  and increase from the $35,000 they were offered last year.

Their naval flight officer counterparts are also eligible for a $35,000 annual bonus for an early five or seven-year contract. Thats the same rate they were offered for the same time commitments last year. These aviators also may receive an annual $30,000 bonus for standard three, five or seven-year contracts, as they were last year.

The Navy is also offering pilots from airborne command and control squadrons $40,000 annually if they sign on early for five or seven more years of service  a boost of $5,000 from last year  or $30,000 annually for a standard contract of three, five or seven years of service just like last year.

The service is also offering naval flight officers from airborne command and control squadrons $15,000 for agreeing early to five or seven more years of service, and $10,000 for a standard contract of three, five or seven years of service. Thats the same deal they were offered last year.

Additionally, the Navy is offering pilots from fleet logistics and multi-mission squadrons $5,000 more this year for an annual bonus of $40,000  if they agree early to a five or seven year contract. That goes down to $30,000 if they take the standard three, five or seven-year options, just like last years bonus.

Applications for the bonuses end on Aug. 31.
NAGS HEAD, N.C. (WAVY)  Cape Hatteras Secondary Schools DECA Club celebrated as three of their marketing students placed in the top 20 worldwide in the Community Giving category at a conference in California.

Kristin Bennett, Ann Lord and Emma Riggs presented a project to support children in the foster care system at the April 28 international competition. The project was very close to home for one of the girls as Lord herself experienced what it was like to be in the foster care system. The three competed against over 23,000 students at the DECA International Career Development Conference.

Ann Lord, Kristin Bennett, and Emma Rigg place in the top 20 in the Community Giving category of the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. Photo courtesy of Dr. Shannon Castillo.

Ann Lord, Kristin Bennett, and Emma Rigg at the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California. Photo courtesy of Dr. Shannon Castillo.

The DECA team collaborated with Dare County Social Services and local foster families to determine which care items were needed for various age groups. The team partnered with the community to raise funds and collect donation items to fill their backpacks.

Check with WAVY.com for more updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
North Carolina may be about to find out how far is too far on school choice.

Thats the question raised by the willingness of Republican state lawmakers to offer private school tuition vouchers to anyone who wants one, including well-off families with children already attending private schools.

Its a move that will be expensive for taxpayers but damaging to public schools. Two things voters dont like.

Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, is apoplectic about a Republican measure this session that would add $463 million to meet the demand for more private school tuition subsidies. Cooper wants more spending to go to public schools, which have been starved by the Republican-controlled legislature.

The governors objections are now as familiar as theyve been futile. But now even a prominent school choice advocate opposes North Carolinas approach.

Michael Petrilli, president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative think tank that supports expanding charter schools and vouchers, said providing private school tuition subsidies to recipients at all income levels will hurt the school choice movement.

I am a fan of school choice, but I am not a fan of school choice going to the wealthy, Petrilli told me.

School choice should be about providing options for children from poor and middle-income families, he said. When states provide vouchers to families that can already afford the cost of private school, its money misspent, he said.

Petrilli, who is also a fellow at Stanford Universitys conservative Hoover Institution, said, lets not overdo it. Youre talking about subsidies for families that clearly dont need them. Lets keep it pretty limited.

Such cautionary advice is unlikely to be heeded by North Carolinas Republican legislative leaders. They see no harm in excess when it comes to promoting options to traditional public schools. After all, if you think public schools are hives of progressive indoctrination, as they do, you want to get as many children out of them as you can.

And, politically, what could be the harm of giving tuition handouts to a well-off demographic that generally favors Republicans?

That recklessness may be tolerated in solidly Republican states, but it could hurt the school choice cause in North Carolina.

In a purple state, I dont see how this helps make the case, Petrilli said. You have to win folks in the center and giving a windfall to wealthy families, I dont know how that helps.

The Republican-controlled legislature approved the vouchers known as Opportunity Scholarships in 2013. The justification was that a voucher would allow children from low-income families to escape low-performing public schools and enroll in a private school. In 2023, it removed the income caps altogether and applications surged, most of them from higher-income families.

The problem for Republicans isnt just the optics of giving money to households with above-average incomes. Universal vouchers can greatly expand the number of children receiving education funding.

Thats what happened in Arizona when it began a universal voucher program for the 2022-23 school year.

A study by the Learning Policy Institute found that providing money for students being homeschooled or already enrolled in private schools came at a high cost.

Michael Griffith, an author of the Learning Policy Institutes study, told me, Arizona initially estimated the cost of the universal voucher program at somewhere near $60 million, he said. We did the numbers and it was over $700 million.

The report said the cost of expanding Arizonas voucher program for the 2023-24 school year is equivalent to the salaries of 5,198 new public school classroom teachers.

With a veto-proof majority, theres nothing to stop Republicans from approving a costly subsidy to private schools even as the legislature neglects public schools. But voters may well decide that this costly choice on school choice is the wrong one.

Associate opinion editor Ned Barnett can be reached at 919-40-7583, or nbarnett@ news observer.com
YINCHUAN, May 10 (Xinhua) -- In a scene previously unimaginable, sliding rain shelters, artificial rainfall systems, and state-of-the-art weather stations now dot the landscape of the Xizan ecological goji berry plantation in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

This transformation is emblematic of the region's commitment to modernizing its goji berry industry through innovative technological solutions.

Spearheaded by a collaboration between the Ningxia goji berry meteorological service center and local enterprises, the Xizan plantation serves as a pioneering meteorological experimental base for goji berry. Here, researchers study and address various meteorological challenges encountered during the different developmental stages of goji berry cultivation.

"For example, we forecast spring frost when bud emerges, and assess the impact of summer precipitation on fruit quality during fruiting period," said Zhang Lei, an expert at the Ningxia institute of meteorological sciences.

Through meteorological disaster monitoring and early warning, effective production advice and pest control measures are offered, ensuring both the yield and quality of goji berry harvest, Zhang added. "Farming no longer relies solely on weather conditions."

Goji berry, also known as wolfberry, a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, has garnered renewed attention for its health benefits, particularly its immune-boosting properties attributed to compounds like lutein and lycium barbarum polysaccharides.

Despite being one of China's major goji berry-producing regions, Ningxia encountered stagnation in its gobi berry industry due to limited processing capabilities, with the industry primarily restricted to the sale of dried fruits.

Recent initiatives, however, have sparked a paradigm shift, with a focus on the integration of advanced technologies to propel the industry toward high-quality production. Over 270 scientific projects involving the berry, supported by an investment of nearly 290 million yuan (about 40.84 million U.S. dollars), have been implemented in Ningxia.

At Beryl Gojiberries Co., Ltd., one of the region's leading goji berry producers, ongoing research endeavors aim to unlock the full potential of goji berry derivatives.

"The red pigment found in goji berries has been confirmed to protect the liver from alcohol damage. Presently, we are working to convert it into oral tablets," said Li Fan, who works as a researcher at Beryl.

"At every stage of its life cycle, from the fields to the workshops, and ultimately to the taste buds of consumers, each premium goji berry is infused with a focus on technological innovation," said Hao Xiangfeng, president of the Ningxia Goji Berry Association and Beryl Gojiberries Co., Ltd.

Beryl has partnered with top universities and research institutions, securing over 40 patents, Hao added. According to him, their breakthrough product, the "fresh-locked goji berry," reduces drying time from 120 to 20 hours, preserving moisture and nutrients, resulting in vibrant color and a softer texture. This innovative snack has gained popularity among young consumers.

"Today, a gram of fresh-locked goji berry can fetch up to 1.2 yuan, dozens of times higher than before," Hao said.

As of 2023, Ningxia's goji berry cultivation area totaled 325,000 mu (about 21,667 hectares). Through deep processing, the fruit is turned into various products such as functional beverages, health foods and snacks, driving the total industry output value to 29 billion yuan.

Fueled by increasing consumer demand for health-conscious products, the goji berry market is rapidly expanding, presenting significant industry opportunities. Ningxia's goji berry industry development plan forecasts a total industry chain output value of 100 billion yuan by 2030.

"To reach this goal, developing new quality productive forces is crucial," said Hao, adding that the company's future endeavors will focus on establishing smart goji berry plantations, digitized workshops, and a precision marketing strategy using the internet. 
Lyft driver Lori Kimbler was worried about the man who wobbled on a cane to her car and asked for a little more time but never returned. So she knocked on his door to make sure he was OK.

The 79-year-old man was sitting at a kitchen table covered with cash.

Im still counting the money, Kimbler said he told her.

Can you help me? he asked, frantic and struggling to count out the bills as his hands shook, she said.

A Lyft driver based in eastern North Carolina, Kimbler had accepted a fare to pick up a person, who later called and said she would actually pick up important paperwork from a Pamlico County home.

I didnt think I was bringing that kind of paper, she said of the scene she witnessed in the mans kitchen.

Its a scheme that Kimbler, the mans family and law enforcement say older North Carolinians must guard themselves against.

The phone call

Around 4 p.m. on April 26, the man, who asked that his name not be published, received a phone call from who he thought was his grandson, he said in a phone interview.

The caller said he had a broken nose, stitches in his lip and a broken leg after he was in a crash. And police found an open bottle of alcohol in his car.

The voice didnt sound like his grandson, the man said, but he figured the injuries affected his voice.

Just as the man hung up from that phone call, the phone rang again, he said. A next caller asked for $6,500 to get his grandson out of jail, which the grandfather would get back after his grandson goes to court.

The caller said a Lyft driver would pick up the money. The man, who his grandchildren call Pops, had just enough time to get to the bank before it closed, so he went.

Lyft driver Lori Kimbler says she went to pick up a fare in Pamlico County on April 26, 2024 and ended up being an unknowing courier in a scam.

Thats when Kimbler got involved. The Lyft fare was prepaid. The customer said her name was Marabell, that she worked for an attorney and that she wanted the paperwork delivered to Raleigh.

After Kimbler entered the mans home, she helped him stuff $6,500 in four envelopes. She also wrote out a makeshift receipt, giving him her name and telephone number.

But as she drove off with the money, the 66-year-old mother of three started to worry.

It didnt feel right, she said.

Scammers tracked the driver

About 10 minutes into her drive to Raleigh, Kimbler pulled over to a gas station to fill up. Suddenly Marabell called, asking her why she stopped.

When Kimbler stopped again a few minutes later, just to see what would happen, the woman called again. The tracking made Kimbler even more suspicious.

Kimbler called Lyft to ask if drivers could even deliver money. A person put her on hold for 20 minutes and then the call was disconnected, she said.

Thats when Kimbler reached out to the man and suggested they reach out to his grandson, she said.

The man did. The grandson, it turned out, was not in jail. He was driving with his girlfriend Hannah Watts, 24, en route to a vacation in Wilmington.

Well, I just sent $6,500 out the door to get you out, the man told his grandson, Watts said during a phone interview.

The couple spoke to Kimbler and asked her to return the money. She called New Bern police, she said, and they forwarded the call to Pamlico County Sheriffs Office. She asked someone from there be present when she handed over the cash, just in case the scammers were still tracking her.

Deputies met her at the mans home, Pamlico County Sheriff Maj. Scott Houston confirmed.

The grandparent scam

As it turns out, Kimbler disrupted what law enforcement calls the grandparent scam.

The scam goes back years, with the FBI receiving reports about it since at least 2008.

The situation often involves a caller pretending to be a family member, often a grandchild who needs bail and doesnt want their parents to know.

The FBI tracks which scams target older people most often, among those reported to authorites.

Scammers use whatever tools they can to convince older Americans and improve their chances of getting the money by gleaming family member details off social media or using technology that can clone voices, disguise phone numbers and create fake mug shots, according to federal reports.

A more recent twist involves scammers obtaining the cash by sending unknowing drivers for rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft to pick up the cash, something the FBI warned about in 2021.

Nazneen Ahmed, a spokesperson for the North Carolina Attorneys Generals Office, which investigates fraud against older residents, last week said officials in her office arent aware of grandparent scam complaints involving rideshare drivers here.

But its happened elsewhere. In April, an 81-year-old Ohio man received a call about his nephew being in jail, and then shot the Uber driver sent to pick up the cash.

There have been some recent federal indictments and convictions for these scams in the Northeast, which demonstrate the perplexity of some of the fraud operations.

On Feb. 29, 2024, a Bronx, New York man was sentenced to nearly seven years in federal prison for his role in recruiting and coordinating couriers as part of a Dominican Republic-based grandparents scheme operation praying on individuals in Pennsylvania, according to the U.S. Attorneys Office there.

On April 30, 16 people were charged in New Jersey federal court with various crimes, accused of operating a sophisticated network of call centers in the Dominican Republic who defrauded elderly in several states of millions of dollars, according to the New Jerseys U.S. Attorneys Office.

The fraud included openers impersonating family members saying they were in trouble and closers who said to send cash through the mail or couriers.

Response from Lyft

When contacted about the incident, a Lyft spokesperson wrote that looping drivers unknowingly into scams is unacceptable and not tolerated by the platform.

The spokesperson said they have been in contact with Kimbler but did not respond to questions about whether it is appropriate for drivers to deliver cash.

Kimbler said the company told her after the fact that its suggested that they not deliver packages, but she doesnt think thats enough.

Lyft should send out a mass email informing drivers about the scam and what they should do if someone tries to solicit drivers to be unknowing participants, she said.

Drivers need to realize that stuff like this goes on, Kimbler said. If it feels like somethings not right, go with your gut, because its probably not.

On Thursday, Kimbler said the incident, along with a situation in which she was groped by a passenger in October, has made her reluctant to sign on to drive, even though she needs to make her rent.

This has made me very afraid and nervous, she said. You dont know who is getting in the car.

If you or someone you know is a victim of this and other scams, state and federal officials recommend you report them to the North Carolina Department of Justice, the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center and through the National Elder Fraud Hotline.

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.

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
Climate strike at the Michigan Capitol, Sept. 20, 2019 | Laina G. Stebbins

Michigan is expected to become the latest state to file litigation against the fossil fuel industry over the impact of climate change.

On Thursday, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel announced her office will begin seeking proposals from attorneys and law firms to serve as Special Assistant Attorneys General to pursue litigation related to the climate change impacts on Michigan caused by the fossil fuel industry.

Attorneys and law firms interested in submitting proposals must do so by June 5 through a link on the attorney generals website, which also contains additional information.

Our Pure Michigan identity is under threat from the effects of climate change, Nessel said. Warmer temperatures are shrinking ski seasons in the U.P. and disrupting the wonderful blooms of Hollands Tulip Time Festival. Severe weather events are on the rise. These impacts threaten not only our way of life but also our economy and pose long-term risks to Michigans thriving agribusiness.

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, released a statement in support of the announcement.

Big Oil knew decades ago that their products would cause catastrophic climate change, but instead of doing the right thing they lied about it. The people of Michigan deserve their day in court to make these companies pay for the massive harm they knowingly caused, said Wiles.

According to a Stateline report last month, Wiles group has tracked 32 cases filed by state attorneys general, cities, counties and tribal nations against companies including Exxon Mobil, BP and Shell. Citing investigations by the Los Angeles Times and Inside Climate News, the lawsuits argue that research by the oil companies themselves predicted decades ago the impacts of climate change, all the while working to undermine scientific consensus about the crisis.

While experts predict it could be decades before theres a resolution to the lawsuits, environmental advocates hope the initial slate of trials could lead to a tidal wave of new cases, similar to the nationwide push that forced tobacco companies to pay billions under a settlement reached in the 1990s.

Pat Parenteau, an emeritus professor of environmental law at Vermont Law School, told Stateline that perseverance will be the key as oil companies have deep pockets to fight off the lawsuits.

The real test for the plaintiffs is whether they can compete and fight tooth and nail for years. Its a war of attrition. Thats what Exxons counting on, Parenteau said.

Regardless, Nessel said the industrys culpability is clear.

Attorney General Dana Nessel on March 15, 2023. (Andrew Roth/Michigan Advance)

The fossil fuel industry, despite knowing about these consequences, prioritized profits over people and the environment, she said. Pursuing this litigation will allow us to recoup our costs and hold those responsible for jeopardizing Michigans economic future and way of life accountable.

According to a press release, the department is seeking proposals from attorneys and law firms with experience and interest in pursuing constitutional, statutory, tort and other applicable common law claims against the fossil fuel industry.

Proposals will be accepted through a blind-bid process, with contracts being awarded based on the best value to the State, considering qualifications, experience, abilities, capacity, and cost-effectiveness, states the release. The Attorney General will make the final decision based on recommendations from Department staff, ensuring an objective selection process that maintains bidder anonymity.

A list of the attorneys and law firms that are selected will be posted on the departments website with compensation provided on a contingency fee basis.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Nessel says Michigan plans to sue fossil fuel industry over climate change impacts appeared first on Michigan Advance.
By James Mackenzie

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President Joe Biden's warning to Israel that he could withhold some arms supplies has shaken Israelis used to relying on their main ally at a time when the country faces widening political splits and growing isolation over the war in Gaza.

Biden threatened on Wednesday to halt supplies of bombs and artillery shells if Israeli forces go ahead with a full-scale assault on the southern Gazan city of Rafah, which is packed with Palestinians uprooted by Israel's war on Hamas.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wartime coalition have reacted defiantly, saying Israel will press ahead with its campaign to dismantle the Palestinian militant group as Israeli tanks mass on the eastern edge of Rafah.

Opinion polls show most Israelis blame Netanyahu for the security failures when Hamas gunmen rampaged through Israeli communities around Gaza on Oct. 7 and would vote him out if there were an election, but many also say the war must continue.

"There are some things that we have to sometimes make a decision and say, even without the support of our allies or the support of other countries, it has to be done because we have to protect our citizens," said Danny Ehrlich, an Israeli who grew up in New York and now lives near Jerusalem.

But alongside the support, pressure has been growing on Netanyahu from the considerable number of Israelis who believe he is putting his own political survival ahead of the interests of the country.

Mass street protests have become weekly events, drawing tens of thousands demanding the government do more to bring home hostages seized by Hamas in Oct. 7 and calling for Netanyahu to go.

For the moment, he has succeeded in holding together centrists such as former army generals Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant. All three have been wary of alienating the United States and hardline nationalist religious parties led by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir.

But many Israelis feel coalition survival has been achieved at the expense of disrespecting Biden, who has supported Israel despite a growing domestic political cost before November's presidential election in which he will face former President Donald Trump in a rerun of the 2020 election.

"Biden is a true friend of Israel. He's given us a crazy amount of backing  and we haven't known how to use it correctly," columnist Itamar Eichner wrote in Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest newspaper.

"Now the administration in Washington is convinced Netanyahu has put all his cards on Trump, so he's trying to minimize damage ahead of November elections."

PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEAR

Michael Oren, a former Israeli ambassador to the United States, said support for Israel, a traditionally bi-partisan issue in American politics, now risked becoming a touchstone test of political allegiance like immigration control.

"In a presidential election year where the economy is not a major issue, where everyone is looking for issues, now they've got one," he said.

The Israeli campaign in Gaza, which began after the Oct. 7 attack in which Hamas-led gunmen killed some 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250, has now killed almost 35,000 Palestinians. About 2 million people also face a humanitarian crisis in the enclave.

Biden's warning followed months of frustration for Washington, whose calls for restraint have been repeatedly rejected even as the political price it was paying for supporting Israel was growing.

The wave of pro-Palestinian protests that have hit college campuses in the U.S. appear to underline a growing disconnect between the administration and many young voters who might normally be expected to support a Democratic president.

Trump, considered by many one of Israel's strongest supporters after he ordered the U.S. embassy to be moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv when he was president, has also been critical of Netanyahu's handling of the war.

Although many on the right believe he will allow Israel a freer hand if he wins back the presidency, others say risking the support of an avowed friend of Israel is a big gamble.

"Of course we are afraid," said Kamar, a Tel Aviv resident who has been a regular at the anti-government protests. "What can we do? It's not just the state. Look at all the world. Israelis are afraid to go as tourists anywhere now."

"The chutzpah of some of the ministers to go against the most Zionist president of the United States ever is unbelievable."

(Additional reporting by Christope Van Der Perre and Emily Rose, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Netanyahu says Israel will 'stand alone' in Gaza war if it has to

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will defend itself "alone," if necessary, after Washington threatened to withhold further arms should Israeli troops begin a large-scale push into the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah.

"If we have to stand alone, we will stand alone," he said in a video message released on Thursday.

He said Israel would fight "with our fingernails" to win, in his first public statement after the White House said it would restrict arms supplies in the case of a broader attack on Rafah.

Israeli operations in Rafah are so far mainly limited to the east of city, where an evacuation order was issued at the start of the week.

The US is Israel's main backer but President Joe Biden threatened to further restrict supplies if Netanyahu goes ahead with a major offensive. Israel says the Rafah operation is aimed at eliminating the Palestinian extremist organization Hamas.

Such a ground invasion would target the densely crowded area in which some 1.5 million of Gaza's roughly 2.2 million people have been seeking refuge from Israeli bombardment elsewhere in Gaza.

Military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said Israel has enough weapons and ammunition.

"The army has weapons for the missions it plans and also for the missions in Rafah. We have what we need," Hagari said at a press conference after being asked about Biden's remarks.

"The US has provided unprecedented security assistance to the state of Israel and the military during the war," he said, adding that differences are resolved behind closed doors.

Meanwhile, the US military said the weeks-long construction of a temporary port for delivering badly needed aid to Gaza is nearly complete.

The two key parts of the port, a floating jetty and a causeway, have been completed, US Department of Defence spokesman Pat Ryder said in Washington on Thursday.

"While I'm not going to provide a specific date, we expect these temporary piers to be put into position in the very near future, pending suitable security and weather conditions," he said.

Earlier, a US freighter carrying hundreds of tons of aid for the civilian population in Gaza left the Cypriot port of Larnaca.

Ryder said the cargo would be loaded onto another ship near the Israeli port of Ashdod and taken to the floating pier as soon as it was operational.

In future, freighters are to bring aid supplies directly from Cyprus to the floating pier, where the goods are to be loaded onto other boats then taken to another point along the coast.

The Pentagon says around 90 lorry loads per day are to reach the Gaza Strip via the floating pier initially, with up to 150 lorry loads per day are expected at a later date.

On the diplomatic front, representatives from Palestinian militant group Hamas and mediator Qatar left the Egyptian capital on Thursday after talks seeking a ceasefire and hostage release deal with Israel, sources at the Cairo airport said.

There was no immediate word on the outcome of the latest round of negotiations, although reports of the departures sparked concerns for the prospects for an agreement.

Hamas confirmed its team's departure from Cairo heading for Doha, where the group's political bureau is based.

The White House later confirmed that CIA chief William Burns, who was involved in the Cairo talks as part of a frenzy of shuttle diplomacy in recent days, had also left the Egyptian capital.

"His departure does not connote the end of the current round of negotiations," national security spokesman John Kirby said.

Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly, so the US, Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators, attempting to halt the conflict that has led to the deaths of nearly 35,000 people in the coastal strip.

The Palestinian territory has been the target of a massive Israeli air and ground offensive since the October 7 terrorist attacks led by Hamas, which killed 1,200, mostly civilians, in southern Israel. Hamas took more than 200 people hostage, some of whom have been released. It is unclear how many of the remaining hostages are still alive.

Meanwhile in northern Israel, the military said it once again attacked positions of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah militia in southern Lebanon following repeated drone attacks.

The Israeli army said that fighter jets attacked military buildings and "terrorist infrastructure" there. The army's claims could not be independently verified.

Since the beginning of the Gaza war, there have been daily military confrontations with Hezbollah and other militias operating from Lebanon.
The Senates proposed amendment of 400 percent, or $124,800 for a family of four, could prove contentious in the House.

Republicans in New Hampshire's House and Senate are both interested in raising the income cap for education freedom accounts this year. But the chambers disagree over how high.

On Tuesday, the Senate Education Committee rejected a proposal by the House to raise eligibility from 350 percent of the federal poverty level to 500 percent. Instead, the committee proposed amending the bill to set the level at 400 percent.

The education freedom account program gives low-income families around $5,000 per year in state funds to go toward private school or home school expenses. When first created in 2021, the program was available to families making up to 300 percent of the federal poverty level, or $106,000 for a family of four at the time.

In 2023, the Republican-led Legislature raised it to 350 percent. House Bill 1665 sought to raise it to 500 percent, or $156,000 for a family of four. It was voted through narrowly: 190-189, after Speaker Sherman Packard cast a tiebreaker vote.

The Senates proposed amendment of 400 percent, or $124,800 for a family of four, could prove contentious in the House. On May 2, the House voted to kill Senate Bill 442, the Senates version of HB 1665 that had raised the cap to 400 percent.

Although this bill raises the EFA eligibility level to 400%; it does not achieve the preferable, more inclusive level of 500% as passed by the House earlier this session in HB 1665, wrote Rep. Rick Ladd, a Haverhill Republican and chairman of the House Education Committee, in a report to the House ahead of the vote.

Democrats have opposed raising the income cap, arguing that the education freedom accounts  which are funded through the states Education Trust Fund  spend too much money toward nonpublic school expenses at their current income cap.

But Republicans have argued that increasing the cap would allow more lower-middle-class families to access the funding, giving them greater school choice if they are unsatisfied with their local public school.

On Tuesday, the Senate also amended the bill to reduce how much the state pays in administrative fees to the third party organization that runs the EFAs, the Childrens Scholarship Fund. Currently, the CSF may take up to 10 percent of the value of all the EFAs it distributes to cover administration; the Senate amendment to HB 1665 would reduce that to 8 percent.

Sen. Tim Lang, a Sanbornton Republican who presented the amendment, did not address why he preferred a 400 percent cap to a 500 percent cap. But he noted that 400 percent of the federal poverty level  $60,240 for a one-person household  is just below the median average income in New Hampshire.

I think this is the existing Senate position, he said.

Sen. Suzanne Prentiss, a Lebanon Democrat, spoke against raising the cap, arguing that the Legislature should add better guardrails for income eligibility first. Currently, families that meet the income requirements in their first year of applying for the education freedom account program may continue to receive the funds until their child graduates from high school  even if the familys income later rises above the cap.

My concern is that these are public dollars, that there is no eligibility check on this, that there could be forever and ever and ever a child whose family is fortunate enough to have their income increase, and they are not tested against (that), and so they continue on in a system that were funding, Prentiss said.

The amended bill will get a vote in the full Senate on May 16; if it passes, it will head back to the House, which must vote on whether to approve the changes, reject them, or send them to negotiations in a committee of conference.

This story was originally published by the New Hampshire Bulletin.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: NH GOP argues over income level for education freedom accounts
FAYETTE COUNTY, WV (WVNS)  A man from the Mt. Nebo area of Nicholas County was sentenced for aiding an adult in confinement.

44-year-old Kenneth W. Sheets, of Mt. Nebo, was sentenced on May 7, 2024 to two to ten years in prison for the felony offense of Aiding an Adult in Confinement.

Fayette County man sentenced for unlawful wounding

On March 14, 2024, Sheets pleaded guilty to the offense of Aiding an Adult in Confinement, and he will serve his sentence at the same time as his existing sentence of three and a half to 25 years for an unrelated case in Nicholas County.

Fayette County Sheriffs Office deputies saw an inmate who looked to be overdosing while in custody at the Fayette County Courthouse on April 3, 2023. When deputies looked at video footage, they found that the inmate appeared to snort a substance covered in plastic wrap that they received from Sheets.

Two men face felony charges after burglary in Fayette County

The footage also showed that what remained of the controlled substance and plastic wrap was thrown in a trash can. Deputies gathered the plastic wrap and controlled substance, where it was then sent for testing at the West Virginia State Police Forensic Lab. The tests revealed that the controlled substance was a fentanyl and heroin mixture.

The inmate, who was also found guilty of a drug charge connected to the incident, was given Narcan by deputies.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Only three of these images represent a vote for an opposition candidate

A photo of Nicolas Maduro appears 13 times on the ballot for the upcoming Venezuelan presidential election, amid concerns of election fraud.

The strongman leaders face festoons the document for the July 28 vote in line with election rules that require a picture of the presidential candidate for each individual party, even when the party is part of an electoral coalition.

By contrast, pictures of Edmundo Gonzalez, the unified opposition alliance candidate, appear just three times, all below Mr Maduro.

Mr Maduros authoritarian government is arguably at its weakest in years. It is the target of US sanctions, is haemorrhaging support, and has been turning on its own: Tareck El Aissami, a former vice president who was one of the regimes most powerful figures, was arrested this year for alleged corruption.

Over the past six months the government has discredited the oppositions presidential primary, arrested perceived and actual adversaries, and repeatedly smeared members of the opposition as criminals.

Nicolas Maduro, pictured in March when he formally registered as a candidate - Federico Parra/AFP

Mr Maduro announced in March that he would run for reelection to secure another six-year term.

There are another 34 options on the ballot, but all are regarded as allied with the Maduro regime, meaning that of 50 options, 47 favour the government and just three represent a vote for the opposition.

There is only one opposition candidate and that is Gonzalez, says Rafael Osio Cabrices, a prominent Venezuelan journalist now living in Montreal. All the others are either directly tied to Chavismo [the Leftist movement founded by late president Hugo Chavez] or follow its logic.

Mr Gonzalez, 74, a little-known retired diplomat, was eventually chosen as the oppositions sole presidential candidate last month. That was after longtime dissident Maria Corina Machado, who had won the opposition primaries with more than 90 per cent of the vote, was declared ineligible for public office for 15 years on charges widely viewed as trumped-up.

Opposition support at 60pc

She continues to campaign for Mr Gonzalez and is often mobbed by supporters in working-class neighbourhoods that were once bastions of Chavismo. Polls show support for the opposition at around 60 per cent to the governments 20 per cent.

Were he to win, Mr Gonzalez would be expected to take up a largely protocolary role, while allowing Ms Corina Machado to effectively run the government. But such a victory is viewed as unlikely.

Mr Osio Cabrices predicted more dirty tricks from the dictatorship, which is accused of rampant corruption and overseeing an economic collapse that has led to an exodus of seven million Venezuelans.

He added: They are desperate. Theres no way they can win a fair election and they know that. Its all about timing. They dont want to give Washington time to react. Theyre waiting for the right moment.

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.
Nicole Shanahan is ready to splash some more cash.

Shanahan, who is Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s running mate, posted Thursday night on X that she is, gearing up to make some big donations to members of Congress who are protecting our Constitutional freedoms.

Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) is at the top of my list, she added.

Shanahan scored big in her 2022 divorce from Google founder Sergey Brin, who has a net worth of $135.1 billion, according to Forbes. She has helped finance RFK Jr.s 2024 campaign for president with the money she received from the split.

Her alignment with Massie is a telling admission for a largely unknown figure who only recently burst onto the political scene. The Kentucky congressman is among the U.S. House of Representatives most conservative members.

He most recently voted this week with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) in her failed bid to oust House Speaker Mike Johnson from his postand has also opposed aid to Israel, claiming matter-of-factly: I dont believe in foreign aid.

Gearing up to make some big donations to members of Congress who are protecting our Constitutional freedoms. Who are your favorite? @RepThomasMassie is at the top my list.  Nicole Shanahan (@NicoleShanahan) May 10, 2024

Hes also an anti-abortion ideologue. According to the non-profit organization Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, which claims its aim is to reduce and ultimately end abortion in the U.S., Massie has stood up against the ever-growing pro-abortion agenda of the Biden-Harris administration and the radical bureaucrats who are actively working to expand abortion access, resources, and funding. The org added Massie has voted consistently to defend the lives of the unborn and infants.

In a 2017 statement battling against Roe v. Wade, Massie declared, I believe that life begins at conception. I will always vote against taxpayer funding of abortion, Planned Parenthood, abortion pills, and embryonic stem cell research.

During his 2020 re-election campaign, he was endorsed by Northern Kentucky Right to Life, adding, I will always support pro-life candidates and have repeatedly voted to defund Planned Parenthood.

Is Nicole Shanahan the Most Dangerous Woman in America?

Since joining the campaign, Shanahan has also upped her rhetoric on a number of topics, including electromagnetic pollution and her opposition of a number of vaccines. Last month, she added abortion to the list, posting on X: I will speak personally. As a mom, and a person with a womb, I don't like the feeling of anyone having control over my body. It is coercive. It is wrong. But, I am also a woman that would not feel right terminating a viable life living inside of me, especially if I am both healthy and that baby is healthy. I can hold both beliefs, as someone who believes in the sacredness of life, simultaneously.

She went on to claim that she would consider abortion under a number of extenuating circumstances including her health, the health of the baby, and considerations of what happens to that baby if that baby is being born into a situation that cannot sustain a good and healthy life, though added, Let's center the conversation and bring it back to the people. Bobby and I are dedicated to bringing to light solutions in the best interest of mother and baby.

In a recent podcast, however, her claims seemed to be inching closer to Massiesthough she avoided answering directly on whether she supported abortion.

Abortion when I was a little girl growing up was about choice and freedom and female empowerment, and it still represents that to many, many, Americans, the right to choose when you become a mother, she said.

But you have to also understand that this is before the age of apps, like cycle tracking apps. We have so many tools now, to track which days were likely to get pregnant, we have so many tools for birth control, and then I look at the issue of abortion and it has been completely politicized.

It was politicized by Trump to win an election and then it was politicized by Biden now to win an election back through abortion, so you have this incredibly politicized environment about womens pro-life or pro-choice and the reality is, were talking about women in almost the abstract, and so when I come as a woman, as a mother, and Im looking at the fact that we have men talking about this as campaign platforms, and then I look at the reality on the ground, I think to myself, 'OK, lets go back to the fundamentals of pro-choice. If theres an accidental pregnancy and youre a teenage and youre terrified and you need support, you absolutely should have support. That support should provide guidance about whats going on in your body, support socially, if you want to have the baby, support economically.

She continued: And so when I think about pro-choice I think about it as objectively as possible as a woman, understanding what those moments are like, and we have to meet women where they are rather than politicizing the and turning it into campaign talking points.

If youre forcing a woman to have a baby, that is a very painful situation for that woman to be in, she added, appearing surprised while learning her running mate endorsed unrestricted abortion, even if its full term.

What you need to do is create an environment in which that woman realizes this is a beautiful opportunity to become a mom and welcome a new life into this world and that it is the most sacred, wonderful, beautiful thing. And the only way you're gonna get there is if we stop terrifying women.

Shanahan said she is one of the largest funders reproductive research. A 2018 press release from the Center for Reproductive Longevity and Equality lauds Shanahan for a $6 million donation, with Eric Verdin, MD, Buck Institute President and CEO saying at the time: The goal of this new center is to develop strategies to prevent or delay ovarian aging. A 2024 report in the Financial Times also describes her as the most influential individual funder of reproductive longevity research. A March report in Politico described the research as unconventional.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
BUDAPEST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is "a fantastic initiative that opens up good prospects" for cooperation with China, former Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy has said.

This has many facets, including cultural and research cooperation, but a very important aspect is economic cooperation, Medgyessy told Xinhua during a recent interview, adding that as cooperation with China moves forward, it helps "achieve all that we have envisioned."

In projects including the Belgrade-Budapest railway line, "I see a lot of opportunities," he said, stressing that connectivity and regional integration into the commercial networks and the system of trade relations are very valuable.

Currently, Hungary and China engage in comprehensive strategic cooperation, and the future looks bright, he said.

Medgyessy said the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school project, which was launched during his term in office, has helped an increasing number of Hungarian students travel to China and learn about Chinese culture.

Such exchanges provide opportunities for people of the two countries to get to know each other and learn about each other's culture, which "far exceeds traditional economic, cooperative and other types of relations," he said.

In a world full of regional conflicts, it is very important for major countries to think about how to cooperate, find common solutions, and extend globalization, he said. 
Night sky erupts on NC island as lightning hits 3 homes within minutes, officials say

Oak Island on the North Carolina coast was bombarded by lightning in the dark, resulting in three homes being struck within minutes of each other, according to Oak Island Fire Department.

One home burned and two sustained damage, officials said in a news release.

It happened late Wednesday, May 8, as multiple waves of severe thunderstorms crossed the state. Oak Island is about a 160-mile drive southeast of Raleigh.

At 9:12 p.m. the Oak Island Fire Department was dispatched to a call regarding a lightning strike at a home on NE 4th Street in Oak Island. This home sustained some property damage, which did not result in a fire, officials said.

At 9:14 p.m. crews were dispatched to a second call of a lightning strike, this time resulting in an active structure fire at 302 W Yacht Drive. ... As this fire was being contained, crews were dispatched to a third call regarding a lightning strike. ... This home sustained some minor damage, but did not result in a fire.

All three strikes occurred within a seven-block radius, officials said.

The home at 302 W Yacht Drive was deemed a total loss, and was unoccupied at the time of the fire, officials said.

No injuries were reported among the three calls.

A weather advisory had been issued Wednesday for the island, forecasting multiple waves of lightning, gusts up to 60 mph and large hail, Oak Island police said.

The average lightning bolt carries about 30,000 amps of charge, has 300 million volts of electric potential, and is about 50,000F, the National Weather Service says.

Lightning bolt hits patrol car, putting Florida deputy in hospital, sheriff says

Lightning kills 73-year-old walking across parking lot to her condo, Florida cops say

Watch lightning crawl all over the sky off new Outer Banks bridge in North Carolina
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has filed a petition for writ against a Las Cruces District Court judge in a case involving a Las Cruces High School teacher who pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting one of his female students.

Torrez made the announcement on Friday, May 10 during a news conference in Las Cruces.

Torrez said he has filed a petition for writ with the New Mexico State Supreme Court against District Judge Douglas R. Driggers. What this means is the attorney general is asking the states highest court to review this case.

Las Cruces teacher suspected of inappropriate relationship with student

The judge violated legal mandates governing probation for sex offenders, conditional discharge and the rights of victims given under the Victim of Crime Act, Torrez said.

Patrick Howard

Patrick Howard pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting one of his female students in 2018.

Las Cruces High School teacher pleads guilty to Criminal Sexual Contact of a Minor

He agreed to a five-year probation term in exchange for dismissal of the remaining charges and other considerations, according to Torrezs office.

After serving less than three years of his probation, Howard asked the court to terminate the rest of his probation.

A hearing was scheduled and took place, but the victims were not notified and their voices were not heard, according to Torrezs office.

It is truly shocking that a convicted sex offender was released from supervision after having served barely half the time required by law and, whats worse, the court made this decision without giving the victims in the case an opportunity to be heard, Torrez said in a news release. Victims have rights under New Mexico law, and I have a solemn obligation to defend those rights, even when they are violated by members of the judiciary.

Torrez contends that New Mexico law requires a minimum of five years of supervised probation for sex offenders and provides no exceptions for conditional discharge situations, according to the news release issued by Torrezs office.

Torrez also says the courts action violated the victims rights under the New Mexico Constitution and the Victim of Crime Act.

The decision to file a writ against the district court judge reflects our dedication to holding accountable those who fail to uphold their legal obligations, the news release said.

We reached out to Driggers for comment. He said that under the judicial code of conduct, he is prohibited from commenting on an ongoing criminal case.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4)  Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill announced Friday that no charges will be filed against Alexander Wardell whose girlfriend, Morgan Kay Harris, died in a storage unit fire in Murray a year ago.

Wardell was arrested following the Feb. 18, 2023 incident for negligent homicide and kidnapping after allegedly locking Harris in a burning storage unit, but he was never charged in her death.

PREVIOUS STORY: Police identify victim from Murray storage unit fire

With the current evidence before it, this office cannot in good conscience file charges against Mr. Wardell, Gill said.

Harris was found dead following a fire that was sparked inside the storage unit she was locked in with her dog. Gill said the cause of the fire had been ruled as undetermined.

Investigators said the fire could have been started from smoking cigarettes or a lit candle. It was deemed to be not likely that Wardell intentionally set the fire.

Gill said the investigation found that the fire was most likely six minutes to 15 minutes long, while Wardell had left the unit for 22 minutes, making it unlikely he started the fire before leaving the unit.

Wardell admitted to police that he had left Harris in the unit to go get food, placing a lock on the door before leaving, and that Harris was groggy from some medication she was taking. When he came back, Gill said Wardell ran to the storage unit as firefighters were responding to put out the fire, yelling that his girlfriend was in the unit. Wardell then used a key to unlock the unit where Harris was, which investigators determined was the origin of the fire.

Re-creations of the fire were made through engineers at the ATF Fire Research Laboratory in Maryland, Gill said, noting they showed the damage in the unit was inconsistent with what it wouldve been if Wardell had set the fire.

This is a tragic loss of life, but one where we do not have a basis to file criminal charges and meet our burden of proof. Our hearts go out to the family of Ms. Harris for this tragic loss. This office turned every stone to make sure Ms. Harris memory was served with our best effort, Gill said.

Morgan Kay Harris mother speaks out

Laurice Williamson said her daughter gave the longest hugs  almost too long  and loved people in a special way.

I would go to pull away and she would just pull closer, said Laurice.

Laurice has been waiting for this moment for over a year, preparing herself for every possible scenario. The worst case scenario, she thought, was that Wardell would just be charged with kidnapping. She never imagined he would walk.

(Wardell has) changed his story a lot. I know that hes a vile person. I know that hes a violent person. I know that he has hurt women before, said Laurice. I cant know if he murdered her. And thats hard. The unknowns are hard. To just wrap your head around.

Laurice said she does know two things. One  Wardell locked her daughter in that storage unit. Two  Judge Richard McKelvie should have locked Wardell up a long time ago.

The Justice Files uncovered Wardell had been convicted of multiple crimes, including assault for stabbing a different girlfriend, and that he had violated his probation at least 18 times.

Wardell had also been arrested several times, with Adult Probation and Parole requesting his probation be terminated and Wardell go to prison, but Judge McKelvie dismissed the request on five different occasions.

He just kept proving that he couldnt be trusted and wasnt a safe person. And Judge McKelvie was the person who could have changed all of it, said Laurice.

Wardell is currently in prison for violating his probation, among other issues. He has a review scheduled with the Utah Board of Pardons and Parole in July.

The full announcement from DA Sim Gill can be viewed below.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC4 Utah.
NEW YORK  Arts and sciences faculty at Columbia University have launched a vote of no confidence in embattled college president Minouche Shafik, after her congressional testimony and response to campus protests angered large swaths of the Columbia community.

Voting is open for a week to around 1,000 faculty from the main part of the university on a highly critical resolution of Shafik, who was inaugurated last fall, accusing her administration of making unilateral decisions that put students and faculty in harms way.

The Presidents choices to ignore our statutes and our norms of academic freedom and shared governance, to have our students arrested, and to impose a lockdown of our campus with continuing police presence, have irrevocably undermined our confidence in her, read the text, sent to faculty on Thursday evening.

A vote of no confidence in the President is the first step towards rebuilding our community and re-establishing the Universitys core values, it continued.

The vote does not include faculty from other programs, such as the law or journalism schools, and was initially called for by the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors, a professional faculty organization, last week. Columbia employs more than 4,600 full-time faculty, university data show.

President Shafik continues to regularly consult with members of the community, including faculty, administration, and trustees, as well as with state, city and community leaders, a Columbia spokeswoman said. She appreciates the efforts of those working alongside her on the long road ahead to heal our community.

In the resolution, faculty raised concerns about Shafiks congressional testimony on April 17, when she said she planned to fire one professor and announced another two faculty members were under investigation over comments about Israel. Those actions, they said, are clear violations of academic freedom and paved the way for external forces to set university policies.

The text also criticizes her decision-making on student disciplinary action and police reinforcement to restore order on campus, without consultation with Columbia governance structures and over the objections of faculty and students on the executive committee of the University Senate. It also says she overstated the dangers posed by the students.

The vote comes after the Columbia administration on April 30 called in the NYPD to end the takeover of a campus building, Hamilton Hall, and dismantle the Gaza solidarity encampment, leading to more than 100 arrests in and around campus.

It was the second time in recent weeks Shafik turned to police and mass arrests on April 18 to shut down the tent demonstration, which was first erected hours ahead of her appearance before Congress and sparked a national movement of college protests against Israels war in Gaza.

We tried very hard to resolve the issue of the encampment through dialogue, Shafik said last week in her first verbal address since the arrests. Many people who gathered there were largely peaceful and cared deeply about the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Academic leaders talked with students for eight days and nights. The University made a sincere and good offer, but it was not accepted.

But the occupation of Hamilton Hall, the university president continued, crossed a new line and put students at risk.

Michael Thaddeus, a Columbia math professor, said the vote is believed to be the first time any school at Columbia has considered a motion of no confidence in leadership.

Shafiks heavy-handed security measures alienated students and made them feel less safe, not more, Thaddeus said. She vacillated on the encampment, first calling the police to dismantle it, then promising not to call them again, then reneging on her promise and authorizing a brutal crackdown.

The vote is symbolic and not binding, but Thaddeus suggested current leadership should heed its call for a change in management style.

If the motion passes, then in my opinion, President Shafik should resign, he said.

After this semester, questions remain about how Columbia can rebuild relationships between students and the administration and restore a sense of safety on campus.

In a survey of more than 700 students and professors at Columbia, nearly all, 96%, disagreed with how Shafiks administration has handled the demonstrations, campus newspaper Columbia Spectator and New York Magazine found. Half said Shafik should resign for various reasons, from accusing the administration of stifling free speech to doing too little to combat antisemitism.

Shafik in an op-ed for the Financial Times on Thursday called forserious soul searching within higher education to reunify campuses after a semester of tense protests and frayed ties among students and with university presidents.

Whatever one thinks of the response of university leaders  denouncing hurtful rhetoric, enforcing rules and discipline, and summoning police to restore order  these are actions, not solutions. All of us who believe in higher education must now engage in serious soul searching.

Voting on the no confidence resolution will close by end of day on Wednesday, an email to faculty said.

_____
Protesters hold up a banner with the words in Swedish "No To Genocide" during a Pro-Palestinian demonstration for excluding Israel from Eurovision ahead of the second semi-final at the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo, Sweden

The battle to destroy Israel is not just fought with weapons. In the wider world, Hamass fellow travellers have been fighting to eradicate the Jewish state for many decades, and their chosen weapon is words.

In recent years the accusation they have alighted on is that Israel is an apartheid state. Its a powerful weapon because the word is so poisonous. And the more it is repeated the more it becomes accepted as fact.

But since Israel began its response to Hamass October 7 massacre, another word has entered the destroy Israel lexicon: genocide. If apartheid is bad, genocide is of course a different order of magnitude.

If screaming apartheid has an impact in delegitimising the very basis of Israels existence, accusing it of genocide is a still more powerful weapon. So it has, likewise, been repeated until it has now become accepted as fact  such that it can be asserted without contradiction.

On yesterdays Today programme, for example, a student referred to as Issy claimed that Israel had been found guilty by the International Court of Justice of a plausible genocide. The presenter, Amol Rajan, did not correct her. Given how often this lie is repeated, perhaps Rajan thought it a statement of fact.

But the ICJs presiding judge at the time of the Gaza ruling, Joan Donoghue, has made clear that the court made no such finding. Rather, the ICJ held that Palestinians had a plausible right to be protected from genocide in Gaza in theory.

Donoghue told the BBCs own HardTalk programme that the court didnt decide that the claim of genocide was plausible[T]he shorthand that often appears which is that there is a plausible case of genocide isnt what the court decided.

Genocide is a specific crime, which is when certain acts are committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group.

It has now become accepted as fact that Israel has killed over 30,000 people in Gaza, 70 per cent of whom are women and children. That these statistics are supplied by Hamas, via its health ministry, is sometimes mentioned as an afterthought. But that they are clearly correct is assumed as a given.

Yet when these figures are looked at in the context of analysis by some of the worlds leading statisticians, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that they have been seized upon primarily as a confirmation of Jewish blood lust  one of the most familiar of anti-Semitic tropes.

Data scientist Professor Abraham Wyner of the University of Pennsylvania appears to show that the civilian death toll is statistically impossible: The daily totals increase too consistently to be real, rising daily with almost metronomical linearity.

He writes that Hamas assigned about 70 per cent of the total to be women and children, splitting that amount randomly from day to day. Then they in-filled the number of men as set by the predetermined total. This explains all the data observed.

In some data sets, it would seem, men must have come back to life while on several days no men were apparently killed, only women.

As Prof Wyner claims, the casualties are not overwhelmingly women and children, and the majority may be Hamas fighters. Indeed, the actual ratio of civilian casualties to Hamas terrorists is at most 1.4 to 1 and perhaps as low as 1 to 1.

This matters not just because it matters to be correct, but because it exposes the accusation of genocide to be a lie. The legal standard for the death of civilians is willful. Far from there being evidence to support this, the facts show the opposite.

John Spencer, professor of Urban War Studies at West Point, argues that Israel has done more to prevent civilian casualties in war than any military in history  above and beyond what international law requires and more than the US did in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan  setting a standard that will be both hard and potentially problematic to repeat.

This includes, he claims. evacuating 70 to 90 per cent of civilians from cities before beginning a full ground invasion in conventional attacks that seek to destroy enemy defenders. The US did not do this in the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, Panama, the Vietnam Tet counter-offensive or the Korean War.

And the IDFs Civilian Harm Mitigation Cell tracks the presence of civilians in real time uses that to drive its operations to minimise the risk of civilian casualties.

But this is war, and civilians die in war. Especially when one of the combatants deliberately embeds itself among civilians specifically to maximise the civilian death toll.

As always, novelist Howard Jacobson gets to the heart of the issue: There is a sadistic triumphalism in charging Jews with genocide, as though those making it feel they have their man at last. The sadism resides, specifically, in attacking Jews where their memories of pain are keenest. By making them now the torturer and not the tortured, their assailants wrest their anguish from them, not only stealing their past but trampling on it.

Added to that is the sick irony that there is indeed a wish for genocide  by Hamas, the terrorist group which massacred 1200 Israelis on October 7 and which is committed in its founding charter not just to the death of all Israelis but to the elimination of all Jews, everywhere.

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.
No More Warnings: Carolina Squat ban goes into effect Friday

SOUTH CAROLINA (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A Carolina Squat ban will go into effect on Friday after the state house passed a law last year.

A bill passed last May by the South Carolina House of Representatives bans the procedure, which lifts trucks four or more inches higher in the front than the back.

On Friday the South Carolina Department of Public Safety warned drivers that they will begin issuing citations on the prohibited vehicles.

The state house voted unanimously to ban the trucks.

The fines include $100 fines for the first offense and $200 fines for the second. A third would result in a suspended license.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
No territory lost in Kharkiv Oblast, local authorities say

All Russian offensive assaults in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast had been repulsed, says Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, and no territory had been lost.

Source: Syniehubov on the air of the national joint 24/7 newscast

Quote: "The enemy launched a new wave of offensive operations in the north of Kharkiv Oblast. These are settlements from Kharkiv and Chuhuiv districts. Vovchansk front, in particular. Our combat brigades engaged the enemy with fire. Every offensive attack is repulsed. No territory has been lost so far.

These border settlements [where the Russians attempted to break through - ed.] are actually only one to two kilometres from the Russian Federation border. There are active hostilities there."

Details: Syniehubov called on the people living in the bordering territories to evacuate.

Background:

On 10 May, it was reported that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with fighting taking place there.

During a briefing with Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian troops had launched a new wave of offensive on the Kharkiv front.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry reported that reserve units had been sent to the north of Kharkiv Oblast.

Border hromadas of Kharkiv Oblast are under intense large-scale Russian bombardment, resulting in injuries and fatalities among civilians. The population of Vovchansk and its surrounding settlements in Kharkiv Oblast are being evacuated.

Sources of Ukrainska Pravda in military circles claim that Russian forces have captured four border villages in Kharkiv Oblast.

Support UP or become our patron!
No way, Jose! Gibraltar will never give up a single inch of the Rock to Spain

The chief minister of Gibraltar has vowed to never give up British sovereignty over a single inch of the Rock as fears mount over the territorys post-Brexit future.

Saying no way, Jose, Fabian Picardo dismissed concerns that a planned agreement between Lord Cameron and the European Union would mean Gibraltars border with Spain was British in name only.

His intervention came after the House of Commonss European scrutiny committee (ESC) warned on Thursday that it feared the deal would allow the pendulum to swing too far in the direction of the EU.

In a letter to The Telegraph, Mr Picardo pushed back on the concerns, writing that the committees suggestion that sovereignty would be handed over was abhorrent.

Weakening sovereignty is abhorrent

The suggestion from the European scrutiny committee that I or any Gibraltarian chief minister or politician would sign up to terms that would weaken our sovereignty, control or jurisdiction over a single inch of the Rock is abhorrent to me and to all Gibraltarians, he wrote.

Were I to agree to even a hint of that, my cabinet and I would not survive walking even a single imperial yard down Main Street, Gibraltar.

The EU and Britain have been negotiating for months over how Gibraltars border with Spain will be managed now that Brexit has been finalised.

On Thursday, the ESC penned a letter to David Rutley, the minister for Gibraltar, and called for negotiations to be halted until the Commons agreed a deal that would help preserve the Rocks sovereignty.

It is believed a UK-EU deal is close but MPs on the committee expressed concern when, earlier this month, Mr Rutley appeared before them and admitted that European judges would be able to rule on disputes involving Gibraltar under the Brexit deal.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron meets Fabian Picardo, the chief minister of Gibraltar, in Downing Street - Ben Dance/10 Downing Street

Mr Picardo, who has been in office since 2011, said the MPs anxiety was unnecessary.

I understand Parliaments anxiety to know the terms and implications of any UK-EU agreement for Gibraltar that is reached, he said. They will be satisfied.

He added: I can assure all your readers that Lord Cameron and I are working in lock-step to secure the arrangements needed for the economy and wellbeing of Gibraltar and its surrounding region to flourish.

Gibraltarians are the most dedicated and experienced guardians of Gibraltars British, British, British sovereignty.

And to anyone who tries to take that from us, my response has already been declared to the United Nations  No way, Jose!

Sir Bill Cash, the chairman of the ESC, said in his letter to Mr Rutley that he and the other members were concerned that Lord Cameron was trading away sovereignty in return for business opportunities.

The letter added the MPs had serious concerns regarding the conduct and progress of the UK Governments negotiations with the European Union in respect of a trade and border deal for Gibraltar.

The MPs said they were concerned about plans to move the Schengen border  the border at which the EUs free movement rules operate  to the airport, allowing European Frontex border guards to deal with travellers from Britain or Gibraltar.

Sir Bill also expressed anger that the future of Gibraltar airport was being discussed as part of the negotiations, saying: Any role for Spain in the management of the airport or change to its status, no matter how seemingly small or innocuous, must be ruled out.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals (Photo: nccourts.gov)

The North Carolina Court of Appeals this week ordered a trial court to resentence a man imprisoned for murder he committed when he was a child.

The imprisoned man at the center of the case is James Kelliher, who is serving life sentences for crimes he committed when he was 17 years old. Kelliher has been incarcerated since 2001. His story was detailed in a 2022 NC Newsline report.

At oral arguments heard earlier this year, lawyers for the state said the trial court was allowed to resentence Kelliher to serve a sentence for the same crime twice, an argument the Court of Appeals rejected.

Our Supreme Court made abundantly clear that, while the ordinary remedy on remand from a successfully appealed sentence is a new sentencing hearing within the discretion of the trial court, no such discretion existed here because the sole defect in the judgments was that the trial court had selected consecutive, rather than concurrent, life sentences with parole, wrote Hunter Murphy, a Republican, in an 11-page opinion joined by Judges John Arrowood and Toby Hampson, who are both Democrats.

In 2022, the state Supreme Court ordered the trial court to resentence Kelliher. The court sent the case back with instructions for the trial court to impose concurrent life sentences with the possibility of parole. This would have made Kelliher eligible for parole decades sooner.

But thats not what happened.

On March 31, 2023, Superior Court Judge James Floyd Ammons of Cumberland County imposed the two concurrent life-with-parole sentences as ordered by the high court. However, Ammons specified that these sentences would not start until after Kelliher had served consecutive sentences for armed robbery, each ranging between five and seven years. Ammons also added a two-to-three-year sentence for conspiracy, to run concurrently with the robbery terms.

The robbery sentences are significant because they impact when Kelliher will become eligible for parole.

Kellihers attorney argued in a court brief earlier this year that if Ammons had followed the Supreme Courts order, Kelliher could be eligible for parole in 2026. But the consecutive armed robbery sentences mean he would not be eligible until 2037.

Our Supreme Court held that it violates both the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution and  North Carolina Constitution to sentence a juvenile homicide offender who has been determined to be neither incorrigible nor irredeemable to life without parole, wrote Murphy.

Kelliher received two consecutive sentences of life without parole after his friend killed Eric Carpenter and Kelsea Helton during a robbery they committed together.

Following the 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Miller v. Alabama, which held that mandatory sentences of life without the possibility of parole are unconstitutional for juvenile offenders, those sentences were eventually changed to two consecutive life sentences with the possibility of parole, which meant Kelliher would need to serve 50 years before he would even be considered for release.

The 2022 ruling by the North Carolina Supreme Court held that such de facto life sentences are unconstitutional.

In her opinion at the time, Justice Anita Earls wrote that, The crimes Kelliher committed and the pain he caused are irrevocable. He can never replace what he took from Carpenter, Helton, their friends and families, and the entire community of this state. He will spend decades of his life, and perhaps the remainder of his life, in prison for his actions.

But the state constitution, Earls wrote, does not permit us to ignore his potential for change. He cannot be deprived the opportunity to demonstrate that he has become someone different than the person he was when he was seventeen years old and at his worst.

For more about this case, read this Newsline story.

The post North Carolina appeals court orders resentencing for man convicted of murder as teen appeared first on NC Newsline.
TEHRAN, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Iran has sent back to their home countries seven other crew members of an "Israeli-linked" container ship that Iran had seized in mid-April near the Strait of Hormuz, the semi-official Fars news agency reported on Thursday.

The seven crewmen of the Portuguese-flagged container ship, MSC Aries, comprised five Indians, one Estonian and one Filipino, the report said.

The report said the rest of the crewmen were still on the vessel "in full health," and had been provided with necessary facilities and accesses.

The MSC Aries was seized by the Navy of Iran's Islamic Revolution Guards Corps on April 13 with 25 members on board. Iran later repatriated a female Indian crew member to her home country.

Iranian authorities said the vessel, operated by London-based Zodiac Maritime, a company owned by Israeli billionaire Eyal Ofer, had violated international maritime law and failed to respond to inquiries.

Ali Akbar Marzban, caretaker for maritime affairs at Iran's PMO, previously said that the crew members came from India, Pakistan, the Philippines, Russia and Estonia. 
North Carolina Has Lost Almost 5% of Its Child Care Programs Since Pandemic

This is a photo of a young boy sitting at a table.

This article was originally published in Ed NC.

More licensed child care programs in North Carolina are closing their doors as the state approaches the expiration of pandemic-era stabilization funding.

According to data provided by the NC Child Care Resource and Referral Council (CCR&R) in partnership with the NC Division of Child Development and Early Education (DCDEE), the state has experienced a net loss of almost 5% of programs since February 2020.

Closures of licensed child care programs have been outpacing the opening of new programs since at least June 2023  and now the rate of that trend appears to be increasing.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

Between June and December 2023, the state had a net loss of 34 programs. But in just the first three months of 2024, the net loss was 41.

This pattern reflects what many experts  including providers themselves  have been anticipating since last year, when state lawmakers declined to provide additional funding that would continue stabilizing the precarious child care system beyond June 2024.

House Speaker Tim Moore, R-Cleveland, has said addressing the child care crisis is a priority during this years legislative session, but has not yet announced a plan for doing so.

Urban and suburban trends

Combining data from CCR&R, DCDEE, and the NC Rural Center, EdNC analyzed the percentage change in the number of licensed child care programs across the states urban, suburban, and rural counties since February 2020.

Each of the states six urban counties has experienced a net loss of licensed child care programs. Durham and New Hanover had the greatest net losses of 14.3% and 13.2%, respectively. All of the urban counties combined had a net loss of 6.3%

The states 16 suburban counties have fared somewhat better, with a net loss of 2.8%. Nine counties had a net loss, Gaston and Union had no change, and five counties had a net gain.

Buncombe is one of those suburban counties that had a net increase in the number of licensed child care programs since February 2020.

The Buncombe County Board of Commissioners established an Early Childhood Education and Development Fund in 2018 to ensure that every child in Buncombe County has an equal opportunity to thrive during their first 2,000 days. The county is also home to the Asheville Buncombe Preschool Planning Collaborative, which was convened by the Buncombe Partnership for Children in 2021, and envisions every child age 5 and under having access to high-quality, affordable early care and education.

Such local initiatives might help explain why Buncombe has gained child care programs while most other urban and suburban counties have stayed the same or lost programs without additional investment from the state.

Related

Nearly a Third of North Carolina Child Care Providers to Close Within Months

Rural trends

The vast majority of North Carolinas counties (78 of 100) are designated as rural. Combined, these counties had a net loss of 4.3% of licensed child care programs since February 2020, closely matching the overall state trend of 4.7%.

Of our 78 rural counties, the majority (44) experienced a net loss. In some counties, the loss of a single licensed child care program can have an outsized impact.

For example, Camden and Graham had the largest negative percentage change from February 2020 through March 2024. Both came in at -25%. In each county, thats the result of just one program closing its doors.

Among the 34 rural counties that did not have a net loss of child care programs, 17 were stable, and 17 had net gains.

Among rural counties, theres wide geographic variability to whether a county has gained, stabilized, or lost licensed child care programs.

Rural counties with net gains range from Person in the north, to Robeson in the south.

Rural counties with the same number of licensed child care programs in the first quarter of 2024 as they had before the pandemic include Mitchell in the mountains, Rockingham in the Piedmont, and Hyde on the coast.

Rural counties with net losses include Caldwell and Cleveland to the west, and Carteret and Craven to the east.

The overall net loss of licensed child care programs statewide  whether urban, suburban, or rural  could jeopardize North Carolinas economic future.

Studies show investment in early care and education for our youngest residents not only enables their parents to fully participate in the labor force, but also improves childrens health outcomes, reduces their likelihood of being incarcerated, and provides the foundation for their educational and economic futures.

Well get a report on the second quarter in June 2024  right before the arrival of the funding cliff that experts predict will cause a continued wave of not only program closures, but classroom closures, without additional stabilization funding from the legislature.

This article first appeared on EducationNC and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.
Before Congress is a proposal that would prevent federal funding from going to medical schools that incorporate diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies into their institutions.

This would be devastating in California, where our public system of medical schools recruits and trains students to serve the diverse residents of our state.

At UC San Francisco Medical School, for example, the curriculum is focused on addressing and dismantling structural racism in medicine and medicine education. Students are taught to understand bias. Policies and evaluations of courses seek to reduce the effects of systemic racism.

Rep. Greg Murphy, R-North Carolina, recently introduced the Embracing Anti-Discrimination, Unbiased Curricula, and Advancing Truth (EDUCATE) Act. Alabama, Tennessee and Utah have already introduced similar legislation for public universities with the same goal: hindering educational equity by curtailing inclusion efforts. Specifically, the EDUCATE Act would: Cut off federal funding to medical schools that force students or faculty to adopt specific beliefs, discriminate based on race or ethnicity, or have diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) offices or any functional equivalent. 

Opinion

A strength of the University of California medical schools that draws prospective future physicians is the track programs. UC campuses at Davis, Riverside, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Irvine and San Diego each incorporate tracks specifically dedicated to preparing students to serve rural, urban, tribal and under-resourced communities.

While interest in serving underserved populations in medical school generally decreases throughout training, medical students from underserved backgrounds maintain the greatest interest in serving these communities  underscoring the importance of encouraging medical students from underrepresented backgrounds to join these tracks meant to support underserved communities.

The ratification of the EDUCATE Act would put all California public medical school funding at risk, including allocations to track programs. The broad, sweeping language of this legislation will require medical institutions to change their focus from supporting students of diverse backgrounds to proving to governmental bodies that they are not promoting diversity. California medical institutions are not prepared  nor should they need to be  for this change.

Our California medical schools are built to educate the future physician workforce to serve our diverse state, and that goal is inherent to our mission. The EDUCATE Act is an attack on this idea, which remains at the core of our passion for medicine.

Accepting the rhetoric of the EDUCATE Act is a dangerous precedent. In promoting his act, Murphy claims that the concept of DEI is a dangerous and contagious philosophy. However, he fails to acknowledge that there is no peer-reviewed research supporting this so-called truth. California medical schools are not allowed to utilize affirmative action based on the prior passage of Proposition 209, and DEI programs do not circumvent this rule.

The supposed goal of the EDUCATE Act is to improve healthcare performance based on excellence in education, but it would prevent students from participating in federal student loan programs at institutions with DEI programs. This creates a choice for medical schools: cut DEI programs or shift the burden of funding to students through higher-interest private loans.

Dismantling track programs would harm far more than just the students in those programs. As a medical student in one of the most diverse medical schools in the country, I have learned just as much from my classmates in how to care for patients as I have from my professors precisely because of my peers lived experiences  something they will carry into their practice.

Regardless of whether the EDUCATE Act is passed into law or not, it is indicative of a larger problem: States are already ratifying similar legislation, and students have no voice in the matter. This is not a problem we can address later without a significant negative impact on our patients.

We will not stand for these policies becoming part of the medical school admissions process. We do not want this, we do not believe our patients want this and we are certain that this change will not better serve our patients.

Joe Morrison is an MD/PhD student with a research focus on health equity and medical education. Maydha Dhanuka and Alisha Khieu provided valuable insights for this topic regarding their relevant experiences which informed this op-ed.
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) has closed the eastbound lane on SR 20 North Cascades Highway ahead of warmer weather this weekend.

Crews are concerned about the warmer weather causing potential mud or snow slides onto the highway.

According to WSDOT, the lane is closed at milepost 162 (Washington Pass) to shift traffic away from the slope and reduce speeds there as a precaution. The lane closure is meant to shift eastbound traffic to the westbound passing lane near the summit.

There are no flaggers or stops at this time, just a 35 MPH advisory speed and the lane shift to keep drivers away from the slope.

WSDOT asks drivers to stay alert and not attempt to pass in the closed lane.

If you do see debris in the roadway, do not get out of your car or attempt to clear it yourself. Travel to a safe location and call 911 to report.

Washington State Department of Transportation crews will be monitoring the highway throughout the weekend.
Native Vote 2024. The Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara Nation (MHA Nation) is criticizing a move by the state of North Dakota to vacate a recent court victory in a redistricting case involving its reservation.

In a 180-degree turn, the state, which had previously sided with the tribe in defending a subdistrict for the Fort Berthold Reservation, is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to reconsider the decision.

The case stems from the 2021 redistricting process, where the Republican-controlled legislature created a subdistrict within District 4 that followed the reservations boundaries. The creation of House District 4A helped ensure Native voters from the MHA Nation would have fair representation in future elections.

But a lawsuit challenged the constitutionality of the new subdistrict, arguing that it violated the Equal Protection Clause. The MHA Nation intervened in the case, siding with the state in arguing that the subdistrict was necessary to comply with the Voting Rights Act and to ensure Native representation. A federal district court agreed, dismissing the lawsuit last fall.

Then, in a surprising turn of events, North Dakota filed a motion with the Supreme Court to vacate the lower courts decision. The state argues that the court did not address whether attempts to comply with Voting Rights Act can supersede the Equal Protection Clause.

North Dakotas Attorney General Drew Wrigley said the states decision to file its motion is an attempt to gain clarity on how legislative district lines can be drawn to comply with the both Voting Rights Act and the Constitution, according to a story in the North Dakota Monitor.

We opposed this unconscionable change of position when the Attorney General raised it with us, and we oppose it now, MHA Nation Chairman Mark Fox said in a statement. MHA Nation was right to intervene in this suit, as, once again, it becomes apparent that our Tribe must forcefully act to protect our own interests.

The tribe has filed a motion to dismiss the states appeal. The MHA Nation is represented by the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), Campaign Legal Center, and The Law Office of Bryan L. Sells, LLC.

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
When an Arlington police officer accidentally shot and killed a woman while aiming at her dog during a welfare check in 2019, then Deputy Chief Christopher Cook advised his superior to not wait to release the body cam footage.

When I looked at that situation, we knew there was going to be a lot of questions, we knew thered be a heightened level of controversy, said Cook.

So they released the video lightning fast. Within 24 hours, they had consulted all stakeholders and put the officers body cam footage out for the public to view.

And the footage did not look good. The shooting led to the officers resignation, and the family of the woman later sued the city of Arlington. But the department did the right thing by being up front with the family and the public as quickly as possible, Cook said.

Building trust, maintaining trust is more important when you are transparent and you talk about incidents that occur, said Cook, now the police chief in White Settlement. And you can leave the community with the caveat that, hey, we dont know all the facts yet.

On Wednesday, Cook published The Art of Strategic Communication, his latest endeavor to improve relations between law enforcement agencies and the media that cover them.

Leaders, executives, and public information officers must be dialed into principles that relate to transparency, trust and accountability, Cook said in a press release announcing the book. Too often, I hear from news media that an agency refuses to provide information or even reply or acknowledge an inquiry. Offering no comments, ignoring requests, or refusing to work with the media is not the way forward, and so this book project seeks to change these harmful mindsets that are damaging to community trust and our policing profession.

Its publication happens to come at a time when the relationship between law enforcement and the public is being tested in Tarrant County, as the media, citizens and the family of a man who died in the county jail in April call for transparency from the sheriffs office with regard to his and other recent deaths at the jail.

The department has denied the Star-Telegrams request for video of the in-custody death of Anthony Johnson Jr., citing its role in an ongoing criminal investigation.

With new copies of his book sitting on his desk just behind him in his office on Friday, Cook stressed that he was in no position to offer critiques on the sheriff offices communication strategy in the case of Johnsons death.

I know that Sheriff [Bill] Waybourn loves his county and loves his agency, and I trust that Sheriff Waybourn will get to the bottom of what happened in this incident, Cook said. Bills always been a guy that takes responsibility for his commands.

Cooks publisher set the date of the books release long before the events in the county jail occurred in April, but hes a big believer in things happening for a reason.

Theres no better time in our profession  take Tarrant County out of it  where we can get good best practices in the hands of leaders, he said.

He called the 2014 killing of Laquan McDonald in Chicago a turning point in how police departments have to view their relationships with the media and the public, especially after events in which the police dont have the high ground. He was inspired to write the book following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in 2020.

Johnsons family has not been shown the video, and aside from a meeting with members of the sheriffs office three days after his death in which all they were told was that it was under investigation, they have not received further details.

Members of Johnsons family demanded answers from the county commissioners on Tuesday, as did several Tarrant County residents who spoke in public comments.

Waybourn did not attend Tuesdays Commissioners Court session. A spokesperson for the office cited the ongoing investigation as the reason he was not present. No sheriffs office representatives were at Tuesdays session.

Speaking with the Star-Telegram on Friday, Johnsons mother Jacqualyne Johnson pointed to another law enforcement killing in Florida that recently made national news, noting how quickly the officers body cam footage was released. The Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office took a week to release the footage of a deputy sheriff shooting and killing a U.S. airman.

They already have everything out in public, but we still dont know anything, she said. Its very interesting.

Johnson, 31, was the second inmate to die in the Tarrant County jail in April. His death came less than a week after 42-year-old Roderick Johnson (no relation) was found dead in his cell.

County Administrator Chandler Merritt gave a briefing of their deaths at Tuesdays Commissioners Court session. It consisted of reading the sheriffs offices press releases that were issued after each death and a comparison of raw numbers of jail death counts in other Texas counties.

Precinct 4 County Commissioner Manny Ramirez said in a statement Thursday that the county is not doing enough to share information with the public, and said he will propose a plan to address deficiencies in how the sheriffs office communicates with the public about events like these.

The Tarrant County Sheriffs Office needs more transparent, structured, and consistent communication policies for handling critical incident reporting and releasing video, Ramirez said.

Cooks recommendation for all law enforcement agencies dealing with events that may put them in unflattering light is to not shy away from the situation.

Facts are facts, he said. Not talking about it doesnt stop the story.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Officials are investigating the death of a man in Portlands Eliot neighborhood Thursday night.

Just after 5 p.m., Portland police officers responded to reports of the man found dead at a home in the 2800 block of Northeast Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.

Woman accused of scratching 2 passing cars with knife, setting parked vehicle on fire

Authorities say evidence officers found at the scene prompted a response from homicide detectives. The death is considered suspicious.

No other information, including the identity of the victim, has been released at this time.

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to contact Portland police.

This is a developing story. Stay with KOIN 6 News for updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Mother Nature is giving North America a special treat Friday night. If youre in the right spot at the right time, you could see the Northern Lights in Western Washington.

To see the aurora borealis, youll want to look north  but meteorologists said if the solar flare storm is strong enough, areas south of Seattle could see it too.

So if this is one of your hobbies this is the night to do it because its a big one, KIRO 7 Meteorologist Nick Allard said.

Absolute insanity! I have never once been able to catch the Aurora Borealis before, EVER! Yet tonight I have captured a full spectrum of colours that I honestly thought I could only possibly dream of, certainly being this far south and this close to London!!!  pic.twitter.com/vdbFEpqXd6  Surrey Palms & Exotics (@SurreyPalmsWX) May 10, 2024

According to forecasts from the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the aurora is estimated to happen anytime overnight, from 10 p.m. to 2 a.m.

However, the best visibility happens away from light pollution and on clear nights. To see how light-polluted your area is, visit ClearDarkSkys light pollution map.

The spectacular event will occur because of a series of strong coronal mass ejections from the sun. NOAA said it hasnt seen a solar storm like this since 2005.

The phenomenon comes as NOAA has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch. The administration said if the storm is strong enough, it could disrupt GPS, power grids and high-frequency radio waves.

This is an unusual and potentially historic event, the Director of NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center, Clinton Wallace, said via NOAAs website.

What is even happening right now? I feel like I am having a religious experience - or an alien abduction. Not sure which. #aurora pic.twitter.com/vgDUP0YUC9  Dr David Boyce (@DrDavidBoyce) May 10, 2024

NOAA stated that while the geomagnetic storm may impact Earths infrastructure, it is also what triggers the magical aurora.

But if the Northern Lights dont inspire you, there are plenty of other activities happening in Seattle this weekend. You can check out a list of events here.

Fridays forecast is calling for sunshine and a few clouds in Western Washington. But dont forget while the temperatures may reach 80 degrees this weekend, the water will still be cold.

Don't think I've ever seen anything like this in my Lifetime .... An Awesome display Much better than the one I saw in Iceland ! #Auroraborealis 10/5/24#StormHour pic.twitter.com/xCvsfqY0ow  Ed Fenwicke-Clennell (@eds_outdoors) May 10, 2024

My biggest concern is that people see and feel the warm weather and theyre going to jump right into their paddleboard or their 15-foot boat, whatever that vessel is, and theyre not going to think about wearing their life jacket, Rob Sendak, Boating & Winter Recreation Programs Manager at Washington State Parks, told KIRO Newsradio. Wear that life jacket, regardless of what size or type of vessel that youre on. When youre around water, you never know when youre going to need it so put that thing on.

If you capture some spring pictures or do get to see the Northern Lights, please share your photos with MyNorthwest on our Share With Us page.

Contributing: Sam Campbell and Ted Buehner, KIRO Newsradio
Skywatchers get ready: Thanks to heightened solar activity, the aurora borealis could be coming to the skies above a large portion of the United States this weekend, space weather forecasters said Thursday.

Federal forecasters from NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center said that during previous solar activity of this magnitude, the "aurora has been seen as low as Alabama and northern California." Experts say the aurora might be visible Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights.

The spectacle would be courtesy of a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sun, which are forecast to reach the Earth early this weekend and produce the geomagnetic storms that trigger auroras. A G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch is in effect for Saturday May 11, NOAA said.

The northern lights are the most benign result of solar activity. Strong solar storms  including G4s  can also disrupt some radio communications, harm satellites and even knock out power systems, forecasters warned.

A 30 second exposure captures the sudden flash of a fireball meteor from the Geminids amid the shimmering glow of the northern lights, or aurora borealis, in Norway.

Storm watch upgraded to G4

"This weekend's geomagnetic storm watch has been upgraded from G2 (Moderate) to G4 (Severe)," according to astronomer Tony Phillips, writing on SpaceWeather.com. "Why? Because giant sunspot AR3664 keeps hurling CMEs toward Earth. Following today's X2.2 solar flare, there are now at least 4 storm clouds heading our way," Phillips said.

The colorful aurora forms when particles flowing from the sun get caught up in Earth's magnetic field. The particles interact with molecules of atmospheric gases to cause the famed glowing green and reddish colors of the aurora.

A fickle forecast

The aurora can be fickle to forecast, so some caution is warranted before adjusting your weekend plans. Unlike terrestrial weather, scientists who forecast space weather  which includes the aurora  must rely on observations of the 93-million-miles-away sun to make their predictions.

"There are so many uncertainties, it makes it difficult to predict," Bill Murtagh, the program coordinator at the Space Weather Prediction Center, told USA TODAY last year. And as hard as it is to forecast weather here on Earth, "we are decades behind the forecast capabilities of our colleagues in meteorology," he admitted, referring to space weather.

Solar maximum is here

The northern lights, aka the aurora borealis, have been appearing more frequently in the night sky over the United States recently. In April 2023, for example, a stunning aurora display was seen as far south as Arkansas in the South and Arizona in the West.

So why the uptick in aurora sightings? And is this expected to continue? Well, if you love the aurora, you're in luck, as it may be coming to a sky near you more often over the next few years thanks to the "solar maximum," which is expected to peak this year.

"There have been an increase in aurora seen in general on Earth," Shannon Schmoll, the director of the Abrams Planetarium at Michigan State University told USA TODAY last year. "The sun has been more active, resulting in more solar storms that cause solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME).

Tips for viewing the northern lights

"Go out at night," NOAA said. "And get away from city lights."

The best aurora is usually within an hour or two of midnight (between 10:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m. local time). These hours expand towards evening and morning as the level of geomagnetic activity increases.

There may be aurora in the evening and morning, but it is usually not as active and therefore, not as visually appealing, NOAA said.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Northern lights in Ohio? Forecast says its possible this weekend
ORANGE CITY, Iowa (KCAU)  A Northwestern College student is about to graduate with four majors under his belt. Isaiah Gritters spent the last four years studying biology health professions, business administration/finance, economics, and chemistry, all while keeping a 4.0 GPA.

On top of his classes, Gritters still found time for extracurriculars, including working as an EMT for Orange City, leading chemistry labs, and acting as a teachers assistant for an economics professor.

Babies R Us to open inside Kohls locations across the country

Id say the most important thing was just staying on top of school work, Gritters said. I couldnt study the night before, I had to be studying sometime like weeks in advance and really make sure that I was staying on top of everything, getting everything in on time.

Balancing more than 200 credits in four years, Gritters said his determination and time management got him through.

Its not for the faint of heart, for sure, but if you have the drive and the interest and the professors who support you along the way, I definitely think its doable, Gritters said.

After graduation, Gritters will be attending the University of Iowas Carver College of Medicine and hopes to open his own private practice one day.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
A Norwegian Cruise Line worker is accused of stabbing people on board with scissors

A Norwegian Cruise Line worker is accused of stabbing people on board with scissors

A cruise ship worker was accused of stabbing a passenger and attacking crew members.

The incident occurred on the Norwegian Encore on its voyage to Alaska from Seattle, AP reported.

The worker was arrested and faces assault charges, the district attorney's office said.

A cruise ship employee was arrested after he allegedly used scissors to stab three people aboard a ship that was traveling to Alaska.

The employee, identified as Ntando Sogoni from South Africa, had recently started working on Norwegian Encore, a ship operated by Norwegian Cruise Line,.

According to AP News, which cited an affidavit from FBI Special Agent Matthew Judy, the ship disembarked from Seattle on Sunday and was scheduled to stop in Alaskan ports, including Junea, during the weeklong voyage.

Sogoni, 35, was on duty on Monday when he began to exhibit "unusual and irrational behaviour," a spokesperson for the Norwegian Cruise Line told Business Insider. He allegedly tried to deploy a lifeboat from the ship, according to a press release issued by the district attorney's office.

According to the FBI, Sogoni was taken to the ship's medical center for examination, where he then "physically attacked" a security guard and a nurse before using a pair of scissors to stab a passenger who was being examined.

Sogoni allegedly stabbed the passenger several times in her arm, hand, and face. A security guard who intervened was stabbed in the head, while a second security guard was stabbed in the back and shoulders, authorities said.

The conditions of the passenger and staff are unknown, though AP News reported that none of the injuries were life-threatening.

The ship was traveling west of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, when the alleged incident took place, the publication added.

Sogoni was held in the ship's jail before being arrested in Juneau on Tuesday.

Sogoni is facing charges of assault with a dangerous weapon. He could face up to 10 years in prison in addition to a $250,000 fine for each count if convicted, they added.

The cruise industry made $19 billion in revenue in 2022, according to the online data platform Statista.

The US Department of Transportation keeps a record of reported crimes on cruise ships through quarterly reports. According to a recent cruise line incident report, 47 alleged incidents were reported to the FBI between January and March of this year.

Of the incidents reported, eight were recorded as assault with serious bodily injury, one was recorded as a missing US national, and six alleged thefts of under $10,000 were reported. There were also 16 cases categorized as "sexual assault," and a further 16 were categorized as "sexual assault  rape."

The district attorney's office, Juneau's police department, and Sogoni's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Read the original article on Business Insider
KIEV, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine's state-run energy company Ukrenergo said on Friday that the country is in significant electricity shortages due to Russian missile and drone strikes.

Ukraine's power plants are unable to produce the same amount of electricity as before the Russian attacks as a result of large-scale damage, Ukrenergo said in a post on Telegram.

The country is applying power limitation schedules for industrial consumers from 6 p.m. on Friday to 7 a.m. on Saturday to partially offset the electricity shortage. Meanwhile, it has also been importing electricity for the past two days from European Union countries to cover domestic deficit.

Russia has already carried out five major attacks on Ukraine's energy system this year, Ukrenergo said. On Wednesday, Russia fired 55 missiles and 21 drones targeting power generation and transmission facilities in six Ukrainian regions, according to the Ukrainian authorities.

Two hydroelectric power plants were put out of operation in the raids, said Ukraine's state-run hydropower company Ukrhydroenergo.

Ukraine's largest private energy company DTEK said that equipment at three thermal power plants sustained damage during the air strikes. 
NOT REAL NEWS: A look at what didn't happen this week

FILE - French President Emmanuel Macron waits on the steps of the Elysee Palace, Monday, March 11, 2024 in Paris. On Friday, May 10, 2024, The Associated Press reported on stories circulating online incorrectly claiming that France sent troops to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

A roundup of some of the most popular but completely untrue stories and visuals of the week. None of these are legit, even though they were shared widely on social media. The Associated Press checked them out.

___

No, France did not deploy troops to fight with Ukraine against Russia

CLAIM: France sent troops to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.

THE FACTS: The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on X that France has not deployed troops to Ukraine, calling the claim disinformation. Reports of the deployment cited a May 3 blog post by Stephen Bryen, a deputy undersecretary for the Department of Defense during the Reagan administration.

France has sent its first troops officially to Ukraine, the blog post reads. They have been deployed in support of the Ukrainian 54th Independent Mechanized Brigade in Slavyansk. The French soldiers are drawn from Frances 3rd Infantry Regiment, which is one of the main elements of Frances Foreign Legion (Legion etrangere).

It adds that 100 French troops out of an expected 1,500 have arrived so far.

Many social media posts included a screenshot of the blog post as it appeared republished on another website. One such X post had received more than 3,000 likes and shares as of Friday.

But the French Foreign Ministry explicitly denied a deployment of French troops to fight in the Russia-Ukraine war.

FAKE NEWS ALERT, it wrote on X. Disinformation campaigns on Frances support to Ukraine are as active as ever. Lets have a look. France has not sent troops to #Ukraine.

Macron said in an interview published on May 3 that he hasnt excluded the possibility of sending troops to Ukraine, echoing comments he has made in recent months. He did not announce any deployments of the French military.

The claim spreading online cited a post published May 4 on Bryens blog titled, France Sends Troops to Ukraine. The post does not attribute its reporting to any sources.

Bryen published another blog post on Monday, where he acknowledged that he could be wrong about Frances alleged deployment to Ukraine. He also provided sources for his original post and explained his reporting ethos.

The earliest source Bryen cited about France sending troops is an April 12 article from a Russian military news website, which notes that it can neither confirm nor deny this information. It relies on reports from a Russian Telegram channel and a Russian journalist, who reportedly said the information is unconfirmed.

An April 13 X post from Sputnik, a state-owned Russian news agency, refers to the Russian Telegram channel and quotes a Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman previously warning that France would prepare 1,500 troops in April to be sent to Ukraine. The same text is used in a Facebook post published the same day by a page that describes itself as a gaming platform used for comedy and opinions out of spontaneous dialogue. Bryen cited both.

Lastly, Bryen listed an April 14 post from a website that regularly promotes conspiracy theories.

In response to a request for comment from The Associated Press, Bryen pointed to the second blog post and wrote as for denials, the French always deny having anyone at all in Ukraine. He had deleted the links to all of these sources, aside from the Sputnik post, by Friday.

Frances 3rd Foreign Infantry Regiment, of the Foreign Legion, has been based in Kourou, French Guiana, since 1973. Its responsibilities include protecting the Guiana Space Center and fighting against illegal gold panning.

___

Hackers did not project the Soviet Victory banner on Berlins Brandenburg Gate this week

CLAIM: Images show the Soviet Victory banner projected by hackers onto the east side of Brandenburg Gate in Berlin on Tuesday night, prior to annual festivities celebrating the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945.

THE FACTS: The images were fabricated. Berlin police and the company that manages the Brandenburg Gate confirmed to The Associated Press that the Soviet Victory banner did not appear this week on the monument, one of Germanys most significant landmarks.

Social media users shared photos and videos that made it appear the banner was being projected onto the gate ahead of this weeks commemorative celebrations.

Last night, hackers breached the projection on the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin and put the Soviet Victory Banner, reads one X post that had received approximately 21,000 likes and more than 5,300 shares as of Friday.

A TikTok video viewed more than 198,000 times was similarly captioned: Last night, hackers hacked the projection on the Brandenburg Gate and reminded authorities of who once defeated them, German police have launched an investigation.

Other posts claimed that the alleged hack was a response to Berlin banning Russian symbols during the celebrations.

But an investigation into the reports found no evidence of such activity involving the popular landmark, an 18th century city gate that symbolized Berlins division during the Cold War and became representative of a reunified Germany after the fall of the Berlin Wall.

After evaluating all the findings available to the Berlin police, the videos and photos circulating on social media of the alleged projection at the Brandenburg Gate are an optical/graphical fake, Susann Barahona, a spokesperson for Polizei Berlin, the citys police force, told the AP in an email written in German.

Johanna Steinke, a spokesperson for BIM Berliner Immobilienmanagement, a real estate company that manages the Brandenburg Gate, wrote in an email, also in German, that the claim spreading online is a false report.

It is unclear how the fabricated images were created.

The Soviet Victory banner was raised by the Red Army atop the destroyed German Reichstag on April 30, 1945, during the Battle of Berlin, in which the city fell to the Soviets. German dictator Adolf Hitler committed suicide the same day in his underground bunker.

Flags with a Russian connection, among other symbols, were banned from Soviet memorials in Berlin and their immediate surroundings on May 8 and 9 amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, according to a press release from the Berlin police. World War II veterans, diplomats and other representatives taking part in commemorative events marking the end of the war at these locations were excluded from the regulations. Bans were also in place in 2023 and 2022, the year Russia invaded Ukraine.

___

Find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck
NEW YORK  New York states much-maligned Office of Cannabis Management will get new leadership and streamline its torpid permitting process for retailers, Gov. Hochul said Friday, moving to address failures that have allowed a sprawling illegal marijuana market to emerge in the city.

Hochul described the states legal cannabis rollout as a disaster and said the Cannabis Management Office has been stuck in a start-up mode. But the governor promised the office would be transformed into a more efficient agency, a push that comes less than a month after Hochul and lawmakers approved a state budget that includes sweeping measures aimed at penalizing illicit cannabis retailers.

State officials are pursuing a two-pronged effort  padlocking more unlicensed shops and licensing more retailers  to sweep away the nettlesome illicit market that emerged after the state legalized recreational marijuana use in 2021. Today, New York Citys streetscape is speckled with unlicensed smoke shops selling cannabis in open disregard for the states licensing rules.

Mayor Adams office has estimated there are 2,900 illicit cannabis shops in New York City. Fifty-six legal retailers have opened citywide, according to the states Cannabis Management Office. There may be 50 unlicensed shops for every licensed seller.

Many of the illicit stores target children and attract crime, according to officials. At the same time, thousands of applicants for cannabis business permits are waiting to hear back from the state.

There are deep-seated issues at OCM  issues that have limited its ability to fulfill its licensing role, Hochul said in a speech in Albany, spotlighting the knotty application process. She said the growth of the illegal market is absolutely unacceptable.

Hochul vowed, We are going to unclog the licensing bottleneck.

She also said the state would produce a map to assist applicants in finding locations, and to allow New Yorkers to identify licensed stores.

Hochuls speech came in tandem with the release of a report, commissioned by the governor in March, that examined roadblocks to the licensing process and deficiencies in the Cannabis Management Office.

The report described the Cannabis Management Offices staff as well-intentioned but said the office often uses needlessly complex procedures, including a byzantine application system. The report further criticized the offices staffing decisions, saying it has not sufficiently manned the core of its regulatory operations.

Redundant decision making by leadership in the short-staffed agency has produced implementation challenges and resulted in confusion, difficulties, and delays, said the report, led by Jeanette Moy, the commissioner of the states Office of General Services.

The analysis said 90% of the applications the office receives require corrections, underscoring the intricate nature of the submission process.

Chris Alexander, the leader of the Cannabis Management Office since its inception in 2021, will leave his post in September, Hochul said. A replacement has not been announced.

The governor said Alexander graciously agreed to work with us for the remainder of his term to help implement those operational changes.

Alexander did not immediately reply to requests for comment.

Aaron Ghitelman, a former spokesman for the office, suggested that the governor was unfairly scapegoating Alexander, and that she had not provided Alexander with the support, resources and help needed for the permitting process.

He described Alexander as thoughtful and caring, and said Hochul was deflecting blame and playing political games. The governor, he argued, was long disengaged with the work of the cannabis office.

Gov. Hochul is a day late and a dime bag short, Ghitelman said by phone. Im glad she cares about it now.

In her remarks in Albany, Hochul commended the cannabis offices hard-working staff and pushed back on criticism that she was trying to point fingers at others.

Its about pointing OCM in a new direction and implementing solutions that work for everyone, she said, adding, Together were taking much needed steps  long overdue  to make the cannabis program in New York successful.
Traffic safety advocates cheered a new law allowing the Big Apple to lower speed limits on city streets to as low as 10 miles per hour.

The legislation  deemed Sammys Law in memory of 12-year-old Sammy Cohen Eckstein who was fatally struck by a van near his Park Slope home in 2013  passed as part of the state budget last month.

This is a joyous but bittersweet moment, Cohen Ecksteins mother, Amy Cohen, said as she appeared at a press conference Thursday in Manhattan with Gov. Kathy Hochul and New York City Mayor Eric Adams.

Sammy was fierce and determined. Just a few weeks before he died he was the youngest one to complete a hundred mile bicycle ride, she said of her son.

Sammys Law was passed as part of the state budget last month. ED REED

Gov. Kathy Hochul and NYC Mayor Eric Adams championed the bill and pointed to the hundreds of pedestrians whove died in motor vehicle collisions in recent years. ED REED

The law clears the way for the city to reduce speed limits from 25 to 20 miles per hour and 15 to 10 miles per hour in specially designated traffic calming zones. Three-lane streets outside of Manhattan will remain at 25 miles per hour.

Too many children have been hit and killed by cars speeding through our city streets. Weve seen too many tears shed too many families traumatized too many preventative crashes and accidents, Hochul said, noting that over 100 pedestrians died after being hit by cars in the Big Apple last year.

New York City will be able to take back its streets, she added at the event touting the new law.

Adams hailed the new law as well saying that far too many people are driving too fast in the city.

Slow down New Yorkers, and then we can slow down the deaths we are seeing, hizzoner said.

City hall hasnt outlined specifics on a timeline for rolling out speed limit changes under the new law. Christopher Sadowski

All streets are not the same. We should not have speed limits within the entire city based on one philosophy. Adams added, cheering Cohens advocacy for the legislation over the last decade since her sons death.

City hall has yet to specify details or a timeline as to how they plan to roll out speed limit changes under the new law.

The legislation requires a 60-day community engagement period before changing any speed limits.
NEW YORK  After two months of speaking their minds on social media, NYPD officials were tight-lipped about their controversial posts at a City Council hearing Thursday as two department executives responsible for most of the tweets were no-shows.

NYPD Chief of Patrol John Chell and Commissioner of Operations Kaz Daughtry skipped the morning budget hearing even though theyd been scheduled to attend. Mayor Eric Adams office told them at the last minute not appear, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation.

Around 7 a.m. Thursday, the mayors office told the duo not to show up, fearing that the hearing would turn into a circus over their tweets that some Council members claim violate departmental policy, are inflammatory and potentially dangerous, the sources told the Daily News.

NYPD Deputy Commissioner of Public Information Tarik Sheppard also skipped the hearing, though hed been scheduled to attend, too.

While the department has traditionally used social media to spread word about good arrests and tips on how to fight crime, Chell began using the platform to criticize judges he believed were soft on crime in March.

Since then, he and Daughtry have been lobbing critical tweets against journalists, columnists and elected officials they disagree with. The department previously said it was correcting the narrative on social media, which they believe was skewed against police.

Sheppard and the mayor have supported the new social media tactic.

At the hearing, neither Police Commissioner Edward Caban nor Michael Gerber, the NYPDs Deputy Commissioner for Legal Matters, would comment on Chell and Daughtrys posts, citing an ongoing investigation into the matter by the citys Department of Investigation.

Its inappropriate to comment as the investigation is ongoing Caban said.

But the DOI said there isnt a gag order on the investigation, so the department could have spoken about the posts if officials wished.

DOI has not instructed NYPD to refrain from speaking about its social media use during our ongoing investigation, said DOI spokeswoman Diane Struzzi.

Council Speaker Adrienne Adams said NYPD brass should have addressed the controversial posts.

I find it very appropriate given what Im looking at, she said at the hearing as she looked over posts on X including one put out by Chell that blasted progressive Councilwoman Tiffany Caban. In it, he rejected her comments against the NYPDs crackdown on Columbia University protesters as garbage and urged his followers to vote the change you seek if they dislike her, too.

These posts can often convey inaccurate or misleading information and can potentially incite threats of violence, said Speaker Adams, whod called for the DOI investigation.

I use the word potentially with caution because they have in some cases incited threats of violence to individuals, she added. This conduct is dangerous, unethical, unprofessional because included in the departments mission is to preserve the peace, protect the people and reduce fear.

City ethics law bars police officials from using city resources such as department social media accounts for blatantly political purposes. The NYPDs patrol guide prohibits police employees from engaging in political activities while in an official capacity.

Gerber repeatedly declined to comment as Speaker Adams peppered the dias, which included First Deputy Commissioner Tania Kinsella and Chief of Department Jeffrey Maddrey, with questions about who was responsible for approving social media posts before they go online and if Chell and Daughtrys tweets are examples of an ongoing change in the departments social media policy.

We are fully cooperative with (the DOI) investigation and its critical that the investigation be allowed to play out, Gerber said, adding that the department doesnt believe the post against Councilwoman Caban violated the law or the NYPD patrol guide or could be considered political activity.

Its part of a context of a significant debate about the nature of public safety in the city, the role of the police department and the role of policing in New York City, Gerber said, refraining from elaborating further.

Councilwoman Caban of Queens, who attended the hearing, said Gerber and Commissioner Caban were hiding behind the DOI investigation.

You could have and you should have answered, but you chose not to, she said.

An email to the department for comment was not immediately returned. The mayors office did not return a request for comment, either.

The Legal Aid Society called the social media activities from the police officials a clear abuse of the NYPDs authority.

In addition to the requests for DOI involvement, dozens of local elected officials, including members of New Yorks congressional delegation, sent a letter to Mayor Adams last week demanding that he reprimand Chell for his recent social media posts.

_____
NYPD top brass on hot seat over their social media posts and costs for covering protests

NYPD top brass on hot seat over their social media posts and costs for covering protests

NEW YORK (PIX11)  Top NYPD brass were in the hot seat at a city council hearing on Thursday.

It was officially called to discuss budget and public safety issues, but the fact that those two topics together meant a lot of testimony about the costs of having officers deployed at Gaza War protests and on college campuses meant that the hearing was sure to be intense.

3 arrested after driver allegedly hit a pro-Palestinian protester

It was so, at various times, particularly the first hour or so. About 15 minutes into the hearing, protesters got so loud, and their outbursts so frequent, that Finance Committee Chair Justin Brannan had to ask the sergeant-at-arms to clear the council chamber of all people who were not scheduled to testify.

On the roster of people set to speak before the city council panel were the two people at the very top of the NYPD masthead.

Commissioner Edward Caban made clear that his department has handled a lot of protests since the Hamas attack last fall began the war in Gaza.

Since October 7, Caban testified, the NYPD has responded to over 2,400 protests, and each is unique in its own nature.

The chief of department, Jeffrey Maddrey, drove the point home. Its been a challenge, he said, averaging 12 protests a day.

At least 50 people detained at FIT protest: NYPD

Their top budget managers were on hand at the hearing. They said that overtime costs for officers to cover protests went from about $7 million last year to $53 million this year, so far.

They said that it was not clear at this point if colleges where many of the protests took place would reimburse the city for the cost of police coverage.

Also, since it was a public safety hearing as well as one about the budget, Council Speaker Adrienne Adams asked about social media messages from top brass related to campus protests, including one from the Chief of Patrol, John Chell, that singled out City Councilmember Tiffany Caban.

In the post, on X, which has now been deleted, Chell said among other things, you know what to do The speaker said that phrases like that could be interpreted as a call to do harm.

She then asked the NYPD leadership present at the hearing, Do you think that post was appropriate? When police officials didnt give her a yes or no answer, she resumed questioning.

Should it have been deleted? she asked Commissioner Caban.

Its inappropriate for me to comment while this process is ongoing, the commissioner replied.

Pro-Palestinian protesters try to disrupt Met Gala

For her part, Tiffany Caban, the Councilmember mentioned by Chief Chell in his social media post, was at the hearing. She said that NYPD leaders lack of answers to councilmembers questions about the post was shameful. She also said that their comments about NYPD social media policy restrictions were no excuse.

It wasnt about the tweet, she said about Chells post on X, you could, you should have answered, and you chose not to. So my request is that that policy be sent to this council.

The ongoing process to which the NYPD commissioner referred is a probe begun on Wednesday by the citys Department of Investigation, or DOI. Its now looking into possible dangers and illegality of protest-related social media posts by three top police officials: Chief Chell, and Deputy Commissioner for Operations Kaz Daughtry, and Deputy Commissioner for Public Information Tarik Sheppard.

It was quite telling that the three executives whose accounts or usages of the accounts [that] were at issue were actually not present at this public hearing, said Jennvine Wong. Shes the supervising attorney at the Cop Accountability Project at the Legal Aid Society.

NYPD sources told PIX11 News that it was an executive decision on who would attend the hearing, but, as one city council member, Lincoln Restler, pointed out during the hearing, its highly unusual for the chief of patrol to not be in attendance.

Wong, the Legal Aid attorney, said that now that the DOI is investigating, the probe may promote public safety, in both the near and long term.

It depends on whether or not we continue to see the NYPD abuse official social media accounts or other official NYPD accounts, Wong said.

The DOI probe is expected to take months.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Construction on a storage facility for Russian tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus probably began in March 2023 near the city of Asipovichy, which has served as a military base since Soviet times.

Source: The New York Times, which analysed satellite images of the object, as reported by European Pravda

Details: According to the New York Times, the Russian nuclear weapons storage facility is located roughly 180 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border.

The purported nuclear warhead storage location is in the same city as Belarus' Iskander missiles, which may fire nuclear or conventional warheads and were turned over by Russia to Belarus in 2022.

The New York Times reports that the new infrastructure, which were identified on satellite photographs near Asipovichy, have features unique to Russian nuclear storage facilities.

For example, a new high-security zone is ringed by three levels of fence in addition to the base's current security perimeter. The New York Times also discovered a covered loading area connected to a concealed underground bunker from Soviet times.

Photo: THE NEW YORK TIMES

To protect the site near Asipovichy, as the images show, an air defence system was also deployed  it appeared no later than mid-2023.

Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists, who analysed the site, stated that the nuclear developments in Belarus "appear designed to unnerve NATOs easternmost member states, but will not give Russia a significant new military advantage in the region".

Construction on what appears to be new buildings has begun in recent weeks. "The details are still uncertain, but construction has clearly entered a new phase," said Kristensen.

3 May 2024.

Photo: THE NEW YORK TIMES

According to an agreement between Minsk and Moscow, some of Russia's tactical nuclear weapons are deployed on Belarusian soil.

Belarus approved a new military doctrine last month, allowing nuclear weapons to be used for the first time.

On 7 May, the Belarusian Ministry of Defence declared a "sudden check" of non-strategic nuclear weapons, following a similar announcement by Russia.

Support UP or become our patron!
Officials in Oakland, California, approved modifying the name of the city's airport to include "San Francisco," despite a federal trademark lawsuit from the city of San Francisco, while also filing their own lawsuit against the neighboring city over the name-change dispute.

The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners unanimously voted Thursday to rename Metropolitan Oakland International Airport to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport. The name change has since gone into effect on the airport's website and social media accounts. The airport's three-letter code -- OAK -- and visual brand will remain the same.

PHOTO: Travelers walk towards Terminal 1 at Oakland International Airport in Oakland, CA, April 12, 2024. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

The board said the new name is part of the port's efforts to "strengthen and grow the airport."

"Our Board came to these discussions with a shared love of Oakland and a desire to see our city and airport thrive," Port Commission President Barbara Leslie said in a statement following Thursday's vote. "We are moving forward with a commitment to honoring our past while building a stronger, more inclusive future."

After announcing the proposed name change in late March, the board voted unanimously to modify the airport's name in a first reading vote on April 11. Leslie said the port then met with "dozens of community leaders and stakeholders" to hear their concerns over the change.

The city of San Francisco filed a federal trademark lawsuit over the plan on April 18, arguing that the proposed name would cause confusion for travelers and infringe on San Francisco International Airport's (SFO) trademark. The city attorney's office said it filed its lawsuit following "multiple attempts" to work with the Port of Oakland on alternative names.

MORE: San Francisco sues Oakland over proposed airport name change

Two days before Thursday's vote, which allowed the Port of Oakland to move forward with the renaming, San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu "strongly" urged the Port of Oakland Board of Commissioners to reconsider their plans.

In a letter to the board, he called on the commissioners to "instead engage in discussions with the City and others about a different name that would achieve the Port's objectives without infringing on the City's trademark and engendering consumer confusion and harm."

San Francisco's lawsuit seeks injunctive relief to immediately stop the use of the name and orders declaring that Oakland has infringed on SFO's mark and requiring the city to destroy any materials containing the new name. The lawsuit is also seeking unspecified damages and fees.

PHOTO: A man checks flight information signs at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) in San Francisco, CA, Feb. 4, 2024. (Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu via Getty Images)

San Francisco has owned the U.S. federal trademark registration for the mark "San Francisco International Airport" with the first date of use in commerce in 1954, according to the city's lawsuit.

In a countersuit filed on Thursday, Port of Oakland asked the court to rule that SFO's trademark does not extend to the use of "San Francisco Bay" and argued that other places have several airports whose names begin with the same geographic identifier, such as London, Paris, Beijing, Chicago and Dallas.

"The San Francisco's City Attorney's decision to pursue litigation is an attempt to stop consumer education, prevent expanded air travel options for Bay Area residents and visitors, and is a misguided use of San Francisco taxpayer dollars," Port Attorney Mary Richardson said in a statement. "OAK is committed to enhancing its airline routes and increasing competition for the benefit of all of San Francisco Bay Area's visitors and residents, including those residing in the City and County of San Francisco. We stand ready and willing to partner with SFO to increase choices for travelers and invite any productive dialogue to this end."

MORE: Famous authors' lawsuit against ChatGPT developer gets underway

The Port of Oakland's lawsuit is not seeking any financial compensation or damages.

In a statement to ABC News, Jen Kwart, a spokesperson for the San Francisco City Attorney's Office, said it is "disappointing that Oakland chose this path and has ignored our multiple offers to collaborate on alternative names and avoid litigation."

"We have strong federal trademark infringement claims against Oakland, and they have given us no choice but to move forward with next steps in our lawsuit," the statement continued.

There were 11.2 million passengers who came through Oakland's airport in 2023, while San Francisco's airport saw 50 million passengers last year.

Oakland airport name change moves forward amid legal challenge from San Francisco originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Faith leaders and politicians Thursday called former President Donald Trump sacrilegious for selling Bibles while on the campaign trial as the Biden campaign continues to try and rally support to turn North Carolina blue.

Speaking at Rockwell A.M.E. Zion Church in Charlottes Derita neighborhood, ministers slammed Trump for his promotion of the God Bless the USA Bible and encouraged their congregations to rally behind President Joe Bidens reelection campaign.

We are called to call out wolves in sheeps clothing, and that is what we have been called to do in this campaign, said Rev. Dr. J. Elvin Sadler, general secretary-auditor of The AME Zion Church.

The Biden campaign has made North Carolina, and Mecklenburg County, a major focus point of its 2024 strategy as Democrats hope to carry the state in a presidential race for the first time since 2008. Campaign officials, strategists and local and state Democrats have said increasing turnout in the Charlotte area will be key to a swing state victory for Biden.

On Thursday, Sadler said he believes churches can play a part in getting Biden to victory.

In the African American community, the church has always been the voice for our people, and the pulpit has always been a place where truth has been spoken, he said. It calls on people to be galvanized and to go into the streets and to encourage and empower others to vote. Thats what were going to do this year.

Its a strategy that could help energize Bidens base and attract some swing voters but that may fall flat with other religious voters, one expert said.

Faith leaders: Trump is sacrilegious

Multiple speakers Thursday criticized Trump for selling a Bible during the campaign.

Trump began promoting the God Bless the USA Bible, inspired by the Lee Greenwood song of the same name, on his Truth Social platform in March, the Associated Press reported. The Bible sells for $59.99 and also includes copies of the U.S. Constitution, the Bill of Rights, the Declaration of Independence, the Pledge of Allegiance and the lyrics to Greenwoods song.

The website where the book is sold says it uses Donald J. Trumps name, likeness and image under paid license from CIC Ventures LLC, the AP reported. Trump reported owning CIC Ventures LLC in his 2023 financial disclosure.

Sadler called Trumps involvement with the venture offensive and sacrilegious.

Faith leaders like me across the political spectrum agree that Trump peddling these Bibles is blasphemous and disgusting  You cant hold a Bible in one hand that promotes love while harboring hate for humanity, he said.

Rev. David Ortigoza, an associate pastor at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, said Trump is enriching himself while running an extremely dangerous campaign by profiting from Bible sales.

Trump has used our faith to benefit himself  doing the exact opposite of what the Bible tells us is right, he said.

Charlotte City Council member Malcolm Graham said he felt he had a moral obligation to stand with the ministers against Trump  who he said had implemented a dangerous agenda that hurt Black America while in office. The reason was because of his sister, Cynthia Graham Hurd. She was one of nine people shot and killed by Dylann Roof at a Charleston, South Carolina, church in 2015. Roof was sentenced to death for the racially motivated murders.

That attack was not only on those who were there, but it was an attack on a race of people that look like me. Thats why Im speaking out today, because theres too much at stake in this election (than) to stay on the sidelines and simply be quiet. I want to be a voice for Cynthia and the eight others, he said.

Sadler, Ortigoza and other speakers claimed that Biden has done more for North Carolinas Black and Latino communities in his time in office than Trump did, citing unemployment rates, student loan forgiveness and compromise legislation on gun safety.

Trump campaign spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt said in a statement responding to the event that Biden waged a years-long assault on Christianity, citing his support for abortion rights and declaration for Trans Visibility Day on Easter Sunday.

President Trump will restore the Christian conservative values of faith, family, and freedom, end Bidens discrimination against Christians, and stand up for religious freedom, as he did in his first term, she said.

Can churches boost Biden in NC?

Appealing to voters through churches, particularly predominantly Black churches, could help energize Bidens base, said Chris Cooper, a Western Carolina University political science professor. And that could be big for the president given lackluster Black turnout in recent elections, he said, particularly in Mecklenburg County.

In some ways, its an obvious strategy, he said. And thats not an insult. It just seems like a natural pressure point to push Trump.

Sadler believes that message can appeal to all people with a moral spiritual compass not just Black churches.

Churches all across the state of all different hues, all different faith traditions are going to come together to make sure that were speaking for whats right for North Carolina and for America, he said.

Could religion swing anti-Trump Republicans to Biden?

Michael Tucker attended Thursdays event wearing a shirt from former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haleys now-shuttered campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

Tucker said he previously worked with the Mecklenburg Republican Party but left in 2020 over Trump. Tucker described himself as one of the permanently barred, a reference to Trumps comments about Haley supporters being unwelcome in the Republican Party during the primaries.

He said hes not particularly religious, but the Biden campaigns message Thursday appealed to his morality. Tucker added, it could draw in other principled conservatives who typically vote Republican but also dont like Trump.

We have to stand up and actually say were going to vote against you until the Republican Party can pick a viable candidate that actually respects the values of democracy and decency and moral integrity, he said.

Cooper said its unlikely that Biden will be able to sway evangelical voters who tend to be die-hard Republicans away from Trump.

The evangelical community wants people who further their policy goals, like most people. Even if that comes in the packaging of a Donald Trump, who may seem like an unlikely messenger, he said.

It would be a good sign for Biden if the strategy can get voters like Tucker to listen and actually vote Democrat on Election Day, Cooper added.

The difference between staying home for a Republican and showing up voting for Biden could very well be the difference between winning and losing a purple state like North Carolina, he said.
YANGON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar authorities have seized 454,100 stimulant tablets in northern Myanmar's Kachin State, according to a statement from the Central Committee for Drug Abuse Control (CCDAC) on Friday.

Acting on a tip-off, anti-narcotics police intercepted a vehicle in Mohnyin Township of Kachin State on May 6 and confiscated the drugs and three mobile phones.

The seized drugs are worth over 681 million kyats (about 324,285 U.S. dollars).

Three suspects were arrested for the case, the CCDAC said, adding they were charged under the Southeast Asian country's Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Law, and further investigations were underway. 
Russia's recently launched operations in Kharkiv Oblast look like a simulation of a large-scale attack with the use of limited resources or reconnaissance-in-force, a senior Ukrainian official said on May 10.

"The situation is under the control of the defense forces," Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council, said on Telegram.

Early on May 10, Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported that Russian forces launched an attempt to break through in Kharkiv Oblast. President Volodymyr Zelensky later confirmed that Russia was carrying out new offensive operations in the area.

"At the moment, it looks exactly like a simulation of a large-scale attack by the enemy with the use of limited forces and means, like reconnaissance-in-force," Kovalenko said.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

Kovalenko warned that the military operation is accompanied by a Russian information campaign that claims kilometers-deep breakthroughs. This is designed to sow panic in the information vacuum, he said.

"In some places, the situation is complicated, but under the control of our forces," Kovalenko noted.

Ukrainska Pravda reported that, according to undisclosed military sources, Russian forces captured the border villages of Strilecha, Krasne, Pylne, and Borysivka as they attempt to push toward Vovchansk.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said instead that border settlements are in a "grey zone" and hostilities are ongoing there but that no ground was lost at the moment.

Read also: Defense Ministry: Russian forces attempt breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
SPRINGFIELD  Illinois prison officials Friday indicated Stateville Correctional Center could close as early as September under a plan to dismantle the sprawling facility as well as a downstate womens prison before rebuilding both in a nearly $1 billion project that could take as long as five years to complete.

Its been only about two months since Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced the plans to rebuild Stateville and Logan correctional centers, citing the age and deteriorating condition of the facilities, and the timeline presented at a hearing Friday would depend on a number of factors.

Funding to start the project still has to be approved as part of Pritzkers proposed $52.7 billion budget, which legislators are attempting to complete negotiations on before a scheduled May 24 adjournment. The Illinois Department of Corrections is asking for $161 million for the upcoming budget year that begins July 1 for the project at Stateville and nearly $80 million for Logan.

The Commission on Government Forecasting and Accountability, which has an advisory role in the process, wont make its recommendations for the project until some time in mid-June. At some point before then, two community-based meetings need to be scheduled to solicit public input on the proposal.

State Rep. C.D. Davidsmeyer, a Republican from downstate Jacksonville who co-chairs COGFA, expressed concerns about the timing of the plan to IDOC officials during a Friday hearing. He also accused the agency of being less than transparent about plans for Logan.

Those plans include moving Logan from its longtime location in Lincoln, about 30 miles northeast of Springfield, to the Stateville property in Crest Hill, near Joliet. That proposal was criticized by some downstate officials who fear it could deprive the city of Lincoln of more job opportunities, especially following the closure of Lincoln College and impending shutdown of Lincoln Christian University.

With the timeline that were required to follow via COGFA, that puts us in the last week of May, which is traditionally the busiest week in Springfield, said Davidsmeyer. You put the members of COGFA in a situation where we almost have to choose whether we allow the communities to be heard in a way they need to be heard, or whether we come here and do our job to pass a budget.

Acting IDOC Director Latoya Hughes replied that it wasnt her agencys intention to put COGFA members in a difficult situation, but testified that the agency still intends to close Stateville and move people incarcerated there to other facilities after the legislative panel makes its recommendations.

Its important for us to note that as we move through this process, theres certain pieces of information we have at certain times and certain pieces of information were still developing because this is the first time in a very long time that were rebuilding facilities, and so were moving through this process in a (systematic) way, Hughes said.

IDOC has said the transition of incarcerated people and staff will cost about $7 million for both facilities combined, and the agency said the plan would help the state avoid hundreds of millions of dollars in deferred maintenance costs.

IDOC has also said moving Logan to the Stateville site would provide a better geographical balance for womens prisons in the state by providing a northern facility to pair with Decatur Correctional Center for women, which is about 36 miles from Logans location in Lincoln. Under the plan, people incarcerated at Logan would remain there until the new prison is built.

At Fridays hearing, IDOC officials unveiled a five-year estimated timeline for its project. Davidsmeyer raised concerns over whether the project will take more than five years to complete. He noted that his district touches the Mississippi River at the Missouri border, and said it takes about three years for Missouri to build a bridge and seven years in Illinois.

Its very hard for me to believe that were going to build a  secure facility any quicker than we can build a bridge, he said.

Hughes responded that Davidsmeyer made a very valid point and noted IDOC officials have to work with the states Capital Development Board, the agency that oversees state-funded construction projects, to understand all of the steps and the process and the time it takes to go through all of that.

IDOC has previously said Logan employees could be relocated to anticipated department openings within a 90-mile radius of their current workplace. The IDOC recommendations have maintained that no employees are expected to lose their jobs unless they voluntarily choose a layoff. More than 450 people are staffed at Logan Correctional Center and 939 are employed at Stateville, IDOC said.

But Michael Newman, deputy director of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31, which represents prison employees, testified that IDOCs plan would needlessly and drastically disrupt the lives of the departments employees, the lives of individuals who are currently incarcerated, their families and the economic well-being of several communities.

He said uncertainties remain over how the plan would affect employees travel plans if theyre transferred to other facilities, as well as safety issues for employees and people incarcerated, among other things.

Every available indicator shows that our states prisons are becoming more dangerous for the employees who work in them, and for the individuals in custody as well, said Newman. Relocating all of those individuals from Stateville to correctional facilities throughout the state will only make this problem worse, as many of these facilities are already experiencing violent incidents at a time when they are seriously understaffed.

Newman said the plan has been presented as a done deal and there hasnt been any other alternatives presented to AFSCME.

State Sen. David Koehler, a Democrat from Peoria who co-chairs COGFA, acknowledged that both the union and IDOC agree that new prisons are needed but the question remains on how to agree on achieving that goal.

Wouldnt it be a nice model for Illinois to represent to see how we could do that as a cooperative, collaborative process? Koehler said. Because I think there is a way to get there. I just dont hear it come to a focal point. So I guess thats a challenge I throw up to (IDOC) and to the union. So if we all agree on the end result, lets figure out a way to get there through a collaborative process.
Pine Ridge is located in southwestern South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The town has a population just under 3,000 and is the headquarters of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

Pine Ridge is located in southwestern South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. The town has a population just under 3,000 and is the headquarters of the Oglala Sioux Tribe. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)

The Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety is funded at 15% of its needs, its acting chief told appropriators with the U.S. House of Representatives this week.

John Pettigrew testified that the funding shortfall  over which his tribe has twice sued the federal government  means a force at less than half strength and causes tribal members to wait 30 minutes to an hour on average for non-emergency service.

Emergency calls can sometimes take just as long if officers are tied up with another incident miles away on the reservation, which is larger in area than the state of Delaware.

John Pettigrew, acting police chief for the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. (courtesy U.S. House of Representatives Interior Appropriations)

John Pettigrew, acting police chief for the Oglala Sioux Tribe Department of Public Safety. (Courtesy House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee)

Five minutes is a lifetime when youre fighting for your life, let alone 30 minutes, Pettigrew told members of the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee on Wednesday.

Pettigrew was one of six South Dakota-based tribal leaders to speak during two days of hearings on the needs of Indian Country.

Each spoke of the gulf between federal funding and need in law enforcement and education, the latter of which is funded on a per-student basis at less than a third the rate for the children of active-duty military families, according to information presented during the hearings.

Native American tribal nations in South Dakota derive most of their funding for basic public services from the federal government, through treaty provisions dating to the 1800s.

In addition to the statistics on wait times, Pettigrew told the committee that his agency fielded nearly 30,000 more calls for service last year than the year before, that his departments evidence room holds more than 100 weapons seized from Oglala reservation schools, and that his officers are overworked, underpaid and on the verge of burnout.

That can be a tough pill to swallow for tribal police, he said, particularly when officers with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Federal Bureau of Investigation and state-level agencies make more money.

What were asking for is a budget correction to bring us up to par with our federal and state counterparts, Pettigrew said. To be real, I know this will never happen, but something needs to, because 15% is a crazy number. We are not asking for more than we need. Fifteen percent is a joke.

Rosebud: 15 police, 20 more needed

Law enforcement was also the lead story for Shere Wright-Plank, vice chair of the tribal council for the Oglalas neighboring Rosebud Sioux Tribe.

The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has half the tribal police officers, with twice the population and three times the violent crime suffered back in the year 2000, she said.

It is evident that the current funding allocated to the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the tribal police, approximately $565 million nationwide, falls significantly short of meeting the real law enforcement needs in Indian country.

Last year at this time, Rosebud Tribal Chairman Scott Herman reminded the committee that BIAs law enforcement budget should be at least at $1.2 billion. Wright-Plank said the shortfall indirectly affects non-tribal law enforcement.

While the country grapples with increased drug and human trafficking, tribes remain a gap in the law enforcement effort, a gap that the federal government is obligated to close, she said.

Rosebud recently declared a state of emergency for public safety, she said, as Oglala did late last year. On her reservation, Wright-Plank said, there are 15 tribal police officers, and we urgently require an additional 20 officers and detention personnel.

While we strive for economic development, the pervasive issue of drug and alcohol abuse continues to hinder our progress, she said.

Educators: State schools come out ahead

Cecilia Fire Thunder is president of the Oglala Lakota Nation Education Coalition, president of the Little Wound School Board and a member of the board of directors for Oglala Lakota College.

In her written testimony, Fire Thunder compared federal and state funding for schools. The Oglala Lakota County School District is her reservations only state-funded school system, while other schools are either federally or privately supported.

Per-student funding for the state schools is about $16,080, she wrote, citing a 2023 study from EducationData.org. The federal government funded Indian students at $6,910.

Indian student funding is dwarfed compared to the only other fully funded federal education system, the Department of Defense Education Agency, which is funded at $25,000 per student, she wrote.

Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs have shown promise in Indian Country, according to Troy Lunderman of Rosebuds St. Francis Indian School.

Lunderman is human resources director for the school, which launched a CTE program this year.

Absenteeism among CTE students is half the rate it was for them the year before, he told the committee, and the school has seen increases in 90% of the students GPAs.

In some cases, some of them had Fs, and now some of them are on the honor roll, he said.

CTE programs can work for students like those he used to meet in his former role as a social worker, he said. He spoke of one dropout he worked with in that role who struggled with algebra and science in the classroom setting.

That student never returned to school.

If CTE was available back then for this student in particular, who enjoyed being a mechanic, with different types of math and different types of science, he probably would have succeeded, Lunderman said.

But the federal Perkins program, he said, allocates just $16 million nationwide for tribal CTE programs.

Federal funding is also lacking for school resource officers, he said. The St. Francis school gets money through the Indian School Equalization Program (ISEP), but Lunderman told the committee that schools too often need to tap into that funding to pay officers, maintenance and nutrition staff.

In his written testimony, Lunderman said BIA schools need at least a 50% increase in that funding source.

Without a significant increase in ISEP funding, Indian students will continue to fall further behind their non-Indian peers, he wrote.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Oglala police chief calls tribal law enforcement funding a joke in congressional testimony appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
COLUMBUS, Ohio  JUNE 07: State Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, speaks during the Ohio Senate session, June 7, 2023, at the Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

Ohio lawmakers signed off on changes to the military seal for high school diplomas on Wednesday. But the bills most notable provision was a last minute amendment regarding cellphones in K-12 schools that caught a ride on the non-controversial measure.

Recently, Gov. Mike DeWine urged lawmakers to address cellphones in classrooms during his state of the state address. Now, about a month later, those changes are headed to his desk.

Some lawmakers casually refer to the changes as a cellphone ban, but thats a bit of a misnomer. Instead, the law directs every district to develop a written policy aimed at minimizing phone use during school hours and potential distractions during class instruction.

The bill also includes an exception for students who need a phone to assist in learning or to track a health concern, so long as it is reflected in their individual education plan.

On the Senate floor, the cellphone provisions chief backer, Sen. Andrew Brenner, R-Delaware, explained the legislation does not require districts to adopt a ban on all students cell phone use, though that is an option if the school district chooses to do so.

He added that those districts with cellphone policies in place dont need to change them so long as the policy emphasize(s) minimal use and least amount of distraction.

The language also directs the Department of Education and Workforce to develop a model policy informed by evidence-based research on the effects of smartphones and classrooms, that districts may choose to adopt as their policy if they wish to do so, Brenner said.

COLUMBUS, Ohio  JANUARY 10: Newly sworn in State Rep. Beryl Brown Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna. (Photo by Graham Stokes for Ohio Capital Journal)

Across the hall in the House, Rep. Tracy Richardson, R-Marysville, emphasized how their approach gives districts direction without being prescriptive.

Each school district is required to create their own policy, thus ensuring  and let me make this very clear  local control, she said.

Up until this January, Rep. Beryl Piccolantonio, D-Gahanna, was serving as president of the Gahanna-Jefferson School Board, and she described the changes as critically important.

A frequent issue that was raised to us by staff, and by students, quite frankly, was how difficult it was for staff to enforce their own classroom policies because they didnt have broader support to back up that enforcement.

She praised the measure for giving districts the flexibility to develop their own approaches to deal with the issue. Highlighting a recent take your child to work day event where kids debated cellphones in schools, she noted even some of the students acknowledge the distraction that cellphones have within their classroom.

Follow OCJ Reporter Nick Evans on Twitter.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Ohio lawmakers approve cellphones in school measure appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
COLUMBUS - The Ohio Senate passed Senate Bill 145 this week to designate a portion of Refugee Road in Fairfield County as the Corporal David A. Johnston Memorial Highway.

Corporal Johnston was a 1967 graduate of Pickerington High School and was killed in action in South Vietnam on March 3, 1969.

A clipping from the Oct. 16, 1969 Lancaster Eagle-Gazette

The bill was sponsored by State Senator Tim Schaffer (R-Lancaster).

"There is a reason Corporal Johnston was awarded the Bronze Star after his death in combat," Schaffer said in a news release. "His acts of valor under the most trying circumstances imaginable make him the true definition of a hometown hero. Even though it has been 55 years, it is important to honor Corporal Johnston so that generations to come will know of his selfless sacrifice."

Corporal Johnston served in the United States Marine Corps as a member of Mike Company, Third Battalion, Fifth Regiment, First Marine Division.

State erects sign on I-70 honoring Pickerington Marine killed in Iraq

He was Pickerington High Schools only casualty during the Vietnam War and is the namesake of American Legion Post 283 in Pickerington.

"The stretch of highway stated in Senate Bill 145 fronts our Post home and is important to not only our members, but to the only living immediate family members, a sister and brother, of David A. Johnston," according to David England of the American Legion Post 283. "It would be a great sense of pride to the veterans of the Post who honorably served our country and most certainly his sister and brother."

This article originally appeared on Lancaster Eagle-Gazette: Bill passes to designate a memorial highway in honor of Pickerington veteran
Ohio has the rare opportunity to see the aurora borealis, or the northern lights, tonight.

As reported on News Center 7 at 11, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Prediction Center has issued a warning for a severe geomagnetic storm for Friday evening. There could be other solar eruptions causing similar conditions through the weekend. This is the strongest such storm since 2005.

Tonight, the northern lights may be visible as far south as Ohio. We wont be able to see the vibrant green or reds that folks further to the north will see, but a faint glow along the northern horizon is possible tonight.

Those who would like to try and see the lights should find an open area with a clear view of the northern horizon. Youll need to be far away from city lights. Allow your eyes time to adjust for the best chances of seeing the lights. Our best chance at seeing the lights will come between 11 PM and 4 AM.

Our problem locally will be cloud cover. A system approaching from the northwest will bring increasing clouds right during peak viewing time from 11 PM to 4 AM tonight.

Several solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME) are causing scientists to warn about the effects of a severe solar storm.

What caused the storms?

This week a large sunspot cluster has produced several moderate to strong solar flares, NOAA said. Five were linked to CMEs that were heading in our direction. The sunspot in question is about 16 times the diameter of Earth, according to the AP.

What is a CME?

A CME is a coronal mass ejection, which is a blast of plasma and magnetic fields from the suns corona. The ejections can have billions of tons of plasma, the AP reported.

What can a CME affect?

A CME can disrupt communication, the power grid, and navigation, as well as radio and satellite operations. They can also cause aurora displays around the globe as far south as Alabama and Northern California, NOAA said.

As far as the worst situation expected here at Earth, thats tough to say and I wouldnt want to speculate on that, said Shawn Dahl, a NOAA space weather forecaster, according to the AP. However, the severe level is pretty extraordinary, Its a very rare event to happen.

A 2003 geomagnetic storm took out power in Sweden and damaged power transformers in South Africa, the AP reported.
Due to a threat of severe weather on Friday, the Okaloosa County School District will start classes three hours later than normal.

The decision stems from conversations between the district and Okaloosa County Director of Public Safety Patrick Maddox. According to the latest forecast from the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama, this area is expected to experience three rounds of severe weather beginning Thursday about 7 p.m.

Lines of thunderstorms are expected to move across the southeastern U.S. over the next two days, the National Weather Service said Thursday, May 9, 2024.

Officials are concerned about the third round, which is expected to affect this area between 6 and 11 a.m. Friday. Forecasters predict the storms could have damaging winds of up to 60 mph and quarter-sized hail.

Related coverage: Severe thunderstorms expected across North Florida Thursday night, Friday, forecasters say

If your child rides a bus to school, they should be at the bus stop three hours later than normal. All other students can arrive after that three-hour postponement.

"This change to tomorrows schedule is to ensure our students and employees arrive at school safely," said the district in a statement. "Additionally, we understand that during this time of year, our schools are engaged in end of year state testing; all such testing will be rescheduled by the school and you will be provided with the information."

Schools will not serve breakfast due to the delay, but lunch will be served as usual.

Students are expected to be dismissed from school at their usual times.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Okaloosa County Schools delay start times Friday due to severe storms
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  The Oklahoma County District Attorneys office has filed charges against a manager of a tow wrecker service after towing a womans van in 2023 and allegedly failing to notify her until 2024.

Steffani Poston said back in March of 2023, she let her brother borrow her van; and that he had to abandon it at a Southwest Oklahoma City business after accidentally flooding it out. Poston said she was able to arrange a pick up for the following day, but when a friend showed up to help her out  the van was gone.

Red Cross response update: Oklahoma tornadoes

I called a buddy and he got his tow truck and went to pick it up and the tow truck said there isnt any [car] there, said Poston.

Diva Salon parking lot Poston's van was towed from {KFOR}.

Court documents said Poston filed a stolen vehicle report with Oklahoma City Police.

Poston said she assumed shed likely never see the van again until getting a certified letter in the mail from a wrecker service named Tow Mate LLC March 14 of 2024.

Its a notice that this tow company has my mom van and has had it for a year, said Poston.

Documents and a copy of the letter reviewed by News 4 said Poston owed Tow Mate a little over $6,000 for storage fees for her 2005 Dodge Caravan.

That was the first notification Id ever gotten from them, said Poston.

Documents said the certified letter was sent to Postons previous address and was given to her by the current owner. Documents did specify however that the certified notification wasnt sent until March 7 of 2024 and notarized the day before.

Documents note that state law requires all Class AA wrecker services to notify the owner of a towed vehicle within seven days of receiving requested information from Service Oklahoma, regarding the owners information. Documents said Tow Mate LLC is listed on the Oklahoma Department of Public Safetys website as a Class AA wrecker service.

Follow the rules, said Poston. To just keep it for a year and not tell nobody and not care, thats not acceptable, not now and not ever.

News 4 employees stopped by Tow Mate LLC hoping to make contact with Mehdi Abesi whos named as the manager in court documents. An employee told News 4 employees that they could not comment on the case per advice from an attorney.

Recent quakes explained as aftershocks from earthquake months ago

News 4 asked the employee for that attorneys number for a formal statement or comment on the case, but that employee declined to share the information.

Online records said a relative of Abesi posted their $500 bond.

Abesi is facing a charge of removal of abandoned motor vehicle by a wrecker and towing service; specifically in relation to failing to notify the victim; causing the victim to file a stolen vehicle report.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
LEXINGTON, Okla (KFOR)  On Friday, The Oklahoma Department of Corrections (ODOC) officials confirmed, Lexington Assessment and Reception Center Deputy Warden Tasha Parker was arrested for the introduction of contraband into a penal institution.

According to the DOC, Parker was terminated from her position.

ODOC officials released the following statement following Deputy Warden Tasha Parker termination and arrest:

Image of tasha parker

ODOC diligently removes bad actors who endanger public safety. Recent updates to security measures, using innovative technology, help us protect our inmates and staff. Our Intelligence Unit works actively to stop illegal activity in and around our facilities, even if it involves an employee. Oklahoma Department of Corrections

Image of tasha parker being arrested

image of tasha parker being arrested

Director Steven Harpe saying, The overwhelming majority of ODOCs employees are dedicated to our mission and vision. However, we will continue to hold accountable those who fail to protect the safety and security of Oklahomans by not following our policies or state laws, said Director Steven Harpe

Parker has been booked into Cleveland County Detention Center.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
One of Cold Stone Creamerys ice cream flavors is at the center of a legal dispute

(NEXSTAR)  Cold Stone Creamerys pistachio-flavored ice cream is at the center of a proposed class-action lawsuit which alleges that the flavors description is misleading  as it contains no actual pistachio.

Cold Stones parent company, Kahala, had previously filed a motion to dismiss, though the request was denied by a judge in the Eastern District of New York last week.

[This case] raises a deceptively complex question about the reasonable expectations of plaintiff and like-minded ice cream aficionados, wrote Judge Gary R. Brown in his May 2 decision.

The plaintiff, according to court documents, had initially purchased Cold Stone Creamerys pistachio ice cream from a location in Levittown, New York, in July 2022, at which point she reasonably believed that the Pistachio ice cream she purchased from defendant contained pistachio. She filed a legal complaint at the end of the year, after learning the product was flavored with a pistachio flavoring which contained no actual pistachio.

Had she known that the Product did not contain pistachio, she would not have purchased it, or would have paid significantly less for it, according to a complaint submitted on the plaintiffs behalf, according to court documents cited in last weeks decision.

Bubblegum is a mix of flavors. Can you guess what they are?

Attorneys for the defense had filed a motion to dismiss, urging the court to consider several other dismissed cases centered around vanilla-flavored products which were made without the use of vanilla bean.

Judge Brown, however, decided that the plaintiff had more of a reasonable expectation of receiving actual pistachio in her pistachio ice cream, citing several elements that weighed in her favor: the absence of any in-store signage indicating a lack of pistachios; the definition of pistachio as a nut and a color, but not a flavor; and the fact that other popular ice cream brands include pistachios in their pistachio ice cream.

In an amended complaint, the plaintiff also provided a survey of over 400 consumers, 85% of whom assumed that pistachio would be a likely ingredient in pistachio ice cream.

[] plaintiff has alleged claims of deceptive practices under the [New York General Business Law] which are plausible on their face, the judge decided.

Lawyers for Cold Stone Creamerys parent company had filed a motion to dismiss the case, though the motion was denied last week. (Getty Images)

A representative for Kahala did not return a request for comment on Friday, nor did the company respond to a query concerning the composition of its pistachio ice cream. In an allergen guide found on Cold Stones website, the only major allergen listed in its pistachio ice cream is milk, but not any tree nuts (a group which includes pistachios). The ingredients also indicate the product is made with pistachio flavoring consisting of water, ethanol, propylene glycol, natural and artificial flavor, Yellow 5 and Blue 1.

Natural flavor, meanwhile, does not necessarily indicate that a product is made with the flavor it is most associated with, but rather a flavoring agent that was derived naturally. (Vanilla flavoring, for instance, can be naturally derived from clove or straw, as discussed in the chemistry journal Molecules.)

Panera to drop Charged Lemonade after multiple lawsuits

The judges decision did not indicate when the case could go to trial. His decision also did not expressly state how much the plaintiff may be seeking in monetary damages, rather than unspecified relief for a putative class of ice cream eaters and their sorbet allies, he wrote.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
This photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Tianshengcheng section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)

A drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Kangtugou section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng)

A drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Kangtugou section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Kangtugou section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

This photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Tianshengcheng section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Kangtugou section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Li Zhipeng)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Kangtugou section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Lian Zhen)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows the Kangtugou section of the Great Wall in Guyang County, north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. The Great Wall built in the Qin Dynasty (221 B.C.-207 B.C.) in Guyang County is well preserved thanks to its rock structure and the protection efforts made by local departments. (Xinhua/Liu Lei)
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment . . . I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible.

 Dr. Daniel Grossman, University of California San Francisco

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Sriha Srinivasan holds up a box of Opill on March 22, the first day it became available locally at a local drugstore.

Sriha Srinivasan, 21, holds up a box of Opill on March 22, the first day it became available locally at a local drugstore. (Courtesy of Sriha Srinivasan)

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Louisiana Illuminator.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on North Dakota Monitor.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. Photo illustration by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images.

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
ts been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of research at the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan / Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Source New Mexico.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

Sriha Srinivasan, 21, holds up a box of Opill on March 22, the first day it became available locally at a local drugstore. (Courtesy of Sriha Srinivasan)

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, leading Free the Pill. His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Michigan Advance.
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves

Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the country until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day. If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Daniel Grossman, director of the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, and is part of the steering committee of Free the Pill.

His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Kansas Reflector.
BUDAPEST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Wednesday for a state visit to Hungary, the third leg of his six-day trip to Europe through Friday.

The following are some highlights of Xi's remarks and statements, as well as important agreements reached between the two countries during the visit.

ON CHINA-HUNGARY RELATIONS

-- Hungary is one of the first countries to recognize New China. Since the establishment of their diplomatic ties, China and Hungary have always respected each other, treated each other as equals, and pursued mutual benefit.

-- China-Hungary relations have maintained steady development over the past 75 years. The two sides should sum up valuable experience and chart the course forward. First, both sides should treat each other as equals, follow a development path suited to their respective national conditions, and firmly hold their destiny in their own hands. China-Hungary friendship from generation to generation does not target any third party, nor should it be dictated by any third party. Second, the two countries should uphold mutual trust and mutual assistance, always understand each other, and firmly support each other in safeguarding their respective sovereignty, security, and development interests. Third, the two sides should adhere to win-win cooperation, expand cooperation in various fields within the framework of the Belt and Road cooperation, and synergize their respective development strategies. Both countries should also uphold fairness and justice, stand on the right side of history, and strive to make positive contributions to the cause of peace and development of mankind.

-- China-Hungary relations are currently at the best period in history and their comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained high-level development. With deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields, the two countries have set a model for building a new type of international relations.

-- This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary, ushering in a new and important opportunity for the development of bilateral relations.

-- China and Hungary have always been good friends that trust and support each other as well as good partners that seek win-win cooperation over the years. It is natural for the two countries to further upgrade relations and enrich bilateral cooperation.

-- The two sides should take the establishment of the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era as an opportunity to inject new and strong impetus into bilateral cooperation and create a better future for the two peoples.

-- In order to enrich the China-Hungary all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, the two sides are committed to enhancing synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Hungary's "Eastern Opening" policy.

ON COOPERATION, EXCHANGES

-- The traditional friendship has taken deep roots in the hearts of the people, and cooperation in various fields has yielded fruitful outcomes.

-- Leveraging mechanisms and platforms such as the Belt and Road Cooperation Promotion Center, the two sides will pursue deeper and more substantive progress in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, jointly ensure the safety and security and smooth progress of relevant cooperation projects between the two countries, and strive for more fruitful results in practical cooperation.

-- The two sides should continue supporting the teaching of both countries' languages.

-- China is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and coordination with Hungary.

-- In recent years, the two sides have seen frequent high-level exchanges, deepening mutual trust, fruitful outcomes in Belt and Road cooperation, vibrant people-to-people and cultural exchanges, and close coordination and collaboration in international and regional affairs.

-- China welcomes Hungarian friends to board the "express train" of Chinese modernization, and stands ready to work with Hungary to continuously deepen political mutual trust, promote greater synergy between Chinese modernization and Hungary's Eastern Opening strategy, tap the potential of practical cooperation, and continuously expand bilateral exchanges in various fields.

-- China is willing to work with Hungary to continuously lead in the right direction of the Belt and Road cooperation as well as cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries, and to deepen and substantiate bilateral cooperation.

-- Hungary is welcomed to be China's companion on its path to Chinese modernization, which will surely bring more opportunities to Hungary and other countries in the world.

-- China is willing to jointly forge greater synergy in development strategies with Hungary, make good use of mechanisms such as the China-Hungary Inter-Governmental Belt and Road Cooperation Committee, promote orderly cooperation in fields including infrastructure and green energy, complete the construction of the Hungary-Serbia Railway on schedule, and actively expand cooperation in emerging areas such as clean energy and artificial intelligence.

-- The cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) has a strong internal driving force. It is hoped that Hungary will continue to play an important role in promoting the China-CEEC cooperation to better benefit people of various countries. 
Its been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates celebrate its availability, but say access is still lacking in terms of cost barriers and insurance coverage (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images).

Sriha Srinivasan remembers how surprised her mom was two years ago when she learned that birth control pills werent sold in stores without a prescription in the United States.

My parents are immigrants from India, and its been over the counter there since my mom can remember, said Srinivasan, a recent graduate of University of California Los Angeles.

More than 100 countries were already selling birth control without a prescription before the U.S. Food and Drug Administration  one year ago as of Thursday  approved Opill. Though the hormonal, over-the-counter birth control pill was approved in May 2023, it didnt reach online retailers or the shelves of major drug stores across the United States until a couple of months ago.

Opill is a progestin-only birth control pill, which is slightly different from the typical prescription of a progestin and estrogen combination pill. Dr. Kristin Lyerly, an OB-GYN in Green Bay, Wisconsin, said that means the oral contraceptive is still very safe and 98% effective, but the user has to be more diligent about making sure its taken at the same time every day.

If the time window is missed by three hours or more, there is a higher chance of unintended pregnancy, so she recommends that people use a backup form of protection for the next 48 hours while they get back on schedule.

Srinivasan, 21, gets health care coverage through her parents private insurance, but she said when she called clinics to see if she could get a birth control prescription last year, the first appointment that was available was six months out.

She happened to be working with Free the Pill, a group of reproductive health advocates and health care providers, on getting Opill approved by the FDA, so she decided to hold off.

Almost out of spite, I was like, Im going to wait and get this over the counter.

On March 22, just after Opill hit the U.S. market, Srinivasan drove with a friend to a nearby Walgreens to buy their first packs, which cost about $20 each. The two recorded a TikTok of themselves taking their first doses.

It was a very joyous and empowering moment to be able to take that for the first time, Srinivasan said.

Contraception access is key post-Dobbs, researcher says

Dr. Daniel Grossman, director of the Advancing New Standards in Reproductive Health program at the University of California San Francisco, has been at the forefront of the effort to get FDA approval for an over-the-counter birth control pill since 2004, and is part of the steering committee of Free the Pill.

His research efforts included a study showing that women who had direct access to the pill in areas like Texas border towns where people could cross into Mexico to get it directly stayed on it longer than those who needed a prescription. His research also found that people generally didnt support age restrictions, and the FDA approval for Opill does not have an age restriction.

Grossman said more access to contraception is important for overall reproductive health, but its especially important in the wake of the Dobbs decision in 2022 that overturned Roe v. Wade and led 14 states to enact near-total abortion bans.

Improved access to contraception isnt going to solve the crisis of abortion access that were currently facing, but that said, in this moment  when people in half of the states have very limited options for abortion care and there are growing threats on access to contraception  I think its important that we do everything we can to expand access to all methods of birth control where thats possible, Grossman said.

Aside from a few expected and manageable side effects, including headaches and light bleeding, Srinivasan said shes had a good experience with the pills and their availability so far. But theres room for improvement, she said, and Free the Pill is advocating for more cost assistance support and coverage from national private insurance companies.

Free the Pill launched an online petition this week to pressure President Joe Biden and his administration to require insurance plans to include coverage for Opill. It had 35,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon.

Srinivasan said she tried to apply for assistance but wasnt able to because she has insurance, and only those without any form of private or public insurance can apply. Qualifying applicants also have to have a household income at or below 200% of the federal poverty line, which is $15,060 for a single person. A 2022 survey from Advocates for Youth found that 1 in 3 of those surveyed cited affordability as one of the biggest barriers to accessing contraception.

At a $20 price point, its something I can afford because I have a job and I live in California, where the minimum wage is over $17 an hour, but its definitely not something my peers in other states can afford that easily, Srinivasan said. I hope they adjust that, because its definitely not reaching the people that it should be reaching right now.

The post One year after FDA approves over-the-counter birth control pill, advocates push for more access appeared first on Missouri Independent.




UPDATE: Presley has been located safe. Thank you for sharing!

OPELIKA, Ala. (WRBL) The Opelika Police Department is appealing to the community for assistance in locating 18-year-old Presley Shantrice Johnson, who was reported missing on Thursday May 9, 2024.

According to authorities, Johnson was last seen leaving Opelika High School at approximately 12:00 p.m. in a Black Ford Explorer. Concerns grew when her family was unable to establish contact with her and were unaware of her whereabouts or who she might have left with.

Described as a black female standing approximately 5-foot-5, Johnson has black hair and brown eyes. At the time of her disappearance, she was wearing blue jeans, a pink jacket, and white shoes.

MISSING: Search underway for juvenile last seen near Canty Place in Columbus

The Opelika Police Department has urged anyone with information regarding Johnsons location to come forward. They can be reached at (334) 705-5260. Alternatively, information can also be provided anonymously through the Secret Witness Hotline at (334) 745-8665 or submitted via the Opelika Police Mobile App.

The community is urged to remain vigilant and share any relevant information that could aid in locating Presley Shantrice Johnson and ensuring her safe return home.

Authorities have released photos of Johnson.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
Foreign policy wins under Joe Biden's administration have been in short supply. Yes, the president has done an admirable job cobbling together a durable coalition with Europe on behalf of Ukraine as it defends itself against Russias aggression. And unlike previous administrations, which paid lip service to the Indo-Pacific being a priority, Biden actually seems to believe it  the State Department and Pentagon have spent considerable time bringing East Asian allies onside and even brokered an entente of sorts between Japan and South Korea, two U.S. allies who had a years-long spat over World War II-era history.

Still, the kinds of grandiose diplomatic agreements that earn presidents privileged spots in the history books are nowhere to be found. Richard Nixon had his pivot to China and detente with the Soviet Union. Jimmy Carter had the Camp David Accords between Israel and Egypt. Ronald Reagan had the Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Mikhail Gorbachev. Bill Clinton had the Oslo Accords between the Israelis and Palestinians (although we all know how that turned out). Barack Obama had the Iran nuclear deal. Biden, so far, has nothing.

An Israel-Saudi normalization deal is supposed to change all that. In the administrations view, it would have transformational potential for the Middle East. Israel and Saudi Arabia, two of Washingtons closest partners in the region, would finally bring their relations out into the open after years in which they collaborated in the intelligence sphere. Biden, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) would all win: Biden would surpass the Trump administrations Abraham Accords; Netanyahu would earn the honor of being the Israeli premier who normalized the Jewish states ties with the most significant power in the Arab world; and MBS would get a crucial partner to contain Iranian influence.

Whats good for Bidens legacy, however, isnt necessarily whats good for the United States. While that may sound overly politicized, you only need to take a glance at what the U.S. would have to give up in order to get the deal Biden craves so badly.

First, its important to note just how difficult it will be to actually bring Israel-Saudi normalization to fruition. In fact, the phrase Israel-Saudi normalization is a bit deceptive because the U.S. and the Palestinians are also involved in the process. Before Oct. 7, Riyadh would likely have been content with extracting a few token concessions from Israel on behalf of the Palestinians in return for normalizing ties. But with more than 34,700 Palestinians killed, Gaza leveled under the weight of Israeli bombs and hunger a widespread problem in the territory  a problem that will only grow worse as Israeli forces begin operations in Rafah, where most of Gazas humanitarian aid flows in  MBS cant be perceived as turning his back on the Palestinian file. The Saudis are now demanding a credible, irreversible track for the implementation of a two-state solution as a price.

What a credible, irreversible track toward a two-state solution actually means is open for debate. But even a mere process might be too much for Netanyahu to contemplate. He is dead set against the establishment of a Palestinian state and has repeated that mantra many times over the last few months. Netanyahus political career is held entirely in the hands of ultranationalist ministers, like Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who seem to regard all Palestinians as terrorists and would rather annex Gaza and the West Bank into Israel. Netanyahu has little room to maneuver: He can either accede to Riyadhs demands on the Palestinian file and lose his coalition or keep his coalition intact and hope the Saudis change their position.

Even if the Palestinian issue gets resolved  there are rumors Riyadh might be willing to delink the Palestinian piece in order to salvage a U.S. defense guarantee, although the State Department denied such a scheme was in the works  its difficult to see why the agreement currently under discussion serves U.S. interests anyway.

The problem isnt Israel-Saudi normalization per se, but rather what the U.S. is willing to pay to get it. And frankly, the price is far too high for what the U.S. is getting in return.

The biggest issue on the table is the U.S. granting Saudi Arabia a security guarantee, in effect turning the kingdom into another welfare case relying on U.S. protection. That would be a great arrangement for the Saudis, of course. Short of possessing nuclear weapons, having a superpower committed to your defense is the best security umbrella a middle power can buy.

For Washington, however, this same arrangement runs high risks, not only because the U.S. would in effect be giving the Saudis perpetual protection in an extremely hostile region of the world but also because the entire plan could encourage Riyadh to embark on the kind of aggressive, destabilizing behavior it might otherwise avoid. International relations scholars call this very real phenomenon entrapment, whereby a state with a powerful security patron adopts risky policies they wouldnt normally take. Its the geopolitical equivalent of a teenager constantly getting into trouble, knowing full well his parents will bail him out regardless of what he does. With the mighty U.S. at his beck-and-call, MBS has less of an incentive to elevate restraint and pragmatism at the core of Saudi foreign policy.

Proponents of a U.S.-Saudi defense agreement stress that it will fall short of an explicit, NATO-style Article 5 commitment in which an attack on one is an attack on all. Thats a fair point; its unlikely the Senate would approve of such a commitment. But for the Saudis, this may be a distinction without a difference, particularly if thousands of U.S. troops are stationed on Saudi soil over a long period of time. In such a scenario, it would be highly difficult for the U.S. not to respond if Saudi Arabia were attacked. If that came to pass, Biden and any future U.S. president would be left with an unenviable choice: Dont respond and undermine the U.S.-Saudi relationship, or respond forcefully and get swept up into a conflict it would prefer to avoid.

Others are trying to sell a U.S-Saudi defense pact as a mutual defense commitment. In other words, if the U.S. were attacked somewhere in the region, Saudi Arabia would also come to Washingtons defense. But how credible is this argument? If a U.S. Navy vessel were struck by an Iranian missile in the Strait of Hormuz, does anybody really believe Riyadh would start shooting at Iranian targets on Americas behalf, particularly when MBS is now invested in normalizing the kingdoms ties to Tehran? The recent past shows us that Saudi Arabia is more than happy to take but is reticent to give. Whenever the U.S. has been at war in the region, whether it was against Saddam Husseins Iraq or the Islamic State, Saudi Arabia chose to stay on the sidelines.

Bidens need for a legacy item is understandable. Were living in a presidential election year, after all. But national interest should top legacy any day of the week.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Editors Note: Richard J. Davis was the Assistant Secretary of the Treasury in the Carter administration and former assistant Watergate special prosecutor. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion at CNN.

President Joe Biden appropriately spoke out forcefully about the need to combat the surge in antisemitism in the US, the importance of supporting Israels security and not forgetting the brutality of the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas during his speech at the US Holocaust Memorial Museums annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the Capitol on Tuesday.

My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad. Even when we disagree, he said.

Richard J. Davis - Courtesy Richard Davis

But if we are to fight against antisemitism, promote the long-term security of Israel and remember the horrors of the October 7 Hamas attack we must also recognize and speak out against a dangerous failure of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his government.

That failure is his inability to understand one of the basic requirements to establish long-term security for any society: those living there need to believe they have a stake in that society and can enjoy its benefits. If they do, they will want it to be as safe and secure as possible. If, however, many believe that they have no stake in a society and that they have no real hope of sharing in its success, then turning to violence to create a place in which they believe they can meaningfully participate is far more likely.

If Netanyahu understood this principle, his government would not include dangerous extremists and would not pursue policies involving the significant expansion of West Bank settlements and the recognition of illegal settlements which deny Palestinians hope for a better future. We also would not have to deal with the reality that efforts to support the long-term security of Israel, combat the scourge of antisemitism and address Gaza protests on campuses both in the US and abroad have been made more difficult by the extremism of the Netanyahu government.

Netanyahu, an outspoken critic of the 1993 Oslo Peace Accords, has spent his years as prime minister promoting the expansion of settlements within the West Bank and making it clear that Palestinians have no hope of anything like their own state.

According to the New York Times, he even went so far as to voice no objection to various Arab countries providing aid to Hamas as part of demonstrating that Israel had no realistic negotiating partner. But he reached a new low when in 2022 he brought into his government the most extreme anti-Palestinian participants in Israeli politics. Their inclusion sent the clear message to Palestinians that there is no hope of a better future for them in any Israeli-controlled-land.

Netanyahu invited Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir to join his government. The former was appointed finance minister and was given responsibility for West Bank settlements. He has, however, suggested during a debate on an immigration bill it was a mistake in 1948 not to expel all Arabs from Israel; has asserted that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people; favors all of the West Bank being incorporated into Israel; and says he supports the voluntary moving of Palestinians out of Gaza.

Ben Gvir, who has been given a national security portfolio, is arguably even worse. He has been convicted of inciting racism against Arabs and was an alleged member of a terrorist group; has idolized the killing of Palestinians; publicly threatened then-Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin before his assassination in 1995; and claimed that his right to travel in the West Bank was more important than the Palestinians right to travel. And, just late last month he reportedly questioned the Israeli Defense Forces why they were taking so many Palestinian prisoners instead of killing them (which would be a violation of international law).

After the October 7 terrorist attack, Netanyahu had an opportunity to remove Smotrich and Ben Gvir from their posts when the first offer from the opposition for a unity government involved their elimination from the cabinet. Seemingly focused on not disturbing his coalition and staying in power, Netanyahu refused. Consequently, his unity government today still gives a platform to these extremists. It also gives license to followers of these extremists to, as we have seen, attack Palestinians in the West Bank and even to attack a Jordanian aid convoy.

There is no doubt that a robust military response by Israel was justified. And there also is no doubt that Hamas embedding its fighters and military infrastructure within the civilian population has inevitably increased the dangers civilians face in Gaza. But as has been widely reported, the military tactics adopted by Netanyahus government have led to massive civilian casualties, including of international aid workers. Its approach to assistance to Gaza has led to a historic humanitarian crisis.

At the same time, Israel has continued with significant expansion of settlements on the West Bank. The message being sent is clear. As far as the Netanyahu administration is concerned, Palestinian lives do not matter, and there is no reason for them to expect a better future. As a result, however much Hamas is weakened, a new generation of terrorists is being created. And the brutality of the October 7 terrorist attack by Hamas and the plight of the hostages are being drowned out.

So what should those organizations and individuals who believe in Israel and the need to fight antisemitism, whether it be on college campuses or elsewhere, do? For their own efforts to be credible they must not avoid legitimate criticism of Israel. They must condemn the participation of Smotrich and Ben Gvir in the Israeli government. They need, as the United States government is doing, to tell Israel there can be no more excuses. Israel must do what is necessary to expand and simplify the process of sending humanitarian aid to Gaza. They also need to be clear that Israel must change its military tactics to dramatically reduce civilian deaths. And, as challenging as it would be, they need to openly call for the end to the expansion of settlements in the West Bank and for a path back towards a two-state solution.

Ignoring the extremism of the Netanyahu government and the horrible humanitarian disaster in Gaza only undermines the credibility of those seeking to defend Israel and fight antisemitism. Indeed, Netanyahus government and its actions risk adding fuel to the dangerous fire of antisemitism. And tragically, for all too many around the world, revulsion over what his government has become risks causing them to no longer support the legitimacy of Israel itself.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
With less than six months until the November election, some Republicans in Congress are trying to distance themselves from their more extreme members.

But there's only so much they can do with Donald Trump at the top of the ticket.

The dissonance was on display this week as Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene mounted a kamikaze mission to remove rookie House Speaker Mike Johnson.

As Greene rose to speak on Wednesday, some Republicans heckled and booed her, and an overwhelming majority made up of Republicans and Democrats voted to table her motion to vacate the speaker's chair. At an impromptu news conference, a group of self-described "mainstream Republicans" sought to distance themselves from the shenanigans.

You can be productive, or you can be destructive," said South Dakota Rep. Dusty Johnson. "Ms. Taylor Greene is choosing destructive.

New York Rep. Mike Lawler was more succinct: "Moscow Marjorie has clearly gone off the deep end."

Even as the House was rejecting Greene's fools-errand resolution, there were other signs this week of Republicans trying to reclaim a party that has gone off the rails since 2015.

One hint came on Tuesday in Indiana, where former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley won nearly 22% of the vote in the Republican presidential primary despite having dropped out  and pretty much disappeared from the public eye  more than two months ago. In the battleground of Pennsylvania last month, Haley won nearly 17% of the vote  earning more votes than Joe Biden's margin of victory in the state in 2020.

In all, Haley has earned more than a million votes in various Republican primaries since exiting the race. That's not because she's a particularly compelling candidate, but because a good number of Republicans are frustrated with the direction of the party.

Some Republican politicians have also voiced their discontent. Former Speaker Paul Ryan came forward this week to say he would write in another Republican instead of Trump. The former lieutenant governor of Georgia went one step further. In a column published Monday in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Republican Geoff Duncan announced he will vote for Biden instead of a criminal defendant without a moral compass.

Still, these remain voices in the wilderness, as the majority of the GOP remains in thrall to Trump.

Even as he stands trial in New York over hush money payments to an adult film star, Trump remains the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, which mostly echoes his claims of political persecution, or at least doesn't refute them. Florida Sen. Rick Scott even went to court on Thursday as a show of support, standing before cameras outside to call prosecutors "political thugs" and attack the judge's family members  things Trump himself is barred from saying under a gag order.

Trump, meantime, holds a slim lead over Biden in polls of battleground states, likely a main reason why so many Republican elected officials don't speak out. That may be one reason they turned so loudly on Greene, whose attempt at deposing the speaker was even criticized by Trump.

The lesson for House Republicans? They wouldnt have to deal with Greenes distractions if they stood up to Donald Trump a long time ago. Enabling Trump got them to this point. And while criticizing Greene probably felt good in the moment, it leaves them open to the question of why they don't say anything similar about Trump as he proposes pitching the U.S. even further into dysfunction.

For more thought-provoking insights from Alicia Menendez, Michael Steele and Symone Sanders-Townsend, watch The Weekend every Saturday and Sunday at 8 a.m. ET on MSNBC.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
Editors Note: Julian Zelizer, a CNN political analyst, is a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University. He is the author and editor of 25 books, including the New York Times best-seller, Myth America: Historians Take on the Biggest Lies and Legends About Our Past (Basic Books). Follow him on Twitter @julianzelizer. The views expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion on CNN.

News that third-party presidential candidate Robert Kennedy Jr. suffered from a parasitic worm in his brain prompted a wide range of responses this week  from shock to disbelief  in what has already been one of the most unusual presidential races in recent history. But more important than the details of the parasite was the conversation it sparked about presidents and health. Kennedy, President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump should all disclose their health records.

Some of Kennedys health issues were revealed in a 2012 deposition during divorce proceedings from his second wife, and while his campaign declined to share his health records, the presidential candidate provided more details to The New York Times and in the podcast Pushing the Limits with Brian Shapiro this week. Kennedy said he had recovered from the brain fog and memory loss brought on by the parasite, as well as a bout of mercury poisoning he said occurred around the same time, with his spokesperson brushing off questions about whether his health issues could compromise his fitness for the presidency.

While the two major candidates have not released extensive health records this campaign cycle, a six-page summary from the White House in February concluded Biden is fit for duty. Trumps doctor released a three-paragraph statement in November saying he was in excellent health.

Many critics claim this is not enough. The majority of voters think both Biden and Trump are too old for another term, and there are always concerns that the physicians signing off on these statements are more eager to protect the public image of the candidate than to share the full and unvarnished truth about how that person is doing.

There is no requirement for disclosing a candidates health records in the Constitution. Nor are there any other legal requirements that candidates running for the highest office in the land need to share this information. In the second half of the 20th century, however, candidates have set a precedent of doing so, gradually succumbing to the pressure to provide a greater amount of information to voters. This has been a positive development, and one that the 2024 presidential candidates should continue.

Some of the pressure came from the realization that many past presidents suffered serious conditions without ever telling the public. President Chester A. Arthur never disclosed that he had Brights disease, a kidney condition, during his bid for the Republican nomination in 1884. President Woodrow Wilson famously suffered a debilitating stroke in 1919 that affected him for the rest of his presidency. In 1944, the physician Frank Lahey produced a dire secret memo after examining Franklin Roosevelt, predicting that the president, who suffered from severe heart problems, would not make it through another term (Roosevelt ended up dying of a cerebral hemorrhage just 11 weeks into his fourth term). In 1955, President Dwight Eisenhower downplayed the severity of a heart attack. And the list goes on.

Occasionally, when candidates were forced to publicly contend with their health issues, they became the source of scandal and controversy. This was the case with Sen. Thomas Eagleton, Democratic presidential candidate George McGoverns running mate when he challenged President Richard Nixon in 1972. Revelations that Eagleton had undergone shock treatment for depression, which he had not told McGovern about, led him to withdraw from the race.

In contrast, in 1976 almost every candidate voluntarily provided reporters with summaries of their medical history. Independent candidate Eugene McCarthy, who believed they should not be public, was the exception; he argued that presidents should be elected on the basis of his or her record of service, of thought about the issues and programs to deal with them, and not on the basis of any private status such as that of patient.

So, what changed? Before the Eagleton saga, the ratification of the 25th Amendment in 1967 outlined a clear path of succession should the president be removed from or die in office. Passed in the aftermath of President John Kennedys tragic assassination, the debate over the amendment put concerns about the physical longevity of candidates front and center.

During the 1960s and 1970s, as scholar Michael Schudson has written, the notion of disclosure and transparency became a powerful norm throughout American society. The sentiment that the public was better off with more information was partly a response to the secrecy that had dominated American politics in the early days of the Cold War.

In 1992, Democratic candidate Paul Tsongas, a former senator from Massachusetts, advanced the drive for transparency. He had discovered a lump in his groin nearly a decade earlier and was eventually diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma. By the time he ran for president in 1992, however, physicians had confirmed that he was cancer-free. Tsongas emphasized his fitness during the primaries, with the campaign releasing a video of him swimming. He ended up dropping out of the campaign, unable to defeat Bill Clinton, and in December of that year, he announced that he had a cancerous growth in his abdomen. Many voters couldnt help but wonder what would have happened if he had been elected president.

Health concerns have been a recurring issue among presidential candidates in recent decades. In 2008, there were questions about Republican nominee John McCains history of skin cancer, and in 2016, rumors swirled about Hillary Clintons health when she stumbled into a van (her doctor had diagnosed her with pneumonia just days before and said the incident was a combination of that illness, dehydration and overheating).

The key, ultimately, is to weigh not whether a candidate has a health issue, as Jacob Appel, a physician at the Mt. Sinai Medical School has argued, but whether that condition would impair his or her ability to govern effectively.

The more that politicians are honest about their medical issues, the less others are likely to feel a stigma surrounding their own problems. Nearly everyone deals with some combination of health problems and there is no reason this should be a source of embarrassment or shame. Candidates have the opportunity to model a different kind of mentality by being transparent.

Finally, in an age of disinformation, more accurate information is a good thing. With rumors and misrepresentations often swirling out there on the internet, it would be better to just come out with the truth with a controlled and straightforward announcement.

Health issues are one universal phenomenon in our age of polarization and division. Whether someone is rich or poor, powerful or marginalized, White or Black, we all contend with the health of our bodies and minds. Those who have chosen to run for the highest office in the land should be open and honest about their medical histories. Doing so would only bolster the health of our democracy.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

Donald Trumps promise to oil bosses at a Mar-a-Lago meeting last month, in which he reportedly spoke bluntly of a deal with executives that would see him scrap troublesome environmental regulations on day one if they raised $1 billion to get him back in the White House, not only shocked the executives involved, but The New Abnormals Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie, too. But perhaps for different reasons.

These Republicans Im certain will turn around and raise a billion dollars for him, because at the end of the day, they dont care, Moodie reacts. Theyll drink their bottled water and theyll have their safe zones, and itll be the rest of us that will succumb to the environment that they will create, that will be cancerous, that will be disease-filled. That will just be horrific. But thats what they want.

Subscribe to The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Stitcher, Amazon Music, or Overcast.

According to Levy, Trump understands transactional [relationships]. He understands how these guys think, and he knows what they want to hear. And youre absolutely right, they probably will go out and raise a billion dollars for him.

The Moment a Republican Says This, Tune Them Out

Plus! Tara McGowan, the founder and publisher of Courier, joins us to talk about modern media and journalism and why the old adage, your most trusted source for news, doesnt work in the current climate.

Then, Chris Geidner, the publisher of the Law Dork newsletter, explains why even under the best scenario, a second Trump term would be disastrous for our judicial system.

Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
More than a dozen Republican politicians  some of whom were considered reasonably serious people until recently  are competing to prove themselves worthy of serving as Donald Trumps running mate. Like the court surrounding a mad king, the contenders abase themselves while searching for patterns in Trumps mercurial whims so that they can fashion their own image accordingly. Does he want someone whos tough? What about someone who only implies theyll reject the election results if Trump loses? How about someone who boasts of the time they shot their dog?

Throughout most of American history, nominees of major parties have chosen their running mates through a combination of three factors: political considerations, policy qualifications and the personal relationship between the nominee and the running mate. With Trump today, the first two factors are all but irrelevant. Only the personal relationship is playing a role and its making all the contenders look smaller and more venal.

With most candidates, the political and policy aspects have made up the bulk of our discussion around potential vice presidents. Traditionally, geography was a chief political consideration: A nominee would choose a running mate from a key state or region. So John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts picked Lyndon Johnson, who could be an emissary to the South in general and Texas in particular, which Kennedy wound up winning by just 2 points.

As the red-blue divide hardened over recent decades, geographic considerations have become less important, but most running mates are still chosen to fill some other kind of political gap. It might be a party constituency that needed reassurance or to address a perceived weakness on the candidates part. Joe Biden owes much to this consideration: In 2008, the relatively inexperienced Barack Obama decided to pick an old Washington hand as his vice president.

Then there are the policy questions  what a running mate would actually do in office. What kinds of issues might they take on in a position with no defined responsibilities? What issues would the president be most likely to ask their advice on, and what would that advice be? And, of course, would they be prepared to become president on short notice?

The personal relationship between the nominee and the running mate is normally almost an afterthought in public discussion, however important it might be behind the scenes. After the pick is announced, campaigns usually just tell reporters how the nominees and their running mates instantly clicked upon meeting each other, had deep and meaningful conversations together, and were getting along swimmingly.

Eight years ago, Trump did consider politics and policy in choosing his running mate. Not only did Mike Pences deep ties in the conservative movement (especially among evangelicals) make him a successful ambassador to key Republican constituencies, but his experience in government could also enable him to effectively carry out whatever substantive tasks Trump might assign him.

But until the 2020 election, the defining feature of Pences vice presidency was his eagerness to genuflect before his master, in ways that often strayed into the comical, whether it was his regular paeans to the width of Trumps shoulders (To be around Donald Trump is to be around a man with broad shoulders) or his weird habit of mirroring Trumps behavior.

Yet, when Trump asked him to help carry out a coup against democracy, Pence wavered. He was clearly open to the idea, consulting with legal advisers and even seeking the counsel of Dan Quayle. But in the end, he couldnt stay loyal to Trump.

Today, we have no indication that anything else matters to Trump, which presents him with a dilemma: If someone with as consistent a record of obsequiousness as Pence could locate his spine at such a key moment, can Trump trust anyone? This is an ongoing problem for Trump: He hires people whose apparent adoration for him and ethical flexibility make them perfect toadies  until sooner or later they turn on him. No president has ever had as many former aides telling the public what a monster their ex-boss is.

Those personal betrayals no doubt weigh on Trumps choice and, in response, those who want to earn his favor know they have to demonstrate their eagerness to serve with public displays of fealty. That means agreeing with him on his most important issue: election denialism.

Every potential Trump VP will be asked two questions: Will you admit that Joe Biden won the 2020 election? And if Trump loses in 2024, will you accept the results? The answers are usually the same: Not really, and maybe not.

Granted, they answer somewhat vaguely. On 2020, they stress that there were irregularities that might make the results invalid, even if they cant quite bring themselves to say the election was stolen. They wont promise to accept the 2024 results, since Trumps position is that hell accept them only if the election is fair, which we all know means if he wins. Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C., was asked on Meet the Press whether hed accept the results of the election if Trump lost, and he refused to say yes, only repeating that I look forward to President Trump being the 47th president. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., calls Jan. 6 rioters serving jail sentences hostages, as Trump does. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, says that unlike Pence, he wouldnt have certified the results of the 2020 election.

But can Trump be sure? When it really matters, could his next vice president be afflicted with an unfortunate case of integrity? That  and not their qualifications, their competence or their political capabilities  is what is probably keeping him up at night. And its the only question that matters to him. Unfortunately, the answer that satisfies Trump is the worst answer for the country.

This article was originally published on MSNBC.com
RABAT, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Moroccan navy rescued 38 migrants from a boat off the Atlantic coast near the port of Tan-Tan on Thursday, the official MAP news agency cited a statement from the Moroccan Royal Armed Forces as saying.

A Moroccan navy unit, in charge of coastal surveillance, intercepted the makeshift boat heading to the Canary Islands, a Spanish archipelago off the coast of northwestern Africa, during an operation 38 km northeast of Tan-Tan.

The migrants, 36 from sub-Saharan countries and two from Asian countries, were handed over to the Royal Gendarmerie for the usual administrative procedures after receiving first aid care, it added. 
An Orange County doctor has been arrested for allegedly groping and sexually assaulting female patients.

The suspect was identified as John Carl Hoefs, 79, of Irvine, according to the Orange County District Attorneys Office.

Hoefs is a practicing hepatologist at a Hoag-affiliated medical office in Irvine and has been affiliated with the University of California, Irvine, and the Liver Specialty Center.

Beginning in 2020, Hoefs is accused of assaulting a female patient who had a liver condition in five separate incidents, according to court documents.

During these alleged assaults, Hoefs folded over the victims medical gown to expose her breasts before grabbing them during a medical visit.

Each time the woman tried to cover herself, Hoefs allegedly moved the gown so it would continue exposing her breasts for the remainder of the exam, authorities said.

John Carl Hoefs, 79, seen in photos from the Orange County District Attorneys Office.

John Carl Hoefs, 79, seen in a photo from the Orange County District Attorneys Office.

A second female victim was allegedly groped by Hoefs during medical exams in November 2016 and October 2017.

Hoefs was arrested on May 3 and released after posting a $500,000 bond.

Authorities believe there may be more victims who have yet to come forward.

Sexual predators come in all forms and in all walks of life  even ones wearing white doctors coats, said Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer. Women seeking potentially life-saving medical treatment should not be subjected to sexual abuse by the medical professional they have entrusted with their lives. This blatant abuse of trust will not be tolerated.

An arraignment hearing is scheduled for June 13 at the Harbor Justice Center in Newport Beach.

The incidents remain under investigation. Anyone who may be a victim or has additional information about Hoefs activities is asked to call Irvine Police Detective Rebecca Steen at 949-724-7170 or email rsteen@cityofirvine.org.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Dr. John Carl Hoefs, 79, of Irvine has been charged with seven felony counts of sexual battery. (Irvine Police Department)

An Orange County liver doctor was arrested after being accused of groping two female patients during medical examinations, prosecutors said.

Dr. John Carl Hoefs, 79, faces seven counts of sexual battery for allegedly fondling the women's breasts during exams, according to the Orange County district attorney's office.

Prosecutors alleged that Hoefs, who worked at a medical office in Irvine affiliated with Hoag, the not-for-profit regional healthcare network, assaulted one woman five times starting in 2020, prosecutors said.

Hoefs would lift the woman's medical gown to grope her, and when she tried to cover herself he would remove the gown again, according to prosecutors.

Read more: Harbor-UCLA doctor is fired after county finds he regularly gawked at patients' genitalia

Another woman said she was groped by Hoefs during exams in October and November of 2016.

Hoefs was arrested May 3 and released on $500,000 bond. His arraignment is set for June 13. He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison if he is convicted on all charges.

Authorities are asking for the public's help in identifying additional potential victims. Anyone with information can call Irvine police Det. Rebecca Steen at (949) 724-7170 or email rsteen@cityofirvine.org.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Originated in 1991, this restaurant plans to leave Boise. Heres where it will reopen

If youve lived in Boise for a few years, you probably know about Dong Khanh Vietnamese Restaurant.

Opened in 1991, according to Idaho Statesman archives, its changed owners. Even locations. Dong Khanh occupied the end of a Broadway Avenue strip mall near Front Street before moving south to its current spot, 2137 S. Broadway.

Now it plans to change cities. Dong Khanh is moving west.

To Meridian.

Fans in Boise still have a few months, at least, to enjoy Dong Khanhs tasty food. But, at some point, owner Vuong Nguyen plans to relocate the longtime business to 3,165 square feet of modern space at 4610 N. Linder Road, suite 100, in Meridian.

We will close the Broadway location down once we know the time frame of the new restaurant ready to be occupied, Nguyen explained in an email.

The expectation is late August or September, he said, but not sure yet.

Dong Khanh is located in Boise, for now, at 2137 S. Broadway Ave.

Additional attempts to reach Nguyen were unsuccessful.

Boises loss will be West Ada Countys gain  especially in Meridian, which is home to so many chains. The locally owned Dong Khanh rates 4.5 out of 5.0 stars on Google. Its Vietnamese cuisine is described by reviewers as the best pho in town, hands down, and the best cha gio in the Valley. Dong Khanh also offers Chinese food on its menu.

Yelp gives the restaurant 4.0 out of 5.0, with one review calling it a wonderful little hole in the wall for delicious, authentic Vietnamese food in Boise.

Want some Dong Khanh? In Boise? Youve still got time. Its open for lunch and dinner every day except Sunday.

Dong Khanh includes both Vietnamese and Chinese food on its menu.
Over 100 officers ride from Norfolk to D.C. to honor fallen officers

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY)  Police officers from all around the United States gathered in Norfolk Friday to bring awareness to officers who have died in the line of duty.

The send off ceremony for the annual Police Unity Tour started at 7 a.m. at Town Point Park. This years group consists of 100 riders, 30 motorcycle officers and 60 support units, all heading towards the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C.

10 On Your Side saw officers from various police departments such as Tampa, Orlando, and St. Charles Parish.

Our motivation is to show support to the families, to the friends, to coworkers whove lost loved ones in the line of duty serving their communities. We want to remind them that they have never been forgotten, said Craig Russell, a retired Baton Rouge Police Officer.

Police Unity Tour

Police Unity Tour

Police Unity Tour

Once the riders left Town Point Park, they head to York County. The group will ride on George Washington Memorial Highway. Around 11:30 a.m. they plan to arrive at Yorktown Beach for lunch.

According to the Officer Down Memorial there were 137 line of duty deaths in the country in 2023. 56 officers have died in the line of duty so far in the year 2024.

One of the most recent line of duty deaths in Hampton Roads was in 2020, when Newport News police officer Katie Thyne was killed when she was dragged by a car after a traffic stop.

Its OK to cry: Emotional Newport News police chief calls officer killed in line of duty a hero

The Police Unity Tour aims to raise funds for the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial and Museum in Washington, D.C., the last stop on the tour.

I want them [people] to remember the service that these fallen heroes have given to their communities and the sacrifices their families made so that we can have such a great country, Russell said.

The group plans to make it to D.C. by Sunday.

Check with WAVY.com for more updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
Over 260 Russian soldiers voluntarily surrender to Ukraine via I Want to Live project, Ukrainian intelligence says

The I Want to Live project has received over 35,000 applications as of 10 May, mostly from serving Russian military personnel, with 260 people already surrendering to Ukraine with the projects help.

Source: Captain Andrii Yusov, representative of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU), in a comment to Ukrinform news agency

Quote: "We have received over 35,000 applications for the project. Mostly from serving Russian military personnel, as well as people who may end up in the Russian Armed Forces and want to protect themselves, unwilling to take part in the war of aggression and not become war criminals.

To date, over 260 Russian soldiers of various ranks have successfully benefited from the project. All of them have crossed the front line and are safe under the protection of the state of Ukraine and international law."

Details: Yusov noted that most of them are willing to come back to their homeland after the end of hostilities, and to avoid future problems with the law, they are registered as captured and not marked as having voluntarily defected or surrendered.

At the same time, the captain noted that some are reluctant to come back to Russia. "That [not returning to Russia  ed.] is also an option. Ukraine guarantees such an opportunity," the DIU representative emphasised.

For reference: I Want to Live is a Ukrainian government-run project designed to help soldiers of the Russian and Belarusian Armed Forces surrender safely. The project was launched in September 2022 by Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, which operates with the support of Ukraine's Defence Ministry and DIU.

Support UP or become our patron!
Government Oversight Committee held a press conference on Friday, May 10 at the Maine State House to share its suggested reforms for child welfare in the state. (AnnMarie Hilton/Maine Morning Star)

In the six years Sen. Lisa Keim (R-Oxford) has served on the Legislatures Government Oversight Committee, she said child welfare has been an area of focus every year. But the department that houses the system has only gotten worse in that time, she said.

Its only in the past two years, though, that Keim said the committee has really pulled back the covers.

That years-long investigation into the Office of Child and Family Services (OCFS)  housed within the Department of Health and Human Services  culminated in a roughly 70-page report with suggested improvements that was shared at a news conference Friday at the State House. The 28 suggested reforms seek to improve upon the untenable work conditions cited by case workers and the agencys failure to keep children in their custody safe.

The committees Senate co-chair Craig Hickman (D-Kennebec) praised the bipartisan nature of the recommendations and said he hopes the report will be a springboard for further action.

Most of the suggestions were supported by all 12 members of the committee. All of them had bipartisan support. Four of the recommendations correspond with pieces of legislation proposed this session, but all of those are still in limbo. A proposal from Keim to create a pilot project for recruiting and retaining more case aides was removed from the appropriations table and passed in the Senate Friday, but as of Friday at 5 p.m. is pending a vote in the House.

While many of the recommendations could be implemented by the department without legislative action, they will still take time to produce tangible results. Some of the suggestions target systemic problems such as a lack of access to the legal resources and mental health supports.

Many of the recommendations in this report will likely take some time to bear fruit at a time when we need immediate results and this is a challenging truth to face, said Rep. Jessica Fay (D-Raymond).

The Department of Health and Human Services shared a blog post Thursday listing the ways it has taken action to improve the child welfare system. Understaffing emerged as a key issue in OCFS, but the department said vacancies have dropped by 40% since the start of this year from 111 to 65.

The department was not present for the news conference.

The report has been publicly discussed by the committee for months, with the final version available back in late February, but the news conference came just three days after the Department of Health and Human Services Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew announced she is stepping down to join a think tank in Washington, D.C.

Keim described Lambrews departure as an opportunity and said she hopes Gov. Janet Mills will use it to find someone more focused on human services.

I do believe that Commissioner Lambrew failed the people of Maine with the Office of Child and Family Services and that we may have an opportunity here that I hope we seize, Keim said.

Keim said Lambrew was at times reluctant to talk with the Government Oversight Committee. As a result, it was the public testimony from foster parents and frontline workers that truly illuminated the issues plaguing the department, whether it be insufficient resources or unmanageable workloads.

During committee meetings, Sen. Jeff Timberlake (R-Androscoggin) expressed frustration with the lack of tangible improvements after years and years of talking about the child welfare systems decline.

Thats why he put forth a bill to separate OCFS from DHHS, claiming that the agency is too large to properly manage everything under its purview. It passed the Senate with a bipartisan vote of 22-8, but wasnt taken up by the House. Technically, this is not one of the recommended reforms from the Government Oversight Committee because only six members were in support, which is less than a majority.

Hickman said he doesnt believe the recommendations shared Friday are going to be just another set of ideas gathering dust on the shelf. It is the committees job to continue pressing DHHS leadership, including the new commissioner, to implement necessary reforms, Hickman said. However, he did acknowledge the department is already updating the committee regularly on the work it is doing to make improvements.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Oversight panel suggests more than two dozen reforms for Maine child welfare system appeared first on Maine Morning Star.
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  For almost a week, a woman has been frantically searching for her 15-year-old dog, stolen along with her car from the parking lot of a Midtown grocery store.

Lynn Bugg said she works from home and doesnt get out much, but she has been to the Fresh Market on Union hundreds of times. She never thought a quick trip there would cost her her car and dog, Yoshi.

My daughter lives in Birmingham. She grew up here and said, Mom, Im so scared for you to be there. I want you out of that town,' said Bugg.

Police said Buggs 2013 black Infiniti was used in a bank robbery a day later in West Memphis, AR, and the bank robber was nabbed when he crashed the car in Memphis.

Dog missing after AR bank robbery, police chase

But according to Bugg, the bank robber told officers he found the Infiniti and knew nothing about the dog.

As I understand it, he found the car in the Whitehaven area near Goodhaven and Millbranch Road. Ive been actually three times, Bugg said.

Dog stolen from midtown grocery store may have been dumped in Whitehaven

Bugg has also been searching areas around the Fresh Market and posted Flyers throughout the area to bring Yoshi home. She is also asking business owners in Memphis to do more to keep customers safe.

Shelby County, Memphis murder rate increased 50% in 2023, Crime Commission says

I know that we cant fix all the things feeding people who want to do crime, said Bugg. What can be done is private businesses can step up and invest in security. They need cameras in parking lots. They need visible security.

Bugg said, unfortunately, there were no cameras on the side of the store where her vehicle was parked.

If they had cameras, then police and prosecutors would know if the man who robbed the bank stole the car, she said.

CrimeStoppers is now offering a $2,000 reward for information leading to the return of Yoshi.

Bugg said Yoshi may be skittish and is asking anyone who thinks they might have seen her or knows where she is to call (901) 528-CASH

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
When Ruth Cloutier moved into the Bii Di Gain Dash Anwebi senior apartments a year and a half ago, she did not expect to be sitting on the corner of 24th and Bloomington in her walker, waving a sign in protest. She said repairs to her apartment aren't getting done because there's rarely anyone in the management office and no one picks up the phone when she calls the maintenance line.

Dozens of Cloutier's neighbors  most of whom are Native and Black seniors  demonstrated outside their homes last week for the second time in six months, saying there haven't been enough improvements since the last time they brought attention to deferred maintenance, broken appliances, heating problems and unresponsive management.

"More and more people have come forward and started to say, 'My heat doesn't work, my stove doesn't work, I didn't have heat this winter,'" said Regan Reeck, an organizer with HOME Line. The tenant advocacy organization provided translators to gather testimony from Somali-speaking residents, and found the most common complaint was people didn't know how to get ahold of management. Some have not been able to cook in their homes because of broken stoves and ovens, Reeck said.

Bii Di Gain, with its 47 one-bedroom apartments for seniors who pay 30% of their monthly income in rent, was constructed in 2012. It is co-owned by the affordable housing nonprofits American Indian Community Development Corporation (AICDC) and CommonBond Communities. The latter is responsible for general management.

Residents are hoping an upcoming change in management will mark a turning point. CommonBond said it will be divesting its role at Bii Di Gain by July 1, ceding full operational and legal control to AICDC. The boards of CommonBond and Bii Di Gain have approved the transfer, which will be complete pending approval from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Last year, CommonBond said Bii Di Gain was operating at an "unsustainable deficit." CEO Deidre Schmidt told the Legislature about the financial problems facing housing providers that serve deeply subsidized, low-income tenants after the compounding crises of the COVID years, which includes increased costs of security amid the Phillips community's ongoing challenges with homeless encampments.

CommonBond was allocated $11 million in one-time funding through the state's Stable Housing Organization Relief Program. In November, it renewed the rental license for Bii Di Gain, which had been expired for most of 2023, and brought in new maintenance subcontractor Marsden to address residents' complaints.

The housing relief program "provides financial support to non-profit owners of affordable housing so that they can continue to operate even as properties like Bii Di Gain do not generate sufficient rent revenue to cover costs like maintenance, staffing, debt services, etc.," CommonBond spokesperson Katie Selph said in a statement. "This relief has been instrumental in our ability to continue operations but has not restored CommonBond to our pre-pandemic financial stability."

More than 400 maintenance work orders have been completed at the Bii Di Gain apartments since November, including boiler checks, snow removal, appliance repairs and key replacements, Selph said.

Mike Goze, CEO of AICDC, said he does not yet have a contract with a new management company in place, and no date for when the property will change hands.

"CommonBond has the management contract and they need to respond to the things they are required to respond to, and I really don't have much I can do regarding that," he said. "I did have one of the workers for a tenant reach out to me through an email and mentioned a number of things that were amiss in her unit, but when I called CommonBond there were no work orders that were made for that unit. So that was kind of disheartening."

Goze said when AICDC assumes full ownership, he will have more control over what happens at Bii Di Gain, which will "clear up a lot of inconsistencies."

Residents said they were looking forward to having a new manager, expecting that whomever they get will be an improvement. Among their list of demands: the building needed to pay its gas bills on time so that residents won't receive shut-off warnings from CenterPoint Energy; reinstatement of onsite management; the creation of a system that tracks maintenance requests and informs residents when their requests have been received; and cleaning the HVAC system to address mold and dust.

"They may be a nonprofit developer but they have their tenants living in unlivable conditions," said Fadumo Mohamed, who attended the protest to translate for her grandmother, a Bii Di Gain resident. "She hasn't had lights in almost two months. She's not able to let people in. Her stove is working on and off. She calls maintenance but they don't have a person that manages the phone line. You call, you leave a message. You don't get a number. There's no tracking."
This article was originally published in Louisiana Illuminator.

Louisiana lawmakers gave initial approval to a bill that would provide six weeks of paid parental leave to teachers, but its cost has made some lawmakers wary.

Senate Bill 426, authored by Sen. Samuel Jenkins, D-Shreveport, comes with a $15 million cost to the state. The proposal was approved without objection Wednesday in the Senate Education Committee, but several members voiced concerns about its fiscal impact. Although the schools will still be responsible for the employees leave pay, the state would reimburse the school for the expense of a substitute teacher.

Committee chairman Sen. Rick Edmonds, R-Baton Rouge, warned Jenkins he should work on the cost before his bill gets to the Senate Finance Committee, which must also approve the legislation before its considered on the Senate floor.

Get stories like these delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter

Jenkins amended his bill in the education committee to cut down its cost, but the legislative fiscal staff has yet to update its calculations. Under the amendment, the state would reimburse local school systems for the cost of a substitute teacher to cover the on-leave employee. Before the change, Jenkins bill required the state to cover the cost of the teachers salary during the parental leave period.

Depending on how the Legislative Fiscal Office accounts for substitutes, the amendments could make the bill $11 million cheaper.

Substitute teachers make between $60 and $100 a day depending on the school system, the substitutes background and the length of substitution. Teacher salaries in Louisiana average $56,175 a year for 182 days of work.

The daily rate of pay for a teacher for six weeks is just over $9,000. A substitute would cost on average $2,400 for six weeks.

Related

Without Paid Parental Leave, Teachers Scramble for Time with Their Newborns

Under Jenkins legislation, teachers and support staff will be eligible for paid parental leave, in addition to any sick leave or paid time off they have accrued, as long as they have worked for a public school system for at least 12 months.

The leave can be used for the birth of a child, a pregnancy loss, adopted and foster children. Both parents will be eligible for leave if they are qualified employees.

Parents can take the leave together or separately. Parents also have the option to use the six weeks as they please, meaning it can be used all at once or spread out. However, the six weeks must be used within 12 months of the qualifying event.

Employers cannot require an employee to use sick leave or paid time off before using parental leave. Teachers and support staff will be paid 100% of their salary or base pay.

State money for parental school employee leave will be put into a fund for this specific purpose. Any dollars left in the fund at the end of the fiscal year will be invested, and interest earned from this investment would be credited to the fund.

In 2023, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards established six weeks paid parental leave for most unclassified state workers. Three of the four states higher education systems have since adopted the same for their employees.

Louisiana Illuminator is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Louisiana Illuminator maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Greg LaRose for questions: info@lailluminator.com. Follow Louisiana Illuminator on Facebook and Twitter.
BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China is strongly dissatisfied with and firmly opposes the United States' passing of a military aid package containing multiple negative clauses related to China, said a Ministry of Commerce spokesperson Friday.

The package disregards the principles of market economy and fair competition, suppresses companies from other countries under the pretext of "national security," and is a typical act of unilateralism and bullying, said the spokesperson.

It also threatens to impose unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction over normal economic and trade exchanges between China and other countries, which is blatant economic coercion, according to the spokesperson.

"The U.S. side should respect China's concerns and legitimate rights and interests, and restrain from implementing negative clauses concerning China," the spokesperson said, adding that China will take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its legitimate rights and interests. 
Image shows area around 28 and 30 Poppy Lane in Palm Coast where the Flagler County Sheriff's Office says nearby resident, Jason Burns, set off a pipe bomb on Jan. 27, 2022.

The Flagler County Sheriffs Office Thursday arrested a Palm Coast man accused of creating a pipe bomb that exploded outside a home on Poppy Lane in January 2022.

Jason Burns, 49, was charged with arson in the first degree and making/placing/possessing destructive device with property damage  two felony charges.

The incident took place at about 5:30 a.m. Jan. 27, 2022, when deputies responded to the area around 30 and 28 Poppy Lane after residents called to report a loud explosion, a bright light and observed and smelled smoke coming from between their homes, Flagler Sheriff Rick Staly said in a press conference Friday.

Upon arrival, responding deputies smelled a strong odor of gas and smoke in the air and observed remnants of a blast from an improvised explosive device (IED), the sheriffs office said in a press release. Fortunately, the residents were unharmed, but both the home and an adjacent home were damaged.

More in Flagler: Sentencing for Matanzas student charged in teacher's aide attack set for August

According to an incident report, deputies found a white cap  near the roadway and to the right of the end of the driveway of 30 Poppy Lane.

The cap appeared to have been made of PVC and had a visible bar code on it, the report said. Debris, which appeared to be pieces of lined notebook paper and white PVC plastic, were located between the side lawns of 28 and 30 Poppy Lane, as well as an area of singed grass in an elliptical shape near the homes.

The investigation had been ongoing since that day, Staly said, and culminated in Thursday's arrest. The sheriff thanked the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF), the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, and the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office Bomb Squad for their assistance in the process.

What did the investigation find?

According to the sheriffs office, the explosion was created by a homemade pipe bomb that left a 1-inch-deep crater, 12 inches wide, only several feet from where the residents of both homes were sleeping.

During the investigation, officials found that the resident of 27 Poppy Lane, Jason Burns, was identified as a person of interest due to his hostility toward the victims, according to the sheriffs office.

According to the press release, Burns was known to the sheriffs office and in the local business community for being a prolific writer who wrote, distributed and mailed rambling rants about various claims against government, elected officials and businesses.

While executing a search warrant at Burns home, officials found and seized items that were consistent with material found at the crime scene, including a drill bit with PVC residue, caulking used to seal the pipe bomb, and a single sock that matched a sock found in the IED.

Burns denied any involvement with the incident throughout the investigation, according to the sheriffs office, saying he was sleeping in his truck at Flagler Beach with a friend at the time of the explosion.

However, detectives obtained phone records and GPS data that placed him in the area at the time of the explosion, the press release said. When confronted with this discrepancy, he claimed a friend had his phone.

Suspecting Burns, detectives obtained a search warrant for his DNA in January 2023. A sample was sent to the ATFs lab in Maryland, which determined the DNA found at the scene of the blast was a match for Jason Burns.

In this case, the DNA match was like winning the lottery, only instead of a cash windfall, he got an arrest warrant, Staly said in the press release.

Burns is currently being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility in Bunnell on $75,000 bond.

NSB explosion? Mushroom cloud images on social suggest an explosion in Florida. Heres what actually happened

During Fridays press conference, Staly said the success of the investigation reflects the type of collaboration and partnership we enjoy in northeast Florida with our local state and federal agencies.

It also shows a message to criminals, that we will not give up, we will continue to work these cases with our partners, he said. And if you commit a crime in Flagler County, it might take two years like this case did, we are going to get you and hold you accountable.

Burns is also facing an additional charge for violating his probation that stemmed from a 2023 arrest for stalking his ex-wife, in a case where he allegedly placed multiple letters in her mailbox, one containing white powder.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: Palm Coast man arrested after two-year investigation in pipe bomb case
BOILING SPRINGS, S.C. (WSPA)  Two mothers have filed lawsuits against an Upstate school district alleging their children were sexually assaulted in the classroom.

The lawsuits were filed on June 6, 2022, against Spartanburg County School District Two.

The lawsuit alleged that two students were sexually assaulted by another classmate while in the computer lab at Shoally Creek Elementary School on November 5, 2021.

One of the parents emailed the then-principal, guidance counselor, and teacher stating that the two students were sexually assaulted.

The teacher replied that the children did inform her that a student could not keep his hands to himself, but that she had no idea he had touched them in private parts.

The lawsuits state that the principal and the guidance counselor did not respond.

It also stated that the teacher went out on maternity leave on February 2, 2022.

A substitute teacher took over the classroom on February 3, 2022.

On February 8, 2022, the same student and another student held a pencil near their crotches and stroked the pencil in a sexually suggestive manner while looking at the children.

The next day the parents had a phone conference meeting with the principal. She informed the parents that she would take appropriate action to end the sexual assaults and disruptive behavior occurring in the classroom.

On March 1, 2022, the lawsuit alleged that another student sexually assaulted one of the plaintiffs children by grabbing his private parts on the playground.

The mother reported the incident to the substitute teacher.

After that incident, the child was assigned a seat next to or near three of the students who were accused of sexual assault.

Following the newly assigned seats, one of the students consistently sexually assaulted the child by grabbing his private parts.

Upon that information, the substitute teacher resigned on March 11, 2022.

The lawsuit stated that another substitute teacher took over the classroom on March 14, 2022.

On March 22, 2022, the mother found out that her child was seated at a table with those three students and emailed the principal asking that her child be seated away from them.

The principal responded with Yes, done.

On March 23, 2023, the child was taken to the doctor who recommended he stop attending Shoally Creek Elementary School.

After that information was released, the second substitute teacher resigned.

The Director of Education fro Spartanburg County School District Two confirmed that some assaults were documented in the schools system.

The mother asked that her son be moved to another school within the district.

The lawsuit said that the request was never accepted.

According to records, the principal resigned from her position at the end of the 2022-2023 school year.

The following statement is from the childrens attorneys:

I am proud to represent these boys and their mothers. District 2 and Shoally Creek administration knew that certain students were acting inappropriately and were a danger to other students, but they chose not to do anything about it. Kids should be safe when they are at school, and my clients were not. Law Office of Tyler Rody

7NEWS reached out to Spartanburg County School District Two for a statement but has not received one.

The Law Office of Tyler Rody said they will be going to court in September.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
Pennsylvania Department of Health warns of possible lead exposure from childrens painting toy

The Pennsylvania Department of Health issued a warning about the possibility of lead exposure from a childrens painting toy.

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission recalled Dixon Ticonderoga Creativity Street Foam Pattern Rollers, typically used for painting by children, because their lead levels exceed the federal content ban.

Lead can be harmful if ingested, especially for a young child, said Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen. Parents and caregivers should not have to worry about their childrens toys making them sick. We want to get the recall message out to help protect and prevent potential harm to children. Product recalls like these are another example of why all children should be routinely screened for lead exposure.

Around 2,880 sets of the toy were sold on Amazon.com, StaplesAdvantage.com, MacPhersonsArt.com, ADASales.com and Walmart.com, and at the Teachers Edition store in Brooklyn, New York, from September 2023 through January 2024, the health department said.

The recall involves Creativity Street Foam Pattern Rollers with model PAC5170, intended for children to use when painting. Lot codes 02142080423 and 02142230523 are included in the recall and are printed on the back of the packaging.

Consumers should immediately stop using the recalled foam pattern rollers and keep them away from children. They can also contact Dixon Ticonderoga to receive a pre-paid label to return the recalled product. When the foam pattern rollers are received, consumers will receive a full refund.

The firm or retailer is contacting all known purchasers directly, the health department said.

Parents and caregivers of children who may have used these rollers should contact their childs health care provider about getting a blood lead test.

Information about lead can also be found on the Department of Healths website.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

4 teens ransack North Versailles vape shop A horrible feeling: Domestic violence survivor says connected car was used to track her Washington County man who worked in probation department arrested on child pornography charges VIDEO: Small alligator found in Beaver County creek DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
The Pentagon on Friday announced a $400 million tranche of weapons for Ukraine, its second package since Congress passed a foreign aid bill last month with additional Defense Department funding to support Kyiv.

The new package includes additional munitions for Patriot air defense systems and National Advanced Surface Air-to-Air Missile Systems, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Javelin anti-tank missiles, High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems as well as 155mm and 105mm artillery rounds.

Today, the United States is announcing a $400 million package of weapons and equipment to support the brave people of Ukraine, Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on X, formerly Twitter. The United States will continue to stand with Ukraine in the fight against Russias aggression.

The package also includes precision aerial munitions, Bradley armored vehicles and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

The Pentagon announced a $1 billion arms package for Kyiv last month shortly after Congress passed a $95 billion foreign aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan following months of delays. That package also included air defense interceptors, armored vehicles, anti-tank weapons and artillery rounds.

Congress delay in passing the foreign aid bill, which included $48 billion in Ukraine-related funding for the Defense Department, resulted in severe ammunition and artillery shortages for Kyiv as sought to hold the line against Russias invasion.

Russian forces launched a ground attack on Kharkiv on Friday, prompting Ukraine to call up reserve units to fend off the assault. Ukrainian forces also had to retreat from Avdiivka earlier this year after a Russian offensive.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy thanked President Joe Biden and Congress for the new military aid package on X.

This timely and vital U.S. assistance will help save civilian lives and strengthen Ukrainian warriors on the frontlines, Zelenskyy wrote. It will also allow us to better protect our cities and communities from Russias ongoing air terror attacks on Ukrainian critical infrastructure and energy facilities.
On the evening of 10 May, the US Department of Defense issued a list of weapons included in the recently announced US$400 million package of military assistance to Ukraine.

Source: European Pravda

Details: The new US package includes additional ammo for Patriot and NASAMS systems, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, more HIMARS systems with ammunition, 155-mm and 105-mm artillery shells, and "equipment for integrating Western launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukrainian systems".

The Pentagon specifies Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 armoured personnel carriers, anti-mine vehicles with ambush protection (MRAP), and trailers for hauling heavy equipment.

TOW missiles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank systems, "high-precision aviation ammunition", HARM missiles, small arms and ammunition, explosive ammunition and demining equipment, coastal and river patrol boats, and "means of chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protection" are all included in the assistance package.

US President Joe Biden signed a decree on 10 May to provide Ukraine with military aid worth up to US$400 million.

On 24 April, US President Joe Biden signed a package of legislation passed by Congress that includes nearly US$61 billion in aid to Ukraine and other US allies. Immediately afterwards, the US announced a US$1 billion military aid package for Ukraine.

Afterwards, the US Department of State confirmed that further military aid packages were being prepared.

Support UP or become our patron!
The Pentagon is tweaking its formula for calculating payments to U.S. service members for medical malpractice claims, a move that could put more money in the pockets of affected troops and veterans.

The Defense Department currently reduces the amount it pays for medical malpractice settlements by the amount of DoD pay or Department of Veterans Affairs disability compensation the service member receives. The practice is known as an offset.

Under the new rule to be published Friday, the offset would apply only to the estimated amount of a service member's lost wages or future income and not to the amount awarded for other damages such as pain and suffering, disfigurement or other harms.

Read Next: They Took My Gift Away': In Interview, Mother of Florida Airman Killed by Police Describes Shock

Pentagon officials said in the final rule that, until now, claimants who had little or no economic damages would be unable to recover any money if the pay or disability compensation they receive exceeds the total amount of potential and noneconomic damages.

Now, affected troops will be able to completely recover noneconomic damages.

"The amendments to the regulation will allow some service members to receive compensation for noneconomic damages that they would not have been able to receive under the current regulation," DoD officials wrote in the rule. "The amendments afford some service members additional compensation."

In October, the Pentagon raised the amount of money troops could receive for noneconomic damages from $600,000 to $750,000. Economic damages, such as loss of wages as a result of malpractice, remain uncapped.

According to the Defense Department, offsets were applied to just four claims that were decided in 2021 and 2022. (The DoD based its rule only on the information available early in the creation of the program.) In half of the claims, the economic damages were larger than the offsets so the new rule would not have changed the payout. But it would have affected the remaining two, with $200,000 more being allotted in one case and $100,000 more to the other.

In October, Pentagon spokesman Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said that currently pending claims affected by the rule will be adjudicated once the rule is published.

Until 2021, service members were not allowed to file claims for medical malpractice or sue the Defense Department over injuries or illnesses that occur while on active duty. Troops still aren't allowed to file lawsuits over medical malpractice under the Feres Doctrine, set by a 1950 Supreme Court decision that protected the military and its officials from liability for combat- related injuries, although family members may file claims and lawsuits in civil court under the Federal Tort Claims Act.

Legislation passed in 2019 allowed service members to file claims for injuries over malpractice at military treatment facilities. Army Master Sgt. Richard Stayskal, for whom the legislation was named, was denied the claim he filed against Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Liberty, North Carolin -- then Fort Bragg -- which did not follow up on a suspicious lump. He was later diagnosed with terminal lung cancer.

Stayskal and his wife filed claims for $20 million for pain and suffering. His subsequent appeal also was denied. His attorney, Natalie Khawam of Whistleblower Law Firm in Tampa, said Thursday that her client was told that the Army had "breached standard of care" but did not commit malpractice.

Stayskal currently has no recourse to appeal his ruling. Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., introduced a bill last year that would allow service members to take their medical malpractice claims to federal court. The bill has 27 sponsors but has not been considered by the House Judiciary Committee.

"People have the right to sue if they are victims of malpractice, except for service members. It's time to stop treating them like second-class citizens. It's got to stop," Khawam said during an interview Thursday.

Related: Soldier's Family Awarded 'Multimillion Dollar' Medical Malpractice Claim from DoD
PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG)  The Perdido Key Area Chamber is hosting a new event for Military Appreciation Month to honor active duty and retired service members.

UPDATE: I-10 reopens after lane closures

According to a release, the chamber is preparing for its first-ever Military Appreciation Luncheon. The Luncheon is scheduled for Thursday, May 23, from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Grand Lagoon Yacht Club.

LUNCHEON LOCATION:

This embedded content is not available in your region.

Officials said it is a unique opportunity for Chamber Members and Veterans to come together to honor both active duty and retired service members.

Attendees to the luncheon will have the opportunity to hear from Keynote Speaker Rear Admiral Kyle Cozad (USN) and purchase signed copies of his book Relentless Positivity.

Orange Beach, Foley officially part ways from bridge agreement

The luncheon costs $30 for Chamber members, according to the release, although the public is allowed to attend for a non-member rate of $40.

Registration for the event is open at Perdido Chambers website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
By Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines' national security adviser called on Friday for Chinese diplomats to be expelled over an alleged leak of a phone conversation with a Filipino admiral in a significant escalation of a bitter row over the South China Sea.

China's embassy in Manila had orchestrated "repeated acts of engaging and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation and malinformation", with the objective of sowing discord, division and disunity, Eduardo Ano said in a statement.

Those actions "should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned without serious penalty", he said.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian called the comments provocative and said Chinese diplomats in the Philippines had to be allowed to do their job.

"China solemnly requests the Philippine side to effectively safeguard the normal performance of duties by Chinese diplomatic personnel, stop infringing and provoking, and refrain from denying the facts," Lin said at a regular press briefing in Beijing.

The office of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and the foreign ministry did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The two countries have been embroiled in a series of heated stand-offs this past year in disputed areas of the South China Sea as the Philippines, emboldened by support from the United States and other allies, steps up activities in waters occupied by China's vast coast guard.

Asked to comment on the latest row, a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department said: "We are aware of the media reports and defer to the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs."

China has accused the Philippines of trespassing and of treachery, while Manila has scolded Beijing for what it says is a policy of aggression and dangerous manoeuvring inside its exclusive economic zone.

The expelling of diplomats could intensify a row that has so far seen heated exchanges, diplomatic protests and the ramming and water-cannoning of Philippine ships at two disputed shoals, the closest of which is more than 850 km (530 miles) away from mainland China.

Ano was referring to a news report this week of an alleged leak of a call between a Chinese diplomat and a Filipino admiral discussing a dispute over the South China Sea, which carried a transcript that showed the admiral agreeing to concessions with China.

According to the transcript published by the Manila Times, the admiral agreed to China's proposal of a "new model", where the Philippines would use fewer vessels in resupply trips to marines stationed at a grounded warship at the disputed Second Thomas Shoal, and notify Beijing about the missions in advance.

Reuters has not heard the reported phone conversation and could not verify the contents of the published transcript. The report said the conversation had taken place in January and the transcript was provided by a "ranking Chinese official", which it did not name.

'INTERFERENCE OPERATIONS'

Ano said he backed the defence minister's call for the foreign ministry to take appropriate action against embassy officials, who he claimed recorded an alleged phone conversation in violation of Philippine laws, including its anti-wire tapping act, as well as serious breaches of diplomatic protocols.

"Those individuals in the Chinese embassy ... and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately," he said.

On Wednesday, Chinese spokesperson Lin said the embassy in Manila had released details about "relevant communications" between the two countries on managing the situation at the Second Thomas Shoal.

Lin, in comments shared by the embassy, did not elaborate on what details or communications were released, or when, but said "facts are clear and backed by hard evidence that cannot be denied".

"The Philippines has insisted on denying these objective facts and seeks to mislead the international community," Lin added.

China has long been vexed by the Philippines' maintaining its small military presence aboard the grounded warship Sierre Madre at the Second Thomas Shoal, where it has been since 1999 to try to prop up its territorial claim.

Beijing has repeatedly said the Philippines had agreed to tow that ship away, which Manila denies.

Manila-based political analyst Julio Amador said expelling diplomats should be part of the Philippines' diplomatic tool kit and Chinese embassy officials had shown they did not value their working relationships with Filipino officials.

"Diplomacy is based on trust, yet China is trying to make it look like all meetings between its diplomats and Philippine government representatives are negotiations with binding results," he said.

"It has no right to make demands on the Philippines on how the latter manages areas over which it has sovereign rights."

(Additional reporting by Joe Cash and David Brunnstrom; Writing by Martin Petty; Editing by Neil Fullick and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
BUDAPEST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary on Thursday elevated ties to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, marking the most recent stride in China's effort to deepen cooperation with Central and Eastern European (CEE) nations.

The decision was announced during Chinese President Xi Jinping's state visit to Hungary, the final stop of his three-nation swing across Europe.

It also came one day after China and Serbia decided to build a community with a shared future, an upgrade of their relations from the comprehensive strategic partnership established eight years ago.

The inclusion of Serbia and Hungary -- major countries in Central and Eastern Europe -- in Xi's first trip abroad for the year and his first visit to Europe in nearly five years underscores China's commitment to fortifying cooperation with the region.

During the talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban here on Thursday, Xi said that China-CEE cooperation has a strong internal momentum, expressing the hope that Hungary will continue to play an important role in promoting China-CEE cooperation for the benefit of their respective people.

China-Hungary relations are currently at the best period in history and their comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained high-level development. With deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields, the two countries have set a model for building a new type of international relations, Xi said.

Most CEE countries are emerging markets, holding substantial potential, notably in connectivity and energy investment.

By synergizing their strengths with China's since 2012, deeper cooperation has not only advanced their economic and social development but also fostered the European integration process.

This strategic alignment has been solidified by robust investment flows. From January to March 2024 alone, China's investment in CEE surged by 36.35 percent compared to the previous year, reaching about 450 million U.S. dollars. As of March 2024, the cumulative total of Chinese investment in the CEE region soared to 5.2 billion dollars.

Take Hungary as an example. In 2023, Hungary was able to attract a total of 13 billion euros (about 13.86 billion dollars) in foreign direct investment, of which about 8 billion euros (about 8.53 billion dollars) were from China, said Hungarian Minister for National Economy Marton Nagy in an interview with Xinhua.

The Hungarian side is looking forward to further cooperating with China in the fields of foreign trade, capital investment, infrastructure, logistics, artificial intelligence, and new energy, among others, he said.

That is also the case for Serbia. "During the past two years, China has emerged as the largest foreign direct investor in Serbia, bringing numerous benefits to the country," said Jelena Grubor Stefanovic, director of representative office of Serbian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in China.

"Now Serbia has more opportunities to systematically focus its efforts on attracting investments from China in industry sectors with high added value like life sciences, digital economy, automotive industry, smart agriculture sector and green development," she said.

These investments, coupled with collaborative projects under the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), such as the Belgrade-Budapest Railway and Port of Piraeus in Greece, continue to benefit the people in the CEE region.

The Belt and Road cooperation has provided Serbia with important opportunities to strengthen connectivity and promote economic development with neighboring countries, said Ivona Ladjevac, deputy director of the Institute of International Politics and Economics in Serbia.

Key infrastructure projects such as the Belgrade-Budapest Railway and the E763 highway have enhanced Serbia's status as a regional transportation hub, the expert said.

Xi's Europe visit unfolds as Washington is maneuvering to rally its allies in Europe to "de-risk" from China, and slow down the country's high-tech progress, alongside escalating protectionist rhetoric concerning the so-called "Chinese overcapacity" in clean energy sectors.

Chen Fengying, a researcher at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that China's enhanced cooperation with Serbia and Hungary has spurred local economic growth and uplifted living standards.

This success is a compelling example of the tangible benefits obtained from forging partnerships with China and progressing collectively, said Chen.

Such an achievement has also exerted a noteworthy inspirational and motivational influence on other CEE countries, she added. 
By Mikhail Flores and Karen Lema

MANILA (Reuters) -The Philippines said on Friday it aimed to add three more processing plants in the effort to develop a downstream industry for its abundant nickel resources, after nations such as China and the United States expressed interest in the mining sector.

The Southeast Asian nation is looking to follow neighbouring Indonesia, which lured major investment in processing plants for its huge deposits of nickel ore after banning unprocessed exports in 2020.

Environment Minister Maria Antonia Yulo-Loyzaga, whose agency also regulates mining, said the Philippines should boost its capacity to process nickel, a key component in producing EV batteries.

Australia, Britain, Canada and European Union nations had also shown interest in the Philippines, she said.

"We do wish we were part of the value chain, rather than just the supply chain," Loyzaga told a briefing.

"We want to be able to foster an environment that will encourage investments in processing by making sure we're able to facilitate exploration, and facilitate extraction in a responsible way."

Ceferino Rodolfo, the undersecretary for trade, said the Philippines was targeting three more processing plants to boost its capacity and add value to its nickel output. He did not give details, however.

The country now has two nickel processing plants, both partly owned by the biggest ore producer, Nickel Asia Corp.

Processing its nickel ore output would be the ideal scenario for the Philippines, said Economic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, and the time was right as its seeks to add value to its production of minerals.

"This energy transition issue has made our critical minerals not just an economic value proposition, but also has implications for energy security, national security," Balisacan told reporters on the sidelines of a mining forum.

With its large untapped mineral deposits, the Philippines is studying possible incentives for mining companies, he added.

The latest government figures show that the Philippines, a major supplier of nickel ore to top metals consumer China, produced 35.14 million dry metric tons last year, an increase of 19% on the year.

(Reporting by Mikhail Flores and Karen Lema; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
BROOKLYN, N.Y. (PIX11)  Brooklyn gang members convicted in multiple murders, including the shooting death of a 1-year-old boy at a cookout in 2020, were sentenced to decades in prison Wednesday, authorities said.

Travis Scott, 36, and Akeem Artis, 27, were both sentenced to 40 years in prison. Dashawn Austin, 28, was sentenced to 50 years in prison. The three men are members of the street gang Hoolies that is primarily based in and around the Roosevelt housing development in Bedford-Stuyvesant, according to the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office.

Man sentenced 27 years in prison for New Years Eve machete attack near Times Square

Austin and Artis were involved in the shooting death of 1-year-old Davell Gardner Jr. at a cookout in Bedford-Stuyvesant on July 12, 2020, authorities said.

Austin fired at a group of people during the cookout while in the passenger seat of a vehicle driven by Artis, authorities said. One of the bullets hit Davell. Three other people were also shot.

Little Davell never got to celebrate his second birthday. My heart breaks for his mother and father and all the families and victims affected by such devastating gun violence, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.

In March 2020, Austin also shot and killed alleged gang rival Janile Whitted at Kinanm Lounge on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, according to the Brooklyn District Attorneys Office.

Scott was convicted of shooting and killing 35-year-old Tyree Walker in December 2018. Walker, who was not a gang rival, was killed as he walked toward his home on Myrtle Avenue, according to authorities. Walker was a father and husband.

Youre a Hoolie? No, youre a hoodlum piece of dirt. Bye! Janice Richardson, Walkers great aunt, said about her nephews killer following the sentencing.

Finn Hoogensen is a digital journalist who has covered local news for more than five years. He has been with PIX11 News since 2022. See more of his work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Pittsburgh man is facing numerous charges after a North Side resident reported numerous instances of antisemitism on and around her property.

Police cited Mario Ashkar, 36, with multiple summary and misdemeanor offenses, including theft and ethnic intimidation.

Ashkar was reportedly identified with the help of the public, after Pittsburgh Police shared surveillance images captured at separate times. As of Friday, police told Channel 11 that they are continuing to look for a second suspect.

Channel 11 previously spoke to the victim, a Jewish woman, who recounted being the target of at least four incidents.

Throughout the month of April, she faced damage to her Israeli flag and offensive graffiti painted outside of her home. Antisemitic propaganda was also glued to her door and placed within her mailbox, according to the criminal complaint against Ashkar.

Court documents list a North Side address for Ashkar. We visited the residence, on Perrysville Avenue in Perry South, on Friday. A person at the home claimed that Ashkar does not reside there, and ultimately closed the door.

While numerous cases of antisemitism have been reported across Pittsburgh in recent months, the complaint states that at this time, this is the only incident tied to Ashkar.

Channel 11 returned to the victims home on Friday but no one came to the door. A neighbor, however, told us that theyre relieved to see there will be accountability in the case.

Its unfortunate that their feelings manifested in this particular way, so hopefully from here on out, they can get some help and get some clarity to what theyre feeling.

Download the FREE WPXI News app for breaking news alerts.

Follow Channel 11 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch WPXI NOW

TRENDING NOW:

Real ID conversion has 2025 deadline; what you need to do before next May Theft suspect who led police on foot chase wanted by Verona police Local mother charged for striking, dragging 4-year-old twins VIDEO: Small alligator found in Beaver County creek DOWNLOAD the Channel 11 News app for breaking news alerts
Plan to restore discontinued passenger rail service in Montana and Washington is chugging along

The Amtraks California Zephyr (L) stops at the Denver Union rail station during its daily 2,438-mile trip to Emeryville/San Francisco from Chicago that takes roughly 52 hours on March 24, 2017 in Denver, United States. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

This article was first published by the Daily Montanan.

More passenger rail through Montana isnt just a hope and a dream, its a plan thats chugging its way to reality, according to a report this week from the Big Sky Rail Authority.

And Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg is on board.

Representatives from the Big Sky Rail Authority updated the Transportation Interim Committee of the Montana Legislature this week shortly after Secretary Buttigieg visited the Treasure State and touted federal investments in infrastructure.

Big Sky Rail Authority Chairperson Dave Strohmaier said a federal rail study identifies two long-distance routes through Montana as preferred, an east-west line connecting Seattle to Chicago and a north-south line to Billings.

Montana is really the epicenter and the beneficiary of two preferred long-distance routes in this study, Strohmaier said.

He said getting Montanas routes selected as preferred ones in the Federal Railroad Administration study was one of two key goals the Big Sky Rail Authority accomplished since it came into existence some three years ago. He said the routes would connect urban and rural communities in the American West.

At a separate event this week at the Missoula Montana Airport, Buttigieg talked about the ripple effects federal dollars for infrastructure have for customers, workers and economic development.

He said the West famously had some of Americas great railroads, but trains have experienced a loss of service, and its one reason the federal transportation department has put planning dollars into rail.

In December 2023, the Biden administration announced $8.2 billion in new grants for rail for projects ready to be built and ones in the works, including planning dollars for improved service in Montana.

A couple of weeks ago, Buttigieg said he attended a ground-breaking on a high-speed rail line that will run between Nevada and southern California. He said rail is part of the transit system, and a Corridor Identification Program will lead to a plan for implementing more rail.

The bottom line is, passenger rail is something we believe in  weve done it before in this country, and weve done it well, and theres no reason we cant do it again, Buttigieg said.

Strohmaier said a couple of major federal initiatives are underway related to rail, and Montana is in the mix in both. He answered questions by phone and also gave a report to the legislature Wednesday where he shared a map that showed the dearth of service in Montana.

If folks are wondering about feasibility or not, that train has left the station, Strohmaier said. We are no longer debating feasibility. We are in the planning stage as we speak to make this happen.

The planning is underway with a $500,000 grant from a federal Department of Transportation, he said. However, Rob Stapley, with the Montana Department of Transportation, said federal funds are not currently available for operating restored or new long-distance passenger routes.

Restoration of the North Coast Hiawatha is estimated to generate $271 million in economic benefits to seven states and cost Amtrak $68 million to operate, according to a 2021 report from the Rail Passengers Association. The report said the cost is offset by the collection of $41 million in fares and other customer revenue.

Samantha Beyl, of Rosebud County, told the committee that southeast Montana represents 20% of the states population and 26% of its landmass, and it is a place rich in cultural and recreational significance.

However, Beyl said many communities face challenges in accessing services such as health care, and passenger rail could help take people to cities where medical care is available, such as Billings.

In 2023, tourists spent $5.45 billion in Montana, including $1.6 billion on transit, she said, citing the Institute for Tourism and Recreation Research at the University of Montana. In southeast Montana alone, she said, non-residents spent $868 million in 2022.

This underscores the importance of enhancing transportation infrastructure, such as the passenger rail system, to accommodate the growing demand for tourists, said Beyl, a Forsyth City Councilor and member of the Big Sky Rail Authority.

The Big Sky Rail Authority is the largest transit district in the state of Montana and a subdivision of state government, Strohmaier said. Leaders include representatives from 20 member counties; three tribal nations, the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, and Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; and Amtrak, the Montana Department of Transportation and BNSF.

First, Strohmaier said, the Federal Railroad Administrations long-distance study examines the potential to reopen discontinued routes or new ones of 750 miles or more. That study will wrap up soon, and it identifies both the North Coast Hiawatha, connecting Chicago to Seattle through southern Montana, with a stop in Yakima, Washington, and a north-south line to Billings, from El Paso or Denver, as preferred, he said.

A map showing proposed rail service between Chicago and Seattle, with stops in Montana and eastern and central Washington. (U.S. Department of Transportation)

This is a big deal for the state of Montana and something that has been over four decades in the making, Strohmaier said.

Additionally, Strohmaier said the North Coast Hiawatha is the only new long-distance route that will be recommended to Congress through another Federal Railroad Administration program, the Corridor Identification Program setting rail priorities.

This too is a huge win for Montana, he said.

He said a request for proposals to hire a firm to help get the project into the development pipeline will go out within days. The federal rail programs are part of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

According to the Big Sky Rail Authority, the North Coast Hiawatha was discontinued in 1979, leaving a vast expanse of the Greater Northwest Region and some of Montanas largest cities without passenger rail service.

Next steps for the plan include answering the burning questions people have asked for so long, said Strohmaier. Where will the stations be located? What will the schedules look like? What are the necessary infrastructure investments?

What will the trains themselves be like? said Strohmaier, also chairperson of the Board of Missoula County Commissioners.

He said a $500,000 federal grant supports the planning process, and a shovel-ready project should be ready for implementation in 2.5 to three years.

The collaboration includes the Federal Railroad Administration and eight states including Montana. Strohmaier said he met briefly with Buttigieg this week, and the secretary was aware of efforts in Montana and enthusiastic about them.

One question people have asked is whether a train could run through Butte in the future, but its a heavier lift than Helena because of the lack of an active rail line east of Butte, Strohmaier said. However, he said Butte remains in the mix for the long game.

Short term, lets just get the doggone train running through southern Montana (and) figure out transit connections through communities that might not initially see a rail stop, Strohmaier said. But absolutely, Butte is still in the mix as far as rail connectivity at some point in time.

He also said infrastructure work near Malta is underway with a $15 million federal DOT grant. He said upgrades near Malta are important because its a chokepoint for passengers and freight.

This week, Strohmaier and an Amtrak official were headed to Havre for a meeting focused on the Empire Builder. He said a concern along the Hi-Line is if Montana adds passenger rail elsewhere, it will mean a loss of rail along the Hi-Line.

Only with a strong Empire Builder can we have a strong and vital and sustainable North Coast Hiawatha, Strohmaier said.

Daily Montanan is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Daily Montanan maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Darrell Ehrlick for questions: info@dailymontanan.com. Follow Daily Montanan on Facebook and Twitter.

The post Plan to restore discontinued passenger rail service in Montana and Washington is chugging along appeared first on Washington State Standard.
(Bloomberg) -- The curious case of an official in Polands previous nationalist government, who defected to Belarus, is proving to be a boon for Prime Minister Donald Tusk a month before European Parliament elections.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Judge Tomasz Szmydt has become front-page news in Poland after he fled the country and on Monday asked for political asylum from Belarussian leader Alexander Lukashenko. Tusk and his allies have seized on the case as they gear up for a third ballot since October and following a lackluster performance in local elections last month.

Deputy Justice Minister Arkadiusz Myrcha on Thursday accused the Law & Justice party of granting the judge access to classified information and helping him rise through the ranks during its contested overhaul of courts.

The reforms carried out during eight years of Law & Justice rule sparked a conflict with the European Union and prompted Brussels to halt billions of euros in aid to Poland. In 2019, Szmydt was accused of running an online smear campaign against judges who opposed the overhaul.

Judge Szmydt is on you, Myrcha told opposition lawmakers. The only question is whether it was due to someones ignorance, omission, or was it a fully conscious action?

Tusk has called for a parliamentary probe into potential Russian and Belarusian interference in Polish politics, arguing the issue may go beyond Szmydt. Prosecutors are investigating whether the judge was a spy and Poland plans to issue an arrest warrant for him.

Law & Justice spokesman Rafal Bochenek said on Thursday its Tusk and his Civic Platform party that conduct pro-Russia policies and that Szmydts case was built on unreliable testimony and opinions.

Since leaving, Szmydt flooded his social media accounts with posts and videos recommending visits to Belarus and excerpts from his interviews including with Russia Today, the Kremlins global propaganda outlet. He said hes never broken any laws and fled because speaking his mind in Tusks Poland was a dangerous activity.

Lukashenko said he will consider Szmydts plea for political asylum and ordered personal protection for the judge in Belarus so that opponents dont finish off the man, according to state-owned news agency Belta.

--With assistance from Aliaksandr Kudrytski.

(Updates with Lukashenko comments in the last paragraph.)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
BRISTOL, Tenn. (WJHL)  One person was pronounced dead after a crash in Bristol, Tennessee Friday morning.

According to the Bristol Tennessee Police Department (BTPD), officers were called to a multivehicle crash in the 900 block of Weaver Pike just before 11 a.m.

Close

Thanks for signing up!

Watch for us in your inbox.

Subscribe Now

Breaking News

The crash reportedly involved two vehicles.

Three people were transported to the Bristol Regional Medical Center by ambulance.

When the patients arrived at the hospital, the BTPD reports one of them was pronounced dead.

Police have not released the identity of the deceased person, due to the need to notify the next of kin.

As of Friday afternoon, the crash remains under investigation. Anyone who witnessed the crash is asked to contact BTPD Sergeant Mike Still at 423-989-5600.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Police asking public for information on possible kidnapping in Aurora

DENVER (KDVR)  The Aurora Police Department is asking the public for information on a possible kidnapping that happened Thursday evening.

Around 6:15 p.m., police responded to a call reporting a suspicious incident that happened in a parking lot in the northwest corner of the Tower Road and East 28th Avenue intersection.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

CCU professor, officer honored for saving life after student collapsed in classroom

According to police, the 911 caller said they saw a woman being pulled out of the back seat of a car by two drivers, then thrown to the ground before being forced back into the back seat.

The car the woman was pulled out of is described as a black Volkswagen Tiguan, the driver of which is described as a Black, 6-foot-tall man with a slim build.

The other driver who allegedly helped pull the victim out of the Volkswagen is described as a heavy-set Black woman. She was driving a white Ford SUV.

The Aurora Police Department is asking the public for information on a possible kidnapping that happened Thursday afternoon. One vehicle involved is described as a white Ford SUV. (Photo: Aurora Police Department)

The Aurora Police Department is asking the public for information on a possible kidnapping that happened Thursday afternoon. One vehicle involved is described as a black Volkswagen Tiguan. (Photo: Aurora Police Department)

The Aurora Police Department is asking the public for information on a possible kidnapping that happened Thursday afternoon. One vehicle involved is described as a white Ford SUV. (Photo: Aurora Police Department)

The Aurora Police Department is asking the public for information on a possible kidnapping that happened Thursday afternoon. One vehicle involved is described as a black Volkswagen Tiguan. (Photo: Aurora Police Department)

No clothing descriptions were available for either of the drivers.

The victim is described as a Black woman, about 5 feet 5 inches tall and weighing 150 pounds. Police said she was wearing a white t-shirt and glasses.

Now, detectives with APD are looking to speak with anyone who may have witnessed the incident. Anyone with information is asked to contact Sgt. Jeffrey Longnecker at 303-739-6041 or Detective Tyler Josifek at 303-739-6523.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Police began clearing the pro-Palestinian encampment on the MIT campus early Friday morning.

Video from the scene shows police roaming through the encampment around 4:20 a.m.

Ten individuals, a mix of graduate and undergraduate students at MIT, were arrested, according to the University. The students did not resist arrest and were peacefully escorted from the encampment by MIT police officers and taken off campus for booking.

My responsibility is to the whole community: to make sure that the campus is physically safe and functioning for everyone, that our shared spaces and resources are available for everyone, and that everyone feels free to express their views and do the work they came here to do, MIT President Sally Kornbluth said.

Police in riot gear arrived around 4 a.m., encircled the camp, and gave protesters about 15 minutes to leave. A crowd outside the camp began gathering and chanting pro-Palestinian slogans but were dispersed by 6 a.m.

The move at MIT comes several days after police first attempted to clear the encampment only to see protesters storm past barriers and restore the encampment, which includes about a dozen tents in the heart of the campus in Cambridge.

People protesting outside of the encampment have ended their chants and have walked away. @boston25 pic.twitter.com/u8i95s4adm  Ryan Breslin (@ryanjbreslin) May 10, 2024

Nearly 10 people were arrested Thursday for blocking the parking garage that faculty use. Students on campus want MIT to stop funding research for the Israeli Ministry of Defense.

Our actions today had nothing to do with the specific viewpoints of the students in the encampment, Kornbluth added. We acted in response to their actions. There are countless highly effective ways for all of us to express ourselves that neither disrupt the functioning of the Institute nor create a magnet for external protestors.

Kornbluth said that removing the encampments was her last resort. I had no choice but to remove such a high-risk flashpoint at the very center of our campus.

Boston 25 also reached out to Harvard and Emerson for updates on its student protests ahead of Commencement but hasnt heard back.

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
BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China on Friday delivered data provided by a cube satellite aboard its Chang'e-6 spacecraft to Pakistan, deepening cooperation on lunar exploration between the two countries.

Zhang Kejian, head of the China National Space Administration (CNSA), handed a data carrier to Pakistani Ambassador to China Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi at a ceremony held in Beijing.

The cube satellite, ICUBE-Q, was developed by Pakistan's Institute of Space Technology and China's Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The Chang'e-6 lunar probe was launched on May 3 and carried four international payloads, including ICUBE-Q.

ICUBE-Q separated from the Chang'e-6 orbiter on May 8 to carry out exploration activities such as capturing images of the moon.

The Chang'e-6 spacecraft, which successfully performed a near-moon braking procedure and entered the lunar orbit on May 8, is operating normally, with subsequent flight control work to be carried out as planned, said Ge Ping, deputy director of the CNSA's Lunar Exploration and Space Engineering Center.

Both China and Pakistan attach great importance to this cooperation. During the development of the payload, government organs and scientific institutions in both countries made significant preparations, Ge said.

"I believe that this cooperation is of great significance to promoting friendly relations between the two countries and enriching people's understanding of the moon," he added.

The ICUBE-Q satellite is the result of the first lunar exploration cooperation project between China and Pakistan. The project was guided by the principles of equality, mutual benefits, the peaceful utilization of space and inclusive development. It will also enhance the friendship between the two countries and expand diverse cooperation in the field of aerospace, Ge said.

"We will share our scientific achievements to lay the foundation for future lunar exploration activities, which will be of great significance to promoting the construction of a global community with a shared future in outer space," he added.

He noted that China and Pakistan have signed a cooperation agreement on the International Lunar Research Station. China has received Pakistan's application for payload cooperation on the Chang'e-8 mission, and its application to borrow lunar samples returned by the Chang'e-5 mission. Relevant work is progressing steadily.

"We welcome Pakistan's participation in China's lunar and deep space exploration missions, and we will conduct extensive exchanges and cooperation related to space technology, space science and space applications to contribute to the peaceful use of outer space and serve civilization and global well-being," Ge said.

The launch of the Chang'e-6 mission is a model example of international cooperation in action. It demonstrated that China acts on its word, and that it undertakes meaningful cooperation and extends meaningful assistance to developing countries, Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi said.

Pakistan's involvement in ICUBE-Q is a testament to the fact that the country is also making progress in space exploration and technology, he said.

This mission will open up opportunities for Pakistan to explore the deep space environment and study the dynamics and geography of the moon. It will also give impetus to higher education in the space sciences in Pakistan, said Syed Amer Ahsan Gilani, deputy director-general of the Satellite Manufacturing Department of the Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission.

"Space cooperation between China and Pakistan is a vital aspect of our bilateral relations," Khalil-ur-Rahman Hashmi said. The two countries have drawn a concrete roadmap for future collaboration on space exploration, knowledge and research exchange visits, and knowledge transfers and resource-sharing, he added. 
DENVER (KDVR)  Fort Collins police said a man tried to sexually assault a woman at a park and was bit in the face by a dog, with authorities later taking the man into custody.

Police said a woman was crying and telling a male to get off of her when she called 911 Sunday evening, according to a release from Fort Collins Police Services.

Man sentenced to 26 years for dealing fentanyl that killed woman in recovery

Dispatchers used her phones location to send officers to Lee Martinez Park, located at 600 N. Sherwood St. When officers found the woman near the center of the park, she pointed out a man walking behind her.

The woman reported that the man had attacked her, and she fought him off for 20 minutes to prevent a sexual assault. According to police, a dog helped her in the fight by biting the man in the face.

The man, identified as 39-year-old Seth Estabrooks, was taken into custody without incident and booked on the following counts:

Second-degree assault strangulation

Unlawful sexual contact with force or threat

False imprisonment by force

Police said the woman had no relationship with Estabrooks, whom police described as a transient from Boulder.

The woman got medical support and a Patrol Crime Scene Investigator processed the suspect at the hospital, where he was treated for the dog bites.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  A woman was arrested and faces DUI charges after a crash left a motorcyclist dead in North Las Vegas, according to police.

It happened shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Thursday near Owens Avenue and James Street near Civic Center.

Once officers arrived they determined the collision involved a blue Harley Davidson motorcycle and a brown 2011 Chevrolet HHR. The motorcycle rider, a 29-year-old male, was ejected from the motorcycle after the collision and appeared to have serious injuries but once a medical team arrived they pronounced the motorcyclist dead, North Las Vegas police said.

During the preliminary investigation officers determined that the Harley Davidson motorcycle was traveling westbound on Owens Avenue at a high rate of speed. During that time the Chevrolet HHR was stopped westbound on Owens Avenue, near James Street, in the center turn lane.

The Harley Davidson attempted to pass around other vehicles by swerving into the center median. The Harley Davidson then struck the rear of the Chevrolet, causing the motorcycle rider to be ejected from the motorcycle, North Las Vegas police said.

The 43-year-old female driver of the Chevrolet was uninjured but showed signs of impairment and was arrested. She was booked into the North Las Vegas Community Correctional Center on the charges of DUI, felony child endangerment, and other traffic-related offenses, according to police.

Traffic officers continue to investigate the collision where speed and no motorcycle license endorsement are believed to be factors on the motorcyclist and impairment being a factor on the driver of the Chevrolet, police said.

Anyone who may have information about this collision is urged to contact the North Las Vegas Police Department by phone at 702-633-9111. To remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers by phone at 702-385 -5555

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Police carry a activist from a blocade, at the access road to Neuhardenberg airfield, in Neuhardenberg, Germany, Friday, May 10, 2024. Tesla vehicles produced at the Gr'nheide plant are temporarily stored on the airfield site. (Patrick Pleul/dpa via AP)

German police said Friday they had prevented hundreds of demonstrators from storming Teslas factory near Berlin during protests against the pioneering electric carmaker over its environmental footprint.

Crowds of demonstrators gathered near the Grunheide factory, Teslas only European production base, on Friday carrying banners complaining about water consumption at the plant and advocating for public transport over private cars.

Activists have been protesting in a forest near the plant since February over concerns about water and plans to cut trees to make way for an expansion of the plant, which opened in early 2022. In March, a suspected arson attack on an electricity pylon claimed by a far-left group knocked out power supplies to the factory for nearly a week, interrupting production.

Company CEO Elon Musk at the time called the culprits the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth and said anti-Tesla protesters were misguided for aiming to halt production of electric vehicles rather than those powered by fossil fuels.

During Friday's protest march at a nearby train station, hundreds of participants ran into the forest and tried to get onto the Tesla site, police spokesman Mario Heinemann said on ntv television. We prevented that with our forces.

Social media footage showed black-clad protestors, many wearing medical masks, running over rough ground toward the factory boundary, and riot police using pepper spray in an attempt to turn them back.

Police said demonstrators also blocked a nearby highway and a railway line, and set off fireworks at an airfield where Tesla stores new cars.

Police detained several people temporarily, German news service dpa reported.

Companies like Tesla are happy to destroy habitats for their own profit, said Ole Becker, a spokesman for Disrupt Tesla," a group that helped organize the protest. Instead of SUVs for the few, we must build buses and trains for the many.
YORK COUNTY, Pa. (WHTM)  York County Regional Police is asking the public for help locating a missing man in York Township.

Police say Miguel Anthony Pereira III did not return to his home on Saratoga Road in York Township on his way home from work at York College on Thursday, May 9.

According to police, videos from York College show Miguel Anthony Pereira III leaving work alone at 3:40 p.m.

Police say Pereira drove his white 2018 GMC Canyon with the Pennsylvania registration ZXH-7988 from work and traveled south on South George Street from Country Club Road.

Miguel Anthony Pereira III (Courtesy York County Regional Police)

Miguel Anthony Pereira III (Courtesy York County Regional Police)

(Courtesy York County Regional Police)

(Courtesy York County Regional Police)

Police are asking anyone who sees him or knows anything about his whereabouts to contact them at 911 or 717-741-1259 ext 164.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
The suspect was identified as Anthony Martin Landry

LEWIS BRISBOIS BISGAARD & SMITH LLP; Houston Police Department Jeffrey Limmer, left, and suspect Anthony Martin Landry

Authorities have released the name of the suspect wanted for allegedly shooting and killing a Houston attorney at a McDonalds.

Anthony Martin Landry, 57, is charged with murder after the Houston Police Department alleges he shot and killed 46-year-old Jeffrey Limmer on May 4.

Police are still searching for Landry after they claimed he shot Limmer before fleeing the scene in a blue pickup truck.

KTRK reported, citing police, that Limmer was attempting to calm down Landry, who was angry at the McDonalds employees, before an altercation started. Police said Limmer pushed Landry to the ground outside the restaurant before the latter allegedly got a gun from his car and shot the attorney, the outlet reported.

Related: Texas Attorney Is Fatally Shot at McDonalds While Trying to Calm Angry Fellow Customer

"He loved fiercely his family and friends," Limmers sister Jennifer Thomas told KTRK. "Always laughing, making jokes, and just loving life.

Thomas also told the outlet that her family was proud that her brother stood up for the McDonalds workers and acted as a good Samaritan.

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.



Limmer worked as an attorney in Lewis Brisbois Houston office. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin before attending law school at South Texas College of Law, according to the firms website.

Anyone with information on Landrys location is asked to contact the Houston Police Departments Homicide Division at 713-308-3600 or Crime Stoppers at 713-222-TIPS.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Police were advised to avoid mass arrests; then came the US campus protests

By Daniel Trotta

(Reuters) - In the three tumultuous weeks since protests broke out at U.S. universities, police have descended on dozens of campuses to sweep up students in mass arrests, adhering to an approach many criminologists have found to be outdated and counterproductive.

New York police arrested nearly 300 people at Columbia University and City College of New York on April 30 during protests over the war in Gaza, setting off flash bangs to stun and disorient demonstrators. Two nights later in Los Angeles, police collared more than 200 people at UCLA.

At schools in Connecticut, Georgia, Texas, New Hampshire and elsewhere, protesters have been arrested by the dozens.

Experts on policing caution against drawing conclusions about each police intervention, saying it is too soon determine where police may have acted precipitously. That research can take years.

But an early examination of the approach to campus protests suggests police, in many cases, have yet to shed outdated ways of handling large demonstrations, they said. They added that too many departments have been slow to fully realize lessons from the 2020 racial justice protests, when police misconduct toward demonstrators resulted in several multimillion-dollar legal settlements.

"What we don't want is a large number of low-quality arrests. We want a small number of high-quality arrests," said Edward Maguire, a criminology professor at Arizona State University.

Reuters based this report on interviews with 10 experts in criminology, policing, civil liberties and law in addition to reviewing recent research.

Since the first mass arrests at Columbia on April 18, at least 2,600 demonstrators have been detained at more than 100 protests in 39 states and Washington, D.C., according to The Appeal, a nonprofit news organization. The charges are mainly trespassing, with some for assault of a police officer. New York has also accused suspects of criminal mischief and burglary.

Some prosecutors are dismissing cases. After police on horseback and clad in riot gear intervened at the University of Texas at Austin on April 25, Travis County prosecutors dropped charges against 57 people, citing a lack of probable cause.

Criminologists say many mass arrest cases are dismissed because police apply broad, general statements, sometimes in identical language, to large numbers of suspects. Such arrests are also prone to sweeping up bystanders or people charged with minor offenses such as trespassing.

They can also be counterproductive by escalating tensions and generating animus toward police, providing protesters with a rallying cry that fuels even more animated protests, experts said.

Colombia University, which twice called in police, did not respond to a request for comment but Columbia President Minouche Shafik said in a statement on April 18 she requested police to clear the day-old student encampment, saying they violated numerous rules, in order to ensure campus safety.

New York police did not respond to a request for comment but a press conference following the April 30 operation Police Commissioner Edward Caban said, "The situation on their campuses had deteriorated to a point where the safety of their students, faculty, staff, and the public was at risk."

The Los Angeles Police Department referred queries to UCLA officials, who did not respond.

RETHINKING THE 2020 GEORGE FLOYD RESPONSE

Much of today's thinking around policing of protests has been shaped by the demonstrations in 2020 following the Minneapolis police killing of George Floyd that sparked global protests against police brutality and racism.

A 2022 paper by the Washington-based Police Executive Research Forum that analyzed the 2020 law enforcement response recommended avoiding mass arrests whenever possible and called for limiting use of so-called "less-lethal" munitions such as tear gas and rubber bullets.

Moreover, it found police should engage more with protesters and prioritize establishing trust and communication before putting on a show of force by, for instance, deploying riot gear.

Another 2022 report by the National Policing Institute stressed the importance of empathetically communicating with protest leaders, using modern research on crowd psychology, and restricting the use of force to "specific individuals and groups committing criminal offenses, not entire groups of demonstrators."

In Denver, police chief Ron Thomas told a Citizen Oversight Board he refused a campus request to clear a protest encampment for a second time on April 26 after the first raid resulted in 45 arrests.

Thomas said he would resist future attempts to break up the encampment. "I know that there is no legal way to do that, unless they truly do something that creates an unlawful assembly," he said.

Clifford Stott, director of the Keele Policing Academic Collaboration at Britain's Keele University, is working with police in Columbus, Ohio, on a project funded by the U.S. Justice Department to apply modern research to crowd control and protests reflected in the findings of those 2022 reports.

Stott said some police forces have incorporated the latest research, but that many are stuck in a doctrine from the 1960s and 1970s, emphasizing a display of force and dispersing crowds over mediation.

"When policing is reliant on use of force, particularly indiscriminate use of force against crowds as a whole, we see psychological change. And we see escalation emerging as a function of that psychological change," Stott said.

As a result, protests once focused on the plight of the Palestinians took on the added dimension of demands for free speech, Stott said.

Several experts said they believe Columbia University's decision to call in police to dismantle a student encampment on April 18, resulting in 93 arrests, fueled the increasingly contentious demonstrations at Columbia and other campuses.

Maguire said his research would test the hypothesis that Columbia's decision escalated events elsewhere. Stott said he believed other researchers would as well, adding that it was too soon to determine if Columbia or protesters escalated confrontations.

(Reporting by Daniel Trotta; editing by Paul Thomasch)
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk has stated that he has numerous questions for the previous government regarding the possible influence of Russia on its representatives. Meanwhile, Jarosaw Kaczynski, the Law and Justice Party leader, has claimed that the situation is precisely the opposite.

Source: Polish news portal RMF24, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Donald Tusk touched upon the issue of a defector judge seeking "political asylum" in Belarus and then continued to criticise the previous government in the context of defending against Russian and Belarusian influence during a speech in the Polish Sejm [lower house of parliament] on Thursday, 9 May.

Among other things, Tusk said, "If any defence minister did things like Mr. Macierewicz and his team (...) there would have been an outcry of treason," and also asked about Jarosaw Kaczynski's past "interactions with Committee for State Security (KGB) agent Anatoly Vasin, which he himself acknowledged".

Quote from Tusk: "Either government agencies, the prosecutor's office or the commission on Russian influence, which we will create in accordance with the constitution, will thoroughly investigate it. Without cameras, sideshows and media circuses. [It will investigate] Russian and Belarusian influences on the United Right government."

Kaczynski commented on his meetings with Vasin in 1989, stating that it was directly related to his duties at the time in organising Lech Waesa's visit to Moscow. He added that the contacts ceased when he held positions in the government. He called the accusations regarding those events absurd.

Kaczynski also stated that there is "plenty of evidence indicating the Russian agenda is consistently implemented there (...) as it was during their [Tusk's political forces] previous tenure in power".

Quote from Kaczynski: "What they are doing now, for any normal person, is 100% proof of what I once said and what was condemned then  that Poland is becoming a joint German-Russian property under their rule. Now, perhaps more German and less Russian, but still Russian."

Support UP or become our patron!
MANILA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) on Friday said that one of the four Filipino sailors taken hostage by Iranian forces last month has been freed.

The DFA said the Philippines welcomes the "good news," adding that the sailor is expected to arrive in Manila later Friday.

"We appreciate Iran's gesture," the DFA said in a statement but did not elaborate.

The DFA said the government is working to release and repatriate the remaining three hostages. "We hope for their eventual speedy return to their homes and families," it added.

The four sailors were among the crew of a container ship, MSC Aries, seized by Iranian forces in the Persian Gulf on April 13 as it passed the Strait of Hormuz. 
Politico: US to announce new $400 million military aid package for Ukraine

Editor's note: This story is being updated.

The U.S. is preparing to announce a military aid package for Ukraine worth $400 million on May 10, Politico reported, citing two unnamed American officials and obtained notification sent to Congress.

After six months of political infighting and delays, the U.S. recently passed a long-awaited $61 billion aid package, with much of it covering military aid. The following day, the Pentagon announced that it was ready to move forward with sending $1 billion worth of weapons to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles.

The new package will include new Patriot missiles, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles (MRAPs), Javelin anti-armor systems, and other munitions, Politico wrote, citing its sources.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

Russia is likely trying to take as much territory as possible before the impact of the recently passed U.S. aid bill for Ukraine can be felt on the battlefield. Russian forces had begun a new offensive operation on May 10, targeting Kharkiv Oblast, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

After the new batch of U.S. weapons started flowing to Ukraine, American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said that it is "very early on" to see the effects of this military aid on the front lines.

During the six-month break in funding, Ukraine lost the key front-line city of Avdiivka in February amid a severe ammunition shortage.

Russia has since then continued its advance toward Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast, an elevated town that opens the way to further advances into the region.

Kyiv will look to launch a counteroffensive in 2025 with the support of the approved $61 billion aid package from Washington, as well as additional Western aid funding, U.S. National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said.

Read also: What Ukraine lost while waiting for the US aid bill to pass

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Your food could be decidedly blander this summer, with a major sriracha producer warning that it is suspending production because of a shortage of the Thai chili sauce's main ingredient  hot peppers.

Huy Fung Foods, which makes a popular sriracha hot sauce, said it will stop producing the condiment until September because the red jalapeno chili peppers used to make it are "too green," according to a company memo obtained by CBS MoneyWatch. USA Today first reported the news.

"After reevaluating our supply of chili, we have determined that it is too green to proceed with production as it is affecting the color of the product," Huy Fung Foods said in an April 30 letter to wholesale buyers.

"We regret to inform you that we have decided to halt production until after Labor Day, when our next chili season starts," the company added, noting that all customer orders as of May 6 are canceled. Huy Fung Foods sells its products to retailers, restaurants and other businesses, rather than to consumers.

The company declined to comment on its production pause or its memo to buyers.

A red jalapeno chili pepper that's too green usually indicates it's not fully mature or ripe, according to Stephanie Walker, a chili pepper expert at New Mexico State University.

"If too many peppers are green jalapenos, that means they are the immature color of the reds," she told CBS MoneyWatch. "They haven't reached proper maturity, so it could be a timing issue, like maybe they were planted too late or adverse environmental conditions slowed down the ripeness."

It's not the first time sriracha supplies have been threatened, with Huy Fong Foods last year facing production challenges related to crop failures.

Bottles of Huy Fong Foods Sriracha line a grocery store shelf on May 10, 2024 in Miami, Florida. / Credit: Joe Raedle/Getty Images

The warning comes as more frequent and severe weather events increasingly shape food supply. Although environmental conditions can hurt jalapeno pepper production, Walker said temperatures haven't been hot enough in Mexico to have affected chili pepper production.

Still, some experts blame a changing climate for the subpar chili pepper growing conditions that have constrained the supply of sriracha in recent years. Mexico is suffering from a drought, with the most severe impact being felt in northern Mexico, where most of the peppers are grown, according to a map from Mexico's National Water Commission.

California farmer Craig Underwood, who formerly supplied Huy Fung Foods with peppers for its sriracha sauce, said he used to produce 100 million pounds of red jalapeno chili peppers for the company on 2,000 acres. The sauce's distinctive taste is because 90% of its contents consists of fresh red jalapenos, he said.

"That's why it's such a good product," Underwood told CBS MoneyWatch.

Underwood, who makes his own sriracha, also said he has a sufficient supply of jalapeno peppers, while noting that he produces the sauce at a much smaller scale. He said using green peppers would give sriracha a brownish color instead of its typical bright red hue.

New details emerge after series of resignations rock Miss USA organization

Decade-long search for Texas mom's killer takes stunning turns

Bodycam video released of deadly police shooting of U.S. airman in Florida
(Bloomberg) -- Each day, Bloomberg journalists take you across a selection of towns and cities as they gear up for the big vote.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Hello, Im Debjit Chakraborty. I oversee Bloomberg News in New Delhi but I grew up in Asansol, one of the top industrial cities in the eastern Indian state of West Bengal. Dotted with coal mines and colonial era steel mills, the city is a melting pot of people from across the country, who throng to the place in search of a livelihood. However, the industrial boom also brought with it challenges such as pollution and land subsidence caused by underground mining. A large Hindi-speaking migrant population from the neighboring states of Jharkhand and Bihar helped Prime Minister Narendra Modis right wing Bharatiya Janata Party win the former Communist-party bastion of Asansol in 2014 and 2019. However, BJP lost the by-election after its lawmaker defected in 2021 to firebrand Chief Minister Mamata Banerjees party. Its current candidate is yesteryear movie star Shatrughan Sinha.

Top Stories

As Indias general election nears the halfway mark, falling voter turnout is prompting concerns about voter disengagement in the worlds largest poll. Analysts and political party figures say there are good reasons for the decline and the lower participation doesnt necessarily suggest advantage for either side.

Read more:

How will the vote affect the investment case for India? To find out, Bloomberg News spoke with Hiren Dasani of Goldman Sachs; Sonal Varma of Nomura and Suyash Rai of Carnegie India. View the conversation here

Indian Opposition Leader Gets Interim Bail for National Election

Campaign Trail

Congress party President Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying they are worried after the third phase of elections.

Meanwhile, the BJP wrote to the Election Commission and Mumbai police seeking action against regional party Shiv Sena (UBT) and its leader Sanjay Raut for remarks made against Modi.

Global Media

The Guardian reported about a shift among women voters who are deciding for themselves in patriarchal rural India.

The AFP reported that Kashmiri voters in this years national elections will be eager to express their frustrations with the end of their territorys special status by the Modi government.

Who Votes This Week?

Indias mammoth election runs through June 1, with counting scheduled for June 4. This map from the Election Commission of India shows which constituencies vote when.

Related News

TOP ELECIN for top India election stories; readers on the app click BTDY ELECIN

NI BGOVBANDB The Ballots & Boundaries newsletter

NI BTDC Podcast on Money, Power, and Politics

Indians have started voting in the worlds biggest election. Understand how money and business intersect with politics and power by following Bloomberg Indias channel on WhatsApp, and sign up for the weekly India Edition newsletter by Menaka Doshi.

This story was produced with the assistance of Bloomberg Automation.

--With assistance from Supriya Batra.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
The Port of Virginia is on its way to having the deepest channels on the East Coast by 2026. (Courtesy Port of Virginia)

Even while unexpectedly supporting the Port of Baltimore over the past three months, the Port of Virginia is on its way to having the deepest channels on the East Coast by next year, a distinction that will help it further support the exchange of domestic and international goods.

According to Port of Virginia CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards, such investments have helped the company maintain a competitive edge in the market.

Last year, the port processed 3.25 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs)  a unit of measure used in the industry to determine cargo capacity  which is slightly less than the 3.7 million it handled in 2022.

Baltimore aid

On Thursday, Edwards provided an overview of the ports operations at an annual luncheon with business leaders and officials from around the commonwealth. He also detailed how the port handled additional cargo shipments that were diverted from the port in Baltimore after a ship crashed into a bridge above the ports channel in March.

Officials from the Port of Virginia have handled about 15,000 additional container units and multiple ro-ro shipments, such as vehicles and machinery, to keep supply chains moving. The temporary measure is expected to end this month due to developments of reopening the Port of Baltimore.

Its a testament to our team, our operations, and the strategic investments in projects that we are able to meet these moments while still performing at the highest level, said Edwards, who also commended other ports on the East Coast for rising to the occasion.

When something works and works well, it is, after all, human nature not to pay too much notice, but the Key Bridge collapse put a spotlight on the vitality of our work and our industry, Edwards said. I know weve all felt a greater focus on the implications of what we do each and every day.

Going deeper

Edwards said the ports implementation of the $1.4 billion Gateway Investment Program is helping transform its operations, highlighted by a dredging project to deepen the channel at Norfolk Harbor. The investment program includes plans to upgrade the Norfolk International Terminal  a semiautomated terminal that allows the transfer of containers  expand the central rail yard, and implement an offshore wind energy hub.

The port has also transitioned to powering all its terminals with electricity from clean resources and expanding its channel to allow for larger cargo ships.

House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, presenting Port of Virginia CEO and Executive Director Stephen Edwards with a resolution passed by the General Assembly at the State of the Port luncheon in Virginia Beach on May 9, 2024. (Nathaniel Cline/Virginia Mercury)

Port officials said Norfolk Harbor is the only channel on the East Coast with Congressional authorization to dredge down to 55 feet.

Once the dredging and widening are complete, port officials said the harbor will offer the deepest, widest channels on the U.S. East Coast and commercial channels will allow safe, two-way traffic for larger ships.

House Speaker Don Scott, D-Portsmouth, who presented Edwards with a resolution on Thursday commending the ports work, said the commonwealth is committed to investing in the cargo terminals in Hampton Roads and Richmond.

Weve invested hundreds of millions of dollars to make sure that our port is the very best port with the deepest water, but we also have to continue to sustain that investment, Scott said, adding that these investments create jobs and make the commonwealth more competitive.

As part of the integrated freight strategy between the port and Virginia, work is underway to expand the Hampton Roads Bridge-Tunnel, and widen Route 58 in Patrick County and Interstate 64 in New Kent.

The post Port of Virginia on track to have deepest channels on East Coast appeared first on Virginia Mercury.
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  Fundraising in Portland schools will be looking a little different. Instead of individual school fundraisers, this money will go into a pot to share the wealth. However, community reactions to this plan are mixed.

Not everyone is on board with the idea of a shared fundraising model, with some saying the plan wasnt fully thought out. Still, others say its time to make sure all Portland Public Schools kids benefit from this money.

Jill Biden lands in Portland for fundraiser

For decades, local school foundations (LSFs) have been raising money for individual schools to hire additional educators. Last year, they raised a total of $2.5 million. However, schools in higher-income neighborhoods were raising more money than others. Some say it wasnt fair.

Those who object to this new plan say it isnt fully formed and want to keep the money they raised at their kids school.

Chair of the Fund for PPS Jonathan Garcia said school communities have established these local school foundations for the past 30 years but theres been an ebb and flow.

I recognized that not all school communities, just like not all neighborhoods, have the same opportunities to, to raise philanthropic dollars at the same level, he said. You had in communities where there was a lot of poverty or low income, those fundraisers or those community builders look different than maybe a community where [] everybody lived above the poverty line, right?

Portland State Universitys rare book collection protected despite library damage

On Tuesday, the PPS Board took a vote allocating a district-wide foundation that would be in charge of money raised for the district.

Alameda has the largest class sizes in the district. You know, were were stretched pretty thin, said Peter Sachs, an Alameda parent. So were providing education assistance where otherwise we wouldnt have.

Garcia said these funds will not be divided evenly throughout the schools. Rather, they will be distributed to areas that need it the most.

Parents can still donate to their schools directly through programs such as the Parent Teacher Association for resources that dont include hiring staff.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Former President Donald Trump faces two potential paths to incarceration regarding his Manhattan trial over hush money payments made to a porn star. Trump could be convicted of at least some of the criminal charges against him or he could be jailed for being in contempt of court.

How would it work if Trump gets locked up?

The short answer is that nobody really knowsincluding, very likely, jail administrators. The New York Times recently reported that officials have been meeting to attempt to work out how incarceration arising from a contempt citation would work, but they have not yet begun to plan for any possible post-conviction incarceration. Still, examining the most appropriate historical precedent and the policies governing the operations of both city and state penal systems in New York offer clues.

Eugene Debs in prison.

In 1918, Eugene Debs was a four-time presidential candidate for the Socialist Party though by then was in poor health and largely retired. Debs gave a speech in which he criticized the Woodrow Wilson administrations jailing of people speaking against World War I. Debs was charged with violating the Espionage Act, convicted, and sentenced to 10 years. He served the first two months of his sentence in a state penitentiary in West Virginia before being transferred to a federal prison in Atlanta. In 1920, the Socialist Party nominated him as its presidential candidate for a fifth time.

In his book Democracys Prisoner: Eugene Debs, the Great War, and the Right to Dissent, Ernest Freeberg explains that in both prisons, wardens interpreted prison rules loosely for Debs. He was lodged in shared cells with other prisoners but was assigned to light physical labor in the hospital for his work assignment. Inmates were permitted to receive unlimited mail, but could send only one letter per week. The wardens allowed Debs to write brief notes on his incoming mail, which was then forwarded to Debs brother to convert into proper responses. When Debs was nominated, he was allowed to campaign by writing a 500-word article per week. As Election Day approached, reporters were allowed into the prison to interview the candidate.

What if Trump is jailed for contempt of court?

If Trump is incarcerated by Judge Juan Merchan for contempt of court, two New York City Department of Correction policy documents will form the foundation of how officials deal with the situation.

Directive 4020R-B defines 20 categories of inmates. For a contempt-of-court citation, Trump would be categorized as a civil case inmate. In practical terms, this would mean that he would be spared the indignities of the normal intake process such as a medical screening, strip search, and mandatory change into prison clothing. Trumps avoidance of these unpleasant experiences would be standard policy rather than any special treatment. The legal logic is that he is being incarcerated for something other than being charged or convicted of a specific criminal offense. As a result, being treated like a criminal is held to a minimum.

Directive 6007R-A mandates that the New York City Department of Correction assign vulnerable inmates to protective custody units. This ensures that Trump would not enter a jails general population. Even without the risks arising from his notoriety, Trumps age would likely cause him to be placed in protective custody. In the last quarter, on an average day there were 6,207 inmates locked up by the City of New York. Only 22 were over the age of 70. In a jail population with lots of churn, advanced age is an indicator of vulnerability.

Apart from the type of incarceration Trump would endure in such a scenario, most incarcerations arising from a contempt of court citations are short. Trump would likely spend a few hoursmaybe as much as a nightin a holding cell within the courtroom with Secret Service nearby to maintain watch. According to Corrections Department policy, Trump would be required to clean his own living space. Other than that, the real punishment would be the symbolism of having been jailed. In theory, he could end up wearing handcuffs for a few minutes, but even that is probably unlikely.

Incarceration after a conviction.

Even if Trump is convicted of the charges, the chances of him following in the footsteps of Eugne Debs and campaigning from prison are essentially non-existent.

New York state law provides for either a stay of sentence or release on recognizance/bail pending an appeal. If convicted, Trump would be:

a first-time offender,

Due to his age considered a vulnerable inmate, and

in possession of a demonstrated record of showing up for his court appearances and not considered a flight risk.

Lets return to our only historical example. Debs stayed out of prison until after his appeal was heard by the United States Supreme Court: 208 days elapsed between his conviction and the beginning of his incarceration.

The New York charges Trump is now on trial for are classified as a Class E felony and carry a sentencing range from probation to a maximum of four years in prison. In theory, Judge Marchan could impose the maximum sentence for each conviction to be served consecutively. Given that Trumps alleged crime has been subdivided into 34 counts, some impressive jail time is theoretically possible. New York law caps the total sentence for Class E felonies at 20 years, which effectively mean a life sentence for a 77-year-old.

But that almost assuredly will not happen. The normal sentence for the charges Trump is facing ranges from probation to about two years.

If Trump is sentenced to less than one year, the New York City Department of Correction would get the honor of dealing with the resulting headache (which includes figuring out how Secret Service protection factors into the incarceration). A sentence of more than a year would punt it to the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Service. Officials in both jurisdictions are probably praying the other gets responsibility. For both, the combination of Trumps unique prison vulnerability, profile, and Secret Service protection would likely mean an unused section of an existing facility would have to be activated or some other structure would have to be designated as a temporary correction facility.

Jail and prison administrators have the legal and moral mandate to keep inmates safe from harm, and most take this mandate seriously. They would take it very seriously for an inmate who was a former president. The resulting unique circumstances and risk profile would inevitably mean that Trump would receive special treatment to ensure his safety.

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.
Hong Kong to hold historical French fashion exhibition

Xinhua) 08:42, May 10, 2024

HONG KONG, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The Hong Kong Palace Museum (HKPM) said on Thursday it will present an exhibition on historical French fashion from June 26, showcasing over 300 pieces of French costume, jewellery, and accessory from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries from the collection of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.

Titled "The Adorned Body," the exhibition marks the 60th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and France.

With the exhibition lasting through Oct. 14, it is the first time the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris puts its comprehensive collection of historical French fashion on display in Asia. In five thematic sections, "The Adorned Body" explores the history of men's and women's fashions in France from 1770 to 1910.

"We hope to instill visitors' interest in the history of French fashion, as well as the evolution of fashion across time and its impact on global fashion, textile, and design," said Louis Ng, director of the HKPM.

The exhibition is an opportunity to celebrate together the links that have united China and France for 60 years, said Christine Macel, director of the Museum of Decorative Arts in Paris.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
The smoke caused by an Israeli strike rises in Kafr Kila, Lebanon, May 10, 2024. A member of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed and a civilian wounded on Friday at dawn in an Israeli raid targeting the southeastern Lebanese village of Kafr Kila, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that the raid targeted a two-story house in the village with two missiles, leading to the causalities. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)

BEIRUT, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A member of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed and a civilian wounded on Friday at dawn in an Israeli raid targeting the southeastern Lebanese village of Kafr Kila, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that the raid targeted a two-story house in the village with two missiles, leading to the causalities.

According to the sources, Israel carried out four airstrikes on Friday morning targeting three towns and villages in the eastern and central regions and fired about 40 shells on seven towns and villages in the border region of southern Lebanon.

Meanwhile, Hezbollah said that it used drones and heavy missiles to attack eight Israeli military positions in regions including al-Motella, Manara, and Shtoula, on Thursday night and early Friday morning.

Tensions along the Lebanon-Israel border escalated on Oct. 8, 2023, following a barrage of rockets launched by Hezbollah toward Israel in support of Hamas' attack on Israel the day before. Israel then retaliated by firing heavy artillery toward southeastern Lebanon.

The confrontations between Hezbollah and Israel have killed 458 people on the Lebanese side, including 289 Hezbollah members and 84 civilians, according to Lebanese security sources. 

The smoke caused by an Israeli strike rises in Kafr Kila, Lebanon, May 10, 2024. A member of the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah was killed and a civilian wounded on Friday at dawn in an Israeli raid targeting the southeastern Lebanese village of Kafr Kila, Lebanese military sources told Xinhua.

The sources, who spoke anonymously, said that the raid targeted a two-story house in the village with two missiles, leading to the causalities. (Photo by Taher Abu Hamdan/Xinhua)
A pro-Israel lobby group has dropped millions into a Maryland congressional race as tensions remain high over the war in Gaza.

The primary race in the third congressional district, which will be held on Tuesday, has attracted national interest thanks to the candidacy of one Democrat in particular: Harry Dunn. A former US Capitol police officer, Dunn and his colleagues won praise for their actions defending lawmakers against a violent mob of Donald Trumps supporters on January 6. In his New York Times bestselling memoir, Standing My Ground, Dunn recounted how the insurrectionists repeatedly used the N-word as they attacked him and other Black officers.

default

Dunn announced his bid to replace retiring Democratic congressman John Sarbanes on the third anniversary of January 6, marking his first formal foray into electoral politics. Despite Dunns high name recognition, the group United Democracy Project, a Super Pac affiliated with the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (Aipac), has thrown its support behind another primary candidate.

According to documents filed with the Federal Election Commission, UDP has spent over $4.2m supporting state senator Sarah Elfreth.

UDPs investment comes after the group spent $4.6m on its failed effort to block the Democratic congressional candidate Dave Min from advancing to the general election in Californias 47th district. But the group notched one of its biggest wins of the election cycle so far on Tuesday, when the former Republican representative John Hostettler lost his primary race in Indianas eighth district. UDP had devoted $1.6m to defeating Hostettler because of his voting record on Israel and some of his past comments that were criticized as antisemitic.

UDPs decision to wade into the crowded Maryland primary came as somewhat of a surprise, given that neither Dunn nor Elfreth has made a point to highlight their position on Israel in their campaign messaging. A UDP ad for Elfreth does not mention Israel at all and instead focuses on her legislative record, applauding her work in the state senate.

Sarah Elfreth gets things done, the ads narrator says. With so much at stake  abortion rights, the environment, our democracy  we need a congresswoman who will deliver.

UDP did not respond to a request for comment, but in a statement to HuffPost last month, the groups spokesperson acknowledged Dunns support for a strong US-Israel relationship but suggested concern about other candidates in the primary.

There are some serious anti-Israel candidates in this race, who are not Harry Dunn, and we need to make sure that they dont make it to Congress, spokesperson Patrick Dorton said.

That comment appeared to reference progressive candidate John Morse, a labor lawyer who has received the endorsement of Vermont senator Bernie Sanders and has centered his campaign on his vocal support for a ceasefire in Gaza. In a recent interview with Fox45 Baltimore, Morse said: I am the most outspoken on a permanent humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza because I think thats the critical issue thats going on right now.

Meanwhile, UDPs investment has helped Elfreth compete against Dunns massive fundraising haul, as the first-time candidate has brought in nearly $4.6m since he entered the race. In comparison, Elfreths campaign has raised roughly a third as much money, $1.5m, and all 20 other candidates lag even further behind.

UDPs support for Elfreth is not part of this total; federal regulations prohibit Super Pacs from contributing directly to political candidates, but the groups can spend unlimited amounts of money to promote or criticize specific campaigns.

The financial contest could help decide what is widely expected to be a close race. A poll commissioned by Dunns campaign showed him leading Elfreth by four points, 22% to 18%, with state senator Clarence Lam trailing in third at 8%. The winner of the primary will almost certainly go on to win a seat in the House of Representatives, given the districts liberal leanings. In 2022, Sarbanes won re-election by 20 points in the third district, which includes Annapolis and suburbs of Washington and Baltimore.

Elfreth has said that she, like her opponents, was surprised by UDPs support, although she has not rejected the groups help.

Im uncomfortable with dark money as well, Elfreth told Maryland Matters last month. I dont like it. But Im not in a position to say no to people who want to amplify my message.

Despite remaining mostly silent about the war in Gaza, Dunn has now found himself indirectly affected by UDPs electoral strategy, and he has turned the groups involvement in the race into a campaign issue. When news of UDPs investment broke last month, Dunn responded by calling on all candidates to condemn this dark-money spending bankrolled by Maga [Make America Great Again] Republicans. In a statement to the Guardian, Dunn framed the Super Pacs involvement as an insult to the legacy of Sarbanes, who made campaign finance reform one of his top priorities over his nine terms in Congress.

Our grassroots movement wont be scared off by this dark money spending. Ive made protecting and strengthening our democracy the center of our campaign, Dunn said. Were going to win this race, and when I get to Congress, I know who I will work for and I will be accountable to  and it wont be the dark money donors or the special interest groups.

That message seems to be resonating with voters, as Dunns team boasts that more than 100,000 people have donated to his campaign. FEC filings show that, of the $4.6m raised by Dunn, nearly $3.7m came in the form of unitemized contributions, meaning they derived from donors who gave less than $200 to the candidate across the election cycle. According to Dunns team, the average contribution to the campaign has been $21.64.

In comparison, of Elfreths $1.5m raised, only $85,000 came from unitemized contributions, indicating that most of her donations came from supporters who gave more than $200. Her FEC filings show that some of her larger contributions came from some well-known Republican donors  including Robert Sarver, former owner of the Phoenix Suns, and Larry Mizel, one of Trumps campaign finance chairs in 2016. Mizel has also served as a member of the board of directors of Aipac.
UPDATE: EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Thirteen people were arrested at New Mexico State University after a protest inside a university building on Thursday evening, May 9, the university confirmed in a statement late Thursday night.

News 22/Noticia 22 NMSU Journalism and Media Studies reported that the incident happened during a pro-Palestinian protest.

The university said in a statement that the protesters will face various charges.

The protest happened inside Hadley Hall, which is closed for business at 5 p.m., the university said in its statement.

Protesters were repeatedly asked to leave, and shortly before 6 p.m., they were told that if they didnt leave, they would face arrest, the university said.

Trent Scribner

Gamer (Nathan) Tercero

Felicity (Moses) Stacey

Monique Romero

Michael Garcia

Gauge (Abigail) Burnett

Abegail Salugsugan

Austin Hale

Jonah Holguin

Marissa Prieto

Evalin Garcia

Thirteen people were detained by NMSU police and will face a variety of charges, including misdemeanor criminal trespass, misdemeanor resisting/obstructing an officer, felony battery on a peace officer, and felony criminal damage to property, according to NMSU.

KTSM obtained mugshots of 11 of the 13 who were arrested and are facing charges.

The arrestees range in age from 19 to 26:

Felicity (Moses) Stacey, 21; Gamer (Nathan) Tercero, 19; Michael Garcia, 20; Marissa Prieto, 19; Abegail Salugsugan, 24; Austin Hale, 19; Evalin Garcia, 19; Monique Romero, 22; Jonah Holguin, 23; Trent Scribner, 22; and Gauge (Abigail) Burnett, 26.

The university said Hadley Hall was cleared and will be open for business on Friday.

In an update issued on Friday morning, May 10, university officials also said that a large window on the west side of the building was broken during the protest. The exterior of the building was also damaged by graffiti in multiple places, university officials said.

The university also said it is still planning to hold commencement ceremonies.

In a video captured by KRWG News 22/Noticias 22, which is an NMSU student-run newscast, a person can be seen being taken into custody after participating in a sit-in at the lobby of Hadley Hall.

Additionally, the Las Cruces Police were called by NMSU Police to assist with the incident.

Here is the complete statement from NMSUs interim President Monica Torres:

I want to update our community about some events that occurred late yesterday. At around 4:15 in afternoon, a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators, including students and others, entered NMSUs administration building, Hadley Hall, and re-submitted their list of demands. Approximately 30 minutes later, the group was informed that the building closes for business at 5 p.m. and they would have to leave at that time. After 5 p.m., the group locked arms, chanted, sang and began to live stream their activities and used social media to call for others to join them inside the building. For approximately an hour, the university communicated with the protestors and others who have worked closely with the group to encourage them to leave the building. During this process, an observer who entered the building with protesters wearing a reflective vest was identified and permitted to stay inside and document events. At 5:55 p.m., protestors were informed that they had 10 minutes to leave the building or face arrest and trespassing charges. Some of the protestors elected to leave the building at that time while others remained. NMSU police detained 13 individuals on a variety of charges, including misdemeanor criminal trespass, misdemeanor resisting/obstructing an officer, felony battery on a peace officer, and felony criminal damage to property. A large window on the west side of the building was broken during the incident. The exterior of the building was also graffitied in multiple locations overnight. Importantly, Hadley Hall has been cleared, cleaned and is open for business today.

Much like other universities around the country, we have seen students, faculty and community members participating in Palestinian solidarity demonstrations on our campus for the past two weeks. We have said from the beginning that people in the U.S. have a Constitutional right to protest peacefully. People do not, however, have a right to interfere with university operations, damage property, or to spit on or strike police officers.

Various university leaders had met with protesters almost daily since April 29 to encourage open dialogue, ensure all voices were being heard and to de-escalate tensions. Our commitment will always be to the safety and security of our community and our campus. We will continue to take the steps necessary to meet that commitment.

Its unfortunate to see the events of yesterday take place, especially during NMSUs commencement season as we celebrate the achievements of our students across the NMSU system. For many of this years graduates, this is their first time participating in commencement because their high school graduations were canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic. These students have worked so hard, and we have worked to give them the commencement they deserve. Each of our ceremonies will take place, as scheduled, to honor our students.

KTSM spoke with members of the group who say one protester was hospitalized with head trauma as a result of Thursdays protest and removal from Hadley Hall by LCPD.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
WASHINGTON (DC News Now)  Pro-Palestine protesters returned to George Washington University (GW) Thursday night in a stand-off with Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) officers.

MPD said that one person was arrested during Thursdays protest.

Protesters began marching at around 5 p.m. in the area of H Street at 21st Street NW before making their way right outside of George Washington University President Ellen Granbergs office at 19th and F Street NW.

DC police clear pro-Palestine encampment at George Washington University; demonstrators arrested

Protesters linked arms, forming a line across from police. They continued to chant Free, free Palestine. Several tents were pitched along F Street.

This comes a day after MPD moved in to clear the pro-Palestine encampment from the campus in the early hours of Wednesday. Police said 33 demonstrators were arrested.

Were currently in front of the administrations office, telling them that we will stay here until they immediately divest from a genocide, said Salina, a protester who said she was amongst those arrested Wednesday. Yesterday was brutal. [Police] took away canes from disabled students, they arrested students while having a panic attack  it was completely disgusting.

MPD confirmed to DC News Now on Friday morning that the main group of demonstrators dispersed after police warnings around 11:30 p.m. A smaller group branched off and marched to 21st and H streets NW. Around 12:15 a.m., officers arrested one person for assault on a police officer.

MPD said that all of the protestors had since dispersed and all roads had reopened.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
Police began dismantling a pro-Palestinian encampment set up on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology campus early Friday morning, following a similar series of events at colleges nationwide.

Organizers said only about 10 people were inside the encampment, but a group of protesters were chanting outside it, The Associated Press reported.

The university said 10 individuals, a mix of undergraduate and graduate students, were arrested. They were peacefully escorted from the encampment.

According to the student paper, The Tech, a 15-minute notice was given to demonstrators to vacate the premises at 4:03 a.m., and the first arrest was made by 4:29 a.m.

Officers, some dressed in riot gear, began to disassemble the encampment. By 7 a.m., only a small contingent of police officers remain on standby on campus.

The operation comes several days after police first attempted to clear the MIT encampment, but protesters stormed past barriers and set up the area again.

Multiple MIT students had been arrested earlier and several were suspended, meaning they can no longer participate in school organizations or commencement at the end of the month.

This is only going to make us stronger. They cant arrest the movement, said Quinn Perian, an undergraduate MIT student and organizers for MIT Jews for Ceasefire. We are going to continue and wont back down until MIT agrees to cut ties with the Israeli military.

MIT President Sally Kornbluth said Friday that she directed police to dismantle the encampment. She wrote a letter explaining how MIT arrived at this unprecedented situation.

Kornbluth said her job is to make sure campus is a safe space for everyone, and the presence of the encampment increasingly made it impossible to meet all these obligations.

The development mirrors whats happening at colleges across the country. Pro-Palestinian demonstrators have set up encampments on more than 400 campuses, calling on their universities to divest from Israeli companies or companies that supply weapons to Israel.

More than 2,000 arrests have been made so far as police and demonstrators clash on some campuses.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Four-year-old Safiyya Ahmed came out of a crowd of about 200 people at Austin City Hall, her purple mermaid flip-flops flapping on the pavement as she took the microphone from a pro-Palestinian protest organizer.

"Free Palestine!" she cheers into it the mic, as the crowd repeats after her. Her pink dress is peppered with watermelons, often considered a symbol for Palestinians because the colors resemble their flag. She attended the protest Tuesday night with her siblings, mother, father and grandfather.

Ahmed was one of several children who, along with their families, joined protesters at City Hall and took over the chanting when adults began winding down. The 4-year-old told the American-Statesman that she was chanting because of Israel.

"I want the bombs to stop," she said.

About 200 people rallied at Austin City Hall on Tuesday to raise concern about Israel's offensive in Rafah and to call on the city to pass a ceasefire resolution.

Local pro-Palestinian groups, including the Palestine Solidarity Committee, Palestinian Youth Movement and the Party for Socialism and Liberation, held the emergency protest Tuesday night at City Hall to raise alarm against Israel's invasion of Rafah.

Rafah is a densely populated city in the southernmost area of Gaza, bordering Egypt, to where Gazans had previously evacuated to escape Israel's bombardment of the northern region. On Monday, Israel told tens of thousands of Palestinians in Rafah to evacuate and later began what its military called "targeted strikes."

The invasion came after Hamas had accepted a cease-fire proposal drafted by Egypt and Qatar, but one that Israel said didn't meet its core demands. The United Nations, the U.S. and the International Criminal Court had warned Israel against invading Rafah, according to The New York Times, but the Jewish state has said it's necessary to put pressure on Hamas, the militant governing body of Gaza that orchestrated the Oct. 7 deadly attacks against Israel that killed about 1,200 people.

Since the war began, more than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to the Gaza health ministry, Reuters has reported.

There were a few security officers present at Tuesday evening's protest, but no visible police force  a stark difference from recent protests at the University of Texas, which have been met with large police presences from multiple law enforcement agencies. More than 130 people have been arrested during two pro-Palestinian protests at UT.

About 200 people rallied at Austin City Hall on Tuesday to raise concern about Israel's offensive in Rafah and to call on the city to pass a ceasefire resolution.

Protesters have gathered frequently at City Hall this year to call for the City Council to pass a cease-fire resolution, including last Thursday when they made their demands at a council meeting. Seattle, Chicago and San Francisco are among U.S. cities that have called for a cease-fire in Gaza, according to a Reuters analysis. A cease-fire resolution has not passed in Austin.

Lenna Nasr, an organizer with the Palestinian Youth Movement, told the Statesman the protest was held at City Hall to condemn Austin's lack of a cease-fire resolution, but she also wants to uplift the demands of students who are asking UT to divest from weapons manufacturers in Israel; reinstate the Palestinian Solidarity Committee, a registered student group that was placed on an interim suspension after an April 24 protest on campus; offer amnesty to students who were arrested; and that UT President Jay Hartzell, who with Gov. Greg Abbott called Texas Department of Public Safety troopers to patrol UT during the April 24 protest, resign from his post.

"This is political opportunism, and we must call it for what it is," Nasr said to the crowd about the lack of a cease-fire resolution. Now, protesters want a cease-fire that condemns Israel for the violence, calls for not sending any U.S. aid to Israel, condemns the police response to the UT protests and condemns anti-Palestinian violence in Austin, she said.

Islam Mossaad, a Muslim faith leader in Austin, told the protesters to persevere in their fight.

"We need to be steadfast here in Austin, Texas especially to show our brothers and sisters in Gaza and in the West Bank and wherever there are oppressed people that we will not leave them to stand alone, we will not leave them to suffer the bombs and artillery alone," Mossaad said. "We are with them."

Protesters chanted "Free Palestine," "From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free," "From the belly of the beast, hands off the Middle East" and "World leaders grow a spine, Rafah is a red line."

Nasr and other protesters also spoke about attacks on Muslim individuals near UT in February, which a police committee determined to be a hate crime, and an alleged bias-motivated attack on a UT student in April, and said the city has not done enough since to combat anti-Muslim violence.

City Council Member Zo Qadri, who attended and spoke at a pro-Palestinian rally held by UT faculty members after the April 24 arrests but was not present at the rally at City Hall on Tuesday, said during a phone call Wednesday morning with the Statesman that he has been in regular communication with Muslim faith leaders in Austin to ensure the community is safe, such as during Ramadan, and has aided communication between them and Austin police when necessary.

"Regardless of faith, we are a very present office," Qadri said. "I'm in touch quite a bit with leadership."

The city of Austin directed media inquiries about hate crimes to the Austin Police Department.

Ammar Ahmed, Safiyya's father, said his family has been to multiple protests to support Gazans and implore the government to listen to them.

"It's just horrendous what's going on, every day is more and more tragedy," Ammar Ahmed said. "Every several years or every decade, there's a defining moment in history where we as citizens of the U.S. and around the world, we have to stand up for justice, I think this is one of these times."

Ahmed is a UT professor, and he said the protests on campus follow a pattern of fighting for civil rights.

"Whether it's civil rights, whether it's South African apartheid, whether it's Vietnam, this is part of that same tradition of protesting," Ahmed said. "We all need to stand up for what's right here."

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Pro-Palestinian protest at Austin City Hall condemns attacks on Rafah
Prosecutor's Office comments on what Russia used to hit Kharkiv overnight  photo

Preliminary reports indicate that Russian occupation forces struck the city of Kharkiv with an S-400 missile, launched from the territory of Russias Belgorod Oblast, on the night of 9-10 May.

Source: Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Quote: "The occupiers launched a missile attack on Kharkiv overnight: houses caught fire and two people were injured, including a child. Early reports indicate the enemy struck with an S-400 missile from the territory of Russias Belgorod Oblast."

Details: It was noted that on 10 May, at approximately 03:20, Russian troops launched a missile attack on the Kyivskyi district of Kharkiv.

Law enforcement officers recorded a direct strike by a Russian missile on a private residential area. The houses caught fire.

Aftermath of Russian attack on Kharkiv

Photo: State Emergency Service of Ukraine

Nearby private houses and outbuildings were damaged.

A 72-year-old woman and an 11-year-old girl suffered an acute stress reaction.

A pre-trial investigation into the violation of the laws and customs of war has been launched.

Background: Local authorities stressed that as a result of the Russian attack on Kharkiv, 3 private houses had burned down, 12 residential buildings had been damaged in total, and a woman and a child had been injured.

Support UP or become our patron!
How to protect yourself and loved ones against grandparent scams and more fraud

As Americans age, they are more likely to become targets for scammers seeking to steal thousands of dollars

In 2023, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 101,000 complaints by people 60 and over about a wide array of scams, according to an annual report.

Those individuals reported a loss of $3.4 billion, which is an 11% increase over 2022, the report states. The average dollar loss was $33, 915.

In North Carolina, more than 2,400 people over 60 reported complaints of scams that cost them more than $77 million, according to the same report.

Older Americans are often targeted because they are often trusting and polite, as well as typically have savings, own a home and have good credit, according to the FBI.

In addition, scammers appear to be constantly improving their pitches by using social media to obtain personal details, technology that distorts voices and telephone numbers, and ride sharing apps to serve as couriers to quickly obtain cash before people have time to question what is happening.

Last month, a Pamlico County man nearly lost $6,500 to a scam that included a Lyft driver picking up the cash hours after he agreed to send money, he thought, to bail out his grandson. Pamlico County Sheriffs Office Maj. Scott Houston said scam calls, targeting all ages, appear to be increasing in recent days.

Unless you physically know them and see them, do not send them money, Houston said.

While the grandparent scam has been around for a while, the North Carolina Department of Justice, which investigates fraud against older residents in the state, isnt aware of any complaints that included the ride-share component, spokesperson Nazneen Ahmed wrote in an email.

The top scams reported across the United States last year included people contending they will provide customer or technical support, using the persons personal data to obtain funds and stealing money by posing as a romantic interest or family member, according to the FBI.

How to protect yourself, your family

There are steps people can take to protect themselves or family members when scammers demand large sums of money on short notices, according to the FBI. They include:e:

Resist pressure to act quickly. Scammers use urgency to lure people into immediate action. Instead call the police if you are concerned you or your relative is in danger.

Be cautious with unsolicited phone calls, mail and people who show up at your door.

Never send money, gift cards or valuables to people or businesses you havent verified are legitimate.

Individuals who are in their late seventies or older should be extra careful, along with those who live alone, whose spouse recently died or was injured, according to a senior scam guide published by the North Carolina Attorney Generals Office.

Fraud reports typically dont come from victims, but others who observe or learn of fraud, the guide states. Victims are often secretive about fraud transactions because they , and frequently deny such involvement, even when confronted with evidence, the guide states.

Additionally, seniors may be less inclined to report fraud because they dont know how, or they may be too ashamed at having been scammed, the guide states.

If you or someone you know is a victim of this and other scams, state and federal officials recommend you report them to the North Carolina Department of Justice, the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center and through the National Elder Fraud Hotline.

Virginia Bridges covers criminal justice in the Triangle and across North Carolina for The News & Observer. Her work is produced with financial support from the nonprofit The Just Trust. The N&O maintains full editorial control of its journalism.
Protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza stand outside the Governor's Mansion on North Meridian Street on April 25, 2024.

The Marion County Prosecutors Office said Friday charges have been filed against 14 people accused of blocking traffic on Meridian Street during a protest in late April.

The protesters called for a permanent ceasefire in Gaza before their arrests. Their rally coincided with protests at college campuses across the country related to the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.

All 14 protesters arrested in Marion County are facing an obstructing traffic charge. IndyStar is not identifying them because the charge is a misdemeanor.

No injuries were reported during the protests or as the protesters were arrested, according to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Previous coverage: Police: 14 people arrested outside Indiana Governor's Mansion in Gaza ceasefire protest

Those arrested ranged in age from 19-59. Seven protesters were from Indianapolis, four were from Fishers, and one each were from the Indiana towns of Union City, Lafayette and Columbus.

The protest unfolded outside the Governor's Mansion and was organized by Jewish Voice for Peace  Indiana and Middle Eastern Student Association of IUPUI.

"Through large banners and bold visuals, as well as a Seder teach-in, Jewish and Palestinian organizers hope to pressure government officials to divest from genocide and stop arming Israel," a news release about the event stated.

Initial hearings for the individuals arrested at the protest were held Friday. They were given about 45 minutes to move from the street and numerous orders from officers to get out of the roadway before they were arrested, according to court documents.

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Protesters charged, accused of blocking traffic in Indianapolis
Car Swarm

A truly strange scene played out in the dusty grounds of a German Tesla Gigafactory on Friday when a swarm of masked protesters broke down a fence and tried to breach a factory building, Wired reports.

The mob, many wearing black and seemingly trying to do a mass Naruto run, were at the factory grounds near Berlin to protest the company's unpopular expansion plans, which includes mowing down 250 acres of forest, according to CNBC.

https://twitter.com/derJamesJackson/status/1788907067668918357

Police told CNBC that protesters have been camping near the factory since Monday, culminating in the fence breach and blocking roads. Police arrested multiple demonstrators, some of whom sustained injuries during the breach and clash with law enforcement.

Tesla told staff to stay home on Friday, calling the temporary factory closure a "one-day planned production shutdown."

Factory Goods

The protests sprang up after locals expressed displeasure at Tesla expansion plans at 60 percent in a February poll, according to Wired. Since then, a coalition of residents and hardline activists have been protesting against the carmaker.

There's an interesting tension here, of course: Tesla is both a huge corporation, with all the environmental harm that entails, but also one of the planet's most commercially successful ventures to wean civilization off fossil fuels.

"Companies like Tesla are there to save the car industry, theyre not there to save the climate," anti-Tesla group Turn Off the Tap spokesperson Esther Kamm told Wired.

Back in March, eco-terrorists even tried to burn down the factory, claiming in a letter that "Tesla consumes earth, resources, people, workers and in return spits out 6,000 SUVs, killer cars and monster trucks each week."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in on the social media platform X-formerly-Twitter back in March.

"These are either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth or theyre puppets of those who dont have good environmental goals," he wrote. "Stopping production of electric vehicles, rather than fossil fuel vehicles, ist extrem dumm."

More on Tesla Factories: Tesla Factory Shut Down by Suspected Arson Attack
Protesters call for MSU to divest from Israel

EAST LANSING, Mich. (WLNS) Students and community members rally for Michigan State University to divest from Israel.

Dozens of advocates marched in downtown East Lansing Friday to call on MSU officials to cut ties in the Middle East.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

This protest comes after students occupied part of a campus park and protest organizers say MSU is being complicit by not acting.

MSU students and community members rally for MSU to divest in Israel (WLNS)

People are seen holding signs that say, stop funding genocide and the activist groups said its asking students, faculty, staff, and alumni to join them in calling out the university to end all forms of its complicity in the ongoing Israel- Hamas war.

6 News has a crew present and will continue to provide updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WLNS 6 News.
LONDON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- The United Kingdom (UK) hosted regional finals for a global Chinese language competition here Thursday, with contestants from schools across the country proving their prowess in the language.

Students from 37 secondary schools across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland competed in the regional finals of the 17th "Chinese Bridge" Chinese Proficiency Competition for Foreign Secondary School Students.

Altogether 17 students won prizes in the individual competition category while six teams were awarded prizes in the group category.

Nathan Evans, a contestant from Pinner High School, told Xinhua that he found Chinese culture interesting and he would never have learned about the culture if he hadn't chosen to learn the language.

"Our class usually focuses on the language itself, but we do often delve into the culture behind it," said the ninth grader who has been learning Chinese since year seven. At his school, Chinese is compulsory for students in grades seven and eight.

Evans was among the 47 individual contestants who showcased their Chinese language proficiency through presentations, impromptu speeches, and Q&A sessions, covering a wide range of topics from campus life and new technologies to Chinese characters and tourist attractions in China.

"Learning Chinese offers students valuable advantages for their future as the language will give them more opportunities in work and can enhance their communication and collaboration skills," said Liu Jiayu, a Chinese teacher at Pinner High School.

In the group competition, about 60 students from 15 teams presented self-created videos of Chinese skits. The winning projects include stories featuring the Year of the Dragon and renowned Chinese heroine Mulan.

Jin Wei, one of the judges for the competition, said they were "extremely impressed" by the "brilliant job" done by all contestants and hoped they would persist in their journeys of learning Chinese.

The competition was jointly organized by the UK Chinese Bridge Club and Chinese Proficiency Test UK committee. In March, about 250 students from 60 schools across the UK took part in the preliminary rounds of the competition. 
Protesters gathered at the Davenport stop of historic Empress locomotive to put pressure on Canadian Pacific Railway to provide paid sick leave for workers.

Protesters say the railroad company has not budged on the issue since a similar protest took place in 2023. Protesters said they hope picketing at this event will catch the eyes of officials so some change can come.

The Empresss next stop is Kansas City Missouri.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WHBF - OurQuadCities.com.
Police use gas, rubber bullets to break up 2nd encampment at University of Arizona

TUCSON  For the second time this month, protesters gathered by the universitys main gate to build an encampment supporting Gaza.

And for the second time, tension rose in the late-night hours and law enforcement again used chemical irritants and rubber bullets to break up a gathering of about 100 protesters. State troopers were among the law enforcement agencies deployed to the scene.

Convocations and graduation celebrations were in full swing at the university Thursday, with the big commencement ceremony scheduled Friday.

What began as a small gathering at Catalina Park around 5 p.m. grew to 200 people as protesters walked a few blocks to the university.

Faculty with signs saying Keeping students safe led the march. Carol Brochin, a UA faculty member and the media liaison for the faculty group, told The Arizona Republic at least two faculty members were arrested.

Students Against Apartheid, the group that organized the encampment, condemned the universitys treatment of student protesters and demanded the university release a public statement calling for a cease-fire in Gaza and asked that the university divest from companies profiting off the conflict.

By 7:30 p.m., protesters had built a wall of wooden pallet boards, held together with nails and zip ties. The makeshift wall surrounded a dozen tents.

Pro-Palestinian protesters hold a rally at Catalina Park before marching several blocks to the University of Arizona on May 9, 2024.

As they began to build their encampment, protest organizers said they had been told not to return to campus after an encampment and subsequent protest May 1 that resulted in violent clashes with law enforcement.

At 11:45 p.m., UA police and law enforcement from other agencies in riot gear lined up across from the encampment, inching forward and telling the crowd to leave. They threatened to use tear gas, pepper spray and pepper-spray balls on the remaining protesters. At that point, UA administration had given those in the encampment at least two warnings to disperse.

"We want you to leave peacefully," police told protesters through a loudspeaker.

"This is peaceful, go away," chanted faculty members in response to the police presence.

Another line of law enforcement officers, also in riot gear, quietly approached the encampment from another side as two tactical law enforcement trucks drove down Park Avenue toward the university's main gate.

Within minutes, protesters began throwing barricades, orange cones and their own tents and gear in front of the large trucks. The protesters eventually poured onto the street, facing off in front of officers, trying to stop them from advancing.

Shortly after midnight, the sound of projectiles being launched filled the streets in front of the university. Officers also deployed gas canisters, clearing the encampment and moving the protesters down University Boulevard away from campus. Observers said they saw law enforcement deploy rubber bullets.

Keeping Students Safe, a recently created group of University of Arizona faculty group stood at the front lines between police and protesters and led a Pro-Palestine March from Catalina Park to UA campus on May 9, 2024.

"University President Robert C. Robbins has initiated a zero-tolerance approach to enforcing its campus use policy to protect the campus, students, faculty, visitors, and university events," according to a statement issued by the university early Friday.

"This evening, police vehicles have been spiked, and rocks and water bottles have been thrown at officers and university staff. Those who have violated the law are subject to arrest and prosecution. University officials have taken action to ensure the safety of Centennial Hall convocation attendees."

Last week, a similar protest ended in similar fashion. On May 1, police in riot gear deployed rubber bullets and chemical irritants against protesters, leading faculty and student groups to decry the use of force.

However, Robbins disagreed. He said protesters resisted arrest and threw "projectiles" at law enforcement and said the protesters and counter-protesters created a "volatile" environment on Park Avenue leading law enforcement to clear the street.

Reach the reporter at sarah.lapidus@gannett.com. The Republics coverage of southern Arizona is funded, in part, with a grant from Report for America. Support Arizona news coverage with a tax-deductible donation at supportjournalism.azcentral.com.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Protesters supporting Gaza build encampment at UA; police break it up
Police clear a blockade by activists at the access road to Neuhardenberg airfield. Tesla vehicles produced at the Gruenheide plant are temporarily stored on the airfield site. Patrick Pleul/dpa

Activists tried to break into Tesla's electric car factory in Germany just outside Berlin on Friday during a demonstration against a proposed plant expansion, according to police.

So far, the demonstrators had not succeeded in accessing the Tesla plant grounds, a police spokesman told dpa on Friday afternoon, but had managed to overcome the first fences on the property.

The police spokesman described the situation as "dynamic."

One woman has been injured in the protests around the factory site so far, and three police officers have also been injured, he said.

According to the police, several arrests have been made.

The police had attempted to cordon off a wide area around the site, home of Tesla's only production plant in Europe. Police closed several nearby highway exits were closed.

As part of the demonstration marches to the site, there was also a sit-in on a country road near the plant. Masked protesters also set off fireworks and are staging a sit-in at the nearby Neuhardenberg airfield.

The latest demonstrations against the Tesla plant in the Berlin suburb of Grunheide began on Wednesday.

Climate activists have been occupying a nearby forest in tree houses since late February to protest against plans to clear the publicly owned woods to make way for the plant's expansion.

Authorities are taking legal action in an effort to remove the tree houses and evict the protesters from the forest.

Environmental advocates have also criticized the possible impact of an expanded Tesla plant on sensitive wetlands that are directly adjacent to the site.

Police officers stand in front of protesters at a demonstration against Tesla.(Best possible quality) Wilhelm Pischke/dpa

Activists block an access road to Neuhardenberg airfield. Tesla vehicles produced at the Gruenheide plant are temporarily stored on the airfield site. Patrick Pleul/dpa
Getty Images

Take a moment to look around your neighborhood and beyond. In your observations, have you noticed an increasing number of children out and about during school hours?

If you have, youre witnessing the warning signs of future societal instability. And yes, those warning lights are blinking red. Surprise? Not really. Its been coming for decades.

Recent examples of the misdeeds of right-wing legislatures are legion. Gerrymandering, voting limitations, and reproductive rights restrictions quickly come to mind. But here is perhaps the most important offense against democracy: the Republican war on public education.

That war has taken on many forms, as public funds are now used in many states to support privately managed online and brick-and-mortar charter schools, vouchers for private school tuition, and even subsidies for families involved in home education. Many observers find the use of public funds for private purposes to be a volatile mix, a dangerous brew that may prove to be destabilizing to our society over time.

As a retiree and one who is out and about, I see these signs in my own neighborhood, where groups of kids are at play, where others are exploring Costco and any other place imaginable that would attract school-aged kids not in school, but with time on their hands.

Look around. You may hear them before you see them. For at least the last ten years, there has been a surge in the number of red states that have established education voucher programs, allowing public funds to subsidize private educational choices for families. Recall that the rationale for vouchers originally was to allow families to escape failing public schools.

In Ohio, the so-called school choice movement, enabled by the GOP, has operated on steroids in the last two decades, with politicians like Senate President Matt Huffman and state Sen. Andrew Brenner, the chair of the Senate Education Committee, aggressively acting as the leading anti-public education figures in the Buckeye State.

Yet, an examination of private and religious school enrollment patterns in several states indicates that the very rationale conjured up for vouchers has now been shown to be fraudulent.

Originally shopped as a way for low-income families to have a lifeline that would help them escape those failing schools, the educational voucher program has instead been shown to be a scheme where affluent families can receive state funds to reduce their tuition payments.

Recently, the Arkansas Times framed the situation in this manner: Such programs mean that any kids already enrolled in private school are eligible to apply for a voucher to pay for tuition. That doesnt sound like a program targeted to help low-income families frustrated with their public school; it sounds like a program to boost the bank accounts of existing private school families, many of them wealthy.

Arkansas is subsidizing higher-income families so their children can receive a private school education. Ohio, notwithstanding the rhetoric of Huffman and Brenner, is doing the same thing, in a big way.

In examining the data, Clevelands WEWS also looked at Ohios school voucher program and found the same situation.

It is very clear that regardless of the rhetoric about providing opportunities for disadvantaged families, vouchers in Ohio, Arkansas and other states mostly serve those students who are already enrolled in private and religious schools.

Any public program that serves an elite  in this case private and religious-school students  is undemocratic and antithetical to the public interest, particularly when the funds in the state budget come from the same line item for public schools, as is the case in Ohio. The WEWS report found this situation in a March investigation:

The number of students receiving EdChoice Expansion vouchers increased from 23,272 students during the 2022-2023 school year to 82,946 students during the 2023-2024 school year, according to data provided by the Ohio Department of Education & Workforce.

The number of students enrolled in private schools during the 2023-24 school year only increased by 3,719 students, according to ODE.

These figures reinforce the fact that students already enrolled in Ohio private and religious schools are the true beneficiaries of vouchers. William Phillis, the long-time leader of the Ohio Coalition for Equity & Adequacy of School Funding and the states leading foe of school privatization efforts, put it in straightforward terms:

With the advent of universal vouchers, private school tuition rates are typically escalating; hence, lower-income folks will not have the financial capacity to use private school vouchers. The result of this scheme is that a disproportionate percentage of the tax-funded vouchers will go to the more affluent folks. Therefore, all taxpayers will subsidize a scheme which only affluent folks can access.

It is now abundantly clear that there is a Republican scheme to encourage the proliferation of privately managed charter schools, subsidize and in effect encourage home schooling, and now, provide vast state resources to supplement the operations of private and religious schools that benefit primarily the wealthy families whose children were already enrolled.

Hello, conspiracy theorists. Why have you missed this scheme?

School choice is one thing. But using public funds to subsidize and encourage the dissolution of public education is another. All the forces are in place that will result in the inevitable destruction of public education  the primary force that provides adhesion to communities and a national, not fragmented, identity.

Eight years ago, the conservative New York Times columnist David Brooks worried about excessive individualism and its effect on national cohesion.

The emphasis on individual choice challenges community cohesion and settled social bonds, he wrote.

School choice as a movement is a direct challenge to community cohesion and an assault on the public school as part of the identity of a community. No word salad can take away the correctness of that assertion. Moreover, community cohesion comes with the idea of democracy, where citizens elect community members to provide governance to public schools and necessary oversight of the public funds that operate them.

In an earlier essay about community cohesion and settled social bonds, I embraced these words by Dr. Kenneth Conklin, a philosopher concerned about cultural fragmentation.

If an educational system is altered, its transmission of culture will be distorted, Conklin wrote. The easiest way to break apart a society long-term without using violence is to establish separate educational systems for the groups to be broken apart.

As we look at the damage inflicted upon our schools and the attending society by the likes of Republican zealots like Matt Huffman and Andrew Brenner, there are some additional warnings Conklin provides about societal continuity and the

schools as agents of community cohesion:

A societys culture can survive far longer than the lifespan of any of its members, because its educational system passes down the folkways and knowledge of one generation to subsequent generations. A culture changes over time, but has a recognizable continuity of basic values and behavioral patterns that distinguishes it from other cultures. That continuity is provided by the educational system.

At this stage of community destruction caused by school privatization zealots and their use of public funds to support private and religious schools, it is incumbent upon community members to fight this assault. A coalition of public school districts have joined in a lawsuit to fight the school voucher scheme. If you are an Ohio resident, see if your school district has stepped to the plate in a lawsuit against the use of public funds to fight this voucher scheme and stop the Huffman and Brenner wrecking crew from destroying your community and its schools.

If your local school district is not involved, call up the systems central office and find out why.

Better yet, show up at a school board meeting before this academic year is out and ask those members why they have not joined the Ohio E&A and Vouchers Hurt Ohio coalition. Your community and democracy itself is at stake. After all, our very culture and the transmission of social values  is provided by the educational system.

Note: system. Not systems. Its time to defend democracy. After all, as Jefferson and other founders have told us since our nations independence, an informed citizenry is the arsenal of democracy.

Matt Huffman told us what he and his colleagues are all about.

We can kind of do what we want, he said in 2023.

Please show up at a future school board meeting and ask what they are going to do about a bully whose goal is to wreck public education and the community they nurture.

Our democracy is at stake. It is time to act. Now.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Public funds for private purposes: How vouchers are undermining democracy appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
Bella Cappellucci, a senior from Pueblo County High School, is the Pueblo Chieftain's latest Student of the Week.

Cappellucci, a student in Pueblo County High School's School of Engineering and Biomedical Science, has a 4.76 GPA, dances with Pueblo's Sarah Shaw Dance Studio and plans to study mathematics at the University of Denver. At County, she has participated in Girls Cabinet, National Honor Society, and musical productions.

Bella Cappellucci

The Hornet senior also has volunteered with Upward Bound, the Colorado Lottery "Runyon to the Res" cleanup, and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes pancake breakfast at Colorado State University Pueblo.

Between May 6 and May 9, Cappellucci received 39.51% of the 77,164 votes cast in a Chieftain poll featuring five exceptional students representing Central High School, Pueblo County High School and South High School. Here are the other nominees.

Madyson Garner

Madyson Garner, South High School

Madyson Garner is an active community volunteer in her senior year at South High School. She spends her falls raking leaves for disabled veterans and also has helped with food distribution events. Garner participates in the color guard, Colt Crew, JROTC, marching band, National Honor Society and orchestra at South. She plans to attend Pueblo Community College to study early childhood education.

Joshua Sanchez

Joshua Sanchez, Central High School

Joshua Sanchez will be attending the University of Notre Dame upon graduating from Central High School this spring. He is Central's student body president, a three-year letter winner in two sports, and a city high jump champion. Sanchez has given back to his community through participation in the Tom and Louie's Cupboard food drive and by organizing donation drives for homeless individuals.

Ava Tucci

Ava Tucci, Pueblo County High School

Ava Tucci starred as Karen Smith in the Arts Academy at Pueblo County High School's recent production of "Mean Girls: The Musical." She is a member of the school's dance team, National Honor Society and DECA program  for which she is a two-time state qualifier. Tucci also maintains a 4.29 GPA and works Fridays as an assistant at Park West Dental. She aspires to study political science at the University of Colorado.

Xavier Velasquez

Xavier Velasquez, South High School

Xavier Velasquez has cultivated a passion for video and audio production while at South High School. He hopes to take that passion to Colorado State University Pueblo in pursuit of a broadcast journalism degree. He has volunteered with the Steelworks Center of the West, Link Leaders and local food banks. Velasquez also has participated in South's Key Club, the SkillsUSA program and Upward Bound.

How to nominate a student: The Chieftain needs Student of the Week nominations. Here is how you can participate

Pueblo Chieftain reporter James Bartolo can be reached at JBartolo@gannett.com. Support local news, subscribe to The Pueblo Chieftain at subscribe.chieftain.com

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo County High senior named Pueblo Chieftain Student of the Week
Marina Tauber, receiving the Russian Order of Friendship. Photo: website of State Duma of the Russian Federation

Marina Tauber, a Moldovan MP and defendant in criminal charges who is on the EU and US sanctions lists, has received the Russian Order of Friendship from Kremlin leader Vladimir Putin.

Source: press service of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, as reported by European Pravda

Details: The order was handed to Tauber by Vyacheslav Volodin, Chairman of the Russian State Duma. During the presentation, he stated that Tauber is a lawmaker who has done much "so that the relations of our countries develop, strengthen, and our ties are even more effective."

Tauber bragged about it on her Facebook page with a photo with the order in Moscow. "A significant event in my life, which puts a lot of responsibility [on me] and once again confirms that Russia has not turned its back on our country even after a series of conflicts and attempts by the official authorities to break all ties," she said.

Tauber faces two criminal charges in Moldova for "knowingly receiving party funding from an organised criminal group" and "falsifying a report on the financial management of the Shore Party".

Tauber denies culpability and sees what is happening as political persecution of the opposition.

Earlier, Tauber joined other well-known pro-Russian politicians from her country in a march on Moscow's Red Square.

On 14 March, the Moldovan Parliament stripped Tauber of her parliamentary immunity.

Support UP or become our patron!
Joe Lee is a worthy representative of the Hmong community in Fresno because his life story reflects what so many in his culture have experienced.

His Hmong name is Gnia (pronounced Nee-a) Cherta Lee, but he goes by Joe. He was born in Laos during the Vietnam War era and lived there until he was 6. After the war it became too dangerous for the Hmong who had aided the U.S. military during the war to remain  the victorious communist government was on the hunt to persecute them and put them in concentration camps. So Lees family fled to a refugee camp in Thailand, where he, his parents and his siblings remained for several years.

When Lee was 9, his family immigrated to the United States. A Lutheran church in Des Moines, Iowa provided a home for them. When we came over, it was Christmas time. They put up a Christmas trees and presents under the tree. They filled up our fridge with food we had never seen before. Like jello. I touched it and it was jiggling. I wondered, do we eat it or not?

From such an inauspicious start came the familys resettlement to California, first in Santa Ana and then to Fresno. Lee graduated from Fresno State in 1996 with a business degree, then began working for the telecommunications company Pacific Bell. Initially an office manager, Lee showed such prowess with technology that he became a engineer. Last year he retired from the company, which is now AT&T.

Opinion

While he was working, Lee became active with the Fresno Center for New Americans, an organization that originally helped immigrants from southeast Asia get adjusted to living here. (It is now known as the Fresno Center and it serves people from a variety of cultures). He served multiple terms on the board.

So when Lee retired, it was natural that Mayor Jerry Dyer would seek his help as the community liaison to the Asian-Pacific Islander population in the city.

The liaison program was launched three years ago as a proactive way for City Hall to connect better with Fresnos major ethnic and racial groups. There are also liaisons to the Latino, Black and Indian communities, as well as a liaison for those who are LGBTQ+. The goal for each liaison is to serve underrepresented residents, help connect them to resources and make city government more accessible.

Lee, 53, says having a liaison is critical for the Asian community  the Hmong, in particular  because many within it dont know how to seek help that City Hall is ready to offer.

My community can be pretty passive. They dont seek help. And if they dont know anybody, they dont raise their voice and say, Hey, I need help here. But if they know they have somebody inside the city who can provide resources for them, it is an easier avenue for them to seek help.

Of Fresnos Asian-Pacific Islander population of about 78,000, more than half (35,000) are Hmong, Lee said. Fresno has the nations second-largest Hmong population, behind only Minneapolis.

Lee met with me recently to discuss his work as a community liaison. What follows is a question-and-answer of key responses edited for length and clarity:

Explain why your community is passive and wont seek help

They dont realize government is there to help them. They have programs to support them ... Being a liaison, I can educate them. And say, Look, your government is here to support you. They are not here to intimidate you or oversee your life. You actually are the boss of your government. You tell your government what to do in this country. It is not the other way way around.

We used to live in a communist country, and that is what they fear. When you live in a communist country, the government is the one in control. You have no say.

How do you describe your role?

Being a liaison from the city of Fresno, I am your bridge between the government and you, and you to the government. I am trying to build a bridge from our community to the government so they understand each other.

How would you gauge the overall health of Fresnos API community today?

We are pretty much self-sustaining in terms of getting an education, getting jobs and so on. We are pretty good at that. But what we are not there yet is the mental health of our elders..

One of the groups still struggling today is Hmong veterans who were part of the (Vietnam) war. They still cannot be buried in U.S. military cemeteries. This is one of the things they are trying to accomplish.

You also have a lot of the elders here now, when we first came to the United States, everything was totally different. A lot of those still have mental issues with assimilation to the mainstream community.

What do you want Bee readers to know about your community?

Our community is very supportive of local government, state government and federal government. We just want our voice to be heard and be part of the system. We live in Fresno, we want Fresno to be our home.
Radicalized teen Trevor Bickford gets 27 years in prison for NYE Times Square machete attack on NYPD cops

An admitted wannabe jihadist who attacked three NYPD cops with a foot-long machete in Times Square on New Years Eve in 2022 was sentenced to 27 years in prison Thursday.

Trevor Bickford was handed down the sentence by Judge Kevin Castel in Manhattan federal court after pleading guilty in January to slashing three cops in a lone wolf attack during the annual celebration in the Crossroads of the World, according to prosecutors with the Manhattan US Attorneys Office.

As part of the sentence, the 20-year-old Maine native will be on lifetime supervision once hes freed.

The admitted wannabe jihadist Trevor Bickford was sentenced to 27 years in prison for a machete rampage that injured three cops. Steven Hirsch

Bickford had faced up to 120 years behind bars if the judge doled out maximum consecutive sentences on all six counts he pleaded guilty to.

In the days leading up to the incident, Bickford, then 19, traveled from his Maine home to New York City with a machete and a twisted plan to kill as many people as possible in the name of Islamic jihad, prosecutors say.

The machete-wielding madman unleashed his New Years Eve attack near West 52nd Street and Eighth Avenue while screaming Allahu Akbar  which translates in Arabic to God is great  prosecutors say.

He injured three cops  including fracturing one of their skulls  before one the officers shot him in the shoulder, bringing an end to the rampage. All of the officers survived.

After the attack, Bickford admitted he was trying to take out as many military-aged men as possible so he could become a martyr and inspire other Islamic extremists, the feds say.

Bickford, 20, carried out the attack on New Years Eve in Times Square in 2022. Steven Hirsch

The teenager became radicalized in the summer of 2022 after he consumed Islamic and al Qaeda propaganda.

The FBI had a few weeks warning about Bickford after his mom flagged to local cops that her son had become obsessed with the religion. The feds were notified by police on Dec. 10.

Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams lauded the message such a serious sentence sends to others contemplating terrorist acts.

He injured three cops and fractured one of their skulls after slashing them with a machete. United States Attorney's Office

One of the cops managed to shoot Bickford in the shoulder bringing an end to his murderous rampage. Robert Mecea

Bickfords conviction and sentence demonstrate that cowardly acts of terrorism will be met with law enforcements unwavering resolve to protect New York City, our country, and our core values of freedom and democracy, Williams said.

Bickford pleaded guilty to three counts of attempted murder of officers and employees of the US government and persons assisting them and three counts of assault of officers and employees of the US government and persons assisting them.

He still faces a separate case for the same incident in state court. Trial is pending in that case.

Bickfords criminal defense attorneys didnt immediately return a request for comment Thursday afternoon.
TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA)  Mothers Day came early for a rare addax at Disneys Animal Kingdom.

Juniper, a 2-year-old addax, recently gave birth to her first calf Julien, according to Disney World Communications.

Julien, an addax calf recently born at Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Julien, an addax calf recently born at Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Julien, an addax calf recently born at Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge.

Addax is a critically endangered species on the brink of extinction, with less than 100 still in the wild according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Disney cares for a herd of addax at Disneys Animal Kingdom Lodge, one of the only places in the world where the species can be seen outside of the wild, according to Disney.

Juniper and Julien are currently nursing and bonding in the backstage area, but Disney said they would soon join the herd at the Animal Kingdom Lodge.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
RATON, N.M. (KRQE)  The Raton Police Department arrested a man accused of stealing a school bus. Officers responded to a call around 4:42 p.m. about a man wandering around a neighborhood. When they arrived, they found 36-year-old Patrick Salazar and told him to leave the area.

Family speaks after woman shot in the neck at Albuquerque graduation ceremony

They were then approached by a man who said he had been hit in the face and told police where his attacker was. Thats where they say they found Salazar driving a Cimmaron Municipal School bus and trying to leave the area. Officers got the bus stopped and arrested Salazar. The victim told police he was doing a routine inspection of the bus when he was attacked by Salazar.

Salazar is charged with robbery, unlawful taking of a motor vehicle, and aggravated battery.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 - Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.
BEIJING, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The 7th Digital China Summit will take place in Fuzhou, east China's Fujian Province, from May 24 to 25, Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said Friday.

This year's edition, themed unleashing the value of data and developing new quality productive forces, is the first after the optimization and adjustment of China's data work system, Liu told a news briefing.

It mainly includes the opening ceremony, the main forum, 13 sub-forums, and a digital innovation competition, with an on-site experience area also set up. The Digital China Development Report (2023) will also be released at the summit.

The sub-forums include discussions on data resources and digital security, the digital economy, digital governance, and other relevant topics.

One of the summit's focus is tapping the new generation of digital technologies to empower economic and social development, Liu said.

The summit is co-hosted by the National Development and Reform Commission, the National Data Administration, the Cyberspace Administration of China, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, and the People's Government of Fujian Province. 
Making an Icarus allusion is tempting, except it would go right over MAGA heads. Plus the Greek myth of the ambitious young man who flies too close to the sun and falls to his death is a tragic story. But there was nothing sad about watching Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., faceplant on live TV late Wednesday. Earlier in the day, it seemed that Greene was backing off her ongoing threat to move to oust Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La. Republicans in Congress repeatedly made it clear to Greene that there was no chance of success if she tried this. Not only did most Republicans oppose her efforts, but even most Democrats were ready to block her motion. Even Donald Trump, the not-so-secret actual leader of House Republicans, issued condescending social media posts warning her this "will negatively affect everything!"

Faced with certain defeat, Greene made noises on Tuesday suggesting that she was finally backing down. New York Times reporting suggests, however, that her ego simply could not allow her to admit that she's not the head honcho of the House GOP. By calling for the vote and failing spectacularly  she only got 11 Republicans to join her  Greene only proved how little power she actually holds. Now she's running around accusing Democrats and Republicans of being a "uniparty." In reality, the two sides agree on very little, except a shared belief that Greene should shut up and go away.

Heaven knows this moment of bipartisanship is not about any great love for Johnson, a far-right Christian fundamentalist whose religious faith doesn't stop him from smoothly lying into every microphone put in front of his face. (Recently, for instance, he falsely claimed Trump's 88 felony indictments are a "sham." As a lawyer, however, he knows this is not true because four separate grand juries had to sign off on every one of those charges.) Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., indicated to reporters that Democrats have no plans to come riding to Johnson's rescue in the future. Even Republicans, the Washington Post reported last week, "have ruled him out for any leadership position in the next Congress."

Want more Amanda Marcotte on politics? Subscribe to her newsletter Standing Room Only.

No, this was more about Republicans and Democrats joining hands to tell Marjorie Taylor Greene to take a seat already. As former editor-in-chief of The Bulwark Charlie Sykes told MSNBC after Greene's failed motion, one doesn't have to like Johnson to enjoy this moment. This is about Greene "basically reaching her expiration date."

Greene's belief that she is a major power player who can force the GOP to bend to her will didn't come out of nowhere. It wasn't that long ago that her conspiracy theory-heavy brand of MAGA trolling made her a rising star in the GOP. Her unique ability to "trigger" liberals made her a sought-after guest on right-wing media outlets and a powerhouse fundraiser for the party. During the 2022 midterms, the Daily Beast reported, Republican politicians were practically begging her for endorsements, viewed as second only to getting Trump's public blessing.

Now, however, she is getting the cold shoulder from Republican colleagues. They booed and heckled her on the House floor Tuesday. Some have even started to call her "Moscow Marjorie," because she opposes military aid to Ukraine, as they fend off a Russian invasion. Fox News and other outlets owned by Rupert Murdoch also turned on Greene, with the New York Post echoing the "Moscow Marjorie" nickname.

NYET: New York Post Trolls 'Moscow' Marjorie Taylor Greene In Russian https://t.co/GBat6ayeLG  HuffPost (@HuffPost) April 22, 2024

Greene broke the cardinal rule laid out by the late Biggie Smalls in 1997: "Never get high on your own supply." Because of all the attention and praise she was getting from Republicans in her first couple years in the House, she thought she could leverage her loud-mouthed crank act into a role as a real leader on Capitol Hill. After all, Trump had gone pretty far on nothing but a big mouth and hate in his heart, so why couldn't she?

"She" is the explanation here. The Christian right-controlled GOP sees women as support staff, not leaders. Greene was beloved when she paid little mind to legislative work and spent all her time spewing invective to rally the MAGA troops. She was playing the part of a cheerleader, albeit one from a right-wing hell dimension. When she jumped in the huddle and started trying to call plays, however, that's where they drew the line.

Greene's GOP detractors don't even pay her the respect of dismissing her as an adversary. They talk about her like a bratty child. When asked by a reporter for The Hill if Greene is a serious lawmaker, Johnson dismissed her with, "Bless her heart," the traditional Southern way of saying someone is a joke. Nor does the MAGA base really care for her. Even in early 2023, she only had a 30% approval rating with Republican voters, which Aaron Blake at the Washington Post notes, "was better only than now-former congressman George Santos (N.Y.) and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) among a list of 11 high-profile Republicans."

Not that anyone should feel sorry for Greene, who happily regurgitates misogynist talking points to pander to a MAGA audience all the time.

MARJORIE TAYLOR-GREENE ON WHAT A WOMAN IS: We came from Adams Rib we are the weaker sex we are our husbands wife   pic.twitter.com/VtWt6Uax7o  The Tennessee Holler (@TheTNHoller) April 5, 2022

It's just crucial to understand that Greene isn't being pushed aside for being "too" MAGA, as much of the press coverage implies. After all, Johnson is just as far-right as she is, and is even worse on some issues. For instance, he takes a dim view of divorce and what he calls "sexual anarchy." Greene is a divorcee who runs around with a boyfriend she is very much not married to. The GOP turned on her because, simply put, she got too big for her britches. Or, in more old-fashioned terms, she wanted to wear the britches, while they wanted her to stay in skirts.

That said, Democrats still did the right thing by voting to table Greene's motion. It's not like the House GOP will cough up someone less awful than Johnson as speaker, after all. Going into the 2024 election, it's crucial for Democrats to position themselves not just as a reasonable alternative to Trump, but to the MAGA movement in general. Being seen publicly smacking down a politician who has become the face of MAGA is just smart politics in that environment.

With so many terrible things happening in politics, it's nice to see this particular chicken coming home to roost. Greene is emblematic of the empty-headed fascism Trump has brought to life in American politics, where "leadership" is about trolling to build up a politician's brand, and responsible governance is the furthest thing from their minds. But by making herself a right-wing celebrity who doesn't care much about policy, Greene painted a target on her back. There's much to be gained, for Democrats and Republicans, by throwing her overboard, and little to be had in keeping her around. She's in a safe district, so it's possible  likely even  Greene sticks around in Congress for many more years yet. But her relevance just took a big blow she may never recover from.
SURRY COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP)  A family fishing trip turned deadly after a North Carolina man drowned while saving his children who were struggling in a river.

Benny Bowers Jr., 44, jumped into the Yadkin River in Surry County when three of his sons fell into the water on Sunday, April 28, according to relatives and the countys sheriffs office.

Man shot in the face, teen shot in the head in moving car in Queens: NYPD

His sister, Angela Stewart, said Bowers managed to rescue all of the kids but did not resurface after pushing the third boy to safety.

My brother just gave him one last push and told him to go, Stewart said tearfully. He locked eyes with my sister-in-law, and when he saw that she had the baby, he just closed his eyes and went underwater. And he never came back up.

Several emergency crews worked together to search for Bowers, using boats, drones and sonar. Around 11:15 a.m. on Monday, April 29, authorities located his body near the juncture of the Ararat River and Yadkin River.

Bowers 10-year-old son, Benny Bowers III, remembered his dad as a brave man.

He was the greatest dad I could ever have, and hes a hero, a real-life hero, said the young boy, who was rescued by his father.

Family members said the 44-year-old loved God, dancing and fishing with his sons.

He had an infectious, energetic love, said Melanie Williams, another sister of Bowers. And he would do anything for anything for anyone.

Bowers was laid to rest on May 6. Stewart said his legacy lies in his sons.

He gave us four gifts, and those four gifts are his boys. Theyre just like him, she said.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Friday features lingering showers with a northwest flow setting up behind Thursday evenings cold front and a trough kicking in behind our low pressure system. Mostly cloudy conditions, with periods of light showers and drizzle will hold high temperatures down into the upper 50s to around 60 in what looks to be a dreary day. Itll also be a blustery day, with gusts as high as 20 mph possible once again.

Tonight clouds break but northwest winds continue allowing us to drop back into the cool and crisp 40s. Our higher elevations (above 2,900ft) havent entered their growing season just yet but for those that got an early jump, patchy frost is possible. For those lower in elevation on in town wont have to worry.

Saturday finally features a drier day on the way, with sunshine expected through the early afternoon. By mid-afternoon, an approaching weak cold front with an associated low pressure system across the Great Lakes will bring showers back into the region for dinnertime. Well see high temperatures remain a bit cool for this time of year in the low 60s.

Mothers Day continues to look better and better, with mostly sunny skies expected and high temperatures in the mid 60s  its a great looking day for mom!

Monday brings even more sunshine into the forecast, with high pressure setting in to our west and then south. That will keep a cooler westerly breeze ongoing but will mean plenty of sunshine, with high temperatures near 70.

Tuesday continues to see the effects of high pressure, as it heads east. That will allow a return flow to set in, which means a warmer, southerly breeze returns. As a result, temperatures will rebound, with highs jumping back up in the low to mid 70s. With an approaching low pressure system late in the day, a few showers cant be ruled out around dinnertime. Most of the day will be dry!

Wednesday is trending wetter with an area of low pressure meandering near the region. That will provide the risk for showers in what looks to an unsettled day, with highs in the low 70s.

Thursday looks mostly dry with high pressure nearby. A stray shower will be possible late in the day as our next system approaches, with high temperatures in the mid 70s.

Looking ahead in your extended forecast, temperatures will be rebounding back to around normal for this time of year, though the weather is still unsettled at times. A cold front will push through Friday and give us the chance for a few showers and perhaps a storm or two. High pressure returns Saturday, bringing sunshine with an isolated risk for a shower or two on Sunday. High temperatures will be in the 70s each day.

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!

FRIDAY

Mostly cloudy with light showers/drizzle. Cool! Highs near 60.

SATURDAY

Partly sunny early. Afternoon scattered showers likely. Highs in the low 60s.

MOTHERS DAY

Plenty of sunshine! Highs in the mid 60s.

MONDAY

Mostly sunny. Highs near 70.

TUESDAY

Afternoon showers. Highs in the low 70s.

WEDNESDAY

Showers likely. Highs in the low 70s.

THURSDAY

Isolated shower. Highs in the mid 70s.

FRIDAY

Showers likely. Highs in the 70s.

SATURDAY

Sunshine returns! Highs in the 70s.

SUNDAY

Few showers. Highs in the 70s.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
DURHAM, N.C. (WNCN)  A suspect has been arrested in connection to a shooting at a Durham apartment complex Wednesday night.

Police said someone shot four people, including 27-year-old Nelson Mendez-Vasquez who died at the hospital. One man was killed. Another woman was left with life-threatening injuries.

My husband told me about it this morning, one Duke Manor resident said. He told me he had heard some gunshots.

PREVIOUS: 1 dead, 3 others hurt in Durham shooting, suspect arrest, police say

Evidence markers lined the ground at the Duke Manor apartments. Several people who live there tell CBS 17 they heard at least 10 gunshots.

Thats really surprising, nearby neighbor Michael Shore said. I walk around here a lot, both during the day and at night. So thats really shocking. I know that theres some crime but I didnt think wed have anything like that. But thats really scary to be honest with you.

Officers responded to Duke University Hospital for a walk-in gunshot wound call. Thats where they found all four victims.

Officers arrested 29-year-old Yeltsin Cinto Orozco. He is charged with first-degree murder.

CBS 17 spoke with a recent Duke graduate who lives around the neighborhood. He said he doesnt feel safe.

Everything near campus is always a target, and thats usually the most affordable areas for us, he said. So theres not really much options.

As of last week, police statistics show at least 66 people have been shot in Durham so far this year, which is an increase compared to 2023.

Its kind of limiting the kind of activities or things that we can do and trying to move our life away from that, the recent Duke graduate said.

Right now, investigators are still determining what happened.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
The release from prison of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori on Dec. 6, 2023, has sparked concern over Perus commitment to human rights.

The move came a a day after the Constitutional Tribunal of Peru ruled that the 85-year-old, who was serving a 25-year sentence for crimes against humanity, be freed on humanitarian and health grounds.

Images of the frail-looking Fujimori being driven away from his jail in Lima were celebrated by his supporters. But others expressed concern. The United Nations human rights office described the release as a concerning setback for accountability.

As a scholar writing a book about the violation of human rights in Peru under Fujimori, I understand the concerns. The release of the deeply divisive former president suggests the rehabilitation of Fujimorism at a time when Perus current right-wing government is being accused of authoritarianism and human rights violations. The pardoning of Fujimori also reflects the growing divide between Peru and the decades-old inter-American system to promote and protect human rights in the region. In addition, Fujimoris presence out of prison is an affront to the victims and survivors of his regimes human rights abuses.

Resurgence of Fujimorism

The early release of Fujimori, who ruled Peru from 1990 to 2000, comes despite his crimes being well documented. In 2009 he was sentenced to 25 years behind bars for ordering a death squad to carry out the extrajudicial killings of civilians. He also presided over the coercive sterilizations of thousands of Indigenous women under the guise of a family planning program.

Research shows that when former leaders held responsible for human rights violations continue to wield power in politics, it is harder for subsequent governments of a country to adequately respect or uphold human rights.

This is why Fujimoris release poses a problem. Although the former dictator may be too old and frail to directly influence Peruvian politics, the country is experiencing a resurgence of Fujimorism.

Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of Alberto Fujimori, has been a strong contender in presidential elections since 2016 and heads the right-wing Fuerza Popular party. In 2021, she lost the presidential vote to left-wing candidate Pedro Castillo by just 0.252%  or 44,263 votes. Fuerza Popular currently holds 22 of the 130 seats in Congress  the largest number held by a single political party.

Meanwhile, former personnel from Alberto Fujimoris government continue to wield considerable power. Alejandro Aguinaga, a former minister of health during Fujimoris tenure, was elected to Congress in 2021 and is the current president of the Congressional Committee on Foreign Relations. Aguinaga is among those accused over the forced sterilization of thousands of Indigenous women. Earlier this year, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights took up the case of Celia Edith Ramos Durand, who died after a nonconsensual sterilization as part of a campaign overseen by Aguinagas health ministry. It marked the first forced sterilization case to come before the regional body.

Fighting regional oversight

The Inter-American Court of Human Rights was set up in 1979, as an autonomous legal body of the Organization of American States. Along with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, its purpose is to monitor, interpret and apply the American Convention on Human Rights and other inter-American human rights treaties, which includes issuing judgments on cases and advisory opinions.

Aguinaga is among those who have questioned the power of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, noting that Peru needs to start the paperwork to disaffiliate ourselves from the court.

Indeed, the wider context of Fujimoris release is a long-running dispute between Perus Fujimorists and the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. The court ruled in 2001 and 2006 that the Peruvian state was responsible for grave human rights violations, leading to the 2009 conviction of Fujimori.

Since then, Peru has sought to push back against the court. Fujimori was pardoned on humanitarian grounds in 2017 by then-President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, resulting in the intervention of the court. In agreement with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court of Peru nullified the pardon, and Fujimori was ordered back to prison to serve his remaining sentence.

Tensions between Peru and the inter-American system have grown under the government of Dina Boluarte. Since taking office in December 2022, Boluarte and her government have been accused of human rights abuses, including violations of the right to peaceful protest, excessive use of force by security forces and the extrajudicial execution of protesters.

Boluartes minister of foreign affairs, Javier Gonzalez-Olaechea, has openly questioned a report from the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights about alleged human rights violations against peaceful protesters by the Boluarte government.

Some political analysts in Peru saw the appointment of Gonzalez-Olaechea in November 2023 as a move toward Perus withdrawal from the jurisdiction of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

Such a move would be welcomed by some in Perus Congress, members of which have put forward three bills on the withdrawal of the state from the Inter-American system. The latest such bill urges withdrawal to protect Peru from being jurisdictionally pushed around by a foreign organization.

Political interests over rights

This is not the first time that Peru has threatened to withdraw from the Inter-American system. Toward the end of the internal armed conflict period of 1980 to 2000, the Fujimori administration similarly voiced a desire to withdraw. However, a political scandal involving Fujimoris intelligence chief in 2000 and accusations of fraud led to the end of his presidency, halting discussions about withdrawing from the Inter-American system.

Nonetheless, the release of Fujimori represents a further deterioration of Peru and Inter-American system relations. And without the oversight and jurisprudence of the Inter-American system, the well-being of Peruvian citizens will be jeopardized by a government seemingly willing to prioritize political interests over the rights of its citizens.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and trustworthy analysis to help you make sense of our complex world. It was written by: Nusta Carranza Ko, University of Baltimore

Read more:



Nusta Carranza Ko does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Remains of Jamilla Smith found in woods off Silver Bluff Rd.

AIKEN, S.C. (WJBF)  The Aiken County Sheriff announced Friday that the remains of Jamilla Smith have been located.

Authorities say she was found in a wooded area in the 2100 block of Silver Bluff Road.

The Aiken County Coroner Daryll Ables, Aiken Department of Public Safety and the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division assisted with the recovery efforts.

Jamilla Smith w/her son

Jamilla Smiths Family

According to the coroner, after family notifications were made, he identified the remains as

Jamilla and has ordered an autopsy. We have taken statements, evidence processing. Theres still a significant amount of evidence that needs to be processed electronic data and so forth, said Aiken County Sheriffs Office Capt. Eric Abdullah.

This investigation began in December after Jamilla was reported missing.

Daniel Gabriel Harmon, Bryan Alexander Hampton Jr, and Clyde Hendley II were arrested as a result of this investigation.

If anyone has any information on this investigation, theyre encouraged to contact the Aiken County Sheriffs Office at 803-648-6811.

Jamilla Smith Disappearance Investigation Timeline:

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJBF.
A general view of the Karem Abu Salem commercial crossing on the Gaza Strip-Israel-Egypt border. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

The military wing of the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, has again mounted an attack on the Kerem Shalom border crossing between Israel and the far south of the Gaza Strip - the fourth such attack since Sunday.

Mortars were used in Friday's attack, the al-Qassam Brigades said on the Telegram messaging service.

Israel's COGAT organization, which is responsible for coordination with Palestinian civil authorities, posted on the X messaging service: "Hamas just fired at the Kerem Shalom, the main humanitarian aid crossing into Gaza."

The attack was the fourth time this week that Hamas had actively fired on the crossing point, it said.

"Hamas will do anything to prevent aid from reaching the people of Gaza.," COGAT added.

Over recent days, Israeli protestors have again blocked aid convoys seeking to enter the Gaza Strip, saying that the deliveries are aiding Hamas in resisting Israeli forces.
Rep. Ilhan Omar remains an international celebrity even as she fights to hold onto her district

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar recorded an interview with the founders of Outta Wax, a vinyl record pressing plant in south Minneapolis, on April 24, 2024. The recording was later captured on a bright blue vinyl. Photo by Michelle Griffith/Minnesota Reformer.

U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar recently visited Outta Wax, a vinyl record pressing business in south Minneapolis, part of an effort to engage with constituents and small business owners in the 5th Congressional District.

Omar was late, and once she arrived, everyone had to wait for a Bloomberg documentary crew to set up. They were following her around for a day-in-the-life-style feature.

Omar, some aides, and the business founders  Sara Pette and Alex Stillman  stood in a circle and exchanged niceties in the open warehouse while the video crew set up.

Then they stood there some more, and Omar tapped away on her phone. Once the Bloomberg crew was ready  armed with a boom mic on a 10-foot pole  Omar turned on the charm, asking Pette and Stillman how they make the vinyl records and even doing a mock-interview with them that would later be captured on a bright blue vinyl record.

(This) is an opportunity for us to visit with small business owners and interact with customers in a more of a fun, neutral way, Omar told the Reformer shortly after the tour.

In the days surrounding the visit, Omar was in her other, more well-known political space: criticizing American and Israeli misdeeds, and at times providing easy fodder for her opponents with a verbal slip.

The day prior, Omar visited the University of Minnesota to praise the pro-Palestinian student protesters who set up an encampment, telling them she was incredibly moved by your courage and bravery.

On April 17, Omar grilled Columbia University President Nemat Shafik during a congressional committee about Palestinian and Muslim students who have been sanctioned for participating in pro-Palestine protests. She didnt mention during the hearing that her daughter, Isra Hirsi, was one of the protesters.

Hirsi wrote on X that she was notified that she was one of three Barnard students suspended at Columbia for standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide.

Days later, Omar herself visited Columbia Universitys pro-Palestine encampment, and she was questioned by a news crew about allegations of rising antisemitism during the protests.

We should not have to tolerate antisemitism or bigotry for all Jewish students, whether they are pro-genocide or anti-genocide, Omar responded.

House Republicans are now attempting to censure her for her remarks. Omars spokeswoman has said the criticism is a bad-faith misconstruction of Omars statement and meant to distract the public from the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.

Amid the frequent controversies, Omar, now in her third term, must balance her roles as an influential progressive voice in Washington and international spokeswoman for justice, with the more mundane aspects of being a member of Congress: helping constituents navigate federal bureaucracy, voting as a member of the House minority on a raft of legislation that will never become law and lifting up local businesses and nonprofits in the 5th District.

The problem for Omar is that no matter how well she strikes a balance, her statements on international politics will always go viral, while the trips to the vinyl plant go mostly unrecorded. (Though Bloomberg subscribers may see it, if it makes the cut.)

Omar will again face a tough Democratic-Farmer-Labor primary opponent in former Minneapolis City Council Member Don Samuels, who is making the case that her headline-grabbing advocacy is leaving the city without competent leadership to address problems in north Minneapolis neighborhoods like his.

Samuels and Omar agree on many policy issues. In practice, however, in their focus and styles, Samuels and Omar would be far different members of Congress.

Which means primary voters in the 5th District confront a deeper question than a grocery list of issues: Gaza is in ruins, while constituents want affordable health care and easier access to higher education.

All deserve full attention, but which candidate can effectively focus on both?

Omar declined an interview request for this story, and her campaign wouldnt make someone available for an on-the-record interview.

A progressive Democrat who supports bold changes

Omar, 41, was born in Somalia, and as a young girl she and her family spent four years in a Kenyan refugee camp.

She became the first Somali-American state legislator in the country when she was elected to the Minnesota House in 2016, moving up to the U.S. House in 2018, where she also became the first African refugee to serve in Congress.

The stakes of this election could hardly be higher for Omar.

The election of former President Donald Trump wouldnt just stall her legislative priorities, but would stir up even worse hatred than she faced during his first term. Trump regularly invoked Omars name to stir Islamophobic jeers and cheers among his supporters, who once responded with chants of Send her back.

If Democrats take the House majority and Omar prevails over Samuels, shed regain her seat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, which House Republicans stripped her of shortly after they gained control in early 2023 because of her past comments on Israel.

A return to the Foreign Affairs Committee is important to many of her constituents, as about 15% of the district is foreign born, and want a voice back on the committee.

Omar is being pragmatic about the presidential race. Shes said she will vote for President Joe Biden despite his staunch support for Israel. A Biden second term coupled with a Democratic majority would empower Omar to use her influence as deputy chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, where she can advocate for ambitious legislation on housing, health care and other progressive priorities.

Omar in a statement to the Reformer said shes building on the legacy of Attorney General Keith Ellison, who held the seat before her, and the progressive agitators like Paul Wellstone, to fight for a more progressive Minnesota and America. And weve been really successful in that mission. Every single day in Congress, I fight to deliver legislative victories our community can feel.

Recently, Omar secured $54 million in funding for community projects in the 5th District, including $1 million to the small city of Hilltop, Minnesota, for a new storm shelter. These investments are truly uplifting every corner of our district, she said in a tweet.

She touts the provisions she got included in the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law  including parts of a zero waste law to end the use of toxic landfills  but she ultimately voted against the law. During a brief interview with the Reformer after the vinyl record tour, Omar said her vote against the law was a strategic effort to make sure the communities that we represent that have constantly been the last ones invested in dont get left behind.

During her first year in office, she proposed a $1 trillion affordable housing bill with the goal of creating 12 million affordable housing units, which made some noise but gained little traction.

In her statement to the Reformer, Omar highlighted her MEALS Act  included in the March 2020 CARES Act  which allowed school districts flexibility in providing meals by allowing increased federal costs. Omar says the law fed nearly 30 million kids nationwide during the pandemic. (She also wrote a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in early 2022 seeking answers about widespread fraud in Minnesotas version of the program, in whats now known as the Feeding Our Future scandal.)

A full-fledged campaign

With so much on the line, Omar is taking the Samuels challenge much more seriously than in 2022, when her primary campaign was nearly nonexistent. She had one field director, and her strategy was to ignore Samuels.

Samuels came within about 2 percentage points of beating Omar  a surprise to many in Omars camp.

This time around, Omar has a full team on the ground knocking on doors, making calls and handing out fliers. The districts DFL endorsing convention is Saturday, and Omar plans to abide by the results of the endorsement, according to a source close to Omar. Samuels says he will continue running if hes not endorsed.

Omars campaign has sought to steamroll Samuels with a slew of early endorsements, including every Democratic U.S. House leader  such as Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries  labor unions, the majority of the Minneapolis City Council, Minnesota House Speaker Melissa Hortman, DFL-Brooklyn Park, and nearly all of the Minneapolis legislative delegation.

There are some high profile names missing, including 5th District resident U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, who are both key figures in the still-powerful DFL establishment but have found themselves opposite Omar on many high profile issues, from support for Israel to support for police.

House Majority Leader Jamie Long, DFL-Minneapolis, who has endorsed Omar every election since her first run, said she gets results.

I know theres some members of Congress who do their work and work hard and there are some members who fill seats, and Congresswoman Omar is one who works hard and gets results for our constituents, Long said, adding that Omar can represent people of color and immigrants in in the district who have never had a voice in Congress.

D.A. Bullock, a filmmaker and Northside resident, said Omars refusal to be silenced is precisely whats needed to represent the Black and immigrant communities of the 5th District.

Its important for those people to be able to speak out and speak to how we make this American experiment a better place for everyone, Bullock said. I applaud her for the bravery of that because I know that comes with a special form of pushback from those who want to keep things pretty much the same as theyve always been.

The perils of fame

Omar is inspiring to some and angering to others. She can drive the conversation with a single tweet or remark, for better or worse.

She received a rigorous education in the perils of fame shortly after taking office, when she implied peoples support for Israel was motivated by money.

Responding to a tweet from a journalist about threats to punish Omar for being critical of Israel, Omar tweeted, Its all about the Benjamins baby. Another person questioned who Omar thinks is paying U.S. politicians to be pro-Israel, she responded in a tweet AIPAC!  referring to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

Omar later apologized and said she was learning about the painful history of anti-Semitic tropes.

Thus began a cycle of tweet, outrage, defense from allies, an apology (or not) and repeat.

In 2021, Omar tweeted, We have seen unthinkable atrocities committed by the US, Hamas, Israel, Afghanistan, and the Taliban. This caused multiple Democrats to criticize her likening of actions by the U.S. and Israel to militant groups like Hamas and the Taliban. Omar didnt back down. Fellow Squad member, New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, defended her.

Pretty sick & tired of the constant vilification, intentional mischaracterization, and public targeting of @IlhanMN coming from our caucus, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted.

Whats different now is the war in Gaza, which has eroded the bipartisan consensus around Israel, giving Omar and her allies a rare opportunity to shift American policy.

The congresswoman has long been a fierce critic of Israel and its treatment of Palestinians. With much of Gaza in ruins and the death toll mounting by the day, many in the Democratic mainstream have come around to where Omar has long stood. Many Democrats, including Biden, are now calling for a ceasefire and are critical of Israels actions.

But Israel has strong backers  including in the 5th District  who would love to see Omar gone. The political arm of the AIPAC has funded candidates it believes can unseat members of Congress who have been critical of Israel. The super PAC hasnt donated to Samuels this election cycle, but his campaign has attempted to court the group for funds. Samuels campaign manager told The New York Times that $4 million would be enough to defeat Omar.

Should she withstand the onset, Omar could become one of the more influential members of a new U.S. House majority on issues of global scope. First, though, shell need to connect with local businesses in the 5th, like the vinyl record pressing plant. Maybe you can catch it on Bloomberg.

The post Rep. Ilhan Omar remains an international celebrity even as she fights to hold onto her district appeared first on Minnesota Reformer.
People in this tent encampment off of U.S. 70 near Garner were forced to move last month. (Photo: Greg Childress)

The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) reported this week that there have been nearly 2,000 incidents of violence against people experiencing homelessness since 1999. The attacks have resulted in at least 588 deaths, the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit reported.

Donld Whitehead

There were between 25-49 acts of violence against people experiencing homeless in North Carolina between 1999-2022, according to NCH.

Nationally, the crimes against unhoused victims include beatings, rapes, mutilations and murders, the NCH said, and the murder victims who died were not only shot or stabbed, but also set on fire, drowned or beheaded.

These crimes appear to have been motivated by a perpetrators bias against people experiencing homelessness, and to have been facilitated by a perpetrators ability to target homeless people with relative ease, the NCH reported.

The NCHs report, Violence and Hate Against Unhoused Americans: 2020-2022 is a follow-up to the groups December 2020 report titled 20 years of Hate, which included data through 2019.

The NCH documented 97 reported acts of violence against people experiencing homelessness between 2020 and 2022. Nearly half  48%  of them were fatal, the NCH reported.

The most violent of the three years was 2022. Thats when 60% of the fatal acts against people experiencing homelessness occurred, the NCH reported.

Here are additional key findings in the NCHs report:

Acts of violence occurred in 24 states and the District of Columbia, with 45.3% occurring in just three states: California (19.5%), Oregon (15.5%) and Florida (10.3%).

Of the 47 fatal acts of violence, almost half (48.9%) occurred in just two states: Oregon (29.8%) and California (19.1%).

There were five serial acts of violence over the three-year period, of which four were fatal.

Of the non-lethal acts of violence, 53.3% were beatings  of which more than a third (37.5%) came at the hands of law enforcement.

Four in five (81.9%) of the fatal acts of violence fell into one of three categories: shootings (45.5%); beatings (21.2%); and stabbings (15.2%).

Half of the victims of non-fatal acts were between the ages of 21 and 40.

A little more than four in five (80.5%) of the victims of fatal acts were between the ages of 21 and 60, with half of them between the ages of 21 and 40.

A significant majority of the victims of both non-lethal (66%) and fatal (87.2%) acts were male.

Nearly four in five (79.5%) of the perpetrators of non-fatal acts were 40 years old or younger; more than four in five (82.3%) of the perpetrators of fatal acts were 40 years old or younger.

The NCH fears that violence against people experiencing homelessness will increase as more communities adopt laws criminalizing life-sustaining acts such as camping, sleeping, and panhandling.

Homelessness is not a moral failure of a person, it is a moral failure of society, Donald H. Whitehead Jr., the NCH executive director, said in a statement. Its immoral to choose displacement and eviction over safety and equality.

The NCH noted that the U.S. Supreme Court will soon rule in the case of Grants Pass v. Johnson, an Oregon case that would endorse the City of Grants Passs ordinance that prohibits people experiencing homelessness from sleeping in public.

Such a ruling could open the door to mass criminalization of people experiencing homelessness, which could lead to more lost lives, the NCH said in its report. We believe theres a direct link between these growing criminalization efforts and the increase in violence and vitriol toward people experiencing homelessness.

The post New report shows violence against people experiencing homelessness increasing appeared first on NC Newsline.
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrives in Budapest for a state visit to Hungary at the invitation of Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban, May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BUDAPEST, May 10 (Xinhua) -- What deeply impressed Chinese President Xi Jinping during his state visit to Hungary, he said, was a Hungarian girl who presented flowers to him when he landed in Budapest.

On Wednesday evening, Olah Tamara in a white suit jacket, among a few other Hungarian students, stood beside the red carpet with a bouquet in hand at Budapest Airport.

Her smooth, shoulder-length hair was streaming in the wind, and her bright eyes shining with anticipation in the darkness like stars.

Hungarian girl Olah Tamara is among the crowd welcoming Chinese President Xi Jinping for his state visit to Hungary at Budapest Airport, May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

After being told that she was the same girl who presented flowers to Xi 15 years ago, the president recollected that encounter. "You've grown up. You were only this tall back then," he said, making a gesture with his hand.

In 2009, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and Hungary, Xi, then Chinese vice president, paid an official visit to Hungary.

In that trip, he held talks with Hungary's president, prime minister and foreign minister, and visited the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school.

"She was only six years old back then," Xi recalled during a meeting with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok the following day. "I was moved. From a little girl to a beautiful young lady, doesn't it symbolize the growth of friendship between China and Hungary?"

When interviewed by Chinese media CGTN, the grown-up girl warmly welcomed Xi's visit in fluent Chinese, and expressed her joy of seeing the Chinese leader again.

She learned Chinese at the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school, a 12-year all-through public school that teaches in both Chinese and Hungarian. Now a college student, she has a Chinese name "Tong Man."

Hungarian girl Olah Tamara and two other students from the Hungarian-Chinese bilingual school are at Budapest Airport to welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping for his state visit to Hungary, May 8, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)





WELCOME HOME

When Xi arrived here Wednesday, an old friend also greeted him at the airport: Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

"Welcome home!" Orban said, shaking hands with Xi. "We welcome you with warm friendship."

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

"I met Mr. Prime Minister in 2009, so we are old friends," Xi said during a meeting with Orban on Thursday.

"Fifteen years later, when I revisited Hungary, I have two deep feelings. One is the thriving momentum of Hungary's economic and social development, and the other is the hospitality and friendship of the Hungarian people. They make me feel at home," Xi said.

Orban, for his part, said he still remembers Xi's visit to Hungary 15 years ago, and he is glad that both countries and Hungary-China relations have made great progress in the past 15 years.

"I have full confidence in the future of Hungary-China relations," he said. 
Residents near State Line hope for changes on U.S. 54

Residents near State Line hope for changes on U.S. 54

EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  Residents near U.S. 54 at State Line often witness wrecks at the intersections.

Police: Crash in Northeast El Paso injures 6

A Northeast El Paso resident, who asked to keep her identity hidden due to an ongoing proceeding, spoke with KTSM and said her life was changed after getting in a crash along U.S. 54 at State Line.

Were lucky to be alive. Ive had four surgeries and Ive lost almost 80 percent mobility to my hand, the resident said.

She said that for the average person who needs to take I-10 to go to work, needs to take U.S. 54, or drive a longer commute.

She also told KTSM that shes lived in the area for seven years and hoped nothing would happen, but said it was just a matter of time.

KTSM asked for her recommended changes, and she said shed like for there to be more police patrol, more lights and indicators letting drivers know there are lights ahead.

KTSM reached out to TxDOT regarding that part of town and if any changes would be made.

Jennifer Wright, a spokesperson for TxDOT, said they agree the intersection is dangerous and a project is already designed for an extended roundabout.

It would reduce conflict points and eliminate T-bone crashes in that location. And in the meantime, we are evaluating other potential solutions in the short-term, Wright said.

The El Paso Police Department was able to provide KTSM a statement on the data of fatal crashes along that intersection:

Last two years, three fatal crashes. There was a total of four people killed in those three crashes.

In addition, there were two fatal crashes in 2024 and one in 2023, according to the statement.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
Rising Congaree River closes part of West Columbias riverwalk. Heres what to know

Rising floodwaters from the swollen Congaree River caused West Columbia to close off portions of the citys riverwalk north of the Gervais Street bridge on Friday morning.

The portion of the West Columbia Riverwalk from the Moffatt Street Entrance, 100 Riverside Drive, to the West Columbia Amphitheater is temporarily closed due to flooding, an email notice from the city said Friday morning.

The amphitheater is on West Columbias side of the Gervais Street bridge from downtown Columbia.

The riverwalk, which attracts nature-lovers, dog-walkers, cyclists and joggers, will reopen when the waters go down and city crews have a chance to clean up any debris, a city spokeswoman said.

Recent heavy rains in the Columbia area are one major cause of the higher river level, said Bill Stangler, the Congraree riverkeeper, on Friday.

We did get a lot of lot of rain yesterday, and thats working its way down the watershed, both from the Broad and Saluda rivers, Stangler said. (The Broad and Saluda rivers merge just north of the Columbia to form the Congaree River.)

Also, a release from the Lake Murray dam due to rising waters added to rising water levels, Stangler said.

We should probably see the Congaree River crest this afternoon, he said.

Fridays forecast for central South Carolina is for scattered showers and thunderstorms in the afternoon, with a few of the storms becoming strong to severe, according to the National Weather Service.

As rising waters go, this is not major, Stangler said.

This is what I would call, it rained a decent amount but nothing too crazy  kind of standard, low-level flooding, he said.

Mike Dawson, head of the River Alliance, said that portion of the riverwalk was built in the early 2000s.

When the river rises, the walk gets flooded, and the city in good caution, closes it down, Dawson said. The River Alliance is a non-profit Columbia-based corporation dedicated to bringing people to the rivers in Richland and Lexington counties.
MIAMI, Okla.  Flooding continues to be an issue in Miami even as waters have receded.

Although most of the water has dried up it has left 6 to 8 inches of sludge in parking lots as well as dead fish behind. City crews are in charge of scraping and hosing roads after floods in the Riverview Park and parking lots.

When flooding first began last week in Miami some of the Neosho River overflowed into Riverview Park.

Mayor Bless Parker said he still will continue to blame the Grand River Dam Authority  whos in charge of the river. But hes still worried flooding in the future could cost the city more money and homes of his citizens.

It costs the citizens and taxpayers millions of dollars. And those are dollars that we can out towards streets, we can put toward parks, we could put towards a storm shelter for our community, but we cant do that, because we have to be prepared for when these flood events happen that were gonna have to go clean up the mess that we shouldnt be responsible to do, said Mayor Parker

Mayor Parker added the city was lucky this time around because flood waters didnt move into homes or businesses.

All roads are now open.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNF/KODE | FourStatesHomepage.com.
Robert Smalls will be memorialized outside Statehouse, a century after his death

The Northside of the South Carolina Statehouse with the silhouette of the statue of Gen. Wade Hampton in the foreground. (File/Mary Ann Chastain/Special to the SC Daily Gazette)

COLUMBIA  Legislators agreed unanimously to memorialize Robert Smalls on Statehouse grounds with a monument that itself will make history.

The bill legislators sent Thursday to the governors desk creates a commission to design the monument, decide where to put it, and raise money to pay for it.

Robert Smalls. (Library of Congress/Provided)

Smalls, who was enslaved when he piloted his family to freedom to become a Civil War hero and later a state lawmaker, will be the first individual Black South Carolinian recognized with a statue on Statehouse grounds.

It will also be the first monument period since dedication of the Law Enforcement Memorial in 2006. A year later, legislators enacted a moratorium to adding any more monuments to the capitol complex.

Considering were the state that initiated the Civil War  I think it says a lot, Sen. Darrell Jackson, D-Hopkins, told the SC Daily Gazette after the Senates 44-0 vote. I want to commend my colleagues for supporting it overwhelmingly.

Smalls, born a slave in Beaufort in 1839, was sent to Charleston at age 12 to be hired out. When the Civil War began, he was an enslaved crew member of the steamship Planter contracted out to the Confederate army.

In 1862, he hijacked the boat and, after picking up his family at a wharf, steered them through a gauntlet of Confederate guns to the Union blockade, winning freedom for his family and the other enslaved crew members. Smalls went on to become a state legislator and five-term congressman. He died in 1915.

The monument will enable future visitors to learn about Smalls, an outrageous African American guy who put his life in danger when he kidnapped that ship, said Jackson, whose effort six years ago to honor Smalls went nowhere.

When the bill came up for approval Wednesday in the Senate, one senator asked for more information on who Smalls was, prompting a history lesson from Sen. Chip Campsen, R-Isle of Palms.

Campsen, whose family owns and operates the boats that take visitors to Fort Sumter, even educated them on what the Planter looked like, noting his companys most recent purchase is similar, complete with a faux side-wheel  although it uses a modern hybrid propulsion system.

Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said the senators question highlights the need for a statue, so all generations of South Carolinians can learn Smalls story.

Hes significant to South Carolina and even the country as a whole, said the Edgefield Republican. There arent a whole lot of folks I think we should be adding to the Statehouse grounds, but I think Robert Smalls is worthy.

The legislation gives the commission a deadline of Jan. 15 to come up with a design and location for approval by the joint State House Committee.

Jackson said the monument will provide visitors to the Statehouse  including students who come to the Statehouse on field trips as they learn South Carolina history  the opportunity for a broader education.

A woman stops to take a look at the African American History Monument outside the South Carolina Statehouse in Columbia on Tuesday, March 1, 2022. (File/Travis Bell/STATEHOUSE CAROLINA/For the SC Daily Gazette)

All of the stand-alone monuments, markers and statues memorializing specific South Carolinians on Statehouse grounds honor white men, many of them with controversial pasts.

There is a monument that honors the struggles and contributions of Black South Carolinians from the slave trade through the 20th century. However, while Black trailblazers are recognizable in the carved panels, no one is identified.

(It) doesnt just have to be a story about Ben Tillman, John C. Calhoun, Jackson said of other statues visitors see.

Plaques on a statue of Tillman on the front lawn of the Statehouse notes he founded both Clemson and Winthrop universities. What they dont say is that the former post-Reconstruction governor and U.S. senator was an avowed white supremacist who advocated killing Black people who tried to vote, or that he was the architect of Jim Crow laws that spread across the South.

Calhoun, whose statue is in the Statehouse lobby, died before the Civil War started. He was a congressman, secretary of war, vice president, U.S. senator  and champion of slavery.

Some have called for removal of statues on Statehouse grounds, particularly Tillmans. Others counter their monuments need plaques with more context, so that visitors learn their full history.

The post Robert Smalls will be memorialized outside Statehouse, a century after his death appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
HOUSTON COUNTY, Ala (WDHN)  Contestants in town for the Alabama Sheriffs PCA Pro Rodeo had a bit of a scare Friday morning during the severe storms that ripped through Houston County.

Houston County Sheriff Donald Valenza, the rodeos host sheriff, said that at around 3:00 a.m., deputies raced through the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds to alert the sleeping contestants of the incoming weather and ordered them to evacuate to buildings 3 and 6.

One of those contestants, Robbie Hodges, recounted what he heard after waking up during the storm.

Approximately 100-120 people were evacuated from campers and RVs.

The contestants were allowed to return to their campsites after 5:00 a.m. once the Houston County EMA gave the all-clear.

RELATED: First-ever Alabama sheriff rodeo is here

National Weather Service reports show a tornado came close to touching down on Highway 53 near Cottonwood.

Sheriff Valenza says none of the rodeo animals were harmed during the storms.

The severe weather did not cause damage to the fairgrounds, and the rodeo is expected to proceed as usual.

The rodeo, which is said to be the largest PCA Rodeo east of the Mississippi River, began on Thursday, May 9, and will continue until Saturday, May 11.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
Andrew Tate, right, and his brother Tristan laugh as they leave the Bucharest Tribunal in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. A court in Romania's capital ruled on April 26, that a trial could start but did not set a date for the trial to begin in the case of influencer Andrew Tate, who is charged with human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP)  A court in Romanias capital on Friday extended geographical restrictions against an online influencer who is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

The Bucharest Tribunal extended by 60 days the restrictions stipulating Andrew Tate, 37, may not leave the country. Tate had requested that he be able to leave Romania provided he stayed within Europes ID-check-free Schengen zone, which Romania partially joined in March. Eugen Vidineac, one of Tate's lawyers, said they will appeal the decision.

Tate, a former professional kickboxer and dual British-U.S. citizen, was initially arrested in December 2022 near Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June last year and all four have denied the allegations.

On April 26, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that the prosecutors case file against Tate met the legal criteria and that a trial could start but did not set a date for it to begin. That ruling came after the legal case had been discussed for months in the preliminary chamber stages, a process in which the defendants can challenge prosecutors evidence and case file.

After that decision last month, Vidineac argued it lacks legal basis and reasoning and said they filed a strong appeal as we believe the ruling to be unlawful.

Andrew Tate, who has amassed 9.1 million followers on the social media platform X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for allegedly expressing misogynistic views and for hate speech.

Speaking to reporters about his legal case outside the court on Wednesday this week, Andrew Tate said: Its up to the judge, the judge will decide what the judge will decide, I remain rich and famous  nothing matters.

If I have to sleep in jail, Ill sleep in jail, he added. Everybody knows if I was not famous, there would be no way on earth that all of you would be here.

After the Tate brothers arrest, they were held for three months in police detention before being moved to house arrest. They were later restricted to Bucharest Municipality and nearby Ilfov County, but may now travel freely around Romania.

In a separate case, Andrew Tate was served at his home in Romania with a civil lawsuit lodged by four British women in the U.K. after a claim was issued by the High Court in London, according to a statement released Wednesday by McCue Jury & Partners, the law firm representing the four women.

The four allege Tate sexually and physically assaulted them and had reported him to British authorities in 2014 and 2015. After a four-year investigation, the Crown Prosecution Service decided in 2019 not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to pursue a civil case against him.

We are very pleased that the court has issued our claim and the case is progressing, Matthew Jury, a managing partner at the law firm, said in a statement Wednesday. We are determined to bring Andrew Tate to justice, and this is a major step towards that goal.

In a separate third case, the Tate brothers also appeared in March at the Bucharest Court of Appeal after British authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a U.K. case dating back to 2012-2015.

The appeals court granted the British request to extradite the Tates to the U.K., but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.

___

McGrath reported from Tulcea, Romania.
Romanian police: 11,000 Ukrainian men have illegally crossed border into Romania since February 2022

About 11,000 Ukrainian men have illegally crossed the border into Romania since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) reported on May 9, citing data from the Romanian border police.

A total of 19 men aged between 18 and 60 died while trying to cross into the neighboring country, said Florin Coman, the chief of the Romanian border police in the city of Sighetu Marmatiei.

Eleven of them reportedly drowned in the Tysa River, and the rest died while trying to cross the Carpathian Mountains without proper equipment.

Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, there have been multiple reports of men attempting to illegally flee Ukraine by swimming the Tysa River, which flows along the border with Hungary, Romania, and Moldova.

Subscribe to Ukraine Daily newsletter

News from Ukraine in your inbox

Subscribe

Men of draft age are banned from leaving the country during martial law, with several exemptions.

There have been 1,218 cases of illegal border crossings from Ukraine to Romania recorded between January and April 2024, with 2,373 Ukrainian citizens involved, according to Coman.

Over the past two years, Romanian rescuers have saved 108 Ukrainians in the Maramures region alone, he said.

Ukrainian law enforcement agencies have uncovered, as of mid-March, nearly 400 criminal networks that help individuals evade military service by aiding them to flee abroad, according to State Border Guard Service spokesperson Andrii Demchenko.

Ukraine recently updated the legal framework of the military draft to ramp up mobilization in 2024. President Volodymyr Zelensky signed the new law on mobilization on April 16, introducing additional penalties for those dodging the draft.

Another law lowered the minimum age of compulsory military service from 27 to 25, making men eligible for the draft as soon as they turned 25.

Read also: Foreign Ministry clarifies rules for men abroad applying for consular services

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Workers at a supermarket in Michigan got quite a surprise recently when an unexpected guest was discovered living in the grocery store. But the woman wasn't hiding in the back of the store; she'd made herself at home in the store's sign.

On April 23, contractors were working on the roof at the Family Fare Supermarket in Midland, Michigan when they discovered a woman living inside the sign atop the store. According to Midland Police Department spokesperson Brennon Warren, it wasn't a typical store sign; there's a 10- to 15-foot hollow peak atop the supermarket's roof with the sign inside that one can access using a small door behind the sign.

"[The contractors] had seen an extension cord leading from one of the rooftop units to this particular sign where she had been living," Warren told USA Today. The door was "definitely big enough to kind of get into," giving her an easy way to get in and out of her home.

She hadn't gone entirely unnoticed during the year or so that she lived there. She'd actually earned the nickname of "Rooftop Ninja" among locals because of her living in the sign and never being found. "People would see her from time to time and then all of a sudden she would vanish," Warren said. "No one really knew where she went but no one ever indicated or thought that she would be up on top of the roof."

The contractors told the store's management who then called local police. Officers approached the woman on the roof, but according to Warren, "She came right to the door and basically said, 'Don't worry, I'm leaving.'" She "fully understood [she was trespassing] and she agreed not to go back," he said. The Ninja had to leave some of her belongings behind but the store tracked her down and is helping her moving the rest of her stuff.

Family Fare Supermarkets parent company SpartanNash shared its thoughts on the matter in a statement to Midland Daily News.

"We are proud of our associates for responding to this situation with the utmost compassion and professionalism," the company said. "Ensuring there is ample safe, affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving."

The Rooftop Ninja may be gone, but it remains an unforgettable case in the local community.

"In my 10-year career here in Midland I have never seen a situation like this before," Warren admitted. "You never would think this would happen, but I wish the best for her."
Rudy Giulianis refusal to stop pushing election conspiracies has already cost him plenty, and on Friday the former New York City mayor and Trump sycophant was dealt another blow  this time through the cancellation of his radio program.

WABC, the radio station that hosted Giulianis program Rudy Giuliani, suspended the host and canceled the show after he repeatedly refused to comply with a station policy barring on-air claims disputing the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

According to a New York Times interview with John Catsimatidis, the billionaire Republican who owns the station, the station warned him once. We warned him twice. And I get a text from him last night, and I get a text from him this morning that he refuses not to talk about it.

Were not going to talk about fallacies of the November 2020 election, Catsimatidis added. He left me no option. I suspended him.

Giuliani is currently at the center of a myriad of legal disputes regarding his efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election, and his unchecked spread of voter fraud conspiracies. Giuliani has been indicted in criminal cases in both Georgia and Arizona related to schemes to undermine the election results in those states.

In December of last year, Guiliani was ordered to pay $148 million to two Georgia election workers for spreading defamatory conspiracy theories about them. The jury found Giuliani owes Wandrea ArShaye Shaye Moss and her mother Ruby Freeman $16,998,000 and $16,171,000, respectively, for defamation; $20 million a piece for emotional distress; and $75 million total in punitive damages. The pair sued Giuliani in December 2022, alleging that the attorney had falsely accused them of manipulating the 2020 presidential vote in Georgia. In August, Giuliani was found liable for spreading false claims about Moss and Freeman.

On top of all that, Guilani is facing scrutiny in Special Counsel Jack Smiths investigation into the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, disbarment proceedings, and sexual assault allegations. Even Giulianis former attorneys are suing him over unpaid legal bills.

In December, Giuliani filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in an attempt to avoid his growing mountain of legal bills, but it seems his sense of self-preservation is just as empty as his wallet.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
During excavations in the United Arab Emirates, archaeologists uncovered the remains of several ancient settlements, shedding light on the early history of the region.

The discoveries were made on Al Sinniyah Island, a tourist hotspot about 42 miles northeast of Dubai, according to a May 6 news release from the countrys Department of Tourism and Archaeology.

One of the excavations, which wrapped up in March, centered on the ruins of an ancient pearling city, which had previously been found.

Uncover more archaeological finds

What are we learning about the past? Here are three of our most eye-catching archaeology stories from the past week.

 Massive 2,200-year-old tomb with grand interior unearthed in China

1,000-year-old weapon  the first of its kind  found sticking out of grave in Spain

 Workers unearth steelworks at medieval castle in UK  and find someone's 'hidey-hole'

Archaeologists revealed that the site likely dates back to the fourth century, making it at least 1,600 years old  between one and two centuries earlier than previously thought.

Numerous large jars were discovered at the site, which had been imported from Mesopotamia, officials said.

Two of the vessels bore Aramaic inscriptions that have been associated with the period from the first to the fourth century.

Based on their findings, archaeologists believe the ruins may be those of the lost city of Tawam, which is cited in historical sources.

Pearling, the practice of diving into the sea to recover pearls and other underwater organisms, has been a fixture of the regions culture for thousands of years, according to CNN, citing officials.

Excavations were also carried out on a site known as Deir Al-Siniya, which is also located on the island.

Photos posted by the Department of Tourism and Archaeology show a series of stone walls situated near the shoreline. Seen from above, they appear to form numerous rectangular chambers.

Excavations on the island, which have been undertaken the past four years, will likely continue, officials said.

Google Translate was used to translate a news release from the UAE government.

Exceptionally rare painting  dating back 300 years  found in plain sight in the UK

Medieval pottery workshop  with pieces still in the oven  found in France. See it

Ancient Roman figurine  a symbol of love  discovered among artifacts in UK. See it
NAIROBI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade (CCPIT) Hunan Sub-council, dedicated to developing business cooperation with other countries, signed an agreement on Friday with the Kenya National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KNCCI) to promote trade and investments.

The cooperation framework agreement was signed on the sidelines of the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Africa (Kenya) 2024, which is currently underway in Nairobi, the Kenyan capital.

Wu Shuguang, vice president of the CCPIT Hunan sub-council, said that a partnership with the Kenyan trade lobby will spur the flow of capital, manufactured goods and technology between China and East Africa's largest economy.

According to Wu, China-Kenya diplomatic and economic ties are flourishing, and both sides will benefit from sharing best practices in growing the digital economy and adopting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence.

KNCCI President Eric Rutto said that by signing a deal with the CCPIT Hunan sub-council, Kenya anticipates an increase in the volume of goods exported to China.

"Expanding and diversifying Kenya's export base is critical to economic stability, hence the need to establish strong trade relations with China, which has a higher potential to import from Kenya," Rutto said.

Kenya is ready to trade with China in diverse areas like precision agriculture, establishing local assembly plants, value addition of farm produce and leather processing, he added.

In addition, Rutto said that economic ties with China should revitalize the manufacturing sector, healthcare, e-commerce, mining, education, finance and infrastructure development in Kenya.

"We pledge to ensure that the agreements forged today translate into tangible opportunities for our business communities," Rutto said.

Kenya is hosting the three-day expo, featuring matchmaking forums, exhibitions, seminars and networking among senior officials, investors and entrepreneurs from both sides. The expo, concluding on Saturday, has attracted enterprises from manufacturing, textiles and clothing, infrastructure, farm machinery, energy and ICT sectors. 
In a rare purple legislative district in Boise, voters this year will determine whether to reelect their House lawmakers or cast their ballots for newcomers.

Legislative District 15, a swath of West Boise, is bordered by East Chinden Boulevard in the north, Idaho 55 and I-84, and South Maple Grove Road in the east. The districts voters face only one contested race in the May 21 primary election to choose the Democratic candidate who will face a Republican incumbent come November.

Ivan Hurlburt, owner of a home inspection company, and Shari Baber, a hair salon owner, are vying for the Democratic nomination for the districts House position B seat. Any voter, regardless of party affiliation, can choose to cast their ballots in Democratic primaries in Idaho, while only Republican voters can vote in GOP primaries.

The winner of the primary will move on to challenge freshman Rep. Dori Healey, R-Boise, in the November general election. Healey, a nurse, sponsored a bill that would have extended the states Maternal Mortality Review Committee last year.

For the districts House position A seat, incumbent Rep. Steve Berch, a vocal critic of privatizing education, runs uncontested in the Democratic primary. The three-term legislator will face Republican challenger Annette Tipton in the November election.

In the Senate, voters will need to wait until November for a contested race. Freshman Democratic incumbent Rick Just will again face Codi Galloway, a former Republican House representative, in the general election. Galloway lost against Just when she ran for the seat in 2022. All legislative terms are for two years.

The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each candidate in a contested race. Their responses are below.

Voters can still register to vote at the polls and vote early through May 17. Learn more about this race and other local elections in the Statesmans Voter Guide. (Find the legislative district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.
Boise voters this primary will decide whether to continue to back a longtime Senate Republican or support a political newcomer in the western part of the city.

Republicans residing in Legislative District 20 in the May 21 primary will have a choice between casting their ballots for Senate President Pro Tem Chuck Winder, R-Boise, a seven-term senator, or Josh Keyser, former Boise police trainee. District 20 includes a swath of Boise west of Idaho 55 and part of Meridian, east of North Can Ada Road and north of Ustick Road.

Winder has been a vocal critic of the Idaho Freedom Foundation, an influential far-right lobbying group, and has publicly bickered with members of the Legislatures far-right Idaho Freedom Caucus. Winder stripped two members of the hard-line group of their legislative committee assignments after they made what he considered disparaging comments toward other lawmakers.

Keyser told the Idaho Statesman that hes running as a fresh perspective who wants to preserve Idaho culture and way of life. The winner of the GOP primary will move on to face Andy Arriaga, the Democratic candidate for the seat, in the November general election.

Longtime incumbent Reps. Joe Palmer and James Holtzclaw are unopposed in the GOP primary. Palmer, a seven-term Meridian Republican, will face Democratic challenger Isaiah Navarro in the November election. All legislative seats are two-year terms. Only Republican voters can cast ballots in Idahos closed GOP primary.

The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each candidate in a contested race. Their responses are below.

Voters can still register to vote at the polls and vote early through May 17. Learn more about this race and other local elections in the Statesmans Voter Guide. (Find the legislative district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.
Running for the Border: Why teachers are leaving the state

HINTON, WV (WVNS)  Over the past several years, West Virginia has seen a mass shortage of teachers. There are several reasons for this shortage from pay rates to budget cuts.

America is facing issues with technical education  how one local school is trying to help

Summers County Comprehensive High School boasts more than 700 students from grades 6 to 12.

They currently have 45 members of their staff, but the school is still in need of teachers. Leon Franklin is the current in-school suspension teacher with more than twenty years of teaching experience.

He started teaching in Virginia, then moved to Summers County in 2003. Franklin said West Virginians need to make a hard choice about where the education system goes from here.

West Virginia and its citizens, its politicians, and everybody have to decide and make that hard decision  is education valuable or not? If its not, then we need to reassess what were doing, said Franklin. If it is, then we need to start having accountability from teachers, administration, state government, federal government, local government, local boards of education, teachers, and all the way down to students and parents.

Franklin said Virginia uses a system of testing that makes its students pass end of school tests in order to get verified diplomas to graduate.

This system forces students to take accountability for their own learning, but it also forces teachers to take accountability to make sure the lessons they give are comprehensive and understood.

Therese Waldron teaches 8th grade science.

She said after spending time teaching overseas, she has learned that parents need to be held accountable as well and that they should get more involved with their childrens education.

In the Philippines, parents are extremely involved. In Asian countries, thats very common, but here its not as much, said Waldron. I wish that the parents would be a lot more eager to help their children and further their education.

WV teacher reaches quarter-finals for Americas Favorite Teacher

Waldron said if parents were more involved, the students and their teachers would benefit.

She said that parents comments can really affect how teachers work and how they continue in their education.

According to Shannon Barnett, a recent transplant from the Florida education system, it could be the material itself that poses a problem.

The only difference I would say is I feel like Im still teaching what I would have taught in middle school. That its a little behind, education wise, said Barnett.

Those are three reasons for why teachers are leaving the state from three teachers who came here to teach. They say with accountability, parent participation, and raising the level of standards, West Virginias education system can make the turnaround it so desperately needs.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
Republican voters in Middleton, Star and Nampa this month will decide whether to send powerful conservative legislators, including the House speaker, back to the Idaho Capitol.

Legislative District 10 covers Middleton, Star and northeast Nampa, cities in the western Treasure Valley. Two incumbents up for reelection  including House Speaker Mike Moyle, R-Star  face challengers in the May 21 Republican primary.

Moyle, an 11-term incumbent, faces Nampa challenger Rachel Hazelip for the District 10 position A House seat. The contest will be a rematch of the 2022 primary election. Democratic candidate Nancy Parker is running unopposed for the same seat on the Democratic ticket and will face the Republican primary winner in the November general election. Legislative terms are for two years.

Moyle is the longest-serving lawmaker and has worked his way up the Republican ranks. He served eight terms as majority leader before his caucus chose him as House speaker in 2022. His influence in the party has emphasized cutting property taxes for homeowners, and he has advocated for several years to send taxpayer money to private or religious schools as part of school choice initiatives, which have so far failed to pass.

In the Senate, incumbent Tammy Nichols, R-Middleton, faces Lori Bishop, also of Middleton. Nichols is one of the furthest-right Republicans in the Senate. She has previously introduced bills to make it a crime to administer mRNA vaccines and has attended protests led by anti-government activist Ammon Bundy.

Letishia Silva, of Nampa, is running unopposed for Nichols seat on the Democratic ticket.

Rep. Bruce Skaug, R-Nampa, who was first elected in 2020, is running unopposed on the Republican ticket for the position B House seat. Skaug was one of the more active lawmakers during this years session, having introduced bills to impose mandatory fines for first-time marijuana possession arrests, allow the death penalty for the crime of lewd conduct with a child, and give the attorney general authority to investigate city officials.

Shana Tremaine, of Nampa, is running unopposed for Skaugs seat in the Democratic primary.

Voters can only vote in one partys primary per election cycle, and individual parties can choose to close off their primary elections to unaffiliated voters. The Republican Party has a closed primary, which means only registered Republicans can cast a vote. The Democratic primary is open to registered Democrats, independents or Republicans.

The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each candidate in a contested race. Their responses are below. Hazelip did not respond to the Statesmans requests. She did not respond to the same requests in 2022, either, according to previous Statesman reporting.

Voters can still register to vote at the polls and vote early weekdays through May 17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Caldwell Elks Lodge or the Hispanic Cultural Center. Ada County residents can vote early at the Ada County Elections office, Boise City Hall, Meridian City Hall and the Eagle Public Library.

Learn more about this race and other local elections in the Statesmans Voter Guide. (Find the legislative district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.
Boise schools are weighing giving kids the day off of school on election day. Many schools are also used as polling locations.

One of the most hotly contested Senate races this year is in District 13 in Nampa, where the Republican primary tees up Sen. Brian Lenney against Jeff Agenbroad, a former three-term senator whom Lenney defeated in the 2022 primary.

In Legislative District 13, which covers parts of downtown and southeast Nampa, Lenney and one other incumbent will face challengers in the May 21 GOP primary. In the House, Rep. Kenny Wroten, who has been under fire from the partys right flank, faces two challengers. All legislative terms are for two years.

Lenney, a member of the Freedom Caucus, is one of the most far-right members of the Legislature. His victory over the more traditional Agenbroad in 2022 marked one of several gains for the far-right in the Statehouse last election cycle.

Political newcomer Sarah Butler, of Nampa, is running unopposed on the Democratic ticket for the districts Senate seat. She is a member of leadership for the Canyon County Democrats and has lived in Idaho for more than 20 years, according to her bio.

In the House race for the position B House seat, incumbent Republican Rep. Kenny Wroten faces two opponents: Amy Henry and Steve Tanner.

Rep. Brent Crane, a longtime lawmaker, is running unopposed on the Republican ticket for the position A seat. Cliff Hohman is running unopposed for the Democratic nomination.

Voters can only vote in one partys primary per election cycle, and individual parties can choose to close off their primary elections to unaffiliated voters. The Republican Party has a closed primary, which means only registered Republicans can cast a vote. The Democratic primary is open to registered Democrats, independents or Republicans.

The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each candidate in a contested race. Their responses are below. Tanner did not respond to the Statesmans requests.

Voters can still register to vote at the polls and vote early through May 17. Canyon County Election Day is May 21, and Canyon County residents can also vote early, weekdays from May 6-17 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Caldwell Elks Lodge or the Hispanic Cultural Center.

Learn more about this race and other local elections in the Statesmans Voter Guide. (Find the legislative district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.
Voters in Canyon County this GOP primary will soon decide whether to support Republican legislators reelection campaigns to return to the Capitol.

Legislative District 11 incumbents up for reelection in the May 21 primary include Rep. Julie Yamamoto, R-Caldwell, who has championed investments in education along with Sen. Chris Trakel, R-Caldwell, who will both face opponents in the District 11 GOP primary. The second House seat in District 11 is wide open, with two people running. District 11 includes Caldwell and some unincorporated areas of Canyon County.

Yamamoto, who has served two terms, is running for another term against Kent Marmon, a former Caldwell City Council member. A retired teacher and administrator, Yamamoto has pushed legislation to better fund schools and has spoken out against bills that would remove books from libraries and divert money from public schools to private and religious schools. Marmon, who also ran for the seat two years ago, describes himself as the conservative choice. The winner in the GOP primary will run against Democrat Anthony Porto in the November general election.

For the second House seat, Sarah Chaney, a Caldwell business manager, will face Lucas Cayler, a Caldwell service technician. The Republican nominee will run against Democratic candidate Marisela Pesina in November.

In the Senate, Trakel is competing against challenger Camille Blaylock, of Caldwell. Trakel is a first-term senator who made headlines last year when he disrupted a school board meeting over a policy that would have allowed students to use the bathrooms that corresponded with their gender identity.

As a senator, Trakel has pushed other bills that target the LGBTQ+ community, including one that bars government entities from compelling employees to use pronouns that dont correspond with someones biological sex. The winner in the Senate will face off against Democrat Toni Ferro.

The GOP has a closed primary system, so only those who are registered Republicans can vote.

The Idaho Statesman sent questionnaires to each of the candidates in contested races on a variety of issues, including their priorities, what they wish the Legislature had done this session and what issues they think arent being discussed enough.

Their responses are copied below, unedited.

Learn more about this race and other local elections in the Statesmans Voter Guide. (Find the legislative district you live in here, and find your polling place here.)

Read all of the candidates responses below. Use the horizontal scroll bar underneath each candidate to read the full Q&A. You also can click on the chart and drag horizontally.
The Kansas Legislature stripped a school district of funding after it contracted with neighboring school districts to teach all of its students.

Healy Unified School District 468 sought to use an average two-year lookback to get roughly $450,000, which covers about 30 students in the states per-pupil funding formula, despite not teaching any students. The bill was conceived and drawn up on the last day of the legislative session after the district communicated its intent to seek all available funding.

What this district is proposing is that this next school year the elementary school year will be contracted out for a different district. That means well have a school district that did not dissolve that has no students attending the schools, said Molly Baumgardner, R-Louisburg.

Healy is the smallest school district in Kansas

Healy is the smallest school district in Kansas with just 21 students in the 2023-2024 school year. The year prior, it had 38. Under the current Kansas school funding formula, it was able to use the average of the past two years when requesting funding from the state.

The district has been sending their high school and middle school students to neighboring districts over the past several years but maintained elementary education. Over the past school year, the district grappled with its future as enrollment declined.

At our November School Board Meeting, the Healy USD 468 Board of Education voted to keep the Healy School District open throughout the remainder of the 2023-2024 school year and over the next few months develop a plan for the future of our school district, Healys part-time superintendent Jeff Jones wrote to Healy parents in November.

Jones didnt respond to a request for comment.

If Healy Unified School District 468 dissolved, its borders would be erased and students would be incorporated into neighboring districts. Students are already set to attend neighboring schools for the upcoming year.

The district said it was financially sound, but the shrinking number of students would force the district to make some hard decisions regarding what the best plan is moving forward.

Among those decisions would be whether or not to dissolve the district, which would then prompt the Kansas State Board of Education to carve up the districts borders to align with neighboring school districts. It also would cease funding, which would stop Healy from doing what it wants with the funds  renovate the elementary school into a community center.

The money was not going to be used to educate a single student that was in that attendance center. The money would be used to keep the school building open for a community center, Baumgardner said. We are not debating whether or not that facility should be used as a community center, thats for the community to decide. What this bill says is that when a student enrolls in a different district, the funding will be received by that different district.

For Healy, that would mean funds for their contracted students would go to Western Plains High School, which taught Healys high school students during the past school year. Jones also serves as a part-time superintendent of Western Plains.

Eight Kansas school districts have fewer than 100 students

The bill to strip Healy of funding passed overwhelmingly but receive some pushback from legislators who viewed it as a punishment on small rural school districts.

Sen. Alicia Straub, R-Ellinwood, told members of her caucus that if Healy didnt get funding, the school would slip into disrepair and that illegal immigrants would move into the school.

Straub was joined in her opposition by Sen. Dennis Pyle, R-Hiawatha, and Rick Billinger, R-Goodland, and House members Jim Minnix, R-Scott City, and John Carmichael, D-Wichita.

There are eight other districts in Kansas with fewer than 100 students and 20 districts with fewer than 200. But legislators said this is the first time a district sought funding while contracting their entire student base to neighboring districts.

This article originally appeared on Topeka Capital-Journal: Kansas school district sought funding  despite not having students
Sir Salman Rushdie said it was 'childish' of Georgia Meloni to sue the Left-wing author Roberto Saviano

Sir Salman Rushdie has told the Italian prime minister to grow up after she sued a prominent Italian writer for calling her a bastard over her hardline views on migration.

Roberto Saviano, the author and investigative journalist, was found guilty of defamation in October after insulting Georgia Meloni during a TV discussion about a six-month-old baby from Guinea who died while crossing the Mediterranean with his mother.

All the bullshit [Ms Meloni says about], sea taxis, cruises [for migrants], he said. All I can say is: bastards, how could you? Meloni, Salvini: bastards.

Mr Saviano, the former interior minister, was fined a symbolic 1,000 (860) in what was seen as a test of freedom of expression in a country where defamation can be punished with up to three years imprisonment.

Speaking at the Turin Book Fair on Thursday, British-American novelist Sir Salman said he disapproved of the case.

Roberto Saviano, who lives with the threat of mafia reprisals, was previously Italy's interior minister - Julian Andrews/Eye R8

At my personal risk, I have to say that politicians should grow a thicker skin because a politician today, as well as having great power, also has great authority, he said, according to Ansa, Italys national news agency.

So it is normal that some of the people should speak about them directly, even badly, also using a bad word like the one Roberto used. I would give this lady a piece of advice  to be less childish and to grow up.

Sir Salman has lived with a bounty on his head since The Satanic Verses, published in 1988, prompted Iran to issue a fatwa urging Muslims to kill him.

In 2022, he lost an eye when he was attacked at a literary festival by American Hadi Matar.

Mr Saviano made his name with Gomorrah, a book about the Camorra mafia of Naples which has been turned into a film and TV series. He has since become an outspoken figure on the Italian Left.

Ms Meloni sued Mr Saviano while she was in opposition, prior to becoming Italys first female prime minister in Oct 2022.

Mr Saviano, who has lived under 24-hour police protection since publishing Gomorra in 2006, has a history of clashing with Right-wing politicians.

He accused the coalition led by Ms Meloni of trying to intimidate him.

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.
Emergency workers at the scene of a destroyed building hit during a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv

Russia has attacked a town near Kharkiv in one of its only cross-border attacks since its 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The surprise dawn attack on the border town of Vovchansk near Kharkiv comes as Moscow intensifies its offensive ahead of a US weapons deal to resupply Ukraine.

Videos on social media showed Russian forces firing a barrage of Soviet-designed Grad missiles towards Vovchansk, which lies only 45 miles from Kharkiv.

Russian Telegram channels also said there was an attempted breakthrough by ground forces but Ukrainian military commanders said they had repelled the assault.

Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv Regional Administration, said: There were unsuccessful attempts by Russian sabotage and reconnaissance groups to break through the border.

Not a single metre has been lost.

In a separate attack on Kharkiv, authorities reported that at least two people were injured in an intense Russian missile attack that destroyed 26 houses.

Residents have drawn up plans to flee Kharkiv if the situation deteriorates, while one Ukrainian MP said that schools there have now closed.

Top Russian officials have started talking about Kharkiv as a target again for the first time since Russias military retreated from the outskirts of the city in September 2022.

Russian forces have been dominant across the front lines for the past eight months as they leverage their bigger arsenal and troop numbers.

The British Ministry of Defence said that Russia increased its attacks along the front line by 17 per cent in April, and the US-based Institute for the Study of War said that the Kremlin was determined to push its dominance of the battlefield.

This reflects current battlefield conditions and the intent of the Russian military command to secure gains before the arrival of Western military aid to the front lines, it said.

The Kremlin has moved quickly to bolster its army, having secured weapons deals with North Korea and Iran last year, converted civilian factories into arms factories and sent thousands of convicts to war.

US lawmakers, meanwhile, had delayed for months a major weapons deal with Ukraine, only passing the 48 billion package at the end of April. Ukraine has also struggled to recruit new members to its military.

Analysts said that although Russia now enjoys a clear material advantage, Russian progress on the battlefield has been slow, and that the threat to Kharkiv may have been overstated.

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.
VIENTIANE, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Laos' Hin Nam No National Protected Area is another step closer to being named a world heritage site after the completion of formal application documents to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

The application requested that the Hin Nam No National Park be granted world heritage status as a transboundary extension to the adjacent Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park, the world heritage site in Vietnam, Lao national TV reported on Friday.

UNESCO's World Heritage Center will send expert teams to Laos this year to inspect the world heritage elements of Hin Nam No National Park as stipulated in the application document.

If successful, this joint recognition will celebrate the exceptional biodiversity and natural significance of both parks, making it the first transboundary natural world heritage site in Southeast Asia and one of the region's largest contiguous tropical karst areas under protection, according to the report.

Hin Nam No National Park has been recognized as one of the world's most important sites for biodiversity conservation based on the characteristics of wildlife and forest habitats, outstanding geological features and the diversity of fauna and flora including endangered species, endemic species and species endemic to limestone forests, Lao Deputy Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Vansy Kuamua said at a press conference on Wednesday.

The upgrade of the park to a UNESCO World Heritage Site would be a valuable contribution to the conservation of this unique ecosystem, he added.

Laos currently has three world heritage sites, including the Plain of Jars in northern Laos' Xieng Khuang province, the Vat Phou temple complex in southern Laos' Champasak province, and the town of Luang Prabang in northern Laos' Luang Prabang province. 
Russia mounts surprise assault on northern Ukraine in most serious cross-border offensive in two years

Russian forces have made two cross-border assaults inside northern Ukraine, according to information from Ukrainian sources and officials, in what President Volodymyr Zelensky is calling a new wave of counteroffensive actions by Russia.

In the first development, Russian soldiers penetrated at least one kilometer towards the town of Vovchansk, a Ukrainian military source told CNN. The aim, the source said, was to get 10 km deep and create a buffer zone at the border to secure Russian territory from feeling the war.

In an official statement, Ukraines Defense Ministry said Russian soldiers supported by armored vehicles had moved across the border at about 5 a.m. Friday, following a day of stepped-up attacks on the border area with guided aerial bombs and artillery.

The statement added that Ukrainian reserve units had been deployed to strengthen defenses in the area. On Saturday, local authorities said more than 20 air glide KAB bombs had been launched at the town and its surrounding settlements. The regions governor Oleh Syniehubov said two civilians were killed when the bombs hit private houses.

A second Ukrainian source with direct knowledge of frontline developments told CNN that Russian forces had also penetrated 5 kilometers inside Ukraine towards the village of Krasne, which lies about 75 km along the border, west of Vovchansk.

The source said the Russian ground assault towards Krasne was carried out by four Russian battalions - about 2,000 men.

Ukrainian officials have not given much information about the second Russian push, though Ukraines General Staff, in its Friday evening update, did note Russian attacks in the area of Krasne and two neighboring villages.

It is also noteworthy that DeepStateMap, a Ukrainian monitoring group which updates frontline developments daily, showed four villages next to each other - including Krasne - in the grey area, representing territory currently contested rather than under full Ukrainian control.

DeepStateMap also noted on its Telegram channel that the number of Russian forces deployed in the two cross-border pushes was not enough for a deeper advance into Ukrainian territory, but it also drew attention to the fact Moscow has many more troops positioned along the border - estimated to be around 40,000.

Asked about developments, Zelensky did not downplay their seriousness but said Ukraines military had been expecting such a move.

Russia launched a new wave of counteroffensive actions in [northern Kharkiv region]. Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery, he told reporters early Friday afternoon.

But our military and military command were aware of this and anticipated their forces to meet the enemy with fire. Now there is a fierce battle in this area [] I think as of now we have stopped the enemy with artillery fire, Zelensky said.

In an address Saturday evening local time, Zelensky said Ukraine was strengthening our positions and adding forces to the Kharkiv region.

Residents of border villages have been told to evacuate by authorities. National police posted photos and a video on social media showing officers helping people pack their belongings into police vehicles ahead of being driven to safer locations.

A total of 1,775 people have so far been evacuated from Kharkiv region, a day after Russias surprise assault, the head of the regions military administration said Saturday.

The developments mark the most serious cross-border ground assault by Russia since Ukraine re-captured the northern Kharkiv region in the late summer of 2022, after it was first taken by Russia in the opening weeks of its full-scale invasion.

It also comes after several months of increased Russian air attacks on the city of Kharkiv, which have knocked out all the citys power-generating capacity, as well as its sub-stations.

Governor Syniehubov insisted the latest Russian ground assaults did not put the city, which lies just 30 km south from the Russian border, under heightened risk.

The enemy group does not pose a threat to Kharkiv city, its forces are only enough for provocations in the northern direction.

However, analysts note that if Russian forces were able to push much further south, that could bring the northern edge of the city within range of Russian artillery, which can fire about 20 km.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
A police officer examines fragments of a guided bomb after a Russian air raid in Kharkiv, Ukraine, in April. (Andrii Marienko / Associated Press)

The assault began at dawn. Defenders rushed in reinforcements. Pitched fighting raged.

Ukraine and its allies sought Friday to discern whether Russian forces were opening a major new war front, more than two years after Moscows full-scale invasion of its sovereign neighbor.

There is a fierce battle, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in the capital, Kyiv, hours after Russian troops launched an armored ground offensive in northeastern Ukraine, near the countrys second-largest city, Kharkiv.

Ukraines defense ministry said its forces had blunted an initial Russian attempt to break through Ukrainian lines outside the border town of Vovchansk, but that fighting of varying intensity continued in the area.

Military analysts said the attack came as no real surprise, but it was not yet clear whether this was a feint to divert overstretched Ukrainian forces or marked the start of a serious all-out assault.

Its potentially very dangerous, said Marc Thys, a former Belgian deputy defense chief who is now a senior analyst at the Brussels-based Egmont Institute. Its also very difficult to analyze at this moment.

Read more: In Ukraine, relief over U.S. aid vote  and fear over what an angry Russia will do next

Ukraine for months has been struggling on the battlefield, with the most aggressive Russian moves concentrated on a different sector of the long front lines. The eastern town of Chasiv Yar  more than 160 miles to the southeast of Fridays fighting and a key bulwark against a Russian push deeper into the Donbas industrial region  has been menaced for weeks.

But Ukraines northeast is vulnerable as well. Ukraine said earlier this year Russia was massing troops on its side of the frontier, where they could be used to strike at Ukraines Kharkiv and Sumy provinces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow wants to create a buffer zone inside Ukraine, which the Kremlin depicts as a necessary defensive measure  a position Ukraine calls ludicrous since Russia started the war and could end it by pulling back its forces.

Ukrainian officials have been anticipating an attack on Kharkiv/Sumy for some time, analyst Dara Massicot of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace wrote on the social media platform X. However, she said, an offensive could divert reserves that Russia wants to use for what she described as its main objectives in the east of Ukraine.

As always in such an outbreak, civilians suffered. Before Fridays ground assault began about 5 a.m., Russian forces had hit Vovchansk with intense artillery shelling and aerial guided bombs overnight, said Oleh Sinegubov, the regional governor.

At least two civilians were reported killed and several others wounded, setting off an evacuation order affecting about 3,000 people. Fighting has already depleted the town of much of its prewar population of about 17,000.

Read more: Pummeled by airstrikes, Ukrainians in Kharkiv live in defiance of Russia

The attack posed little immediate danger to the city of Kharkiv, home to some 1.3 million people and 25 miles from the Russian frontier. Russia tried early in the war to seize Kharkiv, symbolically important to it as the first capital of Ukraine back in its days as a Soviet republic, but analysts say capturing and holding it would require far more forces than Moscow has at its disposal.

Since the start of the year, the city has been subjected to punishing bombardment, and analysts have said Russia could seek to blockade it even if it did not make a move against Kharkiv itself.

Ukraines Defense Ministry said reserve units had been deployed to counter the Russian ground attack, a move that could also complicate efforts to bolster Ukrainian defense elsewhere along the battlefront.

Delays in the provision of U.S. and European aid have raised fears of a concerted Russian offensive this spring, although weather conditions for that are likely to be more favorable a few weeks from now.

More American weaponry is on the way after last months long-blocked congressional approval of $61 billion in military assistance. And on Friday, the Biden administration announced a new $400-million aid package that allows for weapons including armored vehicles and rockets to be drawn from existing Pentagon stockpiles and quickly deployed to the battlefield.

Read more: Ukrainians contemplate the once unthinkable: Losing the war with Russia

Even so, some analysts said the delay had allowed Russian forces to gain crucial momentum  and that Russian forays like this one might be meant to hit Ukrainian positions hard before more Western help arrives.

Territorial losses in the Kharkiv region would be a particularly bitter pill for Ukraine to swallow, after a stunningly successful Ukrainian military push there in the fall of 2022. That counteroffensive was an enormous morale boost for Ukraine and helped convince Western allies that the Kyiv governments fight might be a winnable one.

Even as its outgunned and outnumbered troops have struggled on the front lines, Ukraine has seemingly rattled the Kremlin with a campaign of increasingly long-range drone strikes inside Russian territory. Most have taken aim at energy installations, including one Friday on a refinery near Kaluga, southwest of Moscow.

Read more: In Ukraine's old imperial city, pastel palaces are in jeopardy, but black humor survives

A day earlier, Ukraine made what appeared to have been its deepest strike inside Russia, one that reportedly hit a petrochemical facility some 800 miles from the border with Ukraine. Ukrainian military intelligence declined to comment on the attack.

Some Ukrainian officials played down the significance of the Russian attempt to advance on Vovchansk, which it had occupied earlier in the war.

Sinegubov, the Kharkiv regional governor, told Ukrainian television that the attacks were primarily probing in nature, to test the positions of our military. Ukrainian analyst Taras Berezovets, writing on the messaging app Telegram, called the Russian forces sufficient only for provocations in the northeast.

But some Western analysts, including Thys, said the Russian move posed genuine peril  if it can be sustained.

It all depends on reserve forces, what Russia can expend, he said.





Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
By Vitalii Hnidyi

NEAR VOVCHANSK, Ukraine (Reuters) - Residents of a Ukrainian border town, frustrated and angry at an armoured ground attack by Russian troops trying to secure a new foothold, were evacuated from their homes on Friday with an uncertain future ahead.

Officials brought together dozens of inhabitants of Vovchansk and surrounding villages during breaks in the fighting and took them to an undisclosed location where they awaited buses to take them to safe locations.

"We are leaving because we are dying from the 'Russian world,'" said Valerii Dubskyi, 60, referring to a Russian concept of extending Moscow's influence beyond its borders.

"It can go to hell, together with (Russian President Vladimir) Putin and their authorities. They are our enemies. They tested all types of weapons on us, except for the nuclear bomb."

Dubskyi said he had not eaten for 24 hours. Even fetching well water was impossible under an unending torrent of shelling.

"During the bombardments, you either rush to the basement or out of the basement," he said. "There and back."

Groups of evacuees sat on benches clutching handfuls of possessions, tightly packed bags alongside them on the ground.

Volunteers compiled lists of evacuees. Meals in plastic cartons were handed out.

Halyna Ukrainyk, clutching a cat while waiting for her bus, said the shelling started the previous day at about 3 a.m. She and others were confined to a cellar.

"A street is totally destroyed. Shelling," she said. "It's horrible what is going on there. It's impossible to stay there."

Antonina Kornuta, from the nearby village of Buhaivka, said most peoples' thoughts were with the younger evacuees.

"It is very scary," she said. "I have grandchildren, children. Its about their lives. I dont want to leave."

Evacuees, accompanied by at least one dog, filed quietly into the waiting vehicles.

Oleksii Kharkivsky, Vovchansk's chief patrol police officer, said Russian forces appeared intent on destroying the town.

"Within 24 hours, there were probably several hundred hits by artillery, mines and dozens of cluster bombs," he said.

"They are destroying the town, they are trying to get inside the area. But there are no enemy troops in the town."

For Dubskyi, however orderly the departure was, there was still something unreal about it.

"I want to pinch myself because I think it's not real, just a nightmare. But it's real alright," he said. "I thought old age would be a quiet time. But just look at it. And there are many more millions like me, thanks to Putin."

(This story has been refiled to fix the byline)

(Writing by Margaryta Chornokondratenko and Ron Popeski; Editing by Leslie Adler)
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

A Russian attack on the city of Kharkiv damaged homes in a residential area and caused a fire to break out, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on Telegram.

The attack occurred around 3:30 a.m. local time. Emergency crews are currently on scene.

As a result of the attack, one person was injured.

There were five explosions heard in Kharkiv Oblast throughout the night.

Russia recently intensified attacks against Kharkiv, which had a population of 1.4 million in 2021, with the use of missiles, glide bombs, and drones, destroying energy infrastructure and killing civilians.

Read also: Ukraine war latest: Kyiv strikes Russian oil facilities, Germany to buy 3 HIMARS for Ukraine





Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Russian troops attacked Chasiv Yar and the village of Yelyzavetivka in Donetsk Oblast on May 10, killing two people and injuring two others, the Prosecutor General's Office reported.

Settlements in Donetsk Oblast suffer from daily Russian strikes due to their proximity to the front line. Heavy fighting continues in Donetsk Oblast as Russia seeks to occupy the entire region.

Russian attack on the town of Chasiv Yar reportedly damaged several houses. A woman and a man were wounded, the prosecutors said.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

The embattled town is "almost destroyed," but 679 people are still living there, Governor Vadym Filashkin said earlier this week.



Two civilians were killed after Russia attacked Yelyzavetivka in the Pokrovsk district, according to the prosecutors.

Since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian attacks against Donetsk Oblast have destroyed and damaged at least 116,000 residential buildings, including over 7,000 high-rise apartment blocks, Filashkin told the Kyiv Independent in an interview published on April 19.

Read also: Battle of Chasiv Yar begins: On the ground with Ukrainian forces defending city key to Russias plans

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Three private houses have been on fire, with a total of 12 buildings damaged, and a woman and child have been injured due to Russian attacks on the city of Kharkiv.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram; Ukraines State Emergency Service (SES) on Telegram

Details: The Russians struck Kharkiv at 03:20.

A house on fire.

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Quote: "Fire broke out in three private houses. Early reports indicate that 12 private residential buildings were damaged. Two individuals were injured, namely an 11-year-old child and a 72-year-old woman, [they have] an acute stress reaction."

A house on fire.

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Details: Syniehubov posted photos of the aftermath of the Russian attacks and emphasised that the Russians had targeted solely civilian infrastructure and residential areas.

A house on fire.

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Houses on fire.

Photo: Oleh Syniehubov

Ukraines State Emergency Service added that rescue workers were dealing with the aftermath of the Russian missile strikes.

"There was a strike on residential buildings, which resulted in fires at three private houses and three outbuildings over a total square of 1,000 square metres. Moreover, buildings nearby were also damaged," the SES reported.

Background:

The Russians bombarded a residential area in the city of Kharkiv on the night of 9-10 May. It was initially reported that a house was on fire and one person had been injured.

Support UP or become our patron!
Russian attacks across Ukraine killed two people and injured 13 over the past day, regional authorities said on May 10.

Civilian casualties were reported in Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Donetsk oblasts.

A Russian attack on Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast killed a 62-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman and injured eight others, Governor Serhii Lysak reported.

The district saw more than two dozen attacks over the course of the day, according to Lysak. Russian forces used artillery, multiple rocket launchers, and kamikaze drones to target the area.

In Zaporizhzhia, a woman was injured after Russian forces used a multiple rocket launcher to carry out an attack, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration reported.

A Russian overnight attack on Kharkiv set three buildings on fire, two of which completely burned down, Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov reported on May 10.

Russia used an S-300 missile to carry out the attack, which left an 11-year-old child and a 72-year-old woman suffering from shock. In total, the attack damaged 26 buildings and broke more than 300 windows, Terekhov said.

Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that earlier in the day, a Russian attack injured a 62-year-old woman and damaged a house in the village of Lyptsi, situated between Kharkiv and the Russian border.

That morning, a 51-year-old man was killed and a 49-year-old woman was injured in Kupiansk as a result of an attack near a gas station, Syniehubov said.

Donetsk Oblast Governor Vadym Filashkin said that one civilian had been injured by Russian attacks in the region over the past day.

The casualty was reported in Hostre, a village in Pokrovsk district situated less than ten kilometers from the front line.

Subscribe to Ukraine Daily newsletter

News from Ukraine in your inbox

Subscribe

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
SHANGHAI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Guoqing on Friday encouraged more international brands to establish a presence in China and take advantage of the country's development opportunities.

Zhang, also a member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, said at the launch ceremony for this year's China Brand Day events that China will work tirelessly to implement opening-up at a high level, continuously expand market access for enterprises, and provide equal footing for both domestic and foreign-invested companies.

China also supports domestic firms in actively participating in cooperation and competition in the global market, and in improving the quality of their products, he said.

He noted that the Chinese government will also intensify law enforcement to ensure fair competition and strengthen the protection of intellectual property rights to create an improved business environment. 
Russian attacks on the town of Chasiv Yar and the village of Yelyzavetivka in Pokrovsk district (Donetsk Oblast) have claimed the lives of two people and left two more injured.

Source: Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office

Quote: "The investigation has found that the [Russian] occupation forces attacked the town of Chasiv Yar on 10 May 2024. A mother, 65, and her son, 34, have been injured by strikes targeting one of the streets. In addition, residential buildings have been damaged.

Furthermore, the village of Yelyzavetivka in Pokrovsk district has been targeted by Russian forces, killing two civilians  a man, 49, and a woman, 64. Early reports indicate that the Russians fired tubed artillery on the settlement."

Details: A pre-trial investigation into the violations of the laws and customs of war (Article 438.1,2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine) is being conducted as part of criminal proceedings under the procedural supervision of the Donetsk Oblast Prosecutor's Office.

Support UP or become our patron!
Aftermath of Russian strikes on Nikopol. Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram

Russian troops have launched drone strikes on the town of Nikopol (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast), damaging the premises of two companies and a shop and setting a car on fire.

Source: Serhii Lysak, Head of Dnipropetrovsk Oblast Military Administration, on Telegram

Quote from Lysak: "Russian forces were bombarding Nikopol with attack drones of various types in the evening and at night [9-10 May]. The enemy attacked the city with five UAVs.

A car caught fire, which was extinguished by firefighters. The premises of two companies and a shop have been damaged."

Aftermath of Russian strikes on Nikopol.

Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram

Details: The official released photos showing the aftermath of the attack and stressed that there were no fatalities or injuries.

Aftermath of Russian strikes on Nikopol.

Photo: Serhii Lysak on Telegram

Background: The Russians attacked Ukraine once again on the night of 9-10 May, launching 10 Shahed drones. Ukrainian air defence units have successfully downed all aerial targets.

Support UP or become our patron!
Border hromadas of Kharkiv Oblast are under intense large-scale Russian bombardment, resulting in injuries and fatalities among civilians. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories - ed.]

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration

Details: The official has released a report on the hromadas.

Quote: "The village of Buhaivka in Vovchansk hromada at 09:45. A private house has been damaged by a strike. No casualties.

The enemy targeted [the town of] Vovchansk, leaving two civilians injured.

A man, 55, has been killed in an attack on the village of Cherkaski Tyshky (Kharkiv Oblast) at 12:50.

Vovchansk, 13:22. The invaders struck a private house, leaving a woman, 60, injured. At the same time, a civilian man has been killed and two more injured in an enemy strike on a private house; one of them is under the rubble of the house.

Background:

On 10 May, it was reported that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with fighting taking place there.

During a briefing with Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian troops had launched a new wave of offensive on the Kharkiv front.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry reported that reserve units had been sent to the north of Kharkiv Oblast.

Support UP or become our patron!
Russian forces have launched a major offensive along the front near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry reported from Kiev on Friday.

Russian ground troops supported by armour had begun advancing at 5 am local time (0200 GMT) in an attempt to break through the defensive lines, the ministry said.

The target of the attack is reported to be Vovchansk, a town lying on the Russian border some 40 kilometres north-east of Kharkiv.

The attack had been warded off thus far, but the fighting was continuing, the Defence Ministry reported.

There has for weeks been speculation in Ukraine on a Russian summer offensive, with reports that tens of thousands of troops have assembled in the region.

The fact that the news was published by the Defence Ministry rather than the general staff, as is usual, is being taken as a sign of the seriousness of the situation.

"Reserves have been brought up to boost the defence along this section of the front," the ministry said.

On Thursday, Russian planes attacked the front near Vovchansk with glide bombs, and overnight Russian artillery bombarded Ukrainian positions.

Russian military blogger Rybar said the initial aim of the offensive was to expand the combat zone and to identify Ukrainian defensive positions.

Firefighters extinguish a house after a Russian missile attack on Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. -/Ukrinform/dpa
Russian forces have noticeably stepped up the pace of ground attacks in Ukraine's east over the past month.

Source: Institute for the Study of War (ISW)

Details: Russian military forces are likely aiming to secure gains before Western military assistance arrives at the line of contact.

Lieutenant Colonel Nazar Voloshyn, spokesperson for the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group of Ukrainian forces, stated on 9 May that the number of hostilities had significantly increased from 84 on 8 May to 146 on 9 May. He noted that most of the fighting is taking place in the area of responsibility of the Khortytsia Operational and Strategic Group, stretching from Kharkiv Oblast to the border areas of Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia oblasts.

The UK Defence Ministry reported that the number of Russian attacks increased by 17% from March to April 2024. In addition, over 75% of the registered ground attacks occurred on the Chasiv Yar, Avdiivka and Marinka fronts.

In particular, the number of Russian attacks near the city of Chasiv Yar increased by 200% from March to April.

Voloshyn suggested that the Russians have intensified attacks as the soil has dried out after the spring mud season, facilitating faster mechanised manoeuvring. He also mentioned that Russian forces are attempting to exploit Ukraine's relative weakness while it waits for Western assistance to arrive.

ISW continues to assess that Russian forces will maintain a high pace of attacks across Ukraines east to make gains before Western assistance arrives.

To quote the ISWs Key Takeaways on 9 May:

Russian President Vladimir Putin used his 9 May Victory Day speech to relitigate his belief that the West is attempting to erase the Soviet Union's contributions to defeating Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War (Second World War), a grievance that is at the core of Russia's adversarial perceptions of the West.

Putin seized on a recent meeting with the commanders of several frontline Russian formations to portray himself as an informed and effective Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, aware of the intricacies of the frontline situation and involved in finding solutions to issues that plague Russian forces.

Putin surrounded himself with a number of foreign officials at the Victory Day parade, likely in order to posture himself as an effective statesman capable of galvanising an alternative coalition to the power structures of the collective West.

Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) Spokesperson Maria Zakharova claimed that the Moldovan government is engaged in a Nazi-like "genocide" in Moldova  a notable inflection in Kremlin officials' rhetoric about Moldova that is likely meant set conditions for a Russian effort to secure control over Moldova and not just some of its regions.

The leaders of the pro-Kremlin Moldovan Victory opposition electoral bloc attended the Victory Day parade in Moscow, further indicating that the Kremlin intends to use these actors to destabilise all of Moldova and attack Moldova's democracy and EU accession process.

Russian forces have markedly increased the rate of ground attacks in eastern Ukraine over the past month, likely reflecting current battlefield conditions and the intent of the Russian military command to secure gains before the arrival of Western military aid to the frontlines.

Russian border guards are withdrawing from much of Armenia as Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan continues to face domestic backlash for decisions regarding Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Kremlin may seek to capitalise on opposition outrage in Armenia to punish Pashinyan for increasingly pulling away from Russia.

Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) conducted long-range drone strikes against Russian oil depots and refinery infrastructure in Krasnodar Krai and the Republic of Bashkortostan on 9 May.

Russian forces recently made confirmed advances near Avdiivka and Donetsk City.

Russian forces continue to struggle with discipline in their ranks, with some Russian soldiers reportedly killing other members of their units.

Support UP or become our patron!
Editor's Note: This is a developing story and is being updated.

A Ukrainian strike on the Rovenki oil depot in occupied Luhansk Oblast killed three people and injured seven others, including a child, the Russian state-controlled media outlet RBC claimed on May 10.

The facility is engulfed in flames, according to reports. Russian sources first reported one victim, then updated the death toll to three. The attack also allegedly wounded seven people, including a child, with mine-blast injuries.

Leonid Pasechnyk, the Russian-installed leader in region, said that the fire damaged neighboring houses, and that the victims of the attack were employees of the oil depot and nearby residents.

The Kyiv Independent could not independently confirm these reports at time of publication.

While Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the strike, Kyiv has carried out a series of successful attacks on oil depots and refineries across Russia and in the occupied territories in an attempt to slow down the Kremlin's war machine.

Earlier this week, Luhansk Oblast Governor Artem Lysohor said on May 8 that an oil depot in the Russian-occupied city of Luhansk was heavily damaged in a fire that Russian proxies claim was the result of a Ukrainian strike.

Read also: Reuters: Russia faces difficulties repairing oil refineries due to US sanctions

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
NEW DELHI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randir Jaiswal on Friday confirmed that all Indian troops previously stationed across three platforms in the Maldives have been redeployed back to India and replaced by technical civilian personnel.

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu pledged to withdraw all foreign troops after assuming office in November 2023. India agreed to withdraw its military personnel from the Maldives by May 10 after a series of constructive meetings and dialogues between the two countries.

The Maldives government previously announced that there were 89 Indian soldiers and support staff in the country, primarily engaged in maintenance work, positioned across three regions in the Maldives. 
Russians capture 4 villages in Kharkiv Oblast, try to advance on Vovchansk, source says

Russian forces have captured four border villages in Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: sources of Ukrainska Pravda in military circles

Details: According to Ukrainska Pravda, those are the settlements of Strileche, Krasne, Pylna, and Borysivka. The Russians are attempting to march towards Vovchansk.

Ukrainska Pravda sources, however, do not rule out the possibility that this is a Russian distraction.

Updated: Ukrainska Pravda found that small arms skirmishes are underway near the settlements of Strileche, Borysivka, Pylna and Krasne. The Russians are also trying to further advance in the areas of the settlements of Strileche-Krasne and Pletenivka-Hatyshche.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian soldiers are counteracting Russia's intentions to advance as much as possible, firing artillery on Russian forces. Based on communications interceptions, the Russians lament their losses. Russian forces regroup and gather forces, creating separate assault groups.

Background:

On 10 May, it was reported that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with fighting taking place there.

During a briefing with Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova, Ukrainian President Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian troops had launched a new wave of offensive on the Kharkiv front.

Ukraine's Defence Ministry reported that reserve units had been sent to the north of Kharkiv Oblast.

Border hromadas of Kharkiv Oblast are under intense large-scale Russian bombardment, resulting in injuries and fatalities among civilians. The population of Vovchansk and its surrounding settlements in Kharkiv Oblast are being evacuated.

Support UP or become our patron!
Russian occupation troops have intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, and battles are ongoing there.

Source: Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration; Deep State project; Ukrainska Pravda sources in the military

Quote from Syniehubov: "The occupiers have intensified attacks on the northern front. First of all, the enemy strikes at the town of Vovchansk.

The attacks with aerial guided bombs, MLRS and artillery continued throughout the night. There were unsuccessful attempts by the sabotage groups to break through the border.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces are confidently holding their positions: not a single metre has been lost. The enemy group does not pose a threat to Kharkiv, as its forces are only enough for provocations on the northern front."

Details: The Deep State project stressed that the intensification began with dense attacks on border settlements in Kharkiv Oblast with various assets. Currently, the attacks continue, particularly in the area of Vovchansk. Electronic warfare systems and UAVs are also actively used.

Ukrainska Pravda sources said that there was fighting in the border area of Kharkiv Oblast.

The Russians are trying to enter a number of settlements along the border.

At the same time, however, the Russians current available resources are not enough for a deep advance.

Quote: "At the moment, the situation is that the enemy is destabilising the border areas. But it is not known how many main personnel they are ready to use for this manoeuvre

In the information field, such actions by the enemy were expected. The units of the Defence Forces, which are directly holding positions along the border, expected it even more. Now everything is in their hands, and they are making every effort to repel the next offensive by the Muscovites. The task of the entire society is not to panic but to help our soldiers on the front line. Civilians in the border areas should not be afraid, but listen to the calls from local authorities, in particular, to evacuate."

Updated: Tamaz Gambarashvili, Head of Vovchansk City Military Administration, stated that evacuation of the population is underway from the city of Vovchansk and surrounding settlements in Kharkiv Oblast. The authorities, police and volunteers are working together to help people leave.

Background:

Recently, there has been evidence that Russia is building up a group of troops in the north of Kharkiv Oblast.

Earlier, the Defence Forces warned that the Russian Federation could become more active in Kharkiv Oblast but noted that no sufficient grouping for a full-scale invasion had been recorded there. At the same time, they warned that the Russians could resort to certain provocations.

Support UP or become our patron!
(FOX40.COM)  The city of Sacramento said it is seeking knowledge from its residents about renters protections and the effectiveness of its Tenant Protection Program, which was officially adopted nearly five years ago.

By taking a recently posted survey by the city, officials said they will be able to assess current knowledge, effectiveness, and needs across Sacramento, specifically pertaining to renters protections.

New 5-mile bike trail to open this week in Sacramento

Data from the survey will help [Sacramento] evaluate how the program could better assist residents and guide any potential changes to the Tenant Protection and Relief Act, city officials said.

According to the city of Sacramento, the survey is also available in Spanish and should take around five minutes to complete. It will be comprised of questions regarding resident knowledge of the Tenant Protection Program, types of residence, and use of services.

The deadline to complete the survey is May 31.

Sacramento Program Specialist Vicki Riggins Medina said, Participating in this survey will help our City team assess whether modifications are needed for the Tenant Protection Program to be of better use to those renting.

The Tenant Protection and Relief Act was adopted by the Sacramento City Council in 2019 to protect renters from excessive rent increases and unjustified evictions. The Tenant Protection Program was also established as a result of the legislation.

Savannah Bananas bring Banana Ball back to Sacramento

Sacramento officials said the program applies to most apartments and duplexes built before Feb. 1, 1995. Mobile home rentals and single-occupancy rooms in hotels rented for longer than 30 days are included. Single-family dwellings and rental units in condominiums and stock cooperatives are not included.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Sacramento State will be the home of a new center for Black student success to develop programs across the 23-campus California State University system and in underserved communities throughout the state, officials announced Thursday.

An initial $1.3 million will fund the CSU Statewide Central Office for the Advancement of Black Excellence, part of $10 million to stand up initiatives to promote the success of Black students. It will build off a slate of recommendations laid out last June in the university systems Black Student Success Report.

System-wide early outreach, culturally relevant curriculum and building the infrastructure needed to support student success were among the proposals and could potentially be put into action through the new California State University, Sacramento-based office.

The mission of the statewide hub, said CSU Chancellor Mildred Garcia, is not only to accelerate action and drive change across our 23 universities, but, clearly demonstrate our institutions deep commitment to becoming a national leader in Black student success.

Sacramento State campus is home to the largest Black student enrollment in the statewide system. Nearly 2,000 students who identify as Black or African American are enrolled at Sacramento State, representing 6% of the total student population.

Be informed, engaged and empowered residents of Sacramento

Sign up here to receive our weekly newsletter centered around equity issues in the capital region.

Black enrollment and achievement have taken on greater urgency in the California State University, the nations largest four-year university system. CSU leaders launched Graduation Initiative 2025 to increase Black student enrollment and boost the numbers of students of color in the system but equity gaps persist.

Sacramento State President Luke Wood was a member of a working group that crafted the Black Student Success Report and recommendations while he was a vice president at San Diego State University. The recommendations by Wood and other leaders were seen as a call to action to reverse the enrollment slide.

A CSU statewide office selection committee, which included members from the original working group, chose Sacramento State for its proven success in supporting Black students, staff and faculty, and addressing inequities and achievement gaps within the Black student community.

During Woods short time as university president, he has positioned the university as a leader in advancing Black students success. In February, Wood announced a first-in-the-nation Black Honors College to open this fall, with curriculum and instruction that focuses on the Black and African American experience and features specialized coursework and research opportunities.

The university also recently launched the Sac State Black Success Initiative, with its goals to advance student achievement, develop a task force of faculty, students, staff, alumni and donors, and increase recruitment and retention among other targets.

In a statement announcing the new statewide office, Wood said the new office acknowledges our work and success.

We know our success will be reflected and multiplied by the work that will be done here on behalf of the entire CSU, Luke said.
Sailor rescued by Coast Guard after suffering severe injury near Georgia coast

A sailor was rescued after being injured off the Georgia coast, according to a social media post from the U.S. Coast Guard Southeast.

The U.S. Coast Guard Station Brunswick and U.S. Coast Guard Air Station Savannah and McIntosh County firefighters worked to rescue a sailor who suffered a severe injury near the Georgia coast, according to officials.

Officials said the sailor was rescued near Sapelo Sound, Georgia. The man had radioed the Coast Guard for assistance, saying he suffered injuries while setting up a tow.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

A helicopter arrived and flew the unidentified man to a nearby hospital.

Officials said this is an example of how it important it is to sail with a radio device.

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
ST. LOUIS  While enjoying a fun day at the zoo, discover how efforts are underway to save hundreds of species, both here and around the world. The Saint Louis Zoo is hosting its Endangered Species Day this year on Friday, May 17, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

To mark Endangered Species Day, the Zoo has arranged special activities throughout the zoo. There will be childrens activities that highlight specific animals at the zoo that are endangered. Scheduled keeper chats will allow the public to meet members of the Animal Care team.

Stops around the zoo will feature Zoo experts talking about different endangered species, the threats facing their environments, and how you can help. Also the gift shops will be selling sustainable merchandise that benefits animals natural habitats and the communities that coexist with endangered species.

Food and drink specials include globe-shaped cookies at Lakeside Cafe, vegetarian fried rice and spring rolls at Cafe Kudu, and Sumatran Tiger Misto at Starbucks.

Some of the featured animals are:

Vietnam Pheasant

Guam Kingfisher

Amur Leopard

Red Panda

Ozark Hellbender

Armenian Viper

Bumblebee

Partula Snail

Black and White Ruffed Lemur

Black-handed Spider Monkey

Chacoan Peccary

Addax

American Red Wolf

Those who want to contribute before the event can bring a wish list item with them when they visit. The Zoo has a list of enrichment items they use for their animals wellbeing. Gift drop-offs will be available at the Zoo entrances.

For more information about Endangered Species Day, check out this link.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 2.
SAN DIEGO (FOX 5/KUSI)  A high school student from San Diego has been recognized for a prestigious nationwide award by the U.S. Department of Education.

Kyle Tianshi, a senior at the Cambridge School in San Diego, was one out of nine California students selected to be a 2024 U.S. Presidential Scholar, according to a release from the department Thursday.

Lakeside Union School District unanimously approves new Parents Bill of Rights

They join a pool of 161 high school seniors who were selected for the 60th anniversary cohort of the award. A complete list of the scholars can be found on the departments website.

Created in 1964, the U.S. Presidential Scholars program chooses students based on their academic success, excellence in the arts and career and technical education, and dedication to community service and leadership.

The students had to meet a strict set of criteria in order to be eligible for the award, including being U.S. citizens or legal permanent residents who demonstrated exceptional SAT or ACT scores between 2020 and 2023.

The application for the U.S. Presidential Scholars program is by invitation only, according to the departments website.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX 5 San Diego & KUSI News.
Jaymes Smith appears in a Sarasota County courtroom Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in connection to a drive-by shooting on N. Washington Blvd. in August 2020. Smith is a rapper from Sarasota who goes by the name "Shug Stacks". The trial was held on April 22, 2024.

A Sarasota rapper known as Shugg Stacks was acquitted by a jury following a week-long trial in April in connection to an August 2020 drive-by shooting on North Washington Boulevard.

Jaymes Smith, 32, was charged with two attempted murder counts in connection to a drive-by shooting where the identity of the shooter was in question.

Sarasota police alleged Smith was the shooter after they learned a black Buick Encore SUV involved in the drive-by had been rented by Smith just 37 minutes before the shooting. In a probable cause affidavit, SPD investigators alleged the shooting was part of an ongoing cycle of violence between two rap groups, including a group called Blowin Bandz which included Smith.

North Port mobile home shooting: Dade City man sentenced to five years in prison

In case you missed it: 'Take Care of Maya' case mediation was 'spectacularly unsuccessful,' lawyer says

Smiths mother, Kim Wheeler, feels law enforcement failed to do their due diligence in investigating the case properly by solely focusing on her son as the suspect, leading her family to endure four years of waiting for a resolution and causing mental, financial and emotional strain.

Wheeler told the Herald-Tribune that two witnesses had identified a different individual as the shooter, but police seemed solely focused on her son.

That right there just kind of makes me lose a little bit of faith, or should I say, trust, in law enforcement, Wheeler said. (The) reason being is because theyre here to protect, serve.

Smith's attorney, Jason Chapman, echoed Wheeler's statement during a phone call. He said two independent eyewitnesses told police there was a second person involved in driving the car and who pulled the trigger, but the state moved forward with prosecuting Smith.

Youve heard of innocent until proven guilty, Wheeler added, but in her sons case, she felt like he was treated as though he was guilty until proven not guilty.

The Herald-Tribune reached out to Assistant State Attorney William Greiner, the lead prosecutor on the case, for comment. But Greiner was out of state traveling for several days and could not provide comment.

What to know about the drive-by shooting on North Washington Boulevard

Jaymes Smith appears in a Sarasota County courtroom Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in connection to a drive-by shooting on N. Washington Blvd. in August 2020. Smith is a rapper from Sarasota who goes by the name "Shug Stacks". The trial was held on April 22, 2024.

During the afternoon of Aug. 14, 2020, SPD officers responded to a shooting in the 3000 block of North Washington Boulevard, according to a probable cause affidavit.

Officers found four 9mm shell casings and met with a witness who said they were driving down the road when a Buick Encore SUV cut them off, causing them to slam on the brakes.

The witness told police the Buick appeared to be chasing a black Infiniti sedan, according to previous reporting. The Buick pulled alongside the Infiniti, pointed a gun out the driver's window, and fired several shots, according to reports. The Buick was registered to Hertz Rental, and SPD officers alleged the car was rented to Smith. The probable cause affidavit also stated police found the Buick at Smith's mother's home.

In a July 2023 court filing by the defense, Smith states Sarasota detectives interviewed the Hertz employee three days after the shooting. Detectives presented the employee with two photographs, one of Smith and the second of a man identified as Robert Rutledge.

According to the court filing, the employee picked out the photo of Rutledge as the man who rented the car, but the photograph was not placed into evidence.

"The evidence directly establishes reasonable doubt as to Mr. Smith's guilt and should be allowed to be introduced during trial," the court document states.

More: Sarasota woman sentenced to 10 years for Fentanyl overdose death of 8-month-old child

No trial: Sarasota runner caught in Mexico enters guilty plea in child pornography case

The defense also submitted an order to exclude a rap song found on Smith's phone from being introduced during the trial, according to court documents.

In his order, Sarasota Circuit Court Judge Thomas Krug partially granted Smith's motion to exclude the rap song, with the prosecution only able to admit 10 lines for the jury. The prosecution also wouldn't be able to have a witness interpret the song. Instead, the witness could only provide meaning for case-specific terms or names, the order stated.

Krug also indicated he would allow Smith to present evidence regarding the Hertz employee misidentifying the individual during the photo line-up "to disprove the state's assertion" that Smith allegedly committed the shooting as long as the evidence met certain requirements under Florida law.

Defense attorney: Witnesses affected 'credibility'

Chapman, Smith's defense attorney, said he wasn't surprised about the jury's verdict based on the evidence presented and the state's two key witnesses who had criminal histories.

"They went as far as to get two of the worst criminals I've seen testifying for the State to get involved," Chapman said, adding one of the witnesses was called to identify Smith as the shooter.

The witnesses, Chapman added, were looking at life in prison and were granted immunity by the state after admitting to being involved in other shootings.

According to court records, two witnesses who were listed to testify, Rudy Thompson and Victor Orr, both have extensive criminal records and were identified in several exhibits as being the victims of the shooting.

A search through court records for Orr and Thompson revealed they each had a court case within the last three years that either a plea was entered, or a case was dropped, with the condition that they were to be held for trial and to testify.

Orr was arrested in June 2021 in connection to a shooting in November 2020 in which a Sarasota investigator alleged Orr was an occupant in a vehicle that was shot multiple times. In the probable cause affidavit, the officer alleges a firearm was found when they searched Orr's car, a violation of Florida law as Orr has five previous felony convictions.

Jaymes Smith appears in a Sarasota County courtroom Tuesday, July 11, 2023, in connection to a drive-by shooting on N. Washington Blvd. in August 2020. Smith is a rapper from Sarasota who goes by the name "Shug Stacks". The trial was held on April 22, 2024.

The case appeared to be heading towards trial in February, however, the prosecution decided to not move forward with prosecuting the case. In an Administrative Order entered Feb. 2, Orr was held in the Sarasota County Jail until Smith's trial.

Thompson was arrested in November 2022 and charged with several counts of drug possession of a controlled substance without prescription, resisting an officer without violence and marijuana possession. He entered a plea in November 2023 and received a sentence of 48 months in prison with credit time served, followed by 72 months on probation in exchange for "truthful testimony" in Smith's case.

As far as using the rap song found on Smith's phone, Chapman pointed to the fact that as with any form of art like movies or books, they can be biographical or autobiographical. There have been plenty of examples of music artists, like Johnny Cash and Bob Marley, who have written songs about a shooting or crime, but no one believes they committed them, Chapman added.

"I think it's important that artists shouldn't be afraid to express their art because of fear that law enforcement may use that against them in a criminal case," Chapman said.

'Missing piece of the puzzle'

Smith is being held at the Sarasota County Jail on a charge of fleeing or eluding police while he awaits a trial that has been scheduled for July.

Sarasota County Sheriffs deputies allege in a probable cause affidavit that they spotted a man later identified as Smith riding a dirt bike on MLK Jr. Way and did not stop when they activated their emergency lights in June 2023.

Smith later surrendered to deputies after he was tracked by the department's helicopter to a property in the 2000 block of Mango Avenue.

A trial is currently scheduled to begin in July, however, both Wheeler and Chapman alluded to a possible plea.

Smith's mother hopes he's closer to returning home to be with his close-knit family, especially his young daughter. Wheeler said Smith was the second oldest of four children, and each now have their own children who are close in age, so the family has always been close.

"It's like by him being gone, it was kind of like a missing piece of the puzzle," Wheeler said.

Wheeler added she hopes her son can turn the negative experience into a learned lesson of being conscientious with his music and his associations, especially since he plans to continue to pursue his rap career and start a clothing line with his daughter.

"That's pretty much what I have to say about him: never lost faith, never gave up. The time he's been in there, he's had time to reflect on his life in itself," Wheeler said.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Sarasota rapper acquitted of attempted murder in 2020 shooting
Palestinians are fleeing Rafahs tent cities in large numbers as the threat of a potential major Israeli assault in the southern Gaza city looms, new satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows.

CNN has identified several camps sheltering Gazas vast refugee population  including the main camp in central Rafah that housed thousands of tents  which have significantly decreased in size between Tuesday and Wednesday. Although some camps in Rafah did see a decrease in population earlier in the week, the majority of camps identified by CNN saw their greatest declines since Tuesday.

Some of the tent camps had been in United Nations schools, others in open fields, or along roadways for months. Now, a significant number have vanished, but many remain in the camps despite orders from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to leave.

At least 110,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since Monday, after the IDF issued an evacuation order, according to the UNs agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).

Streams of Palestinians made their way to Al-Mawasi earlier this week, following an Israeli relocation order. The head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, warned that dire conditions there, including a lack of stable security, adequate accommodation or space, qualifies Israels relocation directives as forcible transfer, amounting to a serious violation of international law.

Palestinians forced to evacuate eastern Rafah, on May 8, carry their belongings as Israeli forces intensified attacks on the city, in southern Gaza. - Ali Jadallah/Anadolu/Getty Images

Rafah has become the central focus of Israels war in Gaza, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing pressure from the extreme wing of his coalition to launch a full-scale ground operation in the city to destroy Hamas, while the more moderate wing has urged him to prioritize securing a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

Israel launched a military assault on Gaza on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250 others.

Israels offensive has since pulverized patches of the Gaza Strip and drastically diminished critical supplies, exposing the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to the risk of famine. Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 34,904 Palestinians and injured another 78,514 people, according to the Ministry of Health there.

International pressure is growing for Israel not to move in on the densely populated city bordering Egypt. During nearly seven months of war, more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah. Hamas is also believed to have regrouped in the area, after Israels destruction of much of the strips north.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden sent shockwaves through the US and Israel when he warned that the US would halt some shipments of American weapons should Netanyahu order a major invasion of the city.

But Netanyahy responded defiantly saying in a speech if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails.

Gazans began fleeing Rafah on Monday, after Israels military issued a call for residents in the east of Rafah to evacuate immediately toward Al Mawasi and other areas north of Rafah. Many people have fled further north than Al-Mawasi, heading for areas in central Gaza that have more infrastructure.

The IDF began conducting ground operations on Tuesday, after seizing the Gaza-side of the Rafah border crossing. Those operations are ongoing, but are largely focused in the easternmost sections of Rafah  just over a mile away from the closest camp CNN identified.

A full-scale Israeli ground attack on Rafah could lead to potential mass atrocities, Egeland, the NRC chief, said on Monday.

This story has been updated with new information.

Kareem Khadder, Jessie Gretener, and Sharon Braithwaite contributed reporting.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
KIEV, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and visiting European Parliament President Roberta Metsola on Thursday discussed Ukraine's European integration and security issues.

At the talks, Zelensky said Ukraine has fulfilled all the necessary conditions for starting accession talks with the European Union next month, according to the presidential press service.

For her part, Metsola said she was optimistic that EU member states will adopt the negotiating framework for Ukraine in June.

The European Parliament will help Ukraine in "all possible ways" to move along the European path, Metsola stressed.

Zelensky and Metsola also discussed the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine, the EU's defense support for Kiev and the high-level conference on peace slated for mid-June in Switzerland.

Metsola arrived in Kiev earlier in the day. 
Palestinians are fleeing Rafahs tent cities in large numbers as the threat of a potential major Israeli assault in the southern Gaza city looms, new satellite imagery from Planet Labs shows.

CNN has identified several camps sheltering Gazas vast refugee population  including the main camp in central Rafah that housed thousands of tents  which have significantly decreased in size between Tuesday and Wednesday. Although some camps in Rafah did see a decrease in population earlier in the week, the majority of camps identified by CNN saw their greatest declines since Tuesday.

Some of the tent camps had been in United Nations schools, others in open fields, or along roadways for months. Now, a significant number have vanished, but many remain in the camps despite orders from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to leave.

At least 110,000 Palestinians have fled Rafah since Monday, after the IDF issued an evacuation order, according to the UNs agency for Palestine refugees (UNRWA).

Rafah has become the central focus of Israels war in Gaza, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faces growing pressure from the extreme wing of his coalition to launch a full-scale ground operation in the city to destroy Hamas, while the more moderate wing has urged him to prioritize securing a ceasefire-for-hostages deal.

Israel launched a military assault on Gaza on October 7 after the militant group Hamas, which governs Gaza, killed at least 1,200 people in Israel and abducted more than 250 others.

Israels offensive has since pulverized patches of the Gaza Strip and drastically diminished critical supplies, exposing the entire population of more than 2.2 million people to the risk of famine. Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed 34,904 Palestinians and injured another 78,514 people, according to the Ministry of Health there.

International pressure is growing for Israel not to move in on the densely populated city bordering Egypt. During nearly seven months of war, more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah. Hamas is also believed to have regrouped in the area, after Israels destruction of much of the strips north.

A full-scale Israeli ground attack on Rafah could lead to potential mass atrocities, the head of the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC), Jan Egeland, warned on Monday.

On Wednesday, US President Joe Biden sent shockwaves through the US and Israel when he warned that the US would halt some shipments of American weapons should Netanyahu order a major invasion of the city.

But Netanyahy responded defiantly saying in a speech if we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. I have said that, if necessary, we will fight with our fingernails.

Gazans began fleeing Rafah on Monday, after Israels military issued a call for residents in the east of Rafah to evacuate immediately toward Al Mawasi and other areas north of Rafah. Many people have fled further north than Al-Mawasi, heading for areas in central Gaza that have more infrastructure.

The IDF began conducting ground operations on Tuesday, after seizing the Gaza-side of the Rafah border crossing. Those operations are ongoing, but are largely focused in the easternmost sections of Rafah  just over a mile away from the closest camp CNN identified.

This story has been updated with new information.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
(Bloomberg) -- Saudi Arabias Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman will travel to Japan later this month on a rare trip outside of the Middle East.

Most Read from Bloomberg

The kingdoms de facto ruler will meet Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during a trip from May 20 to May 23, the Japanese government said on Friday.

The two countries have deep economic ties. Saudi Arabia was Japans eighth-biggest trading partner last year, according to the International Monetary Fund, with flows totaling $42 billion.

Japan is one of the biggest buyers of crude oil from Saudi Arabia, and the kingdoms wealth fund is among the largest shareholders in gaming giant Nintendo Co.

The countries also have a Saudi-Japan Vision 2030 agreement thats meant to see Japanese companies invest in industries such as agriculture, medical care, energy and infrastructure in the kingdom.

The wider Vision 2030 is Prince Mohammeds plan to transform the Saudi economy by investing hundreds of billions of dollars in everything from tourism to electric vehicles and semiconductors.

MBS, as the Saudi crown prince is known, was meant to visit Japan in late 2022, but the trip was canceled shortly before he was scheduled to arrive.

--With assistance from Rakteem Katakey and Adveith Nair.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
A 45-year-old man from Kharkiv was arrested by Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) on May 9 for allegedly tracking Ukrainian firing position, and providing coordinates to Russian intelligence officers.

According to a statement released by the SBU, the unnamed man was arrested at his home in the Vovchansk district of Kharkiv. The man is accused of surveying and tracking Ukrainian positions, having recorded coordinates on Google Maps to provide to Russian intelligence officers.

During the SBU's investigation, the suspect's cell phone, with alleged correspondence to Russian intelligence officials, was seized.

The SBU allege that Russian intelligence officials, with the suspect's help, were interested in geolocating Ukrainian fortifications in the city, as well as acquiring locations of mobile anti-aircraft firing groups responsible for downing Russian attack drones.

The man first came to the attention of the Russian intelligence officers after he shared pro-Kremlin views among his acquaintances.

The accused is charged under Ukraine's Criminal Code and faces up to eight year in prison, if convicted.

The man has previously been convicted and served sentences for theft and inflicting bodily harm resulting in the death.

Russia recently intensified attacks against Kharkiv, which had a population of 1.4 million in 2021, with the use of missiles, glide bombs, and drones, destroying energy infrastructure and killing civilians.

Read also: Source: SBU hits 2 oil depots in Russias Krasnodar Krai









Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
There are four lignite power plants in North Dakota. (File/John Elk/Getty Images)

North Dakota and West Virginia are leading a group of states in asking a federal court to review new pollution standards impacting the coal industry.

Attorneys general from 23 states signed the petition asking for a review of the regulations that took effect Tuesday. The final proposed rules became public April 25.

This rule intentionally sets impossible standards to destroy the coal industry, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a news release.

Wrigley said the Biden administration has ignored limits on its authority set by Congress.

Federal agencies cannot decide on a whim to destroy entire industries, Wrigley said.

The petition was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking the court to review the Environmental Protection Agency rule.

Other states that signed the petition were Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.

In its announcement of the rules on April 25, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all Americans.

In particular, North Dakota officials have taken issue with new, stricter mercury emissions standards.

Dave Glatt, director of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, said the mercury standard provides no measurable health benefits and are a death sentence for coal.

Jason Bohrer, president and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council, released a statement after the final rule was announced in April.

Electricity demand is surging, and the EPAs agenda will severely impact our ability to rely on electricity 24/7, Bohrer said. These regulations mandate either fuel switching or the implementation of unproven technology, jeopardizing the stability of the national power supply, and putting over 12,000 jobs in the lignite industry at risk.

The Lignite Energy Council says the North Dakota coal industry contributes $5.75 billion to the state economy and more than $100 million in state and local taxes.

In addition to mercury reductions, the new rules also lower the levels of pollutants that coal-fired power plants can discharge through wastewater, sets standards for handling coal ash and sets limits on carbon emissions.

Gov. Doug Burgum and other state officials have repeatedly complained about onerous regulations from the Biden administration, with Burgum even making a plea to a legislative committee to provide adequate funding for the states legal battles with the federal government.

Like SC Daily Gazette, North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. Follow North Dakota Monitor on Facebook and Twitter.

The post SC among 23 states challenging new EPA coal rules appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
SCs legislative session has ended. Here are seven bills that didnt make it

South Carolinas legislative session came to an end Thursday and bills that didnt cross the finish line or arent in a conference committee are now dead.

If lawmakers really want the legislation, the bills will have to be reintroduced next year, go through the committee process and pass both chambers.

Heres seven notable bills that didnt make it.

Medical marijuana

State Sen. Tom Davis years long effort to create a medical marijuana program in South Carolina failed again this year. The legislation got through the Senate again, but never moved in the House.

The bill was still in the House 3M committee, which had a ad hoc committee hold two hearings on the bill late in the session.

House Medical, Military, Public and Municipal Affairs Committee Chairwoman Sylleste Davis said the possible changes with how marijuana is classified on the federal level may require changes in the medical marijuana legislation.

I felt like there were just too many balls in the air that we needed to figure out, she said.

Health agency restructuring

A move to combine the states health agencies died in the last hour.

The bill passed the House Wednesday after attempts by the House Freedom Caucus to delay it. But when it came back to the Senate Thursday, state Shane Martin R-Spartanburg added several amendments on the floor forcing the bill back to the House.

When the House tried to bring it up, state Rep. Josiah Magnuson, R-Spartanburg, objected, a parliamentary move that kept the bill from being brought up for consideration. Tom Davis, a Beaufort Republican, who worked to shepherd the legislation, was on the House floor for the last 10 minutes of session trying to convince Magnuson to drop his objection but to no avail. The conversation was tense with many members huddled around and House security standing closely to keep calm.

Davis left the chamber visibly angry.

Its a huge setback, we have the most fractured public health care delivery system in the country, he said.

The governor is for (the consolidation), the speaker of the House is for it, the majority the House is for it, president of the Senate is for it, and a majority of Senate is for it, and a handful of Freedom Caucus members objected and burned it down, he added. The people of South Carolina lost here.

Magnusons objection also kept the bill from going to conference committee where Freedom Caucus concerns could have been addressed. Davis said the amendments pushed by Martin even spoke to their concerns.

The Freedom Caucus didnt believe their concerns would be addressed.

They said it was going to streamline government but they said it was not going to actually result in anybody being dismissed or streamlining of their jobs, Magnuson said. So that was a problem. We didnt have any assurance that there was going to be any funding cuts. Thats what were trying to do is cut government spending to do more for the taxpayer.

Appointment of the comptroller general

Following last years disclosure of a $3.5 billion accounting error, senators in a 42-0 vote wanted the governor to appoint the comptroller general rather than voters electing a comptroller every four years.

Making it an appointed position requires voter approval because it would make require a change to the constitution.

The comptroller general serves as the states top accountant.

When the bill moved to the House, however, it stalled and has not moved out of the House Judiciary committee, as the committee has had to deal with about 475 bills.

Former Comptroller General Richard Eckstrom resigned last year and was replaced by Brian Gaines. When Eckstrom ran for reelection in 2022, he was unopposed and received 98% of the vote.

Having the job appointed by the governor could allow for quicker changes when problems arise in the agency.

Currently the governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, treasurer, comptroller general, secretary of agriculture and superintendent of education serve as constitutional officers who are elected on a statewide basis.

Senators even suggested the treasurer also be appointed, but the recommendation took place after the chamber passed the comptroller appointment bill.

Sunday liquor sales

A bill that would allow counties and municipalities to hold referendum on whether to allow packaged liquor sales on Sundays died in the Senate.

The bill passed the House earlier this year, and only moved out of the Judiciary Committee last week.

Once on the floor, and handful of senators objected to the legislation and kept it from moving forward.

Small mom and pop stores were concerned they would be be forced open on Sundays in order to compete with larger operations, or risk losing customers.

For the time being, if you want to buy make a mixed drink at home on a Sunday, make sure you buy supplies on Saturday.

Reducing unemployment insurance benefits

An effort to peg the length of unemployment insurance benefits to the state unemployment rate passed in the House despite concerns rural areas may have higher jobless rates.

However, the bill died in the Senate and never moved out of the Senates Labor, Commerce and Industry Committee.

Still no official state flag

State Sen. Ronnie Cromer, R-Newberry, pushed to establish an official flag did not move past the state Senate again this legislative session.

Again state Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, blocked the Newberry Republicans effort to standardize the Palmetto Tree and crescent on the indigo blue background.

The bill was sent back to committee Tuesday, effectively killing it for the rest of the session.

Hate crimes bill

The Clementa Pinckney Hate Crimes bill passed the House again during this two year session, but it again stalled in the Senate.

It is deeply troubling that South Carolina remains one of the only state in the nation without specific addressing hate crime, said state Sen. Vernon Stephens, D-Orangeburg. The failure of our state pass such a law does not merely present a legislative oversight. It signifies a systemic front and address the deepening issues of prejudice and violence based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, and other identities.

However, Senate Majority Leader Shane Massey said the bill does not have enough support in the upper chamber.
SC public health overhaul could be resurrected, senator says: Its not trivial.

Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, talks to House Speaker Murrell Smith, R-Sumter, shortly before the end of session Thursday, May 9, 2024. Davis came into the House chamber to plead his case about a bill combining six state health agencies into one, which House Freedom Caucus members stalled on a procedural vote. (Screenshot of SCETV legislative livestream)

COLUMBIA  One of the architects of legislation restructuring South Carolinas public health system still hopes to resurrect the issue this year.

Lawmakers could amend this years so-called sine die resolution  the temporary law that allows chamber leaders to bring legislators back after Thursday and limits what they can do  to allow discussion of the health care merger bill to resume. And Sen. Tom Davis is urging for that to happen.

The Beaufort Republican said he continues to work with House leadership on a compromise proposal that could be brought up in June, when the Legislature is expected to return to vote on the next Supreme Court justice and finish work on the state budget.

The move comes after an ultra-conservative faction of the House used a procedural maneuver to kill the bill in the last five minutes of the regular legislative session Thursday.

The idea of merging South Carolinas health care agencies has been studied for more than two years by a private consultant hired by the state, who concluded in a report that South Carolina is the most fragmented structure for health and human services delivery in the country.

Too much time has gone into this, too much effort, Davis told the SC Daily Gazette on Friday. Thats why its important to not give up on this. Wed be letting the people of South Carolina down not to get this across the finish line.

Ordinarily, lawmakers frown on amending the law governing whats supposed to be the off-session for part-time legislators. Altering it is intended to be difficult: A two-thirds majority of both the House and Senate must agree to any changes.

But Davis said if theres any bill legislators should support adding to the agenda to get over the finish line, restructuring public health should be it.

Its not trivial, Davis said. South Carolinians are not getting their moneys worth when it comes to public health care delivery.

Merging agencies

The following agencies would be combined into the SC Executive Office of Health and Policy:

Department on Aging

Department of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse Services

Department of Disabilities and Special Needs

Department of Health and Human Services

Department of Mental Health

Department of Public Health*

*The Department of Health and Environmental Services is set to split into two this summer under a law passed last year.

If recent House and Senate votes on the legislation are any indication, an effort to resurrect the bill from the dead could succeed.

Before a series of last-minute amendments, the bill had passed in the Senate by a vote of 44-1, with only Sen. Tom Corbin, R-Greenville, voting no.

The last vote in the House was 98-15, with all of the opposition coming from the hardline House Freedom Caucus.

Davis said the House and Senate versions only differ on a few major points.

Those include whether the House gets a role in who leads the new Cabinet agency  rather than confirmation of the governors pick only going through the Senate, as usual for agency heads  and whether the secretary should be able to have police enforce mandates issued during public health emergencies. (That authority has rested with the Department of Health and Environmental Control since 2002 as part of the post-9/11 Emergency Health Powers Act.)

Other differences added Thursday are what allowed the Freedom Caucus to run out the clock.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes

The antics that killed the bill started late Wednesday.

Rep. April Cromer invoked a rarely used rule forcing House staff to read every word of the roughly 220-page restructuring bill to the chamber. After nearly an hour, the Anderson Republican backed down.

The House returned the bill to the Senate with amendments, but its troubles were not over.

With just an hour left in the session Thursday, Sen. Shane Martin, R-Pauline, proposed half a dozen of his own changes to the bill which would need agreement from the House.

Facing warnings from his colleagues, he sped through proposals such as requiring informed consent for administering vaccines. He eventually withdrew his final amendment.

There are a lot of dangerous moves going on, Sen. Nikki Setzler, R-West Columbia, said at one point. Dont take it too far, now.

Im not trying to, Martin replied.

The Senate got the bill back to the House with about half an hour left in the day. (By law, business must stop at 5 p.m. the second Thursday of May.)

But when asked for unanimous consent to bring it up, Rep. Josiah Magnuson, objected, effectively blocking the House from considering it.

Davis came to the House floor to plead with the Campobello Republican to let the bill go to a vote. He went to the dais to ask House Speaker Murrell Smith to keep trying to push it through. But it died as the clock struck 5 p.m.

Having fun this afternoon on the floor of the South Carolina House with members of the Freedom Caucus. pic.twitter.com/xAqFtHK8iT  Tom Davis (@SenTomDavisSC) May 10, 2024

A handful of Freedom Caucus members objected and burned it down and the people of South Carolina lost here, Davis told reporters immediately after.

The Freedom Caucus called the bills death Thursday a win for South Carolina.

Freedom Caucus members tried to amend the bill to their liking, but other members shot them down or ruled them irrelevant, said Rep. Adam Morgan, R-Taylors.

Play stupid games, win stupid prizes, Morgan told reporters after session ended.

The final moments of the legislative session as Sen. Tom Davis saw the healthcare restructuring bill S. 915 blocked at the hands of the House Freedom Caucus which had major objections to it and didnt see a conference committee truly addressing their issues. pic.twitter.com/XQ2swjTpbX  Gavin Jackson (@GavinJackson) May 9, 2024

What happens next?

The Freedom Caucus has opposed the bill from the get-go, saying it would create a health czar to enforce public health emergencies.

But Davis said combining the agencies under a single Cabinet-level director who answers to the governor would actually eliminate that concern, as a number of the agency directors currently only report to governing boards.

Thats what were trying to cure, he said.

Smith, a Republican from Sumter, said the bill would have consolidated services, making it easier to get resources to people who need them, such as people with drug addictions and mental health issues.

Holding hostage bills like that only harms South Carolinians, Smith said.

Still, while the agencies will not be combined in state law, they can start combining services in the interim, including relocating to one central campus, Smith said.

I dont see any reason that the merging of these agencies should not start being deployed, Smith said.

If lawmakers dont succeed in amending the sine die resolution in June, the bill would have to be introduced for the new session that starts in January. And the whole process, to include subcommittee hearings, would start over.

Maybe we can restart this process and actually listen to all voices and not play petty political games, which is exactly what this leadership does every single day, Morgan told reporters Thursday.

Smith said he hoped to get it through as quickly as possible.

Reporter Abraham Kenmore contributed to this report.

The post SC public health overhaul could be resurrected, senator says: Its not trivial. appeared first on SC Daily Gazette.
Former Trump White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci said nobody wants President Biden to win reelection more than himself Thursday.

Nobody wants Biden to win more than me and I am including [former first lady Melania Trump], Scaramucci said in a post on the social platform X.

Scaramucci, who briefly served as White House communications director under former President Trump, has now become a frequent critic of his ex-boss. In March, he said Trump is the most un-American presidential nominee in U.S. history.

We have to focus on Mr. Trump being the most un-American presidential nominee in U.S. history, Scaramucci said in an interview on CNNs The Source with host Kaitlan Collins. And we have to go through the things that hes saying hes going to do, as it relates to being the American president.

I think if we do that, hes gonna lose the election, Scaramucci continued.

In the same interview, he said the former president is courting with dictators.

He wants to be part of the axis of autocracy with people like [Russian President] Vladimir Putin, Scaramucci said. And just to remind people, Vladimir Putin is tied very closely to Iran now, so just think about what that means for the Middle East, cause we know how transactional Donald Trump is.

Hes made it very clear that anybody that he disagreed with or he has an adversarial relationship in the press, he wants to potentially threaten their [Federal Communications Commission] license. He said publicly he wants to persecute, using the Department of Justice, his political adversaries, and the list goes on and on, Scaramucci added.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, speaks to a colleague on the floor of the Alabama Senate on February 15, 2024 at the Alabama Statehouse in Montgomery, Alabama. (Brian Lyman/Alabama Reflector)

This story originally appeared on Florida Phoenix.

Come July 1, school districts in Florida could authorize volunteer chaplains  those who are religious or not and with no training  to provide support and services for students in public schools, though GOP-controlled legislatures across the country are rejecting similar proposals.

Last year, Texas passed a first-of-its-kind law authorizing schools to pay for religious figures to work in mental health roles, and lawmakers in 15 states followed suit by pitching similar legislation.

Since then, Florida is the only state where the legislature passed the measure and Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill (HB 931), though Louisiana, Oklahoma and Ohio could still pass their versions this year.

The proposals from lawmakers to bring chaplains into public schools have varied, with states taking different paths regarding the requirements for people to serve as school chaplains and their purpose.

A proposal sponsored by Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, to establish of school chaplains in Alabama made it through the Senate this year but failed to get House approval by the time the Legislature adjourned on Thursday.

The school chaplain measures have also fallen short this year in Nebraska, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, Utah, Missouri and Pennsylvania, according to a Florida Phoenix analysis of the chaplain bills.

Floridas Legislature is controlled by Republicans, but some Democrats supported the move. So beginning July 1, public school districts can decide whether theyll adopt a volunteer chaplain program, and parents must provide written consent before their children participate. But there is nothing in the legislation that requires the chaplains to have any specific degrees. Those requirements are up to the school districts.

Theres already controversy

HB 931 is already stirring controversy between DeSantis and the Satanic Temple. When DeSantis signed the bill in April, he said Satanists would not be eligible to become chaplains. His comments came after representatives of the Satanic Temple, which claims IRS recognition as a church, expressed the groups intention to sign up members to become volunteer chaplains.

The Florida bill doesnt state what religion the chaplains must practice. In fact, the volunteer chaplains dont even have to have a religious affiliation. However, the language in the bill states that any school district or charter school that adopts a volunteer school chaplains policy must publish the list of volunteer school chaplains, including any religious affiliation, on the school district or charter schools website.

How big of a splash HB 931 will make in Florida public schools is up in the air as school districts dont have to hold a public vote on the issue, whereas Texas required its school districts to do so.

Still, Holly Hollman, general counsel to the Baptist Joint Committee for Religious Liberty, says Floridas school leaders could also look to their Texas counterparts for how they handled the question. As of April, only one charter school in Texas had hired chaplains, according to The Texas Tribune, a partner of the States Newsroom.

As a growing number of chaplains speak out, school districts will see that these proposals are not simple support for students but, in fact, are deeply problematic, Hollman said in a phone interview with Florida Phoenix. The main thing is that school districts will be thinking about what they need and how to support students, and as they look more closely, they will see that this is clearly outside of the mandate for public schools.

Utah says no to Satanists

Utah Republican Sen. Lincoln Fillmore of Salt Lake County. (Courtesy of Utah Senate)

The threat of members of the Satanic Temple acting as chaplains in public schools was enough for Utah Republicans to turn down the proposal this year. On the final day of the GOP-controlled Utah legislative session, the states chaplain bill failed in a narrow 16-12 vote.

During Senate floor debate, multiple GOP lawmakers who voted against the bill said it would leave the door too wide open for people to serve as chaplains, and Salt Lake County Republican Lincoln Fillmore said the body would regret approving the bill after seeing the results.

In the current culture that exists in public schools, bringing chaplains would be more likely to make it worse than better because we wouldnt be able to discriminate, and so any religion that wanted to be able to place a chaplain there would be able to do so, Fillmore said in a phone interview with the Phoenix. So as you guys are seeing in Florida, that includes the church of satan who wants to place chaplains there. We had chaplains who testify for the bill in ours and the satanic church was all in favor of it.

Fillmores advice to Florida as the law goes into effect: Be careful.

I know theres a worry on the right. Its a founded worry, he said. Its based on experience and the actual events that schools are trying to broaden and teach and influence things beyond math, and science and history. So be very conscious about what chaplains are actually doing in schools.

Indiana declines to employ chaplains as counselors

Even though Texas school chaplain law stated that they would be hired in mental health roles, the lawmakers who pitched proposals in other states were not as overt in that intention, including in Florida. During committee hearing testimony and floor debates on the bill, Republican Sen. Erin Grall, a sponsor of the bill, said a volunteer chaplain program could be viewed as an alternative to school counselors for some families.

But in Indiana, Republican Sen. Stacey Donato leaned into the idea of chaplains serving as counselors. Her proposal would have allowed public schools to hire chaplains to provide secular guidance to students and school employees. Among the requirements, chaplains had to have a masters degree in a field related to religion and two years of counseling experience.

Despite the GOP controlling both chambers of the Indiana General Assembly, Donatos effort wasnt successful this year. Lawmakers removed the language allowing chaplains to work as counselors from another proposal requiring schools to grant parents requests for their students to leave classes to attend religious instruction, according to States Newsrooms Indiana Capital Chronicle.

Alabama Democrats take the lead

Most Democrats across state legislatures have opposed the school chaplain bills, claiming that it would insert religion into public schools and allow unlicensed people to deal with students mental health problems.

In Alabama, Smitherman insisted his plan to bring chaplains to public schools wasnt an effort to replace counselors. While the legislation didnt face any opposition in the Senate, Smitherman was on board with a House amendment on May 1 that heavily altered his bill.

Originally, Smithermans proposal allowed schools to hire or accept chaplains as volunteers to provide support and services if they passed a background check and completed a recognized chaplain training program. Following the amendment, chaplains can only serve as volunteers to support teachers at their request, and school boards no longer have to take a vote on whether they will enact the program.

Were doing this work for our teachers safety, Rep. TaShina Morris, D-Montgomery, said during the committee hearing. And if they need to have someone to talk to, we should allow them that access.

However, the legislature didnt vote on the bill by the time sine die came on Thursday night.

Oklahomas resurrected bill

After four school chaplain bills didnt even get a hearing in the Oklahoma Legislature, a Republican lawmaker decided to resurrect a discarded bill from 2023 to further the effort to bring chaplains into public schools in that state, according to States Newsrooms Oklahoma Voice.

Moore County Rep. Kevin Wests maneuver cleared the House in a 54-37 vote, with 20 Republicans voting against it. The Senate has not voted on the bill yet, but amendments in the House strengthened requirements for volunteer or employed school chaplains, according to Oklahoma Voice.

The bill states that school chaplains cant attempt to convert anyone to their religion and must get an endorsement from their faith group. Additionally, they must hold a bachelors and graduate degree in theology or religious studies.

Florida Phoenix is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Florida Phoenix maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Diane Rado for questions: info@floridaphoenix.com. Follow Florida Phoenix on Facebook and Twitter.

The post School chaplain bill fails in Alabama  and many other red states appeared first on Alabama Reflector.
Schoolchildren are unwittingly using vapes spiked with spice, it has emerged.

Parents have been warned about a growing number of teenagers purchasing electronic cigarettes marketed as containing THC oil, the psychoactive component of cannabis.

In fact many are laced with spice, a dangerous synthetic cannabinoid known as the zombie drug, which has been linked to dozens of deaths in British prisons.

Multiple pupils have fallen ill in schools across the country in cases of confirmed or suspected spice vapes.

In the London borough of Lewisham, Forest Hill School told parents that vape liquid containing the class B drug may also be stored in small plastic bottles that look like eye drops or decongestant sprays, making it harder to detect.

The warning added: In a recent case where several pupils were hospitalised the substance ingested was thought to be THC, the active component of cannabis.

The substance later tested positive for spice and in this case the students became unwell and several required hospital treatment, with one pupil admitted in a critical condition.

Adulterated vapes

Police intelligence suggests that blue and green vape juice could be THC, while red and orange is likely to be spice, the school said, with social media sites being used to sell it to teenagers.

In another school in the south-east of the capital, public health chiefs told parents that there had been multiple reports of adulterated vapes in Greenwich over the past week and testing of confiscated vapes in the area by the police and Bath University found 22 per cent contained spice.

The notice, seen by The Telegraph, warned that spice carries a high risk of severe side effects, including panic attacks, numbness and unconsciousness and has been linked to a number of deaths, particularly in the adult prison population.

It said that any young person known to have used it or showing signs should be taken to hospital or supervised until the effects pass, which can last several hours.

Spice has proven to be a deadly problem in prisons. In the five years to 2020, spice and black mamba  both synthetic cannabinoids  were implicated in almost half of the 129 non-natural deaths in prisons in England and Wales.

These were also the most commonly implicated substances in drug deaths in prisons between 2017 and 2019, when 37 prisoner death certificates mentioned them, far higher than deaths from heroin and other opiates.

Schools have seen multiple vaping hospitalisations in recent months. Five teenagers required hospital treatment after falling ill in Eltham, south-east London, in February from a vape spiked with spice.

Pupils taken to hospital

Elsewhere, three teenagers were taken to hospital from Paignton Academy in Devon last week after using a vape  although it is not known if spice was involved  and schools in Lancashire have seen similar issues.

In Lincolnshire, eight pupils from one school were hospitalised because of vapes last year, according to Dr Caroline Johnson, Sleaford and North Hykeham MP.

The legal age to use and purchase vapes is 18, but sellers have managed to dodge the law and ensure flavours designed to appeal to young people make their way into schools and colleges.

In February, the Met Police told parents in Sutton, south London, that in some cases, a single dose can kill when it comes to spice, along with breathing difficulties, chest pains, heart palpitations, seizures, extreme anxiety, paranoia, suicidal thoughts, psychosis, vomiting or diarrhoea and acute kidney injury.

A survey of 4,000 teachers by the NASUWT teachers union in October found that 85 per cent believed vaping was a problem on school premises, with some leaving lessons to vape and being hooked on nicotine.

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.
Pavel M. Descamps, now an international student in east China's Anhui Province, prepared for his trip to Huangshan Mountain, or Yellow Mountain. Having experienced the convenience of mobile payments in China, he found it remarkable whether shopping in stores or hailing a taxi online. With full anticipation and preparation, he embarked on the journey to Huangshan Mountain. The seamless travel experience and awe-inspiring scenery left him enthralled. Join him on the amazing adventure and explore the captivating world of Huangshan Mountain!

Produced by Xinhuanet

Presented by Xinhua Global Service
One of the most extraordinary stories of human migration unfolded around 70,000 years ago, as humans crossed from Southeast Asia into modern-day Australia, traversing a now-submerged, Atlantis-like landscape, and becoming the first people to call that land home.

A rich archaeological record provides ample evidence that this happened. But researchers have long been stumped by the details of this migration, such as how quickly that trek occurred and what routes the newcomers took across the vast territory.

Now, new research published April 23 in the journal Nature Communications sheds light on some possible answers. Intriguingly, it also helps to pinpoint potential undiscovered archaeological sites where researchers could search for new evidence.

The research looks at the vast supercontinent that was known as Sahul, a landmass that was exposed about 70,000 years ago, during the Pleistocene epoch , when Earth was in the midst of the last ice age. Glaciation caused declining sea levels that exposed areas of submerged continental shelf connecting what is now mainland Australia to Papua New Guinea in the north and Tasmania in the south.

Related: Lost 'Atlantis' continent off Australia may have been home for half a million humans 70,000 years ago

Sea levels remained low for thousands of years at a time, but other geological and environmental conditions would have evolved over this period. For instance, there would have been changing rainfall patterns, shifting river courses, spreading or shrinking forests and grasslands, and sediment deposition. All of these factors would have influenced the characteristics of the terrain and, therefore, how humans explored it.

The researchers used this information to develop a landscape evolution model, which simulated Sahul's changing landscape between 75,000 and 35,000 years ago. The simulation also incorporated possible migration routes from two locations in Southeast Asia  West Papua and the Timor Sea Shelf  as well as archaeological sites spread across the modern-day landscape.

Dating those sites helped to pinpoint the periods when people would have been moving through those parts of the continent. Finally, the simulation incorporated estimates from "Levy walk foraging patterns"  a type of movement that's commonly used by hunter-gatherers to find food in unfamiliar landscapes  which also helped to estimate the pace of migration.

"The new landscape evolution model allows for a more realistic description of the terrains and environments inhabited by the first hunter-gatherer communities as they traversed Sahul," Tristan Salles , an associate professor in the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney and lead author of the study, said in a statement . The researchers ran thousands of simulations that exposed the most likely routes humans would have taken, following landscape features and the availability of food they could forage.

The researchers discovered that these routes would have taken the newcomers along the coastlines and straight through the continent's interior, following the major rivers and streams that crisscrossed the landscape at the time. The calculations showed that these intrepid humans likely traversed the landscape at a pace of about 0.71 mile (1.15 kilometers) per year, which the researchers say is relatively swift. Interestingly, the simulation showed an overlap with regions where other researchers have suggested humans may first have congregated on Sahul.

RELATED STORIES

Scientists finally discover 'lost continent' thought to have vanished without a trace

Zealandia, Earth's hidden continent, was torn from supercontinent Gondwana in flood of fire 100 million years ago

Lost islands beneath the North Sea survived a mega-tsunami 8,000 years ago

By showing where Australia's first people most likely moved, the model may even provide archaeologists with some practical insights for their work.

"There's one particularly interesting outcome from our map that shows the probability of human presence in Sahul," the study authors wrote in an article for The Conversation . "In a cost-effective way (without needing to travel across the entire continent), it could potentially pinpoint areas of archaeological significance."

The model helps to flesh out the picture of life on Sahul, where previous research has shown that up to half a million people may have once lived on its now-sunken northern shelf.

"Our study is the first to show the impact of landscape changes on the initial migration on Sahul, providing a new perspective on its archaeology," the researchers wrote. "If we used such an approach in other regions as well, we could improve our understanding of humanity's extraordinary journey out of Africa."
As the global temperature rises, so too does the range of tropical concerns. One of the most prominent examples of this is the increasing presence in temperate zones of vector-borne diseases once confined to regions around the equatordiseases that are carried by living organisms, including mosquitoes, ticks, fleas, and lice.

The arrival of increasing numbers of mosquitoes in regions where they havent previously been a significant presence, for example, means the potential arrival of mosquito-borne diseases in places ill-equipped to deal with them. The latest country to experience this first-hand is Scotland, a country whose primary flying irritant has been the humble midge. However, a new research project is examining how widespread mosquitoes are across the countryand it's found that they're basically everywhere.

[ Related: Can a bold new plan to stop mosquitoes catch on? ]

According to the BBC , researchers from the University of Glasgow hung traps at 24 locations across the country, and found mosquitoes at every one. In total, they found 16 different species of mosquitoa small fraction of the 4,000 species that exist worldwide, but enough to startle those carrying out the study: "[Researchers] were surprised to find the insects in all corners of the country."

The University of Glasgow website describes the project as "the first of its kind ... in Scotland." This is a fact that seems significant in and of itself, because while mosquitoes were certainly present in Scotland before nowas the research programs account on X points out , This is not the first discovery of mosquitoes in Scotland they have been here for milleniathey havent been a significant enough problem to warrant study. As a result, according to the BBC, "Very little has been known about how widespread mosquitoes are in Scotland."

The lack of any such data in countries like Scotland makes it difficult to gauge how to approach controlling mosquito populations and mitigating the risk of mosquito-borne diseases. Surveillance systems of the type used in the study are the first step toward preparedness. They provide a baseline from which to evaluate how the situation is evolving, and help to identify potential risks: as the programs X account says, Our research will assess whether [mosquitoes] could pose a disease risk in the future.

[ Related: Millions of years ago, male mosquitoes may have been blood suckers too ]

The UK is clearly taking the threat of vector-borne diseases seriouslythe monitoring project is part of a wider program to examine the potential impact of vector-borne diseases on the UK under various climate change scenarios. Those impacts aren't confined to humans, eitherthe Mosquito Scotland website , launched by the same researchers running the monitoring program, also identifies another, often overlooked danger: "Mosquitoes are already able to transmit diseases to wildlife in Scotland, making them a threat to conservation efforts."

As well as the formal monitoring systems, the research team are urging the Scottish public to get involved by reporting mosquito encounters to the Mosquito Scotland website. So if you're a Scotor if you find yourself in the country this summerand you hear the maddening whine of a mosquito dopplering its way past your ear in the middle of the night, you know what to do.
Its difficult to imagine someone in better physical condition than an Olympic athlete, which is why it came as a shock last year when three-time medalist Tori Bowie died from complications in childbirth at the age of 32. Bowies death may have been caused by eclampsia, a life-threatening condition that can develop from preeclampsia, which is a disease of pregnancy marked by high blood pressure and impaired kidney function.

Dr. Christine Greves, an OB-GYN at Orlando Health Womens Institute in Florida, explained to HuffPost: Eclampsia means seizure. So [preeclampsia is] what you experience before you have a seizure. Obviously, we do not want anybody to have a seizure. This kind of seizure can be fatal.

Preeclampsia affects approximately 5% of pregnant people, with a disproportionate number of Black people impacted. (Overall, Black women and birthing people in the U.S. are three times more likely than white people to die of pregnancy complications.) The reasons for this racial disparity are poorly understood.

Research is needed to explore why biological and psychological [and] social determinants of health [are] contributing to pregnancy-related disparities in preeclampsia, Greves said.

The disparities are clear, she continued, but we need to understand the

why in order to try to help more.

She added, Some centers like ours recognize the disparities and are incorporating strategies with more access to help.

Preeclampsia is also a leading cause of maternal mortality worldwide.

If youve been pregnant, you know that prenatal visits always involve taking your blood pressure and testing a urine sample. These procedures detect those two major markers of preeclampsia: high blood pressure and protein in the urine. Because preeclampsia can become life-threatening, health care providers are eager to catch it early so that they can monitor patients closely.

Now, researchers have discovered a new screening method that is able to detect signs of preeclampsia more effectively and even earlier in pregnancy, giving doctors a chance to prevent the condition from developing  and potentially saving lives. Heres what you need to know.

What preeclampsia screening and treatment currently look like.

Providers monitor patients blood pressure and check their urine throughout pregnancy, and with greater frequency towards the end of pregnancy,when preeclampsia is most likely to develop. Preeclampsia can even occur postpartum, after delivery.

In addition, patients with risk factors for developing preeclampsia are given a daily dose of aspirin, starting by the 16th week of their pregnancy, as previous research has shown that it effectively reduces the rate of preeclampsia in people who are at risk.

Aspirin prevents the majority of preeclampsias when started in the first trimester of pregnancy, Dr. Emmanuel Bujold, one of the studys authors, told HuffPost.

For this reason, currently, pregnant people who meet one or more of the following severe risk factors, or two or more of the following moderate risk factors are advised to start taking aspirin by 16 weeks, Bujold said.

Moderate risk factors:

It is your first pregnancy

You are Black

You have obesity

You became pregnant through IVF

You are over 40 or under 18 years old

There is a family history of preeclampsia

Severe risk factors:

You have a personal history of preeclampsia (a previous pregnancy with preeclampsia)

You have chronic hypertension

You have diabetes

You have Lupus

Other diseases and conditions can also increase risk. Greves noted that even a mental health condition, post-traumatic stress disorder, has been correlated with an increased risk of preeclampsia.

Bujold explained that by these criteria, about 35% of non-Black pregnant people, and over 50% of Black pregnant people, are advised to take aspirin.

The aspirin treatment is relatively safe and highly effective, Bujold said.

You might wonder, if aspirin is so safe, why all pregnant people arent simply told to take it starting at 16 weeks. Bujold says this has been proposed in some places, such as Brazil, but has met with little success.

In the absence of screening, compliance with treatment is much poorer, follow-up is absent, and the risk of incorrect dosage and errors is high, he said. In other words, people are less likely to follow through on a blanket recommendation than they are on one that is based on their own, personal risk. Greves also mentioned that while small, there is a risk of bleeding from taking aspirin.

If preeclampsia does develop, doctors will monitor a patient closely and treat their symptoms, but, unfortunately the only cure is delivery. This can leave doctors and patients in an impossible bind. You want to deliver the baby before the pregnant person becomes seriously ill, but you also want to delay delivery as long as possible for the health of the baby. Babies born at 28 weeks of gestation or later have 80-90% odds of survival, whereas babies born before 24 weeks have odds below 50%, in addition to a 40% chance of developing long-term health problems.

How the newly-proposed screening method would work.

Bujold and his co-authors conducted a study of over 7,000 Canadian women. Some were screened for preeclampsia using only a tally of the risk factors, as explained above. Others were also given a blood test which identified biomarkers associated with preeclampsia.

The results of this blood test, along with those from an ultrasound, a blood pressure reading, and the patients health history were then integrated into a computer algorithm that indicates whether or not the woman is at risk, Bujold said.

Using the new screening method, Bujold said, researchers were able to detect about two-thirds of the cases of severe (before 37 weeks) cases of preeclampsia and about three-quarters of very severe (before 34 weeks) cases. This represents a significant improvement over the current screening method based on risk factors alone, which identifies about half of cases.

The rate of false positives  a person is labeled at risk but does not go on to develop preeclampsia  is also lower using the new screening method. Its rate of false positives is around 16%, meaning one woman in six is worried when she wont develop preeclampsia, explained Bujold, while the rate of false positives for the current method is twice as high: 34%, or 1 in 3.

What patients need to know.

While the ability to test for these biomarkers and calculate a persons individual risk of developing preeclampsia is promising, these tests are not widely available yet. For now, Greves said, if you are pregnant, the most important things are to listen to your health care provider and to your body. If you are having headaches that dont go away with Tylenol, or other symptoms, let your provider know. And if your provider asks you to take aspirin or check your blood pressure, its important that you follow through.

Screening can prevent some, but not all, cases of preeclampsia.

Recognize that it doesnt mean you did anything wrong if you have it, Greves said. Some people are just more predisposed than others.

Engaging in regular physical activity, going to all of your prenatal appointments, following your providers recommendations and reporting any worrisome symptoms to them are things you can do to increase your chances of a healthy pregnancy, whether or not you happen to have any risk factors.

Related...
Dion Lamont Montgomery, 35, is in the King County Jail on $5 million bail after allegedly shooting his sleeping 9-month-old son Wednesday night in Seattles Magnolia Neighborhood.

Police were called to the 3000 block of 21st Avenue West for a reported shooting at around 6:30 p.m. Once there a woman told them her child had been shot. The child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Court documents say that after the shooting, Montgomery fired shots at two people near 22nd Avenue West and Thorndyke Avenue West. No one was hurt. Witnesses reported seeing a man fire 4 to 5 shots and then run off.

Police later found Montgomery three blocks away. During his contact with police, Montgomery admitted to using PCP and blamed his actions on demons.

Both Montgomery and his wife, the childs mother, were detained by police for questioning.

The mother told police she was in the bathroom when she heard the gun go off. She asked her husband what the noise was, and he said, it was a blank. It was not a blank. That was the shot that killed their son, according to court documents.

After the shot was fired, Montgomery left the apartment and the mother said she went to check on her son. When she realized what happened, she ran outside for help. That is where police found her.

The childs mother was later released.

Montgomery did not appear in court on Thursday, the hearing went on without him.

The court found probable cause for Murder in the First Degree, two counts of Assault in the First Degree, and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm in the First Degree.
Amid the nation's opioid crisis, the city of Seattle has announced the creation of a recovery center for people who have been revived after an overdose.

The Downtown Emergency Service Center, an existing non-profit with multiple locations, will operate what officials called a "post-overdose stabilization and care facility" in an area hotel after renovations to the building. People who have overdosed and have "prolonged health conditions requiring medical attention and case management services" will be able to spend up to 23 consecutive hours at the facility, according to a news release.

Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell said that the facility would be supported by the Seattle Fire Department's overdose response team, who would transport patients to the building. Once there, providers will focus on post-overdose medical care, initiating evidence-based medication treatments, and connecting patients with behavioral and physical health services.

Opioid crisis settlements have totaled over $50 billion. But how is that money being used?

"The deadly fentanyl and synthetic opioid crisis that we are seeing on our streets and in our neighborhoods demands that we be urgent, compassionate, and innovative in how we help people suffering from addiction access life-saving treatment," said Harrell, who previously issued an executive order aimed at targeting the opioid and synthetic drug crisis in the city.

"This new investment in a post-overdose recovery center and mobile clinics will stabilize people following a non-fatal overdose, alleviating their painful withdrawal symptoms that often cause them to use these highly addictive drugs again and connecting them to evidence-based treatment and recovery services," Harrell continued.

DESC Executive Director Daniel Malone said the facility will help "prevent the next overdose and cut down on emergency room use" in the region.

Renovations to the hotel are set to begin in the first quarter of 2025. Pilot services will be available from a different facility starting next month.

The center is on track to receive $5.65 million in capital funds, the news release said. Another treatment program, Evergreen Treatment Services, is a finalist to receive an additional $1.35 million that would be used to support an outpatient clinic and mobile medical units that can go into the community and offer support and care across the region, the news release said.

The funds are part of a $27 million investment supporting Harrell's executive order.

According to the National Center for Health Statistics, a branch of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the drug overdose death rate in Washington state is 28.1 per 100,000 people. The state's health department said that between 2005 and 2021, the state has recorded over 17,000 opioid overdose deaths, with rates "nearly doubling" between 2019 and 2021.

The Drug Enforcement Agency told CBS News affiliate KIRO in February that they have seized millions of fentanyl pills in Washington. The state has the third-highest rate of fentanyl pill seizures, behind Arizona and California, according to the agency. Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid that is present in most opioid overdose deaths.

Michael Cohen expected to take stand in Trump trial next week

A Web of Intrigue | Sunday on 60 Minutes

Kindness 101: Appreciation
The first shark bit him in the knee. The second shark bit him in the shoulder.

But somehow, Marlin Deere Wakeman was able to pull himself out of the water and into a boat.

And two weeks later, the 24-year-old Florida native remains amazed that he survived his brush with death in one piece.

"Thankfully, I'm here to tell the story," Wakeman said Thursday at a news conference at St. Marys Medical Center in West Palm Beach, Florida. "But, pretty crazy experience."

Speaking for the first time since the April 26 ordeal at a marina in the Bahamas, Wakeman unspooled the kind of fish tale that his famous fisherman father, Rufus Wakeman, might tell his rapt audience on his "Mill House" podcast.

Wakeman said it happened at the Flying Fish Marina, where there are always lots of sharks around feeding on the carcasses that the fishermen dump in the water.

In fact, he said, that water is so crowded with 5 to 7-foot Caribbean Reef Sharks that at times "you can walk on their heads almost."

"Man if you fell in here, like youre done," he recalled his buddies telling him. "Youre not even going to have a second to really react."

How true those words nearly turned out to be.

Wakeman, who lives in Stuart, Florida, said he was doing some maintenance work on a boat when he suddenly slipped and fell in.

When I ended up in the water, I pretty much knew what was going to happen," he said. "And when he bit me, I knew what was going on. There wasnt a second of doubt in my mind.

Wakeman said there wasn't time for his life to flash before his eyes.

"So it wasnt like I was really scared at that moment," he said. "I was just, I knew what was happening. So in my head I just I knew how to get out as quick as possible."

Wakeman said the first shark pulled him under before letting go.

"I got really lucky he didnt head shake or hold on for a while," he said. "And then thats when I was able to get back up to the surface."

That was when the second shark moved in and bit him on the shoulder.

Wakeman said he did not feel pain at first, put he did feel "a lot of pressure."

The one on my shoulder felt like a punch," he said. "You really dont feel the teeth going in.

Despite his injuries, Wakeman was able to drag himself back into the boat.

"I had so much adrenaline going through my body that it was like a fight or flight kind of thing," he said. "I got back into the boat and kind of assessed what happened and looked at my leg. It wasnt really bleeding yet. It was kind of, you know, all mangled. "

And right about then, Wakeman said, he started screaming for help. He said his captain ran over, applied a tourniquet, and elevated his leg.

The pain, he said, didn't kick in until they started rolling him in a wheelbarrow to the van to get him to a clinic.

"It was bleeding a lot at that point and adrenaline sort of wearing off a little bit and then we got into the van," he said. "And when I was in the van, they took gauze. And I remember my captain, he looked at me and he was like, 'Hey, man, this is gonna hurt really bad.' And I was like, 'You know, whatever.'"

That, Wakeman said, was when he blacked out from the pain.

Wakeman was flown to Florida after the medics in the Bahamas "sewed him up, you know, damage-control style," said Dr. Robert Borrego, who is the trauma medical director at St. Marys.

Judging by the size of the leg wound, Borrego said the young man was bitten by "at least a seven-footer or an eight-foot shark."

"Ive been dealing with this a lot and Ive seen some people that have not done as well," said Borrego, who said he has treated numerous shark bite victims over the past three decades. "And from hearing the story It shocks me that he was able to get out of that water."

The fact that Wakeman didn't lose a leg is "amazing," Borrego added.

Wakeman is still on crutches and will need to do some rehab but should make a complete recovery, the doctor said.

His father, Rufus Wakeman, said he is especially grateful to the captain who applied the tourniquet and the fast work of the Bahamian medics who prevented his son from bleeding to death and saved his life.

"I have several friends who have been bitten and its a shocking revelation when you see that," he said. "Some of the wounds these people have had to endure. And now its my son. Its our son. And its just scary."

For his part, Wakeman said he's eager to get back out on the water and doesn't think he'll be haunted for long by his near-death experience.

"Maybe Ill have some nightmares here and there, but I think Ill be all right," he said.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  A member of the Socorro Independent School District Board of Trustees and his wife were arrested Thursday, May 9 and charged with obstruction or retaliation, according to court records.

Ricardo Castellano is the second Socorro ISD Trustee to be arrested on Thursday, April 9.

Socorro ISD Trustee arrested for official oppression, other charges

Castellano and Gabriela Castellano were both charged with two counts of obstruction or retaliation with a $4,000 bond. They were both released the same day, according to court records.

Socorro ISD spokesperson sent a statement to KTSM saying:

The district was made aware that two current Trustees and a former employee were arrested by the El Paso Sheriffs Department earlier today. This is a legal matter and we will cooperate with law enforcement. The district has no additional information on the matter at this time. The focus of the district remains serving students and supporting staff to ensure the successful completion of the school year. Socorro ISD spokesperson

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
On second try, U.S. House approves GOP bill to ease mining on federal lands

The U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday, April 9, 2024. (Photo by Jennifer Shutt/States Newsroom)

The U.S. House passed, 216-195, a bill Wednesday that would loosen a restriction on mining operations, reversing a vote last week to return the bill to committee.

The bill, written by Nevada Republican Mark Amodei, would clarify that mining companies can conduct mining support operations on federal lands, even without first documenting a known mineral deposit. It responds to a 2022 federal appeals court ruling restricting mining companies from using federal lands without a documented mineral deposit.

The Republican-controlled House rejected the bill last week, voting 210-206 to adopt a motion to recommit the measure to the House Natural Resources Committee. Six Republicans joined all Democrats present to oppose the bill.

Lawmakers did not make changes to the bill between the May 1 vote and Wednesday, but the presence Wednesday of several Republicans who were absent last week allowed the measure to pass on the second attempt.

Why the heck are we back on the House floor one week after we voted on a bipartisan basis to send this bad bill back to committee? New Mexico Democrat Melanie Stansbury said during floor debate Wednesday.

Stansbury called the bill a giveaway to mining companies, including those based in China and other countries.

Rep. Pete Stauber of Minnesota, who chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources and led Republican floor debate Wednesday, made no mention of last weeks vote, but continued to advocate for the bill as a benefit to domestic mining interests.

Encouraging U.S. mining, especially as an alternative to importing Chinese minerals, should be encouraged, he said. Domestic environmental and labor protections are stronger than they are in other countries, he said.

I support fair labor standards, I support high environmental standards, I support increasing our national security, Stauber said. In short, I support domestic mining.

The bill was meant to address a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that Republicans disagreed with, Stauber said.

The ruling blocked an Arizona mining project from dumping waste rock on U.S. Forest Service land. The court ruled that the mining companys claim on the Forest Service land was invalid because it had not shown a valuable mineral deposit there.

Mining interests have criticized the ruling, known as the Rosemont decision, for restricting operations on federal lands.

This is a simple fix, Stauber said. We believe the court erred, so its our job to legislate.

China debate

Stansbury said the bill could benefit subsidiaries of foreign mining companies, including Chinese companies.

It would allow Chinese companies to control U.S. federal lands, she said.

Rep. John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican who chairs the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, authored an amendment to the bill last month that would have banned companies or subsidiaries from adversarial nations from mining on federal lands.

The House Rules Committee declined to make that amendment in order, which New Mexico Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez noted Wednesday.

Stauber said all companies that operate in the U.S. have to comply with labor and environmental standards.

He also responded to the claim that the bill would spur a takeover of federal lands by Chinese companies. The bill would not affect foreign mining operations in the U.S., which is already allowed under existing law.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post On second try, U.S. House approves GOP bill to ease mining on federal lands appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
Steve Weiss of the Tree of Life Synagogue speaks on a panel discussion after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

As the credits rolled on the screen, the audience in Park City sat in complete silence except for the sound of a sniffle and the crumpling of a tissue. Community members gathered Thursday night at the citys library to watch a screening of HBOs A Tree of Life hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network.

Steve Weiss, survivor of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting, was part of a panel that included security experts, law enforcement and a Jewish community center official. The focus of the discussion that followed the screening was how communities can prepare in the face of threats. Panelists emphasized the importance of being trained to run, hide and fight in active shooter situations as well as the practical security measures the Jewish community must now take.

As participants walked into the auditorium where the screening was held, they passed two police officers.

With the rise in antisemitism and hate-based crimes, community safety and security have become so important to members of faith-based and identity-based communities, said Alex Shapiro, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah. The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting documentary is not only a reminder of the deadliest attack on the Jewish community in our country, but really a testament to a community that came together in its aftermath and the importance of preparedness and resilience.

The Pittsburgh synagogue shooting took place on Oct. 27, 2018, when Weiss and other members of three congregations were worshipping at the Tree of Life synagogue. A man open fired and murdered 11 people that day. The documentary includes interviews with survivors, including Weiss. It discusses the rise of antisemitism and hate-based crimes, and also shows how the community began the process of healing.

Survivors in the documentary described the ways that their lives had changed not only from losing their loved ones, but also losing a sense of security. Audrey Glickman said the clothing she wore the day of the shooting didnt have large enough pockets for her phone so when she went to hide, she left it on the pew.

Both in the documentary and in an interview with the Deseret News afterward, Weiss spoke about what could have been different for him about that day.

One Saturday a month, we didnt have a junior congregation for our children. The other three Saturday mornings we did, said Weiss, adding that the Saturday of the mass shooting, the junior congregation was not present. His son would have been sitting in the front lobby if they had.

Its part of the reason Weiss emphasizes the importance of ensuring congregations and communities are trained on how to respond during active shootings. When the shooting in Pittsburgh happened, Weiss said he knew he needed to get out of the room he was in, and without training, he said, I would have knelt down by the back pew. Everyone who remained in the room he was in either was murdered or injured.

Where I get hope is that if enough of us learn what we can do, then we can join together and really make things safer, said Weiss.

Leading off the panel discussion, Weiss said anyone, at any time, in any place could end up in an active shooter situation. And the only chance that we truly have to take control of whats happening or ourselves is go through training, learn what you can do, so that you have a better response.

Brad Orsini, senior national security adviser at Secure Community Network, said, Days are gone where we can rely on law enforcement solely.

Steve Weiss of the Tree of Life Synagogue wears a blue ribbon before a panel discussion and a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Orsini added that law enforcement does its job well, but security needs to be taken seriously. We can no longer afford to have security as a luxury. It needs to be a line item budget in all our facilities. Synagogues across the country, including in Utah, pay for security outside their Sabbath worship services to keep congregants safe.

Barrie McAllister, chief operating officer at the Jewish Community Center in Salt Lake City, spoke about the security measures the center has adopted. The doors are double locked, and new guests have to be let in by the front desk. On the days when the center is closed, local law enforcement does drills there so in the case of an emergency situation, they are already familiar with the space.

Dave McKean, Utah Jewish community security adviser at Secure Community Network, spoke about how important it is to become situationally aware. He said its his mission to keep the Jewish community and other communities safe. Having the right information can help him make better decisions.

McKean also said hes focused on how individual facilities and congregations are handling security. Should we keep our door open? Whats the balance between being inviting and being a fortress?

Summit County Sheriff Frank Smith said that during his 42 years of law enforcement, he hasnt been as troubled as he has been during the last three to five years  particularly about schools and places of worship. He said the Summit County Sheriffs Office can help train residents if they call the nonemergency number.

In an interview after the panel discussion, Orsini spoke to the Deseret News about difficulties the Jewish community faces.

Its a sad commentary that we have to think about security so that we can go and pray, said Orsini. For the last few years, antisemitism has risen  not just in terms of hateful comments. This is just not general hate speech. This is targeted speech. ... We have to think about security. Its no longer a luxury.

He later said that people of faith can help the Jewish community feel more safe by being with them, reporting incidents of hate and not tolerating signs of hate.

Weiss also spoke to the Deseret News about how people of faith can support the Jewish community.

When the Tree of Life shooting took place, the very first group that stepped up to give us was the Islamic community of Pittsburgh, Weiss said. Wasi Mohamed spearheaded an effort within the Muslim community to fundraise enough money so none of the victims families had to worry about paying the bills for funerals.

Weiss said that since that time, the congregation hasnt used the synagogue. We are meeting in another synagogue right now, but for our high holiday services, we meet at the Calgary Episcopal Church.

Enjoy the differences that we have, but also the similarities we have, said Weiss. And build ourselves into a community instead of this group being isolated from this group.

Alex Shapiro, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah, moderates a panel discussion after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

A panel speaks after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Brad Orisini, senior national security advisor at Secure Community Network, gives remarks before a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" and a panel discussion hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Barrie McAllister, chief operating officer of the Jewish Community Center, speaks during a panel discussion after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Alex Shapiro, executive director of the United Jewish Federation of Utah, welcomes attendees to a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" and a panel discussion hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Summit County Sheriff Frank Smith speaks during a panel discussion after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Steve Weiss of the Tree of Life Synagogue sits on a panel discussion after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Dave McKean, Utah Jewish Community security advisor at Secure Community Network, speaks after a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" during a panel discussion hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News

Katharine Wang, executive director of Park City Film, welcomes attendees to a screening of HBOs "A Tree of Life" and a panel discussion hosted by the United Jewish Federation of Utah and Secure Community Network at Park City Film in Park City on Thursday, May 9, 2024. | Marielle Scott, Deseret News
CLEVELAND (WJW)  Residents across Northeast Ohio got a stunning show as an aurora, or northern lights were visible Friday night. Its a weather phenomenon thats exceedingly rare for this part of the world.

Credit: John Sabol

Credit: John Sabol

Credit: John Sabol

Credit: John Sabol

For the first time since 2005, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch, after spotting five coronal mass ejections pointed at Earth, expected to arrive by midday Friday, May 10, and stay through Sunday, May 12.

Its an unusual event, the NOAA noted.

Ohio man sues BMV for rejecting vanity plate  what does F46 LGB mean?

As for whether northern lights would be visible from Northeast Ohio on Friday night, clear skies cooperated giving many a great view.

Sunset on Friday, May 10, was just after 8:30 p.m. But Jay Reynolds, a research astronomer at Cleveland State University, said the likely best time to see an aurora would have been at about 2 a.m. on Saturday.

Been a long time since weve had anything like this, he said. The last true aurora which was easily visible to the naked eye was in 2012 and lasted 20 minutes. Yes, weve seen some glowing activity in recent years but nothing like this.

I would not promise anything. We can predict snow totals better than we can predict auroras  but these look promising.

The last time Reynolds predicted a visible aurora was guaranteed was in 2003, he said.

A friend called me while driving on the Shoreway. He could not believe was he was seeing. Even with the Shoreway lights, he could see them plain as day, he said. I was in Spencer Lake, and you could see the first signs of aurora as the sun was not even quite down yet. Incredible! So powerful  reds, greens, blues, you name it.  What a day.

The Best Beach in the World is 

Coronal mass ejections are scorching blasts of magnetized plasma from the suns corona which can cause electromagnetic disruptions on Earth, creating ribbons of multi-colored light that dance in the skies.

Several strong solar flares have been seen over the past few days from a sunspot cluster that is 16 times the diameter of Earth, according to the NOAA.

That cluster is so big you can see it without a telescope, said Reynolds. Just make sure youre wearing your solar eclipse glasses; dont look directly at the sun without proper protection.

There have only been three other severe geomagnetic storms seen in this solar cycle, which started in December 2019. The last extreme storm on Halloween in 2003 knocked out power in Sweden and South Africa, according to the NOAA.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
An aerial drone photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows a tourist dock at Baiyangdian Lake in Xiong'an New Area, north China's Hebei Province. Baiyangdian, the largest freshwater wetland in northern China, is located in the Xiong'an New Area in Hebei.

Since the Xiong'an New Area was established in 2017, the lake's rehabilitation and protection activities have been bolstered. As of 2023, the water quality in Baiyangdian had maintained Grade III in the country's five-tier quality system for three consecutive years. (Xinhua/Mu Yu)

A woman paints Peking Opera facial mask at the 20th world culture festival in Rabat, Morocco, May 8, 2024. The 20th world culture festival of the Rabat School of Mines kicked off here on Wednesday. Chinese paper-cutting, Lu Ban Lock and painting of Peking Opera facial mask were welcomed by Moroccan students. (Xinhua/Huo Jing)

This photo taken on May 8, 2024 shows a commemorative China-Europe freight train linking Yiwu of east China's Zhejiang Province and Madrid of Spain for the 10th anniversary of operation preparing to depart in Madrid, Spain. The commemorative train departed from Madrid to Yiwu on Wednesday. (Photo by Gustavo Valiente/Xinhua)

People release a snow leopard at Changtang National Nature Reserve, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, May 7, 2024. An adult snow leopard broke into a sheepfold and killed four sheep in Nyima County in Xizang on Sunday night and was captured by local wildlife conservation department the next early morning. The snow leopard was released into the wild at Changtang National Nature Reserve after physical check and confirmed healthy. (Xinhua/Jiang Fan)

Dancer Maryam Kaba (R) passes the Olympic Torch to local firefighter Matthieu Gudet during the relay of the Olympic flame of Paris 2024 in Marseille, France, May 9, 2024. (Photo by Julien Mattia/Xinhua)

An aerial drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows a freight ship docking the container terminal at Lianyungang Port, east China's Jiangsu Province. China's total goods imports and exports expanded 5.7 percent year on year in yuan terms in the first four months of this year, stronger than the 5 percent recorded in the first quarter, official data showed Thursday.

From January to April, the country's foreign trade in goods stood at 13.81 trillion yuan (1.95 trillion U.S. dollars).

In April alone, the foreign trade soared 8 percent to 3.64 trillion yuan, after contracting in the previous month, signalling improvements in demand at home and overseas. (Photo by Geng Yuhe/Xinhua)

A drone photo taken on May 9, 2024 shows an intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive (R) in Zhuzhou, central China's Hunan Province. An intelligent heavy-haul electric locomotive officially rolled off the production line in Zhuzhou on Thursday. It will be used in the heavy-haul transportation of Shuozhou-Huanghua Railway, China's second-largest channel for coal transport. (Xinhua/Chen Zeguo)

Visitors visit the China exhibition area at the Seoul International Travel Fair in Seoul, South Korea, May 9, 2024. The 39th Seoul International Travel Fair kicked off at the Seoul International Convention and Exhibition Center in Seoul on Thursday.

The Chinese exhibition area showcases tourism resources of places in China, showing the charm of Chinese cultural tourism to the South Korean visitors. (Xinhua/Yao Qilin)
Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) on Thursday did not rule out the possibility of taking the witness stand in his upcoming bribery trial next week in New York.

The trial is set to begin with jury selection on Monday in the U.S. District Court in Lower Manhattan.

In an interview with CBS News Nikole Killion in the halls of Congress, Menendez said he plans to be present in court for all days of the trial subject to the schedule.

When asked if he plans to take the witness stand, Menendez replied, Thats to be determined.

Sen. Bob Menendez (D-NJ) told CBS News' @NikolenDC that he's ready for his federal corruption trial next week involving an alleged bribery scheme. When asked about his case and recent bribery charges against a fellow Democrat, Rep. Henry Cuellar of Texas, Menendez said: pic.twitter.com/o0RRwNKMLU  CBS News (@CBSNews) May 9, 2024

Menendez and his wife, Nadine Menendez, were first charged in September 2023 for accepting bribes, including cash and gold bars, in exchange for the senator using his official position to seek to protect and enrich three New Jersey businessmen and benefit the government of Egypt.

Menendez, at the time, chaired the Senate Foreign Relations Committee but stepped down following his indictment in the case. The three businessmen, Will Hana, Jose Uribe and Fred Daibes, were also charged with taking part in the bribery scheme.

In superseding indictments, Menendez was charged with acting as a foreign agent for Egypt, using his political power to aid the government of Qatar, and obstructing justice for lying to federal prosecutors.

Menendez, his wife, Hana, and Daibes have pleaded not guilty. In March, Uribe reached a plea deal with prosecutors, agreeing to testify in the trial and cooperate in the case.

Nadine Menendez will face trial separately from her husband later in the summer due to a serious medical condition raised by her lawyers.

Court documents unsealed last month signaled that the senator may be prepared to blame his wife, saying she withheld information or otherwise led him to believe that nothing unlawful was taking place.

Asked by CBS News if he felt like he was treated differently to fellow Democrat Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas), who was indicted along with his wife on bribery charges but has not been pressured by his colleagues to resign, Menendez said: Everybodys innocent until proven guilty. Thats my view. For Congressman Cuellar, its the same.

The senator, who refused to resign from the upper chamber before the end of his term despite the multiple indictments against him, announced he wouldnt run in his states Democratic primary on June 4.

In March, he said, I am hopeful that my exoneration will take place this summer and allow me to pursue my candidacy as an independent Democrat in the general election.

Related...
Senate braces for showdown over push to make it harder to amend Missouri Constitution

Senate Majority Leader Cindy O'Laughlin of Shelbina speaks Thursday evening after passage of a $51.7 billion state budget as Sen. Lincoln Hough of Springfield waits for his turn to speak (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).

With the state budget finally out of the way, Missouri Republicans are ready to turn their attention to a priority theyve pursued since day one of legislative session: making it harder to amend the state constitution through an initiative petition.

Senate Majority Leader Cindy OLaughlin told reporters Thursday that Republicans intend to bring the initiative petition bill to the floor at noon Monday, five days before the end of session. However, the Senate on Friday afternoon announced they wouldnt reconvene until 2 p.m. Monday.

State Sen. Andrew Koenig of Manchester, a member of the Missouri Freedom Caucus, said Republicans plan to put changes to the initiative petition process before voters this year, even if it means invoking a rarely-used process to quash a Democratic filibuster.

The proposal would require constitutional amendments placed on the ballot through the initiative petition process to pass by both a simple majority of votes statewide and a majority of votes in at least a majority of the votes in Missouris congressional districts.

State Sen. Rick Brattin, a Harrisonville Republican and Freedom Caucus member, said Republicans are ready to use any means necessary to pass the initiative petition bill.

Republicans have argued that Missouris constitution is too easy to change, and that passing this amendment would give more voice to rural voters. Fueling their concerns this year is a proposed initiative petition seeking to get on the November ballot that would enshrine abortion rights into the constitution.

Democrats counter that the change is a direct assault on the concept of one person, one vote making it practically impossible for citizen-led ballot measures  which are already costly endeavors  to ever be victorious.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo of Independence speaks at a news conference Thursday after passage of the state budget. He said Democrats will filibuster legislation that would make it harder to pass constitutional amendments (Rudi Keller/Missouri Independent).

Initiative petitions campaigns currently require signatures from 8% of voters in six of the states eight congressional districts to qualify for the ballot. To pass once on the ballot, a statewide vote of 50% plus one is required  a simple majority vote.

An analysis by The Independent found that under the concurrent majority standard being proposed by Republicans, as few as 23% of voters could defeat a ballot measure. This was done by looking at the majority in the four districts with the fewest number of voters in 2020 and 2022.

Senate Minority Leader John Rizzo, an Independence Democrat, said Thursday that his party has worked in good faith on plenty of bills they opposed this session. And they are ready to sit down and let the initiative petition bill pass and be placed on the August ballot if Republicans remove the ballot candy, referring to provisions added that are unrelated to initiative petitions but included to make the proposal more appealing to conservative voters.

Alongside the initiative petition changes, the GOP-backed bill would ask Missourians to change the constitution to define legal voters as citizens of the United States as well as whether they want to prohibit foreign entities from sponsoring initiative petitions.

They know if they have a straight-up fight over this issue, they lose, Rizzo said. Which is why they have to contort themselves into all these different shapes and sizes in order to fool people into voting for something that will take rights away from them.

Koenig said there are three paths forward for Republicans: session ends without a vote on the bill, Democrats relent and allow a vote with ballot candy, or Republicans break the Democratic filibuster and force a vote.

In the Missouri Senate, with a long tradition of unlimited debate, moving to kill a filibuster is rare and typically results in a quick end to the legislative session.

The bill got initial approval from the Senate in February following a 21-hour-long filibuster by Democrats who only agreed to sit down once the ballot candy was removed.

A day later while sitting before the House Committee on Elections and Elected Officials, state Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, the bills sponsor, asked the House to reinstate the ballot candy, adding that Senate Republicans would be willing to kill a filibuster in order to defeat another filibuster by Democrats down the road.

Democrats cried foul, saying Colemans push represented a double cross after a deal was struck in the Senate. Nevertheless, the House ultimately obliged Coleman, passing the measure with ballot candy attached back to the Senate.

On Thursday, after the passage of the state budget, Coleman brought her bill to the floor for final passage. But after about 20 minutes of debate, she withdrew the bill for the day.

Brattin said his caucus colleagues agreed to end their 41-hour filibuster last week as part of an agreement to get both the budget and initiative petition changes across the finish line.

Republicans, Brattin said, are ready to use any means necessary to pass the initiative petition bill.

Speaking to reporters Thursday, OLaughlin gave no indication about whether she was considering a move to cut off debate and force a vote on the bill.

Rizzo acknowledged that Senate Democrats will be throwing caution to the wind if they take up a filibuster, but said theyve been left with no other option to try and protect citizens voices.

In the past two election cycles, two ballot measures stemming from initiative petitions  Medicaid expansion and recreational marijuana legalization  have passed despite opposition from the GOP majority in the statehouse. Meanwhile, hundreds of other initiative petition campaigns failed to land on the ballot in the first place.

Just last week, four initiative petition campaigns turned in signatures to the Missouri Secretary of States office hoping to land a spot on the ballot. Perhaps chief among these is a measure that would legalize abortion up to the point of fetal viability in Missouri, where nearly all abortions are illegal.

Republican leaders since last year have said that if the initiative petition process doesnt change, abortion would likely become legal again in Missouri.

Instead of the legislature being happy they dont have to deal with the issue, Rizzo said Thursday. Theyre offended that the people would have the audacity to go around them.

This story was updated at 2:45 p.m. Friday to reflect when the Senate plans to reconvene on Monday.

The Independents Rudi Keller contributed.

The post Senate braces for showdown over push to make it harder to amend Missouri Constitution appeared first on Missouri Independent.
The Senate on Thursday passed a five-year, $105 billion bill that will reauthorize the FAA, after a bruising fight over whether to expand long-haul flights at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport amid scuffling over adding unrelated amendments to one of the last must-pass bills that Congress will manage before the election.

The measure, H.R. 3935, was passed 88-4. In the end, over the strenuous objections of the Maryland and Virginia delegations, the bill retains language that would expand those flights by five round trips per day. Non-germane amendments were not allowed to be offered.

Soon after, the Senate also passed a stopgap, H.R. 8289, that would run through May 17, giving the House an extra week to act. It now heads to the presidents desk.

Without the extension, current authorities would have expired at 11:59 p.m. Friday, affecting the FAAs authority to collect and spend certain fees and tax revenues, and forcing some 3,600 employees to be furloughed. (Air traffic controllers are essential employees and would nonetheless have continued working even during a shutdown).

Slots fight petered out: On Wednesday evening a separate amendment from Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) that would have allowed flights to be expanded as long as DOT said it wouldnt wouldnt clog up the airport, cause delays or are otherwise unsafe didnt get a vote either. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer had attempted to call up the amendment, but Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), who supports the flight expansion in part because San Antonio would receive one of the slots, objected to Warners measure.

The Maryland and Virginia delegation said they would block expedited consideration of the measure unless they got a vote on their amendment. The final passage vote precluded that from happening. The senators eventually lifted their holds out of concern for the safety of the flying public and in order to provide certainty to air traffic controllers and other essential personnel, according to a spokesperson.

Earlier, Sen. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) said the extension had one hold from someone in each party, but he assumed there will be an effort to work that out.

Whats next: The House is expected to take up the full FAA bill upon their return next Tuesday.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Schumer hosts tech leaders and experts at AI forum at the U.S. Capitol in Washington

By Andrea Shalal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren called on the Treasury Department this week to address racial discrimination in the U.S. tax and banking systems more swiftly by advancing reforms proposed by an advisory board set up in December 2022.

In a letter dated May 9, Warren told Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen she was concerned that many recommendations made by the Treasury Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE) had not been implemented, including reforms to the IRS audit process.

Yellen named 24 experts to the committee to analyze U.S. economic factors that resulted in unfavorable conditions for Black, Latino and Native Americans. They have made over 40 recommendations to date, but experts say change has been slow.

Warren said the recommendations would improve economic conditions for communities that face barriers to building equity and assuring financial security for their families, and urged Yellen to implement them swiftly.

"I am concerned that the recommendations made by members of the TACRE remain in limbo at Treasury," Warren wrote in the letter, which was first reported by Reuters.

In response to the letter, Treasury cited rapid recoveries in Black and Latino unemployment rates, and significant gains in household wealth for both groups, relative to previous downturns.

The Treasury Department putting equity at the center of policy implementation led to the most equitable economic recovery on record, and we continue to prioritize these efforts, a spokesperson said.

One committee member, Dorothy Brown, a tax lawyer and law professor, told Marketplace in January she worried that Treasury was not embracing the recommendations and saw the committee as a "check-the-box" exercise.

Warren asked Treasury to brief her staff by May 23 on the timeline for implementing the remaining proposals, including reforms to the Internal Revenue Service's auditing progress, and creation of outreach tools to ensure low-income tax credits and green energy credits reached underserved communities.

The Democratic senator's letter comes as President Joe Biden works to shore up support in communities of color ahead of the November presidential election, in which he is seeking a second term. A number of Republican senators have challenged the creation of the committee, and its work has been closely scrutinized.

(Reporting by Andrea ShalalEditing by Frances KerryEditing by Jacqueline Wong and Frances Kerry)
Lieutenant General Oleksandr Pavliuk, Commander of Ukraine's Ground Forces, believes that the next two months will be critical at the front, as Russia is sending all combat-ready equipment to the battlefield ahead of much-anticipated Western aid reaching Ukraine.

Source: Pavliuk in an interview with The Economist

Details: Pavliuk forecasts the critical phase of the war in the next two months.

As US aid is just starting to arrive on the battlefield, the Russians are deploying all the combat-ready equipment they have to challenge the exhausted and under-supplied Ukrainian forces.

Quote: "Russia knows that if we receive enough weapons within a month or two, the situation could turn against them."

Details: The general noted that Ukraine urgently needs more air defence, and the expected delivery of F-16 fighter jets in early June will provide a significant boost. However, it remains uncertain whether Ukraine will receive the newer versions of the F-16s (block 50 onwards) necessary to counter Russian bombers.

The commander believes Russia will continue focusing on Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts. However, intelligence suggests that Russian forces will soon stretch Ukrainian defences by attacking the northeastern districts of Kharkiv and Sumy oblasts.

Pavliuk reckons that Russia is testing the resilience of Ukrainian defence lines before choosing the most suitable front.

The Economist also emphasised that Ukraine's loss of the settlement of Ocheretyne allowed Russia to break through the first line of defence and jeopardise essential supply routes.

Pavliuk said the loss of positions was due to "insane" pressure, Russian "air superiority" and an artillery ratio of 20:1. Russian artillery fire seven times more shells than Ukrainian ones along the entire war zone.

Ukraine still holds the war-torn town of Chasiv Yar, the key to the group of towns beyond. However, Pavliuk argues that the loss of Chasiv Yar would not be of "decisive significance" as it is merely "a regular urban settlement".

Background:

Pavliuk revealed that Ukraine plans to create 10 new brigades to prepare for a Russian offensive. Some of them will be used for the potential defence of Kyiv.

In an interview with The Times, Oleksandr Pavliuk confirmed that, based on Ukrainian intelligence, Russia does indeed have a plan for the possible capture of Kharkiv and Sumy.

In an interview with The Economist, Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, also suggested that Russia is preparing for an offensive in Kharkiv and Sumy Oblasts in Ukraine's north-east. He said that the timing of this depends on the strength of the Ukrainian defences in Donbas. But he suggests that the main Russian offensive will begin "in late May or early June".

Oleksandr Pavliuk said that Russia is creating a new grouping of more than 100,000 troops, and it is possible that Russia will try to launch an offensive in one of the areas in the summer.

Support UP or become our patron!
The former site of the Michigan Maple Block Co. on Standish Avenue will be the site of a high-density apartment complex with approximately 200 units in six to seven buildings.

PETOSKEY  Progress is being made on a housing development project that will turn the former Michigan Maple Block property into a high-density apartment complex.

City manager Shane Horn told the Petoskey City Council on Monday that abatement at the site is set to begin this week.

We are at the point of mobilizing for abatement and demolition, so were excited to see some activity happen on that site, he said. Abatement will be beginning this week. You can see a construction trailer on site currently. So youre going to see a lot of activity in and around that site in the coming weeks. Were excited to see that milestone.

More: High-density apartment complex coming to former Maple Block Co. site

More: Maple Block Flats project takes another step forward with county approval

Abatement will address hazardous materials and contamination at 1420 Standish Ave., which was home to Michigan Maple Block Co. for decades. The wood products manufacturer closed in April 2020 due to hardship caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The project has received some funding from the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energys Brownfield Program, which is intended to create economic opportunities by putting contaminated properties back into productive use while protecting human health and the environment.

The project was awarded a $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Grant and $1 million Brownfield Redevelopment Loan. According to EGLE, the property is contaminated with metals and petroleum compounds and the ground is unstable, requiring special foundations. The Brownfield funding will help pay for the removal of contaminated soil, a vapor mitigation system and the special foundations.

Subscribe: Check out our offers and read the local news that matters to you

More: Two housing developments in Petoskey still making progress

The former Michigan Maple Block site at 1420 Standish Ave. in Petoskey is seen on May 8, 2024.

The development is also intended to help address critical housing needs in the area.

Located about a mile from downtown Petoskey, the site had previously been suggested as a potential development site. The plan calls for several residential buildings and a total of 204 units, with half of those going at market rate and the other half falling within AMI (area median income) limitations.

 Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@petoskeynews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Work set to take place at former Michigan Maple Block property
PORTLAND, Ore.  An arsonist cut through the fence of the gated back lot of a Portland Police Bureau training facility and began setting fire to cop cars. The destruction  occurring in the early morning of May 2  was brazen: The assailant set fires that engulfed 17 vehicles, including one that grew into a fireball near a large propane tank, before fire crews arrived to douse the flames.

Even days later  as PPB cops on motorcycles zipped through turns of training course created by orange cones in the lot  the stench of charred plastic hung in the air. The hole in the fence had been patched, but damaged vehicles remained lined up beside the warehouse-size training building, located in an industrial zone near the airport. A few police SUVs showed melted driver-side tires. Other cruisers had gaping holes burned through their fenders. And several cop cars were just charred husks of naked metal.

Conflict between Portland Police and far-left activists is commonplace in this city, which former President George H.W. Bush once dubbed Little Beirut because of the tenacity of its protests. However, the burning of more than a dozen police cars  on police property no less  marks a jarring escalation in tactics. So does a claim of responsibility posted to a Portland anarchist web forum, by an anonymous group calling itself Rachel Corries Ghost Brigade. The statement connected the arson attack to support of a pro-Palestinian occupation at the Portland State University library, and called for violent resistance against police. Let 10 million cop cars burn! it declared.

A Portland Police spokesperson tells Rolling Stone PPB is aware of the post claiming responsibility for the fires, adding that the post is part of the investigation. A spokesperson for the FBI office in Portland would not confirm or deny that the feds have joined the investigation but said the FBI is also aware of the incident. If the claim of responsibility matches reality, it could mark the arrival of a new wave of what the government deems Anarchist Violent Extremism, a form of dangerous left-wing extremism that mirrors the threats posed by far-right militia movements and anti-government groups like the Oath Keepers and the Proud Boys.

Portland emerged as the epicenter of nightly protest in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd because demonstrators saw PPB as an avatar of the kind of violence-forward policing that led to Floyds death. PPB has been under Department of Justice supervision for more than a decade, with the feds attempting to rein in a pattern and practice of excessive force.

The 2020 protests against police brutality saw activists goad the cops into crackdowns that showcased their predilection to violence. PPBs pervasive use of force against protesters was decried as unconstitutional by DOJ; the polices use of tear gas inspired a damning report by international war crimes investigators; and probes of the cops have since surfaced police training materials that celebrated the bashing of dirty hippies.

Property destruction was a feature of the nightly actions in 2020, but it was, in the main, opportunistic and nuisance-making, e.g., breaking windows or painting anti-cop graffiti. Fire was occasionally used by agitators  but it was most often contained to a trashcan or a dumpster in a display of burning rage rather than a credible effort to burn down buildings.

The claim of responsibility for setting fire to the PPB vehicles has not been independently verified. It was posted to Rose City Counter-Info, an anarchist website that bills itself as run by an anonymous collective. The site has been active since the fall of 2020, touting itself as a secure and anonymous radical content-hosting platform specific to so-called Portland  a home for reports, analyses, communiques, announcements, calls to action, art and musings relevant to radicals and anarchists. The site has posted zines about the anarchist actions as well as how-to guides for Troublemakers.

The site has sometimes been viewed with skepticism  with one leftist Twitter account observing it seems like a ridiculous front for right-wing bad actors posing as anarchists  but Rose City Counter-Info has also been cited as a credible resource in academic papers on Portland anarchists. Rolling Stone messaged the site asking how or if they vetted the arsonist claim and did not hear back.

The statement, posted May 6, celebrated a Preemptive  attack against PPB. It reads in part: On May Day we torched some PPB cars at their training facility. We cut through a fence, set 10 fires and are happy it grew to burn 15 cars! (PPBs initial count of damaged vehicles was 15.) The statement said the arson was meant to impede an expected police sweep of a pro-Palestine student-led occupation of the Portland State University library. After seeing Humboldt, Columbia, UCLA, and more, the statement said, we knew the occupation at PSU would be swept violently and wanted to attack PPB before.

In addition to taking responsibility for the fires, the statement included a call to violence, urging student occupiers to FIGHT! to defend their encampments: If the frat bros come, smash their frat house windows! If the Zionist settlers come, throw fireworks at them! It added: If the cops come, dont just resist arrest, fight them!  it is time to be violent. The statement concluded with a call to avenge Palestinians and the brutalized students at PSU and beyond! It added: Let 10 million cop cars burn!

Alexander Ross is a PSU professor who researches extremist movements and political violence. He was cautious to weigh in on the statement given the evolving situation, but said from his reading of the document, I doubt it was some kind of false flag.

He characterizes the attack on the police training center as a very big escalation  even from the more extreme acts of the 2020 protests and riots. The way that the manifesto not only claimed responsibility for the arson but connected it to the campus protests, he argues, could easily open up charges of terrorism and conspiracy for those responsible. And it will almost certainly increase tensions between cops and street activists going forward.

The PSU library occupation was cleared by police on the morning of May 2. Occupiers reportedly created considerable damage to the school library building, but not to its collections. The library will not open again until fall. Portland Police arrested 30 individuals, at least a half dozen of whom were PSU students, and are searching for more than a dozen others who fled the building. Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler, who doubles as the police commissioner, blasted protesters as delusional for believing their actions could influence the conditions on the ground in the Middle East.

PPB said no one is in custody for the crime. It refused to release surveillance camera footage of the attack. The manager of a family business that neighbors the PPB training facility showed Rolling Stone a repaired cut in the fence at the back of his property, where the arsonist appears to have gained entry to the police lot. (His own surveillance footage only captured the reflection of flames and flashing emergency lights, he said.)

The arson against cop cars and the claim of responsibility have made headlines not only in Oregon but also in Israel  where it has been covered by the Jerusalem Post and the Times of Israel. The invocation of the name of Rachel Corrie has proven provocative to audiences both in the Pacific Northwest and in Israel.

Corrie was an American peace activist from Washington living in Gaza in 2003. She attempted to prevent an armored Israeli Defense Force bulldozer from destroying Palestinian homes, which the IDF claimed were being used by militants. Corrie was crushed and killed by a bulldozer operator, who later insisted he did not see her.

Some far-left groups have been excited by the branding. The Connecticut chapter of the John Brown Gun Club  a far-left gun rights group inspired by the anti-slavery radical who attempted to seize an armory at Harpers Ferry  wrote on X: Rachel Corries Ghost Brigade is an incredible moniker. May we all live righteously enough to be worthy of such a namesake.

Corries parents, by contrast, have been taken aback. Its just wrong, Corries father Craig told reporters. Theyve co-opted Rachels name for use they would never, ever have approved of.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON)  A San Francisco man has pleaded guilty to stealing over $340,000 in funds intended for low-income housing benefits. Gregory Finkelson, 64, admitted that between August 2006 and February 2020, he wrongfully claimed $341,455 in Section 8 Program subsidies, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

The Section 8 Certificate Program is a rent subsidy program funded by HUD and administered jointly in SF by HUD and the San Francisco Housing Authority (SFHA). The program is for helping low- and moderate-income families afford housing.

It has income limits and other eligibility requirements applicants must meet.

In Finkelsons case, the DOJ states that he lied about his income and ownership of a San Francisco residence be purchased in 2005 that is now valued at around $2.4 million. He also lied about a business he ran out of his residence.

He used the fraudulently obtained funds to pay his credit cards, fund his business, and make payments on a timeshare in Hawaii.

Top 10 most stolen cars, trucks in California

This defendant fraudulently obtained housing benefits designated for some of the neediest individuals in our society and used them to enrich himself, said United States Attorney Ismail J. Ramsey. I am proud of the work this Office does to prosecute those who defraud the government, particularly where, as here, it is low-income families who suffer the most as a result of the defendants selfish conduct.

As part of his scheme, Finkelson used the name of a Russian national living in Russia to purchase his SF home. He falsely claimed that she was his landlord and he made rent payments to her. He also admitted he opened several bank accounts, including in the Russian nationals name.

He used these bank accounts, the DOJ said, to conceal his use of the fraudulently obtained Section 8 Program funds.

Finkelson pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government property. Pursuant to a plea agreement, he agreed to pay at least $341,455 in restitution. He faces a statutory maximum prison sentence of 10 years. The court may also order him to pay a fine of up to $250,000 and to serve a three-year supervised release term.

He faces sentencing on Sept. 9, 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
A Florida man has spoken out after he was attacked by two sharks off the coast of the Bahamas, revealing that it felt like a punch.

Marlin Deere Wakeman, 24, was at the Flying Fish Marina on Long Island in the Bahamas on 26 April when he slipped and fell from a dock and landed in the shark-infested ocean.

When I ended up in the water, I pretty much knew what was going to happen, Mr Wakeman told reporters in Florida on Thursday, saying that the waters are sometimes so crowded with sharks that you could almost walk on their heads.

Next thing he knew, he was under attack from two sharks.

He grabbed me, pulled my head underwater and then let go of me, he said of the first shark bite to his knee. I got really lucky he didnt head shake or hold on for a while.

Another shark then bit his shoulder, he said.

At that point, the adrenaline kicked in and Mr Wakeman pulled himself back onto his boat.

I had so much adrenaline going through my body that it was like a fight or flight kind of thing, he said. I got back into the boat and kind of assessed what happened and looked at my leg. It wasnt really bleeding yet. It was kind of, you know, all mangled.

He said that it felt like a punch when the shark bit his shoulder, adding: You really dont feel the teeth going in.

Marlin Wakeman, 24, seen having treatment (left) after being attacked by two sharks in the Bahamas (ABC News 10/WPLG/CNN/Marlin Wakeman)

After getting to safety, Mr Wakemans friend texted his father to let him know what had happened.

As a parent, I can tell you that time really does stand still, Rufus Wakeman said on Thursday. Everything in the periphery goes to a blur. Its the worst type of text you can get.

He knew a surgeon at St Marys Hospital in West Palm Beach, Florida, and so flew his son there for treatment.

Mr Wakeman underwent stitches for his injuries, with doctors saying it was amazing that he had managed to keep all of his limbs. His stitches came out on Thursday.

Marlin Wakeman seen shortly after he was attacked by two sharks on 26 April 2024 (ABC News 10/Marlin Wakeman)

Doctors said that one of the bites was dangerously close to an artery, meaning things could have ended very differently.

The fact that there are 20 sharks in there and you were able to get out of there and still have a leg is amazing, Dr Robert Borrego, the surgeon who treated Marlin, told him at Thursdays press conference.

The surgeon estimated that the sharks which bit Mr Wakeman were between seven and eight feet long, judging by the size of the bite marks.

Despite the lucky escape, photos show Mr Wakeman smiling throughout much of what he described as a pretty crazy experience.

While he is still on crutches for now, he has vowed to head back to the Bahamas as soon as he can.

Maybe Ill have some nightmares here and there, but I think Ill be all right, he said.
SHENYANG, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The 11th Dajiang Forum, a platform to discuss the peaceful development of relations between the Chinese mainland and Taiwan, was held on Friday in Shenyang in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Themed "facilitating cross-Strait exchange and jointly striving for national rejuvenation," the forum was sponsored by the Central Committee of the Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League.

It was attended by about 150 guests, including officials, scholars and business leaders, from both sides of the Strait. They shared ideas on topics including the promotion of China's rich traditional culture and their experiences living and working on the mainland.

Addressing the forum, Liu Cigui, a member of the Standing Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee, called on compatriots on both sides of the Taiwan Strait to join forces in creating a bright future for the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.

The forum was launched in 2014 and is held annually. 
She fled violence while pregnant. Now a Venezuelan migrant is trying to build a better life in the U.S.

CHICAGO  On the week of her due date, Elibexis Alvarez, a Venezuelan migrant, was preparing to give birth to her first child far away from her parents and the home country she never thought shed leave.

She and her husband, Johan Jose Medina, have spent the last four months living in temporary shelters in Chicago after fleeing escalating violence in Venezuela. They are part of the tens of thousands of migrants and asylum-seekers who have been bused north after being processed at the southern border over the last two years.

I never dreamed of being here, Alvarez, 28, said as she sat in a Chicago church earlier this year, her hands resting gently on her stomach. But I feel that my son will be safe here.

Making Chicago home has not been easy, as theyve struggled to find work and permanent housing.

Last month, the couple awaited the birth of their baby in a room at a temporary hotel shelter for migrants that they share with Alvarezs sister-in-law and young nephew who also made the journey north.In a corner, Alvarez had set up the babys things, including several packets of donated diapers and baby shoes. She and her husband share a bunk bed and use the top bunk for storage. The small room has another bunk bed for their relatives, and suitcases containing everyones belongings fill the space.

We feel comfortable there because we are together and we are not like in the previous shelter where we were in cots, where we were in a room with 20 other people, she said.

But they long for stability and normalcy that they believe will come only after Medina is able to find work.

I pray that my husband gets a work permit so that we can get out of the shelter, look for an apartment to move into, Alvarez said. I would like my son to have everything like we have dreamed of.

Alvarez said she and Medina fled Venezuela because he was targeted and had been beaten up multiple times for his activism as part of an opposition party that has challenged Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Maduro has served as president for more than a decade in a country reeling from economic and political strife, corruption and allegations of fraudulent elections.

They came to my house and they shot at my house, Alvarez said, wringing her fingers. Thats when I told my husband, we cant be here anymore or theyre going to kill you. Theyre going to kill you and Im pregnant.

They left the next day on a monthslong, dangerous journey where, she said, they were stopped by criminals and shot at. Alvarez nearly drowned, she said, after jumping into a river to escape an armed assault.

Elibexis Alvarez outside the Chicago Riverwalk on March 21, 2024. (Matthew Kwiecinski / NBC News)

NBC News could not independently verify the details of her story.The couple turned themselves in to immigration enforcement in December while Alvarez was six months pregnant.

She and her husband were quickly separated as Medina was held in detention and Alvarez bused to a shelter in Chicago.

I cried and screamed, Alvarez said, fearing that her husband would be deported while she remained in the U.S. alone.

The couple, who have been married for five years, were reunited in January.

More than 41,000 migrants have arrived in Chicago since 2022, when Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing thousands of migrants to Democratic-led cities. There were 7,969 migrants living in Chicagos city and state-run shelters as of May 6, according to the most recent data available on the citys website.

Chicago, along with New York and Denver, have struggled to provide enough resources and housing to keep up with the influx of migrants and have instituted measures to conserve their budgets, including shelter evictions.

In March, Chicago began enforcing 60-day shelter limits for some migrants as part of its attempt to have migrants transition from shelters into housing. Pregnant migrants and families with children are currently exempt from the policy, which allows migrants to reapply for shelter after their 60 days are over.

But because many do not yet have work permits, or may not qualify for one at all, thousands of migrants remain in the shelter system, unable to afford permanent housing.

Migrants who qualify for work permits have to wait about six months after filing their complete asylum applications before they can receive work permits.

Medina said he has asked God for the opportunity to have a work permit, so that I can get a job and fend for myself and help my family.

For now, he wakes up at 4:30 a.m. each day and goes to Home Depot parking lots to look for work as a day laborer. The two have been unable to save money, using whatever Medina earns to buy food to supplement the shelters offerings, which, he said, are sometimes expired.

Elibexis Alvarez sits in the pews at Concord Missionary Baptist Church in Chicago on March 22. (Matthew Kwiecinski / NBC News)

During a visit and interview last month, they said their days revolved around whether Medina could get work and Alvarezs doctors appointments. They also often go to church; their faith is a fundamental part of their life.Alvarez said her husband felt defeated on long days when he couldnt find work and came home empty-handed to their room with a pregnant wife, his sister and little nephew without feeding them.

Many times he went to bed without eating so that we could eat, Alvarez said.

Hes been trying to apply to job after job, looking for an apartment, anything that can give us some stability because my due date is coming. How do you take care of a baby like that? Alvarez said.

Alvarez focuses on the future that her life in America could bring. She delivered a healthy baby boy April 19. She said she wants to be able to work, take classes to learn English and specialize in her career, like when she was a nurse technician in Venezuela.

For her son, she hopes to give him a life she said would be unimaginable in her home country right now.

There are many opportunities here, many, many opportunities for my son to study and for him to succeed.

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
A Hmong verteran salutes at the Lao, Hmong and American Veterans Memorial program for Memorial Day program, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Sheboygan, Wis.

SHEBOYGAN  The Hmong Student Organization at South High will host its first event to honor Hmong veterans and celebrate Hmong culture and history next week.

The Hmong Veterans Day Presentation will be held on Hmong-Lao Veterans Day May 14, which Gov. Tony Evers designated in 2021 as a way to honor and recognize the Hmong veterans who contributed to the U.S. military efforts in the Secret War. The CIA recruited Hmong people in neighboring Laos to fight Communist forces during the Vietnam War.

The presentation will not only honor Hmong veterans but explore other effects of the Secret War, like the impact on Hmong civilians who were displaced and separated from their families as they fled. Some estimates put the number of Hmong people who came to the U.S. from this conflict at the tens to hundreds of thousands.

This will be the larger context of a play HSO wrote for the presentation, following two families as they flee to the U.S. and adjust to living in a new place.

Lunabellas perform at the Lao, Hmong and American Veterans Memorial, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Sheboygan, Wis.

Though the play is fictional, HSO co-president and South senior Kelsie Vang said this is a story experienced by many Hmong families.

Vang said Hmong families may wonder what couldve been" if they stayed with their families in Laos. But they were separated and moved to America. It's such a true story," she said.

Autumn Lee, HSO co-president and South senior, said the play could give the older Hmong generation more visibility, too, by sharing a story that could resemble their own.

Amanda Xiong, HSO public relations chairperson and South senior, said she wants students at South High to understand what Hmong people experienced during the Secret War.

Hmong community members march in the Memorial Day parade, Monday, May 29, 2023, in Sheboygan, Wis.

That's not hugely covered in the social studies class, Xiong said. From this, I just want them to learn about Hmong culture and how Hmong people came to America, because even though there's a huge Hmong student (population) here, a lot of people still don't really know how they came to the United States and what they contributed to the war.

Sheboygan County has the fourth largest population of Hmong people in the state. Hmong people also account for more than 70% of the Asian American population in Sheboygan.

I really hope that the South High community and the community as a whole learns about Hmong culture because it is a fascinating culture, HSO adviser and South special education teacher Randall McAdoo said. I hope that we are able to continue this tradition.

New business opens in El Camino space: New bar and banquet hall takes El Camino's spot on Michigan Avenue in Sheboygan. Here's what to know.

The presentation will feature a Hmong veteran guest speaker, play about the Secret War and more.

Images of Hmong people will be displayed as attendees arrive to the event, some depicting stages of them fleeing to the U.S.

The hour-long presentation will open with an introduction from McAdoo. The presentation guest speaker, Hmong Veteran Shua Yang, who was a First Sargeant in the U.S. Armys military intelligence division, will follow.

After that, there will be an interactive Hmong language learning portion, a play called Meet Me Under the Mango Tree and a dance from the HSO Dance Team.

Contact HSO adviser to reserve a seat for the Hmong Veteran Presentation.

The Hmong Veterans Day Presentation will be at in the auditorium at South High School, 1240 Washington Ave., from 10:45 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. It is open to the public and the South High community. A limited number of seats are available. Contact Randall McAdoo at rmcadoo@sasd.net to reserve a seat.

Have a story tip? Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner.

This article originally appeared on Sheboygan Press: Sheboygan South Hmong Student Organization to host Hmong veteran event
Sheriffs detectives on Thursday arrested one person in a group of suspects accused of carrying out two smash-and-grab robberies several weeks apart at the same south Sacramento jewelry store.

The Sheriffs Office said about $280,000 worth of jewelry was stolen from the retailer in the two robberies after the men smashed glass display cases as customers and employees hid in a back room.

The suspect arrested was a 19-year-old Stockton man taken into custody Thursday at a San Joaquin County home east of Stockton, the Sacramento County Sheriffs Office announced in a news release.

Detectives searched two San Joaquin County homes, where they found evidence related to the robberies, deputies said. The Sheriffs Office did not include the name of the jewelry store or its location in the news release.

The jewelry heists match two robberies in December and February at a jewelry store in the 6100 block of Florin Road reported on the Sheriffs Offices publicly available crime map.

The first smash-and-grab robbery occurred Dec. 24 at the jewelry store, according to the news release. Seven men reportedly entered the jewelry store with hammers and other blunt objects during business hours while customers and employees were inside.

Sheriffs officials said the suspects swarmed the store and started breaking the display cases with the objects, along with their hands and feet. The suspects reportedly stole about $250,000 worth of jewelry.

The customers and employees feared for their safety and hid in a back room, deputies said in the news release.

The second smash-and-grab robbery occurred Feb. 13 when two men ransacked the jewelry store during business hours. Sheriffs officials said the suspects smashed display cases while the customers and employees  worried about their safety  hid in a back room. The suspects reportedly stole about $30,000 worth of jewelry.

Detectives later determined the same group of suspects carried out the two robberies. The Sheriffs Office on Thursday released security camera video of the jewelry store robberies.

Detectives still investigating these jewelry store robberies asked anyone with relevant information to call the Sheriffs Office at 916-874-5115 or Sacramento Valley Crime Stoppers at 916-443-4357.
As he released the video of last Friday's killing of Airman Roger Fortson, Okaloosa County, Fla. Sheriff Eric Aden said he met with the family and offered his deepest condolences. Aden said he has asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to handle the criminal investigation that's required under the circumstances. Screen capture/WEAR/YouTube

May 10 (UPI) -- The Okaloosa County, Fla., sheriff's department released body camera video of the fatal shooting of Airman Roger Fortson last week by one of its deputies.

Sheriff Eric Aden shared the body camera footage during a press conference, with the video showing a sheriff's deputy knocking on the apartment door and twice announcing it was law enforcement.

Almost instantly after Fortson opened the door with a gun in his hand, pointed at the floor, the deputy fired several shots that killed Fortson.

As Fortson lay mortally wounded the deputy told him to the drop the gun.

Fortson can be heard on the video saying, "I don't have it."

The deputy can then be heard calling emergency medical services.

"It pains me to show the video, but I know that you all need to see it," Aden said.

He also said that the deputy had arrived at the correct apartment and did not obscure the peephole, nor burst into the apartment.

Attorney Ben Crump said in a statement earlier this week, cited a witness who was on a FaceTime call with Fortson who said the deputy, responding to a disturbance call, had arrived at the wrong apartment as Fortson was alone at the time and there was no disturbance.

"In the four-and-a-half minute, heavily redacted video, it is very troubling that the deputy shot multiple times within a split second of the door being opened, killing Roger," Crump said.

Fortson's family said in a statement that the video, "provided some answers, but it's also raised even more troubling questions."

"As the officer didn't tell Roger to drop the weapon before shooting, was the officer trained to give verbal warnings? Did the officer try to initiate life-saving measures? Was the officer trained to deal with law-abiding citizens who are registered gun owners?" the family said.

"We remain adamant that the police had the wrong apartment as Roger was on the phone with his girlfriend for a substantial amount of time leading up to the shooting, and no one else was in the apartment," they added. Aden extended the family his "deepest condolences" and said they have his word if the shooting is found to be unjustified their son's name will be fully vindicated and justice will be served.

"This result is one we never hope to encounter," Aden said.

Aden said his department is "doing what we can to assure the facts of this case are fully understood."

To that end, he said, he's asked the Florida Department of Law Enforcement to handle the criminal investigation that's required under the circumstances.

"It is important to note that while this is a criminal investigation, no determination has been made as to whether the deputy's actions were justified or not," Aden said. "I want to assure you that we're not hiding, covering up or taking action that would result in a rush to judgment of Mr. Fortson or our deputy."

Aden said many questions must be answered before it can be determined whether the officers actions were justified.

He said his office is committed to transparency.

Aden said the deputy did announce himself twice. He said Fortson's comments indicate he acknowledged he knew it was law enforcement at the door.

Aden said Fortson "arrived at the door with a firearm in his hand."

He said the deputy knocked on the correct door and "he did not cover the peep hole or otherwise obscure its view in any way."
For two years in a row, gun violence has erupted at Cinco de Mayo gatherings on Milwaukee's near south side and authorities, elected officials and the wider community are expressing growing concerns about large gatherings turning violent.

A 29-year-old Milwaukee police officer was shot and injured at a gathering Sunday near West Scott Street and South Cesar Chavez Drive. He was shot in the leg and is expected to survive. The officer was not the target of the shooting.

A South Milwaukee man was charged Wednesday with first-degree reckless injury and first-degree recklessly endangering safety in connection to the shooting.

Sunday's police shooting makes it two years in a row that gun violence involving police occurred at the Cinco de Mayo festivities. Last year, police shot a man and a teenager who were holding guns and had recently fired shots. Both of the people shot survived. The officers were cleared of wrongdoing by the Milwaukee County District Attorney's Office.

The holiday celebrating Mexico's victory over the French in 1862 has become a date locally on which crowds gather on the south side along Cesar Chavez Drive and at Mitchell Park. More recently, the incidents have become violent, leading to arrests at the park, and sometimes there's gunfire in a celebratory nature. Authorities said they've increased patrols in the area surrounding the holiday.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez recommends making the festivities a county-sponsored event with better security to prevent future altercations. He held a news conference at the Mitchell Park Domes Thursday and proposed a few changes in the way it is handled.

Milwaukee County Supervisor Juan Miguel Martinez

A priority is protecting street vendors who attend the festivities. "We are going to introduce some legislation with the city and with the county to be able to protect street vendors from now on," Martinez said.

A viral video of a vendor being harassed by a group of young people sparked outrage in the community, particularly the local Mexican-American population, who hold up paleteros as a symbol of hard work and Mexican pride.

At one point, a man ran behind the vendor and pushed his cart onto its side while the crowd watched. The man found the vendor on Monday and apologized in person while live on Facebook. But there was outcry about making sure vendors are protected out in the community. Martinez said he is proposing a bill.

Due to the harassers being Black, a considerable amount of anti-Black rhetoric spewed online, leading to Black activists like Vaun Mayes taking notice. Martinez and Mayes met at Thursday's news conference and Mayes posted a video of the interaction to Facebook.

"This community is Latino, but this community is also Black, this community is also Middle Eastern, this community is also Asian, many communities of color," Martinez said. "I want to see every community of color having their own festival here in the park at some point."

Martinez said he is in agreement with activists who believe "activating" and investing in Milwaukee County Parks is what is needed. "It is very important that we make our parks as active as possible because they are the lifeblood of a community. ... When a park is active, there's more eyes on it. When there's more eyes on it, there's more people enjoying it," he said.

"There hasn't been .... a lot of things pushing forward to help the parks because the parks are not active."

"We are taking many steps with the parks in order to make it a lot easier for people to be able to rent spaces and enjoy the park," he added.

On the city level, Martinez said he's heard there are talks of permitting the vendor carts. And he wants to see maps for vendors be created showing zones for ideal space to distribute goods.

"There's like a few things," Martinez said. "Those are the ones I'm zeroing in on."

Officer injured is latest act of gun violence on holiday

Handling safety at the park and in the surrounding area to help reduce the acts of violence and reduce the burden on authorities during Cinco de Mayo festivities will be the first task for officials, like Martinez.

Without forgoing community events to celebrate a cherished holiday, authorities in the past have raised concerns about gatherings that arise in the city, typically originating on social media during the warmer months, and how they can escalate to violence.

The officer injured in Sunday's shooting has not been identified by the department. Mark Courtney, 26, is accused of shooting the officer.

According to a criminal complaint, the officer was shot at about 10:52 p.m. while monitoring crowds. "I think something hit me," he said. The officer said he felt pain in his left leg and then realized he had been shot, the complaint states. Other officers rendered aid and eventually the officer was transported to Froedtert Hospital.

The shot came from the direction of the Jalisco's restaurant on Cesar Chavez Drive, where four casing were recovered, according to the complaint.

Courtney was detained after an officer saw him walking fast away from the scene with a handgun in his waistband, the complaint states. Courtney said he is a concealed carry permit holder and he had just fired his firearm, according to police.

Prosecutors said surveillance video shows Courtney fired shots in the direction of an "unknown male" after the male skipped and forced his way through the line at Jalisco's and the two got in an argument.

The shots missed the unknown male but hit the officer standing yards away. No officers returned fire and no one else was injured.

Courtney told detectives he believed the unknown male was going kill him.

Police Chief Jeffrey Norman held a news conference in the early morning hours of May 6.

"We are trying to celebrate culture, family, we want to honor the history and here we are dealing with violence in a senseless manner," Norman said, "where we don't understand the reasoning of having the use of firearms, especially in a reckless manner, when there should be a celebration about freedom and independence.

"This is something our community does not want; this is something we cannot tolerate in our city.

"We are again just very disappointed in regards to some of the individuals within our city who do not take this type of moment to really just enjoy themselves, enjoy the company of each other."

Gina Castro of the Journal Sentinel contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Violent Cinco de Mayo festivities have Milwaukee officials concerned
TOPEKA (KSNT)  A Lawrence family deeply impacted by childhood cancer is voicing their support for the St. Jude Dream Home.

The Henderson family welcomed their son into the world in September of 2017. His name is Grit.

It means never give up, Grit said.

When he was just three months old, Grit was diagnosed with a rare form of prostate cancer called embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma. Now looking back, Grits father Nolan said it came as a shock.

I had never even heard those words before in our entire lives, Nolan said. Needless to say over six years ago now it was pretty devastating news.

See our previous reporting on Grits cancer journey

Nolan said he and his wife Laura scrambled to figure out what to do. Then along came the St. Jude Childrens Research Hospital.

St. Jude actually had a program for this specific type of cancer, Nolan said. The first two years it was a long grueling battle where we didnt know what was going to happen.

Fast forward to today, Grit is cancer free and living like any other six year old boy. He especially enjoys karate, which he excitedly demonstrated during an interview. KSNT 27 News asked Grit what his hobbies are.

Probably play with my friends a lot, Grit said. And then karate.

Nolan said Grit and their family wouldnt be where they are now without the support from St. Jude. He said the hospital gives families a whole lot more than just medical treatment.

What sets St. Jude apart is the philanthropy of it. We never received a bill for any of the treatments, any of the surgeries, any of the medicine. So youre focusing on hope instead of being sick. Nolan Henderson, Grits father

The goal of St. Judes is to cure pediatric cancer and it relies on donations to make it happen. The St. Jude Dream Home in Topeka is one way they raise funds.

The annual raffle costs just $100 per ticket. The winner receives a brand-new home and all the proceeds go toward funding childhood cancer research.

Nolan said after everything St. Jude has done for his family, theres no better cause worth supporting.

They gave us hope, He said. And now that we are survival, we have to represent not only the other survivors, but we have to represent the angels too. And I will forever do this for that hospital because it means that much.

There will be tours of the Dream Home throughout the month of July leading up to the raffle drawing on July 31. There are only 7,000 tickets being sold. Tickets can be purchased and more information can be found on St. Judes website.

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.
Forced-labor-linked cotton from Chinas Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region is still sneaking its way into products sold by U.S. and global retailers, with a sizable portion hidden in blended fibers identified as American or Brazilian in origin, a new report has found.

That 19 percent of more than 820 cotton-containing samples, purchased and probed over a year, tested positive for Xinjiang cotton is significant, particularly in the wake of its ban in the United States under the two-year-old Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act.said MeiLin Wan, vice president of textile sales at DNA authentication firm Applied DNA Sciences.

More from Sourcing Journal

If it was 5 or 10 percent, Ill be saying, Maybe thats just an artifact, said Wan, whose company conducted the study with isotopic analysis lab Stratum Reservoir. But the fact that it sort of this one-in-five number is similar to what people have been recording and guesstimating.

Isotopic testing is similar to a fingerprint comparison, except the fingerprints are the stable isotopes of chemical elements like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen. In 2022, German scientists used isotopic techniques to uncover traces of Xinjiang cotton in T-shirts and button-downs from Adidas, Puma and Hugo Boss, even though brands say they no longer source materials or products there.

Wan was referring to the oft-quoted statistic that one in five cotton garments sold globally contains Xinjiang cotton. China derives some 90 percent of its cotton from the northwestern province, where authorities have been accused of engaging in the widespread persecution and modern-day enslavement of Uyghurs and other Turkic Muslim minorities, though Beijing adamantly denies this. Chinese cotton, in turn, makes up roughly 20 percent of the worlds production of the white fluff.

Applied DNA Sciences and Stratum Reservoirs finding also lines up with the 15 percent positivity rate that Customs and Border Protection, or CBP, found across 86 tests that it commissioned in December 2022 and April and May 2023, the results of which Reuters obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. While the tested items had their brand names redacted, their descriptions identified garments such as jeans, T-shirts, dresses, boxers and baby onesies.

The latest investigation took off from there, Wan said. What if someone tested more than 86 items? And what if that same person didnt look at only finished clothing but also yarns, fabrics, canvas footwear, socks and home textiles like kitchen towels and curtains that were not only U.S.-bound but could offer a global birds eye view?

Wan said that the companies decided to keep the identities of the offending brands under wraps, partly for legal reasons (we obviously dont want to be sued) and partly because they wanted to be helpful rather than name and shame. She did note, however, that at least one-quarter of the samples would have entered the United States under the so-called de minimis loophole, which frees small packages valued at less than $800 from paying taxes, fees or tariffs andcruciallysubjects them to less scrutiny even though theyre not exempt from the UFLPA. A whopping 685 million of these packages inundated the country in 2022 alone, according to CBP.

Kimberly Glas, president and CEO of the National Council of Textile Organizations, a Washington, D.C and North Carolina-based trade group, wants to see de minimis shut down. Its her opinion that the exemption is fueling forced labor and unfair environmental practices, as well as facilitating the trafficking of guns and illicit drugs like fentanyl. The same cheap shipments from China are also undercutting the competitiveness of domestic textile manufacturers, 16 of which have closed in the past several months. For Glas, this is nothing short of a five-alarm fire situation.

This underscores the alarm that the industry has been raising for months about the infiltration of Xinjiang cotton into the United States, she said of the assessment. Its literally it sitting in our closet being delivered to our doorsteps and UFLPA enforcement has been anemic. The penalties for UFLPA violation have been anemic.

Wan said that the 19 percent figure wasnt too surprisingChina, after all, churns out a lot of yarn and fabric. What, in her words, shocked her, however, was the fact that 57 percent of the positive samples claimed to hail from the United States, followed by 12 percent from Brazil, 11 percent from Chinese provinces outside Xinjiang and 9 percent from Australia. At the same time, roughly half of Chinas cotton imports come from Brazil and the United States, which means if there is any blending with domestic cotton to make up quantities, its going to happen, whether intentionally or not, Wan said.

On the flip side, if you think about it, if there was going to be blending of cotton, wouldnt U.S. cotton be the biggest target because of the UFLPA? she said. It may be that if people claim U.S. origin, they feel it wont be checked or tested. This is not just a forced labor issue; this is a [Federal Trade Commission]-labeling issue.

Rooting out Xinjiang cotton despite the UFLPA, Canada and Mexicos modern slavery restrictions under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement and the European Unions forthcoming forced labor regulation wont be easy, said Sheng Lu, associate professor of fashion and apparel studies at the University of Delaware. For one thing, Chinas national media has reported a 34.6 percent uptick in textile exports from Xinjiang, suggesting more products containing Xinjiang cotton could be supplied to the world market despite an increasing number of American fashion companies reducing their exposure to the superpower, he said.

The findings reveal the daunting tasks of removing Xinjiang cotton from the supply chain and the additional technical support and practical tools fashion brands and retailers need to ensure no forced labor in the supply chain, Lu said. China might also be getting around the U.S. blockade by increasing exports of non-cotton apparel. The first quarter of 2024 saw man-made fibers constitute 61.4 percent of Chinas total apparel exports to the United States, a notable rise from the 55 percent reported in 2018, he said.

A 2021 report from the Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice at Sheffield Hallam University also warned of cotton laundering through transnational trade that obscures the fibers true origin, allowing it to seep into the clothing of brands that have released statements insisting that they dont source cotton, textiles or garments from Xinjiang or tolerate forced labor in any form.

Just imagine a bucket of paint, right? Wan said. It starts off as blue. And as you start to add green, yellow, red, brown [and] purple, [its hard to] figure out what origin it has because youve got so many. Thats why recycled cotton is not easy to verify because theyre blending it and taking the fibers from God knows where. So truly unknown origins.

At a House Committee on Homeland Security hearing in January, Eric Choy, CBPs executive director for trade remedy and law enforcement, revealed that the agency has established an isotopic testing lab in Savannah, Ga.it was previously using the New Zealand verification company Oritain, which also tests for brands like popular de minimis-reform target Sheinwith similar setups in New York City and Los Angeles to follow.

Grant Cochrane, CEO of Oritain, said that the issue of cotton from non-compliant areas showing up throughout the supply chain isnt new, but that brands that arent focused on supply chain traceability face a higher risk.

Objective verification of supply chain sourcing is critical, and brands cannot rely on vendor self-declaration or mapping to get to the truth of their supply chains, he said. Without full transparency over their supply chains, brands may be unknowingly importing non-compliant cotton into the U.S.

The best way to remove forced labor from the supply chain, Cochrane said, is closer collaboration between everyone within the supply chain ecosystem. That includes brands, suppliers and regulators.

Testing is something CBP needs to ramp up, Glas said. She also wants those results to be made public so that perpetrators of Xinjiang-linked or fraudulent imports can be held accountable and future offenses deterred.

I aspire to be like the electronics industry, she said. They had a billion dollars detained last year; we had like $35 million detained when we had well over $100 billion textile and apparel imports come into the United States. What does that say to China? It says were not really looking. A 19 percent non-compliance rate is alarming.

According to CBPs UFLPA dashboard, border authorities have detained 1,405 shipments, with a combined value of nearly $56 million, since the law took effect in June 2022. Of these, 818 pieces of freight, worth almost $19 million, were ultimately denied entry. Some 351, valued at $27.5 million, were later given the green light.

Because of law enforcement and business sensitivities, CBP doesnt provide additional information or plans to detain specific goods under the UFLPA. The agency says, however, that its approach to enforcement prioritizes the highest-risk goods, based on real-time data and intelligence, to prevent forced-labor goods from entering the United States.

Wan agreed that theres a serious amount of work to be done beyond the paper documentation trail that the industry has been used to, pitching Applied DNA Sciences services, which includes its CertainT platform for molecular-based security, as one of the solutions.

Physical verification of goods is important because there is a sort of global trend towards this blockchain everything and just capture everything digitally and lets just exchange fiber coins or wherever, she said. But thats not going to hold water because its going to be a flood, right? Theres a flood of goods out there.
SLOCOMB, Ala (WDHN)  A Slocomb High student has been chosen to attend one of the most well-known military academies in the country.

Linda Andral will attend the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. Alabama Senator Tommy Tuberville nominated her for the chance to attend West Point in January 2024.

Andral and eleven other appointees will represent Alabama in the class of 2028 at the United States Military Academy, United States Naval Academy, United States Air Force Academy, and Merchant Marine Academy.

Americas national security depends on brave young men and women who answer the call to serve in our armed forces, said Tuberville. Receiving an appointment to a U.S. service academy is a high honor that requires much sacrifice. Each of these students have worked extremely hard to reach this point, and theres no doubt that Alabama is sending our very best. It was an honor to nominate these Alabamians for an appointment, and I have no doubt that theyll continue to make our state and country proud.

To be nominated for one of the academies, appointees go through an extensive application process, which includes completing the required ACT and SAT exams and providing letters of recommendation, a school transcript, and the required application form.

Once graduated from the academies, students must commit to five years of active duty service.

The complete list of students who received and accepted the academy appointments in Alabama is below:

United States Air Force Academy:

Barrett Grant: Pelham, AL; Briarwood Christian High School

United States Naval Academy:

Dabeen Choi: Montgomery, AL; Loveless Academy Magnet Program High School

Branum Carmichael Lloyd: Mountain Brook, AL; Mountain Brook High School

Greyson Wood; Auburn, AL; Auburn High School

United States Military Academy:

Charles Grigsby: Huntsville, AL; Grissom High School

Aidan Aboud: Mobile, AL; Kwajalein High School

Connor Hofbauer: Auburn, AL; St. Andrews High School

Jackson Seidman: Auburn, AL; Auburn High School

Jordan Wilson: Auburn, AL; West Point Scholarship to Georgia Military College

GaryLane Black: Hoover, AL; Grad Cumberland Valley High School

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WDHN - wdhn.com.
Zuzana Caputova, President of Slovakia, came to Kyiv on a farewell visit on 10 May since her presidential term is ending.

Source: European Pravda with reference to TASR

Details: rtn Strznc, spokesperson for Caputova, stated that information on the further programme of her stay in Ukraine will be provided on an ongoing basis for security reasons.

Caputova stated on her Facebook page that this is her fourth visit to Kyiv during her presidency and the third during the war.

"Another reason for my visit is that I brought good news about Slovakias aid to Ukraine," Caputova noted.

Background:

Peter Pellegrini, a coalition partner of anti-Ukrainian Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico, was elected as the new President of Slovakia.

After Pellegrinis win, Fico and his allies will consolidate power and control the parliament, the government and the Office of the President of Slovakia.

After current Slovak President Zuzana Caputova resigns in June, no top official who would unconditionally support the military aid for Kyiv and its efforts of defence against Russian aggression will be left in Slovakia.

Support UP or become our patron!
VIENTIANE, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Lao authorities are seeking solutions to tackle the labor shortage, which has affected business operations across Laos.

Officials from the Lao Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, Lao Federation of Trade Unions, and the Lao National Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday discussed ways to address the labor shortage and a cooperation plan to solve the problem in the future, Lao National Radio reported on Friday.

Employers in many fields are suffering from a shortage of staff after Lao nationals flocked to other countries in search of higher wages and better working conditions.

Private companies in Laos have asked the government to take action to resolve the worker shortage, as more and more young people are seeking work in other countries. 
AccuWeather's Enhanced RealVue Satellite image from Sunday evening, May 12, 2024, shows clouds (green and yellow shading) to the northeast of the Hawaiian Islands, associated with a storm in the upper part of the atmosphere.

AccuWeather forecasters say that the Hawaiian Islands are in for a wet stretch as a storm parks over the tropical paradise, resulting in daily rounds of drenching showers and thunderstorms into Monday. A bigger storm is forecast to arrive later this week and may trigger an atmospheric river with major flooding.

A storm in the upper part of the atmosphere was located to the northeast of the island chain as of Sunday evening, local time.

GET THE FREE ACCUWEATHER APP

"The storm will act to enhance shower and thunderstorm activity. Some of the strongest thunderstorms could even contain gusty winds," AccuWeather Meteorologist Joseph Bauer said.

A pool of cool air high in the atmosphere will also create a conducive environment for hail to form.

The traditional northeast trade wind pattern, which is the dominant force behind the weather in Hawaii, will be disrupted in the pattern. These trade winds create wet conditions on the northern and eastern sides of the islands. As moisture is wrung out over the mountains, much less rain falls on the southern and western sides.

Showers will likely persist, just as likely on either side of the islands, into Monday.

In some communities, the deluge can result in worse conditions than just a bad day at the beach.

"The repeated rounds of showers and thunderstorms, especially over areas that are not acclimated to receiving as much rainfall, could lead to flooding concerns and can lead to increased streamflows on area streams and creeks," Bauer said. Road closures are possible as a result of the rapid runoff and overflowing streams, as well as due to debris flows.

By early Friday morning, nearly 7 inches of rain had accumulated over the KoEolau mountains on the northeastern side of the island of OEahu, according to the National Weather Service. This surge of water caused the Waiahole Stream to reach minor flood stage over the course of several hours Thursday night.

AccuWeather experts urge residents and visitors to be cognizant of weather alerts for their region and heed all evacuation notices. Flooding can occur even in areas missed by the heaviest rainfall, especially in lower-elevation towns downstream of higher terrain.

AccuWeather meteorologists are closely monitoring the likelihood of more rain beginning in the Hawaiian Island chain as early as Wednesday but ramping up into Friday and continuing into the weekend.

"One key difference with the new storm brewing will be the potential for an atmospheric river to set up and stall over part of the islands," AccuWeather Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski said.

An atmospheric river is a long plume of moisture that often extends from the Tropics to the intermediate latitudes. This acts as a conveyor belt or firehose effect of heavy rainfall.

"Should the setup evolve to its full potential, many inches of rain may be released in a matter of hours on some of the southwest-facing slopes of the mountains on the islands, which would lead to major flash flooding or perhaps even a flooding disaster," Sosnowski warned.

"The position of the parent storm, well to the northwest of the islands, may lead to rare northwest swells and heavy wave action along the northwest-facing beaches and coastal areas," AccuWeather Meteorologist Alex DaSilva added.

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.
Pasco Shikishima Corporation had to recall 104,000 packs of sliced white bread and issue refunds after the creature's remains were reportedly found in at least two packs

Getty A stock image of sliced white bread

Rat remains have caused a bread brand in Japan to recall its products.

According to the BBC, Pasco Shikishima Corporation had to recall 104,000 packs of sliced white bread and issue refunds after black rat parts were found in at least two packs.

The outlet reports that Pasco is one of Japans well-known bread brands, filling out the shelves in supermarkets and being the go-to brand for many households in the country.

PEOPLE has contacted Pasco Shikishima Corporation for further comment, but they did not immediately respond.

It has recently come to light that a foreign object (a part of what appears to be a small animal) has been mixed into the Super Mature 5-Slice produced by Shikishima Baking Co., Ltd.'s Pasco Tokyo-Tama Factory, the company wrote in a statement on Tuesday, May 7 on their website. We have completed the recall of the products that were contaminated with foreign substances, but as a precaution, we have recalled the following products that were produced on the same line, and have suspended the line for the time being in order to investigate the cause and strengthen countermeasures. Masu.

According to the statement, there have been no reports of anyone becoming sick after the discovery.

Never miss a story  sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Getty A stock image of sliced bread

Related: Planters Recalls Peanuts and Nut Mixes Due to Listeria Concerns

We deeply apologize for the inconvenience and inconvenience caused to our customers, business partners and all concerned parties, they added. We will strive to further strengthen our quality control system and take all possible measures to ensure that such a situation does not occur again in the future. We appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

Related: Dunkin Is Treating Nurses to Free Coffee for National Nurses Week

Meanwhile, a representative from the company told NBC News that the bread had been contaminated with a small black rat.

While its currently unknown how the remains of the rat got into the products, the company website allows customers to fill out a form and apply for refunds.

According to the BBC, the companys products are exported to many countries such as the US, Australia, China, Singapore and more.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
TYLER, Texas (KETK)  Smith County Clerk Karen Phillips was found guilty of misdemeanor interfering with public duties after a March 2023 traffic stop that led to the arrest of her son, his friend and herself.

Man arrested for murder in Polk County after body found in wooded area

Her jury trial started on Wednesday, and Phillips sentencing has been set for June 14. Her son, Derek Phillips, 37, was sentenced to 30 days in the Smith County Jail for the same offense in March.

Both were arrested in March 2023 after authorities said they tried to interfere in a traffic stop involving Dereks friend who was also arrested that night. They each sued Smith County alleging violations of their Constitutional rights relating to the incident, and Karen Phillips lawsuit was paused pending her criminal case.

Bodycam footage of the incident was released by authorities and showed a long dispute before the arrests. They were indicted for interfering with public duties in November.

Karen Phillips trial was originally set for March 20, but was delayed until May, and the court did not allow cameras into the courtroom for the trial.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KETK.com | FOX51.com.
Many on social media found a federal appeals court ruling that upheld a contempt of Congress conviction against former Donald Trump adviser Steve Bannon very appealing.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected Bannons challenges to his 2022 contempt of Congress conviction, which came with a sentence offour months in prison, according to The Associated Press.

Bannon was convicted for refusing to sit for a deposition or provide documents for the U.S. House special committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol as it investigated his role in Trumps efforts to overturn the 2020 election.

Although he attempted to argue his testimony was protected by the former presidents claim of executive privilege, the House special committee and the Justice Department disagreed, arguing that Trump fired Bannon from his White House position in 2017, making him a private citizen when he was involved in plans related to the Jan. 6 insurrection.

Although Bannon could appeal the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court, it is unlikely the justices will take the case since they declined to reconsider Peter Navarros conviction for the same crime.

That means Bannon could soon be behind bars, and many posts on X, formerly Twitter, seemed quite OK with that possibility.

I hope Steve Bannon makes my next license plate.  Mr. Newberger (@jeremynewberger) May 10, 2024

Steve Bannon, come on down. Youre the next MAGA loyalist to go to prison !!!



Dont worry Donald Trump will be joining you soon !!! https://t.co/YZgz1PA7ZJ  Lev Parnas (@levparnas) May 10, 2024

Steve Bannon loses his appeal. It turns out you cant claim executive privilege when you were fired in 2017. Bannon said he was following legal advice, the court responded "This exact 'advice of counsel' defense is no defense at all. pic.twitter.com/xiNTYcOAVx  Hoodlum  (@NotHoodlum) May 10, 2024

Lets go!!!!!!!!!



Steve Bannons conviction for dodging the Jan. 6 committees subpoena has been upheld unanimously by the three-judge panel of the DC Circuit Court of Appeals.



Do not pass go, do not collect $200, hopefully he heads straight to prison!



FINALLY some pic.twitter.com/shz1ZtOyRX  Art Candee  (@ArtCandee) May 10, 2024

Scabby Steve Bannon is heading to jail and Im laughing my fucking ass off right now.     (@LePapillonBlu2) May 10, 2024

BREAKING: MAGA world is dealt a crushing blow as a federal appeals court upholds Steve Bannon's Contempt of Congress conviction for refusing to comply with a January 6th committee subpoena.



And it gets even better...



The decision to uphold the conviction empowers Congress going pic.twitter.com/nxf3iSuTJ1  Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) May 10, 2024

Four months is NOTHING considering Steve Bannon committed treason



He should be getting the full Rosenberg treatment, but we have to take what we can get when it comes to accountability for this subhuman pustule & any of the other Trumptraitors pic.twitter.com/LHBAhWW5zx  (((Tara Dublin))), Rock Star Author  (@taradublinrocks) May 10, 2024

Paul Manafort, Steve Bannon and Roger Stone. All convicted and yet they were pardoned by Trump who now has hired them to work on his campaign. This is the best he can do? Only the worst people.  Henry M. Rosenberg (@DoctorHenryCT) May 10, 2024

Related...
Trustees Ricardo "Richard" Castellano, left, and Pablo Barrera pose for a photo with Socorro Independent School District students during a board meeting on Dec. 13, 2022.

Socorro school board members Pablo Barrera and Ricardo Richard Castellano were arrested Thursday on charges that appear to be related to official duties. Castellanos wife, Gabriela, a former teacher in Socorro Independent School District, also was arrested.

The nature of the charges appear to be related to official duties.

Ricardo Castellano, 61, and Gabriela Castellano, 57, each face two charges of obstruction or retaliation. Each was released on $4,000 bond.

Barrera, 39, was booked Thursday on four counts of obstruction or retaliation, two counts of official oppression, one count of improper influence, and one count of coercion of a public servant or voter. He was freed on bonds totaling $6,000, jail records show.

More: 5 things you need to know about state conservators in Socorro ISD

The Castellanos and Barrera were part of a controversial conversation recorded by Gabriela Castellano in which they demeaned school employees. Barrera was recorded boasting, Were school board gods to Ricardo Castellano.

The Aug. 10, 2021, recording was made by Gabriela Castellano, and she uploaded the 33-hour audio file to the Socorro computer system as part of a complaint against the principal at the school where she taught. El Paso Matters obtained the audio file through a public records request.

The recording triggered a Texas Rangers investigation. The date of offense listed for the Castellanos couple was Aug. 21, 2021, 11 days after the recording. The dates of Barreras alleged offenses were May 30, 2022, and July 1, 2022.

An official at the District Clerks Office said court files for Barrera and the Castellanos were not immediately available, so the specifics of the charges could not immediately be determined.

Barreras attorney, Mary Stillinger, said her client hasnt been told the specifics of the allegations against him.

More: Socorro ISD board appoints Deputy Superintendent James Vasquez as interim leader

No investigator or prosecutor had the courtesy or sense of fairness to contact Mr. Barrera or me to give him notice of this investigation. We cannot speculate about what the allegations are, but I can say that Mr. Barrera is a hard-working and honest public servant, who has always worked to protect the best interests of SISD. We look forward to clearing him of what must be unfounded accusations, Stillinger said.

El Paso County Sheriff Richard Wiles said the arrests were the result of an investigation by the Texas Rangers.

They requested assistance today for the arrests. We made the arrest of Barrera this morning. the Rangers made the arrest of the Castellano couple this afternoon and we assisted on those, Wiles said.

Socorro ISD spokesperson Daniel Escobar said the district was aware of the arrests but had no additional information.

The focus of the district remains on serving students and supporting staff to ensure the successful completion of the school year, Escobar said in a statement.

Under Texas law, oppression or retaliation occurs when a person intentionally or knowingly harms or threatens to harm another by an unlawful act in retaliation for another action or to prevent or delay the service of a public servant or witness. It is a third-degree felony punishable by up to 20 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

Official oppression occurs when a public servant, acting under the color of his office, denies or impedes another in the exercise or enjoyment of any right, privilege, power, or immunity, knowing his conduct is unlawful. It is a Class A misdemeanor, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

Gabriela and Ricardo Castellano, center, watch as Nate Carman speaks after being named the sole superintendent finalist for the Socorro Independent School District on Feb. 21, 2022.

Coercion occurs when a public servant uses his or her authority to influence a public servant or voter to violate a known legal duty. It also is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and $4,000 fine.

Improper influence occurs when a person privately addresses a representation, entreaty, argument, or other communication to any public servant who exercises or will exercise official discretion in an adjudicatory proceeding with an intent to influence the outcome of the proceeding on the basis of considerations other than those authorized by law, according to Texas statutes. It also is a Class A misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and $4,000 fine.

Barrera is a retired Border Patrol agent and Ricardo Castellano is a retired El Paso police lieutenant. Both were elected by narrow margins in 2021 in an election that changed the balance on the school board, which had supported Superintendent Jose Espinoza. He resigned shortly after the election.

The arrest is the latest problem for the Socorro Independent School District. The Texas Education Agency recently appointed conservators to oversee the administration and school board because of governance issues. The district is in the process of making substantial budget cuts because of deficits, and is searching for a superintendent following the departure of Nate Carman.

Barreras wife, Angelica Ramirez, was arrested last year on charges of filing a false police report after getting into an argument with the principal and a teacher at Hueco School.

This article originally appeared on El Paso Times: Two Socorro trustees face criminal charges, wife of one also charged
A solar storm is hitting Earth this weekend, bringing views of the northern lights to the U.S.

An aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, is seen in the night sky in the early morning hours of Monday, April 24, 2023, near Washtucna, Wash. One of the strongest solar storms in nearly two decades is forecasted to hit Earth on Friday, bringing with it views of the northern lights across the United States. | Ted S. Warren

One of the strongest solar storms in nearly two decades is forecasted to hit Earth on Friday, bringing with it views of the northern lights across the United States, per The Weather Channel.

In addition to colorful views, the storm could also disrupt radio communication, satellite systems and power grids. On Thursday, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a geomagnetic storm warning. The NOAA has observed the start of the storm but has not yet detected any disruption in communications.

Over the past few days, the sun has launched massive clouds of charged particles toward the Earth, events known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), reports AccuWeather. When these hit Earths magnetic field, they will ignite the aurora borealis over the Northern Hemisphere and the aurora australis over the Southern Hemisphere.

If the storm holds its strength, views of the northern lights will be visible across the majority of the United States.

Large sunspot groups and strong solar flares led to the issuance of SWPC's first G4 Watch since 2005... pic.twitter.com/oi55cTPXhP  NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (@NWSSWPC) May 9, 2024

What are the northern lights?

The northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, are colorful ribbons of light in the sky that provide a cosmic show for viewers. They are the result of a violent event in the Earths atmosphere.

The northern lights are created when energized particles from the sun slam into Earths upper atmosphere at speeds of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph), but our planets magnetic field protects us from the onslaught, per Space.

As Earths magnetic field redirects the particles toward the poles  there are southern lights, too, which you can read about below  the dramatic process transforms into a cinematic atmospheric phenomenon that dazzles and fascinates scientists and skywatchers alike.

Northern lights are most common in the auroral zone  the area in an approximately 1,550-mile radius of the North Pole, per Space. The northern most parts of Alaska, Canada, Sweden, Norway, Finland and all throughout Iceland are the places you are most likely to see the northern lights.

Where will you be able to see the northern lights in the U.S.?

This weekend, the northern lights may be visible from Montana to Alabama, though views will differ, per The Weather Channel. The auroras will be more visible in the northern U.S., but even in the deep south the auroras will be visible on the horizon.

The aurora may be visible to the naked eye as far south as Virginia, Missouri, Colorado and Northern California on Friday night into early Saturday morning, reports AccuWeather. The best viewing conditions are expected across the northern Plains and the Pacific Northwest, where mainly cloud-free conditions will lead to great views of the night sky.

States with the highest visibility include:

Washington.

Oregon.

Idaho.

Montana.

Colorado.

North Dakota.

South Dakota.

Minnesota.

Wisconsin.

Michigan.

New York.

Vermont.

New Hampshire.

Maine.

The map below demonstrates what visibility be like in every region of the U.S.

#BREAKING: Much of the Northern United States has a chance to See Northern Lights as Level G4 Severe geomagnetic hits in nearly two decades



#UnitedStates | #USA



A series of powerful severe geomagnetic storms are expected to hit Earth tonight into Saturday, affecting much of pic.twitter.com/iX4b4VwokU  R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) May 10, 2024

The geomagnetic storm could disrupt communications

On Thursday, the U.S. government issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch  the first in roughly 20 years.

Geomagnetic storms can impact infrastructure in near-Earth orbit and on Earths surface, potentially disrupting communications, the electric power grid, navigation, radio and satellite operations, reports the NOAA. SWPC has notified the operators of these systems so they can take protective action.

During the last decade, engineers have built technology that can protect power lines during geomagnetic storms, so it is likely our communications will not be disrupted, per The Washington Post.

Shawn Dahl, the service coordinator for the NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center, recommended that people take the same precautions they would with any severe storm, such as making sure they have batteries or a generator.

They dont need to do anything out of the extraordinary, Dahl told The Washington Post, if theyve already got these measures taken care of, because these events are very rare.
Are Solar Storms Dangerous to Humans on Earth? About the Effects, Including Possible Communication Disruption

The "severe" solar storm in effect has the potential to trigger the northern lights, causing a stunning display of colors visible from parts of the U.S.

Getty Solar Storm

A rare solar storm is headed towards Earth.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) issued a rare G4 geomagnetic storm watch, marking the first storm of this magnitude in nearly 20 years.

The storm arrives after days of solar flares that reportedly sent bursts of plasma and magnetic fields towards Earth, prompting a watch that could trigger flashy light displays and communication disruptions as a result of the events that occurred in space.

The NOAA used its Space Weather Scale to communicate the storm's severity with the public. The tool describes current and future environmental disturbances of three types: geomagnetic storms, solar radiation storms and radio blackouts.

Related: Solar Storm Could Trigger Northern Lights as Far South as Alabama  How to Photograph Them with Your Phone

The G4 geomagnetic storm in effect is described as "severe," the second strongest magnitude on the scale (just below G5: "extreme"). The scale also details the possible effects at each level, in addition to how the events happen and the intensity of the physical causes.

There are three areas, both on earth and in space, that could see effects from geomagnetic storms: power systems, spacecraft operations and other systems like satellite navigation or radio frequency disruptions.

Among the effects that fall beneath the "other systems" area is aurora borealis visibility, also known as the northern lights. The clarity and viewpoint of the rare colorful sight is dependent upon the storm's category.

Read on to learn more about the 2024 solar storm watch, in addition to its effects on Earth.



What is a geomagnetic storm?

Getty Illustration of a coronal mass ejection impacting the Earth s atmosphere.

The NOAA describes geomagnetic storms as "a major disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the solar wind into the space environment surrounding Earth."

In simple terms, this storm is a disturbance of Earth's upper atmosphere. It is caused in part by solar flares, which NASA describes "an intense burst of radiation coming from the release of magnetic energy associated with sunspots."

This particular storm was also caused by coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or plasma and magnetic fields from the sun's corona moving quickly to Earth due to solar winds. Storms can last several days, but primarily will fall between 12 to 48 hours.

Related: Here's How the Jupiter-Uranus Conjunction Will Affect You, Based on Your Zodiac Sign

When will the solar storm hit the United States?

Getty Star of our solar system 3D illustration close shot. Nebula gases erupting from the Sun's surface.

NOAAs Space Weather Prediction Center issued the solar storm watch the night of May 9. However, the "severe" G4 geomagnetic storm is predicted to buffet the Earth May 10 evening and last through May 12.

A watch alert for a geomagnetic storm of this magnitude hasn't been issued by the agency since January 2005. The alert came after "at least five flares were associated with CMEs that appear to be Earth-directed," per NOAA's report.

Will the solar storm affect us on Earth?

Getty Northern Lights

Fortunately, humans have nothing to worry about with the solar storm watch in effect. Despite its strong magnitude, NASA emphasizes harmful radiation from solar flares cannot pass through Earths atmosphere to physically affect humans on the ground.

However, the G4 storm is considered "severe" because it's capable of causing technology issues and potential communication disruptions on Earth. (Note, G5 storms are the max magnitude of these storms and may have different effects as a result.)

Among the possible consequences of a G4 storm are power system complications like "widespread voltage control problems," as noted by NOAA. Plus, "some protective systems will mistakenly trip out key assets from the grid."

Spacecraft operations "may experience surface charging and tracking problems," the agency writes, adding, "corrections may be needed for orientation problems." Other disruptions on Earth's ground can affect satellite and low-frequency radio navigation.

Related: 4.8 Magnitude Earthquake in New Jersey Jolts the East Coast  Here's the Latest Information

Could the solar storm trigger the Northern Lights?

Getty Northern Lights.

The Northern Lights could be triggered by the solar storms. While this technically isn't an effect on Earth, humans will reap the benefits of this stunning display from the planet's ground.

However, the visibility of the lights  also known as aurora borealis  depends on several factors, one of them being location on Earth. Several parts of the United States will have a chance at spotting "spectacular displays of aurora."

Typically, the northern lights are best viewed from high northern latitudes during the winter in Alaska, Canada and Scandinavia. This storm is predicted to be visible from Northern California and southern states such as Alabama, per the NOAA scale.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary decided Thursday to elevate bilateral relations to an all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era.

The decision was announced during the talks between visiting Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

This year marks the 75th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic ties between China and Hungary, ushering in a new and important opportunity for the development of bilateral relations, Xi said.

Elaborating on the decision during a joint press conference with Orban, Xi said he and Orban agreed that China and Hungary have always been good friends that trust and support each other as well as good partners that seek win-win cooperation over the years. It is natural for the two countries to further upgrade relations and enrich bilateral cooperation.

The two sides should take the establishment of the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era as an opportunity to inject new and strong impetus into bilateral cooperation and create a better future for the two peoples, Xi said.

China-Hungary relations are currently at the best period in history and their comprehensive strategic partnership has maintained high-level development. With deepening political mutual trust and fruitful cooperation in various fields, the two countries have set a model for building a new type of international relations, Xi said during the talks with Orban.

Hungary is welcomed to be China's companion on its path to Chinese modernization, which will surely bring more opportunities to Hungary and other countries in the world, Xi said.

China is willing to jointly forge greater synergy in development strategies with Hungary, make good use of mechanisms such as the China-Hungary Inter-Governmental Belt and Road Cooperation Committee, promote orderly cooperation in fields including infrastructure and green energy, complete the construction of the Hungary-Serbia Railway on schedule, and actively expand cooperation in emerging areas such as clean energy and artificial intelligence, Xi said.

In order to enrich the China-Hungary all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era, the two sides are committed to enhancing synergy between the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and Hungary's "Eastern Opening" policy, said a joint statement on the establishment of the all-weather comprehensive strategic partnership for the new era released by the two countries.

Leveraging mechanisms and platforms such as the Belt and Road Cooperation Promotion Center, the two sides will pursue deeper and more substantive progress in high-quality Belt and Road cooperation, jointly ensure the safety and security and smooth progress of relevant cooperation projects between the two countries, and strive for more fruitful results in practical cooperation, the statement said.

The two sides should continue supporting the teaching of both countries' languages, Xi said during his talks with Orban.

China is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and coordination with Hungary, advocate an equal and orderly multi-polar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalization, safeguard international fairness and justice, promote global governance in a more just and equitable direction, and make positive efforts to build a community with a shared future for mankind, he said.

Hailing Europe as an important pole in a multi-polar world and an important partner on China's path toward Chinese modernization, Xi said it is hoped that Hungary will take the opportunity of taking on the rotating presidency of the European Union (EU) in the second half of this year to promote the steady and sound development of China-EU relations.

The cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC) has a strong internal driving force, Xi said, expressing hope that Hungary will continue to play an important role in promoting the China-CEEC cooperation to better benefit people of various countries.

For his part, Orban told Xi that his visit once again demonstrates the profound friendship and huge potential between Hungary and China, and is of great historical significance to Hungary and Hungary-China relations.

Hungary supports China in safeguarding its core interests and legitimate rights, and has adhered and will adhere to the one-China principle, said Orban.

The Hungarian government "reaffirms that there is but one China in the world, that the Government of the People's Republic of China is the sole legal government representing China. Hungary opposes all forms of separatist activities at breaking the unity of China," said the joint statement released Thursday.

His country does not identify with the rhetoric of so-called "overcapacity" or "de-risking." China's development is an opportunity rather than a risk for Europe, and Hungary is willing to strengthen multilateral communication and cooperation with China to jointly safeguard world peace and stability, said Orban during his talks with Xi.

The two leaders had an in-depth exchange of views on the Ukraine crisis.

Xi stressed that China has always been committed to promoting peace talks and is willing to continue working with relevant parties to make positive efforts to realize peace at an early date. 

Chinese President Xi Jinping holds talks with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

Chinese President Xi Jinping and Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban jointly meet the press after their talks in Budapest, Hungary, May 9, 2024. (Xinhua/Xie Huanchi)
BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD)  East Baton Rouge Metropolitan Councilman LaMont Cole, who sued to keep St. George from incorporating, has requested that the Louisiana State Supreme Court rehear the case and reverse their ruling or reinstate the lower courts decisions.

In April, the court found that legal error led to lower courts denying the incorporation, and the lower courts judgment was reversed. The citys incorporators and electors won the judgment requested.

The lower court said a challenge to the incorporation was the new citys timely ability to provide services, which will be split between parish-provided and non-parish-provided. But justices said parish-provided services wouldnt be affected by incorporating.

In the Thursday, May 9, request for a rehearing, attorneys said the Supreme Court is ill-equipped and unauthorized to conduct the evidentiary hearing required to set the date of incorporation or fix its boundaries if St. George is incorporated.

The decision, in this case, should be reversed and the decision of the lower courts reinstated or, at a minimum, rehearing and remand to remedy these deficiencies is crucial to avoid the chaos of litigation that is certain to follow, attorneys said.

What you need to know about St. George: New Louisiana city will be in East Baton Rouge Parish

East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome, who was on the initial lawsuit arguing against incorporation, released a statement Thursday.

Todays request for a rehearing in the St. George lawsuit is a testament to the robustness of our legal system, providing avenues for citizens to seek resolution. While Im not a plaintiff in this case, I fully support every individuals right to engage with the courts, particularly in significant matters like this. As Mayor-President, I recognize the pivotal moment our parish faces and the need for unwavering leadership. Ive listened to the diverse range of sentiments expressed by our citizens, from jubilation to apprehension. Its my solemn duty to address every query regarding the financial implications for our City-Parish and its residents. Over the past year, my administration has diligently crafted budget models, collaborated with department heads to assess debt responsibilities, retirement effects, and, above all, the provision of essential services. We stand poised and equipped to advocate for the welfare of all 445,000 parish residents, ensuring that East Baton Rouge remains an affordable, harmonious, and flourishing community for families. In furtherance of this commitment, Im pleased to announce the appointment of William Potter to the St. George transition taxing district, as stipulated by the 2020 legislation. Mr. Potter brings a wealth of expertise as a respected CPA and financial analyst, honed through his tenure at the esteemed firm, Postlethwaite & Netterville. Its imperative to clarify that my appointment is neither belated nor negligent. The enabling legislation triggers the establishment of the transition tax district upon incorporation validation. Should the rehearing be denied, Mr. Potter stands ready to serve and represent my administration with diligence and proficiency. Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston-Broome

Andrew Murrell, the attorney who represented the incorporators, said in a Friday statement that the request is an assault on the St. George citizens right to vote and self-governance.

Read his full statement below.

The rehearing request is an assault on the St. George citizens right to vote and self-governance. Reading the majority opinion, you can only reach the conclusion that St. George is incorporated. The rehearing request continues to push false narratives that are neither supported by facts or by the law. It should be denied because there is nothing in the courts record that supports the falsehoods contained in the oppositions argument for rehearing. This rehearing request is an illustration of an old legal saying, When you dont have the facts, you pound the law. When you dont have the law, you pound the facts. When you dont have either, you pound the desk. The citizens of St. George are moving forward with the creation of our citizen. This city will be an example of efficiency and accountability. Our community welcomes anyone with a desire to create a better for our children and grandchildren. Andrew Murrell

Latest News

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to BRProud.com.
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  The state trooper who arrested two LGBTQ+ leaders after a contentious traffic stop in Philadelphia is no longer employed by the Pennsylvania state police, officials said Friday.

Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Adam Reed said the trooper, who has not been named, no longer works for the agency, though its unclear whether he was fired and when he left the job.

I can say as of today, hes no longer employed. I cant offer any additional information, as we dont comment on personnel matters, Reed said.

In March, Celena Morrison and husband Darius McLean were arrested after a traffic stop on an elevated stretch of highway in the city, part of which was captured on video. Morrison heads the citys Office of LGBT Affairs and McLean runs an LGBTQ+ community center in the city.

The arrests led Mayor Cherelle Parker to weigh in, calling the exchange between the trooper, who appears to be white, and the Black couple very concerning.

The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association criticized the state police for not standing behind the trooper.

This decision is reprehensible, Union President Stephen Polishan said in an statement. This young trooper, on the job for only six months, deserved better from our department.

Lawyer Kevin Mincey, who represents the couple, declined to comment. He is preparing to file a suit against the state police and the trooper on their behalf.

The couple were detained for about 12 hours after the 9 a.m. March 2 traffic stop in which they were driving separately to take a car for repairs when a trooper pulled Morrison over after maneuvering himself between their two vehicles, according to their lawyer.

Morrison took a video on her cellphone of the trooper handcuffing McLean after he stopped his car behind the trooper. In the video, McLean is lying in the rain on the shoulder of the highway. The trooper knocked the cellphone from her hand, ending the recording, Morrisons lawyers have said.

The couples lawyers have also questioned the reason for the stop, saying the trooper would not have had time to run the registration before he wedged between them and pulled Morrison over. The trooper, on the video, said he stopped her for tailgating and failing to have her lights on.

I dont know why hes doing this, McLean cries to his wife as she recorded him being handcuffed.

Its cause Im Black, McLean says.

Its not cause youre Black, replies the trooper, who leaves McLean handcuffed on the highway shoulder and then moves to arrest Morrison.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to ABC27.
Thousands of University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University students will celebrate graduation this spring. (Photo courtesy of University of Iowa)

Iowas public universities are celebrating thousands of undergraduate, graduate and professional students earning their degrees this spring as commencement draws near.

More than 11,000 students represent the spring 2024 graduating classes at the University of Iowa, University of Northern Iowa and Iowa State University, and ceremonies honoring these accomplishments will take place this weekend and throughout the month.

University of Iowa

More than 5,300 UI students are celebrating the completion of their degrees this month, with 3,632 undergraduate and 1,732 graduate and professional degree applicants, according to a news release.

The spring graduating class is made up of students from 81 Iowa counties, 41 U.S. states and territories and 60 countries, according to the release. Nearly 20% of degree applicants identify as a member of a minority group, one-fifth of undergraduates are first-generation college students and 137 graduates identify as veterans.

With an average cumulative grade-point average of 3.32, 16% of undergraduate students graduating were enrolled in multiple majors.

The bulk of UI commencement ceremonies will take place this weekend, and will be livestreamed online.

More than 5,400 UI students applied for degrees last spring, 96% of which either found employment, continued their education or are not seeking employment, according to the release. Median salary of the 2022-2023 graduating class is $54,000.

University of Northern Iowa

Students representing 27 states and 17 countries will earn their degree from UNI this spring, with 1,410 students having applied to graduate. Of the 1,208 undergraduate and 202 graduate students graduating, 1,271 are residents of Iowa, according to numbers provided by UNI spokesperson Adam Amdor in an email.

In-state graduates came to UNI from 93 counties, according to a news release, and four out of five UNI students remain in Iowa after earning their degrees.

Nearly 400 degree applicants self-identify as first-generation students and 33 self-identify as veterans, Amdor said. The average cumulative grade-point average for graduating undergraduate students is 3.44.

UNI will host three commencement ceremonies on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which will be livestreamed.

Just under 1,350 students graduated from UNI last spring. The university is seeing record graduation rates for the third year in a row, the news release stated, and the 51% four-year graduation rate this spring is an increase of four percentage points from last year,

Iowa State University

At ISU, 4,598 students will celebrate graduation this weekend, including 3,866 undergraduates, 575 graduate students and 157 veterinary medicine candidates, according to a news release.

The 2024 graduating class is slightly smaller than last years graduate pool, which totaled around 4,681 students.

Crayton Mitchell, a senior earning an industrial design degree this spring, will walk the commencement stage in university mascot Cys feet as part of a new tradition. Graduating Iowa State University Mascot Squad members will now get to wear the mascot feet for commencement, according to the news release, in recognition of the identity theyve kept secret while on the squad.

I am very excited and proud to be the first Cy to wear the feet for commencement, Mitchell said in the release. Being Cy has been one of the greatest college experiences.

Commencements and receptions are being held by the universitys colleges Thursday through Saturday, and livestreams of the events can be found online.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post State universities celebrate thousands of students earning degrees this spring appeared first on Iowa Capital Dispatch.
Steve Bannon could be headed to prison for defying a subpoena after federal court rejects his appeal

A federal court on Friday rejected Steve Bannons appeal of his criminal conviction for defying a subpoena from the Jan 6. House select committee. The ruling, which said the former Trump aide's arguments lacked merit, could send the political strategist to prison.

In 2022, U.S. District Judge Carl Nichols, appointed by former President Donald Trump, sentenced Bannon to four months behind bars after a jury convicted him on two counts of contempt of Congress. However, Nichols agreed to postpone Bannon's sentence as he pursued an appeal on the basis that he enjoyed immunity as a result of executive privilege.

However, a three-judge panel of the D.C Circuit Court of Appeals rejected Bannons argument, saying the former aide and prominent podcaster had no legal rationale for his blanket refusal to appear before the Jan. 6 committee, Politico reported.

The panel's rejection of the appeal comes after former Trump aide Peter Navarro experienced a similar fate. Navarro, who worked with Bannon on a strategy to organize congressional objections to electoral votes from states President Joe Biden won in 2020, is currently serving a four-month sentence for defying his own Jan. 6 committee subpoena.

The two had planned on delaying the electoral process in 2020, seeking to buy GOP-led state legislatures time to appoint alternative slates of pro-Trump electors. Bannon and Navarro refused to appear for their depositions or provide appropriate documentation to the Jan 6. committee, arguing they were protected by executive privilege.

Bannon intends appeal the court's decision to a full eleven-member bench of the appeals court. The case could ultimately head to the Supreme Court, although it recently rejected Navarro's own request that he be let out of prison.
Steve Bannons contempt-of-Congress conviction was upheld Friday by a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia.

The three-judge panel shot down a number of challenges the former Trump strategist had made to the conviction. Those arguments included the claim that Bannon was not guilty because his lawyer had advised him not to comply with the subpoena, as well as the claim that the trial court excluded evidence Bannon should have been allowed to include for his defense. (Bannons lawyer, former Harvard Law professor Alan Dershowitz, has complained since the conviction that Bannon didnt get a fair trial.)

Steve Bannon Ran Up Huge Legal Bills and Stiffed His Lawyers

Bannon, a former adviser to Trump during his presidency, was convicted in 2022 after failing to comply with a subpoena order for the Houses Jan. 6 committee, thereby obstructing the Capitol insurrection probe. He was sentenced to four months in prison in October 2022, but the judge allowed him to delay the sentence while he appealed.

Now Bannon could appeal to the Supreme Court or the full lineup of D.C. Circuit judges to try to avoid a jail sentencebut hed face very long odds of success, CNBC reported.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
NEW DELHI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The newly appointed Chinese Ambassador to India Xu Feihong arrived in New Delhi on Friday to assume office, according to the website of the Chinese Embassy in India.

Xu, the 17th Chinese ambassador to India, said in an interview eralier that his priorities are deepening understanding and friendship between the two peoples, expanding exchanges and cooperation in various fields, and improving and advancing the bilateral relationship.

Officials from the Protocol Division of Ministry of External Affairs of India, dean of diplomatic corps, ambassador of Eritrea to India, and officials from the Chinese embassy greeted Xu and his wife at the airport, according to the embassy. 
STEWART COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN)  Two people  including a man law enforcement described as a dangerous felon  were taken into custody in Kentucky Wednesday, with some assistance from a Middle Tennessee K-9 and lieutenant.

According to the Stewart County Sheriffs Office, at approximately 11 a.m. on Wednesday, May 8, deputies responded to the Land Between the Lakes area to help Kentucky State Police with a pursuit of suspects in a stolen car who were wanted for several charges, including a theft that occurred in Lyon County around 10:45 a.m.

Man charged with grabbing woman in downtown Nashville

During a traffic stop at mile marker 28 on Interstate 24, authorities said the passenger ran from the vehicle while the driver took off in the vehicle. KSP chased the vehicle on I-24, Interstate 69, U.S. Route 68, and onto the Trace, during which time the fleeing suspect reportedly drove on the wrong side of the road, forcing at least two vehicles off the roadway and injuring the occupants of one of the vehicles.

Officials said KSP lost sight of the vehicle on the Trace, but they later found it at Colson Hollow Campground. Members of multiple law enforcement agencies responded to the scene, including Lt. Robbie MacDonald and K-9 Harry, who picked up the suspects 30-minute-old scent and followed it into the woods near the camping area.

Metro police arrest man for drug charges, hiding stolen guns in rugs

The sheriffs office said Harry and MacDonald tracked the suspect about three-quarters of a mile, joined by troopers and a Forest Service officer, before the suspect was found hiding behind an uprooted tree stump. The suspect allegedly refused to cooperate or follow commands, so the K-9 apprehended the suspect and held him until MacDonald and the other law enforcement officers could take him into custody.

According to authorities, the suspect  identified as Jamal Davis of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, where he is on felony probation  was brought to Murray Hospital before being taken to Crittenden County Jail in Kentucky. He has been charged with multiple counts of wanton endangerment, possession of burglary tools, possession of stolen property, multiple traffic offenses, and several other offenses.

(Courtesy: Stewart County Sheriffs Office)

(Courtesy: Stewart County Sheriffs Office)

As for the second suspect, officials said Jovon Moss, also of Fort Lauderdale, was apprehended later. However, there is no word on what charges he faces.

 Read todays top stories on wkrn.com

A great job by Kentucky State Police, Forest Service and all responding agencies. Also a great job by Stewart County Sheriffs Office K-9 Harry and Lt. MacDonald, the Stewart County Sheriffs Office said in a Facebook post on Friday, May 10. Thanks to everyone for getting another dangerous person off our streets and ending a really dangerous situation.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
The Artemis Power Tech facility, photographed last year before noise canceling blankets were installed, sits among the Wolfe County woods, power lines connecting it to a nearby substation. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

Nine months after a suspected cryptocurrency mine moved into her previously quiet part of Wolfe County, Brenda Campbell says noise canceling blankets installed by the operator are not helping and she still doesnt know where to turn for relief from the constant, intrusive whirring.

Brenda Campbell wears black sunglasses and a shirt that reads, "Home Is Where The Whip-Poor-Will Sings."

Brenda Campbell (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

Wolfe County Judge-Executive Raymond Banks agrees the noise blankets havent been very effective, though he said the data center company told him the noise levels are so low it wasnt necessary to even have to put what they put up there.

I think the sound will always be there regardless of what they do, Banks recently told the Lantern.

Campbell and Banks are looking to Frankfort for answers and point to recent action by Arkansas lawmakers as a possible roadmap.

Spurred by rural communities complaints about noise and disruption, Arkansas lawmakers passed and Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders signed legislation this month requiring cryptocurrency mining operations to obtain state permits and when they operate near homes to implement noise-reduction techniques. The new law also bans some foreign governments, most notably China, from owning a cryptocurrency mining operation in Arkansas and restores authority to local governments to pass regulations related to cryptocurrency mines.

To do this, the Arkansas legislature had to reverse a law that it had passed just last year, in part at the urging of a pro-crypto lobbying group, the Satoshi Action Fund. The earlier law had limited local governments authority to regulate noise from the facilities.

Earlier this year, the Satoshi Action Fund lobbied the Kentucky legislature to pass House Bill 741, which was approved by the House but died in the Senate.

Rural counties without zoning most vulnerable

Crypto mining uses tremendous amounts of electricity to run high-powered computers that solve complex mathematical equations to secure online transactions of cryptocurrencies through a digital ledger called the blockchain. Mining companies that, for example, solve these equations for the cryptocurrency Bitcoin are rewarded with Bitcoin itself; one unit in Bitcoin was worth more than $60,000 earlier this month.

Electric fans used to cool the computers can generate a lot of sound.

Rep. Adam Bowling

The Kentucky sponsor of the industry-sought bill, Rep. Adam Bowling, R-Middlesboro, said the legislation would steer noisy, large-scale cryptocurrency mining operations to industrial parks and other designated places for industry.

But others said the bill would leave the many rural Kentucky counties that have no zoning laws without protection or recourse from crypto mining noise.

As recently as 2020 a little more than half of Kentucky counties had no planning and zoning offices or boards, according to a presentation that year by the Kentucky Association of Counties. Wolfe County is one of them.

Bowling appeared before a legislative committee on March 13 with representatives from Satoshi Action Fund and Kentucky Blockchain Council, both groups supporting the bill.

Bowling told the Lantern that some local governments are reactively trying to change the rules and kind of patch it together once cryptocurrency mining operations are already established and that the bill would put regulations in place before operations move into a community.

They want to get the rules and the regulations set out on the front end before they make multimillion dollar investments and then things are changed after the fact, Bowling said.

An environmental group expressed concerns at the time that the bill would still allow for intrusive noise pollution from mining operations. Audrey Ernstberger, a lobbyist with the Kentucky Resources Council, told members of the House Banking and Insurance Committee in March that the bill would selectively override the ability of local communities to reasonably regulate off-site noise impacts from asset mining operations.

Ernstberger said the bill would have held crypto mines to the communitys most lenient noise regulations, instead of a more protective standard, and set no specific noise level parameters.

The bill cleared the Kentucky House with Republican support in a largely party line vote, but upon reaching the Senate was never assigned a committee.

In an interview with the Lantern, Ernstberger said the bill would have blocked communities from implementing more stringent noise or zoning regulations after a cryptocurrency mining operation has moved in. The bill provides no conditions for operating cryptocurrency mining facilities in a county without noise or zoning laws, which Ernstberger said could allow facilities to establish themselves anywhere without zoning.

Eric Peterson, the director of policy for the Satoshi Action Fund, in response to a question from a lawmaker at the committee hearing, said the group doesnt want large-scale mining operations to set up next to our house, next to a school, next to a church.

Businesses in industrial zones, they create noise, they use a lot of energy. Thats where we want these things, Peterson said.

The Satoshi Action Fund didnt respond to emails requesting an interview about their advocacy on HB 741.

Arkansas state Sen. Missy Irvin

Just really no business like it

In Arkansas, one of the new laws sponsors, Republican state Sen. Missy Irvin, said the measure will provide great legal standing for those opposing nuisance cryptocurrency mines, referencing a legal battle between residents of an Arkansas community and a crypto mine.

Another Arkansas Republican, Sen. Bryan King, of Green Forest, wanted the legislature to go even further by providing communities more notice of where crypto companies plan to mine. King unsuccessfully tried to require mining companies to file a notice with the state six months before buying or leasing land.

Arkansas state Sen. Brian King

King doesnt see zoning, which local governments traditionally use to decide where industry and business can locate, as a solution, in part because rural communities like those he represents do not want zoning. He also points to the unique nature of crypto mining.

Theres just really no business like it, King told the Lantern. You may have a mill or industry that may emit noise from 8 to 5, but not 24-7, 365 (days a year).

Just one day its there

In Kentucky, Banks, the Wolfe County judge-executive, remains firmly opposed to zoning or a noise ordinance, fearing such laws could hamper future economic development in a county where many struggle with poverty.

But Banks told the Lantern he wishes the county had received some notice that Artemis Power Techs data center was moving into his county before it powered up.

Were clueless  just one day, its there. Nobody ever mentioned it to me, he said.

I dont have the answer to it. If I had known the thing was going in before it went in, I could have maybe have done some kind of ordinance to stop it.

Power lines branch out from a large metal frame at the East Kentucky Power Cooperative electrical substation in Wolfe County.

Artemis Power Tech paid East Kentucky Power Cooperative more than $200,000 to upgrade the electrical substation to meet the power demands of the operation. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

Campbell and her neighbors, which include her daughter, grandson and cousins, are still bothered by the high-pitched noise from the data center that set up shop next to an electrical substation in August 2023. Her efforts to curb the noise havent gained traction.

An Artemis Power Tech representative in an email said the company in January installed noise canceling blankets after a third-party construction site noise control assessment and have heard no further complaints since then.

The representative added the company is willing to take reasonable measures through open communication to ensure we are a long-term trusted partner here.

But Campbell said the blankets have not helped at all. She says the noise seems worse on days when the weather is warmer because the cooling fans run harder.

The Artemis Power Tech representative told the Lantern it decided to install noise blankets instead of a physical noise barrier because building such a barrier would require trees to be cut down and reduce noise absorption effectiveness.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

Banks had told the Lantern in October the noise issue would be fixed with the company promising to install a noise barrier.

Campbell said that what started as her concerns about noise have expanded to broader worries about regulation of the cryptocurrency industry as a whole  who owns and runs cryptocurrency mining operations, how cryptocurrency is being used and more.

I just feel like that somebody has dropped the ball and that theyre just not paying attention, Campbell said. It just seems like the whole situation is being ignored, not only at the local level but also, you know, at the state and national level.

She applauds what Arkansas is doing to protect local communities.

They changed their mind that something needed to be done, Campbell said.

Lane Boldman, executive director of the Kentucky Conservation Committee, a statewide environmental advocacy group, said Campbells situation is an example of a crypto mining operation taking advantage of a rural countys lack of zoning.

Boldman noted that solar energy projects must promise to mitigate excessive construction noise as part of a hearing before the Kentucky Public Service Commission.

Cryptocurrency mining operations dont have any similar process to mitigate local impacts, she said..

They probably cause just as much noise, if not worse noise in some ways, because it doesnt stop, Boldman said.

A road near the Wolfe-Lee county line curves ahead.

An Eastern Kentucky road leads to Artemis Power Techs facility in Wolfe County. (Kentucky Lantern photo by Liam Niemeyer)

The post Still awaiting noise relief, some rural Kentuckians point to Arkansas new crypto mining law appeared first on Kentucky Lantern.
Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan

FORT COLLINS, CO - APRIL 19: A portion of marijuana is seen under a magifying glass at "Abundant Healing" store April 19, 2010 in Fort Collins, Colorado. Abundent Healing is one of Colorado's many legal marijuana dispensaries, which sells marijuana to customers with a state-issued medical marijuana card. Colorado, one of 14 states to allow use of medical marijuana, has experienced an explosion in marijuana dispensaries, trade shows and related businesses in the last year as marijuana use becomes more mainstream here. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level  but that doesnt mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug.

Moving marijuana from the governments list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to a less serious category was a clear signal that the federal government, at least under President Joe Bidens administration, wants to ease restrictions on a drug thats been legal in an increasing number of states for more than a decade.

For years, the federal government has not pursued enforcement of state-legal marijuana operations, and the recent move appears to solidify that approach.

But it didnt solve the many thorny issues that have resulted from a split between what is legal in dozens of states and what the federal government allows.

Its unclear exactly what the rescheduling will mean. The Justice Department has not made public the text of Garlands proposal  a DOJ spokesman declined States Newsrooms request this week for a copy and state regulators say it has not been shared with them.

Even if the proposal were public, it would be expected to go through changes over months of rulemaking.

Here are some questions covering what is known at this early stage about what rescheduling would and would not do.

Q: Is weed legal now?

A: No.

Even in states that have legalized recreational use, the federal government would likely still consider the state system as illegal under federal law.

Other Schedule III drugs, including Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are tightly regulated and available only by prescription at pharmacies.

State-legal medicinal marijuana dispensaries do not fit that description and recreational-use dispensaries are even further from what the Food and Drug Administration requires of Schedule III drugs.

This does not make marijuana state operations legal, Shawn Hauser, a partner at Denver-based marijuana law firm Vicente LLP, said on a May 3 webinar. They are not selling FDA-approved drugs and they are not licensed or meet the control requirements for Schedule III. So cannabis and state-legal dispensaries will remain in violation of federal law.

Q: What is the difference between Schedule I and Schedule III?

A: Among the most significant is the recognition that the drug may have some medicinal value.

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, the Drug Enforcement Administration has five levels of drug classifications.

Schedule I is the most restricted level, comprising the drugs most ripe for abuse that have no medicinal value. Other drugs on the list include heroin and LSD.

Because the definition of Schedule I substances includes no medicinal use, it is illegal to even study substances on the list.

Schedule III is the strictest level that acknowledges some medicinal value, making some hopeful that research on the drug could be improved.

Moving cannabis to Schedule III would be a big step for recognition of the medical uses of cannabis, what voters here recognized by a wide margin in 1998, the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board said in a May 1 statement. And it would say very clearly that the federal government no longer considers cannabis among the most dangerous drugs.

Q: How are states preparing?

A: Until they have more details, state regulators cannot do much, Amanda Borup, the senior policy analyst for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, said in an interview.

We really have to wait and see what they release, she said, referring to the DEAs rulemaking.

Other states are considering what the impacts might be.

The statement from Washingtons Liquor and Cannabis Board said rescheduling would hopefully ease restrictions on cannabis research, while it is possible the move would allow state-legal businesses to take advantage of tax deductions available to other industries.

Q: Why does research matter?

A: Marijuana advocates have had trouble providing evidence of any marijuana benefits because research has been restricted, which in turn made it more difficult to show that the restrictions should be lifted.

It could also help establish industry guidelines for ancillary issues. For example, the restrictions on research contribute to a lack of data on what pesticides are safe for use in marijuana cultivation.

Q: How does this affect policy on taxes, banking and criminal justice?

A: On its own, rescheduling likely wont address several complaints marijuana industry members and advocates have about federal prohibition.

Some are hopeful, though, that the signal from the Biden administration will spur momentum toward other changes.

Most businesses can deduct their costs from their income and pay taxes on their net income. Marijuana businesses cannot take that deduction, known as 280E, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.

Schedule I status also makes access to the U.S. banking system difficult.

Others complain that making marijuana legal in some states has not been fair to the communities of color that saw the most active enforcement.

Rescheduling would not fix those issues on its own, but advocates are hopeful it is a sign of momentum toward full legalization.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon reintroduced a bill last week to de-schdule the drug altogether. The measure includes expanding the 280E tax break and several provisions meant to address social justice.

Q: Could Trump reverse this if he wins in November?

A: Probably, though theres no indication thats on his agenda.

Its unclear what the status of the rescheduling will be when the next Inauguration Day arrives on Jan. 20.

If former President Donald Trump wins back the presidency and the rescheduling is still pending, he could direct the DEA and DOJ to scrap the change.

Trump has not commented on the issue.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan

For years, the federal government has not pursued enforcement of state-legal marijuana operations, and the recent move appears to solidify that approach. (Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level  but that doesnt mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug.

Moving marijuana from the governments list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to a less serious category was a clear signal that the federal government, at least under President Joe Bidens administration, wants to ease restrictions on a drug thats been legal in an increasing number of states for more than a decade.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland delivers a statement at the U.S. Department of Justice August 11, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

For years, the federal government has not pursued enforcement of state-legal marijuana operations, and the recent move appears to solidify that approach.

But it didnt solve the many thorny issues that have resulted from a split between what is legal in dozens of states and what the federal government allows.

Its unclear exactly what the rescheduling will mean. The Justice Department has not made public the text of Garlands proposal  a DOJ spokesman declined States Newsrooms request this week for a copy and state regulators say it has not been shared with them.

Even if the proposal were public, it would be expected to go through changes over months of rulemaking.

Here are some questions covering what is known at this early stage about what rescheduling would and would not do.

Q: Is weed legal now?

A: No.

Even in states that have legalized recreational use, the federal government would likely still consider the state system as illegal under federal law.

Other Schedule III drugs, including Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are tightly regulated and available only by prescription at pharmacies.

State-legal medicinal marijuana dispensaries do not fit that description and recreational-use dispensaries are even further from what the Food and Drug Administration requires of Schedule III drugs.

This does not make marijuana state operations legal, Shawn Hauser, a partner at Denver-based marijuana law firm Vicente LLP, said on a May 3 webinar. They are not selling FDA-approved drugs and they are not licensed or meet the control requirements for Schedule III. So cannabis and state-legal dispensaries will remain in violation of federal law.

Q: What is the difference between Schedule I and Schedule III?

A: Among the most significant is the recognition that the drug may have some medicinal value.

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, the Drug Enforcement Administration has five levels of drug classifications.

Schedule I is the most restricted level, comprising the drugs most ripe for abuse that have no medicinal value. Other drugs on the list include heroin and LSD.

Need to get in touch?

Have a news tip?

CONTACT US

Because the definition of Schedule I substances includes no medicinal use, it is illegal to even study substances on the list.

Schedule III is the strictest level that acknowledges some medicinal value, making some hopeful that research on the drug could be improved.

Moving cannabis to Schedule III would be a big step for recognition of the medical uses of cannabis, what voters here recognized by a wide margin in 1998, the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board said in a May 1 statement. And it would say very clearly that the federal government no longer considers cannabis among the most dangerous drugs.

Q: How are states preparing?

A: Until they have more details, state regulators cannot do much, Amanda Borup, the senior policy analyst for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, said in an interview.

We really have to wait and see what they release, she said, referring to the DEAs rulemaking.

Other states are considering what the impacts might be.

The statement from Washingtons Liquor and Cannabis Board said rescheduling would hopefully ease restrictions on cannabis research, while it is possible the move would allow state-legal businesses to take advantage of tax deductions available to other industries.

Q: Why does research matter?

A: Marijuana advocates have had trouble providing evidence of any marijuana benefits because research has been restricted, which in turn made it more difficult to show that the restrictions should be lifted.

It could also help establish industry guidelines for ancillary issues. For example, the restrictions on research contribute to a lack of data on what pesticides are safe for use in marijuana cultivation.

Q: How does this affect policy on taxes, banking and criminal justice?

A: On its own, rescheduling likely wont address several complaints marijuana industry members and advocates have about federal prohibition.

Some are hopeful, though, that the signal from the Biden administration will spur momentum toward other changes.

Most businesses can deduct their costs from their income and pay taxes on their net income. Marijuana businesses cannot take that deduction, known as 280E, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.

Schedule I status also makes access to the U.S. banking system difficult.

Others complain that making marijuana legal in some states has not been fair to the communities of color that saw the most active enforcement.

Rescheduling would not fix those issues on its own, but advocates are hopeful it is a sign of momentum toward full legalization.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon reintroduced a bill last week to de-schdule the drug altogether. The measure includes expanding the 280E tax break and several provisions meant to address social justice.

Q: Could Trump reverse this if he wins in November?

A: Probably, though theres no indication thats on his agenda.

Its unclear what the status of the rescheduling will be when the next Inauguration Day arrives on Jan. 20.

If former President Donald Trump wins back the presidency and the rescheduling is still pending, he could direct the DEA and DOJ to scrap the change.

Trump has not commented on the issue.

The post Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan appeared first on Indiana Capital Chronicle.
Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan

A portion of marijuana is seen under a magifying glass at the Abundant Healing store April 19, 2010, in Fort Collins, Colorado. (Photo by Chris Hondros/Getty Images)

U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland has proposed loosening the illegal status of marijuana at the federal level  but that doesnt mean the federal government now condones recreational or medicinal use in the many states that have legalized the drug.

Moving marijuana from the governments list of the most dangerous and least useful substances to a less serious category was a clear signal that the federal government, at least under President Joe Bidens administration, wants to ease restrictions on a drug thats been legal in an increasing number of states for more than a decade.

For years, the federal government has not pursued enforcement of state-legal marijuana operations, and the recent move appears to solidify that approach.

But it didnt solve the many thorny issues that have resulted from a split between what is legal in dozens of states and what the federal government allows.

Its unclear exactly what the rescheduling will mean. The Justice Department has not made public the text of Garlands proposal  a DOJ spokesman declined States Newsrooms request this week for a copy and state regulators say it has not been shared with them.

Even if the proposal were public, it would be expected to go through changes over months of rulemaking.

Here are some questions covering what is known at this early stage about what rescheduling would and would not do.

Q: Is weed legal now?

A: No.

Even in states that have legalized recreational use, the federal government would likely still consider the state system as illegal under federal law.

Other Schedule III drugs, including Tylenol with codeine and anabolic steroids, are tightly regulated and available only by prescription at pharmacies.

State-legal medicinal marijuana dispensaries do not fit that description and recreational-use dispensaries are even further from what the Food and Drug Administration requires of Schedule III drugs.

This does not make marijuana state operations legal, Shawn Hauser, a partner at Denver-based marijuana law firm Vicente LLP, said on a May 3 webinar. They are not selling FDA-approved drugs and they are not licensed or meet the control requirements for Schedule III. So cannabis and state-legal dispensaries will remain in violation of federal law.

Q: What is the difference between Schedule I and Schedule III?

A: Among the most significant is the recognition that the drug may have some medicinal value.

Under the federal Controlled Substances Act, the Drug Enforcement Administration has five levels of drug classifications.

Schedule I is the most restricted level, comprising the drugs most ripe for abuse that have no medicinal value. Other drugs on the list include heroin and LSD.

Because the definition of Schedule I substances includes no medicinal use, it is illegal to even study substances on the list.

Schedule III is the strictest level that acknowledges some medicinal value, making some hopeful that research on the drug could be improved.

Moving cannabis to Schedule III would be a big step for recognition of the medical uses of cannabis, what voters here recognized by a wide margin in 1998, the Washington state Liquor and Cannabis Board said in a May 1 statement. And it would say very clearly that the federal government no longer considers cannabis among the most dangerous drugs.

Q: How are states preparing?

A: Until they have more details, state regulators cannot do much, Amanda Borup, the senior policy analyst for the Oregon Liquor and Cannabis Commission, said in an interview.

We really have to wait and see what they release, she said, referring to the DEAs rulemaking.

Other states are considering what the impacts might be.

The statement from Washingtons Liquor and Cannabis Board said rescheduling would hopefully ease restrictions on cannabis research, while it is possible the move would allow state-legal businesses to take advantage of tax deductions available to other industries.

Q: Why does research matter?

A: Marijuana advocates have had trouble providing evidence of any marijuana benefits because research has been restricted, which in turn made it more difficult to show that the restrictions should be lifted.

It could also help establish industry guidelines for ancillary issues. For example, the restrictions on research contribute to a lack of data on what pesticides are safe for use in marijuana cultivation.

Q: How does this affect policy on taxes, banking and criminal justice?

A: On its own, rescheduling likely wont address several complaints marijuana industry members and advocates have about federal prohibition.

Some are hopeful, though, that the signal from the Biden administration will spur momentum toward other changes.

Most businesses can deduct their costs from their income and pay taxes on their net income. Marijuana businesses cannot take that deduction, known as 280E, according to the Marijuana Policy Project, an advocacy group.

Schedule I status also makes access to the U.S. banking system difficult.

Others complain that making marijuana legal in some states has not been fair to the communities of color that saw the most active enforcement.

Rescheduling would not fix those issues on its own, but advocates are hopeful it is a sign of momentum toward full legalization.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Democratic Sens. Cory Booker of New Jersey and Ron Wyden of Oregon reintroduced a bill last week to de-schdule the drug altogether. The measure includes expanding the 280E tax break and several provisions meant to address social justice.

Q: Could Trump reverse this if he wins in November?

A: Probably, though theres no indication thats on his agenda.

Its unclear what the status of the rescheduling will be when the next Inauguration Day arrives on Jan. 20.

If former President Donald Trump wins back the presidency and the rescheduling is still pending, he could direct the DEA and DOJ to scrap the change.

Trump has not commented on the issue.

The post Still much unknown on how marijuana policies would change in states under Biden plan appeared first on Wisconsin Examiner.
Stockard on the Stump: Tennessee governor will sign anything, just put it in front of him

Gov. Bill Lee. (Photo: John Partipilo)

Greetings from Cicada-ville, not to be confused with Margaritaville.

Often encouraged and only rarely disappointed, Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee is loath to turn down a bill that reaches his desk.

While the Republican governor has allowed a limited number of bills to take effect without his signature, including one on truth in sentencing and criminalizing homelessness in 2022, neither of which he supported, he still hasnt vetoed a bill in his six years at the helm.

Lee says hell put the hammer down if necessary, a claim tempered by the fact Tennessee puts the governor in a weak position, requiring only a majority vote by the Legislature to override.

Its safe to say that if a bill comes across my desk that I disagree with and believe that its appropriate to veto it, Ill veto it, Lee said in the recent closing press conference for the 113th General Assembly. (The governor spent Thursday touring storm-damaged Maury County, so he can get a little slack here.)

Taking things a bit further, Lee said, There hasnt been a piece of legislation, and I believe its because of the mutual work together, our office and leadership here, there hasnt been a bill thats come across my desk that I believe was worthy of a veto. Its a lot of work to make sure bills we dont believe should go forward, that might be worthy of a veto should they get in front of us, they dont make it there.

One could surmise, then, that the governor supports 99.99999% of bills that come to his office. We could also reach the conclusion that his office pays close attention to the hundreds of pieces of idiocy that dot the legislative landscape each year. Thus, when he tells us he cant comment on a bill until it comes to his office, what he really means is he just doesnt want to talk about it.

After all, he does have legislative liaisons who bust their rear ends trying to keep at least some bizarre bills from becoming law, because if they pass, hes probably signing.

Its a lot of work to make sure bills we dont believe should go forward, that might be worthy of a veto should they get in front of us, they dont make it there.

 Gov. Bill Lee, addressing his failure to veto a bill in his six-year tenure

Take, for instance, this years menu, complete with the veggie vaccine bill by Republican Rep. Scott Cepicky. Since hes dealing with a terrible tornado that hit Columbia Wednesday, well cut him some slack, too. But if hed spent less time trying to keep COVID-19 boosters out of beans, he might have been able to pass the governors bajillion-dollar private-school giveaway. It didnt help that Cepicky was recorded saying he wanted to blow up public schools. But thats the type of crackpottery were dealing with, folks.

Cepicky acknowledged during committee debate he knows of no instances in which vaccines have been put in food without easy-to-read labels. When youre in the Tennessee Legislature, though, youve got to learn to preempt these problems  for the good of Tennesseans from Memphis to Mountain City, of course.

Granted, it took the governor a full 12 days to sign the sick tomato bill. He wasnt quite as jumpy as he was the day he signed the bill to replace Tennessee State Universitys board of directors within minutes of House passage.

The measure had to be expedited, no doubt, to enable TSU to start a presidential search after lawmakers forced out Glenda Glover by making her life miserable when the real culprit for the universitys financial woes were the lawmakers  past and present  who underfunded TSU for 100 years.

Instead of giving the historically Black university the facilities and funds it needs to thrive, lawmakers this session provided businesses with a $1.9 billion franchise tax cut and rebate, $400 million of which carries on annually. That baby will be with us for a while.

Getting back to silly bills, the Legislature spent more time debating whether to poison Bigfoot with chemtrails than replacing the TSU board with Gov. Lees handpicked directors, who are guaranteed to be better than former Gov. Bill Haslams appointees.

Afraid that the federal government is going to start slipping chemicals into the clouds, Republican Rep. Monty Fritts of Kingston, who seems to have a pretty good handle on science, pushed the bill along with Republican Sen. Steve Southerland of Morristown. While Fritts focused his argument on concerns that the feds could be putting something into the air to control the weather, Southerland admitted he was worried about emissions from airplanes, specifically the vapor trails from jets that criss-cross the skies on bright blue days.

A lengthy House debate ensued on concerns that these chemtrails could keep Bigfoot or Sasquatch from thriving and reproducing, thus the infrequent sightings of hairy creatures who hide in the mountains from Cherokee, North Carolina to Denver, Colorado into infinity and beyond.

Signed, sealed and delivered: No-veto Gov. Bill Lee apparently supports a measure to ban vaccines from being injected into vegetables, one to tied claims the government is slipping chemicals into clouds, and near-instantly signed into law a bill to boot all of Tennessee State Universitys board members for his handpicked selections.

It wasnt quite as bizarre as the extended argument to turn back a bill prohibiting first-cousin marriage, something that common sense alone should handle. But every little thing we can do to strengthen the gene pool is helpful.

If youre worried Ive gone off the rocker, you could be right. When I hit 60, my attitude went to hell in a handbasket.

The theory, nevertheless, is: Tennessee lawmakers have one constitutional requirement  to pass a budget.

With plenty of money in the bank, enough to give away $2 billion to businesses, big farmers and private schools, lawmakers are defaulting to red-meat bills for primary voters, beating up on the LGBTQ community and trying to control peoples lives from before conception to the bitter end. Remember, they knew us even before our parents met.

And keep this in mind, too. They have to do something to justify their existence, keeping the money flowing to lobbyists and into their own election accounts  knowing Gov. Lee will take the bait.

No need for state money?

TSUs problems in recent years began with a housing shortage caused, in part, by a resurgence in historically Black universities and the administrations inability to say no to hopeful scholars.

The Legislature followed with a $200 million allotment for campus improvements. But according to a Thursday release, Metros Industrial Development Board approved a $180 million bond issue to develop a 719-bed apartment called Cobblestone Village next to TSU.

The best part is TSU isnt on the hook for the money, according to the release. Instead, National Development & Infrastructure Corporation, a nonprofit organization, is borrowing the money and taking responsibility for the debt in this public-private partnership, according to the release.

The effort is designed to deal with the social crisis of housing at TSU, offering a market-driven approach to a longstanding challenge, the release says.

I guess the only other question is: What took so long?

Let the mud fly

The Bobby Harshbarger campaign against 4th District Senate Republican Jon Lundberg in northeast Tennessee is off to a roiling start.

Several news outlets report that Sen. Ken Yager, chairman of the Senate Republican Caucus, is coming to his buddys defense with a complaint claiming collusion on the part of the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC, U.S. Rep. Diana Harshbarger (they have the same treasurer, Thomas Datwyler) and her sons campaign to defeat Lundberg in the August Republican primary. Lundberg, a proponent of the governors school choice plan, is said to be too liberal.

Sen. Ken Yager, a Kingston Republican, has jumped to the defense of his colleague, Sen. Jon Lundberg, a Republican from Bristol who is trying to stave off a challenge from a congresswoman's son. (Photo: John Partipilo

Yager mentions the misleading texts in his letter to the Registry of Election Finance complaint but says the connection between those involved is more troublesome.

In addition to collusion between the campaigns, I believe there may also be an effort to skirt campaign finance limits, Yager wrote.

WJHL in East Tennessee reports the complaint stems from text messages critical of Lundberg for his stances on in-state tuition for illegal immigrants and a bathroom bill that could have spurred lawsuits for using the wrong restroom. WJHL reported that Lundberg said the texts were false or misleading.

(This reminds me of the time I waited forever outside a Cracker Barrel restroom somewhere between here and Eastern Kentucky, only to see a little 80-something-year-old woman come out. She looked up at the sign on the door and said, Oh, I didnt know I was in the mens room. Man, woman, chicken or child, it didnt matter. I was dying either way.)

Anyway, Harshbargers campaign treasurer, Phillip Marshall, says he has nothing to do with the East Tennessee Conservatives PAC or his clients mothers committee.

East Tennessee Conservatives PAC landed $95,000 from the American Policy Coalition in Alexandria, Virginia. This appears to be a case of dark money flowing into state elections to decide winners and losers based on pissing, pooping and immigration.

When in doubt, castigate those at the bottom of the totem pole, but if you sprinkle, please be a sweetie and wipe the seatie (I might have seen that at the Cracker Barrel).

A little shell game

Lawmakers this session refused to pass a bill by Democratic Rep. Aftyn Behn of Nashville that would have eliminated the 4% grocery sales tax and replaced it with a method for collecting taxes on money hidden in offshore accounts.

Instead, the Legislature passed a bill  awaiting Gov. Lees signature  giving local governments the option to cut the local sales tax on groceries.

The Nashville Banner reports that Hendersonville officials requested it as the Board of Mayor and Aldermen considered setting a referendum on a half-cent sales tax increase to pay for parks, public safety and road work.

Hendersonville Mayor Jamie Clary contemplates cutting one tax but raising another. (Photo: HendersonvilleTN.org)

It begs the question: Why raise one and lower another?

But they appear ready to forge ahead regardless. Mayor Jamie Clary says the reduction will cost Hendersonville about $2 million a year when it takes effect at the end of 2024, according to the Banner report. Call me crazy, but it seems that money could be used to pave a lot of streets.

Hendersonville recently finished work on a greenway along Drakes Creek and Sanders Ferry Road. Some call it a waste, while others say its the best thing the city ever built. They certainly never built any community centers because those could attract the wrong kind of people.

(If you get too cold, cold) Ill tax the heat / (If you take a walk, walk) Ill tax your feet. *

By the way, to increase audience participation, does anyone know why the group refers to Mr. Wilson and Mr. Heath in this little ditty

* Taxman, The Beatles







The post Stockard on the Stump: Tennessee governor will sign anything, just put it in front of him appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.
RANDOLPH  With a police patrol car in pursuit, flashing its lights and blasting its siren at the County College of Morris, the driver of a Ford Explorer saw his attempted escape come to a sudden halt after a strip of sharp spikes flattened his two front tires.

No arrest was made because Lt. Jim Bruno of the Morris County Prosecutor's Office was behind the wheel of the Ford, serving as the designated driver for a demonstration of how police deploy tire spike devices to slow down or stop criminal suspects before they can get away.

Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said his office used $57,000 in funds forfeited by criminals to purchase 90 Stinger Spike System Model 90200 Trooper Tire Deflation Devices. He plans to roll them out to 13 of Morris County's 37 police agencies, with hopes to equip them all soon.

"We're introducing something today that has been proven successful in numerous jurisdictions," Carroll said. "In our situation here in Morris County and the state of New Jersey, we've obviously had a great increase in car thefts, home burglaries, home invasions and things of that type. We have a high degree of confidence that these will be very effective."

Story continues after gallery

Carroll was unaware of similar county training programs elsewhere, but that he had the full support of the New Jersey Attorney General's Office and was following all current guidelines for vehicle chases and the use of spike strips.

On Thursday, chiefs and officers from several Morris towns attended the all-day training session. The demonstration - staged in a closed-off parking lot - took place shortly after lunch.

"The technology is obvious," Carroll said. "It's a spike strip. But training is essential. As a result, law enforcement has pulled together our resources and efforts. Working together has proven to be the most effective tool against these organized networks of thieves."

Those efforts include the precise training during the Thursday sessions that police received to safely and effectively "stop criminals in motion," following a strategic county plan that identifies "choke points" and process details for police from multiple towns who may be participating in a chase.

"We feel it's going to make a big difference for us being able to apprehend these people before there's a big crash at 100 mph on a major highway where innocent civilians are impacted," Carroll said.

"It's another tool in the toolbox," Sheriff Jim Gannon said. "We can safely arrest the offenders and stop the action."

Randolph, NJ -- May 9, 2024 -- Plastic spikes used to puncture the tires on dangerous vehicles trying to elude law enforcement, are stretched across the path of the vehicles. The Morris County Prosecutor's and Sheriff's offices staged a controlled demonstration of a live tire-spike stop of a moving car to illustrate one tool they can use in combatting auto theft and other crimes involving high speed vehicles.

How to use a spike strip

The strips, which fold accordion-style into a flat case about twice the size of a laptop computer, stretch to 15 feet when pulled by a cord, making for quick deployment. The spikes come with a thin rubber coating to allow them to be safely carried by hand, but detach and embed in a tire that runs over them.

"Stepping on them would be a bad idea," one trainer advised.

The timing and communication has to be perfect for the strip to be deployed at the right time to engage the suspect vehicle without damaging the pursuit vehicles.

"It's about training, training, training," Gannon said.

"I went to the class this morning, so I'm aware of how they work now," Bruno said in between morning and afternoon sessions of tire spike training with representatives of Federal Signal, who manufacture the strips.

Stinger spikes embedded in Bruno's front tires quickly halted his progress at the end of the low-speed demonstration.

"You just saw how effective they can be," Carroll said.

Fighting auto theft with technology

State, county and local authorities began to increase coordination of their efforts after a record 15,898 vehicles were reported stolen in New Jersey during 2022, a trend blamed in part on people leaving key fobs in their parked luxury vehicles.

The rate began to slow in the second half of 2023 after police increased the use of automated license-plate readers and other technologies to identify and track suspects. New legislation increasing penalties for offenders and relaxed state guidelines regarding police chases - reversing earlier restrictions - also aided police efforts, authorities said.

Randolph, NJ -- May 9, 2024 -- Plastic spikes were used to puncture the tires on this demonstration vehicle pretending to elude law enforcement. The Morris County Prosecutor's and Sheriff's offices staged a controlled demonstration of a live tire-spike stop of a moving car to illustrate one tool they can use in combatting auto theft and other crimes involving high speed vehicles.

Overall in 2023, 16,605 thefts were reported, a 4% increase over the past year, according to statistics supplied by the New Jersey State Police.

Auto theft rates actually dropped last year in Morris County, 28%, from 273 in 2022 to 197 in 2023. But Morris County authorities, including Carroll and Gannon, warned the public early this year that related crimes by organized criminal gangs, including home break-ins, home invasions and catalytic converter thefts, were still rising.

In wealthy Mountain Lakes, for example, nine auto thefts were reported last year, one fewer than the prior year. Motor vehicle break-ins fell dramatically, from 28 in 2022 to 11 last year. But residential burglaries, which investigators said were largely related to attempted auto thefts, tripled from three to nine.

Capt. Christopher Petonak, officer-in-charge of the Boonton Police Department, said his officers have successfully deployed tire spike strips in recent years. Trained by federal agencies and using the strips on local routes, they were able to stop and capture about a dozen suspects involved in two police chases that began in neighboring Mountain Lakes and Montville.

After that, Petonak said, the rate of vehicle thefts in town dropped. "I think the word got out that we use them," he said.

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: Morris County NJ officials show tire spike strips for stolen cars
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.
Former President Donald Trump sat through an excruciating week of testimony in his New York trial on fraud charges over his payments to porn star Stormy Daniels in 2016. Beyond the Big Apple, however, things are looking rosier for him on the legal front. The former president is facing four separate criminal prosecutions at the moment, including the New York one. The other three are in varying degrees of jeopardy.

The Georgia case previously appeared to be the most formidable legal threat that Trump would face. There was ample evidence that Trump had tried to corrupt the states election process in 2020, including his infamous request for then-Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to find enough votes to give him a lead in the state. As a state-level prosecution, Trump also could not simply pardon or purge himself out of it if he won in November.

But things went awry in January when one of Trumps co-defendants asked Judge Scott McAfee to dismiss the case because of a potential conflict of interest among the prosecutors. They alleged that Fani Willis, the Fulton County district attorney, had a romantic relationship with Nathan Wade, a special prosecutor she had hired for the case. That relationship, they alleged, included taking expensive vacations while Wade was under contract with the district attorneys office.

Willis later acknowledged that she and Wade had a personal relationship in court filings, but argued that it did not justify her removal from the case. McAfee held a hearing on the matter in February and ultimately concluded in March that the relationship did create the appearance of conflict. But he also ruled that the problem could be fixed if Wade stepped down from the case, which he promptly did.

Trump and the other co-defendants appealed that ruling to the Georgia Court of Appeals. The court agreed this week to consider it. McAfee has indicated in court filings that he intends to continue on the path to trial while that appeal unfolds, but the appeals court may later decide to delay the case while it considers the matter.

Both of special counsel Jack Smiths cases are also in danger. In D.C., he charged Trump with multiple offenses over his efforts to obstruct the electoral vote count on January 6, 2021. That case was originally scheduled to go to trial on March 4. But the Supreme Courts decision in late February to take up an appeal from Trump on whether he has presidential immunity threw a wrench into things.

Trump had argued, as he always does, that prosecutors couldnt charge him with any of the offenses he faced. This time, his excuse was that his acts on and before January 6, 2021 couldnt be prosecuted because presidents are generally immune from criminal prosecution for their official conduct. There is no history or precedent of presidential immunity in America, so both the trial court and the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals firmly rejected it.

Enter the Supreme Court. The justices turned down an earlier opportunity to hear the case after the trial judge rejected Trumps immunity arguments in December. After the D.C. circuit ruled against Trump, the former president tried again. This time, the justices granted review and scheduled oral arguments for April 25, all but guaranteeing that a trial couldnt begin and end before the November election.

Whats more, at oral arguments last month, most of the conservative justices appeared willing to embrace some of immunity arguments, potentially jeopardizing the entire case. While its possible that the courts final opinion will allow some of the charges to proceed, that the court could embrace the idea that the president can commit some crimes without consequence is a frightening one.

And while one of Smiths cases is in peril, the othera case involving stolen classified documents in Floridais essentially a lost cause. In an order earlier this week, Judge Aileen Cannon canceled the scheduled May 20 trial date and declined to schedule a new one. Canceling the May 20 trial date was not a surprise, given the volume of pre-trial motions left to be decided. (More on that in a bit.) But her decision not to schedule a new date is a sign that it wont even come close to happening before the November election.

Cannon wrote that setting a trial date would be imprudent and inconsistent with the courts duty to fully and fairly consider the various pending pretrial motions before the court, critical CIPA issues, and additional pretrial and trial preparations necessary to present this case to a jury, referring to the Classified Information Procedures Act, a federal law that governs how classified material can be used in criminal trials.



Some of Cannons sluggishness might be charitably attributed to her lack of experience. The 41-year-old judge, who was confirmed to the bench in 2020, had only overseen four criminal trials prior to being assigned to Trumps case last year. Criminal trials that involve national security matters or classified documents are also inherently more complex than the average federal case, with both sides often wrangling intensely over what can be disclosed to the jury and to the public.

That may explain why so many pretrial motions have piled up before the court. It does not help that Trump has a tendency to file meritless legal arguments over and over again in an apparent bid to clog up and delay the process. A more experienced judge might dispose of these motions in writing and without hearings, but Cannon has opted to let them accumulate and hold unnecessary hearings on the frivolous ones.

But the real problem appears to be Cannon herself. It is hard to avoid the impression that she is engineering things for Trumps benefit. Her first intervention in the classified documents case came in September 2022, when she effectively suspended the Justice Departments investigation after it carried out a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago at Trumps request. Cannons move at Trumps request was deeply flawed on both statutory and constitutional grounds. Unsurprisingly, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned her ruling a few months later and not so subtly chastised Cannon.

Things did not improve once Cannon was assigned as the trial judge either. In March, for example, Cannon issued an extremely unusual order for the prosecution and the defense to craft jury instructions based around Trumps claims on the Presidential Records Act. That incident bewildered legal experts for two reasons. First, it centered on fundamental misreadings of the PRA and how it applied to the classified records in Trumps case. Second, and just as troublingly, it prioritized jury instructions over more pressing pretrial matters that were already pending on her docket.

The special counsels office has few tools to address the situation. Federal judges have a lot of discretion in how to run criminal trials in their courtrooms. Cannon is using that discretionin ways that work to Trumps advantage. By dragging things out without handing Trump a major substantive win, she has carefully avoided doing anything that might give the special counsels office grounds to appeal something to the Eleventh Circuit.

Perhaps the most telling indicator of Cannons bias is how Trump himself talks about her. The former president is never shy about criticizing judges in public, at times even dragging their family members into things. His criticism was so vehement while in office that Chief Justice John Roberts took the extraordinary step of publicly rebuking it. With Cannon, Trump has nothing but praise. He even suggested that Smith be punished for criticizing one of Cannons orders last month.

[Smith] should be sanctioned or censured for the way he is attacking a highly respected Judge, Aileen Cannon, who is presiding over his FAKE Documents Hoax case in Florida, Trump wrote on his personal social media website. He is a lowlife who is nasty, rude, and condescending, and obviously trying to play the ref.

If theres anyone who knows what its like to play the ref, of course, its Trump. Thanks to the missteps of his prosecutors, the gullibility of his judges, and the delay tactics of his lawyers, he may not face consequences in three out of the four criminal trials he faces before the presidential election in November. Even if he is defeated again, the legal systems failure to hold him accountable for the last four years will be a dismal sign for the rule of law in America.
Porn star Stormy Daniels is goading Doanld Trump to take the stand following her testimonythough actually doing so may not turn out so well for the presumed GOP presidential nominee.

Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Oh  wait. Nevermind, Daniels wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Thursday. She had completed her explosive testimony earlier that day.

Screenshot of a tweet

Trump had already had a difficult time keeping his mouth shut about Danielss testimony early Tuesday, flaming the adult film star in a Truth Social post that was quickly removed, likely for fear of violating the gag order. So instead of attacking Daniels directly, Trump wrote up another post condemning the trial in its entirety.

THIS CROOKED JOE BIDEN INSPIRED TRIAL IS AN ATTACK ON HIS POLITICAL OPPONENT, AND ON AMERICA ITSELF. THE CORRUPT AND HIGHLY CONFLICTED JUDGE, JUAN MERCHAN, IS PRESIDING OVER THE DEATH OF THE NEW YORK CITY AND STATE SYSTEM OF JUSTICE, Trump wrote on Truth Social Thursday. THE WORLD IS WATCHING!!!

Trump is on thin ice after having violated his gag order 10 times. Under its restrictions, Trump cant speak publicly about courtroom staff, prosecutors, jurors, witnesses, or any of their family members. That includes attacking them on social media. Future violations could earn him more financial penalties and the possibility of jail time.

But legal experts predict that Trumps bombastic behaviorand his penchant for outright denying any accusations against himwould only land him in more hot water if he decided to take the stand.

I wouldnt hold my breath on Trump ever testifying in this trial. It would be enormously self-destructive, tweeted Ryan Goodman, a former special counsel for the Department of Justice, on Wednesday. It may require unusual self-control on Trumps part.

Trump is accused of using Cohen to sweep an affair with Daniels under the rug ahead of the 2016 presidential election. The Republican presidential nominee faces 34 felony charges in this case for allegedly falsifying business records with the intent to further an underlying crime. Trump has pleaded not guilty on all counts.
NAIROBI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Kenya's energy regulator on Friday issued guidelines for the use of green hydrogen and its derivatives, as the East African country ramps up investment in renewable energy.

Daniel Kiptoo, director general of the Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority, said in a statement issued in the national capital of Nairobi that the guidelines provide the sustainability criteria for green hydrogen production in the country.

Kiptoo added that they provide relevant regulatory requirements and standards, as well as a monitoring mechanism for projects under development.

"These guidelines will help us promote the production and safe handling of green hydrogen and its derivatives. This is a major boost for renewable energy in the country because green hydrogen can be used to store and transport clean energy, potentially creating jobs, driving economic growth, and sparking innovation," Kiptoo said.

He assured investors, developers, and users of green hydrogen and its derivatives of a level playing field and certainty in the regulatory environment.

The Kenyan official noted that the guidelines are a milestone under the green hydrogen strategy and a roadmap for Kenya as they define the country's short- and medium-term goals toward a green hydrogen economy.

Kenya is increasing its investment in green hydrogen to complement the use of renewable energy, including solar, wind, and geothermal, as the country aims to generate 100 percent of its electricity from renewable sources by 2030.

Kenya, Morocco, South Africa, Mauritania, and Egypt are among the early adopters of green hydrogen technology. 
Adult film actor Stormy Daniels trolled former President Trump and his legal team after she finished testifying in the New York hush money trial this week.

Real men respond to testimony by being sworn in and taking the stand in court. Ohwait. Nevermind, Daniels said in a Thursday post on the social platform X.

Danielss swipe came after Trump and his legal team complained about her testimony Tuesday and Thursday.

On Thursday, the former presidents team tried to amend Judge Juan Merchans gag order so he could respond to Danielss testimony. They argued that since she had completed her testimony, any possibility of her being intimated had passed.

His legal team also tried to have a mistrial declared, claiming her testimony revealed far too much about the alleged sexual encounter in 2006 with the former president.

Merchan denied both attempts.

Danielss shot at Trump on X was also an apparent reference to him potentially taking the stand in the case and confronting the claims she made.

Trumps attorney Susan Necheles, the only woman on his legal team in the case, tried to take down Danielss credibility with the jury by portraying her as an unreliable witness and alleging she had changed her story about the alleged encounter. Necheles also went after Daniels for making a profit since alleging the affair with the former president.

Trump faces 34 felony charges in the New York case for falsifying business records, accusing him of illegally concealing payments his then-fixer, Michael Cohen, made in the late stages of his 2016 presidential campaign to keep Daniels quiet about the alleged extramarital affair from 2006. Trump denies the affair and any wrongdoing in the hush money scheme.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
At a military base that now doubles as a detention center in Israels Negev desert, an Israeli working at the facility snapped two photographs of a scene that he says continues to haunt him.

Rows of men in gray tracksuits are seen sitting on paper-thin mattresses, ringfenced by barbed wire. All appear blindfolded, their heads hanging heavy under the glare of floodlights.

A putrid stench filled the air and the room hummed with the mens murmurs, the Israeli who was at the facility told CNN. Forbidden from speaking to each other, the detainees mumbled to themselves.

We were told they were not allowed to move. They should sit upright. Theyre not allowed to talk. Not allowed to peek under their blindfold.

Guards were instructed to scream uskot  shut up in Arabic  and told to pick people out that were problematic and punish them, the source added.

A leaked photograph of the detention facility shows a blindfolded man with his arms above his head. - Obtained by CNN

CNN spoke to three Israeli whistleblowers who worked at the Sde Teiman desert camp, which holds Palestinians detained during Israels invasion of Gaza. All spoke out at risk of legal repercussions and reprisals from groups supportive of Israels hardline policies in Gaza.

They paint a picture of a facility where doctors sometimes amputated prisoners limbs due to injuries sustained from constant handcuffing; of medical procedures sometimes performed by underqualified medics earning it a reputation for being a paradise for interns; and where the air is filled with the smell of neglected wounds left to rot.

According to the accounts, the facility some 18 miles from the Gaza frontier is split into two parts: enclosures where around 70 Palestinian detainees from Gaza are placed under extreme physical restraint, and a field hospital where wounded detainees are strapped to their beds, wearing diapers and fed through straws.

They stripped them down of anything that resembles human beings, said one whistleblower, who worked as a medic at the facilitys field hospital.

(The beatings) were not done to gather intelligence. They were done out of revenge, said another whistleblower. It was punishment for what they (the Palestinians) did on October 7 and punishment for behavior in the camp.

Responding to CNNs request for comment on all the allegations made in this report, the Israeli military, known as the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), said in a statement: The IDF ensures proper conduct towards the detainees in custody. Any allegation of misconduct by IDF soldiers is examined and dealt with accordingly. In appropriate cases, MPCID (Military Police Criminal Investigations Division) investigations are opened when there is suspicion of misconduct justifying such action.

Detainees are handcuffed based on their risk level and health status. Incidents of unlawful handcuffing are not known to the authorities.

The IDF did not directly deny accounts of people being stripped of their clothing or held in diapers. Instead, the Israeli military said that the detainees are given back their clothing once the IDF has determined that they pose no security risk.

Reports of abuse at Sde Teiman have already surfaced in Israeli and Arab media after an outcry from Israeli and Palestinian rights groups over conditions there. But this rare testimony from Israelis working at the facility sheds further light on Israels conduct as it wages war in Gaza, with fresh allegations of mistreatment. It also casts more doubt on the Israeli governments repeated assertions that it acts in accordance with accepted international practices and law.

CNN has requested permission from the Israeli military to access the Sde Teiman base. Last month, a CNN team covered a small protest outside its main gate staged by Israeli activists demanding the closure of the facility. Israeli security forces questioned the team for around 30 minutes there, demanding to see the footage taken by CNNs photojournalist. Israel often subjects reporters, even foreign journalists, to military censorship on security issues.

Detained in the desert

The Israeli military has acknowledged partially converting three different military facilities into detention camps for Palestinian detainees from Gaza since the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel, in which Israeli authorities say about 1,200 were killed and over 250 were abducted, and the subsequent Israeli offensive in Gaza, killing nearly 35,000 people according to the strips health ministry. These facilities are Sde Teiman in the Negev desert, as well as Anatot and Ofer military bases in the occupied West Bank.

The camps are part of the infrastructure of Israels Unlawful Combatants Law, an amended legislation passed by the Knesset last December that expanded the militarys authority to detain suspected militants.

Patrick Gallagher/CNN

The law permits the military to detain people for 45 days without an arrest warrant, after which they must be transferred to Israels formal prison system (IPS), where over 9,000 Palestinians are being held in conditions that rights groups say have drastically deteriorated since October 7. Two Palestinian prisoners associations said last week that 18 Palestinians  including leading Gaza surgeon Dr. Adnan al-Bursh  had died in Israeli custody over the course of the war.

The military detention camps  where the number of inmates is unknown  serve as a filtration point during the arrest period mandated by the Unlawful Combatants Law. After their detention in the camps, those with suspected Hamas links are transferred to the IPS, while those whose militant ties have been ruled out are released back to Gaza.

CNN interviewed over a dozen former Gazan detainees who appeared to have been released from those camps. They said they could not determine where they were held because they were blindfolded through most of their detention and cut off from the outside world. But the details of their accounts tally with those of the whistleblowers.

We looked forward to the night so we could sleep. Then we looked forward to the morning in hopes that our situation might change, said Dr. Mohammed al-Ran, recalling his detainment at a military facility where he said he endured desert temperatures, swinging from the heat of the day to the chill of night. CNN interviewed him outside Gaza last month.

Al-Ran, a Palestinian who holds Bosnian citizenship, headed the surgical unit at northern Gazas Indonesian hospital, one of the first to be shut down and raided as Israel carried out its aerial, ground and naval offensive.

He was arrested on December 18, he said, outside Gaza Citys Al-Ahli Baptist Hospital, where he had been working for three days after fleeing his hospital in the heavily bombarded north.

He was stripped down to his underwear, blindfolded and his wrists tied, then dumped in the back of a truck where, he said, the near-naked detainees were piled on top of one another as they were shuttled to a detention camp in the middle of the desert.

The details in his account are consistent with those of dozens of others collected by CNN recounting the conditions of arrest in Gaza. His account is also supported by numerous images depicting mass arrests published on social media profiles belonging to Israeli soldiers. Many of those images show captive Gazans, their wrists or ankles tied by cables, in their underwear and blindfolded.

Al-Ran was held in a military detention center for 44 days, he told CNN. Our days were filled with prayer, tears, and supplication. This eased our agony, said al-Ran.

We cried and cried and cried. We cried for ourselves, cried for our nation, cried for our community, cried for our loved ones. We cried about everything that crossed our minds.

Dr. Mohammed Al-Ran headed the surgical unit at Gazas Indonesian hospital, one of the first to be raided and shut down by Israel. - From Social Media

Al-Ran is pictured on the day of his release from a detention camp, in a visibly worse physical condition. - From Social Media

A week into his imprisonment, the detention camps authorities ordered him to act as an intermediary between the guards and the prisoners, a role known as Shawish, supervisor, in vernacular Arabic.

According to the Israeli whistleblowers, a Shawish is normally a prisoner who has been cleared of suspected links to Hamas after interrogation.

The Israeli military denied holding detainees unnecessarily, or using them for translation purposes. If there is no reason for continued detention, the detainees are released back to Gaza, they said in a statement.

However, whistleblower and detainee accounts  particularly pertaining to Shawish  cast doubt on the IDFs depiction of its clearing process. Al-Ran says that he served as Shawish for several weeks after he was cleared of Hamas links. Whistleblowers also said that the absolved Shawish served as intermediaries for some time.

They are typically proficient in Hebrew, according to the eyewitnesses, enabling them to communicate the guards orders to the rest of the prisoners in Arabic.

For that, al-Ran said he was given a special privilege: his blindfold was removed. He said this was another kind of hell.

Part of my torture was being able to see how people were being tortured, he said. At first you couldnt see. You couldnt see the torture, the vengeance, the oppression.

When they removed my blindfold, I could see the extent of the humiliation and abasement  I could see the extent to which they saw us not as human beings but as animals.

A leaked photograph of an enclosure where detainees in gray tracksuits are seen blindfolded and sitting on paper-thin mattresses. CNN was able to geolocate the hangar in the Sde Teiman facility. A portion of this image has been blurred by CNN to protect the identity of the source. - Obtained by CNN

Al-Rans account of the forms of punishment he saw were corroborated by the whistleblowers who spoke with CNN. A prisoner who committed an offense such as speaking to another would be ordered to raise his arms above his head for up to an hour. The prisoners hands would sometimes be zip-tied to a fence to ensure that he did not come out of the stress position.

For those who repeatedly breached the prohibition on speaking and moving, the punishment became more severe. Israeli guards would sometimes take a prisoner to an area outside the enclosure and beat him aggressively, according to two whistleblowers and al-Ran. A whistleblower who worked as a guard said he saw a man emerge from a beating with his teeth, and some bones, apparently broken.

That whistleblower and al-Ran also described a routine search when the guards would unleash large dogs on sleeping detainees, lobbing a sound grenade at the enclosure as troops barged in. Al-Ran called this the nightly torture.

While we were cabled, they unleashed the dogs that would move between us, and trample over us, said al-Ran. Youd be lying on your belly, your face pressed against the ground. You cant move, and theyre moving above you.

The same whistleblower recounted the search in the same harrowing detail. It was a special unit of the military police that did the so-called search, said the source. But really it was an excuse to hit them. It was a terrifying situation.

There was a lot of screaming and dogs barking.

Strapped to beds in a field hospital

Whistleblower accounts portrayed a different kind of horror at the Sde Teiman field hospital.

What I felt when I was dealing with those patients is an idea of total vulnerability, said one medic who worked at Sde Teiman.

If you imagine yourself being unable to move, being unable to see whats going on, and being completely naked, that leaves you completely exposed, the source said. I think thats something that borders on, if not crosses to, psychological torture.

Another whistleblower said he was ordered to perform medical procedures on the Palestinian detainees for which he was not qualified.

I was asked to learn how to do things on the patients, performing minor medical procedures that are totally outside my expertise, he said, adding that this was frequently done without anesthesia.

If they complained about pain, they would be given paracetamol, he said, using another name for acetaminophen.

Just being there felt like being complicit in abuse.

The same whistleblower also said he witnessed an amputation performed on a man who had sustained injuries caused by the constant zip-tying of his wrists. The account tallied with details of a letter authored by a doctor working at Sde Teiman published by Haaretz in April.

From the first days of the medical facilitys operation until today, I have faced serious ethical dilemmas, said the letter addressed to Israels attorney general, and its health and defense ministries, according to Haaretz. More than that, I am writing (this letter) to warn you that the facilities operations do not comply with a single section among those dealing with health in the Incarceration of Unlawful Combatants Law.

An IDF spokesperson denied the allegations reported by Haaretz in a written statement to CNN at the time, saying that medical procedures were conducted with extreme care and in accordance with Israeli and international law.

The spokesperson added that the handcuffing of the detainees was done in accordance with procedures, their health condition and the level of danger posed by them, and that any allegation of violence would be examined.

Whistleblowers also said that medical team were told to refrain from signing medical documents, corroborating previous reporting by rights group Physicians for Human Rights in Israel (PHRI).

The PHRI report released in April warned of a serious concern that anonymity is employed to prevent the possibility of investigations or complaints regarding breaches of medical ethics and professionalism.

You dont sign anything, and there is no verification of authority, said the same whistleblower who said he lacked the appropriate training for the treatment he was asked to administer. It is a paradise for interns because its like you do whatever you want.

CNN also requested comment from the Israeli health ministry on the allegations in this report. The ministry referred CNN back to the IDF.

Concealed from the outside world

Sde Teiman and other military detention camps have been shrouded in secrecy since their inception. Israel has repeatedly refused requests to disclose the number of detainees held at the facilities, or to reveal the whereabouts of Gazan prisoners.

Last Wednesday, the Israeli Supreme Court held a hearing in response to a petition brought forward by Israeli rights group, HaMoked, to reveal the location of a Palestinian X-Ray technician detained from Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza in February. It was the first court session of its kind since October 7.

Israels highest court had previously rejected writs of habeas corpus filed on behalf of dozens of Palestinians from Gaza held in unknown locations.

The disappearances allows for the atrocities that weve been hearing about to happen, said Tal Steiner, an Israeli human rights lawyer and executive director of the Public Committee Against Torture in Israel.

People completely disconnected from the outside world are the most vulnerable to torture and mistreatment, Steiner said in an interview with CNN.

Satellite images provide further insight into activities at Sde Teiman, revealing that in the months since the start of the Israel-Hamas war on October 7, more than 100 new structures, including large tents and hangars, have been built at the desert camp. A comparison of aerial photographs from September 10, 2023 and March 1 this year also showed a significant increase in the number of vehicles at the facility, indicating an uptick in activity. Satellite imagery from two dates in early December showed construction work in progress.

CNN also geolocated the two leaked photographs showing the enclosure holding the group of blindfolded men in gray tracksuits. The pattern of panels seen on the roof matched those of a large hangar visible in satellite imagery. The structure, which resembles an animal pen, is located in the central area of the Sde Teiman compound. It is an older structure seen among new buildings which have appeared since the war began.

CNN reviewed satellite images from two other military detention camps  Ofer and Anatot bases in the occupied West Bank  and did not detect expansion in the grounds since October 7. Several rights groups and legal experts say they believe that Sde Teiman, which is the nearest to Gaza, likely hosts the largest number of detainees of the three military detention camps.

I was there for 23 days. Twenty-three days that felt like 100 years, said 27-year-old Ibrahim Yassine on the day of his release from a military detention camp.

He was lying in a crowded room with over a dozen newly freed men  they were still in the grey tracksuit prison uniforms. Some had deep flesh wounds from where the handcuffs had been removed.

We were handcuffed and blindfolded, said another man, 43-year-old Sufyan Abu Salah. Today is the first day I can see.

Several had a glassy look in their eyes and were seemingly emaciated. One elderly man breathed through an oxygen machine as he lay on a stretcher. Outside the hospital, two freed men from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society embraced their colleagues.

For Dr. Al-Ran, his reunion with his friends was anything but joyful. The experience, he said, rendered him mute for a month as he battled an emotional deadness.

It was very painful. When I was released, people expected me to miss them, to embrace them. But there was a gap, said al-Ran. The people who were with me at the detention facility became my family. Those friendships were the only things that belonged to us.

Just before his release, a fellow prisoner had called out to him, his voice barely rising above a whisper, al-Ran said. He asked the doctor to find his wife and kids in Gaza. He asked me to tell them that it is better for them to be martyrs, said al-Ran. It is better for them to die than to be captured and held here.

Credits

Executive producer: Barbara Arvanitidis

Senior investigations writer: Tamara Qiblawi

Chief global affairs correspondent: Matthew Chance

OSINT reporter: Allegra Goodwin

Photojournalist: Alex Platt

Reporters: Abeer Salman, Ami Kaufman, Kareem Khadder, Mohammad Al Sawalhi and Tareq Al Hilou

Visual and graphic editors: Carlotta Dotto, Lou Robinson and Mark Oliver

3D designer: Tom James

Photo editor: Sarah Tilotta

Video editors: Mark Baron, Julie Zink and Augusta Anthony

Motion designers: Patrick Gallagher and Yukari Schrickel

Digital editors: Laura Smith-Spark and Eliza Mackintosh

Executive editors: Dan Wright and Matt Wells

Editors note: Tamara Qiblawi wrote and reported from London. Matthew Chance, Barbara Arvanitidis and Alex Platt reported from Sde Teiman; Ami Kaufman and Allegra Goodwin reported from London; Abeer Salman and Kareem Khadder reported from Jerusalem; and journalists Mohammad Al Sawalhi and Tareq Al Hilou reported from Gaza.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
LAS VEGAS (KLAS)  Clark County officials held a workshop Thursday night, just over a week after a new ordinance went into effect requiring street vendors to operate legally.

Were kind of afraid daily on what can happen, local vendor Felix Prado said.

Prado spoke with 8 News Now about the troubles that other street vendors have been facing since new regulations went into effect.

Its a little more difficult, Prado explained. Sometimes we do get kicked out.

Street vendor rules go into effect as vendors fear minimum $1,500 licensing costs

Clark Clark County officials held a workshop Thursday night, just over a week after a new ordinance went into effect requiring street vendors to operate legally. (KLAS)

Prado just started his shaved ice business Frozen Paradise, and he is one of many who attended the event Thursday to ask questions and share frustrations.

Last year, Governor Joe Lombardo signed a senate bill into law, creating a path for street vendors to operate legally.

A Clark County ordinance, which falls under this, then passed in April, which requires vendors to get a business license, hold a health district permit, obtain liability insurance, and follow other location and operating hour rules.

Clark County officials told 8 News Now they have only seen 15 to 20 inquiries about applications since the ordinance went into effect on April 30. They have also seen 41 violations, classified as written warnings since the rules were implemented, so they hope workshops like this clear things up.

I would like the process to be more streamlined, Prado said. A little bit easier for us food vendors.

Prado and several others who spoke with 8 News Now said they hope to see more communication from officials in the future.

To say this is the road to taco licensing, local vendor Pedro Guzman said. Its just very frustrating.

This, is as they do their best to navigate what they call a whole new world.

Once it gets sorted out, Prado concluded of the ordinance. Its probably going to be a good thing.

Anyone found out of compliance now that the vendor ordinance is in place can face a $500 fine or jail time.

Those applying to get licensed can expect to pay about $1500 to get into compliance, which many vendors call a struggle.

Some fees, including the Southern Nevada Health District license, offer payment plans.

For more information on the Clark County ordinance, click HERE.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KLAS.
Students' Names Were Dramatically Mispronounced During Graduation  Here's What the University Says Went Wrong

Videos from Thomas Jefferson University's 2024 commencement have gone viral after the announcer mispronounced several students' names during the ceremony

ohn Greim/LightRocket via Getty Thomas Jefferson University

Thomas Jefferson University is apologizing after several blunders at the school's May 9 graduation ceremony have been compared to a Key and Peele skit.

The Philadelphia school's College of Nursing held commencement on Thursday, during which a presenter seemed to struggle through the pronunciation of many students' names as they accepted their diplomas and crossed the stage.

In several clips shared on TikTok, the presenter struggled to pronounce common names including Elizabeth, Stephanie and Thomas throughout the ceremony. One TikToker wrote that they forgot I was at my sisters nursing graduation and thought it was a Key and Peele skit, in reference to the famous "Substitute Teacher skit from Comedy Centrals 2012-2015 sketch series in which actor Keegan Michael-Key humorously mispronounces students' names during a roll call.

In yet another TikTok of the ceremony, the announcer apologizes to the graduates, saying, "My apologies for the phonetic spelling or pronunciation of the names that was on the cards, I would have been better just reading from the book."

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 the official statement to PEOPLE, the university said that the leadership and faculty of Thomas Jefferson University extend our sincerest apologies for the mispronunciations of the names of several of our graduating nursing students during our recent commencement ceremony."

"This ceremony is a celebration of the significant achievements of our students, and each graduate deserves to have their name honored correctly on this pivotal day," continued the statement.



Related: Mom Died During Daughter's Ohio State Graduation, Officials Reportedly Investigating as Apparent Suicide

The mispronunciations occurred due to the way phonetic spellings were presented on the speakers cards, which was noted when the presenter apologized during the ceremony," said Thomas Jefferson. "This unfortunate error does not reflect the immense respect we have for our graduates and the value we place on their hard-earned accomplishments.

The school also shared the apology on social media.

According to Thomas Jefferson's website, the school will hold three more graduation ceremonies on May 21 and May 22.

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Sudans moment has come; chaos is our chance to sow the seeds of jihad, warned Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani, a high-ranking al-Qaida leader, in an October 2022 manifesto.

His words may have seemed premature at the time, but a year of brutal civil war has now plunged Sudan into the kind of chaos in which terrorist groups thrive. The risk of al-Qaida gaining ground in Sudan is now very real and imperils, I believe, not only the country itself but also regional  and potentially global  security.

In April 2023, fighting broke out in Sudan between the Sudanese Armed Forces and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces, creating a power vacuum that extremists are eager to fill.

At the same time, the Rapid Support Forces  a group that developed under and was once allied to Sudans al-Qaida-harboring former president Omar al-Bashir  has been solidifying its grip in strategic areas such as Darfur and southern Khartoum.

Indeed, both the paramilitary group and the armed forces have been accused of recruiting Islamist fighters, fueling fears that the civil war will  regardless of the victor  prove a toehold for extremist groups.

As a defense policy researcher and counterterrorism expert, Im concerned that Sudan risks becoming an al-Qaida stronghold  and a potential base for orchestrating attacks on the U.S. and its allies. A potential Rapid Support Forces takeover in Sudan could mirror pre-9/11 Afghanistan, where Taliban control facilitated al-Qaidas rise.

Al-Qaida members, seeking opportunities to achieve what they couldnt in the Middle East, are already heeding calls to head to Sudan.

Decades of turmoil and extremism

Sudans civil strife predates the current fighting by decades. It ignited in 1989 when al-Bashir seized power, aligning the nation with radical Islamist ideologies. He imposed Sharia law and in 1991 sheltered al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden. Under al-Bashirs regime, bin Laden established training camps and expanded al-Qaidas financial network, laying the groundwork for the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Facing international sanctions over its support of terrorism, Sudan expelled bin Laden in 1996.

But al-Bashirs sponsorship of the Janjaweed militia group, the architects of the 2003 Darfur genocide, further solidified his alignment with Islamist extremists. Under scrutiny, al-Bashir rebranded the Janjaweed as the Rapid Support Forces in 2013, appointing ex-Janjaweed member Mohammed Hamdan Hemeti Dagalo as its leader and retaining their brutal tactics.

The 2021 coup, orchestrated by Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan of the Sudanese Armed Forces and Hemeti of the Rapid Support Forces, soon devolved into a power struggle between the two men, igniting Sudans current conflict.

Today, with Hemeti at the helm, the paramilitary group continues its oppressive campaign in West Darfur, engaging in alleged ethnic cleansing against the Indigenous Masalit people.

Meanwhile, a prison attack in April 2023, which the Sudanese army blamed on Rapid Support Forces rebels, facilitated the escape of al-Bashirs allies, though the former president remains hospitalized under guard.

Sudan at the heart of jihad

With conflicts in the Middle East and Eastern Europe, the West might be overlooking the crisis in Sudan and the potential it holds for al-Qaida, a group that has long harbored ambitions of returning to Sudan.

Despite his expulsion, bin Laden continued to emphasize Sudans importance in his plans for global jihad. This was evident in his 2006 audiotape and diary entries in which he referred to Sudan as a pivotal operational base.

A 2023 publication by key al-Qaida figure Ibrahim al-Qussi titled Fragments from al-Qaidas History revealed that bin Laden directed an investment of US$12 million solely for jihad in Sudan, highlighting the regions ongoing relevance to al-Qaidas objectives.

Sudans appeal to extremists extends beyond its connections to bin Laden. Strategically bridging North and sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan is a key location for Islamist extremists aiming to expand their influence across the region.

After the 2021 U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan and the Talibans return to power, al-Qaida reestablished a presence in the country, reopening training camps and madrassas.

Well before that, however, al-Qaida had long since evolved from a centralized organization in Afghanistan into a decentralized network with global affiliates  from the Arabian Peninsula to the Indian subcontinent all the way to sub-Saharan Africa and the Sahel.

Historic ties, new ambitions

Recent developments highlight al-Qaidas increased focus on Sudan and are driven by detailed expansion plans of Sudanese al-Qaida leader Abu Hudhaifa al-Sudani. A former bin Laden associate with a notorious background in Afghanistan and Iraq, al-Sudani issued a renewed call for jihad.

Following the onset of civil war in Sudan, al-Sudanis 2022 manifesto, Now the fighting has come: War messages to the Mujahideen in Sudan, not only prescribes a military strategy of targeted strikes and guerrilla warfare across Sudan but also a vision for jihad extending from Dongola in the countrys north to Darfur in its south, with Khartoum as the command center.

Al-Qaida further articulated its threat in a message on the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 attacks on the U.S., promising, It is only a matter of time before the next strike eclipses the horrors of 9/11.

This declaration, combined with the groups escalating presence in conflict zones such as Niger and Libya, actively positions them to target U.S. interests worldwide. Indeed, a 2022 United Nations report indicated that al-Qaida was planning high-profile attacks, possibly at sea.

What an extremist takeover would mean

Al-Qaidas potential in resource-rich Sudan should not be underestimated. Historically, the groups operations from resource-limited Afghanistan were devastating; in Sudan, with its abundance of oil, gold and fertile land, their capabilities could be significantly magnified.

Sudan provides a lucrative base for whoever holds power. Forging links with both sides of the civil war would no doubt be of huge financial benefit to al-Qaida should either side prevail, in the same way al-Bashirs rule was a generation earlier.

And Sudans Red Sea access makes it potentially an even greater threat than Iraq and Afghanistan combined.

Gaining a Sudanese stronghold could empower al-Qaida affiliates across Yemen, Somalia and the Sahel region, exacerbating regional conflicts and threatening crucial Red Sea trade routes. Interestingly, a United Nations July 2022 report revealed that al-Qaidas Yemen branch had been boosting its maritime capabilities.

The resurgence of al-Qaida capabilities in the region could lead to increased piracy, militarized blockades and unregulated arms flow, escalating regional tensions and causing broader geopolitical unrest.

But as the United States redirects resources and attention to wars in Europe and the Middle East and countering China, Sudan has seemingly slipped down its priority list. Complicating matters further, U.S. responses are tangled in the conflicting interests of its Gulf allies supporting various factions in Sudans civil war.

Strapped by resource limitations, overwhelmed by competing threats and weary from decades in the Middle East, the U.S. is poorly positioned to counter al-Qaidas expansion into Sudan.

But as Sudan inches closer to becoming a global terror hub, the stakes couldnt be higher. Historical examples, such as Afghanistans fall to the Taliban and the rise of the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria, illustrate the potential costs.

This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit, independent news organization bringing you facts and analysis to help you make sense of our complex world.

It was written by: Sara Harmouch, American University.

Read more:



Sara Harmouch does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.
Will the sun shine on Southern California this Mothers Day?

The Southland has finally been in the middle of a stretch of warm weather and sunshine but will it last through Mothers Day weekend?

Friday morning will start with some morning clouds, especially near the coast but brighten up through the afternoon.

The afternoon high in downtown Los Angeles Thursday reached 75 degrees, just one degree above the average of 74. The record high for May 9 is 99 degrees set back in 1923.

Los Angeles' 7-Day Forecast is seen on May 10, 2024.

A low-pressure system over Nevada has moved a little closer to the California border, KTLA Meteorologist Henry DiCarlo said.

So I cant rule out the chance of some drizzle tonight up in the mountains or some of the foothills, Henry said.

Those living in Los Angeles, Ventura and Santa Barbara counties likely wont notice any change from the low pressure and can expect continued sunny skies and warm conditions Friday.

2 Los Angeles County beaches closed due to massive sewage discharge

By Mothers Day, Henry expects plenty of sunshine and warm temperatures throughout the Southland.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
Iowa's ban on felons owning or using firearms extends to antique weapons such as muzzleloaders, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled unanimously Friday.

The ruling comes in the case of Adam Rhodes, who was charged in Des Moines County with unlawfully possessing a firearm. Rhodes, who is banned from carrying guns due to a 2004 burglary conviction, argued that the weapon should be characterized as a replica of an antique firearm and thus exempted from the law.

The gun in question, a .50-caliber black powder rifle, is a replica of an early 1800s weapon with an antique firing mechanism, according to one expert who testified for Rhodes. Purchasing such a weapon does not require a federal background check, and Rhodes was able to buy his from a sporting goods store in 2020. He later used it to shoot a deer, although he initially told Iowa Department of Natural Resources agents he'd used a bow and arrow, and in text messages, suggested to his wife that she claim to be the one who fired the rifle.

Friday's decision, written by Justice Thomas Waterman, sets Iowa apart from federal gun laws, which exempt antique weapons such as muzzleloaders from legal definition of firearms.

An antique-style muzzleloader. The Iowa Supreme Court has ruled that the guns, like any other, can't be owned or used by felons.

More: Des Moines man acquitted of murder fails in challenge to federal firearm conviction

Iowa law does exempt antique weapons from the category of "offensive weapons," such as machine guns and hand grenades, that are widely banned. But Waterman writes that Iowa's statute prohibits felons from possessing firearms or offensive weapons, and that "an individual of ordinary intelligence" would understand a black powder muzzleloader rifle is still encompassed in the ordinary definition of "firearm."

"We see no reason to depart from our precedent consistently defining 'firearm' ... for the last forty years," Waterman wrote. "We reiterate that a firearm is any instrument which will or is designed to discharge a projectile by the force of a chemical explosive such as gun powder."

The decision affirms the conviction against Rhodes, who received a suspended sentence and five years' probation.

Attorneys for Rhodes did not respond to messages Friday seeking comment.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Supreme Court rules against ex-felon who possessed muzzleloader
Survivors of domestic and sexual violence can break their leases early in some states

A domestic violence survivor sits with her son for dinner in their new, sparsely furnished apartment in New York. Housing is among the biggest challenges for people leaving abusive relationships, and many cities and states are looking to help survivors by allowing them to break their leases early and in other ways. Bebeto Matthews/The Associated Press

New Hampshire state Rep. Ellen Read remembers how trapped she felt as an 18-year-old in her native Tennessee, enduring the physical and emotional toll of an abusive relationship.

The abuse Read suffered  which included being held captive in an apartment for days and hit by her abusers car  lasted years after she left the relationship, while her abuser stalked her.

In 2016, Read won election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. That same year, she recalled to Stateline, her abuser died by suicide after 16 years of prolonged stalking.

Now, a bill authored by Read would allow victims of domestic and sexual violence  including stalking  to break their rental lease agreements early if they provide a police report or are in the process of obtaining documents such as a protective order following an incident.

My hope is that this increases the boldness of people living in these abusive situations and that they know if they leave, there will be a path forward for them and they wont be forced to stay with their abuser or at the home they were abused in, said Read, a Democrat. The bill has been sent to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu after passing both chambers.

The pandemic lockdown that began in March 2020, coming alongside the nations worsening housing crisis, has prompted state lawmakers to help victims of assault who are struggling to move away from their alleged abusers. Domestic violence incidents in the United States increased by 8.1% in the months following the imposition of pandemic lockdown orders in 2020, according to a 2021 report released by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, a group launched by the Council on Criminal Justice, a think tank.

More than a dozen states have passed measures in the past five years bolstering rental protections for survivors by allowing them to break their leases if they provide evidence of stalking, sexual assault or an abusive domestic relationship. Many of those laws, which were enacted or strengthened during the pandemic, give victims more leeway in how they can document the abuse.

Many cities and states are looking to help survivors with new housing in other ways, such as by obtaining grants to develop transitional housing or offering housing vouchers to victims.

It is deeply traumatizing and harmful to force survivors to continue to live in the same home where the harm occurred, said Kate Walz, associate director of litigation at the National Housing Law Project, an advocacy group that trains legal services organizations. It can retraumatize and compound the harm over years, if not decades.

Several states are addressing the issue this session. Efforts to add early lease termination laws for victims in Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina have yet to either make it past committees or both chambers.

A driving factor for survivors of domestic violence is making sure that there is somewhere safe for them to go.

 Nicole Molinaro, president and CEO of the Womens Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh

While Pennsylvanias effort to pass these protections statewide has stalled, the Pittsburgh City Council approved a bill in October that requires landlords to allow domestic abuse victims to exit their leases without penalty, and also change a tenants locks upon request, though at the tenants expense.

Nicole Molinaro, president and CEO of the Womens Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, one of the countrys first domestic violence shelters, called the legislation monumental.

Molinaro hopes the state will eventually enact similar protections. She said that the trauma of domestic and sexual violence can be crippling, and that some victims may need to leave their neighborhood or cities altogether if their abuser also has roots there.

A driving factor for survivors of domestic violence is making sure that there is somewhere safe for them to go, Molinaro told Stateline. And that often means a survivor cannot move back to the neighborhood they were in if the abuser still has connections there.

The post-separation journey

When New York City resident Stephanie Woodbine and her adolescent daughter left a two-year abusive relationship in 2017, she wasnt sure where they were going to live.

Woodbine told Stateline that on top of emotional abuse, she also suffered economic abuse  a form of abuse that New York City last year officially recognized as domestic violence. She found housing, then was evicted after losing her job.

I really didnt have a lot of money to pay for housing because the mental trauma made it hard to live a normal life, keep a job, Woodbine said.

She didnt qualify for the domestic violence shelters because she wasnt in an active domestic violence situation, she recalled, so she stayed in hotels and lived a life of hidden homelessness with her daughter.

Stephanie Woodbine struggled to find housing for her and her daughter when she left an abusive relationship in 2017. They now have a permanent home, and Woodbine has become a preschool teacher. She also has earned a public speaking certification from a local advocacy group. Courtesy of Stephanie Woodbine

There are so many decisions that make leaving any abusive situation hard, but when you leave you find out just how hard it is to survive when you feel your options are limited, said Woodbine, who eventually received an emergency housing voucher and has secured permanent housing.

Theres a lot of post-separation abuse that is also contributing to survivors instability and their mental trauma, added Woodbine, who now sits on the advisory council to the Mayors Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. Its why we want to expand protections for survivors post-separation, and that includes providing permanent housing.

Intimate partner violence is a major driver of homelessness, and researchers have found that housing is among the most common needs for survivors. Currently, 10% of shelters and transitional housing are targeted to domestic violence victims and their families, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of homeless camping and outdoor sleeping bans, cities that have passed bans argue that outside encampments are dangerous not just for the public, but also for people staying there.

But Walz, of the National Housing Law Project, fears that if these bans are deemed constitutional, theyll have a major impact on women and children fleeing domestic violence situations.

Gender-based violence is both the cause and consequence of housing instability. Housing instability increases your risk of it, and housing instability comes as a result of it, said Walz. If we dont recognize that and craft our policies to be responsive to it, we are guaranteeing continued violence and increase of it.

More cities are working to include housing as a key service for survivors.

Woodbine credited city-based nonprofits for navigating her through the emergency voucher process  an intimidating process for those in need of housing.

New York City is hoping to provide such protections and, most importantly, housing through a pilot program funded with a $300,000 grant  from the NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness  that aims to help 100 families affected by domestic violence find homes.

Saloni Sethi, acting commissioner of the Mayors Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, told Stateline that the pilot program addresses the need for safe and stable housing for survivors in a place where secure housing can be scarce.

Survivors are often sort of faced with this really impossible choice of, do I give up my own safety or do I destabilize myself and my entire family by leaving home?  We anticipate this pilot can finally provide that stable, fresh start, Sethi said.

Many cities and states have become more intentional about building or reserving housing for survivors, with increasing support from the federal government. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justices Office on Violence Against Women awarded 81 grants, worth $43 million, to programs offering housing for six to 24 months for survivors.

Breaking the lease

If Reads bill is signed by Sununu, New Hampshire would become one of 40 states to have early rental lease termination protections for victims of domestic or sexual abuse.

In post-lockdown years, Oklahoma passed early termination laws for domestic violence victims. Utah amended its early termination law in 2023, reducing the termination fee from 45 days of rent  one of the highest in the nation at the time  to a months rent.

Reads bill, which she based on a similar one in Tennessee, stalled in committee when she first introduced it last year.

During early debate, New Hampshire landlord groups raised concerns about the financial burden they carry when tenants break their lease early  a position that irritated Read.

Nobody will say in todays society here that they are in favor of domestic violence, Read said. But put your money where your mouth is when it comes to allowing them to make that decision to exit their lease early even at a financial loss, or else its just lip service.

But every time a new tenant comes in, it costs money to clean up and turn over the home, said Nick Norman, a real estate owner who serves as government affairs chair for the Apartment Association of New Hampshire. The bills original language also could have left a landlord responsible for things left behind, including damages.

The legislation now on Sununus desk is drastically different, Norman said. The housing provider advocates and tenant advocates came together as we usually do to find a solution that works best for both parties.

Read likewise credited the Senate for adding measures that would make qualifying for an early termination lease easier.

Some states, including Kansas, North Dakota and Utah, may allow landlords to charge fees or forward payment of rent for breaking the lease early in cases of intimate partner violence. And many states require documents from an outside source, such as a police report or court protective order.

Many landlords see such requirements as a necessary step in good faith to break a lease early. However, Walz thinks that these requirements are a barrier for survivors, given how underreported domestic and sexual violence is and how hard it can be for victims to obtain a report without escalating violence from their abuser.

First and foremost, we must believe survivors. This means in action taking their own stories and experiences to be true and not requiring any form of third-party proof, Walz said.

Assumptions, stereotypes and bias  towards not believing survivors and perceiving that it could be made up in order to exit a lease  play into state policy responses and often result in a litany of requirements, including orders of protection, police reports, third-party statements, she said.

Editors note: This story has been updated to correct Stephanie Woodbines role at the Mayors Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence in New York City.

DONATE: SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST
Survivors of domestic and sexual violence can break their leases early in some states

A domestic violence survivor sits with her son for dinner in their new, sparsely furnished apartment in New York. Housing is among the biggest challenges for people leaving abusive relationships, and many cities and states are looking to help survivors by allowing them to break their leases early and in other ways. (Photo by Bebeto Matthews / The Associated Press)

New Hampshire state Rep. Ellen Read remembers how trapped she felt as an 18-year-old in her native Tennessee, enduring the physical and emotional toll of an abusive relationship.

The abuse Read suffered  which included being held captive in an apartment for days and hit by her abusers car  lasted years after she left the relationship, while her abuser stalked her.

In 2016, Read won election to the New Hampshire House of Representatives. That same year, she recalled to Stateline, her abuser died by suicide after 16 years of prolonged stalking.

Now, a bill authored by Read would allow victims of domestic and sexual violence  including stalking  to break their rental lease agreements early if they provide a police report or are in the process of obtaining documents such as a protective order following an incident.

My hope is that this increases the boldness of people living in these abusive situations and that they know if they leave, there will be a path forward for them and they wont be forced to stay with their abuser or at the home they were abused in, said Read, a Democrat. The bill has been sent to Republican Gov. Chris Sununu after passing both chambers.

The pandemic lockdown that began in March 2020, coming alongside the nations worsening housing crisis, has prompted state lawmakers to help victims of assault who are struggling to move away from their alleged abusers. Domestic violence incidents in the United States increased by 8.1% in the months following the imposition of pandemic lockdown orders in 2020, according to a 2021 report released by the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice, a group launched by the Council on Criminal Justice, a think tank.

More than a dozen states have passed measures in the past five years bolstering rental protections for survivors by allowing them to break their leases if they provide evidence of stalking, sexual assault or an abusive domestic relationship. Many of those laws, which were enacted or strengthened during the pandemic, give victims more leeway in how they can document the abuse.

Many cities and states are looking to help survivors with new housing in other ways, such as by obtaining grants to develop transitional housing or offering housing vouchers to victims.

It is deeply traumatizing and harmful to force survivors to continue to live in the same home where the harm occurred, said Kate Walz, associate director of litigation at the National Housing Law Project, an advocacy group that trains legal services organizations. It can retraumatize and compound the harm over years, if not decades.

Several states are addressing the issue this session. Efforts to add early lease termination laws for victims in Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina have yet to either make it past committees or both chambers.

While Pennsylvanias effort to pass these protections statewide has stalled, the Pittsburgh City Council approved a bill in October that requires landlords to allow domestic abuse victims to exit their leases without penalty, and also change a tenants locks upon request, though at the tenants expense.

Nicole Molinaro, president and CEO of the Womens Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, one of the countrys first domestic violence shelters, called the legislation monumental.

Molinaro hopes the state will eventually enact similar protections. She said that the trauma of domestic and sexual violence can be crippling, and that some victims may need to leave their neighborhood or cities altogether if their abuser also has roots there.

A driving factor for survivors of domestic violence is making sure that there is somewhere safe for them to go, Molinaro told Stateline. And that often means a survivor cannot move back to the neighborhood they were in if the abuser still has connections there.

The post-separation journey

When New York City resident Stephanie Woodbine and her adolescent daughter left a two-year abusive relationship in 2017, she wasnt sure where they were going to live.

Woodbine told Stateline that on top of emotional abuse, she also suffered economic abuse  a form of abuse that New York City last year officially recognized as domestic violence. She found housing, then was evicted after losing her job.

I really didnt have a lot of money to pay for housing because the mental trauma made it hard to live a normal life, keep a job, Woodbine said.

She didnt qualify for the domestic violence shelters because she wasnt in an active domestic violence situation, she recalled, so she stayed in hotels and lived a life of hidden homelessness with her daughter.

There are so many decisions that make leaving any abusive situation hard, but when you leave you find out just how hard it is to survive when you feel your options are limited, said Woodbine, who eventually received an emergency housing voucher and has secured permanent housing.

Theres a lot of post-separation abuse that is also contributing to survivors instability and their mental trauma, added Woodbine, who now sits on the Mayors Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence. Its why we want to expand protections for survivors post-separation, and that includes providing permanent housing.

Intimate partner violence is a major driver of homelessness, and researchers have found that housing is among the most common needs for survivors. Currently, 10% of shelters and transitional housing are targeted to domestic violence victims and their families, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers the constitutionality of homeless camping and outdoor sleeping bans, cities that have passed bans argue that outside encampments are dangerous not just for the public, but also for people staying there.

But Walz, of the National Housing Law Project, fears that if these bans are deemed constitutional, theyll have a major impact on women and children fleeing domestic violence situations.

Gender-based violence is both the cause and consequence of housing instability. Housing instability increases your risk of it, and housing instability comes as a result of it, said Walz. If we dont recognize that and craft our policies to be responsive to it, we are guaranteeing continued violence and increase of it.

More cities are working to include housing as a key service for survivors.

Woodbine credited city-based nonprofits for navigating her through the emergency voucher process  an intimidating process for those in need of housing.

New York City is hoping to provide such protections and, most importantly, housing through a pilot program funded with a $300,000 grant  from the NYC Fund to End Youth & Family Homelessness  that aims to help 100 families affected by domestic violence find homes.

Saloni Sethi, acting commissioner of the Mayors Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, told Stateline that the pilot program addresses the need for safe and stable housing for survivors in a place where secure housing can be scarce.

Survivors are often sort of faced with this really impossible choice of, do I give up my own safety or do I destabilize myself and my entire family by leaving home?  We anticipate this pilot can finally provide that stable, fresh start, Sethi said.

Many cities and states have become more intentional about building or reserving housing for survivors, with increasing support from the federal government. Last year, the U.S. Department of Justices Office on Violence Against Women awarded 81 grants, worth $43 million, to programs offering housing for six to 24 months for survivors.

Breaking the lease

If Reads bill is signed by Sununu, New Hampshire would become one of 40 states to have early rental lease termination protections for victims of domestic or sexual abuse.

In post-lockdown years, Oklahoma passed early termination laws for domestic violence victims. Utah amended its early termination law in 2023, reducing the termination fee from 45 days of rent  one of the highest in the nation at the time  to a months rent.

Reads bill, which she based on a similar one in Tennessee, stalled in committee when she first introduced it last year.

During early debate, New Hampshire landlord groups raised concerns about the financial burden they carry when tenants break their lease early  a position that irritated Read.

Nobody will say in todays society here that they are in favor of domestic violence, Read said. But put your money where your mouth is when it comes to allowing them to make that decision to exit their lease early even at a financial loss, or else its just lip service.

But every time a new tenant comes in, it costs money to clean up and turn over the home, said Nick Norman, a real estate owner who serves as government affairs chair for the Apartment Association of New Hampshire. The bills original language also could have left a landlord responsible for things left behind, including damages.

The legislation now on Sununus desk is drastically different, Norman said. The housing provider advocates and tenant advocates came together as we usually do to find a solution that works best for both parties.

Read likewise credited the Senate for adding measures that would make qualifying for an early termination lease easier.

Some states, including Kansas, North Dakota and Utah, may allow landlords to charge fees or forward payment of rent for breaking the lease early in cases of intimate partner violence. And many states require documents from an outside source, such as a police report or court protective order.

Many landlords see such requirements as a necessary step in good faith to break a lease early. However, Walz thinks that these requirements are a barrier for survivors, given how underreported domestic and sexual violence is and how hard it can be for victims to obtain a report without escalating violence from their abuser.

First and foremost, we must believe survivors. This means in action taking their own stories and experiences to be true and not requiring any form of third-party proof, Walz said.

Assumptions, stereotypes and bias  towards not believing survivors and perceiving that it could be made up in order to exit a lease  play into state policy responses and often result in a litany of requirements, including orders of protection, police reports, third-party statements, she said.

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 Survivors of domestic and sexual violence can break their leases early in some states appeared first on Source New Mexico.
SYDNEY, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A Malaysian national has been charged for his involvement in the importation of 100 kg of methamphetamine into Australia, authorities confirmed on Friday.

According to a joint statement by the Australian Federal Police and Australian Border Force, the investigation commenced in April after a consignment of six boxes arrived into Sydney's Port Botany.

Police found that 100 kg of methamphetamine were concealed in the soles of black leather shoes, with the consignment addressed to a western Sydney storage facility.

On Monday, a 49-year-old Malaysian man attempted to collect the consignment using a forged identification, but failed. He then drove on the Hume Highway toward Melbourne.

Following related investigations, detectives identified the man and executed a search warrant at his home in Melbourne on Thursday.

During the search, police located two mobile devices that were used to facilitate the importation as well as the fake license provided to the freight forwarder.

The man was charged with attempting to possess a commercial quantity of meth, which could carry a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.

After appearing before Melbourne Magistrates Court on Friday morning, the offender is expected to return to the same court in August.

ABF Inspector Marc Rea noted that the seized methamphetamine equated to approximately 1 million individual street deals.

"That's 92 million Australian dollar (about 60.8 million U.S. dollars) worth of this insidious drug that won't end up on our streets," Rea added. 
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  A suspect in a deadly east Charlotte shooting has been arrested in Virginia, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police said on Friday.

Officers responded to calls regarding the incident around 5 p.m. on Friday April 12th near 6200 Upas Lane in east Charlotte. 21-year-old Justin Caracha-Soto was found suffering from gunshot wounds and was pronounced dead on scene. A continued investigation made the death investigation into a homicide investigation, and detectives were able to identify Alejandro Sequeira, 23, as a suspect. Sequeira was located in Virginia and was arrested on Thursday, CMPD said.

He has been charged with murder and is awaiting extradition to Charlotte.

A Violent Crime Apprehension Team and the Washington FBI offices assisted in the operations.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
DENVER (KDVR)  On Friday, Zachary Kwak, 19, appeared in court and pleaded guilty for his alleged role in a deadly rock-throwing crime spree in Jefferson and Boulder counties that killed a 20-year-old woman.

Kwak pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree assault, one count of second-degree assault and an added count of criminal attempt to commit assault. As part of the plea deal, he will serve no less than 20 years but no more than 32 years.

His previous charges were dismissed as a result of the plea.

Kwak was one of three high school seniors arrested in connection to the case in 2023. At the time of their arrests, the students were taken into custody on charges of first-degree murder  extreme indifference.

She really left a mark: Friend mourns woman killed in rock attack

Kwak will be sentenced on Sept. 3 after the other two suspects cases are complete.

20-year-old killed while driving in Jefferson County

The charges stem from a string of crimes that took place in April 2023. Alexa Bartell was killed while driving northbound near the 10600 block of Indiana Street when she was struck by a large rock that was thrown at her car.

Investigators said the rock hit Bartell, and she was killed.

Bartell had been on the phone with a friend at the time. That friend tracked Bartells phone and found the 20-year-old dead in her car, which was off the road in a field.

Bartells family was in the courtroom on Friday to hear Kwak make his guilty plea. FOX31s Vicente Arenas said the group could be seen wiping tears from their faces during the 15-minute proceedings. They offered no comment while leaving the courthouse.

FOX31 Newsletters: Sign up to get breaking news sent to your inbox

Meanwhile, Kwak was dressed in a jail uniform, handcuffed. He answered the judges questions, saying he understood his plea and its implications. He will not be sentenced until verdicts are rendered in his two co-defendants cases.

This was not the first instance of rocks being thrown at cars that night. A total of five incidents were reported. The other drivers had objects thrown at their vehicles but have recovered from minor injuries.

Joseph Koenig is scheduled to appear for a jury trial in the case on July 19 but is next scheduled to appear in court on July 3 for a motions hearing. Nicholas Karol-Chik is scheduled for a jury trial on June 7.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Family and friends of Tara Louise Baker returned to Athens for a flower memorial on Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2021. Baker was a UGA Law Student who was murdered on January 19, 2001, in her East Athens, home one day before her 24th birthday.

The suspect in the 2001 slaying of University of Georgia law school student Tara Louise Baker has a long history of criminal complaints and convictions.

Edrick Lamont Faust, 48, of Athens was arrested Thursday on numerous charges stemming from the slaying including murder, aggravated sodomy and arson.

The nine-count warrant was obtained in Athens by Georgia Bureau of Investigation Agent Elizabeth Bigham of the Decatur office.

While outlining the violence of the crime, the warrants also note that Faust apparently did not become a suspect until April 30, just nine days before authorities arrested him. The GBI has not released the critical evidence that investigators say led to the suspects identification.

The location of his arrest was not released, but the warrants list him as currently residing on Meadow Lane, in the same neighborhood as Cooper Road where he once resided years ago around the time of Bakers slaying.

Baker was killed sometime between 9:45 p.m. Jan. 18 and 11:30 a.m. Jan. 19 in her home at 160 Fawn Dr., according to the GBI. The residence is along a street of mostly duplex homes off Lexington Road.

Warrants show she was killed by ligature strangulation with stab wounds to her neck and blunt force to her head. In addition, the GBI reported she was sodomized in a sexual assault. Investigators also allege that Faust set fire to the home in an effort to conceal the evidence and prevent his apprehension.

Baker was a first-year law school student and was a graduate of Love Joy High School in Clayton County.

Faust had an initial hearing early Friday in the Athens-Clarke County Magistrates Office, but a magistrates judge cannot set bond in a murder case so the case was sent to Superior Court, where it was assigned to Chief Judge Lisa Lott. He was denied bond.

Edrick Lamont Faust, charged with murder in the 2001 killing of Tara Louise Baker, was booked into the Clarke County jail on May 9, 2024.

Faust, who was born in Elbert County, was booked into the Athens-Clarke County Jail at 10:34 p.m. Thursday. The warrant also shows him connected to a vehicle detailing and pressure washing business, which he apparently advertised on Facebook.

Fausts past criminal records on file at the Clarke County Courthouse show that he was charged in 2001 with an aggravated assault that occurred almost three weeks after Baker's death. The records are brief, but the warrant reports that on Feb. 4, 2001, Faust cut a man in the neck that required the victims hospitalization and numerous stitches. The attack occurred along the 1000 block of Baxter Street.

Faust, who was 25, pleaded guilty to the felony charge and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Court records show that in March 2013 Faust was 38 and living on Summerplace Drive near Winterville. During this time, he was arrested by Athens-Clarke police on charges of possessing cocaine with intent to distribute and obstruction.

When he went before the judge to plead guilty to the charges, Faust told the judge he was a self-employed landscaper and had three children of his own and three step-children, all ranging in age from 20 to 9 years old.

Faust was sentenced to eight years with the first year in prison, but the assistant district attorney outlined the defendants previous convictions at the request of the judge.

The prosecutor said that in 1997 Faust was convicted of robbery, simple battery, trespassing, attempting to flee and having a concealed weapon. Then in 2000, there was a shoplifting conviction, followed by the aggravated assault case in 2001.

This was followed, according to the attorney, with attempting to elude in 2004, driving with a suspended license in 2005, public indecency in 2007, battery and drunk driving in 2011 and driving with a suspended license in 2012.

In 2021, Faust went before the court again for a probation violation that stemmed from a DUI and attempting to elude charge in Oglethorpe County, and a possession of a controlled substance charge. He was sentenced to eight years on probation.

During the years after Baker's death, investigators have not disclosed if Fausts name ever surfaced as a potential suspect.

Bakers slaying has been a lingering mystery in Athens, becoming the subject over the years for numerous newspaper stories, and more recently a true crime podcast.

This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Suspect in 2001 Tara Baker slaying has long rap sheet in Athens area
A federal court yesterday heard arguments in an appeal concerning an area of law that, while niche, has seen a streak of similarly situated plaintiffs pile up in recent years. At stake: When a SWAT team destroys an innocent person's property, should the owner be strapped with the bill?

There is what I would consider a commonsense answer to that question. But in a reminder that common sense does not always guide law and policy, that is not the answer reached by several courts across the U.S., where such victims are sometimes told that "police powers" provide an exception to the Constitution's promise to give just compensation when the government usurps property for public use.

It remains to be seen where the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit will fall as it evaluates the complaint from Mollie and Michael Slaybaugh, who are reportedly on the hook for over $70,000 after a SWAT team destroyed much of their home in Smyrna, Tennessee.

In January 2022, Mollie Slaybaugh stepped outside her house and was greeted by a police officer with his gun drawn. She was informed that her adult son, James Jackson Connwho did not live with her but had recently arrived to visitwas wanted for questioning concerning the murder of a police officer, which she says was news to her. Although she offered to speak to Conn and bring him out of her house, law enforcement declined to permit that, or to let her re-enter at all, so she went to stay at her daughter's house nearby.

The next day, police broke down the door and launched dozens of tear gas grenades into the Slaybaughs' home, laying waste to nearly everything in the house. Their insurance declined to assist them, as their policylike many policiesdoes not cover damage caused by the government. Yet both Smyrna and Rutherford County said they were immune from helping as well.

But despite Mollie Slaybaugh's offer to coax Conn out sans tear gas, her complaint does not dispute that it was in the best interest of the community for law enforcement to do as they did that day. It merely contests the government's claim that innocent property owners should have to bear the financial burden by themselves when police destroy their homes in pursuit of a suspect.

"Law enforcement is a public good. Through our taxes, we pay for the training, equipment, and salaries of police officers. We pay to incarcerate criminals. We pay for a court system and public defenders," reads her complaint. "When the police destroy private property in the course of enforcing the criminal laws, that is simply another cost of law enforcement. Forcing random, innocent individuals to shoulder that cost alone would be as fair as conducting a lottery to determine who has to pay the police chief's salary each year."

That hypothetical is absurd. And yet the spirit of it is at the heart of several court decisions on the matter. That includes the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee, which ruled last year that the Slaybaughs were not entitled to a payout because, in the court's view, the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment does not apply when the state seizes and destroys someone's property in the exercise of "police powers."

The Slaybaughs are unfortunately not alone. The notion that "police powers" immunize the government from liability is what doomed Leo Lech's lawsuit, which he filed after a SWAT team did so much damage to his homein pursuit of a suspect that broke in and had no relation to the familythat it had to be demolished. In 2020, the Supreme Court declined to hear the case.

Similar claims are continuing to accumulate. The city of Los Angeles refused to compensate Carlos Pena after a SWAT team destroyed his North Hollywood print shop in pursuit of a suspect who barricaded himself inside, and the government in McKinney, Texas, turned away Vicki Baker after police ruined her home and much of its contents while, again, trying to catch a fugitive. After a legal odyssey of sorts, Baker was able to secure a judgment from a federal jurythough that was ultimately overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 5th Circuit, which ruled there was a "necessity" exception to the Takings Clause. Most recently, the local government in South Bend, Indiana, rejected Amy Hadley's pleas for help after police mutilated her home in search of a suspect she'd never met and who'd never been to her home. An officer's botched investigation led law enforcement to her house, and she has been forced to pay the price of that blunder. Accountability should not just be for the little people.

"The plain text of the Just Compensation Clause contains no exemptions for the police power, for public necessity, or for damage done by law enforcement. And the government bears the burden of establishing that any such exception is grounded in our nation's history and tradition," Jeffrey Redfern, an attorney with the Institute for Justice representing the Slaybaughs, told the 6th Circuit yesterday. "But the government hasn't even tried to meet that burden. Instead it asks this court to blindly follow decisions from other jurisdictionsdecisions whose reasoning the government isn't really defending."

In some sense, the government is throwing what it can at the wall to see what sticks. And a fair amount of nonadhesive material is successfully latching onan exception to the laws of nature that few entities other than the government could reasonably hope to enjoy.

The post A SWAT Team Blew Up This Innocent Couple's Home and Left Them With the Bill. Was That Constitutional? appeared first on Reason.com.
icon

Semafor Signals

Supported by

Microsoft logo

Insights from Shomrim, Haaretz, and The Times of Israel

Arrow Down

Title icon

The News

The United Nations General Assembly overwhelmingly voted Friday to back Palestines bid to become a UN member in a resolution that also granted more rights to Palestine within the international organization.

Palestine currently has non-member observer status; a bid for its membership at the UN Security Council was blocked by the US in April.

Israels ambassador to the UN rebuked the vote, saying the general assembly was welcoming a terror state into its ranks, as he shredded a copy of the UN charter to suggest that was what the UN had done by granting additional rights to Palestine.

The UN resolution passed with a vote of 143-9 with the US, Israel, and Hungary among the countries that voted against it. The resolution will allow Palestine to take part in debates, propose items for debate, and have representatives on UN committees.

A growing number of European states, including Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, and Malta are also reportedly considering recognizing a Palestinian state. Of 193 UN member states, 139 have recognized Palestinian statehood, with most Western countries opting not to do so.

icon

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Israel is increasingly isolated internationally

Source icon

Sources: Haaretz, The New York Times, Semafor

While the international community has condemned the impact of Israels war on civilians in Gaza, countries are now increasingly going beyond rhetoric to adopt policies that will have a real impact on Israel, a Haaretz columnist wrote. The US, Israels strongest ally, suspended a bomb shipment and threatened to withhold other weapons deliveries over Israels planned Rafah assault. Other nations including Italy, the Netherlands, and Canada are halting or limiting weapons exports to Israel, while Turkey decided to halt billions of dollars worth of trade with Israel until a permanent ceasefire is established in Gaza. Colombia and Bolivia have severed diplomatic ties with Israel, while key security partners in the region such as Jordan and Bahrain have recalled their ambassadors.

Israelis are divided about Rafah assault

Source icon

Sources: The Times of Israel, Politico, Time Magazine

Israels possible full-scale assault of the Gazan city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians are sheltering, has also divided Israelis. A recent poll by the Israel Democracy Institute said 56% of Israelis support prioritizing a hostage deal over invading Rafah  which the IDF has claimed is Hamas last stronghold in Gaza. Hostage talks have stalled because Hamas is reluctant to negotiate while Israel continues military operations in Rafah, Politico reported.

Dual-nationals serving in IDF are under increasing threat

Source icon

Source: Shomrim

A growing number of countries are scrutinizing dual-nationals involved in Israels Gaza operations. South African officials have threatened to arrest citizens who have fought for the IDF in Gaza. I have to lie to most people about where I have been for the past six months because I dont want to get arrested. I have hardly told anyone that I was in Israel, that I fought in the war and all that, one South African citizen told Shomrim, an Israeli investigative outfit. Frances foreign minister has said the country is prepared to investigate possible crimes committed by French citizens, and lawsuits have been filed in the Netherlands and Belgium against IDF soldiers.

Semafor Logo
Illustration by Getty Images.

Not since the 1935 earthquake has Helena, the home of state and federal government in Montana, been shaken quite this way.

Every school levy on Tuesdays ballot was soundly rejected by voters. Why?

Not because they dont support education  but because our insanely high property taxes have left homeowners tapped out.

Of course this was totally predictable when the flush of wealthy in-migrants, speculators, and vacation home investment firms drove home prices  and property taxes based on those values  into the stratosphere. Doesnt matter if youre living in the same home youve been in for decades, when someone down the street buys a house in your neighborhood for half a million bucks or more, your home is suddenly deemed to be worth the same amount. And you get taxed on that theoretical value, even if you have no intention of selling.

But heres the rub  even though the supposed value of your home doubled, its a good bet your income did not. For seniors on fixed incomes, the pitifully small increases in Social Security for the COLA (cost of living adjustment) is vastly disproportionate their actual tax burden. And in cities across Montana, those taxes doubled, just like the home values.

Youd be hard pressed to find someone in Helena who can recall when a school levy failed.

But Helena as not an aberration. While some new levies passed in some places, they were the exception, not the rule. That those who brought the levies seemed oblivious to the existing tax burdens piled on homeowners, and the statewide furor over property tax increases is inexplicable. Did they really think people would simply ignore the size of the proposed increases to be piled on top of the existing tax burden?

Certainly any number of specious methods were employed to make the actual costs seem less than they were. The best examples were the estimates of the tax increases based on the $100,000 home, which doesnt exist.

Consider these shocking numbers which are real, unlike the mythical $100,000 home. The price for a single-family home in Bozeman is an astronomical $948,000! In Whitefish, its a whopping $1,072,000. Missoulas median home price is $549,713 when in 2016 it was $263,512. No need to go on, the trends and facts are clear enough.

Yet, when the levies were proposed, the additional cost was seldom presented to taxpayers based on those prices. Nor was the aggregate cost had all the various levies passedthat was left up to the homeowner to figure out.

Whats even more astounding is that these same local governments are proposing even more bonds, levies, and taxes for the June election. They seem oblivious to the fact that you cant squeeze blood out of a rock  and the reality is that Montana homeowners are squeezed dry already.

While the defeat of so many levies in so many areas across the state is shocking to those who claimed they should have been slam dunks, what the results of the elections really portend is a larger property tax revolt on the horizon.

The old tax-and-spend label the Republicans tagged Democrats with so successfully in the past now applies to both parties. With a $2 billion state surplus the Republican legislative supermajorities and governor had the opportunity to ease the crushing tax burden on homeowners.

Instead, they opted to give very generous tax breaks to corporations  and now they have a tax revolt on their hands. The burning question is what theyre going to do about it. But one thing seems certain: as the election made clear, the days of tax-and-spend for either party, as well as state and local governments, have come to an end.

The post Tapped out: Taxpayers revolt and kill ballot levies statewide appeared first on Daily Montanan.
Target said Friday that it will only carry Pride Month merchandise online and in select stores this year after experiencing backlash over last years designs.

In a statement to The Hill, Target said it will offer a collection of products for Pride, including adult apparel, home products, and food and beverage, which has been curated based on guest insights and consumer research.

The collection will be available on Target.com and in select stores, based on historical sales performance, the company said in a memo. The company said its committed to supporting the LGBTQ+ community during June, which is Pride Month, and year-round.

Target removed certain items from its shelves after receiving intense backlash from customers, and several bomb threats, over the merchandise.

The company was criticized for carrying tuck friendly womens swimsuits that allow trans women who have not had gender-affirming surgery to conceal their private parts, The Associated Press reported last year.

Several Southern stores moved the collections to the back after shoppers confronted the retailer about it.

Then, Target received backlash from customers who were upset about the moves, arguing that the company gave into the anti-LGBTQ groups opposed to the clothing.

The debacle is the latest example of how companies struggle to cater to multiple groups during extreme division, the AP noted, like the Bud Light boycott last year.

In a statement, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said Pride merchandise means something.

Targets decision is disappointing and alienates LGBTQ+ individuals and allies at the risk of not only their bottom line but also their values, Robinson said.

Robinson said 30 percent of Gen Z identifies as part of the LGBTQ+ community, and they live in every U.S. ZIP code.

She said they arent going anywhere, and companies need to understand that community members and allies want businesses that express full-hearted support for the community.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, visits a local community in Xuchang City, central China's Henan Province, May 9, 2024. Zhao made an inspection tour from Tuesday to Friday in central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

ZHENGZHOU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- China's top legislator Zhao Leji has stressed efforts to improve working mechanisms for absorbing public opinions and pooling the wisdom of the people.

He noted that the organic unity between Party leadership, the running of the country by the people, and law-based governance must be upheld.

Zhao, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, made the remarks during his inspection tour from Tuesday to Friday in central China's Henan Province.

He called for efforts to practice and develop the whole-process people's democracy to pool strength for the advancement of Chinese modernization.

During the inspection, Zhao visited sites such as local community, enterprise, research institution, rural village and the home of a villager, and spoke with people's congress deputies and members of the public.

He said that the local people's congresses and their standing committees should carry out concrete work related to legislation, supervision and other deputy-related responsibilities to better serve the reform and development causes of their respective localities.

While visiting local legislative liaison and outreach offices, Zhao called on the deputies to adhere to the mass line, listen to the people's voices, learn about the people's needs, seek their advice, and enhance the emotional bond with the public.

During the inspection, Zhao stressed the importance of the Party's leadership concerning the work related to the people's congresses.

He also called for efforts to foster the building of democratic public opinion expression platforms and carriers. 

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, visits the Yellow River Museum in Zhengzhou, central China's Henan Province, May 9, 2024. Zhao made an inspection tour from Tuesday to Friday in central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, visits a farmland in Fugou County of Zhoukou City, central China's Henan Province, May 8, 2024. Zhao made an inspection tour from Tuesday to Friday in central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)

Zhao Leji, a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, visits a village in Luyi County of Zhoukou City, central China's Henan Province, May 8, 2024. Zhao made an inspection tour from Tuesday to Friday in central China's Henan Province. (Xinhua/Zhang Ling)
Teacher Accused of Sexually Abusing Boy Allegedly 'Laughed' When He Mentioned His Age: 'Oh, Shut Up'

Rebecca Joynes is facing trial on several counts of sexual activity with a child and doing so as a person in a position of trust

ANL/Shutterstock Rebecca Joynes

A U.K. teacher allegedly laughed off the concerns of a boy she's accused of abusing when the teen told her he was too young to drive to her house, where the abuse is alleged to have taken place, a British court learned.

Rebecca Joynes, 30, is being tried on several counts of sexual activity with a child and doing so as a person in a position of trust in Manchester, England, BBC, the Manchester Evening News and The Times report.

Joynes, a math teacher, allegedly told the 15-year-old boy, Oh shut up! when he said he was not old enough to drive them from their school to her home, according to testimonies shared in court, per The Times and BBC.

Joynes is being accused of sexually abusing two underage boys  referred to as Boy A and Boy B in the trial  who authorities say she met while teaching at their school, the Manchester Evening News reports.

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.

Boy A told authorities that Joynes bought him a designer bag worth 345 ($432) before allegedly sexually abusing him, per the BBC, the Manchester Evening News and local radio channel LBC.

Manchester authorities have also accused Joynes of getting pregnant with the baby of Boy B, per the BBC, the Manchester Evening News, LBC and The Times.

Joynes allegedly got pregnant while she was out on bail from abusing Boy A, a jury heard, per the BBC and The Times.

Joynes denies the accusations, per the outlets.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Teacher Loved Her Son 'More Than Anything.' Now She's Dead, and He's Charged

Karyn Lombardo was found dead in her family home on May 7

Karyn Lombardo/Facebook Karyn Lombardo

The husband of a beloved California teacher who was killed in her family home has spoken out about her love for her son, who is now charged with killing her.

Karyn Lombardo, 57, was found dead in her home in Burbank on the night of May 7, the Burbank Police Department said in a press release. Police allege that her 25-year-old son, Kyle Lombardo, killed her during an altercation.

Karyns husband, Vince Lombardo, told KTLA that their son has a mental condition and that police had been called to their home previously.

Its a reactionary system and thats basically what I was told, Vince told the outlet.

The grieving husband and father went on to say that his wife had tried to help their son.

She loved him more than anything and tried to help him, Vince reportedly said. All of her students love her. Coming through the system here, there were students who became teachers because of her. Shes a very magnificent person and I think if you ask anybody, I think shes too kind and that she loves to a fault.

Related: Beloved Calif. Teacher Allegedly Murdered by Her Adult Son: 'Touched Many Students and Colleagues' Lives'

Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascon said Kyle Lombardo has been charged with one count of murder. It is not immediately clear if he has retained an attorney or entered a plea.

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.

Burbank Unified Superintendent John Paramo said in a statement to PEOPLE that Karyn was a teacher at Bret Harte Elementary School and has been teaching in the district since 1990, when she was hired as a bilingual teacher.

"Over the course of her highly accomplished career, Ms. Lombardo touched the lives of thousands of students, parents, and colleagues, who will be mourning this loss in the days to come," Paramo said in the statement. "Her dedication, warmth, and passion for teaching touched many students and colleagues' lives. Her profound impact and loss on this community will be deeply felt throughout the City of Burbank."

For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
A teacher and a teenage schoolboy watched an Adam Sandler film about the statutory rape of a pupil before allegedly engaging in their own sexual affair, a court has heard.

Rebecca Joynes watched the 2012 comedy Thats My Boy with the 15-year-old student at her apartment, Manchester Crown Court was told on Friday.

The film depicts a sexual relationship between a teenage boy and his schoolteacher, who is jailed for statutory rape.

Joynes, 30, is accused of six counts of engaging in sexual activity with a child, including two while being a person in a position of trust, all relating to two teenage boys who remain anonymous for legal reasons.

She denies any sexual activity took place.

On Friday, the jury was shown the video interviews that boy B, who cannot be identified, gave to police detectives after Joynes was arrested.

A still from the Adam Sandler comedy That's My Boy, which Ms Joynes is alleged to have watched with a pupil - Alamy

He said the first time they met at her apartment they had only kissed and Joynes had whispered in his ear about waiting until his next birthday, when he would be 16.

He said he then put the Sandler comedy on the TV.

The court heard Boy B telling police officers how he later lost his virginity to the teacher in her apartment. He said: Obviously, it was my first time, so I was nervous.

I said something like dont expect anything big, Im only 16 or whatever and she was laughing.

Then when we first had sex, pulling my pants down, she said: Oh! You lied to me. There was a kind of tension because I was 16 now. I said: Im legal.

It lasted 40 minutes to an hour. I didnt climax. I did keep getting frustrated. She would just be like: Chill out, take your time. She said: Dont get frustrated, it happens.

I was 16 and I thought I had blown it. She was like: Its your first time, it was great.

Ms Joynes with her parents on the way to court - Steve Allen

Boy B said Joynes had told him she could not have a baby and they had unprotected sex, but in fact she discovered she was pregnant.

The relationship also soured, with frequent rows, as Joynes became jealous and controlling, he claimed.

Boy A, 15, has previously told the court he lied to his mother that he was staying at his friends house, but instead was at Joyness apartment where they twice had sex.

Police then received an anonymous tip-off and Joynes was arrested and suspended from her job while police investigated.

While on bail, she allegedly became involved with boy B, by whom she became pregnant.

The trial was adjourned until Monday.

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.
Retired and current educators at a 2022 rally protesting a new state funding formula. (Photo: John Partipilo)

This story was originally published by Chalkbeat. Sign up for their newsletters at ckbe.at/newsletters.

Sign up for Chalkbeat Tennessees free daily newsletter to keep up with statewide education policy and Memphis-Shelby County Schools.

Tennessee teachers can move forward with their lawsuit challenging a 3-year-old state law restricting what they can teach about race, gender, and bias.

U.S. District Court Judge Aleta Trauger denied the states motion to dismiss the case.

The Nashville judge also sided with educators over questions of whether they have legal grounds to sue the state, plus whether the federal court is the appropriate jurisdiction to take up complaints about the 2021 state law.

And in a 50-page memorandum to explain her single-page order, Trauger was frequently critical of the statute, which restricts teachers from discussing 14 concepts that the Republican-controlled legislature deemed cynical or divisive. She also cited shortcomings of related rules, developed by the state education department, to outline the processes for filing and investigating complaints, appealing decisions, and levying punishment that could strip teachers of their licenses and school districts of state funding.

The Act simply invites a vast array of potentially dissatisfied individuals to lodge complaints based on their understanding of those concepts and then calls on the Commissioner [of Education], as a sort of state philosopher, to think deeply about what equality, impartiality, and other abstract concepts really mean and enforce the Act accordingly, Trauger wrote in her May 2 memorandum.

Im thrilled that the judge listened to our concerns as educators and seemed to understand that this law puts teachers in an impossible position.

 Kathryn Vaughn, Tipton County teacher

Meanwhile, educators are at the mercy of the personal biases of authorities, which is exactly what the doctrine of unconstitutional vagueness is intended to guard against, she said.

The so-called prohibited concepts law was among the first of its kind in the nation that passed amid a conservative backlash to the racial-justice movement and protests prompted by the 2020 murder of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis.

Among its prohibitions are classroom discussions about whether an individual, by virtue of the individuals race or sex, is inherently privileged, racist, sexist, or oppressive, whether consciously or subconsciously.

The laws defenders note that it permits an impartial discussion of controversial aspects of history, or as Rep. John Ragan, the House sponsor, described it: facts-based instruction.

But teachers say they dont know how to be impartial when teaching about the theories of racial superiority that led to slavery and Jim Crow laws. The resulting confusion has influenced the small but pivotal decisions they make every day about how to prepare for a lesson, what materials to use, and how to answer a students question, ultimately stifling classroom discussion, many critics of the law assert.

Last July, lawyers for five public school educators and the Tennessee Education Association, the states largest teacher organization, filed a lawsuit in federal court in Nashville.

The suit says the language of the law is unconstitutionally vague and that the states enforcement plan is subjective. The complaint also says the statute interferes with instruction on difficult but important topics included in state-approved academic standards, which dictate other decisions around curriculum and testing.

Trauger, who taught school for three years before entering law school, suggested that the ambiguity could lead to a lack of due process for educators under the U.S. Constitutions 14th Amendment.

That does not mean that a law has to be wise or perfect or crystal clear, but it must mean something concrete and specific that a well-informed person can understand by reading its text, she wrote in her memorandum.

Kathryn Vaughn, a Tipton County teacher who is among the plaintiffs, called the judges decision an important early step in the legal challenge.

Im thrilled that the judge listened to our concerns as educators and seemed to understand that this law puts teachers in an impossible position, she told Chalkbeat on Thursday.

A spokesperson for the state attorney generals office, which filed a motion for dismissal last September, declined to comment on the new development.

The judge set a June 17 scheduling meeting with attorneys in the case to discuss how to manage the litigation going forward.

Marta Aldrich is a senior correspondent and covers the statehouse for Chalkbeat Tennessee. Contact her at maldrich@chalkbeat.org.

Editors note: This story has been updated to show the state attorney generals office declined to comment.

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news site covering educational change in public schools.

The post Teachers can challenge Tennessee law limiting instruction on race, gender, and bias, judge rules appeared first on Tennessee Lookout.
Editors note: The above video aired on May 8, 2024.

CENTRAL PARK, Manhattan (PIX11)  A 16-year-old boy was arrested Thursday night for allegedly vandalizing a World War I memorial in Central Park earlier this week, according to the NYPD.

More Local News

The teen was charged with criminal mischief and making graffiti, police said. Police did not identify the teen because he is a minor.

The boy and two others allegedly spray-painted Gaza and Free Palestine on a statue of General William Tecumseh Sherman, located near 67th Street and Fifth Avenue and blocks away from demonstrations near the Met Gala, police said.

Alleged stalker who followed woman on subway train from Brooklyn to Queens arrested: NYPD

Mayor Eric Adams offered a $5,000 reward for the arrest of all three suspects. The NYPD also offered a $10,000 reward.

Police sources told PIX11 News someone called in a tip to the NYPD Crime Stoppers hotline with the teens name and high school. However, it was not clear whether the tip was how investigators identified the suspect, the sources said.

The two additional suspects have not been arrested, as of Friday morning.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
Teen Babysitter Was Killed Decades Ago. How Police Learned Killer's ID  and His Connection to the Family

On May 8, Colorado Springs police announced that they had identified a suspect in the 1977 fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Maria Loraine Honzell

Colorado Bureau of Investigation Maria Loraine Honzell

The cold case murder of a teenage babysitter in Colorado has been solved after nearly 50 years.

On Tuesday, May 8, the Colorado Springs Police Department announced in a statement that they had identified a suspect in the 1977 fatal stabbing of 14-year-old Maria Loraine Honzell, who was babysitting her neighbors two children on the night she was murdered.

The suspect, who was identified as William Charles Kernan, Jr. and also went by Bill Kernan, died in 2010, according to police. No cause of death was shared.

The family and friends of Maria Honzell have waited over 47 years to get justice for Maria, the statement reads. Through years of analysis & investigation, CSPD is proud to finally provide answers to Marias loved ones.

On Feb. 7, 1977, Honzell was found stabbed several times at the home of a female neighbor who lived in the same apartment complex as her, according to Honzells bio on the Colorado Bureau of Investigation website.

The woman who had hired Maria to baby sit at the Suncrest Apartments off of North Nevada, notified the Colorado Springs Police Department that she'd found Maria dead of stab wounds on the floor, the bio states. She had contacted Maria earlier in the evening and everything was okay, but she did not return home until later that night, to find Maria.

Police said the neighbors children, ages 6 and 8, were asleep in bed when their mother returned home and made the grim discovery. While they were in the residence when the murder happened, the children were unharmed.

According to police, Hozells death was ruled a homicide and investigators collected evidence at the scene, including a bloodstain on her jumpsuit, which would later result in a male DNA profile. But the case soon went cold when investigators couldnt identify a suspect.

The male DNA profile was then compared with other samples in a public genetic genealogy database in 2019 in hopes of finding a biological relative of the unknown subject with help from Parabon NanoLabs, police said. Authorities later found a match for Kernan, but were unable to collect his DNA since he had been cremated and had no living relatives.

Colorado Springs Police Department William C. Kernan Jr.

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.

Mr. Kernan was identified as a student at a local college and an acquaintance of the woman Maria Honzell had been babysitting for on the night of her murder, police said. The investigation revealed Mr. Kernan had been to the apartment complex on prior occasions.

Authorities said they confidently believe that Kernan was the person responsible for the murder and have closed the case.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
The head of the Drug Enforcement Administration described getting drugs as easy as calling Uber Eats.

Channel 2s Karyn Greer spoke with teens about what theyre seeing in their high schools and what theyre doing to stay away from the negative teen culture.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

The DEA administrator calls it an overdose epidemic and said its a national tragedy responsible for killing 22 teens in the U.S. every week.

Local teens talked about how social media and drugs are affecting their everyday lives and how its a lot of pressure.

Definitely. With social media technology, everyone having an opinion, everyone seeing whats going on in your life...yeah, I feel like a lot more pressure, said Rhashad Lawery.

Rhashad, Rhaquel, and Xavier Lawery are siblings; two high school brothers and their middle school sisters. They often talk about their day at school, which is anything but normal.

For example, teens smoking vapes in the bathrooms and selling drugs on social media.

The DEA says Americans, including teens, are ordering drugs online through social media.

Actually post on their stories, just talk about whatever theyre doing in the bathroom or any other places, said Rhaquel.

TRENDING STORIES:

The teens had some words of advice for keeping young children safe.

Theres a fork in the road where you want to go this way in life. This way in life. And some people try to push you to go the negative way to be cool or fit in with people. But I feel like if they you confident in yourself to be willing to not be part of that crowd and be labeled as a lane person. So I feel like you just got to really be confident in yourself, said Rhashad.

You have to really be confident, said Xavier.

The Lawrey teens said they block out the noise by concentrating on whats important to them.

They encourage other teens to talk to their parents and share their problems and concerns no matter how tough the conversation may be.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Tennessee at forefront of crisis as Memphis leads US in guns stolen from cars: Report

The rate of guns stolen from cars in the U.S. has tripled in the past decade with Memphis leading the nation, a new report shows.

Overall, the report released Thursday from gun safety group Everytown, found that 112,000 guns were reported stolen in the U.S. in 2022, with just over half taken from cars. The rate has climbed nearly every year over the past decade, with the increase driven largely by an increase in stolen guns from cars.

Ten years ago, about 38% of guns were stolen in burglaries from homes or other structures. But today, more than half are taken from cars, with a sharp spike seen during the pandemic.

The study, which analyzed FBI crime data from 337 cities across 44 states, noted that Memphis had the highest number of cases in 2022 with 2,210 gun theft from car incidents, up from 329 in 2013. The city was followed by Atlanta and St. Louis.

Gun theft rates for Memphis and other top cities.

How bad is the problem in Tennessee?

The study noted the problem has been especially acute in Tennessee over the past decade after a state law passed in 2013 that allowed people to keep guns in their cars if theyre locked and secured.

Tennessee gun theft rates.

Nashville in 2022 saw a record 1,378 stolen guns from cars, but the numbers have improved so far this year, according to the Metro Nashville Police Department.

As of Tuesday, 274 guns have been stolen from cars in Davidson County, down 35% from the same time last year.

While the state has an epidemic of stolen guns from cars, statistics show the perpetrators are rarely caught.

Of 5,386 reported cases of guns stolen from cars statewide in 2022, less than 4% resulted in an arrest, according to the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.

In an effort to improve the arrest rates, Nashville police in February launched a special initiative to fight car theft and related crimes. The effort as of this month has led to more 400 arrests and the recoveries of 229 stolen vehicles and 92 guns, the department said in a news release.

What are lawmakers doing?

Democratic lawmakers have pushed for stiffer penalties for people who fail to safely store their firearms, but their efforts have so far failed in legislative sessions this year and last August.

Gov. Bill Lee in a special legislative session on public safety last year barred any legislation that would have increased penalties for gun owners who fail to safely store their weapons.

Lawmakers ended up passing a bill that would distribute free gun locks to residents, as well as tax incentives and an expanded PSA campaign for safe gun storage.

In Chattanooga, where stolen guns remain a major problem, Hamilton County District Attorney Cody Wamp put her face on a series of billboards, reminding people not to leave their guns in their cars.

Other key findings in the Everytown study

A gun is stolen from a car every nine minutes on average in the U.S.

Thefts from vehicles overall have dropped 11% over the past decade, while gun theft specifically has skyrocketed 200%.

Cars parked at residents (in driveways and outside homes) are the most common source of stolen guns.

Cities in states with high gun ownership and lax gun safety laws see nearly 18 times the rate of gun thefts from cars compared to states with stronger laws.

Some cities in Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Rhode Island reported no gun thefts from cars.

What does Everytown recommend?

Everytown notes stolen guns often end up being used in crimes. Last year in Nashville, for example, a police officer was shot and wounded with a gun stolen from airport parking lot.

Everytown recommends the following to prevent stolen guns and violence:

Gun owners must always lock their vehicles and secure guns in those vehicles so they are not visible.

Lawmakers, law enforcement and community leaders should support public awareness campaigns. In San Antonio, Texas, a nonprofit group is raising funds for car gun safes, while in some departments in other states are working with the ATF or the FBI for public service announcements.

The group says legislators at all levels should pass laws that are proven to help prevent these thefts, such as laws that require guns to be securely stored and not visible when left unattended in cars and rules requiring mandatory reporting of lost and stolen guns.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Memphis leads United States for guns stolen from cars, report shows
Tesla, Amazon, Microsoft, and other tech giants are spending millions in DC. Here's who is spending the most.

The nation's biggest tech companies have spent more than $25 million lobbying Congress in Q1.

Many of the tech giants have pivoted to developing AI tools in the past year.

They're trying to make their voices heard ahead of time as Congress debates regulating the field.

The nation's largest tech companies spent more than $28 million on lobbying services in the first quarter of 2024.

Federal lobbying firms  advocates paid to try to influence legislators on Capitol Hill  were required to disclose their first-quarter earnings from companies on April 22, showing the groups they partnered with and some of the services they were lobbying for.

Alphabet, Microsoft, Meta, and other industry leaders have spent billions in the past year alone developing AI tools and large language models, with each company trying to one-up the other. That is abundantly clear in federal lobbying disclosures, which reveal the companies have spent nearly $5 million more this quarter compared to Q1 in 2023, when they spent just under $23.6 million.

These companies also spend big bucks trying to persuade legislators to join their causes as they struggle to regulate the ever-changing technology industry.

Meta

Meta has been hard at work this year developing its open-source large language model, Llama. SOPA Images/Getty Images

After its Metaverse project cost Meta $16 billion in 2023 alone, leading the massive company to shutter some of its offices and lay off thousands of employees, the company's big focus in 2024 has been on its new open-source large language model, Llama.

Meta's spent the most on lobbying compared to its competitors, amounting to $8.5 million. The bulk of that  $7.64 million  went to Meta's in-house team of lobbyists, with the remaining $886,250 split up between 19 firms.

Amazon

Amazon spent $5.85 million lobbying Congress in Q1 of 2024. Mark Lennihan/Associated Press

In the first three months of 2024 alone, Amazon paid 29 different lobbying firms $5.85 million to lobby on behalf of its web services product, online pharmacy, and other company interests.

Amazon reported spending $4.35 million on its in-house lobbying team, which has more than 10 members, and about $1.24 million on the other 28 firms hired by the tech giant.

Alphabet/Google

Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai said that Google's search engine still brings in the bulk of the company's profit. Alain Jocard/Getty Images

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, reported $23.7 billion in profit in their Q1 quarterly earnings, exceeding Wall Street's expectations.

CEO Sundar Pichai said in an earnings call that much of Google's profit came from its search engine, but its foray into generative AI with its Gemini model has also been lucrative.

Alphabet reported spending $3.7 million on lobbying in the first quarter of 2024, $3 million of which remained with their in-house team. The remaining $700,000 was divvied up between 18 outside lobbying firms.

ByteDance/TikTok

TikTok on App Store displayed on a phone screen is seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on April 8, 2024. NurPhoto/Getty Images

ByteDance  the parent company of the massively popular social media app TikTok  reported spending $2.8 million lobbying in Q1 of 2024 alone, while TikTok itself also reported spending $440,000 on similar services. The two combined to spend about $3.2 million.

Congress introduced and passed a law earlier in 2024 that's set to ban TikTok from US app stores if ByteDance doesn't divest, despite TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew personally traveling to Washington, DC, to lobby against it.

Microsoft

Microsoft partnered with OpenAI in 2019. Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Microsoft bet big on OpenAI in July 2019, investing $1 billion "to build secure, trustworthy and ethical AI to serve the public." Since then, Microsoft has reportedly invested $13 billion into the startup.

The investment has been a success for the company, helping it become a leader in the AI space.

Microsoft is reportedly working on its own large language model, MAI-1, to rival Google and OpenAI, though a timeline for its release is uncertain.

The company has spent $3.2 million in 2024 lobbying the halls of the Capitol, about $2.8 million of which went to its own team of lobbyists.

Apple

Apple CEO Tim Cook walks outside after a trip to the US Capitol in 2023. The Washington Post/Getty Images

Apple has yet to formally announce its foray into building large language models or publicly available AI tools, but CEO Tim Cook teased in a recent earnings call that the company would make a big announcement regarding AI in "coming weeks."

The Wall Street Journal reported May 6 that the company was in the process of developing computer chips built specifically for AI software.

In the first three months of 2024, Apple spent $2.88 million on federal lobbyists, with $2.1 million going to its own lobbying team. The rest of Apple's lobbying investment was divided between eight other firms.

OpenAI

Sam Altman will be keen to avoid Facebook's election mistakes. Kent Nishimura

After a meteoric rise in 2023, OpenAI has spent $530,000 lobbying on Capitol Hill. The bulk of OpenAI's reported lobbying spending  $340,000  was to its in-house team.

OpenAI also reported paying $80,000 to the law firm Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, $90,000 to global firm DLA Piper, and $20,000 to Hogan Lovells, which specializes in "corporate, finance, litigation, regulatory and IP law."

Tesla

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been outspoken about government subsidies. VCG/Getty

Tesla reported spending $390,000 in Q1 in 2024. Seventy-one percent of that, or $280,000, went toward Tesla's personal lobbying team. The electric vehicle manufacturer also spent $80,000 on lobbying services from Cassidy & Associates and $30,000 from Pioneer Public Affairs.

CEO Elon Musk has notably been a staunch opponent of government subsidies in recent years despite Tesla and its subsidiaries getting $2,829,855,494 in federal and state loans since 2007.

X/Twitter

X has spent just under a quarter million lobbying the Senate in 2024. Anadolu via Getty Images

The Musk-owned X has spent $240,000 so far in 2024 on lobbying, with the vast majority $170,000  going to its in-house lobbying team. The remaining $70,000 was split between The Joseph Group and TwinLogic Strategies.

Musk notably invested resources in the past year in developing Grok, an AI-based chatbot he wants to use to summarize news on X that's had mixed success.

Nvidia

Nvidia's spent $160,000 on federal lobbying in 2024. Mohd Rasfan/AFP/Getty Images (Left), Walid Berrazeg/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images (Right)

Nvidia, a company known for its GPU and computer chip manufacturing, has benefited enormously from the rapid growth of AI because its chips have become a "de facto industry standard" for developing AI models.

The company reported spending the least on lobbying of any major tech company on this list, $160,000, which was split evenly between The Nickles Group and Tiber Creek Group.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Police officers restrain environmental activists during a protest against Tesla's plans to extend its Gigafactory plant in Gruenheide, near Berlin, Germany, on Friday. Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE

May 10 (UPI) -- Climate activists protesting the expansion Tesla's Brandenburg factory in Germany clashed with police after some attempted to storm the factory grounds on Friday.

Disrupt, a coalition of self-declared anti-capitalist groups, said in a statement on its website that about 800 activists showed up at the Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory on Friday as part of the Disrupt Tesla Action Days.

The group said the intention of the demonstration was "not to stop production for a weekend, but rather to prevent the factory expansion and initiate a traffic turnaround."

Brandenburg police in a release said some protesters attempted to break into the facility.

"As they were in the immediate vicinity of the Deutsche Bahn railroad tracks at the time and partially entered them, rail traffic between Erkner and Furstenwalde had to be temporarily stopped," the statement read.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk visits the Tesla electric car plant in Brandenburg near Berlin, Germany in March. The factory on Friday was the sight of a battle with police and climate activists who were protesting the expansion of the plant. Police said they became involved after some protesters attempted to breach the factory grounds. File Photo by Filip Singer/EPA-EFE

Officers said they prevented the group from entering the Tesla grounds and arrested 16 people. Several people were injured, including 21 police officers.

Disrupt spokesperson Ole Becker told CNN the "unfortunate" police violence marred an otherwise good day for the activists.

"I saw a lot of injured people ... I have seen things today which I haven't seen for many years," Becker said.

Activists on Monday began setting up camp near the grounds of the Brandenburg plant, with participation growing up to its peak on Thursday, according to police.

Tesla shut down the factory Friday in anticipation of the protests. Andre Thierig, a senior manufacturing director, posted on X Tuesday that the factory would take a "one-day planned production shutdown."

Climate protesters opposed Tesla's expansion plans, which involve clearing about 250 acres of forest near a nature conservation area.

The plan includes a rail freight depot and storage facilities that would help Tesla's only European factory avoid reliance on third-party logistics and avoid production delays due to parts shortages.

Activists argued the expansion would also disrupt the local water supply.

Residents of the Grunheide municipality of Brandenburg in February voted down the proposed factory expansion, but because the vote was non-binding, Tesla and local officials pushed ahead with the project.

"The Grundheiders see how their vote is being circumvented and answered with deceptive packages," Disrupt spokesperson Lucia Mende said in a statement. "At the same time, a region is sold out to an openly right-wing entrepreneur. Instead of courting Elon Musk, politicians should implement democratic votes and referendums."

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has lashed out at protesters against his Brandenburg factory in the past. In a March post on X, he called activists "either the dumbest eco-terrorists on Earth" or "puppets of those who don't have good environmental goals."
CAIRO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken discussed the recent security and humanitarian developments in Rafah and the Cairo-hosted talks on Gaza ceasefire, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Friday.

In a phone conversation late Thursday, the two diplomats agreed to maintain close consultation and coordination to push the concerned parties towards reaching a comprehensive truce in the Gaza Strip, and put an end to the humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.

According to the statement, Shoukry reiterated the danger of the Israeli military operation in Rafah and the Israeli control of the crossing from the Palestinian side, highlighting the humanitarian repercussions affecting more than 1.4 million Palestinians, as well as the broader implications for regional security and stability.

Blinken expressed the United States' support for the reopening of Rafah crossing and the continued flow of urgently needed humanitarian assistance.

The two sides stressed their rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza.

The delegations of Hamas, Israel, Qatar and the United States left Egypt on Thursday after talks for reaching a truce in the Gaza Strip hit an impasse. 
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday ruled against an El Paso woman who sued her doctor for failing to perform a sterilization procedure she paid for, finding that she is not entitled to damages for emotional distress, physical pain or the costs of raising the child who resulted from her unintended pregnancy.

The 21-page opinion sets the precedent that a mother cannot be compensated for emotional and physical pain when medical negligence causes an unplanned pregnancy and a healthy birth, which distinguishes such cases from other medical negligence claims.

The woman, who sought a tubal ligation during her third birth by cesarean section, now has an 8-year-old daughter.

The Texas Supreme Court ruled that a mother cannot be compensated for emotional and physical pain when medical negligence causes an unplanned pregnancy and a healthy birth.

"Texas law does not regard a healthy child as an injury for which a parent must be compensated but, rather, as a life with inherent dignity and profound, immeasurable value," Rebeca Huddle, one of nine Republican justices on the state's highest civil court, wrote in the opinion.

The 21-page opinion reverses a state appellate court's finding that a wrongful pregnancy would entitle Grissel Velasco, a mother of four, to damages for emotional anguish. The Supreme Court ruling aligns with previous appellate court decisions that found parents are not entitled to compensation for the cost of raising a child born from an unplanned pregnancy, the opinion notes.

The Supreme Court found that the mother in this case could only recover damages for costs directly caused by the negligence that were incurred during the pregnancy, delivery and postpartum period. Velasco did not provide evidence of such costs, Huddle wrote.

Velasco's lawyer, Joe P. Lopez IV, said the court's decision deals a blow to reproductive rights in Texas.

"If every child was a blessing, there wouldnt be tens of millions of people practicing birth control every day," Lopez told the American-Statesman in an email. "It is a sad day in Texas for women and their reproductive rights, specifically, the right not to have children, or not to have any more children."

More: Texans have had 26,000 rape-related pregnancies since Roe v. Wade was overturned, study finds

Doctor failed to disclose not performing tubal ligation procedure, lawsuit says

Velasco sued Dr. Michiel R. Noe and his practice for failing to complete a tubal ligation that she paid for in advance of her third birth by cesarean section in 2014 and neglecting to tell her that he had not done so.

Velasco became pregnant in 2015, one year after she believed she had been sterilized, and gave birth to a daughter who is now 8 years old. Sterilization after a C-section birth is a common request from mothers who do not want to undergo another major surgery, and it reduces the risk of complications, according to the Mayo Clinic.

Noe's practice, Sun City Women's Health Care, refunded Velasco the $400 she paid for the tubal ligation after she told them that she was pregnant. Velasco had paid for the procedure out of pocket because the federally funded Children's Health Insurance Program, which she used during her pregnancy, does not cover sterilization procedures.

Velasco argued in the lawsuit that she was the victim of medical negligence, fraud, medical battery, deceptive trade practices and other claims, and she sought damages for physical pain, mental anguish and the costs of "maintaining, supporting, and educating her fourth child."

After learning she was pregnant a fourth time, Velasco became "sad, depressed, anxious, angry (and) suicidal," and she experienced fits of panic and loss of sleep, she wrote in an affidavit.

"When I found out that I was pregnant because Dr. Noe had not done the tubal ligation and had not told me that he had not done the tubal ligation, I ... felt sick, felt weight on my chest, and felt that a lot of new responsibility, financial and personal, had been placed on my shoulders," she wrote.

Texas' 8th Court of Appeals found in April 2022 that Velasco provided evidence proving Noe breached his duty. The court also found that if medical negligence were proved in trial, Velasco would be entitled to mental anguish damages, but it dismissed the mother's claims of fraud, battery and deceptive trade practices.

Noe's attorneys then appealed that ruling to the Texas Supreme Court.

Diana Faust and Michelle Robberson of Cooper Scully, attorneys for Noe, did not immediately respond to American-Statesman requests for comment Friday.

The full Supreme Court of Texas opinion in Noe v. Velasco is below.

This embedded content is not available in your region.

More: Texas Supreme Court heavily scrutinizes both sides in case challenging abortion bans

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Texas Supreme Court denies woman damages for failed sterilization
The Texas Supreme Court ruled Friday that an El Paso woman who gave birth despite supposedly receiving a tubal ligation cant sue her medical provider because society views a healthy childs arrival as a net boon and a gift.

The nine-member court, whose members are all Republican, ruled unanimously that Grissel Velasco could not seek damages from Dr. Michiel Noe and his medical practice, Sun City Womens Health Care, for medical expenses, physical and mental harms, and the costs of raising her now 8-year-old girl.

Texas law does not regard a healthy child as an injury for which a parent must be compensated but, rather, as a life with inherent dignity and profound, immeasurable value, wrote Justice Rebeca Huddle.



Screenshot of a tweet

Under Texas law, a parent could only recover damages, such as medical expenses, from during the pregnancy, delivery, and afterwardnothing more, Huddle said.

Huddle cited the fact that Noe had reimbursed Velasco $400 for the cost of the tubal ligation, a sterilization procedure in which a womans fallopian tubes are cut and tied to prevent pregnancy, and that her pregnancy was covered by the federal Childrens Health Insurance Program.

Velascos lawyer, Jose Lopez, said in a statement that the ruling had taken away a patients voice and choice and has immunized the negligent doctor from civil liability.

The ruling fits right along with Texass extreme laws on abortion, which include a near-total ban passed in 2021. Last summer, a group of women sued the state over the law and one woman vomited while telling the story of how she was forced to give birth to a baby that died shortly after delivery.

Anti-abortion activists in the state want to execute women and minors who seek abortions or in-vitro fertilization. And the states attorney general, Ken Paxton, has threatened to prosecute doctors and hospitals for carrying out abortions, even if a court orders one out of health concerns. All of this seems to indicate a forced birth-or-else policy in the state.
After teaching for 50 years, Linda Carnes is still reminded of the lifelong impact shes had on children in Manatee County.

Past students from decades ago still reach out to the English teacher with heartfelt messages. During Teacher Appreciation Week, which is celebrated during the first week of May, thank you cards from students sat on her desk.

Middle school was not an easy time for me, but your classroom always felt safe and welcoming, Carnes said, reading from a card she recently received from a student she taught in 1990. I remember you greeting us as we came in and your kind voice. Thank you for loving your students past and present.

Carnes, a ninth-grade teacher at Palmetto High School, has devoted her life to children. She is the longest-serving active teacher in the School District of Manatee County, a district spokesman said.

I stayed in the classroom because I felt thats where I was needed the most, Carnes said in an interview with the Bradenton Herald. ...I like the idea of me staying back in the classroom with them and seeing them every day. It keeps me young now that Ive gotten up in age. It makes me look forward to coming to school to be with my ninth graders.

Carnes, who is one of twelve children, grew up in Palmetto. When she graduated from college in 1974, she came home to teach at Sugg Middle School and help raise six of her younger siblings. After her father got sick, she turned down other job offers in Atlanta and Chicago.

Im so glad I did because thats one of the best things I could have done, to stay and help my family, Carnes said. ...I was there to support them financially and mentally and spiritually.

Linda Carnes has been a teacher in Manatee County for 50 years. She started teaching English to children at Sugg Middle School. Now she teaches freshmen at Palmetto High. She taught prepositions to her class on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Manatee County celebrates longest-serving teacher

As a child, Carnes admired her teachers at Lincoln Memorial High School, the countys only public high school for Black children at the time, and Manatee High School. She remembered them as caring, disciplined and organized.

You have to have some type of discipline to get things done with kids, Carnes said. You have to be organized to keep things flowing smoothly for yourself.

Carnes taught for 35 years at Sugg Middle School and 15 years at Palmetto High School. In her Palmetto classroom, she tells her students to work hard.

You want to start your ninth-grade year off doing the right thing, Carnes said. When you get to 12th grade, you wont have too many problems if you stay focused. You have to keep your focus. Look at mostly everything positively. Try to put forth your best effort, youd be surprised what you can do.

In many cases, that advice has paid off. Some of Carnes students have gone on to become doctors, teachers, lawyers and mechanics.

When students come back and they tell me what theyre doing and how well theyre doing, it does make me feel very good, like I have had an impact on their life, Carnes said.

Carnes said she doesnt plan to retire anytime soon.

I dont want to sit around home idle with nothing to do, Carnes said. I want to stay busy and being here in this classroom keeps me busy. It keeps me very busy.

Linda Carnes has been a teacher in Manatee County for 50 years. She started teaching English to children at Sugg Middle School. Now she teaches freshmen at Palmetto High. She taught prepositions to her class on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.

Linda Carnes has been a teacher in Manatee County for 50 years. She started teaching English to children at Sugg Middle School. Now she teaches freshmen at Palmetto High. She read a thank you note from a former student on Wednesday, May 8, 2024.
Two new COVID-19 subvariants, collectively nicknamed FLiRT, are increasingly edging out the winter's dominant strain ahead of a possible summer uptick in coronavirus infections.

The new FLiRT subvariants, officially known as KP.2 and KP.1.1, are believed to be roughly 20% more transmissible than their parent, JN.1, the winter's dominant subvariant, said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious-disease expert at UC San Francisco.

The two FLiRT subvariants combined comprised an estimated 35% of coronavirus infections nationally for the two-week period that began April 28, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. By contrast, JN.1 is now believed to comprise 16% of infections; in mid-winter, it was blamed for more than 80%.

"It's been quite a while since we've had a new dominant variant in the U.S.," said Dr. David Bronstein, an infectious diseases specialist at Kaiser Permanente Southern California. "With each of these variants that takes over from the one before it, we do see increased transmissibility  it's easier to spread from person to person. So, that's really the concern with FLiRT."

The largest FLiRT subvariant, KP.2, is growing particularly fast as a proportion of coronavirus infections. In late March, it made up just 4% of estimated infections nationally; most recently, it's estimated to make up 28.2%.

Read more: Mistrust, fights and blood sport: How COVID-19 trauma is shaping the 2024 election

The new subvariants have been dubbed FLiRT for the mutations on the evolved COVID-19 virus. "So instead of an 'L,' there's an 'F.' And instead of a 'T,' there's an 'R.' And then they put an 'i' in to make it cute," Chin-Hong said.

Despite their increased transmissibility, the new mutations don't appear to result in more severe disease. And the vaccine is expected to continue working well, given the new subvariants are only slightly different from the winter version.

The entry of the subvariants also come as COVID-19 hospitalizations hit record lows. For the week ending April 27, there were 5,098 admissions  one-seventh of this winter's peak, in which 35,137 admissions were reported for the week that ended Jan. 6.

However, as of May 1, hospitals nationwide are no longer required to report COVID-19 admissions to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services; only voluntarily submitted data will now be posted nationally.

Read more: Despite its 'nothingburger' reputation, COVID-19 remains deadlier than the flu

In Los Angeles County, COVID-19 levels appear to be in a lull. For the week that ended April 27, coronavirus levels in L.A. County wastewater were at 8% of the winter peak.

Still, some doctors say they wouldn't be surprised if there is a summer uptick in COVID cases  as has occurred in prior seasons.

"By the summer, we can expect people's immunity to be a little bit lower," Chin-Hong said. For those who are older or immunocompromised, "they are potentially at risk for getting more serious disease."

Plus, people often gather indoors during summer to avoid the heat, which can increase the risk of transmission in crowded public venues.

Read more: Summer heat is coming. Here's a new interactive tool to help you deal with your health conditions

Chin-Hong said he is seeing COVID-19 patients at UC San Francisco with serious illness, and "they were either very old or very immune compromised and they didn't get the most recent shots."

That the FLiRT subvariants are more easily able to spread underscores how important it is for those most at risk to be up to date on vaccinations and stay away from those who are sick, doctors say.

And while the chance of long COVID is likely less than the early days of the pandemic, it still exists.

Many people haven't gotten a recent COVID-19 vaccination, data show. For the week that ended Feb. 24, 29% of seniors nationwide had received a dose of the updated vaccine that became available in September. In California, as of April 30, about 36% of seniors had received an updated dose.

Read more: Older Californians now eligible for another COVID-19 vaccine dose

"We are still seeing those hospitalizations and bad outcomes, and even folks who are passing away from COVID. It hasn't gone away," Bronstein said. "The good news is that the ... vaccine still is very good at protecting you against hospitalizations, severe outcomes and death."

Between October and April, more than 42,000 COVID-19 deaths were recorded nationally, according to the CDC. That's significantly larger than the estimated flu deaths over the same time: 24,000.

Still, the number is smaller than the comparable period for the prior season, when more than 70,000 COVID deaths were reported. And that tally is far smaller than the first two devastating pandemic winters: Between October 2021 and April 2022, more than 272,000 deaths were recorded; and between October 2020 and April 2021, the number was more than 370,000.

The CDC in February recommended that seniors 65 and older get a second dose of the updated vaccine as long as it had been at least four months since an earlier injection. The CDC also says everyone 6 months and older should get a dose of the updated vaccine.

"Right now, the most important thing that folks can do is get the vaccine," Bronstein said. He suggested those who are especially vulnerable continue to mask whenever possible, especially in places like crowded airports and planes.

In addition, he said, it's important that people who are sick stay at home to avoid spreading germs to others, particularly the elderly. And if sickened people must leave home, they should wear a mask around others.

"Even in the summertime, what may feel like a cold can actually be a COVID infection," Bronstein said. "We need to make sure that if you're sick, that we're testing whenever possible, staying home ... and make sure that your symptoms are more mild before you decide to go back to your regular activities."

Read more: U.S. health officials drop 5-day isolation time for COVID-19

California recommends that people with COVID-19 symptoms stay home until symptoms are mild and improving and they haven't had a fever for 24 hours without medication.

They should also mask around others while indoors for 10 days after becoming sick or, if they have no symptoms, after testing positive. They can stop wearing a mask sooner, if they have two consecutive negative rapid test results at least a day apart. But they should avoid contact with all higher-risk people for 10 days, according to the state Department of Public Health.

And ahead of travel plans this summer, Chin-Hong suggested that older people speak with their healthcare provider about making sure that, should they come down with COVID-19, that Paxlovid can be prescribed without interfering with other medications. Paxlovid is an antiviral drug that, when taken by people at risk for severe COVID-19 who have mild-to-moderate illness, reduces the risk of hospitalization and death.

Chin-Hong also suggests that it makes sense for healthcare providers to prescribe Paxlovid to higher-risk people planning to travel where the medicine may not be readily available, as a "just-in-case" prescription. Clinicians have that discretion since Paxlovid has been fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which gives healthcare providers greater leeway in deciding when to prescribe the drug.

Earlier this year, another medicine was also made available to help protect the most vulnerable people  such as cancer patients and those who have received organ transplants. It's a monoclonal antibody called Pemgarda, which is administered intravenously and can be given once every three months. Authorized by the FDA for emergency use, it's given prophylactically and can help recipients prevent COVID-19 if they are later exposed to an infected person.

Anticipation is also building for a fresh version of the COVID-19 vaccine to be released possibly by September. It could be designed against last winter's JN.1 strain, but it's also possible officials decide it should be designed against the rising FLiRT subvariants, Chin-Hong said.

Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
In this image from KION video, police investigate the scene of a shooting in King City on March 3. (KION via Associated Press)

Three people were arrested in connection with a mass shooting and a double homicide in Monterey County that left six people dead and seven others injured, authorities announced Friday.

Jonathan Leal Cervantes, 18, Pedro Manuel Nava, 22, and a minor, all from Greenfield, were booked on six counts of suspicion of homicide, seven counts of suspicion of attempted homicide, one count of suspicion of armed robbery, and gang and weapon enhancements, the Monterey County Sheriff's Office announced on Friday.

This marks a significant step towards accountability and giving some answers for the affected families in our community at large, Monterey County Sheriff Tina Nieto said at the Friday news conference.

Cervantes and Nava are scheduled to be arraigned Friday afternoon; the minor was scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning, authorities said.

On March 3, police responded about 6 p.m. to a report of shots fired at a home in the 200 block of North 2nd Street in King City, where a birthday party was being held. Eleven people were found with gunshot wounds and four people  one woman and three men  later died from their injuries, according to Police Chief James Hunt.

Read more: Mass shooting shook this small California town. Reward is offered to nab trio of gunmen

Authorities identified those killed as King City residents Alicia Ramirez Aparicio, Francisco Aldape Perez and Olivo Perez Pina, all 32, and 42-year-old Mario Guzman Mendoza.

The gunmen, wearing masks and dark-colored clothing, had driven to the home in a stolen silver Kia and opened fire, authorities said. They then fled the scene and left the stolen car in a vineyard outside of Greenfield, where it was found three days later.

The seven injured adults were hospitalized, two in critical condition and the others with non-life-threatening injuries.

Officials have connected the King City mass shooting with another violent incident that occurred about a month prior, in which two cousins were fatally shot just outside of Soledad. The victims  whom authorities identified as Soledad residents Jack Canchola, 20, and Andres Garcia, 26  had called 9-1-1 around 6:45 p.m. Feb. 4, saying they were being chased by "guys with guns" driving what police later said was a stolen Kia sedan.

Investigators said at a news conference in February that the shooting appeared to be a case of mistaken identity because the victims had no criminal backgrounds or any apparent gang ties. In addition, they described Canchola as a "high functioning" person with autism.

The pair were confronted by the suspects at a location near the Salinas river where they had gone to give Canchola a break from a crowded family gathering, investigators said. The cousins drove off to try to avoid a fight, but the suspects "chased them down and killed them," Monterey County Sheriff's Office Investigations Commander Michael Darlington alleged.

Authorities allege that the suspects, whom they described as gang-affiliated, were tied to an armed robbery in Salinas.

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.
Firefighters battle a blaze in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine, on Friday after an early morning missile strike launched by Russian forces that caused widespread damage and injured at least two people, including an 11-year-old child. Photo by Sergey Kozlov/EPA-EFE

May 10 (UPI) -- Three people were killed and 13 injured after Russia unleashed rockets, attack drones and artillery fire against targets across eastern and southeastern Ukraine, regional authorities said Friday.

A 62-year-old man and a 65-year-old woman were killed in Nikopol on the left bank of the Dnipro River and eight people were injured, including two teenage girls, in more than two dozen attacks throughout Thursday, said Dnipropetrovsk Governor Serhii Lysak.

Eight high-rise residential buildings, 25 private homes, a kindergarten, fire station, charity organization building, a bank, shops and power and gas lines were damaged. At least a dozen cars were destroyed, including rescue vehicles and an ambulance.

Shelling near a gas station in Kupiansk, 73 miles southeast of Kharkiv, killed a 51-year-old man and injured a 49-year-old woman, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov reported in a social media post. A 62-year-old woman was hurt in a separate incident when the border village of Lyptsi, just 8 miles inside Ukraine, came under fire from Russian forces, according to Syniehubov.

The Kharkiv regional prosecutor's office said in an update that it had launched twin criminal and war crimes investigations following the death of the man from his injuries in hospital.

Kharkiv itself, Ukraine's second-largest city, was hit by a long-range S-300 missile Friday injuring an 11-year-old child and a 72-year-old woman. Mayor Ihor Terekhov said the attack in the early hours razed two houses to the ground and damaged another 24.

In Zaporizhzhia, a woman was injured after the city was hit by fire from a Russian multiple rocket launcher, the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration reported.

Attacks in Donetsk province injured at least one person. Regional Governor Vadym Filashkin, said the civilian victim was hurt in Hostre, a village in Pokrovsk district less than six miles from the front line.

President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged Thursday that Russian forces had the upper hand on the eastern front but said Ukraine would be able to halt their advance if arms supplies from its Western allies increased.

"With increased arms supplies, we will be able to stop them in the East. They have the initiative there now. This is not a secret. We need to stop them, take the initiative into our own hands. It is possible only when you have something strong in your hands," said Zelensky, noting that supplies so far were less than the amount voted for by Congress on April 23.

Speaking in Kyiv at joint press conference with European Parliament President Roberta Metsola, Zelensky said Ukraine's armed forces would get the job done as soon as they received the military resources they needed.

"Of course, taking advantage of this moment, they [Russian forces] have increased their troops in the north, in the East, and certainly everywhere. They are increasing something everywhere."
Three Republicans seek to unseat Brock Smith in 1st Senate District on southern coast

From top left: Ashley Hicks, Paul J. Romero Jr. and Todd Vaughn (bottom left) are running in the Republican primary in southern Oregon Senate District 1, hoping to unseat incumbent Sen. David Brock Smith (bottom right).

From top left: Ashley Hicks, Paul J. Romero Jr. and Todd Vaughn (bottom left) are running in the Republican primary in southern Oregon Senate District 1, hoping to unseat incumbent Sen. David Brock Smith (bottom right). (Campaign photos)

An unusual four-way Republican primary race is afoot in the 1st Senate District along the southern Oregon Coast.

The primary race pits the incumbent, Sen. David Brock Smith, R-Port Orford, against three fellow Republicans, who have diverse backgrounds in business, logging and construction.

With no Democrats filed to run for the seat, the winner will become the next senator in the heavily Republican district, which has nearly twice as many registered GOP voters as Democrats.

This is the first time in at least six years that Brock Smith has faced even one Republican challenger and comes at a time when he is fighting misinformation. He had his attorney send a cease-and-desist letter to a House candidate and a former conservative radio host to stop making false statements that suggest Brock Smith is tied to the Chinese Communist Party.

He is not.

Brock Smiths opponents also are fretting about the prospect of offshore wind turbines off the Oregon coast and believe he is pushing for their installation. That isnt the case either, he said.

Heres a look at the candidates and their policy positions:

David Brock Smith

Name: David Brock Smith

Party: Republican

Age: 47

Residence: Port Orford

Education: Courses at Southern Oregon Community College and Southern Oregon University, 1995-1998; Pacific High School high school graduate, 1995.

Current occupation: State senator

Prior elected experience: State senator since January 2023 after appointment to fill a vacancy; member of the state House, 2017-2023; Curry County commissioner, 2013-2017; Port Orford city councilor, 2005-2012; and Port Orford-Langlois School Board, 2010-2018.

Family status: Unavailable

Fundraising: $219,771 as of May 9, including 2023.

Cash on hand: $16,136 as of May 9.

Brock Smith is a familiar sight in Salem. He served in the House for nearly six years before being appointed to the coastal Senate seat after Republican Dallas Heard resigned.

Brock Smith said he plans to focus on management of Oregons natural resources and fight against what he says are unattainable goals for carbon reduction. Oregon aims to cut emissions by 50% by 2035 and 90% by 2050, with about a quarter of that reduction from natural gas. Brock Smith said those goals are unattainable because the technology doesnt exist to wean the state off fossil fuels. Cold snaps demonstrate the need for traditional energy sources, he said.

Natural gas is critically important to create the energy to deal with the load needed to keep people warm, and safe and alive, Brock Smith said.

Brock Smith also supports better forest management, including of the national forests.

For example, hes pushed for thinning forests and prescribed burns to reduce wildfire risks.

As a House representative, he also championed a bill to research the prospect of wind energy off the Oregon coast. His proposal, House Bill 3375, required the state to review the benefits and disadvantages of offshore wind production and required public involvement on the concept. It passed with bipartisan support but fueled misinformation about his policy positions, he said.

His opponents insist its proof that he wants to install offshore wind turbines along the coast, which he denies. Brock Smith said the law has actually slowed federal efforts to allow offshore wind leases along the coast.

It was passed unanimously by the House for a reason and it was because, frankly, we needed this, he said. We needed a seat at the table.

Brock Smith said hes sent out a 21-page letter to constituents about his position but said that opponents arent backing down.

They just either are not reading it or just choose to perpetuate the lie, he said.

Name: Paul J. Romero Jr.

Party: Republican

Age: 57

Residence: Roseburg

Education: Bachelors in workforce education and development, Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, 2010; additional courses in mechanical engineering and mathematics, University of Louisiana 2004-2006.

Current occupation: CEO, Youwalk Today, Inc., a medical device company

Prior elected experience: None.

Family status: Married with five children, three biological and two foster children

Fundraising: $750 as of May 9

Cash on hand: No money as of May 9

Paul Romero Jr.

Romero is a frequent candidate on the ballot. In the past decade, he has run in different races, including for congressional and

U.S. Senate seats, and in 2022, he ran for governor. But hes never been elected.

Like other challengers in the primary, Romero said he fears that offshore wind turbines will pop up along the coast and undermine the regions way of life if the incumbent senator remains in office. Tribal communities worry about the effect of turbines on the environment and fishermen say they could hurt their livelihood. Romero called them a dumb idea on its face because maintaining a windmill onshore is difficult enough without putting it in the ocean.

Romero said he would focus on fiscal frugality as a legislator. He said he would support ending the state income tax and replacing it with a state sales tax, but not on groceries.

Other than that, Romero said hes opposed to any new taxes or fees, such as tolls to pay for highway or bridge projects. The money that Oregon taxpayers received this year through the kicker  which gives tax money back when state revenues exceed projections  demonstrates the state collects more than it needs, he said.

We have to get back to where were taking care of the things the states required to do to provide security for the state to make sure its conducted to promote economic growth and does not stifle it, he said.

Romero added he would like to see property taxes drop, too, as part of statewide tax reform that he said would take a year or two.

I think thats something that every legislator and every governor should be working towards, he said. Because with all the money theyre bringing in, theyre not actually increasing our economy.

Ashley Hicks

Hicks, a drywall contractor and former Roseburg City Council member, said she has demonstrated her commitment to serving the

Name: Ashley Hicks

Party: Republican

Age: 43

Residence: Roseburg

Education: Pre-nursing and small business classes, Umpqua Community College.

Current occupation: Drywall contractor

Prior elected experience: Former Roseburg City Council member, 2016-2020

Family status: Unavailable

Fundraising: Unavailable.

Cash on hand: Unavailable.

community in office and as a business owner by listening to constituents and focusing on community improvements. She said she has also served as a volunteer leading river cleanup projects in the area.

Hicks said she wants to address squatters rights in Oregon, which allows them to claim legal ownership of property after continuously living on it without permission for at least 10 years. Hicks said she became aware of the issue when her mother died earlier this year and she was forced to go to court to evict squatters from the property. Hicks said its ludicrous for squatters to have rights after living on property without permission.

If theres not a tenancy agreement, there should be absolutely no squatters rights at all, she said. That shouldnt even exist. Because what these individuals are doing is just breaking into places.

Hicks also would like to see Measure 110 funding go toward emergency residential housing and mental health and addiction treatment. Measure 110 funding comes from a portion of cannabis tax revenues and pays for a variety of addiction-related services and programs. Voters passed the measure in 2020, which also decriminalized possession of small amounts of hard drugs, though lawmakers this year passed a new misdemeanor penalty with treatment programs.

Hicks also supports community engagement in policymaking, something she said she learned from being on Roseburgs City Council.

If you cut the community out of the decision-making process, then you start getting hit or miss and retaliation and then everybodys upset, Hicks said.

Todd Vaughn

Vaughn, a logger in Tiller, said hed offer a fresh perspective in Salem as a candidate who is not seeking a political career.

Name: Todd J Vaughn

Party: Republican

Age: 64

Residence: Tiller

Education: Courses in business and engineering at Arizona State University, 1979-1981; graduated from Camelback High School in Phoenix, 1977.

Current occupation: Logger

Prior elected experience: None

Family status: Married, three grown children, four grandchildren

Fundraising: $24,145 as of May 9.

Cash on hand: $5,112 as of May 9.

Vaughn said he believes forests are becoming too regulated and restricted, with habitat conservation plans that limit logging and the ability of local communities to thrive.

Vaughn said he fears a dystopian future for Oregon, one in which global powers will have their way and force environmental policies upon citizens without Oregon legislators who are willing to preserve the states rights to set policies, such as for the management of land and timber.

Vaughn said hes also concerned about world powers with a global plan to subvert the nations sovereignty. He connects the plot to the Chinese Communist Party and the World Health Organization, without offering evidence.

And eventually, he said, these will be local issues.

They say all politics is local, he said. Well, sooner or later, even these things that are happening on a global level, work their way down to us in the counties.

Vaughn said that Brock Smiths House Bill 3375 about wind turbines is an example of outside influence taking root in the state.

The bill did not allow wind turbines on the coast  or approve any specific projects. It only allowed a study with public turbines. Still, Vaughn remains concerned.

The people on the coast do not want the windmills to happen, it will actually decimate the fishing industry, Vaughn said. Im already working on helping push back and helping those communities to push back against these windmills.

The post Three Republicans seek to unseat Brock Smith in 1st Senate District on southern coast appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
The National Weather Service's local office is predicting thunderstorms to hit Milwaukee as early as 8 p.m. Friday.

A line of thunderstorms is expected to move through Wisconsin late Friday afternoon and into the evening but the rain and clouds will give way to a sunny, warm forecast for Mother's Day on Sunday.

According to the National Weather Service, the storms will push into western Wisconsin, reaching La Crosse and Eau Claire between 2-4 p.m., Madison between 5-7 p.m. and Milwaukee between 8-9 p.m.

Along with the storms, there is a good chance for small, penny-size hail in Madison and the northwest portion of the state. The National Weather Service would not rule out hale also accompanying the storms in Milwaukee.

The speed of the line of the storm is expected to be 30 to 40 miles per hour. Along with that may come gusty winds going 40 to 50 miles per hour.

These thunderstorms are expected to clear up overnight, leading to a clear day Saturday. However, there is a 20% change of precipitation from the lakeshore in Sheboygan down through Racine and Kenosha counties.

Saturday will stay clear throughout the night, leading to a bright and sunny Mother's Day morning on Sunday.

Temperatures are expected to rise across Wisconsin by mid-afternoon, with temperatures in southern Wisconsin reaching the upper 70s and temperatures in northern Wisconsin reaching the low 70s. Temperatures will cool down in the evening to 50 degrees.

Expect winds up to 30 miles per hour to take place from noon to around 4 p.m. These winds will take place in a large part of the southwest region of the state.

Zoe Takaki is an intern for the Ideas Lab. She graduated from Columbia College Chicago where she studied journalism.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Thunderstorms in Wisconsin Friday but Mothers Day weather clear, warm
As many have observed, democracies dont die overnight. Theres no One Big Event that does it. It happens bit by bit. Noticing it requires paying very close attention and connecting the dots as you go along, and most people dont have the time or dedication to do that.

So I draw your attention to a new and ominous development this week: Its now basically settled that Donald Trumps running mate will be with him 1000 percent on denying unfavorable election results. Doing so became a litmus test this week. South Carolina GOP Senator Tim Scott is chiefly to blame, but of course its also Trump, and the entire cast of craven jellyfish who are todays Republican Party.

As youve probably read, Scott was on Meet the Press Sunday and, under questioning from host Kristen Welker, refused six times to say hed accept the election results. The things he did say were ludicrous: This is an issue that is not an issue so Im not going to make it an issue. Im not going to answer your hypothetical question when, in fact, I believe the American people are speaking today on the results of the election. This is why so many Americans believe that NBC is an extension of the Democrat Party.

The same day, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum ran for the hills when CNNs Jake Tapper asked him about potential political violence after the election. He spat out some evasive nonsense about how the important thing about the election is that both sides feel good about how it was counted. We all know what that means: If one party (gee, which one?) doesnt feel good about the vote count, then violence might be justified.

These are, in one way, dismissible men. But these are not dismissible comments. This is new. And its worth thinking about.

In 2016, Trump went around saying things like, I will totally accept the election results if I win. But it wasnt yet holy scripture. In fact, that fall, Trumps running mate avowed that the GOP would play by the rules. We will absolutely accept the results of the election, Mike Pence told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press on October 16.

This was very important at the time. It allowed people to think Trump was just blustering, wasnt to be taken seriously. And his position was seen as a clear liability. Three days after Pences Meet the Press appearance, Trump debated Hillary Clinton. Trump refused to affirm to moderator Chris Wallace that hed accept the election results. Even Republicans asked by Politico agreed that it was Trumps worst moment of the debate. Said an Ohio Republican: His answer on not accepting the results of the election [is] disqualifyingand thats not an elite position. Added a New Hampshire GOPer: Refusing to accept the outcome of a legitimate American election and refusing to commit to the peaceful transition of power is disqualifying. Stunning.

Those Republicans reflected a consensus then among the Republicans Politico asked, and to some extent among rank-and-file Republicans too53 percent of Republicans even told Politico that Clinton won that debate. The idea that a major party candidate would reject election results was disqualifying, or seemed to be.

Of course, Trump won, so the proposition wasnt tested then. In 2020, he did the same thing, casting doubt on the veracity of the pandemic-era results throughout the campaign. And we know what came of that: January 6. On that day, remember, 139 House members voted against certifying the election results, while 72 voted to certify (or were absent). Eight GOP senators voted not to certify, while 43 voted to certify Joe Bidens victory.

Those voting results were depressing enough, but it must be asked: Would we get similar results today? Or will we next January 6, if Trump is declared the loser and contests the results, as he all but inevitably will?

I think this time it would be worse, maybe far worse. As Scotts and Burgums dodges testify, conventional wisdom has changed. Now, it is assured that Trumps vice presidential choice will, instead of offering Pences 2016 reassurances, be right there with Trump in threatening not to accept the results. The new Trump-installed chair of the party, Michael Whatley, is a 2020 election denier whose chief appeal to Trump was that hes a Stop the Steal guy. And the new co-chair, of course, is Lara Trump. Around 60 RNC employees were handed their papers in March. The new application process includes asking job-seekers whether they think the 2020 election was stolen.

The upshot here should be clear enough. This November, the entire party will be armed to fight an adverse election result. This is newworse, even, than 2020 and 2021. Scott and Burgum helped cement this posture as the new conventional wisdom this week. But really, they were shaping conventional wisdom far less than they were allowing themselves to be shaped by it. If they hadnt said what they said, theyd be instantly tossed from Trumps short list.

And the rest of the party? Please. Theyll fall into one of two camps. Theyll enthusiastically parrot the accepted line. Or theyll use the Its not an issue, because Donald Trump will be elected our next president dodge. And those in the latter camp know very well that the road is littered with the political carcasses of Republicans who defied Trump.

So, again: If January 6, 2025 comes around, and Congress is confronted with a situation similar to that other January 6, how many Republicans will stand up for democracy this time? Jellyfish may not have backbones, but they can still sting.
Time is running out for you to get a free dozen doughnuts from Krispy Kreme: How to get the deal

Time is running out for customers to get free doughnuts from Krispy Kreme.

The doughnut giant announced last month the revamping of its rewards program with a more generous points system that makes it faster for members to earn and easier to redeem free doughnuts and beverages.

To promote the program, Krispy Kreme is giving all rewards members a free original glazed dozen, including new members who join between April 30 and May 11. Rewards members have also been eligible to receive a dozen consecutive days of deals, including free doughnuts and coffee, beginning April 30 through May 11, the company said in a news release.

Customers can sign up for Krispy Kreme Rewards by downloading the Krispy Kreme app or by visiting www.krispykreme.com/account/create-account and creating a Krispy Kreme Rewards account.

Existing rewards members should use their current rewards credentials to sign into their new account. Earned rewards will transfer to the new program, the company said, and members will receive bonus points for every visit made in the last year to jump-start their progress on the new program.

Free Krispy Kreme: Get a free dozen doughnuts through chain's new rewards program

Krispy Kreme is revamping its rewards program to a more generous points system that makes it faster for members to earn and easier to redeem free doughnuts and beverages.

How does the new Krispy Kreme Rewards program work?

Krispy Kreme 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 chocolates, according to a news release from the company.

Rewards members will also get additional exclusive and personalized perks, including a free sweet treat on their birthday, opportunities to try limited-time products for free, and double points for celebrating their anniversary month.

"In the previous version of the rewards program, members would receive a credit for each purchase of a doughnut, dozen doughnuts and coffee  12 credits being required to redeem one of each specific item for free," Krispy Kreme said in the news release. "In the new Krispy Kreme Rewards, members can apply their points to any reward."

Krispy Kreme Mother's Day doughnuts

Krispy Kreme is celebrating Mother's Day with a new collection of mini doughnuts.

Beginning Monday, May 6 and for a limited time, the company is inviting customers to "share a mini moment with all the special motherly figures in their lives" with the Minis for Mom Collection at participating stores in the U.S.

Krispy Kreme is celebrating Mother's Day with a new collection of mini-doughnuts that will be available beginning May 6.

The collection will be available in a 16-count box that also includes four mini Original Glazed doughnuts. You can get the offering in-shop and for pickup or delivery via Krispy Kreme's app and website. Customers can also get all three of the flavors in a mini 8-pack, delivered fresh daily to select retailers.

The mini-doughnuts will be available in three new flavors, including:

Mini Strawberry Iced Heart Doughnut: A mini Original Glazed doughnut hand-dipped in strawberry icing and decorated with a white sprinkled heart

Mini Iced Rose Doughnut: A mini Original Glazed doughnut hand-dipped in bright teal icing and decorated with a buttercream rose

Mini Chocolate Cookie Crumble Doughnut made with Oreo: A mini Original Glazed doughnut hand-dipped in chocolate icing and crushed Oreo cookies, and decorated with colorful daisy sprinkles and a chocolate buttercream dollop

You love your mom, and your mom would love to spend time with you. Our Minis for Mom Collection is a sweet way to create mini moments with your mom this Mothers Day, said Dave Skena, global chief brand officer for Krispy Kreme.

Gabe Hauari is a national trending news reporter at USA TODAY. You can follow him on X @GabeHauari or email him at Gdhauari@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Free Krispy Kreme doughnuts: Time running out to cash in on deal
KABUL, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Afghan Acting Deputy Prime Minister on Political Affairs Mawlawi Abdul Kabir has accused the United States of violating the country's airspace, local media reported Friday.

U.S. drone operations are a problem because Afghanistan has no necessary equipment to stop the U.S. operations, Tolonews quoted Kabir as saying.

The senior Afghan official made the remarks in a public meeting in the eastern Panjshir province on Thursday, according to the private media outlet.

In the meeting, Kabir also rebuffed the reported financial aid from Washington for allowing American drones to patrol Afghan airspace. 
Tiny pieces of plastic pose one of the biggest threats to Chicago River wildlife and water quality

Wendella engineer Miguel Chavez climbed down a ladder and over a small dock Wednesday to pull up a trap floating in the Chicago River near the Michigan Avenue Bridge. The size of a standard garbage can, the trap is designed to collect trash and can hold up to 44 pounds.

Chavez tapped the bin three times to release the contents into a trash bag. At first glance, it looked like a brownish, wet pile of leaves and twigs.

Once you start sifting through it, its a lot easier to see the trash, he said.

While large trash is not as big of a threat, plastic debris from food and product packaging and the smaller bits from when it breaks down has emerged as a persistent problem that affects wildlife, water quality and public health.

Its no longer the dumping ground it was  its more of this incidental, wind-blown picnic, restaurant, parking lot pollution, said Margaret Frisbie, executive director of the nonprofit Friends of the Chicago River. What we used to find was shopping carts and sofas and tires and old pipes.  It was big and messy, but not the way that we see litter today. Today, the litter is smaller, its food-related. Its breaking down because its plastic, and so its never really going away.

In 2023, the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District collected 675 tons of debris from the river using skimmer boats; on average they pick up 745 tons annually, according to a spokesperson. City of Chicago skimmer boats also remove trash regularly along the Riverwalk downtown.

Between 75% and 95% of debris collected in the river is plastic, and 58% of identifiable, non-fragmented trash is food-related, according to research led by Tim Hoellein, an aquatic ecologist at Loyola University Chicago, and undergraduate student Caitlin Hyatt.

Shortly after the traps deployment last summer, Mike McElroy, director of marine operations at Wendella Tours and Cruises, discovered a plastic toy dinosaur when he emptied the trap one day. Now the traps official mascot, Trappy the Dinosaur has become an emblem for all the different kinds of things that pollute the river.

The Trash Trap is the first technology of its kind used in the Chicago River to remove litter and learn where its coming from and what its made of. Contraptions like this are typically used in marinas where tides rise slowly, but this one was modified to withstand rapid changes in river levels from heavy rainfall.

It works by drawing in water and debris from the surface using a submersible pump, trapping litter inside a catch bin and pumping the water back out.

From day one, it was pulling trash out of the river, even things that we couldnt see readily with (our) eyes, McElroy said. The things weve pulled out have been very interesting. Weve had a shoe, Dorito bags, Styrofoam in numbers and quantities that are just astounding.

A common thread

Flowing from the Great Lakes and into the Mississippi River, the Chicago River connects the region to the rest of the country and the world. And plastic litter is a common thread that runs through these diverse water systems.

Thats happening in our rivers too, its just not happening in the oceans, Frisbie said. Its just not happening far away, its happening here too.

Unsurprisingly, the composition of litter in the Chicago River mirrors that of the regions lakes. In a recent report using data from over 14,000 beach cleanups over 20 years, the regional nonprofit Alliance for the Great Lakes found that 86% of trash entering the Great Lakes in a given year is either partially or fully composed of plastic.

86% of Great Lakes litter is plastic, a 20-year study shows. And the plastic is just getting smaller and smaller.

The other day I saw someone throw a bag of their leftover lunch over the wall from Wacker Drive, Frisbie said.

Large plastic products such as single-use bags, straws, wrappers, takeout containers and utensils eventually break down into smaller plastic particles. The tiniest of these particles  less than 5 millimeters long or the size of a pencil eraser  are called microplastics and have been found in Great Lakes bony fish and drinking water, as well as human blood, organs and breast milk.

A lot of what we find is fragments, Hoellein said of river litter collected by the Trash Trap, which students at Loyola help sort and characterize.

Most of these fragments are generally smaller than an inch. Lentil-sized pellets used in plastic production called nurdles account for 5% to 20% of their weekly findings. Bits of Styrofoam broken down from food containers also present a ubiquitous problem.

Sometimes theres too many to count and we have to estimate, Hoellein said.

We also find a lot of these things, Hoellein said, holding up a green dental floss pick. I hate tooth flossers. He soon found another green one, its color markedly faded.

In his research, he said, almost every fish he has looked at in the Chicago-Calumet River system has some form of microplastics inside them.

Despite these findings, advocates say that in an amazing renaissance, the Chicago-Calumet River system is healthier now than in the past 150 years. The river is home to all kinds of animals, including migratory birds, beavers and turtles, as well as 80 species of fish  up from less than 10 in the 1970s.

Thats telling us that Mother Nature is healing herself, said McElroy, who will lead a Saturday cleanup at Lucas Berg Nature Preserve in Palos Hills. I think, through the efforts of the Friends of the Chicago River and others, thats how we got to this point, as well as (through) the Clean Water Act. What would we do without that?

When he started working with another boat tour company in 1988, McElroy said he couldnt even see the bottom of the river on a sunny day. Now, he can.

Its incredible, he said. The water has become so much clearer.

Restoring the health of the river has required a multipronged approach, Frisbie said, starting with the enforcement of a 2029 deadline to complete the Tunnel and Reservoir Plan  a system of deep tunnels and wide reservoirs for flood control  that will reduce combined sewer overflows, which occur when city pipes for stormwater runoff and sewage are overwhelmed with rains, pouring untreated human waste into the river.

Related Articles

The second step entails improving the disinfecting process of sewage effluent, or treated water, using chlorination or ultraviolet light to remove pathogens and bacteria. The nonprofit has also focused on championing nature-based solutions such as planting trees and creating parks that absorb stormwater and reduce runoff into waterways.

In April, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency issued a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit to the city which will govern 184 city-owned outfalls that discharge into the Chicago-Calumet River system and the Des Plaines River. The new permit is more stringent and requires additional strategies to reduce pollution from sewage and litter.

The last piece is this litter piece, Frisbie said, which is where river cleanups come in.

Frisbie said the new permit issued to the city also includes the expansion of litter-control technologies such as skimmer boats and trash traps to remove plastic pollution along the 156-mile stretch of the river.

Researchers, organizations and companies are also looking to deploy more trash traps along the river. McElroy said Wendella plans to install one at the Chinatown water taxi stop in Ping Tom Memorial Park, and Hoellein is hoping to expand the scope of the research by partnering with other companies with riverfront locations.

Chicago River Day

Since 1992, volunteers with Friends of the Chicago River have picked up nearly 2 million pounds of trash from the river and its banks to help restore its aquatic ecosystems.

At the organizations 32nd signature annual event Saturday, over 2,000 citizens, politicians and corporate teams will fan out across 87 locations in the city and suburbs, up from 80 sites last year and 77 the year before.

People are starting to really understand the problem, Frisbie said. They are demanding that the places they live (in) are healthy and cared for.

Registration for Saturday cleanups is required online at chicagoriver.org and will remain open for each site until it is full. Walk-up volunteers might be able to participate, though the organization cautions that space is limited.

Volunteers will also remove invasive plants such as garlic mustard, buckthorn and honeysuckle from Chicago Park District and the Forest Preserves locations as needed.

But river restoration efforts should not be a one-and-done thing, advocates say. Saturday will kick off a new season of the nonprofits Litter Free Chicago-Calumet River initiative.

Individuals and organizations can host community cleanups through the nonprofits Litter Free Supply Stations network, of which there are 13 across the watershed. Each station has tools such as litter grabbers, buckets, bags and gloves, as well as toolkit guidance in English and Spanish.

Environmental organizations use data gathered by volunteer citizens and research scientists to inform their advocacy, which then could become the foundation for policies that curb overproduction and overreliance on plastic products.

The increase in individual use of disposable items in the last 20 to 30 years has skyrocketed. Everyones got a to-go cup of coffee every day, and sometimes three.  I think our relationship with plastic is forced upon us, Frisbie said. We can fight back. We turned the river around again, metaphorically. We can turn single-use plastic around as well, I believe.

adperez@chicagotribune.com
A tiny Texas town votes against becoming 'Sanctuary City for the Unborn.' What it means

A tiny town in the Texas Panhandle will not join the growing list of "Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn" to the surprise of many.

The Clarendon City Council voted unanimously, 3-0, against the proposed ordinance to declare itself a sanctuary city on Thursday evening. The 2,000-person town sits about halfway between Amarillo and the Texas-Oklahoma border, roughly 60 miles from each.

The Clarendon Enterprise wrote in a Facebook comment that the decision came as "city council members said they believe it is not a city issue and that state law already covers this issue."

Here's what we know.

What is a 'Sanctuary City for the Unborn'?

Abortion is illegal in Texas after the Supreme Court voted to overturn Roe v. Wade, which established the legal right to abortion nationally in 1973. In June 2022, the Supreme Court granted states permission to create their own abortion laws.

Currently, Texas has implemented near-total bans on abortion. But pro-life activist Mark Lee Dickson is actively advocating for municipalities to establish themselves as "Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn."

This initiative entails prohibiting abortion within the city limits, extending the ban to residents of Clarendon regardless of where the procedure is performed anywhere in the world, restricting the sale and possession of specific medical drugs within the city, and aiming to deter individuals from traveling through Clarendon to access abortion services.

Enforcement relies upon citizens filing lawsuits against each other and abortion providers, according to the proposed ordinance.

More: How many people got abortions in 2023? New report finds increase despite bans

Protesters gather across from the U.S. District Court in Downtown Amarillo on March 16, 2023, in response to a federal hearing taking up the case of medication abortion. Amarillo is only 60 miles from Clarendon.

How many abortion sanctuary cities are there?

There are currently 69 cities across the U.S. that have voted to declare themselves as "Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn," and 52 are in Texas.

In June 2019, the City of Waskom became the first city in both Texas and the United States to pass an ordinance outlawing abortion within its city limits, while the latest city to join the list is also in Texas; the Muenster City Council unanimously voted to declare itself as a "Sanctuary City for the Unborn" on April 8.

The majority of cities have populations of 25,000 or fewer, while only four have more than 100,000 residents. All based in West Texas, they include Abilene, Midland, San Angelo, and Lubbockthe largest "Sanctuary City for the Unborn." With a population of 264,000, citizens voted in a citywide election to outlaw abortion with 68% of the vote.

See the complete list.

More: How Amanda Zurawski has fought for women's reproductive health care in Texas

What's the existing law for abortion in Texas?

Texas has enacted various laws prohibiting abortion, most recently the Human Life Protection Act passed in 2021, which classifies elective abortions as felonies, imposes civil penalties, and revokes the licenses of medical practitioners involved in such procedures.

Additionally, some laws predate the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned in June 2022. These statutes regained effectiveness following the recent ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson.

Consequently, Texas laws ban nearly all abortions unless, in the exercise of a reasonable medical judgment, a doctor determines that the patient is experiencing a life-threatening physical condition aggravated by, caused by, or arising from a pregnancy that places the female at risk of death or poses a serious risk of substantial impairment of a major bodily function.

Why did Clarendon City Council vote against the ordinance?

Clarendon City Council unanimously voted against the ordinance because it not pertain to municipal government, according to the Clarenton Enterprise.

In an editorial titled "City Should Postpone Action on Sanctuary Proposal," publisher Roger Estlack argued that the city should prioritize addressing pressing issues instead. Given that Texas has already established laws regarding abortion, Estlack suggested that the city's attention should be directed toward other matters.

These include finalizing plans for the opening of the aquatic center, securing the next downtown revitalization grant, replacing a local bridge, addressing vandalism, and attending to routine tasks such as street repairs, trash collection, and water maintenance.

"Abortion has nothing to do with running the City of Clarendon. We elect our mayor and city council and then they hire employees to do important things that affect our daily lives," Estlack wrote before his list. "These are the things that the city council should be focused on instead of wasting their time on an issue that the city literally has no control over. But instead of dealing with our real city issues, Dickson and his followers are hijacking the city agenda, forcing people to take sides, creating stress where it is not warranted..."

In a comment on the Facebook post where the newspaper announced the final vote, one resident wrote that the city doesn't "even have doctors here that perform those procedures."

"Abortion is a hot topic but one that people shouldn't interfere with unless it's their bodies," she added.

This article originally appeared on Lubbock Avalanche-Journal: Tiny Texas town avoids joining list of 'Sanctuary Cities for Unborn'
"Its no longer liveable or a desirable place to be, at least not like it used to be," the popular Salehs of YouTube say.

Sana and Will Saleh are planning to move their family from Canada to Malaysia in the fall, citing rising Islamophobia.

For Toronto couple Sana and Will Saleh, the itch to move out of Canada with their three young children somewhere all the way across the world has been growing over the years. But it's become impossible to ignore since the latest Israel-Palestine conflict began in October 2023.

The couple, who are Muslim, have been victims of Islamophobia before, but they say it has only gotten worse in the past seven months. Explaining the moment they knew they had to leave, Sana recalls a November incident: We were on the way with our young children to a Palestine protest, and an older white woman walked past us and said, You are all terrorists! Our kids took notice and we had to explain to them that she did not know any better, and we were simply protesting for human rights, [which] is something they should take pride in.

Canada has a serious underlying racism problem, says Will, adding that they officially decided to make the move in November, just after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reaffirmed Canada's longstanding support for Israel. That is when we looked at each other and said, We need to go. Within a few months, we were all booked and ready to leave. It was the last straw for us.

Canadian family has eyes of Malaysia. Here's why

In hopes of finding a more welcoming new home, in February, the Salehs embarked on what they call a mini hijrah (an Arabic word for migration, often for ones faith) to Malaysia for several months after brainstorming different options. They connected with the Southeast Asian country for several reasons: the beautiful weather, its hybrid of cultures, and the simple fact that Malaysias official religion is Islam, and a majority 60 per cent of its population is Muslim.

While that certainly doesnt mean the country is devoid of Islamophobia or racism, and the Salehs dont have family there, they know their odds of a warm welcome are better. They plan to make their big move to Kuala Lumpur this fall.

We also love the fact that living there is affordable and there is so much, including water parks, theme parks, stunning beaches, pristine malls, Sana says. We love the fact that there is always something to do."

It's also "very pro-Palestine," they add, saying it's important for them to be around other people who share their politics.

In November, Malaysias prime minister Anwar Ibrahim spoke out in favour of Palestine, announcing that all Malaysians should unanimously back the country. Hes been a staunch supporter going back to his 20s. Historically, Malaysias support for Palestine has been bipartisan.

The Salehs' hope, they say, is to raise their children  Aaminah, nine; Zaynab, seven; and Yusuf, one  and watch them grow up in a more compassionate community, where they arent a minority. Experiencing hate at some point in their life wont just be a given, they hope.

Sana and Will Saleh, of Toronto, plan to move their family to Malaysia in the fall.

The Salehs are well-known YouTubers, amassing 1.3 million subscribers, who frequently vlog about their day-to-day lives. When, in December, they published a video sharing their decision to move and why, the post quickly accumulated thousands of comments and views. Four months in, that video has 771,000 views and 12,400 comments. Their 414 videos on the platform have garnered more than 920 million views cumulatively.

While many were in support and understanding of their choice, there was  and still is  an incredible number of abusive comments telling the family to never come back, good riddance, and take your people with you! While some might say thats just a few bad apples, if you ask the Salehs, its par for the course living in Canada. Those claims of Canadians being the nicest people in the world? Thats not the reception everyone is privileged enough to experience.

Sana and Will Saleh were born and raised in Okanagan, British Columbia, and moved to Toronto in 2019. Will had a gig as an engineer in the aviation industry, but was let go, along with many colleagues, when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. That's when the pair decided to give content creation a go, quickly becoming popular YouTubers  a rare feat for a Muslim family on the platform.

It helped, too, that they felt more at home in Ontario than in B.C., particularly with more ethnic and halal food options, more people who looked like Sana and their children, (Will, a Canadian with a European background, converted to Islam) and who shared their culture. But eventually, they felt out of place and more like strangers.

Islamophobia on the rise in Canada: 1,300% more hate incidents

According to the National Council of Canadian Muslims, there has been a staggering 1,300-per-cent rise in hate incidents since October 7, when the conflict began, with most happening in densely populated areas in Ontario, Alberta, and Quebec. A Senate report released in November (the first of its kind) found that Muslim women have become the primary targets when it comes to violence and intimidation because they are easy to recognize thanks to their traditional clothing, which might include a hijab, for example. Many have been scared to leave their homes, go to work, school, or the grocery store.

According to the 2023 Senate report, Muslims in Canada feel like they are under attack. The psychological impact of constant fear and vigilance is a heavy burden. Survivors of violent Islamophobia live with the trauma of their direct experience, while countless others live with vicarious trauma brought on by justified fear that their communities are not safe. It goes on to call for urgent action to reverse the alarming trajectory of Islamophobia in Canada.

Sana and Will Saleh, of Toronto, plan to move their family to Malaysia in the fall.

The Salehs: Is it goodbye forever?

Still, the Salehs' advice to future immigrants intent on building a life in Canada is to try before you buy. Will explains: We would say to give it a shot before committing to it. We know many people are moving to Canada and regretting it because the cost of living has skyrocketed and its no longer liveable or a desirable place to be, at least not like it used to be.

"When we moved to Ontario we did not know a single person in the province," Sana recalls. "We had to start from scratch, making friends and colleagues."

As for whether theyd ever come back? The Salehs keep it simple: We personally do not see ourselves having a future in Canada anymore.

Onto greener pastures.
Dr. Jerome M. Larkin, an infectious disease physician, is Gov. Dan McKee's nominee to be the next permanent director of the Rhode Island Department of Health. He is also the medical director of Inpatient Infectious Diseases Consultation Services at Rhode Island Hospital. (Courtesy of Lifespan Corporation)

After two years of interim leadership, the Rhode Island Department of Health may soon have a permanent director. Gov. Dan McKee Friday morning announced the nomination of Dr. Jerome M. Larkin to head the agency.

Larkin, who has over 30 years of experience in health care, serves as the medical director of inpatient infectious diseases consultation services at Rhode Island Hospital, part of Lifespan Corporation, and is a professor of clinical medicine at Brown University. He is also the chairman of Tiverton School Committee.

Larkin was first elected to the Tiverton School Committee in 2012 and has been its chairman for seven years. He was paid $1,200 for his role on the elected school committee in 2023, according to a financial statement filed with the Rhode Island Ethics Commission.

Dr. Larkin is a proven leader in the medical field and his experience will be a vital asset to our team and to the people of Rhode Island, McKee said in a statement. Improving health outcomes for all Rhode Islanders is a top priority for our administration and Im confident that Dr. Larkin will help us reach that goal.

Larkin declined an interview when reached Friday.

Tiverton School Committee member Michael DeCotis described Larkin as intelligent, thoughtful, and respectful.

He is a great advocate for public health, DeCotis said in an interview Friday afternoon. I am very happy hell be representing Rhode Island if this is something confirmed by the Senate  the governor made a great choice.

DeCotis, who was elected to the School Committee in 2020, said Larkin has been a wealth of knowledge in helping him learn the ins and outs of public service.

Hes always open to a phone call and willing to take the time to catch people up, as busy as he is, he said. Doctors listen to problems and try to solve them, right?

Deborah Pallasch, who has served on the Tiverton School Committee since 2010, said Larkins presence on the board was of great help during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was especially helpful guiding us through safety protocols and letting us all know what was going on, Pallasch told Rhode Island Current. Having an infectious disease expert really carried our committee.

She added that Larkin is well-known in Tiverton for trying to prioritize student issues during committee meetings.

It was a real privilege having served with him  the states getting a real humble public servant, Pallasch said.

Why so many interim leaders?

The states last permanent health director, Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, stepped down in January 2022. Since then, the department has seen three interim leaders.

Dr. Jim McDonald held the post for five months before he left Rhode Island in July 2022, citing family health problems. He has since become the health commissioner for the state of New York.

McDonald was succeeded by Dr. Utpala Bandy, an infectious disease epidemiologist. After Bandy retired on March 31, McKee then tapped Dr. Staci Fischer to be acting director for the Department of Health.

Health officials and advocates blamed the high turnover on the $175,000 yearly salary for the position, which they say is uncompetitive relative to private employers and other states.

McKee has proposed raising the base pay to $250,000 a year, which took effect April 29, since the General Assembly did not exercise its power to object, House Spokesperson Larry Berman said Friday.

Larkins nomination now heads to the Rhode Island Senate for consideration, but a vote has not been scheduled as of Friday, according to Senate spokesperson Greg Pare.

McKees office did not release Larkins resume. Larkin graduated with a bachelors degree at Boston College in 1984 and received his medical degree from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in 1993, according to his Brown University online biography. His research interests have included ticks, tick-related illnesses and Lyme disease in children and pregnant women.

Senior Reporter Nancy K. Lavin contributed to this story.

The post Tiverton School Committee chairman is McKees pick for permanent state health director appeared first on Rhode Island Current.
The Central Florida Expressway Authority on Thursday moved forward with a plan for a new toll road through 60 acres of conservation land within Split Oak Forest in Osceola County.

But some conservationists fear cutting the new road through the forest would take too high a toll on nature: fragmenting gopher tortoise habitat; hindering fire management; and eroding trust in government to keep public conservation lands protected in perpetuity.

The land in question, owned by Osceola County, has been under a "conservation easement" with the Florida Fish Wildlife Conservation Commission since 1995. The easement was another layer of protection FWC wanted on the land when Osceola and Orange counties agreed to make the forest a mitigation bank  an area developers help pay to restore and manage to offset habitats they destroy elsewhere. Such easements offer private landowners tax breaks in exchange for promising to never develop the land.

CFX Authority and developers want FWC to release 60 acres of Split Oak conservation easements for 1.3 miles of a nine-mile, $800 million tollway through the forest to extend Osceola Parkway (State Road 534) from State Road 417 to Cyrils Drive, just south of Orlando.

On May 1, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commissioners voted 6-1 in favor of an agreement with the CFX Authority and Osceola County to release the 60 acres of Split Oak Forests conservation easements in exchange for 1,550 acres of bordering conservation land, part of a total package estimated at $66 million.

CFX will provide funding to FWC to restore and manage, over a 30-year period, the 1,550 acres.

Move could set bad precedent

The Central Florida Expressway Authority moved ahead Thursday with an agreement with Florida's top wildlife agency to release 60 acres from conservation to make way for a new toll road.

More: Conservation easements don't always protect land 'forever' in Florida

The easement release could set a bad precedent, opening up floodgates for similar requests, when development deals become profitable enough.

"It is important for us to look for alternatives to build roads," said Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings. He was the only member on the CFX board who voted "no" Thursday on entering an agreement with the FWC and Osceola County.

The road extension would ease traffic and spur growth, officials assure. But opponents of the plan say it will just bring more development, traffic and environmental destruction.

"We are a test tube in this forum for the rest of the state," Anthony Rodriguez, a Central Florida resident, said before the vote. "What's to say, if you allow this road to go through, that's not going to happen somewhere else."

About a dozen residents of Osceola and Orange counties spoke out against the plan at Thursday's CFX Authority meeting, and none in favor.

Developers who want the new tollway  with the massive Deseret Ranches chief among them  see their plan as a net benefit for conservation, given the 1,550 donated acres nearby to expand Split Oak.

But activists see Split Oak as a bellwether for how Florida will handle preservation lands in the future and to what degree those agreements can withstand development pressure.

Conservation easements are legal agreements between property owners and government or a nonprofit to preserve the land as a farm or open space. In exchange, landowners keep the title and get tax breaks or other benefits.

They also avoid estate taxes that could force their heirs to sell instead of keeping the land in the family. The property owners can keep farming or continue other "low-impact" uses on their land. Other times, they can even do captive hunts with imported non-native species. For government or nonprofits, it's a way to protect land for much cheaper than buying property outright.

But the easements don't always last forever. It's uncertain exactly how many easements and what total acreage gets released in Florida, because government agencies that manage them each keep separate records. But those agencies assure they more than make up for what's released via other donated lands or habitat restorations given in exchange so net conservation lands are increasing.

About 40 citizens spoke out against the agreement and only one speaker in favor of FWC's agreement at that agency's May 1 meeting. The only dissenting vote that day came from FWC Vice Chairman Steven Hudson.

FWC will take additional steps to finalize new interagency agreements, as well as transfer lands and funding to the agency, prior to the release of Split Oak's easements. A revision of the forest's existing land management plan will follow.

The trees on Split Oak were once tapped for turpentine farming, but now some of those trees stand in the way of the economic growth that extending a tollway promises to bring. FWC will only consider the release of conservation easements "to achieve a net positive benefit," agency officials said in a press release.

Roughly 1,000 acres of Split Oak Forest is in Orange County and the rest is in Osceola County, where the toll road extension would go. Thirty years ago, the two counties acquired the land for Split Oak for $8.6 million: with a $3.6 million grant from Florida Communities Trust  a state land-buying program; a $2.7 million loan from FCT to Osceola County; and $2.3 million from Orange County.

Much of Split Oak was set up as lands used to mitigate for when development destroys habitat elsewhere for threatened gopher tortoises.

But much of the 1,550 acres being offered in exchange for releasing the 60 acres of Split Oak conservation easements is wetlands that can't support gopher tortoises, the nonprofit Gopher Tortoise Council wrote in a Nov. 30 letter to FWC. Only 223 acres of the total is "potentially suitable for tortoises," the council wrote.

In the long-run, releasing such easements also jeopardizes a much bigger picture, environmentalists warn: the 18-million-acre Florida Wildlife Corridor  10 million acres of which is protected conservation land.

Contact Waymer at (321) 261-5903 or jwaymer@floridatoday.com

This article originally appeared on Florida Today: CFX authority OKs toll road plan over 60 acres of conservation land
The two female soldiers of the German Armed Forces, Vivian T. (L) and Ramona F. (R) walk across the grounds of Luneburg's Theodor Koerner Barracks. Too few women are serving in the German military, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Eva Hoegl, has said in remarks published by the German media organization Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) on Friday. Philipp Schulze/dpa

Too few women are serving in the German military, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Eva Hogl, has said in remarks published by the German media organization Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND) on Friday.

"We cannot go on as before," Hogl, a member of Chancellor Olaf Scholz's Social Democrats (SPD), said.

Women currently make up a little over 13% of personnel serving in the Bundeswehr, the German military. "If one excludes the medics, the figure is below 10%," Hogl said. This contrasts with the official target of 20% as laid down in law.

She also noted a lack of women in leadership positions, with currently just three female generals. Women occupying senior positions had to become normal, Hogl said.

A Defence Ministry spokeswoman told RND that there had been a rise in the number of women applying to join the military. "Last year, 17% of applications came from women. We are extremely pleased about this," she said.

But she also acknowledged that the proportion of women in leading positions in the ministry was as low as 2%. Outside the ministry, 16% of leadership positions in the military were occupied by women, with the figure rising to 46% among military medics, she said.

Hogl's predecessor, Hans-Peter Bartels, called for women to be included in the event of a return to military conscription, in remarks to national public radio Deutschlandfunk.

Bartels was speaking amid a debate in Germany about resuming conscription, which was suspended in 2011.
Too much forever chemicals found in Kennewick drinking water. It may be unsafe for some

The city of Kennewick is warning residents that certain forever chemicals have been found in its drinking water at levels that exceed state and new federal limits.

The Washington state Department of Health recommends that Kennewick city customers who are pregnant, breastfeeding or mixing infant formula with tap water consider using another source of water.

The chemicals were found in samples of Kennewick water collected March 12 as part of a four-times-a-year monitoring schedule.

With new federal limits set for PFAS a month later, the city expects to need to add infrastructure to fix the issue. That could raise water rates.

The amount of the PFAS found in Kennewick drinking water is equivalent to a little less than a drop in an Olympic-size swimming pool, the city points out.

The March samples exceeded the Washington state Board of Health limit for PFAS  per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances  which are a large group of human-made chemicals that never disappear from the environment.

The samples had perfluorooctane sulfonic acid, a type of PFAS, at 17.9 parts for trillion, exceeding the states action level of 15 parts for trillion.

Courtesy Washington state Department of Ecology

Under new national regulations implemented for the first time on PFAS in April, the federal Environmental Protection Agency goal is to have no perfluorooctane sulfonic acid in drinking water.

It eventually could take enforcement action at 4 parts per trillion.

What are PFAS?

The Washington state Department of Health says that scientists are still studying how PFAS affect peoples health, with much of the information available from toxicity testing in laboratory animals.

But higher exposure over many years to the type of PFAS detected in Kennewick water is believed to pose a risk of problems with cholesterol, liver, thyroid, kidney or immune systems or to having babies with lower birthweights.

Almost all Americans have some type of PFAS in their blood, according to the Washington state Department of Ecology.

Products that contain PFAS. Washington state Department of Ecology

Children up to age 5 and people who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or breastfeeding may be more vulnerable to health impacts from these chemicals, the Department of Health said.

Boiling water does not reduce PFAS. But some home water treatments are effective, including reverse osmosis or activated carbon filters certified to lower levels of PFAS.

Some bottled water also may contain PFAS. The Washington state Department of Health recommends looking for brands that have been purified with water filtration.

PFAS chemicals are tasteless, colorless and odorless. They build up in animals, fish, birds, plants and people, taking many years to leave peoples bodies, according to the Washington state Department of Health.

They are produced to make many products, including stain-resistant carpets and fabrics, nonstick pans, fast food wrappers, grease-proof food containers, waterproof clothing and a particular kind of firefighting foam.

PFAS in firefighting foam is a key suspected source of PFAS-contaminated drinking water in Washington, according to the state Department of Ecology.

Over many years of manufacturing and use, the chemicals have been released into the environment from industrial plants, fire training sites, consumer products and other sources, according to the city of Kennewick.

Once released, PFAS do not break down easily and last for a long time in the environment, it said.

Kennewick PFAS plan

The city of Kennewick collected samples at its Ranney Collector near the blue bridge in July 2022 in cooperation with the Washington state Department of Health. Some PFAS was detected then and again in early 2023 but they were below the Washington state limits.

However, the samples from the Ranney Collector in March were above the state limit, and those and some earlier samples exceeded the new EPA limits.

As the EPA released draft regulations for PFAS in March 2023 Kennewick contracted with RH2 Engineering to help find options to treat or eliminate PFAS from its Ranney Collector.

The city anticipates it will need to construct additional treatment infrastructure at the collector, with costs possibly passed on in city water bills because the expense was not planned.

Under the new EPA regulations, the city will need to collect results during the next three years on PFAS levels and before April 2029 will need improvements completed.
FILE - A security guard signals to a car with diplomatic plates and Chinese flag as he parks at the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs in Manila, Philippines on Aug. 7, 2023. A top Philippine security official demanded Friday May 10, 2024 the immediate expulsion of Chinese diplomats who reportedly leaked an alleged phone conversation between an embassy official and a Filipino admiral about handling the South China Sea territorial rifts, which have escalated and strained relations. (AP Photo/Aaron Favila, File)

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  A top Philippine security official demanded Friday the immediate expulsion of Chinese diplomats allegedly behind a reported leak of a phone conversation between one of the diplomats and a Filipino admiral about South China Sea disputes that have strained diplomatic ties.

National Security Adviser Eduardo Ano said he was backing a call by the Philippine defense chief for Manila's foreign office to take actions against Chinese embassy individuals in Manila "who claim to have recorded an alleged phone conversation between a Chinese diplomat and a military official" in violation of Philippine laws and international diplomatic protocols.

Two Manila newspapers cited a Chinese Embassy source as saying that in a recorded call with a Chinese diplomat in January, a Filipino admiral agreed to a new way of transporting supplies to a Philippine-occupied shoal in the disputed waters. It required Manila to notify Beijing for such offshore missions and promise not to bring construction materials.

Those individuals in the Chinese Embassy responsible for violating Philippine laws and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations and those responsible for these malign influence and interference operations must be removed from the country immediately, Ano said in a strongly worded statement.

The Chinese Embassys repeated acts of engaging in and dissemination of disinformation, misinformation, and mal-information - now releasing spurious transcripts or recordings of purported conversations between officials of the host country - should not be allowed to pass unsanctioned or without serious penalty, Ano said.

It was not immediately clear from Anos statement if Philippine authorities had verified the news reports or if the phone conversation really took place. The Department of Foreign Affairs did not say if it was considering Anos call.

The Chinese government and its embassy in Manila have not confirmed the news reports nor denied them.

In Beijing, China Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said the Philippines attitude just proves that they lack confidence in the face of facts and evidence and have reached the point where they are frustrated and have no bottom line.

China solemnly demands that the Philippines ensures that Chinese diplomats can perform their duties, stops infringement and provocation and does not deny the facts, act indiscreetly or hurt itself by its own actions, he said.

The escalating word war and diplomatic row have been sparked by hostilities between Chinese and Philippine coast guard ships and other vessels since last year at the Second Thomas Shoal and Scarborough Shoal.

The Chinese coast guard has used powerful water cannons, a military-grade laser and dangerous maneuvers that have caused minor collisions, injured several Filipino navy personnel and damaged their supply boats. The Philippine government has repeatedly summoned Chinese embassy diplomats in Manila to hand over protests.

President Joe Biden and his administration have repeatedly warned that the U.S. is obligated to defend the Philippines, its longtime treaty ally, if Filipino forces, ships and aircraft come under an armed attack, including in the South China.

Aside from China and the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan have had overlapping claims in the busy seaway, a key trade route where many fear a major escalation of the conflicts could draw U.S. forces on a collision course with China military.
TOPEKA (KSNT)  Topekas City Council is preparing to sign off on their selection for the next city manager.

Taylor Bugg, a spokeswoman for the City of Topeka, announced in a press release that Dr. Robert Perez is slated to become the new city manager. The City Council is expected to vote on this decision on Tuesday, May 14 to formally name him to the position.

The Governing Body invested considerable time and effort into their selection process, and were excited that Dr. Perez has been selected, said Topeka Mayor Michael Padilla. I have full confidence in his ability to lead the City of Topeka and guide us toward our strategic goals.

Owners look to sell historic Gufler Mansion in Emporia for $775,000

Perezs contract will be for one year and will include a base salary of $255,000. His start date has yet to be decided on but it is anticipated his contract will start between late June and early July this year.

Im extremely honored and excited to begin leading the City of Topeka as its next city manager, Perez said. Public service is important to me, and I look forward to getting to know and serving the community in the near future.

In an interview with 27 News in April this year, Perez said economic development is the largest challenge facing the City of Topeka. He currently serves as the assistant city manager of infrastructure for the City of Dallas and has more than 20 years of experience in municipal government.

Perez also holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Education with a concentration in organizational leadership, a Master of Public Administration and a Bachelor of Arts in English with a minor in political science. Much of his background is in public works and local government innovation.

Northern Lights could be visible over Kansas as possible geomagnetic superstorm forms

The City of Topeka originally started with 42 applicants to the position of city manager. This list was whittled down to five finalists in early April before Perez and Alan Howze were revealed as the last two candidates being considered for the position.

Topeka has been without a city manager since last year when the City Council voted to terminate former City Manager Stephen Wade. It was later revealed Wade was fired for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. Interim City Manager Richard Nienstedt has been filling in for the role following Wades firing.

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.

Follow Matthew Self on X (Twitter): https://twitter.com/MatthewLeoSelf

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KSNT 27 News.
TOWANDA, Pa. (WETM)  A Towanda man was convicted on Tuesday following an arrest made back in August where police say he was burning items too close to a house.

According to the Bradford County District Attorneys Office, 62-year-old Robert Wayne Devine was convicted on Tuesday, May 7, of arson  endangering property, a second-degree felony, after an arrest on August 27, 2023.

The document states that on August 27, 2023, a Towanda Police Officer saw black smoke coming from an area near Second Street and Third Street in Towanda.

Police arrived at an area on Tidd Alley where Devine was seen throwing boxes and other items onto an active several feet from the house.

Sayre teen sentenced for Bradford County fatal crash

The report states that when officers told Devine to stop feeding the fire and talk to them, he went into the house and locked the door.

Fire crews were requested and arrived to put out the fire, and after it was out the siding on the house was reported steaming.

More officers arrived to get Devine out of the home, where he was eventually tased after refusing to leave an upstairs bedroom where the documents say he was hiding with a machete.

Bradford County District Attorney Richard Wilson said that no one was harmed during the incident, saying it couldve been worse if it wasnt for the efforts made by the police and fire department.

The document states that Devine had been warned about burning things outside his home for several weeks before the incident on Aug. 17, even going as far as being cited for the activities, and pled guilty.

Devines sentencing is scheduled for July 1, 2024.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
Visitors attend the launching ceremony of the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

People visit the booth of CSCEC during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

A visitor walks past a BYD Yangwang U9 on exhibition during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

People visit an exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Visitor look at a Xiaomi SU7 car on exhibition during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

People walk past an installation of 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Visitors look at a demonstration model of CRRC electrified highway and mine transportation system on exhibition during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

A visitor experiences a vehicle on exhibition at the booth of Dongfeng Motor during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)

Visitors look at an explosion-proof intelligent refueling robot on exhibition at the booth of Sinopec during the 2024 China Brand Day events in Shanghai, east China, May 10, 2024. The launching ceremony of 2024 China Brand Day was held here on Friday. An exposition on brand development as part of the ongoing 2024 China Brand Day events is ongoing. (Xinhua/Fang Zhe)
TOWANDA, Pa. (WETM)  A Towanda woman has been sentenced to serve time in a correctional facility, as well as probation, for charges involving three separate incidents last year.

According to the Bradford County District Attorneys Office, Bobi Jo Noto, 41, was sentenced to a minimum of 72 hours in the Bradford County Correctional Facility to a maximum of six months, as well as two years of probation supervision, on the charges of driving under the influence of meth, marijuana and buprenorphine; endangering the welfare of a child and harassment.

Towanda man convicted on arson charge following August 2023 arrest

Notos charges started in March of 2023 when she was charged by a Pennsylvania State Trooper for a DUI after a traffic stop.

She was then arrested in April of 2023 by Towanda Borough Police for endangering the welfare of a child in Towanda Borough after she failed to stop when the child was trying to get out of the car, causing them to get knocked down by the door.

The two had been arguing before the incident occurred which the DA says suggested that Noto ignored the risk of the child being run over when she didnt stop.

Troy woman sentenced for having meth after traffic stop

Noto was then arrested by Towanda Borough Police for harassment after a fifteen-minute argument between herself and another person outside of the post office in Towanda Borough, where she failed to stop yelling profanities after police showed up.

Noto is required to maintain good behavior while on probation supervision or she will risk being revoked and sentenced to harsher punishment.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WETM - MyTwinTiers.com.
Two police vehicles struck in four-vehicle crash on I-64 in Hampton

HAMPTON, Va. (WAVY)  Virginia State Police are investigating a four-vehicle crash on I-64 Friday morning that involved two state police vehicles.

According to officials, while two state troopers were working on the scene for a previous crash, a tractor-trailer headed westbound on I-64 struck an SUV, went on the right shoulder and struck one of the troopers vehicles. The SUV was then pushed into the second police vehicle.

I-64 crash (Courtesy: Virginia State Police)

The west right center lane, right lane and right shoulder were closed on I-64 near Big Bethel Road Overpass as a result of the crash.

Images provided by VDOT shows several police cars and crews working to redirect traffic.

Traffic could be seen backed up for a distance.

According to police, one state trooper and three people in the SUV suffered minor injuries as a result of the crash.

The second state trooper and the driver of the tractor-trailer were uninjured.

The crash remains under investigation.

Check with WAVY.com for more updates.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
A recent tragic death of a whale calf in Bandon ,Oregon provided a unique opportunity for the the Native people who have long called the region home. This week, beachcombers in this community along the southern coast of Oregon were shocked and dismayed to come upon the beached carcass of a juvenile gray whale. After scientists and authorities examined the creature, it was turned over to representatives of the Coquille Indian Tribe, for whom this situation holds great cultural significance.

The beached whale was a juvenile, only twenty feet long. Experts say that gray whales are usually fourteen to sixteen feet long when they are born, so this one was still very young when it succumbed to its injuries.

Related: Video of Orca Whales Playing Near the Shoreline in Washington Is a Must See

The scientists who examined the animal said that it had major trauma to its jaw and underside, indicative of an orca attack. Orcas are particularly known to eat the tongues of whale calfs they kill.

Gray Whales

Gray whales were once nearly hunted to extinction by people, but now laws exist to make them a protected species. Nevertheless, their ranges is far more limited than the oceans they once roamed. They are still often hunted by orcas, however, and that is what happened to this calf.

Gray whales have been slowly been growing in population since the 1970s, when protections were put in place, and now their population is estimated in the twenty thousands. They migrate farther than any other species of whaleover twelve thousand miles.

A Tragedy Becomes a Blessing

Once the whale was discovered on the beach, authorities were contacted by representatives of the Coquille Indian Tribe. Their tribal representative in the Oregon Parks department, recognizing the significance of this occurrence for the tribe, worked to make sure that the members were given a chance to practice their traditional ceremonies.

We are going to do what our people have done for thousands of years, said MJ Parrish, one of the Coquille people who participated in the ceremony and retrieval of the carcass. We are going to celebrate this blessing we have received. We are going to respect this great gift and utilize everything we can.

The Coquille people traditionally lived on the southern coast of Oregon, and the cycle of marine life there holds great cultural significance for them. According to representatives of the tribe, a beached whale calf like this is seen as a gift from the creator, and is a rare opportunity for them to participate in a rare ceremony.

Their tribe was declared extinct by the government in the twentieth century and members had to fight to revive their designation, which was only achieved in 1989.

We will make certain not to waste its sacrifice, said tribe chairman Brenda Meade. To our knowledge, this is also the first time in generations that our tribe has been able to experience this kind of ceremony. So, this is a truly wonderful gift. And not only for the whale blubber and the bones that we will be able to use. As we prepare to celebrate thirty-five years since being officially restored as a federally recognized tribe, it is so important that we are able to take this opportunity for the cultural education of tribal members and especially for our youth.

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.
Train car from Belarus not allowed to pass through to Lithuania due to Russian war symbol painted on it

Letter Z painted on one of the wagons. Photo: Lithuania's State Border Guard Service

Lithuanian border guards have denied entry to one of the wagons of a train travelling from Belarus to Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia.

Source: European Pravda, citing the press service of Lithuania's State Border Guard Service

The border guards reported that the train car marked with the Z symbol used by Russian occupation forces in the war against Ukraine had been unhooked at the Kena railway border checkpoint.

Border guards observed a grey-painted wagon bearing the Z war symbol.

"In accordance with a warning about possible violations of public order and provocations related to Russia's military aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, this wagon has been detached from the train and denied entry to Lithuania," the statement said.

Background:

In April, the Czech police launched an investigation into the case of a man who walked down a street in the city of Pardubice wearing clothes with a symbol of Russian aggression.

Last year, a law enforcement officer in Vienna, Austria, who was patrolling on Christmas Day wearing a helmet with the letter Z, caused a stir in the city, forcing the police to provide explanations.

Support UP or become our patron!
Trial begins Monday for man accused in cold case sexual assault and murder of Betty Rolf

APPLETON  More than 35 years since Betty Rolf was killed, a man is going to trial for her death.

Gene Meyer, 68, is charged with one count of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree sexual assault with use of a dangerous weapon.

Rolf was 60 years old when she died in 1988. In previous interviews with The Post-Crescent, her family has remembered Rolf as a kind-hearted mother and grandmother who was close with her family.

Meyer's trial begins Monday and is scheduled to last two weeks in Outagamie County Circuit Court. It had previously been scheduled for April but was pushed back due to Meyer's health issues.

If Meyer is convicted of homicide, he faces life in prison. If convicted only of the sexual assault, he faces up to 60 years in prison.

A scan of the Nov. 8, 1988, edition of The Post-Crescent detailing the discovery of Betty Rolf's body on Nov. 7 that year.

What happened?

On Nov. 7, 1988, shortly before 11 a.m., Rolf's husband contacted police after she had not returned home from work the previous evening.

Rolf worked at Country Aire Banquet Room, 2311 W. Spencer St., in the Town of Grand Chute. She lived not far away, in the 1300 block of West Spencer Street, and often walked to work, according to a criminal complaint.

Investigators determined Rolf left for work before 6 a.m. Nov. 6, on a snowy day. But she never arrived for work.

About 20 minutes after Appleton police officers arrived at Rolf's home and spoke to her husband the morning of Nov. 7, an officer found Rolf's body.

She was beneath the bridge of West Spencer Street, partially clothed, with a purse strap wrapped around her neck. Rolf's body was near the railroad tracks, but behind a concrete wall, hiding her from view of anyone on a train passing by, the complaint says.

An autopsy determined Rolf had suffered blunt trauma to her head and strangulation, and the manner of death was homicide.

How did investigators identify Meyer as a suspect?

In 2001, the Wisconsin Crime Lab conducted DNA testing on swabs taken from Rolf's body in 1988. A male DNA profile was identified, according to the complaint.

Then, in 2019, the Outagamie County Sheriff's Office began taking a fresh look at the cold case.

Investigators conducted a familial DNA search, which uses "specialized software" to search the DNA database and "detect and statistically rank a list of potential candidates ... who may be close biological relatives (parent, child, sibling) to the unknown individual contributing the evidence DNA profile," the complaint says. It also uses "lineage testing to help confirm or refute" if and how the individuals are related.

Through the test, an investigator determined the DNA profile could only belong to two people: Meyer, or his brother.

Police interviewed Meyer's brother, who said he believed Meyer was dead. The brother provided a DNA sample, which ruled him out as a suspect.

Investigators determined Meyer had, in 1986 and 1987, lived at an address about a mile from where Rolf's body was found. They also found Meyer now lived in Washington.

An Outagamie County Sheriff's investigator contacted the FBI office in Olympia, Washington. In 2022, FBI agents notified the investigator that they had taken DNA swabs from the handle of Meyer's truck.

The DNA profile on the truck was a match for the DNA profile from the swabs. Meyer was arrested in December 2022, accused of sexually assaulting and murdering Rolf.

RELATED: Betty Rolf's family wants justice after a suspect's arrest in her 34-year-old murder

RELATED: 'Who would do something like this?' 1988 murder of Betty Rolf, 60, under review by Outagamie County Sheriff's Department

Contact Kelli Arseneau at (920) 213-3721 or karseneau@gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter at @ArseneauKelli.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Trial set for man accused in 1988 sexual assault, murder of Betty Rolf
Trone lets others make the case for him in final days before the primary

In the final days before the May 14 primaries, U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) is looking to his congressional colleagues, major state political figures and other supporters to help him garner votes and snag the Democratic nomination for Marylands competitive U.S. Senate seat.

Trones push this week started at the movies, with a rally and discussion at the historic AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring Tuesday evening. It included a news conference of Latino supporters, and an event at a union hall in Prince Georges County, home turf of his principal Democratic primary opponent, the county executive, Angela Alsobrooks.

Surrogates for both candidates have played a big role in this campaign.

Alsobrooks has lined up support from a lions share of the states Democratic establishment, while Trone, a wealthy businessman who has been one of the most generous donors to national Democrats over the past several years, has support from leading members of Congress and some noteworthy Maryland Democratic dissidents.

But Trone seems to be leaning ever more heavily on prominent supporters to make the case for him. If nothing else, it may take some of the heat off the candidate at a time when Alsobrooks supporters are accusing him of going negative. Four former state Democratic chairs who are supporting Alsobrooks suggested at a news conference Wednesday that Trones attacks on Alsobrooks will make it tougher for the Democrats to unify after the primary and defeat popular former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) in the general election.

I know the most important day of this election cycle is not next Tuesday, said Yvette Lewis, one of the former party leaders. Its next Wednesday, when were going to have to come together to defeat Larry Hogan. Next Wednesday, that is the day of reckoning for this party.

Starring Adam Schiff

At the Silver Spring event Tuesday night, Defend Democracy with U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff and Rep. David Trone scrolled across the electric marquee at the entrance of the Art Deco theatre. Campaign signs for the congressmans Senate run were placed inside and outside the venue.

U.S. Rep. David Trone holds a campaign rally at AFI Silver Theatre and Cultural Center in Silver Spring on May 7, 2024. Photo by Danielle J. Brown.

According to Trones communications team, there were over 100 people in attendance in the 200-seat theater. Ahead of the discussion, Trones many television ads played on the big screen as supporters took their seats.

As the smell of popcorn ambiently drifted through the air, the ads relayed endorsements from a variety of perspectives, including from the teachers union and several other labor groups.

Some of the ads also promoted Trones largely self-funded approach to his campaign. Trones ads argue that he is less likely to be bought by big-moneyed special interests like the pharmaceutical industry. He has made a $57 million investment into the campaign.

His headline guest-speaker Tuesday was his colleague in the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), one of several bold-faced name congressional Democrats who are backing Trone. Schiff, the Democratic nominee for Senate in the Golden State, pitched his colleague as the most-qualified candidate and the Democrats best hope to help the party keep control of the U.S. Senate.

The dynamics of the Senate race in Maryland shifted when former Gov. Larry Hogan (R) threw his hat in the ring back in February. Since then, Democratic messaging turned to selling who is the best candidate to beat Hogan in the general election.

Alsobrooks candidacy poses a potentially historic opportunity for her to become the first Black woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate.

Meanwhile, the ever-looming threat of another Donald Trump presidency hangs over the Democrats in the general election. Schiff led the first impeachment trial of the former president.

Which leads me to David, he said Tuesday.

U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) speaks at a campaign rally for U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) as he runs for Senate. Photo by Danielle J. Brown.

I know him to be a person of courage and and to be a person of conviction and know him as someone who will do the right thing whether its easy or hard, Schiff continued. I know him to be one of the few people who has earned the respect of people on both sides of the aisle, on his business acumen or his understanding of the economy.

And this is really what we need in the Senate. We need people like David who will defend our democracy, who will stand up to anyone in defense of our institutions and our values, Schiff continued. And we damn well need to win this Senate seat.

Trone also urged his supporters to reach out to their friends and families to get them to vote.

We need them to reach out to their friends or neighbors or co-workers and help drive people to the polls, Trone told reporters following the Tuesday night rally. The more democracy we have, the better country were going to have.

But Trone has also worked to appeal to everyday Marylanders and, through surrogates, pitched his case to the states labor unions and the Latino community this week.

We have the receipts, Latinos supporting Trone say of Alsobrooks

For many Latino political leaders supporting Trone, the fight is personal, especially for those who live in Prince Georges County. Theyve worked directly with Alsobrooks, and at a news conference Wednesday in Silver Spring, they outlined oft-repeated complaints about the county executive  that her administration has lacked diversity, and that she has ignored the needs of the Latino community, particularly during the COVID crisis.

Former state Del. Ana Sol Gutierrez (D-Montgomery) and other Latino leaders at a news conference supporting U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-6th) on May 8, 2024 in Silver Spring. Photo by Josh Kurtz.

We have been left behind, said Del. Joseline A. Pena-Melnyk (D-Prince Georges and Anne Arundel), chair of the House Health and Government Operations Committee in Annapolis. We have the receipts.

Former state Sen. Victor Ramirez, who is now president of the Latino Democrats of Prince Georges County, recalled moving to the county as a boy and said you could count all the Latinos on one hand in a whole neighborhood.

Now, Ramirez said, Latinos make up about a quarter of the countys population and about 40% of the countys public school students  which makes it surprising, he said, that Alsobrooks declined to fill out the Democratic clubs questionnaire for the Senate candidates.

The question is, when are you going to value who we are? Ramirez said.

But the half dozen politicians who spoke were also quick to extoll Trones attributes, describing him as an inclusive leader who seeks a variety of perspectives on any issue. Pena-Melnyk said that even though Trone is a self-made multimillionaire, he has a refreshing, compassionate approach to his job.

He was not always rich, she said. Hes been poor. Hes legislating from lifes experience, as so many of us do.

Hes a friend of labor and he always has been

Several elected and union officials gathered at the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 26 headquarters in Lanham Thursday to stress Trones accomplishments, including serving on the Black Maternal Health Caucus in Congress, helping to establish an abortion clinic in Western Maryland and supporting union labor.

Del. Deni Taveras (D-Prince Georges) speaks with reporters at IBEW Local 26 headquarters in Lanham. Joining Taveras are Briana Urbina, chair of New Carrollton City Council, center, and Colmar Manor Mayor Monica Casanas. Photo by William J. Ford.

Most important, they said: Trone is the Democratic candidate best equipped to beat Hogan in November.

He is a friend of labor and he always has been. His combination of business experience and working with labor is what we need in the Senate, said Tom Clark, political director and business representative at IBEW Local 26. Hes always fought for working people and for fair wages, but thats not what its all about for David.

Before Trone became a member of Congress, Prince Georges County States Attorney Aisha Braveboy (D) said, he provided more than 1,400 jobs for returning citizens through his company, Total Wine & More.

During his six years in Congress, she said, Trone has been one of the most effective legislators on Capitol Hill. According to the Common Ground Committee, a nonpartisan organization that assesses a lawmakers effectiveness to work with colleagues, Trone is a champion, defined as a lawmaker with a score of at least 70 points. Trone is one of six representatives in the House to score at least 100 points. The highest point total is 110.

This is not about him wanting to run for office, this is who he is, Braveboy said. Hes been effective in business and hes been effective in Congress. We need someone in the U.S. Senate who will be effective, and most importantly, who can keep our democracy intact. That person is David Trone.

Besides his accomplishments, there was a message for those who criticize Trone for spending his own fortune on the campaign.

Del. Tiffany T. Alston (D-Prince Georges) called the actions by those who challenge it disgusting.

The fact that he wants to self-fund his campaign is his business. Its his money. He worked hard for it, she said. If he believes that democracy is that important, [and] that hes willing to put his own money behind it, then Im going to stand with him each and every time and support him.

Disclosure: The David and June Trone Family Foundation was a financial supporter of Maryland Matters in 2017 and 2018.

The post Trone lets others make the case for him in final days before the primary appeared first on Maryland Matters.
Truck pinned under big rig in fiery crash on Los Angeles County freeway

A driver was hospitalized after a violent and fiery crash into the back of a big rig on the 91 Freeway in the Bellflower area Friday morning.

The crash was reported around 6 a.m. after the big rig apparently stalled in the eastbound lanes just west of the 605 Freeway.

The driver of a black pickup then ran into the semi-trucks trailer and caught fire.

Sky5 was over a fiery crash on the 91 Freeway in the Bellflower area on May 10, 2024.

The crash left the drivers cab area of the pickup almost entirely under the trailer.

A SigAlert was issued as emergency crews responded to the crash.

One person was transported from the scene at 6:30 a.m. in unknown condition, a spokesperson for the Los Angeles County Fire Department told KTLA.

No further details regarding the persons injuries were immediately available.

Los Angeles woman comes face-to-face with mountain lion

The SigAlert was lifted just after 6:45 a.m.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A drone picture of part of a line of trucks waiting on an Egyptian road along the border with Israel, near the Rafah border crossing with the Gaza Strip

RAFAH, Gaza Strip/ARISH, Egypt (Reuters) - Truck drivers stuck at Egypt's border with Gaza say the food they are taking to the Palestinian enclave could spoil as they wait, exacerbating a hunger crisis among Gazans as war rages on.

Israeli forces seized control of the Rafah border crossing this week and are preparing for a widely expected assault on the city next to the frontier where about 1 million people uprooted by the war have been sheltering.

"The closure of the border crossing is not good for all these trucks because these are fridges, which means machine failure doesn't give a warning. If the (fridge) stops working, then all of the food inside will be ruined," said trucker Ahmed al-Bayoumi.

"Here, theres no (technician) available to fix things and then we will have to handle the packages again. In any country in the world, food in fridges has priority to be delivered."

Humanitarian workers sounded the alarm this week over the closure of both the Rafah crossing with Egypt and the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza for aid and people.

Dwindling food and fuel stocks could force aid operations to grind to a halt within days in Gaza as vital crossings remain shut, forcing hospitals to close down and leading to more malnutrition, United Nations aid agencies said on Friday.

The Israeli military says that what it calls a limited operation in Rafah is meant to kill fighters and dismantle infrastructure used by Hamas, the militant Islamist group that governs Gaza.

Those words offer little comfort to idle truck drivers.

"Every day, trucks would go in and out of the border crossing and things were flowing," said truck driver Abdallah Nassar.

"But now that the border crossing is closed, we dont know what our situation is now. And of course, we have food, and these things have expiry dates, and it can go bad."

Most aid for Gaza has been delivered through the Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings, where aid trucks last entered on May 5.

Before that, several dozen trucks had been crossing through Rafah most days, including the only supplies of fuel going into the enclave.

In April, 1,276 trucks entered through Rafah and 4,395 trucks entered through Kerem Shalom, according to UNRWA, the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency.

NO RELIEF IN SIGHT

The truck drivers face uncertainties as Israel sets out to achieve its goal of destroying Hamas.

Ceasefire talks broke up on Thursday with no agreement to halt the fighting and release hostages captured in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks on Israel that killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies, and precipitated the conflict.

More than 34,000 Gazans have been killed in seven months of war, according to health authorities in the Hamas-controlled enclave who say thousands more dead are probably buried under rubble. Much of the Gaza Strip has been reduced to rubble.

Residents described almost constant explosions and gunfire east and northeast of the city on Friday, with intense fighting between Israeli forces and militants from Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

"The aid going into (Gaza) through Rafah and Kerem Shalom border crossings is like a lifeline for the people there," said Mohamed Rageh Mohamed, head of the north Sinai office of Misr El Kheir Foundation charity.

"Theres no way of living or for these people to survive except if the aid enters Gaza on daily basis."

(Writing by Michael Georgy, Editing by Timothy Heritage)
Both Donald Trump and Joe Biden need to woo over Nikki Haleys former voters, given that polling shows the two candidates running neck-and-neck. The existence of a significant amount of double haters who dislike the fact that theyre being asked to show up, once again, for the same two men from 2020 only makes this issue more severe.

But this week showed that both men will face an uphill struggle.

On Wednesday, Haley joined a chorus of Republicans  including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Senator Mitt Romney  when she assailed Biden on Twitter/X for his decision to withhold arms from Israel.

An American president siding with Iran over one of our strongest allies is unforgivable, she tweeted. Israel didnt start this war, Hamas did. Withholding ammunition helps our enemies win and puts American lives at risk, including the hostages still held in Gaza.

Despite serving as Trumps ambassador to the United Nations, Haley always had a more traditional George W Bush-style approach to foreign policy, which includes supporting allies like Israel. In 2017, she notably stood alone and vetoed the United Nations resolution that requested the Trump administration rescind its recognition of Jerusalem as Israels capital.

During the Republican primary debates, she fiercely criticized businessman and political gadfly Vivek Ramaswamy for not wanting to provide aid to Israel.

Biden has made deliberate attempts to reach out to Republican voters who dont want to cast a ballot for Trump. After Haley suspended her campaign, Biden said, I want to be clear: There is a place for [her voters] in my campaign. Last month, Bidens campaign launched an ad that said Haley voters should save America. Join us.

Having Haley call out Biden on his Israel policy might make it more difficult for the president to make the case that they are natural allies, despite whatever objections they have to Trump.

Haleys criticisms came as Democratic senators who have wanted Biden to do more to hold Israel accountable praised his decision to withhold military aid and progressive members of the Squad defended it. The president doesnt usually rely on the left flank of his party for defense, and this reversal of fortunes shows just how perilous the politics of Israel and Gaza are  especially as those same Democrats become more critical of Bidens previously unconditional support for Israel.

Former vice president Mike Pence, who said he would not endorse Trump, has also assailed Biden.

Pences home state of Indiana held its Republican primary on Tuesday. Trump overwhelmingly won the primary, which was unsurprising to most people. Nevertheless, an interesting development did come out of it: Despite the fact that Haley ended her campaign two months ago, she still garnered almost 22 per cent of the vote.

She did best in Marion County, the home of the capital city of Indianapolis, where she earned 35 per cent of the vote. She also earned 34 per cent of the vote in neighboring Hamilton County.

This comes after Pennsylvania held its primary a few weeks ago. Haley received only 16.6 per cent of the vote, but she performed well in the so-called collar counties that include the suburbs of Philadelphia. She earned 19 per cent in Bucks County; 25 per cent in Montgomery County; 25 per cent in Chester County; and 23 per cent in Delaware County.

The fact Trump has failed to wrangle the Republican coalition  and so voters are casting ballots for someone who is no longer seriously pursuing the presidency  shows just how unpopular of a nominee he is.

At the same time, some important caveats exist. Indiana had an open primary, meaning independents and Democrats could also participate. Trump could very well be doing much better with actual Republicans. And many of those voters who picked Haley will probably already fall into the Biden-sympathetic camp, meaning that Bidens moves on Israel likely will not move them that much.

The fact Haley has refused to endorse Trump more than two months after dropping out shows she also has not specifically signaled for her voters to come home to the Republican party.

At the same time, the fact that she is still putting out statements excoriating Biden shows she still sees herself as a future Republican player and does not want people to perceive her as a conservative dissident.
ANKARA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Turkish security forces raided 92 shelters of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) in southeastern Turkiye and destroyed large amounts of munition, the country's Interior Minister Ali Yerlikaya said Friday.

The operation, dubbed "Bozdogan-37," was carried out to destroy the "weapons and explosives hidden in caves and shelters by the PKK which aimed to carry out actions in rural areas in the spring," Yerlikaya said on social media platform X, without specifying the time of the operation.

According to Yerlikaya, the operations ran across 11 provinces, including Sirnak, Mus, Siirt, Hatay, Tunceli, Bingol, Mardin, Bitlis, Diyarbakir, Van, and Hakkari.

A total of 495 kg of explosives, 100 explosive devices, 1,660 cap-sensitive explosives, 3,126 ammunition, 54 mortar ammunition, 26 rocket launcher ammunition, two land mines, and nine hand grenades were seized during the operations, he added.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkiye, the United States, and the European Union, has rebelled against the Turkish government for more than three decades. 
A sex discrimination lawsuit against Donald Trumps campaign has triggered new accusations that Trumps lawyers have intentionally covered up settlement payments to women, in violation of federal law.

On Friday, watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission, demanding an investigation into the alleged cover-up. The complaint cites new allegations from 2016 Trump campaign aide A.J. Delgado, which she lodged in a sworn court declaration earlier this week as part of her ongoing discrimination suit against Trumps political operation.

Delgados filing presented evidence of top Trump attorney Marc Kasowitz openly admitting that the campaign wanted to use a law firm to cover up a potential settlement payout in 2017. The arrangement, as Delgado described it, appears specifically designed to evade the consequences of federal disclosure laws that require campaigns to publicly report the identities of payment recipients.

Ex-Trump Staffer A.J. Delgado Now Says Her Boss, Jason Miller, Raped Her

In other words, the payment would be routed through a middleman, to hide the fact that the Campaign had settled, from the public and the FEC, Delgado stated. I thus have direct, personal experience with the Defendant-Campaign hiding settlement payments to women, routing them through a middleman law firm, which to the public would only appear as payments for legal services.

Delgado also claimed to have information and reason to believe that other campaign payments have hidden settlements with women who raised complaints of gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual harassment. Those payments, she said, are related to the $4.1 million that flowed to Kasowitzs law firm over a two-month period immediately following the November 2020 election, as well as millions in mysterious legal reimbursements to the campaigns compliance firm, Red Curve Solutions, which The Daily Beast first reported earlier this month, prompting a federal complaint.

The declaration is particularly significant in that it captures a direct admission of the campaigns actual intentions behind this middleman arrangementto keep the existence of a settlement from the public, and, by doing so, from the FEC itself.

In a statement to The Daily Beast, CREW president Noah Bookbinder demanded an investigation, saying that Delgados allegations raise serious concerns about a potentially illegal cover-up.

The allegations made in AJ Delgados declaration paint a deeply troubling picture of potentially illegal activity carried out by Donald Trumps campaign. The FEC must conduct an investigation to determine the validity of these claims and establish the degree to which any wrongdoing occurred, Bookbinder said.

Why Did Top Trump Aide Jason Miller Suddenly Quit?

The statement added that the public has the right to know how political money is spent, and schemes to hide that information undercut Americans faith in our political system.

Donald Trumps admission of using pass-through payments to hide their purpose and protect his political prospects makes it even more important that the FEC investigate. No candidate or campaign is above the law, not even Trump, the statement continued.

The Daily Beast sent comment requests to the Trump campaign and Delgado, but did not receive a reply. In a statement, a Kasowitz Benson Torres spokesperson wrote: Ms. Delgados accusations that there were FEC violations or that the firm acted as a middleman to hid[e] settlement payments to women from the Campaign are pure fantasy and false.

Delgados statements come as she pursues a sex discrimination lawsuit against the 2016 campaign, where she served as a senior adviser but was back-seated when she revealed that she had become pregnant. (The father was Delgados then-supervisor and top Trump 2024 adviser Jason Miller, whom Delgado has also accused of raping hera claim Miller denies.)

Delgado, a Harvard Law grad who is representing herself in the case, claims the campaign sidelined her specifically because she was pregnant, and is seeking damages for unlawful discrimination.

The Daily Beast reported last week that Trumps previous lawyers in the Delgado case have bailed on him. The firmLaRocca, Hornik, Greenberg, Kittredge, Carlin & McPartlandhas defended Trump in other high-profile cases against women, including E. Jean Carroll, but the attorneys told the court last week that they were withdrawing, citing an irreparable breakdown in their relationship with the Trump campaign.

According to Delgados declaration, during her brief 2017 settlement negotiations with the campaignwhich, according to Delgado, the campaign ultimately renegedTrump lawyer Marc Kasowitz expressed to her that Trump and the Campaign would need to keep this confidential because Trump is known for not settling.

That proposal caught the attention of Delgados own lawyers, who raised the issue of federal disclosure laws.

Trumps Lawyers Want to Bail on His Sex Discrimination Suit

My attorneys expressed this would not be possible because disbursements by a Campaign are public record, the declaration said.

Kasowitz, however, dismissed the concerns easily, Delgado said, telling her that disclosure was not a problem at all, and, what we would do is the campaign pays me and then I cut a check to you guys.

Now, Delgado is alleging that Kasowitz has funneled Trump campaign money to other women making discrimination claims.

In all, Kasowitzs firm has received about $4.5 million from the Trump campaign, almost all of it coming in the two months after the 2020 election. In that time, FEC records show, the campaign issued three massive payments to Kasowitz in flat dollar amounts$600,000 on Nov. 11, $1 million on Dec. 18, and $2.5 million on Jan. 13, 2021. Delgado now claims that those payments are related to complaints of gender discrimination, pregnancy discrimination, and sexual harassment. (At the time, Kasowitz served as Trumps counsel in the opening stages of E. Jean Carrolls first sexual assault lawsuit.)

Delgado also says that some of the mysterious legal reimbursements to Trumps campaign finance compliance firm, Red Curve, appear related to discrimination complaints. (Red Curve does not provide any actual legal services.) The Daily Beast uncovered those payments this month, prompting nonprofit watchdog Campaign Legal Center to file an FEC complaint alleging that the Trump team was obscuring the nature of those payments.

As The Daily Beast previously reported, Trump has a history of shielding payouts behind law firms, including his 2016 campaign. That practice has continued through this year, with his Save America leadership PAC reporting a $392,638 legal consulting expense to Trump attorney Alina Habba on Valentines Daythe exact dollar amount that Trump was ordered to pay to The New York Times after losing his defamation case the month prior.

How to Pay Off a Porn Star (If You Really Must)

The CREW complaint also notes that Delgados claims overlap with recent eventsthe 2016 hush-money payments currently at the center of Trumps criminal trial in Manhattan.

The use of pass-throughs to hide the true purpose of payments is not unfamiliar to Mr. Trump and his businesses, the complaint states. For example, Mr. Trump reimbursed Michael Cohen, his former lawyer, for payments made to catch and kill a story concerning Mr. Trumps alleged extramarital relations.

CREW also notes that Trump himself made recent public remarks about that case, confirming his belief that payments routed through attorneys could be marked legal expenses even if they were reimbursements for expenses paid to third parties.

Regardless of what Mr. Trump may have experienced in the business world, federal law does not permit a political committee to report any expense routed through an attorney or any other intermediary as a payment to the intermediary for legal expenses or otherwise, the complaint states.

Rather, federal law requires political committees provide detailed and truthful information about who they are paying and why they are paying them, even if doing so would reveal facts embarrassing to the campaign such as the settlement of legal claims, the complaint states.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Trump criminal trial: Recap of the trial up to this point and what to expect next

Former President Donald Trump talks to the media after a day of testimony in his trial at Manhattan criminal court in New York, Friday, May 10, 2024. | Victor J. Blue

At the conclusion of the fourth week of former President Donald Trumps Manhattan criminal trial, jurors have heard from key prosecution witnesses, including adult film actress Stormy Daniels.

Daniels alleged relationship is at the heart of the 34-count felony case Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg has brought against Trump. The presumptive GOP presidential nominee has denied any wrongdoing in the allegations against him and has denied having relations with Daniels.

Trumps lawyers have pushed for and been denied a mistrial twice and have also argued against the gag order placed on the presumptive presidential candidate. So far, Judge Juan Merchan has fined Trump $10,000 for gag order violations and threatened jail time.

Trump has continued to push the narrative that the trial, along with his other indictments, is a political witch hunt keeping him from being able to campaign and that the gag order violates his right to free speech.

The key witnesses in Donald Trumps hush money trial so far

David Pecker: As the first witness, the former CEO of American Media Inc.  which is the parent company of the National Enquirer  was questioned about the catch and kill method he allegedly used to suppress Trump stories during the 2016 presidential election and to promote stories criticizing his political opponents.

Pecker, along with the Enquirers former editor, Dylan Howard, were accused by the prosecution of working with Trumps then-attorney Michael Cohen to pay for unfavorable stories about Trump and squashing them as a scheme to influence the presidential election.

Keith Davidson: With a career as a celebrity attorney, Davidson previously represented Daniels and Playboy model Karen McDougal, who claims to have had an affair with Trump. Davidson testified regarding his role in negotiating hush money payments for both women to prevent them from going public about their apparent sexual relationship with the former president.

Davidson testified that the payments were handled through Cohen in connection with the National Enquirers catch and kill method of buying the rights to stories and preventing their publication.

Hope Hicks: The former White House adviser and communications director for Trump before and during his presidency, Hicks testified about her duties under Trump and her personal account of the internal communications concerning the efforts to handle releases such as the infamous Access Hollywood tape, where Trump is overheard bragging about his ability to assault women sexually.

Stormy Daniels: Daniels was questioned for close to eight hours in the span of two days. Daniels was questioned about the alleged $130,000 hush money payment she was given in exchange for her silence by Cohen leading up to the 2016 presidential election. Bragg is accusing Trump of manipulating the payments in his business records to cover up his alleged relationship with Daniels.

Trumps defense vigorously cross-examined Daniels, accusing her of telling varying stories about her apparent relationship with Trump to profit from it over the years.

Whats ahead in the criminal case

Merchan said the criminal case would last about six weeks following jury selection, so it could last several more weeks.

The jury is set to listen to the testimony of a key protection witness on Monday  Michael Cohen. As Trumps former lawyer, Cohen is claimed to have handled the alleged hush money payments to Daniels and McDougal and was later reimbursed by Trump. In the last six years since Cohen has worked for Trump, he has become one of the former presidents harshest critics.

Cohens role is to tell the court that Trump understood that records related to reimbursement checks to Cohen would be falsified in order to cover up the fact that they were tied to the purchase of Stormy Daniels story, according to CBS News.

The prosecution is wrapping up the final phases of presenting its case against Trump and expects to give its concluding arguments by the end of next week.
Donald Trump seemingly forgot his youngest sons age in a Thursday interview with Telemundo, responding to reports that Barron Trump would play a role in his official nomination for president.

In the interview, Trump was asked about his sons status as a delegate at-large at the Republican National Convention, weighing-in with, To me, thats very cute, because he's a very young guy, and hes graduating from high school this year. Hes a very good student, very smart. But hes pretty young, I will say. Hes 17.

Born in March of 2006, Barron is currently 18 years old. The son of Melania Trump, and the former President's youngest of five children, he spent much of the past four years in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he attends the private Oxbridge Academy.

Set to graduate on May 17, Barron is reportedly attending New York University in the fall. Donald Trump previously lambasted judge Juan Merchan for potentially keeping him in court through the graduation, though he gave Trump the day off. That same evening, Trump is scheduled to headline a Minnesota GOP fundraising event.

Trumps gaffe comes as reports of his increasingly public challenges speaking coherently plague his campaign, while he continues to run on the age of his opponent, Joe Biden, as a key deciding factor.

Trump has spent much of the week in court, which he told Telemundo hasnt distracted him too much from the campaign trail.

Im willing to do and able to do things, and lots of different things. I run a business right now, but now Im starting to get full back into the campaign mode, he said. Were really  I mean  doing amazingly well. The best numbers weve ever had."
In a post on his Truth Social site, former President Trump took a dig at George Conway, with pictures of Conway from his 2016 election night win.

Mr. Kellyanne Conway celebrating my Victory in 2016! Trump posted Thursday.

One photo showed Conway wearing a Make America Great Again hat with his wife, former top Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway, and another showed him filming Trump with a crowd of supporters.

Conway, who announced his divorce from Kellyanne Conway last year, has become a frequent Trump critic.

While Kellyanne Conway remained loyal to Trump throughout his time in office, he went on to fund The Lincoln Project with several other Republicans who were opposed to Trump and looking to keep him from securing a second term.

Since then, the two have been battling it out on air and online, criticizing one another. Conway, a conservative lawyer, has frequently commented on Trumps web of legal battles.

In an interview last Thursday, Conway dismissed Trumps claims that he was not sleeping in court, after reporters noticed Trump appeared to doze off during his hush money trial in New York.

Conway slammed Trumps reputation for not arriving to Trump Tower before 11 a.m., as well as the at White House because he wasnt an early riser. The court is requiring the former president to be in-person early in the morning.

In January, Trump walked out of the courtroom when closing arguments began in his defamation case against writer E. Jean Carroll.

Now, he must sit in court and restrain his comments, because of a gag order, and Conway said he doesnt think Trump has the complete ability to control himself.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
Trump pressed oil executives to give $1 billion for his campaign, people in industry say

Former President Donald Trump asked oil industry executives last month to donate $1 billion to aid his campaign to retake the White House, three people familiar with the conversation told POLITICO  a request that campaign finance experts said appeared troubling but is probably legal.

The request, first reported Thursday by The Washington Post, occurred during a meeting of industry executives at the former presidents home in Palm Beach, Florida.

The oil industry has a long list of policy actions it would want Trump to take, including dismantling parts of President Joe Bidens green agenda and rolling back pollution regulations that threaten to crimp their profits. As POLITICO reported Wednesday, oil executives are also preparing some highly specific requests for Trump, including executive orders they hope he would sign if reelected.

At the very least, the $1 billion ask points to problems with laws governing money in politics, said Erin Chlopak, senior campaign finance director at the watchdog group Campaign Legal Center.

"At a high level, it perfectly captures so much of whats wrong with our big money campaign finance system, said Chlopak, who was a senior lawyer at the Federal Elections Commission, which monitors campaign contributions and spending.

Trump, who is occupying most of his days in a Manhattan courtroom fighting allegations of falsifying business records, has lagged Biden in fundraising.

The April dinner at Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club was described as a roundtable discussion on energy security, according to one person familiar with the event who was granted anonymity to discuss the private gathering. It included executives from oil companies Exxon Mobil, Chevron, ConocoPhillips and Continental Resources as well as from natural gas producer EQT and gas exporter Cheniere Energy, and the trade association American Petroleum Institute.

One person not at the dinner  Dan Eberhart, chief executive of the Denver-based oil company Canary LLC  said participants told him that Trump asked the attendees to contribute a combined $1 billion for his campaign. Two industry representatives whose companies attended the meeting confirmed the amount to POLITICO.

Trumps request is shocking, but it would almost certainly not break the law, said Meredith McGehee, an independent expert on government ethics and campaign finance. Unless Trump wrote on a napkin during the meeting an exact amount of money he wanted deposited in a specific campaign vehicle in exchange for a specific policy goal, theres little chance it would violate bribery laws as currently interpreted by the Supreme Court, McGehee said.

The state of the law and the state of the enforcement agency is abysmal, McGehee said in an interview. But this is a scandal, and the notion that our government works where candidates go to industry and promise government action in exchange for large amounts of money is an indictment of the system.

Another campaign finance expert expressed doubts that Trump's behavior violated the law.

Isnt that what campaigning is? Bradley Smith, chair of the Institute for Free Speech and former chair of the Federal Election Commission, said of Trumps ask to the oil executives.

Certainly if one is an office holder and one promises a specific federal action like, You'll get this permit,' or something like that, you have an issue. But to make a sort of general pledge, Youve got to give me lots of money because I'm really going to help out your business, it's fine, he said.

Smith added: Its a minor difference of degree from Joe Biden saying, Hey, young people, vote for me, Im going to forgive your student loans.

Trump could be liable for violating rules against candidates asking individuals to contribute more than the federal limit on campaign contributions, Chlopak said.

Campaign finance laws limit individual contributions to $3,300 per election to individual campaigns and $5,000 to political action committees. Super PACs can take unlimited donations, but candidates aren't allowed to solicit funds for them.

To the extent that there is this suggestion that these executives raise a $1 billion on Trumps behalf, that would potentially violate federal law, Chlopak said. A billion dollars is far above the limits. A candidate cant make that request.

Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist at the watchdog group Public Citizen, said violating the law would have to involve a clear quid pro quo in which Trump offered to take an action because of the donation.

Usually candidates don't really tie their policy positions together with campaign contributions," Holman said. "Usually they just talk about their policy and then encourage people to contribute to their campaigns. But here, it's particularly egregious, because Trump is calling for a certain figure of money from the oil industry. And it's a huge figure. That makes it unusual.

Oil executives want Trump to end the Biden administration's pause on new natural gas export permits and expand the number of offshore drilling lease sales in the Gulf of Mexico made available by Biden's Interior Department.

At the April dinner, Trump also promised to slash the Biden administrations tax credits for electric vehicles and spend less government money developing wind power, according to The Washington Post. Those are both major themes he's sounded repeatedly in his public rallies and stump speeches.

Trump said the $1 billion contribution would fuel his presidential campaign, but at least some executives present believed the money would also be used to pay the lawyers defending him in various court cases, Eberhart added.

I think everyone knows part of it is going to his legal expenses, Eberhart said in an interview.

One political action committee Trump controls, Save America PAC, has spent tens of millions of dollars on legal bills for the former president and his allies, but he hasn't been directing donations to that channel for several months. One of his joint fundraising committees with the Republican National Committee does send a portion of its money to Save America, but those contributions are limited to $5,000 for each donor. And his super PAC can send only $2.75 million more to Save America as of the end of March.

In response to questions, Trump campaign spokesperson Karoline Leavitt issued a statement to POLITICO but did not answer questions about the Mar-a-Lago event.

Joe Biden is controlled by environmental extremists who are trying to implement the most radical energy agenda in history and force Americans to purchase electric vehicles they cant afford, Leavitt said in the statement. President Trump is supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans.

Chlopak, from the Campaign Legal Center, said getting so much money from the oil executives would make him essentially indebted to them if he wins.

There are certainly high concerns about the implications of who controls the people who are looking to gain office when those candidates are so indebted to particular people or entities or interest when theyre supposed to be representing the people, she said.

Robin Bravender and Jessica Piper contributed to this report.
Former U.S. President Trump's criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records continues in New York

Former U.S. President Trump's criminal trial on charges of falsifying business records continues in New York

By Luc Cohen and Jody Godoy

NEW YORK (Reuters) -The judge overseeing Donald Trump's criminal trial on Friday urged prosecutors to tell the former U.S. president's estranged former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen to stop making public statements about the case before his expected testimony next week.

Todd Blanche, Trump's defense lawyer in the case stemming from hush money paid to a porn star, said Cohen, the star prosecution witness, had spoken on social media on Wednesday while wearing a T-shirt showing Trump, the Republican presidential candidate, behind bars.

Justice Juan Merchan suggested prosecutors tell Cohen that the request to refrain from public statements "comes from the bench." He spoke at the close of the 15th day of the first criminal trial of a sitting or former U.S. president.

Prosecutors with Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg's office said they would pass along the message. Cohen's lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the judge's comments or the timing of his expected testimony.

Cohen's highly anticipated testimony against his former boss - a man he once said he would take a bullet for - is crucial to the prosecution case.

Trump is accused of fudging his family real estate company's records to cover up Cohen's $130,000 payment to porn star Stormy Daniels for her silence before the 2016 election about a sexual encounter she alleges she and Trump had in 2006.

Trump, 77, has pleaded not guilty to 34 counts of falsifying business records and denies having sex with Daniels, 45.

Before the trial adjourned ahead of the weekend, Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass said prosecutors would call two witnesses on Monday and predicted they could rest their case by the end of next week.

Cohen said on a podcast on Thursday that he expected to testify next week.

Trump has called the case a politically motivated effort to interfere with his campaign to win back the White House in the Nov. 5 U.S. election against his Democratic opponent, President Joe Biden.

Merchan has fined Trump $10,000 for running afoul of a gag order restricting his public statements about witnesses, jurors and others involved in the case, and warned the former president he may jail him for future violations.

Trump has argued the gag order impedes his constitutional right to free speech, and has complained that he cannot respond to public criticism from witnesses like Cohen and Daniels.

"He wants to put me in jail. And that could happen one day and I'd be very proud to go to jail for our Constitution," Trump told reporters after the trial ended for the day.

Prosecutors say the payments to Daniels and another woman who says she had an affair with Trump, Playboy model Karen McDougal, were part of a broader scheme to corrupt the 2016 election by buying the silence of people with potentially damaging information in violation of campaign finance laws.

Trump defeated Democrat Hillary Clinton in the race for president that year. Trump denies having had an affair with McDougal, who is not expected to testify.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jody Godoy in New York; Additional reporting by Susan Heavey in Washington; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Howard Goller)
Former President Donald Trump challenged President Joe Biden to debate him in a video posted to Truth Social on Thursday, saying he was ready to go anywhere, even to a showdown at the White House.

Dear Joe, now that youve committed to debate on the ratings-challenged Howard Stern Show, lets set it up right now, Trump said in his message, referencing an interview Biden did with the radio host last month. Im ready to go anywhere that you are. We could do it in D.C., even pinpoint the White House, or in New York when your Radical Left fascists are finished with the election interference against your political opponent, me, because were gonna win and were gonna win big.

Biden had a terse reply when asked about Trumps challenge on Thursday.

Set it up, the president said.

Biden said last month he would be happy to debate his predecessor, a shift in tone after he suggested in March a match-up would depend on Trumps behavior.

Its unclear if a debate would fit into Trumps busy court schedule before the campaign season kicks off in earnest. Hes currently standing trial in New York on allegations he covered up a hush money payment to the adult film star Stormy Daniels. Those proceedings are expected to continue for another month.

The two faced off twice during the 2020 election cycle during a pair of heated events, with Biden at one point telling his competitor to shut up as Trump repeatedly interrupted him.

If Trump showed up to a debate, itd be a first for him this campaign cycle. The former president declined to appear at any of the Republican primary events as his competitors dropped out of the race, one-by-one. He is now the partys presumptive nominee, a designation that will be formalized at the Republican National Convenient in Milwaukee in July.

Related...
Former President Donald Trump seems to be anxious that independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will win over one of Trumps key constituencies  anti-vaxxers.

The presumptive GOP presidential nominee ranted about Kennedy, who has tried to distance himself from his documented history as a vaccine skeptic, in a four-minute Truth Social video on Thursday, in which he claimed that Kennedy has misrepresented his views on vaccines to curry favor with the right.

Republicans, get it out of your mind that youre going to vote for this guy because hes conservative. Hes not, Trump said.

For those of you that want to vote because you think hes an anti-vaxxer, hes not really an anti-vaxxer, Trump continued. Thats only his political moment. So, RFK, his views on vaccines are fake, as is everything else about his candidacy.

Kennedy has said hes never advised the public not to get vaccines and has insisted that hes not against them. But his profile as a vaccine skeptic exploded during the pandemic, and he has said as recently as July last year that theres no such thing as a safe and effective vaccine. Hes also promoted antisemitic-tinged, anti-vaccine messaging through his nonprofit, Childrens Health Defense.

Kennedys campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment about Trumps remarks.

During the pandemic, anti-vaxxers found a political home with Trump, whose administration nevertheless took credit for helping fast-track the COVID jab through Operation Warp Speed.

However, Trump has reason to fear that anti-vaxxers, an extreme faction of his MAGA constituency who view the government and Big Pharma skeptically, could migrate to Kennedy, a former Democrat who seems to be siphoning more support from Trump voters than voters for President Joe Biden with his independent candidacy for the 2024 presidential race.

In his video rant, Trump claimed Kennedy is a Democratic plant and a radical left liberal whos only in the race to help Biden. He also bashed Kennedys running mate, Nicole Shanahan, a Silicon Valley attorney and the ex-wife of Google founder Sergey Brin, saying that shes more liberal than Kennedy and only running on his ticket to help fund it.

[Kennedy] is not a Republican, so dont think youre going to vote for him and feel good, Trump said. Hes a radical left Democrat. Let the Democrats have RFK Jr., they deserve him.

CORRECTION: A previous version of this article misidentified Robert F. Kennedy Jr.s nonprofit as the Childrens Defense Fund.

Related...
Should Trump take the stand in his hush money trial? Heres what legal experts say

For weeks, former President Donald Trump has sat uncharacteristically silent during the proceedings of his hush money trial in New York, the first-ever criminal trial of an ex-president.

Soon, though  after the prosecution rests its case  he will have the opportunity to take the witness stand and speak at length before the Manhattan jury.

But will he?

Trump, who is under no obligation to testify, has signaled his willingness to take the witness stand.

I would testify, absolutely, he told reporters on April 12. More recently, he told Spectrum News he would probably testify.

Legal experts, though, have cast doubt on the likelihood that the former president will open himself up to questioning.

I bet dollars to doughnuts he will not take the stand, John Blume, a professor of trial techniques at the Cornell Law School, told McClatchy News.

My guess is his attorneys are advising him not to, Sharon Fairley, a professor from practice at the University of Chicago Law School, told McClatchy News. Its a pretty rare thing when a defendant actually does take the stand.

This is because any benefits that defendants  and Trump in particular  could reap by serving as a witness are outweighed by the risks, which are significant, experts said.

More politics news

 Trump is now selling Bibles  but hes not the first president with holy books for sale

 Biden isnt alone with his age concerns. Heres how past presidents dealt with aging

Risks

If he were to take the witness stand, Trump would be at risk of divulging unnecessary information that could potentially damage his case, Fairley said.

Its crucial for his defense that he doesnt expound anymore than is absolutely necessary, Fairley said. But, I think when you look at the way he likes to communicate, he does not show any ability to sort of limit himself in that way.

His free-wheeling speaking style will pose a particular challenge during the cross-examination, the period when the prosecution is able to ask questions, Phillip Hamilton, a criminal defense attorney in New York, told McClatchy News.

Cross examination is about confrontation, Hamilton said. And him being confronted by the prosecutors and challenged on his narratives is going to be bad because it will open the door, I think, to him fighting back with them.

While pushing back against prosecutors, Trump could bring up a subject that the judge had previously limited prosecutors from discussing, such as his other criminal or civil cases.

If that happens, it would open the door for prosecutors to file a motion to cross-examine Trump on those issues  which they could use to try to damage his credibility, Hamilton said.

So as a defense attorney, I would have an anxiety attack the entire time that he would be subject to cross examination because he cannot be controlled, Hamilton said.

Additionally, theres also the possibility that Trump could perjure himself  or knowingly make false testimony  while on the stand, Fairley said.

Of course, thats a crime, and that could expose him to additional criminal liability, Fairley said.

Its also important to remember that Trump has three other criminal cases pending against him, and his public testimony in New York could be used against him in those trials, Hamilton said.

Thats the other biggest reason why, as his attorney, I would advise him not to take the stand, Hamilton said. You dont want to say anything here that can end up compromising your cases in Atlanta, Florida or D.C.

Benefits

There are some potential upsides for Trump should he take the witness stand, though, experts said.

By testifying, he could maybe save some face, Blume said.

It would signal to his supporters that he doesnt have anything to hide, Hamilton said.

Though, he noted, Trump has already stated he believes the process is rigged against him, an idea that many of his supporters believe, polls have shown.

Additionally, its possible that Trump could compellingly rebut the prosecutors argument that he falsified business records to cover up hush money payments to Stormy Daniels  thereby violating election laws, Hamilton said.

He added, Trump could say, The last thing I ever needed was for my wife or family to hear about this stuff, especially while I was running for presidentI did this to protect her, to protect my family; I did this to protect my business reputation.

But, in reality, experts believe its unlikely Trump would be able to confine himself to such a specific script.

Because of the risks and few rewards, I just dont see it happening, Blume said. But, you never know with him.

Will Trump be found guilty in his NY criminal trial? Poll reveals what voters believe

RFK Jr. wants to debate Biden, Trump. But just how rare is a 3-way presidential debate?

Trump is held in contempt of court  a punishment only one other president faced
Former President Donald Trump is on trial in New York City, where he is facing felony charges related to a 2016 hush money payment to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. It marks the first time in history that a former U.S. president has been tried on criminal charges.

MORE: What to know about Stormy Daniels and her connection to Trump's hush money case

Trump last April pleaded not guilty to a 34-count indictment charging him with falsifying business records in connection with a hush money payment his then-attorney Michael Cohen made to Daniels in order to boost his electoral prospects in the 2016 presidential election.





Latest Developments





May 10, 8:01 AM

Key Trump White House aide set to resume testimony



Former Trump White House aide Madeleine Westerhout is set to resume her testimony this morning in former President Donald Trump's New York criminal trial.

For prosecutors, Westerhout's testimony yesterday offered a detailed picture of how Trump approached his personal finances while serving as president -- including how he signed personal checks for his then-attorney Michael Cohen and others.

Defense attorneys, meanwhile, appeared to use Westerhout to highlight Trump's character following hours of abrasive testimony from Stormy Daniels.

"He never once made me feel like I didn't deserve that job and I didn't belong there, especially in an office filled with older men," Westerhout told jurors about working by Trump's side for over two years. "He was a really good boss. I hope he respected me in my job, and I just found him very enjoyable to work for."

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump watches as Former Director of Oval Office Operations Madeleine Westerhout testifies during his criminal trial in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 9, 2024, in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg (Jane Rosenberg/Reuters)

Westerhout at one point broke down in tears on the witness stand while recounting to the jury how she lost her job after she shared private details of Trump's family with reporters at an off-the-record dinner.





"That mistake, eventually -- ultimately, cost me my job, and I am very regretful of my youthful indiscretion," Westerhout said while crying.





May 9, 5:23 PM

'We are so innocent,' Trump says exiting courtroom



Judge Juan Merchan dismissed court for the day following the late hearing.

Trump, speaking to reporters on his way out of the courtroom, railed against the judge.

PHOTO: Former President Donald Trump speaks to the press at the end of the day of his trial for allegedly covering up hush money payments linked to extramarital affairs, at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York City, May 9, 2024. (Angela Weiss/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

"Everybody saw what happened today -- I don't think we have to do any expert explaining," Trump said. "I'm not allowed to anyway because this judge is corrupt," he said, criticizing Merchan -- who is not protected by the limited gag order in the case.





"I got to get back on the campaign trail. I'm not supposed to be here. We are so innocent," Trump said.



-ABC News' Kelsey Walsh and Mike Pappano





May 9, 5:44 PM

Judge, slamming defense, denies 2nd motion for mistrial



Merchan took defense attorney Susan Necheles to task for her failure to object to a line of inquiry about whether or not Donald Trump used a condom during his alleged encounter with Stormy Daniels.

"For the life of me, I don't know why Ms. Necheles didn't object," the judge said.

Merchan emphasized that Daniels testimony was necessary because Trump's lawyers continue to deny the encounter occurred.

"That pits your client's words against Ms. Daniels' word," the judge said.

"These details add a sense of credibility if the jury chooses to believe them," Merchan said. "Your motion for a mistrial is denied."





May 9, 4:54 PM

State argues that Daniels' testimony corroborated her account



Assistant District Attorney Joshua Steinglass heavily pushed back on defense attorney Todd Blanche's motion for a mistrial based on Stormy Daniels' detailed and explicit testimony.

"It has always been the people's contention that the details in this case -- details of the two-hour conversation that Ms. Daniels had with the defendant in the living room and the dinner room of his hotel room in Harrah's -- corroborate her account," Steinglass said.

"They corroborate that the sex happened, which is motivation to silence her," he said.

Steinglass argued that defense lawyers cannot attack Daniels' credibility in their opening statement, then move for a mistrial after the state thoroughly questioned Daniels to develop her credibility with the jury.

"They're trying to have their cake and eat it too," Steinglass said.

Steinglass also argued that the condom testimony was permissible because Trump, according to Daniels, asked her a series of questions about protection and STDs in the adult film industry during their conversation in Trump's suite.

"Mr. Trump asked a lot of questions about the testing in the adult film industry," Steinglass said. "The reason that is relevant is because it explains his decision not to wear a condom."

"You know who knew what happened in that room? Mr. Trump knew," Steinglass said. "That was Mr. Trump's motive to silence this woman in 2016."

Trump has been sitting with his arms crossed, staring at Merchan, during the hearing.





May 9, 4:40 PM

Defense, seeking mistrial, says, 'This is not a case about sex'



In the defense's motion for a mistrial, defense attorney Todd Blanche argued that prosecutors went too far with their questions during Stormy Daniels' direct examination.

"What proceeded to happen was a whole host of questions that went way beyond the mere fact that it happened," Blanche said.

"It almost defies belief we are here about a records case," Blanche said. "This is not a case about sex."

"The nondisclosure agreement was entered. Whether it happened or not has nothing to do with the charges in this case," he argued.

Blanche specifically argued that Daniels' testimony about Trump not using a condom during the alleged encounter was prejudicial to the jury.

"It's a dog whistle for rape," Blanche said.





May 9, 4:30 PM

Judge, quoting Trump himself, declines to modify gag order



Judge Merchan, after hearing arguments from the defense, declined to modify the limited gag order so Trump could respond publicly to Stormy Daniels' testimony.

"I don't see what you're referring to as a new set of facts," the judge told the defense.

PHOTO: New York Supreme Court Judge Juan Merchan listens as former President Donald Trump watches as Stormy Daniels is questioned in Manhattan state court in New York City, May 9, 2024 in this courtroom sketch. (Jane Rosenberg via Reuters)

"My concern is not just with protecting Ms. Daniels or a witness who just testified," the judge said. "My concern is protecting these proceedings as a whole."





In making his ruling, Merchan quoted Trump's words from an excerpt of Trump's book that the jury saw today: "When you are wronged, go after those people because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it."





The judge said that other witnesses would see how Trump treats Daniels if he modifies the gag order.





May 9, 4:23 PM

Defense seeks gag order exception so Trump can reply to Daniels



Judge Juan Merchand, preparing to hear the defense's request to limit the expected testimony of Karen McDougle, who was paid by the National Enquirer to suppress her claim of a year-long affair with Trump, was told that the motion is no longer necessary.

"The people informed me they no longer intend to call Ms. McDougal," defense attorney Tood Blanche said.

Blanche then argued to Judge Merchan that Trump should be able to respond to Stormy Daniels' testimony, seeking to an exception to the limited gag order that prohibits Trump from targeting witnesses and jurors.

Blanche asked that Trump be "allowed to respond publicly to what happened in court the past day and a half."

"He needs an opportunity to respond to the American people," Blanche said.

Because Daniels is off the witness stand, Blanche argued that Trump's comments about her testimony would not impact the proceedings.

Assistant District Attorney Chris Conroy opposed the request to loosen the gag order.

"It seems as if the other side lives in an almost alternate reality. There is a proceeding here that this order is designed to protect," Conroy said, adding that the appropriate place to respond to testimony is in the courtroom.

"We have seen the fear in some of these witnesses," Conroy added, citing Westerhout's reaction when her personal information appeared on some exhibits. He added that a recent custodial witness had concerns for their safety.

According to Conroy, the fear was Trump's "doing."

Conroy argued that the gag order should protect witnesses before, during, and after their testimony.





May 9, 4:09 PM

Westerhout calls Trump's relationship with Melania 'special'



On cross-examination by defense attorney Susan Necheles, Trump White House aide Madeleine Westerhout sang Trump's praises.

"You thought he was a great person to work for?" Necheles asked.

"Yes," Westerhout said, telling jurors that Trump was a great president.

Westerhout previously testified that she found Trump's relationship with his wife Melania Trump "special," and described their dynamic in glowing terms.

"He was my boss, but she was definitely the one in charge," she said. "I just remember thinking that their relationship was really special. They laughed a lot when she came into the Oval Office."

Necheles sought to pull this thread, asking Westerhout about how they engaged with one another at the White House.

"There were times when I could tell [Trump] was on the phone with Mrs. Trump, and he would say 'Honey ... come to the window,' and they would kind of wave to each other," from the residence, Westerhout said.

Westerhout then stepped off the stand so Judge Juan Merchan could hear the three motions the defense has asked to bring. The judge dismissed the jury in preparation for hearing the motions.

Westerhout's testimony is scheduled to resume tomorrow.





May 9, 3:57 PM

Westerhout breaks down recalling her White House departure



"I am very regretful of my youthful indiscretion," Trump White House aide Madeleine Westerhout said, explaining that she left the White House after sharing information with reporters at an off-the-record dinner.

Trump appeared to confer with Blanche as Westerhout began to cry.

Fighting back tears, Westerhout said she has "grown a lot since then."

She spoke through tears and choked up as she told the jury about why she wrote her book about her time in the White House.

"I don't think he was treated fairly and I wanted to tell that story," Westerhout said of Trump.





May 9, 3:54 PM

'Sorry, sir,' Westerhout says, testifying about picture frame purchase



In June of 2017, Trump White House aide Madeleine Westerhout sent Trump Organization executive assistant Rhona Graff a photo and said then-President Trump wanted it framed.

"President Trump wanted to put in a frame to put behind his desk in the office," Westerhout testified. "Behind the Resolute Desk there was a little credenza."

Graff responded that she had no empty frames and offered to go to Tiffany & Co., next door to the Trump Tower, but she said the frames were "on the pricey side," about $650.

"Does DJT want to spend that much?" Graff asked in the email.

"Is this the type of thing that Mr. Trump would want to weigh in on?" prosecutor Becky Mangold asked Westerhout.

"I don't recall another instance like this," said Westerhout, but she said this was a photo of Trump's mother that he wanted it framed.

"We may have made the executive decision without his approval," Westerhout said. She glanced toward Trump sitting at the defense table, and said, "Sorry, sir."

Click here to read the rest of the blog.
GENEVA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A United Nations (UN) expert on education this week condemned a "violent crackdown on peaceful demonstrators" in the United States (US).

During a 10-day visit to the United States, the United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur on the right to education Farida Shaheed said she was "deeply troubled" by these events, which led to "arrests, detentions, police violence, surveillance and disciplinary measures and sanctions against members of the educational community exercising their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression."

"I am particularly concerned about the unequal treatment of protesters based on their political stance, particularly targeting pro-Palestinian demonstrators," she said in a press release.

A wave of anti-war protests has swept through universities across the U.S. in recent days, with students calling for a ceasefire in Palestine. They are also urging university administrations to reevaluate their investments in Israel, particularly amid escalating civilian casualties in the besieged Gaza Strip.

Shaheed voiced her concern over a decline in intellectual freedom in educational environments, and called on the U.S. government to uphold its core value of freedom of speech.

She also expressed her alarm over the 307 bills and policies imposing educational gag orders that have been introduced in the U.S. since January 2021.

"These policies, manifested through book bans and restrictions on curricula, have instilled a pervasive 'chilling effect' that stifles the free exchange of ideas and silences marginalized voices," she said.

Shaheed urged the U.S. to remove police from schools, and instead allocate resources towards hiring trained professionals such as counselors and social workers to establish a secure and supportive educational environment.

The UN expert visited Washington, D.C. and the states of Indiana and Colorado during the tour, and is set to present a full report on her findings to the UN Human Rights Council in June 2025. 
Donald Trumps hush-money trial will close out its explosive third week of testimony Friday, with his former White House aide Madeleine Westerhout set to take the stand once again in the morning.

She was first called to testify Thursday after jurors heard almost two days of testimony from Stormy Daniels, the porn star who prosecutors say was paid $130,000 on the eve of the 2016 election to keep quiet about her claims of a one-night stand with Trump a decade earlier. The former presidents lawyers sought to undermine Daniels credibility, portraying her in sometimes heated exchanges as a liar attempting to extort money from Trump.

Trump Lawyer Tears Into Stormy Daniels Sudden Sainthood

Jurors heard lurid details from Daniels about her alleged tryst with Trump including specifics about condoms, sexual positions, and more during her time on the stand. At one point, Trumps attorneys asked for a mistrial given the salacious details of her testimony, but Judge Juan Merchan rejected the request. Trump denies ever having sex with Daniels.

He has also pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. Prosecutors claim that the Trump Organization wrongly labeled payments to Trumps former attorney and fixer Michael Cohen as legal expenses, when they were in fact reimbursements for the hush money Cohen paid to Daniels.

Trumps lawyers have tried to establish that the hush-money payments made on his behalf were actually intended to protect Trumps family and personal reputation rather than his 2016 presidential campaign.

Cohen, the prosecutions key witness who has yet to testify in the proceedings, is now expected to take the witness stand on Monday, according to NBC News. He is expected to testify over the course of several daysand will likely come under intense pressure during cross-examination.

But Friday jurors will hear more from Westerhout. She was working at the Republican National Committee when the notorious Access Hollywood tape came to light just before the election, testifying Thursday about the impact the recordingin which Trump could be heard bragging about groping womenhad on the RNC leadership.

She said there was so much concern that she recalled conversations taking place about how it would be possible to replace him as the candidate, if it came to that.

Westerhout, who went on to serve as Trumps personal secretary in the White House and later became the director of Oval Office operations, also spoke about her work with Trump during his presidency. She described taking dictation from Trump for posts on his Twitter account, speaking about his preference for the Oxford comma and certain words he liked to capitalize like country.

But Westerhout also spoke about setting up a crucial Oval Office meeting between Cohen and Trump in February 2017. During that meeting, prosecutors claim, the pair discussed reimbursement for the Daniels hush-money payment.

Prosecutors on Thursday also confirmed they will not call Karen McDougal, the Playboy model who also claims to have been paid to keep quiet about an affair with Trump, to testify in the trial.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
This is Yahoo News succinct update on the criminal and civil cases against Trump. Here are the latest developments.

 What happened today

Madeleine Westerhout, a former executive assistant to then-President Donald Trump at the White House, returned to the witness stand for more cross-examination from Trump lawyer Susan Necheles. Necheles focused primarily on how mail  including Trump Organization checks  reached him at the Oval Office.

Prosecutors have alleged that Trump used alternatives to the White House mail system to conceal nefarious correspondence (such as reimbursements for hush money payments to a porn star). On Friday, Trumps defense lawyers countered  and Westerhout agreed  that Trump simply wanted to get back to people quickly and was frustrated with the slow pace of mail at the White House.

After Westerhout left the stand, prosecutors summoned a parade of less-familiar witnesses to affirm basic facts about the case, according to the New York Times. They included an AT&T employee and a Verizon employee to validate phone records, as well as two paralegals at the Manhattan district attorneys office to discuss data extracted from Michael Cohens phone and text messages between Stormy Danielss agent and the editor of the National Enquirer.

Before Friday's proceedings got underway, Judge Juan Merchan rejected a request by Trump's defense team to subpoena records from Mark Pomerantz, a former Manhattan prosecutor who "authored a book last year detailing tensions with District Attorney Alvin Bragg over whether to seek Trumps indictment," the Associated Press reported.

 Zoom in

Trumps White House gatekeeper details circuitous mail system: On Thursday, Westerhout testified that she communicated with Cohen, Trumps former "fixer," to set up an Oval Office meeting in February 2017  testimony that corroborates Cohens claim that he met with Trump in early 2017 to discuss being reimbursed for the $130,000 in hush money he previously paid to Daniels.

After that meeting, the Trump Organization began sending checks to Cohen that were labeled legal expenses.

Prosecutors are trying to prove that Trump broke the law by falsifying his business expenses to conceal his reimbursement payments to Cohen, and they have cited the circuitous path the checks took  they were first sent to the home address of Trumps longtime bodyguard Keith Schiller, who then sent them back via FedEx after they were signed by the president  as evidence of a cover-up.

In her testimony Friday, Westerhout  who remains loyal to Trump despite being fired in 2019  agreed with Trumps lawyer Necheles that such an arrangement could have been a workaround to avoid delays caused by the crush of White House mail, according to the Times.

But Necheles also said Trump did not mention his family when railing against Daniels's claims  undercutting the defenses argument that Trump was motivated to silence Daniels for personal rather than political reasons.

Georgia Longstreet and Jaden Jarmel-Schneider, two paralegals at the Manhattan district attorneys office, served as whats known as custodial witnesses, authenticating documents and events central to the prosecutions case.

Longstreet testified about texts between Danielss agent in 2016, Gina Rodriguez, and the editor of the National Enquirer, Dylan Howard. In the texts, Rodriguez told Howard that Daniels had sex with Trump, which Trump has denied. Rodriguez added that Daniels would confirm her story on the record for $250,000.

Jarmel-Schneider testified that he was involved in the extraction of data from Cohens phone, including calls between Cohen and Trump. Jarmel-Schneider certified those calls, which were promptly entered into evidence  a sign that prosecutors will return to them when the trial resumes next week.

Daniel Dixon and Jennie Tomalin  who work for AT&T and Verizon, respectively  also served as custodial witnesses. They quickly authenticated phone records, including calls involving Allen Weisselberg, the Trump Organization's former chief financial officer who is currently serving a five-month sentence at Rikers Island in New York City for perjury, and Keith Davidson, Daniels's former lawyer.

 Whats next?

Former Trump "fixer" turned foe Michael Cohen  the prosecutions key witness  is expected to take the stand and testify about his role in the alleged hush money scheme when court resumes Monday at 9:30 a.m. ET. He is expected to be on the stand for several days, according to NBC News.

Responding to a request Friday from one of Trumps lawyers, Merchan asked prosecutors to tell Cohen that he is personally asking him to stop commenting on the case or Trump. That comes from the bench, Merchan said. Cohen has attacked his former boss on TikTok and elsewhere.

A prosecutor said Friday that he plans to call two witnesses next week  and its entirely possible the prosecution could rest by the time court adjourns next Thursday, according to CNN.

 The background

 Trumps trials and legal cases
Trump turns to oil industry for $1bn towards campaign as they draft executive orders for him to sign

Donald Trump solicited a $1bn donation from oil executives during a meeting at his Mar-a-Lago resort last month, a new report reveals

Oil executives met with Mr Trump to discuss environmental regulations when the former president vowed to reverse many of President Joe Bidens policies if elected, The Washington Post reports. He then asked for a $1bn donation to his 2024 presidential campaign from the attendees, according to the outlet.

Donald Trump pictured speaking at his Mar-a-Lago estate. He reportedly invited oil executives to the property last month, seeking a $1bn donation (Getty Images)

As he asks oil executives for money at Mar-a-Lago, Politico reported the same oil giants are also drafting executive orders for the former president to sign if he returns to the White House. The outlet cited six lawyers and lobbyists familiar with the matter.

Politico also revealed that one drafted order would reverse Mr Bidens pause on natural gas export permits. The president issued that pause in January as his administration further evaluated the industrys impacts on the climate crisis.

Karoline Leavitt, spokesperson for Mr Trumps 2024 campaign, told The Independent that Mr Trump opposes Mr Bidens environmental policies.

Joe Biden is controlled by environmental extremists who are trying to implement the most radical energy agenda in history and force Americans to purchase electric vehicles they cant afford, Ms Leavitt said in a statement. President Trump is supported by people who share his vision of American energy dominance to protect our national security and bring down the cost of living for all Americans.

Mr Trump has repeatedly denied that climate science is legitimate and that the climate crisis is real. He has called the climate crisis a make-believe problem and nonexistent, despite the fact that experts across the globe overwhelmingly agree the planet is warming due to human-controlled factors.

Mr Trumps call for campaign funding from these oil giants comes amid something of a financial crisis for the former president.

In March, a New York court ordered Mr Trump to pay a bond of more than $464m after losing a civil fraud trial earlier this year. His lawyers said Mr Trump faced the practical impossibility of coming up with the money before the states deadline.

Mr Trump eventually paid the $175m bond in his New York civil fraud case after an appeals court granted him a 10-day extension and slashed the $464m value by more than half. He secured the bond through the Knight Specialty Insurance Company.

However, New York Attorney General Letitia James has since called the bond into question, raising concerns that the company isnt authorised to do business in the state. Mr Trumps legal team called her concerns a waste of time during a court hearing on the matter in late April.
On May 6, 2024, a Facebook user posted a meme asking, "Friend: How did your first camping trip as a family go?" For the answer to the question, the meme featured a picture of a purported TV news report showing a woman's mug shot with the words, "Wife Stabs Husband with Squirrel."

A viral picture shared online since 2013 shows a purported news headline from a Bay News 9 TV broadcast showing a mug shot of Helen Ann Williams and the words wife stabs husband with squirrel.

Further online searches found countless reposts of the same image, including a Reddit post on the r/funny subreddit from July 14, 2014. The Reddit post revealed a larger version of the picture showing the news logo in the bottom-left corner belonged to Spectrum Bay News 9 in Tampa Bay, Florida. The name of the person who originally took the picture of a TV to capture the odd news headline was unclear.

One Facebook user remarked in a repost of the image, "I kind of want to know the whole story."

The Bay News 9 TV broadcast picture contained some truth. However, the picture alone does not incorporate context possibly included in the original broadcast. According to Snopes' review of an incident report obtained from the North Charleston Police Department in South Carolina, the alleged stabbing occurred with a ceramic squirrel, not a live animal.

Fox Carolina Article

The alleged stabbing incident took place on Dec. 25, 2013, in North Charleston. Two days later, Fox Carolina was one of the first news outlets to report the story on its website. The station's website no longer hosts the article, but the Internet Archive Wayback Machine does:

A 41-year-old man was left bloodied early Christmas morning after his spouse attacked and stabbed him with a ceramic squirrel for not bringing home beer, according to an incident report. Helen Ann Williams, 44, was arrested Wednesday and charged with criminal domestic violence of a high and aggravated nature. ... An incident report states officers arrived to find a man with a large amount of blood on his shirt due to a "large deep" laceration from his left shoulder to left chest area. He also had cuts on his face. The victim told police he went to the store to get beer, but returned home because the store was closed. The reports states Williams was mad the victim did not bring home beer. She then hit the victim over the head with a ceramic squirrel, and stabbed him in the chest with it.

Full Incident Report

The writer of the North Charleston police incident report redacted the name of the wife's common-law husband  the alleged victim:

On 12/25/2013, at approximately 12:22 a.m., Officer [Dominick] Coleman was dispatched to [redacted] Clifton Street in reference to a domestic. Upon my arrival, Officer Coleman was directed to [redacted] Clifton Street where the domestic was by [victim] banging on the door to his residence. Officer Coleman approached [victim] and asked him, "What was going on?" He stated that there was nothing going on. As [victim] was talking, Officer Coleman noticed a lot of blood on [his] face. Officer Coleman using his flashlight began to look at [victim's] face. Officer Coleman noticed a large laceration on [victim's] head as well as cuts on his face. Officer Coleman also noticed large amounts of blood on [victim's] shirt. When [victim] removed his shirt, Officer Coleman noticed a large, deep laceration starting from [victim's] left shoulder to his left chest area. Officer Coleman had dispatched to called EMS to the scene. Officer Coleman then secured the scene. Officer Coleman then asked Ms. Williams what happened. She stated that nothing happened and that he just fell and cut himself. Officer Coleman asked Ms. Williams, "Why is there large amounts of blood on your hand as well as your clothes?" She stated that it was not [redacted] blood and that the blood had been there. Officer Coleman went back to [victim] and asked him to be truthful about what happened. [Victim] stated that he walked to the store earlier to get beer for him and Ms. Williams. He stated that he came home because the store was closed. He stated that he tried to fix a sandwich and she got mad that he did not have the beer and took a ceramic squirrel and hit him over the head and then stabbed him over his shoulder and chest with it. He stated that he ran across the street to [redacted] Clifton and his neighbor called 911. Officer Coleman had pictures taken of [victim] and of the area where it took place. Ms. Williams was placed under arrest for [criminal domestic violence] and transported to the jail for booking procedures. [Victim] was transported to the hospital for medical treatment.

"The condition of the squirrel wasn't reported," NBC News reported in a separate article on Dec. 27.

We contacted Bay News 9 via a direct message on X to ask questions about this story. This article will be updated if we receive further details.

Sources:

Bleier, Evan. "Woman Stabs Husband with Ceramic Squirrel for Coming Home with No Beer [VIDEO] - UPI.com." UPI.Com, 30 Dec. 2013, https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2013/12/30/Woman-stabs-husband-with-squirrel-over-Christmas-without-beer/7321388412494/.

"Bond Denied for Woman Charged in Northwoods Hit & Run." WCIV, 15 Feb. 2017, https://abcnews4.com/news/crime-news/bond-denied-for-woman-charged-in-northwoods-hit-run.

Johnson, M. Alex. "SC Woman Charged with Stabbing Husband with a Ceramic Squirrel." NBC News, 28 Dec. 2013, http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/sc-woman-charged-stabbing-husband-ceramic-squirrel-flna2D11812410.

News 2 Staff. "Wife Jailed after Stabbing Husband with Ceramic Squirrel." WCBD-TV, 27 Dec. 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20140102140234/https://www.counton2.com/story/24314595/north-charleston-woman-jailed-after-stabbing-husband-with-ceramic-squirrel.

Weiss, Philip. "Police: Woman Stabbed Man with Ceramic Squirrel." Fox Carolina via Internet Archive Wayback Machine, 27 Dec. 2013, https://web.archive.org/web/20131229012943/https://www.foxcarolina.com/story/24313842/police-woman-stabbed-man-with-ceramic-squirrell/.
Donald Tusk, Prime Minister of Poland, makes a press statement after a joint meeting in the Federal Chancellery. Christoph Soeder/dpa

Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reshuffled his cabinet on Friday as part of preparations for the European Parliament elections next month.

Justifying the move, Tusk said the initial months of his government since taking office in December had been to tear down structures created by the previous national-conservative Law and Justice (PiS) party and that now was the time to clean up.

Tusk's centre-left coalition, centred around his Civic Platform party, has undertaken strenuous efforts to reverse the policies of the PiS, which held power from 2015.

Outgoing Culture Minister Bartomiej Sienkiewicz has restructured the public media, which had come to be seen as a PiS propaganda organ. Sienkiewicz and three other ministers are to campaign in the European elections, prompting the reshuffle.

Hanna Wroblewska, formerly director of the Zacheta National Gallery of Art in Warsaw, has been appointed culture minister.

Interior Minister Marcin Kierwinski is being replaced by Tomasz Simoniak, coordinator of the intelligence services, who will now fill both roles.

Jakub Jaworowski is to be the new minister for state companies, succeeding Borys Budka. The culture, interior and state companies posts are all held by members of Tusk's Civic Platform party

A fourth minister, Krzysztof Hetman, a member of the Christian-conservative Third Way, is to be succeeded at the Ministry for Development and Technology by Krzysztof Paszyk, to date the party's parliamentary leader.

The four new ministers are to be sworn in by President Andrej Duda on Monday. The European Parliament elections are to be held from June 6 to 9 across the 27-member bloc. They take place on June 9 in Poland.
Something fishy is going on in Southwest Florida waters.

On Wednesday, a 9-foot great white shark surfaced southwest of Marco Island far off the coast for the second time in two days and the fourth time this year.

The shark, named "Keji" by OCEARCH scientists who tagged him off Nova Scotia in 2021, pinged at 2:28 p.m., which means the tag attached to its dorsal fin surfaced long enough to transmit location information.

Keji has been hanging around the edge of the West Florida Escarpment this week, a 560-mile-long cliff in the Gulf of Mexico, where the seafloor plunges from just over 300 feet to nearly 10,000 feet deep. The escarpment is between 155 to 215 miles off the coast.

According to its OCEARCH tracker, Keji previously pinged off Marco Island on Feb. 4 and Feb. 16 and May 6 and appears to be heading back up north, a trip the shark has made annually after overwintering in Florida since it was tagged in 2021.

Keji's pings show the shark arriving in Florida late last year, with its first ping southeast of St. Augustine on November 30, near the Florida Keys on Dec. 13, off Marco Island in February, Panama City Beach March 15, near Port Fourchon, Louisiana on April 11 and off St. George Island on April 22.

North Atlantic white sharks are known to migrate south from the waters around New England and Canada during winter in search of warmer waters and more abundant food sources and travel up North again this time of the year.

Here's what to know about Keji, OCEARCH and great white sharks in Florida:

More about OCEARCH white shark Keji

Keji was tagged by OCEARCH near Ironbound Island Nova Scotia on Sep. 22, 2021. At the time, the male juvenile white shark measured 9 feet 7 inches and weighed 578 pounds.

Great white sharks can grow up to 20 feet long, but most are smaller with adult females averaging 15-16 feet and males 11-13 feet long.

Keji was named after the Kejimkujik National Park and National Historic Site in the region where he was tagged, according to OCEARCH.

On May 8, great white Shark Keji pinged off Marco Island for the second time in two days and fourth time this year. Keji was tagged by Ocearch Sept. 22, 2021, off Ironbound Island, Nova Scotia.

What does OCEARCH do for great white sharks?

OCEARCH is a nonprofit research organization studying the ocean's giants.

The group studies keystone species, including great white sharks, essential for the health of the oceans.

"At OCEARCH, were on a mission to solve the Global White Shark Puzzle. There are nine populations of white sharks across the globe and OCEARCHs goal is to assist regional scientists to better understand the life of the white shark in each of these populations," the group's website states.

OCEARCH was due to launch its 47th expedition on April 1 but canceled it due to delays in the repair and maintenance of its research vessel M/V OCEARCH, according to a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Instead, scientists plan to head to Europe this summer for Expedition Save the Med.

Scientists plan to travel to Spain, France and Ireland aboard the research vessel M/V OCEARCH to study the Mediterranean Sea great white shark population. Expedition Save the Med is planned for July 29 to September 23.

"Ruthlessly persecuted. Completely misunderstood. Now critically endangered. OCEARCH is traveling over 4,000 miles to explore European waters and study the Mediterranean white shark population. A study of this kind has never been done before," the group posted on its website.

OCEARCH is giving away a Europe trip, chance to 'meet' shark

Make a donation to OCEARCH or fill out a registration form to be entered into the "Meet a Shark" sweepstakes and a chance to win a trip to Europe and "meet" a great white shark. No purchase is necessary, according to the official sweepstakes rules.

The grand prize winner and a guest get a 5-day, 4-night trip to Spain, France or Ireland with airfare and hotel included and have a chance to join OCEARCH scientists on their research vessel during the shark-tagging Expedition Save the Med.

The sweepstakes started on May 1 and eligible entries must be received by 11:59 p.m. on August 5, 2024.

Entrants must be 21 or older and legal residents of the United States, Canada (excluding Quebec), the UK or Ireland.

Winners will be determined by random drawing. Official rules are available at meetashark.com.

OCEARCH shark tracker: One shark 'drew' a shark portrait

OCEARCH provides an online map tracking the tagged sharks' travels.

Each animal has a Smart Position and Temperature Transmitting Tag (SPOT) tag attached to its dorsal fin which emits a ping when it breaks the water's surface for a short time and transmits location information to trackers.

The most notable tracker page belongs to a 13-foot 3-inch white shark nicknamed Breton. The 1,437-pound shark's pings from September 2020 to January 2022 connect to show what appears to be the outline of a colossal shark, with the tail in Nova Scotia, the body spanning the East Coast and the head pointing at Florida's east coast.

Breton, a 1,400 pound OCEARCH-tagged white shark seemingly created a self-portrait with pings of his journey received by the research group's shark tracker.

How many sharks has OCEARCH tagged?

According to its tracker, OCEARCH has tagged 371 sharks, including 123 great white sharks.

123 great white sharks

144 tiger sharks

9 blacktip sharks

29 shortfin mako sharks

25 blue sharks

18 hammerhead sharks

6 silky sharks

6 bull sharks

8 whale sharks

3 great hammerhead sharks

The group has also tagged alligators, dolphins, seals, swordfish and turtles.

Great white sharks in Florida

Great white sharks migrate south when the water gets cold and food sources become scarce up north, according to OCEARCH chief scientist Dr. Bob Hueter.

Think of them as the snowbirds of sharks.

Most of them tend to stay away from the beaches in continental shelf waters, Hueter said.

There were 69 documented unprovoked shark attacks around the globe in 2023. The U.S. led the world with 36 attacks and Florida again was the state with the most bites at 16.

Florida shark attacks by county from 1882-present:

Volusia: 351

Brevard: 158

Palm Beach: 83

St. Johns: 45

Duval: 46

Martin: 41

St. Lucie: 39

Indian River: 22

Monroe: 21

Miami-Dade: 20

Broward: 16

Pinellas: 15

Bay: 9

Collier: 8

Lee: 8

Sarasota: 7

Flagler: 6

Escambia: 7

Nassau: 8

Okaloosa: 4

Manatee: 5

Gulf: 2

Franklin: 2

Walton: 1

Charlotte: 1

Santa Rosa: 1

While the U.S. has the most attacks, South Africa has the most shark-related fatalities.

Of the 949 global shark attacks recorded by Shark Attack File, great white sharks were credited as the top biters. However, no white shark has been identified in a Florida shark bite since 1926.

Support local journalism by subscribing to a Florida news organization.

This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Florida great white sharks: OCEARCH shark pings off Marco Island again
Parliamentary researcher among two men charged with spying for China under Official Secrets act

Chris Cash, 29, has been accused of an offence under the Official Secrets Act (Supplied)

A parliamentary researcher is among two British men who have been charged with spying for China after an investigation by counter-terrorism police.

Christopher Cash, 29, from Whitechapel in east London, a former researcher for Conservative MP Alicia Kearns, has been accused of an offence under the Official Secrets Act, the Metropolitan Police said.

Christopher Berry, 32, from Witney in Oxfordshire, also faces the same charge.

It is alleged that between January 2022 and February 2023 Mr Cash for a purpose prejudicial to the safety or interests of the State, obtained, collected, recorded, published, or communicated to any other person articles, notes, documents or information, which were calculated to be, might be, or were intended to be, directly or indirectly, useful to an enemy.

Mr Berry is accused of the same offence between December 2021 and February 2023.

Mr Cash is understood to have worked as a parliamentary researcher and was closely linked to senior Tories including Tom Tugendhat  now security minister  and Ms Kearns, who serves as chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee.

Mr Cash was director of Tory MPs China Research Group, which was initially chaired by Mr Tugendhat and then Ms Kearns.

After he was charged, Ms Kearns posted on X: Regarding the Crown Prosecutions announcement this afternoon that two men will be charged on espionage offences on behalf of China: As this matter is now sub judice it is essential that neither I, nor anyone else, say anything that might prejudice a criminal trial relating to a matter of national security. I will not be commenting further.

Commander Dominic Murphy, head of the Mets Counter Terrorism Command, said: This has been an extremely complex investigation into what are very serious allegations.

Weve worked closely with the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) as our investigation has progressed and this has led to the two men being charged today.

Were aware there has been a degree of public and media interest in this case, but we would ask others to refrain from any further comment or speculation, so that the criminal justice process can now run its course.

Nick Price, head of the CPS Special Crime and Counter Terrorism Division, added: Christopher Berry, 32, and Christopher Cash, 29, will be charged with providing prejudicial information to a foreign state, China, and will appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday, 26 April.

Criminal proceedings against the defendants are active. No one should report, comment or share information online which could in any way prejudice their right to a fair trial.
Two Britons to face trial next year accused of spying for China

Two men to appear in UK court charged with spying for China

Two men to appear in UK court charged with spying for China

LONDON (Reuters) - Two Britons, including a former researcher for a prominent British lawmaker in the governing Conservative Party, were told on Friday they would go on trial next year accused of spying for China.

The men, ex-researcher Christopher Cash, 29, and Christopher Berry, 32, were charged last month with providing prejudicial information to China in breach of the Official Secrets Act.

Cash and Berry, who have not yet entered a plea, appeared for a brief hearing at London's Old Bailey Court on Friday where they spoke only to confirm their names and date of birth.

They were told their trial would take place in the spring or summer of next year, and both were released on bail until a hearing on Oct. 4.

Anxiety has mounted across Europe about Chinas alleged espionage activity - which Beijing has repeatedly denied - and Britain has become increasingly vocal about its concerns in recent months.

In a speech last month in Warsaw, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said Chinese state-affiliated actors had conducted "malicious cyber campaigns" against British lawmakers.

Earlier this week, Sunak said a "malign actor" had probably compromised the payments system used by the British armed forces, with British media saying China was believed to be behind the cyber attack, accusations Beijing described as absurd.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; editing by Sarah Young)
Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, is greeted after the General Assembly adopted a resolution at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 10, 2024. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."

The resolution was adopted with 143 votes in favor and nine against, including the United States and Israel, while 25 countries abstained. China voted for the resolution.

The resolution states, "The State of Palestine... should therefore be admitted to membership" and "recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favorably."

The resolution "determines" that a State of Palestine is qualified for membership - dropping the original language that in the UN General Assembly's judgment it is "a peace-loving state." It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request "favorably."

Saudi Arabia's permanent representative to the United Nations, Abdulaziz Alwasil, said that "the resolution presented today is fully in line with those resolutions. It seeks to implement the will of the international community and contribute to building true peace in the Middle East based on the two-state solution."

"It is high time for the international community to re-establish the truth because the world can no longer ignore the suffering of the Palestinian people that has lasted for decades," he said after the vote.

Alwasil further noted that Israel, the occupying power, has perpetrated "all sorts of crimes" against the Palestinian people, scorning international law.

"Israel is convinced that they are above these resolutions and that they enjoy a certain level of immunity...which explains their ongoing hostile and brutal policies," he said.

UNGA President Dennis Francis opened the continuation of the 10th Emergency Special Session (ESS), which last convened on Dec. 12, 2023, against the backdrop of a worsening crisis in Gaza.

Francis stated that peace has remained elusive, and the situation has become untenable, deteriorating "at an alarming speed."

This crisis is "bringing countless innocent victims into its deadly fold and pushing the region further to the brink of full-scale catastrophe," he said.

He urged the international community not to look away from the dire situation that has unfolded since the new round of conflict began on Oct. 7, leading to significant Israeli devastation in Gaza.

The resolution, proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on behalf of 22 Arab countries and co-sponsored by about 65 states, asserts that "the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter and should therefore be admitted."

UAE's permanent representative to the United Nations, Mohamed Abushahab, addressed the General Assembly before the vote, emphasizing the broad recognition of the legitimacy of Palestine's bid.

He stated, "The vast majority of countries in the General Assembly are fully aware of the legitimacy of the Palestinian bid and the justness of their cause, which faces fierce attempts to suppress it and render it meaningless today."

He further noted that granting Palestine full membership would send a "powerful message" in support of the two-state solution, adding, "Fulfilling the UN's historic obligation towards the Palestinian people is long overdue, but it is never too late."

Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations, Munir Akram, told the General Assembly that there will come a day when Israel will be held accountable for the crimes committed against Palestinians, especially in Gaza.

The insults hurled today are "the arrogance of the aggressor" reflecting the impunity of the occupier, he said, explaining his delegation's position ahead of the vote on the draft resolution.

He also expressed hope that the international community will appropriately respond in that regard.

Akram underscored that the resolution's adoption will determine the widespread support for Palestine to be accorded full UN membership.

Also, before the vote, Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, told the assembly that "no words can capture what such loss and trauma signifies for Palestinians, their families, communities and for our nation as a whole."

He said Palestinians in Gaza "have been pushed to the very edge of the strip, to the very brink of life" with Israel besieging Rafah.

"We want peace, we want freedom," Mansour said. "A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state ... It is an investment in peace."

"Voting yes is the right thing to do," he stated, receiving applause from the assembly.

Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, accused the assembly, after the vote, of trampling on the UN Charter, and put the cover of the UN Charter into a mini portable electric document shredder.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians received significant support for full UN membership, with 12 votes in favor. Britain and Switzerland abstained, while the United States voted no and vetoed the resolution.

The 10th ESS convened for the first time in April 1997 following a request from Qatar. It followed a series of Security Council and General Assembly meetings regarding the Israeli decision to build a large housing project in an area of East Jerusalem.

The General Assembly on May 1 announced that it would resume the 10th ESS, after Palestine's UN membership bid was blocked by the United States at the Security Council in April.

Francis had informed member states that he would convene a plenary meeting of the ESS on May 10.

According to the UN Charter, prospective members must be "peace-loving," and their admission requires a recommendation from the Security Council to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine has held the status of a UN non-member observer state since 2012. 

Riyad Mansour, the permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, addresses the 10th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 10, 2024. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UN General Assembly President Dennis Francis (L) strikes his gavel to signal the adoption of a resolution during the 10th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 10, 2024. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

Voting results are displayed during the 10th Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly at the UN headquarters in New York, on May 10, 2024. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably." (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
MEMPHIS, Tenn.  Two former Memphis Police officers have been indicted, accused of causing a deadly wreck during an unauthorized pursuit last year, then leaving the scene of the accident without aiding the victims.

Marquavius Williams and Ontarian Malone Jr. are charged in the indictment handed down Thursday with two counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving death, four counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving injury and six counts of official misconduct.

The former Memphis officers resigned Thursday from the police department in Hernando, Mississippi, where they had worked since February.

The charges stem from an incident that happened May 6, 2023, resulting in the death of Jasmine Kinds and injury to several others, according to the indictment.

The indictment alleges that the officers used a police vehicle as a battering ram to force a pursued vehicle to stop. It also alleges the officers failed to operate emergency equipment during the pursuit and failed to report the pursuit.

A Peace Officer decertification request filed against Williams in March outlines a summary of facts from May 6, 2023:

 Officer Williams and his partner were on patrol and observed a suspicious vehicle at a gas station. The vehicle drove away with Officer Williams and his partner in pursuit. There was no evidence or information this vehicle was involved in any type of crime; nor had its driver violated any traffic laws. Officer Williams was operating the patrol car and pursued this vehicle without activating blue lights or siren and failed to turn on his body-worn camera and/or in car video. No supervisor nor the dispatcher were notified and the vehicle being pursued wrecked out resulting in a fatality and multiple passengers being taken to the hospital with injuries. Neither Officer Williams nor his partner rendered aid to the vehicle occupants.

The document does not make clear where the wreck happened. But on May 6 last year, WREG reported on a fiery, high-speed crash that killed a woman and injured four others on Park Avenue in Orange Mound. Police at the time said it may have been the result of a pursuit.

Woman dead, 4 injured in fiery crash on Park Avenue

Witnesses said a car was driving at a high speed when it lost control and hit another car. The second car spun out into a nearby tire shop and burst into flames. MPD requested Tennessee Highway Patrol to investigate.

MPD confirmed Friday that both officers resigned while under investigation, but declined to comment, citing pending litigation against both men.

Marquavius Williams resigned from MPD effective Jan. 5 this year without an administrative hearing, according to the POST documents.

Employment records state Malone and Williams joined MPD in 2019.

In fact, WREG spoke to Williams during his graduation ceremony. He was the first officer in the departments history to join after first graduating from MPDs clergy academy.

I always wanted to be a police officer, always in my heart and along the way, I got into ministry, Williams said in 2019.

Both men were sworn in as officers with the Hernando Police Department on Feb. 27 this year, and resigned Thursday, Hernandos police chief confirmed.

Above: A photo from the Hernando Police Department shows the officers on the day they were sworn in, with Mayor Chip Johnson on the right.

Weve requested the officers files and the crash report for more details.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WREG.com.
Agriculture is a big water user in Oregon. (Courtesy of Christy George)

After two searches within the last year, including a national sweep for top water managers, Gov. Tina Kotek has settled on an insider to oversee management of Oregons water, one of its most valuable resources.

Kotek said in a news release Wednesday she has appointed Ivan Gall, a longtime manager in the Water Resources Department, as the agencys director. The department, charged with allocating and distributing water in Oregon, plays a crucial role in the state, especially now after years of drought, declining snowpack and worries of dwindling resources. Despite that, the department has continued to follow a tradition of dishing out water permits even when lacking data on availability, said Rep. Ken Helm, D-Beaverton and co-chair of the interim House natural resources committee.

Gall has been in the department during that time. Hes worked for the agency for nearly 30 years, including as a hydrogeologist, or groundwater scientist, region and section manager and administrator. Hes been interim deputy director of water management, one of two deputy directors at the agency, since September 2022, taking over temporarily for Doug Woodcock, who became the agencys acting director after Tom Byler stepped down from the top spot.

Ivan Gall

Ivan Gall. (Oregon governors office)

The state launched an initial search last June, but it ended with disappointment over candidate quality, OPB reported. Only two people were identified as having the minimum qualifications. Sources said they were Gall and Jason Minor, natural resources adviser to former Gov. Kate Brown.

The state launched a second search last October, led by Motus Recruiting, and a woman in Colorado was offered the job. She turned it down over the pay, sources said. They said the governors office was reluctant to conduct a third search. Koteks office said in a statement to the Capital Chronicle that the search was extensive and included input from more than a dozen stakeholders, a tribal member and the Water Resources Commission.

Kotek said in her release that Gall will be able to hit the ground running along with Sara OBrien, who Kotek appointed to lead the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, a state agency that allocates grants to restore streams, rivers, wetlands and other natural areas around the state. OBrien has been a part of Willamette Partnership, a conservation group that works with communities on land, water and recreational opportunities, since 2013 and has served as its executive director since 2015.

These two new directors I am appointing are ready to take this charge head on, Kotek said. I expect them to work collaboratively with Oregons federally recognized tribal nations, local communities, water users and other natural resource partners to prepare our state for the future of water resource management.

Both appointments need to be confirmed by the state Senate, which is expected to consider them at the end of the month. Sources said they see little problem for OBrien, who told the Capital Chronicle shes honored by the appointment and is very excited to lead the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board.

Sara O'Brien

Sara OBrien. (Governors office)

Ive worked closely with several of their staff over the years and have always been impressed with their dedication and collaborative approach, OBrien said.

The board job pays nearly $174,000. Gall would earn nearly $200,000, but his confirmation could prove tricky.

I dont think its a slam dunk by any means, said Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane.

Owens is the other co-chair of the House water resources committee and has worked closely with Helm to get the department to rein in water permitting. Theyve both leaned on Kotek to hire an outsider to manage the department. So has the Oregon Farm Bureau, which represents Oregons $5 billion agriculture industry that depends on water. A farm bureau spokeswoman, Lauren Poor, indicated in an email to the Capital Chronicle that the bureau is not happy with Galls choice.

The important role that the Oregon Water Resources Department fills for the states water user community cannot be understated, Poor said. Overall, Oregon Farm Bureau has been discouraged with the departments direction for some time and were hopeful that Gov. Kotek would appoint a director with a fresh perspective, new energy and creative ideas from outside the agency. We are very concerned that despite Mr. Galls long and capable service, that this appointment represents more status quo.

Both Helm and Owens said they would work with Gall, if hes confirmed. But Owens also worries that promoting an insider could mean more of the same.

Weve over-appropriated water, Owens said. So instead of figuring out how to allocate and regulate water, we got to figure out how we can manage water.

Kotek spokeswoman Anca Matica told the Capital Chronicle in an email that Kotek also wants change.

The governor has been clear throughout the recruitment process that Oregons approach and culture around managing our water resources must change, a statement said. In the face of increasing pressure on ground and surface water supplies from a changing climate and growing population, Oregons Water Resources Department needs a reset.

Matica added: Throughout this process, Mr. Gall communicated a clear vision and direction for the Oregon Water Resources Department consistent with that of the governor. Mr. Gall demonstrated command of the issues facing the state, and a willingness to work with all those interested in helping the Department make progress on this significant challenge.

In the news release, Kotek said the two appointees need to focus on building resiliency for Oregons resources in the face of climate change.

Oregonians deserve leaders who can chart a proactive path to protect and improve management of our states limited water resources for the benefit of healthy ecosystems, thriving communities and a strong economy, Kotek said.

Helm and Owens have been pushing the department to suspend issuing new water permits until the state audits its water supplies. A bill they proposed in 2023 would have done just that, but it didnt pass. Helm told the Capital Chronicle on Wednesday it freaked people out and potentially prompted the department to scramble up new water permitting rules. The proposed changes, which are now up for public comment, would dial back permitting in cases in which the department couldnt determine whether there was enough water available.

That would mark a turnaround.

It is a big change for the department because it was exactly the opposite for decades and decades, Helm said. If the data wasnt there, they would default to going ahead and giving the permit and hoping for the best and monitoring.

A department spokeswoman, Alyssa Rash, said Gall was involved in the rulemaking, and Helm said he supported the new approach. But he said the department could still use a shakeup.

You want to make sure that the new director has the courage to make changes that will reverse that direction, Helm said.

Water rule changes

The Oregon Water Resources Department Department is holding two more sessions to gather public comment on the proposed water rule changes: May 16 at Jackson County Auditorium in Central Point between 7-9 p.m. and online May 21 and in Salem that same day at the North Mall Office Building between 7-9 p.m. The department is also accepting written comments through the end of the month to Laura Hartt, Oregon Water Resources Department, 725 Summer Street N.E., Suite A, Salem, OR 97301 or by email to WRD_DL_rule-coordinator@water.oregon.gov.

The Oregon Water Resources Department Commission will consider approving the proposed change in September.

For more information, visit the departments website here.

The post After two searches, Kotek appoints insider to lead state water department appeared first on Oregon Capital Chronicle.
A pair of backcountry skiers died after they were hit by an avalanche Thursday in the mountains outside Salt Lake City in Utah, authorities said.

Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said rescue teams went to the area close to Lone Peak in the Wasatch Range after the avalanche was reported. She said that she believed the 911 call made at around 10 a.m. was made by a survivor of the snowslide.

One Feared Dead, Two Rescued From Idaho Avalanche, Sheriffs Office Says

He was able to dig himself out, Rivera told The Salt Lake Tribune. He was in pretty fair conditions other than mentally going through something like this is extremely scary.

Craig Gordon, a forecaster at the Utah Avalanche Center, said the survivor had been able to find the other skiers and attempted to rescue them. This was a group of very experienced, very serious, very dedicated backcountry skiers, he told the Tribune, fighting back tears. Right now, our hearts and our entire community is feeling very heavy.

The two deceased victims of the avalanche are both men, ages 23 and 32, according to the Associated Press. Their names have not been publicly released, but Rivera said their families have been notified.

A recovery was not possible Thursday due to conditions in the area, but crews are planning to return Friday morning, weather permitting, Rivera added.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
Migrants wait to be allowed to immigrate to the United States in May of 2023. On Thursday, the Justice Department and several civil rights organizations sued Iowa to prevent a Senate File 2340, a controversial immigration law, from going into effect. Photo by Carlos Moreno/UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- The Biden administration and several civil rights organizations are suing Iowa to prevent enforcement of a controversial law that would permit the imprisonment and deportation of migrants in the state who have been previously denied entry into the United States.

The legislation, Senate File 2340, was signed into law April 10 to create a new state criminal offense that would penalize non-citizens in Iowa if they have been previously denied admission to the United States. The law would also require Iowa courts to oder their removal to the country from which they entered the United States and does not exempt children from the aggravated misdemeanor charges.

The American Civil Liberties Union and other such groups on behalf of the Iowa Migrant Movement for Justice and two Iowans and the Justice Department filed separate lawsuits Thursday to prevent the law from going into effect July 1.

Both lawsuits state S.F. 2340 is unconstitutional, while Iowa's Republican governor, Kim Reynolds, argues it is needed to protect the state from President Joe Biden's immigration polices.

Federal prosecutors in their complaint accuse the law of attempting to usurp immigration powers from the federal government. The civil rights organizations add in their complaint that the legislation permits the arrest of immigrants who re-enter the United States with federal consent or who later gain lawful immigration status.

"Iowa cannot disregard the U.S. Constitution and settled Supreme Court precedent," Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian Boynton, head of the Justice Department's Civil Division, said in a statement.

"We have brought this action to ensure that Iowa adheres to the framework adopted by Congress and the Constitution for regulation of immigration."

The ACLU describes the law as "one of the worst, most far-reaching immigration laws" ever passed in the state, arguing it not only conflicts with existing federal law, but its implications are far reaching.

Under the legislation, local law enforcement will be directed to arrest immigrants who have authorization to be in the country, including those granted asylum, awarded one of dozens of other authorized immigration statues and given visas protecting victims of crime, trafficking or domestic violence, the civil liberties union said.

As an example of a potential victim to the law, the ACLU said Anna -- the alias of an 18-year-old high school student from Honduras whose father was murdered and sister kidnapped -- has received asylum and is lawfully in the United States. But she and her mother were deported when she was 14, which, under the new law, opens her up to arrest and deportation in her home state of Iowa.

If the law goes into effect, Anna faces prosecution, imprisonment and removal to Mexico, where she is neither from nor has family there.

"This ugly law is deeply harmful to Iowa families and communities," ACLU of Iowa Legal Director Rita Bettis Austen said in a statement.

"Iowa lawmakers knowingly targeted people who are protected by federal immigration laws and who are legally allowed to be here, like people granted asylum, or special visas given to survivors of domestic violence or other crimes."

The legislation is similar to Texas' Senate Bill 4, which Republican Gov. Greg Abbott signed into law late last year amid his feud with the Biden administration over immigration.

The Biden administration and civil rights organizations similarly challenged the Texas bill in court, and the law has been blocked amid further litigation since March.

Abbott has defended the bill by stating Texas has a right to defend itself from "Biden's ongoing failure to fulfill his duty to protect our state from the invasion at our southern border."

Reynolds on Thursday issued a brief statement, mirroring Abbott's sentiment.

"As governor, I have a responsibility to protect the citizens of Iowa. Since President Biden refuses to enforce our nation's immigration laws -- threatening the safety of our citizens -- Iowa will step in," she said.
U.S. House committee investigating Georgia Tech and its ties to university in China

A U.S. House committee has announced that it is investigating Georgia Tech and its ties to a Chinese university.

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party said it wants to know about Techs ties with Tianjin University, a Chinese university with significant ties to the Chinese military, the Peoples Liberation Army.

The Georgia Tech Shenzhen Institute was built in October 2022 in partnership with Tianjin University, but Tech has had an exchange program with the university since 2009. The program welcomed its first group of graduate students in August 2014 and has since brought in students from over 13 countries and regions, the institutes website said.

GTSI strives to promote exchange and cooperation in higher education between China and the United States. It shall educate students with integrity and excellence who are committed to improving the human condition through advanced science and technology, the institutes website said.

The House committee said Tech has been using money from its Department of Defense research institute to fund sensitive research with Tianjin University, which was placed on a U.S. government blacklist for stealing American technology with military applications.

TRENDING STORIES:

The lawmakers expressed concern over millions of dollars that Georgia Tech accepted from the Peoples Republic of China to support its partnership with the blacklisted university, in addition to other PRC funding that the university appeared to neglect reporting to U.S. officials, the committee said in a news release.

The committee sent a letter Thursday to Techs president, Dr. Angel Cabrera, asking for information regarding its relationship with the Chinese military-linked university, including information about funding, collaborations, and research partnerships.

Tianjin University houses major defense laboratories and was involved in a trade secret theft scheme to steal technology with military applications from U.S. companies, activities for which it was placed on the U.S. Department of Commerces Entity List in 2020, the letter said.

In a statement to Channel 2 Action News, Georgia Tech said:

Protecting national security and contributing to and assuring American competitiveness are core to Georgia Tech. We have implemented ongoing measures to ensure security and compliance across our academic and research functions. We are continuously evaluating and adapting our systems.

We insist on strict adherence to all rules and regulations that have been established to protect our nation and its interests.

We welcome the inquiry from Congress and will respond to the questions raised in a timely manner. If there are processes that can be enhanced, we will work to promptly implement them.

An important fact check -- The Georgia Tech Research Institute (GTRI) does not provide funding or have any research partnerships or collaborations with Tianjin University or entities affiliated with Tianjin University.

IN OTHER NEWS:
Stock photo from Getty Images.

WASHINGTON  U.S. House Republicans passed a bill Wednesday to add a citizenship question to the census and exclude noncitizens from the official headcount when determining population for representation in Congress and electoral votes.

The legislation, which passed on a 206-202 party-line vote, is part of a trend of House GOP bills relating to immigration as the November elections approach. Republicans and their presumptive presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump, have centered their campaigns on immigration.

The Trump administration tried to add a citizenship question in the 2020 census but the Supreme Court blocked it.

We should not reward states and cities that violate federal immigration laws and maintain sanctuary policies with increased Congressional representation, House Speaker Mike Johnson said in a statement after the bill passed. Common sense dictates that only American citizens should be counted for electoral apportionment.

The bill, H.R. 7109, sponsored by North Carolina GOP Rep. Chuck Edwards would impact the 2030 census and onward if signed into law.

The census, which occurs every 10 years, helps determine congressional seats in the House and can determine political power.

Since the first census in 1790, citizens and noncitizens have been included in the official population count of the U.S. due to the 14th Amendments requirement to include whole numbers of persons in each State.

Edwards argued during debate of the bill that the Constitution did not specify that noncitizens should be counted in the census.

He argued that the word persons, in the 14th amendment, carries no definition.

Its unlikely to pass the Senate, which Democrats control by a slim margin, and the White House already put out a statement opposing the bill.

The White House said the bill would preclude the Department of Commerces Census Bureau from performing its constitutionally mandated responsibility to count the number of persons in the United States in the decennial census, and would make it more difficult to obtain accurate data.

The Biden-Harris Administration is committed to ensuring that the census remains as accurate as possible and free from political interference, and to upholding the longstanding principle of equal representation enshrined in our Constitution, census statutes, and historical tradition, the White House said.

Numbers padded in Dem areas, GOP claims

During debate on the House floor, Republicans argued that areas that have high immigrant populations take away congressional representation from U.S. citizens and benefit states led by Democrats.

This is absolutely outrageous, Republican Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana said. This is 100% about stacking the vote.

Tennessee Republican Rep. Tim Burchett said states with more noncitizens will get more congressional districts and more electoral votes. He said those votes would also benefit Democrats and skew things in their favor.

Dems warn of Hispanic undercount

Democrats argued that the bill would not only violate the Constitution but also harm immigrant communities by undercounting, and could threaten the accuracy of the census.

The census is essential to democracy, Maryland Democratic Rep. Jamie Raskin said. This bill would destroy the accuracy of the census, which may have something to do with its actual motivations.

Raskin added that the bill would not only carve out all noncitizens, including permanent residents with green cards who are on the pathway to citizenship.

Raskin said the GOPs move to add a citizenship question for the 2020 census led to a chilling effect and undercount of communities of color, especially Hispanics.

There were six states  Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Mississippi, Tennessee and Texas  that counted fewer people in the 2020 census than were estimated to live there.

Nationally, there was a record undercount of Hispanics in the 2020 census of about 3 million, according to the Pew Research Center.

Eight states  Delaware, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Utah  had overcounts, according to Pew.

The chair of the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragan of California said the bill would have a chilling effect on accuracy of the census and would harm immigrant communities.

Its a bill that threatens fair and equal representation of immigrant communities, she said.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post U.S. House Republicans pass bill to stop census from counting noncitizens appeared first on Ohio Capital Journal.
Terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the closest of three large international airports to Washington, D.C. (Carol Highsmith/Library of Congress)

WASHINGTON  After hours of uncertainty Thursday, the U.S. Senate struck a deal to reauthorize several Federal Aviation Authority programs for the next five years, though Maryland and Virginia senators were vehemently opposed and lawmakers hoping to attach unrelated provisions lost out.

The bill heads to the House next week for final approval. Lawmakers from the lower chamber left Wednesday after approving a one-week extension for the FAA programs that expire Friday night. The Senate also passed the extension.

The late night vote, 88-4, drew resistance from the Democratic senators representing Maryland and Virginia. They held up speedier passage of the bill over objections to a provision that would allow more flights in and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just over the Virginia border from Washington, D.C.

In a joint statement after the vote, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia said the Senate abdicated its responsibility to protect the safety of the 25 million people who annually fly through Reagan airport, known as DCA.

The airport, a favorite for lawmakers as its closest to the Capitol, is limited by federal regulation on the number of slots, or flights that can take off and land per day.

Just weeks after two aircraft nearly crashed into one another at DCA, this body refused to take up our commonsense amendment to remove a dangerous provision that would have crammed more flights onto the busiest runway in America, the statement from Kaine and Warner continued, referring to an April 18 near-miss when two planes cleared to take off came within 400 feet of crashing.

The Virginia senators, as well as Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, held out for hours Thursday as they negotiated a vote for an amendment to strike or tighten a provision that would increase slots at DCA to five more landings and five more take-offs.

Over 200 member priorities

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed to bring what the senators described as a compromise amendment to the floor Thursday evening. The amendment proposed giving the final say on slots to the Transportation secretary after considering delays and safety.

But GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, one of the bills managers, objected, saying that the bill already contains over 200 member priorities.

Cruz, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, managed the bill with the committees chair, Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Cruz is a proponent of increasing slots at DCA, particularly for a direct flight from San Antonio.

Others support the increase as well: Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia had originally proposed adding 28 new slots per day. That idea was scrapped and replaced with Cruzs amendment to allow five new daily flights in and out.

On the floor Thursday evening, Cruz pushed back on the safety argument, saying that the FAA experts have recently clarified that this near miss (on April 18) had absolutely nothing to do with traffic on the runway. He also blamed opposition on a lobbying effort from United Airlines, which operates a massive hub at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and wants to thwart competition.

Cruz said the final bill addresses safety issues by ensuring we have sufficient air traffic controllers to monitor the traffic and protect safety.

Late Thursday night after the bills passage, Cantwell took the floor to praise provisions that she said expand the aviation workforce, enhance pilot training and protect consumers.

Among its many provisions, the roughly 1,000-page legislation:

Directs the FAA to increase air traffic controller hiring targets.

Raises the commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65.

Prohibits mask-wearing and COVID-19 vaccine policies for passengers or employees.

Directs the FAA to update drone testing and operating rules.

Requires the Department of Transportation to create a seating policy to allow children to sit next to parents or guardians at no extra charge.

Requires airlines to automatically refund customers after three hours of delay for domestic flights and after six hours for international flights.

These statutory rights are a big win for consumers, Cantwell said.

Last flight out of the airport

Many lawmakers view the FAA reauthorization bill as the last major vehicle to which they can attach their priorities before November elections and the close of the 118th Congress.

That opportunity disappeared Thursday when the legislations managers decided against allowing non-germane amendments to ride on the bill.

Among the proposals lawmakers were eyeing as additions was Oregon Democrat Ron Wydens bipartisan tax bill that would expand the child tax credit and revive corporate tax breaks. Another included Sen. Josh Hawleys Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which would reauthorize a fund for victims of U.S. radiation testing exposure. The fund expires June 7.

Hawley said Thursday afternoon that he wouldnt object to the FAA bill, even if RECA wasnt added on.

I have no desire to tank the FAA reauthorization, Hawley, a Missouri Republican, told reporters outside the Senate chamber. I think we should have a reasonable process around it. But, if were not going to, were not going to.

At least we got automatic refunds for consumers out of this deal, which was good, Hawley added, referring to his amendment with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts that senators agreed to Tuesday.

States Newsroom reporter Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.

The post U.S. Senate in FAA bill adds flights at Washington National, bucking local opponents appeared first on Nebraska Examiner.
The terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the closest of three large international airports to Washington, D.C. (Carol Highsmith/Library of Congress)

The terminal at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Virginia, the closest of three large international airports to Washington, D.C. (Carol Highsmith/Library of Congress)

WASHINGTON  After hours of uncertainty Thursday, the U.S. Senate struck a deal to reauthorize several Federal Aviation Administration programs for the next five years, though Maryland and Virginia senators were vehemently opposed and lawmakers hoping to attach unrelated provisions lost out.

The bill heads to the House next week for final approval. Lawmakers from the lower chamber left Wednesday after approving a one-week extension for the FAA programs that expire Friday night. The Senate also passed the extension.

The late night vote, 88-4, drew resistance from the Democratic senators representing Maryland and Virginia. They held up speedier passage of the bill over objections to a provision that would allow more flights in and out of Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, just over the Virginia border from Washington, D.C.

In a joint statement after the vote, Sens. Tim Kaine and Mark Warner of Virginia said the Senate abdicated its responsibility to protect the safety of the 25 million people who annually fly through Reagan airport, known as DCA.

The airport, a favorite for lawmakers as its closest to the Capitol, is limited by federal regulation on the number of slots, or flights that can take off and land per day.

Just weeks after two aircraft nearly crashed into one another at DCA, this body refused to take up our commonsense amendment to remove a dangerous provision that would have crammed more flights onto the busiest runway in America, the statement from Kaine and Warner continued, referring to an April 18 near-miss when two planes cleared to take off came within 400 feet of crashing.

The Virginia senators, as well as Sens. Ben Cardin and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, held out for hours Thursday as they negotiated a vote for an amendment to strike or tighten a provision that would increase slots at DCA to five more landings and five more take-offs.

South Dakotas votes

Republican Sens. John Thune and Mike Rounds both supported the bill.

Thune said the legislation includes several of his own provisions. He said the bill would strengthen aviation safety, address the pilot shortage, improve airport infrastructure and rural air service programs, establish a new regulatory framework for the integration of drones, and improve aircraft accessibility.

Rounds highlighted the increase in Airport Improvement Program grant limits from $20 million to $30 million, for non-hub and small hub airports like Sioux Falls and Rapid City. This creates additional opportunities for South Dakota airports to expand and accommodate those traveling both to and from our great state, Rounds said in a news release.

Over 200 member priorities

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agreed to bring what the senators described as a compromise amendment to the floor Thursday evening. The amendment proposed giving the final say on slots to the Transportation secretary after considering delays and safety.

But GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, one of the bills managers, objected, saying that the bill already contains over 200 member priorities.

Cruz, ranking member of the Senate Committee on Commerce, managed the bill with the committees chair, Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington.

Cruz is a proponent of increasing slots at DCA, particularly for a direct flight from San Antonio.

Others support the increase as well: Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock of Georgia had originally proposed adding 28 new slots per day. That idea was scrapped and replaced with Cruzs amendment to allow five new daily flights in and out.

On the floor Thursday evening, Cruz pushed back on the safety argument, saying that the FAA experts have recently clarified that this near miss (on April 18) had absolutely nothing to do with traffic on the runway. He also blamed opposition on a lobbying effort from United Airlines, which operates a massive hub at Dulles International Airport in Virginia and wants to thwart competition.

Cruz said the final bill addresses safety issues by ensuring we have sufficient air traffic controllers to monitor the traffic and protect safety.

Late Thursday night after the bills passage, Cantwell took the floor to praise provisions that she said expand the aviation workforce, enhance pilot training and protect consumers.

Among its many provisions, the roughly 1,000-page legislation:

Directs the FAA to increase air traffic controller hiring targets;

Raises the commercial pilot retirement age to 67 from 65;

Prohibits mask-wearing and COVID-19 vaccine policies for passengers or employees;

Directs the FAA to update drone testing and operating rules;

Requires the Department of Transportation to create a seating policy to allow children to sit next to parents or guardians at no extra charge; and

Requires airlines to automatically refund customers after three hours of delay for domestic flights and after six hours for international flights.

These statutory rights are a big win for consumers, Cantwell said.

Last flight out of the airport

Many lawmakers view the FAA reauthorization bill as the last major vehicle to which they can attach their priorities before November elections and the close of the 118th Congress.

That opportunity disappeared Thursday when the legislations managers decided against allowing non-germane amendments to ride on the bill.

Among the proposals lawmakers were eyeing as additions was Oregon Democrat Ron Wydens bipartisan tax bill that would expand the child tax credit and revive corporate tax breaks. Another included Sen. Josh Hawleys Radiation Exposure Compensation Act, or RECA, which would reauthorize a fund for victims of U.S. radiation testing exposure. The fund expires June 7.

Hawley said Thursday afternoon that he wouldnt object to the FAA bill, even if RECA wasnt added on.

I have no desire to tank the FAA reauthorization, Hawley, a Missouri Republican, told reporters outside the Senate chamber. I think we should have a reasonable process around it. But, if were not going to, were not going to.

At least we got automatic refunds for consumers out of this deal, which was good, Hawley added, referring to his amendment with Democratic Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts that senators agreed to Tuesday.

Jacob Fischler contributed to this report.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post U.S. Senate in FAA bill adds flights at Washington National, bucking local opponents appeared first on South Dakota Searchlight.
WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR)  The White House says its pausing sending weapons to Israel if Israel invades Rafah.

Israel says Rafah is the last Hamas stronghold in Gaza.

Its also where more than a million refugees are sheltering.

President Biden says the U.S. is still committed to Israels defense but will not supply weapons for a Rafah ground invasion.

Republicans are slamming the presidents decision to withhold weapons.

Its a total betrayal, said Sen. Ted Budd (R-N.C.).

Others say the U.S. is abandoning an ally.

So much for that ironclad support, said Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa.).

Israel says it needs to invade Rafah to defeat Hamas, whose October terrorist attack started the war, but the White House has long opposed a major invasion of Rafah where more than a million Palestinian refugees are sheltering.

President Biden officially drew the line in an interview on CNN Wednesday.

If they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, said Biden.

His comments come after the administration paused a bombs shipment to Israel last week.

The State Department says it could pause more.

But again, we hope that there is no operation, said State Department Spokesperson Matthew Miller.

Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders praised the presidents move and said the U.S. should go further as the humanitarian crisis grows in Gaza.

holding back all offensive military aid, said Sanders.

However, Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman said this is a mistake.

We need to be absolutely ready to stand with Israel and provide whatever they need, said Fetterman.

In response, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel will stand alone in this war if it has to.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.
GENEVA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Governments around the world agreed to extend for another two weeks the talks over a landmark agreement on handling future pandemics, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.

A ninth and final round of negotiation involving WHO's 194 member states, advocacy groups and relevant stakeholders ended Friday without finalizing an agreement, which is scheduled to be considered for adoption at the World Health Assembly later this month.

The member states-led Intergovernmental Negotiating Body (INB) was established over two years ago to draft and negotiate a legally-binding agreement on pandemic prevention, preparedness and response. 
Matt Calhoun (Photo/UAA)

The University of Alaska Anchorage announced on Thursday that Matt Calhoun, Ph.D. (Athabaskan) has been selected as the new full-time executive director of the Alaska Native Science & Engineering Program (ANSEP).

A graduate of ANSEP, former program assistant director, and associate professor of civil engineering at UAA, Calhoun has led ANSEP as interim executive director since spring 2023.

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.

ANSEP plays a critical role in UAAs strategic goals of putting students first, embracing our diversity and operating as a trusted and respected community partner UAA Provost Denise Runge said. Matts strong dedication to ensuring all Alaska Native and rural Alaska students can succeed, along with his collaborative and creative approach to programming, made him the perfect choice to lead ANSEP into its next chapter. We are thrilled he has agreed to join our executive leadership team.

In 2002, Calhoun became one of the first students to graduate with ANSEP after earning a bachelor's degree in civil engineering from UAA. After working as a project/field engineer across Alaska, he returned to ANSEP as a director to inspire more Alaska Native students to pursue an education in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

"Stepping into this role at ANSEP is a tremendous honor for me. I know first hand just how pivotal this program can be, so I feel a great sense of pride and responsibility as I continue the legacy of ANSEP, guiding and inspiring the next generation of students, Calhoun said.

Fully committed to his passion for education and educational equity, Calhoun decided to obtain a masters degree in civil engineering, which he earned from the University of Colorado at Boulder, then followed by a Ph.D. in civil engineering from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. Notably, Calhoun was one of the first students to earn a doctorate through ANSEP and the first Alaska Native in the world to earn a Ph.D. in civil engineering. In 2015, Calhoun was appointed as assistant director of ANSEP and assistant professor of civil engineering at UAA, making him one of the universitys first Alaska Native tenure-track engineering faculty members.

I want to encourage students like me, and all students in Alaska, to earn their degrees and become leaders in their fields and in our state, Calhoun said. As executive director I will remain committed to continuing ANSEPs mission of making quality, affordable education available for all Alaskans. Together with the support of our strategic partners, who make it possible for us to provide all of these incredible opportunities, well create even more pathways to success, ensuring that every student has the support and resources they need to thrive in their academic and professional careers.

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
Several University of California, Irvine students who have participated in the pro-Palestinian encampment on campus since last week are facing suspensions, according to multiple reports.

New University, UCIs student-run newspaper, reported on Thursday that student protesters started to receive suspension notices on Wednesday for what the university called multiple conduct violations. Those suspended included three students who were members of the negotiating party that has met with campus administration regularly.

The total amount of suspensions handed out was not immediately known.

Students who received suspension notices were told to leave campus immediately, which included any on-campus housing, according to the Orange County Register.

On Tuesday, a statement from the office of UCI Chancellor Howard Gillman said the encampment had remained peaceful, though the university had received reports of disruptive protesting and vandalism.

A statement by UCI Divest, which is one of the organizations leading the student encampment, said the motion to suspend protesters was part of an ongoing attack by the administration to upend negotiations.

UCLAs night of violence in photos

In addition to prohibiting students from being physically or virtually present on campus, the suspension states that this exclusion from UCI includes any and all University housing facilities, thus effectively serving as an eviction notice as well, the statement reads in part. If the students are not allowed to camp, nor allowed to sleep in their beds, where are they to go?

The Register reported that UCI administration refused to comment on the suspension, citing privacy laws.

Several student organizations involved with the encampment, including UCI Divest, Students for Justice in Palestine at UCI and Anakbayan at UCI, were also suspended according to New University. Details regarding the group suspensions were not immediately clear.

The encampment was one of several that appeared on college campuses throughout Southern California in protest of university business dealings with Israeli-associated companies.

Administrators at the University of California, Riverside, successfully negotiated an end to its on-campus encampment with students last week. The university agreed to publicly disclose all of its investments on its website as a result of the negotiations.

UCLA classes remained remote this week after its encampment took a violent turn last week. Early in the morning last Thursday, police forcefully removed the encampment from campus, resulting in several injuries to students and more than 100 arrests.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
(COLORADO SPRINGS)  The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) will celebrate its largest commencement ceremony in the colleges history on Friday, May 10.

The newest graduates of UCCS will celebrate their achievements at the Spring 2024 Commencement Ceremony on Friday at the Broadmoor World Arena. The morning ceremony will celebrate graduates of the College of Education and the College of Letters, Arts & Sciences and will begin at 10:00 a.m.

The afternoon ceremony will celebrate graduates from all other colleges and will begin at 2:30 p.m.

More than 1,700 graduates will be receiving their degrees on Friday, with more than 1,300 of them participating in the in-person ceremony. There will be 27 PhDs, more than 350 masters degrees and nearly 1,200 undergraduate degrees awarded. In addition, more than 200 associate degree recipients will be recognized.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX21 News Colorado.
Ukraine to create 10 new brigades to prepare for new Russian offensive

Oleksandr Pavliuk, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Photo: Facebook

Oleksandr Pavliuk, Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has said that Ukraine plans to create ten new brigades to prepare for a Russian offensive. Some of them will be formed for the potential defence of Kyiv.

Source: Pavliuk in an interview with The Economist

Details: The Economist notes that one of the most urgent tasks facing Pavliuk is the creation of ten new brigades to prepare for a Russian offensive.

Pavliuk insists that Ukraine needs more equipment than people. In particular, there is a significant shortage of artillery and armoured vehicles, which he hopes the West will provide Ukraine with.

Also, part of these new forces (10 brigades - ed.) will be deployed to defend Kyiv.

The general said that two and a half years after the Russian army was blocked in Kyiv, it had not given up its ambition to finally capture the city.

Quote from Pavliuk: "Defending Kyiv remains one of our main concerns, no matter how tough it is in the east. It is the heart of Ukraine, and we know the key role defence of the capital will play in the future."

Details: He said that the Russian army can no longer conduct large-scale raids on several fronts.

In addition, Russia is using missiles that have just come off the assembly line, just a few weeks after production, rather than from its once huge stockpile. Ukraine's Armed Forces are also much larger than they used to be.

This, Pavliuk notes, remains a strategic defeat for Russia.

According to Ukraine's official estimate, Russia has lost more than 400,000 killed, captured and wounded. The loss of so many soldiers "to seize a small part of one region is disproportionate for any rational mind".

The Ground Forces Commander believes that in unpopular issues such as mobilisation, every official must show leadership.

Faced with mortal danger, some citizens panic, and this is natural, but if the country wants to survive, people must "overcome the panic" and answer the call to fight, as they do in countries like Israel: "However hard it is, we have no other choice."

Background:

In an interview with The Times, Oleksandr Pavliuk confirmed that, based on Ukrainian intelligence, Russia does indeed have a plan for the possible capture of Kharkiv and Sumy.

In an interview with The Economist, Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Head of Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, also suggested that Russia is preparing for an offensive in Kharkiv and Sumy Oblasts in Ukraine's north-east. He said that the timing of this depends on the strength of the Ukrainian defences in Donbas. But he suggests that the main Russian offensive will begin "in late May or early June".

Oleksandr Pavliuk said that Russia is creating a new grouping of more than 100,000 troops, and it is possible that Russia will try to launch an offensive in one of the areas in the summer.

Support UP or become our patron!
Ukrainian businesses and industry will face more restrictions in energy use due to a "significant shortage of electricity," Ukraine's state-owned energy operator Ukrenergo reported on May 10.

Russia launched another large-scale overnight attack on May 8 against energy infrastructure in central and western regions of Ukraine, the fifth attack against Ukraine's power network since the start of the year.

Volodymyr Kudrytskyi, the head of Ukrenergo, warned that imports from Europe will not be able to completely cover Ukraine's energy deficit as a result of the attack.

Energy supplies for industrial and commercial users have been restricted between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. on since May 8.

On May 9, the restrictions were extended to until 7 a.m. the following day due to power shortages, Ukrenergo said.

From May 10, "capacity limitation schedules for industrial consumers will be in effect from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. the next day."

"In case of increased consumption, emergency shutdowns may be applied," Ukrenergo said.

"Limiting consumption is a necessary measure to preserve the stability of the energy system" in the wake of Russia's latest attack, Ukrenergo said.

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Ukraine Business Roundup

Subscribe

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Kyiv's fundamental stance is that the future agreement on Ukraine's accession to the EU must not contain any restrictions on territorial application.

Source: European Pravda; Ukrinform news agency, citing Olha Stefanishyna, Ukraine's Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, during an hour of questions to the government in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament)

Details: Stefanishyna noted that the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement did not contain any territorial restrictions, although parts of Ukrainian territories were already occupied by Russia.

"As for the war and EU membership, this is my fundamental position based on legal arguments related to the process of signing the Association Agreement. It was signed when Crimea was annexed and hostilities began in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

However, the Association Agreement does not contain a single word related to its territorial application, and Ukraine's membership agreement must not contain such restrictions," she said.

Stefanishyna added that a special procedure of the European Commission provides for a recommendation to operate in a country where part of the territory is not under effective control, such as in the case of Cyprus.

The official stressed that the state will proceed from the premise that there can be no restrictions on the territorial application of the agreement in its negotiating framework, which it will present at the first intergovernmental conference in June.

"European integration will run from Sevastopol to Kyiv," the official said.

Background:

Ukraine and Brussels are working to ensure that the official commencement of negotiations on Ukraine's accession to the EU takes place no later than the end of June, when Belgium's presidency of the EU Council ends and Hungary's six-month presidency begins.

Earlier, Katarina Mathernova, EU Ambassador to Ukraine, said that Ukraine was ready to start negotiations on accession to the EU and hoped for their start in late June.

Support UP or become our patron!
As Ukraine prepares for a major peace summit in June, President Volodymyr Zelensky sees an opportunity to free all Ukrainian prisoners from Russia before the end of the war.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, Russia has seized thousands of Ukrainians, from soldiers to children, adding them to the hundreds of Ukrainian warfighters it was holding from earlier.

Ukrainian authorities doesn't disclose how many Russian prisoners of war (POWs) are currently in custody in Ukraine, nor how many POW detention centers there are in the country.

Activists and relatives of Ukrainian prisoners of war hold banners urging for the return of Ukrainian soldiers of Mariupol garrison from Russian captivity during the rally on Sophia Square in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 7, 2024. The Free Azov rally in support of the captured defenders of Mariupol was held in Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities. The participants came out to remind Ukrainian society that Ukrainian soldiers have been in Russian captivity for the second year. (Oleksandr Gusev/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

"Some are skeptical, saying that (the all-for-all prisoner swap can take place) only after the end of the war, since this is one of the conditions for the end of the war, Zelensky said on May 3. I believe that we have the opportunity to try to do this earlier.

All reasonable countries support this route, he added.

The possibility of an all-for-all prisoner swap will be one of the subjects at Ukraines upcoming global peace summit in Switzerland. Other subjects will include returning kidnapped Ukrainian children, energy and nuclear security, plus free navigation of the Black and Azov seas.

Ukraine hopes that this will lead to further discussions and diplomatic pressure on Russia to proceed with the swap.

Read also: I never planned to fight against Ukraine: Forcibly conscripted by Russia, Ukrainians await fate in POW camp

But as always, Russia has been doing everything it can to obstruct such an exchange. In the meantime, its subjecting the Ukrainians to trumped-up charges, sham trials, and torture, according to Ukrainian officials and international organizations.

Ukraine has been trying to return its people from Russia since long before the full-scale war. A prisoner exchange was one of the points of the Minsk II format, which was introduced in 2015, failing to make peace or curb Moscows aggression.

However, exchange talks are ongoing to this day, military intelligence chief Kyrylo Budanov said in April.

Kyiv is trying to return all its captured combatants and noncombatants. This includes military musicians, medics and chaplains, as well as civilians forcibly sent to Russias farthest reaches, Petro Yatsenko, spokesperson of Ukraines Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War, told the Kyiv Independent.

A man wears a Ukrainian flag during a night-time exchange of prisoners of war in Ukraine on Feb. 8, 2024. About 100 soldiers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine were returned from Russian captivity in the Feb. 8 exchange. (Kostiantyn Liberov/Libkos/Getty Images)

Ukrainian military members get on the bus after returning from captivity in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine, on May 25, 2023. (Yevhenii Zavhorodnii/Global Images Ukraine via Getty Images)

Several countries have mediated prisoner swaps between Ukraine and Russia, including the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Turkey is also negotiating with Moscow to release prisoners. During a March visit to Istanbul, Zelensky passed a list of Ukrainian citizens, including Crimean Tatars, captured by Russia to his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Qatar, the only country that publicly assists in the return of deported Ukrainian children, may also start negotiations with Moscow on the release of Ukrainians, Ombudsman chief Dmytro Lubinets said in late April.

A total of 160 national delegations will be reportedly invited to the summit in Switzerland, while several European countries and Cape Verde have already confirmed their participation.

Russia is not invited. Participants of the summit will create a common negotiating position and submit it to Moscow, Zelenskys spokesperson Sergii Nykyforov said.

In Russias clutches

Its not public how many Ukrainian troops and civilians are in Russian captivity. In January, Ukraine's Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs reported there were more than 8,000.

However, those are just the ones whose POW status can be confirmed. Russia doesnt provide Kyiv with any prisoner lists, and people who were captured but left no proof are listed as missing, according to Yatsenko. Almost 37,000 people were missing as of April  warriors and civilians, including children.

Relatives and friends of Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Azov Brigade and sub-units hold placards during a rally in front of the Opera building in central Kyiv on March 17, 2024, calling for their exchange with Russian prisoners, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (Genya Savilov/AFP via Getty Images)

Ukrainian prisoners held in the occupied territories of Ukraine or in Russia are systematically tortured, which has been repeatedly confirmed by U.N. reports. At least 32 Ukrainian POWs have been executed during this winter, a report by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

Russia does not comply with the 3rd Geneva Convention on prisoners of war. This includes the lack of sufficient nutrition, medical aid, communication with relatives, torture, and humiliation, Yatsenko said.

Read also: I want to go home: Inside a Russian prisoner of war camp in Ukraine

Everything that can be used to break a person is in Russian torture chambers.

Since the beginning of the full-scale war, Kyiv and Moscow have conducted 51 exchanges of POWs. A total of 3,135 people, including 147 civilians, were brought back to Ukraine, according to the coordination headquarters.

The largest prisoner exchange brought home 230 Ukrainians in early January. Two more exchanges followed shortly, the last of which took place on Feb. 8.

Despite the fact that there are more Ukrainians in Russian captivity than Russian troops captured in Ukraine, parity is not necessary for the all-for-all exchange, Yatsenko said.

"Our exchange fund is big for this kind of swap. We see that the Russian side is not interested in returning its (soldiers). It makes no sense for us to keep Russian POWs. Our state budget funds are spent on this. We would like to exchange them for Ukrainians immediately," he told the Kyiv Independent.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said that Moscow obstructs prisoner exchanges and uses the issue of POWs to undermine the social and political situation in Ukraine.

"Russia is trying to keep the families of POWs in limbo, a vulnerable state, when they are easily manipulated or even blackmailed," Yatsenko said.

"Therefore, the interest of the Russians is to prevent exchanges, even though Russian families do not see their (soldiers). The main obstacle is that Russia treats prisoners as a tool that can be used to influence families, friends, and acquaintances in Ukraine."

Read also: Id be a king in Somalia with this money: Foreign POWs on being lured to fight for Russia in Ukraine

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
An aerial photo taken on May 10, 2024 shows the scene of a train accident on a bridge in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (Xinhua/Martin Zabala)

Alberto Crescenti, director of the capital's Emergency Medical Assistance Service, said that 90 people were treated and 30 of them were referred to health centers under the qualification "code red," which means in serious condition, local media reported.



BUENOS AIRES, May 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 30 people were seriously injured in a train accident in the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires on Friday, authorities said.

Alberto Crescenti, director of the capital's Emergency Medical Assistance Service, said that 90 people were treated and 30 of them were referred to health centers under the qualification "code red," which means in serious condition, local media reported.

Two of the people who were taken to the medical center had "traumatic head injuries and were taken by helicopter to Santojanni Hospital" in the capital, Crescenti said.

The city's head of government, Jorge Macri, described the disaster as a "serious accident," and said the evacuation operation worked very well.

An investigation was initiated to determine the cause of the accident, local railway authorities said. 
By Sergiy Karazy, Tom Balmforth and Yuliia Dysa

KYIV (Reuters) -Russian forces launched an armoured ground attack on Friday near Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

Ukraine sent reinforcements as fighting raged in the border areas of the region, the defence ministry said, adding that Russia had pounded the frontier town of Vovchansk with guided aerial bombs and artillery.

"Russia has begun a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this direction," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a news conference in Kyiv. "Now there is a fierce battle in this direction."

Ukraine had warned of a Russian buildup in the area, potentially signalling preparations for an offensive or a ploy to divert and pin down Ukraine's overstretched and outnumbered defenders. It was unclear if Moscow would develop the attack.

In its evening battlefield update, the Ukrainian General Staff said for the first time that Russia was also building up forces to the north of Kharkiv near the Ukrainian regions of Sumy and parts of Chernihiv.

Zelenskiy has said Russia could be preparing a big offensive push this spring or summer. Kyiv's forces were prepared to meet Friday's assault, but Moscow could send more troops to the area, he told reporters.

The Ukrainian defence ministry said Russia launched an armoured assault at around 5 a.m. In an update at 10 p.m., the General Staff said battles were continued to prevent Russian offensive efforts to advance in the Kharkiv region.

A senior Ukrainian military source who declined to be named said Russian forces had pushed 1 km (0.6 mile) inside the Ukrainian border near Vovchansk.

The source said Russian forces were aiming to push Ukrainian troops as far back as 10 km inside Ukraine as part of an effort to create a buffer zone, but that Kyiv's troops were trying to hold them back.

The White House said the United States had been coordinating closely with Ukraine on Russia's Kharkiv offensive.

"It is certainly possible that the Russians are setting themselves up for a larger assault on Kharkiv," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

Top Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said they do not believe Russia has the force capacity available to launch a successful operation to capture the city of Kharkiv, home to 1.3 million people.

The General Staff said battles raged for control of three frontier villages - Strilecha, Pylna and Borysivka - that were already seen as in a "grey area" of control.

"Counter-offensive measures continue in the direction of the settlements of Lyptsi and Vovchansk. The enemy is using infantry and equipment," it said on the Telegram app.

Military spokesperson Nazar Voloshyn said fighting was still raging in the evening and that the situation was dynamic. He said he believed Moscow's operation aimed to draw troops to Kharkiv from the east where Russia is focusing its offensive.

There was no immediate comment from Moscow.

HEAVY SHELLING

At least two civilians were killed and five were injured during heavy shelling of border settlements, said Oleh Synehubov, governor of Kharkiv region.

"All the enemy can do is to attack in certain small groups, you can call them sabotage and reconnaissance groups or something else, and test the positions of our military," he said.

In Vovchansk, a town with a pre-war population of 17,000 that has dwindled to a few thousand, authorities said they were helping civilians evacuate from the settlement and surrounding areas due to the heavy shelling.

In his evening address, Zelenskiy said his top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi had reported to him that "heavy fighting" was taking place all along the more than 1,000-km (600-mile) front line.

Ukraine chased Russian troops out of most of the Kharkiv region in 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion in February of that year. But after weathering a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year, Russian forces are back on the offensive and slowly advancing in the Donetsk region that lies further south.

Ukrainian concerns grew in March over the Kremlin's intentions in the Kharkiv region when Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory. He said this was needed to protect Russia from shelling and border incursions.

Since then, Kharkiv, which is particularly vulnerable because of its proximity to Russia, has been hammered by air strikes that have damaged the region's power infrastructure.

More than two years after its invasion, Russia has the battlefield momentum and Ukraine faces shortages of manpower and stocks of artillery shells and air defences.

(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa, Sergiy Karazy and Anastasiia MalenkoWriting by Tom BalmforthEditing by Mark Heinrich, Philippa Fletcher, Timothy Heritage, Frances Kerry, Nick Macfie and David Gregorio)
icon

Semafor Signals

Supported by

Microsoft logo

Insights from Foreign Affairs, Business Insider, and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Arrow Down

Title icon

The News

A Ukrainian drone struck an oil refinery nearly 750 miles into Russian territory, marking the deepest point that Ukraine has reached in the country as part of its campaign targeting Russias energy infrastructure.

Ukraines military has launched at least 20 attacks on Russian oil facilities since October and has driven down production capabilities.

On the battlefield, Russia continues to trade high casualty numbers for modest territorial gains. Russian President Vladimir Putin is getting tiny amounts of land, Admiral Tony Radakin, the UKs top military official, told reporters in Washington on Thursday. And hes going to have 500,000 killed or wounded by the end of June.

icon

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Ukraine attacks have more success in hampering Russia than Western sanctions

Source icon

Source: Foreign Affairs

Washington has criticized Kyivs attacks on refineries over fears that oil prices could spike. But these criticisms are misplaced, three oil and military experts argued in Foreign Affairs, because by limiting domestic refining capacity, Ukraine is forcing Russia to export more of its crude oil, pushing global prices down, not up. The strikes achieve what Western sanctions and price caps have failed to do: Degrade Russias financial and logistical ability to wage war while limiting broader damage to the global economy, they wrote.

Large part of Russias oil capacity is beyond Ukraines reach

Source icon

Source: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

While Ukraines strikes are slowly eroding Russias refining capacity, about 40% of Russias oil is located beyond the range of Ukrainian drones, Sergey Vakulenko, a non-resident Scholar at the Carnegie Russia Eurasia Center, wrote in April. Even if Ukraine manages to damage every refinery within its reach,there will be enough capacity in the Urals and Siberia to meet Russias needs for diesel, marine fuel, and fuel oil, he wrote, and any shortages in gasoline will be filled in by its neighboring ally Belarus. While private consumers might be impacted by shortages, Moscow will have more than enough fuel for industry, agriculture, and the armed forces.

Ukraine could be working to limit Russian glide bomb strikes

Source icon

Source: Business Insider

While using drones to target oil refineries, Ukraine also struck an airbase deep in Russian territory last month, in what analysts believe might be an effort to target glide bombs, Business Insider reported. Russia has ramped up its glide bomb strikes against Ukraine; they are difficult to detect and have devastating impact. Ukraines ability to limit Russias glide bomb usage is key to the wider defense of the frontlines, the UKs defense ministry said.

Semafor Logo
Key developments on May 10:

Zelensky: Russia launches new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast

Media: Fighting ongoing near several Kharkiv Oblast villages, Russia storming Pletenivka

Military: Russia unsuccessfully tries to break through in Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts

Commander: 'Critical phase' in Russia's war to come in next 2 months

Biden approves $400 million defense aid package for Ukraine

Source: Military intelligence drones strike oil refinery in Russia's Kaluga Oblast

President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on May 10 that Russian forces had begun a new offensive operation targeting Kharkiv Oblast.

"Russia began a new wave of offensive actions in (Kharkiv's) direction. Ukraine met (Russian forces) there with our troops, brigades, and artillery," Zelensky said during the press briefing with Slovak President Zuzana Caputova in Kyiv.

Moscow recently intensified attacks against Kharkiv amid reports that Russia might plan to attack the city as part of a wider offensive in the coming months.

The Defense Ministry earlier in the day reported that the Russian military attempted a breakthrough of Ukraine's line of defense in Kharkiv Oblast.

Zelensky said that Russian troops could mobilize assault units further in the region. The president added that the Ukrainian command had known about a potential offensive in this direction and had been preparing.

"Now, there is a fierce battle going on in (Kharkiv's) direction," Zelensky said.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

As of 1:30 p.m. local time, at least two people were killed, and five were injured amid intense Russian attacks in Kharkiv Oblast.

Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian defense lines at around 5 a.m. local time, according to the Defense Ministry.

The Russian attack has been held off, but the battles of varying intensity have continued, the ministry's statement read.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said earlier the attack "does not pose a threat" to the regional center of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

Russian forces failed to take Kharkiv in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion despite the fact the city lies less than 30 kilometers from the Russian border.

Read also: One night with Ukrainian drone hunters near Russia

Media: Fighting ongoing near several Kharkiv Oblast villages, Russia storming Pletenivka

Russian troops are storming the outskirts of the border village of Pletenivka in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainska Pravda reported on May 10, citing an undisclosed military source.

The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported earlier in the day that Russian forces launched an attempt to break through in Kharkiv Oblast. President Volodymyr Zelensky later confirmed that Russia was carrying out new offensive operations in the area.

Pletenivka lies around 2 kilometers from the border with Russia. Ukrainian soldiers are also blocking the advance of Russian troops near the village of Hatyshche while active fighting continues, according to Ukrainska Pravda's source.

"Active firefights are ongoing near the village of Krasne. The Defense Forces are inflicting fire on the enemy in this combat area," the source told Ukrainska Pravda.

When asked by the Kyiv Independent about the situation near these settlements, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said he could not confirm or deny these reports.

"I cannot say any more information now in the interest of operation. There will be information, but later," Voloshyn said.

After reports that Russian troops had allegedly captured several villages in Kharkiv Oblast as they attempt to push toward Vovchansk, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that border settlements are in a "grey zone" and hostilities are ongoing but that no ground was lost at that moment.

Read also: Military: Russias Kharkiv Oblast operation aims to divert Ukrainian forces from Donetsk Oblast

Military: Russia unsuccessfully tries to break through in Donetsk, Luhansk oblasts

Russian forces are unsuccessfully trying to break through near the Serebryanskyi forest and in the Lyman area in northeastern Ukraine, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on national television on May 10.

The Russian military constantly attempts to storm the village of Nevske and the area of the Serebryanskyi forest in Luhansk Oblast and shells the city of Makiivka in Donetsk Oblast, trying to gain better positions for further attacks, according to Voloshyn.

"(Russian forces) are trying to break through to the city of Siversk (Donetsk Oblast) in order to cut off the Siversky ledge and enter the Ukrainian rear in the Serebryanskyi forest," Voloshyn said.

"The enemy is trying to break through the line of defense of the Ukrainian defenders in the Terny and Nevske settlements in order to go further into the Lyman area, but they are not succeeding," he added.

Read also: Smelling weakness, Russia presses advantage in Donetsk Oblast

Russian troops carry out from 10 to 20 assaults per day, mainly using their infantry, sometimes with the assistance of heavy weaponry, according to Voloshyn.

The spokesperson said that Ukrainian forces are currently trying to push the Russian troops back from elevated areas to prevent further drone attacks.

The settlements of Nevske, Makiivka, Terny, and Siversk are located nearly 40 kilometers (25 miles) northwest of the city of Sievierodonetsk, which Russia captured in June 2022.

Russian forces recently intensified offensive operations around these settlements to advance further in the direction of the Kramatorsk agglomeration.

Ukrainian troops retreated in late April west from the villages of Berdychi, Semenivka, and Novomykhailivka in Donetsk Oblast.

The Khortytsia Ggroup of Ukraines Ground Forces said that Russian forces also managed to break in and gain a foothold in a part of the village of Ocheretyne in the region.

Russia aims to completely occupy Donetsk, Luhansk, and, if possible, Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2024, according to Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraines Ground Forces commander.

Commander: 'Critical phase' in Russia's war to come in next 2 months

The "critical phase" in Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine will come in the next two months, Oleksandr Pavliuk, Ukraine's Ground Forces commander, said in an interview with The Economist published on May 10.

Pavliuk's statement echoed President Volodymyr Zelensky's words that Ukraine is facing a "new stage" in the all-out war as Russia is preparing to expand its offensive. Russian forces began a new offensive operation on May 10, targeting Kharkiv Oblast, Zelensky said.

Russia is likely trying to take as much territory as possible before the impact of the recently passed U.S. aid bill for Ukraine can be felt on the battlefield.

"Russia knows that if we receive enough weapons within a month or two, the situation could turn against them," Pavliuk said.

Chasiv Yar, a town in Donetsk Oblast, remains one of Russia's key targets as it could facilitate further advances toward the nearby cities of Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk.

Russia aims to completely occupy Donetsk, Luhansk, and, if possible, Zaporizhzhia oblasts in 2024, Pavliuk said earlier.

Pavliuk told The Economist that Russia could continue to focus on Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts and is testing the stability of Ukraine's defense lines before choosing "the most suitable direction."

Read also: Battle of Chasiv Yar begins: On the ground with Ukrainian forces defending city key to Russias plans

Biden approves $400 million defense aid package for Ukraine

U.S. President Joe Biden on May 10 authorized a $400 million defense aid package for Ukraine, according to a statement on the White House's website.

"I hereby delegate to the Secretary of State... to direct the drawdown of up to $400 million in defense articles and services of the Defense Department... to provide assistance to Ukraine," the statement read.

The Pentagon unveiled the content of the new package, namely ammunition for Patriot and NASAMS air defenses, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, HIMARS systems and ammunition, 155 mm and 105 mm artillery shells, and equipment to integrate Western launchers, missiles, and radars with Ukrainian systems.

The package further contains Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, M113 armored personnel carriers, Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, trailers, TOW missiles, Javelin and AT-4 anti-tank launchers, precision aerial munitions, and High-speed Anti-radiation missiles (HARMs).

It also contains small arms and small arms ammunition, demolition munitions, coastal patrol boats, chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear protective equipment, spare parts, and other ancillary equipment.

Read also: Opinion: Will the renewed US support for Ukraine be enough?

In April, the U.S. passed a long-awaited $61 billion aid package, with much of it covering military aid.

The Pentagon announced on April 26 that it was ready to move forward with sending $1 billion worth of weapons to Kyiv from U.S. stockpiles.

Russia has taken advantage of Ukraine's growing battlefield ammunition shortages, taking the city of Avdiivka in February. Russian troops also continue to intensify attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure this spring.

Source: Military intelligence drones strike oil refinery in Russia's Kaluga Oblast

Ukraine's military intelligence agency (HUR) was behind a May 10 attack on the oil refinery in Russia's Kaluga Oblast, a source in the agency confirmed to the Kyiv Independent.

Kaluga Oblast Governor Vladyslav Shapsha claimed earlier in the day that a falling drone caused a fire in the Dzerzhinsky district overnight.

The governor did not specify the facility being attacked, but locals reported the fire at the Pervyy Zavod plant, the largest petrochemical enterprise in Kaluga Oblast, according to the Russian Telegram channel Mash.

The oil refinery, located nearly 350 kilometers (around 220 miles) from Ukraine's border, specializes in the processing of commodity oil and gas condensate.

Moscow Mayor Sergey Sobyanin claimed later that Russian air defenses downed a drone heading toward the Russian capital.

No casualties or damage were reported by the mayor.

The source confirmed for the Kyiv Independent that Ukraine's military intelligence agency was involved in the attack. The strike reportedly was carried out with kamikaze drones.

Ukrainian forces previously struck the Pervyy Zavod plant on March 15.

Ukraine has launched a series of drone strikes aimed at damaging Russia's oil industry this spring.

On May 9, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) attacked an oil refinery, Gazprom Neftekhim Salavat, in the Republic of Bashkortostan, and two oil depots in Krasnodar Krai, according to a source interviewed by the Kyiv Independent.

Strikes against Russian energy targets have prompted criticism from U.S. officials, who have made it clear that Washington does not support Ukraine's attacks on oil refineries, citing fears that it could threaten the global energy market.

In response, President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Kyiv has the right to use its own weapons with retaliatory strikes on Russian oil refineries.

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Czechia has handed over the first F-16 fighter jet simulator to one of Ukraines tactical aviation brigades, and its main module is being tested and prepared for operation by Ukrainian engineers.

Source: Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk on Telegram; press service for Air Force Command

Quote: "I thank everyone who is helping Ukraine strengthen its aircraft component. Of course, in addition to the F-16s themselves, we need to create a strong supply of training equipment for our youth. I urge our allies to join this initiative."

Details: The Air Force explains that this is not a simulator, but a full-fledged flight simulator with a real F-16 cockpit.

Hydraulics will be installed next, so that the pilot will get the most realistic experience during training flights.

Background:

Media outlets reported that the first F-16 fighter jets would appear in the Ukrainian skies around June 2024.

The Belgian government recently approved a 25th support aid package for Ukraine, which includes funds for maintaining F-16s.

Support UP or become our patron!
During the Russian breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast, the National Guard of Ukraine destroyed an infantry combat vehicle with a Russian landing party and a special squad of Russian troops inside.

Source: press service of the National Guard of Ukraine on Telegram

Quote: "The photo shows a Russian landing party killed by the soldiers of the 2nd Separate Squad of the Special Operations Centre Omega.

In total, Ukrainian forces destroyed an infantry combat vehicle, a landing party and approximately a squad of personnel of Russian forces.

The Ministry of Defence of Ukraine reported that at about 5:00 the Russians attempted to break through our defence line under the cover of armoured vehicles. As of now these attacks have been repelled, andfighting of varying degree of intensity is ongoing."

Support UP or become our patron!
Ukraine's victory over Russia is a priority for all Baltic States  Latvian foreign minister

During her visit to Lithuania, Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braze stressed that Ukraine's victory in the battle against Russia is a priority and shared aim among all Baltic countries.

Source: press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Braze emphasised that Ukraine has the right to employ weaponry provided by the West to strike military targets on Russian soil, as permitted by international law.

Ukraine can strike targets not only on its own territory, but also the territory Russia is attacking it from, according to the Latvian minister.

Quote: "Ukraine is a priority for all the Baltic States  Ukraines victory is a common goal for all of us. At the same time, in the current geopolitical situation where different Russian hybrid warfare activities are observed on a daily basis, Latvia, the Baltic and Nordic region as a whole need to join efforts and strengthen security in a forward-looking and coordinated manner," Braze emphasised.

Braze's assertion that Ukraine got Western weapons from allies with permission to strike Russian territory sparked hysteria in Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.

Read also: European Pravda interview with Baiba Braze, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia

Support UP or become our patron!
Israel's permanent representative to the United Nations Gilad Erdan puts the cover of the UN Charter into a mini portable electric document shredder after a vote at the UN headquarters in New York, May 10, 2024. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."

The resolution was adopted with 143 votes in favor and nine against, including the United States and Israel, while 25 countries abstained. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)

UNITED NATIONS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday with 143 votes in favor and nine against, including the United States and Israel, while 25 countries abstained.

This resolution does not grant the Palestinians full UN membership but recognizes them as qualified to join.

The resolution states, "The State of Palestine... should therefore be admitted to membership" and "recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favorably."

By adopting this resolution, the General Assembly will upgrade the rights of the State of Palestine within the world body - but not the right to vote or put forward its candidature to organs such as the Security Council or the Economic and Social Council.

Granting Palestinian membership requires a recommendation from the Security Council. At the same time, the General Assembly determines that the State of Palestine is qualified for such status and recommends that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."

The resolution, proposed by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on behalf of 22 Arab countries and co-sponsored by about 65 states, asserts that "the State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations in accordance with Article 4 of the Charter and should therefore be admitted."

UAE's permanent representative to the United Nations, Mohamed Abushahab, addressed the General Assembly before the vote, emphasizing the broad recognition of the legitimacy of Palestine's bid.

"The vast majority of countries in the General Assembly are fully aware of the legitimacy of the Palestinian bid and the justness of their cause, which faces fierce attempts to suppress it and render it meaningless today," he said.

He further noted that granting Palestine full membership would send a "powerful message" in support of the two-state solution, adding, "Fulfilling the UN's historic obligation towards the Palestinian people is long overdue, but it is never too late." 

This photo taken on May 10, 2024 shows a screen displaying the voting result at the UN headquarters in New York. The UN General Assembly (UNGA) on Friday adopted a resolution supporting the Palestinian bid to become a full UN member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending that the Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."

The resolution was adopted with 143 votes in favor and nine against, including the United States and Israel, while 25 countries abstained. (Manuel Elias/UN Photo/Handout via Xinhua)
Ukrainian forces shot down a Russian guided missile in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast on the afternoon of 10 May.

Source: Ukraine's Air Force

Quote: "A unit of Air Command Skhid ["East"] has destroyed a Kh-59/69 guided missile in the Dnipro district (Dnipropetrovsk Oblast)."

Details: At 16:15, the Air Force reported that the Russians had fired a missile towards the city of Dnipro. An air-raid warning was issued in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast.

Support UP or become our patron!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky fired the head of his security detail on Friday. File Photo by Ukrainian Presidential Press Office/UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the head of his security detail on Friday after two of his colonels earlier in the week were arrested in an alleged assassination plot for Russia.

Serhiy Rud, who had served as chief of the State Guard Service or, UDO, was not implicated in the assassination plot against Zelensky and two other top Ukrainian officials, but was close personal friends with one of the colonels arrested, Andriy Huk.

Ukrainian officials gave no official reason for Rud's removal. Huk and another colonel are accused of being a part of a network of agents in Ukraine working for Russia's FSB security services plotting to kill Zelensky and other top-ranking officials.

Ukraine's state security service, called the SBU, said the latest assassination attempt sought to kill Zelensky, Vasyl Maliuk, who is the head of the SBU, and Kyrylo Budanov, who leads the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine.

The SBU said the plot included a scheme where Zelensky would be kidnapped and killed while Maliuk and Budanov would have been killed by either drones, rockets or anti-tank grenades.

Since the Russian invasion of 2022, Zelensky has faced several alleged assassination attempts and had a number of close calls during Russian military operations.

On March 6, a Russian missile struck close to Zelensky's entourage while he was meeting with Greek officials in the port city of Odesa.

Last month, the Russian Interior Ministry placed Zelensky on its criminal "wanted" list for crimes it did not publicize.
Ukrainska Pravda and Media Development Foundation honour Ukrainian journalists at conference in Bucha  photos

Yurii Nikolov receiving an award at the Bucha Journalism Conference

Ukrainska Pravda and the Media Development Foundation celebrated Ukrainian journalists on 10 May at the 2024 Bucha Journalism Conference.

The organisers had created special statuettes for the winners in three categories.

The award for best war reporting went to BIHUS.Info war correspondent Anna Kaliuzhna.

Anna Kaliuzhna received the award for best war reporting for BIHUS.Info

Photo: Ukrainska Pravda

The award for the best investigation into Russian war crimes went to the Kyiv Independent team, which made UPROOTED, a film about the abduction of Ukrainian children by the Russians.

The Kyiv Independent team won the award for best investigation into Russian war crimes

Photo: Ukrainska Pravda

Yurii Nikolov, co-founder and editor of the Nashi Hroshi ("Our Money") project, won an award for his contribution to the development of investigative journalism. Nashi Hroshi conducted a much-talked-about investigation into the Ministry of Defence's purchase of eggs for 17 hryvnias (about US$0.43) each.

"The statuette consists of many tiny details," said Sevgil Musaieva, editor-in-chief of Ukrainska Pravda. "Just like the stories about each individual in a journalists piece, the search for the truth also consists of tiny fragments. The person in this statuette symbolises the truth that comes out."

Background: Ukrainska Pravda and the Media Development Foundation established the Bucha Journalism Conference in 2023.

Support UP or become our patron!
Featured Video: Tampa protestors join national strike for Gaza

UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The U.N. General Assembly voted by a wide margin on Friday to grant new rights and privileges to Palestine and called on the Security Council to favorably reconsider its request to become the 194th member of the United Nations.

The 193-member world body approved the Arab and Palestinian-sponsored resolution by a vote of 143-9 with 25 abstentions.

The United States vetoed a widely backed council resolution on April 18 that would have paved the way for full United Nations membership for Palestine, a goal the Palestinians have long sought and Israel has worked to prevent.

U.S. deputy ambassador Robert Wood made clear on Thursday that the Biden administration opposed the assembly resolution. The United States was among the nine countries voting against it, along with Israel.

Weve been very clear from the beginning there is a process for obtaining full membership in the United Nations, and this effort by some of the Arab countries and the Palestinians is to try to go around that, Wood said Thursday. We have said from the beginning the best way to ensure Palestinian full membership in the U.N. is to do that through negotiations with Israel. That remains our position.

Under the U.N. Charter, prospective members of the United Nations must be peace-loving, and the Security Council must recommend their admission to the General Assembly for final approval. Palestine became a U.N. non-member observer state in 2012.

The resolution determines that a state of Palestine is qualified for membership  dropping the original language that in the General Assemblys judgment it is a peace-loving state. It therefore recommends that the Security Council reconsider its request favorably.

The renewed push for full Palestinian membership in the U.N. comes as the war in Gaza has put the more than 75-year-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict at center stage. At numerous council and assembly meetings, the humanitarian crisis facing the Palestinians in Gaza and the killing of more than 34,000 people in the territory, according to Gaza health officials, have generated outrage from many countries.

The original draft of the assembly resolution was changed significantly to address concerns not only by the U.S. but also by Russia and China, according to three Western diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because negotiations were private.

The first draft would have conferred on Palestine the rights and privileges necessary to ensure its full and effective participation in the assemblys sessions and U.N. conferences on equal footing with member states. It also made no reference to whether Palestine could vote in the General Assembly.

According to the diplomats, Russia and China, which are strong supporters of Palestines U.N. membership, were concerned that granting the list of rights and privileges detailed in an annex to the resolution could set a precedent for other would-be U.N. members  with Russia concerned about Kosovo and China about Taiwan.

Under longstanding legislation by the U.S. Congress, the United States is required to cut off funding to U.N. agencies that give full membership to a Palestinian state  which could mean a cutoff in dues and voluntary contributions to the U.N. from its largest contributor.

The final draft drops the language that would put Palestine on equal footing with member states. And to address Chinese and Russian concerns, it would decide on an exceptional basis and without setting a precedent to adopt the rights and privileges in the annex.

The draft also adds a provision in the annex on the issue of voting, stating categorically: The state of Palestine, in its capacity as an observer state, does not have the right to vote in the General Assembly or to put forward its candidature to United Nations organs.

The final list of rights and privileges in the draft annex includes giving Palestine the right to speak on all issues not just those related to the Palestinians and Middle East, the right to propose agenda items and reply in debates, and the right to be elected as officers in the assemblys main committees. It would give the Palestinians the right to participate in U.N. and international conferences convened by the United Nations  but it drops their right to vote which was in the original draft.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas first delivered the Palestinian Authoritys application for U.N. membership in 2011. It failed because the Palestinians didnt get the required minimum support of nine of the Security Councils 15 members.

They went to the General Assembly and succeeded by more than a two-thirds majority in having their status raised from a U.N. observer to a non-member observer state. That opened the door for the Palestinian territories to join U.N. and other international organizations, including the International Criminal Court.

In the Security Council vote on April 18, the Palestinians got much more support for full U.N. membership. The vote was 12 in favor, the United Kingdom and Switzerland abstaining, and the United States voting no and vetoing the resolution.

___

Follow APs coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
By Michelle Nichols

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) -The United Nations General Assembly on Friday overwhelmingly backed a Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member by recognizing it as qualified to join and recommending the U.N. Security Council "reconsider the matter favorably."

The vote by the 193-member General Assembly was a global survey of support for the Palestinian bid to become a full U.N. member - a move that would effectively recognize a Palestinian state - after the United States vetoed it in the U.N. Security Council last month.

The assembly adopted a resolution with 143 votes in favor and nine against - including the U.S. and Israel - while 25 countries abstained. It does not give the Palestinians full U.N. membership, but simply recognizes them as qualified to join.

The resolution "determines that the State of Palestine ... should therefore be admitted to membership" and it "recommends that the Security Council reconsider the matter favorably."

The Palestinian push for full U.N. membership comes seven months into a war between Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas in the Gaza Strip, and as Israel is expanding settlements in the occupied West Bank, which the U.N. considers to be illegal.

"We want peace, we want freedom," Palestinian U.N. Ambassador Riyad Mansour told the assembly before the vote. "A yes vote is a vote for Palestinian existence, it is not against any state. ... It is an investment in peace."

"Voting yes is the right thing to do," he said in remarks that drew applause.

Under the founding U.N. Charter, membership is open to "peace-loving states" that accept the obligations in that document and are able and willing to carry them out.

"As long as so many of you are 'Jew-hating,' you don't really care that the Palestinians are not 'peace-loving'," U.N. Ambassador Gilad Erdan, who spoke after Mansour, told his fellow diplomats. He accused the assembly of shredding the U.N. Charter - as he used a small shredder to destroy a copy of the Charter while at the lectern.

"Shame on you," Erdan said.

An application to become a full U.N. member first needs to be approved by the 15-member Security Council and then the General Assembly. If the measure is again voted on by the council it is likely to face the same fate: a U.S. veto.

ADDITIONAL U.N. RIGHTSDeputy U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Robert Wood told the General Assembly after the vote that unilateral measures at the U.N. and on the ground will not advance a two-state solution.

"Our vote does not reflect opposition to Palestinian statehood; we have been very clear that we support it and seek to advance it meaningfully. Instead, it is an acknowledgement that statehood will only come from a process that involves direct negotiations between the parties," he said.

The United Nations has long endorsed a vision of two states living side by side within secure and recognized borders. Palestinians want a state in the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, all territory captured by Israel in the 1967 war with neighboring Arab states.

The General Assembly resolution adopted on Friday does give the Palestinians some additional rights and privileges from September 2024 - like a seat among the U.N. members in the assembly hall - but they will not be granted a vote in the body.

The Palestinians are currently a non-member observer state, a de facto recognition of statehood that was granted by the U.N. General Assembly in 2012.

They are represented at the U.N. by the Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self-rule in the West Bank. Hamas ousted the Palestinian Authority from power in Gaza in 2007. Hamas - which has a charter calling for Israel's destruction - launched the Oct. 7 attack on Israel that triggered Israel's assault on Gaza.

Erdan said on Monday that, if the General Assembly adopted the resolution, he expected Washington to cut funding to the United Nations and its institutions.

Under U.S. law, Washington cannot fund any U.N. organization that grants full membership to any group that does not have the "internationally recognized attributes" of statehood. The United States cut funding in 2011 for the U.N. cultural agency, UNESCO, after the Palestinians joined as a full member.

On Thursday, 25 Republican U.S. senators - more than half of the party's members in the chamber - introduced a bill to tighten those restrictions and cut off funding to any entity giving rights and privileges to the Palestinians. The bill is unlikely to pass the Senate, which is controlled by President Joe Biden's Democrats.

(Reporting by Michelle Nichols; additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks at the start of the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly. Michael Kappeler/dpa

The United Nations General Assembly is scheduled to vote on Friday on granting Palestinians greater representation and participation rights in the UN's largest body.

The draft resolution grants Palestine significantly extended rights to participate in the sessions of the General Assembly, but does not give it regular voting rights.

Adoption of the resolution would also likely increase pressure to grant Palestine full membership.

The UN General Assembly recognized Palestine as an observer state in 2012 despite resistance from the United States. Palestine and the Vatican are the only two non-member states with observer status in the body.

The resolution, which was introduced by the United Arab Emirates but drafted by the Palestinians, has been the source of disagreements at UN headquarters in New York for weeks.

The text states that the General Assembly has determined that the "State of Palestine (...) should be admitted to membership of the United Nations." It also recommends that the UN Security Council, which holds decisive power over UN membership, "reconsider the matter favourably."

Dpa has obtained the text of the draft resolution, although the provisions and language of the resolution could still change as negotiations continue.

The move by the 193-member UN General Assembly in New York, which comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, is also a reflection of international opinion on the Middle East conflict.

UN diplomats believe that the resolution will easily achieve the necessary two-thirds majority of all votes cast in the General Assembly.

The influential United States, as well as China and Russia, fear a loss of control in the upgrading of regions whose statehood is disputed. All three countries hold veto powers at the Security Council.
Palestinian health workers recover bodies of Palestinians buried in Nasser Hospital compound, after the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) withdrew from the area in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza Strip. he UN Security Council on Friday called for an investigation into mass graves discovered near health facilities in the Gaza Strip. Omar Naaman/dpa

The UN Security Council on Friday called for an investigation into mass graves discovered near health facilities in the Gaza Strip.

Graves containing several hundred bodies were found near the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis and the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City in recent weeks.

Last month the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, which cited the Palestinian civil defence, said some bodies had bound hands.

Hospitals and other medical establishments are entitled special protections under international humanitarian law.

The Israeli side has said accusations that Israeli forces had buried the bodies of Palestinians were unfounded. Israeli soldiers had merely examined the graves in search of Israeli hostages, officials said.

"The UN Security Council calls for immediate, independent, thorough, comprehensive, transparent and impartial investigations into mass graves discovered at the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza," a statement from Britain's UN mission said.

"There needs to be accountability for violations of international law."
JUBA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The European Union (EU) has welcomed South Sudan's move to exempt UN agencies from taxes on imported goods for humanitarian aid.

Timo Olkkonen, head of the EU delegation to South Sudan, said on Thursday evening that they need to see trucks with fuel and supplies that are stuck at the borders moving and have the assurance that the UN and the humanitarian community can continue their life-saving and peacekeeping work.

"Anything short of that would be a disaster for the people of South Sudan and cause reputational damage to the country itself," Olkkonen said.

The UN system in South Sudan recently protested the tax measures imposed on UN-contracted trucks carrying fuel and other valuable deliveries, saying the measures would hamper critical humanitarian deliveries to millions of internally displaced persons and more than 650,000 returnees and refugees fleeing conflict in Sudan.

On May 3, the South Sudanese government said the UN agencies and diplomatic missions will be exempted from paying taxes on imported goods, but contracted companies remain obligated to do so. 
Indivisible Tohono Cofounder April Ignacio (right), Tohono Oodham Nation Health Care Chief Medical Officer Dr. William Mills Chief (center), and Tohono Oodham Assistant Attorney General Rebecca Cohen talk about how Arizona abortion bans may impact Indigenous women on the Tohono Oodham Nation during a community forum held on April 25, 2024. Photo by Shondiin Silversmith | Arizona Mirror

April Ignacio wanted to be able to create a safe space for people in her community to come together and get information about the laws in Arizona that are impacting Indigenous womens bodily autonomy, especially after the Arizona Supreme Court ruled that a near-total abortion ban from 1864 could once again be enforced.

Health care is being weaponized against women, and as an Indigenous woman, I know how unfair health care access is already, and then my bodily autonomy is now being impacted by the government, Ignacio said.

Ignacio is the co-founder of Indivisible Tohono, a grassroots group that organizes and educates on issues impacting the Tohono Oodham Nation.

When the near-total abortion ban was upheld, Ignacio said their group wanted to provide much-needed resources to people living on the Tohono Oodham Nation.

Its important that our people feel like they know enough about an issue that they can make their own assessment on what they stand for, Ignacio said.

Ignacio is Tohono Oodham and lives on the reservation. She understands that not many people within Indigenous communities hold these types of public discussions surrounding reproductive health care for Indigenous women.

We recognize that its a very uncomfortable topic, she said, explaining thats why Indigenous people must have access to safe spaces to talk about health care access, including the most intimate and private discussions on something like abortion.

Even though those are uncomfortable conversations, we still need to have them, Ignacio said. The result was Indivisible Tohono hosting a community forum to discuss how Arizonas abortion ban would impact Indigenous women on the Tohono Oodham Nation.

During the panel, Ignacio touched on how Indigenous people have a uniquely fraught history with Western health care, which oftentimes means accessing it becomes an afterthought for Indigenous people.

For instance, she said, Indigenous women in the 1960s and 1970s were forcibly sterilized by Indian Health Service hospitals and Phoenix Indian Medical Center was one of the facilities that participated in the sterilizations.

We have medical centers who have admitted that they perpetuated this forced sterilization on Native women without their consent and their knowledge, Ignacio said. It is one of those topics that is rarely discussed in a public and open setting.

A 1976 report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office identified that IHS records show that 3,406 sterilization procedures were performed on Indigenous women in four facilities, including Phoenix, from 1973 to 1976.

And now, reproductive health care is being determined by state lawmakers.

These laws do affect our potential to live the life we want, and I think thats the frustrating part for a lot of women who dont or have very little access to reproductive health services, she added.

The community forum, held at the Tohono Oodham council chambers on April 25, featured a discussion with Ignacio, Tohono Oodham Assistant Attorney General Rebecca Cohen and Tohono Oodham Nation Health Care Chief Medical Officer Dr. William Mills Chief.

Ignacio said hosting a public discussion on abortion and how it may impact the women on the Tohono Oodham Nation is the first of its kind for the tribe.

When planning the community forum, Indivisible Tohono understood how sensitive the topic could be. Ignacio said that if five people showed up, those five people could impact the way others feel or maybe talk about health care.

Ultimately, more than a dozen people showed up to listen to the discussion and ask questions about abortion rights and healthcare access.

Arizona has been at the center of abortion debates when the Arizona Supreme Court ruled to make abortion virtually entirely illegal in early April by reinstating a 160-year-old law that forbids all procedures except those to save a womans life.

The Arizona Senate repealed the law on May 1, over the objections of all but two Republicans, and the repeal was quickly signed into law on May 2 by Gov. Katie Hobbs.

But that does not remove other restrictions on abortions in Arizona. Even with the repeal of the Civil War-era ban, there is a 2022 law banning abortions after 15 weeks that will be the law of the land once the repeal is implemented.

That law prohibits abortions beyond its gestational deadline unless a woman faces permanent injury or life-threatening medical complications. Doctors who violate its provisions are subject to a class 6 felony and revoked licenses. There are no exceptions for rape or incest.

The 1864 law is now set to be repealed, but that wont officially happen until 90 days after the legislatures annual session ends. That means the repeal likely wont go into effect until months after the Supreme Court ruled the near-total ban can be enforced on June 27.

We recognize that the power in this country is at the ballot box, Ignacio said, and the forum was an opportunity for Indivisible Tohono to ensure their people stay civically engaged.

Jessica Miguel, from New Fields, on the Tohono Oodham Nation, attended the community forum because she has been following the news surrounding the abortion ban and wanted to learn more about how it would impact women living on the reservation because she has two young daughters.

Miguel said their family gets all their services from Tohono Oodham Health Care facilities, and the discussion at the forum informed her that having the ban in effect in Arizona does not drastically impact her or her daughters living on the Tohono Oodham Nation.

Cohen said that the Tohono Oodham Nation has not taken a position on the issue. However, she has done research within the tribal court system and found one case that can put into context how the tribe stands on unborn children.

She said that the case is not about abortion. In the 1999 case, Tohono Oodham Nation vs. Reseda Pancho, the Tohono Oodham Nation Judicial Court decided on the status of an unborn child  and ruled fetuses have the same rights as people.

Cohen said the information is minimal, but the court findings from that case have a legal holding on the Tohono Oodham Nation.

Reading from the case, Cohen said that in Oodhams oratory history, pregnant women are cautioned against being around certain situations.

Details on what type of situations were not provided, but Cohen said caution against those situations is to prevent harm or suffering to the child once the child is born, and because of that, the court ruled that an unborn child is a person.

The law in the Tohono Oodham Nations courts right now, because of this 1999 decision, is that unborn children have personhood, according to the court, Cohen said. I cant speculate beyond that about how that would be interpreted in the context of abortion.

Cohen said that even though these abortion bans apply to all women in Arizona, there is still a disproportionate impact on Indigenous women who live off the reservation. Some 70% of Tohono Oodham people live off the reservation.

Indigenous women are disproportionately impacted and will be, continue to be, disproportionately impacted by this ban, Cohen said, because Indigenous women, in general, face more restrictions, obstacles, and hurdles when it comes to getting reproductive health care.

A majority of Indigenous women living on or off tribal land rely on Indian Health Services (IHS) for care, which is a federally funded service.

IHS does not manage the Tohono Oodham Health Care facilities. Instead, the tribe has a contract with the IHS, in which the tribe oversees health services for its citizens and any funding received by the hospitals.

Federal funding can not be used to pay for abortion services unless a pregnancy is a result of rape, incest, or it endangers the life of the person.

Chief said the bans are not a huge concern for the healthcare facilities in the Tohono Oodham nation because they do not do any abortions.

We have to send them off the nation to do that, and the moment they cross off the nation, theyre subject to everything that the State of Arizona says, he said. So, were kind of stuck that way.

Chief said there are several methods the Tohono Oodham Nation recommends for prevention, including contraceptive prescriptions, which include IUDs, birth control, and Plan B.

Indigenous women who seek health care at any federally funded IHS facility, whether on tribal land or not, have minimal options when it comes to abortion services, especially in Arizona.

Even if they get referred to a different health care provider in Arizona, the bans are almost certain to make it harder and require them to go to another state with few restrictions, like California or New Mexico, adding more unnecessary burdens to the individual.

Even though it may not change how they access health care, Miguel said she is grateful for Ignacio bringing this conversation to the community because she understands how difficult it is.

It is a hard conversation to have, and I am sure people have questions but dont know how to bring them to the forefront, she added.

Miguel said she hopes more tribes will follow suit and provide a space for their people to have these difficult discussions so they wont be seen as taboo.

Ignacio said it may be difficult for Indigenous communities to have these conversations publicly because few people want to organize them and ensure that their people have the most up-to-date information.

There arent very many platforms to be given to people in our community to openly talk about these topics, she added, and its essential to have a space where people do not feel judged for talking about reproductive health care and whatever that looks like.

Having over a dozen people attend the forum was a really good feeling for Ignacio. She said it indicates that people are interested in these conversations, topics, and ideas. I

We have to do a better job of creating safe spaces to have these difficult conversations, especially if these decisions are being made for us, she added.

Sunshine Hendricks appreciated the space to talk about these issues close to home.

Its just really important that we start getting comfortable talking about these issues because, as we can see, theyre becoming more and more apparent, Hendricks said.

Hendricks, 27, is Tohono Oodham and lives in Sells on tribal land. She said she hopes to share the information she learned from the forum with people in her life.

Its really important for the conversations to continue outside of here, she added, and she hopes that with the information she shares, theyll be able to form their own opinions and come to their own conclusions from what Ive given them.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Uncomfortable but necessary conversations: How AZ abortion laws affect Indigenous women appeared first on Arizona Mirror.
A United Nations resolution in support of Palestinian membership passed with overwhelming support on Friday, and granted new privileges to the Palestinian Authority in its current capacity as a non-member observer state.

The resolution won a resounding majority of 143 votes in favor. Twenty five abstained, and nine nations voted against the text: Czechia, Hungary, Argentina, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Israel and the United States.

The text, put forward by the United Arab Emirates, calls for the UNs powerful Security Council  which must rule on Palestinian membership  to reconsider the matter favourably.

The State of Palestine is qualified for membership in the United Nations, it asserts.

With emotion running high on Friday, more than 100 national representatives asked to speak about the resolution, with most emphasizing strong support for Palestinian statehood no matter how they voted.

Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour at the UN in New York City on May 10, 2024. - Eduardo Munoz/Reuters

In remarks before the vote, Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour spoke passionately about the plight of Palestinians in wartorn Gaza. As we speak, 1.4 million Palestinians in Rafah wonder if they will survive today, he told the assembly, referring to Israeli threats of a major attack on the densely populated city in southern Gaza.

He also thanked protesters on US university campuses and abroad who have demonstrated against the Israel-Hamas war. Our flag flies high and proud in Palestine and across the globe, and on the campus of Columbia University. It has become a symbol by all those who believe in freedom and is just ruled by all those who can no longer stand idly by in the face of such utter injustice, Mansour said.

Israel foreign minister Israel Katz quickly condemned the resolutions passage, describing it as a an absurd decision that highlights the structural bias of the UN and rewards the actions of Hamas on October 7.

The message that the UN is sending to our suffering region: violence pays off, he said. The decision to upgrade the status of Palestinians in the UN is a prize for Hamas terrorists after they committed the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.

New rights and privileges

While a General Assembly vote cannot confer UN membership, the approved resolution does endow the Palestinian Authority with new procedural rights and privileges.

Only member states can vote, but the Palestinian Authority can now be seated among member states in alphabetical order; submit and introduce proposals and amendments; and co-sponsor proposals and amendments.

It can also make statements and explanations of votes, and has the right to reply on behalf of a group within the UN. It can also request proposals to be put to a vote and request items to be put on the UNGAs provisional agenda.

The Palestinian Authority will now request full membership from the Security Council, according to Mansour.

The US has already warned that it will likely veto such a request in the Security Council  a replay of its April veto of an earlier Palestinian membership request.

Following the general assembly vote on Friday, US Deputy Ambassador to the United Nations Robert Wood described the resolution text as unproductive, saying a durable peace in the Middle East would mean bundling the two-state solution with other elements.

Gaza cannot be a platform for terrorism, that there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and that the size of Gazas territory should not be reduced, he said.

Wood also suggested that the United Nations was the wrong forum for consideration of Palestinian statehood, telling the General Assembly that it remains the US view that the most expeditious path toward statehood and UN membership for the Palestinian people is through direct negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian authority.

Israeli Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan at the UN headquarters in New York City on May 10, 2024. - Charly Triballeau/AFP/Getty Images

Israels ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan also made emotional remarks before the assembly before the vote, accusing resolution supporters of voting to advance the establishment of a Palestinian terror state and shredding part of the UN charter while standing at the organizations storied rostrum in New York

This is your mirror so that you can see exactly what you are inflicting upon the UN charter with this destructive vote, Erdan said, holding up a small paper shredder.

Hours later, UN spokesman Farhan Haq defended the charter, telling press that this is an organization that is premised on respect for the UN charter and all of the member states have pledged to uphold the UN charter and we expect them to fulfill that obligation, said the spokesman.

As long as this organization exists, the charter exists, Haq added.

In September 2011, the Palestinian Authority failed to win UN recognition as an independent member state. A year later, the UN decided that the Palestinian Authoritys non-member observer entity status would be changed to non-member observer state, similar to the Vatican.

This is a developing story. It will be updated

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
US announces a new $400 million package of weapons for Ukraine to try to hold off Russian advances

FILE - A police officer examines fragments of a guided bomb after the Russian air raid in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. Russia pounded a town in Ukraines northeast with artillery, rockets and guided aerial bombs Friday May 10, 2024 before attempting an infantry breach of local defenses, authorities said, in a tactical switch that Kyiv officials have been expecting for weeks as the war stretches into its third year. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko, File)

WASHINGTON (AP)  The U.S. announced a new $400 million package of military aid for Ukraine on Friday, as Kyiv struggles to hold off advances by Russian troops in the northeast Kharkiv region.

This is the third tranche of aid for Ukraine since Congress passed supplemental funding in late April after months of gridlock. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had warned Thursday that his country was facing a really difficult situation in the east, but said a new supply of U.S. weapons was coming and we will be able to stop them.

The package includes High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and rockets for them, as well as munitions for Patriot and National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, artillery, anti-aircraft and anti-tank munitions, and an array of armored vehicles, such as Bradley and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

It will also provide a number of coastal and riverine patrol boats, trailers, demolition munitions, high-speed anti-radiation missiles, protective gear, spare parts and other weapons and equipment. The weapons are being sent through presidential drawdown authority, which pulls systems and munitions from existing U.S. stockpiles so they can go quickly to the war front.

Also on Friday, the State Department approved a proposed emergency sale of HIMARS to Ukraine for an estimated $30 million. State said Ukraine has asked to buy three of the rocket systems, which would be funded by the government of Germany.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken determined that an emergency exists that supports the immediate sale to Ukraine. The systems will come from Army inventory.

White House national security spokesman John Kirby said Friday that the latest package of military aid was intended, in part, to help Ukraine fend off the surging Russian effort to capture Kharkiv, Ukraines second largest city.

Kirby noted that Russia has already launched initial incursions into areas around the towns of Vovchansk and Lyptsi, near Kharkiv.

It is possible that Russia will make further advances in the coming weeks, but we do not anticipate any major breakthroughs, Kirby said. And over time, the influx of U.S. assistance will enable Ukraine to withstand these attacks over the course of 2024.

The U.S. has now provided about $50.6 billion in military assistance to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Almost immediately after President Joe Biden signed the $95 billion foreign aid package, the Pentagon announced it was sending $1 billion in weapons through that drawdown authority,. And just days later the Biden administration announced a $6 billion package funded through the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, which pays for longer-term contracts with the defense industry and means that the weapons could take many months or years to arrive.

Russia has sought to exploit Ukraines shortages of ammunition and manpower as the flow of Western supplies since the outbreak of the war petered out while Congress struggled to pass the bill. Moscow has assembled large troop concentrations in the east as well as in the north and has been gaining an edge on the battlefield, Zelenskyy said.

Officials did not say if the latest package includes more of the long-range ballistic missiles  known as the Army Tactical Missile System  that Ukraine has repeatedly requested. The U.S. secretly sent a number of the missiles to Ukraine for the first time this spring and the White House has said it would send more. In one case, Ukraine used them to bomb a Russian military airfield in Crimea.

The new missiles give Ukraine nearly double the striking distance  up to 300 kilometers (190 miles)  than it had with the mid-range version of the weapon that it received from the U.S. in October.

___ Associated Press writer Aamer Madhani contributed to this report.
TechCrunch

In January last year, German biotech company BioNTech acquired African AI startup Instadeep for over $550 million, a deal finalized in July of the same year. Instadeep, whose exit is currently the largest from Africa, has been operating under the German pharma umbrella for just over a year. Notably, the decade-old startup collaborated with BioNTech to develop an early warning system that could detect high-risk COVID-19 variants months ahead of time during the pandemic.
Presidents Circle on the University of Utah campus in Salt Lake City is pictured on Monday, January 15, 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps for Utah News Dispatch)

Ahead of July 1, the implementation date of a Utah bill overhauling diversity, equity and inclusion programs in state schools and other public entities, the University of Utah is eliminating its Division of Equity, Diversity and Inclusion and providing guidelines with administrative policies to comply with the law.

The schools EDI office will be eliminated on July 1, according to a news release, and its staff will be reassigned to other school offices. Full-time EDI employees may change job titles and broaden job descriptions to accommodate the change.

Many student support staffers will shift to positions in Student Affairs. Communications and marketing staff will move to University Marketing and Communications, according to the release. And Vice President Mary Ann Villarreal will become a special advisor to (University of Utah President Taylor) Randall.

Student resource centers will be reorganized under the Student Affairs division and the U. vowed to continue to celebrate all students and their unique life experiences, belief systems and heritages.

The unique life experiences and perspectives of our students, faculty and staff matter. These identities are what make the University of Utah a vibrant space for learning, teaching, conducting research and providing exceptional patient care, Randall said in a statement on the new campus EDI guidance. Our work is done one by one, with attention to individual needs  as we are each responsible for making the university a place where everyone can thrive.

The change comes after the Utah Legislature approved HB261, or Equal Opportunity Initiatives, a bill that banned public institutions from maintaining certain DEI policies or offices, including asking for DEI statements in hiring practices and certain training that promotes differential treatment, according to the bill.

Identity-based clubs or resource centers are allowed under the law as long as they are available to all students. Rather than defining those served at the centers by race, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation or identity, student resource centers will be open to all, the release reads. The American Indian Resource Center, Black Cultural Center, Center for Equity and Student Belonging, and Dream Center will also start to report through Student Affairs.

Randall and other U. leaders met with legislators to advocate on behalf of the university and its people, according to the release.

What I learned, and what the data demonstrates, Randall said, is that higher education has lost confidence among many of our stakeholders. They want us to listen and I have made the promise to do just that.

Let us know what you think...

The states flagship university will update lawmakers about the issues raised as the bill is implemented. But, in the meantime, Randall advised faculty and staff to avoid self-censoring.

While the law restricts certain policies, activities and initiatives related to equity, diversity and inclusion, it also protects and even strengthens academic freedom, classroom instruction, research and accreditation, the release reads.

The legislation doesnt restrict recruitment either, so the university can continue reaching out to diverse populations to advertise and recruit.

Though final hiring and admission decisions must be based on best qualifications and may not consider a candidates race, ethnicity or other identity traits, the university may continue to evaluate whether the demographic makeup of a hiring pool is in line with expected demographics. If hiring pools are not reflective of expected demographics, searches may be canceled and reposted. The university wont allow quotas or specific metrics to evaluate hiring pools.

However, the school stopped using diversity statements in the hiring process on Jan. 8, right after Gov. Spencer Cox said he had the appetite to sign a bill that would restrict DEI practices.

These diversity statements that you have to sign to get hired, I think thats awful, I mean, bordering on evil that were forcing people into a political framework before they can even apply for a job, he said in his December PBS Utah news conference, ahead of the 2024 Legislative session.

The university also released an administrative guidance, which instructs staffers on the applications of the law.

The school should avoid the full phrase diversity, equity and inclusion in connection with any policy, practice, program, office, initiative or required training, the guide reads. It should also avoid using the DEI phrase in any settings that could be construed as practices or initiatives.

The University encourages personnel to focus on framing programs in terms of success  student success, faculty success, staff success, and community success, the guide reads. Specific examples of words that might be appropriate based on the endeavors goals include: equal opportunity, all backgrounds, social mobility, student wellbeing, differing viewpoints, and belonging.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post University of Utah eliminates DEI office, offers guidelines to comply with new law appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. Omar Ishaq/dpa

Some 110,000 people have left Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip since the Israeli army started advancing on the city, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)said on Friday.

"@UNRWA estimates around 110,000 people have now fled Rafah looking for safety," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said in a post on the X platform.

"But nowhere is safe in the #GazaStrip & living conditions are atrocious," the post continued. "The only hope is an immediate #Ceasefire."

The Rafah border crossing to Egypt remains closed to humanitarian aid deliveries, according to the Palestinian border authority.

The Israeli army said that troops were still deployed in the east of the city of Rafah and in Al-Saitun in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

In Rafah, the army had located several tunnel entrances. During battles on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing to Egypt, "several terrorist cells were eliminated."

The Israeli air force also attacked several areas in the Rafah area from which rockets and mortar shells had been fired at Israel in recent days.

The Kerem Shalom border crossing, which serves as an important crossing point for humanitarian aid into the blockaded coastal strip, was also targeted.

In al-Saitun, the army "eliminated several terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure," it was also reported. The air force had attacked around 40 targets in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.

On Monday, the Israeli military had called on residents of the eastern part of Rafah to leave the area.
Palestinians inspect the damage to one of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) buildings in Gaza City. Omar Ishaq/dpa

Some 110,000 people have left Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip since the Israeli army started advancing on the city, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)said on Friday.

"@UNRWA estimates around 110,000 people have now fled Rafah looking for safety," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said in a post on the X platform.

"But nowhere is safe in the #GazaStrip & living conditions are atrocious," the post continued. "The only hope is an immediate #Ceasefire."

The Rafah border crossing to Egypt remains closed to humanitarian aid deliveries, according to the Palestinian border authority.

The Israeli army said that troops were still deployed in the east of the city of Rafah and in Al-Saitun in the centre of the Gaza Strip.

In Rafah, the army had located several tunnel entrances. During battles on the Palestinian side of the Rafah crossing to Egypt, "several terrorist cells were eliminated."

The Israeli air force also attacked several areas in the Rafah area from which rockets and mortar shells had been fired at Israel in recent days.

The Kerem Shalom border crossing, which serves as an important crossing point for humanitarian aid into the blockaded coastal strip, was also targeted.

In al-Saitun, the army "eliminated several terrorists and destroyed terrorist infrastructure," it was also reported. The air force had attacked around 40 targets in the Gaza Strip within 24 hours.

On Monday, the Israeli military had called on residents of the eastern part of Rafah to leave the area.

More than 1 million internally displaced persons are said to be living in Rafah.

Israel's Western partners, above all the United States, have urgently warned the Israeli government against a large-scale military operation in Rafah due to the expected dramatic humanitarian consequences.

Following the massacres in Israel on October 7, Israel wants to completely destroy the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement, whose leaders it suspects are hiding in tunnels under Rafah, where Israeli hostages are presumably also being held.
U.N. Palestinian relief agency UNRWA said its East Jerusalem headquarters is closed until security is restored following an Israeli extremist arson attack Thursday night. Israeli right-wing activists pictured here protested at the entrance to UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem on March 20, 2024. File Photo by Debbie Hill/ UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- The United Nations Palestinian refugee agency temporarily closed its East Jerusalem headquarters following an arson attack attributed to "Israeli extremists."

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said that "Israeli residents set fire twice to the perimeter" with personnel and other U.N. agencies staff in the compound, adding the headquarters will remain closed until security can be restored.

"Our director with the help of other staff had to put out the fire themselves as it took the Israeli fire extinguishers and police a while before they turned up," he said.

He added it was the second "appalling incident" in less than a week.

There were no injuries, but the fire caused what Lazzarini described as extensive damage to outdoor areas near the headquarters.

In a statement on X, Lazzarini said over the past two months Israeli extremists staged protests and they turned violent when demonstrators threw stones at U.N. staff.

Lazzarini posted a video on X he said was from Israeli media showing armed men chanting "Burn down the United Nations."

According to Lazzarini U.N. staff have been harassed and intimidated and threatened with guns.

He called on Israel to end the attacks.

"It is the responsibility of the State of Israel as an occupying power to ensure that United Nations personnel and facilities are protected at all times," he said. "U.N. staff, premises and operations should be protected at all times in line with international law."

Lazzarini said the attackers must be investigated, the attacks must end and those responsible for them must be held accountable.

UNRWA is the largest relief agency operating in Gaza with more than 13,000 people on staff there.

In April, Germany returned to providing funds to UNRWA after more than a dozen nations suspended funding following Israeli allegations that UNRWA employees were allegedly involved in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel.

Germany resumed funding after a U.N.-commissioned report found Israel did not have enough evidence to back the claims.

Sixteen nations including Germany suspended $450 million in support payments to UNRWA after the Israeli allegations.

Australia, Canada, Japan and Sweden resumed their funding as doubts were raised about the veracity of Israeli claims.

UNRWA delivers humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

In March, the UNRWA said Israel banned it from delivering aid to northern Gaza, with Israel's Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories, better known as COGAT, saying the UNRWA failed to live up to its mandate and reiterating the accusation that it was "deeply involved with a a terrorist organization."
NAIROBI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday renewed a call for the global community to support action on the climate crisis and civil strife undermining the quest for peace, stability, and sustainable growth in Africa.

Guterres said at a briefing on the sidelines of the UN Civil Society Conference, which concludes Friday in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, that Africa remains the epicenter of climate emergencies despite its negligible contribution to the emission of planet-warming gases.

"This continent is being blasted by extreme weather, turbocharged by a climate crisis it has done next to nothing to create: From lethal floods in the East to deadly droughts in the South," Guterres said.

He stressed that Africa can overcome climatic vagaries once the continent receives a fair share of investments in renewable energy and other adaptation measures.

"Africa could be a renewables giant," Guterres said, noting that the continent is home to 30 percent of the minerals critical to green energy transition and 60 percent of the world's solar resources.

Stressing that the United Nations will press for climate justice in Africa, Guterres observed that the continent has received only 2 percent of investments in clean energy in recent decades.

The UN chief called on major economies to honor their commitment to finance climate action in Africa, while increasing their contribution to the newly established Loss and Damage Fund.

In addition, Guterres said the reform of multilateral development banks is urgent to enhance capital flows to climate action in developing countries, the majority of which are in Africa.

He urged the Group of 20 (G20) nations to lead in slashing greenhouse gas emissions while accelerating a just global phase-out of fossil fuels that are responsible for worsening planetary warming.

African governments should establish ambitious national climate plans by next year to help attract investments required to enhance the resilience of communities on the front line of the climate crisis, he said.

On the ongoing conflicts in Africa, Guterres said the UN has rallied behind the African Union's call for silencing the guns and restoring peace in several hotspots, including Sudan, the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Sahel, and the Horn of Africa.

Guterres called upon combatants in various African hotspots to abide by international humanitarian law, protect civilians, and ensure they have access to basic services. 
(KRON)  A former candidate who ran for Santa Clara County Sheriff was convicted this week of lying about her experience in law enforcement. A jury convicted Anh Colton, 51, of felony perjury for falsely certifying that she had the required experience to run, prosecutors said.

Colton was listed on the 2022 June primary ballot and received more than 4 percent of votes. She did not advance to a November runoff.

California law requires that candidates for sheriff have at least one year of law enforcement experience within the last five years, or a certificate showing advanced training in law enforcement. The Cupertino woman had neither, the Santa Clara County District Attorneys Office wrote.

Certifying falsely under penalty of perjury is a serious matter, and in an election case such as this one, could prevent a legitimate candidate from making the runoff or even winning outright, District Attorney Jeff Rosen said.

Leading up to the 2022 election, a DA investigator went to Coltons home in April and asked about her law enforcement experience. She referred him to her campaign advisor.

Prosecutors wrote, In May, the investigator received an email from her campaign advisor saying that the investigator should stay away from Colton and she did not have to and would not answer his questions. Unfortunately, state law did not permit the Registrar of Voters or the DAs Office to remove Colton from the ballot.

Perjury is a felony punishable by up to four years in county jail.

The qualifications for sheriff are not for show, Rosen said. The sheriff oversees the safety of thousands of people, hundreds of deputies, and our jail. It is not a job for the inexperienced or incompetent.

Colton was sentenced to jail time that she had already served behind bars, which totaled 134 days.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRON4.
Delay tactics: Former President Donald Trump is currently dealing with the hush-money/falsifying business records case before him, in which he may be convicted and serve some time in prison. It is also not impossible that he will serve some amount of time in jail beforehand if he violates the judge's gag order again.

But the other three criminal cases before him look increasingly like they will be delayed until after the presidential election in November, in part due to the fact that Trump's legal team has been successfully pushing them off until later.

"If Trump wins, he could appoint Justice Department officials to make the two federal cases against him go away," notes Axios, referring to the cases involving conspiracy to overturn election results and mishandling of classified documents. There would still be the Georgia caseconcerning the overturning of election resultsto contend with, but that case has been roiled by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis' conflict of interest scandal. And, in terms of the first two federal cases, legal experts are torn on whether Trump would be able to pardon himself.

"The answer is open in part because no president except Trump has ever been charged with a crime," reports Axios. "But it's also the result of a failure on Congress's part to prohibit the potential practice through a constitutional amendment, though some members of Congress have tried to do so."

Hunter's guns: "A federal judge in Delaware denied Hunter Biden's bid to throw out his felony gun charges on Thursday, rejecting arguments from the president's son that the federal prohibition on owning guns while using illegal drugs is unconstitutional under the Second Amendment," reports Politico.

Biden the younger was charged in 2023 with buying a gun while using illegal drugshe notoriously had a crack cocaine problem at the time of the purchase, in 2018as well as lying about the drug use on a government form while buying the weapon.

"Separately, a federal appeals court panel ruled against Biden earlier Thursday in another bid to have the charges against him tossed," reports Politico. "The two decisions appear to clear the way for his case to head to trial on June 3, though his defense team can still pursue further appeals."

"Hunter Biden's multiplying gun charges threaten the right to arms and the right to trial," wrote Reason's Jacob Sullum last year. "Survey data suggest that millions of gun owners are guilty of violating 18 USC 922(g)(3) because they consume arbitrarily proscribed intoxicants (mainly marijuana). Yet fewer than 150 Americans are prosecuted for that crime each year. Even when gun buyers (including people who are disqualified for other reasons, such as felony records) are caught lying on Form 4473, they are rarely prosecuted." It's almost like an example is being made of Hunter Biden, whose legal argument is in stark opposition to the Biden administration's position on the matter.

Scenes from New York: Inside the city's effort to remove severely mentally ill people from subway cars. We discussed this with Peter Moskos, a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice and former Baltimore cop, on Just Asking Questions #15, ("What does good policing look like?").

QUICK HITS

My friend Mike Solana, head honcho of Pirate Wires, interviewed Jack Dorsey. "In a rare, far-reaching interview, what follows is a missing chapter of internet history that sheds light not only on Bluesky, but Twitter, X, and the past five years of censorship and backlash," writes Solana. "Because of vulnerabilities designed into the technology, social media, in its current, centralized form, can't survive the global war on speech. The future will be decentralized, or it won't be free."

"Retiring early is becoming the norm as the share of US workers planning to work beyond age 62 continues to retreat, extending a downshift that started with the pandemic," reports Bloomberg, based on Federal Reserve Bank of New York data.

In the future, your AI concierge will date other AI concierges and get back to you with a filtered list of who to actually meet. (I'm not reflexively anti-AI, but this strikes me as a bit dark, undervaluing both chemistry and dissimilarity.)

Bumble founder Whitney Wolfe Herd says the future of dating is having your AI date other people's AI and recommend the best matches for you to meet pic.twitter.com/9GEEvpuiKZ  Tsarathustra (@tsarnick) May 10, 2024

"There is broad agreement that the US housing market needs more homes," writes Conor Sen at Bloomberg. "There is also broad agreement that affordability needs to improve. But it doesn't necessarily follow that we should build more affordable homes."

Innovation in textiles!

Thailand's about-face on legal pot throws entrepreneurs for a loop.

You can keep your "modest prosperity"; I'll take a dynamic, growing, highly prosperous society, the likes of which the world has never known before:

ah, yes, "modest prosperity" (being put on a waitlist for 10-13 years to receive a shitty car) is what I aim for https://t.co/yRZzGd6YDY  Liz Wolfe (@LizWolfeReason) May 9, 2024

I believe in him:

I offer to eat 5 more brain worms and still beat President Trump and President Biden in a debate.  Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) May 8, 2024

The post The Untested Self-Pardon appeared first on Reason.com.
Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, speaks at the start of the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly. Michael Kappeler/dpa

The United States will again block attempts to grant Palestinians increased rights in the United Nations General Assembly despite expectations of a large majority in favour in a vote to be taken in New York on Friday.

Nate Evans, spokesman for the US Mission to the UN, indicated that the US would again use its veto as it last did on April 18. Palestine currently holds only "observer" status at the world body.

"Should the General Assembly adopt this resolution and refer the Palestinian membership application back to the Security Council, we expect a similar outcome to what occurred in April," he said.

A majority of the UN's 193 member states are expected to vote in favour of a resolution granting Palestine significantly extended rights to participate in the sessions of the UN General Assembly.

The draft resolution does not grant Palestine regular voting rights.

Adoption of the resolution would also likely increase pressure to grant Palestine full membership.

The UN General Assembly recognized Palestine as an observer state in 2012 despite resistance from the United States. Palestine and the Vatican are the only two non-member states with observer status in the body.

The resolution, which was introduced by the United Arab Emirates but drafted by the Palestinians, has been the source of disagreements at UN headquarters in New York for weeks.

The text states that the General Assembly has determined that the "State of Palestine ... should be admitted to membership of the United Nations." It also recommends that the UN Security Council, which holds decisive power over UN membership, "reconsider the matter favourably."

Dpa has obtained the text of the draft resolution, although the provisions and language of the resolution could still change as negotiations continue.

The move by the 193-member UN General Assembly in New York, which comes against the backdrop of the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, is also a reflection of international opinion on the Middle East conflict.

UN diplomats believe that the resolution will easily achieve the necessary two-thirds majority of all votes cast in the General Assembly.

The influential United States, as well as China and Russia, fear a loss of control in the upgrading of regions whose statehood is disputed. All three countries hold veto powers at the Security Council.
US to announce US$400 million military aid package for Ukraine on 10 May  Politico

The United States will announce a new US$400 million military aid package for Ukraine on Friday, 10 May.

Source: Politico, citing two US officials, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Politico reported that the package for Ukraine will include weapons from US warehouses, additional missiles for Patriot air defence missile systems, Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles, mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs), Javelin anti-tank guided systems, and other ammunition.

Background:

On 24 April, US President Joe Biden signed a package of legislation passed by Congress that includes nearly US$61 billion in aid to Ukraine and other US allies. Immediately afterwards, the US announced a US$1 billion military aid package for Ukraine.

Afterwards, the US Department of State confirmed that further military aid packages were being prepared.

Earlier, the US expressed hope that new US military aid unblocked by Congress would over time help the Armed Forces of Ukraine to regain the initiative on the battlefield, but a large-scale Ukrainian offensive is unlikely in the near future.

Support UP or become our patron!
The US announced on Friday a new $400 million military aid package to Ukraine.

The package includes weapons Ukraine has been asking for, including Patriot missile system munitions, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMAR) systems and ammunition, Stinger anti-air missiles, 155mm artillery rounds, Bradley Fighting Vehicles, and Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles (MRAPs), among other equipment.

As President Biden has made clear, the United States and the international coalition we have assembled will continue to stand with Ukraine in its defense of its freedom, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a statement.

The announcement marks the second Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA) package since President Joe Biden signed a long-delayed national security supplemental securing $60 billion in funding for Ukraine.

Last month, just moments after Biden signed the legislation, the US announced a $1 billion PDA package to Ukraine. Biden said at the time that shipments of the equipment to Ukraine would begin in the next few hours. And just two days later, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced a historic $6 billion long-term investment package to purchase new equipment for Ukraine.

The $6 billion package  the largest the US has announced  is under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI). USAI is different from than the PDA package in that it contracts with the US defense industry to purchase new equipment, whereas PDAs pull equipment from existing US stocks.

While some equipment under the PDA can arrive within days of the announcement, support under USAI takes longer; Austin said at the time that the Pentagon was going to move as fast as we can to get them the capability as fast as industry can produce.

On Friday, the State Department also announced the $30 million sale of HIMARS to Ukraine, a rocket launcher that Kyivs military has used to great effect against Russian forces. The emergency sale, which includes three of the HIMARS vehicles, will be paid for by Germany on behalf of Ukraine.

But officials have told CNN that Russia is seeking to exploit that lag time and step up its attacks on Ukraine as the embattled country waits for assistance to arrive. The lag in those shipments is made more severe given the months-long delay in aid as Congress debated the supplemental legislation.

On Wednesday evening, Ukrainian authorities said Russia launched dozens of missiles and drones on Ukraine, targeting energy infrastructure. On Friday, a Ukrainian military source told CNN that Russian forces had penetrated at least one kilometer inside northern Ukraine in an assault on a border town on Thursday evening.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday that Russia launched a new wave of counteroffensive actions in ([northern Kharkiv region). Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery.

But our military and military command were aware of this and anticipated their forces to meet the enemy with fire, he said. Now there is a fierce battle in this area.  I think as of now we have stopped the enemy with artillery fire.

This story has been updated with additional reporting.

CNNs Jennifer Hansler and Oren Liebermann contributed to this report.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
The U.S. announced a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine on Friday, the third slated for the embattled country after the passage last month of a national security supplemental that included $61 billion for Kyiv.

The new package includes Patriot air defense munitions and Stinger anti-aircraft missiles, which have been crucial to defending Ukraines skies and keeping its cities safe.

Other equipment also includes more High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems and 155 mm and 105 mm artillery rounds, which Ukraine has desperately needed to fend off Russian attacks across the front line as Moscow has an advantage in artillery fire.

The U.S. is also providing Javelin missiles, Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, M113 Armored Personnel Carriers, patrol boats and general small arms ammunition, grenades and demolition munitions.

The announcement comes after an initial $1 billion package in late April shortly after President Biden signed the national security supplemental bill into law after months of Congress holding up talks on new aid for Ukraine.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also announced a $6 billion package for Ukraine that will require Kyiv to purchase equipment from the defense industrial base before delivery.

The U.S. aid will be crucial to ensuring Ukrainian troops can stay in the fight as Russia intensifies pressure across the eastern frontline, making critical advances in the Donetsk region.

On Friday, Russia also launched a major attack in the northeastern Kharkiv region, putting even more pressure on Ukrainian forces.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
LA-LO, Philippines  The High Mobility Artillery Rocket System has gained international attention in recent years, particularly in the war in Ukraine, but a U.S. Army unit challenged the systems ability to rapidly deploy in a drastically different Pacific island environment this month during the bilateral training exercise known as Balikatan in the Philippines.

HIMARS made a trip down to the southwestern island of Palawan and up to northern Luzon, hitching rides on C-130s and being whisked from ship to beach using U.S. Marine Corps amphibious hovercraft called Landing Craft Air Cushion, or LCACs. These vessels are large enough to carry an M1 Abrams tank.

The Lockheed Martin-manufactured HIMARS is a truck-mounted, mobile rocket launcher that can carry six missiles at a time. Lockheed has seen a large increase in HIMARS orders from a wide variety of countries in Europe but was also recently slated to provide a few to Indo-Pacific nations, including Taiwan.

While this is not the first time HIMARS was used at the annual training exercise in the Philippines, the 5th Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Long Range Fires Battalion of the 1st Multidomain Task Force tried to demonstrate how it can be transported and quickly deployed in a plethora of different ways, including via non-Army assets, Capt. Garrett Kohnke, battery commander of Alpha Battery, told Defense News at La-Lo Airport.

During the exercise the Army and its partners demonstrated two HIMARS Rapid Infiltration (HIRAIN) operations.

On May 1, the Army hauled two HIMARS aboard a semi-truck from Fort Magsaysay located in central Luzon to an airfield in Subic Bay on the southwestern side of the Philippines largest island. The HIMARS launchers were then loaded into a U.S. Air Force C-130 transport aircraft and flown roughly 700 kilometers to the San Vincente airfield on Palawan island.

The Army then took HIMARS on a tactical road march to San Vincente beach and loaded the systems onto LCACS, which then drove into the ocean to the U.S. Navys an amphibious transport dock Somerset, which then traversed the western coast south to Rizal.

The LCACs delivered HIMARS ashore at the beach for a live-fire exercise that included other assets such as 105mm howitzers from the Philippine Armed Forces.

Following the live-fire exercise, the HIMARS systems took a reverse trip back to Subic Bay.

A HIMARS on the beach in Rizal on Palawan in the Philippines prepares for a live-fire exercise as part of the bilateral and joint training event Balikatan. (Cpl. Kyle Chan/US Marine Corps)

The entire process took 72 hours, according to Kohnke. However, it takes just 30 minutes to load a HIMARS into a C-130 and 10 minutes from rolling off the aircraft to be ready to fire, Kohnke said.

Two days later, the battery prepared to load the two HIMARS systems to fly them via C-130 to La-Lo, located in north-central Luzon not far from the shore. Plans had to be adjusted when one C-130 experienced a problem requiring maintenance and so the Army took just one HIMARS up north from Subic Bay.

At La-Lo, a commercial airport shut down for military operations during Balikatan, the HIMARS system conducted a series of simulated live-fires, receiving fire mission commands from the All-Domain Operations Center, part of the MDTF, set up in the Philippines at a base near Manila.

Then the battery conducted another tactical road march on May 7 from La-Lo to Port Irene, a distance of 40 kilometers.

The purpose of the road march was to prove HIMARS could make it through to a northern port using challenging island infrastructure. Roads in many cases are narrow. Village storefronts and homes along the road are built just inches from where vehicles such as jeepneys  made from jeeps left behind by the U.S. military after World War II  and trisikads  motorbike taxis  zip through while weaving and dodging each other in intense tropical heat.

The HIMARS went along with two Army Humvees and a Marine Corps Joint Light Tactical Vehicle as well as a Philippines Armed Forces escort in an SUV.

The trip was without incident and took an hour and a half, Kohnke reported as his unit line-hauled HIMARS on a 10-hour road trip back to Fort Magsaysay.

HIMARS can travel roughly 260 miles on one tank of fuel, which is helpful when the system needs to shoot and move quickly well out of the way to avoid enemy detection after firing.

A HIMARS prepares to conduct a simulated fire mission at La-Lo Airport in norther Luzon, Philippines during Balikatan 24 on May 6, 2024. (Jen Judson/Staff)

The system has participated in a previous iteration of Balikatan. Last year it played a part in a combined, joint live-fire exercise where participants tried to sink a ship off the coast at a training facility north of Subic Bay.

HIMARS rockets missed the ship at the time. The service identified challenges with targeting because the munitions were not able to easily account for drift. Kohnke said drifting at sea is a complex problem because it can take roughly 8 minutes to lock in a target and fire. Ships can move 30 to 40 meters in that time, he explained.

The Mid-Range Capability (MRC) missile tested during Balikatan this year, though not in a live-fire exercise, would better address the challenge of hitting ships at sea, Kohnke said. On the horizon is also the Precision Strike Munition, which could feature ship-killing capability at a later time. The first set of PrSM equipment was delivered to the Army late last year.

Using HIMARS more extensively at Balikatan this year allowed the Philippine Armed Forces to get a closer look at the system as it assesses its own modernization needs, which includes a rocket system like HIMARS.

The southern Pacific is beginning to see more HIMARS customers. Singapore is already a HIMARS user. Australia is also slated to buy 20 HIMARS systems and Taiwan was also cleared by the U.S. State Department to buy 11 HIMARS in late 2020.
By Steve Holland and Katharine Jackson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States is working around the clock to provide Ukraine with supplies to defend itself against an intensified Russian attack that could target Kharkiv, the White House said on Friday.

Russian forces launched an armored ground attack on Friday near Ukraine's second largest city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made small inroads, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.

"It is certainly possible that the Russians are setting themselves up for a larger assault on Kharkiv," White House national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. He said it was concerning signs that Russia appears to be preparing to use long-range fire within range of Kharkiv.

"You're not going to do that if you're not also thinking about some other larger assault directly on the city," Kirby said.

The United States is preparing a $400 million military aid package for Ukraine, as the U.S. returns to a regular pace of supplying weapons to Kyiv after lawmakers passed a $95 billion bill, the White House said on Friday.

The Ukraine aid package includes artillery, munitions for NASAMS air defenses, anti-tank munitions, armored vehicles and small arms that can immediately be put to use on the battlefield, a U.S. official told Reuters.

The weapons aid will utilize Presidential Drawdown Authority, or PDA, which authorizes the president to transfer articles and services from U.S. stocks without specific congressional approval during an emergency. As a part of the $95 billion aid bills, Congress authorized $60.8 billion worth of various forms of aid to Ukraine, including $8 billion worth of PDA items.

(Reporting by Steve Holland, Doina Chiacu, Katharine Jackson; Editing by Doina Chiacu)
Egypt and the United States have called for flexibility to reach a hitherto-elusive ceasefire and hostage release deal between the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement and Israel after an inconclusive round of negotiations in Cairo.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken agreed during a phone conversation on Thursday night on the importance of urging the parties to show flexibility and make the necessary efforts to reach the deal, an Egyptian Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Friday.

Israel and Hamas do not negotiate directly; so the US, Qatar and Egypt are acting as mediators.

Shoukry and Blinken discussed the latest security and humanitarian situation in Gazas southernmost city of Rafah packed by refugees.

The Egyptian official warned against repercussions of Israeli military operations in Rafah neighbouring Egypt, the spokesman added in a statement.

Earlier this week, Israel took control of the Palestinian side of the Rafah border crossing, halting humanitarian aid deliveries via the facility into the heavily populated Gaza Strip.

Rafah is the last holdout for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. Israel sees the city as Hamas last stronghold.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry speaks during a press conference at Tahrir Palace. Hassan Mohamed/dpa
US FDA pushes decision on Moderna's RSV vaccine to end of this month

(Reuters) -The U.S. drug regulator has pushed back its decision on Moderna's respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine due to "administrative constraints" and will complete the review by the end of this month, the company said on Friday.

Moderna's shares fell 3% to $119.02 in early trading.

The Food and Drug Administration's move prolongs the wait for Moderna's second approved product, but the company said it remains on track to be reviewed by a panel of U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) advisers in late June.

The CDC panel is expected to vote on recommendations for the vaccine's use and the intended population, and success there is necessary for commercial launch.

"We don't expect major delays from here onwards and FDA should be able to approve this by end of May," Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said.

Moderna has been banking on its experimental shots to make up for vastly lower sales of its Spikevax COVID vaccine, its only marketed product, after the pandemic.

The company is seeking the FDA's approval of the shot to prevent RSV-associated lower respiratory tract disease and acute respiratory disease in adults aged 60 or older.

While RSV symptoms are similar to a cold, it can be fatal in children and older adults and causes about 14,000 deaths annually in U.S. adults aged 65 and older, according to CDC data.

Analysts expect Moderna's RSV vaccine to make roughly $340.8 million this year and more than $800 million in 2025, according to LSEG data.

If cleared, Moderna's shot will compete in the U.S. fall vaccination campaign against Pfizer and market leader GSK.

Moderna filed for FDA approval based on data from a late-stage trial that showed its vaccine was 83.7% effective at preventing at least two symptoms of RSV. But new data in February showed faster declines in the vaccine's efficacy compared to the GSK and Pfizer shots.

(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in New York and Leroy Leo in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Shounak Dasgupta)
LUSAKA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) commended Zambia on Friday for its efforts to promote the inclusion of refugees into national systems.

Chansa Kapaya, the UNHCR regional director for Southern Africa, said that Zambia's progressive approach could serve as a model for other nations and attract development.

Kapaya, concluding a three-day visit to Zambia, praised the country for its commitment to a progressive response to forced displacement and refugee protection, as well as its longstanding support for refugees and displaced persons.

She urged Zambia to promptly implement its national refugee policy, launched in January, to align with the ambitions of the Global Compact on Refugees.

Kapaya emphasized the importance of predictable and equitable responsibility-sharing, saying that sustainable solutions to refugee challenges require multi-stakeholder responses.

She affirmed UNHCR's commitment to collaborating with the Zambian government and partners to implement sustainable programs that transform refugee settlements into hubs for economic development.

Additionally, she commended the Zambian government's decision to declare the drought situation a disaster and expressed solidarity with those affected.

UNHCR is working to respond to the government's disaster appeal and will continue to mobilize support from development partners, she added. According to UNHCR, Zambia currently hosts 100,000 refugees and asylum seekers. 
The flags of USA (L) and Ukraine are pictured ahead of the conference on the Ukraine war at the US Ramstein Air Base. Boris Roessler/dpa

Following the recent approval of new funds for Ukraine by the US Congress, the government in Washington has announced a further package of military aid for Kiev.

The US State Department announced in Washington on Friday that the package was worth around $400 million including ammunition for the Patriot air defence system, additional HIMARS multiple rocket launchers with ammunition as well as Stinger anti-aircraft missiles and artillery ammunition in 155 and 105-millimetre calibres.

At the end of April, after months of domestic political deadlock, the US Congress approved billions in aid for Ukraine, which has been invaded by Russia - thus clearing the way for new arms deliveries.

The bill provides for aid totalling almost $61 billion for Kiev. The US government had long and vehemently demanded the release of the funds from parliament.

The previous US funds for aid to Ukraine expired at the end of last year. This meant that new support from the US largely failed to materialize for months while Kiev was in urgent need of the aid.

Following the approval of new funds around two and a half weeks ago, the US government has already launched several packages with new military equipment for Ukraine.

Since the start of the Russian invasion over two years ago, the US has provided military aid totalling around $50.6 billion for Ukraine, according to Pentagon figures.
The U.S. added 37 Chinese entities to the trade blacklist due to security reasons, including 11 of them accused of being connected to last year's espionage incident, the U.S. Commerce Department said on May 9.

The Biden administration imposed additional sanctions on Beijing after a spy balloon drifted from Alaska to South Carolina in February 2023, causing outrage in Washington and prompting U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to cancel his trip to China.

Chinese Foreign Ministry claimed it was a weather balloon blown off the course.

After the February incident, the Commerce Department shortly included five companies and one research institute on the entity list for supporting "China's military modernization efforts, specifically the People's Liberation Army's (PLA) aerospace programs, including airships and balloons."

The companies, as well as research institutions mentioned on the list are prohibited from doing business with U.S. firms and are obliged to get approval from the U.S. Commerce Department before obtaining goods and technologies from them.

Subscribe to the Newsletter

Ukraine Business Roundup

Subscribe

Apart from 11 companies reportedly connected to the spy balloon incident, 22 were put on the list as they were linked to China's efforts to improve its quantum technology and attempts to acquire U.S.-origin items to boost domestic industry.

"These activities have substantial military applications and pose a significant threat to U.S. national security," the statement reads.

Some of the sanctioned companies are also associated with China's nuclear program or were involved in the exports to Russia.

Beijing has maintained close ties with Moscow during the war, increasing economic cooperation and disrupting Western attempts to isolate Russia.

Expanded trade with China has played a key role in allowing Moscow to keep its economy running and ramp up its military industry despite Western economic pressure.

U.S. President Joe Biden previously announced another large-scale round of sanctions on Feb. 23, targeting 500 entities in Russia ahead of the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion and following the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Read also: US sanctions Russia, Chinese companies for war effort support

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Title icon

The Scoop

A new bipartisan bill would direct US assistance to countries that face economic backlash from China for attempting to forge ties with Taiwan.

The proposal, which leaders of the House select committee on China plan to introduce on Friday, aims to encourage other countries to strengthen bonds with Taiwan and to aid those who have done so and who are facing economic pressure from Beijing. In recent years, countries like Nauru have severed ties with Taiwan in favor of China.

The measure would authorize $120 million over three years for a new Taiwan Allies Fund, according to a copy of the bills text shared with Semafor ahead of its introduction.

China has weaponized trade and commercial ties to punish countries seeking closer unofficial ties with Taiwan, a one page summary reads. It cites Lithuania, whose exports China blocked after Lithuania allowed Taiwan to open a de facto embassy there back in 2021.

Taiwans global network of friends is critical to supporting democracy, advancing global development, and deterring PRC aggression, the summary states.

Title icon

Know More

The legislation would allocate $40 million annually for three consecutive years for the fund to support countries that have official or strong unofficial relations with Taiwan, are the recipients of coercion or pressure by China, and lack the economic or political capability to effectively respond to that economic pressure. Only nations who receive less than $5 million in other development aid would qualify, and it would fall to the State Department and the US Agency for International Development to dole out the money.

The bills sponsors are Reps. John Moolenaar, R-Mich, who replaced Mike Gallagher as the new chair of the House select committee on China earlier this year, and Raja Krishnamoorthi, the top Democrat on the panel. In addition, it will be sponsored by Reps. Gregory Meeks, D-N.Y., Ami Bera, D-Calif., Gerry Connolly, D-Va., and Andy Barr, R-Ky, according to a Krishnamoorthi aide. Meeks is the top Democrat on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The proposal comes less than two weeks before a new president, Lai Ching-te, is inaugurated in Taiwan. Tensions have flared between the US and China in the region in recent days, after a US warship passed through the Taiwan Strait. China has increased its military presence near the island.

The US government maintains unofficial ties with Taiwan and supporting the self-governing island has become a popular cause in Washington as sentiment sours towards Beijing. A steady stream of US lawmakers have visited the island in recent years and Taiwans outgoing president, Tsai Ing-wen, met with then-House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and other members in California last year, a visit that enraged China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory. The foreign aid package recently signed into law by President Biden also included billions of dollars to counter threats from China to Taiwan and allies in Asia.

Title icon

The View From China

Following Naurus decision to sever diplomatic ties with Taiwan in January following Lais election, the Chinese foreign ministry said there is but one China in the world and Taiwan is an inalienable part of Chinas territory.

Semafor Logo
US Pacific bases and aircraft are wildly vulnerable to Chinese missile barrages that could overwhelm defenses, lawmakers warn

US bases and aircraft are extremely vulnerable to Chinese missiles, American lawmakers warned in a new letter.

US Pacific bases lack sufficient passive defenses, including hardened aircraft shelters, to survive missile barrages.

In a letter to the Navy and Air Force secretaries, officials demanded "immediate changes."

US bases and aircraft in the Pacific are facing intense threat from Chinese missiles, and the Pentagon isn't doing enough to counter that challenge, according to American lawmakers.

In a Wednesday letter to Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro, 13 members of Congress pointed out glaring vulnerabilities in the Pacific region and demanded "immediate changes."

"We are concerned about the alarming lack of urgency by the Department of Defense in adopting such defensive measures," these lawmakers, including the Chairman of the Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party Rep. John Moolenaar, wrote, referring to the need for more passive defenses, such as hardened aircraft shelters and the dispersal of forces.

The letter paints a dire picture: China has a formidable, threatening missile force with surging numbers of ballistic missiles and launchers, significant reach, and an ability to potentially overwhelm US defenses in the Pacific.

"With its current strike capabilities," the lawmakers wrote, "China can attack all US bases in the region, targeting US service members from Okinawa to those on US territories of Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands."

And the consequences of that are severe in a potential conflict, immobilizing air assets and impeding the ability of American forces and its allies to respond to a major war in the Pacific.

A U.S. Air Force Rockwell B-1B Lancer (L) and a Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker (R) sit on the tarmac at Andersen Air Force base on August 17, 2017, in Yigo, Guam. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

In the letter, lawmakers note that many of the US bases in the Pacific remain unhardened, leaving aircraft and assets vulnerable to missile strikes.

Military aircraft are exposed on airfields and in easily detectable and identifiable hangers, and while active defenses such as air- and missile-defense systems are deployable, the sheer amount of Chinese missiles capable of being fired means that bases also need to have passive defenses and sufficient capabilities to get the US back into the fight in the aftermath of a strike. These could be solutions ranging from hardened shelters and underground bunkers to rapid runway repair capabilities.

The lawmakers also wrote that "it is apparent that the Pentagon is not urgently pursuing needed passive defenses," referencing ongoing research by Tom Shugart, a former US Navy officer who is now an adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security think tank, and Timothy A. Walton, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute.

The letter shared preliminary information from Shugart and Walton showed a "staggering" difference between the number of Chinese and US hardened aircraft shelters in the Pacific, noting China had built more than 400 compared to just 22 by the US. Notably, none of the US shelters were in Guam  home to Andersen Air Force Base which routinely hosts American bombers.

While none of these efforts would provide complete protection from China's missiles, they would be an upgrade, increasing survivability and thus forcing China to scale up its barrages.

China would have to invest more into a strike to achieve a similar outcome, perhaps demanding more from the People's Liberation Army Rocket Force than it is prepared to give.

Lawmakers noted that no base hardening projects in the Pacific were part of the fiscal year 2024 budget and also highlighted the unfunded projects in the region that "reflect a profound lack of seriousness in strengthening the US bases closest to China and thus most vulnerable to Chinese strikes."

Military vehicles carrying DF-26 ballistic missiles, drive past the Tiananmen Gate during a military parade to mark the 70th anniversary of the end of World War Two on September 3, 2015, in Beijing, China. Andy Wong - Pool /Getty Images

The grave assessment comes as the US looks toward China as its "pacing challenge" and more defense officials and experts acknowledge a clear lack of readiness for potential conflict with Chinese forces.

Last fall, the Pentagon's report on China's military documented a significant build-up across its branches, particularly in its Rocket Force. All of China's missiles able to target US forces across the Pacific region increased in number from 2021 to 2022, with some stockpiles even doubling.

While the US is adapting to the threat as it prepares for potential great-power conflict with China, former and current military leaders as well as experts and analysts have told Business Insider there's more work to be done, especially when it comes to defending against China's missiles.

Read the original article on Business Insider
US says Israel's use of weapons may have violated international law

By Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The Biden administration on Friday said Israel's use of U.S.-supplied weapons may have violated international humanitarian law during its military operation in Gaza, in its strongest criticism to date of Israel.

But the administration stopped short of a definitive assessment, saying that due to the chaos of the war in Gaza it could not verify specific instances where use of those weapons might have been involved in alleged breaches.

The assessment came in a 46-page unclassified State Department report to Congress required under a new National Security Memorandum (NSM) that President Joe Biden issued in early February.

The findings risk further souring ties with Israel at a time when the allies are increasingly at odds over Israel's plans to strike Rafah, a move Washington has repeatedly warned against.

The Biden administration has already put a hold on one package of arms in a major policy shift and said the U.S. was reviewing others even as it reiterated long-term support for Israel.

The State Department's report included contradictions: It listed numerous credible reports of civilian harm and said Israel did not at first cooperate with Washington to boost humanitarian assistance to the enclave. But in each instance it said it could not make a definitive assessment whether any breaches of law had occurred.

"Given Israel's significant reliance on U.S.-made defense articles, it is reasonable to assess that defense articles covered under NSM-20 have been used by Israeli security forces since October 7 in instances inconsistent with its IHL obligations or with established best practices for mitigating civilian harm," the State Department said in the report.

"Israel has not shared complete information to verify whether U.S. defense articles covered under NSM-20 were specifically used in actions that have been alleged as violations of IHL or IHRL in Gaza, or in the West Bank and East Jerusalem during the period of the report," it said.

Because of that, the administration said it still finds credible Israel's assurances that it is using U.S. weapons in accordance with international law.

Democratic Senator Chris Van Hollen said the administration had "ducked all the hard questions" and avoided looking closely at whether Israel's conduct should mean military aid is cut off.

"This report contradicts itself because it concludes that there are reasonable grounds to believe violations to international law have occurred, but at the same time that says they're not finding non compliance," he told reporters.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israels seven-month-old assault on the Gaza Strip, say health officials in the Hamas-ruled enclave. The war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and abducting

252 others, of whom 133 are believed to remain in captivity in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.

"EXCESSIVE" CIVILIAN HARM

Israel's military conduct has come under increasing scrutiny with the soaring death toll and the level of devastation in the Gaza Strip.

U.S. officials at the State Department have been divided over the issue. Reuters reported in late April that officials in at least four bureaus inside the agency have raised serious concerns over Israel's conduct in Gaza, laying out specific examples where the country might be in breach of the law.

Rights group Amnesty International in late April said U.S.-supplied weapons provided to Israel have been used in "serious violations" of international humanitarian and human rights law, detailing specific cases of civilian deaths and injuries and examples of use of unlawful lethal force.

The U.S. government reviewed numerous reports that raise questions about Israels compliance with its legal obligations and best practices for mitigating harm to civilians, the report said.

Those included Israeli strikes on civilian infrastructure, strikes in densely populated areas and others that call into question whether expected civilian harm may have been excessive relative to the reported military objective.

According to the report released Friday, in the period after Oct. 7 Israel did not fully cooperate with U.S. and other international efforts to get humanitarian aid into Gaza. But it said this did not amount to a breach of a U.S law that blocks the provision of arms to countries that restrict U.S. humanitarian aid.

It said Israel had acted to improve aid delivery since Biden warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call early last month that Washington would withhold some arms supplies if the humanitarian situation did not improve.

The report, Washington has decided to declassify, said individual violations do not necessarily disprove Israels commitment to international humanitarian law, as long as it takes steps to investigate and hold violators accountable.

"Israels own concern about such incidents is reflected in the fact it has a number of internal investigations underway," the report said. A senior State Department official confirmed that none of those investigations had yet led to prosecutions.

It also has compiled numerous instances in which humanitarian workers have been killed and military operations had taken place in protected sites but again said it was not able to reach definitive conclusions on whether U.S. weapons were used in these occasions.

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Simon Lewis; Additional reporting by Patricia Zengerle; editing by Diane Craft)
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo will be visiting the metro Atlanta area to announce a local company will be expanding their fiber optic manufacturing operation in Norcross.

According to an announcement from Raimondos office, the Commerce Secretary and U.S. Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock will be meeting at OFS Optics facility in Norcross to discuss broadband needs and fiber optic cable manufacturing as part of a White House internet initiative.

The release said OFS CEO Holly Hulse will meet with Raimondo, Warnock and Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Communications and Information and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Administrator Alan Davidson, plus a variety of other state and local leaders, for a manufacturing announcement at the facility.

A representative from the Department of Commerce told Channel 2 Action News that the expansion at OFS Optics is coming because of more than $1 billion in funding from a 2023 allocation.

The broadband funding, $1.3 billion, will be heading to Georgia as part of President Joe Bidens Build America, Buy America policy and the U.S. Department of Commerces Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.

The BEAD program is expected to increase demand for U.S.-produced fiber optic cable over the next several years.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

TRENDING STORIES:

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
KATHMANDU, May 10 (Xinhua) -- An assembly plant for Hyundai cars was inaugurated on Friday in Nepal's Lumbini Province, the first for a multinational brand.

Laxmi Motor Corporation, a unit of the Laxmi Group, the authorized dealer in Hyundai cars in Nepal for one and a half decades, set up the four-wheeler assembly facility.

Nepal's Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal attended the inauguration ceremony. He voiced his belief that the assembly plant would help attract more investments in the country.

Initially, Hyundai Venue SUVs will be assembled in the Lumbini plant, but other models of cars are planned as well.

According to the company, the assembly plant has the capacity to assemble over 5,000 cars in a year. 
MOBILE, Ala. (WKRG)  A University of South Alabama professor has been recognized for his commitment and service as an educator, according to a press release.

Gator stops traffic in downtown Mobile

The American Academy of Neurology awarded Bassam Bassam, M.D., FAAN, a professor of neurology at the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine at the University of South Alabama with the A.B. Baker Teacher Recognition Award at the organizations annual meeting.

(USA Health)

AANs website describes the award, noting Excellent teachers deserve recognition for their contributions to improving neurology now and in the future.

Teaching binds students, residents, faculty, other clinicians, researchers, and even patients, together and helps make our daily work more meaningful. This award demonstrates respect and appreciation for neurologic teaching, the site continues.

Bassam, who joined USA Health in the fall of 1985 and served as the director of the Neuromuscular Clinic & EMG Laboratory, said the award showed an appreciation for his teaching contributions and provided evidence of the neurology departments dedication to the universitys mission.

UPDATE: Okaloosa County Sheriffs Office breaks silence on Airman Fortsons shooting death

I am proud of supporting the University of South Alabamas educational mission for 39 years, during which I contributed to training and graduating over 90 neurologists serving our area and all over the country, he said. I am grateful for the opportunity to contribute to our medical students educational programs and mission for nearly four decades.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRG News 5.
Silenced USC valedictorian walked the stage and the crowd reaction was anything but silent

USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum receives her diploma beside Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of the Viterbi School of Engineering, at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Friday. (Christina House/Los Angeles Times)

The crowd inside USCs Galen Center erupted in a prolonged symphony of applause Friday as Asna Tabassum  the Muslim valedictorian whose speech was canceled by university leaders amid controversy over her pro-Palestinian views  walked across the stage to accept her diploma during the Viterbi School of Engineering graduation ceremony.

Tabassums entire biomedical engineering class, along with a few spectators, stood to applaud her as she left the stage and walked down the aisle to her seat. Asna, I love you! a spectator yelled from the stands. Her crimson graduation sash was emblazoned with her academic achievements  including her minor in resistance to genocide and extracurricular involvements  and the phrase "praise be to God" written in Arabic.

USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum attends the Viterbi School of Engineering graduation ceremony at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Friday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

As the crowd roared she turned and laughed, raising a hand to her heart  a moment of joy at the university, which has been racked by tension and disappointment over upended graduation plans. Similar satellite ceremonies throughout campus at individual schools "ran smoothly without a hitch," a university spokesperson said.

"Joyful, celebratory, and no disruptions," said Joel Curran, senior vice president of communications.

USC President Carol Folt had canceled Tabassum's commencement speech last month after the university received threats related to a pro-Palestinian link on her Instagram account. Pro-Israel groups said the linked website was antisemitic because it included the words, One Palestinian state would mean Palestinian liberation, and the complete abolishment of the state of Israel" so that "both Arabs and Jews can live together. Tabassum has said she's not antisemitic.

USC students attend graduation from the Viterbi School of Engineering at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Friday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Read more: 13 days that rocked USC: How a derailed commencement brought 'complete disaster'

Amid ongoing turmoil over campus protests, Folt canceled the main-stage commencement ceremony, which would have taken place Friday, an event that typically draws about 65,000 people to the Los Angeles campus.

After students set up a pro-Palestinian encampment and demanded that USC end its financial ties with Israel, Folt and her team called in the Los Angeles Police Department and 93 people were arrested. On Sunday morning, police cleared a second encampment, but no arrests were made.

"The world is in angst and it is in pain. International events take place thousands of miles away in different parts of the world, but we feel them here on our campuses. Through it you have demonstrated dignity, moral compass and true grace," Yannis C. Yortsos, dean of the USC Viterbi School of Engineering, told the crowd of graduates on Friday.

"You demonstrated your trustworthiness, traits that augur well for the future, as you will be asked to bring solutions to grand challenges, many of which will have a social-centric focus," he said.

A day earlier, during a student recognition awards ceremony, Tabassum was also given a long and loud standing ovation from her peers. She laughed and pretended to check her watch as the applause continued.

Friday's individual school ceremonies, while celebratory, carried the weight of the past several challenging weeks on the USC campus.

The sprawling campus resembled a fortress on Friday morning with strict ticketing, several closed entrances and fences enclosing and blocking access to green space, seemingly to prevent encampments. In the quad near Doheny Library, where the main-stage commencement traditionally happens, the lawns were instead sliced by fences that demarcated lounges and tables for specific graduation events.

USC students attend graduation from Viterbi School of Engineering at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Friday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Guests were required to pass through security checkpoints and metal detectors and carry their belongings in clear bags. Since the Sunday encampment sweep, officers from several law enforcement agencies have been stationed at the center of campus.

At one campus entrance, more than 100 people  including graduates in black robes and crimson sashes  waited in lines to get through the checkpoints. USC conferred 19,000 degrees during the series of ceremonies on Friday.

Read more: Citing safety concerns, USC cancels pro-Palestinian valedictorian's graduation speech

The standing ovation for Tabassum  and numerous ceremonies that unfolded on campus to cheers and applause as graduate's names were called  cut through the air of disappointment that many have felt in the lead-up to altered ceremonies.

Tabassum released a form of her speech through student media at 8 a.m. on Friday, roughly when she would have spoken during the scrapped main-stage ceremony.

"President Folt, Provost [Andrew] Guzman, faculty, staff, families and fellow Class of 2024: It is my honor to stand before you today as your valedictorian.

"I am filled with gratitude to have the privilege of, it says before being cut off by several blocks of blacked-out text, symbolizing how she was silenced.

USC valedictorian Asna Tabassum attends the Viterbi School of Engineering graduation ceremony at the Galen Center in Los Angeles on Friday. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Congratulations, Class of 2024, it ends, before more blacked-out words. Thank you."

At USC Hillel on Friday morning about 50 graduates and 200 other guests gathered for a Jewish-centric graduation ceremony.

What a four years you had, actress and former "Jeopardy!" host Mayim Bialik told the crowd, in a surprise speech that was broadcast on video screens.

You are the ones we worried about, she said, a reference to the disruption of the COVID-19 pandemic during their senior year of high school and first year in college.

Speakers emphasized the painful year that Jews around the world and at USC have experienced.

"This moment is not an end but a beginning, Leah Hochman, Director of the Louchheim School for Judaic Studies and an associate professor of Jewish thought, told those gathered. She urged them to live lives of integrity.

Teach others. Talk with them. Listen to them. Come back in a couple years and show us what you got, she said.

Varun Soni, dean of religious life at USC, said that by so many metrics, this was the hardest year for Jewish life on campus maybe ever.

And yet, on the other hand, in my 16 years here, Ive never seen a more vibrant, engaged, passionate Jewish community on campus," Soni said.

Justin Korn, who graduated with an undergraduate degree in interactive media and game design from the School of Cinematic Arts, said it "was important to come here and replace the feeling when they canceled the big one," meaning the mainstage commencement.

"It was a little disappointing, but we're here together now," Korn said.

Fireworks go off at the "Trojan Family Graduate Celebration" at the Coliseum on Thursday. The traditional main stage ceremony at Alumni Park was canceled due to campus unrest. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Earlier this week, Folt and Guzman were censured by the Academic Senate, a body of representatives for USC faculty. The members cited widespread dissatisfaction and concern among the faculty about administrative actions and decisions surrounding protests and commencement.

Folt has defended her actions and said in an interview with The Times that campus safety is her North Star.

For me, I have a very clear North Star: that I am the person at the university, no matter how complicated the issue and how much I empathize with everybody involved  which has been true for me  I still in the end have to sit back and say, What can I do to keep my campus and my people as safe as possible?

A campus spokesperson said Folt was "moving all around campus [Friday] meeting with graduates and families." She also helped present an honorary degree to tennis star Billie Jean King.

Read more: Fireworks, drones, Travis Scott hats: USC hosts alternative graduation event. Feelings are mixed

Much of the uncertainty of the preceding weeks remained just below the surface during the Thursday night alternative graduation party dubbed "Trojan Family Graduate Celebration" at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

The event was billed as an electric atmosphere  capped at six tickets per graduate  featuring a drone show, fireworks and a special gift for the Class of 2024: a hat from rap star Travis Scotts collegiate clothing brand. The university had pitched the event as a Southern California-style celebration to compensate for the loss of the main-stage ceremony with a valedictorian, keynote speeches and the presentation of honorary degrees.

A USC student waits to have their name called during graduation Friday from the Viterbi School of Engineering at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

Annette Ricchiazzi was on campus Friday for her daughter's graduation from the School of Dramatic Arts. She was able to bring immediate family to the event with the four tickets her daughter received. With the main-stage ceremony canceled, grandparents and other family didn't attend, she said.

"It's definitely a different kind of commencement, but we are making the best of it," Ricchiazzi, a USC alumna, said. She attended the gathering at the Coliseum Thursday night and said it was "strange."

"It was fine for what it was, as a spirit or pep-rally kind thing. It was nice. Students and staff clearly put time and effort into it," she said. "But it was like putting a Band-Aid on a stab wound."

Times staff writer Hailey Branson-Potts contributed 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.
University of Texas police officers arrest a protestor within the pro-Palestinian encampment on the University of Texas at Austin campus on April 29, 2024 Credit: Leila Saidane for The Texas Tribune

A University of Texas at Austin lecturer was arrested and fired this week in connection with his participation in a pro-Palestinian demonstration on campus, raising fresh concerns among faculty members and free speech advocates about academic protections in the state.

Richard Heyman, who has taught at UT for 18 years in the College of Liberal Arts, was arrested Wednesday by the Texas Department of Public Safety and charged with interfering with public duties, a Class B misdemeanor. The charge stems from Heymans participation in an April 29 pro-Palestinian demonstration in which authorities arrested around 80 protesters who had set up an encampment on campus.

The university fired Heyman on Thursday through an email, according to his lawyer, Gerry Morris. Heyman was scheduled to teach three classes during the upcoming fall semester.

According to Heymans arrest affidavit, DPS troopers accused him of yelling expletives at law enforcement during the protest, pulling away a troopers bike and making a motion with a water bottle as if he were going to swing it and hit a trooper.

Citing three video recordings of Heymans actions, Morris disagreed with the affidavits characterization of his client as physically disruptive.

Morris said the officer initiated physical contact and pushed Heyman, which caused Heyman to grab onto the bikes handlebar for balance. Morris said he plans to ask the Travis County Attorneys office to dismiss the case.

This is a politically charged atmosphere that this occurred in, Morris said. I think in a normal atmosphere, the prosecutor would look at this, drop it pretty quickly. But Im not sure that its going to move very quickly given what were in the middle of.

Heymans firing comes amid rising concern among Texas faculty groups that state legislators have passed laws that have led to increased scrutiny and insecurity regarding their jobs. Anne Lewis, an executive board member of the Texas State Employees Union, linked Heymans firing to what she said are broader moves by the state to restrict academic freedom and First Amendment rights.

I think it is an attack on higher education and its core values, and Richard is just one of many that is getting caught up in this attack, Lewis said. Hes the worst so far.

Last year Texas lawmakers passed Senate Bill 17, which banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices at Texas universities, and Senate Bill 18, which set out to terminate tenure at state universities but ended up only requiring schools to provide clear guidelines for how to obtain and keep tenure. Complying with SB 17 resulted in firings at universities across the state, with UT-Austin laying off dozens of employees earlier this year.

The state Legislatures Higher Education Committee will likely monitor the implementation of both laws and consider regulating faculty senates in the next legislative session, according to Lt. Gov. Dan Patricks agenda for lawmakers during the interim period before the next legislative session. Faculty senates represent faculty members in open meetings to make recommendations on a wide variety of topics such as undergraduate degree programs and student services.

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.
Editor's note: This story was updated to correctly state how many classes Richard Heyman is scheduled to teach at the University of Texas in the fall.

The Texas Department of Public Safety arrested a University of Texas professor Wednesday, more than a week after he was accused of grabbing a DPS trooper's bike and yelling expletives during the April 29 encampment that was staged to protest the Israel-Hamas war. He was then fired by the university this week, according to his lawyer.

Gerry Morris, the lawyer representing former professor Richard Heyman, disputed law enforcement's characterization of Heyman's actions, saying evidence contradicts the accusations against him.

The DPS charged Heyman, who has worked at UT for almost 18 years and is listed as a lecturer in the school of liberal arts and architecture, with interfering with public duties. The charge is a Class B misdemeanor, which can be punished with a fine of up to $2,000 and no more than 180 days in jail.

A copy of the probable cause affidavit states that Heyman approached state troopers and yelled in their faces, "F**k you, you don't belong here!" as police began making their way toward the protesters in the encampment on the lawn of the university's South Mall.

Police backed by Texas Department of Public Safety troopers arrest protesters at the University of Texas campus April 29.

The charging document states that the officers used their bikes to create a barrier while troopers approached the encampment. That document says that Heyman attempted to "breach (the) line" and maintained his "verbally aggressive demeanor."

DPS trooper Thomas Goodson states in the charging document that he pushed Heyman back, and the professor responded by yelling. At some point, Heyman put his finger in Goodson's face and grabbed his bike by the handle and "physically started to pull my bike away from me, interfering with my assigned duties," the affidavit says.

The charging document notes that Heyman broke the trooper's "state-issued bike bell," which costs $62.

UT police then pulled Heyman away, and he yelled, "F**k you, I am a f**king professor here!"

Morris said video and witness evidence shows a "much different scenario" than what the trooper outlined in the charging document.

Morris, who did not share the video with the American-Statesman, said Heyman was yelling at troopers, which Morris noted is his constitutional right, when the trooper pushed him, and Heyman grabbed onto the bike's handlebar to not fall on the ground.

He also said that Heyman was not a part of the protest, but that he was a bystander and it appears that the troopers became "irritated" as he was "expressing his displeasure" with how police were breaking up the protest and then "shoved him."

Heyman found out he was fired on Thursday, the day after his arrest, Morris said, although he wasn't sure if a reason was given since Heyman isn't tenured.

"Nobody's fooling anybody here," Morris said. "If this had been a rally in support of Israel, they'd have been out there serving them lemonade and finger sandwiches. This is obviously a state-generated policy that they're going to go out and make all the arrests they can to try to appear tough."

The charging document also notes that Heyman had a water bottle in his hand that he "lifted above his head" and that while his finger was in the trooper's face, Heyman's arm was "primed to swing the bottle."

Morris called that allegation "ridiculous" and said the video shows that Heyman just "had a water bottle in his hand" and that it was never "brandished in any sort of threatening manner."

UT spokesperson Brian Davis declined to comment on the arrest. When asked about Heyman's firing, Davis said the university doesn't discuss personnel matters.

The DPS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Anne Lewis, who represents Central Texas on the executive board of the Texas State Employees Union, which represents UT employees and which Heyman has been a part of since 2007, said the union is planning to support all its members who face consequences related to the recent protests and firings resulting from Texas' ban on diversity, equity and inclusion programs at public universities.

"What's going on at the University of Texas, and this particular case, is part of a very broad attack on democratic institutions and particularly public higher education," Lewis said.

Heyman is still listed as teaching a course in the fall, he told the Statesman.

During the April 29 protest, police arrested 79 people. Since then, police have also charged a San Marcos man with a third-degree felony for bringing a gun on campus without a license during the protest, according to an arrest affidavit. The brief encampment on April 29 came just days after police arrested 57 people on April 24 for another protest in support of Palestinians.

Protests and encampments have broken out on campuses nationwide as protesters call for universities to divest from their support of Israel. The war has led to more than 34,000 Palestinian casualties since it began after the deadly Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, a Palestinian militant group.

DPS troopers were first called to UT in response to the April 24 protest at the request of the university and Gov. Greg Abbott and remained on standby in the following days.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: UT professor arrested, fired after police confrontation at protest
AUSTIN (KXAN)  A new state law left a group of Latino University of Texas students scrambling to make sure their graduation ceremony tradition went on as planned on Thursday.

The university canceled several minority graduation events it previously hosted for years. A new Texas law banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities, which cut funding for the ceremony.

RELATED COVERAGE: Students plan affinity graduations in just months after University of Texas ban

Faculty and students said Thursdays graduation sent a statement to the university: Theyll do it without their help.

All of us share the same culture. Its kind of sort of an unspoken, just bond that all of us have. Andres Ayala, UT graduate

We persevered and were here

Hundreds of Latino students, professors and their families celebrated the Latinx graduation.

We persevered and were here, said UT graduate Andres Ayala. We want to commemorate us and our experience as Latinos.

For many of them, theyre the first in their family to get a college degree.

UT Austin students raised thousands of dollars to put on a Latinx graduation that the university previously cancelled. (Photo: Angela Valenzuela)

UT Austin students raised thousands of dollars to put on a Latinx graduation that the university previously cancelled. (Photo: Angela Valenzuela)

UT Austin students raised thousands of dollars to put on a Latinx graduation that the university previously cancelled. (Photo: Angela Valenzuela)

All of the individual parents shouting for them was the sweetest thing ever. Katherine Ospina, UT graduate

Ospina and Ayala said the Latinx graduation has been a tradition at the university.

They said its the only program in the whole commencement week that has a translation, which can help parents fully experience the ceremony.

The cancellation

Three months ago the university cancelled this graduation and other minority graduation events as well.

A new Texas law banned diversity, equity and inclusion offices at public universities, which cut funding for the ceremony.

A lot of expressions of pain and fear, concern, anger, because the student organizations were left in a lurch in March, when all of a sudden, the programs were taken down, said UT Professor in the Department of Education and Leadership and Policy Angela Valenzuela.

RELATED COVERAGE: Sources: At least 20 UT employees linked to DEI to lose their jobs

Raising the money

Still, Ospina said that didnt stop them. She and others got to work.

I remember being like, If I find the funding and the connections, will we be able to do it? She was like, Katherine, you have six weeks until the day,' Ospina said.

RELATED COVERAGE: Student organizations feeling effects of Senate Bill 17s DEI ban

Along with help from the League of United Latin American Citizens, the nations oldest Latino civil rights group, they were able to raise the funds.

I texted all of my Latino friends that were here, Ospina said. I was like, Please send this to all of your community.'

Ospina said they were able to raise the $9,000 they needed through donations.

Theyve shown that theyre capable of doing things on their own. There was a lot of crying. People really, truly today understood what this meant. Emilio Zamora, UT Professor of History

As these students now embark on their next chapter in life, they hope to leave a legacy of perseverance by putting on this event.

UT Austin students hope to continue the Latinx graduation tradition for years to come. (Photo: Andres Ayala)

UT Austin students hope to continue the Latinx graduation tradition for years to come. (Photo: Angela Valenzuela)

UT Austin students hope to continue the Latinx graduation tradition for years to come. (Photo: Angela Valenzuela)

It was definitely empowering, Ayala said.

Extra money students raised will help support future events like new student orientations and leadership symposiums.

Those events were previously funded by the university.

KXAN reached out to UT for a response to the Latinx graduation but we have not heard back yet. We will update this if a statement is received.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
Editors Note: This story has been updated to reflect that Richard Douglas Heyman is a lecturer at the University of Texas. We regret the error.

AUSTIN (KXAN)  A University of Texas at Austin lecturer was fired days after he was arrested in connection with a pro-Palestine protest on campus. An attorney representing the lecturer told KXAN that a specific reason for his firing was not given.

Richard Douglas Heyman, a liberal arts lecturer, was charged with interference of public duties a Class B misdemeanor following an incident with law enforcement on April 29 on the UT south lawn. Heyman was arrested on Wednesday, May 8, online court records say.

We have removed the audio to the original video due to the amount of swearing from Heyman (Courtesy DPS)

UT Board of Regents respond to DPS presence at campus protests

When KXAN asked about Heymans termination, UT said it doesnt comment on personnel matters. Heymans attorney said the lecturer was fired on Thursday.

On April 29, a group of pro-Palestine protesters gathered on the campus South Mall and set up several tents in the area. The protest was one of several on campus that resulted in a standoff between law enforcement and demonstrators.

According to the affidavit, Heyman went up to Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) troopers who were making a barrier around the encamped protesters on the lawn and yelled F**k you, you dont belong here. Law enforcement told Heyman to leave the area and he chose to stay, the affidavit states.

Later, the affidavit states Heyman tried to go through a temporary fence of bicycles set up by law enforcement to prevent people from getting to the protester encampment. The officer pushed Heyman back.

Heyman then yelled at the officer and raised his water cannister above his head primed to swing the bottle, the affidavit states.

Heyman then grabbed my [the officers] bike by the handle with his left hand and maintained the swinging position with his right hand, the affidavit states.

When Heyman grabbed the bike, he broke the bike bell and became aggressive toward UT PD officers, the affidavit states.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KXAN Austin.
An evening view of the Egyptian Theatre marquee during the 2024 Sundance Film Festival on Jan. 18, 2024, in Park City, Utah. (Photo by Dia Dipasupil/Getty Images)

The Sundance Institute is still considering a future in Utah past 2027, when its contract with Park City is scheduled to expire.

The Utah Film Commission announced on Thursday its bid to host the Sundance Film Festival would proceed to the next step on its request for proposal process for the 2027 film festival and beyond.

In a statement Virginia Pearce, director at the Utah Film Commission, said the Utah Sundance Film Festival Host Committee  which includes state leaders such as Gov. Spencer Cox, Speaker of the House Mike Schultz and Senate President Stuart Adams  is committed to re-imagining future festivals and preserving the festivals connection to its home state.

Our shared 40-year growth and success have greatly contributed to Utahs culture and economy and have fostered a proven partnership in the film industry, Pearce said. Most importantly, we believe that continuing in Utah will best assure the Sundance Film Festivals continued growth and long-term success.

According to the Sundance Film Festivals 2023 Economic Impact report, almost 87,000 people attended the event and over 138,000 tickets were sold. About 21,400 people traveled from out of state to attend the festival and spent about $97 million in Utah between Jan. 19 and Jan 29 that year.

Overall, in 2023 the festival generated $118.3 million in the states gross domestic product, 1,608 jobs for locals, $63 million in wages and almost $13 million in state and local tax revenue, the report reads.

However, the logistics of hosting the renowned film festival in Park City has worried festival officials, who noted the municipalitys challenges with affordability and accessibility.

The 2025 and 2026 festivals will be in Park City and Salt Lake City, but Sundances future home is still uncertain. Other cities such as Atlanta, Georgia; Minneapolis, Minnesota; San Francisco, California; and Savannah, Georgia have expressed interest in hosting the festival.

We are in a unique moment for our festival and our global film community, and with the contract up for renewal, this exploration allows us to responsibly consider how we best continue sustainably serving our community while maintaining the essence of the Festival experience, Eugene Hernandez, Director at the Sundance Film Festival and Public Programming, said in an April news release.

SUPPORT NEWS YOU TRUST. DONATE

The post Utahs bid to continue hosting Sundance Film Festival advances appeared first on Utah News Dispatch.
EL PASO, Texas (KTSM)  City and state elected officials have directed more criticism towards the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) in response to the universitys president naming a new acting head for the Aerospace Center.

On Wednesday, May 8, Mayor Oscar Leeser, County Judge Ricardo Samaniego and Congresswoman Veronica Escobar sent a letter to Dr. Heather Wilson expressing their deep concern regarding her actions impacting the Aerospace Center.

This is in relation to the suspension of a $15 million grant that was awarded to UTEP by the National Science Foundation (NSF) for a regional innovation engine program that was intended to fuel the growth of dynamic aerospace and defense manufacturing.

The letter urges Dr. Wilson to reconsider her decision and said Dr. Choudhuris involvement and leadership has been instrumental in moving this initiative forward. His removal will impact the economic future of our entire region and jeopardize a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

It goes on to describe Dr. Choudhuris contributions to UTEP and the El Paso community including founding the Aeropspace Center and preparing the next generation of engineers, scientists and technicians.

The investment by NSF was estimated to have the potential to bring up to $160 million into the Borderland region over 10 years.

In the letter to the NSF, the University wrote: UTEP conducted a review of the statements in question and found they committed resources that do not exist, and which should not have been committed.

Those resources in question include research space off-campus and airspace for testing.

In a statement to KTSM, The University of Texas System Chancellor and Board of Regents Chairman said:

The University of Texas at El Paso President Heather Wilson has fully briefed us and the entire UT System Board of Regents on matters regarding UTEPs Aerospace Center and the facts regarding the removal of Dr. Choudhuri as its leader. We are unwavering in our support of her decisions on the matter, and we know they were guided by the highest ethical standards that we expect of our university presidents. Dr. Wilson has our full confidence to protect and advance UTEPs reputation and standing as a trusted research university. For the Aerospace Center to thrive, and to have the greatest impact on UTEPs students and expanded economic development for the Paso Del Norte region, new leadership of the Center is imperative. Moreover, we are grateful to Dr. Wilson for her strong advocacy for aerospace and advanced manufacturing in El Paso, which resulted in the Regents awarding of $80 million to UTEP for the construction of the Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center, slated to open next year.

UTEP officials also offered a statement in regard to Dean Ken Meissner assuming the role of acting director:

UTEP is fully committed to working with our partners and the NSF to get the El Paso Innovation Engine grant back on track as soon as possible. We are proud of the meaningful research at the UTEP Aerospace Center and its work on economic development projects to benefit the El Paso region. Over the years, hundreds of faculty, staff and students have contributed to its research and educational mission. Currently the Aerospace Center has more than a dozen active research awards, and as we bring the $80-million Advanced Manufacturing and Aerospace Center facility online next year, we will be able to expand the reach and scope of the Aerospace Center even further. We have confidence in Dean Ken Meissner as acting director and the search for the next leader of the center will go forward.

The grant remains pending as the NSFs Office of Inspector General completes their review.

A spokesperson with the organization said, every organization that submits a proposal to NSF for potential award must certify the accuracy of the proposals contents, and all awards that NSF makes undergo a rigorous review of scientific merit and broader impacts.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTSM 9 News.
WELLINGTON, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The New Zealand government's upcoming budget will include new funding of 571 million NZ dollars (344 million U.S. dollars) for defense force pay and projects.

Defense Minister Judith Collins said on Friday that 163 million NZ dollars (98.18 million dollars) of the additional funding will go to improving remuneration for New Zealand defense force personnel and 408 million NZ dollars (245.76 million dollars) to upgrading equipment and infrastructure.

Subject to Cabinet approval, the projects with the funding allocated through Budget 2024 are the next phase of an upgrade to the NH90 helicopter navigation systems and radios; modernizing devices and productivity tools; upgrading some digital services; and improving national maritime domain awareness, among others, Collins said.

The next step is to consider options for an updated Defense Capability Plan which will shape the future investment decisions around the equipment New Zealand needs, she said. 
Veterans Affairs officials on Friday unveiled a new $4 million grant program designed to help new veterans and their spouses find post-military jobs.

The program, announced on Military Spouse Appreciation Day, stems from legislation passed by Congress in 2021 and will offer grants up to $500,000 to organizations that provide employment-based resources and tools for transitioning service members and spouses.

Those services may include resume writing assistance, interview training, employment placement services, and related help.

These grants will help our nations service members and their spouses get the tools and assistance they need to get the jobs they deserve, VA Under Secretary for Benefits Joshua Jacobs said in a statement.

Veterans jobless rate drops to lowest average in more than 20 years

Our goal is to put service members and their families into positions where their transition out of the military isnt only manageable, its successful and empowers them to continue to lead our country.

Department officials did not say how many veterans and family members they expect to be helped by the new program. About 200,000 service members leave the military annually.

Separating troops and their spouses already have access to Military OneSource services through the Department of Defense for one year after they leave the service. The Department of Labor also hosts Transition Employment Assistance for Military Spouses and Caregivers workshops designed to help those individuals find new jobs.

Despite that, military and veteran spouse unemployment rates sit at more than 20% despite years of federal focus on the problem. Lawmakers are considering several new initiatives aimed at the group in the annual defense authorization bill being drafted by congressional committees.

Veteran employment rates have generally remained at or below national estimates, although younger veterans have struggled more than their older counterparts to find work in their first years out of the service.

VA officials said details on how organizations can apply for the grants will be released in June.
An upcoming artist-in-residency by Lakota artist Danielle SeeWalker in Vail, Colo., was abruptly canceled by the town yesterday.

According to SeeWalker, in January, Vails Art in Public Places program extended an invitation to her to participate in a three-week residency program. It was an opportunity with promise, a chance to showcase cultural richness and diversity while engaging with the local community through art that ended with a disheartening narrative of discrimination and suppression.

In January, SeeWalker eagerly accepted the residency offer, viewing it as an opportunity to positively represent the Indigenous community and break new ground as the first Native American to undertake the residency.

SeeWalker signed a contract, expecting the residency would include multiple community art events including working with youth, painting a mural in Vail Village, an art exhibition and giving a talk at their Symposium. In an email to Native News Online, SeeWalker said she turned down other job opportunities to fulfill her contractual obligation to the residency.

Yesterday morning, she received a phone call from Art in Public Places, telling her the residency was canceled. The reason given was that a recent piece from SeeWalker titled G is for Genocide"  which she unveiled on Instagram in March was too political.

The piece features a Native woman adorned with symbols of solidarity with Palestine. SeaWalker stated she was shocked the town canceled the residency without giving her the opportunity for dialogue or explanation.

I cant help but take this personally as silencing not only an artist, but a person of color. This piece of artwork has nothing to do with the Town of Vail. It had never been brought to the Town of Vails attention, SeeWalker said in an Instagram post.

SeeWalker's intention behind the artwork was to draw parallels between contemporary global conflicts, such as the plight of those in Gaza, and the historical genocide of Native American populations.

The Town of Vail has not responded to Native News Onlines request for comment at press time.

If you feel compelled or have any type of reaction to this, I wanted to humbly request from the community that you take a moment to write to the Town of Vail and let them know that the continued silencing of our people is not okay, SeeWalker wrote in an email to Native News Online. People of color continue to be silenced, oppressed, and have opportunities taken from them and it's not right. I'll always stand up for that, for myself, and for all others.

About the Author: "Kaili Berg (Aleut) is a member of the Alutiiq\/Sugpiaq Nation, and a shareholder of Koniag, Inc. She is a staff reporter for Native News Online and Tribal Business News. Berg, who is based in Wisconsin, previously reported for the Ho-Chunk Nation newspaper, Hocak Worak. She went to school originally for nursing, but changed her major after finding her passion in communications at Western Technical College in Lacrosse, Wisconsin. "

Contact: kberg@indiancountrymedia.com
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WAVY)  Virginia Beach Police are looking to identify the suspect in a malicious wounding incident on an HRT bus Thursday, police said.

The incident was reported around 10:15 p.m. The suspect was on the bus when the victim go on at the Corporation Lane and Constitution Drive bus stop. An argument broke out between the two and the suspect allegedly told the victim she was going to kill her today, before pulling something from her back pocket and hitting the victim, police said.

The victim suffered non life-threatening injuries. The suspect left the bus and walked in the direction of Pembroke Mall and was unable to be located.

If you have any information about this case, you can submit an anonymous tip by calling 1-888-LOCK-U-UP, downloading the P3 tips app to a mobile device, or visiting www.P3tips.com and submitting a tip.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WAVY.com.
What vehicles were stolen most often in the US in 2023? Heres what a study found

A new car has risen to the top of the most stolen vehicle rankings in 2023, overtaking trucks that held the number one spot in previous years, a study found.

Researchers at the National Insurance Crime Bureau found the Hyundai Elantra was reported stolen more than any other vehicle in the U.S. in 2023.

The study looked at the vehicle thefts reported to authorities using data from the National Crime Information Center, a spokesperson for the bureau told McClatchy News.

Hyundai Elantras and Sonatas were the top two spots by far, with the Kia Optima coming in third place, followed by a Chevrolet Silverado truck in fourth.

These rankings departed from a trend seen for the last few years in which trucks made by Chevy and Ford were the top two most stolen vehicles, often followed by Hondas.

Social media is partly to blame for the rise in Hyundai and Kia thefts, the bureau said. Many Hyundais and Kias lacked anti-theft immobilizers, which social media users exploited in how-to videos.

In response to the theft epidemic, Kia and Hyundai implemented the immobilizer in their newer vehicles, according to court documents filed in California.

Some blamed the car manufacturers, including plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the companies. Others blamed social media users and platforms themselves.

Everyday consumers are being victimized by criminals using social media platforms to learn their newest illegal tricks and techniques, said David Glawe, president and CEO of the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Some platforms are not doing enough to protect innocent victims from unnecessary harm.

The recent study from the bureau also analyzed geographic data to find which states had the highest rates of reported vehicle theft by population.

Washington, D.C., was an outlier with 1,149.71 thefts reported per 100,000 people. Colorado, Nevada and Washington state were the next highest, according to the study.

This report comes after another NICB trend analysis, which indicated that the U.S. is still experiencing a surge in vehicle theft rates that started at the onset of the pandemic, researchers said. This past year, the nation saw another increase as vehicle theft claims rose 1 percent from 2022 to 2023.

The bureau offers tips to avoid vehicle thefts:

Park in well-lit areas.

Close and lock all windows and doors when you park.

Hide valuables out of sight, such as in the glove box or trunk.

Do not leave your keys in your vehicle.

Do not leave the area while your vehicle is running.

If your vehicle is stolen, call law enforcement and your insurer immediately because reporting a vehicle as soon as possible after it is stolen increases the chance of recovery.

Stolen Porsches worth $500,000 driven through showroom windows, California police say

Chaotic chase involving 12- and 13-year-olds in stolen car turns deadly, TX cops say

Woman just out of jail tries to steal truck but cant drive stick shift, Colorado cops say
JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (WJHL)  May 6-12 marks National Nurses Week. While nurses everywhere are being celebrated, a few remaining women of the U.S. Cadet Nurse Corps still wonder why they never received veteran status for answering the governments call to join the health field during World War II.

PREVIOUS: Cadet Nurse Corps veteran disappointed by lack of congressional action

Two Johnson City women shared their stories of why they joined with News Channel 11.

As the deadliest war was happening in Europe, America was facing another crisis at home that could become deadly too.

It was created because of the acute nursing shortage, Agnes Lowe, an East Tennessee native and member of the Cadet Nurse Corps, said. All the older nurses had gone into service. My older sister had gone into the Navy.

We were in the country and didnt have a telephone so when I was a senior in high school, I wrote letters to everywhere asking about nurses training, said Margaret Washington, another member of the Cadet Nurse Corps.

Lawmakers created the Cadet Nurse Corps, enticing 17 to 35-year-old women with good grades to join.

Why wouldnt you? $15 a month that you could spend and more later, Washington said. I had no money so why not? And they had snappy uniforms.

Those snappy uniforms made a statement in Nashville where the Bowling Green, Kentucky native worked at Saint Thomas Hospital.

By the time the first of July came by, all of the nursing schools in Nashville, Tennessee- Vanderbilt, St. Thomas, Baptist, all of them  [were] recruited and they closed the main street of Nashville, Tennessee, Washington said. We wore white and for blocks and blocks and blocks, all you saw was white uniforms and white caps. All of the schools marched together. Ive never seen such a big barge.

Along with the uniforms, cadets were given scholarships, room and board and a monthly stipend.

We were credited with saving the healthcare system and the surgeon general at that time said we were as important to the healthcare system as the Marines were to D-Day because a lot of the hospitals would have had to close down, Lowe said.

Time in the Cadet Nurse Corps gave Washington and Lowe a lifelong nursing career.

Thats all I ever wanted to do, Washington said.

Washington worked in obstetrics back home in Bowling Green. Lowe started at Fort Sanders but spent the last six months of her contract at the Mountain Home VA Medical Center. Lowe retired there after 22 years.

About 80% of the nursing was done on the homefront, which was all in the United States, Lowe said.

Washington and Lowe, 98 and 99 respectively, were part of the more than 120,000 women who answered their countrys call to join the Cadet Nurse Corps; the members arent recognized as veterans.

We were an important phase of the help in World War II, and its a shame that theyve never given us veteran status because we did what we were asked to do, Lowe said.

A bill to grant honorary veteran status to Cadet Nurse Corps members died in the Senate in 2022.

The merchant mariners who were civilians hired to clean up the beaches got veteran status in 2017 with benefits, Lowe said. And why cant we do it, just because were women?

This week, Lowe and Washingtons home, Christian Assisted Living, honored them as the recognition for their service may be late, if it ever comes at all.

We all just gave up because we tried so hard to get it even though those nurses that had already passed on, Lowe said. If we were ever made veterans, it would be an honor to their families.

In May 2023, The United States Cadet Nurse Service Recognition Act was introduced in both the U.S. House and Senate but hasnt moved forward. If approved, members would have received honors at their burials and memorials but not veteran benefits.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WJHL | Tri-Cities News & Weather.
Annie Stevens and fellow reproductive rights advocates hold up signs during a Monday, April 29, 2024 rally in the Statehouse. (Rachel Mipro | Kansas Reflector)

Abortion-related bills continue to be introduced and debated in legislatures across the country, especially in states where the procedure is already banned. It can be hard to monitor them all, so States Newsrooms Reproductive Rights Today team tracks certain bills that could become law in their respective states in a biweekly legislative roundup. Depending on the partisan makeup of a states legislature and other state government officials, some bills have a higher chance of passing and becoming law than others.

Connecticut

House Bill 5424: A bill that would have prevented adverse actions against medical providers at religiously affiliated hospitals or clinics who might counsel or refer patients for reproductive care, including abortion, died in the legislature on Thursday, CT Mirror reported. It would have protected those who offer information and counseling about contraception, termination of pregnancy, gender-affirming care and other reproductive health care, but no action was taken on the bill by the deadline. Reproductive advocates said they will try to pass the legislation again next year.

Status: Died after legislative deadline

Sponsor: Public Health Committee, with 13 co-sponsors from the House and Senate

Kansas

Despite Kansas voters overwhelming rejection of abortion bans in a referendum shortly after the Dobbs decision in 2022, lawmakers passed several bills related to abortion. Abortion is legal in Kansas, and six clinics provide in-clinic services.

House Bill 2749: Lawmakers were able to override Democratic Gov. Laura Kellys veto of a bill that requires medical facilities and providers to ask patients for the reason why they are terminating a pregnancy before the procedure takes place, Kansas Reflector reported. The data will be reported to the legislature every other year and include the age, marital status and education level of each patient, along with whether they were the victim of rape, incest or domestic abuse. If the patient refuses to answer, that must be noted as well. Planned Parenthood Great Plains is considering a lawsuit over the law.

Status: Veto override successful  law

Sponsor: Republican Rep. Ron Bryce, on behalf of Kansans for Life

Senate Bill 28: Kellys line-item veto of this bill was also struck down. The state budget bill includes an allocation of $2 million for the Pregnancy Compassion Awareness Program. The funds are meant to enhance and increase resources that promote childbirth instead of abortion for people handling unplanned pregnancies. Kelly said when Kansans widely rejected a constitutional amendment that would have allowed abortion bans, they told politicians they should stop inserting themselves in private medical decisions between women and their doctors.

Status: Veto override successful  law

Sponsor: Kansas Insurance Department

House Bill 2436: Another veto override was successful for this bill, which addresses abortion coercion, making it a felony to pressure someone into an abortion, including doctors, family members and partners, according to the Reflector. Conviction carries penalties including prison time and fines. While some lawmakers attempted to amend the bill in its early stages to make pressuring women into pregnancy a crime as well, those amendments were not included.

Status: Veto override successful  law

Sponsor: Republican Rep. Rebecca Schmoe

Louisiana

Nearly all abortions are banned in Louisiana.

House Bill 833: The House of Representatives passed this bill in late April to protect access to in vitro fertilization by an overwhelming margin, and it is pending approval in the Senate. Louisiana Illuminator reported that Republican Gov. Jeff Landry has not committed to signing the legislation if it comes to his desk, saying only through a spokesman that he is reviewing it alongside many other bills passed by the legislature. The bill would shield doctors, clinics and other health care providers from lawsuits and criminal prosecution if embryos created during the IVF process were unintentionally lost. Louisiana Right to Life worked with lawmakers on the bill to ensure its passage.

Status: Passed the House, awaiting consideration in the Senate

Sponsor: Republican Rep. Paula Davis

Missouri

Nearly all abortions are banned in Missouri.

House Bill 2634: Gov. Mike Parson signed this bill into law on Thursday, prohibiting the spending of any public funds on an abortion facility or its affiliates or associates, including Medicaid, through the MO HealthNet program. Missouri Independent reports the bill is targeting Planned Parenthood clinics, which do not provide abortions in Missouri but may provide referrals to clinics in other states for abortion care. The clinics do provide contraceptives, testing for sexually transmitted diseases and cancer, and general wellness visits. The new law goes into effect Aug. 28, but the staff of Planned Parenthood clinics said they remain committed to staying open to all.

Status: Law

Sponsor: Republican Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman

The post Veto overrides push Kansas anti-abortion bills into law, while Louisiana seeks to protect IVF appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
A 24-year-old man from San Bernardino County has been arrested and is facing charges of kidnapping, assault and robbery after a violent attack on a female victim earlier this week, authorities announced.

Authorities say Robert Michael Lockwood-Stinson, a resident of Chino Hills, got into an argument with the victim that escalated into physical violence on May 7 that left the woman with significant injuries, a news release from the San Bernardino Sheriffs Department stated.

The suspect took the victims phone, wallet and cellphone and the victim was able to flee the scene.

At around 9 a.m. the same day, Lockwood-Stinson found the woman in the 15000 block of Palomino Drive in Chino Hills and forced her into his vehicle.

The victim attempted to escape, but Lockwood-Stinson grabbed her by the hair and struck her multiple times, authorities said. Lockwood-Stinson threatened to attack her again if she attempted to escape and drove the victim to her residence.

When the 24-year-old left, the woman reported the incident to deputies at the Chino Hills Police Station.

3 dead after grisly murder-suicide involving a spear in Southern California

Investigators obtained an arrest warrant and Lockwood-Stinson was taken into custody on May 8 near his residence and booked at the West Valley Detention Center.

No information about the nature of the suspects relationship with the victim, if any, was provided.

Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact SBSDs Chino Hills Police Department at 909-364-200. Those wishing to remain anonymous can call the WeTip Hotline at 800-782-7463 or leave tips online at WeTip.com.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KTLA.
A viral TikTok showed Southwest passengers baffled when a woman climbed into an overhead locker and just lay there

A viral TikTok showed Southwest passengers baffled when a woman climbed into an overhead locker and just lay there

A TikTok went viral showing a woman on a Southwest Airlines plane lying in the overhead locker.

The video was viewed over 5 million times before appearing to be deleted.

It's not the first time this has happened, a flight attendant was spotted lying in an overhead locker in 2019.

A TikTok video recently went viral showing a woman lying in the overhead locker of a Southwest Airlines plane, leaving passengers baffled.

The video was viewed over 5 million times on TikTok, according to The New York Post. As of Friday morning, it appears to have been deleted from the platform.

"Southwest is wildn," the TikTok user @gmonique_123 captioned the video.

People in the comments were puzzled over the incident.

"That looks way more comfortable than the actual seats. give me a pillow and close the hatch," read one comment that The Daily Mirror reported.

"Southwest does allow you to choose your own seat," another commenter joked.

The passenger was found by a flight attendant before the plane took off from Albuquerque to Phoenix, according to ABC News.

It isn't clear how long she was in the locker, or how she got in.

Southwest Airlines didn't respond to a request for comment from Business Insider made outside normal working hours.

Perhaps surprisingly, it is not the first time this sort of behavior has been seen on a Southwest flight.

Back in 2019, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was spotted lying in the overhead lockers. A passenger on the plane, Veronica Lloyd, posted a video to social media showing the bizarre moment.

"I can't get over how weird I find this," she said. "@SouthwestAir please get it together."

The flight attendant was reportedly lying on her side in the locker for 10 minutes, Lloyd told Fox News. After she came down from the bin, the rest of the flight was compeltely normal, Lloyd added.

The overhead lockers can be a point of contention between passengers on a flight looking to secure a spot for their bags.

One travel influencer laid out etiquette rules around the overhead bins and argued that a lot of people tend to get it wrong. He said that the overhead locker directly above your seat doesn't belong to you. Instead, it's a first-come, first-serve.

Another TikToker sparked debate after telling people not to put their bags in the overhead lockers over other people's seats.

Overhead locker space is a hot-button issue for passengers, so it's probably wise to avoid using it as a seat, too.

Read the original article on Business Insider
COLOMBO, May 10 (Xinhua) -- One died and four others were injured in an accident involving a passenger bus belonging to the state-run service and a three-wheeler on Friday in the area called Puwagodamulla in central Sri Lanka, the local police said.

The police said the deceased and the injured were the driver of the three-wheeler and its passengers. Among the injured is a woman, the police said. The injured were rushed to a local hospital.

Accidents involving motor vehicles are common in Sri Lanka. There were 2,557 deaths resulting from 2,200 fatal traffic accidents in Sri Lanka in 2023. 
Honey Run Elementary School and Mountain View High School in Virginia are returning to their former names after a vote on Friday, May 10

Chet Strange/Getty Images Counter protestors gather during a planned Ku Klux Klan protest on July 8, 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia

Two schools in Shenandoah County, Virginia will once again have names honoring Confederate leaders.

As reported by The New York Times, the Shenandoah County, Va. school board voted to change the names of Honey Run Elementary School and Mountain View High School back to their former names during a meeting that began on Thursday night, May 9 and lasted into the early morning hours of Friday, May 10.

The school board members voted 5-1 to restore the schools' former names  Ashby-Lee Elementary and Stonewall Jackson High.

The school names were originally changed in a vote that took place in July 2020, amid the COVID-19 pandemic and in the wake of George Floyd's murder, which sparked a racial reckoning across the U.S.

Related: Civil Rights Icon Ruby Bridges Has Faith We'll 'Be Better' and 'Get Past Our Racial Differences'

The Shenandoah County school board's vote appears to mark the first occurrence in the country of school names that were changed after the summer of 2020 being rolled back to honor Confederate leaders again, researchers at the Montgomery, Ala.-based Equal Justice Initiative told The New York Times.

A revote on the issue in 2022 resulted in a tie, which meant the new school names remained until Friday morning's vote.

Residents of the county, which is 90% white, came to the meeting to speak for and against the school names being restored to honor Confederate leaders.

Related: MIT's First Black Female Student Body President on Campus Racism  and Returning to School amid Coronavirus

When you read about this man  who he was, what he stood for, his character, his loyalty, his leadership, how Godly a man he was  those standards that he had were much higher than any leadership of the school system in 2020, board member Tom Streett said at the meeting, according to The Times.

I think it is unfair to me that restoring the name is up for discussion, said student Aliyah Ogle, 14, per the newspaper. She added that Stonewall Jackson died fighting in favor of slavery.

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.

Had he won, I would not be allowed to attend public school and I would not be speaking here today.

Some speakers who were against restoring the names pointed out that the schools' names were changed to honor Confederate leaders in 1959, as part of a massive resistance to integrating schools.

Residents who wanted the names changed back claimed there wasn't racism at the schools and the 2020 renamings were part of a "woke movement."



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
The names of Confederate military leaders will be restored to two public schools following a school board vote in Shenandoah County, Virginia.

By a 5-1 vote, the school board reversed a 2020 decision to change the names of schools, which will once again honor traitorous generals who fought for slavery: Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby.

The board had stripped their names amid protests over the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. At the time, the board moved to change the names in another 5-1 vote, stating that it was committed to condemning racism" and "an inclusive school environment for all.

What is today Mountain View High School will revert to being called Stonewall Jackson High School. Honey Run Elementary School will likewise be returning to its previous name, Ashby-Lee Elementary School.

The conservative group, Coalition for Better Schools," had petitioned school officials to change back the names, claiming that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our communitys heritage and respect the wishes of the majority, they wrote in their April 3 letter, NBC News reported.

Before the decision was made, a black student had urged the school board not to rename the schools after people who supported the enslavement of Africans and their descendants.

"I would have to represent a man that fought for my ancestors to be slaves," the student said. "I think it is unfair to me that restoring the names is up for discussion."
Demonstrators call on the Shenandoah county school board to vote against naming two public schools after Confederate leaders on Thursday.

Demonstrators call on the Shenandoah county school board to vote against naming two public schools after Confederate leaders on Thursday. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

An all-white school board in Virginia has voted to restore the names of Robert E Lee and other Confederate military leaders to two public schools in a backlash to the racial reckoning that followed the police murder of George Floyd.

The decision to restore the names of Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Turner Ashby was taken on Friday morning by the six-member school board in Shenandoah county. Only one of the members voted against the resolution.

As a result of the vote, Mountain View high school will return to its pre-2020 name, Stonewall Jackson high school, and Honey Run elementary school will once again be named Ashby-Lee elementary school  honoring three men who were seminal in leading the attempt to secede from the Union in defense of slavery.

The school boards U-turn is one of the sharpest examples of a nationwide pushback by conservative groups against the changes that were made after the summer of protests in 2020 following Floyds murder in Minneapolis. At least 160 Confederate symbols were taken down in that year, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, which tracks such public emblems.

Related: An Unholy Traffic: how the slave trade continued through the US civil war

Sarah Kohrs, a Shenandoah county resident and parent, said: With the world watching, the Shenandoah county school board sent a terrible message.

We deplore the boards decision to regress and honor civil war figures that consciously betrayed the United States and were proponents of slavery and segregation, Kohrs added.

This decision seems more about vengeance, control and hatred than heritage or due process. Looking ahead, the many good people of Shenandoah county will have to work even harder to ensure that our complete history, good and bad, remains available to students and the public. Our fight for whats right is not over.

The Shenandoah county reinstatement of Confederate names followed a public debate at the school board in which 80 people spoke, according to NBC News, mostly in opposition to the restoration.

They included Alea Ogle, 13, who said that if the Confederate names were restored, as a Black student she would have to attend a school that recognized a man who fought for my ancestors to be slaves. That would make me feel like I am disrespecting my ancestors and going against what my family and I believe, which is that we should all be treated equally and that slavery was cruel and an awful thing.

The school board had come under pressure from a local conservative group calling itself the Coalition for Better Schools. Last month, it wrote to the board requesting a return to the old school names.

The legacy of Stonewall Jackson, while complex, remains an important part of our local history, the group said. As for Lee, the commander of the Confederate States Army, and the Confederate cavalry commander Ashby, they were described as prominent Virginians and local heroes.

The coalition claimed to have conducted a survey of local citizens that found that 91.3% wanted to revert to the original school names, but provided no information on how many had participated in the poll. We believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our communitys heritage and respect the wishes of the majority, it said.

Despite the conservatives emphasis on honoring history and heritage, the two schools in question were only founded in the modern era. Stonewall Jackson high school opened in 1960.

In 2022, the school board considered reverting to the Confederate names but on that occasion lacked the votes to make the change. The boards then vice-chair, and current chair, Dennis Barlow, said during that debate that he saw Jackson as a gallant commander, while those who had led the post-Floyd move to reform the school names were in his view creepy, elitist and from the dark side.

Melissa Hellmann contributed reporting
A Virginia school board voted early Friday to reinstate the Confederate military leader names of two public schools.

The Shenandoah County School Board voted 5-1 in favor of restoring the names, reversing the boards decision four years ago to get rid of them in the wake of George Floyds murder. The move to bring back the association with figures who led pro-enslavement states during the Civil War might be the first action of its kind taken anywhere in the U.S.

Locals Livid Over Florida Countys Proposal to RESTORE Its Confederate Statue

As a result of the vote, Mountain View High School will once again be known as Stonewall Jackson High School, while Honey Run Elementary School will revert to Ashby-Lee Elementary Schoola name honoring Robert E. Lee and Turner Ashby.

The names of Confederate leaders and other symbols associated were removed from schools and other public facilities around the country in the wake of furious protests sparked by a Minneapolis police officers murder of Floyd in 2020. The Shenandoah County School Board similarly took action and changed its own schools names as part of a resolution to condemn racism and affirm the districts commitment to an inclusive school environment, according to CNN.

The board previously considered a motion to restore the names in 2022, but the motion failed to pass in a tied vote.

The Coalition for Better Schools, a conservative group, had continued to advocate for the names to be reinstated.

We understand that the decision to rename these schools was made in response to discussions surrounding Confederate symbols, the group wrote to the board in an April 3 letter. However, we believe that revisiting this decision is essential to honor our communitys heritage and respect the wishes of the majority.

Read more at The Daily Beast.

Get the Daily Beast's biggest scoops and scandals delivered right to your inbox. Sign up now.

Stay informed and gain unlimited access to the Daily Beast's unmatched reporting. Subscribe now.
A Virginia school district voted on Friday to undo a 2020 decision that removed the names of three Confederate military officers from schools in the district.

The Shenandoah County school board voted to rename Honey Run and Mountain View, two schools under their purview, Ashby-Lee Elementary and Stonewall Jackson High.

The schools were renamed in 2020 following a national outcry and protests over the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin. The protests called for a re-examination of ingrained racial discrimination in the United States  including the continued veneration of Confederate figures whod fought for the preservation of slavery in the American Civil War.

In 2020 the Shenandoah County school board affirmed in a 5-1 vote a resolution removing the names of Captain Turner Ashby, Lieutenant General Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson, and General Robert E. Lee  who were all born and fought in Virginia  from the two schools.

The backlash from residents of the county was swift and intense. A similar motion to reverse the name change was brought to the board in 2022 but failed in a tie vote. The Coalition for Better Schools, a local group opposing the removal of the officers names, wrote a letter to the board in April of this year arguing that the vast majority of the district supported the restoration of the schools original names.

The legacy of Stonewall Jackson, while complex, remains an important part of our local history, the group wrote, adding that the community values the historical connections to both Turner Ashby and Robert E Lee as prominent Virginians and local heroes.

Shenandoah Countys local battle over the legacy of Confederate figures is a microcosm of an ongoing national reckoning regarding the place historical figures who fought for the dissolution of the nation and the preservation of a brutal regime of human slavery should have in modern society. In 2020, a statue of Lee was removed from the state legislature after a unanimous vote by a Virginia state commission. Virginias then-Governor Ralph Northam said at the time that The Confederacy is a symbol of Virginias racist and divisive history.

We should all be proud of this important step forward for our Commonwealth and our country, he added.

In the aftermath of the 2020 protest movement, right-wing politicians and pundits have made the delegitimization of movements promoting diversity, inclusion, and reflection on Americas history of racism a central focus of the conservative movement. Education has become a primary target of this mission, with several states passing laws threatening the accreditation and funding of schools that teach about racial inclusion, disingenuously accusing such curriculums as being inherently anti-white.

In May of last year, Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin defended a declaration from one of his administration officials that the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) were dead. This came a year after he signed an executive order directing the state Department of Education to identify and eliminate inherently divisive and racist concepts like Critical Race Theory.

In March, Youngkin demanded that George Mason and Virginia Commonwealth universities submit their curriculums related to race and diversity for review to the state Secretary of Education. His office accused the schools of conducting a thinly veiled attempt to incorporate the progressive lefts groupthink on Virginias students.

With Virginias governor fully invested in the elimination of initiatives aiming to right the social and educational vestiges of racial discrimination, its no wonder some Virginians are clamoring to once again bestow honors on the men who fought to create a nation where slavery could remain the law of the land.

More from Rolling Stone

Best of Rolling Stone
VISALIA, Calif. (KSEE/KGPE)  A Visalia man has been arrested in Tennessee after allegedly trafficking narcotics, the Visalia Police Department said.

Police say their Narcotics Unit received information on Tuesday that 29-year-old Guillermo Vasquez, a convicted felon from Visalia, had been arrested in Memphis, TN, by a Tennessee agency under suspicion of trafficking narcotics.

In response to this development, officers say they served a search warrant at the suspects home in the 5500 block of W. Tulare Avenue in Visalia. During the search, they found an AK47, a short-barreled AR, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition concealed in a locked safe within Vasquezs bedroom.

The Visalia Police Department says Vasquez is in custody and his bail amount is set at $25 million.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to YourCentralValley.com | KSEE24 and CBS47.
After Years of Allegedly Being Harassed by a Racist Neighbor, A White Mom of 2 Black Boys Was Shot

A white Illinois man is criminally charged in connection to the shooting of his white neighbor in what the police call a racially motivated incident. Police say it was racially motivated, which we will explain.

Melissa Robertson, 45, is fighting for her life in the hospital after allegedly being shot several times by 70-year-old John Shadbar in their Lockport Township neighborhood. Will County Sheriffs Office authorities said Tuesday evening they responded to a report of shots fired on Rickerman Road.



The witnesses on the scene told police Shadbar fired dozens of rounds of ammunition at Robertson after emerging onto his yard with his assault style rifle. Robertson was transported to the hospital in critical condition. She suffered a gunshot wound to her chest which exited her back and a gunshot wound to her hand, police said. Shes currently recovering from surgery.

This did not need to happen at all. Not just our lives, but his life and his wifes and our neighbors are all affected by it, Mikeal Johnson, Robertsons son who is Black, told local NBC News.

It took a crisis negotiator to get Shadbar to surrender after barricading himself inside of his home, police said. Robertsons family said this was the grand finale of nearly a decade of being racially harassed by Shadbar because her two sons are Black.

Read more from NBC Chicago:

Robertsons family said that they have been subject to harassment and racial slurs from Shadbar since around the time they moved to the area 10 years ago. Both of Robertsons sons are Black. Robertsons family said her 8-year-old son witnessed the shooting. He was yelling dead N (word)  he was trying to get into the backyard, Robertsons aunt, Jeanne Beyer, said. Family told NBC Chicago that Shadbar would often fire his gun in his yard and had also thrown fireworks across the fence between the two homes. Dead n-words, n-word this, n-word lover. Called me the n-word straight to my face. My mom made him apologize, a few days later he comes out holding a gun in his underwear, Johnson said. Robertsons family said she felt threatened and called police numerous times, adding that while reports were taken, though nothing was done.

Shadbar was charged with attempted first-degree murder, aggravated battery with a firearm, unlawful use of a weapon by a felon as well as a hate crime. He was denied pretrial release by a county judge.



For the latest news, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
NEW DELHI, May 10 (Xinhua) -- India's top court Friday granted an interim bail to jailed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal until June 1 in the excise policy case.

The latest move would allow Kejriwal to campaign for his party and the opposition alliance, of which he is a key leader, in the ongoing general elections in India.

As per court directive, Kejriwal will have to surrender on June 2 and return to jail.

India is in the middle of staggered seven-phase general elections that began on April 19. So far three phases have been held and the last phase is scheduled on June 1.

Kejriwal was arrested by the federal government's financial crime-fighting agency -- Enforcement Directorate in March on charges of corruption related to the direct involvement in the formulation of the excise policy favouring specific individuals.

Several key leaders of the opposition Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) headed by Kejriwal were imprisoned in connection with the case. The AAP rejects any wrongdoing and says their leaders have been "falsely arrested" in a "fabricated case."

The AAP has been governing India's national capital territory for over a decade. It also governs the northern Indian state of Punjab.

The AAP is part of Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA), a grouping led by the Congress party. The alliance was formed to challenge Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the elections. 
Walmart, Sams Club give more than 1 million meals to Georgians in need

For its 11th year, Walmart and Sams Club said their Fight Hunger. Spark Change campaign rescued more than 11.68 million pounds of food, helping feed over one million Georgians in need.

According to a company representative, the campaign provided 1.2 million meals to Georgians facing hunger in the past year, running throughout the month of April.

The 11.68 million pounds of food was given to the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

The Fight Hunger. Spark Change campaign by Walmart and Sams Club has been active since 2013, based on the fact that everyone needs nutritious food to thrive, according to a release from a company representative.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

With that in mind, the Atlanta Community Food Bank, which received the meals from Walmart and Sams Club, said that 10% of Georgias children will go to bed hungry.

The 2023 campaign raised funds to give meals to Georgians across the metro Atlanta and north Georgia areas over the past year, ending in April. While 1.2 million meals were confirmed to have been given out, the amount of funds raised in the most recent campaign are still being calculated, the company said.

Walmart continues to be one of the Atlanta Community Food Banks most important and impactful community partners in the mission to fight hunger, said Kyle Waide, CEO of Atlanta Community Food Bank, about the program. Their in-store personnel and marketing managers have worked collaboratively with our food sourcing team to increase the amount of food rescued from Walmart by 22% over the past year. And Walmarts financial and volunteer support has multiplied that impact, allowing more neighbors to access the food they need to thrive while strengthening the Food Banks network of nonprofit feeding partners.

TRENDING STORIES:

The previous campaign raised nearly $400,000 for just the Atlanta Community Food Bank, according to a release.

For the 2023 campaign, the 11,685,041 pounds of food rescued from Walmarts store and distribution centers were given to 70 nonprofit feeding partners of the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

Serving communities and expanding access to affordable, healthy food lies at the heart of Walmart and Sams Clubs purpose to help people live better, said Kathleen McLaughlin, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer, Walmart and President, Walmart Foundation. Our annual Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign is a way that we invite our customers, members and suppliers to fight hunger alongside us. The funds raised through this campaign go toward local Feeding America food banks, meaning we can all make a difference in our own neighborhoods.

The company said there were three ways for shoppers to help during the campaign:

Donating at check-out in stores or clubs or round up at Walmart.com and through the Walmart app.

Purchasing participating products in-store or online at Walmart.com or SamsClub.com. For every purchase of a participating product, the supplier-donated the monetary equivalent of at least one meal ($0.10) on behalf of a Feeding America partner food bank at Walmart and five meals ($0.50) at Sams Club, up to applicable limits. See specially marked packages for full details.

Donating at Feeding Americas Fight Hunger. Spark Change. campaign donation site at either www.FeedingAmerica.org/Walmart or www.FeedingAmerica.org/SamsClub.

Twenty companies assisted in supplying items for the effort for Walmart, including:

Bush Brothers & Company

Celsius

The Clorox Company

The Coca-Cola Company

Conagra Foods

Dole Packaged Foods

Ferrara

Ferraro

General Mills

Hain Celestial

Hershey Salty Snacks Company

Kellanova

Kelloggs

Keurig Dr. Pepper

Kodiak

Kraft Heinz

Monster Energy

Pepsi-Cola Advertising & Marketing, Inc.

Red Bull

Unilever

General Mills, Kelloggs Kraft Heinz, Nestle, Nissin, Nongshim, Palmetto and Unilever were the participating suppliers for Sams Club.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
Want to compliment police or complain about police employee? Heres a new way

The public now has a new way to give Dayton police a compliment or complain about something involving an officer or department -- an online public portal.

>> I-Team: Multi-year investigation leads to child porn arrest

The Dayton Police Department on Thursday announced a new version of an online public portal to streamline the police complaint and commendation process.

Just beware: The public portal is NOT for reporting crimes or alleged crimes, according to the department.

The new online portal empowers the community to report positive or negative information about police employees directly to the Police Department, DPD said in its announcement. The public portal is an improved and convenient tool that allows for direct communication.

You can track the status of a commendation or complain through the portal, which provides automatic updates that are sent via e-mail or text messaging to the person who initiated the report.

The City of Dayton utilizes different methods where the public can recognize a police employee for outstanding service or report allegations of police misconduct. You can contact the supervisor of the involved officer, the departments Professional Standards Bureau, the Mediation Centers Police Complaint Support Program, or the Human Relations Council.

Information for these reports can be received via telephone, written correspondence, e-mail, or in person. The new public portal will complement all of the methods described, which will remain in effect.

It is Dayton Police Department policy to document and investigate all complaints thoroughly and to make procedural changes, conduct corrective training, or initiate disciplinary action when appropriate to protect the rights of the employees and the citizens of the community it serves, the department said in the announcement.

We also welcome compliments and commendations for officers who perform their duties admirably, the department said.

You can access the new online portal and the other methods to report a commendation or complaint for a police employee through the following routes:

* Online Public Portal

* Dayton Mediation Centers Police Complaint Support Program: (937) 333-2356

* Dayton Police Departments Professional Standards Bureau: (937) 333-1018

* City of Daytons Human Relations Council: (937) 333-1424




A ferocious storm system that spawned multiple reported tornadoes brought heavy and widespread damage to Tallahassee on Friday morning, toppling trees onto homes, rendering roads impassible and knocking out power to more than 80,000 area electric customers.

At least one person, a 47-year-old woman who hasn't been identified, was killed in the storm after a tree fell on her home, according to the Leon County Sheriffs Office.

We regret to inform that deputies are working a storm related fatality in the area of Aenon Church Road, the Sheriffs Office said.

Almost 80,000 out of power at height of storm; restoration will take 'some time'

The storms, which intensified as they approached Tallahassee, brought Tallahassee to a virtual standstill, with damage reminiscent of the aftermath of a hurricane. It prompted schools, universities and businesses without power to shutter for the day.

A number of eyewitnesses, including first responders, reported seeing tornadoes downtown and elsewhere. The damage extended from the west along Blountstown Highway to the east in the Chaires community. Among hard-hit areas were downtown, Indianhead Acres, Myers Park and Railroad Square.

Major damage being seen in the Railroad Square Art District, including split trees and damage to structures.

With half of the capital city power grid offline, mutual-aid crews were arriving from Louisiana, Alabama, Jacksonville and Central Florida. Another 20,000-plus Talquin Electric customers were in the dark, too. And unlike previous storms, the number of outages continued to mount in the hours after the squall's sudden blow.

Early assessments of the electric grid show severe damage to transmission lines, impacting 11 substations, the city said in a text message to customers. Mutual aid has been requested, and crews from ten utilities are on their way.

Alison Faris, a city spokeswoman, said crews would be working overnight and into the weekend get the grid back online.

"The restoration is going to take some time because of the severity of what we're seeing," she told the Democrat "There are lots of reports of downed trees and and downed poles. If you can stay off the roads, than please do, because that enables crews to do their work on power restoration and road clearing.

'Tornadic capable': Official word still out but damage was widespread

Christian Oliver, meteorologist with the National Weather service in Tallahassee, said a line of severe storms intensified as it neared the city, spawning a reported tornado in the downtown area.

As that line was approaching the city, we had three distinct circulations, each with their own tornado debris signature, Oliver said. It looked like they were all kind of coming together into one tornadic capable storm.

Jeff Mortham was getting ready to go to work when the lights started flickering at his home in Winwood Hills and the winds began to howl outside. He watched through a window as what appeared to be a tornado ripped down trees behind his house.

In front of the School of Arts and Sciences on Thomasville Road, a large tree limb blocked the road and caused a detour for local commuters. The tree limb fell around 7 a.m. and caused a single-car crash.

I definitely saw the wind and debris swirling there in the backyard, Mortham said. Whether or not somebody wants to call it a tornado, thats what it looked like to me.

The storm knocked down a 60-foot pecan tree in the front yard, blocking his driveway, though it fell away from the house. Another tree appeared to have knocked off part of his gutter, but his house and others nearby seemed to have escaped major damage.

Everybody seems to be OK, Mortham said. Theres just going to be some damage to clean up. But everybody will get together, and well make it happen.

But others were not so lucky.

'Thank God my baby wasn't in there': Hard hit and near misses

Kathy Bryant woke up early Friday morning for her work shift at Burger King. Her goal was to leave before the severe weather storm hit.

"I can't believe this," Bryant said while wiping her tears. "What they gonna do about this."

She returned to her home on Wailes Street near Railroad Square to a gaping hole. Her kitchen and living room space are now filled with debris and the trunk of a large pine tree that once sat outside her home.

Kathy Bryant woke up early Friday morning for her work shift at Burger King. She came home to find trees through her house after the severe storm on May 10, 2024. "I can't believe this," Bryant said while wiping her tears. "What they gone do about this."

"Thank God my baby wasn't in here," she said of her granddaughter who occasionally stays with her overnight.

Several of her neighbors gathered to help her collect her belongings including family photos and her insulin, which was trapped in what used to be her kitchen.

She lived in the house for four years. Now she's unsure of what she will do.

Damage was also extensive in the arborial Indianhead Acres, where fallen trees appeared to be blocking roads every 50 yards. One neighbor reported that a treetop near his house was snapped off, shorn of its branches and driven into the ground like a pencil.

The storm blasted buildings at Railroad Square, hitting the community of artists hard. It also sheared the nearby renovated Amtrak Station, peeling sheet metal and insulation off buildings and blowing it into College Town and nearby student housing. It wreaked havoc on Florida State Universitys campus, damaging Dick Howser Stadium and knocking down the Flying High Circus tent.

Mark Francis in his backyard littered with tree debris after a wind event, Friday May 10, 2024

The tent material was twisted around gnarled metal beams on the soaked ground. The circular bleaches were shattered in multiple spots with wires vining through everything.

It also damaged the cell communications network at points around town leading to failed calls and unsendable texts at a time loved ones were seeking updates.

The storm left parts of the rural Chaires community in tatters, with one resident off Old St. Augustine Road describing the neighborhood as a war zone. Shanna Matteo said first responders were going house by house to check on residents.

Our houses are intact but the trees fell on a lot of houses and are blocking a lot of roads, she said. They are saying that this is extensive in Tallahassee and countywide. I am blessed that our houses are intact and there doesn't seem to be anyone hurt so far. This could have been so much worse.

Schools scramble: 'The timing couldn't have been worse'

After a white-knuckle start to the school day in which the district tried to keep schools open, Leon County Superintendent Rocky Hanna took to X to speak directly to parents late Friday morning.

Hanna said the district felt "reassured" by forecasters last night that the capital city would be spared the brunt of the storm.

"The timing couldn't have been worse," Hanna said. "Unfortunately, right before 7 a.m., the alarms went off and we held our busses moved our kids into safety in the hallways."

The school district had hoped to open campuses on a case-by-case basis and even opened elementary schools, but the extent of the damage forced them to change course.

An uprooted tree pulled up the pavement and tilted a car along Tomahawk Trail Friday May 10, 2024

"There were just too many logistical obstacles to overcome," Hanna said.

He told parents crews would be working over the weekend to ensure schools could be open Monday.

Florida State, Florida A&M University and Tallahassee Community College closed their campuses in the wake of the storms. FAMU instructed employees to work from home.

FSU Alert, the campus emergency notification system, said the campus would shut down indefinitely. The university said essential employees may be required to report but that others should contact their supervisors.

"Following the completion of the first wave of storm assessments, it has been determined that the severe impact on campus necessitates the closure of the Tallahassee campus for business operations until further notice, the university said.

'Full activation': Long road ahead for recovery

As many city resident picked up the pieces from a brief but ferocious storm, Gov. Ron DeSantis took to X to thank responders and pledge the state's support in the recovery ahead.

"Following the severe weather that impacted North Florida this morning, I have directed the Florida Division of Emergency Management to work with local officials and do everything possible to return life to normalcy for our residents as quickly as possible," he wrote. "Thank you to the first responders and utility workers who are working on power and roadway restoration. Stay safe and heed instructions from @FLSERT and local authorities."

An uprooted utility pole dangles above a sidewalk at Pensacola Street and Lipona Drive, Friday May 10, 2024

Kevin Peters, director of Leon County Emergency Management, said there was wind-based damage throughout the county and multiple reports of possible tornadoes. He said teams would will be going out in the near future to conduct damage assessments.

The county has escalated to a full activation of the Emergency Operations Center to coordinate community-wide response and recovery, Peters said.

Oliver, with the Weather Service, said meteorologists would got into the field once the weather passed to confirm whether the damage was caused by tornadoes. He said a firefighter in the Gaines Street area was among eyewitnesses who reported spotting a tornado.

Well have to go out once its safe to do so to see what really happened and what moved through the city, he said. But weve had people call in saying that they actually saw at least one tornado.

Journalists Kyla Sanford, Alaijah Brown, Ana Goni-Lessan, Alicia Devine, Douglas Soule, and William Hatfield contributed to this report. Jeff Burlew can be reached at jburlew@tallahassee.com

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Deadly Tallahassee storm, apparent tornado deals widespread damage
The City of Warner Robins received a $1.5 million grant to construct new single-family housing for low to moderate-income homebuyers, according to an announcement from the city Friday.

The housing units are expected to become available by 2025, Kate Hogan, director of Community and Economic Development told The Telegraph. Interested residents can be put on a waitlist by calling the city office.

The grant, provided by Georgias Community HOME Investment Program, was designed to bolster our communitys housing stock and enhance accessibility to quality housing, a press release states.

The grant is part of a $13 million distribution to 19 communities in Georgia, administered by the states Department of Community Affairs.

Through a partnership with a local developer, the housing units will offer modern amenities and quality construction at affordable price points, according to the statement.

The city has not yet chosen a developer, and the units do not yet have a price point, Hogan said.

The average home value in Warner Robins is $199,126, which is 6.8% more than it was in 2023, according to Zillow. About 11% of Warner Robins residents live in poverty, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Mayor LaRhonda Patrick commended federal, state and local entities that will collaborate on the development and address the ongoing issue of housing affordability.

This award marks a pivotal moment for our city as we strive to meet the housing needs of our residents. By investing in the construction of new affordable homes, we are not only providing shelter, but also fostering community growth and economic stability.
Warrant sought for Pieper Lewis' arrest after she walks away from probation again

Des Moines sex-trafficking victim Pieper Lewis has again absconded from her probation in a manslaughter case, this time while at a facility in Georgia, according to court records.

Iowa probation officials have asked for the issuance of a nationwide warrant for her arrest, and the Iowa Department of Corrections confirmed Friday that her whereabouts are unknown.

Steve Davis, spokesperson for the Iowa Judicial System, said he did not know whether a warrant was issued, because under Iowa law, it would remain sealed until it is served.

Lewis, now 19, received a deferred judgment in September 2022 in the 2020 stabbing death of Zachary Brooks, 37, who she said she killed after he repeatedly raped her when she was age 15. Placed on probation, she cut off her ankle monitor and walked away from a Des Moines facility and was later arrested.

In May 2023, the Polk County judge in the case, David Porter, revoked the deferred judgment for voluntary manslaughter and willful injury and ordered her to serve 20 years in prison. But he then placed her on probation again, with the support of prosecutors, as Lewis' attorneys sought placement for her in a facility more suitable than the one in Des Moines, which was intended for adult offenders.

Violations of rules reported at Georgia facility; Pieper Lewis dismissed

Pieper Lewis, a Des Moines sex trafficking victim who gained national prominence after being ordered to pay $150,000 to the estate of her rapist, appeared in court Wednesday May 31, 2023.

Lewis' location had been kept highly confidential to protect her after her story gained national attention. A probation violation report filed this month said that in November, Lewis was sent to the House of Cherith in Atlanta, which treats women who have been sexually exploited.

The report said that while there, Lewis repeatedly broke house rules, including using a contraband phone to communicate with a man, taking unauthorized photos, receiving unauthorized phone calls, conducting prohibited financial transactions and threatening to harm herself and others.

In March, the report said, Lewis absconded from a medical appointment "and spent an extended period of time" with a man she later admitted to "engaging in intimate relations with" instead of going to her appointment, according to the report.

After her return March 21, the report said, she was dismissed from the House of Cherith.

"While it is regrettable that Ms. Lewis was unable to meet the milestones expected during her residency the team at (The center) extends our sincerest prayers and best wishes to her as she embarks on her future endeavors," her case manager wrote, according to the report.

Probation officer unable to locate Pieper Lewis

Taken to the Fulton County, Georgia, probation office on March 22, Lewis reported to her probation officer and said she was homeless, according to the report. She was fitted with a GPS monitoring device and told to report to the probation office weekly until she found stable housing. But she failed to keep the appointments or to charge the device, the report said.

After April 6, Lewis' probation officer lost touch with her and no longer could locate her, despite repeated attempts, the report said.

More: Why Pieper Lewis fled the women's center, despite judge's warning of 'no third chance'

"Due to the defendant's continued non-compliant history, whereabouts being unknown, and this being an Interstate Compact Case," the report said, the probation office "is requesting a Nationwide Warrant be issued on this matter."

"Once the defendant is apprehended, it is being recommended that she remain in custody until sentencing on this matter," the probation office wrote. "If violations are found to exist, it is being requested that the defendants probation be revoked and the original sentence be imposed."

Lewis' attorneys at the Iowa Juvenile Public Defender's Office, Paul White, Magdalena Reese and Matthew Sheeley, were permitted to withdraw from her case in March after saying they had "completed all necessary services" on her behalf and that the office had closed Lewis' case.

'No third chance.' Could Pieper Lewis go to prison this time?

Pieper Lewis speaks with attorney Paul White during a sentencing hearing Wednesday, Sept. 7, 2022. The Des Moines teen pleaded guilty to killing her alleged rapist in June 2020.

When Lewis was sentenced the first time in 2022, she received an outpouring of public support, including tens of thousands of dollars in donations to a GoFundMe to help cover the $175,000 she was ordered to pay the family of Brooks, the man she killed, under Iowa law.

Porter, the judge, warned Lewis that she was getting a "second chance," but would not get a third chance.

Well, Ms. Lewis, this was the second chance you asked for. You dont get a third. Do you understand that? Porter asked Lewis at the time.

Despite placing Lewis on probation again, Porter said last May that he stood by that statement, revoking the deferred judgment.

Staff writer Chris Higgins contributed to this article.

Philip Joens covers retail, real estate and RAGBRAI for the Des Moines Register. He can be reached at 515-284-8184, pjoens@registermedia.com or on Twitter @Philip_Joens.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Pieper Lewis walks away from probation; warrant sought for her arrest
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Friday upheld Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress conviction and sentence. The former Donald Trump advisor ignored a subpoena and refused to testify before the House Jan.6 committee investigating the attack on the U.S. Capitol. File Photo by Jemal Countess/UPI

May 10 (UPI) -- The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Friday upheld Steve Bannon's contempt of Congress conviction for ignoring a subpoena and refusing to testify before the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol attack.

The court in its ruling unanimously rejected several arguments by Bannon, alleging "that the underlying subpoena was invalid because of the political motives of Select Committee members and procedurally flawed based on the Select Committee's composition and Bannon's non-receipt of a copy."

"Because the subpoena advanced a valid legislative purpose and Bannon forfeited his procedural objections to it, the district court did not err in denying the motion to dismiss the indictment and excluding evidence supporting those objections as irrelevant," the court decision said. "Accordingly, the district court also did not err in instructing the jury to disregard a reference that Bannon's counsel made in his closing argument."

Bannon was convicted of two counts of criminal contempt of Congress. He was sentenced to four months in prison, but appealed.

He had argued that the district court violated his rights to compulsory process or due process by quashing his trial subpoenas. But the appeals court also rejected those arguments.

"Quashing his trial subpoenas and denying his motion to exclude all congressional testimony also fail for the same reasons. Both claims require Bannon to show that the evidence lost would be. . . material to his defense," the appeals court decision said.

The appeals court affirmed both the conviction and the sentence imposed by the district court.

Bannon's sentence was delayed until his appeal process played out.

In April the Supreme Court denied a bid by former Trump advisor Peter Navarro to stay his four-month prison sentence for contempt of Congress. Navarro reported to prison march 19.
Washington Twp. logo

Highlights of Mondays meeting of Washington Township trustees:

Trustee Randy Rodgers did not attend meeting. During the meeting, John Pavil of the Stark County Health Department gave a short report about the department.

Department reports

Park  All pavilions cleaned and ready for summer. Mowing, portable toilet has been delivered and pavilion rentals have started.

Zoning  Two permits were issued, one for a house and one for a pool. Trustees approved motions from Trustee Wayne Wallace , one for vegetation nuisance at in the 12000 block of Easton Street and one for not-permitted structure at in 1200 block of East Bayton.

Fire  As of meeting date, department had made 186 runs. Runs for April included 22 medical, one tractor fire, one trash fire, one stove fire, one open burn, one cancelled in route, four lift assists, three motor-vehicle crashes, two gas leaks, 10 odor investigations, two public service calls and four false alarms.

Road  Ditching and culvert repair on Bowman, cleaned up brush and downed tree on Bayton and Mahoning, new snow plow delivered, cleaned up garbage on Hartzell, and the spring cleanup totaled five dumpsters of trash and two dumpsters of tires. During the cleanup, 181 bags of roadside trash was collected by Boy Scout Troop 177, Mud Lake Beavers 4-H Club, Stark Jr. Showman 4-H club, Washington Township Variety Club and Washington Ruritan Club.

Other action

Janet Moser reported that the Historical Societys Memorial Service will be 2 p.m. May 26 at school if rain; flag burning will be on Flag Day, at 6:30 p.m. June 14; and the car show will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. June 15 at Beechwood Playground. Used and worn flags can be dropped off at the Township Hall.

A resident talked about drainage problems on Cenfield, and the proposed solar farm was discussed.

Trustees approved motion for Shelly Co. to do road paving program at a cost of $344,000. Company will furnish asphalt and gravel, and EFCC LLC will furnish limestone.

Trustees approved a motion to pay Jerry Haynam $1,160.80 for material to install a new sign at Beechwood Playground. Washington Ruritan Club will install the sign.

Trustees learned Stark County Auditors Office has certified the amount the 1.25-mill renewal fire levy that will generate $162,240.

UPCOMING  Trustees next will meet at 6:30 p.m. May 20 at Township Hall.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Washington Twp. trustees select road paving contractor for 2024
May 10 (UPI) -- Sheriff's deputies in Florida conducted a hoof pursuit of a goat on the loose -- and ended up rescuing a second goat from a fence entanglement.

The Marion County Sheriff's Office said on social media that Deputy Victoria Hammons and Deputy Federico Peguero responded to a call about a goat on the loose.

"'Billy the Kid' was feeling a bit 'baaa-d' that day and made a valiant effort to avoid them," the post said. "After about five minutes of a comedic hoof pursuit, Deputy Hammons apprehended the 'hoove-nile' delinquent."

The goat was returned to its owner, but the deputies were then told of another goat entangled in a chain-link fence nearby.

"After returning the young goat to its enclosure, they located the trapped animal, which had recently given birth. Deputy Hammons was able to untangle the chain-link fence and freed the mama to care for her newborns," officials wrote.
Northern Lights forecast: When and where to see the solar storm in UK

People watch the aurora from Whitley Bay in Tyne and Wear on Friday night  here's where you could see the Northern Lights this weekend - GETTY IMAGES

The most powerful solar storm in almost 20 years hit Earth on Friday night, with the Northern Lights visible across much of the UK - and the phenomenon could return on Saturday.

Britons took to beaches, hilltops and their back gardens to see the aurora borealis as it sparkled across the sky.

Bursts of charged particles from a series of powerful eruptions from the Suns surface are careering directly towards Earth at around 900 km/s, more than twice as fast as usual.

The buffeting wind collided with our planets magnetic field at around 2am BST on Saturday morning and this triggered a strong aurora at more southerly latitudes than normal.

Prof Mathew Owens, the professor of space physics at the University of Reading, told The Telegraph: In the last 48 hours we have seen a whole series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the Sun, and they seem to be directed straight at us.

The scale of this activity is high but not particularly unusual for the maximum phase of the Suns 11-year cycle. But it just so happens that Earth is in the firing line this time.

Best place to see Northern Lights in UK

People across the UK saw the aurora on Friday night and Saturday morning  and the lights could continue on Saturday night too.

The sky over Crosby Beach in Liverpool on Friday - PA

Meteorologists say Scotland and the North of England will be the best places to see any upcoming aurorae from the large solar storm heading to Earth.

The geomagnetic disturbance is expected to be so significant it could spread south enough to be visible across the entire UK.

People hoping to see the Northern Lights should head somewhere dark, away from light pollution, and with a clear sky.

With plenty of clear skies in the forecast, there is a good chance of seeing the Aurora across the northern half of the UK, and perhaps further south with long exposure photography 



However, as the nights are shorter, the duration of any sightings may be limited  pic.twitter.com/bx1QQG9qF0  Met Office Space (@MetOfficeSpace) May 10, 2024

Dr Dan Brown, an associate professor of astronomy at Nottingham Trent University, said the only significant issue is that the skies do not get dark for too long at this time of year.

So make sure to pick a dark sky place with darker skies due North and then fingers crossed, he told The Telegraph.

What time will Northern Lights be visible?

A range of solar eruptions have sent charged particles directly towards Earth over the last few days, and due to the slipstream they are all heading towards Earth together.

The particles are travelling at around 900km/s and began hitting Earth on Friday.

More stunning light shows could be visible on Saturday night as the storm continues.

How long will they be visible for?

The scale of the geomagnetic storm heading to Earth is the largest in two decades and the effects will likely last several days.

The Northern Lights may still appear (in places with clear skies and not thunderstorms) on Saturday evening.

CME travel and arrival is hard to predict, especially with several individual emissions from the Sun.

Dr Ed Bloomer, an astronomer at the Royal Observatory Greenwich, told The Telegraph that we could have some Northern Lights into next week.

It may be that the maximum auroral activity is actually present on Monday and Thursday of next week, he said.

Potential for some cracking northern lights

The activity we are currently seeing is all linked to a very very big sunspot on our Sun called AR3664. This is a region of high activity on the sun with quite strong magnetic fields, Dr Brown said.

It is really big, so much so that if using eclipse glasses you can see it with the naked eye. The CMEs will have the potential for some cracking northern lights over this weekend.

The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) monitors space weather and has classed this weekends bout of space weather as a severe G4 event, the second highest classification.

The Dreisam Valley in the Black Forest near Freiburg - DPA

The storm has a KP index of eight and this category of geomagnetic storm and disruption to the magnetic field could cause possible widespread voltage control problems.

Level of storm not seen since 2005

Dr Bloomer said there has been a pair of X-class flares in the last two days which has seen the solar storm escalate from a G2 grade to a G4.

NOAAs website says this level of storm, last seen in 2005, could also cause disruption to high frequency radio, hours of satellite navigation degradation, and aurora as low as 45 latitude, which reaches as far south as the Black Sea, Japan, and France.

Forecasting CME arrival is very difficult. But whats even harder is forecasting the impact  strength of aurora, effects on power network, etc, said Prof Owens.

Thats because it all depends on the strength and direction of the magnetic field inside the CMEs, and we basically have no information about that until the CMEs pass spacecraft close to Earth.

Technology in space and on Earth could be affected

Dr Maria Walach, an astrophysicist working as part of the AuroraWatch UK team at the University of Lancaster, told The Telegraph there could be aurora across the UK after the jets of particles arrive from the Sun overnight.

It will be visible in the UK if it is cloud free, especially in the north, she said.

Because this CME carries with it particularly fast solar wind speeds  it is predicted to be around 900 km/s, which is much faster than the average 400 km/s  we are likely to go into a geomagnetic storm that could last a day or two, so there is a chance that aurora will be visible again on Sunday night.

This is looking like it could shape up to be a bigger CME than recent ones. Big bouts of space weather activity, such as geomagnetic storms have the capacity to affect technology in space and on Earth.

This can happen in a multitude of complex ways, depending on what technology you are looking at.

There is a potential for space weather to affect railway signals and other technology, but there is no need to panic as we have the UK Met Office constantly looking at the risks and contacting infrastructure providers as and when it is needed.

Space Weather sits on the UK governments risk register and it is therefore being monitored, so action can be taken when needed.

The Met Office is not expecting any disruption to infrastructure in the UK.

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 3 months with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Wawa, which has announced plans to open stores in Lexington, Nicholasville and Louisville, is making things official next month.

The popular Pennsylvania-based convenience store chain with a cult following for its hoagies, Sizzli breakfast sandwiches, coffee and clean bathrooms will break ground and start construction on its first two Kentucky stores on June 5. They gave no date on when the stores would open.

Sign up for our LexGo Eat & Drink newsletters





The latest on food, dining and bourbon delivered right to your inbox for free. See what's happening in the world of bourbon, including buying, tasting tips and more on Tuesday. Stick around for the biggest restaurant news in Central Kentucky on Thursday. Sign up here.

The first two Kentucky stores will be at 3013 Lexington Rd. in Nicholasville, also known as U.S. 27, and in Louisville on Preston Crossing Blvd.

This is a true milestone in Wawas history as it will officially kick off our major expansion effort into the state, the company said in a save-the-date announcement to media.

As part of a three-state Community Partnership Tour across the Midwest, Wawa hosts a preview event to introduce itself to the community and share more details about its first wave of expansion plans at the Old courthouse in Lexington, Ky, September 26, 2023.

Wawa also plans to release an update on expansion plans, including details on the next sites to go under construction, confirmed sites and projected timing for openings, according to the announcement.

Where will Wawa store, gas station be in Lexington?

In October, Lexington city officials gave the green light to a Wawa for a new Anderson Communities development at 4075 Old Richmond Rd., across from Jacobson Park. So far thats the only Lexington location that has been identified. The property would have a convenience store and gas station on the Athens Boonesboro Road side as well as a restaurant. The plans call for 184 parking spaces and eight gas pumps.

Wawa has announced that it plans to open 40 stores across Kentucky as part of a 160-store expansion across Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana in the next eight to 10 years.

Last September, at a press conference in Lexington that also included chances to sample Wawas famous hoagies, Wawa executives said they will invest more than $280 million in Kentucky and create more than 1,400 new jobs.

What new restaurants, food stores are coming to Lexington in 2024? Publix, pizza & more

Buc-ees and Wawa are cropping up in Kentucky, but how are they different? See their menus

Whataburger, In-N-Out Burger & more. Fast-food chains Lexington needs, odds of coming

New Kroger Marketplace grocery store planned for Lexingtons Northside near Publix

The fastest growing grocery chain in the country is coming to a Central Kentucky town
A man washes his hands at a flood-affected village in the Baghlan-e-Markazi District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan, May 11, 2024. At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said. (Photo by Mehrabuddin Ibrahimi/Xinhua)

PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, May 10 (Xinhua) -- At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said.

The natural mishap hit Gozargah-e-Noor, Jelgah, Nahrin, Baghlan-e-Markazi and Barka districts, as well as the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri, Hedayatullah Hamdard, provincial director for the disaster management authority, said.

Storms and floods also hit most parts of other northern provinces, including Takhar, Badakhshan and Samangan, leading to casualties and damage to properties.

Afghanistan has been receiving heavy rain and floods in the past month. More than 80 deaths had been reported earlier across the country. 

This photo taken on May 11, 2024 shows a scene at a flood-affected village in the Baghlan-e-Markazi District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said. (Photo by Mehrabuddin Ibrahimi/Xinhua)

A man is seen at a flood-affected village in the Baghlan-e-Markazi District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan, May 11, 2024. At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said. (Photo by Mehrabuddin Ibrahimi/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 11, 2024 shows a scene at a flood-affected village in the Baghlan-e-Markazi District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said. (Photo by Mehrabuddin Ibrahimi/Xinhua)

This photo taken on May 11, 2024 shows a scene at a flood-affected village in the Baghlan-e-Markazi District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan. At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said. (Photo by Mehrabuddin Ibrahimi/Xinhua)

People move a damaged door at a flood-affected village in the Baghlan-e-Markazi District of Baghlan Province, Afghanistan, May 11, 2024. At least 50 people were killed as storms and flash floods lashed north Afghanistan's Baghlan province on Friday, a local official said. (Photo by Mehrabuddin Ibrahimi/Xinhua)
WEATHER AWARE: Parts of Columbus and Midland still without power

(WRBL)  After strong storms passed through early Friday morning, sections of Columbus and Midland are still without power.

As of 1:53 p.m. 51 Columbus and 482 Midland residents are still without power.

According to Georgia Power, officials are evaluating the situation.

We also have a reports of damage and weather conditions from other areas:

Hail:

Ellaville, Schley Ga: Quarter-size hail at GA-26 and N Broad St. (5/9)

Wind:

1NE Robert G. Pitts Ai Lee County, AL: Tree and cable lines down at Cunningham Dr (5/9).

1 E Monterey Heights Lee County , AL: Tree down on lee road 226/430 (5/9).

Wind Gust of 54mph recorded at Auburn Airport (10:25pm 10/9)

Cuthbert Randolph County, Ga: Tree limbs down blocking the road on SR 50 before Girard Street (5/10).

Lamar Road Sumter County, Ga: Power lines down, Lamar Rd CLOSED while line is repaired and trees are moved.

Harris Rd, Harris County, Ga: Power line down, Harris Rd CLOSED while line is repaired and trees are moved.

Numerous trees down in Tuskegee with damage to power lines. The front entrance of Tuskegee University along Old Montgomery Rd was damaged (5/9).

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WRBL.
The Week in Pictures: May 2-10, 2024

Smoke rises after an Israeli air strike on the east of the city of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

From the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas and the pro-Palestinian protests around the world, to the Chinese president's visit to Europe and Easter celebrations, dpa International presents its Pictures of the Week.

Internally displaced Palestinian woman looks on from a tent. Internally displaced Palestinians have returned to Khan Yunis and are setting up tents on the ruins of their old houses after the Israeli army asked them to evacuate from the city of Rafah. Omar Naaman/dpa

Palestinians inspect damaged houses after Israeli warplanes bombed a home for the Al-Shaer family, leading to widespread destruction in the Al-Salam neighbourhood, east of the city of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip. Abed Rahim Khatib/dpa

Displaced Palestinians carry their belongings on a vehicle after an evacuation order issued by the Israeli army. Omar Ashtawy/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Injured Palestinians receive treatment at Al-aqsa Hospital following the Israeli attacks on Al-Bureij Camp. Ali Hamad/APA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Israeli Security personnel move away a demonstrator during a protest by the relatives and supporters of hostages held by Hamas, calling on the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire deal with Hamas. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

Pro-Palestine activists hold flags during a protest at Columbusplatz under the motto "Together for Palestine - Ceasefire now!". Georg Hochmuth/APA/dpa

NYPD arrest a demonstrator during the Day of Rage for Gaza protest in several educational institutions. Carlos Chiossone/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

A woman holds an Israeli flag out of a window in front of supporters outside the camp during a pro-Palestinian demonstration by the group "Student Coalition Berlin" in the theater courtyard of the Free University of Berlin. The participants occupied the square with tents on Tuesday morning. Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/dpa

Students take part in a tent camp at Edinburgh University's Old College to protest against the war in Gaza. Andrew Milligan/PA Wire/dpa

Police with batons and shields push back pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Amsterdam. Michael Currie/SOPA Images via ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

French President Emmanuel Macron (C), European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen (R), and China's President Xi Jinping (L) attend a meeting at the Elysee presidential palace. Christophe Licoppe/European Commission/dpa

Germany's Chancellor Olaf Scholz (C) stands in a Boxer wheeled armored vehicle of the Bundeswehr during a visit to the NATO exercise Quadriga 24. Kay Nietfeld/dpa

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lights a candle during a ceremony marking the Holocaust Remembrance Day at the Knesset. Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO/dpa

European Commission, EU and European People's Party (EPP) lead candidate Ursula von der Leyen, and EPP Party Leader Manfred Weber stand on stage at the end of the CDU Federal Party Conference. Michael Kappeler/dpa

Russian President Vladimir Putin arrives to attend his inauguration ceremony as President of the Russian Federation in the Kremlin. -/Kremlin/dpa

Boris Pistorius (L), German Minister of Defense, sits in a Chinook helicopter during a visit to the Boeing company. The minister is meeting his counterparts, diplomats and officers during his military policy trip. Britta Pedersen/dpa

Russian servicemen march on Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow. Russia celebrates the 79th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany in World War II. -/Kremlin/dpa

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock walks across the beach in front of the settlement of Toguru, which is affected by coastal erosion due to the climate crisis. Sina Schuldt/dpa

Coach Thomas Tuchel of Munich is shown on the scoreboard after the UEFA Champions League semi-final, second leg match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu. Peter Kneffel/dpa

Real Madrid's Joselu celebrates with the fans after the UEFA Champions League semi-final, second leg match between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich at the Santiago Bernabeu. Isabel Infantes/PA Wire/dpa

Dortmund's Marco Reus celebrates the victory of the UEFA Champions League semi final against Paris Saint-Germain at the Parc des Princes. Robert Michael/dpa

Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong celebrates scoring his side's fourth goal during the German Bundesliga soccer match between Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Deutsche Bank Park. Arne Dedert/dpa

Ipswich Town fans celebrate their sides promotion to the Premier League after the English Championship soccer match between Ipswich Town and Huddersfield Town at Portman Road. Zac Goodwin/PA Wire/dpa

(L-R) Leicester City president Aiyawatt "Top" Srivaddhanaprabha, player Jamie Vardy, coach Enzo Maresca, and players Marc Albrighton, Harry Winks and Ricardo Pereira cheer at the bus parade in Leicester to celebrate winning the Sky Bet Championship. Joe Giddens/PA Wire/dpa

Darmstadt's Christoph Zimmermann (L) and Wolfsburg's Patrick Wimmer battle for the ball during the German Bundesliga soccer match between VfL Wolfsburg and Darmstadt 98 at Volkswagen Arena. Swen Pfortner/dpa

(L-R) Bayern Munich's Linda Sembrant, Jovana Damnjanovic and Maria Luisa Grohs celebrate after the German Women's Bundesliga soccer match between Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich at Ulrich-Haberland-Stadion. Marius Becker/dpa

The pack rides during the 2nd stage of the Giro d'Italia cycling race, 161 km from San Francesco al Campo to Santuario di Oropa. Fabio Ferrari/LaPresse via ZUMA Press/dpa

British-Belgian racing driver Lando Norris of McLaren celebrates with the trophy after winning the 2024 Formula One Miami Grand Prix. James Gasperotti/ZUMA Press Wire/dpa

Orthodox Christian worshippers attend the Holy Fire ceremony in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem's Old City. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa

Orthodox believers celebrate Easter with evening and night services at the Church of St. John of Anga and San Francisco in Jezdovice. Pavlieek Lubo/CTK/dpa

American singer Lana Del Rey arrives at the red carpet for the 2024 Met Gala, the annual benefit for the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute. Matt Crossick/PA Wire/dpa

Smoke rising from unrecognised Bedouin village of Wadi al-Khalil, ahead of it demolishing by Israeli police. Ilia Yefimovich/dpa
There are four lignite power plants in North Dakota. (John Elk | Getty Images)

North Dakota and West Virginia are leading a group of states in asking a federal court to review new pollution standards impacting the coal industry.

Attorneys general from 23 states signed the petition asking for a review of the regulations that took effect Tuesday. The final proposed rules became public on April 25.

This rule intentionally sets impossible standards to destroy the coal industry, North Dakota Attorney General Drew Wrigley said in a news release.

Wrigley said the Biden administration has ignored limits on its authority set by Congress.

Federal agencies cannot decide on a whim to destroy entire industries, Wrigley said.

The petition was filed Wednesday in the U.S. District Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., asking the court to review the Environmental Protection Agency rule.

Other states that signed the petition were Alaska, Arkansas, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia and Wyoming.

In its announcement of the rules on April 25, EPA Administrator Michael Regan said EPA is cutting pollution while ensuring that power companies can make smart investments and continue to deliver reliable electricity for all Americans.

In particular, North Dakota officials have taken issue with new, stricter mercury emissions standards.

Dave Glatt, director of the North Dakota Department of Environmental Quality, said the mercury standard provides no measurable health benefits and are a death sentence for coal.

Jason Bohrer, president and CEO of the Lignite Energy Council, released a statement after the final rule was announced in April.

Electricity demand is surging, and the EPAs agenda will severely impact our ability to rely on electricity 24/7, Bohrer said. These regulations mandate either fuel switching or the implementation of unproven technology, jeopardizing the stability of the national power supply, and putting over 12,000 jobs in the lignite industry at risk.

The Lignite Energy Council says the North Dakota coal industry contributes $5.75 billion to the state economy and more than $100 million in state and local taxes.

In addition to mercury reductions, the new rules also lower the levels of pollutants that coal-fired power plants can discharge through wastewater, sets standards for handling coal ash and sets limits on carbon emissions. Gov. Doug Burgum and other state officials have repeatedly complained about onerous regulations from the Biden administration, with Burgum even making a plea to a legislative committee to provide adequate funding for the states legal battles with the federal government.

North Dakota Monitor is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. North Dakota Monitor maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Amy Dalrymple for questions: info@northdakotamonitor.com. Follow North Dakota Monitor on Facebook and Twitter.

The post West Virginia, North Dakota lead state pushback on new EPA coal rules appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
As Chinese President Xi Jinping toured Europe this week to discuss Ukraine and trade, China remains Russia's leading source of sanctioned dual-use goods, fueling the ongoing war.

"Around 90% of the goods deemed high priority products by the Western countries... (was) supplied by China" as Chinese-made products or re-exported goods in 2023, a sharp rise from 30% in 2021, Nathaniel Sher, a senior research analyst at Carnegie China, told the Kyiv Independent.

China-based companies pour a range of items  from drones to microchips and machine parts  into Russia, including products made in China and those that bypass Western export controls via Chinese entities.

Beijing has thus far refused to commit direct lethal weapons to Russia's war, and both Kyiv and the EU sought to engage it in peace efforts, hoping to leverage its influence over Moscow.

Bringing China to the Ukraine-led Peace Summit planned in Switzerland for mid-June is among Kyiv's top priorities, a source in the president's office told the Kyiv Independent.

The flow of dual-use goods indicates that China is not as neutral in the war as it wishes to appear.

"More effort is needed to curtail the delivery of dual-use goods to Russia that find their way to the battlefield," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on May 6 after meeting Xi in Paris.

Washington warned its partners in April that the level of this support is only increasing, extending also to geospatial intelligence and missile propellants.

While the West's options are limited regarding China selling its own products, there are avenues of action when it comes to re-selling Western goods and bypassing sanctions.

A coordinated action by Western partners could help drive up the costs for Russia and China, curtailing this critical lifeline, experts say.

Read also: Von der Leyen after meeting Xi: More effort needed to curtail Chinese dual-use goods deliveries to Russia

What is Russia buying from China?

In 2023, China was responsible for roughly 90% of Russia's imports of approximately 50 items included in the G7 "high-priority" sanctioned goods list, such as microelectronics, navigation and communication equipment, optics, or Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine tools.

China serves both as a producer of these items and as an intermediary for their re-export from other countries, helping to bypass sanctions.

The country's role as Moscow's lifeline for economic output and military production has risen sharply since the West imposed extensive trade restrictions on Russia.

While Chinese overall exports to the rest of the world have grown by 29% since 2021, exports to Russia have spiked by a whopping 121%, underscoring the role of their partnership.

When it comes to individual dual-use items, the sales of semi-conductors  vital for the manufacturing of communication systems, radars, missile guidance, or electronic warfare equipment  jumped from $200 million in 2021 to over $500 million in 2022, according to the Free Russia Foundation.

Sign up for our newsletter

WTF is wrong with Russia?

Sign up

Several sectors of Russia's defense industry and military capabilities are boosted by Chinese trade.

"(Russia's) logistics machine is really important. So trucks, spare parts, forklift trucks, all those sorts of things that keep the war machine going," China can provide, said Edward Lucas, a senior advisor at the Center for the European Policy Analysis (CEPA), in a comment for the Kyiv Independent.

Other key components include drone parts and complete off-the-shelf drones, microchips, and other electronics, the expert added.

"When you look at what China is providing to Russia, it is less about (whole) systems, it is more about parts, specifically microelectronics, that China has been increasingly providing to Russia for the past few years (which are then) integrated into weapon systems," Mathieu Boulegue, a senior fellow at CEPA, told the Kyiv Independent.

Read also: Most of 2,500 foreign components Ukraine found in Russian weapons come from US (GRAPHS)

"The core of what China is providing Russia with right now are mostly spare parts, detached parts, microelectronics, components that are cannibalized by the Russian military industry."

Benjamin Hilgenstock, a senior economist at the KSE Institute focused on the sanctions regime against Russia, told the Kyiv Independent that we can see China playing three different roles when it comes to the dual-goods flow.

"So there are Chinese companies producing goods that Russia imports and needs for its military. The second role is that there are foreign companies, including Western ones, that have production facilities in China," Hilgenstock said, adding: "These are not goods from Chinese producers, but they're made in China."

"And then the third role is Chinese entities as final sellers of these goods to Russia from Western companies."

Between January and October 2023, 41% of "battlefield goods" (the aforementioned 50 goods defined as "high priority" by the U.S., the EU, and other allies) supplied to Russia were produced by China-based firms, a report by the KSE Institute and the Yermak-McFaul International Working Group shows.

The percentage is almost the same for "critical components" (KSE's term for other dual-use goods that go beyond the definition set by the U.S. and other partners), making companies headquartered in China the leading source in both cases, followed by the U.S., Taiwan, and the EU.

Chinese tech giant Huawei was Russia's top provider of critical components for the first 10 months of 2023 ($530 million) and the second most significant source of battlefield goods ($286 million) after the American Intel. China's Lenovo and Hikvision also rank high in both indicators.

China's role as the global manufacturing leader comes into play as well. The KSE's research shows that 63.1% of battlefield goods and 58.7% of critical components sent to Russia during much of the last year were produced in China-based plants (including factories owned by foreign companies).

Similarly notable is the role of Chinese companies as final sellers. In terms of battlefield goods, 38% were sold to Russia from China and 30.9% from Hong Kong between January and October 2023. As for critical components, the percentages are 38.9% for China and 18.1% for Hong Kong.

The Chinese share in Russia's dual-use goods supply is not as high in the KSE Institute's report as the 90% figure presented by Carnegie Endowment, but the former examines the individual roles that China plays in this process, which do not always overlap. In the end, both organizations agree that China is Moscow's one source of these products.

Lucas stresses, however, that "it would be a mistake to say that China is the only lifeline of Russia's war machine."

Moscow showed dexterity in circumventing Western sanctions through other intermediaries, like the United Arab Emirates, Kazakhstan, and Turkey. It has obtained wholesale battlefield goods from Iran and North Korea, and its own economy is in war mode, producing more artillery shells than the U.S. or the EU can currently provide to Ukraine.

"If you remove China's help completely, tomorrow, it would indeed impact certain segments of the (Russian) military industry (but) unfortunately, Russia is fully able to continue waging war by itself without China's support," Boulegue said.

One curious aspect is that even though customs data show extensive Chinese supplies flowing to Russia, they represent a disproportionately small portion of foreign-made components found in Russian weapon systems on Ukrainian battlefields.

Chinese products amounted to a mere 4% of the 2,800 foreign parts found in Russian missiles, drones, and armored vehicles and documented by Ukraine's National Agency on Corruption Prevention. This pales in comparison to nearly three-quarters of the sum being U.S.-made parts.

Hilgenstock offers two possible explanations for this discrepancy.

"One hypothesis is that (Russia) hasn't been able to substitute the Western goods" with Chinese products, he said. This would give the West powerful leverage to curb the supplies by its own efforts, but it also indicates that the current export controls are not as effective as hoped.

"The second hypothesis is that Russia does not have to substitute the (Western) parts because it still has access to them," the expert suggested.

What are China's goals?

Unlike other Moscow's partners like Iran or North Korea, Beijing has staved off from supplying direct lethal assistance. This has allowed China to continue supporting Russia under the veil of plausible deniability.

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has dismissed criticism against China by the West, saying its exports to Russia fall within the confines of "normal cooperation."

Despite its apparent affinity toward the Kremlin and hostility toward Washington, China's rhetoric has been constrained regarding Ukraine, calling instead for a mutually satisfactory peaceful resolution.

Looking beneath the veneer of pacifist proclamations, Beijing's role in assisting Russia's war machine is hard to deny.

Given the Chinese government's sway over the domestic business sector, it is difficult to imagine that the dual-use goods supplies are happening without its tacit approval.

According to Sher, "Given the size and scope of these transactions, it does seem like it's more than just Chinese companies looking to turn a profit... the Chinese government is likely aware of these transactions."

"If you change the optics a little bit, I would argue that China is providing lethal aid to Russia. It's not direct lethal aid, but military components and parts that are used to kill Ukrainians," Boulegue said.

"Of course, there is a big difference between providing a missile system and electronics that go into a radar used inside that missile. But still I think we could argue that China is indeed providing a form of indirect lethal aid to Russia," he added.

Chinese companies can capitalize on Russia's growing demand, while Beijing is also likely interested in curtailing Western influence, and its partnership with Moscow is a key piece in this puzzle.

Yet, there are clear limits that Beijing has to respect as a global geopolitical player. While it wishes to support Russia against the West, it does not want to get its hands too dirty, tarnish its international reputation, and attract further costly sanctions from the EU or the U.S., experts say.

"(China) needs to put a critical distance between what Russia is doing in Ukraine and what it hopes to accomplish in the international arena because it brings too much attention, too much heat," Boulegue commented.

"In that sort of geopolitical battle between the United States and China, they definitely do not want to overreach."

During Xi's visit, EU officials acknowledged Beijing's past efforts to moderate Russia's nuclear saber-rattling or its refusal to provide lethal aid.

Many observers noted that China is playing a careful balancing game, seeking to woo the EU and drive a wedge between it and the U.S. Given Europe's support for Ukraine, this naturally means treading carefully on war-related issues.

"The Americans would love everyone close ranks against Russia and China. China doesn't want that," Lucas noted.

Read also: Russia, China and North Korea have new dynamics. And its bad for Ukraine

What can the West do?

Shortly after the outbreak of the full-scale war, Western countries imposed extensive sanctions against Russia, aimed at cutting off its crucial supply lanes.

While experiencing a sudden drop in microelectronics imports in 2022, Russia has rebounded to prewar levels since then, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said.

As China has played an increasingly important role in Russia's sanctions circumvention, Western efforts have recently zeroed in on Chinese companies.

Following repeated warnings issued toward Beijing, the U.S. announced on May 1 a package of sanctions against almost 300 entities and individuals, including Chinese companies accused of aiding Russia's war effort.

The EU's 13th sanctions package also included China-based entities helping Moscow dodge restrictive measures.

In a separate effort to pressure Beijing, the U.S. added 37 Chinese entities to the trade blacklist due to security reasons, including 11 of them accused of being connected to last year's espionage incident, the U.S. Commerce Department said on May 9.

Nevertheless, while China's monthly transactions with Russia dropped in early 2024 compared to their peak of $600 million last December, the country remains the leading supplier of high-priority goods, Carnegie Endowment said.

According to Lucas, sanctions can function as a deterrent and make it more difficult for Chinese companies to trade with Russia, but their "record of changing decisions is quite limited."

KI Insights

Visit KI Insights to learn more and subscribe to the insider weekly newsletter

visit ki insights

"The U.S. and Europe are not making China's life easier, but they still find many ways to bypass sanctions. So, honestly, we are several steps behind being efficient in the full sanctions regime," Boulegue said.

While there is little that Kyiv's allies can do regarding trade with Chinese-made products, there is certainly room for improvement in curtailing the re-exports of Western goods.

Under the so-called Foreign Direct Product Rule, the U.S. authorities can regulate re-exports not only of American-made products but also of foreign-produced items whose production involves U.S. software or technology.

"And then it becomes a question of enforcement," Hilgenstock noted.

While the EU does not have such a rule, its past sanctions included additional restrictions on further re-exports to Russia from third-party companies.

Sanctioning such entities also has its limits, however. A common practice in Russia's evasion schemes is foreign-based shell companies that can be dissolved and re-registered as formally new entities after being targeted by sanctions.

For this method to be effective, "you have to do it comprehensively. So not just one or two of these intermediaries, but rather all of them, you would have to do it consistently across all of the coalition's jurisdictions," Hilgenstock commented.

One positive impact that may not be apparent at first sight is the change in value of the products rather than their volumes.

Hilgenstock said that there is some evidence that "Russia is paying significantly more money simply because the Chinese know that Russia desperately needs" these supplies.

This mirrors the situation in Russia's oil exports. Sanctions forced Moscow to pivot from European markets to India and China while selling their product at a significant discount.

"We're not going to stop every single battlefield item from reaching Russia, but if we can make them significantly more expensive, that would be a very promising avenue," Hilgenstock concluded.

Read also: Sanctions for show: Russian oil sales to China, India single main driver of Ukraine invasion

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
The US anticipates Russian forces to continue pushing as part of their latest offensive attempt in the north of Kharkiv, but does not anticipate "major breakthroughs".

Source: John Kirby, White House National Security Communications Advisor, writes AFP, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Commenting on Russian activity in the north of Kharkiv Oblast, Kirby stated that the US expected an offensive and that Russian forces were preparing for it during a lengthy delay in approving more support for Ukraine in Congress.

Quote: "It is certainly possible that the Russians are setting themselves up for a larger assault on Kharkiv," Kirby said, underlining that the White House does not anticipate any significant breakthroughs from the Russian forces.

In addition, he claimed that the US is sure that the influx of military aid will allow Ukraine to withstand these attacks in 2024.

The White House expects that Russian forces would intensify the fire and shift more troops, attempting to establish a small buffer zone along the Ukrainian border. Nonetheless, Kirby stated that the White House is confident in Ukrainian forces and that they are working around the clock to assist Ukraine with the equipment, resources, and weapons it needs to defend itself against these attacks.

On 10 May, it was reported that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast, with fighting taking place there. Sources of Ukrainska Pravda in military circles claim that Russian forces have captured four border villages in Kharkiv Oblast. Local authorities deny the loss of territory, stating that no territory had been lost.

Border hromadas of Kharkiv Oblast are under intense large-scale Russian bombardment, resulting in injuries and fatalities among civilians. [A hromada is an administrative unit designating a village, several villages, or a town, and their adjacent territories  ed.] The population of Vovchansk and its surrounding settlements in Kharkiv Oblast are being evacuated.

Support UP or become our patron!
The White House doubled down Thursday on President Joe Bidens pronouncement that the U.S. will withhold sending certain weapons to Israel if the IDF mounts a major ground operation in Rafah, ignoring pressure from pro-Israel lawmakers, Israeli officials and Jewish advocacy groups who are urging Biden to reconsider.



Two top Biden national security officials briefed reporters to defend the announcement the president made in a CNN interview the day before, when he said the U.S. will not send Israel large unguided munitions if the IDF invades Rafah and noted that Israels current targeted operations on the outskirts of Rafah have not yet crossed his red line. The White House clarified on numerous occasions on Thursday that Bidens words accurately represented his administrations new policy.



After House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he hoped Biden was having a senior moment, White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates defended the policy and called Johnsons wishful thinking simply false.



The Biden administrations points seemed designed to respond to two frequent criticisms that had been mounted against Bidens strategy: that withholding the weapons removes leverage on Hamas and weakens the odds of a hostage deal, and that entering Rafah is necessary to defeat the terrorist group, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed.



We want to see Israel defeat Hamas. We want to see Israel dismantle Hamas and prevent its ability to launch the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 again. Theyve largely succeeded in that goal. As I said, Hamas could not launch the attack again today, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a press briefing.



Earlier, a White House national security spokesperson made a similar argument.



There has been an enormous amount of pressure put on Hamas. [The Israelis] have eliminated a lot of the leaders through the fighting that they have conducted over the last several months. They have decimated the ranks of many of [Hamas] units.The picture of Hamas today is not what it was six months ago, said John Kirby, White House national security communications advisor.



Still, Hamas is not yet defeated, and Israel has legitimate Hamas targets in Rafah, the administration officials agreed.



We have a full range of other policy choices that they can take, that we think would achieve the goal of dismantling Hamas and choking off the Hamas battalions that remain in Rafah without further endangering civilians there, without causing this mass population displacement with no place for them to go, said Miller. White House officials have presented some alternative plans to Israeli officials.



Miller and Kirby made clear that the White House thinks an Israeli operation in Rafah would make Israel look bad on the world stage, worsening the chances for a hostage-for-cease-fire deal. Netanyahu has defended a potential Rafah operation as necessary to defeat Hamas, a goal that Kirby and Miller said the U.S. still shares.



Certainly any kind of major Rafah ground operation would actually strengthen Hamas hands at the negotiating table, not Israels, Kirby said. Because if Im [Hamas leader] Mr. [Yahya] Sinwar, and Im sitting down in my tunnel, thats where he is, and Im seeing innocent people falling victim to major significant combat operations in Rafah, then I have less and less incentive to want to come to the negotiating table and [make] a deal. I can cast Israel in the worst possible way because of the way theyre behaving. And I can just say, Well, clearly theyre not interested in a good faith way to get to a cease-fire, and look at what theyre doing inside Rafah. It just gives him more ammunition for his twisted narrative here.



But the argument that a Rafah invasion that leads to the deaths of Palestinian civilians would strengthen Hamas hand also came with an acknowledgement that the terrorist organization does not care about Palestinian civilians.



The idea that a Rafah invasion that would kill civilians is something that they lose sleep over, it just isnt backed up by facts isnt backed up by their track record the past seven months, when they have put civilians in harms way time and time again, Miller said at the State Department briefing.



Ultimately, the White House spent Thursday backing up the pressure on Israel while asserting that the U.S. remains a steadfast supporter of Israels right to defend itself.



The arguments that somehow were walking away from Israel fly in the face of the facts, said Kirby.





View comments
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, WV (WVNS)  The citizens of White Sulphur Springs have growing concerns about a new business expanding in Greenbrier County.

The business is not just a bakery or a new diner  its a slaughterhouse. Mountain Steer Meat Company opened their business around a year ago, but they now want to open a slaughterhouse in town.

Resident M.J. Oref is concerned for what this business could do to the future of White Sulphur Springs.

Greenbrier County Sheriffs Office welcomes back WVSP graduates

If it smells like high heaven, who is going to want to be here? Who is going to settle here in our town? I have property value here. The times are hard, said Oref.

Citizens concerns do not only stem from property value. They are also concerned about the chance of water pollution, air pollution, and the disposal process.

Former Zoning Officer Marie Lewis spoke about the towns zoning ordinance and what ground rules are set in place.

These things are permitted for conditional uses. There is a campground, a cemetery, a fairground, a kennel, and an off premise, free standing sign, said Lewis

The location of the slaughterhouse is also right across from Food Lion and in front of a nursing home and two churches. Mountain Steer Meat Company stated in their presentation that the smell will be kept to a minimum.

WV Hive congratulates Mountain Steer Meat Company for second place award in pitch competition

The citizens are not convinced, however.

There are multiple businesses that can be directly impacted by this. I believe they have not been addressed properly, said David Leadman, resident of White Sulphur Springs.

Its a beautiful place. I got tired of the city, all the pollution, so I moved here to West Virginia, said resident William Fanus.

Citizens say that city hall posted a notice of the potential building of the slaughterhouse on a bulletin board, but have not reached out to them directly.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WVNS.
A plan by the Air Force secretary to reassign some units of the Air National Guard to the fledgling U.S. Space Force has rankled the nation's governors and united them in fiercely opposing the proposal because the part-time service members affected would no longer be under state control and available to deal with local emergencies such as natural disasters and civil crises.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott this week joined his counterparts from the other 49 states and five U.S. territories in calling on President Joe Biden and the Pentagon's top brass to scuttle the policy known as Air Force Legislative Proposal 480 that would apply to about 1,000 air guard members in units with space duties in seven states: Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, New York and Ohio.

Troops activated for Operation Lone Star board a Texas Air National Guard cargo plane from Austin-Bergstrom International Airport last May.

Though Texas is not among the affected states, Abbott in a May 6 letter to Biden said the plan "would set a dangerous precedent" that could have the effect of "sidelining governors as the commander-in-chief" of National Guard units in their states.

"Members of the Texas National Guard must always stand ready to respond to natural disasters, civil disturbances, cartel activity that threaten our way of life," Abbott said in the letter. "Instead of attempting such a power grab in Congress, the U.S. Department of the Air Force should work with the affected governors to build up the Space Force in a way that is consistent with federal law.

Air National Guard members have been used in Abbott's border security initiative known as Operation Lone Star, including providing aircraft to move troops from various locations in the state to the border and to assist in seizing illegal narcotics, according to the governor's office. In August, members of the Oklahoma Air National Guard were part of that state's 50-person unit deployed to the Texas border to assist in the $11 billion border security effort.

Deep-seated opposition to Air Force secretary's plan

The Space Force proposal handed down March 15 by Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall and subject to congressional approval has been met with widespread disapproval across a variety of military, political and civilian fronts. The National Guard Association labeled it a "federal overreach" and included a page on its website where members could petition their representatives in Congress to reject the proposal.

More than 85 members of Congress have issued statements calling Legislative Proposal 480 a bad idea that should be shelved.

More: U.S. Space Force Captain explains what it means to be a Guardian

The National Association of Governors Association in late April announced that 10 state chief executives had come out in opposition to the plan and were urging Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to veto it even before Congress would take it up. Within a week, the list of state governors ballooned to 48, and five governors from U.S. territories joined the chorus.

Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis were the last to formally condemn the measure.

Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall defends his proposal to reassign some units of the Air National Guard to the fledgling U.S. Space Force. Were talking about a few hundred people," he said. "And there are only a handful of states (that) are affected. Texas would not be affected by the move.

When he unveiled his proposal, Kendall told lawmakers that the number of units and Air National Guard members affected would be minimal and that the plan would eliminate the need for a Space National Guard, which was proposed in the 2024 National Defense Authorization Act.

Its a unique situation," Kendall was quoted in news accounts as saying. "Theres absolutely no intention to make any other changes, moving things out of the Guard.

The Space Force was established in December 2019 out of "widespread recognition that space is a national security imperative," the military's newest branch states on its website. It is also the smallest component, making up only about 3% of the nation's defense budget.

Is criticism of the Air National Guard proposal being overblown?

At the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Co., last month, Kendall said the controversy over his plan was being blown out of proportion.

Weve had much, much more political attention over this issue than it deserves in my mind, he said, according to media reports. Were talking about a few hundred people. The numbers for any state are less than, I think, 2% of their Guard people, and there are only a handful of states (that) are affected.

Abbott, along with the other governors, keyed much of his objection to the provision that would put the affected Guard members out of his reach, breaking a long-standing precedent that gives governors a free hand in mobilizing the military units under their command.

"Congress has long required the consent of a governor before units can be transferred out of the National Guard he commands," Abbott's letter said, adding that the proposal could open the door to "allowing the Secretaries (of military departments) to dismantle National Guard units on a whim."

Govs. Spencer Cox, R-Utah, and Jared Polis, D-Colorado, the chairman and vice chairman of the National Governors Association respectively, said in a statement emailed to news outlets Thursday that they discussed the the Space Force/Guard initiative with Kendall the day before but came away "disappointed that he did not commit to withdrawing the proposal."

"We cannot have productive conversations on this matter until LP 480 is set aside," Cox and Polis said in a joint statement. Governors remain united, ready and willing to work with the Air Force and Defense Department in a way that comports with federal law, honors our trusted historical partnership with our Armed Services, and satisfies decades of precedent."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story said the National Guard labeled the proposal to transfer some units of the Air Force National Guard to the Space Force "an overreach." The comment was made by the Nation Guard Association, an advocacy organization made up of present and former Guard members that is not affiliated with the military reserve branch.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: US governors object to moving Air National Guard troops to Space Force
PARIS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Two police officers were shot Thursday evening in a Paris police station, according to police sources.

The two were immediately rushed to a hospital and one of them was in critical condition.

A man, who had been arrested for domestic violence, seized the weapon of an officer and then fired at the two officers, the French news channel France Info said. 
The world of beauty pageants is firmly in the spotlight after both Miss USA and Miss Teen USA abdicated their positions amid accusations of unprofessional behaviour, workplace bullying and harassment from management.

Pageant queens Noelia Voigt and UmaSofia Srivastava, both announced they would be stepping down from their respective positions in the past week. Both women issued lengthy statements online detailing their decisions.

Ms Voigt, 24, the first Venezuelan-American woman to win Miss USA, highlighted the importance of prioritizing mental health, while 17-year-old Ms Srivastava said that her personal values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.

Over the weekend, Miss New York Teen USA 2023, Stephanie Skinner, announced that shed declined to take Ms Srivastavas place, citing prior commitments and a lack of knowledge about what caused the pageant queen to step down.

The announcements came following the resignation of Miss USA Social Media Director Claudia Michelle, who voiced a number of concerns.

In her own post on Instagram, Ms Michelle said the decision had not been easy, but that her experiences at the organisation had been disheartening.

Here are some of the accusations levelled at the Miss Universe Organisation (MUO), which owns the pageants.

Noelia Voigt, who was crowned Miss USA 2023, highlighted the importance of prioritizing mental health in an online post announcing she was resigning her title (Getty Images)

Bullying and toxic work environment

In her resignation post, Ms Michelle said she had had first-hand experience of poor treatment of Ms Voigt and Ms Srivastava and their families. I disavow workplace toxicity and bullying of any kind, she wrote.

I feel the way current management speaks about their titleholders is unprofessional and inappropriate, she said, adding that not enough time and attention was given to the teenager.

I have first hand seen the disrespect towards Uma and her family. In my opinion, not enough time and attention was given to our national teen titleholder, especially on social media.

In her own post, 17-year-old Ms Srivastava said that she would remember her time as Miss NJ Teen USA fondly but that I find my values no longer fully align with the direction of the organization.

Ms Michelle wrote: I dont believe in taking sides. I believe in telling the truth. I believe Noelia and Umas mental health and happiness has taken a toll and I cannot remain silent about that.

Sources also told the New York Post that the workplace conditions at MUO were harmful and a serious concern. There is an urgent need for intervention at the leadership level, the source told the outlet.

The womens mothers spoke out against Miss USA on Good Morning America in a segment that aired on Tuesday. Jackeline Voigt and Barbara Srivastava said their daughters were abused, bullied and cornered.

The mothers told the outlet that they chose to speak for their daughters, who have been silenced by confidentiality clauses in their contracts. Ms Voigt said that her daughter was sexually harassment while attending public events.

In one instance, she said a man asked her daughter if she was into old men with money. When the beauty queen reported the interaction to executives, she was told that the organisation could not protect from such comments during public events.

Meanwhile, Ms Srivastava said that her daughter was bullied by management, causing her to miss out on opportunities while her personal social media accounts were controlled by the organisation.

Both moms say they want Laylah Rose, the president and CEO of Miss USA, to step down.

In a statement to the outlet, Miss USA said: We are committed to fostering a healthy, communicative and supportive environment for all contestants, state titleholders, national titleholders and staff.

The CW, which aires the contests, said it is reevaluating its relationship with the organisation.

Downplaying personal advocacies of titleholders

Ms Michelle claimed that both Ms Voigt and Ms Srivastava had been threatened by MUO about sharing personal advocacies on social media due to the organizations policies which she wrote I am yet to see.

Ms Voigt in particular is a fervent advocate for mental health and a champion for childrens charity Smile Train, which she highlighted in her resignation post.

Every time someone asked me what my favorite part of being Miss USA was, I would always share with them how much I loved getting to work with Smile Train, being a fervent advocate for anti-bullying, dating violence awareness and prevention, immigration rights and reform, she wrote.

Deep down I know that this is just the beginning of a new chapter for me, and my hope is that I continue to inspire others to remain steadfast, prioritize your mental health, advocate for yourself and others by using your voice, and never be afraid of what the future holds, even if it feels uncertain."

Ms Michelle claimed that the power of the titleholders to use their social media platforms to champion causes had been diminished by oversight from the MUO management.

Earlier this week, fans of Ms Voigt flagged that the first letter in each sentence of her resignation spelt out a message: I AM SILENCED. Sources told The New York Post that this hidden message was intentional.

On Wednesday, several 2023 state titleholders shared a joint statement on social media, saying the majority of the Miss USA class of 2023 supports Ms Voigts decision to resign.

Both Ms Srivastava (left) and Ms Voigt have issued statements announcing their intentions to resign within the past week (Getty Images for Supermodels Unl)

The post also requested that MUO release her from the confidentiality clause of her contract in perpetuity so that she is free to speak on her experiences and time as Miss USA.

The Independent has reached out to Noelia Voigt and UmaSofia Srivastava for comment.

Lack of payment and micro-management

As a social media director, you become in charge of a team and create strategies to enhance the growth and presence of the brand. However, there was no social media team to manage, Ms Michelle wrote in her post.

The former social media director said she had been brought in with zero in-house team members to assist her and was then not financially permitted to hire more. She also claimed to have worked unpaid for the first two months, and that multiple decisions were taken by higher-ups instead of allowing her control and agency in her role.

The only thing I can truly take credit for is the in-person content I was able to capture of Noelia and Uma during events. All pages blocked, comments that were deleted, and story reposts that were not branded right, were not done by myself or under my guidance.

Despite verbal approval that I was able to run the account when brought on to the team, I felt like I was never truly able to run it in the professional level that I had planned to.

Ms Michelle said she was left shocked and disappointed that several former assistant national directors at MUO were fired for reasons still undisclosed to me.

The Independent has reached out to the Miss Universe Organisation for comment on Ms Michelles claims.

Previous controversy

The resignations and accusations of the past week come following previous accusations that MUO had rigged competitions.

In 2023 the organization denied allegations about rigging the Miss Universe competition, days after former Miss USA RBonney Gabriel became the first Filipina American to take home the crown.

The company issued a statement to The Independent at the time, after multiple online users claimed that the competition favoured Miss USA over the other contestants and called Ms Gabriels win a fraud.

The statement addressed how fans assumed that the competition was rigged because its owned by the JKN Global Group, founded by transgender businesswoman Anne Jakkapong Jakrajutatip, which also owns the Miss USA competition.

The allegations re: rigging of Miss Universe are false, Amy Emmerich, the then-CEO of MUO said. People saying that its suspect that JKN Global Group owns both Miss Universe and Miss USA arent familiar with the history of the organizations. One of the top 4 accounting firms in the United States handled the results and verified the process.

Ms Emmerich also revealed that when a firm looked at allegations, first made in October 2022, about Ms Gabriels Miss USA win being rigged, those claims were not found.
Boys' bathroom or girls'? Who cares

With Sarasota schools facing challenges ahead such as underpaid teachers, among many issues, the Sarasota County School Board's main focus appears to be who can use what bathroom. Really!

I have run many races and marathons, including Boston and New York, and in the pre-race staging areas they have rows and rows of portable toilets. They are not gender specific and nobody cares.

Move jeopardizes federal funding: School Board rejects Title IX protections against gender identity discrimination

I have been to many concerts where the lines for the womens restrooms are so long some women choose to use the mens restroom, and nobody cares. I have attended big-time, crowded sporting events where, again, women use the mens restroom and nobody cares.

Write to us: How to send a letter to the editor

I have stopped at gas stations while traveling and the mens room has been occupied so I used the womens restroom and nobody cared.

I could give many more examples but the bottom line is nobody cared, nobody got hurt, nobody got bullied and nobody came out horrified, questioning their gender identity.

Instead of tackling the real issues, Gov. Ron DeSantis and the School Board spend countless hours on a nonissue.

Kevin Kidd, Sarasota

Kayla Lewis, of Englewood Elementary, center, with her family and a $2,000 check she received after being named a 2024 Florida School Lunch Hero, one of five in the state.

Food assistant named School Lunch Hero

At Englewood Elementary School, you dont need to star in a Marvel movie to be a superhero. Kayla Lewis understands the responsibility of nurturing children and excels in her role as a dedicated educator and caretaker.

Kayla, a food service assistant, goes beyond academics, forming personal connections with students to provide them with safety and support. Throughout the day, she radiates kindness and maintains a smile, always ready to help kids get proper nutrition. Despite facing personal challenges, including experiencing the effects of a hurricane, Kaylas resilience shines through.

For her dedication to her students, Kayla is one of five statewide winners being recognized as a 2024 Florida School Lunch Hero. No Kid Hungry Florida is proud to partner with the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and the Dairy Council of Florida in presenting these annual awards to our unsung heroes.

Join us in celebrating Kayla and all the everyday heroes in Sarasota County and across our state who make a positive difference in the lives of children every day.

Sky Beard, director of No Kid Hungry Florida

Media not qualified to give opinions

Perpetuating the Trump-Russian collusion story while burying the Hunter Biden laptop story are to National Public Radio as falling doors and tires are to Boeing.

In an April 9 essay for The Free Press, former NPR Senior Editor Uri Berliner reported that NPR went after Russiagate and turned a blind eye to the Hunter Biden laptop story because they didnt like former President Donald Trump. He found that all 87 editors in NPRs D.C. newsroom were registered Democrats.

A view of the National Public Radio (NPR) headquarters on North Capitol Street February 22, 2023, in Washington, DC.

When I asked my college classmates why they were majoring in journalism the answer was always to change the world. It was never to report the news fairly and accurately.

Journalists feel a greater sense of purpose by interjecting their opinion into a news story. The problem is, without taking macroeconomics you dont have the foundation to form an educated opinion on how the world should be changed.

If I hadnt taken courses in macroeconomics, I might think that the profit motive is evil, that people are poor because others are rich and that socialism is the only cure. Its painful to watch a panel of journalists with zero combined credits in economics talking about whats best for the economy.

Ben Furleigh, Port Charlotte

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: DeSantis, Sarasota School Board are obsessed with policing bathrooms
Huy Fong Foods, the Irwindale company photographed here in 2015, announced recently that it would halt production of its signature Sriracha sauce until after Labor Day. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times)

The Sriracha shortage panic has returned.

In whats become a dreaded tradition in recent years, fans of the beloved spicy chili sauce just got more bad news: The California company that popularized the condiment known for its distinctive fiery red color has halted production until after Labor Day.

Last week, Huy Fong Foods, which is based in Irwindale, sent a letter to its distributors blaming the four-month pause that could eventually snarl the sauces supply chain on the recent harvest of red jalapeno peppers.

"After reevaluating our supply of chili, we have determined that it is too green to proceed with production as it is affecting the color of the product," Huy Fong Foods wrote to its wholesale customers in a letter reviewed by The Times. "Although this does not affect the quality and flavor of our sauce, we regret to inform you that we have decided to halt production until after Labor Day, when our next chili season starts."

A representative for Huy Fong declined to directly comment to The Times about the production halt Friday.

What caused past Sriracha shortages?

The company goes through about 50,000 tons of chiles a year to make its Sriracha, chile-garlic sauce and a sambal oelek, Huy Fong revealed in 2022.

For decades, the company got its peppers from Underwood Ranches in Ventura County, but the relationship unraveled. In 2017, Huy Fong sued the grower, which quickly filed a cross-complaint accusing the hot sauce empire of a breach of contract that the grower said had cost it more than $20 million in losses.

Two years later, a Ventura County jury sided with the jalapeno farmer, awarding it $23 million.

In of its last shipments to Huy Fong, Underwood Ranches delivered 100 million pounds of peppers, according to Craig Underwood founder and owner of the Underwood farms in Ventura County.

Read more: Can't find Sriracha? Here's why the shortage is a sign of our harsh climate reality

In the following years, Huy Fong scrambled to find new pepper suppliers. The company purchased its peppers from several suppliers in Mexico, but claimed dire drought conditions in recent years hurt harvests .

The company has also sourced peppers from California growers recent years, but the demand for peppers appears to be too great for its suppliers.

Last spring, during a slowdown in production of the hot sauce  which is packaged in distinctive bottles adorned with an image of a rooster and a neon green squeeze top  the company released a statement saying it was still experiencing a shortage of raw material, a sign of a dwindling harvest that climate experts warn will increasingly be the norm.

Whats the beloved brands backstory?

David Tran, a Vietnamese refugee who upon arriving in the U.S. couldnt find a hot sauce he liked, decided to create his own, founding Huy Fong Foods in Chinatown in 1980.

Through the years, he built it into a multimillion-dollar pepper empire that introduced Sriracha to the U.S. The company also makes a chili-garlic sauce and a ground chili paste called sambal oelek, both of which will also be affected by the production halt, USA Today reported. Today, Tran's version of the company's most famous sauce, which originated in Si Racha, Thailand, lines grocery shelves across the nation (when it's in stock) and has won a cult following among devoted fans and foodies.

Bon Appetit named Sriracha its 2010 ingredient of the year.

How are consumers and competitors reacting?

Several Sriracha die-hards posted in dismay this week, saying they planned to stock up before a potential shortage.

One person posted on X, linking to a story about the production halt and adding a message in all caps: CAN'T WE HAVE ANYTHING NICE ANYMORE? Someone else wrote that they planned to rush out and buy a case of bottles.

One of Huy Fongs main competitors, Tabasco, bought the website srirachashortage.com, which redirects to a page on its site showing a large picture of its version of Sriracha, which save for swapping out the label and a gold top for the signature green one, resembles Huy Fong's bottle.

On its website, Underwood Ranches, the Ventura County grower that launched its own line of sauces after things went sour with Huy Fong, sells a three-pack of its Sriracha bottles adorned with an image of a dragon for around $27.

A tagline at the bottom of the Underwood site, which the grower indicated was trademarked, reads: The peppers make the sauce.

This year's record rainfall hasn't had an impact on Underwood's chili pepper crops, according to owner Craig Underwood.

"We're still able to put out our sauce with no problem," he said when reached by phone Friday.

Underwood said Huy Fong Foods has struggled to find a consistent and reliable supplier for its red peppers since their partnership ended.

"Creating a supply chain like that is far more complicated than people realize," Underwood said. "The general public just takes for granted when these types of peppers are available. And there's a much more sophisticated process to when you pick them and how you pick them."

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
So, to keep score, The New York Times reported on Thursday morning, Donald Trumps lawyer has now tried to discredit (Stormy) Daniels by suggesting she is crazy, dishonest, money-grubbing, desperate and fame-hungry.

Of course he is; though Trump has not always paid his lawyers, that is what hes being paid to do in the Manhattan courtroom where the ex-president is on trial for business and election fraud.

But until now, where have the women and other good feminists who should have been supporting Daniels all along been, myself included?

We who have for all these years been appalled by the man who laughed about grabbing women by the genitals have mostly been MIA on her behalf, and that isnt right.

We who wrote in such ready support of E. Jean Carroll, the well known writer Trump was found liable of defaming and sexually abusing in a Bergdorfs dressing room, have not similarly defended Daniels from the ex-presidents defamation, and why is that?

Part of it, Im sure, is that whenever I saw the woman whose legal name is Stephanie Clifford on the news, she herself was making light of the situation. But I should have known better than to take that at face value.

If I had paid much attention at all to this case, beyond reading that just before the 2016 election, Trump paid Daniels not to say anything about their minute of whatever that was, I would have seen that whatever that was was highly exploitative at the very least.

Even now that shes testified about coming out of the bathroom in his Lake Tahoe hotel room and finding him in his boxers on the bed, about blaming herself for so misjudging the situation, about dissociating during sex and then having trouble putting her shoes on because her hands were shaking so hard, some Trump critics are still referring to her in ways that attempt to diminish her.

Nothing about what she describes sounds unambiguously consensual, though I can see why she isnt claiming otherwise.

Yet on MSNBC the other night, Stephanie Ruhle joked that when Daniels asked Trump, who she testified had greeted her in his PJs, to for heavens sake put some clothes on, it might have been the only time Daniels ever told a man to do that. Later in the show, Ruhle apologized, as she should have, but that she went there at all was ugly.

Feminists stood up for Bill Clinton, not Paula Jones

In a Times piece headlined, Stormy Daniels was entertaining, but did she make a real impact? Jonathan Alter wrote that the fact that her testimony supposedly had nothing to do with the fraud Trump is charged with committing to cover his tawdry tracks renders Stormy Daniels in the witness box little more than a circus sideshow.

I see nothing fun but fundamentally irrelevant here, even if Daniels did crack some jokes in court. And to call her testimony about exactly what was being covered up a circus sideshow is so condescending that it made me wonder how far weve really come from the days when James Carville dismissed Paula Jones as trailer trash after she accused his boss Bill Clinton of using his position to sexually intimidate her.

After being exploited, Jones, too, was seen as having in turn exploited her time in the spotlight, as Alter suggests that Daniels has done. But both were still mistreated.

Some famous feminists did women, and their own cause, a great disservice in standing up for Clinton then.

But this failure by even some Trump antagonists to appreciate that Daniels really has had reason to worry about her family is not even tribal, as the defense of Clinton was, so what is behind it?

It reads as class bias, which yes, is a Fox News trope, but which too many Democrats really do suffer from, or else poser populists like Josh Hawley would not get away with pretending to be the antidote.

Or maybe its the hypocrisy that Daniels, who was raised in Baton Rouge by a single mom and couldnt afford to go to college, even with a scholarship, describes in the Peacock documentary about her. Maybe its our sanctimonious view of those who pay their bills the way she has. You never saw my name that didnt say porn star in front of it, Daniels said in the film, because were not considered human.

Really, those two explanations are such close cousins that its hard to tell them apart. And either way, Im sorry that I didnt see her situation more clearly long before she took the stand.
Here are the winners and losers in California Gov. Gavin Newsoms May Revise budget

California Gov. Gavin Newsoms May Revise budget proposal offered few winners, and plenty of losers, Friday, as he unveiled an austere vision for state finances.

Newsom called for slashing more than $32 billion in one-time and ongoing spending, with reductions, cost shifts and delayed spending across a wide variety of state departments and programs.

The governor however presented a defiant stance at his press conference Friday, telling reporters that were holding the line on unprecedented investments.

State lawmakers and Newsom will hash out the details over the next few weeks. The Legislature is required to pass a balanced spending plan by June 15 and the governor must sign it before the new fiscal year begins on July 1.

Here is a look at who won and who lost under Newsoms revised budget proposal:

Losers

State workers: While state workers dodged furloughs in this years tough budget, they didnt emerge entirely unscathed.

Newsom announced that he wants a 7.95% cut to state operations beginning this next budget year. Thats in addition to the 10,000 vacant state worker positions that he wants to see eliminated.

So we want a leaner government...streamlined government. We want to do what all of you are doing in your personal lives, all the businesses out there doing in their professional lives as well, and we think we can do that and still achieve outstanding outcomes, Newsom said.

Public health: Despite being just a year removed from one pandemic, and amid growing concerns of a possible future one, Newsom has proposed slashing hundreds of millions of dollars from state and local public health spending.

The governor wants to see $52.5 million reduced from last years budget, and a further $300 million in ongoing spending reductions.

Asked about his proposal to cut public health spending amid pandemic concerns, Newsom offered a matter-of-fact response.

We have a shortfall. We have to be sober about the reality of what our priorities are, he said.

The governors proposal drew condemnation from those in the public health sector.

Local public health officials are astounded that just one year after the COVID-19 public health emergency ended, the administration has proposed repeating the same mistakes that left public health departments under-prepared and under-resourced and communities of color so vulnerable, said Michelle Gibbons, Executive Director of the County Health Executives Association of California in a statement. The biggest lesson of COVID-19 is that waiting until a crisis to invest in public health is a costly and deadly mistake that we cant afford to repeat.

Cities that rely on homelessness grants: California has given out billions of dollars in flexible spending grants in recent years for local governments to put toward reducing homelessness. Mayors of large cities have praised the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, or HHAP, and the flexibility it provides to spend money on as needed in their own communities, whether its standing up new shelters or placing people in interim housing. City leaders have asked Newsom and lawmakers to dedicate permanent funds to the program.

Instead, Newsoms spending plan would cut $260 million from the next round of funding, which was slated to be $1 billion. It does not include funding for HHAP beyond that.

That may not sit well with some, but were not seeing the results I want to see, Newsom said.

San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria, who chairs the Big City Mayors coalition, said Californias homelessness problem will only get worse if the program is cut.

If the state wants to reverse the trend of more people falling into homelessness, cutting off funding for programs that are keeping tens of thousands of people indoors and off the streets isnt the way to do it, Gloria said.

Child care providers: After years of increasing investments in child care for Californias low-wage workers, Newsom proposed freezing subsidies at their current level.

That means about 81,000 state-subsidized child care slots wont be available for working parents as planned by 2026. The number is part of an agreement between the state and child care providers union to reach 200,000 subsidized child care slots.

Newsoms administration estimates the freeze would save $1.4 billion over two years. Right now we dont want to cut programs but we want to hold the line, he said.

Child Care Providers United, the union representing 40,000 workers in child and family care, ratified its first contract with the state in 2021.

We cannot build a stronger economy when our lowest paid workers, including those working irregular hours, dont have somewhere safe to send their children during their shifts, said Yolanda Thomas, a child care provider in Contra Costa County and member of the CCPU negotiating team. The state cannot fix our current budget outlook by making cuts to the safety net or balancing the budget on the backs of working families.

Middle class students: Newsoms budget proposal would slash scholarships for middle class students by $510 million, leaving $100 million in the program. The scholarship is open to undergraduates and students seeking teaching credentials at state universities with family income under $217,000.

Newsom said the program saw infusions of cash in recent years of state surplus. He characterized the cuts as basically level-setting back to where it was. He also expressed disappointment about cutting the scholarship fund, saying he enthusiastically supported its creation as lieutenant governor.

Winners

Taxpayers: Faced with a large deficit, state lawmakers and governors can cut spending, raise revenue, or do some combination of both. As governor, Newsom has strongly resisted general tax increases, and he once again declined to get behind raising taxes on individuals or businesses.

I dont see theres real evidence and need right now to increase general taxes and put more burden on working folks, he said.

Some progressive lawmakers have tried to raise taxes on businesses and wealthy earners, but none of those have gained traction over the governors opposition.

Newsom joked his resistance to tax increases was subject to some random act of God noting he had experienced a number of those crises over his five-plus years in office.

State workers: Despite a massive deficit, state workers managed to get through another year with no furloughs. Newsoms budget proposal also maintains scheduled cost of living adjustments under existing union contracts.

No furloughs, no layoffs. Were not asking for wage cuts, he promised.
DENVER (KDVR)  Winter Park Resort is proposing a slew of projects that it says will enhance and modernize its services on the mountain over the next few years, which has been submitted for public comment through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service.

In this phase of the resorts master development plan, the business is proposing a dedicated, on-mountain learning center at Discovery Park. This will include the development of new aerial and surface lifts, trail grading and ski school facilities, but an environmental analysis of the proposals is not yet submitted. Its expected in spring 2025.

Colorado ski area closing dates for the 2023-24 season

Winter Park is also proposing the construction of a new restaurant on Vasquez Ridge to replace the existing Sundance Chili Hut. The restaurant would feature a 3,000-square-foot deck and provide seated meals for guests.

Other improvements would be to replace the existing Gemini Express chairlift, which connects to the base area, with a 10-passenger gondola, as well as replace the Endeavor, a three-person chairlift, and the Discover, a two-person chairlift, with four-person lifts.

The resort is also proposing the installation of three conveyor lifts adjacent to the top terminal of the proposed Gemini gondola. The Gemini gondola would also require an 8,000-square-foot storage building at the top terminal, in addition to electricity, sanitary sewer, fiber optics, water and natural gas for the facilities.

The resort also wants to expand its snowmaking coverage in the Mary Jane and Winter Park zones. This would mean installing new snowmaking lines or replacing existing lines in about 34,000 feet of trench in the Winter Park development area, and expanding snow coverage by approximately 57 acres on 10 ski trails.

The Mary Jane project would include 31,900 feet of new snowmaking pipeline, three valve blockhouses of various sizes and a new pumphouse on the Whistlestop trail. This would expand snowmaking coverage by approximately 77 acres in the development zone, adding snow coverage to another 10 trails.

Winter Park is also seeking to conduct trail improvements by conducting tree removal and glading in the Mary Jane and Parsenn Bowl areas and removing dead and dying trees in the Jelly Roll Glades area.

The last proposal from the resort is to remove the existing Looking Glass chairlift and expand the ski terrain onto Cooper Creek Summit through a new chairlift (with access roads and utilities). Specifically, Winter Park wants to install a six-person chairlift at the bottom of the Buckaroo ski trail, intending northeast to the top of the Cooper Creek summit.

Eldorado Canyon State Park requiring vehicle reservations some days

Through that lift, the resort would create six new trails ranging from beginner to intermediate levels. This would require Winter Park to install approximately 6,584 feet of snowmaking pipeline along those new trails to cover 21.3 acres of terrain.

Anyone who wants to comment on the project can submit it electronically on the project website. A comment link is in the right-hand column. The comment period is open through June 15.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX31 Denver.
Journalists with WLRN and CBS News Miami clinched top honors for investigative and public service reporting at the annual Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards Thursday.

The Esserman-Knight Journalism Awards, now in their fifth year, were created to highlight excellence in South Florida journalism. WLRN and CBS News Miami  both Miami Herald news partners  were commended for their work.

Two Miami Herald projects also received honorable mentions.

Shakedown City, an investigation into corruption in the City of Miami, uncovered that Mayor Francis Suarez secretly received payments from a developer and juggled 13 side jobs. It was reported by Sarah Blaskey, Joey Flechas, Tess Riski, Jay Weaver and Susan Merriam.





READ MORE: Shakedown City: Investigations, lawsuits and the anatomy of Miamis political scandals

In Warehouses for Children, the Miami Heralds Carol Marbin Miller explored the states long-standing failure to provide adequate care to children with complex medical needs, which has resulted in the tragic and illegal warehousing of fragile children in institutions.

READ MORE: In stinging rebuke, judge orders Florida to stop funneling frail kids into nursing homes

Jim Brady, the vice president of journalism at Knight Foundation, told the Miami Herald that this years winners reflect a wide array of storytelling methods, which is impressive and important given how people follow the news in different ways.







It shows the diversity of storytelling, Brady said. For a long time, these type of awards were primarily won by newspapers.

For Brady, the award-winning reporting demonstrated the caliber of stories that are out in South Florida but remain untold. Thats why Knight Foundation has explored ways to empower local reporters.

Sometimes you dont really realize what reporting means until you dont have it anymore, Brady said. Its incumbent for people... to realize that there are so many other stories that dont get told because of the reduction of journalists in South Florida now.

Heres a look at the rest of the award-winning reporting.

List of winners

 First place ($10,000): WLRN journalists Daniel Rivero and Joshua Ceballos for their work on Unguarded, which exposed how a nonprofit has sold the properties of those under their care to a Miami real estate agent.

 Second place ($5,000): CBS News Miamis Jim DeFede for Warehouse: The Life and Death of Tristin Murphy, a documentary exploring the treatment of the mentally ill in the criminal justice system through the suicide of 37-year-old Tristin Murphy.

 Honorable mention ($1,000): Prism Reports Alexandra Martinez for Digging for the Truth: Concerns Arise at a Tequesta Archaeological Site, which delved into workers health and safety concerns at an ancient Tequesta site.

 Honorable mention ($1,000): Bob Norman and Grace Tillyard, reporters with the Florida Trident, for Sacred Scheme: How Florida Taxpayers Fund A Christian Campaign Aimed At Pregnant Women, a story exposing how taxpayer money for crisis pregnancy centers is going to Christian ministries.

 Special citation: PBS Director Katja Esson for Razing Liberty Square, a documentary focused on how Miamis Liberty City neighborhood is becoming ground zero for climate gentrification.
EAST VILLAGE, Manhattan (PIX11)  Police are searching for a woman after a 75-year-old woman was robbed in the East Village on May 4, according to the NYPD.

The victim was walking near 7th Avenue and Avenue D around 4:09 p.m. when the suspect approached her from behind and snatched her purse, police said.

Alleged stalker who followed woman on subway train from Brooklyn to Queens arrested: NYPD

The victim fell over, injuring her hip in the process, according to authorities. The suspect stole $1,300 in cash from the purse and fled northbound on Avenue D.

Police describe the suspect as a woman around 50 who was last seen wearing a blue jacket, black pants, black shoes and a black facemask.

Submit tips to police by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477), visiting crimestoppers.nypdonline.org, downloading the NYPD Crime Stoppers mobile app, or texting 274637 (CRIMES) then entering TIP577. Spanish-speaking callers are asked to dial 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

Erin Pflaumer is a digital content producer from Long Island who has covered both local and national news since 2018. She joined PIX11 in 2023. See more of her work here.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to PIX11.
A corrections officer accused of assaulting multiple women during probation visits at their homes has now been sentenced on battery charges in Florida.

One of the women accused him of sexually assaulting her more than 100 times and has sued the Florida Department of Corrections.

A judge sentenced Raul Marrero Jr. to two years in prison after he was found guilty of four counts of battery, according to a news release from the Hernando County Sheriffs Office.

In January 2022, a woman reported that Marrero repeatedly groped her and kissed her against her will during the six months he was her probation officer, according to deputies and a lawsuit.

The Department of Corrections began an investigation, and he was reassigned to a position that didnt involve contact with women.

During the investigation, two more women came forward to report similar unwanted contact during visits to their homes, and the investigation resulted in charges being filed against Marrero in December 2022 and January 2023, Hernando County records show.

He was found guilty May 9.

Marreros attorney told McClatchy News his client was facing a maximum of four years in prison on the four charges.

Alongside the criminal proceedings, the first woman to report the incidents is seeking damages in excess of $50,000 from the state agency as part of a civil lawsuit filed in August.

She said Marrero came to her home roughly twice a week for six months for the alleged purpose of in-home inspections, often at odd hours of the night, which was another practice permitted by (the Florida Department of Corrections).

The woman said he sexually assaulted her nearly every time he visited her home and during her required weekly visits to his office.

She said she had terrible anxiety on her way to his office every week because of these ongoing sexual assaults and was afraid to report him out of fear he would say she violated her probation.

In November 2021, she was hospitalized for heart failure, and she reported Marrero came to see her, according to the lawsuit. She said he reached under her hospital gown and touched her inappropriately.

The lawsuit says the Department of Corrections knew about Marreros misconduct, which the agency denies.

McClatchy News reached out to the Florida Department of Corrections for comment on May 10 and did not immediately receive a response.

Hernando County is on the Gulf Coast of Florida, about a 50-mile drive north from downtown Tampa.

If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.

Corrections officer sexually assaulted man and got him hooked on drugs, lawsuit says

Sheriff requests nude photos from inmate in exchange for favorable treatment, feds say

Officer kidnaps man and fatally shoots him, then dumps his body in river, feds say

Deputys selfies at Jan. 6 insurrection got her fired, suit says. Now she gets payout
In late April, officers with the Midland Police Department were dispatched to handle a one-of-a-kind case  a person living inside a grocery store sign.

Officers found a woman residing within the sign of the Family Fare market in Midland, where she had set up flooring, a mini desk, printer, computer, coffee machine, food and clothing. It's unclear how the 34-year-old woman got there in the first place.

"They knocked on the door and she opened the door up and they essentially told her 'Hey, you can't be here,' and the interaction was rather brief. She fully understood," Brennon Warren, a public information officer with the Midland Police Department, said.

A Google street view image of the Family Fare supermarket in Midland, Michigan. Midland police said they found a woman in April who had been living in the sign for the past year.

How the woman was found in the Family Fare sign

On April 23, contractors working on the roof noticed an extension cord coming out of the sign's door and realized someone was inside, according to Warren.

The sign sits on top of the actual roof, he said, estimating that it is roughly 10 to 15 feet long and 8 to 10 feet tall, with a depth of 5 feet. The space is completely enclosed. It has a door that is accessible from the rooftop. The contractors had used an extension ladder to get to the roof.

The unidentified woman was released on the scene and does not face any criminal charges. However, if she were to come back to the store, she could be charged with trespassing. Officers did offer her homeless services resources which she refused, Warren said.

"She left without any further incident," he said.

Never seen anything like it in 20 years

Warren said store staff were unaware that she was living on the roof, but had seen her in the past. The woman told officers she had been living there for about a year.

Warren said in his decade-long tenure he hasn't come across a situation like this. Neither have his colleagues who have been with the department for 20 years, he said.

"We do see some of our homeless population and we provide them with resources, where to find food and things like that. ... Just trying to provide them as much information as we can possibly give them, and even if it's to get a roof over their head for a few nights or a warm meal," he said.

The woman was able to take a handful of her belongings with her in a bag. Family Fare worked with her to get the rest of her property off of the roof so she could arrange to have it picked up.

She left the roof with the contractors' ladder, Warren said.

More: Detroit City Council to start commission to represent renters

SpartanNash statement on Family Fare incident

In a statement, a spokesperson for SpartanNash, the company which operates Family Fare, said it is proud of its associates for responding to the situation with compassion and professionalism.

The statement went on to say: "Ensuring there is ample safe, affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving. Out of respect for privacy for the individual involved, we will not be sharing further comment."

Michigan faces an affordable housing crunch. According to the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the state has a shortage of 188,895 rental homes that are affordable and available for people with extremely low incomes. In other words, there aren't enough rental homes for a family of four with an average income of $28,030. Twenty-seven percent of renter households fall within this category.

Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter: @NushratR.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Woman found living in Family Fare store sign in Michigan
PARIS, May 10 (Xinhua) -- A man shot and seriously injured two police officers in a police station in Paris on Thursday, according to French news channel France Info.

A man, who had been arrested for domestic violence, seized the weapon of an officer and then fired at two officers, France Info said. 
A 34-year-old woman made a home inside a grocery stores rooftop sign for nearly a year, Michigan police said.

She had made the Family Fare markets sign a home over the last year, adding flooring, a computer, printer and coffee maker to the enclosed sign, police in Midland told MLive.

She was discovered in April by contractors, who needed a ladder to reach the location, and was later asked to find a new place to live by police, the Detroit Free Press reported. According to police, there was no access door to the roof, WILX reported.

They knocked on the door and she opened the door up and they essentially told her, Hey, you cant be here, and the interaction was rather brief. She fully understood, Brennon Warren, a public information officer with the Midland Police Department, told the Detroit Free Press.

Police told WEYI the woman was offered housing resources, but she declined.

The store did not press criminal charges against the woman and plan to work with the woman to get her belongings back to her, police told WEYI.

Family Fares parent company, SpartanNash, said in a statement, We are proud of our associates for responding to this situation with the utmost compassion and professionalism. Ensuring there is ample safe, affordable housing continues to be a widespread issue nationwide that our community needs to partner in solving. Out of respect for privacy for the individual involved, we will not be sharing further comment, according to the Midland Daily News.

Midland is about a 130-mile drive northwest of Detroit.

Mom moving car accidentally runs over, kills 2-year-old daughter, Philadelphia cops say

Chihuahua causes truck to crash into pole, Oklahoma cops say. Heres how it happened

Deputys selfies at Jan. 6 insurrection got her fired, suit says. Now she gets payout
Woman Loses 60 Lbs. with New Weight Loss Procedure Thats Less Invasive Than Gastric Bypass

The procedure, called endoscopic ablation, is still in its clinical trial phase

Getty woman measuring her waist -- stock image

A woman says she lost a significant amount of weight after undergoing a minimally-invasive procedure.

In an interview with Good Morning America on Thursday, May 9, Brooke Nelson shared that shes lost 60 pounds since participating in a new clinical trial after weighing in at more than 200 pounds prior.

"The constant just wanting of food has drastically decreased," she told the outlet. "There's still moments where I want a chocolate chip cookie, but there's a lot more moments when I find myself wanting something like greens."

Getty Woman at a clinic with a doctor -- stock image

Dr. Christopher McGowan also spoke with GMA about the procedure, called endoscopic ablation, which reportedly targets ghrelin, also known as the "hunger hormone.

During the procedure, a camera is inserted into a patient's stomach as fluids are administered. This aids in protecting the underlying stomach tissue.

Related: Spider-Man Star Jacob Batalon Reveals What 'Hindered Me' Before 100-Lb. Weight Loss, Says 'Health Is Wealth'

Next, a small device burns the upper lining of the stomach where ghrelin is produced. The hormone is said to transmit messages to a persons brain, signaling that they are hungry. It also inhibits insulin secretion and helps bodies to store fat.

McGowan, founder of True You Weight Loss in Cary, North Carolina, has tried his technique on 10 female patients so far for the clinical trial.

Getty woman weighing herself on a scale -- stock image

"We do have patients who are a year or more beyond their initial procedure, and what we are seeing is that they continue to have a diminishment, decrease in hunger [and] continue to report greater control over eating," the gastroenterology specialist told GMA, adding that trial participants, on average, reduced their overall weight by seven percent.

According to McGowan, the procedure could potentially offer patients the opportunity to see substantial weight loss without the downtime of surgery or associated risks.

"For patients who might be afraid of surgery, this may be more acceptable," he said of endoscopic ablation.

Related: Ozempic Face  and Now Ozempic Breast and Butt? What's Really Going on with These Side Effects?

However, this does not mean that the procedure, though less invasive, is completely free from risks.

"Risks of this technology could include things like ulcers, bleeding, somehow injuring the stomach. These were things we were really careful about," he told GMA.

"In this case, everything was mild and that was the cramping and gas and nausea, things you'd expect when you'd perform a procedure on the stomach. But there were no complications whatsoever."

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.

This is the first time the procedure has been tested on humans.

McGowan will present the results of the trial formally later this month at a medical conference, known as Digestive Disease Week, in Washington, D.C., per ABC News.

Additional testing will need to be conducted before endoscopic ablation can be approved for the general public.



For more People news, make sure to sign up for our newsletter!

Read the original article on People.
Deputies in Carroll County have arrested two women on drug trafficking charges.

Investigators say they were searching a home on Newnan Drive in Villa Rica on Wednesday in connection to at least one suspected overdose at the house.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

While there, they found enough fentanyl and meth to warrant trafficking charges. They also found guns and other evidence related to trafficking fentanyl.

Amanda Williams was arrested and charged with trafficking fentanyl, possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Jennifer Williams was arrested and charged with possession of fentanyl and crossing the guard line with illegal contraband.

TRENDING STORIES:

Deputies did not comment on the value of the drugs they found in the home.

There is no word if there is a relationship between the suspects.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

IN OTHER NEWS:
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH)  A volunteer teacher and youth bible study teacher in Worthington has been arrested for crimes related to child pornography.

According to federal court documents, 49-year-old Andrew Brown was arrested on April 30 after a six-month-long investigation into his alleged distribution, transportation, receipt, and possession of child pornography.

Investigators wrote in an affidavit that in October 2023, an officer was snooping on peer-to-peer filesharing networks and found an IP address was spreading or downloading child pornography. The download was completed with torrenting software, which allows users to share files directly with other peer-to-peer users. Between approximately Oct. 26 and Nov. 1, 2023, the Franklin County Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force initiated an investigation into the same IP address. During that time, the group downloaded files from a torrent offered by the IP, finding that it was hosting over 1,000 images of child sexual abuse.

The users IP address was traced back to a computer in an apartment just south of Worthington. Investigators observed that the same computer continued to download child pornography through April 7, 2024.

On April 29, authorities served a search warrant to the north Columbus address. They entered the apartment and discovered Browns computer was still actively downloading and exchanging pornographic content.

Brown, who investigators said admitted to using torrenting software to download child pornography, was arrested and taken to the Franklin County Sheriffs Office. There, Brown told deputies he described himself as a collector and that he had a lot of content on as many as 21 devices in the residence.

Brown told authorities that he is from Jamaica, where he also accessed child pornography, and was living in the United States on an expired visa.

Law enforcement seized 21 devices, including one that contained hundreds of images and videos depicting adult men sexually assaulting young girls.

On Friday, a preliminary hearing against Brown was transferred to Franklin County Court of Common Pleas, where a future court date has yet to be set. He was originally charged with two counts of pandering sexually oriented material involving a minor in municipal court on May 1 and issued a $500,000 bond.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
I wouldnt give up on Oregon: John Kitzhaber talks with KOIN 6 nearly a decade after resignation

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN)  For a man who spent more than 12 years in the Oregon governors office, John Kitzhaber spends much of his time these days removed from the public spotlight.

Considering the partisanship gripping much of the country, including state politics, that suits him just fine.

If you cant develop those personal relationships and see beyond politics to the person, its very difficult, said Kitzhaber. Back then, we certainly had our political differences but people were able to separate personality from politics. I dont know what the change is. I think 24-hour news, and the internet is part of it.

Former Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber in an exclusive interview with KOIN 6 News, May 2024 (KOIN)

The now 77-year-old much prefers white-water rafting, fly fishing, policy discussions and the occasional speech, instead of the tug-of-war of daily politics that dominated his life for so long.

But when he recently sat down with KOIN 6 for his first extended interview in years, Kitzhaber admitted he does miss at least one part of the job.

The thing I miss the most is convening authority. I think the greatest power a governor has is to bring people of different views together, he said. You have economic issues in Roseburg and St. Helens and in Portland. The root causes may be somewhat different but the impact on people is the same.

Portland City Council passes revised public camping ordinance, effective immediately

He counts the larger success and progress of the Oregon Health Plan, and the environmentally praised Salmon Watersheds Program, as two of his biggest accomplishments while in Salem as a legislator and then governor.

The one-time emergency room doctor also remains passionate about healthcare and says the countrys larger healthcare issues are only getting worse.

I think its absolutely a ticking time bomb, he said.

Its one of the reasons why this past legislative session, he returned to the Oregon State Capitol for the first time in nine years to advocate for a bill that targeted major health insurance and private equity players moving into Oregons backyard.

Theyre buying up physician practices in the state of Oregon, buying up nursing homes and healthcare infrastructure, the former governor said. When you take the control over the practice of medicine, and send it to a corporation in Minneapolis or St. Louis, it doesnt work out well for the individual seeking care.

While he was elected a record four times, in two separate stints, much of the public remembers how Kitzhaber suddenly left office only weeks into a fourth term.

The role of his partner, Cylvia Hayes, and her business dealings and background became a major issue that prompted his resignation in February 2015.

In this Jan. 12, 2015 file photo, Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber kisses Cylvia Hayes, after he is sworn in for an unprecedented fourth term as Governor in Salem, Ore. (AP Photo/Don Ryan)

Ya know, it was a set of circumstances that caught up with me. I dont have any regrets about that, Kitzhaber said during his interview.

Although there were both state and federal investigations, neither led to charges or prosecutions.

As for his relationships with the current generation of state and city leaders?

If they wanted my advice, theyd call me and they havent, he said with a laugh. I keep in touch with a couple of friends in the legislature.

The former governor wouldnt comment on some current political situations, including how current Gov. Tina Kotek has come under scrutiny for the role of her wife in state government.

He also was reluctant to weigh in on how state leaders have handled the pro-Palestine protests in Oregon, including the occupation that heavily vandalized Portland State Universitys library, only saying theyre in a tough spot.

Kitzhaber did stress that despite some perception problems when it comes to its business climate or drug issues, Oregon is set for a strong future.

A few years ago, thats all you see on TV, pieces of Portland burning. Its a tiny part of Portland. Its still a great city with great potential that has great people. Clearly, weve got to do a lot more to address housing and addiction, he said. I wouldnt give up on Oregon ever. I wouldnt give up on Portland. We just have to roll up our sleeves and figure out how to move forward together.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KOIN.com.
Steve Nevey stands above Pier 52 at Seattle's Colman Dock on Wednesday. It's been almost two months since Nevey began his role as assistant secretary of Washington State Ferries on March 16.

Ever since he was two or three years old, Steve Nevey wanted to work on ships. His father was in the British Navy and took Nevey to visit some of the ships he was working on during his childhood in the United Kingdom. When show and tell came around at school, Nevey remembers his peers talking about their pet rabbits and dogs  he was talking about aircraft carriers.

True to his passion, Nevey has spent a lifetime on the water, working for a ferry system in Scotland, major seagoing corporations and the cruise industry before he found himself traveling to Seattle in 2008 with a single suitcase in hand to work with the Holland America Group on a cruise ship. He never left.

What I really enjoyed the most whenever I was working on ships was just being out without any kind of noise around, Nevey said. It's just the ship and the water and you've got a job to do that day, and you do the job and you get the ship where it needs to go.

Today, Nevey is over a month and a half into his role heading the Washington State Ferry system as assistant secretary, succeeding Patty Rubstello, who announced her resignation as assistant secretary in December after serving in the position since 2021.

He is really an elite operator, really understands the ins and outs of marine operations and he's a private sector guy, so he also understands customer service, and honestly, we've not had that at the helm of WSF in recent memory, said 23rd District Rep. Greg Nance, who serves on the House Transportation Committee and is Vice Chair of the Legislatures Maritime Caucus. We've been hiring highway department folks climbing the WSDOT ladder and they're really smart and really gifted, but running a marine fleet like WSF is extremely complicated. It's one of the hardest jobs anywhere.

As Nevey jumps into the role at a moment of high tension. WSFs aging fleet was been reduced to 21 vessels when 19 are required for full service, and WSDOT reported an 86% on-time performance and a completion of 95.6% of scheduled runs in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2024 (October through December 2023), leading riders, ferry community leaders and gubernatorial candidates to view the situation as a crisis.

Nevey has a different take. One of his leading strategies jumping into his new role is to flip the narrative and tell a story of a ferry system firmly on its way to recovery. Planning to work from the bottom up, Nevey is working to empower ferry crews and inform ferry communities to foster productive feedback.

An informational campaign for ferries

The pressure has been on Nevey from the jump. Everyone's got a plan until they get punched in the face, he said, echoing the old Mike Tyson quote.

The thing that keeps me up at night is getting new boats and making sure that program is successful, he said, but also laying out a path for the staff and the crew and all of the employees so we can all get on the same page and know which direction we're headed.

Nevey served as WSFs director of marine operations, but was surprised at the scrutiny that instantly came with his new leadership role. Even more so, hes learned that ferry employees and staff are desperate to come out of a pandemic-era slump and return to the standard of service expectations, as they live in ferry communities themselves and feel pressure from riders too.

The trajectory is good, but obviously things weren't that great not that long ago and so we're clawing our way back out, WSF public information officer Ian Sterling said. There's money to build boats Believe me, we want boats more than anybody I think other than the customers, but it takes time.

In the meantime, Nevey is on a campaign to loop frustrated riders in on WSFs short term successes in clearing barriers to advance them to higher positions and the longer-term fixes still in the making, like securing five hybrid-electric ferries.

I think one of the things I struggle with is the telling our story piece, Nevey said. We're getting suggestions and feedback based on things that I don't think are really true (such as pursuing the quickest avenues to secure new boats or hiring entry-level staff.) We're already doing that, we haven't been very good at telling you we're doing that. I think that's why telling our story is the critical first step to correct the record and make sure people understand the good things that are already going on.

The successes Nevey says are worth noting

We're not in crisis anymore, we're in recovery, and we can really see that in our numbers, Nevey said.

Nevey said that in the first four months of this year, WSF has canceled less than 1% of its sailings, as compared to about 2.5% for the same time period in 2023. From January to April this year, WSF completed 99.1% of its scheduled sailings, as compared to 97.8% in the same time frame a year before.

One sailing being canceled is unacceptable, but we run 50,000 sailings over four months.

Nevey said he often hears suggestions to hire entry-level crew, but that entry-level hiring isnt the problem  its getting workers the credentials they need to graduate on to much-needed positions like captain, chief mate and chief engineer. That work, he says, is already under way.

Washington State Ferries has already hired nearly 600 fleet personnel in the last few years, despite an international maritime worker shortage, Nevey reported.

Now with a new scholarship program that will be kicking off another round of recruitment by the end of the month, WSF will have three state-sponsored scholarship programs, putting them on course to graduate between 24 and 36 deck officers a year where they had previously only graduated five or six, keeping pace with an estimate of 105 such roles that will be vacated by 2027 as captains reach retirement eligibility. Workers have their tuition paid for and can be paid full-time to ride pilotage and take necessary exams.

We have two primary challenges, and crewing is one, and vessels are the other, and one is long term and one is shorter term, Sterling said. I think we've been pretty successful with the crew. We're going to get out of the crewing situation. And now, it's about vessels, and that's a longer term fix.

Nevey also assures that the ferry system is already on the fastest route toward securing five new vessels, bucking calls from conservative legislators and gubernatorial candidates Bob Ferguson and Dave Reichert to pursue diesel-powered ferries, if its the quickest option.

Legislation passed in 2023 allowing WSF to issue a national request for bids for shipbuilders with an option to sign two contracts to build vessels simultaneously would see two new hybrid-electric vessels hit the water in 2028, followed by another three by 2030. If WSF were to pivot all of a sudden toward diesel-powered ships, their current legislation and funding would be thrown overboard, setting the process back a few years. The earliest Nevey would expect to see a diesel boat in the water is 2030.

We're on the best path with these electric boats and people need to trust us that this is the best path and we've looked at all options, Nevey said.

Working from the office, not so much from the water

Feedback from ferry staff and the public is our north star in every action we take and guides our investments to realize those benefits over time, Nevey wrote in a letter to the Seattle Times on May 1. Hes showing up to ferry community events, but says the lines are already open for public feedback and such in-person ferry rides might not be the best use of time.

Ferry riders have great ideas, they have smart suggestions because when you ride a boat, 90 minutes or two hours a day, five days a week, you think a lot about the boat, Nance said. I think we can all do a better job listening to each other, including empowering commuter voices and crew voices when we're setting budgets and when we're setting priorities.

Nevey is occasionally told that he should ride the ferries himself from certain locations for a few days in a row to know what its like, by riders who believe, he thinks, that such in-person experiences would make him and the ferry system try a little bit harder.

I'm doing everything I can with the resources I have every day, Nevey said. And a lot of the people who work for me do take the ferry every day, they do experience the same things that the riders experience, and our employees give us feedback on the stuff that they're hearing.

If we're out (traveling) around the system, that doesn't necessarily mean that we're doing the day job, Sterling said, but added that Nevey is already attending several ferry community events this month, one being a youth career fair in Eagle Harbor on May 21.

WSF already does outreach with social media platforms and rider alerts and currently has many channels for public feedback, Sterling said. People can participate in Ferry Riders Opinion Group (FROG) surveys, attend the two virtual public meetings WSF hosts a year, email communications and reach out to customer service nearly 24 hours a day.

We're working on strategies to get feedback from the customers, Nevey said. We don't have really robust feedback loops right now.

Public meetings used to be held in person within ferry communities, but only a handful of people would show up, Nevey said he was told, and the virtual public meetings had presented a better use of time and money as theyve drawn hundreds to thousands of participants. He said he could see himself doing in-person meetings, such as speaking with groups at a terminal.

Ferry leadership in the past hasnt been the most outward facing, said Walt Elliott, a Kingston resident and former co-chairman of the state's ferry advisory executive committee. He said it almost seemed like a deliberate iron curtain at times. Thats why Elliott appreciated when former head of ferries David Moseley would frequent visits to ferry communities and have conversations with riders and write his phone number and email up on a blackboard.

I think the public meeting should be a public dialogue and it should be with each major (ferry community) group, Elliott said. If you do all at once, it doesn't work because (their interests are) just too diverse.

Nance also believes that a reliable route for transparent and accountable leadership would be to elevate the head of ferries to a cabinet-level position, appointed by the Governor; a policy that Nevey thinks is unnecessary, given his direct communication with Gov. Jay Inslee several times a week. Breaking off from WSDOT could also sever WSF from important resources, he said.

A culture change in progress, scaled up

While some of the successes Nevey is championing will require some patience to see through, he says some of his efforts to reshape the WSF workforce from the bottom up are starting to bear fruit.

When Nevey was director of marine operations, overseeing 1,600 of WSFs 2,000 workers, he worked to empower employees to make decisions themselves that they thought would improve the operating system instead of waiting on a game of phone tag up the management chain.

Nevey published a culture change playbook for the staff and created feedback groups, coupling leadership teams with employees on each route holding many different jobs to gather input.

Now, crew members email Nevey directly with ideas to fix parts of the system, when they never would before, discouraged by the rigidity of a government command and control environment, he said.

We're in the middle of that shift, Nevey said. Feedback I hear is that it's working and people are starting to feel a lot more connected to the company and to each other, and happy crew make for an inspired workforce and happier customers.

Coming into this job, I wanted to say, okay, everything I've done in operations, I want to scale that to the whole system, so that's what I'm working on now, Nevey said.

When Nance takes the ferry, he likes to speak with the crew and hear their inside perspective on the ferry system. Hes noticed that culture flip from the bottom up.

Over the last several years, Ive sensed really a tone shift with crew, Nance said. We lost a little bit of our zest and we lost a little bit of our edge over the last few years, and one thing I've been really, really excited about with Steve's leadership is there's sort of a sense of pride and purpose, in a very short time period, is really coming back to life with the crew.

Editor's note: This story was corrected to reflect the amount of vessels needed to run full service. Data for sailing reliability in the first quarter of 2024 was added.

This article originally appeared on Kitsap Sun: Washington State Ferries leader wants to change culture, build boats
Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy, Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and Zach Shrewsbury, a Marine Corps veteran and community organizer, are all running for a chance to take Sen. Joe Manchin's seat in the November election.

As election day approaches, voters in the Democratic primary will have the choice between three very different candidates  a progressive mayor, a self-described populist and an infamous former coal operator  all vying to take the congressional seat vacated by longtime Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va.

Between the two frontrunners for the race  Wheeling Mayor Glenn Elliott and Zach Shrewsbury, a Marine Corps veteran and community organizer  policy positions are relatively similar, but approaches to their campaigns and how they would hold the office if elected vary.

On the outside of the race with the potential to split the votes is Don Blankenship, former CEO of Massey Energy who spent a year in federal prison for conspiring to violate mine safety laws in the lead up to a 2010 explosion at Upper Big Branch Mine that killed 29 men (more on him later).

The differences between Elliott and Shrewsbury, at least in part, reflect a divide seen on both the state and national levels for the Democratic Party.

Having never held elected office before, Shrewsbury is approaching the race as a political outsider, running in the same strain that Paula Jean Swearingen did in 2018 and again in 2020. Shrewsbury said he wanted to give voters a working class candidate to identify with, criticizing Elliotts political experience and  despite his self-described middle-class upbringing  his alignment with career politicians like Manchin, who has endorsed Elliott in this race.

A lawyer by trade, Elliott served as a congressional staffer in the 1990s for late West Virginia Democratic Senator Robert C. Byrd before being elected as Wheelings mayor in 2016. He said his political experiences make him a better fit for the federal office, and his work at the Senate gives him a step up in knowing how the process works and, in turn, how to work within it.

Background, policy and politics

Both Shrewsbury and Elliott agree, for the most part, on most basic progressive tenets: they want expanded and affordable health care, want to see reproductive rights and freedom for pregnant people, have pledged support for the LGBTQ community, support a transition to renewable energy and want continued and expanded funding for safety net programs known to help the most vulnerable in West Virginia.

Though hes never run for office, Shrewsbury  who has described himself as both a populist and socialist at different times  said he worked on unsuccessful campaigns for Swearingen and former state lawmaker Richard Ojeda, who both challenged the political status quo by attempting to unseat incumbents Manchin in 2018 and Sen. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., in 2020.

With Manchins voluntary retirement from elected office, Shrewsbury said now is the ideal time to attempt to take the high office.

Its such an important seat and I dont want to sit idly by and have it go to the same old, same old as always, Shrewsbury said. This is our one opportunity for a fighter to be in that seat, and that fighter is me.

But on specific policy initiatives, Shrewsburys priorities seem to be more about building awareness through the office to turn the tide on state-level policies while expanding access to federal funds to confront the issues. When asked his biggest priorities for this seat if elected, he listed expanding access to recovery and harm reduction services, supporting unions and fighting back against attacks on abortion access.

In West Virginia, state laws, for the most part, are what prohibit action and progress on those issues as well as disqualify the state from accessing certain federal funding pools, which have grown immensely under President Joe Biden.

For harm reduction, a state law passed in 2021 outlaws the existence of needs-based syringe service programs, handcuffing harm reduction providers from offering the care decades of research shows works best to limit the spread of communicable diseases and prevent fatal overdoses. While more money exists on the federal level than ever before for these services, West Virginia doesnt qualify for many of the grants because of that restrictive law as well as others passed by the Legislature in years both before and after.

On support for unions, Shrewsbury said he would like to see Right-To-Work legislation overturned, which would need to happen on the state level following the passage of the law by the Legislature in 2016.

On abortion, both Shrewsbury and Elliott said they would like to work in Congress to see Roe v. Wade codified, which would undo the state-level law that prohibits abortion with very narrow exceptions.

When asked how holding federal office would accomplish his priorities, Shrewsbury said the title of the office itself can build awareness through the media, and through that awareness, he said, comes education. He also sees the position of senator as being a sort of financial watchdog.

If we can secure federal funding, it trickles down from there. We really have to make sure to put the pressure on the state representatives, Shrewsbury said. We need a fire in that seat, because if federal funding comes here, we need to make sure it doesnt get clogged up and stopped. To do that, you have to ensure you have the right person up top.

He did not, however, provide specifics on how a senator would perform that role, which is difficult to do once the money flows to the states and is under state control.

Elliott took a more traditional tone for federal politics in explaining what his priorities for the office would be, saying hed support legislation to reinstate the child care tax credit, fight against cuts to social security and Medicaid and work on finding a solution to make both those programs more solvent.

Efforts to do so are already underway at the federal level, and while Elliott said he agreed with the policies centered by Shrewsbury, success in enacting them depends largely on state-level support.

Im acutely aware of the issues that are holding our communities back in West Virginia. Ive worked with the Senate and federal officials and I do think our state is missing some opportunities, Elliott said. We need to change the conversation around whats possible here, and to do that we need to work together at every level we can.

Elliott said he disagrees with claims from Shrewsbury and others that he is running as a moderate or a centrist.

A lot of the differences between [Shrewsbury] and myself are stylistic. I dont believe in being so aggressive in my messaging  Im a Democrat who can build a big tent, bring some Republicans over, Elliott said. There is no path for a Democrat to win this seat without bringing people into the fold.

Building a big tent and Novembers uphill battle

Whoever wins Tuesdays primary will have a bigger battle ahead in November, facing off against either Gov. Jim Justice or Rep. Alex Mooney, R-W.Va., both of which are heavily favored to win the seat as Republicans over a Democrat.

Elliott said this is why its crucial to expand the Democratic partys base in West Virginia. According to voter registration figures from the Secretary of States office, the percentage of registered Democrats in West Virginia has dropped by 38% since April 2016 while Republicans have seen a 27% increase. Significantly, theres also been a 15% increase in independent voters over that same time.

We have to reach out to independents and Republicans. I think we can align people along a more inspirational message of hope and whats possible here than many think, Elliott said. There is no path to victory for Democrats by appealing only to those on the left of the party in the fall.

But Shrewsbury believes his populist messaging has higher appeal for many Republicans who previously identified as West Virginia Democrats. In his tours and stops around the state, he said, many Republicans have liked his messaging. Several have vowed to vote for him if he is able to win the Democratic nomination for senate.

I think a more populist, working class message can get through in the general, Shrewsbury said. People respect where Im coming from.

Elliott said hes heard the same from independents and Republicans alike. A potential shadow, however, looms over knowing who could really win the race, as Blankenships presence on the ballot  which he said he sees as a protest against the government  could split votes away from either Shrewsbury or Elliott.

Both candidates said Blankenships only advantage  for better or worse  is name recognition.

For Del. Mike Pushkin, D-Kanawha, who chairs the Democratic Party, Democratic voters in the state are in a much better position than Republicans.

While its been a hard race for the partys nomination, Pushkin said its good to have different kinds of candidates who are able to defend their priorities through policy. On the right, he said, the primary fights have been ugly and mean spirited, tied to divisive social issues that have little bearing on the day-to-day lives of most West Virginians.

The positive side of this is we are giving voters pretty distinct differences. On the Republican side, theyre trying to see who can punch down faster, Pushkin said. No matter who we have on the ballot in November, it will be better than who the Republicans put up.

The protest candidate

Dont be confused: despite his presence on the Democratic ballot, Don Blankenship doesnt consider himself a Democrat.

You found one thing [Blankenship] and I agree on: he is not a Democrat, Pushkin said. Everybody can see through this charade, he is not a Democrat and he will never be a Democrat.

After running for the Senate as a Republican in 2018 and for president as a third party candidate in 2020  both races he overwhelmingly lost  the ex-coal operators latest attempt for office is, according to him, an act of protest.

Im basically running to go against the Democratic Party, against the Republican Party. What Im doing in the election process is what protesters do, Blankenship said. Im objecting and protesting what theyre doing by being on the ballot.

In a bizarre run of campaign ads dropped over the last several weeks, Blankenship has doubled down on messaging from his previous unsuccessful campaigns, aligning himself against the government and telling voters that they should be as well.

When asked why he wants to be part of a government he clearly dislikes, Blankenship said he wants to infiltrate the government to turn its priorities around. Specifics around those priorities, however, remained unclear.

On abortion, Blankenship supports the overturning of Roe v. Wade to give states the choice to legislate the medical decisions.

On climate change, he said he cannot say whether the very sound science on how humans affect the climate is real, but he believes responses that prioritize renewable energy and lower carbon emissions are a hoax.

On support for marginalized communities, he said any protections or benefits for a minority  including anti-discrimination laws  are discriminatory to other classes.

He offered no specifics on any policy positions that he would like to pursue in Congress outside of being contrary to the status quo and, in some way, limiting government spending.

Blankenship said he believes he represents voters in West Virginia who are afraid to speak their minds against the government and the media, a view that has only grown stronger for him in the 14 years since the Upper Big Branch Mine disaster.

On the disaster, he remains steadfast that he holds no responsibility as CEO for the deaths of 29 of his employees, and strongly resented any mention of the event, which  along with efforts to eradicate unionized mining in the states coal operations  is what he is most known for in West Virginia and beyond.

I dont have any feelings of guilt because I didnt do anything, Blankenship said, before entering into a long-winded tirade about government malfeasance, the media and the system he sees himself as fighting against.

Early voting is underway in West Virginia and ends May 11. Election day is Tuesday, May 14. To check your voter registration or find your polling location, visit the Secretary of States website here.

The post WVs Democratic Senate race includes a mayor, a populist and a protester appeared first on West Virginia Watch.
icon

Semafor Signals

Supported by

Microsoft logo

Insights from the South China Morning Post, Chatham House, and Financial Times

Arrow Down

Title icon

The News

Chinese leader Xi Jinping wrapped up his Europe tour with a visit to Budapest, where he hailed his deepening relationship with Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

We have gone through hardships together and defied power politics together amid volatile international situations, Xi wrote in an open letter to Hungary on Thursday, calling the partnership between Budapest and Beijing as mellow and rich as Tokaji wine.

The closeness between Xi and Orban stands in stark contrast to both leaders relationships with the European Union. Xis earlier stop in France was comparatively tense, with French President Emmanuel Macron and EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen pressing him to support Ukraine and change Chinas approach to trade.

icon

SIGNALS

Semafor Signals: Global insights on today's biggest stories.

Chinas partnership with Russia scrutinized during Xi visit

Source icon

Source: South China Morning Post

China and Russia have a no-limits partnership, and Beijing has refrained from condemning Moscow for its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. That has been a point of contention between China and the West, with ties becoming confrontational in recent years, the South China Morning Post noted. Chinese analysts blame the West for worsening ties between Europe and Beijing: Wang Yiwei, director of the Centre for European Union Studies at Renmin University of China, told the SCMP that when they realised economic sanctions could not defeat Russia, they turned to blame China ... it is the West that has pushed Russia closer to China.

Xi aimed to boost Europe ties and show divide over US

Source icon

Source: Chatham House

Xi likely hopes his visit to Europe mitigated some of the damage that has been done to China-Europe ties in recent years, preventing them from fraying further, like they have with the US, wrote Yu Jie, a senior research fellow on China at Chatham House. Xi strategically picked France, Hungary, and Serbia for his tour, she noted: Xis visits will serve to demonstrate division within Europe over the war in Ukraine and US relations. Meanwhile, the trip also shows the extent to which Chinas protracted geopolitical competition with the US has already reduced Beijings choice of European partners and consumers.

Trip was largely unproductive

Source icon

Source: Financial Times

Xi eschewed the opportunity to strengthen ties with Europe, instead choosing to sow divisions, the Financial Times noted. The Chinese leaders trip to Serbia aligned with the 25th anniversary of NATOs bombing of Belgrade, and Xi used the occasion to criticize the alliance. In Hungary, Xi was able to highlight his strong ties with one of the most disruptive members of the EU. Xi seemed to think he could head off the risk of tariff barriers by exploiting Europes faultlines, the FTs editorial board argued. Yet his confidence underestimates the extent to which the majority of EU countries now see China both as a security threat and an economic one, it added.

Semafor Logo
YORK, S.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS)  More than 300 Fort Mill neighbors packed the York County Government Center Thursday evening, and ended up hearing what they had yearned for during an hours-long meeting.

The York County Board of Zoning Appeals voted unanimously to reverse putting Silfab Solar under Light Industrial, citing a lack of clarity in the county code.

The much-anticipated meeting saw people taking up space in the main lobby and both overflow rooms.

Of those residents, 50-plus let the Board of Zoning Appeals know they felt like the wrong determination was made in zoning the solar panel manufacturing company, for an industrial facility off U.S. 21. It was the only item on the agenda.

MORE FROM QUEEN CITY NEWS

SOLAR PANEL PLANT

South Carolina is pretty big isnt it, its got a lot of land, said one Fort Mill neighbor. So why in the world would you put it in our backyard?

Thats how hundreds more feel about the company taking root in their city and for some in their backyard. Many are concerned about the proximity to two under-construction schools on Gold Hill Road.

The countys zoning board members heard arguments about why the company should be rezoned to Heavy Industrial instead of Light Industrial.

York County residents have been arguing against the arrival of Silfab Solar since last summer.

County zoning officials use a nationwide classification system to define zoning codes.

We find that there may not be a distinct-use category that is specifically called solar panel manufacturing, said York County Zoning administrator Rachel Grothe. So the exercise then becomes is it possible that solar panel manufacturing might fall under one of the other listed manufacture uses.

Neighbors say that may be the reason why the zoning was incorrectly determined. They argue the company is using certain harmful chemicals to produce the solar panels  and those chemicals could eventually affect the communitys health. In addition to the schools on the way, there are also several complexes nearby.

This has been my town since birth, said 13-year-old Maria Meyer. Those schools, my best friends, and their siblings should be going there, and out of concern for them and myself, Im within the evacuation zone and its out of my safety. I want to be here.

Weve got 3,334 people online who have signed and said, We dont want this thing here. Its dangerous,' Denise Bach said. And if they were to let this go ahead and proceed, were going to be setting a precedent in this county that every Light Industrial area will end up with a smokestack and dangerous chemicals coming out of there into the air and into the water.

The building Silfab is slated to move into is across from a Ross Dress for Less distribution center under the same zoning.

On the companys website, it states that cell manufacturing is not dangerous, while also touring the tremendous economic impact the site will have on residents, businesses, and public services.

The meeting lasted four hours, and after three, a vote was taken to determine if the board should continue listening to comments.

Members voted to stay.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Queen City News.
An upstate New York nurse has been accused of falsifying vaccine records for more than 100 children across the state.

The New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) issued a $55,000 penalty against Sandra Miceli, a licensed nurse practitioner and registered professional nurse at Surviving Naturally in Monroe County.

Miceli is accused of falsifying immunization records for 116 school-aged children for nearly 550 different scheduled vaccinations.

MORE: Dozens of New York City teachers placed on unpaid leave for using fake coronavirus vaccine cards

Health professionals say that by lying about the vaccination status of dozens of children, Miceli left them exposed to numerous communicable diseases including measles, chickenpox and polio.

"Falsifying school-aged children's vaccine records endangers both the child and their peers, as vaccination is the best protection against preventable disease," NYSDOH Health Commissioner Dr. James McDonald said in a statement this week.

PHOTO: In this screen grab from Google Maps Street View, Surviving Naturally is shown in Webster, New York. (Google Maps Street View)

"Furthermore, this is an example of how the spread of vaccine misinformation undermines the entire system that exists to protect the public's health. The New York State Department of Health will continue to investigate those who falsify vaccine records and use all available enforcement tools against those who have been found to have committed such violations," the statement continued.

Both Miceli and an attorney representing her declined an ABC News request to comment.

Miceli is the owner and operator of Surviving Naturally, a so-called "natural wellness center" in Webster, a suburb of Rochester, according to an investigation by the NYSDOH Bureau of Investigations.

From July 2019 through February 2021, Miceli provided false information to the New York State Immunization Information System (NYSIIS) about 546 vaccinations that never occurred and children who were never vaccinated, according to the health department.

The majority of children that Miceli falsely claimed had been vaccinated live and attend schools in Monroe County and Western New York, but some lived as far away as New York City, according to the NYSDOH.

All of the unvaccinated and under-vaccinated children Miceli claimed were immunized must be fully up-to-date on their required vaccinations or be in the process of receiving the missing vaccinations before returning to school or day care, the NYSDOH said.

MORE: Feds announce massive takedown of fraudulent nursing diploma scheme

In its investigation, the NYSDOH says they learned that Miceli would purchase a small supply of vaccines and pretend to administer doses to children. For one vaccine, she reported that she had administered 30 times the number of doses than she had purchased, according to the NYSDOH.

Miceli allegedly was a longtime opponent of vaccines and vaccine mandates, which she made clear on social media, according to the NYSDOH. On Surviving Naturally's Facebook page, officials say, she posted material claiming vaccines have "unidentified contaminants" that lead to autism, pregnancy miscarriage, cancer, and death.

"In posting anti-vaccination propaganda on social media, Miceli spread dangerous public-health falsehoods and sowed fear about vaccines at the same time that she claimed, as a licensed nurse, to be protecting public health by administering immunizations required for enrollment in schools and day cares," the NYSDOH said in a press release.

Miceli also allegedly expressed her opposition to a New York state bill that eliminated non-medical exemptions from the state's school and day care vaccine requirements. The bill was passed by the state legislature and became law in June 2019.

PHOTO: In this undated stock photo, a young patient receives a vaccine injection from a doctor. (STOCK PHOTO/Getty Images)

Miceli was fined $55,000 by the New York State Department of Health for her alleged actions, $30,000 of which she was ordered to pay within 10 days of the stipulation and order going into effect. The remainder of the penalty will be suspended as long as Miceli is compliant with the terms set forth in the order, according to the NYSDOH. Those terms include refraining from facilitating, aiding, abetting, advising, recommending, or conspiring in any scheme to misrepresent vaccination status, the NYSDOH says.

Additionally, Miceli and other staff of Surviving Naturally are "permanently excluded" from the NYSIIS, and are barred from administering any vaccine that is required to be reported to the NYSIIS, the NYSDOH says.

116 kids left vulnerable to measles, polio after nurse falsified vaccine records originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko lays flowers during a commemorative event in Minsk, Belarus, on May 9, 2024. Belarus hosted a series of commemorative events on Thursday, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Henadz Zhikov/Xinhua)

MINSK, May 9 (Xinhua) -- Belarus hosted a series of commemorative events on Thursday, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of World War II.

Representatives from all walks of life in Belarus gathered at the Victory Square in Minsk and laid flowers at the Victory Monument.

Belarusian President Aleksandr Lukashenko attended the rally after returning from Moscow where he watched the military parade on Red Square in the morning.

He said the Belarusian people will always remember the dead, and will never forget the names of the martyrs and the glory of their defenders and liberators.

Lukashenko sent congratulatory messages to the leaders and people of some former Soviet republics, and called on the Ukrainian people to commemorate a glorious chapter of their common history and resist attempts to rewrite the results of the Great Patriotic War.

Commemorative activities were also held in other Belarusian cities.

Nazi Germany officially signed the act of unconditional surrender in a suburb of Berlin on the night of May 8, 1945, Berlin time, which was the early hours of May 9 Moscow time. The Soviet Union declared May 9 "Victory Day in the Great Patriotic War." Today, Victory Day is one of the most important holidays in Russia and Belarus. 

People lay flowers during a commemorative event in Minsk, Belarus, on May 9, 2024. Belarus hosted a series of commemorative events on Thursday, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Henadz Zhikov/Xinhua)

Servicemen take part in a parade during a commemorative event in Minsk, Belarus, on May 9, 2024. Belarus hosted a series of commemorative events on Thursday, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Henadz Zhikov/Xinhua)

A commemorative event is held at the Victory Square in Minsk, Belarus, on May 9, 2024. Belarus hosted a series of commemorative events on Thursday, dedicated to the 79th anniversary of the Victory of the Soviet Union in the Eastern Front of World War II. (Photo by Henadz Zhikov/Xinhua)
(Bloomberg) -- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Russia started a new offensive around his countrys second-biggest city as Kremlin forces moved to breach the border in the northeast.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Artillery has so far been able to repel the assault in the Kharkiv region, Zelenskiy said during a meeting with Slovak President Zuzana Caputova in Kyiv on Friday. Russia may pull more reserves to support the offensive and Ukraines armed forces are ready to resist them, he said.

The latest assault comes almost two months after Vladimir Putin announced a plan to create a buffer zone to shield Russian border regions from intensifying Kyivs attacks that had wreaked havoc with fuel, gas and power facilities inside his country.

The Kremlin has also been stepping up attacks over the past weeks to probe for weakness in Ukraines defenses before bulk of the US military aid starts to arrive at the frontline. In addition, Ukraine expects to receive the first US-made F-16 fighter jets in June to July, a senior military official said, declining to be identified. Kharkiv, less than an hours drive from the Russian border, became a target of escalated bombardment in what Ukrainian and Western officials said was an attempt to force the evacuation of civilians.

Russia has begun a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this direction, Interfax-Ukraine reported Zelenskiy as saying in remarks confirmed by his press service.

Putins troops, supported by armored vehicles, attempted an assault from Russia near the town of Vovchansk in the early hours of Friday, the Defense Ministry in Kyiv said on Facebook. The attack, successfully repelled by Ukrainian forces, followed a night of heavy artillery shelling and bombing, the ministry said, adding that reinforcements were being sent to the area.

The Russian Defense Ministry so far hasnt publicly commented on the new offensive. The pro-Moscow military blogger Rybar, who has almost 1.2 million subscribers on Telegram, described the events as combat reconnaissance rather than a large-scale offensive.

At least one civilian was killed and several wounded, regional Governor Oleh Synehubov said on Telegram. Ukrainian troops are holding their ground and the Russian land force assault doesnt pose an immediate threat to Kharkiv, he said.

Local authorities have begun evacuating residents from Vovchansk and nearby villages, Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of the towns military administration, told Hromadske Radio.

The attack near Vovchansk, situated about five kilometers (three miles) from the frontier with Russia, aims to cut into territory which Ukraine liberated in the first year of the war.

While the area has suffered regular bombardment, the ground assault may signal that Russia is seeking to take back the territory which it temporarily occupied in the early phase of the invasion.

--With assistance from Olesia Safronova and Reinie Booysen.

(Updates to add details on F-16s in fourth paragraph)

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I, the Archbishop of Constantinople and the most senior hierarch of the Eastern Orthodox Church, confirmed his participation in the upcoming peace summit in Switzerland, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 10.

The summit will be held in Switzerland on June 15-16 and will focus on peace in Ukraine under the terms of Zelensky's 10-point peace formula, a plan that calls for a complete withdrawal of Russian troops from occupied Ukrainian lands.

Some 160 national delegations were invited to the peace summit, and numerous countries have confirmed their participation. Pope Francis was also invited to attend the summit.

"We value the Ecumenical Patriarchate's significant contribution to restoring just peace in our country," Zelensky wrote on the social media platform X after a phone call with the patriarch.

The president met Bartholomew during the former's visit to Turkey in July 2023 to discuss Ukraine's peace formula and the efforts to bring back Ukrainian children abducted by Russia.

Orthodox Christianity is Ukraine's dominant religion, with 72% of the population following it as of 2022. The autocephalous (autonomous) Orthodox Church of Ukraine and the Moscow Patriarchate's Ukrainian Orthodox Church are the country's two main churches.

Read also: Zelensky: Russia planning to disrupt global peace summit in Switzerland

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Zelensky: Heavy fighting ongoing along front line, more troops will be sent to Kharkiv sector

Heavy fighting with Russian troops is ongoing along the entire front line, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 10 after listening to Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi's report.

Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported earlier in the day that Russian forces launched an attempt to break through in Kharkiv Oblast. Zelensky later confirmed that Russia was carrying out new offensive operations in the area.

Following claims in the media that Russian troops captured several villages in Kharkiv Oblast as they attempt to push toward Vovchansk, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that hostilities are ongoing in border areas but that no ground was lost at that moment.

"Russian troops attempted to expand operations against Ukraine. We understand the size of the (Russia's) forces and see their plan," Zelensky said in his evening address.

Zelensky and Syrskyi reportedly discussed strengthening the positions of the Ukrainian military in Kharkiv Oblast, as well as Chasiv Yar in Donetsk Oblast.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

The Ukrainian army struck back at Russian forces, the president said. Syrskyi said that decisions were taken that "will give more opportunities to our soldiers," according to Zelensky.

"We are sending more troops to the Kharkiv sector. Both along our state border and along the entire front line, we will invariably destroy (Russian forces) in such a way as to disrupt any Russian offensive intentions," the president added.

Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said that the uptick in Russia's activity at Kharkiv Oblast's border is part of a psychological operation aimed at pulling Ukrainian troops away from "hot" areas in the east.

Voloshyn reported that Russian forces are also unsuccessfully trying to break through in Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, namely near the Serebryanskyi forest and in the Lyman area.

Read also: Media: Fights ongoing near several Kharkiv Oblast villages, Russia storming Pletenivka

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelensky met Slovak President Zuzana Caputova during the latter's visit to Kyiv on May 10.

Zelensky thanked Caputova "for her determination and moral leadership shown in the face of the full-scale Russian invasion, as well as for supporting the Ukrainian peace formula," the Presidential Office said.

Slovakia's pro-Western head of state has been at odds with the Ukraine-skeptic Slovak government of Prime Minister Robert Fico. Caputova will conclude her term in June when she will be replaced by Fico's ally, President-elect Peter Pellegrini.

"We appreciate that thanks to cooperation, relations between our states have become the most meaningful since 1991," Zelensky said when meeting Caputova.

"First of all, it's defense cooperation with Slovakia and political interaction, especially at the level of the European Union."

Subscribe to Ukraine Daily newsletter

News from Ukraine in your inbox

Subscribe

The two leaders discussed the situation at the front and Russia's plans. During their joint press briefing, Zelensky announced that Moscow launched new offensive operations in northeastern Kharkiv Oblast.

Caputova noted that from the first day of Russia's full-scale war, Slovakia sheltered Ukrainian refugees and was one of the first countries to provide military assistance to Kyiv.

"This tragedy must be stopped. The entire civilized world must be involved. Only a just peace is acceptable," Caputova said.

Bratislava provided several key capabilities to Ukraine in the first two years of the full-scale war, including Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets. The country's foreign policy took a turn after Fico, a vocal critic of military aid to Ukraine, assumed office as the prime minister in the autumn of 2023.

Read also: Zelensky: Russia launches new offensive in Kharkiv Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
President Volodymyr Zelensky announced on May 10 that Russian forces had begun a new offensive operation, targeting Kharkiv Oblast.

"Russia began a new wave of offensive actions in this (Kharkiv's) direction. Ukraine met them (Russian forces) there with our troops, brigades, and artillery," Zelensky said during the press briefing with Slovak President Zuzana Caputova in Kyiv.

Moscow recently intensified attacks against Kharkiv amid reports that Russia might plan to attack Kharkiv as part of a wider offensive in the coming months.

The Defense Ministry earlier in the day reported that the Russian military attempted a breakthrough of Ukraine's line of defense in Kharkiv Oblast.

Zelensky said that Russian troops could mobilize assault units further in the region. The president added that the Ukrainian command had known about a potential offensive in this direction and had been preparing.

"Now, there is a fierce battle going on in this (Kharkiv's) direction," Zelensky said.

Subscribe to newsletter

War Notes

Subscribe

As of 1:30 p.m. local time, at least two people were killed, and five were injured amid intense Russian attacks.

Russian forces attempted to break through Ukrainian defense lines at around 5 a.m. local time, according to the Defense Ministry.

The Russian attack has been held off, but the battles of varying intensity have continued, as the ministry's statement read.

Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said earlier the attack "does not pose a threat" to the regional center of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city.

Russian forces failed to take Kharkiv in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion despite the fact the city lies less than 30 kilometers from the Russian border.

Read also: Defense Ministry: Russian forces attempt breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast

Weve been working hard to bring you independent, locally-sourced news from Ukraine. Consider supporting the Kyiv Independent.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky dismissed the head of the the agency responsible for his protection after two of its officers were detained over an alleged assassination plot against him.

The sacking of State Guard Service (UDO) chief Serhii Rud was revealed in a decree published on the presidential website. No reason for the dismissal was given.

According to Ukrainian state media Ukrinform, Rud was appointed to be Zelenskys top bodyguard in October 2019. A replacement is yet to be named.

The UDO is tasked with ensuring the security of Ukraines president and senior state officials, as well as the protection of administrative buildings.

Earlier this week it emerged that Ukraine had detained two security officials allegedly involved in a Russian plot to assassinate Zelensky.

Two colonels in the UDO were accused of carrying out subversive activities against Ukraine in exchange for financial compensation, Ukraines Prosecutor Generals office said Tuesday.

Both colonels were charged with treason; one was also charged with preparing a terrorist act.

Kyivs state security service (SBU) said it had foiled the plans to assassinate Zelensky and other senior Ukrainian officials, including the head of the SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, and the head of the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine, Kyrylo Budanov.

The prosecutors office said one of the suspects received two drones and ammunition from Russias state security service (FSB), which they intended to transfer to another accomplice to carry out an explosion.

Zelensky has reportedly faced several attempts on his life since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Aside from assassination plots, Zelensky has experienced a number of close shaves during his many visits to the front lines and Ukrainian cities under Russian bombardment.

For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
Zelenskyy and fortifications in Kharkiv Oblast. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has reported that Ukraine will deploy additional forces to Kharkiv fronts following intensified Russian activity on the border with Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: Zelenskyys address on 10 May 2024

Quote: "Kharkiv Oblast is the main focus. Today [10 May  ed.], Russian troops tried to expand operations against Ukraine. We are aware of the size of the invaders' forces and see their plan. Our soldiers, our artillery, our drones are retaliating against the invaders. I am grateful to each of our soldiers, each sergeant, each officer who are defending our positions in the best way possible.

We are adding more troops to Kharkiv fronts. Both along our state border and along the entire frontline, we will invariably destroy the invaders to disrupt any Russian offensive intentions."

Details: The Ukrainian president said that he had been briefed by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi both in the morning and in the evening.

He is also in constant contact with the Defence Minister: "We are providing everything necessary to protect our positions."

Zelenskyy stressed that it is important for partners to support the Armed Forces and Ukraine's resilience with timely supplies: "The package that really helps is the weapons brought to Ukraine, not just the announcement of the package. I thank every leader who perceives the situation in this way."

Background:

Support UP or become our patron!
During a briefing with Slovak President Caputova, President Zelenskyy confirmed that Russian troops had launched a new wave of offensive actions in Kharkiv Oblast.

Source: a Suspilne correspondent, citing Zelenskyy's words

Quote from Zelenskyy: "Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery. It is worth noting that they can increase and bring in more forces on this front, but our military and our command knew about this and prepared their forces to meet the enemy with fire. Now, there is a fierce battle on this front; we met them with fire."

Details: The president also said that a fierce artillery battle is currently underway. Zelenskyy added that Russia may increase and deploy additional forces on this front.

Background:

On 10 May, Oleh Syniehubov, Head of Kharkiv Oblast Military Administration, said that Russian forces had intensified their activities in Kharkiv Oblast and that there were battles going on.

The Deep State project reported that the intensification began with dense bombardment of the border settlements in Kharkiv Oblast with various means of fire. Currently, the bombardment continues, particularly near Vovchansk. Electronic warfare systems and UAVs are also actively used.

Tamaz Gambarashvili, Head of Vovchansk City Military Administration, said that the population is being evacuated from the city of Vovchansk and surrounding settlements in Kharkiv Oblast. The authorities, police and volunteers are working together to help people leave.

Support UP or become our patron!
Zelenskyy. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been informed by Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi that heavy fighting is taking place along the entire frontline, especially on the Kharkiv front and Pokrovsk front, along with other fronts in Donetsk Oblast.

Source: Zelenskyy on social media

Quote: "Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has just delivered a report.

There are heavy battles along the entire front line. Special attention is being paid to the Kharkiv front, Pokrovsk front, and other fronts in Donetsk Oblast.

We also discussed defensive actions and strengthening our positions in Kharkiv Oblast. A special focus was on Chasiv Yar."

Details: Zelenskyy said that the Commander-in-Chief had reported on solutions that would provide more opportunities for Ukrainian soldiers.

Background:

Support UP or become our patron!
Minister of Justice Denys Maliuska believes that President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy will not lose his legitimacy after his five-year term expires on 21 May 2024, and his powers will continue until the next head of state is elected.

Source: Denys Maliuska in an interview with BBC News Ukrainian

Quote: "No, he will not lose his legitimacy... The president's powers last until the next one is elected.

But many of the constitutional provisions are formulated in such a way that those who want to find something to complain about or build a conspiracy theory on something will find it.

Therefore, we should expect a lot of noise and shouting, especially based on the fact that the authors of the Constitution had little belief that a full-scale war involving Ukraine would become a reality and therefore behaved rather clumsily with regard to the relevant constitutional provisions.

Not just regarding terms of office, there are many other constitutional provisions relating to wartime that are not perfectly formulated, to put it mildly. This, of course, gives rise to various "conspiracy theories". One example is when someone posts something somewhere on social media, possibly something that is being spread by Russia that, for example, Ukraine has not declared a state of war."

Details: Asked whether it would be more appropriate to appeal to the body that interprets the Constitution, the Constitutional Court, to put the question of the president's legitimacy to rest, Maliuska said that in his opinion, it was too late to do so, and could even be harmful given the current situation.

Quote: "To be honest, this is definitely beyond my authority. I am not someone who can apply to the Constitutional Court.

Moreover, it is probably too late to do so now, because such an appeal would mean there are questions and doubts that are well-founded, and we need the authority of the Constitutional Court to resolve this situation.

Given the communication and security situation in the country, it would be a huge mistake to officially and publicly question the legitimacy of the president now, so I think it makes no sense to appeal to the Constitutional Court at this time. Someday, somewhere, it might be possible, but again, not at this stage."

Details: When asked if all the presidential decrees and documents from 21 May would be fully effective, the minister replied: "Absolutely. No president has ever worked from day to day, as the Constitution stipulates. The same applies to the parliament."

Support UP or become our patron!
VALLETTA, May 10 (Xinhua) -- Malta's Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne on Friday resigned after prosecutors filed fraud charges against him related to a deal that privatised state hospitals.

Fearne resigned from his positions as deputy prime minister and minister for reforms, and announced he was withdrawing his nomination for European Commissioner.

"I thank you for the opportunity to serve my country. It has been the greatest honor of my life," Fearne told Prime Minister Robert Abela in his letter of resignation, which he published.

However, in his reply to Fearne's resignation letter the prime minister asked him to reconsider his decision. 
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that, at present, not all of Ukraine's partners are promptly fulfilling agreements on arms supplies.

Source: Zelenskyy during a press conference with Slovak President Zuzana Caputova in Kyiv, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy said he had briefed the Slovak president on Russia's latest offensive in the east and Ukraine's arms needs to thwart what the Russians are trying to do.

"Not all of our partners are fulfilling the agreements promptly. We need the utmost focus from our friends, friends of Ukraine, to galvanise the supplies," Zelenskyy said.

"We are grateful to every leader who helps us in this regard," the president added.

Zelenskyy did not specify the partners who are failing to fulfil the agreements.

Background:

Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova paid a farewell visit to Kyiv on Friday (10 May) as her term in office comes to an end.

Meanwhile, the United States plans to announce new batches of military aid to Ukraine in the coming weeks.

Support UP or become our patron!
Zelenskyy and the president of Argentina. Photo: Office of the President of Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has invited Javier Milei, President of Argentina, to join the Peace Summit to be held in Switzerland in June.

Source: Zelenskyy on X

Quote: "As part of our regular dialogue, I spoke with the Argentinian President.

I appreciate Argentina's support for the Peace Formula. Because it is important that the voice of Latin America be heard at our Peace Summit in Switzerland, I invited President Milei to attend it."

Details: However, the Ukrainian president did not say whether the Argentine leader had accepted the invitation.

The presidents also discussed bilateral relations. Zelenskyy said Ukraine is interested in their development.

The Ukrainian president said that the country's delegation would visit Argentina in May: "I anticipate that this visit will result in tangible outcomes and benefits for both of our countries."

Previously: Earlier, Zelenskyy said that heads of state and government from all over the world were invited to the Peace Summit in Switzerland on 15-16 June. Russia was not invited to the event.

Support UP or become our patron!
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has responded to the scepticism expressed by Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico about raising funds for ammunition for Ukraine amid the Fico governments reluctance to provide military support to Kyiv.

Source: Zelenskyy at a joint press conference with Slovak President Zuzana Caputova in Kyiv, as reported by European Pravda

Details: Zelenskyy was asked to comment on the Slovak prime minister's disdain for the Slovak fundraising of over 4 million for purchasing ammunition for Ukraine and what he thought of the position of some Slovak politicians who believe that military support for Ukraine only prolongs the war.

First of all, Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to the citizens of Slovakia who, "despite everything and everyone", have been supporting Ukrainians since the beginning of the war.

The president said scepticism about supporting Ukraine exists "until the war comes to your home".

"I hope that people in Slovakia, those who still have this scepticism about Putin's plans, will never see what Ukrainians have seen. I hope the war does not come to their territory," the president said.

Zelenskyy added that Ukraine will become weaker if it is not helped, and "Putin will pursue the complete destruction of our [Ukrainian] state".

"The complete occupation of our state means that he [Putin] will be on the borders of your state," Zelenskyy said, responding to a Slovak journalist.

"If Russia is on your border  whether your people want it or not  missiles will fly, of course, because this is a war... It is essential for some sceptical people to understand that today their children go to school, and I think it is much better that their children are alive and do not go to school in the basement," the president added.

Background:

Earlier, leading Ukrainian figures thanked the people of Slovakia who raised millions of euros to purchase shells for Ukraine.

Slovakian President Zuzana Caputova paid a farewell visit to Kyiv on Friday (10 May) as her term in office comes to an end.

Support UP or become our patron!
(Bloomberg) -- A Zimbabwe politicians son was arrested on charges of illegally possessing a StarLink terminal, a sign of the risks in countries where the SpaceX technology isnt licensed.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Neville Mutsvangwa, the son of of womens affairs and community development minister Monica Mutsvangwa, appeared in a Harare court on Friday on charges of violating the postal and telecommunications act, the National Prosecuting Authority of Zimbabwe said in a social media post.

StarLink devices are popular in Zimbabwe as part of a global street market trade that has made them available even in jurisdictions where they arent licensed. Zimbabwe asked SpaceX in April to cut off all terminals accessing its service and urged StarLink to submit a formal application to operate in the country.

On street markets in Zimbabwe, the terminals sell for between $1,000 and $1,250.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, Nevilles father, is the Zimbabwean ruling partys spokesman. He has served as an adviser and cabinet minister to President Emmerson Mnangagwa. A bail hearing for his son was set for Monday.

Read more: StarLink Halts Internet Service to Zimbabwe Pending Licensing

Elon Musks company warned several African nations in April that its satellite internet will be shut down in area where it doesnt have an operating license. A Bloomberg News investigation previously revealed the extent to which Musks satellites are being used in countries where its illegal to operate, including in territories ruled by repressive regimes.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
How Zoo Knoxvilles last elephant will be honored, and are more elephants coming?

Tonka was one of the most beloved animals ever at Zoo Knoxville. The 46-year-old elephant lived at the zoo for 43 years and was its last remaining elephant. Tonka was euthanized May 8 and leaves a legacy that will not be forgotten.

In perhaps what is the most powerful remembrance possible, his memory will live on with the generations of Knoxvillians who are sharing their stories of the ways he touched them, Tina Rolen, a Zoo Knoxville spokesperson, told Knox News in an email.

Tributes to Tonka were shared on social media after Zoo Knoxville announced his death May 9.

We are awed and humbled at the outpouring of sympathy from our community, Rolen said, noting the support has been a great comfort for the grieving zookeepers and staff.

How Tonka will remain a part of Zoo Knoxville

Tonka was cared for by a team from the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. Experts performed a necropsy to help better understand and advance the care of elephants.

Tonka lived at Zoo Knoxville for four decades until his death this week, and was the zoo's last remaining elephant.

Some of Tonka's remains have been interred on Zoo Knoxville grounds and some bone and tissue were sent to the veterinary college for post-mortem pathology and study, Rolen said. The rest of Tonkas remains will be dissolved.

At all times, his remains will be treated with respect and dignity, Rolen added.

Will Zoo Knoxville get more elephants?

Tonka was the last elephant at Zoo Knoxville.

With some modifications, the Stokely African Elephant Preserve at the zoo will become the home of a new herd of Southern white rhinoceroses, Rolen said. They will join Dolly, the white African rhino at the zoo.

Why did Tonka die?

Tonkas health rapidly declined in the days before he died, and his care team made the decision to transition him to hospice care.

It was our responsibility to ensure he left this world with grace and dignity, which is why he was humanely euthanized in a quiet barn with his care team by his side, Rolen said.

His veterinary team had been managing chronic conditions common in older elephants. He suddenly developed acute pain and swelling in his front leg, which was treated with antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and pain medication. But once all treatment options had been performed, hospice care became the best option for the aging and ailing elephant.

The initial plan had been to move Tonka to the Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee. However, his health declined before his barn was completed at the sanctuary in Hohenwald.

Tonka would have joined Edie, one of two African elephants previously at Zoo Knoxville that were moved to the sanctuary in 2023. Jana, the other elephant moved there from Zoo Knoxville, was euthanized at the sanctuary in October.

Devarrick Turner is a trending news reporter. Email devarrick.turner@knoxnews.com. On X, formerly known as Twitter @dturner1208.

Support strong local journalism by subscribing at knoxnews.com/subscribe.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Tonka, Zoo Knoxvilles last elephant, dies
By Renju Jose

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia announced on Friday that it would hold a parliamentary inquiry to look into the negative impacts of social media platforms, saying they have significant reach and control over what Australians see online, with almost no scrutiny.

The government has criticised social media platforms for not being quick enough to remove violent posts and seeks more oversight over content posted on Meta's Facebook, ByteDance's TikTok and Elon Musk-owned X.

"Across a range of issues, whether it be the issue of domestic violence, whether it be the radicalisation of our young people, across a range of areas, something that keeps popping up over and over again is the role of social media," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters.

"(They) can be very positive but also can have a negative influence which is there."

Albanese's Labor government is already in a legal fight with Musk's X over a regulatory order asking the platform to take down videos of the stabbing attack on an Assyrian church bishop in Sydney last month.

X said it has blocked the posts for Australian users, but Australia's e-Safety Commissioner says the content should be taken down for all users since it shows explicit violence. Musk has posted memes criticising Albanese, describing the government's decision as censorship.

The joint parliamentary select committee will also check Meta's decision to withdraw from paying for news in Australia.

Meta declined to comment on the inquiry.

Communications Minister Michelle Rowland said Parliament needed to understand how social media companies "dial up and down the content that supports healthy democracies, as well as the anti-social content that undermines public safety."

"This inquiry will provide opportunity and resources for parliamentarians to closely scrutinise these companies and make recommendations on how we can make these platforms accountable for their decisions," Rowland said.

The government said it was still determining the terms and scope of the inquiry and did not specify who it would ask to testify. Some Australian parliamentary inquiries have powers to summon individuals to hearings.

(Reporting by Renju Jose in Sydney; Editing by Tom Hogue)
Bird wants to return to Appleton and offers to fix persistent scooter parking problems

A Bird scooter leans against a building in the 200 block of East College Avenue in Appleton.

APPLETON  The company behind Bird electric scooters is trying to find a way back into Appleton's good graces after the city stopped negotiations with the business.

Adam Davis, principal government partnership manager for Bird, appeared before Appleton's Municipal Services Committee earlier this week with a renewed pledge to find ways to resolve the city's concerns over safety and the haphazard parking of the scooters in rights of way and on private property.

"We are committed to providing solutions in the hope of being able to continue a partnership in the city of Appleton," Davis said, later acknowledging, "We haven't gotten it right every time."

The solutions, he said, include "the most advanced parking technologies that are out there, which we have and we can showcase to the city."

Davis said Bird has partnered with Google Street View on a geofencing system that can determine, within centimeters, where a scooter can be parked to end a ride. Should the scooter be left in an inappropriate place, the Bird app would not end the ride and would continue to charge the customer.

In cities like Reno, Nevada, the system has proved successful, he said.

Bird's promise receives lukewarm response

Davis' plea received mixed reactions from elected officials.

Common Council members Katie Van Zeeland and Denise Fenton said they were interested in learning more about Bird's capabilities and asked Davis to provide additional information for consideration.

Sheri Hartzheim

However, council member Sheri Hartzheim said she was ready to cut ties with Bird. While geofencing might help with the parking problems, she said it doesn't resolve other issues, such as intoxicated riders, injury crashes and late payments from Bird.

"How are we to trust that this is going to continue to be something that we don't, as a city, have to worry about, when it's really supposed to be a free service?" Hartzheim said. "It's not working out that way for us. I mean, we're even spending all this time discussing it."

Why did Appleton stop negotiations with Bird?

Bird is an app-based dockless scooter sharing program touted as an eco-friendly alternative to cars. Customers locate the stand-up, battery-powered scooters through the app, rent them by the minute and leave them at their destination point. Riders must be age 18 or older.

Bird deployed its scooters in Appleton in 2021, 2022 and 2023 after signing a series of one-year contracts with the city. Last year, Appleton received 20 cents for every ride to recoup its administrative, educational and enforcement expenses associated with the program. In the first two years, Bird paid the city 10 cents a ride.

Ahead of the 2024 season, Public Works Director Danielle Block broke off negotiations with Bird because the company had filed for bankruptcy protection, had failed to timely pay fees owed to Appleton, hadn't fulfilled its reporting obligations for the 2023 season and hadn't developed a solution to the persistent parking problems.

Bird since has emerged from bankruptcy proceedings under a newly organized private parent company and has paid its 2023 fees, but that wasn't enough to restart negotiations, Block said, and members of the Municipal Services Committee concurred.

That stance was relayed to Bird, which prompted the appearance and plea by Davis.

Bird ridership in Appleton is 'extravagant'

For the six months from May 2023 to October 2023, Bird reported 38,183 rides in Appleton totaling 77,531 miles, according to a review by The Post-Crescent.

That computes to a monthly average of 6,364 rides and 12,922 miles.

"The stats of ridership in Appleton are extravagant compared to other cities of this size," Davis said.

The number of issues and complaints reported during the period totaled 136, an average of 23 a month. Most of them were categorized as "bad parking" or "damaged."

Neenah and Green Bay are among the cities that have welcomed back Bird scooters this year.

Contact Duke Behnke at 920-993-7176 or dbehnke@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DukeBehnke.

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Bird tells Appleton it can fix persistent scooter parking problems
A large white rocket lifts off during the day with mountains visible behind it.

China launched its first Long March 6C rocket, helping the nation further its goal of launching 100 orbital missions this year.

The 131-foot (43-meter) Long March 6C rocket took off from the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in China's mountainous Shanxi province at 11:21 EDT on Monday, May 6 (0321 on May 7). The two-stage, single core Long March 6C is designed to launch small and medium-sized satellites to both low Earth and sun-synchronous orbits. Payload sizes vary depending on desired orbit, but range from 6 to 10 tons.

The rocket carried four satellites on its maiden voyage, SpaceNews reported. Two of them are synthetic aperture radar, while the other two are optical Earth observation platforms.

Related: China to debut new Long March rockets in 2024

a large white rocket lifts off during the day with mountains visible behind it

The Long March 6C uses a kerosene-derived fuel known as RP-1 and liquid oxygen propellant, making it more environmentally-friendly than previous generations of Long March rockets.

RELATED STORIES:

 China launches Chang'e 6 sample-return mission to moon's far side (video)

 China putting finishing touches on seaside spaceport for commercial launches (video)

 Chinese company targets 2025 for 1st launch of powerful new rocket

The Long March 6C can accommodate a variety of payload faring sizes, making it adaptable for different mission requirements.

The rocket will help China meet the growing demand from its burgeoning commercial space industry for vehicles capable of launching small and medium-sized satellites to sun-synchronous orbits, according to China Daily.

The Long March 6C was China's 20th launch of the year, coming on the heels of the launch of the Chang'e 6 lunar far side sample return mission. The nation aims to launch 100 mission this year, with roughly one third of them slated to be commercial missions.
As TikTok kicked off its high-stakes court fight with the government this week, it unexpectedly lost one of its few remaining allies in Washington.

NetChoice  a Washington-based tech lobbying group that has counted TikTok as a member since 2019  abruptly kicked the social media giant off of its membership rolls this week. Two people familiar with the decision, and who were granted anonymity to speak frankly about a sensitive issue, told POLITICO that NetChoice made the move after its ties to TikTok came under scrutiny by the office of Republican House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.

Its yet another blow for the popular video-sharing app, which is now in real danger of losing the fight for its life.

Last month, Congress unexpectedly passed legislation that would force TikTok to divest from ByteDance, its Beijing-based parent company, or be banned in the United States, largely over national security concerns. TikTok is now challenging that law in court, but its fate remains uncertain.

When President Joe Biden signed the TikTok law in late April, it capped off a dismal multiyear lobbying fight that the China-linked app at times struggled to navigate, or even fully understand.

And as lawmakers maneuvered to pass the TikTok bill, there were rumblings that Washington lobbyists who worked with the company could face a backlash from Congress  a possibility that now appears to be panning out.

TikTok was still listed as a member of NetChoice on Wednesday, according to an archived version of the trade groups membership page. But by Thursday the organization, whose members include Amazon, Alibaba, Google and Meta, did not list it.

The two people familiar with the matter said NetChoice  whose tech advocacy often leans to the right  came under pressure from Scalises office to dump TikTok. A third person, who requested anonymity for the same reason, said that while no threat was made, NetChoice was told that the House Select Committee on China would be investigating groups associated with TikTok and chose to sever ties as a result.

Significant bipartisan majorities in both the House and the Senate deemed TikTok a grave national security threat and the President signed a bill into law requiring them to divest from the [Chinese Communist Party], a Scalise spokesperson told POLITICO. It should not come as a surprise to those representing TikTok that as long as TikTok remains connected to the CCP, Congress will continue its rigorous oversight efforts to safeguard Americans from foreign threats.



In a statement, TikTok spokesperson Alex Haurek decried brazen efforts from the House Select Committee on China to intimidate private organizations for associating with a company with 170 million American users.

Haurek called it a clear abuse of power that smacks of McCarthyism and said it was a sad day when members of Congress single out individual companies without evidence while trampling on constitutional rights and the democratic process.

A NetChoice spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment.

Over the last few months, NetChoice had kept a low profile in Washington when it came to TikTok. Even as lawmakers in both parties ratcheted up the pressure, the group didnt do much to publicly defend its member company.

But NetChoice has been a crucial player in the successful effort to shoot down state-level TikTok bans. The lobbying group was particularly active in Montana, which recently passed a law that would have banned the app statewide but which was blocked by a judge. NetChoice filed an advocacy brief on behalf of TikTok in Montana as recently as Monday.

The pressure on TikTok-affiliated lobbyists from GOP congressional leadership comes at a strange time in the presidential campaign cycle, with former president and presumptive Republican nominee Donald Trump now attacking Biden for signing the bill that could ban the app.

Just so everyone knows, especially the young people, Crooked Joe Biden is responsible for banning TikTok, Trump posted to Truth Social on Thursday. He is the one pushing it to close, and doing it to help his friends over at Facebook become richer and more dominant, and able to continue to fight, perhaps illegally, the Republican Party.


MOSCOW, May 10 (Xinhua) -- The Russian State Duma or lower house of the parliament has approved Mikhail Mishustin as prime minister, according to a statement posted on its website Friday.

Mishustin garnered a total of 375 votes in favor, with no veto, of his reappointment as prime minister, nominated by Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Friday.

In a meeting with Mishustin the same day, Putin noted that much had been accomplished in the country under difficult conditions, and it would be right for Mishustin to continue his work as head of the government.

During his speech at the State Duma, Mishustin said the government will focus on strengthening the economy, ensuring technological sovereignty, supporting families with children, enhancing the well-being of citizens, and prioritizing regional and infrastructure development.

Mishustin was first appointed as prime minister in 2020, after serving as the head of the Russian Federal Tax Service from 2010 to 2020. 
NIST team members Bakhrom Oripov (left) and Ryan Morgenstern (right) mount the superconducting camera to a specialized cryogenic stage Credit: Adam McCaughan/NIST.

The act of pointing a manual camera at the vast night sky and capturing a long exposure photograph, also known as astrophotography, blossomed in popularity during the regular lockdown periods of the COVID-19 pandemic.

When recording imaging of faint sources, its imperative that a camera is extremely low-noise, and able to detect the smallest number of light photons, and reports the quantity of light received accurately, especially for researchers at NASA.

Superconducting cameras (SCAM) are ultra-fast photon-counting cameras developed by the European Space Agency, and work by being cooled to three-tenths of a degree Celcius above absolute zero. This enables its sensitive electronic detectors to pick up almost every photo of light.

However, these cameras have historically not been widely applicable due to their smaller size, rarely exceeding a few thousand pixels, limiting their ability to capture high-resolution images.

In a major breakthrough, researchers at The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and the University of Colorado Boulder have recently shattered that barrier.

The team have developed a superconducting camera with 400,000 pixels, which could be used to detect faint astronomical signals in a wide range of wavelengths, from ultraviolet to infrared.

This solution could be extremely useful in the search for Earth-like planets outside our solar system.

Researchers applied time-domain multiplexing technology to the interrogation of two-dimensional superconducting-nanowire single photon detector (SNSPD) arrays.

The individual SNSPD nanowires are arranged as intersecting rows and columns, explains NASA. When a photon arrives, the times it takes to trigger a row detector and a column detector are measured to ascertain which pixel sent the signal. This method allows the camera to efficiently encode its many rows and columns onto just a few readout wires instead of thousands of wires.

Once the researchers tried this new way of encoding via readout wires, they quickly found that it became easy to construct superconducting cameras with extremely large numbers of pixels.

Technical lead Dr Bakhrom Oripov said "The big advance here is that the detectors are truly independent, so if you want a camera with more pixels, you just add more detectors to the chip."

Megapixels here we come?

Check out our best picks for astrophotography cameras and also lenses for astrophotography here. If it's telescopes you're interested look at our Best telescopes for astrophotography.
Im Brian Gordon, tech reporter for The News & Observer, and this is Open Source, a weekly newsletter on business, labor and technology in North Carolina.

In an interview last week with Time magazine, former President Donald Trump promised that, if reelected, he would fight a definite anti-white feeling in the country. And this week, a law firm headed by past Trump adviser Stephen Miller sued the Raleigh software giant Red Hat, alleging the company exhibited anti-white and anti-male bias in terminating an employee.

The ex-employee, a white male sales director who had been at Red Hat for eight years, opposed the companys efforts to employ a higher percentage of women and people from underrepresented racial groups (he also objected to Red Hats COVID-19 vaccine requirement).

Red Hat called the allegations baseless in an email to the N&O, saying neither race nor gender played any role in the decision to end this individuals employment with Red Hat. The company doesnt shy away from highlighting its efforts on gender and racial diversity; on its website, Red Hat says more diverse hiring would enable it to better innovate and serve customers.

In the United States, 5.6% of Red Hat employees are Black, 5.7% are Latino, and 2.4% are biracial, according to company data. White employees make up 72.8% of the domestic workforce.

Open Source

The lawsuit has arrived at a moment when diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies in academia and business have been put under the microscope to either ensure fairness or misleadingly score political points, depending on who you ask. Millers law firm, America First Legal, filed a complaint in December against Red Hats parent IBM over the companys use of a diversity modifier which compensates executives who emphasize diverse hiring. The firm has filed a litany of other DEI-related complaints, including against MLB, the NFL, Nike and Disney.

Miller is a Duke University graduate, by the way. And depending how the next election goes, he could soon have more influence.

Stepping up after Tesla

Tesla has the most extensive electric vehicle charging network in the United States and now seemingly few people to maintain it as last week, the worlds largest EV maker cut its entire supercharging team. While this might damage the perception of the EV charger industry in the short term, it could also be an opportunity to one company just starting to manufacture charging stations in Durham.

Everybody else now needs to fill in the gaps, said Jed Routh, vice president of markets and products at Kempower, a Finnish company, which opened its first U.S. factory near Research Triangle Park last year. In December, Kempower shipped its first Durham-made charger, a seven-foot white cabinet with stacks of black and orange modules capable of providing 600 kw of electricity.

Marcus Suvanto of Kempower shows the inside of a power unit for its electric vehicle charging system at the companys North American headquarters in Durham. The Finnish company shipped its first charging system made in Durham on Thursday, Dec. 14, to a customer in Edmonton, Canada.

According to data from the U.S. Department of Energy, North Carolina has 1,590 public electric charging stations with a combined 4,314 EV charging ports. Kempower, which has around 120 employees in Durham, hopes to see that number rise. So too does Routh, who owns an electric Ford Mustang.

You really do have to plan a trip right now, he said of driving long distances, including across North Carolina. But while the lack of public EV charging stations is an issue, he noted the vast majority of his charging occurs at home.

I drive a lot, the car has 44,000 miles in less than a year and a half, he said. Ive probably publicly charged it about 11 times.

Fatal VinFast crash leads to complaint

On the night of April 24, a family of four was killed in a Bay Area suburb when the VinFast vehicle they were driving slammed into a tree. Local authorities are still investigating the accident, but on April 29, the person who lent the car to the family (a co-worker of the driver) filed a complaint with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, saying the cars steering wheel had once automatically maneuvered to the right, pulling them into a different lane.

The person who issued the NHTSA complaint said they were concerned that the failure recurred while the coworker was driving.

VinFast, a new Vietnamese carmaker, has plans to build its first North American assembly plant in Chatham County. In an email Thursday, a VinFast spokesperson said the company is aware of this tragic accident and our hearts go out to the family. The authorities are currently investigating the cause of the accident and will share their findings when their work is completed.

This wasnt the only recent complaint about a VinFast vehicles steering. On March 26, a driver informed NHTSA their 2023 VF8 suddenly started to steer randomly after the advanced driver assistance system allegedly malfunctioned.

Clearing my cache

SAS Institute cofounder and CEO Jim Goodnight remains North Carolinas wealthiest person, according to Forbes, with a net worth of $9.8 billion. This is up from $7.4 billion last year.

Bloomberg spent time with our regional Federal Reserve Bank president as he toured Winston-Salem, Mount Airy and Yadkin County to hear from business leaders and residents about the economy.

Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, has split with his long-time management company Night Media, Semafor reports. A few management firms, the writer shares, have been privately reluctant to work with the creator, who has a reputation for being a tough client. Tough or not, the Greenville, North Carolina-native will soon have the worlds most YouTube subscribers. The MrBeast account currently has 256 million subscribers, within 10 million followers of the top account, T-Series, from an Indian music studio. Some are live tracking the race.

National tech happenings

TikTok sued the U.S. government Tuesday over the law that forces TikToks Chinese parent ByteDance to either sell the platform or be banned. TikTok contends it violates the First Amendment. The government says its a national security issue.

Customers of FTX , the crashed cryptocurrency exchange led by Sam Bankman-Fried , should receive all their money back  plus interest.

Apple released a new iPad commercial that has a lot of people talking (possibly yelling). The spot shows a hydraulic crusher destroying a litany of cultural objects like a guitar, video-game controllers, metronome, books, paint, digital cameras, more paint. The crusher than lifts to present a new iPad.

The ad spot seems to have many critics, including actor Hugh Grant, who posted, The destruction of the human experience. Courtesy of Silicon Valley. Apple later issued an apology and scrapped plans for it to run on TV.

Thanks for reading!
The first severe solar storm in 20 years could spark auroras across the US

A stunning aurora may light up the northern US and potentially southern states on Friday.

That's thanks to an erupting sunspot that's seven times the size of Earth.

US states as far south as Alabama could see the auroras Friday night.

For the first time in 20 years, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a G4 geomagnetic-storm warning.

The storm could generate a dazzling display of the northern lights farther south than usual on Friday.

G4s are the second-strongest type of solar storm. They've been known to cause radio blackouts and power-grid outages, but experts don't expect these approaching ejections to cause any trouble, Mathew Owens, a professor of space physics at the University of Reading, and Alex Young, the associate director for science at NASA's Heliophysics Science Division, told Business Insider.

The best time to see the aurora borealis is typically between 10 p.m. and 2 a.m. local time, because this is when it will be the most active, according to NOAA.

The upcoming aurora is largely the result of a giant, hyperactive sunspot called AR3664  which is seven times the size of Earth  that's been producing powerful eruptions called coronal-mass ejections for the past few days.

"With the eruptions from this group, I think we're going to see some really good auroras. I wouldn't expect too many really bad effects," Owens said.

Powerful eruptions like these can hurl high-energy solar particles toward Earth that interact with our magnetic field to create the northern and southern lights.

The aurora borealis is typically contained in the uppermost region of the Northern Hemisphere. But when Earth receives a more powerful blow of these high-energy particles, it can cause auroras over a larger portion of the planet.

Over the past several days, AR3664 has grown to become one of the biggest and most active sunspots in our current solar cycle, which began in December 2019, Space.com reported.

NOAA's GOES-16 satellite captured this image of activity in the sun's corona on May 10. NOAA

And since May 8, AR3664 has spit out five coronal-mass ejections. These ejections are now speeding toward Earth at roughly 560 miles per second, Owens told BI.

Where auroras are forecast in the US

NOAA's aurora forecast for this evening shows the Northern Lights will be visible across the US. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center

Since these oncoming coronal mass ejections have a relatively strong magnetic field, Friday's auroras are forecast to make a rare appearance.

They could stretch all the way down from northern states like Montana, Minnesota, and Michigan to as far south as Alabama, per reports from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. NOAA's forecast shows the aurora won't reach quite as far south as Alabama but will still be visible from states like Illinois and Ohio.

"The reality is that we just won't know how bright, active, and wide-reaching the aurora will be until the coronal-mass ejections reach Earth's atmosphere," Young said. Even experts' estimates of when they'll arrive offer only a rough ballpark.

"Our timing estimates may be way off," Owens said.

To watch the auroras on Friday, head to NOAA's space-weather website for the latest forecast to see if they'll be visible near you.

Then, step outside once it's totally dark and look up. If you're lucky, you may get to see this spectacular sight.

Correction  May 10, 2024: An earlier version of this story misattributed information and a quote to Andrew Gerrard of the New Jersey Institute of Tech. The most extreme estimate of aurora and where they can be seen in the US came from Alex Young.

Read the original article on Business Insider
FILE - An attendee walks past a display at the Baidu World conference in Beijing, on Nov. 1, 2018. A top public relations executive from Chinese technology firm Baidu apologized Thursday, May 9, 2024, after she made comments in a series of videos that critics said glorified a culture of overwork. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

HONG KONG (AP)  A top public relations executive from Chinese technology firm Baidu apologized Thursday after she made comments in a series of videos that critics said glorified a culture of overwork.

Baidu's head of communications Qu Jing sparked a public outcry in China after she implied in the videos that she was not concerned about her employees as she was not their mom and said she only cared about results. She also said that the relationship between her and her subordinates was purely an employer-employee relationship.

The backlash was swift, with many on social media platforms like Weibo criticizing Qu for her lack of empathy.

Qu posted an apology Thursday on her private WeChat account, where she sincerely apologized to all netizens and clarified that she had not sought Baidus permission before posting the videos.

Qu said that her short videos did not represent Baidus stance. Baidu operates Chinas dominant search engine as well as Ernie Bot, an artificial intelligence service similar to ChatGPT.

Many of the criticisms are very pertinent, I am reflecting deeply and humbly accept them, she said. There are many inappropriate (things said) in the video that caused external misunderstandings about the companys values and corporate culture, causing serious harm. I sincerely apologize."

Qu also pledged to improve her communication and management style and care more for her colleagues.

Baidu did not immediately comment.

Chinese online media outlet 36Kr reported Thursday that Qu had left her position at Baidu. The Associated Press was not able to independently verify Qus departure.

The videos, which have since be taken down, came at a time when many young people in China are pushing back against a culture of competition and grueling hours in the workplace.

Qu received criticism for a range of subjects she mentioned in the series of short videos on Douyin.

In the series, she brought up an incident of certain employees who sent hundreds of complaint letters against her to the office, and threatened to ruin their careers by ensuring that they could never again find a job in the industry.

In one of the videos, she criticized an employee who refused to go on a 50-day business trip during the COVID-19 pandemic. China had implemented strict travel restrictions that at times included weeks of quarantine for travel even within the country.

Why should I take into consideration my employees family? Im not her mother-in law, Qu said, adding that if employees refused to go on such business trips then they would not get salary raises or job promotions.

Chinese technology firms have long been criticized for their long working hours.

A public debate was sparked in recent years over the 996 work culture, where employees in technology firms were expected to work from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m., six days a week. The issue was also spotlighted after the deaths of two employees of Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo, one of whom collapsed suddenly on the street on her way home from work.

Jack Ma, founder of Alibaba, also faced criticism in 2019 for endorsing the 12-hour workday culture, saying that those who enjoyed their work would not find the 996 practice to be a problem.
US official says Chinese seizure of TSMC in Taiwan would be 'absolutely devastating'

FILE PHOTO: "Senior Chinese Leader Event" on the sidelines of the APEC summit, in San Francisco

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Wednesday a Chinese invasion of Taiwan and seizure of chips producer TSMC would be "absolutely devastating" to the American economy.

Asked at a U.S. House hearing about the impact, Raimondo said "it would be absolutely devastating," declining to comment on how or if it will happen, adding: "Right now, the United States buys 92% of its leading edge chips from TSMC in Taiwan."

TSMC declined to comment.

Last month, Raimondo announced the Commerce Department would award TSMC's U.S. unit a $6.6 billion subsidy for its most advanced semiconductor production in Phoenix, Arizona and up to $5 billion in low-cost government loans.

TSMC agreed to expand its planned investment by $25 billion to $65 billion and to add a third Arizona fab by 2030, Commerce said in announcing the preliminary award.

The Taiwanese company will produce the world's most advanced 2 nanometer technology at its second Arizona fab expected to begin production in 2028, the department said.

TSMC, the world's largest contract chipmaker and a major supplier to Apple and Nvidia had previously announced plans to invest $40 billion in Arizona. TSMC expects to begin high-volume production in its first U.S. fab there by the first half of 2025, Commerce said.

Congress in 2022 approved the Chips and Science Act to boost domestic semiconductor output with $52.7 billion in research and manufacturing subsidies to wean the United States from reliance on Asia for chips. Lawmakers also approved $75 billion in government loan authority.

A 2023 U.S. government paper estimated a major manufacturing disruption in Taiwan could lead to as high as a 59% increase in the U.S. price of logic chips that domestic downstream producers would have to pay.

(Reporting by David Shepardson; Additional reporting by Ben Blanchard in Taipei; Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
MOSCOW, May 10 (Xinhua)--Three people have died and another six have been injured after a bus fell off a bridge into a river in St. Petersburg Friday, according to local authorities.

The passenger bus fell from a bridge into the Moika river in the Russian city of St. Petersburg at 1 p.m. local time, according to the St. Petersburg police.

According to preliminary information, there were around 20 people inside the bus at the time of the incident, and rescue teams have been working at the site to remove people from the water, according to the local police.

The Russian Emergencies Ministry said that rescuers had extracted nine people from the water. Three people have died, four people are currently in critical condition, while two others are in serious condition, it said, citing latest information from the accident site.

Previously, local authorities said four people had died in the accident.

According to the local transport authorities, the driver lost control of the vehicle at a turn and the bus crashed through the bridge.

The 44-year old driver has currently been detained and a criminal case has been initiated. 
Protesters in Washington, D.C., march with a giant banner that says "Women Life Freedom" on Feb. 10, coinciding with the 45th anniversary of the revolution in Iran.
WASHINGTON, May 9 (Xinhua) -- A black U.S. airman was fatally shot last week at his own apartment by police in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, local media reported on Thursday.

Senior Airman Roger Fortson, 23, was shot multiple times by a sheriff deputy as soon as he answered the door of his apartment on May 3, holding what appeared to be a handgun pointed down toward the floor, according to a video taken from the body camera worn by the deputy.

Fortson was then taken to a hospital where he succumbed to his injuries, officials said.

A lawyer for Fortson's family alleged the deputy had gone to the wrong apartment.

Okaloosa County Sheriff Eric Aden said the deputy had responded to "a call of a disturbance in progress where he encountered an armed man," and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and state attorney's office would conduct an investigation. 
NASA's Mars spacecraft gear up to probe solar flare impacts on missions, advancing our understanding of challenges for future exploration on the Red Planet.

Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than Earth and lacks a magnetic shield to shield it from solar radiation.

Khiana Watson Meteored United States 10/05/2024 09:30 3 min



In the upcoming months, NASA's two Mars spacecraft will undertake a pioneering mission. Their goal? To delve into the effects of solar flares  massive eruptions occurring on the sun's surface  on both robotic missions and future human ventures across the Martian landscape.

Researchers will have the golden opportunity to study these solar flares as the sun enters its bustling phase known as solar maximum, occurring approximately every 11 years. Throughout solar maximum, the sun becomes particularly inclined to unleash its energetic outbursts in various manifestations, such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections, projecting radiation far into the depths of space. When a sequence of these solar phenomena occurs, it is termed a solar storm.

Peak solar activity this year will give two NASA spacecraft MAVEN and Curiosity the opportunity to study solar maximum from Mars.



Their findings could help design radiation protection for future astronauts on the Red Planet. https://t.co/XqRH7T3cbr pic.twitter.com/eRmyBrZSGm  NASA Mars (@NASAMars) April 30, 2024

While Earth benefits from the protective embrace of its magnetic field, shielding our cherished home from the impacts of solar storms, Mars tells a different tale. Long ago, Mars lost its magnetic guardian, rendering the planet susceptible to the sun's energetic particles.

NASA's mission to understand solar flares and radiation on Mars

Before embarking on the monumental journey of sending humans to Mars, researchers face a paramount question: unraveling the mysteries of solar activity intensity on the Red Planet, alongside a plethora of other crucial details. Among these inquiries lies the pivotal assessment of human exposure to radiation, essential for determining the necessity and efficacy of radiation protection measures.

NASA's MAVEN orbiter helps scientists study space weather's impact on Mars' upper atmosphere, including solar flares. MAVEN, orbiting above Mars, monitors radiation and solar particles. As these particles interact with Mars' thin atmosphere, NASA's Curiosity rover investigates. Curiosity's RAD data shows how radiation affects carbon-based molecules on Mars, affecting potential signs of ancient microbial life.

MAVEN also serves as an early warning system for other Mars spacecraft, allowing proactive measures such as instrument shutdowns to mitigate increased radiation levels from solar flares.

Through this collaborative effort, NASA not only delves deeper into the mysteries of radiation on Mars but also paves the way for safer and more informed exploration of the Red Planet, where each discovery is a step closer to unlocking the secrets of our cosmic neighbor.

News reference:

Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA Scientists Gear Up for Solar Storms at Mars https://www.nasa.gov/solar-system/planets/mars/nasa-scientists-gear-up-for-solar-storms-at-mars/
In a significant move to bolster diplomatic ties, India and Moldova have inked an agreement enabling visa-free travel for holders of diplomatic and official passports from either nation. The pact, signed on Friday, aims to facilitate seamless travel between the two countries without the hassle of obtaining a visa.

Representatives from both sides, Pavan Kapoor, secretary (West) from the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) of India, and Ana Taban, ambassador from Moldova, sealed the deal, marking a new chapter in bilateral relations, as announced in an MEA press release.

The agreement is poised to inject fresh energy into the already warm and friendly relationship shared by India and Moldova, according to the MEA. With the implementation of this agreement, diplomats and officials from both countries can traverse borders freely, fostering closer cooperation and understanding.

India and Moldova established diplomatic ties back in March 1992, laying the groundwork for decades of amicable relations. The recent exchange of pleasantries between Indian External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and Mihai Popsoi, Moldova's newly appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, further underscores the commitment to strengthen bilateral cooperation.

Jaishankar, expressing his eagerness to deepen collaboration, extended congratulations to Popsoi via a post on social media platform X. He emphasized the importance of working together to enhance the enduring bond between India and Moldova, setting the stage for a promising future of mutual growth and prosperity.

Chartered Flight from Dubai to Jamaica Turned Back Over Document Issues: MEA Statement

How UK Visa Review Expected to Affect Indian Students Heading to the UK

Island Nations Welcome Indian Tourists with Visa-Free Entry this Summer!

Explore the World of K-Pop: Easy Guide to South Korea Tourist Visas for Indians
Nick Thorpe, BBCs correspondent in Hungary, reports every moment of the campaign events of opposition Tisza Party leader Peter Magyar, the state secretary in charge of international relations and communications said on social media X, referring to Magyar himself as the source of the information.

Zoltan Kovacs suggested that Thorpe could be acting under instructions from a director of Amnesty International Hungary, financed by the Soros Open Society Foundation.



I do understand  the opposition has a new, seasonal offer in the person of Peter Magyar and the international press can hardly hide its enthusiasm  we are looking forward to the balanced and objective reports, Kovacs said in his entry.



"The darling of the international mainstream press, opposition figure Peter Magyar, recently revealed that @NickFT,@BBC's long-time Hungary correspondent is covering every step of his campaign trail.



That raised a few eyebrows, especially among those familiar with his reporting. Heres what one of the directors of @OpenSociety Soros-Funded @AmnestyHungary had to say about Thorpe: All we had to do was say, hey, Nick, take a look at this. Heres something that could be of interest to you. He was their go-to journalist, according to their account, always ready to help.



I get it. Ive seen this movie before. The opposition has a new flavor-of-the-month, Peter Magyar, and its difficult for the international press corps to conceal their cheering. But this next act  the @BBC riding along on Petis campaign bus  should be really good. Looking forward to some fair and balanced, objective journalism." he posted.



*********************************

You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page:

Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary

You can subscribe to our newsletter here:

XpatLoop.com/Newsletters

Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers?

Then just contact us here!
The 33rd Valley of Arts festival in western Hungary will feature a record number of events, almost 3,000 in all, between July 19 and 28. Also, several museums will be represented at this years festival with a greater focus on contemporary art, she said.

The programme including 2,972 music, literature, theatre and dance performances, as well as family and other events at 40 venues will be held in the villages of Kapolcs, Vigantpetend and Taliandorogd, says festival director Natalia Oszko-Jakab.



Tibor Navracsics, the minister of public administration and regional development, said that over the years the Valley of Arts had become a part of the regions economy, and by strengthening local communities, the entire region, its economy and the whole of Hungarian culture were enriched.



Maintaining the momentum gained from last years Veszprem-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture series, the aim was to develop a region of creative activities in which the Valley of Arts festival played an important role, he added.



Valley of Arts Festival to Feature Almost 3,000 Events



The 33rd Valley of Arts festival in western Hungary will feature a record number of events, almost 3,000 in all, between July 19 and 28, the organisers said.



The programme including 2,972 music, literature, theatre and dance performances, as well as family and other events at 40 venues will be held in the villages of Kapolcs, Vigantpetend and Taliandorogd, festival director Natalia Oszko-Jakab told a press conference. Several museums will be represented at this years festival with a greater focus on contemporary art, she said.



Tibor Navracsics, the minister of public administration and regional development, said that over the years the Valley of Arts had become a part of the regions economy, and by strengthening local communities, the entire region, its economy and the whole of Hungarian culture were enriched.



Maintaining the momentum gained from last years Veszprem-Balaton 2023 European Capital of Culture series, the aim was to develop a region of creative activities in which the Valley of Arts festival played an important role, he added.



More:

muveszetekvolgye.hu



*********************************

You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page:

Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoops groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary

You can subscribe to our newsletter here:

XpatLoop.com/Newsletters

Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers?

Then just contact us here!
Maharashtra Board Result 2024: Maharashtra Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education will not release the Maharashtra Board SSC, HSC Results 2024 today, May 10, 2024.Maharashtra HSC results are scheduled to be released soon. The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (MSBSHSE) will release the HSC Results 2024 via a press conference, followed by an online marksheet link. Once the Maharashtra Board HSC result 2024 is issued, aspirants will be able to check and download it from the official website, mahresult.nic.in. Students must provide their roll number and mother's name to verify their scoring.

To pass, students must earn at least 35% in each subject. This includes both a theoretical and practical exam for all disciplines, both required and optional.

Maharashtra Board Result 2024: Steps to download here

Visit the official website MAH results i.e. mahresult.nic.in.

Click on the Maharashtra SSC and HSC Result 2024 links on the home page.

Enter your login information and click submit.

Your results will be displayed on the screen.

Review the results and download the page.

Keep a hard copy in case you need it later.

Maharashtra Board Result 2024: Re-evaluation process

Students who are dissatisfied with their marks will be able to request a verification or reassessment of the Maharashtra board results 2024. To apply, they must complete an application form at their individual institutions. The charge for subject verification is Rs. 50 per subject, whereas revaluation is Rs. 300 per subject.

The Maharashtra Board held its Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC - Class 12) Examinations 2024 from February 21 to March 19, 2024. Over 14 lakh candidates are reported to have taken the exam. The Maha Board will reveal the official facts like passing percentage, total number of students who appeared and passed, toppers list, and other details via a press conference.
New Delhi: At least 12 Naxalites were killed in an encounter with security forces on Friday near the Gangaloor area of Bijapur district in Chhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai congratulated the officers after 12 Naxalites were killed in an encounter today. "An encounter broke out between Naxals and the Security forces in the Gangaloor area of Bijapur district. 12 dead bodies of the Naxals have been recovered. I congratulate our jawans and senior officers," CM said.

While in conversation with ANI, Sai informed that they have taken a major step against Nazalits and said "Ever since we came into government, we have fought strongly against the Naxalites. Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah also want Naxalism to end in Chhattisgarh. We are benefiting from the double-engine government."

Massive exchange of fire broke out between Naxals and security forces in a jungle area of Chhattisgarh's Pidiya village which comes under the Gangaloor Police Station. As gunfights broke out between security forces and Naxalites, 12 Naxals were killed.

Earlier, 29 Naxals were killed and 3 security personnel got injured in an encounter that broke out in Kanker, which comes under the Bastar region of Chhattisgarh.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah congratulated the security forces after the encounter of 29 Naxalites in Chhattisgarh.

"Today, the security forces killed down a large number of Naxalites in Chhattisgarh. I congratulate all the security personnel who made this operation successful with their bravery and wish for the speedy recovery of the brave policemen who have been injured," Shah wrote on his official microblogging site X.
Five Indian sailors who were detained by Tehran on a vessel connected to Israel were freed on Thursday and have left Iran, according to the Indian embassy there, marking a significant diplomatic achievement.

The Indian Embassy expressed gratitude to the Iranian authorities for their close cooperation with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas when disclosing the specifics of their release. "5 of the Indian sailors on MSC Aries have been released and departed from Iran today evening," MEA official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal wrote on X, saying, "We appreciate the Iranian authorities' close coordination with the Embassy and Indian Consulate in Bandar Abbas."

Iran seized the Israel-linked cargo ship on April 13, which was carrying 17 Indian nationals. Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy seized the container ship near the Strait of Hormuz, and MSC Aries was last seen sailing towards the Strait of Hormuz off Dubai's coast on April 12.

Earlier, Ann Tessa Joseph of Thrissur, Kerala, one of the 17 Indian crew members of the Israel-linked cargo ship 'MSC Aries' seized by Iran on April 13, returned safely to her homeland on April 18.

The Ministry of External Affairs also stated that one of the 17 Indian crew members has safely returned to India, and the others are safe, adding that they will be released once their contractual obligations are met.

"One girl who was present has returned. We requested consular access for these 16 people, which we received, and our officers met with them. Their health is good, and there are no problems aboard the ship. There are a few technicalities and contractual obligations to consider when returning them. Randhir Jaiswal, MEA spokesperson, said in a weekly press briefing on April 25 that once they are done, their return will be decided.

Iraj Elahi, the Iranian Ambassador to India, has also stated that the Indian crew members of MSC Aries are not detained and are free to leave. Following the seizure of the container vessel, EAM Jaishankar spoke with his Iranian counterpart about the release of 17 crew members.
(Adds reporter byline)

By Niket Nishant, Svea Herbst-Bayliss and Nell Mackenzie

May 10 (Reuters) - Billionaire investor James Simons, the mathematician and Cold War code-breaker who founded one of the world's most prominent and profitable hedge funds, Renaissance Technologies, has died at 86, his foundation said on Friday.

The Simons Foundation did not give a cause of death.

Sixty years ago Simons -- who preferred to be known as Jim -- shifted course from teaching mathematics and working in U.S. intelligence to investing. His pioneering use of computer signals for trading decisions earned him the nickname "Quant King."

With a net worth estimated at $31 billion by Forbes, Simons also became a prominent philanthropist, giving away billions of dollars during his lifetime to support medical and science research, teaching and Democratic candidates.

"Churchill said great and good are seldom the same man. Jim Simons was the exception that proves Churchill's rule," said Clifford Asness, managing and founding principal of AQR Capital Management, referring to British war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

As a mathematician, Simons was used to working large sets of data and comfortable finding patterns to guide buying and selling.

He founded Renaissance in 1978 in East Setauket, New York, 70 miles east of Wall Street. He quickly forged a new way to invest, laying the foundations of quantitative trading that has been embraced by dozens of firms in recent years.

"We hire physicists, mathematicians, astronomers and computer scientists and they typically know nothing about finance," Simons, told a 2007 New York conference. "We haven't hired out of Wall Street at all," he added.

On Wall Street Simons was revered, as well as a little feared.

Renaissance, whose Medallion Fund delivered average annual returns of more than 60% over three decades, became one of the world's most successful hedge funds under Simons. He retired as chief executive officer in 2010 and stepped down as chairman in 2021.

Simons was secretive about how his firm made money. He was described as someone who viewed the markets as a code to be cracked, Wall Street Journal writer Gregory Zuckerman wrote in his 2019 book "The Man Who Solved the Market."

The Medallion trading system relied on buying and selling that works in concert to generate high returns at low risk across asset classes, in such a way that patterns normally remain hidden to other traders.

In 1994, Simons and his wife, Marilyn, established the Simons Foundation, which supports scientists and organizations worldwide in advancing the frontiers of research in mathematics and the basic sciences.

Story continues

He is survived by his wife, three children, five grandchildren, and a great-grandchild. "I did a lot of math. I made a lot of money, and I gave almost all of it away," Simons told a 2022 event honoring Abel Prize winners who have been singled out for their mathematical achievements.

"That's the story of my life." (Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston, Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat, Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; additional reporting by Nell Mackenzie in London; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Diane Craft)
In a major relief for Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Friday ordered his release on interim bail in the excise policy case until June 1. A bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna ruled that the AAP supremo must surrender on June 2. The Bench, which also includes Justice Dipankar Datta, stated that a detailed order outlining the reasons for the decision would be uploaded later in the evening.



On Thursday, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) opposed the grant of interim relief, arguing that a politician has no "special status" above that of an ordinary citizen and is just as likely to be arrested and detained for committing crimes as any other citizen.

Even though Kejriwal is not a contesting candidate, no political leader has been granted interim bail for campaigning, according to the affidavit, which also states that if a contesting candidate is in custody, he is not granted interim bail to campaign.



Briefing the media on the SC's bail order, Kejriwal's lawyer Shadan Farsat says, "There is no restriction on his election campaigning. We will try for his release today itself."

#WATCH | Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal gets interim bail till June 1



Supreme Court lawyer Shadan Farasat representing Kejriwal says, "There is no restriction on his election campaigning. We will try for his release today itself." pic.twitter.com/k7miOKKo7V  ANI (@ANI) May 10, 2024

The ED contended that approximately 123 elections have occurred in the last five years, and that if interim bail is granted for campaigning, no politician can be arrested or placed in judicial custody because elections are an all-year phenomenon.



In previous hearings, the top court indicated that it might consider granting interim bail to the AAP leader in light of the ongoing general election. It stated that this is an extraordinary situation, and that CM Kejriwal is not a habitual offender.

Kejriwal had petitioned the Supreme Court against the Delhi High Court's April 10 decision, which dismissed his plea challenging the ED arrest. The AAP chief was arrested on March 21 and has been in custody since.


New Delhi: After spending 50 days in jail, Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal has been granted interim bail for 22 days and has been released out of jail. However, what's intriguing is that he entered jail as CM Kejriwal but has emerged on interim bail as AAP leader Kejriwal. The Supreme Court has granted him bail solely for election campaigning, not for fulfilling the duties of Chief Minister. This marks the first instance of someone being released on bail specifically for campaigning during elections. The question now is whether Kejriwal's bail will give a boost to AAP in the elections.

In Today's DNA, Zee News anchor Sourabh Raaj Jain analysed the impact of Arvind Kejriwal's bail on AAP's election campaign for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

It's crucial to note that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal did not secure this bail; rather, it was Aam Aadmi Party leader Arvind Kejriwal who did. The Supreme Court's decision was based on three key factors: Kejriwal's lack of criminal history, the infrequency of elections, and the inappropriateness of delaying the decision on interim bail until after the elections. Today, the Supreme Court granted interim bail to leader Kejriwal based on these considerations, allowing him to campaign freely until June 1, after which he must surrender.

While the interim bail is cause for celebration within AAP, it's crucial to understand its limitations. Kejriwal's release is temporary, ending on June 2, and restricted solely to campaigning. Despite this, the party is jubilant, viewing the bail as a victory for the Constitution. Kejriwal's presence is vital for AAP, especially considering his track record of electoral success in Delhi and Punjab. However, AAP's performance in Lok Sabha elections has been less impressive, indicating a reliance on Kejriwal's personal appeal.

Now, with Kejriwal back in action, AAP aims to capitalize on his popularity and secure electoral victories. However, whether Kejriwal's campaign efforts will translate into success remains to be seen.
New Delhi: Maldivian Foreign Minister Moosa Zameer meets EAM S Jaishankar in his first official visit to India. Zameer's trip to India coincides with our country's tense relations with Maldives during President Mohamed Muizzu's administration.

"As close and proximate neighbours, the development of our ties is obviously based on mutual interests and reciprocal sensitivity," the external affairs minister said in his opening remarks in his meeting with Zameer here.

Restoring India-Maldives Ties

External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar emphasized that the foundation of their ties is rooted in mutual interests and sensitivity, aligning with India's Neighbourhood First policy and SAGAR vision. "I hope that our meeting today will enable us to strengthen the convergence of our perspectives in various domains," Jaishankar said.

The Strained Relationship

Jaishankar's remarks were made amidst a recent decline in bilateral relations following the assumption of pro-China president Mohamed Muizzu's presidency six months ago. The strain in relations escalated as Muizzu insisted on the withdrawal of Indian military personnel from the Maldives. India has largely withdrawn its military personnel, with Muizzu setting a deadline of May 10 for complete withdrawal.

'Won't Be Repeated'

In an interview with ANI, Maldivian Foreign Minister Zameer reiterated the government's stance, stating, "I think if you have seen, like you said, we have said that it's not the stand of the government or it's not the view of the government. And we believe it shouldn't have been done. And then we are taking proper action to make sure that this don't repeat."

India's Assistance To Maldives So Far

Jaishankar pointed out India's significant developmental assistance to the Maldives. It has spanned over infrastructure, social initiatives, medical services, and financial support. EAM reminded Maldives counterpart about India's role as a First Responder and its contributions to Maldives' security and well-being through various collaborative efforts.

Deepening Future Ties

The two foreign ministers engaged in extensive discussions on bilateral ties and regional security matters. Both sides collaborated to ensure the continued operation of Indian aviation platforms providing humanitarian and medical services in the Maldives."India has been a key provider of development assistance to the Maldives. Our projects have benefited the people of your country; contributed to the quality of life," he said.

"They range from infrastructure projects and social initiatives to medical evacuation and health facilities," Jaishankar said. "We have also extended financial support on favourable terms in the past. India has been a First Responder on numerous occasions for Maldives," he said. "Our cooperation has also enhanced the security and well-being of your country through shared activities, equipment provisioning, capacity building and training," Jaishankar added.

Jaiswal said the two foreign ministers had "extensive discussions" oThe meeting between Jaishankar and Zameer emphasized the commitment to deepen bilateral cooperation and highlighted India's support for the socioeconomic development of the Maldives.
New Delhi: The Election Commission of India issued a strongly worded rebuke to Mallikarjun Kharge, the president of the Congress party, on Friday. The ECI criticized Kharge's remarks about the release of voter turnout data, calling them inaccurate and biased. Commission said that the statements were deliberately intended to sow confusion, misguide, and create obstacles to the smooth conduct of impartial elections.

ECI stated that it finds a 'pattern' in a series of past and present irresponsible statements from INC and calls it 'disconcerting''. The commission said, with all facts in place, the Congress President is attempting to push a biased narrative.

It said that the ECI was determined "to act against developments which have a direct impact on the delivery of its core mandate." The commission takes cognizance of Kharge's letter addressed to leaders of INDI alliance on voter turnout data, and finds it highly undesirable. The commission categorically rejected Kharge's contentions, calling them insinuations and innuendos.

The ECI asserted that no lapse or deviation in the collection and dissemination of voter turnout data; pilots all past and present procedures and practices; and provided point-by-point counters to reject Kharge's contentions.

The commission also refuted any delay in giving turnout data and pointed out that updated Turnout data has been always higher than the poll day. The commission provided a factual matrix from the 2019 general election onwards.

ECI especially condemned with contempt Kharge's statement, "Could this be an attempt to doctor the final results", and said, it can create an anarchic situation, besides doubts and disharmony

On May 7, Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to the leaders of the INDIA bloc over the alleged discrepancies in the voting data released by the Election Commission (EC).

In his letter, Kharge urged the INDIA bloc leaders to raise their voices against voting data discrepancies, for "our only objective is to protect the culture of a vibrant democracy and the Constitution". The Congress president alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party are 'visibly flustered' and 'frustrated' by the voting trends and their receding electoral fortunes in the first two phases.

"In this context, I would urge all of you that we must collectively, unitedly and unequivocally raise our voice against such discrepancies, for our only objective is to protect the culture of a vibrant democracy and the Constitution. Let us ensure the independence of the Election Commission of India and make it accountable. Let us ensure the independence of the Election Commission of India and make it accountable.," the letter read.
New Delhi: By allowing political space to Khalistani separatist elements, the Canadian government is sending a message that its vote bank is "more powerful" than its rule of law, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said.

In an exclusive interview to PTI late Thursday, Jaishankar said India respects and practices freedom of speech, but that does not equate with freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, extend support to separatism or allow political space to elements advocating violence.

The external affairs minister also wondered how people with dubious backgrounds are being allowed to enter and live in Canada, referring to Khalistani supporters among the Sikh migrants from Punjab.

"In any rule-based society, you would imagine that you would check people's background, how they came, what passports they carried etc," he said.

"If you have people whose presence there was itself on very dubious documents, what does it say about you? It actually says that your vote-bank actually is more powerful than your rule of law," he said.

The Indian diaspora in Canada is about 1.8 million strong and there are another one million Non-Resident Indians residing in the country. The Indian diaspora, mostly of Sikh ethnicity, is considered an influential bloc in Canada's politics.

Ties between India and Canada came under severe strain following Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's allegations in September last year of the "potential" involvement of Indian agents in the killing of Nijjar.

New Delhi rejected Trudeau's charges as "absurd". India has been maintaining that the main issue has been that of Canada giving space to pro-Khalistani elements operating from Canadian soil with impunity.

"It is not so much a question of running out of options. What we have seen to our regret has been the direction of Canadian politics where separatists, extremists forces, many of whom openly advocate violence have been given political space in that country," Jaishankar said.

"And there are people in positions of prominence today in Canadian politics who actually espouse that kind of separatism and extremism," he said.

Jaishankar said India cannot overlook the issue for the sake of good relations.

"Whenever we have taken it up with the Canadians, and it is not a new issue -- it has been going on almost for 10 years; they keep saying, 'oh we have freedom of speech'," he said.

"We also have freedom of speech in our country. But freedom of speech does not mean freedom to threaten foreign diplomats, freedom of speech does not mean the kind of positions and the kind of activities which people in Canada are doing which does harm to our country because of its support for separatism," he said.

"And freedom of speech does not mean this kind of space which is also given to people of various dubious background -- people associated with organised crime and so on," he said.

His remarks came in response to a question on how India plans to deal with challenges emanating from Canada and whether the options for New Delhi are running out.

"We cannot for the sake of good relations overlook that," he said during the freewheeling interview at PTI's headquarters.

In the last few months, India has been expressing concerns over the security of its diplomats in Canada and calling on Ottawa to ensure that they are able to carry out their responsibilities without fear.

There have been instances of pro-Khalistani elements threatening to harm Indian diplomats.

Days after Trudeau's allegations last September, India asked Ottawa to downsize its diplomatic presence in the country to ensure parity. Canada subsequently withdrew 41 diplomats and their family members from India.

India has been asserting that its "core issue" with Canada remains that of the space given to separatists, terrorists and anti-India elements in that country.

Last week, Canadian authorities charged three Indian nationals with the murder of Nijjar. It is reported that they entered Canada on student visas.

On Thursday, India said Canada has not provided any "specific" evidence or information in the case yet.

External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that India continued to remain concerned about the security of its diplomatic representatives in Canada and expect Ottawa to ensure that they are able to carry out their responsibilities without fear.
New Delhi: Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was on Friday released from Tihar jail after spending 50 days in custody, Kejriwal received a bill from the Supreme Court till June 1, which is the last phase of the Lok Sabha election 2023. In a conversation with Zee Zews, CM Kejriwal expressed his belief in the public and said, "Public Will Deliver Justice." Kejriwal was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with Delhi's excise policy case.

CM's wife Sunita Kejriwal, Daughter and AAP leader and Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann also went to receive Kejriwal from Tihar jail. Delhi CM Kejriwal received a warm welcome from his family members after he reached his residence.

After coming out from Tihar jail, CM Kejriwal announced the press conference tomorrow at 1 pm and informed that he will visit the Hanuman temple tomorrow at 11 pm. "Darshan in Hanuman temple at 11 o'clock, press conference at 1 o'clock, Arvind Kejriwal roared after coming out of Tihar," CM said.

He also expressed his feelings after coming out from jail and said, "I had said I would come soon, I am here...it feels good to be among you."

Earlier, the Supreme Court ordered his release on interim bail in the excise policy case until June 1. A bench presided over by Justice Sanjiv Khanna ruled that the AAP supremo must surrender on June 2. The bench also included the Justice Dipankar Datta.

On the other hand, ED opposed the grant of interim bail to Kejriwal and claimed that a politician has no special status above that of an ordinary person and is just as likely to be arrested.
Former Karnataka CM and Janata Dal (Secular) leader HD Kumaraswamy criticised the ruling Congress party in the state over an alleged sex abuse videos case involving Hassan MP Prajwal Revanna. A JD(S) delegation met with Karnataka Governor Thawar Chand Gehlot and requested a "impartial probe" into the matter. In a memorandum signed by current and former members of the Karnataka Legislature, as well as party leaders, the JD(S) requested that the governor recommend the case to the CBI for a "thorough investigation.

"We have submitted to the Governor all of the developments in this case to date. We asked him to urge the Central government to conduct a fair investigation into this case. Where is the investigation heading? What exactly is Revanna's role in this? Why did they arrest Revanna? The state government is misusing the power. Where are the victims? Congress claims there are over 2900 victims, but where are they?" Kumaraswamy asked while speaking to reporters after meeting with the governor.

While urging for a CBI probe, the JD(S) claimed in its memorandum that the SIT is "influenced and misguided" by the state government, adding that a "free, fair, and impartial inquiry" is impossible in this case.

"It is brought to the kind notice of the governor that these videos were circulated widely not only in Hassan Parliamentary constituency but also in other Parliamentary constituency through social media platform and pen drives to defame the contesting candidates of NDA alliance," according to the memo.

"We would like to bring to your attention that we welcome the formation of the SIT because we are not opposed to the investigation into Prajwal Revanna's alleged exploitation of women and fully support it. Furthermore, our party never condones or tolerates such behaviour and attitudes towards women among our leaders and workers. As a result, our party took prompt and decisive action to suspend Prajwal Revanna," the statement continued.

The memorandum also targeted Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar, accusing them of "circulating" the videos at issue. "However, the SIT's investigations are biassed, partial, and lack transparency. Furthermore, the government controls and monitors all of SIT's functions and activities on a daily basis. "The SIT is working at the request of the Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister," the memorandum read.

"As per the reports, it is alleged that the videos containing obscene scenes of exploited women were circulated at the behest of Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in Hassan Parliamentary constituency and also in Bengaluru Rural Parliamentary constituency from where his brother DK Suresh MP is seeking re-election," said the statement.

"In the background, it is highly impossible to expect free, fair and impartial inquiry from the Special Investigation Team as the team is influenced and misguided by the state government," stated the statement.

The JD(S) also accused the state government of "failing to stop the circulation" of the alleged videos. "We seek kind intervention in recommending the case for thorough inquiry by the Central Bureau of Investigation," it said.

"Conversation between Devaraje Gowda and DK Shivakumar openly exposes collision, conspiracy and involvement of Siddaramaiah and DK in SIT investigation bringing out vested interest in tarnishing the image of the investigation, bringing out vested interest in tarnishing the image of HD Devegowda, HD Kumaraswamy and also image of JDS party."

"It is well-known that DK Shivakumar is responsible for the distribution of over 25,000 pen drives in bus stops, parks, and other public places throughout Hassan constituency. "The state government has completely failed to stop the circulation of alleged videos, causing a great deal of agony, sorrow, and indignity to the families of the victims," the memorandum stated.

The memorandum also asked the governor to "advise" the chief minister to "drop" his deputy from cabinet.
In recent years, the culinary world has undergone a significant transformation, driven largely by the preferences and behaviors of Millennials and Gen Z. These younger generations, known for their adventurous spirits, tech-savvy lifestyles, and desire for authenticity, are reshaping the dining landscape in unprecedented ways.

From seeking out unique dining experiences to demanding more sustainable and ethically sourced food options, Millennials and Gen Z are driving change and innovation across the culinary industry as shared by Soumik Roy, General Manager, The Beatle Mumbai.

Embracing Diversity and Authenticity:

One of the most notable trends among Millennials and Gen Z is their appreciation for diversity and authenticity in culinary experiences. These generations value the opportunity to explore different cuisines and flavors from around the world, seeking out authentic dining experiences that offer a taste of culture and tradition. From street food markets to pop-up restaurants serving global fusion cuisine, Millennials and Gen Z are embracing diversity and celebrating culinary authenticity like never before.

Tech-Driven Dining:

Another key aspect of the evolution of culinary experiences is the integration of technology into the dining process. Millennials and Gen Z, who have grown up in the digital age, expect technology to enhance every aspect of their lives, including their dining experiences. From mobile apps that allow users to discover new restaurants and make reservations to digital menus and contactless payment options, technology is revolutionizing the way we dine out. Additionally, social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok have become powerful tools for sharing food experiences, driving trends, and influencing dining decisions among younger generations.

Demand for Sustainability and Ethical Dining:

Millennials and Gen Z are also leading the charge when it comes to demanding more sustainable and ethically sourced food options. Concerned about environmental issues and the impact of their consumption habits, these generations are increasingly seeking out restaurants and food brands that prioritize sustainability, ethical sourcing, and transparency. From farm-to-table restaurants that source ingredients locally to plant-based eateries that focus on environmentally friendly dining options, Millennials and Gen Z are driving demand for more eco-conscious dining experiences.

The Rise of Food Tourism:

Food tourism has emerged as a major trend among Millennials and Gen Z, who view travel as an opportunity to explore new culinary destinations and immerse themselves in local food cultures. Whether it's indulging in street food in Bangkok, sampling gourmet cuisine in Paris, or embarking on a culinary tour of Japan, younger generations are prioritizing food experiences when planning their travels. This trend has given rise to a new wave of food-focused travel experiences, from food festivals and cooking classes to culinary tours and gastronomic adventures.

The Role of Social Media Influencers:

Social media influencers play a significant role in shaping the dining preferences and behaviors of Millennials and Gen Z. These digital tastemakers, who have amassed large followings on platforms like Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok, have the power to influence trends, drive foot traffic to restaurants, and even launch viral food crazes. From posting mouthwatering food photos to sharing honest reviews and recommendations, social media influencers have become a trusted source of information for younger generations seeking out new dining experiences.

The evolution of culinary experiences is a reflection of the changing preferences and behaviors of Millennials and Gen Z. These younger generations, known for their adventurous spirits, tech-savvy lifestyles, and desire for authenticity, are reshaping the dining landscape in unprecedented ways. From embracing diversity and authenticity to driving demand for sustainability and ethically sourced food options, Millennials and Gen Z are driving change and innovation across the culinary industry. As the culinary world continues to evolve, one thing is clear: the influence of Millennials and Gen Z on the dining landscape is here to stay.




New Delhi: Bharat Petroleum Corporation Limited (BPCL) has announced that its board has recommended the issue of bonus shares in the ratio of 1:1 i.e. one new bonus equity share of Rs 10 each for every one existing equity shares of Rs 10 each fully paid up, subject to the approval of shareholders through postal ballot.

The government-owned company added that the Board has fixed Saturday, 22nd June 2024 as Record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders to receive bonus shares.

"Pursuant to Regulation 30 of the SEBI (Listing Obligations & Disclosure Requirements) Regulations, 2015, we wish to inform that the Board has recommended issue of Bonus Shares in the ratio of 1:1 i.e. one new bonus equity share of Rs. 10/- each for every one existing equity shares of Rs. 10/- each fully paid up subject to the approval of shareholders through Postal Ballot. The Board has fixed Saturday, 22nd June 2024 as Record date to determine the eligibility of shareholders to receive bonus shares," BPCL said in a regulatory filing.

BPCL Recommends Final Dividend

BPCL board has also recommended a final dividend of Rs 21 per equity share (pre-bonus) for the year 2023-24, which works out to a final dividend of Rs 10.5 per share after the dividend.

The Record Date for the final dividend will be intimated separately, BPCL added.

"The Board of Directors has recommended a final dividend of Rs. 21/- per equity share of face value of Rs.10/-each (pre-bonus), which translates into final dividend of Rs.10.5/- per equity share of face value of Rs.10/- per equity share) (post-bonus), subject to the approval of the shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM). The final dividend would be paid within 30 days from the date of its declaration at the AGM. The Record Date for the final dividend will be intimated separately," BPCL wrote.

BPCL Q4 Results

The company reported a 30 per cent decline in consolidated net profit of Rs 4,789.57 crore for the January-March quarter financial year 2023-24 compared to the corresponding figure of Rs 6,870.47 crore in the same period last year.

The decline in the government-owned company's profit comes amid volatile crude oil prices during the quarter which led to an increase in input costs that could not be fully passed on to consumers.
New Delhi: Bollywood's Gen-Z actress Disha Patani has a massive fan following - all thanks to her svelte figure and super fab Instagram feed. Her fans love to throng social media, checking out her pictures and videos. Recently, she dropped a photo dump from her beachy vacay with pals, looking like a bomb!

In one of the pictures, Disha can be seen chilling by the beach in her stunning ivory bikini set whereas in other photos, she is seen posing happily with her bunch of girls. Also, you can't miss the beautiful sunset photo-op in her album.

Many fans commented on her post and hailed the star for her looks. An avid social media user, Disha Patani has 61.2 million followers on Instagram alone.

Disha is these days seen with her trainer Aleksander Alex Ilic, and the buzz is strong that they are a couple. In fact, some reports claim that the actress is also helping out Alex in learning Hindi for his web-show debut. Earlier, she was rumoured to be dating Tiger Shroff.

On the work front, Disha is all set to be seen with South superstar Suriya for an upcoming project. Helmed by Siruthai Siva, the film is touted to be a 3D periodic drama and is tentatively titled 'Suriya 42'. She also has producer Karan Johar's next action film 'Yodha' opposite Sidharth Malhotra and 'Project K' alongside Amitabh Bachchan, Prabhas, and Deepika Padukone.
Alraedah Digital Solutions, the innovation arm of Alraedah Digital Group, has agreed a strategic partnership with ABHI. A MENAP-based fintech, ABHI specialises in earned wage access and invoice factoring. The collaboration marks a significant milestone in Alraedah's commitment to fostering innovation and driving regional financial inclusion.

Specifically, ABHI will gain access to Alraedah's expansive knowledge and understanding of the local Saudi market. The aim is to collaboratively launch innovative financing products in KSA.

Alraedah will enable access to $200m over three years to develop products that apply ABHIs proprietary technology. These will be localised for the Saudi market.

Fostering innovation and driving economic empowerment

Paul Melotto, CEO, Alraedah Digital Solutions, said: "We are excited to join forces with ABHI to revolutionise the financial landscape in KSA. This partnership underscores our commitment to fostering innovation and driving economic empowerment through strategic collaborations. Together, we aim to redefine access to financial services and empower individuals and businesses across the region."

ABHI, founded in 2021, is aimed at increasing financial inclusion across the region. It has been serving Pakistan, UAE, and Bangladesh through its innovative credit-bridging products. These products include earned wage access, invoice factoring, SME working capital & revenue-based financing, and payroll solutions. It is designed to empower businesses and their employees financially. It has a client base of over 1,000 companies. Promoting financial empowerment and stability to over 750,000 employees across the region, it has processed over $300m in loan value. ABHI is backed by leading investors, including Y Combinator, VEF, SpeedInvest, Venture Souq, Global Ventures, and Zayn Capital.

ABHI collaboration with Alraedah supports Saudi Arabias Vision 2030

Omair Ansari, CEO and co-founder of ABHI, added: Partnering with Alraedah Digital Solutions represents a transformative opportunity for ABHI to accelerate our mission of democratising access to financial services and supporting the ambitious goals of Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030.

With our innovative financial solutions and Alraedah's deep local expertise, we are poised to empower Saudi citizens, embolden the private sector, and foster a more vibrant, thriving economy. This underscores our shared commitment to driving meaningful economic diversification, financial inclusion, and entrepreneurial growth, which are the key pillars of the 2030 Vision. Together, we are confident that we can make significant strides towards realising the bold aspirations of Saudi Vision 2030 and creating a more prosperous future for all.

Story continues

"ABHI partners with Alraedah Digital Solutions" 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.
Mumbai: Family members and Indian film industry bid an emotional adieu to director Sangeeth Sivan, who passed away in Mumbai on May 8. The last rites of the veteran filmmaker were held at the Oshiwara Crematorium on Thursday.

Celebrities such as Anupam Kher, Fardeen Khan, Riteish Deshmukh, Tusshar Kapoor and Zayed Khan among many others attended the funeral of Sangeeth Sivan.

The 'Kya Kool Hai Hum' director was undergoing treatment for urinary infection at Kokilaben Hospital in Mumbai and unfortunately, on Wednesday, he suffered a cardiac arrest and lost his life, as per Sangeeth Sivan's brother Sanjeev Sivan.

Sangeeth Sivan, the eldest son of photographer-cinematographer Sivan, is survived by his wife, Jayashree, and children, Sanjana and Shanthanu. After learning about the demise of Sangeeth Sivan, many took to social media to pay their last respects to him.

Remembering Sangeeth, veteran actor Anupam Kher dropped a video in which he could be seen getting emotional as he recalled his friendship with the late director.

"My good and dear friend and director of my three films #SangeetSivan left us all before time. He was not only a good director but he was also a great human being. I will always miss his warmth and his laughter. Good bye my friend. You have entertained people a lot with your personality and your movies. Thank you," Kher wrote.

Actor Sunny Deol, who worked with Sangeeth Sivan in 'Yamla Pagla Deewana 2', took to X and paid his condolences."Shocked to hear about the passing away of my dear friend @sangeethsivan, can't believe that you are no longer amongst us, but you will always be with us in our hearts and memories . Om Shanti my friend , may your family get the strength to overcome your loss," Sunny wrote.

Actor Riteish Deshmukh also penned an emotional note in memory of Sangeeth Sivan.

Taking to X, he wrote, "Deeply saddened and shocked to know that Sangeeth Sivan Sir is no more. As a newcomer all you want is someone to believe in you and take a chance.. can't thank him enough for Kya Kool Hai Hum & Apna Sapna Money Money. Soft spoken, gentle and a wonderful human being. Am heart broken today, my deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, his wife, kids, brothers. I will miss you Da !!!!! And your infectious laughter!!! Rest in Glory...."

Tusshar Kapoor also paid tribute to Sangeeth Sivan. He thanked Sangeeth for introducing him in comedy films."Don't have words to describe what I'm feeling right now.... A mentor of sorts, someone who introduced me to comedy with #KyakoolHainHum is no more! Sangeeth ji, I had the honour of working with you again recently but it'll take me a long time to get over this sad news! RIP sir you will be missed! #SangeethSivan #gem," he wrote.

Sangeeth Sivan rose to massive fame by helming blockbuster Mohanlal-starrers such as Yodha (1992), Gandharvam (1993) and Nirnayam (1995).
New Delhi: Public sector lender Bank of India has signed MOU with the Indian Coast Guard, offering a Defence service Salary Package BOI Rakshak Salary/ Pension Savings Scheme.

Through this exclusive BOI Rakshak Package, Bank of India will offer numerous benefits to all Ranks of the Indian Coast Guard, Veterans, Recruits and Agniveers, the company said in an announcement.

This includes Personal Accidental Insurance coverage upto Rs 1.5 crore, Permanent Total Disability cover upto Rs 50 Lakh, Air Accidental Cover upto Rs 1 crore and Permanent Partial Disability Cover of Rs 25 Lakhs. Apart from this the Bank will also offer Concessions in Retail Loans, Processing Charges and Locker Rentals, it added.

"The MOU is a reflection of Bank of Indias constant endeavor to serve the Defence Forces and help them to meet their financial requirement, aspirations and milestones. BOIs digital Initiative and BOI Mobile Omni Neo app will also enable the Defence personnel at Borders and other remote areas to stay connected and get easy access to bouquet of Financial Solutions," the company said in a statement.

Meanwhile, Bank of India has in a regulatory filing informed that it will announce the outcome of its Q4 results on May 13.

"This is to inform you that a virtual Conference Call with Analysts and Investors on the Bank's Audited Financial Results for the 4th quarter/ Financial Year ended 31.03.2024 has been scheduled to be held on Monday 13th May, 2024 at 4.30 P.M. from Bank's Head Office at Bandra- Kurla Complex, Mumbai," BoI informed BSE.
A rendering for the High Street Apartments complex planned for 277 High St. NE in downtown Salem.

The vote on whether to give a 10-year property tax exemption for an apartment complex planned for downtown returns to Salem City Council Monday.

The six-story, L-shaped complex will be at the site of the former city hall, now a parking lot at 277 High St. NE.

When the proposed tax exemption first came before Salem City Council in April, three people in the construction industry complained about Deacon Development, the company behind the project and the soon-to-be-opened Rivenwood Apartments at the former Nordstrom site. They said Deacon Development worked with irresponsible contractors who engaged in wage theft, worker exploitation and unethical business practices, citing conflicts with employees not getting paid on Portland-area projects.

One person testified that projects applying for tax breaks should have a prevailing wage requirement. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, a prevailing wage is the combination of the basic hourly wage rate and any fringe benefits rate, paid to workers in a specific classification of laborer, like a carpenter or plumber.

Company founder Steve Deacon, who also attended the April meeting, said it was the first time he had heard the accusations. He said he wanted to talk with the construction workers about their experiences and help address the problems.

If the company knew wage theft and worker exploitation was taking place, they would not allow it, Deacon said.

The council tabled a vote on the tax exemption until Monday's meeting so more could be learned about the accusations.

About the High Street Apartments project

News of the project, now dubbed High Street Apartments, broke last year.

Developers plan to demolish the parking lot and build a mixed-use building with 98 apartments and a ground-floor commercial space with seven live/work units.

The apartments will consist of studios and one- and two-bedroom units. The project is expected to cost $27 million.

The monthly rental rates for the market rate units are expected to range from $1,375 per month up to $1,975 per month depending on the size, number of bedrooms, and location within the building, according to Deacon's application for the tax program.

Additionally, 15% of the units will be set at affordable housing rates.

Deacon Development's application for a tax exemption

On March 5, Deacon Development applied for participation in the city's Multiple Unit Housing Tax Incentive Program.

The program provides a property tax exemption for up to 10 years for new or converted non-transient multifamily housing units constructed within the defined core area that provide one or more public benefits such as development or redevelopment of underutilized or blighted property.

Story continues

The tax exemption is limited to the citys tax levy, but developers also can seek tax exemption through other taxing districts like the county and school district.

Since 1976, the council has approved 12 properties for the program.

According to a staff report, the developer's application detailed how the project will meet eight of the 19 public benefits outlined in the program, including developing an underutilized parking lot and providing programs and amenities supportive of public transit.

The building will include a large-screen monitor displaying real-time arrival information for Amtrak, Cherriots and vehicle-sharing systems. It is within walking distance to much of downtown and the Cherriots transit center.

The program provides a tax exemption only for the citys tax levy, which is estimated to be $44,758 in the first full year.

Other Salem City Council meeting agenda items

Acquisition of properties for the Pedestrian Safety Crossings Project. Three enhanced pedestrian crossings planned for River Road N near River Road City Park, State Street at 21st Street SE, and Lancaster Drive NE near Weathers Street NE require the city to begin the right-of-way acquisition process.

A vote on authorizing the City Manager to apply for up to $10 million in federal funding to construct a series of pedestrian crossing improvements. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Safe Streets and Roads for All program is designed to fund initiatives that will prevent roadway deaths and serious injuries.

A vote on whether to borrow an amount not to exceed $6 million from the city's Building & Safety Fund for the Emergency Services Fund to fund the startup capital expense for city-provided ambulance services. Council voted in March to end its contract with private ambulance service Falck Northwest and switch back to providing services through Salem Fire.

Review of information on Salem Fire Department implementing the approved Ambulance Operator Model with Fire Department Oversight.

A review of an appeal filed by a neighboring property owner over a planned 405-unit apartment complex at 4650 Hazelgreen Road NE.

How to participate in the Salem City Council meeting

The meeting is at 6 p.m. It will be held in person in the City Council Chambers at the Salem Civic Center, 555 Liberty St. SE, and also can be watched on Comcast Cable CCTV Channel 21 or on the Salem YouTube channel in English/American Sign Language and Spanish.

Those wishing to comment in person can sign up on the rosters at the chamber entrance before the start of the meeting.

Written public comments on agenda items can be emailed by 5 p.m. Monday to cityrecorder@cityofsalem.net. Or preregister between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m. Monday at cityofsalem.net/Pages/Public-Comment-at-Salem-City-Council-Meeting.aspx to speak during the meeting via Zoom.

For questions, comments and news tips, email reporter Whitney Woodworth at wmwoodworth@statesmanjournal.com, call 503-910-6616 or follow on X at @wmwoodworth

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Tax exemption for downtown apartments returns to Salem City Council
The AGI Denim Regenerative Cotton Farm Project, a collaboration with the Rural Education & Economic Development Society (REEDS), a non-profit agricultural organisation aims to benefit 1,300 cotton farmers in the Ghotki region of Sindh, Pakistan.

This project focuses on implementing regenerative agricultural practices that minimise chemical usage, enhance soil health, and preserve biodiversity.

By working directly with farmers in close proximity to AGI Denim's existing facilities in Sindh, the company aims to streamline its operations while reducing its environmental footprint.

The AGI Denim Regenerative Cotton Farm Project offers several key advantages:

Sustainable agriculture Reduced transportation impact Improved quality control through closer collaboration with farmers Faster turnaround times for finished products.

To ensure the credibility and transparency of the project AGI Denim is actively pursuing regenagri certification from certification body Control Union.

This certification will validate the company's commitment to regenerative agriculture, human rights due diligence, carbon footprint minimisation, and the empowerment of women through knowledge-building programmes.

AGI Denim is following in the footsteps of another denim manufacturer Soorty which in March also launched a regenerative agriculture farming project called Regenagri Initiative, alongside REED.

Soortys project lead on SRI Dr Muhammad Yousaf explained at the time: Regenerative agriculture isnt just about maintaining the status quo  its about actively improving soil health and biodiversity.

With SRI were proving that ecological restoration and premium cotton production are not mutually exclusive goals.

"AGI Denim launches regenerative cotton farm project in Pakistan" was originally created and published by Just Style, 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.
Image source: The Motley Fool.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (NYSE: AQN)

Q1 2024 Earnings Call

May 10, 2024, 8:30 a.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:





Operator

Hello and welcome to the Algonquin Power & Utilities Corp. first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.

[Operator instructions] I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Brian Chin, vice president of investor relations. Please go ahead.

Brian Chin -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Thanks, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us on our first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Speaking on the call today will be Chris Huskilson, chief executive officer; and Darren Myers, chief financial officer. Also joining us this morning for the question-and-answer portion of the call is Jeff Norman, chief development officer; and Johnny Johnston, chief operating officer.

To accompany today's earnings call, we have a supplemental webcast presentation available on our website, algonquinpower.com. Our financial statements and management discussion and analysis are also available on the website, as well as on SEDAR+ and EDGAR. We'd like to remind you that our discussion during the call will include certain forward-looking information and non-GAAP measures. Please note and review the related disclaimers loaded -- located on Slide 2 of our earnings call presentation at the investor relations section of our website at www.algonquinpower.com.

Should you invest $1,000 in Algonquin Power & Utilities right now?

Before you buy stock in Algonquin Power & Utilities, 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 Algonquin Power & Utilities 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 $543,758!*

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 May 6, 2024

Please also refer to our most recent MD&A filed on SEDAR+ and EDGAR and available on our website for additional important information on these items. On the call this morning, Chris will provide a business update, including brief comments on the company's strategic transition and renewables sale. Then Darren will review key highlights pertaining to our regulated and renewable business groups and our first quarter financial results. We will then open the lines for a question-and-answer period.

Story continues

We ask that you kindly restrict your questions to two and then requeue if you have any additional questions to allow others the opportunity to participate. And with that, I'll turn it over to Chris.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Brian, and good morning, everyone. Before we jump into quarterly results, let me address our leadership announcement included in our press release. It's an honor to be appointed as permanent CEO of Algonquin. It's an exciting time to lead the company.

After serving as interim CEO for the last nine months, I'm more convinced than ever that we are on the right path. I see opportunity throughout the business to improve our consistency and profitability as we look to successfully execute on the sale of our renewables business and elevate our utility platform. 2024 will, no doubt, be a year of transition. As we execute on the sale of the renewables business, the company, for the first time, will be focused on a single regulated business model to create value.

Algonquin is in a unique position to capture cost improvements through simplification and better execution while continuing to serve our customers. This is a key reason why I've agreed to accept this role. I'm excited to help Algonquin capture that opportunity, create long-term value, and ultimately become the premier mid-cap regulated utility platform in North America. I'd also like to touch on recent and upcoming changes to our board.

We're pleased to welcome Brett Carter, who most recently worked at Xcel Energy as group president of utilities and chief customer officer; and nominee, Chris Lopez, the outgoing chief financial officer at Hydro One. Each of these individuals brings seasoned regulated utility experience and senior leadership capabilities to the company. Their past experiences and insights will complement the strengths of the current board of directors and support Algonquin's ongoing strategic transformation to the pure-play regulated utility. These developments reflect our recently signed cooperation agreement with Starboard, in which we -- they proposed board nominees.

Our board reviewed the nominees and agreed that Brett Carter and Chris Lopez were exceptional additions. We believe these developments reflect our appreciation of investor dialogue, our receptivity to stakeholder input, and our decisiveness. In further news, Ken Moore, the current chair of the board, has announced his intention to retire and not stand for reelection. And as part of the company's ordinary course nomination cycle, current board member Masheed Saidi also indicated she does not intend to stand for reelection.

We thank Ken and Masheed for their commitment, dedication, and leadership during their respective 14 and 10 years of distinguished service to the company. I've personally worked with Masheed since 2005 and Ken since 2009. Masheed and I worked on transmission projects in New England, and Ken and I helped make the Emera-Algonquin relationship a success for both companies. I will miss each of them on this board.

Let me now turn to our quarterly update with a few brief comments before handing the call over to Darren. In the first quarter, we continued our efforts to simplify the business and transition toward a pure-play regulated strategy. Our renewables business ended the quarter on target, and we continue to make progress on the renewables sale. Our time timetable for sale continues as we expected.

As I've said in the past, no news is good news. Moving to our regulated services group. We're pleased that our regulated net utility sales and divisional operating profit organically grew year over year. That said, one of my initial key priorities has been to focus on the regulated services group as a stand-alone business.

We are making strides here, including simplifying how we operate the business, having recently rolled out the last leg of our enterprise IP platform. But we have plenty more work and opportunity as we raise up our utilities within Algonquin. With the SAP system rolled out, we are positioned to focus on the cost structure of the business and continued service to our customers. In the coming quarters, this will become the primary focus for the business.

Lastly, it was also a busy quarter on the capital markets front, having closed financings with a value of approximately $2.3 billion. This is the largest non-M&A-related quarterly financing in the company's history. We are extremely pleased by the investor interest and confidence in the company and the momentum of our actions to create long-term value for our shareholders. And with that, I'll turn things over to Darren for an update on the business.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Chris, and good morning, everyone. I'll start with the regulated services group. In the midst of our ongoing transition, we remain steadfast in our commitment to our customers to deliver utility services in a safe and reliable manner. We are pleased to announce Liberty is a recipient of the 2023 American Gas Association's Employee Safety Award for medium-sized combination utilities in the United States.

We have now been awarded this honor for the third time in four years. Moving to our operation. I'm pleased to say that we have now completed the rollout of our enterprisewide technology system. This system called Customer First will enable us to run the organization on a single integrated platform, provide better service for our customers, and allow us to gain more insight into our business and performance.

Like many others that have gone through major system implementations, it will take time to leverage the capabilities and adjust our organization and processes. We're at the normal part of the curve where we're spending more to run the system, but we are confident we will continue to see improvements and that, over the long term, this will provide a competitive advantage for Algonquin. Turning now to an update on regulatory proceedings. During the first quarter of 2024, new rates became effective at our Empire electric utility in Arkansas, following an order approving the settlement agreement authorizing a revenue increase of $5.3 million late last year.

In the quarter, we also filed $36 million in revenue requirement increases, adding to an already busy regulatory slate. Our regulated services group currently has pending 15 rate reviews. Our Liberty Utilities' pending rate request totaled $129.4 million at the quarter-end. This quarter represents the most active concurrent rate case period in the company's history.

While we're not going to provide our overall earned ROE at this moment, we note that our active rate case schedule, combined with the investments we've made on our customers' behalf, has caused our earned ROE lag to increase by roughly 20 basis points to 30 basis points over the same period last year. Turning now to an update on our renewable energy group. In alignment with our goal of simplifying the business, we wound down our renewables development joint venture and monetized our interest in three small solar development assets in Spain. We also purchased the remaining 50% equity interest in the Sandy Ridge II wind facility, representing an increase of 44 megawatts to our net economic ownership.

As a minor update, we also sold our 100% equity interest in Windsor Locks, a 74.9 megawatt thermal facility in Connecticut, for $17.7 million. The net-net effect is that, at the end of the first quarter, we continue to hold 2.7 gigawatts of net economic ownership in our renewable assets. The next two major projects the construction group continues to develop are Carvers Creek and Clearview Solar, where site preparations and panel installation are well on their way. Turning to our financial results.

Our performance reflects the transition year we are in. On a consolidated basis, our combined Q1 net utility and energy sales were $519.9 million, up 5.7% year over year. Adjusted EBITDA was $344.3 million, up slightly from the same period last year. Adjusted net earnings were $95.6 million, compared to $119.9 million reported last year, a decrease of 20%.

On a per-share level, our first quarter adjusted net earnings per share was $0.14, an 18% decrease year over year. Our adjusted net earnings per share was down $0.03 year over year as continued growth in our regulated business was offset by an expected decline in our renewables business, which was primarily due to our simplification efforts in the wind-down of our development joint venture. Breaking it down further, our regulated business grew by $0.02, primarily due to new rate implementations at several of the company's electric and gas utilities. Renewables declined $0.01, given -- driven primarily by our planned consolidation of development venture activities, as we discussed on our last earnings call this past March.

It's worth highlighting that our renewables business ended the quarter on budget. Rounding out our year-over-year adjusted net earnings per share performance, our depreciation increased by our typical run rate, lowering adjusted net earnings per share by a penny. Our borrowing cost to fund growth netted against a planned reduction to minority interest expense lowered adjusted net earnings per share by $0.02 year over year. And finally, our tax credit recoveries returned to a more normalized level from last year, lowering adjusted net earnings per share further by another penny.

Let me now provide an update on our capital markets activity. We had a very successful quarter on the capital front. We closed financings of $2.3 billion with the issuance of unsecured senior notes and securitized utility tariff bonds, as well as the successful remarketing of our senior notes related to our green equity units. On average, our financings were four times oversubscribed.

We see these results as evidence that, in the midst of our transition, investors share our view of a bright future for Algonquin. And finally, let me briefly comment on our near-term outlook. As stated before, this is a transition year for Algonquin. And as such, we have not provided guidance for the year.

As a quick reminder, for the second quarter last year, we had unfavorable weather across both businesses and a one-time CalPeco net earnings benefit of $11.2 million. As far -- and as for more recent activity, we're in the midst of one of the busiest rate case calendars we've ever tackled. This means rising depreciation and funding costs will continue to weigh on the regulatory lag until we reach constructive resolutions to more of our filings. We would like to thank our investors for your continued support as we transition the company and create long-term value for all of our stakeholders.

With that, I will now turn the call over to the operator to open the lines for questions. Operator.

Questions & Answers:





Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin our question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions] The first question comes from the line of Nelson Ng from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.

Nelson Ng -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst

Great. Thanks. Hey, Chris. Congrats on your permanent role.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, thank you, Nelson. Good morning.

Nelson Ng -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst

Yeah, good morning. So, on that, I think you previously talked about staying on the CEO role as long as it takes, so I guess there'll be a bit longer for you. But in the press release, it mentions that you'll be working on the board for a kind of longer-term CEO succession plan. So, I was wondering whether you can give some color on how the CEO search went and whether the company's waiting until it fully transitions into a utility pure-play to potentially start another CEO search.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Well -- and so we -- I would say we won't be doing another CEO search. When I say succession, I truly mean succession as in we need to develop successors within and from without, if necessary, as well. And so, it's not our intention to do another CEO search.

So, from that perspective, you know, that's the way we're looking at it. And, you know, I guess, at the end of the day, we -- I think I have said before what the four criteria were. You know, in the end, I think the board just decided that things were going well and that I fulfilled those criteria properly, and so here we are. But, you know, fundamentally, it's -- we haven't set any timeline.

I'm very excited about this opportunity and to have the opportunity to continue the work that I was doing as interim CEO. But of course, we do need to develop a proper and appropriate succession plan, which the company doesn't have today. And so, that's really going to be -- that's what was referred to in the press release. And, you know, I'm just fundamentally committed to the business and committed to the success of this business.

Nelson Ng -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst

Great. That's good to hear. And then the follow-up question was in terms of some of the asset sales that you guys announced, whether it's some small developments to Atlantica or selling Windsor Locks, can you just provide a bit more color in terms of, I guess, asset divestments and whether it -- like things within the renewables sales process versus potential asset sales or other transactions outside of that process? Can you just clarify, like should we expect any other potential divestments outside of the renewables sales process?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, I think, first of all, Windsor Locks was kind of held for sale for some time, and it just wasn't fitting in any of our futures of -- as the company. So, that -- it's really kind of a unique sale process that we went through there. And in fact, I believe that the customer actually had a ROFR on that plant anyway. When it comes to the rest of it, it's no different than what we've been saying all along.

We're focused on the renewables sale. That's what we're focused on. And we're also, you know, focused on making decisions and moving along with our investment in AY. So, those are the two things that you can expect that we will move on over the next period.

When it comes to the rest of the business, it's just too early to think about the status of the rest of the business and so on. We're really just focused on getting it up and running as a stand-alone reg business. And, you know, as I've said in my comments and I've said many times before, I see tremendous opportunity to make that business run better, to reduce the cost of that business, and to make it more profitable, and to serve our customers -- continue serving our customers very well.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

And, Nelson, just as a reminder, the hydro assets as part of the renewables sale is something that we're selling separately. We'll focus on the rest of the sale first and then the hydro assets.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Darren always needs to say that because I always forget that.

Nelson Ng -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst

All right. Thanks for the clarification. I'll leave it there and get back in the queue.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Nelson.

Operator

The next question comes from the line of Rupert Merer from National Bank. Please go ahead.

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

Hello. Good morning, everyone, and congratulations, Chris.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you very much and good morning.

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

So, recently, we've seen strong interest in power markets with the anticipated demand growth across North America, and part of that is from data demand. Are you seeing this interest show up in your asset sales process or in your renewable development pipeline? Has it changed the dynamic in those processes over the last couple of months?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, at the end of the day, you know, I think, as I said earlier, no news is good news on the process itself. But as it relates to the development pipeline, certainly, we're continuing to see strong demand. And in fact, you know, we do have over 8 gigawatts of development pipeline in operation now, and it continues to be very successful. And so, you know, we're excited about how that is unfolding, and we're excited about how others will look at that as they evaluate our assets.

I don't know, Jeff, is there anything you want to add to that?

Jeff Norman -- Chief Development Officer

No, I think I would just reinforce, Chris, that, you know, over the last couple of months, as you pointed out, Rupert, things continue to be strong, and so we continue to make progress on the projects within the pipeline, particularly those in later stages in the pipeline.

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

So, if you look at that same dynamic and now maybe focus on the regulated utilities, so if I look at the market, the power demand is broadly expected to grow by 5% per year or thereabouts. Are you looking at your regulated jurisdictions as having a similar rate of growth? Is that rate of growth going to keep pace with what we've seen in North America and where is that growth coming from? Is data the main driver for you in your regulated utilities or is the growth going to come from reshoring or any other drivers?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, I think it's all of the above. I mean, the whole electrification process that's going on is really what's driving growth. And, you know, we are beginning to see traction on the growth side. You know, for the first time in a long time, we've actually put growth in our regulated kilowatt-hour numbers.

And so, you know -- and the other thing that we're seeing is we're also seeing people moving to some of the territories where we are as they move out of, you know, concentrated areas like cities and so on. So, there's a number of factors that are going into growth. And as I say, we're beginning to see growth for the first time in quite a long time.

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

So, do you think you can keep pace with the growth rates in North America?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, we're hopeful. How about that, right? At the end of the day, as I said, we're just starting to see it materialize, and so, you know, we're hopeful that it will materialize as it is everywhere. But electrification is going to be a long-term trend, and that long-term trend is going to drive growth in all of the businesses.

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

And some investors are really looking for exposure to data centers. Do you have any data center movement in your areas?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

I would say, at this stage, that's not a major source of our growth, but, you know, we're seeing just primarily from normal -- normalized electrification.

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

OK. Very good. Thank you very much.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

OK. Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from the line of Rob Hope from Scotiabank. Please go ahead.

Robert Hope -- Scotiabank -- Analyst

Good morning, everyone, and congrats, Chris. I want to follow up on the commentary in the prepared remarks just about cost containment and really focusing on, you know, normalizing or reducing costs at the operating utilities. You know, as you look through kind of your plan there, you know, do you have a timeline of when we could start to see some results there and are there any goals you could share with us, whether that would be on a, you know, $1 million basis or ROE bips?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. I mean, you know, our concentration up to this point has really been, you know, twofold: making sure that we had the organization in the right position to be able to go after its costs and to restructure the cost, the cost structure of the business; and then -- and secondly, to get the platform in place that will allow us to do that better. So, you know, it's a multiyear process. And as you can imagine, our focus has been on the renewables sale.

It's been on ensuring that we are ready for that sale and that we're ready to separate the business and those kinds of things. But as we go into H2, you're going to start to see us focus on cost structure and using the system that we've now installed to create more efficiency and effectiveness in our business. So, it's really just too early to quantify. But at the end of the day, just based on, you know, my experience and looking at it through those eyes, there's lots of opportunity there for us.

Robert Hope -- Scotiabank -- Analyst

Thanks for that. And then just maybe moving over to the structure and the simplification, is that now largely behind us and everything is ready for a sale? And I guess, maybe a nitty-gritty follow-up there would be, you know, is that $6 million of corporate admin costs that were allocated to renewables, is that a go-forward run rate?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Well, so yes, we're ready for the sale. You know, we've specifically -- I mean, the business is running as a business, and we've allocated employees to that business and, you know, created a perimeter around that business. And so, yes, from that perspective, we're absolutely ready for the sale. I don't know, did you want to touch on the run rate?

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Yeah. So, maybe -- and also, just a follow-on, that simplification is really at the company level. It doesn't impact, you know, the sales process. We are trying to take steps to continue to simplify and make our results easier to understand, and we will continue to do that.

I don't think there's anything, you know -- nothing like the development JV that we're looking at right now. But -- and then in terms of the cost, yeah, that's a reasonable run rate. This is, you know, what we had as admin charges before, so we've also, in the disclosure, try to make sure you understand it's not a new cost for the business. It is the allocation of the corporate cost to it.

Robert Hope -- Scotiabank -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

The next question comes from the line of Ben Pham from BMO Capital.

Ben Pham -- BMO Capital Markets -- Analyst

Hi. Good morning. Maybe this first question is for Chris. I'm wondering, now, with your appointment, was there anything on your desk or file cabinet that now that you -- you're permanent CEO that you can advance a bit quicker? And obviously, the renewables stuff is front and center, but was there -- is anything there that you can push or focus more on -- over the near term?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

I'm -- Ben, I'm not really sure I understood the question.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Ben, I'd say, from working with Chris, I don't think he's been holding back. I don't think the title change is going to make a difference, but it's --

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Oh, well -- so I mean, what I've said -- I understand now. What I said all along, Ben, is -- was that I was not going to be a caretaker and that we were going to act, you know, with pace. And so, you know, that doesn't change. At the end of the day, I think a little more certainty for the company as a whole, as in knowing who the leader is going to be, is something that, I think, helps everybody because, you know, the less uncertainty is better than more uncertainty, that's for sure.

And, you know, the fact that we are going to move into developing a complete succession plan for the entire company, so not just CEO succession but succession across the company, as we begin -- you know, when you think about it, the way that the company has run up to this point is that we've essentially done the business of the company centrally and the utilities have operated. What we're doing now is we're actually moving to a model where the utilities are the businesses, and we're raising them up in the business. And so, the skills and capabilities that will be developed and will exist in the field is going to be a lot stronger. And so, we need to develop a succession plan across the entire company to facilitate that development and to continue to be more and more successful as a business being run that way.

And so, you know, when I talk about succession, it's not just this role, it's the roles that are critical to really running this company better in the future. And so, you know, that's the story. So, yes, I will be doing more of that, I would say, because we will have time to do that as the renewables process unfolds, but the pace won't change.

Ben Pham -- BMO Capital Markets -- Analyst

OK. Understood. And I know you mentioned with the renewables sale process no news is good news. Can you share -- I think, last quarter, you had a specific timeline, end of Q2, I think you mentioned.

Is that also still intact in your overall messaging?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, we don't see any change in the timeline as we sit.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

And that's to sign something and then targeting for a closure by the end of the year, hence the original timeline.

Jeff Norman -- Chief Development Officer

And then the comments we were making were roughly midyear for that, and then the latter portion of 2024 or year-end thereabouts. So, we did not give a hard deadline of Q2.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. But nothing has changed. I think that's the primary point. Yeah.

Ben Pham -- BMO Capital Markets -- Analyst

OK. Thank you.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Ben.

Operator

The next question comes from the line of Mark Jarvi from CIBC. Please go ahead.

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

Yeah. Thanks. Good morning, everyone, and congrats, Chris.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Mark.

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

You talked about -- yeah, you talked about succession planning and building up the organizational strength. You talked about your need for improvements on the utility side. Do you need to make some hires there and build that up? And if so, what type of people would you be looking to bring in?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

So, at this point, I think we're actually pretty well positioned to do what we're planning to do. And so, you know, at the end of the day, we'll -- we will work with the team that we have. And I think, you know, there's lots of good experience on the water side, there's lots of great experience on the gas side, there's lots of great experience on the electricity side out there, and it's more a matter of surfacing those people in the organization and giving them more autonomy and authority to act. And I think that's really what we're focused on right now.

So, it's not about hiring, it's about enabling.

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

And you haven't seen any churn, just given some of the uncertainty in the company? And, you know, you brought up the point that, now, with a permanent CEO, that brings probably some stability there and good for culture. Has that been a drag on the business in terms of churn?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, in large part, we've been very fortunate. And I think, you know, obviously, the people in the renewables group are probably the ones that see the most uncertainty right now. But I think they've been very excited by the opportunity, the opportunity to be able to continue to develop and grow their business, which, you know, we were holding them back. And so, you know, we've been very fortunate that we've been able to keep a very, very good and active staff through this whole time of uncertainty.

I don't know, Jeff, is there anything you want to add to that or --

Jeff Norman -- Chief Development Officer

No, I think you nailed it, Chris. Let's bang on.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

OK.

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

That's good to hear. And the last question for me is just given where you are in your liquidity balance sheet, the financing year to date, and the power sale progressing largely as expected, do you think you'll be in a position to buy back shares within the next six to 12 months?

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Well, Mark, that's obviously all dependent on -- you know, our goal, our target, and everything we're doing is to make sure we're maintaining that solid BBB balance sheet. And so, as the sale process concludes and depending on that price, we'll be looking at, you know, how much can we -- do we need to invest in the business, is there excess for buybacks. So, all that will be determined over the next little while.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, it's all about proceeds and whether AY sells. I mean, I think those are the two primary drivers to this.

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

If and when you announce a transaction, would you be in a position then to tell the market whether or not you had buyback capacity relative to your, you know, organic investment needs?

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Yeah, we definitely would plan to come to the market with a proper investor update toward the end of the year or early next year. That is we want to make sure we're being transparent and giving everybody, you know, the direction that we're going as a company.

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

Sounds good. Thanks for the time this morning.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Yup. OK. Thank you.

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Mark.

Operator

The next question comes from the line of Sean Steuart from TD Cowen. Please go ahead.

Sean Steuart -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

Thanks. Good morning, everyone, and congratulations, Chris.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you very much.

Sean Steuart -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

Just one question. When you're now able to really focus on long-term plans for the regulated platform, do you have any incremental thoughts on the platform you have now? You're spread across electricity, gas, water. Are there opportunities for valuation optimization by potentially divesting chunks of that portfolio? And I appreciate you're going to want to ramp up investment in the organic rate base growth, but any broader thoughts on the current structure across the regulated platform?

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

You know, our focus right now is on the renewables sale, and as Darren keeps pointing out to me, and the hydro sale a little bit later. So, those are really where our focus points are. And, you know, at some point in the future, we'll continue to look at the evolution of the business overall, but it's just too early to have any kind of conversation about that.

Sean Steuart -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

OK. That's all I had. The rest of my questions have been answered.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Focus focus, focus. We've got to stay focused on what we're trying to get done here.

Sean Steuart -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

Consistent messaging. OK. Thanks very much, guys.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

OK. Thank you.

Operator

As there are no further questions at the queue this time, we will now conclude our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the call over back to Mr. Chris Huskilson for brief closing remarks.

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

OK. Well, as I said in my opening remarks, I'm very excited about taking on this opportunity for the longer term, and I also appreciate the support of all our shareholders and also appreciate the questions from analysts today. So, thank you very much for participating and listening today, and we'll see you next quarter.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 0 minutes

Call participants:

Brian Chin -- Vice President, Investor Relations

Chris Huskilson -- Chief Executive Officer

Darren Myers -- Chief Financial Officer

Nelson Ng -- RBC Capital Markets -- Analyst

Rupert Merer -- National Bank Financials -- Analyst

Jeff Norman -- Chief Development Officer

Robert Hope -- Scotiabank -- Analyst

Ben Pham -- BMO Capital Markets -- Analyst

Mark Jarvi -- CIBC World Markets -- Analyst

Sean Steuart -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

More AQN analysis

All earnings call transcripts

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Algonquin Power & Utilities (AQN) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
Ambev S.A. (NYSE:ABEV) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript May 9, 2024

Ambev S.A. isnt one of the 30 most popular stocks among hedge funds at the end of the third quarter (see the details here).

Operator: Good morning, good afternoon, and thank you for waiting. We would like to welcome everyone to Ambev's 2024 First quarter Results Conference Call. Today, with us we have Mr. Jean Jereissati, Ambev's CEO; and Mr. Lucas Lira, CFO and Investor Relations Officer. As a reminder, a slide presentation is available for downloading on our website ir.ambev.com.br, as well as through the webcast link of this call. We would like to inform you that this event is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] Before proceeding, let me mention that forward-looking statements are being made under the safe harbor of the Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1996. Forward-looking statements are based on the beliefs and assumptions of Ambev's management and on information currently available to the company.

They involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions because they relate to future events and therefore depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. Investors should understand that general economic conditions, industry conditions, and other operating factors could also affect the future results of Ambev and could cause results to differ materially from those expressed in such forward-looking statements. I would also like to remind everyone that, as usual, the percentage changes that will be discussed during today's call are both organic and normalized in nature. And unless otherwise stated, percentage changes refer to comparisons with 2023 first quarter results. Normalized figures refer to performance measures before exceptional items, which are either income or expenses that do not occur regularly as part of Ambev's normal activities.

A close-up on several cans of freshly brewed beer in a commercial brewery.

As normalized figures are non-GAAP measures, the company discloses the consolidated profit, EPS, operating profit and EBITDA on a fully reported basis in the earnings release. Now I'll turn the conference over to Mr. Jean Jereissati. Mr. Jereissati, you may begin.

Jean Jereissati: So, hello everyone. Thank you for joining our Q1 earnings call. Today, before jumping into our first quarter results, I would like to say some words about the situation in the Rio Grande do Sul. Since last week, we have been working with all our energies to help our team and the population affected by the floods in the state. As a Brazilian company, we will always be at the side of Brazilians in all situations. So in addition to protecting and helping our colleagues, we have already donated more than 185,000 liters of water to 11 affected municipalities. We have also been taking water directly from our brewery in the Greater Porto Alegre to supply 4 hospitals in the capital of the state, totalizing 375,000 liters.

Story continues

In addition, we have stopped our production in Porto Alegre to start producing water to distribute to the local population. And we won't stop. We will continue our efforts to find other solutions to help our ecosystem. Now, talking about the first quarter, in our last call, I left you with three main messages regarding 2024. First, that we were and still are confident about volume growth, especially in Brazil. Second, we are working to deliver solid free cash flow generation. And lastly, our main challenge in the year is taxes in Brazil. And this quarter was a good example of this. Brazil had its best volume performance for a Q1 in history in both Beer and NABs. CAC grew volumes. In LAS, in Canada, volumes decline were mainly driven by industry.

See also

20 Countries with the Highest Literacy Rate in the World and

25 States Where Everyday Americans Earn the Lowest Incomes.

To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here.
Teslas head of product launches Rich Otto resigned from the Elon Musk-led electric vehicle maker last weekand he signed off by criticizing the sweeping layoffs Musk announced at the $547 billion EV manufacturer just weeks ago, saying theyre rocking the company and its morale.

Great companies are made up of equal parts great people and great products, and the latter are only possible when its people are thriving, Otto wrote in a farewell post on LinkedIn Wednesday. The job cuts and subsequent culture hit have thrown this harmony out of balance and its hard to see the long-game. It was time for a change.

Its a company I love and that has given me so much, but has also taken its pound of flesh, he said.

Otto was a seven-year veteran at the company and had his hands in Cybertruck events and other launches. His departure is the latest in a series of executive exits that have rattled investors amid Teslas significant downturn.

Musk fired the entire Tesla Supercharger team, including his highest-ranking female executive, at the end of April. Just days later, Teslas top human resources executive, Allie Arebalo, left the company. Meanwhile, at a crucial earnings call last month, the longtime vice president of investor relations, Martin Viecha, announced at the end of the call that he was leaving Tesla. Viechas exit came soon after senior vice president Drew Baglino resigned and cashed out a $181 million stake in the company. Baglino had been with Tesla for 18 years and was a stalwart among investors and analysts. Rohan Patel, the companys vice president of public policy and business development, parted ways at the same time as Baglino.

Even Teslas summer internship program wasnt spared. The carmaker rescinded offers to interns just before they were supposed to start, prompting Tesla employees to implore other companies to take advantage of its bloodletting. Meanwhile, this week Tesla slashed thousands of job listings in the U.S., Mexico, Canada, and Puerto Rico, leaving only three job ads remaining.

Amid the job cuts, investigators with the U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration are probing whether an online software update to address issues with Teslas partially automated driving system fully addressed problems with the technology. Tesla reported 20 crashes since the fix went out to users. At the same time, Musk has been touting its full-self driving system to investors, claiming that it is better than people think it is and that fleets of Teslas will be fully autonomous and can be used to ferry around customers when theyre not in use by owners.

Story continues

All the while, Musk and the companys board are focused on reinstating his pay plan now worth $45 billionthe largest-ever pay plan for a CEOafter a judge rescinded it earlier this year.

Otto wished everyone who got laid off well in his post. Im hopeful that Tesla  and all of the employees affected by these layoffs  can get back on their feet soon. If theres anything I can do to help, dont hesitate to reach out.

He noted he wont be missing the companys coffee. What he will miss, however, are the people.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Amtech Systems (NASDAQ:ASYS) Second Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$25.4m (down 24% from 2Q 2023).

Net income: US$970.0k (down 70% from 2Q 2023).

Profit margin: 3.8% (down from 9.6% in 2Q 2023).

EPS: US$0.068 (down from US$0.23 in 2Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Amtech Systems Revenues and Earnings Beat Expectations

Revenue exceeded analyst estimates by 8.2%. Earnings per share (EPS) also surpassed analyst estimates.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 6.7% p.a. on average during the next 2 years, compared to a 17% growth forecast for the Semiconductor industry in the US.

Performance of the American Semiconductor industry.

The company's shares are up 10% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

You should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Amtech Systems.

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.
Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. (AMEX:ASM) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript May 9, 2024

Avino Silver & Gold Mines Ltd. 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 Avino Silver & Gold Mines Limited First Quarter 2024 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast. As a reminder, all participants are on a listen-only mode and this conference is being recorded. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. [Operator Instructions] I would now like to turn the conference over to Jennifer North, Head of Investor Relations. Please go ahead ma'am.

Jennifer North: Thank you, operator. Good morning everyone and welcome to the Avino Silver & Gold Mines Limited first quarter 2024 financial results conference call and webcast. To join this webcast and conference call, there is a link in our news release dated May 1st, 2024 and in our news release of yesterday's date, which can be found on our website under News 2024. In addition, a link can be found on the homepage of the Avino website. On the call today, we have the company's President and CEO, David Wolfin; our Chief Financial Officer, Nathan Harte; our Chief Operating Officer, Carlos Rodriguez; and our VP Technical Services, Peter Latta. Before we get started, please note that certain statements made today on this call by the management team may include forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws.

Forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, and other factors that may cause the actual results to be materially different than those expressed by or implied by such forward-looking statements. The company does not intend to and does not assume any obligation to update such forward-looking statements or information other than as required by applicable law. For more information we refer you to our detailed cautionary note in the presentation related to this call are on our press release of yesterday's date. Please note that the full financial statements and MD&A are now available on our website under the Investors' tab then click on Financial Statements. As well the full statements are available on Avino's profile on SEDAR+ and on EDGAR.

I would like to remind everyone that this conference call is being recorded and will be available for replay later today. Replay information and the presentation slides from this conference call and webcast will be available on our website. Also please note that all figures stated are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise noted. Thank you. I will now hand over the call to Avino's President and CEO, David Wolfin. David?

Story continues

David Wolfin: Thanks Jen. Good morning everyone and welcome to Avino's Q1 2024 financial results conference call and webcast. We will cover the highlights of our financial and operating performance and then we will go over the work that we are currently performing followed by a Q&A. I will start with a discussion on operations and then I will turn it over to Nathan Harte, Avino's CFO and to discuss the financial performance for this period. And then Jennifer North, our Head of Investor Relations will present an overview of Q1 ESG initiatives. Please turn to Slide 5 as we go through the production results. Our Q1 production results were released in mid-April and are as follows. Silver equivalent production was 629,000 ounce. Silver production was 251,000 ounces.

Copper production was 1.3 million pounds. Gold production was just under 1,800 ounces. Mill throughput was 170,000 tons. 2024 has started strong and we are on track to meet our production target for the year. In addition our first quarter production results saw a notable improvement to mill throughput of 18% compared to Q4 2023, which contributed to positive overall results. Positive developments for Q2 production include the processing of La Preciosa stockpile material through Avino's Mill Circuit Number 2. Supply chain delays that started with the pandemic are improving. In addition we are currently mining at Level 15 at Elena Tolosa, which is expected to yield higher silver grades. Our five-year plan aims to increase production levels from 2.5 million to 2.8 million ounces of silver equivalent in 2024 to between 8 million and 10 million ounces of silver equivalent by 2029.

Continuing on to Slide 6, we will review Q1 milestones and ongoing initiatives. Beginning with La Preciosa, we'd like to emphasize that it represents a key pillar in our transformational growth strategy and hosts a large endowment of silver and gold resources which we expect to process for years to come. In early January, a long-term land use agreement was signed in January with the local community for the development of La Preciosa. This signals the beginning of a new era for Avino and the neighboring communities around La Preciosa. During the quarter, we were also able to commence hauling of old stockpiles from La Preciosa to our mill at Avino for processing. We have submitted the application for environmental permit and we have been in communication with them.

We anticipate that the permit will be issued in the coming year. After, we are in receipt of the environmental permit a further application for a permit will be submitted which is required to begin construction of the portal Haulage ramp and mining of Gloria and Abundancia Veins. We anticipate receiving these permits in the coming year. Next, I will briefly touch on the pre-feasibility study on the Oxide Tailings Project, which was completed and then announced in early February. We went through the pre-feasibility study on our Q4 call and year-end call. And I won't spend too much time on this. I will highlight the key metrics, if you would like more information please visit the website where the information and technical report are available.

The completion of the pre-feasibility study was an important key milestone for Avino, and outline the project's economic parameters expected costs and potential revenues offering a road map for future implementation. Highlights of the PFS included net present value of $98 million pre-tax and $ 61 million post-tax at a 5% discount rate and an IRR of 35% pre-tax and 26% post-tax. The study also highlights proven and probable mineral reserves first for Avino's long history of 6.7 million tonnes of silver and gold created 55 grams and 0.47 grams respectively. Next step includes community engagement and environmental impact studies. We are committed to prudent planning and strategic growth and we will use the study to make informed decisions about project execution.

Currently La Preciosa is our top priority. At this time, I will now hand it over to Nathan Harte, Avino's CFO, to present Avino's Q1 2024 financial results. Nathan?

Nathan Harte: Thank you, David. It's my pleasure to be on the call and I would like to welcome everyone who has joined us in viewing our presentation today. Turning to Slide 7 now for a summary of the key financial highlights for the first quarter. In the first quarter built off the end of the year results with revenues on budget and improved costs, translating to solid operating margins from the Avino Mine. We had positive net income of $0.6 million and adjusted earnings came in at $2.1 million or $0.02 per share both improved over previous quarters in 2023. Per ounce metrics improved from the 2023 average with cash costs and all-in sustaining cash costs decreasing. And we continue to generate additional operating cash flows with $2.3 million generated after operating and administrative expenses.

As highlighted at the end of the year, our working capital position has improved significantly since earlier in 2023, with the balance of just under $10 million at quarter end or almost double where we were 12 months prior. Coming to Slide 8 I will walk you through the details of our financial results some of which I already touched on in the highlights. Revenues came in at $12.4 million up significantly from $9.8 million in Q1 of 2023 with 26% growth and about on pace with last quarter's revenues of $12.5 million. Avino generated gross profit of $2.3 million for the quarter including non-cash depreciation and depletion, compared to $1.9 million in Q1 of 2023. The increase is a result of higher sales volumes and higher realized silver prices when compared to Q1 of last year.

Increases in revenues were offset by the impact of the Mexican peso, which did begin to strengthen during Q2 of 2023. On a cash basis gross profit was $3.1 million and represented a 26% cash operating margin. Compared to Q4 2023, gross profit did decrease slightly but was fairly flat on a cash basis. Avino reported net income after taxes of $0.6 million for Q1, compared to a loss of $0.4 million in Q1 of 2023 which is a positive swing of $1 million. Earnings per share came in at just under $0.01 for the quarter. EBITDA was $1.7 million for the quarter, showing meaningful increases from both Q1 and Q4 2023, which were $0.3 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Adjusted earnings paints a similar picture, with improvements in the quarter compared to the rest of 2023, with $2.1 million or $0.02 per share generated in Q1 of 2024.

Aerial shot of the rugged landscape of Yukon, Canada reflecting the exploration for mineral properties.

Cash flow from operations for the first quarter was $1.6 million before working capital adjustments compared to $1.2 million in Q1 of 2023 and $2.2 million in Q4. After working capital adjustments, cash flow from operations generated in the first quarter was $2.3 million, as noted on the previous slide. As you can see, we were free cash flow positive for the first quarter since 2022, and testament to cost management company-wide. We are looking to build off this quarter into the rest of the year, especially with positive movements in all three metals being produced from the Avino Mine that came subsequent to the end of the first quarter. Here on slide 9, you can see our cash cost for silver equivalent payable ounce for the first quarter showed meaningful improvement coming in at under $15 at $14.89.

As you can see on the chart, this was our lowest quarter for the trailing 12 months and lower than the average for 2023, which was $15.61 All-in sustaining cash cost for silver equivalent payable ounce improved further, coming in at $20.23, again, our lowest quarter for the trailing 12 months and lower than the 2023 average of $21.87 per ounce. Coming to slide 10, you can see our cash cost per tonne processed for the quarter came in slightly above the yearly average of $53.64 per tonne. However, this was much improved on Q3 and Q4 costs. All-in sustaining cash cost per tonne process tell a similar story for the quarter, although this one did come in below the yearly average of $74.16 and well below the previous two quarters. The Mexican peso continues to hold strength, which has impacted our cost structure as the majority of our expenditures are incurred in Mexico with local suppliers, employees and contractors.

As we highlighted on our year-end earnings call, we have put in a number of measures in place for cost reduction, which included lowering haulage rates to match mill throughput as we had generated a large ore stockpile over the previous few months. These measures have paid dividends with these first quarter results with significantly lower unit costs compared to previous quarters, as noticed on the graph in this slide and on the previous slide. With the increases in metal prices and the anticipation of La Preciosa we are looking forward as our focus shifts over to the growth side throughout the rest of 2024. With silver currently above $27 per ounce, copper above $4.50 per pound and gold above $2,300 per ounce, these prices will have positive impacts on our second quarter results as we look to continue managing costs at Avino and advancing La Preciosa.

At this point, I will now turn it over to Jennifer North, Head of Investor Relations for an overview of our Q1 ESG and CSR initiatives.

Jennifer North: Thank you, Nathan. Moving on to slide 11, we have listed the ESG CSR initiatives that were completed in the first quarter of 2024. The Several members of the corporate team from Vancouver have made trips to Durango over the last six months and spent time visiting the communities. David, Nathan and Pete were there in November and also in February. Myself and Jennifer Trevor were there in December and again in April. Avino follows the ESG standards and the United Nations sustainable development goals, the SDGs that work together to address the most pressing challenges facing the world. One of our major objectives is to make a positive impact on our communities and society. Maintaining a friendly dialogue is key to learning and improving and maintaining strong relationships and developing trust as responsible corporate citizens.

In Durango, the CSR team meets regularly with the stakeholders and the communities and is focused in the areas of education, infrastructure and environment. And following the guidelines of the SDG, the team was able to accomplish the following. In relation to education. Avino considers education of the children and adults of our local communities extremely important and several important considerations that we keep in mind are, one, cultural sensitivity. We make an effort to understand and appreciate the culture and tradition of each community. Two, community engagement, we endeavor to foster strong relationships and collaborate with community members, leaders and stakeholders involve these groups when appropriate in decision-making processes related to education initiatives to ensure local perspectives are considered.

One of the ways we accomplish this is the CSR team regularly communicates with the principles of the schools to see how we as a company, can help fulfill certain needs. And three, broadening the curriculum, we make an effort to incorporate information about mining by going into schools regularly to show mining as meaningful and relatable to children as a future potential career. During the first quarter in the communities, Avino continued contributing to the schools and the communities by donating Samsung TVs and tablets for the benefit of the women in the communities, workshops in embroidery, knitting and pinata making were held. These workshops not only help them establish their own sense of community and belonging but encourages the women to pursue entrepreneurial ventures and not only drive some economic growth but also fosters innovation, community engagement and empowerment.

At San Jose de Avino, the company has performed road maintenance and cattle guard installations donated the lime to paint a town's church for the annual event of its Patriot Saints festivities, which are held every year and are attended by the entire population of the community and surrounding communities. Moving to Slide 12, for the benefit of the environment, Avino delivered recycled containers to the church at San Jose do Vino, rehabilitation road works were carried out at the main road from Panuco to Coronado to Zaragoza to Avino and Avino delivered waste wood to Javier Mina [ph]. For the benefit of good health and well-being, Avino takes mental health seriously and our commitment to the community also includes giving presentations on the subject to ensure that these matters are okay to talk about and the space is given for those who wish to ask questions about mental health and well-being.

One of Avino's top CSR priorities is to create employment opportunities for residents and nearby communities, aiming to cultivate generations of passionate and committed advocates for Avino or as we like to say ambassadors of Avino. We aim to educate the younger generation about local resources, motivating them to appreciate the benefits of mining and envision a future where they can pursue rewarding careers in their own community. Currently we have 490 direct jobs, which includes the workers at the mine site and in our Durango offices. This number of jobs will typically translate to three times the number of indirect jobs for services, consultants and suppliers in the surrounding communities and the Durango area. I will now turn it back over to David to continue on with the presentation providing our plans for the coming quarter.

David?

David Wolfin: Thanks, Jen. Moving to Slide 13. We are well into the second quarter of 2024 and I mentioned earlier, our ongoing priority is proceeding with our plans for the Gloria and Abundancia veins at La Preciosa. Community engagement is ongoing as we ready ourselves to begin development work. We have hauled La Preciosa stockpiles to the Amino Mill Circuit number 2 for processing. We are mining higher in Elena Tolosa. And currently we are now up to Level 15, which is expected to yield higher silver grades. And lastly, our objective is to bolster our treasury through cash flow generation from the Avino mine as we plan the future development of our wholly owned La Preciosa property. As outlined on Slide 14, we want to reemphasize the company's growth plans.

We have three assets within a 20-kilometer footprint, totaling hundreds of millions of silver equivalent mineral resources. On the same area we have an operating mill complex which is currently producing from our Avino Mine. Additionally, access to water, power and tailing storage, all ingredients to grow organically without the major capital investment required that we expect, if we were starting from scratch. As you can see on this slide, our goal is to scale up by 2029 through production from these three assets by capitalizing on our existing assets and resources we can execute our growth plan efficiently and effectively. This approach not only mitigates risk associated with new project development but also positions us for long-term success and value creation.

We'd now like to move the call to the question-and-answer portion. Operator?

See also

25 States Where Everyday Americans Earn the Lowest Incomes and

15 Best Places to Retire in Delaware.

To continue reading the Q&A session, please click here.
(Bloomberg) -- Baidu Inc.s media relations chief has resigned after posting a string of videos endorsing 24-7 work and making light of staff wellbeing, reigniting a furor over the tech industrys relentless 996 culture.

Most Read from Bloomberg

Qu Jing stepped down on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter, after posting at least four videos in which she talked about keeping her phone on 24-7 and warned subordinates to toe the line. Im not your mother-in-law, she said in one of the clips she posted to Douyin, Chinas version of TikTok.

The executives comments reverberated across social media in China, where a debate has raged about the demands that a then-aggressive tech industry placed on its often young workforce. Dubbed 996 because of the tendency to demand employees work 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. six days a week, the practice came under scrutiny after the unexplained deaths of several tech employees made headlines.

Beijing warned companies off excessive work during a broader crackdown on the powerful sector that began in 2020, though the practice has endured  particularly as jobs dried up in an economic downturn. Qu later apologized, saying those were her personal views and not Baidus.

A Baidu spokesperson didnt respond to text messages seeking comment.

Read more: In China Tech, 996 Means Work, Work and More Work: QuickTake

While Qu drew a plethora of outraged responses, some commentators on social media said she was merely speaking the plain truth about an industry thats now struggling to grow. The executive had deleted her videos as of Friday and her page merely carried her apology.

Most Read from Bloomberg Businessweek

2024 Bloomberg L.P.
(FOX40.COM)  A Bank of America branch in the Land Park neighborhood is closing later this fall.

The Bank of America Financial Center on 1515 Broadway is set to close on Sept. 10, according to the banks website.

The bank is in a busy area on Broadway, sitting across from Tower Cafe and Tower Theatre and nearby other business such as Lolas Lounge, Miso Japanese, Noahs Bagels, Chipotle and Target.

Starbucks announces temporary closure of East Sacramento location

Customers who opened an account or often visit the banks Broadway location reportedly received a notice that the bank was closing.

Bank of America notified customers that their accounts will stay the same and have specialists to provide guidance if needed.

Customers who need to close their safe deposit boxes at the branch are advised to make an appointment by calling 877-218-8262.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to FOX40.
Just when you stopped regularly hearing about COVID-19 in the news, another infectious disease began to dominate headlines this spring: bird flu.

The good news isfor now, at leastpublic health experts dont see this latest bout of avian influenza evolving into the likes of the coronavirus pandemic. But given the disease has spread to poultry in 48 states, dairy cows in nine, and two people in Texas and Colorado, you may be worried about its potential impact on your health.

Fortune spoke with a trio of epidemiologists, who below answer critical public health questions about bird flu.

What is bird flu?

The type of bird flu thats currently circulating is a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI)a disease that can seriously sicken wild and domestic birds, posing a major threat to the poultry industry and thereby the global economy, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). The other kind, low pathogenicity avian influenza, causes mild infection in wild fowl but can turn into HPAI in poultry.

Influenza viruses are divided into four types, A, B, C, and D, explains Edwin Michael, PhD, an epidemiologist at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. What we think of as the seasonal flu in humans is caused by types A and B. Bird flu falls under the umbrella of influenza A viruses. The strain currently spreading in the U.S. is H5N1, an HPAI named for proteins on the viruss surface.

It can spread very quickly through the bird populationwild birds. That can spread it all across the world, Michael tells Fortune. From the bird, the virus is shed in mucus, saliva, feces, and then that can go and get into domestic poultry.

When HPAI strains reach domestic poultry, they can kill entire flocks within days, the USDA says. Birds with HPAI infection may show a slew of symptoms including diarrhea, lack of energy and appetite, and a drop in egg production. Because HPAI cant be treated, poultry depopulation is the sole solution.

Such culling can be effective in curtailing the spread in birds crucial to U.S. agriculture and food production, says Dr. William Schaffner, a professor in the Division of Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

This particular bird flu virus, in its variants, has actually been around for a long timeover a decade, Schaffner tells Fortune. Its been gradually spreading but recently, somehow, for reasons that at least I dont understand, its spread around the world has become much more prominent and much more widespread.

Testing for bird flu, conceptual image

How does bird flu spread to humans and other mammals?

H5N1 is a shapeshifter, so to speak, due to its segmented DNA, Michael explains.

Story continues

For example, if a human gets infected with a bird flu and also carries a human influenza A virus, these two viruses can exchange genetic material. This is known as genetic shift, Michael says. That can form very new viruses [and] cause epidemics.

Flu pandemics are rare, though, occurring roughly three times a century, Michael says. Perhaps the most notable is the so-called Spanish flu of 19181919, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates an avian-like H1N1 virus killed 50 million, and possibly as many as 100 million, people worldwide.

You probably remember the swine flu pandemic of 2009, caused by a previously unknown H1N1 virus that contained swine, human, and avian genes. How did that happen? Because bird flu viruses dont always effectively spread among humans, they sometimes need help from other species to thrive, Schaffner explains.

The pigs respiratory tract is set up in such a way that it can accept bird flu infections andandinfections with a human virus, Schaffner says. You could think of the pig as a test tube into which goes a bird flu and a human flu, and if that happens simultaneously in the same pig, then those two viruses get together and can have the capacity to exchange genetic elements.

While the latest H5N1 strain isnt known to spread among humans, it has already spilled over to more than a dozen species of wild mammals, from black bears to a bottlenose dolphin. As recently as May 3, red foxes in New York and Michigan tested positive, according to the USDAs Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS).

This bird flu virus is not relying on pigs but is mutating on its own to become a more effective infection in a variety of different mammalian species, Schaffner says. The one that has been in the news is dairy cattle, which surprised every virologist.

When did bird flu most recently appear in the US?

Government agencies have been monitoring the latest bird flu outbreaks since Jan. 12, 2022, when a Northern Shoveler duck in Hyde County, North Carolina, tested positive for a Eurasian strain of H5N1.

Among wild birds, the disease had spread throughout more than 1,100 counties as of May 8, 2024, infecting nearly 9,400 fowl.

The situation is worse in U.S. poultry. As of May 7, nearly 91 million birds, including commercial poultry and backyard flocks, had been infected. This encompasses more than 1,100 outbreaks in 522 counties across 48 states.

APHIS recorded the first poultry infection in a commercial turkey flock in Dubois County, Indiana, on Feb. 8, 2022.

Though H5N1 has been circulating nationwide in wild birds, domestic poultry, and mammals since 2022, you may have only been hearing about it recently because of its jump to dairy cattle. The first positive case was documented in Texas on March 25, 2024.

As of May 7, nearly 40 dairy cattle herds had been infected across nine states.

The logistics of modern industrial farming may be fueling the H5N1 spread to cattle, Michael says.

Look at the density of animals in those farmsthose are not natural settings, Michael tells Fortune. So as soon as you get [an infection], these things will spread very quickly among farm animals.

Michael adds, We have to shed a light on how farming is done. Thats the trade-off, you want cheap meat and all the rest of it, but then you farm animals in this way and youre opening the door up for other things.

Is it safe to drink milk and eat chicken?

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) acknowledges the presence of bird flu in dairy cows is a novel and evolving situation. That said, no previous studies have been done on the effects of pasteurizationa sterilization measure that kills harmful bacteriaon HPAI in bovine milk. However, the FDA says existing research has informed its understanding and conclusion that milk consumption is safe.

The FDA and USDA are conducting a national commercial milk sampling study, which includes milk-derived baby formula. As of May 1, no HPAI had been detected in any formula products. While bird flu had shown up in milk, sour cream, and cottage cheese samples, pasteurization inactivated the virus.

There is no need to be concerned about milk, eggs, [and] chicken as sources of infection, Schaffner tells Fortune. Im out there drinking milk, and we had chicken last night for dinner.

Both Schaffner and the FDA urge the public to steer clear of raw, unpasteurized milk. The CDC recommends cooking eggs and poultry to an internal temperature of 165 degrees to kill bacteria and viruses, H5N1 included.

How worried do you need to be about H5N1 affecting people?

Simply put, dont panic, says Michael Osterholm, PhD, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

Theres no evidence yet at this point that this is an imminent risk to humans, Osterholm tells Fortune. Weve not seen it cross over to humans in a way that would support that its going to be the next pandemic virus.

On the other hand, a reassortant event, or continued mutations, could occur tomorrow.

Two humans have so far caught H5N1, according to the CDC. A person exposed to dairy cattle in Texas tested positive April 1, 2024, and a person in Colorado involved in culling poultry tested positive April 28, 2022. No human-to-human transmission has been confirmed, and the more recent patients only symptom was conjunctivitis, or pink eye.

We do have two, three receptor sites in our eyes, and so having a case of conjunctivitis would not be considered unusual, Osterholm says. There was no evidence of any kind of respiratory infection, which is the key piece for serious illness and then being able to transmit the virus.

The Texas case marks the first time a human has been infected with H5N1 through contact with a mammal, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Even so, WHO considers the public health risk to the general population low. For farmworkers and other industry staff likely to be exposed to the virus, the risk is low to moderate.

Going forward, assuring the health and safety of agriculture workers is paramount to keeping H5N1 from spreading to the wider population, Michael says.

I dont think this one is going to be a major outbreak (in humans), Michael says. [But] the risk is always, always there because of the way we manage nature.

For more on the latest bird flu outbreak:

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
Insiders were net buyers of Challenger Gold Limited's (ASX:CEL ) stock during the past year. That is, insiders bought more stock than they sold.

While we would never suggest that investors should base their decisions solely on what the directors of a company have been doing, logic dictates you should pay some attention to whether insiders are buying or selling shares.

Check out our latest analysis for Challenger Gold

Challenger Gold Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Non-Executive Director Fletcher Quinn for AU$114k worth of shares, at about AU$0.11 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of AU$0.069. 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. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. It is encouraging to see an insider paid above the current price for shares, as it suggests they saw value, even at higher levels. Fletcher Quinn was the only individual insider to buy during the last year.

Fletcher Quinn bought a total of 3.12m shares over the year at an average price of AU$0.085. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

Challenger Gold 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.

Insider Ownership Of Challenger Gold

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. It appears that Challenger Gold insiders own 21% of the company, worth about AU$20m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

So What Do The Challenger Gold Insider Transactions Indicate?

There haven't been any insider transactions in the last three months -- that doesn't mean much. But insiders have shown more of an appetite for the stock, over the last year. Insiders own shares in Challenger Gold and we see no evidence to suggest they are worried about the future. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Case in point: We've spotted 4 warning signs for Challenger Gold you should be aware of, and 2 of these are a bit concerning.

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.
(This May 8 story has been refiled to remove extraneous words in paragraph 1)

By Liangping Gao and Ryan Woo

BEIJING (Reuters) - Two Chinese provincial capitals lifted all home purchase restrictions on Thursday to lure buyers and shore up their sagging real estate markets, raising the prospect of other megacities following suit.

As of May 9, Hangzhou and Xian will no longer vet the eligibility of potential buyers, the cities' housing authorities said in separate notices, shedding requirements previously imposed to deter speculators and block buyers who are not legal residents of the cities or local tax payers.

The last round of China's property boom in many cities ended around 2020-2021 due to the pandemic and also strict borrowing requirements imposed by regulators to contain the towering debts accrued by developers.

Declining home prices in markets, including traditionally hot locations such as Hangzhou, have since chilled buyer sentiment, hitting a sector that once accounted for a quarter of China's economic output.

Authorities have been ramping up measures to prop up the troubled sector, but many of the policies have been piecemeal in nature or have only a limited, short-term impact.

In Hangzhou, capital of wealthy Zhejiang province, new home prices edged up 1.0% year-on-year in March, the slowest pace in nearly six years, according to the latest data from China's statistics bureau.

In April, the city's new home sales stood at 310,000 square metres, slumping 75% year-on-year, a survey from real estate firm CRIC showed.

Then, on April 30, a meeting of Communist Party leaders called for measures to support the property sector, saying it would improve policies to clear mounting housing inventories.

A day earlier, the southwestern city of Chengdu, home to 21.4 million residents and capital of Sichuan province, dropped all home-buying limits.

Hangzhou is the first city to completely abolish purchase restrictions after that meeting, said analyst Yan Yuejin at E-house China Research and Development Institute, a private real estate service provider.

Hangzhou, a city of 12.5 million people, is also China's answer to Silicon Valley, being home to technology majors including Alibaba Group and NetEase. It has been a magnet for tech talent from all over China.

The city's decision will be "very inspiring" for other cities that still have curbs, and a wave of cities will see unprecedentedly large-scale policy easing starting in May, Yan predicted.

On Thursday, authorities in Xian, a city of more than 13 million residents and capital of northwestern Shaanxi province, will also allow private companies and government-affiliated institutions to buy second-hand housing and newly-built apartments, in a move to reduce swelling housing inventories.

Story continues

The initial reaction by analysts to the moves by Hangzhou and Xian was lacklustre.

"Relaxing purchase restrictions has proven ineffective at reviving demand," said Joe Peissel, an economic analyst at Trivium China.

"That's because there are massive excess supplies of housing  both new builds and secondhand units  that weigh on prices and deter buyers from re-entering the market."

'SYMBOLIC'

Currently, only southern Hainan province, the northern city of Tianjin, the southern cities of Zhuhai and Hengqin, and China's four biggest cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen - are still enforcing purchase restrictions.

"Except for the biggest cities of Beijing and Shanghai, easing the purchase restrictions in other cities are only symbolic," said Zhang Dawei, analyst at Centaline Property Agency Ltd.

"What really affects demand is that people expect house prices to fall, there is no investment value, and they can't make money, so few would buy property whether or not there are purchase restrictions," said Zhang.

But analysts do not expect the four so-called tier-one cities - Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen and Guangzhou - to drop all their restrictions soon.

"There is not going be a blanket drop for restrictions in all tier-one cities, but certainly they will continue to be relaxed until there is a sustainable rebound in demand," said Peissel.

"Prices need to fall much further before the property market reaches a new equilibrium and homebuyers have the confidence to re-enter the market," he said.

During the five-day May Day holiday, China's average per-day home sales by floor area plunged 47% from a year earlier, figures from the China Index Academy showed, among the country's largest independent real estate researchers.

The competition among cities to remove purchase restrictions could also dilute demand in certain segments of the market, said analyst Yan.

"Because of the already limited demand, some people may go buy new homes after the easing, which will have a short-term negative impact on the second-hand housing market," said Yan.

(Reporting by Liangping Gao, Ellen Zhang and Ryan Woo; Additional reporting by Shuyan Wang; Editing by Christopher Cushing and Stephen Coates)
The city is selling a vacant eight acres on Dove Street to a Canadian aerosol manufacturer.

Construction of a large industrial warehouse could soon be underway on a vacant Dove Street site owned by the city of Port Huron and recently OKd for sale to a Canadian aerosol manufacturer.

The citys planning commission signed off on site plans last Tuesday for a new 80,000-square-foot facility with 38 parking spaces and truck docks at 2831 Dove St. for the company Empack Spraytech Inc.

Although plans included building the whole facility upfront, representatives told Port Huron officials it could be a while before any major production picks up.

Architect Leroy Stevens said theyve done the layout for the site, leaving room for future growth. But he said they havent gotten into all of the engineering or building designs of the facility. He called it a good fit for the industrial park overall.

Its important to know that this isnt a speculative building. Theyre building it for their own use, and they have a company in Ontario thats been in business for 25 years. So, its family owned, Stevens said.  Theyre looking to expand into Michigan. I think its a great opportunity for our community to have a business moving in.

City Manager James Freed announced to City Council members earlier this year that they were clawing back the eight-acre parcel on Dove from a previous buyer after plans for a 100,000-square-foot spec building fell short.

A layout from Stevens Architects shows an 80,000-square-foot warehouse with parking and current and future truck docks and lanes for Empack Spraytech on Dove Street in Port Huron.

That was a $164,600 purchase in December 2022. The property is currently still listed under the citys ownership, though a $177,100 buy from Empack was approved by council in March this year.

At the time, Freed had indicated the companys impact would prove a significant development with a building investment in the millions and new jobs to the area.

Some of those details, however, remain unannounced.

Ara Nalbandian, a vice president for Empack, was the signatory on that deal and also appeared before planning commissioners on Tuesday.

Planning Director David Haynes asked what sort of customers Empack would be working with in Michigan.

Nalbandian said they were cautious about sharing specifics because of non-disclosure agreements, but that it would be a lot of global names.

Our company produces consumer and industrial goods, which include aerosols, lotions, creams. It could be automotive, industrial, and personal care products, he said. This facility will most likely be focused more on automotive and industrial (work) and other products.

The city of Port Huron put an eight-acre industrial park site, shown on Tuesday, March 12, 2024, back on the market after plans tied to a 2022 sale fell through.

In addition to the warehouse itself, which would be structural steel, site plans show two truck wells and lanes  one set as proposed and another for the future  as well as a future retaining pond.

Story continues

It also shows room for more parking as they grow.

Stevens emphasized leaving room for future expansion within the building, laying the groundwork as a distribution site with a few employees and bringing in products from Ontario before improving capacity.

Thats why were really saying we need space to increase the parking as that happens, he said. But thats probably over the next several years, not in a week. But Ive worked with plans like this. Its kind of amazing. Lets just order a line. So, if you want to slice tomatoes, you order a line that takes a year, year and a half to get that line. So, well start with a few things and grow. But we want to put up the whole building so we have it for storage and expanding easy inside.

Contact Jackie Smith at (810) 989-6270 or jssmith@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Port Huron Times Herald: City green-lights site plans for Canadian manufacturer's massive warehouse
Net Loss: Reported a net loss of $14.5 million for Q1 2024, which is below above the estimated net loss of $15.16 million.

Earnings Per Share (EPS): Recorded an EPS of -$0.25, surpassing the estimated EPS of -$0.28.

Operating Expenses: Increased by 44% year-over-year to $15.9 million, driven by higher SG&A expenses due to expanded commercial activities.

Cash Position: Ended the quarter with $58.6 million in cash and short-term investments, excluding restricted cash.

Revenue: Reported zero revenue, which met the estimates.

Research and Development Expenses: Decreased by approximately 75%, reflecting a shift in focus towards commercial operations post FDA approval.

On May 9, 2024, CorMedix Inc. (NASDAQ:CRMD), a biopharmaceutical company dedicated to the development and commercialization of therapeutic products for life-threatening diseases, disclosed its financial outcomes for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, through its 8-K filing. The report revealed a net loss of $14.5 million or $0.25 per share, a significant increase from the $10.6 million loss or $0.24 per share reported in the same period last year, and a deviation from analyst estimates which anticipated a loss of $0.28 per share and a net income loss of $15.16 million.

CorMedix Inc. (CRMD) Q1 2024 Earnings: Net Loss Widens, Misses Analyst Forecasts

CorMedix's primary focus remains on the commercialization of its flagship product, DefenCath, in the U.S., following its FDA approval in November 2023. The company has initiated the commercial launch in inpatient settings and is preparing for an outpatient launch slated for July 2024.

Financial Performance Insights

The increased net loss this quarter was driven primarily by a 44% rise in operating expenses, totaling $15.9 million, compared to $11.0 million in Q1 2023. This surge was mainly due to a 98% increase in Selling, General, and Administrative (SG&A) expenses, which amounted to $15.0 million. The rise in SG&A expenses was attributed to the expansion of the sales force and marketing personnel, essential for the commercial rollout of DefenCath.

Research and Development (R&D) expenses, however, saw a significant reduction by approximately 75%, reflecting a strategic shift in spending towards commercial activities post-FDA approval. Despite these increased expenditures, the company managed to offset some losses through the sale of New Jersey Net Operating Losses (NOLs), contributing $1.4 million.

As of March 31, 2024, CorMedix reported having $58.6 million in cash and short-term investments, which they believe will support their operations for at least the next twelve months.

Story continues

Operational Highlights and Future Outlook

Joe Todisco, CEO of CorMedix, expressed optimism about the company's transition to a commercial stage and the initial market reception of DefenCath. "In only a few weeks of inpatient deployment, we have received meaningful interest in scheduling DefenCath for formulary review at various institutions," Todisco stated. He also highlighted ongoing preparations for the upcoming outpatient launch and efforts to position DefenCath as a preventative solution in hemodialysis patients.

Despite the financial challenges marked by increased losses, CorMedix's strategic focus on commercialization and market penetration of DefenCath could pave the way for future revenue streams and potential market capture. However, the immediate financial health of the company shows strain under the weight of ramping up operations, which investors and stakeholders should monitor closely.

Conclusion

CorMedix's first quarter of 2024 reflects a pivotal period of investment in commercial capabilities and market entry for DefenCath. While the financial results have shown a widening loss, exceeding analyst expectations for net loss, the strategic shifts and market responses hint at potential long-term gains. Stakeholders should consider both the current financial challenges and the prospective opportunities arising from the company's commercial strategies.

Explore the complete 8-K earnings release (here) from Cormedix Inc for further details.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


Credit-card companies are asking a judge to stop a federal rule that'd cap late fees. Adam Gault/Getty Images

Hoping to say goodbye to high credit-card late fees?

You may need to keep dreaming.

A judge could side last minute with credit-card companies trying to stop a new cap on fees.

Credit-card companies aren't giving up their late fees that easily.

In March, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced that the federal government had made a new rule capping credit-card late fees.

The rule limits fees for a first violation to just $8, a move that the CFPB estimates could save US customers billions.

But the blowback from the credit-card industry has been fierce, and they've taken the government to court over it.

This week, a federal judge in Texas is expected to rule on a request to pause the new cap on late fees while a lawsuit is pending, CNBC reported.

If the judge sides with the companies  and the US Chamber of Commerce, who joined the lawsuit  the changes to fees wouldn't go into effect.

The cap was set to begin on Tuesday.

Business Insider's Emily Stewart recently warned that it was too early to start celebrating the death of high fees. Despite an election-year push by President Joe Biden to cut down on so-called "junk fees," credit-card companies won't go quietly, she wrote.

Even as they fight the rule changes in court, companies could likely find other ways to make up the money by increasing other fees, Stewart reported.

Matt Schulz, the chief credit analyst at LendingTree, told BI at the time: "I would imagine that we will see other fees increase over the next little while."

One place could be annual fees, which have already been rising and could be pushed even higher to sneak them past customers who aren't paying attention to their statements, BI previously reported.

Read the original article on Business Insider
Image source: The Motley Fool.

Cs Disco (NYSE: LAW)

Q1 2024 Earnings Call

May 09, 2024, 5:00 p.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:





Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by, and welcome to CS Disco's first quarter of fiscal year '24 conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session.

[Operator instructions] I would like to now hand the conference over to our first speaker today, head of investor relations, Aleksey Lakchakov. Please go ahead.

Aleksey Lakchakov -- Head of Investor Relations

Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us on today's conference call to discuss the financial results for DISCO's first quarter of fiscal year 2024. With me on today's call are Scott Hill, DISCO's incoming chair of the board of directors; Eric Friedrichsen, DISCO's chief executive officer; and Michael Lafair, DISCO's chief financial officer. Today's call will include forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to statements regarding our financial outlook and future performance, the impact of changes to our executive leadership, our future capital expenditures, market opportunity, market position, product strategy and growth opportunities, the benefits of our product offerings and developments in the legal technology industry, including those related to the role of artificial intelligence. In addition to our prepared remarks, our earnings press release, SEC filings and a replay of today's call can be found on our investor relations website at ir.csdisco.com.

Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to be materially different from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements represent our management's beliefs and assumptions only as of the date made. Information on factors that could affect the company's financial results is included in its filings with the SEC from time to time, including the section entitled Risk Factors in the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31st, 2023, filed with the SEC on February 22nd, 2024, and the company's upcoming quarter report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31st, 2024. In addition, during today's call, we will discuss non-GAAP financial measures.

Story continues

Should you invest $1,000 in Cs Disco right now?

Before you buy stock in Cs Disco, 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 Cs Disco 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 $553,959!*

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 May 6, 2024

These non-GAAP financial measures are in addition to and not a substitute for or superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations between GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures and a discussion of the limitations of using non-GAAP measures versus their closest GAAP equivalents are available in our earnings release. And with that, I'd like to turn the call over to Scott.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Thanks, Aleksey. Good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for joining us. I'm very excited that we are joined today by DISCO's new CEO, Eric Friedrichsen. I noted on my very first call nearly eight months ago that I was committed to be DISCO's CEO until we found an outstanding long-term answer.

Eric is that person. The board conducted a global search and interviewed a diverse range of candidates to find a CEO to take DISCO to the next level. We took our time to find a person who we believe can enable DISCO's long-term success. Eric stood out above everyone else.

His experience scaling global software companies, leading complex sales functions, developing best-in-class products, and elevating the customer's voice, combined with a deep commitment to building and leading a collaborative and healthy culture, made it clear that he is the right person for the job. Eric is uniquely positioned to lead DISCO into its next stage, which we believe will be characterized by a strong company culture, a return to consistent growth, and improved profitability and shareholder returns. I'm excited at the prospect of working closely with Eric as the chair of DISCO's board of directors to help support him and the DISCO team who have come to mean so much to me. Before we discuss our first quarter performance, I want to give Eric an opportunity to introduce himself.

Eric?

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Scott, and hello, everyone. I'm very happy to be here. I just want to start by taking a moment to thank you, Scott. Your leadership over the past eight months has been both stabilizing and inspirational.

I am very appreciative. In fact, we're all very appreciative of everything that you've done to help lead the team through this difficult period. So, thank you, Scott. For the rest of you, as a quick introduction, for the past four years, I served as the CEO of Emburse, the world's largest independent provider of travel and expense software.

During my time at Emburse, we more than doubled the revenue to over $250 million while improving gross margins, expanding the employee population, and becoming a very healthy and profitable business. Prior to Emburse, I spent over 25 years leading large organizations in general management, sales, services, and technology, most notably at Adobe, SAP, and Concur. And now I am honored to become the CEO of DISCO. I have already met and spent time with our senior leadership, as well as many key employees and a handful of loyal and valued customers.

The first thing I'd like to say is that the DISCO team should be very proud of everything that they've accomplished. Growing a business to over $130 million in revenue in 2023 with strong gross margins, over 1,400 customers, and industry-leading products is not a simple task. But even more so at DISCO, we are at the precipice of a truly revolutionary change. Every industry is evolving due to the advent of generative AI, we all know that.

But the legal industry is the one that stands to benefit the most from this technological advancement. Whether it's the process of document review, legal research, brief writing, or even legal advice, every area of the legal workflow will be impacted by AI. DISCO stands at the vanguard of legal technology because of the vision of our employees and our leaders to invest and develop the technologies to take advantage of this exact moment. The foundation of DISCO is strong and with a focus in collaboration, we will achieve remarkable things.

So, as you know, I am just getting started, but I look forward to meeting all of you in our investor base and providing more updates on our strategy and our accomplishments in future earnings calls. Thank you, everyone. And now I'll turn it back over to Scott.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Thanks, Eric, and welcome aboard. Now let's dive into our solid performance during the first quarter of 2024. Total revenue for the first quarter of 2024 was $35.6 million, up 7% versus the same quarter last year. Software revenue in Q1 grew 9% over the prior year to $29.9 million.

Notably, software revenue and revenue growth each accelerated sequentially for the third consecutive quarter. Services revenue was $5.7 million in the first quarter and adjusted EBITDA was negative $5.2 million, an improvement of $7.8 million year over year. We ended the first quarter with around $149 million of cash, no debt, and 1,442 customers, up 4% from this time a year ago. As we've mentioned on prior calls, we see opportunity to grow within our existing customer base while also continuing to add new high-value customers.

Of note, we're also evaluating the cost to acquire and retain some of our smaller customers. I am proud of the way our customer-facing teams executed over the last two quarters despite our internal challenges and even as we began the early stages of rebuilding and reorganizing many aspects of our go-to-market approach. Over the past few months, we have developed a much deeper understanding of our customers. That understanding has led to improved customer segmentation, a reassessment of our marketing and SDR investments, and a realization that we need to replenish and refresh our sales and customer success functions.

We're confident that these efforts will help us reaccelerate our growth in the medium term, but acknowledge that all of the change is having a slight dampening effect in the second quarter. Importantly, Eric is stepping into the CEO role at an auspicious time given his demonstrated track record of leading high-performing go-to-market functions. His assessment and enhancement of our go-to-market redesign, combined with our loyal customer base and innovative product offerings give us confidence in our ability to reaccelerate revenue growth, which will then enable improved profitability and enhance shareholder returns. During the first quarter, our product and engineering teams further enhanced our innovative generative AI offerings even as they continue to develop additional features for our core e-discovery platform.

As you may have seen, we just announced a new Cecilia AI feature called doc summaries. This is a generative AI tool that provides detailed and high-level takeaways of individual documents at a user's request with the simple click of a single button on the DISCO dashboard. The reality in a review process is that many of the documents lawyers review might be dozens of pages long or in foreign or esoteric language. It slows down the review and could be overwhelming for the person going through the process.

Doc summaries was designed to overcome all of those hurdles and provide an immediate punchy summary of an individual document, enhancing the speed of a lawyer's workflow and review process. We're excited to bring this capability to our customers at no charge to supplement our large-scale document summary skill embedded in our Cecilia platform. Next, we're excited about Cecilia Auto Review. I hinted at this feature on the last earnings call and it is now being demoed with a small number of customers.

Cecilia Auto Review leverages DISCO's AI to allow lawyers to set parameters that are then used to take relevant documents in a case database. This is a core element of the legal review process to identify the most relevant documents for a given case. The task typically takes several lawyers and hundreds of hours to go through terabytes of data and manually tag thousands of documents. In one example, Cecilia Auto Review assessed 9,000 documents in a live customer database in two hours, a task that would have required as much as 200 hours to manually complete.

Importantly, the Cecilia results matched well over 90% of the results from the actual human review and the customer acknowledged that in the small number of mismatches, it's probable that the Cecilia results were more correct. Imagine the significant improvement to lawyers' efficiency and how much additional time they will have to spend on building a strong case as opposed to reviewing a high volume of irrelevant documents. We're excited about this next Cecilia skill and we'll have more updates on Cecilia Auto Review in the coming quarters. Even as we continue to develop new Cecilia skills, we remain focused on enhancing our core e-discovery platform.

A feature called data type and custom fields was among the many new features we delivered to our customers during this past quarter. With this functionality, users can effectively search and sort custom fields, unlocking the full potential of DISCO's search functionality with support for key data types like date time, text list, Integer, Boolean, and free text, this update empowers users to streamline their data management process for any field, standard or custom enabling more intuitive and efficient e-discovery workflows. Although a more technical feature, this has been one of the most requested enhancements from our customers and we have already had a number of those customers request that we enable this capability on all of their matters. We believe our continuous platform enhancements and product releases, coupled with our deep understanding of legal workflow, UI, and architectural efficiency provide our customers with technology solutions that enhance their ability to produce the best legal outcomes for their clients.

Our platform is efficient, scalable, and fast. In March alone, over 1.2 billion pages were produced on the platform. And at the peak, over 51.6 million pages were produced in a single hour. This highlights the scale of the DISCO offering and the ability to leverage our cloud-native platform to handle the largest matters with unparalleled efficiency.

From my first day in this role, I have consistently stated my strong belief that DISCO has the right people and products to reaccelerate growth and deliver profitability, positive cash flow and enhance shareholder returns. We have analyzed our culture and go-to-market challenges and are developing action plans to materially improve both areas. The launch of our stock buyback program in March was a reflection of our belief that a stronger culture and better go-to-market combined with our talented employees, industry-leading products, and large growing market opportunity support our objective to generate meaningfully more value than is reflected in our current share price. We're confident that Eric's leadership and experience can help DISCO realize that objective.

With that, I'll turn it over to Michael.

Michael Lafair -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Scott. In Q1 2024, total revenues were $35.6 million, up 7% year over year. Software revenues were $29.9 million, up 9% year over year. Services revenues, which include DISCO manager review and professional services were $5.7 million, up 2% year over year.

As Scott mentioned in his remarks, we are continually adding capabilities to our platform. This was an exciting quarter for us as we are starting to see contributions from Cecilia, which Scott previously discussed at length. Since beginning to introduce Cecilia to the market in December 2023, we've been adding new customers at a healthy clip, which has been encouraging. At this point, Cecilia is still an immaterial portion of the business, but we are starting to see signs of traction with our customer base.

In discussing the remainder of the income statement, please note that unless otherwise specified, all references to our gross margin, operating expenses, and net loss are on a non-GAAP basis. Adjusted EBITDA is also a non-GAAP financial measure. Our gross margin in Q1 was 76%. As we mentioned before, our gross margins fluctuate from period to period based on the nature of our customers' usage, for example, the amount and types of data ingested and managed on our platform.

Sales and marketing expense for Q1 was $14.7 million or 41% of revenue compared to 53% of revenue in Q1 of the prior year. The year-over-year decline is predominantly due to headcount changes. Research and development expense for Q1 was $10 million or 28% of revenue compared to 39% of revenue in Q1 of the prior year. This decrease was primarily driven by a reduction in research and development personnel and a decrease in per-employee cost as a result of globalization efforts.

General and administrative expense in Q1 was $8.8 million or 25% of revenue compared to 26% of revenue in Q1 of the prior year. General and administrative expenses were relatively flat year over year. Operating loss in Q1 was $6.5 million, representing an operating margin of negative 18% compared to negative 42% in Q1 of the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $5.2 million in Q1, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of negative 15% compared to an adjusted EBITDA margin of negative 39% in Q1 of the prior year.

Net loss in Q1 was $4.7 million or negative 13% of revenue compared to a net loss of $12.1 million or negative 37% of revenue in Q1 of the prior year. Net loss per share for Q1 was $0.08 compared to $0.20 per share for Q1 of the prior year. Turning to the balance sheet and cash flow statement. We ended Q1 with $148.7 million in cash and cash equivalents and no debt.

Operating cash flow in Q1 was negative $7.3 million compared to negative $14.8 million in Q1 of the prior year. Turning to the outlook. For Q2 2024, we are providing total revenue guidance in the range of $34.5 million to $36.5 million and software revenue guidance in the range of $29 million to $30 million. We expect adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of negative $7.5 million to negative $5.5 million.

While we remain confident in our ability to accelerate our growth over the medium to long term, we did see some softness in the start of the second quarter, as Scott mentioned, which we expect will have an impact on our full year numbers. For fiscal year 2024, we have narrowed our total revenue guidance range to $143 million to $151 million and software revenue guidance to the range of $120 million to $124 million. We continue to expect adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of negative $26 million to negative $19 million. Now, I'd like to turn the call over to the operator to open up the line for Q&A.

Operator?

Questions & Answers:





Operator

Thank you. We will now begin the question-and-answer session. [Operator instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Scott Berg from Needham. Your line is open.

Scott Berg -- Needham and Company -- Analyst

Hi, everyone. Thanks for taking my questions here. Eric, I guess, welcome to the company. I look forward to connecting in person.

But I wanted to hear about what your first priorities are, do you think, over maybe the first 90 to maybe 180 days with the company?

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Thanks, Scott. I really appreciate it. I've got a very detailed laid-out plan over the next 90 days, very much focused on coming up to speed, as you can imagine, getting to know our people, our customers, our partners, our products, our business.

It's going to be intense. I'm going to be learning a lot very quickly, but I also want to be moving at a quick enough pace to make sure that we're driving the right focus and that we're taking advantage of the best opportunities as we possibly can. So, it's funny because it's only been a week and a half, but I've already been able to join my first board meeting, run my first company meeting, visit with our teams in both Austin and New York, and also spend time with five of our best customers. We're talking big law firms here in the U.S., along with some Fortune 100 companies and that was great experience, really understanding the value that they're getting today out of DISCO products, the opportunities they see for us to do more with them.

And interestingly, their desire to embrace AI. So, I've got a lot of learning to do. The next several weeks, I'm going to be visiting teams in India and in London and meeting with many more of our customers and partners.

Scott Berg -- Needham and Company -- Analyst

Great. And then I wanted to follow up on Scott and Michael's comments on softness in the quarter. Can you maybe double-click on that and expound upon is it more on service side, specifically within e-discovery, large customers, small customers? Any additional details there would be helpful. Thank you.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Yeah, thanks. It's Scott. I'll take that question and then Michael can chime in if he wants to add anything to it. So, I think what you're seeing in the softness in the second quarter is very simply a minor impact from the reorganization we're doing on the sales side.

As I've talked about for the last couple of calls and particularly on the last call, we have, for the first time as a company segmented our customers and started to develop an approach that is unique relative to what those customers look like, how they buy, their size, the type of law they practice. And we've effectively started to align our team in such a way that, for example, our field sales is now 100% focused on the Am Law 100 and large corporations and will drive a focus that will be supplemented by SDR investments and marketing investments. Our inside sales team is going to pick up some of the lower end of that group plus the mid-market. Some other parts of our inside sales team will pick up what I'll call the SMB elements of the market that we're going to approach.

And so, as we've reassigned people to those different roles, we allowed them through the first quarter to close open opportunities. We didn't want to leave money sitting on the table. But now they've turned to what's next in terms of their roles and their focus for that segmentation. For example, in big on the corporate side, those are relationships that take time to build and the teams are just in the process of doing that.

And so, a little bit of softness in the quarter related to the reorganization. But the good news from my perspective, it is a very small step back that I think positions us for a really important large step forward once we've gotten the segmentation work done, our field resources reassigned and reestablished and our marketing and our go-to-market investments really aligned with that segmentation.

Scott Berg -- Needham and Company -- Analyst

Excellent. Thanks for taking my questions.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Thanks, Scott.

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Brian Essex from J.P. Morgan. Your line is open.

Brian Essex -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Hi, good afternoon, and thank you for taking the questions. I was wondering if you maybe you could offer a little bit of insight given some of the changes that you're currently going through, both on the executive side, as well as some of the changes in go-to-market initiatives, thoughts on when you might start to see a meaningful level of acceleration on the top line? And then any kind of benchmarking for your outlook to achieve profitability, positive cash flow as a result of these changes?

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Yeah. So, I don't want to put a timeline on it. But what I will say to you is that we demonstrated that we can grow revenues on a sequential basis. We've done that for the last three quarters in software.

Not only have dollars accelerated, but growth has accelerated. And despite the small backward movement in 2Q dollars, the growth in 2Q software, if you look at the midpoint of our guidance is 9%, which is consistent with what we did in the first quarter. I'm confident as we've talked about, however, that the ability -- and I said it on the last call, the ability for us to get back to 15%, 20%, 25% growth, which I think we're capable of really depends on us refocusing on the right customers and approaching them in the right way. And that's the investment that we're making.

I believe, whether that begins to pay off later this quarter, into the third quarter or later this year is harder to say, but there's no doubt in my mind that it will pay off. And I'm not sure we could have a better time for Eric to join. Eric brings a tremendous amount of background from a go-to-market standpoint. He more than doubled the revenues at his last company.

And so, as we've begun the early stages of making the changes in our go-to market, Eric joined at a moment where he can help refine those, enhance those, and then accelerate them so that not only will the payoff come faster, but I believe it will be a multiple of what it would be without his leadership.

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Yes. And this is Eric. Let me just jump in here too. What I would say is that I've had the opportunity to spend quite a bit of time with our senior leadership team that's involved in go to market, Andrea, our SVP of sales; and Tom, our CMO; Melanie, our chief customer officer.

And I've really been so far very impressed at the work that they're doing to leverage data to understand where we have the most opportunity. As Scott has mentioned in the past, 75% of our revenue comes in from our top customers. And then there were some of those outside the 75% that should be our top customers. There's a lot of opportunity there.

And I've been doing this for a long time. Every successful organization that I've ever worked with over the last three decades plus, has started by doing a really good job of understanding their customers, segmenting those customers, and then allocating their resources to where they can generate the most value for the customers and the most revenue for the company. And I think we're on the right track. I think that we are segmenting in the right way and we're going to make investments in pursuing those customers and expanding within those customers where we can really grow.

We're still going to be acquiring net new customers, but we're going to be allocating a good share of our resources to where we think we can get the most revenue, which is in many of our biggest customers.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

And then I do want to pick up on the part of your question I didn't answer because it is important and it's a focus of ours. Fundamentally, the way to sustainable profitability is by reenergizing our top-line growth and we're committed to doing that. I hope you'll notice that even with the slight reduction in the revenue guidance, we held EBITDA and that's because we are making the investments we need to make, but we're also finding ways to optimize as we reevaluate how to apply marketing and SDR and those types of investment in go to market. And so, our path to profitability is no different than what I said on the last call.

This is the year of investment to get us back to growing. That growth as you move into '25 and '26 is what will drive us not only to profitability but the sustainable and improving profitability.

Brian Essex -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Got it. Super helpful. And any way you can indicate a 75% of your revenue from your top customers? How do you define a top customer? And is there any way you can quantify how that cohort has been growing, maybe unit economics around that cohort?

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Yes. So, what Eric was referring to, if you look at our 10-K and we mentioned this on our last call that we had nearly 300 customers that spent more than $100,000 with us over the full year of 2023. It's that group of customers that make up 75% of our revenue. Of note, if you go back two years, that number has grown by over 30%.

That's great news. That's a super important metric for us because that means we are growing the wallet share at those nearly 300 customers. We also mentioned on the last call that we had customers who had spent more than $1 million with us that we're now in excess of 20. That growth has been a little bit less, but that again is a real opportunity for us because we aren't wallet share-constrained.

Those nearly 300 customers who spend over $100,000 are the next opportunity to spend over $1 million. And so, we're very focused in how we deploy our sales resources toward those customers who have the opportunity to grow with us and then to invest more with it. It's one of the reasons why in my prepared remarks, I talked about the technology, 1.2 billion pages, 51 million pages in an hour. Those are gee whiz facts, but what does it mean? What it means is our platform can scale? It can handle the largest matters our customers have and as we get that message out in front of the customers and build those relationships, those are key metrics we're going to keep in front of you.

Who's buying more than $100,000. Who is buying more than $1 million? That's where the growth is going to come from. Clearly, we're going to cover the entire customer base because there are opportunities inside the 1,400 where people could spend $1 million, but aren't even at $100,000 yet. But as Eric was mentioning, a key for us is focus.

Figure out where the opportunity is, align the investment, align the resource, focus and then go execute.

Brian Essex -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

OK, very helpful. Thank you very much.

Operator

[Operator instructions] Your next question comes from the line of Brent Thill from Jefferies. Your line is open.

Eylon Liani -- Jefferies -- Analyst

Hello. This is Eylon Liani on for Brent Thill. The first one is to Eric. Nice to meet you.

My question is, if you could shed some color on what drew you to DISCO and maybe your vision for the company three to five years out?

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Sure. Very nice to meet you. Thank you. I've been super fortunate.

I've worked with some great teams over the years and had some experiences that have put me in a position where I had a few choices, a number of opportunities and I could be a little selective about where I wanted to go next. And I really was looking for a company where I felt like there was significant growth where there was a solid customer base, a strong set of differentiated products, and then a mission that I could get behind and a solid team of people. And so, it was sort of a no-brainer to be perfectly honest to come to DISCO. I felt like we had really good people, loyal employees at DISCO who, even though they've been through some tough times, they're committed to the future and they're passionate about the mission to make LAW better.

We've got products that are state-of-the-art and they're only getting better. We've got new enhancements, new products coming out, and an industry-leading approach to AI that's differentiated from our competitors. And I think the other thing I felt about DISCO is that the challenges that we've got are ones that I have overcome time and time again and I've got an incredible amount of confidence that we can get back to a really significant growth trajectory here at DISCO. So, I felt like the company was a really strong company and the challenges that were ahead are ones that I've done before and I look forward to doing at DISCO.

Eylon Liani -- Jefferies -- Analyst

Super helpful color. And just as a quick follow-up, when I look at the 2024 guide, given the softness embedded in 2Q and the tough comp in 4Q, what are you seeing in the business that gives you confidence in that full year guide? More specifically if you can shed some color around what you're seeing around pipeline activity and large customer usage, that would be super helpful. Thanks.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Yeah. Thanks for the question. So, we continue to see not only large customers engage, but customers across the board. And Eric mentioned some of the reasons why.

Even though Cecilia may not be a large revenue contributor for us yet, it is certainly a door opener. And so, there are a lot of conversations that are initiated based upon -- well, this Cecilia thing looks really interesting. It looks like it could be truly transformative. Let's have a conversation.

And so, the inbound calls that we're taking from customers wanting to hear more about the generative AI offerings are really what encourages me. And again, if you look at it, to get to the midpoint of the guide, we've got to accelerate about $1 million a quarter for the next couple of quarters. That, on average, is what we've done for the last three quarters. So, it's not going to require something that's necessarily outsized.

Again, we've got to work our way through this transition of the go-to market and the reorganization of the sales team, and realignment of investment. That's kind of the risk. But I view that as more of an internal risk versus an external one in the sense of it sets us up for external success, whether it's a month from now or three months from now. And so, my confidence in the rest of the year really is embedded in some of the things Eric talked about.

The people are focused and committed that we've regained our innovation lead on the product side, which is opening doors to customer conversations, which I believe will lead to revenue growth and an acceleration of revenue in the back half of the year and more importantly, into 2025.

Eylon Liani -- Jefferies -- Analyst

Perfect. Thanks.

Operator

Your final question comes from the line of Mark Schappel from Loop Capital. Your line is open.

Mark Schappel -- Loop Capital Markets -- Analyst

Hi, thank you for taking my call. Eric, welcome, number one. And secondly, Scott, a question for you. I appreciate the color earlier on the new deposition summary tool.

But in general, regarding your new AI products, I was wondering if you could just provide some further insights in how you're thinking about monetizing those capabilities. I believe the deposition summary was no charge. How are you thinking about monetizing the other tools you're working on?

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Yeah. So, thanks for the question. And I appreciate it in particular because I want to give a shout-out to our product and engineering team. Our Cecilia document summary capabilities are ones that can handle a mass amount of documents, hundreds, and thousands of documents that we can summarize for our customers.

But what we were running into with competition is, oh, but the competitor is giving me document summary for free. And when we ask, well, what do you mean? How could they possibly be doing that? What they meant was they would summarize a document for free. And so, we were competing in a world where we have built industrial scale capability and competitors were offering single doc summaries, which again, it's useful if I'm a lawyer and I don't want to read 12 pages. I can get a quick summary, that's helpful.

Our team in the course of four weeks from the time we got the feedback that that was an impediment to sales, to the time we launched an offering to customers with measured in four weeks, I think that demonstrates to you the remarkable capabilities of our technology because we'll still happily sell you what we think is truly the more value-add that can summarize many documents. But what you need is something that can do one document, here it is for free. Don't let that be a hurdle to doing the deal with us. And so, as we think about the Cecilia capabilities, the skills, as we refer to them, we think about it in kind of a twofold way.

Number one, we clearly think of it as a way that our existing customers can get more value out of their relationship with DISCO by leveraging things like Q&A or embedded in case builder timelines to do their work more efficiently. We also believe that the innovation edge that we have in those products opens the door to new customers who want that efficiency and will then move their cases and their databases onto our platform to be able to leverage it. And so, we're still working our way through what the individual pricing versus the package pricing and the overall strategy will be. But it's certainly a place where we feel like it's a value pricing strategy and not one that simply chases the lowest dollar.

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. And I'll just jump in on that, too. This is Eric. But I think I'm very optimistic about Cecilia AI and all the capabilities.

And it's not just from seeing demos of the product or speaking with the DISCO team, but it's from speaking with customers and understanding that they believe that AI is going to revolutionize the industry at this point. And DISCO's got a significant leg up on the competition. And it's all about the investment that we've made in AI for the past several years. We're far ahead when it comes to things like security, speed, reliability, capabilities.

The early feedback so far on Cecilia Q&A is very positive. We're starting to get some feedback in on deposition summaries and automated review and that's a pretty incredible opportunity. And some of these capabilities, particularly automated reviews one that I think about where it's a game-changer. The amount of time that we can save customers with AI is going to create opportunity for the customer to save money and it's going to create the opportunity for DISCO to generate better margins.

Yeah. Go ahead.

Mark Schappel -- Loop Capital Markets -- Analyst

Great. Thank you. And then one follow-up here. Michael, I was wondering if you could just address churn in the quarter.

Michael Lafair -- Chief Financial Officer

Hey, Mark. Thanks for the question. So, in terms of churn, I mean, we've previously disclosed our dollar-based net retention at the end of the year in the K. And we obviously -- Q1 was a good quarter.

We were pleased with the results. We would have preferred at a bigger beat than we had. We were basically in line with the guidance. And we've discussed a little bit about some of the softness in Q2.

But what I will tell you, and I agree with everything Scott said, we feel really confident about the second half of the year and a lot of the investments that we've made and are still making are going to pay off and get us back to where we can reaccelerate revenue, which also would lead to improved dollar-based net retention numbers back to where they used to be.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

And Mark, just a couple of data points to reinforce that point. Customer count was up year over year and up a little bit modestly from where it was the prior quarter. And DNR also ticked up slightly from where it was at the end of the year. So, each of those metrics, as Michael alluded to, suggest that along with the revenue performance in the quarter suggests that the churn was modest and not really a factor in the quarter.

Mark Schappel -- Loop Capital Markets -- Analyst

OK, great. Thank you.

Operator

That concludes our question-and-answer session. I will now turn the call back over to incoming chair of the board of directors, Scott Hill, for some final closing remarks.

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Thank you very much. Thank you all for joining our call today. When I stepped into the CEO role eight months ago, my goal was to stabilize the company and work with my DISCO colleagues to acknowledge and more importantly, improve what was broken, reinvest in what was working, and recreate forward momentum. I want to thank all of my colleagues here at DISCO who have leaned in and focused forward and helped us get the company back on the right track.

Your commitment to our customers and our company inspires me. A lot of hard work remains to be done, but the opportunity is there for us to take. Now we have to come together and execute. I also want to thank our customers and investors for their patience and their loyalty.

We're refocused on serving you and generating positive returns. Eric, welcome to the job, anything you'd like to add?

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Yeah, Scott. Actually, first of all, I just want to thank you one more time for everything that you've done for DISCO over these past several months. I'm very fortunate that we get to work together with you as chair of the board. So, I'm looking forward to that.

And like you, I very much appreciate our customers, our partners, and our investors. I'm looking forward, I'm optimistic about the future of DISCO, and I look forward to sharing more at our next quarter's earnings call. So, thank you, everybody, for joining the call, and have a great evening.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 0 minutes

Call participants:

Aleksey Lakchakov -- Head of Investor Relations

Scott Hill -- Incoming Chair of the Board of Directors

Eric Friedrichsen -- Chief Executive Officer

Michael Lafair -- Chief Financial Officer

Scott Berg -- Needham and Company -- Analyst

Brian Essex -- J.P. Morgan -- Analyst

Eylon Liani -- Jefferies -- Analyst

Mark Schappel -- Loop Capital Markets -- Analyst

More LAW analysis

All earnings call transcripts

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Cs Disco (LAW) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
Strengths: Robust revenue growth and innovative fulfillment network.

Weaknesses: Net loss reported and challenges in international expansion.

Opportunities: Expansion into luxury retail and growing e-commerce market.

Threats: Intense competition and regulatory challenges.

On May 8, 2024, Coupang Inc (NYSE:CPNG), a leading e-commerce company, filed its 10-Q report, revealing a mix of financial progress and challenges. The company reported a significant increase in total net revenues, rising from $5.8 billion in Q1 2023 to $7.1 billion in Q1 2024. This growth is primarily attributed to a robust $690 million increase in net retail sales and a notable $623 million surge in net other revenue. Despite this, Coupang Inc faced a downturn in net income, swinging from a $91 million profit in Q1 2023 to a $24 million loss in Q1 2024. The financial tables indicate a complex landscape, with operating income shrinking to $40 million from $107 million year-over-year, and an income tax expense that more than doubled, reaching $83 million. These figures set the stage for a nuanced SWOT analysis, as Coupang Inc navigates through its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the dynamic e-commerce sector.

Decoding Coupang Inc (CPNG): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Revenue Growth and Market Position: Coupang Inc has demonstrated a strong revenue growth trajectory, with total net revenues increasing by nearly 23% year-over-year. This growth is a testament to the company's ability to attract and retain customers, expand its product offerings, and enhance its market position. The increase in net retail sales signifies a deepening penetration in its core markets and an ability to scale its business effectively.

Fulfillment and Logistics Network: Coupang Inc's innovative fulfillment and logistics network, known as Rocket Delivery, is a significant strength. It offers free, next-day delivery for a vast array of products, which is a compelling value proposition for customers. This network is a result of substantial investments in technology and infrastructure, leading to higher efficiencies and cost savings that benefit both the company and its customers.

Weaknesses

Net Loss and Profitability Concerns: Despite the impressive revenue growth, Coupang Inc reported a net loss of $24 million for the quarter. This raises concerns about the company's profitability and its ability to manage costs effectively. The increased income tax expense and operating costs, which include the integration of the newly acquired Farfetch business, may have contributed to this financial setback.

International Expansion Risks: Coupang Inc's expansion into new geographies, such as the acquisition of Farfetch, presents operational and financial risks. Integrating new businesses and managing growth in different markets require significant resources and may divert focus from the company's core operations. The challenges of cultural adaptation and local competition also pose potential weaknesses in the company's international strategy.

Opportunities

Luxury Retail Segment: The acquisition of Farfetch opens up new opportunities for Coupang Inc in the luxury retail segment. This move allows the company to tap into a higher-margin market and diversify its revenue streams. The luxury fashion industry has a global reach and offers potential for significant growth, especially as online shopping trends continue to rise.

E-commerce Market Expansion: The e-commerce industry is experiencing rapid growth, and Coupang Inc is well-positioned to capitalize on this trend. With its strong brand, customer-centric approach, and advanced logistics network, the company has the opportunity to expand its customer base and increase market share. The shift towards online shopping, accelerated by the pandemic, is likely to sustain, providing a favorable environment for Coupang Inc's growth.

Threats

Competitive Landscape: The e-commerce space is highly competitive, with several large players and numerous smaller competitors vying for market share. Coupang Inc must continuously innovate and improve its offerings to stay ahead. The competitive pressures could lead to price wars, margin compression, and increased marketing costs, which could impact the company's financial performance.

Regulatory Challenges: Coupang Inc faces regulatory scrutiny in its operations, particularly in South Korea with ongoing investigations by the Korean Fair Trade Commission. Compliance with various laws and regulations across different jurisdictions adds complexity and potential costs to the business. Any adverse findings or changes in regulations could have a material impact on the company's operations and financial health.

In conclusion, Coupang Inc's latest 10-Q filing reveals a company with robust revenue growth and a strong market position, underpinned by an innovative logistics network. However, the net loss reported for the quarter and the challenges associated with international expansion and regulatory compliance present areas for improvement. The opportunities in luxury retail and the broader e-commerce market growth are promising, but the company must navigate a competitive landscape and regulatory hurdles to fully capitalize on these prospects. As Coupang Inc continues to evolve, its strategic decisions will be critical in leveraging its strengths, addressing its weaknesses, seizing opportunities, and mitigating threats.

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.


Enterprise Products Partners LP showcases robust revenue growth in Q1 2024.

Strategic expansions and acquisitions signal strong future prospects.

Comprehensive SWOT analysis reveals key strengths and potential challenges.

On May 9, 2024, Enterprise Products Partners LP (NYSE:EPD), a leading midstream energy service provider, filed its 10-Q report with the SEC, offering a detailed view of its financial performance for the first quarter of 2024. The report reveals significant revenue growth, with total consolidated revenues increasing from $12,444 million in Q1 2023 to $14,760 million in Q1 2024. This growth is underpinned by increases across all business segments, particularly in Crude Oil Pipelines & Services and Petrochemical & Refined Products Services. Despite higher operating costs and expenses, which rose from $10,814 million to $13,040 million, the company's strategic investments and operational efficiency have positioned it for continued success in the competitive energy market.

Decoding Enterprise Products Partners LP (EPD): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Integrated Midstream Operations: EPD's integrated network of midstream assets is a cornerstone of its strength. The company's ability to offer a full suite of services, from natural gas processing to NGL transportation and crude oil services, creates a competitive edge. This integration allows for operational synergies and cost efficiencies, contributing to the robust revenue growth seen in the recent 10-Q filing.

Strategic Growth Initiatives: The company's commitment to strategic growth is evident in its recent expansions and acquisitions. The acquisition of equity interests from Western Midstream and the development of projects like the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) and the Texas Western Products System (TW Products System) demonstrate EPD's proactive approach to capturing market opportunities and enhancing its service offerings.

Weaknesses

Capital Intensive Operations: EPD's operations are highly capital intensive, requiring substantial investment in infrastructure and maintenance. The recent 10-Q filing indicates significant operating costs and expenses, which can impact profitability and cash flow. Managing these costs while maintaining growth momentum remains a challenge for the company.

Regulatory and Environmental Risks: As a player in the energy sector, EPD is subject to stringent regulatory and environmental standards. Compliance with these regulations can lead to increased costs and operational constraints. Moreover, any changes in legislation or policy could have a material impact on the company's operations and financial performance.

Story continues

Opportunities

Energy Market Dynamics: The global demand for energy, particularly in emerging markets, presents significant opportunities for EPD. The company's strategic investments in export facilities, such as SPOT, position it to capitalize on the growing international demand for crude oil and refined products.

Technological Advancements: Technological innovation in the energy sector offers EPD the chance to enhance efficiency and reduce costs. By investing in state-of-the-art pipeline control and vapor recovery systems, the company can improve its operational performance and environmental footprint, aligning with industry trends towards sustainability.

Threats

Commodity Price Volatility: Fluctuations in commodity prices can significantly affect EPD's financial results, as seen in the sensitivity analysis of its commodity derivative instrument portfolios. The company's ability to mitigate these risks through hedging strategies is crucial to maintaining financial stability.

Competitive Pressure: The midstream energy market is highly competitive, with numerous players vying for market share. EPD must continuously innovate and improve its service offerings to stay ahead of competitors and retain its market-leading position.

In conclusion, Enterprise Products Partners LP's SWOT analysis reveals a company with a strong operational foundation and strategic growth initiatives that position it well for future success. However, it must navigate the challenges of capital intensity, regulatory pressures, commodity price volatility, and competitive landscapes. By leveraging its strengths and addressing its weaknesses, EPD can capitalize on market opportunities and mitigate potential threats, ensuring its continued leadership in the midstream energy sector.

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.


EPAM Systems Inc showcases robust revenue growth and solid operational performance.

Strategic positioning in digital engineering and IT services sector with a global footprint.

Investment in innovative technologies like AI and cloud services to drive future growth.

Challenges include geopolitical risks and intense competition in the IT services market.

EPAM Systems Inc (NYSE:EPAM), a global leader in IT services, reported its quarterly financial results on May 9, 2024, through a 10-Q filing. The company continues to demonstrate its prowess in platform engineering, software development, and consulting services, with North America being its largest market, contributing to around 60% of its revenues. The financial overview for the three months ended March 31, 2024, reveals a slight decrease in revenues to $1.17 million from $1.21 million in the previous year. However, net income saw an appreciable increase to $116,243 from $102,292, indicating improved profitability. The company's basic and diluted earnings per share also increased, signaling a positive outlook for shareholders. Despite a comprehensive income drop to $93,931 from $119,653, EPAM's financial health remains strong, with a solid balance sheet and a strategic focus on emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, virtual reality, and robotics.

Decoding EPAM Systems Inc (EPAM): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Market Position and Brand Reputation: EPAM Systems Inc's strong market position is one of its most significant strengths. With a substantial portion of its revenue generated from the North American market, EPAM has established a robust brand reputation for delivering high-quality IT services and solutions. The company's expertise in digital platform engineering and software development has attracted a diverse client base, ranging from large enterprises to ambitious startups. This diversity not only mitigates the risk of client concentration but also showcases EPAM's ability to cater to various industry needs.

Financial Performance and Profitability: The company's financial performance remains a testament to its operational efficiency. Despite a slight decline in revenues, EPAM has managed to increase its net income, showcasing its ability to control costs and improve margins. The increase in basic and diluted earnings per share from $1.77 to $2.01 and from $1.73 to $1.97, respectively, reflects the company's profitability and its potential to provide shareholder value. EPAM's effective tax rate has also decreased from 19.6% to 6.0%, further bolstering its bottom line.

Story continues

Innovation and Technology Leadership: EPAM's investment in cutting-edge technologies like AI, virtual reality, and robotics positions it as a leader in innovation within the IT services sector. The company's commitment to research and development allows it to stay ahead of the curve and offer clients advanced solutions that drive digital transformation. This strategic focus not only enhances EPAM's service offerings but also attracts top talent in the industry, fostering a culture of innovation and technical excellence.

Weaknesses

Geopolitical Risks and Market Instability: As a global company with significant operations in regions like Ukraine and Belarus, EPAM faces geopolitical risks that can impact its business operations. The recent restrictions on distributing dividends from Belarus and the ongoing instability in Ukraine pose challenges to the company's financial stability and operational continuity. While EPAM has taken measures to distribute excess funds into more stable markets, the potential for loss of deposits or banking crises remains a concern.

Dependence on North American Market: Although EPAM's strong presence in North America is a strength, it also exposes the company to risks associated with market concentration. Any economic downturn or regulatory changes in this region could adversely affect EPAM's revenues and growth prospects. Diversifying its market presence and reducing reliance on a single geographic region could mitigate this risk.

Intense Competition: The IT services industry is highly competitive, with numerous players vying for market share. EPAM must continuously innovate and differentiate its offerings to maintain its competitive edge. The company's ability to secure new contracts and retain existing clients is crucial for its long-term success, and any failure to do so could weaken its market position.

Opportunities

Expansion into Emerging Markets: EPAM has the opportunity to expand its global footprint by entering new geographic markets and industries. By leveraging its expertise in digital transformation, the company can tap into the growing demand for IT services in emerging economies. This expansion would not only drive revenue growth but also diversify its client base and reduce dependence on the North American market.

Strategic Partnerships and Acquisitions: Forming strategic partnerships and pursuing acquisitions can enhance EPAM's service offerings and market reach. Collaborating with other industry leaders or acquiring niche firms with specialized capabilities can provide access to new technologies, clients, and markets, fueling EPAM's growth trajectory.

Investment in Cloud Services: The company's recent commitment to a 5-year agreement for cloud services, with a minimum spend of $75.0 million, underscores the potential of cloud computing in driving business transformation. As more organizations migrate to the cloud, EPAM's investment positions it to capitalize on this trend and offer comprehensive cloud-based solutions to its clients.

Threats

Technological Disruption: The rapid pace of technological change poses a threat to EPAM's business model. The company must continuously invest in new technologies and skills to remain relevant and meet evolving client demands. Failure to keep up with technological advancements could lead to a loss of competitiveness and market share.

Economic Uncertainty: Global economic uncertainty, including potential recessions or market downturns, can impact client spending on IT services. EPAM must navigate these economic challenges by offering cost-effective solutions and demonstrating the value of its services to clients who may be looking to cut costs.

Regulatory Changes: Changes in regulations, particularly those related to data privacy and

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.


Evergy Inc's operating revenues increased to $1,331.0 million in Q1 2024 from $1,296.8 million in Q1 2023.

Net income attributable to Evergy Inc decreased to $122.7 million in Q1 2024 from $142.6 million in Q1 2023.

Evergy Inc's capital expenditures reflect a commitment to infrastructure and renewable energy investments.

Evergy Inc's strategic focus on wind energy positions it as a leader in renewable energy within the U.S.

Evergy Inc, a regulated electric utility serving eastern Kansas and western Missouri, reported its first-quarter financial results on May 9, 2024, through a 10-Q filing. The company, with major subsidiaries including Evergy Metro, Evergy Kansas Central, Evergy Missouri West, and Evergy Transmission Co., has shown a slight increase in operating revenues from the previous year, reaching $1,331.0 million. However, net income attributable to Evergy Inc has seen a decrease to $122.7 million from $142.6 million. This SWOT analysis aims to dissect these financial nuances and provide a comprehensive overview of the company's strategic position.

Decoding Evergy Inc (EVRG): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Robust Renewable Energy Portfolio: Evergy Inc stands out for its significant investments in wind energy, making it one of the largest suppliers in the U.S. This not only diversifies its energy mix but also aligns with global sustainability trends, enhancing its brand reputation.

Stable Revenue Base: With a combined rate base of approximately $19 billion, evenly distributed between Kansas and Missouri, Evergy Inc benefits from a stable and predictable revenue stream. This financial stability is crucial for supporting ongoing operations and strategic investments.

Operational Efficiency: Evergy Inc's operational efficiency is reflected in its ability to manage operating expenses, as evidenced by the controlled increase in operating revenues. This efficiency contributes to the company's financial resilience and competitive edge.

Weaknesses

Net Income Decline: The decrease in net income from $142.6 million in Q1 2023 to $122.7 million in Q1 2024 raises concerns about profitability. This decline may reflect underlying challenges in cost management or market dynamics that need to be addressed.

Capital Expenditure Pressures: Evergy Inc's significant capital expenditures, particularly in property, plant, and equipment, indicate a heavy investment in infrastructure. While necessary for long-term growth, these expenditures can strain short-term financial resources.

Regulatory Dependence: As a regulated utility, Evergy Inc's operations and profitability are subject to regulatory decisions. This can introduce an element of uncertainty and limit the company's agility in responding to market changes.

Story continues

Opportunities

Renewable Energy Demand: The growing demand for renewable energy presents an opportunity for Evergy Inc to expand its wind energy portfolio further. This can attract environmentally conscious consumers and businesses, opening new revenue streams.

Technological Advancements: Advancements in energy storage and smart grid technologies offer Evergy Inc the chance to enhance its service offerings, improve grid reliability, and reduce operational costs over time.

Strategic Partnerships: Collaborations with other energy providers and technology firms can lead to innovative solutions and shared expertise, bolstering Evergy Inc's market position.

Threats

Market Competition: Intensifying competition from both traditional and alternative energy providers can erode Evergy Inc's market share. Staying ahead requires continuous innovation and customer-focused services.

Regulatory Risks: Changes in energy regulations or unfavourable regulatory outcomes can impact Evergy Inc's operations and financial performance. Proactive engagement with regulators and stakeholders is essential to mitigate this risk.

Economic Fluctuations: Economic downturns can lead to reduced energy consumption and payment difficulties among customers, affecting Evergy Inc's revenue and cash flow.

In conclusion, Evergy Inc's strengths lie in its robust renewable energy portfolio and stable revenue base, positioning it well for the future. However, the company must navigate challenges such as the recent decline in net income and the pressures of heavy capital expenditures. Opportunities for growth are abundant in the renewable energy sector, with technological advancements and strategic partnerships offering pathways to expansion. Nevertheless, Evergy Inc must remain vigilant against threats from market competition, regulatory risks, and economic fluctuations. By leveraging its strengths and opportunities while addressing its weaknesses and threats, Evergy Inc can continue to thrive in the dynamic energy 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.


Onto Innovation Inc (NYSE:ONTO) showcases robust revenue growth and a strong balance sheet in its latest 10-Q filing.

ONTO's strategic positioning in the semiconductor equipment industry underpins its competitive strengths and market opportunities.

Supply chain management and industry cyclicality present ongoing challenges and threats to ONTO's operational stability.

ONTO's commitment to innovation and global expansion offers promising opportunities amidst a competitive landscape.

Onto Innovation Inc (NYSE:ONTO), a leader in the design, development, and manufacture of high-performance control metrology and inspection systems, has recently filed its 10-Q report on May 9, 2024. This SWOT analysis delves into the financial nuances and strategic positioning of ONTO, as revealed in its latest financial statements. The company's financial health appears robust, with significant revenue growth and a strong balance sheet, indicating a solid foundation for future expansion and innovation. ONTO operates primarily in the United States, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and Europe, with Taiwan and South Korea being the largest contributors to its total revenue. As we dissect the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats outlined in the 10-Q filing, we aim to provide investors with a comprehensive understanding of ONTO's potential in the dynamic semiconductor equipment industry.

Decoding Onto Innovation Inc (ONTO): A Strategic SWOT Insight

Strengths

Financial Performance and Market Position: ONTO's latest financials underscore its strong market position, with a notable increase in revenue and comprehensive income. The company's balance sheet reflects a healthy liquidity status, with substantial cash reserves and a manageable level of debt. This financial stability is a testament to ONTO's prudent fiscal management and its ability to generate consistent cash flows from its operations. Moreover, the company's strategic focus on high-performance metrology and inspection systems has solidified its reputation as a key player in the semiconductor equipment industry, which is crucial for sustaining long-term growth.

Global Operational Footprint: ONTO's expansive global presence, with operations across the United States, Southeast Asia, China, Japan, and Europe, provides a diversified revenue stream and mitigates the risks associated with reliance on a single market. The company's significant operations in Taiwan and South Korea, two of the world's leading semiconductor manufacturing hubs, position it strategically to capitalize on the burgeoning demand for advanced semiconductor devices. This geographical diversification not only enhances ONTO's growth prospects but also strengthens its competitive edge in the global market.

Story continues

Weaknesses

Supply Chain Dependencies: Despite ONTO's strong financials, the company acknowledges its reliance on a limited group of suppliers for certain components and subassemblies. This dependency creates vulnerabilities in the supply chain, exposing ONTO to potential disruptions, quality control issues, and price fluctuations. The recent 10-Q filing highlights the risks associated with single-source suppliers, which could lead to delays or additional expenses in product development or shipment. In an industry where timely delivery and product quality are paramount, these supply chain challenges could impede ONTO's ability to meet customer demands and maintain its market position.

Market Cyclicality: The semiconductor industry is known for its cyclical nature, with periods of high demand followed by slowdowns. ONTO's operations are not immune to these fluctuations, which can lead to unpredictable revenue streams and inventory management challenges. The 10-Q filing indicates that excess inventory could result in unforeseen costs or obsolescence, while inadequate inventory could lead to missed revenue opportunities and strained customer relationships. Managing these cycles effectively is crucial for ONTO to maintain its financial health and competitive advantage.

Opportunities

Innovation and Product Development: ONTO's commitment to innovation is evident in its ongoing product development efforts, which are essential for staying ahead in the fast-paced semiconductor equipment industry. The company's focus on developing new and enhanced systems for semiconductor device manufacturing positions it to capture emerging market trends and meet the evolving needs of its customers. By leveraging its strong R&D capabilities, ONTO has the opportunity to introduce breakthrough technologies that could drive future growth and solidify its market leadership.

Global Expansion: The 10-Q filing reveals ONTO's potential for further international expansion, particularly in regions with growing semiconductor manufacturing activities. By tapping into new markets and strengthening its presence in existing ones, ONTO can diversify its customer base and reduce its exposure to regional economic fluctuations. Strategic partnerships and acquisitions could also provide avenues for growth, enabling ONTO to enhance its product offerings and extend its global reach.

Threats

Intense Competition: The semiconductor equipment industry is highly competitive, with several well-established players vying for market share. ONTO faces the challenge of differentiating its products and maintaining its competitive edge in an environment where technological advancements are rapid and customer expectations are high. The 10-Q filing underscores the need for continuous innovation and strategic marketing to stay relevant and attract new customers in this fiercely competitive landscape.

Regulatory and Geopolitical Risks: ONTO's international operations expose it to various regulatory and geopolitical risks, including trade tensions, tariffs, and export regulations. Changes in tax laws or the implementation of new policies, such as the OECD's Pillar Two rules, could impact the company's effective tax rate and cash flows. Additionally, geopolitical conflicts or public health crises could disrupt ONTO's supply chains and affect its ability to operate effectively in certain regions. Navigating these complexities requires a proactive approach to risk management and a keen understanding of the global political and economic climate.

In conclusion, Onto Innovation Inc (NYSE:ONTO) presents a compelling case of a company with strong financial fundamentals and strategic market positioning, as evidenced by its latest 10-Q filing. ONTO's strengths lie in its robust financial performance, global operational footprint, and commitment to innovation. However, the company must

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.


Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Pawel Herczynski, delivered a video address in celebration of Europe Day. Herczynski stressed the importance of Georgia demonstrating commitment to EU values and reforms, with the EU deciding later this year on Georgia's path towards membership. The EU Ambassador encouraged Georgia not to miss this opportunity and expressed the EU's readiness to welcome Georgia into the European Union family."Today is Europe Day. Every year on this very day, we reflect on the journey that began with a vision for peace and cooperation, and evolved into the most successful and prosperous Union of 27 countries, each with a different history and culture but all bound by shared values and aspirations. For the first time, Georgia celebrates this day as an EU candidate country. This is a truly historic occasion in our shared European story.The goal is for Georgia to become a full member of the European Union, with all privileges and responsibilities of membership. For this, Georgia needs to demonstrate a strong commitment to EU values and deliver necessary reforms. Later this year, the European Union will decide whether Georgia will take the next step towards membership. This opportunity exists right now; do not miss it. The doors of our Union have been finally wide open. We are waiting for you. We want Georgia, with its unique culture and traditions, to become part of our European Union family. Stay on the EU path and rest assured we are by your side on this journey.So let's celebrate this Europe Day and join hands to bring Georgia closer to EU membership," Herczynski said.Ambassador of Georgia to France, Gocha Javakhishvili, has announced his decision to step down from his position. He shared this news on social media, mentioning that he has already submitted a request to terminate his tenure before the scheduled deadline.In his statement, he expressed concern about the challenging environment and strained relations with foreign partners due to 'Foreign Agents' law, which he feels greatly complicates the duties of the Ambassador of Georgia to the French Republic and Monaco. "I no longer see my role and resources in this direction: moving towards Europe and defending against Europe," he explained."The atmosphere and mood created by the reincarnated bill in relations with our friends and foreign partners make my personal mission as the Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of Georgia to the French Republic and Monaco extremely difficult. Accordingly, I have already applied to my immediate management with a request to terminate my authority in the position I hold before the deadline," Javakhishvili stated.
James Cropper PLC (LON:CRPR) shareholders will doubtless be very grateful to see the share price up 77% in the last month. But that is small recompense for the exasperating returns over three years. Regrettably, the share price slid 62% in that period. So the improvement may be a real relief to some. Perhaps the company has turned over a new leaf.

While the last three years has been tough for James Cropper shareholders, this past week has shown signs of promise. So let's look at the longer term fundamentals and see if they've been the driver of the negative returns.

See our latest analysis for James Cropper

In his essay The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville Warren Buffett described how share prices do not always rationally reflect the value of a business. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

James Cropper became profitable within the last five years. We would usually expect to see the share price rise as a result. So it's worth looking at other metrics to try to understand the share price move.

The modest 1.6% dividend yield is unlikely to be guiding the market view of the stock. We note that, in three years, revenue has actually grown at a 17% annual rate, so that doesn't seem to be a reason to sell shares. This analysis is just perfunctory, but it might be worth researching James Cropper more closely, as sometimes stocks fall unfairly. This could present an opportunity.

The image below shows how earnings and revenue have tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).

We know that James Cropper has improved its bottom line lately, but what does the future have in store? So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts

A Different Perspective

While the broader market gained around 10% in the last year, James Cropper shareholders lost 43% (even including dividends). However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 9% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. For instance, we've identified 2 warning signs for James Cropper (1 can't be ignored) that you should be aware of.

Story continues

Of course James Cropper may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on British exchanges.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
pawel.gaul / Getty Images

Savvy homebuyers know that location is virtually everything in the quest for the perfect property. But one thing you might not consider is the population in a given city affecting the resale value of your home if you decide to sell.

Check Out: Housing Market 2024: Home Prices Are Plummeting in 10 Formerly Overpriced Housing Markets

Learn More: Become a Real Estate Investor for Just $1K Using This Bezos-Backed Startup

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that nearly half of the 30,000 cities in the U.S. will experience population loss by the end of this century. Overall, the population is likely to increase to 366 million by 2100, which shows the population is not growing as quickly as it has in past decades.

The decline in population in urban areas, though, isnt just about people being born; population decline in cities indicates people are moving to suburban and rural areas.

With fewer prospective buyers and fewer people moving into cities, home prices in these metros may decline in coming decades. Home values in shrinking cities depreciated by 2.7%, on average, compared to a 3.8% appreciation in growing cities, according to a Freddie Mac study reported by InsiderMonkey.com.

Shrinking populations could have other economic side effects, too, including less consumer spending, fewer businesses, and a loss of jobs.

If you want to move to an economically healthy city, increasing the odds that your home investment will appreciate, avoid these five cities.

Wealthy people know the best money secrets. Learn how to copy them.

Detroit, Michigan

Since the 1950s, when Detroit was the fifth largest U.S. city, this metropolis best known as the home to major U.S. auto manufacturers has lost 61% of its population. In the past five years, the population has declined by 7.83%, according to InsiderMonkey.com.

In spite of population loss, studies indicate that home values are rising In Detroit. Residential property values jumped 23% in 2023, according to The Detroit News. In the past seven years, the value of homes has tripled.

However, just because Detroit has, so far, bucked the trend of falling property values as the population declines, that doesnt mean it will continue. Purchasing a Detroit home now could mean youll lose money if you decide to sell over the next few decades.

Birmingham, Alabama

Despite its warm climate and proximity to the picturesque Gulf Shores, Birminghams population continues to decline at a rate of 7.7% in the past five years, InsiderMonkey.com reported. As in other major cities, people are moving to the suburbs and out of the city center.

Story continues

Home prices in Birmingham have been rising, according to Redfin, but the median sale price sits 52% below the national average. Homes stay on the market an average of 46 days, and the average home sells for 3% below the asking price. If this trend continues, it could become harder to sell a home in Birmingham.

St. Louis, Missouri

St. Louis, Missouri, has lost 7.14% of its population in the past five years, due to a variety of factors. InsiderMonkey.com cited a high crime rate, tight job market, and the migration of residents to surrounding suburbs as some of the key reasons for urban migration.

Home prices in St. Louis have already started to drop, with prices down 3.9% in March 2024 compared to March 2023, based on Redfin statistics.

Baltimore, Maryland

Baltimores population has dropped by 6.82% in the past five years, according to InsiderMonkey.com. The citys population is the lowest its been since the 1910s. Rising crime rates, job loss, and suburbanization have contributed to the decline.

Yet, Baltimore has not yet fallen victim to falling home prices. Its proximity to Washington, D.C. could contribute to homes maintaining their value. Prices have risen 7.6% since last year, according to Redfin data. However, home prices may not stay elevated as the population continues to decline.

Cleveland, Ohio

Cleveland has experienced a population decline of 6.2% over the past five years. Like other cities in the Midwest, Cleveland fell victim to the decline of heavy industry and the trends of suburbanization and urban sprawl. In the 1980s, it lost its position as one of the 10 most populated U.S. cities.

Home prices have risen 24.5% between March 2023 and March 2024, which could be an indication of revitalization. Homes are also selling faster, spending just 33 days on the market compared to 41 days last spring. You dont want to overspend on a house in this city, though, because you could be stuck if you try to sell in future decades.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Dont Buy a House in These 5 US Cities That Have Shrinking Populations and Fewer Buyers
Leave it to Tesla CEO Elon Musk to add more chaos to a situation that he ostensibly created in the first place.

In a tweet on X early Friday morning, Musk addressed concerns many have had over his recent move to shrink down Teslas (TSLA) Supercharger team.

Just to reiterate: Tesla will spend well over $500M expanding our Supercharger network to create thousands of NEW chargers this year, Musk wrote. Thats just on new sites and expansions, not counting operations costs, which are much higher.

Shortly thereafter, Musk also started a Supercharger Community on X, where members can discuss and share stories on the topic.

Whether Musks proclamation that Tesla is still heavily investing in the Supercharger is accurate or not is another story, but the industry, investors, and EV owners are seeking clarity and demanding answers.

Elon Musk, co-founder of Tesla and SpaceX and owner of X Holdings Corp., speaks at the Milken Institute's Global Conference at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on May 6, 2024, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Apu Gomes/Getty Images) (Apu Gomes via Getty Images)

Last week Musk and Tesla laid off nearly the entire Supercharger organization, which was responsible for the build-out of its best-in-class charging network. In the aftermath of the initial layoffs, Musk addressed the Supercharger news on X, stating that the network will grow at a slower pace for new locations.

Automakers like GM, Ford, Kia, Polestar, Stellantis, Honda, and others had signed up to access the Supercharger network, and incorporate Teslas NACS plug inlet in their future vehicles, under the promise that the Supercharger network would continue to grow at a steady pace.

Tesla was likely getting an earful from its NACS partners, questioning what they were getting exactly after signing deals to access the Supercharger network.

In addition, contractors and others working with Tesla on existing Supercharger projects were getting their emails bounced back with no feedback on what to do next. Tesla also apparently backed out of leases at four upcoming Supercharger sites in New York, per EV blog Electrek.

Charging network provider EVgo told Yahoo Finance that it was actively engaged in the development of the NACS network and was adding more locations to take advantage of Teslas move to backtrack its expansion.

EVgo competitor Blink Charging is also poised to move on the opportunity, claiming potential Supercharger customers contacted Blink about future orders in the wake of Teslas move.

Even oil and gas stalwarts like BP are moving in on Tesla. With its BP Pulse charging network, the company said it is aggressively looking to acquire real estate to scale our network, which is a heightened focus following the recent Tesla announcement.

The companys top executive is even telling Teslas jilted partners to give him a ring.

Story continues

If there are stranded real estate partners who are looking for someone to call, they should feel free to pick up the phone and call me or look me up on LinkedIn, BP Pulse Americas CEO Sujay Sharma told Bloomberg.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

Click here for the latest stock market news and in-depth analysis, including events that move stocks

Read the latest financial and business news from Yahoo Finance
ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar, May 10, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Wildlife Madagascar proudly announces the inaugural International Chameleon Day, to be celebrated annually on May 9th. International Chameleon Day is a global initiative aimed at honoring and raising awareness about one of the planet's most unique and captivating reptilesthe chameleon. This special day serves as a platform to highlight the remarkable diversity of chameleon species, shed light on the significant challenges they face in the wild and issue a chameleon call to action to inspire conservation efforts on behalf of this unique reptile.

Chameleons, known for their ability to change color and their distinctive features, are a vital component of various ecosystems, particularly in Madagascar, where approximately half of worlds chameleon species are found. Unfortunately, nearly 80 species of chameleons are currently classified as threatened by the IUCN Red List, facing various challenges such as habitat loss, climate change and illegal trade.

This first celebration in 2024 aims to draw attention to these issues and mobilize efforts to protect these remarkable reptiles and their natural habitats. International Chameleon Day provides a unique opportunity for individuals, conservation organizations and communities worldwide to come together, share knowledge and take action to safeguard the future of chameleons.

"We are thrilled to launch International Chameleon Day as a platform to raise awareness about the conservation challenges facing chameleons," said Tojo "Lytah" Razafimahefa, Country Director of Wildlife Madagascar. "By dedicating a day to celebrate chameleons, Wildlife Madagascar hopes to inspire collective action and advocacy to ensure the survival of these incredible creatures."

International Chameleon Day invites people to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of chameleons while encouraging a sense of responsibility for their conservation and the preservation of their habitats. Through these collective efforts, it is envisioned that International Chameleon Day will contribute significantly to the global mission of protecting these mesmerizing reptiles for generations to come.

Wildlife Madagascar has developed a comprehensive educational packet focused specifically on chameleons to engage and inspire students around the world about these unique reptiles. The packet includes interactive activities, fun worksheets, captivating coloring sheets and informative fact sheets, all designed to provide valuable insights into the world of chameleons. Available in English, French and Malagasy, these resources can be downloaded from the Wildlife Madagascar website at www.wildlifemadagascar.org.

Story continues

"International Chameleon Day serves as a powerful reminder of the critical need for collaboration among the scientific, conservation and education communities," said Dr. Tim Eppley, Chief Conservation Officer of Wildlife Madagascar. "By joining forces, we can amplify our advocacy efforts and work toward a common goal of protecting chameleons and their habitats. Together, we can inspire greater awareness, foster a deeper understanding of these incredible reptiles and drive meaningful action."

The importance of this day and the work that the following conservation organizations conduct to ensure a future for chameleons and other reptiles cant be understated. Joining Wildlife Madagascar and the chameleon call to action are these partners: Abraham Foundation, Aspinall Foundation, Association Mitsinjo, Cameleon Center Conservation, Centre ValBio, Chester Zoo, Conservation Fusion, Dublin Zoo, Duke Lemur Center, Frank Glaw of the Bavarian State Collection of Zoology in Munich (SNSB), Full Forests at Montclair State University, Israel Nature and Parks Authority, IUCN SSC Chameleon Specialist Group, Lemur Conservation Foundation, Lemur Conservation Association (AEECL), Lemur Conservation Network, Madagascar Biodiversity Partnership, Madagascar Fauna and Flora Group (MFG), Madagasikara Voakajy, Mention Zoologie et Biodiversite Animale at the Universite dAntananarivo, Mikajy Natiora, Planet Madagascar, Sciences Agronomiques & Environnementales at the Universite dAntsiranana, Section of Herpetology at the National Museums of Kenya, SEED Madagascar, The Dr. Abigail Ross Foundation for Applied Conservation, University of Cumbria, University of Hamburg, University of Lome, University of South Dakota, Vinako4Madagascar, Wildlife Conservation Society-Madagascar, World Wide Fund for Nature -Madagascar, Zoo Knoxville, Zoo Vienna and Zoo Zurich.

Wildlife Madagascar encourages everyone to join in on International Chameleon Day and be a champion for reptile conservation worldwide. Following are many ways that individuals can make a meaningful difference for chameleons and other reptiles.

Take a stand for endangered chameleons by supporting one of the organizations dedicated to their preservation, especially those that work with local community efforts to conserve chameleons and their natural habitats.

Visit zoos to see these fascinating reptiles up close, and, if possible, travel to places where you can see wild chameleons in their natural habitats.

Opt for responsible tourism with ecotours that showcase nature through hikes and reptile- and bird-watching adventures.

Explore your local nature park to learn about native reptiles and compare them with the fascinating chameleons. Many natural history museums have hiking programs and guided tours.

Transform your yard into a reptile-friendly haven by planting native plants and avoiding pesticides.

Recognize that chameleons are delicate animals that can be extremely challenging to successfully keep under human care and are often heavily collected from the wild. As such, it is critically important that hobbyists become well educated about the specific demands of these animals, their legality and conservation status and strive to follow legal, ethical and sustainable practices related to their maintenance.

Help spread the word about International Chameleon Day and inspire family and friends to join the movement towards a sustainable future for chameleons and other reptiles everywhere.

For more information about International Chameleon Day and Wildlife Madagascar's conservation initiatives, please visit www.wildlifemadagascar.org/events.

#internationalchameleonday

#chameleonday

#showyourcolors

About Wildlife Madagascar

Wildlife Madagascar is dedicated to the preservation and protection of Madagascar's unique biodiversity through a multifaceted strategy and extensive collaborative efforts. Our approach involves forming alliances with Malagasy communities to develop sustainable conservation solutions that enhance both environmental wellbeing and livelihoods. By fostering partnerships among individuals, local organizations, non-profit entities and government agencies, we strive to establish impactful programs that bring about enduring change. Our overarching goal is to address poverty alleviation while concurrently ensuring biodiversity protection in some of the planet's most imperiled and irreplaceable ecosystems. Visit wildlifemadagascar.org for more information.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509113657/en/

Contacts

Wildlife Madagascar

Jenny Mehlow

619-851-7341

jmehlow@wildlifemadagascar.org
Switzerland-based Energy Vault has secured contracts from ACEN Australia to deploy two large-scale BESS.

The systems total 200MW/400 megawatt-hours (MWh) and will support the 720MW New England solar project near Uralla in New South Wales (NSW), one of the largest in Australia's national electricity market.

Construction of the BESS projects will begin in H2 2024 and commercial operations will commence in 2025 and 2026.

The finalisation of contracts is under way, with formal execution expected in the first half of May 2024.

The agreement includes the installation of a 50MW/100MWh BESS and a 150MW/300MWh BESS.

These systems will store and dispatch renewable energy daily during peak consumption times.

The New England BESS project is supported by the NSW Government's emerging energy programme and aligns with ACEN's strategy to develop more than 1GW of projects in Australia.

The facility completed its first stage in 2023, adding 400MW of solar capacity to the grid.

Upon completion of the second stage, it will produce 1,800 gigawatt-hours of renewable energy annually.

In 2023, ACEN Australia secured a 20-year energy service agreement from the NSW Government's renewable energy and storage auction to support the project.

Energy Vault chairman and CEO Robert Piconi stated: ACEN Australias New England solar is a critical source of renewable energy for the NSW region, and we are proud to play a role in ensuring its ability to reliably provide the region with clean power in the most efficient and cost-effective manner possible.

These deployments, and the tight timelines under which they will be delivered, stand as a testament to Energy Vaults commitment to a customer-centric approach to energy storage as well as evidence of the growing global demand for reliable and effective energy storage solutions.

We see todays agreement as just the first step in a long and fruitful relationship with ACEN and their renewable power generation projects moving forward.

The BESS units, part of Energy Vault's B-VAULT integrated solutions, will incorporate Siemens S120 inverters.

In April 2024, Energy Vault and NV Energy commenced commercial operation of the Reid Gardner BESS in the US.

Located in Moapa, Nevada, the BESS project has 220MW/440MWh of capacity and can store energy for two hours.

"Energy Vault to deploy 200MW battery energy storage systems in Australia" 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.
The Singapore market has remained stable over the past week but has seen a decline of 3.4% over the past year, even as earnings are expected to grow by 7.1% annually. In this context, investors might consider high dividend stocks like Hour Glass and two others, which can offer potential income in a landscape where capital gains are subdued.

Top 10 Dividend Stocks In Singapore

Name Dividend Yield Dividend Rating Civmec (SGX:P9D) 6.33%  Singapore Exchange (SGX:S68) 3.70%  China Sunsine Chemical Holdings (SGX:QES) 6.30%  Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) (SGX:BS6) 3.76%  BRC Asia (SGX:BEC) 7.96%  UOB-Kay Hian Holdings (SGX:U10) 6.87%  UOL Group (SGX:U14) 3.58%  Bumitama Agri (SGX:P8Z) 7.10%  YHI International (SGX:BPF) 6.49%  Sing Investments & Finance (SGX:S35) 6.28% 

Click here to see the full list of 21 stocks from our Top Dividend Stocks screener.

We'll examine a selection from our screener results.

Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: 

Overview: The Hour Glass Limited is an investment holding company that specializes in retailing and distributing watches, jewelry, and other luxury products across Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam with a market capitalization of SGD 1.01 billion.

Operations: The Hour Glass Limited generates SGD 1.13 billion primarily through the retail and distribution of luxury watches and jewelry across multiple Asian and Oceanic markets.

Dividend Yield: 5.1%

Hour Glass offers a dividend yield of 5.13%, which is below the top quartile of Singapore's dividend payers at 6.25%. Despite this, the company maintains a solid foundation for its dividends, with a payout ratio of 31.9% and a cash payout ratio of 42.3%, indicating that both earnings and cash flows sufficiently cover dividend payments. However, investors should note Hour Glass has had an unstable and volatile dividend track record over the past decade, although there has been growth in dividend payments within this period.

SGX:AGS Dividend History as at May 2024

Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: 

Overview: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd. is an investment holding company that specializes in shipbuilding, operating across Greater China, Canada, Japan, Italy, Greece, and other European countries with a market capitalization of approximately SGD 6.80 billion.

Story continues

Operations: Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Ltd. generates revenue primarily through its shipbuilding segment, which amassed CN22.79 billion, and its shipping operations, contributing CN1.02 billion.

Dividend Yield: 3.8%

Yangzijiang Shipbuilding recently declared a final dividend of SGD 0.065 per share for FY 2023, reflecting its consistent dividend policy amidst robust financial performance with a significant increase in annual net income to CNY 4.10 billion from CNY 2.81 billion the previous year. The company's dividends are well-covered by earnings and cash flows, with payout ratios of 33.6% and cash payout ratios at 19.1%, respectively, underscoring sustainability despite a lower yield of 3.76% compared to top market players. Recent board restructuring could influence future governance and dividend strategies.

SGX:BS6 Dividend History as at May 2024

Simply Wall St Dividend Rating: 

Overview: Singapore Airlines Limited operates passenger and cargo air transportation services globally under the Singapore Airlines and Scoot brands, with a market capitalization of SGD 27.60 billion.

Operations: Singapore Airlines Limited generates revenue primarily through its Full Service Carrier segment at SGD 15.83 billion and its Low-Cost Carrier operations at SGD 2.37 billion, along with Engineering Services contributing SGD 0.95 billion.

Dividend Yield: 5.7%

Singapore Airlines has demonstrated a robust operational performance with increased passenger numbers and seat availability in early 2024, signaling potential revenue growth. Despite this, the airline's dividend history is marked by instability and volatility over the past decade. The dividends are currently supported by earnings and cash flows, with a payout ratio of 73.2% and a cash payout ratio of 29.4%. However, its dividend yield at 5.7% remains below the top quartile of Singapore market payers at 6.3%. Additionally, recent fixed-income offerings suggest an active approach to managing long-term financing needs which could impact future dividend reliability.

SGX:C6L Dividend History as at May 2024

Seize The Opportunity

Click through to start exploring the rest of the 18 Top Dividend Stocks now.

Are these companies part of your investment strategy? Use Simply Wall St to consolidate your holdings into a portfolio and gain insights with our comprehensive analysis tools.

Simply Wall St is a revolutionary app designed for long-term stock investors, it's free and covers every market in the world.

Curious About Other Options?

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.

Companies discussed in this article include SGX:AGSSGX:BS6SGX:C6L and

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com
Texas hemp farmer Gregory Gerami, who transferred what was purported to be $237 million in stocks to the university, shakes hands with FAMU President Larry Robinson before announcing the donation at a graduation ceremony. The donation has since been put on hold amid a drumbeat of headlines and heavy scrutiny on Gerami's background.

Florida A&M University is putting a "pause" on the "transformational" and controversial $237 million donation that electrified the campus community before plunging the administration into a full-fledged crisis of confidence.

At an emergency FAMU Foundation Board meeting Thursday afternoon, President Larry Robinson announced the university would not move forward until it could determine the value of the stock options donated by Texas hemp farmer Gregory Gerami, who's the CEO of Batterson Farms Corp and a trustee of the Isaac Batterson Family 7th Trust that supplied the donation.

Robinson said he spent most of the day reaching out to board members to share the university's decision.

"With regards to the gift and the processing of it ... We've already decided that it is in our best interest to put that on pause," he said, noting he spent most of the day informing board members of the university's decision.

A lot happened during this meeting but I thought this exchange was the most striking: pic.twitter.com/oBn5NMI22J  philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 9, 2024

FAMU will also examine the processes that enabled a little known entrepreneur to command the graduation stage and announce a gift that now appears to be too good to be true before a graduating class of seniors, their families and the Rattler Nation.

A non-disclosure agreement leads to a 'very, very problematic' situation

Several Foundation board members didn't hold back their disappointment and concern for what appears to be a lapse of proper procedures, communication and vetting, along with decisions made to exclude board chairs of the foundation and the FAMU Board of Trustees from the donation information prior to Saturday's bombshell announcement of the multi-million gift.

As a condition for his gift, Gerami imposed a non-disclosure agreement on the university.

That meant that outside of a tight circle of about half a dozen FAMU administrators, directors and others, no one was aware of the multi-million donation prior to the surprise announcement at Saturday's commencement speaker, where Gerami was allowed to be the keynote speaker at his behest.

"And the money is in the bank," he proclaimed to loud applause.

But it wasn't. Instead, there was "14 million shares of stock of intrinsic value" with a schedule to covert it to cash over a 10 year period.

Board member Chekesha Kidd, a newcomer to the board, asked a series of questions about converting the stock to cash and said the liquidation process wasn't clear.

Story continues

An emergency meeting of the FAMU Foundation Board to discuss the controversial $237 million donation.

"I just want to say how excited a lot of us were when we first saw this come through," Kidd said, adding the major donor gift had the potential to take the institution to a transformational level.

However, she said the foundation has a fiduciary responsibility that includes protecting the university's reputation.

"I'm here to really understand the process and the transaction itself," said Kidd, adding she didn't learn about the donor gift until she received information from a friend Saturday night.

"The board got no official notice about this until Sunday afternoon. That's very, very problematic," Kidd said.

Stock could be worth anywhere between $0 and $300 million depending on the buyer

Shawnta Friday-Stroud, the university's vice president for University Advancement and executive director of the FAMU Foundation, revealed details that had not yet been shared publicly that include the stock valuation, how the university was first contacted about the gift and the decision to proceed with a partnership despite Google searches that revealed eyebrow-raising details about Gerami's background.

That included an earlier news report from the Myrtle Beach Sun News that a $95 million "transformational" planned gift to Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., fell through a year earlier. Despite that, FAMU officials admitted they didn't reach out to their Coastal counterparts to discuss Gerami or his donation.

Shawnta Friday-Stroud said the man hailed as the youngest hemp farmer in Texas first called the university and he was transferred to the development officer, Audrey Simmons-Smith, director of development, in the fall of 2023.

"After having several conversations with Mr. Gerami, Ms. Simmons-Smith put together a proposal of certain programs that she thought he might be interested in supporting. She also had an initial screening done of him."

Talks continued, along with virtual meetings with Friday-Stroud. Additional meetings included other areas of mutual interest and more of FAMU's leadership, including Robinson, Athletic Director Tiffani-Dawn Sykes and Deborah Sullivan, who heads the Center for Disability Access and Resources (CeDAR).

"From there, we decided on an initial amount based on what he was interested in supporting here at FAMU," Friday-Stroud said. "After having conversations with those individuals, we came up with an amount."

But Gerami wanted to up the game when he heard about a historic $100 million donation to Spelman College, which was lauded as the largest donation in HBCU history.

She said Gerami came armed with a $237 million appraisal of non-publicly traded stock in his company.

Valued at $15.85 a share, the 14 million shares of stock meant the university stood to gain a donation that dwarfed Spellman's and would become one of the most generous gifts in recent higher education history. But in Thursday's meeting, officials said a proper third-party valuation could reveal the stocks to be worthless or anywhere up to $300 million depending on what a buyer might be willing to pay for it.

Board member Cecyl Hobbs closed the meeting with a motion to have an external audit of the foundations processes around evaluating and receiving major gifts.

After another board member expressed concern about spending money on an outside company, the board voted unanimously to bring the audit and development committee together to scrutinize and formalize the processes for major gifts.

The high stakes board meeting won't be the last. The universitys Board of Trustees has scheduled a special meeting  open to the public  that will be held at 3 p.m. Wednesday over Zoom to take a hard look at the details of the donation.

"I think we all believe there was positive intent here," Kidd said as the foundation meeting was coming to a close. "The university leadership ... wants the university to excel, we want to be able to attract major gift donors. I think this was a huge learning opportunity for us, I hope."

Contact Economic Development Reporter TaMaryn Waters at tlwaters@tallahassee.com and follow @TaMarynWaters on X.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: Florida A&M president puts record, controversial $237 donation on hold
When a single insider purchases stock, it is typically not a major deal. However, when multiple insiders purchase stock, like in Headlam Group plc's (LON:HEAD) instance, it's good news for shareholders.

Although we don't think shareholders should simply follow insider transactions, we do think it is perfectly logical to keep tabs on what insiders are doing.

See our latest analysis for Headlam Group

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At Headlam Group

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Chief Executive & Executive Director Christopher Payne for UK48k worth of shares, at about UK1.85 per share. That means that an insider was happy to buy shares at above the current price of UK1.82. 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. To us, it's very important to consider the price insiders pay for shares. Generally speaking, it catches our eye when insiders have purchased shares at above current prices, as it suggests they believed the shares were worth buying, even at a higher price.

While Headlam Group insiders bought shares during the last year, they didn't sell. You can see a visual depiction of insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last 12 months, below. If you want to know exactly who sold, for how much, and when, simply click on the graph below!

There are always plenty of stocks that insiders are buying. So if that suits your style you could check each stock one by one or you could take a look at this free list of companies. (Hint: insiders have been buying them).

Headlam Group Insiders Bought Stock Recently

There was some insider buying at Headlam Group over the last quarter. Independent Non-Executive Director Robin George Williams purchased UK12k worth of shares in that period. It's great to see that insiders are only buying, not selling. But in this case the amount purchased means the recent transaction may not be very meaningful on its own.

Does Headlam Group Boast High Insider Ownership?

Another way to test the alignment between the leaders of a company and other shareholders is to look at how many shares they own. Usually, the higher the insider ownership, the more likely it is that insiders will be incentivised to build the company for the long term. From what we can see in our data, insiders own only about UK206k worth of Headlam Group shares. We might be missing something but that seems like very low insider ownership.

Story continues

What Might The Insider Transactions At Headlam Group Tell Us?

Insider purchases may have been minimal, in the last three months, but there was no selling at all. Overall the buying isn't worth writing home about. On a brighter note, the transactions over the last year are encouraging. We'd like to see bigger individual holdings. However, we don't see anything to make us think Headlam Group insiders are doubting the company. While we like knowing what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. Every company has risks, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Headlam Group (of which 1 is a bit unpleasant!) you should know about.

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.
Streetwise: Then and (Closer to) Now in the Western Neighborhoods

by Frank Dunnigan

May 2024

With more than 50,000 photos currently online for public viewing, OpenSFHistory and the WNP photo archives frequently have the very same scene  but often captured on film many years apart. Here are a few of the more notable images that show just how things have changed over time.

The intersection of 28th Avenue and Ortega Street is one of the best representations of exactly how the Sunset District changed after the mid-1930s. In the first photo, taken in 1936, the area shown is all sand and a few plants. Most of the homes in the second image (taken in 1990) were built in the 1940s and 1950s, with many shrubs and trees added to the neighborhood landscape over the years.

The Geary Street Park & Ocean Railroad built a brick car barn at 3700 Geary on the northwest corner of Geary and Arguello Boulevard in 1898, replacing an old powerhouse at the site. One later tenant, the Larkins Carriage Company, placed their name over the entrance, and the building is still referred to by that name today, 100+ years later. Over the past 126 years, numerous different businesses have called that corner location "home": 1898Geary Street Park & Ocean Railroad 1898Geary Street Park & Ocean Railroad 1912Municipal Railway 1912Municipal Railway 1916Sperry Flour Bakery Warehouse 1916Sperry Flour Bakery Warehouse 1919Larkins Carriage Company 1919Larkins Carriage Company 1928Parking Garage 1928Parking Garage 1947T.F. Ormond Dodge & Plymouth 1947T.F. Ormond Dodge & Plymouth 1955Brown Buick 1955Brown Buick 1961Spencer Buick 1961Spencer Buick 1972Nelson Buick 1972Nelson Buick 1980Herrera Buick-Opel 1980Herrera Buick-Opel 1982Herrera Buick 1982Herrera Buick 2001Office Max 2001Office Max 2018Office Depot 2018Office Depot 2020Office Depot/Satellite Health Care 2020Office Depot/Satellite Health Care Read more about this location.

The Coliseum Theater opened to great fanfare in 1918 and anchored the corner of 9th Avenue and Clement Street until the time of the Loma Prieta earthquake in 1989, when it closed. In the early 2000s, it was refurbished to include 14 condominiums and ground floor retail space. Read more about the Coliseum.

The two-story building at the southwest corner of 19th Avenue and Irving Street was part of the Irving Street commercial corridor, with apartments located above ground-floor retail businesses, as shown here in 1934. After a long history of selling food and alcohol, the site became a branch of First Republic Bank in 1990. The bank failed in 2023 and the location was shut down later that year after being taken over by Chase.

St. Cecilia Church, originally on Taraval Street at the time of its founding in 1917, relocated to 17th Avenue between Ulloa and Vicente Streets in 1928. As the neighborhood continued to grow, particularly in the post-World War II years, the 17th Avenue church building was often standing-room only on Sunday mornings. In 1952, Archbishop John Mitty gave his approval for construction of a new and larger church on the sandlot and paved parking area that the parish owned at 17th and Vicente. A fundraising drive began and ground was broken on May 31, 1954. Pastor Monsignor Harold E. Collins emulated San Francisco Mayor "Sunny Jim" Rolph (who regularly took the controls of Muni streetcars at opening day events for new lines), by riding in and operating the steam shovel, shown here at the groundbreaking ceremony. The new structure was completed and dedicated just two years later in May 1956, with vastly increased seating for 1,200 people (plus several hundred more in a "Lower Church"). Want to know more about the history of St. Cecilia? You can buy Frank Dunnigan's book in the WNP online shop.

In 1929, the intersection of 19th Avenue and Junipero Serra Boulevard was the site of a large residential structure and a billboard aimed at motorists. Since the 1950s, Temple United Methodist Church has operated from the site at 65 Beverly Street. More recently, they have shared space with the OMI Senior Center, operated by Catholic Charities.

The 22nd & Taraval Market opened as a full-service grocery store and meat market in 1938. The market closed after 50 years of operation and eventually became a popular Walgreens location in the 1990s. Read more about the markets opening.

One of the most photographed areas of Balboa Street has been the 3600 block, home to the Balboa Theatre since 1926. Shown here in 1956 and 1968, it remains a vital neighborhood anchor today.

The Coronet Theatre opened in November 1949 and operated until March 2005 (shown here in 1968 and 2002). It was subsequently replaced with a multi-story senior housing facility. Note the adjacent sign in the 1968 image, reading: THEATRE PARKING ONLY $1.00. Read more about the Coronet, with exterior and interior photos, and see the building that replaced the Coronet.

Construction was underway in this 1915 photo of the Ingleside Terraces development near Ocean Avenue and Cedro, with the small sign at right advertising the number of an available lot. Fifty-one years later, in 1956, the trees in the background have been removed for construction of Aptos Junior High School (now Aptos Middle School) in 1931. The decorative metal arches at the entrances to Ingleside Terraces were removed as part of scrap metal drives in the World War II era.

Contribute your own stories about western neighborhoods places!
Ford CEO Jim Farley and company executive chair Bill Ford fielded questions from shareholders on Thursday about the viability of electric vehicles and concerns about the billions of dollars in losses being reported quarter after quarter.

Most recently, Ford's first-quarter earnings report in April included news of $1.3 billion in losses within its Model e division. Farley said at the time that the electric vehicle unit was "a huge drag" on the bottom line but also indicated "tremendous progress" in cutting losses and growing market share with new consumers. Overall adjusted earnings for the quarter before interest and taxes totaled $2.8 billion.

"We remain excited about EVs, which offer incredible value, performance and convenience for many of our customers," Bill Ford said at Thursday's annual virtual shareholder meeting.

Retired U.S. Marine Sgt. Tyler Vargas-Andrews met Ford Motor Co. executive chairman Bill Ford when touring Dearborn Truck Plant on Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2024. Vargas-Andrews received a new Ford F-150 Raptor R from Ford after his 2023 Raptor was wrecked in an accident.

"We have a very good balance of propulsion across our lineup," Ford said. "We're America's No. 1 brand for gas vehicles, No. 2 for EVs and No. 3 for hybrids. In the U.S., the No. 1 gas, hybrid and electric trucks were all produced by Ford."

'We are absolutely crushing it'

Ford's international operations are now profitable after years of reporting losses. And Ford Pro, the business-to-business arm of the company that sells vehicles and software subscriptions, is a nearly $60 billion company within the automaker. It's all helping to offset costs of EV production and development. And costs in EVs are projected to fall with new products, Ford executives said.

Despite last fall's UAW strike, Ford remains on plan and continues to return profits to investors, Ford said. He delivered prepared statements and also responded directly to callers, as is custom during the hourlong meeting.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, left, talks with news media during the Ford F-150 Fest at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit on Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2023.

Farley said he is committed to growing the value of the automaker. His decision to split the company into three units offers more transparency and spotlights strengths and weaknesses, he said, citing revenue and growth increases. Farley noted that Ford is anticipating that earnings before interest and taxes could reach $12 billion in 2024, a record for the 120-year-old automaker.

"We are absolutely crushing it," Farley said.

Ford is benefiting from the huge demand for work trucks and national infrastructure projects, he said.

Hybrid sales rise amid EV adjustments

"The road to consumer adoption for EVs, and, eventually, profitable EV business, for sure is a bumpy one for our whole industry, including Ford," Farley said. "But we remain nimble and continue to recalibrate our EV strategy in an increasingly dynamic and global marketplace, adapting and evolving our spending and investments to right-size our capacity, balance growth and profitability and compliance to optimize the total Ford enterprise. Affordability matters for the early majority of EV adopters."

Story continues

A pricing premium that existed early "proved to be untenable" and didn't really reflect the majority of customers and their willingness to pay, Farley said. "Customers want choice as they move toward full electric ..."

Ford is working to making new EVs more affordable and more profitable, but for now Ford is focusing on geographies and segments where the company dominates.

Hybrid vehicles are "especially important to bridge customers to adopting pure EV," Farley said. "Ford has been investing in hybrid technology for more than 20 years, and it's really starting to pay off. Hybrid sales in first quarter were up 36% and we're on pace to expand this business 40% this year  and it's led by Maverick."

More: Teen Mustang owner fighting cancer likens racetrack experience to Taylor Swift concert

More: They're some of the women behind Ford's Ranger, F-150 launches

The best vehicles at the lowest costs will win the EV war, Farley said. The automaker is focused on recruiting the best EV and software engineers in the world to challenge not just Tesla but fast-growing Chinese automakers moving into the EV segment globally.

"I am so excited about the future we're building together," he said.

Contact Phoebe Wall Howard: 313-618-1034 or phoward@freepress.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter @phoebesaid. Read more on Ford and sign up for our autos newsletter.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ford shareholders ask what the heck is going on with EVs
Formosa Pharmaceuticals has announced an exclusive licensing agreement with Tabuk Pharmaceuticals, granting the latter exclusive rights to commercialise the clobetasol propionate ophthalmic suspension, 0.05% (APP13007) to treat inflammation and pain after ocular surgery.

APP13007 will be commercialised in key Middle East and North Africa (MENA) regions.

The deal comes after the ophthalmic suspension obtained approval from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in March 2024.

The agreement includes upfront payments and milestone payments on meeting commercialisation and sales-based goals, other than additional considerations, throughout the deal's term.

APP13007 utilises Formosa Pharma's APNT nanoparticle formulation platform and contains clobetasol propionate, a superpotent corticosteroid.

This formulation offers a convenient dosing regimen, requiring administration only twice daily for 14 days, while offering quick and lasting inflammation and pain relief.

Tabuk Pharmaceuticals CEO Ismail Shehada stated: We are excited at Tabuk to be partnering with Formosa to introduce this innovative drug for our patients in Saudi Arabia and remaining MENA countries which reinforces our leading position in the region and our role to deliver unique health solutions and enhance the well-being of people.

In Phase III clinical trials, APP13007 demonstrated statistical and clinical superiority over its matching placebo.

Formosa Pharmaceuticals president and CEO Erick Co stated: We are pleased to establish this partnership with Tabuk Pharmaceuticals, the largest private Saudi company and one of the most prominent pharmaceutical corporations in the MENA region.

We are confident Tabuks experience, vast network, and commitment to value-added and innovative medicines will deliver APP13007 to patients recovering from ocular surgery.

In August 2023, Formosa granted the exclusive licencing and commercialisation rights for its APP13007 (clobetasol steroid) to Eyenovia in the US for $86m.

The deal between Formosa and Eyenovia is based on their existing partnership to develop new eye therapies.

"Formosa and Tabuk sign deal for FDA-approved ophthalmic suspension" was originally created and published by Pharmaceutical 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.
Gaylord City Hall is shown.

GAYLORD  The Gaylord City Council began work on the 2024-25 budget with a scheduled working session this week.

City manager Kim Awrey expects council to conduct a public hearing on next year's spending plan at the panel's first meeting in June.

The city has a fiscal year that begins on July 1 and ends on June 30. Currently, the city is operating under an $11.5 million budget for 2023-24 and that amount will increase by about $2.5 million to $14 million in 2024-25.

"Our general fund is going up from about $5.2 million to $6.3 million," said Awrey. "The major reason is a Sparks grant ($700,000 from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources) to build the new Elkview Park. The (park) is out for bid now. We will open bids on May 14 for the project. Our hope is that construction starts in June and everything is wrapped up by the fall."

The total cost for the park, located on the corner of Commerce Boulevard and Elkview Drive next to the building housing the Otsego County Commission on Aging, is expected to be about $1.3 million.

Awrey said water and sewer (wastewater) rates are expected to go up by about 3 percent next year.

"Over the last two years we were increasing those (rates) close to 8 percent. We have the need for about a $10 million upgrade to our wastewater treatment plant but is is not to increase the capacity as we are at about half of capacity. We have inefficient processes that are close to 20 years old and they need to be upgraded," she said.

Subscribe Check out our latest offers and read the local news that matters to you

Awrey said the city is studying strategies to complete the modernization and how to fund the improvements and probably won't begin the project until the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Awrey said the city has experienced an increase in shared revenue from the state due to population growth. She estimates the city's cut of marijuana taxes to be the same as the $531,000 received this year or slightly less.

The city has spent all of its $385,000 in American Rescue Plan Act funds on a project to improve an undersized sanitary sewer line on Fifth Street, she said.

 Contact Paul Welitzkin at pwelitzkin@gaylordheraldtimes.com.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Gaylord city budget to reflect addition of Elkview Park
GeoPark, an oil and gas explorer in Latin America, has entered into an offtake and prepayment agreement with energy and commodities company Vitol.

This deal pertains to the sale and delivery of a minimum of 20,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd) from the Llanos 34 block in Colombia.

As part of the agreement, GeoPark will gain immediate access to up to $300m in funding from Vitol, with an option to increase this to $500m in prepaid future oil sales over the contract period.

GeoPark holds a 45% working interest and operates the Llanos 34 block.

The Llanos 34 block is one of Colombia's largest oil discoveries in more than two decades.

It encompasses 13 oil fields including Tigana and Jacana, which rank among the top ten producing fields in the country.

GeoPark's agreement with Vitol is set to enhance its price realisations by $0.15 per barrel compared with the current agreement, and by $0.60 per barrel against the average realisations since January 2021.

Scheduled to commence on 1 July 2024, the offtake agreement will last for a minimum of 20 months, with the possibility of an extension up to 36 months.

Vitol has committed to making the funds available until 30 June 2025, subject to certain conditions.

GeoPark can repay amounts drawn from this facility through future oil deliveries or prepay them at any time without penalty.

Last month, GeoPark announced plans to acquire a non-operated interest in unconventional blocks within Argentina's Neuquen Basin.

GeoPark said the acquisition is in line with its strategy to expand its footprint in Latin America's oil and gas sectors.

"GeoPark signs offtake deal with Vitol for Colombias Llanos 34 oil block " 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.
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, May 10, 2024--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Google Cloud and the Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation ("OCIC") joined forces to support Cambodias tech ecosystem through the launch of the tech event Cambodia Tech Catalyst. The event, held in Koh Pich, Phnom Penh, attracted over 500 decision-makers, Chief Technology Officers and students, fostering a vibrant exchange of ideas on Artificial Intelligence and the Google for Startups Cloud Program.

Cambodia is one of Asias fastest growing economies. With a 17 million people market and an average 6% GDP growth, the country is attracting more international interest. Its tech ecosystem is also growing fast and is increasingly looking to join the regional tech scene, notably through partnerships with Singapore. A leading tech hub, Singapore is often considered as a gateway and a key city for startups; it ranks 8th globally for startup ecosystem and 10th by number of unicorns.

This expansion is supported by a growing number of tech and education initiatives alongside increased private and public funding. Existing startup resources, accelerators, VCs, and initiatives include Khmer Enterprise, Mekong Strategic Partners, Negocia Capital, and Techo Startup Center. This momentum is complemented by a young demographic that readily adopts these innovations.

Startup communities, such as Impact Hub, contribute significantly to Cambodia's startup growth. Currently, the country hosts more than 300 startups, with this number projected to double in the next 2 years.

Google Clouds startup team consisting of Esna Ong and Kathleen Chiu, also shared their experiences with more than 300 students, from CamTech University and the Canadian International School of Phnom Penh, during Life at Google sessions. Their insights ignited a spark of curiosity among the students, encouraging them to discover and learn further about new technologies. They conducted an intensive 2-day CTO Connect for top Cambodian companies including Nham24, Canadia Bank, iCare Benefits, Bill24, Bongloy Payments, Yugo, Kiripost, and introduced the Google for Startups Cloud Program which offers credits and business support for eligible companies.

With Southeast Asia's digital economy reaching $100 billion in revenue, Cambodia's initiatives underscore an increasing effort to contribute to a thriving ecosystem. OCIC Group, a Cambodian diversified real estate group, is starting to venture into the development of the tech ecosystem, support for startups, and entrepreneurship, with key investments in Education, and Innovation. OCIC will soon launch Connexion which will host a programming school, based on the French Ecole 42, as well as an innovation centre.

Story continues

"Embracing A.I. and new tech is crucial for Cambodia's digital growth," said Thierry Tea, OCIC Group's VP. "Projects like Connexion at Koh Pich, with its innovation center and programming school modelled on School 42, highlight our commitment to contribute to Cambodia's tech ecosystem. This initiative's success reflects our dedication to innovation and inclusive growth in the tech sector."

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20240509927801/en/

Contacts

Media

Overseas Cambodian Investment Corporation (OCIC)

Jim Baldy

jim.baldy@ocic.com.kh
Khalid bin Saleh Al Mudaifer, Saudi Arabia's deputy minister for mining, speaks on the opening day of the Investing in African Mining Indaba in Cape Town, South Africa, on Monday, Feb. 6, 2023. Credit - Dwayne SeniorBloomberg/Getty Images

Late last year, over 50 African leaders gathered in Riyadh for the first ever Saudi-Africa summit. Convened by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, it brought together a melange of democrats and dictators, reformers and kleptocrats, young go-getters and long-ruling dinosaurs. Their objective? To wangle a slice of the $40 billion Saudi Arabia plans to invest in Africa.

For the African leaders in attendance, the summit was a golden opportunity to obtain generous aid and inexpensive loans from one of the worlds richest countries. But to those tuned into geopolitics, the gathering spoke to a much bigger trend: the recent expansion of economic and political links between the Gulf petro-states and their African counterparts.

Anxious about growing Chinese and Russian influence in Africa, U.S. officials have started encouraging the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia to play a bigger role in continental affairs. Expanded trade and investment ties between Africa and the Gulf states could bring some win-win prosperity and development. But there is also a darker dimension to Gulf states deepening involvement in Africa that Washington ignores at its perilone that undercuts its stated commitment to promote democracy and good governance there.

A new scramble? Not quite

The exponential increase in Africa-Gulf connections is undeniable. In 2023 alone, Gulf states made investment pledges worth over $53 billionalmost four times more than the United States. A few decades ago, Gulf states began leveraging cultural and religious ties across North, East, and West Africa. Today, their presence is continent-wide. As investors, they bring their petro-dollars to bear in sectors like mining, commercial agriculture, and infrastructure.

Even after COVID-19 decimated air links between Africa and the rest of the world, the national airlines of several Gulf states maintain a dense network of routes all across the continent. This means African political and business elites still enjoy easy access to the Gulfs financial and commercial hubs.

In some ways the oft-repeated Scramble-for-Africa metaphor doesnt fit the new Gulf-Africa relations. Unlike during the colonial onslaught that took place in the late 19th century, African governments exercise plenty of agency as they forge international relationships. Instead of sending soldiers and laying claim to natural resources, outside powers are investing huge sums across Africa.

Story continues

Likewise, Gulf countries are largely uninterested in interfering in African countries internal political affairs. Many African leaders prefer this approach to Western democracies finger wagging on democracy, human rights, and engaging with China and Russia. They often welcome the strictly transactional nature of their dealings with Gulf states, whose banks and dealmakers are more willing to do business in conflict- and corruption-prone areas than their Western peers.

The balance sheet of Gulf-Africa relations is a complex one. On the upside, Gulf states provide African countries with investment flowsespecially in key areas like energy and infrastructurethat can help modernize their economies. Its financial centers have become an indispensable platform to service African firms as well as major foreign investors. Dubai, deemed the New York for Africans now, is a primary gateway for global investors who want to do business on the continent.

The downsides of the Gulf-Africa relationship, however, continue to negate many of its benefits. For example, powerful smuggling networksespecially in goldare a major source of interregional financial flows. Much of this under-the-radar economic activity is centered on Dubai, which has become a major destination for illicit financial flows that sap the economies of countries all across Africa. The list of African oligarchs and politicians who have found safe haven in Dubai is a veritable rogues gallery of the continent.

Described as a a loose cannon that arms warlords and spreads chaos, the UAE has also fueled instability and humanitarian crisis on the continent by backing armed groups in Libya and Sudan. Qatar and UAE have also helped bankroll South Sudans ultra-corrupt regime. Saudi Arabia has likewise showered loans on the Central African Republics Kremlin-backed regime.

Counterweight or millstone?

Washingtons explicit support for Gulf countries involvement in Africa shows how much its Africa policy has changed since the end of the Obama Administration. Bruised by a series of coups in Mali, Niger, Chad, and Gabonall longtime U.S. military partners in the Sahel regionWashington no longer seems able to articulate why African countries should partner with democracies over dictatorships.

Worse, U.S. officials have begun soft pedaling the good governance, human rights, and humanitarian concerns that once anchored their Africa policy. By overlooking how these priorities underpin African countries stability and prosperity, Washington has instead picked a fight with China and Russia over who has more influence on the continent this week, this month, this year. As part of this pseudo-realpolitik approach, Washington has begun nudging Gulf states to invest in Africaparticularly its strategically-important mining sector. In doing so, it has chosen to prioritize great power competition above all else.

While Washingtons myopic focus on undercutting its adversaries may yield short term gains, it will not necessarily benefit the U.S. or African countries over the long term. Instead of greenlighting a no-holds-barred scramble for the continents natural resources, the U.S. should leverage its deep ties to the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and other Gulf countries to ensure that their activities bring growth and developmentnot corruption, smuggling, and warlordismto Africa. Doing so would show that Washington understands that, when it comes to international partners, quality matters more than quantity.

Contact us at letters@time.com.
Key Insights

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings will host its Annual General Meeting on 16th of May

Salary of US$1.10m is part of CEO Scott Wells's total remuneration

Total compensation is similar to the industry average

Over the past three years, Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings' EPS grew by 73% and over the past three years, the total loss to shareholders 25%

In the past three years, the share price of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. (NYSE:CCO) has struggled to grow and now shareholders are sitting on a loss. Despite positive EPS growth in the past few years, the share price hasn't tracked the fundamental performance of the company. These are some of the concerns that shareholders may want to bring up at the next AGM held on 16th of May. They could also influence management through voting on resolutions such as executive remuneration. We discuss below why we think shareholders should be cautious of approving a raise for the CEO at the moment.

View our latest analysis for Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings

Comparing Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.'s CEO Compensation With The Industry

Our data indicates that Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. has a market capitalization of US$745m, and total annual CEO compensation was reported as US$4.8m for the year to December 2023. That's a notable decrease of 20% on last year. While this analysis focuses on total compensation, it's worth acknowledging that the salary portion is lower, valued at US$1.1m.

On examining similar-sized companies in the American Media industry with market capitalizations between US$400m and US$1.6b, we discovered that the median CEO total compensation of that group was US$5.6m. So it looks like Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings compensates Scott Wells in line with the median for the industry. Moreover, Scott Wells also holds US$3.5m worth of Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings stock directly under their own name, which reveals to us that they have a significant personal stake in the company.

Component 2023 2022 Proportion (2023) Salary US$1.1m US$1.1m 23% Other US$3.7m US$4.9m 77% Total Compensation US$4.8m US$6.0m 100%

On an industry level, roughly 19% of total compensation represents salary and 81% is other remuneration. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings is paying a higher share of its remuneration through a salary in comparison to the overall industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

A Look at Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.'s Growth Numbers

Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. has seen its earnings per share (EPS) increase by 73% a year over the past three years. In the last year, its revenue is down 13%.

Overall this is a positive result for shareholders, showing that the company has improved in recent years. The lack of revenue growth isn't ideal, but it is the bottom line that counts most in business. Moving away from current form for a second, it could be important to check this free visual depiction of what analysts expect for the future.

Has Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. Been A Good Investment?

Since shareholders would have lost about 25% over three years, some Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc. investors would surely be feeling negative emotions. This suggests it would be unwise for the company to pay the CEO too generously.

To Conclude...

Despite the growth in its earnings, the share price decline in the past three years is certainly concerning. The fact that the stock price hasn't grown along with earnings may indicate that other issues may be affecting that stock. Shareholders would be keen to know what's holding the stock back when earnings have grown. The upcoming AGM will be a chance for shareholders to question the board on key matters, such as CEO remuneration or any other issues they might have and revisit their investment thesis with regards to the company.

CEO compensation is an important area to keep your eyes on, but we've also need to pay attention to other attributes of the company. In our study, we found 2 warning signs for Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings you should be aware of, and 1 of them is a bit unpleasant.

Switching gears from Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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.
Hyundai Capital America reached a settlement with service members who alleged in a federal case that the company illegally repossessed their cars while they were actively serving.

The United States argued that the retrieval of service members property without a court order violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, according to court documents.

The SCRA is a federal law that specifically prohibits an auto finance or leasing company from seizing an active service members motor vehicle without a court order. The service member only has to have made one payment on the vehicle in question before joining the military to qualify for protection under the SCRA.

The SCRA covers active duty members of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard, and members of the Reserve who are on active duty orders, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. It also covers members of the National Guard who are mobilized under federal orders for more than 30 consecutive days.

Hyundai Capital America is a subsidiary of Hyundai Motor America and Kia America that offers vehicle financing.

Navy Airman Jessica Johnsons Hyundai Elantra was repossessed by Hyundais recovery department around July 30, 2017, according to court documents. She purchased the car in 2014 and enlisted in the Navy 9 months later.

She gave Hyundai Capital America her enlistment orders and requested SCRA benefits, specifically highlighting that her car could not be repossessed while she was deployed.

However, while she was deployed, her account became delinquent.

Johnson says she informed a Hyundai representative in 2017 that she was no longer deployed but still in the military. Shortly thereafter, the employee she spoke to recommended to the recovery department that her car be repossessed, even though the employee included documentation in the formal recommendation that showed Johnson was still on active duty.

Johnsons car was repossessed soon after, according to court documents. She called Hyundai and left a message explaining that she was still on active duty and should be protected by the SCRA. Hyundai sold her vehicle 3 months later.

The lawsuit claimed that 26 service members motor vehicles were repossessed from 2015-2023 in ways that violated the SCRA.

If a service member is unable to attend court proceedings due to their military obligation, the auto finance company has to hold off on repossessing the vehicle, according to Sean Timmons, who practices military law as a managing partner at the Tully Rinckey Law Firm in Texas.

If youre a civilian working at McDonalds and you dont pay, thats different, said Timmons.

Story continues

Beth Kubala, executive director of the Betty and Michael D. Wohl Veterans Legal Clinic at Syracuse University in New York, explained that any suggestion that the SCRA only protects a service member who is deployed defeats the purpose of the law. Kubala is also a retired lieutenant colonel and JAG officer.

Think about a service member who does move frequently, who might be ordered for an unexpected month or a year of training or who might be unexpectedly put on orders to deploy, said Kubala.

A press release from The Department of Justice said the payout will include $10,000 plus any lost equity to each service member whose vehicle was repossessed and $74,941 to the government. The settlement also requires Hyundai to train its employees on SCRA benefits.

The Department of Justice claims it has won over $481 million for more than 147,000 service members whose SCRA benefits were violated.

Members of our Armed Forces should not have to worry about having their cars repossessed while they are in military service, said Assistant Attorney General Kristen Clarke of the Justice Departments Civil Rights Division, according to the press release.

Hyundai Capital America acknowledged the lawsuit in an emailed statement.

We have entered into a settlement with the Department of Justice  which specifically does not entail our admission of any fault or wrongdoing, said Angela Nicolaou, Hyundai Capital Americas manager of brand communication.

She said the company took pride in supporting military service members and is committed to providing best-in-class customer service.
CHICAGO  An Illinois iLottery player is getting ready to celebrate this weekend after hitting a nearly $750,000 jackpot while playing an online Fast Play game this week.

The lucky lotto player snagged the $746,348 prize while playing the progressive Fast Play game Twenty 20s, which offers players the chance at a jackpot that starts at $50,000 and climbs each time a ticket is sold statewide and online.

The major win happened on Wednesday, according to officials from the Illinois Lottery.

Illinois Lottery: Stories of millionaires made overnight

Twenty-20s is a $20 ticket and while players have a 1 in 3.27 chance of winning a prize, jackpot odds are much higher at 1 in 80,0000.

After taxes, the lucky winner will take home about $530,280, which equals out to about $179,123 in federal taxes and $36,944 in state taxes, according to the lottery tax calculator from TaxAct.

Twenty-20s is one of more than 25 Fast Play games available in the state, and while the jackpot ticket was bought online, Fast Play games can also be purchased in person, at participating retail locations.

Lake Zurich resident loses $1.5M to scammer posing as law enforcement

The lucky player snagged one of more than over 408,000 winning Twenty 20s tickets sold this year, which have netted players more than $23.5 million in prizes.

Details about the big win were released on Friday morning but officials did not disclose the name of the winner.

Fast Play Winners have one year from the date of winning to claim their prizes.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WGN-TV.
Image source: The Motley Fool.

Innovative Industrial Properties (NYSE: IIPR)

Q1 2024 Earnings Call

May 09, 2024, 1:00 p.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:





Operator

Good day, and welcome to the Innovative Industrial Properties Q1 2024 earnings call. [Operator instructions]. I would now like to turn the conference over to Brian Wolfe, general counsel. Please go ahead.

Brian Wolfe -- General Counsel

Thank you for joining the call. Presenting today are Alan Gold, executive chairman; Paul Smithers. president and chief executive officer; David Smith, chief financial officer; Catherine Hastings, chief operating officer; and Ben Regin, chief investment officer. Before we begin, I'd like to remind everyone that statements made during today's conference call may be deemed forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, and actual results may differ materially due to a variety of risks, uncertainties, and other factors.

Please refer to the documents filed by the company with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on Forms 10-K and 10-Q, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. We are not obligated to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise. In addition, on today's call, we will discuss certain non-GAAP financial information, such as FFO, normalized FFO, and adjusted FFO. You can find this information together with reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measure in our earnings release issued yesterday, as well as in our 8-K filed with the SEC.

Should you invest $1,000 in Innovative Industrial Properties right now?

Before you buy stock in Innovative Industrial Properties, 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 Innovative Industrial Properties 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 $553,959!*

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 May 6, 2024

I will now hand the call over to Alan. Alan?

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Thank you, Brian, and welcome, everyone. We're pleased to discuss our results year to date as we enter into our eighth full year of operations. The first four months of 2024 have been very productive for our team with our focus on driving releasing activity and monitoring the completion of significant development projects at our properties, along with continued support of our tenants and funding critical infrastructure improvements to both further enhance production capacity and efficiency and activate significant projects under development. In the first four months of 2024, the company executed new leases at four properties, representing $69 million of invested capital, and completed construction on three fully leased properties totaling 732,000 square feet.

We also strategically divested our Los Angeles, California, property, which was leased until the closing with a combined consideration exceeding our carrying value of the property. As you may recall, that property was never fully built out for cannabis operations. Ben and Catherine will discuss this progress in more detail. The company notched another solid quarter in Q1, generating $2.21 in AFFO per share and further enhancing the company's liquidity position in the first four months of the year, with the upsizing of the revolving credit facility from $30 million to $50 million.

While AFFO per share was down modestly quarter to quarter, we note that rents for the new leases we executed in late 2023 and year to date are not expected to commence for some months to come as new tenants need the time to obtain the requisite approvals to operate and transition into these properties in addition to certain pre-leased properties under development where construction needs to be completed. As we have reiterated in the past, we are really pleased with our capital position, especially in light of the macroeconomic environment impacting real estate companies and the cannabis industry as a general matter. Our total available liquidity exceeded $200 million as of the quarter end and fully funds any remaining development commitments we have, along with providing ample dry powder for additional strategic investments. As Ben will share in more detail, we are evaluating a number of promising new investments in several state markets.

Additionally, we have one of the lowest levered balance sheets in the REIT industry at 11% debt to total gross assets, no variable-rate debt, no debt maturities until May 2026. David will provide more detail, as well as our financial results for the quarter and capital position. From a regulatory perspective, all eyes continue to be focused on potential rescheduling of cannabis from schedule one to schedule three under the Controlled Substances Act, with the recent media reports indicating that the DEA is expected to agree with the HHS recommendation on this matter. Paul will discuss our thoughts in more detail on this rescheduling process pending federal legislation and state-level dynamics that we are seeing.

I will now turn the call over to Paul to discuss market dynamics and regulatory developments. Paul?

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Alan. I would like to start with some general macroeconomic observations from our perspective that are impacting the regulated cannabis industry. 2023 was another year of strong growth in terms of overall unit volume for regulated cannabis sales across the United States. However, overall regulated cannabis sales growth from a dollars perspective was more subdued, given the price compression that continued through the year in many states.

Although some of that price compression was driven by oversupply of regulated products in a particular market, we see much of that compression continuing to come from the illicit market. In particular, illicit grows in California to both compete within the state and have products that are transported across the country. All that said, the outlook for overall growth of the regulated cannabis industry remains robust, with MJ Business' most recent factbook posted late April projecting overall US regulated sales to grow from $32 billion in 2024 to $58 billion by 2030. At the same time, we are seeing some relief on those pricing pressures, which gives us more optimism for 2024 and beyond as operators focus on the strength of their brands, driven in large part by the quality and consistency of their products.

We also believe that the push by many of the multi-state operators to become more efficient and cost conscious in this environment should bode well for their future financial results. From a state market perspective, we continue to see divergence in performance and dynamics, with new markets experiencing high growth while some mature markets become increasingly competitive, especially after the aforementioned extended period of price compression and the challenges in competing with the illicit markets. For example, as we noted on our last call, 2023 saw strong rollouts for adult-use sales in Missouri and Maryland, both of which also benefited from cross-border purchasing by residents in neighboring states with either medical-use-only program or no program at all. Ohio, which legalized adult use in November, is expected to commence sales this year and earlier than originally anticipated perhaps in June.

While Ohio is expected to be one of the fastest growing markets in the near future and follows on the heels of very successful adult-use introductions in Missouri and Maryland, New York's adult-use program, which was introduced more than a year ago in December of 2022, has struggled. With total illicit and legal demand estimated in excess of $5 billion, New York's regulated sales in 2023 came in at well below $1 billion for the year. However, there have been certain recent developments that make us significantly more optimistic on the prospects for New York market, including the ramping up of licensing for retail stores, stronger enforcement against illicit operations, and regulatory authorities allowing income at medical use operators to begin wholesaling. I would also like to touch on two other states that are in the running for adoption of adult-use programs in the near term, Florida and Pennsylvania.

In Florida, earlier this month, the Florida Supreme Court cleared the way for a legalization initiative on the November ballot. The threshold for approval of the measure was 60%, a relatively high bar, although I would note that Florida's medical-use program passed with 72% support. While polling has been both above and below that threshold, we will be closely following the progress there, noting that at past, Florida legalization is projected to provide the largest incremental revenue and profit opportunity for MSOs compared to any prior state conversion. In Pennsylvania, adult-use cannabis legislation has bipartisan support and is also supported by the Pennsylvania governor, having been noted as a priority in the governor's February 2024 budget address.

We are hopeful that action will be taken in the coming months, also given the fact that Pennsylvania is largely surrounded by adult-use states at this point, with West Virginia as the exception. Federal legislation. From the federal perspective, we are, of course, pleased to hear, per the recent media reports, that the DEA is expected to take up the prior recommendation from HHS to reschedule cannabis from schedule one to schedule three. As we noted previously, the most important impact of that reclassification is expected to be the elimination of the 280E tax treatment with an immediate significant boost to operator financials across the board.

President Biden has made this an important issue for his administration heading into the election, and he was the first president in the United States to address cannabis reform in his state of the union address. So we believe there is significant momentum on this issue. That said, the DEA's proposed rule, when issued, will be followed by a public comment period before it issues a final rule. In that timeline, election timing and any corresponding potential administration change may also come into play.

Legislatively, we also continue to track that proposed safer banking legislation which could allow, among other things, expanded lending opportunities for operators. Though a version of this bill has passed the House seven times and has been around for the better part of a decade, recent commentary makes us think there's some potential for movement here, including commentary from Senate Majority Leader, Chuck Schumer, that the Senate is working very hard to enact this bill later this year. Treasury Secretary, Janet Yellen, also recently commented in a House committee hearing on the importance of passing reform legislation to address the banking issues presented by the current regulatory structure, which we think also may some sway in stressing the importance of resolving these issues. I'd like to now turn the call over to Ben to discuss our portfolio and leasing activity to start the year.

Ben?

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Thanks, Paul. For my prepared remarks, I plan to highlight our continued leasing progress for our vacant and underdevelopment assets. Year to date, we've made substantial progress on this front, executing four new leases covering $69 million of invested capital in California and Michigan. California, we've executed new leases for our 19th Avenue and McLane Street properties in Palm Springs with Gold Flora, an existing tenant of ours and a leading vertically integrated operator in California.

And in Michigan, as we noted last quarter, we executed an LOI for our Harvest Park facility prior to the move-out of the former tenant and, earlier this quarter, executed a lease with Lume Cannabis Company, one of the largest operators in the Michigan market. We also signed a lease in January for one of our three small retail vacancies in the state. We were very pleased with the demand we saw for these assets, the speed at which we executed new leases, and the relatively minimal amount of incremental capital required for retenanting. We believe our ongoing execution on our leasing initiatives supports our underlying thesis regarding the high-quality, purpose-built, mission-critical nature of our real estate portfolio.

Moving on to our development portfolio. As noted on previous calls, we continue to explore potential development options for our San Bernardino property, focusing on self storage. And we'll continue to provide updates on progress on future calls. For our land site in San Marcos, Texas, we executed an LOI for a short-term lease with one of our existing tenant partners in anticipation of potential new licenses being issued.

As you may know, Texas currently has a limited medical-use program, with only three licenses issued to date. While we remain optimistic that Texas will eventually adopt a more open approach to regulated cannabis activities and issue new licenses in that process, it remains uncertain. At our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, asset, we continue to explore leasing options for the property and are closely watching developments as it relates to potential adult-use legislation, as Paul alluded to previously. Regarding new investment activity, in the first four months of 2024, we executed three lease amendments to fund additional improvements at properties totaling $22.1 million, including $16 million for PharmaCann in New York, where PharmaCann is focused on expanding production capacity after being awarded an adult-use production license late last year.

In Ohio, we provided an additional $4.5 million improvement allowance to Battle Green to complete construction and expand their production capacity as Ohio gets set to roll out its adult-use program later this year. We also provided an additional $1.6 million to 4Front Ventures to round out development of 4Front's, 250,000-square-foot production facility in Illinois. Battle Green in Ohio and 4Front in Illinois both recently received their temporary certificates of occupancy, as Cat will touch on, with operations expected to commence in the near term. Finally, earlier this week, we closed on the disposition of our property in Los Angeles, which was leased up until the sale.

We sold the property for $9.1 million and received a lease termination fee from the tenant of $3.9 million in addition to reimbursement of our closing costs in connection with the sale, with the total consideration exceeding the net carrying value of the property on our books. This property was never fully built out for cannabis use, and we expect the sale to free up additional capital to recycle into other opportunities that we believe will provide superior risk-adjusted returns. In addition to our leasing activity, which has been off to a strong start in 2024, we continue to track strong active pipeline where we are seeing a notable uptick in activity on the heels of some of the market and industry developments that Paul described. We are seeing demand for our capital across markets from those with near-term adult-use potential, such as Florida and Pennsylvania, to more established markets, such as Maryland and Arizona.

We are actively evaluating opportunities in these and other markets and look forward to executing on new investment opportunities on a very selective disciplined basis. With that, I'll turn it over to Catherine. Catherine?.

Catherine Hastings -- Chief Operating Officer

Thanks, Ben. As Ben noted, we've made a lot of progress over the last few months on closing out or nearing completion on several of our tenants' major development projects. So far, in 2024, we completed construction on three leased projects totaling $200 million of invested and committed capital: Vireo's 325,000-square-foot expansion in New York, 4Front's 250,000-square-foot ground-up development in Illinois, and Battle Green's 157,000-square-foot ground-up development in Ohio. We further expect to substantially complete the 23,000-square-foot Perez Road project in California shortly, which is pre-leased, and the 104,000 square foot cultivation component of our Summit building in Michigan in the summer.

As you may recall, the 97,000-square-foot processing section of that building is accrued for operations now, and the entire project is leased. In light of the challenges presented over the past few years with real estate development projects nationwide, we are very pleased to get these projects to the finish line and allow our operators to start generating revenues from these state-of-the-art facilities. Remember that under our lease structure, these tenants began paying rent during construction, which we recorded in our revenues. But this is an important milestone for our tenants to ramp operations and generate cash flows in the facilities.

Regarding our portfolio as of March 31 and pro forma for development properties placed into service subsequent to quarter end, we owned 108 properties across 19 states, comprising 8.9 million rentable square feet, including 647,000 square feet of development or redevelopments. Of these 108 properties, 103 properties are included in our operating portfolio, which was 95.2% leased at quarter end with a weighted average remaining lease term of approximately 14.8 years. Of the five properties under development -- redevelopment, three were pre-leased at quarter end. Our portfolio continues to be well diversified, with no one tenant representing more than 17% of our annualized base rent and no state representing more than 15% of our annualized base rent.

We have relationships with some of the largest and most experienced operators in the industry, with our leased operating portfolio comprised of 90% multi-state operators and 60% leased to public company tenants. The total amount of capital invested and committed across our operating portfolio equates to $277 per square foot, which we believe remains significantly below replacement cost. And with that, I'll turn it over to David. David?

David Smith -- Chief Financial Officer

Thank you, Catherine. For the first quarter, we generated total revenues of $75.5 million, a 1% decrease from Q1 of last year. Decrease was primarily driven by properties which were leased for all or part of the three months ended March 31, 2023, and properties which were not leased or were released, but rent had not yet commenced, during the three months ended March 31, 2024. As we noted in our earnings release issued yesterday, total revenues for Q1 also do not include $1.5 million in rent received during the quarter, but not recognized in total revenues, due to a reclassification of two leases and sales type leases starting January 1, 2024, as a result of lease term extensions that were executed for both leases.

The modest decline in rental revenues was partially offset by activity in prior periods for the acquisition and leasing of new properties, additional funding and building improvements provided to tenants at certain properties that resulted in base rent increases, and contractual rental escalations. It's also noteworthy that no security deposits were applied for payment of rent during the three months ended March 31, 2024, while a total of $4.2 million of secured deposits were applied for payment of rent for Q1 in 2023. Revenues for the quarter were also down sequentially versus Q4 of last year, primarily related to a Q4 payment of $1.7 million received from a former tenant at one of our properties in Pennsylvania as part of a judgment in our favor for unpaid rent and a previously disclosed temporary reduction in base rent for 4Front at the Illinois property starting in January 2024, which was under development and had experienced significant delays in construction, primarily relating to bringing power to the property. For the three months ended March 31, 2024, we recorded net income attributable to common stockholders of $39.1 million, or $1.36 per share.

Adjusted funds from operations for the first quarter was $63 million, or $2.21 per share, a decrease of 2% compared to the first quarter of 2023, driven primarily by the same factors that drove the 1% decrease in revenues period to period. AFFO was also down sequentially from Q4, again primarily driven by the $0.06 attributable to the $1.7 million judgment paid to IIP in Q4. Looking ahead, I would note that while we expect the leasing activity Ben discussed to contribute meaningfully to our long-term rental revenues, the timeline to rent stabilization may differ between the properties as there are state and local approvals needed for these transitions, additional regulatory requirements to be completed at certain assets, and some level of rent abatements negotiated to allow for a ramping of our new tenant's operations. That being said, we are very pleased with our substantial activity on the releasing front, as Ben discussed in detail.

On April 15 , we paid a quarterly dividend of $1.82 per share to common stockholders of record as of March 28. As Alan noted, our dividend remain covered by our AFFO during the quarter, with a payout ratio of 82%, which is in line with the Board's targeted payout ratio of 75% to 85% of AFFO. Turning to the balance sheet. At quarter end, we had approximately $2.6 billion of total gross assets and $300 million in fixed rate debt, consisting solely of $300 million in unsecured bonds not maturing until May 2026.

We continue to maintain credit metrics that are among the best in the entire publicly traded REIT industry with a debt-to-gross-assets ratio of 11% and a debt service coverage ratio in excess of 16 times. On the liquidity front, we ended the first quarter with over $200 million of total liquidity comprised of our cash, short-term investments, and availability under our revolving credit facility. We closed on this credit facility last October at that time was a $30 million three-year facility, subsequently upsized the facility to $45 million in February, and expect to increase the total capacity to $50 million by the end of this month. Our revolver remains undrawn as of today.

We are also continuing to source new banking relationships to provide additional capital for the company. And with over 800 financial institutions providing services to the cannabis industry, along with recent reports of one of the top 20 largest banks in the US entering the industry, we remain encouraged in our prospects to continue to expand our banking relationships. We are well positioned for growth as we continue to maintain a conservative and low-leverage balance sheet, generate positive free cash flow, and have continued to enhance our liquidity position through the closing of this new credit facility in Q4 and upsizing that facility in the first part of 2024. Finally, as a result of the investment activity that Ben mentioned, we opportunistically tapped our ATM program by issuing 123,000 shares of common stock for $11.8 million in net proceeds to further bolster our strong liquidity position and invest accretively into the opportunities that Ben discussed in his remarks.

With that, I will turn it back to Alan. Alan?

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Thanks, David. I'd like to note the following in closing. We, as a company, are certainly not immune to the macroeconomic factors that have impacted the broader economy and the regulated cannabis industry in particular. But I am proud of our team and what our team has accomplished in continuing to execute on our plan to maximize the value of our portfolio for the benefit of our stockholders through our leasing, investment, and disposition activities and to continually evaluate capital options with the goal of maintaining a strong balance sheet and liquidity position.

We believe this core focus will serve our stockholders well over the long term. With that, I'd like to open it up to questions. Operator, could you please open the call up for questions?

Questions & Answers:





Operator

[Operator instructions]. The first question comes from Tom Catherwood with BTIG. Please go ahead.

Tom Catherwood -- BTIG -- Analyst

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. For the US cannabis industry, more broadly, I want to be cautious here and not sound too overly optimistic. But the bulk of operators reported an uptick in both retail sales and wholesale activity with their fourth-quarter earnings. And then, there was margin improvement across the board.

How are you seeing operators respond to this modestly improved backdrop? And could we see a renewed cycle of capex spending on cultivation and manufacturing given the uptick in wholesale activity?

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Yeah. Thank you, Tom. It's a good question. And it really goes to our greater belief that the -- while we've been going through some difficult macroeconomic environments, that things are looking better, that there are green shoots and opportunities.

But I'm going to turn it over to Paul and, perhaps, Ben to answer that question, more directly.

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. Hey, John. It's Paul. So yeah, I agree with Alan that when we talk to our operators, we are feeling a greater sense of optimism.

And there are lots of discussions about expansion. And it's not only pricing stability, but I think we can't understate the excitement about the rescheduling likelihood and the 280E relief. So with those things combined we are seeing a lot more interest and, of course, expansion conversations. I don't know, Ben, if you want to put some more color on that, mostly in pipeline wise.

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Yeah, sure. And just -- Hey, Tom. On your question about what the operators are doing, I mean, I think you can hear the optimism if you're listening to any of their earnings calls this quarter, whether that's Vireo focusing on their improved metrics or GTI yesterday talking about being able to play aggressive offense in the market, given what they're seeing out there. I think a lot of these companies are poised to get back into expansion mode, accretive acquisitions, more M&A.

And that's translating on our side to the uptick in the pipeline that we mentioned in the prepared remarks.

Tom Catherwood -- BTIG -- Analyst

Got it. Appreciate those thoughts, everyone. Then maybe Ben and David, for the new leases, I know it's hard to predict when tenants will receive full regulatory approval and can take full possession and start paying rent. But at the same time, these are sophisticated operators that you've leased to who are up and running in these states already.

Are you able to maybe bucket the leases between those that are more likely to gain regulatory approval and have a tenant take occupancy in '24 versus those that are a '25 event? Or are there some that could even extend beyond that? Any thoughts would be helpful.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Yeah. Tom, this is Alan. I mean, I first like to start with how we agree with you in your analysis that we have some very strong and sophisticated tenants and operators that are operating in a very unique environment, a difficult macroeconomic environment, and an environment where the regulatory agencies are still, believe it or not, working through a lot of their own processes. And with that, I'll turn it over to David and Ben.

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Yeah. Hey, Tom. Just to echo what Alan's saying, I don't think we can really overstate how pleased we've been with the leasing activity, not just the speed at which we are able to retenant these properties; the relatively low amount of capital required to retenant these properties; but really, as you noted, the strength of the operators and the credit upgrades we feel we got in each of these cases, whether that's Gold Flora in California or a group like Lume in Michigan, who's the largest operator in the state there. So the regulatory aspects of rent commencement and starting of operations is out of our hands and something that we're tracking.

But we feel that we've partnered in each case with the group that can execute on that as best as they can.

Tom Catherwood -- BTIG -- Analyst

Got it. Well, we will keep that on the front of our radar as we move through the year. And then, maybe last for me, Paul, following up on your comments about operators being more opportunistic, given the commentary about rescheduling. And also, you sounded, I think, somewhat more optimistic on the potential for safer legislation that I've heard you in a while.

I know the devil will ultimately be in the details for both of these pieces of legislation. But if we step back and think bigger picture, what risks could IIP's business model face over the near to medium term if we get both rescheduling and more access to the financial institutions and services at the same time?

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Alan, go ahead.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Yeah. No, I was going to say before Paul talks about the risks, I think they're -- not only are there risks, but there are certainly opportunities. Every one of those up -- risks really is a double-edged sword in that when there is a rescheduling and/or a more positive regulatory environment, It also helps with our -- our cost of capital and our ability to drive returns to our shareholders. Because when we have an extremely strong and well-established portfolio, we have a very long-term weighted average lease length and capital that is being deployed that's north of the mid-teens type area.

OK. Go ahead, Paul. Talk about the risks.

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. So as far as rescheduling, Tom, we don't see any significant risk to our operations should rescheduling go forward. The opposite is true. Because remember, we still -- if we rescheduled the three, there's still a federal disconnect between state law and fed.

So it's still state's operating license. State operators would still be in conflict with federal law because they'd be selling cannabis without a prescription. So we still have that disconnect that creates opportunity for us. So we don't see a lot of players coming into the market when you still have that federal prohibition.

As far as the SAFE Banking Act, there is some optimism because it's getting traction in the Senate, and you've got a committee, and Schumer says he's going to put on a floor vote. That's the good news. It will still be a challenge in the House because a speaker has said he's not a fan. So it probably won't get a vote on the House.

But why there's reason for optimism is it could be part of a negotiated bigger bill, and that's why there is some renewed energy. But in its current form, SAFER does not address any capital market access. It's purely getting the cash out of the banking system. So if SAFER passes as is, we don't see it affecting our business.

To the contrary, it would be better for operators to take the cash out. So to answer your question, we just see very minimal risk, if not at all, should the rescheduling occur and/or SAFER.

Tom Catherwood -- BTIG -- Analyst

I appreciate all those responses. That's it for me. Thanks everyone.

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Tom.

Operator

The next question comes from Scott Fortune with Roth MKM. Please go ahead.

Scott Fortune -- ROTH MKM -- Analyst

Yes, and thank you for the question. Just a follow up on that and the risk side of things. You guys have mentioned strong and sophisticated operators. And we're now seeing the top MSOs with significant cash levels, and that could be additional cash flow if we get a rescheduling there.

So just wanted to get a sense for the tenants with those strong cash levels on the balance sheet and those discussions. I'm not sure if rescheduling progress now has opened up more discussions with them. But the opportunity for them to really tap into markets for lower cost of capital, obviously, there's a spread here. But just going forward with some of these bigger operators who want to expand the sales lease model regarding the cap rates and working with IIP and what you can offer the top MSOs versus their now lower cost of capital.

Just how you look at that risk of lower cap rates and the spread going forward, address that a little bit. That would be great.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

So before I turn it over to Ben to talk about our pipeline and how strong the pipeline is, I would just ask you to really think through. Just because they have more capital on their balance sheet does not necessarily mean that their cost of capital has gone down. I think that their cost of capital remains elevated because they're still struggling with accessing the broader capital markets. Clearly, here in the US, maybe not so much.

Or maybe they had better access up in Canada, where you all have operations also. But here in the US, their access to capital remains limited, which -- it goes to the quality and size of our pipeline, which I'll let Ben discuss.

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Yeah. Hey, Scott. This is Ben. So just to follow up on Alan's comments, we noted the real uptick in activity we're seeing in the pipeline, which has been great to see.

It's very active across multiple markets, and these are at the same cap rates that we've been seeing for the last few years. So we have not seen any downward pressure on those rates. And I think if cost of capital generally is going down, that typically impacts us as well. And we can maintain our same spread, potentially, at lower cap rates in that environment.

But as of today, with the increased activity in the pipeline, we have not seen any downward movement in any material way on our cap rates.

Scott Fortune -- ROTH MKM -- Analyst

Thank you. Real quick, then. Have you seen a pick-up in discussions since the rescheduling news has hit a week and a half ago here?

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Yeah. I mean, I wouldn't say necessarily just rescheduling, though that certainly has, I think, improved some sentiment in the in the industry. In general, we're seeing a lot of state level dynamics driving activity in the pipeline. So that could be potential adult use rollouts in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida.

And also just the industry overall continues to grow even in more established markets. So we're seeing activity in states like Arizona, states like California and Michigan. So it's really varied. And I think the strength and the health that we're seeing in the industry overall, the recovery and wholesale pricing in many markets, the optimism around rescheduling, and a potential adult use market rolling out all contributes to the strength of the pipeline that we're seeing.

Scott Fortune -- ROTH MKM -- Analyst

Appreciate that color. And then, one more quick one for me. Just provide a little color on that Los Angeles property. I know it wasn't fully built out.

But the disposition there, how that came about with holistic, and what type of buyer of the property, just a little bit more color on that. And do you guys do you disclose what the net carrying value was of that property?

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Yeah. I mean, I think our supplement has some of these information. But we're pretty excited about our ability to continue to recycle capital. Ben, why don't you -- Ben or Cat, do you guys want to elaborate?

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Sure. Yeah, I can give a little more color. As we mentioned, that was not built out for cannabis. And I think it really showed our ability to work positively with our tenant partners on a solution that we felt was a win-win.

We're able to take that capital and recycle it into other opportunities that we've been describing in our pipeline that we think will provide superior risk-adjusted returns. And so, we are very, very happy, I think, on both sides on that deal with the execution, the ability to recycle that capital into other deals.

Scott Fortune -- ROTH MKM -- Analyst

Thanks. I appreciate it. Thanks for all the color.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Thanks, Scott.

Operator

The next question comes from Alexander Goldfarb with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

Hey. Good morning out there. So first question is your comment about a top 20 bank getting involved in cannabis leads to -- continues the, I guess, support for some -- for the courts to get involved. What's an update on there? I mean, it seems like the government's in a pretty indefensible position of, on one hand, continuing to make cannabis federally legal, but obviously allowing larger banks to get involved, letting the states get involved and participate.

So what is the -- I think, Paul, a while back, you mentioned about potential court cases. Just wanted to get an update there.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Paul, go ahead.

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Sure. Hi, Alex. There is an ongoing case, as you know -- we talked about it last quarter -- about challenging the federal government's position and basically saying that since the government has failed to actively enforce the prohibition and let states get away with it, as you described, that they've waived their rights. And that's probably going to get a hearing, we think, within the next six to nine months at the trial level.

Then we'll probably go right up to the DCA and eventually up to the Supreme Court. So they've got a very experienced legal team, and it's a legitimate case. So that's that. But in the meantime, the better solution, of course, would be a legislative solution.

So why is rescheduling important? I think it does create that momentum to get to a descheduling position maybe in the next two to three years. And that will take at least that long for the court case to get its way through the Supreme Court.

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

Yeah. No, I was going to ask. What district -- is this out of the DC courts? Or what district has this been?

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

I think it's Maryland, though I have to get back to you on that.

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

So it's in the fourth.

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

I believe so. I'll get back to you on that.

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

OK. No, I mean, that's a favorable district, I would think, for this stuff. And then, can you talk a little bit -- we all see the new states. We obviously live here in New York.

We can see what's going on with the attempted rollout here. But as you look at the market, what is your experience on the conversion of illicit to the regulated market? Meaning, people are already using cannabis across the country. A state legalized this. How many like incremental users have -- does your experience show that the states get? And then, what's the conversion ratio of people who switch from the illicit to the regulated? Because that's ultimately what the industry needs is for more people in the regulated and then the regulated to grow users.

And I'm just trying to understand what your experience so far from the operator has shown as far as, one, conversion of illicit, buying from their guy, no longer doing that, to buying legally; and then, two, new people who weren't users before but are now coming in.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Alex, this is Alan. Before Paul perhaps addresses that question directly, I just want to remind everybody that we're a real estate provider. We're not a direct operator. And so, our commentary really comes from the industry in general.

And perhaps talking about the growth in total revenue, things like that, might have relevance to answer your question. Go ahead, Paul.

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Well, it's right. I mean, I'm not aware of any data that's out there that talks about when you put a legal program in place in the state, how many new users are there? Because, of course, you'd have to get a base of how many illicit users that were to begin with. But we can tell you that history shown that when a medical program converts to a medical and adult use, revenues go up significantly, as much as three times. And the difference between medical and adult use is one-third medical and two-thirds recreational.

So when a state does adopt adult use, it's a significant impact on revenues for the operators. And that's why so many of the operators gravitate toward adult use states. But as far as the illicit users, we just don't have that data to talk to.

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

OK. And just a final one for David. I don't want to leave the accounting guy, the CFO, behind. Sale type accounting, lease accounting, obviously, that's what we all aspire to and train for.

Do you see this as coming up with other properties as you restrike leases? Or do you view that this -- the two leases that got caught up in this are very unique relative to the other assets in your portfolio?

David Smith -- Chief Financial Officer

Yeah. Sure, Alex. This is David. I think in your note, it sounds like you've gotten very experienced in this.

But I'd just say it's two properties out of 108. So it's a very, very immaterial piece of our portfolio. It can happen, but I think it's not very likely to happen in the future. If it does, again on a very limited basis.

So I think it's something that, given the very strong yields that we have in this sector, can impact that. But again, obviously, that's a good problem to have that our portfolio generates twice the yields of typical commercial real estate. So that can be one of the items that that trips that. But yeah, look, at the end of the day, while it's not in our GAAP revenues, as you know, we're including our FFO.

It's cash rent received. It's -- as you noted, the IRS considered it a good reading covenants. It's in our taxable income, and that's what we distribute off of.

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

OK. Listen, thank you. Thank you, David.

David Smith -- Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Alex.

Operator

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Alan Gold for any closing remarks.

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Well, thank you, and thank you all for joining us today. Again, I'd like to thank our team for such hard and dedicated work over the last quarter and certainly, the last six-plus years. Thank you all. With that, the call should end.

Thank you.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 0 minutes

Call participants:

Brian Wolfe -- General Counsel

Alan Gold -- Executive Chairman

Paul Smithers -- President and Chief Executive Officer

Ben Regin -- Chief Investment Officer

Catherine Hastings -- Chief Operating Officer

David Smith -- Chief Financial Officer

Tom Catherwood -- BTIG -- Analyst

Scott Fortune -- ROTH MKM -- Analyst

Alexander Goldfarb -- Piper Sandler -- Analyst

More IIPR analysis

All earnings call transcripts

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Innovative Industrial Properties. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
Nazrin Abdul

The 63rd plenary session of the General Assembly of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) is set to convene in Tirana, Albania's capital, Azernews reports.

Representing Azerbaijan at the event will be Eldar Guliyev, Chairman of the Milli Majlis Counting Commission and Head of the PABSEC Azerbaijani delegation, along with Musa Guliyev, Chairman of the Labor and Social Policy Committee of the Milli Majlis, as well as MPs Jala Ahmadova and Kamran Bayramov.

The Draft Agenda for the General Assembly encompasses key topics such as "Strengthening Regional Economic Cooperation to Enhanse Encountering Common Security Challenges", "Cooperation among the BSEC Member States in Energy Trading", "The Role of Parliaments in Promoting Intercultural Dialogue and Tolerance in the Fight against Hate Speech", "Investing in Human Capital for Innovation and Prosperity in the BSEC Region".

Azerbaijani MPs will actively contribute their perspectives on the agenda items during the assembly.
Japanese companies INPEX and JERA have initiated a joint study to evaluate the potential of a Japan-Australia CCS value chain.

This collaboration aims to explore the viability of capturing CO emissions in Japan and securely storing them in Australia.

INPEX and JERA will cover the entire CCS value chain, including separation technologies, transport methods, and the conditions required for shipping and receiving CO.

INPEX brings to the table its expertise in CCS technologies and business development.

In 2022, INPEX, alongside TotalEnergies CCS Australia and Woodside Energy, was granted a greenhouse gas storage assessment permit in Australia's Bonaparte Basin.

With JERA, INPEX hopes to contribute to the development of a worldwide CCS value chain and the shift towards decarbonisation.

JERA's participation is driven by its interest in capturing carbon from its operations in Japan and seeking storage solutions abroad, particularly in regions with large storage capacity potential.

Last month, JERA formed a partnership with Petronas CCS Solutions, a unit of Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas, to assess a CCS value chain, which involves capturing CO in Japan for storage in Malaysia.

In March last year, JERA signed an agreement with Chevron New Energies, a division of Chevron USA, to explore CCS collaborations in the US and Australia.

JERA is aiming to attain net-zero CO emissions from its domestic and international operations by 2050 under the JERA Zero CO2 Emissions 2050 initiative.

In March this year, JERA partnered with US oil and gas company ExxonMobil to assess the development of a low-carbon hydrogen and ammonia plant in the US.

"INPEX and JERA team up on CCS value chain between Japan and Australia " 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.
lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Many people dream of being their own bosses and becoming self-made millionaires. News outlets often highlight individuals who drop out of college to pursue their dreams and make it big. However, becoming a successful entrepreneur requires certain traits and actions. Some of the worlds most famous entrepreneurs have weighed in on what it takes to be successful in this field.

Find Out: Robert Kiyosaki: 5 Side Hustles You Can Work From Anywhere in the World

Read More: 5 Unusual Ways To Make Extra Money (That Actually Work)

Work 25 Hours a Day, 8 Days a Week

Shark Tank star Kevin OLeary has said entrepreneurship isnt for everyone. Only one-third of the workforce has decided to try to work for themselves. He explained that becoming an entrepreneur is all about how you view your future self and work toward that version of yourself.

Being an entrepreneur requires a lot of sacrifice. According to OLeary, if youre willing to work 25 hours a day, eight days a week, youre an entrepreneur. Putting in a hefty amount of work during your 20s and 30s will let you reap the benefits of more free time later on in life.

Create Change

In an interview with former President Barack Obama, Mark Zuckerburg, the founder of Facebook, stated that entrepreneurship is about creating change more than starting a company. The most effective entrepreneurs find motivation for their work through missions and creating improvements. Some entrepreneurs dont even set out to start companies at all.

When Zuckerberg started Facebook, he wanted to give everyone the opportunity to share what was important to them. He didnt think that his project would become a company. With each step and improvement to Facebook, he would receive criticism that it wouldnt catch on and that there was no money in it. Facebook grew into the major social media giant it is today because Zuckerburg cared deeply about it.

Learn More: Passive Income Expert: I Make $27,000 Every Week  Heres How

Overcome Wishful Thinking

Zuckerberg isnt alone in his views. SpaceX founder Elon Musk said its very important to focus on making something that will be highly valued by others. He also thinks that entrepreneurs must be meticulous when it comes to self-analysis.

One of the most significant challenges for an entrepreneur to overcome is wishful thinking. To be a successful entrepreneur, youll need to differentiate between really believing in your ideas and chasing an impossible dream.

Be Relentless and Flexible

Coming up with new and exciting ideas isnt the most challenging part of being an entrepreneur. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos explained that successfully navigating the steps between coming up with an idea and turning it into a successful product takes a combination of stubborn relentlessness and flexibility. In addition, influential entrepreneurs must know when to exercise each trait.

Story continues

Bezos said you need to be relentless when it comes to your vision. Without that persistence, you may stop tying altogether. On the other hand, your preconceptions wont always be correct. The best way forward is to be flexible about the details and make adjustments as needed to stay aligned with your overarching vision.

Be Attuned to Whats Happening

To be a successful entrepreneur, Michael Dell said you cant wait for change to happen to you. Youve got to go out and make the changes first. While this sounds obvious, it requires entrepreneurs to be very aware of whats going on in their industries and how it will affect the future.

Dell, the founder of Dell Technologies, explained that business changes quickly. Predicting how things will evolve and what youll need to do to take advantage of it is a key skill that entrepreneurs must have. The ability to do this will maintain and increase your relevancy.

Have Passion

When asked for the single most valuable piece of advice hed give an entrepreneur, Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, referenced passion. The process requires entrepreneurs to continue on their paths for so long that most rational people would give up. Jobs joked that the entrepreneurs who quit are the sane ones because of how challenging of a task it is. When looking at successful entrepreneurs, he said they love what they do.

Find Smarter People

When Alibaba founder Jack Ma started out, he admitted he didnt know a lot about technology or management. Some entrepreneurs might feel like they should be the smartest person in the room, but Ma took a different approach. Instead of trying to learn everything, Ma always tried to hire and work with people who were smarter than him.

He explained that his job is to make sure smart people can work together. Ma joked that its not very hard to get stupid people to work together, but getting smart people on the same page and in agreement can be challenging. However, when smart people work together, its easier to achieve your vision.

Be Grounded

Oprah Winfrey, the world-renowned talk show host, spoke at the Stanford Graduate School of Business about why she has achieved so much success over the years. She attributes her success to staying grounded. When hiring new employees, she would often ask candidates what practices they do to take care of themselves and stay centered.

According to Winfrey, the motivation behind her work was for her to be a better person. She explained that her show worked because she knew there wasnt any difference between her and her audience. This allowed the audience members to develop a deep connection with her.

Save Up

While many famous entrepreneurs preach that you need passion, love and motivation to become a successful entrepreneur, Mark Cuban said you need money. Cuban, a successful businessman and Shark Tank personality, gave some advice to aspiring entrepreneurs: Save your money first.

While many love the romantic idea of quitting their jobs and becoming their own bosses, its essential to prepare for how much it will cost. Cuban pointed out that most people dont hear the stories of the many entrepreneurs who fail in their endeavors or give up. Before starting a new business, Cuban said you should have at least six months of income saved up in case your business doesnt take off right away.

Know How To Convince Others

While giving a speech, Bill Gates, a founder of Microsoft, explained that entrepreneurs need sales skills to succeed. Gates said that you not only need to convince customers to buy your product or service, but you also need to sell investors and employees on your vision.

In the beginning, your company will be very small. Because youre hoping to grow your business, you want to find employees who are overqualified and will continue to excel as the business expands. Having the ability to convince skilled candidates to work for your company is another vital part of being an entrepreneur.

Dont Fear Failure

Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, reflected on his early days in entrepreneurship. He said that he had been taught not to fear failure, but to fail a lot early on to learn how to succeed. He came up with a slogan called healthy disregard for the impossible. This idea would drive him to write down things that seemed impossible, but that he may be able to achieve.

Page said that its necessary to take risks and fail. He took a lot of risks that didnt achieve any success but also came up with Google. Because he took a lot of risks, he didnt worry about the things that didnt work out. Page encourages entrepreneurs and business owners to take more risks in order to find success.

More From GOBankingRates

This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Other Top Entrepreneurs on What Youll Need To Do To Be One
This year started with a bang, saw a fizzle in April  but now appears to be regaining its stride. As we saw last year, the gains continue to be dominated by the Magnificent 7 tech stocks. This group of mega-cap companies collectively experienced a 48% year-over-year earnings increase in the recent first-quarter 2024 releases, in contrast to a 2% collective decline across the other S&P companies.

Going forward, however, expectations are that the remaining 493 companies on the S&P will close that gap, and Bank of America strategist Ritesh Samadhiya sets out a case for the Mag 7 stocks to realize a 15% earnings share gain in Q4 while the rest of the index increases its share to 14%.

That forecast implies a hefty broadening of the base, opening more opportunities for investors. The combination of a broader base and the current improved investor sentiment has Samadhiyas team feeling bullish  and their colleagues among the Bank of America stock analysts are running with it, telling investors that its time to take advantage of the potential for wider gains and to jump on the bandwagon for two stocks in particular.

A look into the TipRanks data shows that these 2 stock picks from BofA offer widely divergent potentialities  but Bank of Americas analysts are predicting solid upsides for both. Here are the details.

Cisco Systems (CSCO)

Cisco Systems is a well-known name in the world of networking technology, with a wide and varied set of product lines on the market. The companys product offerings include switches, routers, cloud and network management, interfaces and modules, outdoor and industrial wireless access points, wireless controllers, firewalls, and secure endpoints. The list is long and includes product lines for data centers, data analytics, video, IoT, and software. There are few areas involved in online networking and security that Cisco isnt involved in.

In a move designed to bolster its strong position in software and data analytics, Cisco acquired the analytic software company Splunk in a transaction worth approximately $28 billion. The deal brings Splunks capabilities in data searching, monitoring, and analysis into Ciscos stable of product offerings, making Cisco one of the worlds largest software companies. New features for Cisco, derived from the acquisition, include security and observability solutions. The transaction was completed on March 18.

Cisco has multiple opportunities on tap for the near future, including the movement of AI systems to Ethernet networks. This will bring the shiny new thing, gen AI, directly into one of Ciscos core competencies. In addition, Ciscos strength in optical networks will open up opportunities for the company to move into the hyperscaler ecosystem.

Story continues

Despite Ciscos solid reputation and strong market position, the companys stock has underperformed in recent months. The company reported its fiscal 2Q24 results in February, and while the financial results surpassed the forecasts, the companys guidance failed to impress.

But the Q2 results do bear a closer look. The company brought in $12.8 billion in revenue, down 6% year-over-year but $100 million better than had been expected. At the bottom line, Ciscos non-GAAP EPS of 87 cents was 3 cents per share over the estimates. Looking forward, management gave fiscal Q324 revenue guidance in the range between $12.1 billion and $12.3 billion  but the consensus had looked for $13.1 billion. The EPS forecast of 84 of 86 cents per share was also lower than the 92 cents analysts had hoped to see.

At least one analyst, however, is not fazed by Ciscos guidance. Tal Liani, 5-star analyst from Bank of America, believes that the upside potential here  coming from Ciscos strengths in the AI and Security segments, as well as the Splunk acquisition  simply outweigh the weaknesses.

We expect Networking to start normalizing and see renewed growth driven by Ciscos share gains in Ethernet-based AI buildouts of hyperscalers. We expect Security growth to accelerate with the help of firewall stabilization and recent new product launches. Lastly, we see great growth synergies from Splunks acquisition. While the next two quarters may remain pressured, we believe this weakness is fully reflected in Street expectations and management guidance is adequately conservative, Liani opined.

Liani complements his positive stance with a Buy rating on CSCO, and a $60 price target that points toward a 25% upside on the one-year time horizon. (To watch Lianis track record, click here)

The bullish Bank of America viewpoint here is something of an outlier; this stock has a Hold rating from the analyst consensus, based on 17 recent recommendations that include 4 Buys and 13 Holds. The shares have a $53.67 average price target, suggesting a ~12% one-year gain from the current share price of $48. (See CSCO stock forecast)

89bio, Inc. (ETNB)

The second Bank of America pick well look at is 89bio, a research-oriented biopharmaceutical company with a focus on finding, developing, and commercializing new therapeutic agents for the treatment of liver and cardio-metabolic diseases. The companys research pipeline is organized around its advanced drug candidate BIO89-100, and includes clinical studies in the treatment of NASH (nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, sometimes now referred to as MASH, or metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis) and SHTG (severe hypertriglyceridemia).

The drug candidate BIO89-100, also known as pegozafermin, was engineered specifically to target the underlying metabolic issues that cause NASH and SHTG. The drug is a glycoPEGylated analog of FGF21, or fibroblast growth factor 21. FGF21 is a liver hormone known to act as a master metabolic regulator with broad effects, particularly on the glucose and lipid metabolism. Pegozafermin was developed to increase the half-life of the FGF21 hormone.

89bio has recently posted updates from three trials, all targeting the NASH indication. In March, the company initiated a Phase 3 trial, dubbed ENLIGHTEN, for non-cirrhotic (F2-F3) and cirrhotic (F4) patients. In addition, the company has also released two data sets from the Phase 2b ENLIVEN trial, in patients with advanced NASH and with cirrhotic NASH. The data sets demonstrated statistically significant improvements in key markers of liver health. On the SHTG side, the company is continuing to enroll patients in the Phase 3 ENTRUST trial, to evaluate the efficacy, safety and tolerability of pegozafermin in the treatment of SHTG. Data from this trial is expected for release in 2025.

The solid research program on pegozafermin and its long-term commercial potential caught the attention of analyst Alexandria Hammond, who writes in her coverage for Bank of America.

Beyond macro uncertainties, we suspect concerns over competition in the fatty liver disease space (aka MASH) and commercial unknowns ahead of the first-to-market MASH launch have weighed sentiment. We acknowledge the uncertainties of the MASH commercial landscape, but, in our view, 89Bios FGF21 analogue pegozafermin offers intriguing upside as a nextand possibly best-in-class MASH agent given a more favorable safety/tolerability profile (projected launch 2027) in a particularly attractive and less crowded market sub-segment, Hammond opined.

Hammond adds, laying out a clear case for investors to buy in now, With pegozafermin well-positioned to compete for the spaces meaningfuland addressable potentialalong with the limited downside, we think the current risk/reward is particularly attractive.

These comments support the analysts Buy rating on ETNB, while her $30 price target implies a robust 232% one-year upside potential. (To watch Hammonds track record, click here)

Overall, this stock is clear winner in Wall Streets eyes, boasting a Strong Buy consensus rating from the analysts based on 5 recent Buy calls against a single Hold. The stock is selling for $9.03 and its $29.80 average price target suggests that it will gain 230% over the course of the next 12 months. (See ETNB stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analysts. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
Kennedy-Wilson Holdings (NYSE:KW) First Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$136.4m (flat on 1Q 2023).

Net income: US$26.9m (up from US$40.8m loss in 1Q 2023).

Profit margin: 20% (up from net loss in 1Q 2023).

EPS: US$0.19 (up from US$0.30 loss in 1Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Kennedy-Wilson Holdings shares are up 13% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

What about risks? Every company has them, and we've spotted 3 warning signs for Kennedy-Wilson Holdings 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.
US midstream company Kinetik has reached an agreement to acquire Durango Permian to expand its presence in the Delaware Basin.

The transaction, valued at $765m, includes a $75m contingent consideration related to the construction of a new complex.

Durango's assets in New Mexico encompass approximately 3,862km of gas-gathering pipelines and a processing capacity of around 220 million cubic feet per day (mft/d).

The acquisition is expected to double Kinetik's pipeline mileage and augment its processing capacity, with more than 60 new customers being added to its portfolio.

The acquisition also includes the Kings Landing project, a 200mft/d greenfield processing complex in Eddy County, New Mexico, which is slated for completion in April 2025. This will boost Durango's processing capacity to 420mft/d.

Kinetik, headquartered in Houston and Midland, Texas, has also secured a 15-year service agreement with an existing customer to provide gas-gathering and processing services in Eddy County, New Mexico.

The company plans to invest approximately $200m in gathering infrastructure to support this contract, which will commence at the end of the year.

To fund the Durango acquisition and the new Eddy County agreement, Kinetik will sell its 16% stake in the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline to an ArcLight Capital Partners affiliate for $540m in cash.

This divestiture aligns with Kinetik's strategy to strengthen its position as a pure-play midstream company in the Delaware Basin.

Kinetik president and CEO Jamie Welch said: Following the Durango acquisition and the expected completion of Kings Landing, Kinetik will own and operate over 2.4 billion cubic feet per day of processing capacity, entirely in the Delaware Basin, and approximately 7,400km of pipelines across eight counties.

These actions efficiently and accretively recycle cash proceeds from a non-operated asset into highly strategic, operated assets. Additionally, the Durango acquisition and New Eddy County agreement offer full control of plant products including more than 350 million cubic feet per day of residue gas and well over 60,000 barrels per day of natural gas liquids, providing significant additional upside value via system optimisation, modifications to existing commercial contracts, and integration with our pipeline transportation segment.

The Durango transaction is expected to close in the second quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions.

This development comes as other players in the Delaware Basin, such as Enterprise Products Partners, also invest in expanding their natural gas processing operations.

Story continues

"Kinetik to expand in Delaware Basin with Durango acquisition and new agreements " 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.
Revenue: Reported at $138.2 million, up 3% year-over-year, but fell short of estimates of $145.53 million.

Net Loss: Reduced to $4.0 million, showing a 27% improvement year-over-year in ZAR, but was higher than the estimated net loss of $3.35 million.

GAAP Loss Per Share: Improved by 30% to $0.06, but was higher than the estimated loss per share of $0.05.

Operating Income: Turned positive at $0.8 million, compared to an operating loss of $1.9 million in the same quarter last year.

Group Adjusted EBITDA: Increased significantly by 47% in ZAR to $9.7 million, surpassing the upper end of Q3 2024 guidance.

Consumer Division Revenue: Grew by 19% year-over-year in ZAR to $17.9 million, with Segment Adjusted EBITDA increasing by 178% in ZAR.

Net Debt to Group Adjusted EBITDA Ratio: Improved to 2.6 times from 4.2 times in Q3 2023.

On May 8, 2024, Lesaka Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ:LSAK) disclosed its financial results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2024, through an 8-K filing. The company, a prominent player in the fintech sector in Southern Africa, reported a revenue increase and a reduction in net loss, indicating a mixed financial performance amidst operational adjustments and market challenges.

Lesaka Technologies Inc. Reports Q3 2024 Earnings: A Closer Look at Performance Metrics and Financial Health

Company Overview

Lesaka Technologies Inc provides innovative payment and financial technology solutions primarily in South Africa, operating through two segments: Merchant and Consumer. The Merchant segment, which is the major revenue contributor, offers goods and services to corporate entities and earns fees through processing activities. The Consumer segment provides financial services like bank accounts and loans to individual customers, generating revenue through service fees.

Financial Performance Insights

For Q3 2024, Lesaka Technologies reported a revenue of $138.2 million, marking a 3% increase from $134.0 million in the same quarter the previous year. This growth reflects stronger transaction volumes and increased service offerings. However, the company recorded a net loss of $4.0 million, an improvement from a $5.8 million loss in Q3 2023, showing a 27% betterment in net losses year-over-year.

Operational Highlights and Challenges

The Merchant Division's revenue rose to $121.0 million, up 8% from the prior year, driven by higher sales of prepaid airtime and other value-added services. The Consumer Division also saw a significant revenue increase of 19% to $17.9 million, attributed to higher transaction fees and lending revenues. Despite these gains, the company's profitability is still under pressure due to ongoing operational costs and competitive market conditions.

Lesaka's adjusted EBITDA, a non-GAAP measure, was $9.7 million, up 47% from $7.0 million in Q3 2023, surpassing the upper end of the company's guidance. This increase is a positive indicator of operational efficiency and cost management. However, the net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio, although improved to 2.6 from 4.2 a year ago, remains a point of concern, highlighting the company's ongoing leverage issues.

Strategic Movements and Outlook

Lesaka's management remains optimistic about future growth, particularly with the anticipated completion of the Adumo acquisition, which is expected to accelerate organic growth and strengthen the company's market position in Southern Africa. The company has reaffirmed its revenue guidance for fiscal 2024 and raised its adjusted EBITDA outlook, reflecting confidence in its operational strategies and market opportunities.

Conclusion

While Lesaka Technologies Inc. shows promising improvements in revenue and operational efficiency, the persistent net losses and debt levels pose challenges. Investors and stakeholders will likely watch closely how the company navigates these challenges and capitalizes on its strategic initiatives in the coming quarters. For more detailed financial analysis and future updates on Lesaka Technologies, stay tuned to GuruFocus.com.

For further information, please refer to the company's detailed earnings presentation on the Investor Relations page of Lesaka's website, and join the upcoming webcast and conference call to discuss these results.

Explore the complete 8-K earnings release (here) from Lesaka Technologies Inc for further details.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.


When it comes to hedge fund managers, Bill Ackman is in a class by himself. He etched his name into Wall Street history by going against hedge fund norms, acquiring significant stakes in just a few companies, and holding them for the long term. Furthermore, as a well-known activist investor, those stakes sometimes involve troubled businesses and he pressures management to make changes that positively impact shareholder value.

Ackman heads up Pershing Square Capital Management, the hedge fund he founded, which has more than $11.3 billion in assets under management. Pershing typically holds between eight and 12 large-cap North American companies. To make the cut they must be high quality, have limited downside, and generate predictable, recurring cash flows. This playbook has been extremely successful for Ackman as Pershing Square has returned 31% annualized over the past five years, nearly twice the returns of the S&P 500.

To close out 2023, Pershing Square held stakes in just eight stocks, but one stands head and shoulders above the rest.

Image source: Getty Images.

Let the "chips" fall where they may

By far, the largest holding in Pershing Square's portfolio is Chipotle Mexican Grill (NYSE: CMG). Ackman has amassed nearly 825,000 shares currently worth more than $2.6 billion, making up a massive 23% of his portfolio.

Not only is Chipotle one of the most well-known companies in the world, but it's also among the most successful. Since the company's debut in 2006, the stock surged from just $22 to roughly $3,200 as of this writing, generating returns of 14,441%.

In late March, Chipotle announced that its board of directors had approved a 50-for-1 stock split, making it "one of the biggest stock splits in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) history." The split will require the approval of shareholders when Chipotle conducts its annual meeting on June 6. If the measure is approved, and there's no reason to believe otherwise, each shareholder of record will receive 49 additional shares for every one they hold after the market close on June 25.

For context, instead of owing one share worth $3,200, investors will own 50 shares worth $64 each.

Why Ackman singled out Chipotle

Ackman has chosen just eight stocks to make up Pershing Square's $11 billion portfolio, so it's already a rare company that makes the cut. He first added shares of Chipotle in 2016 after the fast-casual pioneer suffered from a rash of food safety issues that sent diners and investors alike packing, and the stock price was cut in half.

Yet, where some investors saw risk, Ackman saw opportunity -- partially thanks to his long-term outlook. Pershing Square's most recent annual report cited Chipotle's "continued focus on exceptional food and operational excellence" as the catalyst for its robust growth. The report also noted Chipotle's "industry-leading same-store sales growth and profitability."

Story continues

Ackman is clearly on to something. In the first quarter -- even as rivals dealt with headwinds -- Chipotle's revenue increased 14% to $2.7 billion, driven higher by comparable restaurant sales that jumped 7%. The company's operating margin and restaurant-level operating margin both edged higher thanks to Chipotle's fiscal discipline. Perhaps more impressive was the company's profits, as adjusted earnings per share (EPS) jumped 27% to $13.37.

Chipotle "has a long runway for robust growth," according to Ackman. He cites the company's ability to consistently improve same-store sales and profitability, which is clear from its recent results. He also points to as-yet untapped growth in North America, given Chipotle's plans to increase its location county by 8% to 10% annually. That's not to mention the ongoing international expansion, which includes growth across Europe and a recently inked franchise agreement to expand into the Middle East.

Finally, in its annual report, Pershing called out the success of CEO Brian Niccol, writing, "Chipotle stock is up more than 10-fold since Brian became CEO in March 2018. What more can we say?" High praise indeed, coming from one of the world's most successful hedge funds.

Is Chipotle stock a buy now?

Chipotle has already notched impressive gains thus far in 2024, with the stock up 40% year to date (as of this writing), on top of 65% gains last year. As a result, the stock is somewhat pricey, currently selling for 58 times forward earnings and nearly 7 times forward sales. A valuation of that magnitude suggests investors have high expectations built into the stock price. If Chipotle fails to live up to those expectations, the stock could fall.

That said, for investors with a long investing time horizon, Chipotle still bears all the attributes of a long-term winner. Given the company's track record of performance and its ongoing expansion opportunities, the evidence suggests that five to 10 years from now, we could be having this discussion about Chipotle's merits again.

For investors that simply can't stomach buying the stock at its current multiple, add it to your watch list and buy on any weakness.

Should you invest $1,000 in Chipotle Mexican Grill right now?

Before you buy stock in Chipotle Mexican Grill, 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 Chipotle Mexican Grill 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 $553,959!*

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 May 6, 2024

Danny Vena has positions in Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Chipotle Mexican Grill. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Meet the Stock-Split Stock That Makes Up 23% of Billionaire Bill Ackman's $11 Billion Portfolio was originally published by The Motley Fool
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB)  The National Labor Relations Board has filed a complaint against the Tesla facility in South Buffalo, accusing the automotive company of using strategies to keep employees from unionizing.

The complaint, which was filed in February by the boards regional director, accuses Tesla of using an unlawful policy for using technology in the workplace. The complaint says that includes restricting technology use, such as email and sharing content, to business purposes only.

The organization says that policy takes power away from employees so they cant form, join, or help a union.

Tesla is already set to lay off hundreds of its employees at the South Buffalo plant. In April, it filed a notice stating its intentions to lay off nearly 300 employees. In a second notice filed last week, it stated that it planned to lay off another 26 employees. Those layoffs come as the company plans to lay off around 10% of its workforce. Between the two notices, the 311 total employees Tesla plans to lay off is just over 15% of its Buffalo workforce.

If the parties are unable to settle this new complaint, they will have to stand before an NLRB administrative law judge in July.

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.
OKLAHOMA CITY (KFOR)  As fast as possible is what seemed to be the only thing agreed upon in terms of money during Thursdays budget meeting between state legislators.

The total earmarked was $45 million after Mondays discussion between legislators but Thursday Governor Stitt and others agreed on using $30 million already set aside from last years storms as well.

OKLAHOMA POLITICS: Is this a press conference or is this a real budget meeting?: Fiery debate over personal income tax cut between OK lawmakers, Governor

I think this is a good thing, were agreeing on something, said Governor Kevin Stitt during the talk.

Thursdays discussion was the second held in just one week between the governor, House Speaker Charles McCall, and Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat.

They have until 5 p.m. May 31st to decide on a finalized budget.

I know we will be able to get it done on that third Friday in May, said legislators. We will do our constitutional duty and get it done.

However, the big ticket item that was brought up by the House and by Governor Stitt was their tax cut plan. Thursday was not the day that anything around a potential income tax cut would be agreed upon.

Were not doing another tax cut right now unless they can show us that we can afford it on a recurring revenue, said Senate Pro Tem Greg Treat before the budget meeting.

Treat has said many times before that they will not agree upon something before the revenue is understood and agreed upon.

Stitt changed things up only slightly by proposing that instead of cutting income taxes by 0.25%, hed like to have a flat tax bracket in an attempt to eliminate income taxes for the poorest Oklahomans.

Were talking about those under that $27,000 or so area, said Stitt.

Members of the House stated that there is plenty of wiggle room for money to provide if the tax cuts did happen. Pro Tem Treat argued that what they have seen so far doesnt necessarily seem like it but that he and the Senate wanted to finalize the revenue before officially approving any proposed tax cut.

OKLAHOMA POLITICS: Time is of the essence: OK Legislature at odds over budget again, Governor calls for last-minute public meeting

We worked it out and agreed on the grocery tax cut, said Treat.

The conversation during the over four hour long meeting was disrupted several times by the idea of the proposal, Treat continued trying to get it back on track but it was never settled.

You dont build a budget based on bonuses, said Treat. You get your money that you left over in a sock drawer. You have to have real reoccuring incomne to be able to make recurring budget decisions. You dont go out and make a major purchase or investment without knowing you can pay for it in the long term. So, thats in simplest terms, thats why we worry.

Story continues

The one thing that the group did seem to agree upon was money needed fast for victims of the storms. They discussed $30 million that had already been set aside from last years disastrous storms and its recovery.

The $45 million that was agreed upon Monday was discussed to be fast tracked by next week, with the hopes that victims and emergency management could get it quick.

I think that Im not much of a blank check type of guy, but whatever he tells us they need, we will answer that call, said Treat. If we have this tornado that impacted Bartlesville and Barnsdall and Northeastern Oklahoma this week, and have a new number, we will be ready to answer that.

Monday they are expected to meet yet again with the emergency management funds expected to be the main topic.

The next fiscal year for Oklahomas budget begins at the start of July.

There is still many line items to be discussed before they could finalize the budget. There are also still other potential hurdles that the state can see whenever it is crunch time at the end of this legislative session.



For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KFOR.com Oklahoma City.
China's foreign trade up 5.7% in first 4 months

08:53, May 10, 2024 By Wang Keju ( Chinadaily.com.cn

China's total imports and exports of goods expanded 5.7 percent year-on-year in the first four months of this year to 13.81 trillion yuan ($1.91 trillion), data from the General Administration of Customs showed on Thursday.

From January to April, exports grew 4.9 percent year-on-year to 7.81 trillion yuan, while imports rose 6.8 percent to 6 trillion yuan, the data showed.

Private businesses, as evidenced by the data, have played a bigger role in fueling the growth of foreign trade in goods. During the period, the trade value of private enterprises took up 54.6 percent of the total, up 2.5 percentage points from the same period last year, while that of the foreign-invested enterprises constituted 29.1 percent.

Thursday's data also pointed to an uptick in China's imports and exports to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and the United States.

In the first four months, China's trade with its largest trade partner, ASEAN, rose 8.5 percent year-on-year to 2.18 trillion yuan, accounting for 15.8 percent of the country's total trade value.

The country's trade in goods with its third-largest trade partner, the US, grew 1.1 percent to 1.47 trillion yuan during the period, while that with the European Union, its second-largest trade partner, edged down 1.8 percent year-on-year.

Highlights of China's trade in goods during the January-April period include a robust increase in exports of machinery and electronic products, accounting for nearly 60 percent of the country's total exports during the period.

In particular, the export value of automatic data processing equipment, integrated circuits and vehicles, surged 9.7 percent, 23.5 percent and 24.9 percent year-on-year, respectively, during the period, the data showed.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
Fatime Letifova

The New Azerbaijan Party (YAP) is currently carrying out all the necessary measures related to the preparation for the parliamentary elections, Azernews reports, citing Tahir Budagov, deputy chairman of YAP - head of the Central Office, as he told at the statement to journalists.

According to him, there is no final decision regarding the time of the parliamentary elections.

"However, YAP prepares for all elections not only on the eve of the elections but also during the inter-election period".
There are eight billionaires living in North Carolina, and six live in the Triangle, according to a recent Forbes list of the richest people in the world.

Theres only one female billionaire in North Carolina, the report says. She lives in Raleigh.

You can search the list of the worlds billionaires at forbes.com/billionaires.

Heres who they are.

Jim Goodnight

Net worth : $10.1 billion

Rankings : #1 in North Carolina and #221 in the world

Age : 81

Residence : Cary

About: James Goodnight co-founded SAS, the analytics software firm that was developed to analyze agricultural data, in 1976 with fellow NC State postgraduate student John Sall. They have since both founded the private school Cary Academy and co-own the Umstead Hotel and Spa. The 164-acre Ann and Jim Goodnight Museum Park at the NC Museum of Art in Raleigh was renamed in 2016 to honor the married couple for their unparalleled contributions to the museum and park for decades. Together, they have three children.

Epic Games CEO Tim Sweeney

Net worth : $5.7 billion

Rankings : #522 in the world

Age : 53

Residence : Cary

About: Tim Sweeney is the co-founder and CEO of Cary-based game developer Epic Games (which created Fortnite, the online global sensation). Sweeney is also a land conservationist in the state, and hes purchased around 60,000 acres of forest land to prevent development.

John Sall, co-founder and executive vice president, SAS.

Net worth : $5 billion

Rankings : #612 in the world

Age : 76

Residence : Cary

About: John Sall co-founded SAS (learn more above) with James Goodnight, the richest person in North Carolina. Together, they founded the Cary Academy and co-own the Umstead Hotel and Spa. Sall and his wife Ginger, who have four children together, have given over $130 million to their Sall Family Foundation, which invests in the environment, public health and science.

Net worth : $2.6 billion

Rankings : #1,286 in the world

Age : 61

Residence : Greensboro

About: Roy Carroll II is the founder and CEO of Carroll Companies, a Greensboro-based real estate developer. He co-founded the company at 21 years old with his father. It was originally a small, custom home building company. In 1990, he bought his fathers stake and expanded into building subdivisions and later apartment complexes. Carroll Companies now owns more than 13,000 apartments and 29 self-storage facilities. He also owns the Rhino Times, a local online publication, and a large collection of Ferraris.

Dennis Gillings, chairman and CEO of Quintiles

Net worth : $2.4 billion

Rankings : #1,380 in the world

Age : 80

Residence : Durham

About: Dennis Gillings is the founder and former CEO and chairman of IQVIA, a clinical research firm that was named Quintiles Transnational until 2017. He launched Quintiles in 1982, wanting to make clinical trials for drugs faster and more efficient. Quintiles reached annual revenues of $5.7 billion before merging with healthcare data firm IMS Health in 2016.

Story continues

Frank Holding Jr., chairman and CEO, First Citizens Bank.

Net worth : $1.2 billion

Rankings : #2,410 in the world

Age : 62

Residence : Raleigh

About: Frank Holding is the chairman and CEO of First Citizens Bank, a Raleigh-based commercial banking chain. His grandfather, Robert Powell Holding, became an employee of the bank in 1918 and its president in 1935, then later passed it down to Holdings father, Lewis Holding. First Citizens Bank began as the Bank of Smithfield, Johnston Countys first bank, in 1898. Holding and his four siblings collectively own about 20% of the bank. He also serves as a board member at Wake Forest University.

Net worth : $1.1 billion

Rankings : #2,545 in the world

Age : 56

Residence : Raleigh

About: Carson Brice is one of four sisters of Frank Holding, the chairman and CEO of First Citizens Bank, a Raleigh-based commercial banking chain. Brice and her four siblings collectively own about 20% of the bank.

Red Venture co-founder Ric Elias and wife Brenda signed The Giving Pledge to give the majority of their wealth away.

Net worth : $1 billion

Rankings : #2,692 in the world

Age : 56

Residence : Charlotte

About: Ric Elias is the co-founder and CEO of Red Ventures, the digital media company that owns brands like CNET, Lonely Planet, Best Colleges and The Points Guy. The company bought Bankrate, the personal finance site, for $1.4 billion in 2017 and paid $500 million for product reviewer CNET in 2020. Elias is from Puerto Rico and began multiple foundations, including Golden Door Scholars which provides scholarships to undocumented students.

How many billionaires live in North Carolina?

There are eight billionaires in North Carolina, Forbes says.

Forbes sent The News & Observer a list of the billionaires on the 2024 list with North Carolina listed as their main residence, a detail that is included in each billionaires personal profile.

The 2024 billionaires list reflects net worth at the time of publication, while individual profiles fluctuate based on a real-time data. The net worth figures mentioned in this story are taken from the official 2024 billionaires list, which was published last month.

For example, James Goodnights net worth is listed as $10.1 billion on the list but $9.9 billion on his personal profile as of May 9. Our story says $10.1 billion.

Jim Goodnight, CEO of SAS, reads to kindergarten children after a press conference with other prominent CEOs in the state to discuss the importance of increasing participation in NC Pre-K to 75 percent of eligible children, at Millbrook Elementary School on Thursday, Jan. 17, 2019, in Raleigh, NC.

Stay safe in your NC backyard: Keep copperheads & other snakes out with these expert tips

Could NCs cicada season make us see more copperheads? Heres what wildlife experts say
OraSure Technologies (NASDAQ:OSUR) First Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$54.1m (down 65% from 1Q 2023).

Net loss: US$3.58m (down by 113% from US$27.2m profit in 1Q 2023).

US$0.048 loss per share (down from US$0.37 profit in 1Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

OraSure Technologies Revenues Beat Expectations, EPS Falls Short

Revenue exceeded analyst estimates by 3.6%. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates.

Looking ahead, revenue is expected to decline by 24% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, while revenues in the Medical Equipment industry in the US are expected to grow by 8.1%.

Performance of the American Medical Equipment industry.

The company's shares are down 7.9% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

You should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with OraSure Technologies (including 1 which doesn't sit too well with us).

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
OrthoXel has obtained 510(k) clearance from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its Vertex Hip Fracture Nail (HFN), designed to improve hip fracture treatment.

The Vertex HFN is designed to address common challenges faced in hip fracture management such as instability and high cutout rates, which can impede patient recovery and mobility.

OrthoXels system aims to provide a stable and versatile solution for surgeons, enhancing the surgical procedure and potentially improving patient outcomes.

The system features two proximal interdigitating screws for enhanced fixation and a radially fluted nail stem for rotational stability, particularly in critical regions of the femur.

Furthermore, the Vertex HFN includes three proximal construct options, allowing for customisation based on intra-operative requirements.

These options include two interdigitating lag screw configurations with different placements and a solid lag screw for a more traditional approach.

OrthoXel said the intuitive design of the Vertex system allows it to be integrated seamlessly into existing surgical workflows.

The implants and instruments come with radiographic guides and cues for better visualisation during surgery, simplifying the process for medical professionals.

Baylor College of Medicine in Houston orthopaedic surgery chairman Douglas Dirschl was involved in the product development with OrthoXel.

Dirschl said: The Vertex's design offers enhanced stability as well as the flexibility to tailor treatment to individual patient and fracture needs.

Like with their Apex nail, the OrthoXel team has once again demonstrated excellence and innovation in product design.

University of Chicago Medicine residency programme director and orthopaedic trauma director Jason Strelzow also contributed to the development of the Vertex system.

Strelzow said: Working with the development team they have created a one-of-a-kind system taking advantage of the existing knowledge of hip fracture nails and generated a novel, innovative design that addresses the biggest concerns around hip fracture fixation.

The fluted interference fit, combined with enhanced head/neck fixation through the interdigitating screw design provides an exciting and potentially game-changing tool for these injuries.

"OrthoXels Vertex Hip Fracture Nail system obtains US clearance" was originally created and published by Medical Device Network, 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.
For more than a year, the iconic Dow Jones Industrial Average, broadly followed S&P 500, and growth-driven Nasdaq Composite have been enjoying a true "running of the bulls." While certain sectors and industries have taken turns contributing to the bull market, the "Magnificent Seven" have done most of the heavily lifting.

The Magnificent Seven represent seven of the largest and most-influential companies on Wall Street. In other words, they're businesses lauded for their innovation and competitive advantages. In order of descending market cap, the Magnificent Seven are:

Microsoft

Apple

Nvidia

Alphabet

Amazon

Meta Platforms

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)

Image source: Getty Images.

Unfortunately for electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturer Tesla, it's been anything but "magnificent" of late. Shares of the company are down 30% year-to-date and sit 57% below the company's all-time high, which was set in 2021. With additional "breakdowns" likely for North America's leading EV maker, a trio of brand-name businesses could handily leapfrog Tesla's market cap over the coming two years.

Tesla stock appears headed for a breakdown

To give credit where credit is due, Tesla is the only pure-play EV maker that's generating a recurring profit, based on generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP). It's also the first automaker to have successfully built itself from the ground up to mass production in well over a half-century. But this is where the praise ends.

With EV and hybrid competition increasing domestically and abroad, Tesla has had no choice but to aggressively reduce the sales price of its fleet (Models 3, S, X, and Y). Following more than a half-dozen steep price reductions since the start of last year, Tesla's operating margin has plummeted from 17.2% (as of Sept. 30, 2022) to just 5.5%, as of March 31, 2024. There's no indication that margins are going to find a floor anytime soon.

Another problem for Tesla is how it generates its income. The rightful assumption is that an automaker is generating its profits from selling vehicles. However, Tesla brought in 51% of its pre-tax income in the March-ended quarter from unsustained sources that include the sale of regulatory tax credits to other automakers and interest income earned on its cash. It also endured a free cash outflow of $2.53 billion.

But perhaps the most damning thing for Tesla stock is its CEO. Though Elon Musk is a visionary, he's also proved to be a massive liability for his company. He's made countless promises about full self-driving and robotaxis that haven't come close to fruition. If these promises are backed out of Tesla's valuation, the following three sensational companies should have no trouble surpassing its market cap over the next two years.

Story continues

Mastercard: Current market cap of $423 billion

The first longtime outperformer that can shoot well past Tesla's market cap in the coming two years is payment processor Mastercard (NYSE: MA).

Mastercard undeniably benefits from its cyclical ties. This is to say that if the U.S. and global economy are expanding, consumers and businesses are willingly spending more. Even though recessions are a normal part of the economic cycle, they historically don't last very long. This allows Mastercard and its payment-facilitating peers to take advantage of long-winded periods of growth.

Furthermore, Mastercard's management team has steered clear of the lending arena. While I have little doubt the company would be successful as a lender, doing so would mean contending with potential credit delinquencies and loan losses during inevitable economic downturns. Since Mastercard has remained solely focused on payment facilitation, it's not constrained by having to set aside capital to cover loan losses like lending institutions. In short, this helps it quickly bounce back from economic downturns.

Investors may not realize just how vast the growth runway is for Mastercard. In addition to being the clear No. 2 payment processor by credit card network purchase volume in the U.S., it can expand its network organically or acquisitively into chronically underbanked regions of the world, such as Africa, the Middle East, and Southeastern Asia. Mastercard can easily sustain a double-digit annual growth rate for a long time to come.

Image source: Getty Images.

Johnson & Johnson: Current market cap of $358 billion

A second sensational business that I firmly believe will close the nearly $200 billion valuation gap with Tesla and vault well ahead of North America's leading EV maker over the coming two years is healthcare conglomerate Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ).

The beautiful thing about healthcare stocks is that they're defensive. People don't suddenly stop becoming ill or needing treatment if the U.S. economy falls into a recession. Demand for prescription drugs and medical devices remains consistent in pretty much any economic climate. This helps to explain why Johnson & Johnson was able to grow its adjusted operating earnings every year for more than three decades.

Johnson & Johnson has notably benefited from its decade-long focus on novel-drug development. Shifting its attention to developing brand-name therapies has afforded J&J exceptional pricing power and lifted its gross margin. J&J's pristine balance sheet and sustainable operating cash flow allows the company to continually invest in internal research and forge collaborations.

Don't overlook Johnson & Johnson's rock-solid management team, either. You can count the number of CEOs J&J has had since its founding in 1886 using the fingers on only two hands. Consistency in key leadership positions has led to sustained operating earnings growth and a dividend that's expanded for 62 consecutive years.

Johnson & Johnson is a perfect example of how the turtle (J&J) can beat the hare (Tesla) over time.

Chevron: Current market cap of $300 billion

In an ironic twist, the third sensational company I predict will be worth far more than Tesla two years from now is integrated oil and gas titan Chevron (NYSE: CVX). Chevron will need to overcome a $257 billion valuation gap to match Wall Street's most-valuable EV manufacturer.

One of the things that makes Chevron special is the "integrated" aspect of its operating structure. Though it generates the lion's share of its operating income from its drilling operations, Chevron also oversees transmission pipelines, chemical plants, and refineries. These midstream and downstream assets provide predictable operating cash flow and can act as a hedge in the event that the spot price of crude oil declines. No matter what's thrown Chevron's way, it's had no trouble increasing its dividend in each of the past 37 years.

Macroeconomic factors should benefit Chevron's drilling operations, as well. During the COVID-19 pandemic, major energy companies (including Chevron) had little choice but to slash their capital spending due to demand uncertainty. Years of reduced investment, coupled with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, has tightened the global supply of oil. With no quick fix in sight, the spot price of crude oil should remain above its historic norm and provide a lift to Chevron's highest-margin segment.

Lastly, Chevron is in the process of acquiring Hess in an all-share deal valued at $53 billion. Assuming the deal closes as planned, Chevron will beef up its oil equivalent production in Guyana, as well as gain access to 465,000 net acres of oil-rich land in the Bakken Shale.

Whereas Tesla's valuation to other automakers remains otherworldly, Chevron's stock is historically cheap.

Should you invest $1,000 in Mastercard right now?

Before you buy stock in Mastercard, 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 Mastercard 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 $553,959!*

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 May 6, 2024

Randi Zuckerberg, a former director of market development and spokeswoman for Facebook and sister to Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. John Mackey, former CEO of Whole Foods Market, an Amazon subsidiary, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Sean Williams has positions in Alphabet, Amazon, Mastercard, and Meta Platforms. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Amazon, Apple, Chevron, Mastercard, Meta Platforms, Microsoft, Nvidia, and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Johnson & Johnson and recommends the following options: long January 2025 $370 calls on Mastercard, long January 2026 $395 calls on Microsoft, short January 2025 $380 calls on Mastercard, and short January 2026 $405 calls on Microsoft. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Prediction: 3 Sensational Stocks That'll Be Worth Far More Than Tesla 2 Years From Now was originally published by The Motley Fool
Sally Beauty Holdings (NYSE:SBH) Second Quarter 2024 Results

Key Financial Results

Revenue: US$908.4m (down 1.1% from 2Q 2023).

Net income: US$29.2m (down 28% from 2Q 2023).

Profit margin: 3.2% (down from 4.4% in 2Q 2023).

EPS: US$0.28 (down from US$0.38 in 2Q 2023).

All figures shown in the chart above are for the trailing 12 month (TTM) period

Sally Beauty Holdings EPS Misses Expectations

Revenue was in line with analyst estimates. Earnings per share (EPS) missed analyst estimates by 29%.

Looking ahead, revenue is forecast to grow 1.5% p.a. on average during the next 3 years, compared to a 4.9% growth forecast for the Specialty Retail industry in the US.

Performance of the American Specialty Retail industry.

The company's shares are down 5.6% from a week ago.

Risk Analysis

Don't forget that there may still be risks. For instance, we've identified 1 warning sign for Sally Beauty Holdings that you should be aware of.

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.



This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's SK Hynix has agreed to sell its nearly 50% stake in its foundry unit based in China to a Chinese state-owned enterprise, according to regulatory filings and media reports.

SK Hynix System IC said in a regulatory filing that it plans to sell a 21.3% stake in its foundry unit in Wuxi to China's state-owned Wuxi Industry Development Group Company for 205.4 billion won ($150.81 million).

In a separate filing, SK Hynix System IC said it will also sell its intangible assets, including process technology to its Wuxi unit for 123.8 billion won.

In both filings, SK Hynix said they are pursuing such sales to its improve business structure and seek mid-to-long-term growth opportunities.

Wuxi Industry Development Group Company will also acquire a further 28.6% through a new share issuance, Korea Economic Daily newspaper reported on Wednesday, citing an unnamed source.

"We agreed in July 2018 with the Wuxi Industrial Development Group Company that we will proceed with this move when we establish a joint venture to facilitate the construction of a fab," SK Hynix said in a statement.

SK Hynix did not elaborate further on the size of the deal.

The chip contract manufacturing unit in Wuxi was established in 2018.

The Chinese state-owned Wuxi Industry Development Group Company has 33 wholly-owned and holding enterprises and public institutions, and 30 shareholding enterprises, its website said.

Its main businesses include advanced manufacturing, microelectronics, new energy, new materials, environmental protection and modern services, according to the website.

($1 = 1,363.2800 won)

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim and Heekyong Yang, Editing by Louise Heavens)
Nazrin Abdul, AZERNEWS

At the 4th meeting of the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States in Tashkent, hosted by the Uzbekistan Banks Association, Zakir Nuriyev, Vice-President of the Council, highlighted the pivotal role of joint efforts among Turkish banking communities in fortifying economic ties between nations, Azernews reports.

Nuriyev emphasized that the rapid organization of such gatherings underscores the high priority attached to this association, underscoring that banks and the financial sector serve as economic locomotives, propelling substantial progress. He pledged continuous support from the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States, including the Azerbaijan Bank Association, to foster this cooperation.

"Banks and the financial sector in general are the locomotive of the economy, and their association strongly supports the achievement and direction of significant progress in the economy. As the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States, including the Azerbaijan Bank Association, we will continuously support this cooperation."

Highlighting the dynamism of Azerbaijani banks as the driving force behind the country's economic development, Nuriyev noted advancements in both quantity and quality, particularly in digitalization.

Alpaslan Chakar, President of the Council, reflected on the journey of the council since its inception in 2022 in Istanbul, followed by subsequent meetings in Baku and Tashkent. The annual gatherings serve as forums to discuss pivotal economic issues relevant to the region.

During the conference's opening panel on "Financial trends - FinTech and banks, fight against fraud, popularization of Islamic banking," Alpaslan Cakar, CEO of Ziraat Bank, and Zakir Nuriyev, Vice-President of ABA, alongside leaders from member countries, delivered speeches.

Established on November 4, 2022, the Council of Bank Associations of Turkic-Speaking States aims to deepen existing economic relations among Turkic-speaking countries and foster closer ties within the financial and banking systems. The second meeting was held in Baku on June 13, 2023.
By Anton Bridge and Joyce Lee

TOKYO/SEOUL (Reuters) - SoftBank CEO Junichi Miyakawa said on Thursday that the Japanese telecommunications firm is in talks with South Korea's Naver over control of LY Corp, which operates the popular messaging app Line.

Naver said last week that "very unusual" administrative guidance from the Japanese government over a data leak last year required it to reduce its control of LY Corp, which is majority owned by a joint venture between SoftBank and Naver.

LY Corp admitted in November last year that there had been unauthorised access of its systems by a third party via Naver's cloud system. This led to the leak of the personal data records of more than 300,000 Line users and others.

Although the guidance from Japan's internal affairs and communications ministry about the data leak did not explicitly mention a sell-down, it did direct LY Corp to "review the relationship where the outsourced company has a significant degree of capital control" referring to Naver.

LY Corp is also terminating outsourcing to Naver in response to Japan's guidance, SoftBank said in a presentation.

South Korea's government said last month it is consulting with Naver and there should be no discriminatory measures against Korean companies. Historical tensions had led to trade disputes between Japan and South Korea from 2019 until last year, but the current administrations are mending ties.

Japan lifted export curbs on high-tech materials to South Korea in March 2023 and South Korea's industry minister met his Japanese counterpart for the first time in six years last month.

After merging Line with Yahoo Japan in 2019, Naver and SoftBank now hold 50% each in the joint venture which controls LY Corp, through a 65% stake, SoftBank documents show.

LY Corp said on its website that more than 95 million monthly active users used Line in Japan as of March last year, and it had another 83 million users in Thailand, Taiwan, and Indonesia. Line was launched in 2011.

LY Corp's market capitalization was about 2.77 trillion yen ($17.77 billion) on Thursday.

($1 = 155.8600 yen)

(Reporting by Anton Bridge in Tokyo and Joyce Lee in Seoul; editing by Jacqueline Wong, Jason Neely and Alexander Smith)
Key Insights

Teo Seng Capital Berhad's significant private companies ownership suggests that the key decisions are influenced by shareholders from the larger public

The largest shareholder of the company is Leong Hup Holdings Bhd with a 52% stake

Insiders own 12% of Teo Seng Capital Berhad

A look at the shareholders of Teo Seng Capital Berhad (KLSE:TEOSENG) can tell us which group is most powerful. And the group that holds the biggest piece of the pie are private companies with 55% ownership. Put another way, the group faces the maximum upside potential (or downside risk).

And individual investors on the other hand have a 31% ownership in the company.

Let's delve deeper into each type of owner of Teo Seng Capital Berhad, beginning with the chart below.

Check out our latest analysis for Teo Seng Capital Berhad

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About Teo Seng Capital Berhad?

Institutional investors commonly compare their own returns to the returns of a commonly followed index. So they generally do consider buying larger companies that are included in the relevant benchmark index.

Institutions have a very small stake in Teo Seng Capital Berhad. That indicates that the company is on the radar of some funds, but it isn't particularly popular with professional investors at the moment. If the business gets stronger from here, we could see a situation where more institutions are keen to buy. We sometimes see a rising share price when a few big institutions want to buy a certain stock at the same time. The history of earnings and revenue, which you can see below, could be helpful in considering if more institutional investors will want the stock. Of course, there are plenty of other factors to consider, too.

We note that hedge funds don't have a meaningful investment in Teo Seng Capital Berhad. Looking at our data, we can see that the largest shareholder is Leong Hup Holdings Bhd with 52% of shares outstanding. This essentially means that they have extensive influence, if not outright control, over the future of the corporation. Goon Khing Kong is the second largest shareholder owning 3.4% of common stock, and Emerging Glory Sdn. Bhd. holds about 2.4% of the company stock.

Researching institutional ownership is a good way to gauge and filter a stock's expected performance. The same can be achieved by studying analyst sentiments. While there is some analyst coverage, the company is probably not widely covered. So it could gain more attention, down the track.

Insider Ownership Of Teo Seng Capital Berhad

The definition of an insider can differ slightly between different countries, but members of the board of directors always count. Company management run the business, but the CEO will answer to the board, even if he or she is a member of it.

Story continues

Insider ownership is positive when it signals leadership are thinking like the true owners of the company. However, high insider ownership can also give immense power to a small group within the company. This can be negative in some circumstances.

Our information suggests that insiders maintain a significant holding in Teo Seng Capital Berhad. It has a market capitalization of just RM548m, and insiders have RM64m worth of shares in their own names. We would say this shows alignment with shareholders, but it is worth noting that the company is still quite small; some insiders may have founded the business. You can click here to see if those insiders have been buying or selling.

General Public Ownership

The general public, who are usually individual investors, hold a 31% stake in Teo Seng Capital Berhad. While this size of ownership may not be enough to sway a policy decision in their favour, they can still make a collective impact on company policies.

Private Company Ownership

We can see that Private Companies own 55%, of the shares on issue. It's hard to draw any conclusions from this fact alone, so its worth looking into who owns those private companies. Sometimes insiders or other related parties have an interest in shares in a public company through a separate private company.

Next Steps:

I find it very interesting to look at who exactly owns a company. But to truly gain insight, we need to consider other information, too. To that end, you should learn about the 2 warning signs we've spotted with Teo Seng Capital Berhad (including 1 which is significant) .

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.
Just Drinks is getting ready for its twenty-sixth International Beer Strategies Conference, which takes place in the Portuguese city of Porto in a fortnight.

The conference, in partnership with Arena International, brings together breweries, analysts and drinks experts from all over the world to discuss the hot topics facing the beer industry.

With seemingly endless macro-environmental challenges, there is perhaps no better time to come together as an industry and discuss how to succeed in these choppy waters.

This year, hear from the likes of Rui Lopes Ferreira, CEO at Super Bock Group, Alessandra Fascetti, group innovation lead for global brands at Asahi and Rob Fink, founder of non-alcoholic brewery Big Drop Brewing Co.

The conference will start with analysis from GlobalData, Just Drinks parent company, followed by talks on branding, sustainability, premiumisation and data-driven trends.

Day two includes talks on AI, how other categories are influencing beer, NPD and innovation, decarbonisation and riding the cost-of-living storm.

The days are interspersed with fireside chats and round tables to dive deeper into key topics  a perfect opportunity to network.

Attendees will also be able to go on a tour of the Super Bock House of Beer in Porto.

Speaker highlights:

Rui Lopes Ferreira, Super Bock Group CEO: The brand behind the beer

Renata Pankova, global sales director at Budweiser Budvar: Scaling up your distribution model

Lukas Neulen, business unit director House of Beer, Wine, Spirits & 3PP for Carlsberg in Switzerland: Insights into cross-sector blurring in beer

Kath Dunbar, global director science and regulatory affairs at AB InBev: NPD hurdles for international market launches

Benet Fite, managing director, quality, R&D&I and environment for Mahou San Miguel: Embracing new solutions for sustainability

Juan Gonzalez, international business unit director at Damm: Premiumisation across beer

Eric Ottaway, CEO of Brooklyn Brewery: Sustainability, food waste, and health and wellness

Jan Niewodniczanski, the managing director of Bitburger Braugruppe: On-trade and off-trade dynamics

Alessandra Fascetti, group innovation lead for global brands and Martin Stulrajter, market and category insight manager for Asahi Europe and International: Global insights into consumer behaviour

Want to delve into the most pressing topics in beer?

Booking: Limited spaces remain  more info and booking on the Arena website.

Dates: 14-16 May

Contact: If you have questions about tickets, group discounts, sponsorship or marketing, contact Ben Gemmell: ben.gemmell@arena-international.com

Story continues

Highlights from last year's conference:

"Four days to go: Just Drinks beer conference in Portugal" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, 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.
UK beer sales saw a positive three-year CAGR for the first time since the pandemic in 2023, data shows.

Craft beer* saw sales edge up in 2022 and 2023, to 2.14m hectolires and 2.22m hectolires respectively. The categorys three-year CAGR moved from -10.2% in 2022 to 2.7% last year.

In the non-craft category, beer sales also saw an uptick in the last two years, reaching 42.78m hectolitres in 2022 and 44.49m in 2023. The wider category also turned its three-year growth rate into a positive 5.17% in 2023, from -0.7% in 2022.

GlobalData alcoholic beverages research director David Harris said the UKs craft-beer market was just starting to recover from Covid-19.

On-premise closures heavily impacted craft in the UK, and the following cost-of-living crisis also hampered performance, he said. We can see now though that this is starting to turn around.

Commenting on news of UK craft brewer BrewDogs new CEO this week, Harris said it would be a good time to explore an IPO in the UK  a move the Scottish brewer is widely anticipated to make.

CEO and co-founder James Watt is to be replaced by COO James Arrow, who joined the company last year from Boots Opticians.

James Arrow is far more straight and narrow and will provide the stability BrewDog needs to continue its growth, Harris said. This stability and cost-cutting would facilitate an IPO, something I think is likely though wont happen immediately.

Another industry expert told Just Drinks that a premiumisation trend has been boosting sales of beer in the UK and abroad.

If you look at the outlook for beer in general there are two camps: one camp thinks we are still recovering from lockdown, weve had a little bit of a slowdown in consumption. But if you look at premiumisation, people are spending more on a beer so that should be good for the next decade, they said.

In the next few decades, they said beer is a better investment than wine or spirits but still only gave the category a neutral rating  its not on par with coffee or energy drinks, they added.

In the US, craft-beer production declined last year  though one analyst told Just Drinks yesterday (9 May) this could be a positive sign. They say craft was becoming a crowded market that had diluted consumer understanding of what craft beer is. A smaller pool of healthier companies could be a positive, they said.

US craft-beer production declined 1% compared to 2022 levels while the country's overall beer market booked a 5.1% decrease, according to preliminary figures from the national Brewers Association (BA).

Story continues

*GlobalData defines a craft brewer as having: a perception of being small scale (or a distinct small-scale brewery within a larger organisation); a perception of being independent (even if this is not actually the case); a portfolio of beers that encompasses different styles; a relatively short history. This definition includes brands like Jacobsen and Blue Moon, as well as true craft beers like Sierra Nevada and BrewDog, but excludes historical brands like Leffe and Paulaner. The core Guinness brand is not included, but the Guinness Brewers Project beers are. This definition also excludes most UK traditional ale brands.

GlobalData says: Craft is largely a perception and there will therefore always be a degree of subjectivity in defining beers as craft.

"UK beer sales just starting to recover from Covid volume slump  GlobalData" was originally created and published by Just Drinks, 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.
By Nate Raymond

(Reuters) -A federal judge in Texas on Friday halted the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's new rule capping credit card late fees at $8, a victory for business and banking groups challenging part of the Biden administration's crackdown on "junk fees."

U.S. District Judge Mark Pittman in Fort Worth issued a preliminary injunction preventing the rule from taking effect next week. The injunction was sought by groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Bankers Association.

Pittman, appointed by Republican then-President Donald Trump, cited a 2022 ruling by the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found the CFPB's funding structure unconstitutional.

"Consequently, any regulations promulgated under that regime are likely unconstitutional as well," Pittman wrote. "Thus, Plaintiffs establish a likelihood of success on the merits."

The U.S. Supreme Court is reviewing the 2022 ruling, and during oral arguments in October appeared wary of upholding it. Pittman remains bound by the ruling because his court is in the 5th Circuit's jurisdiction.

Maria Monaghan, counsel to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Litigation Center, in a statement called Pittman's decision "a major win for responsible consumers who pay their credit card bills on time and businesses that want to provide affordable credit."

A CFPB spokesperson said the regulator will keep defending the rule, saying "consumers will shoulder $800 million in late fees every month that the rule is delayed - money that pads the profit margins of the largest credit card issuers."

The rule has the backing of President Joe Biden, a Democrat. White House spokesperson Jeremy Edwards in a statement called the ruling disappointing, saying the CFPB's rule is "a critical measure to save American families billions in junk fees."

The CFPB adopted the rule to counteract what it called "excessive" fees that credit card issuers charge for late payments.

The rule would block card issuers with more than 1 million open accounts from charging more than $8 for late fees, unless they could prove higher fees are necessary to cover their costs.

According to the CFPB, issuers collected more than $14 billion worth of credit card late fees in 2022, with an average fee of $32.

Business and banking groups sued in March to block the rule. The case had been delayed in a jurisdictional back-and-forth over whether the case should remain in Texas, after Pittman initially transferred it to Washington, D.C.

Story continues

A 5th Circuit panel dominated by Trump appointees ultimately reversed that decision and last week gave Pittman a May 10 deadline on whether to issue an injunction.

Pittman in Friday's order expressed concern over the 5th Circuit's rulings in the case and said he still believed a judge in Washington could have him himself issued a "just and fair" ruling. "We must trust the system," he said.

(Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Editing by Leslie Adler, David Gregorio, Gerry Doyle and William Mallard)
Patriotic Small Town Farmers Gather in the Deep South

Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson

Commissioner Gipson as the keynote speaker at the Annual OCM Conference in Biloxi, MS | Photo: OCM

Michael Kades, Fred Stokes, and Andy Green at Annual OCM Conference

Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the USDOJ Michael Kades, OCM Founder Fred Stokes, and USDA Senior Advisor Andy Green | Photo: OCM

BILOXI, MISSISSIPPI, May 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Members of the Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM), met in the Southeastern U.S., for the groups annual conference, general membership meeting, and election of officers. Members of OCM joined the conference from Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Kansas, Missouri, Mississippi, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, South Dakota, and Wyoming. The group was blessed with a raft of speakers that included Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce Andy Gipson, Deputy Assistant Attorney General at the U.S. Dept. of Justice, Michael Kades, and Andy Green, Senior Advisor to the Secretary at the U.S. Dept of Agriculture. A full list of speakers can be found here.

One of the largest and most well attended annual conferences OCM has seen in more than a decade, the events and conference were planned and executed by OCM Founder Fred Stokes, a native Mississippian who resides in Portersville, and longtime office manager Pat Craycraft who drove two full days each way just to be there.

The case has been made to bring small processors, feed lots, and additional infrastructure back to the Southeastern U.S. so that American food production is not centralized in the Mid-West and further consolidated with the four big packer monopoly than runs the American meat cartel, said Fred Stokes, Founder of OCM. We applaud and appreciate each of our speakers and the OCM membership for their steadfast dedication to bring fairness and regional voices from the Southeast into the fold.

The conference was focused on expanding regional agriculture infrastructure, the continued work of OCM to create and improve competitive markets in the U.S., and how the USDOJ, USDA, and State Departments of Agriculture can address the decades-long monopolization of American agriculture by foreign interests like the Chinese-owned Smithfield and Brazil-based JBS.

OCMs general membership meeting saw the election of former Kansas State House Representative Tatum Lee-Hahn to replace Jerika Brumbeloe, reelection of Board Directors Marty Irby from Washington, D.C., and Taylor Haynes of Laramie, Wyoming, and as well as the reelection of the 2024 officers by unanimous consent with no opposition. Haynes will continue to serve as President, Mike Schultz of Brewster, Kansas as Vice-President, Irby as Secretary, and Jonathan Buttram of Albertville, Alabama as Treasurer.

During the annual meeting Fred Stokes, Tatum Lee-Hahn, and others discussed planning for the 2025 convention and it was decided a committee would be appointed by President Haynes to secure a location in the Southeastern U.S. again next year. The groups also received commentary from board member Dave Wright of Neligh, Nebraska, spoke about the continued concentration in the marketplace and Stokes spoke about the long-term damage the National Cattlemens Beef Association (NCBA) continues to cause to Southeastern markets and the need for Congress to recognize that NCBA only represents 3% of the cattle industry which is barely a fraction of the market and producers in the space.

Im honored to be selected to serve as President of OCM for a third term and appreciate the memberships confidence in our leadership, said Taylor Haynes, President of OCM, and Founder of Wyomings Independent Cattle Producers Organization. Weve made astounding strides over the past year and Im especially encouraged by the outpour of support for our efforts and collaboration with Mississippi Agriculture Commissioner Andy Gipson, the U.S. Dept. of Justice, U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, and others who now see the agriculture model in the U.S. must be changed. I applaud the work dedicated to the organization by Marty Irby and congratulate him on receiving the Helmuth Award this year  OCMs highest honor.

Many thanks to the members of OCM for giving me the opportunity to serve as Vice-President for another year, said Mike Schultz, Vice-President at OCM and Founder of the Kansas Cattlemens Association. The groundswell of support for OCM has put us in a stronger position than weve ever been, and industrial agriculture interests that have put countless American family farmers and ranchers out of business are on the run.

The groundswell of support OCM has seen in the past year from producers and elected officials across America is astounding and were making more of a difference in Washington, D.C. than Ive ever seen before, said Jonathan Buttram, Treasurer at OCM and President of the Alabama Contract Poultry Growers Association. Our finances are in great shape and we have the opportunity to make greater change and have more impact than we ever have in the upcoming Farm Bill  I appreciate the memberships confidence in reelecting me to serve another term.

The annual Helmuth Award  OCMs highest honor named in remembrance of OCMs late co-founder John Helmuth was awarded to Board Director and Secretary Marty Irby.

I am deeply humbled to receive the John Helmuth Award, have never been more surprised to have such a distinguished honor bestowed upon me, and truly believe that God is with us, said Marty Irby, Secretary at OCM and President at Competitive Markets Action who is leading the groups lobbying efforts in Washington, D.C. If the National Cattlemens Beef Association and Berman Co. believe their continued slanderous personal attacks against me are working for them, they should take note their actions only further fuel my desire to work harder and make dramatic change that will improve the lives of the American family farmers that keep this country fed. Chinas front men and whipping boys will not prevail.

The Organization for Competitive Markets (OCM) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit based in Lincoln, Nebraska. The foundation of the Organization for Competitive Markets is to fight for competitive markets in agriculture for farmers, ranchers and rural communities. True competition reduces the need for economic regulation. Our mission, and our duty, is to define and advocate the proper role of government in the agricultural economy as a regulator and enforcer of rules necessary for markets that are fair, honest, accessible and competitive for all citizens.

Attachments

CONTACT: Marty Irby Competitive Markets Action 202-821-5686 marty@competitivemarketsaction.org




Key Insights

Valuetronics Holdings' estimated fair value is S$0.46 based on Dividend Discount Model

Valuetronics Holdings is estimated to be 26% overvalued based on current share price of S$0.58

Does the May share price for Valuetronics Holdings Limited (SGX:BN2) 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. This will be done using the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) model. Don't get put off by the jargon, the math behind it is actually quite straightforward.

Companies can be valued in a lot of ways, so we would point out that a DCF is not perfect for every situation. If you want to learn more about discounted cash flow, the rationale behind this calculation can be read in detail in the Simply Wall St analysis model.

View our latest analysis for Valuetronics Holdings

Is Valuetronics Holdings Fairly Valued?

As Valuetronics Holdings operates in the electronic sector, we need to calculate the intrinsic value slightly differently. Instead of using free cash flows, which are hard to estimate and often not reported by analysts in this industry, dividends per share (DPS) payments are used. This often underestimates the value of a stock, but it can still be good as a comparison to competitors. We use the Gordon Growth Model, which assumes dividend will grow into perpetuity at a rate that can be sustained. For a number of reasons a very conservative growth rate is used that cannot exceed that of a company's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In this case we used the 5-year average of the 10-year government bond yield (2.1%). The expected dividend per share is then discounted to today's value at a cost of equity of 9.2%. Relative to the current share price of S$0.6, the company appears slightly overvalued at the time of writing. Valuations are imprecise instruments though, rather like a telescope - move a few degrees and end up in a different galaxy. Do keep this in mind.

Value Per Share = Expected Dividend Per Share / (Discount Rate - Perpetual Growth Rate)

= HK$0.2 / (9.2%  2.1%)

= S$0.5

dcf

Important Assumptions

The calculation above is very dependent on two assumptions. The first is the discount rate and the other is the cash flows. You don't have to agree with these inputs, I recommend redoing the calculations yourself and playing with them. The DCF also does not consider the possible cyclicality of an industry, or a company's future capital requirements, so it does not give a full picture of a company's potential performance. Given that we are looking at Valuetronics Holdings as potential shareholders, the cost of equity is used as the discount rate, rather than the cost of capital (or weighted average cost of capital, WACC) which accounts for debt. In this calculation we've used 9.2%, which is based on a levered beta of 1.293. 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.

Story continues

SWOT Analysis for Valuetronics Holdings

Strength

Earnings growth over the past year exceeded the industry.

Currently debt free.

Dividends are covered by earnings and cash flows.

Weakness

Dividend is low compared to the top 25% of dividend payers in the Electronic market.

Expensive based on P/E ratio and estimated fair value.

Opportunity

Annual earnings are forecast to grow faster than the Singaporean market.

Threat

No apparent threats visible for BN2.

Next Steps:

Whilst important, the DCF calculation shouldn't be the only metric you look at when researching a company. The DCF model is not a perfect stock valuation tool. Preferably you'd apply different cases and assumptions and see how they would impact the company's valuation. If a company grows at a different rate, or if its cost of equity or risk free rate changes sharply, the output can look very different. Why is the intrinsic value lower than the current share price? For Valuetronics Holdings, there are three fundamental aspects you should look at:

Risks: Every company has them, and we've spotted 1 warning sign for Valuetronics Holdings you should know about. Future Earnings: How does BN2'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. The Simply Wall St app conducts a discounted cash flow valuation for every stock on the SGX every day. If you want to find the calculation for other stocks 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.
Image source: The Motley Fool.

Warby Parker (NYSE: WRBY)

Q1 2024 Earnings Call

May 09, 2024, 8:00 a.m. ET

Contents:

Prepared Remarks

Questions and Answers

Call Participants

Prepared Remarks:





Operator

Hello, and welcome to today's Warby Parker first quarter 2024 conference call. My name is Bailey, and I will be the moderator for today. All lines will be muted during the presentation portion of the call with an opportunity for questions and answers at the end. [Operator instructions] I'd now like to pass the conference over to Jaclyn Berkley, head of investor relations.

Please go ahead.

Jaclyn Berkley -- Head of Investor Relations

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. Here with me today are Neil Blumenthal and Dave Gilboa, our co-founders and co-CEOs, alongside Steve Miller, senior vice president and chief financial officer. Before we begin, we have a couple of reminders. Our earnings release and slide presentation are available on our website at investors.warbyparker.com.

During this call and in our presentation, we will be making comments of a forward-looking nature. Actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied as a result of various risks and uncertainties. For more information about some of these risks, please review the company's SEC filings, including the section titled Risk Factors in the company's latest annual report on Form 10-K. These forward-looking statements are based on information as of May 9th, 2024, and except as required by law, we assume no obligation to publicly update or revise our forward-looking statements.

Should you invest $1,000 in Warby Parker right now?

Before you buy stock in Warby Parker, 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 Warby Parker 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 $553,959!*

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 May 6, 2024

Additionally, we will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. These non-GAAP financial measures are in addition to and not a substitute for measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. A reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable U.S.

Story continues

GAAP measures can be found in this morning's press release and our slide deck available on our IR website. And with that, I'll pass it over to Neil to kick us off.

Neil Blumenthal -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Jaclyn, and good morning, everyone. The momentum in our business continued to build throughout the first quarter, primarily driven by strength in our retail channel and glasses business. We are pleased to have delivered record-high quarterly revenue and adjusted EBITDA in Q1, along with improvements to gross margin. Our Q1 net revenue of $200 million was up 16.3% year over year, and adjusted gross margin was 56.9%, up from 55.2% in Q1 last year.

We also delivered adjusted EBITDA of $22.4 million, representing an 11.2% margin. Over the last couple of years, in spite of challenging industry dynamics, we continued strategically investing in the business for the long term, including expanding our store footprint, hiring optometrists, scaling our contacts business, introducing new frame and lens innovation and, more recently, reinvesting in marketing. Our Q1 results are evidence that these investments are bearing fruit and demonstrate our team's ability to execute and deliver incremental growth and profitability. Based on our first quarter performance, we are raising our full year guidance for both net revenue and adjusted EBITDA.

Steve will provide more detail on our financial results and guidance, but first, Dave and I will review our progress against Warby Parker's strategic priorities, as well as the drivers of our Q1 results. I'll start first with the positive inflection in our glasses business, where we saw strength in single-vision glasses and progressives. In Q1, glasses overall drove approximately 70% of our revenue growth for the quarter. And as a product line, glasses grew over 13% year over year, compared to average growth of 8% over the course of 2023.

In addition, glasses are our highest-margin product and the primary driver of gross margin expansion in the quarter. We attribute the improvement in glasses growth to many of our core strategic investments, including marketing, the expansion of our store fleet, and scaling of our exam business, as well as positive e-commerce growth. We were particularly encouraged by the improvement in single-vision glasses, which continue to make up the majority of our prescription glasses business. A key contributor to this growth was our marketing efforts to drive customer growth, especially within acquisition channels like paid social and streaming, which cater more to our single vision customer.

More broadly, we continue to see strong adoption of higher-priced frames and more complex lens types like precision progressives, which offer customers better visual quality and comfort at a fraction of the price of what similar products often cost elsewhere. Progressives overall still only represent approximately 22% of our prescription glasses sold in Q1, and we continue to believe there's a significant opportunity to increase penetration over time. Underpinning single vision strength and glasses performance overall is our ongoing product innovation, which involves regularly introducing new designs, colorways, materials, and sizes. In Q1, we launched four collections featuring a variety of innovative frame constructions and price points, ranging from our core $95 up to $145, a $175, and a $195.

This included our Terra Collection, a unique capsule assortment that incorporated our signature graduated rivets alongside metal detailing and polished cellulose acetate. We continue to see customers opt in to higher priced frames and lens enhancements, including anti-fatigue and light responsive, which have contributed nicely to average revenue per customer. Scaling our eye exam business, including exam utilization, has had and will continue to have a direct impact on our glasses business. We find that exam stores drive higher sales than non-exam stores.

And, industrywide, approximately 75% of prescription glasses are purchased at the same location where an eye exam takes place. As we've increased the number of stores offering eye exams, we have seen strong growth in average revenue per customer driven by eye exam revenue, a higher penetration of progressive lenses, and contact lenses. While we have yet to see evidence of a return to normalcy in the optical industry, we've observed encouraging trends within our business, giving us the confidence to invest in customer acquisition to drive growth and profitability amid the dynamic consumer environment. The second driver of our growth was expanding our highly productive store base, coupled with further improvement in our e-commerce channel.

We saw strength in our retail channel in particular, with retail revenue increasing over 24% year over year, compared to store count growth of approximately 20% year over year. Since Q1 of last year, we've added 41 net new stores, including eight in Q1 of 2024, all of which were expansions within existing markets and in largely suburban markets. We added additional stores in the southeast near Atlanta, Miami, and Orlando, as well as in the Mountain West region near Salt Lake City and Las Vegas. To further contextualize the opportunity ahead of us, over 50% of the major metropolitan areas we operate in only have one store.

With an ending store count of 245 in Q1, we still have a long runway before reaching our longer-term 900-store potential, which would still represent a small fraction of the 45,000 optical shops in the U.S. We continue to see strong returns from our new stores and remain on track to add a total of 40 new stores in 2024. In Q1, our e-commerce channel continued to improve, growing 2% year over year and contributing to overall top-line growth and fixed-cost leverage. We saw strength in contact lenses from both new and returning customers, as well as improvement in our single-vision glasses business.

As we shared on our last call, the composition of our e-commerce channel is evolving, with Home Try-On driving a smaller percentage of our orders, as we've scaled our store base and as customers are increasingly comfortable purchasing directly online with the support of our virtual Try-On feature. Given this [Technical difficulty], overall channel growth is benefiting from a positive inflection in direct glasses purchases, which is being offset by an ongoing, but diminishing headwind from our Home Try-On program. Looking ahead, we believe that our e-commerce business is on a path toward long-term sustainable growth. And now, I'll pass it over to Dave to talk about additional growth drivers.

Dave Gilboa -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Neil. We told you in our last call that, our goal for this year was to reaccelerate glasses growth and active customer growth, and we are pleased that the year is off to a good start across both dimensions. We believe a core reason for this is our team's strong marketing execution. We're proud of what our marketing team has achieved year-to-date, curating high-impact brand moments, while driving efficient growth.

In Q1, marketing spend was concentrated in two main categories. The first being long-term investments to drive brand affinity and awareness, and the second being investments to drive customer acquisition and near-term transactions. Hopefully, many of you were able to experience the great North American solar eclipse on April 8. We took the opportunity to celebrate this rare celestial event by designing and distributing free eclipse glasses in our stores, with the goal of making viewing safe and accessible for customers.

This activation drove our highest retail traffic week ever, generated thousands of press mentions, and enabled our stores to grow awareness within their communities. We continue to hear that the number one reason people, who are familiar with Warby Parker but have not shopped with us is that they're not aware there is a store nearby. We believe that the excitement around the eclipse created significant awareness of our growing store footprint, and when many of these consumers need their next exam or to purchase their next pair of glasses, Warby Parker will be top of mind. We were also excited to work with like-minded partners to extend the reach and impact of our campaign, including Delta Airlines, who distributed custom, co-branded solar eclipse glasses to passengers aboard their eclipse flights and to travelers in select Delta Sky Clubs.

Overall, we were very pleased with the strong engagement we saw across the country and believe our investment in the eclipse will drive brand awareness and goodwill over the long term. We've also focused on using product collections to expand awareness within influential audiences. Earlier in the quarter, we launched our first collaboration of the year with New York-based fashion label, Theophilio. Edvin Thompson, Theophilio's creative director and founder, is one of the fastest-rising stars in fashion and won the CFDA's coveted Emerging Designer of the Year award.

We believe targeted, limited-edition collaborations like this speak to a more fashion-oriented consumer while elevating brand perception. We continue to invest in customer acquisition through our new stores and diversified media model. We allocate a portion of our media spend to linear TV and search, where we continue to see positive results. At the same time, we've been testing and scaling additional channels like influencer, direct mail, and streaming, where we've also seen strong returns.

As a result of our marketing efforts, it was encouraging to see strong sequential revenue growth and, in particular, glasses growth, while maintaining marketing in the low teens as a percentage of revenue. You'll see us continue to stay disciplined while leaning into these marketing strategies the rest of the year. Our stores and marketing initiatives have also driven our third consecutive quarter of improving active customer growth, a trend we expect to continue throughout the year. We ended Q1 with 2.4 million active customers, an increase of 3.2% on a trailing-12-month basis, while average revenue per customer grew 9.6%.

And we continue to see positive customer retention metrics and repeat purchasing patterns across cohorts, including a revenue retention rate of roughly 50% over 24 months and roughly 100% over 48 months for the most recent cohort. The fourth and final growth strategy I'll dive into this quarter is our effort to scale holistic vision care and drive higher customer lifetime value. In Q1, contact lens sales grew approximately 40% year over year to a little over 9% of revenue, which remains well below the 20% industry average. We plan to continue to grow this portion of our business as it not only attracts new customers, but also some of our highest-value customers, given the replenishment nature of the product and their propensity to go on to purchase glasses.

In the quarter, eye exam revenue also grew over 40% year over year to approximately 5% of revenue, which remains well below the approximately 15% industry average. Today, the majority of our customers still get their eye exams elsewhere and bring their prescriptions to Warby Parker, highlighting the opportunity in front of us. As we've increased the number of stores offering eye exams, including stores with in-person and remote doctors, we have seen strong growth in average revenue per customer, driven by eye exam revenue, a strong uptake of precision progressives and contact lenses. Finally, as many of you know, earlier this year, we announced an expanded relationship with Versant Health, a wholly owned subsidiary of MetLife, which will bring an additional 15 million lives in-network with Warby Parker and nearly double the number of lives with in-network insurance access with us to over 34 million.

Our phased integration began earlier this month and will continue throughout the next couple of quarters. We look forward to updating you as the integration moves forward. In parallel, we continue to leverage our universal eligibility check tool in stores and online to help customers easily locate their in-network insurance coverage and average out-of-network benefits. Most out-of-network plans cover an average of $100 reimbursement for a pair of glasses or contacts, meaning that these customers often pay zero out-of-pocket for their eyewear purchase at Warby Parker.

Looking ahead, we're eager to build upon the momentum we've seen throughout the business and plan to maintain a healthy balance between driving growth and expanding adjusted EBITDA margins. And now, I'll turn it over to Steve to review the details of our financial performance.

Steve Miller -- Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Neil and Dave. Revenue for the first quarter came in at $200 million, up 16.3% year over year. From a channel perspective, retail revenue increased 24.4% year over year, while e-commerce revenue increased 1.8% versus Q1 of 2023. Turning to our stores, we added 41 net new stores over the course of the last 12 months, ending the quarter with 245 stores, up from 204 stores at the end of Q1 2023.

This 20% increase in our store count compares to a retail revenue growth of more than 24% over the same period. Looking at Q1 retail performance on a blended basis, including both new stores and stores opened greater than 12 months, retail productivity was 102% as compared to the same period last year. As a reminder, we define retail productivity as the year-over-year change in retail sales per store for the average number of stores opened in the period. This metric covers all stores opened in the period, even new stores opened in the last 12 months.

Our new stores continue to deliver strong unit economics, performing in line with our target of 35% four-wall margins and 20-month paybacks. Two-thirds of our 2022 cohort have now paid back in an average of 17 months, and the cohort as a whole is on track for approximately 20 months. For stores opened more than 12 months, average revenue per store was $2.2 million and performance was in line with our target 35% four-wall adjusted EBITDA margins. Over the course of the past year, we added nearly 50 net new eye exam locations, bringing our stores with eye exams to 204, or 83% of our total fleet of 245 stores.

From a channel mix perspective, for the first quarter, retail represented 69% of our overall business. This compares to 64% in Q1 2023. From a customer perspective, we finished Q1 with 2.36 million active customers, which we believe is more reflective of active households and represents an increase of 3.2% on a trailing 12-month basis. As we've started anniversarying marketing spend pullbacks in Q2 of last year, we've been pleased to see the sequential improvements in year-over-year active customer growth.

Starting in Q2, our trailing 12-month metric will no longer capture periods that had significant marketing spend pullbacks, so we anticipate seeing this metric continue to inflect upward throughout the year. We also continue to see strength in average revenue per customer of $296 in Q1, up 9.6% year over year. This was driven by a few factors, including an increase in higher priced lenses, including progressives, and continued ramping of both contact lens and eye exam sales. As previously noted, we have multi-user accounts, in which one person in the household places an order on behalf of others.

And if we look at our customers on an individual basis, we served 2.49 million individuals, which is up 4.5% on a trailing 12-month basis and reflects average revenue per individual up 8.3%. Moving on to gross margin. As a reminder, our gross margin is fully loaded and accounts for a range of costs, including frames, lenses, optical labs, customer shipping, optometrist salaries, store rents, and the depreciation of store build-outs. Our gross margin also includes stock-based compensation expense for our optometrists and optical lab employees.

For comparability, I will be speaking to gross margin, excluding stock-based compensation. First quarter adjusted gross margin came in at 56.9% compared to 55.2% in the year-ago period. The increase in gross margin was primarily driven by faster growth in our glasses business, which is our highest gross margin product category, efficiencies in our owned optical laboratories, and lower outbound customer shipping costs, as a percent of revenue. As expected, we saw stability and modest leverage within the more fixed portion of our cost of goods, including retail occupancy as we've continued to scale our store base.

Partially offsetting gross margin leverage in Q1 were higher optometrist salaries as the number of stores offering eye exams grew and continued strength in contact lenses and eye exams, which have lower gross margin profiles than eyeglasses, but over the medium and long term, are accretive to gross profit dollars, which were up 20% year over year in Q1. Expanding our contacts offering is a core part of scaling our holistic vision care offering and a key driver of growing average revenue per customer. In addition, contact lenses have a higher purchase frequency and subscription-like purchase cycle. All in all, we're pleased with our gross margin in Q1, and we continue to have confidence in our ability to consistently deliver mid-50s gross margin this year, as we expect glasses growth to offset the dilutive effects of contacts and eye exam growth.

Shifting gears to SG&A. As a reminder, SG&A for our business includes three main components, salary expense for our headquarters, customer experience and retail employees, marketing spend, including our Home Try-On program, and general corporate overhead expenses. Adjusted SG&A excludes non-cash costs like stock-based compensation expenses. Adjusted SG&A in the first quarter came in at $103.4 million, or 51.7% of revenue.

This compares to Q1 2023 adjusted SG&A of $87.2 million, or 50.7% of revenue. The primary source of deleverage in the quarter was marketing spend increasing as a percent of revenue from 11.7% to 12.4%, while non-marketing SG&A remained flat as a percent of revenue at approximately 39%. In addition, we also saw natural increases in retail salaries as we expanded our store base, as well as investments in fully integrating our new ERP system, which we anticipate will begin to moderate in Q2 and the rest of the year. As a reminder, this year, we expect to keep marketing spend in the low teens as a percent of revenue.

Marketing spend for the quarter came in at $24.9 million, or 12.4% of revenue. This is up from $20.1 million and 11.7% of revenue in the same period last year. Turning now to adjusted EBITDA. In the first quarter, we generated adjusted EBITDA of $22.4 million, representing an adjusted EBITDA margin of 11.2%, which compares to adjusted EBITDA of $17.7 million, or 10.3% of revenue in the year-ago period.

Turning now to our balance sheet. We were free cash flow positive for the fourth consecutive quarter and ended with a strong balance sheet position reflecting approximately $220 million in cash, which we will continue to deploy deliberately to support our growth and operations. We also have an undrawn credit facility of $120 million that we can increase to $175 million. Now to our outlook.

We are encouraged by our momentum year to date, but we still are maintaining a conservative stance on guiding our business, given the broader macroeconomic environment. Given our performance in Q1, we're revising our full year 2024 guidance higher to the following. Revenue of $753 million to $761 million, representing approximately 12.5% to 13.5% year-over-year growth. Adjusted EBITDA of $70 million at the midpoint of our revenue range, which equals an adjusted EBITDA margin of 9.2%; stability in gross margin in the mid-50s as a percent of revenue, consistent with last year, and 40 new store openings.

We anticipate adjusted EBITDA margin expansion over the remainder of the year will be driven more by leverage within SG&A as new stores ramp, as we see marketing spend consistent as a percent of revenue, and as we leverage our corporate expense overhead. As a reminder, because of the brand campaign in Q3 last year, we anticipate this year's Q3 will be more profitable than Q2. We anticipate gross margin closer to the mid-50s in line with our full year guidance. We plan to continue to drive growth from both contacts and eye exams and offset the dilutive impact of these offerings by continuing to scale our glasses business, as well as efficiencies achieved through our in-house optical labs.

We also expect to see lower year-over-year growth from some of the more fixed components of our COGS stack, including optometrist salaries and store rents. We're still forecasting stock-based compensation as a percentage of net revenue in 2024 to be approximately 6% compared with 10.5% in 2023. Stock-based compensation for both periods is above our long-term forecast, as a result of the multi-year equity grants to our co-CEOs in 2021. We still anticipate stock-based compensation to normalize to a range of 2% to 4% of net revenue next year.

For Q2 2024, we're guiding to the following. Revenue between $185 million and $187 million, which represents growth of approximately 11.5% to 12.5% year over year. Quarter to date, we've observed 101% productivity in our retail stores versus the same period last year. As we've seen more consistency in our business across channels, we do not plan to share intra-quarter metrics going forward.

Our quarterly guidance reflects our outlook for retail productivity and e-commerce in the relevant period. From a bottom-line perspective in Q2 2024, we're guiding to adjusted EBITDA of approximately $17 million, representing a margin of 9.1% at the midpoint of our range. Thank you again for joining us this morning. With that, Neil, Dave, and I are pleased to take your questions.

Operator, please open the line for Q&A.

Questions & Answers:





Operator

Thank you. [Operator instructions] Our first question today comes from the line of Oliver Chen from TD Cowen. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Oliver Chen -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

Hi, Neil, David, and Steve. The active customer growth momentum is quite impressive and attractive. What do you see happening there longer term in terms of your longer-term target growth rate of active customer growth? And then in your comments, you call out macro, and we're seeing a bifurcated customer generally, in terms of the health of the consumer, but you also call that more consistency. Would love your thoughts on traffic trends you're seeing, and if the consumer is still being very considered and how that may or may not interplay with what you're thinking about price points.

And lastly, you gave a lot of great ingredients, Steve, on fixed versus variable. What are the rough, fixed versus variable mixes? And as you think longer term, what are you most excited about in terms of margin expansion? Thank you.

Neil Blumenthal -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Oliver. This is Neil. On active customer growth, we continue to see improvement there, and we've been seeing that for a while, particularly as we think about sort of the in-period metric. As a reminder, what we share publicly is a trailing 12-month metric.

That still includes periods, where we pulled back significantly in marketing when we saw slowing demand during periods last year. So, we anticipate that our active customer growth will continue to increase. We're also continuing to deploy more capital toward customer acquisitions across more diverse channels and are finding success. We continue to invest with discipline to ensure that we're getting the returns that we'd like.

We continue to see really strong customer lifetime value, as you see in our slides related to sales retention rate. So, we're pretty excited about what we're seeing with respect to what we have control over, right, the deployment of marketing resources. That being said, your next question about the macro, we are seeing sort of more consistency, I would say, sort of month to month, but still we tend to be in the best retail centers across the country, and traffic still hasn't sort of rebounded to what we would have expected at this point. And if we think about the broader optical category, it still has not returned to normalcy.

But as a business, we're going to continue to stay focused on what we can control, which is sort of marketing, sort of managing our expense base so we can continue to grow and acquire customers while expanding profitability. And that's sort of the mantra here at Warby, irrespective of the macro, we're going to gain market share and grow sustainably.

Steve Miller -- Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Thanks for your question on margin, Oliver. The color that we've given in terms of fixed versus variable, particularly as it relates to gross margin, is approximately 60% of our costs are variable, and that's a good number to stick with for now. We're excited to take up our full year adjusted EBITDA number and margin, so that adjusted EBITDA margin is increasing 130 basis points year over year, and excited to add that to the full year based on the strong performance we saw in Q1. In terms of what we're most excited about that will continue to drive margins.

So, one, we saw in Q1 an acceleration in glasses growth. Glasses, as a reminder, is our highest margin product category, and, in particular, progressives and our new precision progressive lens in particular, is driving really strong gross margin and gross profit dollars. We also plan to maintain marketing intensity. That's marketing as a percent of revenue in the low-teens at around 12% of revenue and we plan to be disciplined as we deploy marketing spend.

We also expect to see continued margin improvement as we ramp new store productivity and as we achieve labor efficiencies and higher eye exam utilization at our newer eye exam stores. As a reminder, we've added approximately 50 eye exam locations over the past year. It's critical for us to be able to serve the customer, but it also takes some time for eye exam offerings to ramp up. And lastly, is just maintaining discipline with and leveraging our corporate expense base.

We're adding very selectively to corporate expenses, and we'll continue to see that as a source of leverage over time.

Oliver Chen -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

Thanks very much. Very helpful. Best regards.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question today comes from the line of Dana Telsey from Telsey Group. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Dana Telsey -- Telsey Advisory Group -- Analyst

Hi. Good morning, everyone, and nice to see the progress on the results. With the glasses penetration, it seems like moving higher and being higher margin. The drivers of the glasses penetration, is it the newness in the product.

And are you seeing higher prices also, and what are you seeing from the customer base, new customers online versus in-store? And then lastly, Steve, you mentioned that, obviously you'll no longer be giving guidance on some of those store metrics that you mentioned. On new markets versus existing in terms of where you're opening this year, has anything changed in how you're looking on the productivity profile of store openings? Thank you.

Dave Gilboa -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

It's Dave. Thanks, Dana. In terms of glasses, it really comes from great execution from multiple parts of our business, starting from our team designing and bringing to life beautiful and innovative products to continue to open stores, that are conveniently located to -- for our customer base, to strong execution on the marketing and customer acquisition front, as Neil was mentioning, and to all the investments that we have been making over the last few years to deliver great products and accessible experiences for customers are delivering and our marketing messages are resonating. And we're seeing strong adoption of our newer products, ranging from precision progressives, as Steve mentioned, to new collections at a variety of price points, including some of our higher price collections, $145, $175, and $195.

In terms of where we're generating new customers from, we continue to see that our stores are the primary way that our customers are engaging with Warby Parker, and are seeing strong results from our stores. We saw our retail revenue grow over 24% year over year, while our store base increased 20%. And so, even as many of those new stores are ramping, are seeing really strong performance out of retail and continue to see the majority of our customers and the majority of new customers come from those stores.

Steve Miller -- Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

And Dana, for your question as it relates to the productivity of stores in new markets versus existing markets, we're seeing a lot of consistency in productivity, whether it's a greenfield new market or whether we're expanding in existing market. In 2023, as a reminder, we opened up stores in 17 new markets and 17 existing markets. We're very pleased with the productivity curve we're seeing in those new markets opened in 2023. And the numbers that we talked about earlier in terms of average revenue per store of $2.2 million, 20-month paybacks, and a path to achieving 35% four-wall margins within 24 months, usually sooner than that, we're seeing both within our existing markets and within our new markets.

We also talked about, the majority of our stores already having paid back from our 2022 cohort. And as a reminder, in 2022, we opened up stores in just five new markets. And across those five new markets, we're seeing very consistent performance across the dimensions that we talked about.

Dana Telsey -- Telsey Advisory Group -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question today comes from the line of Mark Altschwager from Baird. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Amy Teske -- Baird -- Analyst

Morning. This is Amy Teske on for Mark. To start, you noted that productivity trends were 102% in the quarter, which implies some moderation from where you were tracking at the end of February. So, I was hoping you could speak to some of those trends through the quarter.

And then second, if you could comment on learnings from your recent marketing investments? It seems like the eclipse glasses campaign really drove a lot of buzz. So, wondering if you're seeing any direct correlation to new customer acquisition yet?

Dave Gilboa -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

To store productivity question, we typically see that number fluctuate over the course of the quarter. When we talked about that number in February, it was closer to 106%. And the large reason for that was because we were comping against a period where we had bad weather and some easier comps. We also had some fluctuation in that number over the course of Q1, given some bad weather in early January, which normalized.

So, the 102% number is more in line with the intra-quarter visibility that we've given on previous calls. And we view that as a positive indicator of the performance of our store fleet this year versus last year.

Neil Blumenthal -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

On the marketing front, we did see the solar eclipse activation really drive a lot of traffic and sales, some within Q1 and then some into Q2. It actually drove our highest retail traffic week ever. We were distributing hundreds of thousands of these eclipse viewers. And this comes from sort of a tradition at Warby to do fun things to engage the community and our customers.

So, we first celebrated solar eclipse back in 2017 and included a big block party in front of our store in Nashville. That was in the path of totality. And we took those learnings and applied it to the great North American eclipse on April 8th. Also, in the past, we had the Warby Parker class trip, where we purchased an old yellow school bus, took out the seats, replaced those with oak shelving, and basically had a mobile store that traveled across the country.

So, we share these as examples of some of our brand marketing initiatives that you'll see us continue to engage with over the course of the year and next year, as marketing spend has now sort of normalized. We've also been able to sort of diversify the channels across linear and streaming, paid social, direct mail, creator, and influencer. And we're finding that this diversified approach is leading to stable acquisition costs that give us confidence in our ability to continue to drive customer growth.

Amy Teske -- Baird -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

The next question today comes from the line of Mark Mahaney from Evercore. Your line is now open.

Mark Mahaney -- Evercore ISI -- Analyst

Hey, thank and congrats on the customer momentum. I wanted to ask about insurance channels. So, can you just bring us up to date on where you are in terms of being able to access more customers through those channels, getting more coverage? Thanks a lot.

Neil Blumenthal -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

Thanks, Mark. Yes. We continue to make good progress on the insurance front. The partnership that we announced last quarter with Versant MetLife, the integration there is on track.

We launched a very small pilot earlier this month, but the vast majority of those lives will be integrated in the coming months. And we expect that the incremental 15.5 million lives will be able to use their in-network benefits by the end of the year. I should note that we haven't included contribution from this partnership into our guidance, given that those lives are not integrated just yet. And then, we continue to see positive trends from our existing insurance relationships with increasing utilization over time, as employees understand that they can use their in-network benefits with Warby Parker.

We find that kind of awareness grows, along with those relationships are in place, and continue to see strong utilization trends. And we also believe that the investments that we've been making to scale our business, and in particular, continuing to open stores across the country, continuing to hire lots of eye doctors, make us a natural and attractive partner to other insurance carriers and such, are excited to make progress there and, in particular, are excited to welcome lots of new Versant MetLife members to Warby Parker later this year.

Mark Mahaney -- Evercore ISI -- Analyst

Thank you very much.

Operator

The next question today comes from the line of Janine Stichter from BTIG. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Janine Stichter -- BTIG -- Analyst

Hi. Thanks for taking my question. A question for Steve. I wanted to ask about the gross margin guidance in the mid-50s.

Just how to think about the range of outcomes there if we continue to see the glasses offering outperform? And then also, I was just looking for an update on in-store telehealth, which I think you launched last year. Any initial learnings from those tests? Thank you.

Steve Miller -- Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Thanks, Jeanine. I'll address the question on gross margin and then turn it over to Neil and Dave for an update on what we're doing in telehealth. So, we're still very comfortable with the guidance that we've given to be in the mid-50s from a gross margin perspective. We're very pleased with the leverage that we saw in Q1, driven by the acceleration of glasses growth.

We are still operating in a dynamic macro environment, with a level of uncertainty that still persists for the optical industry. We are growing faster than others in our category and taking share, which gives us optimism. But at the same time, as we project our business for the remainder of the year, we still want to maintain a thoughtful and prudent stance as it relates to the growth of glasses and the recovery of that category. We are still seeing very strong momentum and growth as it relates to contacts and eye exams.

And so, as we potentially see those two categories make up a greater portion of our product mix in Q2 to Q4, we are still maintaining a conservative approach as to how we're modeling gross margin. It's still in the mid-50s. Assuming glasses margin persists, it could be on the higher end of that range. But for now, I think we want to be thoughtful and maintain a very consistent level of guidance, as we did last year, to be within the mid-50s and perhaps toward the lower end of that range, depending on the ultimate mix we see of glasses, contacts, and exams the remainder of the year.

Dave Gilboa -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

One other thought on gross margin is that we tend to see it highest in Q1, thanks to some of the revenue deferral from Q4 and into Q1 coming out of the FSA season at the very end of the year. That being said, we continue to have great leverage of the fixed costs of COGS, thanks to our retail growth and our e-commerce channels are returning to growth. And we've always maintained that we have significant opportunities to gain leverage over those fixed costs. One of those fixed costs is our investment in our eye exam business, particularly, our doctor salaries.

As you mentioned, we are continuing to invest in telehealth, and we view this as a way to supplement our in-person doctors and provide more availability and convenience to our customers and patients. As we have an in-person doctor, we may be able to have broader hours, thanks to telehealth. So, you'll see us continue to expand the pilots on video-assisted eye exams that we currently have. But the biggest impact will likely be next year as that gets scaled and we continue to sort of invest in that area of our eye exam business.

Janine Stichter -- BTIG -- Analyst

Great. Thanks so much for all the colors.

Operator

The next question today comes from the line of Dylan Carden from William Blair. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Dylan Carden -- William Blair -- Analyst

Thanks a lot. Just curious, how you think about the comp lift from new doctor availability. And if there's sort of incremental marketing that you're putting toward that to kind of grow awareness? I appreciate there's a lag time just sort of given the purchase cycle. And then, if I missed it, apologies, but any color between sort of growth by channel as you think about the second and full year guide revenue? Thanks.

Steve Miller -- Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Yes. So, overall, we continue to see that, our stores with doctors drive higher level of sales. And so we've been excited to expand our doctor network and onboard new doctors into all of our new stores. In addition to adding doctors to some of our existing stores.

There is a ramp-up period, as you noted. And there is a big opportunity for us to drive more awareness, that we offer exams and that we have doctors, conveniently located across the country. We find that, even with some of our long-standing customers who have bought multiple glasses from us online, they're not aware that we have stores that are now conveniently located in their cities and there's even less awareness that we have eye exams. And so our team has been focusing on leveraging our increased media investment to drive home some of those messages, whether that's through TV commercials or direct mail campaigns within a certain radius where we're opening new stores or have brought on new doctors.

And so we're excited to continue to build a momentum there. We also believe that as more customers are able to use their in-network benefits, that will also help to increase doctor utilization over time. And in terms of our channel growth, we noted that we continue to see the majority of our growth driven from retail. We have seen e-com influx positively over the last few months here, but still projecting, still guiding to low single-digit growth for e-com for the remainder of the year.

Dylan Carden -- William Blair -- Analyst

Thank you.

Operator

Our next question today comes from the line of Brooke Roach from Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead. Your line is now open.

Evan Dorschner -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Hey, everyone. This is Evan Dorschner on for Brooke. Thanks for taking our question. I guess, first, just a follow-up on Mark's question earlier regarding insurance.

Are you seeing any differences in trends between in-network customers and out-of-network customers and just how they shop? And then separately, could you just talk a little bit more about e-commerce trends? And I know you just mentioned still guiding to low single-digit growth for the year. What's it going to take to drive an even further acceleration? I know things reflected this quarter, especially as you started to lap lower marketing spend last year. Thanks.

Dave Gilboa -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

So, on the insurance front, we tend to find that customers who use their in-network benefits at Warby tend to be some of our best customers. They tend to spend a bit more both for their initial purchase and over time. And so, we're excited to expand that population. The majority of our customers do have vision insurance.

So, 60% of people who shop with us have vision insurance. Some of those people are leveraging their benefits and others just know that they're getting great value with us. But we are excited to make it even easier for people to get value out of those benefits, both in-network and out-of-network. And then as it relates to e-com, we're seeing modest growth at this point, but it is a significant improvement when you compare to where we were a year ago when e-com was a drag on our overall business and was negatively impacting both revenue and gross margin.

Our team has driven better trends, particularly in glasses. And we know that we still have a headwind from Home Try-On as a diminishing portion of our overall sales and our e-commerce sales, but direct glasses purchases are growing nicely. And those direct glasses purchases enable us to serve customers faster. They're also higher margins.

So, we're encouraged by that trend. We also find that a higher percentage of repeat purchases take place online. And so, as our overall installed base of customers grows, that will be a tailwind, in addition to contact sales, largely taking place online as well. And so, we continue to believe that e-commerce is on the right track and will continue to positively impact growth going forward and are excited to continue to evolve our digital experience and introduce some improved digital features that will make shopping more fun and convenient across channels later this year.

Evan Dorschner -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

Great. Super helpful. Thank you.

Operator

[Operator signoff]

Duration: 0 minutes

Call participants:

Jaclyn Berkley -- Head of Investor Relations

Neil Blumenthal -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

Dave Gilboa -- Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer

Steve Miller -- Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer

Oliver Chen -- TD Cowen -- Analyst

Dana Telsey -- Telsey Advisory Group -- Analyst

Amy Teske -- Baird -- Analyst

Mark Mahaney -- Evercore ISI -- Analyst

Janine Stichter -- BTIG -- Analyst

Dylan Carden -- William Blair -- Analyst

Evan Dorschner -- Goldman Sachs -- Analyst

More WRBY analysis

All earnings call transcripts

This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability.

The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Warby Parker (WRBY) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool
(STACKER)  Home prices are largely starting to normalize across the country but remain high even as more homes start to come on the market this spring.

Record-high mortgage rates are keeping homes largely unaffordable for most buyers. Even a percentage point increase can increase a monthly mortgage payment by more than $100.

Thats causing potential homeowners to expand their searches outside costly urban cores, especially when they can work from home.

Stacker examined data from Realtor.coms Cross-Market Demand Report to see where people in Tampa are looking to buy homes. View share is based on page views of active listings during the first quarter of 2024 on Realtor.com. It does not include international viewers.

Continue reading to see where people in Tampa are shopping for their next house.

#10. Punta Gorda, FL

 1.6% of views

#9. Jacksonville, FL

 1.7% of views

#8. Atlanta, GA

 2.0% of views

#7. Ocala, FL

 2.5% of views

#6. Cape Coral, FL

 3.1% of views

#5. Homosassa Springs, FL

 3.6% of views

#4. Orlando, FL

 4.6% of views

#3. Miami, FL

 5.2% of views

#2. Lakeland, FL

 6.8% of views

#1. North Port, FL

 9.1% of views

This story features data reporting and writing by Elena Cox and is part of a series utilizing data automation across 379 metros.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WFLA.
On May 10, Defense Minister Colonel General Zakir Hasanov and other high-ranking officials of the Ministry visited the Alley of Honors on the occasion of the 101st anniversary of the birth of National Leader of the Azerbaijani people Heydar Aliyev, Azernews reports citing ministry.

The leadership of the Ministry of Defense laid flowers at the grave of the Great Leader and honored his blessed memory.

Then the grave of the prominent ophthalmologist, academician Zarifa Aliyeva was visited, flowers were laid and tribute was paid to her bright memory.
















The "Boston" half of the CEO tandem that has run Boston Omaha (NYSE: BOC) for nearly a decade is stepping aside. Investors were taken by surprise, sending shares of Boston Omaha down as much as 9% at the open before recovering to be down 4% as of 11 a.m. ET.

End of an era

Boston Omaha has always been a bit of an oddity. It is the holding company for four majority-owned businesses in the billboard, broadband, insurance, and asset management industries run by co-CEOs Alex Rozek and Adam Peterson. Rozek lives in Boston and Peterson in Omaha -- the inspiration for the name.

On Friday, Boston Omaha announced Rozek was stepping down to pursue other opportunities, effective immediately, leaving Peterson as sole chairman and CEO.

"After nearly a decade of consistent growth and building significant businesses across multiple categories, I feel this is a good point to move on to my next new venture," Rozek said in a statement. "I will work with the management team and the board so that there is a smooth transition, and I will continue to be an enduring fan of Boston Omaha and its businesses and investments."

Is Boston Omaha stock a buy?

The investment thesis behind Boston Omaha involves the company investing the cash generated by its core businesses in areas able to deliver market-beating returns. But the thesis hasn't worked in some time: Boston Omaha shares have lost nearly 65% of their value in the last three years and have badly underperformed the S&P 500.

Investors don't like unexpected change, and are understandably shaken by the departure. But there is no sign of foul play or a difficult separation. Boston Omaha will spend about $19 million to buy out Rozek's share of the business, but the now-former CEO will remain the company's board designee at investment Sky Harbour Group.

The co-CEO model is rare because it is complicated. Even two like-minded people are likely not going to see eye to eye on all issues. There is bound to be some friction or second guessing, and Boston Omaha's long-term success growing book value is a credit to Peterson and Rozek's ability to work together for as long as they have.

For now, the future rests in Peterson's hands. He has traditionally been seen as the more conservative of the two, more likely to focus on the businesses in hand than branching out into something new.

Boston Omaha's annual letter to shareholders will likely be out in the coming days. Investors should read closely for clues about where Peterson sees the company going from here.

Story continues

Should you invest $1,000 in Boston Omaha right now?

Before you buy stock in Boston Omaha, 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 Boston Omaha 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 $543,758!*

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 May 6, 2024

Lou Whiteman has positions in Boston Omaha. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Boston Omaha. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

Why Boston Omaha Stock Is Down Today was originally published by The Motley Fool
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN)  A woman who sued a concrete company over a 2020 accident involving one of their drivers was recently awarded a $31.8 million award by a Davidson County jury.

According to the injury firm Morgan & Morgan, Jennifer Gooch, 40, was awarded $31,894,263, which includes $30 million in punitive damages, by the jury in her lawsuit against Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete, LLC.

According to a release on the legal victory, Gooch was driving north on Eatons Creek Road in Nashville when a driver for the concrete company ran a stop sign and collided with the left side of her vehicle. Goochs car was totaled, and she suffered ankle and back injuries in the accident.

Driver sought after I-40 crash

In the first phase of the trial, Gooch was awarded $1,894,263.15 for her medical expenses, permanent injury, physical pain, mental suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. The second phase of the trial is where a jury awarded Gooch the $30 million punitive damages.

Our client was permanently injured by someone who should never have been entrusted by Smyrna Ready Mix Concrete with driving a 27,000-pound cement truck, said Morgan & Morgan partner Kelli Lester. Ms. Gooch is a kind and compassionate person and a single mother of three who dedicates her life to public service, ensuring children in low-income households have access to educational opportunities. Her injuries continue to take a toll on her daily life, making it harder for her to care for her children and live pain free.

Gooch reportedly rejected the companys settlement offer of $70,000, according to attorneys Kelli Lester, Burke Keaty and Susan Neal Willey.

 Have breaking come to you: Subscribe to News 2 email alerts 

We are pleased the jury saw fit to not only award her a fair verdict for her expenses, pain and suffering, but also understood their responsibility to try to prevent the defendants reckless misconduct in the future by awarding severe punitive damages, Keaty said. No one wants to have a company sending a driver like this out on the road with a 27,000-pound deadly weapon where we all drive around with our families.

The $30 million punitive damages award is one of the largest in Tennessee history, according to the firm.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to WKRN News 2.
"Promises made, results delivered" is the motto Colorado Democrats are using to describe the 2023-2024 legislative session. With control of both the Senate and the House, the Democratic party is celebrating its achievements across a variety of key issues, from property taxes to school funding. Amidst the self-congratulatory messages, the caucus highlighted the bipartisanship that made many of their accomplishments possible when speaking with the press following the final day of the session.
For a select group of attorneys who argued their cases before Colorado's Court of Appeals on Tuesday, the experience was different in two key ways: First, they traded the ornate courtrooms of downtown Denver for the picturesque foothills 30 miles to the west.
Gov. Jared Polis speaks about the 2024 legislative session during a press conference on Thursday, May 9.
A former Fort Carson soldier is facing a slew of charges in the 4th Judicial District related to defrauding women he met online.

A police affidavit outlines how Gavin Pobst, a former sergeant, is suspected of manipulating women he meets online into giving him money and using some of it to gamble.

The police investigation found more than 200 text message threads on Pobst's phone where he asks women for money.

"There are numerous text messages from females asking Gavin for their money back like he promised because they need it to pay their bills," an investigator wrote in an affidavit.

In one case, a woman told police Pobst owed her more than $5,000, an affidavit said.

He has been charged with theft, money laundering, identity theft, criminal impersonation and unauthorized use of a financial transaction device, court records show.

The investigating El Paso County sheriff's officer states in the arrest affidavit that even after learning he was under investigation Pobst "continued his criminal activity up until the day before he was arrested and placed in military confinement."

Sign Up for free: Military Brief Your weekly local update on local military news and events, sent straight to your inbox. Sign Up View all of our newsletters. Success! Thank you for subscribing to our newsletter. View all of our newsletters.

He is still in the El Paso County jail. He would need to post two $10,000 bonds to leave custody.

The civilian charges follow a court-martial that ended in Pobst pleading guilty to eight counts of theft, one count of wire fraud and violating a general order during his court-martial.

The Army investigation into Pobst's conduct identified "upwards of 60 victims." He had been facing 14 specific accusations of theft ranging from stealing $20 to $1,000 during 2022 and 2023. He was also facing two accusations of wire fraud.

A military judge sentenced Pobst to 270 days confinement, forfeiture of $1,000 per month for two months and a bad conduct discharge.

Before his discharge, Pobst served with the 3rd Brigade Combat Team in the 4th Infantry Division. He had served for six years and five months.
The trial of the man accused of causing the death of Officer Julian Becerra continued Thursday morning, featuring additional police and expert testimonies.

Opening statements in the trial of 32-year-old Devon Bobian began Tuesday following the conclusion of the jury selection process. Bobian is the final person to stand trial of the three individuals arrested for their alleged involvement in Becerras death.

Bobian, Anthony Vallejos and Daniesha Pacheco were arrested in February 2023 after stealing a car and leading multiple law enforcement agencies on a chase throughout El Paso County, according to previous reports by The Gazette.

Vallejos testified Thursday as a witness for the prosecution. Pacheco is expected to testify later in the trial.

After a brief delay Vallejos was taken to the courthouse Thursday afternoon.

During Vallejos' testimony, the prosecution brought in his signed plea agreement document, in which Vallejos pleaded guilty to aggravated robbery. The document states Bobian was present at the time of the robbery, and brandished a firearm  aiding and abetting in the robbery.

Vallejos' signed plea agreement, that contains incriminating information regarding Bobian's part in the robbery, was entered as evidence within the case without further objection.

Pacheco refused transport to the El Paso County jail from the Colorado Department of Corrections Thursday morning and did not testify.

No trial proceedings were held Wednesday.

Thursday's court session was an emotional one, with a video played by the prosecution featuring body-camera footage of Becerras point of view, leading up to his fatal fall off the bridge.

In the footage, Becerra can be seen driving his patrol vehicle aggressively in pursuit of the three co-defendants. He can be heard talking into his police radio saying the suspect vehicle was trying to hit him before a loud noise is heard and the vehicle comes to a stop.

Through Becerras bodycam footage, Bobian can be seen standing on top of Becerras vehicle as he exits the patrol car. Sudden camera movement preceded the moment Becerra falls from the bridge and lands in bushes.

Featured Local Savings

Following the footage of the fall, Becerras hindered breathing could be heard in the footage. The footage elicited cries from the jury and those in attendance.

"Becerra, oh God!" one officer in the clip can be heard saying.

"It's a miracle, he's breathing. He just fell f---king 25 feet!" another person in the footage says.

As the footage presented to the court depicted Becerras fall and the minutes he waited for help alone, Bobian could be seen looking toward the ground, slowly shaking his head.

Multiple people in attendance left the courtroom in tears as Becerra's labored breathing worsened in the footage and officers called for medical assistance at the scene.

Also Thursday, Detective Nicholas Birklish with the El Paso County Sheriffs Office spoke on the recovery of multiple pieces of evidence from the suspect's vehicle, including multiple firearms and a black backpack.

According to Birklish, the backpack was found in the front passenger seat of the vehicle and held multiple items  a pirated key fob that could hijack cars of the same make and model, a lock-picking kit and a 9-mm firearm. Birklish told the court the backpack appeared to belong to the person driving, Bobian, and not the co-defendants in the back seat.

Prosecutor Brent Nelson called multiple expert witnesses to the stand Thursday to speak on the evidence discovered inside the involved blue Hyundai, and collected DNA evidence.

Mariah Wortworth, a CSPD Metro Crime Lab technician and expert in firearm technologies, took the stand Thursday and confirmed that all three firearms  the two 9-mm pistols and the .380-caliber handgun  were all functional that night in January 2023.

Additionally, Wortworth confirmed she swabbed all three guns to collect DNA evidence ahead of testing the weapons formally.

Donna Manogue, an expert in DNA analysis with the departments Metro Crime Lab, spoke on the findings of the swabbed firearms. She told the court Thursday that while two of the firearms did not appear to carry significant genetic material, the 9-mm Taurus pistol was a positive match for Bobians DNA.

Bobian's trial is anticipated to run into the next week. He is facing charges of murder in the second degree, aggravated robbery, vehicular eluding, criminal attempt, possession of weapons by previous offenders and aggravated motor vehicle theft.

Court records show that in March of last year, Bobian pleaded guilty to weapon possession by a previous offender in two different criminal cases in Pueblo County. Each charge resulted in him being sentenced to 18 months in the state Department of Corrections.
Nazrin Abdul

On May 10th, Minister of Foreign Affairs Jeyhun Bayramov of the Republic of Azerbaijan engaged in discussions with Kazakhstan's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Murat Nurtleu, Azernews reports citing FM.

The meeting delved into various facets of the enduring strategic partnership between Azerbaijan and Kazakhstan, encompassing the regional landscape post-conflict and the ongoing peace process. Azerbaijan expressed contentment with the burgeoning high-level relations with Central Asian nations, particularly highlighting the expanding ties with Kazakhstan.

In addition to bilateral cooperation spanning economy, trade, investments, energy security, and transportation, both nations acknowledged the promising prospects on regional and international platforms, particularly within the Organization of Turkic States.

Minister Bayramov provided a comprehensive overview of preparations for the upcoming 29th session of the Conference of the Parties to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP29), underscoring its significance as a novel platform for cooperation.

Reflecting on the region's current dynamics post-conflict, Minister Bayramov expressed gratitude to Kazakhstan for its steadfast support and engagement in fostering bilateral peace processes between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Confidence was expressed regarding the potential contribution of today's negotiations to the overall process, taking into account the recent agreement reached between the delimitation commissions.

The meeting also served as an opportunity to exchange views on various other mutual areas of interest.
The once-cold Suzanne Morphew investigation has gotten warmer.

According to Linda Stanley, the original prosecutor on the case, new charges that could be potentially filed in the investigation are now on the desk of a new district attorney. Stanley first took on the case in January 2021, only to see it implode with a dismissal 16 months later.

The new eyes on the star-crossed case belong to Anne Kelly of the 12th Judicial District Attorney's Office. The district is in the San Luis Valley area where Morphews remains were discovered. She has been consulting on Morphew's murder with the Colorado Bureau of Investigation, according to a CBI press release.

Stanley said it was the right thing to do. There are no jurisdictional issues in the 12th, so they will likely be pursuing any charges in the case, said Stanley told The Denver Gazette by phone on Wednesday.

Stanley is under investigation by the arm of the Colorado Supreme Court that takes complaints against attorneys, in part for what some complained was her mishandling of the case, but others believe she laid the foundation for the investigation moving forward.

Suzanne Morphew's remains were found last September south of Moffatt, which is in a different jurisdiction from where the 49-year-old mother of two was last seen. Investigators believe that she was killed at the family home sometime between May 9 and May 10, 2020. According to the arrest affidavit and an evidentiary hearing, the crime likely occurred on the grounds of the family's Maysville home.

Maysville is located west of Salida by way of U.S. 50. Morphews bones were found scattered in a field about 45 minutes south of the family home. That location happened to be across the border separating the 11th and 12th juditional districts.

The day the case went away.

On April 19, 2022, murder charges against Suzanne Morphew's husband, Barry, were dropped when Stanley and her team asked 11th Judicial Judge Ramsey Lama to dismiss the case without prejudice just nine days before trial. Morphew walked out of the courthouse a free man.

Dismissed without prejudice means that the investigation can be re-opened though the original prosecution is over.

Featured Local Savings

Morphrew, 56, moved to Arizona but held a memorial service for his wife in Indiana last weekend. The two met, married, and started a family there. Suzanne Morphew's side of the family was not invited to the "celebration of life," according to family members who wished to remain unidentified.

Heaps of information

Anne Kelly inherits a voluminous four-year-old case with at least 80,000 pages of discovery, not including hours of police body-worn camera footage and video interviews. But the recent autopsy results revealed a critical clue. A request by the El Paso County Coroner to a forensic lab for extra toxicology revealed that the chemicals butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine were found in Suzanne Morphew's femur, according to the report.

Sources who wished to remain anonymous confirmed that the chemicals were discovered in the marrow of the bone, a place that forensic pathologists say can be a treasure trove for storage of materials that may not be found in an initial cursory search.

The three chemicals are used by biologists, wildlife officers, and hunters to anesthetize large-sized animals such as deer, bears, moose, and horses. The report described the compound as an "injectable chemical immobilizer" for wildlife, the symptoms of which can be reversed.

The autopsy report, performed by the El Paso County Coroner's office, found Suzanne Morphews cause of death to be undetermined and the manner of death to be homicide.

Butorphanol, azaperone, and medetomidine are the same substances that Suzanne's husband, Barry Morphew, told investigators he brought to Colorado from Indiana and routinely used to immobilize deer before he removed their antlers.

The chemical mixture is often sold in kit form with the acronym "BAM."

Still, Barry Morphew's attorney said that law enforcement should "take their blinders off" and stop focusing on his client. "Other people could have access to those chemicals who knew that Mrs. Morphew was alone that day (on Sunday, May 10, Mothers Day)." Iris Eytan suggested that investigators will be able to get the prescription records. Special veterinarians have the ability to prescribe these controlled substances. If they do their job...theyll be able to get the prescription record, which farmers and ranchers had it and especially in that area."
Just months after signing off from the airwaves at CBS 4 in Denver, veteran news reporter Rick Sallinger died Wednesday night in the Denver area from natural causes, the station announced. He was 74.

Sallinger, who began his reporting career at KUSA, covered pivotal events over the decades, including the Columbine High School shootings, the Oklahoma City bombing trials, the murder of JonBenet Ramsey, the Kobe Bryant case, catastrophic wildfires and the Aurora Theater massacre.

In 2022, he interviewed John Hinckley Jr., who attempted to assassinate U.S. President Ronald Reagan.

Known for his investigative reporting, Sallinger received numerous commendations, including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award, considered one of broadcastings highest honors.

In 2023, the Heartland Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences inducted him into the "Silver Circle," recognizing more than 25 years of exceptional journalism service.

Sallinger was a native of Chicago and earned both his bachelors and masters degrees at the University of Illinois. In 2022, he was inducted into the University of Illinois Illini Media Hall of Fame.

Before joining CBS News Colorado, Sallingers career included radio reporting in Cleveland and Chicago. He also served as a television news reporter in Indianapolis (WRTV), Denver (KUSA/KCNC), Chicago (WMAQ), and London (CNN).

Featured Local Savings

During his tenure at CNN, he covered significant global events like the reunification of Germany, the Yugoslav Wars, and major conflicts in Moscow, Somalia, and Northern Ireland. After joining CNNs London bureau in 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait the next day, leading him to cover the Gulf War extensively.

In 1993, Sallinger returned to Denver and joined CBS News Colorado after expressing a desire to return, which he had voiced when he left the city in 1986.

Sallinger is survived by his wife Isabel, to whom he was married for 30 years and two sons, Marc and Eric. His son Marc followed in his father's footsteps and became a reporter and anchor at 9News.

In a post on social media platform X, Marc Sallinger honored his late father, saying, My dad passed away peacefully last night. He was the best father I could ask for. I loved adventuring around the world and seeing new places together. Working alongside him as competitors in Denver news was special every day. I will miss it so much. Love you.

Ive done everything that I wanted to do in this business and much more. Its been absolutely wonderful looking back at my career. Its given me a wife, kids and a place to settle down in Colorado, Sallinger told the Daily Illini back in 2022.

Sallinger was proud to call Colorado his home and will be missed greatly not only by all his coworkers but by all who watched his award-winning reporting throughout the years, a statement from CBS 4 said.
Fatime Letifova

Today, a meeting between Azerbaijans Foreign Minister Jeyhun Bayramov and his Armenian counterpart Ararat Mirzoyan has kicked off in Almaty.

They were greeted by Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Murat Nurtleu. This is of crucial importance as it can take place against the backdrop of intensive diplomatic efforts to resolve long-standing disputes between the two countries.

In her comment to Azernews, Pakistani political expert Shazia Anwer Cheema emphasized the importance of the ongoing meeting in Almaty.

Almaty has been the symbol of peace initiatives for a long and Kazakhstan's move for peace talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan are appreciated by global leaders like the United States and Russia, she noted.

The political scientist evaluated Kazakhstan's mediation between Azerbaijan and Armenia.

Kazakhstan has played a pivotal role for peace talks in central Asia and Eastern Europe for a long time and global powers always respect Kazakhstani initiatives for peace talks, she added.

The expert said that the meeting between the two countries foreign ministers that Almaty hosts is very symbolic.

Since Kazakhstan believes in non-aligned foreign policy and provides a complete impartial atmosphere for talk therefore this meeting is very symbolic and significant and can open the door for further deliberations, Cheema said.

Currently, the panic created in Armenia by the joint efforts of the opposition and religious representatives is in the center of the world's attention. Taking such a step at a time when the parties are moving towards the peace process is undoubtedly part of the actions of the parties who always wish for conflict in the South Caucasus. Concerning the issue, the political expert emphasized that it is the traditional policy of Armenia.

It is too early to comment because Armenia has a habit of using foreign affairs for its domestic consumption while peace needs a global and futuristic approach, she said.

The expert also said that whatever the Armenian side is thinking, the reality shows that the Almaty meeting between Azerbaijani and Armenian ministers, can open the peace doors for the South Caucasus.

However we need to be optimistic to see what results come out of this meeting because there is a chance that today's Almaty meeting can open door for further deliberations between the two countries providing how honest Armenia is about the peace in the region, the expert finished her speech.

It is worth noting that nowadays the progress towards the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia is ongoing. It should not be forgotten that the conclusion of the peace treaty between Azerbaijan and Armenia guarantees development in many areas.

First of all, if there is no war or conflict in the region, there is no need for the mediation of external forces. This means that Azerbaijan and Armenia will not only recognise each other's borders, but will also start cooperating within the framework of the open door principle.

Secondly, Armenia's signing of a peace treaty with Azerbaijan will contribute to its relations with Turkiye, and the borders will open, which will massively affect Armenia's economic structure. On the other hand, Armenia will also benefit from Azerbaijan's giant oil and gas projects as well as its projects, in green energy.

Thirdly, and most importantly, the development of Armenia in the region will undermine the plans of colonialist countries like France to influence the South Caucasus for evil purposes. Yerevan will no longer have to be a toy for other countries and play into the hands of some Western organisations.

Undoubtedly, the signing of the peace treaty in the region will contribute a lot to Armenia as well as Azerbaijan and will maintain long-term security in the South Caucasus.
A witness sits on the curb while police investigate the scene of a motorcycle-car accident.
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.
President Asif Ali Zardari has underlined the need for global efforts to address the challenge of climate change by adopting environment-friendly technology, promoting afforestation, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

According to Azernews, he highlighted that global warming and climate change were affecting the glaciers as well as causing water scarcity, and tackling these challenges required global support to mitigate their adverse impacts.

The President expressed these views while talking to the Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources of Azerbaijan/COP 29 President-designate, Mukhtar Babayev, who along with his delegation called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Azerbaijan is going to host the 29th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP 29) in Baku in November 2024 and the Minister, in his capacity as the President-designate of COP 29, is here to invite the President to the Conference.

Welcoming the Minister, the President congratulated Azerbaijan on winning the bid to host COP 29 and expressed the hope that COP 29 would result in setting the New Collective Quantified Goal on Finance that would help developing countries fulfil their climate finance needs.

He highlighted that Pakistan had planted mangrove forests over hundreds of thousands of hectares that would help protect the environment, besides earning carbon credits for Pakistan.

The President said that Pakistan highly valued its relations with Azerbaijan and wanted to further expand bilateral cooperation in the areas of common interest.

He called for promoting more interactions, bilateral exchanges and people-to-people contacts to further cement relations between the two brotherly countries.

Mukhtar Babayev underlined the need for further enhancing bilateral cooperation between Pakistan and Azerbaijan, particularly in the area of tourism and culture. He also delivered the invitation to the President to participate in COP 29 in Baku in November 2024.

The President conveyed his best wishes for the successful hosting of COP 29 and expressed the hope that Azerbaijan would play its role in securing the interest of developing countries in meeting their financing needs for climate adaptation.
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva participated in the opening of the first residential complex in Shusha and met with the city's first returning residents.

Azernews reports that the President and the First Lady were briefed on the work completed in the residential complex.

The initial phase, according to the relocation schedule, saw 20 families comprising 88 individuals resettled in the first residential complex. The complex consists of 23 buildings and spans a total area of nearly 8 hectares. Its foundation was laid on August 29, 2021. The complex contains 450 apartments, with 28 one-room, 195 two-room, 190 three-room, 30 four-room, and 7 five-room units.

The head of state and the First Lady then toured the complex and inspected the apartments to see the conditions provided for the residents.

President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva also met with the first families who have relocated to Shusha.

The head of state delivered a speech during the meeting.

Speech of President Ilham Aliyev

- Dear natives of Shusha, welcome to Shusha.

You are returning to your native Shusha after 32 years. I sincerely congratulate you on this wonderful and historic event. You lived with a longing for 32 years, but I am sure that you never forgot Shusha, you knew and believed that you would return here. I also knew it, I also believed in it, and ever since I became President in 2003, I did everything in my power to return you and all the former IDPs to your native land.

We were preparing and strengthening our country, we were strengthening our economy and creating a strong army. Most importantly, we have raised and brought up the young generation who liberated Shusha, our source of pride today, and other occupied lands at the cost of their lives. We have raised an educated, knowledgeable, patriotic, physically strong, morally healthy and pure young generation, and they liberated these lands by putting their lives on the line for 44 days on my order. We are very much indebted to them for this day, we are indebted to our glorious Army, we are indebted to our Armed Forces, we are indebted to our martyrs and disabled veterans. May Allah rest the souls of all our martyrs in peace.

The people of Azerbaijan have demonstrated such heroism and self-sacrifice that, today the whole world talks about the sons of Azerbaijan and shows respect for our nation. Because we have restored our right not through negotiations, not at the expense of any concessions from someone, but on the battlefield. We have liberated our cities and villages, we have shed blood and we have had martyrs. All the people of Azerbaijan were as united as a fist for 44 days.

The contemptible enemy had committed a miscalculation. They were so convinced of their own myths that they thought they would be able to keeps our lands under occupation forever. Their patrons behind them, the great states further reinforced this confidence in them. But we were sure, we knew that the day would come and we would return to our native lands.

For many years as President, I tried to resolve this issue through negotiations. My activity is obvious, dozens, perhaps even hundreds of meetings and rounds of negotiations were held. But there was no result. Why? Because Armenia, I want to say this again, wanted to keep our lands under occupation forever. The countries behind them, the alleged mediators wanted to make this occupation permanent.

The 44-day Patriotic War is part of our glorious history, and the people of Azerbaijan will forever be proud of this Victory. For 44 days, we were moving forward every single day. Unlike the Armenian army, not a single soldier of ours left the battlefield. According to their own confessions, they had about 12,000 deserters. Our soldiers and officers advanced every day. The victory achieved on the first day of the war, the liberation of several villages, continued all the way until the last day, and the liberation of Shusha on November 8, 2020 broke the enemys back. The enemy already realized that they were no longer able to resist and after that signed an act of capitulation, which was practically a surrender. We stopped the war right then. Because I had been stating from the first days of the war that the enemy should give us a timetable of when they would vacate our lands, and then we were ready to stop the war.

During those days, I received many calls from different capitals, various proposals were put forward, and some even tried to threaten me. However, I was firm in my conviction, and I was saying it both during those phone calls and in my addresses to the people of Azerbaijan: a timetable must be provided of when the enemy is getting out of our lands and then we would be ready to stop the war, and so it happened. In the early hours of November 10, 2020, Armenia signed the act of capitulation and the war stopped.

As you know, during the war, I gave interviews to a number of foreign media representatives and, of course, the questions were different. Of course, I could not say anything about our plans for the war. I was once asked about Shusha, and I said that our work would be incomplete without Shusha, and I think everyone understood that we were not going to stop until Shusha was liberated. Shusha is a symbol of our indomitable spirit. Shusha has left such a big mark in the hearts of every Azerbaijani citizen that the war could not have ended successfully without Shusha.

As a result of the anti-terror operation, we liberated our historical and ancestral lands from the invaders. We showed the power of our state and its strong political will again. We carried out the operation with great professionalism, skill and dedication, without reckoning with anyone, without considering anything and fearing anyone. Thus, Azerbaijan fully restored its state sovereignty.

A new history of Shusha begins today. I said in my address to the nation on November 8, 2020 that we would revive Shusha. Today we are seeing a reviving Shusha. It is not only about these beautiful buildings, there is a lot of large-scale construction going on in Shusha. Today, on the birthday of the National Leader, the foundation stone of a third residential complex was laid. The foundation of a second residential complex was laid on May 10 last year. A total of 450 apartments will be built in this first residential complex, about 300 in the second and about 500 in the third. A part of it is already finished. You will move into these apartments today. All the buildings have a beautiful architectural style  the traditional style of Shusha. The conditions are very nice, and I am sure that after a long pause, the residents of Shusha will live here comfortably, create, build and preserve the historical image of their hometown.

Construction work in Shusha actually commenced immediately after the Second Karabakh War. First of all, the road to Shusha had to be built. Because you know perfectly well that before the occupation, the road to Shusha passed through Khankendi. Therefore, the Victory Road was built from Fuzuli to Shusha in a short period of time. A wider highway is now under construction. A beautiful four-lane road with seven tunnels, nine viaducts and a number of bridges is under construction, and it will probably be ready by the end of next year. The restoration of Shushas historical monuments started immediately. First, Vagif's mausoleum was rebuilt and its original appearance was restored. Then the Yukhari Govhar Agha Mosque and then the Saatli Mosque were restored. Today, we opened the Mamayi Mosque after restoration. Restoration work has already started in the Chol Gala Mosque. The Mehmandarov Mosque and Mehmandarov's House have been restored. Four hotels are already in operation. The biggest of them, the five-star Shusha hotel reflects the modern appearance of Shusha. And yet the hotel was built in the style of traditional Shusha architecture. Also today, the Shirinsu Bath was opened after major renovation. The repair and restoration in the Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque are nearing completion. The monument to Uzeyir Hajibayli, which was destroyed by the savage enemy, was put back in its place. The bust of Vagif destroyed by the Armenians was restored to its previous appearance and form. The reconstruction of Uzeyir Hajibayli's house destroyed by the Armenians is in progress, it will be ready this year. Several other important events took place.

The revival of Shusha is in full swing. Everything is built on the basis of a very detailed and precise plan and in accordance with the most advanced urban planning rules. We have involved the world's leading companies in the restoration and reconstruction work not only for Shusha, but also for all our liberated lands, so that people who used to live in harsh conditions for many years  in tents, dormitories, kindergartens and unsuitable buildings  can now live well and comfortably. In parallel with this, we are also dealing with employment issues both in Shusha and other towns and cities that have already been built, trainings are held. We are seriously dealing with and resolving employment issues for those who will return here.

The regions of Karabakh and Eastern Zangezur will become one of the most beautiful places not only in Azerbaijan and the Caucasus, but also of the whole world  the most modern, the most comfortable and the most beautiful. The nature of this place, its spectacular views, the scenery and water springs are complemented by modern and, at the same time, traditional buildings. A wonderful city will emerge here, I am sure each of us, every Azerbaijani will be proud of. I want to say again that we are implementing large-scale programs in all liberated territories. Today, Shusha is already the sixth residential area to which former IDPs are returning. Former IDPs are also expected to return to the village of Sus in Lachin today, so life will be brought back to at least 20 residential areas before the end of this year.

May 10 is a dear day for each one of us, including myself, of course  it is the birthday of the National Leader. His biggest dream was to see these realities, to put an end to the occupation, and it was thanks to his activity that we embarked on a path of development. You, or the older generation, remember only too well what was happening before that  anarchy, arbitrariness, chaos, struggle for power, and the placement of incompetent, cowardly and treacherous people in the government. All this was the reason for the occupation of a city like Shusha and other cities and villages of our country. Random people had assumed power. People from the street who had no education, no experience in public affairs and no knowledge got the positions of ministers of defense, secretaries of state, speakers of parliament and president, and the people of Azerbaijan suffered the bitter consequences of that. I wonder what feelings that individual who promised to defend Shusha or shoot himself in the head is experiencing now. I am sure he is not happy about this day at all. People like him, the leftovers of the PFPA-Musavat duo who aspired to come to power at the time, the vast majority of them were not happy about our victory and actually regretted it. They are still trying to cast a shadow on our Victory to this day. They collude with the Armenians in an attempt to belittle our Victory and cast a shadow on it. It was because of their aspiration to power and the treachery and cowardice of the then government that Shusha was occupied. No major forces were needed to defend Shusha  you know that perfectly well. Shusha was left completely exposed and the surrender of Shusha to the enemy paved the way for the Popular Fronts ascent to power. Look at those dates, those historic events. After a few days, they came to power, overthrew the government, staged a coup. They sacrificed Shusha, then Lachin and then Kalbajar in order to turn the people's legitimate protests in their own favor. Thus, the former Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Region was de facto joined to Armenia from a geographical point of view.

The people of Azerbaijan showed their greatness again in 1993. The people appealed to the National Leader and invited him to take power. Because the people of Azerbaijan were aware that only Heydar Aliyev could save them from those misfortunes. The ceasefire reached in 1994 was an enforced measure  we could never put up with the ceasefire, neither my father nor I. He did not live to see this day. We, his followers, have fulfilled his and the Azerbaijani people's dream and achieved this historic Victory. We showed the enemy their place, and today the enemy is helpless in front of us. Today, on our demand only, four villages of Gazakh district are being returned to us without us having to resort to any other means, so to speak. They will be returned to us on our demand, and this is the way it should be. And it will be like this from now on. We have the say here, we are the leading state in the Caucasus, we are the leading state economically, politically, militarily, in all aspects, and everyone should reckon with us. Both Armenia and the foreign circles behind it, those giving them false promises, will regret if they do not reckon with us.

Today, the lands of the Gazakh district, occupied in 1990 and 1992, are being returned to us without a single shot being fired. The process of delimitation and demarcation is underway on our terms, and this is yet another victory of ours.

We never wanted war, and we don't want it today either. We don't need war, we needed our lands back. The activities of the Minsk Group in 28 years were aimed against the people of Azerbaijan. Their false promises and inaction were not accidental. They did not want to solve the problem. They promised these lands to the Armenians. Just like the pro-Armenian Gorbachev in Soviet times and then Yeltsin promised these lands to the Armenians, so did France and America. Even today, notice who is playing the main fiddle against us  France and America. We must clearly say that France is particularly active. And they should also know that no issue can be resolved in this region contrary to our will. The visit of some ambassador to Shusha should not be portrayed as a favor to us. If they come, let them come, but if they dont, it's not even necessary. As if something might change with their arrival, nothing will change. We have a say here in this land. Our policy is based on international law and justice. If we see revengeful forces raising their head again in Armenia, if France gives deadly weapons to Armenia and if we see that these weapons reach a critical level, then, let no one have any hard feelings. In any case, everyone knows what we are capable of, what our Army is capable of and how strong our determination is. No one can stand in front of us. No one can dictate anything to us or interfere in our internal affairs. We will do what we think is right. After the Second Karabakh War, we told Armenia that let's define the border fairly. If you don't want that, then we will say where we want there to be a border. What will he do, who will he call, let him call 100 times, but what will the result be? I want to say again to both the people of Azerbaijan and those interested in this region that no step should be taken here without our approval. I am sure they will hear my words. They know that I do what I say.

Today's holiday, a double holiday for me and for all of us, shows again that we are peace-loving and creative people. The Armenians devastated Shusha and tried to Armenianize it. Today, I saw a cross on one of the pillars inside the Ashaghi Govhar Agha Mosque while reviewing its renovation. Can there be a cross in a mosque? Don't those who have been turning a blind eye to this, those who have been accusing us of some criminal deeds see this? Don't they see that they turned the Aghdam Mosque into a stable? They destroyed 16 of Shusha's 17 mosques and tried to portray one as a mosque belonging to another nation. As soon as we got back here, we immediately got rid of the repairs that had supposedly been done there and rebuilt it. All our cities and villages were destroyed by vandals. Nobody wants to see that. But everyone should and will see it. Because neither we nor the world will forget the Armenian vandalism. No matter how hard they tried to Armenianize Shusha, they could not achieve it. Because Shusha has been an Azerbaijani city since time immemorial and preserved its Azerbaijani image even during the occupation. If Armenians considered it their hometown, they would have built Shusha, not destroyed it. Not a single stone has been left untouched. We have come to live here forever, and from now on the Azerbaijani flag will fly in these lands forever.

I heartily congratulate you again. I wish you all happiness and good health. Live here comfortably.

x x x

Then a ceremony to present apartment keys was held.

Residents thanked President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva.
















Your most beautifully written words in the B-school essay will fail to earn the admission committees attention if they do not convey how you are different from the outset.

"challenging common typecasts"

When you ponder over a crisis situation, you do three things:

1. Evaluate the power dynamics and what management style would suit your objective

2. Evaluate the risk factors for the organisation- time loss, financial loss or credibility loss

3. Rise above the norm to build right communication strategies.

Here's an example illustrating how drafts for compelling stories are structured using the upgraded SATAR (Situation Analysis Task Action Result) framework.

Situation:

When Company ABC made the strategic decision to relocate the R&D office from Thailand to India, it jeopardized the professional dynamics and confidence that the Thai R&D teams had built over decades with the Chinese production teams. The new and young Indian R&D team had little in common with the highly experienced Chinese production managers, resulting in a lack of trust, differences in approaches, and functional logjams that led to a complete halt of projects.

Analysis :

As an Indian R&D project manager, I recognized this development as a significant risk to our teams credibility if we couldn't persuade the Chinese production teams to see the value in our ideas. Instead of enforcing the chain of command in design to production rollout, I saw the importance of building consensus within the Chinese teams and win their confidence for seamless long-term collaboration between the two teams.

Task:

With this in mind, I proposed to the Company ABCs Technical director that we should invite senior managers from China for a workshop to address our differences and create new SOPs that would streamline Company Xs operations in Asia.

Action:

With support from Company ABCs Technical director, I organized a week-long workshop, where I brought all the major stakeholders from China and India on the same table. I facilitated intensive discussions among all the participants to iron out their differences, resulting in a jointly prepared action plan for production, design and supply chain teams  which everybody has followed since.

Result:

Following the workshop, our relations have greatly improved and Company ABCs growth in both India and China has reached new heights.

Did you notice how the applicant cleverly analyses and demonstrates an understanding of power distribution? Most applicants miss out on presenting a critical analysis of the situation in their essay stories. Those who do not include ability to evaluate next steps, prevent the adcoms from looking into how their minds work. In any situation, there are power owners and a distribution of power among CXOs, project managers, and team leads. MBA candidates should show that they closely analyze leadership experiences. Despite not having direct authority, the "R&D project manager" in this case takes ownership of resolving issues by influencing those in power, such as Companys Technical director. This example highlights how common engineering or technology profiles can stand out as strong differentiators.

Going further in the write-up, I'll share tips on combating stereotypes in the B-school admissions process

But before you sit down to write a business schools essays, find out what values and skills are important to the school.

Here are some common Unfavourable Stereotypes that adcoms have:

Applicants from technology and finance backgrounds are often labeled with low social skills and high analytical capabilities. A low GPA is interpreted as a lack of seriousness about education or an absence of skills to thrive in a competitive learning environment. Finance folks face the stereotype of being one-dimensional too focused on numbers Nonprofit candidates are seen as being idealistic and oblivious to/lacking an understanding of incentives. Marketers struggle to communicate achievements beyond abstract concepts. Older applicants may be perceived as lacking ambition if they didn't consider an MBA 2-3 years ago. Younger applicants might be viewed as lacking the experience to make meaningful contributions to a class.

To overcome these stereotypes, applicants must project typecast opposites.

Low Social Skills (Indian IT Engineers, Chinese Production Engineers, Finance Analysts)

Many software engineers have asked me if joining an NGO is good enough. Participating in a community service activity as a volunteer is not the same as planning it, which is why most references of routine community service fall flat in admissions committee essays. By stressing how you accomplished something on your own, you demonstrate that you can overcome apparent deficiencies.

A low GPA

If your grades in calculus, statistics, accounting or economics were mediocre, you should take courses in these subjects and let the school know. If you have a liberal arts background, take calculus and statistics.

Older applicants

if you are a non-traditional applicant, military or nonprofit or entrepreneurial, worked in multiple startups or founded some, age will not be considered against you as long as you articulate your career choices clearly.

Younger applicants

Show years of experience you have gained in just one year and the impact you have had on the strategic and immediate work of the company. We have seen success at top competitive business schools with this strategy.

Finance Folks

Demonstrating a search for meaning beyond the numbers is very important.

Nonprofit or Impact Profiles

Many nonprofit applicants' essays show a disregard for any profit-driven goals, ignoring the fact that affluent donors are the major source of funding for nonprofit organizations.

The traditional "I want to change the world" narrative falls short if the technology and financial industries are not recognized as playing a critical role in bringing about tangible change.

Marketing

A strong MBA candidate from marketing background can demonstrate a deep understanding of the client's strategic objectives and emphasize his/her ability to align the efforts with the client's overarching goals. Creativity is a focal point in showcasing a marketing manager's unique approach.

From a B-school point of view, marketers should have a better sense of how your actions such as campaigns translated into sales and other tangible metrics, but most importantly how their messaging targeted respective marketing channels and impacted traffic.

Get a free one to one personalized advice session tailored to your specific situation. We do not cap discussion hours with our applicants.

Aanchal Sahni (INSEAD MBA alum, former INSEAD MBA admissions interviewer)
Ariyah Graves will graduate Saturday from Danville Community College with an associate degree in liberal arts a full month before she officially finishes high school.

Although very young, she represents the traditional side of classes at DCC.

Moises Gomez, 41, will walk across the stage with a two-year degree in heating, ventilation and air conditioning  known as HVAC  showcasing the career and technical education side of the college.

Both will be part of 550 graduates for commencement exercises at Averett Universitys north campus Saturday morning. The event is open for ticket holders only.

Graves is one if 17 graduating seniors in the Early College program, a collaborative effort between Danville Public Schools and DCC. It allows Danville high school students to take community college classes paid for by the school system. Although it launched last year, this marks the first graduating class of the two-year program.

For Graves, its a surreal feeling. Shes happy, but at at the same time, she cant quite believe its happening.

She decided to venture into Early College to save time and money. Plus, she knew it would prepare her to get a better feel for what college life is really like.

She started Early College last year as a junior. It also marked her first time returning to in-person classes since she opted to go the virtual route with offerings from the city school system.

I did very well virtually, she explained to the Register & Bee in an interview.

I just like working from home, she continued. I know for some people it was harder, but for me it wasnt harder.

It also helped her balance working her job at McDonalds and continue her passion for dance classes.

Sometimes it gets overwhelming, but I try to manage my time very well, she said of juggling college courses over the last two years.

The difference for college life comes down to a shift in responsibility. In high school, teachers remind students of due dates for assignments and such.

In college, the onus is on the student. Its structured so they wont be so dependent on others.

In her first year, other DCC students were mixed in some of her classes. Its only been other high school students in her cohort this year.

Although she was accepted at many college, shes heading to Howard University in Washington, D.C., and believes her Early College classes gave her an edge.

Graves plans to major in business management and marketing, but will have a minor in dance as well.

One challenge came with the dual role of being two students. Meaning, when a professor cancels a class, she still had to show up since theres no such thing as that happening in the high school world.

Also, when spring breaks didnt align or DCC students were off, Early College students still had to come.

The program lasts half a day and most students return to their home base school. Graves didnt need any other classes, so right now shes not going to George Washington High School.

Even though we are high school students, we still get treated as college students, she said of the highlights of the last two years. That means she gets to take part in activities at DCC.

I feel very grateful and happy all in one, she said when asked of her feelings about Saturdays college graduation. Its a great feeling knowing I was able to achieve that, even before high school.

She recommends that if any student has the drive and ability to juggle a tougher course load, the program provides financial and time benefits.

You are going to have to work a little harder because it is college, she said. It would be worth it in the end.

At the same time, its not for everyone.

Her goal is to eventually operate her own dance studio.

HVAC

Gomez is the top student in the HVAC program. With that honor came a fully stocked toolbox funded by Fred Gentry via the Danville Community College Education Foundation. Worth about $2,000, HVAC faculty members tapped Gomez for the honor based on things like grades, attendance and enthusiasm.

Im happy that I was able to do that, he explained to the newspaper of the honor. But I was telling my wife, I kind of worked for it.

Whenever Gomez does something, he always tries to be the best.

I did my best not to miss any days, he said. I tried to come every day and tried to learn as much as possible.

When tests and exams came, he studied at home so he was prepared.

Originally from Mexico, he moved to the Danville area with his parents when he was 18 and graduated from Tunstall High School.

From there he went into construction and then welding.

While he liked that, he noticed welders with certification were making more money than him since they had specialized training.

Thats what made him start to think. After talking it over with his wife, he decided it was time for a change.

I wanted to go to school and I wanted to do something different, he said of his original plans for mechanical maintenance.

The drawback with that was the all-virtual learning style.

Im the type of person, I need somebody to actually be there and kind of guide me on what I need to do, he said.

An adviser at DCC suggested HVAC.

The pay played a factor in his decision to start the program.

I wanted to learn something to be able to fix something and get paid for it, he also explained of the two-year program.

It was a lot easier for me because Ive done construction, he said. I really like the metal sheet classes.

When enrolling in the course, he approached Davis Heating & Air, explaining he wanted to start working in the industry while he was being trained.

The apprentice-style job was only a few hours a week. He moved to the service end of it last semester.

I have a lot of help from my wife, who handled the bills while he was in school, he said. Without her I wouldnt be able to do it.

As soon as school ended, I went to work, he said.

It turns out his first day was May 1, the same day of his interview with the newspaper. His supervisor understood that hed been getting a later start in the day because of it.

Now, if an air conditioning system goes out, Gomez may be dispatched to fix it.

His next goal is to become whats known as an HVAC master. Basically he wants to be the one technicians call when they cant figure out how to fix something.

Being the first in his immediate family to go to college, his daughter  one of six children  also is on campus some days as she takes radiology courses.

Its a good program, he said of HVAC. I think in the long run its going to be very beneficial, especially for younger guys.

Being an older student, the fresh-out-of-high-school classmates sometimes look up to Gomez as a mentor.

He told them to grasp opportunities and learn as much as possible.

I always tell them, be glad that you started this early, he explained. You get my age, you already going to have 20 years of experience instead of coming in like I did.

He even recommended one of his classmates for a position at the Davis company.

Those classmates were another highlight of his time on campus. Trying to juggle family life with college proved to be the most challenging.

Theres not enough time during the day, he said. Although somehow, he managed to make it happen.

Graduation

DCC will present an honorary degree to former state Sen. Frank Ruff at Saturdays graduation. Ruff served in the General Assembly since 2000 before announcing late last year that he was retiring because of health issues.

Ruff also will address the students.

Laura Worley Novey, senior vice president at McGuireWoods Consulting and leader of the firms national education industry team, will be the commencement speaker.

We are honored to have Laura Worley Novey as our commencement speaker, Jerry Wallace, president of Danville Community College, said in a statement. Her remarkable career and dedication to education advocacy will undoubtedly inspire our graduates as they embark on their next chapter.

The graduation begins at 10 a.m.
NASHVILLE, Tenn.  In Republican-led states across the U.S., conservative legislators are refusing to reevaluate abortion bans  even as doctors and patients insist the laws exceptions are dangerously unclear, resulting in denied treatment to some pregnant women in need.

Instead, GOP leaders accuse abortion rights advocates of deliberately spreading misinformation and doctors of intentionally denying services in an effort to undercut the bans and make a political point. At the same time, however, some states are taking steps that they say will provide more clarity about when abortions can be legally performed.

The Republican-controlled South Dakota Legislature wants to create a video in which medical experts  and the state's attorneys  would explain to doctors and patients when abortions can be legally performed. The measure was passed last month and is now awaiting the signature of Republican Gov. Kristi Noem, who has indicated she will sign it.

The first-in-the-nation idea is wholeheartedly supported by SBA Pro-Life, one of the country's largest anti-abortion groups, which says the video will help to combat confusion caused by the abortion industry.

South Dakota is showing the rest of the nation how to protect womens lives from the misinformation surrounding abortion laws, said the organization's public affairs director in South Dakota, Kelsey Pritchard.

Oklahoma and Kentucky are also taking steps to clarify their abortion bans, though in both states the attorneys general, not physicians, are the ones dictating the terms.

In Oklahoma, the AG sent out a memo in 2022 informing prosecutors and police that doctors should have substantial leeway to provide certain abortions. Last year, the office added that patients don't have to be septic, bleeding profusely, or otherwise close to death  but reiterated a past warning that doctors should be prosecuted if there's evidence they violated the law by providing an abortion when a woman's life wasn't actually in danger.

Kentucky's attorney general has stated that miscarriages and ectopic pregnancies  when a fertilized egg grows outside the uterus  are both exempted from the state's abortion ban, but has been silent on the majority of other pregnancy complications that physicians and patients have pointed out.

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the constitutional right to abortion in 2022, states have been free to enact their own restrictions. South Dakota is among the 14 that ban abortion at all stages of pregnancy. The law does allow an abortion exception to save the life of the mother, but like similar statutes in other states, it does not clearly define which pregnancy complications are considered life-threatening.

State Republican Rep. Taylor Rehfeldt, a nurse anesthetist, said she decided to propose the informational video after hearing from physicians about the ongoing confusion. She said the video offered the best solution because any attempt to tweak the abortion ban itself would provoke strong disagreement among her GOP colleagues.

It remains to be seen how much help the video will be to patients and doctors, however. It's not expected to specifically list pregnancy complications that would legally qualify women for abortions, and it's unclear if it will contain a legal disclaimer warning that anyone who watches the video may still face potential criminal charges.

Its not going to deal with hard calls, said Greer Donley, an associate professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law who is an expert on abortion law. They actually dont want to deal with the hard calls because their movement is not sure ... how those hard calls should be resolved.

South Dakota Republican state Sen. Erin Tobin, one of the measure's proponents, acknowledged to a Senate panel last month that the video will not contain specific examples.

Thats the problem with health care, is that there are so many different circumstances, that you have to allow doctors discretion, Tobin said.

As some states mull how to clarify  without weakening  their abortion bans, abortion rights advocates in several states continue to challenge the bans with lawsuits.

Twenty Texas women denied abortions are suing the state seeking clarification, while advocates filed a lawsuit in Tennessee arguing that the state ban's vaguely defined exceptions put pregnant women's lives at risk.

Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti pushed back. He argued that it wasn't the law, per se, that is harming women but rather other factors like doctors independent choices not to provide permissible abortions."

The lawsuit is ongoing, with attorneys expected to make their arguments before a three-judge panel next month on whether the state ban should be temporarily blocked as the legal battle continues or if the case should be dismissed entirely.

Donley spurned the idea that doctors bear the responsibility for endangering patients.

I completely reject any narrative that theres any sort of provider out there thats intentionally harming women and pregnant people for the sake of a news story, she said. Thats just not happening. But are mistakes being made because people are terrified? Yeah, probably.
General Assembly budget leaders and Gov. Glenn Youngkin have reached a budget compromise that would use an additional $525 million in state revenues to pay for Democratic spending priorities without raising taxes and crossing the Republican governor's red line for a potential veto.

House Appropriations Chairman Luke Torian, D-Prince William, confirmed on Thursday afternoon that assembly budget negotiators had reached a deal with Youngkin that they hope to approve on Monday in a special session that would last one day instead of three.

"We do have an agreement," Torian said.

Youngkins press secretary, Christian Martinez, said in a statement: "Governor Youngkin is grateful for all the members of the General Assembly, as well as the leadership, and conferees for their ongoing efforts to deliver a budget. He looks forward to finishing the work to deliver on our collective priorities for all Virginians next week."

Details will not be available to legislators or the public until Saturday morning, but he said the compromise gives the assembly the additional spending it had insisted upon for K-12 public schools to begin addressing a systemic shortfall that the Joint Legislative Audit and Review Commission verified in a study last summer that shaped legislative elections last fall and budget priorities in the 60-day session that ended on March 9.

"All of our spending priorities are intact," said Torian, citing the assembly's push for more money for higher education, health care and transportation.

No sales tax expansion

However, the $188 billion, two-year budget will not expand Virginia's sales tax to digital services. Youngkin had originally proposed the idea as part of a tax policy package that would have cut tax revenues by $1 billion as part of a plan to modernize the state tax code and plug what the governor called the "big tech loophole" that exempts video streaming and audio services from the tax levied on goods, such as compact discs and DVDs.

Democrats had rejected the governor's proposals to cut income tax rates and raise the sales tax by almost a penny, but kept the expansion to digital services, including those purchased from business to business. Those tax provisions in the budget that the assembly adopted on March 9 would have raised an additional $1 billion, but Youngkin said he would refuse to sign the budget, potentially leaving the state without money to operate on July 1 for the first time in Virginia history.

The budget deal also does not include a requirement by the Democratic-controlled assembly that Virginia rejoin the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, a multistate compact that would seek to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases that scientists say contribute to global warming and climate change. Youngkin pushed the State Air Pollution Control Board to withdraw the state from the compact because of concerns about the costs of surcharges on carbon pollution that consumers would pay in their electric bills.

The assembly also allowed Youngkin to keep most  but not quite all  of the $85 million it had appropriated in the current budget for his lab school initiative, although it does not include an additional $60 million that he had sought in the budget he proposed in December.

"There is no new money for lab schools," Torian said.

Skill games

Torian said the proposed budget deal does not include electronic skill games.

The VA Merchants and Amusement Coalition announced that beginning Thursday at 5 p.m., hundreds of participating convenience stores would stop selling Virginia Lottery tickets "until Governor Youngkin and members of the Virginia General Assembly come to an agreement on a path forward for skill games."

Most common fast food chains in Virginia Most common fast food chains in Virginia #20. Five Guys #19. Panera Bread #18. Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen #17. Dairy Queen #16. Tropical Smoothie Cafe #15. Arby's #14. Chipotle Mexican Grill #13. KFC #12. Chick-fil-A #11. Papa Johns Pizza #10. Hardee's #9. Burger King #8. Starbucks #7. Taco Bell #6. Wendy's #5. Domino's Pizza #4. Pizza Hut #3. Dunkin #2. McDonald's #1. Subway
President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva participated in the opening of the Mamayi Mosque in Shusha following its restoration, Azernews reports.

The head of state and the First Lady were briefed on the completed restoration work.

The restoration of the Mamayi Mosque, supported by PASHA Holding and undertaken by the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, began in 2023. The mosque, constructed in the late 19th century in the Mamayi quarter at the city center, has been restored to its original splendor.
Jon Tester became the first Democratic U.S. senator to announce he plans to co-sponsor a Republican-championed immigration bill Thursday, marking yet another hard-line border security move by the incumbent in recent months.

Tester is facing a tough reelection challenge in the fall and his campaign has continually framed him as tough on the border. Tester is one of two incumbent Democratic senators running for reelection in states that Donald Trump won in 2020.

The Laken Riley Act would require the Department of Homeland Security to detain migrants who are "unlawfully present in the United States" and are arrested for burglary, theft, larceny, or shoplifting." The bill also authorizes states to sue the federal government for "decisions or alleged failures related to immigration enforcement.

The legislation is named after a young woman who was allegedly murdered by a man who illegally crossed the border and had previously been arrested in connection with a shoplifting case, but was later released by authorities.

The bill passed the U.S. House in early March with the support of all Republicans and 37 Democrats.

Keeping Montana safe is my top priority, which is why Ive repeatedly called on the Biden Administration and Congress to do more to secure the southern border and have worked to get the brave men and women in law enforcement what they need to keep criminals off our streets, Tester said in a statement. After hearing from law enforcement officers across Montana, Im backing the Laken Riley Act to make sure that individuals who enter our country and commit a crime are held accountable so that no Montana family has to worry about the safety of their loved ones."

His challenger and former Navy SEAL Tim Sheehy and others backing the Republican have continually used rhetoric to make Tester appear weak on the border; both Tester and Sheehy have made border policy central to their campaign messages.

Following Tester's announcement of support for the bill, the Sheehy campaign promptly sent out an email blast and multiple tweets claiming Tester previously voted against the bill and is now backing it, giving the Republican candidate another chance to use his new nickname for Tester  "Flip-Flop Flattop"  referring to the senator's signature haircut.

"There is no way ABC News is forgetting that it was just this past March that Tester VOTED AGAINST the Laken Riley Act," the Sheehy campaign wrote in response to an ABC News article on Tester's support of the bill. "Let me say this again: TWO-FACED JON TESTER RECENTLY VOTED AGAINST the Laken Riley Act! And now he's for the bill... So, he was against it before he was for it?! You know how worried Jon Tester must be about his re-election!!"

The claim that Tester previously voted against the bill is misleading.

The full Laken Riley Act has not yet reached the Senate for a roll call vote, but Tester did previously vote against inserting similar language thats found in the Laken Riley Act into a package of legislation to keep funding the government.

That amendment was one of a handful that put the government at risk of shutting down. If the Laken Riley amendment would have passed, the bill would have to return to the House for a vote, which would have triggered a partial government shutdown.

This is not the first time his challenger has claimed Tester voted against the bill: Since that vote on the appropriations package, Sheehy and other prominent Republicans have frequently claimed that Tester voted against the Laken Riley Act.

Immigration through the southern border has been dominating the rhetoric from politicians up and down the ballot in Montana over the last few months. Last week, a migrant family arrived in the Flathead Valley, which spurred multiple top Montana Republicans to shoot off statements around the security of the southern border, in part blaming a small local nonprofit that connects immigrants to resources. Distinct groups of Republican members of the legislature also called for a special legislative session in part to address immigration via the southern border.
For parts of Montana, this weeks widespread rain and snow storm was either agony or ecstasy.

For places like Havre, the 3.9-inches of moisture has the potential to be a season-changing event as the soils were soaked to a depth of 40 inches, Zach Hoylman, assistant state climatologist, told the Governors Drought and Water Supply Advisory Committee on Thursday.

There are some places across Montana where we saw pretty significant recharge, especially in that shallow soil moisture column, Hoylman said.

On the flip side, all of that moisture at once also caused problems in some parts of Montana.

With the storm this last week we did receive a disaster declaration from the Rocky Boy Tribe, said Sara Hartley of the state of Montana Disaster and Emergency Services. We are anticipating, from what were hearing out in the field, Fort Belknap will also be declaring as well as Chouteau and Hill counties.

Fergus Electric Cooperative hired a helicopter to fly its power lines in search of damage spread from south of Belt to 15 miles east of Lewistown and from the Snowy Mountains in the south to the Missouri River up north, said the co-ops Dale Rikala. Wet snow froze onto powerlines and conductors 6-inches thick. High winds then combined to snap powerlines. Lewistown recorded 4 inches of moisture.

This storm had conditions I havent seen since Ive lived here, Rikala said of the 32 years hes worked in Lewistown.

Graphics the advisory committee viewed showed much of the state transitioning from dry conditions, represented by the color brown, to a nearly blue, wet state.

This storm was a game changer, said Michael Downey, Drought Program coordinator for the Department of Natural Resources and Conservation. We shouldnt see things degrade for a little while, unless it gets hot.

The Bears Paw Mountains collected 8 to 10 inches of snow while the Little Belts and Big Snowy mountains recorded 3 to 4 inches.

Glendive was an outlier when it came to moisture, recording only a half-inch of rain. Combined with a lack of winter moisture, the region is trending toward drought conditions, as are portions of eastern and southwest Montana and the area east of the Rocky Mountain Front.

Only 75 miles southwest of Glendive, Miles City received 2.5 to 3 inches of rain. Thats as much moisture as the community usually gets in the entire month of May. Whats more, soil moisture increased to 8 inches deep, Hoylman said.

That should help farmers with crops in the ground, as well as ranchers growing hay and forage.

The recent statewide storm comes on the heels of a record-setting dry winter for much of the state. Seven snow-recording sites hit their lowest point, one of which has been collecting data for 46 years. March and April were also drier than normal.

Its pretty well known this year that across the board it was the lowest snow year statewide, said Eric Larson, water supply specialist for the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

That doesnt bode well for streamflows going into whats predicted to be a hot and dry summer. Aaron Fiaschetti, of the U.S. Geological Survey, said some streams in northwest Montana, like the Middle Fork of the Flathead and Blackfoot, are trending lower than normal, so hes hopeful cooler temperatures and rainfall the rest of this month and into June could help.

The Yellowstone River basin, on the other hand, is doing fairly well, as are the Bighorn, Tongue and Powder river basins that flow from Wyomings mountains.

In comparing streamflows to the low water year of 2001, Fiaschetti said the trends so far are better, but that its hard to tell this early in the spring, especially when storms like this weeks can have such a large effect.

Downey reminded the group that all but three counties in the state receive the largest portion of their precipitation in May or June. Lincoln, Sanders and Mineral counties are the outliers, receiving most of their precipitation in November and December. For most counties, June is the biggest month for moisture.
By Alimat Aliyeva, AZERNEWS

The authorities of the Republic of Korea are considering the possibility of deploying special forces units in the border demilitarized zone as a security measure, Azernews reports.

After the rejection of the inter-Korean agreement on reducing military tensions of September 19, 2018, the DPRK began to restore border guard posts destroyed in accordance with the agreements. As Yonhap points out, Pyongyang has actually repaired the facilities.

In response, as a security measure, South Korea plans to deploy special forces in areas near its guard posts, as the restoration of concrete structures on them will take "considerable time."

On November 21, North Korea successfully launched the first Mulligan-1 reconnaissance satellite on a Chollima-1 launch vehicle.In response, on November 22, the Republic of Korea announced the partial suspension of the inter-Korean agreement on reducing tensions. This measure concerned the provision on no-fly zones. On November 23, the DPRK Defense Ministry announced that they would no longer comply with the entire agreement and would resume the use of measures prohibited by the document.
The latest commissioned report by state Treasurer Dale Folwell  released Wednesday  determined North Carolina hospitals are overcharging State Health Plan participants for six oncology drugs through what is intended to be a federal safety-net prescription program.

The program, known as 340B, was created by Congress in 1992 to financially assist hospitals serving vulnerable communities and Medicare patients in managing rising prescription drug costs by requiring discounts from drug manufacturers.

Among 340B participants are Triad hospitals affiliated with nonprofit healthcare systems Atrium Health, Cone Health and Novant Health as well as 41 hospitals statewide.

The State Health Plan covers more than 727,000 participants that include current and retired state employees, teachers and legislators. It is North Carolinas largest purchaser of medical and pharmaceutical services and Folwell oversees the financial aspects.

According to the report from University of Minnesota researchers, too many hospitals have converted the 340B drug discount program into a profit center at the expense of state employees, cancer patients and taxpayers.

The State Health Plan cannot afford to pay such exorbitant price markups, particularly when existing evidence suggests that impoverished patients are not the primary beneficiaries of the 340B program.

Researchers reviewed pricing for pertuzumab, pembrolizumab, trastuzumab, nivolumab, daratumumab and avastin/bevacizumab.

They focused on State Health Plan medical claims from 2020 to 2022.

Hospitals in the 340B program had an average price markup of 5.4 times their discounted drug costs, while non-340B hospitals had a 2.9 times markup.

The report listed Atrium-affiliated hospitals with about a markup of about five times the discounted cost along with Novant-affiliated locations (three times) and Cone-affiliated facilities (two times).

The largest markup was for the immunotherapy drug pembrolizumab.

The study found that 340B hospitals paid on average $7,895 to acquire the drug while Medicare paid $12,816 on average per hospital claim and the State Health Plan paid $21,512 per hospital claim.

According to the report, sizable price markups were common across the 340B hospitals that filed more than 300 claims for treating state employees with cancer.

Fifteen of these 21 hospitals billed state employees at least triple their acquisition costs with a significant number netting more than five times their 340B acquisition costs.

Folwell has commissioned at least seven State Health Plan-sponsored studies since October 2021 as part of his push against the performance of North Carolinas nonprofit health care systems.

Some things are worth getting mad about, Folwell said. This is a program that is meant to help North Carolina families who cant afford prescription drugs. Now, we know that hospitals are getting rich on the backs of cancer patients, state employees and taxpayers.

How 340B works

In recent years, 340B has become the second-largest federal prescription drug program, offering hospitals an average 34.7% discount from drug manufacturers.

Most county health departments participate, including Forsyth.

Also eligible to participate are childrens hospitals, critical access hospitals, disproportionate share hospitals, freestanding cancer hospitals, rural referral centers and community hospitals.

A key factor in the expansion of the 340B program was the passage of the federal Affordable Care Act in 2012, also known as Obamacare.

According to the report, the number of hospital contracts with external pharmacies jumped from six in 2010 to 1,059 in 2022. That included 340B hospitals contracting with pharmacies in wealthier neighborhoods.

In 2022, CVA Health and Walgreens represented more than 50% of pharmacy contracts with 340B hospitals.

However, current federal law does not require hospitals to pass along 340B discount savings to patients or invest those savings into vulnerable communities.

According to a U.S. Government Accountability Office report, 57% of 340B-participating hospitals nationwide are not providing discounts to patients at their 340B contract pharmacies, such as CVS Health and Walgreens.

The 340B research was based on data from the U.S. Health Resources and Services Administration, the U.S. Census Bureau and hospital-audited financial statements among other sources.

The report cited 9,485 oncology drug-related claims involving Atrium-affiliated hospitals, including 5,039 at Carolinas Medical Center, 2,505 at Wake Forest Baptist and 588 at High Point Regional.

Among the 7,268 claims involving Novant-affiliated hospitals were 2,517 at Presbyterian Medical Center, 2,160 at New Hanover Regional Medical Center, 2,043 at Forsyth Medical Center, 432 at Thomasville Medical Center and 127 at Rowan Medical Center.

Among the 3,123 claims involving Cone-affiliated hospitals were 2,607 at Moses Cone Hospital and 516 at Alamance Regional Medical Center.

University of Minnesota researchers said that hospitals generated thousands of dollars in profits per claim on cancer drugs paid for by the State Health Plan. The report cited as an example that High Point Medical Center charged State Health Plan-covered patients an average of $5,353 for the oncology drugs that it acquired for an average of $517.

Atrium was reported as recording $252 million in 340B cost savings in 2020, up from $13 million in 2008.

By comparison, it provided $260.9 million in charity care spending in 2020.

Hospitals responses

The Triads major hospitals have remained tight-lipped about their 340B participation since the articles were published.

Atrium, which has butted heads frequently with Folwell in relation to his commissioned reports, said in a statement that one-third of its hospitals participate in the 340B program.

The savings we receive from the 340B program participation are essential to our mission, allowing us to maintain  and even enhance  access to care and prescription medicines in areas that need it most, Atrium said.

The 340B program is an essential component of nonprofit hospitals ability to serve the public  and is widely misunderstood and frequently misconstrued. The program is not funded by taxpayer dollars and was never intended to lower the costs of medicines for patients, but rather as a way to provide savings for hospitals serving a high percentage of low-income patients.

Atrium said that 47% of new drugs coming onto the market in recent years cost more than $150,000 per year.

Under 340B, pharmaceutical companies provide hospitals that care for a large number of low-income patients (with) substantial discounts on certain drug purchases, Atrium said.

Discounts under the 340B program are essential for treating chronic illness, such as cancer, where a single dose of medicine can cost tens of thousands of dollars. The hospitals use these savings to ensure continued access health care in rural and underprivileged areas and to invest in better care delivery programs  often including medication assistance programs.

Novant could not be immediately reached for comment on the 340B report. Cone referred comment to the N.C. Healthcare Association.

Forsyth Medical Center has said that the savings realized through participation in this (340B) program are utilized to provide charity care  including providing free drugs to hundreds of charity care and uninsured patients through our generous financial assistance and community wellness programs.

The N.C. Healthcare Association has said that more than half of all acute care hospitals in North Carolina rely on the 340B drug discount program to stretch scarce resources and support access to affordable health care for our most vulnerable citizens.

The report, however, appeared to provide more support to Folwells repeated claims that nonprofit health care systems are not providing enough charity care to equal the estimated value of their tax exemptions.

340B hospitals numbered among those that reported the lowest investments in charity care from 2011 to 2021.

As has been the case in previous reports, Folwell is urging state and federal lawmakers to reform the 340B Drug Pricing program by increasing transparency and accountability as well as secure hospital price relief for cancer patients, state employees and taxpayers.
Friday, May 10

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation are at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

The Northwest Swim Club, located at 5000 Durneigh Drive in Kannapolis, is holding Open House from 6. to 8 p.m. Enjoy a free SunDrop Slushy while viewing our newly resurfaced pool and facilities. Join and receive a $25 voucher for guest passes or concession stand purchases. For more information see our website at www.northwest-swim-club.com

Saturday, May 11

The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products.

Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S, are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785.

A GriefShare Support Group will be held from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Oak Grove Baptist Church, room 23. Sessions will be Saturdays through May 11. Register at GriefShare.org, use ZIP code 28075. The church is at 200 Sims Parkway, Harrisburg. For more information, call 704-455-2763.

Sunday, May 12

Outdoor Worship at Calvary Lutheran Church will be at 8:30 a.m. The trees are calling! Enjoy some fresh air as Pastor Debbie leads worship at the Outdoor Chapel at 950 Bradley St., Concord, NC 28025.

Monday, May 13

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation are at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner.

Caregivers Support Group Monthly with Calvary Lutheran Church will be at 7:30 p.m. This Caregiver Support Group meets monthly via Zoom. All are welcome. For the Zoom link please check the Calvary Lutheran Church Facebook page or website http://www.clconcord.org or contact the church office at 704-782-6923.

Tuesday, May 14

TOPS #437 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. (weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m.) at Lakeview Baptist Church, 2532 Lane St., Kannapolis. Visitors are welcome.

How Great Thou Art Drawing Class led by James Fore in a weekly drawing class at 1:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall at Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. All are welcome. Bring paper and pencil. Call the church office at 704-782-6923 for more details.

Wednesday, May 15

The Weekly Bible study will be at 11:30 a.m. at church parlor of Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. Hosted by Pastor Debbie Frye.

How Great Thou Art Drawing Class led by James Fore in a weekly drawing class at 1:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall at Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. All are welcome. Bring paper and pencil. Call the church office at 704-782-6923 for more details.

The Cabarrus Senior Center Photo Club is alive and clicking away. If you like taking photos, come join the members on the first and third Wednesdays of the month from 1:30-3 p.m. at the Cabarrus Senior Center, 331 Corban Ave. SE, Concord, and share your photographic creativity. Whether you are a seasoned photographer or strictly amateur, all are welcome.

Thursday, May 16

Epworth United Methodist Church will have a hot dog sale from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Epworth is at 1030 Burrage Road NE, Concord. Credit cards accepted. For deliveries, call 704-786-5500.

The Kannapolis Farmers Market is held from 4-7 p.m. in the Oak Avenue mall parking lot at the corner of Vance Street and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and prepared foods.

Friday, May 17

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation are at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, May 18

The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products.

Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S, are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785.

A community food collection, will be held at Poplar Tent Presbyterian Church, 6841 Poplar Tent Road, Concord. The food collection benefits the food pantries of CCM (Cooperative Christian Ministries) in Concord, Kannapolis and Harrisburg. This will be a drive-thru event from 9 a.m. until 12 noon. Go to cooperativeministry.com/donate-food-2/ web page for detailed information about CCM's current needed items.

A Spaghetti Dinner/Silent Auction Fundraiser for Aurora Special Needs Winterguard will be held at Calvary Lutheran Church 950 Bradley St., Concord from 4 to 7 p.m. Adults $15, Children & Special Olympics Participants $8.. See a guard member to purchase a ticket or call 704-793-6414. Walk-ins welcome.

Concord chapter of Disabled American Veterans and DAV Auxiliary will be replacing flags on veterans' graves at West Concord Cemetery, 331 Union Cemetery Rd, starting at 11 a.m. Everyone is welcome to come out and help remember and honor these veterans in preparation for Memorial Day.

Flow-Harris Presbyterian Church, 308 Winecoff School Road, will have an indoor yard sale from 8 a.m. to noon. Lots of good items will be available.

Sunday, May 19

The Rowan Big-Band All-Stars Annual Spring Concert and free hot dog supper will be from 5 to 7 p.m.The music will begin at 5:30pm and last about 90 minutes. Join us for this all ages, free event at Calvary Lutheran Church 950 Bradley St., Concord

Monday, May 20

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation are at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner.

Tuesday, May 21

TOPS #437 (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) meets every Tuesday at 10 a.m. (weigh-in begins at 9:30 a.m.) at Lakeview Baptist Church, 2532 Lane St., Kannapolis. Visitors are welcome.

How Great Thou Art Drawing Class led by James Fore in a weekly drawing class at 1:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall at Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. All are welcome. Bring paper and pencil. Call the church office at 704-782-6923 for more details.

Wednesday, May 22

The Weekly Bible study will be at 11:30 a.m. at church parlor of Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. Hosted by Pastor Debbie Frye.

How Great Thou Art Drawing Class led by James Fore in a weekly drawing class at 1:30 p.m. in the fellowship hall at Calvary Lutheran Church, Concord. All are welcome. Bring paper and pencil. Call the church office at 704-782-6923 for more details.

Thursday, May 23

Epworth United Methodist Church will have a hot dog sale from 10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Epworth is at 1030 Burrage Road NE, Concord. Credit cards accepted. For deliveries, call 704-786-5500.

The Kannapolis Farmers Market is held from 4-7 p.m. in the Oak Avenue mall parking lot at the corner of Vance Street and Dale Earnhardt Boulevard. Vendors offer a wide variety of fresh, local produce, as well as meat, eggs, baked goods, crafts, and prepared foods.

Friday, May 24

The Concord Duplicate Bridge face-to-face games through Concord Parks and Recreation are at Hartsell Recreation Center, 60 Hartsell School Road, at noon. Cost is $5 per player. You must have a partner and provide proof of vaccination.

Hot dogs at McGill Baptist Church, 5300 Poplar Tent Road, will be sold along with fried bologna and barbecue sandwiches and desserts from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Saturday, May 25

The Piedmont Farmers Market is open from 8 a.m. to noon at 518 Winecoff School Road. It features lots of local produce, meat, flowers and other products.

Hot dogs at Center United Methodist Church at 1119 Union St. S, are offered on the second and fourth Saturday of each month from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dine in and takeout. Call-in orders are welcomed at 704-782-1785.

Does your community group or nonprofit agency have an upcoming event that would be of interest to the public? Email it to mplemmons@independenttribune.com.
Content delivery network and cloud provider Akamai Technologies has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire application programming interface security firm Noname Security, a statement from the cloud vendor says.

It said Noname, which is claimed to be among the top API security vendors, would boost Akamais existing API Security solution and speed up its ability to cope with growing customer demand and market requirements.

Akamai said it also expected to gain greater scale with Nonames additional sales and marketing resources, and established channel and alliance relationships.

Applications run our world, but as applications and users proliferate, so do security risks, said Mani Sundaram, executive vice-president and general manager, Security Technology Group, Akamai Technologies.

Akamai has seen a growing need for API protection with our own data showing 109% year-on-year growth in API attacks. With the addition of Noname, Akamai believes it will have the breadth of integrations and deployment choices needed to deliver comprehensive API protection for customers across all environments.

Akamai said following the acquisition, it expected to be able to offer a complete API security suite so that customers could more easily discover shadow APIs and detect vulnerabilities and attacks.

It is expected that the enhanced offering will offer wider deployment choices for customers and access to a portfolio of technology integrations that is the best in the market. Akamai also plans to integrate Noname for use by customers of its Application and API platform shortly after the acquisition is closed.

API development continues to proliferate as customers prioritise their investments in application modernisation and digital transformation initiatives, said Oz Golan [right], chief executive and co-founder, Noname.

Combining Noname with Akamais API Security offering will provide a solution for any type of customer. No matter where the customers applications reside  be it in the cloud, natively on the edge, on-premise, or on other vendor platforms  they will be protected.

Under terms of the agreement, Akamai has agreed to acquire all of the outstanding equity of Noname for approximately US$450 million (A$679.99 million). The transaction is expected to close in the second quarter.

The acquisition is expected to deliver about US$20 million of revenue tor the fiscal year 2024. Akamai will deliver its first-quarter results on 9 May.

Noname, which is headquartered in San Jose, California, is a private company with more than 200 employees, all of whom, including Golan, are expected to join Akamais Security Technology Group.
The indictment filed against the LockBit ransomware gang leader by the US has confirmed Boeing was hit by the gang and received a ransom demand of US$200 million (A$302.13 million).

The indictment says Dmitry Yuryevich Khoroshev and his subordinate LockBit members extorted hundreds of millions of dollars in ransom payments from thousands of victims in the US, including

the District of New Jersey, and around the world.

It said the victims included hospitals, schools, non-profit organisations, critical infrastructure, and government and law-enforcement agencies with the broader losses and damage running into billions of

dollars.

Boeing refused to pay the ransom. It has made no public statement about the attack.

That Boeing was hit is clear from this sentence in the indictment: "One victim alone, for example  Victim-15, a multinational aeronautical and defence corporation headquartered in Virginia  received a ransom demand of approximately US$200 million from the LockBit perpetrators."

A report in November last year said LockBit had leaked more than 43GB of data from Boeing after the company did not pay the ransom.

LockBit issued a number of statements about the Boeing attack on its site on the dark web.

Back in April 2020, iTWire reported that documents from Boeing and a number of other companies was leaked following an attack on Visser Precision, a parts maker for space and defence companies.

The ransomware in question is DoppelPaymer which is run by a group that adopts similar tactics to those of two other ransomware groups, Maze and REvil.

At the time, DoppelPaymer published a list of documents from Visser's clients: Air Comm, Alcadyne, Bingham Engineering, Blue Origin, Boeing, Cardiff School of Engineering, Custom Microwave, De Vore Aviation, Desktop Metals, DME Co, EAP, Schlumberger Technology, Tesla, SpaceX, General Dynamics, Lockheed Martin and University of Colorado.
By Alimat Aliyeva, AZERNEWS

The Turkiye state pipeline company BOTAS and the American corporation ExxonMobil signed an agreement on the supply of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Turkey on May 9 in Washington, Azernews reports.

Bayraktar said that the signed agreement is designed for a long-term period and allows Turkiye to take another step towards diversifying energy sources.

"Previously, we had long-term LNG supply contracts with Nigeria, now we have a 20-year agreement with Algeria, and we add the United States to them. Today we are talking about an agreement with ExxonMobil that can meet eight percent of Turkiye's gas needs," Bayraktar said.

Turkiye consumes over 50 billion cubic meters of gas per year.

Earlier, Turkish media reported that at the current level of gas prices, BOTAS has agreed with ExxonMobil to supply 1.1 billion US dollars per year for 2.5 million tons of LNG per year.

In 2023, the share of LNG in Turkey's total gas purchase portfolio was 30 percent, but in 2024 it may grow to 40 percent.

Turkiye also receives pipeline gas from Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran, while 40 percent of the gas consumed by Turkiye is pipeline gas from Russia.

Long-term contracts for the supply of Russian gas to Turkiye expire in 2025, and Bayraktar in late April announced the formation of a new portfolio of Turkish gas contracts with various global suppliers.

According to the Turkish newspaper Star, the Turkish Energy Minister in Washington on May 9 also announced Turkiye's plans to implement new energy projects with the Caspian countries.

"New infrastructure projects to be implemented between the countries of the Caspian region and Turkiye will contribute to ensuring European and global energy security," the head of the Turkish Energy Ministry said without specifying details.
COMPANY NEWS: i-PRO, (formerly Panasonic Security), a global leader in professional security solutions for surveillance and public safety, today announced that it has appointed Gerard Figols as the company's chief product officer (CPO). With a career spanning over 17 years in the physical security industry, Figols brings a wealth of global experience and strategic vision to his new role.

In his most recent position as president of i-PRO EMEA and i-PRO APAC, Figols demonstrated exceptional leadership in driving the company's growth and success in these markets. Leveraging his extensive experience in engineering, marketing, and sales, Figols has been instrumental in shaping i-PRO's presence in the security industry.

As chief product officer, Figols will be tasked with spearheading i-PRO's global product strategy.

Gerards appointment as CPO underscores our mission to establish i-PRO as a truly global organisation. Building on his years of experience working across cultures, Gerard will be able to leverage insights from different business regions to develop best-in-class products suited to the needs of different industries and markets, said i-PRO CEO Masato Nakao.

Commenting on his appointment, Figols said, "At i-PRO, we're driven by innovation and the pursuit of excellence, leading the global market with our open AI platform and reputation for quality engineering. I am honoured to take on the role of chief product officer at i-PRO and excited to lead the company's global product strategy focusing on ethical AI, cybersecurity, and seamless integration with our VMS partners. By fostering international collaboration between i-PRO stakeholders and making it easier than ever for our channel partners to work with us, we will continue to drive innovation and deliver exceptional hardware to our customers worldwide."

In a related announcement, i-PRO has appointed Jose Riolobos as Figols successor to the role of president of i-PRO EMEA. For several years, Riolobos held senior positions within i-PRO and, previously, Panasonic in Europe and Japan.

"I am honoured to lead i-PRO EMEAs operations and build upon the foundation of success established by Gerard," commented Riolobos. "I look forward to continuing to drive growth and delivering value to our partners and customers across the region."

About i-PRO

i-PRO, is a global leader of advanced sensing technologies in the fields of intelligent surveillance, public safety and industrial/medical imaging. Established in 2019, i-PRO was built on a legacy of over 60 years of innovation with Panasonic. The companys products, software and services extend human senses to capture moments of truth with innovations that inform and protect. In order to help create a safer world, i-PRO supports the work of professionals who protect and save lives.
GUEST OPINION: In the dynamic realm of IT support, the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) promises not only innovation, but also a profound enhancement of the human touch integral to customer service. As such, chief information officers (CIOs) and IT leaders navigating these transformative waters face a nuanced challenge: not simply replacing human expertise with AI, but harmonising the two to amplify the efficiency and excellence of IT support services.

To achieve this, adopting a balanced approach to AI integration is necessary, where technology augments rather than supplants human skills, thereby delivering superior customer service and maintaining competitive advantage.

The fusion of AI and human ingenuity in IT support

AI's integration into IT support services opens avenues for operational streamlining and heightened customer satisfaction. Innovations such as real-time case assignment advisors and sentiment analysis tools are reshaping how support issues are identified, delegated, and resolved. Crucially, these advancements facilitate elevated interactions between clients and support specialists, ensuring tailored, expert assistance precisely when it's needed.

To effectively integrate AI into IT support, five key principles emerge as paramount for preserving the delicate equilibrium between automation and personalised service:

1. Investing in AI for client insights. Leading IT support services leverage AI not just for operational efficiency, but also to glean fresh insights into client needs and preferences. This intelligence informs a targeted and efficient resolution process, ensuring real people are engaged at critical junctures.

2. Prioritising human expertise. Effective IT support hinges on the personal touch and nuanced understanding that only human experts provide. A robust AI strategy should empower, not sideline, the connection between clients and support specialists, using technology to enrich rather than replace human interaction.

3. Emphasising continuous learning. Successful IT support services are underpinned by AI technologies that continually learn and evolve. This ensures AI tools remain at the forefront of service delivery, translating vast data and interactions into actionable insights.

4. Mitigating AI pitfalls. While AI offers substantial benefits, it poses challenges such as data privacy concerns and the reliability of AI-driven interactions. Forward-thinking IT leaders implement rigorous safeguards to protect client data and maintain trust, acknowledging and addressing AI technology's limitations.

5. Measuring service outcomes. A steadfast focus on the efficacy of AI initiatives is crucial and by continually evaluating AI's impact on resolution times and client satisfaction, IT leaders refine strategies and allocate resources to technologies that genuinely enhance service quality.

A pragmatic AI approach

For CIOs and IT leaders committed to elevating their IT support services, embracing a pragmatic AI approach is essential. This strategy not only enhances operational efficiency but also deepens client-provider relationships by ensuring interactions remain personal, timely, and pertinent. This ensures organisations can resolve issues expediently and effectively, fostering trust and satisfaction among clients.

A pragmatic approach to AI in IT support also enables organisations to confidently navigate the complexities of a rapidly evolving business landscape. By using AI to augment human expertise, companies deliver differentiated services that surpass client expectations. In the digital era, combining human and artificial intelligence is pivotal in redefining customer service excellence, enhancing the human connection at the core of successful IT support.

Without doubt, CIOs and IT leaders can redefine the customer service landscape with the integration of AI into IT support services. By following best practices that prioritise the human element, fostering continuous learning, and rigorously measuring the impact of AI initiatives, organisations can unlock technology's full potential to enhance human connections.

The pragmatic application of AI in IT support will not only streamline operational processes, but it also fortifies the bonds between clients and service providers, which is key to ensuring a future where technology and humanity come together to deliver exceptional service outcomes.
HAT Distribution says CyberSmart is the UKs leading provider of complete cyber confidence to UK SMEs and the partnership will provide businesses in Australia with fast, hassle-free Essential Eight assessment and year-round assurance.

As cybercrime escalates in Australia, with 94,000 incidents reported in 2023 alone (equivalent to one report every 6 minutes!), completing Essential Eight  the recognised Australian government standard for cybersecurity  is not just advantageous but also crucial in certain industries. CyberSmarts solutions are specifically designed to help businesses attain and maintain a government-approved standard of cybersecurity, reducing cyber risk, HAT Distribution says.

CyberSmart is the worlds first complete SME solution offering all-in-one cybersecurity monitoring, optimisation and training, proven to defend against cyber threats. With its user-friendly platform, simplified maturity framework, year-round protection and unlimited support, implementing Essential Eight controls has never been easier for Australian businesses.

The platform is tailored for MSPs and SMEs, who represent a critical segment in the economy but often face challenges with maintaining robust cyber defences due to limited resources and expertise. With CyberSmart, MSPs can enhance their service offerings by delivering comprehensive and cost-effective solutions to their clients, while SMEs gain access to straightforward Essential Eight assessment, without the need for extensive resources.

Hat Distribution says Australian SMEs will also gain access to CyberSmart Active Protect, a powerful on-device agent that delivers comprehensive endpoint monitoring, risk management, policy enforcement, and cybersecurity awareness training.

Active Protect regularly monitors and reports the status of a device by running through a series of security controls, identifying vulnerabilities and providing simple step-by-step walkthroughs on how to fix them.

Josh Gammer, General Manager of HAT Distribution said, Amidst the ever-evolving cyber threat landscape, we are thrilled to partner with CyberSmart, a leader in cybersecurity innovation, to help more Australian businesses comply with the governments endorsed Essential Eight framework.

With CyberSmart, even smaller players gain access to the tools required for assessment, and for MSPs, the partnership is a consultative business opportunity to guide their clients on a transformative journey toward stronger cyber defences.

Jamie Ahktar, CEO at CyberSmart said, Were excited to expand into the Australian market with HAT Distribution. Cybercrime is a worldwide business, and the interconnected nature of global commerce in 2024 means that the more geographies we are able to offer SMBs complete cyber confidence in, the better. Almost half of Australians reported experiencing cybercrime in 2023, and we believe that the comprehensive protection were bringing to the Australian market will be able to limit both the success and impact of these incidents moving forward.

For more information about CyberSmarts cybersecurity solutions, visit https://www.cybersmart.com/au.
Members of Australia's parliament have been advised to carry burner phones when they visit India, Seven's The Nightly website reports.

The advice, from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, comes in the wake of reports that "a nest of Indian spies" was expelled from Australia in 2020.

Burner phones are cheap devices that are used by people who do not want to be tracked. They are used by drug dealers, among others, and are often thrown away after being used just once.

India has long been considered as a friendly nation by Australia, but in recent months the subcontinental giant has shown that it has designs well beyond its own borders.

India waslast year by Canada of assassinating Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a Sikh activist, a charge it denied. But then a few days back, Canadaon suspicion of carrying out this very killing.

India is highly sensitive about Sikh activism and that is why New Delhi sent an ABC reporter, Avani Dias, packing from the country after she filed a detailed examination of the activists who are agitating for a separate state for Sikhs within India. Dias was about to start reporting on the Indian elections when she was thrown out.

Dias program on the Sikhs included interviews with Kanwar Pal Singh, a Sikh separatist leader in Punjab who heads an organisation known as Dal Khalsa; during the filming of the program Dias was monitored by Indian intelligence and, at one stage, blocked from filming close to the border with Pakistan, a site where permission to film had been initially granted.

India forced YouTube to take down this program from its site and also remove an earlier program in March which reported on Australian spy agency ASIO making contact with Sikhs in Australia associated with the separatism movement, a campaign for an ethno-religious state known as Khalistan.

The Khalistan movement goes back to the 1930s, but has been largely quiet after the Indian Army entered the Golden Temple in Amritsar, the holiest Sikh shrine, in June 1984, and flushed out activists who had taken refuge there. The leader of the movement at the time, Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale, was among those killed.

The separatists retaliated on 31 October the same year, when two Sikh guards of the late Indian prime minister Indira Gandhi shot her dead in cold blood. The act led to a great deal of bloodletting and Indias capital was shut down for days, with trains full of dead bodies periodically arriving there.

Last June, Khalistan activists held what they called a referendum in Sydneys western suburbs on creating their separatist state, with similar votes being held in Melbourne and Brisbane. Two activists were taken into custody as they were in possession of knives. Modi has made no secret of his anger over this, and India made it known in a statement it issued after bilateral talks Australia during the last G20 summit.

On the day when the report about expulsion of the spies was published, the Washington Post reported that an officer in Indias Research and Analysis Wing, the countrys premier intelligence service, had been hatching a plot to assassinate a top critic of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the US in June last year.

The plot was being organised while Modi was on a state visit to the US, the Post said, adding that the officer in question, one Vikram Yadav, had termed the planned killing of Sikh activist Gurpatwant Singh Pannun as a priority now. The newspaper cited current and former Indian and US security officials as its sources.

Yadav had sent the would-be assassins Pannuns New York residential address, the report said, adding that they had been told the killing could be carried out as soon as they confirmed that Pannun was at home.

Modi is now bidding to be re-elected for a third term as prime minister, with elections underway and three of seven days of voting completed.

The Nightly report said while it was common practice for Australian MPs to leave their phones behind unless they were visiting a Five Eyes country  New Zealand, Canada, the UK and the US with Australia being the fifth in that grouping  the advice for India had been tightened.

It cited the case of one unnamed "prominent figure" who makes regular trips to India as saying that he had been advised recently to take a burner phone on his next trip to India in case his regular device was compromised.

Thus far, this kind of advice has only been given to Australian officials visiting China or Ukraine, for fear that their phones would be compromised, in the latter case by Russians.

The Nightly quoted Ian Hall, a professor of International Relations at Griffith University and an India expert, as saying he hoped the change would lead to a more realistic foreign policy.

This revised advice reflects unhappiness about Indias recent actions and New Delhis responses to Canadian and US requests for explanations and for accountability, he said.

I hope it also moves us away from some of the over-exuberant language weve seen in recent years to a more calibrated, interests-driven India policy.

In March last year, the Financial Times reported that Indian defence and intelligence officials were scouting around for spyware which was more low-profile than Pegasus, which is sold by an Israeli company and is blacklisted by the Americans.

The report said India had up to US$120 million (A$181 million) to spend on spyware and that a dozen spyware makers were preparing to join the bidding process to sell alternative spyware to India.
News alert! Google has just renewed what News Corporation calls a "lucrative deal". Expect some unstinting praise about the search giant to appear in the august columns of The Australian over the next couple of weeks.

The Google money deal comes as News Corp releases its third-quarter results.

And Facebook? Boy, is that company in for more negative coverage. A report in The Australian about a Senate inquiry into the alleged societal damage wrought by Meta and other social media sites was headlined "Metas dangerous playbook to be exposed, as Labor establishes a committee to probe tech giant".

Of course, the Google deal renewal with News Corp has nothing to do with the merits of having the media giant as a partner. No, Google has serious business in Australia: it wants to try and boost its share of the Australian cloud market as well as its share of the take from digital advertising (which it already monopolises).

Plus, it is eager to try and capture at least a little more of the enterprise security market Down Under following initiatives announced at the RSA Conference in San Francisco on Tuesday.

The Australian's James Madden and Sophie Elsworth had a good time with the report on Meta, writing: "The decision by tech giant Meta to abandon payment-for-content deals with news outlets, and its failure to monitor publishing of harmful and illegal material on its social media platforms, will be the focus of a federal parliamentary inquiry.

"The Albanese Government will establish a joint parliamentary select committee to investigate the consequences of Meta walking away from its financial deals with news media companies, and the impact that decision will have on Australian society."

The Age had a slightly more sober take: "Labor is launching a parliamentary inquiry into social media at which MPs will grill tech executives about the impact of TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and X on mental health, public debates and Australian journalism, after Meta announced it would stop funding media companies for use of their articles."

But apart from some grumbling from pollies during such a hearing, what is the worst one can expect? Maybe Nick McKim will be there and he will theatrically threaten someone or the other with jail time. But the theatrics apart, what do the social media companies have to fear? If truth be told, absolutely nothing.

The ABC stands to lose a few millions and a whole lot of staff when Facebook does not re-sign. As former staffer Quentin Dempster wrote in Pearls and Irritations, the money from Facebook led to the ABC opening "its first bureau in Charleville added to 10 new locations: Batemans Bay, Warragul, Carnarvon, Hervey Bay, Gladstone, Whyalla, Northam, Swan Hill and Victor Harbour. The ABC also applied the new money to boost reporting numbers in nine existing bureaux in Horsham, Burnie, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga, Katherine, Esperence, Karratha, Longreach and Toowoomba".

All those staff will now face the axe. But the ABC is at least maintaining a dignified silence and not acting like the old man who shouts at the sky.

As I asked a few days back, one wonders when the Labor Government will try to level with the public and tell the masses that it is powerless to do anything to curb these companies. Why keep up this charade any longer?
A recent stunt by Illinois Democrats is so underhanded that Illinoisans in both parties should be expressing disgust and calling for its repeal. Lawsuits over it are likely to come, but this one should be reject in the court of public opinion as well.

As an alternative to a primary election, Illinois law allowed for a party to get its candidates on the ballot for General Assembly spots by party slating. .procedure, along with collection of a requisite number of public signatures on nominating positions. A number of Republican challengers as well as party efforts to recruit candidates have been proceeding accordingly.

But over the course of just 36 hours on the first days of this month, the Democratic supermajority changed the law retroactively disallow that procedure, thereby barring challengers from the November ballot as Republican party candidates.

The new law almost certainly gives Democrats a win in races in which Republicans did not run a candidate in the primary and could result in dozens of unopposed races.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed the new law the day after it was passed, hours after telling reporters he didnt know all the details.

Stunningly, he and fellow Democrats claimed it was an ethics measure and would take backroom deals out of the equation when choosing candidates.

Seriously? Illinois Democrats against slating and backroom deals? Theyve long done the same, though not this year, which suggests the whole thing was a preplanned trap.

The new law originated as a shell bill  one on an entirely different subject with a different label, before being changed in the 30-hour cram-through.

Republicans across the state have been up in arms about the new law, but they are not alone.

Seven Democrats in the General Assembly defied their partys leadership and voted against it, including Rep. Kelly Cassidy (D-Chicago), who couldnt ignore the hypocrisy, given repeated Democratic claims that Republicans are a threat to democracy. I just think its fundamentally wrong for Democrats to participate in something that makes it harder for people to run, to run for office, makes it harder for folks to engage, she said

Left-leaning nationally recognized Election Blog also criticized the new law as pulling the rug out from under Republicans who have been relying on slating.

That publication described it as Americas sixth-largest state changing the rules of an election in the middle of the campaign to deprive hundreds of thousands of voters of the opportunity to choose a candidate of their preference.

The new law also moved Illinois early presidential nomination deadline up a month earlier, presumably to make it harder for Robert Kennedy, Jr. to get on the ballot. And it put three nonbinding referendums on the ballot that are designed to draw Democratic turnout, taking all allowable slots and depriving Republicans of any chance to do the same.

This is a new low, even by Illinois standards. Its shameless, tyrannical and hypocritical abuse of power in a one-party state, and its up to you to finally say, Enough.
China, Hungary agree to establish inter-governmental cooperation mechanism on China-Europe Railway Express

Xinhua) 08:55, May 10, 2024

BUDAPEST, May 9 (Xinhua) -- China and Hungary agreed on Thursday to establish an inter-governmental cooperation mechanism on the China-Europe Railway Express, a joint statement said on Thursday.

The two sides spoke highly of the development of the China-Europe Railway Express between China and Hungary, according to the joint statement between China and Hungary issued during the state visit to Hungary by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China and Hungary also agreed to promote infrastructure connectivity, and jointly take practical measures to ensure the security of the transport routes and improve the quality and efficiency of the China-Europe Railway Express, so as to provide important support for deepening economic and trade cooperation between the two countries, said the statement.

(Web editor: Zhang Kaiwei, Liang Jun)
Laman Ismayilova

Azerbaijan National Library has launched a virtual exhibition dedicated to the National Leader Heydar Aliyev, Azernews reports.

A traditional book exhibition "A personality as eternal as Azerbaijan itself - Heydar Aliyev" also opened its doors at the library.

The virtual exhibition displays articles and photos published in the periodical press pages reflecting the life and activities of the National Leader Heydar Aliyev.

The traditional book exhibition features books and photo albums about the National Leader's life path, social and political activities.

Established in 1922, Azerbaijan National Library is a treasure trove of knowledge for bookworms.

With over 5 million books, manuscripts, maps, Azerbaijan National Library is considered one of the largest libraries in the Caucasus region. Since 1939, the library has borne the name of the eminent playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov.

The library has an extensive collection of literature in Azerbaijani, Russian, English and other languages. It has collected and preserved national editions, works of Azerbaijani and foreign authors about Azerbaijan published abroad.

The National Leader Heydar Aliyev visited the National Library four times in 1995-1997 and donated nearly 300 books from his personal library.

In 2004, Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library was granted the status of National Library by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers.

The building of the library is no less impressive. The library's fa?ade is decorated with the the statues of eminent poets and writers like Nizami Ganjavi, Mahsati Ganjavi, Uzeyir Hajibayli, Shota Rustaveli, Alexander Pushkin and many others.

The scope of the library's activities is constantly expanding. In 2005, on the basis of legal copies received from publishing houses and printing companies, the library published the yearbook "Books of Azerbaijan" for 1990, 1991, 2000, 2001.

Over the past years, the National Library has signed a memorandum on bilateral mutual cooperation with about 80 libraries.

In 2021, the Culture Ministry and Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library launched a joint campaign "Let's go to Garabagh with a book" to restore libraries in Garabagh region.

A large number of books were donated to the Garabagh Book Fund by a number of international organizations working in the field of culture, Turkic-speaking countries, famous foreign and local authors, publishers, and print houses.
Neil Celani doesn't refer to himself as a ceramics artist, preferring more to call himself "a potter."

"I'm a potter at heart," says the Colorado native who earned his master's of fine arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and now is the ceramics center manager at the Lux Center for the Arts. "It's a bit more of a humble expression."

Whatever title he goes by, there's no denying his talent. His bowls, mugs and dishes are impressive. Uniquely shaped. Colorful. More important, they're useful.

They will be part of this weekend's eighth annual Clay Tour, a collection of three Lincoln ceramics art studios and 14 artists, who will show their work, all of which will be for sale.

The tours will run on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. On Sunday, they'll start at noon and run through 4 p.m.

Admission is free.

This isn't Celani's first time taking part in the Clay Tour. Last year, the event drew about 1,000 people over the two days, and he wouldn't be surprised to top that this time because more than 12,000 postcards were mailed to community members.

Celani is something of a renaissance man. He worked his way through college in restaurant kitchens. He didn't particularly like it, but it paid the bills.

"The benefit of it was I actually learned how to cook  like really learn how to cook efficiently  and learned about different ingredients," he said. "That's actually my main piece of advice for young people: Learn how to cook because you benefit from that multiple times a day."

And knowing how to cook gradually worked its way into his ceramics work, he said. Most times as he's working on a bowl or cup, he envisions the meal or beverage that it might someday hold.

I do make things specifically with a certain food or beverage in mind," he said. "That helps with making design choices on size and other things."

Is it a bowl with a big lip, he asks himself, or a cup with a handle to accommodate hot liquid?

One of his favorite beverages consists of tequila and Mezcal, for which he has designed some sipping bowls.

Stops on the tour are a short drive or bike ride from each other, allowing all to be visited in a single day.

Each stop offers a unique opportunity to not only view handmade ceramic work firsthand but also to meet the makers.

Beside Celani, the other hosts are Margaret Bohls and Larry Buller. Bohls has taught ceramics at UNL, which has a nationally ranked program, while Buller has a master of fine arts degree from the UNL program.

Celani's home studio is at 1120 Huff St., while Buller's is at 2943 Garfield St., and Bohls' studio is located at 1839 Crestline Drive.

This year's artists are Allison Achtenhagen, Justin Behm, Andy Bissonnette, Jenni Brant, John Cohorst, Sarah Hummel Jones, Anthony Park Kascak, Lisa Lockman, Sharon Ohmberger, Kate Scherfenburg and Sean Scott.

A tour map and other information is available on the Lincoln Clay Tour Facebook and Instagram pages.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2024
The race to put a repeal of a state-funded private school scholarship law before voters this fall began earlier this week when Support Our Schools Nebraska received word its petition language had been approved.

On Wednesday, Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen approved language seeking to undo a $10 million appropriation for private K-12 school scholarships  what opponents have labeled as a school voucher program.

Now, the coalition of public education-related groups has 67 days to gather and submit roughly 62,000 verified signatures, including from 5% of voters in 38 of Nebraskas 93 counties, to qualify for the ballot.

Support Our Schools said it is aiming to collect 90,000 signatures over the next two months ahead of the July 17 deadline to turn petitions in to Evnens office.

If successful, the newest petition would be the second Support Our Schools has qualified in the last year to overturn a law passed by the Legislature to use state tax dollars to support private schools.

Last summer, petitioners fanned out across the state to gather more than 117,000 signatures to put a repeal of a dollar-for-dollar tax credit for donors who give to private school scholarships on the 2024 general election ballot.

But state lawmakers rendered that referendum effort moot on the final day of the legislative session this year when they passed LB1402, which along with providing a direct appropriation to private school scholarships, ends the tax credit law.

The jiu-jitsu match between backers and opponents of public support for private education did not stop there, however.

Jenni Benson, president of the Nebraska State Education Association and a member of Support Our Schools, said the latest referendum is intended to both keep public dollars in public schools but also to restore Nebraskans right to have their say on the issue.

Nebraskans will not stand for the Legislatures cowardly action of passing yet another voucher scheme designed to block citizens from voting on the issue, Benson said Friday morning at a kickoff for the latest petition effort.

The language of the petition, filed with Evnens office on April 30 and approved May 7, repeals the enacting language of LB1402 while keeping the portion of the law that ends the tax credits  passed last year as LB753  in place.

Simply put, if the referendum petition meets the qualifications outlined in state law, survives a likely court challenge to remove it from the ballot, and wins majority support from voters on Nov. 5, both the direct appropriation and the tax credit would go away.

Its unclear if the previous referendum, which focuses on a law that will no longer be in effect by November, will remain on the November ballot.

There is no mechanism in state law for petition sponsors to take back a referendum or initiative once it has been submitted for signature verification.

Evnen could reject a petition or refuse to place it on the ballot if it was turned in after the deadline, had too few signatures, violated the states single-subject rule, or interfered with the Legislatures taxing authority, while petitions can also be removed via a successful court challenge.

Well have more information next week on LB753 and the November ballot, a spokeswoman for Evnens office said.

Backers of the petition effort said Friday the manner in which the new law was passed by state senators this year has ginned up additional support across the state from voters who feel cheated out of having their voice heard.

It is no small feat to pass a referendum in Nebraska, said Meg Mikolajczyk, the executive director of Nebraska Civic Engagement Table and Second House Collaborative.

Along with requiring support from a diverse geographic areas of the state, where some counties can be qualified with fewer than 100 signatures, while others require tens of thousands, Mikolajcyzk said Support Our Schools turned in nearly double what was needed last year.

Thirty-three senators decided to intentionally ignore the will of Nebraskans and circumvent our sacred democratic processes by forcing LB1402 through to passage, she said. Those senators have threatened the integrity of our democratic system and we will not stand for it.

Cynthia Peterson, president of the League of Women Voters Lincoln and Lancaster County, said the civic organization had planned to conduct an education campaign this summer to inform voters about the referendum on LB753 so that they could make the best informed decision either for or against the repeal referendum.

Instead, League members statewide are poised to again volunteer their time and energy to collect signatures to get the referendum LB1402  on the November ballot, she said. We believe the final decision on LB1402 should rest with the voters.

Supporters of LB1402 and LB753 said those programs provide children and families with more educational options they otherwise might not have access to and have argued that repealing those laws would negatively impact those individuals.

Last month, Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who sponsored both bills, said the referendum efforts were evidence the NSEA is determined to prevent parents from choosing the school that is best for their child.

The union puts the union first and kids last, she said on April 30.

On Friday, Linehan said she and other lawmakers who advanced LB1402 had worked to address concerns brought by opponents while also passing large increases in state aid to public schools over the biennium.

"The Legislature has done a lot for teachers and public education in the last two years," she said, mentioning the creation of the $1 billion Education Future Fund, raising the special education funding to 80%, and setting the foundation aid for students at $1,500.

"There are 324,000 students and their focus is we can't do anything for the 10% of students who aren't in public schools," Linehan added.

Keep Kids First, the committee that formed to advocate against last year's referendum, is not planning any decline-to-sign events, Linehan said, but she added other groups could organize opposition against the new petition.

"We don't have a union that has very high-paid spokespeople and a bunch of people on staff," she said. "We're all volunteers. Our side is focusing on what it should be about. It should be about the kids."

Jeremy Ekeler, executive director of the Opportunity Scholarships of Nebraska, called the repeal a direct threat to families who benefit from the state funds directed to private education.

On Friday, Support Our Schools members said voters could choose to keep the law in place if they support the scholarships.

Tim Royers, a Millard educator and union leader who is treasurer for the referendum committee, said the attempt to stifle a vote signaled lawmakers did not believe voters will support it, however.

They are afraid to death of letting voters have their voice on this issue because they know what voters will say, Royers said.

Top Journal Star photos for May 2024
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.

Vote

View Results
Under the training plan for 2024, approved by Azerbaijans Defense Minister, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov, military oath-taking ceremonies for new recruits were held in the Azerbaijan Army, Azernews reports, citing Azerbaijan's Defence Ministry.

The ceremonies were declared open after the Battle Flag was brought to the parade ground in accompaniment of the military orchestra.

First, the memory of National Leader Heydar Aliyev, and Martyrs, who sacrificed their lives for the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, was honored with observing a minute of silence. Then the National Anthem of the Republic of Azerbaijan was performed.

The recruits solemnly took the military oath and promised to be loyal to the Motherland.

The event speakers called the new recruits to be loyal to the Motherland, the state, and the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, to serve in an exemplary and disciplined manner, to study the secrets of weapons and equipment in detail, and to improve their combat readiness, to fulfill the orders of the commanding staff timely and accurately, to be ready to defend Azerbaijani territories any time.

The ceremonies ended with a solemn march of personnel in front of the grandstand.
Namdaemun Market (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Namdaemun Market is a premier destination for those seeking special souvenirs before bidding farewell to Korea. Alongside Dongdaemun (Great East Gate) Market, Namdaemun (Great South Gate) Market has stood as one of the largest traditional markets in Korea since the Joseon Dynasty.

Namdaemun Market highlights numerous types of market places and alleys selling a variety of specialized items. These markets offer countless uniquely Korean products that you wont find anywhere else! Also, the affordable wholesale prices make the shopping experience more enjoyable.

Navigating the vast size of the market can be a bit overwhelming, so check out this guidance for a successful gift hunting!

Tourist Information Center

Tourist Information Center (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

The best way to save your time and energy is visiting the tourist information center first to get a map. You can ask the friendly staff for help finding the shops selling items youre looking for, and they will kindly mark your map and provide helpful tips.

Address: Near Hoehyeon Station exit 5

Phone: 02-752-1913

Hours: 10 a.m.  7 p.m.

Address: Line 4. Hoehyeon Station exit 5, Recommended visiting hours: 9 a.m.  5 p.m. (Closed on Sunday). Please note that many shops have different business hours, with some open 24 hours, serving as retail shops during the day and wholesale shops at night. (Namdaemun Market Map)

(Photo by Hyemin Lee) (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

6 must-visit sections

Hanbok market

Hanbok market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Hanbok market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Hanbok market (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Hanbok is traditional Korean attire dating back to the Joseon Dynasty, and even today, it holds a special place in Korean culture. Koreans often wear a hanbok during significant occasions such as Lunar New Year or wedding ceremonies. Wearing a hanbok is a wonderful way to connect with the unique culture and tradition of Korea.

There are different types of hanboks, including modern ones that you can comfortably wear in daily life. Many foreigners who fall in love with hanboks beauty visit this market to buy this attire as a souvenir.

In the Hanbok market, you can easily find a variety of beautiful hanboks, particularly for children and women. You can either pick a ready-made one or even go for a custom-designed hanbok, where you get to choose everything from colors to patterns and designs. Childrens hanbok can be purchased starting from around 50,000 won. Customized hanboks for women usually costs between 150,000 to 300,000 won depending on the design.

Address: Central (Jungang) Arcade C-dong 2F

Childrens fashion street

Childrens fashion street (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Childrens fashion street (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Childrens fashion street (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Childrens fashion street (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

If you have kids or want to be a wonderful uncle or aunt, visiting the childrens fashion street would be a lovely choice! Namdaemun Market is particularly popular as the center of the childrens clothing industry in Korea. The childrens fashion street boasts a collection of small shops and multi-story buildings exclusively stocked with kids items. Each shop sells its own signature products with original designs and various fabrics. Youll discover a wide range of adorable kids items from clothing to accessories, hats, socks and more.

Address: Near Hoehyeon Station exit 6

Traditional-style souvenirs market

Traditional-style souvenirs market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Traditional-style souvenirs market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Traditional-style souvenirs market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Traditional-style souvenirs market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Traditional-style souvenirs market (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Namdaemun Market is well known as a hub for traditional-style souvenirs, making it a must-visit spot for travelers searching for distinctive souvenirs, including traditional Korean art pieces and handmade crafts. Most shops offer great quality items at affordable prices since they are wholesale sellers.

Both local and foreigners flock here for wooden crafts, ceramics, traditional-style accessories, and, notably, mother-of-pearl products like jewelry boxes and mirrors. The market also features a variety of smaller, budget-friendly traditional items, including fans, stainless steel chopsticks, tablecloths, keychains, coin purses, bookmarks, and soju glasses.

For those seeking something truly exceptional, make sure to see if the item is made in Korea. Then, look for products created by traditional handcraft artists, some of whom run their own shops to sell their work at this market. These items boast excellent quality and unique designs, and they are rare to find elsewhere.

Address: Daedo Arcade 2F & Central (Jungang) Arcade 2F

Accessory market

Accessory market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Accessory market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Accessory market (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Namdaemun Market houses thousands of wholesale accessory shops, each with a variety of options. Accessory designers from all corners of the country have shops here to sell their unique creations. Also, visitors can have the opportunity to witness the creative process of making accessories while browsing the market. As you wander through, time seems to slip away amidst the countless beautiful items!

Address: E-world E-dong & Daedo Arcade D-dong & Samho Woojoo Arcade

Underground liquor market

Liquor market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Liquor market (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Namdaemun Market is home to one of the biggest liquor markets in Korea and is located in the underground imported products market. This section used to be called the Namdaemun Dungeon, creating a mystique around the treasures whiskey lovers could discover here, including bottles of the liquor at unbelievably low prices.

These days, though prices are not as significantly low after the pandemic, the market is still truly a special destination, especially for those on a hunt for special liquors. Youll likely find a lot of rare items including discontinued liquors or temporary special releases.

The underground market also houses a variety of shops selling imported goods from around the world at reasonable prices.

Address: Daedo Arcade D-dong B1

Flower market

Flower market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Flower market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Flower market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Flower market (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Flower market (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

There is an entire floor dedicated to a stunning array of flowers and plants. Green thumbs and beginner plant enthusiasts alike will love browsing the various plants for personal cultivation, splendid bouquets, artificial flowers for home interiors, decorative dried blooms, and floral gift items. This market encompasses nearly all things flower-related.

People flock to this market, especially during special seasons like Parents Day, graduation, and Christmas. Many visit here in search of rare and precious flowers that are not easily found in typical flower shops. Its a perfect destination for discovering gifts to celebrate special occasions.

Address: E-world E-dong 3F

Other specialized sections to explore

Military alley (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Socks (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Eyewear street

Camera street

Kitchenware market

Military equipment alley

Womens fashion street

Stationery alley

Bedding street

Pro tips for shopping at Namdaemun Market!

Many stores at traditional markets only accept won. In case you forget to bring bills with you, inquire at the tourist information center about the location of ATMs which work with your foreign card.

Within Namdaemun Market, youll find a lot of specialized markets and alleys that focus on selling specific items. If youre looking for something particular, grab a map from the tourist information center and head to the specialized market.

Before stepping into a shop, youll encounter numerous vendors vying for your attention, and eagerly encouraging you to visit their store. Dont be intimidated and simply pass if youre not interested. Even if you enter a shop, look around, but have no intention of buying anything, theres no need to feel sorry and just leave the shop. These are very common scenes at traditional markets.

Namdaemun accommodates both wholesale and retail shops. Wholesale stores offer items at cheaper prices compared to retail stores as they cater to vendors from all over Korea who purchase items for resale in their own shops.

Please keep in mind that some wholesale vendors might not sell their items to individual shoppers, but only to retailers or bulk purchasers.

Note that some stores strictly prohibit photography due to concerns of design imitation. When taking photos, be careful because some vendors might react aggressively.

Dont take it personally when a vendor behaves rudely or aggressively. Such reactions are consistent regardless of whether youre a foreigner or local. Some vendors may only welcome bulk purchasers.

Its true that some vendors may try to give slightly higher prices to foreigners. However, due to the wholesale market nature, many items are still significantly cheaper than purchasing them in other areas.

Make the best deals with haggling techniques!

Haggling is a big part of the wholesale or traditional market experience. With a few techniques, you can bring the prices even lower and make your shopping adventure to a new level of excitement. Heres a guide for the perfect opportunities to haggle!

When a vendor eagerly tries to capture your attention before you enter their store or attempts to persuade you into purchasing specific items, they are most likely offering it to you at a foreigner price. In such cases, dont hesitate to haggle.

While browsing through a few stores, youll gain a rough understanding of the pricing for particular products. If you find that a vendor is offering a higher price compared to others, try to haggle!

Buying multiple items, especially in bulk from a single store, can be the ideal opportunity for haggling. Feel free to negotiate the prices!

Exploring colorful local eateries at Namdaemun Market

Nandaemun Market is a huge area, so snacking and meals are essential as youre likely to get hungry while exploring this extensive space! Here youll find many street foods and dining options, so make time to grab a bite while youre enjoying the market.

Keep in mind that Namdaemun Market is closed on Sundays, which means that most street food stalls and restaurants are also closed.

Kalguksu Alley

Kalguksu Alley (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Kalguksu Alley (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Kalguksu Alley (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Kalguksu Alley (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Kalguksu Alley (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

From Hoehyeon Station Exit 5, youll immediately find a narrow alley specializing in kalguksu (knife-cut noodle soup). This food alley is renowned for its combo meal menu that includes knife-cut noodle soup, spicy cold noodles, and bibimbap with various vegetables, for only 8,000 won. Local vendors working in Nandaemun gather around small tables, and the food is usually prepared within a minute, allowing them to grab a quick meal. Due to its affordable price and unique local vibe, this alley is a popular spot for travelers visiting the market.

Address: Kalguksu Alley in front of Hoehyeon Station Exit 5

Hotteok

Hotteok (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

For 1,500 won, you can enjoy a Korean fried pancake known as hotteok. This is a famous snack in Nandaemun. Particularly, the vegetable hotteok stands out as a well-known specialty. Filled with glass noodles and vegetables like onions and carrots, its tastefully seasoned with soy sauce. Most locals enjoy this treat, while some foreigners might prefer a sweeter option like the sugar-filled or honey hotteok that is another favorite.

Address: In front of Hoehyeon Station exit 5 or 12 Namdaemun-ro, Jung-gu, Seoul (Two different places)

Gamegol Son Wangmandu (Homemade large dumplings)

Dumpling (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Gamegol Son-wangmandu (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Gamegol Son Wangmandu is one of the hottest restaurants in Nandaemun, serving up large homemade dumplings with a variety of fillings. Youll likely have to wait in line even on the weekdays, but the food is worth the wait. Dont forget to grab steamed buns with red bean paste filling, and kalguksu Korean knife-cut noodle soup. The dumplings come in both spicy and meat flavors and are also available to go.

Address: 42 Namdaemunsijang 4-gil, Jung-gu

Daedo Restaurant

Daedo restaurant (Photo by Hyemin Lee) Daedo restaurant (Photo by Hyemin Lee)

Daedo restaurant is well known for its spicy marinated pork with red pepper paste, called Red meat. If you can handle spicy food well, youll truly enjoy the red meat. Also, this restaurant is located in the Galchi Alley, a specialty alley selling galchi (hairtail fish) dishes. Daedo also serves up a variety of meat or fish dishes. Although its an authentic local spot, many foreigners can find their favorite menu here such as Korean BBQ, stir-fried pork, and squid stir-fry.

Address: 12-15 Namdaemunsijang-gil, Namchang-dong, Jung-gu
Saudi Arabia's Fakeeh Care Group, one of the largest private hospital groups in the kingdom, has said it planned to proceed with an initial public offering (IPO) through the sale of a 21.47% stake in existing and new shares.

The family-owned business, with hospitals in Jeddah and Riyadh, will offer 30 million new shares and 19.8 million existing shares to investors, it said in a statement.

The Capital Market Authority (CMA) had announced its approval of the companys application for registering its share capital and the Offering of 49.8 million Ordinary Shares (21.47%) by way of the issuance of 30 million new Ordinary Shares and the sale of 19.8 million current Ordinary Shares (8.53%) by the Companys Selling Shareholders. The Offering price will be determined at the end of a book building process.

Offer Shares

The Offer Shares will be offered for subscription to individual and institutional investors, including institutional investors outside the US in accordance with Regulation S under the US Securities Act of 1933G, as amended.

The companys 2,000,000 Treasury Shares, representing 0.86% of the company's post-increase capital, have been allocated to a new Employee Share Programme, which aims to provide incentives to the Group's key employees to attract and retain them in order to achieve the Groups objectives and strategy.

Alrajhi Bank, Saudi National Bank, Arab National Bank, SAB, Alinma Bank and Bank Aljazira have been appointed as Receiving Agents for retail investors.

Expanding market

Dr Mazen Soliman Fakeeh, President of Fakeeh Care Group, said: Since 1978, Fakeeh Care Group has been providing its patients with high-quality integrated healthcare that is accessible, personalised, and compassionate. Against the backdrop of Saudi Arabias Vision 2030 and an expanding market for private healthcare, we are investing in the growth of Fakeeh Care to bring our experience and expertise to more people across the kingdom.

We have a clear strategy to reinforce our market leading position in Jeddah and expand our presence in key cities such as Riyadh, Makkah, Madinah and NEOM. Our IPO is an opportunity for investors to participate in Saudi Arabias economic success through one of its leading and rapidly growing healthcare brands.

Fakeeh Care Group is one of Saudi Arabias premier integrated providers of high-quality healthcare

FCG offers 4 hospitals (including NEOM Hospital through an operating model) with 900 doctors, 835 beds, 374 examination rooms, 190 ICU beds, and 40 operating theatres.

5 medical centres

FCG boasts 5 medical centres (including NEOM Advanced Medical Centre through an operating model) with 220 doctors, complemented by a range of integrated healthcare services to meet everyday health needs.

FCGs Fakeeh College for Medical Sciences (FCMS) is a cornerstone of learning and innovation in this field and is based in the Companys Jeddah hospital. It has 1,800 students enrolled as of September 2023G. FCMS also offers more than 20 residency and fellowship programmes.

For the last three years, DSFH Jeddah has been ranked as Saudi Arabia's best private hospital by Newsweek Magazine, affirming the quality of care and patient experience.

Strong finances

Fakeeh Care Group has a strong financial and growth profile with net revenues growing by a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.8% during 2020G-2023G to reach SR2.3 billion ($610 million).

EBITDA for FY2023G amounted to SR526 million, increasing by 1.9% year on year. Adjusted EBITDA (excluding the Riyadh hospital) reached SR639 million, up 20.3% year on year, with a 28.3% margin.

Net profit for FY2023G was SR232 million. Adjusted net profit (excluding the Riyadh hospital) for FY 2023G was SR414 million, up 15.3% year on year, with a robust 18.3% profit margin.--TradeArabia News Service
Abu Dhabi has issued a decree which aims to preserve the environment, improve ambient air quality, reduce air pollutants emitted from stationary and mobile sources, and keep noise levels within permissible limits in the emirate.

Decree No (2) of 2024 regarding the air quality system in Abu Dhabi has been issued by Sheikh Hamdan bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Ruler's Representative in Al Dhafra Region and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Environment Agency  Abu Dhabi (EAD).

The provisions of the air quality system apply to all projects and establishments operating in Abu Dhabi, and their work requires obtaining an environmental licence from EAD to protect the ambient air. The Agency will prepare the executive decisions, practice guides, and the necessary guidelines to implement the provisions of this system and issue them as part of its annexes.

Ambient air quality

According to the decree, EAD will monitor and evaluate ambient air quality through environmental monitoring networks and periodically sampling monitor and evaluate air pollutants in accordance with the maximum limits for concentrations of ambient air pollutants.

Furthermore, there will be coordination with relevant authorities to identify monitoring sites and ambient air pollutants that should be measured by them. EAD will also evaluate the performance and effectiveness of ambient air quality monitoring stations and create plans and initiatives to develop the air quality monitoring network.

Among the tasks undertaken by EAD is the management of ambient air quality standards. This includes undertaking the task of setting the maximum limits for concentrations of ambient air pollutants in Abu Dhabi to ensure the protection of public health and environmental systems in coordination with the concerned authorities. EAD will also work with the authorities to ensure that the maximum concentration limits of relevant and applicable ambient air pollutants are not exceeded.

Additionally, EAD will prepare and review environmental studies and research to demonstrate the extent to which natural sources contribute to cases of exceeding ambient air quality standards and make recommendations based on their findings. The Agency will also develop precautionary measures and response plans to deal with cases of exceeding the concentration of ambient air pollutants from natural sources in coordination with the concerned authorities.

Controlling emissions

The decree also addresses the Agency's tasks regarding controlling emissions from stationary sources. This includes setting standards and requirements for the project or facility that must implement a continuous monitoring system for its emissions. The decree also sets conditions and requirements for facilities when adopting a continuous emissions monitoring system.

The decree also specifies the owners responsibilities when it comes to standards, specifications and technical requirements, for obtaining the necessary environmental licences. It also states that an owner can apply to the EAD to obtain a temporary exception permit to exceed the noise or maximum limits for air pollutant emissions according to specific conditions.

Regarding noise levels, EAD will periodically monitor and evaluate noise levels through its monitoring networks, and coordinate with the concerned authorities to take all necessary precautionary measures to ensure that the maximum permissible noise limits are not exceeded. The agency will also manage the database of air quality, noise and emissions from stationary sources.

The decree also highlights the role of EAD in encouraging innovation by adopting new and effective ideas, initiatives, projects, solutions and technologies to reduce emissions with the aim of improving the ambient air quality in Abu Dhabi, as well as developing programmes and mechanisms for environmental incentives in the field of protecting the surrounding air from pollution.

Ensuring compliance

Moreover, using techniques, equipment, modern technology and artificial intelligence methods will be part of the monitoring and inspection operations, ensuring compliance with the requirements of the system.

The decree also specified the Agencys role in raising awareness and educating people. In its role, EAD will coordinate with the concerned authorities, prepare and implement education and awareness programmes for community members and owners about the environmental damage of air and noise pollution.

It will also provide information about legislation related to air quality and noise, decisions, standard operating procedures, and relevant technical guidance manuals, in order to comply and reduce violations and administrative penalties.

EAD will also be responsible for stimulating the development and implementation of research projects in the field of air protection. This will be done through partnerships with researchers and specialists in scientific research centres and universities, as well as motivating and encouraging all owners to follow the best environment-friendly technologies.--TradeArabia News Service
On 9 May Mexicos Presidentstated that US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Administratorhad exaggerated in saying that Mexico had been delaying visas for DEA agents.

End of preview - This article contains approximately 400 words.

Subscribers: Log in now to read the full article

Not a Subscriber?

Choose from one of the following options
Aramex, a leading global provider of logistics and transportation solutions, has seen its net profit for the first quarter (Q1) 2024 nearly double to AED47 million ($12.8 million), marking two consecutive quarters of strong performance. The net profit margin improved to 3%.

In Q1 2024, Aramex reported 8% year-on-year (YoY) increase in group revenues, with strong contributions from all product lines reflecting the strength of its diverse portfolio.

International Express emerged as a key driver, delivering remarkable volume growth of 44% in Q1 this year compared to the same period in 2023, leading to a revenue increase of 14% YoY. Domestic Express and Freight Forwarding were resilient, with Revenue growing by 5% and 3% YoY respectively. Logistics and Supply Chain Solutions maintained a stable performance in Q1 2024 compared to the same period last year, despite the challenges associated with currency devaluations in Egypt which negatively impacted revenues.

Effective mangement of SG&A

Effective management of the groups Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses (SG&A) saw a modest 4% YoY increase in Q1 this year, primarily attributed to increased selling expenses, as well as annual employee compensation adjustments.

Group gross profit surged by 10% to AED395 million, in the first quarter of 2024 compared to AED358 million in Q1 2023. EBIT and EBITDA also displayed robust growth, expanding by an impressive 47% and 18% YoY respectively. These gains reflect the company's commitment to continuously streamline operations and maximise cost-effectiveness, also evident in improved margins across Gross Profit, EBIT, and EBITDA. Notably, the gross profit margin for Q1 2024 stood at 26%, marking a 70-bps improvement from the same period previous year, while the EBITDA margin increased by 110-bps to 12% compared to Q1 2023.

Aramex maintained a strong balance sheet position with net debt-to-EBITDA excl. IFRS16 ratio of 0.8x and a healthy cash balance of AED571 million as of 31 March 2024. The company also improved its working capital and delivered record low DSOs during the quarter.

Othman Aljeda, Chief Executive Officer, Aramex, said: Our International Express delivered a 44% increase in volumes YoY in Q1 2024, while Domestic Express delivered a 7% increase, with both driven by new customer wins, as well as seasonality during Ramadan. Our freight forwarding product grew volumes double digit across land, sea and air while our Logistics and Warehousing product continued to support customers with 3PL and 4PL activities ensuring efficient logistics and fulfillment of goods in key markets.

High service levels

During the first quarter of the year we injected significant volumes into our network while maintaining high service levels. I am proud of my team's performance and commend the hard work of every Aramexian, for their dedication and capability to handle significant volume growth and heightened consumer activity, seamlessly delivering the level of service our customers value.

Our ongoing investment in automation and operational optimisation remains a core advantage and has ensured that our network is agile and responsive to our customer needs and market dynamics. Furthermore, our focus on technologies, such as last-mile route optimisation, is yielding results, significantly enhancing operational efficiency. This strategic approach enables us to accommodate increased growth effectively.

Commenting on the outlook for 2024, Aljeda continued: Looking ahead, we anticipate Q2 and Q3 2024 to continue to deliver volume growth YoY, albeit at a softer rate compared to the levels seen during the peak seasons in Q1 2024 and in Q4 2023 due to seasonality. We will continue to manage our cost base and SG&A to ensure profitable growth. Our focus remains on working towards our long-term ambition, which involves delivering quality service and enhancing our operational efficiency to meet the evolving needs of all our stakeholders.

From a capital allocation perspective, our priority for this year is debt repayment of approximately $50-70 million, to lower our interest expenses in todays high-rate environment. We will also maintain capex at similar levels to last year, to continue investments in critical projects such as warehouse expansion, automations and technology rollout.

Business performance

International Express

International Express reported consolidated Revenue of AED646 million, marking a remarkable 44% increase in shipment volumes YoY, totaling 7.8 million shipments, a new quarterly record in volume numbers. Aramex showcased remarkable agility in scaling up and managing a substantial surge in volume in Q1 2024, while maintaining delivery KPIs and a high level of service, thanks to the dedication and hard work of its people and the companys sustained investments in automation, operational efficiencies and technological adoption.

The quarter benefited from new customer wins and early Ramadan seasonality, with notable expansion driven by ecommerce and banking sectors. Notably, the gross profit for Q1 2024 surged to AED219 million, reflecting a 19% increase, while the gross profit margin increased to 34%.

The significant increase in volumes led to improved margins, as fixed cost base did not escalate at the same pace. This underscores the efficiency and scalability of the companys network.

Domestic Express

Domestic Express showcased resolute performance with healthy volume growth in Q1 2024 compared to the same period last year, and stable volumes compared to the peak season of Q4 2023. Revenue for Q1 2024 increased to AED380 million, representing a 5% increase year-on-year over Q1 2023 and sequentially, over the previous quarter of Q4 2023.

This can be attributed to enhancements in the turnaround strategy implemented in Oceania, along with the expanding e-commerce activities in several markets. Excluding the impact of currency translation, Domestic Revenue grew 9% in Q1 2024 compared to Q1 2023.

The gross profit margin increased to 25% in Q1 2024 compared to same period last year, showcasing the company's achievement in operational efficiencies, particularly in the 'last mile,' that enhanced courier productivity as well as the pick-and-drop network in key markets.

Freight-Forwarding

Aramex's Freight-Forwarding business delivered a robust performance with Revenue growing by 3% YoY to AED399 million in Q1 2024, while also showing improvement compared to the previous quarter of Q4 2023. Revenue growth comes from volume growth across all product lines, with air, sea and land freight growing volumes double digit compared to the same period last year.

Over the past year, rates have decreased globally across the industry due to competitive pressures, leading to lower profitability. This is reflected in the year-over-year performance of the business. The company navigated the market environment by focusing on driving revenue on key lanes as well enhancing operational efficiencies. The company improved financial performance across all key indicators in Q1 2024 compared to Q4 2023 delivering growth quarter on quarter.

Logistics and Supply Chain Solutions

The Logistics and Supply Chain Solutions segment reported stable revenues of AED107 million, despite significant foreign exchange translation impact over recent quarters. Pertinently, the segment faced exchange losses in Egypt due to currency devaluation, however, when excluding the impact of currency translation, Revenue witnessed a growth of 1%.

Gross profit was relatively stable, up 1% compared to Q1 2023, aligning with revenue performance. The margin remained resilient at 15%, showcasing the segment's ability to maintain consistency amidst challenging market conditions. The focus moving forward will continue to be on product rebalancing and building capacity in key markets.--TradeArabia News Service
In recent months, reports of extreme weather have reached new levels. Some climate scientists say they cannot remember when the world had so much extreme weather.

In Brazil, for example, flooding killed at least 100 people and damaged the southern city of Porto Alegre. Voters and politicians in India are facing heat as high as 46 degrees Celsius during national elections.

A heat wave caused officials to close schools in the Philippines. Thailand has reported deaths from record heat. Weather experts are also reporting high heat in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Maldives and Myanmar. Record temperatures hit many parts of Africa too.

In the United States, the National Weather Service Storm Prediction Center recently put a message on social media service X. It said April had the second-highest number of tornadoes for that month ever recorded.

Jonathan Overpeck leads the School for Environment and Sustainability at the University of Michigan. He said, It is not surprising to see worsening climate extremes so early in the year. The climate expert added, If this record pace of warming continues, 2024 will likely be a record year of climate disasters and human suffering.

Some scientists have been saying that, when the world is warmer, it is likely to have more extreme weather. They call these climate events, including record heat and rainfall. They say climate change is also changing where and when weather events take place. Alvaro Silva said that leads to rainy and hot systems staying over areas for longer periods. Silva is a climate scientist at the World Meteorological Organization based in Geneva.

Climate scientists have reported 13 straight months of record high ocean temperatures as a possible influence on the weather extremes.

Recently, the European climate service Copernicus reported the 11th record-breaking month in a row for the worlds average temperature. The average global temperature of 15 degrees Celsius in April beat the old record from 2016 by 0.14 degrees Celsius. Copernicus data dates back to 1950.

Last month was 1.58 degrees Celsius warmer than what climate scientists call the pre-industrial period of the late 19th century. Countries signing the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 set a goal of limiting warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Several influences play a part in the recent extremes. Silva said, climate change is the most important one.

In the first five days of May, 70 countries or territories broke heat records, said climatologist Maximiliano Herrera. He follows temperature records across the world.

Recently in Southeast Asia, it was the hottest May night ever, Herrera posted on X. Parts of Thailand did not drop below 31 degrees Celsius.

Many African nations are also facing extreme heat. Herrera said it reached 47.5 degrees Celsius in Kayes, Mali. The capital of Niger, Niamey, had its hottest May night and Burkina Faso's capital, Ouagadougou, had its hottest night for any month.

The heat in Brazil affected cites like Sao Paulo and kept a rainstorm from moving over the country's south. Francisco Aquino, a climatologist at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul, said that caused the weather to become dangerous.

There was also an increase in humidity from the Amazon River area, which Aquino called flying rivers. The flying rivers are air currents that carry a lot of water vapor. These caused clouds to generate extreme rainfall, he said.

April also brought the heaviest rains ever recorded to the United Arab Emirates. Parts of major highways flooded, as did Dubai International Airport, the worlds busiest airport for international travel.

Im Dan Novak.

The Associated Press reported this story. Dan Novak adapted the story for VOA Learning English.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

pace  n. the speed at which something moves

humidity  n. the amount of water suspended in the air

vapor  n. gaseous water
A Japanese town hopes to keep out crowds of visitors by building a large barrier to block views of the countrys tallest mountain, Mount Fuji.

The town is called Fujikawaguchiko. It sits on Japans main island of Honshu, southwest of Tokyo. The community is known for having good spots for taking pictures of Mount Fuji.

But some locals and business owners feel there are too many misbehaving tourists. In an effort to reduce the number of visitors, city workers have started building a large black screen to block views of Mount Fuji.

Michie Motomochi owns a restaurant that serves Japanese sweets near the soon-to-be-blocked photo spot. She told The Associated Press that while she welcomes visitors to the area, there are many things about their manners that are worrying.

Motomochi said she has seen visitors crossing the road in busy traffic, leaving waste on streets, ignoring stop lights and trespassing onto private property.

She noted, however, that about 80 percent of her business is driven by foreign visitors. Tourist numbers have been rising in Japan since restrictions were lifted after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Motomochi said her neighborhood suddenly became a popular spot for visitors about two years ago. That is when a photo taken in the area went viral on the internet. The photo showed Mount Fuji in the background. But it appeared as though the mountain was sitting on top of a local store called Lawson.

Town officials say the photo was widely shared on social media and became known online as Mt. Fuji Lawson. Since then, foreign tourists have crowded the neighborhood.

The town has tried other methods to limit bad behaviors by tourists. The town put up signs in several languages urging visitors not to run into the road. It has provided information about crosswalks. And it even hired security guards

The black screen is expected to be completed in the middle of May. It will stand 2.5 meters high and 20 meters long. Officials say the barrier will almost completely block the view of Mount Fuji.

French tourist Anthony Hok told the AP he thinks the screen was an overreaction by city officials. He said the solution seemed too big for the problem the town was facing. The 26-year-old visitor suggested setting up road barriers for safety instead of blocking views for pictures.

But Helen Pull, a 34-year-old visitor from Britain, said she understood the local concerns. She said she had seen tourism really ramped up in the country. I can see why people who live and work here might want to do something about that," Pull added.

Yoshihiko Ogawa runs an old rice shop in the Fujikawaguchiko area. He said overcrowding there had worsened in recent months, with tourists gathering from around 4 or 5 in the morning and talking loudly. Ogawa said crowds in the area also sometimes block his car.

Weve never thought we'd face a situation like this, Ogawa told the AP. But he added that he was unsure what the right solution might be. I suppose we all just need to get used to it, he said.

Im Bryan Lynn.

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

_________________________________________

Words in This Story

tourist  n. someone who visits a place for pleasure and does not live there

screen  n. a large, flat surface often used to project pictures or video

manners  n. behaving in a nice and respectful way with other people

trespass  v. to go onto someones land without permission

background  n. parts of a picture that appear behind the main subjectt

ramp up  v. to increase or grow
American college students have been protesting the war in Gaza between Hamas and Israel.

In this weeks Everyday Grammar, we look at a few of the prefixes and words people are using to talk about the protests.

The Merriam-Webster dictionary says a prefix is a letter or group of letters that is added at the beginning of a word to change its meaning. Sometimes we see the prefix separated by a hyphen before the following word. At other times, there is no hyphen. This is often true of words that are often used with a prefix. Here are some very common prefixes:

Pro-

Let us begin with the prefix pro-. This prefix comes from the Latin language. It means forward or before. The word protest combines this prefix with the root word, test. One form of the word test comes from a Latin verb, testari, meaning to witness. You can think of protesting as speaking in front of the public. When we combine pro- with another word in English, it means to be in favor of that thing. Let us take a look at some examples.

The recent student protests started at Columbia University in New York City. In April, the Associated Press (AP) reported:

New York police removed a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Columbia University on Thursday and arrested more than 100 demonstrators.

The students said they are pro-Palestinian because they are calling attention to the situation of the Palestinians in Gaza. One demand of these students is a ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas. Students at some schools have held pro-Israel events and reminded the protesters of the October 7 attack on Israel.

En-

You may have noticed another prefix in our example. The protesters had set up tents, or cloth shelters, on an open green space of the school grounds, or campus. Because these tents are used for camping, the reports call them an encampment. This is a noun formed by adding the prefix en- and the suffix -ment to the verb, camp. The prefix en- means to cause to be. The suffix -ment makes it a noun form.

You may have seen this prefix before in words like enlarge and enrich. Before the letters b, m, or p, it is spelled em- as in empower and embed.

Anti- and counter-

Our next prefix is anti-, which means against someone or something. It is sometimes pronounced /nti/ or /nt/. The United States has had a long history of anti-war protests, and the recent student protests follow that tradition. But another use of this prefix is related to these protests. On April 23, the AP reported that New York University (NYU) said it learned of reports of intimidating chants and several antisemitic incidents.

Antisemitic is a term that describes hatred of Jewish people. Byul Yoon, a student taking part in the protests at NYU, said:

Antisemitism is never OK. Thats absolutely not what we stand for and thats why there are so many Jewish comrades that are here with us today.

Jewish students at other campuses said they were intimidated, or fearful of the protesters. This brings us to a similar prefix, counter-, which means as a reaction against. There have been a number of counter-protests in favor of Israel.

Un-

At the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) on April 30, counter-demonstrators attacked the pro-Palestinian encampment. The AP reported that UCLA President Carol Folt said:

This week, Alumni Park became unsafe.

The prefix un- means the opposite of the word that follows it. So, unsafe is not safe.

Di-

Our final prefix is di- which can mean divided in two, or separate from. Another of the students demands is that the university divest its financial ties to Israel or companies that help support the war. You have probably seen the word invest, which can mean to gain ownership interest in a business. Divest has the opposite meaning: to take away or sell interest in a business. The AP reported that:

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.

Your turn

In this lesson, we have looked at the prefixes pro-, en-, anti-, counter-, un- and di-. The verbs in our examples included protest camp and divest. Write to us about protests you have experienced using one or more of these prefixes and the words that follow. Email us at learningenglish@voanews.com or write to us in the comments.

And thats Everyday Grammar.

Im Jill Robbins.

Jill Robbins wrote this lesson for VOA Learning English.

_______________________________________________

Words in This Story

hyphen  n. a punctuation mark that is used to connect words or parts of words

encampment n. the activity of setting up and maintaining a camp

tent  n. a portable shelter that is used outdoors, is made of cloth (such as canvas or nylon), and is held up with poles and ropes

intimidate  v. to make someone afraid

divest  v. to sell or have taken away (something valuable, such as property or stocks)

Are students protesting in your country? What are they protesting about? Write to us in the Comments Section.
U.S. President Joe Biden said he would suspend a shipment of some weapons to Israel. U.S. officials are concerned about Israels plan to expand a military operation in the Gazan city of Rafah that the Biden administration does not support.

Israeli officials objected to the move on Thursday. Gilad Erdan is Israels Ambassador to the United Nations. He said it was a difficult and very disappointing statement to hear from a president to whom we have been grateful since the beginning of the war.

On Wednesday, Biden spoke to the news network CNN. He said the U.S. would continue to supply Israel with defensive arms, like those that support Israels Iron Dome air defense system.

I made it clear that if they go into Rafah  they havent gone in Rafah yet  if they go into Rafah, Im not supplying the weapons that have been used historically to deal with Rafah, to deal with the cities, that deal with that problem, he said.

Rafah is in the southern part of Gaza. A ground invasion would affect an estimated 1.3 million civilians. Those civilians fled the north and central parts of the territory to seek safety from Israels military offensive following Hamas October 7 attack on Israel.

Biden administration officials have repeatedly said the U.S. will not support an invasion of Rafah unless Israel provides a plan for how it would protect civilians. In an April 4 telephone call, Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he would withhold military aid unless Israel changed the way it is carrying out the war.

Talks on withholding arms began in April as Israel seemed closer to deciding what it would do in Rafah, a Biden administration official told VOA. Since then, the Israelis have not fully addressed our concerns, and the Biden administration made the decision to pause the arms transfer last week.

The shipment was supposed to include 1,800 907-kilogram bombs and 1,700 226-kilogram bombs. The administration said it is mainly concerned with the effects the bombs could have in dense urban settings as we have seen in other parts of Gaza.

The paused shipments include weapons provided for by Congress in earlier legislation. They were not approved in the additional spending law that Congress passed in April.

The pause marks the first time the U.S. used a weapons transfer in an effort to change Israels war policy since Hamas October 7 terror attack.

Mitch McConnell is the Republican Senate Minority Leader. He said Biden gave in to radical voices in his administration. The decision was a shameful abdication of leadership, he said.

Israel receives the most U.S. aid of any country, nearly $4 billion a year. Most of it is in the form of military assistance.

Report to Congress

The administration missed a Wednesday time limit to submit a report to Congress on whether Israel is violating humanitarian law while using U.S.-supplied weapons.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said, We expect to deliver it in the very near future.

In February, Biden directed the departments of state and defense to report to Congress within 90 days. The report is to show whether U.S. partners that were provided with American weapons have followed international and American laws.

These include the so-called Leahy Laws. Those are two measures named for former Senator Patrick Leahy that require the U.S. to cut off assistance to any foreign military or law enforcement group if there is evidence of human rights violations.

Josh Paul is the former director of the State Department agency that deals with weapons transfers. He said the delay could be the result of a serious disagreement, or just regular bureaucracy.

Human rights groups and independent observers have for weeks called for a suspension of American weapons transfers to Israel. They say the weapons have been used in violation of international humanitarian and human rights law.

Im Dan Novak.

Patsy Widakuswara wrote this story for Voice of America. Dan Novak adapted this story for VOA Learning English.

________________________________________________

Words in This Story

address  v. to deal with

transfer v. to cause something to be given from one person or group to another

abdicate  v. to fail to do something that is required or that is your duty

bureaucracy  n. the administration of government departments or of a large organization with many administrative positions
In Kyiv, First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska met with German Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development Svenja Schulze in a sophisticated businesslike manner. They visited the Bogomolets National Medical University to discuss further steps to deepen medical partnership between the two countries.

ADVERTISIMENT

For the official meeting with the doctors, the Ukrainian woman chose a classic black suit that emphasized her confidence and determination. Photos and videos were posted on Olena Zelenska's social media.

The first lady picked up a light shirt on a sunny day. The creamy fabric beautifully set off the skin and blond hair of the wife of the President of Ukraine, adding warmth and friendliness to the image.

At the same time, the black two-piece suit with flared trousers and an elongated jacket symbolized the First Lady's firm and unwavering intentions, her confidence, and strength of spirit.

ADVERTISIMENT

The outfit looked impressive, but at the same time feminine and romantic, as Olena Zelenska wore elegant pointed toe heels, which are currently at the height of fashion.

By the way, she used to wear different shoes  men's style.

Only verified information is available on the OBOZ.UA Telegram channel and Viber. Don't fall for fakes!
This week, during a state visit to Paris, President Xi Jinping announced the extension of visa exemptions for citizens holding ordinary passports from 12 countries until December 31, 2025. The countries included are Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malaysia, the Netherlands, Spain, and Switzerland. This policy allows these nationals to visit China for purposes such as business, tourism, visiting relatives, or transit for up to 15 days without a visa. However, citizens from Portugal, a historic diplomatic partner of China, are yet to be included in the visa-free scheme, which has led to complaints from Lisbon.

Related
Lawmaker Ella Lei has called on the Macau government to take stronger action against a troubling rise in illegal employment of non-resident workers, including cross-border truck drivers and unauthorized photography services.

In a written inquiry, Lei cited complaints from the transportation and logistics sectors about mainland Chinese drivers being employed to carry out delivery work within Macau, despite not holding the proper permits.

This practice affects the operations of local sectors, Lei said, explaining that cross-border driving qualifications only allow workers to transport goods between mainland China and Macau, not within the territory itself.

Lei also highlighted a complaint from a local wedding photographer about non-resident illegal photographers from mainland China and elsewhere openly advertising makeup and photography services in Macau on social media.

This violates the purpose of entering the territory, constituting illegal work, Lei said.

It seriously affects the income of local sectors, such as makeup artists and photographers.

Stressing that such illicit employment undermines local businesses and resident workers, Lei warned it could also lead to other security problems.

The deputy urged the government to increase monitoring and inspection of these hotspots of illegal work and consider revising the law to impose more severe penalties.

The relatively light punishments applied to hiring illegal workers have a limited deterrent effect, Lei said, noting that cases of unlawful employment have spread to more sectors beyond the traditional industries.

The government must act quickly, Lei said, to safeguard the livelihoods of Macau residents and local companies in light of this escalating problem.

Lei has requested the government provide details on measures taken to address illegal cross-border drivers and photographers, including the number of inspections conducted and penalties imposed. She has also called for a review of the law to increase the penalties for illegal hiring.

We need to respond to residents demands to reinforce the fight against illegal work, Lei concluded. Staff Reporter
Torrential rains from Thursday to Sunday may leave more than a dozen rivers in southern China swollen above their flood warning levels, according to the Ministry of Water Resources.

Moderate to heavy rains are expected to fall in some parts of South and Southwest China during the period, as well as some areas in the region south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River, the ministry said in a news release yesterday.

The rainfall may result in deluges in at least five natural water body systems, including the Yangtze and Pearl rivers and the Dongting and Poyang lakes.

The Ganjiang, Fuhe and Xinjiang rivers that empty into the Poyang, for example, are forecast to experience significant increases in their water levels, the ministry noted.

The Xijiang, Liujiang and Guijiang rivers in the Pearl River Basin may also be affected, it added.

The ministry has asked flood control authorities in these areas to roll out precautionary measures, the release said. In particular, they have been asked to take action to cope with floods in medium and small-sized rivers and mountain torrents.

According to the National Meteorological Center, some parts of Hunan, Jiangxi and Fujian provinces may see 40 to 80 milliliters of precipitation from Friday to Sunday. Some areas may experience brief, but heavy downpours, with a maximum hourly precipitation of 20 to 50 mm. Hou Liqiang, China Daily, China Daily
The Minister of Manpower, Ida Fauziyah, has reaffirmed the Indonesian governments commitment to improving the safety and security of Indonesian migrant workers in Macau.

Fauziyah recently visited Macau to meet with Yul Edison, the Indonesian Consul-General to Hong Kong and Macau, to enhance cooperation between Indonesia and the governments of Hong Kong and Macau, particularly in safeguarding Indonesian migrant workers.

Macau is a popular destination for Indonesian migrant workers. Fauziyah emphasized the crucial need to strengthen safeguards for these workers, according to a recent statement issued by the Ministry of Manpower.

Data from March 2024 indicates the Ministry of Manpower has registered 6,501 Indonesian migrant workers in Macau, employed across various sectors including hotels, real estate, business activities, recreation, culture and gaming.

In this regard, during our visit to Macau, we will meet with the Chief Executive of Macau to ask for support for the strengthening of the protection for Indonesian migrant workers in Macau, she stated.

In addition to meeting with the Chief Executive, Fauziyah is scheduled to attend a business-matching event in Hong Kong and disseminate information on job markets and social security programs to Indonesian migrant workers. Howard Tong
Dubai International Chamber has successfully concluded its week-long trade mission to Southeast Asia by arranging 180 bilateral business meetings between 17 companies from Dubai and Vietnam.

The trade mission was organised as part of the New Horizons initiative spearheaded by Dubai International Chamber, which aims to drive the international expansion of Dubai-based businesses in targeted high-potential markets.

The 17 companies operate in Dubai across a diverse range of sectors, including food and beverages, construction, healthcare, information technology, environmental solutions, human resource management, and perfumes and cosmetics.

The mission seeks to build on the significant increase in non-oil bilateral trade between Dubai and Vietnam during 2023, which achieved year-over-year growth of 12.2% to reach a value of AED31.7 billion ($8.63 billion). Non-oil bilateral trade stood at AED28.2 billion in 2022, according to Dubai Customs data. As of the end of last year, a total of 118 Vietnamese companies were registered as members of Dubai Chamber of Commerce.

Special business forum

The first day of the Vietnam leg of the mission featured a special business forum in Ho Chi Minh City titled Doing Business with Vietnam, which was organised by Dubai International Chamber with the support of the Embassy of the United Arab Emirates in Hanoi and in partnership with Vietnams Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Investment & Trade Promotion Centre (ITPC) of Vietnam.

The insightful forum was attended by 238 VIP officials, business leaders, and Vietnamese companies interested in exploring partnership opportunities with members of the chamber's delegation.

During his opening remarks, Mohammad Ali Rashed Lootah, President and CEO of Dubai Chambers, highlighted the strong trade and investment opportunities in Vietnam. He stated: Vietnam holds tremendous growth potential thanks to the countrys favourable economic policies, strong infrastructure, skilled workforce, and strategic location. We are also confident that the upcoming Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Vietnam, as well as our international representative office and trade missions, will significantly strengthen our joint trade relations.

Over 50 delegations

Dr Bader Almatrooshi, Ambassador of the UAE to Vietnam, commented: The relationship between the UAE and Vietnam has been witnessing important developments such as the exchange of more than 50 delegations in various fields last year, including meetings between leaders of the two countries and trade delegations. The UAE is also Vietnam's first trade partner in our region for non-oil products, with an exchange exceeding $8 billion.

He added: The trade forum and accompanying events organised by Dubai International Chamber in Ho Chi Minh City are a clear example of the UAEs desire to seize the opportunities and strengthen trade and investment partnerships with Vietnam, and we look forward to achieving tangible results.

Nguyen Van Dung, Vice Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee in the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, stated that Vietnam is the UAE's largest economic partner in the ASEAN region, and that the UAE is also Vietnam's largest commercial partner in the Middle East and North Africa region.

He highlighted opportunities for Vietnam to benefit from the UAEs knowledge and expertise in sectors including new and renewable energy, logistics, finance, and banking. He further emphasised the important role Vietnam can play in catering to the growing demand in the UAE for products in sectors where Vietnam has competitive advantages such as agricultural and fishery products, processed foods, textiles, garments, leather and footwear, electronics, machinery, and equipment, as well as supporting food security in the UAE.

Range of sectors

Dubai International Chamber has identified a range of sectors that offer export opportunities to Vietnam for Dubai-based companies, including meat; beverages; coffee and spices; and cosmetics and perfumes. High-potential import opportunities from Vietnam to Dubai exist in the furniture sector, nuts, tropical fruits, and coffee sectors. The most promising sectors for investment in Vietnam include sustainable agriculture, construction, tourism, and the food industry.

During his participation in the Business Forum, Salem Al Shamsi, Vice President of Global Markets at Dubai Chambers, delivered an informative presentation on Dubais economic landscape and outlined the numerous competitive advantages the emirate offers for Vietnamese enterprises.

The event also featured a panel discussion, which brought together expert speakers from key economic sectors in Vietnam. The session provided valuable insights on doing business in Vietnam, with speakers sharing their experiences in the local business environment.

This was followed by a series of bilateral business meetings between representatives of companies from Dubai and Vietnam. The second day of the mission continued with additional bilateral business meetings, as well as site visits with several Vietnamese companies.--TradeArabia News Service
Nissans profit for the fiscal year through March jumped 92% to 426.6 billion yen ($2.7 billion) as sales grew in all major global markets except China, the Japanese automaker said yesterday.

Annual sales surged nearly 20% to 12.7 trillion yen ($81.5 billion), Nissan Motor Co. said.

For the January-March quarter, profit at Nissan, based in the port city of Yokohama, edged down slightly to 101.3 billion yen ($650 million) from 106.9 billion yen.

Quarterly sales rose 13% to 3.5 trillion yen ($22 billion) for the maker of the Leaf electric car, Infiniti luxury models and Z sportscars.

Chief Executive Makoto Uchida said Nissan was aiming for further growth under a strategy called The Arc, kicking in from last month, focusing on electric vehicles to boost sales.

We will do this step by step with a balanced product portfolio and by implementing optimal business strategies, he told reporters.

Nissan hopes to maintain its leadership in electric vehicles in the Japanese market with its Ariya sports-utility vehicle. Its new U.S. models include the Armada and Murano SUVs, and the Infiniti QX80 luxury model.

Nissan has said it will mass produce electric vehicles powered by next-generation batteries by early 2029, offering solid-state batteries in a range of models, including pickup trucks.

In March, Nissan and domestic rival Honda Motor Co. said they will work together in developing electric vehicles and auto intelligence technology. When asked by a reporter, Uchida said he could not comment yet beyond the announcement.

Nissan is projecting a 380 billion yen ($2.4 billion) profit for the year through March 2025, down 11% on year, because of development costs that will include support for suppliers.

The cheap yen has generally been a plus for Japanese exporters, including automakers, by raising the value of its overseas earnings when translated into yen.

But Nissan played down the perk, stressing a steady exchange rate was desirable. The cheap yen boosted Nissans operating profit for the fiscal year ended in March by nearly 13%.

Nissan sold 3.44 million vehicles globally for the fiscal year, slightly lower than its projections but better than the 3.3 million vehicles for the year before.

By region, Nissan sales grew in the U.S., Japan and Europe, but dove 24% in China. The Chinese auto market has been challenging amid a price war in a market dominated by locals like BYD, with its strong EV offerings.

Still, Nissan is expecting its global sales to rise to 3.7 million vehicles for the year through March 2025, with sales recovering in China while continuing to grow in North America, Japan and Europe.

Nissan shares finished 0.9% higher in Tokyo trading, which closed before earnings were announced.

YURI KAGEYAMA, TOKYO, MDT/AP
An individual fell victim to a scam orchestrated through a part-time employment website, resulting in a substantial loss of MOP13,000, the Judiciary Police (PJ) has reported.

The victim, in pursuit of prospective job opportunities, ventured into an online chat group known as Macau Resident Part-time Workers. Within this group chat, the victim stumbled upon a seemingly promising job posting. The job appeared to be straightforward, merely requiring the victim to provide their personal phone number for registration purposes, followed by engagement with a website to perform various actions.

Following the instructions provided, the victim actively participated on the website by liking posts and following the specified page. After completion, the website claimed the victim had successfully earned RMB450, purportedly slated for transfer to the victims account. However, an additional step was presented before the transfer could be initiated.

The website requested the victims personal information from their MPay account, including sensitive details such as their password and payment code, along with their personal banking information. The victim complied with the requests, believing this would facilitate the transfer of the promised RMB450.

However, upon checking their account the next day, it became apparent that an alarming sum of MOP13,000 had been illicitly siphoned away from their account and redirected to an unknown recipient.

Worker arrested for stealing jewelry

A female worker in her fifties was arrested May 7 by Public Security Police (PSP) for stealing a gold ring from a jewelry shop.

According to the shop keeper, on the afternoon of May 6, the suspect entered the store and claimed she wanted to buy a ring for her daughter. The shop keeper took a gold ring from the display and let the suspect inspect it.

The suspect said she wanted to wait for her daughter to reply to see if she liked the ring and the shop keeper left her alone to attend to other customers. While waiting, the suspect took the ring and fled the scene.

After the shop keeper reported the incident to the police, officers reviewed the shops security footage. They identified the suspect and arrested her on the afternoon of May 7. The suspect admitted she intentionally stole the ring for her daughter. The ring was recovered from her residence and the suspect has been taken into custody to be charged. Howard Tong
Macaus population reached 686,400 by the close of the first quarter of 2024, according to figures released Wednesday by the Statistics and Census Service (DCSEC).

The population uptick was largely driven by an increase in the number of non-resident workers living in Macau. By the end of the quarter, the number of non-resident workers stood at 179,469, up 2,808 from the previous quarter.

The female population (366,200) continued to outnumber the male population (320,200), accounting for 53.4% of the total.

Although birth rates declined, with 856 live births recorded  a drop of 105 compared to the previous quarter  marriages rose by 96 to 937 in the first three months of the year.

Population movement data showed a decrease of 251 in new arrivals from mainland China with one-way permits, totaling 726. However, the number of individuals newly granted the right of abode increased by 54 to 272 during the period.

Non-resident workers, the largest contributor to Macaus expanding population, benefited the citys labor force but intensified housing demand.

Their growing numbers highlight the citys heavy reliance on migrant labor to power its casino and tourism industries. Experts suggest the trend of increasing non-resident workers is likely to continue, as Macaus robust economy and infrastructure projects drive demand for labor from outside the region. Staff Reporter
SJM Holdings saw a significant increase of 74.5% in its net gaming revenue, amounting to HKD6.46 billion.

In an announcement, the gaming operator highlighted that the groups Adjusted EBITDA rose from HKD31 million in 1Q23 to HKD864 million in 1Q24.

The financial results show that the adjusted EBITDA Margin for 1Q24 showed notable improvement, rising from 0.8% in 1Q23 to 12.5% in the previous quarter.

Meanwhile, the average occupancy rate for the period was 92.5%, compared to 85.5% for the full year of 2023.

The hotel, catering, retail and leasing operations segment also posted a promising growth of 54% in revenue, vis-a-vis the first quarter of 2023.

During the period, market share in terms of gross gaming revenues for Grand Lisboa Palace Resort Macau stood at 2%, and 3.4% for Grand Lisboa Macau, signifying a 1.1% and 0.6% gain respectively year-on-year.

Of particular focus, 1Q2024 Non-Rolling GGR for self-promoted casinos reached 134% of 1Q2019 Non-Rolling GGR.

According to SJM, these robust results not only signal a strong recovery, but also reflect the groups continuous efforts in ramping up its Non-Rolling market segments, as well as the initial promising outcomes from the One Platform initiative launched in late December 2023, which is a new centralized operating and service platform that aims to better manage operating costs and improve cross-property synergies.

The quarter was characterised by strong performance across all our self- promoted properties, in both gaming and non-gaming sectors, remarked Daisy Ho, chairman of SJM Holdings and managing director of SJM Resorts.

We have a full calendar of large-scale international events in the pipeline, designed to amplify SJM and the Lisboa brands visibility on the global stage, she added.
President Xi Jinping arrived in Hungary yesterday [Macau time], the final stop on his five-day European tour, where hes expected to finalize a number of agreements with Prime Minister Viktor Orban that will deepen Chinas economic footprint in the region.

Xi is set to spend two nights in the Hungarian capital Budapest where he will meet with Orban and Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok. Talks will center on future Chinese investments in the Central European country, which has courted deep economic ties with Beijing even as mainstream European leaders have pursued more protectionist policies to limit its reach on the continent.

Orban, a nationalist populist whose illiberal policies have pushed him to the fringes of the European Union, made his country the first in the 27-member bloc to participate in Xis signature Belt and Road Initiative. Hungary has straddled a middle ground between its membership in the EU and NATO and a willingness to establish diplomatic and trade relationships with autocratic governments outside those groupings.

Hungarys foreign minister, Peter Szijjarto, told a news conference earlier this week that Xi and Hungarian officials would sign at least 16 bilateral agreements during the visit, Xis first to the country as president.

Szijjarto called the visit historic, and pointed out that China had provided more foreign investment to Hungary than any other country in 2023. He added that some of the agreements to be signed would involve expansion of Belt and Road in Hungary, and could include investments in infrastructure and energy.

Xis arrival in Budapest came after a two-day visit to Serbias capital Belgrade, where he signed an agreement on building a shared future with the Balkan country which, like Hungary, is considered friendly to Russias Vladimir Putin.

China has claimed neutrality in the Ukraine conflict, but has refused to call the Russian assault an invasion and has been accused of bolstering Russias military capacity. Hungary has condemned the Russian invasion but threatened to block EU sanctions against Moscow and refused to provide Kyiv with military support.

Xi and Orban are likely to discuss the war in Ukraine, Hungarys neighbor to the east. Hungarys government has vocally urged China to take a leading role in brokering peace talks between Russia and Ukraine, and expressed its support for a China-proposed peace plan.

Before Xis arrival, a number of demonstrators gathered in central Budapest to protest his visit and call for autonomy for Tibet, which lies under Chinese control.

We need a good relationship with a great empire, thats not a problem. The problem is that China has a completely different culture, a completely different approach to human rights, Hendrey said. BELA SZANDELSKY, BUDAPEST, MDT/AP
Wisconsins public schools are scrambling for students.

Thanks to a declining birth rate, enrollment in Wisconsin public schools has dropped statewide, falling by as many as 32,000 students between fall 2019 and fall 2022, according to research published last year.

But districts also lose students through open enrollment, which allows parents to apply for their children to attend public school in a district other than the one in which they reside. The application period for next school year ended April 30.

School districts typically resist the notion that they are competing with one another for students. But theres a financial reality: Enrollment is one of the main factors that determines how much money school districts get from the state, and funds follow the student. Open enrollment has serious financial implications for schools.

More than $586 million was transferred between Wisconsin districts due to open enrollment in the 2022-23 school year, according to the Department of Public Instruction.

Its (a) to benefit students to provide a different alternative for them, but then you end up with winners and losers at the district level. So, its just the nature of the beast, said researcher Sarah Kemp, who works in the UW-Madison Applied Population Lab.

Whats happening in Madison?

The use of open enrollment in Wisconsin has increased over time.

More than 41,000 open enrollment applications were submitted to the DPI in 2022-23. Thats up from the 36,000 applications received in 2011-12 and the 7,000 applications submitted more than two decades ago.

For the Madison School District, 657 open enrollment applications were approved to attend school elsewhere for the 2023-24 school year, according to data provided from the district in January.

Just more than 300 applications were approved to transfer into Madison schools via open enrollment. That means the district could be losing out on about 350 students who live within the districts boundaries but are choosing to enroll in school elsewhere.

The number of applications doesnt precisely match the number of students who open enroll, because families can apply to enroll in multiple districts and dont always accept the new placement.

But if those numbers are close for 2023-24, that would indicate an improvement for Madison from the previous school year, according to DPI data. For the 2022-23 school year, Madison schools net loss to other districts was 985 students, based on application numbers.

The DPI report for the current school year hasnt been published yet.

For 2023-24, of the 133 students who previously had enrolled in the Madison School District, were approved to attend elsewhere and said they planned to do so, about 16% planned to leave Kennedy Elementary School, located on Madisons East Side near the Monona Grove boundary.

Students also transferred out of Whitehorse Middle School, which also is near Monona, and Black Hawk Middle School on Madisons North Side more frequently than other locations.

For each regular education student, a uniform, state-set amount is transferred from the resident school district to the nonresident school district. That amount is $8,618 for 2023-24. For the 133 former Madison students who planned to attend elsewhere, that means the school district could be losing out on about $1.15 million.

Other districts

In the 2022-23 school year, Monona Grove schools gained more than 400 students through open enrollment. Verona, Sun Prairie and McFarland schools also all had more students applying to transfer into the district through open enrollment than to transfer out  156, 22 and 3,989 students, respectively. McFarlands number includes applications to its virtual charter school options.

Families may choose to attend another school district through open enrollment for a variety of reasons, Kemp said.

New facilities could attract families, along with specialty academic programs, such as dual-language immersion or full-day 4K. A schools reputation and academic record can attract or repel families.

Sometimes, the decision comes down to the convenience of location.

Jennifer Bussan has open enrolled her daughter, now a high school junior, from Madison into Monona Grove since 4K.

Bussan said she otherwise would have attended Kennedy Elementary and Whitehorse Middle schools, both in the Madison School District. But as a middle school teacher in Monona, Bussan said she was more familiar with the districts offerings than those in Madison.

Plus, having her family split between districts with different schedules would make it hard to take time off and increase her reliance on child care.

My kid has benefited from being in MG (Monona Grove), but Im sure theres things in Madison she would have benefited from, too, Bussan said.

Urban school districts still hurting post-pandemic

Considering student enrollment overall, urban school districts around Wisconsin are still losing more students than rural and suburban districts since the COVID-19 pandemic, Kemp said.

Before 2020, urban schools tended to maintain their enrollment numbers year after year.

Kemp said this shift is primarily due to the already slowing birth rates falling off even more in recent years. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, more students moved to private and homeschooling options.

Another part of the student population seems to have left the states education system altogether.

Students either open enrolled to a different district, or they went to a virtual or private school, or they just disappeared, Kemp said. And its all of the above. So that, I think, really affected urban districts more than any other districts in the state.

Although Dane Countys population is growing, many of the new residents are young and dont have children, Kemp said.

For example, Epic and UW-Madison attract people to the area who likely are not bringing children with them.

Individual school districts may be finding ways to attract and retain students. But, Kemp said, there is no indication that Wisconsin public schools downward enrollment trend overall will turn around.
Judy Giacomina checked into Dane County Regional Airport Thursday morning to travel to Texas on her 40th disaster relief volunteer deployment through the American Red Cross.

Giacomina, a longtime Madisonian, has been an American Red Cross volunteer for 10 years.

For this trip, she is traveling to Smith County in Texas, about 100 miles southeast of Dallas, an area that has dealt with flooding this spring.

Giacomina said the floodwaters are just now beginning to recede, so she plans to stay in Smith County for two weeks to conduct disaster assessments with residents  going from house to house to ask flood victims what they need, and generally assessing the damage done by the weather.

The Red Cross has been feeding and sheltering people in that area, she said. But we have no idea what kind of state they are in.

Giacomina has had different responsibilities with each American Red Cross volunteer deployment, she said, from helping distribute emergency supplies to working to shelter and feed victims of natural disasters all over the country.

How to help

The American Red Cross said its first priority is to provide shelter and support for Texas flood victims, so financial donations are the quickest way to help those in need.

The charity said financial donations help provide not only shelter but also meal relief supplies, emotional support, recovery planning and other assistance.

Visit redcross.org/donate to give money or text REDCROSS to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

People can also volunteer. Go to redcross.org and click on the Volunteer tab. There are options to sign up for urgently needed positions or for positions that are less pressing.
Some 98% of Saudi consumers have changed how they shop for FMCG, with 24% preferring to buy whatever brand is on promotion, according to NielsenIQ, a world-leading consumer intelligence company.

More than half of KSA consumers say they would purchase a product that has innovated to make it as affordable as possible (59%).

There has been a notable shift in consumer behaviour, as preferences have increasingly leaned away from premium market offerings towards more economically priced options within the mainstream or budget-friendly tiers. This evolution in consumer preferences reflects a growing emphasis on financial prudence and the desire for products that meet essential needs without exceeding budgetary constraints.

Digital technology

Interestingly, 23% use digital technology to find the best deals on their preferred brands, but only 17% opt for private-label products. This trend signifies a broader change in purchasing habits, where the allure of premium products has been outweighed by the appeal of affordability and the practical benefits of cost-effective alternatives.

These findings appeared in Consumer Outlook 2024", the latest NielsenIQ Thought Leadership report capturing the mindset and sentiment of consumers around the world.

Over the last two years or more, global consumers have indicated they will seek ways to reduce expenses and prioritize affordability. These intentions are driving real impact; the whole structure of global pricing has experienced a small shift in favour of lower price tiers. Saudi Arabian consumers are progressively leaning into selections that prioritise cost-efficiency, reflecting a broader move towards purchasing practices focused on value. This development highlights a rising focus on affordability in product offerings, pricing models, and buying patterns. Even amidst this trend towards cost sensitivity, there's a persistent demand for high-quality, premium items, especially those offering significant health and wellness benefits, explains Pavlos Pavlou, NielsenIQ Managing Director in Saudi Arabia.

Other key findings

Although cost of living remains top of mind, 71% are optimistic their financial situation will be better by the end of 2024. Concurrently, job security sentiment has also improved by 4 percentage points compared to the previous quarters.

Healthy living is the top life priority influencing consumers: about a third of consumers want to build, maintain or improve their health and wellness, while 63% would try a new product because it is better for their health.

More than half of KSA consumers (56%) would choose a product or service because it has sustainable credentials, while about the same would purchase a product that has innovated to make it as affordable as possible (59%).

More than a third of consumers prefer shopping often and at discount/value stores (37%), while 24% of consumers prefer to buy whatever brand is on promotion.--TradeArabia News Service
Pro-Palestinian student protesters at UW-Madison agreed Friday to dismantle their illegal encampment on Library Mall and refrain from disrupting this weekends commencement after campus officials agreed to several of their demands, including helping students present their concerns to decision-makers about how the universitys endowment is invested.

The agreement was the result of a week of week discussions between UW-Madison administrators and representatives of Students for Justice in Palestine at UW-Madison. According to the document, the administration affirms that it supports peaceful student protest and that it appreciates that the encampment, named by SJP the Gaza Solidarity Encampment, although in violation of Chapter 18, was motivated by understandably passionate feelings about the devastation in Gaza.

The SJP group also has committed to following UWMadison rules in its future activities, said the statement, which also acknowledged the support they received from their faculty liaisons.

Camping on university property is prohibited by campus rules and state law.

The mood was somber midafternoon Friday as a few dozen students  their group much diminished from the hundreds that at times filled the mall since the tents started to go up April 29 to protest the war in Gaza  began to take down the encampment and looked for places to dispose of trash.

Still, many tents still remained as students held a 5:30 p.m. press conference to discuss the agreement with the university. As the 6 p.m. deadline approached, representatives pulled the tent poles from 11 tents, dropping them one by one as they named 11 Palestinian universities that had been bombed or destroyed during the conflict.

We are taking down our encampment slowly and deliberately to ensure we can responsibly redistribute our materials, which are generally donated by our grassroots coalition of supporters to community members in need, said student Dahlia Saba, one of the protest organizers, at the press conference.

We are making a plan to donate our remaining funds to support the people of Gaza. From this encampment, we have learned the importance of keeping our university accountable to the broader community, both locally and internationally.

Saba said the group would continue to fight for divestment, although the immediate agreement did not accomplish that.

We are committed to using the gains and the knowledge weve established through this process to grow the strength of our movement going forward, she said.

Fridays agreement with administrators did not include some of the demands previously voiced by student protesters, as well as separate demands from a group of Jewish and Israeli students who met with UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin earlier in the week.

The agreement

In exchange for students removing all tents and materials associated with the encampment by Friday evening and agreeing not to disrupt any university activities, the university administration agreed:

To facilitate access to relevant decision-makers at the Wisconsin Foundation and Alumni Association by July 1 for SJP to present student concerns about how the universitys endowment is invested. If SJP so wishes, Chancellor Mnookin will attend a meeting with those decision-makers solely to emphasize the importance of listening to your concerns and requests, according to the agreement.

To work with SJP to enhance its engagement with and support for scholars and students impacted by war, violence, occupation and displacement, including in places such as Gaza and Ukraine. Specifically, by the end of the fall semester the International Division will conduct a review of existing projects, such as experiential learning, study abroad and internship programs that engage with places and people impacted by war, violence and displacement and look for ways to grow those engagements.

To invite at least one scholar from a Palestinian university for each of the next three academic years to UW-Madison; to provide more support for students impacted by war, violence and displacement; and to add a staff member to the Division of Student Affairs to focus on that population.

The agreement states that campus administrators will ask University of Wisconsin Police to use discretion in its review of individual cases related to the May 1st law enforcement efforts to remove the encampment. More than 30 people were arrested May 1 as the pro-Palestinian encampment on Library Mall was largely dismantled by police. Protesters returned to erect even more tents on the same site just a few hours later.

University administrators also agreed to ask the Office of Student Conduct and Community Standards to consider the students agreement to end the encampment and to follow rules regarding protests in the future as a favorable mitigating factor when considering possible discipline of students.

Long road to deal

Graduating senior Ben Newman, a journalism student who describes himself as an active member of the Jewish community on campus, said Friday that he and many students he knows are grateful that the agreement contains no major concessions to the encampment organizers.

However, this agreement comes from a chain of events in which the university really refused to enforce existing policies, said Newman, who was among the Jewish and Israeli students who met with Mnookin earlier this week.

We are deeply disappointed that the university allowed the encampment to go on for as long as it did, and failed to use their power of moral suasion as they have in the past when there were other incidents, such as last spring where there was an incident of a student who used a racist word, the n-word, off campus. The university was very quick to condemn that, he said.

With the encampment, Ten days in and with very clear examples of antisemitic harassment, we have heard no such equivalent accommodation and were left to wonder if the university cares less about us, Newman said.

In a message sent to UW-Madison students and employees Friday, Mnookin praised staff and students who negotiated the agreement as well those who shared diverse viewpoints.

The chancellor also addressed balancing free speech with university procedures, stating that we must hold on to our commitment to free speech, which does and must include our adherence to the rules, laws and policies that ensure that the space of dialogue is open to all.

The full text of the UW-Madison agreement with SJP is at go.madison.com/uw-madison-SJP.
Chrystul Kizer, the Milwaukee woman accused of killing a Kenosha man in June 2018, pleaded guilty Thursday morning in Kenosha County Circuit Court.

Kizer, 23, was accused of killing 34-year-old Randall Volar, who prosecutors said had been preying on Kizer and other underage girls. Volar also had been under investigation for producing child pornography and sexual abuse.

Kizer had argued that Volar had been molesting her and selling her as a prostitute over the year leading up to his death. She told detectives that she shot him after he tried to touch her.

Kizer was 17 when she was charged with shooting Volar in the head twice, setting his house on fire and taking his car.

She pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree reckless homicide, a Class D felony that carries a possible sentence of up to 25 years of imprisonment and thousands of dollars in fines.

As part of her plea agreement, Kizer admitted that she used a gun to criminally and recklessly cause Volar's death.

Prosecutors initially had charged her with first-degree intentional homicide, a Class A felony that carries a mandatory life sentence upon conviction. Additional charges of taking a vehicle without the owner's consent, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and felony bail jumping were dismissed.

A charge of arson of a building also was dismissed but will be read in during sentencing Aug. 19.

A jury trial had been scheduled for next month.

High-profile case

In 2022, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin ruled that Kizer would be able to use "an affirmative defense for any offense committed as a direct result" of having been trafficked.

In 2020, activists raised the $400,000 needed to satisfy her cash bond and get her out of jail, and argued in legal briefs that trafficking victims often feel they must take matters into their own hands against abusers.

Earlier this year, Kizer fled the state after facing five felony bail jumping charges stemming from a domestic incident in Milwaukee. She was apprehended in Louisiana.

As part of the plea agreement, all the 2024 charges were dismissed, but one bail jumping count will be read in during sentencing.

Last month, Judge David Wilk raised Kizer's cash bond to $750,000 and she was taken back into custody.

Kizer appeared Thursday in court wearing an orange prison jumpsuit with defense attorneys Greg Holdahl and Helmi Hamad.

District Attorney Michael Graveley and Assistant District Attorney Zachary Brost appeared for the state.

Graveley said the plea deal had been discussed "for months and months" and that a pre-sentencing report will be provided to the court.

"We want to see the pre-sentence and certainly our plan at this point is to recommend prison based on the conduct," he said. "But what specifically the pre-sentence says will matter in terms of what happens."

Wilk said he "can consider the read in charges" before handing down a sentence.

Graveley said he hopes Volar's and Kizer's families to "get closure" and "have a chance to have these facts be facts that are sort of shared in a way that finally allows people to understand what the facts are and then to make their own judgements."

When questioned about the money used to meet the $400,000 cash bond, Graveley said portions of it will be used "for transportation costs" to retrieve Kizer after she fled to Louisiana.

"The funeral costs of Mr. Volar will be covered," he said. "Probably the cost of the house that the defendant lit on fire in the arson count will be accounted for. All of that is statutorily required for the bond money."

Graveley said that he will ask than any remaining money be forfeited, which would require a separate hearing.

Kizer's defense team was not immediately available for comment.
An attendant serves coffee in Jollibee Groups flagship brand for coffee and tea, The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf , which emerged as top cafe for customer satisfaction in Kuwait in the 2023 Service Hero Customer Satisfaction Index Awards. CBTL has 73 cafes in Kuwait and is looking to reach 100 cafes by 2025.
A representative with the Ollies Bargain Store company confirmed to The McDowell News that one of their stores will open later this year in Marion.

Recently, Woodcrest Capital, LLC of Fort Worth, Texas, posted on its website a plan for the Marion City Square which shows an Ollies coming to the former BI-LO supermarket building. The development of Woodland Capitals real estate holdings includes the Marion City Square shopping center, which has many vacant spaces. Foremost among these is the old BI-LO, which has stood empty for several years. The plan on the companys website lists various available spaces for rent at the shopping center but shows that an Ollies is coming there.

On Friday, Tom Kuypers, a marketing official with Ollies Bargain Store company, confirmed to The McDowell News that an Ollies store will open there and the goal is to have it ready by November.

Founded in 1982, Ollies Bargain Outlet is a chain of discount retail stores. On its website, Ollies describes itself as Americas largest retailer of closeout merchandise and excess inventory. Our 514 semi-lovely stores sell merchandise of all descriptions and some beyond description.

Kuypers said Ollies stores typically hire around 40 to 50 employees, both full time and part time.

We are expanding across the country, he said. North Carolina is a market we have been in for a while.

Ollies now has 34 stores in North Carolina. The closest one to Marion is in Morganton.

We are excited about the market, Kuypers told The McDowell News. We are excited about the town and we are looking forward to bringing our business there.
Nigerias Senate has proposed a significant increase in penalties for drug trafficking, suggesting the death penalty as the new maximum sentence through a proposed amendment to the law. This amendment, which is yet to be enacted, replaces the previous harshest punishment of life imprisonment. Nigeria, home to over 200 million people and the most populous country in Africa has transitioned in recent years from being a mere transit point for illegal drugs to a nation involved in production, consumption, and distribution.

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control notes widespread opioid abuse in Nigeria, particularly with drugs like tramadol and codeine-containing cough syrups, leading to a ban on codeine cough syrup production and importation in 2018. While cannabis is locally cultivated, other narcotics such as cocaine and methamphetamine are trafficked through the country alongside opioids, contributing to a growing addiction issue.

The Senates proposed legislation originated from a report presented by Senator Mohammed Monguno during Thursdays plenary session, based on findings from Senate committees on judiciary, human rights and legal matters, and drugs and narcotics. Proponents argue that the threat of execution would serve as a stronger deterrent to drug traffickers compared to life imprisonment. However, opponents of the measure express concerns about the irreversible nature of the death penalty and the potential for wrongful convictions.

The bill, which was previously passed by the House of Representatives without the death penalty provision, will require coordination between five selected members of both the Senate and the House to reconcile the two versions before it can be sent to the president for approval.
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: cottonbro studio from Pexels

Measuring the total mass of fat in the arms could potentially predict which women and men over 50 are at risk of spinal fracture, according to research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology, held 1114 May, in Stockholm. The findings may help identify high-risk individuals with a more simple and inexpensive method and influence the design of their exercise plans.

Osteoporosis is a common disease among older people, but is also among the most undiagnosed and untreated medical conditions in the world. Many people do not have noticeable symptoms of osteoporosis until they experience an injury or fracture, which most often occurs in the spineknown as spinal or vertebrae fractures.

Imaging techniques, such as dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA), are used to measure bone mineral density (BMD), while trabecular bone score (TBS) assesses the quality of bone and predicts new fractures independently of BMD. However, the effect body fat has on bone health is still unclear.

To investigate this, researchers from the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens in Greece examined 14 men and 101 women, without osteoporosis and with an average age of about 62, and found that those with excess body fatirrespective of their body mass index (BMI)had low bone quality (low TBS) in their spine. What's more, the more belly fat located deep inside the abdomen and around internal organs, the lower the quality of the spine's spongy bone (or trabecular bone).

The researchers then looked at the distribution of body fat under the skin and discovered that individuals with higher fat mass in the arms were more likely to have lower bone quality and strength in the spine.

"Surprisingly, we identified, for the first time, that the body composition of the armsin particular, the fat mass of the armsis negatively associated with the bone quality and strength of the vertebrae," said senior author Professor Eva Kassi.

"This could mean that the arm's subcutaneous fat, which can be easily estimated even by the simple and inexpensive skin-fold caliper method, may emerge as a useful index of bone quality of the spine, possibly predicting the vertebrae fracture risk."

She added, "It should be noted that visceral fatwhich we found to be strongly correlated with low bone qualityis the hormonally more active component of the total body fat. It produces molecules called adipocytokines that provoke a low-grade inflammation, so the increased inflammatory status plausibly poses a negative impact on bone quality."

Professor Kassi acknowledges that larger studies are needed to confirm the link between arm fat and spinal fracture risk. "Although our results remain robust after controlling for age and weight, we will now increase the number of participants and expand the age range by including younger adults between the ages of 30 and 50 years old, as well as more men," she said.

"Moreover, using the loss of arm fat mass as a marker, we will try to determine the most effective physical exercise routine that not only targets the visceral fat but also focuses on the upper part of the body so that these higher-risk adults lose arm fat and achieve a favorable effect on vertebrae bone quality."

Provided by European Society of Endocrinology
Emirates has signed an expanded two-way interline partnership with Saudi carrier flynas in a move aimed at opening up connections and more travel choices for flynas customers via Dubai.

Emirates current interline with flynas provides its customers with enhanced connectivity via its four gateways: Riyadh, Jeddah, Madinah, and Dammam, to over 15 domestic points in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

It also includes the convenience of single ticket itineraries with onwards booking and baggage transfers.

With the expansion of the interline to a bilateral arrangement, flynas customers can connect across any of Emirates gateways in the Kingdom to a select roster of onward destinations on the airlines network in the Far East, West Asia & Indian Ocean and Europe, via Dubai, said senior officials at the signing ceremony held on the sidelines of the Arabian Travel Market (ATM), in Dubai.

The agreement was signed by Emirates Deputy President and Chief Commercial Officer Adnan Kazim and flynas Group CEO & Managing Director Bander Almohanna in the presence of senior officials including Emirates Airline & Group Chairman and Chief Executive Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and flynas Chairman Ayed Al Jeaid.

On the strategic tieup, Almohanna said: "We are quite pleased to offer more choices to our customers through Emirates' wide network."

"Once the expanded interline partnership is activated, customers will be able to book their travel on the flynas website, through online travel agencies as well as with local travel agents," he noted.

Kazim pointed out that the existing flynas links provided its customers with an array of possibilities to travel smoothly across the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in particular to business hubs and emerging leisure and cultural destinations.

"Connecting our networks solidifies our commitment to offering travellers in Saudi Arabia access to even more destinations and helping them benefit from unique travel options," he stated.

"The expansion of our interline agreement demonstrates our commitment to Saudi Arabia, and this is only the beginning. We look forward to exploring more opportunities to widen the scope of our partnership in the future," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

As a new virus takes center stage at the heart of a global outbreak, it's easy to get flashbacks of March 2020.

Now more than four years after the world was rocked by a pandemic, H5N1, or avian or bird flu, has exploded in bird and livestock populations, and at least one human case has been confirmed by health officials.

This isn't the first time.

There have been major outbreaks around the world in the recent past, including four from 2014 to 2017, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So what makes this time different, and at what point should you be concerned?

Here are five things you should know about bird flu.

What type of virus is it and how does it spread?

H5N1 comes from a group of four flu, or influenza, viruses: A, B, C and D. The strain called bird flu is an influenza A virus and gets its name because wild birds such as gulls, ducks geese and other waterfowl act as hosts for the virus.

Avian influenza is considered either low pathogenic (LPAI) or highly pathogenic (HPAI), determined by how serious the infection is, according to the CDC.

Most avian influenza cases are low pathogenic, causing only a few infections. Sometimes, however, the LPAI can mutate and become a HPAI.

Highly pathogenic avian influenza in chickens, for example, impacts internal organs and has a 90100% mortality rate in just 48 hours after infection, according to the CDC.

Both LPAI and HPAI can spread rapidly through bird populations, and both have been known to infect species other than birds.

The current strain is considered highly pathogenic.

H5N1 is spread from animal to animal through saliva, mucus and feces, or through the contact of bodily fluids, the CDC says. It can also be spread in water droplets then come in contact with eyes, the nose or mouth.

Can humans get bird flu?

Yes, cases of bird flu have been reported in humans, but they are incredibly rare and usually associated with mild symptoms.

In the United States, only two human cases have been reported in recent years, one in 2022, and one this year from a dairy worker in Texas, according to health officials.

On April 1, the Texas Department of State Health Services announced a worker had conjunctivitis, or pink eye, a common symptom of H5N1 in humans, and they later tested positive for the virus.

This has been the only confirmed human case in the U.S. as part of the most recent outbreak.

In the past, 1,500 people in China tested positive for H7N9, another strain of low pathogenic avian influenza, between 2013 and 2017, and the cases spread to Hong Kong, Macau, Malaysia, Taiwan and Canada, according to the CDC. Some included in the outbreak had no symptoms at all, but others experienced upper respiratory tract infections leading to hospitalizations, 40% of which were fatal.

Various smaller outbreaks and cases have been reported over the past few decades.

What animals have been infected with bird flu?

According to data published by the CDC from the first week of May, 48 states have reported bird flu outbreaks in poultry, which includes chickens and other domesticated birds.

More than 90 million poultry birds have been impacted, as well as 9,349 wild birds across 50 jurisdictions.

Infections have also spread to dairy cattle across nine states, infecting 36 herds, CDC data shows. This was likely caused by birds flying over the herds, and not from direct contact, health officials said.

Outside of agriculture, there have been reported H5N1 cases in 19 mammal species across the U.S. as of May 7, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Skunks and red foxes have reported the most cases, and the cases are predominantly in the northern half of the U.S. and Alaska, data shows.

Are animal products safe to eat?

Bird flu cases are mainly restricted to commercial poultry and cattle, data shows.

Eggs, meat, cheese and milk that are sold commercially are safe to eat, according to Harvard Medical School.

Fragments of bird flu, which is not the same as active live virus, have been found in about 20% of the commercial milk supply, Harvard says, but there is no indication that the fragments could infect humans.

Could bird flu become a human pandemic?

The short answer is that it is too soon to tell. Concern from health officials is low, but growing as the virus continues to spread.

"While the current public health risk is low, CDC is watching the situation carefully and working with states to monitor people with animal exposures," the agency said.

The spread of the virus in cattle is more likely to increase human exposure as dairy workers come in closer contact with the animals, Time Magazine reports, but unlike COVID-19 that spreads easily from person to person, H5N1 is not as transmissible.

"The spread of bird flu viruses from one infected person to a close contact is very rare, and when it has happened, it has only spread to a few people. However, because of the possibility that bird flu viruses could change and gain the ability to spread easily between people, monitoring for human infection and person-to-person spread is extremely important for public health," the CDC says.

2024 The Charlotte Observer. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Unsplash/CC0 Public Domain

Male rats exposed to moderate and repeated stress during adolescence may have reduced fertility, according to research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology, held 11-14 May, in Stockholm. This study sheds light on the harmful effects that early-life stress has on health and could help to uncover future prevention strategies for children and adolescents.

While hormone levels fluctuate pathologicallyespecially during life stages such as pubertystress can cause too much or too little of a hormone in the bloodstream. This hormonal imbalance negatively impacts puberty and the reproduction system, with effects on libido, ovulation function and sperm cell production. However, the long-term reproductive effects of chronic stress in adolescents are largely unknown.

In this study, researchers from the V.P. Komisarenko Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism of the National Academy of Medical Science of Ukraine, examined male and female rats, aged 6 months, after individually placing about half of them in enclosed spaces for one hour every morning for two weeks during adolescence (3045 days old).

They compared the rats who had been exposed to these stressful conditions to the control group and found that chronic stress during puberty delayed sexual maturity in females, and males gained weight more slowly. In adult males, sperm count fell by 25.9%, some sperm were abnormally shaped and sluggish or became immobile, and the breathing process by which sperm cells derive energy slowed down. Additionally, males had almost two times lower levels of corticosteronethe main stress hormone in rats, equivalent to cortisol in humans.

"Our work is the first to report to show that even moderate and repetitive stress in adolescence has a long-lasting negative impact on the endocrine system of reproduction and adaptation of the body to changing living conditions," said lead investigator, Professor Aleksander Reznikov.

"Our results make it possible to predict the development of anomalies in reproduction and bodily adaptation systems and are the basis for finding methods for their prevention."

Professor Reznikov added, "We discovered for the first time that lipid peroxidation (a process in which oxidants like free radicals attack lipid membranes of cells and eventually damage them) in the ovaries and testes was significantly increased. This, however, needs further investigation."

Provided by European Society of Endocrinology
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

Cass Smith-Collins jumped through hoops to get the surgery that would match his chest to his gender.

Living in Las Vegas and then 50, he finally felt safe enough to come out as a transgender man. He had his wife's support and a doctor's letter showing he had a long history of gender dysphoria, the psychological distress felt when one's sex assigned at birth and gender identity don't match.

Although in-network providers were available, Smith-Collins selected Florida-based surgeon Charles Garramone, who markets himself as an early developer of female-to-male top surgery and says that he does not contract with insurance. Smith-Collins said he was willing to pay more to go out-of-network.

"I had one shot to get the chest that I should have been born with, and I wasn't going to chance it to someone who was not an expert at his craft," he said.

Smith-Collins arranged to spend a week in Florida and contacted friends there who could help him recover from the outpatient procedure, he said.

Garramone's practice required that the patient agree to its financial policies, according to documents shared by Smith-Collins. One document stated that "full payment" of Garramone's surgical fees is required four weeks in advance of surgery and that all payments to the practice are "non-refundable."

Smith-Collins said he and his wife dipped into their retirement savings to cover the approximately $14,000 upfront. With prior authorization from his insurer in hand saying the procedure would be "covered," he thought his insurance would reimburse anything he paid beyond his out-of-pocket maximum for out-of-network care: $6,900.

The day before surgery, Smith-Collins signed another agreement from the surgeon's practice, outlining how it would file an out-of-network claim with his insurance. Any insurance payment would be received by the doctor, it said.

The procedure went well. Smith-Collins went home happy and relieved.

Then the bill came. Or in this case: The reimbursement didn't.

The Patient: Cass Smith-Collins, now 52, who has employer-based coverage through UnitedHealthcare.

Medical Services: Double-incision top surgery with nipple grafts, plus lab work.

Service Provider: Aesthetic Plastic Surgery Institute, doing business as The Garramone Center, which is owned by Garramone, according to Florida public records.

Total Bill: The surgeon's practice billed the patient and insurance a total of $120,987 for his work. It charged the patient about $14,000 upfront  which included $300 for lab work and a $1,000 reservation fee  and then billed the patient's insurer an additional $106,687.

The surgeon later wrote the patient that the upfront fee was for the "cosmetic" portion of the surgery, while the insurance charge was for the "reconstructive" part. Initially, the insurer paid $2,193.54 toward the surgeon's claim, and the patient received no reimbursement.

After KFF Health News began reporting this story, the insurer reprocessed the surgeon's claim and increased its payment to the practice to $97,738.46. Smith-Collins then received a reimbursement from Garramone of $7,245.

What Gives: Many patients write to Bill of the Month each year with their own tangled billing question. In many cases  including this one  the short answer is that the patient misunderstood their insurance coverage.

Smith-Collins was in a confusing situation. UnitedHealthcare said his out-of-network surgery would be "covered," then it later told Smith-Collins it didn't owe the reimbursement he had counted on. Then, after KFF Health News began reporting, he received a reimbursement.

Adding to the confusion were the practice's financial polices, which set a pre-surgery payment deadline, gave the doctor control of any insurance payment, and left the patient vulnerable to more bills (though, fortunately, he received none).

Agreeing to an out-of-network provider's own financial policy  which generally protects its ability to get paid and may be littered with confusing insurance and legal jargon  can create a binding contract that leaves a patient owing. In short, it can put the doctor in the driver's seat, steering the money.

The agreement Smith-Collins signed the day before surgery says that the patient understands he is receiving out-of-network care and "may be responsible for additional costs for all services provided" by the out-of-network practice.

Federal billing protections shield patients from big, out-of-network bills  but not in cases in which the patient knowingly chose out-of-network care. Smith-Collins could have been on the hook for the difference between what his out-of-network doctor and insurer said the procedure should cost: nearly $102,000.

Emails show Smith-Collins had a couple of weeks to review a version of the practice's out-of-network agreement before he signed it. But he said he likely hadn't read the entire document because he was focused on his surgery and willing to agree to just about anything to get it.

"Surgery is an emotional experience for anyone, and that's not an ideal time for anyone to sign a complex legal agreement," said Marianne Udow-Phillips, a health policy instructor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

Udow-Phillips, who reviewed the agreement, said it includes complicated terms that could confuse consumers.

Another provision in the agreement says the surgeon's upfront charges are "a separate fee that is not related to charges made to your insurance."

Months after his procedure, having received no reimbursement, Smith-Collins contacted his surgeon, he said. Garramone replied to him in an email, explaining that UnitedHealthcare had paid for the "reconstructive aspect of the surgery"  while the thousands of dollars Smith-Collins paid upfront was for the "cosmetic portion."

Filing an insurance claim had initially led to a payment for Garramone, but no refund for Smith-Collins.

Garramone did not respond to questions from KFF Health News for this article or to repeated requests for an interview.

Smith-Collins had miscalculated how much his insurance would pay for an out-of-network surgeon.

Documents show that before the procedure Smith-Collins received a receipt from Garramone's practice marked "final payment" with a zero balance due, as well as prior authorization from UnitedHealthcare stating that the surgery performed by Garramone would be "covered."

But out-of-network providers aren't limited in what they can charge, and insurers don't have a minimum they must pay.

An explanation of benefits, or EOB, statement shows Garramone submitted a claim to UnitedHealthcare for more than $106,000. Of that, UnitedHealthcare determined the maximum it would pay  known as the "allowed amount"  was about $4,400. A UnitedHealthcare representative later told Smith-Collins in an email that the total was based on what Medicare would have paid for the procedure.

Smith-Collins' upfront charges of roughly $14,000 went well beyond the price the insurer deemed fair, and UnitedHealthcare wasn't going to pay the difference. By UnitedHealthcare's math, Smith-Collins' share of its allowed amount was about $2,200, which is what counted toward his out-of-pocket costs. That meant, in the insurer's eyes, Smith-Collins still hadn't reached his $6,900 maximum for the year, so no refund.

Neither UnitedHealthcare nor the surgeon provided KFF Health News with billing codes, making it difficult to compare the surgeon's charges to cost estimates for the procedure.

Garramone's website says his fee varies depending on the size and difficulty of the procedure. The site says his prices reflect his experience and adds that "cheaper" may lead to "very poor results."

Though he spent more than he expected, Smith-Collins said he'll never regret the procedure. He said he had lived with thoughts of suicide since youth, having realized at a young age that his body didn't match his identity and feared others would target him for being trans.

"It was a lifesaving thing," he said. "I jumped through whatever hoops they wanted me to go through so I could get that surgery, so that I could finally be who I was."

The Resolution: Smith-Collins submitted two appeals with his insurer, asking UnitedHealthcare to reimburse him for what he spent beyond his out-of-pocket maximum. The insurer denied both appeals, finding its payments were correct based on the terms of his plan, and said his case was not eligible for a third, outside review.

But after being contacted by KFF Health News, UnitedHealthcare reprocessed Garramone's roughly $106,000 claim and increased its payment to the practice to $97,738.46.

Maria Gordon Shydlo, a UnitedHealthcare spokesperson, told KFF Health News the company's initial determination was correct, but that it had reprocessed the claim so that Smith-Collins is "only" responsible for his patient share: $6,755.

"We are disappointed that this non-contracted provider elected to charge the member so much," she said.

After that new payment, Garramone gave Smith-Collins a $7,245 refund in mid-April.

The Takeaway: Udow-Phillips, who worked in health insurance for decades and led provider services for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, said she had never seen a provider agreement like the one Smith-Collins signed.

Patients should consult a lawyer before signing any out-of-network agreements, she said, and they should make sure they understand prior authorization letters from insurers.

The prior authorization Smith-Collins received "doesn't say covered in full, and it doesn't say covered at what rate," Udow-Phillips said, adding later, "I am sure [Smith-Collins] thought the prior authorization was for the cost of the procedure."

Patients can seek in-network care to feel more secure about what insurance will cover and what their doctors might charge.

But for those who have a specific out-of-network doctor in mind, there are ways to try to avoid sticker shock, said Sabrina Corlette, a research professor and co-director of the Center on Health Insurance Reforms at Georgetown University:

Patients should always ask insurers to define what "covered" means, specifically whether that means payment in full and for what expenses. And before making an upfront payment, patients should ask their insurer how much of that total it would reimburse.

Patients also can ask their provider to agree in advance to accept any insurance reimbursement as payment in full, though there's no requirement that they do so.

And patients can try asking their insurer to provide an exact dollar estimate for their out-of-pocket costs and ask if they are refundable should insurance pick up the tab.

2024 Kaiser Health News. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

The Sanofi-Novavax vaccine deal is worth up to $1.2 billion.

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi and struggling US rival Novavax announced Friday an alliance to sell a COVID vaccine and develop another that combines with a flu shot.

Under a licensing deal worth up to $1.2 billion, the companies will co-commercialize Novavax's COVID-19 vaccine worldwide, except in some countries including India, Japan and South Korea, where the US firm already has partnership agreements.

Novavax will receive an upfront payment of $500 million and up to $700 million if it reachers certain milestones while Sanofi will take a five percent stake in the US company.

Sanofi will book sales of Novavax's protein-based COVID-19 vaccine from 2025.

The French group will be able to develop a combination flu-COVID vaccine using its own flu shots with the US company's COVID jab.

The announcement comes as pharmaceutical companies have reported drops in sales for COVID vaccines.

Novavax, which is highly dependent on its COVID vaccine, raised doubts last year about its ability to continue its business.

The Maryland-based firm was an early frontrunner in the global vaccine race, but fell behind after being hit by manufacturing and regulatory delays.

For Sanofi, the deal is a chance to develop a combination flu-COVID jab.

"With flu and COVID-19 hospital admission rates now closely mirroring each other, we have an opportunity to develop non-mRNA flu-COVID-19 combination vaccines offering patients both enhanced convenience and protection against two serious respiratory viruses," said Jean-Francois Toussaint, Sanofi's global head of vaccine research and development.

 2024 AFP
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

According to the data of the Kobe University research team, the HIV substrain dominant in Southeast Asia was brought to Thailand around 1977, from where it started to spread through this part of the world. The virus was brought to Indonesia at least three different times, sometimes via different countries such as Vietnam and Laos. And while it was mostly Thai substrains that spread to other parts of the world, it was an Indonesian substrain that moved on to Iran. Credit: S.Q. Khairunisa et al.

The HIV variant dominant in Indonesia was introduced from Thailand over multiple events. A Kobe University study traces where it came from and how it spread from there, offering possible insights into the development of treatments against the disease.

The study appears in Scientific Reports.

HIV is the virus causing AIDS, but one of the things that makes it so difficult to treat is that there are many variants of it. Kobe University virologist Kameoka Masanori says, "The diversity is increasing every day and the prevalent virus strains differ from region to region around the world."

Knowing which variants of the virus are prevalent in a given region and how it spreads from one to another is relevant not only to better trace the epidemic, but also to ensure that treatments are deployed against those variants that are most likely to occur in any given region.

In Indonesia, the fourth-most populous country on Earth, only a third of the affected have access to anti-HIV drugs, and little is known about the circulating strains.

"Indonesia is recognized as one of the countries where the HIV/AIDS pandemic is still expanding. Kobe University has established a joint research center for infectious diseases at the Institute of Tropical Diseases at the Universitas Airlangga, Indonesia, and so we decided to decode the viral genome from blood samples of individuals infected with HIV-1 (out of the two main HIV types, the one causing the vast majority of AIDS cases worldwide) around the country to clarify the viral transmission trends," explains Kameoka.

The researchers' findings show that all of the analyzed viruses belonged to a strain called CRF01_AE, first identified in Thailand. But their detailed analysis shows that from there, the virus was brought to Indonesia at least three different times, sometimes via different countries such as Vietnam and Laos. And while it was Thai substrains that spread to most of Southeast Asia and also to other parts of the world, it was an Indonesian substrain that moved on to Iran.

In the paper, the researchers write, "As a country with a high incidence of HIV-1 infection in Southeast Asia, Indonesia may contribute to the spread of HIV to other Asian countries."

With their data, the Kobe University research team could trace the timeline of the spread of the CRF01_AE strain. Having originally emerged in Africa, it probably was brought to Thailand around 1977, from where it started to spread through Southeast Asia.

It probably first entered Indonesia around 1980, then again via Laos around 1983 and via Vietnam around 1985. Only then, in 1985, it was recorded for the first time, in Thailand. According to the WHO, it has been the dominant strain of HIV in Southeast Asia since 1990, and has become the dominant strain in East Asia, including China and Japan, in the last decade.

Kameoka says, "I personally believe that it is important to constantly monitor and accumulate information on viral genome genetic information in endemic areas, as viruses causing infectious diseases can change their properties due to genetic variation. Such information could also be useful for control and countermeasures against infectious diseases by estimating epidemic routes and transmission trends."

More information: Spatialtemporal transmission dynamics of HIV-1 CRF01_AE in Indonesia, Scientific Reports (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41598-024-59820-y Journal information: Scientific Reports
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

Panera Bread announced May 8 that it's phasing out its highly caffeinated "Charged Lemonade" drinks that have been blamed for the deaths of at least two people.

In a statement, Panera did not reference lawsuits filed by the families of Sarah Katz and Dennis Brown. The company said the decision was part of a "menu transformation," which would focus on "low sugar and low-caffeine options."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says the average adult can safely consume 400 milligrams of caffeine a daythe equivalent of four or five cups of coffee.

The "Charged Lemonade" drinks contain up to 390 milligrams of caffeine, according to Panera's website. In contrast, Red Bull says one of their 8.4 fluid ounce cans has 80 milligrams of caffeine.

Caffeine is a stimulant, says Adam Woolley, a clinical professor and director of assessment at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences at Northeastern University, meaning people can get addicted to it and experience side effects.

"The average healthy person can be pretty confident in taking caffeine safely in reasonable doses," Woolley told Northeastern Global News after the parents of Katz filed a lawsuit against Panera Bread in October.

"We can't say caffeine's going to do this or that," Woolley says. "It's really on an individual basis."

Katz had a cardiac arrhythmia that made her sensitive to caffeine. The lawsuit alleges that Panera did not adequately label the "Charged Lemonade" beverage as an energy drink, according to CNN.

In December, a second lawsuit was filed by Brown's family. It claims the Florida manwho had high blood pressure, a chromosomal deficiency disorder, a developmental delay, and a mild intellectual disabilitydied of a cardiac arrest after drinking three "Charged Lemonades."

Woolley recommends that people be mindful about the caffeine content in the beverages they drink and their own reaction.

"You go to Dunkin' Donuts or Starbucks and get a grande or (large) and those are (equivalent to) more than one cup of coffee," Woolley says. "You're looking at two or three there.  A cup of coffee is usually 8 ounces (or) 240 milliliters. That's approximately half of one of those Poland Spring water bottles somebody might purchase. That's a cup of coffee."

About a week after the Katz's suit was filed, Panera reportedly added "enhanced" disclosures around the beverage, stating it should be consumed in moderation and that it's not recommended for people sensitive to caffeine, as well as pregnant or nursing women.

Darin Detwiler, a food safety expert and associate teaching professor at Northeastern, says calling a drink "charged" may not be considered a strong enough indicator that this is a highly-caffeinated beverage.

"If you called it 'Monster drink lemonade' or 'energy drink lemonade,' it would be more clear that there's potential for it to have the contents of an energy drink in it. But charged lemonade does not  communicate necessarily that there's that much caffeine in it," Detwiler told Northeastern Global News.

"In the court of law, it comes down to the average American adult. Would the average American adult assume that Panera is selling you a lemonade that could have that much caffeine in it? I would be willing to imagine the answer is no."

This story is republished courtesy of Northeastern Global News news.northeastern.edu.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

New research presented at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO) in Venice, Italy (1215 May), and published in the International Journal of Obesity, could help explain why type 2 diabetes is more common in men than in women.

"Previous studies have shown that men develop type 2 diabetes (TD2) at a younger age and at a lower weight than women and, overall, men appear to be at higher risk of the condition," says lead researcher Dr. Daniel P Andersson, at the Department of Endocrinology, Karolinska University Hospital Huddinge, Stockholm, Sweden. "One reason for this may be differences in how the sexes' adipose tissue responds to insulin.

"Adipose tissue is the main organ for the storage of excess energy and this is done in lipids called triglycerides that consist of free fatty acids. When there is excess energy, insulin decreases the breakdown of triglycerides (lipolysis) and the release of free fatty acids to the blood and increases the storage of energy as triglycerides (lipogenesis) in fat cells.

"In insulin resistance, fat cells are less sensitive to insulin and so both of these processes are impaired. This can lead to more fat circulating in the bloodstream, which raises the risk of T2D.

"If the insulin resistance of adipose cells is more pronounced, or severe, in men than in women, this could help explain why T2D is more common in men than women."

To explore this further, Dr. Andersson measured the adipose insulin resistance index (AdipolR, a measure of insulin sensitivity of fat cells, with higher values indicating more resistance to insulin) in 2,344 women and 787 men, average age 44 years and BMI 35 kg/m2.

Men had higher AdipoIR values than women but only when obesity (body mass index 30 kg/m2 or more) was present. This was the case both for physically-active and sedentary people, in those with and without cardiometabolic disease and in people using nicotine and not.

In a subgroup of 259 women and 54 men living with obesity, the researchers also took biopsies from the adipose tissue to study the effect of insulin on isolated fat cells.

This showed clear differences between the sexes. In men, compared to women, a 10-fold higher concentration of insulin was needed to block the breakdown of triglycerides to fatty acids and the blockage was also less effective in men.

However, the storage capacity of the fat cells was similar for both sexes.

Dr. Andersson explains, "In individuals who are living with obesity, you often have an excess of energy available in the body and insulin should decrease the release of fatty acids and increase the storage of lipids in adipose tissue to reduce the free fatty acids circulating in the blood.

"When looking at sex differences, we found that men who were living with obesity had increased adipose insulin resistance and higher levels of free fatty acids in the blood.

"The differences seen between men and women were mainly related to decreased ability of insulin to block the breakdown of fatty acids in fat cells from men rather than sex differences in storage capacity.

"Fatty acids in the bloodstream have effects in the liver, muscle and the pancreas and could lead to further local insulin resistance in these organs, creating a vicious circle that, over time, could lead to development of type 2 diabetes."

The researchers conclude that in individuals who are living with obesity, adipose tissue insulin resistance is more severe in men than in women, which may partly explain why T2D is more common in men.

More information: Peter Arner et al, Sex differences in adipose insulin resistance are linked to obesity, lipolysis and insulin receptor substrate 1, International Journal of Obesity (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41366-024-01501-x Journal information: International Journal of Obesity

Provided by European Association for the Study of Obesity
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:

Medical diagrams are posted in a hallway of one of the wings of a hospital in Mississippi on Feb. 29, 2024. An analysis released Thursday, May 9, 2024, by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that fewer U.S. medical school graduates are applying to residency programs, but the drop is more striking in states that ban abortion compared with other states. Credit: AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis, File

Fewer U.S. medical school graduates are applying to residency programs, but the drop is more striking in states that ban abortion compared with other states.

Figures released Thursday by the Association of American Medical Colleges showed continuing declines after the group first spotted the difference in an analysis last year.

"It looks even more pronounced. So now, I'm looking at a trend," said Dr. Atul Grover, a co-author of the latest report.

The number of applicants to these post-graduate training programs dropped slightly across the board from spring of 2023 to spring of 2024, with larger decreases seen in states with abortion bans. Those states saw a drop of 4.2% from the previous application cycle, compared with 0.6 % in states where abortion is legal.

Similarly, states with abortion bans saw a 6.7% drop in OB-GYN applicants year over year, while states without abortion restrictions saw a 0.4% increase in OB-GYN applicants. The group only looked at graduates from U.S. medical schools, not those from osteopathic or international medical schools.

More study is needed to understand why medical students aren't applying to certain residency programs. "But it certainly looks like this change in reproductive health laws and regulations is having an effect on where new physicians are choosing to train," Grover said.

In 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, paving the way for abortion bans in states.

Dr. AnnaMarie Connolly, chief of education and academic affairs for the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, said in a statement that patients may ultimately suffer.

Medical students choosing where to apply to residency programs "are making a commitment to the community to work and to live there for years while they train," she said, adding that they will care for thousands of patients during that time and may wind up practicing there.

 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies . Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility:

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

Higher levels of the stress hormone cortisol during the third trimester of pregnancy may impede intelligence quotient (IQ) scores in boys aged 7 years old, according to research presented at the 26th European Congress of Endocrinology, held 1114 May, in Stockholm. Surprisingly, cortisol levels in the blood are not associated with IQ scores in girls, but higher urine cortisone levels improved their scores. The findings highlight the important role cortisol plays in fetal development in boys and girls independently.

Prenatal exposure to cortisola steroid hormone that helps the body respond to stressis needed for fetal development and is thought to affect cognitive function in children later in life. During pregnancy, the levels of cortisol increase and pregnant women carrying girls generally secrete more cortisol than those with boys. However, in the placenta, the enzyme 11-hydroxysteroid-dehydrogenase type 2 (11-HSD2) regulates the amount of cortisol that reaches the fetus by converting cortisol to its inactive form known as cortisone.

Researchers from the Odense University Hospital in Denmark have previously shown that children between the ages of one and three have more advanced speech and language skills when their mothers have high levels of cortisol during their third trimester.

In this study, the researchers analyzed data on the cortisol and cortisone levels of 943 pregnant women during the third trimester and on the IQ tests of their 943 children aged 7 years old, from the Odense Child Cohort. They found that pregnant women carrying a boy had lower cortisol levels circulating in their blood than those women carrying a girl. In addition, boys exposed to higher cortisol levels in the womb scored lower on IQ tests at age 7. Girls the same age scored better on IQ tests when their mothers had higher levels of urine cortisone.

"To our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the association between urine cortisone levels during pregnancy and IQ scores in children," said lead author, Dr. Anja Fenger Dreyer. "While other studies have only looked at cortisol circulating in the blood during pregnancy and child IQ, we are the first to look at urine samples as well as blood samples and to investigate boys and girls separately."

Dr. Fenger Dreyer added, "Our results show that girls may be more protected by the activity of placental 11-HSD2, whereas boys may be more vulnerable to prenatal exposure of maternal physiological cortisol."

"Although our previous study showed prenatal cortisol exposure was positively associated with language development, in this study prenatal cortisol exposure'directly' by serum cortisol and 'indirectly' by urine cortisoneis negatively associated with IQ scores," continued Dr. Fenger Dreyer.

"This may mean that the high levels of prenatal cortisol exposure might have a temporary effect on a child's cognitive development. It should also be noted that the vocabulary in toddlers was reported by parents in our previous study, while child IQ in this study was assessed by trained psychologists."

Provided by European Society of Endocrinology
A Lake County man was sentenced to prison on Friday after being convicted for starting two fires, including the massive Boulder 2700 fire that torched over 2,000 acres east of Polson in the summer of 2021.

Craig A. McCrea, 38, was sentenced to 60 years at Montana State Prison, with 30 years suspended, according to a press release from the Montana Attorney General's Office. McCrea was also ordered to pay more than $1.2 million in restitution.

McCrea was found guilty on two felony counts of arson on Feb. 8 by a 12-person jury.

The Boulder 2700 fire burned over 2,500 acres and destroyed 14 homes and 17 structures, the release said.

McCrea is also responsible for starting the Finley fire in Missoula County north of Evaro Hill in July 2021, which burned 18 acres.

Assistant Attorneys General Thorin Geist and Caitlin Creighton prosecuted the case with the assistance of Lake County Attorney James Lapotka. It was investigated by the Lake County Sheriffs Office.
Things at Garnet Ghost Town generally stay the same  that's the whole point of the preserved 19th century gold-rush town in the Garnet Mountains about 30 miles east of Missoula.

But this year one thing will change: The federal Bureau of Land Management, which oversees the popular site, is raising daily entrance fees to visit the well-preserved town to $10 to help fund its staffing and maintenance. The fee, which applies only to visitors 16 and older, had been set at $3 since 2005.

In turn-of-the-century terms, when Garnet was still lived in, that equates to a fee increase of about 10 cents to 30 cents.

"With more than 30,000 visitors each summer coming to Garnet Ghost Town, there are a lot of demands on the historic buildings and surrounding area," Erin Carey, the BLM's Missoula Field Office manager, said in an announcement of the fee increase Friday. "This fee increase allows us to invest this revenue directly back into the Ghost Town through building stabilization, interpretation, staffing and trail improvements so that we can continue to care for this special place and ensure that future generations can also enjoy the Garnet experience."

The announcement noted that the 19-year-old $3 fee has been insufficient in recent years because "maintenance and administrative costs had since far outpaced that revenue." Additionally, winter cabin rental fees will increase to $50 per night.

The increased fees will help pay for parking lot improvements  parking at Garnet is notoriously limited  "modernizing the winter cabin rental program," and active forest management around the Garnet area.

The fee increases take effect May 20. The town's summer season generally lasts from late May through sometime in September, depending on weather. Day-use fees are collected in cash via payment envelopes.

Garnet's roots stretch back to the 1860s. By the 1890s it was named Mitchell. It was eventually named Garnet for the prosperous Garnet Lode of gold under the town.

On Jan. 27, 1898, the Bear Mountain News published its first and possibly only issue: 500 copies of a four-page newspaper covering the Garnet, Coloma and Bearmouth area. The paper reported a growing settlement with hundreds of people, and it called for a more formal civic and municipal organization. The BLM stated that about 1,000 people lived in Garnet at its peak.

While Helena parlayed golden riches mined up Last Chance Gulch into becoming the Montana state capital, Garnet  situated atop First Chance Gulch  had no such luck.

A 1912 fire destroyed about half the town, which wasn't rebuilt. A hotel, saloon and store are among the structures preserved today. But the town was once home to more than a dozen bars and a variety of hotels and stores.

"More than a century ago, Garnet was an active gold-mining town," the BLM noted last year, "but after a fire destroyed many of the buildings and as the gold became more difficult to mine, the once prosperous town slowly went into a deep sleep until its last full-time resident passed away in 1947."

From places north and west, Garnet is accessible by traveling Highway 200 and turning on Garnet Range Road near Lubrecht Experimental Forest, between Potomac and Greenough. From points south and east, the town is accessible via the Bearmouth exit on Interstate 90. From the frontage road (also accessible from the Drummond exit) Bear Gulch Road heads 9.4 miles north to Garnet. But Bear Gulch Road is "steep, narrow and rough," according to the BLM, and not recommended for trailers or RVs.

The BLM issued new rules for Garnet in 2022, aimed to help preserve the town and prevent wildfires. Camping and use of metal detectors are not allowed without prior authorization. Discharging firearms or fireworks, smoking in or near a building, or establishing a fire outside of an official fire ring, are prohibited. Pets are allowed only on leashes 6 feet or shorter.
Car seat clinic set for Wednesday

The monthly childrens car seat clinic is Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Uptown Fire Station, located at Montana and Galena streets.

Car seats will be checked for correct installation, making sure the seat matches your childs weight and age, recall information and more.

For more details, call Taylor Pesanti of the Butte-Silver Bow Health Department at 406-497-5078.

Fundraising bingo night will be May 18

The local nonprofit Butte SPIRIT Homes will host its first fundraising bingo night Saturday, May 18, at the Butte Elks Lodge, 206 W. Galena St.

The evening begins with a taco dinner at 5 p.m., and bingo starts at 6. There is no entry fee. Taco bags are $5 each and a set of 10 bingo games is $10. Also, participants can buy as many as they wish.

The event also includes a 50/50 drawing, along with other games and contests, as well as numerous silent auction items. There will be a combination of cash and in-kind prizes including gift certificates for local restaurants.

The Butte SPIRIT Homes was founded in 2019 to provide addiction recovery housing to those in need in the local community.

Maroons of 1967 to note 75th birthday

The Butte Central Class of 1967 will hold a 75th birthday party celebration from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, July 11, at the Butte Country Club. Additional information will be sent to classmates by email and regular mail.

If you do not receive information, call Penny McElroy at 406-490-1946 or Mike Duffy at 406-459-9351.

American Legion dinner Wednesday

The American Legion Post No. 1 and its Auxiliary will have their monthly dinner Wednesday at the American Legion Hall, 3201 Wynne Ave. The hall opens at 5:30 p.m., and dinner is served at 6.

The menu includes pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, corn on the cob, salads and desserts. The cost is $10. A short meeting will follow.

Shelters March-April stats listed

These March and April statistics are from the Butte Animal Shelter, 699 Centennial Ave. The information is provided by the shelter.

MARCH

DOGS

Turned in by owners: 6

Picked up and turned in by residents: 3

Picked up by animal control officer: 31

Adopted: 8

Reclaimed by owners: 24

Sent to foster/transfer: 2 fostered; 4 transferred

Died/euthanized: 0 euthanized

CATS

Turned in by owners: 0

Picked up and turned in by residents: 2

Picked up by animal control officer: 18

Adopted: 13

Reclaimed by owners: 5

Sent to foster/transfer: 1 fostered; 4 transferred

Died/euthanized: 1 euthanized

APRIL

DOGS

Turned in by owners: 0

Picked up and turned in by residents: 10

Picked up by animal control officer: 34

Adopted: 2

Reclaimed by owners: 34

Sent to foster/transfer: 2 fostered

Died/euthanized: 3 euthanized

CATS

Turned in by owners: 1

Picked up and turned in by residents: 21

Picked up by animal control officer: 8

Adopted: 27

Reclaimed by owners: 0

Sent to foster/transfer: 0 fostered

Died/euthanized: 1 euthanized
Experience of China-Hungary exchanges sets example for others

08:56, May 10, 2024 By Global Times editorial ( Global Times

People welcome Chinese President Xi Jinping in Budapest, Hungary, May 8, 2024. Photo: Xinhua

On Thursday, Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a grand welcoming ceremony in Budapest with Hungarian President Tamas Sulyok and Prime Minister Viktor Orban. President Xi then held talks with President Sulyok and Prime Minister Orban. The enthusiastic, friendly and sincere atmosphere in Budapest convinced people that, as good friends and comprehensive strategic partners, China and Hungary are embarking on a "golden voyage" that will only get better as they move forward.

Hungary was one of the first countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with China and this year marks the 75th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. President Xi summarized the four-point experience in the smooth development of China-Hungary relations over the past 75 years during his meeting with President Sulyok. These include that both sides should treat each other as equals, uphold mutual trust and mutual assistance, adhere to win-win cooperation, and uphold fairness and justice. This is a summary of the successful experience of China and Hungary, as well as a guide for the future development of bilateral relations. For other EU member states, this valuable four-point experience also has high practical significance.

China and Hungary have different histories, cultures and political systems, yet the two countries have nonetheless become close friends and treated each other with sincerity. The two countries respect each other's unique development paths, and support each other on issues that are of core interest and major concern. This friendship, based on equal treatment, is a treasure for both countries and their peoples. "China-Hungary friendship from generation to generation does not target any third party, nor should it be dictated by any third party." The China-Hungary "golden voyage" is actually the right path for sovereign states to independently and friendly engage with the outside world. This is especially significant for Europe, which is pursuing strategic autonomy.

The cultural exchanges between the two countries serve as a model of mutual learning. Hungary has never obstructed cultural exchanges between the two countries under the pretext of "national security." Hungary leads Europe in Chinese language education. There are five Confucius Institutes in the country, and the Chinese language has been incorporated into the national education system and become a subject in the college entrance examination. China and Hungary have also launched scholarship programs to promote students to study abroad in each other's nations. The rich exchanges have not exposed Hungary to national security risks. Instead, it has cultivated a large number of successors who inherit the friendship between the two countries.

Hungary's Prime Minister Orban and Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto often speak out at international forums against the "decoupling and supply chains disruption" and "small yard and high fence" mentality, and they translate these principles into actions. Openness and cooperation have created win-win results, with lithium batteries being a typical example. Currently, Hungary's share of global lithium-ion battery production capacity ranks second only to the US, placing it among the world's advanced high-tech markets. At the same time, benefiting from Hungary's favorable business environment, more and more Chinese enterprises are investing and setting up factories here, forming a virtuous cycle.

The friendly cooperation between China and Hungary serves as a model for other EU member states, demonstrating a new possibility beyond camp confrontation. The fruitful results achieved through mutual cooperation in various fields between China and Hungary powerfully demonstrate that China represents an opportunity rather than a challenge for Europe, and is a partner rather than a competitor.

In the current international situation, some countries frequently exaggerate ideological conflicts, engaging in the so-called "value-based diplomacy," which fosters division and confrontation in the international community, hampering the process of globalization, and undermining collective efforts to address global challenges. Against this backdrop, the valuable experience gained from the exchanges between China and Hungary becomes even more significant.

As an old Chinese saying goes, "No mountain and ocean can distance people with shared aspirations." Our Hungarian friends often say, "A good friend is more precious than gold." The cognitive horizon of cooperation between China and Hungary transcends mountains and seas, and the cherished friendship between the two countries triumphs over external interference and obstacles. Cooperation between China and Hungary will not settle for merely achieving a perfect score; instead, it aims for higher achievements. Under the strategic guidance of the two countries' leaders, China and Hungary will script a new chapter of cooperation, jointly paving the way for a brighter future.

(Web editor: Tian Yi, Liang Jun)
19:34

Lauding the initiative for a public debate on the Lok Sabha elections, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said he or party chief Mallikarjun Kharge would be pleased to participate in such a discussion and expressed hope that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would also take part.





'It would be a positive initiative for the major parties to present their vision to the country from one platform for a healthy democracy,' Gandhi said in a post on X.





He also added that the nation expects Modi to participate in the debate.





The Congress leader shared on X his reply to Justice (Retd) Madan B Lokur, Justice (Retd) Ajit P Shah and N Ram, who had written to him and the prime minister earlier this week, inviting them to a platform for a debate on the key election issues.





In their letter addressed to the country's leaders, the trio had stated that the proposal for the debate was non-partisan and in the broader interest of every citizen.





Gandhi said he discussed the invitation with Kharge and they agreed that such a debate would help people understand 'our respective vision and enable them to make an informed choice'.





"It is also critical to put to rest any unsubstantiated allegations attributed to our respective parties. As the principal parties fighting the election, the public deserve to hear from their leaders directly," Gandhi said in his letter replying to the invitation.





"Accordingly, either myself or the Congress president would be pleased to participate in such a debate," he added.





The former Congress chief also said he looks forward to participating in a productive and historic debate.





"Please do let us know if and when the prime minister agrees to participate, following which we can discuss the details and format of the debate," he added.





In his post on X, accompanied by the letter, Gandhi said, "Congress welcomes this initiative and accepts the invitation for discussion. The country also expects the prime minister to take part in this dialogue."





At an event in Lucknow on Friday, answering a question from a member of the audience, Gandhi said he was '100 per cent' prepared to take on Modi in a debate and added that he knew the prime minister would not agree. -- PTI


The UCSC entity Moving Image Lab, a new partnership between the Isaac Julien Lab and The Humanities Institute, will receive the prestigious Mellon Foundation funding that will provide the hands-on experience and career-building training in production, curation, and research and publication that distinguishes this project

The University of California, Santa Cruz, is pleased to announce the awarding of a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to fund fine art and moving image research and support exceptional students pursuing impactful careers in the arts under the leadership of distinguished artist, filmmaker, and UCSC distinguished professor Isaac Julien, and his long-time collaborator critic, curator, and UCSC professor Mark Nash.



The grant is to the Moving Image Lab, a new partnership between the Isaac Julien Lab (IJL) and The Humanities Institute (THI) at UC Santa Cruz.



The award will fuel the expansion of the IJL, an incubator for cutting-edge artistic expression, research, and teaching that works with Arts and Humanities division MFA and Ph.D. students interested in the critical practice of filmmaking, image production, curating, archiving, producing, and presenting still and moving image works.



It will enable Julien and Nashboth joint faculty members in the UCSC Arts and Humanities divisionsto create a robust exhibition and curation/research program at venues in the United States and abroad. The body of work produced through this funding will illustrate IJL's vision of the arts as global, socially impactful, and attuned to correcting inequality and injustice.



In addition, the grant will fund graduate student fellowships, offering practical training in production, curation, and research and publication.



Julien and Nash will oversee the project.



"Mellon support provides a wonderful opportunity to increase awareness of the pedagogical work we do, and it will help bring more attention to the next generation of artists, curators and writers," said Julien. "Artistic expression is one way of making meaningful change in our society, and we're very excited about advocating for voices and perspectives that help bring that about."



The fellows will likely be working on cutting-edge art exhibits or publishing novel scholarly work. But the idea of training alongside established artists to build a career in the arts is a traditional one, said Nash. The grant funds will allow him and Julien to hone students' creative skills as well as develop the professional expertise necessary to evolve and succeed as artists, producers, and curators after graduation.



"The core of what we're doing is developing a form of apprenticeship appropriate for 21st-century arts education," said Nash.

Productive partnership Moving Image Lab (MIL) fellows will focus on one of three areas: production, curation, or research. Fellowships will begin in summer 2024 and will include funding for research, travel, and production; independent study; and stipends. In addition, starting in 2025, fellows will spend a summer at institutions such as the Universita Iuav di Venezia in Venice, Italy, a leading European university in the fields of architecture, design, fashion, visual arts, urban and regional planning, and theater.



THI sees this new partnership as a way to advance experimental research and practice, said Irena Polic, THI managing director.



"Institutes sit both inside and outside the university, so they're places where this kind of innovative scholarship can happen," she said. "Our work at THI revolves around three pillarsresearch excellence, public engagement, and student successand this project really hits all three."

At the intersection of arts and humanities MIL fellows will be chosen annually through a rigorous and competitive selection process. As well as participating in Julien's and Nash's projects, fellows will also be mentored on their individual moving image and curation projects for exhibitions organized with the IJL's museum and gallery partners.



Julien's and Nash's work crosses disciplinary boundaries, intersecting not only with art and art history, but also cultural studies, critical race studies, and the history of consciousness. These new fellowships will strengthen the IJL's ability to provide students with interdisciplinary experiences.



The grant underscores the Humanities Division's recognition of the profound connections between the arts and humanities, said Humanities Dean Jasmine Alinder.



"Through the lens of history, culture, and critical inquiry, the arts illuminate the human experience in ways that transcend language and borders," Alinder said. "With this partnership between the Arts and Humanities divisions, students will be empowered to explore the complexities of the human condition and to contribute to a more just and equitable society."

Drawing in diverse new leaders Part of Moving Image Labs's mission is encouraging and supporting students and artists of diverse backgrounds who are interested in pursuing careers in the global fields of art, media art, moving images, and arts curation and research.



These emerging cultural leaders will reshape how our institutions serve diverse global communities in a post-pandemic, climate-challenged world.



And those leadersartists and humanists equipped to provide insight into humanity's strugglesare essential, said Dean of the Arts Division Celine Parrenas Shimizu.



"On campus and beyond, Isaac Julien is a staunch advocate of diversity, equity, inclusion, and decolonizing the arts," she said. "Inspirational cultural leaders like him are greatly needed as society grapples with environmental crises and shifting power structures. This is an exceptional investment to help students embark on successful careers as artists, curators, scholars, and cultural leaders, and also a powerful tool to drive enduring systemic change."
PNN New Delhi [India], May 10: Urban Tots, a leading toy manufacturing enterprise, has transitioned from a private to a publicly owned entity. This strategic move is a pivotal step in the company's ambitious journey to secure a listing on the stock exchange by 2026. Founder Statement: Deepak Chaudhary, Founder of Urban Tots, emphasizes this opportunity by highlighting the significant demand in the domestic toy industry. "India, a net importer of toys, saw over Rs 22,000 Cr worth of toys imported in FY22 from countries such as China, Indonesia, and Taiwan. The government's supportive policies have empowered domestic manufacturers to scale their production and make India a global exporter. Urban Tots aims to capitalize on this momentum through the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme," he said. "Our IPO will mark a landmark event in the toys and apparel sector." Government Initiatives: The government's measures include a substantial increase in import duty (from 20 per cent to 60 per cent) and a strong focus on the toy industry within the PLI scheme. The proposed PLI framework, with an estimated allocation of Rs 3,489 Cr, aims to stimulate domestic production from 2024-25 to 2031-32. Urban Tots: Urban Tots, the toy division of Deepak Houseware and Toys (DH&T), specializes in manufacturing and selling an extensive range of toys, including plastic and electronic products. The company's brand portfolio features popular products such as heavy toys (e.g., Mercedes and BMW Bikes) and role-playing sets. Financial Performance: Urban Tots has showcased exemplary growth in recent years, touching an absolute growth of ~100 per cent consistently in terms of revenue & over 100 per cent in terms of net profit since inception. - Revenue Growth: The company reported revenue of Rs 16 Cr in FY22 and is projected to reach Rs 80 Cr in FY24, achieving a CAGR of 71 per cent. - Profit Growth: Net profit margins grew from Rs 2.4 Cr in FY22 to a provisional Rs 9.78 Cr in FY24, maintaining a CAGR of 35 per cent. - Net Profit Margin: From FY23 to FY24, net profit rose by 138 per cent, from Rs 4.2 Cr to a provisional Rs 10.15 Cr, driven by efficient utilization of resources. Future Expansion Strategy: Urban Tots has outlined its strategic growth plans: - Pre-IPO Funding: In 2024, the company will conduct a pre-IPO round of Rs 60 Cr at a valuation of Rs 553 Cr to bolster production capacity. This will support revenue growth from Rs 200 Cr in FY25 to Rs 400 Cr by FY26. - IPO Fundraising: By 2026, Urban Tots will launch its IPO to raise Rs 200 Cr at a projected valuation of Rs 2,100 Cr. - Expansion Plans: The IPO will fuel the establishment of a new production plant in Madhya Pradesh to meet increasing demand. It will also fund two additional plants across India, enabling the company to reach Rs 2,000 Cr in revenue by FY31. Conclusion: Urban Tots' IPO presents an exciting opportunity for investors to support a high-potential startup positioned to transform India's toy manufacturing sector. With a clear vision and experienced leadership, Urban Tots aims to become the largest toy manufacturer in India, creating a legacy of growth, innovation, and global market impact. Investors should conduct their due diligence before participating in this remarkable journey. (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)
SMPL Cameroon [Africa], May 10: Ever thought how technology could further simplify the way people access their favorite meals? Infoskies, an innovative product development company, answers this question with the launch of Pappad, a groundbreaking food delivery service that is redefining the culinary landscape in Cameroon. By seamlessly connecting hungry customers with a wide array of local restaurants through a user-friendly platform, Pappad is not just changing how people eat, it's revolutionizing the entire dining experience in Cameroon. With Pappad, Infoskies is set to transform the food delivery experience, making it more accessible, efficient, and enjoyable for everyone in Cameroon. Pappad: Pappad stands out as a pioneering food delivery platform designed to cater to the unique tastes and culinary preferences of people in Cameroon. It offers different dining options, from local delicacies to international cuisines, all accessible through a few clicks on smartphone or computer. What sets Pappad apart is not only its focus on delivering meals from a wide range of local restaurants but also its expansion into delivering medicines, electronics, and grocery items. This comprehensive approach enhances convenience for users by providing a one-stop platform for various needs. The decision to expand Pappad to major cities in India within 2024 indicates Infoskies' ambition to replicate this successful model in other markets. With an emphasis on convenience, quality, and speed, Pappad aims to deliver not just food, but also joy and satisfaction directly to the customer's doorstep. Infoskies' CEO, Nitin Chandran, expressed excitement about Pappad's launch in Cameroon, highlighting the initiative's impact. "Launching Pappad in Cameroon marks a significant step towards addressing the last-mile delivery challenges in the region. Our services are set to empower the local gig economy, opening up opportunities for the youth to play a pivotal role in boosting the local economy. We're looking forward to expanding our offerings to cater to the specific needs of the area. In collaboration with our Cameroon partner, Delivv, we aim to meet and exceed the expectations of all our stakeholders," said Nitin. The Significance of Launching in Cameroon: The online food delivery market in Cameroon, although in its nascent stages, shows promising growth prospects. It is projected to reach a revenue of US$97.69m by 2024, with an annual growth rate (CAGR 2024-2028) of 13.27 per cent. This growth is indicative of a larger trend towards digital solutions in the food industry, signaling a ripe market for Pappad to serve and thrive in. The entry of Pappad into this market could significantly enhance the accessibility and variety of food delivery options available to Cameroonians, fostering a culture of convenience and digital inclusivity. Benefits for Users: Pappad introduces several benefits for its users, enhancing the overall food ordering experience through: * Convenience: Order favorite meals anytime, anywhere, without the hassle of cooking or dining out. * Variety: Access a wide range of restaurants offering local and international cuisines. * Speed: Enjoy fast delivery times, ensuring the meals arrive hot and fresh. * Security: Safe and secure online payment options protect customer's financial information. * Personalization: Tailored recommendations based on your ordering history and preferences. Support for Local Restaurants: The introduction of Pappad by Infoskies is not only a significant leap forward for consumers in Cameroon, but is also poised to make a substantial impact in India with its upcoming expansion. Infoskies plans to introduce a broad range of services in India, including grocery, fish and meat delivery, pharmacy delivery, and even a laundry module. This expansion reflects a comprehensive approach to meeting the everyday needs of consumers through a single, user-friendly platform. By integrating these services, Pappad aims to offer unparalleled convenience and efficiency to its users, revolutionizing the way they access these essential services. The support Pappad offers to local restaurants is another cornerstone of its operational model. By providing a platform for these restaurants to reach a broader audience, Pappad significantly aids in increasing their visibility, sales, and overall brand growth. This is particularly important for small to medium-sized establishments that might not have the resources for extensive marketing campaigns. Through Pappad, these local businesses can connect with a wider customer base without incurring the substantial costs usually associated with expanding their reach. This model of partnership not only benefits consumers and restaurants but also plays a crucial role in fostering community growth and supporting the local economy. As more people embrace the convenience of online food ordering, Pappad stands ready to meet their needs, one delicious meal at a time. (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by SMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
VMPL New Delhi [India], May 10: INFRGY LLC introduces its prototype device which transmits and harvests energy, while converting radio frequency (RF) signals to DC electricity. The circuit adds energy harvested from the environment to that supplied to the transmitter, resulting in output that is greater than input. This over-unity has been tested and documented by the University of Kashmir's Institute of Technology. The resulting output may be used in a combination of wired and wireless devices. Though the INFRGY smart circuit is relatively small, the prototype performs multiple functions at the same time, and can be thought of as several devices in one. Currently the National Institute of Technology Srinagar is testing the technology that converts RF signals to DC, with plans to further study the amplification of output by harnessing environmental energy. More research is slated to begin at other high technology institutions in India. The device captures energy from radio frequency signals emitted by a transmitter, along with electromagnetic signals harvested from the environment, and converts the captured RF energy into usable DC power. By using a patent pending combination of diodes, capacitors and a rectifying bridge, the INFRGY device is able to efficiently transfer energy. Co-founder Parvez Rishi thinks the future is bright for INFRGY. Because there are no moving parts, and component parts are relatively inexpensive, the technology can be accessible to many. "We feel that with the help of our partners, we can accelerate the path to creating a whole new industry". He continues: "We would like to thank the Institute of Technology at the University of Kashmir for working with us to test our prototype, and professors at the NIT Srinagar for their interest in further development". The high demand for fossil fuels has pushed researchers and innovators to search for renewable energy technologies to mitigate the effects of air pollution and greenhouse gases on the planet. Parvez Rishi adds: "Our goal is to introduce INFRGY technology, which incorporates both renewable and wireless energy, to the world. The potential is limitless". Website: https://infrgy.tech/ (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
VMPL New Delhi [India], May 10: In this digital era, several transformations have occurred, and inventive concepts have been introduced to the online space. One of the most significant advancements in recent years has been artificial intelligence (AI). In line with the AI breakthroughs, Go To Groww plans to present AI-based digital marketing tactics by mid of may, redefining the way brands market themselves in the future. Under the notion of "Guaranteed Tactical Growth," Go To Groww is an all-encompassing digital marketing agency that will offer an assortment of services designed to catapult businesses into the digital stratosphere. The AI-based digital marketing agency is expected to provide services from Search Engine Optimization (SEO) to Social Media Optimization (SMO), Digital Ads to Paid Advertising, along with Content Marketing, E-mail Marketing, E-commerce Marketing, Influencer Marketing, PR and Media Management, Online Reputation Management, Branding and Creatives, and Video and Motion Graphics to transform the face of brands and propel their success. Go To Groww possesses a profound understanding that each brand is peculiar, whether it is nascent or established, and it deserves a personalised and tactical approach to digital marketing to climb its way to success. With an ensemble of seasoned professionals, Go To Groww intends to push boundaries with their groundbreaking strategies and innovative techniques to ensure that each brand they work with reaches its full potential in the digital space. As Go To Groww gears up for its grand launch, the focus on delivering exceptional results is palpable. With a promise to deliver tech-rooted results and a user-friendly interface, the agency is not just another player in the field - it's a game-changer. "We're not just about algorithms and analytics; we're about understanding the heartbeat of the digital space," says the Director of Go To Groww. "Our AI-based solution is the compass that guides businesses to their true north in the digital world." To unlock AI's potential and integrate it into the digital marketing sphere, Go To Groww visionaries Danisha Hasan, BD & Digital Marketing Head, Suman Nirala, SEO Specialist & Marketing Team Lead, and Rachita Jain, Content Development Team Lead, leverage the cardinality of their expertise to analyze brands and establish tactics to propel them to new peaks in the online ecosystem. With a vision of strengthening brands and a mission to facilitate expansion, Go To Groww is more than just an agency--it's a partner in succession. About Go To Groww: Go To Groww is an AI-based Digital Marketing Agency headquartered in Noida, Uttar Pradesh. Offering a vast line of services, the agency leverages artificial intelligence to execute accelerating marketing solutions for brands across various industries. To learn more about us and further connection, please visit Go To Groww - A Full-Service AI Digital Marketing Agency (ADVERTORIAL DISCLAIMER: The above press release has been provided by VMPL. ANI will not be responsible in any way for the content of the same)
Actor Ali Fazal heaped praise on his wife, Richa Chadha, for her stellar performance in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's debut web series, 'Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar.' The series, which features a star-studded cast including Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Sehgal, and Sanjeeda Sheikh, has garnered mixed reactions from the audience. However, Fazal was quick to laud his wife's acting prowess, showcasing his support and admiration for her talent. Ali, on Thursday, took to his Instagram account to post a video montage capturing their vacations, public encounters, and intimate moments. The actor also wrote a heartfelt note for his wife that read, "Only a fool would not take Lajjo and fly away !! ( Lajjo check) You are simply the best and I feel so lucky I get to share my notes with you in person .. congratulations partner on this mad success of #heeramandi . You've risen way way way above the norm you always do. See you soon! @therichachadha !!." Richa also reacted and wrote, "Am lucky luckiest girl alive thank you." https://www.instagram.com/reel/C6vWK0COsVI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA== The series also stars Fardeen Khan, Taha Shah Badussha, Shekhar Suman, and Adhyayan Suman in the roles of the Nawabs. Set against the backdrop of India's struggle for independence in the 1940s, the show explores the lives of courtesans and their patrons, delving into the cultural dynamics of Heera Mandi. Richa and Ali met on the sets of Fukrey in 2012 and soon fell in love with each other. They have been legally married since 2020, but they celebrated their union in 2022 with festivities across Delhi, Mumbai, and Lucknow. Meanwhile, on the work front, Ali and Richa are all set to come up with 'Girls will be Girls', a film made under their production banner. Directed by Shuchi Talati, the film is a compelling story set in a boarding school in a small Himalayan hill town in northern India. It follows the journey of Mira, a 16-year-old girl whose rebellious awakening is intertwined with her mother's unfulfilled coming-of-age experiences. The cast includes multi-award-winning Malayalam film actress Kani Kusruti, and Jitin Gulati alongside debutants Preeti Panigrahi and Kesav Binoy Kiron in lead roles. (ANI)
In the ongoing legal saga between Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, new allegations have emerged that the former may have influenced her children to "avoid" spending time with their father during visits. These claims were detailed in court documents filed by Tony Webb, a security guard who previously worked for the former couple, as per People magazine. Webb, who worked for Jolie from 2000 to 2020, alleged that he was contacted by a Jolie aide named Michael Vieira, who attempted to prevent two bodyguards from testifying in Jolie's custody battle with Pitt. According to Webb's statement, Vieira asked him to dissuade the bodyguards from testifying, emphasising that they had signed non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) with Jolie. Despite the NDAs, one of the bodyguards, Ross Foster, expressed his intention to testify about statements he allegedly overheard from Jolie, encouraging the children to avoid spending time with Pitt during custody visits, as per People magazine. Responding to these allegations, Paul Murphy, an attorney for Angelina Jolie, dismissed Pitt's attempts to equate common NDAs with an attempt to cover up his actions. Murphy emphasised that the case was about power and control, with Jolie seeking separation and health for the family. In their defence, Pitt's lawyers submitted Webb's declaration to illustrate that Jolie herself had utilised NDAs in the past, undermining her objections to signing them in the context of their legal dispute over their French winery, Chateau Miraval. The legal battle between Jolie and Pitt has been marked by accusations and counter-accusations, with each party attempting to sway the court in their favour. Pitt's lawyers accused Jolie of turning the business dispute into a sideshow about family court matters, while Jolie's lawyers suggested that Pitt feared the release of sealed documents related to their custody battle. The allegations of Jolie allegedly encouraging the children to avoid Pitt during visits add another layer of complexity to the already contentious legal proceedings between the Hollywood exes. (ANI)
The announcement, made by the Tony Awards Committee, solidifies their place as icons in the Broadway community.

Jack O'Brien, renowned for his directorial prowess, boasts an impressive repertoire that includes Broadway hits such as 'Hairspray,' 'The Front Page,' and 'The Invention of Love.'

With three Tony Awards under his belt, O'Brien's career spans decades, leaving an indelible mark on the theatre landscape.

Meanwhile, George C Wolfe, a five-time Tony Award winner, has captivated audiences with groundbreaking productions like 'Angels in America: Millennium Approaches' and 'Bring in 'da Noise, Bring in 'da Funk.'

His multifaceted career extends beyond directing, encompassing roles as a writer, producer, and artistic director, where he has consistently pushed the boundaries of storytelling.

Commenting on the announcement, Jason Laks, interim president of The Broadway League, emphasised the significance of honouring O'Brien and Wolfe's unparalleled talent and dedication, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

He lauded O'Brien's diverse body of work, highlighting his instrumental role as the Artistic Director of the Old Globe Theatre for 25 years, where he fostered collaboration between the commercial and nonprofit sectors.

Heather Hitchens, president and CEO of the American Theatre Wing, echoed Laks's sentiments, praising Wolfe's commitment to inclusivity and diversity, which has reshaped the theatrical landscape, as per The Hollywood Reporter.

Wolfe's influence extends beyond the stage, with notable achievements in film and advocacy for civil and human rights.

The Tony Awards ceremony, slated for June 16 at the David H Koch Theatre at Lincoln Centre in New York, promises to be a celebration of excellence and innovation in theatre. (ANI)
Taking to Instagram stories, Allu Arjun wrote, "My Heartfelt Congratulations to Chiranjeevi garu for being conferred with prestigious honor, #PadmaVibhushan. This is a moment of immense pride for all of us. Thank you for making us proud."

Chiranjeevi on Thursday received the prestigious award from President Droupadi Murmu in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. The ceremony took place at Rashtrapati Bhavan in the national capital.

Ram Charan, Chiranjeevi's wife, Surekha, daughter Sushmita, and daughter-in-law, Upasana Kamineni Konidela, also attended the esteemed event in Delhi.

Ram Charan posted some memorable snapshots on his official Instagram account, expressing his pride for his father with the caption, "Congratulations dad. So proud of you. #padmavibhushanchiranjeevi @chiranjeevikonidela (sic)."

Union Home Minister Amit Shah also hosted a dinner for all the Padma awardees at his residence. Chiranjeevi and his family attended the dinner.

Chiranjeevi is among the most influential and successful actors and worked in Telugu, Hindi, Tamil and Kannada films. He is known for his movies such as 'Vijetha', 'Indra', 'Shankar Dada M.B.B.S.', and most recently he was seen in 'Bholaa Shankar'. He made his debut in 1978 with the film Punadhirallu and since then he has been entertaining audience with his versatile acting skills.

Meanwhile, on the work front, Allu Arjun is gearing up for his upcoming actioner Pushpa 2. 'Pushpa 2: The Rule' is directed by Sukumar and also stars Rashmika Mandanna, and Fahadh Faasil.(ANI)
Fashionista Sonam Kapoor never misses a chance to dish out fashion goals with her appearances in public and always makes sure that her presence is felt whether in India or globally. Sonam has always proudly showcased the Indian craftsmanship globally. On showcasing India's beautiful heritage, history, and diversity on top global platforms, Sonam said in a statement, "If I had to represent India in one way or another, I would highlight the country's diversity and resilience. The fact that we have such a strong cultural heritage and ancient civilisation means that whatever is made in India has great value. It is a multicultural place where people from many faiths live together in harmony, and representing that is of utmost importance." She added, "Besides being the land of yoga and spiritualism, for which India is renowned in other parts of the world, it is also celebrated for its music and artisanal craftsmanship. It is the realm of jewellery and embroidery. Most notably, numerous haute couture and luxury houses have their clothing intricately embroidered in India." Sonam through her fashion and style always tries to impact pop culture. And she often inspires her fans by using her social media handle to champion Indian craftsmanship. On this, she stated, "When you have a platform, there is a responsibility to put your most authentic self forward, you must represent your truest self and not a facade. When you have the right moral values and world views, it is interesting to see how people appreciate that and attach themselves to it." Recently, Sonam Kapoor expressed her gratitude after global art museum Tate Modern inducted her as a member of their South Asia Acquisition Committee. In a statement shared by the actress' team, Sonam said, "I'm deeply honoured to join the prestigious Tate Modern as a member of their South Asia Acquisition Committee. My fascination with Indian and South Asian art has been a lifelong journey, during which I have endeavoured to champion our artists at every opportunity." On the work front, Sonam was last seen in the crime thriller 'Blind'. (ANI)
Reacting to BJP leader Navneet Rana's "15 seconds lagenge" remark, AIMIM leader Waris Pathan questioned why the police and the Election Commission have not taken any "action" against her and claimed that if he had said something like this, he would have been "jailed." In a self-made video, the AIMIM leader said that Rana was making such remarks because she understood that she is badly losing from Amravati seat this time. "Navneet Rana knows that she is badly losing from Amravati this time. She is unable to accept this and that is why she is uttering all this nonsense. What will you do if the police are removed for 15 seconds? What will she do if the police are removed? Will you kill all Muslims? What are the police and administration doing? Why has no action been taken so far? What is the Election Commission doing? Are such statements allowed in elections? We would like the Election Commissioner to take cognisance of this statement and take strict action. BJP has come to realise that this time it is difficult for them to cross 200-250 seats. If I said something like this, I would have been jailed immediately. Why is everyone silent now?" he said. Meanwhile, Congress leader Prithviraj Chavan said that the BJP is working in the direction of PM Modi to spread "hatred" in the country. "PM Modi and Amit Shah are spreading hatred in society so it is natural that their workers and candidates are also going to do the same. What Akbaruddin Owaisi has said is wrong and what Navnit Rana has said is also extremely shameful. They are all working in the direction of PM Modi to spread hatred in the country because PM Modi is losing this election badly. I will issue such a request to the Election Commission that both statements should be investigated and action should be taken against them," Prithviraj Chavan said. Invoking a provocative statement by AIMIM leader Akbaruddin Owaisi from 2013, BJP leader Navneet Rana issued a veiled warning to the Owaisi brothers in their stronghold Hyderabad on Wednesday. To the AIMIM leader's statement that they would take them all of '15 minutes' to balance out the "Hindu-Muslim ratio" in the country, Navneet, who seeking a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from Amravati, on a BJP ticket this time; hit back at the Owaisi brothers, saying "it would take us 15 seconds if the police were removed or made to stand down". "The younger brother says 'Remove the police for 15 minutes so that we can show them what we can do'. I want to tell the younger brother (Akbaruddin) that it might take you 15 minutes, but it will only take us 15 seconds...it will take us all of 15 seconds if we come to the forefront," Rana was heard saying in a video clip she posted on her X handle, tagging the Owaisi brothers. At a meeting in 2013, Akbaruddin warned "100 crore Hindus" that his community would show what it could do if the police were withdrawn for '15 minutes'. Asaduddin has been the elected representative from Hyderabad since 2004. He was previously elected as an MLA twice in the erstwhile undivided Andhra Pradesh. Owaisi faces BJP leader Madhavi Latha. Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. (ANI)
A National Disaster Response Force team arrived at Pauri in Uttarakhand's Pauri Garhwal district on Thursday to control the forest fire incidents that were reported there. "There are a total of 50 members, including officers, on the NDRF team. Although the incidents of forest fire have been stopped after the rain last night, if the weather remains clear in the coming days, the incidents of forest fire may increase once again. In such a situation, the NDRF team will control the forest fire by landing in the forests," Ashish Chauhan, District Magistrate, Pauri Garhwal, said. The officer said that with the help of NDRF, the forest department, which is also facing a shortage of manpower, will now get help to control the forest fire to a great extent. "Just yesterday, the Air Force's MI-17 left the district after controlling the forest fire, while now, in the coming days, the NDRF will take charge if the incidents of forest fire increase," he added. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday conducted a high-level review meeting at the Forest Training Academy in Haldwani to discuss the prevention of forest fires. During the meeting, he directed the senior officials to remain in the field on the spot to effectively prevent incidents of forest fire and maintain the morale of the personnel. The Chief Minister also directed the personnel of the Forest Department to create better coordination with the villagers. He said that "with better coordination, the villagers will play a role as allies in times of any kind of disaster. This will help to a great extent in reducing the impact of the disaster and the villagers will also feel attached to their forests." The Chief Minister said that "Although the Forest Department is trying to deal with the incidents of forest fires with time, yet in this direction, the Forest Department should prepare an inclusive plan for the state so that the fires occurring every year can be minimized." In this regard, he stressed studying the developed models of the country as well as abroad and said that efforts should be made to incorporate them in the state's plan as per the need. The Chief Minister said that "the Forest Department should focus on implementing the works in a better way by strengthening its structure from the lower level." The Chief Minister directed the road construction agencies to pay special attention to the quality of road construction. He also asked for a plantation in accordance with the ecology of the area and the crash barriers being installed for road safety. He directed to streamline the supply of drinking water so that the general public does not face any problems with drinking water in the summer season. He said that "if the drinking water line is disrupted for any reason, arrangements should be made for drinking water supply by installing additional tankers." The Chief Minister directed the Electricity Department to take the necessary action to promote solar panels in government offices. In the meeting, District Magistrate Vandana Singh said that "compared to the incidents of forest fire from February 2019 to May 2024, fewer incidents of fire have occurred in the district this year." The state has recently witnessed an alarming increase in forest fires, prompting concerns about environmental safety and the impact on local communities. As per reports, forest fires have become an annual feature and the change in weather conditions has resulted in soaring temperatures. Uttarakhand starts experiencing forest fires in mid-February when the trees shed dry leaves and the soil loses moisture due to a temperature rise, and this continues till mid-June. (ANI)
The minister asked the doctors about the health conditions of the injured.

In the tragic incident, eight people, including five women, were killed and 12 others injured after an explosion took place at a firecracker manufacturing unit near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district on Thursday.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation. (ANI)
In the tragic incident, eight people, including five women, were killed and 12 others injured after an explosion took place at the firecracker manufacturing unit near Sivakasi in Virudhunagar district on Thursday.

"Anguished by the loss of lives due to a mishap at a factory in Sivakasi. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I pray that those who have been injured recover at the earliest," PM Modi posted on X.

The cause of the fire is currently under investigation.

Meanwhile, later on Thursday, Tamil Nadu Minister for Revenue and Disaster Management, KKSSR Ramachandran, visited a government hospital and met the people injured in the explosion.

The minister asked the doctors about the health conditions of the injured. (ANI)
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy travelled in a state-owned Road Transport Corporation bus here and explained to the passengers about various schemes included in the party's Manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul and CM Reddy boarded the RTC bus at Dil Sukh Nagar in the city. Rahul inquired about the free bus travel facility for women on the RTC buses. Rahul Gandhi explained to the passengers about Yuva Nyay, Kisan Nyay, Nari Nyay, and Shramik Nyay as included in the Congress Manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha election. Meanwhile, in a public rally in Medak, Telangana, on Thursday, the Congress leader vowed to fill 30 lakh government jobs once the opposition coalition, INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre. Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi over unemployment woes in the country. He alleged that PM Modi "made crores of youth" unemployed. "Narendra Modi made crores of youth of the country unemployed. But the Congress party has come up with the scheme of 'first job is permanent'. In this scheme, we will give every educated youth the right to an apprenticeship of Rs 1 lakh. Then as soon as the INDIA government is formed on June 4, we will start the work of filling 30 lakh government jobs," Gandhi said while addressing the gathering in Medak. Gandhi alleged that the Bharatiya Janata Party had claimed to "destroy the Constitution" while calling the ongoing general elections an "election between two ideologies." "Our Constitution protects the poor, tribal and backward people in the country. Before the Constitution was formed, the poor people in India did not have any rights. The book of the Constitution is the voice of your heart, which has been achieved by the Congress Party and crores of the people of India after decades-long struggle. But the people of BJP have clearly said that they will destroy the Constitution," he said. "This election is between two ideologies. On one side is the Congress Party and the INDIA alliance, which are engaged in saving the Constitution. On the other side are Narendra Modi, BJP and RSS, who are trying to destroy the Constitution. We will protect the Constitution. No power can destroy the Constitution of India," Gandhi added. The Congress leader further alleged that PM Modi has "worked for people like Adani" while promising to make "crores of people millionaires." "Narendra Modi has worked for people like Adani. Today, 22 people in the country have as much wealth as 70 crore people. Now the Congress party will make crores of people millionaires. One woman will be selected from every poor family in the country and the Congress Party will send Rs 1 lakh per year to her account," he said. Gandhi also vowed to conduct a caste census in the country after coming to power. "In India, the population of backward, tribal, Dalit, poor general and minority classes is around 90 per cent. But they do not get to participate in the country. Therefore, we have decided that a caste census will be conducted all over India. So that people of every section can know what is their population is and participation in the country," he said. Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. (ANI)
Ahead of the fourth phase of polling of the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to hold election rallies in Maharashtra and Telangana on Friday. The fourth phase of voting for the Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 13. The counting of votes will take place on June 4. The Prime Minister will be visiting the Nandurbar where he will hold a public meeting, showcasing the support for the respective candidates of the BJP. The PM will campaign in support of BJP candidate and Member of Parliament Heena Gavit. Heena Vijaykumar Gavit of the BJP was the winning candidate from the Nandurbar Lok Sabha constituency, in the Lok Sabha elections 2019. Gavit has been fielded against Gowaal Padavi. Thereafter, the Prime Minister will also address a public meeting in Telangana's Mahabubnagar at around 3:15 pm, followed by another public meeting in Hyderabad at around 5:30 pm. Madhavi Latha is set to face Asaduddin Owaisi, who is a four-time Lok Sabha MP from the Hyderabad constituency. It is worth mentioning that this is the first time that the BJP has fielded a female candidate from the Hyderabad constituency. Moreover, from Mahabubnagar Lok Sabha Constituency, Congress has fielded Challa Vamsichand Reddy, while DK Aruna will contest from the BJP, and sitting MP Manna Srinivas Reddy will contest in the ticket of the BRS. Voting for all 17 seats in Telangana will take place on May 13 in the fourth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Later, PM Modi will then head to Odisha where he will hold a roadshow in Bhubaneswar at around 8:30 pm. The state of Odisha will hold Assembly elections and Lok Sabha elections in four phases from May 13 to June 1, with vote counting scheduled for June 4. In the 2019 Assembly election, Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won 112 out of 146 seats, while Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won 23 seats and Congress won 9. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) won the majority of seats in the state, while the BJP and the Congress brought up the rear. (ANI)
Reacting to Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi's 'Mera baap gaddar hai' remarks, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Friday said that the UBT Sena had "abandoned" the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray and out of "greed" for the CM post, they went ahead with Congress and Sharad Pawar. On Wednesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi referred to the 1975 film Deewar and said that 'Mera baap gaddar hai' (my father is a traitor) should be written on the forehead of Shrikant Shinde, son of Maharashtra Chief Minister. "The words used for me are applied to them. In 2019, they abandoned the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray...They sold the ideology of their father. They committed a sin and the public will never forgive them...In 2019, they betrayed their friend and the people of Maharashtra. They betrayed the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray. When we contested elections together, Shiv Sena and the BJP had the same ideology. People believed that there would be an alliance government and that is why they voted. But out of greed for the CM post, they went ahead with Congress and Sharad Pawar. This is betrayal...I don't use the kind of words they use. Balasaheb Thackeray and Anand Dighe didn't teach me that. They have forgotten the ideology of Balasaheb Thackeray that why they talking this way," Maharashtra CM said. When asked about personal attacks by Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders on his son Shrikant Shinde, the Maharashtra CM said that they have "lost balance". "They have lost balance. They have lost their confidence. They have lost the ground beneath their feet. They see just Eknath Shinde day in and day out. They can't even digest that I became the Chief Minister...People are with me and love me. But they can't digest it. So, they speak nonsense every day. The level of accusations has lowered. This is not the culture of Maharashtra, Balasaheb Thackeray didn't teach us that. They have sold the ideology of their father, so what can be expected of them? So, I don't respond to their accusations. I answer accusations with my work. I keep working hard day and night," he added. Meanwhile, the former Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam who joined the Shiv Sena after being expelled from the Congress, came down heavily on Priyanka Chaturvedi and said that it was not Eknath Shinde who betrayed, it was Uddhav Thackeray who had betrayed his father Balasaheb Thackeray's ideology. "The woman MP of Shiv Sena (UBT) has said that it should be written on the forehead of Maharashtra's CM's son that 'mera baap gaddar hai'. I want to give her a reply that it's Shiv Sena (UBT) which has betrayed, it's Uddhav Thackeray who has betrayed. He has betrayed the BJP, the people and Balasaheb Thackeray... If you want 'mera baap gaddar hai' too be written on the forehead of Shrikant, then on the forehead of Aaditya Thackeray 'mera baap maha gaddar hai' should be written as they have betrayed in real," Nirupam said. Shrikant Shinde is the sitting MP and Shiv Sena candidate from the Kalyan Lok Sabha constituency. Kalyan will vote in the 5th phase on May 20. Eknath Shinde split the Shiv Sena in June 2022, toppling the Maharashtra government headed by party president Uddhav Thackeray, and became the Chief Minister by allying with the Bharatiya Janata Party. (ANI)
The accused, Mustafa Paichar was arrested by NIA officials from his hideout in Karnataka, said sources.

Nettaru was hacked to death by two bike-borne attackers in Karnataka's Dakshina Kannada district's Bellare village on July 26, 2022.

He was hacked to death in Bellare village of Sullia Taluk allegedly by Popular Front of India 'Killer Squads' or 'Service Teams'.

NIA took over case in August 2022. A total of 21 persons, including the absconders, have so far been chargesheeted by the NIA under various sections of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Indian Penal Code and Arms Act. As per the NIA, the PFI has been indulging in such targeted 'hate killings' with the aim of driving a communal wedge and spreading communal hatred with its ultimate objective of establishing an Islamic Rule in India by 2047.

In September 2022, the Central government declared PFI as "unlawful association" and temporarily banned the organisation for five years under the UAPA act. (ANI)
Union Minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar slammed the Congress over its party leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks, asserting "this is a new Bharat" and "wouldn't be scared away". In an April 15 interview with 'Chill Pill', Aiyar said that Pakistan is a respected nation that also possesses an atom bomb so India must enter into a dialogue with them. Responding to this, Chandrasekhar said, "...Be it, Mani Shankar Aiyar or Sam Pitroda, it shows a pattern of the Congress' ideology and policies...." "He (Aiyar) is kind of doing Public Relations of Pakistan. He is suggesting that India should be frightened of Pakistan and respect Pakistan. This is a new Bharat. It will not be scared away by anyone. I am saying it responsibility that Rahul Gandhi's Congress party have become an apologist for the terrorism of Pakistan. A defender. I am certain that Congress party leaders will say they are distancing themselves(from such remarks). It has become their routine," he told reporters here. Meanwhile, the Congress party in their first reaction to Aiyar's remarks said that Mani Shankar Aiyar does not represent the official stand of the Congress. "Mani Shankar Aiyar doesn't hold an official position. So, whatever he says is his personal opinion. Congress has no such stand. Congress is not speaking anything on it," Congress leader Udit Raj said. Aiyar further said there have been no efforts from India to reach out to Pakistan in the last ten years. In an interview with Chill Pill Mani Shankar Aiyar on April 15 said, "They are also a sovereign country (Pakistan). They are a respected nation. You can talk tough with them (Pakistan). But start the dialogue. You are walking with a gun which yielded you nothing. Tensions are escalating. And if a mad person comes there, what will happen to the nation? They have an atom bomb. We also possess the atomic bomb. But if a mad person detonates our bomb at Lahore station, so within eight seconds, eight moments, its radioactivity will reach Amritsar. He added: "So you should prevent the use of atomic bombs. But, if you start a dialogue with them (Pakistan) and encourage them (by considering them as), then they should start thinking about their atomic bomb. But if you snub them, then a mad person will come and detonate the bomb. Then what will happen?" He also took a veiled attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that there had been no effort to reach out to Pakistan in 10 years. "We must understand that to become the 'Vishwaguru' (global leader), it is important to show that we are working rapidly to solve (all the bilateral issues) with Pakistan. There has been no effort (on the part of the government) to ( reach out to Pakistan) in the last ten years," the Congress leader added. Earlier on May 5, responding to Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh's remark that "PoK will be merged with India," Jammu and Kashmir National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said that Pakistan is not wearing bangles and also has atom bombs that they would use. (ANI)
Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh on Friday asserted that contesting elections on multiple seats is common in politics and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest elections from one of the seats of South. Speaking to ANI, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications said that the people of Raebareli want to give a mandate to Rahul Gandhi. "Atal Bihari Vajpayee has contested on two seats. Lal Krishna Advani has contested on two seats. Sushma Swaraj contested on two seats. Narendra Modi himself contested on two seats. So contesting on two seats is not uncommon. Rahul Gandhi contested in the south and he is also contesting in the north. We challenge the Prime Minister, let him pick any seat in the south and contest. In any case, Raebareli is a responsibility. It has been a seat which has been held by Sonia Gandhi. The people of Raebareli want to give a mandate to Rahul Gandhi. That is why, he has chosen to contest from Raebareli," he said. Jairam Ramesh reacted to the Prime Minister's attack on party leader Rahul Gandhi for the silence on attacks on Adani and Ambani that had been going on for years and said that now the PM is attacking his friends. "On 8th November 2016, the Prime Minister announced demonetization. Why was it done? To remove black money from circulation and now the same PM is saying that Adani-Ambani, his two closest business friends, are giving black money to the Congress party. So, what is the ED, and CBI doing? They are putting CMs in jail but they are allowing industrialists to give black money to the Congress party. Why is the ED not taking action? That means demonetization was a complete disaster, a complete failure. Industrialists still have black money to give to political parties. So, I think this is an extraordinary statement and the biggest beneficiaries of Mr Modi's economic policies in the last 10 years - Adani and Ambani," he said. "Today in the last 10 years 21 groups, 21 big 'crorepatis' control as much wealth as 70 crore Indians. This is a direct result of Mr Modi's economic policies. All Ports and Airports have been sold to Adani. Railways have been privatized. Where is this black money coming from? From privatization. So, I think this shows that the PM is very nervous. He is very disturbed and he is attacking even his closest friends," he said. Raebareli constituency goes to the polls on May 20. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi won the constituency, bagging 534,918 votes. Her closest rival, Dinesh Pratap Singh, put up a formidable challenge, gathering 367,740 votes. Before Sonia, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had won Raebareli thrice. The constituency also elected Indira's husband and Congress leader Feroze Gandhi twice, in 1952 and 1957. Rahul Gandhi is a sitting MP in Kerala's Wayanad, where he is seeking a fresh term alongside Raebareli. Rahul represented Amethi from 2004 until 2019. He will face Congress defector and three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli. (ANI)
Distancing the Congress party from Mani Shankar Aiyar's pro Pakistan comments, Congress candidate from North West Delhi Lok Sabha seat, Udit Raj said that Shankar does not hold the official position in the party and that his remarks are personal. In an April 15 interview with 'Chill Pill', Aiyar said that Pakistan is a respected nation that also possesses an atom bomb so India must enter into a dialogue with them. The comments made by the Congress leader received huge criticism from the BJP. Reacting to Mani Shankar Aiyar's comments, Congress leader Udit Raj said, "Mani Shankar Aiyar doesn't hold an official position. So, whatever he says is his personal opinion. Congress has no such stand. Congress is not speaking anything on it". Congress leader and Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot advised INDIA alliance members to take precautions while giving statements during elections in the country. On Mani Shankar's statement, Gehlot said, "I haven't heard any such comment. I would just say that the INDIA bloc members should take extra precaution while giving any statement during the elections. Because Modi Ji is such a big player, that he makes mountain out of a mole". Lashing out at Mani Shankar Aiyar's pro Pakistan comments, Union Minister Giriraj Singh accused the Congress of speaking the language of Pakistan and terrorists. "Rahul Gandhi, Congress, and Mani Shankar Aiyar are speaking the language of Pakistan...I would like to say that Congress should leave this dual policy, India is so powerful that if it casts an eye over us, Pakistan will no longer be there. He is speaking the language of Farooq Abdullah, of Pakistan. Congress speaks the language of Pakistan, of terrorists," Giriraj Singh said while speaking to ANI. BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that Aiyar, who is close to the Congress' "first family" is displaying the muscle and strength of Pakistan on behalf of the Congress party. "Congress' 'Pakistan prem' doesn't seem to stop. Mani Shankar Aiyar who is close to the 'first family' is displaying the muscle and strength of Pakistan on behalf of Congress party. He says that Pakistan should be respected and talks should be held with them - the same Pakistan that keeps sending terrorists to our country...Now, when incidents like Pulwama take place, a befitting reply is given...Today, Pakistan keeps pleading on international platforms to spare them...Look at the list of Congress - how they first received support from Pakistan, a clean chit was given to Kasab in 26/11, the language of Pakistan was spoken by uttering the words 'Indian Administered Kashmir'...now 'Congress ka haath' is being seen with 'Pakistan ke saath'. This is another example of the same," Poonawalla said in a self-made video. In an interview with Chill Pill Mani Shankar Aiyar on April 15 said, "They are also a sovereign country (Pakistan). They are a respected nation. You can talk tough with them (Pakistan). But start the dialogue. You are walking with a gun which yielded you nothing. Tensions are escalating. And if a mad person comes there, what will happen to the nation? They have an atom bomb. We also possess the atomic bomb. But if a mad person detonates our bomb at Lahore station, so within eight seconds, eight moments, its radioactivity will reach Amritsar. He added: "So you should prevent the use of atomic bombs. But, if you start a dialogue with them (Pakistan) and encourage them (by considering them as), then they should start thinking about their atomic bomb. But if you snub them, then a mad person will come and detonate the bomb. Then what will happen?" (ANI)
A Delhi-based lawyer has sent a representation to the Union Home Ministry seeking an investigation into alleged culpable omission in the assassination case of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and who allowed alleged tampering with intelligence inputs. The representation has been made by lawyer Saneev Pathak, based on security expert Namit Verma's recent claim that the Israeli intelligence had shared critical information with India about the possibility of a threat to former Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi. However, the file mysteriously disappeared under unclear circumstances after the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi in 1991. According to the representation by the lawyer, during a discussion titled 'Intelligence Cooperation and Security Challenges in the Emerging World Order' on May 2, Verma had elaborated that the intelligence input from a foreign nation about an assassination plan and payments made for the same was lost from the government record after the assassination of the Rajiv Gandhi. The representation also stated that the report of the Jain Commission of Inquiry (JCI) led by Justice (Retd) Milap Chand Jain has also taken note of the fact that evidence was allegedly tampered with and vital information allegedly withheld by the concerned persons to save the perpetrators of the crime. The representation claims that it is intriguing to note that the commission's report was not given its due by making the same basis for any prosecution of the people responsible for the act of assassination and conspiracy thereof. The representation further states that the government at the centre was run by the same party for two successive terms under the prime ministership of Manmohan Singh and the Chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) Sonia Gandhi (UPA) but the succeeding dispensation did nothing to punish the perpetrators and conspirators of the crime. The lawyer requested the Ministry of Home Affairs to order an investigation against the then Minister-in-Charge of the probe of the assassination of the former Prime Minister at the relevant time for the alleged commission of offences including tampering with and destruction of evidence among others to set the criminal justice system into motion to uphold the majesty of law and justice. While speaking to ANI, the lawyer claimed that nothing was done to identify, prosecute and punish the concerned persons who allegedly tampered with and destroyed the evidence of the case and further went on to reconstruct the records of the case only to mislead the investigators and the enquiry. In an interview with ANI, security expert Namit Verma said that he had recently participated in an event where he spoke about intelligence failure in the context of the Hamas attack of October 2023 which is considered as the greatest intelligence failure. "The host of the event wanted me to give an example of intelligence sharing between Israel and India that I may have been aware of. This is the field where everything is done off the record. In Rajiv Gandhi's assassination case the input was provided by Mossad to Indian agencies and no action was taken. This was, however, not as bad as the Hamas case because in the Hamas case apparently, the political leadership claimed that they didn't know about it. But in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case, there is a difference in that our agencies seemed to have taken action and alerted the government and advised to increase the security of the former Prime Minister but the political dispensation didn't act on that advice.....This particular file is missing but what has gone cannot be declassified because it was not made available to be declassified. Since 30 years have passed so I thought it is safe enough to cite this example," said Namit Verma. Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, at Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu after an LTTE activist detonated an RDX-laden suicide belt. At least 14 others, in addition to Gandhi and the assassin, were killed. (ANI)
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will be released on Friday as Tihar Jail authorities have recieved the release order from the Supreme Court. The Chief Minister will be released after spending almost 50 days in prison. "Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal's release order has been received by Tihar jail authorities. He will be released shortly," the prison officials said. Security has been stepped up outside Tihar Jail ahead of the chief minister's release. Meanwhile, preparations are underway outside Kejriwal's residence to accord him a rousing welcome. Earlier in the day, the Supreme Court granted him interim bail till June 1 in the Delhi excise policy case with conditions that he shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister or the Delhi Secretariat. As per the court order, the Delhi CM shall furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent. Also, he shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister and the Delhi Secretariat. While granting Kejriwal interim bail, the apex court said he would not interact with any of the witnesses or have access to any official files connected with the case. He will not "make any comment with regard to his role" in the present case, the bench ordered. "He shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi," the order stated. As the top court granted interim bail to Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, requested it to grant him interim bail until the declaration of results on June 4, which it declined. It further noted that the investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022 and Kejriwal was arrested March 21, 2024. The bench also made it clear that the grant of interim bail will not be treated as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case or the criminal appeal which is pending consideration before it. The bench also said that at this stage, it is not possible for it to either conclude the arguments or finally pronounce the judgment on the plea of Kejriwal against arrest. Kejriwal, while filing an appeal in the apex court had contended that his arrest after the announcement of the General Elections was "motivated by extraneous considerations". Kejriwal was arrested by the ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy 2021-22. The AAP supremo is likely to participate in the election campaigns of the party in the run-up to the general elections in Delhi scheduled to be held on May 25.till June 1 in the excise policy case. (ANI)
In a big relief to Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the Supreme Court on Friday granted him interim bail till June 1 in the money laundering case registered by the Directorate of Enforcement in connection with the Delhi excise policy, with conditions that he shall not visit the Office of the Chief Minister or the Delhi Secretariat. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta ordered Kejriwal to surrender on June 2. Imposing certain conditions while granting Kejriwal interim bail, the apex court said he would not interact with any of the witnesses or have access to any official files connected with the case. He will not "make any comment with regard to his role" in the present case, the bench ordered. "He shall be bound by the statement made on his behalf that he shall not sign official files unless it is required and necessary for obtaining clearance/ approval of the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi," the order stated. The bench further said that he shall furnish bail bonds in the sum of Rs 50,000 with one surety of the like amount to the satisfaction of the Jail Superintendent. As the top court granted interim bail to Kejriwal, senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Kejriwal, requested it to grant him interim bail until the declaration of results on June 4, which it declined. Granting interim bail to Kejriwal, the Supreme Court took into consideration that he is the Chief Minister of Delhi and a leader of one of the national parties. "No doubt, serious accusations have been made, but he has not been convicted. He does not have any criminal antecedents. He is not a threat to society," said the top court. It further noted that the investigation in the present case has remained pending since August 2022 and Kejriwal was arrested March 21, 2004. The bench also made it clear that the grant of interim bail will not be treated as an expression of opinion on the merits of the case or the criminal appeal which is pending consideration before it. Earlier, while hearing Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Kejriwal's plea against arrest by the ED and his subsequent remand in the excise policy case, the apex court had hinted at granting interim bail to him because of Lok Sabha elections. In its order today, the apex court rejected the arguments of ED that granting interim bail or release of campaigning would be giving premium of placing the politicians in a beneficial position compared to ordinary citizens of this country. "It is no gain saying that the general elections to Lok Sabha is the most significant event this year, as it should be in a national election year. Between 650-700 million voters out of an electorate of about 970 million will cast their votes to elect the government of this country for the next five years. General Elections supply the vis viva to a democracy. Given the prodigious importance, we reject the argument raised on behalf of the prosecution that grant of interim bail/release on this account would be giving premium of placing the politicians in a benefic position compared to ordinary citizens of this country," the order stated. "While examining the question of grant of interim bail/release, the courts always take into consideration the peculiarities associated with the person in question and the surrounding circumstances. To ignore the same would be iniquitous and wrong," it added. The bench also said that at this stage, it is not possible for it to either conclude the arguments or finally pronounce the judgment on the plea of Kejriwal against arrest. "However, there is an intervening factor which has prompted us to consider and pass the present order, namely, the 18th Lok Sabha General Elections, which are in progress. As the appeal is pending before us, we do not think it would be proper for us to direct the appellant - Arvind Kejriwal to approach the trial court for interim bail/release. This may not be apt in view of the legal issues and contentions that are under examination and consideration before us," it further stated. During the hearing Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing ED, objected to granting of interim bail to Kejriwal for campaigning saying farmers or shopkeepers do not get similar relief, the bench today said that the fact situation cannot be compared with harvesting of crops or plea to look after business affairs. "In this background, once the matter is subjudice and the questions relating to the legality of arrest are under consideration, a more holistic and libertarian view is justified, in the background that the 18th Lok Sabha General Elections are being held," stated the order. Kejriwal, while filing an appeal in the apex court had contended that his arrest after the announcement of the General Elections was "motivated by extraneous considerations". On April 9, the High Court dismissed his plea for release from jail and rejected his argument of political vendetta amid the looming Lok Sabha elections. The High Court had said that Kejriwal's absence from nine ED summons over six months undermined any claims of special privilege as Chief Minister, suggesting his arrest was an inevitable consequence of his non-cooperation. Kejriwal was arrested by ED on March 21 in connection with a money laundering probe relating to alleged irregularities in the now-cancelled Delhi excise policy 2021-22. (ANI)
The Delhi High Court on Friday granted statutory bail to Indian Mujahideen's (IM) co-founder Abdul Subhan Qureshi in an Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act UAPA case. The High Court said, "Merely because the allegations against the appellant are serious in nature, cannot be taken as the sole ground for declining such relief provided under Section 436-A Cr.P.C." A Division bench comprising justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain granted relief to Qureshi after considering the facts including the period spent in the custody and submissions for the case. The Division bench said, "Keeping in Mind the overall facts and circumstances of the case and also keeping in mind the incarceration period, we hereby allow the appeal and direct that the appellant be released on bail on the terms and conditions to be imposed by learned Trial Court." "We are also conscious of the fact that all co-accused in the present case are already on bail and the case is at the stage of recording prosecution evidence and the prosecution has already examined eight witnesses. There are 53 cited prosecution witnesses and therefore, it cannot be said that trial is likely to be concluded in the near future," the High Court observed in the order passed on May 10. The High Court, however, clarified that In case there is any violation of any condition imposed by the learned Trial Court or the appellant attempts to threaten or influence any witness, directly or indirectly, or attempts to delay the trial, it would be open to the prosecution to seek cancellation of bail, without any reference to this Court. Abdul Subhan Qureshi moved the High Court seeking statutory bail in a UAPA case. As per Delhi police he was editor of publication at SIMI. He was one of the co-founders of Indian Mujahideen (IM). He has sought bail on the ground that he has undergone a period of incarceration of 4 years and 10 months. He has around 40 cases against him and was arrested in this case in June 2019. A division bench comprising justices Suresh Kumar Kait and Manoj Jain, on April 29, issued notice to Delhi Police and called for a status report on the petition moved by Abdul Subhan Qureshi. Advocate Prashant Prakash appeared for the petitioner. He submitted that the petitioner has been in custody for the last 4 years and 10 months. The offence for which he has been charged has a maximum punishment of five years. The petition was opposed by the Additional Public Prosecutor (APP) claiming that the appellant had earlier been declared a Proclaimed Offender (PO) and he came to be arrested in the present case only when he had been apprehended in another case. It was also claimed that there are four other matters in which he continues to be in judicial custody and, therefore, the learned Trial Court had rightly dismissed his application seeking bail under Section 436 A Cr. P.C. The bench noted that in the present case, charges have already been ascertained and the accused has been charged for offences under Sections 120B, 153A, 153B IPC and under Sections 10 and 13 of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA). It was also admitted by Learned APP that Section 43D(5) of UAPA does not stand attracted as he has not been charged with any offences punishable under Chapter IV or Chapter VI of UAPA. The maximum sentence for the grave-most offence with which he has been charged, would be 7 years and his incarceration period in the present case is almost touching 05 years, the APP admitted. "Undoubtedly, the bail cannot be claimed as a matter of right under Section 436-A Cr.P.C. Fact remains that the said provision was introduced with a particular purpose and recognizes the right of any Under Trial Prisoners (UTP) to be released on bail in case his incarceration has extended up to half of the maximum period of the imprisonment specified. Of course, as per the proviso attached to Section 436-A Cr.P.C., the detention can be continued even for a longer period, for the reasons to be recorded in writing," the division bench observed. He is one of the alleged co-founders of Indian Mujahideen and used to be called Osama Bin Laden of India. His bail plea was dismissed by the trial court in December 2023 given the gravity of the offences and his previous conduct. He is an accused in a case registered in 2021 and was arrested in this case after his arrest in another case in 2018. He has been charged under sections 153 A, 153B read with 120 B of IPC, and sections 10 and 13 of UAPA. He was a member of SIMI. The organization was banned by the Central Government in the year 2001. (ANI)
In response to Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole's remarks that the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir will be purified when the INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre, the temple priest of Hanumangarhi Mahant Raju Das said that the Congress has now started insulting the tribal and Dalit communities. "Till now the Congress party used to oppose only the Ram Temple, but it is unfortunate that now the Congress party has started insulting the tribal and Dalit communities also," Das said speaking to ANI on Friday. Condemning the statement of Nana Patole, the temple priest said that such comments are dangerous for the country. "The statement of Maharashtra Congress State President Nana Patole is unfortunate and insulting the Dalit community by making such statements is very dangerous for India. The Congress State President has said that if their government is formed they will purify the Ram Temple again. What purification will you do?" Das said. Das said that till now the Congress limited itself to only opposing the construction of Ram Janmabhoomi temple but now they are allegedly insulting tribals, Dalits and backward people. "Till now they used to oppose the Ram Temple and were not allowing the Ram Temple to be built. The public will definitely demand answers from the way the Congress Party is insulting tribals, Dalits and backward people," he said. Nana Patole triggered a political storm with his controversial statement that the Shankaryacharyas would be purifying the Ram Janmabhoomi Mandir following religious protocols when the Congress-led INDIA bloc comes to power at the Centre. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole said, "We are going to purify Ram Mandir in Ayodhya after INDIA Alliance comes to power. Shankaracharyas were opposing this (Pran Pratishtha), all the four Shankaracharyas will purify the Ram Temple. Ram Darbar will be established in that place. It is not Lord Ram's idol there, but the child form of Ram Lalla. Narendra Modi has acted against protocol in Ram Temple construction. We will do it through rectifications and religion." The 'Pran Pratishtha' of Shri Ram Lalla at Ayodhya's historic temple was held on January 22, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi performing the Vedic rituals, led by a group of priests. The ceremony was attended by representatives of all major spiritual and religious sects in the country. People from all walks of life, including representatives of various tribal communities, attended the ceremony. The Shri Ram Janmbhoomi Mandir is constructed in the traditional 'Nagara' style. Its length (east-west) is 380 feet; width is 250 feet and height is 161 feet; and is supported by a total of 392 pillars and 44 doors. (ANI)
Stating that the investigation into the alleged plot to assassinate Sikh separatist leader Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an ongoing legal matter, the US State Department said it "won't speak" until "allegations are proved" before a jury. Gurpatwant Singh Pannun is an India-designated terrorist who holds American and Canadian citizenship. "There's a publicly returned indictment that contains alleged facts or allegations. Until they're proven before a jury that anyone can go and read, I won't speak to them here because, of course, it's an ongoing legal matter, and I'll leave it at that," spokesperson Matthew Miller said at a State Department briefing on Thursday (local time). Miller's remarks came in response to a media query on Pannun's case investigation. Notably, a Czech court has ruled that Prague can extradite to the United States the 52-year-old Indian, Nikhil Gupta, who is accused by the United States of involvement in the alleged attempt to kill Sikh separatist leader Pannun, a Czech-based media outlet Seznam Zpravy reported, citing judicial database Infosoud. As per the US Justice Department indictment, Indian national Nikhil Gupta is currently in custody and has been charged with murder-for-hire, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. Czech authorities arrested and detained Gupta on June 30, 2023, under the bilateral extradition treaty between the United States and the Czech Republic. The US Justice Department had claimed that an Indian government employee, who was not identified in the indictment filed in a federal court in Manhattan, had recruited Indian national Nikhil Gupta to hire a hitman to allegedly assassinate Panun, which was foiled by US authorities. The External Affairs Ministry too, in April, had rejected a report in The Washington Post naming Indian Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) official's involvement in the alleged plot to kill Khalistani terrorist Pannun in the US. Describing it as an "unwarranted and unsubstantiated" imputation on a "serious matter" that is under investigation, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) official spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said the US media report was "speculative and irresponsible." India has also set up a high-level committee to probe the matter. Moreover, the Russian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday said that Washington has not yet provided any reliable evidence of the involvement of Indian citizens in the case. "According to the information we have, Washington has not yet provided any reliable evidence of the involvement of Indian citizens in the preparation of the murder of a certain GS Pannun. Speculation on this topic in the absence of evidence is unacceptable," the official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova said at a briefing. Meanwhile, responding to a media query on the ongoing elections in India, the US State Department spokesperson said that Washington does not involve itself in polls anywhere around the world. "Elections in India, as we don't involve ourselves in elections anywhere in the world,. Those are decisions for the people of India to make," Miller said. In April, US State Department Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vedant Patel, on being asked about Lok Sabha elections in India and whether the US has sent any observers, said, "I am not aware of the United States sending any observers. We generally don't in the case of advanced democracies like India." "We, of course, are eager to continue to deepen and strengthen our cooperation with our partners in India, and we are just going to let the election play out. I don't have any assessment or comment to offer on that," he had said at a press briefing. Lok Sabha elections are being conducted in seven phases from April 19-June 1 and is the second-longest polling exercise in the Indi's electoral history after the first general election, which was held over five months between September 1951 and February 1952. The votes will be counted on June 4. Notably, the last general elections in 2019 were also held in seven phases. (ANI)
Lauding the mutual ties, European Union envoy Herve Delphin said India is the country that has "gained tremendous importance for the EU," and the partnership will "deepen further." Speaking at an event on Europe Day celebration here on Thursday, the Ambassador of the European Union to India, Delphin, said, "In this turbulent environment, there is one country, and one relationship that has gained tremendous importance for the EU, and it is India." External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar was the chief guest at the event held to mark Europe Day, held on May 9 every year to celebrate peace and unity in Europe. He said that in Europe, they have come to "realise the strategic relevance and importance of building a strong relation with India." "In Europe, we have come to realise the strategic relevance and importance of building a strong relationship with India, for ourselves, for both of us, and also for the rest of the world. Our partnership has grown stronger, and we are confident that this partnership will deepen and further widen," the envoy said. He noted that the partnership between India and the EU is not a matter of government alone, as he highlighted the role of the business community in enhancing the ties. He said that the "Federation of European Businesses in India (FEBI), will be a driving force for India-EU relations." Further highlighting that the EU-India partnership is also about people, Delphin said, "Through their personal lives, I have woven the common fabric that unites Europe and India...the mobility of businesses, workers, students, researchers and tourists will make our partnership stronger." Delphin said, "The European Union, at its core, is a peace project; a political experiment quite unique in the world," as he greeted the guests at the event. "In today's global reality of tensions and transitions from the return of war and international challenges, Europe, more than ever, has to bring its own contribution to the world to preserve peace. We stand by our common civilisation...of rules, principles and values embodied in the UN Charter--an international law. With belief in the betterment of mankind through the empowerment of people, sustainable development and the preservation of human rights, and we believe in the strength of democracy," he said. "We will defend ourselves whenever our interests are under threat," the envoy said, adding that the EU "will support Ukraine to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty against Russian aggression." and will "spare no effort to restore peace in the Middle East..." In March this year, India and the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) signed a Trade and Economic Partnership Agreement (TEPA) with four European states- Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. EFTA has committed to promote investments to increase the stock of foreign direct investments by USD 100 billion in India in the next 15 years and to facilitate the generation of 1 million direct employment in India. Earlier in February, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Piyush Goyal, discussed the Free Trade Agreement (FTA) between India and the European Union at the Special Plenary Session of the second CII India Europe Business and Sustainability Conclave. Goyal emphasized the principles of fairness, equity, and balance in FTA negotiations, asserting India's trajectory towards achieving a USD 35 trillion economy by 2047. "We believe that Free Trade Agreements or bilateral agreements have to be fair, equitable and balanced. Countries across the globe need to recognise that India as a rapidly growing country, is poised to become a USD 35 trillion economy by 2047, " Goyal had stated. (ANI)
Lu's trip will strengthen bilateral cooperation with each country and demonstrate US support for a free, open, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region, the State Department said in a release on Thursday (local time).

"In Chennai, Assistant Secretary Lu will meet with Consulate personnel to bolster bilateral engagement in southern India," the State Department release read.

Following his India visit, the US top diplomat will travel to Colombo to engage with officials from across the political spectrum and deepen the United States' partnership with Sri Lanka.

"In his meetings, he will reaffirm the United States' support for Sri Lanka's economic recovery, as well as the importance of a robust civil society as a cornerstone of a free and democratic society," as per the release.

Assistant Secretary Lu will finally culminate his six-day long visit in Bangladesh.

In Dhaka, he will meet with government officials, civil society leaders, and other Bangladeshis to "discuss US-Bangladesh cooperation," including on addressing the climate crisis and "deepening economic ties." (ANI)
Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) has said that it detected six Chinese military aircraft and seven naval vessels operating near Taiwan's airspace from 6 am (local time) on Thursday to 6 am (local time) on Friday. According to Taiwan's MND, four of the 7 Chinese military aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern and eastern Air Defence Identification Zone (ADIZ). In response to Chinese activity, Taiwanese armed forces monitored the situation and deployed aircraft, naval vessels and coastal missile systems. In a post on X, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence (MND) stated, "6 PLA aircraft and 7 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 4 of the aircraft crossed the median line of the Taiwan Strait and entered Taiwan's southwestern ADIZ. ROC Armed Forces have monitored the situation and employed CAP aircraft, Navy vessels, and coastal missile systems in response to the detected activities." The MND has issued daily reports on Chinese military activities for the past few years, including identifying those Chinese aircraft, drones, and balloons that are found to have crossed the Taiwan Strait median line to the Taiwan side. The median line of the Taiwan Strait served for decades as a tacit border between China and Taiwan, Central News Agency (CNA) reported. However, the Chinese military has more freely sent aircraft, warships and drones across it since former United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August 2022. Taiwan Ministry of National Defence (MND) said on Thursday that it tracked 23 Chinese military aircraft and five naval vessels around Taiwan between 6 am on Wednesday and 6 am on Thursday, Taiwan News reported. In a statement posted on X, Taiwan's Ministry of National Defence said, "23 PLA aircraft and 5 PLAN vessels operating around Taiwan were detected up until 6 a.m. (UTC+8) today. 8 of the aircraft crossed the median line and entered Taiwan's southwestern and eastern ADIZ. #ROCArmedForces have monitored the situation and responded accordingly." So far in May, Taiwan has detected Chinese military aircraft 98 times and naval vessels 41 times, Taiwan News reported on Thursday. Since September 2020, China has intensified its use of gray zone tactics by increasing the number of military aircraft and naval ships operating around Taiwan. Gray zone tactics are defined as "an effort or series of efforts beyond steady-state deterrence and assurance that attempts to achieve one's security objectives without resort to direct and sizable use of force." (ANI)
The Friends of India Society International-UK (FISI-UK) hosted an event titled "Exploring India's Future: Policy Perspectives on Indic Refugees Post-CAA" at the UK Parliament. The event, which took place on May 8 in London, had various attendees, including MPs Bob Blackman, Theresa Villiers, Virendra Sharma, and Lord Rami Ranger. According to a press release, the Parliamentarians underscored the importance of freedom of religion and religious tolerance, particularly in countries like Pakistan. They emphasised that every individual should have the liberty to celebrate their chosen religion with peace and freedom, which is a fundamental human right. "The keynote speaker at the event was Kiran Chukkapalli, founder of the Think Peace and Refugee Aid Project. His organisation, Refugee Aid, endeavours to shed light on the arduous journey of persecuted Hindus in Pakistan and their challenges as silent refugees in India. While these individuals have escaped a life plagued by fear, humiliation, and violence in their home country, they now aspire to find dignity in India," the release read. During his speech, Chukkapalli shared poignant stories of young girls who are abducted, forcibly converted and denied contact with their families. He highlighted the failure of Pakistan's government machinery, including its highest court, to protect these individuals, leaving them and their families utterly helpless. He emphasised that as many as 350 girls go missing from the Sindh province of Pakistan, underscoring the magnitude of the issue. With such blatant intolerance and human rights violations, they make their way to India, many with just a mere 40 pounds. "Recognising the dire circumstances faced by these refugees, his organisation is actively developing a comprehensive policy to address the specific needs of Hindu and Sikh refugees fleeing persecution," the release stated. The event captivated and motivated the audience, drawing a diverse cross-section of the Indian diaspora, including councillors, leaders of various community organisations, and journalists. (ANI)
The Maldivian Foreign Minister, Moosa Zameer, who is on an official visit to India, interacted with the Maldivian community here on Thursday. In a post on X, he posted the pictures from the interaction and wrote, "Had the opportunity to interact with the Maldivian community residing and visiting New Delhi." "There is a growing number of students visiting New Delhi to lodge visa and I am committed to working with the relevant authorities to address some of the concerns and challenges they face," he posted. The Maldivian Foreign Minister, on Thursday, held talks with his Indian counterpart, S Jaishankar. The two leaders engaged in discussions on all aspects of the partnership to forge opportunities for future collaboration in government priority areas. "Both ministers expressed commitment to continue working closely together, bilaterally and in the international arena, on priority areas of mutual interest. During the official discussions, both Ministers acknowledged the fruitful economic partnership and the notable progress of projects facilitated through Indian grant assistance and line of credit initiatives," the Maldivian Foreign Ministry release read. The dialogue comprised perspectives on development cooperation, tourism initiatives, and human resource development, underscoring a partnership built on mutual trusts shared interests and values. Both ministers also underscored the significance of exploring additional avenues to enhance the partnership between New Delhi and Male. "Minister Zameer conveyed appreciation for India's steadfast support in fostering and advancing economic, trade, and investment ties between the two nations, as well as for India's committed role in the socioeconomic advancement of the Maldives. India had renewed quota for Maldives to import essential goods for one year, amounting a significant increase compared to previous year," the release added. Notably, Zameer's visit to India comes amid strained ties with the Maldives under President Mohamed Muizzu's government and India has said that it will replace its military personnel from the Maldives before May 10. In April, the MEA said that the first batch of Indian technical personnel reached the Maldives to replace the defence personnel.India and the Maldives have held two high-level core group meetings, and the third one is expected to take place soon. The removal of Indian troops from the country was the main election campaign of Muizzu's party. Currently, there are around 70 Indian troops, along with Dornier 228 maritime patrol aircraft and two HAL Dhruv helicopters, stationed in the Maldives. (ANI)
Newly-appointed Chinese Ambassador to India, Xu Feihong, who arrived in Delhi on Friday, said he was looking forward to working hard with all for the ties between the two nations. Xu expressed gratitude to the Ministry of External Affairs official who received him at the airport, Eritrea's Ambassador to India Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam and officials from the Chinese Embassy for welcoming him upon arrival in Delhi. In a post on X, Xu Feihong stated, "Arrived at dawn in Delhi today. Thanks for the warm greetings from MEA official, Dean of Diplomatic Corps H.E. Ambassador Alem Tsehaye Woldemariam of Eritrea to India, and my colleagues from the Embassy. Look forward to working hard with all for #China-#India relations. Xu Feihong is the 17th Chinese Ambassador to India. The last Chinese Ambassador to India was Sun Weidong, who left in October 2022, after serving three years in Delhi, and took over as China's deputy Foreign Minister after his return. Sun Weidong left Delhi at a time when India and China were trying to manage ties via multiple channels, following the Ladakh border clash in 2020 that has remained the dominant issue between the two sides. Since April 2020, India and China have had several rounds of diplomatic and military level meetings on the situation along the Line of Actual Control (LAC), in the India-China border areas. Earlier in March, India and China exchanged views on ways of achieving complete disengagement and resolving the issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said in an official press release. The development comes close on the heels of India and China holding its 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation and Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) in Beijing on March 27. According to the official release, the meeting was co-chaired by the MEA Joint Secretary who led the Indian delegation and the Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs led the Chinese delegation. "The 29th meeting of the Working Mechanism for Consultation & Coordination on India-China Border Affairs (WMCC) was held on 27 March 2024 in Beijing. Joint Secretary (East Asia) from the Ministry of External Affairs led the Indian delegation. The Chinese delegation was led by Director General of the Boundary & Oceanic Department of the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs," the release read. "The two sides had an in-depth exchange of views on how to achieve complete disengagement and resolve the remaining issues along the Line of Actual Control (LAC) in the Western Sector of India-China border areas," it added. After the meeting, India and China agreed to open diplomatic and military channels open to uphold peace and tranquility on the ground in the border areas. (ANI)
Abu Dhabi [UAE], May 10 (ANI/WAM): Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, UAE's Minister of Foreign Affairs, hosted Hakan Fidan, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkey, for a working dinner in Abu Dhabi. During the meeting, the two top diplomats discussed the dangerous developments in the Middle East region and the efforts of the international community to reach a sustainable ceasefire and strengthen the humanitarian response to the needs of civilians in the Gaza Strip. Sheikh Abdullah stressed the importance of intensifying efforts at the regional and international levels to reach a ceasefire and protect the security and safety of all civilians, noting that the escalating tension, extremism, and violence in the region threaten international peace and security. He further emphasised the critical importance of close collaboration to ensure uninterrupted and ample humanitarian assistance for civilians in the Gaza Strip, while redoubling efforts to mitigate the suffering of the brotherly people of Palestine. In a related context, the two ministers discussed the relations of friendship and strategic partnership between the two countries, focusing on the diverse development opportunities available for their peoples. The two sides also reviewed bilateral cooperation in all fields, including economic, commercial, and investment fields. Sheikh Abdullah praised the steady growth in the volume of non-oil trade between the two countries, which increased by 103.7 per cent in 2023, with Turkey's share in the UAE's total foreign trade rising to 5.1 per cent to become the fastest growing among the Emirates' top 10 trading partners. "This significant development in non-oil trade exchange is the result of the Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement signed by the two countries on March 3, 2023, which entered into force on September 1st of the same year," Sheikh Abdullah said, stressing on the importance of continuing joint work to further strengthen relations of cooperation and partnership in all fields. He also affirmed that the two countries enjoy strong and growing relations and are looking forward to establishing advanced and prosperous paths of cooperation that support their efforts to achieve comprehensive and sustainable economic growth. (ANI/WAM)
India and Moldova signed an agreement on visa waiver for diplomatic and official passports on Friday. The agreement will allow holders of diplomatic and official passports of either country to travel to the other, without a visa. Pavan Kapoor, secretary (West), Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) and Ana Taban, ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Moldova signed the agreements on behalf of their governments, the MEA said in a press release. The agreement will add further momentum to ties between India and Moldova. "This Agreement, after coming into force, will allow holders of diplomatic and official passports of either country to travel to the other, without a visa," the MEA release read. "This Agreement will add further momentum to the friendly and cordial relations between the two countries," it added. Diplomatic relations between India and Moldova were established on March 20, 1992. The ties between India and Moldova are warm, stable and friendly, according to MEA. Earlier in January, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar congratulated Mihai Popsoi on his appointment as Moldova's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. Jaishankar said he looked forward to working together to further strengthen ties between India and Moldova. In a post on X, Jaishankar stated, "Congratulate @MihaiPopsoi on your appointment as the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova. Look forward to working together to further strengthen India-Moldova ties." (ANI)
An International Monterey Fund (IMF) team on Friday reached Pakistan to hold talks regarding the South Asian nation's request for a longer and larger size of bailout package under the Extended Fund Facility (EFF).

A support team of the global lender is expected to discuss the first phase of the next long-term loan programme with the country's financial team, according to the sources.

The sources added that the advance party has reached Pakistan for talks while the IMF mission will arrive on the night of May 16, Geo News reported.

Moreover, the team will receive data from different departments and will also discuss the upcoming budget 2025 with the Pakistan Ministry of Finance.

According to the sources, the team will be in Pakistan for over 10 days.

Pakistan sought a next bailout package in the range of USD 6 to USD 8 billion for the three years under the EEF with a possibility of augmentation through climate financing, The News International reported last month.

Last month, Pakistan completed a USD 3 billion short-term program that saved it from defaulting.

The IMF Executive Board completed the second review under the stand-by arrangement in its meeting on April 29 and approved the disbursement for Pakistan.

The State Bank of Pakistan (SBP) received USD 1.1 billion from the IMF on April 30.

Meanwhile, some days ago, the federal government decided to stop providing subsidies to government officials ahead of the IMF mission's visit on a new loan package.

According to media reports, the subsidy given to Customs officers from grades 17 to 22 has also been abolished.

They added that the subsidized house rent and medical charges to customs officers have been abolished, Samaa TV reported. (ANI)
California abortion rate rises to highest level in a decade. What experts say

Californias abortion rate rose last year to its highest level in a decade as state legislation made it easier to get an abortion and thousands of people from states with abortion bans sought medical care here, new data show.

California health care professionals provided about 178,400 legal abortions in 2023, up by about 24,000, or 16%, from 2020, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit organization that advocates for access to reproductive care.

We dont actually know what is behind the increase, said Rachel Jones, the principal research scientist at Guttmacher. We do know that California has been a model, in a lot of ways, in trying to increase access to abortion.

The abortion rate in California fell sharply for decades in California, going from about 44 legal abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in 1991 to about 16 per 1,000 women in 2017, Guttmacher data show.

The rate began to rise again in 2017  an increase that continued after the Supreme Courts 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to an abortion previously enshrined in Roe v. Wade.

The 2022 decision led to full abortion bans in 13 states, mostly in the southeastern United States, and partial bans in several others. At the same time, California and many other states passed laws protecting abortion rights.

About 5,200 people traveled from other states to California to have a legal abortion in 2023, representing about 3% of abortions performed in the state.

Other states saw far more people traveling from out of state for an abortion. For example, about 12,500 people came to Kansas from other states for an abortion. About 14,500 came to New Mexico. About 36,800 came to Illinois.

The states that saw the biggest increases were those that are adjacent to states where abortion was pretty much completely banned, Jones said.

During the last several years, California legislators passed multiple laws to increase abortion access in the state. Those laws have helped more women obtain abortions.

Even prior to the Dobbs decision, abortion access in California was far from equitablegeographically, demographically, and racially, said Shelby McMichael, a spokesperson for Planned Parenthood Affiliates of California. Rural and underserved communities were, and in many places still are, abortion care deserts.

New measures passed in California include:

 An amendment to the state constitution that enshrines abortion rights.

 Several laws protecting doctors who perform abortions for residents of other states.

 Enhancing privacy protections for people who get abortions.

 Allowing physician assistants and nurse practitioners to play a greater role in performing abortions.

 Starting a Reproductive Health Services Corps to train and encourage practitioners who work in underserved areas.

California has implemented more than two dozen policies related to access and invested over $200M in reproductive health care, McMichael said.

There were about 23 abortions per 1,000 women aged 15 to 44 in California during 2023, significantly higher than the nationwide rate of about 16 abortions per 100,000 women.

In 2023, California had the ninth-highest rate of abortions in America.
A 22-year-old suspect from North Carolina  a former employee at Hollywood Pets in Danville  is facing an animal cruelty charge after videos surfaced of an incident from earlier this year.

Cassidy Gill of Roxboro, North Carolina, was arrested Friday, the Danville Police Department reported.

On Thursday, authorities "were made aware" of the complaint at the Hairston Street business that provides pet grooming and kennel services.

"This complaint included videos of the employee striking a dog in January and February of 2024, which was shared by the complainant to social media and other sources," a news release from the police department stated. "Animal Control investigated the incident with the assistance of detectives with the Criminal Investigations Unit."

That investigation resulted in the arrest. There are no other criminal charges expected, police wrote in the release.

As the videos circulated, Derek Holley, of Hollywood Pets, spoke out about the incident on the Facebook page for the business.

Holley said he received the videos April 26 from the animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, commonly called PETA.

The next time the employee came to work  April 29  Holley said he spoke with the worker who was "terminated immediately."

"Apparently the videos had been recorded some time ago but were not presented to me when the incidents occurred," he wrote in the Thursday post. "Only after our previous groomer (who captured the videos) was terminated on April 15th did she decide it was in her best interest to release them to PETA."

Holley explained he plans to install cameras to monitor grooming activities in the future.

"We deeply regret any of this occurred and I assure you these were isolated incidents," he wrote in the post. "We have served Danville and the surrounding areas for 16 years and our reputation is excellent."

Close These products all contain substances called methylxanthines, which are found in cacao seeds, the fruit of the plant used to make coffee and in the nuts of an extract used in some sodas. When ingested by pets, methylxanthines can cause vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death. Note that darker chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate. White chocolate has the lowest level of methylxanthines, while baking chocolate contains the highest. Alcoholic beverages and food products containing alcohol can cause vomiting, diarrhea, decreased coordination, central nervous system depression, difficulty breathing, tremors, abnormal blood acidity, coma and even death. The leaves, fruit, seeds and bark of avocados contain Persin, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs. Birds and rodents are especially sensitive to avocado poisoning, and can develop congestion, difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation around the heart. Some ingestions may even be fatal. Macadamia nuts are commonly used in many cookies and candies. However, they can cause problems for your canine companion. These nuts have caused weakness, depression, vomiting, tremors and hyperthermia in dogs. Signs usually appear within 12 hours of ingestion and last approximately 12 to 48 hours. Although the toxic substance within grapes and raisins is unknown, these fruits can cause kidney failure. In pets who already have certain health problems, signs may be more dramatic. Yeast dough can rise and cause gas to accumulate in your pets digestive system. This can be painful and can cause the stomach or intestines to rupture. Because the risk diminishes after the dough is cooked and the yeast has fully risen, pets can have small bits of bread as treats. However, these treats should not constitute more than 5 percent to 10 percent of your pets daily caloric intake. Raw meat and raw eggs can contain bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli that can be harmful to pets. In addition, raw eggs contain an enzyme called avidin that decreases the absorption of biotin (a B vitamin), which can lead to skin and coat problems. Feeding your pet raw bones may seem like a natural and healthy option that might occur if your pet lived in the wild. However, this can be very dangerous for a domestic pet, who might choke on bones, or sustain a grave injury should the bone splinter and become lodged in or puncture your pets digestive tract. Xylitol is used as a sweetener in many products, including gum, candy, baked goods and toothpaste. It can cause insulin release in most species, which can lead to liver failure. The increase in insulin leads to hypoglycemia (lowered sugar levels). Initial signs of toxicosis include vomiting, lethargy and loss of coordination. Signs can progress to recumbancy and seizures. Elevated liver enzymes and liver failure can be seen within a few days. These vegetables and herbs can cause gastrointestinal irritation and could lead to red blood cell damage. Although cats are more susceptible, dogs are also at risk if a large enough amount is consumed. Toxicity is normally diagnosed through history, clinical signs and microscopic confirmation of Heinz bodies. An occasional low dose, such as what might be found in pet foods or treats, likely will not cause a problem, but the ASPCA recommends that you do NOT give your pets large quantities of these foods. Because pets do not possess significant amounts of lactase (the enzyme that breaks down lactose in milk), milk and other milk-based products cause them diarrhea or other digestive upset. Large amounts of salt can produce excessive thirst and urination, or even sodium ion poisoning in pets. Signs that your pet may have eaten too many salty foods include vomiting, diarrhea, depression, tremors, elevated body temperature, seizures and even death. In other words, keep those salty chips to yourself! 12 people foods your pets should never eat Chocolate, macadamia nuts, avocados  these foods may sound delicious to you, but theyre actually quite dangerous for our animal companions. The nutrition experts at the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals have put together a handy list of the top toxic people foods to avoid feeding your pet. As always, if you suspect your pet has eaten any of the following foods, please note the amount ingested and contact your veterinarian or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center at (888) 426-4435. These products all contain substances called methylxanthines, which are found in cacao seeds, the fruit of the plant used to make coffee and in the nuts of an extract used in some sodas. When ingested by pets, methylxanthines can cause vomiting and diarrhea, panting, excessive thirst and urination, hyperactivity, abnormal heart rhythm, tremors, seizures and even death. Note that darker chocolate is more dangerous than milk chocolate. White chocolate has the lowest level of methylxanthines, while baking chocolate contains the highest. Alcoholic beverages and food products containing alcohol can cause vomiting, diarrhea, decreased coordination, central nervous system depression, difficulty breathing, tremors, abnormal blood acidity, coma and even death. The leaves, fruit, seeds and bark of avocados contain Persin, which can cause vomiting and diarrhea in dogs. Birds and rodents are especially sensitive to avocado poisoning, and can develop congestion, difficulty breathing and fluid accumulation around the heart. Some ingestions may even be fatal. Macadamia nuts are commonly used in many cookies and candies. However, they can cause problems for your canine companion. These nuts have caused weakness, depression, vomiting, tremors and hyperthermia in dogs. Signs usually appear within 12 hours of ingestion and last approximately 12 to 48 hours. Although the toxic substance within grapes and raisins is unknown, these fruits can cause kidney failure. In pets who already have certain health problems, signs may be more dramatic. Yeast dough can rise and cause gas to accumulate in your pets digestive system. This can be painful and can cause the stomach or intestines to rupture. Because the risk diminishes after the dough is cooked and the yeast has fully risen, pets can have small bits of bread as treats. However, these treats should not constitute more than 5 percent to 10 percent of your pets daily caloric intake. Raw meat and raw eggs can contain bacteria such as Salmonella and E. coli that can be harmful to pets. In addition, raw eggs contain an enzyme called avidin that decreases the absorption of biotin (a B vitamin), which can lead to skin and coat problems. Feeding your pet raw bones may seem like a natural and healthy option that might occur if your pet lived in the wild. However, this can be very dangerous for a domestic pet, who might choke on bones, or sustain a grave injury should the bone splinter and become lodged in or puncture your pets digestive tract. Xylitol is used as a sweetener in many products, including gum, candy, baked goods and toothpaste. It can cause insulin release in most species, which can lead to liver failure. The increase in insulin leads to hypoglycemia (lowered sugar levels). Initial signs of toxicosis include vomiting, lethargy and loss of coordination. Signs can progress to recumbancy and seizures. Elevated liver enzymes and liver failure can be seen within a few days. These vegetables and herbs can cause gastrointestinal irritation and could lead to red blood cell damage. Although cats are more susceptible, dogs are also at risk if a large enough amount is consumed. Toxicity is normally diagnosed through history, clinical signs and microscopic confirmation of Heinz bodies. An occasional low dose, such as what might be found in pet foods or treats, likely will not cause a problem, but the ASPCA recommends that you do NOT give your pets large quantities of these foods. Because pets do not possess significant amounts of lactase (the enzyme that breaks down lactose in milk), milk and other milk-based products cause them diarrhea or other digestive upset. Large amounts of salt can produce excessive thirst and urination, or even sodium ion poisoning in pets. Signs that your pet may have eaten too many salty foods include vomiting, diarrhea, depression, tremors, elevated body temperature, seizures and even death. In other words, keep those salty chips to yourself!
TOKYO, May 10 (News On Japan) - Mother's Day, a tradition celebrated on May 12 since its establishment in 1947, showcases diverse regional preferences in gift-giving across Japan, highlighting local cultural values and economic conditions.

A common recollection from those aged in their seventies is, "What will I get? I hardly remember Father's Day, so my husband is a bit jealous. It's always about mom."

This year, about 80% of respondents indicated they would give a gift for Mother's Day.

One seventy-year-old shared, "I have given a kimono belt as a gift."

A thirty-year-old commented, "I'm not the type who says thanks out loud. I show my appreciation through gifts, always saying, 'Thanks for your hard work.'"

Mother's Day was established 77 years ago, in 1947. Carnations were traditionally given, but another gift at the time involved "free phone calls" set up in department stores, enabling messages to be sent to mothers back home.

Several enthusiastic men stated, "It's embarrassing, but thank you, mom," as they conveyed their gratitude through letters.

During this period of historic yen depreciation, a daughter gifted her mother cash for travel, saying, "Buy something you like to eat. With the current weak yen, its the most useful for travel."

In Gunma, known for its matriarchal culture, carnations remain the top gift choice. Local carnation farmers in Gunma are busy packing trucks for Mothers Day deliveries.

Hoshino Akimasa of Kasukawa Seedling Association remarked, "Light and dark pinks symbolize gratitude."

The survey also examined average spending on Mother's Day gifts, with the highest average in Gunma at 6,987 yen.

Locals attribute this to Gunma's unique regional trait: "People from outside the prefecture see us as having strong-willed women."

A forty-year-old from Gunma explained, "Women are strong here, leading to a matriarchal society. Women hold more power within the family."

Gunma has a history of silk farming and textile industries where women worked outside the home and held economic power.

An eighty-year-old mother said, "When my children come, I treat them to delicious food," while her husband hesitantly added, "Is she the best in the world? Well..."

The daughter confidently affirmed, "She is the best in the world," to which the father agreed, "Generally, I think she is."

This respect for mothers may be reflected in the higher budgets for gifts.

Meanwhile, Shimane topped the desired gift value at 6,364 yen.

A sixty-year-old commented, "Is Shimane's high ranking because mothers demand more? Wow, about 10,000 yen?"

A seventy-year-old from Shimane acknowledged, "We do want expensive gifts. Good things are preferred, but we're a bit hesitant."

Locals speculate, "Maybe it's a bit of vanity. There's probably a strong desire not to be outdone, something kept inside."

A sixty-year-old noted, "The people who come here are particularly spirited. On Mother's Day, it's understandable to want something nice."

Shimane is known for its longevity, with the highest number of centenarians per 100,000 people in Japan, providing a glimpse into the regional character through this Mother's Day survey.

Lastly, when asked what they truly wanted, a thirty-year-old said, "If I could have it, some time to myself. Im a mother, but I want a day off from being a mother."

A forty-year-old added, "I love flowers, so even a single flower would make me happy. Its not about the money. Even a flower picked by my child would be delightful."

Source: ANN
CHIBA, May 10 (News On Japan) - A man known for suddenly appearing on his bicycle in front of cars to obstruct traffic, referred to as the "pop-up" cyclist, has been detained along with his signature black suit and sunglasses.

Narushima Akihiko, 36, was sent for prosecution on May 10, suspected of driving his bicycle into the oncoming traffic lane and obstructing car traffic in front of a police station in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture in April.

The police have disclosed the bicycle, black suit, and sunglasses seized from Narushima's home, revealing that reports of 42 similar incidents of obstruction all featured the suspect in the same attire.

Narushima has denied the allegations, and the police are further corroborating potential additional offenses.

Source: FNN
Tochigi, May 11 (News On Japan) - A potentially new bee species has been identified by staff at the Tochigi Prefectural Museum, sparking a call for more specimens on social media after initially collecting only six.

Takashi Kurihara, lead researcher at the Tochigi Prefectural Museum, expressed regret over not collecting more samples. "Everyone was surprised, it felt unreal. We thought collecting about six would suffice, but had we known it was a new species, we would have definitely collected more," he said.

The bee, identified in 2021, is a type of stingless bee that does not harm humans. Typically observed in the autumn, its discovery in spring prompted further investigations, which led to its classification as a new species.

Understanding the biology of insects can contribute to developments such as new medicines. However, with only six specimens collected, the museum turned to social media to solicit further information.

According to the museum, numerous valuable contributions, including images of the bee, have already been received.

Due to the limited number of specimens, they must be carefully preserved, and they will be on display only until June 30.

This July, the bee is set to be officially named "Shimotsukehiraashikibachi."

Source: ANN
HOKKAIDO, May 10 (News On Japan) - Niseko, Japan, a name synonymous with snow-laden landscapes, adrenaline-pumping terrain, and unparalleled Yotei views, is beckoning travelers with an irresistible invitation for the 2024-25 ski season.

As the snow melts and summer beckons, there's an undeniable buzz in the air, fueled by a convergence of factors making the coming season particularly exciting for enthusiasts and adventurers alike.

A Flourish of Luxury

The allure of Niseko's luxury accommodations has reached new heights with the introduction of an ever increasing range of enticing properties: Muwa Niseko and Niseko Kyo come to mind. Freshly unveiled for the 2023-24 season, these marvels epitomize indulgence, and ski in ski out convenience. From panoramic mountain views to bespoke amenities, they set the stage for an unforgettable retreat amidst the snowy splendor.

Currency Advantage

For travelers, the timing couldn't be better, thanks to the favorable exchange rates that have made the Japanese yen a third cheaper against major currencies compared to a decade ago. This means that your travel budget stretches further, allowing for splurges on gourmet dining, apres-ski delights, and perhaps an upgrade to that coveted suite with a private hot tub!

Early Bird Bonanza

Seize the moment and secure your spot on the slopes with the enticing early bird discounts for the 2024-25 season. With discounts abound and availability aplenty, now is the time to plan ahead and lock in your preferred dates, ensuring a seamless and budget-friendly getaway to one of Japan's most sought-after ski destinations.

Aya Niseko: The Epitome of Elegance

Prepare to be enchanted as AYA Niseko opens for next season's bookings on May 9th. Nestled at the foot of the family lift in central Hirafu, AYA embodies the epitome of luxury living in Niseko. Boasting premium accommodations and unrivaled access to the slopes, it promises an elevated experience where every moment is infused with sophistication and style.

International Allure

Niseko's global appeal continues to soar, fueled by recent infrastructure enhancements including the new Hanazono Symphony gondolas. Set to debut for the 2024-25 season, a new Hirafu gondola will replace the beloved Center 4 (the oldest quad lift in Japan!), promising quicker access to the summit for the plethora of guests staying around the family run.

Culinary Delights and Beyond

Beyond the slopes, Niseko tantalizes the senses with its culinary offerings and wellness experiences. From cozy food trucks serving up hearty ramen to Michelin-starred restaurants showcasing the finest in Japanese cuisine, there's no shortage of gastronomic delights to savor. Moreover, a growing number of properties now offer an array of services including fitness classes, spa treatments, and rejuvenating onsens, ensuring that your Niseko experience transcends expectations.

As you contemplate your next winter escape, let Niseko captivate your imagination with its blend of luxury, adventure, and unparalleled natural beauty. With a wide range of accommodations, exciting developments, and enticing early bird discounts, there's never been a better time to experience the magic of Japan's winter wonderland. Book your stay today and embark on a journey filled with unforgettable moments and endless possibilities amidst the powder filled slopes of Niseko.
FUKUOKA, May 11 (News On Japan) - Kitakyushu, May 11 (News On Japan) - The preliminary route plans have been consolidated for a third road linking Kitakyushu City in Fukuoka Prefecture and Shimonoseki City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, including a 2.2 kilometer bridge spanning Kanmon Straits between Honshu and Kyushu.

The drafted preliminary plan outlines an approximately 8-kilometer route from the Kitakyushu Urban Expressway Hiagari exit in Kitakyushu's Kokurakita Ward to the former Hikoshima Toll Road in Shimonoseki, which includes a bridge spanning about 2.2 kilometers across the Kanmon Straits.

Japan's national government, along with prefectural and municipal authorities, sent the reference drawings to Kitakyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture on May 10, moving forward with urban planning procedures.

The project cost is estimated to be between 290 billion and 350 billion yen.

A resident of Kitakyushu expressed optimism about the new route. "It would be nice since it would make traveling there much quicker if we could just go straight through here. The question is whether it's worth spending that much money."

A community meeting for local landowners is scheduled to be held soon, after which the specific route will be announced.

Source: FBS
Several British MPs have urged their government to recognize Moroccos full sovereignty over its entire Sahara territory, describing the North African Kingdom as UKs second oldest ally and a reliable partner.

During a debate held lately at the UK Parliament, MP Daniel Kawczynski, member of the ruling Conservative party, said the United States of America, one of UKs most important allies, has recognized the sovereignty of the Sahara as Moroccan.

Other allies such as Spainthe former colonial power in SaharaFrance, the Netherlands, Germany and others, all support and recognize that the autonomy plan offered by Morocco for the Sahara is the best option going forward, said Mr. Kawczynski, urging the British government to follow the footprint of its Western allies or run the risk of a major miscalculation in UK geopolitical strategic approach, not only to Morocco but to the whole of north Africa.

Morocco is the best Arab country to engage with. It has the most progressive society and one, most importantly, that shares UK values, he added.

Morocco is also a reliable strategic partner, which pursues all the attributes of a modern democracy. We can and must build strong commercial, political, and security links with this nation, underlined the MP who served in the Parliamentary foreign Affairs Committee.

If the British government continues to sit on the fence, London jeopardizes its potential with Rabat and risks falling behind its competitorsthe United States of America, Germany, Spain and others, he underlined, recalling the heroic stand of late King Mohammed V who protected the Jews and refused to comply with the diktat of Vichy France and Adolf Hitler during World war II.

This is testimony to the way in which the royal family of the Kingdom of Morocco protects all religious minorities, he said, praising womens empowerment in the country, which enjoys a greater freedom of the press than in other Arab countries.

The British MP sees Morocco as thriving democracy where the rule of law is protected and people can debate and challenge one another without fear of retribution.

He also commended the key role played by Morocco in curbing the flow of illegal migration to Europe, saying that Moroccan authorities have prevented over 300,000 illegal crossings to Spain and Europe.

With the restrictions in the Red sea and ultimately the Suez canal as a result of the conduct of the Houthi rebels, the waterway around the Moroccan coastline will be even more important for UKs security and defense capability, said Mr. Kawczynski.

There are huge commercial opportunities with Morocco. Between 700,000 and 1 million British tourists visit Morocco every year. We also have a company, Xlinks that seeks to export green energy by funnelling solar and wind power from Morocco through an undersea cable to Britain, said the MP for Shrewsbury and Atcham.

For his part, Labor MP Fabian Hamilton said that one of the most essential things for the resolution of any conflict is economic development, and that this is exactly what the Moroccan Government have done so far in the Sahara.

I am one of the MPs who have been to Laayoune and I saw for myself the effects of that economic development on the Sahrawi people, he said, affirming that more economic development will help ending the Sahara conflict.

Conservative MP Liam Fox stressed the importance of stability in the region for Britains national security. Morocco is a key partner in the fight against people smuggling, illegal migration, terrorism and Iranian influence in the region, said the former Defense secretary.

Many MPs find it inexplicable that the Government do not follow UK partners and allies including Spain, Germany, the Netherlands and the United States in recognizing that the autonomy plan is the only way forward and and the only way that we can create progress for those who live in the region and wish to see not only security and stability, but economic development and eventually democratic progress, underlined Mr.Fox, who also served as UK Trade Secretary.
U.S. computer company Oracle has announced plans to further strengthen its research and development (R&D) capabilities in Morocco by growing its local workforce to 1,000 information technology (IT) professionals.

The goal is to speed up and accelerate the development of Oracles cutting-edge technologies that help solve customer challenges worldwide.

A commitment agreement was signed Thursday in Dallas by Ms. Ghita Mezzour, Minister in charge of Digital Transition and Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle, in presence of Mohcine Jazouli, Minister in charge of Investment and Ali Seddiki, Head Moroccan Agency for Investment and Export Development (AMDIE).

Oracles R&D center in Casablanca has already played a critical role in creating technical breakthroughs, enhancing cybersecurity, and delivering impactful new AI capabilities, said Safra Catz, CEO of Oracle.

By expanding our R&D presence in Morocco, we can further tap its deep talent pool to accelerate development of solutions that help our global customers grow their businesses and win in their industries.

This ambitious project falls within the strategic and comprehensive Royal Vision of King Mohammed VI who calls on encouraging Moroccan youth innovation and creativity, said Ms. Ghita Mezzour.

At this cutting-edge center, young Moroccans will be at the forefront of designing and developing innovative solutions, covering the latest technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data, cloud computing and cybersecurity. These solutions will be deployed on a global scale, thus strengthening Moroccos positioning as a regional digital hub, added the minister.

The Morocco-Oracle agreement was sealed on the sidelines of a North American roadshow organized by the Moroccan government to promote business opportunities offered in the Kingdom.
The South Sudanese government and opposition groups are meeting for peace talks in Kenya to put an end to the infighting that plagued the country.

The talks are mediated by Kenyas president William Ruto and attended by South Sudans president Salva Kiir and main rebel opposition leaders that were not part of the 2018 deal, which ended a war that cost the lives of 400,000 people.

Kiir said his government would negotiate in good faith and urged rebel group to work together for peace in the country.

We need to leave the mindset of conflict, we need to stop seeing ourselves as enemies. We are brothers and sisters, President Kiir, we are brothers and sisters, said Pagan Amum Okiech, leader of the Real-SPLM group.

The talks were also attended by Malawis President Lazarus Chakwera, Zambias Hakainde Hichilema, Namibias Nangolo Mbumba, and Central African Republics Faustin-Archange Touadera. The meeting took place after an African Union agricultural summit hosted by Kenya.
A Moroccan court indicted the government for the side-effects of the Astrazeneca vaccine on a woman in Kenitra.

The court ordered the government to pay the woman 25,000 dollars, after a trial that lasted two years, according to a verdict seen by the North Africa Post.

AstraZeneca has withdrawn its coronavirus vaccine, citing the availability of a plethora of new shots that has led to a decline in demand.

Moroccos government spokesman said that all vaccines had to go through checks and permits by scientific committees before being administered.

In April 2021, EU and UK regulators warned that the vaccine could cause dangerous blood clotting condition as a possible rare side-effect.

In 2021, Astrazenecas covid vaccine sales hit 14 billion dollars, before dropping to just 12 million in 2023.
Member of UK Parliament Daniel Kawczynski has praised King Mohammed VIs interfaith dialogue, leadership, and protection of religious minorities.

During a Westminster Hall debate held lately at UK Parliament, the Conservative MP (Shrewsbury and Atcham) said: I have been visiting the country for many years, and I have seen a multi-faith, multicultural, inclusive society. I have visited many mosques, synagogues and churches during my visits.

Pope John Paul II visited Morocco in August 1985, when he was hosted by late King Hassan; that was the Polish Popes first visit to any Muslim nation, said member of the ruling conservative party.

In 2019, Pope Francis visited Morocco, land of co-existence and tolerance, said Mr. Kawczynski, paying tribute to King Mohammed VI for his leadership and vision, and the way he nurtures interfaith dialogue throughout the country.

The Moroccan Monarch, he said, promotes interfaith dialogue not only among Jews, Christians and Muslims at home, but he also extends important support to sub-Saharan African countries and help them defuse ethnic and religious tensions that have so blighted sub-Saharan Africa and caused so much instability in the region.

During the 2nd World War, late King Mohammed V was pressed by Vichy France and Nazi Germany to expel all the Jews from Morocco but he responded firmly: There are no Jews. There are no Muslims. There are only Moroccans, said the British MP.

Late King Mohammed V did not give in despite the huge pressure exerted by Vichy France to do what some European countries did: shepherd their Jewish population into the clutches of the Vichy regime or Germany. Ultimately, we all know what happened to those Jewish people who were sent to Auschwitz.

The late Moroccan Monarch provided safe haven for Jews during the Holocaust. He is remembered as the protector and guardian of Moroccan Jews who are for ever grateful for the royal heroic stand.

The Alaouite kings always stood by the Jewish community. They made it clear that Jews had a place in Morocco. Late King Hassan II was a lifelong advocate for Muslim-Jewish coexistence. King Mohammed VI has followed in his forebears footsteps.

The 2011 Moroccan constitution states that the countrys indivisible national identity has been nourished and enriched by Hebraic influence, among others. And in recent years, the king has led the way in promoting Moroccan Jewish culture.
Director General of Moroccos National Security and Territorial Surveillance, Abdellatif Hammouchi, has been invited to the official celebrations of 200th anniversary of the creation of Spains national police force marked this week.

Hammouchi was invited by Director General of the Spanish national police force and was the only African security and intelligence official to take part in these celebrations.

On the sidelines of his visit, Hammouch held a series of meetings with a number of his Spanish counterparts, including Director General of the National Police, Francisco Pardo Piqueras, and Commissioner General of Information, Eugenio Pereiro Blanco.

He also conferred with Secretary of State for Security, Rafael Perez Ruiz, and General Commissioner for Foreigners and Borders, Julian Avila Polo.

The talks with the heads of the Spanish security services provided an opportunity to review the significant results achieved in the field of security cooperation between Morocco and Spain, notably in terms of operational coordination and technical assistance to deal with terrorist threats and various forms of organized crime, in particular irregular migration networks, and human and drug trafficking, among others.

Hammouchi also discussed with his Spanish counterparts the various security threats and risks that threaten the regional environment of both countries, as well as the mechanisms likely to develop and broaden the scope of bilateral security cooperation in order to face all these challenges and risks with a common vision.

The official celebrations organized by the Spanish authorities to mark the creation of the national police force were attended by King Felipe VI of Spain.
You are here: Arts

People walk past the Notre Dame Cathedral under renovation in Paris, France, Dec. 8, 2023. (Xinhua/Gao Jing)



The Emperor Qinshihuang's Mausoleum Site Museum in northwestern China announced on Wednesday that it will collaborate with its French counterpart on the restoration of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and the protection of the Terracotta Warriors.

The collaborative research conducted with France's Fondation des Sciences du Patrimoine primarily focuses on the protection of wooden remains and earthen archaeological sites, according to the museum located in northwest China's Shaanxi Province.

Specifically, the research on protecting wooden remains will involve joint efforts to preserve and restore the fire-damaged wood from Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris and the Mausoleum of Emperor Qinshihuang. Moreover, joint efforts will be made to conduct studies on their historical significance.

The research will also include wood species identification, preservation status assessment, degradation mechanisms and protection techniques and methods.

In the future, the two parties will explore the material properties and historical value of wooden remains and archaeological earth sites of the two UNESCO World Heritage sites together.

Meanwhile, this Sino-French cooperation also touches on developing practical conservation technologies and method systems for cultural relics and jointly cultivating young talents in the field of cultural heritage protection.
The British government has reiterated its support for the UN-led political process engaged to find a lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the Sahara issue, and affirmed that it is constantly reviewing its position amid mounting parliamentary pressure to follow suit of UKs allies in recognizing the Moroccos sovereignty over its Sahara.

During a Westminster Hall debate held lately at UK Parliament, David Rutley, Parliamentary under-secretary of state at Foreign Office, said the UK has consistently supported UN efforts aimed at achieving a just, enduring and mutually acceptable political solution, based on compromise.

He also said his country backs UN Sahara envoy Staffan de Mistura and the MINURSO, affirming that his country has not commented PUBLICLY on Moroccos proposed autonomy plan for the Sahara, but that is NOT a judgment on its merits or otherwise.

I can assure this House that the UK would, of course, warmly welcome any solution that can secure the support of all parties to resolve this dispute, said Mr. Rutley.

I can confirm to honorable MPs that our position on Sahara is constantly reviewed, he underlined, suggesting that the British government is currently assessing its position and geostrategic interests in the new World Order taking shape.

UKs partnership with Morocco has a long history, stretching back over 800 years, and continues to go from strength to strength, with deepening collaboration across new and existing areas, said the under-secretary of state, explaining that the Moroccan-British relationship is structured on four pillars: diplomacy, security, economy, and education and culture.

The UK and Morocco are like-minded partners on several foreign policy matters, given the continued unrest in the Middle-East following the events on 7 October, said the British government official, citing in this regard the talks held between the two countries top diplomats on shared concerns and avenues for co-operation.

King Mohammed VI has played an influential role in providing humanitarian support for Gaza, said Mr. Rutley, recalling the 40 tons of food sent by Morocco by the Kerem Shalom crossing at His Majestys instruction.

The UK and Morocco also co-operate multilaterallyfor example, at the United Nations. The two countries work together in many other areas. For example, there are over 40 planned defense activities over the year, including this years iteration of Exercise Jebel Sahara, a long-running joint military exercise first held in 1989.

In security matters, Morocco and the UK have enjoyed diverse engagement in many fields, supporting shared interests through training and the exchange of best practices, said the Parliamentary under-secretary of State.

Bilateral economic partnership gets stronger by the day, he added, saying that trade has increased significantly since the association agreement came into force in 2021, bringing total trade to 3.5 billion a year.

Our relationship with Morocco is important and growing. Morocco is a stable, friendly and important country in the region that is undergoing positive economic and socioeconomic reforms, guided by HM King Mohammed VI, said Mr. Rutley.

We look forward to developing our relationship further. We are convinced that finding a solution to the issue of Sahara would unlock enormous potential, not just for Morocco but for the whole region, underlined the British government official.
Lincoln County commissioners Monday will decide whether to accept a committees suggestions for changing the countys health insurance options.

The weekly meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the commissioners room in the North Platte courthouse, 301 N. Jeffers St., and will be livestreamed on the countys YouTube channel.

For online access to the meeting, visit youtube.com/channel/UCHdGjLPMx3O-wSu3T3aMWlg.

The countys Employee Benefit Committee presented two options May 6 for altering the health insurance package as it copes with a possible 8.7% premium increase.

One option would raise the countys basic annual deductible from $1,600 to $2,600 and also require copayments for some services. The other would offer employees a $6,100 high-deductible plan tied to a health savings account.

A continued buydown of the current plans deductible to $500 a year, a higher cash-ina-lieu payment to some employees and the return of a wellness program also were recommended.

In other business, commissioners will:

Consider a final contract with Western Engineering Co. to repave streets in the Indian Hills and Hillcrest subdivisions outside North Platte. Commissioners awarded an $864,520 bid to Western April 15.

Decide whether to reset the date for taking bids for a new food service provider at the county jail. The County Board had voted April 29 to set bid openings for 10 a.m. May 20.

Hear an update from Nebraska Association of County Officials legal counsel Beth Ferrell on events and legislation affecting counties.
Photo: Jason DeCrow/AP

There are a vanishingly small number of people whose existence has changed Wall Street. One of them was Jim Simons, a former academic mathematician who brought trading closer to the world of theoretical physics  and then exploded the possibilities of how people could make, and lose, money. If he wasnt historys greatest trader, he was among a handful who could ever make that claim. On Friday, the Simons Foundation announced that he had died at the age of 86 in New York City.

Simons grew up as the son of a Boston shoe-factory executive, but his own career started at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he taught and studied mathematics and geometry. He would eventually work as a Cold Warera code breaker but left government over his opposition to the Vietnam War. In 1978, he founded Renaissance Technologies, his hedge fund, out of a Long Island strip mall. His theory, new at the time, was that patterns existed in the ways stocks and commodities moved  and that computers could be used to predict those patterns to extraordinary effect. I want models that will make money while I sleep, Simons once told a friend, according to The Wall Street Journal. A pure system without humans interfering.

Amazingly, he got it. Renaissance made about $100 billion in gains between 1988 and 2018  an astonishing average of 66 percent a year, according to the Journal. Its Medallion Fund, which has been open only to employees, minted several billionaires. Renaissance was largely made up of mathematicians like Simons as well as physicists and other scientists. While thats fairly commonplace among sophisticated hedge funds today, it truly revolutionized how money could be made in trading. Simons went on to be a major philanthropist and a contributor to the Democratic Party, donating more than $100 million since 2005, Bloomberg reported.

On Friday, after his death was announced, some of Wall Streets biggest names mourned his death.

Jim Simons was the greatestan unbelievably great investor, philanthropist, and man of character. I and all who knew him will miss him.  Ray Dalio (@RayDalio) May 10, 2024

Only one investor can say their competitive advantage is "I'm smarter than everyone else" and it's clear that was Jim Simons. https://t.co/VbQ7BzpPC4  Morgan Housel (@morganhousel) May 10, 2024

RIP to an absolute legend and a good man. https://t.co/1cllcCqhK9  Clifford Asness (@CliffordAsness) May 10, 2024

Simons was part of a class of finance titans who transformed Wall Street in the latter part of the previous century but whose ranks are now thinning. Others in that group who have recently passed away include John C. Bogle, who popularized passive investing; Charlie Munger, who helped Warren Buffett build Berkshire Hathaway; and hedge-fund godfather Julian Robertson.

RIP Jim Simons, one of the most goated ever pic.twitter.com/zOYpr9bKKR  sophie (@netcapgirl) May 10, 2024
Not exactly on the same page. Photo: Josh Edelson/AFP via Getty Images

Abortion policy is a major issue in the 2024 elections, thanks to the Supreme Courts 2022 decision to reverse Roe v. Wade. Many Democrats want to make this the preeminent 2024 campaign issue, knowing that a solid majority of Americans want to restore abortion rights and many are angry at Donald Trump and Republicans for taking them away.

But theres one presidential aspirant who really doesnt want to address the issue. That would be independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose campaign gets exasperated at efforts to figure out his position, as the Washington Post reported last month:

Mr. Kennedy does not want to add fuel to the fire, campaign spokeswoman Stefanie Spear wrote in an email. She cited his focus on issues including chronic disease, infrastructure, disarmament and farming practices that protect the environment. These issues also have the potential to unify the country, unlike abortion, which is fundamentally divisive.

One might object that one major reason for elections is to sort out divisive issues rather than ignoring them. But an even more significant motive for the Kennedy campaigns reticence on this issue is the candidates multiple flip-flops and incoherent comments about where he stands on abortion. Most recently, his running-mate (and an important funder of his campaign), Nicole Shanahan, showed that even she didnt know his position. Podcaster Sage Steele, who had been told by RFK Jr. that he opposed any limits on a womans right to choose up to the point of live birth, mentioned it to Shanahan, and she was baffled, according to NBC News:

A week prior to the release of Kennedys conversation with Steele, Shanahan was featured in a podcast episode with the host. Steele asked Shanahan if she agreed with Kennedys belief that a woman should have the option to have an abortion at full term, to which Shanahan responded with surprise.

My understanding with Bobbys position is that, you know, every abortion is a tragedy, is a loss of life, Shanahan said. My understanding is that he absolutely believes in limits on abortion, and weve talked about this. I do not think, I dont know where that came from.

That is often a good question with respect to RFK Jr. But this is hardly the first time his position on abortion seems to have shifted or become difficult to understand. In August 2023, at an Iowa State Fair appearance when he was still running for the Democratic nomination, he suddenly abandoned his traditional pro-choice position and abruptly came out for a national ban after three months of pregnancy (which he seemed erroneously to believe is the point of fetal viability), a position well to the right of most Republicans. The ensuing furor led his campaign to claim that in the noise of the State Fair, Kennedy misunderstood the question, and actually he doesnt favor abortion bans at all. Since then Kennedy has done a grand total of one event touching on abortion policy, and that was in Atlanta with anti-abortion and criminal-justice activist Angela Stanton King, who subsequently went to work for his campaign. Mother Jones explained Kings positioning on abortion and other cultural issues:

Stanton King, who is 47, vociferously supported Donald Trumpuntil she was hired by RFK Jr.s campaign as its Black outreach director, where she now works. On culture war issues, she has little in common with Kennedy: Stanton King has several times been the subject of media attention for her anti-gay and anti-trans activism, issues Kennedy doesnt touch. A staunch opponent of abortion, she is the founder of Auntie Angies House, an anti-abortion crisis pregnancy center and home for pregnant women and new mothers.

Thats where Kennedy did his mind-meld with King. No wonder his running-mate is a bit confused.

Kennedy and his supporters are entitled to their opinion that there are other issues that matter more than abortion in the 2024 election; they often seem to have a conspiracy theory about each and every one. But that doesnt mean he should feel free to mislead voters who do care about the subject by veering this way and that. Fortunately for those whose right to choose has been taken away or threatened, RFK Jr. is not going to become president. But he may get enough votes to influence the outcome, and if Donald Trump is the beneficiary, Kennedy will have awarded the great villain of the fight over abortion with the ultimate prize in politics.
Euro vision: Simon Calder in Malmo (but not this weekend) (Charlotte Hindle)

One winner of Eurovision 2024 can be revealed already: the airline flying the most to the Continents leading cultural event.

Aviation revenue economics expert Oliver Ranson has identified the carriers that are touching down most frequently at Malmo, the Swedish city hosting the song contest, as well as nearby Copenhagen  a short train ride away.

In his analysis, Mr Ranson writes: Malmo has its own airport but there are not so many flights. In run-up to the grand final Wednesday to 3pm on Saturday there will have been 33 flights into Malmo, against 1,125 into Copenhagen.

Most Eurovision passengers travelling by air will fly into Copenhagen.

I evaluated all the arriving flights at both airports from every country participating in Eurovision this year to establish the airlines who are most committed to the contest.

There are other routes, but I doubt that [SAS Scandinavian Airlines] SK936 arriving from San Francisco or [Air China] CA877 from Beijing will be packed with Eurovision fans.

The official Eurovision airline, easyJet, reaches only fifth place  enough to earn seven points, under the scoring system adopted for the fiercely contested competition.

Immediately above it is arch-rival Ryanair, winning eight points for helping to deposit people beside the Baltic.

The Lufthansa Group, including the German national airline, Austrian, Brussels Airlines, Eurowings and Swiss is in third place and scores nine.

Second best overall: Norwegian, which has 20 flights coming in from the UK alone. It earns 10 points.

Top place, and douze points, goes to SAS Scandinavian AIrlines  the home town airline, which encompasses Sweden, Denmark and Norway.

In sixth and seventh places are two other multi-national groups: Air France-KLM and IAG, owner of British Airways.

Mr Ransom also has praise for the one African airline in the chart: Down in the diadora league (non-scoring part of the table), honourable mention must go to Ethiopian Airlines, who operate a wide-body.

Their usual 315-seat 787 operating fifth-freedom from Addis Ababa has been up-gauged to a 321-seat 777 for the Friday and Saturday only.

The writer predicts the actual Eurovision winner will be Windows95man from Finland.

Read our full Malmo city guide
Opelika Mayor Gary Fuller received an award from the Alabama Municipal Electric Authority Board of Directors for his contributions to the AMEA and its member cities.

The City of Opelika announced on Tuesday that Fuller received the 2024 AMEA Presidents Award at the AMEA Presidents Awards Dinner that was held April 29 in Orange Beach.

Due to Mayor Fullers leadership and commitment to public power, AMEA has become a valued partner in Alabamas electric utility community, said Fred Clark, AMEA president & CEO.

Fuller has been a member of the AMEA Board of Directors since 2001 and has been chairman since 2019. The dinner was held in conjunction with the 2024 AMEA Power Supply Conference.

According to the news release, the award is presented to people who played a key role in the formation of AMEA, as well as those who have made significant contributions to the betterment of AMEAs 11 member cities. The award is presented in recognition of continued leadership and dedication to the organization.

AMEA, which is located in Montgomery, is the wholesale power provider for 11 public power utilities in Alabama, which serve 350,000 customers in 11 member cities. Those 11 member cities are: Alexander City, Dothan, Fairhope, Riviera Utilities at Foley, LaFayette, Lanett, Luverne, Opelika, Piedmont, Sylacauga and Tuskegee.
This might be a lot for Sunday ONTD but I'll open the floor with "Holy sh- he just mirrored the original and added a reddish dot??".

Reply

Thread

Link

i don't know shit about art but that's fucked up!

Reply

Thread

Link

I agree that it's a wholely new piece of art, because it's not a copy, it's a painting of a photograph. But it should have been credited for sure.

Reply

Thread

Link

A change of medium does not matter. Jeff Koons lost several lawsuits where he made sculptures based on photographs and claimed that his work was satire.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Mmmmm yes in terms of copyright I think you're correct. But in terms of art, I don't think I agree with the idea that changing mediums doesn't by definition create a new piece of art-- unless you're legit not creating something (downpost someone suggested it looks like it's just been run through a photoshop filter), or if you've traced something from the same medium, I do think you create something new by changing mediums. I'm not saying they were RIGHT, I think crediting the reference was necessary even because it clearly shows the limitations on the artistic capacity that went into this, but I just don't agree it's a copy.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I mean, garlic bread is still bread. The flavor is different but you can't act like it's not the same carb.



(I'm hungry)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

this is definitely why movie studios are able to adapt books into films without having to pay the original author right? them giving any credits is just a polite courtesy for sure.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Nah, it shouldn't have been credited - he should have purchased the rights from the photographer if he wanted to use it so bad for his painting. She didn't snap a reference photo for him, she made an entire copyrighted artwork unto itself.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Its a complete copy. Its no reference.

Reply

Thread

Link

He copied 90% of it, just in a new medium. Wow.

Reply

Thread

Link

Oh I posted this in another art post!!! I cant fucking get over it, but also yall should know:



Dudes mom is on the cultural council for Stassen lol. Dude gets prize for art. Dude doubles down on theft and hires lawyer. Dude is trash.



Also the earring he added looks so stupid lol I cant get over it.

Reply

Thread

Link

Oooh, didn't know that! The plot thickens...

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Also as an artist - so many young people think tracing or reference is cheating. It can be if you rip someone else off like this fucker, but if I have to draw a city background? Im gonna go take a photo of one and trace it, if I can, itll be quicker than starting from scratch. But there are reference packs you can buy if you dont take your own photos, if you need people posing , adorka stock does tons with props and fantasy stuff, like there are SO many ways and resources at our disposal now that when I was starting out did not exist so to see people just rip off something full on like this? Its pathetic.



Edited at 2022-07-03 06:22 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Using reference isn't just ok, it is absolutely vital to learn drawing/painting. There's a reason that in animation school we had life-drawing twice a week, minimum.



Blatantly ripping off someone else's work is something entirely different, ofc, and not ok. This squarely falls into the latter category. There are so many resources for reference available all over, there is no excuse - and even without those resources, it still wouldn't be ok. What a douchebag.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I thought the earring was as tattoo at first lol.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Well that's because he didn't have a reference to steal from for the earring.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Nepotism in the art world.. and it leading to unchecked scumbaggery like this.. take as old as time. This level of entitlement doesnt come out if nowhere..:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Between this comment, his theft and his face, my mind was very "yeap, makes total sense".

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

A tale as old as time. I often wonder if all these great artist from the past just stole someone elses hard work.



I hope he gets flamed and exposed as the thief he is.



Hers is 10000x better anyway.





Reply

Thread

Link

Oh, he is definitely getting trashed for this online (which is probably part of the reason why he lawyered up).

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

A tale as old as time. I often wonder if all these great artist from the past just stole someone elses hard work.



Quite a few of the Old Masters had ateliers with apprentices and other painters working under them that would handle large parts of a painting - say, the drapery and background and stuff, and the master painted would then paint only the face and hands, the most important bits for a commissioned portraits. Rembrandt is one of those. That said, this stuff also happened in a different context from today. Painting was seen as a craft for the longest time, so just like a master carpenter wouldn't be personally crafting every chair in his workshop, it wasn't necessarily scandalous that a painter would outsource part of his work to ppl trained by him and under his supervision.



Just as a little art history tidbit!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Thank you for the history!!!

Much appreciated. And I get a new perspective.



Do you know when art became less of a trade and more of a passion profession?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Didn't Rembrandt always have at least like eight students under his wing or some such? I think he's the fella with every new "discovery" the question is "is it him, or a student practicing in his style?".

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

mamasemamasamamakoosaw mess lmao, now I can't get the song out of my head



but wow what a fucking asshole, he really thought he could get away with this shit



ita that he prob figured no one would catch that he copied an Asian woman's work bc wypipo but goddamn, was $1500 really worth risking your career over, like, what a fucking idiot



Reply

Thread

Link

I heard about this on TikTok and fuck that guy. If I remember correctly, he copied a couple of her photos??? Literally just flipped the image and changed the color. Like.. What a tool

Reply

Thread

Link

Thats not reference. Thats a copy.

Reply

Thread

Link

He barely changed anything.

Reply

Thread

Link

To my untrained eye, this legit looks like he didn't "recreate" the painting at all, with the exception of the face and the earring. Everything else looks so identical, it leads me to think he ran the original photo through a painting filter. Look at the folds in the clothing and the shading they create. They're identical! I suppose it's possible to achieve that level of perfect recreation, but I'm not buying it. I would have a lot of questions about this, least of which having to do with proper credit. I'd cast aspersions on his claim that it's a recreation at all.

Reply

Thread

Link

I just took it into photoshop and flipped the left image and put it over the right. It's not completely identical like it was traced. He probably made a grid and enlarged it that way. Folds in clothing are easy to paint. Facial features are not. He changed the shape of her face, left off the buccal fat pad, did not paint in highlights to show the shape of the eye underneath the lid, and some other anatomical issues. It's not an oversight but the sign of an average painter who is trying and failing to paint photorealistically. The lighting is also far less dramatic and interesting in the painting. Painting allows an artist to add interpretation through color and brushstroke, none of which is done here. It's a "nice" painting but not worthy of an award. All shade intended, it looks like a practice piece.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Oh, thank you for doing that! It definitely fooled my eyes.



It's not an oversight but the sign of an average painter who is trying and failing to paint photorealistically...It's a "nice" painting but not worthy of an award. All shade intended, it looks like a practice piece.



Ouch, damn.  Your analysis makes it even more egregious that he was awarded for this at all.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

When I saw them side by the side, the photograph is so much nicer to look at and his doesn't do anything different either, so it looked really meh for winning awards. Your take on it describes that meh feeling when looking at it

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

The caucasity

Reply

Thread

Link

I hope she wins. That's a complete copy.

Reply

Thread

Link
Good for her. More artists need to speak up.

Reply

Thread

Link

She has shown her love and support for Palestine from the very start even afyer she was told it might cost her some jobs.



And also one of the very few in her Bridgerton cast to actually speak out and speak up

Reply

Thread

Link

She is beautiful inside and out - Im so happy for her outspoken support of Palestine <3

Reply

Thread

Link

Literally every time I come across a picture of her I have to pause and be like - shes so pretty!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Also, I am losing my mind at everyone acting like its a good thing that Biden said yesterday that hed stop some military aid going to Israel if there is a major ground offensive in Rafah.



Before, it was if Israel started any ground offensive in Rafah, but he moved the red line after Israel invaded Rafah to take over the Rafah Crossing. John Kirby also said today that Israel would still get most of everything they asked for, but there would be some restrictions on certain weapons now. It definitely seems like Biden made this announcement to try and get the voters who hes at risk of losing to feel better about him even though absolutely nothing will change. Israel will still use whatever weapons they want and Biden will do absolutely nothing in response.

Reply

Thread

Link

Speaking of shitstains, have you seen the Cory Booker video with two well spoken women asking him why he refuses to call for a permanent ceasefire and he just tries to gaslight them by calling them Hamas supporters? The politicians in this country are worthless scum.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link





Did he really think he could fake his way at an event like that?



And he was condescending to the women, and supposedly to a Black influencer who focuses on Black history.



https://instagram.com/p/C6w97XrvZhK I just saw that video. He was at an event for SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCERS, many use TikTok which he voted to ban.Did he really think he could fake his way at an event like that?And he was condescending to the women, and supposedly to a Black influencer who focuses on Black history.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I didn't but thats ironic because Corey Booker is similar to Biden in the fact that Booker likes to tout himself as having love as one of hours defining characteristics as a politician like Biden touts his empathy and both of them cant muster up love and empathy for Palestinians facing genocide.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

When I read that, I figured he was going to move the goal post or redefine what a major ground offensive was.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I was so desperate for good news that I actually got excited at first, only for the reality of what he was saying to sink in. And even this nothing-burger got him called a Hamas supporter by other Zionists, they're all so firm in the idea that Israel should be able to do whatever it wants.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's ridiculous either way, because they don't see a ground offensive as a redline they just don't want it until 'they see a credible plan to move civilians' and we know that US would find "Israel" shitting on a piece of paper and giving it to them a credible plan, so it's all bullshit.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Biden admins whole thing re: Israel is making statements that are like, vaguely suggesting he might actually do something so progressives can go "see?! he's our guy!" and then under the table, he's either still handing them blank checks for more civilian murdering or is just redefining terms so the latest war crimes magically don't count.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

This is why I dont care for any excuse people give for any huge celeb (especially someone so visible currently like Swift or Beyonce) not getting involved.



Erin Hattamer was just a silly tiktok comedian before she became the unofficial spokesperson for donating to Palestinian families. Shes managed to guilt various tiktokers into posting about Palestine just by being nice to them (I say guilt because I dont think any of them truly care).



Nicola is an excellent actress in several successful projects, but shes still not anywhere near the untouchable level. But, shes been speaking up since the beginning.



There. Are. No. Good. Excuses. For. Ignoring. A. Genocide.



Reply

Thread

Link

I see this happen on smaller scales (not just with this genocide but in other contexts). People with extreme power are afraid of losing a shred profits or power, and it makes sense because they didn't get to where they are by speaking out in risky situations.



That isn't to excuse their choices, because at the end of the day, if someone hyper rich and powerful were to face serious backlash, they have their vast amounts of wealth to fall back on. Maybe they won't be able to own multiple private jets, yachts, and mega mansions, but it's not like they're going to be scraping by just to survive.



Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I saw Janelle Monae's most recent instagram post with her Met Gala outfit and the comments is nothing but people rightfully criticizing her for staying silent on Palestine. Her complete lack of response has been such a disappointment.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

As a longtime stan, I'm extremely disappointed in the silence.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

People cannot handle the reality that a lot of people just...don't care. Denial is more comfortable.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Queen

Reply

Thread

Link

She's awesome. Other celebs are so gross and out of touch/apathetic.

Reply

Thread

Link

Jameela Jamil has also been extremely vocal to the point that Instagram actually started muting her stories. :(

Reply

Thread

Link

When I go on TikTok I keep seeing videos of people saying that Macklemore's new song is being suppressed. Apparently you can't find it on spotify and one person said they got a warning on youtube asking if they really wanted to watch. It's so fucked up.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yeah apparently it's age restricted on YouTube and that apparently means anyone without an account showing their age can't watch it.



Also age restrictions stop it being in the algorithm.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

it's so bizarre because I am a nobody with a private account and only about 300 followers and even my pro-palestine stories tend to be muted



Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I remember back in October last year I saw a post to keep posting other shit in your stories otherwise Instagram would suppress your account for posting too much about Palestine.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

uhhhhh she's so beautiful

Reply

Thread

Link

love her

Reply

Thread

Link

irish icon! 

Reply

Thread

Link

She's a lovely human being, I love her. 

Reply

Thread

Link

Diplomats say that @USUN and @UKUN_NewYork broke silence on @AlgeriaUN's draft #UNSC press statement on mass graves in #Gaza today as they were unable to support language pertaining to a call for an international independent investigation. Subsequently, #Algeria raised the issue pic.twitter.com/CFXPMB7mnZ  Rami Ayari (@Raminho) May 10, 2024



I fucking cant. The US and UK opposed establishing an independent investigation into the mass graves recently discovered in Gaza. I fucking cant. The US and UK opposed establishing an independent investigation into the mass graves recently discovered in Gaza.

Reply

Thread

Link

Well, of course, colonizers stick together.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

So EVIL

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I'm really glad she is speaking up and I am going to assume this is why she skipped the Met Gala. I am so disappointed at the celebs who have done the bare minimum, especially Billie Eilish who only wore a pin once during the Oscars and took it off for her performance. But really, so many have done nothing.



But also my bb Hozier stays speaking up about Palestine at his concerts and sharing to his stories. Notice how many Irish celebrities are speaking up versus everyone else. For good reason, of course.



Edited at 2024-05-10 02:20 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link
Industry experts believe that science fiction can play a significant role in rural revitalization and cultural tourism in China, while rural elements can also inspire Chinese sci-fi.

Sci-fi insiders and local representatives pose for a photo during a field trip to Mangshan Mountain in Hunan province, January 2024. [Photo courtesy of Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute]

"Assisting cultural tourism and rural revitalization through science fiction is a new area that we need to explore, research and practice together," said Chinese sci-fi luminary Wang Jinkang. "We hope that through the power of sci-fi, we can better understand the future, imbue rural development with more imagination, make our villages more attractive and make our lives more interesting."

Wang suggested incorporating sci-fi elements into attractions such as theme parks or rural science museums to provide insight into the appeal of technology. Furthermore, he proposed that sci-fi writers could create works reflecting life in the countryside to promote rural culture, and bridge the gap between rural and sci-fi cultures.

Nie Xinpeng, deputy director of the rural construction promotion department of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, also has high expectations. He believes that the innovative thinking and forward-looking technological perspective of sci-fi provide a new development strategy and offer numerous possibilities for rural revitalization. Moreover, sci-fi culture can also serve as an innovative vehicle for rural cultural tourism resources, helping rural areas to establish a unique local cultural identity and attract more tourists.

"We must be clear that rural revitalization is not only an issue of economic development, but also a process of cultural revival," he said. "Therefore, the concept of 'technology-based, science fiction-assisted cultural tourism' will be strongly advocated in our implementation of the rural revitalization strategy."

(Left to right) Writers Chao Xia, Wang Jinkang and Liu Cixin share insights into how they created a sci-fi picture book based on Mangshan Mountain during the China Science Fiction Convention (CSFC) in Beijing, April 29, 2024. [Photo courtesy of Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute]

A recent standout example is Mangshan Mountain in Yizhang county of Chenzhou city, Hunan province. Earlier this year, Chinese sci-fi heavyweights, including Liu Cixin and Wang Jinkang, embarked on a tour to this scenic destination in search of inspiration and to explore possibilities. Liu was even surprised to find an astonishing elevator structure installed in the high mountain, resembling the space elevator he imagined in his novella "The Wandering Earth."

"We saw the unique landscape, natural scenery and marvelous mountain shapes, while tasting local specialties and cuisine, and learning about the mountain's past and present. Then, we developed endless imaginings about Mangshan's future," Chao Xia, a renowned sci-fi writer also on the tour in January, told China.org.cn.

One notable outcome of the field trip was a creative sci-fi picture storybook based on Mangshan Mountain, which was launched during a forum at the China Science Fiction Convention (CSFC) in late April.

At the event, the Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute, the forum organizer and a significant sci-fi organization, signed various strategic cooperation agreements with several companies and organizations to enhance in-depth exchanges between the sci-fi sector and the government, cultural tourism industry and theme-park development and construction industry.

Xu Rong, deputy director of Hunan Broadcasting System, also pledged at the forum to leverage their resources and creativity by hosting various events, such as cultural and art festivals. She aims to explore and harness the potential of integrating sci-fi elements with rural development.

Participants of a forum on integrating sci-fi with cultural tourism and rural revitalization pose for a group photo during the China Science Fiction Convention (CSFC) in Beijing, April 29, 2024. [Photo courtesy of Beijing Yuanyu Science Fiction and Future Technology Research Institute]

Shi Zhanjun, editor-in-chief of People's Literature Magazine and secretary of the Secretariat of the China Writers Association, emphasized how science fiction's rich imagination is utilized in the innovative design of cultural tourism, while noting that the promotion and application of sci-fi elements in rural areas can lead to innovative methods in governance, cultural development and environmental protection, promoting new breakthroughs in rural revitalization.

"I hope that science fiction will continue to play its unique role in Chinese culture, the cultural tourism industry and rural revitalization, sparking more innovative ideas and empowering our future," he said.
wonderwall never hit #1?1

Reply

Thread

Link

mte I'm shocked by this! Apparently they had two #1s from WTSMG and neither was Wonderwall.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

im as shocked as when I learned that John Mayer has never had a top 10 single on Billboard. like HOW

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I was shocked by your comment, then I looked up when Your Body Is a Wonderland hit the Billboard Hot 100, saw the competition, and now I get it. It felt unavoidable at the time, though.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

He can't even speak properly with those veneers

Reply

Thread

Link

Itll throw me off forever that hes not British.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I hadn't realized my favorite Killers song was 20 years old.



Reply

Thread

Link

TIME TRUTH AND HEARTS

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Hot Fuss still holds up soooooo well



I really don't like the budget Bruce Springsteen thing they're doing now ):

Reply

Thread

Link

Im trash for all of it but Hot Fuss is def perfect.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

A lot of people disliked it because it was so different from Hot Fuss but I really enjoyed Sam's Town also. Hot Fuss was definitely like lightning in a bottle though, it's so representative of its time period

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Yup. I've been re-listening to it a lot lately.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

flops

Reply

Thread

Link

I will never understand the popularity of this particular song in Britain. I was never a big fan of The Killers, I only like one song by them.

Reply

Thread

Link

As a millenial, it was played at all the college/uni nights, every single time. It gets played at weddings. I don't know why we go mad for it. I think in the UK we're fans of a good anthemic sing-a-long type song, and with this one being quite up-tempo it lends itself well to boozy events lol

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I think that's it. We love a sing-along. I don't even like the Killers or this song, but I still belt it out.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

it's been on at every single club night i've ever been to, I think. 80s night? Mr Brightside's there. metal night? well, cages are metal, let's put Mr Brightside on. It's wild, but it's hard to deny that in a club or party atmosphere when everyone else also goes crazy for it it's pretty fun

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Ive never really encountered the song tbh, until last Boxing Day. My friend and I were in a pub and when this song came on, so many people were jumping and singing along.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

"Somebody Told Me" was everywhere in Brazil for a while. Never heard "Mr Brightside" though.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I listened to this album on rePEAT (along with Franz Ferdinand) when my parents and I visited London for Thanksgiving break in 8th grade, and listening makes me fondly remember so many details from that trip 

Reply

Thread

Link

YASSSSSS

Reply

Thread

Link

Man, Ive listened to The Killers since their demos. I think they were at some music festival my sister and mom went to and they were in one of the smaller band tents. I remember my sister then followed them for a bit and we even got to see them for free at the Virgin MegaStore in SF. So random.



Anywho, Hot Fuss is still one of my favorite albums of all time. There isnt a single skip song. I have to say though, Mr Brightside is my least favorite on that album. I think a stronger single, had they marketed it correctly, wouldve been All These Things That Ive Done.

Reply

Thread

Link

Hot Fuss is such a great album, I really love it and it makes me feel so nostalgic as well



Reply

Thread

Link

The fillers are dissolving, nature is healing 

Reply

Thread

Link

mte, his whole eyebrows/forehead situation was shocking last year!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Evergreen bop tbh

Reply

Thread

Link

hot fuss and sams town are forever untouchable

Reply

Thread

Link

hot fuss being 20 years old depresses me bc that means i graduated high school 20 years ago 

Reply

Thread

Link
Oof. Possibly an unpopular opinion but I dont see anything wrong with them wanting to demolish it. Wouldnt remodeling it be just the same? Its not desecrating her or her legacy. I could be easily proven wrong though.

Reply

Thread

Link

I dunno I think with remodeling you could keep certain aspects of the home intact. My gut is telling me they want to demolish and put up a grotesque mansion like crispy is doing

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Oh, theyre for sure planning to make a sterile basic McMansion/mansion. Otherwise why bother demolishing a well known home?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Ok but that was an architectural wonder and this just belonged to a famous woman??

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Yeah, it was sold on the general housing market and not run as a museum or place of worship/memory like the Presley and Jackson homes. If it is not accessible to the public, I don't see any public value in this case; since the house is not part of her work. Ideally, the property would've been bought by some rich nostalgia fan who wanted to own something that was hers, but that didn't happen... I like historic architecture & even worked in built heritage preservation for a bit, but I don't see the need to legally protect an otherwise random building (it doesn't have architectural relevancy & was already altered) that a celebrity has lived in for six months over 70 years ago, when no one stepped up to buy & finance the maintenance of it.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I agree. This house has no real historical significant. Its just a house where someone lived. Its not a museum, its not public. Theres really nothing important to save.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Idk, I wouldn't trust people that buy this sort of place... they probably buy it at a cheaper price because it's a house you can't remodel and then try to turn a profit by suing the government and then remodelling it if sucessful.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I feel like the people downvoting you have never owned an old house

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

I'm curious what they'd intend to replace it with. More luxury, unaffordable housing??????



Edited at 2024-05-10 08:32 am (UTC)

Reply

Thread

Link





some folk bought a beloved local pub called The Crooked House (cos it sank), illegally destroyed it (by allegedly setting fire to it, blocking the access road for firefighters, then demolishing it a day later against instructions), and have now been court ordered to rebuild it brick by brick to exact same specs (including the lean) LOL.



people don't fuck about with their 'history'



reminds me of this situation in the UK last year - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Crooked_House some folk bought a beloved local pub called The Crooked House (cos it sank), illegally destroyed it (by allegedly setting fire to it, blocking the access road for firefighters, then demolishing it a day later against instructions), and have now been court ordered to rebuild it brick by brick to exact same specs (including the lean) LOL.people don't fuck about with their 'history'

Reply

Thread

Link

That ending is absolutely satisfying and delightful



Edited at 2024-05-10 08:39 am (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's happened a couple times in the UK! A housing developer got told to rebuild a pub they knocked down too

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

blocking the access road for firefighters



please tell me they were criminally charged for that, what the fuck?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

'accidental fires' (arson) happening to listed buildings happens all the time where I live. only in areas where developers hope to build, funnily enough(!) this was a great story and I hope it scared a few who would do something like this. but damn it's depressing.



Edited at 2024-05-10 12:38 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

That ending is so satisfying!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

This also happened in Australia with the Corkman!

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

honestly, the idea of the city being able to control what you do with your freehold private property (beyond things like bylaws/safety standards/etc. that apply to everyone in the area) is difficult for me to accept. my first instinct is to say that the committee seeking to preserve it should have to buy the owners out at fair market value. if not, the owners should be able to do what they want.



I had a friend who had relatives who lived in a historical building and it was a nightmare for them, everyone was telling them how to treat and preserve their property (that was declared to have historical value after the relatives moved in) without ever ponying up the money to do any of it. the relatives ended up selling the house and moving. on one hand, history is important, but on the other, some of these historical designations saddle owners with insane costs just so everyone but them can enjoy the house. at a certain point, houses have to be for the people living in them.



on the other hand, the other part of me is tired of people demolishing perfectly good buildings (historical or otherwise) just because it's not the perfect(TM) home. it's an incredibly wasteful practice and unless there are actual concerns (which, with some of these older houses, there absolutely could be), either live with it (with or without minor renovations) or sell it to someone else. buy in a new development if you simply must have everything tailored to your exact specifications.

Reply

Thread

Link

Heritage listing is about there being things in our environment that are bigger than ourselves. Private property becomes secondary to the idea of the common good - that a place can become imbued with such meaning to the community that it no longer should be up to a single property owner to do whatever they want with that place because in doing so they're not just affecting themselves, but potentially causing a loss to one of the threads of the story that make up our community. In the same way that planning codes protect the community from rooves falling on their heads - but more fulfilling.



Edited at 2024-05-10 01:27 pm (UTC)

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I understand that, but unless the community is also going to pony up the funds required to ensure that maintenance and upgrades adhere to the designation requirements, its not an equitable outcome for the homeowner to be unilaterally saddled with the financial burden. maybe if we actually lived in a society that wasnt run by capitalism on steroids, I would feel differently, but thats not the world we live in. some people really do just buy housing to be housing and a lot of older homes, heritage or otherwise, need work. buildings are made of organic materials and they cannot last forever.

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link

Controversial opinion here. Is the house she lived in really history? I'd understand if it is being preserved for architecture and design reasons, but being preserved because she lived here is a bit too much idolisation for me. We can't preserve the house every single "iconic" famous person lived in. Anyway these are rich people problems, it isn't going to be turned into affordable housing anyway so I have no dog in their fight.

Reply

Thread

Link

You said it better than I could.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Honestly, my question. What does this house 'do' for her memory? If it would be turned into some kind of halfway home or a place for women - yeah. But this is - for the owners - only about the location.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Is it also the house she died in? Because then I feel like it opens all kinds of extra weirdness and concerns too.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I don't follow...is it supposed to be preserved because she died in it?

Reply

Parent

Thread

Expand

Link





https://pitchfork.com/news/the-warehouse-birthplace-of-house-music-in-chicago-is-now-a-historic-landmark/ It's both. It's a hacinda style home built in 1929 that's become increasingly rare in LA due to people tearing down these houses and building McMansions. Add the Monroe factor and I can see why they want it preserved. In my city a building that housed a club that was the birthplace of House Music that was going to be demolished but got landmark status, so it's not always about the architecture:

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

I totally agree and I'm a huge fan of Marilyn.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

It's not every icon, it's THE icon. I can't go like four blocks in LA without seeing a Marilyn Monroe. That's in Hollywood, Whittier, Van Nuys. I can see why they would want to save it. Her legacy coupled with the design of her home, it's a hacienda I believe.



LA Historical Registration has only existed since 1970 after the demolition of some beautiful historic homes.

Reply

Parent

Thread



Link

Im loving the billionaires bothering us tag.



The house does have historical significance, and Im all for billionaires getting told no.

Reply

Thread

Link

You know, generally speaking I'd be all for preserving historic landmarks but with this it's like...the house has already been so altered to the level of not resembling what it looked like when she lived there that I'm kind of ok with it being demolished. I know it once held a lot of worth because it's where she last lived and died, but then again she was only there for six months. It also would logistically not make any sense to make it a landmark open to the public or a museum of sorts. I think the news of it being possibly demolished a year ago had sensationalized headlines and such that made people react in a very emotional way but eh, I think it's time to let it go.

Reply

Thread

Link

That's like... dark history/tourism/nostalgia, right?



wasn't there that infamous Ana De Armas' Marilyn movie that was partially made there too?



I'd think it would be about the architectural appeal from some famous designer that would have to be protected...

Speaking of, I remember seeing the house of the Black Dhalia murderer, a rich and famous Hollywood surgeon having perverted parties in there..., At least the dark original architecture could be a reason to keep it up instead of the seedy history...

Reply

Thread

Link

The taste level and construction quality of their current home should be judged by a separate committee and then the decision on the MM house should be decided after that (don't worry they're billionaires theoretically they should be able to afford the best quality and taste in things) McMansion with grey everything begets the banhammer

Reply

Thread

Link

Why but it if you wanted to destroy it, knowing probably full well who lived there? I'm sure the country is vast enough for them to build what they want outside of this very specific location. That said, unless they make a museum or something out of the house, how can you have it on the market for people to purchase, then decide that beyond a certain point, they can't change what they want in it? Also, let's remember that especially in housing, buying it doesn't mean you can do whatever you want however you see fit. You still need to abide by certain laws or ask permission to do certains things depending on where you are, this isn't new.

Reply

Thread

Link

Rich, entitled fucks all pissy they can't have everything they want so they sue to try and get it. Just another day that ends in y. I'd bet a months's salary that if they win their lawsuit and can demolish the house, they'll turn it into a cement block and flip it for quadruple what they end up paying for it. If only some geeks in a lab could create a virus that kills the rich and selfish.

Reply

Thread

Link

As someone who lives in a city built on ancient roman ruins, where if you put a shovel to the ground, you will find priceless artifacts, and where any major city construction can take decades because of history preservation, I can't help but blame an appropriate city bureau for not properly protecting a historic landmark

Reply

Thread

Link

It's been remodeled by multiple owners since her death, was only declared a landmark last year, there were no significant remodels done by Marilyn and it isn't accessible to the public.



They purchased the home for 8.35 million dollars, in an area that basically only does SFH.

Reply

Thread

Link

Wait. I thought this already got dismissed or cancelled. Why the fuck nah. They are asking for their ratchet ass getting handed right back to them. Like

Reply

Thread

Link
A quick recap on the criminal charges and sentencing: In 2016, former gymnast Rachel Denhollander filed a report with Michigan State University police accusing Dr. Larry Nassar of sexually abusing her in 2000 when she was 15 years old. Although multiple athletes had reported Nassar abusing them (some as early as the 90s) during his decades long tenure at positions he held at MSU, Holt High School, gymnastics training center Twistars Gymnastics, and as the USA Gymnastics team doctor, Denhollander was the first to file a lawsuit. After news of her lawsuit broke, more victims came forward. By the time his three trials ended in 2018, over 265 of his patients had accused him of sexual abuse.In July 2017, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of receiving child pornography in 2004, possession of pornographic images of children dating from 2004 to 2016, and tampering with evidence by destroying and concealing the images. U.S. District Judge Janet Neff sentenced him to 60 years in prison.In November 2017, in Ingham County he pleaded guilty to seven counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct with minors under the age of 16 (three of the girls were under the age of 13) and three additional counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. In January 2018, Judge Rosemarie Aquilina allowed 156 women to read victim impact statements to the court (Nassar had the nerve to write a letter to the judge saying that listening to these victim impact statements day after day was bad for his mental health). She then sentenced him to 40-175 years in prison.In November 2017, he also pleaded guilty to three counts of first degree criminal sexual assault in Eaton County. These charges were related to abuse that took place at Twistars. In February 2018, an additional 65 women read victim impact statements before Judge Janice Cunningham sentenced Nassar to 40-125 years.Judge Janet T. Neff ordered any sentences imposed at the state level to run consecutively with his federal sentence. His scheduled release date is January 30, 2068. He will be 104 years old. background on today's news Multiple victims have said that although they reported Nassar's abuse to different agencies (MSU, local police, USA Gymnastics, US Olympic Committee, etc) as early as the 1990s, nothing ever came of the their complaints and he was allowed to continue treating young female patients. In some cases, the victims were told that the investigation had yielded nothing. In other cases, the authorities at the organizations persuaded the victims not to report the abuse to the police. The victims and their parents were often told that these girls were too young/inexperienced/stupid to understand that they were receiving a legitimate medical treatment. Officials at USAG did not report Nassar's abuse to the FBI until 2015.After Nassar pleaded guilty, many of the victims filed lawsuits against the various agencies that had stymied their efforts to report Nassar's abuse. In 2018, Michigan State reached a settlement with 332 abuse victims, agreeing to pay $500 million.In 2020, USAG & USOC offered a $215 million settlement but with the condition that there would be no further investigation into their cover up of Nassar's abuse. The proposed settlement also released all USAG officials from any liability and did not include guidelines for naming who at USAG knew about Nassar's abuse. Simone Biles and Aly Raisman publicly spoke out against the terms of the settlement. In 2021, USAG & USOC offered a $380 settlement to Nassar's victims. By then, there were over 500 gymnasts who had come forward as victims. Over 90% of them voted to accept the new settlement. In 2021, a report by Inspector General Michael Horowitz criticized Indianapolis-based FBI agents for the way they handled the investigation into Nassar's abuse, saying officials at that field office "did not take responsibility for their failures" and instead "provided incomplete and inaccurate information to make it appear that they had been diligent in responding to the sexual abuse allegations." It noted that FBI agents in Indianapolis made fundamental errors by failing to notify other FBI offices or state or local authorities about Nassar.Attorneys Megan Bonanni and Michael Pitt, who represent 77 of the 139 athletes who filed claims against the FBI, said, "The FBI fundamentally failed to protect hundreds of women and girls from sexual abuse through inaction and total mishandling of their Larry Nassar investigation."After two years of negotiations, the Justice Department has agreed to a $137.8 million settlement for the 139 victims who filed lawsuits against the FBI.
3 Ways Visual AI Transforms Near-Miss Reporting

Date: Wednesday June 5, 2024 at 2:00pm ET - 1:00pm CT - 11:00am PT

Workplace safety has always been a top concern in every industry, affecting the well-being of employees and overall productivity and profitability. Near-miss reporting plays a critical role in workplace safety. This involves documentation and analysis of incidents that had the potential to cause harm but did not lead to an injury. Traditionally, this process has been manual, which leads to underreporting and delayed responses.

Integrating AI into this domain revolutionizes reporting and managing near-miss incidents. AI-driven systems enhance reporting accuracy, efficiency, and timeliness, turning these incidents into valuable learning opportunities and preventing future accidents. With AI, companies can transition from a reactive approach to a proactive and preventive safety strategy.

This transition to AI-enhanced reporting marks a significant improvement in workplace safety management, making work environments safer, more compliant with safety standards, and more productive.

Register today to learn how AI is transforming near-miss reporting.

What youll learn:

The critical role near-miss reporting plays in improving industrial workplace safety. How to overcome the challenges of collecting accurate near-miss and/or unsafe conditions data. How Visual AI technology can be applied to standard surveillance camera networks to automate and contextualize near-miss reporting. See Visual AI in action with real-life examples. The benefits of scaling Visual AI solutions to detect unsafe conditions and near-misses and transform safety programs across enterprise environments.

Register for this free webinar!

DATE: June 5, 2024

TIME: 2:00PM ET - 1:00PM CT - 11:00AM PT

Speakers:



Jodie Sasse

Vice President of Visual AI Advisor

SparkCognition

Jodie Sasse is an accomplished leader and advisor to companies seeking innovative software solutions to their most critical business problems. Throughout her 20+ year career in the technology industry, she has developed a passion for helping companies unlock growth, optimize performance, and realize return on their technology investments.

As SparkCognitions Vice President of Visual AI Advisor, she drives the outcomes for clients with challenges of safety, security, productivity, inspection, and situational awareness. Before joining SparkCognition, Sasse held various roles at Twilio, Equals3 AI, IBM, and IBM Watson. She has a BS in Finance and Economics from Syracuse University and an MBA from Suffolk University.

Kunal Arora is an AI Solutions Architect with SparkCognition, where he leverages his extensive expertise in machine learning and software engineering to drive innovative solutions. With a rich background as a Computer Vision Scientist and Software Engineer, Kunal has dedicated most of his career to advancing technology in the energy industry. At SparkCognition, he employs his comprehensive expertise to develop innovative solutions that enhance operational efficiencies and sustainability, helping organizations navigate the complex landscape of digital transformation.

Duration: 1 Hour
While the west has had a considerable amount of success imposing energy sanctions on Russia in response to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Russian nuclear sector exports have proven harder to kick. But now, as more western nations get serious about cutting Russia out of their nuclear energy supply chains, they are pushing more and more economic and geopolitical power into the hands of China.

While it seemed impossible to wean Europe off of Russian oil and natural gas without devastating the economy and dangerously compromising European energy security, the European Union has had remarkable success cutting those ties thanks to a surge in renewable energy production and a very mild winter during the critical transition phase. But the potency of those efforts has been undermined by the continued global reliance on Russian nuclear energy supply chains.

Russian state-operated nuclear energy firm Rosatom has long been one of the primary exporters of nuclear fuel and uranium enrichment services around the world. European countries including Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Finland, and Bulgaria have increased their imports of Russian nuclear fuel in order to make up for Russian fossil fuels, meaning that theyre still providing significant funding to the Kremlin. The Belladonna think tank estimates that nuclear fuel exports earned over $739 million for Moscow in the last year alone. Rostatom is also a major source of funding for the construction of new nuclear facilities on a global level. At present, nearly one in five nuclear power plants on the planet is either in Russia or is Russian-built.

But Russias influence in certain nuclear markets appears to be faltering as the nations ongoing war in Ukraine compromises its ability to deliver on its projects. Bulgaria has pleaded with the United States to help get out from under Russias nuclear thumb, and Hungary seems to be trying to get out as well Rosatoms Paks II nuclear power plant in Hungary has been delayed and over budget since its earliest planning phases in 2014, but the setbacks have intensified in recent years as Europes stance toward the Kremlin and heightened security measures have complicated Russias ability to finalize the project.

As Russia continues to spin its wheels on Paks II, Hungary appears to be turning to China to continue its nuclear energy development. Chinas President Xi Jinping will be making a stop in Budapest later this week, where he is expected to sign 16 agreements with the Hungarian government, including one which concerns cooperation covering the entire portfolio of nuclear energy. This would seem to include Paks II, signaling that Hungary is looking to cut Rosatom out of its nuclear industry.

This is not the first time that nuclear energy has been a geopolitical flashpoint between Russia and China. The two economic giants have also been facing off for nuclear dominance in emerging economies, and particularly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the growth potential for a nuclear power industry is enormous and in dire need of funding to kick off the prohibitively expensive development phase of nuclear power plant planning and construction. But with Moscows attention and resources caught up in wartime chaos, China has a clear upper hand.

This potential transition of nuclear energy power and profit toward China is part of a much bigger trend in the global energy landscape. Beijing has been outspending the rest of the world on renewable energy and green infrastructure and manufacturing for years now. Beijing has placed itself at the nexus of global clean energy supply chains, becoming indispensable to growing clean energy sectors in developed nations in Europe and the Americas while simultaneously expanding its energy influence in emerging economies. Filling Russias shoes in the global nuclear energy industry is just one more step toward Beijings consolidation of power over global energy markets.

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Trans Mountain Expansion Project, now finally completed after years of delays, is expanding access to markets for Canadian oil producers and is set to boost the price of Canadas heavy crude oil for years to come, top executives at the major energy firms say.

The expanded pipeline is tripling the capacity of the original pipeline to 890,000 barrels per day (bpd) from 300,000 bpd to carry crude from Albertas oil sands to British Columbia on the Pacific Coast.

The Federal Government of Canada bought the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) from Kinder Morgan back in 2018, together with related pipeline and terminal assets. That cost the federal government $3.3 billion (C$4.5 billion) at the time. Since then, the costs for the pipeline expansion have soared to nearly $23 billion (C$30.9 billion).

Regulatory hurdles have added years to the timeline for the pipeline completion, but TMX received the final permits in early May from the Canada Energy Regulator (CER). This allowed it to enter into service on May 1.

Canadas Takeaway Capacity Grows

The expanded pipeline provides increased transportation capacity for Canadian producers to get their oil out of Alberta and into the Pacific Coast and then to the U.S. West Coast or Asian markets.

The rise in pipeline egress is set to boost the price of Western Canada Select (WCS), the benchmark for Canadian heavy crude sold at Hardisty in Alberta, as it will narrow the discount at which WCS has traded in recent years relative to the U.S. crude oil benchmark, West Texas Intermediate (WTI). Related: Governments Deliver Blow To EV Darlings

Over the past decade, there have been periods of time when WCS traded at discounts of about $40 per barrel below WTI due to a lack of enough pipeline capacity to take rising Canadian crude oil production out of Alberta. Such was the case in 2018 and 2019, when high production but insufficient takeaway capacity were depressing Canadian heavy crude prices, limiting profits for producers even as they boosted their output amid higher global oil prices and strong oil demand.

With TMX now in service, producers see more options to get their crude to demand centers.

Higher Canadian Oil Prices For Years

While the biggest Canadian oil producers reported a mixed bag of Q1 earnings this spring, all of them expect TMX to boost Canadas oil prices and to be a major asset for the industry for years to come.

MEG Energy, for example, sees the expanded pipeline raising Albertas crude prices for years to come, executives said on the companys earnings call this week.

It is great for industry and Canada to have that tremendous asset available, Erik Alson, MEGs Vice President of Marketing, said.

The narrowing of the WCS-WTI differential will be a long-term trend, the executive added.

With this critical infrastructure now complete, we anticipate light-heavy differentials will remain narrow for years, Alson told analysts, as carried by The Canadian Press.

Canadian Natural Resources, the top oil and gas producer in Canada, also expects TMX to provide ample egress and optionality for our crude oil products.

Canadian Natural has optionality for crude oil exports, including 94,000 barrels per day (bpd) on the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline that creates additional crude oil market diversification opportunities on the West Coast, both by land and by water.

After the Trans Mountain Expansion pipeline is finished, crude oil products will have plenty of egress and optionality, executives said.

Canadian Naturals president, Scott Stauth, told analysts that the company had secured some marine sales from TMX. Some of the sales may end up going marine side still onto the West Coast, or it could move to Asian markets, Stauth added.

Drew Zieglgansberger, Executive Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer at another major producer, Cenovus Energy, said, Were pretty excited on behalf of the industry and Canada to have another great asset available to us.

Theres a pretty vast market out there, which is exciting, Zieglgansberger told analysts on the companys Q1 earnings call.

The industry as a whole and the province of Alberta also view the TMX start-up as a boon to the Canadian oil sector.

With improved access to global markets, Canadians can look forward to receiving higher value for our energy resources, meaning more money coming back into the economy, Lisa Baiton, President and CEO of the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), said.

As the world undergoes rapid and sometimes violent geopolitical realignments, safe and reliable oil and gas supplies will be a priority for governments for years to come, Baiton noted.

The completion of the Trans Mountain Expansion will help Canada play an enduring strategic role in ensuring our allies and trading partners have access to a reliable and trusted source of critical energy.

Albertas government expects narrower discounts for Canadian crude and a surge in oil production in the province, thanks to the expanded Trans Mountain pipeline.

In its 2023-24 Mid-year Fiscal Update and Economic Statement at the end of last year, the government of Alberta said that The completion of TMX in the second half of 2024 will help bring the differential to around US$14-15/bbl in the next two fiscal years.

Increased takeaway capacity will help propel Albertas crude oil production from nearly 3.8 million barrels per day (bpd) in 2023 to over four million barrels bpd by 2026, the provincial government reckons.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The Biden administration is expected to make a major announcement on China tariffs as soon as next week that will impact semiconductors, solar power, and electric vehicles, according to Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter. While the possibility of additional tariffs has been widely known, the specific industries to be targeted have now been identified. Moreover, Beijing will likely release angry comments after Biden's speech next week, followed by a tit-for-tat response.

Two of the people said the decision to hit China's "new three" green goods comes after a review of Section 301 tariffs, which were first implemented under former President Trump in 2018. The tariffs primarily target electric vehicles, batteries, and solar cells, with existing tariffs being maintained. They said the announcement is planned for Tuesday.

Last month, the president said he would impose 25% tariffs on Chinese steel and aluminum. Earlier this week, the administration said it would revoke Intel and Qualcomm's export license to supply semiconductors to Chinese firm Huawei.

If China were to retaliate, in a tit-for-tat effort, they could hit Elon Musk's Tesla or continue reducing US agricultural exports of corn and soybean.

"Instead of correcting its wrong practices, the United States continued to politicize economic and trade issues," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said Friday, adding, "To further increase tariffs is to add insult to injury."

Meanwhile, if reelected, Trump has promised to hit China with a tsunami of tariffs, vowing a 60% tax on all Chinese imports.

US Senator Chuck Grassley, an Iowa Republican, warned Beijing will respond:

"We know how China reacted when Trump put tariffs on ... and they hit agriculture with it. I can't be sure that China would hit agriculture the same as they did in the Trump ones, but they're going to hit back."

In markets, Chinese shares of solar firms fell on the news:

Longi shares drop 1.8% in Shanghai, JA Solar -1.7% in Shenzhen, Xinyi Solar -3.8% in Hong Kong

The yuan weakened in both onshore and offshore markets, while CSI 300 Index fell:

USD/CNH gains 0.1% at 7.2270, pair on track to rise 0.5% on the week, biggest weekly advance since the week ended March 22

USD/CNY rises 0.1% at 7.2251

Bloomberg's dollar spot index steady; USD/HKD is little changed at 7.8139

CSI 300 Index, benchmark of onshore China stocks, falls as much as 0.6% before paring about half of its decline.

"It'll definitely cause investors to pause on stocks that are potentially exposed," said Xin-Yao Ng, director of investment at abrdn. He added, "Everyone knows it's a risk."

Here's what other Wall Street analysts are saying (list courtesy of Bloomberg):

AllianceBernstein (John Lin)

We are not overly concerned about that because to us geopolitics is now a structural part of investing in China"

"Everybody understands that there will be periods where things get a little worse and there will be periods where things get a little better. And that fluctuation to us is really an opportunity to add or reduce risk but not a reason to stay away from the market overall"

ANZ Banking Group (Khoon Goh)

News of the US imposing more tariffs against some Chinese imports has seen the yuan weaken slightly

The threat of more tariffs have been known, but if the final outcome is for a more targeted approach, then there is unlikely to be much of a lasting effect on the yuan

Maybank (Fiona Lim)

"You can't say that this was not expected. Such trade-war era kind of tensions have been in the making ever since Trump spoke about imposing 60% tariff"

People's Bank of China is keeping the yuan in a tight grip via the fix and offshore liquidity management and that may limit bearish swings to a certain extent

"USDCNH-USDCNY premium could widen in such an environment"

TD Securities (Alex Loo)

It wasn't a total surprise to us. Trade tensions would likely increase if Biden puts heavy tariffs on China's products in the coming weeks

We anticipate that yuan would trade on the backfoot given such unfavorable news but expect the PBoC to continue to intervene and smooth out any excessive weakness in the CNY

Regional currencies are more sensitive to moves in the USD path now since China has been effectively anchoring the yuan

Eastspring Investments (Ken Wong)

This news on the proposed tariffs in particular for Chinese EVs was widely expected

Even so, we are seeing a bit of a pullback in EVs and renewable stocks in HK/China this morning

Saxo Capital Markets (Charu Chanana)

The tariff announcement is a reminder that geopolitics remains a key aspect in considering exposure to China market, and valuations or government support measures are not the only catalysts

This means valuations may continue to "take the ebb and flow of geopolitics into account" and also "increased exposure to domestic-oriented sectors"

IG Markets (Hebe Chen)

"The US's latest tariff hike on China EV is poised to trigger unprecedented shockwaves through the industry"

This move not only deals a crippling blow to China's new strategic ambitions, but it also marks a potential tipping point, broadening the trade war between Washington and Beijing to a new level

For Chinese stocks, particularly EV companies, the new tariff decision is akin to a looming tsunami. Investors are bracing for a significant upend as the full impact of the new tariffs unfolds

Shanghai Jade Stone Investment Management (Chen Shi)

We've long been expecting more anti-China rhetoric and policies to be amplified closer to the election, and though this is surely a piece of negative news, to us, and to investors in general, the marginal effect is diminishing

"China has proven through the years that its core edge lies in a strong and comprehensive industrial structure, and that cannot be challenged with tariffs"

There are plenty of ways for companies to work around this

Deepening a trade war with China comes as Biden's polling data is absolutely awful.

This shows Biden's polling data versus headlines in corporate media featuring trade war-related news.

A tough-on-China stance could be a new strategy the administration attempts to win back voters.

... it won't work.

By Zerohedge.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Artificial intelligence is shaping up as the hottest topic of the year. Analysts are predicting how it would benefit virtually every industry, and developers are eager to try it everywhere they can. But there is one potentially huge problem with AI: its energy and raw material requirements.

The energy problem surfaced last year, with one scientist doing the maths on how much electricity data centers hosting AI hardware would require. Warnings began coming in saying that the utilization of artificial intelligence will reverse the transition from oil and gas to wind and solar because data centers require a reliable, uninterrupted supply of electricity. For now, that only comes from hydrocarbons and nuclear.

But energy consumption is just one aspect of the AI problem that the energy transition seems to be facing. The other may be much more serious: raw materials.

"Just to meet demand growth before AI we need a lot of copper," White House energy adviser Amos Hochstein said at a recent event, discussing the prospects of critical mineral demand. "With the advent of growth in AI, we're going to need a significant amount of power generation and transmission, which is going to require even more," Hochstein added, as quoted by Politico. Related: Governments Deliver Blow To EV Darlings

The problem is that wind and solar installations also need a lot of copper because they require a lot of cables. When you add electric cars, the future looks extremely bright for copper miners and just as bleak for everyone who needs copper.

Investment research firm the Oregon Group last month released a report predicting a 10-year supercycle in critical minerals. This supercycle was not going to be driven by the transition, however. It was going to be driven by artificial intelligence.

"The [data center] market is moving a lot faster than supply chains that have historically supported a very physical business have been set up to do... It's a sprint. It's a sprint that requires all the capital in the world," the co-founder of CoreWave was cited as saying in the report, providing a good summary of the situation,

The information technology industry is planning to spend hundreds of billions of dollars on artificial intelligence, meaning new data centers and new electricity networks. With that, it has automatically become a competitor for transition technology developersbecause they all need the same materials.

Copper is a good example. It is not rare, it is not expensive but both AI evolution and the transition need large amounts of itand there are no new mines being opened at the rate they need to be open to support the coming surge in demand.

Warnings about a copper shortage have become part of the news landscape over the past couple of years and yet the mining industry has been extremely slow in doing anything about this, possibly because the bullish demand forecasts have not always panned out, notably in EVs. So miners are biding their time until the strong demand does begin to show signs of emerging.

"You can cynically say that the mining execs are just kind of looking for the next story to underpin the typical narrative, which is: 'Demand is going to increase faster than supply, and we're staring structural deficits in the face,'" Chris Berry, battery supply chain consultant, told Politico.

Yet this is not leading to new copper minesbut it is leading to big plans about sourcing the necessary critical minerals. In his speech at this week's Milken Institute's Global Conference, Hochstein urged miners to go into risky jurisdictions and ignore the risk to secure the minerals and challenge China's dominance in the area.

"We can all live in the capitals and cities around the world and say, 'I don't want to do business there.' But what you are really saying is we're not going to have an energy transition," Hochstein said, as quoted by Reuters.

However, It is doubtful whether miners will respond to what is effectively a challenge to reprioritize, putting the transition above things like security and predictability. Besides, miners appear to be conscious of the fact that China's dominance in critical minerals is the result of decades of workand that kind of work cannot be replicated in 24 months.

The situation does not look goodAI and the transition are vying for one pool of resources. But there is a silver lining, although it is not the silver lining transition champions like to speak about. The massive demand growth in demand for various metals and minerals coming from transition projects has basically failed to materialize so far. Lithium prices are down. Copper is down. So is EV demand. Miners are justified in their waitandsee approach.

Yet, unlike the transition, artificial intelligence looks ready to take off. There is quite a bit of momentum building up behind it, and all it really needs is metals, minerals, plastic, and electricity. Then AI will become a real problem for the transition.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Chinese electric vehicles are the talk of the worldor at least that part of it that is busy trying to transition from hydrocarbons-fueled to electric transport. For the most part, that talk is worried, because after turning China into the biggest EV market in the world, local carmakers are eyeing global expansion. Now, there's one more reason to worry: Chinese EV makers are squeezing out foreign brands at home, too.

The Financial Times reported this week how Chinese car dealers were dropping foreign ICE brands in favor of local electric models. The trend has a pretty simple explanation. Chinese electric cars have been getting cheaper due to not only technological progress and China's dominance in key materials but also because of cutthroat competition. The Mercedes Benzes and Infinitis of the world, however, don't have the dubious luxury of such competition, so prices are significantly higher.

This is happening at the same time as European and U.S. carmaking majors face a potential flood of cheapbut high-qualityChinese EVs in their home markets, too. And it seems the situation may get even hotter because competition among EV makers in the Asian nation is still intensifying.

The Wall Street Journal last month suggested in a report that the price war among Chinese electric car manufacturers was just getting started. The first shots were fired last year, as slowing sales and a flurry of new market entrants prompted everyone to get creative to move their EVs. But with a supply overhang and still lukewarm demand from consumers, the creativenessand discountswill continue, with not everyone surviving the end of the war. Related: Governments Deliver Blow To EV Darlings

Already some Chinese EV makers are being forced to sell their cars at a loss, according to one car analyst from the World Digital Economy Forum who spoke to the Financial Times. "Everyone is cutting prices ... amid industry-wide overcapacity," Zhang Xiang said, adding that "Enormous inventory pressure has forced dealers to sell cars at a razor-thin margin or even at a loss."

In such a price war environment, foreign ICE brands have little chance of competing successfully. Unfortunately for their makers, so do the electric brands of the global carmakers because, in addition to lowering prices, Chinese manufacturers are improving their vehicles technologically, according to the New York Times.

According to a recent report there, Chinese carmakers were planning to launch as many as 71 new EV models this year on their home marketan already saturated market. However, it seems manufacturers believe there is still space for more models as they make their new cars roomier, safer, and all-around betterplus they charge faster.

These same technologically improved cars will soon head for Europe, where they will be competing against expensive European brands that are struggling to make their EVs more affordable, and the end of these struggles is nowhere in sight. Interestingly, despite the threat, some European carmakers are wary of the EU's attempts to prevent the flood. The reason: they depend on Chinese supplies of key materials, and they manufacture some of their models there.

"You could very quickly shoot yourself in the foot," said the chief executive of BMW this week, commenting on Brussels plans to introduce tariffs on Chinese EV imports. "We don't think that our industry needs protection," Oliver Zipse told analysts after BMW's first-quarter report, noting carmakers' reliance on China along the supply chain. "You can easily endanger that advantage by introducing import tariffs."

Yet competition from dirt-cheap Chinese EVs is a problem for non-Chinese auto giants in the context of government efforts to electrify as much of the transport means in their nations as possible. It is a genuine conundrum. On the one hand, the goal is to have as many EVs as possible on roads. For this reason, EVs must be cheap so more people can afford them. On the other hand, the cheapest EVs come from China, and giving them open access to European and U.S. markets would hurt local carmakers. Something would have to give.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Yet more house-cleaning this week in the European spy dens as tensions rise among European nations who are now placing bets on the future of Ukraine.

The panic is in full force.

In the UK, Downing Street is expelling a Russian Defense attache believed to be an undeclared military intelligence officer and revoking diplomatic status over some properties in the UK that are believed to be used for Russian intelligence operations.



In Poland, government networks were targeted by Russian cyberspies operating as part of the GRU (Russian military intelligence). The German defense industry was also targeted by the same cyber campaign last week.

Anxiety was running particularly high in Poland, with officials reporting the discovery of bugging devices in official chambers, though accounts were confused and unconfirmed and in some cases appear to have been walked back.

Against this backdrop, Polish PM Donald Tusk this week called for a special meeting of the secret services to address the infiltration of the government by Russian and Belarusian forces after the defection to Belarus of a judge suspected of acting on behalf of a foreign intelligence service. The judge defected after an investigation into his activities was launched.

In Estonia, the Russians have been accused of jamming GPS signals in airspace above the Baltic nations (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania). And neighboring Finland is moving military equipment to Norway and Sweden, not that
Guests attend the opening ceremony of the 6th World Customs Organization (WCO) Global Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) Conference in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, May 8, 2024. [Photo/Xinhua]

China signed customs agreements on mutual Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) status with the Republic of Burundi and Iceland at the ongoing 6th WCO Global AEO Conference in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, on Thursday.



Enterprises with AEO status can enjoy a series of preferential management measures, such as priority processing, reduced frequency of supervision and optimized services, which effectively reduce the cost of international trade and enhance the international competitiveness of enterprises.

The AEO system, initiated by the World Customs Organization (WCO), aims to facilitate customs clearance for enterprises through customs agencies' authentication of enterprises with high levels of legal compliance and safety, and a high credit status.

China has so far signed mutual AEO agreements with 28 economies, covering 54 countries and regions, ranking first in the world in terms of the number of agreements and the number of countries and regions with AEO mutual recognition.

The latest customs statistics show that, as of the end of April, there were more than 5,800 enterprises with AEO status in China, accounting for 36.3 percent of China's foreign trade value.
Following several weeks of declines, oil prices are now rising once again on a combination of geopolitical risk, rising demand, and supply concerns.

Friday, May 10th 2024

Oil prices are once again climbing after several weeks of declines. Falling US crude inventories and robust Chinese imports have sparked some bullish sentiment in oil markets. Brent futures are set to post their first weekly gain since early April, moving closer to $85 per barrel, further boosted by the easing of the US labor market (jobless claims the highest in eight months) and Israels Rafah operation.

Shell Sells Singapore Refinery to Glencore Consortium. UK-based energy major Shell (LON:SHEL) has confirmed the sale of its 237,000 b/d Bukom refinery in Singapore to global trading house Glencore and Indonesian chemicals firm PT Chandra Asti in a deal worth some $1 billion.

Trump Vows to Reverse Biden Oil Policy. According to media reports, Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump vowed to reverse the Biden administrations environmental rules and halt the current freeze on new LNG export terminals, asking them to raise $1 billion for his campaign.

China Boosts Oil Imports. Chinas oil imports have risen year-over-year to about 10.88 million b/d last month, a 5.5% increase compared to April 2023, with refinery activity boosted by high-flying activity during the Labour Day holiday and also improving manufacturing activity.

Guyana Approves Joint Consortium Bid. Guyanas government has greenlighted a bid for the shallow water block S-4 from TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE), Petronas, and QatarEnergy, marking the first acreage to be allotted in the country since ExxonMobil landed the Stabroek block in 1999.

Suncor Eyes Full Control of TMX Exports. Canadas oil major Suncor Energy (TSO:SU) will be leasing Aframax tankers to deliver crude oil shipped on the Trans Mountain Expansion (TMX) pipeline, avoiding third-party commodity trading shops, as it seeks to ramp up flows to PADD 5.

US Government Resumes SPR Purchases. The US Department of Energy issued a solicitation for a new refill of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve now that WTI prices dropped to $79 per barrel, seeking to purchase 3.3 million barrels of oil for an October delivery to the Big Hill storage facility.

Insurance Firms Dismiss Chevrons Iram Claim. Three insurance companies have rejected the claim of US oil major Chevron (NYSE:CVX) over the seizure of its oil cargo that was seized by Iran last year, as the Chevron-chartered tanker Advantage Sweet was confiscated by the Iranian military in April 2023.

Trafigura Boosts Renewable Portfolio. Global commodity trader Trafigura has agreed to expand its ownership of UK-based biodiesel firm Greenergy after buying the companys European business, now taking over all Canadian assets for an undisclosed sum.

US Puts Pressure on Malaysias Iran Ties. The US Treasury is poised to target Irans export capacities by targeting service providers in Singapore and Malaysia as approximately half of the Middle Eastern countrys exports carry out ship-to-ship transfers in the Malacca Strait, to be further shipped to China.

Platinum Set for Biggest Deficit In A Decade. The platinum market is set for the largest supply shortfall in 10 years as Russia produces less and industrial demand remains firm, according to catalyst maker Johnson Matthey, with the deficit widening to 598,000 ounces from last years 518,000oz.

Texas Power Prices Surge on High Demand. Electricity prices in Texas increased almost 100-fold this week, with ERCOT reporting spot prices at the North Hub jumping to $3,000 per MWh, as unusually warm weather boosts cooling demand amidst underperforming wind power generation.

Mexico Wants a Bigger Say in Pemex Operations. As the Mexican government continues to keep its national oil firm Pemex afloat despite some $45 billion of maturing debt over the next 3 years, the countrys Finance Ministry said it wants to have a bigger say in the investment decisions taken.

Saudi Aramco Ups Capital Expenditures. Despite Saudi Aramcos decision to cut back its production capacity expansion, the Saudi NOC reported a 23.8% increase in capital expenditure in Q1 2024, boosted by new investments into natural gas, renewables, and lower-carbon fuels.

By Michael Kern for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The total number of active drilling rigs for oil and gas in the United States fell this week, according to new data that Baker Hughes published on Friday.

The total rig count fell by 2 to 603 this week, compared to 731 rigs this same time last year.

The number of oil rigs fell by 3 this week, after falling by 7 in the week prior. Oil rigs now stand at 496--down by 90 compared to this time last year. The number of gas rigs rose by 1 this week to 103, a loss of 38 active gas rigs from this time last year. Miscellaneous rigs stayed the same at 4.

Meanwhile, U.S. crude oil production stayed the same for the eighth week in a row at an average of 13.1 million bpd for the week ending May 3down 200,000 bpd from the all-time high of 13.3 million bpd.

Primary Visions Frac Spread Count, an estimate of the number of crews completing wells that are unfinished, slipped in the week ending May 3, to 252. Completions fell by 5 for the week.

The Permian saw a 2-rig decrease after falling by 1 in the week prior. The count in the Eagle Ford stayed the same this week after falling by 3 in the week prior.

Oil prices were trading down on Friday with both benchmarks trading about $0.88 down per barrel. At 1:08 p.m. ET, after data release, the WTI benchmark was trading down $0.88 (-1.11%) on the day at $7838. This is essentially flat on the week.

The Brent benchmark was trading down $0.88 (-1.05%) at $83.00, a roughly $0.26 per barrel decrease from a week ago.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Last month, we reported that scores of beleaguered solar companies in Europe were looking to abandon their home countries and set up shop in the United States amid intense competition from Chinese solar manufacturers as well as favorable solar and clean energy policies in the U.S. To wit, Swiss solar module maker Meyer Burger has revealed plans to stop panel production in Germany and relocate to the United States after failing to garner support from Berlin. Similarly, Norways Freyr Battery has stopped work at a half-finished plant near the Arctic Circle and plans to move to the U.S.

And now another offshoring trend is emerging: Europes Big Oil companies have expressed ambitions to delist from European bourses and list on American ones. TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) CEO Patrick Pouyanne has announced that the French oil and gas major is "seriously" considering a possible primary listing in New York, adding that the board has told him to investigate the merits of a U.S. listing and report his findings in September.

Speaking at the companys latest earnings conference call, Poyounne pointed out that 47% of the companys institutional shareholders and 39% of all its global shareholders are located in the U.S., so a New York listing "makes sense [given our] growing U.S. shareholder base." For years, large, European oil and gas companies have lamented that they are undervalued compared to American brethren due to higher investor apathy to fossil fuels in Europe. Related: Governments Deliver Blow To EV Darlings

With a market cap of nearly $170 billion, a listing of TotalEnergies on the New York Stock Exchange would mark one of the highest profile European companies to move across the Atlantic for a listing venue. However, such a move would not only be fraught with challenges but would likely prove pointless, as Pouyanne is likely to soon find out. Totals strong existing U.S. investor base suggests that fund managers already have ample access to the companys shares, and nothing is stopping them from buying TTE.

To be fair, Totals market cap easily qualifies it for a spot in the S&P 500, meaning index-tracking funds would be forced to hold the stock, potentially boosting the shares.

But heres a small problem: companies in the S&P 500 are required to be domiciled in the United States. Unfortunately for Total, its unique business mix makes it challenging to relocate to the U.S. First off, roughly 35% of the companys 100,000 employees are based in France, making it hard for the company to move its headquarters to the U.S. Second, less than 10% of the companys revenue comes from North America compared to 23% from France and 41% from the rest of Europe. Third, it would be hard to work out the logistics of Totals growing electricity unit--a part of the companys green-energy strategy--because unlike oil, which is priced and traded globally, the power business is inherently local in nature. TotalEnergies has set an ambitious target to produce more than 100 TWh by 2030, thanks to a 4 to 5-fold increase in renewable production (19 TWh in 2023) and a 2-fold increase in flexible assets production (15 TWh in 2023).

Shell Seeking U.S. Listing

TotalEnergies is not the only European energy company contemplating coming to America. British multinational oil & gas giant, Shell Plc (NYSE:SHEL), CEO Wael Sawan recently told Bloomberg that the company also seeks to list on the NYSE because its grossly undervalued in London. Sawan has expressed deep frustration by investors' under-appreciation of the companys impressive financial performance, as well as the British governments over-taxation of its profits. Sawan says a New York listing would help to close the valuation gap with American Big Oil companies Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron Corp. (NYSE:CVX). The companys share price is now close to a record high at 29.08 on the London Stock Exchange; still, Sawan believes the shares are undervalued.

European energy companies, including Shell and TotalEnergies, have traditionally traded at a discount to their American peers. However, that gap has only grown bigger in recent years. For instance, in 2018, Shells value including debt was around 6x EBITDA (Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation, and Amortization) while Exxon was valued at 7x EBITDA. Shell is currently valued at 4x EBITDA compared to 6x EBITDA for Exxon.

Different business strategies could be part of the widening valuation gaps. In 2021, former Shell CEO Van Beurden predicted that oil prices would remain low forever, and aimed for an expected reduction in oil production of around 1% to 2% each year until 2030. Obviously, that prediction did not pan out and oil prices are much higher today than they were four years ago. Unfortunately, policies adopted by the company during Van Beurdens time will keep its total oil and gas production in 2030 roughly the same as in 2022. In contrast, Exxons oil output alone is set to grow at a 7% compound rate, thanks in large part to its investments in Guyana as well as its recent $60 billion takeover of Pioneer Natural Resources.

Meanwhile, Europes Big Oil continues investing heavily in renewable energy compared to their American counterparts. Last year, Shell invested ~20% of its cash capital spending on low-carbon assets, compared to just 2% of cash that Exxon spent on low-carbon solutions, despite Shell scaling back on its renewable energy investments. Unfortunately, Europes Big Oil has little choice in the matter thanks to higher levels of climate activism in the continent compared to the U.S.

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The United States wants to force a gradual shift in Irans decision-making calculus by signing a defense deal with Saudi Arabia and securing the normalization of relations between Riyadh and Israel.

We continue to work with allies and partners to enhance their capabilities to deter and counter the threats Iran poses, impose costs on Iran for its actions, and seek to shift Irans decision-making calculus over time, a U.S. State Department spokesperson told RFE/RL.

The security package has several components, including a bilateral U.S.-Saudi defense pact aimed at enhancing the Sunni kingdoms deterrence capabilities. But Washington is adamant that regardless of how close the Americans and the Saudis are to a bilateral agreement, the security package cannot materialize without Saudi-Israeli normalization.

Saudi Arabia has conditioned the normalization of ties with Israel on the establishment of a cease-fire in Gaza and a credible pathway to Palestinian statehood.

The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden sees a three-way deal key to ensuring a sustainable peace in the Middle East, which includes isolating Iran and making it costly for the Islamic republic to maintain its current regional policies.

Irans isolation in the region and in the international community is a result of its own policies, the spokesperson said in an e-mailed statement to RFE/RL.

A calculus shift will definitely happen, but not in the way that the United States wants, according to Hamidreza Azizi, a fellow at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs.

Any sort of coalition-building would result in Iran going for counter-coalitions, he added.

But analysts maintain that for Saudi Arabia, isolating Iran is not the core objective of a security pact with the United States.

The Saudis see normalizing relations with Israel as a strategic leverage to help them extract substantial security commitments from Washington, thereby balancing against Iranian influence without overtly antagonizing Tehran," Azizi said.

Meanwhile, securing a path toward Palestinian statehood could help Saudi Arabia assert its leadership within the Muslim world and effectively end the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Iran has long opposed Arab normalization with Israel and is a staunch critic of the Abraham Accords, which saw Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) establish diplomatic ties with Israel in 2020.

On May 1, Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei implicitly criticized Saudi Arabia for looking to normalize relations with Israel in the hopes of resolving the Palestinian question.

Anna Jacobs, a senior Gulf analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, argued that the U.A.E. model of balancing relations with Iran and Israel suggests that Saudi Arabia can do the same.

Riyadh seems confident that normalization with Israel wouldnt have a major impact on its relationship with Tehran, she said. The Saudi strategy with Iran right now is both containment and engagement.

By RFE/RL

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The California Public Employees' Retirement System has threatened to vote against the re-election of Exxon chief executive Darren Woods to the companys board unless it dropped its lawsuit against two activist investors.

The Financial Times reported that the threat was a response to Exxons retaliation against Arjuna Capital and Follow This, the Dutch Big Oil activist pressure group.

In January, the two investors filed a proposal for Exxon shareholders to vote at the annual general meeting on May 29 to have Exxon commit to further emissions reductions, including Scope 3  emissions from the product it sells.

In response, Exxon filed a lawsuit at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, saying that Defendants are asking Exxon Mobil to change its day-to-day business by altering the mix ofor even eliminatingcertain of the products that it sells.

Exxon also argues that the two activist investors have become shareholders solely to campaign for change through shareholder proposals that are calculated to diminish the companys existing business.

These investors are aided in their efforts by a flawed shareholder proposal and proxy voting process that does not serve investors interests and has become ripe for abuse, the company also said at the time.

Arjuna Capital and Follow This promptly dropped their Scope 3 proposal but Exxon did not drop the lawsuit. This caused a stir among some shareholders who tried to pressure the company into giving it up.

Exxon has gone well beyond any other company that were aware of in terms of suing shareholders for trying to bring forward a proposal. And even when they drop the proposal, [Exxon is] continuing the lawsuit, Calpers chief operating officer told the FT.

There doesnt seem to be anything other than an agenda of sending a message of shutting down shareholders ability to speak their mind.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Environmentalists are pressuring the Biden Administration to halt permitting for planned crude oil export facilities after successfully lobbying for a temporary suspension of LNG export project approvals.

The Biden Administration should re-evaluate the approval process and halt issuing permits to deepwater oil export facilities, campaign groups led by Sierra Club said in a letter to the Department of Transportation and the White House.

The climate activists sent the letter a month after the United States Maritime Administration (MARAD) issued the deepwater port license for the Sea Port Oil Terminal (SPOT) to Enterprise Products Partners. The SPOT offshore platform is planned to be located approximately 30 nautical miles off Brazoria County, Texas, in 115 feet of water, and is designed to load very large crude carriers (VLCCs) and other crude oil tankers up to a rate of 85,000 barrels per hour.

The U.S. currently has only one operational offshore export port capable of handling VLCCs, or supertankers, which have the capacity to load and ship 2 million barrels of crude oil. This is the Louisiana Offshore Oil Port (LOOP), which handles mostly crude produced in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Texas offshore ports for supertankers are planned to be able to export crude from the top oil-producing basin in the United States, the Permian.

But environmentalists are having none of this.

Up to this point, DOT has failed to meaningfully evaluate the wide-ranging harms of licensing massive deepwater crude export facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and the significant upstream production and global consumption the projects would induce, Devorah Ancel, a senior attorney with the Sierra Club, said in a press release.

Just like with liquefied gas exports, these projects pose serious threats to the climate, vulnerable communities and ecosystems, public health, and national security, Ancel added.

At the time of the Sea Port Oil Terminal approval last month, Erin Gaines, Senior Attorney at Earthjustice, said We are disappointed in this decision to greenlight unprecedented oil exports that are clearly not in the public interest.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
U.S. crude oil exports are rebounding this month, dragging down the prices of physical crude grades in Europe and Africa amid a relatively tepid market, traders told Bloomberg on Friday.

After a temporary dip in April, U.S. crude flows to Europe have rebounded so far in May, according to vessel-tracking data that Bloomberg has compiled.

In the first three weeks of May, observed U.S. crude oil exports to Europe are estimated to be on the rebound and to average at least 2.1 million barrels per day (bpd), up by a third compared to the average shipments in April, the data showed.

Higher exports are also driven by a decline in the price of the WTI Midland grade from the United States. The differentials of WTI Midland have fallen to the lowest levels in more than a year.

WTI Midland was added to the Brent basket in June 2023 and has been a major driver of the surging U.S. crude oil exports over the past year, especially to Europe.

The WTI crude oil included in determining the Dated Brent price is delivered into Rotterdam, a large crude oil storage and trading hub in the Netherlands. As a result, the Netherlands received more U.S. crude oil exports than any other country in 2023, averaging 652,000 bpd, per EIA estimates.

In total, U.S. crude oil exports to Europe averaged 1.8 million bpd last year, slightly more than U.S. exports to Asia and Oceania of 1.7 million bpd. American crude has replaced a large portion of Russian crude, which Europe imported before 2022.

As U.S. oil output rose by 9% on the year to a record-high 12.9 million bpd in 2023, and as many American refineries are designed to use heavier and sour crude, the excess light sweet crude from the shale plays found more buyers abroad.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
Crude oil prices started moving higher early on Friday, set to book their first weekly gain in several weeks as China reported growth in exports and imports, and ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas broke down.

China reported a 5.45% increase in crude oil imports specifically for last month, equal to a daily rate of 10.88 million barrels. This was lower than the March average, which stood at 11.55 million bpd but was still strong enough to warrant a change in sentiment among traders.

One reason for that was the news that the latest round of ceasefire talks between Hamas and Israel had failed to produce a deal, with Israel bombing Rafah despite warnings from Washington not to do it.

Separately, the latest weekly U.S. jobs report showed new unemployment benefit claims hit an eight-month high, fueling hopes of rate cuts despite recent indications from Fed officials they were going to take their time with the cuts. These hopes also helped oil prices tick higher.

OPEC+ meanwhile signaled it had no intention of changing its production policy at the next group meeting on June 1. While the update was not really unexpected, especially with the latest decline in prices despite the continued cuts, it did highlight the significance of OPEC policies for global supply dynamics.

The crude oil market will remain beholden to OPEC supply policies, ANZ analysts said in a note as quoted by Bloomberg. Ongoing curtailments should support prices, but the market is susceptible to geopolitical issues.

Our balance sheet shows the market to be in deficit by around 1m b/d in the second quarter of the year before returning to a small surplus in the second half of 2024, ING commodity analysts said in a Thursday note. However, this surplus could disappear quickly if OPEC+ members decide to roll over their additional voluntary cuts of 2.2m b/d.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com:
The United States has extended a general license through November 15, allowing certain transactions with Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA that are necessary for wind-down operations, according to a notice from the U.S. Treasury Department. The extension covers key players in the industry, including Halliburton, Schlumberger, Baker Hughes Holdings, and Weatherford International PLC.

This extension comes amid ongoing political tensions and economic challenges in Venezuela. Recent contract cancellations by entities like Polish refiner Orlen underscore the impact of geopolitical uncertainty on global energy markets, highlighting the complexities faced by industry stakeholders.

Despite the sanctions, Venezuela remains open to dialogue with key global players, particularly China, its largest creditor, and the United States. Venezuela's Nicolas Maduro expressed earlier this week the country's commitment to repay its debt to China.

The Biden Administration's decision to extend the general license reflects the nuanced approach of the U.S. in managing its relationship with Venezuela's oil sector, seeking balance between diplomatic considerations and commercial interests by providing temporary relief for companies engaged in wind-down operations.

Last month, crude oil prices were pressured by news that the U.S. would reimpose oil sanctions on Venezuela after a six-month pause, beginning on May 31. The upward pressure on oil prices, however, was tempered by a build in U.S. crude oil inventories. That license allowing wind-down transactions is now being extended until November.

Last November, Venezuelan Oil Ministry officials said that its crude oil production had reached 850,000 bpd and was on its way to recovering market share. While the figure was an improvement from the 786,000 bpd in October, and despite oil ministry officials' claim that recovery in its troubled crude oil industry was ongoing, the six-month pause in sanctions left but a temporary window open for traders to rush into Venezuelan crude that will soon close.

By Julianne Geiger for Oilprice.com

More Top Reads From Oilprice.com: